Sun News - October 30, 2012

Jubilation in Bayelsa, as Dickson wins at S’ Court

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Man stabbed to death few days to wedding Page 16

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012 VOL. 7 NO. 2484

Ekwunife floors ACN again

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Kaduna Catholic Church bombing

‘Boko Haram can’t stop us’

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IMT has bounced back • Christians vow to continue going to church – Rector Page 38

•My survival is a miracle – Rev. Father

Onitsha: Gunmen kill car dealer ...Abduct another high chief ...Chief docked over kidnap, murder of monarch

Kalabaris protest over oil wells Cross-section of Kalabari National Forum and monarchs, among them former minister, Alabo Graham Douglas, during a protest against alleged move to balkanize and excise oil producing communities in Kalabari Kingdom of Rivers in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN. Story on Page 7

•Kidnappers fail to free woman, 78, two months after collecting ransom Pages 7, 10 & 13

Gunmen kill Onitsha car dealer Pages 13 & 7

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HARASSMENT OF ADVERT EXECUTIVES

NPAN drags APCON, IGP to court Page 6

ACN: We’ve put Ondo guber polls behind us Page 7

Kaduna Catholic Church bombing

‘Boko Haram can’t stop us’

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DISCOs and DENCOs: NCP disqualifies Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Ondo Page 57

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012 VOL. 7 NO. 2484

...Chief docked over kidnap, murder of 81-yr-old monarch

•Christians vow to continue going to church

•My survival is a miracle – Rev. Father

Kalabaris protest over oil wells Cross-section of Kalabari National Forum and monarchs, among them former minister Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, during a protest against alleged move to balkanize and excise oil producing communities in Kalabari Kingdom of Rivers in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN. Story on Page 7

ACN: We’ve put Ondo guber polls behind us N150

NCP disqualifies Delta, Edo, Ekiti, Ondo Page

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Man stabbed to death few days to wedding

Edo Assembly sacks LG Chairmen Page 9

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012 VOL. 7 NO. 2484

...Mimiko tasks political appointees 7Pages & 11

Kaduna Catholic Church bombing

‘Boko Haram can’t stop us’

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DISCOs, DENCOs

•Party still studying result

• Christians vow to continue going to church

•My survival is a miracle – Rev. Father Onitsha: Gunmen kill car dealer ...Chief docked over kidnap, murder of monarch •Kidnappers fail to free woman, 78, two months after collecting ransom

Kalabaris protest over oil wells Cross-section of Kalabari National Forum and monarchs, among them former minister Alabo Tonye Graham-Douglas, during a protest against alleged move to balkanize and excise oil producing communities in Kalabari Kingdom of Rivers in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: NAN. Story on Page 7

Pages 7, 10 & 13

NPAN drags APCON, IGP to court

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012 DAILY SUN

Kogi Assembly not shut –Mohammed, Chief Whip, House of Reps

•Mohammed Ahmed Mohammed is the deputy Chief Whip, House of Representatives. In the wake of the leadership crisis in the Kogi State House of Assembly, he was appointed chairman of an ad-hoc committee to resolve the crisis. In his first ever interview on the matter, Mohammed, who doubles as chairman of the North central caucus in the National Assembly, spoke on his relationship with the key actors, and his ‘special’ interest in Kogi State. He insists that due process wasn’t followed in the change in leadership, but denied ever sealing up Kogi Assembly. He, among other things, told CHUKS AKUNNA that the crisis would be resolved sooner than expected.

Your committee was inaugurated on Wednesday, yet you arrived in Lokoja the following Monday. Why did it take you this long to take off on such an important assignment? ou know politicians, we had to begin with the major stakeholders and elders in Kogi State. The rumour had been that we would be in the state on Friday, but we decided that since the crisis isn’t just about the legislators, that if we wanted genuine peace, we have to get to the root of the matter. Instead of going straight to Kogi, we started by engaging the stakeholders.

Who were these stakeholders?

We started with the former governor Ibrahim Idris, former chairman of PDP, Senator Ahmadu Ali, Senator Tunde Ogbeha, among others. These were the people that engaged us between Friday and Saturday.

The report we got was that you arrived in Lokoja unannounced, suggesting you may have been compromised.

That is not true. We had decided against using one channel of communication, which is the Clerk of the Assembly. We issued a press statement which was aired on NTA Sunday

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night that we were going to be in Kogi the following day being Monday. We went as far as first informing the governor that we were coming to Lokoja. The governor explained to us that he would not be available as he had a programme in Abuja for the whole of Monday.

We then said, ‘fine!’ For we never really wanted to see the governor first. We had planned to see him after meeting with all the law makers directly involved.

Protocol demands that you first visit any governor hosting you. Were you planning on breaching this protocol?

Of course not! I had to ask the governor if he would take our telephone conversation in lieu of a courtesy visit since he wasn’t going to be in town? He agreed. We then proceeded to the Assembly. Before then, I spoke with the clerk of the House more than 10 times before we arrived in Kogi, and he promised that he was going to inform all the members of the Assembly. And he did confirm to me that he did so. Before we arrived, we told him the venue and the police provided security. In fact, the police received us some 10 kilometres into Lokoja. If people claim they were not informed, how then did the police get theirs?

We duly informed the Inspector General of Police of our coming. The SSS officials got instructions from their DG. We informed the governor. We informed the clerk, and he made all the promises. To our surprise, when we arrived, this same clerk was nowhere to be found.

Did you make attempts to reach the clerk?

Of course! When we didn’t see him so we called his telephone number. He picked and informed us he was in the Government Housethat he has been reporting there, or so daily since the crisis started. He again assured he informed the members, and that he met the remainder of the lawmakers at the Government House, and that they would all come in a convoy. To our surprise, they came in singles. And even some of them didn’t come.

How many of them came to meet you?

About 16 of them.

What then do you intend to do in the face of the controversy over whether or not you officially communicated the Assembly lawmakers? The clerk told me you knew the proper channel of communication and yet chose not to follow it.

The clerk cannot deny he was duly informed. See, I can go to MTN to download all our conversations. The other staff of the Assembly were aware of our visit. The reason they stayed to receive us. We met the Director of Legislative Matters. If he wasn’t aware of our coming, he wouldn’t have been there to receive us.

What then do you make of the position of the clerk that government business isn’t conducted on telephone, national television or newspapers?

My friend, listen. If he knew that why then did he agree to inform them? He shouldn’t have spoken of them agreeing to come in a convoy. And I told him to even send his email address so we can send an official notification of our proposed visit, and that we would hand him a hard copy on arrival.

What in your opinion could be responsible for the clerk initially co-operating with you and then, as it were, abandon your committee when you arrived?

I don’t know. But I think the clerk is under pressure from one axis, even though that is not the issue here. Of importance is that peace returns to Kogi. Already the political landscape is so heated up, and we cannot afford to add Kogi to this. If the situation is that which cannot be helped, we will all know so. But if it is something we can help, we will not sit on the fence and watch things degenerate. You know Kogi is a very volatile state. Within a very short time you will start hearing gunshots and people killed. This won’t augur well for us as a country.

There is this issue of your committee spending just about two hours in a state you were asked to come settle warring factions. Do you think you gave the main actors sufficient time to interact with you?

The records are there. Journalists were there. What we went to do was to confirm the process (for the change of leadership). We are not concerned with the reasons.

But don’t you think that without the clerk, who is the official custodian of records, your committee may never know whether or not the change of guards followed due process?

Everybody involved in Lokoja knew we were coming. The clerk was duly notified. Ah! The SSS will write their report that the clerk

“We didn’t shut the Assembly. All we said was that we would not entertain factional sittings. If the Assembly is willing to sit in full session there is no problem. Go through the Constitution, read the operational House rules of the Kogi House of Assembly. They are on recess.”

switched off his telephone. The story hasn’t ended. We are going to summon the clerk to the National Assembly. If he refuses to come we will issue a warrant of arrest. We will invite him. It is that simple.

Let me ask this for the records. There have been reports that you shut the Kogi Assembly. Did you shut Kogi Assembly?

We didn’t shut the Assembly. All we said was that we would not entertain factional sittings. If the Assembly is willing to sit in full session, there is no problem. Go through the Constitution, read the operational House rules of the Kogi House of Assembly. They are on recess. We have extracts of the register of attendance with us counter-signed. We know the last time the Assembly sat.

And when was that?

Please listen. They are on recess. Only the Speaker can reconvene the House. No individual can do that. One or two groups cannot go and sit and purport to convene the Assembly.

They have to allow the Assembly be properly convened. Whatever they wish to do thereafter is none of our business. Even if tomorrow the Speaker of the Kogi Assembly is properly impeached, so be it. I am from Niger State.

There were two impeachments in the state Assembly within one month or so. So long as the impeachment meets the constitutional requirements. We even told them that if they can properly re-convene and impeach them the following day, we have no problem with that. We have rules which guide our conduct.

If you don’t want to subscribe to the rules that we collectively subscribed to, it means we are heading for chaos. It means two people can wake up tomorrow and claim to have impeached the governor of a state. We won’t allow that.

From all you have said, it means you don’t believe any impeachments took place in the Kogi Assembly?

We have not come to that conclusion. We shall properly brief you when we conclude our report. All we are saying is that, based on what we saw there is a factionalised Assembly. We have one group with 13 members, the other has 12. And each of the group is claiming leadership of the Assembly. Each claims to have a Speaker and principal officers. One group claims to have the mace. The other say they have a mace. Each of the groups is bent on sitting. Such claims and counter-claims indicates we are heading towards chaos. And we don’t want to overheat the polity.

There are people who claim you appeared to have your minds made up even before coming to Lokoja...

See, if you meet me in my office, I can swear by my Koran. I don’t have any vested interests in Kogi. Anybody can be speaker. In fact, our overriding interest is to ensure that the governor governs well. We cannot allow any of the states to lapse into a situation of insecurity. As national parliamentarians, we shall be held responsible should anything go wrong in any part of the country beyond what we have at the moment. If you know me, you know my records. I am a man who calls a spade a spade.

So I don’t have any vested interest as the chairman, and as a committee. Let the Constitution be protected. Let the Constitution be preserved. Let order prevail. That is all.

How soon will your report be ready?

Even tomorrow, if before we present our report they say, ‘OK, we have reconciled. We are resuming normally’. And next tomorrow 17 people say they are passing a vote of no confidence on the Speaker, he is gone! They put him there. Any principal officer knows that he is there at the mercy of the members. The state legislators made a list of the offences they said their speaker committed.

SUNG GIRL

Tuesday, October 30, 2012, DAILY SUN

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Death toll in Rivers’ floods rises to 30 •Ruler laments plight of victims From CHRIS AGUNWEZE, Port Harcourt

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he death toll of flood victims camped in various parts of Ahoada East Local Government Area of Rivers State has increased to over 30. Among the dead were two new born babies.

The sad news of flood victims, dying in their camps, hit the airwave when some of the ward councillors in charge of such camps raised the alarm that inmates were dying due to poor sanitary conditions of the camps.

But the increase in the death toll was given by the traditional ruler of Ahoada, Eze P. C. Ihua Maduenyi, the Eze Ahoada III. He spoke with Daily Sun in his palace in Ahoada.

“Over 30 deaths in less than three weeks, the average of 10 persons in just one week is, indeed, very alarming. This high rate of death is most disturbing,’’ he said in an emotion-laden voice.

According to him, no day passes without recording, at least, two deaths. He said the alleged failure by the state government to recognise most of the camps compounded the problem. Investigation by Daily Sun showed that two inmates, a man and a woman, had earlier died at Community Secondary School, Edeoha camp, while in UBE camp in Ahoada, Town, Mr. Goodluck Agi, said to be a native of Ihuike town, died on October 25. The councillor, representing the ward, Marvin, confirmed this, saying the late Agi started vomiting on October 24 and was rushed to the General Hospital where he died.

The Ahoada monarch said a man died at Odiemenyi the same day while two men gave up the ghost the following day, one at Alakpata, another at Odiokwo.

He also disclosed how a woman was delivered of triplets and two died as a result of lack of medical care. The lady was among the displaced persons camped at the General Hospital, one of the camps the government allegedly refused to recognise.

“As a result, the woman and her new babies were denied medical care in the hospital where she gave birth,” he claimed.

As if to confirm what the traditional ruler said earlier, there was a report last Friday afternoon that another child, a year-old, just died at the General Hospital camp. The reporter, who had been at Ahoada for the past three days, monitoring the situation, rushed to the camp and the inmates confirmed the sad news, alleging that the hospital refused to treat the child since it was not a recognised camp. They gave the name of the baby’s mother as Agnes, adding that she just left the camp.

Eze Ahoada said the Gov. Chibuike Amaechi committee on flood victims, led by his deputy, Tele Ikulu, recognised only six of the camps, leaving out 15. Residents of Ekpere, he said, took up the challenge of taking care of victims in such camps. He explained that Eze Robinson O. Robinson, Eze of Ekpeye kingdom, raised a 12-man committee to take care of the15 camps allegedly abandoned by the state government.

“The challenge in running those 15 camps had been very huge, only the Ekpeye King, Eze Robinson O. Robinson and other well-meaning sons of Ekpeye have been making donations for the sustenance of 15 camps abandoned by the government,” he said.

The Eze Ahoada pleaded with Governor Amaechi, to recognise the camps since the victims are also indigenes of the state. He also called on charity organisations and multinational oil companies, operating in Ekpeye, to take care of natives of their host communities, saying it was only Total Oil E&P that had so far made direct donation to the Ekpeye committee on flood victims.

Beef up security in the waterways ... Akpabio calls on Army

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overnor Godswill Akpabio has charged the Nigerian Army to beef up security in the country’s waterways to curb theft of crude oil by sea pirates.

