The Nation October 29, 2011

Court My husband had a restrains strange dream four Amosun months to his death from -Pilot’s widow probing Page Dipo Dina's, 11 others' Page killings 4

Five years after ADC plane crash

Fuel subsidy

NFF sacks Pg.

Siasia

FG woos Senators, Reps

Jonathan's 62 kinsmen urge caution Page

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Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011 Can you imagine how much we would have achieved if we had set up that fund many years ago, not in terms of the value of money we could have saved but the development we would have had? Nigeria will not be what it is today.

There is just no reason why we should not go ahead...

VOL.05 N0. 1928

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No going back on Sovereign Wealth Fund -Aganga 3 Page

'How we struck deal with governors’

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I won’ scanda t allow ls to m a r m y c a —Noll r ywood e e r sta R ita Do

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NEWS 2

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

•High-powered women ... Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, the Queen, Julia Gillard, and Trinidad & Tobago PM •Jonathan Kamala Persad-Bissessar. Source: The Daily Telegraph

Queen asks Commonwealth leaders to rise up to global insecurity, hunger, financial crisis Q

UEEN Elizabeth II yesterday declared open the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting with a charge to the leaders to keep the association fit for tomorrow.

She said the leaders must bring new vibrancy to the Commonwealth for the sake of future generations.

The Queen, in a speach at the Theatre of the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre asked the Heads of Government to rise up to the challenges of insecurity, financial instability, food shortage and climate change facing the world.

She said: “I am delighted to join you all here in Perth for a meeting that promises to bring new vibrancy to the Commonwealth. This city is known for its optimism; this state is known for its opportunity and potential; and, this country is known for its warmth, openness and generosity. We therefore come together in a place that embraces so much of the Commonwealth’s spirit, and we are grateful to the people of Australia for their welcome.

“CHOGM was last in this country at Coolum in 2002. It came when the world was still reeling from a new chapter in global terrorism. They were uncertain times at that summit.

“Almost a decade later, we find ourselves confronting new and fresh challenges: insecurity and uncertainty in finance, food supply, climate change, and trade and development.

This Commonwealth meeting is, for its part, the perfect opportunity to address these issues and find responses to today’s crises and challenges.

“I should like to thank the Commonwealth Eminent Persons’ Group for their work, and I look forward to hearing the outcome of discussion of their recommendations.”

The Queen asked the leaders to rise to today’s aspirations for the Commonwealth to be able to fit into the scheme of things.

She added: “And I wish Heads of Government well in agreeing further reforms that respond boldly to the aspirations of today and that keep the Commonwealth fresh and fit for tomorrow.

“In these deliberations we should not forget that this is an association not only of governments but also of peoples. That is what makes it so relevant in this age of global information and communication. “

Yusuf ALLI and Vincent IKUOMOLA, Australia

She made a strong case for women as agents of change and asked the CHOGM leaders to give the feminine class a voice in their programmes and decisions.

She also called for increased political participation for women.

The Queen said: “The theme this year is, ‘Women as Agents of Change’. It reminds us of the potential in our societies that is yet to be fully unlocked, and it encourages us to find ways to allow all girls and women to play their full part. We must continue to strive in our own countries and across the Commonwealth together to promote that theme in a lasting way beyond this year.

“I have had the good fortune, together with Prince Philip, to attend many CHOGMs over many years. Their importance has always been in precise relationship to their relevance: always being attuned to the issues of the day, and always looking to the future with a sense of vision and practical action to match.

“In your deliberations over the days ahead, you have the encouragement of the whole Commonwealth to maintain this vital tradition.

“The results of this meeting may be global in impact or simply touch a single individual, even imperceptibly. But in every respect I trust that the results will be positive and enduring.

“I conclude with an Aboriginal proverb which is itself enduring: “We are all visitors to this time, this place. We are just passing through. Our purpose here is to observe, to learn, to grow, to love... and then we return home.”

On her part, the outgoing Chairperson of the Commonwealth, Mrs. Kamla PersadBissessar asked the leaders to use their offices to improve the lives of their citizens.

Perssad- Bissessar, who is also the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, said: “We have the saying that vox populi vox dei (the voice of the people is the voice of God).

This has reinforced my commitment that in governance, we should put people first and it has also reinforced my commitment to listen to people.

“We do not own this earth, we strongly inherited it from our forefathers and we simply hold it in trust for our future generation. Let us not betray this trust.

“We must not squander this opportunity because trade is not only good for economic development but it is good for human development.”

She said the Commonwealth countries must forge a united front.

She said: “We must look at each other for support and assistance to overcome the challenges of today’s volatile world.

“On the eve of the last Commonwealth, the anxiety was about emerging democracies but I must admit that we have emerged, we have risen.”

In his address, the SecretaryGeneral of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma said CHOGM 2011 will provide a new lease of life for the association.

He said: “I am confident that Perth 2011 will stand as an even greater watershed in the way we serve our people and uphold our values.

“Her Majesty has described the Commonwealth as ‘the original world wide web’, and as ‘the face of the future’. I believe that Perth 2011 will be memorable in realising our ambition of further transforming the Commonwealth both as a twenty-first century network, and as an organisation of its time.

We decided our 2011 theme should be Women as Agents of Change. With Prime Minister Persad-Bissessar handing over the chair to Prime Minister Gillard we have lived up to it spectacularly.

“CHOGMs are an occasion to take the pulse of the Commonwealth – to check that we continue in good health, to review how far we have come in the last two years, and to set signposts for the future.

“It is heartening that the goals set at our last CHOGM have been realised - and in such practical ways. The network of election commissions is in full stride and on track to our am-

bition of establishing a ‘gold standard’ in electoral practice.

“Our Geneva small states office is up and running and our intent is to see it become the hub in the multilateral world of Geneva in service of small states.

“Our ambitious new panCommonwealth internet workplace, Commonwealth Connects, is being launched at Perth, and will create an innovative and contemporary paradigm of partnership. There is a cascade of Commonwealth communities of practice enlisting to occupy this new platform. It will allow us all to be better informed, be more in touch and create real results.

“CHOGMs have also become the occasion to bring together in celebration the full breadth of our Commonwealth community. All can serve our three aspirations of Democracy, Development and Diversity. And in offering glo-

bal wisdom and value, we must continue to strive for equity, especially for the rights and causes of the small and the vulnerable, and in the service of our people.”

Sharma urged the citizens of the Commonwealth to remain resilient and hopeful of greater days ahead.

He added: “If there is one rich vein of inspiration that must animate all of us in the days ahead, it is renewal and reform in order to be resilient and relevant. The work of doing justice to the reports requested by heads at the last CHOGM in 2009 lies before us.

The review of the Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group to enhance its role in advancing our values, and the work of the Eminent Persons Group, are ambitious, laudable, and merit our deep appreciation. They will propel us forward.

“We meet on the banks of the Swan River. Western Australia was formerly known as the Swan River Colony, and the swan is still its state emblem, the black swan. The first century writer, Juvenal, considered the black swan to be a physical impossibility.

Two thousand years later,

another writer used the black swan as a symbol for the surprising and unexpected for which one needs to be prepared. As we navigate this century, which has both peril and promise, and work together to shape the future of the Commonwealth, let us embrace the world of opportunity that lies ahead.”

The Secretary-General thanked the natives of Western Australia for their warm hospitality.

He said: “We thank the elders of the Noongar people, traditional custodians of the land on which we meet, for their blessing. I also convey our heartfelt gratitude for the warmth of welcome and care being bestowed on us by the government and people of Australia, in setting the stage for our meeting, and in their ambitions for the Commonwealth. We are immensely grateful to the people of Perth, and of Western Australia, for the enthusiasm with which they have embraced our presence.

“To have hosted three CHOGMs shows a remarkable commitment by Australia to serving the Commonwealth.

Melbourne 1981 and Coolum 2002 were both landmark meetings and produced significant outcomes.”

No more cold war, it’s time for commonwealth renewal—Australian PM

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HE Prime Minister of Australia and the incoming Chairperson of the Commonwealth, Mrs. Julia Gillard, yesterday said there is no more Cold War but it is time for renewal in the association.

She said the world has changed and the Commonwealth must change with it.

Gillard made the submissions in an address of welcome at the opening of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Perth.

She said: “The Cold War has come and gone.

New challenges like AIDS and climate change have emerged. Marvellous new technologies like the Internet have transformed the way we live. The world has changed, and a wise institution changes too.

“So, as the Commonwealth journeys towards its centenary, it is time for renewal.”

The Prime Minister asked the leaders to rededicate themselves to the values of the Commonwealth.

She added: “We are a Commonwealth of values. Shared values of peace, democracy, racial equality, the rule of law and a commitment to social and economic progress. Shared values freely embraced and consensually expressed.

“Values we can put to work in addressing some of the most pressing concerns that face our world like climate change, financial stability and food security.

Yusuf ALLI and Vincent IKUOMOLA, Australia “But we must also be a more agile Commonwealth, equipped to respond t when our values are tested and to speak clearly when our voice needs to be heard.

“The strength and success of our fellowship is no accident. It comes from a commitment to make Commonwealth values real and present in the life of each member nation. And to ensure those member nations that fall short understand that their peers want to see change.

“Unlike other global bodies united by practical concerns such as commerce or trade, we are also joined by a different motivation.”

The Australian leader also offered some suggestions on how to make the Commonwealth vibrant.

She said: “To answer the question posed for our organization- how we best pursue our timeless values in a world of change? Let us make CHOGM 2011 memorable for answering this question.

“Memorable for being the meeting that gave the Commonwealth the direction it needed at a time of global uncertainty and risk.

“In so doing, we will be faithful to our values, and faithful to the people who have sent us here. May we prove worthy custodians of the trust they have placed in us.”

NEWS3

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Jonathan didn’t fail to deliver scheduled CHOGM speech, says aide

Augustine EHIKIOYA, Abuja THE Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, yesterday denied reports in some newspapers, claiming that President Goodluck Jonathan failed to attend a CHOGM meeting where he was supposed to deliver a speech on Thursday.

According to him, Jonathan was not scheduled to deliver any speech at the forum.

The statement issued last night reads: “I find the story mischievous and the innuendoes contained therein entirely misleading.

“The truth is as follows: On Wednesday, President Jonathan delivered the keynote address at the Commonwealth Business Forum on the theme: “Unleashing Africa’s Potentials: A New Vision.” Attended by a capacity crowd of over 2, 000, the event set the tone for subsequent deliberations atthe Commonwealth Business Forum, and the President’s presentation was well received.”

“The President was not scheduled to deliver speeches at two events on Thursday as claimed.

Rather, he was required to participate in another Business Forum: “Africa - Creating a New Economic Power for the 21st Century”.

FG seeks NASS support for deregulation

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•The Managing Director of Nigerian Railway Corporation (NRC) Engr. Adeseyi Sijuwade (representing the Minister of Transport, Senator Idris Umar) flagging off the Lagos-Ilorin passenger train to the admiration of the Deputy Director (Operation), Olusola Ogunsegun; District Superintendent, Mr samuel Olumole (holding the red flag) and the Chief Parcel Officer, Mr Goodluck Ogbona at the Ido Terminus, Lagos yesterday. Photo: Solomon ADEOLA

No going back on Sovereign Wealth Fund –Aganga T HE Federal Government has resolved to press ahead with the setting up of the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).

This is in spite of the opposition being mounted by the majority of state governments, which have slammed a suit against the federal authorities in the Supreme Court to stop the scheme.

One state, Edo, has already dissociated itself from the joint suit, saying it was duly consulted by the Federal Government before the SWF was set up.

However, the Federal Government says it is prepared to go back to the governors with a view to resolving their grievances amicably.

The Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, told The Nation in Burswood, Australia, on the sideline of the ongoing meeting of Commonwealth leaders yesterday that contrary to insinuations, the 36 state governors were involved in the negotiations that led to the introduction of the fund.

Aganga, who initiated the SWF while in office as Minister of Finance, said the SWF is not just for savings but a tool for diversification.

The act setting up the SWF, he said, provides, among others, for payment of dividends to the states if it makes profit in five years time.

Aganga said: “Look, we are one of the three OPEC countries that do not have an SWF. Libya has more than $60 billion in its SWF account. Ghana has just discovered oil. They are yet to produce in real commercial quantity, but they are already working on a bill to set up a Sovereign Wealth Fund.

“Can you imagine how much we would have achieved if we had set up that fund many years ago? Not in terms of the value of money we could have saved but the developments we would have had. Nigeria would not be what it is today. There is just no reason why we should not go ahead,” he said.

Insisting that the Federal Government carried the gov-

•’How we struck deal with governors’

‘Edo is no party to SWF’

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HE Edo State Government has debunked claims that it sued the Federal Government over the Sovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).

A statement by the Commissioner for Information, Mr. Louis Odion, stated: “Our attention has been drawn to a newspaper report of October 25, purporting that some states had gone to the Supreme Court to challenge the SWF. ‘To set the records straight, Edo State Government wishes to state that at no time was it part of a meeting where that decision was taken to go to court over SWF. Nor did it authorise any lawyer to file such brief on its behalf.

“The truth of the matter is that Edo State Government and other states have been involved in dialogue with the Federal Government towards resolving the matter.

“Also, it is true that Edo State Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, was consulted before the $1 billion was committed to open the SWF by the Federal Government.

“The last meeting called by President Goodluck Jonathan and attended by governors over SWF was not conclusive. It was agreed that discussion would continue at the next meeting.

“The Edo State Government wishes to say that it remains committed to the ongoing conversation to resolve the matter.”

Yusuf ALLI, Australia

ernors along and struck a deal with them on the matter, he said: “If you recall that last year, we actually took our time to make sure that we did everything that we needed to do. I actually made representations to the governors at the National Economic Council at least four times.

“Each time we discussed it, we looked at areas where we needed to be flexible; we looked at their concerns and we structured it in a way to accommodate all the concerns. They had input into it. For example, the idea was to have three sub-structures: 1. A future generation fund for our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren.

2. The Stabilization Fund and 3.

Infrastructure Fund, which will help develop our infrastructure in the country; serve as a catalyst for bringing in other investors to invest in infrastructure,

including Sovereign Wealth Fund globally.

“Therefore, Sovereign Wealth Fund is a tool for diversifying our economy. That is one of the biggest bottlenecks to productivity in our country.

That is why companies cannot make enough profit and therefore cannot pay taxes.

“And if they are not paying taxes, there is no way you can generate other sources of revenue. You will just rely on oil.

The SWF is a tool that all the states will benefit from, because it is a tool for diversification, not just for savings but for development. It does everything together.

“We also said we may need to do some projects in some areas that were not necessarily commercial as they should be.

We carved out 10 per cent of the infrastructure fund for such developments in any of those states like Taraba, Niger and others.

Also, the fund is for agricul-

ture.”

On the constitutional issues raised about the fund, the minister added that enough consultations were made with the 36 states before the bill was forwarded to the National Assembly and passed into law.

He said: “The issue of whether it was constitutional or not was raised. We all agreed at NEC that we should invite the Attorneys-General of the 36 states for consultations. I invited the AGs to Abuja with some lawyers. W went through the rationale. We went through the section of the constitution we were relying on and the consensus was to go ahead.

“We consulted widely; I did not just do this. And when we decided to set up the fund and set aside $1 billion, we went round every governor for a yes or no answer, and the consensus was ‘set up the fund, set aside $1 billion.’ We would not have set aside $1 billion if it was not decided. And at the end of that meeting, we would always have a press conference.

“The governors announced to Nigerians that we have now approved the SWF and we have asked the Finance Minister to set aside $1 billion and immediately that $1 billion was set aside.

“And I took it to the National Assembly and it was the fastest economic bill to be passed within a five-month period. I did everything to make sure it was out and it was signed into law by the President on the 27th of May at 4.23pm. I think it is just a question of explaining the process.”

Concerning the opposition of some governors to the SWF, Aganga described it as “normal”.

He said: “In fairness to the governors, we have always had constructive discussions. And in fairness to them, they have even gone to say go ahead and set it up with $1 billion and let us resolve other issues. The SWF is good for the country.

Continued on Page 62

Detailed interview on pages 54 and 55

HE Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu has solicited for the support of the National Assembly on the planned deregulation of the down stream oil sector by the present administration.

He described it as a policy aimed at improving the wellbeing of the masses.

Chief Wogu made these remarks in Abuja during an interactive session with Senate and House Committees on Employment, Labour and Productivity yesterday.

“We seek your support in the direction of deregulation policy, and believe that what will accrue to the Federal Government from the removal of fuel subsidy will be judiciously used as well as monitored and managed by eminent Nigerians who are well respected in the society,” he stated.

The Assistant Director of Press, Mr. Samuel Olowookere, who made this known in a statement yesterday, said the minister expressed concern that the current quantum on subsidy has weighed so much on the economy of the nation while calling on Nigerians not to throw the baby away with the bath water but to critically look into the fuel subsidy removal policy, as it would be of immense benefit to Nigerians.

“I would tell you sir, that this policy of government is informed by the need to do the right thing, as subsidy has weighed so much on the economy of this nation and it does not have a direct impact on the masses. It behoves every Nigerian to think of the positive aspect of this policy.

Though there will be pain,

John OFIKHENUA, Abuja

adequate safety nets will be provided to cushion the effects,” he said.

Wogu added that the Federal Government would invest whatever accrues to her from the removal of fuel subsidy into projects and programmes that would impact directly on the masses, adding that such revenue would be judiciously managed and monitored by eminent Nigerians who are well respected in the society “The Federal Government will provide safety nets and will invest the accruing revenue from the removal of subsidy in infrastructural development, which will generate employment, fund education and health among other programmes that will have direct impact on the well being of the masses.”

The minister revealed that the Ministry of Labour and Productivity had begun dialogue with labour unions, which he said would be a continuous process.

“We have begun dialogue with labour unions with the intention to assuage ourselves on the real issues at stake and also inform them (labour unions) in clear terms about the programmes of government in relation to the expected revenue from deregulation, and how it would impact on the economy, especially the masses.

In their reactions, the Chairman Senate Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity, Senator Wilson Ake and his House of Representatives counterpart, Essien Ayi Ekpeyong, appreciated the minister’s effort at ensuring industrial peace and harmony in the nation’s labour sector.

... as kinsmen call for caution

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INSMEN of President Goodluck Jonathan have called for caution in the implementation of the planned removal of fuel subsidy by the Federal Government.

Organised labour and the generality of Nigerians are against the withdrawal of the subsidy.

Several indigenes of Otueke, Bayelsa State, home town of the President, told The Nation that the Federal Government should tread carefully on the issue in view of its volatile nature.

An opinion leader in the community, Dr. Promise Ekio, asked the President to remember the political implication of the planned action and carry all stakeholders along in the process of implementing it.

“The President should think properly before going into it. He should buy into people’s ideas before embarking on the subsidy removal,” Ekio said.

He argued that since Nigeria is operating a market economy, the optimum use of the nation’s resources should be for the benefit of the citizens, adding: “We look at the effects of subsidy on the welfare of the people and the sustenance of the economy in the long run. And if proper analyses are done and if it will affect the people and the sustenance of the economy, there is no option but to remove it.

“If it will cause political instability. Let it stay, because

Isaac OMBE, Yenagoa some politicians may use it as a weapon. Some may not see it from the long term gains point of view but the immediate gains. So, politicians who want to cash in on it will use it, and the economic gain will be lost.

I think government and labour should sit down together and look at the problems of the country. Let government encourage private entrepreneurs who are interested in importing petroleum products from countries that are selling cheap and sell it here at cheaper prices. Let the refineries serve as a check on the quality of fuel being brought into the country by the dealers.

“With this competition, hoarding of petroleum products will be discouraged. Massive supply of the product to flood the market will discourage hoarding: “It will also encourage micro economy. Our petrol chemical engineers should be encouraged to design satisfied plants that can give us what we want,” added Ekio who is the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Gender and Women Development in the State.

Chief Felix Odomina, a member of the community’s Chiefs Council said subsidy should not be removed if it would affect the living conditions of the down trodden.

Continued on Page 62

4 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Court restrains Amosun from probing F Dipo Dina’s, others’ killings ORMER Governor of Ogun State, Engr.

Gbenga Daniel, yesterday got an injunction from a state High Court sitting in Abeokuta, restraining his successor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, from probing the killings, maiming and disappearance of persons during Daniel’s era.

Amosun had in September 14 constituted a Truth and Reconciliation Commission to unravel mysterious deaths, missing of persons and harassment of people in Ogun in the last seven years and the commission which had called for memoranda from the members of the public is expected to begin sitting soon.

Members of the commission are Messrs Pius Adeyemi, Abdulahi Mustapha, Dalopo Akinsanya, Bamidele Aturu, Tunji Onabamwo and Lanre Suraj.

But yesterday embattled Daniel, through his counsel, Prof. Taiwo Osipitan, approached the court in a suit No: M/174/2011, seeking the leave of the court to declare as “illegal and unconstitutional,” the constitution of the Truth Commission by Governor Amosun.

Osipitan said his client would be relying on Section 36 (4) of the constitution to argue his case against the governor and others joined in the suit, adding that the power of the governor in Section 2 (1) of the Commission of Enquiry Laws, Vol. 1. Of Ogun, 2006 does not include power to constitute the Truth Commission.

“His (Governor Amosun’s) power does not include the power to conduct an enquiry on whether the past governor, his aides, persons who served with him committed any crime between January 2003 and May 2009. He is not competent by the law to set up a commission of enquiry into any alleged criminal acts,” Osipitan, argued.

He equally prayed the court to restrain members of the

Ernest NWOKOLO, Abeokuta commission from further investigation, making findings, recommendations and or sanctions in respect of the activities of ex-Gov. Daniel and his aides and this prayer was granted.

In granting the relief sought

by Daniel, Justice Paul Onamade said: “The appli-

cant is seeking the leave of the court and coming under Order 40. And this leave is required by the law before the respondents can be served with the motion on notice for the determination of the matter and the merit.

“I hold the view that the application should succeed and it is hereby granted as prayed.

This granting of leave should operate as a stay of proceed-

ing on the Ogun State Truth and Reconciliation Commission,“ Onamade said.

Senator Amosun, in a ceremony marking his 100 days in office, had said that the Truth Commission, when it commenced sitting, would carry an investigation into the loss of lives and property by the people without appropriate measures to seek redress.

The panel headed by retired

Supreme Court justice, Justice Pius Aderemi, is expected to reopen unresolved cases of the killing and disappearance of prominent Ogun indigenes, namely, Otunba Dipo Dina, Mr. Age (Lemomu) Animashaun, Dele Arojo.

The panel will also probe the assassination of 65 political supporters of Senator Amosun, among others.

The Truth Commission was

Daniel’s church on illegal land, panel told

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B R A H A M ’ s Terbanacle, a mega church built at the Government Reserve Area (GRA), Sagamu, Ogun State by former Governor Gbenga Daniel is on an illegally acquired land, the state’s Lands Commission of Inquiry sitting in Abeokuta was told.

And there were concerns at the public sitting of the commission at the Obas’ Com-

Ernest NWOKOLO, Abeokuta plex, Oke – Mosan, Abeokuta that the church built by Daniel in honour of his aged father, Rev. Abraham Daniel, may be forfeited to a private citizen who is laying claim to the land.

The church, according to

Daniel, was dedicated to God on May 22.

A petitioner, Mr Dele Daada, while giving an oral presentation in support of his documentary evidence relating to the land, said he had the Certificate of Occupancy (C of O) in his name.

Daada, who was represented by his counsel, Mr Ganiyu Rufai, testified fur-

ther that he woke up on a day in October, 2009 and discovered that the fence around the land had been demolished.

Continuing, he said a structure with the inscription“Compulsory Acquisition-” was erected on the land with the warning that members of the public, including himself, to stay away from the land.

According to him, an inde-

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pendent investigation carried out at the state Bureau of Lands and Survey (BLS) revealed that “the C of O of the land has not been revoked, while all other documents pertaining to the land still bear his name.”

Corroborating, the state Director of Lands, Mr. Kunle Osota, confirmed that all titles to the land are still in the name of the petitioner.

“All the title documents of the land still bear the name of the petitioner and if there is any building on the land, it must have been illegally done.” Osota said.

But the five–man commission, after listening to Daada’s presentation and that of the Director of Lands, submitted that all individuals and agencies connected with the affected land would be summoned to appear and testify before it.

NAFDAC shuts six drug stores in Ondo •Ekiti State Governor, Dr Kayode Fayemi, and deputy, Mrs Funmi Olayinka, with members of the newly inaugurated state Economic Management Team headed by Mrs Olayinka in Ado-Ekiti yesterday.

Osun blasts PDP over comments on Sambo’s visit HE Osun State Government yesterday accused the state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of merely playing to the gallery with its apology to Vice President Namadi Sambo over the legitimate complaint lodged by Governor Rauf Aregbesola against the violation of the rights of leaders of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Kogi State by officers of the Nigeria Police Force.

In a statement signed by the Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy in the office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, the police also came under fire as the government said it was a shame that while the Kogi State Police Command was making itself available as a tool to intimidate the opposition, armed robbers had taken over the state, robbing innocent Nigerians and setting criminals under trial free.

The statement noted, “Characteristic of their stock in trade, the Osun State PDP has demonstrated that they are the instigators and beneficiaries of the recent unlawful and condemnable arrest, detention and illegal deportation of ACN leaders from Kogi State to another part of the country by a police commissioner.

“The act, which the Osun PDP has attempted to gloss

set up in the fulfilment of the inauguration promise that Ogun indigenes, including his 65 political supporters, who were murdered by sponsored political thugs between 2005 and May 2011 without opportunity for redress would be revisited.

His words:”You will recall that during the campaigns, we promised that we would not allow the plight of our compatriots who lost their lives, properties or were brutalised and made to suffer different forms brutality to pass away without appropriate measures to seek redress or at least, investigate what happened.”

over, to say the least, was despicable and undemocratic as it threatens the basis of the constitutionally guaranteed basic rights of citizens to freely visit any part of Nigeria without encumbrances or any restraints whatsoever as long as they are not found violating any law of the land.

“There was no better opportunity for Governor Aregbesola to register his displeasure than the commissioning of the Federal High Court building by Vice-President

Namadi Sambo in Osogbo on Thursday.

“Of what value was the commissioning of court rooms when the rights of citizens were becoming the objects of sham political aggrandisement by the ruling clique? It has since become clear that the fire which burnt across the river in Kogi has the backing of charlatans in the ruling party who misuse the police to curtail citizens’ rights for cheap political point.”

Describing the role of the

police in the whole crisis as despicable, the statement added that while policemen in Kogi State were busy hounding opposition elements passing through Kogi, armed robbers were let loose as they stormed a court in Ihima in the Okehi Local Government Area of the state, killing a warder and setting one of their own who is under trial free from the court.

The statement added, “How else do we explain the arrest and deportation of a group of

people who were merely passing through a state and had to be subjected to such harrowing experience while in the same state, policemen failed woefully in their constitutional duty of protecting the citizens by allowing armed gangs to have a field day terrorising the people and killing innocent souls?”

It, therefore, sympathised with the PDP “for being unable to come to terms with the new political realities in the entire nation.”

Tinubu to Lagos LG chairs: Put people first or face party’s wrath

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HEAD of the swearing in of elected local government chairmen and councillors in Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, national leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), has warned the council officials to put the people first or face the party’s wrath.

“Any chairman mismanaging resources and pursuing personal interests, above that of the people, will be dealt with by the party, according to the law,” Asiwaju Tinubu said.

Congratulating the elected officials, he urged them to always remember that the people were the cornerstone of the party, adding that why

they were in government, the people must always come first.

“The people are the reason you are all in government. So, the people must take priority.

That is the only way we can justify your nomination by our party and your election by the people,” he said.

The former governor of Lagos State added that the chairmen, with their councillors, must, therefore, cut down on the celebration of victory and hit the ground running, going after what he called “the low hanging fruits”, so that the people can, as fast as possible, feel their impact.

But he also put the Lagos

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties on notice.

He said: “The ACN would challenge some councillorship results.”

He, however, added that it would be at the tribunal as it always does and not in the streets.

Therefore, he advised all other aggrieved parties to toe that line, as provided by the law.

Stressing the need to follow due process, he 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.

“Lagosians know their true leaders and will not be intimidated. They are ready to follow the party that is transforming Lagos. We make no claim that we can do it all at once as a party. Neither do we claim that every council area can perform at the same speed and standard. All we say in our party is that we will always give it our best shot and try not to disappoint our people,” he said.

M

EN of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) yesterday stormed some major cities in Ondo State, and, at the end of their operations, shut six drug stores, including that of a former commissioner.

Also seized by the agency were several cartons of fake and adulterated drugs in Akure, the state capital, Owo and Ondo in an effort to rid the state of fake and substandard drugs.

The drug stores shut were mainly patent medicine stores which hurriedly closed in order to avoid inspection by the agency officials.

Immediately the officials started their operations in some areas, some drug sellers alerted their colleagues and they closed their shops hurriedly in order to avoid the NAFDAC officials.

The Head of the NAFDAC team, which was divided into six groups to monitor the drug markets in the three towns, Mrs. Adetola Adekoya, Deputy Director, Ports Inspection Directorate, said the agency would not relent in its efforts to put a stop to circulation of fake drugs in Nigeria.

Giving reports of the exercise, Mrs Adekoya said two brands of drugs, Septrin and Fulcin, which had been banned in Nigeria since 2002 and 2004 respectively, were discovered to be on sale in the state, while several other fake brands of Ampiclox and Chloraphenicol capsules, containing ordinary powders were taken away by the officials.

NEWS 5

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Gunmen kill one, injure four in Kano cattle market raid

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HREE gunmen yesterday stormed a cattle market in Wudil, about 40 kilometres southeast of the ancient city of Kano, killing one man and injuring four others.

The gunmen, who arrived the market on three motorbikes at about 9.45 am, opened fire to scare away hundreds of cattle merchants at the market, which is experiencing high volume of business in the build-up to the forthcoming Eid-el-kabir.

The gunmen, according to an eyewitness, went on the rampage, shooting sporadically before dispossessing the traders of various sums of money and other valuables.

The robbery incident was said to have thrown Wudil town into confusion, with many running helter skelter for dear lives.

Kolade ADEYEMI, Kano

The Kano State Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Idris, in a telephone chat with The Nation, confirmed the incident, saying three armed robbers on motorcycles invaded the cattle market on Friday morning and shot sporadically in the air, killing one person and injuring four others.

Idris said the prompt response of the police averted what would have been a mayhem, adding that “my men responded immediately and the robbers fled through a cemetery near the cattle market on sighting my men.”

Calm has since returned to the cattle market and Wudil town. The robbery incident, The Nation gathered, was one of the many robbery operations recorded in Wudil town in recent times.

•Governor Amaechi addressing journalists at Government House, Port Harcourt while his media spokesman, Mr. David Iyofor, stands by… yesterday.

I ’ll continue to demolish Port Harcourt’s waterfronts —Amaechi

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HE Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi, has declared that he will continue with the demolition of Port Harcourt’s waterfronts in spite of protests by the over 200,000 landlords and residents.

He also revealed that 80 per cent of criminals in Port Harcourt, the state capital, live at the waterfronts.

Amaechi, who spoke at an interactive session with reporters at the Brick House (Government House), Port

Harcourt yesterday, said immediately his administration completes the payment of compensation, using commercial rate, the demolition exercise would continue.

The governor also asked the officials of Amnesty International, who had been championing the cause of the residents of the waterfronts from outside Nigeria, to relocate and live at the areas for just three months, to have a clearer picture of things at the waterfronts, which he described as

Create special court for EFCC cases, CNPP tells Reps •Hackers hit anti-graft agency’s website

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HE Conference of Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) has urged the House of Representatives to strengthen the Economic Crimes Commission (EFCC) and ensure that special court is established for the speedy dispensation of corrupt cases rather than dissipate energy on who should head the anti-graft agency.

The CNPP stated this in a statement made available yesterday by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Osita Okechukwu.

The House had on Wednesday commenced the move to amend the EFCC Act to exclude all former ex-security officers from being appointed as the chairman of the antigraft agency on the grounds of what the sponsor of the amendment, Hon Bassey Ewa, claimed that, “ the EFCC has become a political tool against perceived enemies”.

The lawmakers also proposed that only the serving or retired Justice of the Supreme Court or that of the Court of Appeal should be eligible for the position.

But the CNPP had faulted the claim of the lawmakers, saying that there was no proof that the retired justice would perform better than ex-officers.

It also stated that what the lawmakers should support was the establishment of special court and not the status of who would head the agency.

The CNPP added that the time had come for the House to decisively use its oversight function to accede to the request of the EFCC for the legislation of special court which would assist the anti-graft agency in getting quick dispensation of justice.

According to the CNPP, that the development will fast track the prosecution of corrupt cases that will serve as deterrent to gluttonous public officials and other errant individuals as opposed to the current trend in our regular courts where corruption cases filed by the agency have dragged for years without conviction.

The statement reads in part, “This is the more reason why we join the clamour for the establishment of special corruption courts for speedy dispensation of corrupt cases and not the canvass of the House of Representatives for the EFCC to be headed by retired justices.

Special courts for corruption will serve better purpose than old justices, some of who might be less than clean and have the capacity and courage to deal with corruption cases”.

It also reminded stakeholders that the EFCC under the retired ex-officers had performed better than the ICPC that was headed by retired jurists.

•Says 80 per cent of criminals live there •Governor flays critics of monorail the dens of criminals.

Amaechi’s administration started the Port Harcourt waterfronts’ demolition with Njemanze settlement, Mile One, Diobu, on August 28, 2009, as part of his government’s urban renewal programme, but it is yet to be developed and is now a refuse dump.

The governor said yesterday: “The residents of Port Harcourt’s waterfronts have their own police. They rape and maim. The criminals will bring out their guns and polish them in the open.

“When the criminals are raping married women, they will ask their husbands to be watching. That is the height of criminality. Amnesty International can label me with what it wants, but I will not be deterred.

“I will demolish the waterfronts. The residents are illegal occupants. They have Temporary Occupation Licence (TOL). After I have paid compensation, using commercial rate, and I am ready to demolish, within seven days, they must vacate the place.”

At a news conference in Port Harcourt, some of the resi-

Bisi OLANIYI and Clarice AZUATALAM, Port Harcourt

dents of the more than 40 waterfront settlements in Port Harcourt, stated that they were not opposed to demolition of their structures, but they wanted development.

Fubara Tokuibiye Samuel and Joy Williams, both victims, said they were unarmed when they were attacked by security personnel while protesting, two years ago, the planned demolition of Bundu waterfront in the state capital.

Amnesty International, through one of its Directors, Mr. Michael Uwemedimo, also called on the Rivers State Government to partner with residents of the waterfront settlements to ensure development.

Meanwhile, Amaechi has dismissed claims by critics that the Rivers monorail project is unrealistic stating that the project is feasible and on course.

Amaechi spoke during an interactive session with journalists in Government House, Port Harcourt yesterday.

He explained that the construction process is slow due

to its highly technical and delicate nature and wondered why some people still criticize the government for the project in spite of progress made.

“The monorail is under construction, but some people are bent on criticizing us. Even though they see people working, they still say it’s been abandoned. It takes one month to build three of those columns.

The construction is very slow and that’s because they don’t want any mistake; it’s a very technical thing,” he said.

The governor noted that the project was conceived to address the increasing transportation problems faced in the city of Port Harcourt, while explaining that the technical report obtained was never against the monorail but the ground rail system.

Assuring Rivers people that the ongoing project is not a waste of public funds, Amaechi remarked that as the project progresses citizens of the state will have cause to smile.

“At each point we will put a train, that way, we will be able to shut the mouths of our critics,” he added.

Amaechi disclosed that the new monorail will run from

the Old Town axis through parts of Diobu to Waterlines and Garrison axis before it is extended to other parts of the city.

On other issues, the governor said 50 per cent of roads in Port Harcourt have been reawarded, while his administration targets 715 megawatts of power to ensure adequate power supply in the state.

“We have completed 460 mega watts, 130MW at Trans Amadi, 150MW at Omoku, 180MW at Afam. Its only 75MW at Onne that is not completed and we are negotiating with the contractor to complete it. We want to commence another 180MW at Afam to bring it to 715MW. We have transmission lines, so we are well at home with generation and transmission. The problem is distribution,” Amaech said.

Airforce plane crashes An Air Force trainer plane crashed in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, yesterday.

The aircraft, which was on a routine training exercise, was said to have crashed moments after taking off from Calabar, Cross River State.

No further detail was available by press time yesterday.

Bayelsa 2012: Why PDP cleared Sylva, eight others

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HE People’s Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday cleared Governor Timipre Sylva and eight others after they were found to have met all the required criteria for the primary election of November 19, 2011 to determine who emerges the flagbearer of the party in the 2012 gubernatorial election in the state.

But the party refused to clear erstwhile presidential adviser and former managing director of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Timi Alaibe, on the ground that he could not get a “letter of waiver from the National Working Committee (NWC) of the PDP”.

The second person not cleared, Igali Godknows Boladei, did not appear before the screening committee.

According to the summary of report of the screening ex-

•Alaibe, Igali fail to make it Augustine AVWODE Assistant Editor ercise conducted at the party’s zonal office in Port Harcourt on Thursday, October 27, which was released yesterday and signed by Brig. Gen Idi Adamu (rtd) and the Secretary, Hon Joe Edionwele, others cleared include Doukpola Francis Amaebi; Hon Dickson Seriake; Orufa Jusline Boloubo; Hon Enai Christopher Fullpower; Ekiyegha Fred Korobido; Kalando Michael Ypupele; Murray Ben Bruce and Austin Febo. All the successful aspirants have been awarded “a provisional clearance certificate” with Governor Sylva’s certificate bearing serial no: 0000012.

