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THE NATION

NEWS

SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

HE All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday tasked Nigerians to use their votes to express their dissatisfaction with President Goodluck Jonathan for his ‘inability’ to fight corruption and insecurity, the two main challenges facing the country, after six years in office. The party said even if the President rules for 60 years, he will not succeed in tackling the problems. ‘’The President has finally admitted that the two main challenges facing the country are corruption and insecurity, and seems to be telling Nigerians to give him more time to tackle the problems. “But the truth is that he lacks the capacity to fight and defeat these challenges, whether in six or 10 years,’’ the party said in a statement issued in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed. ‘’A President who has spent the last six years trying to diagnose the main problems facing the country will apparently need another four years to plan how to tackle the challenges. By then, all of us would have been buried under the rubble of corruption and our country would have been deci-

Jonathan lacks capacity to fight insecurity, corruption, says APC mated by insecurity. “It is therefore time for Nigerians to vote in a president who will hit the ground running; a president who will tackle the problems of corruption and insecurity headlong, without giving excuses for failure,’’ the APC said. The party argued that a corrupt government can never fight corruption, hence it will be futile to expect the Jonathan administration to take on and defeat corruption, having been populated by profiteering personalities. It added: ’’Mr. President said he wants to put in place the institutions to tackle corruption before taking on the canker worm that has almost destroyed the fabric of our society. Pray, whatever happened to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC)? Were they not institutions specifically created

for the purpose of tackling corruption, but which the Jonathan administration chose to castrate? ‘’There is no better way to say this: President Jonathan lacks the political will to tackle corruption, and he will not tackle it if he spends 60 years in office,’’ the party said. It also said the president missed a golden opportu-

nity to take on and defeat the Boko Haram insurgency in its early stages, and instead chose to engage in shadowboxing. “When he was not blaming everyone but his administration for the insurgency, he was playing primordial politics with it, to such an extent that the terrorists became strengthened and emboldened to

strike at times and places of their own choosing. ‘’Had the President learnt a lesson or two from the crushing defeat of the Maitatsine sect by Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, which signalled the death knell of the sect that is a precursor of Boko Haram, the insurgency that is daily claiming the lives of our citizens would have been de-

feated early on. ‘’It is too late in the day for President Jonathan to engage in sophistry over the twin evil of corruption and insecurity. He has reached the limit of his capacity to tackle these challenges and it is time to allow those with necessary political will and capacity to take on the challenges before they crush the country.’’

Herdsmen attack: Kogi moves to avert more deaths

HE Kogi State Government says it is working towards putting in place measures that will address incessant clash between indigenes of the state and Fulani settlers. The state governor, Capt. Idris Wada, asserted this when he received in audience Alhaji Muhhamadu Kabiru Isah, the Maiyaki of Kupa, who was in his office to intimate government on a recent clash which claimed seven lives, the burning down of 42 buildings and destruction of some tractors, vehicles and motorcycles in Ekpan-Abugi, in Kupa district of Lokoja Local Government Area of the state. The Governor, who was represented by his Deputy, Yomi Awoniyi, said the government was determined to find a lasting solution to incessant crisis between Fulani settlers and indigenes. He lamented the recent clash that engulfed Bagana area of Omala Local Government Area of the state, which led to destruction of lives and property, and described the recent invasion of Ekpan in Kupa as one too many. He urged the people of the state to remain vigilant at all times and assured that government had resolved to bring lasting peace to all areas of the state. The governor directed the State Emergence Management Agency (SEMA) to provide immediate succour to those displaced, and promised that more security agents would be deployed to the troubled area. Earlier in his remarks, Dr. Shehu Idris, the member representing Lokoja II in the Kogi State House of Assembly, solicited the support of the state sovernment in the provision of security person-

James AZANIA, Lokoja

nel and solicited relief materials for the people of Ekpan who were displaced by reason of the clash.

•Some LAWMA officials clearing water hyacinth at Apongbon Water Side in Lagos.

PDP members afraid of promoting Jonathan —Kwankwaso

OVERNOR Rabi’u Kwankwaso of Kano State said yesterday that members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state are afraid of campaigning for the party’s presidential candidate in next month’s election, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan, because in their view, he has failed Nigerians. Governor Kwankwaso told APC stakeholders from Dawakin Tofa Local Government area of the state at

Kolade ADEYEMI, Kano

Government House, Kano, that President Jonathan’s candidacy is not marketable to voters unlike his APC counterpart, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari. The stakeholders were on a thank-you visit to the governor for endorsing his deputy, Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje, as the

party’s governorship candidate. Kwankwaso attested to his deputy’s competence and stressed that only competent and faithful party members would be rewarded with patronage. He, therefore, stated that the choice of Dr. Abdullahi Umar Ganduje as the state APC governorship candi-

date was purely based on merit and loyalty to the party and the Kwankwasiyya Movement. Gov. Kwankwaso asserted that no one approached him to favour Dr. Ganduje or his running mate, Prof. Hafiz, noting that members are expected to be hardworking and loyal to qualify them for any po-

litical post. The governor told the visitors that the APC gubernatorial candidate currently heads 90 per cent of government committees, adding that there is no project done without his input, which means if he eventually becomes the governor, he would continue with the Kwankwasiyya vision. Responding, Ganduje pledged his continued commitment to people oriented policies and programmes.

NCC tasks telecom providers on submission of statistical data

agos- The Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) yesterday advised telecoms service providers to submit their statistical data early. The commission gave the charge in a ‘Notification of Revised Timelines for Submissions of Statistical Data’. The ‘Notification of Revised Timelines for Submissions of Statistical Data’ was signed by the NCC Director, Public Affairs, Mr Tony Ojobo. The regulatory body said that the request for the submission of data was in furtherance of its commitment to provide up to date statistics on the telecommunications industry. ‘’For the mobile GSM, the

commission will request for monthly statistical data on the first working day of the succeeding month, with deadline for submission on the 7th of the same month,” NCC said. ‘’The commission will request for annual statistical data on the first

working day in January with deadline for submission on the 15th of January,’’ it said. The telecoms umpire said that all Internet Service Providers (ISPs) were required to submit monthly statistical information via a template

to be emailed to them. The commission said the ISPs were to submit monthly statistical data on the first working day of the succeeding month with deadline for submission on the 7th of the same month. According to NCC, the ISPs are required to submit their

annual statistical data on the first working day in January, while the deadline for submission is on January 15. It advised the service providers to ‘’note the new date and ensure strict compliance.”

Plane 'blown off' Scotland airport runway, four injured

OUR people were injured and two taken to hospital yesterday after a plane veered off the runway, reportedly due to high winds. The outbound Saab 340 aircraft, operated by Loganair, was due to fly to Glasgow from Stornoway Airport on Lewis at 8.33am when the incident happened. The Scottish Ambulance Service said two people were

taken to Western Isles Hospital with minor injuries. Police said that these two were male. Two female passengers sustained minor injuries but declined medical assistance. In a statement, Stornoway Airport said: "Efforts to remove the aircraft from the runway are ongoing and investigations into the cause of the incident are under

way. "It is our intention to resume normal operations as soon as the aircraft is safely removed from the runway. There are no scheduled arrivals or departures at Stornoway until later this afternoon (yesterday)." The plane had been due to fly to Glasgow at 8.35am. There were 28 people on board who were taken off the aircraft.

The Scottish Fire and Rescue Service sent three fire engines to the scene. After leaving the runway the plane came to rest on the grass next to it. A Police Scotland spokesman said: "A full air accident investigation has now been launched and will be carried out by the Air Accidents Investigation Branch in conjunction with Police Scotland

THE NATION

NEWS 3

SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

DSS, Police Minister under fire over clampdown threats on opposition leaders A cross section of political and human rights activists across the country has condemned the Police and the Directorate of State Security (DSS) for threatening opposition politicians with arrest ahead of next month’s elections. The security agencies had warned that they would not hesitate to arrest anyone, no matter how highly placed, deemed to be threatening national security. The activists said the security agencies should avoid intimidating the opposition or seen to be working for the ruling party. They said the threats constituted a bad omen for the nation’s democracy, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State saw the warnings from the security agencies as a “kite being flown by the Federal Government about the possible arrest and trial of the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.” It said the threats were unacceptable. The Ondo State chapter of the party said any attempt to clamp down on the opposition would be resisted by the people. A member of the Niger Delta Civil Society Coalition and chieftain of the APC in Delta State, Amechi Ogbonnia, said the recent experience of the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal, with the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, was a pointer to what the federal government plans to do to the opposition. Warri-based human rights lawyer, Maxwell Ogedegbe, accused the federal government of resorting to intimidation, having realised that President Goodluck Jonathan has lost touch with the people and is on the road to losing the next election. It has become evident, he said, that the era of politicised police has returned to Nigeria. He said: ”The party (APC) has every reason to raise the alarm going by recent activities, especially the attack by the IGP on the Speaker of the House of Representatives. The IG of Police, paid with taxpayers’ money, has reduced the office to just the servant of the PDP, attacking those the PDP and its government direct him to attack. “These developments only remind us that the era of politicised police has returned, like we had under

Shola O'NEIL, S' South Regional Editor/ Okungbowa AIWERIE, Asaba/Bolaji OGUNDELE, Warri/Damisi OJO, Akure/ Bisi OLANIYI, Port Harcourt Shagari when Adewusi, as IGP, became an NPN policeman, used only for hounding the opposition. This is unhealthy for our democracy,” Ogbonnia said. In his own reaction, Ogedegbe said: ”Nigeria, having adopted a democratic government, must play by the rules. “The act of witch-haunting the opposition in any country, especially Nigeria, is condemnable. It indeed confirms our fears the President has lost touch with Nigerians and is therefore devising other subtle means of winning the forthcoming elections. Nigerians must resist it.” The President General Ndokwa Neku Union (NNU), the apex sociopolitical and cultural organisation of the Ndokwa, Paul Enebeli, challenged the opposition All Progressive Congress (APC) to substantiate its claims, stressing that it is in the best interest of all Nigerians to promote peace during and after the elections. He urged religious leaders in the country to initiate peace moves amongst the various contestants. His words: “It is not sufficient to make allegations. I think one should be able to substantiate or establish a prima facie case about that. I do not think that any wellmeaning Nigerian will want this country to burn. “It is in the best interest of all parties concerned to have a rancour-free election.” On the allegation by the opposition of an impending clampdown of party stalwarts, Enebeli noted that such allegations may be grandstanding by opposition politicians to make the ruling PDP take a false step. A PDP chieftain and exChairman, Aniocha North LGA of Delta State, Chief Tony Ogbo, dismissed the allegation by the opposition that the ruling PDP is unwilling to cooperate in making the 2015 elections rancour free, as lacking in merit. He said the Federal Government has shown by its adequate funding of the electoral body that it is interested in a free and peaceful election.

New cover price for The Nation on Saturday Esteemed reader, With effect from next Saturday, January 10, 2015, your darling soar-away title, The Nation on Saturday, will sell for N200. We promise you a richer package with the addition of captivating sections —Management

He urged the APC to campaign vigorously across the country, adding that the introduction of religion and ethnicity will not augur well for the country. Ogbo said the opposition party must have confidence in the ability of INEC to midwife the electoral process. The Public Secretary of the APC in Delta State, Isaac Adaka-Adakpo, said the international community is keenly watching Nigeria and prayed that the threats would not come to pass. National Chairman of the

Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Olu Falae, said Nigeria could only have a rancour-free election by dealing with anyone found culpable of any offence capable of causing crisis in the country. Falae said that anyone found culpable of attempting to foment trouble during and after the elections should be dealt with according to the law. He said: “The authorities should ensure that we have free and fair elections and that anyone trying to disrupt

elections or cause violence should be dealt with according to the law. That is what civilised societies do and that is what we must have.” Also, a chieftain of the APC in Ondo State, Charles Titiloye, asked the Federal Government to see the sacred trust of leadership of the country at this crucial time of transition as a constitutional duty to be fair to all citizens irrespective of political and religious inclination. Titiloye was reacting to threats of mass arrest of opposition leaders in Nigeria.

He said: ”APC as a party is deeply concerned about the pervading atmosphere of insecurity and threat of clampdown on opposition leaders. “Our nation must be a reference point for democracy in Africa and we call on the Federal Government to ensure that the security apparatus of the state meant to protect the citizen is not used to haunt the opposition. “Election should be a period to bring about the best •Continued on Page 5

...Northern elder to security: go after Dokubo Asari first

member of the Northern Elders Forum (NEF), Mr. Solomon Dallung, says the Department of State Services (DSS) should leave members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) alone, and go after close associates of President Goodluck Jonathan, like Dokubo Asari, who pose greater threat to national security. Mr. Dallong told our correspondent in Kaduna that the DSS has deviated from being a national security agency otherwise it should have moved against members of the PDP and associates of the

President who have made more dangerous statements than what it accused the opposition of doing. He said: ”When Dokubo Asari said there would be war in Nigeria if President Jonathan loses the 2015 elections, instead of being arrested or invited by the SSS, he was celebrated in the Presidential Villa. “Again, during the Nyanya bomb blast, before the arrival of the security agencies, the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, said the APC was responsible for the bombing. Such statements are quite inflammatory as

well. “When you talk about inflammatory statements, the presidential media man and the presidential image makers have made more inflammatory statements than any other Nigerian. “So, if the Department of State Security is interested in maintaining national security, it should start its investigation from the presidential aides and then the Publicity Secretary of the PDP, before getting to the APC. “But, unfortunately, the DSS has not behaved like a national security agency. It is behaving like an agency of a

political party. They only go out to warn people when they are not members of the PDP or members of Jonathan’s government. “A member of Jonathan government can make any statement. Imagine what Dokubo Asari said: ‘if Jonathan does not win the election the country will go up in flame.’ And he walked into the Presidential Villa celebrated. “So, the SSS should know that they owe the country a responsibility to protect national security and not security of a political party or any particular government.”

•President Goodluck Jonathan (third left) acknowledging cheers from PDP supporters who came to receive him at Port Harcourt International Airport yesterday. With him are PDP Deputy National Chairman, Prince Uche Secondu (left) and Rivers State PDP governorship candidate, Mr Nyesom Wike (second left).

PDP backs FG, warns politicians against inflammatory statements

S the 2015 elections draw near, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has charged members of the political class to desist from heating up the polity through inflammatory statements. A statement issued on Friday by the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, also asked politicians in the country to eschew bitterness and desperation for power, enjoining all to join hands to ensure peaceful conduct of the elections. A part of the statement reads: “It is saddening that incendiary statements by some politicians fuelled violence and killing of innocent Nige-

Gbade Ogunwale, Assistant Editor, Abuja rians. Indeed, this is not the way to go. The New Year and the Eid-el-Maulud therefore present yet another opportunity for a rethink. “We pray that those who use false claims and inciting comments to stoke the fires of violence will retrace their steps and ensure that the New Year, with its promises, is not polluted by such actions. “As we go along with the campaign therefore, we call on all politicians to endeavor to keep it clean, speak only the truth at all times and try

to be more mature and decent in their conduct. “Nigeria belongs to all of us. Her interest must be paramount, over and above all parochial interests”, the statement said. The party charged members of the political class to rededicate themselves to peace, truth and respect for constituted authority. It noted that the year 2015 has great significance and presents an important lesson to all Nigerians to live in peaceful co-habitation and brotherhood. The party urged Nigerians to reflect on the occasion of

the Eid-el-Maulud to deepen their commitment to and be guided by the virtues of peace, truth, goodwill and respect for constituted authority. Restating its commitment to a credible electioneering and issue-based campaign, the PDP said it would campaign in peace; with hope in the hearts of its leaders and members; with issues and ideas, and with its verifiable record of achievements. “It is indisputable that Nigerians, from the east to west, north to south; irrespective of ethnic and religious affiliations, enjoy living together as one indivisible nation”, the statement added.

THE NATION, SATURDAY JANUARY 3, 2015

4 News

Health workers vow to continue strike as FG stops salaries •Tell govt: stop intimidating us

EALTH workers in the country have vowed not to end the ongoing nationwide strike until the Federal Governemnt addresses all the issues of dispute. The leadership of the health workers also urged its members not to succumb to the intimidation and tactics of the governemnt. Health workers under the umbrella body of the Joint Health Sector Union and Assembly of Health Care Professionals (JOHESU) in a statement issued in Abuja yesterday urged its members to press on with the strike action despite the stoppage of their salaries. The union has been on partial strike action since November 12, 2014. A statement signed by the JOHESU President, Ayuba Wabba, and ten others, “urged all members to remain steadfast and do everything lawful to sustain the struggle, so as to ensue that the present acts of neo-colonialism and slavery in the health sector are put to a stop.” The group also expressed sadness that the government’s response had failed to meet its expectations. The group also accused the government of not taking them serious, thereby foreclosing the possibility of resolving the issues of dispute. Expressing the union’s frustration at resolving the pending issues, the group had in December, 2015 said: “At the last meeting between the Federal Government and JOHESU on November 19, 2014, the government requested for 24 days to look into all our demands and consequently fixed another meeting for December 15, 2014. Disappointingly at the meeting, key officials of the Federal Ministry of Health notably the minister, permanent secretary, and directors were conspicuously absent, thereby stalling the meeting. The group also accused the government of using the police to brutalize its members, an action the JPHESU said was against universal industrial actions. Wabba, therefore, warned that if the personal attacks and threats continued, it would lead “to a breakdown of law and order in our health institutions similar to that witnessed in the ABUTH and other hospitals in the 1990s.” They also added, “We are disturbed that instead of government showing concern and demonstrating commitment towards bringing an end to the plight of Nigerians and health workers by addressing the issues and restoring public health services, it resorted to acts of intimidation. The JOHESU president called

Vincent IKUOMOLA, Abuja

on all well-meaning Nigerians to call on the Federal Government to live up to its constitutional obligation of respect for the rule of law by implementing the collective agreements reached since 2009 till date. The group said: “This is a struggle foisted on us and inasmuch as we find it painful to prosecute with our sincere concern for common Nigerians, we are left with no choice but to take this path of struggle as we call on the Federal Government to toe the path of honour and justice.”

•The Eastern Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy headquartered in Calabar, the Cross River State capital, has been taken over by a new Flag Officer Commanding, Rear Admiral Henry Babalola. His predecessor, Rear Admiral Charles Medani, handing over the flag of the command to Rear Admiral Babalola

2015: Ministers, PDP govs get marching M order to deliver states INISTERS and gover nors of PDP-con trolled states have a new assignment from the Presidency in the run-up to next month’s elections: deliver their states to the party and President Goodluck Jonathan. To aid them in the assignment is a massive war chest, much of it from the over N21billion realised at the recent fund raising by the PDP. This followed feelers from different parts of the country, suggesting a groundswell of support for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari, especially in the North and most parts of the South-West. There are also concerns at the Presidency about the lack of enthusiasm to the Jonathan re-election project by some PDP stalwarts. Leaders of the APC are due to meet either on Monday or Tuesday to ratify the party’s presidential campaign team. Investigation by our correspondent revealed that the Presidency is uncomfortable that the PDP has failed to make appreciable inroads into the North and the SouthWest barely 44 days to the presidential election. Although Vice-President Namadi Sambo has already visited several Northern states on reconciliation shuttles , it was learnt that the PDP is still having challenges in Sokoto, Kaduna, Kebbi, Borno, Yobe, Kano, Zamfara, Bauchi, Adamawa, Oyo, Ondo, Kwara, Nasarawa, Benue states A party source familiar with the development spoke of anxiety in the Presidency over some states in the North and some parts of the SouthWest. “The reality is that the

...as anxiety grips presidency Yusuf ALLI, Managing Editor, Northern Operation Presidency and the PDP have accepted the reality that a stiff contest is imminent between the ruling party and the opposition. The permutations so far do not add up yet. “This is why the Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih, is being brought on board as the National Campaign Adviser to avail the Presidential Campaign Organization his experience. “If it means negotiating to win some states in the North, the Presidency and the PDP are ready to do that,” the source said. The Deputy National Chairman (North) of the APC, Sen. Shuaibu Lawal, said: “My simple reaction is that whatever outreach the PDP and the Presidency make, they will not get the support of the people of the North and Northern Emirs. “Everyone in the North is tired of maladministration of the PDP. This is why these emirs are spearheading the desire for change in the country. Whatever they offer, they cannot get the support of these emirs.” It was gathered that the signs of a tight presidential race forced the Presidency to ask ministers and governors to deliver their states for Jonathan and the PDP. Another source added: “Very soon, most of the ministers will relocate to their states to rev up the campaign through a heavy war chest.

Group calls for peace in 2015

HE Police Assistance Com mittee (PAC) has advised Nigerians to embrace peace all over the country as we entered into year 2015. In its New Year message, signed by PAC Director, General, Dr. Martins Oni, the organization asked the nation to emulate other big countries like USA, Japan, China and others which have been living together in unity for many years and thriving in social and economic

development. The PAC enjoined all Nigerians, particularly the politicians, to ensure that genuine peace reign in the country before, during and after the 2015 general elections which will usher into office a new set of rulers under our present democratic dispensation. Dr. Oni noted that no country can develop under chaos and disharmony; hence he appealed to all security agencies

in the country to keep working as a team in addressing our security challenges, stressing that PAC will continue to assist our security agencies through information dissemination. The PAC boss called on all well-meaning Nigerians to keep praying for peace to reign in the country, while also calling on such people to join the PAC as members to assist our security agencies through information dissemination.

They are under intense pressure to deliver their states. “The same heat was put on them when most ministers were compelled to contribute to the rallies of the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) in all the six geopolitical zones in the country. “All the governors have been advised to lead the campaign in the PDP-controlled states. Ministers will play piv-

otal campaign roles in states under the opposition. You can see why some governors have become confused by embarking on the mass purchase of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for electoral mischief.” Meanwhile, the APC will on Monday or Tuesday ratify the list of members its Presidential Campaign Committee at a session in Abuja.

It was gathered that the party’s leadership has already invited some stalwarts of the APC for a meeting on the list. A former Minister of Communication, Chief Audu Ogbeh, who is also an ex-National Chairman of the PDP, is the APC National Campaign Adviser. A leader of the APC said: “We are raising a crack team which would reflect all the tendencies in the party and earn us victory at the poll in February. “Hopefully by Monday or Tuesday, we should be done with the campaign team. We had spent the past few weeks consulting and getting input from our leaders.”

Chibok girls’ parents take case to UN

ARENTS of the 200 Chibok schoolgirls kid napped last April by Boko Haram members in Borno State have taken their case to the United Nations (UN) after losing hope that the federal government would rescue them. A group lobbying for government action on behalf of the parents met with UN Women, the head of the UN representation in Nigeria and officials of the UN Office for West Africa last month. The group has also appealed to UNICEF, campaign spokeswoman Bukola Shonibare said. UN officials were not immediately available for comment.

"If the government cannot take action, we are asking for the UN to come in and help and if they reject, we just don't know what to do," Reverend Enoch Mark, leader of the parents, told Reuters. Two of his daughters were kidnapped. It is not clear what any UN agency could do without Nigerian government approval. More than eight months since the abduction of the girls from Chibok, in Borno State, parents say they are still in the dark about what the government is doing. A presidential spokesman said efforts to free them continue, but that details of the missions are too sensitive to publish.