He made the call Monday when 18 participants of the Nigerian Army College of Logistics, Lagos, Course 10, currently on an industrial study to Akwa Ibom, led by Major-General Adekunle A. Martins paid him a courtesy visit at his office.

Chief Akpabio remarked: “All along we have been focusing on external security. It is now time for us to take interest in internal security to ensure that the home front is peaceful and secure. So, I call on security operatives to channel their security surveillance on our waterways to curb piracy and militants upsurge on our water ways.”

“The various infrastructure in the state are due to logistics put in place for good governance. For, without logistics, there is bound to be failure in any organisation. So, you must plan logistics and put in certain strategies for any plan to work in a place because security and logistics go hand in hand with development and it is important to the future states and the development of the country,” the governor stated.

Chief Akpabio, who called on the participants to be just and fair in their assessment of the state and profession, enjoined Nigerians to uphold the rule of law, thanking the Federal Government for providing more logistics to the Nigerian Army at the on-going Ibaka Deep Seaport. He commended the Nigerian Army and Nigerian Police in the state for keeping the state safe in minimising criminal activities in the state.

Major-General Martins said they were in the state on a study tour on the theme, “Harnessing Natural Resources for National Development”, and to access the modern level of logistics techniques with 18 participants, made up of 15 senior 15 army officers, one naval officer, one police officer and one officer from Civil Defence Corps. He disclosed that the tour was on modern logistics and implementation to enhance security of life, improve life expectancy and human development.

Major-Gen. Martins also lauded the efforts of Governor Akpabio in transforming the state and working to put the needed facilities in place in terms of quality structures and maintenance of infrastructure in the state.

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DAILY SUN Tuesday October 30, 2012

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

DAILY SUN 5

Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Sen. Anyim Pius Anyim flanked by UNDP Country Representative, Mrs. Ade Lekoetje (left) and Permanent Secretary, Special Services Office, Mrs. Esther Conda during the signing of Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on Junior Professional Officers’ programme between the Federal Government and the UNDP in Abuja, Monday.

R-L: Anambra State Gov. Peter Obi with a South African investor, Andrew Marshall, in Johannesburg, Monday.

Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (left) accompanied by home video actors, Chinedu Ikedieze and Osita Iheme (aka Aki and Pawpaw), addressing the flood-displaced persons at the Ice Camp in Asaba, Monday.

COVER Kaduna church bombing: Attack won’t stop us –Survivors From NOAH EBIJE, Kaduna

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urvivors in last Sunday’s bombing of St Rita’s Catholic Church in Kaduna have vowed never to be deterred by the deadly operations of the Islamist sect, Boko Haram from attending church services , even if the bomber strikes 100 times. About eight parishioners were killed and 145 people injured in the attack.

This unshaken determination, according to the survivors, emanated from the fact that the bombing has strengthened them to serve God better than before. They said that it was an opportunity for them to appreciate God the more. Also speaking, the Archbishop of Kaduna Catholic Diocese, Bishop Matthew Man’oso Ndagoso, said Christians would not leave Nigeria because of Boko Haram. Ndagoso spoke through Reverend Celestine Katung when officials of the state chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) paid him a condolence visit.

A survivor, Abigail Peter, 30, told Daily Sun: “ I didn’t know how I found myself in the hospital, it was when I regained consciousness that I was made to understand what really happened to me and how I was brought to the hospital. Now that God has made me to be alive again, I will continue to worship Him, I will not stop going to the church, bomb or no bomb, I will continue to do God’s work.

Another survivor, Nicholas, 12, said: “ I thank God that I am alive today. What happened has strengthened my faith in God. I am not better than those that died. I will continue to go to church, I will not be afraid to go to church even if the bomber strikes again and again. I know God will protect us Christians because we are His children.

I feel better now.”

Ndagoso said, “we can never run away from our country, we have to remain here and pray for our country. So, I sincerely thank officials the Kaduna State Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) for coming to feel the pains with us because it had happened. There is nothing we can do than to give thanks to God that in spite of what happened, it was not everybody that died, many are still alive, including the priest of the bombed church.

“We continue to give God the glory who is

…JNI condemns blast, prays for peace always in control, and He will continue to be in control. It is just unfortunate that people are being indoctrinated, and that is a problem. If you are to meet people in both Islam and Christianity, you will know that both religions preach peace.

“But people are being indoctrinated, and they are ready to fight the battle, and we have already lost because the fighter is ready to die, but we are not ready to die. We have already lost the battle because we are not ready to die, nobody is ready to die, but the attacker is ready to die. In such a sit-

uation, we have nothing to do but to offer ourselves to God. He is the author of life, and He knows best.”

Meanwhile, Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) under the leadership of the Sultan of Sokoto and President-General, Alhaji (Dr) Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar, has condemned the bombing, he called for calm and restraint.

In a statement issued by the Secretary-General, Khalid Abubakar Aliyu, JNI prayed that the perpetrators would never succeed in causing chaos in

Kaduna State.

According to the statement, “ we implore the security agents to be more vigilant and intensify measures of curbing this dastardly act of bombings. As for those affected, we pray for a restoration of what they have lost and also the families of those who lost their lives, may Allah grant them fortitude to bear the loss. “ Jama’atu Nasril Islam calls on all Muslim Ummah to always intensify prayers to Almighty Allah to bring an end to this kind of situation and ensure peace and tranquility in our country and we pray against future occurrence. Amin.”

… My survival is a miracle, says parish priest From NOAH EBIJE, Kaduna •Recuperates on hospital bed ontrary to claims that the parish priest,

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Reverend Father Mike Bonni Bazah of the bombed St. Rita’s Catholic Church, Ungwan Yero area of Kaduna metropolis was dead, he is very much alive, recovering fast on his hospital bed.

Speaking to Daily Sun yesterday, Father Bazah said he emphasized on the gospel message last Sunday which was about the need to forgive one another and remain firm and unshaken in the face of adversity of any sort in the journey of life on earth.

“We believe in faith all the time as Christians, and even the sermon I was preaching was all about the need for forgiveness, pray for your enemies and those who prosecute us, and all that. But you see, as Christians, it will always be our line of thought, a kind of shock absorber that will sustain our faith continuously in order to withstand any form of tribulation in our Christian lives.”

Rev. Father Bazah also shared his experience of the blast, noting that he was able to witness part of the church wall crumbling, and quickly alerted the church members, particularly the choir members since the wall was falling from that side of the church.

“We went through the rites of mass, up to the final part where we were ready to receive the Holy Communion. We had shared the sign of peace, so I went to the tabernacle to bring out the

Holy Communion for distribution, and that is when I heard the bang and saw the fence falling, so I was trying to alert the choir members because it came from that angle, that they should watch out, something is happening behind them. But before I could finish speaking out, I heard a loud sound, and the roof fell on us. From that point, I don’t remember what happened again because there was confusion here and there, people were running out, helter-skelter, tramping on one and another.

“So all I noticed was that blood was flowing all over me, completely dripped with blood. I thought that my left eye was blown off because I was covered in blood, I could not see, and so, some of my parishioners came around me and assisted me out, it was not easy because everybody was rushing out. I was a bit conscious so, I was able to direct them to take my car key from my pocket. They drove me to the hospital in my own car.

“My survival was miraculous because when you see a situation around you, people dying in your presence, some are oozing out blood. I had actually thought that I lost all my blood, but after 24 hours I was able to talk. The incident had only strengthened my faith, it has made me to sojourn on for Christ, I will continue to be the priest of the parish, and I will not give up

“We always have the Catholic cadets in place, they were the only security agencies you could notice around, even when we were going to the church in the morning, they have barricaded the road from both sides of the church. Apart from the Catholic cadets, I didn’t see any other security personnel. So, that is why I was disappointed this morning because when I saw newspapers’ review, I saw military and policemen all over the place, but up to the time I was taken to the hospital, there was no single policeman or soldier, but much later they came around.

“We have been told time and again that security men are being attached to churches, and up to last Sunday, we have always had two to three policemen in the church.” Father Bazah said.

One of the survivors, Vista Okoh, also collaborated the priest’s Sunday homily, saying that he emphasized on faith and healing having taken the gospel reading from St. Mark 10: 40-52 where a blind beggar named Bartimaeus simply pleaded with Jesus to restore his sight, and he was immediately healed based on his faith.

Okoh noted that it was based on this biblical message and miracle that Father Bazah urged the worshippers never to give up praying to God since nothing is impossible before God. “So, I see this message as a shock absorber for many of us to have survived the bomb blast.”

6 DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

NEWS 6 die in Anambra flood –SSG From EMMANUEL UZOR, Onitsha

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nambra State Government has confirmed that the state suffered casualties including the loss of six lives in the recent flood that ravaged various parts of the country.

The Secretary to the State Government (SSG) Mr. Oseloka Obaze said the flood disaster that swept through the nation claimed six lives in Anambra State Obaze disclosed this at the Atani Relief Camp, Ogbaru Local Government Area where former minister of Information and Communications, Prof. Dora Akunyili presented relief materials to victims of the flood disaster from Ogbaru, Anambra West, Anambra East, Ayamelum, Awka North and Ihiala local government areas of the state.

The Anambra SSG attributed the low casualty level of the disaster in the state to the prompt and consistent response of Governor Peter Obi and his lieutenants to the disaster since it broke out.

Obaze said government was already preparing for the future of the displaced persons and to face the challenges of a possible rise in the price of foodstuff as a consequence of the flood.

He disclosed that the state government was working with the relevant United Nations agencies that could assist with improved cassava seedlings that could mature within three months so that farmers that lost their crops to the flood could quickly recover from their losses.

Disclosing that the N500 million the president released to the state to contain the situation was not enough, Obaze said the state was reaching out to the Presidential Committee on the flood disaster to get food across to the displaced persons.

He said the government was bracing up to the huge reconstruction and rehabilitation of the victims, whose houses and sources of living had been destroyed by the flood.

Jealousy, evil forces behind Kaduna bombing –Senate leader From ADETUTU FOLASADE-KOYI, Abuja

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enate Leader, Victor Ndoma-Egba, yesterday congratulated the Archbishop of Abuja Catholic Diocese, Bishop John Onaiyekan, on his elevation as Cardinal

by Pope Benedict XVI. In a statement signed by him, the Senate Leader however, expressed worry about the coincidence of the bombing of a Catholic Church in Malali, Kaduna State, with the euphoria that trailed Onaiyekan’s elevation. The bombing reportedly killed 8 people and injured over 100 on Sunday.

Ndoma-Egba noted that evil forces, obviously unhappy with the peace ushered in by the Sallah celebrations, which saw Christians joining their Muslim brothers to celebrate the festival, were behind the bombing.

The statement reads: “Your elevation is a testimony of your outstanding qualities as a devout Christian who has relentlessly propagated the gospel. This elevation is also a further testimony of the recognition of your leadership as a former president of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), who gave voice to the aspirations of many Nigerians and in championing their cause.

“This is also in recognition of your invaluable contributions to Nigeria’s growth and development in the course of your chosen career as a priest who speaks the truth to constituted authority as well as a defender of the oppressed. These qualities, I believe, are immeasurable.”

Obi woos investors in South Africa

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avouring the successful berth of the South African brewery giant, SABmiller, in Onitsha and another fortune 500 company building its facility in the town, Governor Obi was in South-Africa to woo more South-African investors to come and invest in Anambra State.

Speaking during the investors’forum in Anambra, where he met selected investors, Obi named South-African companies that were doing well in the country, including the MTN and assured others that Anambra was a good place to invest for adequate returns.

Describing Africa as a virgin land waiting to be exploited on investment, he explained to investors why Anambra was the destination. “In Nigeria today, Anambra has the highest number of entrepreneurs, the biggest market and the most resourceful people,” Obi said.

On the areas that are ripe for investment, Obi said Anambra could host many sectors, giving example with agriculture; he said Anambra could host big agricultural firms that were ready to develop value chain for the product in such a way that local players would key into their operations. He also said that Anambra was ripe for a packaging company that would produce different packages for many companies that had started operations in the state, among others.

Obi assured them not to worry about overcoming logistics problems associated with investment, describing himself as one-stop-shop that would be available at all times to facilitate their operations.

• From left: Director-General, Bureau of Public Enterprises, Ms Bolanle Onagoruwa; Chairman, Technical Committee, National Council on Privatisation (NCP), Mr Atedo Peterside; Minister of State for Power, Mr Garius Ishakku and Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media, Umar Sani, during a news conference on the outcome of NCP meeting in Abuja, yesterday. Photo:NAN

Harassment of media advert executives: NPAN drags APCON, IGP to court

By FAITH OMORUYI

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he Registered Trustees of the Newspaper Proprietors Association of Nigeria (NPAN) has dragged the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria (APCON) and the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) before a Federal High Court sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, over alleged harassment of media advertisement executives.

The newspaper owners filed an originating summons brought pursuant to Order 3 Rules 6 and 7 of the Federal High Court (Civil Procedure) Rules 2009, through their lawyer, A. Labi-Lawal on the ground that APCON does not have the power to regulate the activities of the plaintiffs members or any of their employees who are not registered members of APCON or practising advertising.

In the suit, NPAN is asking the court to make a declaration that Articles 21 and 137(a) of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and Sales Promotion are ultra vires (beyond the powers) of APCON in so far as the provisions of the Articles affect media houses who do not practise advertising.

The association is also asking the court to declare that Article 21 of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and Sales Promotion which requires that all advertisements except public notices, goodwill messages, obituaries and vacancies should be vetted and approved by the Advertising Standards Panel (ASP) before publication, is inconsistent with the provisions of Section 39 of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (FRN) and therefore, is unconstitutional, null and void.

