The Nation September 07, 2014

Newspaper of the Year

Prepare for higher service, Niger Gov tells Lamido

Dimgba Igwe, frontline journalist, dies at 58

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WHERE ARE THE CHIBOK GIRLS KIDNAPPED ON APRIL 15?

Nigeria’s widest circulating newspaper

Vol.09, No. 2964

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

SUNDAY

SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

N200.00

L-R: Former Edo State Governor, Lucky Igbinedion, Vice Chancellor, University of Ibadan, Prof. Isaac Adewole; Esama of Benin, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, Oyo State Governor, Sen. Abiola Ajumobi and Vice Chancellor, Igbinedion University, Prof. Egbhosa Osaghae at the launch of a book The Living Legend in honour of Chief Gabriel Igbinedion at International Conference Centre University of Ibadan, Oyo State at the weekend

Boko Haram seizes Adamawa Acting Gov’s hometown –Page 3

Security build up in Maiduguri

Ebola: Ondo bans bush meat –Page 4

Inside the world of troubled marriages of preachers–Pages 37-39

Morsi to face fresh trial in Egypt –Page 73

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

PAGE 2 Sierra Leone lockdown will not help halt Ebola: MSF

CAPTURED

CORRECTION

At this time of Ebola Open defecation still goes on despite warnings by the health authorities…Makoko, Lagos.

Photo: MUYIWA HASSAN

On this page last week, we used this picture and asked if the ferry was seaworthy.

We have since found out that we were misled. We apologise for the error. –Editor.

BAROMETER sunday@thenationonlineng.net

Jonathan and his TAN rallies

Alamieyeseigha's boyish, cowardly philosophy

By ADEKUNLE ADE-ADELEYE

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

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SOKO Haram insurgents early yesterday reportedly seized Kirchinga, hometown of Adamawa State Acting Governor Umaru Fintiri, hours before he took part in the PDP governorship primaries.

The primaries were on at press time.

Kirchinga is in Madagali local Government area of the state whose headquarters, Gulak was also seized.

Gulak is the hometown of another governorship aspirant, Mallam Ahmad Gulak and immediate past Special Adviser on Political Affairs to the President.

Seven lives were reportedly lost in the attacks.

The fate of Kirchinga could not be confirmed yesterday but the Secretary to the Adamawa State government, Prof. Liman Tukur, confirmed that Gulak, headquarters of Madagali Local Government Area was in the hands of the insurgents.

Other towns in the local government area allegedly

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Boko Haram seizes Adamawa Acting Governor’s hometown •Gulak, too, falls •Seven residents killed Barnabas Manyam, Yola and agency reports

overrun by Boko Haram are Duhu and Shuwa.

Sources said they were also closing in on Michika Local Government area from where another governorship aspirant, Brigadier-General Buba Marwa hails.

The SSG in his statement said the insurgents killed and displaced many people in Gulak during their attack.

He said: “It has come to the attention of the Adamawa State Government that insurgents are now in Gulak, the headquarters of Madagali Lo-

cal Government Area and have killed and displaced scores of people.

“On behalf of the people and government of Adamawa,His Excellency deeply sympathises with the people of Gulak and other surrounding villages and towns whose areas have been overrun by insurgents.

“The concomitant effects of the insurgency like displacement of whole villages and towns create multitudes of internally displaced persons whose management and welfare, the government is left to bear.

He said Government

would do as much as possible to assist the displaced persons.

The State Emergency Management Agency has been directed to hasten assistance to the displaced persons.

Sources in the seized towns said the insurgents are “in control everywhere,” attacking security posts and buildings.

It was gathered that the insurgents told the people not to panic or run as they had nothing against the ordinary people.

“They assured us that they will not attack us. But that was not enough to stop people from fleeing,” one source said.

“The fear is that they might turn on us after the exit of soldiers and other security personnel.”

An eyewitness to the at-

tack, Sabo Lukas, who escaped to the Adamawa state capital Yola, told Reuters the militants had gone from house to house in Gulak shooting, and he had seen bodies of victims.

He could not give an estimate for those killed.

“As am talking to you, they are still there killing people,” Lukas said.

Tanko Wazumtu, an aide to Adamawa state Acting Governor said his own father was among those killed.

Gulak is about 50 km southwest of Gwoza, a border town in neighbouring Borno state seized by Boko Haram last month and where the group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, proclaimed a “Muslim territory” in the northeast.

Another town, Madagali, between Gwoza and Gulak, was

attacked previously.

A native of the local government area, Dr Umar Duhu said the insurgents came in many Toyota Hilux vans around 5:30pm and armed with sophisticated weapons.

They began their operation by engaging security personnel at military checkpoints.

“As we speak, the insurgents are holding sway in the towns after hoisting their flags on the roads.

Palpable fear has enveloped Michika town with residents fleeing to Mubi and Yola.

A resident of Michika, Mr. Emmanuel Yame Kwache, said by phone that people are afraid for their lives.

Mr. Kwache said: “We don’t know where to run to but we are praying to God to help us because the whole of Michika is now lonely and business activities have been affected drastically as most of the people have relocated to the mountains to hide.”

Boko Haram: DHQ orders tight security for Maiduguri •Fog slows down aerial attacks on Bama, Gwoza •Insurgents running short of food supply

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•Speaker, Cross River House of Assembly, Mr Larry Odey, being screened for Ebola virus at J.U. Esuene Stadium during Nigeria-Dr Congo 2015 AFCON qualifying match in Calabar yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN

How Boko Haram runs seized towns

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CARCE food, cheap death, denial of education and medical attention, total absence of government. This is the lot of hundreds of thousands of Nigerians now trapped in towns, villages and hamlets across the nine local government areas being controlled by Boko Haram in Borno State.

Residents fleeing the ‘iron walls’ in Gwoza, Damboa, Askira/Uba, Marte, Chibok, Konduga, Dikwa and Bama say the terrorists are forcing their helpless captives to listen to their preaching, which includes rants against corruption in the government and orders to keep their children away from Western education.

Boko Haram means ‘Western education is sinful’.

Besides, residents have no access to medical attention as Western medicine is also unacceptable to Boko Haram.

Many health workers on polio vaccination campaigns have been killed by them.

“In Bara now there is no single police, soldier, civil defence, state security service personnel,” said truck driver Musa Abdullahi, 60.

“They have all run away for fear of being killed, even the civil servants are not spared from attack, if you are

•Bleak life behind the ‘iron wall’ •Residents forced to listen to sermons •Education, health facilities scrapped a government worker they kill you.” He fled with his wife and seven children to Ngaldi town.

The terrorists are also asking people to join their fight.

More than 26,000 people have fled Bama, a city of 200,000, joining some 1.5 million Nigerians forced from their homes by the fighting since a state of emergency was declared in Borno, Yobe and Adamawa in May 2013, according to the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Boko Haram has in recent weeks seized more towns and now controls about one third of Borno State.

It has ‘created’ a caliphate in Gwoza, mimicking Iraq’s Islamic State group.

Governor Kashim Shettima took to the air on Friday in a fresh bid to reassure citizens panicked about the spreading insurgency in the state.

In the broadcast he spoke of tens of thousands of farmers who have been driven from their land, many children, including new orphans,

out of school and the need for additional medical services.

Government, he said, has bought thousands of bags of food for free distribution, is starting scholarships for all children orphaned by the insurgency, and has instructed the state health ministry to introduce mobile clinics to attend to victims of the emergency.

His words: “At least one third of our local government areas have been affected by their attacks with different degrees of intensity and periodic occupation.

“In recent days and weeks, we have come under renewed and augmented attacks, waged against all of us, by an armed minority that seeks to impose on us, a doctrine that is completely at variance with the religion of Islam which they claim to promote; a doctrine that negates the dignity and existence of humanity on earth, despite Allah’s decree in the glorious Quran, that He has dignified the human creature, prohibited unjust killings and made the religion of Islam that which does not sanction

compulsion in a multi-faith society like ours.”

The Defence Headquarters acknowledged “challenges in the counter-terrorism efforts” that has filled citizens and even foreign allies with apprehension, but it repeated promises that “everything will be done to ... defeat the rampaging terrorists.”

The statement did not admit that Boko Haram militants this past week seized Bama, the second largest city in Borno state, and now threaten the state capital, Maiduguri. Boko Haram has hoisted its black and white flag over several other Nigerian towns in recent weeks.

Shettima urged Nigeria’s federal government to redouble its efforts to contain the insurgency.

The United States and the United Nations this week expressed deep concern about Nigeria’s deteriorating security situation, with U.S. Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Linda Thomas-Greenfield warning Nigerian officials that “The reputation of Nigeria’s military is at stake. But, more importantly, Nigeria’s and its children’s future is in jeopardy.”

In an apparent rebuke to the Nigerian government and the military’s denials of the perilous situation, she said it was “past time for denial and pride.”

HE Defence Headquarters has ordered a fresh security beef up in Maiduguri, following alleged dropping of fliers by Boko Haram of a planned invasion of the city.

Giwa and Maimalari barracks, both of which the insurgents threaten to target, have been fortified and movement restricted to only those legitimately living there.

The military and other security agencies have also been placed on the alert in the 18 Local Government Areas of Borno State largely unaffected by the insurgency.

However, fog yesterday slowed down aerial attacks on the insurgents in Bama and Gwoza.

Reports from the area indicated that the insurgents were running out of food supply especially in Bama and Gwoza.

Consequently, the terrorists have been forcing residents to share their food ration with them.

A well placed security source said the Defence Headquarters and security agencies are investigating the alleged dropping of threat fliers by the insurgents.

The source said the development called for the tightening of security in Maiduguri and the insurgents might have hidden under the cover of the prolonged outage in the state capital to circulate the fliers.

Maiduguri has been without electricity supply for over four months now following the destruction of supply chain by the insurgents.

The source said: “The military and other agencies are investigating the authenticity or otherwise of the fliers and their origin.

“The DHQ has directed all formations to ensure tight security for Maiduguri. We are not taking any information, no matter how suspicious, for granted in view of the guerrilla tactics of the insurgents. Troops have been asked to protect everywhere in Maiduguri and some towns and villages in the state which have not witnessed insurgency.

“Nigerians should appreciate that the insurgents have this style of driving fears into the citizenry. Given heavy military

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

presence in Maiduguri, there is no way Boko Haram will attack the town because they paid dearly for it when they attempted it twice.

“The good thing is that, apart from the military, everyone in Maiduguri is psychologically prepared for the insurgents.”

Another source said: “I think the insurgents took advantage of the outage in Maiduguri to drop the threat fliers through their agents or contacts.

“This is why civilian task force, called Civilian JTF, has been fishing out suspected Boko Haram members and agents in Maiduguri. I think the insurgents will be coming for suicide mission if they dare attack the state capital.

On the situation in Giwa and Maimalari barracks in the town, the source added: “These formations have been fortified and movement restricted to only the soldiers and their relations.

“Though it is normal in war situation for relations of troops to relocate from the barracks, we have not reached that level in Maiduguri.”

Meanwhile, fogs yesterday slowed down the aerial bombardments of Bama and Gwoza by the military.

But there were indications that the insurgents were running out of food supply.

The insurgents were said to be forcing the surviving residents to share their food ration with them.

Giving an update yesterday, a military source said: “The aerial attacks on Bama and Gwoza were slowed down on Saturday by weather, especially thick clouds.

“Normal bombardments may resume on Sunday if the weather condition improves.

So far, the aerial attacks have affected the insurgents who have lost many of their members.

“They cannot sustain the siege on Bama and Gwoza because they are already running out of food supply. We will reclaim these towns from the insurgents who are managing to survive. They now live on the ration of innocent residents and inhabitants of these towns.”

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS

Prepare for higher service, Aliyu tells I Lamido T was never planned to be political but yesterday’s colourful take-off of this year’s Hajj was spiced with some politics.

The Niger State Governor, Babangida Aliyu told his Jigawa State counterpart, Alhaji Sule Lamido, to get set for higher service following what he described as his remarkable achievements in the state.

Speaking during the 2014 Hajj Operation at the N13 billion new Dutse International Airport at Fanisau village, Dutse, Governor Aliyu, who is also the chair of the Northern Governor’s Forum, said, “I’ve heard about what you have been doing and I have come to see

From Bola Olajuwon

it for myself. All I can say is that you should be prepared for higher service.”

The audience applauded as Aliyu spoke.

Among the dignitaries were Vice President Namadi Sambo, who represented President Goodluck Jonathan, the Sultan of Sokoto, Alh Abubakar Sa’ad III, who is also the Amirul Hajj, Oba Rilwanu Akiolu of Lagos, the Emir of Kano, Alh Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Shehu of Borno and many other emirs.

So impressed was the Sultan that he said if there was a fourth term, Lamido should have been asked to run.

Sambo, Sultan, Lamido,

others urged the pilgrims to pray for divine intervention in the nation’s insecurity problem and hitch-free 2015 election.

Others were Chairman of Jigawa Council of Chiefs and Emir of Hadeija, Ahaji Adamu Abubakar Maje, Emir of Dutse Alhaji Nuhu Muhammadu Sunusi, Executive Chairman of National Hajj Commission Mallam Muhammad Musa Bello, ministers, senators, lawmakers, among others.

Sambo, who expressed the apology of President Goodluck Jonathan for his inability to be at the event,

asked the 530 pilgrims to be better ambassadors, imbibe the orientation given to them by the country’s agencies, to adhere to Saudi Arabia laws.

He also enjoined them to pray persistently to God to intervene in the nation’s security challenges as well as for smooth conduct of 2015 general elections.

The vice president also asked them to engage in spiritual revival.

He hailed the authorities of Saudi Arabia Kingdom for clearing Nigeria’ s pilgrims for the holy pilgrimage despite Ebola scare,

pledging that no Ebola patient would be allowed to fly to the hajj.

He added that the government is committed to the welfare of the pilgrims, better and hitch- free hajj operation.

Sambo disclosed that for the first time, 50 per cent of the pilgrims will be flown directly to Medina, adding that better accommodations have been prepared for them.

He also disclosed that the government has approved N1.7billion for states to fight Ebola virus.

He stressed that the government has effectively fought to curtail the disease, adding that it would stop fighting it.

Governor Aliyu, Oba Akiolu, the Sultan of Sokoto, Chairman of Hajj commission also enjoined the pilgrims to be a good ambassadors, praying for a hitch-free operation.

Oba Akiolu requested the federal government to approve more money for hajj operation and Lagos State and others fighting to curtail Ebola virus.

Lamido also received praises for the developments recorded in the state during his over seven years’ administration.

The newly commissioned airport, according to the Sultan, “is the best in this part of the world if not the best.”

The pilgrims were being airlifted by Max Air.

Katsina: PDP sweeps LG poll •APC, others boycott

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OLLOWING boycott by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and some parties, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday swept the local government poll in Katsina State.

As at press time, PDP had secured 17 out of the 34 local government areas in the state.

Only six parties, namely ACPM, APGA, MEGA, PDP, PPA, and SDP, participated in the elections.

Those who shunned the poll were APC, PDM, NCP and LP. The boycott restricted the choice of the electorates to the ruling PDP in the state.

Some of the results announced last night showed the PDP winning in Kaita, Mashi, Danmusa, Ingawa, Zango, Batagarawa among others.

There was low turnout of voters for the LG poll, the first since 2008.

Although election materials arrived at the polling units as early as 7.30am, the poll officers had little to do because of the apathy of voters.

An official of the State Independent Electoral Commission (SIEC), who spoke in confidence, said: “We have recorded a hitch-free poll in order to ensure that there is democratic structure at the local government level.

From Yusuf Alli, Managing Editor, Northern Operation

“We promised to ensure a free and fair poll, I am happy we have delivered on our mandate. So far, PDP is leading in many LGAs, we will make a formal announcement of all results on Sunday.”

A voter from Mashi, Alhaji Mohammed Mashi said: “It would be a waste of time to take part in an election whose outcome is known. The SIEC is in the pocket of the state government.

“We are waiting for them during the 2015 poll.

It is then we will know who is in control of the state.”

A resident of Funtua, Mallam Mummuni Sa’id, said: “There was no point of going out to vote since the election was not competitive.

“The opposition parties said they are not going to participate in the election for the fear of manipulations as they alleged, but the process can only be of interest to the electorates when there are two or more parties aspiring for the chairmanship and councillorship positions.”

He said the decision of the opposition parties of not participating in the elections did not give them opportunities to make rational choices in the polls in electing their LG councils leaders.

Soldiers kill 50 terrorists in hideout assault

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HE Defence Headquarters said yesterday that troops on assignment in Borno State killed over 50 terrorists during an afternoon raid of a Boko Haram hideout at Kawuri, Konduga Local Government Area of the state.

“Over 50 terrorists died this afternoon as troops raided their hideout in Kawuri before setting out on a planned attack on Konduga,” it tweeted last night.

A Fabricated Artillery Gun, two Anti-Aircraft guns, an armoured vehicle and assorted ammunition were also seized during the raid.

“Some hardware, weapons, food items and personal belongings were also destroyed in the Kawuri Raid,” according the DHQ. However, one officer and two soldiers were wounded in the operation.

The claim could not be independently verified.

•Delegates waiting to be screened for Adamawa PDP governorship election primaries in Jimeta-Yola, yesterday. Voting was still ongoing at press time PHOTO:NAN

Ebola: Ondo bans bush meat business

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HE harvesting and sale of bush meat in Ondo State have been suspended by the state government as part of the effort to check the spread of Ebola.

Health Commissioner Dayo Adeyanju said yesterday that the suspension will remain in force until the disease in contained.

He said the action was not to punish those in the business of hunting or selling of bush meat but to safeguard the health of every one.

He called for the understanding of the affected people saying it was a sacrifice they needed to make for the good of all.

He said that the state gov-

ernment had even embarked on a light sensitisation programme, to avoid panic, before the disease was confirmed in Lagos.

Also, the Commissioner for Health, Imo State, Dr. Edward Ihejirika, said the State had been worried since EVD was confirmed in Rivers state.

Speaking on the measures

against travel to Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The travel advisory issued cautioned citizens and residents to avoid all travel to these countries until further notice due to the active outbreak of Ebola virus in those countries.

Al-Haqbani said such a ban on these countries will not affect the labour market in the Kingdom since the manpower recruited from these countries are negligible in number. “Until June this year, there was a total of 527 workers deployed in the Kingdom from these three countries,” he said, pointing out that 152 of them are domestic workers. He also

noted that the total number of visas issued to these three countries was 120 during this period and 88 of them were domestic workers.

The deputy minister also said that there is no reason for the Kingdom to impose a similar ban on Nigeria since the Ebola virus did not originate from that country.

However, Saudi missions abroad have been instructed to take maximum quarantine measures before issuing employment, business and pilgrimage visas to foreigners.

“All new recruits to the Kingdom are subject to comprehensive medical tests in the

taken by the government to tackle the disease if discovered in the state, Ihejirika noted that dedicated Ebola help lines had been published and in light of the federal government’s directive that schools should resume on September 22, information, communication and education materials on the virus would be distributed to schools.

Saudi Arabia bans recruitment from Ebola-affected countries

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HE Saudi Ministry of Labour has imposed a ban on the recruitment of labour from Ebola-affected countries of Liberia, Guinea and Sierra Leone.

Deputy Labour Minister Moufarrej Al-Haqbani said the decision was taken as a preventive measure against the spread of the Ebola virus in the Kingdom, describing it as a temporary ban. “We have taken this action in coordination with the Ministry of Health (MoH), which stopped issuing Hajj and Umrah visas to pilgrims from these endemic countries in April,” he noted.

The ministry also warned

their respective countries before the visas are issued by the Saudi missions,” Al-Haqbani said.

The new recruits will have to undergo medical tests at the clinics assigned by the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Accredited Medical Clinics Association (Gamca) in their respective countries.

Three weeks ago, the GCC countries adopted a unified strategy against the deadly Ebola virus by training its health officials to combat the disease and to make use of the facilities available in the region to diagnose and treat such diseases within the Kingdom.

Ebola death toll passes 2,000 in West Africa, says WHO

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HE World Health Organisation has said that more than 2,000 people have died since the Ebola outbreak in

West Africa.

Four thousand people are thought to have been affected by the virus, according to a WHO document.

The disease is rapidly spreading in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone in West Africa.

The data, however,

does not include Nigeria, Senegal or Democratic Rupublic of Congo where a few cases had been found.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS

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DIMGBA IGWE 1956 - 2014

Igwe, frontline journalist, dies at 58 P

OPULAR columnist and Vice Chairman, Sun Newspapers, Pastor Dimgba Igwe, died yesterday.

He was killed by a hit-and-run driver.

He was aged 58 years.

Igwe was jogging in his Okota, Lagos neighbourhood in the morning when he was knocked down by the unknown driver, the Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief of the newspaper, Mr. Femi Adesina said in a statement last night.

Igwe was subsequently

rushed to a nearby private hospital, and later the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH), Ikeja, for surgery.

He died in the process.

Chairman of Sun Newspapers, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, described the death as “tragic, shocking, and a dark day in the annals of journalism in Nigeria.”

He added: “Dimgba Igwe was too much of a gentleman, fine brain and mind to die tragically like this.”

Before joining The Sun at its

...Amosun too

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GUN State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has expressed deep shock at the news of the demise of front line journalist and Vice-Chairman of The Sun Publishing Company Limited, Mr Dimgba Igwe.

In a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mrs. Olufunmilayo Wakama, Amosun said he is saddened by the news of the death of the veteran journalist, describing it as a big loss to journalism in particular and the media industry in general.

“Dimgba Igwe was a cerebral and fearless Journalist, prolific writer and renowned media administrator, who was well respected in his profession. I recall the last time I saw him and Mike Awoyinfa, when they came to interview me. I feel so sad that such a thoroughbred journalist, who still had so much to give to the journalism profession and indeed the development of our country died in his prime,” the governor said.

The governor commiserated with the family of the deceased, management and staff of The Sun Publishing Company Limited, and the media industry in Nigeria on the demise of the front line journalist.

inception in 2003, he had worked with his close friend and associate, Mr. Mike Awoyinfa, at the rested Weekend Concord, a publication of the Concord Press.

At the Sun he first served as Deputy Managing Director/ Deputy Editor-in- Chief before becoming Vice Chairman.

He was Deputy General Overseer of Evangel Pentecostal Church, Okota, Lagos and a fellow of the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE).

He is survived by a wife and four children.

Sad loss to journalism, literary world- Fashola

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AGOS State Governor, Mr Babatunde Fashola, has expressed shock and sadness at the sudden death of veteran journalist, Mr. Dimgba Igwe.

In a condolence message to the widow, the Governor said the death is a sad loss to the journalism profession in particular and the literary world in general.

Describing the late Igwe as a trail blaizer, who along with

his age long friend and partner Mike Awoyinfa, pioneered a refreshing brand of newspapering with the Weekend Concord, the Governor recalled the vibrancy which late Dimgba Igwe brought into journalism with his inimitable writing style and comments on contemporary issues as well as the stimulating biographies which he has authored.

According to the Governor,

he had the opportunity to further observe the departed Igwe as a perceptive professional on the occasions he met with him and his colleague, in the course of an ongoing book project.

The governor in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Hakeem Bello, while condoling with the entire Sun Newspapers family, beseeched God to grant the widow and the relatives left behind the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.

Tinubu condoles with family

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HE NATIONAL leader, All Progressives Congress (APC), has described as shocking and unbelievable the tragic death of veteran journalist Dimgba Igwe.

He said, “The tribe of great journalists in Nigeria has again been depleted by this sudden death. It is indeed a sad day for the media and all those that were associated with Dimgba.

He was a thorough bred journalist and writer who remained steadfast and lifted the Sun newspapers to a position of reckoning.”

The former Lagos State governor, who described the circumstances of his death as painful and avoidable said it was a great loss that saddens him deeply, “I knew Dimgba personally and respected his professional contributions to

building our country. I recall vividly my encounter with him.

Dimgba and Mike Awoyinfa after chasing me down interviewed me for close to three hours on the book they were writing on Lagos State and the post military era development.

It was an enjoyable experience.

“My condolences go out to his wife and family and all relatives. I pray God will grant them strength for this period and peace in abundance. “

Ajimobi mourns, commiserates with Sun newspaper

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HE Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has commiserated with The Sun newspaper family and Nigerian journalists on the sudden death of the Vice Chairman of the newspaper, Mr. Dimgba Igwe.

He made this known on yesterday in a statement by his Special Adviser on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo.

According to the governor, the death of the veteran journalist was shocking and heart-rending.

“Igwe was one of the beacons of the journalism profes-

sion. He was one of the leading lights of the profession.

That a man of peace like him could be visited by the violence of the road is one of the contradictions of life,” the governor said.

He recalled Igwe’s “deep, incisive and fluid” commentaries on the back page of The Sun and said that he had made remarkable contributions to the cause of journalism in Nigeria, stating that the country would miss him greatly.

While commiserating with the Publisher of the Sun, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu and the

Igwe’s death, my saddest day- Kalu

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HE publisher and chairman of The Sun Group of Newspapers and New Telegraph, Dr. Orji Kalu, has described the death of the Vice-Chairman of the media conglomerate, Mr. Dimgba Igwe, yesterday, as the saddest day of his life.

In a statement by his media adviser, Mr. Ebere Wabara, Kalu, who is in London, said in a telephone conversation, that he was devastated by Igwe’s death. He declared: “Igwe, apart from being my kinsman, was one of the founding pillars in the estab-

lishment of The Sun. He worked tirelessly with others to ensure the instant success story associated with our tabloid today. I will surely miss his professional advice, camaraderie and brotherliness,” Kalu said.

Kalu enjoined God to strengthen his family and associates to bear this irreparable loss, pointing out that “journalism has just lost one of its brightest minds respected for analytical writings right from his National Concord days.

This is indeed my saddest day,” Kalu declared.

Sun family, Ajimobi urged them to take solace in what he called the uncommon intellectual strides of the late Igwe and take his death as an act of God. “He came to the world for the purpose of enriching journalism, discourses at the public sphere and he did this very remarkably. He left when the ovation was loudest. We should all bother less about him as he has fulfilled his destiny but bother more about what marks we are making in our various endeavours,” he said.

IPC condoles with The Sun

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HE International Press Centre (IPC), Lagos said it was shocked and saddened by the death of Mr. Dimgba Igwe.

“It is tragic irony that a gentleman who was exercising to keep fit and live well, ended up being knocked to death by a vehicle,” the IPC Director, Mr. Lanre Arogundade said yesterday.

He described Igwe as a distinguished editor and columnist and a quiet, diligent worker who happened to be one of those that the younger generation of journalism professionals looked up to for inspiration.

•Igwe

He’ll be remembered as a dependable professional, says Jonathan

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan was all praise for the late Dimgba Igwe acknowledging in particular his high sense of professionalism.

The President, in a condolence message yesterday expressed commiserations to the publishers of The Sun Newspapers, the Nigerian Guild of Editors, and all friends and associates of Mr. Igwe, “for whom his unexpected death must be exceedingly painful.”

He said the late Igwe will “always be remembered as a hardworking and dependable professional, who, through his various writings as columnist, author and public speaker, demonstrated a special ability to convey the truth and his convictions in lucid, compelling prose, and in a style that was shorn of cant and foppery.”

He enjoined the family, friends and associates of the deceased to “be consoled by

the knowledge that he put his God-given abilities to the best possible use in a very purposeful life that was wholly devoted to the defence of truth and the public interest, as well as the promotion of the highest standards of his chosen profession of journalism.”

He prayed that God might grant them the fortitude to bear the loss of “the very forthright journalist and media administrator, and also grant his soul, peaceful repose.”

The man Dimgba Igwe

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RONTLINE journalist and one of Nigeria’s foremost media administrators and author, Pastor Dimgba Igwe, who died yesterday has sent shock waves across the media industry.

He was known to many people at home and abroad largely because of his total devotion to his first love, journalism – for the past 30 years.

Dimgba Igwe, ace journalist, publisher, author, biographer and pastor, was a role model to many practising and aspiring

By ‘Dare Odufowokan, Assistant Editor

journalists. Along with his longtime journalist friend and business partner, Mike Awoyinfa, he had mid-wifed some hugely successful newspapers, including the now rested Weekend Concord, The Sun and lately Entertainment Express and Sunday Express respectively.

After the pioneering roles they played at the now rested Weekend Concord newspaper and The Sun newspapers, in 2011, Dimgba Igwe and

He was shining star of Nigerian journalism, says APC HE All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday that with the death of Pastor Dimgba Igwe, Nigerian journalism has lost a shining star.

The party, in a statement in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, expressed “shock and sadness at the sudden death of such a vibrant, cerebral and wonderful person, who has been a constant star in the constellation of Nigerian journalism for decades, without compromising his personal and professional integrity.”

It condoled with the family and friends of the late Pastor

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Igwe, and prayed that God will give them the strength to bear their loss.

APC asked the police to find and bring to justice the driver of the vehicle that knocked him down while jogging around his residence. ‘’Words are not enough to describe the huge loss, to his family, friends, profession and indeed our entire nation, that Igwe’s death represents. But we are sure the achievements he recorded in his lifetime will forever be a source of pride - and indeed a soothing balm - to all,” the party said and prayed for the repose of his soul.

Awonyinfa set about recording another landmark in the Nigerian media with the establishment of a newspaper entirely devoted to reporting the entertainment industry called Entertainment Express.

The newspaper hit the newsstand in June 2011. The duo were still engrossed in taking their new project to Olympian height when death came calling yesterday.

After a pioneering role they played at the now rested Weekend Concord newspaper where they distinguished themselves as journalists par excellence and lately, The Sun newspapers, Mike Awoyinfa and his friend, Dimgba Igwe are set to record another landmark in the Nigerian media with the establishment of a newspaper entirely devoted to reporting the entertainment industry.

He met his co-traveller, Mike Awoyinfa, at the Sunday Concord newspaper, and ever since then, they have been long standing friends. According to Igwe, “We discovered we are kindred spirits.” Speaking about the late Publisher recently, Awoyinfa said, “Dimgba complements my weaknesses, Continued on Page 73

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NEWS

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Daily sit-outs for Jonathan begins

Senate investigates NSIF

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From Dele Anofi, Abuja

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HE Senate Committee on Employment, Labour and Productivity is investigating the activities of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), it emerged yesterday.

The Committee also plans for the harmonisation of the social welfare (Amendment) bill 2014.

The committee's chairman, Senator Wilson Asinobi-Ake, stated these in a statement yesterday.

According to him, the evaluation of the performance of NSITF followed the consideration of the provisions of the Bill.

He said there was a need to evaluate the NSITF on the implementation of the Employment Compensation Act 2010 before the passage of the new bill into law.

Asinobi-Ake said: "Our committee considered it necessary to complete the evaluation process to ascertain how well the NSITF had performed under the Employee Compensation Act 2010 Act in the execution of the social welfare programme which the 2014 amendment Bill seeks to address.

"As a committee, we are assuring all Nigerians that the amendment bill contained measures that will ensure that Nigerians whether employed or not as well as the aged enjoy adequate social security welfare scheme which will soon be passed into law."

Rain foils fun in Abuja parks, gardens

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ARKS and gardens in Abuja yesterday recorded low turnout of fun seekers due to a morning rainfall.

A visit to some of these leisure places by the News agency of Nigeria (NAN) revealed that many of them were without the usual bustle they were known for.

At the Millennium Park, it was observed that the place which is often used as a venue for picnics, was deserted except for security personnel and vendors of soft drinks and snacks.

One of them, Miss Sandra Oyibo, who displayed her wares, said the place probably could not record its usual attendance because it rained in the morning.

She said many people were using the place for events such as wedding ceremonies, birthday parties, and picnics but since there was no shelter, fun-seekers would probably make use of other places.

The mat vendors also complained of low sales based on the rain.

At the River Plate Garden in Wuse 2, although there's no shelter too, it was observed that there was a wedding reception going on, while vendors also had their wares on display.

Meanwhile, the City Park was full of activities with the once in a month Designers Market Place (DMP), where traders of different kinds of wares bring their goods to sell at discount prices.

With different wares in different stalls on display, the park had a higher turnout of people who came for different purposes.

•Some residents of Gombe metropolis affected by rainstorms parking some of their household items‌ at the weekend PHOTO: NAN

Six dead, property destroyed N in Gombe flood o fewer than six persons have been confirmed dead and several others displaced with property worth millions destroyed following a flood at the weekend in Gombe metropolis.

The rainfall that lasted for just over an hour left many houses in parts of the state capital flooded.

The Executive Secretary of the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA), Dr Danlami Rukujei, who confirmed the casualties, said the destruction caused by the flood was more pronounced in eight wards.

By Vincent Ohonbamu, Gombe

He said the wards affected include Checheniya, Jakadafari, Dawaki, Heirwagana, KumbiyaKumbiya, Ungwar-Uku, Yelenguruza and Bolari.

He said it was too early to state how many people were displaced and the number of houses affected, stating that the agency will come up with accurate figure as compilation has begun in earnest.

Rukujei said: "We've lost people; people have lost shelters, clothings, beddings and food. About eight areas in Gombe metropolis were most affected.

"I cannot say now the number of households that have been displaced but the good thing so far is that almost all those who have lost their shelters have found temporary shelters without any need for us to put up any shelter anywhere.

"We have confirmed the loss of six as of now and they are all adults. It's a little too early to quantify the magnitude of the loss because apart from shelter, household items and food have been lost.

So it is difficult. But from what I have seen, it is going into hundreds of millions."

He called on people to desist from developing property along waterways or causing blockades.

He also advised residents to always clear their drainages to make for easy flow of water while commiserating with the bereaved.

Nigeria to provide technical assistance to Brazil, Venezuela, Vietnam

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IGERIA is to send volunteers to provide technical assistance to Brazil, Venezuela and Vietnam, the DirectorGeneral, Directorate of Technical Aid Corps (DTAC), Dr Pius Osunyikanmi, has said.

Osunyikanmi said in Abuja that the volunteer programme, until now, was restricted to African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries.

He said many countries that had declined participation in the scheme were now renewing their agreements with Nigeria to continue their enlistment on the programme.

"The Technical Aid Corps (TAC) scheme, which is now operational in many of the

ACP countries, has continued to grow both in scope and size.

"Indeed, many more countries within the ACP region and beyond have indicated interest in the programme and due consideration is being given to their respective requests by the directorate.

"Countries like Venezuela, Brazil and Vietnam that are traditionally outside the ACP regions have all indicated interest in the scheme.

"Likewise, TAC recipient countries such as Vanuatu, Fiji, Trinidad and Tobago, and Commonwealth of Dominica, St. Kitts and Nevis that have

earlier declined participation in the scheme are all renewing the TAC Country Agreement.

"South Sudan, the latest independent country in Africa, is working very intimately with the directorate to enable the scheme to take-off there in the nearest future," he said.

Osunyikanmi said the directorate was giving consideration to all the countries that had requested for volunteers for technical assistance.

According to him, the widening scope and size of the programme is the result of diligent procedural management of its current recruitment.

The director-general explained that the scheme, which had been in operation since 1987, was designed as a foreign policy tool to garner goodwill for Nigeria.

Osunyikanmi said the scheme served as an enduring technical assistance scheme, which identified the use of the large pool of trained manpower available in Nigeria to enhance the socioeconomic development of benefitting countries.

According to him, it is also to promote cooperation and understanding between the recipient countries and Nigeria.

1,500 volunteers are expected to be deployed to 32 countries as volunteers by the directorate in 2014.

Delta is Ebola-free, Commissioner declares

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ELTA State has no confirmed case of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD), the Commissioner for Information, Chike Ogeah, has stated.

He declared that two suspected cases in the state have turned out negative after necessary tests.

Ogeah, in a statement, said: "On Thursday, September 4, 2014, a woman who arrived from Lagos checked into the Federal Medical Centre

(FMC), Asaba seeking medical attention.

While waiting to be attended to by the medical personnel, the subject showed the level of discomfiture that elicited suspicions of a probable Ebola disease.

The subject was isolated while samples of her blood were taken to test for Ebola.

The result turned out negative to Ebola Virus Disease."

The commissioner explained that the patient is

receiving treatment for other diagnosed ailments at the FMC, Asaba.

Tests on the second suspected case at Eku Specialist Hospital, Eku, Ogeah also stated have proved negative.

"The woman, a diabetic patient, had checked into the hospital on returning from a visit to Port Harcourt but died on Thursday, September 4, 2014, a development that aroused suspicions of Ebola disease.

"It eventually emerged that the woman's health was exacerbated by her high intake of salt when people were falsely led to believe that drinking salt solutions would stave off Ebola Virus Disease."

He assured residents that the state is Ebola-free, assuring that the Inter-Ministerial Ebola Virus Outbreak Preparedness and Response Committee is working round the clock to monitor and evaluate every suspected case.

pro-Jonathan group, Goodluck Initiative For Transformation (GIFT 2015), has launched a nationwide daily campaign for the reelection of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Its National C o o r d i n a t o r , ChineduOkpalanma, said the sit-out campaign will hold across the federation from 3pm-6pm.

Okpalanma told reporters at the launch in Abuja that participants at the sit-outs will discuss the transformation policies of the current administration.

According to him: "This daily campaign will run every day from 3pm to 6pm under the rain or sun simultaneously in all the states, local governments and wards in Nigeria.

"People will be encouraged to come to the gatherings and air their views so they can better understand why we are behind the President, and we will not stop this campaign until our President declares.

"We believe when he sees the level of support Nigerians have for him, he will assent to our wishes."

He pointed that the campaign has been gathering momentum in Abuja and other states.

Okpalanma expressed delight with the #BringBackGoodluck2015 campaign among youths on social media, stating that it will soon become a global trend.

TREM holds service for power sector

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HE power sector will be the focal point at the 12th edition of the Breeding Leaders for Empowerment and National Transformation (BLENT) service of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM).

The theme of the initiative, which holds on Sunday, September 21 by 8am, is the state of the Nigerian power sector: Issues, alternatives and prospects.

Former Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji will be the keynote speaker while the Presiding Bishop, Dr Mike Okonkwo, is the chief host.

A statement by the church said: "The objective of BLENT is primarily to support the initiatives of government and also provide a platform to positively challenge the leaders of the country to rise up to responsible governance which is the hallmark of true leadership."

Stakeholders and corporate organisations in the power sector will exhibit their products at the service, which takes place at the international headquarters of the church in Gbagada Lagos.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS 7 2015 Senate: Ebola scare: Panic in Abakaliki Teaching Hospital APC, PDP plot • It’s false alarm … patient has peptic ulcer not Ebola - Health Commissioner Umeh’s fall in From Ogochukwu Anioke, the hospital and there is se- ated the preparedness of the mittee are by His Grace BONYI State GovernAnambra Abakaliki rious tension and panic state government’s treat- ready to handle issues of ment yesterday de-

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bunked rumours of an outbreak of Ebola Virus Disease in the state.

The state was thrown into panic following the rumour that emanated from the Federal Teaching Hospital, Abakaliki, of the presence of an Ebola patient in the hospital. The rumour led doctors, nurses and patients to scamper out of the hospital premises.

But The Nation gathered that a doctor in the hospital raised the false alarm while

treating a patient who was manifesting symptoms similar to Ebola.

The doctor was said to have been alarmed when he discovered that the woman recently came into the state from Port Harcourt, capital of Rivers State, which had recorded some cases of the disease.

“As we speak, I have left

there. Though, we are yet to confirm the report, I believe it is not Ebola,” a doctor told our correspondent.

But the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sunday Nwangele, debunked the rumours and urged the public to disregard it.

He said the patient rather had peptic ulcer and not Ebola Virus Disease as was rumoured. He also reiter-

ment team to handle any outbreak.

He said, “False alarm, it is rather a case of peptic ulcer, disregard the alarm, there is no Ebola Virus Disease in Ebonyi State, Nigeria.”

“Meanwhile, Government of Ebonyi State, through the State Ministry of Health, the Rapid Response Team and Treatment Com-

Ebola Virus Disease in the Ebonyi State.

“We will also continue to enlighten the entire public to comply with universal precautions as already established which include hand washing, use of sanitizers, restriction of travels to Ebola virus-affected destinations, restriction of conveyance of corpses, minimise contacts with people, etc.”

Kidnappers abduct mother, two children in Aba From Sunny Nwankwo, Aba

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ALPABLE fears have gripped residents and Ohuru villagers in Obingwa Local Government Area of Abia State after unknown gunmen abducted one Mrs. Ogochukwu and her two children (Chika and Favour).

A report has it that the abductors, after blocking the woman and her children at about 8:30pm on their way home in a Honda Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV), drove them away to an undisclosed location.