Political pundits had always believed that one prob-

lem Alaibe might not be able to overcome with ease is the waiver that he must get from the party which he dumped for the Labour Party and in which he emerged as the gubernatorial candidate until a few weeks ago when he again defected back to the PDP. The waiver is a must for him to be regarded as a member of the PDP which will then entitle him to contest as an aspirant in any election. As it

stands now, he is not a member of the PDP. This development has temporarily thrown spanners in the wheel of the accountant turned politician’s fourth attempt to become the governor of the state.

However, he has the right of appeal within 24 hours to the Gubernatorial Screening Appeal Panel. As at the time of writing this report yesterday night, Alaibe could not be reached to ascertain whether he would immediately appeal his non-clearance or not.

Correction Mrs Olubunmi Adelugba is the Ekiti State Commissioner for Labour, Productivity and Human Capital Development and not that of Women Affairs as portrayed in our story headlined: “Monthly stipend excites Ekiti senior citizens” on Pages 11-13 last Saturday.

The error is regretted. — Editor

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

T

HE old proverb of the ostrich which buried its head in the sand in the mistaken belief that no one can see it when its body was visible for all and sundry to see, illustrates very well the topic I want to discuss today.

The choice of topic came from a furious debate I had with an elderly and well respected friend, an old Marxist who insisted that NATO and the US had no right to interfere in the internal affairs of Libya and that indeed they went to Libya mainly because of oil and that Libya will not know peace for the next 42 years which was the length of time that the late Muammar Gaddafi ruled his people with an iron hand.

My argument against this was that oil or no oil Gaddafi called his people rats and deployed his well armed and rich army against unarmed civilians and NATO did the right thing in at least providing a no fly zone and bombing Gaddafi’s arsenal away thus providing the leeway for the amateur army of the Libyan National Transition Council to dethrone, as it were, the former Libyan strongman.

To me the moral or lesson to be learnt from the inglorious exit of Muammar Gaddafi is that no nation or leader of any nation in the world can claim to be ‘an Island unto himself’’ in the age of information technology that we live in today-where satellite TV has shrunken the world to a very tiny global village in terms of the spontaneity and availability of news, communications and global events .The whole world saw and heard the last stand ranting and demagoguery of Gaddafi against his people. The whole world witnessed the frightened young men and women of his nation-the initially rabble opposition , as they rallied round and drove in circles like armed novices and apprentices until they crystallized into an effective fighting force that drove away the veteran soldier who at a similar age of 27, 42 years ago , sent King Idris of Libya scampering across the Mediterranean in a military coup.

That to me is poetic justice albeit a bloody and macabre end for Gaddafi which really was a fitting end to his harsh and violent rule of his nation.

In a way Gaddafi swore he would die on Libyan soil and he did just that and his manner of leaving the world very much befitted the contempt with which he treated his people while he was alive. At least he got a state burial by default as thousands of unbelieving Libyans trooped past his unwatched body as he requested in his will , covering their noses at the sight and smell of the body of the man who played god with his family in inhuman aplomb over their fate and affairs for 42 years.

Gaddafi’ s disgraceful end again makes nonsense of the old diplomacy of non interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states which was rampant during the Cold War era when the former Soviet Union and the USA divided the world into two mighty chunks of influence and control, in the fight between communism and capitalism after the end of the second world war.

Sovereignty and the bogey of non interference

But the world has since moved on from the era of the transistor radio to that of photo copiers and fax which liberated Poland and paved the way for the collapse of the Soviet Union and now we are in the era of satellite TV. In this era, not only the Arabs of the Middle East but a global audience saw the people of Iraq voting in spite of the presence and lethal violence of suicide bombers.

This in turn led to the green and orange demonstrations first in Beirut in Lebanon and later, more transformationally in democratic and political terms in the street revolts in Tunis, Tunisia; next at Tahrir Square in Cairo, Egypt; then from Benghazi in East Libya to Tripoli the capital and finally for Muammar Gaddafi, his home town of Sirte where he met his Waterloo.

Ironically and lamentably for the late Muammar Gaddafi, he scoffed at the protests in Tunis and admonished Tunisians for shedding blood in sending their former President Ben Ali scurrying for cover in Saudi Arabia. Gaddafi in undisguised mockery asked the Tunisians to come and learn from him in Libya how to govern and live in peace. Today, however, Ben Ali is still alive though quaking in fear in Saudi Arabia while the liberated Tunisians are holding their first free and fair elections in decades. Just as Muammar

Gaddafi kept his date with fate and met his gruesome end in the week of the Tunisian elections. Surely the Tunisians had the last laugh in spite of Gaddafi’s unsolicited and extravagant interest in their internal affairs.

More important for modern diplomacy however is the news late this week that Gaddafi’s most active and arrogant son Asif al Islam who now calls NATO rats and had vowed to fight and die in Libya like his late father is now negotiating to be tried at the International Criminal Court– ICC-in the Hague rather than being tried for crimes against humanity by the new government in his newly liberated country .What a climb down for a local tyrant of a champion , a great victory for international law and justice and another lesson that the days of impunity couched mischievously in nationalistic and sovereign terms by repressive tyrants are gone for good .

Coming nearer home, and before Gaddafi, in the ECOWAS region here in Ivory Coast , we all saw Laurent Gbagbo the former Ivorian President in singlet and his wife in her nighties both looking frightened as they were paraded at a press briefing after they had been blown out of the presidential palace in Abidjan.

Needless to say France and the UN played a major role in snuffing out Gbagbo and installing President Alasane

Ouattara who they said won the election that Gbagbo as incumbent president then said he won. Whilst ECOWAS dithered and prevaricated, France, the former colonial master collaborated with the UN, unseated the de facto ruler and installed the de jure .Obviously the principle of non interference in the internal affairs of sovereign states had no meaning at least in Franco phone West Africa. What then of Commonwealth Africa?

We shall have to go to Kenya in East Africa to find an answer to that.

Early this week it was reported that France would provide logistics for Kenyan troops chasing Al Shebab rebels into Somalia in violation of Somalia’s territorial integrity . But Kenya insists that Al Shebab refugees within its borders have kidnapped and killed tourists and fled to Somalia thus threatening Kenya’s main lucrative tourism industry as well as the political stability of Kenya . Earlier on the President of Somalia, a glaringly failed state, had agreed that the Kenyan troops should move in only to later make a recant.

This is a president that cannot guarantee the territorial integrity of his nation but relies on AU troops stationed in Mogadishu Somalia’s capital.

Now the French are providing planes to help Kenyan troops with transportation of men and material into Somalia and the impotent Somali president is

fretting.

So where does the principle of non interference stand in all these? Of course it has to bend in the direction of pragmatic diplomacy and collective wisdom, which is that no modern army will fold its hand when anarchy looms and human lives are at stake. That was what NATO did at Tripoli recently and the French at Abidjan before that . It may well be the only way for sanity to return to the Horn of Africa and contain the bloody menace of Al Shabab in Somalia and East Africa. The lesson again is clear, injustice and leadership impunity can no longer be an island in international relations, which in modern times is assuming a borderless direction, and just about time too.

On the global socio-economic level too the principle of non interference has taken a good hiding in events unfolding in the Eurozone over the Greek debt crisis, and the earthquake in Turkey. In the Euro zone the spirit of collective survival has prevailed and Greece will neither default and sink the Euro boat as generally feared nor the rest of Europe abandon the origin of democracy to its financial woes.

In a deal announced by French President Nikola Sarkozy after a tough long meeting of the 17 member EU nations, European banks holding Greek bonds are to lose 50% of their holdings, such banks are to look for more capital to cushion the effect of envisaged government debt default and a special body for economic and financial stability set up in Europe is to provide one trillion euros for bail outs in the euro zone. The plan is to take effect and even the Greeks as shown by the happiness of their PM Papandreou are so happy that no one is talking of Greek pride or sovereignty not to talk of non interference in the internal affairs of Greece.

Similarly, Turkey which experienced a severe earthquake this week in its eastern part in

which the death toll has risen to ever 350 initially out of national pride and security said it did not need foreign aid. It shunned offers of help from neighboring nations especially Israel with which it had a diplomatic spat last year over the killing of nine Turks in a Gaza bound flotilla of ships the Israelis had denied entry. As the level of tragedy unfolded however Turkey caved in and admitted it needed urgent accommodation especially tents for those whose buildings had been destroyed and those who no longer feel safe in their existing buildings and the Israelis were the first to fly down the first batch of needed tents .

So the lesson from the proverbial ostrich is clear . In a globalised and visible world , interdependence makes for better governance and easier detection of a lack of it . But the chicken must come home to roost since charity must begin at home . The threat of the oil subsidy removal , Boko Haram , the floods in the Southwest and Bauchi together with the threat of a spread of cholera from sewage drains are urgent socio economic and security challenges facing the present Nigerian administration and the challenges require urgent and prudent attention .

Our duty here is to present pitfalls that have been avoided or fallen into in other places in a global village so that silly mistakes will not be made in our own back yard.

The hope of the Nigerian nation is high in this administration that has exported our 2011 electoral success to Sierra Leone where we have offered through our Vice President this week to help conduct a free and fair election . We urge our leaders to borrow a leaf from events narrated here today, and to act and move the nation forward with minimum damage to the psyche of the average Nigerian as a proud bona fide citizen of the global village watching events unfolding at our doorsteps .

10 COMMENTARY

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Reactions to Saturday Flakes Re: Shouldn’t we have traded our democracy for Gaddafi?

•Reading your write-up on Gaddafi, I was happy that for once, I got somebody who thought deeply and wrote the truth rather than fiction. You are that person. My friends have always regarded my opinion on Gaddafi as that of a minority because they said that Gaddafi’s 42-year rule was too long. Even with Libya as a country with one of the highest standards of living in the world? I asked.

In what way is that not better than our leaders’ four or eight-year rule in which they only change their baton of wealth and inflict suffering on the rest of us?

Do you know that Nigeria’s case has grown worse from lack of infrastructure and unemployment to inability to secure university admission? Do you know that even most of your colleagues in the journalism profession will disagree with you and insist that democracy as we have it in Nigeria is still better? Your write-up was a prototype of thoughts on Gaddafi vis-a-vis the so-called democracy. Why have the US and the UK not directed Saudi Arabia, which operates a monarchy to be overthrown?

May Libyans’ veils later open, and may Gaddafi’s soul rest in peace.

Amen.

Wahab Lanre Oseni, Lagos •Please change the name of your column from Flakes to Frank. I totally agree with your views on Gaddafi. Libyans are complaining in heaven while we are rejoicing in hell.

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•In your article on Gaddafi, you brought out issues that a serious government will ponder on. But our leaders lead by excuses. They always have a reason for not performing. If the Libyan rebels had offered us Gaddafi in exchange for Jonathan and his cabinet and all his aides and advisers, I would have been the first to cast a vote in its favour. Keep up the good work and let us hope that they will change. And the earlier they do, the better for all of us.

Pam, Jos •Vincent, those who thought that Jonathan would make a difference by voting for him can now see that there is no difference between six and half a dozen. PDP symbolises evil. They are anti-democratic. They are not likely to let us off unless we set ourselves free.

Alhaji Adeboye Lawal, Felele, Ibadan •Happy weekend, Vincent. In fact, you said it all in your write-up on Gaddafi. As far as I and other wellmeaning Nigerians are concerned, the bulk of our leaders have nothing to offer. Jonathan has said there is no going back on fuel subsidy removal.

Even a governor in the North Central who won the governorship election that brought him into office fraudulently also said there would be no going back on subsidy removal.

The crisis that will erupt from subsidy removal will see them begging angry Nigerians like Gaddafi did in Libya at the last miute.

Tayo Tola Agbaje, Garki, Abuja •Your opinion on Gaddafi is 100 per cent correct for those who reason well and are not blinded by the western propaganda on ‘democrazy’. Do you know that Gaddafi gave quality education to thousands of Nigerians free of charge? Your ink will never run dry. May the Almighty continue to protect you from those who don’t want to hear the truth. Please remain on the side of truth.

Y. Ishola.

•I must thank you seriously for your views on Ghaddafi. After all the bullying he got on the television, I had been agonising on my own, thinking that I was probably mad to think differently. But reading your

Adeniyi’s position on Libya, which was a remark on my piece in the Nigerian Tribune a few weeks ago: ‘Thank you, Mr. Adegbite, for that illuminating piece in today’s Tribune.

The Iraqis are now gnashing their teeth after 10 years of US’ wicked occupation. Libya will forever regret their sponsored betrayal of Gaddafi.’

Vincent, please keep up the good work.

Adewuyi Adegbite, Ogbomoso.

column convinced me that I was not mad after all. Thank you for the beautiful piece. It really made my day.

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•I like your views on Gaddafi and Libya issue. There is no leader like Gaddafi in Africa. US is only hungry for their oil.

Auwalu Adamu Aliyu •You have done more than excellent with your write-up on Gaddafi.

Truth syaers like you will longer than their enemies expect. God bless you.

Salisu Mohammed •While it might be adequate for citizens of developed nations to mock Gaddafi in death and the termination of his 42-year-old regime, it might not be appropriate for Nigerians to ridicule him because his achievements were far ahead of what the past Nigerian leaders have done in aggregate. What have we enjoyed from our long years of democracy in terms of social infrastructure which one year of Gaddafi in office was not better than? What is expected in democratic governance that was not found in Gaddafi’s “sit-tight. Nigerians should think well before they comment on Gaddafi. Your article is must-read for all.

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•My brother, no matter what anybody may say about Gaddafi, he is far better than our leaders. His country is far more developed than our country and his people have a better living standard than ours. He contributed to African liberation struggle more than most African leaders He died a hero. Libyans will now taste our kind of freedom and democracy, and they will know the West fully. If the West wants us to believe that Gaddafi stole money, they should support their claim by naming the bank where he kept the money and the account number. And we will like to know which country owns the bank.

Sani •I read your commentary on Gaddafi and it touched my heart. I pity poor Libyans. They need to weep for the generations coming. Keep it up, my brother.

S. Ogunlade, Ekiti State.

•I Just read your piece on trading Gaddafi. It makes an interesting reading. However, you ignored a fact of history, that freedom is the highest desire of man after the basic things of life are met. This Gaddafi ignored at his peril.

A.A. Ogisi, DELSU, Abraka •I would have passionately supported a proposal to trade our democracy for Gaddafi. What is democracy where the government is resisting the payment of just $120 as minimum wage; a country where there is purported improved economy without a corresponding fall in unemployment rate. Thanks, my brother.

Folorunsho, Kogi State.

•Good piece, Mr. Akanmode. I pray that Libyans will not regret this West-induced revolution. I am totally in agreement with you.

Omodara Samson.

•The secret behind the docility of the masses in Nigeria is poverty and illiteracy. Your commentary on Gaddafi came a little late to elicit the desired sympathy. The fingers of the western powers who were bent on avenging the death of their kinsmen in the Lokebie saga may become leprous as soon as the truth dawns on Libyans that they have traded a patriot for mediocres in the name of democracy. Quite a revealing piece; a challenge to the authorities in Nigeria.

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•Jonathan •Right from those days of of the struggle for political independence, every aspiring Nigerian leader had been obsessed with power. There would have been no qualms if their obsession and lust were borne out of genuine love for the people, but they had their own ideas. The NPN came in the Second Republic and showed us how to squander money.

Babangida came with his deception and divide-and-rule tactics and left our economy ruined. Baba Agbe was better as a military head of state than he was as an elected president. He was an emperor who ruled his subjects as though they were no more than slaves. His style of leadership was as crude as it was abrasive. Provision of social amenities suffered neglect under his administration.

The problem with Gaddafi was not knowing when to quit. But with his travails and eventual death, his tory will never forget him as a man whose country’s fortune competed favourably with those of of the super powers of the world. Unlike Gaddafi, history ends with most Nigerian leaders long before their death. Gaddafi, like you observed, should have been traded for our inept, corrupt and directionless leaders.

Remi Adesina, Ibadan.

•This is the best of your pieces I have read. Gaddafi, though a despot, was a good leader for providing at least electricity for the people of Libya, which happens to be a scarce commodity in our so-called giant of Africa. Our leaders are failures. They should cover their heads in shame.

The only problem Nigerians had with Gaddafi was that he craved for the division of the country, which in my own opinion was baseless. As far as I am concerned, I would rather prefer a good despot like Gaddafi to all the bad leaders around us. He died a martyr.

Olaoti Oluwaseun, 36B Lafiagi Street. Ilorin.

•Yes, Vincent, what is democracy without the basic things of life? I believe a benevolent dictator like Gaddafi will be preferred by Nigerians to the selfish ruling elite we currently have as democrats. Libya may return to King Idris’ days as those who are masquerading as democratic rulers in the country now will become selfish and care less about the people. My prayer is that the new rulers will not follow the West sheepishly.

Andy •I salute your courage and wisdom concerning the piece on Gaddafi. I pray that other people would reason like you and I do. God bless you.

Adeshina Taiwo, Ajah, Lagos.

•I commend you for your article

•Gaddafi on Gaddafi. Given their recent reaction to OBJ’s letter, I only hope that the powers that be will not take it as treasonable. Cheers.

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•Vincent, good, ethically bankrupt write-up again. The same Gaddafi, your dead hero, worked assiduously for the balkanization of my dear Nigeria. He impressed morally neutral species like you, no doubt. Pity!

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•I’m sure that opinion is yours. As a journalist, you shouldn’t have based your comments on those that stay in Tripoli and Bengazi. The interior of Libya has its problem. Conduct your research. As a fresh leader, he gathered traditional religion practitioners, deceived them that he wanted to have a meeting with them and asked his soldiers to drown them in the ocean. Hope you know he ordered the killing of journalists and other professionals who criticised him.

Jonathan tolerates criticism.

He who comes to equity must come with clean hands. Gaddafi’s hand was soiled with blood. I would rather prefer benevolent leaders like Mandela, Clinton, Nyerere, etc, whose citizens were moved to tears when they relinquished power; not a guru in despotism and nepotism.

Well, he is dead. He can never replace Goodluck.

Doyin Alao, Lagos.

•Your piece on Gaddafi is superb and in fact made my day. I quite agree with your sincere and articulate article on Gaddafi and the inept and corrupt leadership that has bedeviled Nigeria. I forsee a bloody revolution that will restore and guarantee the Nigeria of our dream soonest. They make us suffer in the midst of plenty.

Their Waterloo is imminent.

Ugo, Abuja.

•After reading your article on Gaddafi, I wish to thank you so much for letting Nigerians know that the much criticised Gaddafi will be adjudged the best leader Africa ever had in the not-too-distant future.

080515214..

•The Nation’s position on Libya’s debacle and Gaddafi’s matyrdom was out of context of the international conspiracy to rob Libya of its oil wealth, in collaboration with a few disgruntled elements in Gaddafi’s government, like Abdul Jalil, who until February was the justce minister. The Nation was aping foreign propaganda machinery which never sees anything good in anti-imperialist leaders, no matter how beneficial they are to their countries. Hence, it was a surprise that your piece was published in the same newspaper.

I share with you Chief Tola

•Your piece on Gaddafi was highly informative, down to earth, revealing and a clear departure from many of The Nation’s columnists position on Libya’s debacle and Gaddafi’s matyrdom. It is true Gaddafi overstayed. But the question is: who among our rulers has willingly left office, even in our democracy, despite their failure to impact on people’s lives? Is President Jonathan not contemplating tenure extension via seven-year single tenure proposal?

With the exception of you, Brian Broni, Prof. Jide Oshuntokun and Alhaji Haruna Mohammed (the last two are yet to write about Libya) 081289016..

•You wouldn’t have been a journalist or a columnist in a newspaper if Gaddafi rules Nigeria. Even if you muster the courage to do so, you would not have written an opinion that is critical of the government like this your lovely piece. The purported great deeds of Gaddafi for his country cannot be compared with any other Libyan ruler’s to know which one is better. For me, the real tragedy of Libyans is that for 42 years, they couldn’t find out if there was a better or worse leaders than Gaddafi.

The fact that Gaddafi did well does not give the right to feel that others cannot do better than him.

080231537.

•The Yoruba adage, eniyan o le te araye lorun (no one can please the world), is apt in describing the Libyan conundrum. But for man’s imperfection, what prevents Gaddafi from leaving the scene when the ovation was loudest? My heart bleeds not for Gaddafi per se, but for man’s imperfection that leads to the enthronement of self, which is man’s number one enemy.

080558579.

•Thank you, Vincent, for your write-up on Gaddafi. But have you also thought of another means of informing the teeming population, market women and politicians who don’t read the newspapers, so that there could be a change? That is my pain.

081033124.

•Your piece on trading our democracy for Gaddafi was wonderful.

Somebody should tell President Goodluck Jonathan and his governors that what happened in Libya could happen in Nigeria if they kept using us the way they are doing. When would Nigerian dictators practice true democracy?

Jeffrey, ASCETA •I do believe that to conquer the forces of oppression has been sanctioned by our generation and it is the greatest aspiration of humanity.

Therefore, I join all lovers of democracy to submit that the fall of that monstrous butcher, egoistic rascal and reprobative barbarian called Gaddafi rests on the quest for freedom and democracy. Indeed, he was unfit to rule his fellow men because he was nothing but an unwanted species among homo-sapiens.

Ehimare Godfrey.

•Libyan people are busy dancing to the Ajasco beat being played by the western world. They will pay for it. In due cause, they will look for Gaddafi but it will be too late.

Rogers Aroh, Nsukka.

12

S

HE had prepared well for resumption next month for her Higher National Diploma in Accounting at the Federal Polytechnic, Offa, Kwara State. She had concluded her National Diploma in Business Studies about a year earlier.

In the interval, she had learnt tailoring and her parents were making arrangements to buy her a sewing machine. But these laudable dreams of 27-year-old Tayo Abe were abruptly terminated by trigger-happy policemen whose bullets dispatched her into early grave penultimate Thursday.

Until her untimely death, she had proved in every way possible to be the responsible child any parent would be proud of, as she did everything she could to make life easier for her 70-year-old father and retired teacher, Pa Abe Ogunyemi, as well as her 54-year-old petty trader mother, Mrs. Felicia Abe. At an age most women would consider themselves too big and too sophisticated for such a menial assignment, she hawked fufu, a local staple food made from cassava, around Orin-Ekiti, a remote settlement that shares borders with IfakiEkiti and Ido-Ekiti communities in Ekiti State.

In an effort to augment the family’s savings towards her fast approaching resumption date, she went with her four siblings and two others to harvest maize on a farm land located between Orin and IdoEkiti communities when fate played a cruel one on her. An unguarded police bullet launched forth like a bolt from the blue and dispatched her to the world beyond. Today, she lies quietly at the morgue of the Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti, where autopsy established that she died of gunshot.

The Nation investigation revealed that she had gone to the farm with six others, two of whom were also hit by bullets but were lucky to have escaped with serious injuries.

All the lucky survivors, who now lie in critical conditions at the Federal Medical Centre, Ido-Ekiti, could ask is ‘why?’.

Eyewitness accounts revealed that they got to the farm and started work at about 3:30 am because, as it is customary for residents of Orin-Ekiti community, the harvested crops would have to be ferried very early to Ado-Ekiti, the state capital, where ready market would assure prompt and reasonable returns.

Recalling the events that culminated in Tayo’s death, her immediate younger brother, Adeniyi, who also suffered injuries in the arm and legs, said: “We had almost completed the harvesting, and some of us, including Tayo, had even started removing the covering of the maize with the youngest of us, Mary.

“We had spent more than two hours on the farm when we suddenly heard gunshots. The policemen actually sprayed us with bullets. Immediately, we heard voices hollering at us and saying: “If you move, you are dead!” I still had some strength, so I ran.

“What surprised me most about the whole thing was that we did not hear any footsteps and no warning came from the policemen.”

Another survivor, Ajiboye Kemi, who sustained injuries in her right arm, also narrated her experience.

She said: “Auntie Tayo was the elder sister of my boyfriend, Adeniyi.

I was already peeling the maize with another boy when it happened”.

She added::”Although I was in pains, I heard the discussion one of them had with the Divisional Police Officer on the phone as they were conveying us to the station.

He said: ‘We have just shot and killed one of the robbers sir, and we are already conveying the others down’. I saw quite well that they were four in number. Two of them carried Auntie Tayo and one of them assisted me into the van.”

Ajayi Oluwagbemiga stays with the Abe family and was on the farm

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

How policemen opened fire on their father’s farm and aborted 27•Governor Fayemi: the culprits must be prosecuted •It’s embarrassing - Ekiti CP

•Adeniji

•The late Tayo

Salawudeen SULAIMAN, Ado-Ekiti with the rest. But he was lucky not to have been injured. He said: “We were already removing the back of the maize when they shot at us and told us, ‘if you move, you are dead.’

“Marry and I had run away, but we later came out and joined them in the van and they took us alongside the late Tayo and wounded Kemi to the station. One of them told their DPO on the phone that they were coming to the station with an armed robber they had shot and killed and others they had arrested.

“They also carried our motorcycle, which they ordered us to hold inside the van. I remember the one who shot at us saying, ‘I am bad with gun’.

Why he said this, I cannot say.

“Although they were not asking questions, we told them we were not thieves and that we were working on our own farm. It was still dark. When we got to the station, they put us in handcuffs and locked us up in the cell, while they took Auntie Tayo and

•Ayodeji and Oluwagbemiga... the two were on the farm but not hit by bullets

Kemi to the hospital.

“The worst thing they did was to lie when our people came in the morning that we were not with them at the station. They had nursed and discussed among themselves how to move us to an unknown destination, which they never did.

“I heard one of them telling Papa (their father) that no one was there with them at the station. At that point, Mary and I started shouting at the very top of our voices that we were being locked up in the cell.

“They released us, and as I was coming out, I saw the police officer who shot my sister; dark complexioned, a bit sturdy, not so tall and still wearing a helmet. I looked at him in the face knowingly, but I did not say anything”, Oluwagbemiga said. Their station experience was corroborated by Abe Ayodeji Michael, who was on the farm but also did not sustain any injury. “It was after some bitter exchanges with Daddy that they allowed those who were detained to come out and meet us,” Ayodeji said.

Asked how they managed to see on

the farm at that time of the day, they said each of them held a torch, apart from a big rechargeable lamp they kept at a spot on the farm.

Mary, the last born of the family and one of the seven on the farm, said: “Any time we were going to the farm early in the morning like that, Daddy would insist that we should get a very good rechargeable lantern.

Apart from this, each of us had a torch.”

A family friend, Ojo Olumide, was not on the farm on the fateful day.

But he was involved along the line and had an experience with the police officers at the station as well. He said: “It was Martins Omotosho (another friend of the family based in Ado-Ekiti), who called me around 4 am. He told me to secure a vehicle and move to Orin farm where they were waiting to be conveyed to the hospital.

“I got a vehicle, but when we came to the farm, there was no one there again. When we contacted them, they told us they were at Ido Police Station. When we got there, we met Niyi in pains, and Deji and Daddy.

Immediately, we took Niyi to the hospital.

“I made enquiries and was able to see the murdered Tayo at the mortuary, after which I returned to the station to make a formal report and secure the release of those detained.

I met the Acting Divisional Police Officer, as the DPO was on leave.

“I then asked him what happened to my sister who was shot and killed and now at the mortuary. At that point, they started begging me; all of them, including the Acting DPO. They appealed to me to be calm, saying that what had happened was unfortunate.

“The Acting DPO said the police officers had told him what happened and he had blamed them for their action. He said the officers realised only too late that the victims had gone to their own farm and were not robbers.

All of them, including the so-called Acting DPO, only stopped short of prostrating for me while trying to beg me.

“However, all along, we did not know they had called for reinforcement from nearby formations, pur-

13

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

seven innocent youngsters on year-old girl’s Accounting career

•Babatunde shot while allegedly participating in the protest

•Mary, the last born of the family, also on the farm with others same day

•The bereaved parents, Mr and Mrs Abe

portedly to quell an uprising which they alleged was gathering at their station. When those ones came, they started shooting at us.

“Strangely, the Acting DPO who had appealed to me earlier, suddenly turned round and showed me to the new arrivals, saying “this is the leader of the gang who wanted to burn the station.

“One of them cocked his gun and wanted to shoot me. I asked why would they shoot me again when even those they said wanted to burn the station were not doing anything like that. They dismissed those who came with me and then started hitting me with the butt of their gun, saying, “We will ensure this hand you want to use to burn the station will not be useful again.’

“When they were satisfied, they said I should be locked up. But another officer said if I was locked up, other protesters could invade the station and release me. Then they resolved that I should be taken to Ijero Police Station. But they again said I should not go alone.

“They then moved to the Oja Oba

Market. Incidentally, it was a market day. They made other arrests and even shot some others. One of those shot was even inside the mosque, as you are possibly aware.

“They took another 13 innocent individuals and took us to Ijero as planned. It was the caretaker chairman of the local government who came around noon to secure our bail.”

Babatunde Oluwaseun is not a member of the Abe family but a commercial motorcycle operator in IdoEkiti who was also hit by a bullet when the Olojudo of Ido-Ekiti, Oba Ayorinde Ilori Faboro and protesters who were moving with him were shot at by the police.

Reliving his experience, he said: ”I had a motorcycle and took my brother to Usi-Ekiti. While I was coming back, I saw a crowd and Kabiyesi (the traditional ruler) was in front. It was a fairly large crowd of about 50 people coming from town and approaching Ido Police Station.

“Out of respect for the Kabiyesi, and the curiosity to know what was amiss, as there was nothing like that

when I passed the area a few minutes earlier, I stopped and tried to park the bike. My brother, I had not even removed the key from the key when bullets came from the police.

It was like a dream. A shot hit me at the leg. I didn’t even know when I got here (hospital).“ The Nation met the male doctor who was on hand at the hospital to receive the victims on that day, but he declined to reveal his identity, saying: “You know this is a relatively small enclave. We know ourselves. Don’t bother about my name.

“All I can tell you is that all the people brought here early Thursday morning were victims of gunshots.

But one lady, who also sustained gunshot in the back, died even before she was brought here. She is still in the mortuary.”.

The Olojudo of Ido-Ekiti, who confirmed the earlier accounts, said: “I was at the station and met it already invaded by protesting youths. Unfortunately, it had just been renovated by government. At the station, I met the police officers preparing to go out to make arrests. At that point, I ap-

•A family friend of the Abes beaten with the butt of the gun at the station

pealed to them to be calm and allow me to go first and appeal to the people. And I did just that.

“On my way back to the station, because I had said that I would come back to them, some youths decided to accompany me to my palace. But we would have to pass in front of the police station. As we were approaching the station, I saw the police trying to cock their guns. I immediately started waving to them. Deliberately, before I left the palace earlier, I wore a white agbada (flowing gown) so I could be easily distinguished.

“To my greatest surprise, they still fired shots not into the air but directly at us. I want to say here that there were some bad ones among those who followed me, as they threw stones. But should gunshots be a normal response to stone-throwing? In the process, some others sustained serious injuries and are now in the hospital.

“I want to repeat myself that the police distinguished me clearly, as I was in white dress. I was waving to them to keep calm, but they still fired several shots which hit Taye Ehinola, my

personal assistant, who was standing right beside me in the leg. I guess I was actually the target. But why would they shoot me?

“While not judging the conduct of the police officers who killed the lady at Orin farm settlement, I think the treatment they gave to me offered grounds to guess what happened to the lady on the farm.”

Meanwhile, Governor Kayode Fayemi, who recently paid a condolence visit to the family of Pa Abe in Orin-Ekiti, has called for the immediate prosecution of the policemen who were responsible for the killing, describing the situation as “unfortunate and horrible”.

The governor said: “It was not only shocking but terribly embarrassing that law enforcement agents could apply the powers bestowed on them by the constitution in such a way.”

When The Nation visited the residence of the Abes in Orin-Ekiti, the bereaved parents were met in company of sympathisers, wearing uncommon stoic visage, occasionally making requests and enquiries regarding certain allotted assignments.

Pa Abe, the father, managed to comment: “The farm settlement was the idea of Niyi. They have all finished school but could not find jobs.

When he came with the option, we worked on how to get a parcel, the Farm Settlement itself having been in existence since 1778.

“The harvesting they went for had started since Monday of this week and it was not an unusual thing to rise early and go to the farm. That is how we normally do it here, as the common plan is to sell the harvest first thing in the morning.

“I will remember my daughter for being my own true daughter.

Though she is no more, we will continue to remember her for being a good and supporting pillar of the family who never disappointed us all.”

Madam Abe, the mother, who almost betrayed emotions, said: “My daughter kept urging us to continue to struggle, promising to struggle with us and she struggled till the end.

Tayo would do any legitimate business once such assured profitable returns.”

The Ekiti State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olayinka Balogun, confirming the arrest of the officer for his “unprofessional conduct” in the killing, condemned the act. He said it was an embarrassment to the Nigeria Police.

“I want to confirm to you that the officer who fired the shot has been arrested and is currently under interrogation. If he is found guilty, he will be made to face the full wrath of the law.

He added: “ I expected the police officers to act in consonance with Order 237 of the Nigeria Police, which restrains policemen from abusive use of their firearms.”.

However, some members of the public appear to favour more elaborate treatment of the many issues arising from the murder. They believe that the mission to Orin farm was not undertaken by a single police officer.

According to a respondent, who identified himself simply as Mr. Olomide, “reports indicate that they were four on the farm. Why would only one be questioned even after we already know that not only a single shot was fired?”

In the opinion of another respondent, Mrs. Beatrice, a trader, the whole event has to be treated together. “What happened to the Oba itself deserves an independent investigation. The attempt on the life of the Oba and the shooting of several others were not carried out by the same officer who killed Tayo in Orin.

“We are in an age of enlightenment and the police should not assume we don’t know as much as or even better than they do. We should not be telling them what to do, but I know they should be more involving by spreading their dragnet to all the officers who participated in the shooting of that Thursday.

14

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29 2011

•Mrs. Atanda with her children

Exactly five years ago today, an ADC aircraft crashed on the outskirts of Abuja, killing more than 100 people on board, including the pilot, Captain Kola Charles Atanda, regarded as one of the best Nigerian pilots. The former Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Maccido, also died in the crash.

The late pilot’s widow, Mojisola, tells KUNLE AKINRINADE how she has managed to cope with life without her beloved husband since the unfortunate incident. Excerpts:

My husband had a strange dream four months to his death, by widow of ADC pilot H

OW did you meet your late husband?

I met him at a friend’s house. That friend was living with his brother, who was then a flight engineer. My friend’s brother happened to be my husband’s friend, and it was there we met each other for the first time. He was such a quiet, dependable, tolerant, accommodating and very generous man. All kinds of people came to him for financial assistance and he didn’t know how to say no. Even when he did not have enough money and I tried to caution him, he would still struggle to give to people.

Besides, he was such a reserved person. He was very cautious of the kind

of company he kept because he did not want to be disappointed. He told me that he had been disappointed by people many times before we met. One part of him I will never forget is that he was very caring. Sometimes, when I was on night duty, he would take care of the children. And he was usually at home by 7 pm.

Did you know him as a pilot when you met?

No. In fact, he told me he was a driver when we first met. My friends even wondered what kind of driver he was because of the way he carried himself.

He later opened up and told me that he was a pilot, and that he did not want to disclose that aspect of his life so that he would not attract attention.

How did you cope with him being a pilot, knowing that it is a delicate job?

Well, the only thing I did was to fast for his safety all the time. As a matter of fact, I used to fast five to six times a week for his safe return whenever he flew.

So, how did you receive the news of his death?

I was preparing to go out with a friend on an outing when I started receiving calls from people, asking after my husband. I became very worried. I told my friend that something was amiss. We decided to visit his office around 4pm. That was where we later leant that an aircraft had crashed with a prominent traditional ruler among

15

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

‘

I was 45 years old when he died. I don’t think marriage is the right thing to do, because I am a very principled person. Although some people initially suggested that I should find a man to remarry, I turned such counsel down because I can’t be dependent on any man at this stage of my life.

Besides, most Nigerian men don’t know how to love but to live off a widow’s hard-earned resources

’ ‘

many other passengers on board.

I then decided to visit ADC Airline’s office at the airport. When I got there, I met a lady and introduced myself.

But instead of attending to me, she ran into an office and I heard her telling colleagues in hush tone: ‘That is his wife; that is his wife.’ I started singing ‘hold me nearer to thee.’ Even when some people tried to calm me down, saying that perhaps my husband had survived the incident, I told them I knew he was dead.

Besides, I think he had a premonition of his death, because a few months before his death, he told me about a strange dream he had when he flew to Calabar. He told me he heard a voice saying, ‘Remember me, your God, whom Apostle Paul served’ and that he was very frightened by the dream when he woke up.

He further said that when he went to sleep again, he had exactly the same dream. He even said that he saw himself at a beautiful gate made of gold and a marble floor, with people jubilating when they saw him. He told me he saw the same message he had heard in his dream boldly written again on the beautiful gate. He said there was an indescribable illumination in that realm and that it looked like heaven.

I told him that may be that was where God had chosen for him to spend his eternity when he died at old age. I did not know that he was talking about his death that would come a few months later. He shared the dream with me in June 2006 and he died on October 29, 2006 .

What are the things you missed about him?