The plaintiff is praying for a

declaration that APCON has no power under the Advertising Practitioners (registration etc) Act, Cap A7, Laws of the Federation, 2004, to create offences and impose penalties as done in Article 137 (a) (b) and (c) of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and Sales Promotion and as such, the said Article is unconstitutional, null and void.

It wants the court to make an order of perpetual injunction restraining APCON from treating the said Articles 21 and 137(a) as valid articles in the code. They are also asking for an order of perpetual injunction restraining the defendants, their servants, agents/ representatives from implementing or applying the provisions of Articles 21 and 137 (a) (b) and (c) against any member of the plaintiff’s association or their servants, officers and representatives.

The suit is predicated on whether the provisions of

Section 1(d) of the Advertising Practitioners (Registration, etc) Act, Cap A7, LFN 2004, Articles 21 and 137 (a) of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and Sales Promotion are not beyond APCON’s powers in relation to media houses who do not advertise.

It is also on whether the said Articles are consistent with Section 39 of the 1999 constitution which guarantees the freedom of expression including freedom to hold opinion and to receive and impart ideas and information without interference.

Another issue to be determined in the suit is whether having regard to the provisions of Section 4 (1) of the 1999 constitution, it is competent for the first defendant to create offences and impose penalties as done in the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and Sales Promotion.

The suit is supported by a 22-paragraph affidavit deposed to by Ms Comfort Obi, Secretary of NPAN who

averred that officers of the second defendant in a letter, invited two members of the plaintiff/association over a complaint by APCON asking them to release some of their staff for interrogation. It averred that they were interrogated before they were released on bail but that the police had threatened them with further arrest and prosecution for allegedly violating the provisions of Article 21 of the Code.

It averred that unless restrained as prayed, the defendants would continue to harass and intimidate members of the plaintiff/association and their staff with threat of arrest and prosecution in purported implementation of the said code. It added that APCON does not have the power to regulate activities of the plaintiff members or any of their employees who are not registered members of APCON or practising advertising. No date has been fixed for the hearing of the case.

Boko Haram: ACN urges FG to review anti-terrorism tactics

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he Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has urged the Federal Government to review its tactics in fighting terrorism in the country, saying the bombing of a Church in Kaduna on Sunday has shown the limitation of government’s current tactics.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the senseless suicide bombing that led to the death of eight persons and left 145 others injured showed that those perpetrating acts of terror in the country were yet

to be curtailed, despite the chest-beating by the authorities over their supposed progress in the fight against terror.

While describing as ungodly and cruel, the attack, in which children and women were affected mainly, the party said government must urgently evolve a measure that would protect innocent citizens from the terrorists and the security agencies and curtail the insurgents from striking at a time and place they chose.

ACN said even before Sunday’s attacks, the rate at

which innocent people were being killed during attacks and reprisals between the security forces and the insurgents had become so alarming that it could not justify whatever modest success government might claim to have achieved in the battle against the attackers.

The party said the worst hit areas in recent times include Potiskum, Yobe State where the ongoing cordon-andsearch operation by security forces had attracted a backlash from the insurgents, who had been accused of killing innocent civilians in gory manners.

DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 7

NEWS Aviation authorities, Arik Air investigate death of stowaway •Bible, local medicine found on him

By UCHE USIM

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viation authorities and Arik Air management are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the discovery of the body of a young man in the wheel well of its Airbus A340-500 on Friday, October 26.

The deceased was clutching a Bible with an American flag drawn on it and also medicine produced by a local pharmaceutical company when his body was found.

The body was discovered when engineers were conducting a routine check on the aircraft that Friday morning.

A top aviation source who described the development as insider abuse and security breach, said “all will be done to get to the bottom of the matter.”

Arik Air spokesman, Banjo Ola said yesterday that the identity of the dead man was not known as there was no form of identification on him when the body was discovered.

“However, we are able to establish that the body has been in the wheel well for more than a day suggesting that the stowaway originated from Lagos. Curiously, a bottle of medicine produced by a local pharmaceutical company was found on the body laying credence to the suggestion that the stowaway may have boarded the flight from Lagos. Also found on the body was a Bible which has an American flag drawn on the back cover. The body of the stowaway which has since been deposited in the morgue is awaiting autopsy,” he explained.

Kalabaris protest moves to cede 5 Rivers oil communities to Bayelsa

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he Kalabari National Forum (KNF), yesterday protested alleged moves to cede five oil producing Kalabari communities in Rivers States to Bayelsa and urged President Goodluck Jonathan to stop those behind the plans in the interest of peace.

Addressing journalists after submitting petitions to the National Boundary Commission (NBC), and the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMAFC), in Abuja, the forum alleged surreptitious moves by some Federal Government officials to take away the affected communities from Rivers and hand them over to Bayelsa for political reasons.

The very rich oil communities in dispute include Kula, Soku, Elem-Sangama, Idama and Abissa. The communities which host the Soku Oil Fields and Oil Wells produce about 300,000 barrels of crude oil per day, making them one of the richest oil producing areas in the Niger Delta.

The protests became necessary, according to Mr. Emmanuel Awoyesuau-Jack, the chairman, Akuku-Toru Local Government Area Traditional Council of Rivers State, who spoke for the forum, owing to glaring unwillingness of Federal Government functionaries to ensure justice in the matter which had been before relevant Federal Government agencies for several years. The agencies involved include the Office of the Suveyor-General of the Federation, the NBC, RMAFC and the Supreme Court.

He added that from available information, the correction to the 11th edition of the Nigerian Administrative Map which gave the communities to Bayelsa might not be effected in the 12th edition of the map being expected without President Jonathan’s intervention.

Awoyesuau-Jack said, “the self-explanatory effort was perceived to assuage the initial provocation of the Rivers State Government. While Rivers State Government patiently awaited the promised correction of the error-laden 11th edition of the Administrative Map of Nigeria, which ordinarily should have redressed the acknowledged fundamental misrepresentations, RMAFC surreptitiously released all revenue accruing from Soku Oil Fields and Wells, previously kept in an Escrow Account to Bayelsa State without recourse to Rivers State.

“In spite of every meaningful effort by the Rivers State Government to seek justice in this extremely provocative matter, no progress from the NBC has been made to date. It was, however, rumoured that the assurances given disappointingly, will not reflect the promised correction but rather the provisional 12th Administrative Map said to be under production will nakedly usurp 80 percent of Akuku-Toru LGA in Rivers State by further shifting the boundary line from San Bartholomew River, Sombereiro River.

“Let us, in the light of the above, state without mincing words, as inhabitants of the area under reference, that this position is totally unacceptable as it is a clear manifestation of political manipulation intent on balkanising Kalabari territory and ceding same to Bayelsa State.

“This premeditated and strategically executed action is intended to sustain and legitimise the injustice and brazen act of aggression meted to the Kalabari Kingdom and Rivers State, with the connivance of various Federal Government agencies under the watchful eyes and supervision of his Excellency, Mr. President, whose home state, most ingloriously, is the direct beneficiary.”

•L–R: Atinuke Babatunde, Brand Manager, Airtel Nigeria, Osondu Nwokoro, Director, Regulatory Affairs and Special Projects, Airtel Nigeria, Vice President, Namadi Sambo and Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communications Technology at the recently concluded ITU Conference in Dubai, UAE.

We’ve put Ondo elections behind us –ACN •Says to challenge Mimiko’s victory in court if…

By CHINELO OBOGO

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he Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has said that it has put the Ondo State governorship elections behind it but will contest the outcome if it is ascertained that irregularities and wrongful actions altered the results.

In a statement signed by its National Chairman, Bisi Akande, the party maintained that it had begun an accurate assessment of the election and would not contest the outcome if it was found that the lapses in the election did not significantly alter the results.

The statement reads in part: “We believe in the right of the people of Ondo State to determine who leads them. For us in ACN, the Ondo State election is a battle in a large war, which is the war of deepening democracy and ensuring accountability in our country.

We have therefore resolved to put the elections behind us while pursuing the task of providing leadership for our people effectively.

“However, we have started an accurate but swift assessment of the entire election, from the vote count to the many and several irregularities and instances of thuggery and violence that occurred. Should we find ultimately that the irregularities and wrongful actions were not sufficiently material to alter the outcome,

we shall do the honourable thing and respect what is announced. Should we find ultimately that the irregularities and wrongful actions materially altered the result, we shall contest the transgression as is our right and duty in a democracy.

“We are prepared to lose elections if the contest is free and the process is fair and transparent. We know that in

Chief, others arraigned over kidnap, murder of 81-yr-old monarch From TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt

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wo persons, including a chief, allegedly involved in the abduction and murder of an 81-year-old paramount ruler, Eze Sunday Njoku of Umuebulu 1 Community in Etche Local Government Area of Rivers State, have been arraigned before a Port Harcourt Magistrate Court two years after the crime was committed.

The accused persons, Chief Chibuna Nwafor, 44, Bosim

Felix Okpeke (aka Tolia), 29 years old, and others at large, were said to have kidnapped the victim on June 13, 2010, at Assemblies of God Church, Umuebulu 1, Etche, in the state.

The accused persons were facing a four-count charge of conspiracy, kidnap, murder and extortion.

Count one reads: “That you Chief Chibuna Nwafor, Bosim Felix Okpeke (aka Tolia) and others now at large, on the 13th day of June, 2010, at Assemblies of God Church, Umuebulu, Port Harcourt, in

Body of 22-yr-old domestic staff found in master’s swimming pool

By CHRISTOPHER OJI

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22-year-old man, Onyeka Kingsley, was last weekend found dead in the swimming pool of his businessman boss on Williams Babatunde Asimi Street, Ogudu GRA, Lagos.

Kingsley was a domestic staff of the businessman before his death. Already, the death has started raising dust as family members suspected foul play.

A family source who simply identified himself as Uche said, “our brother’s body was found dead in the swimming pool of his master. We are

this manner, our democracy is strengthened.

On the opposite side of the spectrum, other people are trying to pressure us to concede defeat as if all was perfect with the election. They do so not because they love democracy but because they are all political opponents of our party.

Their interests are not in justice but in appearing to be concerned about justice.”

warned that his stomach showed no sign of protrusion.”

Uche said when the body was removed by the police, there were no signs of injuries, either on the head or other parts of the body, except a twisted neck.

He alleged that the deceased might have been strangulated before his body was dumped in the swimming pool. He, therefore, called on the state Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko to fish out the killers of his brother.

A police source at the Ogudu Police Station said preliminary investigation showed that the deceased, a native of

Umunede in Delta State, resumed duties as a domestic staff in March this year.

The police source said the police saw the food the deceased served on the table before the tragedy occurred.

He said it was surprising to note that nobody in the master’s house agreed that he or she was at home when the incident occurred.

Lagos State police spokeswoman, Ngozi Braide, who confirmed the incident said, “the case will be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department (SCID), Panti, for further investigation.”

the Port Harcourt Magisterial District did conspire among yourselves to commit felony to wit: kidnapping and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 516A(1) of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Volume 11, Laws of Rivers State, 1999.

In count two, the accused persons on the same date and place were said to have been “armed with AK47 rifles and other dangerous weapons and with intent to demand ransom, did kidnap one HRH Eze Sunday Njoku, paramount ruler of Umuebulu 1 Community, Etche Local Government Area aged 81 years old and unlawfully imprisoned him in such a manner as to prevent his relations or any person entitled to have access to him from discovering the place where he was imprisoned and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 1(A) of the Rivers State Kidnap (Prohibition) Laws of 2009.”

The accused persons in count three were charged for being “armed with AK47 and other dangerous weapons and unlawfully killed one HRH Eze Sunday Njoku and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 319 (1) of the Criminal Code, Cap 37, Volume 11, Laws of Rivers State, 1999.”

8 DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

NEWS Third Eye publisher tasks lawmakers on Procurement Act From GBENGA ADESUYI, Ibadan

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he Publisher of the defunct Third Eye newspaper, Chief Akanni Aluko has described the wrangling between President Goodluck Jonathan and members of the National Assembly over alleged non-performance of the 2012 budget as an ill-wind that will bring no good to the nation.

The businessman and community leader also condemned the lawmakers for not cooperating with the president in the task to move the nation forward, adding that the country would not witness any progress unless they focus on their responsibility of making appropriate laws for the benefit of Nigerians.

He said members of the National Assembly were competing with the president because of their ambition to be the next president.

“Almost all the lawmakers have ambition to be in his position so they want to create a state of insecurity for him.

Aluko, in an interview with Daily Sun, urged the lawmakers to concentrate on how to amend the Procurement Act, which according to him was “deliberately put in place by former president Olusegun Obasanjo so that no one including the nation could move forward.”

He urged the lawmakers to work in unison with the president to achieve the yearnings of Nigerians.

He said amendment of the Act should be seen by the lawmakers as a matter of urgency to prevent cases of abandoned contracts, which was rampant in the country. The amendment, according to him, became imperative to clear all the flaws and bottlenecks contained in it, which had been dragging the nation development backward.

He described the Act as offensive and retrogressive, adding that rather than help the system, the Procurement Act had stifled infrastructural development by creating room for corruption and waste of scarce resources.

Asked to assess President Jonathan’s administration, the publisher queried: “How can he perform when he’s not been given any space to perform. The country is in very terrible situation, our political operators are not sincere, all of them are seeing themselves as president, both Houses of the National Assembly are competing with the president and the PDP is not helping matter.

“Now they have started again they don’t want to approve the budget, the man gave a budget proposal but they are saying the man put it at certain figure.”