While information about the kidnap remains sketchy as at press time, unconfirmed information has it that the hoodlums later established communication with the victims’ family demanding an undisclosed amount of money for ransom. No member of the family could be reached for comments at press time.

The Abia State Commissioner of Police, Adamu Ibrahim, when contacted, disclosed that the SUV was recovered Saturday morning by his men at Owerrinta in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area.

Adamu stated that efforts were already intensified by police to ensure that the woman and her children were released unharmed and unconditionally.

• L-R: National Chairman, All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh , receiving the "Man of The Decade" Award from the former governor of Anambra, Dr Chukwuemeka Ezeife, in Awka yesterday. The award was donated by students of the Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka Photo NAN

Group issues ultimatum to IGP over road blocks in South-East

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UMAN Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA) yesterday gave a-21 day ultimatum to the Acting Inspector-General of Police, Suleiman Abba, to disband all alleged road blocks by his men in the South-Eastern states.

HURIWA, according to its coordinator, Emmanuel Onwubiko, has noticed road blocks at Owerri, Enugu and Onitsha. Onwubiko, who spoke with newsmen in Abuja on the development, said the road block operation was reintroduced after the exit of the former Inspector-General of Police.

From Gbenga Omokhunu, Abuja The group vowed to petition President Goodluck Jonathan if after the ultimatum the road blocks are not removed.

His words: “The state of check points in the South-East is alarming. The aim is to attack the civil populace. We found out that the operatives of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) have gone back to the road with the return of checkpoints.

“The moment the Acting Inspector-General of Police,

Suleiman Abba, ordered the introduction of what he called Tactical Operational Points for the police in some northern states, other police operatives in other parts of the country have implemented it but it has not yet come to the SouthEast. I have led my team to see how the police operate in Owerri, Enugu and Onitsha.

It is even worst in Onitsha.

“They have started extortion and they punish people who do not comply. We are calling the Acting Inspector General of Police to put a stop to this gross human right violation. If you have police stationed in some parts of a state

you do not need a road block.

“We are begging because he is just acting and if he does not take action within 21 days, we are going to personally write a letter to the president demanding that he should not be confirmed.

“He has a task before him; he is already going round the media houses begging for partnership but on this one the media cannot help him.

“After all, the media also suffers the same intimidation.

What will help him is to ensure that the road blocks around the South-East states are removed and further ensure the safety of lives and property.”

Why Ndigbo should re-elect Jonathan - Uzodinma

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HAIRMAN, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Hope Uzodinma, has appealed to Ndigbo to re-elect President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015 because he has made the ethnic group proud.

According to the lawmaker, who addressed the 20th World Igbo Congress in Houston, Texas, USA, the president has shown an uncommon leadership that has revamped the nation’s economy and has deepened democracy through respect for the rule of law and adherence to the provisions of the constitution.

Uzodinma’s aide, Mbadiwe Emelumba, made this disclosure in a press re-

From John Ofikhenua, Abuja lease at the weekend.

He said Jonathan has done the nation proud and deserves the support of all Nigerians for re-election.

The lawmaker who represents Imo West in the Senate said: “From prompt and popular actions to bolster free, fair and credible elections, maintenance of stable prices for petroleum products, fiscal and monetary interventions in the real sector and the burgeoning film industry, to the silent but persistent responses to the energy challenges confronting the nation, President Jonathan has proved to eve-

ryone but die hard critics that, good luck notwithstanding, he is the right man for today,” the Senator said.

Appealing directly for Igbo votes for Jonathan in 2015, Uzodinma the Senator recalled that Jonathan had made the dream of an international airport in the South-East a reality through the Akanu Ibiam International Airport. He also noted that the Second Niger Bridge, which had remained in the realm of political rhetoric in the past has now been brought to fruition under the watch of Jonathan, adding that contract for the construction of the bridge bas been awarded and mobilisation

paid. According to him, the Imo Airport, neglected for too long, has finally been repositioned as Sam Mbakwe International Cargo Airport and would soon become operational.

Uzodinma added that: “The transformation of the railway sub-sector is just one example of where the transformation train could take the Nigerian society.

He said: “An energetic Salvage Operation with remodelled tracks and locomotives has debunked the lie that the Nigerian Railway is as good as dead. The trains are back in operation on the Western Rail Lines, ferrying goods and passengers from

Lagos to Kano”.

He also said the Eastern rail line - Port-Harcourt to Maiduguri - is being revamped and that a new coastal railway line from Lagos into Benin to Onitsha, up to Aba, Calabar to Obudu has just been awarded to Chinese giants (CCECC) for construction.

The senator added that “Jonathan is a detribalised Nigerian and the solution to the Nigerian problem. Let us rise to support his second term in office.”

Reacting to the senator’s speech, other speakers at the event pledged total support for the re-election of Jonathan in 2015.

From Nwanosike Onu, Awka

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HE All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) are fighting hard to stop the senatorial ambition of the National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Chief Victor Umeh, in 2015.

Though none of the political parties has conducted their primaries in the state to elect their candidates for elective positions, Umeh had already given himself automatic ticket for the Central Senatorial Zone without any challenge.

The Nation gathered yesterday that is was Umeh’s automatic ticket to himself in the Central Senatorial zone that made some National Assembly members of APGA, led by Ekwunife to defect recently to the PDP. According to Ekwunife, “I have joined a party where I will be given the opportunity to air my views and not staying in a place where one person will take every decision, political party is not a cult group,” she said.

Bishop hails Obi for investment in education

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HE Catholic Bishop of Awka Diocese, His Lordship Paulinus Ezeokafor, has expressed joy at the consistent top performance of Anambra State in national examinations since the handover of schools to the mission by the former administration of Mr. Peter Obi. The education reforms embarked upon by Anambra State in the last couple of years have continued to yield fruits as schools in the state again emerged the overall best in the 2014 West African Senior School Certificate Examination (WASSCE), a repeat of the feat recorded in the last two years.

Commenting on this at Awka, Ezeokafor said the return of schools to the mission by the immediate past regime of Peter Obi was responsible.

‘Ojukwu’s memory will not vanish in our minds’ From Nwanosike Onu, Awka HE memory of the late Biafrian leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu will continue to remain ever green in the minds of every Igbo person and indeed, Nigeria.

This was the view of one of the chieftains of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) and human rights activist, Obele Chuka Obele, yesterday in Awka.

The activist lawyer, who recently joined the APGA, told The Nation that though Ojukwu was dead, what he did for Ndigbo would not be forgotten in a hurry by the people.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS

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NiMet predicts cloudy conditions, localised rains today

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HE Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted cloudy weather conditions with chances of thunderstorms over the eastern parts and the high grounds including Abuja and Jos today.

According to NiMet, prospects of thunderstorms are expected in the central states over the region in the afternoon and night.

NiMet's Central Forecast Office (CFO), in its Weather Outlook in Abuja yesterday, said: ``The southern coastal areas will experience cloudy conditions with chances of localised drizzles in the morning, especially over the eastern parts. ``Prospects of rains are expected over the eastern parts in the afternoon.

"Cloudy conditions are expected in the inland areas with chances of localised rains over the eastern parts in the morning. ``Prospects of rains are also expected over the entire region in the afternoon and night,'' NiMet predicted.

According to the forecast, the northern states will experience cloudy conditions with chances of localised thunderstorms on Sunday afternoon and night.

Ebola: Suspected patient tests negative in Sokoto 25-year-old suspected patient of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) brought to the accident and emergency unit of the Usmanu Danfodiyo University Teaching Hospital, Sokoto at the weekend has tested negative to the deadly virus.

The patient whose identity was not disclosed was said to be manifesting symptoms of EVD while receiving treatment at the institution.

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From: Adamu Suleiman, Sokoto

A statement signed by the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Yakubu Ahmed, said tests revealed the unidentified patient was not infected with Ebola, Lassa, Dengue and West Nile diseases.

Stating that the hospital has the approval of the Minister of Health, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu, to speak on the suspected case, Ahmed

said the patient was taken to the hospital on September 1st on the accounts of vomiting, weakness of the body, cough and bleeding from the nostrils.

His conditions generated panic and sudden fear among residents, with many believing he was infected with EVD. According to Ahmed: "The patient was initially managed at a private hospital on account of gastro-enteritis. He got better and was discharged only

to start presenting such symptoms."

"His sample was immediately taken and sent to the reference laboratory in Lagos for Ebola virus test.

"In line with this and while we commend the efforts of the health workers for their vigilance and courage in the management of the case, we urge people not to panic and be assured that the federal government is committed to the safety of Nigerians."

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HE Rotary Club of Abuja has commissioned Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project in Government Junior Day Secondary School, Dutse Abuja.

It also renovated toilets for the male and female students of the school.

The District Governor 9125, Mr. Mogbeyi Omatsola, said the gestures were to prevent an outbreak of Ebola in the neighbourhood.

The WASH project, he explained, was situated in the environment to inculcate good hygiene in the growing children.

Omatsola said: "The whole essence of that area of focus is to provide clean potable water to those communities and those areas that do not have such clean drinking water."

The club's president, Lynda Nwadioha, said: "We did this project amidst the prevailing environmental and health issues today. So, you could say that the project is timely.

"The earlier we teach these children the art of personal hygiene, the better for the society. We chose this school because of this inadequacy of water, sanitation and hygiene."

The vice principal Academy of JDSS, Mr. Okwuozie Anaemeka, appreciated the club for the project.

He said it was timely considering the Ebola scare in the West African region.

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former member of the House of Representatives, Alhaji Abdullahi Faruk, at the weekend indicated his intention to return to the seat on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) He represented Birnin Kebbi, Kalgo and Bunza Federal Constituency in the house from 1999- 2011.

The former lawmaker made the declaration in Birnin Kebbi during a visit to the state secretariat of APC. He said APC was the only political party with internal democracy.

Faruk said that the constituency was in dire need of competent and credible representation to handle the yearning and aspiration of its electorate.

He promised to ensure that APC remained a party to reckon with, adding that ``we would toe the path of decency and decorum in our campaigns''.

The state Chairman of the party, Alhaji Attahiru Maccido, assured the party would be transparent and just in the primaries.

"We will work on what the voters or consensus suggest during the primaries," he said.

Expel Lamido now, Northern youths tell PDP From Kolade Adeyemi, Kano

Rotary renovates toilets in Dutse School From Bukola Amusan, Abuja

Ex-Rep member declares for Kebbi seat

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•From L-R: Former chief of Naval Staff, Vice Admiral Ganiyu Adekeye; his wife, Fatimo; the couple Mr. &Mrs. Olabode Adekeye; former Director of Department of State Security(DSS), Mr. Kayode Are and his wife, Ngozi at the wedding ceremony of their children in Lagos‌ at the weekend PHOTO: MUYIWA HASSAN

School donates non-contact thermometre

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ahaya Ahmed Model School Gombe has donated 136 units of non-contact electronic thermometre for distribution to government and schools to check the menace of the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

The school's Director of Operations, Mrs. Jamila Bello, said the user- friendly gadgets procured from Europe and the United States

By Vincent Ekhoragbon, Gombe

will enable users measure body temperature without contact.

"It is not even about the money, it is the spirit behind it. If we should have it for our students, we feel we should give it to other schools too and we should also give it to the

government to support the government in its efforts to have an Ebola-free environment," she said.

100 units of the thermometre, she stated, will be given for distribution to public schools across the state.

The rest, according to her, will be distributed directly to other private schools, healthcare facilities, government agencies and

parastatal in the state.

She said the school also provides humanitarian services through the provision of scholarship to indigent citizens of its immediate community at Shongo estate in the outskirts of the state capital.

On the mass failure in this year's WAEC in Gombe state, Bello challenged the government to motivate teachers better.

Jonathan won't reply his detractors-Mohammed

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will never reply his critics, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, (FCTA) Senator Bala Mohammed, declared yesterday.

He stated that the president and his aides will ignore detractors from different parts of the country.

Mohammed said the current administration will continue to show restraint, tolerance and accommodation despite the antics of some leaders who fan the embers of sentiment.

He spoke yesterday when the Executive Secretary of Nigerian Christian Pilgrim

Commission (NCPC), Mr. John Kennedy Opara, led members of the commission on courtesy visit to him.

"President Jonathan has demonstrated that he is a leader for Nigeria and for Africa, a leader who has totally shunned sentiments by giving opportunities to Nigerians of all ethnic and religious backgrounds," the minister noted.

"We will continue to exercise restraint so that we don't join issues that would put us apart. Rather, we will continue to tolerate and accommodate so that Nigeria will be a better place for everybody.

"With our humility and modesty, we don't join issues with leaders but

sometimes we are really put aback to see statements and insinuations coming out from leaders who have benefitted seriously from this country; who have benefitted from the peace and tranquility of this country doing or saying things that will put us on a collision course; exacerbating the mistrust and suspicion within the polity is very unfortunate," he added.

The minister urged Nigerians to shun sentiments of religion and tribe so that the country could move forward and overcome her challenges.

Opara commended the minister for his encouragement and support

to the Nigerian Christian Pilgrim Commission stressing that his efforts had helped in no small way in the success recorded in the pilgrimage operation over the years.

He thanked him for allocating a prime land for the commission, notwithstanding the fact that he is a Muslim and pledged to continue to pray for him.

Opara said that FCT has been allocated 2000 slots for this year's Christian pilgrimage operation and called on wealthy residents of the FCTA to help those who are spiritually rich but materially poor to be able to perform the pilgrimage to Israel.

HE Jigawa state chapter of the Northern Youth Forum (NYF) yesterday urged the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to investigate the anti-party activities of Governor Sule Lamido with a view to expelling him.

NYF's Publicity Secretary, Sani Auyo, in a statement berated the governor for his recent criticism of President Goodluck Jonathan's performance and reelection bid.

Lamido, the group said, lacks the moral justification to criticise Jonathan being a beneficiary of the PDP. "Governor Sule Lamido is well known for his political antics of open disobedience to his political mentors like the late Mallam Aminu Kano, the late Alhaji Abubakar Rimi. We, as a group are disturbed.

"Governor Lamido is uncomfortable with the growing number of Nigerians asking President Jonathan to contest in 2015. What we may not explain is whether Governor Lamido is driven by envy or just cheap publicity but we are calling on Nigerians to ignore the ranting of Sule Lamido and maintain their support and solidarity to the transformation agenda of President Jonathan," the group said.

It went on: "In Lamido's history of anti-party activities, it is clear that he never had the masses at heart. He never thinks of the north as his constituency but his personal political goals as the north's agenda.

"Most importantly, we call on the PDP national leadership to bring an end to this cheap blackmail by expelling Governor Lamido from the party."

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTMEBR 7, 2014

•L-R: Obiano, Obi and Umeh at a rally

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HE struggle for who leads the 2015 campaign team of President Goodluck Jonathan in Anambra State has thrown the camp of two leaders in the state into a war of attrition.

And from all indications, the President may have realised the implication of ceding it to a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), because of the double dealing mistake he committed during the Governorship election in the state.

It was said that Jonathan did not give full support to his party's Governorship candidate, Comrade Tony Nwoye, but shared his loyalty between PDP and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) because of former Governor Peter Obi Anti-party activity As a result, majority of the stakeholders of the PDP in the state swore to revisit the issue during the 2015 general elections especially, on the Presidency, while accusing the President of anti-party activity.

During the official inauguration of Join Jonathan Journey (JJJ) alleged to be spearheaded by Anambra State Governor, Chief Willie Obiano, a lot of things played out, pointing to the fact that all is not well between the APGA big wigs.

Before now, it was rumoured in the state through some aides to the former Governor Obi, that the exgovernor has been given the mandate

by Jonathan to coordinate his campaigns in the South East.

What that statement means is that all the groups in the zone including Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), Join Jonathan Journey (JJJ) among others will be under Obi. But reactions have continued to trail the claim with members of (JJJ) claiming that it is only Obiano who has the capacity to lead Jonathan's campaigns.

The controversy surrounding the leadership has renewed the rivalry

2015: Obiano, Obi, Umeh at war over Jonathan As the battle for the presidency hots up across the country, Nwanosike Onu, in Awka takes a look at how the support for President Jonathan has torn party leaders apart in Anambra State. between Obiano, Obi and the national chairman of APGA, Chief Victor Umeh.

At the Dr. Alex Ekwueme Square in Awka last week, during the official launch of JJJ, the chairman of the group, Chief Ben Obi categorically, told the crowd that only Obiano, Umeh and the group can deliver Jonathan, not only in the state but the entire South East.

According to Obi, "People can claim what they are not, but what we are telling the president is that the only people that have such capacity are the Governor of Anambra State Obiano, APGA national chairman, Umeh and JJJ. It is obvious that the other notable group (TAN) led by the oil guru, Chief Ifeanyi Ubah, has not made any impact in Anambra state like JJJ. Based on the speculation of Obi leading Jonathan's campaign in the South East, The Nation was informed that Ubah has decided to concede to Obi as the leader of the group.

At the launch of JJJ, Umeh told the crowd that Obiano is the leader of the group, adding that it was the duty of APGA to deliver Anambra State to Jonathan.

Also, one of the speakers at the event, Obele Chuka Obele, said that if not for the leadership of Obiano and astuteness of Umeh, that APGA would have been history.

Obele, a human rights activist who was a member of defunct National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), declared for APGA on the day because of the duo.

The lawyer, who became popular in the 90s because of his celebrated oneman-march in Enugu State during the military era, said that people should not claim what they are not.

Though, he did not mention any name, but political observers said he was referring to the former governor Obi, who was absent on the day.

However, the former Minister of Women Affairs, Iyom Josephine Anenih, who attended the rally, sued for peace, adding that every person or group must work together to achieve that one common goal of delivering the state to Jonathan.

She said nothing works in an environment where there is no

peace, urging everybody to close ranks to achieve the purpose of forming different groups.

Governor Obiano was emphatic in telling the crowd including the former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani, who they said, came to represent oil magnate, Sir Emeka Offor, that APGA has what it takes to deliver Jonathan in 2015 in the state.

Since the defection of Uche Ekwunife and others from APGA to PDP recently, accusing fingers had been pointing at Obi of being the brain behind that.

But Victor Ogene (Ogbaru Federal Constituency) rose in defence of Obi, saying that such a thing was never discussed with Obi, adding that bringing the former Governor into the issue is uncalled for.

Obi, few weeks ago, resigned his position as the chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT) of APGA citing family issues.

But Umeh in a recent interview described Obi as an ingrate, adding that he refused to release money, being the only APGA Governor, to organize

convention where the position could have been ratified.

The reason adduced by Umeh was not enough because, it is the duty of the party to produce the funds for such a convention, while the Governor and other officers of the party would provide the balance as contributions.

Despite all these, Obiano has maintained that he has no problem as being peddled by political jobbers against Obi in the state.

But it was obvious during the JJJ inauguration that something is amiss between the trio as Chief Ben Obi, leader of the group declared that no other person has the capacity to deliver the state to Jonathan except Obiano.

"Only Obiano with the help from Umeh and the group can lead the onslaught for Jonathan in Anambra State not any other person."

The JJJ has the support of the 21 elected local government chairmen in the state and the 318 councilors who will work at the grass roots with the additional support of the 21 party chairmen of APGA in the council areas, all of them under the control of Obiano Obi has ended his tenure in Anambra State with another person in control therefore, it will be impossible to command the respect of those under the control of Obiano and Umeh.

From all calculations, it is not yet Uhuru for Jonathan in Anambra, as some members of his party are waiting to pay him back in his own coins for ditching Tony Nwoye during the 2013 Governorship election in the state.

Also, the leadership battle between Obi, Obiano and Umeh for his 2015 presidential ambition is likely to jeopardise his chances if the issue is not amicably settled but Obiano is the right person to lead the charge.

However, whichever way it goes APGA has already thrown its support to Jonathan with its declaration it is not going, as a party, field a presidential candidate.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS REVIEW

Okada: Nigeria's cat and mouse game R

IDING a motorcycle is typically, a dangerous gamble.

And riding with impunity on rough, long and bumpy roads in bad weather conditions, raises another level of complexity. Compounding such existing complexity is the acts of sadism been committed by hoodlums with the cooperation of an Okada rider, or in some cases, the cyclists themselves. But whether we like it or not, Okada riders, vetoed about two years ago, are back on our streets.

They are now sighted visibly parked in their numbers in Oshodi. They are confidently gathered in the middle of the road at Ikeja along the OshodiAbeokuta express road. At Iyana-Ipaja end of the state, they now operate with ease and freedom. Succinctly put, Okada riders are back on our roads.

On a fact-finding mission, the reporter sought the views of some Okada riders and few of their leaders.

First to speak was Ms. Abosede, who works with one of the new generation banks. She said "In Lagos, you know how bad things got for Lagosians both with and without Okada".

Claiming she was one of Nigerians that got a raw deal from Okada riders, she said "I had been felled. My bag snatched by another rider while I was on another bike. The silencer had once roasted by leg (showing the marks); so I am amazed the government is allowing them to return probably to use them for or in the coming elections.

That is truly bad and unacceptable in this modern age. I am not happy with that. I had thought we would have a breathing space from them. I am just not happy seeing them operate freely.

Yet, Okada helped me to some extent in those days when they newly started operating.

"Now, I am not against them making a livelihood. Of course, I work to make a living. But for the government to allow them back for the wrong reasons, that is my grouse", she said as she walked on.

In an interaction with some Okada riders in Oshodi, Ikeja and Iyana-Ipaja areas of Lagos, their submission was the same.

Alfred, who plies Iyana-Ipaja to Oshodi and vice-versa with his Bajaj below 200 CC with a comfortable cushion seat and communicating in fluent English, told the reporter, "Now, it is not as bad as before. We all belong to one branch of the National Motorcycle and Tricycle Riders Association (NMTRA) or All Nigerian Autobike Commercial Owners and Workers Association (NACOWA) or the other. And I want to tell you that we are not daft. Within the period of the ban, life was difficult for some of us. I am here today because God helped me.

I tried all sorts of odd jobs. But none was like when I was earning daily incomes regularly from my Okada business. So, when our leaders told us during one of our meetings recently that government has allowed us to come back on the roads. We were like kings. We shouted and celebrated the news. And let me tell you, our leaders hinted us that it was because we are needed for 2015. We too know it. The All People Congress (APC) has made some bad decisions recently.

They told us they are fighting for the poor, but took decisions that made us poorer. Now, that we are back, they warned us not to be unruly in the way we ride and that if they hear any news of using Okada for crimes, we would be finally kept off the road. We warn ourselves everyday and thank God, police is not troubling us as before", he added with a smile.

Lack of convenient means of transportation was one of the factors attributed to the rise of Okada as an alternative across the country. Another point is the speedy growth of population which makes living become challenging especially given the sprawling structures springing up in the FCT as well as in Lagos and other states in Nigeria. Also, Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, Cross river, Abia, Abuja, Delta, Imo, Enugu and other PDP states, where they were all banned, are now witnessing unrestricted operations of Okada riders for commercial purposes.

The Lagos State government about two years ago restricted the movement of commercial motorcyclists on some major roads in the state, some other states across the country have followed suit. However, recently the motorcyclists have begun to flout the order while politicians have started playing politics with the issue. A few of the riders are claiming that the government softened its claws on them because elections are round the corner, Assistant Editor, JOKE KUJENYA, reports.

•Okada riders on a Lagos road

PHOTOS OLUSEGUN RAPHAEL

•Okada riders As Nigeria inflates in the number of houses and population, so her problems and transportation difficulties grow. People were then forced to device other unconventional means of getting to their destinations like offices, markets and others.

It was the crave to solve the riddle of this salient need of life that motorcycles came in handy to aid intracity transportations in Nigeria. And for hundreds of career people, jostle for bikes became a welcome relief at peak periods to convey them in or out of traffic gridlocked areas.

Sequel to the FG's pronouncement, a TV commentator said "Really, I don't like that reckless activities of Okada riders. But no government goes ahead to ban a people's means of survival without providing alternative sources of transport or incomes for the millions that will be deprived of their daily means of source of revenue. That would be like sowing the seed of revolution.

That is my humble view".

On June 11th, 2013, Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who had initially been averse to banning motorbikes operation made a u-turn and placed a restriction on the activities of commercial motorcycle operators in

Egor, Oredo and Ikpoba-Okha LG areas.

In his defense, the governor said that it became increasingly evident that many of the kidnappers in the state were Okada riders among others.

A journalist in Lagos who works with one of the national dailies said "I am one of such people that Okada really helped to keep up with appointments and get to events on time. I even had a selected few that I collected their telephone numbers. If one was not available, the other would be. And just as I took their ban with mixed feelings, I am taking their 'come back' as a comic relief. But as a journalist, I would be so disappointed if the hint that their return is for 2015 election is true. That would mean that our government only wants to use and dump them".

Olumide, 34, rides a Bull, also below 200 CC specification said, "I heard it that government is allowing us back because of 2015 elections. And if that is so, I won't ever vote for any party. That's my own and tell them".

Struggling to have a say was Mahmodu. He rides a Hyosung below CC 200 bike. Speaking slowly with the northern tonality, he said, "True, true madam, life was not easy for me since one year. When Gov Fashola told us

not to work again, I cannot (sic) pay house rent again. So, I tried to push water cart. I was making N300 daily and that was poverty. I then went to my village in Yobe to farm. I cannot (sic) farm because of the people killing our people there. We were afraid.

Hungry wire (sic) us. I almost became a beggar. Some time, I did not eat. It was like so (sic) when my friend called me say (sic) Gov Fashola don (sic) allow us back on the road. That is why I come back. I have been making good money since".

Live in Lagos and you would see them -okada riders on the rove often with two or more males aboard or in some cases, with a female sandwiched within them. Many believe their intentions are solely commercial driven, while others believe there is more to them.

Before their ban, not a few of them, often operating in pairs, had snatched watches, purses, laptop bags and also backpacks of unsuspecting pedestrians.

They operate swiftly and mostly, their victims are left at a loss.

Speaking on that, one of the leaders at NACOWA, said "while we can't fully monitor the operations of the riders, I want to tell you that if we hear of any

form of crime, majority of Okada riders in the area where that happens will be in trouble".

Asked if it is true that government allowed them back because of 2015 elections, he answered "In Nigeria, anything is possible. We have heard so many things but we are only keeping our fingers crossed. So, I won't confirm that and I won't refute it either. 2015 is around the corner, if government has any such plans, we would all see. No party in Nigeria will use us, that is for certain".

Also, a NMTRA representative told The Nation, "I don't want to comment on this. I think the whole thing boils down to striking a balance. On the one hand, government may have considered the poverty implications of the ban on our lives, and two, they may have rescind their action based on 2015.

I am not saying that is it. But we have our fears especially as one of our leaders felt that Gov Kayode Fayemi's Ekiti experience may be hunting the APC in particular. As for the PDP, I don't yet know their plans. But you know that politicians have so many things up their sleeves. Like I said, I don't know what is hidden behind this turn around".

Just as many are wondering if Okada is back on the Nigerian roads to stay for good, Governor Yero, on May 6th, 2014, banned Okada in major towns in Kaduna State.

However, game blame have greeted the development as the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), speaking for its national body, denied claims that it was encouraging commercial motorcyclists to return to Nigerian roads as they were initially banned by the LASG Similarly, the LASG, which promulgated series of decrees banning Okada that stipulates: '(1) section (2) of traffic offences and penalties, riding a motorcycle against traffic and riding on the kerb, median or road setbacks for a first time offender would attract N20,000.00; riding a motor-cycle without crash helmet for rider and passenger would attract N20,000 or three years jail term and prohibiting under aged persons, under 18 years from riding a motorcycle, stipulating a fine of N20,000.00...' now affirmed that "it is not backing off on its decree, insisting that passengers-carrying motorcyclists must wear helmets.

According to the state government, the measure also ordered that the metropolis limit the hours that motorcycles, either carrying two passengers or not, are able to circulate in various areas. The government's restrictions come as part of a year-long Lagos Traffic Law. In a press release to counter the claims of the Okada riders on their return with impunity, the state government noted that "Lagos Traffic Law is about Safety, Not Politics and won't be Reversed.

Gov Fashola, in a meeting with leaders of commercial motorcycle riders associations (CMRA) and Community Development Committees (CDCs) over the implementation of the State Traffic Law as it affect operators of motorbikes, insisted that maintaining that the law is a good policy which the state will not reverse.

He urged the operators to obey the law as well as senior law enforcement officers sent to check their men who engage in illegalities; adding that like every good policy, the law can be improved upon but that the motorcycle operators must obey the law and reduce the excesses associated with some of them. He however, also charged the senior law enforcement officers to ensure that their men who engage in illegalities are clamped down upon.

"So, you see, we have come to stay.

You all, Lagosians need Okadas to save you time in your businesses. Over 8million of us are duly registered. We are responsible men and women like those in their offices. And now that we are back, we will be well behaved but no one can use us in election time. We will resist that, I promise you".

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Ropo Sekoni

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Femi Orebe Page 16

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Ebola’s other victims

tunjade@yahoo.co.uk 08054503906 (sms only)

Unless care is taken, we may record more deaths from the fear of the disease than from the disease itself

K

NOWING our country very well, more people may eventually die from Ebolaphobia than the number that would be killed by the virus or the disease proper. So far, Ebola has killed seven people in the country. And, in just one week, at least three people had reportedly died because those who should have treated them or given them First Aid were scared stiff to go near them for fear that the patients might be having Ebola.

It could not have been otherwise in a country where many people want to go to heaven but not many want to die.

The most prominent of these unfortunate casualties was the British diplomat who slumped and died on Tuesday at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport (MMA), Lagos, at about 3.00 p.m. The envoy, Peter Leslie Carter, the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, arrived aboard a United Airlines flight and died at the arrival hall shortly after disembarking from the plane.

A top security operative at the airport said “He was shouting, help! Help! And then slumped. People did not want to go near initially because of the Ebola scare that has been in town”. Although the airport authorities tried to give the impression that there was prompt response to the emergency, we all know the response might have come too late.

There is also the story of another victim of Ebolaphobia; that of an unnamed man who was taken to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba, Lagos, by health officials from the MMA. According to a doctor who was around when the man was brought to the hospital, “They rushed him to the Accident and Emergency Unit, and since he was vomiting and purging and he also had high fever, we quickly took his temperature, it was very high. We were all scared to take his blood sample because we were not wearing any Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)”. To cut a long story shut, the man eventually died. Here, it would be difficult to know where to lay the blame because the doctor was not specific as to whether the hospital did not provide the PPE or whether they had but were not putting it on. In Nigeria, the two are possibilities.

Then the third case, that of a woman that was knocked down by a hit-and-run driver in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, and rushed to the Federal Medical Centre there. Rather than start treating her immediately, she was abandoned until she died the following morning. A senior hospital official was quoted as saying: “The victim was brought into the casualty ward by two Good Samaritans. She was reported to have been hit by a hitand-run driver along the Sani Abacha Way in the Yenagoa metropolis. Instead of treating her due to the bruises and cuts in her body, the doctors refused, fearing it might be Ebola case. They refused even when the pictures of the scene of the accident were shown to them. The woman was brought into the casualty section by 2pm on Monday. She was abandoned and

•Ibrahim Shekarau, education minister

she died about 11a.m. on Tuesday. Even when the mortuary attendants were asked to take the body to the morgue by some doctors, they refused. They only took the body after the intervention of the Head of Administration. It is a shame.” It is indeed a shame, especially if the doctors had protective gears.

The hospital has threatened to investigate the matter and punish the culprits; one can only hope that won’t be one of the usual empty threats common in the country.

Now, the Federal Government has reconsidered its earlier decision postponing resumption in our primary and secondary schools till October 13. Apparently this is due to the pressure by private schools’ proprietors who said the decision would impact negatively on their revenue. I appreciate this concern and in fact empathise with them, but I do not think the matter should be about money alone. Ebola, as we all know, is no respecter of person. The October 13 date was one of the best decisions taken by the government to curb Ebola and it should not be reversed simply for pecuniary gains. The other argument by the proprietors about disruption of school calendar is weak because, God forbids, an outbreak of Ebola in any such school would spell doom for the country. The loss would be far more colossal than whatever the school owners might lose now. So, anyone with the interest of our children at heart should not be making such demand because of the vulnerability of the children to the disease.

One of the proprietors’ points which I consider germane however is that despite the Ebola outbreak, the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), one of the campaign organs of President Goodluck Jonathan has unilaterally lifted the ban on political campaigns by holding rallies for the president despite the president’s reported non-sanctioning of such rallies! They have even been to Port Harcourt where Ebola cases have also been detected. This is bad enough. The school proprietors’ point is that since it is easy to be infected with the Ebola virus at such gatherings, the organisers ought to have shelved the campaigns until such a time when the risk would have been minimised or elimi-

“Knowing our country very well, more people may eventually die from Ebolaphobia than the number that would be killed by the virus or the disease proper. So far, Ebola has killed seven people in the country. And, in just one week, at least three people had reportedly died because those who should have treated them or given them First Aid were scared stiff to go near them for fear that the patients might be having Ebola. It could not have been otherwise in a country where many people want to go to heaven but not many want to die”

nated. The sad aspect is that if it had been the opposition parties that were involved in such rallies, the security agents would have swooped on them. But now that it is the president’s group, they are even protecting the organisers, including top govermment functionaries, at the rallies.

Nonetheless, we still have to be careful because two wrongs will never make a right; indeed not even a million wrongs would. When the government postponed schools’ resumption, things were not as serious as they are today concerning Ebola. We have recorded fresh cases in a few other places. So, rather than start reconsidering whether to allow innocent pupils resume when we are still unsure of the state of Ebola in the country just for political or pecuniary expediency, or both,, the school owners should have insisted that government fulfilled its promises to the schools before the earlier October resumption date was fixed.

It is clear though that it is guilty conscience, rather than any rational reasoning that is behind the decision to change the date again to September 22., which is regrettable. What we would have on our hands would not be a child’s play should a few pupils contract the Ebola virus. As for the adults, they can still find a way round it because many of them are sufficiently aware of what the disease entails.

This is my assumption, though. Our school proprietors should not have behaved like Dr. Iyke Enemuo, who, for the sake of money agreed to treat an Ebola patient in secret. Today, he is no more. He did not even have the privilege of living to regret that decision. I am sure we do not want such fate to befall our children.

In the same vein, the proprietors should not behave like the government and its agencies that do not care whether people catch Ebola at their campaign rallies, provided the rallies are in support of the president. This is only one of the many crude impunities of the Jonathan administration. For me, a president that has been in power for about six years should have his works speaking for him by now; he sure does not need any wild campaigns to remind Nigerians about what he has done for them so far. As the saying goes, a king does not have to remind his subjects that he is still their king; when that happens, it is an indication that there is a problem.

My point is that we should not all be held hostage to the anything-goes politics of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that is ready to do anything to retain its non-performing government. The only regret in this matter is the state governments that also fell for such cheap political popularity. We should do everything to keep our children out of harm’s way so that they do not add to the numbers of the other Ebola victims that we have already recorded. The PDP can play politics with anything and everything, and grant concession no matter how unreasonable such might be provided it sees some political votes from the decision, but we should please leave our children out of this. They are our future; our hope.

Don’t let’s eat up their tomorrow today on the altar of crass and primitive politics.

CHIBOK GIRLS. STILL IN LIMBO. SINCE APRIL 15.

Much ado about okada ‘ban’ In Lagos

O

By Tayo Ogunbiyi

NE never really anticipates that the issue of the ‘ban’ of commercial motorcycles popularly called ‘okada’ in Lagos could become a major subject of discourse at this point in time. But then, this is Nigeria! It will be recalled that the Lagos Traffic Law was signed into law on August 2, 2012 by the Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola.

An aspect of the law restricts the operations of commercial motorcycles operators in 495 designated strategic highways and routes out of a total number of 9,700 available routes within the metropolis.

The import of this is that the law does not in any way bans the use of okada. Rather, what it does is to regulate the activities of commercial motorcycle riders in the state.

As at presently, there are more than 9000 routes in the state through which okada riders could effectively operate within the confines of the law.

Being a government that takes a scientific and methodical approach to governance, the enactment of the law restricting okada operation in the state was primarily meant to protect the interest of the public. It was enacted to ensure that people do not ride on okada along routes that could put their lives and those of others in jeopardy. Universally, one of the major responsibilities of government is the protection of the lives of its people. Hence, the Lagos State government is only performing one of its constitutional duties in restricting okada activities in the state.

Without a doubt, the misery and grief that okada has brought into several homes in Lagos, and indeed across the country, is not unknown to many. Available statistics from the Lagos State Management Authority (LASTMA) reveals that not less than 619 people were killed or seriously injured in okada accident between 2011 and 2012.

Aside safety issue, there is also a security angle to the whole okada issue. A 2012 police report shows that out of the 30 armed robbery incidents recorded in Lagos between July and September 2012, 22 involved commercial motorcycles.

Looking at these available facts and figures, there should be no controversy about the fact that the operations of okada in the state need to be regulated for the common good of all.

Besides the agony and grief it brings upon its victims, the lawlessness of okada riders on major highways is quite nauseating thereby making commuting an harrowing experience. Therefore, to a guarantee the free-flow of traffic and to ensure that the movement of investors coming into the state is not hindered and put at risk, the introduction of the law becomes necessary. No doubt, every attempt to sanitise and restore order to the hitherto chaotic situation on most of our roads should be embraced, especially going by the traffic situation in Lagos. That is what any responsible government should do.

It is important that Lagosians cooperate with the state government in ensuring the success of the Lagos Traffic Law since it was mainly enacted to protect the people.

Life is a precious gift by God. Self preservation is, therefore, the responsibility of every human being. Self-preservation is keeping you alive, either physically or psychologically. The desire to stay alive is a natural instinct in every human being. The restriction placed on okada in the state is about preserving lives. We must, therefore, collaborate with government to preserve lives. The different between animal kingdoms and human societies is that in the latter laws are made to regulate human conducts in order to avoid the creation of a state of anarchy.

Ogunbiyi is of the Features Unit, Ministry of Information and Strategy, Alausa, Ikeja.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

COMMENT

Confab: opening its political balance sheet (2) The triumph of General Aguiyi-Ironsi History tells us that Ironsi had to be killed by his fellow soldiers because he re-created Nigeria in an image that was contrary to its original image at independence in 1960 If we realise that Nigeria must be one and that only a unitary structure can achieve that, why should we not call a spade a spade and posthumously apologise to (or at least vindicate ) Aguiyi-Ironsi?—Chijioke Ogham-Emeka HE subtitle of today’s piece: “The triumph of General Aguiyi-Ironsi” is borrowed from the assessment of the just concluded national conference by Dr. Orobola Fasehun, formerly of Nigeria’s Foreign Service and the United Nations. Dr. Fasehun said among other things in a recent tele-seminar that the national conference has fully resurrected General Johnson Thomas Aguiyi-Ironsi, despite several chest-beating assessments of the conference in glowing terms by many of the delegates, particularly those from the Yoruba region.

The reference to Ironsi’s resurrection is to remind us of the promulgation of Decree 34 by Ironsi during his six-month tenure as military head of state after the first coup d’etat in 1966.

Decree 34 dismantled without apology and pretence the federal structure of the country and installed a unitary system that transformed the country into an assemblage of provinces administered by a strong centre. History tells us that Ironsi had to be killed by his fellow soldiers because he re-created Nigeria in an image that was contrary to its original image at independence in 1960. After Ironsi, the federal structure was resuscitated, only for a few years.

As we have observed on this page several times since 2007, Nigeria’s federalism gradually waned under the leadership or sponsorship of military dictatorships, largely between the creation of the first 12 states out of the four regions and the multiplication of the 12 states to the current 36 states, recently slated for increase by the national conference to 54 states.

Not even Ironsi had the courage to create 54

T

provinces during his suicidal declaration of Nigeria as a country of centre-driven provinces.

What the national conference had done by resolving to balkanise the country into 54 states is to ensure that the possibility of using regions as federating units or of even having any state or province economically viable enough to pass for a federating unit is made to disappear from the imagination of Nigerians.

It is hard to explain how this kind of resolution could have come from majority of the delegates considered by many observers to be some of the country’s best. Could it be that the conference lacked thinking economists or economic thinkers? By packaging its failure to make a final pronouncement on resource control and revenue allocation on the ground of lack of technical expertise, the conference honestly owned up to significant intellectual deficiency with respect to issues that called for rigorous thinking. Resolving to break the country into 54 provinces or states suggests that most of the delegates (at least 70%) must have made spiritual and psychological commitment to running an administrative federalism that is sustained and can be sustained only through handouts from the central government. It is also surprising that the conference had enough expertise in the house to determine within the short time available to it which areas or communities should be allocated additional 18 states.