"The Chibok community is pained, we cannot take this anymore," Dauda Iliya, spokesman for the Chibok community in Abuja, said at a New Year's Day rally of parents, adding that they had written to the United Nations to "protest this neglect and nonchalance by the government." President Goodluck Jonathan says the government is trying to free the girls, but a botched rescue mission would endanger them. Dozens, possibly hundreds, have been kidnapped since the Chibok attack. Two weeks ago, gunmen abducted 172 women and children from Gumsuri, 24 kilometres from Chibok.

Akwa Ibom G22 guber aspirants reject PDP peace panel

OLLOWING the contro versial outcome of the gov ernorship primary of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Akwa Ibom State, the aggrieved governorship aspirants of the party have rejected an invitation to appear before a reconciliation committee set up by the state chapter of the party. In a statement issued on Friday, the aspirants under the aegis of Akwa Ibom State PDP Governorship Aspirants otherwise known as G-22 said the composition and constitution of the committee was illegal. “We take great exception to the contemptuous display of continuous impunity in the issue of PDP governorship primary election of December 8, 2014 in Akwa Ibom State. Our

arraignment before the purported Central Reconciliation Committee negates the provisions of PDP constitution and guidelines, concerning the governorship primary election. “It is instructive to inform all that on December 9, 2014, in accordance with paragraph 20(g and I) of the PDP Electoral Guidelines for Primary Election, we have individually filed our complaints against the flawed electoral processes of December 8, 2014 with the stipulated appeal panel, the Gubernatorial Electoral Appeal Panel, consisting of all members of the National Working Committee (NWC) and headed by the National Chairman. This we clearly did within 24 hours demanded of us by paragraph

20(h) of the guidelines.” The aspirants noted that it was wrong for them to appear before an amorphous reconciliation committee while their complaints were still pending before a duly recognized appeal panel of PDP. “In the above circumstances, it is very preposterous to be summoned to appear before a panel of our traducers. It is on record that the members of the so called Central Reconciliation Committee were active participants and accessories before, during and after the illegalities surrounding the flawed primary election we have complained about. We can therefore not make ourselves available to be used to regularize a flawed process and achieve a conclusion we already know.”

THE NATION, SATURDAY JANUARY 3, 2015

News 5

Eid-El-Maulud

Boko Haram ’ll soon be history —Northern governors

HE Chairman of the Northern States Gover nors’ Forum (NSGF) and Governor of Niger State, Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, yesterday predicted that the activities of the dreaded Boko Haram in the region would soon be history. He said the terrorists group would soon meet their waterloo as government had maintained sporadic attacks on their hide-

Jide ORINTUNSIN Minna

outs. Aliyu’s prediction was contained in a statement signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Israel A. Ebije, to the entire Ummah in the country in commemoration of Eid-el- Maulud - the birthday of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The NSGF chair reiterated

that Boko Haram insurgents were neither representing Islam nor carrying out the teachings and lifestyles of Prophet Muhammad. He then congratulated Muslim Ummah in the country for the celebration of the Eid-elMaulud and urged them to use the occasion to reflect on the teachings and exemplary life of the Holy Prophet for the overall development of the country.

Imbibe teachings of Prophet Mohammed, says Tambuwal

PEAKER of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, has urged Nigerians to apply the teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) to achieve national rebirth and cohesion. According to the Speaker in his Eid-el-Maulud message to

Victor OLUWASEGUN and Dele ANOFI, Abuja Nigerians yesterday, called for collective reflection on the life and teachings of Prophet Muhammad (SAW) and application of same to propel the nation towards rapid growth and development.

Ashafa preaches peace

HE Vice Chairman, Sen ate Committee on Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Senator ‘Gbenga Bareehu Ashafa has enjoined all Muslims to use this year’s Eid-el Maulud as another opportunity to relate with one another in peace and seek the progress of Nigeria at all times. Ashafa who represents Lagos East also urged Muslims to follow the exemplary leadership of the Holy Prophet

Mohammed by promoting peaceful co-existence among tribes, religions and in other various segments of the society. “Nigerians, irrespective of our religious and ethnic differences, must at occasions like this, and always, reflect on matters that will strengthened our Nation to a greater height, which we all crave for,” he said in a statement. He wished all the Muslims and the Nation a hitch-free and Happy Eid-El-Maulud.

He said: “Prophet Muhammad promoted the virtues of diligence, hard work and commitment to set objectives which can help propel the nation towards rapid growth and development. “Nigerians should use this year’s celebration to pray for the country, adding that they should also reflect on the ideals of peace, unity, harmony and selflessness taught by Islam in order to build a stable nation. “With peace, tolerance and brotherly love, we can build a country of our dream. We should, therefore, eschew all forms of vices as we continue our march towards unity, development and self-sustenance”. While expressing optimism that the year 2015 will be a positive one for Nigeria, Tambuwal wished all Nigerians a happy and successful Maulud celebration.

11 killed in Cameroon bus attack

LEVEN people were killed in Cameroon af ter suspected Boko Haram militants at tacked a bus in Far-North Region bordering Nigeria, an army source said yesterday. All the victims of the Thursday's attack were male and the attacked bus was taken away by the militants. "There were women in the bus but they were spared the ill fate," the source told Xinhua over phone. More than one dozen truck drivers were killed

in Mora in Far-North Region of Cameroon by suspected Boko Haram militants Tuesday. Boko Haram militants, who are active in the north of Cameroon, often attack on villages, pillage properties of the villagers and sometimes take foreign and local people as hostages. The Cameroonian government has strengthened the military might by sending more troops in the north to fight against the militants since 2014.

“Let me join all Muslim Ummah in celebrating the messenger of Allah through whom the Holy Qur’an was revealed to mankind. Indeed, the life the Prophet lived should always serve as an inspiration to the faithful and his pious life as a model for all of us.” Aliyu said Prophet Muhammad and indeed Islam generally preached peace, tolerance, unity and cohesion, stressing that it was only on those platforms that the society could

progress and not through killing and maiming of innocent citizens. The NSGF chair also reminded Nigerians on the need to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), insisting it was the only instrument they could use to exercise their constitutional right in electing leaders of their choice. He, therefore, urged those who have not seen their PVCs as well as those who just at-

tained the age of 18 to register, adding that it was also an opportunity for those who lost their Temporary Voters’ Card (TVCs) to go and re-register in order not to be disenfranchised. The governor, who noted that the 2015 general election was just a few weeks away, called on politicians and the electorate to play according to the rules of the game to ensure peaceful conduct of the exercise and a smooth transition.

Aregbesola urges Muslims to pray for Nigeria

head of the 2015 general elections, the Osun State governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has called on Muslims nationwide to pray for peace in the country in the New Year. In a congratulatory message to adherents of the Islamic faith on the occasion of the Eid-elMaolud (birthday of Prophet Muhammad)celebration, Aregbesola said what the nation needs at this critical stage is sincere leaders who are driven by the desire to redirect the nation from gradual slide into the abyss. According to a statement by his Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, he said as

Adesoji ADENIYI, Osogbo the nation prepares for the 2015 general elections, the nation needs prayer for a peaceful conduct of elections. Aregbesola admonished the Muslims to emulate the humility, good neighbourliness, understanding and love exemplified by the life of Prophet Muhammad. According to him, Muslims must possess qualities such as commitment, discipline, obedience to and love of Allah, and apply same in their daily relationship to their fellow human beings, irrespective of ethnic and religious differences. He enjoined the people of

the state to live in peace and extend hands of fellowship to their neighbours so as for the peaceful and tranquil atmosphere the state has been enjoying in the last two years to continue unhindered. He said: “The time is ripe enough for us to know that we must either come together to jointly take our country to the height it deserves among comity of nations. All hands must be on deck for us to move forward. “We must stop paying leap service to fundamental necessities which are catalysts for development or else this nation would remain a dwarf to other nations which ought to take directives from us.”

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Emulate Holy Prophet — Ikuforiji

PEAKER of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, has admonished Muslims nationwide to always emulate the virtues of Prophet Muhammad as they mark this year's Eid-el-Malud festival. In a release signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Adebayo, Ikuforiji said, " As Muslims worldwide commemorate the birth of Prophet Muhammed, it gives me immense pleasure and joy to rejoice with all fellow Muslims, particularly, here in Nigeria, for having the grace to be alive, hale and hearty to witness yet another of such epoch-making occasion of this year's Eid-elMalud". He said: "Much as it is a period for us to celebrate the allimportant birth of Prophet Muhammad, it should also afford us the rare opportunity of

Oziegbe OKOEKI reflecting on all the virtues of the Holy Prophet, such that we allow ourselves to be guided by such. "The anniversary of the birth of Prophet Muhammad is such an important event in the Islamic calendar all over the world and it is an occasion that enables all of us Muslims not only to celebrate the coming of the Holy Prophet, but also to make sure that we pattern our individual lifestyles after His pious life, " Ikuforiji said. Continuing Ikuforiji said: "To all of us, Nigerian Muslims, this year's celebration of Eid-el-Malud is very significant because it precedes this year's general elections. And as stakeholders, we should, therefore, pray fervently as we celebrate Eid-el-Malud,

and seek the blessings of the Almighty Allah for peace throughout the period of the elections. "As practising Muslims, we must be bold and vote wisely to elect the true leader that we are sure can lead us out of the woods. We must equally eschew violence and thuggery throughout the period of electioneering and beyond. That way, we would be able to rejoice as Nigerians in the nottoo-distant future when our country is restored back to the path of sanity. "On this joyous occasion, therefore, we here at the Lagos State House of Assembly heartily congratulate all Nigerian Muslims. May the peace of the Almighty Allah continue to abide with us all and indeed our great nation throughout 2015 and beyond.”

DSS, Police Minister under fire Continued from page 3 leaders in our country and the citizens of Nigeria should be given the opportunity to do so without any fear of molestation and harassment from any quarters. The APC in Rivers State said yesterday that “the kite being flown by the Federal Government about the possible arrest and trial of the State Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, in connection with some of his recent public statements in his capacity as Director General of the Gen. Muhammadu Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation (GMBPCO) was totally unacceptable to it. The party said in a statement in Port Harcourt by its Chairman, Dr. Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, that it had every reason to be worried about the safety of the governor “in view of the lessons of history, especially with regard to the late Chief MKO Abiola, who was unjustifiably detained, only to die under mysterious circumstances while in government custody.” Deploring the threat issued to Amaechi on Monday by the DSS, the Rivers APC dismissed it as “nothing but an attempt to give a dog a bad name in order to hang it.” “ There is nothing inciting, unguarded or treasonable in Governor Amaechi’s statement. The governor, while expressing his views on the factors militating against the success of the Federal Government’s war against Boko Haram insurgents in the North Eastern part of the country, blamed the

challenges on corruption in the military hierarchy and not on inadequate funding as the public is made to believe. “It is unfortunate that, rather than accept the challenge of fighting corruption, the Federal Government has chosen to ignore the message and go after the messenger. “If any of our security agencies need to arrest anybody, they should start with associates of President Goodluck Jonathan, particularly Chief Femi Fani- Kayode, President Jonathan’s Campaign Director of Media and Dr. Doyin Okupe, the President’s Aide on Public Affairs, who have been making inciting and unguarded statements both against the vision of APC and our presidential candidate, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, whose well-known stand on corruption has sent cold shivers down the spine of the present corrupt leadership in Aso Rock,” it added. Also reacting, the Ondo State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), warned that the alleged plan to arrest some of its leaders ahead of the elections would be resisted by the Nigerian populace. The State Publicity Secretary, Abayomi Adesanya said in a statement that the people will resist any form of intimidation, harassment, arrest, molestation, detention of any member of the opposition by government.

THE NATION,

6 News

IFTEEN politicians will be contesting the Lagos State governorship ticket next month according to the list of candidates now on display at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Also on display are the names of the candidates’ running mates and candidates for House of Assembly. Mr. Ayodele Akele is the governorship candidate for the National Conscience Party, NCP, with Dr Akinlade Babafemi as his running mate. Flying the flag of the Progressives Peoples’ Alliance (PPA) is Pauline Adegbe.The running mate is Olamide Oguntoyinbo. The Action Alliance (AA) has Aregbesola Ishola and Omolola Olorunnishola as its governorship candidate and running mate respectively in the list. The list featured Godwin Mayor as the governorship candidate for Allied Congress Party of Nigeria, ACPN, and

SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

15 jostle for Lagos governorship Ugochukwu Ekwebelem as his running mate. Akinwunmi Ambode is presented in the list as governorship candidate for the All Progressives Congress, APC, with Aderanti Adebule as his running mate. The list displayed, Olujimi Agbaje, as the governorship candidate for Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, with Safirat Abdukareem as his running mate.

...as INEC displays list According to it, Victor Adeniji is running as governorship candidate on the platform of Kowa Party, KP, with Funmilayo Davidson as his running mate. It also featured Olatunde Olusesan as the governorship candidate for the New Nigeria People’s Party, NNPP, and Mrs Abiodun Shuaib as his running mate. In the list, Ademola Razaq ap-

peared as the flag-bearer of the Advanced Congress of Democrats, ACD, with Folawiyo Adebayo as his running mate. It also indicated Kayode Jacobs as the governorship candiadte on the platform of Mega Progressive Peoples Party (MPPP) with Mr Akeem Suberu as his running mate. Festus Igbinoba is representing United Progressive Party, UPP,

with Kanu Urji as his running mate in the list. However, it was observed that the list did not reflect the governorship candidate for Independent Democrat, ID, but reflected Omoshola Lawal as a running mate candidate. Similarly, the Peoples Democratic Movement, PDM, has only the name of its governorship candidate, Akin Badmus, on the list. The list as well reflected the

name of the running mate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Edwin Izuchukwu and Olurotimi Olulana as the governorship candidate for the Labour Party, LP. The display is in accordance with the provision of the Electoral Act as amended. Section 31 Subsection 3 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) provides for publication of personal particulars of all candidates contesting in 2015 general elections within seven days of the receipt of form CF 001.

LASG to start conversion of water hyacinth into fertiliser — official

HE Lagos State Public Advice Centre (PAC) says the state government will soon start the conversion of water hyacinth into fertiliser for farmers. An official of the centre, Mr Alex Omorodion, told the News Agency of Nigeria

(NAN) in Lagos that most of the water hyacinth would be used for the benefit of the people. He said that the Lagos State Government (LASG) would employ some private contractors, alongside the Lagos Waste Management Author-

ity (LAWMA) for the water hyacinth conversion project. “Water hyacinth is a natural phenomenon that occurs anywhere you have a large or medium scale water body. “Lagos State is addressing this issue by engaging contractors, alongside LAWMA, who

would clear the hyacinth from the waterways. “Instead of just throwing them away, however, LASG is looking into ways to convert the hyacinth into fertiliser and papers.’’ The PAC official said hyacinth breed mosquitoes which had been of great

health challenge to the state. “The natural phenomenon is that there is no way the breeding of these insects can be stopped but it can only be controlled or minimised,” he said. Omorodion added that the state government would continue to make the control of mosquitoes its priority.

FRSC advises motorists on road accidents

•All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State governorship candidate, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode with some of the children at the Hearts of Gold Children's Hospice Surulere Lagos during a visit to the Hospice on New Year's day. With him are the Founder, Hearts of Gold Children's Hospice, Mrs. Lola Adedoyin (left) and Mr. Ambode's running mate and Secretary to the Lagos State Government Mrs. Idiat Oluranti Adebule PHOTO: Niyi ADENIRAN

How to have rancour free election, by activist

HE Oyo State Coordinator, Joint Action Front (JAF), Dr Demola Aremu, has listed the conditions that can make Nigeria have a rancour-free election next month. Aremu said a peaceful atmosphere and allowing votes to count are the two strongest conditions for a rancour-free election in February. Aremu, who is also the National Treasurer of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), explained that a

Bisi OLADELE, Ibadan situation where politicians deliberately create pandemonium which creates fear in voters and forces them to stay indoor on the election day, is not good for democracy. According to him, some people make inflammatory statements while government looks on. The development, he said, is able to create fear in the mind of voters. He cited the example of Alh. Asari Dokubo, who has been threatening that Nigeria would be

in turmoil should a particular candidate fail to win the election, stressing that he is doing it successfully because he has political backing. “There is also this talk about ammunition here and there. Bringing out thugs, police and other security agencies in large number also instill fear in voters. These show that they are preparing for a do-or-die battle. When they create fear and voters stay away from participating in the exercise, it becomes easy for politicians to de-

clare the result they like. “But the beauty of democracy is allowing people to make their choices.” He said. On harassment of top party leaders alleged by the All Progressives Congress (APC), Aremu said he would not regard it as a cheap talk because it played out in the last year elections in Ekiti and Osun states elections. But he warned: “We hope there won’t be a repeat of Ekiti and Osun experience so they won’t plunge the country into turmoil.

Governorship election: Ogun PDP faults Olabayo’s prediction

HE Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has faulted the prediction of the founder of Evangelical Church of Yahweh, Lagos, Primate Theophilus Olabayo, that the party(PDP) would lose the governorship election in Ogun State in this year’s election. In a statement by the State Secretary, Alhaji Semiu Sodipo, the party said Olabayo’s prediction may have been based on events preceding the submission of the names of candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). It advised Primate Olabayo to look back at his crystal ball, he would see that God has heard the cries of the good people of Ogun State for change with the calibre of candidates the PDP is fielding. The party noted that while some of Primate Olabayo’s predictions may have come to fruition, others have not been so. It recalled that around 2000/2001 when former Vice-President of United States, Al Gore, squared up against George Bush (Jnr), Primate

Olabayo said Al Gore would win but he didn’t. “Most recently, in his predictions for 2014, he said Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola risked being kidnapped.It did not happen. He said Vice President Namadi Sambo would go against President Goodluck Jonathan. Again, it didn’t hap-

pen. Or at least, no record of such. “In 2014, he warned the governors of the APC controlled states to watch against being overthrown (democratically, I suppose), in 2015, he says they will be returned. Pray, which one do we believe? “For us, as a party that believes in the supremacy of the almighty

God and respects the clergy, we urge our religious leaders to join us in praying to God to give us leaders after His own heart,” the statement read in part. The party promised to take its message of a “governance with human face” to the people and not to assume that it knows what is good for them

Boko Haram: Group asks minister to resign

GROUP, Nigerian Youths Movement for Violence Prevention and Moral Values Restoration has urged the Minister of National Planning Alhaji Abubakar Sulaiman to resign for making misguided statements about France and other foreign nationals on issues bothering on national security and international relations. In a statement issued in Lagos by its National President of the group, Comrade Ado Victor Akinbode, the group in Lagos condemed what it termed ”the minister’s media outburst”

against some foreign countries. “ Blaming Nigeria’s woes from Boko Haram insurgency on the nation’s foreign allies is not only insensible but outrightly undiplomatic and totally illogical. We understand that the intention of the members of Boko Haram is to Islamise the northern region of Nigeria, at such it will be illogical and unthinkable for any sane mind to now allude to the fact that countries like the United States of America and France will be allies to such evil and undemocratic moves.

The group berated Boko Haram insurgents for the waton killings of innocent citizens and senseless destruction of property worth millions of naira noting that Alh Sulaiman shied away from the truth for alleging that some Nigeria’s allies are sabotaging the country instead of addressing the challenge of ill- equiped security agencies, lack of training and professionalism in the military as well as the absence of political will on the part of the government to halt the activities of Boko Haram”.

HE Itori Unit Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), Mr Fatai Adesina Bakare (ACM), has urged motorists to imbibe attitudes that can prevent road accidents. He made the plea at the public enlightenment campaign with the theme: “Road Safety is a shared responsibility; it depends on you and me,” organised by the command in Itori, Ogun State. According to him, the programme was organised to sensitise road users against all forms of indiscipline on the roads. The unit commander said safety on the road was a primary objective of FRSC, saying the his men had been do-

ing their best to ensure safety of life and properties are guaranteed on the road. He said road accidents aren’t caused by spirits but human errors including overloading, over-speeding, use of bad or expired tyres, drinking alcohol before driving, bad health and distraction among others. He appealed to motorists to cooperate with his men in order to eliminate all bad attitudes that encourage road crashes. He begged drivers to stop risking peoples’ lives because of their selfishness, adding that many bread winners and young people that can lift up the glory of this great nation had been killed through accident.

Ondo tertiary institutions charge lowest tuition —Mimiko

OVERNOR Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State has disclosed that tertiary institutions in the state charge the cheapest tuition fees in the country. Speaking in Akungba on Friday during the commissioning of the new Senate Building of Adekunle Ajasin University(AAU), Gov.Mimiko described the buidling as “another of our legacy projects, which has become our trademark in laying a sustainable foundation for the development of our State.Tuition fees in our tertiary institutions is still the cheapest as i speak.” He added that the building “ also signpost the history of our past, document the records of our present and provide illumination for our future.”

The commissioning was done amidst encomiums showered on the outgoing institution’s Vice Chancellor, Prof Femi Mimiko and the immediate past chairman and members of the university’s governing council, headed by Bar. Dan Nwanyanwu for their vision and unprecedented contributions to the transformation of the university. According to Mimiko, the construction of the four winged, five storey complex Senate Building located on 12 hectares of land commenced on March 7 2012, and it was completely funded by the Ondo State Government. Governor Mimiko at the occasion received the education icon award of the National Association of Nigerian Students Zone D South West Nigeria.