MLSCN decries substandard reagents used in laboratories From UBONG UKPONG, Abuja

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he Medical Laboratory Council of Nigeria (MLSCN) yesterday disclosed that over 50 per cent of the reagents used in the nation’s medical laboratories, were fake and substandard.

This was even as the Federal Government (FG) also admitted that the nation was flooded with low standard medical laboratories with poor services.

Registrar and Chief Executive of the MLSCN, Prof.

Anthony Emeribe, who made the disclosure while speaking with journalists at the opening of the ongoing training for African Society for Medical Science Laboratory (ASMSL) auditors, said the substandard reagents were responsible for the conflicting laboratory test results that were often recorded in the country.

Emeribe further stated that the reagents used in various laboratories in the country, were either directly imported in their substandard status into the country or repackaged.

He said the development led to the establishment of the National Diagnostic Centre, which would to scrutinise all laboratory reagents and products in the country.

He said besides securing registration by laboratories, it was incumbent on owners of the laboratories to make conscious efforts to do the right thing.

The Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, who declared open the training, said medical laboratories in the country had the lowest standards with worst services provision. He said it had continued to hamper the nation’s desires to get international accreditations.

Jonathan approves 11 perm secs’ redeployment, posts six new ones From JULIANA TAIWO-OBALONYE, Abuja

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resident Goodluck Jonathan has approved the redeployment of 11 Permanent Secretaries and the posting of six new ones sworn into office two weeks ago.

In the deployment circular signed by the Permanent Secretary, Establishment and Records, Office of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr. Charles Bonat, on behalf of the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, all handing and taking over formalities were to be completed on or before Wednesday, November 7.

• L-R: Former president, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Mr. Wole Olanipekun; Chairman on the occasion, Ms Ayo Obe and representative of the Chief Justice of Lagos State, Justice Kazeem Alogba, during the 5th annual Bamidele Aturu Law and Social Development lecture in Lagos yesterday.

Kalu asks Nigerian politicians to be sincere in their spiritual life From AIDOGHIE PAULI- we do now? And I told him to go and beg the General. But NUS, Abuja today, everything is over.

“People say I am a radical. ormer governor of Abia State, Dr. Orji Uzor Kalu, I am not a radical. It is just has called on Nigerian that I always like to tell the politicians to refrain from truth no matter the situation.” parading their spirituality on Kalu encouraged Anyanwu the streets. He said spirituali- to continue on the path of ty was a matter of the heart. social justice.

In her earlier remarks, Kalu made the call yesterday in Abuja during a birth- Anyanwu thrilled the congreday thanksgiving mass in his gation to a moment of laughAso Villa Chapel in honour ter when she said she was of the senator representing surprised when Kalu said he Imo East Senatorial District, was going to have a Mass in her honour at his residence.

Christiana Anyanwu.

Hear the publisher of the Kalu, who was responding The Sunday to remarks by Anyanwu, who defunct said she was shocked with Magazine (TSM): “When the Mass organized in her Kalu invited me on our way honour because she had from Liberia to come and always known Kalu as a rad- worship in his house on my ical, who would not have birthday, not that I actually time to worship his God, wanted to honour the invitabemoaned the way and man- tion but to come and observe ner Nigerian politicians always paraded their spirituality on the streets rather than making it more sincere and personal.

The former Abia State governor said: “I told my From JULIANA TAIWObishop, Lucius Ugorji, that I was going to provide leader- OBALONYE, Abuja ship to my people, and that I he Presidency has did. assured of President “For eight years as a govGoodluck Jonathan’s ernor, I had a priest, Revd. Fr. commitment to the fight Mike Okonkwo, who used to come and pray for me in my against corruption, adding bedroom every morning and that there will no cover up in thereafter, we would move to the findings of the Ribadu report when the report is the chapel for Mass.

“There is nothing more finally submitted on Friday.

The Senior Sspecial than having God by your side. I believe that religion is Adviser to the President on a matter of the heart and not Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin on the street as Nigerian Okupe, said contrary to specpoliticians do in parading ulations, President Jonathan their spirituality so that peo- was yet to receive or see the report. He said what was preple can see.

“When Abacha said all of maturely released to the us must leave this place, I media was the draft copy.

“For the avoidance of went to Prof. Jubril Aminu doubt, the president has neiand he said I should not worry, that I should not mind ther seen nor received any him. Others even ran away. copy of the Ribadu commitMy neighbour, General Abbe tee report. Essentially, what came to me and said what do appears to have been irregu-

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what is on ground.

“I wasn’t sure of what I was going to see but I didn’t know that as radical as he is, he still finds time in the background to worship God.” Anyanwu said the birthday celebration was the best she had ever had, even as he expressed gratitude to Kalu for putting together the celebration.

Delivering the sermon earlier, the Parish Priest of Holy Cross Catholic Church, Gwarimpa, Abuja, Rev. Fr. Chris Bologo, expressed gratitude to God for the life of Anyanwu and the exploits she had made both in the field of journalism and politics.

Bologo asked Anyanwu to see all that had happened to her as acts of God. He said: ‘God always use situations to

direct his children to where their destiny is.

“You were in the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and now, you are in the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA). If you had remained in the PDP, by now, people wouldn’t have known the stuff you are made of.

You left the PDP and contested in the APGA and you won. People now know more of your worth and the stuff you are made of.

“If you want to go for third term, may be you wouldn’t be able to get it in the PDP but in the APGA now, you can get it.

“So, see all that have happened to you as acts of God because sometimes, God allows us to experience hardship to lead us to our destiny,” he said.

Ribadu report: There ’ll be no cover up –Presidency

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larly released prematurely to the media is a draft copy, which still requires full accent of all members of the committee and clarifications and due process from the originating ministry before the official handing over to the Presidency.

“President Jonathan should be commended for his personal resolve to fight institutionalised corruption in Nigeria. President Jonathan ordered the probe of the oil industry for the period of 10 years (2002 - 2011), which also covers the tenure of his administration. No president in our history has gone this far and this explains why the rot in our system has persisted for so long.

“President Jonathan approved the appointment of a well-known corruption crusader, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu,

who ran against him during the presidential election on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

It is also noteworthy that the Secretary of the committee, Mr. Supo Sasore was a former attorney general of Lagos State under an ACN government.

“President Jonathan’s unwavering and commendable determination to fight corruption is clearly demonstrated by his approval of the appointment of credible Nigerians, anti-corruption crusaders and members of the opposition party in the committee.

“The efforts of President Jonathan have also helped in exposing the fraud in the Petroleum Subsidy Regime dug up by Aig Imokhuede’s committee. The indicted persons are currently being tried in various courts,” he said.

DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 9

SOUTH SOUTH Police on the trail of kidnappers of foreigners in Bayelsa From FEMI FOLARANMI, Yenagoa

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he Bayelsa State Police Command is on the trail of suspected sea-pirates who kidnapped some foreigners recently in Bayelsa State.

The foreigners, six Russians, one Estonian were among a 15-man crew of Bourbon Liberty 249, a French Vessel were abducted on their way to the Fish Town Terminal.

Immediately after the kidnap was reported, the Joint Military Task Force (JTF), Operation Pulo Shield and the Forward Operation Base, Nigerian Navy held a meeting on the incident but investigations revealed that the police had a lead of the identity of the suspected sea-pirates.

A reliable source close to the Bayelsa police command said the police, through their preliminary investigations had enough evidence on those who instigated the operation.

According to him the police might declare them wanted anytime from now to put the public on the alert as their arrest was imminent.

He said the police had a mandate given by Governor Henry Seriake Dickson and it would not compromise it.

Meanwhile, a Magistrate Court sitting in Yenagoa has ordered the Bayelsa State Police Command to dispose unclaimed property and exhibits in its possession.

The court further ordered that the proceeds from the sales should be immediately paid into the police reward fund.

Some of the exhibits would, however, be destroyed.

The Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Fedelis Odunna said the court order was in tandem with the Police Act.

Flood: Ex-S’Court judge predicts worse experience next year From PAUL OSUYI, Asaba

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he havoc caused by the recent flooding across the country would be a child’s play compared to what would happen next year, a retired justice of the Supreme Court, Francis Tabai predicted yesterday in Asaba.

Justice Tabai, whose country home in Torugbene, Bomadi Local Government Area of Delta State was also flooded stated that no amount of prayer would stop the impending doom to be caused by the flood next year.

He admitted that havoc caused by the recent flooding was “monumental and difficult to imagine,” adding, however that “next year’s flood would be worse than this. Like climate change, everything is indeed changing.

“Torugbene was always under the water in the months of July, August, September, October and some parts of November. You can thrust hook into the water in your compound and be sure to catch a fish. That was the experience in the environment I grew up.

“We thought that was in the old days but this year, we were surprised that the whole community had gone under the water again, everything is changing.”

Justice Tabai spoke shortly after his inauguration as the chairman of the 12-member committee to manage the N500 million flood money released by the Federal Government to Delta State Government as relief for flood victims in the state.

...Cathedral society, CMT donate relief materials

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he Cathedral Multipurpose Cooperative Society, Asaba, Delta State has donated relief materials to flood victims at the St Patrick College Camp, Asaba.

The materials include mosquito nets, soaps, cartons of Indomie and other household goods.

Addressing the displaced persons by the rampaging flood, Mr. Mok Ifeanyi, spokesperson for the society re-assured them of the preparedness to assist and to also commence the evacuation of others who were still trapped in the affected areas.

He also announced the society’s commitment to alleviate their sufferings, re-affirming the state and federal government’s readiness to increase the level of assistance to them and commended them for conducting themselves worthily.

He also commended other groups and good spirited Deltans who had demonstrated brotherly love by donating relief materials to them and appealed to well placed Deltans within and those in the Diaspora to come to the aid of the victims.

Responding to the donation, Mr. Anthony Uwanti, director, State Emergency Management Authority (SEMA) thanked them for the kind gesture, promising that the materials would be judiciously utilized.

Meanwhile, the Delta State Change Management Team (CMT) paid a visit to the St. Patrick’s College camp for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) during which relief materials were presented to the IDPs by the Chief Change Agent (CCA), Mr. Gibson E. Pinnick on behalf of the Change Management Team.

• From right: Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Mr Victor Ochie, speaker, Delta State House of Assembly and Mr Basil Ganagana, deputy speaker during the inauguration of the Committee on the Management of Federal Government fund released to the state over the flood disaster and post flooding rehabilitation of victims, in Government House, Asaba, yesterday.

Jubilation in Bayelsa as Dickson floors CAP at S’Court

From FEMI FOLARANMI, of Kubor and persuaded the Chairman of the party in the Yenagoa state, Deme Ikolomo to abanhere was jubilation in the don Kubor and the case at the camp of Governor Henry Supreme Court.

Checks indicated that the Seriake Dickson as the Peoples Democratic Party same group of people alleged(PDP) floored the Change ly sponsored a pro- Dickson Advocacy Party (CAP) at the rally staged by Ikolomo and Supreme Court over the valid- some CAP members to ity of Dickson as the PDP gov- demonstrate support for the ernorship candidate in the Dickson government and its February governorship elec- restoration agenda.

The judgment, which was tion.

CAP governorship candi- initially billed for last date, Dr. Imoro Goodhead Thursday October 25 was Kubor who had his petition postponed to Monday October dismissed by the Bayelsa 29 because of the Eid-elGovernorship Election Kabir holiday. According to Tribunal and the Court of sources, CAP and PDP memAppeal sitting in Port Harcourt bers had mobilized to Abuja had approached the Supreme Court arguing through his counsel led by A.J Owonikoko that the lower he Peoples Democratic courts erred in law by affirmParty (PDP) has congratuing the election of Dickson as lated the Governor of he was not the candidate of the Bayelsa State, Chief Seriake PDP. Investigations revealed that Dickson on yesterday’s judgsome PDP chieftains and vest- ment of the Supreme Court ed interests in the government which did not only reaffirm who had become jittery as him as the duly nominated they did not know where the candidate of the PDP but conpendulum of judgment would firmed his overwhelming vicswing had infiltrated the camp tory at the February, 2012

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ahead of the judgment.

As soon as the judgment delivered by Justice Walter Onoghen filtered into Yenagoa, the PDP secretariat and the Bayelsa State Government House was thrown into jubilation as many of Dickson’s loyalists expressed happiness over the Supreme Court’s judgment, which affirmed Dickson’s election as governor.

In a statement from SouthAfrica, Dickson commended the Justices of the Supreme Court for affirming the judgment of the lower courts.

The statement, which was signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Daniel Iworiso-

Markson stated that Dickson had dedicated the victory to God and the people of Bayelsa.

According to him Dickson’s victory had shown that the judiciary was an important institution in a democracy.

The statement reads in part: “Bayelsa State Governor, Henry Seriake Dickson has hailed the unanimous judgment of the Supreme Court upholding his election as the duly elected governor of Bayelsa State. Governor Dickson says this victory portrays the judiciary as a cardinal cornerstone of Nigeria’s democracy.

… PDP lauds S’ Court verdict, congratulates Bayelsa gov

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Bayelsa State governorship election.

In a statement in Abuja by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh, the party said the Supreme Court judgment was not only a victory for the people of Bayelsa who gave their mandate to Governor Dickson but an endorsement of a just

Edo Assembly sacks 18 LG transition committee executives Ohonbamu, in his motion, From TONY OSAUZO, which was unanimously carBenin ried by the House observed he Transition Committee that the caretaker committees executives of the 18 local were an aberration that could government councils of not tantamount to democratic Edo State set up by the state norms and values being government to run the affairs preached by the state governof the local councils were ment.

Seconding the motion, yesterday dissolved by the Emma Okoduwa, a Peoples state House of Assembly.