His love and sense of responsibility as a husband and father. When he was alive, I never knew how he paid the bills. But now, I am used to paying utility bills and the children’s school fees. I will forever appreciate him for being there for the family when he was alive, and for his commitment to his extended family members.

Has there been any form of compensation for the family?

No. Even his insurance package has not been paid till date. Although they gave us some forms to fill in order to access his insurance benefits, unfortunately, it has not been paid and nothing has been heard about it. But God has been faithful to me these past five years; and I owe Him a great thanks.

Did he take you on holidays when he was alive?

No. Although he offered me a holiday trips to the United States of America on a number of occasions, I did not accept because I was busy

•The late pilot with his wife, Mojisola, at their wedding

A few months before his death, he told me about a strange dream he had when he flew to Calabar. He told me he heard a voice saying: ‘Remember me, your God, whom Apostle Paul served’ and that he was very frightened by the dream when he woke up. He further said that when he went to sleep again, he had exactly the same dream.

He even said that he saw himself at a beautiful gate made of gold and a marble floor, with people jubilating when they saw him…

He shared the dream with me in June, 2006 and he died on October 29, 2006

•The wreckage of the ADC plane at the crash site

He was also planning to retire and set up a big transport company, because he had a Master’s degree in Transport Management from the Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH), Ogbomosho, Oyo State.

How has his death affected the family?

His demise has no doubt affected us.

But we are coping because I have a job that keeps me going and I don’t want to rely on men. God is the husband of widows and He has proved that to me through His kindness over the past five years.

As a young woman, one would have expected you to remarry after you lost your husband. What happened?

I was 45 years old when he died. I don’t think marriage is the right thing to do, because I am a very principled person. Although some people initially suggested that I should find a man to remarry, I turned such counsel down because I can’t be dependent on any man at this stage of my life. Besides, most Nigerian men don’t know how to love but to live off a widow’s hard

’

helping him to save money (laughs). I told him we could spend such money for the trip on the building project we had, among other responsibilities.

What were his dreams before his untimely death?

It was to see to the completion of the new building. He had promised that we would move into the building before the end of 2006. In fact, he was to embark on his annual leave the Monday before his death so as to have all the time to strictly supervise the project.

Unfortunately, he never knew that his end would come so soon.

earned resources. I don’t think I am prepared for those anyway. I give God the glory for sustaining me and my family to date.

Do you still see any of his friends?

Not really, because when he was alive, they flocked together. But now, they no longer come around, except a few of them, like Pastor E.O Ogunmola who has been very helpful to me and my kids. He is a retired Flight Engineer and I met my husband through him. But then, my friends have also been so supportive, and I thank God for giving me the kind of friends I have .When I clocked 50 early in the year, they shocked me with a surprise birthday bash. Even though I protested against such, they insisted because they did not want me to be unhappy.

I also want to appreciate Pastor Tunji Bamgbose and his wife; not forgetting members of my husband’s society in the church—the Christian Brothers Band of Federal Estate Baptist Church, Abesan, Ipaja, Lagos State.

16

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Desperate land speculators invade Ogun community •Exhume corpses, allegedly rape woman to death •Monarch sues for peace, warns trouble makers

T

•One of the buildings destroyed in the attack

•A tractor seized from the land speculators

•A school library vandalised by the hoodlums

Kunle AKINRINADE police to intimidate us.”

Throwing more light into the invasion of the village, the youth leader in the community, Mr. John

‘

Abiodun, said: “The hoodlums invaded our villages, particularly Akason, on August 18, 2010 and left on May 11, 2011 after they were given a hot chase. They destroyed a block of classrooms built by the Universal Basic Education Project

Office at the Local Government Primary School , Akason. As you can see, the windows, doors and wall of the classrooms have bullet holes.

“They claimed that the whole village had been given to their faceless principal via a purported court

Life has become hellish for us because of the activities of land grabbers who have been tormenting us lately. They invade our land rudely with the aid of thugs and unleash terror, leaving us with tales of sorrow

‘

HE scene was as repulsive as it was frightening. Fetish objects hung on nine different barricaded entrances into Egun community in Ado-Odo, Ogun State. Stern-looking youths armed with dangerous weapons, including cutlasses and cudgels, mounted guards at the entrances.

Palpable fear hung in the air as residents talked in hush tones at the sight of strangers.

But for the intervention of our correspondent’s guide, who spoke with the stern-looking youths in Ogu dialect, they would have mistaken him for one of the visitors already declared persona non grata.

The situation was a fall out of the activities of land speculators popularly called Ajagun gbale, who have lately unleashed terror on residents of the town.

Findings revealed that there has been a face off between indigenes of the community, which consists mainly of the Egun tribe, and land grabbers. The face-off had resulted in loss of lives and destruction of property.

For instance, Akason, a part of the community, had its peace violated by thugs, who invaded the town a few months ago on a landgrabbing mission. The thugs allegedly overran the village and encamped there for more than nine months. While their reign lasted, many buildings were destroyed as residents fled for dear lives.

A primary school in the area was turned into a battle field as its blocks of classrooms were riddled with bullets, while the school library was badly destroyed. Even the dead were not allowed to rest peacefully as the invaders allegedly exhumed corpses to take over the lands belonging to residents.

It was gathered that in the heat of the reign of terror, the hoodlums allegedly raped a woman to death. The residents later regrouped to chase away their uninvited guests and then decided to take their destiny in their own hands by setting up a vigilance group.

One of the elders of the community, Pa. Joshua Kuruyo, said: “Life has become hellish for us because of the activities of land grabbers who have been tormenting us lately. They invade our land rudely with the aid of thugs and unleash terror, leaving us with tales of sorrow. When the situation became unbearable for us, we decided to establish a vigilance group to take care of our security, having found that the police have become complacent in securing lives and property in this community.

“The thugs would kill our animals and encroach on our farmlands lawlessly while the police look the other way as if we are not human beings. We have protested to the police fruitlessly and we are tired of crying out without response. In their bid to take our land, they even dropped the name of the Olofin Adimula of AdoOdo, Oba Lateef Adeniran Akanni, who, we learnt, has warned them to desist from encroaching on our land or inviting estate agents (Ajagun gbale) to take over any property without his palace’s scrutiny. It is worrisome that although Oba Akanni gave the order, these marauding agents have continued to disobey the order and have resorted to using the

judgment. Hence, we decided to protect our lives and property by setting up a vigilance group.”

Although the hoodlums had beaten a retreat from Akason, they were said to have regrouped occasionally, launching attacks on the people of the village.

Scars of the ‘war’ were also obvious at Idi-Epa, another part of the community where some trees were riddled with bullets allegedly fired by the thugs while they held sway.

Speaking with our correspondent, Oba Akanni explained how he had intervened in the crisis in the past, adding that trouble makers should steer clear of his domain.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

•Another set of buildings destroyed in the attack

•A damaged ceiling in one of the classrooms

•One of the spots where bodies were exhumed

•Fetish objects hung on one of the barricaded roads

‘

•A bullet-ridden school building in the community

It has now become obvious that our tormentors have no respect for the traditional institution. Can you believe that ever since the Olofin Adimula of Ado-Odo, Oba Lateef Akanni, decreed that no one should contract land agents or ajagun gbale to our community without his vetting, none of them has deemed it fit to seek his approval?

of hand, they called on me to assist him to the hospital on my motorbike but I declined because I don’t ride on motorbike at night. It was while they were taking him on a motorbike that his legs got bruised because his body had become stiff.

He died on the way to the hospital and they brought his corpse home and lay it on bare floor in a building different from where he lived.

“Although you may not know this, I want you to know now that Segun Ogungbe is not the biological father of Abiodun, contrary to his claim. Even the deceased’s real father, who lived in a village close to Agbara, had asked that his son’s

‘

He said: “I have intervened in the matter on a number of occasions, but it is just unfortunate that it has endured for this long. For the avoidance of doubt, I want to warn trouble makers to desist from bringing thugs to grab other people’s land. Henceforth, whoever wishes to bring any estate agent to oversee their land in that part of this town must first come to my palace for proper scrutiny and permission, because I cannot sit down and watch people perpetrate violence.

“I want to advise the Egun people to feel free to come to my palace for dialogue on any issue affecting their existence and not to take the law into their own hands, because that would be anti-development and inimical to the peaceful co-existence of people in this town.”

But despite the monarch’s directive on the matter, the tension endured because the people involved were said to have continued their incursion.

A resident, James Makanjuola, said: ”It has now become obvious that our tormentors have no respect for the traditional institution. Can you believe that ever since the Olofin Adimula of Ado-Odo, Oba Lateef Akanni, decreed that no one should contract land agents or ajagungbale to our community without his vetting, none of them has deemed it fit to seek his approval?

Instead, they have been disturbing our peace in this community, threatening to deal with us for reporting them to Oba Akanni.”

It will be recalled that a 45-yearold native of the community, Abiodun Ogungbe, died in controversial circumstances, following his arrest by the police on account of allegations levelled against him by some estate agents. The matter is currently being investigated by men of the Zone 2 Police Command, Lagos State .

A few weeks ago, amid a heavy downpour, detectives from Zone 2 Command were in the community to investigate the killing of the farmer who was allegedly killed on his way to the toilet a day after he christened his new baby. The detectives took time to visit the spots where the deceased was allegedly picked up, dropped and where his lifeless body was discovered.

The situation has, however, not changed as residents claim the hoodlums are threatening to make a comeback.

Meanwhile, following reports of Ogungbe’s death, a new twist was added to the matter as one Mr. Tajudeen Adaramaja claimed that the deceased was not killed as alleged by his family.

In an interview with our correspondent, Adaramaja explained how he picked up the deceased where he was dropped at Pakuta, a neighbouring village, and the events leading to his death.

He said: “I am a native of Idi-Epa village and I know what led to the death of Abiodun Ogungbe. It is not true that the deceased was killed by the policemen who arrested him as being alleged by some elements in our village. The truth of the matter is that the deceased person had been sick for some time before the incident.

“When he was picked up by the policemen, he explained to them that he was sick and that he should be left alone. The police officers later dropped him at Pakuta village after confirming the veracity of his excuse from my brother, popularly called Amashowa. I was returning home that day when I saw him where he was dropped off and I took him home on my motorbike.

“I wanted to take him to the hospital when his condition later worsened the following day, but his brothers insisted that I should leave him alone and that they wanted to use his case to indict the policemen and their civilian accomplices.”

Expatiating further, he said: “When his condition later got out

body be released to him for proper burial. ”As I speak, I have become a refugee for speaking the truth. My Egun kinsmen hate me because I told them the truth that we are not the real owners of the land and that we should be content with what we have as settlers in the area. A few weeks ago, I was beaten blue and black and stripped naked by my own kinsmen on the allegation that I was a mole.

“They chased me and other Yoruba residents away and have turned themselves into lords.

Yoruba land owners have all the right to bring estate agents to man-

age their property or to sell their land to people without being molested”, he added.

The spokesman of the Ogun State Police Command, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi, explained that the command was doing its best to ensure the safety of lives and property in the area, adding that the aggrieved villagers should seek audience with the Commissioner of Police in the state.

“I want to advise the villagers to meet with or write to the Ogun State Police Commissioner on this matter, because I am not sure they had written to him concerning their plight,” he admonished.

•Adaramaja

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

T

HE Leventis Group has become a global name. How did it all begin?

It all started in the early 1920’s.

After visiting Nigeria and Ghana in the 1920s, Chief A.G Leventis asked his brother, my father, to come and set up the Nigerian business in 1942, and we have been here ever since. I was the third son of Mr. C P Leventis, who was the younger brother of Chief A. G Leventis.

When he started, he was only trading in produce and the importation and sale of goods. But all along, he wanted to set up a big business empire. So, he started with small beginnings and very quickly, it expanded. A.G. and my father very much understood the system because they came from an island also under the British colonial rule. They were very much in tune with the indigenous people wherever they went, including Nigeria and Ghana. A.G was very close to the leaders of Ghana and my father was very close to many of the original fighters for freedom in Nigeria and from all parts of the country: North, East, West and Mid-West. He knew everybody who later became the first set of politicians in Nigeria.

Basically, they wanted to set up a large business, which eventually included distribution of vehicles, manufacturing and, of course, the soft drink business, which came about ten years after the initial business was set up. The underpinning business philosophy was to do things for the good of the local people and run successful businesses which would expand, employ the local people and be good to the country where they were set up.

Looking back, how would you say the choice of Nigeria has impacted on the Leventis Group?

The business we set up in Nigeria and Ghana led to everything else. It is very important to stress that investing in Nigeria and Ghana has created the Leventis’ fortune. Nigeria especially was and still very important for the Leventis family.

From the time when A.G Leventis died, we have expanded into bottling operations abroad in Greece and Ireland; manufacturing of glass bottles and bottle coolers and all that. We have earned our name as a reputable global business brand, and that has shown in the phenomenal growth of our bottling business. Because Coca-Cola trusted us to be able to manage larger businesses, we were asked to expand into Eastern Europe when the Russian Empire collapsed and became a franchise bottler that has now reached 28 countries. I think in volume, we are the second largest bottlers in the world now.

Cocacola has become a sort of generic name for soft drinks in Nigeria. What did it take to build such a brand?

Well, it started off in a small way, like things do before they grow up. I think AG decided that because there were no soft drinks apart from some small producers, he wanted to see it happen in a big way, and he went and got the franchise. After looking at all the brands then, he decided that Coke was the best one to begin with, and he got the franchise for both Ghana and Nigeria, beginning in the 1950s. We set up the first bottling plant in the basement of Mainland Hotel building.

Then this became too small, so we built a plant in Apapa, which was the first purpose-built bottling plant we set up in Nigeria.

My father, of course, was responsible for the building of the bottling operations in Nigeria. I remember quite vividly going to visit him in the mid-1950s at the Ibadan plant, which was just being built.

Thereafter, we built Kano and Port Harcourt plants. So, we ended up with four bottling plants in Nigeria, which remained until after the civil war ended, at which point the consumption of soft drinks expanded very well and we had to build new plants.

From then on, every year or two, we built a new bottling plant around the country, because we needed local bottling plants and we couldn’t make do with one large

‘Secrets of Leventis Group’s success in Nigeria’

•Mr. Haralambos Leventis

The Leventis family was one of the earliest investors to see the prospects of the emerging Nigerian economy in the early 1920s. Over the decades, Leventis has not only turned its Nigerian trading business into a large conglomerate with interests in several sectors of the economy, it has expanded into a multinational company operating in 28 countries. As world’s second largest bottler and flagship of the Leventis Group, Nigerian Bottling Company Plc celebrates its 60th anniversary in Nigeria, Mr. Haralambos Leventis, a guiding hand of the Leventis Group, whose father set up the Nigerian business, shares with our Capital Market Editor, TAOFIK SALAKO, the inspiring story of how two brothers built a global business empire from the bustles of Oyingbo, Lagos, as well as his thoughts about the Nigerian economy. Excerpts: operation, because when you sold, all the bottles had to be brought back to be refilled. We started off with the returnable glass bottles, which was the most economical way of selling soft drinks because you didn’t have to pay for the bottle. You paid for the liquid content only and got your money back when you returned the bottle. Now, in most parts of the world, you throw away the container or can. It is not reused. But at that time, it was the most common thing to return the glass, which had to be processed. And Nigeria was and still too big to have just one plant.

Eventually, I think we had about 20 operations running around the country.

We had to reduce them to 13 because we expanded the size of each of them. When we expand, it is normally within the plants we have built. The most recent was in Abuja, which we set up in this century.

But I must say that we had lots of •Continued on Page 22

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Saturday

THRILLER

'You do not own this land' Sad, bloody tale of ethno-religious conflicts in Kaduna How peace was achieved

Olatunji OLOLADE, Assistant Editor

D

eath is another story that shouldn’t be said aloud. In the house of Idrisu, it rages in unspoken words.

Hence, Rukaya Idrisu has learnt to speak of it, slowly and very cautiously, in a whisper.

If you move close enough, you could hear the only surviving daughter of the household recollect the authoritative pellets and barbed arrows, poisoned spears and pointed swords as they hurtled through the air to hack down her “people” and other defenseless folks in gleaming mercilessness.

Clinically, she rehashed the bloody scenes in which her parents and younger brother were bludgeoned to death by the rampaging hordes of Zangon-Kataf, Kaduna State in May 1992. In a voice laden with grief and the feral nuance of one desperately trying to detach herself from the torment of reliving a gruesome experience, Idrisu stated that the violence was triggered over a “childish” dispute over ownership and control rights to a local market between the native Atyap farming community and their Huasa neighbours and settlers.

“I was grinding locust beans for my mother at the backyard when I heard a shrill cry from within our house. Fearfully, I rushed inside to meet a gang of armed youths, mostly teenagers, marching through our corridor. They apprehended me and two of them caught me by my arms and hit me repeatedly with blood-stained clubs. They dragged me into our living room where I saw my father gasping for breath over the lifeless bodies of my mother and younger brother.

“I screamed and tried to rush to his aid but I was held back and made to watch as one innocent looking boy laugh maniacally and dealt a final blow to the back of his head with a digger (backhoe).

I heard a crunching sound like bones breaking and I was made to watch as my father choked on his own blood. They made me watch till he died and then promised me that rather than subject me to such painful execution, they would be lenient with me,” disclosed Idrisu.

But if the 48-year-old learnt anything from her experience, it’s that leniency could at times be worse than death. “They raped me repeatedly telling me as they did that I was luckier than most. They said I was going to enjoy myself to death. When my screams became unbearable to them, the sixth boy to take turn on me stuffed my mouth with his dirty boxers. It was then that I began to feel dead. I became very dizzy and everything turned black…which made it easier for me to feign death,” she said.

Yet the hyper-active teenager, claimed Idrisu, “continued doing it until he was satisfied.” Then he got off her and took after his gang as they engaged in hot pursuit of some other victims. Idrisu, shaken and awfully worn, removed the boxers from her mouth, staring at the spilled guts of her mother and the innards of her father’s brain.

The grotesqueness of the sight and the rancid smell wafting from her genitals made her very nauseous, she claimed, thus she vomited twice all over their carpet. “I felt sick to the stomach. Those boys were very smelly. Days after I was rescued and relocated to Makurdi to live with my uncle (her late mother’s younger brother), I could still perceive the terrible stench wafting from their mouths, armpits and genitals. I can still smell them now,” said Idrisu, adding that she had been having persistent nightmares ever since.

Continued on Pages 20-21

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

•Continued from Page 19 But despite the magnitude of her loss and the recurrent nightmares, Idrisu couldn’t stay away from Zangon-Kataf. “It’s the only home that I have come to know. My uncle’s wife thinks it was foolish of me to have returned here but she wouldn’t understand. I cannot leave my father’s house to be inhabited and destroyed by strangers. It’s all that I have left to remind me of my family and the love we once shared,” she said even as she persistently avoided the spot where her parents and sibling were buried.

As you read, a vintage glass shelf (showcase) stands over the spot like a shield positioned to wipe out unpleasant memories of her past. But Idrisu claimed that it was never her intention to use the shelf as a screen. “I have moved on.

That shelf stands there because there is no other place that I could put it in the house. As you can see, I have rented out most of the rooms in the house. Life goes on,” she said.

Lucky Idrisu. For Layi Umar, life has come to a perpetual standstill. She couldn’t move on even if she tried. That is because the 37-yearold native of Zangon-Kataf is crippled by the agony of her past. According to her, life turned a dangerous corner for her ever since she lost her only child to the killer squads of Zangon Kataf.

“He was four years old then. And they took him from me. The most painful thing about my loss is that I knew my assailants. The husband and younger brother of one of my co-traders at the market were in the squad that attacked our house…they lived about two streets away from us and I had always believed that at the likelihood of any attack, they would come to alert me and my people like we promised each other. But they didn’t, even though I had always endeavoured to fulfill my part of the pledge,” lamented Umar.

However, Idrisu and Umar were not the only casualties. Many innocent people were caught up in the fighting that raged from May 15 to May 17, 1992. Since it was a market day, Tanko Maireke, a sugar farmer, was cutting up cane for sale in the market when a mob of villagers armed with “clubs, cutlasses, local guns and spears” appeared singing war songs. Three of his four sons were murdered on the spot, while Maireke escaped with an arrow in his stomach. His fourth son died in hospital two weeks later.

“Daniel Shofo ran to Zango to check on the safety of his daughter, who was a prison warder in Zango”, but his mutilated body was consequently found under a pile of leaves.

Ramatu Abdullahi who had come to ZangonKataf in search of fodder for her pigs was also shot in the head and two brothers were killed while tending their cassava farm a few kilometres from Zango. By the time the violence abated, at least 40 persons had been killed, and many houses, automobiles, gasoline stations and property worth N29, 173,850 had been destroyed.

News of the violence in Zangon-Kataf sparked fresh clashes in other parts of the state, including the state capital. Consequently, a dusk-to-dawn curfew was imposed on Kaduna State on May 19, 1992. In the aftermath of the violence, hunting was forbidden in Zangon-Kataf and neighboring local government areas until further notice.

The effects of the riots were felt not only in the city of Kaduna, but across the country. On May 25, President Ibrahim Babangida, then military President, addressed the nation in the aftermath of the Kaduna riot. He said that further incidents of violence would be met with emergency powers and set up a special tribunal to try all suspects arrested in connection with the disturbances. That special tribunal became very controversial and has divided public opinion to this day, particularly in its findings that a conspiracy involving prominent Nigerians had been behind the disturbances.

Genesis of the bloodbath The sad fate of Idrisu and Umar, Maireke and others, illustrates the gory history of Zangon-Kataf. The Southern Kaduna enclave persistently embodies the absurdities and schisms of the indigene-settler divide in Northern Nigeria. Zangon- Kataf consists of a modest and principally Hausa town called Zango ringed by ethnic Atyap farming communities. The Atyap are also referred to as the Kataf. The Atyap are predominantly Christians, while Zango town’s Hausa are for the most part Muslims.

Under British rule, Zangon-Kataf was placed under the control of the Zaria Emirate, whose Hausa administrators allegedly treated the ethnic Atyap population with contempt throughout much of the colonial period. The

Blood, bullets Atyap have struggled successfully for a greater degree of local autonomy since independence but have never forgotten the historical wrongs their community suffered under Emirate rule.

As is increasingly rampant throughout Nigeria, having been able to secure recognition as the true aborigenes of their community, many Atyap consider it only appropriate that all the benefits accruable to their local government should be enjoyed by them alone.

Atyap’s rejection of their Hausa neighbours’ claims to aborigene status is also fuelled by a belief that the Hausa have an inherent predilection for the domination of others and seek indigene status only in order to subjugate and marginalise the Atyap. That belief, common in political discourse throughout Southern Nigeria and the Middle Belt, is fuelled by the intemperate rhetoric of political and community leaders throughout Southern Kaduna.

The Atyap claimed that the land on which the Hausa live was theirs and that the Hausa were only settlers. Easily, they recount their oral tradition dating back to 1767 when one Mele, an itinerant Hausa trader from Niger, was given a portion of land in the heart of the town to settle after many years of trade relations with them. Soon, according to them, Mele was joined by his kinsmen. Hence, the name Zango-Kataf (which means transit camp in Kataf).

But the Hausa community argued that the claim by the Atyap is humbug. According to a leader of the Hausa, “Their claim is false. We all came together with a set of people called Chagwu. The Kataf people met us here. The real name of Zango-Kataf was Zango-Katabiri.

They came, gradually surrounded us, and eventually changed the name.”

In response, a district head of the Kataf said that it is this conflicting story recounted by the Hausa that has continued to irritate the Kataf people. “As long as the Hausa continue to deny the fact that they are settlers, trouble will not cease in this part of the state,” he said.

The first major outbreak of violence in 1992, indeed, arose over a conflict regarding the market in the town. Erstwhile, marketing had been an exclusive preserve of the Hausa population of the town. The elected local government, composed largely of Atyap people, made a decision to move the market. This was done partly in order to allow for the expansion of the market, partly to break the traditional monopoly of trade in the hands of Hausa, and partly for cultural and religious reasons. The market stalls in the old market were allegedly monopolised by Hausa traders. “Goods coming into the market from the neighbouring villages were also said to be hoarded by Hausa traders to be resold later. Hausa domination of the market also prevented Kataf people from selling traditional beer (burukutu), pork, and other haram (forbidden) items,” disclosed a former council staff in the area.

Consequently, a councillor representing the Zangon-Kataf district in Kachia local government was asked to consult with the local government council to clear a market site. This was approved by the council in 1988. The Kachia local government council chose a location for the proposed market and compensation was paid to the owners. Five of those land owners, however, refused to accept the compensation allegedly because pressure was put on them not to accept in order to prevent the building of a new market.

Hausa people in the area were said to have wanted to use the same area for housing, since their settlement in the town was already becoming overcrowded. They also objected to relocation since the new market had no stalls or other facilities that would guarantee the safety of their wares. As other local governments in the area prepared to build new markets, things began to get difficult in Zangon-Kataf. The file containing the estimate for the construction disappeared, and at least one person involved in the dispute died mysteriously in Kaduna.

In the meantime, the Zangon-Kataf area broke off from Kachia to form a separate local government area. The new council took over the market project and made it a priority for local government development. A prominent Hausa in the town, however, took the matter to court and got an injunction to stop the relocation. The council either ignored the

•A burnt family house: Casualty of a recent riot

•Victims of ethnic violence in a refugee camp

•Vandalised exterior of the Emirate of Zauzzau injunction or did not receive a copy of it in time. announced that the market was closed and In either case, the market opened in defiance of proceeded to use violence on those who resisted the court. An obvious conflict with the rule of or were not quick enough in leaving.

According to other reports, one of the Hausa law was brewing, in which both sides felt that in the town mobilised a band of youths in the they were legally justified.

Subsequently, a site was cleared for the new community and set them against the police and market. When hotheads attacked the those who heeded the traffic signals of the police construction site, the Magajin Gari (Mayor) of and went to the new site. Traders who disobeyed Zangon-Kataf accompanied the workers, and, his orders were reportedly beaten up. It was at through their ward heads, warned those who this point that one Shan Anwai, an Atyap man, objected to the market not to use violence. was said to have met his death in the hands of February 6, 1992 was declared opening day and angry Hausa youths. Rumours spread in the a monitoring team was set up to supervise surrounding towns that the Hausa community attendance at the market and project its revenue had declared war on the Atyap people.

Responding to these rumours, many Atyap generating capacity. Also on the same day, policemen were detailed to mount guard at villagers, armed with bows and arrows, strategic points to direct in-coming traders who, traditional guns, clubs and cutlasses came out through ignorance or disregard of the council’s in large numbers and attacked Hausa decision, might be heading for the old site. settlements for eight hours. The armed villagers According to a former local government burned houses and motor vehicles owned by chieftain, two persons walked into the market the Hausa. Many Hausa in turn burned down after midday with a policeman who proceeded houses belonging to the Atyap who lived in to speak to the other police officer on duty. The Zango town. At a petrol station, 10 motor police officers then walked away from the market, vehicles were allegedly set ablaze. at which point the two men and others Thus, from May 15 to 17, 1992, an intense riot

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

s and peace efforts

•Imam Ashafa plays with kids in a refugee camp

•Local chiefs celebrate a recent peace accord

•Angels of peace: Imam Ashafa and Rev. Wuye broke out in the small towns of Zangon-Kataf, a nondescript community comprising two sister communities, the Zango (Hausa) and the Kataf (Atyap) in the southern part of Kaduna State.

As rioters rampaged through the streets, looting and burning at will, the general hospital overflowed with the wounded. “People sustained grave injuries inflicted by stones, clubs, machetes and knives, poisoned arrows and spears,” said Mariam Tukur, a retired nurse.

The two communities exploded into violence and they both bore the brunt of the fighting, as hundreds of them were killed and the town was almost entirely destroyed.

The riot divided the city along religious lines, as neighborhoods which had been predominantly Christians or Muslims became exclusively one or the other. As the riot subsided, a new residential pattern emerged in which there were no longer mixed neighbourhoods but only Christian or Muslim neighbourhoods.

Friends from different religions might visit one another but no one spent the night in a neighborhood of a different religion.

This series of conflicts was typical of many in

Nigeria, especially in the Nigerian ‘middle belt,’ the southern fringe of the former Northern Region of Nigeria. The typical pattern begins with a dispute over land. It escalates using modern methods of military recruitment and modern military weaponry. Although it may start as a local dispute between two small ethnic groups, it quickly escalates to include other neighbouring groups.

Finally, it acquires the character of a religious war, especially where religion and ethnicity largely coincide. A manipulative role played by the political class, economic inequality, or at least differentiation between the ethnic groups and the perceived ‘warrior’ traditions of certain groups also often come into play, as some of them did in this particular instance.

Most of Zangon-Kataf’s surviving Hausa residents fled in the wake of the violence, but a minority eventually returned and built new homes amidst the weed-choked ruins of the town they lost in 1992. Many returned in part because of the state government’s promise of compensation and protection—and also because many simply had nowhere else to go.

Members of the community also complained that despite repeated government promises, much of the land that had been seized from them by their Atyap neighbours after the 1992 violence are yet to be returned. Several residents complained that they had been chased off their land by Atyap youths, a situation that had caused them to abandon their land. One man claimed that in 2004, just before harvest time, “I went to the farm and was trying to harvest locust beans. When I was at the top of a tree, some Kataf (Atyap) men came and used a slingshot to shoot me down.” The man consequently shattered his cheek, as the left side of his face appeared to have been badly mangled without having properly healed.

Hausa community leaders said they had reported more than two dozen incidents of violence and harassment to the police since 2003 but in no case had the police made any arrests.

The victim of one attack said that when he went to the police station, the officer who took his report asked thus: “Where do you come from?

Are you a stranger?” and then began questioning his right to file a report. That policeman was reprimanded by a superior officer who overheard the exchange, but in the end no action was taken on the complaint.

Several members of the Hausa community said they saw these attacks as evidence that their Atyap neighbours did not think that the Hausa had any right to remain in ZangonKataf. Many community members also complained of routine verbal harassment when they moved through the Atyap parts of the town.

“Any time they see us, they call us ‘bako’ (stranger),” complained one farmer. “Even if you sit next to them on a bus and ask them to shift over they say, ‘Bah, bako!”

A never-ending bloodbath Religious polarisation and Kaduna’s northsouth ethnic divide fed upon one another to spark bloody clashes in Kaduna city in 2000 and 2002. Eleven years ago, an estimated 2, 000 people were killed in communal clashes sparked by the proposed introduction of Shari’ a (Islamic law) in Kaduna State. Two years later, violence triggered in part by controversy surrounding plans to hold the Miss World beauty contest in Nigeria claimed around 250 more lives.

In addition to providing a new set of triggers for violent conflict, the increasing tendency for Kaduna’s communal tensions to be expressed in religious terms has drawn groups into violent conflicts that have no interest in the deeper underlying causes of north-south tension in the state.

Many settlers have fought, died or had their property destroyed in Kaduna’s 2000 and 2002 clashes for example. Some have reacted by packing up and moving back to their home states and many of those who remain in Kaduna are increasingly likely to be drawn into future conflicts with sectarian overtones; like the 2011 post-election violence for instance.

Despite the massive loss of lives and property in past conflicts, the acts of violence are still carried out in the troubled zone. On April 18, 2011, for instance, hell was let loose in Southern Kaduna, particularly in Zonkwa, following the post-election crisis that erupted in many states in the North.

Residents were forced to flee from Zonkwa, Kafanchan and other trouble spots during the post-election violence. During the fracas, fleeing youths hid in pit latrines and wells but the unlucky ones were gunned down, slaughtered, burnt alive or dumped in wells. Although most women and children were spared, they were subjected to humiliation.

Out of the 38, 976 displaced persons, over 90 percent are women and children, according to the statistics obtained from the Nigerian Red Cross. However, the figure has since reduced to below 15,000 across the 15 refugee camps in the state as some refugees have been reunited with their families.

Angels of hope The history of peace efforts in the region would never be complete without mentioning the contributions of Rev. James Movel Wuye, a Pentecostal Christian, and his counterpart, Imam Muhammad Nurayn Ashafa, a Muslim.

In 1992, Rev. Wuye lost his right arm, and Imam

Ashafa lost two of his brothers and his teacher in the violence in Zangon-Kataf.

Both fought on opposing sides as militant youth leaders in the violent clash. In the clash, Muslim Hausa youths killed Rev. Wuye’s bodyguard and cut off his right arm. Likewise, Christian fighters murdered Imam Ashafa’s mentor and spiritual leader.

Both men’s initial reaction at the time, however, wasn’t so different from that of other fighters – they sought vengeance. In particular, they wanted to kill each other. “For three years, I nursed the ambition of killing Imam Ashafa,” revealed Rev. Wuye, “But then, I attended a programme aimed at preaching the gospel to non-Christians, and there I was told by the moderator, who said you cannot preach Jesus Christ with hate. Then, it reawakened my conscience. I realised that as a Christian, I need to love even when I feel pain.”

Imam Ashafa learnt a similar lesson on forgiveness in his mosque as well. He then went to visit Rev. Wuye’s sick mother in the hospital.

The two men finally met in 1995 at the urging of a civil leader. They agreed to work out some sort of dialogue promoting mutual understanding and respect.

Imam Ashafa proposed a public debate, which evolved into a forum on the concepts of salvation and forgiveness in Christianity and Islam. It took a year to arrange the event and find a venue willing to host two militant youth groups from different religions. “People came with daggers in their pockets that day. Both parties came prepared for the worst,” revealed Rev. Wuye.

But there was no violence – the forum was a success, and since then, the two men have anchored a series of interventions and workshops through their pet project, the InterFaith Mediation Centre (IFMC).

According to Rev. Wuye, the effort is focused on enlightening the public – in particular, militant youth, vigilantes and the Hizbah, or religious police who enforce Islamic law, or Sharia, in some northern states. To prevent religious crises, they have developed a multipronged approach that is both preventive and curative. They use an early warning mechanism that alerts the community to trouble signs and ways to control a contentious situation before it spreads. The mechanism includes improved connections between government security officers, community leaders and others involved in calming a violent situation.

Roadmap to lasting peace?

To forestall subsequent crises, a peace treaty tagged “Road Map to Lasting Peace”, was recently held at the Unguwar Mu’azu district, in Tudun Wada. The event which was attended by representatives of various communities featured very colourful joint parades of the Muslims’ First Aid Group and the Hisbah, and the Christians’ Boys and Girls Brigades and Catholic Cadets; traditional dancers of Ham (Jaba), Bajju, Eggon, Hausa Kombe dancers. There was also a novelty football match played and enjoyed by teams and happy crowd of both faiths.

The District Head of Unguwar Mu’azu, Ahmed Aliyu Idris, who is also the Chikasoron Zazzau, could not hide his joy as he commended the participating communities. “We are grateful to Almighty Allah and the good people of our communities through whom God destined this accord and resolutions to happen, and we believe that God has a purpose for this our coming together. I am begging you in the name of God to ensure that these our resolutions work. Blessed are the peace makers. We are proud of our imams, pastors, youths, mothers, fathers, all and sundry who made it possible for today. At our own level we are deeply committed to this resolution.”

Rev Joseph Hayab, Special Adviser on Religious Affairs (Christian Matters) to Governor Patrick Yakowa, remarked that the event signalled the beginning of a new dawn. The occasion climaxed with the cutting of a cake and release of five doves into the sky, signifying the beginning of peace among the communities.

The latest peace accord, no doubt, represents another milestone in achieving lasting harmony between the two faiths shared by ethnic groups in Kaduna. However, it remains to be seen if it would restore the lasting peace that has eluded the state for so long.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

‘Stable electricity is the only way Nigeria can grow’ •Continued from Page 18 problems when we were starting up. The competition came from Seven Up and I think the Nigerian Breweries who had their own soft drinks business as well, but the brewery was dominant. The problems we had were distribution, getting the bottles out into the market place and then bringing them back to refill them, because we supplied all the outlets directly. We didn’t supply through wholesales. So, we had to set up a very large trucking organisation owned by the company, which went out every day and supplied all the small distributors, kiosks in every part of Nigeria. We also set up some depots around the country so that each bottling plant would have a number of depots under them. So, when we supplied the soft drinks to these depots, they would then use their own trucks to supply the outlets. So, it was a very complicated operation.

Given the rapid expansion you just described, how were you able to finance it?

Basically, the expansion took place from the profits that we made. We borrowed funds from banks as well. But at that time, the business was booming, so we could build one or two new bottling plants every year for a number of years during the 1970s. And in some places, we had more than one bottling plant. If the one we had was too small, we built another one. Now we have rationalised the number of plants because the competition of soft drinks and the economy hasn’t been so good lately. And we have been able to expand our production to supply the whole market through 13 plants.

We still maintain this mixed financing strategy that includes internally generated funds, loans and equities, though now on a more global scale.

Nigerian banks still do lend to reliable companies which have been here for a long time and which they trust to repay.

You know that banks have different guidelines for different categories of customers. And the longer and reliable the relationship has been, the easier to source loans.

We also receive funds from our headquarters in Greece. Nigeria is one of 28 countries in the Coca-Cola Hellenic group, and they were set up by the Leventis family. Leventis is a very big family and the Leventis family themselves are shareholders in the group, which is based in Greece. The group helps a lot in providing finance for our expansions. Nigeria is a very important part of that group. We now have a situation where we are able to leverage on the expanse of 28 countries to help whenever we need help.

How were you able to mutate from a family-run business into a global group, especially given that many similar businesses of your generation were unable to cross the barriers of familyowned companies?