Effect change in 2015 —Osun APC chieftain charges Nigerians

HE All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate for Obokun constituency of Osun House of Assembly, Olatunbosun Oyintiloye has urged Nigerians to reflect on the past and effect the necessary change in the 2015 general elections. In his new year message, Oyintiloye said the deplorable situation of the country under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-led Federal Government calls for serious concern such that everyone must rise up against it through their votes in the new year. He noted that President Goodluck Jonathan and the

PDP-led government were responsible for the country’s woes. Oyintiloye pointed out that Nigerians have the responsibilities of taking their destiny into their hands and change the situation. “Nigeria is in trouble that the PDP-led government brought on us because of leadership incompetence, selfishness and corruption” “Apart from states like Osun and few others, hardly could the people sleep with their two eyes closed because of insecurity and the Federal Government has failed to tackle it headlong.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

7 COMMENTARY

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In 2015 Nigerians in the North East and the North and in Nigeria should judge the incumbent president on his record in this regard and not on his musings and rationalisations at church services where he is entitled to his privacy and his communion with his God and his Maker

2015 and Nigeria – Between Bush, Brazil and Nigeria 015 is like George Orwell’s book 1984 published in 1949 which I read in the sixties when it seemed 1984 was so far away it would never come. The same is true for 2015 the year that the Americans a long while ago predicted that Nigeria will disintegrate. Well 2015 is here and now and as I said happy new year to my friends on new year’s day, I felt great, that at long last the year has met all of us in good health and great spirit, in spite of the predictions of doom it brings. Which - predictions - out of necessity, must take a back seat, as we face the more daunting and unavoidable duty of living through a year that will not wait, or go away and has to be lived through, whether we like it or not. George Orwell’s 1984 was about the former Soviet Union and how human freedom was trampled on with impunity. Indeed the dominant cliché on security was ‘Big Brother is watching you‘ Which briefly meant that the long arm of the state is watching every aspect of the citizens life to ensure they comply with the dictates of the one party state which the Soviet Union was at the time. The Soviet Union survived 1984 but it collapsed in 1991 under the weight of its tyranny, lack of transparency and party leaders corruption when Mikhail Gorbachev came into power in 1989 and introduced ‘Perestroika’ and’ Glasnost ‘ which were all about transparency, openness and accountability in Soviet governance by the Communist Party of the Soviet Union. The former Soviet Union dissolved into 15 states and given the mass demonstrations that brought people to the streets not many lives were lost in the dissolution of the massive empire that Russian President Vladmir Putin is trying to resurrect as he admitted in his happiness at seizing the Crimea from Ukraine last year in his New Year Message to Russians in December 2014. The passage of 1984, the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the flourishing of democracy in the succeeding former 15 Soviet Republics and their jealous guardian of their individual sovereignty, showed that the human spirit values choice in terms of leadership and would suffer any injustice, indignity, threats and many incivilities as long as he has hope that he has an opportunity at an election, the master ritual of democracy to vote and bring in leaders of his or her choice, according to the constitution of his state or nation. That is the sort of hope that 2015 brings to the table for Nigerians in spite of the evil prognostics of the Americans on our impending disintegration this year. Nigerians are a hopeful, prayerful, sanguine and warm people who take their fate in their hands even though they believe in God in their peculiar way more than any people on earth. That explains why the Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan has been the most eloquent preacher at the many churches he has visited during the yuletide season and New Year to thank the churches that but for their prayers Nigeria would have collapsed. He even admitted that Nigeria’s problems are growing by the day but God is in Charge. In

the last message I read in a church at Abuja he promised as Commander in Chief to defeat Boko Haram at the end of the day. Since he was speaking at a church service one did not expect him to say he would defeat Boko Haram if re elected since he is the candidate of the ruling party for the 2015 presidential elections. But then is a church the sort of place to say what he says with such pious innocence for a man who really is in charge and on whose table the buck stops in our presidential system? Really I think what the president says at church services should be taken as personal as they can be quoted out of context for political purposes. Yet the president is entitled to seek his personal salvation with his God except perhaps to add that, that should not be a problem or concern of Nigerians. This is because our constitution says loud and clear that Nigeria is a secular state and the president’s religion and salvation are his personal problem as long as he makes the nation safe for all Nigerians to sleep safely in their beds. In England where the Monarchy is the bedrock of British political stability in a parliamentary system which we abandoned for a presidential system, there is a saying in political science that ‘with the Queen in Buckingham Palace every Briton sleeps well in his bed‘. I doubt if we can say that with any confidence as Nigerians in connection with the present occupant of Aso Rock in Abuja our fount of power, political might and distribution of political largesse and wealth in Nigeria. Yet even the president at another Church service has admitted that security and corruption are key issues bedevilling the Nigerian nation today. On corruption he said he was busy trying to put on the ground the institutions to fight corruption so that people will not just be put on trial and set free. Since he said this at a church it should not be a matter for debate but as he is contesting re election and has been in power for so long what has he been doing since. But again, the church should not be a place for a political debate. One can however remind our president of how a former US president got re elected on the way he handled security and how Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff aged 67 and a woman, who was sworn in this week for a second term, got re elected because she fought corruption and lifted Brazillians out of poverty. US President George Bush was president of the US from 2001 to 2OO8 and he started the present global war on terror because 9/11 happened on his watch in 2001. While many Americans loathed him fiercely for the invasion of Iraq in 2003 on the false premise of availability of weapons of mass destruction which were not found during the invasion, he was able to get re elected overwhelmingly in 2004 when he defeated Democratic candidate John Kerry the present US Secretary of State, because Americans felt that he has done enough to make the US homeland safe for them to live in. In 2015 Nigerians in the North East and the North and in Nigeria should judge the incumbent president on his record in this regard and not on his musings and rationalisations at church services where he is entitled to his privacy and his communion with his God and his Maker.

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The name of the game in politics and democracy is renewal of power as reward for responsive governance and the punishment is removal through the ballot box for unfulfilled promises and mandates. That was what George Bush experienced positively in 2004 and he was also able to extend that electoral goodwill to the mid term elections in 2006 for Republican legislators in Congress. Which is something his successor President Barack Obama was not able to do in last year’s mid term elections for Democrats and he admitted this failure by saying that he has heard the American people loud and clear. In Brazil the newly sworn in President Dilma was Chief of Staff to former President Lula da Silva of the Workers Party which came to power in 2003 and whose campaign promise was to lift people out of poverty during Lula’s two terms. Now at Dilma’ s second coming, making more than a decade of their party in power, she announced last week that the Workers Party in Brazil has lifted 37m Brazilians out of poverty and that the year 2015 is the Year of Education in Brazil. Dilmar won this election narrowly because protesters felt that Brazilian sports administrators were corrupt and were making money out of Brazilians love of sports and soccer. She fought the election on her record of performance and did not take the electorate for granted and was successful at the polls because of the goodwill and support of the Brazilian electorate. That is a working democracy and that is what we want to happen in Nigeria in 2015. Lastly let me end on a lighter note, if that is possible in a passionate game like soccer. on an analogy involving my favourite Premiership team Arsenal and its famous Manager Arsene Wenger who happened to be one of the most enterprising and successful managers of his time, till recently. I say this because recent results showed that he has lost his magic wand for success as most Arsenal fans would honestly and painfully attest. What Arsene Wenger has not lost however is his excellent oratory and presentation skills for post match analysis in which he becomes absolutely objective as if he had no hand in the result of a match in which his team, which he supervised and led in strategy and tutoring for the game, took part. Arsene Wenger has an absolute talent and knack for rationalising failure that is unmatched by any Soccer Manager in the world. Fortunately for him but most unfortunately for Arsenal fans a collection of his post match analysis has become a best seller book in England. Which means while Wenger smiles all the way to the bank the fans must seek help for their health and security of mind and body while watching their favourite team. It is definitely not an acceptable situation and the fans have started demanding for a change of Management to maintain their peace of mind and body. This is because C’est la vie [Such is life] may be French just as Wenger is - but Arsenal is an English team with a global following and change is inevitable in 2015 for the sake of the sanity of Arsenal teeming soccer fans. Sorry for the digression but change is in the air for Nigerian politics in 2015 too as performance or prospects must have their reward or punishment as the case may be. Happy New Year.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

COMMENTARY

2014 Year in review; Happy 2015, Year of the Ram 014 was a very challenging year all round. It was, for the most part, characterized with a high level of violence through conflict between nations, disease caused by the near global pandemic of Ebola, and mass murder as a result of the incessant suicide bombings and beheadings by radical Islamist groups. It was also one of the deadliest years in aviation in almost a decade, with a plethora of airplane crashes and tragedies, mainly involving the Asian MalaysiaIndonesian axis based carriers. For Nigeria, it was a year that came with its promise of adversity and disasters of unparalleled magnitude but it was also a year that brought the elements of possible change together. Between world politics, disease and catastrophe, 2014 was a year colored in black and red. On a national scale, Nigerians encountered their fair share of the misfortunes from the atrocious events that went down during the last twelve months. The year 2014 brought a torrent of dire news for a nation that is all too familiar with receiving ominous news. It was a frantic year stained with death, political intrigue and shame. It was a year for, what I call, Political-Swingers, where Nigerian political office seekers, in anticipation of their aspirations in the upcoming elections, hopped from one party to another, depending on the popularity of the party they were defecting to, in the specific area they were contesting. It was a year that certainly took a course in reinforcing Nigerian democracy and giving Nigerians the impression that there just may be change. The tighter cohesion of the APC, its ability to knock down regional, tribal and ethnic barriers and the unconditional acceptance of the party to a broad base of Nigerians empowered the party as the most formidable opposition platform we have ever had. Whether one supports the PDP or APC, the prospect of elections in the New Year has given people hope of a future that provides an atmosphere where the wishes of the majority will be reflected in the polls. And whatever the outcome of the elections, many are confident that 2015 portrays a real scenario where Nigerians will have their say. It was a year where the globe was forced to unite against one of the greatest enemies of humanity-disease. When Ebola began to ravage Western African countries, the world, largely, turned a blind eye. But, due to the ease of which the virus spread and its potency, the entire world was forced to take notice. In 2014, the Ebola crisis became a very real global threat. In Liberia, Guinea, and Sierra Leone, the death and destruction that came with Ebola left many families and individuals devastated. As the year winds down and many affected nations have managed to control the spread of Ebola, we must keep in mind that there are families in West Africa still struggling with the devastation of the virus. Help and aid is still needed in those communities and any support and involvement to help aid the relief efforts in West Africa will be very much welcome. (One can find information on how to contribute online or through the Liberian, Guinean and Sierra Leonean Embassies in their countries). Undoubtedly, the worst aspect of Nigeria’s 2014 was that it was a year of mass suffering and death. From the start of the year, the violence unleashed by Nigerian Insurgents saw them target innocent Nigerians from the North Eastern States of Borno, Yobe, Adamawa, Gombe, all the way to Kano and through to Abuja where a bomb was detonated in the heart of the capital’s metropolis, Emab and Banex Plaza,

with devastating results. The actions of the Nigerian insurgents, with their bloodthirsty abandon and turmoil, that only lunatics and unreasonable zealots possess, has sent a clear message that there is no reasoning or reconciliation with this particular group of murderers. Their level of reckless bloodletting has gone far beyond the point of any possible discussion, amnesty or reconciliation. The sooner everyone directly involved in this battle against the insurgents understands that this war has turned into an ‘all or nothing’ fight, the sooner they will be able to come up with an ‘end-game.’ The sooner civilians and citizens in the most affected area are evacuated and the army, supported by sophisticated air power, goes in and sweeps those areas clear of insurgents, the sooner Nigerian authorities can bring peace to the North-Eastern part of the country. Just when Nigerians thought they had deciphered the modus operandi of the insurgents as sporadic bombings and bloodletting, a spade of abductions and kidnapping of school children ensued. It was then, in the wee hours of the night, that almost 300 schoolgirls from Chibok were taken… just like that! It was a year when groups across Nigeria used their voice, banned together and stood in solidarity with the parents and kidnapped children of Chibok. Whether politically motivated or not, they must be given credit for adhering to their conscience and standing for the voiceless in a society that increasingly mulls the voice of the helpless; they found the courage to say, "I refuse." They refused to continue being conscientious objectors and spoke out for the kidnapped girls, who, no longer had a presence or voice. They stood up and bellowed “#BringBackOurGirls!” It was a cry that was heard in all corners of the world. It was a year of Nigerian police contravention with a major civil rights violation when the Joseph Mbu led police force made an attempt to prohibit protests of the same #BringBackOurGirls campaign, under the guise of possible security threat to residents of Abuja. With ‘eggs on their faces,’ the police authorities made a U-turn after the campaigners initiated proceedings in court. It was a shameful year for the Nigerian Army, which imposed death sentences on soldiers accused of mutiny despite the fact that the soldiers alleged they only refused to join operations to confront Nigerian insurgents because they were not properly equipped. After watching footage of what the well-equipped insurgents do to those they capture, I, for one, have a level of empathy for the soldiers who disobeyed orders which would lead to certain death and torture in the hands of the insurgents, purely because they were illequipped to face the insurgents. I strongly disagree with the

death sentences imposed on them. The performance of the Nigerian Judiciary in 2014 generated mainly positive reviews. While under the capable watch of Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Aloma Mukhtar, much needed reforms; great judicial achievements and quick dispensation of justice were recorded. Even with the unwelcome reversal of corruption cases for some high caliber political personalities through court judgments and the bungling of the case against a prominent Nigerian insurgent, the confidence in the judicial system amplified by the clampdown of Justice Aloma, was not altogether dampened. In-spite of the existence of alleged bad-eggs and reprehensible members of the bench such as Justice Abdul Kafarati, Justice Aloma did an incredible job in trying to reform and stamp out corruption in the nation’s judiciary and restoring confidence in it. However, as Nigeria’s first female Chief Justice retires, hopes are that her successor, Justice Mahmud Mohammed, will continue the reforms she initiated and to flush out those in the judiciary who have been proven to be less than ‘judicious’ and up right. It was ‘un-arguably’ the greatest year of shock and heartbreak in sporting history. Football to be exact! As Nigerians and other African football fans watched their nations bow out of the 2014 World Cup in Brazil, their only comfort was that they were ‘not’ Brazilian fans! In a mighty upset that eclipsed the 1950 defeat that Brazil suffered to Uruguay, like a shaky deck of cards, Brazil came tumbling down when Germany scored four goals in six minutes to lead Brazil, the World Cup hosts, 5-0 after only 29 minutes, before winning an unprecedented 7-1 in the quarter finals. As the world watched in shock, Brazil the great champions of football…whittled into its great-dud. To add insult to injury for the shell-shocked ‘former-former-champions, their greatest rival, Argentina, went ahead to become Runners-up to Germany, who emerged as the champions, on Brazilian soil. “Painful, painful and… Ooohhhhh, so, so painful!!!” For Arewa, Kano specifically, it was a year where some of the most significantly great titans were lost. The death of the Emir of Kano, Alhaji Ado Bayero and the Galadima of Kano, Alhaji Tijjani Hashim shook the center of commerce to the core and has left a gigantic void in Kano society. Their passing and the passing of so many other great Nigerians contributed to the unmatched flood of pain felt by the entire nation. Looking back at 2014, it truly was ‘a year!’ it was a year that saw a mentally disturbed Uruguayan football genius behave as if he was a rabid dog! it was a year that confirmed ‘rice’ as opposed to ‘eba’ was the food of choice in Ekiti State, Nigeria! it was a year that saw Nigeria’s General Buhari emerge, even to his main detractors, as ‘the come-back-kid’ with the ability to make people ‘believe!’ it was a year when the Lunatic-Nigerian-Insurgent-Undead-Food-TroughSpack leader proved that he has more than 9 lives! it was a year when the world witnessed the epic fall of hollywood’s most beloved dad, bill cosby! it was a year when a great Nigerian leader proved that ‘Diarrhea of the mouth’ can be spun into a tall-tale of fiction in his autobiography, ‘My Watch!’ it was a year when american-race-relations became tested with the non-indictment of police in the ‘questionable killings’ of African-Americans! it was a year when an honorable teenage Pakistani heroin, Malala, proved that ‘great• Continued on page 60

As PDP rolls its selfish agenda into 2015 IGERIA is lingering at a crossroads. It is grappling with the desire of a clique of politically insolvent leaders to perpetuate themselves and their cronies in power for economic gains. This is sapping this nation of all its vigour. But what is the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) and President Goodluck Jonathan’s real end game? To understand their secret power-grab strategy for a one-party nation ruled by one political party with a crony capitalist agenda, we need to understand this government’s manipulation of the centripetal and the centrifugal forces in shaping Nigeria’s sociopolitical terrain. PDP’s policy is simply to impose an agenda of transforming our democratic government and emerging but creeping free market economy into a nation governed by a rentseeking cabal. This obsessive fixation on turning our multi-party system into a one-party monopoly has blinded them to the real issues threatening the economy, the safety and mutual co-existence of the Nigerian people. This fits perfectly into the unprecedented plan of the newly passed Election Act 2010 (As Amended), which seeks to limit the political space by giving the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) additional powers to de-register political parties; an action some judges have pronounced ultra vires. The invocation of the Electoral Act 2010, which deregistered FRESH and 27 other political parties, is based on this unstated objective to keep the polity firmly in the hands of the governing elites. This has led many observers to wonder why INEC is behaving so badly, stabbing the rule of law in the head under Jonathan’s watch. It is also why, even though FRESH and one other party got their de-listing by INEC overturned by the courts, the electoral body ignored this ruling and foot-dragged on compliance until, like in the case of Hope Democratic Party (HDP), it reluctantly allowed the party to join the 2015 electoral contest at the close of nominations. FRESH, though rumoured to have been similarly re-enlisted, has still not been given a letter of recertification at the time of writing. Politicians like Rev. Chris Okotie who are proposing a new governance paradigm are out of the race- no thanks to INEC’s manipulations; the field is now left for the PDP’s incumbent

Isiaka MUTHADA

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We know what Gen. Buhari stands for: anti-corruption, discipline and efficient service delivery by civil servants. But what has the President’s transformation agenda produced since he mounted the saddle in 2010? Like the rebasing of the economy, he is rebasing corruption, impunity and lawlessness in high places

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President, Dr. Jonathan, and veteran candidate, APC’s Gen. Mohammadu Buhari, who is hoping to break the record with his fourth straight shot at the presidency. Their proposed debate, if it ever happens, will reveal a lot. But had Rev. Okotie been allowed the chance to sell his ideals of a new governance paradigm, the public would have been in for a rare treat: a battle between old war horses and a new kid on the block. We know what Gen. Buhari stands for: anti-corruption, discipline and efficient service delivery by civil servants. But what has the President’s transformation agenda produced since he mounted the saddle in 2010? Like the rebasing of the economy, he is rebasing corruption, impunity and lawlessness in high places. These are the reasons for the dysfunctional state of the economy that is unable to face up to the challenges of falling oil prices. It is this government’s refusal to foresee and preempt the reversal of our oil fortunes that has become the harbinger of bad omen for the nation, giving way to our self-inflicted economic woes, reli-

gious bigotry and aberrations like this resurfacing of austerity measures and the Boko Haram insurgency. The military will readily tell us that the deadliest sting of the terror group can be contained in a space of two weeks, but like President Jonathan once said, there are Boko Haram apologists in his government. These allies of the Boko Haram brigands, who are in government, obviously trade our soldiers’ souls by sending them to suicide missions with inappropriate fire-power. Truth is that these Boko Haram chaps are not the real problem; it is the cabal of untouchables behind the scenes who ensure that the reign of terror continues, that pose the real problem to our great nation. Look at the plight of the Bornu 12 alleged mutineers, whose lives hang in the balance by the court martial verdict of summary execution, for refusing to be led like lambs to the slaughter, despite the fact that they were fighting for their rights to be regarded as human beings and fathers who have family responsibilities. Nigerians should not remain passive but begin a #Freethebornu12 campaign hash-tag against such an injustice. It is in line with the need to honestly confront these issues by adopting a selfless leadership that Rev. Okotie began to promote the paradigm shift philosophy, seeing that the recycled hands on the deck lack the will and understanding to grapple with our age-long problems. Obviously, INEC with its well-crafted display of disregard for the rule of law has succeeded in truncating this, at least, as far as 2015 general election is concerned. But, having accomplished the great task of shoving the participation of FRESH aside by its cunning delay of the process of appealing the party’s verdict, INEC must still set the records straight, because a force for change has been denied the opportunity of actualising his mandate, not because he is unqualified, but because the power that be conspired to stop him. Whichever way the agency’s pendulum swings, one thing is sure: history shows that time always sets things right, and Nigeria will not be an exception. It’s just a matter of time, and the birth pangs will ease away for a new dawn for Nigeria under a new, progressive paradigm. •Muthada wrote in from Ilorin, Kwara State

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

THE NATION SATURDAY, JANUARY3, 2015

New Year Day in other lands

People watch fireworks exploding over Copacabana beach during New Year celebrations in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (The Associated Press)

Katlyn Bond, of Somers, N.Y., cheers in Times Square during a New Year's Eve celebration, in New York. Thousands braved the cold to watch the annual ball drop and ring in the new year.

Fireworks erupt after midnight in Times Square. Thousands braved the cold to watch the annual ball drop and ring in the new year. (AP Photo/John Minchillo) Iraqis gather to celebrate the new year in Baghdad, Iraq, early Thursday

.Fireworks explode to celebrate the New Year at Scanderbeg Square in Tirana, Poland The Associated Press)

North Koreans gather at the Kim Il Sung Square to watch a fireworks display as they usher in the new year, in Pyongyang, North Korea. (Kim Kwang Hyon | The Associated Press)

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

COMMENTARY

What is Bro Jona saying? HAT exactly does President Goodluck Jonathan make of the barrage of criticisms against his overall performance as Nigeria’s leader over the past six years or so? This question becomes more pertinent as Nigeria inches towards another crucial election in February this year. In the last two or three weeks, it appears the President has been so overwhelmed by the critical comments that he now seizes any available opportunity to whinge at every public appearance. Of course, one understands the frenzied, almost frustrated attempt at shouting back at the growing band of critics at a period when every political wannabes in our system cling to whatever straw they can lean on to remain relevant. What beggars belief is the President’s plea to innocence and an ignoble demonstration of a defeatist attitude. Each time Jonathan talks, he comes across as someone needlessly being vilified for, presumably, firmly walking his political promises. Nothing, I dare say, could be farther from the truth. Rather than throw up his hands in surrender to what his apologists would snidely term as uninformed and acerbic criticisms by those bent on pushing him out of office in 2015, it would benefit Mr. President greatly if he critically sifts the issues with the aim of addressing those that are, at best, self-inflicted. In truth, certain things have been said about this President that could be termed jaundiced, politically-inspired and wickedly untrue. Politicians are always adept at doing that. Yet, that is not the main reason why criticism stalks Jonathan like a putrid sore. For a man who rode on the back of widespread general acceptance to become Nigeria’s first democratically elected President from the minority SouthSouth, he should ask himself some hard questions on why his acceptance rating meticulously nosedives, steadily treading on a bumpy downward slope in less than four years on the saddle. It is only when he does this that he would be able to appreciate the enormity of the problems on his hands. It is a cross he swore to bear! In his own words, Jonathan admits that the country he presides over is reeling under the yoke of a life-threatening impairment; hamstrung physically, psychologically and socially by a harvest of tragic impulses. He wonders why the problems keep piling up instead of abating, considering the ‘unprecedented’ giants strides he has made in different sectors of our national life. He said that but for the prayers of well-meaning citizens, the country could have been in a deeper mess than it is already soaked in. And then, the resort to biblical canticles: “I always say that whenever I read the Bible, especially the Old Testament, particularly the journey of the Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land, and the kind of challenges they faced; their confrontations, the wars up to the days of King David, they were always fighting. You may need to ask, why should children of God continue to be fighting? I believe what is happening to us now is not even as serious as sometimes the passages we read in the Bible and God saw them through.” If this is the President’s understanding of the Nigerian situation, then we have a problem on our hands. Indeed, we should all realize now that we have a problem of leadership that is much bigger than we all thought. The difference between his biblical exhortations and the Nigerian story lies in the debilitating leadership vacuum that has driven the country into an abyss of woes. We all