The dissolution followed a Democratic Party (PDP) motion on a matter of urgent member representing Esan public importance moved by North East constituency 11 Paul Ohonbamu, Action said Edo State was counted Congress of Nigeria (ACN) among the states in the federmember representing Egor ation that were operating transition committees in the constituency.

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councils, adding that it was a slap on the faces of the people of the state, who he said were noted for good.

According to him, the entrenchment of true democracy in the councils would sustain the political image of the state.

Following a resolution of the House arising from a motion, the speaker of the House, Mr Uyi Igbe ordered the transitional committee executives to return all property within their possession.

and properly constituted internal democratic process of the party.

“Our great party is ever mindful of the noble responsibility which our leadership position confers on us. Our determination on the entrenchment of internal democracy as a fundamental to every party process is clear. This firm resolve shall not waver. This judgment of the Supreme Court is therefore, an incentive on our resolve to build a better party.”

The party further commended Governor Dickson on his development strides and urged him to remain focused.

“The PDP rejoices with Governor Dickson and the entire people of Bayelsa on this well deserved victory. It is our expectation that with this distraction off the way, the governor, who hit the ground running, will only increase the tempo of massive infrastructural development that has literally turned Beyelsa into a huge construction yard,” the PDP statement concluded.

10 DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

SOUTH EAST Controversy over reappointment of EBSU VC From GODDY OSUJI, Abakaliki

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ontroversy is trailing the proposed reappointment of the Vice Chancellor of Ebonyi State University, Prof. Francis Idike and other principal officers by the state government for another term in office.

This is just as the Chairman of the Academic Staff Union of Universities (ASUU), Ebonyi State chapter, Professor Emeka Nwakpu faulted the action of government, pointing out that the move by the governing Council of the institution towards the reappointment of the vice chancellor was wrong and might cause crisis in the university.

Idike was appointed first appointed in 2008 for a term of four years in office from University of Nigeria Nsukka under the Ebonyi State University Law and is now under consideration to be reappointed under the amended EBSU Law of 2011 which proposed five years in office for some principal officers of the institution. And their reappointments may generate crisis similar to that of Rivers State university The action of the state government Daily Sun gathered has not gone down well with some academic stakeholders in the University community especially the Academic Staff Union of Universities, (ASUU) EBSU chapter who are threatening fire and brimstone should the government go ahead to re-appoint the VC arguing that the Vice Chancellor was not qualified to be reappointed under a Law which did not enable his first appointment.

Some stakeholders who spoke to Daily Sun under the condition of anonymity yesterday just as the ASUU members were said to be in a meeting on the issue, revealed that the University Law was amended to suit the selfish interest of some principal officers of the university contrary to the expectations of others.

2014: We won’t allow Abuja ruin us again –Anambra PDP From GEOFFREY ANYANWU, Awka

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embers of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Anambra State have vowed to no longer allow the fate of the party in the state to be determined by the powers that be in Abuja.

Speakers at the mid-term state congress of the party held last weekend at Emmaus House, Awka, where the delegates, 95 percent of whom were grassroots members, moved a vote of implicit confidence on the state Chairman, Prince Ken Emeakayi, mandating him to continue in office, said for eight years the party had been ruined in the state by imposition from Abuja.

They noted that PDP had a strong base in Anambra from inception but lost the grip of the state when Abuja began to dictate to it on who became its candidates in elections, which, according to them, had left the party permanently in crisis to the benefit of other political parties that had never been any threat to it before.

At the mid-term state congress, which was devoid of security operatives’disruption, which characterised the party’s congresses in the past, the members said they were now to take their destiny in their hands and ensure that their leaders and candidates emerged from the wards.

Flooding: FG’s N500m donation a drop in the ocean –Anambra govt

•Rita Melifonwu, Founder/CEO of Stroke Action Nigeria (2nd right), flanked by members of Board of Trustees, Arthur Okolonji (left), Biodun Ogungbo (2nd left) and Nn’emeka Maduegbuna during the media launch of the not-for-profit organisation in Lagos.

Kidnappers fail to release 78-yr-old woman, 2 months after collecting ransom From OKEY SAMPSON, Aba

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idnappers who abducted a 78-year-old woman in Abiriba, Ohafia Local Government Area of Abia State, have failed to release her two months after they were paid the ransom demanded.

Mrs. Martha Oyidiya Kalu of Ndi Okocha Ogbu, Amaogudu, Abiriba was kidnapped at her son’s house at Agba Ogbu, Amaogudu on August 10, at about 2.00am.

The kidnappers were said to have broken the ceiling of the house from outside, climbed into the septuagenarian’s room and went straight From GEOFFREY ANYANto her bed and whisked her WU, Awka away. he Traditional Prime According to a relation, Oji Minister of EnugwuOgba who spoke on behalf of Ukwu in Njikoka Local the woman’s son, Kalu Area of Gabriel Eke, immediately Government

lines they were using to call the family members.

Ogba said since then, all the forests in the area had been combed by both the army and police as well as youths from the community in search of the woman but to no avail.

According to Ogba, “the ransom money was paid on August 24, as demanded by the kidnappers who promised to release her after the payment but they failed to do

that.

“Two months after the ransom was paid, nothing has been heard from the kidnappers as to the release of the woman, instead, they switched off their phones to avoid any form of communication with us.”

The family is now afraid that their mother might have been killed by the kidnappers, but Ogba said, “we (family members) want her abductors to release her dead or alive.”

Kidnappers abduct Enugwu-Ukwu traditional prime minister

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Anambra State, Chief Dennis Anaekwe, was yesterday abducted by gunmen suspected to be kidnappers, at Omire Junction, Enugwu-Ukwu.

Anaekwe was said to have gone to inspect his site where

Ekwunife floors ACN again as A’Court upholds election

From GEOFFREY ANYANWU, Awka

From EMMANUEL UZOR, Onitsha

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nambra State Government has said the N500 million given to the state by the Federal Government for the flood issues would not even scratch the problems on her hands occasioned by the disaster.

Secretary to the State Government (SSG) and Chairman of the state Flood Relief Coordination Committee, Mr. Oseluka Obaze, who disclosed this while receiving relief materials donated by the Special Adviser to the President on Inter-Party Affairs, Ben Ndii Obi, to the flood victims in the state, confirmed that the state had received the N500 million meant for states in Category ‘A’ but lamented that it was just a tip of the iceberg.

Obaze who commended Obi for the gesture said, “you have the ears of Mr. President, and so you have heard our cries and plea; we are in Category ‘A’ states and we received N500 million. It is just a tip of the iceberg, let’s be very frank about that.

“When the bill for this is over in Nigeria, we are going to cross the trillion marks whether we like it or not and the sooner we begin to talk about it and find how to get that money to the states that are affected, the better.

“Of course, we will not worry about the politics of more states being involved in sharing the booty, that’s fine but what we are saying is those states that are directly affected like Anambra, Delta and Kogi should be accorded the privilege of having not just resources they need but having commensurate resources to the challenges they face.”

their mother was kidnapped, her abductors established contact with members of the family.

Ogba said after some days, agreement was reached with the abductors on the ransom to be paid which he said was immediately raised and sent to the kidnappers.

He said to the family’s greatest surprise, after receiving the money, the abductors failed to release their victim, and switched off all the phone

he Appeal Court sitting in Enugu yesterday reaffirmed the re-election of Uche Ekwunife of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) as member repres e n t i n g Anaocha/Dunukofia/Njikoka Federal Constituency of Anambra State.

The five-man appeal panel headed by Justice Lokulo Sodikpe upheld the judgment of the National Assembly Election Petition Tribunal in Awka who had dismissed the petition by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Mr. Dozie Nwankwo in the re-run election in some wards in the federal constituency.

Delivering the judgment, Justice Sodikpe upheld the ruling by the lower tribunal sitting in Awka, on the grounds

that the petitioner could not prove his case beyond reasonable doubt and awarded cost of N30,000 and N40,000 against him.

Sodikpe further maintained that the appeal was dismissed on the ground that the ACN candidate, Nwankwo, could not establish the allegation of electoral malpractices and not meeting up with electoral act levelled against Uche Ekwunife of APGA in the rerun election in some wards within the federal constituency.

“The law is straight and the appellant’s claim that his case was not properly treated based on evidence and witness were incorrect because the appellant could not provide proper evidence to show that his claims were correct but relied on the witness of the PW17.”

He further said the judgment of the lower tribunal that dismissed the petition of

Nwankwo of ACN on the basis of lack of merit was correct and upheld the judgment and reaffirmed the election of Mrs. Ekwunife.

Reacting to the judgment, Mrs. Ekwunife thanked God for giving her victory at the courts at all levels and said the judgment was the reconfirmation of the mandate given to her by the people of the constituency and extolled the boldness and fairness of the judges.

“It was the reconfirmation of the mandate my people overwhelmingly gave to me during the election and the reelection. I have been distracted severally by my opponent who unfortunately refused to accept defeat. He continued saying he heard a voice that asked him to come out but today, he should go back and re-examine that voice to ascertain whether it was the voice of God or voice of a drunk.”

he wanted to build a filling station at about 9.00am when a gang of four gunmen operating in a Toyota Sienna bus intercepted and forced him out of his car and dragged him to theirs and sped off.

The Abuja-based businessman who was said to have returned from Lagos where his family resides is the Omenyi Enugwu-Ukwu na Umunri and the second-incommand in Enugwu-Ukwu traditional hierarchy.

Though the abductors have not established contact with the family as at press time, the state Police Command, which confirmed the abduction said men of the command were doing their best to find them and rescue the monarch.

Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Mr. Raphael Uzoigwe, said the deputy commissioner in charge of operations has dispatched men in search of the gang and promised that the high chief would be rescued.

He said, “we are doing everything possible to ensure that the man is rescued. The ‘B’ Division is working tirelessly to track them down and I assure you that you will hear good news in a short time.”

DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012,11

SOUTH WEST Osun police parade suspected kidnappers of speaker’s wife From BAMIGBOLA GBOLAGUNTE, Osogbo

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sun State Police Command has paraded six suspects who allegedly kidnapped the wife of the speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mrs Muibat Salaam.

The suspects were paraded at the state command headquarters of the Nigeria Police Force, Oke-Fia, Osogbo by the Commissioner of Police, Mrs Kalafite Adeyemi.

Adeyemi disclosed that arms and ammunition and other items including two AK47 rifles with 78 cartridges, four empty magazines, one Halogen security ID card belonging to one Ogbole Elijah and one MAN diesel truck with reg. No. ATN 21XA were recovered from the suspects.

She said three of the suspects were arrested in Ogun State, while others escaped with bullet wounds, adding that the kidnappers had earlier demanded N200 million before they were arrested.

According to the police boss, Chukwudi Okereke was the prime suspect who organized the kidnap, saying that the suspect had confessed that he was the leader of the gang of kidnappers who kidnapped Mrs Salaam.

She said the prime suspect claimed to have lived in Ejigbo, hometown of the speaker for two years and later left to Agbor in Delta State.

Mrs Adeyemi added that the suspect said he had been in kidnapping business for years and had carried out his nefarious activities in Delta, Edo, Ogun and Osun states.

The police commissioner gave the names of the other suspects as Chukwudi Okereke, Ogbale Ochucle Elijah, Okonkwo Lucky, Chukwuma Osifo, Uwadiunor Philip and Kaikine Mahah.

Oyo begins public hearing on constitution review

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he Oyo State Government will begin a two-day public hearing on the review of the 1999 Constitution today.

A statement issued in Ibadan yesterday by the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Adebayo Ojo through the Special Adviser to the governor on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo, said the public hearing, which would end on Wednesday, would hold at the House of Chiefs, Secretariat, Ibadan at 9 am each day.

He said the public hearing, being handled by a committee constituted by the state government, was aimed at aggregating the views of the people of the state on the areas of the constitution marked out for amendment.

According to the committee, individuals, civil society organisations, professional bodies and the general public were expected to appear at the public hearing.

Ojo listed the areas marked out for amendment to include devolution of powers, creation of more states, recognition of the six geo-political zones in the constitution, role of traditional rulers, local government, fiscal federalism, amendment of provisions relating to amendment of the constitution, state creation and boundary adjustment to remove ambiguities as well as immunity clause.

Others areas are the removal of Land Use Act, NYSC and Code of Conduct from the constitution, Nigerian Police, judiciary, executive, rotation of executive office, gender and special group, Mayoral Status for the Federal Capital Territory Administration and residency and indigenous provisions.

Ogun CJ frees 13 prisoners ... Laments police attitude to prisoners From ADE ADEYEMI, Ijebu Ode

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gun State Chief Judge, Justice Olatokunbo Olopade, has again frowned at the attitude of the Nigeria Police to prisoners.

Justice Olopade alleged that the police were deliberately delaying the release of some prison inmates.

Olopade, who spoke yesterday during a jail delivery exercise at the Ijebu Ode prison lamented the sluggish attitude of the police in duplicating case files of the inmates, which, she said, had made efforts at releasing inmates unjustly detained difficult.

According to her, the excuse of inadequate manpower and absenteeism of officers in charge of files duplication at the police headquarters were not tenable.

While releasing 13 inmates of the Ijebu-Ode and Sagamu prisons, she threatened to convene a stakeholders’meeting with relevant authorities to address the issue.

Her words: “It is unfortunate for the police to be coming up with this type of attitude whenever we are on such exercise, it is not complementing our efforts at all and at the same time prolonged the stay of the inmates in the prison yard.”

According to her, some of the inmates had been in prison custody for over three and four years just because the police refused to duplicate their files or on the excuse of no case file.

Nine inmates including four women were released in Ijebu Ode while additional four were released in Sagamu Prisons.