It was part of the business philosophy.

You will recall that I said the guiding business philosophy was to do things for the good of the people; to create a successful business which would expand and create employment for the local people and be a source of benefits to the country. So, we had all along known that the Leventis business was not just about the Leventis family alone.

Hence, the management strategy has always been focused on creating an enduring legacy.

When my generation came in, we were the second generation. And during the 1960’s and 70’s, we were actually running all the various companies as directors. When we relinquished direct control, we installed professional management in all our companies. So, we and our children in the third

•Mr. Haralambos Leventis generation are not directly involved in the day to day management. But we maintain an oversight over the companies. We visit all the time. We go round and we talk to the managers. So, we advise and try to make sure they do the right thing. The day to day running of the business is done by the senior management.

What informed the closure of some famous brands of the group such as Leventis Stores?

I think businesses have to change, depending on their situations. In the early 70s and 80’s, the Nigerian economy went through a very difficult period and we decided that a number of our businesses that were not profitable should be closed down. Leventis Stores and Leventis

Technical were some of them. Basically, we reduced the trading business that were not making profit and went into new businesses like making and selling generators. We have gone into different types of businesses just to survive. We could not just continue to do business as usual. We used to sell three or four hundred vehicles every month and more than that sometimes. Now we sell the same number in a year. That drop meant we had to go into other lines to survive, and we had to create new businesses.

What do you think the Nigerian government can do to accelerate economic growth?

I think the area of infrastructure is the most important, both for survival and

‘

Costs are relatively high doing business in Nigeria when you generate your own electricity and have to use diesel. Diesel is very expensive. So, basically, the cost of doing business in Nigeria is very high.

That really has to be improved. I can see that the government is trying to improve it and I hope it succeeds because that’s the only way Nigeria can move forward

’

optimisation of existing capacities and to attract new investments. When you are deciding where to go to or to manufacture something, you want to find somewhere which provides you with electricity, water, and other infrastructure which generally don’t exist in Nigeria. Because we have always been in Nigeria, this is the place we want to do business. So, we have to survive by generating our own electricity, providing our own energy and water. The idea is that roads should be provided by the states for the services of businesses to grow and to expand.

Costs are relatively high doing business in Nigeria when you generate your own electricity and have to use diesel. Diesel is very expensive. So, basically, the cost of doing business in Nigeria is very high.

That really has to be improved. I can see that the government is trying to improve it and I hope it succeeds because that’s the only way Nigeria can move forward.

There is also the issue of equitable and fair processes and institutions. I think there will be more investments if everything is done well. If you can be certain you are going to be treated the same way as everybody else, then you could feel more secured in investing. If I was coming here now and I came on my own and saw the infrastructure and heard about the problems of corruption and all that, I will be very skeptical about moving here. We are not because we know the country and I think it is necessary for Nigeria to really do something to provide anybody who wants to invest here with the certainty that they will be treated properly and they will be treated the same way as everybody else.

That is the most important thing.

Obviously, the potential of Nigeria is great. It’s a large population and educated to a large extent. And I think the future of Nigeria is very good as long as it can sort out the problem of infrastructure.

What lessons should other entrepreneurs learn from the Leventis Group?

I think you just persevere and you have to be very flexible in what you do. You have to be able to decide on what you are best at, and if it doesn’t work, you try something else. You look at opportunities and challenges as they come and you decide on the best course of action.

Then, you must be focused. It takes a while to build. We have been here as a family from the early 1920s, and it’s nearly 100 years. Things were probably easier at that time because there weren’t those many possibilities. But now there are so many other possibilities and we have to survive by deciding on what we are going to go into. And if it doesn’t work we go into something else.

How do you see the NBC over the next decades?

I think we are in a better position to grow the business and make more impact on the Nigerian economy. The Leventis family was able to ask the Coca-Cola company to become shareholders in the global group, Coca-Cola Hellenic, which means that we can together work to achieve the targets that we both want, which is the expansion of the business. In the past, Coke would sell us their concentrate and were responsible for marketing, but they were not involved with the manufacture, distribution, or with the rapid expansion of the company in Nigeria.

We will always look for new ways to improve producing drinks the way people want it. We have gone from glass bottles to PET bottles to cans and probably into other forms for consumption as well as packaging for quick service restaurants.

Basically, Coke will never change from being what it is even in the next 100 years.

It will produce different drinks and different products, but then Coca-Cola itself will always remain as the major product. We will give the product to the customer the way he wants while offering a wide range of choices.

24

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

STANDh BY! Wit

VICTOR AKANDE

Afro Hollywood Best Entertainment Writer 2009

E-mail: victor_akande@yahoo.com Tel: 08077408676 (SMS only)

THINK

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

The Genevieve’s score card

J

UST back from the Nollywood Road Show, a Nigerian motion picture forum at the Kenya International Film Festival (KIFF), a similitude of the commercial worth of an actor for social endorsement touched me with a nagging effect that some of my story ideas in the past had compelled me to share with you.

Every passing day, Gevevieve Nnaji has continued to live as Nigeria's truly first super star; and this does not only come by words of the mouth or the degree of accolades her fans shower on her on the street. The actress was part of the road show mentioned above and you don't want to know what her charges were and how much bargains went on for days while others see the trip more as an opportunity to meet with their East African fans.

And when a business is good, and the entrepreneur is godly, every body around feeds well; Genevieve's business as an actress is thriving and there is no doubt that those who work with her get the star treatment.

First she insisted that Chinny Onwugbenu, her Personal Assistant (PA), was placed on that trip, and when an Economy Class ticket was booked for the PA, she upgraded it with USD1, 635; just so her PA could be right there beside her in the Business Class cabin. There couldn't be a better sign of an institutionalised artistry and a thespian worth her salt. I would not be surprised if the reason Globacom, a brand that has eyes for the best thespians, has not enlisted Genevieve is because of what the charges of the ex Lux Queen may be.

And I dare say that, although the Globacom ambassadorship deal with the Nigerian actors may appear so big at the moment, we may soon discover that the thespians are being under priced by that network when our art sails into real appropriation. Even then, we must understand that an artiste is priceless in the same way that his skills can only be appreciated and not bought.

But apart from the fact that Glo has helped the Nigerian actors to fulfil that aspect of their alternative source of income, which is what sustains an act outside the screen even in almighty Hollywood, how

I dare say that, although the Globacom ambassadorship deal with the Nigerian actors may appear so big at the moment, we may soon discover that the thespians are being under priced by that network when our art sails into real appropriation many actors see an endorsement as a key aspect of their earnings rather than a mere opportunity? How many actors are so institutionalised to source endorsement or deploy managerial apparatus to handle product or social endorsements as real contracts when they come?

I have discussed on this platform how actors play corn with movie contracts; given the reason why a producer would cry out that an actor did not show up after being paid for a job, only for the actor to reply saying the reason he didn't show up was because the producer owed a balance from an old job. There is a common language for such problem lack of professionalism!

And so without fear of

One actor that sees her job as a business and not a charity is Nollywood's darling, Genevieve Nnaji. And this is not a fault at all because even charities, in an appreciable sense, should be seen as organised forms of non-profitable businesses

contradiction, one actor that sees her job as a business and not a charity is Nollywood's darling, Genevieve Nnaji. And this is not a fault at all because even charities, in an appreciable sense, should be seen as organised forms of nonprofitable businesses.

Therefore, as Wole Soyinka said at the aforementioned Nollywood forum in Nairobi, that artistry goes with choice; you may decide to shoot a film that attacks the wrong policy of the state and make a name through a possible jail term or you find some other story ideas to shoot. So if you know what is good for you, go for it! But you see, one cannot give what he does not have, and that is why P.Square for example is regarded as one of the most professional from the Nigerian music industry not only because they charge expensive fees, but because they would not only be punctual to shows, but would give event organisers value for their money.

A Genevieve would give you value for your money and that underscores why a director or event organiser would want her at all cost. But again, while appraising Genevieve's religious approach to business, we cannot entirely say that other actors who are liberal or more lenient with pricing are foolish. Price would ever be a function of demand and supply and demand for Genevieve far outweighs her availability. And like someone rightly enthused, it's her time and she is utilising it well. I choose to go with this school of thought and not the one that says the liberal actors don't know their worth. While there are indeed many stars, Genevieve's equals at the moment are very few.

And I think this exceptional star didn't just get to where she is today; she had worked hard and is still doing more to sustain the brand. Managing a brand well comes with a lot of self denials which I think is part of the winning formula for Genevieve. Therefore, I am of the opinion that every artiste must be conscious of his commercial worth and institutionalise himself for optimal result.

Let us live above the old days of the Yoruba travelling theatre when art was merely for art's sake.

WRITE TO US! Do you watch Nollywood movies? What do you think of the Nigerian motion picture industry? Send your review of any movie or short essay on any topic of your choice about the film industry in not more than 200 words. Send entries by e-mail to: victor_akande@yahoo.com or SMS your short comments to 08077408676

SNAPSHOTS

Uche Jombo again!

W

ITH an international recognition to her credit, star actress Uche Jombo recently won the Actress of the Year award at the annual Exquisite Magazine Lady of the Year Awards.

Held at The Incubator on Sunday 23rd October 2011, Jombo beat the likes of Omoni Oboli (Anchor Baby), Omotola JaladeEkeinde (Private Storm), Genevieve Nnaji (Tango with Me), Ini Edo (Inale), Stella Damasus (Bent Arrows), and Monalisa Chinda (Kiss & Tell) to take home the plaque.

Commenting on the award, an excited Uche said, is a thrilling and pleasant surprise. “To win this award in a field featuring peers I love and have so much respect for is just phenomenal.

Hopefully, we hope more people will get to see this movie and appreciate the kind of story we are trying to tell and the issues we are trying to highlight. I would like to thank my fans for such an honour and for their undying support,” she said.

The multi-talented actress, whose face graced Exquisite magazine's October edition, is currently touring the United States of America with the first of her 'Damage' trilogy production.

Adaora Ukoh spots new look

I

N what is perceived as her sacrifice and a demonstration of her passion for her acting career, Nollywood actress Adaora Ukoh recently shaved off her hair for a movie role said to be worth N2million.

The actress actually contributed to the making of the film entitled Thy Kingdom Come, as she scripted the film within the space of two years.

While writing the film, Adora was said to have informed the producer that she will handle the lead role perfectly, and should be given the opportunity to do it as a compensation for her work.

The plump screen diva interpreted her role professional ly but the news of N2 million acting fee was said to be a publicity stunt. As gathered, she was very passionate about the film and sacrificed a lot to see to its success.

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SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

NATION SPORT

NATION SPORT

•Eguavoen

T

ORINO lost its unbeaten start to the season in the last match against Gubbio. What really was responsible for the loss?

Well I will say there is nothing much responsible than the fact that we had a bad game and we lost 0-1.

We did all what we could to win but it wasn’t our day. It is football for you. It is either you win, draw or lose.

We were at the receiving end of the latter and we have taken it in our strides to get prepared adequately for our next match. Another important thing is that we still keep our first position intact with three points over our nearest rival.Torino will bounce back from this defeat to go on to record further excellent outings and at the end of the season pick one of the tickets to the Serie A. Coach Eguavoen and the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) Technical Committee Chairman,

•Dream celebrate

DreamTeamVwillwipetears from our faces—Oduamadi

Barrister Christopher Green were in Italy on Wednesday to see the technical directors of your club and those of others that are members of the Under-23 squad. Did they see you?

Yes I saw them when they came but I couldn’t join them immediately because we were having training session by then. I later went to see coach Eguavoen later in the night and we talked on some issues that are not for public consumption. In all, I will say it was fun seeing the two men coming to our clubs to discuss ways that will make the Under-23 assignment a success considering the recent losses we have been experiencing in our football.

What would you say transpired between your club and the two officials from Nigeria?

Well for now I don’t really know and can’t explain what and how their discussion panned out but I will get the full gist of their discussion after I see my coach here.

But I believe everything will be hitch free between them and the fact that they came down to see the various clubs showed how esteemed we are valued back home.

How important will you describe the visit of the Dream Team V chief coach Austin Eguavoen to

THE chief coach of the Nigeria Under-23 team,Austin Eguavoen and the Chairman, Technical Committee of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) recently combed Europe to seek audience with clubs that have the national U-23 players of Nigeria in their pay role to be release for the London Olympics Qualifiers in Morocco come November. The duo also visited Italy where they had discussions with AC Torino midfielder, Nnamdi Oduamadi and two other Nigerian players.In this interview with TUNDE LIADI, Oduamadi assured that the Dream Team V will give Nigerians something to cheer about and what the visit means to the foreign based players in their quest to qualify the country for the quadrennial event. EXCERPT Europe in order to facilitate the release of you and your colleagues for the CAF 8 Nations Under-23 Championship?

Yeah! It meant a lot to us and not just me that the Under-23 team coach and an official of the NFF came all the way from Nigeria to seek our release for the Olympics qualifier. We know we are in the team and the fact that the foreign based players need to work harder in the team to make qualification possible makes it imperative for this kind of trip to

be made.

The foreign based players are very vital to the Under-23 team quest to qualify since we constitute more than 90 percent of the team hence the need for the coaching crew to work round the clock to facilitate our release. I am not saying that the home based players are not good enough but the experience of the foreign based players will make the team whole and solid. From the defence starting with the goalkeeper everyone in that team is mostly

professional and since the tournament in not taking place within the FIFA free days, proper audience with various clubs which harbor these players is needed for them to be released since they cannot come of their own volition.

Virtually all Nigerian representatives in national and international football competitions have been eliminated. Does this put the Dream Team V players and the officials under pressure?

Yeah! It is really disheartening and it is trying time for Nigeria football and something must be done to halt the unpalatable results. I heard about the Super Falcons’ loss to Cameroon last week and that of the Super Eagles’ failure is still very fresh in our memory. I will say it is football for you. You can only have three eventualities in the game called football. Sometimes we have been winning but we lost this time around. We need to pick up the pieces and see ways by which we can forge ahead as a country. We cannot continue to dwell on our bad experiences things must be done to focus on the future.

I just hope we shall be able to make Nigerians happy again. Everyone’s hope is on us and we are promising that we are not going to fail the nation. We will go there and do our best. We are not panicky in any way.

We are assuring Nigerians not to get panicky and that they should leave the job to us for us to do. We would everything within our reach to qualify for the Olympics come November 26th through December 10th in Morocco.

You have a Nigerian counterpart in Torino by name Angelo Ogbonna. Can you tell us more about him?

Angelo Ogbonna is player of the Italy national team and it is unfortunate that even though he has Nigerian roots he has been lost to the Azurris and there is nothing one can do about that.

Do you both talk about Nigeria at all?

Yes we do talk about Nigeria and some other things that join us together. Ever since he made up his mind to play for Italy I know it will be a difficult task changing his mind.

We have never discussed the prospect of him playing for the Super Eagles because he already has his mind made up.

•Oduamadi

AKINLOYE AT LARGE 08050246155 atlarge84@yahoo.com

EaglestoobigforOliseh FORMER international, Sunday Oliseh wants to coach the Super Eagles and he has made his intention known to the world.

The former Super Eagles captain thinks he has the necessary papers to do the job successfully and posted that intention on his Twitter over the weekend.

Oliseh wants to replace Samson Siasia who failed to qualify Nigeria for the 2012 African Cup of Nations. Siasia is still on the job after the monumental failure and hopes to take Nigeria to the 2013 qualifiers which begin in January as they have said in some quarters. We had thought that Siasia would throw in the towel considering the contract he penned with the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF). The contract makes it mandatory for his resignation for failing to qualify and take the team to the semi final. And the NFF has not helped matters by remaining silent in the matter. Zambia was not happy with the way their qualification for the Nations CUP went and sacked the coach not too long after the qualifiers were concluded. The FA has hired another coach. What is holding Nigeria back? Have they not recovered from the ouster by Guinea? Do they have a hiding agenda considering the matter of the Super Eagles Coach? Why are they snoozing on the job? Are they tired on the job? If they are, they can resign en mass instead of the go slow which has taken over the football house.

Oliseh has the right as a Nigerian to aspire to coach the country’s national team. He is a former international and has played the game to the highest level.

He went to a tertiary institution in Nigeria in the past and he has the correct academic papers to bag the job as it seems. I like his style in coming out to ask for the job. The words he used were superb and it came from an enlightened mind, but I think the former midfielder is asking for a job which is bigger than him even with the height of credentials on his path. His greatest stumbling block will be the international experience he does not have at the moment. That will continue to stand against him and the Super Eagles as a coach. He is also thinking of rebuilding. For how long are we going to rebuild? The rebuilding started in 2002 when Adegboye Onigbinde sacked a whole team close to the World Cup and started a rebuilding exercise. He was shipped aside for another coach. His sin: Eagles crashed out from the World Cup in the first round.

Apparently, all the coaches that followed Onigbinde had been in one form of rebuilding or another since that unforgettable incident. FIFA has made it easy for us. A player is expected to move from the U-17 to the U-20 and then U-23 and then to the Super Eagles. What else do we want? Why is it that our players do not graduate to the senior team? The truth is that we win the age group competitions with adults. Do we continue to fancy winning the age group competitions and forget doing well at the senior level?

If Oliseh and Siasia had to sit for an interview and the egg-heads of the football house would pick one, I still believe that they will go for Siasia. Siasia has had the opportunity of handling the U-20 national team. The Flying Eagles and came second. The fact cannot be hidden that he won silver medal at the Olympic Games which is meant for the U-23 players. He went to the Junior World Cup in Egypt few years back and crashed out in the quarterfinal. The experience counts for something even if the players were adults.

•Igali As much as Oliseh has the credentials I am of the opinion that he needs to gather the necessary work experience with the international teams. I think he should ask for the U-20 or the U-23 or even the Falcons to prepare himself for the Super Eagles.

Now, Oliseh’s candidature does not appear sell-able to me. He still has a lot to do to coach the senior national team.

INBOX I said Greece disgraced us because for a team that has not scored a World Cup goal to only score but also defeat Nigeria is a disgrace of the highest pedigree.

I fully support Siasia in his rebuilding process than for him to consolidate players that cannot be consolidated. Or how else would you rate a player (your Yakubu) who diverted a ball going into an open net over the bar? That no Nigerian player is making waves in the various leagues across the globe is a pointer that we need to rebuild. This (rebuilding) is a national issue and all hands must be on deck to help Siasia instead of condemning him.

Adekunle Let’s try schools: Sports is an academic exercise. The intellect and discipline required to excel is only available in schools. Unfortunately, we have built ours on quick-sands streets of Ajegunle, Ekpoma, Diobu and Ariaria with age cheats.

Let’s build real academies not talent hunts by ex-footballers.

Hon. Ihuoma Neither you nor anyone is talking about the root cause of the senior national team problem. Cheating at the age group events is the root cause not Siasia or coaches. They are just the symptoms. 50 Trappatonis, MOurinho or Fergusons will not solve Super Eagles’s problems for as long as we continue to parade senior boys for kindergarten events. The result is those kids we cheated mature to big boys when our ‘kids’ have grown. That’s why we never deliver when it matters. Get it?

Anonymous What type of results do we expect from a very dubious NFF inherited by a Maigari and co deficient in the proper running of football at the national level?

Same goes for dubiously hired flash-in-the-pan, incompetent coaches who cannot even make good team selection but woeful substitutions in the mode of Siasia and Uche- dogmatically stuck to outdated Dede. They command little respect from their stupendously rich, over-pampered players who care less about the success of the national team. This is the bane of the Nigerian football fast retrogressing to the disappointment of the soccer-loving Nigerians. While contemporary nations go for competent foreign coaches-and there is no shame in that- our local coaches wobble and fumble with the feelings of the soccer fans. The only remedy is to still go for identifiable, competent foreign coaches understudied by the local ones till they are capable of holding on their own without breaking our hearts.

Babs Jimoh, Surulere-Lagos.

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 22, 2011

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NATION SPORT

When Maigari proposes, W ill-luck disposes HEN we accuse Ministers of Sports of neglecting other sports to the benefit of football, it becomes the classical pointing of one finger and having four pointing at self. Reading through most sports blogs and newspaper columns, it is very easy to decipher why Sports Ministers turn out to be Football Ministers. I plead guilty of same offence today and rather than pretend to be a Sports Writer, let it be known that Football Writing is the name.

Yes, it cannot just go away and this is talking about the issues in football in Nigeria.

Dan Forster, the African American at Lagos-based Inspiration FM Radio said on Wednesday morning that the bathroom offers him the best sanctuary for ideas incubation and planning his day. He shares my lot in this instance for in the solitude of the bathroom where we appear in our natural dress, we somehow find harmony with nature and our reasoning finds blossom.

On one of such mind racing exercise, my thoughts dwelt on the popular stories in the media as it affects sports and the lead stories remain Nigeria’s failure to qualify for the Nations Cup 2012 and the matter of the unending 2010/ 11 Premier League season.

Coach Samson Siasia’s job status and the fall-out of the NPL elections were not the issues for me.

Interestingly, there are those who would rather obfuscate the matter of Siasia being in breach of his documented terms of engagement in a futile attempt at making a scapegoat of the Aminu Maigari-led board. As boards of the Nigeria Football go, it is hard to match the record of any with that of Maigari in terms of supporting coaches pursuant to meeting the aspirations of the country in international football. Here is a board that approved all manner of request by the Super Eagles coach for a tour of Europe os-

By Harry Iwuala

tensibly to monitor and meet players. There was even a tour to convince some players with dual nationality to declare allegiance for Nigeria not even minding that such players like Shola Ameobi has been offered the opportunity in the past to wear the national colours.

Preparing for the Women World Cup in 2010, the Super Falcons handler requested and got the nod of the board to camp the team in Belgium where they engaged in a number of pre-tournament trial matches. It is difficult to remember the Falcons embarking on such month-long training camp in the past but yet we did not secure a result commensurate with the support rendered. If money by way of match winning bonus could turn results around for good, then the Falcons would not have departed Germany as early as they did as the Maigari-led board upped their bonus to motivate the lads.

What the Falcons enjoyed was not denied John Obu and the Flying Eagles squad that failed to overcome France at the quarter final stage of the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Colombia in the summer. Obu had prior to the African Championship which Nigeria reclaimed, toured Dubai before arriving South Africa and winning the trophy (some have conveniently erased that feat) was a dividend of the international training tour.

All said, it is not possible that any of our national coaches will join issues with the board for their inability to deliver on the mandate their contracts imposed on them. It is a new chapter in the Board-Coach relationship that there has been no bickering over working conditions and liberty to

•Maigari

make decisions. That Siasia has embarked on a round of pleas for a second chance is confirmation that he was responsible for his failure to meet the required performance index and a vindication of the Board (including the much vilified technical committee).

But how unlucky can a man be? This is the unfortunate lot of Maigari and his colleagues on the board of NFF, doing their best but turning out unlucky. It is all too easy for those seeking relevance in football administration in the country to lampoon albeit unjustifiably, a board that has weathered so many storms in their short existence. They emerge from instigated crisis within the sports community to also drive the quest for a place in continental and global football. Perhaps, the intentions and objectives of those instigating these crises have been to distract the board and derail our collective quest for balance as a football nation in order to raise a campaign for the board to go.

Little wonder we have the shadowy voices that are sidetracking the issue of what to do with the national team manager’s position and setting agenda for a national uproar in football administration. Some have gone as far as making calls again for the illadvised Presidential dissolution of the National Team and formation of interim Board. To these groups, the failure to qualify for Nations Cup 2012 is equivalent to the two years nap from football activities prescribed by the President.

What they conveniently ignore is that to the Presidential two years will be added a FIFA two or four years ouster and imagine what would have happened to a generation of players who would have found expression for their talents at South Africa 2013 and Brazil 2014.

Obviously, as mortals, Maigari and co will have their failings and so far, this can be located in their inability to design a working plan for our football. They seem to be living by the day and navigating each day and program as it comes. This is not good enough for a modern day board of a business as huge as football in a country with a market for over 120 million people.

The type of working document expected to guide a board in its operation must be produced by persons with relevant business and technical experience. This is a forward looking approach that will provide a rolling plan even for future boards and the beauty of it is that it becomes a development and marketing manual that will only be tinkered to accommodate changing patterns in football administration.

Baribote’s Traducers and the missing NPL Millions.

Recently, there was a litany of wolf cries in the media

about missing money from the accounts of the Nigeria Premier League and my immediate response was that there must be some magicians in the secretariat who must have conjured the money being mentioned.

Any keen follower of developments at the NPL since last year would readily attest that the body has been in penury since late 2009 when the last sponsorship fee paid by Globacom was spent within three months. The NPL account has been over-drawn at the Wuse, Abuja branch of Equitorial Trust Bank (ETB) to the tune of over N180m as at when Davidson Owunmi took over and yet someone who once was the Chairman of NPL went on radio to allege that money has been stolen.

In all these, it is very easy to read the handiwork of the anti-Baribote forces trying to raise false alarms to create an impression of instability and hoping that such will lead to some outside intervention in the affairs of the board. For those who claim to be eternally devoted to serving the best interest of the League, it is still a puzzle why they ignore their thriving businesses to engage in squabbles over a League they claimed caused their businesses to suffer.

A serious minded patriot who has information on fraud has a responsibility to approach Madam Farida Waziri and not newspaper and radio houses. Such recourse amounts to attention and relevance seeking on their part and more sinisterly, a plot to destabilize the League and perpetuate their stranglehold on the goodies they perceive to flow from it.

Baribote needs to roll his sleeves and get down to work, to reclaim the lost time.

He needs to consult from the corporate business environment on developing business models that will drive the league towards attracting corporate backing and recapture the fans that are all facing Europe for football joy. So far as he knows the allegations are shadow-chasing, he must ignore those behind it and go about the task of rebuilding the League. It is important that the issue of television and radio broadcast rights are reviewed as the present state of affairs in that sphere is criminal. It is a surprise that our clubs are still consenting to having their games aired without being paid due revenue from it. It is a shame that someone will sell broadcast right for the League at N120m after securing a Title Sponsorship rights fee of over N3b. We must copy global best practices in merchandising football assets and not resort to underhand dealings that rob the clubs and drive away the fans.

Harry Iwuala is a renowned Journalist based in Lagos, Nigeria

VOICE OF SPORTS

With Clement Nwankpa Jnr. sportswar@yahoo.com

Attention: ‘Comrade’ Maigari Dear Sir, Permit me to address you as a comrade today. I see you as a comrade because we are together in this struggle to navigate Nigerian football out of the doldrums. We have one thing in common; we are both columnists in the most widely circulated newspaper in the country, The Nation. In this vein, I see you in two garbs; one being that of NFF President, the other as a columnist. I am sure you are very much aware of the responsibility of the newspaper columnist as the vanguard of change and voice of the voiceless.

Your position as the NFF President at this moment is not enviable.

Frankly, these are not the best of times for Nigerian football. But while some of us, who are also stakeholders, may not be directly held responsible for whatever direction Nigerian football takes, you are at the centre of it all. The fact is that your actions and inactions directly impact on the round-leather game. You have both the yam and the knife in your possession. If you want to fry the yam, you slice it; if you want it boiled, you cut it into bigger lumps. Whatever you bring to the dining table is what we will consume.

I learnt the NFF Board meeting was supposed to hold yesterday.

As at the time of writing this piece, that meeting had not been held.

As a co-columnist, you know I have to beat the deadline. If some of the issues I raise here had been subsequently dealt with, appropriately, by the board, you may ignore them. If not, please take note and act accordingly. If I may ask, why has your board not bestowed all the appurtenances of Executive Committee membership on Emeka Inyama, Dilichukwu Onyedinma and Ahmed Kawo? I have right here the Award of the Victor Iyanam-led Arbitration Panel over the disputes arising from elections into the National, Amateur and Women’s League Boards. The date of this award is September 21, 2011. Taking into cognizance the contents of this award and the implications of its non-implementation, it is befuddling to note that you have not acted upon it one full month after.

With particular reference to the Women’s League Board election won by Onyedinma and contested in the appeal tribunal by Aisha Falode, I had faulted the February 25, 2011 judgment of Ola Mafo annulling that election. Writing under the headline ‘Ola Mafo’s blunder’, I had catalogued the misinterpretation and misrepresentation of the NFF Statutes and Electoral Guidelines by Mafo in arriving at his verdict. My position was vindicated by Iyanam, a former attorney-general in Akwa Ibom State.

While evaluating section 7.0 (iii), (vii) and (viii) as quoted by Mafo, Iyanam had stated thus; “…it (the Appeals Committee) was applying the law as it ought to be and not as it is. There was therefore no excuse for the claimant (Onyedinma) to bear the brunt of errors or miscalculation by the NFF or its agencies, when as it turned out, all the parties either consented or acquiesced to it by participating in the elections”.

In setting aside the Mafo verdict, Iyanam had ordered thus; “The election of Mrs Dilichukwu Onyedinma as Chairman of the Women’s League Board is hereby restored. She is deemed to have resumed from the date of her swearing-in. It is further ordered that she be accorded her full perquisites of office and paid all her entitlements from 29th January, 2011 to date…The Nigerian Football Federation (NFF) and all other affiliated and enabling agencies are hereby ordered to recognize and accord the claimant (Onyedinma) all the consequential benefits of her election as Chairman of the Women’s League Board”. Comrade, I am well aware you are in possession of this award. I have only used Onyedinma as a case study. The same award was extended to Inyama and Kawo, winners of the National and Amateur League Board chairmanship elections respectively. My investigations have also revealed that the trio is yet to be integrated into the Executive Committee of the NFF. In fact, I gathered that while you took Onyedinma to Cameroun as an Executive Committee member, her responsibilities were ascribed to another.

If they are accorded their dues as ordered by Iyanam, the membership of the NFF board will be complete. Are you averse to having a full complement of the Board? Given the state of Nigerian football, you need a complete Board to make for more quality deliberations. I also want you to note that the Arbitration Panel’s verdict is final. It can’t even be upturned by FIFA or Court of Arbitration in Sports (CAS).

Article 70 of NFF Statutes states; “CAS will not entertain any appeal arising from the decision of a competent arbitration tribunal set up by a Federation or Confederation”. What I want to point out here is that the NFF Board is left with no other option than to duly recognize the trio.

Your modus operandi as the NFF President has been noted. While it is widely believed that you are a nice man with a good heart and good intentions, there are some members of your board who enjoy your confidence and consequently influence your decisions. These times call for firmness. You should note that your administration spent more time in the court rooms than the Board room in the past one year. The aftermath is the calamitous results Nigerian football has recorded recently. You must avoid circumstances that will lead to court summons. By not implementing Iyanam’s verdict, you are obviously courting trouble.

The decision to include Onyedinma in the Cameroun trip is a sign of your intent but those people around you are believed to be responsible for your foot-dragging. I hope you fully integrated the trio into the NFF Executive Committee in your meeting yesterday.

I pray God grants you divine wisdom in these trying times.

32

33

NATIONSPORT SUNDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

NATION SPORT

NATION SPORT

R

EAL MADRID have won five straight La Liga games many times before but it is the dominant manner of their most recent run of victories that suggests they may be close r to ending Barcelona’s three-year grip on the Spanish title.

•Messi •Ronaldo Jose Mourinho’s expensively-assembled side, who play at Real Sociedad tonight (2000 GMT), relied more on swift counter attacking last season and often seemed incapable of exerting the control that is a hallmark of their great rivals.

Lately, however, forward Cristiano Ronaldo, resurgent playmaker Kaka, in-form strikers Karim Benzema and Gonzalo Higuain and their team mates have blown their opponents away in the opening stages before shutting them out by keeping the ball for extended periods.

All four of their goals in last weekend’s win at Malaga came in the first half, as did all three in Wednesday’s 3-0 success at home to Villarreal. They have netted 21 goals on their run of five victories, conceding only three, and are a point clear of Barca after nine matches.

“We are increasingly able to control games and we are reading them better all the time,” said midfielder Xabi Alonso, who dictates play in the central areas much like his Spain team mate Xavi of Barca.

“Today (against Villarreal) we were able to mix some swift attacks with holding on to the ball and knowing how to interpret the game,” the former Liverpool player told reporters.

Levante loving time in spotlight

L

EVANTE are revelling in their unlikely status as Primera Division leaders with midweek hero Ruben Suarez declaring: "We are the team to beat."

Ruben lashed home a stunning 93rd-minute winner as Levante edged out Real Sociedad 3-2 on Wednesday night to move back to the top of the table after being briefly usurped by Barcelona.

The win saw Levante re-establish their one-point lead at the summit over Real Madrid, who won later in the evening, and it is an advantage they will try to preserve at Osasuna on tomorrow.

Valencia-based Levante avoided relegation last season by just two points and were among the favourites to suffer the fate in 2011-12. The lack of expectation means the players are currently enjoying their new-found fame.

Ruben said: "Right now, we are the team to beat. We

•Ruben Suarez

have another short week to enjoy the moment.

After nine rounds we are first and people want to beat us."

9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 8 9 8 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

7 7 6 5 4 4 3 4 4 2 2 2 2 2 2 1 2 1 0 1

2 1 3 3 5 1 3 0 0 5 4 3 3 3 2 4 1 4 5 2

0 1 0 1 0 4 3 4 4 2 2 3 4 4 5 4 6 4 4 6

17 31 27 12 10 10 10 10 7 11 9 11 8 9 9 8 7 7 6 2

5 6 4 8 6 13 11 13 11 17 7 11 11 17 13 12 13 17 15 11

12 25 23 4 4 -3 -1 -3 -4 -6 2 0 -3 -8 -4 -4 -6 -10 -9 -9

23 22 21 18 17 13 12 12 12 11 10 9 9 9 8 7 7 7 5 5

Wenger banks on Van Persie

M

ANCHESTER CITY can open up an eight-point gap at the top of the Premier League when they return home to what will be a heroes’ welcome in front of almost 50,000 adoring fans for the visit of Wolverhampton Wanderers on Saturday.

City, who crushed Manchester United 6-1 at Old Trafford last week to move five points clear at the top, will be meeting Wolves for the second time in four days after their 5-2 win in the League Cup on Wednesday at Molineux.

On current form, Wolves will be no match for City, but their manager Mick McCarthy, who made 140 League appearances for City in the mid-1980s, will relish another tussle against his former club, who only won the corresponding League fixture 4-3 last season.

Meanwhile, United, humbled by their defeat at Old Trafford which manager Alex Ferguson called “the worst day in my history”, make the short, tricky trip to Everton who lost 2-1 at home to Chelsea in the League Cup on Wednesday.

United, with Ferguson making 11 changes to the side beaten by City, did at least taste some success this week with a 3-0 win at League Two (fourth tier) Aldershot Town in the League Cup. There is no doubt who has the harder task on Saturday because if United should slip up at Goodison in their 1100 GMT kickoff, City will kickoff at 1400 GMT knowing they can streak ahead of them in

G

IVEN Arsenal’s reliance on Robin van Persie as the team emerges from its early season rut, Chelsea’s priority will be to •Van Persie stifle the influence of the in-form Netherlands striker in Saturday’s London derby at Stamford Bridge.

Van Persie has scored two goals in three of Arsenal’s last four league matches to help Arsene Wenger’s side climb away from the bottom of the table and into seventh place after nine games.

With Cesc Fabregas and Samir Nasri leaving the Emirates in the summer, Van Persie stands alone as Arsenal’s world-class talent in attack and the onus will be on the Dutchman to continue his recent scoring spree as Wenger’s men attempt to win away for the first time this campaign.

Liverpool's Daniel Agger controls the ball during his team's 2-1 win over Stoke in their English League Cup soccer match at the Britannia Stadium, Stoke, England, Wednesday Oct. 26, 2011.

“He is an excellent player and the team need him,” Van Persie’s strike partner Gervinho said. “You always have to have leaders in the group and he is a player who drags the team forward.”

Chelsea manager Andre Villas-Boas will appreciate that negating Van Persie— described by Wenger last week as the Premier League’s best all-round striker— will go a long way to negating Arsenal in the stand out match this weekend.

Chelsea will be looking to bounce back from its last league outing, an ill-tempered 1-0 defeat at Queens Park Rangers in which two of its players— Jose Bosingwa and Didier Drogba—were red-carded and seven others booked.

While Chelsea was charged by the Football Association following its players’ angry protests against Bosingwa’s sending-off and Villas-Boas was asked to explain his critical comments of the officials, the biggest repercussion from the derby defeat was the allegations that captain John Terry racially abused QPR defender Anton Ferdinand during the match.

Barclays Premier league Table - October 23

V

Levante Madrid Barcelona Valencia Sevilla Malaga Vallecano Real Betis Espanyol Osasuna Atletico Bilbao Mallorca Zaragoza Sociedad Getafe Gijon Villarreal Racing Granada

Man City eyes another win over Wolves

ILLARREAL president Fernando Roig has handed coach Juan Carlos Garrido a vote of confidence.

Wednesday night's defeat to Real Madrid saw Villarreal drop into the relegation zone.

But Roig says: "Garrido remains the coach of Villarreal. Garrido must not be judged after one game, but over a career."

Ronaldo Madrid 10 Messi Barcelona 10 Higuaín Madrid 9 Soldado Valencia 6 Garcia Atlético 6 Juanlu Levante 5 Xavi Barcelona 4 Fábregas Barcelona 4 Cazorla Málaga 4 García Osasuna 4 Agirretxe R.Sociedad 4

Saturday Valencia v Getafe Villarreal v Rayo Barcelona vMallorca Sociedad v Madrid Sun Gijón v Athletic. C Osasuna vLevante Racing v Real Betis Atlético v Zaragoza Málaga vEspanyol

M

ANCHESTER UNITED midfielder Ji-Sung Park has revealed that the Red Devils are eager to bounce back against Everton following their 6-1 drubbing by Manchester City last week.