Before any delegates or their supporters begin to congratulate themselves for devolving power from the exclusive list to the states, let us briefly compare the number of functions on the conference’s exclusive list to what exists in the 1999 Constitution put together at the instance of military dictators. There are 68 items on the exclusive list in the 1999 Constitution, with the first being “Accounts of the Government of the Federation, and of offices, courts, and authorities thereof, including audit of those

accounts” and the sixty-eighth item being “Any matter incidental or supplementary to any matter mentioned elsewhere in this list.” On the recommendations of the conference, there are now 62 items on the legislative exclusive list.

In reality, the central government has not lost any power. Some of the powers in the current constitution have been combined, thus giving the impression that the number of items of the proposed exclusive list is smaller than what obtains in the 1999 Constitution. For example, items 6, 15, and 24 were combined into one item, items 9, 18, 30 and 42 in the current constitution were merged while items 23 and 28 were combined into one item, to give a total of 62 items on the conference’s new exclusive list.

With respect to functions proposed by the conference for the states, there are basically five new additions to the pre-conference concurrent list: police (by states that choose to have such law enforcement agency in addition to the overarching one provided by the central government), railway, prison, public holiday, and creation of local government. This is despite the fact that the conference still endorsed continuation of current allocation of petronaira to local government as third tier of government. These additions to state powers are already being danced about by several delegates around Yoruba cities, but before the Yoruba get misled, the provision to neutralize the power of states to use these new powers and those on the old concurrent list has been added to each item on the concurrent list. Invocation of the principle of central legislative supremacy: “The National Assembly shall have power to make laws for the Federation or any part thereof with respect” to anything under the sun indicates that no state has any freedom to do anything that is not supported by the central legislative assembly, which has the power to legislate in whichever direction it

chooses.

Despite ample references to the Basic Laws of Germany by the conference, there is very little evidence that the conference borrows good models from the concept of sharing power and governance in the context of Germany’s combination of ethnic and territorial federalism, just as there is no such evidence with respect to the practice of territorial federalism in the United States. Just as the framers of the 1999 Constitution intended, a country of 36 (planning to morph into 54) mini states that beg for handouts from the central government cannot be given substantial powers that are not to be regulated or checked by an overbearing central government that has control over resource mobilisation and allocation. Having resolved to increase the number of provinces a la Ironsi from 36 to 54, it would certainly not make sense for the conference to fail to add the principle of federal legislative supremacy to every item on the concurrent list. Without doubt, some position papers sent by groups of Yoruba professionals that called for just two forms of power: exclusive and residual lists must have been thrown into the trash can before commencement of negotiations at the conference.

Even if the national assembly, the only institution that can transform the resolutions of the conference to constitutional provisions (with the conference having already dismissed the option of a referendum and barring the invocation of Nigeria’s latest code word for decree, Doctrine of Necessity), accepts the resolutions of the conference hook, line, and sinker, Nigeria will remain as far from federalism as it was before the latest of its national conferences. In other words, it is not yet Uhuru for apostles of federalism and advocates of a sovereign national conference. In all, the recently concluded national conference has not been a waste of time, as many of its critics would like citizens to believe. On the whole, the delegates have thrown substantial light on what needs to be done to improve governance in a polity designed for administrative federalism. But the conference has clearly shown the nation what not to do, if it is to fulfil the desire of many of its citizens and nationalities to create a functional and sustainable federal system of government.

To be continued

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

COMMENT

15

A TAN hypocrisy The president should call the group to order for double standards and flouting our laws

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HEY are known all over the country as the president’s foot soldiers. The presidency would openly confess to know nothing about them. In fact, in the light of the slow lynching of the Ebola virus, a directive emanated from the chamber of the highest office of the land that no campaigns should hold in favour or in the name of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Yet it is obeyed in the negative. In Ibadan, a crowd gathered in which a festive atmosphere emphasised the hypocrisy of the project. The President’s chief of staff, Brigadier-General Jones Oladeinde Arogbofa, secretary to the government of the federation, Anyim Pius Anyim, and a few other top fliers of the Jonathan administration, including the agriculture minister, Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, showed up. Were they defying the president’s order or they wanted to demonstrate their love in the breach?

The organisers are called the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria, TAN, and they are seen as the successors of the peacock Neighbour to Neighbour that underlined the 2011 campaigns.

There is no doubt that for a decent society a lot is wrong with these campaigns, one of the most obscene being the one held about a week ago in the Rivers State capital, Port Harcourt.

First, the president on whose behalf or dubious honour this campaign is conducted has not uttered a word of restraint, if not condemnation for this so-called open defiance of his order not to undertake campaigns in the light of the Ebola tragedies and the open rampages of the Boko Haram sect in Borno State. It pays no honour or tribute to the integrity of a leader where he says one thing and his aides do another, especially when the something is a campaign that serves his private and selfish aim.

If the president was truthful, he should have restrained them after the first campaign. That is granting that it was a sort of house ‘coup’ for the

N

IGERIA, our beloved country, is facing a lot of challenges that will certainly be overwhelmed with time. That much is what we optimist and believers in the future of the country are holding on to.

With refreshing interviews such as the one granted by the former military president at 73, it is quite reassuring that some of our influential elder statesmen are on the side of good history. Thus with the ravaging challenges of our fatherland at the moment, this calls for reflections in times like these. Talking about the Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) challenge, isn’t it shameful enough to look up to other countries that take public health issues more seriously for an ‘‘experimental drug’’ and any other available options? Certainly someone who is sinking can cling even unto scum in order to stay afloat.

This is appalling because Ebola has been known on the continent as far back as 1976.So the question is: what have we been doing ever since that time to the current outbreak? Absolutely nothing. It is quite embarrassing that an ill-motivated Sawyer would choose Nigeria as a destination to punish us for whatever reason he had in mind after we committed so much resources to save his country from a self-inflicted implosion that resulted in a civil war. Be that as it may, that ugly incidence serves as a sad reminder that regional integration and globalisation have turned the world into a global

boss. But it took on another dimension in another festivity in Port Harcourt. This is a city where panic overtook with an Ebola eruption of suspected cases of infected citizens. This same presidency that asked Nigerians to eschew gatherings to forestall the spread of Ebola infections inspired a big rally where contact of such potential contagion was possible. This was, to say the least, insensitive not only of the presidency but also all the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) stalwarts that attended.

The other sin was that the high rollers of the Jonathan administration could not distinguish the high office from its partisan entanglements. In Ibadan, minister Adesina danced with gusto, but his position is not as lofty as that of finance minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, who also was unmistakable in the front row of the celebrators of Jonathan in Port Harcourt. She is also signposted in this administration as the coordinating minister of the economy. In the 2012 Democratic Convention in Charlotte, North Carolina, that picked President Barack Obama for his second term, the treasury secretary Tim Geithner was absent. By tradition, he was not expected to be there because only one treasury secretary has ever attended it in the history of the party conventions in the United States. Hilary Clinton was absent because she was secretary of state and the statutes forbade her to show any overt

TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

•Editor Festus Eriye •Deputy Editor Olayinka Oyegbile •Associate Editors Taiwo Ogundipe Sam Egburonu

•Managing Director/ Editor-in-Chief Victor Ifijeh •Chairman, Editorial Board Sam Omatseye •General Editor Adekunle Ade-Adeleye

or subtle partisanship. The same applied to the positions of attorney general and secretary of defence. These positions are too sensitive to be sullied by partisanship. Yet Okonjo-Iweala would cavort with full PDP gear.

The TAN group also peddled fraud in order to boost its profile. It claimed to have amassed signatures of millions of Nigerians who endorsed Jonathan. Apart from announcing that over 8,000 groups have lined up behind President Jonathan, it regionalised its endorsers. From the southeast, it claimed to have secured 1.6 million persons, in the south-south 4.15 and in the southwest 1.8 million. These statistics have been exposed as fraudulent and signatures garnered from several Nigerians seeking employment.

This is cynical and irresponsible. The numbers, on the other hand, are an indictment of the failures of the Jonathan administration. It cannot give jobs but it can turn the numbers of the jobless into boosters for his campaigns.

What is most unacceptable about this group is that it is carrying out these rallies against the electoral laws of the land. The campaigns have not been opened by the statute books, so the least area of campaigns should be the president himself. This is impunity. We have seen campaigns months past on television screens comparing the president to some of the world’s great leaders. This laugh that is laughing at itself reflects an imbecility in high places.

Some families are hurting from the spread of Ebola. In the north, insecurity lurks every home even as the Boko Haram sect is turning our military into a laughing stock, besting them as they beat retreat. A smaller nation that should cry to us for help has done better in fighting the militants than our own soldiers.

Those are the issues of transformation, and not the partisan obsession of TAN. When the time for campaign comes, TAN can go full throttle.

LETTER

In times like this village with accessibility having a great impact on health and all that we do .Therefore, a disease outbreak in the remotest part of Africa and indeed the world should be of great concern to all and sundry.

In a layman’s language, we now know that fruit bats and wildlife are reservoirs of the virus without being affected, so those substances in them that prevent the virulence can be isolated to develop vaccines and drug candidates. Fruit bats and wildlife abound in Nigeria for the purpose, it cannot be imported.

While growing up, we were fond of eating fruits like mango that were bitten by bats, simply scraping the affected area away or even wiping it off. Certainly, not these days again or maybe children or people from such areas had a natural immunity against the disease or zoonoses.

Local zoologists are therefore part of the team in unravelling knowledge of the animal reservoirs.

These are questions that even local research can address with the right equipment and motivation. Those interested in the fight against Ebola disease should be highly motivated and not be shrouded in secrecy.

At the last encounter as a student adviser, one of my students was not happy with me when I

suggested virology (study of viruses) as a career field. Who do you blame? Well, the student managed to smile but I knew he was aware of the challenging level of concern in the country on viral diseases? Our Nigerian version of Centre for Disease Control (CDC) is well heard, but without a website, one wonders whether the American version which is the global standard bearer also operates that way.

How do institutions and researchers begin to collaborate with the centre without adequate information? In times like these, Nigerian researchers must avoid the do-it-alone syndrome but go into productive collaborations with one another. N1.9 billion is a lot of money that cannot be channelled to only one research institute, laboratory, pharmaceutical industry or other associated institutions.

It must be equitably made available to deserving outlets in order to bring the dreaded Ebola virus under control.

Now we are in an emergency situation and counting the losses in human and material resources. If you or your loved ones have been cured of an ailment through admission into a hospital or attended to by health workers, you will begin to appreciate what it means

to lose health workers and doctors, nay consultants, through Ebola disease. Some, if not all of these health workers, are specialists in their own fields and it takes time and resources to train them.

But to lose a consultant is an immeasurable cost and bereavement. However, on the economic side, some are already smiling to the banks having won huge contracts to install hand washers and sanitizers in strategic public facilities. But that is life; there must be winners and some losers. These winners must do well to put back into the community, especially in the Ebola effort.

Certainly worrisome is the fact that this epidemic is facing us during a doctors’ strike. Doctors in UCH saved my life when I had nose bleeding as an adult during the dry season, did a caesarean on my wife to give us a lovely

daughter and many other countless health interventions in the lives of other families and loved ones. If doctors were on strike during those times, one wonders what would have happened.

So I deeply feel for countless families that need these services at this time. It bothers everyone seriously should a health challenge or emergency arise at this time especially if you cannot afford private hospitals. It is therefore a big joke to sack resident doctors and suspend residency programmes. Government must, therefore, stop playing with the lives of Nigerians and ask itself if our friends like Ghana and South Africa dilly-dally with such issues. Doctors too must remain humane in their negotiations towards coming back to the patients who are in dire need of them. For human lives are invaluable even

though insurgents are attempting to change our African value for life.

Although insurgency is usually contrived to attain certain undefined motives, our government must not rest on its oars in checkmating and annihilating the scourge. Terrorism is not an African way of life. Our Chibok girls must be brought back alive. Nigerians and indeed Africans must rise up to reject and isolate terror agents and their activities. People with a grievance must be ready to come out and air their cause of distress. This will facilitate peaceful coexistence and a strong sense of nationalism. For we must continue to count on government to stimulate and bring about the development that we need in all facets of human endeavour.

Government has a contract to fulfil with the people as a responsibility and from the campaign promises of times past.

Emmanuel Tyokumbur.

Department of Zoology, University of Ibadan

Deadly diseases and neo-liberalism

S

IR, I strongly believe that there is a strong correlation between the emergence and spread of deadly diseases in developing and developed countries and the promotion and imposition of neo-liberal policies by international economic organisations like the World Bank (WB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) which are funded and controlled by

the capitalists in poor and backward nations.

The neo-liberalists are the ones that are concocting diseases in their laboratories in western world and spreading them around the globe so that they can create markets for the medicines, or drugs their pharmaceutical companies are producing for abnormal profit making.

When diseases became deadly, rulers in under devel-

oped countries will seek the financial and humanitarian assistance from the capitalists.

The profiteers will ask them to buy drugs and injections from their companies, collect loans from their financial institutions etc. These will increase their profits and make them richer at the expense of underdeveloped economies.

Gazali Ibrahim, Kano 08035053899

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16

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

COMMENT

The Peoples Democratic Party Of Nigeria (PDP): Lying as Modus Operandi We would not have bothered much if PDP lies were limited to within itself but unfortunately, what happens within it and organisations integral to it are worse

T

HE late James Ajibola Idowu Ige, SAN, (September 13, 1930 - December 23, 2001) and Uncle Bola, to us, left behind enough quotable quotes and other inimitable contributions to Nigeria’s political history and lexicon to make his name absolutely unforgettable. Among these are his description of the five ‘Abacharite’ political parties as akin to five leprous fingers and PDP, after his usually deep observation, as the People Deceiving Party of Nigeria. The party has never been able to live down that apt description in its many years even as they continue to humour it as the largest party in Africa. The good thing is, its members do not only deceive Nigerians, they also live on a diet of lies. Only this past week, as a means of inflicting a pre-determined governorship candidate on its Adamawa chapter - how happy would they not be seeing Ribadu by President Jonathan’s side during the campaigns - a notice suddenly materialised inviting the 14 governorship aspirants to a meeting with the president. Commenting on the invitation, one of the aspirants described it as a ploy. Elucidating further, he said, and I quote: “We were asked to come to the meeting at 9 pm on Thursday. But we got wind of a plot by some forces in the presidency to hold the entire aspirants hostage in Abuja till Friday afternoon when the meeting will hold.

As the meeting holds on Friday, Yola Airport will be closed and all roads

leading to Yola will be blocked. They will then proceed to hold the primary election in the absence of all the aspirants so that they can manipulate the process for an anointed aspirant.”

We would not have bothered much if PDP lies were limited to within itself but unfortunately, what happens within it and organisations integral to it are worse; and here we take, for our example, The Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN) – President Jonathan’s lodestar campaign organisation. Although both the party and government continue to deny any relationship with TAN, below are the views of a perceptive Nigerian, Simbo Olorunfemi, in a letter to the Editor of The Nation, published on Thursday, September, 2014. Under the caption, ‘What Manner of Democracy Is This?’, she wrote inter alia: ‘The advertising campaign by the Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria and her co-travellers, obviously welloiled from an abundance of unexplained resources, has been running for over six months now. The government has nothing to do with it, we are told, yet the Secretary to the Government of the Federation always finds time to be at these rallies to receive a pile of signatures. The president has nothing to do with it, yet his ministers, from time to time, abandon their duty posts to partake in this trend. Even, Ministers Adesina and Okonjo-Iweala could not help but leave their busy desks to take

part in rallies at Ibadan and Port Harcourt’. Lies, lies and yet, more lies.

What exactly are we to make of these people?

Nigerians were, however, served the mother of all these PDP lies by Hussain Obaro of Ilorin, Kwara State, who, again, in a letter to The Nation Editor, titled: The Big Scam From TAN, indicative of how politically conscious Nigerians have become, and published on page 19 of The Nation’s edition of Tuesday, September 2, 2014, when he poignantly captured the fact that these people would go to any length to deceive and to defraud. Hussain is here quoted in full: “Few months ago, a non-governmental organisation under the aegis of Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), circulated a message all over the internet urging youths to register their bio-data for job opportunities through TAN. Millions of Nigerians, employed and unemployed, rushed into cybercafés to purchase network-browsing time while those who have smart phones and other ICT gadgets with subscriptions made do with it and registered duly and happily. Nigerians were asked to fill in their phone numbers, permanent home address, and local government areas, among other sensitive information.

Few weeks later, TAN began an endorsement rally in support of President Jonathan’s re-election bid throughout the various geo-political zones in Nigeria. To the dismay of Nigerians, the bio-data which they

naively gave to TAN with the expectation that they would be provided jobs were carefully collated and presented at the various TAN rallies to the representatives of President Jonathan, Secretary to the Government of the Federartion, Chief Anyim Pius Anyim, as the Nigerians who are happy with the president’s transformation agenda in the creation of jobs, good healthcare delivery system, improved national security etc and have happily and willingly endorsed President Jonathan for another term of office come 2015!

The use of bio-data of young Nigerians to score cheap, shameless and ridiculous political points without their consent is not only criminal and offensive, it is unfortunate and an insult on the sensibility of these young Nigerians, it is an embarrassment to this country and its image as it is a dent not only the credibility of the conveners of TAN but also on the presidency.

The youths of this country should not be cowed or tricked into endorsing President Jonathan for another term in office. TAN should have come out openly and allow these young Nigerians to freely express their opinions on whether they wish to do so or not. Nigerian youths have been taken for a ride and for fools. TAN should as a matter of urgency render an unreserved apology in all the national dailies, national radio stations and television stations to Nigerians on their heinous crime and atrocity against the people.

Failure to do this would be met

with legal consequences, as various youths fora would have no other choice than to proceed to a law court for a legal battle. The sensibility of any people has never been this insulted in the history of this country.

If you can’t help us out of unemployment, poverty and poor standard of living imposed on us by corruption and lack of ideas of our leaders, at least, don’t insult us or take us for fools”.

Were I to be one of these young people, I would insist we collectively institute a class action against this infuriating banality from high quarters to teach a lesson they will never forget.

Nigerians can now see why the PDP would not mind pre determining election results via pre-programmed ballot papers as was allegedly done in the 21 June, 2014, gubernatorial election in Ekiti whose later discovery made such deployment impossible in the subsequent Osun election. It also brings to mind the humongous lies currently being peddled all over Ekiti by an in-coming government that has become hyperactive about money, going illegally to the state’s bankers for information about state accounts against all protocol and decency simply because they had allegedly pre-committed huge Ekiti funds, straight from monthly federal allocations, to servicing election related agreements.

The way PDP is going, shamelessly lying about everything and fighting shy of exposing and prosecuting sponsors of terrorism to the utter discomfiture of our hard fighting soldiers, we may one day wake up to find we no longer have a country to call our own. God forbid.

Those WAEC results? Ehn now, Nigeria is only reaping what she sowed! (1) Our public schools are the most unattractive shells outside and the most dreary goatherd pens you have ever seen inside…where children are let in by day and goats by night

F

ACT one: the Nigerian public school system has collapsed. That is not news. Yet, for some strange reason, everyone appeared shocked and angry that more than seventy per cent of the students who sat for the last West African Examinations Council (WAEC) examinations failed to obtain the required five credits. Fact two: there is also failure of governance in Nigeria. Everyone knows that too. Yet, somehow, we the general public, continue to expect the miraculous delivery of dividends to flow from the purifying throne. I keep asking: how on earth do we expect light to come from darkness? k&…If you ask me, na who I go ask?...k& Seriously now, many factors have been enumerated as being responsible for the sad state of our educational system in Nigeria today. There is the factor of governmental insincerity, lean funding, parental indifference and illiteracy (no matter how educated they are), teachers’ divided attention, teachers’ lack of motivation, unqualified teachers, infrastructural failures, overcrowded classrooms, poorly constructed classrooms, uninviting learning environments, zero level learning materials … and so on. Wonderful! One thing is sure: with these woeful failures, it is a wonder that there are still schools at all in this country.

However, we shall not be discussing these factors today; I think much has been said about them already. One factor that I think is often overlooked is

the fact that these failures begin from those not addressed at the primary level in public schools. It is the public primary schools that house the highest number of children: more than seventy per cent of them I hear. That is also where we have the higher number of parents who do not understand what education means or how to achieve its goals.

Sadly, there are children who go to school without breakfast, and lunch is a dreamy distance away. There are children who rise up in the mornings and first hawk one thing or the other for their (sometimes indolent) parents before being allowed to go to school. They must also return to hawking in the evening after school. Don’t ask me; many parents believe that’s the best way to train their children by exposing them to as much of the inclement elements as possible. Like I said, don’t ask me. There are children who are not able to do homework because they are the chief earners in their families; i.e., the family subsists on what the children earn. I call that marching in reverse order. Then, there are children living in such miserable conditions that school work just does not come into the picture at all. In that condition, you can’t literally see beyond your nose. I tell you, there is nothing wrong with our education that we cannot cure by educating our parents.

On the one hand, many parents are illiterate and do not really understand what is going on in school. Sadly, again,

the government has been reluctant to really tackle the issue of mass literacy for reasons best known to it. Perhaps, a literate populace would threaten its covert affairs; perhaps a literate populace would ask too many questions; perhaps a literate populace would call more stridently for an end to corruption; perhaps… One thing is sure, the educational foundation of Nigerian children would be stronger if there was a strong bond of cooperation between parents and teachers. Caring educated parents would have more input in homework, school work, school behavior through PTA, etc. Right now, there is very little.

In public primary schools, all the work is being done, and all the decisions are being taken at this crucial foundational level, by teachers who are ill-paid, illregarded and ill-motivated. This is why their word is law.

On the other hand, there are also parents who are so rich that they use their wealth and position against the nation’s systems. A good many adults in this country are in some position of authority or the other as school or college teachers, administrators, corporate managers, traders or entrepreneurs, heads of religious bodies, housewives, househusbands, etc. Firstly though, if you are an adult and you are not yet a parent, wait for it, it will come; all bad things eventually come. Secondly, if you are a parent and your category is not covered by this list, don’t be annoyed; just find a bench and squeeze yourself in somewhere. Thanks.

As I was saying, one of the requirements for holding authority is that you

must mentor someone else: your children, your wards, your subordinates, your village urchins, your village groups, your spouse(s), your countrymen and women... These are your responsibilities, one and all. Unfortunately, practically everyone has ditched these responsibilities in favour of selfaggrandising schemes. Problem, though, is that work that is left undone has a way of … remaining undone.

Nowhere does this show as readily as children that are not taught.

Let’s take the home. I don’t care how important or unimportant you are, you must admit that you have sometimes been embarrassed by your child as a result of one lesson or the other you failed to impart. (I knew it; you are a liar). Many times, it eventually shows up anyway. In the news recently, there were reports of a child murdering his father over a stick of cigarette. Another child murdered and hacked his father to little pieces for easier disposal purposes. Yet another child murdered his mother for over-pampering him and not bringing him up properly. Yet another child was taught by his father how to rape a defenseless toddler. Just recently, another child drove his mother, in a drunken fit, to her death … Should I go on? Naaaay….! These ones were not so lucky.

Some of us have been luckier. Remember that joke about a child who told the landlord that his father told him to tell the landlord that he is not in? I have one better. The child told the landlord: My father is really in the room but he told me not to tell you!

Lucky father, at least he wasn’t killed; the child has just not learnt to lie decently.

Most Nigerian children today are not standing on strong foundations because of their primary school education. Just drive by the public schools nearest to you, and if you are minded to do so, please, take a peek inside them.

It’s all right for you to say that your children do not attend these schools since you are rich enough to ferry them across town each day to some expensive private school, or even across the seas to some expensive public school abroad. That will not do; the products of these public schools you are refusing to look at today will still rub shoulders with your expensively educated children in the world either as their work rivals, house-helps, or, God forbid, armed robbers, murderers, or 419ers – pick whichever one you like.

For now, there is just this one world, and we all have to share it.

Our public schools are the most unattractive shells outside and the most dreary goatherd pens you have ever seen inside. Oh yes, in many cities and villages, they do share the rooms: children are let in by day and goats are let in by night. I also understand that what goes on inside them by way of teaching is not different from the morning or night sessions either. Bottom line is, no learning takes place morning or night. Yet, there are people in charge of these schools, and they are often called teachers, headmasters and mistresses, school inspectors and education ministry authorities, heads of department of education in local governments, school boards’ chairmen, etc. And yep, they are parents too; and that is our tragedy.

•To be continued

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

COMMENT

17

(81) Ribadu’s defection, corruption and the unending disappearance of productive, modernizing political elites in our country (1) The fly that has no one to advise it follows the corpse to the grave.

Chinua Achebe, Arrow of God

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ET me state from the very onset of this piece that what has brought me back to the subject of Nuhu Ribadu’s defection from the APC to the PDP about which I wrote in this column two weeks ago is the unusually high number of emails that I got in response to that column. In number and sheer emotional intensity, almost no other column that I have ever written in this newspaper comes close to the responses I received to the piece on Ribadu. The majority of such responses were, as I had expected, full of bitter disappointment, anger and derision. Some responses were thoughtful and measured, but these were very few.

A special category of emails among these responses concerns those that were full of sarcasm and invective. Perhaps the choicest among this group of responses were those that played satirical language games on Ribadu’s name, using the first two of the three syllables of the former anticorruption czar’s name, “Ri-ba”, as a pivot for all kinds of printable and unprintable rubbishing of the character of the born-again PDP chieftain. “Riba” in the Yoruba language can be severally translated as bribery, graft or sleaze. From this, one particularly caustic email to me replaced the name Ribadu with the three-syllable word Ri-ba-dun, which literally means graft, bribery or sleaze is sweet, is profitable. I do not know if the same process is going among Nigerians who speak other languages and are as bitter as the person who coined “Ri-ba-dun”, but it would not surprise me in the least to discover that this is the case.

Ribadu’s defection to the PDP, the worst, the most corrupt and the most mediocre ruling party in Africa and perhaps in the world, has demonstrably increased the level of cynicism in our country. He enjoyed great respect and credibility across nearly all social and ethnic groups in the country, especially among the masses of ordinary Nigerians. True enough, he did very poorly in his bid for election as President in 2011, but the cause for that failure had more to do with the systemic nature of the massively monetized corruption of the electoral process in Nigeria than to any personal failings in the man himself. I was very aware of the contradictions and inconsistencies in Ribadu’s work as the volatile, energetic and outspoken Head of the EFFC, but I did have considerable admiration for him and some members of his staff. It is for this reason and this reason alone that I am returning again this week to the matter of his defection to the PDP, my intention being to open up an aspect of the consequences or ramifications of his defection that I think that, for the most part, many who have commented on his defection have ignored. That dimension is what I describe in the title of this piece as the unending disappearance of productive and modernizing political elites in

•A graph of corruption index in OPEC countries

Nigeria, with special reference to the commanding place that corruption now has in the political affairs of our country. Let me explain what I mean by this.

Beyond Ribadu himself, beyond the charisma and mystique that his work at the EFCC created around his personality in Nigeria and in the international community, and indeed beyond the moral implications, there is the crucial issue of what his defection to the ruling party says about the fundamental nature of our political elites in all the ruling class parties, especially the PDP and the APC but not excluding the other parties. Expressed in its simplest form, this is the view that our politicians, in all the parties and with only few individual exceptions, are soft, indeed even tolerant towards corruption. They may condemn it in the strongest of words and even make opposition to it a part of their electoral platforms and manifestos, but fundamentally, they do not have resolute, self-defining, self-constituting opposition to corruption. There are many signs and indicators of this but we can only highlight a few here.

One: Regardless of how much you are publicly known to have stolen from public coffers, you can defect from any party to another party and you will be welcomed with open arms, no questions asked. Two: Legislators from all the parties enjoy salaries and bonuses that, in being the highest in the world and therefore not affordable for a developing country like Nigeria, more or less amount to a form of legalized but totally corrupt looting of our national coffers. Three: All the ruling class political parties, without exception, participate in the massive monetization of electoral politics in our country. The consequence of this, both obvious and implicit, is the transformation of electoral politics into a form of

“business” whose yield, whose profit, fuels corruption of a very high and grandiose order in the political affairs of our country.

It is on account of these and other manifestations of widespread and systemic corruption among the generality of our political elites that Ribadu’s defection to the PDP has been quite rightly seen as a confirmation, a revelation of the bitter fact that no matter how much they talk or seem to act against corruption, in the end virtually all our political elites, with only a few notable individual exceptions, are fundamentally tolerant toward corruption. Much in the way in which the dung beetle lives in and on excreta, they live and feed fat on corruption as the very medium of their existence as politicians. My main purpose in this series of two articles is to take this idea one step further from its emphasis on a moral critique of the scale of corruption in Nigerian politics to an emphasis, quite frankly and deliberately, on the prospects for reform and/or revolution in our country in the years ahead of us.

On this matter, let me go directly and unambiguously to some distinct but interconnected central theses. In the first place, the moral critique of the humungous scale of corruption in our country can have positive political results if and only if there are reasonably large numbers of political elites who do take the struggle against corruption seriously and are willing and able to base both their electoral politics and their policies and actions in political office on that struggle. Such politicians are those I have designated in the title of this series “productive, modernizing political elites”. Incidentally, in the First and Second Republics, political elites of this kind used to be quite numerous - in spite of the

political crises of those periods. But they are now a fast disappearing breed within the ranks of our present political class. Let me restate this point carefully: we can preach and moralize on the scale of corruption in our country as much as we want, but if political elites that are willing to take the struggle against corruption seriously can be counted only in single digits and not in their dozens, hundreds or thousands, reform will never happen within the present political order and we are headed toward revolution – of the Right or the Left, either of which can be very bloody or extremely self-destructive.

Secondly, while corruption has probably for long existed and will perhaps forever exist in all forms and at all stages of human social development, and furthermore, while it has managed to coexist in one way or another with modernization and modernity throughout virtually all the regions of the world, there is a limit, a boundary beyond which corruption on a monumental scale is a great, crippling obstacle to progress, peace, sustainable development and well-adjusted modernity. Nigeria, under our former military dictators and now under the reign of the PDP - with some connivance from the other ruling class parties – has long gone well beyond such limits and boundaries.

There are Nigerian economic or business moguls that make their wealth from productive, value-added and job-creating enterprises but by a wide margin, the great majority of our wealthy, propertied classes make their wealth from corruption-related connections to the state in ways that ultimately make their wealth nonproductive. This is the economic or institutional basis of the rapidly disappearing breed of productive, mod-

ernizing political elites in our country.

Thirdly, Ribadu, in his defection to the PDP, is highly symptomatic of this disappearing breed of modernizing political elites in Nigeria. While in the APC, he was extreme in his savage attacks on corruption within the ranks of the PDP but since crossing over to the ruling Party, he has said not a word on whether he has either changed his mind on that score or hopes now to work from within the PDP to rid the Party of its endemic corruption. And while we are on the topic, we might as well note here that while in the APC, Ribadu saw and spoke about no corruption within that Party. This strongly indicates that either now or in the past, he has probably never really seen the struggle against corruption as fundamental to his or our country’s political future.

Thus, like the fly in the adage from Chinua Achebe’s Arrow of God that followed the corpse into the grave because it had no one to advise it, Ribadu has chosen to follow the PDP into what is almost certainly going to be the graveyard, the dung heap of history.

The struggle against corruption is fundamental to our country’s future, Ribadu or no Ribadu. Reform is still possible in our country, even if Ribadu’s defection to the PDP has dealt a nearly fatal moral blow to that possibility. In next week’s conclusion to the series, we shall explore past and present indications in Nigeria’s political history that provide a basis for hoping that before a revolution of the Right or the Left sweeps everything away, genuine, radical and humanistic reform has a chance in our country, even if it is the slimmest of chances.

Biodun Jeyifo bjeyifo@fas.harvard.edu

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

COMMENT

Editors’ role in fostering credible elections in Nigeria A NALYSTS observe that the role of the media in shaping the direction of society is strategic and unique.

They note that journalists, particularly the editors who are the gatekeepers in various media organisations, have a great role to play in promoting national unity, peace and harmony, so as to enhance the socio-political and economic growth of the country.They also observe that the role of the media in this regard, perhaps, led to the choice of the theme of the 10th All Nigerian Editors Conference, hosted recently by the Katsina State Government.

The conference, which has “Credible Elections and Good Governance: Role of the Editor’’ as its theme, attracted more than 250 editors from various media outfits across the country.

Described as the largest gathering of editors, academics, human rights activists and other related professionals in recent times, the conference was convened by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) between Aug. 27 and Aug. 30.

It was attended by Gov. Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State, the Minister of Education, Malam Ibrahim Shekarau, former Gov. Olusegun Osoba of Ogun State, Alhaji Umaru Mutallab, Chairman, Jaiz Bank and Malam Muhammed Garba, National President of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), among others.

The conference explored and exchanged ideas on how best to assist the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in conducting credible and acceptable elections in 2015.

It called on governments at all levels to entrench good governance and address the current security challenges, with a view to creating an environment that is conducive to the country’s development.

Setting the tone for discussions, Mutallab, in his speech, said that Nigerian editors were the key to the success or otherwise of the 2015 general elections.

“I wish to open this part of the discourse by reiterating that the editors, who are the gatekeepers in our various media organisations, hold the key to the conduct of credible elections in 2015 as well as the movement towards good governance,’’ he said.

He stressed that the responsibility of nurturing and deepening democracy rested on the shoulders of the editors “as the egg heads in our country’s information and communi-

“I believe in intuition and inspiration.

Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited, whereas imagination embraces the entire world, stimulating progress, giving birth to evolution. It is, strictly speaking, a real factor in scientific research” — Albert Einstein “At the heart of science is an essential balance between two seemingly contradictory attitudes—openness to new ideas, no matter how bizarre or counterintuitive they may be, and the most ruthless skeptical scrutiny of all ideas, old and new. This is how deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense” — Carl Sagan DUCATION plays major role in human development in equipping people with the basic skill to read and write. The United Nations developed several strategies to put the Dakar’s Framework for Action on Education for All (EFA) into practice. The Federal Government has introduced the National Economic Empowerment and Development Strategy (NEEDS). NEEDS has in crux of operation poverty eradication, job creation, wealth generation and empowerment of people through education. In order to meet up with EFA development goals, many countries introduced skill acquisition programme into their education plans.

The new content law promulgated by the National Assembly requires Nigerians to be trained in some specialized area of labour.

Many research problems on skill acquisition seek inculcating in the people the basic skill that would make them relevant in the main stream of workforce of the nation. Unemployment and underemployment crises are bye products of the fact that people do not have basic skills that make them employable or earn good wages.

Furthermore, most of 21st century emerging problems require sophisticated skills and Research tools to study them. Many academic institutions and Research Centres worldwide are introducing graduate and research programmes to develop high level manpower

E

•Femi Adesina, President NGE

By Sani Adamu

cation channels. This probably informs the remark by former U.S. President Thomas Jefferson that the press is the best instrument for enlightening the mind of man and improving him as a rational, moral and social being,’’ he added.

Describing the editor as the gatekeeper and mediator of contents between a news medium and the public, Mutallab said that editors played a strategic role in shaping whatever news and information the public received.

According to him, the editor faces the task of trying to strike a balance between the ethics of the journalism profession and the economic interests of his or her publisher.

Nevertheless, Senate President David Mark argued that journalism entailed a high degree of public trust, adding that editors, as the gatekeepers, should always ensure balance in their reports.

Represented by Sen. Mijitapha Muhammad, his Special Adviser on Political Matters, Mark advised journalists to handle issues relating to national interest and national security with utmost care.

Mr. Femi Adesina, the President of NGE, who conceded that the media had an important role to play in promoting the success of the coming elections, however, underscored the need for INEC to ensure free, fair and credible elections in 2015.

“In 2015, we want nothing less than free, fair and credible polls; we want elections that are not only free, but also seen to be free; elections that are not only fair but also applauded as fair,’’ he said.

All the same, Malam Muhammed Garba, the NUJ National President, urged governments to intensify efforts towards protecting journalists, while discharging their constitutional responsibilities.

He said that the call became somewhat imperative in view of the increasing wave of attacks on journalists by political thugs.

He, however, urged journalists to key in to the NUJ insurance scheme, noting that only 10 journalists had so far benefited from the scheme nationwide.

Besides, Garba said that journalists ought to be properly guided on how to ensure fairness in their reportage of the forthcoming elections.

In his view, Chief Osoba, who is also a veteran journalist, expressed optimism that a new Nigeria would emerge after the 2015 elections, noting that INEC had started initiating measures that would ensure credible elections.

Nevertheless, the INEC Chairman, Prof.

Attahiru Jega, said that insecurity, inadequate funding, negative attitude of the political class and apathy of the citizens toward active participation in political mat-

ters could hinder the success of the elections.Represented by Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, INEC’s Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Jega also identified the delay in the amendment to the legal framework of elections such as the constitution and the electoral law as an another challenge.

He, however, called on the government and other stakeholders to cooperate with INEC in efforts to conduct successful polls, assuring the public that the commission would consolidate on the gains of the 2011 elections.

He said that INEC had prepared well for the conduct of the 2015 elections, adding that its programmes were strictly being implemented.

In a communiqué, jointly signed by the NGE President, Femi Adesina and the NGE Secretary, Mr Isaac Ighure, the participants resolved to establish an acceptable code of conduct for the coverage of the elections.

They, however, expressed concern that the rising wave of insecurity, insurgency and kidnappings across the country might affect the coming elections.

They urged editors to continue to promote free and fair elections, insisting that such efforts would advance and sustain democratic culture in the country.

Their communiqué stressed that the media must also set an acceptable performance index to gauge the performance of the governments at all levels in efforts to provide basic amenities and infrastructure as well as good governance.

It also called on the government to ensure adequate funding of INEC to enable the commission to conduct free, fair and credible elections in 2015 and beyond.

Observers, however, insist that the media should adjust its agenda-setting role by adopting development or people-centred journalism.

They believe that this will enable the citizens to set their own agenda, rather than allowing the media and the politicians to set the agenda.

They, nonetheless, express the hope that the media will continue to expose electoral malpractices and other forms of corruption in the country.

Adamu is of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)

Strategies for development of Mathematical Sciences

By Benjamin Oyediran Oyelami

to solve the societal problems. This trend will continue even beyond the 21st century. In view of this, the nation needs to introduce several innovative methods to solve Nigerian problems such as graduate unemployment, building human capita especially in Mathematical Sciences.

Nigerian Universities and Inter-University Centres should be developing programmes that would comply with NEEDS developmental goals.

One of the dreams of Nigeria is for the nation to attain vision 20:2020 by fast tracking efforts to become one of the first 20 developed economies in the world by the year 2020. The knowledge to chart the course to attain this fitness appears to be limited but by Einstein’s philosophy, through imagination or through Vision 20:2020 Agenda, Nigeria will certainly realise the Statesmen dream. The nation needs to provide good governance, boost our economy, and provide good education and health systems. The nation needs to be secured and citizens need to be well informed about the activities of government and their role to have a responsible society. Employment opportunities need to be opened–up to people. We need to commend the government of President Goodluck Jonathan for the SURE-P programme, the re-engineering of vocational education and revolution of agricultural programmes he introduced which open the window of opportunities for employment of Nigerians.

Five fundamental areas that we need solutions to are : how can the QS World Universities’ rating of the Nigerian universities be improved so that universities could be listed among the top 700 Universities in the world?

How can the nation ameliorate the aberrational failure of students in Mathematics and English language in the public examination for Senior Secondary Schools? How can Nigeria identify the young genius that can compete in the World Mathematical Sciences

Olympiads and University competitions in Mathematics and Informatics?

Quite right the entire questions raised above have solutions and the mandate/status of Universities and Research Centres allow them to be stakeholder in finding solutions to those problems. Finding solutions to the nation’s problem is not as problematic as solution to the controversy surrounding whether the nation to continue to use Bottom-Up management approach to solve problem vis-a vis concentrate on lower level Basic and senior secondary school level and forget about the high level (post basic especially tertiary level).The second is to use double prone approach to continue with present approaches improving teaching and research at higher and lower levels simultaneously. Some people consider this approach as absolute nonsense and other felt the world rating of Nigerian Universities was biased. Carl Sagan a Norbert Prize winner in Astronomy observed from quotation above that deep truths are winnowed from deep nonsense.

George Polya most admirably mathematician as far as problem solving is concerned once said: “A mathematician who can only generalize is like a monkey who can only climb up a tree, and a mathematician who can only specialize is like a monkey who can only climb down a tree. In fact, neither the up monkey nor the down monkey is a viable creature. A real monkey must find food and escape his enemies and so must be able to incessantly climb up and down. A real mathematician must be able to generalize and specialize” Nigeria’s educational problems can be likened to a man who has glaucoma in the eye and a deep painful sore on the leg. Which of the two should he treat first? I think it is wise to treat both using proper drugs. The nation’s educational system needs a total medicine for a total cure.