The Public Relations Officer of the Nigeria Prison Ogun State Command, Mr. Victor Oyeleke, said the chief judge had so far released 44 inmates.

• L-R: Member, Breast Cancer Association of Nigeria (BRECAN), Mrs. Juliet Ogbogu; President, Mrs. Betty Anyanwu-Akeredolu and another member, Mrs. Ejinwa Akeredolu during a press conference on 2012 Breast Cancer Week in Ibadan yesterday.

PHCN engineer dies tracing faults in Ondo, Ekiti RAHEEM, become increasingly difficult for PHCN engineers to work on PHCN power lines since n engineer with the larger parts of the installations Power Holding were built inside forest with Company of Nigeria difficult terrains, adding that (PHCN) reportedly died last only air surveillance could weekend while he and his easily detect location of colleagues were tracing the faults.

The power outage had faults that caused power outage, in some part of Ondo and Ekiti states, in a forest.

The blackout, which had entered its second week, it was gathered, affected Akure metropolis and adjoining towns of Oba-Ile, Ijare, ith about four Idanre, Igbara-Oke, Ilara and months to the expiparts of Ekiti State. ration of his first The PHCN team was said to be in the forest between tenure in office as Governor Erin-Ijesa in Osun State and of Ondo State, Dr. Olusegun boundary towns of Ikeji- Mimiko has urged all politiAlakeji and Owena in Ondo cal office holders in his govState over the weekend trying ernment not to reduce their pace of work. to locate the fault when the Mimiko said they should incident happened. intensify efforts towards An engineer, Mr. Adewale achieving more result-orientOketade, blamed the PHCN ed programmes. management for the death of Governor Mimiko urged the engineer. He said it was them not to relax as more dangerous to go inside forest grounds were still to be covto detect power lines’ fault, ered before the February 24 saying helicopter should have swearing-in ceremony for the been used for easy detection. new administration, noting Oketade said it had that the people of the state deserved to be served better From TUNDE Akure

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crippled social and economic activities in Akure metropolis and other towns in Ondo and Ekiti states The Public Relations Officer of PHCN, Akure office, Mr. Adegoke Ademola, who confirmed the death of one of the field engineers who were tracing the

faults from Osogbo distribution station, said electricity supply to all the affected towns would be restored before the end of the week.

Ademola said the team of engineers was still in the forest despite the death of their colleague, trying to locate the faults.

Mimiko tasks political appointees on efficient service delivery

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as clearly demonstrated through their faith and trust in the Labour Party government.

He stated this yesterday in his office while receiving members of the forum of chairmen of boards and parastatals of the state government who were in his office to congratulate him on his victory in the October 20 gubernatorial election.

Governor Mimiko thanked the forum, led by Chief Dele Awosika for revolutionizing government’s agencies for effective service delivery to the people.

According to him, his administration would contin-

Man, 32, remanded for raping 9-year-old girl The accused, it was gathFrom BAMIGBOLA GBOered, unlawfully had a carnal LAGUNTE, Osogbo knowledge of the girl without n Osogbo Magistrate her consent, thereby commitCourt yesterday ting an offence punishable ordered a 32-year-old under the laws of the state.

The police prosecutor, Mr. man, Akinboye Adewole to be remanded in prison cus- Joshua Oladoye, said the tody for allegedly raping a accused committed an nine-year-old girl, Abosede offence contrary to and punAluko. ishable under section 218 of The accused committed the criminal code cap 34, vol the offence on October 14, at 11, laws of Osun state 2003 the Olorisaoko area of Ikire, of Nigeria.

Osun State at about 11.am.

The accused, however,

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pleaded not guilty to the onecount charge.

Counsel to the accused, Mr. Abimbola Ige, urged the court to grant his client bail in the most liberal term, adding that the accused would not jump bail if granted.

Magistrate Olusola Aluko, who presided over the court ordered the accused to be remanded in Ile-Ife prison custody and adjourned the case till November 28.

ue to build more mega schools both at the primary and secondary levels, stressing that he would continue to work hard to bring more development to every nook and cranny of the state.

He said: “It is obvious that our parastatals in the last three and a half years have all come alive. The success of this administration to some extent has been attributed to your commitment to efficient service delivery to our people.”

I want to implore you all not to relax in your service to our people.

“The present administration is not over yet and our people are still expecting more dividends of democracy from us. We have a lot to do in education and as a matter of fact, many of our mega schools are ready for commissioning,” Mimiko said.

Earlier in his speech, Chief Awosika, who is the chairman of the state Property Development Corporation, commended the governor for his quality leadership and tireless efforts to develop the state.

He assured Mimiko of more cooperation and support from the forum during his second term.

12 DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

AREWA FCTA paid N43bn to local contractors in 2012 –Minister

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he FCT administration has so far paid the sum of N43,395,762,731.93 to local contractors that executed various projects in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja between January and September 2012.

FCT Minister, Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed (CON) who made this revelation on Monday in his office at Area 11, Garki I District, Abuja, explained that the gesture was in line with the cardinal principles of the transformation agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The minister, who recalled that the FCT Statutory Budget was only approved in May 2012, disclosed that these payments were for second and third quarters, respectively.

Senator Mohammed further revealed that the administration paid the sum of N21,413,885,417.16 in the second quarter, and the sum of N21,981,877,314.77 for the third quarter of 2012 totaling N43,395,762,731.93.

The minister explained that some of the jobs done by these local contractors included provision of infrastructure, building of classrooms, supply of furniture to schools, hospital equipments as well as other sundry services.

Senator Mohammed specifically noted that in addition, all contractors owed N50,000,000 and below with matured bills were paid as at June 2012.

According to him, the FCT administration was awaiting any matured certificate to effect any required payment as the government was more than ever determined not to allow any local contractor face undue hardship.

He reiterated that the FCT administration is desirous of changing the face of contract administration in the country and to encourage local contractors to take a lead.

Terrorism driving North backwards –Yakowa From NAFISAT BELLO, Kaduna

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ollowing the suicide attack in Kaduna on Sunday, the state Governor, Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa has lamented the negative impact of insecurity in the region, saying it is driving Northern region backward.

The governor who flew in from his overseas trip to attend to the security challenge in his state, went round the hospitals where the victims of the blast were receiving treatment.

He told newsmen in Government House that the attack was a sad day in the life of Kaduna State, and called on the people of the state and Nigerians in general to assist the security agencies because “security agents needed the assistance of Nigerians to fight terrorism.”

This is even as he promised that the State government would write off all medical bills of last Sunday blast within the next 24hours.

He made the promise yesterday while addressing the press briefing at government house, saying that, “these victims are innocent citizens, more so children who are in the church to worship their God, but you can see what happened to them, so we as government of the people have to reduce the burden and the best way is to write off all their bills”.

He said “Nigeria belongs to all of us and we all have the collective responsibility to fight the insecurity in the land.”

Minister leads good governance team to Benue From ROSE EJEMBI, Makurdi

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inister of Information, Mr. Labaran Maku yesterday led a high powered delegation of the National Good Governance Team on a three-day tour of Benue State to assess projects embarked upon by federal, state and local governments.

The minister who also paid a courtesy visit to the state Governor, Dr. Gabriel Suswam at the Government House, Makurdi, explained that the essence of the tour was to make Nigerians aware of projects being executed by government in the last 13 years of uninterrupted democracy.

He lamented that though government at all levels had been working hard to give Nigerians the desired democracy dividends since 1999, very little was being said about it as the media were daily being awash with fights between political parties and politicians.

“Democracy is about doing things better. A lot of infrastructural developments had taken place in the country, but little is being said about that. We should engage in practices that will promote good governance in the country.”

Maku while positing that Benue was important as the confluence between the north and south reiterated its stance as a strong base for agricultural production in the country.

He disclosed that the team would be inspecting the Greater Makurdi Water Works, Transcorp / Teragro Fruit Juice Plant, Benue State Teaching Hospital, Makurdi Township roads among others, as well as organise a town hall meeting where Benue citizens were expected to bare out their minds on issues relating to good governance.

• Bauchi State students waiting to collect their quarterly allowance at Zenith Bank on Banks Road in Bauchi yesterday.

Gunmen kill 4, injure 7 at drinking parlour in Plateau

to Plateau Hospital.

From MARIAM Chairman of the local govALESHINLOYE AGBOOLA ernment, Emmanuel Loman Jos who confirmed the incident, said this was just one of the unmen suspected to incidents the area had been be Fulani herdsmen experiencing in recent times on Sunday evening despite moves to restore invaded a drinking parlour at peace.

Gindin Akwati in Gashish He reiterated that the District of Barkin Ladi Local attacks were being sponsored Government area of Plateau from outside, and appealed to State at bout 8:30 pm and all those having hands in the opened fire on persons relaxing at the spot, killing four instantly and leaving seven others badly injured.

According to eyewitness, From NOAH EBIJE, Kaduna the incident which occurred at the popular Burukutu parrewa Consultative lour, took the persons Forum yesterday symunaware as they were pathised with victims exchanging banter when the of Sunday’s suicide bombing invaders stormed the place in Kaduna, saying that it was and started shooting indis- an act of inhumanity to man. criminately. Most of the occuThis was contained in a pants of the joint took cover statement issued by the on hearing gunshots.

Forum’s Publicity secretary, But when the invaders had Anthony Sani. left, four persons were disThe statement reads, “The covered to have been killed, news of suicide bombing of a while the wounded were Catholic Church in Kaduna, wriggling in pains before they which took place yesterday were evacuated from the area on Sunday, that resulted in

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incessant killing in Barakin Ladi to have a change of heart and allow the area have peace.

As at the time of filing the report, the wounded persons were receiving treatment at Plateau Specialist Hospital in Jos. Confirming the incident, the spokesman of the state Police Command, ASP Abu Emmanuel said in the early

hours of Monday, one Ali Iliya of Exland village off Gashe Village, lodged the report at the police station at Barkin Ladi and policemen swung into action. But before they got there, the assailants had escaped He said investigation was still on but no arrest had been made. He appealed to residents of the area to remain calm.

ACF sympathises with victims of Kaduna bombing

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loss of about eight people and injured many, is totally condemnable because of its inhumanity, especially at a time when the leaders of all religious faiths are agreed that the act of killing oneself and other people in the name of God is not in line with God’s injunction in favour of sacred inviolability of the individual with clear sense of what is right and what is evil. It is more distressing, considering the efforts being made by the youths across all faiths in Kaduna to bring about lasting

7,000 Kano pilgrims protest poor feeding, accomodation at Mina, Arafat A statement from the Holy From DESMOND land and signed by the MGBOH, Kano Chairman of the state media ano State Pilgrims committee for the 2012 Hajj Welfare Board, Operation, Alhaji Bala Salihu through the National Dawakin Kudu said his prinHajj Commission of Nigeria cipal spoke last weekend.

The Board’s chairman (NAHCON), has commenced steps to seek the observed that the resolve to refund of the money paid for seek refund was sequel to the the feeding of their pilgrims receipt of several petitions and the space provided to from the pilgrims, who felt shortchanged by the quality, them at Mina and Arafat.

Chairman of the State including the inadequacy of Pilgrims Welfare Board, the food served to them as Sheikh Abba Adam Koki dis- well as the space of accomclosed this while addressing modation allotted to them at the pilgrims from the state in Mina.

He maintained that they Mina.

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had already lodged complaints to the Saudi authorities, through the National Hajj Commission of Nigeria, in which they had sought the refund of their money, following what he described as a breach of contract.

Sheikh Adam Koki commended the pilgrims for their patience and endurance during their stay in Mina and Arafat and extended to them, a congratulatory message from the Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso for the successful completion of Hajj rites.

peaceful coexistence in Kaduna.

Those who therefore, derive pleasure in killing themselves in order to kill other people in the name of God as a way of addressing their perceived grievances should lay down their arms and embrace constructive dialogue,precisely because resort to violent conflict can never solve the problems.

“ACF,therefore,sympathizes with those who lost loved ones to the attack and with those who got injured to take heart in the hope that God would take control and make appropriate compensation. May the souls of those who lost their lives rest in peace.

“ACF also wishes to appeal to religious leaders and youths of all faiths not to allow the recent attack to discourage them from their noble efforts at condemning violent conflict and promoting peaceful coexistence and national security through relative pluralism and tolerance.Our leaders must also note that great men are defined by great challenges,like the ones we have now.So they should be unwavering in their effort to bring about normalcy into the polity for common good.”

DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 13

NEWS How I survived oil subsidy removal crisis -Jonathan From JULIANA TAIWO-OBALONYE, Abuja

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resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday said but for the popular and democratic electoral mandate given him by Nigerians, he would have lost his job as President following the January fuel subsidy removal protests that greeted the country.

He said this in Freetown, Sierra Leone during his meeting with chairman of the country’s National Electoral Commission (NEC), Madam Christina Thorpe, as well as chairmen and some presidential candidates of political parties contesting Sierra Leone’s general elections coming up on November 17 this year.

Jonathan, while admonishing the country’s political gladiators to jointly ensure free and fair elections, noted that only that will guarantee their popularity with the electorate and ability to take strong decisions and gain the people’s confidence in times of crisis.

While recalling the fuel subsidy crisis, and how he almost lost his job, Jonathan said if not that the majority of citizens who voted for him refused to be coerced or deceived into demanding for a regime change instead of reversal of the policy, he would have been sacked from office.

“In Nigeria, I remember the fuel subsidy crisis all over the country, I could have been removed but I was confident of my mandate. When some people started talking of regime change, majority of the people who voted for me insisted that they elected me and what they are asking for is change of policy, not regime change; and that calmed down the situation.

“Credible elections give you the mandate of the people and confidence too. It is difficult to calm people down when elections are manipulated”, he said.