"We have to concentrate and everyone has to turn up to show the City game has not affected us. We have to get over that," Park told the club’s official website.

Sir Alex Ferguson called last Sunday’s defeat his worst ever as a manager as his United side capitulated in the second half

conceding five goals and seeing Jonny Evans sent off.

"We have to put it right on the pitch and we have to prove it. It's a very important game to us and we have to go there and fight to get the points," said Park.

"It's not an easy game at Goodison Park - it's always difficult there. Just look at last season, when we were winning 3-1 and in injury-time they scored two goals."

The former South Korea international also claimed that he and his teammates know the threat that former Red Devils striker Louis Saha can pose.

Rooney Man United Agüero Man City Dzeko Man City Van Persie Arsenal lVan der Vaart Tottenham Demba Ba Newcastle Balotelli Man City Lampard Chelsea Agbonlahor Aston Villa Sturridge Chelsea

Saturday Everton v Man United Chelsea v Arsenal Man City v Wolves Norwich v Blackburn Sunderland v Aston Villa Swansea v Bolton Wigan v Fulham West Brom v Liverpool Sunday Tottenham v QPR

9 9 8 7 5 5 5 4 4 4

Man City Man United Chelsea Newcastle Tottenham Liverpool Arsenal Norwich City Stoke City Q PR Aston Villa West Brom Everton Sunderland Swansea City Wolves Fulham Bolton Wigan Blackburn

9 9 9 9 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9 8 9 9 9 9 9 9 9

8 6 6 5 5 4 4 3 3 3 2 3 3 2 2 2 1 2 1 1

1 2 1 4 1 3 1 3 3 3 5 2 1 3 3 2 4 0 2 2

0 1 2 0 2 2 4 3 3 3 2 4 4 4 4 5 4 7 6 6

33 7 26 12 20 10 12 6 15 13 12 10 15 18 11 12 7 11 7 14 11 11 9 11 10 12 12 10 9 14 8 14 11 12 12 24 6 15 10 20

26 14 10 6 2 2 3 -1 -4 -7 0 -2 -2 2 -5 -6 -1 -12 -9 -10

25 20 19 19 16 15 13 12 12 12 11 11 10 9 9 8 7 6 5 5

A

FTER scoring 11 goals in its previous three Serie A games, AC Milan will be looking to maintain its resurgent form away at Roma tonight.

Massimiliano Allegri’s team picked up just one win in its opening five league matches, but t h r e e c o n v i n c i n g victories—including a 4-1 triumph over Parma Wednesday—have seen Milan climb the standings and it now sits two points off leader Juventus.

“It was an important win against Parma. But it will be a completely different match against Roma, very difficult,” Allegri said. “If we

D

EJAN Stankovic has warned Juventus that they will face the real Inter at the Stadio Giuseppe Meazza tonight.

The Nerazzurri have had a disappointing start to the season, while the Bianconeri are unbeaten and currently lead the standings.

U

D I N E S E s p o r t i n g d i r e c t o r Fabrizio Larini lamented the absence of striker Antonio Di Natale after their 2-0 loss to Napoli on Wednesday.

Udinese sporting director Fabrizio Larini lamented the absence of striker Antonio Di Natale after their 2-0 loss to Napoli on Wednesday.

Natale Udinese Giovinco Parma JoveticFiorentina Palacio Genoa Klose Lazio Moralez Atalanta Matri Juve Osvaldo Roma Denis Atalanta Milito Inter Cerci Fiorentina Boateng Milan

6 5 5 5 4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3

continue to win, we’ll get even closer to the top of the standings. It’s important to win those you can win, because the table is now starting to stretch out.”

Juventus took over top spot after Udinese slipped to its first defeat, with a 2-0 loss at Napoli.

The Turin outfit is now the only unbeaten team in the league, and it travels to Inter Milan, which is looking for only its second win at the San Siro.

“It feels like a huge game to me, partly due to the situation that has been created around it,” the former Lazio man stated.

“We're up for it though. We'll prepare calmly in training for three days and then Inter will have to be at their very best.”

Inter will go into the tie having narrowly avoided defeat at

T h e I t a l y international, who has netted six league goals this campaign, missed the Serie A clash

through injury, and his team failed to make an impact without him at Stadio Sao Paolo.

•Ibrahimovic

Atalanta thanks to a late penalty save from Luca Castellazzi.

Although the 1-1 wasn’t the result they were looking for, Stankovic insists there were positives from the match.

“We had a good game – we battled and were solid on the pitch. We have to keep thinking positively and look forward,” he continued.

“The penalty was dubious, very dubious, but that's how things are going for us at the moment.The main thing is that the team is in good shape, mentally and physically. We just need a bit more luck in these things.”

Table •Di Natale

Sat Catania v Napoli Roma v Milan Inter v Juve Sun Siena v Chievo Bologna v Atalanta Fiorentina v Genoa Lecce v Novara Parma v Cesena Udinese v Palermo Cagliari v Lazio

Italia Seria A league Table - October 26 Juventus Udinese Lazio Napoli AC Milan Cagliari Genoa Roma Catania Siena Palermo Atalanta Fiorentina Chievo Parma Inter Bologna Novara Lecce Cesena

8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 8 8 8 8 8 8 8 7 8

4 4 4 4 4 3 3 3 2 2 3 4 2 2 3 2 2 1 1 0

4 3 3 2 2 4 3 2 5 4 1 3 3 3 0 2 1 3 1 3

0 13 1 10 1 12 2 12 2 16 1 9 2 13 3 9 1 10 2 7 3 9 1 11 3 9 3 6 5 10 4 10 5 5 4 11 5 6 5 3

6 3 8 5 12 6 11 8 11 5 10 9 8 7 17 14 12 16 13 10

7 7 4 7 4 3 2 1 -1 2 -1 2 1 -1 -7 -4 -7 -5 -7 -7

16 15 15 14 14 13 12 11 11 10 10 9 9 9 9 8 7 6 4 3

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

34

NATION SPORT

Inside The Glass House WITH AMINU MAIGARI

Nigeria football will bounce back (1) A

T the National Assembly on Thursday, the question was posed as to what has been happening and what is really the way forward for Nigeria football, following the failure of the Super Eagles to qualify for the 2012 African Cup of Nations and the Super Falcons’ defeat by Cameroon that ended Nigeria’s quest to be present at the Women’s Football Tournament of the 2012 Olympics in London.

I do not intend to divulge my response to that eminent forum here, but I want to state categorically that I have faith in the ability of Nigeria football to rise quickly from the recent disappointments of the Super Eagles and the Super Falcons and head back to the top.

Sometimes in football, you get results you do not expect, do not bargain and do not deserve. I still cannot get over the fact that the Super Eagles could not beat Guinea’s Syli Nationale here on October 8 (meaning our dear country would not be at the 2012 African Cup of Nations) and that the Falcons failed to capitalize on at least THREE clear opportunities within the first 25 minutes of their match against Cameroon in Yaounde on October 22, and would then go on to lose the encounter on penalties.

It is indeed a dark period for our football, but certainly, we have been through this kind of poor patch before and certainly, there is NO country in the world that has experienced only sunshine in its football history.

It is important to point out that the plethora of international competitions/ tournaments, meaning greater focus day-by-day, now expose countries to quick, uneven and unfair judgements on the field of play. I dare say that had we the Senior and

• Musa

Junior Women’s Teams in the 1970s and 1980s, the disappointments that came in those periods would have been more devastating.

The last time that Nigeria failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations was 1985, when Zambia won a two-leg fixture 1-0 in Zambia after both teams played out a 0-0 draw in Lagos. Few people remember that the defeat by Zambia came shortly after the Green Eagles had lost out to Tunisia in the qualifying series for the Mexico 1986 FIFA World Cup finals.

We had won the first leg against Tunisia 1-0 in Lagos on July 6, 1985 but in the second leg in Tunis a fortnight later, the Eagles were on the backfoot after only 30 minutes as Tunisia raided the goal-area of Peter Rufai ceaselessly.

Thanks to Peter Rufai, the scoreline was not bigger than 2-0, but enough to eliminate Nigeria from the race.

In that match in Tunis, we lost despite the presence of the likes of John Chidozie and Richard Owubokiri – two professionals ‘imported’ from abroad – and several of our ‘reliables’, people who would hardly fail, such as Rashidi Yekini, Humphrey Edobor, Yisa Sofoluwe, Sylvanus Okpala, Mudashiru Lawal (of blessed memory), Okey Isima and Peter Rufai himself.

After that match in Tunis, everyone looked up to the Cup of Nations qualifier against Zambia (only three weeks after) for something to smile about.

It never came. On August 10, 1985, the Green Eagles could only finish 0-0 against the Zambians at the National Stadium, Lagos. Several new players were brought into the team but that did not work any magic. A fortnight later in Lusaka, we lost 0-1 and failed to qualify for the African Cup of Nations staged in Egypt.

However, two years later, with more new players brought into the team and a new Head Coach, Nigeria qualified for the African Cup of Nations in Morocco.

At the beginning of the year 1988, the Eagles nailed Algeria 2-1 on aggregate to qualify for the 1988 Seoul Olympic Games. In Morocco, the Super Eagles went all the way to the final and would have lifted the trophy if there was fairer officiating. I am sure those who are old enough remember the controversy that, for years after, trailed Mauritanian referee Idrissa Sarr’s nullification of a superb goal by Henry Nwosu.

Two years later, we were again in the final of the African Cup of Nations in Algeria, and won bronze at the next edition of the championship in Senegal. In 1994, the Super Eagles went all the way, lifting the trophy after coming from behind to defeat Zambia 2-1 in the final in Tunis.

Certainly, poor results are undesirable and surely not easily forgetable when they come one after the other. But the October To Forget is easing out and the Nigeria Football Federation is already working hard to ensure that November and indeed the months that follow come with sunshine and delight.

The appointment of a Technical Director will definitely power a lot of the developmental programmes that are on the burner at the moment, and he will work assiduously with the Head Coaches of the National Teams to design a Plan Of Action for every football match, every football tournament, whether friendly, invitational or competitive.

Our strategy now is to approach every football match involving any of the National Teams (and indeed any of our Clubs playing in the continent) as if it were the FIFA World Cup competition.

Several other countries of the world have been through this lane before. I remember that Ghana’s Black Stars won the 1982 African Cup of Nations in Libya, but two years later, it fared badly at the 1984 finals in Cote d’Ivoire, unable to recover from a first match defeat by Nigeria. The Black Stars failed to qualify for the 1986 and 1988 African Cup of Nations in succession, and then had to look inwards.

The same team qualified for the 1992 finals in Senegal and only lost the final to Cote d’Ivoire on penalties, perhaps done in by the suspension of Abedi Pele from the final match after a yellow card against Nigeria in the semi finals. Today, Ghana is one of

the leading lights of African football having reached the quarter finals of the FIFA World Cup (South Africa 2010) and qualified for the 2012 African Cup of Nations.

Cameroon has also gone this route before. The country won the 1984 and 1988 African Cup of Nations but then fared badly at the 1990 finals in Algeriam before going on to reach the quarter finals of the FIFA World Cup in Italy the same year. The Indomitable Lions lost the bronze medal match of the 1992 Cup of Nations to Nigeria and did not even make it to Tunisia 1994. The Lions were woeful at the 2002 FIFA World Cup finals in Korea/Japan, did not even qualify for the 2004 Cup of Nations in Tunisia and then lost out to Togo in the qualifying series for the 2006 FIFA World Cup. A Nigerian sage once insisted that greatness is never achieved by never falling, but by rising each time you fall.

Falls enable you to re-appraise your strategies and tactics and ultimately, lead to muchimproved results in the near future.

In November 1977, the Green Eagles lost painfully to Tunisia right here in Nigeria, thereby failing to qualify for the 1978 FIFA World Cup in Argentina.

Barely two years later, the bulk of the team won Nigeria’s first African Cup of Nations trophy on home soil.

The U-17 National Team, Golden Eaglets failed to qualify for the 2009 FIFA U-17 World Cup finals, despite Nigeria being the Cup holders.

The Eaglets lost out to Benin Republic after a 3-0 pounding in Cotonou proved sueprior to a 2-0 home-leg advantage.

But the team was able to take part in the finals because Nigeria was the host nation, and eventually reached the tournament Final, before losing to Switzerland.

I also remember that France failed to qualify for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States of America, after losing their final qualifier to Bulgaria at the Parc de Princes. Hristo Stoichkov and company flew to America instead. But four years later, as hosts, France had put its acts together and won the World Cup for the first time, lashing ‘almighty’ Brazil 3-0 in a memorable final in Paris.

Brazil won the 1958 and 1962 FIFA World Cup finals in Sweden and Chile respectively, but in 1966 in England, that country failed to qualify from the group stage after a 3-1 spanking by Hungary and a similar loss to Eusebio-led Portugal.

I don’t need to add that seventime champions Egypt, fourtime champions Cameroon and 1996 champions South Africa will also not be in Equatorial Guinea and Gabon.

We do not want to celebrate failure. But the truth is that even the biggest and highestrated teams do not fail to make the big ones, but then prepare hard in order to ensure it does not happen again.

And that is what the Nigeria Football Federation intends to achieve. We are highly focused on the challenges ahead and will the U-23 Men’s Team the total support to go to Morocco fully prepared to pick a ticket to the London 2012 Olympics’ Men’s Football Tournament.

Surely, Nigeria football will rise again.

NEXT WEEK: Nigeria football will bounce back (2)

• Sunshine's striker, Ibrahim Ajani

CAF CONFEDERATION CUP

Sunshine faces Club Africain in Tunis

S

UNSHINE Stars will be locked in a semifinal clash in the Orange Caf Confederation Cup on Saturday in Tunis live on SuperSport.

The Nigerian side will face Club Africain of Tunisia live on SuperSport Select from 6.45pm.

Sunshine Stars go to the Stade Olympique d'El Menzah in Tunis with a goal deficit after losing the reverse game on your World of Champions.

Striker of Sunshine Stars, Ukeyima Akombo recognises that he and his colleagues will have to up the ante against the Tunisians.

"It's unfortunate that we lost the first leg of this game and in our home ground. But we still have a good chance and I am confident that we can beat Club Africain in Tunis and qualify for the final.

"Remember Sunshine Stars have a team of very, very good players. So it is not a matter of whether we have potentials or

not. I am confident this team can beat Club Africain with the type of players we have.

"This is a game we must win. It has been a bad period for football in our country and we have a task to make our fans happy by giving them something to cheer," said Akombo.

Akombo will line up with the likes of attacking partner, Ibrahim Ajani, Atanda Sakibu, Godfrey Oboabona, Cletus Itodo, Moses Ocheje, James Moses, Dele Olorundare, Osasco Precious and Ofem Inah for this important game on SuperSport.

Also on your World of Champions on Sunday, the second semifinal of the CAF Confederation Cup will take place in the city of Fes, Morocco.

Maghreb de Fes of Morocco will play host to Interclube of Angola live on SuperSport Nine from 8.45pm.

We’re up to the challenge — Ocheje

S

UNSHINE Stars' goalkeeper, Moses Ocheje has said he and his colleagues are planning a shock display for Club Africain of Tunisia.

The Akure Gunners will face Club Africain at the Stade Olympique d'El Menzah in Tunis in the return leg of the Caf Confederation Cup first semifinal.

The Nigeria Premier League (NPL) leaders suffered a 0-1 loss at home a fortnight ago, and Ocheje believes that Sunshine Stars can turn the tie around to their favour.

"It's sad we lost the first leg because we didn't take our chances. They had one chance and punished us. But we are fired up for this game and I am confident that we will surprise them though they are playing at home," said the Sunshine Stars' keeper.

Club Africain will play host to Sunshine Stars behind closed doors at the Stade Olympique d'El Menzah.

A 27-man Sunshine Stars' contingent that includes 18 players departed for Tunis from Lagos on Thursday morning.

Regular tourneys coming for Lagos tennis players—Oshodi

T

ENNIS players in the state are at the verge of enjoying regular organized competitions so says the office of the Lagos State Sports Ministry.

Making this known yesterday at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Court, Onikan, the state's Commissioner for Youth, Sports, and Social Development, Barrister Enitan Osodi said with this players can only excel in their game if they are exposed to regular tournaments, hence the resolve to organise competition on regular basis.

While paying a visit to the venue of the ongoing 11th Governor's Cup Lagos Tennis Championship, oshodi said that the board of various sports

By Innocent Amomoh associations will be inaugurated very soon, after which the tennis association will be given a mandate by the government to organise regular competitions which will be sponsored by the state government.

The Commissioner noted that Nigerian players failed to meet up with the standard of play against their foreign counterparts in the ongoing Governor's Cup becuase they lack exposure and rarely play tourneys as their foreign counterparts do.

"This is a problem that need to be tackled by all concern to ensure that this problem is solved," he said.

Olubanwo Fagbemi

On Sport Sport On SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

36

e-mail: deewalebf@yahoo.com

The Guinea flop and other issues

Osaze set to shoot down Liverpool T

REPRODUCED for its relevance to current issues, the following discourse as appeared in this column in October 2010 seems predictive of Samson Siasia’s misuse of opportunity as local Super Eagles coach for, in failing to earn a 2012 Africa Nations Cup berth, he squandered unprecedented support from football stakeholders. But the football federation is indicted in equal measure given woeful supervision of 2011 All Africa Games and 2012 Olympic Games qualifiers involving the Super Falcons and men’s national Under-23 team as well.

W

EST Brom will target three unbeaten victories today as Nigeria's Osaze Odemwingie will aim to lead the Albions over Liverpool at The Hawthorns.

Osaze who last scored two weeks ago against Wolves, will try to put pressure on Liverpool that was forced to a 1-1 draw by Norwich City at Anfield.

Though, West Brom's attacking options have been cruelled by an injury to striker Shane Long, who is out until December, but they have found the net in four of their past five games, indicating an attacking intent from Roy Hodgson.

To fill the Long void will be team-mate Simon Cox, and Hodgson encouraged the striker to make the most of opportunities that may come his way in the next month.

"He's been involved in every game so far but with him, (Peter) Odemwingie, Long and (Somen) Tchoyi we have four strikers competing for two places so he's not had much of a lookin. But with Long out it brings him much closer and, furthermore, I must say his training has been very good."

And fresh from a derby defeat, Mikel Obi and his Chelsea's teammates can atone against another of their local rivals when they meet Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Fresh from a derby defeat, Chelsea can atone against another of their local rivals when they meet Arsenal at Stamford Bridge on Saturday.

Andre Villas-Boas' Blues finished with just nine men in their 1-0 defeat to QPR on Sunday, but got back to winning ways when they

•Mikel to avoid another slip up •As Aiyegbeni targets more goals beat Everton 2-1 in Carling Cup action in midweek.

And at the Carrow Road, Yakubu Aiyegbeni will be in desperate need to lead Blackburn to winning form when they meet Norwich.

Despite reaching the Carling Cup quarter-finals

with a 4-3 extra-time win over an in-form Newcastle on Wednesday, Rovers have had an underwhelming Premier League campaign so far, collecting five points in nine to see fans calling for the axe to fall on manager Steve Kean.

But after putting four past a Newcastle defence that has allowed just six in nine league games, Blackburn should be out with a renewed confidence at Carrow Road, while the Canaries will be aiming to preserve their good form.

•Osaze

Taiwo to maintain form at Milan •As Ogbuke targets victory for Hoffenheim

W •Taiwo

ITH defender Taye Taiwo a l r e a d y enjoying some regular playing time with Italian giant AC Milan, the Nigeria international will be aiming to maintain his resurgence as the Rossoneri tacklesRoma at the Stadio Olimpico tonight.

Taiwo, who was in action for 90 minutes for Milan on Wednesday against Parma in Serie A mid-week clash said he is enjoying his time at the Italian giant and

hopes to enjoy a successful career with the club.

Milan will be hoping its crosstown rival can do it a favor as it could go top with a win at Roma. Milan has only won twice at the Stadio Olimpico in the past 14 years, but fresh in the players’ memories will be last year’s goalless draw which secured them the Serie A title.

And in Germany, Chinedu Ogbuke who on Wednesday led Hoffenheim to a 2-1 win over Cologne in the German

Cup will be leading the club against Schalke 04 tonight in the German Bundesliga at the Veltins-Arena.

Hoffenheim coach Holger Stanislawski who said he was not happy with the Cup victory said that the result was not enough to camouflage another performance which did not live up to his expectations.

And in France, Montpellier will be banking on John Utaka for the need goals to lift the club against Nancy at the Stade de la Mosson.

HE adjective lacklustre poorly described the Super Eagles squad which lost 1-0 to Guinea in a 2012 Africa Nations Cup qualifier held last Sunday at the September 28 Stadium in Conakry. The jaw-dropping capitulation capped a week of despair began by the October 4 suspension of the country from international football for government interference by the Federation of International Football Associations (FIFA).

Anyone who expected the Eagles to exploit subsequent reprieve in crushing their less fancied opponents might be forgiven for forgetting that today’s Eagles exhibit more sluggishness than spirit.

With the Conakry calamity, skipper Joseph Yobo and company convinced all that when the Eagles play, it’s lethargy as usual.

Compared to the commitment of Guinea, Nigeria dawdled.

Forward Michael Eneramo continued where he left off in the opening qualifier against Madagascar, his fluffed goal chance astounding all, including, apparently, the opposing goalkeeper.

Strike partner Obafemi Martins’ constant backtrack to pick loose balls indicted the vacationing midfield pair of Yusuf Ayila – clearly a shadow of his once combative self – and Sunday Stephen. While much may not have been expected of the debuting Stephen, the same could not be said of the others, with left back Taiye Taiwo’s reenactment of a languid display that is forever at odds with his competitive streak in the blue and white of Olympique Marseille particularly bothersome.

The disgusting performance emphasised the decline of Nigerian football rather than precarious positioning in the Group B qualification standings where Guinea leads with six points and Nigeria is next on three. Before routine contemplation of the team’s chances of qualifying via a self-induced cliff-hanger, however, thought must be spared for quick resolution of the coaching dilemma that has left Austin Eguavoen longer than necessary at the helm as well as the obvious lack of faith in home-based players.

It is easy to blame FIFA’s hammer, an ill-fated weekend for highly rated sides across Africa, or the absence of key players John Mikel Obi, Dickson Etuhu and Osaze Odemwingie from the campaign, but harder to spur change. It is harder still to justify neglect of the local players who stayed longer in camp with Eguavoen because of poor local league standards.

Operating with FIFA’s sword dangling puts Nigerian football on edge. But if officials prefer to work under intense pressure ahead of the October 26 ultimatum for out-of-court settlement and beyond, football fans must beg to differ as nothing would satisfy more than efficient administration and impressive play by their beloved Super Eagles.

For example of the pointlessness of an eventual ban, recollect the damage done to national team pedigree by Confederation of African Football (CAF)’s exclusion of the exceptional Eagles of the 90s from the 1996 and 1998 Africa Nations Cup tournaments on account of government interference in football administration. But for the decision, Nigeria might today claim greater continental precedence than the underachieving twin triumphs of 1980 and 1994 allow.

Since the wins, nearly all known administrative procedures have been compromised by the football federation. But by far the most damning drawback is corruption – the significant offence which former Nigeria Football Federation officials Sani Lulu (president), Bolaji Ojo-Oba (secretary general), Amanze Ucheagbulam (first vice-president) and Taiwo Ogunjobi (chairman technical committee) stand accused of.

The quartet allegedly presided over chaotic 2010 Africa and World Cup tournaments. Their ordeal and court cases emanating from the disputed NFF election of August 26 imply administrative notoriety.

As critics of general administration must note, however, the absence of a political will to address shortcomings and institute change in every aspect of the country’s socio-political fibre is the basic failing.

As canvassed here often, effective revamp of any sector of national administration begins with the political structure.

Until a reversal of Decree 101 – government’s instrument of football control – is effected, the country risks damaging retrogression, as significant strides by football minnows suggest. Interference can only cease in the event of private ownership of clubs and sponsorship of federation activities. Only then will biased officiating and poor match standards be arrested as referees and match officials often supervise intimidating home-ground tactics while hooligans pummel opposing players and coaches to submission.

Is it surprising then, that Nigerian referees are perpetually ignored for international tournaments while referees from Benin, Togo and Congo make the grade? Or that the Eagles play a confused system far removed from the robust and entertaining approach of the 70s, 80s and 90s?

To stimulate development, governments must discourage political gains emanating from wasteful funding and appointment of football officials. Accountability, the basic ingredient that encourages private sector participation, must be sustained across board. In the end, whether government is prepared to let go, or at least agree to reduced influence in club and federation matters is another matter. Yet it should, as it is the conclusion every compatriot would expect.

39

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

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OMEN, they say, have the knack for intuition, but when it comes to issues of love, some get blinded.

It is quite common for a lady to get into an abusive relationship mostly because of low self esteem or because she is in need of approval. A woman in such situation fails to notice that her boyfriend or partner does not really care for her.

According to Marc Katz, a dating coach: “A woman can tell if things are moving in the right direction with a man in about eight weeks.” According to him, no woman over the age of 20 should assume that everyman is solid, stable and relationship-oriented. So, in order to avoid getting hurt; a lady should know if a guy is really into her or just using her and thereafter wasting her time.

Even when you know that a man is using you for his pleasure and is clearly not in love with you or interested in a commitment, you still want to live a lie. Women are more likely to fall prey to the blindness of love than men because by nature, they are vulnerable.

When a guy is using you; it means the relationship is abusive and not conducive. If a man is using you, there is really nothing you can do to change him. So, it is in your interest to move out of that relationship. But how do you know when a man is using you?

Just because you are in love with someone does not necessarily mean that the other person is also in love with you. A one-sided relationship is always abusive towards the person who is in love.

There’s a lot of truth to this statement – ‘The one who cares less in a relationship, dominates it’ - But this is not about whether the guy loves you less or more; it’s about •You said it all that; some secrets are kept to keep harmony either in marriage or before marriage. Other secrets are kept open if they can be laughed over by the spouses.

Nobody can open “all” secrets – nobody. It could be business,

You will know in two months… whether he care at all.

Here are the signs to let you know that a guy is using you.

He never bonds with you emotionally The depth in any relationship develops through the emotional attraction the couple feels. A relationship devoid of any emotional bonding is empty to the core and is likely to be an abusive one. If your man is hardly bothered about bonding with you emotionally, it means he does not care for you. Do you share your problems, worries, concerns and moments of joy? Do you feel that he is there to stand by you when you are feeling low or alone?

These are some hard questions that will point to the emotional depth in the relationship.

He pressurizes you to get his wants met If he is only interested in getting his wants and needs met in the relationship, then you know the guy is using you for his pleasure. Many men would pressurize their partner to meet their needs for sex and that is all they are interested in. If you feel that he’s applying pressure on you either through emotional manipulation or through physi-

cal threats, he is clearly being abusive. Guys who have been in several relationships know how to manipulate girls into giving into their demands.

He is only concerned about physical pleasure Physical intimacy is an integral part of a relationship between a man and woman but how does your man approach intimacy? Is he concerned about your needs and pleasures while having sex or is he just being plain selfish during the act. Women give into pleasuring their men to avoid any friction in the relationship and several guys use this emotional handle to manipulate them. If you intuitively feel that he is manipulating you for sex, then it should be clear that he has no emotional investment in the relationship. This is when you know your man is using you.

He is leeching on your money Some guys enter into a relationship purely for their monetary brief and they try to milk the most out of it.

Many women are so blinded in their love that they fail to see that their men are leeching on their money and other assets. If he keeps asking you to lend him money, makes

you take a loan for him or gets you into financial trouble, then you know he is using you purely for monetary interest. A financially abusive relationship is most common these days with women becoming easy targets to playboys and manipulative men.

Your friends warn you about him Just because you are blinded in your attraction to him does not mean your friends can’t see him for what he is. If any of your friends or relatives advises you to keep away from him then you should be on the alert. It is of course true that your friends or family members can’t judge him as well as you could, but if they sense something then you should at least keep an open mind and see if it is true.

It is not difficult to know when a man is using you but most women get unsighted because of their love. Get in touch with your intuition because that’s your best guide.

If you feel deeply that something is not right about the relationship then some hard decisions need to be taken even if it means going through some temporary

pain of separation.

Not all relationships are reciprocal. In fact some relationships are so unbalanced that one person is just using the other without giving anything back. You could also help yourself to know if he is using you by paying attention to his actions and not his words. Guys are great at creating a disconnect between what they say and what they actually do. This can create confusion if you believe what this guy is telling you. Therefore, you should block out all verbal communications and only notice the actions of this person.

You must ask yourself what you want from your life and your partner; are you happy with the relationship?

If not; why not?

Men can use you for many reasons. You should never allow yourself to be used, abused, as an object, disrespected or a door mat.

If you seek fulfillment, go for it. If you seek a great life and partner for yourself, dump anyone who does not fulfill your goals. Trust yourself to make the right decisions. Do not just hang on for convenience and comfort’s sake. Don’t hang around

Text messages Re: Should spouses tell each other everything? government secrets, love matters, spiritual or friend-related issues. Can we guarantee the understanding and in good

faith’ between spouses? That is why everything is believed can not be revealed by the parties to the parties misconception of revelations. Damage it could do to friends and others. A substantial good stories and secrets should however be shared between the spouses. Definition of the good secrets should be determined by which of the spouses wants to tell them.

Lanre Oseni, Lagos

•Mr Samuel Olasunkanmi of The Nation Newspapers with his wife during their wedding in Ibadan, Oyo State.

•I’ve read your column ‘Feminique’. I collected a loan of N400,000 naira to complete my building project and I informed my wife about it but she insisted on knowing how the last kobo of the amount was expended. Actually the money was judiciously used. But her probing made me thought that

she regarded me as irresponsible. Sharing with my spouse in this case is not profitable but trouble shooting.

Goody F. A. Mangu, Plateau.

•Informative article. You seem to know a lot. I hope to use these points whenever I decide to marry.

Thanks and kudos Lucius Kungmi, Jos •Should spouses tell each other everything? When we understand the meaning of two becoming one, you do to others as you will want them to do to you. Self respect means no one is selfish about life. Marriage is companionship built by love and nurtured by trust. Tell all because nothing is secret before God who sees all.

Ihuoma •You have said it all no doubt. Letting a spouse into past escapades may weaken an otherwise strong matrimony.

The sleeping dog should be allowed to lie. Tempers may rise, emotions may boil if issues that are better kept as secret are brought up for discussion. How for instance would a woman expect her husband to feel and or react if out of sheer love she recounts her ordeal in the hands of a gang

of rapists? Guess what the feeling of the woman would be should he over a sumptuous meal and love wanting to tell his wife he was once a regular visitor at the ashawo brothel at Molele in Ibadan and the ones scattered around Lagos. The wife in this circumstance, I bet, would not announce her departure, however, there are certain things couple should never contemplate keeping from each other. It is foolhardy, for example, for either of the couple to keep the secret of a building project from the other, how does the other partner get to do anything in event of the building project falling into the hands of some dubious elements in the society, a husband who keeps the secret of a business deal from his spouse should be ready to lick the wounds of his discreteness should he be outsmarted by his supposed business partners.

Without mincing words, it is advisable that we open up to each other on matters and issues that affect the collective being of the man and his wife.

It is only by so doing that the duo can build an enduring love and hope to lay a solid foundation for their future and those of their children, to keep secrets on issues like the ones raised above is to work at cross purposes. A house di-

‘

If a guy is excited about you, he calls, he follows up; he is thoughtful, he’s chivalrous, he’s gentlemanly, he wants a commitment with you

’

those who don’t love you and respect you.

If a guy is excited about you, he calls, he follows up; he is thoughtful, he’s chivalrous, he’s gentlemanly, he wants a commitment with you.

In conclusion, you can’t force a man to commit to you.

So, what should you do?

Simple. Make the present so amazing that he wants to have a future with you. It is easy to tell the difference between a man who is serious and a man who is wasting your time. So, don’t invest more than eight weeks in a dead-end relationship. vided against itself will not stand.

Remi Adesina, Ibadan.

•Vera, there should be a limit of what one tell a secret past action to one spouse. Tell him or her, especially the him and you are indirectly dismantling your home. Suppose you tell him about your ex and he catches you together one day alone, you will have a hell of explanation to give.

Seye, Akure •There is nothing wrong in sharing secrets. We, all love to hear the past and immediate secrets of our spouses.

Nevertheless, some shared secrets can be sickening and boring, it is better kept for love sake. There’s likelihood that suspicion which is a disease in love affair might become chronic after such secrets are shared. However, I think all secrets related to sex and sex behaviour should be shared between spouses irrespective of anything.

Seun Osinkolu •Never open any past secret to anybody in life Mustapha, Kogi •Some secrets are better kept secret among partners while some are worth discussing. However, the partners reaction to stimulus will determine what he or she should be told.

Ugwu, Obudu

40

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

So sweet to be in love It’s not yet St. Valentine ’s Day yet, the atmosphere is so filled with love that I can’t help basking in it.

Everywhere I go, people tell me they like the smell of my perfume. Hmmm. Very funny as I’ve not worn any perfume for some days because of an allergy. So where is the smell of perfume coming from? It must be the sweetness from within me radiating to the fore. Or

could it be the sweat of love oozing from me?

Whatever, life is good even sometimes when instead of roses we get thorns. I love life, I love you and I love me. It’s got nothing with the love I feel for my partner. It’s about you and me. It’s about life. Helen Keller said, ‘The best and most beautiful things in the world cannot be seen, nor touched ... but are felt in the heart’. I agree with her.

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

His wife can’t conceive so he wants me as second wife I’m 16 and there’s pressure on me to trade sex for money would start having twins and tripGood day Sister Adeola, there is a need your advice. – B.

married man that promised to marry me as his second and take me to his parents and he has come to my house too. This man did white wedding with his wife and they have an 11 year-old-daughter but the wife can’t conceive again and his parents have asked him to marry a second wife. I don’t know how to tell him that if he is ready to marry me, we must go to court. Please help me, I

My sister, so his wife can’t conceive again! That’s so nice to hear; right? And so wicked too! If Mr. Married Man had said his wife was not behaving well, terrible to him and generally nasty, I probably would have said you stand a chance as a second wife. But saying he wants a second wife because his wife can’t conceive again is absurd!

So what makes you think you

I can write songs all day but I can’t study Hi A, I’m a 16-year-old guy. I have this problem of sitting down to study but I can sing and write songs all day. I really don’t know how to fight this problem. Help out!

My dear, I got some tips for you.

Concentration is the ability to direct your thinking and focus on the task at hand and eliminate distraction no matter if studying Biology or playing pool. After all, we all have the ability to concentrate when you are ‘lost’ in something we enjoy; a sport, playing music, a good game, a movie. Total concentration. That’s what we give to it.

But at other times, our mind wanders from one thing to another, our worries distract us, outside distractions take us away before we you know it and studies or important materials become boring, difficult, and/or not interesting to us.

These tips may help: Get a dedicated space, chair, table, lighting and quiet environment. Avoid your cell phone or telephone.

Put up a sign to avoid being disturbed or interrupted. Stick to a routine, efficient study schedule Before you begin studying, take a few minutes to summarize a few objectives, gather what you will need, and think of a general strategy of accomplishment.

Ask yourself how you could increase your activity level while studying; perhaps a group will be best? Creating study questions? Do something different from what you’ve been doing (e.g., walk around if you’ve been sitting), and in a different area and don’t forget to give yourself a reward when you’ve completed a task. You

should notice improvement in a few days.

When you notice your thoughts wandering astray, say to yourself “Be here now” and gently bring your attention back to where you want it. For example, you’re studying and your attention strays to all the other homework you have, to a date, to the fact that you’re hungry. Say to yourself “Be here now”. Focus back on subject with questions, summarizing, outlining, mapping, etc. and maintain your attention there as long as possible. When it wanders again, repeat, “Be here now” and gently bring your attention back, and continue this practice, repeatedly. It will work!

Readers’ Feedback •Hi Adeola, undoubtedly wisdom comes with maturity and experience. You’ve really garnered a lot of experience over the years.

This is amply demonstrated in the kind of advice you give to readers.

When I started reading your column years back, I had cause to disagree with you on a number of issues but bow, you seem to be taking words out of my mouth.

You were very realistic in advising the 26 year old mother of one last week. Hope she takes it seriously.

Kudos! – Danladi.

•Hello dear, I read your column in The Nation newspaper last week and I liked the way you answered the lady with a baby for a married man. You said it all and you were so sweet and calm. I hope the lady and her likes will take to your advice – Maryam (08029395084).

lets the moment you become his wife? And even if God makes it possible for you to achieve that, would He also provide the means to take care of the extra mouths you’d be bringing into the man’s world?

You want a court wedding? That’s niceeeee. So what happens to the legal wedding he did with his wife?

Maybe you are losing sight of the fact that most church weddings are backed up with legal documents.

The man is legally married and if you’re coming in as second wife, he can only do that through the traditional way.

You and this man have not started your talks. You have to begin telling each other the truth about life.

Ask all the ‘what ifs’ ‘hows’ ‘whys’.

That’s the only way you can know if you really want to marry him. Take care!

Dear ma, I’m 16 years old but guys have been disturbing me for so long and I know how to save myself from them. But now because I’m not well taken care of like before and these guys are rich I want to take money from them. Now at this point, these boys will not give me what I want from them except I do their wish. Almost all the boys I know now hate me because I’m against their wish and I’m not free and I’m afraid of them.