From Polya’s principle if the nation uses

one track directional approach (specializing on Mathematical sciences aimed at Improvement of Lower or Higher level) it is like a monkey climbing up or down the tree. This is not too good as far as problem solving is concerned, hence the use of integrated approach for solving our nation problems this can be liken to most efficient monkey in the wild which survive most endearing problem that confront it.

Birds and frogs Freeman Dyson in the American Mathematical Society Einstein Lecture in Mathematics said “Some Mathematicians are birds, others are frogs, bird fly high in the air and survey broad vista of mathematics out to the far horizon. They delight in concepts that unify our thinking and bring together diverse problems from different parts of landscape. Frogs live in the mud below and see only the flowers that grow nearby. They delight in the detail of particular objects, and they solve problem’’ He ended by saying “Mathematics needs both birds and frogs…birds give it broad visions and frogs its intricate detail” The nation’s problem are many we can only solve some from inter-disciplinary point of view while some can be solved by focusing intricately on some part of the whole. ‘birds’ and ‘frogs’ approaches in problem solving should be encouraged in solving Nigerian problem of poor performance in Mathematical science at all levels.

The National Mathematical Centre (NMC) and Universities in the country should be adequately funded to be organizing international workshops, seminars, conferences and symposia in Mathematical Sciences must be current hot topics where young scientists can be exposed. The proceedings would publish with standard known academic publishers for Centre/Universities to be getting royalties for financing their activities.

•Continued on page 68

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Who will save Labour Party?

PAGES 21

‘Nigeria’s democracy built on faulty foundation’

‘Oshiomhole is sitting on the reality chair ‘ PAGE 25

PAGE 22

Playing politics with Boko Haram sponsorship

•Former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika and Modu Sherriff

I

N June 2012, members of the Boko Haram insurgency group attacked churches in Zaria and Kaduna metropolis, killing several persons during the normal Sunday service. One of the churches affected was the 2nd ECWA DCC. Even though nobody died in the explosion that hit the church, the Church Secretary, Rev. Chris Dariya, told the late Governor Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa that soldiers stationed almost opposite the church were withdrawn a day earlier before the explosion occurred.

He told Yakowa who was then the governor of the state that they had information that the group met in Zaria where they planned how to attack churches in Zaria on the weekend of June 6, 2012. He said that a day after the supposed meeting, being Saturday, the military personnel that were drafted to maintain law and order in the area were withdrawn. He said “we were cautioned on the fact that Boko Haram were already in Zaria. We heard vividly there was a

A recent interview granted by Dr. Steve Davis, an Australian engaged by the Nigerian government to help negotiate the release of the captured school girls from Chibok, has intensified the politicisation of Boko Haram insurgency, reports Tony Akowe, in Abuja meeting on Friday and the chairmen and secretaries of CAN Zone 1 were actually invited for a meeting. We were told that Boko Haram were already in Zaria and they were going to strike this Sunday. Some of us were very concerned and were thinking of what possible way to avert such happenings. I came back on Saturday from a meeting and drove into my office which is just behind (the Church), that is the District office. There were soldiers that were actually patrolling and guarding the area. I saw them parking their things and I drove there and asked two of them what was happening and what we heard which I am sure you heard too. You are parking your things and it does not speak well for the community and for me as a religious leader. I was told that

the community was disturbing them and that is why they have to move. I told them that it was not the community that kept you here, but the government. But they told me they were ordered, but I don’t know where the orders came from.” The military denied the allegation.

However, recent development following the confession of Dr. Steve Davis, an Australian engaged by the Nigerian government to help negotiate the release of the captured school girls from Chibok ,that the former Chief of Army Staff, Lt. General Azubuike Ihejirika, was part of those sponsoring the insurgency has again brought to the fore that allegation of withdrawal of soldiers from their position hours before the Boko group came calling. The fact that

this allegation was made on several occasions with the military denying it on each occasion tends to justify Davis’ allegation.

Even though the former Chief of Army Staff has been silent on the accusation levelled against him, the question that readily comes to mind is whether the man was not right after all since the Soldiers were always moved shortly before members of the insurgents strikes an area.

Like every other issue in the country, the current situation is already being politicized to the detriment of the Nigerian people. The main opposition party in the country, the All Progressive Congress, like many Nigerians have asked the government to come out clear with its stand on the interview

of Dr. Davis, rather than keep quite while the insecurity situation in the country grow in leaps and bounds.

Interestingly, the Nigerian government was yet to react to the claims by the Australian one week after the claims were made in an international media. APC has asked the president to exercise his power as the Commander In Chief to ensure that those accused of sponsoring Boko Haram are investigated and brought to justice.

Chief John Odigie Oyegun, the APC National Chairman said at a news conference that the “President must remember that he is the Commander-in-Chief! The buck stops on his desk. He must now do all it takes to stop the growing mess in our nation’s North-East”. The APC chairman claimed that right from the beginning, they offered their cooperation to the government in bringing an end to the insurgency, stressing that rather than ac•Continued on Page 20

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

POLITICS

Playing politics with Boko Haram sponsorship •Continued from Page 19 cept their hand of fellowship, the government and the PDP chose to label them as sponsors of Boko Haram. He said “At the beginning, we offered our cooperation. But what did we get?

That we are the Islamic party, the Boko Haram party. I don’t just think that is the normal way to do things. What is lacking in this country is clearly leadership. The President must now behave like our Commander-in-Chief. Whatever forces needed to bring this thing under control should be brought to bear.

But the ruling party believes that the APC was merely twisting the claims by Davis to achieve some political points.

The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, believes that what the APC did was mere propaganda, accusing them of being silent on the allegations made by Davis that some people opposed to Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathan used their connections to Boko Ha-ram to frustrate his efforts. He also believes that the opposition party is aiming to “frustrate genuine effort at finding solution to the security chal-lenges we face as a nation to the advantage of the APC whose penchant to use the promotion of violence as tool to achieve political control is well known to all”.

But the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Lai Mohammed pointed out that anybody accusing the APC of complicity in the allegations made by Davis is actually doing the nation some disservice, saying: “If you cannot believe what the government negotiator says, then go and ask the Presidency whether they actually appointed him or not. I am aware that as soon as the Chibok girls were abducted, the Presidency spoke about Mr. Davis. So, how can you come now and say we are not investigating. I listened to one character on Television saying Dr. Davis sent them a bill of 3000 dollars. Why didn’t he send the bill to APC? He said there clearly that they helped him at every point in time in logistic support, including giving him an aircraft. He said he has worked for two Presidents. A Muslim president and a Christian president and that he was involved in negotiation for the government and you are not questioning that. But now that PDP is caught in its own web, you are challenging that. When Modu Sherrif threatened that he will go to Australia to sue him, he said that he will welcome him at the airport. This story is not APC generated, it is in the public domain and all we are saying is that there is nothing that Davis has said about Sherrif that we have not suspected before. If is not for us to go and ask whether it is true or not”.

•Sherriff Interestingly, while Modu Sherrif has denied the allegations against him, saying he was ready to submit himself for investigation, the government was yet to speak on the issue. They have neither denied knowing Dr. Davis nor employing him to work for them. The issue of the sponsorship of the Boko Haram insurgency should be taken beyond political rhetorics and concrete steps should be taken to address the issues raised by Dr. Davis in the interest of the nation. But rather than do that, the government choose to remain quite, while the ruling PDP throw stones into the APC camp for daring to ask the government to hand over those accused by Davis of being responsible for our present predicament to the International Criminal Court for investigation and prosecution.

One expect the PDP to tow the same line of calling for thorough investigation into these allegations. Surprisingly, the party, in saying that the allegations made by Davis shows that the APC is guilty of sponsoring terrorism even when Davis did not say so, failed to deny the Australian and his claim that he was working for the Nigerian government.

From the confession of Davis, it is clear that the former Borno State governor is not the only politician being accused of sponsoring Boko Haram even though he was the only one whose name was mentioned. Davis said in an interview with The Cable, an online newspaper, that “there is a politician who was supplying operational vehicles for the suicide bombers. He gave them Hilux

vans. He is a prominent politician. If the president goes after these guys, they will say it is political.

That is part of the problem. Everybody will say the president is going after his political opponents, especially as there is a general election next year.

The militants also named the former governor of Borno State, Ali Modu Sheriff. In 2003 and 2007, Sheriff was very close to them. He used them for his elections. They worked for him. However, in 2007, the leader of the group, Muhammed Yusuf, collected money from Sheriff in return for support. Yusuf’s mentor, Ja’afar Mahmud Adam, exposed and criticised him for collecting money from Sheriff and Yusuf ordered his killing in April 2007.

But eventually, Yusuf and Sheriff fell out. However, it is acknowledged that Sheriff was and is a major financier of the group. He pays for young men to go for lesser hajj. From there they are recruited into the group.”

The APC has said that what Davis said about Sherrif was not new to them, since they have always suspected it. But the party is concerned about the treatment Sherrif was given when he decided to join the PDP and the fact that more than one week after, nobody has invited him for questioning even when the man said he was ready for investigation.

In denying his involvement with the group at a well attended news conference, Sherrif said, “I have no association with any terrorists anywhere.

I have never met the group. I cannot be a sponsor of a group I have not met before. I don’t have foot

soldiers, as they alleged.” He claimed that Davis was working for APC, raising questions he believed should be answered. In his words, “why was the face of the said Davis not shown in all three interviews he granted? Of what particular interest has the said Davis in the politics of Nigeria that he rose in defence of prominent APC leaders? Is the Australian a negotiator, an investigator, or an anti-graft agent, a reporter, a judge or a mere gadfly?”

His belief is that the APC is calling for his head because he left the party for the ruling PDP, saying “My defection from the APC seemed to have galvanised my detractors who have converted the matter into a political weapon.

Even as the brain behind the whole charade, the APC in its seeming desperation to retain my membership went rather too far in its political mudslinging. I consider it most uncharitable for the party, to use me as an alibi for the obvious culpability of some of its members.

As you all are aware, my name is being mentioned for obvious political reasons as a culprit over the unfortunate happenings in Borno State and some parts of the country, especially from the 2009 Boko Haram episode to date”.

Nigerians believe that this is the time for President Jonathan to show that he is fully in charge of his government by bringing to justice those that have been indicted for their involvement in terrorist activities no matter their status in the society. It will be out of place for the President and security agents to allow those who have been indicted of terrorist activities to walk the streets free while Nigerians suffer untold hardship just because he does not want to be accused of trying to get rid of his perceived opponents ahead of the 2015 elections. The question that should occupy our mind at this point in time is whether these people are now bigger than the Nigerian nation?

While it is ok to trend softly, this should not be at the detriment of the Nigerian nation. A few individuals cannot continue to hold Nigeria to ransome for their own selfish reasons, while the nation folds its hand because the President is afraid of being accused of witch hunting political opponents.

While the world awaits the formal response of the Federal Government on the allegations made by Stephen Davis, it is also expected that Gen. Ihejirika should come out of his cocoon and defend his distinguished career as a soldier and a gentleman by telling the world the role he played in the current episode. His silence can be mistaken as admitting his involvement in the sponsorship of Boko Haram.

Onyebuchi’s impeachment and the conspiracy of falsehood

T

HE impeachment drama in Enugu has ended with the eventual impeachment of the former Deputy Governor, Sunday Onyebuchi by the State House of Assembly and the appointment of Rev. Raphael Nwoye as his replacement.

It is however important to address certain issues that arose during the episode which by design, received heavy attention in the media and mostly for the wrong reasons.

It was obvious from the beginning that the former deputy governor intended to make and indeed succeeded in making huge drama out of a matter that incidentally, had started as a private dialogue between himself and his former boss, Governor Sullivan Chime.

Immediately on being served the impeachment notice by the House of Assembly, he and his backers (including a prominent federal lawmaker), had quickly appointed a select group of reporters in Enugu to do his defence. It has to be admitted that the group did quite a job of it. Onyebuchi kept talking to the press, even as the panel of inquiry constituted by the Chief Judge of the state to investigate the charges against him was sitting. He granted interviews at the end of each sitting and told the press even things he could not nor dared not say before the panel.

Onyebuchi’s antics could have been considered the natural reaction of a person trying to save his neck but for his employment of falsehood in the name of pressing his case.

First he had claimed his woes had stemmed from his intention to contest the Enugu East Senatorial seat which the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mrs Ifeoma Nwobodo is also reported to be interested in. He said his removal was plotted to clear the way for the latter as he posed a major threat to her quest.

By John Ogbonna

But a statement made by former Senate President, Chief Ken Nnamani on this claim is quite revealing.

In an interview Nnamani said, “I am from that Senatorial zone and the deputy governor is not a threat to anybody’s political ambition. He has never vied for councillorship, he has never vied for election before. All of a sudden, he thinks he has become a threat in a senatorial race, it is most unfortunate. I don’t think there is any relationship between his so-called ambition of wanting to become a Senator and his predicament. He is not a threat to anybody at all and I am sure he knows that himself.

Again in his defence to the charge of running a commercial poultry in his official quarters at the Government House (in violation of the laws of the state), Onyebuchi had claimed that Governor Chime was running a bigger poultry in his own residence.

To buttress this claim, the former Deputy Governor alleged that in his capacity as Acting Governor (while Chime was on medical leave) he had received and approved a memo from the Chief of Staff for the release of funds for the maintenance of the governor’s “ poultry and piggery”.

It turned out that the claim was another blatant lie as no such memo was ever written by the Chief of Staff and Onyebuchi could not produce a copy when challenged even where he admitted that copies of all other documents he attended to as Acting Governor were still in his custody.

Indeed the Governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Chukwudi Achife, in a widely published statement said; “The truth is that there is an Agric Unit in the Government House where livestock are held for the use of the Government House. It has been in existence since the Government House was built and had served previous administrations in

Enugu. It is neither commercially operated nor is it owned by the Governor.

Achife further said, “So, if the unit as he (Onyebuchi) erroneously claims belongs to the governor, why should it form part of the state’s annual budgets? Why would the deputy governor request the unit to slaughter cows for him from its livestock holding? “ Continuing, Achife said: “It is important to clarify that the said Agric unit is not within the Governor’s residential premises but a unit in Government House. The Agric unit serves the purpose of holding livestock for periodic slaughter for use by Government House staff, the Governor’s lodge and the Deputy Governor’s lodge. It was on the strength of this fact that he (Onyebuchi) requested the staff of the unit to slaughter a cow for him from the unit’s holding on August 4, 2014, and this was done.

After his impeachment, Onyebuchi said his impeachment was not linked to any financial crimes. Much as this is true, it should however be noted that while he had claimed that he was not assigned any protocol official by the government, evidence was given before the panel that showed he had actually been signing funds as salaries and allowances for protocol officers since 2007.

The question then is; if no protocol officer was assigned to him, why was he collecting money for protocol officers?

Again it also come to light during the hearing that while he signed money for business class tickets each time he travelled, he actually bought economy class tickets. There is no record that balance was ever returned.

These sordid facts escaped public attention at that time because the panel sat in camera.

Onyebuchi’s side was however the only one being heard as he chose, in utter contempt of the panel, to rush to the press immediately after each sitting.

Indeed the selective and biased reportage of the case by some sections of the press received severe knocks from the Counsel to the House of Assembly, Nduka Ikeyi who directly accused them of reporting” falsehood and conjectures” adding that there was a deliberate effort to exclude reportage of evidence considered damaging to the Deputy Governor’s defence.

According to him, “none of the reports had reflected the evidence given by witnesses to the House of Assembly, nor did they reflect evidence elicited under cross-examination from the Deputy Governor’s witnesses”.

Indeed, if he knew that things would turn out the way they did, I am sure he would have listened to the wise advice given to him by Senator Nnamani very early in the day when he (Onyebuchi ) had sought it.

The revered former Senate President said, “He Onyebuchi) got the impression that by hiring attorneys, he could have won. I told him and I am quoting myself now, “You have two options: One is to cleanly resign and go about your own business and keep quiet. The other is to slug it out. But if you slug it out, you are not likely to win. Even if you went there with a platoon of Senior Advocates, I don’t see you winning.”

And the lesson to be learned from this?

Again hear Chief Nnamani, “A deputy governor is not a governor and must learn not to equate himself with the governor. There is need for tolerance both on the side of the governor and on the side of the deputy. But if they start exchanging words and you are having two captains in a boat, there is always a consequence”.

Ogbonna sent in this piece from Enugu.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

POLITICS

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S the 2015 general elections draw closer, observers have expressed concern over the fate of the Labour Party, one of the opposition political parties that have made some impact in the polity by winning a state governorship seat and maintaining presence in the National Assembly.

Formed in 2002, the Labour Party, led

by Chief Dan Nwanyanwu, is described by the founders as a “social democratic political party,” with “a centre-left ideology.”

In April 21, 2007 National Assembly election, it won one, out of 360 seats in the House of Representatives and no seat in the Senate. The party’s governorship flag bearer in Ondo State, Olusegun Mimiko, also emerged the state governor after winning a prolonged legal contest.

Since then, the party’s rating has risen as some top players in the power game have reportedly approached it either for alliances or simple support to facilitate electoral victories.

During the 2011 presidential election for example, the PDP candidate, President Goodluck Jonathan, solicited LP’s support in his effort to gain votes in Ondo State and he got it.

Since then, the party, according to a source, has remained one of Mr President’s pillar in an attempt to garner support and votes in the South-West in particular.

In Ogun State for example, where exgovernor Gbenga Daniel ruled on the ticket of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) before joining the LP, the party had been polarised into two factions following disagreements between Daniel and Mr. Olabode Simeon-led executive.

The party achieved what an insider described as ‘a breather’ in Ogun just mid August this year, when Mimiko, Nwanyanwu and other leaders of the party intervened in the crisis to stop a suit against Daniel by a Bode Simeon faction.

A statement from the party, jointly signed by the state Secretary, Mr. Sunday Oginni, state Financial Secretary, Mr. Abayomi Arabambi and the national leadership of the party, said in part: “The leadership of former governor Gbenga Daniel is hereby affirmed and that the status quo ante in respect of Ogun State Labour Party executive positions at all levels in the state remain sacrosanct pending ongoing harmonisation which would culminate to congresses of affirmation in due course.”

Jonathan’s reelection and fears of LP’s death Insiders, top players and the general body language of major figures in Labour Party tend to support fears that major defections in support of President Jonatha reelection bid in 2015 is poised to kill the LP. It is in the news that both Governor Mimiko and the National Chairman of the LP are set to formally announce their defection to the PDP. The interpretation observers give to the development is that if Mimiko and Nwanyanwu actually dumps the LP with their supporters, it may finally announce the death of the party unless something unusual happens and someone emerges to save the party.

Some reports in the last weeks quoted presidency sources as confirming that negotiation for Mimiko’s formal exit and declaration for the PDP was in advanced stage with the governor. It is strategically designed to take place before the 2015 elections.

Mimiko, Nwanyanwu and PDP option Governor Mimiko’s resolve to formally cross over to the PDP has been on the table over the years but it became more obvious recently when the Ondo State governor suddenly collapsed his political structure, the ‘Iroko Frontiers,’ into a Jonathan re-election group called ‘Believe Nigeria, Trust Goodluck.’

Insiders said though the move made great impression in Aso Rock, Mimiko was lobbied to go a step further by formally crossing over as the presidency considers him a very important factor in the 2015 battle for the South-West votes.

Without doubt, since Mimiko left the PDP in 2006 to lead the Labour Party in Ondo State, his influence and relationship with the PDP and other political leaders in the state and the South-West has remained a subject of intense controversy.

In fact, debate over his political role,

•Mimiko

•Nwanyanwu

Who will save Labour Party?

Following underground moves to perfect a wave of defections from the Labour Party to the Peoples Democratic Party, Sam Egburonu, in this report , takes a look at the genesis of LP’s current challenges, wondering who will save the party influence and relationships dates back beyond that period. It would be recalled that he joined the PDP from the then Alliance for Democracy (AD) where he served as a commissioner. When the PDP defeated the AD in the 2003 gubernatorial election, leading to the emergence of former Governor Segun Agagu, Mimiko’s roles and political influence became a subject of debate. So, when Mimiko, who had served as a minister, left PDP to contest against Agagu in the 2007 governorship election, the battle line was finally drawn.

It peaked when Agagu’s earlier victory was upturned by the courts after a prolonged legal battle that lasted more than a year.

The animosities that emanated from these political battles notwithstanding, sources confirmed that Mimiko had remained largely a PDP man as he retained concrete relationship with the national leadership of the party and some factions within the state while entering countless alliances and agreements with other political leaders in the South-West.

A source in PDP, who spoke to The Nation during the week alleged that “it was this double-edged strategy adopted by Mimiko that sustained his goodwill in PDP but unfortunately created factions in Ondo chapter since the days of Agagu.

“You will recall what happened ahead the 2012 election, when a faction endorsed Mimiko against Chief Olusola Oke, the candidate that was produced by the Agagu faction. It was the root cause of the emergence of what we today call the PDP –Gbesibe and the PDP Jagaban factions,” he said.

Already, The Nation gathered that in anticipation for the eventual defection of the governor, a lot of realignments are already

going on secretly both in the state, the remaining South-West states and the other zones across the country. For example, some LP leaders are alleged to have commenced moves to replace Mimiko as the leader of the party in the South-West in particular.

Nwanyanwu’ leadership As for the National Chairman of the party, Nwanyanwu, who like Mimiko is a known supporter of Jonathan, speculation on his alleged plans to formally join the PDP at the expiration of his current tenure has been there for years. Contacted on telephone on Friday to comment on the speculation and the fate of the Labour Party, the political party he nurtured as the National Chairman since its first convention in February 2004, Nwanyanwu declined making comments to The Nation, saying: “I do not expect anything good to come out of Samaria. The Nation newspaper hates me and the Labour Party. So, I won’t make any comments to you,” he said.

Given his closeness to Jonathan and the open support he has been giving the president, many have, over the years accused him of working for Jonathan. Some even described the Labour Party under him as an appendage of PDP. This, according to our findings, is ironically responsible both for the strong support and criticisms Nwanyanwu has either enjoyed or suffered over the years as the LP helmsman.

When he was accused of making moves to perpetuate himself in office, some top officials of the party said he should be given some credit for leading the party well enough.

The Nation for example had in an earlier report on him then quoted some insiders who defended him and his leadership style. One of who said, “In fairness to our chairman, he has very good reasons for wanting to remain in

21

office at least till the next general election in 2015. One of his reasons is the need to build on the gains of the last couple of years by winning in some more states at the next election.

“He is the one known to many of the people defecting to our party across the country. He is the one assuring them that they will be well treated within the LP. He is the one talking to those who are yet to publicly decamp but already co-operating with us.”

The insider, a member of the executive committee of the party, concluded by saying, so, it is an opinion that he should be allowed to finish what he is doing by 2015 before the party thinks of changing guards.

A change before 2015 may affect us badly as a party.”

Another source, a LP chieftain who did not want to be named, but who described Nwanyanwu as an asset, said: “Under him, the LP has made some impact in the nation’s politics. It was under his leadership that the party won the Ondo State governorship seat still occupied by Governor Olusegun Mimiko. We won a seat at the National Assembly and have dominated the politics of Ondo State for some time now. Apart from that, influential politicians, including former governors, have found this great party attractive options,” the source said.

True to that assessment, in the SouthWest in particular, the LP has for sometime been acknowledged by top politicians as a viable political platform. In the 2007 Lagos State governorship election for example, Mr. Femi Pedro, then a serving Deputy Governor of Lagos State under the administration of then Governor Bola Tinubu, defected from the ruling party, the Action Congress (AC) and ran as the Labour Party candidate. He lost to Governor Babatunde Fashola, then of the AC. Otunba Gbenga Daniel, who served two terms as the governor of Ogun State, on the ticket of the PDP, joined the LP shortly after the 2011 elections.

How Jonathan cornered LP As outstanding members of the Labour Party resolve to work for President Goodluck Jonathan’s reelection in 2015, some Nigerians are wondering how Jonathan cornered the party, originally seen as the voice of labour unions and the common workers.

Our investigation confirms that the resolve to queue behind President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 election is not altogether new. It is part of a strategy that was perfected since 2011 presidential election.

This explains why some critics have insisted that LP has since then remained part of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP).

As far back as May this year, Nwanyanwu himself gave indication that LP’s game plan on presidential election has not changed from what it was in 2011 when LP queued behind Jonathan. He gave the hint during a courtesy visit of the organisers of Democracy Nigeria Beauty Pageant to his office on May 3, 2014.

Explaining that LP will sustain its support for Jonathan in 2015, Nwanyanwu told his visitors, “Our support for Jonathan will continue until the end of his tenure. The Labour Party will continue to encourage him until his tenure expires. If we have a presidential candidate, we will give it a shot, if we don’t have, the party will decide what next to do.”

Revealing the relationship between Jonathan and LP under his leadership, Nwanyanwu said the LP adopted Jonathan in 2011 because it did not have a presidential candidate and that while the members were still contemplating how to be part of the presidential election, Jonathan came to seek their support. “While we are looking at this, the president himself contacted the party for support. He gave us an appointment of which we attended the meeting and gave our nine point agenda. So, NEC endorsed that support and that support was based on the fact that the president humbled himself to contact us for support and he was the only one who came and we considered him and endorsed him,” he said.

Considering that this time around, Jonathan is not only asking for support but outright defection to his party, the fear expressed by members of the party and concerned observers is without Mimiko and his supporters; without Nwanyanwu and his loyalists, what is left of the Labour Party?

Who will rise up to save the party before 2015? The fear is deep.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

POLITICS

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Y

OU have succeeded as a businessman, so why do you want to go to the House of Representatives?

If I am not a believer in equity, I would have gone for the Imo governorship seat, because that is where I can add immediate value. But because of equity, I am from Orlu, Achike Udenwa, an Orlu man was there for eight years, and then Ikedi Ohakim, from Okigwe was there for four years, an Orlu man, Rochas Okorocha, is there now. Though I am not in the same party with Okorocha, it will be unfair of me to say I want to run for the governorship election. It will seem as if there are no competent people from other areas. Since many stakeholders have said it is the turn of Owerri zone, that is why I settled for the House of Representatives. I want to use this to prepare for higher political post after all God says ‘He brings down a king to raise another.’ We don’t know who he is going to bring down and who he is going to raise. It is not about money, because money doesn’t give power. Look at the history of Imo State, people that have money have never won election.

Perhaps except Governor Rochas Okorocha.

Okorocha had no money when he was contesting for governorship. I was an insider. People financed his election.

People who believe that they are the front runners in Imo State never made it.

The major stakeholders go for who they believe they can manage, that will not be lording it over them. And to answer your question on why I decided to contest for elective office, I have followed the trend of events in my state and I know what the people lack. Businesses are going down because of the fear of kidnappers. There are no jobs and that is the major reason the youth have embraced crime. And I said ‘why can’t some of us that have played roles in the private sector come in and transform the public sector?’ That is my major attraction.

Don’t you think you will make more impact if you seek election into the state House of Assembly where you can make laws that will impact directly on the lives of your people?

My agenda is not only Imo State; my agenda is for the South East. Yes, I am a Nigerian, but I am first an Igbo man.

What is happening in Imo is happening in Anambra, in Ebonyi, Abia and Enugu states. Those are my constituency. I also want to influence my own people if I am able to get there, to see how we can better the lot of the people of the zone. I am not going there to make money; I started playing national politics since 1998. I played a major role in President Olusegun Obasanjo’s emergence as president in 1998. The first time

Nigeria’s democracy built on faulty foundation-Ikoku Popular industrialist and former Chairman, Imo State Tourism Corporation, Evangelist Mike Ikoku, recently declared interest to contest for a seat in the House of Representatives for Orlu Federal Constituency in Imo State. In this interview with Assistant Editor, Remi Adelowo, he speaks on his political ambition and other issues

•Ikoku Obasanjo came out of prison, myself, Kingsley Ononuju, Kenny Martins and Onyekachi Onyekwere, took him to where he had a haircut. So, my target for now is to see how we can develop Igbo land.

Anything apart from that, count me out. I

am not interested in Lagos; Lagos is already developed and I am part of those that developed Lagos. My concern is how to create the enabling environment for our people who are investing in the Diaspora, in the North, Lagos to bring at least 30 to

40 percent of their investments to the South-East. That will help us to solve the issue of criminality in the area and by extension Nigeria.

What is your assessment of the country’s democracy since 1999?

I think our democracy since 1999 was built on a faulty foundation. In the first place, we were supposed to negotiate our existence as a nation. Let us stop being selfish because of what we benefit. We do not want the system to crumble because of what we benefit, but we have forgotten that it may crumble in the hands of our children.

The present president of Nigeria is not the cause of our problems; he inherited them. The people that have presided over this country for more than 45 years and those that created our forced marriage among the tribes that make up Nigeria are to be blamed for the problems of this country not President Goodluck Jonathan who has presided over this country for less than five years.

We need institutions that are strong, not individuals that are strong. You need to know where your right ends and where mine begins. If people like me who believe in the Nigerian project get there, that will be the genesis of the solution to our problems.

I want us to look at the politics of Imo State. I am sure you belong to PDP? No, I have left PDP for APGA. In the last three years, the fortunes of APGA have nose-dived…

No, no. I told you earlier that I am an Igbo man and that I would continue to be an Igbo man. Look at the trend of politics in Nigeria, Yorubas have their party, Hausas have theirs, ditto for the Igbo. But the real issue is not even about the parties. The important thing is the individual not the party. If I have my way, I will run on a non party basis but that is not part of our constitution. A party must promote you and I think that the party that can promote me is APGA, which is the party for the Igbos.

You were close to ex-Governor Ikedi Ohakim while he was in office. What is your view on his plan to re-contest?

He was my friend before he became governor and we were very, very close.

I won’t say what we did together and what I did for him, because I knew that he had no money when he went into the race for governorship. A lot of us played prominent roles for him, but at the end we benefitted nothing. Yes, he appointed me the Chairman of Imo State Tourism Corporation, but it is on record that all through my tenure, none of my proposals to make Imo what it should be, tourism wise, saw the light of the day. Everything his government did concerning tourism, I was not carried along.

Akwa Ibom guber 2015: More endorsements for Ekere

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S the 2015 gubernatorial race gathers momentum, the immediate past Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere, has been receiving received crucial backings from major stakeholders in the state. One of the latest stakeholders that gave him backing last week was Akwa Ibom Progressive Commercial Tricyclists, Taxi and Motorcyclists Association (APCOTMA), the umbrella union of tricycle and motorcycle operators in the state.

The endorsement came on Thursday when Mr. Ekere consulted the state executive council members and chapter chairmen of the association as well as their wives at their secretariat in Uyo. Addressing them, the former deputy governo, who was visibly overwhelmed by the show of support, promised to institute a N2Billion revolving loan for members of the association within six months of his assumption of office as governor.

He explained that the loan would assist those tricycle operators that intend to graduate to taxi operators and those willing to go into other businesses, adding that the whole idea was to sustainably empower them in line with his people’s development agenda.

Ekere disclosed that his government would flood Uyo, the state capital, with taxi cabs but

assured that all registered tricycle operators would benefit from his taxi scheme gradually.

He said he decided to consult and partner with APCOTMA given the strategic role of tricycle operators in the economy of the state, particularly the fact that they controlled the transportation system.

Ekere recalled the ban placed on motorcycles in the state capital, three years ago, by the state government, pointing out that it was successful because of the maturity of APCOTMA leadership.

The former deputy governor emphasized that the major priority of his administration would be the industrialization of the state to build on the infrastructural base already put in place by the Akpabio administration.

The state President of APCOMTA, Elder Udo Johnson Okpong, who announced the endorsement, explained that they decided to back Ekere because he was the best material in the gubernatorial race.

Stressing that tricycle and motorcycle operators were instrumental to the election of any governor in the state, Okpong described Ekere as the next governor and thanked him for the honour and recognition done the association.

He stated that APCOTMA was not only supporting the former deputy governor but was partnering with him because he was sure to carry the association along in his administration because of his antecedents.

Okpong commended Ekere for his role in the peaceful transition of motorcycle operators to tricycle operators, especially the N50,000 given every motorcyclist, after the ban on motorcycles in 2011 by the state government.

He assured the Akpabio administration of continued support of the association but appealed to the governor, as a promise keeper, to redeem the promise of N1 Billion revolving loan to transiting motorcyclists made three years ago.

Messrs Kingsley Akpan and Ebong Asuquo Ebong, who spoke on behalf of chapter chairmen, and Mrs. Christiana Udo Johnson, the leader of the women wing, also declared Ekere the sole candidate of APCOTMA which they described as the largest organisation in the state.

The Chairman of Steering Committee of Akwa Ibom Consolidation Project, Engr. Joseph Effiong, a former Deputy State Chairman of Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Engr. Johnson Essien Ibok, a former PDP South-South Zonal Auditor, Engr.

Akan Okon, a former Secretary of Urue Offong/ Oruko Local Government, Chief Antigha Isong, the President of Mfoniso Iban Akwa Ibom, Pastor Blessing Bassey, and the President of Coalition of Akwa Ibom Youths, Obong Iniobong John, all hailed Ekere as the most qualified and experienced aspirant to consolidate on the gains of the Akpabio administration and industrialize the state to check poverty.

•Ekere

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

POLITICS

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Cross River PDP unity threatened as 2015 looms Nicholas Kalu, in Calabar, reports that a new policy to create caucus members is the cause of agitations threatening unity in Cross River State’s Peoples Democratic Party.

Understanding Ogun politics

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T

HIS is a moment of test of the unity of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Cross River State as the election year, 2015, approaches.

The once touted united family does not seem so united anymore.

The ruling party has held sway in the state since 1999, and unlike many other states where one form of crisis or the other within the party is in the media every other day, Cross River’s has witnessed a seemingly rare kind of peace.

Many, however, believe that the fact that all has been quiet does not mean all has been well. Disgruntled members, observers posit, have always been cowed to a state of submissiveness.

One of them observed, “The fact that there is peace does not mean there is no problem. It’s something more like a peace of the graveyard. Since the state is mostly controlled by the government and the government in power is the PDP, people who have any bad feelings about how things are going on within the party have always been cowed by the establishment.

“It does not mean there is no problem. What happens is that even people who are not happy with the way things are in the party are afraid to speak out, so they will not be sidelined and victimised. They are suppressed by the powers that be, else they will be shut out.

“The people are afraid of hunger because most of them depend on the government. So, they would rather swallow their anger and manage to go along with the way things are going.”

But now the situation seems to be changing as members of the party have found the guts to stand up to policies and practises by the party leadership which do not go down well with them.

The recent stand-up to the party leadership, which has threatened the cohesiveness of the PDP in the state, is the reaction by some members to the establishment of local government caucuses.

The PDP chairman, Mr John Okon, had on August 8 announced caucus leaders for all the local government areas consisting prominent individuals from the respective areas.

In a manner that is unusual, a group from within the party has come out to challenge the composition of the leadership of the caucuses which they alleged was unconstitional and skewed to victimise members they suspected would not be loyal to their plans.

The group, which addressed themselves as the PDP Conscience Group, also decried the alleged imposition of a N300, 000 levy by the Northern Senatorial District caucus on governorship aspirants for screening.

Coordinator of the group, Mr Oga Ndoma Egodo, told reporters in Calabar that the composition of the caucus was not in consonance with the constitution of the party.

He said according to the constitution, the local government chapter chairmen are to be the leaders of the caucuses in their local government areas.

His words, “If we make the constitution for ourselves, we are also bound by that constitution. If you begin to jettison

•Imoke your constitution and go outside it to do something different however tiny the membership, they have the right to say no it is not correct.

“The constitution provided for local government caucuses establishment and composition in section 17 sub 1 of the last amended in 2012. But to our chagrin, the state chairman woke up and selected some persons and named them leaders of the caucuses across the 18 local government areas for no reason. But from my own point of view, I perceived it is because they perceived the chapter chairmen were not to be trusted.

“But if you are to do so, you ought to amend the constitution, otherwise there is a breach and I think it is not right. It is not correct. They want to use it to target some perceived internal enemies. So, we are calling on the party to reverse the decision because I think the revision will aid us and assist us very well in the face of opposition.

“The reason Cross Riverians or PDP members are behaving the way they are behaving is because of poverty and fear.

We don’t have this will power. So, sitting down here as professionals and stakeholders in this party, I urge us to start this fight to stop this thing. Let the party correct this thing and do the proper thing to avert crisis and overheating the system. I appeal to the party to desist from this mine laying.”

Speaking on the caucus in the northern senatorial district, he said, “They were appointed without being inaugurated yet they are beginning to call aspirants to come and pay N300, 000 each.

In one breathe, you say no campaigns in the same breath you are screening people. Who authorized it? This thing can snowball into crisis.”

Also, another prominent leader of the PDP in the state and a member of the group, Mr Mathew Achigbe, said, “I have been very bitter. This is the time to respond to irregularities that have continued unabated in our party. I do not know where this is coming from. But it is better for us to respond in the most aggressive manner so that they will not lead our state to the precipice of violence which is very common in other parts of the country today.

“I think the most vexatious issue is the fact that we have misinterpreted party leadership. It does not mean unbridled powers and authority. And that is what I have seen over the years for almost eight years we have stayed here.

Leadership has been misunderstood to mean uncontrolled powers. Someone calls himself the leader of the party and

acts unilaterally. Each time we are about to run elections, they send certain signals that are very uncomfortable and of course discriminatory. They go there and write lists of people who belong and do not belong to that party. Why do you send the list to pinpoint who and who should win the primary and not win? Let me tell you it will stop. We don’t want to find any lists. Anybody who has the ability and meets the conditions to run elections within or outside the party should be allowed to express themselves.”

Reacting on the alleged illegal levy, the public relations officer of the PDP, Mr Obi Bissong, said, “The party has not directed anybody to collect any money from anybody in Cross River State. If the northern senatorial caucus for instance decides to collect money from aspirants, the party is not aware and we want to dissociate ourselves from such an illegal collection perhaps if they let us know why they are collecting that amount of money and the party approves of it, then at that level, we can take ownership, but for now to the best of our knowledge, we are not aware of such a levy. We didn’t authorize it. It is unconstitutional. And it is unaccepted by the party.”

On the issue of the leaders of the local government caucuses, he said, “The constitution of the PDP does not approve chairmen of the party to be leaders of caucus. The constitution says that the chapter chairman of the party is the chairman of the caucus of that chapter. Not the leader. There is a great difference between being the chairman of the caucus and being the leader of the caucus.

Let me draw and example. The governor is the leader of the party. The state chairman is state chairman. So, we have drawn a distinction between a chapter chairman or chapter caucus chairman and the leader of the party in such an area. It is not intended to outsmart or scheme out anybody.”

He said the party was not worried the development would put a strain on its unity. “A clear conscience does not fear anything,” he said. “ Whether the party leadership is right or wrong, one thing they should take note of is that all is not well. If they are reasonable, they should acknowledge this and try to address the issues instead of taking a punitive stand, which would not augur well for them as election approaches. They should take into cognizance that a strong opposition is gathering momentum nationally. Being over confident is not the best,” a political observer noted.

BOUT five months to the general elections, it is yet unclear who is where in Ogun State. Who are the governorship aspirants in the Peoples Democratic Party? Who is contesting for what office on the platform of the All Progressives Congress? And, is the Labour Party still attractive to those seeking one to hire for 2015?

In concrete terms, is President Olusegun Obasanjo still a loyal member of the PDP? Would he be willing to back the official candidate of the party for the presidency and governorship? In view of the hijack of the party by Chief Buruji Kashamu and his men, could the party accommodate the former President?

Also, former Governor Gbenga Daniel appears to be floating. Is he staying back in the LP? Or would he cross over to PDP and join forces with others to fight Governor Amosun?

Another former governor, Chief Segun Osoba, is a bitter man. He could not fathom what Governor Amosun is up to. Osoba’s men are already talking to the PDP and would only accept to work with the governor if he agrees to cede as many legislative offices as he got in 2011 to him. This appears an impossible condition for the Amosun faction that believes it was shortchanged in 2011.

The worst hit of the political parties appears to be the APC, as Chief Osoba is already looking out for new friends.

He used the National Conference as an opportunity to point out to suitors that he was available and, his men, especially those in the National Assembly, have started jumping ship.

This could be dangerous for the Amosun bid.

The PDP success in Ekiti has shown that politics is actually the art of the possible. The terrain in all the states of the South West is actually slippery and whoever thinks he stands firm should beware lest he falls.