Knucklehead With

Yomi Odunuga E-mail:yomi.odunuga @thenationonlineng.net SMS only: 07028006913 know the trajectories the Israelites had to pass through and the inspiring leadership that saw them to the Promised Land up to the time of King David and his encounter with Goliath. In every step they took, there was the God element and a leadership they could trust. The reward was the song of victory after many years of gnashing teeth in lamentation. In our own case, there is the belief in the God element with a glaring dearth of an inspiring leadership. And so, the best we can boast of is a triumphalism that glorifies mediocrity of a generation of bumbling and wasteful leadership. Sometimes, you just wonder why a country so blessed with abundant human and natural resources is cursed with such tragic leadership recruitment processes! If Jonathan insists on being our modern-day David, I honestly doubt if he has the capacity to overcome the Goliath on his path! I seriously doubt it. By the way Mr. President, when you boasted the other day that Nigerians would praise you when you leave office, are you in anyway saying that we don’t seem to appreciate all the sacrifices you have put into the re-engineering of the country for greater development? Or are you, as you are wont to do, paraphrasing Jesus Christ who said a prophet is never appreciated in his domain? If that is the case, then you are getting it twisted. Nigerians are not under any obligation to praise you for what you have done. With Mr. President’s so-called ‘transformation agenda’, Nigerians have seen long stretches of a mirage over vast stretches of parched land, with little water to quench thirst even while rich aquifers and wellsprings of crude oil abound. Shame. Nigerians, Mr. President, are obliged to take you up on those things you have failed to do and the ones you have handled with crying incompetence. You occupy a seat from which much is expected. The Presidency is not a seat for whingeing individuals or those who offer tendentious excuses to justify plain misgovernance. That seat, President Jonathan, is for people who are prepared to walk their talk or ready to walk honourably out of the seat! You really want to know why people can’t stop pointing accusing fingers at you as the country wallows in the bloody waters of violence, endless bloodletting and utter breakdown of law and order? The answers are not that difficult to fathom Mr. President. Never in the history of this nation has any leader superintended over a mortally divided people like what it is unfolding right under your nose. Those who truly voted for the political slogan of ‘a breath of fresh air’ are daily being choked by the fetid odour of

intolerance that has taken over our land. Those who were swayed to stand by you on the promise that that they would witness rapid infrastructural development in key sectors of the economy can no longer swallow the bitter pills of failed promises. How many times, in a span of four years or less, have you told them that regular electricity supply would soon be ‘a thing of the past?’ What did you ask them to look forward to in the areas of primary health delivery? What significant improvement can you point to in the educational sector? In what significant way have you impacted the lives of the poorest of the poor? How far have you gone in the closet fight with corruption? And, wither security? Contrary to your thinking, Nigerians are not a bunch of unappreciative people. They really don’t need to wait for your departure to compare your achievements with that of others before acknowledging your worth. If they cry now, it is because they believe something is fundamentally wrong with your leadership style. How do you justify the kilowatts of darkness in spite of the billions of dollars spent in the power sector? You once said Nigerians would soon be getting rid of their power generators in “a couple of years.” Today, more homes are purchasing different brands of the noisy machines to keep hope alive! What reason would you give for the continuous infrastructural decay in spite of the propaganda that things have significantly improved? Why do students keep recording abysmally low performance en masse, in various examinations despite claims that a lot has been done to stem the tide? Why the increase in the number of unemployed graduates, out-of-school children and other categories of persons? Why has corruption become the official policy of state to the point that serving ministers now run to the courts to prevent a possible probe of their stewardship by the legislature? Above all things, Nigerians are tired of hearing their President’s feeble attempt at justifying the carnage going on in the North-East. It is not enough for President Jonathan to keep on making a noise and dance of the fact that terrorism has become a global phenomenon and that no part of the country is safe. What? Being the President, it is his responsibility to do something about it just like every other global leader worth that name has been doing. They want to be briefed on the mathematics of a “stable economy” as poverty bites harder. They want to know why a select group of Nigerians reeks of stupendous wealth amid the crying penury. They want to know why 217 young girls remain in captive some 264 days after they were abducted from their school dormitories in Chibok, Borno State. They just don’t understand if they still have a President who is firmly in control of the ship of state! That is why they ask questions and task him to be presidential in words and in deeds! So, when next the President wonders why he should fit into a self-imposed title of the world’s most criticised leader even by those who played a major role in imposing him on the rest of us, he should not look farther than his shadows. Let him first ask himself a pertinent question: do I have the capacity to lead these people of divergent cultures, religions and tribes to the Promised Land like the biblical Moses and David? In this question lies the answer to his search for a fallen popularity rating. He surely needs not wait until he vacates the seat!

Explosion against ‘stomach infrastructure’ dub the letter, published in the Punch of December 23, 2014, and reproduced below, The Letter of the Year. Call it an irony, a satire or sarcasm, I think all the three literary devices are rolled into one in the missive. “Distributing fat chickens, bags of rice, and cash to 80,000 Ekitis by the Ekiti State Governor, Ayo Fayose, would by now convince cynics and critics beyond doubt! This empathetic candour of reaching out to 80,000 (out of the over four million people in the state) citizens in need of such a gesture is commendable, at least, it’s far better than distributing 80,000 modern farming implements to farmers, and such other similar empowering tools to 80,000 of handiwork men and women. This indeed is cheery news to Ekiti. Kudos, once again, for the stomach infrastructure initiative!” - Dele Ogundele, Lagos. Despite being seen as, and arguably an irony, this short write-up is actually a sarcasm writ large; the literary word at its most pungent, “sharp, bitter, cutting, caustic, or acerbic; it is the instrument of indignation, a weapon of offence.” [Patridge, Eric (1969)] The letter is an explosion against stomach infrastructure. It shows that stomach-structure is on the wrong side of history. As one Yoruba adage says, "A house built with saliva is eventually destroyed by common dew." The edifice of stomach infrastructure was, ab initio, erected on quicksand, its destruction therefore being a matter of time. Stomach-structure is highly degrading and morally debasing. It is a travesty of empathy; a parody of genuine welfarist schemes of governors like Senator Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers, Tanko AlMakura of Nassarawa State, Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, among others. It is the very height of insult ever visited on our people; a complete erosion of our value system and anything considered noble and dignified. Lest this piece is misunderstood, deliberately perhaps. I should say that there is nothing wrong in giving gifts during festive season or at any time. But when the entire structure and superstructure of governance are built on distributing food items to the citizens (a fraction of them anyway) in order to win election and court cheap publicity while in power, then our humanity is returned to Thomas Hobbes’s state of nature, where the life of man is “solitary, poor, nasty, brutish and short.” I cannot count the number of times - before stomach-structure stealthily entered the Nigerian political lexicon - the Wife of Ogun State Governor, Mrs Olufunso Amosun, feted the disadvantaged in the society. She has never asked the less-privileged to line up like beggars in scorching sun to collect any food item. I recall her birthday before June, 2014 (before the rise of stomach infrastructure). She travelled to far-flung communities in Ogun to feed and fete children of the less-privileged and provided them with various gift

Soyombo OPEYEMI

items. It is both Biblical and Koranic that we must genuinely take care of the less-endowed in the society. You do not wait for the election period to do this and you don’t make this a state policy in order not to create disincentive to industry and perseverance. So the altruistic welfarist scheme of taking care of the less-privileged has been part and parcel of the Amosun administration from the very first day in office. Indeed, he had been doing this long before he became the governor. That is why he has a near fanatical following among the masses of Ogun State. What stomach-structure is greater than giving the children of the poor free education, as it is the case under the Amosun administration, whereby their parents do not worry about school fees and standard textbooks? What stomach infrastructure is better than providing security for the poor such that when they eat their garri and epa they can have a sound sleep? Of what use is providing them chickens when they cannot sleep with their eyes closed - not knowing when and where the next trouble, crisis, thuggery and banditry may erupt from? What stomach-structure is greater than compliance with the rule of law such that when the rights of the poor are trampled upon they have courts that can sit without fear of molestation or thuggery, where their rights to freedom of speech and association are not abridged and where both the Governor and the governed are equal before the law? What stomach-structure is bigger than providing an enabling environment for businesses to thrive so that the children of the poor can have gainful employment in their thousands rather than becoming touts and cannon fodders for unconscionable politicians? What stomach-structure is bigger than opening up the rural areas with road infrastructure such that the farmers can easily get their produce to markets without stress, and proving farm implements and machinery for mechanised agriculture, thereby reducing also the cost of living in the entire state? “Governance,” according to Amosun, “should not be reduced to Amala politics. How many people do you want to start giving money or food items to everyday?” Instead of investing massively in social infrastructure such as security, education, health, agriculture, power, roads and bridges, etc. as Amosun did, suppose he had set up food-distribution centres all over the state, what would have happened at this period of cash crunch - fall in revenue and near zero allocation from the Federation Account? Just one example. In one fell swoop, Amosun distributed 500 brand new transformers across the length and breadth of the state to energise the businesses of battery chargers, barbers, hair-dressers, video club owners, business centres, auto-mechanics, auto-electricians, welders, market men and women, tailors and others whose commercial activities were hitherto paralysed by lack of power. Suppose he had invested such colossal amount on stomach-struc-

ture, what would have happened today to these thousands of people and their dependents (millions of Ogun people), when such amount of money is not available? And it is cheery news overhearing some workers cautioning one of their colleagues to show some understanding because of the current situation. "Amosun," they said, “has never owed us salaries. Instead he paid those owed by his predecessor, clearing arrears of pension and gratuity from 2007. This is the first time salaries will be delayed, just for one month.” One other worker argued that “Things are even far better in Ogun than in many states. Some are owing two or three months.” Besides, Ogun is the only state in Nigeria that pays N18,250 as Minimum Wage, implemented the Wage across board and up to Local Government level; yet it is one of the states that receives the least allocation from the Federation Account. What stomach infrastructure can be greater than this? Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State did not resort to stomach infrastructure in order to win re-election in 2011. Indeed, he invested billions of naira in providing free education to the children of the state and changing the status of Akwa Ibom from being providers of housemaids to that of intellectual human capital. When Governor Olusegun Mimiko won re-election, stomach infrastructure had not made its entry into the lexicon of Nigeria. His investment in Abiye, just like Gbomoro and Araya in Ogun, a free health scheme, had been hailed as one of the enduring welfarist schemes. What more shall we say of Governor Raji Fashola who, building on the strong foundation laid by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, changed the infrastructural face of Lagos and won a re-election based on his sterling achievements. What stomach-structure did Dr Nnamdi Azikwe do when he laid the foundation that turned the East into the fastest-growing economy in Nigeria? What stomach infrastructure did Chief Obafemi Awolowo provide to launch the Western Region into its golden era? And what stomach-structure did Sir Ahmadu Bello do to build the groundnut pyramid - a symbol of economic prosperity - in the Northern Nigeria? All these confirm that stomach-structure is an anomaly, an aberration, a war against civility and defilement of our humanity. Authors and proponents of stomach-structure have debased the legacies of our heroes’ past. Rather than accord stomach infrastructure any regard, all men of good conscience, those who value our traditional value system in Nigeria, and believe in the genuine welfare scheme that takes care of the poor in our society without subjecting them to ridicule should all rise in unison to denounce stomach-structure and ensure it is expunged from Nigeria’s political dictionary. •Soyombo, a journalist and public affairs analyst, wrote from Abeokuta

maGazine SATURDAY

THE NATION SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

PEOPLE SOCIETY ROMANCE ENTERTAINMENT SPORTS

Continued on Page 14

THE NATION SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

Hijab-wearing women

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Patience SADUWA and Paul UKPABIO

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

Fire wipes out family of six ,

•The late Abolupe

•The late Aminat

n Kunle AKINRINADE n EDNESDAY December 17, 2014 brought grief to residents of a building at Alagbada area of Ikotun, a suburb of Lagos State, when a man, Emmanuel Abolupe, his wife and four children were burnt to death in a fire outbreak. The incident took place about 10 pm when an inferno, whose source cannot be ascertained, ravaged the apartment of the couple shortly after they went to bed. An impeccable source explained that the late Abolupe returned home from work on the day of the incident and he slept off on a couch in the living room shortly after having his dinner. A neighbour, who noticed smoke coming out of the couple’s apartment, was said to

•One of their late daughters

have immediately called out on Abolupe’s wife, Aminat, who replied that they could not come out of their room because of the intensity of the smoke. “A neighbour was passing by when he noticed that smoke was coming out from the apartment of the deceased persons. Their apartment was forced open by neighbours, but the last child of the couple had been badly burnt to death, while the late Emmanuel Abolupe, his wife and their remaining three children were still hovering between life and death, though badly burnt too,” said a resident, who asked not to be mentioned. A resident, who asked not to be named, said: ”The couple’s children would not sleep Continued on page 20

I knew my son as a prayer warrior not as a kidnapper –65-yr-old 65-year-old woman, Mrs grace Offor, has become a victim of circumstance, following the arrest of her son, Obinna Offor, who claims to be a Christian musician and prayer warrior by the police in Anambra State. Her arrest followed a foiled kidnap and robbery attempt in Onistha by the suspects, who allegedly engaged members of state police command in a gun duel that claimed four lives on the Christmas day. The police alleged that the woman had been cooking for the suspected of kidnappers in her house alongside her son, who hid under the cloak of being an evangelist to deceive the public. She was paraded by the police alongside 12 others allegedly in-

n Nwanosike ONU, Awka n volved in killing the police officer in charge of the State Anti-Robbery Squad in Onitsha, OC-SARS, Emma Ochobi in 2012. Other suspected members of the notorious ‘Ofeakwu’ kidnapping gang were paraded; they included one Abuchi Meribe, who was said to have killed one ‘Onwa’ and Kolomentality that brought cache of arms from Lagos sometime ago. The state Police Commissioner, Hosea Hassan Karma, also displayed the bodies of those he alleged who engaged his men in a shoot-out in Asaba, Delta State. He said some guns were sighted in their vehicle and a tip-off from the public alerted the police who swung into action that produced

the result. He said two members of the gang escaped with gunshot injuries. Karma commended the Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, for his support in the fight against criminals in the state. He also gave kudos to the men of SARS for their gallantry, especially the commander of the group in the state, James Nwafor, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), for standing up when it mattered most. He warned criminals to move away from Anambra, describing the state as a no go area for them. In her confession at the SARS office in Awkuzu, Oyi Local Government Area of the state, Madam Offor, said she never knew her Continued on page 20

Mr Abolupe was severely burnt when he tried to rescue his wife and children. His last child had died by the time sympathisers succeeded in gaining access into their apartment but three other children and the couple were taken to some public hospitals where they were rejected by doctors on duty. Sadly, the couple and their children died in a private hospital on the outskirt of Ogun State on Thursday December 18

•Mrs Offor

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

CRIME

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

OTHER STORIES

olukunle87@yahoo.com

I’m under my step-mother’s spell – Robbery suspect

NE of the two armed robbery suspects Abiodun Abayomi, 19 who allegedly robbed a pastor, confessed that he took to robbery because he grew tired of pushing wheel barrow and carrying loads for people. He added he took to robbery to save his neck from breaking as a result of heavy load that does not fetch him enough money to take care of himself and his brothers. The second suspect is Michael Ejiro aged 20 from Delta State, while the person who doubles as the complainant and victim, is one Rev. Pastor, Apostle Sampson Dotun Albert. According to police sources, they were arrested after they robbed the said pastor in his No. 5 Agidimgbi Road residence, Alapere area of Lagos on the 15th October 2014 at about 11.20pm with the dangerous weapons, one kitchen knife, two machetes, one plier, three spanners, one iron file, one Galaxy Samsung phone valued N90,000. When the Commissioner of Police, Kayode Aderanti, heard of their arrest, he ordered their immediate transfer to Special AntiRobbery Squad (SARS) for discreet investigation by the officer in charge of SARS, Superintendent of Police Abba Kyari. They allegedly confessed to a series of armed robbery operations within Lagos and it was also discovered that they specialised in stealing generators and removing

n Ebele BONIFACE n

car and bus batteries especially Faragon cars or buses which they could easily open its door and remove battery and sell the batteries to scrap dealers who pose as receivers and buyers. Confessing, the first suspect, Abiodun, said: "I am a professional tailor. I learnt tailoring from Ifo in Ogun State but when my father died, I had not got freedom while my mother, before she died told me that we had no money to give me to do my tailoring freedom. I was still learning tailoring when I relocated to Lagos in 2006. ‘’After some weeks of excrutiating hunger and frustration, I took to carrying loads for customers in markets which they call "alabaru work" at Oyibo terminus. I used to carry load with my head. Sometimes I hire barrow to do the work but any time the barrow owners become too exploitative I use my head to carry load. ‘’I can carry a bag of rice for N150 and I can carry like 15 bags a day. I also carried tomatoes in baskets, N100 per basket. I used barrow to carry plantain heads, orange, water melon, corn, pepper in baskets, yam tubers and each item so listed has its price. ‘’We used to sleep under the bridge at Idumota, Lagos, because we could not afford house rent. It is this my gang member Ejiro that lured me into armed

Fire wipes out family of six Continued from page 19 until their father returned from work. But on the day of the incident, the children had gone to bed before their father returned home. Abolupe had his dinner and shortly slept off on a couch in the living room. The fire broke out shortly with billows of smoke covering the room where his wife and children slept. “Mr Abolupe was severely burnt when he tried to rescue his wife and children. His last child had died by the time sympathisers succeeded in gaining access into their apartment but three other children and the couple were taken to some public hospitals where they were rejected by doctors on duty. Sadly, the couple and their children died in a private hospital on the outskirt of Ogun State on Thursday December 18.” It was gathered that the late Abolupe, who is a native of Ondo State, had recently been warned by a prophet not to travel home for the burial of his father in their home town. The said prophet was said to have warned him of imminent calamity should he attend the ceremony, but Abolupe allegedly did not heed the warning. According to a source, who asked for anonymity, “the fire outbreak that consumed Abolupe and his family happened exactly one month after he returned from the burial of his father. “A similar message was given by a pastor of the church where he worshipped but he did not have time to participate in the special prayer sessions until the tragic incident consumed him and his wife and children,” the source added. Despondency, according to sources, may not have allowed residents to report the incident to police. “We were busy trying to salvage the lives of the couple and their children. We took them to some hospitals where they were rejected until they were admitted to a private hospital the following day after the incident where they died. Everyone was overwhelmed with grief and nobody had the time to report the case to police,” said a source, who asked not to be named.

•Abayomi and Ejiro robbery. He told me one day that he had found work that pays big money every time one does the work. I innocently followed him one day he told me to follow him to work not knowing that what he was calling work was armed robbery. ‘’Another work he asked me to follow him to go and do turned out to be car snatching and car battery stealing but I could not say no to him because I needed money badly. In fact, I nearly ran crazy or mad when I had no kobo in my pocket and life became better when I joined armed rob-

bery gang. Each operation fetched me not less than N20,000 depending on how loaded our victims were during operation. ‘’Do you believe that Ejiro lied to me the first time he wanted to lure me into his gang? He first told me that he wanted to go and carry goat which he usually took to an owner of a restaurant around Idumota. He used to sell a full live goat N2,000 and usually lie to people that he used to buy the goat from Ifo in Ogun State. ‘’So, that day I followed him, I thought that he was going to buy goat he would sell to food sellers but the event turned out to be armed robbery. There was a time we used to steal goat and fry the meat and put it in a show case and hawk in and around Idumota. ‘’He is the one that lured me into crime. Again, life in under bridge Idumota is a life in the jungle. A lot of things happen under the Idumota bridge. ‘’Take for instance, most of the boys who sleep under the bridge are either load carriers or pick pockets. At times, they form

armed robbery gangs and still sleep under bridge because life there is free. Everybody there is seen as a thief. Most of them who arrive there to join others in living under the bridge are always baptised by the pickpockets who empty their pockets when they fall asleep. In fact, after my first experience with the pick pockets under the Idumota bridge, I became careful in the way I handle my money. ‘’Most of our men who were sleeping with us before had secured flats, rooms or self-contained rooms from the money they made hussling while sleeping under bridge. I was dreaming of when I would go out of Idumota bridge and get a decent room or a decent flat to live depending on what I get in operation before this last operation caused our arrest. Life became hard for residents of under bridge when the government planted flowers and turned the whole place into gardens thereby displaying us. ‘’Many of us living under the bridge had gone to prison before, therefore, we are not afraid of going to prison.’’ The second suspect, Ejiro, also confessed and said: "I was a printer at Ibadan Oyo State. I am based in Ibadan. Any time you see me in Lagos, I came to buy printing machine with which to print business cards, calenders amont others. ‘’I knew Abiodun as a car battery thief and anytime I came to Lagos he used to take me to Idumota under bridge to smoke Indian hemp (Ganja). ‘’The first day I met him, I asked him to take me where I could buy and smoke Indian hemp and he took me to under bridge where I saw a lot of criminals. Even armed robbery gangs used to come to us to search

for faithful people who would like to join their gangs. ‘’He asked me my name and where I came from and I told him. He then told me that we got somewhere to go. I asked him the purpose of going to the place, he said we were going there to work. I told him that my work was goat selling and whether I will follow him and, he said yes, I got somewhere to go, just follow me. We trekked a very long distance like IyanaIpaja bridge along Abeokuta Expressway. It was just like trekking from Iyana-Ipaja to Oshodi. We trekked from Mile 12 to Alapere and before we could reach night came. ‘’I was arrested by Ebokola people at Alapere. Ebokola is a police station in Alapere. They saw cutlass in my hand and arrested me.’’ On what made him to become an armed robber, he said it was his step mother that maltreated him and cast a spell on him. This, he said, pushed him into robbery, pickpocketing and other criminal activities. He said: ‘’That woman is not my real mother. See what she did to me and my father. She wanted to kill me because she had married and born children for another man before my father married her. Sometimes she would like to put poison in my food anytime she wanted to serve me food. She had born children before she married my daddy. ‘’She always tried to poison me but there was something my father did for me which helped me to detect poison. She was treating me like a slave in my father's house. she is a wicked woman.’’