Some of my friends are advising me to give these boys a chance but I’m afraid.

Some of these guys are rich but I don’t want to lose my virginity at this tender age. My classmates now hate me because they say I behave like a kid. I find it difficult to concentrate on whatever I’m doing and this is giving me concern.

I’m afraid of telling my mother

My number is not stored in the phone I bought for her Hi Aunty, I’m 22 years old now. I met a guy who told me his girlfriend is in Warri and that he wants to take me serious. I don’t know if he means it or not, please tell me what to do. Thanks.

I’m in love with one girl and I bought her a phone but she has never called me for one day. I visited her and searched for my number but I didn’t find it there so I quietly took my phone back from her. But she is still begging me for friendship. What can I do? – Benue man.

Dear Benue man, your story reminds me of the joke somebody sent to me last week. Let me share it with you.

The joke: A guy visited his girlfriend and picked the phone he bought for her. He dialed his number wanting to know what she saved his name as – was it darling, sweetie, honey or my dear? When his name popped up, he saw it saved as ‘Sikira alagbo-jedi’ (Sikira the herb-seller).

That is how most of us women are. We are sometimes like that when we have not stamped a particular man in our hearts. That you bought a phone for her doesn’t mean you bought her heart. It takes time for a woman to fall helplessly

•L-R: President of Rotary Club Ikate, District 9110, Rotarian Biodun Balogun and the Assistant Governor, Rotarian Tonia Taiwo during the installation of Balogun as the 25th President of Rotary Club Ikate

for a man. By taking that phone from her makes you very immature. You shouldn’t have done that.

Be friends first with the girl and when it grows deeper then you can expect her to save your number as ‘My lord’ if possible. Cheer up!

Lost contacts Hi Aunty Deola, kindly link me up with my friend, Ayinde Esther.

We attended Baptist Girls High School together in Oshogbo but we moved to Kwara State in 2008. Thanks – Okunola Nafisat (07067462503).

because I know she’s not easy. I seriously need your advice ma. – J. Dear J, I want to personally call you, we need to talk – mother to child and I’ll find all means to do that.

You think these small boys have money? I laugh. They all have money to buy you N50 earrings, buy you meat-pies and zobo drinks and once in a while give you enough to buy lycra tops. Now, let’s look at it objectively. Where would all these things you do with the money they give you be in the next few years? Would the drinks, food and all those nonsense things be useful to you in the next two years for instance?

Your friends and classmates are so dirty-minded and evil they make me sick. I have children (although the first is not yet your age) and I know that they’re contented with whatever they have.

Most of the things we die for anyway are not useful at the end of the day. They are sometimes things we look at and regret ever selling our birth rights for.

Please, don’t make me cry by entertaining the thought of losing your virginity for these ice-cream and chewing gum boys. They can’t survive on their own without the monies from their fathers and mothers and sometimes the one they steal to impress girls like you. The moment all avenues stop for them to get small-small money, it stops for you too.

Visualize a great future for yourself. A future where all these boys will see you and be happy they met you at one point. Not a future where they’d laugh at the days you relied on them for small money to buy doughnuts. Be wise my dear. Be wise!

How do I measure my penis size?

I am 28yrs old of age but my penis is as small as that of a 5 year old boy.

Please what do you think I can do to correct this problem of small penis?

Thanks. O. from Lagos.

My goodness! Upon all what you have to worry about in life, the size of your male organ happens to compete with them. It’s natural for you to be disturbed when all we hear these days are music about those who are endowed.

The good news I have for you first of all is that women do not require a long penis to experience sexual pleasure. And it’s important for you to know that the lifeless penis length is never ever the same length with an erect penis length. So what you consider to be small might actually be normal.

For your sake, I tried to find out what a normal penis size is and I have this for you: The results of several studies seem to indicate that the average erect penis length is between 5.1 inches and 5.9 inches in length. So, anything longer than that can probably be considered big and several studies have described an average mid-shaft circumference to be 4.49 inches and 4.97 inches when fully erect.

How Do I Measure My Penis Size?

Any measurements that you take should be done when your penis is erect, as that’s all that matters when you’re pleasing a woman. To measure your penis length, simply measure from the base of the penis to tip of the penis with a ruler. Make sure,

however, that you don’t measure from the underside; the base you should measure from is on the topside of your penis. For circumference or girth, take a piece of string and wrap it around the mid-shaft (halfway up the length of the shaft), then transfer the string to a ruler.

Is penis size related to body size?

Simply put, yes. Height appears to be related to overall penis size and has been associated in at least four studies. Weight, on the other hand, has been associated with penis size in some studies, but not as consistently as height. Generally speaking, body size is somewhat related to penis size, but the relationship is complex and not directly proportional.

Interestingly, index finger length was found to be related to overall penis size in at least three studies.

So, if you’re a tall guy with a freakishly long index finger, chances are that you have a pretty big penis.

Until what age does the penis grow?

Boys enter puberty when they’re about 10 to 14 years old. Penises will likely stop growing around age 16 to 21, when puberty is complete. If it’s been a couple of years since you’ve stopped growing in height, it’s a good time to start accepting your penis size.

Finally, I know that many men dream of getting a big penis and of course but there are existing techniques to make your penis longer, but they can be quite painful. Ask yourself, is it worth it?

&

LIFE

Society Profile

THE NATION, Saturday, OCTOBER 29, 2011

STYLE Gossip Interviews

41

•Prof. Baike

When I got married, we had no car to take us to church or reception, yet it was tagged a society wedding Ex-V-C, Prof. Adamu Baike, relives life at 80 Prof Adamu Baike means many things to many people. To some, he is a teacher; to others, he is a mentor, a friend and a father, among others. A great icon in the nation's educational sector, Prof. Baike, was ViceChancellor, University of Benin, University of Lesotho, South Africa and the pioneer Vice-Chancellor, Nasarawa State University, Keffi. Apart from his back ache which has seen him move about with a walking stick, taking every step with a gentle stride, there is no indication that he is actually 80 years old today. In this interview with TONY AKOWE at his Zaria residence in Kaduna State, Baike, who is the first Professor of Education in Northern Nigeria, speaks about his career, his motivation and why he chooses to live a modest life, among others. Excerpts: SEE PAGES 44 & 45

44

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

My life at 80, by ex-VC, Adamu Baike W

HAT would you say was your most challenging period throughout your career?

To be honest with you, every situation is a challenge because every situation brings new problems and your ability to cope with the new problems is what is to be regarded as your challenge. But you can say that student problems are challenges, especially how you solve them peacefully. When I fell ill was another challenge. I had a back pain and as you can see, I walk with a stick and I was operated upon and I said, that is it. I waited for the governor to come and when he came, I told him, sir, this is the end of my journey here and he said, you are not going anywhere. He bought me an orthopaedic bed, fixed it in the sitting room and said this is your office, you can work from here.

I was working from the bed, eating from the bed and lying down with my back aching me. These are the little things you can regard as challenges. I think if you want to talk in a nut shell, I would say that being asked to go and start a university from the scratch is one of my biggest challenges and not the running of the university itself.

Running the university was not a problem to me; but the fact that I was asked to start a university with no office, no house, no classroom, no teachers, nothing, but a blank cheque. That is the biggest challenge I have faced, but if it is during the job, challenges are there every day.

If you have the opportunity, what is that thing that you think you have done wrongly and want to redo?

That is a very interesting question and I have to reflect on that a little bit. I think I would want to be more introspective than I have been; I will like to see and monitor certain activities more than I have done.

Maybe I will also reduce the level of my trust in people. I have trusted so many people to my detriment and to the detriment of the institution. I will continue to trust people, but I will be a little bit cautious. I may probably be a little more organised in certain areas, monetary areas in particular, and I will try to be more careful in areas that I have not attended to affecting the welfare of staff and students due to lack of funds.

Knowing the Iroko called Adamu Baike, anybody coming to your house will expect to see a palatial residence. But here we are in a modest apartment. What is the secret behind your modesty?

With all due respect to your observation, this house is palatial (general laughter).

Seriously, what is there in life that one has to over-stretch himself doing things that you will leave behind and create problems for your people rather than leave them with comfort? I have seen it every day the wealth and everything that people live behind creating problem for the family than solve them. People might misunderstand me and say it is because I don’t have the means to do what others have done. But again, as I have always cautioned myself and my children, you have to remember where you are coming from in order to determine where you are going to. If I have certain things that I own, people will know whether I am capable of having them or raise eye brow and say something must have happened.

There are certain things that you have also and people will say that conform is what we know about him. Again, it depends on what you place your values on. If you place your value on ostentatious living and wants to show off when you are not in a position to do so, it is an empty barrel. Spiritual and emotional satisfaction is of the essence. You can have many things and people still run away from you and don’t want to be part of what you are. Even if you don’t have anything, people will still want to associate with you because of what you have been to them as a person. As I said, it is all about your values and also where you come from and how you can moderate yourself to live in consonance with the realities of your life.

That is all there is to it.

How do you relax?

•Prof. Baike

Most of the time, I play with my grand children. The younger one will come to meet me in the bedroom. I tease them and they tease me; we all laugh and I feel very relaxed about that. I watch football games and maybe one or two films. I don’t do much because of my back condition. I like to see people come, sit down and discuss about the past and the present.

With the journey so far, how would you want to be remembered?

You know, when you talk about being remembered, it means you no longer exist.

The only way you may want to remember me is to go to my grave side and see my name: ‘Herein lies Adamu Baike’. Then whatever mental picture you have about me will begin to recall in your mind. I can’t tell me why you should remember me. You see, everybody has his own frame of mind about you and that is what they will remember about you.

Throughout your career, what would you say was your happiest moment?

There are too many, but the one that stands out was when I married my wife because I least expected that I was going to be able to marry. I was a student without money and she is also from the same background. She didn’t have money and she was a clerk on six pounds a month then. It then happened that we got married and the newspapers in Kano in those days

said it was a society wedding. The church was full quite all right; but we didn’t even have a car to bring us to the church or the reception site and they called it society wedding. To me, that meant it was totally blessed. That was my happiest occasion.

When you mention the name Prof. Adamu Baike anywhere in the country, the first thing that comes to your mind is education.

The state of our education today is nothing to write home about. Having been through the system, what do you think has gone wrong?

The major problem, if I may say so, is to be found in the foundation of our educational system. We need to tidy up the base of the educational system. By that I mean that we should have trained teachers that are well groomed in teaching at the primary level with all the professional competence expected of them in teaching all subjects in the primary school to be able to handle that. If you go to the primary school, the children there right from that age of six, some people go there to teach as if they are teaching in the university.

The mental capacity of a six-year-old child who is just starting, probably coming from a non-literate home and only competent in Hausa, Yoruba or Ibo and you want him to start learning in English; the task is quite monumental and you have to be trained for it. We are lacking there.

Secondly, the number of children in our

primary schools now is more than the number we can cope with. In those days, you have between 30 and 35 children per class. Now, you have between 100 to 150 children facing an incompetent teacher who is not even trained to teach in the primary school. What about the provision for the training of teachers? What we have now in the colleges of education, I don’t know, but I stand to be corrected, I don’t know to what extent the training in the colleges of education is geared towards teaching at the primary schools because they say that National Certificate of Education (NCE) is the minimum qualification. Are they being trained to teach in the primary school? If they are, what does it involve? We will want to know more about that so that we can pass judgment as to whether the training is compactable with what is expected of them.

Also, we need to look into the future of the teachers in terms of their welfare, conditions of service that will make them committed to teaching as a profession and not using teaching as a stepping stone to other professions. We have to look into teachers getting qualified after which they leave for greener pastures. We have to look into that and see what can be done to stabilise the teaching profession rather than getting them to leave teaching. We also need to look at the issue of in-service training for teachers. You need to get those already there to brush themselves up on a regular basis and compensate them for participating in the training by giving them a little increase in their take home pay that will make them feel that they have not wasted their time. The moment you get teachers to invest in their training or government to invest in the training of teachers, the chances are that, rather than leave teaching, they will remain in it because they know that their qualification will not fetch them another job somewhere. So, they have no choice than to remain in teaching. But if they have to remain in teaching, you have to make them enjoy the benefit of being professionally qualified teachers.

There are those who believe that the scrapping of the Teachers Training Colleges by government was a mistake.

What is your take on this?

Maybe one of the problems we have imposed on ourselves is discontinuing with grade two teachers. Many people may disagree with me on that because of this big name of being NCE teachers. But if you look at the NCE colleges themselves, it actually started here in Zaria as the Nigerian Secondary Teachers College (NSTC) and sponsored by UNESCO. Essentially, it was a college meant to produce teachers for secondary schools because at that time, there were not enough graduate teachers to teach in the secondary schools. The first two classes needed more attention more than any other class. We had grades one and two teachers teaching then and they said, let us have the NSTC teachers teaching. When it became an Advanced Teachers College, the entry qualification was grade two. In those days, you must have grade three first before going to grad two where you spend two years, after which you spend another one year teaching in the field and if you are not lucky, you spend two years. So, it was a minimum of three and a maximum of four years. Then you return to the college to do your grade two; meaning that you must have spent about five or six years. Invariably, you must have the background of teaching in the primary school for about five or six years before you are admitted into an advanced teachers college.

But what do we have now? Now, we have students from secondary schools with no background in teaching and some of them don’t even have the required credits.

Invariably, you admit the failure of the system and you put them through an education that will qualify them as NCE teachers. I am not downplaying the quality of the teachers training, but I am questioning the input into the training. Don’t forget that

45

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011 these are people from a primary school system and a secondary school system that is already deficient and these are the people who will end up becoming teachers. These are some of the issues that affect the standard of education. They are very remote to people who don’t sit down to analyse some of these things.

Nigerians always blame the West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and the National Examinations Council (NECO) for the massive failure in school certificate exams. What is your opinion of this?

I have heard the ministry trying to query NECO and WAEC why the children are failing. It is not the fault of NECO and WAEC and it has nothing to do with them.

They are examining bodies. There is the syllabus that is supposed to be taught in the secondary school and the schools says yes, we have completed the syllabus and so, come and take your exams. So, if you come to take your exams and fail, it is not the problem of NECO or WAEC because they didn’t do the teaching; they are just assessors. Instead of calling WAEC an NECO and ask them why the children are failing, you need to go back to the school system and find out whether the children were taught, did they understand what they were taught?

Are you trying to exonerate these exam bodies from the mass failure in the country?

Yes of course and I am very serious about that. Except you have evidence to show that the students have all taken their exams and passed and WAEC and NECO deliberately failed them; and except you also have evidence to show that the questions asked by WAEC and NECO are not related to what the students were taught. But the questions are related to what the students were taught in the secondary schools and they ask the questions related to that and they took the exams and failed, for goodness sake, why should it be the fault of WAEC and NECO? They didn’t do the teaching, neither did they select the teachers. They are not in the schools. So, how come the ministry is asking them why the students are failing?

What was your experience like while on the scene as a teacher?

I don’t want to blow my trumpet. That young man sitting there (pointing at someone sitting in the Library where the interview took place), even though he is my son, he is one of the beneficiaries of my teaching. For example, if my children got to school late along with other people’s children, I would release the other children and punish my own children. That was the extent to which we took this thing seriously. I don’t want to be too immodest; but if you look through my book when it is out, you will find out that one of the things I said there was that teaching in the primary school was the most rewarding experience I have had so far. I enjoyed it; I liked it and always look forward to it and I played with my students.

During the Obasanjo regime, the then Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, set up

•Prof. Baike

the Northern Educational Research Project with you as the head. Nothing is heard of this organisation today. What went wrong?

At that time, Atiku Abubakar was actually spending the money to fund it from his own pocket and we made a positive dent in the educational system of the north. We toured all states of the north collecting data, writing papers and organised education summit at which we made presentations to the emirs, commissioners and other stakeholders. We followed up to find out whether they were implementing what we were able to do. If they had problem on implementations, what can we do to assist them? All of that was sponsored by Atiku without any funding from another source. When Atiku ceased to be Vice President, the source of funding dried up and we are very sorry about it, but that is the situation. But the documents about what we have done are available for people to see and the reactions we got from the emirs, the commissioners and others were very useful.

In fact, we as far as drawing up an action plan for implementation for all states of the north. It was well organised and printed in a book form. They are still there and if we can get the funding now, the people involved are still around and

we are ready to continue with it.

You are about the only Nigerian to have headed a university outside the country.

What was your experience like while in Lesotho?

Initially, there was the problem of acceptability. Why should this man from Nigeria come to head this institution? Some of them had an idea of what a Nigerian is and what he is capable of doing, which is not quite endearing. So, they expected the same attitude from me. They expected that as a Nigerian, I will behave like one; with all due respect to our country. There is also the difference in culture and language which you have to adjust to. But academic exercise and programmes are virtually the same in all universities across the world except with a few changes here and there, which are occasioned by the culture of the environment.

What I needed to do and do quickly was to tell myself that this is not Nigeria, but a different country. Caution yourself and make sure you don’t force these people to see your own ways of doing things. Learn what they are doing and accept those things that are in conformity with academic excellence and see what you can do to change a few things with their consent. That was how I handled myself

‘

I least expected that I was going to be able to marry. I was a student without money and she is also from the same background. She didn’t have money and she was a clerk on six pounds a month then. It then happened that we got married and the newspapers in Kano in those days said it was a society wedding

’

and again, I had to discipline myself and shut my eyes against all other diversions such as joining one group or the other. I had to accept everybody for what they are worth and learn to engage them in trying to solve their own problems and that was how it worked.

Can we say that experience was worth the while?

Very much so. It was worth the while and I supposed that they were better for it as much as I was better for it. We had such a symbiotic relationship and to this day, we are in constant touch with one another. I have seen my colleagues here in Nigeria who attended conferences and ran into people from Lesotho and they ask about me.

As a matter of fact, they awarded me a Honourary doctorate about a year ago. That goes to show that I am still in their good book.

If you have the energy today and they ask you to come back, will you go?

If I have the energy?

Yes sir.

(Deep sigh) Maybe. But there must be a reason why they should want somebody like me to come back there. So, if I know what the reasons are and I find that they are outside what I can do, I will not go (Laugh).

But even if I had to go back, I feel that I can still be at home there.

You also headed the University of Benin Yes, I did.

Comparing Lesotho with Benin, what was the experience like?

You see, Benin is within Nigeria, while Lesotho is outside Nigeria. In the Nigerian university system, you know what to expect.

I didn’t know what to expect in Lesotho at all. I got to know much later that some of the staff and students of Lesotho were not looking forward to a Nigerian. They didn’t know me then, but simply knew I was a Nigerian. Fortunately, I got to know about this and said, well, I will make sure that I do something to make these people like me.

When it was time for me to leave after my first term because I didn’t ask for renewal, I packed my things ready to come back, but they stopped me.

As for University of Benin, I left Zaria for Benin. I was among the first northerners to head a university in the south. I didn’t know what to expect. Before then, we were reading stories about Benin being turbulent and I was really jittery as to how I can handle the situation. At that time, you had seasoned professors who had worked in Ife, Lagos, Ibadan, Nsukka with many of them from the then Mid West, which later became Bendel coming back home to University of Benin.

So, you have crackers in all disciplines and here was I, a midget so to speak, going to head the place. There was the feeling of this Kolanut-chewing northerner, how is he going to cope with us here? That was how I found myself, but I had to adjust and run an open system and be fair to all without being greedy. I didn’t look for anything outside my work, but made sacrifices so that the system would succeed and I got on well with them. People received me well and treated me well till this day. In fact, they also called me and gave me a honourary degree after I left.

Considering the paucity of funds available to state universities, how were you able to overcome the issue of funding at the Nasarawa State University?

Planning, getting as much mileage as you can get from one naira, not to be extravagant, don’t do for yourself as an individual something that will make you spend money on your person at the expense of your staff and students; you forgo many things that you are entitled to. For example, you are not able to pay the overtime of workers, but you can pay yourself allowances. These are the things we had to do to get bye. You go there and try to focus on what you are there for. I am not from Nasarawa State, I have never met the governor before; he doesn’t know me from Adam. But out of all the people, he decided to make me the Vice Chancellor and I said to myself, if this man is of this frame of mind out of all the people that are available to him, I am going to see to it that I live up to expectations. So, I had to work round the clock to satisfy that.

46

THE NATION, SATURDAY OCTOBER 29, 2011

J

UST like music, fashion has been going through a revolution. The styles of the 50s, 60s and 70s are still popular. The mini is in and the pencil skirt.People still go for long flowing and afro hair in different styles and patterns . And by the end of the 90s, the hippy beads and kaftans were the must-have.

For most men in the days of yore, fashion meant a trip to America, London and to Burton, John Collier (formerly The Fifty Shilling Taylor) for the classic suit,and even now, for most men of over 30, the smart suit remains the only way to dress for going out.

Although suits have changed little from the 60s

and 70s, the Italian type is the still rage for the very fashionable, smart and fitted (narrow) trousers, lapels and a thin tie.

Little has changed in women’s fashion. Designers are just working on existing (old school) designs, apart from the African designers that are experimenting and using local fabric to bring out elegant styles.

The smart suit and fairly formal look remain popular, certainly for women over 50.

For women’s fashion, the styles of the 50s, 60s and 70s remain.

Jump suits, slim fitting and track suits or jump trousers which were the look of the 70s and 80s are also popular corporate and casual wear for women.

•Yvonne

•Tokoni Peterside

•Sound Sultan

•Tobi Banjo •Tom Efe

•Malik

•Sasha

Tips for make-up application

E

VEN if you’ve been wearing make-up for years, having a few new tips can make application smoother and help you achieve a more flawless look. For applying your make-up, choose the right tools. When applying foundation, you’ll achieve a smoother application by using a foundation brush instead of your fingers or a sponge applicator. Also, use a big powder brush to apply loose powder, as this will create a more natural look. Don’t forget primer. Many women shy away from primer because they’re afraid it will look and feel cakey. If you choose the right product, like Lola Refine Prime Foundation Primer, you won’t even feel its make-up lines. Just make sure to moisturize first to provide the smoothest possible application. Women can avoid a distinctive line between their make-up and neck, if they apply make-up in natural light. If your house doesn’t have a lot of natural light, check make-up outside with a compact to avoid harsh.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY OCTOBER 29, 2011

•Bose Adeniyi

F

RINGE, an interesting trend, can transform the look into a real work of art or ruin it completely.

Softer version of fringing looks cute and womanly. But fringe on cowboyinspired garments looks more stylish and cute.The social scene and runway abound with fringe dresses in shorter and sexier attire, knee-length and even long carpet worthy gowns.

•Bic Lue

•Funke Akindele

•Yolanda Okereke

New study on high-heeled shoes

Nails • The U.S. Army is considering a ban on French manicures among recruits.

• Eres will introduce a collection of three nail polishes to match the colours of their new spring 2012 swimwear line.

Fragrance • Elisa Sednaoui is the new face of a Roberto Cavalli fragrance out next spring.

Make-up • Estée Lauder has a new collection of sci-fi sounding eye shadows out; the range of six pastel, metallic shades are called “Pure Colour Cyber Eyes Gelée Powders.”

•Elisa Sednaoui

A recent study by shoe company MBT (which may not be an entirely reliable source on the matter, since they specialize in comfy, funny-looking sneakers) shows that people who wear heels taller than three inches suffer from a 40 per cent higher chance of falling and sustaining injury.

Meanwhile, they increase pressure to the ball of your foot by up to seven times. We have additional “news”: Women have already discovered this through their own personal experiences, and will continue to wear heels and fall on their faces.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

What I can’t do without on Fridays —Abubakar, Rector, Fed School of Surveying, Oyo

H

E has a way of keeping people guessing. It’s difficult to place the part of Nigeria he comes from. This is accentuated by the way he speaks. He speaks untainted Yoruba which makes you think he is from a state in the South West of Nigeria. A further look at this tall man, who is also a Muslim, will make one think he is from the northern part of the country. As he speaks English, your impression about him changes.

“My name is “Mohammed Bello Abubakar, a registered surveyor and the Rector of this great institution, Federal School of Surveying, Oyo,” he introduces himself.

He is one of the few people life has been good to. He had the ambition of becoming a town planner. “Honestly, my first degree was in Geography at the University of Benin (UNIBEN). There was nothing like Surveying in the school; so for my master’s, I studied Urban and Regional Planning.

My intention was to be a town planner and anything that has to do with land,” says Abubakar.

Abubakar was later employed as a surveyor and sent for training and he is one of the few lucky ones making something out of the training. “We had to go for training.

We were many; some people dropped out.

I thank God I have no regret today. I’m a member of the Institution of Surveyors and I have recently been appointed as a member of the Surveyors’ Council of Nigeria (SOCON). It is a profession that is meant for disciplined people,” Abubakar says further.

If there is one thing that makes this man carries his shoulders high, it is the Federal School of Surveying. He does not pretend about this. According to him, “Two out of every three registered surveyors you see in Nigeria must have graduated from this school. When you talk of surveying in this part of Nigeria, I mean in the South West, this is where you have the cradle of surveying,” he boasts.

Abubakar’s knowledge of Yoruba will make a Yoruba man green with envy, though he is from the Etsako West Local Government Area in Edo State. “I was born and bred in Ibadan, and all along, most of the people I deal with are from the South West ,” explaining his versatility in the Yoruba language.

When he speaks about his father, he is always upbeat. He says he learnt a lot from him. This is one of the things currently helping him as the rector of the school.

“He (his father) retired from the University of Benin as a top senior staff. That discipline was there; any time he came home he would always relate his experience to us on how to do things. From there, I learnt the style of administration of people,”he says.

Federal School of Surveying has been peaceful since he assumed the leadership of the institution. This may not be unconnected with his style of administration.

“Humility is that quality I have always been taking along. I believe in dialogue. If you are calm as the head of an institution and you are submissive, you will discover that you will have little or no problem. I don’t believe in being a dictator, “ he says with smiles. He warns that this should not be seen as a sign of weakness. If a staff or student fails to live up to expectations, he is sanctioned.

Aside learning the management style from his father, his respect for the traditional authorities has also made his task easy in Oyo town which hosts the school.

“Honestly, Kabiyesi, Iku baba yeye, the

•Abubakar

Gbenga ADERANTI Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, is a very good father. From time to time ,we visit him. We relate with him. We let him know what is going on in the school and there is peace in this town.

“The people of Oyo are very calm, unassuming and accommodating. That is why when you see some corps members, they don’t want to leave. We have a very good relationship with the indigenes, and the father of this town treats us like his children. He doesn’t discriminate and , from time to time, he calls us for advice and he never dabbles into the administration of any institution,” says Abubakar.

One thing he can not do without on Fridays is wearing his flowing robe. “Today is Friday, As a Muslim, this is the way I normally dress. But Monday through Thursday, I put on suit. Fridays, I like appearing like this,” he says about his dress sense.

For this lively 51- year- old man, the reality that his father is no more makes him feel sad. They were soul mates before the cold hand of death snatched his dad away from him. “ I lost my dad in 2005. I knew he was going. I visited him in the

‘

The people of Oyo are very calm, unassuming and accommodating. That is why when you see some corps members, they don’t want to leave. We have a very good relationship with the indigenes, and the father of this town treats us like his children. He doesn’t discriminate and , from time to time, he calls us for advice...

hospital, and he called me aside and said he had shown me the way and that I should believe in God. He told me certain things. I wished the old man was alive to see my performances in different fields,” he says soberly.

While many look at things from religious and tribal points of view, Abubakar says there is no basis for that. “I get what I want through personality and I don’t discriminate. It is just luck; religion has nothing to do with it. At any function I attend, I introduce myself and let people know where I’m from. Most of my friends are Christians,” he says confidently.

He is cosmopolitan. That is why he will

’

allow his children to marry from any part of the country they think they are comfortable with. Would you blame him? “Most of my sisters married outside Edo State.

Some of my sisters married Yoruba, some Hausa, some Ibo, only a few of them married from my tribe. My children are very free; my own is to guide them. The way I approach life is liberal. I’m not a rigid person,” he explains.

Not minding his busy schedule, he still finds time to unwind by attending social functions, visiting friends and going on vacation within the country.

To Abubakar, meeting intellectuals is the greatest thing that can happen to a man.

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Qatar wins award

•Olumirin Waterfall

O

LUMIRIN Waterfall in Erin Ijesa, Osun State is the most accessible of all the waterfalls in Nigeria. It beats Gurara in Niger State due to its relative proximity to the IlesaAbuja Expressway. The waterfall is less than a kilometre from the highway and hidden by the range of rocks that criss-cross through Ijesa land into Ekiti State. From Ibadan ,for example, one could get to the waterfall by taking the expressway to Abuja.

Erin Ijesa, the host community for the waterfall, is just a few kilometres from Ilesa, on the road to Akure. From the bus stop, with just 50 to 100 naira, a commercial motorcycle would take a tourist to the entrance of the waterfall complex.

At the entrance, a gradually fading sign post that has seen better days confirms arrival to the waterfall. However, a potential tourist must try and get the name right.

Many travel guides and writeups erroneously call the waterfall Erin Ijesa, probably naming it after the community it is located. The correct name is Olumirin. So, what one sees at the entrance is Olumirin waterfall and not Erin Ijesa.

Maybe due to its accessibility, the waterfall is one of the most visited in the country. Every day, weekend or working day, there is always a steady stream of visitors that make the trip to the waterfall.

The entrance does not capture the allure of the gift of nature. It is old

Olumirin Waterfall

Splash of the sublime and not well taken care. There is a step facing the entrance, about 200 metres away. After paying the gate fee, one could then head towards there. It leads to the waterfall. From that point to the waterfall, one has to engage in a little exercise of climbing and descending as one meanders through the enveloping rocks to get to the waterfall. It is hilly, as one meanders and turns towards the left to the fall. From that vantage point, one could also have a bird eye view of the Erin Ijesa community and its environs. Like all waterfalls, getting near it is always a little evocative as the crash of the water from a metre high up has a compulsive pull at one to come and see and experience the freshness.

Erin Ijesa, like Arinta Waterfall in Ekiti, is surrounded by tall trees that are perpetually in pursuit of the sun ray and as such grow tall in search of sunlight.

There are some distinctive features about the waterfall that is very peculiar . One is the different layers of the fall. The less adventurous would just stop at the base of the fall enjoying the scenic ambience and refreshing cold water and then leave. Alternatively, one engages in a little rock climbing.

By the left hand side is a rock part that leads to the top of the rock. For the fit

and adventurous, it is worth trying as it gives a vantage view of the water and also sights of the distant community nearby.

The water itself, pure and cold, gushes from a distant of about 60 metres, clear, white and refreshing. The rocks around the Erin Ijesa area is peculiar. There are particles of gold

•Staircase to the waterfall

like elements that glitter. Maybe geologists might have a look whether it is actually a sign of hidden treasure beneath these rocks or simply as a result of the chemical comportment of the water.

According to the indigenes of Erin Ijesa, Olumirin waterfall was discovContinued on Page 50

Qatar Airways is proud to have been named Asia’s Most Preferred Airline Brand at the 2011 Asian Leadership Award The Doha-based airline was honoured for outstanding service and hospitality at a ceremony held in Dubai and attended by leading figures from across the Asian business community.

The awards covered more than 20 categories, including business innovation, human resources, corporate responsibility and products and services.

Qatar Airways’ win followed a string of recent accolades for the airline, including being named the Airline of the Year by industry audit Skytrax, Best Airline in the Middle East and Africa by Business Traveller Asia Pacific magazine and Best Airline in the Middle East and Africa by readers of Asian travel trade title, TTG Asia.

Qatar Airways Chief Executive Officer, Akbar Al Baker, said the latest award reflected the company’s world-class standards.

“At Qatar Airways, we pride ourselves on offering our customers the highest levels of service and comfort which they expect and fully deserve.

“These include comfort on board our ultra modern fleet of aircraft with our award-winning cuisine, attentive service and the latest technology and interactive entertainment for all passengers on our widebody aircraft which operate to and from Asia.

“We are also continuing to invest hundreds of millions of dollars in our current and future airport facilities and we remain on track for moving to our brand new airport in Doha next year that promises to give passengers an even greater travel experience,”he said.

Qatar Airways Senior Vice President Aeropolitical, Interline and Industry Affairs, Ali Al Rais, who collected the award on behalf of the airline, said: “This award demonstrates Qatar Airways’ rapid growth throughout Asia, and it is a vote of confidence from our passengers from across the region.

“Winning this award is an honourable achievement after reaching many other milestones this year, including the launch of 12 new destinations with four more planned over the next few months.”

Over 30 per cent of Qatar Airways’ global coverage is in the Far East, South East Asia and South Asia.

Qatar Airways flies to over 100 diverse business and leisure destinations across Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, North America and South America with a modern fleet of 100 aircraft.

50

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Cape Town’s status as World Design Capital 2014 is a major boost for South Africa’s credentials as a major international lifestyle destination and a big boost for the country’s tourism industry.

This was the excited response from South African Tourism’s Chief Marketing Officer, Roshene Singh, to the announcement in Taipei that Cape Town had beaten the other shortlisted finalists, Dublin (Ireland) and Bilbao (Spain), to the title of World Design Capital 2014 at the International Design Alliance (IDA) Congress.

“This is wonderful news for Cape Town and for our country’s entire tourism industry, and South African Tourism would like to congratulate everyone involved with the Mother

Cape Town wins World Design Capital 2014 award City’s successful World Design Capital 2014 bid. The international community knows all about our country’s qualities as a leading adventure and wildlife destination, but through our involvement this year with events such as Design Indaba in Cape Town, the Cape Town International Jazz Festival, the Joy of Jazz and Macufe Festivals, the Joburg Art Fair, the Joburg, Cape Town and Africa Fashion Weeks and the Designing South Africa project, we have made a concerted attempt with our cities and provinces to position South Africa as a major international lifestyle destination,” said Singh.

“Cape Town’s great accolade today is further rein-

forcement of what we all know and believe in, that South Africa has some of the leading designers, architects and creative minds in the world. From our consumer research, we know that travellers want to engage with South Africa’s design, art, fashion and music offering when they visit our country and we’re responding to that demand. This award gives us all a considerable boost and even more compelling reasons to entice visitors to our exciting destination,” Singh added.

She said Cape Town was already world-renowned as an amazing city to visit, not only because of its acclaimed natural beauty, but because it is clearly home to creative, inspired people who are building an exciting, innovative fu-

ture.

This was evident too across all parts of the country, with all provinces rising to the challenge of showcasing their creative attributes and the Joburg Art Fair recently held to local and international acclaim for its focus on contemporary African art.

The prestigious World Design Capital award is made every other year by the International Council of Societies of Industrial Design (ICSID) to a city that is dedicated to using design for social, cultural and economic development.

The Mother City is the first African city to be given the honour, joining former World Design Capitals Torino, Italy (2008), Seoul, South Korea (2010) and Helsinki, Finland (2012).

These “capitals” have seen increased visitor numbers following their awarding of the title, with Torino reporting higher visitor numbers in their title year than in the year the city hosted the Winter Olympics in 2006.

The World Design Capital title is awarded well in

advance, allowing winning cities sufficient time to plan, develop and promote a yearlong programme of World Design Capital-themed events for their designated year and also the opportunity of two years of pre-publicity to showcase its design and creativity.

Cape Town officials are looking to use the title to celebrate the role design has played in taking a previously divided city and transforming it into a more integrated one and to address the issues of growing urbanisation.

Olumirin Waterfall:Splash of the sublime Continued from Page 49

ered by hunters in 1140 AD. The waterfall has about seven stages and with three major falls. Before the discovery of the waterfall, according to the community’s folklore, the people of Erin Ijesa were migrants from IleIfe after the death of Oduduwa, the progenitor of the Yoruba race.

They were led by a woman by a woman called

Yeye Aye Akinla. According the story, before the woman set out on the journey, she consulted the Ifa oracle. The Ifa chief priest told her that she would treck out of Ile- Ife for 17 days and that where she got to on the 17th day of her journey would be a peaceful place for her to settle down with her followers and it happened that way.

After the migrants had settled for years, they were unaware of the waterfall. On

a particular day, the hunters set out to hunt and they discovered the waterfall by chance. They ran back and called their leader, Yeye Akinla. They told her they had discovered another god. It took another Ifa consultation to convince them it was not another god ,but God’s handiwork.

The priest instructed them that they should worship and be holding an annual festival in honour of the deity of the waterfall.

Kehinde FALODE: 08023689894

Pretty cupcakes Foluke ADEMOLA

These cute cupcakes will delight everyone. The fruitbased icing adds extra flavour and a gourmet touch. Perfect treats for kids, sweet and easy to make. These cupcakes are the best.

Ingredients •Five cups self-raising flour, sifted •Two cups caster sugar •375g butter, melted, cooled •Two cups milk •Five eggs, lightly beaten •Two teaspoons vanilla extract icings •Two x 500g packets pure icing sugar •Red food colouring •Two passionfruit, pulp removed •One orange, rind finely grated, juiced •Sugar flowers to decorate Method Preheat oven to 190°C. Line two 12-hole 1/3-cup capacity muffin pans with paper cases.

Cake mixture Cream 175g butter and 175g caster sugar together until light and fluffy. Add one teaspoon vanilla essence and gradually beat in three beaten eggs little by little, if the mixture curdles add a table spoon of flour and continue beat-

ing.

Sift in 175g self-raising flour and 1/2 teaspoon baking powder and gently fold in. The mixture should easily drop off the spoon. If it doesn't, add a little milk and keep stirring.