Amosun is generally believed to have performed creditably in his first term. The model schools and roads constructed by his administration attest to this. But, again, as Ekiti showed, voter behaviour is not altogether dictated by performance in office. The same people hailing him for bringing their communities closer to humanity could be influenced to vote against him for sentimental reasons.

The two main gladiators for the APC need to realise that the progressives stand to lose more than the conservatives. It would be a reproach to the political tradition of the region following the defection of Governor Olusegun Mimiko to the PDP and Fayose’s emergence in Ekiti.

Chief Osoba should realise that the term elder statesman is not a mere appellation. It is earned through experience and tolerance. He has paid his dues, both in journalism, his first love, and politics. However, it would be myopic to expect that the governor would easily yield ground to him by ratifying the greedy allocation formula of 2011.

Governor Ibikunle Amosun, too, has a lot to lose if he fails to make concessions. While not expecting him to lay a foundation that would lead to the collapse of his political edifice, it will do him no harm by finding means of acknowledging that Osoba is one of the respected elders of the party.

The crisis rocking the APC in most of the states is an indication that the elders have a lot to do yet. And in no time too. The likes of the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former chairman Chief Bisi Akande, General Muhammadu Buhari, among others need to work out solutions to check the slide.

Already, the party has lost Ekiti and Adamawa States.

Nasarawa is not particularly sure given the ethnic division and PDP dominance of the House of Assembly. The party is facing a peculiar challenge in Oyo State where Accord has a foothold and could split the APC votes in Ibadan.

Ogun is not irredeemable. Should the elders step in now, and, if the combatants decide to put aside selfishness, neither the PDP nor Labour stands any chance. The reality is that the elections have to be woven around the governor. He holds the structures of the party and has proven his charisma and sagacity at the polls.

In 2007 when he was handed the governorship ticket of the little-known All Nigeria Progressive Party (ANPP), he came a close second to the ruling PDP. The ACN was a distant third. This accounted for the head-hunting that led to making him the ACN candidate four years later. He did not disappoint as he resoundingly defeated the heavyweights in the PDP and PPN. Now that he is in power, it is inconceivable to shove him aside and impose unrealistic conditions on him.

In Ogun, Amosun is the man of the moment. Chief Segun Osoba is an elder and should be pacified to accept the new reality. However, should both men decide to go different ways, the wall of the party would have split open and the lizards would thereby gain access. The PDP is a foe that should not be underrated. A divided house cannot stand.

24

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

POLITICS

RIC Acho Nwakanma and his supporters turned the party secretariat into a mini-festival hall, August 21 as he gave notice of his intention to contest the governorship primaries of the party. The former twice deputy governor and Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly started off the day asking members of the party to work with him for the good of the state.

Said Nwakanma: “Let us come together and work for the good of Abia, as we are already doing under the administration of Governor T. A. Orji, the Ochendo.”

Nwakanma, who spoke off tempore, reeled out his three or four cardinal principles of leadership, persuading the audience to stand by him because he was eminently qualified to lead them.

When the people trust a leader, he said, they place their collective destiny in his hands adding that leadership is a covenant between the people and the leader. He continued: “When you know that power belongs to the people, you lead them with humility and to be a good leader, you must be a good follower.”

These four quotes, he said, “summarise my political philosophy and all that I intend to espouse. If we realise that you are choosing someone to lead you that you are entrusting your destiny on that one person, then you must be very careful in the choice you make, you must choose someone you know. Of course, Acho Nwakanma is someone you know, which is why I am very confident in my present course of action because at this period we are selecting new leaders to lead us after 2015 we must be careful in the choices we make.”

Still on leadership, Nwakanma stressed that it was entrusted by and nurtured by God and that when God makes you a leader, he imbues you with certain qualities, noting that being prepared to lead is not coming out to proclaim what God has told you or not. “Humility for example is inborn not learnt. My antecedents from 1999 till date suggest the hands of God in a nurturing process. If you look at the Bible, when God wants to choose a leader, he makes him to pass through a specific experience that constitutes the preparation to that position.”

God at work That is how to understand when God is at work and when such choice is made the people will remain happy. I believe you will not be disappointed because the hands of God are upon me. I am not being prophetic, but looking at my antecedents and the series of preparations I have passed through make me believe I am bound for greater service to Abians. Leadership comes from God and is nurtured by God. This realisation did not occur to me until I was prodded to take up the challenge; I did not appreciate these facts until I kept being urged to step out. I assure you that if I am given the opportunity, knowing whoever is with God is with the majority, I will not disappoint you.

When I was convinced on the path I am walking, I took time to reflect and put together a document with the title: My pact with Abians. The summary of what I am saying is that I am very prepared for this assignment mentally, spiritually and physically.

The document contains my vision, it contains my mission and work plan. I assure you if I am given the opportunity which I believe God has endorsed, I will not disappoint you. The plan is very clear and we will execute it together. It is a guide and everyone is at free-

Abia governorship: ‘I’m prepared for this assignment’ Abia PDP gubernatorial aspirant, Eric Acho Nwakanma and his supporters, recently visited the state secretariat of the party to give notice of his intention to contest the primaries. Agamnetochi Onoh, who witnessed the event reports:

•Nwakanma

dom to critique it and call my attention to it.

It is not just writing bogus promises; it is part of my work plan in delivering democracy dividends to Abians. I served in the House of Assembly and while there, I became a rallying point for my honourable colleagues and they are alive to testify to my character and commitment to Abia State. My contributions then were not by my own making but God wanted it that way. Even as a governor, I will still be the same.

The candidates are emerging and many more will emerge but I am convinced I am the best. I assure you I will deliver. Leadership is not a

reflection of financial status. Espousing further his pact with the Abia electorate, Nwakanma briefly summarised his mission asking for people’s power while pledging to continue with the expansion and sustenance of Ochendo’s legacy projects and touching on those projects that will bring Abia to the next level of development as those progressive states in her neighbourhood. His comments: People power You are not what you think you are but what the people say you are.

I know this project is achievable with your support. I cannot say a thing I cannot deliver and my fel-

low legislators here can bear me witness. We had a Speaker but even as a deputy, it turned out I was a rallying point, which is why they are collectively agreed in my endorsement. What people say of me is what I am and it is not going to change 15 years hence and beyond.

They will tell you Acho is a good man. Also in the Deputy Governor’s office where I served twice, they will tell you Acho is a good man and it is the same person who is crusading for the good of Abia Abians desire to continue enjoying good governance. They want to benefit from the current peace and security in the state so that they can

do good business, be gainfully employed and thus take care of their needs and the needs of their loved ones. Abians desire to continue to have access to world class healthcare facilities at affordable costs.

Abians want to have a bounty of harvests, exploit the productive land and natural resources of the state so that there will be lots of food to eat and to sell to neighbouring states. It is their prayer that the low inflation rate being experienced over the past five years may continue so that the money they earn may have value. Abians want to live in clean environments and breathe fresh air and drive on motorable roads. They want electricity for homes and industries in order to contribute to the growth of the nation’s economy as the number one state in the country. Abians want affordable housing, good schools for their children and jobs when they leave school. They want someone who will promote our custom, culture and respect our traditional institutions.

Continuity of Ochendo’s Legacy Projects Abians want their empowerment under the Ochendo to continue. They want a state that is devoid of political rancour and instability because they know such will bring about stagnation in development. They want a state that is morally and spiritually upright so that they can reclaim the number one spot in Nigeria. They demand equity and justice in the politics of our state, that every section be guaranteed fair distribution and a shot at the number one seat through a timehonoured principle of rotation of powers. Abians ask for a leader that will build on all these successes made by the T. A. Orji administration and sustain the good work he has started while developing new areas that have not been touched. We want someone that will make sure that the achievements made so far do not disappear.

My party, the PDP, remains the only party that enjoys a national spread and that can afford lovers of democracy, equity and fairness, an opportunity to be part of building a strong and economically viable Abia and Nigeria. I was part of the building process of the legacy projects of Governor T. A. Orji. It calls for consolidation and advancement through the election of a worthy successor from Abia South origin as has been stipulated by the leader of the party and the PDP hierarchy.

I want to conclude by saying I shall deliver, I shall build and add value to what Ochendo has bequeathed to us, his legacy to Abians. Please come let us work together. The media has been curious on the issue of an election powered by money. I replied that US 44th President, Barack Obama, used the power of the internet, his sincerity of purpose and the realisation that history was unfolding on a higher plane to raise the type of resources yet to be equalled by any campaign train of past contenders. That template can be replicated here if the need arises but I assure you your candidate is ready for the great assignment ahead of us all.

The peace and unity of the political class, the Abia stakeholders and elders as well as the entire citizenry brought about by the Ochendo administration, must be sustained for the good of Abia.

I pledge that if given the opportunity to serve on this new platform of governance, I shall not disappoint but deliver to the joy of Abians,” he said

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

POLITICS

25

Oshiomhole is sitting on the reality chair - Adodo Comrade Didi Adodo is the Edo State Commissioner for Establishment, Labour and Special Duties. He is a former General-Secretary of the Iron and Steel Workers Union where he met Governor Adams Oshiomhole. Adodo in this interview with Osagie Otabor revealed why Labour movement supported Oshiomhole’s political ambition and other issues. Excerpts

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EMBERS of the Youth Employment Scheme said they don’t know their status. They are not promoted and are afraid what may happen when Governor Oshiomhole leaves office in 2016.

The Youth Emploment Scheme was a way we employed 10,000 youths. They could just fit into the civil service structure as at that time and we needed to take them off the street. They were employed through the Rapid Response Agency. It was supposed to be a collaboration at that time through the local governments but the local governments were being controlled by the PDP as at that time so they did not cooperate but Governor Oshiomhole went ahead to employ the youths. No government can come in and sack them except the government wants to scrap the law establishing the agencies responsible for the employments.

Their positions are guaranteed. The issue of promotion is as you find in the regular civil service. These issues are being addressed. I have raised the issues with the governor and with the new Head of Service, we are sure of doing something for them. There are two options, either we allow them float like that or bring them into the civil service.

Oshiomhole announced that all backlog of promotion should be cleared in 2013 but the 2012 promotion is still pending. What is the problem?

I don’t know what you mean by saying still pending. We have been able to play our own part. The Civil Service Commission was not yet constituted when the governor made the promise. The promotions are to be done by the commission. Everything is moving smoothly now. A lot of promotions are with the Commision and very soon, they will be cleared.

What are the plans for capacity building of workers?

We have organised several trainings in the last three months both within the state and outside. We have in-house training and it is a continuous exercise. We are seriously not lacking in training but there will be improvement.

The morale of the Edo workers is not low. We are doing promotions; settled relativity, minimum wage and other issues have been taken care of. We have said teachers have to go for training and re-training. The workers are fairly okay.

There is a gulf in the Edo Civil Service as many workers are aging without recruiting new ones to replace them. There are no clerical staff. What is being done about recruitment of new persons to take over the aging workers?

Yesterday, there was a meeting between our ministry and the Head of Service to look at the issue of aging. When we presented our paper, we said the civil servcoe is depleting like ozone layer. We have recognised that and it is actually aging fast. Even if you are to recruit graduates, you are to do that on level eight. At some point, we discovered that there may be nobody to appoint as a permanent secretary. Before new recruits would get to level 10, most of the older staff would have left. As a labour leader in those days, we always frowned at government recruiting somebody from outside to head those already inside. We need to discuss with labour leaders that we might resort to that approach because there are some ministries without level 12 or level 14 officers.

•Adodo We need to employ across board. We are making sure we balance the civil service in a way that will please everybody. But where we can get people from within, we do not intend to bring somebody from outside. We have discovered that the next Head of Servcie might be a level 10 officer. It does not speak well. We are working to make sure the service is okay.

You once fought against casualisation of workers alongside the comrade governor, but there are casual workers in Edo State today. Why are you encouraging casualisation that you once harassed employers for?

This government is not encouraging casualisation. When we came on board, I was made Commissioner for Lands and Survey. When we were talking against casualisation, we never looked at the civil service. We never knew there were casuals even at the civil service. We were looking at companies that were employing casuals. It was in form of a cultural shock for me when I was made commissioner and a lot of people in my office were casuals. We found out that there were criminal retrenchment done by two previous governments. The retrenchments were done in a crooked manner. They removed cleaners, drivers and all kinds of people. Later they discovered that they needed people to drive and clean offices. That became a problem for us. The governor was shocked when I told him about the casuals. When we were to do employment, the priority was to give employment to the casuals but the employment was not seriously done. The two options left were to send them home or be paying them as before. If we sack them, they would cry that we have sacked. If we decided to keep them, they would say Oshiomhole is keeping casuals. Head or tail, we were not winning. It was better to leave them while we look for a way out for them. A lot of these casuals were those already retired. They came back when youths were looking for jobs.

That is the matter we are still resolving. They have to be brought on board. The other option was to send them away. I was on the committee of casualisation. Some workers used to fight us that we wanted to deny them the little money they were earning. As a commissioner, I am a casual worker. I feel unsafe to realise that I can be fired any time by the governor. That is what a casual job is. We are looking for ways to address it without loss of jobs or the pay they are earning. Where the people have already retired and they are getting pension, new people will come in.

Edo line workers have been protesting that government is owing them salaries.

It is not true because they are not direct employees of the government. They are employees of Edo Line. It is like Bendel Brewery. They have to sort their salaries and pay themselves. They have a different condition of service from the civil service.

At what point did you realise that

Oshiomhole would be good for the state as a governor that made you to support him?

As a member of the Central Working Committee of the Nigeria Labour Congress and National Executive Council member, we discovered one thing, we go to fight, negotiate and with one stroke of pen, everything we fought for becomes zero either through funny government policy. We later asked if governance was a difficult thing.

Why can’t we go into government and see what we can do to rescue the country. People felt there are people born to be agitating and others meant to be in government. Who are those in government? Contractors, military retirees and others were those in government. They mismanage and ruin the economy while we keep struggling and going to prison. We decided to use a state as an example of what we can do about governance. We asked one of our best brains, Oshiomhole, to go for presidency but he debated it and decided to go for governor. We both come from Edo State and decided to take the plunge. We knew that Oshiomhole was a good product the Nigerian people will not reject. He is our brand as a labour.

We fought to make sure he become governor. We campaigned, telling people what we can do. Many villages we entered, the people said they would vote for us only for a different result to be announced. Oshiomhole remains a brand of NLC. When we came in to campaign, people asked us who is your father? Who is your leader? He said God is my father, the Nigerian workers are my fathers and they are the ones who have sent him.

They spoke in arrogant manners offering senatorial seats but we said governorship. We decided to take them on. We have lost battles, we have won many. In losing battles, we are never ashamed.

You can see that if the governor makes a wrong policy, he reverses it and apologises to the people.

In labour, we never feel that we know it all. Out of the fact that you are turning the wheel, you are going to crush anything that will impede progress.

Oshiomhole has succeeded and he is now on reality chair.

With all these, why are workers on strike in Edo? When you are sitting on the reality chair, you have to balance different things. Oba of Benin asked Oshiomhole once if he would not give all Edo money to the workers, Oshiomhole said he would do his best to balance things. Coming into government, we decided to do capital development and faced the roads, schools and general infrastructure.

In doing that, we had the support of the workers and they supported us for a second term. If he had failed, we would not have been able to talk anywhere. They would have laughed at us. The reason you now see strikes and protests are that the workers ask to be taken care of since we have performed.

The reality chair is about balancing. Oshiomhole has said he will do more for the workers. He has been able to allow children of the poor to aspire for

any position. To contest elections before, you had to look for one godfather, join secret cult , but now a child of the poor can say ‘I want to be this, Oshiomhole has created the atmosphere. In our labour days, when people see your sticker they will hail us and say great Oshiomhole for us. There was a time if you put NLC sticker on your car, police will beat you on the road. What we now have is that many of our comrades are contesting and now winning. Many governors do come to ask Oshiomhole how he made it.

Oshiomhole has something he wants to live for.

People are cross carpeting because water is finding its level. People thought when Oshiomhole comes in it will be business as usual.

It is not business as usual. We have to work to make sure the people are happy. We go out today and see that everybody is a comrade.

People now know that comrades are achievers and we have achieved.

How strong is APC? Is the party on ground to win February election?

The leader of APC in Edo today is Governor Oshiomhole. Anywhere he goes to, people come out to hail him. Those people who defected, let them go out to the villages and see who will follow them. It is not by staying in your house to say you were denied chairmanship like my brother Ikimi will say. Ikimi was there but PDP defeated our leader then. Why are people carrying themselves for what they are not.

Oshiomhole asked them to join to walk in the streets. How many of them have gone to their villages to defect. They are waiting for Jonathan to come and harvest them in Benin City. Is it in Benin City they are going to do election? We need everybody so that we can move on. We also don’t need everybody. If you are a clog in the wheel of progress, you will be removed. We resisted those who call themselves leader when they cannot win elections. You want to be national leader when a PDP won in Igueben. They are not carrying people along. Some of them, their wives are not with them. They are bags of heavy loads that have been shed.

You have not really worked in reputable organisations That was the question they asked me when I was being screened. I have never believed that capitalism can help anybody. Companies used to come to UNIBEN for recruitment. Two of my friends were recruited by John Holt and UAC but I declined because I read How Europe Underdeveloped Africa and saw that the two companies were named in the book. We have some idealistic things at that time. As a young man, there was nothing to worry, nothing to fear.

Later, I started meeting people like Adams and we always debated, argued and settled. I mentor people like late Olaitan. Olaitan’s father gave him a note to go and work in Guardian newspaper, instead he came to me and start edworking in trade unions. He told his father he had got job in Lagos. Today he is celebrated even in death.

You were at parallel lines with Governor Adams Oshiomhole during your labour days.

What was the meeting point at which you became friends?

I had done great adverts against Governor Adams Oshiomhole before. We have fought in the past; we were not the best of friends. In this fighting in labour, in the press, I will take him to the cleaners but he never fought back. There was a time my members in Delta State had a problem and he was invited to settle the matter. When he came and I told him Bola Ige has left, he said to me, ‘Didi, what did I to you? You beat me and hit me in the ground but I didn’t answer. You know I have the capability of hitting you back at the press but if I did that, our enemies will enter the matter. It will not be ourselves fighting but different people fighting, using the two of us’. I realised that immediately. I don’t speak better English and not as eloquent as himself and I later saw him more mature than my approach.

We resolved the issues we were fighting over.

We became friend at work. It was my decision to follow Oshiomhole to Edo State. I know Adams will be good governor. He was going to perform. I did not come to work here. I left the day he won and I was surprised when he called me back to say my name was among those listed as commissioners. For me, a General Secretary is bigger than a commissioner. I have never worked in a state. What will I be doing in a state?

Oshiomhole said, ‘Didi, we promised a lot of people. We will work together and rescue this state. If I fail, you will need plastic surgery because I am carrying the destiny of the working people.’ We came and carry out demolition easily because I never knew anybody. We removed anything on the road without minding who owned them.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Furore over new ATM charges • Godwin-Emefiele

Page 58, 59

• Ladipo-Ajayi

Page 60

NACCIMA bemoans high electricity charges, interest rate T

HE National President of Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, (NACCIMA) Alhaji Mohammed Badaru Abubukar has lamented the high cost of electricity tariff fixed charges to consumers and industries in the country.

This is even as the NACCIMA boss lamented that the worsening electricity supply, the fixed charges of N75 and N150 based on MYT02 retail tariff to residential house as too high for the average Nigerian.

Abubukar who spoke in Lagos on the review of the state of the nation, said that the fixed charges of N90, 000 and N200,000 based on MYTO2 retail tariffs for commercial and industry concerns, is considered too

By Okwy lroegbu-Chikezie

high for Micro-Small and Medium Enterprises in the country, thus urging its discontinuance.

He expressed concern on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s continued retention of its 12per-cent Monetary Policy Rate (MPR), blaming it for the high interest rate in the country, stating that a reduction of MPR will go a long way to reducing the interest rate in the economy.

He urged that the interest should be reduced to 5 percent to enable banks lend to the private sector at less 10 per-cent interest rate which will boost productivity and create jobs to reduce unemployment and poverty.

“On monetary policy,

-- Page 53

‘Why companies must be socially responsible’

while we have commended the CBN and Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) at maintaining the 12 per cent since 2012 but we know that the rate is high and unaffordable to borrow, especially for SMEs .We therefore counsel that business operators should not be allowed to continue to struggle with that kind of high lending rates which is based on wrong monetary policy stance,” he stated.

Quoting reports, he said available statistics on macroeconomic indicators and variables from CBN and National Bureau of Statistics noted that the official exchange rate stabilised within a narrow band of N156 and N157 to US dollar while the bureau de change rate increased to be-

tween N165 and N170 per dollar.

He noted that inflation rate went marginally from 7.7per-cent in January 2014 to 8.3per-cent in July 2014 while Gross Domestic policy growth rate dropped from 7.72 per-cents as at the end December 2013 to 6.21 per-cents in the first quart of 2014.

On maritime and port congestion, he said: “We are still worried that the policy of 24 hours cargo clearance promised by government is yet to become reality as the issue of cargo congestion has continued unabated at our ports .This has been compounded with the concerns of Pre –Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), issuance and wrong computation, huge demurrage to shipping companies, gridlock on the access roads to the ports, amongst others,” he added.

‘We lead by example’ Page 62

• Oguntayo

15 HMOs re-accredited for meeting N400m capital base requirement From Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor), Abuja

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IFTEEN Health Maintenance Organisation (HMOs) that scaled the August 31, 2014 deadline to raise their minimum capital base to N400 million have been re-accredited by the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS).

The re-registered HMOs include InvestCorp Medical Limited, Total Health Trust, Healthcare International, United Healthcare International, Managed Health Care Services, Premium Health, Maayoit Healthcare and Defence Health Maintenance. Others are Royal Health Prepaid Medicare, Prepaid Medicare, Health Partners, Oceanic Health, Princeton, Royal Exchange Healthcare and Salus Trust.

Other HMOs which were issued provisional accreditation by the NHIS include Doma Healthcare, Avon HMO, Reginix Healthcare, Redcare Health, Well Health Network, Bupar Healthcare and Police HMO. Executive Secretary of NHIS, Dr. Femi Thomas confirmed the development adding that it had actually appointed PriceWaterhouseCoppers (PwC) to help assess the health of HMOs. He said the report from the assessment found some HMOs unhealthy and were given six months “to do the needful”.

By this development, seven other HMOs were given provisional accreditation while 55 others have been delisted from the scheme.

Essentially, HMOs are private or public incorporated company registered by the NHIS Scheme solely to manage the provision of health care services through Health Care Facilities accredited by the Scheme.

The NHIS had contracted PriceWaterhouseCoppers (PwC) to conduct an audit of the existing HMOs to ascertaining their fitness levels to drive the NHIS programme.

According to Dr. Femi Thomas “we announced the results and the HMOs that didn’t meet up have been delisted automatically, so they will have to make up whatever deficiency they have before we register them.”

He said the exercise was part “of the quality assurance that will ensure that only HMOs that are healthy will help us to drive our programmes. So it is going to add value to whatever we are doing and that is the way forward.”

Agency warns of possible flood this month From Frank Ikpefan, Abuja

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•From left: Chairman, Association of Bursars of Nigerian Universities, Alhaji Yahaya Hassan, Vice Chancellor, Kogi State University, Professor Hassan Salifu Isah and Deputy Vice Chancellor, Administration, Professor Zaccheaus Apata, during the quarterly meeting of Association held at Kogi State University, Anyigba...recently

NBS to involve states in data production activities

I

N order to achieve a fully integrated and development-oriented statistical system for the country, the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), has been called upon to involve state officials in its data production activities.

This is to be done as a strategic option of improving the statistical skills at the state levels and achieving a more effective resource utilisation at all levels of government. Also state governments were advised to urgently establish statistics bureau where absent.

The Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA), made the call yesterday at the 38th Con-

•Bill to professionalise statistics now at the NASS From Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor), Abuja

ference of the Association through its President, Dr Mohammed Tumala.

Dr Tumala said the creation of statistics bureaus at the sub-national level would go a long way in the provision of statistical data and other information required for a more effective planning and good governance.

The establishment of statistical institutions at the state levels he said “would bolster Nigeria’s efforts to improve the lives and well being of her citizenry, since experience had

shown that lack of policy frameworks, systems and comprehensive information that guide national policy decisions, actions and effective planning has been hampering national developmental initiatives.”

Tumala said that the Association was working towards professionalising the statistical practice in the country by enthroning ethical standards to which all practitioners must subscribe to.

To this end, the NSA he said “has been promoting a Bill for the establishment of a professional body to be

known as the Chartered Institute of Statisticians of Nigeria, (CISON), which had reached advanced stages of deliberations at both chambers of the National Assembly.”

On the rebased GDP, Tumala, lauded the sound methodology and the participatory approach used by the NBS for the exercise, and he charged “the research community to look beyond the figures of the GDP and enlighten Nigerians on the implications, provide policy options for equitable distribution of wealth and all inclusive growth.”

HE Director-General, Nigeria Hydrological Services Agency (NIHSA), John Shamonda, has hinted that there could be possible flood this month across the country, hence the need for residents to be cautious.

Shamonda spoke in Abuja during a meeting with the Managing Directors of River Basin Development Authorities, on “measures of mitigating and control of flooding in Nigeria.”

The meeting was at the instance of the Federal Ministry of Water Resources.

While acknowledging the fact that Nigeria was already experiencing flood along the coastal lines due to rainfall and rise in sea levels, the DG however called for a closer observation of the Benue axis that has been showing signs of increase in flows.

He said the agency will continue to monitor the flood situation in the country.

Shamonda said: “Generally I will say the country is still safe but we have to be careful because the critical month in Nigeria is known as JAS month for flood issue. JAS means July, August and September. Those three months are the critical months when it comes to the flood issue in Nigeria.

“Now we are just going into September. It is still not yet Uhuru. You will remember that in 2012 the flood disaster came on the 21st of September 2012 so we are just going into September. We need to continue to monitor the flood situation in Nigeria. But as at now, I will say Nigeria is generally safe.

“Your prediction can only take for five days. The best you can do is monitor. Monitoring is what is necessary. Monitor the atmospheric situation, the rainfall, and the surface swell up. That is what we are doing at NIHSA. That is why we augment what we forecast. You don’t forecast and go and sleep.

You still have to do monitor. Anything can happen.”

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

BUSINESS

Furore over new ATM charges A

S the N65 charge on extended use of other banks’ Automated Teller Machines, ATMs, reintroduced by the Central Bank, kicked off in September 1, Nigerians have continued to react to a policy many believe is unnecessary.

While most Nigerians accuse the CBN of abandoning its regulatory responsibilities and taking sides with the bank to exploit customers through the policy, the CBN says the decision is aimed at curbing frivolous withdrawals and abuse by ATM users.

The new policy alters the old arrangement in which the CBN resolved with the Bankers Committee in December 2012 to transfer the payment of N100 fee on remoteon-us ATM withdrawal transactions to issuing banks.

Under that arrangement, the fee was shared between the ATM acquirers, card issuers and switches.

Banks, as the issuers of the ATM cards, were required to waive the N35 issuer’s fee, while bearing only the cost of N65 each time their customers used another banks’ ATM. The CBN said the loss for not collecting the N35 issuers’ fee from the card users had imposed a substantial cost burden on banks.

The bank said the re-introduction of the remote-on-us ATM cash withdrawal transaction fee of N65 per transaction was necessary to cover remuneration for switches, ATM monitoring and fit-notes processing by acquiring banks.

The new charge was applicable from the 4th remote-on-us withdrawal in a month by a card holder.

By implication, the first three transactions by a card holder using ATMs of banks other than theirs would be free, as the charge for such transactions would be paid for by the issuing bank.

On the other hand, all ATM cash withdrawals by customers on ATMs owned by their issuing banks would continue to be free.

It would be recalled that the CBN had in a circular dated August 13, 2014 announced the reintroduction of ATM cash withdrawal transaction fee to N65 per transaction, to cover the remuneration of switches, ATM monitoring and fitnotes processing by acquiring banks.

In a statement issued by the Director, Banking and Payment Systems Department, CBN, Mr. Dipo Fatokun, he said the apex bank and the deposit money banks agreed to re-introduce the ATM charges because the cost of transaction was becoming too burdensome for the banks to continue to bear.

CBN abandoning its role Centre for Social Justice, CSJ, a non-governmental organisation in Abuja, in its review of the policy, criticised the decision, saying there was no reasonable justification for CBN to have done so.

The CSJ Lead Director, Eze Onyekpere, and partner, Ikenna Ofoegbu, said a reversal of the policy by CBN did not address the premise and rationale for the removal of the charges in the first place.

According to Mr. Onyekpere, if the removal was to support and encourage CBN’s cashless or cashlite policy and ensure that bank customers got value for their patronage, nothing seems to have changed to warrant the removal.

“Or is the CBN now about to reverse the cashless and cash-lite policy?” the Mr. Onyekpere asked, pointing out that the new CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, had,

The reintroduction of N65 charges on Automated Teller Machines (ATM) withdrawals by the Central Bank of Nigeria since September 1, 2014, has continued to elicit mixed reactions from a cross-section of Nigerians, many of who see it as counterproductive, reports Bukola Afolabi

•CBN Headquarters

•CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele

while unveiling his agenda on assumption of office, vowed to reduce poverty, ensure job creation and development agenda in monetary policy.

Wondering how the policy would help realise Mr. Emefiele’s agenda, CSJ described it as “a clear retrogressive step that will unduly burden bank customers, discourage the unbanked from using the banking system and negate the cash-lite policy.”

The policy, the civil society group stated, was equally a negation of Nigeria’s international and domestic economic and social rights obligations to respect already guaranteed rights, especially as provided in Chapter 2 of the 1999 Constitution and the obligations under article 2(1) of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

The policy, the CSJ said, questions the basis and concept of regulation in an economy, arguing that what should concern regulators in taking policy decisions should not be the benefit of the strong, rich and accentuation of inequality, but the interest of all parties that may be affected.

It also condemned the CBN for allowing the banks to arm-twist it into approving extra charges from ATM withdrawals alongside bank charges and commissions imposed on customers, including ATM issuance and maintenance fees, N50 charges on SMS alerts, emails, print of account statements, etc.

“It appears the appointment of a former director of a mainstream bank

•Mr. Bismarck Rewane

is leading to a policy in favour of his former constituency and colleagues in the industry without taking cognizance of the bigger picture of the rights of the Nigerian people who are ultimately his employers,” CSJ stated.

The management of School of Banking Honours (SBH) Lagos, has also called on the apex bank to stop the planned implementation of the new policy regime introducing N65 charges.

CBN claims policy will curb abuse However, CBN insists the policy was necessary to ensure that ATMs continue to function across the country to the satisfaction of all bank customers.

According to CBN, cash withdrawals at the ATMs of a customer’s bank are free. The Apex bank said that “Remote-on-us” transaction was when a card holder goes to the ATM machine of another bank other than his or her own bank to make a withdrawal.

The N100 fee on “Remote-on-us” ATM cash withdrawal transactions transferred to issuing banks, in line with the resolution reached with the Bankers’ Committee on December 2012, the CBN noted, was never removed, rather it was only for the customer’s bank to pay, to encourage the use of ATMs nationwide.

Consequently, under the proposed policy, CBN said the first three “Remote-on-us” transactions in a month would be FREE for the card holder, but PAID FOR by the issuing bank.

The N65 charge, CBN stated, would only apply from the 4th transaction when a customer withdraws cash from another bank’s ATM other than that of his/her bank in a month.

Policy not to discourage financial inclusion CBN’s spokesman, Ibrahim Mu’azu, said the N65 charge was not intended to discourage financial inclusion, assuring that the CBN would not endorse any anti-customer policy.

“Charging of fees on interbank networks is a widely acceptable practice globally,” Mr. Mu’azu said, pointing out that ATM charges were meant to guarantee better services to customers and increase healthy competition among banks.

The CBN Director of Payment Systems, Dipo Fatokun, said transactions volume on ATMs by banks across the country increased significantly from about N1.3 trillion in 2012 to about N1.7 trillion as at June 2014.

These transactions, he said, were conducted at different locations across the country through ATM machines, which grew in number from about 10,727 to about 15,000 within the same period.

According to Mr. Fatokun, the country’s Point of Sales, PoS, terminals equally increased from 21,400 in 2012 to 135,000, with transaction volume increasing from N57.3 billion to N138 billion during the period.

With such increases, CBN said transaction volumes at other banks’ ATMs have risen astronomically due to the free cash withdrawals at other

banks’ ATMs, with some customers beginning to abuse the system through frivolous daily withdrawals, increasing the volume of cash transactions and negating the cashless policy.

Stakeholders list benefit As debate on the recently reintroduced ATM charge gathers momentum, Nigerian banking community has been urged to embrace the policy, considering its potential to guarantee unhindered flow of financial services to bank customers.

Tunde Adeojo a Lagos-based businessman said that on his part admonished the CBN to clearly explain the rationale behind the reintroduction of the charges, saying the policy will further impoverish the customers.

“It should be pointed out that using ATM more than three times in a month automatically prevents a customer from earning interest in that month.

“This policy might discourage people from using their cards in other bank ATM machines and a likely return of long queue in banking hall.

“If CBN is interested in encouraging cashless policy, it should come up with policy that will drastically reduce cost of operating accounts by customers rather than increasing these costs,” Adejo said.

Managing Director 4Dot Communications, Babatunde Aroloye, believes the re-introduction of the fee resulted from complaints by banks “that they were not making too much profit like before.”

“But the question that needed to be asked is whether the CBN should be protecting the interest of the populace or that the CBN should be dancing to the tunes of these greedy bankers.

“I am sure there were genuine reasons before the CBN decided that the ATM charge of N100 should be cancelled in the first place; is the CBN saying those reasons were no longer valid?

“With all intents and purposes, I think the CBN should be seen to be issuing guidelines that will make life easier for the populace rather than embarking on policy reversal at the detriment of the people,” he added.

However, arguing for a reintroduction of the fees, Chief Executive of Ecobank Nigeria, and member of the Bankers’ Committee, Jubril Aku, said it was part of measures to make banking business sustainable in the country.

The reversal, he explained, was due to the rising cost of maintaining ATMs. “If your bank has made its own ATMs free for you anytime you want to use it, then you should make use of it. I understand that in some of the performances we saw, we had in extreme cases about 500 withdrawals in a month.

“Such large pressure on the ATM needs to be curbed. The banks must be encouraged to continue to invest in ATM. I think that was the whole essence behind it,” Aku said.

This may also have been why the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) support the reintroduction of the charges.

LCCI President, Remi Bello, agrees on the need to keep the banks functioning by restoring the fees.

“The banks, after taken the inventory of what they have done in the last two years, realised that there are costs that they may not be able to continue to bear.

“If you are using the ATM of your own bank, the N65 charge is not applicable. It is when you are using ATM of other banks that you will be charged,” Bello stated.

Preye Ogriki, Managing Director of Trans-Atlantic Mortgages Limited, said: “Policies of governments and

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014 central banks all over the world change from time to time and the reintroduction of these charges is not a new thing”.

Reacting, Juliet Okafor, a development economist and CEO of Sea Route Communication Limited, also agreed that the CBN was right in re-introducing the fees, which ought not to have been totally removed in the first instance.

She believes that Lamido Sanusi, the immediate past CBN Governor, may have done it then, feeling that the banks have good enough balance sheets to absorb the cost of the ATM charges.

For the new Governor “to have decided to re-introduce the policy, means that he probably has looked into the cost implications on the banks and the effects of such removal on the current balance sheets of the banks”.

She reasoned that the return of the ATM withdrawal charges was a middle course approach by the apex bank to ensure banks and their customers absorb the relevant charges.

“This is the proper situation that ought to have prevailed. It is actually not a good policy in basic economic principles to shift the entire cost of the ATM charges completely from the customers to the banks.

“What the CBN should have done was to do what they have done now, by allowing both the banks and their customers share the cost at a specified ratio to both parties, so that CBN does not engage in avoidable policy somersault, from customers first to the banks and now to the middle course which is the banks and customers.

“So this N65 charges after three withdrawals on another bank’s ATM machine other than the customer’s issuer bank as against the initial N100 charge per withdrawal, is a fantastic and realistic middle course approach by the CBN. “It is only after observing this current formula the CBN now decides whether to retain the status quo or cancel the policy completely,” she argued.

Okafor appealed to critics of Emefiele to exercise some restraints in condemning the policy, as according to her, both he and his predecessor represent two extreme tendencies in their management approach to the nation’s monetary policies.

“Both Sanusi and Emefiele are CBN Governors from the same banking sector where one (Sanusi) is coming from a conservative family of banks that accommodates both the poor and rich depositors, while the other (Emefiele) is coming from the generation of banks that essentially takes care of the rich and upper class clients.

“Somehow, you will see their tendencies in the CBN policy formulation of these two individuals.”

To help Nigerians properly appreciate the situation, Rivers State based politician and Ijaw leader, Anabs Sara-Igbe, wants the CBN to urgently begin a public enlightenment programme so that members of the public will understand better.

“Majority of (bank customers) are not economically buoyant to absorb the financial effects of these bank charges, and above all, they are not even aware of how the banks are computing these charges.

“That is where the CBN as a regulator needs to come in to educate the people because they are not happy about the whole development,” he noted.

According to the CEO of Financial Derivatives, Mr. Bismarck Rewane, a frontline economist: “It makes a lot of sense to return the charges for the ATM as you cannot keep your money with Bank A and always keep collecting it from Bank B; that will be a case of working for John Bull and collecting salary from Afamako Company.”

BUSINESS

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NEXIM, Heritage, Oyo, others for London business conference

A

LL roads lead to Royal National Hotel, Bedford Way (Russell Square, London WC1H 0DG from September 17-18, 2014, as the Nigerian London Business Forum (NILOBF) UK, puts machinery in motion to organise the Greater London Business Conference on Nigeria.

Among the top players expected at the conference include Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Heritage Bank, Oyo State in South-west Nigeria and Niger State in the Northcentral Nigeria, 37 prospective UK companies, to mention just a few.

Justifying the need for the conference which is in its third edition, in a release made available to The Nation, the organisers said: “We are looking to meet with Nigerian business leaders and entrepreneurs in this

suggestively important conference on Nigeria. The country has remained an important market with huge investment and trading opportunities for the United Kingdom.”

The Nigerian London Business Forum is an established and respected business chamber trade association with strong voice on trade and investment promotion between the United Kingdom and Nigeria.

While noting the significant growth in the country’s population compared to 10-15 years ago, the organisers emphasised that such population growth has necessitated the need for significant infrastructural, social and economic development such as transportation, power and energy, oil and gas, communication, construction, education, agriculture, health, manufacturing and efficient

financial services.

According to the organsiers, “From mid-July when registration began for participation in this conference by both British and Nigerian companies and relevant government agencies, 33 Nigerian companies drawn from their local chambers of commerce and two investment driven states government in Nigeria whose delegation or entourage of relevant agencies/ministries to be led by their executive governors are confirmed for this great event, and many more are still on the line to confirm their participation. British companies through support provided by the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) whose members are given complimentary attendance, are interestingly signing up for the conference.

•From left: Mr. Oghenerobo Adhuze, founder and Chief Operating Officer, Centre for Cocoa Development Initiatives, being invested with a fellowship of the Institute for Strategic Human Capital Managers by the Institute's President, Mr. Joseph Oyekunle in company of the Vice President, Mr. Olubode Oni in Lagos…recently

“However, not to exclude anyone, the Board of Directors of Nigerian London Business Forum is happy to further consider subsidizing conference attendance fee or no fee at all to any credible British owned company looking to expand or invest into Nigeria as part of their expansion plans.

“Sectors of business engagement of these companies range from agriculture, transportation, ICT, logistics, finance, manufacturing, health, security, shipping, infrastructure, construction, education/training, food and drink, to solid minerals development, power& energy, oil and gas, real estate, hospitality services, banking and project finance/development, import and export, business services consulting, insurance, professional services, automobile, communication, aviation, shipping and ports, among others.”

An official of Oyo State government, while giving his imprimatur of support for the conference, said: “On behalf of His Excellency; Sen. Abiola Ajimobi, The Executive Governor of Oyo State, we thank you so much for counting His Excellency worthy of the Award of Honorary Member of NILOBF. It is indeed a known fact in Nigeria that he has opened up the doors of Oyo State for Business to both local and foreign investors and his commitment to attracting foreign investors has brought about economic boom in Oyo State since his assumed Office three and half years ago. In addition, if your programme can accommodate a paper presentation by His Excellency on the second day of the event, we would appreciate this before the citation and investiture of Sen. Abiola Ajimobi. The presentation will be a power point presentation on the Investment Opportunities in the State. The Executive Governor of Oyo State will be accompanied by some commissioners, special advisers and his aides.”