President Jonathan said that he would not have travelled all the way to Sierra Leone to preach free and fair polls if he had not successfully done same in Nigeria.

According to the President: “If we had manipulated elections in Nigeria, I would not have had the courage to come and confront you. If I had manipulated myself into office, there is no way I would come and sell to you what I do not have.

He tasked Sierra Leone’s ruling party, the All Peoples Congress (APC) to ensure a level-playing field that will bring about acceptable elections as the party stands to reap immensely in terms of credibility from such action.

“Ruling simply by might is primitive and does not ensure stable polity,” he stressed, pledging Nigeria’s assistance towards successful elections in Sierra Leone.

Nigeria had donated 25 operational vehicles and $1 million to Sierra Leone, and trained some of their electoral officials in Nigeria towards the conduct of the polls.

Many of the political parties’ chieftains requested for more assistance from Nigeria, including providing subventions to the parties to enable them withstand the financial might of the bigger parties.

MTN to deliver new devices in Nigeria

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TN will be a key operator in Africa to deliver Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 devices to its customers in South Africa in November, with Ghana and Nigeria following in December.

With this strategic alliance with Microsoft, MTN customers in Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana will be among the first users in the world to experience the Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 operating systems. Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices will be available in other MTN markets soon afterwards.

Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 provide users with a unified experience across the PC, phone and tablet.

According to Brett Goschen, CEO, MTN Nigeria, the launch of Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 devices in MTN markets is integral to MTN’s aim to offer customers a rich and dynamic digital services user experience.

“MTN is particularly excited about the alliance with Microsoft as it ties in perfectly with our customer-centricity approach. Our customers have become dynamic consumers of digital services and want immediacy. Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8 allow us to offer them just that,” he said.

“Microsoft is delighted to collaborate with MTN to make Windows Phone 8 and Windows 8 available in Africa, said Oran Dror, Senior Director, Operator Channels, Microsoft Middle East and Africa. “With Windows 8 and Windows Phone 8, MTN customers will have a fast and fluid experience that comes to life with exciting hardware and applications and interoperability with the cloud.”

MTN continues to make significant investments towards network infrastructure across its markets. In South Africa, MTN will soon launch a Long Term Evolution (LTE) network, which will further enhance the user-experience of Windows Phone 8.

“MTN is committed to leading the delivery of a brighter digital world to our customers and Windows 8 provides an unparalleled digital services experience. To this end, MTN will showcase Microsoft offerings across phones, PCs and tablets in our flagship stores in Nigeria and beyond,” concludes Goschen.

•Edo State Governor, Adams Oshiomhole (centre) engages Dr. Jerry Uwaifo, Chief Medical Director, Central Hospital, Benin City in discussion, while the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Cordilia Aiwize (right) and Permanent Secretary, Dr. Phillip Ugbodagha (left) watch with interest during an unscheduled visit to the hospital yesterday.

Lagos boat mishap: My 3 children still in the lagoon –Father

By OLUWOLE FAROTIMI

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r. Najeem Oseni, 40, whose three children were among the 10 victims who drowned in the ill-fated boat that capsized on Sunday morning in the Lagos lagoon is yet to come to terms with the tragedy that took away his children whose bodies were yet to be recovered.

Oseni wailed uncontrollably on Monday when the body of another four-yearold child was recovered by the search and rescue team of the Merchant Navy officers attached to the Lagos State Emergency Management Authority (LASEMA) was found not to be one of his own children.

Oseni explained that his children were coming from Idoluwo where they had gone to celebrate Eid-eLKabir with other members of his family when the unfortunate incident happened.

The distraught father, flanked by some wailing women, recounted his last moment with his children; two sons and a daughter.

According to him, “They were on their way back to the Imude Community. They went to celebrate Eid-elKabir festival with my relatives in our village in Idoluwo when the waves generated by a fast-moving speedboat upturned their canoe.”

He gave the names of the children as Suleiman, Wasiu and Risikat Oseni.

Oseni who ran to the riverbank to look for his missing children on sighting the res-

cue team arriving the shore, insisted that he would not leave until his children were found.

It took the intervention of the traditional ruler and other sympathisers to move him away from the riverbank where he attempted to commit suicide.

Meanwhile, the Lagos State Government has ordered immediate usage of life-jacket for all operators and passengers of canoes, boats in the riverine areas.

The General Manager of LASEMA, Femi OkeOsanyitolu who lamented

the loss said that the state government would not tolerate avoidable loss of lives as a result of the carefree attitude of the operators and their passengers.

According to him, “Henceforth, usage of life jackets is a must for all the operators and their passengers. The state government has, times without number called for the use it but people would not just listen.”

The Chairman of the Otto/Awori Local Council Development Area, Mr. Kayode Roberts said that the council would set up a com-

mittee to see to the enforcement of life-jacket usage by the dwellers while travelling on water.

“We have told them several times to use life-jacket while travelling on water.

They have ‘I don’t care attitude’ and that is the problems with our people. We have provided enough life jackets for them to use but they ‘ have I don’t care’ attitude,” he said.

Some of the bodies recovered so far were identified to be that of Kudirat Liasu; Ibukunoluwa Liasu and Risikat Sanni, among others.

Tension as gunmen storm Onitsha •Car dealer killed, another resident kidnapped From EMMANUEL UZOR, Onitsha

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esidents of the commercial city of Onitsha were thrown into fears in the early hours of yesterday when dare-devil armed men suspected to armed robbers stormed the city in what looked like coordinated attacks in which one person was shot dead and another kidnapped.

Daily Sun gathered that the incident which took place at about 7.30 am occurred at Modebe Avenue Junction by St. John’s Street when the victim identified as Chief Emeka Ekwerendu, a car dealer was shot dead by the hoodlums.

It was further gathered that the four-man gang operated

in a light green Tayota Sienna car without number plate and trailed their victim from a Catholic Church in Odoakpu after he dropped his children at a Primary School in Onitsha before he was shot dead.

According to an eyewitness, Chief Ekwerundu was riding in his black Sport Utility Vehicle, SUV with registration number, ABC 202AJ before the robbers shot at his tyres, causing the car lose control and hit a parked vehicle before they shot him from behind and made straight to the car boot where they carted away undisclosed sum of money.

The hoodlums armed with four AK 47 rifles, shot sporadically in the air to scare the residents away and when they

succeeded in killing the man, they escaped through Anionwu Street in same Onitsha.

In a related development, another gang of gunmen suspected to be kidnappers abducted a businessman in Fegge in Onitsha. Though, the identity of the victim was not known as at the time of this report, eyewitnesses said he was kidnapped on his way back from church.

When contacted, the Divisional Police Officer, DPO, Central Police Station, Onitsha CPS, Mr. Tomitope Fahugbe and Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Anambra State, Mr. Ralph Uzoigwe confirmed the incident, but stated that they were yet to get the details of the incident.

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DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Foreign Affairs Egypt’s Copts elect Pope

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council of Coptic Christians in Egypt is set to vote for a successor to Pope Shenouda III, who died in March.

Two bishops and three monks are short-listed to become the 118th head of the region’s largest Christian minority.

The council will pick three, writing their names on separate pieces of paper that will be placed in a box on the altar of St Mark’s Cathedral in Cairo. A blindfolded child will be asked to draw out one of the names on 4 November, thereby picking the new Pope. The individual chosen will become the new Coptic Pope who will be enthroned in a ceremony on 18 November.

The five candidates are: Fr Pachomios al-Syriani - a monk from the Paromeos Monastery in Wadi al-Natrun; currently lives in Italy; aged around 49 Bishop Raphael - an auxiliary bishop in Cairo; a former aide to the late Pope; a member of the Church’s Holy Synod, the Coptic Church’s highest authority; aged around 58 Fr Raphael Ava Mina: A monk at St Mina Monastery near Alexandria; aged around 60 Fr Seraphim al-Syriani: A monk from the Paromeos Monastery; currently lives in the US; aged around 53 Bishop Tawadros - an auxiliary bishop to acting head of the Coptic Church, Bishop Pachomios; member of the Holy Synod; aged around 60 The Coptic Church has about 16 million members worldwide, and Copts make up 10% of Egypt’s population of 80 million.

Pope of the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria Shenouda III (C) meets with Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas (L) at the Abassiya headquarters in Cairo, Egypt - 7 April 2011 Pope Shenouda III led Egypt’s Coptic Christian Church for four decades Pope Shenouda III died at the age of 88 on 17 March, reportedly after suffering cancer. He had urged officials to do more to address Coptic concerns after numerous attacks on churches in recent years.

He had led the Church, one of the oldest Christian communities in the world, for four decades. His successor faces the task of reassuring the Coptic community during the Islamist resurgence of the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt, correspondents say.

Mali crisis tops Clinton’s agenda in Algeria

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S Secretary of State Hilary Clinton is visiting Algeria to discuss the growing threat posed by militant Islamists in neighbouring Mali, US officials say.

Earlier this month, the UN Security Council adopted a resolution paving the way for an African force to end Islamist control in northern Mali.

Algeria is an important military power in the Sahel region and its backing is seen as crucial in any intervention.

Algerian Islamists are reported to have joined the Malian rebellion. The trouble began last January after fighters loyal to killed Libyan leader Col Muammar Gaddafi flooded into northern Mali.

Angered by the government’s approach to the rebellion, the army led a coup in March - and in the ensuing chaos Islamists and their Tuareg rebel allies took control of the whole of the north.

The Islamists, who are allied to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (Aqim) which has its roots in Algeria and is active across the Sahel region, have since fallen out with the Tuareg groups.

A US diplomat travelling with Mrs Clinton said the Malian conflict would be high on the agenda of talks between Ms Clinton and Algeria’s President Abdelaziz Bouteflika and Foreign Minister Mourad Medelci.

“There is a strong recognition that Algeria has to be a central part of the solution,” a US diplomat travelling with Ms Clinton said, AFP reports.

Algeria had initially expressed strong reservations about plans by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas) to send a 3,000-strong force to northern Mali, fearing it could cause more instability in the region.

But Algeria - which has the biggest army in the Sahel region - has since been “warming to the idea” of intervention, another US State Department official is quoted by AFP as saying.

“One of the things that we’ll be talking about is... the role that Algeria could play if Ecowas provides the boots on the ground,” the official said.

“Then the rest of us have to support that and create the means for it to succeed.”

Last week, there were reports of groups of lightly foreign fighters from Algeria and Western Sahara arriving in the northern strongholds of Timbuktu and Gao. On 12 October, the UN Security Council gave Ecowas and the African Union (AU) a 45-day deadline to submit a detailed and costed plan for intervention in Mali.

• Al-Shabab fighters photographed in March 2012. Al-Shabab has been under pressure from African Union and government troops.

Observers condemn Ukraine’s election

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nternational observers say Ukraine’s election has been a backward step for democracy, marred by “the abuse of power and the excessive role of money”.

The statement from the regional security body OSCE came as early results pointed to a win for President Viktor Yanukovych’s Party of Regions.

Opposition leader and exprime minister Yulia Tymoshenko remains in prison.

Mrs Tymoshenko has announced a hunger strike in protest at alleged vote rigging and is only drinking water.

“One should not have to visit a prison to hear from leading political figures,” the OSCE said.

“Considering the abuse of power, and the excessive role of money in this election, democratic progress appears to have reversed in Ukraine,” said Walburga Habsburg Douglas, a Swedish MP who headed the OSCE mission.

The criticism contrasted sharply with the international

observers’ conclusions on Ukraine’s February 2010 presidential election, judged to have been transparent, unbiased and an “impressive display” of democracy.

That election was won by Mr Yanukovych, defeating Mrs Tymoshenko.

After Sunday’s parliamentary election his Party of Regions has more than 36%, compared to 21% for Mrs Tymoshenko’s opposition bloc, with one-third of party list votes counted.

It appears Mr Yanukovych’s party is also ahead in single mandate districts, which form half of all the seats.

The opposition has alleged widespread voting irregulari-

ties.

Two international observer missions gave much more positive assessments than the OSCE’s.

The 56 members of the European Academy for Elections Observation, most of whom are European Parliament members, said the vote was held “in compliance with democratic norms”.

They called it “a good election, not perfect but clearly acceptable”.

Observers from the exSoviet countries in the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) called the election “transparent and democratic”.

‘Abuse of resources’ A United Opposition bloc’s

Somalia’s top commander killed in ambush

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top Somali military commander has been killed in an ambush the first general to be killed by the Islamists.

Mohamed Ibrahim Farah, nicknamed “Gordon”, was

killed near Merca, a strategic town captured from the alShabab militants in August.

The Somali government army and African Union troops have been battling the al-Qaeda-aligned group for

Kenyan politician killed in drive-by shooting

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enyan politician Shem Kwega has been killed and his wife wounded in a drive-by shooting in the western city of Kisumu.

Mr Kwega was a close ally of Prime Minister Raila Odinga, who is running for the presidency, reports the BBC’s Karen Allen from the capital, Nairobi.

Police later fired teargas to disperse protesters who claimed he had been assassinated, our reporter says.

Tension has been mounting in Kenya ahead of elections due in March.

election campaign placard, displaying an image of Yulia Tymoshenko, is seen in Kiev October 24 From her prison cell Yulia Tymoshenko has accused Mr Yanukovych of trying to establish a dictatorship Western governments have condemned the jailing of Mrs Tymoshenko, whose coalition is called the United Opposition Fatherland bloc.

She was given a seven-year jail sentence last year for abuse of power, and voted from her prison cell.

Her bloc says its own parallel vote count confirms that Mr Yanukovych’s party is in the lead, but with a smaller percentage of votes than the party claims.

More than 1,000 people were killed in violence that hit Kenya after the 2007 disputed presidential election.