Baking Divide the mixture between the cake cases filling each on about ¾ full, and bake for 12-15 mins, until they are golden brown and springy to the touch. (If one tray is on a lower shelf in the oven it may need a little longer). Cool on a wire rack.

Icing Combine 500g icing sugar with five tablespoons water and stir until it reaches a smooth consistency. Divide the mixture into two or three bowls and colour each

bowl with your chosen f o o d colouring, mixing thoroughly.

Make pink icing: Sift 1 1/ 2 cups icing sugar into a bowl.

Add two tablespoons warm water and one drop red food colouring. Mix well. Spread onto 14 cupcakes.

Top Allow to with set. flowers.

Make passionfruit icing: Sift 1 1/2 cups icing sugar into a bowl.

Add 1 1/2tablespoons passionfruit pulp. Mix well. Spread onto 1/2 of remaining cupcakes. Top with flowers. Allow to set.

Make orange icing: Sift 1 1/2 cups icing sugar into a bowl. Add orange rind and two tablespoons orange juice. Mix well. Spread onto remaining cupcakes. Top with flowers. Allow to set.

Note Time plan: The day before - Make cupcakes up to end of baking.

Store in an airtight container. In the morning Make icing and decorate cupcakes.

•Arial view of Cape Town

Nutritional benefits of eggs Eggs are whole foods, prepackaged sources of carbohydrates, protein, fat and micronutrients. Yet their nutritional value should not be surprising when you remember that an egg contains everything needed for the nourishment of a developing chick.

Eggs are delicious, convenient, versatile and good value for money making them an excellent inclusion in a well balanced, healthy eating pattern. Below are few tips: •An egg contributes to the diet as a source of choline. Although our bodies can produce some choline, we cannot make enough to make up for an inadequate supply in our diets, and choline deficiency can also cause deficiency of another B vitamin critically important for health, folic acid. Choline is definitely a nutrient needed in good supply for good health. it is a key component of many fat-containing structures in cell membranes, whose flexibility and integrity depend on adequate supplies of choline. Two fat-like molecules in the brain, phosphatidylcholine and sphingomyelin, account for an unusually high percentage of the brain's total mass, so choline is particularly important for brain function and health.

•In addition to its significant effects on brain function and the nervous system, choline also has an impact on cardiovascular health since it is one of the B vitamins that helps convert homocysteine, a molecule that can damage blood vessels, into other benign substances. Eggs are also a good source of vitamin B12, another B vitamin that is of major importance in the process of converting homocysteine into safe molecules.

•Eggs promote healthy hair and nails because of their high sulphur content and wide array of vitamins and minerals. Many people find their hair growing faster after adding eggs to their diet, especially if they were previously deficient in foods containing sulphur or B12.

•New research shows that, contrary to the previous belief, moderate consumption of eggs does not have a negative impact on cholesterol. In fact, recent studies have shown that regular consumption of two eggs per day does not affect a person's lipid profile and may, in fact, improve it. Research suggests that it is saturated fat that raises cholesterol rather than dietary cholesterol.

•In addition to their wonderful taste and nutritional content, eggs hold an esteemed place in cooking since due to their food chemistry, they serve many unique functions in recipes, including coagulation, foaming, emulsification and browning.

•Egg also contains vitamin B which gives folate and riboflavin are necessary for your body to convert the foods you eat into energy. Folate also reduces homocysteine levels and is important for prevention of birth defects.

•Eggs are great for the eyes. According to one study, an egg a day may prevent macular degeneration due to the carotenoid content, specifically lutein and zeaxanthin. Both nutrients are more readily available to our bodies from eggs than from other sources.

• According to a study by the Harvard School of Public Health, there is no significant link between egg consumption and heart disease. In fact, according to one study, regular consumption of eggs may help prevent blood clots, stroke and heart attacks.

51

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Kayaking makes debut at Cross River Festival

A

S the Cross River State festival months draw near, efforts are on to further enrich the programme and offer tourists an additional event to look foward to in Calabar.

The Cross River State government in partnership with the African Kayaking Federation will commence the maiden edition of the Senator Imoke Kayak Championship. Towards this event, the secretary general of the federation, Mr. Seif Patwa, from Kenya, visited Cross River State to assess the facilities and professionally advise on the some areas and the shape the preparation for the championship should take.

Seif, after his tour of the state, gave a pass mark to the facilities on ground and

stated that the state is naturally endowed for kayaking with good water and able bodied men. He said it was kayaking as a sport that the state and the country could immensely benefit from economically, adding that it also offered the youths the opportunity to develop their talent.

He commended the state government for the vision and promised that the African federation would leave no stone unturned to ensure the success of the event.

Speaking on the introduction of kayaking as part of the efforts of the Cross River Festival, the Special Adviser to the Cross River State Governor on Tourism Development, Mr. Gabriel Ona, who represented the governor to receive Seif Patwa, said the introduc-

•Seif Patwa, Secretary General, Africa Kayaking Federation (left), and Mr. Gab Onah, Special Adviser to Cross River State Governor on Tourism

tion of kayaking would entrench the Cross State brand and open up a vista of opportunities for the youths of the state. He said the state, being a riverine community, has a long history of activities on water.

His words: “The waterways was the only way our forebears traversed the entire state. The name Cross River State was derived from the fact that the entire state is traversed by water . So, the means of transportation then was by canoe. It is like coming back home, so it is like canoeing and kayaking coming back home. In the course of his visit to Cross River State, we took him to some of our tourism attractions. He visited the state museum, and this is where roots tourism comes to the fore.

“Most of our forebears were taken to the new world through water. The Marina waterfront tells that story.

The sleeping Marina today was active so many years ago. It was Marina that was responsible for the shipment of about 20 per cent of the slaves that were taken to the new world. Our brothers in the Diaspora in search of their roots could come and trace their roots through there. Who knows whether the kayaking thing will serve as an ice breaker. Like I said earlier, the governor will buy into anything that will create opportunities for people.

The governor will encourage anything that will help our people to economically move ahead.

“Our governor would like to create synergies with organizations like this that will change the life of our people.

The Marina communities are available for this type of venture. You know in the

kayaking, we will have the boat formation and choreographing. The competitive aspect on water, moving to the next level, is the kayaking. Even though we will still be having the conventional paddling, the kayaking angle is another level entirely because kayaking is like a bullet and there is a lot of technology there.

“It is a wonderful marriage between great brands.

Cross River is already endowed with water resources. It means that our rural communities would just take advantages of the kayaking thing. They will buy into it.

“Our governor is a painstaking person. He will make sure that we get to the end road which is that those whom you train now would be able to train others through refresher courses and get their host communities involved. Like you are aware, the entire south of Cross River State is mostly riverine, so we don’t have any reason not been keen on kayaking. We believe that this event will compete favourably in the world of kayaking.

“Last year, as part of the festival, the Nigerian Canoe Federation sent in a team to display during the regatta.

This time around, we want to have it at a full blast. We are holding a championship where some of our national athletes will participate. We are not just looking at the event, but the industry around it. Vendors that will sell; sponsors that will have opportunities to display their brands to people who are coming to watch kayaking. This underlines the commercial benefit of the event.

Sifax joins La Campagne Tropicana ‘s corporate hosting initiative

T

HE La Campagne Tropicana Group has introduced a new leisure, exercise and relaxation concept for corporate organizations. The initiative, christened corporate hosting, seeks to provide staff of corporate organizations facilities for exercise, leisure and total relaxation.

Last Sunday, the group hosted the Sifax Group at its Adeniyi Jones club.

The staff of the Sifax Group, an international cargo handling company, were taken round the club and shown some of the facilities available such as the swimming pool, gym, squash court, basket ball court, the restaurant and bar and other relaxation facilities.

Speaking on the corporate hosting concept, the managing director of La Campagne Tropicana, Otunba Wanle Akinboboye, said it was based on the need to help the nation and the corporate world to have healthy workforce because a sound mind is found in a sound body. So, it would not be difficult for the corporate workforce to give their best when the exercise and relax properly.

This is what we seek to offer. He said exercise and re-

laxation are part of the effort to stay healthy.

He continued: “ Many workers of corporate organizations are not healthy because they do not exercise relax properly. The purpose is to make them have a healthy life. It offers them a place to go and relax since it is not all workers that can afford the annual dues. We offer them all the facilities that they need

to relax and exercise. In addition to the facilities at our club in Ikeja, the participating company is free to use our facilities at the resort in Ikegun, Lagos State.

The membership of the club is annual and renewable. The corporate organization participating in the corporate hosting could even set an appraisal to

•La Campagne Beach Resort, Ikegun

monitor the work output of their staff.

Outside exercise and relaxation, the corporate hosting initiative by the La Campagne Tropicana also offers participants opportunity to network and clinch business deals since participants in the initiative cut across different segments of the economy.

•

•Participants during the walk

Abuja Sheraton walks for children

S

HERATON Abuja Hotel hosted over 1,000 par ticipants to its annual check out for childrenUNICEF “Road to awareness walk”.

The branded participants representing various organizations and government bodies as well as school children converged on the foyer of the Ladi Kwali Conference Centre of the hotel.

The excited crowd eagerly awaited the grand arrival of the special guest of honourHajia Amina Mohammed Namadi Sambo- wife of the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

She arrived well on time and General Manager of the Hotel-Morten Ebbesen- ushered her to cut the ribbon and declare the walk open. By her side was Minister for State, FCT, Mrs. Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide ,and a host of other dignitaries .

Top management officials from the KLM Royal Dutch Airlines, Airtel, National Agency for the Prohibition of Trafficking in Persons and other related matters

(NAPTIP), the Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NIMET),Seven-Up Bottling Company, AIDstar-one, US Embassy and Indomie Noodles were all represented.

Children from various schools and orphanages cheerfully joined in.

The heart of everyone was devotedly set to add value to this year’s objective which is to supply vital equipment and education materials for 58 needy school children in the world.

The five-kilometre walk took an hour to accomplish, and most touching of all was the fact that the younger school children displayed immense resilience and determination in their bid to finish.

There were spectators on the sidelines that succumbed to temptation and enthusiastically joined the carnival.

The walk was rounded off with a grand reception in which speeches were read by sponsors.

SUDOKU 1ST STEP IN SOLVING PUZZLE 347: Look at the right vertical (ghi)3 x3 boxes. The top box has 3 in cell Ch, while the middle box has its 3 in cell Fi. The bottom box must, therefore, have its own 3 in column g where there is only 1 vacant space - cell Hg. Reasoning along these lines, try and fill in the other vacant cellss

SOLUTION TOMORROW. HAPPY PUZZLING!

52

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Growing children of destiny (5)

D

EAR Reader, Shalom! Without hesitation, it has been a most knowledge-filled month for you.

Last week, I highlighted three root causes to the problems of wayward children.

In concluding this teaching, I want to unveil to you Possible Solutions to these root causes! It is noted that every problem has a solution, and every question has an answer. Consequently, as overwhelming as the foregoing problems of children may be, they are not without solutions from the Word of God. David was one man who knew the meaning of the word ‘rejection’. He was the least loved of his brothers. In actual fact, he

was forgotten when a king was to be anointed in Israel by Samuel.

But in all, David encouraged himself with a secret found in Psalms 27:10, which says: When my father and my mother forsake me, then the LORD will take me up. That is, the more He was rejected by men, the closer he got to God. Isn’t that amazing!

Thus, the best way to deal with rejection, following David’s precept, is a strong relationship with God. As a parent to be envied, your primary objective must be to assist your children out of whatever challenge of rejection they may be facing, into a strong relationship with God, because only God can give them accurate relieve.

I can perceive you soliciting, “How do I get my child into a personal relationship with God?” Very simple!

Firstly, this is achievable by prayer, coupled with fasting.

God’s Word says: Howbeit this kind goeth not out but by prayer and fasting (Matthew 17:21).

Pray for that child, by losing every hold of Satan on his/her life, binding every spirit of rejection, depression or rebellion, and casting them out of your child’s life.

Novel Hayes, a remarkable man of God, relates how his daughter was obsessed by the spirit of drug addiction and rebellion. This daughter of his had done all manner of outrageous things that has brought ache to his heart and humiliation to his ministry. Yet, he would not give up praying intensely for her.

I quickly want to state here that the altar of prayer is the altar of possibility (John 10:10, Matthew 7:7, Matthew 18:19).

God delivered Novel Hayes’ daughter in a very dramatic way.

One day, as she slept, a huge man appeared in her room; he was twice the size of an average man. He said nothing, did noth-

ing, just sat on her bed. Then he stood up and left her room, walking down the halfway and the curious youngster followed him.

But, she was startled when he turned and walked through the wall.

It was then that it occurred to her that this was no ordinary man, but an angel. That encounter ended her years of rebellion.

It is noteworthy that the most effectual category of prayer is a prayer that is fastened on the Word of God. Isaiah 49:25 is one of such scripture!

Secondly, you can get your child into a personal relationship with God by pleading the blood of Jesus and using the name of Jesus to pull down satanic iron grip on the child’s life (Philippians 2:10). Remember, the Blood is the last card!

The Blood and Name of Jesus are to be used in faith, otherwise, they may hold no power. Say “No” to doubt, and you will spot that mountain out of the life of your child forever. In addition, prevention is better than cure.

Therefore, parents, it is advisable to create a conducive environment, for your children to grow

up in, by making sure that your relationship with your spouse is also in order, with no quarrelling, bitterness or antagonism in your home.

That way, you will cause those children to grow up into responsible adults in the society, and a blessing to the Body of Christ.

It takes your accepting Jesus as your Lord and personal Saviour to be able to grow your children God’s way, to become children of destiny. If you want to be born again, say this prayer: Dear Lord, I come to You today. I am a sinner. Forgive me my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Now I know I am born again!

Congratulations! Call or write, and share your testimonies with me through: E-mail: faithdavid@yahoo.com Tel. No: 234-1-7747546-8; 07026385437, 07094254102.

For more insight, these books authored by me are available at the Dominion Bookstores in all the Living Faith Churches and other leading Christian bookstores: Raising Godly Children, Understanding Motherhood and Building A Successful Family.

High blood pressure: Risk, causes, treatment W HEN the heart pumps blood into the arteries, the blood flows with a force pushing against the walls of the arteries. This force is called the blood pressure. When the blood pressure is measured, it is a measure of how hard the heart has to work to pump the blood.

High blood pressure is also called hypertension.

What makes high blood pressure important is that it usually causes no symptoms but can still cause serious complications.

Many people have high blood pressure and don’t even know it.

Blood pressure is measured with a Blood Pressure Monitor and recorded as 2 numbers, such as 120/80 mm Hg (millimeters of mercury).

The top, larger number is called the systolic pressure. This is the pressure generated when the heart contracts (pumps). It reflects the pressure of the blood against arterial walls.

The bottom, smaller number is called the diastolic pressure. This reflects the pressure in the arteries while the heart is filling and resting between heartbeats.

Scientists have determined a normal range for both systolic and diastolic blood pressure after examining the blood pressure of many people.

Those whose blood pressure is consistently higher than this norm are said to have high blood pressure or hypertension.

High blood pressure in adults is defined as a consistently elevated blood pressure of 140 mm Hg systolic and 90 mm Hg diastolic or higher.

Uncontrolled high blood pressure is indirectly responsible for many deaths and disability resulting from heart attack, stroke, and kidney failure.

Symptoms High blood pressure usually causes no symptoms.

Thus, high blood pressure often is labeled “the silent killer.”

People who have high blood pressure typically don’t know it until their blood pressure is

measured.

Sometimes people with high blood pressure have the following symptoms: •Headache •Dizziness •Blurred vision •Nausea People often do not seek medical care until they have symptoms arising from the organ damage caused by chronic (ongoing, long-term) high blood pressure. The following types of organ damage are commonly seen in chronic high blood pressure: •Heart attack •Heart failure •Stroke or “mini stroke” (transient ischemic attack, TIA) •Kidney failure •Eye damage with loss of vision •Peripheral arterial disease About 1 percent of people with high blood pressure do not seek medical care until the high blood pressure is very severe, also called malignant hypertension.

In malignant hypertension, the diastolic blood pressure (the lower number) often exceeds 140 mm Hg. Malignant hypertension may be associated with headache, light-headedness, or nausea.

This degree of high blood pressure requires emergency hospitalization and lowering of blood pressure to prevent brain hemorrhage or stroke.

It is of utmost importance to realize that high blood pressure can be unrecognized for years, causing no symptoms but causing progressive damage to the heart, other organs, and blood vessels.

Complications This include heart disease, heart attack, heart failure, kidney failure, vision loss, and stroke.

According to research studies, the risk of dying of a heart attack is directly linked to blood pressure. The higher your blood pressure, the higher your risk.

The progress of heart disease caused by high blood pressure can be slowed down, however.

Treatment Options For High Blood Pressure Many people can lower their blood pressure significantly with lifestyle changes, but most still need medication to keep their blood pressure in the healthy range.

Alternative therapies can also help lower blood pressure.

Whichever therapy is chosen, it is important to have the blood pressure checked regularly to make sure that the treatment is working.

Blood Pressure Machines A recent study showed that blood pressure machines bought and used at home could be as useful as the one in the hospital.

They can be accurate, but sometimes are not.

Use the machine as directed.

Measure blood pressure three times, two minutes apart. The third measurement is usually the most accurate.

Do not rely on the machines alone to check blood pressure.

Have it checked regularly by a trained medical professional with a machine that is known to be accurate.

Maintain a healthy weight Those who are overweight or obese needs to lose weight. Aim for a healthy weight range for your height and body type.

Even a small amount of weight loss can make a major

difference in lowering or preventing high blood pressure.

The healthiest and longestlasting weight loss requires slow loss, such as losing onehalf to 1 pound each week.

Increasing physical activity will help burn more calories.

Lose weight and keep it off Choose foods low in calories and fat. Fat is a concentrated source of calories. Cut down on butter, margarine, regular salad dressing, fatty or red meats, the skin of poultry, whole milk, cheese, fried foods, ice cream, many cookies, cakes, pastries, and snacks.

Choose foods high in starch and fiber: These foods are low in fat and also good sources of vitamins and minerals. Try fruits, vegetables, whole-grain cereals, pasta and rice, and dry peas and beans.

Replace high-calorie, high-fat snacks with fresh fruits, airpopped popcorn (without salt or butter).

Exercise or increase physical activity. Physical activity burns calories, helps lose weight, and reduces stress. Physical activity reduces total cholesterol, raises the good (HDL) cholesterol, and reduces the risk of heart disease.

Physical activity doesn’t have to mean running a marathon.

House cleaning or playing golf

•Monitoring the BP at home is good, but cross-checking at the hospital once in a while is better

or baseball can burn as many as 300 calories per hour; brisk walking (at 3.5 mph), cycling (at 5.5 mph), gardening, dancing, or playing basketball burns as many as 450 calories per hour; jogging (9 min/mile), playing football, or swimming can burn as many as 730 calories per hour; and running (7 min/mile), or skiing can burn as many as 920 calories per hour.

It is recommended that at least 30 minutes of exercise every other day for cardiovascular fitness is required.

Tips on losing weight •Fit physical exercise into your daily routine •Use the stairs instead of the elevator.

•Park farther away from the store or office and walk the rest of the way..

•Ride a bike.

•Clean house.

•Wash the car the oldfashioned way.

•Go dancing.

General tips for controlling blood pressure •Reduce sodium (salt) intake.

•Limit alcohol to no more than 2 drinks a day.

•Quit smoking.

•Take medicines as directed.

Medication is an important part of blood pressure control for almost everybody with high blood pressure. Many people cannot keep their blood pressure in the healthy range by lifestyle changes alone.

Only 21 percent of people with high blood pressure are on blood pressure medicines and have their pressure adequately controlled.

At least 16 percent of people with high blood pressure are not on any medication.

Approximately 28 percent are taking medicines incorrectly, and their blood pressure is uncontrolled.

Therefore, the biggest challenge in the treatment of high blood pressure is taking the medication correctly.

53 Coping with diseases

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

When drugs don’t give happiness:

with Prof. Dayo Oyekole

Male Infertility

Making a u-turn

W

HEN a person smokes marijuana, within minutes, he or she begins to “feel good”.

The feeling of relaxation and euphoria (profound feeling of well-being) max in about 1-2 hours (though the chemicals can be stuck in the body for weeks because they are fat soluble and dissolve into nerves). The poor, the unachieving, the miserable, the lonely, the hurt, and the frustrated can find a way into normally inaccessible emotional pleasure through the use of this drug which alters their mood and mind for some time. They get euphoria, relaxation, grandiosity (feeling greater than they really are), and an altered perception of the passage of time.

It is not surprising, then, that marijuana is so popular and rampantly smoked.

With the harsh economic situation that many people find themselves in; the hopelessness towards ever enjoying life through normal means of work, adequate income, good relationships, and social security; and the seeming worthlessness of the “small change” in their pocket: “why not marijuana?”

Marijuana usage is like taking emotional reward that never came and cannot be expected by normal means. Both rich and poor, all who want to escape from

T

HERE are many causes of STDS. One of the cause can be the use of an intrauterine contraceptive device (coil). A woman cannot pass BV to a man, but it is important she receives treatment as BV can occasionally travel up into the uterus and fallopian tubes and cause a more serious infection. Treatment for BV consists of applying a cream to the vagina or taking antibiotics.

Chlamydia is one of the most commonly reported bacterial sexually transmitted diseases. It is caused by

psychological stress, use marijuana. The difference is in the way they use it and the kind of preparations (joints, bongs, blunts, backwoods, buds) and the environment in which they take it.

Some people have used marijuana safely for some time, even for as long as forty years, without serious consequence (as one of our readers admitted to me about his own habit). Unfortunately for those who do not manage their habit well, marijuana usage may be as good as hell. There are many negative physical, psychological, and social effects of marijuana. Importantly, users develop tolerance for the drug. Tolerance means that the body continues to need more and more drug to get the same level of euphoria. The user takes larger amounts of marijuana or uses it for longer periods. He or she ends up spending more and more money on marijuana. A son could start stealing his parent’s money or taking property from home to sell for money for the drug. It may also consume the time of the user recklessly because the process of acquiring it, using it, and recovering from its effects can distract from normal responsibilities.

A great risk involved in marijuana usage is the ten-

I dency for the user to “fall in love” with it, having a fixed desire for it and objecting to decreasing or controlling it.

The habit can encroach upon spousal and other important relationships, especially if the spouse or any other person takes an aggressive or offensive attitude towards it. If a family member takes marijuana and is not willing to quit, the other members of the family should avoid precipitating a rebellion and aggravating the habit or alienating the user.

Rather, family members should support the user in keeping up with his or her developmental, educational, social, professional, and religious aspects of life which the user may tend to neglect.

When these appear to be collapsing, professional help should be sought. Perhaps the most dangerous aspect of a drug habit is sudden or improper withdrawal from the use of the drug. Starting a drug habit is risky, very risky, but stopping it may be riskier.

Drugs of addiction, in addition to causing euphoria or enhanced performance, may also act on important brain

centers which may include parts of the brain that control delicate life processes such as consciousness, breathing, and the functioning of the heart. Derangement or disruption of such processes can be fatal. For the drug user or abuser, some body functions have adapted to functioning under the influence of the drug. If the drug is stopped suddenly, the body functions do not all go back to their normal states but need to readapt to functioning without the drug. This reversal requires some time. Therefore, many drugs of addiction produce a withdrawal syndrome when the user stops taking the drug suddenly. Withdrawal symptoms can be severe and include craving for the drug. Detoxification of an addict should be at a proper time, in a proper way, and in a proper place and is best with the consent and commitment of the addict.

Dr. ’Bola John is a biomedical scientist based in Nigeria and in the USA. For any comments or questions on this column, please E m a i l bolajohnwritings@yahoo.com or call 07028338910.

STDs and impotence the Chlamydia trachomatis bacterium. It infects the urethra, rectum and eyes in both sexes, and the cervix in women. If left untreated, long-term infection can lead to fertility problems in women. Chlamydia is transmitted through genital contact and sexual intercourse with someone already infected. Symptoms usually show between 1 and 3 weeks after exposure but may not emerge until much later Crabs or Pubic Lice are

small crab-shaped parasites that burrow into the skin to feed on blood. They live on coarse body hair, predominantly pubic hair, but can also be found in armpit hair, facial hair and even on eyelashes. The lice are yellowgrey in colour and use their crab-like claws to grip hair strands. They can sometimes be spotted moving on the skin.

Crabs are easily passed on during sex, but can also be passed on through sharing clothes, towels or bedding with someone who has them.

Crabs cannot be transmitted via toilet seats or swimming pools.

Genital warts :They can appear on the skin anywhere in the genital area as small whitish or flesh-coloured bumps, or larger, fleshy, cauliflower-like lumps. They are unlikely to cause pain but may itch and can be difficult to spot. Often there are no other symptoms, but if a woman has a wart on her cervix she may experience slight bleeding or unusual coloured vaginal discharge.

Sexual impotence It is a serious health problem that has broken many marriages today. Studies have revealed that apart from the need for couples to be rooted in God, sex is the next best tonic for a strong relationship! Studies have shown that over 20% of men in our society today are either

partially or totally impotent.

Impotency is usually caused by two major factors; The presence of serious ailments like diabetes and (ii) STD (sexually transmitted diseases).

In the days of our forefathers, excessive consumption of sugary foods and alcohol were not encouraged, that was why they were able to remain sexually potent till old age. Secondly, the presence of STD's is another major causative factor. Most men suffer from STD's which have ended up destroying their libidos. A sexual disease like staph.aureus is a known destroyer of the sexual organ.

Apart from those that are born with sexual impotence, these two factors are usually responsible for the impotence in men these days. Normally, a healthy man with full potency should be able to have erection at least three times daily. If a man sleeps, an erection should be the first thing to wake him from sleep if truly he's sexually potent, it is a natural phenomenon. If a man does not experience an erection even when a naked body of a woman is paraded before him, then there is a serious problem.

•Dr B. Filani is the Chief Consultant of Sound Health Centre, Lagos. You can contact him on 08023422010 or on facebook or email soundhealthcentre@yahoo.com.

INFERTILITY is a condition in which a man and woman try to have children but the woman does not become pregnant. Primarily, infertility affects 15percent to 20percent of couples who wish to conceive.

Approximately one-third of cases result from male factors, one-third from female factors, and one-third from combined factors. It is therefore crucial to evaluate both partners before deciding on any form of natural or artificial intervention.

Such evaluation is warranted if there is no pregnancy after 6 months of regular, unprotected intercourse.

Hormonal profiles and detailed semen analysis are the cornerstones of laboratory investigations after the history and physical examination.

Investigations for causes in the male are safer and simpler; consequently, they are normally performed first to save cost and to save the woman a series of tests, if a cause can be found in the male. Unfortunately, most men do not submit themselves to fertility tests. Rather, they ascribe the shortcomings to their wife’s conditions only.

Men are sometimes unable to make their women pregnant because they have fewer sperm than is normal. This condition, scientifically called Oligospermia, is the presence of less than 20 million sperms per milliliter in the ejaculate; while Azoospermia is the total absence of sperm cells.

Causes of male infertility include testicular abnormalities, chronic infections such as Gonorrhoea, Chlamydia, Herpes, Staphylococcus, Trichomoniasis, Candidiasis, etc., as well as environmental factors (such as irradiation), nutritional imbalance, drugs, sexual habits, etc.

In trying to solve the problem of male infertility, it should be understood that spermatogenesis, that is, the process from sperm formation to maturation takes approximately 74 days. It is therefore necessary to go back to nature and observe events while exercising patience over a period of about three (3) months, before drawing conclusion on viability or efficacy of bio-medical intervention.

Thus, a repeat sperm analysis is only meaningful after three (3) months of intervention. It is also important to note that hormones and other medicines commonly given to men who cannot have babies almost never do any good; magic cures are not likely to help either.

Unfortunately, most men with problem of infertility would want it solved overnight; thereby patronizing phony, unscientific and self-acclaimed instant healers! Be careful not to waste your money on things that will not help.

Education, with respect to the proper timing for intercourse in relation to the female’s ovulatory cycle as well as the avoidance of spermicidal lubricants is very important. In cases of toxic exposure or medication-related factors, the offending agent should be removed. Patients with active genitourinary tract infections should be treated appropriately.

Oligospermic and Azoospermic patients will benefit immensely from the holistic natural remedies scientifically formulated from herbal extracts of local plants such as Bombax buonopozense, Triumfetta cordifolia, Momordica charantia and Musa paradisiaca.

For further information and consultation on Holistic Lifecare research and services, especially on Blood Infections, Infertility, Sexually Transmitted Diseases, Chronic Debilitating Conditions as well as mental and social problems, please call on: 0803-3303897 or visit: Mosebolatan Holistic Lifecare Centre, Adeyalo Layout, Ogbere-Tioya, Off Olorunsogo Express Bridge, Ibadan.

Website: www.holisticlifecare.com. Distance is no barrier, we can send remedies by courier if need be. We also have facilities for accommodation, admission and hospitalization in a serene and homely environment.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011 54 INTERVIEW The Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, is a journalist’s delight as a walking economic encyclopaedia. He reels out figures and does off the cuff comparative analysis of economic developments with ease. Above all, his intellectual asset, his passion for his new job as an investment driver cannot go unnoticed by a newshound. After holding the audience spell bound at a presidential dinner in Perth Yacht in Australia, our Managing Editor, Northern Operation, YUSUF ALLI, pinned him down at midnight for a chat. Excerpts:

Why I left a flourishing career in the UK to join Jonathan’s A cabinet —Aganga

N Australian-Nigerian Trade and Investment Council has just been formed, is that not hasty? Why did you rush into an agreement with a country you don’t know much about?

It is not hasty, we have been working on it for a very long time. You may or may not be aware that I was in Australia about a month or two ago. It was to come and find out what the potentials are and how we can work together. And when I came here, we met with a large number of investors and it was very obvious to me that we were very well welcomed. They have what we are looking for and they have the appetite for investment in our country. There are 130 top companies in Australia that have invested in Africa already. We looked at the list of countries that they have invested in. They invested in Namibia, Congo, Sierra Leone, Ghana, even countries where you think they should not be going to. They actually enjoyed mining and they have been in mining for 100 years.

Nigeria was the only country where their presence was so small. That is the irony of life.

And Nigeria is where you have the assets.

We have 33 different solid minerals in commercial quantity. Australia has more than 100 years experience in mining; it has capital to invest in mining. Their capital market is very, very well developed to raise capital for mining. More importantly, their philosophy when they do mining is well with us. For example, they don’t just only come to an area and dig out the solid minerals, they actually invest in the infrastructure around it, in the rail, roads, ports and they build communities.

Do we share similar economic traits?

If you look at the Australian economy, it is based on four main areas - agriculture, mining, gas and services. And if you look at our own economy, it is based on that also.

So, we have quite a lot of things in common.

It was not hasty at all. Going back to the council you talked about, the idea is part of my investment strategy. I am looking at setting up something similar in eight strategic countries where I expect to attract investment into Nigeria.

Which are the eight countries?

Let me first of all explain how it is going to work. It is going to be a small group of people: may be 10 to 15 Australians, and 10 to 15 Nigerians. My counterpart in Australia and I will be the patrons of the group. And the idea is that if we have identified mining and agro-based industries as areas of investment, it is these groups of people that will work with us to try and make us attract investments into those sectors in Nigeria.

They will meet quarterly, and we will meet with them at least half yearly to assess the progress report. But they are like catalysts for attracting investment into the country.

They will also become advocates for Nigeria in Australia.

That is the whole idea. Now in terms of the countries where I expect the investments to come from, they are India, China, Indonesia, the UK for obvious reasons, Brazil, Hong Kong. These are the ones we are looking at. That is where the most of the capital will come in. I have just had a meeting today with an Indian Group for an example with an annual turnover of about $35billion. They are into all the sectors we

•Aganga

are looking at. They are into agric businesses; they are into cement. They produce 60m tons of cement annually. In Nigeria, our total production as at last year was about 10.8m. We have another 6.5m coming on board before the end of next quarter. And the demand is heavy.

Also, this Indian company does road construction; it is into power generation, mining of coal and iron ore. The next plan is for them to come into the country with their captains in different sectors; show them what we have in our country and we will put together an Action Plan, which will be almost like a Country-Company Plan. I

am also meeting with another group from Indonesia; it is the largest group in Indonesia which is also interested in investing in Nigeria.I think you will find us also establishing such vehicle. It is for me a vehicle for attracting and bringing investments into Nigeria.

Does your investment outlook cover the steel sector where we have not got it right since the 60s? We have invested in Ajaokuta and Delta Steel but we have not got anything in return, it is a story of waste.

You see, it is a shame. When you look at the opportunities in the mining sector in Nigeria, you will wonder and say God, why have we

waited for so long? And in another vein, you will say waoh! The potential, the opportunities are huge. We are more excited about the future. How will you redress the past and the wasted opportunities? We made some mistakes in the past. For me, I don’t mind making mistakes because the most important thing is to learn some lessons from those mistakes and you don’t get better without failing. So, by trying, you fail but the most important thing is what are the lessons you learnt from it and how can I use the lessons for the future? So, going forward, the opportunities are huge. If you look at what Australia has done in harnessing iron ore, coal and other minerals, you will appreciate what I am saying. They produce items close to about 50 per cent of what (the iron) China needs today. On the back of heavy construction in China and India, the demand for iron ore is very heavy and so the price of iron ore has gone up significantly.

One company started its iron ore business here in Australia about four years ago.

Today, it exports 55m tons of iron ore. The chairman of the company is the person in Australia.

With the mining, what makes it complex is that the big boys won’t come in immediately. You have the juniors that come in to take the risk, do the mining, they find the base stone and they look at the concentration and others. They then sell their interests to the majors. The majors don’t just come in, they don’t take the risk but they have the capital to invest. So, we need those juniors. We have quite a few-about six or seven Australians- who are in Nigeria now.

I want Nigerians to understand mining and get into mining. I want even to create jobs for SMEs, artisan miners, so that Nigerians participate in this. The Minister of Mines and Steel and I are working around creating cottage industries in the area of mining. The future is very, very bright.

How do you protect these investors because our laws are weak and our policies inconsistent? A new minister can come tomorrow and dump your plan.

Well, I think again, I keep on saying that we have made mistakes in the past, now we have to learn from them and know that in going forward, we don’t make the same mistakes. I think that Nigerians are bright and intelligent enough. When they start seeing changes, they will make the changes sustainable. You can see we are undertaking certain reforms in the country which are beginning to change things. The idea is to institutionalise some of these things. When you institutionalise them, turn them into laws, it is far more difficult for you to change them.

How? What do you mean by that in a country where people bend the rules?

Not under the investment climate being created by the transformational administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Can you be specific on how your government has made a big difference?

For example, we had the Excess Crude Oil Account which was managed the way people wanted to manage it. Now we are going to have a Sovereign Wealth Fund(SWF). That is by law, it has been signed into law, it is an Act, you cannot play around with it.

INTERVIEW

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011 Eh...cuts in.. How about the governors’ attitude to the SWF? I will come into the SWF matter, let me explain this point in a second. We are also working on industrial policies. We have some investors who want to come into automobile, I mean cars. They said we want to come in but we will need consistency in policies and others. We don’t joke with this type of demand. The same thing applied to other countries like South Africa. What they did was that they had a National Automobile Policy which went to the National Assembly and was passed into law. Although the law can be amended, but then the investors will know it is a national policy backed by law. We need to put in some framework that allows or guarantees continuity. Nobody is going to put his money into any investment if he or she is not assured of consistency in policy. I think we are beginning to learn from that. So, those are from the ways we can ensure continuity. So, all investors will be protected by the laws of the land.

Any other option?

Another way is by building stronger institutions so that we don’t bring wrong individuals so that we can sustain these institutions.

How about the Sovereign Wealth Fund? What are you doing to resolve issues surrounding the fund raised by the governors who are in court now?

I think you will find out clarity about it.

If you recall that last year, we actually took our time to make sure that we did everything that we needed to do. I actually made representations to the governors at the National Economic Council at least four times. Each time we discussed it, we looked at areas where we needed to be flexible; we looked at their concerns and we structured it in a way to accommodate all the concerns; they had input into it. For example, the idea was to have three substructures: 1. A future generation fund for our children, grand-children and greatgrand children. 2. The Stabilisation Fund and 3. Infrastructure Fund which will help develop our infrastructure in the country; serve as a catalyst for bringing in other investors into investing in infrastructure, including Sovereign Wealth Fund globally. Therefore, Sovereign Wealth Fund is a tool for diversifying our economy.

That is one of the biggest bottlenecks to productivity in our country; that is why companies cannot make enough profit and therefore cannot pay taxes. And if they are not paying taxes, there is no way you can generate other sources of revenue, you will just rely on oil. The SWF is a tool that all the states will benefit from because it is a tool for diversification, not just for savings; it is a tool for development not just savings. It does everything together.

We also said we may need to do some projects in some areas that were not necessarily commercial as they should be.

We carved out 10 per cent of the infrastructure fund for such developments in any of those states like Taraba, Niger and others. Also, the fund is for agriculture.

How about the constitutional point raised on SWF? The issue of whether it was constitutional or not was raised. We all agreed at NEC that we should invite the Attorneys-General of the 36 states for consultations. I invited the AGs to Abuja with some lawyers; we went through the rationale; we went through the section of the constitution we were relying on and the consensus was, ‘go ahead’. We consulted widely, I did not just do this.