Get value for money, procurement professionals tell FG

T

HE Federal Government has been urged to get value for money in all its spending, in the interest of providing utilities and infrastructures for the people.

All the tiers of government were also advised to continuously review and analyze procurement implementation challenges and provide appropriate solutions.

This advise was handed down yesterday by the members of the Procurement Professionals Association of Nigeria (PPAN) in Abuja.

Chairman of the association, Mr. Wahab Toye noted that “the release of public funds is often tailored towards the provision of infrastructure, for the overall good of the people.”

The process of doing this, he said, “is reflected in the public contracting system. This system has to be incorruptible, if we are of the opinion that proper implementation of the public procurement reforms is one of our ways forward.”

Public Procurement reform he said has been gaining grounds as “it is being consolidated at the Federal level, many states have adopted it. At least twenty four have been listed, while still counting.”

Wahab Toye stated that “it is important to state that having the law is one thing and implementation is actually the other aspect. While some entities have been having challenges despit commitment to implementation, others are reportedly less committed.”

From Nduka Chiejina (Assistant Editor), Abuja

The responsibilities of members of the PPAN as practitioners, he explained “is to help organisations resolve their challenges and then encourage others to adopt procurement processes and procedures.”

The PPAN, Chairman added that through the Public Procurement Act, 2007, the basis of participation in quest for public contract has been expanded because the consciousness, knowledge and awareness of the Act has gradually discouraged the earlier prevalent sole sourcing for competitive bidding in the award of public contracts.

According to him, “a sense of participation and possible victory from bidding has been engendered by the Act. This fact which relates with the participatory tenets of democracy highlights Nigeria as a country which

is moving with the times. The Act has also brought about a higher level of responsiveness on the part of contractors and consultants which raises the stakes for quality and productivity in the execution of public projects and challenges practitioners to be more active.”

Delivering the key note address at the event, the Managing Director/CEO of Nigeria Liquified Natural Gas (NLNG) Mr. Babs Omotowa said the “expectation of society is for equality, empowerment, employment, reduction in poverty, human rights, climate change and these have become very critical for society.”

In many of these, he said “the development of infrastructure as in recent times has become a key enabler for developing economies and improving economies. Activities such as the rule of law, the construc-

tion of roads, rail, power and bridges have become very critical for most economies.”

These expectations of government, he added are also not different from what the society expects from private organisations as “society expects them to contribute to employment to help grow businesses and ensure good governance, respect for human rights and prevent degradation of the environment such as climate change.”

He noted that between “25 and 70 per cent of most government spending is on goods and services of which procurement plays key role as infrastructure plays a key role in social development of economies. It is important that as professionals we must bring certain things to bear especially on how to manage procurement.”

FAAN partners firm on shuttle buses

T

HE Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, (FAAN) in partnership with Skyplus Logistics has launched inter airport terminals shuttle to reduce the problem of passenger movement within the airport.

FAAN General Manager, Commercial, Mr. Tayo Adewakun while launching the shuttle bus, said the effort is geared towards enhancing passenger’s security, comfort and boosting the image of the country.

According to him, “There is a vacuum which FAAN has identified

By Kelvin Osa Okunbor

in the past years between the terminals in terms of passenger’s movement within the airport.’’

He said the Airport Terminals Shuttle is designed to provide efficient system that will help solve transportation challenges within the airports.

Adewakun disclosed that the bus will pick passengers from domestic terminal one and drop them at MMA 2 and the international wing of the airport

without stopping on the road.

He added that the shuttle bus will not pick any passenger on the road but is allowed only to pick passengers at domestic terminal one and MMIA and to also drop passengers only at MMA 2.

Speaking during the launching of the shuttle bus, the Managing Director of Skyplus Contract and Logistics, Mrs. Shobayo said she was motivated into partnering with FAAN because of her experience as a frequent flyer.

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

BUSINESS

‘Why companies must be socially responsible’ F

OR the Group Managing Director of LASACO Group, Mr. Olusola LadipoAjayi, any company worth its salt must be willing to get involved in social giving and charitable causes.

More importantly, he said, LASACO Assurance has adopted its corporate social responsibility platform to create an exceptional positive image in the minds of the identified target audience. “LASACO is clearly focused on building strong brand personality to align with its corporate vision. The areas of focus for the brand are security and education which are critical platforms to contribute meaningfully to the society.”

To deepen its brand equity, LASACO Assurance, Ladipo-Ajayi noted, has partnered the elementary school feeding programme O’ meal of the state of Osun.

Through this significant partnership, the insurance company fed 10,000 students in one day.

“This is a vantage platform to build share of voice and generate good will. It is a strategic avenue for LASACO to connect directly with the students who are future leaders of the country.

“LASACO is determined to show more interest in the well being of our children as they are the future leaders of Nigeria.

We are building a socially relevant brand that impacts lives positively.”

The goal of the LASACO brand is to deliver exceptional stakeholders value by offering first class innovative products and services. Beyond its service offerings, the brand is poised to become a socially relevant brand that places huge premium on societal development, he stressed.

LASACO, he noted, further exemplifies its brand personality to remain synonymous with improving social cause by donating to the Lagos State Security Trust Fund (LSSTF).The huge donation made to LSSTF by LASACO underscores its avowed commitment to remain a good corporate citizen. This is a strategic avenue to build a strong and virile brand that is relevant to the society.

“It is the focus of the LASACO brand to create an exceptional brand through its positive perception by the key stakeholders. The intervention for the Lagos State Security Fund is intended to address crime menace and support the government efforts. The strength of any brand is to become active in the minds of the target audience and also generate favourable perception of its activities within the community within which it operates. This is definitely a driving force for the LASACO brand to remain a credible corporate entity amongst all the stakeholders.”

The company’s corporate social responsibility projects, he reiterated, are aimed at creating touch points for the identified target audience to feel the relevance of the LASACO brand in their lives.CSR is also a potent tool to create and nurture enduring relationship with the target audience.

LASACO Assurance identifies security and education as key milestones that can engender societal development hence is total and irrepressible commitment to leave an indelible mark.

“LASACO Assurance has remained undaunted in its integrating CSR as part of its overall strategy to remain a pro-active and dynamic brand. Several years back, LASACO donated block of classrooms to schools in the Ikorodu Educational district and also renovated the staff block of another. The brand is sustaining its pedigree as a good corporate citizen which distinguishes from others. LASACO is poised to raise the bar further by identifying other areas to build affinity and promote positive causes in the society.”

Pressed further, he said: “LASACO’s drive to remain relevant in preparing future leaders is further demonstrated on the CSR platform through financial support the company has been given to Lagos Empowerment and Resource Network (LEARN) to organise one of its main programmes –

By Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf

summer school. LEARN summer school programme is designed to empower student with practical skills that would make them self-reliant and inculcate entrepreneurial skill in different areas of endeavours. Practical skill areas include shoe-making, beadmaking, event decoration, barbing, catering, soap-making, photography, among others.

LASACO believes tomorrow is certain when future leaders are properly groomed and nurtured through investment in their education and empowerment with practical skills that would make them self-reliant.”

Expatiating, LASACO boss said “our support for LEARN has been on in the last three to four years due to LASACO’s belief in being a socially responsible corporate organisation as well as sustaining the legacy of our former chairman, late Chief Akin Leigh, who initiated the collaboration with LEARN. This great initiative aligns with one of LASACO’s strategic business principle of striving to better the society, particularly using corporate social responsibility platform and therefore deserves sustenance.

“LASACO cannot but give support to Lagos State Government’s drive to lay a solid foundation for the future leaders. Lagos State government has also been very supportive of LASACO as a corporate entity,” he added.

LEARN is an initiative of Lagos State First Lady and Wife of the Governor, Dame Abimbola Fashola.

The company, he stressed, “has continued to ensure that her core business of insurance is as vibrant as her corporate social responsibility (CSR) efforts. This can be seen in her market-deepening strategy which is now being driven through the use of information and computer technology (ICT). At the moment, LASACO has now made available her products online real-time. This is in addition to the fact that valued clients are now able to obtain and pay premiums for their products on line.

“Once the desired product is purchased, several alternative channels are available to make payments easier. Payments can be made through bank branches nationwide, Quickteller, POS, and LASACO’s e-commerce portal in a seamless manner. These alternative channels of payment are built

•Ladipo-Ajayi on a world class web-based integrated solution which combines the core insurance businesses with powerful administrative and marketing tools. No doubt this strategic initiative is a great boost to the federal government’s initiative aimed at promoting cashless economy which is the best global standard practice of driving economy.

“Through our operating ICT tool, Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), which has

strong E-commerce capability, staff and clients can connect easily to the application to transact businesses online/realtime and hence promote the concept of ‘LASACO without walls”. To ensure sustenance of the place of ICT in her operations, the insurance company has put in place an all-inclusive ICT training and retraining strategy for all her staff members.”

• From left: Accounting Officer, PriceWater HouseCoopers, Okunola Joshua, with his colleagues, Titilope Abe of Access Bank Plc, Mr. Oluwaseun Badejo and Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc Officer, Mr. Sola Arikawe at the 2014 investiture of ICAN in Lagos…recently

61

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

T

HERE seem to be good times ahead for operators of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) if the comments credited to the new Managing Director of Bank of the Industry (BoI), Mr Rasheed Olaoluwa, are to go by.

According to the MD, the bank has concluded plans to make loans available to SMEs. Unlike in the past, when the growth of SMEs has been hampered by lack of financial assistance from financial institutions, the BoI is set to appoint service support firms to facilitate the application of loans by Small Medium Enterprises.

“We are in the process of appointing business service support firms; firms that will engage the SMEs and help them to repackage their loan applications such that by the time those applications get to the BoI, they will be bankable proposals. That will increase the success of such applications,” said the MD during a courtesy call to the bank by members of the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises.

He added: “We also have arrangement with microfinance banks, whereby we lend to them and they in turn lend to the micro enterprises that require N100, 000, for instance, to be able to carry out their activities. That programme is ongoing and as a matter of fact, we are encouraging more microfinance banks to come on board.”

Many small enterprises have collapsed as a result of lack of financial withers to sustain them. It is a known fact that small businesses offer employment to more people in any economy than the big players in the industry. While many big enterprises rely mainly on technology to perform their activities, many SMEs rely on vocational skills in their businesses, thereby employing those who have such needed skills in their businesses.

Lack of jobs and the increase in unemployment have been attributed to the non functional small and medium enterprises.

It’s not their faults anyway. In

W

HY did you decide to go into events management and planning?

My background and upbringing influenced my choice of career.

I realised while I was growing up that I had passion for making parties and events within the family happen “as right as possible”. As at then, events management was not well-known. People fixed parties by themselves, without expertise, or professionalism put into it these days. After my NYSC in 2008, I decided to go for formal training in events management, which I had at Zapphaire Events. The CEO was an exemplary role model, teacher, motivator and mentor. After my training which ran for three months, I decided to stay beyond that - 11 months so as to learn more, which paid off eventually.

What else are you into?

After being into events for three years, I decided to take an aspect of events management to specialise, in which is “cocktails.” Running a cocktail company with full

Boost for SMEs as BoI offers financial lifeline

By Bukola Afolabi

recent times, there have been complaints by operators of SMEs that commercial banks, including BoI, refuse to grant loans to SMEs, preferring to support the big players in the communication, oil and gas industries.

However, the above statement credited to the BoI MD is an indication that SME operators can look forward to a better financial assistance, depending on their importance to the growth of the nations’ economy.

“There are SMES and there are SMEs; those that add value to the economy and those that are merely engaging in trading activities by importing items and selling. They don’t add value to our economy; they don’t contribute significantly to employment generation.

“We would like to support those SMES that engage in productive activities, those who have factories, no matter how small. Those are the SMEs that we would like to assist; that is the only way we can help to boost manufacturing to contribute significantly to the Gross Domestic Product,” said the new MD. To achieve the objectives, the MD stated that cooperative lending among similar SMEs are being encouraged so as to make it easier to facilitate loans as it might be difficult to grant loans to individual small companies.

“That was why we set up a micro credit committee to consider solely credits that are less than N10m,” he said.

One of such areas is the agricultural sector. During one of his visits to the Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi, FIIRO, Lagos, the MD said the agricultural sector has enormous capacity to offer employment to thousands of unemployed youths, adding that the federal government through

BoI is poised to increase its financial assistance to small industries that deal in agricultural products.

This, according to him, would be done through provisions of equipments and technical knowhow to enable them perform optimally. “ The first sectors is the agric agro-allied, agro-processing sector, whereby we are looking at not just exporting crops but adding local value to them, we are looking at processing those crops before we export them or consume them locally. We need to find home-grown solution to our economic growth.

Rather than appeal to industrialists to utilise FIIRO’s inventions, we will support those who come to take up equipment from FIIRO,” he said.

One of our key strategic development initiatives is to pursue linkages between industrialists and centres of innovative development solutions that can produce indigenous and low cost technology that would help accelerate growth industrially,” he said.

He added: “Recently, President Goodluck Jonathan launched the Nigerian Industrial Revolution Plan (NIRP), the document identifies four key sectors of Nigeria’s comparative advantage and one of them is agricultural processing which FIIRO has an edge in helping to accelerate development in that sector.”

Mr. Tunde Odukogbe, a player in the agricultural sector, said that the new intervention by the federal government is a welcome development. He is of the view that intervention, if well implemented, would resuscitate moribund agricultural produced companies, thereby offering employment opportunities.

“It is cheering news. One of the problems we have in the agricultural sector is the lack of equipments to work with most especially in the use of technology in

improving our products. There are some agricultural products that need to be stored through some advanced storage machines but because of the lacks of funds to purchase these machines, many of our products are wasted. That is why there is high percentage of foods being wasted in this country,” he said.

“In advanced countries, agricultural products are stored and preserved using technology which makes them to last longer. If the Bank of Industry is ready to provide more financial assistance in purchasing these machines and also provide technical knowhow, I see the sector becoming the highest employer of labour.”

Mr. Orimadegun Agboade, the Deputy President, South, National Association of Small and Medium Enterprise (NASME), had also said that providing facilities for SMEs with genuine needs would help to improve the efficiencies of SMEs. “As a crucial element towards business success especially for the SMEs, it is imperative to earmark special funds for NASME members based on genuine needs and strong recommendations from the national secretariat, especially on micro credit facilities, which in most cases are needed to grow their businesses.” Knowledge gap had continued to pose a serious challenge to most of the SMEs, and consequently affected their ability to manage borrowed funds.

The BoI MD made it clear in his visit to FIIRO that Nigeria is blessed in agriculture, pointing out that each state in the country has the potential to earn huge revenue from agricultural as each of them has at least one agricultural product that can be focused on for commercial and industrial developments and that industrialisation based on agriculture will make a lot of impact on the population.

“It is essential to build capacity

for accredited equipment fabricators to improve our local technology by making it more effective, attractive and low cost in order to also encourage the youths to participate in Nigeria’s industrial revolution in this digital age,” he said.

The Director General/Chief Executive of FIIRO, Dr. Gloria Elemo, had also affirmed that the institute is also ready to contribute its quota to the agro-allied, agro-processing and minerals sector of the economy and home for industrial technology for the MSME sector.

“The institute has contributed through processing of local raw materials and the production of indigenous technology to the growth of SMEs in the country and has conducted researches into all the natural agro and mineralbased resources of the country,” she said.

Likewise, Mr. Saibu Bankole, who owns one of the biggest fish farms in Ibadan, Oyo State capital, opined that making funds available to small scale industries is the way out of the current unemployment in the country.

“If the government is serious about this, it would go a long way in helping small industries to expand their businesses. You can imagine the number of people that would be employed if SMEs have money to buy needed equipments for their businesses.

However, BoI and commercial banks have only shown interest in supporting two sectors of the economy: oil and gas and the telecomm industries. Let us wait and see if they (BoI) would make good their promises.”

Olaoluwa further said that the BoI would partner with commercial banks in order for it to achieve its aim of lifting the SMEs. “We try as much as possible not to be in competition with commercial banks but to collaborate with them. We are looking at a model where BoI will partner with SME-friendly banks, so that as we are giving long term project loans, the banks will also be giving short term working capital facilities and that way we can work together to succeed in this sector,” he said.

‘How I grew my hobby into a business’ Mrs. Denrele Titi Adesina is the Managing Director, Dainty Touches, an all-exclusive outfit involved in events management and other related activities. Titi- Adesina, who has a B.Sc and post graduate degree in Geology from the University of Ilorin and professional qualifications, in this interview with Rita Enosegbe, speaks on what informed her different career path other than Geology and more bar services, I realise, is a lot of work as well. Giving glory to God, it has been a season of blessings to us at Dainty Touches.

When was your first job?

My first job was my pastor’s wedding on December 1st, 2007. It was quite challenging, but I thank God for its success.

How have you been able to get along all these years?

Getting along over the years has

been by God’s faithfulness and grace all the way. Nothing else.

How do you find competition in the market?

There is competition, I agree. But as I said earlier, most of the people competing are not as professional as required. They see it as an avenue to make money - no passion, so, there aren’t serious competitions as time will tell whom the industry requires.

How do you see events manage-

ment and planning in Nigeria?

Events management and planning is not as easy as people seem to see it. Just that in Nigeria, the industry has not been well structured and standardised. That is why I feel everybody sees it as “what they can do,” and as a result, it is gradually losing some essence and relevance.

It always beats my imagination when vendors quote ridiculous prices for services which they can’t deliver, and also how everybody has either a colleague or neighbour that is an event planner. I feel a strong need for scrutiny.

•Adesina

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

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S part of the activities marking the centenary celebrations of the Nigerian nation and also in continuation of the 80 years anniversary of the Noble Laureate Professor Wole Soyinka, the Crown Troupe of Africa and the National Theatre, Lagos, are engaged in series of festival of theatres that would begin on September 26 this year. In an interview with The Nation, Segun Adefila, the founder of the group explained that the choice of The Dance of the Forests written by Soyinka is to open people’s eyes to the variety of issues the playwright raised in the play when he wrote it more than 50 years ago.

“Since the play was written to mark Nigeria’s independence in 1960, it is also imperative to use it as part of the 100 years of the nation. In furtherance of that”, Adefila continued, “ it is proper to situate the play within the context that Soyinka wrote it then.

To us, it is a play that mirrored what the Nigerian situation would be in time to come.

Besides the fact that it is prophetic, it shows the leadership of a society that is in dire need of focus, direction and the like”.

Working in collaboration with the management of the National Theatre, Lagos, the plays would also include a satire on Fela Son of Kuti written by Comel Onyekaba, a Broadway kind of play to showcase the musical and the theatrical exploits of the late Fela Anikulapo Kuti. This was selected not only to bring live theatre closer to the people but also show that the place of Fela as an icon cannot be forgotten or downplayed in the annals of Nigeria.

“Fela is an iconoclast. He is a force to reckon with. If we have his shows on Broadway in the United States of America continuously, why wouldn’t we replicate such here to encourage our people to see the real Fela on stage. It is also to broaden our people’s attitude to what is our own. Fela conquered the stage, indeed the whole world with his type of Afrobeat. He convinced the world that he had something to say. These were messages that were not immediately valued but are even more relevant today”, Biodun Abe of the National Theatre, said.

The idea is to bring people back to live theatre, using our own artistes within the local needs of the environment to stir the sector. As the programmes begin on September 26 to run through a period of three months, the plays will each tackle some important and salient issues that trouble the nation. “They are plays that address who we are, plays that bring us into the society where we are. We need the plays to talk to us, to help us look at the areas where we faltered and areas where we’ve done well in order to know what to do to be better” Adefila said.

Crown Troupe of Africa is known for creating dance dramas weaved around some socio-political and economic problems of the Nigerian society. Over the years, the Troupe has travelled within and outside Nigeria to tell the world that satire and hyperbole can be used in forms of dances, theatres, songs and drumming to touch on the norms of the people.

“This is why we create stories that people can relate with, can identify as part of their own existence in a society where many things have indeed gone wrong”, Adefila explained.

Apart from the shows for the months of September through to October, other equally important plays will be staged in November and December. For instance Fela Son of Kuti will mount the stage on September 26 and then run till the 28th. This will serve as a teaser to prepare people’s minds for the more serious theatricals replicated in the Dance of the Forests. “We chose Dance of the Forests because of its topicality and relevance to our immediate needs now.” Adefila, who directed the play averred. “We didn’t forget how some people usually consider Soyinka’s works as too difficult to decode or understand. We considered all that before we went on to stage it. However, we are careful so as not to bury or subsume the thematic issues embedded in the play”.

Given that the festival is yet to release the names of the plays for the months of November and December, Biodun Abe, one of the coordinators of the shows explained that

As Fela Son of Kuti hits stage A new stage play by Comel Onyekaba titled Fela Son of Kuti is to kick-start a series of festival of theatres to be held at the National Theatre, Lagos, beginning from September 26th and ending in December. Organisers of the shows explained to Edozie Udeze that the concept is to continue the centenary celebrations of the country and to also ensure that a Broadway-type of theatre is brought to Nigeria not only to honour Fela but to also celebrate Wole Soyinka who turned 80 this year

•Fela on stage with some of his queens

it is deliberate. “We have to be sure which plays to go on stage so as not to lower the tempo or water down on the standard. But you can be sure we will not give you what does not suite your taste or what does not correspond with the aims and objectives of the festival”.

But for Adefila whose style of theatrical presentation is often seen to be abstract but infused with drama, this is time to ensure that live theatre is brought back into the mainstream of the society.

“Community theatre which we grew up to watch and cherish is almost dead,” he said.

“However, with this sort of show, we can begin to draw the attention of the people to real stage theatre. It is here that we can see the exposure of the issues that pertain to the people. For me, any society that forgets its theatre is also likely to forget its own story. On stage you give life to the issues, you let the society see its own follies or otherwise and then you make them laugh, make them relax and generally be happy. This is part of concept of the shows”, so said Adefila.

In creating their stories, the Crown Troupe ensures that they are people oriented. The stories have to be danceable with deep elements of theatre to entertain the audience. This is why variety of characters are infused into the plays to make people understand and follow the sequence of presentation.

“Yes, this is what we have going for us.

You see, I didn’t create or found the Troupe alone. We were four of us who did it way back at the University of Lagos. The total concept

we had was to mirror the society using topical and burning issues to reach out to the people.”

Today even though his other three colleagues have left the Troupe, Adefila says he finds consolation and total fulfillment in all the members who make up the cast and crew of the Troupe. “Yes, I draw my inspiration from them. They are the people who make the dramas tick. Together, we all create those ideas you see on stage. The artistes can be of fun if you treat them well. Many of them from different areas of Nigeria come here to make the ideas rich and diverse.”

He is also inspired by the masquerade spirits having come from a family where masquerades were revered. “I know I would be an artiste”, he disclosed. “My family was the custodians of masquerades where I come from.

So, right from the word go, I knew I would draw my inspiration from that. The spirit of the masquerades often propel me to do most of my creative things.

“And while at the University of Lagos where I was taught by the likes of Tunji Sotimirin, Laz Ekwueme, Duro Oni and Ahmed Yerima, you had no choice but to allow real theatre to permeate you. These first class scholars taught us how to be creative, how theatre is real in real life.”

He recalled however, how the era of Hubert Ogunde and others helped to bring life to theatre. “It is we the younger ones who should continue to uphold this tradition. These Continued on page 66

•Adefila

THE NATION ON SUNDAY,

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SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

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Another critical look at corruption rity of the people, not to take what it will from the people’s national coffers.

The human rights framework concludes that law protects people, not states; the power of the state is not absolute and cannot be used as a veil for abuse by its agents, but rather is responsible for their acts.

The application of this framework to grand corruption is clear, as is Dr. Olaniyan’s clear advice that sticking with a strict adherence to traditional norms of state and sovereign immunity of national criminal law systems will always keep us from touching the lifeblood of corruption.

Looking instead to other frameworks, he spends considerable time with Article 21 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which evinces a clear intent to protect the peoples’ exclusive right to “freely dispose of their wealth and natural resources.” While he discusses many articles of the Charter which are violated by acts of corruption, Article 21 stands out as uniquely positioned to address massive theft of public assets and money-laundering plaguing much of the continent.

But how can people access the protection of Article 21 and the spectrum of human rights provisions, especially when “spoliation” or wasting away of what naturally belongs to them is indigenous?

Dr. Olaniyan looks to international human rights law notions of standing and causation.

In contrast to restrictive domestic requirements of proving a specific and direct harm, by its very nature, the international human rights framework relies on universality and inviolability of rights, laying the basis for any citizen to challenge a breach. He proffers that we might go one step further to develop a type of de-

ACH year, international anti-corruption day precedes human rights day, but in all other ways, the developing struggle against corruption follows the path laid by the human rights movement. In his seminal work, Corruption and Human Rights Law in Africa, Dr. Kolawole Olaniyan argues convincingly that anticorruption efforts would be best progressed by relying not only on the shoulders of national criminal law systems, but also thorough recognition by and integration into global and regional human rights law, norms and practice.

The 368 paged book painstakingly considers the many faceted perspectives of this proposition from a review of existing treatment of grand corruption schemes in domestic criminal law settings to a look at the wide-ranging scope of human rights protected by the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights and other international treaties impacted or violated by corruption, to the theoretical bases for applying the normative human rights framework to a problem which has proven too vast to handle through criminal law alone, results in a reference point for lawyers, judges, elected leaders and civil society alike to take the movement forward.

Dr. Olaniyan concludes with a proffering of several next steps which will undoubtedly provoke thoughtful debate in the years to come.

The conceptualization is that of a two-way street: anticorruption movement needs certain strengths the human rights law framework has established, and human rights, to be realized, must root out underlying causes of corruption.

In answering the question, why look to human rights law to address grand corruption, Dr. Olaniyan highlights several key points from moral to legalistic. In the early chapters of the book, he discusses the potential of depoliticizing and internationalizing the problem, and attaching an appropriate level of moral imperative to it. It’s not just an abstract, victimless crime or tool for political revenge.

It’s a central cause of human suffering and poverty, and real people are real victims, every-

day. He laments the fact that the victims are largely neutralised (and virtually anonymous) in the criminal process, with no access to human rights remedies.

Education, health, development, and basic freedoms to information, association and life, fair trials and private property rights all languish in the hands of a governance structure laced with corruption. Just as in human rights discourse, the socially and economically vulnerable suffer the most.

But where can we, the people, the “victims of corruption” go for redress? Who will hear our cries for help when we know all too well that our treasuries are being pilfered while public services – from physical infrastructure to fair criminal justice systems and humane, equal treatment of our populaces – are routinely denied?

Compellingly, Dr. Olaniyan discusses three key developments in human rights law that start to unlock the blockages currently encountered in attempts to seek adequate redress for corruption: limitations on the concept of state sovereignty, expanded notions of standing of complainants, and rejection of strict rules of causation which dominate national criminal legal systems.

As long as instances of grand corruption continue to be treated solely as particular criminal acts of individuals, various immunities will protect wrongdoers from sanctions and the argument of state sovereignty will politicize instantly international efforts at accountability.

The human rights normative framework, however, has succeeded in limiting otherwise unchecked state power by imposing the duties to protect, respect and fulfill human rights, in effect, realizing a concept of public trust. The state is entrusted to operate for the benefit and secu-

I

A great day for an author

Title: Corruption and human rights law in Africa Author: Dr. Kolawole Olaniyan Year of Publication: 2014 Reviewer: Abdul Tejan-Cole

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T was a great day for Ebikeme Gandhi Orubebe, a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) as his two novels, Missing Daughters and Deserts were presented to the public. The venue was Asaba, the Delta State capital and many important dignitaries had gathered to pour encomiums on the author for his painstaking efforts in writing the two books. It was indeed an occasion for people like Diepriye Alamieyeseigha, Governor-General of the Ijaw nation and a former governor of Bayelsa State to remind Orubebe that writing is the best form of creating a legacy that would survive all the vicissitude and troubles of the world.

“All the wealth you acquire in this world, all your buildings and assets and investments may soon fade away but your creative endeavor would be for all seasons and for generations yet unborn to make use of. That is the whole essence and beauty of what you have done. And we hope you’ll do more, you’ll write more books for the sake of prosperity so that forever, your name will be etched in gold,” he said.

Amid pomp, jokes and entertainment, the author was praised for using the occasion of his service to the nation to prove that humility is a virtue that should not be alien to his kind of career. A thorough-bred police officer, Orubebe utilised the slightest opportunity he had while in service to put pen to paper, thereby producing two classical books that mirror the Nigerian society and providing ways to not only forestall societal decays but encouraging parents to be of better cheer while indoctrinating their kids on the way forward.

Professor Isidore Diala of the Imo State University, Owerri, who reviewed the two books pointedly made reference to history and how the process of literary creation in both of ancient and venerable origin…

“Therefore the myth confers on the writer the status of at least a demigod, hallows his pronouncements not only with a sense of inscrutable mystery but indeed with the aura of oracular injunctions…”

• Orubebe (middle) and others unveiling the books

By Edozie Udeze

He described the works of the author as someone who burnt the exalting midnight oil by highlight perspiration as the cost of inspiration. And moreover as the critical filter for giving to airy nothing a local habitation and a name.” Indeed Orubebe excelled when others feared to make efforts.

For Professor B.E.B. Nwoke, a former Vice-Chancellor of the Imo State University who delivered an inspirational speech, Orubebe was an inspiration to many when he served in Imo State. He said “He believes in the fundamental principles of life.

Orubebe works to encourage humanity and to ensure that human dignity is not only improved upon but made better for all and sundry. He believes that man is made to learn from his past, from his mistakes so as

to gear up for better things in the future.”

To Nwoke, it is time for people, for the whole society to learn a sense of duty from the likes of Orubebe, who in spite of their exalted offices chose to be humble so as to impact positively on the society. As a professional, Orubebe discountenanced greed, avarice and ingratitude, using the fear of God to serve mankind.”

As he spoke he drew the attention of the guests to the many essential elements that make a man of reputation quite relevant and ever useful to the society. These rare qualities of the author were not only re-echoed by Chijioke Uwasomba of the Obafemi Awolowo University, (OAU), Ife, Osun State, who handled proceedings, but he also gave vent to the event as the best way to honour a literary guru whose works tackle serious societal issues.

rivative proceeding, akin to corporate shareholder actions, that members of the public could bring in recovering stolen assets.

In place of struggling through ill-fitting causation standards in criminal law, Dr. Olaniyan suggests “the obligations of the state rather than the corrupt acts of its highranking officials” are what should be considered to establish responsibility. That, we could look to a state’s acts, or failures to act, in carrying out obligations and commitments under international treaties on corruption and human rights to determine a nexus of breach of diligence and vigilance, corrupt acts of high-ranking officials, and alleged human rights violations. This general form of showing causation is more fitting, considering especially the secrecy within which corruption lives.

Civil society’s experience in initiating and supporting anticorruption proceedings, however, elucidate other complications in getting to accountability: exhaustion of remedies prior to an approach to a human rights venue is a serious obstacle for many, and the primary reason the Equatorial Guinea case brought to the African Commission by the Open Society Justice Initiative, mentioned in this book, was eventually not admitted. While it is encouraging to see the quotes from Commissioners that they would consider a case that alleged corruption in the violation of rights protected by the Charter, the denial of a case which alleged just that on exhaustion grounds, when there is considerable evidence of the impaired, partial judiciary in the country, torture and other forms of retribution against those who challenge the state, and resulting unavailability of true domestic recourse, shows we have much work to do in explaining the degree to which corruption impairs the widest spectrum of human rights.

Recent and unfolding experience in international asset recovery and repatriation schemes also reveal a host of thorny issues that will likely require significant time to develop into norms which respect not only peoples’ rights to wealth and development but also democratic values of governance and decisionmaking by a truly representative mechanism, lest we devolve into battles between peoples’ within a state and between the people and the state.

Uwasomba promised to encourage the author to go on a nationwide reading tour of his works. To him, the beauty of such an exercise is to promote the writer and his works. Beyond that, it is an opportunity for him to be face-to-face with the public who would assess his works on the spot. “Literature thrives when the author becomes widely known, when he is closer to the people. For our undergraduates, this will be a golden opportunity to meet an officer who has so imparted on them via his works; via his insightful novels.”

In his own speech, the Chief launcher of the books, Dr. Andrew Warri lauded the author for his sense of charity. “He helped me to go to school to read medicine,” he said.

“Therefore, this is a man who uses his wealth to touch lives and he is worthy of emulation.”

The event which was witnessed by many dignitaries saw people in high spirits.

Orubebe who attended with his lovely wife said that his love for writing is irrepressible.

Writing has already become a part of him as he promises to release eight more books in the next few months.

Fela Son of Kuti Continued from page 65

people suffered to give us theatre, to ensure that it is a profession that gives practitioners money. Today, we are happy and proud to be theatre artistes because someone has paved the way for it. You cannot say artistes are not living well, they are not paying their bills, building their own mansions at Lekki and some other choice areas in the country.

All you need do is stick to what you do and do it well”. Adefila offered.

The centenary festival of theatres will be rounded off with other interesting programmes that will make the audience see the profundity of live theatre. “It will be a show of all shows”, Abe promised. “We will use all sorts of theatricals to keep the Theatre environment warm come the month of October and beyond”, he said.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

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EBERE WABARA

WORDSWORTH 08055001948

ewabara@yahoo.com

Editing Nigerian editors

T

HE NATION ON SUNDAY of August 24 sustained the culture of wrongdoing: “It is commendable that Professor Jega has come out boldly, not only to condemn the development but assure (assure the nation) that the commission would not accept them for future elections.”

“Can we begin to have confidence on (in) INEC?” “Some of these areas include producing enough food to feed our teaming (teeming) population.”

“Rather, the money, including the N200 million per state released for special purposes, was diverted to other uses.”

We certainly do not need the last three words in the extract, having been taken care of by ‘diversion’.

“Unless the detonating mechanism of extremist religious chauvinism is diffused….” Get it right: defused (not diffused).

“They have decided to sheath their machetes and seek vengeance no more.” Noun: sheath; verb: sheathe.

THISDAY of August 28 requires reformation of four lines: “The sources of revenue in a city like Lagos is very important.” Still on errors of attraction (more below): The sources… are. “…business downturn resulting to (in) drive-wandering.” “…the rapaciousness of project contractors increase (increases) the country’s debt burden.”

“Senior civil servants’ union berate junior counterparts” Inside business: union berates.

THE GUARDIAN of August 28 questioned linguistic rules on two occasions: “It’s the poet feared most, knowing fully (full) well that one of the….”

“The agitated crowd, who had been whipped to hysteria, demanded for his head.…” To avoid mayhem, delete ‘for’ from the extract. “…and which provides a noble and humanistic framework for relations between the state and citizens in (on) our continent.”

“But in the welter of these realignment of forces…” Re-thinking development: this realignment of forces.

VANGUARD of August 28 circulated three goofs: “The fear along

the room and corridor (corridors) of power of a sovereign national conference.…”

“It is not in doubt that most of the commuters in the luxurious (luxury) buses that ply.…” “…Aba traders constitute a large proportion of the passengers on commercial aircrafts (aircraft) that fly....”

“Major reorganization of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), which may lead to mass retirement and sack of its men and officers, now looms.”

Get it right: a major reorganization or major reorganizations, as context demands.

“One of the most outrageous abuses occurred.…” Spelling in the lurch: occur, occurrence, occurred.

“I do not buy the argument that the advent of electronic mails and network computers have rendered postal services absolute.” Not yet time for structural proximity: the advent of electronic mails and network computers has (not have).

“In doing this, however, he must be faithful to the mandate of the ECOWAS Heads of Government under whose platform he operates.”

Agenda: on (not under) whose platform he operates “As Nigerian editors converge in (on) Katsina for their 10 th Annual Meeting.…”

“A government white paper on the demonstration….” Sheer abuse of words! ‘White paper’ is a report issued by Government to give information. Let’s respect words.

After all, reporting is all about telegraphic brevity.

“UNN students union honour vice chancellor” What is happening? Subeditors of these days show traces of illiteracy!

This way: UNN students’ union honours VC “The fact that some people eat food that does nothing for their physical well-being put them in the class of the poor.”

The fact…puts.

“The richer nations who (sic) have more than enough should in this moment of great need and expectation by the poor masses (the masses are basically poor) be their brothers’ keepers.”

S t a n d a r d sociolinguistics: ‘brother’s keeper’— whether one or more.

“Any further discourse on it, some might say, amounts to nothing

but over-flogging a dad horse.” You flog, not over-flog, a dead horse, talking idiomatically.

“Like few (a few in this context) years ago, a life cow was allegedly buried….” ‘Life cow’ in place of ‘live cow’ portrays sub-literacy.

“Opponents of private universities claim that they will aggravate the unemployment problem in the country.” ‘Unemployment’ is certainly a problem—so why compound it by adding another ‘problem’?

“Denmark has just played an historic role in….” ‘An historic role’ is the type of expression Ndaeyo Uko calls Elizabethan English! Current syntactic trend: ‘a historic…’

“One of the enduring concerns at the workshop concerned the role and orientation of the military with regards to our democratic aspirations.” Received English: ‘as regards’ or ‘with regard to’. “…the two ethnic rivals are now creating the impression that they are about to re-open (no hyphen) their old wounds and embark on another round of strive (strife).”

“They have in most cases remained willing collaborators in the depoliticization of the political system by acquiescing to virtually all the issues….” Get it right: acquiesce in (not to).

“And the neglect of such costs lead to political and economic imbalance that create disequilibria in the larger society.” The two verbs in this sentence (‘lead’ and ‘create’) demand singular usage to agree with ‘neglect’ and ‘imbalance.’

“The criteria for the choice of candidates was based on partisan political loyalties and ethnic considerations.” The plural of ‘criterion’ is ‘criteria’.

“NSE parleys foreign stock exchange” ‘Parley’ takes ‘with’, if it must be used in this sense at all.

By the way, is it not amazing that some Nigerian sub-editors do not know what they ‘N’ in ‘NUJ’ represents? It is Nigeria (not Nigerian) Union of Journalists. One keeps coming across the unpardonable error in reputable newspapers and magazines.

“All Nigerian Editors Conference Katsina 2014” Editing editors: All-Nigeria Editors’ Conference Katsina 2014

Strategies for Mathematical development •Continued from Page 18

The visiting Scientists Scheme should be reintroduced and funded by TetFund. The Tetfund should have a programme similar to the National Science Foundation in USA providing grants for Research, publication and international conference attendances.

The NMC should embark on production of higher level mathematical science textbooks and audio visual educational materials. All books, proceedings and journals published in Nigeria by research centres, universities and learned society must be of high impact. All publications should be indexed and abstracted in international database such as Google scholar, Ajol, Crossref etc. Mathematics journals must be sent for review in the Mathreview of the American Mathematical Society and the Zentrablatt Math. The publications by all learned mathematical science societies and association must be registered with crossref organisation to have Digital Observe Identifier (DOI) numbers for all articles appearing in the journals. Moreover, we must make sure that the articles are also indexed in Scorpio published Elsevier and Google scholars.

Furthermore, the published work would be sent for inclusion in the Citation of Science published by Thomas Router, in the High Beam and for educational papers and books in Eric website. The editorial membership of all journals must be expanded to include scholars across the world without any boundary. The Nigerian published should be included in Ebco journals. National Library of Nigeria should by now have Nigerian

version of Google scholar database directory just like J-Gate (India), CNKL (China), and EZB (Gamany), Ajol (South Africa), Ulrich’s periodical, Eric (USA), British Library (UK) etc.

The NMC has preformed creditably and should be commended and should continue with good strategies to achieving its plans. NMC has produced the Mathematical Kit and the new electronic teaching techniques Wiz-Teacher mechanism to complement the work of teachers in the classroom. More of electronic class room mechanism should be developed. The Olympiad programmes at the NMC should encourage coming up with new strategies that would allow Nigeria to win more medals. The investment in children prodigy in the area of Olympiad should be encouraged.

Mathematical science library and museum More money and resource should be devoted to equip the Nigerian Universities and NMC Mathematical libraries and the laboratories with the latest state of the art materials for them to be in the best in African region.

There should be a dedicated science museum where painting or monuments of renowned mathematical scientists in Nigeria and the world would be housed. The biographic information of the mathematicians would be kept in this museum to attract tourists to the NMC and to encourage young Nigerians to love Mathematics.

Nigeria should have a dedicated national laboratory

where mathematical modeling and simulation of national problems can be made and solution to problems proffered and national data can be housed.