‘I knew my son as a prayer warrior, not a kidnapper’ Continued from page 19 son was a kidnapper, adding that he was a musician and prayer warrior. But she was speaking from both sides of the mouth. In another breath, she confirmed that her son and his acclaimed friends kidnapped one Ahanaonu Jacinta with her uncle in a sports utility vehicle (SUV) at 33 Nkwelle Ezunaka and brought them to her house at Arondizuogu in Imo State. Even at that, she failed to admit that she was the cook of the suspected kidnappers as alleged by the police. Furthermore, she confirmed that the suspects were friends to her son as he claimed, even though she never knew their ‘modus operandi’. She said she was

•Kidnap suspects

Area over the alleged killing of a multimil- using it for blowing rocks at Nkwelle only seeing them together, discussing together and taking baths together, signify- lionaire called Remi with pestle. The asEzunaka, adding that they were not the ing intimate friendship. sailants were also alleged to have made people selling it. Items like two-Ak47 riffles, three magaAccording to her, "I was sick and never away with his 500,000 naira cash. cooked for them. I had only returned Four other persons were also arrested zines, 49 rounds live ammunition, seven from the hospital before the police infor illegal possession of dynamites caparolls of dynamite explosives with other components were recovered from the vaded the compound accusing my son of ble of blowing up banks. being the gang leader of kidnappers. But the suspects claimed that they were suspects. "My son is a musician and a prayer warrior and I was surprised he could engage in such a nasty act, to the extent of being a kidnapper. I am amazed and dumb-founded by this", Offor said. The police have also arrested 18new traditional ruler of Meiran in Agn Kunle AKINRINADE n year-old Chukwujekwu Oranezu bado/Oke-Odo Local Development from Eziagu-Umueleke village in her watch had taken cognizance of the imArea (LCDA) of Alimosho area of Orumba South Local Government portance of traditional rulers as strong partLagos State, Oba Samuel Awoyemi Oroja ners in developmental projects. (Akarakiri 11), has been installed. “The installation of Oba Oroja has lowered While presenting the staff of office to the the tension in the community and the people new monarch at the coronation ceremony of the community are very happy now. Inheld in Meiran, Commissioner for Local deed, our council area is not unaware of the Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Hon Ademorin Kuye, urged Oba Oroja to encour- important role that traditional rulers play in the development of rural communities, age peace, unprecedented progress and dehence, our resolve to partner with them in velopment of his community. initiatives and projects that would touch the “No community can progress without peace, therefore, I want to admonish the new lives of people. “Having provided free drugs for the treattraditional ruler to engender peace by bringment of sicknesses such as malaria, pains ing everybody together for the progress and and hypertension, among others, in 10 pridevelopment of Meiran community.” Oba Oroja thanked the Lagos State govern- mary health care centres in this council area, we are already making use of monarchs in ment, people of Meiran and authority of Agcreating awareness about the initiative and bado/Oke-Odo LCDA for their support, the response has been positive. In fact, tradiadding that he would ensure that the people tional rulers in this council area have been of the community enjoy a new lease of life. applauding our road rehabilitation initiaIn her remarks, the Council Manager of Agbado/Oke-Odo LCDA, Mrs Mayowa Iku- tive, especially the grading of Samuel Ajakaiye and Idowu Adeniji roads and we foriji said that traditional rulers have a pivotal role to play in community development. are still going to do more in the next couple of weeks. ” She said the council administration under

Lagos community gets new traditional ruler

XMAS DAY TRAGEDY:

•Ifeoma

Angry

•Jaiyeola shortly after the incident

wife pours hot water on husband I

T was a sad Christmas celebration for a metal fabricator, Jaiyeola Alabi, when his wife, Ifeoma, allegedly poured hot water on him following a disagreement. The unfortunate incident happened at the couple’s residence at 23, Olawale Damola Street, Abule Iroko area of Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area of Ogun State. Eyewitnesses told The Nation that trouble started shortly after

n Kunle AKINRINADE n

The issue later degenerated into an altercation, but was later subsequently settled. But unknown to the couple had treated some of many, Ifeoma was still boiling their friends and family members to a lavish Christmas lunch at their with anger. An eyewitness, who simply residence. identified himself as Ola, said: It was gathered that Ifeoma, a ‘’The woman had demanded for mother of three, had asked her some money from her husband in husband for some money to take preparation for the funeral for her care of the burial of her mother, late mother who recently passed slated for January 2015. Her husband was said to have asked her to on. She was, however, displeased with her husband who asked her wait until January. to wait till January when he would be able to give her the money. ‘‘On Christmas day, the couple entertained some of their friends and relatives at their residence but the husband did not have an inkling that his wife was planning to launch attack on him. Jaiyeola was sleeping when his wife poured hot water on him, following which he raised the alarm that attracted neighbours.” The Nation gathered that Ifeoma was arrested the next day by men of the Sango Police Division, while Jaiyeola was taken to a hospital where he is still receiving treatment. Spokesman of Ogun State Police Command, Mr Muyiwa Adejobi, however said the inci•From left: Mrs Ikuforiji; Alajasa of Ajasa, Oba Sule Odualabe, Oba Oroja, receivdent was not reported ing his staff of office from Hon. Kuye to the police.

•Runtown

•Debbie

•Etcetera

•Wole Oni

Saturday, January 3, 2015

PAGE 29

2015

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

INTERVIEW

How I resisted marriage offers after my husband died —Nollywood star Lanre Hassan Popular actress, Lanre Hassan, is a veteran of the Yoruba genre of Nollywood. She ranks among the few of the older generation who are still vibrant in an industry that is fast being taken over by younger talents. In this interview with SEGUN AJIBOYE (Assitant Editor), she tells the story of her journey in the make-believe industry, marriage, style and other sundry issues. Excerpts: OU have been around as an actress for a long time. How has it been? To start with, my name is Lanre Hassan, popularly known as Mama Awero or Maami. But to answer your question, the journey has been good. God has been very kind and good to me and I thank Him for all His goodness in my life. You talked about God’s goodness. But how tough was it starting a career in acting? There is no point denying the fact that it has been tough. To be in an industry for 51 years is no joke at all. When we started, parents didn’t allow their children to act. They regarded the job as a job for no-do-wells. So, anybody who showed interest in the job was regarded as either lazy or irresponsible. Nobody gave us any recognition. So how did you cope with the perception?

•Lanre Hassan

I will tell you that most of us who were around then went into the industry because of the love for the job. We did not make any money and people around did not show us any respect, but we were determined to prove them wrong. We never thought that a time like this would ever come. But God has been wonderful. And you are reaping the fruits of your dedication today. Exactly! After all the sufferings of those days, I am enjoying the fruits of my labour. There is hardly any country that I have not been to around the world. In Nigeria, I don’t think there is any place that I don’t know. All these are because of the job I do. I cannot walk on the street without people recognizing me and shouting my name. I know you are popular among your fans. How rich are you? You see, our people measure success with money. But that is wrong. Your acceptance by a large crowd of people, who most times you don’t even know, is a sign of how successful you are. I thank God for His blessings. Though I may not be rich in terms of counting the millions, but God has made me to be comfortable.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015 And that, to me, is a measure of my success. Looking at the industry today, the fad is for the practitioners, especially the young ladies, to start movie productions, even before fully learning the arts of the trade. What is your view on this trend? Things were not like this during our time. Back then, all of us were dedicated to the job because of the love that we have for it. So, there was no rush among us to make money. As I speak with you, I will call a certified movie director to direct movie, even though I can direct. But unfortunately, what you find among young actors and actresses is to start production, even before they know how to act well. It is like a child trying to run before he could walk. They want to act, direct •Lanre Hassan and produce at the same time. We have been telling them about this shortcoming and I pray that they will understand what we are trying to tell them. I am sure you must have been very charming in your younger days. How were you able to cope with harassment from the men? It is all about discipline. You need to be disciplined and to know the child of whom you are. For me, a lot of credit should go to my guardian. She is late now, but she trained us on how to relate with the men. So, from that early age, we knew how to relate with the men and what to expect from them. But looking at the industry today, it seems the fears of the parents during your time are being confirmed. Very few of the young women are married. And even those who are married soon quit the marriage. Why are these happening? The difference is that during our time, we knew one another very well. Most of the marriages during our time were based on the love for each. But these days, things are no longer the same. If you live in Nigeria and you are married to a man who lives in the UK or US, you should be asked when and how you met. They just go into marriages without knowing anything about each other. So, even before you can blink, you hear that the marriage had packed up.

‘

By simply making them understand that I am not interested in marriage; and that my kids are my companions. It is that simple. Moreover, how would any man want to marry me when I am always on the road travelling for one job or the other?

‘

INTERVIEW Is your husband an actor? My husband was not an actor. As a matter of fact, he wanted me to quit the job soon after we got married, but we found a way to resolve it. All this was because we understood each other. If we didn’t understand each other, there was no way the marriage would stand. You are saying that the job is not responsible for the crashed marriages… You cannot blame the job for the crashed marriages. It is the fault of the individual woman. Look at all those old women in the industry. Why didn’t they suffer the same fate with their marriages? So, the marriages crash not because they are actresses or actors. It is part of the traits that we are witnessing today. Which can you describe as the happiest day since you started acting? For me, everyday is a happy day. Don’t forget that we are trained to make people happy. So, for you to do that, you have to be happy yourself. So there was no incident that has discouraged you so far? Well, I can point to one particular incident. It was the day I lost my child. It was the day that one of us, that popular actor, Ojo Ladipo, popularly called Baba Mero died. We went to his house and came back home. In the morning, my child was dead. It was really tough. I simply lost all. And shortly before then, I had lost another child. He died while I was on the stage acting. So you felt like quitting? Yes. I was scared and asked myself several questions. What could be responsible? Was it because of my job? I just could not stand it. But thank God, there were several elderly people around us. They came and consoled me. They told me that the deaths were just coincidental. That was what saved me. It learnt a lot on how to relate with other people. And that you should be nice to people on your way up because you might need them on your way down. You sure have a very bright sense of fashion. Do you have any fashion routine? The truth is that I don’t have any particular style. Whatever you see me wear or step out in is the grace of God. However, I know that there is the need for you to step out neat because you need to dress the way that you want people to address you. Your husband died a long time ago. Why have you refused to try another marriage? Me, another marriage? No, I don’t want it. Are the men not pestering you? You should know that they would come. But it is up to you to politely reject whatever offer they are bringing. You need to stand on your feet and maintain your stand. So, how did you maintain your stand? By simply making them understand that I am not interested in marriage; and that my kids are my companions. It is that simple. Moreover, how would any man want to marry me when I am always on the road travelling for one job or the other. You were a member of the Ojo Ladipo Theatre Group. How many were you at the time? We were about four at the beginning. The group included me, Ojo Ladipo, Iya Mero and Oga Bello. But later on, others came to join. Some could not stay because it was tough. But we persevered and remained with the group. Today we are reaping the fruits of our perseverance. And that is what I want the younger generation of artistes to imbibe. There is no need for them be in haste to be rich. All those will come with time.

‘Marriage? I’m fulfilled the way I am’ • Continued from Page 37 Abuja have started to raise their own families. There is nothing that gives me joy than seeing people who went through my tutelage aspire, perspire and acquire. Does that mean you won't ever give marriage a second chance? Never say never because limitations, like fears, are often illusions. It is only God that can decide that. Maybe if God reconciles me with my ex, but what do I even want again? Honestly, ask me, what do I want again? I have my God, I worship Him in happiness. I have a lovely team of excellent staff. I have a successful son. God has done enough for me and no man can equate God's stand in my life. I am fulfilled. We have observed that you are also a showstopper when it comes to parties. I sell what I wear, I wear what I sell. I don't do cheap fashion. I go for quality and people know that if they have me at their events, they have quality and what I wear from my jewelries down to clothes and shoes are all original from the source. We have just launched the new Honey Bee branded Gele and Honey Bee shoe series; that is why people are presently trooping into my place to buy. We are proud of our business heritage. How does your day look like? My day starts with God. I pray and offer Him praises for His kindness and mercy upon my life. I also appreciate Him for the role He is playing upon my businesses and family. That done, I try to meditate, and read the news on CNN and BBC. I am a news person, I like to be abreast with what goes around in my environment and other parts of the world. I take my breakfast after my first client comes around. The day is often busy and interesting, at times they come down and sometimes we send our sale representatives to go and drop for them. If I am not travelling or attending to other issues, I do my business and count my blessings for the day. Beyond everything, it is good to pay tithe to God and that is one secret of God's blessing in my life. Do you have a role model? Yes I do, her name is Madam Hedy Bush of Abba Bush Intercontinental; she is my prime producer and supplier in Austria, very humble, intelligent woman with good diction of English language. I love her calmness and Godliness despite her wealth. She is one woman I look up to and I will like to be like her someday because she is an astute business woman with a heart of gold. What does style mean to you? It means comfort, confidence, expression and strategy. Style is what you sell and what you sell is what you learn and what you learn is what you earn and what you earn is what permits your social security. I am a sociologist, I studied sociology and that is why I am sounding like this (laughs). So, style to me is comfort, confidence, expression and strategy. I mean you cannot expect me to go and see Mrs. Dieziani Madueke or Mrs Dame Patience Jonathan now and I take Abuja taxi cab to their office. It is like somebody that wants to go and see Governor Babatunde Fashola in Lagos and you go there in a Danfo bus, I am sure you will spend hours at the reception room. That is if they will even allow the person in. But step in there with a top notch SUV or Mercedes Benz Car and before you even alight from your car, the message that you are around would have already reached your host. I believe in style, I believe in quality fabrics and accessories, I believe in standards and that is why I am Honey Bee.

THE NATION SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

with KAYODE ALFRED

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

THE NATION SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

41 with KAYODE ALFRED E-mail:kayflex2@yahoo.com TEL:08116759807

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

PRESIDENT JONATHAN

GOVERNOR AMAECHI

WAEC REGISTRAR

GOVERNOR SUSWAM

INEC CHAIRMAN

SOCIETY

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

At the wedding of the Osinubis

PHOTOS: Biodun ADEYEWA

• The couple, Mr. & Mrs. Adebayo Akinrinsade Osinubi, during their wedding at the Foursquare Gospel Church, National Headquarters, Yaba, Lagos

• Bride’s parents, Engr. Rev. & Rev. Mrs. David Adelaja

• Groom’s parents, Pastor & Pastor Mrs. Osinubi

• Wife of General Overseer, Foursquare Church, Rev. Mrs. Bisi Meduoye (left) and Rev. Mrs. Yinka Badejo

• Former General Overseer, Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev. Wilson Badejo (right) and Rev. Tony Nwanma • Rev. & Rev. Mrs. Zachaeus Olaniyan

• Chairman of the occasion, Rev. & Rev. Mrs. Funsho Omowo

• Rev. & Rev. Mrs. Joshua Aremu

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

Abuja community where frying bean cakes is a taboo

YTHS and taboos are a common phenomenon in Africa. Many of these myths and taboos are however gradually giving way to newer beliefs. But in Chukunku community in the Kuje area of the Federal Capital Territory, it still remains a taboo for the people to fry bean cakes popularly referred to as akara in local parlance. The Nation was told that even though people do eat the delicacy in their respective homes, it is a taboo to do so in the open or even attempt to fry and sell it on the streets of the community. Why is this so? Engr. Joseph who resides in the community told The Nation that when he first came to the community, his wife •Balls of wanted to start the business of frying akara for sale. According to him, they were immediately warned against doing so with the excuse that it offends their culture. Many residents of the community would not speak on why it is a taboo to fry akara in the community. Some of those who chose to speak only did so in camera, explaining that it is a tradition that has been with them for several decades and from the inception of the community. There are two versions however to the origin of this taboo, but the two had similarity which is to stop witches from operating and killing people in the community. One version had it that the frying of akara was stopped in the community by the founding fathers to stop witches from using the oil used in the frying of the akara to perpetuate evil and kill people at night. The other version had it that it was stopped to prevent the witches from using the smoke from the process as a channel to enter the community to attack people at night. Even though some residents offered to speak on the issue, their friends and relatives would not let them speak for fear of offending the gods of the land. Investigations revealed that all those who are interested in venturing into the business of frying and selling akara either have to go outside the community or relocate from the community where they can easily find cheap accommodation. Although Saturday Nation could not get the Village Head, to speak on the tradition and why people in the community are banned from frying akara, those close to him said they cannot go against the tradition which was handed down to them by their fore fathers. One of them who pleaded not to be named said: “For

There are two versions however to the origin of this taboo, but the two had similarity which is to stop witches from operating and killing people in the community. One version had it that the frying of akara was stopped in the community by the founding fathers to stop witches from using the oil used in the frying of the akara to perpetuate evil and kill people at night

beancake

•A woman frying beancake many years, we have never fried akara in this community. We grew up to meet the tradition which was started by our fore fathers. It has been part of our culture that nobody living in this community fries akara. I don’t know why it is so; but that is just the way we met it. Anybody who want to eat akara here will have to go to Gwagwalada to buy. Interestingly, while the community still dwells in this old age tradition, it is suffering from what appears to be total neglect by the government. Even though it is a few minutes drive from the University town of Gwagwalada, one of the commercial centres of the Federal Capital Territory, it is still stuck in this old tradition. Engr, Joseph who claimed to have lived in the community for several years said he is yet to understand the rationale for the ban. He said: “I came in here and was told about it and I just have to respect their laws. It has nothing to do with us. I know that one can do the fry-

ing inside one’s house and no one will know about it unless you announce it.” Although residents of the town are not ready to willingly talk about this taboo, they are quick to tell you that the government has neglected the community, even though they play an important role in bringing the government to power. Many of them still depend on the River in the area for water while those who can afford it, are at the mercy of water vendors who rely on privately dug boreholes to get water which they sell to members of the community. The town lacks some basic amenities like good roads, pipe borne water and electricity. Investigations by The Nation revealed that children in the community still defecate in the open, thereby creating a potential health hazard in the community. Mohammed Musa, a resident of the community told The Nation that wealthy individuals who reside in the community have taken advantage of the

lack of potable drinking water to sink bore holes in the community where they sell water. He stated further that even the promise from government to ensure that they have good drinking water has not materialized. The government, through the Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory Olajumoke Akinjide, had promised to channel water to them through the stream in the village, a promise that is yet to be fulfiled. As he said: “Since 2011, the minister had promised that our river here will be a source of water for us but up till now, we have not received any feedback from her. She came here with our chairman then. We need government to distribute water to our different villages". They are also not happy about power supply to the community which they said is very epileptic as they can stay for several days without power supply and this has affected economic activities in the community. One other interesting thing about this community is the fact that even though they seek modernity, children in the community still go to the several refuse dumps which liters the community to defecate, creating health hazard in the community. Surprisingly, The Nation was informed some parents actually take their children to the refuse dump to defecate not minding the likely implication and the health hazard associated with the action. Yakubu Musa who resides close to the community said that it is clear that many of these parents are not even aware of the heal implications of allowing the children to defecate in the open and on top of the refuse dump, an action which exposes them to several diseases including cholera and other air borne diseases. Unfortunately, the children do not wash their hands after defecating and health workers are worried that if nothing is done and fast, the community might have an outbreak of epidemic soon, especially considering the fact that they lack quality drinking water.

Email: counselling@faithoyedepo.org

Coping with Diseases h

Professor Dayo Oyekole,

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

THE NATION SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

54 NEWS

? The quintuplets as they marked three last week

Okorie UGURU

THE NATION SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

NEWS 55

The quintuplets three years ago

Mrs Shofunlayo

The babies on the day they were discharged from the hospital

NEWS

THE NATION SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

Vote for credible candidates, Maku urges Nigerians K W A N G A (Nasarawa) - The immediate past Minister of Information, Mr Labaran Maku, yesterday asked Nigerians to vote for credible candidates in next month’s elections. Maku told supporters at his country home at Wakama, Nasarawa Eggon Local Government Area of Nasarawa State that this year is that of destiny for the country by virtue of the elections. “Year 2015 is a year of destiny for our country because it is a year of elections and election periods are moments when people ought to be rejoicing,” he said “Nigerians must ensure that only credible candidates are elected into public offices. “It is only when we do away with religion and vote based on our conscience that this country will move forward,’’ he

Bauchi meat factory cuts prices Austine TSENZUGHUL, Bauchi ETERMINED to ensure its patrons have a happy new year, Bauchi Meat Products Company yesterday announced Christmas cut on its products. General Manager of the company established in 1961, Dr. Alkasim Ibrahim informed The Nation that “the company finds it necessary to reduce the price of its products so as to enable our patrons to afford the products especially at this period of new year celebration." "In view of this, the management of the company has agreed to slash twenty percent (20%) on the prices of all our products with effect from the first day of January, 2015." He congratulated Nigerians, particularly Bauchi people for witnessing another promising year and appealed to Bauchi people to support the effort s of the present administration to provide more job opportunities to the teeming youths of the state. Assuring that the meat company is committed to contributing to realizing the economic growth of the state, the general manager said the company was still producing below it's installed capacity due to the economic crunch facing the nation and it's immediate clients in the state. But hopes that 2015 will be much better as the Federal government is taking stern measures to stop the importation of most of the meat products that can be produced within the country." According to Alkasim with the stoppage of these products, we shall have more business and increase our output, our revenue base shall move up, healthy meat shall be in circulation and increase or prolong quality lives of our people.”

said. He also asked political leaders and aspirants to rise above base sentiments and promote values which benefit the people. Maku appealed to his supporters to pray for him and his opponents, adding that he was determined to contest the 2015 governorship election inspite of his current challenges in the PDP. He said the party’s Appeal Panel had yet to respond to the petition he submitted on the outcome of the state’s governorship primary. “I want to assure my supporters that no amount of conspiracy by a few people will stop me from contesting the 2015 general elections,” he said.

•From left: National Secretary, Forum for the Patriotic members of APC, Musa Wakaso; Former Kaduna State Governor, Col. Hamid Ali (rtd); Chairman Forum for the Patriotic Members of All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Lawal Garba and the Forum National Organising Secretary, Umar Jibo during the Forum for the Patriotic Members of APC Conference in Abuja. Photo: Akin OLADOKUN

Gunmen kill 15 in fresh Kaduna attack A

BOUT 15 people have been reported killed in Ambe-Madaki village in Sanga Local Government Area of Kaduna state in a fresh attack by unknown gunmen. The incident which was said to have occurred at about 4:00am on Friday, came barely one week after 10 people were killed in Tattaura village in the same locality allegedly by fulani herdsmen. A resident of the area, Mr. Yohanna Adamu who narrated how the incident took place in a telephone call to our correspondent in Kaduna, said the Fulani invaders who were armed with sophisticated guns arrived the village at about 4:00am on Friday and started shooting sporadically and setting houses ablaze. Adamu said several other people sustained injuries from gun shots

Abdulgafar ALABELEWE, Kaduna

while over 20 houses were set ablaze. He said the incident sparked off mass protest by various communities in the area who matched to Gwantu, the headquarters of Sanga Local Government to register their displeasure over the attacks in spite of the peace agreement signed with the Fulanis never to attack anyone. According to him, the protest almost turned into a religious crisis, adding that the prompt‎ intervention of the special military task force on security averted the situation. "We are surprised that despite the agreement that our communities entered with the Fulanis not to attack each other, they have been attacking us. "They came to our village at about 4:00am today (Friday), armed with sophisticated

weapons and started shooting and burning houses. "We have not compiled the casualty figure yet because some people are still missing, but we have 15 corpses of people who were killed. "This is the second time they are attacking us after we signed the agreement to live in peace. Last week, they attacked Tattaura village and killed 10 people. "The communities were very angry over

these killings so they marched to Gwantu to protest, but the protest almost led to religious crisis. It was the intervention of the security personnel that saved the situation," Adamu said. He stated further that because of the growing uncertainty over their security, the villagers were relocating to other places for safety. Adamu called on the authorities concerned to address the security situation in Sanga Local

Kano police arrests 214 suspected rapists HE Kano State Police Command has said that during the outgoing year the command arrested a total number of 214 suspects charged for rape,j ust as the command nabbed a total number of 482 armed robbery suspects. The Command in a statement signed by the image maker of the Command, ASP Magaji

Kolade ADEYEMI, Kano

Musa Majia, made available to press men in Kano, also added that 24 high calibre of improvised Explosive Devices were uncovered. According to him, the Command led by the Commissioner of Police, Mr Aderenle Shinaba, recorded tremendous achievements in crime prevention and detection

2015 Polls: Sokoto police trains officers, men on election processes HE Sokoto state Police Command has commenced the training of its officers and men on the 2015 election processes, Commissioner of Police, Shuaibu Lawal Gambo has said. Gambo who disclosed the development on Thursday in Sokoto said the essence is to dispassionately ensure hitch-free polls in February this year. He explained that the training programme was aimed at educating the officers and men of the Command on the electoral processes. According to Gambo, “Our men need to be educated on their constitutional responsibilities before, during and after

Adamu SULEIMAN, Sokoto

the 2015 general elections. “We observe that an educated police officer would ensure peaceful conduct of elections," he added. Gambo disclosed further that all Area Commanders and Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) had since been briefed on the training programme as a tool and guide for smooth and peaceful operation. He also assured political parties in the state of the command's readiness to provide level-playing ground and security cover during their electioneering campaign activities. The police boss further

Government Area before the situation got out of hand. Although the spokesman of the Kaduna state command, DSP Aminu Lawan could not be reached for comments, a security source in Sanga who pleaded anonymity confirmed the incident. He said some people were killed in the attack, adding however, that he was not in a position to confirm the casualty figure.

warned that the Command would not tolerate political thuggery, specifying that the use of youths carrying dangerous weapons at political gatherings will not be allowed. We will not tolerate any act capable of promoting confusion and the breach of public peace," he stressed. Meanwhile, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 10, Alhaji Bala Hassan has warned vigilante groups against taking laws into their hands by indiscriminate arrests of people whom they claim are ‘cattle rustlers’ in the zone which comprised of Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states. According to AIG

Hassan, all Commissioners of Police in the zone had been detailed on measures to be taken in the event of such arrests. “Any vigilante group that is found intimidating members of the public will be dealt with," he vowed. He stressed that arrests of herdsmen by vigilante groups in parts of the zone would no longer be tolerated except in situations where such suspects were handed over to the police for thorough investigation. However, the police boss further appealed to the people to report any suspicious conduct of the group to the nearest police station.

thereby providing a good security coverage of lives and properties across the state. “This achievement cannot be ruled out of the cordial synergy enjoyed with all sister security organizations, the state Government, Traditional Institutions, members of the Press and good people of Kano state. Efforts of the general public have greatly assisted the Command in tackling insurgent activities in the state thereby relegating their activities to barest minimal level,” he noted. He added that the command witnessed a total of 578 Capital crimes committed during the outgoing year, which in comparison indicates a slash against the year 2013. “The Command expresses gratitude to the general public in the state for the maximum cooperation and motivation they were given. This support had boosted our general performance and zeal towards providing effective prevention of life and properties. It’s also sincerely grateful to the Kano State Government for the support and timely assistance, Traditional institutions, journalists, NGOs, philanthropists and all good citizens of Kano State for their support,” the statement said.