And when we decided to set up the fund and set aside $1billion, we went round every governor for a yes or no answer and the consensus was ‘set up the fund, set aside $1billion.’ We would not have set aside $1billion if it was not decided. And at the end of that meeting, we would always have a press conference. The governors announced to Nigerians that we have now approved the SWF and we have asked the Finance Minister to set aside $1billion and immediately that $1billion was set aside. And I took it to the National Assembly and it was the fastest economic bill to be passed within a five-month period.

I did everything to make sure it was out and it was signed into law by the President on May 27, at 4.23pm. I think it is just a question of explaining the process.

It is normal to react like that when you

55

•Aganga

‘

Whatever you have achieved, you will always be referenced back to Nigeria.

And there is a reason why you are a Nigerian. You are a Nigerian because there is a purpose for you in that country. No matter you are, whether in the UK or US, you can play an active role to help to transform Nigeria

are doing something new but they (the governors) are going to benefit from it. And in any case, there is also a provision that they all know that own the fund. It is like an investment. And in five years time, there is a provision that if the fund is making profit based on certain criteria, they can even be paid some dividends. I considered all their observations. The Act was well crafted, it made provision for a Governing Council with all the governors on the Council. I listened to all their concerns and I addressed all their concerns in structuring the Act. In fairness to the governors, we have always had constructive discussions and in fairness to them, they have even gone to say go ahead and set it up with $1billion and let us resolve other issues. The SWF is good for the country. Look, we are one of the three OPEC countries that do not have a SWF. Libya has more than $60 billion in its SWF account.

Ghana has just discovered oil, they are yet to produce in real commercial quantity but already they are working on a bill to set up a Sovereign Wealth Fund. Can you imagine how much we would have achieved if we had set up that fund many years ago, not in terms of the value of money we could have saved but the developments we would have

’

had? Nigeria will not be what is today. There is just no reason why we should not go ahead.

How many investments have you attracted since you came on board? What is the worth of the investments?

We are still putting all that together. But let me say that there are two angles to it. One of it is local investors, manufacturers, and businesses. The second is the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI). We are putting all these together. But the local for example, only 20 had committed themselves that they are going to invest about N1.5trillion within the next one year. So, we will work with them to implement their expansion programme and try to see how they can do more. With the others, I have always been here in the last four months but there is no week that I don’t have a minimum of four to five quality meetings with investors. They(the investors) do not just come in and the next day you write a cheque, it does not work that way.

You establish relationship, you nurture that relationship, you identify opportunities, and you work with them to actualise it. We have a number of MoUs already signed. We have one, I think about $1.5billion returns in the areas of refineries, power etc. I just told you about the Indian family. So, there are a lot of

pipeline commitments in place that will definitely come into play before the end of the year and most likely the first quarter of next year. But the momentum is very good, very strong; there is a lot of interest.

How many jobs are you targeting?

I think when we started, we were looking at three to four million. But I think it is difficult to put a number to it because it depends on the projects. One of the groups I just spoke to gave a ray of hope on many jobs. As we solve the issues of power and infrastructure, it will increase productivity and make it a lot easier for these companies to employ a lot of people. But the minimum, you see all sorts of numbers being bandied around three, four, and millions. I don’t play with numbers, I will rather prefer to say X number of jobs have been created instead of saying ‘will’ be created.

Why did you accept to come into government as a Nigerian professional in the Diaspora? Don’t you have the fears that you may be rubbished?

If you follow my history, my track records, I had worked for Ernst Young, which is one of the top four accounting firms in the world for 15 years. I then moved over to Goldman Sachs which is the leading investment bank in the world for 10 years. I was a Managing Director before I was approached to come on board. In 2006, I did set up an NGO called The Nigerian Leadership Initiative. The idea was to bring together some successful and credible Nigerians at home and in the Diaspora under an ASPEN Institute Programme to see how they can help transform the country.

In that first class were those in the UK, some Nigerians in the US including Bayo Ogunlese, Jacob Oluponna( a Professor in Harvard); Akinwande a Professor in MIT; we had people like Nuhu Ribadu who was doing well as the EFCC chairman; the VicePresident of the World Bank, Oby Ezekwesili; former FCT Minister, Mallam Nasir el-Rufai, ex-CEO of UBA, Tony Elumelu; ex-CEO of Zenith Bank, Jim Ovia; the Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi OkonjoIweala; Senator Udo Udoma and others. The idea was to bring all these people together under this programme. A former High Commissioner to the UK, Dr. Christopher Kolade, is the patron of the group. We will be together for four days and read a lot of books on philosophers, economists, and leadership inspiration. The idea is to say what did they do to change their countries or generations? How can we learn from them? How can we use that knowledge to transform our country?

And then I started doing the same programme for people between the ages of 25 and 35 and today we have more than 150 people in that group. But the strength of the whole thing is bringing them together from different backgrounds, countries from the US, Europe, South Africa, and Asia. It was very rich a team but it was about how to transform our country. I remember when Bayo Ogunlese saw that, he said what is Olusegun Aganga’s agenda? Why is he doing all these?

And when I saw him, I said I have been privileged to achieve what I have achieved and I have worked with the best anywhere in the world. I only worked with two firms in my career but they were the best in the world. But anywhere you go whether you have been in England for one year, 15 years or 50 years, you are always a Nigerian and will always be a Nigerian. That goodwill which we have is a shared goodwill. The way you are looked at is the way you are regarded whether in Nigeria or outside.

Whatever you have achieved, you will always be referenced back to Nigeria. And there is a reason why you are a Nigerian.

You are a Nigerian because there is a purpose for you in that country. No matter you are, whether in the UK or US, you can play an active role to help to transform Nigeria.

Was that the motivation to return home?

Yes. Look at Nigeria today which has not been able to realise its potential. This country has not realised its potential because all of us failed. Each one of us failed to take on our responsibility. So, you can understand why I took the job. It is my responsibility; it is an honour and a privilege to serve Nigeria.

Forget about what people say, it is not important. What is important is doing your best for your country. And once you have done your best, whether they appreciate it or not is irrelevant. No matter how difficult, do your best and leave the rest.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

DIALOGUE

56

Placing EFCC’s mandate in proper perspective E VERYBODY talks about the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a daily basis! This is not surprising a bit since the anti-graft agency is equally confronting what everybody is bothered about in Nigeria.

Corruption is an epidemic in any land, but in the particular instance of Nigeria, it has become a pandemic, a ruinous cancer of venomous proportion. This was the situation before the EFCC came on board.

Today, even the harshest detractor of the EFCC cannot but admit that considerable progress is being made and it is glaring to all of us that the only reason we talk so much about the anti-graft agency is just because we are simply impatient. We want a quick fix; we want the patient discharged with the surgical knife and stitches! It is against this background that it is essential to bring to the fore again and put in proper perspective the mandate of the EFCC. This is equally necessary in view of the volume of misconceptions, misinformation and falsehood being propagated by certain elements about the work of the anti-graft agency.

Basically, the mandate of the EFCC begins with prevention, investigation, arrest and ends with prosecution, that is charging accused persons to court. At this point, the commission is no longer in control or cannot determine what happens in court because it cannot be the accuser, the investigator and at the same time the judge in its own case.

Has the commission been keeping with its mandate as listed in Part 11 of its establishment Act 2004?

The answer is YES. This is better explained by the following basic statistics on its operations. The commission as at date, has through its Transactions Clearing Platform, TCP treated over 17,000 enquiries from foreign investors as a result of which they have been saved from losing over $15 billion USD to scam contracts and business proposals.

This is in addition to a record of recovery that towers above $11billion USD and a record of conviction that exceeds 750. Besides, the commission today has over 75 high profile cases with another 1,503 other cases in various courts across the country.

It is therefore obvious that the commission has so much to show in terms of its record of achievements within its mandate. The glaring gab between the number of cases filed in court and the number already decided by the courts, especially the high profile ones has of late become a point of misinformation by some people in the media

I

T was a conflict of shock, consternation, anguish, helplessness and submission to the will of the Almighty when we heard of the demise of our friend and colleague, Adegboyega Aderemi Babalola, the late Managing Director of Sterling Registrars.

We were once again reminded thus: Ready or not, someday it will all come to an end. There will be no more sunrises, no minutes, hours or days. All the things you collected, whether treasured or forgotten, will pass to someone else. Your wealth, fame and temporal power will shrivel to irrelevance. It will not matter what you owned or what you were owed.

Your grudges, resentments, frustrations, and jealousies will finally disappear. So, too, your hopes, ambitions, plans, and to-do lists will expire. The wins and losses that once seemed so important will fade away.

•EFCC chair, Mrs Farida Waziri

Femi BABAFEMI about the mandate of the commission.

Politically exposed persons, whose cases are dragging in courts, are a pain in the neck of everyone.

Having been investigated and charged to court, the EFCC, like every other Nigerian, cannot abort, short-circuit or lengthen the trial processes. Judicial process is a chain- all parties in an arbitration have key roles to play. The EFCC is just one of these parties and it is playing its roles effectively. The hysteria about slow judicial processes in the resolution of cases of former governors, ministers and other public officials is understandable but this is certainly not due to the negligence, incompetence or insincerity of the EFCC. We all know the template and tenor of our judicial system. The same EFCC is recording phenomenal successes in the prosecution of advance fee fraud; cyber crime , capital market fraud and related cases. So, why are these cases running smoothly in courts and are quickly resolved with hundreds of convictions but cases of politically exposed persons taking four, five years in courts?

The answer is not far-fetched: advance fee fraud, capital market and cyber-crime crooks have no huge funds, no wherewithal of any kind to delay their trial ; the big crooks have all the resources and net-

works to hire ten or more Senior Advocates of Nigeria (SANs) who can easily use all legal rigmaroles and technicalities to prolong, frustrate or stall their trial. Where, then, is the EFCC’s fault ? Should we turn blind eyes to clear violations of the provisions of the EFCC Act in relation to the prosecution of its cases by others and turn round to ask EFCC why it is not concluding cases already charged to court before taking on others?

For clarity, the provisions referred to states as follows: Section 19: (1) The Federal High Court or High Court of a state of the Federal Capital Territory has jurisdiction to try offenders under this Act. (2) The Court shall have power, notwithstanding anything to the contrary in any other enactment, (a) to impose the penalties provided for in this Act. (b) To ensure that all matters brought before the court by the commission against any person, body or authority shall be conducted with dispatch and given accelerated hearing. (c) To adopt all legal measures necessary to avoid unnecessary delays and abuse in the conduct of matters brought by the commission before it or against any person, body or authority.

(3) The Chief Judge of the Federal High Court or a High Court of a State or the High Court of The Federal Capital Territory Abuja, as the

case may be, shall by order under his hand, designate a court or judge he shall deem appropriate to hear and determine all cases under this act or other related offences under this Act. (4) A court or judge so designated shall give such matters priority over other matter pending before it.

But then, here lies the real problem which no one seems to be ready to talk about. Contrary to these provisions, defence counsel file all manner of applications to stall trial and more often than not, these frivolous applications are granted, thus making EFCC helpless!

On another front, the public seems to find it convenient to wait for three, four years to await the outcome of election petition cases but finds it unbearable to wait for the resolution of corruption cases involving politically exposed persons! We also don’t consider it a big deal if litigations over land, chieftancy titles, divorce and other cases prolong for keeps but are eager to suspect the EFCC when convictions of those who plundered our treasuries seem long in coming.

In all of these instances, the trend of slow judicial processes are at work and it is this same trend that is making cases of politically exposed persons to drag for so long.

The EFCC is sensitive about this because as a responsible law enforcement agency, the commission believes that prompt convictions are the wages of any prosecution.

To underscore the significance placed on the conviction of any accused person, the EFCC has been advocating the establishment of Special Courts for the trial of all corruption cases. This is a novel proposition which is bound to fasttrack judicial processes on corruption cases. We cannot expect to achieve expeditious resolution of cases of economic and financial crimes through our regular courts unless the rules are amended as in the case of Lagos State. Aside the enormous number of cases usually assigned to judges, our level of infrastructure is not strong enough to allow for quick dispensation of cases.

Besides, legal pyrotechnics is always at work in the trial of politically exposed persons and such is bound to delay the resolution of such cases in our regular courts.

Based on these considerations, it has become imperative that we all join forces and speak in one voice about the establishment of such courts. This will serve useful purposes and place all parties in the trial of corrupt individuals on the pedestal of justice.

Oftentimes, we lump facts and fiction together whenever we want to

give the EFCC a bashing, just for the fun of it. Why will the EFCC prepare “watery charges” against politically exposed persons, as being insinuated in some quarters?

Will such people not avail themselves of such a lacuna and seek accelerated trial so that they can be free and begin to enjoy their loot?

So, how do we reconcile claims of those accusing EFCC of delaying trial and those accusing it of filing weak charges before the court? Is there a meeting ground between the two claims? The truth of the matter is that the EFCC is too serious an agency to compromise anything in the course of its work. Ask those being investigated or prosecuted by the agency and they will tell you that the commission is too thorough to a fault.

If we have not been responding to some of the misrepresentations of our mandate in the media by those who are supposed to know better, it is not for lack of having something to say. There are a lot of misconceptions about the mandate of the EFCC, especially as it relates to the investigation and prosecution of economic and financial crimes.

For the purpose of emphasis,the mandate of the EFCC is to investigate, arrest and charge to court all persons, corporate bodies or groups involved in economic and financial crimes. All these are expressly stated in part II of the EFCC Establishment Act, 2004.

The EFCC’s mandate does not include pronouncing judicial sentence on any accused person! This is the constitutional duty of the judiciary. Whether a judge gives a short or long sentence to an accused person is not within the control of the EFCC. I think this clarification will go a long way in making the public understand the limit of the work of the EFCC. Even, the contentious issue of plea-bargaining is not an EFCC construct. It is an issue of global jurisprudence and the local criminal justice system is only adapting it as a practical way of mitigating the effects of corruption on the polity.

Again, the judiciary has the final say on the fate of an accused person seeking plea-bargain.

We all have roles to play to move the anti-corruption train forward.

The EFCC is the vanguard in the fight but we also need soldiers of resolute spirit and selfless disposition to make the war a total success.

It will be impractical of the EFCC to seek to win the war all alone. A collaborative effort is sure to make all of us winners of this war threatening our collective future.

•Babafemi is the Head, Media & Publicity of the EFCC

Adieu, Bablo!

•An ode to Adegboyega Babalola, the late MD, Sterling Registrars Adebola OKUNRINGBOYE It won’t matter where you came from, or on what side of the tracks you lived, at the end. It won’t matter whether you were beautiful or brilliant. Even your gender and skin colour will be irrelevant.

So what will matter? How will the value of your days be measured?

What will matter is not what you bought, but what you built; not what you got, but what you gave.What will matter is not your success, but your significance. What will matter is not what you learned, but what you taught. What will matter is every act of integrity, compassion,

courage or sacrifice that enriched, empowered or encouraged others to emulate your example.

What will matter is not your competence, but your character. What will matter is not how many people you knew, but how many will feel a lasting loss when you’re gone. What will matter is not your memories, but the memories that live in those who loved you. What will matter is how long you will be remembered, by whom and for what. Living a life that matters doesn’t happen by accident.

It’s not a matter of circumstance, but of choice.

Choose to live a life that matters.

A few come around to thrill, fewer come around to soothe, while even

fewer come around to show the way life ought to be; Adegboyega Babalola (Bablo) was these and more.

Was? It certainly feels awkward referencing Bablo in the past because hardly will minutes pass by without those who knew, whose lives were immensely touched by his pure heart and whose days he brightened missing every bit of the great Bablo.

Grade?

Without any iota of doubt, Bablo, you scored an A+ on all fronts; if ever we were asked to rate your life and time with us. Goodbye Bablo!

•Okunringboye, a banker , lives in Lagos.

•Babalola

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Alaafin condoles with Oba of Benin The Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi 111, has condoled with the family of Omo N’oba Erediuawa, the Oba of Benin, over the death of his brother, Prince Godwin Akenzua, the Enogie of Okodighi. “ I have read with sadness in some of today’s national dailies the demise of your dear brother, Prince Godwin Akenzua, the Enogie of Okodighi.

“On behalf of Oyo royal rabinet, Oyomesi, traditional rulers, members of Oyo royal family and the generality of the citizeny of Oyo Empire and my humble self, accept our heart-felt condolences on the passing on of the great prince,” said a statement from the Alaafin.

PUBLIC NOTICE CENTRAL UNIVERSITY COLLEGE ACCRA – GHANA Information for intending students of Central University College.

There will be an interview and admission on the spot on the 7th – 8th (Monday - Tuesday) November, 2011 Time: 9:00am – 4:00pm Venue: No. 2/16 Diamond Hill, Old Odukpani Road, Calabar The intending students should come with the originals of their credentials and teller of payments from Eco Bank.

RUSH NOW! CONTACT NO. 08035511021, 07083285729, 08056090784

Signed: REGISTRAR

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THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

61 NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

Court delivers judgment in Kogi PDP governorship tussle Monday

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USTICE Sunday Aladetoyinbo of an Abuja High Court will on Monday determine the authentic governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Kogi state between Jibrin Isah and Idris Wada.

The judge gave the date after listening to parties in the suit filed by Isah against the PDP. Isah had emerged as the party’s flagbearer in the primary conducted in January.

But following a judgment by Justice Adamu Bello of an Abuja Federal High Court, which extended the tenure of five governors, including Kogi governor, Ibrahim Idris beyond May 29, the governorship election did not hold in the state.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed December 3 for the election. But PDP conducted a fresh primary where Wada emerged as the new candidate.

Dissatisfied, Isah approached the FCT High Court to insist on his mandate.

When the matter came up yesterday, his counsel,Paul

Kamarudeen OGUNDELE, Abuja

Erokoro, SAN argued that the plaintiff was being witchunt because he fell out with the governor.

According to him, Isah’s name had been submitted by the party chairman to the INEC Headquarters in fulfilment of legal requirement.

The primary won by his client, he argued, conformed with the Electoral Act, which stipulates that it must be conducted not earlier than 60 days to the governorship election, adding that his victory subsists.

Besides, he argued that the party did not fulfil the conditions for substitution as the party did not inform the plaintiff that his name would be substituted and has not provided a cogent reason.

Opposing the application, counsel to the PDP,Chief Olusola Oke, submitted that a Federal High Court had earlier nullified the January election which saw Isah as the winner, adding that in the eyes of the law, there is no valid primary

election.

He added that the plaintiff participated in the primary election because he went through nomination and screening and therefore cannot challenge the primary.

He also argued that INEC released another election timetable which was different from the one used in January.

He therefore urged the court to dismiss the application.

Counsel to Wada, Chief Chris Uche, SAN argued that the application constitutes an abuse of court process, as another issue by the plaintiff was pending at the Federal High Court.

He stated that the governorship election in Kogi was not postponed. Rather, it was aborted and a new date fixed, which meant that all the processes leading to the April election had no validity in the eyes of the law.

Uche added that the name of the plaintiff was not substituted because the primary election that brought him in was no longer valid in the eyes of the law.

Kano guber poll: Kwankwaso, opponent know fate Tuesday

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HE Kano State Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal has fixed November 1 for judgment in the petition filed by the gubernatorial candidate of the All Nigeria People Party (ANPP), Mallam Salihu Sagir Takai, challenging the election of Governor Rabi’u Musa Kwankwaso.

This is contained in a hearing notice issued by the threeman tribunal chaired by Justice Iyabo Oladunni Kasali to the counsels of all the parties in the petition.

Takai is contesting the declaration of Kwankwaso by the Independent National Elec-

Kolade ADEYEMI, Kano toral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the April 26 governorship election in the state.

The ANPP governorship candidate prayed the court to nullify the election on the grounds that the conduct of the election was characterised by widespread irregularities in at least 23 Local Government Areas of the state.

Takai alleged that the April 26 governorship election was fraught with under age voting, financial inducement and rigging in favour of Kwankwaso, who he said was not

duly elected by majority of lawful votes cast in the poll.

Counsel to Governor Kwankwaso, former Minister of Justice, Akin Olujimi, however contended that the election that brought Kwankwaso to power was free, fair, peaceful and credible, praying the court to strike out the petition of the ANPP candidate for want of evidence and abuse of the judicial process.

The Chairman of the Tribunal, Justice Iyabo Kasali, after adopting oral and written submissions of counsels to the petitioner and the respondent, set November 1 to deliver judgment.

Fuel subsidy removal: Jonathan’s kinsmen call for caution Continued from Page 3 His words: “I take motorcycle to Imeyal, (a nearby Community). It means if the subsidy is removed, the fare may increase and it will affect my movement and that of other poor people.

“It will affect all of us if fuel subsidy is removed. For me, since government will not remove subsidy on kerosene, it is good. But if fuel subsidy is removed, the poor man will suffer.”

Chief Odomina appealed to government to make petroleum products affordable for the common man.

“Government should bring down the price of petrol to enable us afford it by building or refurbishing the existing refineries. We have the oil, why should we increase the price of fuel?” he queried.

Mr. Frank Odum Paul, the Community Development Committee (CDC) Chairman, however, noted that if subsidy removal would facilitate the development of infrastructure, government should go ahead. “It is better if the Federal Government’s decision is to develop infrastructure. If the Federal Government wants to use the gains for development, so be it, unless the money is not going to be properly utilised. Otherwise, government should go ahead,” he added.

He said rehabilitation of refineries should also be done to ensure maximum utilisation and output to beat prices down.

“Mr. President knows better than us on this issue. Let him go ahead if it will help the development of Nigeria. If not, he should rescind the decision by listening to the advice of the masses,” Odum added.

Court contacts Gaddafi’s son as NATO ends mission

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ATO decided Friday to end its mission in Libya on October 31, declaring it fulfilled its “historic mandate” to protect civilians as contact was made with the late Moammar Gaddafi’s fugitive son.

Alliance warplanes will wind up the mission on Monday after flying more than 26,000 sorties

and bombing almost 6,000 targets in a seven-month operation that helped a ragtag rebel force oust Colonel Gaddafi.

“We have fully complied with the historic mandate of the United Nations to protect the people of Libya, to enforce the no-fly zone and the arms embargo,” NATO Secretary Gen-

eral Anders Fogh Rasmussen said in a statement.

“Operation Unified Protector is one of the most successful in NATO history,” he said after NATO ambassadors formally agreed to end it. “We are concluding it in a considered and controlled manner — because our military job is now done.”

‘FG presses ahead with Sovereign Wealth Fund’ Continued from Page 3 “It is normal to react like that when you are doing something new, but they (the governors) are going to benefit from it. And in any case, there is also a provision that they all know that they own the fund. It is like an investment.

“And in five years time, there is a provision that if the fund is making profit based on certain criteria, they can even be paid some dividends. I considered all their observations.

The Act was well crafted; it made provision for a Governing Council with all the governors on the Council. I lis-

tened to all their concerns and I addressed all their concerns in structuring the Act. “ He expressed the confidence that the government will resolve grey areas on the fund with the governors.

He said: “We are still talking with the governors. We will resolve all the issues.”

THE NATION SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

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NATION SPORT

NFF sacks Siasia S

UPER EAGLES’ coach Samson Siasia has been fired as chief coach of the national

• To discuss replacement next week

football teams and the Ni-

• Siasia

Sunshine served meals without water •Kept in hotel in red light zone • Vows to punish Club Africain with defeat

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LAYERS and officials of Sunshine FC of Akure have since their arrival in Morocco on Thursday been served meals without water as part of the Moroccans’ strategy to unsettle their Nigerian opponents ahead of today’s game which begins at 6.45pm. Sunshine management has been buying bottled water for its contingent since they arrived there.

Disclosing this to NationSport on telephone from morocco on Friday, Sunshine’s manager Mike Idoko stated that they were kept in a Hotel Maroc situation in one of the red light district and that they have been unable to sleep, no thanks to the noise from the bandstands in the area.

But he revealed that the players have resolved to shut their ears to the noise which is meant to distract them and stay focused to-

By Ade Ojeikere wards ensuring that they shock the Moroccans who would be playing behind closed doors today.

“The boys have seen how we have been treated here since w e arrived. But we are focusing on our match plans which we have drawn and religiously followed. By the grace of God we will come out victorious.

“Let me use this opportunity to appeal to Nigerians at home to pray for us because we are no longer Sunshine FC of Akure but Sunshine FC of Nigeria. I know that we will beat Club Africain today because we won’t be playing before their fans. This setting makes it more favourable for us.

We have the niche of doing well at away venues and by the grace of God, we will sustain that tradition,” Idoko said.

Let’s stop this rot

• Continued from back page

the firms doing business there.

Again, the presence of facilities and competitions can only produce results if a deliberate policy is made for the recruitment and re-training of games masters and coaches. And this can be achieved if the governors can release the coaches in the states’ sports councils to go to their areas to teach youths the rudiments of games.

With this holistic approach, a sports calendar would be produced and sponsors will leverage their goods and services on the competitions to encourage the youths to participate.

These firms will also exploit the marketing window of branding the complexes where the sports facilities are located like we have in other climes. Money realised from this marketing activity can be used to routinely update the facilities and pay grounds men who will maintain them. It is sad that local government council chiefs have not exploited this window to unite the country, using sports as the vehicle to preach peace.

Like football, we can with time scout for foreign coaches in perhaps five sports (athletics, boxing, weightlifting, basketball and wrestling) where they are proficient at the world level to introduce the new tricks of the game to our coaches.

These foreign coaches can use their influence to take some of the very talented and young discoveries to Europe where they can blossom. These exports will in the future serve as coaches only, if the programme is sustained. What is clear here is the fact that sports can thrive without the National Sports Commission (NSC).

What is needed is sincere collaboration from the central sports bodies, with their states’ counterparts using the grassroots as the pivot to make the template work. If done properly, government would only provide funds for our sportsmen and women to participate in international competitions. The NSC has been a waste-pipe, unable to provide the blueprint that would make sports the big business that it is elsewhere.

geria Football Federation (NFF) has ordered a committee to meet next week to advice on a replacement.

MTNFootball.com exclusively gathered that the decision by the NFF executive committee headed by president Aminu Maigari was unanimous and they have asked that the technical committee should meet next week to recommend a replacement.

The technical committee earlier this month recommended that Siasia be sacked after he failed to qualify Nigeria for the 2012 Africa Cup of Nations.

“His dismissal has been ratified by the executive committee,” a top official informed MTNFootball.com Siasia was hired in No-

vember 2010 with the immediate mandate to qualify Nigeria to at least the semifinal of the Nations Cup to be staged in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea.

He failed to deliver as the Eagles were forced to a 2-2 draw by Guinea in Abuja, when Nigeria needed at least a win.

He was a favourite of the fans to lead the Super Eagles after he guided the country to the final of the 2005 FIFA U20 World Cup as well as the final of the football event of the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

The NFF also comfirmed that the country will play hot to surprise Nation Cup qualifier Botswana in friendly on November 12 and an unnamed country three days later.

8-NATION TOURNEY :

CAF confirms Morocco/ Nigeria opener • Eguavoen prefers Turkey camp

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HE Confederation of Africa Football (CAF) has confirmed that Nigeria will play Morocco in the opening match of the CAF U-23 championship at the Tangiers international stadium on November 26.

The African Football ruling body has also stamped the change in the grouping following the change in host Nations.

Host nation Morocco, Nigeria, Algeria and Senegal which where earlier drawn in group B while Egypt was still host would now assume group A while Egypt, South Africa, Ivory Coast and Gabon switch to group B. CAF also revealed in a circular that all participating teams will forward a list of twenty one players comprising18 outfield players and three goal keepers.

All eight national

associations participating in the inaugural CAF U-23 championship are to forward their final 21-man list on or before midnight, November 16, 2011.

The Final and loser’s final of the Championship will be decided on the 10th of December in Marrakech.

Nigeria will play its first two group games against Morocco and Senegal in Tangiers, while its last group game against Algeria holds in Marrakech.

The first three teams of the Championship would bag London 2012 male football Olympic ticket,while the fourth placed side will engage an Asian country in playoff next year.

Meanwhile, team coach Austin Eguavoen will prefer to round off his build-up for the final qualifying tournament for the London games in Turkey.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011

63

Tomorrow in THE NATION PUNCHLINE

But now that the government is being forced to swallow its vomit, as it were, Nigerians should not go to sleep and think the battle is over —Tunji Adegboyega

SATURDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2011 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL.5, NO. 1928

W

HAT is turning out to be a veritable and protracted theatre of the absurd began on the night of Wednesday, October 12, 2011, when agents of the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) arrested gifted Nollywood comedian, Mr. Babatunde Omidina, popularly known as 'Baba Suwe' aboard an Air France aircraft to Paris at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport in Lagos.

Apparently acting on an intelligence tipoff, NDLEA officials subjected Baba Suwe to General Scanning using soter RS scanner and CT scan. The result of the screening indicated high probability of ingestion of narcotic drugs by the actor. Ever since, it has been an intriguing battle of wits between the antidrug agency and the Nollywood star.

Most curiously, Baba Suwe, despite several excretions under the watch of the NDLEA, has not passed out the drugs he reportedly ingested. In fact, the details of the famous entertainer's defecations became a matter of such intense public interest that a truly tragic affair was fast becoming a source of comic, throaty laughter in social circles.

But this is certainly one drama in which Baba Suwe is clearly not enjoying the role of lead actor. There is nothing funny about it.

Human rights activists, radical lawyers, Baba Suwe's relatives and his professional colleagues have been vocal and vehement in demanding his immediate release. His fundamental human rights, they contend, have been unconstitutionally abridged. He ought to have been released within 48 hours especially as no trace of drugs was found in his faeces contrary to the indications of the scan tests.

But then the dilemma of the NDLEA is understandable. The agency has no cause to doubt the efficacy or integrity of its screening equipment machines. Its' agents are professionals who must have thorough training and immense experience in reading scan examinations and interpreting the result.

What then has gone wrong this time around?

Why would the tests confirm that there are ingested drugs in Baba Suwe's system while all inducements to make him disgorge them are proving abortive?

There is certainly something very funny going on here possibly beyond scientific rationalization. Is this a case of wilful violations of Baba Suwe's rights by the NDLEA and a malicious attempt to denigrate his person or damage his image as insinuated in some quarters? I do not believe there is any logical basis for reaching such a conclusuion.

If anything, the NDLEA agents at the MMIA deserve full marks for sticking to their professional ethics and refusing to negotiate with the movie star behind the scene for pecuniary gain especially when they became aware of his identity.

NDLEA’s dilemma on Baba Suwe

‘

•Baba Suwe

Could it be that the entire hard drug detection process of the NDLEA at the MMIA was faulty and that the outcome of the soter RS scan and CT scan on Baba Suwe was unreliable and inaccurate? This is improbable.

Moreover, to make assurances doubly sure, the NDLEA has promised to allow his lawyers and family members take Baba Suwe for any independent scan examination of their choice to confirm or disprove the results of the agency's tests on the actor. The family has apparently taken no decision on this offer of the NDLEA. In any case, the NDLEA hard drug tracking machinery at the MMIA has been sufficiently efficient, for instance, to ensure the detection and seizure between January 2010 and September 2011 of 612.68kg of narcotics from a total of 291 suspected couriers. According to the agency's Airport Commander, Alhaji Hamza Umar, "In 2010, the command

To its credit, the NDLEA has not been associated with the kind of gangsterism that has come to characterize the Nigeria Police Force under the thorougly inept and professionally compromised leadership of the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim. The IG's thugs in uniform were in action again this week in Lokoja as they lawlessly prevented 29 unarmed members of the ACN from travelling through Kogi State to the nation's capital, Abuja

’

intercepted 200 drug suspects including 172 male and 28 female with 399.431kg of drugs consisting of 237.5kg of cocaine, 44.907kg of heroine, 42.050kg of cannabis, 74.755kg of methamphetane/amphetamine and 0.240 grammes of other psychotrophic substances".

To its credit, the NDLEA has not been associated with the kind of gangsterism that has come to characterize the Nigeria Police Force under the thorougly inept and professionally compromised leadership of the Inspector General of Police, Hafiz Ringim. The IG's thugs in uniform were in action again this week in Lokoja as they lawlessly pre-

vented 29 unarmed members of the ACN from travelling through Kogi State to the nation's capital, Abuja.

I have not made the personal aquaintance of the Executive Chairman of the NDLEA, Alhaji Ahmadu Giade. But I am told he is a cultured and accomplished gentle man. The Director-General of the NDLEA, Mr. Femi Ajayi was my senior colleague at the Daily Times several years ago. He is a brilliant trained scientist and a decent human being.

With men of such impeccable pedigree at the head of the NDLEA, it is not surprising that the agency is morally superior in all respects to the rag tag ruffians' that populate Ringim's army of occupation. But then, we have seen several IG's come and go.

Ringim will soon inevitably take his deserved place as no more than a speck of inconsequential value in the dustbin of Nigerian history.

Mr Ajayi is not insensitive to the need to respect the fundamental human rights of citizens in the discharge of his agency's responsibilities. Afterall, he holds a Masters degree in International Law and Diplomacy. But he also notes that the peculiar challenges of the anti-drug war inevitably implies that "confinement for investigation of a suspected drug courier leads to limitation of certain fundamental freedoms such as: (1) Presumption of innocence of an accused until proved otherwise (2) Freedom of movement and (3) Non-confinenment for more than two days without being charged to court".

He insists that these personal freedoms must be balanced against the group rights of society that is threatened when hard drugs harm the collective right to life, right to good health, right to a hard drug free society and right to public peace and safety.

To remain within the bounds of the law, the NDLEA secured a court permission to detain Baba Suwe for 15 more days. Now, there are different possible scenarios that may occur. For instance, if the actor has indeed ingested hard drugs that he is yet to excrete, they may burst in his system with fatal consequences. That is an outcome no one prays for.

If further tests prove that Baba Suwe's system is free of hard drugs, his lawyers will most likely insist on compensation. That is a small price the NDLEA and the larger society will have to pay for the sometimes unavoidable inconveniences that may occur in the bid to keep our society drug free.

Meanwhile, the increased boldness with which Nigerians are attempting to smuggle drugs even into countries with capital punishment for the crime is alarming. What is the source of this confidence? Is there something that the drug traffickers know that the rest of us don't? Perhaps the Baba Suwe saga will provide an answer.

Ade Ojeikere on Saturday talk2adeojeikere@yahoo.com

Let’s stop this rot

S

YMPATHIZERS have been crying that distressed Super Eagles chief coach Samson Siasia should get a second chance. Good talk. But that won’t do; we need to be fair. So, step forward for a second chance Shuaibu Amodu; you deserve another opportunity to have a bite at the cherry that we deprived you from having, first in 2002 and then in 2010.

Step forward also Adegboye Onigbinde, who built the new team that produced goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama at the 2002 World Cup in Korea/Japan.

When Amodu and Onigbinde complete their second chances, we should hand the baton over to Christian Chukwu, who didn’t get us the 2006 World Cup in Germany ticket.

Isn’t that what fairness says?

It is only when these adjustments are made that the talk of the present helmsman having another chance will make sense, if we truly want to be fair. One game cost Amodu,

Onigbinde and Chukwu their jobs. Is a coach no longer as good as his last game?

Some may ask if Manchester United’s management should sack Sir Alex Ferguson because he lost to Manchester City. Not the same folks! How? In those climes, there are benchmarks for recruiting coaches.

Ferguson’s contract is not tied to winning a particular competition. Rather, he was charged to change the team’s fortunes, which the witty Scot has done creditably, such that there is no negotiation when it comes to renewing his contract. The trophies on Manchester United’s shelves tell the story of a very successful King-of-the-Dugout.

The reverse gear mentality has been why our football brings pain instead of joy or excitement like we see in other climes. The variation of this reverse gear syndrome that has also ruined our football most is the recycling of coaches. We axe a failing coach only to bring him back years later in either a lower capacity or to retain his job.

This trend has stunted growth and shut the door at better coaches in the domestic league, largely because these recycled coaches know

the buttons to press.

It is quite interesting that the technical committee members have recommended the sacking of national team coaches just as they urge them to re-apply, if they deem it necessary.

We have this myopia in selecting coaches for particular assignments without looking at the bigger picture of truly developing the game from the grassroots.

Nigeria’s football is in ruins. The only remedy is to head-hunt a competent tactician from Europe, who must have the pedigree of establishing academies and training our coaches.

We need coaches who will make it a duty to establish soccer nurseries in the six geopolitical zones as they travel around the country to fish out new players for all the national teams.

It won’t be out of place if the NFF talks to the heads of the local FAs in the country to challenge the local government areas bosses to bankroll a football club that would engage the youths in their areas.

If this is done, we would have no less than 774 youth teams, whose discoveries can

graduate into all the national teams. To keep them busy, geo-political competitions can be organised for the youths, with the zonal winners made to compete in a central cup format yearly. Each state would be given the opportunity to host the final.

This kind of competition would ensure that we have the data base of all the players. It would further challenge the LGA chairmen to invest in sports and ultimately dove-tail into building of sports centres in the nooks and crannies of the country. Imagine that the 774 local government areas provide at least one sport facility for the game of its choice. It would translate to 774 sports centres where Nigerians can recreate and invariably improve their health status. And, need I say, youth sports will be the biggest beneficiary.

With an avalanche of sports facilities across the country, it would be difficult for youths to be wholesomely inclined to societal vices since they know they affect athletes negatively.

The spiral effect of the presence of these facilities is that school sports would be reawakened since the bulk of youths at the grassroots are students. Those richly endowed would easily attract sponsors from •Continued on Page 62

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