Top employers in the world are now using World Universities Rating in employing staff. Therefore Nigerian universities should improve their rating. The government should invest more resources on education. Universities should be abstracting and indexing their postgraduate projects in international database.

One factor used in the rating of a university is the choice of foreign students to the university. Nigeria is helping universities in UK, USA, South Africa and Ghana etc to improve their rating; since more Nigerians gain admission to their institutions than those to the Nigerian institutions. The National policy on Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB) and post UME screening need be reexamined. There are many Nigerians with required five O’ level credits who could not make post UME but gained admission into institutions in other West African countries, and are performing well and improving the World Universities Rating of their institutions.

In conclusion, Nigeria has potential to realise the Vision 20:2020 and indeed it is one of the fastest growing economies in the world. We need to invest in education and strengthen our institutions to parley with the global norm on education and best practices.

Prof. Oyelami is of the Department of Mathematics, Plateau State University ,Bokkos

•National Publicity Secretary of NBA, Gbolahan Gbadamosi, PA to President Ondo State Customary Court of Appeal, Ms Oluremi Atunwa and Yemi Fakayejo of ExxonMobil at the 2014 NBA Owerri Conference, recently.

Canon Adesina for burial

R

EVEREND Canon Michael Adewole Adesina who died on June 17, 2014 is to be buried on September 12th.

A statement by the family of Adewole Adesina of EboQuarters Iwaro-Oka, Ondo State, said the body leaves the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH) on the 11th for a lying in state at his residence at No. 1 Ayelanwa Street, Ebo-Oka Akoka South West Local Government Area Ondo State.

A wake keep is to be held for him at his residence, on the same day by 6p.m.

There will be a funeral service on Friday the 12th by 9a.m

at St. John’s Anglican Church Oka-Akoko, Ondo State.

Internment follows at the church compound, Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Ebo-Quarters, Oka Akoko the same day.

Thereafter, there will be entertainment of guests at LA II primary School field, Ebo-Oka. The late Canon served at Kwara State Anglican Diocese before he retired home to Ondo State and combined his ministerial duties with Community Services.

He is survived by wife, Mary, children amongst whom are Venerable Ebenezer Adewole ,Venerable Nelson Adewole , brothers, sisters and grandchildren.

•Adesina

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

‘Why my 30-year-old marriage is fresh’ Renowned marriage counsellor Y and preacher, Rev.(Mrs.) OU hold women’s conference with many reporting a new level of submission they embrace after the meeting. What exactly do you do to them?

There is nothing I could have done to them; that must be absolutely God and His grace. As a woman, I believe I am raised to validate womanhood; to let the women know that they are not slaves and should not be subjugated. But at the same time, they must honour their husbands, the authorities that God has placed over their lives.

So, it is that balance that I teach. A woman can live up to the point that her husband respects her naturally. He does not see you as a liability but as a blessing. It is not every woman that a man can beat.

When a man knows who you are and what you have contributed to his life, he won’t go there. And when you give him the respect that his leadership deserves, he becomes your friend literally.

To what extent do you think a woman should be submissive?

A woman should be submissive in the context of the Bible, which says to honour and respect your husband. But don’t let him make you feel small. Don’t let him abuse you physically, psychologically, financially and emotionally.

And when your life is endangered, get out. You may not divorce but go out and seek for help.

It is someone that is alive that can talk about marriage.

Many women have been sacrificed on the altar of marriage and it doesn’t start once. There are always signals. If a man disrespects you and slaps you while you are dating, why go into marriage with him? You can remain single for life and be safe.

A woman submits to the extent to what the Bible says.

You honour your husband but you must know when the man is violating your human rights, your Bible rights. You don’t submit in the name of love until you are dead. You don’t go out to work, make money and give it to man who beats you up and sleeps around with prostitutes.

That is not submission; that is stupidity. That is foolishness and I don’t believe in that. If you are married to an ungodly man and you are dressed for service on Sunday.

If he stops to ask where you are going to, I believe you don’t start picking quarrels with him. You don’t say, ‘I’m going to church and there is nothing you can do about it.’

You can’t say and do that because you are a wife. The first thing to do is to remove your hat and gear, then sit with him. Then you can say, ‘My dear, today is Sunday. I’d like to go to church please.’ He will come down because you have

disarmed him. But when your life is in danger, submission at that time becomes stupidity.

But what kind of help is available these days? Should they involve the law, government or family?

To me, divorce is the last option. The Bible does not even support divorce. I don’t believe in it but there are situations where you don’t have a choice. I know because I have counselled people. No marriage breaks overnight. Every marriage goes through at least seven stages before it breaks.

Once you have noticed your marriage is becoming abusive, one you speak with him. If he doesn’t listen, get someone that is close to him.

If he doesn’t listen, involve the family. If he doesn’t listen, involve the church and pastor.

If he doesn’t listen, involve the traditional ruler of your town.

If he doesn’t listen, involve the police.

At that point, you have tried. Some men are abusive because their wives have not stood up. They think they can just take it. If he keeps slapping you every day and you don’t talk, the eyes will soon get blind.

What have you done to make your home work?

We met 32 years ago. Next Monday (tomorrow), our marriage will be 30 years. My husband is incredibly rare. I’m telling you the truth because no liar will get to heaven. I’m well travelled but I have not met men like my husband.

When we met, he told me that we must be transparently honest. That there is nothing we should not be able to tell each other. Two, that no matter what happens, we would not divorce.

Three, he said that I must not die under his shadow. That he wanted to help me to fulfil my potential that even though I’m his helper, he has chosen not to be an African husband.

That no matter what I wanted to become, he would help.

When he said that to me, I decided I’d do him good all his days.

One day, I said to God in the place of prayers that if he fails, God should hold me responsible. So, everything that has the signature of Felix Adejumo, he knows that all he needs to say is that I should take off. I’m so off that he would need to draw me back sometimes. God told us when we married that ‘I am in the midst of thee.’ So, even when we have misunderstandings, we are conscious that God is between us.

We are the best of friends and we are always together.

We don’t even have friends outside ourselves. And in 30 years, nobody has ever settled anything. We disagree as a couple sometimes because some two years ago, our children said they wanted our

kind of marriage that we don’t fight. My husband had to educate them that we also disagree on many things.

How do you juggle work with ministry, considering that you are always travelling?

Yes, we travel a lot but it just started about ten years ago.

I had to wait to consolidate our marriage before I started travelling. Our kids have grown up too. When they were young, we didn’t travel. We agreed to stay at home. We have this policy in our home: God first, marriage second and God’s work third. That is the order and our children understand it.

Our children are grown up now and we are freed up a bit.

My husband travels a lot too but people don’t know because he is quiet. He just sneaks in and out. He is in France, South Africa and everywhere.

I go for women conferences and you know women’s meetings are always louder.

I have a very understanding husband. After the Lord Jesus, my husband is the wind under my wings. He cheers me up. We don’t spend quantity time together but we spend quality time. When I realised that the Lord has given me an itinerary ministry, we take advantage of every opportunity.

We hide a lot. We go to the market together even now.

How have you kept your marriage fresh in all these years?

There was a time we were in South Africa together in one bush. Where we were you couldn’t get to except they sent you to us. So, our marriage is fresh because we service it every time. It’s been 30, in fact 32 exciting years. My husband proposed to me August 31 and I agreed September 8, 1982. We got married September 8, 1984.

One thing that has helped us is that we communicate a

Funke Felix-Adejumo, spoke with Sunday Oguntola on her 30 th wedding anniversary and sundry issues. Excerpts:

lot. If my husband is not in the country, we can speak 50 times a day. You won’t believe it. I’d call and say, ‘Hello darling, I’m going to the bathroom’, ‘Hello darling, what colour should I buy?’ When we are not together, we are together. He knows where I am. He knows what I’m doing and when the wind is blowing.

I know what he is doing and all that. In •Rev.(Mrs.) Felix-Adejumo, 30 years of our marriage, if I want to collate the number of thing in you, what would days we didn’t pray together, that be? it is less than one week.

I would change, though it How do you achieve that? is not possible. He is too busy.

It is always on the phones, One day I said to him, ‘Darespecially when we are not ling, if the devil can repent, together. We have our quiet you would have taken him to time together. We lie down on God.’ There is nobody he the floor. We pray together gives up on. He would say every day, no matter what hap- let’s try again. But, me, I am pens. Even when we have mis- different. My husband is understanding, we still pray patient a lot. I can help, but I together. I may not say Amen move on quickly. very well but we still pray.

I don’t like disloyal and Sometimes when we wake ungrateful people. Once I see up, we can talk for two hours those signals, I am off, but my before we pray, especially husband will be like ‘He can when we have anything to re- change now, let’s try again.’ solve. My husband will say to My husband taught me how me ‘God is not a task master. to walk with God. Just lookLet’s resolve this first.’ If I leave ing at his Christian life inyou now and you ask him spires me. some questions, he’d give you What would be your adthe same answers. vice to couples contemplating We are very appreciative of divorce?

God and each other. We don’t Please, there is no perfect take each other for granted. marriage anywhere. Do your If you were to change any- best to save that home. When

you divorce, it is your children that suffer most because you remove the cover of life over them and the rain of life beats them.

If you leave this spouse, do you know what the next one will be? In 30 years of marriage, I can tell you that a good marriage is expensive. So be ready to pay the price and you will be glad tomorrow. There is no marriage that is so bad that God cannot change it. Let’s go for counselling, let’s pray and let’s change.

What’s Mother’s Summit all about?

It’s a five-hour non-stop prayer meeting for our children. It is simply a praying meeting. Different people come to lead the prayer sessions. It is the fifth edition. In Lagos, it’s on November 1 at All Seasons Plaza, opposite Cadbury in Ikeja. It’s from 10am-2pm.

NEWS

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RESIDENT of the National Christian Graduate Fellowship (NCGF), Dr Samuel Itina, has challenged Christians to begin to reflect the changes they desire to see in the nation.

He stated that Nigeria will change when Christians mirror the changes they believe to take place in every sector.

Itina spoke last week at the 39th conference of the NCGF in Onitsha, Anambra State with the theme “let us rise and build”.

Addressing members of the fellowship mostly from the academic community, he lamented the precarious state of the nation.

He charged members to build “our Christian lives, fellowship, church and nation.”

On terror attacks, Itina said: “The Boko-Haram insurgents appear to be getting bolder and stronger every day.

“They pick at will any target where they destroy lives and properties. And they have

How Christians can rebuild Nigeria, by NCGF

By Sunday Oguntola

advanced to the nation’s capital and are threatening to spread to other parts of the country.”

According to him, the attacks by Fulani herdsmen also call for attention.

He condemned endemic corruption as well as kidnapping, hired assassination and armed robbery, stating they threaten the existence of the nation.

Professor Vincent Anigbogu, a Professor of Analytical Chemistry for over three decades in the United States of America, said that Nigeria cannot afford to have leaders that work so hard to build and not preserve it.

Speaking on The Church and nation building, the Director of Institute for National Transformation said Nigeria needs leaders with foresight.

Anigbogu called on Christians to get involved in nation-

•Past national president of NCGF, Elder John Udo; his wife, Agnes; past national vice president, Dr Chudi Onwuegbuna; Anigbogu and Itina at the conference

building, warning that “If you leave God to do what you are supposed to do, you are irresponsible.”

He added that prayers won’t change principles or bring about constitutional review where necessary to foster development or change.

He advocated for adoption of biblical principles for national transformation.

Anigbogu said conscious efforts must be made to develop human capacity to pro-

duce the kind of leaders desirable for the kind of change the nation wants.

He said: “Christian leaders and followers alike must desist from running after government officials and politicians for the purpose of self gratification.”

He added: “Desist from making money your God. Christians must ensure that they discourage corruption and not fan the embers of corruption.”

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

WORSHIP COLUMN

Prayer is the foundation of Aladura churches (2)

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HE classic prayer Lord’s Prayer is not a child’s prayer or mere family prayer; it is specifically and definitely stated to be the disciples’ prayer and only on the lips of a disciple has the prayer its full meaning. The Lord’s Prayer can only be prayed when those who pray it know what they are saying and they cannot know that until they have entered into discipleship.

The first 3 petitions have to do with God and the glory of God. The second 3 petitions have to do with our needs and our necessities. God is first given his supreme place and then only can we turn to ourselves and our needs and desires. The second part deals with our needs and desires.

First asks for bread, which is necessary for the maintenance of life and thereby brings the need of the present to the throne of God. Second asks for forgiveness and thereby brings the past into the presence of God. Third asks for help in temptation and thereby commits all the future before the footstool of God. In these three petitions we are taught to lay the present, past and future before the footstool of God. When we ask for bread to sustain our earthly lives, that request immediately directs our thoughts to God the father, the creator and sustainer of all life. When we ask for forgiveness, that request immediately directs our thoughts to God the son, Jesus Christ our savior and redeemer. When we ask for help for the future temptation, that request immediately directs our thoughts to God the Holy Spirit, the comforter, the strengthener the illuminator, the guide, the Guardian of our way.

In the Lord’s Prayer, Jesus teaches us to bring the whole of life to the whole of God and to bring the whole of God to the whole of Life.

Our Father in Heaven: Our Father: The great value of the word Father is that it settles all relationships of this Life.

1. It settles our relationship to the unseen world. 2. It settles our relationship to the seen world. 3. It settles our relationship to one another.

4. It settles our relationship to ourselves. 5. It settles our relationship to God. In Heaven: But God is not only our Father; he is our Father who is in heaven. They conserve two great truths. 1. They remind us of the holiness of God. 2. They remind us of the power of God. The Hallowing of the name: Let your name be held holy: ‘ Hallowed be your HE word of God should be the cornerstone of the faith of believers as against miracles and materialism, the general overseer of the Grace Prevailing Assembly, Ojodu Lagos, Dr Godwin Nwachukwu, has stated.

He spoke at the grand finale of the annual Integrity Conference of the church with the theme repositioning for re-

T

By Elder (Professor) Joseph Otubu

name’ hagios means Different or Separate. A person who is hagios is separate from other persons. Let God’s name be treated differently from all other names; let God’s name be given a position which is absolutely unique. In Hebrew, the name means the nature, the character, and the personality of the person in so far as it is known or revealed to us.

It really means that at such a time some will put their trust in human and material aids and defences, but the psalmist will remember the nature and the character of God; he will remember what God is like, and that memory will give him confidence.

Taking the two words together, when we pray ‘Hallowed be thy name’ it means ‘enable us to give to you the unique place which your nature and character deserve and demand.

The Prayer for Reverence: Reverence is the word for “ Giving to God the unique place which his name and character demand. There are four essentials in all true reverence of God. 1. We must believe that God exists. 2. We must know the kind of God he is; holiness, justice and love. 3.

There must be a constant awareness of God. 4. We must show obedience and submission to God. God’s kingdom and God’s Will.

Let your Kingdom come.

Let your will be done, as in heaven, so also on earth.

(Matt. 6:10.) Kingdom of God is central to the message of Jesus.

Mark 1:14: ‘he came into Galilee preaching the good news of the kingdom of God. Luke 4:43; Mark 1:38: ‘ I must proclaim the good news of the kingdom of God to the other cities also; for I was sent for this purpose’ Jesus spoke of the kingdom in three different ways: 1. He spoke of the kingdom as existing in the Past. Luke 13:28, Matt 8:11, He said that Abraham, Isaac and Jacob and all the prophets were in the kingdom. 2. He spoke of the kingdom as Present. (Luke 17:21); ‘The kingdom of God’, he said, ‘is among you’. 3. He spoke of the kingdom of God as Future. For he taught the disciples to pray for the coming of the kingdom in this own prayer.

How can the kingdom of God be Past, Present, and Future all at one time? The Hebrew style of PARALLELISM, Hebrew language tends to say everything twice. Psalms is full of this.

God is our refuge and strength, A very present help in

trouble(Psalm 46:1).

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pasture; He leads me beside still waters (Psalm 23:1-2).

Compare this: Your kingdom come, Your will be done in earth as it is in Heaven.

Perfect definition of the kingdom of God; “ The kingdom of God is a society upon earth where God’s will is as perfectly done as it is in heaven” To be in the kingdom is to obey the will of God. The kingdom is the most personal thing in the world. The kingdom demands the submission of my will, my heart, and my life. Hear the Chinese Christian Prayer “ Lord, revive your church, beginning with me” To pray for the kingdom of heaven is to pray that we may submit our wills entirely to the will of God. “Your will be done” This represents the most important words in the world. The frame of mind and the tone of voice in which these words are spoken will make a world of difference. 1.

Some people say it in a tone of defeated resignation. Some people may accept the will of God for no other reason than that they have realised that they cannot do anything else.

2. Some people say it in a tone of bitter resentment. Some may feel that God is their enemy, and yet an enemy so strong that they cannot resist.

They may therefore accept God’s Will, but they may accept it with bitter resentment and Moulding anger.

3. Some people may say it in perfect love and Trust. They may say it gladly and willingly, no matter what that will may be. It is easy for Christians to say it like this because they can be very sure of two things about God; (A) They can be sure of the wisdom of God. God is the expert in life, and his Guidance can never lead anyone astray. (B). He can be sure of the love of God. Paul said, “ He who did not withhold his own Son, but gave him up for all of us, will he not with him also give us everything else. (Romans 8:32) No one can look at the cross and doubt the love of God; and when we are sure of the love of God, it is easy to say: ‘your will be done’.

Being part of a sermon delivered by Otubu PhD (London), Dip. Theology (Ibadan) General Evangelist, Motailatu Church Cherubim and Seraphim Worldwide under the leadership of His Most Eminence, Baba Aladura (Dr) Motailatu Akinadewo Primate, Founder and Supreme Head, MCCSW at the 50th anniversary of the church in Lekki Lagos.

Living Faith

By Dr. David Oyedepo

Walking in financial dominion!

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WELCOME you to the month of September.

Whatever you missed in the past months, you will, this September, collect them in many folds! This is why the teaching this month is unique – Walking In Financial Dominion!

Every child of God is ordained to walk, among other high places, in financial dominion.

This heritage is established but on the following platforms: •Salvation: The Bible says that Christ was slain to receive for us power, riches, wisdom, strength, honour, glory and blessing (Revelation 5:12).

•Connectivity to the Abrahamic covenant: God swore blessings to Abraham, in response to his Sacrifice on mount Moraiah (Gen. 22:18).

Also, every child of God is a seed of Abraham. Therefore, everyone that is ‘born again’ is ordained to walk in financial dominion (Galatians 3:29).

•Access to the blessing of the law: Prominent among the blessings of the law is financial dominion. As it is written: ...and thou shalt lend unto many nations, and thou shalt not borrow. And the LORD shall make thee the head, and not the tail; and thou shalt be above only, and thou shalt not be beneath...

(Deut. 28:12-13). But the Bible asserts that Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law to become partakers of the blessings of Abraham (Gal. 3:13-14). This is what entitles every child of God to enjoy the blessings of the law, among which is financial fortune.

•As a member of the endtime church: The end-time church is ordained for finan-

NEWS

• L-R: Chairman of the occasion, Prof. George Obiozor; Lagos state governor, Raji Fashola (2nd left); the presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Dr Mike Okonkwo and his wife, Peace during the 15th annual Mike Okonkwo lecture in Lagos… on Thursday

Shun materialism, Christians urged

By Bode Monogbe

vival.

Nwachukwu described the state of the Christian faith today as pathetic.

Quoting copiously from 11Thessalonians 2:1-3 and 1Timothy 4, he said people no more seek God but miracles

and quick-fix riches.

According to him: “What is available today is the gimmick of the devil; materialism is the bottom line. There is power tussle everywhere.

“Everyone seeks fame, power and influence, forgetting Jesus .No wonder there are iniquities everywhere and

cial dominion (Isaiah 2:2-3). In addition, according to Haggai, God will be unleashing financial fortune upon the end-time church (Haggai 2:8-9).

THE LOVE PLATFORM Giving is the gateway to a world of financial dominion.

Luke 6:38 says: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again. In response to our giving, the Bible says: And God is able to make all grace abound toward you; that ye, always having all sufficiency in all things, may abound to every good work: (2 Corinthians 9:8).

However, we discover that love is what empowers us to give continuously, tirelessly and sacrificially. For example, the Bible says: For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life (John 3:16). Nothing empowers giving like love. On the other hand, it is the giving grace that empowers us to command financial dominion. As it is written: But thou shalt remember the Lord thy God: for it is he that giveth thee power to get wealth, that he may establish His covenant which he sware unto thy fathers, as it is this day (Deut. 8:18).

From here, we understand that while love empowers our giving life, it is our giving that empowers us for wealth which ultimately translates to financial dominion. However, not just love, but the love of God burning in our hearts. Remember, it is the love of God that overflows through us to the world around (1 Corinthians 2:9; 1 John 3:14-18). We observe that every testimony of finan-

cial fortune is rooted in the sacrificial giving of men.

But How do we get on this platform?

First, we must recognize that Love is by choice and not by force. People choose who to love and what to love. Secondly, our love for God can be empowered by the Holy Ghost (Romans 5:5). Again, we also observe that there is the Spirit of love. Paul the Apostle said: For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but (Spirit) of power, and (Spirit) of love, and of a sound mind (2 Timothy 1:7).

This revalidates the empowerment dimension of love. From the above, we understand that it is the Spirit of love that empowers us to love God above all else, including ourselves (Mark 12:30-31).

Friend, the power and grace to access the wonders in the Word of God, are the preserve of those who are children of God. Are you a child of God? You become a child of God, by confessing your sins and accepting Jesus as your Lord and Saviour. You can be God’s child now, if you haven’t been, by saying this prayer: “Lord Jesus, I come to You today. I am a sinner.

Forgive me of my sins. Cleanse me with Your precious Blood. Today, I accept You as my Lord and Saviour. Thank You, for saving me!

Now, I know I am born again!”

I will continue with this teaching next week. Exceeding Grace and the Unspeakable Gifts of God are your portion this month!

Every exploit in life is a product of knowledge. For further reading, please get my books: Understanding Financial Prosperity, Covenant Wealth and Winning The War Against Poverty.

I invite you to come and fellowship with us at the Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, the covenant home of Winners.

We have four services on Sundays, holding at 6:00 a.m., 7:50 a.m., 9:40 a.m. and 11.30 a.m. respectively.

I know this teaching has blessed you. Write and share your testimony with me though: Faith Tabernacle, Canaan Land, Ota, P.M.B. 21688, Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria; or call 7747546-8; or E-mail: feedback@lfcww.org

love is waxing cold. In fact, what we are seeing now is a danger sign and signs of the last days.”

The cleric proffered love as antidote to infighting and the pulling of fellow Christians down.

“What we should pray for is the capacity to withstand

challenges and be kind. Let us find a common front and promise to be better. There is capacity and power in the blood of Jesus to do what we have in mind to do,” he said.

His wife, Mrs. Gloria Nwachukwu, spoke on why marriage is failing.

She said the institution is under attack because most times, it is planted in un-

friendly environments.

According to her: “Marriage involves friendship love, hard work, understanding, sacrifice and denials .It is not just for anybody.

“Individuals involved must be physically, mentally, psychologically and emotionally ready. When this is done, they will be able to meet up with any challenge.”

THE NATION ON SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

71

72

Oddities The Nation on Sunday September 7, 2014

Strange ‘Prophet of God’ For the past 13 years this prophet has neither taken his bath nor had sexual intercourse with his wife.

He said he is obeying God. Taiwo Abiodun reports.

•’God instructed me not to bath’

•Prophet Olagunjun

PHOTOS: Taiwo Abiodun

• Toe nails of Olagunjun

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THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

to try Morsi for giving Sierra Leone to impose four-day Egypt Qatar security papers countrywide anti-Ebola 'lock down' E

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IERRA Leone will impose a four-day, countrywide 'lockdown' starting September 18, an escalation of efforts to halt the spread of Ebola across the West African country, a senior official in the president's office said.

The move underscores the radical steps West African nations are being pushed to take, over six months into an outbreak that is the worst on record and shows no sign of easing having already killed over 2,100 people since March.

Citizens will not be allowed to leave their homes between September 18-21 in a bid to prevent the disease from spreading further and allow health workers to identify cases in the early stages of the illness, said Ibrahim Ben Kargbo, a presidential adviser on the country's Ebola task force.

"The aggressive approach is necessary to deal with the spread of Ebola once and for all," he told Reuters.

As of Friday, Sierra Leone

has recorded 491 of the total of suspected, probable and confirmed Ebola deaths, according to UN figures.

Kargbo said 21,000 people would be recruited to enforce the lockdown. Thousands of

police and soldiers have already been deployed to enforce the quarantining of towns in Sierra Leone's worst-hit regions near the border with Guinea.

Organizations from across the world are rushing funds

and equipment to West Africa, but Ebola is spreading faster than ever and experts say the lack of trained staff in weak health systems is a major obstacle to the response.

GYPT's deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi will be tried on charges of giving Qatar documents relating to national security, the state prosecutor said yesterday.

The former head of state already faces the death penalty in several trials, and his supporters have been the target of a deadly crackdown by the authorities since his ouster in July 2013.

No date has yet been set for the new trial for Morsi, who is suspected of providing the sensitive documents to the energyrich Gulf state during his single year of turbulent rule.

Morsi and 10 co-defendants will go on trial for having "handed over to Qatari intelligence documents linked to national security... in exchange for one million dollars," a statement said.

This case represents "the biggest act of treason carried out by the Muslim Brotherhood against the country," the prosecutor's statement added.

Morsi's Brotherhood was designated a terrorist organisation after his overthrow.

Co-defendants include Morsi's former secretary, Amin El-Serafi; the ex-director of his office,

Ahmed Abdel Atti, and Ibrahim Mohamed Helal, identified as a chief editor of the Doha-based Al-Jazeera television network.

In the statement, the prosecutor said Morsi and Abdel Atti gave El-Serafi "extremely sensitive documents concerning the army, its deployment and weaponry" and he in turn gave them to Helal and to a Qatari intelligence operative.

It said intermediaries, who were not identified, were used to send the documents to Helal and the Qataris.

The papers included documents from the "general and military intelligence offices of the state security" apparatus, the prosecutor said.

Morsi, El-Serafi and Abdel Atti are all behind bars. Helal's whereabouts are unknown.

In March, the interior ministry accused El-Serafi of handing over to an Al-Jazeera chief editor and Brotherhood member documents regarding the army, its weaponry and troop deployments.

Relations between Egypt and Qatar soured after Morsi's ouster, as Cairo criticised Doha's backing for the Brotherhood.

Somalia rebel group leader is dead

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COMMANDER of Somalia’s Islamic extremist rebels, al Shabab, has confirmed that the leader of the group was killed in a US air strike.

Abu Mohammed said on Saturday the militants were meeting at an undis-

closed location to pick the successor to Ahmed Abdi Godane.

Godane and other al Shabab officials were killed when a US air strike hit two cars in southern Somalia on Monday.

A senior Somali intelligence officer said Zakariya

Ismael, who has a three million US dollars bounty on his head, is one of the candidates to succeed Godane.

Earlier a top official said Somalia’s government had credible intelligence that Islamic militants were planning attacks following the death of their leader.

In a televised speech, Gen Khalif Ahmed Ereg, Somalia’s national security minister, said medical and educational institutions could be targeted. Mr Ereg said the government is vigilant and had prepared its armed forces to prevent such attacks.

President Barrack Obama confirmed on Friday that Godane was killed by the US air strike.

Godane had publicly claimed al Shabab was responsible for the Westgate Mall attack in Nairobi, Kenya, almost a year ago that left 67 people dead.

Mr Ereg called on militants still fighting for the al Qaida-linked group to surrender to get a “brighter” livelihood from the government.

The US State Department declared al Shabab a terrorist organisation in February 2008.

DIMGBA IGWE 1956 - 2014 One of Nigeria’s best brains, says Lagos Speaker

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HE Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, has described the late Vice-Chairman of The Sun Publishing Company, Mr. Dimgba Igwe, who was killed early yesterday by a hit-and-run driver near his Lagos home, as one of the very best of media professionals to ever come out of

Africa In a statement on his behalf by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Rotimi Adebayo, Ikuforiji declared: “The sudden death of one of Africa’s best professional media men, internationally acclaimed Dimgba Igwe, is a national tragedy all Nigerians had wished, never happened.

“It is even the more painful and most unfortunate that such

a seasoned, hale and hearty professional could be killed while jogging near his home.

That he was not even ill at all before his death makes it all the more painful,” Ikuforiji further said.

He called on the relevant security agency to “do everything possible to bring the killer to justice without delay...”

ROSS River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, has described the sudden death of former Deputy Managing Director and Deputy Editor-in-Chief of The Sun newspaper, Mr. Dimgba Igwe, as tragic, shocking and saddening.

While commiserating with the management and staff of The Sun, where the late Dimgba Igwe was until his death yesterday, the Vice Chairman, Imoke, in a press statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Christian Ita, said: “I received the death of Mr. Igwe with shock, pain and deep grief in my heart. It is saddening and regrettable that he died in such a gruesome manner while jogging.”

Recalling the late

journalist’s incisive commentaries in his popular and well read column, Imoke noted: “He was a seasoned and consummate journalist who used his column, ‘Side View’, not only to inform but to deplore the socio-political ills in the society.”

Describing the death of Igwe as a colossal loss to the journalism industry, Nigeria

and sadly his family, the governor lamented: “The industry has once again lost one of its brightest. Dimgba Igwe’s death is regrettable as it came at a time when his vast and robust experience is most crucial to Nigeria.”

He asked God to grant the deceased family the fortitude to bear the painful loss, even as he prayed for the soul of the late Igwe to find repose in the lord

Imoke mourns, condoles with The Sun

C

Continued from Page 5

On why he keeps muting business ideas even while neck-deep in his busy schedule as a media manager, Igwe said he got his kicks from looking at the many system failures that characterise the Nigerian polity.

“We (Mike and I) have also decided to develop a niche that had always been part of us. When

D

EPUTY Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu yesterday expressed shock and deep sorrow over the death of the Vice Chairman of the Sun Publishing Limited, the late Pastor Dimgba Igwe, who died in a fatal auto accident on yesterday.

A statement by the Special Adviser (Media) to the Deputy Senate President, Uche Anichukwu, quoted Ekweremadu to have described the late Igwe as a “quintessential journalist.”

He added that Ekweremadu said that the death was a “typical thunder-

We’ve lost a quintessential journalist, Ekweremadu declares From: Onyedi Ojiabor, Assistant Editor

bolt from a blue, serene, sky”.

Ekweremadu said: “I am short of words to describe this sad event. Sometimes, life could be cruel beyond measure, and this is one of such instances. It is a grievous loss to not only the Sun Publishing family, but our media industry and the nation as a whole.

“Pastor Dimgba was one of the finest hands in the nation’s media industry.

Journalism lost a gem - Atiku

F

ORMER Vice President Atiku Abubakar has mourned the demise of Mr. Dimba Igwe.

In a statement personally signed by the former Vice President yesterday, he de-

scribed the death of Igwe as a shocking development and heart wrenching.

Atiku recalled that he last saw Dimba Igwe in January this year, “while his demeanour was as lively as ever and full of

The man Dimgba Igwe

we go abroad and talk to some of our other colleagues in the media, the things we describe are completely strange to them. They cannot imagine that you could do a business and then you would still buy a generator, drill your own borehole or even contribute to rehabilitating roads. So, this

Besides leaving footprints of excellence on many of the nation’s leading media houses, including the Sun Publishing Limited, his regular column, “Sideview” was a prototype of excellence and professionalism.

He was a flawless writer, a compelling analyst, and God-fearing media guru.

He told the truth, as he knew it, in a sermon-like manner that held his readers addicted and spellbound. He will be highly missed.”

absence of infrastructure is absent out there. They have taken all that for granted. So, if you are a manager in Nigeria and you succeed, then, you can excel anywhere in the world.”

Aside journalism, Igwe, before his death and

expectedly, alongside Awoyinfa, established his mastery of another form of writing.

Together, the duo is unarguably the most renowned biographer in the country today. While they were still in various paid employment and after they decided

bluster.”

The statement said further: “The demise of Dimba Igwe, who was a personal friend of mine will leave a huge hole in the spectrum of journalism profession in Nigeria.” to be on their own, the duo wrote the biographies of more Nigerians than anybody else has ever done.

“We have always done this simultaneously with journalism, which is writing books. And you know that this niche actually started 15 years ago when we wrote a book called 50 Nigeria’s Corporate Strategists.

74

NEWS

Umana commends Attah for advocating open primary

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HE immediate past Secretary to Akwa Ibom State government and a leading gubernatorial aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Umana Umana, has commended former governor, Victor Attah, for openly advocating free and open contest in the party’s forthcoming primary.

Umana, in a statement in Uyo yesterday, said the cochair of the committee on Resource Control at the just concluded National Conference has lived up to his true billing and status as father of all Akwa Ibom indigenes.

He described Attah’s call for a level- playing field for all the gubernatorial aspirants, irrespective of their senatorial districts, as a further demonstration of his true statesmanship.

The former SSG said the former governor’s declaration during a reception for him at Asan Ibibio that zoning is not the way forward for Akwa Ibom was praiseworthy.

In a speech that drew deafening roar of approval at Asan Ibibio, the cradle of Ibibio civilization at the weekend, Attah said: “As I looked around, I see a number of faces here of people I know are aspiring to the office of governor of this state.

“A large number of those aspirants are from Eket Senatorial District. This should be expected because of the sequential logic that after Uyo and Ikot Ekpene, it should be Eket.

“But there must be a level playing field for all aspirants.

This is particularly true at this time when there is such a crying need to give hope back to our people: to restore their confidence in their government and to rebuild the state.”

He added: “Zoning will certainly be a major consideration but at a time like this certain other compelling determinants cannot be sacrificed on the altar of zoning alone.”

Umana said Attah’s declaration was consistent with the position of the national leadership of the PDP and the demand of majority of Akwa Ibom indigenes at the PDP elders and stakeholders’ town hall meeting on April 15 in Uyo.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

Ebola: Rivers community seeks more quarantine centres

O

DUOHA, a community in Rivers, has called for the establishment of more quarantine centres to tackle the menace of Ebola Virus Disease across the state and its environs.

Making this appeal was the monarch of the town, His Royal Highness Eze Dr. Ferdinand Agbadu Ogbuehi.

From Precious Dikewoha, Port Harcourt

The royal father, who is a traditional native doctor, spoke yesterday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, while reacting to rumours that his subjects are running away from the community in the wake of the Ebola outbreak in

F

P/Harcourt baby factory saga: NGO decries police harassment J USTICE Network (JN) has decried renewed police harassment of a female medical doctor in Port Harcourt, Dr Chinyere Emeka Precious for allegedly running a baby factory last year.

Consequently, the JN has called on the Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Sulemain Abbah to call his men to order.

Speaking in Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital at the weekend, the President of JN, Mrs. Uduak Elijah recalled that on August 2, 2013, the home of Dr. Precious at Elelenwo, Port Harcourt, was invaded at about 2.30am by policemen

From Clarice Azuatalam, Port Harcourt

from Mini-Okoro, Police station, Port Harcourt, on the suspicion that she was running a baby factory.

During the invasion, Dr Precious, her children, family members, household items worth millions of naira including her cheque book were taken away by the police.

The medical doctor and members of her family were later paraded by the Rivers Police Command for alleg-

From Nicholas Kalu, Calabar

Ekpo, Atakpa, Nyagasang and Edim Otop all in Calabar.

NEWMAP was designed “to tackle severe soil erosion through the integrated watershed management approach that would address the interlinked challenges of poverty, ecosystem services, climate change, disaster risk management, biodiversity,

institutional capacity and governance.”

The World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Marie-Francoise MarieNelly at the launch of NEWMAP in the state said the development was indicative of the determination of the government and affected communities to nip the problems associated with gully erosion in the bud.

Group reinstates support for Jonathan’s reelection

A

POLITICAL pressure group, the Delta United For Tony Obuh (DUF), has vowed its unflinching support for the reelection of President Goodluck Jonathan, come 2015.

The chief convener of the group, Chief Ayirimi Emami, stated this yesterday in Asaba when a staunch member of DUF and the lawmaker representing Uvwie

Since then, Oduoha, a community in Emohua Local Government Area of Rivers State has been in the news.

In a recent visit to the community, the monarch said people have overcome the fear and belief that citing the quarantine centre in the community is evil against the community.

•Cross River State Governor,Liyel Imoke and World Bank Country Director, Marie-Francoise Marie-Nelly presenting cheque to one of the contractors handling the NEWMAP projects in the State while the project team leader, Dr. Amos Abu watches on in Calabar... at the weekend

Four erosion sites gulp N492m in Cross River OUR erosion sites in Calabar have been slated to benefit from the World Bank assisted erosion control project, the Cross River State Nigeria Erosion and Watershed Management Project (CRS-NEWMAP).

It was gathered the cost of the project would be around N497 million.

The four sites include Ikot

the state.

It would be recalled that after the outbreak of Ebola in Rivers State, which was recorded through the late Dr. Ikechukwu Sam Enemuo, the government faced serious resistance from the community following the bid to convert the Community Health Centre to an Ebola Quarantine Ward.

From Bolaji Ogundele, Warri

Constituency in the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Efe Ofobruku played host to the group.

He stressed that apart from consolidating its push towards actualising the 2015 gubernatorial ambition of Mr. Tony Obuh, members of DUF were totally committed to pursuing the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan

in the next general elections.

“It is important for every member to realise that the crusade is not just for Tony Obuh to become governor, but we are also in total support of President Goodluck Jonathan re-election come 2015, because the President is one of our own and has performed creditably well to deserve a second term,” Emami said.

edly running baby factory and subsequently detained while her hospital, God’s Gift Clinic and Maternity at Elelenwo, Port Harcourt, was shut down by the police.

The sum of N5million which was allegedly extorted from her by the police and her cheque book were returned due to the intervention of the former IGP, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar.

Dr Precious in turn dropped the petition she wrote against the Police and the case closed.

According to JN: “On August 6, 2014, some policemen went back to Dr Precious’ clinic and started harassing her again to the extent that the place was shut down”, an action that made her to petition to the new IGP. While applauding the intervention of the acting IGP which ensured that the clinic was re-opened on September 2, 2014, the JN, however, called on the police “to stop this impunity” adding that “anybody who has scores to settle with her should adopt the right legal steps to seek redress rather than try to pass through the back door to pursue it.”

Adigwe visits PDP elders, seeks support

A

PEOPLES Democratic Party (PDP) Delta North senatorial aspirant for the 2015 election, Hon. Pascal Adigwe, has reassured the people of the senatorial district that he will ensure more dividends of democracy and even distribution of basic infrastructures for the area if he is elected.

Hon. Adigwe gave the assurance at a consultation visit with some stakeholders, leaders and party chairmen and ward executives of PDP at Oshimili South, Aniocha South, and local government areas in of Ndokwa.

Speaking at one of the town hall meetings held at Ogwashi-Uku in Aniocha-South, the senatorial aspirant said his visit was to interact with the party leaders and also seek their support.

He used the occasion to highlight some of his past achievements during his tenure as a member of the House of Representatives for Aniocha/ Oshimili Federal Constituency which include attraction of link road from the state through Edo, Kogi States up to Abuja, the completion of the long abandoned Federal Prisons Ogwashi-Uku, award of scholarship to students in higher institutions as well as empowerment of men, women and youths, among other achievements.

Adigwe, who was accompanied on the visit by his teaming supporters led by his campaign organisation Director–General, Hon. Joe Adigwe, stated that it was the turn of Aniocha to produce a senator, adding that other areas that make up the district such as Ika, Ndokwa and Oshimili North and South Federal Constituencies have produced at different times, senators for the Delta North Senatorial District; he, therefore, urged the people to look inwards and give their support to his aspirations.

Tenure elongation: Mischief makers at work HE authorities of the Uniage-long marginalisation of the UNIBEN versity of Benin Benins in the appointment of

T

(UNIBEN) yesterday described as mischief and an attempt to distort the facts, the claims in some quarters that the recent protest by market women in Benin City was aimed toward the elongation of the tenure of the out-going Vice Chancellor of the University, Prof.Osayuki Oshodin.

While distancing the authorities of the university from the protest, the university recalled that part of the reasons adduced by the women for embarking on the protest was to request that another Benin son succeeds Prof.Oshodin and not that they sought for the elongation of the tenure of Prof.

Oshodin.

It would be recalled that over one thousand market women had last week stormed the palace of the Oba of Benin and the state Government

From Osemwengie Ben Ogbemudia, Benin

House demanding that security operatives should fish out those who allegedly poisoned Prof.Oshodin, just as they also demanded that another Benin man should succeed Oshodin due to what they described as

VCs despite the fact that the university is situated in their land.