NEWS

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

Mystery fire burns eight months old baby to death

n •From left: Akwa Ibom State Governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, CON; his deputy, Noble Lady Velerie Ebe; and wife, Unoma, dancing with a cross section of Akwa Ibom women at the 2015 New Year Solemn Assembly in Uyo... yesterday

n Osagie OTABOR, Benin n mysterious fire that gutted a storey-building along Ewemade Street off Sapele road in Benin City has killed an eight-month old baby. The fire was said to have started after many occupants of the building have left to attend the crossover service on New Year eve. An eyewitness, who owns a shop in the building, said the fire spread rapidly before men of the Edo Fire Service arrived. The witness said properties worth millions of naira were also destroyed. According to the witness, "The fire happened around 11pm on Wednesday after everyone had gone to church�. "Few minutes after power was restored after a power outage, we were about to leave the� shop� when we heard people shouting, fire, fire! "Before we knew it, it had spread to other parts of the building, as if kerosene was added to it," the eyewitness said. It was learnt that the corpse of the baby has been deposited at a mortuary. An official of the Edo State Fire Service, who identified himself as Mr Anthony Osadolor�, denied allegations that the fire service delayed to arrive early to the scene after receiving calls from the victims.

Amaechi’s legacy gives APC 90% chance of winning Rivers –Okocha •Says the two million votes given to Mr President in 2011 was waste n Precious DIKEWOHA, Port Harcourt n HE Chief of Staff, Government House Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha has said the radical change initiated by Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s administration in the state has attracted many people to accept his agenda and support for All Progressive Congress (APC) in the State. He said the massive investment in education, health, road construction, youths’ empowerment and so many others, has made Rivers people to reckon with the APC government in the state, adding that governor Amaechi’s legacy will give APC 90% chance of winning the state in the forthcoming general elections. Chief Okocha who was speaking at his Rumuigbo residence in Port Harcourt yesterday, said Amaechi led administration enthroned good measure of transparency and accountability in his government, making it difficult for corrupt individuals to loot peoples common wealth. He said many people are yearning for change because of the lack of responsible government at the national level, arguing that the two million votes given to Mr President by Rivers people in 2011 was a wasteful ven-

ture. He noted that Ikwerre people will never forget Amaechi’s boldness to ensure that Ikwerre man did not succeed Ikwerre man for the interest of the future of their children and unborn children. “The chances of winning Rivers State are very clear and bright. The truth of the matter is that the legacy of his Excellency speaks volume of APC and our people are desirous of change and that is because the only thing that is permanent is change. “That is what we want to continue with indelible marks in the sand of time. The people are very happy with Governor Amaechi. When you cause radical changes like Amaechi has done, people are likely to go with you. If you take a statistical data in the state, you will see that almost everybody is yearning for change. “We gave Mr President two million votes in 2011 and today we have nothing to show for it. He has not imparted the lives of Rivers people. The issue of electricity in Nigeria is a total failure, but Ghana can boost of eighteen hours power supply. So that shows the PDP government has failed.

Ex-Council boss advocates stringent measures against corruption n Osemwengie BEN n OGBEMUDIA, Benin HE former Executive Chairman of Orhionmwon Local Government Council and a Chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Hon. Saturday Idehen Uwulekhue, has advocated stringent measures to tackle the high level of corruption in the country. Hon. Uwulekhue gave the charge yesterday, at his office in Benin City, while briefing newsmen on the challenges the country had experienced in the out gone year 2014 and his expectations in 2015. He stressed that corruption had become a canker worm eating deep into the blood streams of the society, which has had negative impact on the country in the past few years. The former Aspirant to the Orhionmwon/Uhunmwode Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives on the platform of PDP, noted that corruption had set Nigeria backward to the dooms days of the military and that some powerful cabal had institutionalized corruption to become inheritance at both public and private sectors of the economy. Lamenting the slow pace of fighting corruption by the Federal Government, he posited that unless strict measures are put in place in the year 2015, Nigeria’s reputation in the Western Communities would have gone into oblivion.

Rivers governorship: There must be power shift, Amaechi insists R IVERS State Governor and Chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi has attributed successful implementation of projects in the state to well-defined and purposeful use of finance. The Governor said this during his speech at the 2015 New Year State Banquet, organized by the state on Thursday, which attracted state dignitaries and political office holders. Amaechi said: “We’ve been very prudent, we’ve managed our resources in such a way that we can stand our ground and tell people like Tonye Princewill that, we can’t steal money. I will publish the transaction of our power assets. Tonye Princewill knows that I don’t like money. Tonye Princewill had a problem with Tonye Cole. It is peer jealousy. I said that because, Tonye Princewill suspected that I was going to make Tonye Cole Deputy governor in 2011. But I didn’t have that at the back of my mind and he approached me and said, 'why was I going to do that' and I said it wasn’t part of my agenda." “If that is the reason for which he is attacking Sahara Oil and attacking me,

I wish him luck. Let him tell the state why he’s trying to malign my character and I am open for a debate with him. But like I said, he’s my young friend whose ambition is to be governor, I wish him luck. I thank God I have already been governor. Even if he becomes governor, he will be a junior governor to me because I had already become governor before him!” Governor Amaechi urged people of the state to appreciate and support the need for power shift in the state’s forthcoming governorship poll. “I think that the battle for Rivers soul starts now. You are all here seated, go home and get your brothers and sisters to learn that power has to shift hands. It would be wrong to look at myself, an Ikwerre man and support a greedy and ambitious young boy from the same Ikwerre when you have Kalabari, you have Ogoni and other parts of Rivers State that have not served in the office of the governor. It is the responsibility of Rivers people to vote for the party that has put forward change on their agenda. If the reason for which they are putting Ikwerre candidate forward is because of the population of Ikwerre, then the rest of

Rivers State should forget governorship because it is after one Ikwerre man to another Ikwerre man until they are tired.” “It will not be fair that the mainland will take governorship for 16 years and the riverine won’t take it for even four years. I think as a people, we should support that shift so that it will go one day from the riverine to the mainland, back to the riverine, back to the mainland until we begin to talk about merit alone.” He thanked Rivers people for the opportunity to serve the state and especially thanked elders and leaders of the state including his wife for their supportive roles. He said his wife has been a source of great strength and encouragement. “Today will be the last New Year Banquet that we hold in office and today I wish to thank my lovely wife for marrying me. From the day she stepped into my house, she has not known peace because, she met me a politician and I have been playing politics until today and she has been able to manage me from that day to today, and I want to publicly thank her for that.”

Amaechi not guilty of treason; threats to harm, or eliminate him totally unacceptable –Rivers APC HE All Progressives Congress (APC), Rivers State chapter, has insisted that Governor Rotimi Amaechi is not guilty of treason, while describing the threats to harm and eliminate him as totally unacceptable. It asked the Federal Government to stop flying kite on the possible arrest and trial of Amaechi, who is also the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF), in connection with some of his recent public statements, in his capacity as the DirectorGeneral of General Muhammadu Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation (GMBPCO). Rivers APC Chairman, Chief Davies Ibiamu Ikanya, through his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Public Affairs, Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, warned that Amaechi must not be given the Abiola treatment. The ruling APC in Rivers said: “We have every reason to be worried about the safety

n Bisi OLANIYI, n Port Harcourt of our dear Governor, in view of the lessons of history, especially with regard to the late Chief MKO Abiola, who was unjustifiably detained, only to die under mysterious circumstances, while in Federal Government's custody. We are therefore, reluctant to dismiss reports in various media outlets, suggestive of a threat to the life of Governor Amaechi in connection with his current assignment as the Director-General of General Muhammadu Buhari Presidential Campaign Organisation.” APC also strongly condemned the threat issued to Amaechi on Monday by the Department of State Services (DSS), which described the NGF chairman’s recent allegation of corruption in the Nigerian military as inciting and unguarded. The party said: “This is nothing but an attempt to give a dog a bad name in

order to hang it. There is nothing inciting, unguarded or treasonable in Governor Amaechi’s statement. The governor, while expressing his views on the factors militating against the success of the Federal Government’s war against Boko Haram insurgency in the North Eastern part of the country, blamed the challenges on corruption in the military hierarchy and not on inadequate funding as the public is made to believe. It is unfortunate that, rather than accept the challenge of fighting corruption, the Federal Government has chosen to ignore the message and go after the messenger.” The Rivers APC also warned that no harm should befall Amaechi for patriotically exercising his freedom of speech as a citizen of Nigeria, in line with the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. It said: “We understand why the sinking PDP-controlled Presidency is resorting

to intimidation, as it has read the handwriting on the wall in the countdown to the 2015 presidential poll. We, however, wish to make it clear that both Governor Amaechi and his supporters will not be cowed, but will remain resolute in leading the struggle to uproot PDP from the Aso Presidential Villa, as the first step towards salvaging Nigeria from the doldrums, occasioned by the inept 16year maladministration of PDP. “Nigerians are yearning for change and that change we must give them, by ensuring that the PDP government is peacefully voted out in 2015. If any of our security agencies needs to arrest anybody, they should start with associates of President Goodluck Jonathan, particularly Chief Femi Fani-Kayode, President Jonathan’s Campaign Director of Media and Dr. Doyin Okupe, the President’s Aide on Public Affairs.’’

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

NEWS 59

Ihedioha slams Araraume for flagging off governorship campaign HE Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives and governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Imo State, Rt. Hon Emeka Ihedioha, yesterday condemned in strong terms the recent road show staged by Senator Ifeanyi Araraume, who is laying claim to the same PDP governorship ticket. Ihedioha in a statement signed by his Campaign Director, Chief Chris Okewulonu, cautioned the former Senator to “immediately put an end to these ill-advised activities that are inimical to the electoral successes of our great party in Imo State and clearly injurious to the prevailing peace in the state”. According to the statement, “our attention has been drawn to the unfor-

of disputes within the Party. “The State Working Committee (SWC) led by the Imo State Chairman of the PDP, Chief Barr. Nnamdi Anyaehie as well as the National Working Committee (NWC) being the relevant authorities of our great party had severally issued statements affirming Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha as the winner of the governorship primaries and governorship candidate of our great party for the 2015 elections. “As our brother and compatriot, we harbour no malice but enjoin Senator Araraume to see good reason as a party man and discontinue these illadvised activities, inimical to the electoral successes of our great party in Imo State and clearly injurious to the prevailing peace of Imo State”.

•Senator’s action inciting, he says n Okodili NDIDI, Owerri n tunate road show along the streets of Owerri by people who are not indigenes of Imo State by Senator Ifeanyi Araraume one of the governorship aspirants who contested the December 8, 2014 party primaries which Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha won and purporting himself as new governorship candidate of our party (PDP). “This false claim and regrettable action of Senator Ifeanyi Araraume has no doubt bemused our party faithful and Imo people in general. One therefore, wonders if they are deliberate campaign, designed to provoke the PDP family in Imo State to engage in

violence which could jeopardize the expected electoral success of the PDP in the forthcoming 2015 elections. “It is also regrettable that the APC led Imo State Government is already celebrating this unwarranted conduct of Senator Araraume over the airwaves”. The statement further added, “it is noteworthy that these condemnable activities of Chief Godwin Ifeanyi Araraume are contrary to sections 58 (1) a, b, c, f, h, i and j of the constitution of our great party (PDP). It is being aimed at causing disaffection among members of the party; promoting fractionalization of the PDP family in Imo State and unauthorized publicity

•The former Gov. of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi with his wife, Margaret and daughter, Amaka during the New Year visit and presentation of food items and money to the Rehabilitation Centre for the Old, Disabled and Tramp (RECDOT), at Ozubulu on New Year day,

Shun gifts from desperate politicians –Imo Dep Gov n Nneka Nwaneri n MO State Deputy Governor, Prince Eze Madumere has called on the youth of Imo State to desist from being willing tools in the hands of desperate politicians and reject their gift items which they use to lure them into captivity. He also urged Nigerians to learn to live in peace; a virtue he said brings about progress in the society. Prince Madumere spoke to a mammoth crowd of Imolites who participated at a New Year Cross over prayers and music and general concert, which was held at Lake Malinda home, in his home town, Achi Mbieri, Mbaitoli local government of the state. Speaking further, he said where bitterness and vendetta are order of the day, there is hardly growth as people will lose the collective goal and work in cross purposes. He called for understanding of individual differences to achieve a collective goal. He said: "Shun the Greek gifts of desperate politicians who do not have your interest at heart. Their gifts are mainly to lure you and use you to achieve their selfish desires." The deputy governor said that, to sustain the people oriented policies and programmes initiated by the governor of the state Rochas Okorocha, all should come out en mass to vote at the February elections. He reminded the people of the huge task ahead to sustain the people oriented policies and programmes of the state. "The 2015 elections are here and your vote is your power. You have the opportunity to sustain the change or squander it. You must think future. You must not just go all out to cast your votes to your choice candidates; you must also ensure that no electoral thief comes close.” While noting the downturn of the economy, he called for individual skill acquisition and entrepreneurial development.

2015 is year of change –Oshiomhole OVERNOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State says the New Year 2015 will be an important one for Nigerians to vote for change and get the country back to the path of greatness, rather than the present system at the federal level where nothing works. According to him, “this year presents Nigerians with a unique opportunity to vote out the party which produced bad leaders who buffeted us with different excuses and fed us with empty rhetoric on why Nigeria is yet to achieve her greatness, after being in the saddle for 16 years.

n Osemwengie BEN OGBEMUDIA, Benin n “In 2015, Nigerians must we remain optimistic in the rise in unison to elect credible Nigerian project and we urge leaders who will rise above the people to join us and the lethargy of the PDP gov- avail themselves of the opernment to confront the chal- portunity next year to punish lenges facing the nation. these bad leaders with our “It is ironic and sadden- votes and ensure that the deing that while they preach sired change is achieved for to the downtrodden masses the benefit of all. to tighten their belts and “We must resist their plots prepare for austere times, to use ethnicity, religion and they continue to display other clannish tendencies to nauseating indifference to divide us. We must never forthe plight of the people by get that poverty and bad coming up with a war chest governance are not defined running into several billions by religion or ethnicity but by of naira to prosecute a proj- inefficient leadership. ect to further impoverish "This is why the time for the people. change is now, more than “However, as progressives, ever before. “In Edo, we

promise to redouble our efforts in the New Year, in spite of the lean resources accruing to the state, to complete many of the on-going projects and initiate new ones for the benefit of our people. "As we have always promised, our dear state will be the cynosure of all eyes in the country as we will leave the state far better than we met it in terms of human and infrastructural development. “While wishing our people a blissful and bountiful New Year, we urge them to continue to support the state government in its drive and determination to move the state to the next level.”

Peterside pledges to fight insecurity in Rivers HE governorship candidate of All Progressive Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Dakuku Peterside says, his administration would focus on job creation to end all forms of insecurity in the state if he is elected in the forthcoming general elections. Peterside stated this in Port Harcourt, the State capital, during the official opening of a secretariat built by the Generation of Peace (GOP), a Non-Governmental Organization (NGO), supporting his governorship ambition. The law maker representing Opobo/Nkoro/ Andoni LGA in the Federal House of Representative, identi-

n Rosemary NWISI, Port Harcourt n fied poverty driven by unemployment as reason for the spate of insecurity in the state. He promised to create more job opportunities to ensure meaningful source of living for residents of the state, stressing that the modalities are already in place to achieve this. He said, "As member of Generation of Peace, I will partner with you in the following; we will work for peace in this land. A hungry man cannot be a peaceful person. If we truly want peace, we must address those things that are the root cause of crisis in the state, or anything that is inimical to peace.

“One of those things we must address is the issue of poverty. We will make sure we take steps to create employments for our people. When our people are employed, they have less time for violence, less time for crisis. So we must work very hard to create employment for our people. “Modality have been put in place for employment generation in the state. When there is the right environment for people to pursue their life aspirations, security, right infrastructure in place, good roads, power and all other infrastructural systems, then investors, both foreign and local, will be attracted into the state and jobs will be created.

Imo PDP guber candidate’s name missing as INEC displays list •Okorocha, Iheanacho cleared

n Okodili NDIDI, Owerri n HE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday, displayed the names of governorship, House of Assembly and Senatorial candidates of various political parties in Imo State. However the governorship candidate of the PDP was not among the names displayed, while the All Progressives Congress (APC) had incumbent Governor Rochas Okorocha as its governorship candidate and Prince Eze Madumere, the current Deputy Governor as running mate. The All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) had Capt. Emmanuel Iheanacho as the governorship candidate. The inability of INEC to display the PDP governorship candidate, may not be unconnected to a Court injunction obtained at an Abuja High Court by one of the governorship aspirants, which stopped the Commission and other interested parties from carrying out further actions on the matter, until the determination of the suit, which comes up for hearing of the 14 of January. Meanwhile efforts to get the INEC Public Relations Officer in the State, Emmanuela Opara, was abortive as she was not responding to her calls, while the INEC headquarters was under lock and key, making further verifications impossible as at the time of filling this report.

Imo denies issuing dud cheque to pensioners n Okodili NDIDI, Owerri n MO State Government yesterday described as malicious and unfounded, the allegation that pensioners in the State were issued dud cheque as payment for their monthly pension and gratuity. In a statement signed by the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Chief Chidi Ibe, the state Government insisted that pensioners in the state get their monthly pensions and other entitlements as at when due, adding that the contributions of the pensioners will always be appreciated. According to the statement, “there has never been a time in the reign of this people oriented and purpose driven government that any worker, especially our pensioners will be allowed to go through pains just to access their benefits, talk more of issuing out dud cheque to them. “In addition, all pensioners in the state have always been in cordial relationship with the Rochas Okorocha led administration as never witnessed in the history of Imo State. Let’s state categorically that pensioners promptly receive their monthly pension in this administration as at when due, even from their respective homes and sick beds.

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

NEWS

Italy coastguards board abandoned migrant ship Ezadeen TALIAN authorities have taken control of a ship with 450 migrants, thought to be Syrian, that was abandoned by its crew off Italy's coast. The Italian coastguard said it was now being towed to an Italian port after a rescue team managed to board. The Ezadeen, sailing under the flag of Sierra Leone, lost power in rough seas overnight off the south-east of Italy. A total of 796 migrants were rescued from another ship found abandoned without any crew earlier in the week. Italian coast guard Cmdr Filippo Marini told reporters that the vessel was being towed by an Icelandic ship that is part of the

EU Frontex border control mission. Children and pregnant women were among the migrants, most of whom were believed to be Syrian, Mr Marini said. The alarm was raised in a distress call from one of the migrants using the maritime radio on board, who told the Italian coastguard: "We're without crew, we're heading toward the Italian coast and we have no-one to steer." The Ezadeen was built nearly 50 years ago and is a livestock carrier. It appears to be registered to a Lebanese company and has come under the control of human traffickers. Analysis: Rob Watson, BBC

News The Ezadeen and the plight of its unfortunate passengers are part of an often unreported wave of human misery and hardship that sees hundreds of people try to cross the Mediterranean every day to reach Europe. Last year it is estimated that nearly 3,500 refugees died trying to attempt the crossing, while another 200,000 were rescued. Despite the dangers, it is easy to see why the numbers keep growing. War and instability in the Middle East and poverty in Africa make people desperate to leave. The International Organisation for Migration says half of those attempting to get to Europe are

from either Syria or Eritrea. For the smugglers involved, it is a hugely lucrative trade with migrants paying anything from around $600 (£400) to nearly $6,000 (£4,000) for their passage. As to the more frequent use of much larger ships such as the Ezadeen, UN officials believe it is a tactic forced on the smugglers by the winter weather - but one that allows them to make even bigger profits from their unfortunate cargo. There is also concern that two ships found abandoned this week had set out from Turkey as opposed to the more frequently used coast of North Africa. It means a new route may be opening up to this growing prob-

Ebola outbreak will end in 2015 - UN's Anthony Banbury HE deadly Ebola outbreak will be ended in 2015, the outgoing head of the UN team fighting the disease has said. Anthony Banbury said the number of Ebola cases would be brought down to zero by the close of this year, but admitted that the end was "not close". "We are engaged in an epic battle," he said. The virus has killed nearly 8,000 people, mostly in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, where the disease started in December 2013. Mr Banbury admitted his three month mission had failed to hit its target of 100% safe burials and treatment of 70% of infected people. But he praised international efforts and insisted "the global response to the Ebola crisis has been extremely successful". "Going forward it's going to be extremely hard for us to bring it down to zero [cases], but that is what we will do," he told reporters, adding: "I believe we will end Ebola in 2015." Earlier this week, the World Health Organization said the number of people infected by the virus in Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea had passed 20,000.

•The Ezadeen is being lowed to an Italian port by an Icelandic ship that is part of an EU mission in the area

Gambia's President Jammeh hunts 'foreign' attackers OLDIERS loyal to Gambian President Yahya Jammeh are rounding up opponents after a reported coup attempt, sources say. President Jammeh has blamed dissidents based in the US, Germany and the UK for the attack. Heavy gunfire was heard near the presidential palace in Banjul on Tuesday but details are sketchy. Mr Jammeh seized power in the tiny West African nation in 1994, and is accused of not toler-

ating any opposition. The president denied that the attack was mounted by sections of the Gambian military. "The Gambian armed forces are very loyal as far as we are concerned - there isn't any single participation of the armed forces except nullifying the attack," he said in a television interview on Wednesday night. "So this cannot be called a military coup - this was an attack by a terrorist group backed by some powers that I would not name." The US government has denied

that it had any role in the alleged coup attempt. Mr Jammeh also warned that he would make "an example" of anyone who had been part of the attack. It is not clear how many people have been arrested but sources have told the BBC that several relatives of alleged coup leader Lt Col Lamin Sanneh have been detained. Lt Col Sanneh is among five people said to have been killed during the attack but this has not been confirmed.

lem The first ship, the Blue Sky M, carrying 796 people, was abandoned and left on autopilot by its crew, believed to be people-traffickers. Italian coastguards brought it under control and safely docked it at the Italian port of Gallipoli on Wednesday. Thirty-five of the migrants, believed to be mainly Syrians and Kurds, were taken to hospital, some treated for hypothermia. Vincent Cochetel, Europe director for UN refugee agency UNHCR, said the latest development was "part of an ongoing and worrying situation that can no longer be ignored by European governments". He urged the EU to take "urgent" and "concerted action" to increase efforts to rescue people at sea, expressing concern over the phasing down of Italy's Mare Nostrum search and rescue operation. Migrant surge Italy has had to deal with a massive surge in migrants - many of them from the Middle East and the Horn of Africa - setting off on boats with hopes of reaching Europe. The Blue Sky is listed as a general cargo ship, sailing under a Moldovan flag. The safety manager of a company hired to provide safety certification for the ship told the BBC he had withdrawn its certificate several months ago after finding it unsafe. Greek officials were first alerted to the Blue Sky when it was near Corfu after a distress call from a man on board asking for food, water and blankets. It was reportedly heading for the port of Rijeka in Croatia from Turkey. According to tracking website MarineTraffic, the ship abruptly changed direction south of Othonoi on Tuesday morning, heading west towards Italy. Weather conditions in the Ionian sea have been poor for several days, hampering the rescue of those on board the Norman Atlantic ferry which caught fire in the area, killing at least 11 people earlier this week

2014 Year in review; Happy 2015, Year of the Ram • Continued from page 8 ness’ comes in all sizes when she rose above all to ‘rightfully’ win the Nobel-Peace-Price! it was a year that witnessed the accidental collapse of tb Joshua’s Synagogue Church of All Nations in Lagos! it was a year when Nigerian lawmakers proved that, if their political careers failed, they could make it in the Olympics if the sport was, ‘jumping hurdles over the National Assembly fences!’ it was a year when the Nigeria immigration service created a scenario that led to a stampede where desperate-job-seeking-youth died in an unsafe and ill-prepared application process! it was a year when the most powerful woman in Nigeria recorded the most remarkable achievement by becoming the first woman to be elected president of OPEC! it was the year when hollywood was exposed in the hacking of intimate photos of actors and actresses and a Sony scandal that upset North Korea! it was a year when the privately recorded prejudice of a closet-American-racist brought an octogenarian basketball owner to his knees in new york! it was a year when Western Nations held Russia responsible for instigating rebellion in crimea, Ukraine and gave it the cold shoulder, not that Russia really cared! it was the year when ISIS & Nigerian insurgents tried to consolidate their blood-soaked growth with the declaration of their very own caliphates! it was the year when that same ‘claim-a-caliphate’ of ISIS and Nigerian insurgents led to the barbaric beheadings of several innocent people! it was the year when Syria continued the decent into civil war! it was a year that Israel unleashed its unsympathetic claws in the Gaza conflict that saw thousands of helpless people murdered! it was a year when press freedom was put on trial with the imprisonment of hundreds of journalists in Egypt, including 3 working for AlJazeera! it was a year that saw the deadliest period for nigeria since the Biafran Civil War! it was the year when a hemorrhagic fever caused by a virus proved that it spread faster,

is more potent and more lethal than man; it forced man to band together as a specie! it was a year that challenged even the most optimistic of optimists. …looking back at 2014, it truly was ‘a year!’ In Memorium, it was the year we lost Dora Nkem Akunyili, Rilwan Lukman, Aare Abdulazeez Arisekola Alao, Dr. Sheik Umar Khan, Dr. Stella Adadevoh, Umaru Dikko, Robin Williams, Maya Angelou, Barrister Bamidele Aturu, Professor Jacob Festus Ade Ajayi, Justina Obi Ejelonu, Philip Seymore Hoffman, Peter Kassig, Steven Sotloff, Alan Henning, David Haines, Miguel Pajares, Lauren Becall, Joe Cocker, Joan Rivers, thousands in the hands of Nigerian insurgents, 298 in the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH17 shooting down, almost 8,000 from Ebola, 239 in the Malaysian Airlines Flight MH370 crash, hundreds from Air Asia Flight QZ8501 crash, hundreds from senseless terrorist attacks, scores from senseless school shootings, hundreds from natural disasters, thousands from poverty, illness and starvation and so many other precious people. As we bid farewell to a year that, I must say, was not our finest; a year colored black with catastrophe and red with blood, many will be hoping that 2015 will bring many of the conflicts and challenges we just left behind to an end. As we look ahead, one wonders what secrets and challenges 2015 has in store. In the Chinese calendar, 2015 is regarded as the Year of the Goat, Ram or Sheep and is metaphorically characterized as the ‘period of a passing summer’ – the period of prosperity and wellbeing. According to the Chinese calendar system belief, the year promises much more favorable times as compared to the previous couple of years. It suggests that, in 2015, the processes that have been unfolding and scattering bedlam for the past couple of years may likely come to an end and the world will witness greater stability and harmony. As a result, the general quality of life will improve and the different crisis that has tormented many will, hopefully,

reduce. They envisage, that, very early in 2015, global economic issues will take a positive turn and will be replaced with stable economic growth and there will be mass recovery from some of the losses suffered previously. In regards to political issues, the Chinese system forecasts that there will be progress and a level of harmony in the nature of interaction between acrimonious countries and disputing factions within several nations. It further calculates the prospect of significant advance in space industry, greater attention paid to environmental protection, healthy life style, ecological issues, with a better global appreciation for herbal, traditional and unconventional medicine. If, as the Chinese calendar predicts, the Year of the Goat, Ram or Sheep will be a period of prosperity, wellbeing and high hopes, as the positive events in the year start to take center stage, people of many countries will breathe a sigh of relief and welcome it with open arms. Whether the guesses of the Chinese calendar for 2015 are accurate, one thing is for sure-although the scars sustained in Nigeria and throughout the globe from the different tragedies will forever be visible; many are ready to move on. Many will be looking to the horizon, dreaming and praying for a golden age. In Nigeria, whether that dream will come via ‘change’ or a ‘rehabilitation of the same’ in the February 2015 elections, the dream for ‘something better’ can only be realized if and when we start working towards it. In the next 365 days, we each have a choice to ‘know better’ so we can ‘do better.’ And as the Chinese calendar 2015, Year of the Goat, Ram or Sheep prescribes; “The creative side of the (Year of) Ram; its diligence applied to hard work ensures prosperity” In the next year, …People of the World please, let’s all work harder to ensure prosperity to all. “Welcome to 2015 folks... I wish you a very Happy New Year!”

THE NATION, SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

NEWS

How an agonising New Year was averted in Gombe F there was ever any doubt regarding God’s divine intervention in saving lives from the series of attacks perpetrated by the Boko Haram insurgents, recent incidents in Gombe would clear all that. With two explosions in a space of 12 hours, it was obvious the insurgents planned to inflict pain, agony and sorrow on Nigerians in Gombe instead of the usual fanfare and merrymaking that normally accompany the New Year celebration. But divine intervention averted all that. It all started from the Army Barracks on the eve of the New Year. People were at the supposed safe haven relaxing after the hard day’s work, full of joy for seeing the last day of the year when the unexpected happened. “It was a big bang that got everybody confused and jittery. Some people were even trying to force themselves under tables, into kitchens and out through the doors. I thank God that nothing happened to me,” said one of the people who were drinking at the Mami Market. One of those that witnessed the incident, a lady who simply identified herself as Becky, said: “I was preparing to go to the church but I wanted to eat fish before it was time for service. So I called my friend and we went to Barracks. “While approaching the gate, we saw some soldiers talking to a man in his car, but we were not close enough to hear what they were discussing. “As they were doing that, a motorcycle arrived with the passenger carrying a bag and stopped behind the car, and we thought they were probably waiting to be searched. “We were not fully concentrated on the scene that was playing out before us because we didn’t have cause to suspect anything. But all of a sudden, we heard a loud noise and fled in different directions. I did not know if anybody died or not.” But one gallant soldier is the reason a lot of people are happy the situation was not worse than experienced. Two bombers as gathered from a military source, arrived at the gate and attempted to ride their motorcycle straight into the barracks without observing the normal protocol of alighting for screening before pushing the bike in. They were stopped by the military personnel for questioning and the passengers quickly alighted. They were still talking when the bomb went off. By then, his cohort had hidden his bag nearby with the belief that it would detonate when onlookers would have gathered. Interestingly, there was nobody nearby when it eventually detonated. Perhaps people were too scared of the bomb blast in itself or were scared of coming nearer because of the heavy presence of the army. It was only the bomber and the unsuspecting army personnel that died. The entire Mami Market was immediately sealed off. Nobody went in or out, and those trapped within were released about two hours later after a thorough search. That was around 10 pm.

Vincent OHONBAMU, Gombe But determined to see the innocent suffer, the unrelenting insurgents took their forays to the church on New Year morning in yet another failed expedition that killed only the intended bomber. It happened at about 8:28 am behind Gombe State University in an enclave that has three churches – Evangelical Church Winning All (ECWA) Tudun-Wada, ECWA Gospel and Church of Christ in Nigeria (COCIN). Call it illtiming or whatever, the man could not get into the church. He was stopped by members of the Boys Brigade who normally arrive the on time to ensure the environment is safe for worshippers. It was said that he tried to waltz through the barricade in total disregard to efforts to stop him when the bomb exploded. However, Agabus Dawina, one of the Boys Brigade members on guard, explained that the bomber, who rode in from Mala-Inna end on a TVS motorcycle and stopped at the barricade where the BB boys were waiting to search anyone headed for any of the churches. He said on arrival, the young man simply greeted asalamuailakum (peace be unto you all), and the next thing they would hear before answering was a deafening explosion that knocked them all off their feet. But what was left of the bomber was his mangled remains from his chest upward and his machine. He said: “I thank God for my life because the enemy wanted to ruin my plans but failed. I plan to get married this year, precisely between September 28 and October 1. This is a sign that nothing will stop my plans and I can’t wait for that time to come.” Lami Demba, his fiancée, who was preparing food to take to Agabus and his colleagues on duty, said she collapsed and passed out on receiving the news of the incident. “I can’t imagine what I would have done if he had died. But thank God he is alive and will soon be discharged from the hospital,” she said, urging the people that are alive today to spend their time in the service of God as being alive is by His grace. Also celebrating his life is Phanuel Ezra. He was discharged because he did not sustain much injury, except that his eyes were still red. He corroborated all that Agabus said and added that the bomber approached them like a gentle man and dis not look suspicious in any way. He therefore warned that nobody should be trusted until the person is proven to be worthy of it. The one who received the most impact of the bomb is Bulus Bulama. Although he is a member of the Boys Brigade, he was not on duty at the time because his uniforms were dirty. He was operated upon to remove a sharp nail from his body, said the Chief Medical Director of Gombe Specialist Hospital, Gombe The assailant was behind him as he watched his colleagues search his younger brother. He

• One of the victims of the bomb explosion at Tudun-Wada in Gombe receiving treatment at a hospital on Thursday Photo: NAN

said he found himself rolling on the ground when the bomb exploded. But in his pain, he still tried to rescue a boy about three years old who was equally in pain. “But when I was loosing strength with blood gushing out of my body, I had to drop the boy. But my worry now is that I don’t know whether the boy died or survived,” he said on his hospital bed. He added that all the time he cried for help; people were running away from hm. Only one girl was bold enough to take the initiative to help. He said he gave her his phone to call his brother but she could not dial the number. “Before that time, someone made away with my friend’s phone which fell out of my pocket,” he added. The barricade where the incident took place was directly at the front of one Aminu Abdullahi who claimed to have heard the noise of the blast from inside. In his testimony, he said: “What I saw was horrible. It was human parts scattered all around; only from the chest up. The bike he (bomber) came with was destroyed. People sustained injuries. It is not something I want to remember at all.” Confirming the incident, the spokesman for

Gombe State Police Command, DSP Fwaje Atajiri, said he could not comment on the barracks incident for obvious reasons. But he said that of ECWA III involved a young man who tried to jump a security barricade when the bomb exploded on him. He added that only the bomber died and that the few people at the scene sustained various forms of injuries. The PPRO further confirmed that the bomber was probably not a Nigerian because his facial mark was strange. He therefore urged members of the public to always report on suspicious individuals and movements to enable the police act promptly. The Chief Medical Director of Gombe Specialist Hospital, Reuben Ardo, said 10 victims, including a corpse, were brought to the hospital. He said five of them were treated and discharged while one of the remaining five was discharged yesterday morning. “One of the remaining four went through surgery for the removal of sharp nails. They are still at the ward and are in stable condition. They will be discharged as soon as their conditions improve,” he said.

2015: Buhari/Osinbajo ticket excites HID Awolowo HE matriarch of the Awolowo family, Mrs H.I.D.Awolowo ,yesterday expressed satisfaction at the emergence of Professor Yemi Osinbajo as running mate to the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential candidate,General Muhammadu Buhari. She prayed for Osinbajo’s success in the election . The Professor of Law who was on visit to the Ike,Ogun State residence of the Awolowo is married to a grand daughter of Mrs.Awolowo. She said :"I am very happy this morning to see that Yemi Osibajo is going to higher ground and it is my prayer that he will get there. I urge you all to support his aspiration; God will take you there." Osibajo was accompanied to Ikenne by his wife, Dolapo;his younger brother, Akin Osibajo who is a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in Ogun state; the Iyaloja General of Remoland, Mrs Mercy Owolana; and Senator Olorunimbe Mamora among others. They were received by Mama

Ernest NWOKOLO, Abeokuta Awolowo and her eldest daughter, Mrs Omotola Oyediran. He stated that he was in Ikenne, his homestead to receive blessings from the nonagenarian for ahead of the Feburary 14 election. He later moved to a town hall meeting in his honour,with the coordinator of the Ikenne Peoples Forum,Chief Adeleke Adesina asking all sons and daughters of the area to throw their support behind Osinbajo. "This is our project. The very day his name was announced as the running mate to Buhari was the very day we formed the Ikenne Peoples Forum so that we can chart a common front by supporting our son, Professor Osinbajo," Adesina said. Osinbajo said at the meeting that the APC would bring about the desired changes in Nigeria’s socialeconomic affairs if voted into power. He said the party would follow the good policies and programmes implemented by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo when he ran the

affairs of the old Western region. "My choice as the vice-presidential candidate of our party is a rare opportunity for Remoland, Ogun state and Nigeria. It is God's divine. Awolowo came out of Remoland to

become the Premier of the defunct Western region and he did excellently well. It is my utmost belief and prayer that we will do more than him," he said. The APC's vice Presidential candidate also visited the Akarigbo and

Paramount Ruler of Remoland, Oba Michael Sonariwo and the Awujale and Paramount Ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Kayode Adetona to receive their blessings.

10 feared killed in Jos fresh attack fresh attack by gunmen in Mangu local government of Plateau state has claimed 10

lives. Thirty residential houses were razed during the attack early yesterday. Victims of the attack alleged that the invaders spoke Fulfude and claimed to even know some of them. Audu Daman who managed to escape after his house was set on fire said: "From the nature of the attack, it was clear the attackers are Fulani because they did not hide their identity.They even issued threats before they came. I know some of them" Three people were beheaded in an earlier clash between Fulani herds-

•30 houses burnt •Security agencies uncovered IED planted at Maulud ground Yusufu AMINU IDEGU, Jos men and Mwaghavul people on new year day at Kantoma village. More attacks soon followed. It was learnt that yesterday’s invaders who were apparently on a revenge mission swooped on Shurun village to unleash terror. An eye withness said the calibre of arms and ammunitions used by the attackers showed that the mission was “ well co-ordinated to eliminate us. " The Plateau Police command

could not confirm the attack last night. The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Abu Emmanuel said he was yet to get details of the incident. Meanwhile, security agencies yesterday confirmed that they uncovered a bomb planted at the venue of the Maulud Nabiy celebration in Jos. The improvised explosive device was immediately detonated by men of the anti-bomb squad of Plateau State Police command.

THE NATION SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

SPORT EXTRA Rangers name Emeteole new head coach

• Emeteole

NUGU Rangers have acquired the services of Heartland's head coach, Kelechi Emeteole as the new Technical Adviser of the Flying Antelopes for the 2014/2015 league season. Emeteole was given the plum job after a rigorous selection by the Management of the club who had to pick one from 11 coaches that signified intention in replacing ‘out of contract’ John Obuh. The General Manager of the club, Paul Chibuzor Ozor told NationSport that Emeteole was appionted because of his track record as a disciplinarian and a home bred coach that also played for the Enugu Rangers

From Tunde Liadi,Owerri several years back. Ozor said he was thrilled at the disposition of Emeteole and the fact that he promised to revitalise the Flying Antelopes by returning the club to the continent if they are unable to win a trophy at the end of the season. The General Manager said Rangers would give the new Technical Adviser the opportunity to thrive and the chance to prove himself without any interference directly or indirectly from the management. Ozor told NationSport:" We are happy to tell you that Kelechi Emeteole has been signed to take Rangers to the next level next season. He has the mandate to end our long wait for a title or to return us to the continent. "He has a season to prove himself. We chose him out of about 11 coaches that signified interest and he was picked because he is home bred and also played for the club in the past. We share in his vision for the club and we have tasked him with the job of taking Rangers to a greater height," Ozor told NationSport. Rangers which ended last season in eighth position on the log of the premier league with 58 points from 38 games didn't extend the contract of John Obuh who was told to go owing to many reasons.

Gombe United wants Eguavoen stay • seeks Premier League promotion from ex- Eagles' boss

OMBE United will keep faith with former Super Eagles' coach,Austin Eguavoen and his other technical crew members for the next season despite the Desert Scorpions' demotion to the lower league at the end of last season. The Gombe side struggled to remain in the elite division and even thrashed Abia Warriors 4-1 in the concluding fixture of the season but the maximum points couldn't secure their place in the premier league for another season after Bayelsa United and FC Taraba picked up unlikely wins at Owerri and Port Harcourt against Heartland and Sharks. The club's Camp Commandant, Garuba Tanko in a chat with NationSport opined that the good works of Eguavoen and his other lieutenants during the second stanza proved that they would be able to take the club back to the elite division after a season in the lower league.

• Eguavoen

From Tunde Liadi,Owerri Tanko enthused that Eguavoen has been charged with ensuring that the Desert Scorpions gain an instant return to the top flight at the end of next season. To this end, Tanko revealed to NationSport that all the players that featured for the club were retained while few ones are been watched to add more fireworks to the team next season. "We are not changing Austin Eguavoen at all because he is our coach for the next league season. He tried his best with the assistant coaches that we have and they have been charged with ensuring that Gombe United return to the premier league at the end of the season. "We have also retained all the players that we used last season so as to fasten our return to the elite league. We were very close to remaining in the premier league before we narrowly missed out," Tanko told NationSport.

Keshi is still charge, says Amokachi D

ESPITE being in charge of the Super Eagles’ team preparing for the friendly matches against Sudan and Ivory Coast, Super Eagles assistant coach, Daniel Amokachi claims out-of-contract Super Eagles’ coach, Stephen Keshi still remains in charge of the team. Amokachi is presently overseeing the team that will play Sudan and Ivory Coast in Abu Dhabi, with the NFF giving no reasons why Keshi is not taking charge of the team. The NFF have also reiterated severally that they have made no new contract offer to the ‘Big Boss’ after his contract ran out at the last World Cup in Brazil, but Amokachi insists that Keshi remains the Eagles’ boss. The 52-year old Keshi oversaw Nigeria’s ill-fated 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying campaign, despite being out of contract. And with the NFF yet to offer him fresh terms, it means, technically, that Keshi is no longer the Eagles’ gaffer, but Amokachi said. “This is not my team I’m only sitting in for my boss, Stephen Keshi. He’s the boss and I’m only here to do a job as a coach,” Amokachi told Cool FM. And speaking about the players he has in camp ahead of the friendly matches, Amokachi says it’s good to work with such players, adding that Keshi is aware of them being invited. “These are players that we know, a lot of them we know and Keshi knows they are coming into the fold. And it’s always good to work with young players who want to learn and are willing to get to the next level and I think it’s a good start.”

• Keshi • Amokachi

Eagles get Abuja friendly before Abu Dhabi trip

UPER Eagles will play at least one friendly match against an unnamed team in the country probably in Abuja - before leaving for the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Thursday, a top official of the team has told NationSport. The Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has lined up two friendlies for the national team against Ivory Coast and Sudan in Abu Dhabi, capital of the UAE on January 11 and 14, 2015 and the

• Team leaves Thursday From Tunde Liadi,Owerri Media Officer of the Eagles, Ben Alaiya told NationSport that at least one friendly match is being arranged for the team as a tune up game in the few days before their departure. Alaiya said all was well in the Eagles’ Abuja camp and the players were responding to instructions from the technical crew headed by Assistant Coach,

Dan Amokachi. He also confirmed that the 25 players in the team's camp are expected to be whittled to 19 at most two days before the trip to the UAE. Eagles, the cup holders of the Africa Cup of Nations, missed out on a place in the 2015 edition and the NFF is using the friendly matches to keep the team busy ahead of future competitive games.

Lulu restates commitment to grassroots football development

ORMER NFF President Sani Lulu Abdullahi has restated his commitment to the development of football at the grassroots. Lulu who spoke at the finals of the 2014 edition of the FOSLA U.13 Football competition in Kogi state, said that the selected players from the state would have the opportunity of participating in the final stages of the FOSLA Academy scholarship scheme holding later in the year in Abuja. He was full of appreciation to all those who contributed to the success of the tournament. At the final match, Idah U=13 boys emerged champions with a 2-0 victory over their counterparts from Omala LGA. Idah Local Government Area (LGA) boys scored in both halves through Abdullahi Abubakar and James Sunday to nick victory at the Qua Ibo primary school field. They lifted a gigantic trophy and cash award of N30,000, while runners-up Omala LGA boys went home with a silver-made trophy and N20,000. The annual football competition which had the participation of nine teams from Kogi Eastern zone of the state have been solely sponsored by the former President of the Nigeria Football Alhaji Sani Lulu Abdullahi. Chairman of Kogi State Football Association,Yahaya

From Patrick Ngwaogu, Abuja Adama and that of Kogi United and Confluence Queens, Mallam Abdul Adama, hailed the sponsor Alhaji Sani Lulu for his consistent supports to developing grassroots football and expressed high hopes in the growth of the game in the state. Among other dignitaries present at the finals were the the Commissioner for Local

Governments and Chieftaincy Affairs, Honorable Abubakar Sadiq Ainoko; Special Adviser on Public Private Partnership, who doubles as the Chairman of Kogi United and Confluence Queens, Mallam Abdul Adama; Nigeria Football Federation’s Director of Marketing Mallam Idris Adama; among others. Meanwhile,twenty players have been shortlisted for an entrance test and screening for scholarship into the FOSLA Academy.