Consequently, some panellists in a private TV station in the state alleged that the protest may have been masterminded by the VC with a view to elongate his tenure in the university.

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

75

CHANGE OF NAME

CHANGE CHANGE OF OF NAME NAME

ADEBOUN

AFERE

CHANGE OF NAME ASO

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Aishat Oluwakemi Adeboun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aishat Oluwakemi Ogedengbe. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Catherine Ayodeji Afere, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Catherine Ayodeji Oduluyi. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Aso, Toyin Stella, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Agunsoye, Toyin Stella. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHI-NWANKWO

AJAYI I formerly known and addressed as Miss AJAYI ADEBANKE TOLULOPE now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. OJO ADEBANKE TOLULOPE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adedayo Abisola Shodeinde, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adedayo Abisola Ilupeju. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Chituru Chi-Nwankwo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chitrus Azubuike. All former documents remain valid. Federal Polytechnic, Nekede, Owerri and general public should please take note.

SHITTA

I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Shitta, Mojisola Olaide (nee Alokolaro), now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Alokolaro-Odi, Mojisola Olaide.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

MICHEAL I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Kehinde Olayinka Micheal, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Kehinde Olayinka Oluwatidahunsi. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

FAMAKINWA

I, formerly known and addressed as Grace Titilayo Famakinwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Grace Titilayo OladipoObitusin. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

SALAMI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Saratu Olubunmi Salami, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Saratu Olubunmi Johnson. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

NNAH I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ekaette Sunday Nnah, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ekaette Anthony James. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

ADEBAS

AWODELE

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Awodele Dorcas Oluwakemi, now wish to be known anddressed as Mrs. Adebayo Dorcas Oluwakemi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

KUYE I formerly known and addressed as Kuye, Olamide Atinuke, now wish to be known anddressed as Kuye Florence Olatokunbo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

MOIETT

I formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Moiett, Serah Abosede, now wish to be known anddressed as Mrs. Akinola, Serah Abosede. All former documents remain valid.

LASU and general public should please take note.

AZEEZ I formerly known and refers to as Miss. AZEEZ ADENIKE ABIDEMI, now wishes to be known and addressed as Mrs. DADA ADENIKE ABIDEMI. All former documents remained valid. College of Health Technology, Ilese, Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State and the general public should please take note.

AKPAN

I formerly known and refers to as Miss. EMEM PETER AKPAN, now wishes to be known and addressed as Mrs. EMEM AMANAM NKOP. All former documents remained valid. The general public should please take note.

ABIKOU

I, formerly known and addressed as Adebas Adedokun Rihanat Jolaoyemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Badmus, Rihanat Jolaoyemi. All former documents remain valid. Nigeria Immigration and general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Chantale Abikou, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Chantale A. Ijeoma. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

UWELLO

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Akanite, Uche Olivia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lawal, Uche Olivia. All former documents remain valid.General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Blessing James Uwello, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Blessing Nandang Ponsak. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CORRECTION OF NAME This is to notify the general public that my name was wrongly spelt as KWENTU LOUIS JINDU in Zenith International Bank Plc. Investor’s Account details instead of Kwentua Louis Obi. My correct names are KWENTUA LOUIS OBI. All former documents remain valid. Zenith International Bank Plc and general public should please take note.

MAKINDE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Abimbola Bunmi Makinde, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abimbola Bunmi Akinmade. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADELEKE

AKANITE

ADEWALE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adewale, Mariam Funmi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akande, Mariam Funmi. All former documents remain valid. Teachers’ Establishment and Pension Office (TEPO) Osogbo, State of Osun and general public should please take note.

MADUKOLUM I, formerly known and addressed as Madukolum, Nkeiruka Concilia, now wish to be known and addressed as Nmadu, Nkeiruka Concilia. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

MADU

I formerly known as Adeleke Tolulope Ifeoluwa now Adedayo Tolulope Ifeoluwa now wish to be referred to as ADELEKEADEDAYO TOLULOPE IFEOLUWA.general public,NOHL should take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Madu Chinonye Anita, now wish to be known and addressed as Nmadu, Chinonye Anita. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AKINLADE

CONFIRMATION OF NAME This is to notify the general public that both GEROGE EKURI EJU NDIFON and EKURI EJU NDIFON refers to one and same person. All documents bearing the above names remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Akinlade Teslim Iyabo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Amusa Wasilat Iyabo. All former documents remain valid. The Polytechnic, Ede, NYSC, and general public should please take note.

AKINLADE I, formerly known and addressed as Lawal Sekinat Adeola Ajoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Akande Sekinat Adeola Ajoke. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OGAR I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Georgina Ushang Ogar, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Georgina Ushang Eke. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLOJEDE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olojede Adijat Oritoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adijat Oritoke Sholaja. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

MISSANG I Imoh Missang Adidang hencefort want my daughter’s names former Miss Blessing Imoh Missang to be known and addressed as Mrs. Blessing Ekuri Eju Ndifon. All documents bearing her maiden names remain valid. General public should please take note.

AKANBI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Akanbi, Monsura Racheal, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ojo, Afolakemi Racheal. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLAJIDE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olajide, Bolaji Gbemisola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ola-Omole, Bolaji Gbemisola. All former documents remain valid. Adeyemi College of Education, Ondo, NYSC and general public should please take note.

SHODEINDE

ADEJUMO I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adejumo, Kabirat, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeleke, Kabirat Adebimpe.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

FAROTIMI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Farotimi, Olabisi Alaba, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Japhet Olabisi Florence. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

GBENRO

CHANGE OF NAME ADEWALE

I formerly and addressed as Oladunjoye Silifat Yetunde now wish to be known and addressed as Awo Silifat Yetunde. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OSUALA

I formerly and addressed as Ogundipe Tokunbo Adesola now wish to be known and addressed as Okunuga Tokunbo Adesola. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Osuala Esther, now wish to be known and addressed as Shekete Oyindamola Eunice. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OJO

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ojo, Moronke Ebuoluwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aremu, Moronke Ebunoluwa. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

SARKI I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Hajara Tsu Sarki, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Hajara Abubakar Umar. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

OLAGBEGI

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olagbegi, Adeola Omotola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Faloyo, Adeola Omotola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

SOTUNDE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeseko, Margret Oluyemisi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abifarin, Margret Oluyemisi. All former documents remain valid. Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti,Kwara Poly, Ilorin, KWSTC Ilorin, FBN Ado-Ekiti, LeadwayPFA, FCMB and general public should please take note.

AARE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Aare, Omolara Monsura, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Iperepolu, Deborah Omolola Monsura. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

SULAYMAN I, formerly known and addressed as Sulayman Babatunde Abidemi Dawodu, now wish to be known and addressed as Sulayman Babatunde Abidemi Kuku Dawodu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ONUEGBU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Onuegbu, Amaka Maryann Chikodiri, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onyeadusi, Amaka Maryann Chikodiri. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

OLUBOLA

ADESEKO

OBEBE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Obebe, Abimbola Abidemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ateniola Abimbola Abidemi. All former documents remain valid. Local government Service Commission, Ijero Local government and general public should please take note.

OLAGUNJU I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olagunju, Sherifat Adeola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olusuyi, Sherifat Adeola. All former documents remain valid. Ekiti State Hospitals Management Board and general public should please take note.

DAUD I formerly and addressed as Mr. Daud Olashile Hammed now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. David Olashile Hammed. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

BALOGUN

I, formerly known and addressed as Olubola Adijat, now wish to be known and addressed as Awoyemi Elizabeth Kokumo Adijat. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I formerly and addressed as Balogun Okanlawon Abiola now wish to be known and addressed as Akinsanya Adegbenga Abiola. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

EZUGWU

I formerly and addressed as Miss Odebiyi Adetayo Motunrayo now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akinsanya Adetayo Motunrayo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

UGWU

I formerly and addressed as MISS.BIBILARI MARIA ADENIKE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. BABATUNDE MARIAM ADENIKE. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ezugwu, Evelyn Chidiebere, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Simon, Evelyn Chidiebere. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Ugwu Amaka Rita, now wish to be known and addressed as Ukaegbu, Amaka Rita. All former documents remain valid. WAEC, UTME and general public should please take note.

UKONU

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nkonu, Comfort Emea, now wish to be known and addressed as Obasi, Comfort Emea. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ALOGBA I, formerly known and addressed as Alogba, Adedoyin Basirat, now wish to be known and addressed as Agoro-Agoro Adedoyin Basirat. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

ABIODUN

I formerly known and addressed as Miss Abiodun Oluwabunmi Iyadunni, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lawal Oluwabunmi Iyadunni all former documents remain valid general public take note.

ADEBAYO I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebayo Adeyemi Ameenah now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogunseye Adeyemi Ameenah all former documents remain valid general public take note.

OLADUNJOYE

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adewale, DOLAPO Elizabet, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Dolapo Elizabet ATANDA. All former documents remain valid.

Osun State Polytechnic, Iree and general public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Pastor Mr. and Mrs.Gbenro and Omolara Opadare, now wish to be known and addressed as Pastor Mr. and Mrs. Gbenro and Omolara Moradeyo. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Sotunde, Olufunmilayo Felicia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Idowu, Olufunmilayo Felicia. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

CHANGE OF NAME

ODEBIYI

BIBILARI

EWELAMOHUN I formerly known and addressed as Miss Morayo Joy Ewelamohun, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs Morayo Joy Ugwu. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ADEYANJU I formerly known and addressed as Miss Adeyanju Adepeju Oyebola now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oladunjoye Adepeju Oyebola all former documents remain valid general public take note.

AWODI

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS AWODI OJOMA PATIENCE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OMAJALA OJOMA PATIENCE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

JOSEPH I formerly known and addressed as Miss Joy Joseph Uyo-Ojo now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Apeh, Joy Uyo-Ojo. All former documents remain valid. TATA Africa Services (Nig) Limited and general public take note.

OGUNDIPE

ADEBAYO

CHANGE OF NAME ISHOLA I formerly and addressed as Miss Ishola Bukola Christianah now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Badmus Bukola Sakirat. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

MADUFORO

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS MADUFORO CHINENYE LILIAN, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. AGBAEZE CHINENYE LILIAN. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.

EJIOGU

I formerly and addressed as Miss Adebayo Oluwaseun Mary, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Anjorin Oluwaseun Mary. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS EJIOGU UGOCHI FAVOUR, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. OZOEZE UGOCHI FAVOUR. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ODELEYE

CONFIRMATION OF NAME I, JUDE JUDITH CHINAZO and IHENTUGE JUDITH JUDE refers to one and the same person, now wish to be known as JUDE JUDITH CHINAZO. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

I formerly and addressed as Miss Odeleye Ruth Mojisola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ajayi Ruth Mojisola. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

ORIADE I formerly and addressed as Miss Oriade Oluwabunmi Bernice, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okeowo Oluwabunmi Bernice. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

AKOH I formerly and addressed as Akoh Uyo Joy, now wish to be known and addressed as Emmanuel Uyo Joy. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

OBINNA

I formerly and addressed as Miss.

Obinna Fortune Chinule, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogunsuada Fortune Chinule. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

NWANKWOALA I formerly known and addressed as Miss CHIDINMA SHIRLEY NWANKWOALA, now wish to be known as Mrs. CHIDINMA SHIRLEY ECHEBE. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

ABULA

I formerly known and addressed as Miss ESTHER OCHANYA ABULA, now wish to be known as Mrs. ERIC ESTHER OCHANYA. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

AKPOJEVWE I formerly known and addressed as Miss AKPOJEVWE OGHENENYORE JOY, now wish to be known as Mrs. AKINTOLA AYODELE OGHENENYORE JOY. All former documents remain valid, general public please take note.

ANIAGOLU

ORUONYE I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Sharon Ijeoma Oruonye, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Sharon Raymond James Ofoegbu. All former documents remain valid, the Nigeria Immigration Service, Micheal Okpara University Umudike and general public should please take note.

IGWE I formerly known and addressed as Miss Igwe Catherine Eberechi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ogbonnaya Catherine Eberechi. All former documents remain valid, Abia State Local Government Service Commission and general public should please take note.

NWACHUKWU

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS NWACHUKWU OLUCHI GLORY, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. AMAEZE OLUCHI GLORY. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ADIDE I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ADIBE CHINENYE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS. CHINENYE ESTHER OSONDU OKEKE. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

MUSTAPHA

I, formerly known and addressed as HUNMUANI AYODELE MUSTAPHA, now wish to be known and addressed as UMMUHANI ABIOLA AYODELE MUSTAPHA. All former documents remain valid.

The general public should please take note.

TABI

LINUS

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS BLESSING JAMES TABI, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS BLESSING MOSES JAMUS. All former documents remain valid. NYSC, UNIABUJA, Nigeria Institute of Management (NIM), Process Contracting International Nigeria (PCI) and the general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss LINUS GOODNEWS MADUEKE, now wish to be known as Mrs. OGELE GOODNEWS TANNIA. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS SAMUEL MODUPE, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS ADELEKE MODUPE. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

I formerly known and addressed as Miss. ANIAGOLU CHRISTIANA NKECHI, now wish to be known as Mrs. CHILEKEZI CHRISTIANA NKECHI. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

KANU

SAMUEL

LAWAL

I formerly known and addressed as Miss ADANNA CHINWENDU KANU, now wish to be known as Mrs. ADANNA CHINWENDU IMEZURUIKE-OKOCHA. All former documents remain valid general public please take note.

I formerly and addressed as Miss Lawal Sekinat Adeola Ajoke now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akande Sekinat Adeola Ajoke.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

CONFIRMATION OF NAME Mr. MATTHEW OKPETU HENRY, and Mr. MATTHEW ESHIOLE HENRY refers to one and the same person now wish to be known as Mr. MATTHEW ESHIOLE HENRY. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

FANIFOSI I formerly known and addressed as Mr Tolulope Ibukunoluwa Samuel Fanifosi and Mr Titobiloluwa Emmanuel Fanifosi now wish to be known and addressed as Mr Tolulope Ibukunoluwa Samuel Olufohunsi and Mr Titobiloluwa Emmanuel Olufohunsi. All former documents remain valid. General public should please take note.

FANIFOSI I formerly known and addressed as Mr Temitope Victor Fanifosi and Master Oluwatamilore Peace Fanifosi now wish to be known and addressed as Mr Temitope Victor Olufohunsi and Master Oluwatamilore Peace Olufohunsi.

All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

IKEH I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ikeh, Patience Chinyere now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Usip Patience Chinyere U. All former documents remain valid general public take note.

ADEBISI

I, formerly known and addressed as MISS ADEBISI OLUWASEUN MOROLAYO, now wish to be known and addressed as MRS OLANIRAN OLUWASEUN MOROLAYO. All former documents remain valid. The general public should please take note.

AYENI I formerly known and addressed as Miss Ayeni, Gbemisola Wosilat Mary, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aluko, Gbemisola Wosilat Mary. All former documents remain valid.

General public should please take note.

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76

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

ETCETERA

SUNNY SIDE

Cartoons

By Olubanwo Fagbemi deewalebf@yahoo.com 08060343214 (SMS only)

POLITICKLE

Samba memoirs For five weeks in June-July, the writer – hereafter referred to in the first person singular – probed Brazil in its football glory. Here follows a serialised account of the 2014 World Cup experience as space warrants.

Chapter One: I arrive

CHEEK BY JOWL

OH, LIFE!

THE GReggs

AH, the land of football and guarana, the sweet fruit at the base of stimulating beverages; of carnivals and street parties fuelled by samba and cervaja, or beer; of the state of Bahia and its capital and cultural melting pot, Salvador.

Of Brazil I speak, and its memorable city Salvador, or São Salvador da Bahia de Todos os Santos in full. In English: City of the Holy Saviour of the Bay of all Saints. I shall not forget in a hurry the first feel of Brazil. Sao Paolo is a breeze.

Perhaps overwhelmed by the relentless wave of tourists descending from the sky for the 2014 World Cup, immigration officials at the Guarulhos International Airport admit all arrivals brandishing necessary entry papers.

I go on to arrange a connecting flight, and promptly encounter the first cultural shock – language. Presented with more than a sentence spoken in English, the World Cup volunteer swiftly loses patience and motions the visitor towards not-so-apparent exits. But which is which? Two Ethiopian fellows in similar quandary want to know. Sorry, can’t tell. Just passing through.

Hours of waiting and a night flight into Brazil’s Northeast after, the lights of Salvador, less intimidating but just as impressive as Sao Paolo’s, guide the mighty bird in whose belly rides I – lately football tourist – to a stop. Bemvindo! Welcome!

Finding a bureau de change, or casa de câmbio, I change my first dollars into the Brazilian currency, real; plural reais (R$). Mercifully, the clerk at the cambio, Rodrigues, speaks English. I’m here for the World Cup from Nigeria, I say in response to his opening enquiry. And Nigeria? Away in Curitiba for the first match and Cuiaba and Porto Alegre after that.

I’ve come to watch my favourite teams Spain and the Netherlands play at Salvador’s Arena Fonte Nova and to research Brazil’s connection with African history, instead. Rodrigues envies me. I wish I can watch my favourite team, Germany, he says. But I’m too busy and cannot afford a match ticket. Do you know Germany are coming in tonight through this airport?

What? That ramps my World Cup excitement fever-high. I find a seat with a good view of all the escalators in sight, but promptly doze off. At daybreak, a taxi ride into town opens the city to first scrutiny. Where’s everybody? I wonder, after settling into the Patamares Praia hotel where Anna, the receptionist and a Bahian woman of mixed race, graciously waived the common hotel protocol of noon possession of accommodation to put the visitor at ease.

At home sleeping, she says. It’s Sunday!

The curt reply partly describes my first real acquaintance in Brazil. Also my first Portuguese teacher, she introduces me to Bahian life and the city’s beloved football team, Esporte Clube Bahia, also called Bahia. Say it: Bahia! I do. Bahia! In various ways, she and the hotel staff make the first half of my Brazil stay unforgettable. Mornings begin with a hearty Bom dia! It is followed by buffet breakfast supervised by effervescent cook and personal favourite, Dorival.

Daily, the Mestiço, or mixed-race, chef recommends the sumptuousness of every pastry, dish and concoction with lip-smacking effect. At my humble request, he ensures a steady supply of água quente (hot water), taken warm to deflect the flu that seem to dog Bahians; young or old, male or female.

By the simplest of gestures, yet another favourite, Lorina Medeiros, makes my second day. Succeeding Anna on her shift, she couldn’t have contrived a warmer meeting. Hi, I’m Lorina. I’m on shift today. Anna told me about you.

She told me to take care of you. So what would you want?

Yes, there are things I want, need even. But she can’t do some of them, the language barrier being so formidable. Unlike Anna, Lorina struggles with her English. With you, I can practice it, my English, she says, matter-of-fact. My husband tells me not to be too shy about speaking, but I always fear that people will laugh at me. So all the time, please speakee with me.

But she strains to interpret my hankering for pepper in food, Nigerian style. The average Brazilian may think a typical table laid to appetising delight, but not me. Regardless of the balance or variety, including potato and cream in the main course, steak or fish and rice without oil or pepper is plain unpalatable. I suffer and swiftly become home-sick.

QUOTE Happiness held is the seed; happiness shared is the flower.

—Author Unknown

Jokes Humour What kind of woman?

AN ELDERLY man lay dying in his bed.

In agony, he suddenly smelled the aroma of his favourite chocolate cookies wafting up the stairs. He gathered his remaining strength, and lifted himself from the bed.

Leaning against the wall, he slowly made his way out of the bedroom, and with even greater effort forced himself down the stairs.

Gripping the railing with both hands, he crawled downstairs.

With laboured breath, he leaned against the door-frame, and gazed into the kitchen.

Were it not for the pain, he would have thought himself already in heaven. There, spread out upon fine table cloth draped over the kitchen table, were literally hundreds of his beloved chocolate cookies.

Was it one final act of heroic love from his devoted wife, seeing to it that he left this world a happy man?

Mustering one great final effort, he threw himself toward the table, landing on his knees in a rumpled posture. His parched lips parted. The wondrous taste of the cookie was already in his mouth, bringing him back to

life.

His hand trembled on its way to a cookie at the edge of the table before it was smacked with a spatula by his wife.

“Stay out of those,” she said, “they’re for the funeral.”

Who Said What?

A MAN had been having a relationship with a woman he truly loved for five years. To celebrate, they arranged to meet at a local bar where they both had too much to drink.

After a few hours of conversation, the man decided to ask her to marry to him. She immediately said “yes”.

The next morning when he awoke, he couldn’t remember what her answer was. He said to himself, “Was she happy? I think so, wait, no, she looked at me funny.”

After about an hour of trying to remember without success, he got on the telephone and gave her a call. Embarrassed, he admitted that he didn’t remember her answer to the marriage proposal.

“Oh,” she said, “I’m so glad you called. I remembered saying ‘yes’ to someone, but I couldn’t remember who it was.”

•Adapted from the Internet

Writer ’s Fountain OW to better open a story: Why is the opening of a story families before the plot even kicked in.

Today’s successful writers instead hit the crucial to sustaining readers’ interest? Before ground running, slipping in the background we can garner applause, we must coax colour when the reader isn’t looking. readers to read. Modern openers are terse and But what makes a good opener? Anything simple, even in novels. And they usually arresting but not too offensive will serve but, involve no more than two or three characters. unlike infamous attention-grabbers, the Earlier novelists could afford a long- promise must be fulfilled. The use of shock, winding history and genealogy of a hundred riddle, intriguing emblem and threat are four arresting ways that novelists have often used Insect side: to open a story. The stories succeed •Each year, insects eat one third of the essentially because they fulfill the promise earth’s food crop. suggested in first paragraphs.

•Fleas are essential to the health of Furthermore, learn to cut to the chase armadillos and hedgehogs; they provide Open any number of successful novels at necessary stimulation of the skin. Deloused random and you’ll find many, seemingly armadillos and hedgehogs will die. different openers. But most will fall into one •Experiments have shown that, ants are of the four categories examined earlier. And capable of lifting 50 times their own weight all, or nearly all, will thrust the reader straight and pulling loads 300 times their own into the heart of the story. weight.

Note that nobody writes a strong opener •Dragonflies are one of the fastest insects at the first, or even tenth, attempt. So don’t on earth, flying 80 to 96 km/h. Their larvae try to perfect it in your first draft. Finish the develop under water and eject water from story and then return to the start. their anus to propel them for short It may take you as long to hone the opener distances. as it did the entire story because the opener is •Grasshoppers have white blood. the most important part of your story.

H

THE NATION ON SUNDAY SEPTEMBER 7, 2014

NEWS

77

Libel: Lagos Assembly threatens to sue newspaper

T

•Lagos APC chieftain, Akin Ambode and female party leaders during his visit to the party secretariat in Ikeja at the weekend

Adeyemi COEASU insists on internal candidate as new provost

T

HE Colleges of Education Academic Staff Union (COEASU) at the Adeyemi College of Education (ACE), Ondo, has urged the federal government to appoint an internal candidate among the three candidates shortlisted for the appointment of a new provost of the institution.

The position became vacant following the expiration of the tenure of the former provost, Prof. Idowu Adeyemi, who served for eight years.

From Leke Akeredolu, Akure

In a statement issued and signed by the vice chairman of the union, Tope Ozigbe and General Secretary, Ade Adepoju, it vowed to resist the imposition of any candidate lacks experience in the teaching and administration of the College of Education system.

The union said it is not intimidated by the insinuations allegedly made by a group which called itself old students of the college on their recent advertorial in a

national daily.

It alleged further that the group is supporting the appointment of a new provost who has neither worked in the college nor believes in the system obtainable in a college of education.

COEASU emphasised that its position on the appointment of a new provost is in tandem with obtains in other parts of the world where Chief Executive of academic institutions are sourced from among the academics within the system.

Oranyan Festival kicks off in Oyo amid pomp O

VER 30,000 guests made up of indigenes and visitors converged on the grounds of the palace of the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Olayiwola Adeyemi, to celebrate this year’s Oranyan festival which kicked off on Saturday.

The maiden edition of the week-long festival which started last year was initiated by the monarch.

Speaking on the importance of the festival, Vice– Chairman of the Festival Committee, Bishop Ayo Ladigbolu said: “The Alaafinin-Council and the entire Oyo Mesi have consecrated the festival week to all children of Oranyan, the first Alaafin of Oyo home and in the Diaspora to commune together in a convivial atmosphere and ambience of love, celebrate their past glory, rejuvenate their cultural inheritance and essence, as well as showcase their uniqueness of values.”

Speaking in an interview

From Bode Durojaiye, Oyo

with our correspondent, Oba Adeyemi said that the celebration “was not only to celebrate and venerate our heroes past, but lubricate the tunnels of harmony, ignite the touch of unity and foster peace among the Yoruba race.”

According to him, “The Oranyan Festival was inaugurated to immortalise and showcase to the whole world the deeds and worth of an enigmatic Oranyan, one of the seven sons of Okanbi, the son of Oduduwa, who was the first Oba in Yorubaland to establish an enduring empire which spread beyond its dialectical region and lasted more than 600 uninterrupted years!’’

Alaafin Adeyemi said while other great nations celebrate their heroes by showcasing their glorious past, Africans do not give much reverence to theirs due to

what he called “the super-imposition of the two religions, Islam and Christianity, and the etching of their sermons and creeds into the consciousness of Africans psyche, which has conditioned our sense of appreciation and thinking, thereby making us see and read fetishism and primitivity as the hallmark of our tradition and culture.”

He added, “It is within this prism that we used to picture our past heroes and great men of valour and virtues who should be venerated, immortalized, while their deeds, acts and wise sayings are compiled, documented, reserved and preserved for generations yet unborn.”

The Alaafin revealed that the Oranyan Festival is one of the steps being taken by the Alaafin-in-Council at making sure that “the contribution of the Yorubas to the emergence of modern and cosmopolitan world is not relegated into the background and shoved into the ocean of forgetfulness.”

Provide level playing field for aspirants, APC chieftain urges leaders

A

FORMER Special Assistant on Due Process to Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Mr. Afe Olowookere, has urged the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to remain resolute and allow a level-playing ground for all the contestants seeking for elective positions in the party.

Speaking with reporters after declaring his intention to represent Akure North/ South Federal Constituency

From Damisi Ojo, Akure

in the National Assembly in 2015, the aspirant also called on party supporters to remain focused and disciplined in order to ensure that APC forms the next government in the State.

The former Deputy Majority Leader in the State House of Assembly said: “We must be focused and determined more than ever, because the expectations of the masses are very high on the APC. LP has failed, people have tested PDP before and

they have realised that the hope of this state is with the APC. “Mimiko is moving to another party, but his character will not change. Their socalled merger will be an added advantage for our party to come out stronger and win all elections come 2015.”

The APC chieftain also expressed displeasure on how his constituency had been represented in the present dispensation, while calling for immediate action to address the problem.

HE Lagos State House of Assembly has threatened to sue a newspaper for allegedly crediting it with describing the Lagos State governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, as a traitor.

The said newspaper had in its publication of Tuesday, September 2, 2014, allegedly published a story with the caption, ‘Fashola is a traitor, says Lagos speaker,’ which the House noted is capable of destabilising the government and the entire state.

The Chairman, House Committee on Information, Publicity, Security and Strategy, Segun Olulade, disclosed this at a press conference held at the Assembly complex.

He added that the publication was first noticed on July 13, 2014 after it was posted on the Speaker’s Facebook Fan Page by an anonymous person.

On the instruction of the Speaker, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, the House spokesman said his social media team reacted to the

By Oziegbe Okoeki

Facebook post the following day, July 14, 2014 with a disclaimer stating, “After Mr. Speaker has gone through the text and confirmed that the story was entirely fabricated by the unknown author with a calculated intention of causing a crisis among the top echelon of the Lagos State government.”

In the disclaimer, Olulade said that the Speaker distanced himself from the story by drawing strong and convincing evidences to back his claim.

Setting the record straight, Olulade pointed out that the House of Assembly viewed the repeat of the publication by the newspaper with discontent and, as such, has resolved to take some drastic measures, which includes taking the media house to Court.

He said: “While the Lagos State House of Assembly upholds its respect to the gentlemen of the press across board and various media organisations in the country

given the harmonious relationship between the two institutions, we would like to state clearly that malicious publications capable of destabilising the peace of the society especially in the government circles without any serious investigations and cross examinations will be challenged in the face of the law accordingly.”

It would be recalled that the Facebook page publication had quoted Ikuforiji as attacking Governor Babatunde Fashola; National Legal Adviser of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Dr. Muiz Banire; member representing Mushin Constituency 1 in the House, Mrs. Adefunmilayo Tejuoso and Justice Habib Abiru of the Lagos High Court.

However, in his disclaimer, the Speaker described the actions of those allegedly spreading the damaging story as people working to destabilise the state, the APC and the government for heinous intentions.

Cleric calls for love, understanding among Christians, Muslims

A

PROMINENT Islamic preacher, Mukadam Mohammed Taoheed Tiamiyu, has called for love and understanding among Muslims and Christians in the country for the sake of the country’s continued peaceful co-existence.

Speaking while a delivering a lecture in Lagos, the cleric advised leaders of both

religion, to desist from preaching messages of hate capable of further worsening the religious tension in the country.

Describing the insurgency in the North East as a challenge for Christian and Muslim leaders, Tiamiyu frowned at sermons delivered by such leaders to their followers, which, he noted, has worsened

ethnic and religious tension in the country, with adherents of both religions relating with one another with hatred and mutual suspicion.

The cleric advised Nigerians to join hand with the Federal Government and the security agencies in the ongoing efforts to stem the scourge of terrorism currently ravaging the northern part of the country.

QUOTABLE

“At the national level, sub-regional level of West Africa and regional level of Africa, we need to formulate a common policy; a policy that will make the international community realise that Ebola is not the burden of West Africa alone, that it is an international burden.”

SUNDAY, SEPTEMBER 7, 2014 TRUTH IN DEFENCE OF FREEDOM VOL. 9, NO. 2964

- Former President, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo, calling for international efforts to tackle the spread of Ebola Virus Disease (EVD).

T

HERE is probably no one left in Nigeria who thinks President Goodluck Jonathan will not be running for president in 2015. Not only will he run with flourish irrespective of the rigmarole enacted by the sycophantic Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria (TAN), he will do so with damnable indifference to the devastations caused by the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, and with complete contempt for the manner the sect exhibits his leadership failings. There will be no contest for the PDP’s presidential ticket, at least not a contest properly describable as a dignified joust. If anyone would be courageous enough to compete against Dr Jonathan for the coveted party ticket, it would be mimic jousting designed to create the false impression of internal democracy within the self-styled biggest party in Africa.

With TAN rallies in full swing all over the country, signing up millions of people whom the organizers describe extravagantly as converts to the Jonathan cause, it is already taken for granted that within the PDP, Dr Jonathan is unassailable, and his campaign already in full blast. No one will dare oppose him except to mimic democratic reality, and no one in civil society, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) or Nigeria’s servile law enforcement agencies will dare caution him or draw his magisterial attention to how ignobly he subverts the law. The country, in other words, quiescently acknowledges Dr Jonathan as the PDP presidential candidate and his campaign a trifling, inconsequential infraction.

In the next few weeks, however, all attention will be focused on the main opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) as it begins its complex permutations to produce a winning presidential ticket. Given Dr Jonathan’s head start, not to say Nigerians’ sniveling propensity to venerate a sitting president, the APC will have the most unenviable task in the world to demolish the cultural strictures that promote sycophantic adulation of those in office. The party will be challenged to hammer out a platform that resonates with hostile or undecided voters, to outfox subservient and compromised law enforcement agencies determined to thwart common sense and humiliate the constitution, and to rein in rebellious regional political warlords whose regicidal instincts lead them to the most atrocious murder of principles and values ever. The APC will not find its task easy at all, nor, given their tendency to fight to the death whenever they disagree, do I envy the short, brutal and merciless uphill journey they must make in less than five months before the next polls.

Compared with the conservative PDP, which appeared to have been born into power, and whose leading apparatchiks seem to think it is born to rule, the less obsequious APC, now increasingly looking like an outsider in the national political war, will want to ride upon a revolutionary manifesto to overthrow the old order. The party will not be discomfited by the discordance with which of many of its conservative but leading lights uncharacteristically flaunt a radical manifesto, nor will it allow the fratricide going on within its ranks to slow it down. It will expect that its hope of achieving victory in any coming encounter with the ruling party will triumph over its feeling of massive political incapacitation. The PDP is united by its long stay in office, and the spoils of office that cement that unity.

On the other hand, the APC’s long stay out of office has become demoralizing, causing its leaders to fret endlessly and to fritter away its strength in meaningless, persistent and debilitating quarrels.

Indeed, the most pressing task before the APC will be how to select a winning ticket from a political milieu that has morphed considerably into an unrecognizable form. Tom Ikimi, the chairmanship aspirant who recently left the opposition party, reveals that the APC anchors its hope of taking the presidency on winning the Southwest and Northwest votes in 2015. But contrary to his sinister and cynical tone, there is nothing intrinsically wrong with

2015: PDP’s Jonathan versus APC’s whom that calculation, especially if the party thinks the votes from those zones are sufficient for victory. However, the calculation may be based on a wrong assessment of the character and cultures of the country’s geopolitical zones. The Southwest, for instance, used to be single-mindedly progressive, and its definition of progressivism not contentious. Today, the Southwest’s political culture, which used to be fairly distinguishable from the rest of the country both for its idiosyncratic progressivism and the firm values and principles that sustain it, has moved much closer to the national mean of general and enervating pragmatism.

Worse, even the Southwest political elite is now fractured into contentious parts by internal schisms, some of them caused by nothing more than an insular struggle for regional dominance. Shorn of the principles and ennobling values that had defined its politics, religion and culture, nay its very existence, for more than a century, the region has become distressingly susceptible to the riotous application of religious parochialism. More alarmingly, a sizable faction of the region’s power elite, as demonstrated by Olu Falae, Yinka Odumakin, Ayo Adebanjo, among others, remains dangerously trapped in the bitter, vengeful and anachronistic politics of the past, especially their dichotomous view of northern feudalism versus southern liberalism. Yet, the iconic Obafemi Awolowo made a last ditch attempt in the closing years of his political life to bridge the socalled ideological divide between the North and the Southwest, to find a common ground between the so-called northern feudalism and south western liberalism.

If the APC is to make progress and unite the Southwest behind the opposition party’s worldview, it will have to appeal to the voters directly, over the heads of the scaremongering and parochial factional elite that now holds the region in thrall. The party will also have to draw attention to the region’s culture of accommodation, its liberal spirit of tolerating other perspectives — be it religious, political or cultural — and then advertise the existence of a

richer, better future outside the dogmas and insularity of the past. There are indeed shared affinities between the Northwest and the Southwest, and these affinities are not only shared with other regions; they in fact do not preclude either accommodation or rapprochement with those other regions. Going by the outcome of the national conference, and the insistence of some members of the Southwest elite that the recommendations be peremptorily implemented without recourse to either an enabling law or the National Assembly, it is feared that even the jurisprudential legacy .of the region has been corroded by emotions and long interactions with the lawless propensity of the Jonathan government.

In picking Dr Jonathan’s opponent, the APC will have to ensure it carries along a sizable part of the Southwest, almost the entire Northeast and Northwest, in spite of the ongoing insurgency in parts of the North, and a healthy share of the North-Central. The South-South is largely out of reach, except a part of the ticket comes from there, and the Southeast seems all but lost on account of its emotive commitment to the patronizing Dr Jonathan. These permutations, as well as a clear appreciation of the changing political culture of the Southwest and an accurate sense of what needs to be done, will closely influence the APC’s choice of presidential candidate and running mate.

Indeed, by now, the APC must have realized that it cannot hope to fight the ineffective but paradoxically entrenched Dr Jonathan without a more than disproportionate application of unorthodox politics. Its choice of standardbearer must be revolutionary, unexpected, forward-looking, and transcendental. The party has only a few weeks to do this, and correspondingly fewer weeks to sell him. That candidate must, therefore, have no baggage to tie down the party’s resources, and must suffer no handicap to make the party fritter away its time and goodwill. The APC may have a few leaders enamoured of brinkmanship; now they must draw upon that facility in a chess move certain to determine whether the party survives or dies, whether it succeeds or fails,

whether it has a future or is crushed by the weight of its incandescent past. Now more than ever, it must take a bold and radical step, perhaps the most remarkable ever, to make a solid political statement. Will it?

Can it?

I think the party is faced with two main choices: to play safe by hugging the past, or to take a gamble with futuristic daring. Either choice is certain to have implications for Nigeria’s political future: whether we would slip into one-party rule and fascism projected deliberately or inadvertently by the Jonathan government; or whether we would begin the process of national renewal. The choice, I believe, lies between former military head of state, Muhammadu Buhari, the taciturn, principled and doughty retired army general, who is sadly misperceived and misunderstood by a large swathe of the South and North-Central; and Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, who is not even yet a member of the party, but could, should he join the party, represent its future and hope.

If the APC honestly recognizes that most of the factors expected to shape national politics and influence the electorate’s voting pattern in 2015 have been concocted by Dr Jonathan and the PDP, such as religion and ethnicity, then it will have no illusion what its responses must be. Gen Buhari is probably the best man for these trying times, but best men seldom win elections anywhere except in dire, unusual circumstances.

In Nigeria, where voters lack the competence to read the signs of the times, it is even worse. The APC will have to gauge whether the fanatical support Gen Buhari attracts from parts of the North is worth the risk of alienating the untrusting remainder of the country.

On the other hand, everyone knows Hon Tambuwal’s heart and soul are in the APC. If he can overcome the frightful parliamentary fallout of defecting to the opposition, he will probably open the eyes of the APC to more tantalizing political possibilities. Not only is he unencumbered by ethnic and religious baggage, he is modern, intelligent, a consensus builder with cross-over appeal, has a mind of his own, and is principled and loyal to causes, and much more. For its sake and the sake of the country, I hope the APC does not rule out Hon Tambuwal. This is the time for the party to do a strategic rethinking of its methods and ideas; a time to abandon the staid and stultifying formalism of the past; a time to let former Vice President Abubakar Atiku exit the presidential race with all the maturity and dignity commensurate with his political stature; and a time to let Governor Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano bide his time for a future when his stature and exposure would stand him in good stead.

This indeed is time for a miracle; APC had better furnish the country one. For every democrat, every Nigerian, every patriot who has the instinctive feel of the danger Nigeria faces with a government heading towards tyranny, one-party rule and unexampled impotence and incompetence knows it is of capital importance to deny Dr Jonathan four more years of misrule.

Boko Haram, ISIS caliphates a continuation of history

T

HE world is stupefied by the declaration of a caliphate in Iraq and Syria by extremist Sunni militants. The Islamic State (IS), as it is now called, is headed by the self-styled caliph Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi who has triggered one of the most brutal modern day repressions over a territory that spans portions of northern Syria and northern Iraq. Perhaps inspired by the IS, and nostalgic over the numerous caliphates that had made waves throughout history, leaders of Nigeria’s militant Boko Haram sect have also declared a caliphate covering towns in Borno State, and still expanding.

Starting essentially from the Umayyads and right through the Abbasids, Fatimids and down to perhaps the most extensive of them all, the Ottomans (1453-1924), the caliphate idea has since the seventh century remained an in-

herent part of the Muslim world. IS and Boko Haram caliphates are a mere recrudescence of an enduring idea. The Sokoto Caliphate (18041903) is the Nigerian equivalent of the caliphates that swept through the Middle East and Europe between 661 and 1924. It is recalled that the setting up of a caliphate was the primary goal of Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda. Though it is not certain IS and Boko Haram would be allowed to take root, their formation, no matter how brief, is a reminder of the nostalgia that accompanies the idea. More importantly, it reminds us that that idea is unlikely to die for a long time. Modern caliphates reiterate the continuation of history.

But more spectacularly, the fragile Boko Haram Caliphate, which some have described as incipient Kanuri nationalism, and the more expansive IS should remind public

officials, state actors and statesmen, not to say Nigerian leaders who insist Nigerian unity is non-negotiable, that no national border is either inviolate or permanent. In time, and as a historical inevitability, borders will still be redrawn, and states, whether in Europe, America or Asia and elsewhere, are doubtless still in formation. If Nigeria is to last as a country, its leaders must act with the highest degree of responsibility required to sustain and stabilize the polity, as well as demonstrate knowledge of statecraft. The Jonathan presidency demonstrates clearly how horribly remiss Nigerian leaders have become in their responsibilities, and how in particular, by his actions, Dr Jonathan endangers everyone, including his predecessors.

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