• Lulu

Adekanye linked with Barca return

• Adekanye

SV Eindhoven teen sensation, Bobby Adekanye, could make a return to Barcelona in February. The winger, according to

Spanish newspaper, Mundo Deportivo, joined PSV on loan because he can't play at Barcelona until he turns 16 due to the illegal way he was acquired by the Catalan giants. Adekanye is among the set of players acquired by Barcelona illegally, which led FIFA to hand them a transfer ban. It's yet to be seen if the claim made by the Spanish newspaper is true, as it runs contrary to a report by SL10.ng which quoted his dad giving his blessings to his son who signed a deal for one year with PSV Eindhoven. ''Bobby will start this week with PSV Eindhoven. He'll sign with them on Friday (yesterday), and will play for their Under 16 and 17 teams. ''We need to wait and see how he'll adapt to his new

club. He doesn't have any problem with any club in Holland,'' Bobby Adekanye's father, Ademola Adekanye, told SL10.ng in November 2014. The teenager, who represented the youth teams of VV Alphia and Ajax Amsterdam before his move to Barcelona, is eligible for Nigeria and the Netherlands. He was rumoured to have been invited to the Nigeria Under-17 team but he denied the news. He however made known his interest to play for Nigeria if called up by the youth team handlers. “I was born in Nigeria and I love Nigeria. My father always tells me Nigeria is our home. We are all coming home next year by the power of God because we still have family there,” Bobby Adekanye said to SL10.ng.

THE NATION SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015

SPORT EXTRA BEST GOALKEEPER IN FRANCE

Enyeama No.1 again • French newspaper, L’Equipe confirms Nigerian

IGERIA international goalkeeper, Vincent Enyeama has been selected as the best shot stopper in Ligue 1 for 2014 by prestigious French Newspaper, L’Equipe. The 32-year-old was selected as the league’s best goalkeeper for 2014 despite Lille’s stuttering start to the 2014-15 season that sees them languishing in 13th place in the 20-team standings. Enyeama has played in every minute of Lille’s 56 league matches since he returned from his loan spell at Israeli club, Maccabi Tel Aviv in 2013.

This is the second successive year that Enyeama has been selected as Ligue’s 1’s most outstanding goalkeeping talent by L’Equipe. Former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Ike Shorunmu works with Enyeama in the Nigeria national team and he’s not surprised by the former Enyimba goalkeeper’s latest accolade. “From the first day I saw Vincent (Enyeama), I knew he was a star. Having worked with him, I can say for a fact that he’s the best in Africa and one of the best in the world,” Shorunmu told supersport.com.

• Enyeama

Keshi set for Eq. Guinea job

OACH Stephen Keshi is now in pole position to lead hosts Equatorial Guinea in the 2015 AFCON after the island-country did not renew the coaching contract of the Spaniard Andoni Goikoetxea. Media reports now suggest that Keshi, who has yet to be given a new contract by Nigeria after it ran out after the World Cup in Brazil, is ahead of former Ghana coach Milovan Rajevac to lead the Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) hosts at the tournament, which gets underway on January 17.

• Goikoetxea axed for Big Boss Keshi is the front runner, according to Afrik-Foot, and has reopened serious talks with the Equatorial Guinea Football Association. This discussion is believed to have been the reason Goikoetxea was axed. The ‘Big Boss’ was at the draw for AFCON 2015 in Equatorial Guinea late last year to spark off speculations about his future. He led Nigeria to win the 2013 AFCON in South Africa, but he failed to qualify the same team for this year’s tournament with

top coaches and the majority of the fans demanding he walk away from the Super Eagles. It is believed that his main backer is a member of the First Family in oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. Both he and his agent have long claimed the AFCON hosts are keen on offering the coach a contract. The Nzalang National, who are currently in Portugal preparing for the Nations Cup, are yet to announce a final squad for the competition.

NFF promises Flying Eagles adequate preparations

HE Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has promised the Flying Eagles they will be fully prepared for the 2015 African Youth Championship in Senegal. NFF director of competitions, Sanusi Mohammed, assured the team of adequate preparations when he visited them on New Year’s day at their African Continental Hotel training camp in Kaduna. “We plan to ensure you get top quality friendly matches before the AYC and thereafter you proceed on a training tour of a country with a similar weather condition to that of Senegal,” de-

clared Sanusi. “We believe in this team and are very much encouraged by the unity and sense of purpose you have displayed all this while.” It is believed that NFF are now exploring the possibilities of getting the country’s U-20 team to

train for at least a month in Gambia before they hit Senegal of the AYC. They are drawn against hosts Senegal, Cote d’Ivoire and Congo in Group A of the competition, which kicks off on March 8 in Dakar.

Ugbade: We will win AYC in style

LYING Eagles’ assistant coach Nduka Ugbade has predicted his team will a seventh AYC title by winning all their matches in Senegal in March. The Nigeria U-20s are pitched in Group A alongside host country Senegal, Congo and Cote d’Ivoire. They begin their campaign on March 8 against Senegal. “We will win all our matches in Senegal on our way to winning the AYC in style,” said

Ugbade, who has represented Nigeria at U-17, U-20 and full international levels. “We have quality in the team and will continue to work hard until we have achieved our targets in Senegal before we set new targets for the World Cup in New Zealand.” The semi-finalists of the 2015 AYC will qualify to represent Africa at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup in New Zealand beginning in May.

SUDAN, COTE D'IVOIRE FRIENDLIES • Manu Garba

Eagles in high spirits —Agbim

• Ugbade

APTAIN of the Super Eagles’ home-based squad, Chigozie Agbim has revealed that the mood in camp is very high. Speaking to footballlive.ng from the camp of the national team, Agbim says the ultimate objective of the team is to win the Sudan and Cote d’Ivoire friendlies in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Hear him: “The mood in camp is high and the spirit is good. Considering that the league is on break, there are no injuries and so everybody

is excited and prepared to give all. “The two games that we want to play are not easy games so we are set to do everything to make sure that we record two wins and I’m sure that every player in camp is ready to achieve that.” The Super Eagles will not be part of the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) in Equatorial Guinea but will nonetheless continue to get back into shape. 19 players are expected to be selected by Assistant Coach Daniel Amokachi

Who will advise our stars? <<<<<<Continued from back page biggest reason why Nigeria isn’t their fantasies but they must at the 2015 Africa Cup of remember that the life span of Nations is because our European athlete is short, making it based stars spent the period imperative for them to keep before these matches on the much of their windfall for the bench in the European clubs. future. Some of our past stars This match rustiness greatly are inscrutable in their inhibited the Eagles’ appearance when you see them performance, with the coaches now. You can tell that they having few options to pick have lost it all. players from. This is a clarion call to the so The media have been awash called Nigerian Players Welfare with the interesting story of Union to contact some of them CSKA Moscow’s Nigerian who are likely to go astray to import Ahmed Musa going to look back at others before them Tottenham Hotspurs this and do the needful. If any month. CSKA is a very good player has so much cash to club in Moscow. The club is a handle, he can seek advice from regular feature in the UEFA his banker. He could also reach Champions League. Musa out to the players union to help must consider the fact that he assist others who are bedridden plays regularly for CSKA, and need to get back on their hence it will be tragic if he rushes feet. to Tottenham and ends up What will it cost our players sitting on the bench or watching to return to the grassroots to the game from the stands. rejuvenate the playing grounds Playing for Tottenham offers that produced them. They could Musa the best platform to show also provide the cash to his talents because of the encourage the kids in the tremendous media coverage of hinterland to play the game, the Barclays English Premier using them as role models League. But Musa must instead of this lascivious life understand that if he takes the style. leap into Tottenham, he loses January European value in the transfer market if he is dumped on the bench. transfer window And with the 2018 Africa Cup In Europe, this is the period of Nations and Russia 2018 where clubs rush to the transfer World Cup qualifiers set to market to fortify their stock of begin by the middle of the year, players. These clubs go for one would plead with Musa to players that they know will opt for the club where he would make immediate impact in their be first choice in his position. teams, having languished in Another player in the relegation since the season transfer radar of European began in August, last year. clubs is Oguenyi Onazi. Onazi Most of the European club plays for Lazio FC in the Italia managers will be sending their Serie A. He is on the wanted list scouts to Malabo, Equatorial of Liverpool FC. In fact, the Guinea to watch the matches media splashed the story of a of the 2015 Africa Cup of swap deal between Liverpool Nations. Sadly, Nigeria, and Lazio with Onazi and winners of the 2013 Africa Cup Boronini walking in different of Nations, will not be in directions. Equatorial Guinea. Onazi’s purported move to When the matches begin, it Anfield is to understudy will dawn on our players and Liverpool legend Steven coaches the level of grief that Gerrard, who many pundits they have brought to soccer believe should be given less fans in Nigeria. They would games to play next year. It looks have lost the opportunity to like a proactive idea but my fear affirm their supremacy in the is that what happens if Gerrard continent. As for the players, continues to churn out top they would understand why performances for Liverpool? every game should be taken My candid advice to Onazi is seriously, especially when new to remain at Lazio to fight for players from the continent use his shirt. the games of the Africa Cup of Thank God John Mikel Obi Nations to get lucrative is back to reckoning with contracts. Chelsea. Chelsea’s manager Jose When the window opens, Mourinho knows that Mikel one expects that Nigerian stars can play alongside Matic instead in Europe who have been of the earlier option where confined to the bench should Mourinho played Matic ahead walk up to their managers, of Mikel. I wish Mourinho seeking to move on to other realised this arrangement earlier clubs, if the opportunity in the season. Mikel would have beckons. It must be said that the influenced Nigeria’s AFCON

campaign better than he did because he wasn’t playing regularly for Chelsea. Emmanuel Emenike has resolved to remain at Fenerbahce FC of Turkey instead of running to England to play for Tottenham or Chelsea. And it is the best decision. My candid advice to Emenike is that he cannot find a shirt in present day Chelsea side. Chelsea attackers have struck a ruthless chemistry playing together, culminating in their awesome goal-scoring record in the team’s matches this season.

Home-based Eagles’ transfers Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) President, Melvin Amaju Pinnick must today call for the files of the movement of our domestic league players to Europe. This idea of a particular agent doing the business of the transfer of our local stars is unacceptable. Such an agent has a right to do the business of transfers for our local boys. But when he takes charge of all movements, it is worrisome. Most of the local boys sign for one of these agents because he fronts for most of our national team coaches. His offer isn’t the best. But the players must join his camp if they hope to play for Nigeria. Amaju must be told that transfer of players isn’t the exclusive prerogative of a particular agent. He must work in tandem with the NFF, especially national team players discovered here. NFF should help guide these new discoveries in the national teams, such as Super Eagles. It is ridiculous for a Super Eagles player to undergo screening in novelty leagues outside the country. Our league may not be paying the best wages but our players in the Eagles can get better deals playing against bigger teams in the country’s international friendlies at their own terms rather than kowtowing to the whims and caprices of greedy agents working with our national team coaches. This slavish movement of our best local players into obscure leagues in the Diaspora explains why there isn’t any transition from one national team to the other. Amaju, please this trend where one agent takes charge of all our discoveries is wrong. It is foolhardy for a Super Eagles player to undergo screening in Belgrade, for instance.

Nigeria not scared of any team —Eduok

UPER Eagles' striker, Emem Eduok has stated that the team won't be cowed into submission ahead of the Nigeria's two friendly matches with Cote d' Ivoire and Sudan billed for Abu Dhabi, UAE on January 11 and 14, 2015. In a chat from the Eagles' camp in Abuja yesterday, he informed NationSport that the quality of players in the Eagles has given him the optimism that Nigeria won't be disgraced by both countries when they lock horns in Abu Dhabi. "I am now in the Eagles' camp and expecting to fire Nigeria to victory in the two matches against Ivory Coast and Sudan,” Eduok began. “We are ready because of the quality of players in the Eagles' camp. We won't allow both

From Tunde Liadi, Owerri countries to overrun us as we target wins against them." The Dolphins ace recently returned to Nigeria after holding contract talks in Tunis with Esperance Sportive of Tunisia, but is yet to receive the green-light to sign for the Blood and Gold, with other top clubs in Africa, Europe and Middle East vying for his signature. He disclosed that he has already wrapped up personal terms with Esperance but that his club, Dolphins have the final say on where his next destination will be. Hear him: “I'm back and better because everything went well in Tunisia, but my club will still have to put the seal of approval before I can move. On a personal note I’ve already concluded personal

terms with Esperance but the final decision is beyond me. Eduok scored 24 goals in all competitions in the domestic scene last season and he was instrumental to Dolphins' return to the continent where they will play in the CAF Confederation Cup after placing second in the 2014 Federation Cup.

• Eduok against Ghana

TOMORROWPUNCHLINE IN THE NATION

SATURDAY, JANUARY 3, 2015 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL.9, NO. 3075

Our democracy must be prepared to experience whatever difficulties are part of electoral democracy. We should do everything to organise a credible election and have the courage to abide by citizens' verdict at the polls

—Ropo Sekoni

E is a veritable enigma. A most un likely and unusual politician. He is a reticent, retiring persona. Politics is a very public vocation. He is sparing with his words. The successful politician is often loquacious. Like the trained soldier, the skilled politician is often a master of intrigue and deception. He can be blunt and truthful to a fault. I write of none other than the man of the moment – General Muhammadu Buhari, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC). In approximately six weeks, the ascetic General leads his party in an epic electoral encounter with the incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP). In his discipline, focus, tenacity and stubborn commitment to principle, Buhari reminds one of the immortal Chief Obafemi Awolowo. But unlike Awo, there are strong indications that Buhari is unlikely to end up as “the best president Nigeria never had”. In spite of his prodigious talent, Awo never succeeded in building a national pan-Nigerian platform to actualize his ambition of leading Nigeria. In the APC, Buhari has such a platform that has made his candidacy a viable proposition and his emergence as President a very real possibility. Buhari’s fate has in many ways been tied with that of Nigeria over the last several decades. He fought in the civil war to preserve Nigeria’s territorial integrity. He was once Military Governor of the North-Eastern State that now comprises Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Taraba, Bauchi and Gombe states. He led the clinical military operation that decisively crushed the Maitatsine extremist Islamic uprising in Kano between 18th and 29th December 1980. When rebels from Chad invaded part of the country during the second republic, the General’s troops not only repelled but pursued them right up to Ndjamena until he was recalled by a dithering President Shehu Shagari. By 1983, the politicians had effectively dug the grave for democracy by the sheer scale of their corruption, impunity and utter disregard for the rule of law. General Buhari emerged as the Head of a corrective military regime that dislodged the leprous political class and sought to restore the country to sanity. Unable to cope with the alleged puritanical rigidity of Buhari and his deputy, General Tunde Idiagbon, the regime was overthrown by successors who led the country down the slopes of economic, political and moral debauchery from which she is yet to recover. Ever since the return to civilian rule in this political dispensation, the promise of democracy has largely continued to elude Nigerians substantially because of the lack of competent, visionary, disciplined and morally untainted leadership at the centre. The General has offered himself for service three times at the polls without success. Not only has all kind of mud been thrown at him, he has of-

Buhari’s hour cometh?

‘

In the APC, Buhari has such a platform that has made his candidacy a viable proposition and his emergence as President a very real possibility

’

•Gen. Buhari ten been the victim of brazen electoral manipulation. At last it appears that the Daura-born General’s hour of fulfilment is at hand. He has emerged as his party’s presidential flag bearer in transparent, credible and competitive primaries. All his opponents at the primaries have rallied to his support. He is running on a platform more viable and formidable than he has ever done before. He seems tailor-made to counter the twin demons of insecurity and corruption that constitute the greatest bane of the country today. It is impossible for Buhari’s opponents to credibly question his personal integrity and unblemished record of incorruptibility. His light in that respect shines in the darkness. The darkness can neither comprehend nor extinguish it. Buhari has kept a disciplined distance from the PDP since 1999, a rare feat in a polity where everyone scrambles to identify with the resource-laden centre and to be in opposition is anathema. He has refrained from joining those northern politicians clamouring clannishly for power to return to the north. He has put himself forward for service simply on the basis of his personal merit. As is always the case, Buhari and the APC should expect their opponent to viciously at-

tack his person and character. Anyone in their shoes would do the same. They cannot win in a campaign based on issues. They will thus dredge up the General’s alleged ‘past sins’ and seek his political crucifixion. Luckily, the renowned virologist and consistent social critic, Professor Tam David West of the University of Ibadan has responded copiously to these allegations, ruthlessly debunking them in his book, ‘The Sixteen ‘Sins’ of General Muhammadu Buhari’. Like the meticulous and clinical scientist that he is, Professor David West itemises the allegations against Buhari and effectively debunks each and every one of them. The APC must find a way of getting this book to as many Nigerians as possible before the election. Professor David West’s weapons are facts, figures, photographs and incisive logic. His capacity for documentation and record keeping is as impressive as that of the legendary late Chief Gani Fawehinmi. Now, is Buhari a saint? No. Let that mortal without sin cast the first stone. Was the military government led by Buhari without fault or blemish? No one says so. But Buhari’s alleged ‘sins’ pale into insignificance beside the gross impunity and moral perversion being witnessed in the country today. Those mortally afraid of a Buhari presidency have over the years sought to tag him as an Islamic fundamentalist. Incidentally, Professor Tam David West, a Christian from the Niger Delta was Minister of Petroleum in the Buhari/Idiagbon administration. Other Christian Ministers in Buhari’s military gov-

ernment include General Domkat Bali (Defence), Dr Onaolapo Soleye (Finance), Dr Emmanuel Nsan (Health), Commodore Sam Omeruah (Information), Patrick Koshoni (Works) and Chike Offodile (Justice). Dr Clement Isong, a Christian was Central Bank Governor. These were certainly key offices. Christians appointed as Military Governors under Buhari were Allison Madueke (Anambra), Jeremiah Useni (Bendel), Michael Bamidele (Ondo), Oladipo Diya (Ogun), David Mark (Niger), John Atom Kpera (Beune), Dan Archibong (Cross Rivers), Ike Nwachukwu (Imo), Oladayo Popoola (Oyo), Bitrus Atukum (Plateau) and B.L. Letimah (Rivers). Of the 19 military governors at the time 11 were Christians, seven were Muslims and one, Gbolahan Mudasiru of Lagos State was a Grail Messenger. Professor David West tells the following interesting story on page 22 of his book, “In 1984 (Geneva), as a Christian Oil Minister, and consequently the leader of the Nigerian delegation, I made OPEC to halt its conference (meeting) for Christian members to go home and celebrate Christmas. A meeting was scheduled for 25 December 1984. Their Excellencies obliged, but not without some objections by some member countries. On my return from Geneva, I reported to the Head of State, General Buhari, what happened in Geneva. He did not object at all. He even sent me handsome Christmas presents”. Would that be the attitude of a religious fanatic? Equally enlightening is the following account by Professor David West on page 26 “In early 1984, at a State Banquet at State House, Marina, Lagos, in honour of a visiting ‘Number Two’ in a North African intensely Islamic state, General Buhari was most generously offered $4 billion interest free financial aid. Buhari in his characteristic humility expressed very sincere appreciation and gratitude to our brother North African Head of State. But he most elegantly refused to accept the generous, huge financial assistance: ‘We (Nigeria) will pull ourselves up by our boot traps’. The $4 billion generosity was double what the country was negotiating with the IMF under Shagari with all the terrible conditionalities”. Ah! Just imagine if Nigeria had persisted on that path of discipline, self-reliance and sanity. It is unfortunate that the manipulation of religion for political purposes has reached unprecedented heights under the Jonathan presidency. But as Professor David West also rightly noted “The pleasant Nigerian reality is that no Muslim Head of State can make Nigeria an Islamic state; and no Christian Head of State can make Nigeria a Christian State” because “the essential or the constitutional secularity of the Nigerian state has not changed”. The good thing is that things have degenerated so badly under President Jonathan’s watch that religion is unlikely to serve as the opium of the electorate in next month’s election.

Ade Ojeikere on Saturday talk2adeojeikere@yahoo.com

Who will advise our stars?

T is the third day of a new year. It is a season of resolutions in which many people wish away spells and look to God for a new direction. January is the period where plans are made with the firm belief that a greater part of the wish list is achieved. This New Year will usher in good tidings for all the readers of this column. The Lord will answer those wishes that are worthy in his eyes because we know that even before we kneel down before God, asking for anything. He already knows those things that we truly need. May the good Lord bless us all this year. Most times when some of our exinternationals complain about how they are being treated in the twilight of their careers, I wonder if they have bothered to ask themselves what they did with their fortunes.

They blame everyone but themselves, forgetting that when the going was good, they splashed good cash on vanities such as cars, shoes, necklaces and bracelets, to mention but a few of their frivolities. In their opulence, not a few of our stars thought of engaging financial experts who could plan their future for them. Our stars likened the quantum cash to a broken oil pipe from an endless ocean. They apparently thought the cash would flow till eternity. I wish they asked what became of their predecessors. Those who ten years ago flew in jets across the country for owambes are struggling to rebuild their future, pursuing national team jobs. Indeed, in one of my trips to Uyo in November, many people inside the aircraft couldn’t fathom the loss in weight of some of our big stars who stopped playing in the year 2000. Many inside the aircraft couldn’t

reconcile the difficulty in seeing those stars in the past and now. A few argued about their identities. They had emaciated. No bouncers around them anymore. They walked up to greet you now, not the other way round. Things have truly changed. The jets are grounded. Many who had major cities named after them are loafing and holding on to anything to show that they played the game. Many of them in their heydays moved around at breakneck speed in convoys of the best cars. Now, they sneak into smoky jalopies, hiding their identities by wearing big hats. When will our stars start to plan for their future? When will our big boys enjoy the kind of rave reviews that megastars, such as David Beckham, Cristiano Ronaldo, Lionel Messi et al, get from the media in terms of their emoluments? We are tired of the rag-to-riches and then riches-to-penury of our players who

earned hefty figures playing the beautiful game in some of the countries where some of these megastars played. This writer is surprised at the penury in which some of these former stars live. They appear to have forgotten where they were discovered. They were street-wise kids, whose absence from their homes brought relief to the family since they would cater for less the number, as a means of punishment to them. I cringed when I saw another Nigerian feeling cool inside a 2015 Roll Royce car worth £250,000 (N46.2 million). What struck me was how much he was worth to make such a purchase? I reckoned that he didn’t know what to use such cash for? I wish I could tell my readers his background to find out if such hefty cash wouldn’t have been better spent. Our stars have a right to satisfy

•Continued on Page 63

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