Last week, International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Fatou Bansouda expressed concern about a culture of violence in Kenya during a visit to the country.

The ICC has indicted several Kenyan politicians - including Deputy Prime Minister and presidential aspirant Uhuru Kenyatta - for allegedly fuelling ethnic conflict after the 2007 election.

Mr Kwega and his wife

were shot by assailants on a motorbike, our reporter says.

Mr Kwega was a prominent businessman who was running for the Kisumu Central parliamentary seat under the banner of Mr Odinga’s Orange Democratic Movement (ODM).

“His killing by unknown assailants this morning outside Mamba Hotel in Kisumu town is a big blow to the party,” the ODM said in a statement.

Although robbery has not been ruled out, his supporters believe he was assassinated, our correspondent says.

several years.

Al-Shabab has withdrawn from several key towns in recent months, but still controls much of the countryside.

The governor of the Lower Shabelle region in southern Somalia said General Farah was killed along with four other soldiers in an ambush on Sunday.

Al-Shabab still manages to stage attacks in areas it has left, including in the capital, Mogadishu.

The hotel of the new UNbacked President Hassan Sheikh Mohamud was targeted by suicide bombers, killing eight people, the day after his election by MPs last month.

Meanwhile, a journalist who was attacked by gunmen last weekend has died of his wounds - bringing the number of reporters assassinated this year across Somalia to 17.

DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012,

15

Foreign Affairs Turkish police disperse secularist march

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•Travellers from South Korea use their mobile phones after arriving to an empty terminal as flights were cancelled at LaGuardia airport in New York on Sunday. Photo: REUTERS

Hurricane Sandy slams New York

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eteorologist John Davitt says everyone in New York is on edge waiting to see how bad Hurricane Sandy turns out to be.

Hurricane Sandy is bearing down on the US East Coast, threatening serious flooding and power cuts that could affect 50 million people.

Hundreds of thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate New York City and New Jersey.

Public transport has been suspended in cities up the eastern seaboard and thousands of flights grounded.

Forecasters fear Sandy will become a super-storm when it collides with cold weather fronts from the west and north.

The category one hurricane coincides with a full moon, which is bringing higher tides.

Slow-moving storm Sandy has already killed 69 people - 52 of them in Haiti - after sweeping through

the Caribbean in the past week.

At the White House, President Barack Obama warned Americans in harm’s way to follow emergency instructions.

At Battery Park City on the southern tip of Manhattan, the water is already lapping over my boots. It’s only midmorning, hours before

Hurricane Sandy is due to make landfall, and the ocean is swelling.

Tonight with the storm surge the water levels are expected to rise, though already it seems to me the water is as high as it was during Hurricane Irene last year.

The city is eerily quiet. The Nasdaq sign at Times Square was blank - even the stock

10 killed in car bombs in Damascus

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wo car bombings in Damascus have killed at least 10 people, Syrian state media report, on the fourth day of a supposed ceasefire.

Women and children were among the victims of the two attacks in the south of the city, state TV reported.

Earlier, activists said government jets had bombed the city’s Harasta district.

UN envoy Lakhdar Brahimi, who brokered the

truce over the Islamic holiday of Eid al-Adha, said he regretted that both sides were not complying with it.

But Mr Brahimi nevertheless insisted that he would not be discouraged by the apparent failure of his initiative, which he had hoped would allow a political process to develop and lead to a permanent end to hostilities.

“It will not discourage us because Syria is very important and the people of Syria

Greece tries editor for publishing Swiss accounts list

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prominent Greek journalist who published the names of more than 2,000 wealthy Greeks with Swiss bank accounts appeared in court on Monday to stand trial on charges of violating data privacy laws.

Costas Vaxevanis, editor of the “Hot Doc” weekly magazine, was arrested at the weekend for publishing the “Lagarde List” which French authorities gave to Athens in 2010 so that the account holders could be investigated for possible tax evasion.

The list - and the accompanying saga of how it was passed from one senior offi-

exchange isn’t trading.

The subways are shut, grocery stores have signs up saying they’ve already run out of food. The city is braced for what could be the worst storm in a generation. At this point the preparations have been made - sandbags are everywhere in lower Manhattan.

All anyone can do is wait, anxiously.

cial to the next and misplaced at one point without anyone apparently taking action - has riveted Greeks who are angry at a political class seen as unwilling to crack down on the wealthy elite.

Vaxevanis’s trial was adjourned soon after starting until Thursday. He could face up to two years in prison if convicted.

“I was doing my job in the name of the public interest,” Vaxevanis told a crowd of supporters outside court.

“Journalism is revealing the truth when everyone else is trying to hide it.”

The list of 2,059 Greek

account holders at HSBC in Switzerland features dozens of prominent business figures including a handful of shipping tycoons, companies and two politicians. It also includes a painter, an actress and many listed as architects, doctors, lawyers, and housewives.

The centre-left Ta Nea newspaper reprinted the list on Monday, devoting 10 pages to the accounts which were said to hold about 2 billion euros until 2007.

However, the daily said it was not leaping to any conclusions about the list’s “content nor the connotations it evokes in a large part of the public”.

deserve our support and interest,” he added. “We think this civil war must end... and the new Syria has to be built by all its sons.”

Mr Lavrov said that the opposition’s allies in the West and in the Middle East should realise that without dialogue with the Syrian government no solution would be found.

At least 110 people including 39 civilians, 34 rebel fighters and 35 security forces personnel - were killed on Sunday, according to Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR), a UK-based activist group.

State media said a “terrorist group” had detonated a car bomb outside a bakery in Jaramana, a predominantly Christian and Druze area of the capital.

A government official told the Associated Press that the explosion had also wounded 41 people and caused heavy damage.

The Local Co-ordination Committees (LCC), an opposition activist network, said the car bomb appeared to have targeted a police station.

The area was quickly cordoned off by security forces as ambulances ferried casualties to hospital, it added.

urkish police fired tear gas and water cannon to disperse thousands of secularists protesting at a banned rally in the capital on Monday against what they see as an increasingly authoritarian and Islamist government.

The scenes of chanting men and women draped in Turkish flags and carrying banners portraying the country’s founding father Mustafa Kemal Ataturk highlight a longstanding division in Turkish society between staunch secularists on the one hand and more conservative religious Turks on the other.

Although Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan won a third term in power last year with 50 percent of the vote, many secular Turks fear his socially conservative AK Party has Islamist tendencies that threaten the secular republic founded by Ataturk.

“They are trying to turn us into another Iran or some kind of neo-Ottoman Empire. We are against this,” said retired 64year-old Erdem Sevinc.

“We are here today to send a message to those who are trying to destroy the principles of this republic,” he said.

The local government in Ankara, also controlled by Erdogan’s AK Party, banned the rally citing “intelligence” it would be used for “provocation”, a move protesters said was designed to silence government opponents.

“Why have they banned this march? Because they are scared. They are scared of course,” said 68-year-old Metin Alkan, sporting a black tie emblazoned with Ataturk’s face.

“Look at us, do we look like a danger?” he said, laughing.

Waving Turkish flags several thousand people gathered outside the old parliament building in the city center to try to march to Ataturk’s mausoleum to mark the 89th anniversary of the founding of the Turkish Republic in 1923.

“Resign government! Damn you Tayyip!” the crowd chanted, referring to the prime minister.

“The day will come when the AK Party will give account to the people,” they shouted.

“We are Mustafa Kemal’s soldiers! Turkey is secular and will remain secular!” others shouted.

But the marchers were kept back by a barricade of riot police who began firing tear gas and water cannon into the crowd, which included children and elderly men and women, as some people tried to storm the police blockade.

Some in the crowd threw projectiles at the line of police, prompting them to fire more tear gas and water cannon.

People pushed and shoved to get out of the line of fire while others were doubled up on the ground, coughing from the gas.

Several young girls were carried out of the crowd unconscious, drenched by the water cannon.

“Why are they doing this? This is really bad. We are citizens of this country, we are not enemies,” said 21-year-old computer studies student Melisa Cilli.

“They want another kind of system here, a dictatorship, with Erdogan as the dictator,” she said.

Guinean police attack students

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esidents of the northern town of Labe say that riot police fired tear gas at hundreds who gathered to protest the firing of a teacher who allegedly criticized the Guinean government in class.

A student said Monday during the march that Mariama Tata Diallo was an exemplary teacher and shouldn’t be fired for being active in Guinea’s opposition. Another student, Binta Diallo, said that police fired tear gas at the students and some were hurt but that they would not give up until Diallo is reinstated.

Other witnesses said Monday that anti-riot police and a mobile security force remained on the streets of Labe, 250 kilometers (155 miles) northeast of the capital, Conakry.

10 wounded in pre-election violence in S/Leone

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uthorities in Sierra Leone say serious pre-election violence broke out over the weekend, leaving at least 10 people wounded.

The fighting in the diamond-rich Kono District comes just weeks before voters head to the polls for presidential and legislative elections in this West African nation.

Police Superintendent Saidu Jalloh says violence broke out Saturday in Kono, the home district of the incumbent vice president.

The opposition party says youth backing the governing APC party threw stones, seriously injuring seven people. The ruling party, though, accuses opposition supporters of attacking people and trying to burn one man’s house down.

Sierra Leone was ravaged by an 11-year-long brutal civil war that ended in 2002.

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DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

NewsPlus Stabbed to death How Onitsha trader was killed few days to his wedding From EMMANUEL UZOR, Onitsha

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ven as the nation is yet to get over the shocking news of the killing of a young man few days after his wedding in Lagos, another shocking news has hit residents of the commercial city of Onitsha, the Anambra State commercial nerve centre.

The entire town was clad in absolute shock and sorrow when 30-year-old Mentus Okoro was stabbed to death with a pair of scissors. He was killed just a few days to his traditional wedding.

It was gathered that the shocking death of Mentus, the only child of his parents, at 37, at Nnewi Street, Odakpu Onitsha, on September 29, caused considerable pandemonium in Onitsha, as the news spread like wildfire. Among his fellow traders, the news of Mentus’ murder was like a thunderbolt.

Mentus, who hailed from Umutanze community in Orlu Local Government area of Imo State, was until his gruesome murder, a trader at the second gate, Mgbuka Obosi. He sold belts and wallets.

Acousin to the deceased, Ifeany Nwachukwu, said the incident occurred when he called the deceased to inform him that a truck off-loading chairs for one major importer in the commercial city had disconnected their light by cutting the PHCN cable that supplied light to the entire compound.

Said Ifeanyi: “I called him to come because I came out and noticed that a truck had disconnected us from the national grid. Before his arrival, I had already confronted one of the apprentices to the importer to ask him why they had to cut our light. The boy started beating me and we got into a fight.

While we were fighting, Mentus arrived and rushed to separate us. It was then that one of the apprentices picked a pair of scissors and started pursuing him. Mentus was running and the assailants were chasing him until he fell inside the gutter.

When one of them saw that Mentus had fallen inside the gutter, he rushed there and stabbed him severally in his chest and abdomen with the scissors until he became unconscious and died.”

He also disclosed that when the boys noticed what they had done, they took to their heels, leaving the deceased in the pool of his own blood. According to him, by the time the police arrived the scene and took him to the hospital, Mentus had lost so much blood, which resulted in his death.

The cousin to the deceased also stated that Mentus was murdered few days to his traditional marriage. “Because he was an only son, his mother had been on his neck to get married to get somebody that will continue the family’s lineage.

Mentus had also concluded plans to get married when the incident occurred. And as it stands now, nobody can predict what will become of the mother because no one knows how she’s receiving this sad news which has brought an end to her only hope.”

Also speaking, a trader at Mgbuka Obosi Market, Okechukwu Nnadi described the deceased as a very peaceful person who never liked any chaotic environment. He urged the law enforcement agents to fish out the perpetrators of the evil act and bring them to book.

“I have known Mentus for more than eight years in this market. He was a very peaceful person who did not like trouble. Each time you saw him inside his shop, he would be very

quiet. At times, you might even be tempted to ask him if he was all right at all. But that was his life. It pains me that his life was cut short by blood-thiarsty elements just because he went to stop a fight.”

He further said that were the traders to have their way, they were ready to look for the owner of the cargo that brought about the fight in which Mentus was killed and deal with him properly.

“We received the sad news the following day which was a Monday when we came to our shops. All of us were very bitter. We even contemplated marching to the street to look for the owner of the truck that cut the light that led to the fight, and also to deal with everybody involved in the act. But we were also told that the police had arrested them. But we are not comfortable because the police might be compromised at the end of the day,” he said.

Also commenting on the issue, the South-East Chairman of Campaign for Democracy (CD), Dede Uzor A Uzor condemned the act, which he described as senseless.

According to Uzor, the incident called for total condemnation while those involved in the killing of the young man should not be allowed to go freely in the streets.

“If we are sincere with our avowed commitment to restore the consciousness of respecting the sanctity of human life, we all should rise up and condemn these killings all over the place,” he said.

He also said that he was not comfortable with the way the police were handling the case, adding that such a case of murder should not be toyed with by the police. He urged the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar to order proper investigation into the case and bring the perpetrators to book to serve as deterrent to others.

The chairman of Ndigbo Unity Forum, Mr. Augustine Chukwudum, in his own reaction, described the murder of Mentus as unfortunate. He called for proper prosecution of those involved in the killing to bring justice to the family of the deceased.

Mr. Chukwudum said the murder of the deceased had further suggested that the entire country is in a mess because of the fast eroding respect for human life among the youths in various parts of the country. He prayed that God would console the family of the deceased.

While confirming the incident, the police, through the Police Public Relations Officer in Anambra State, Mr. Ralph Uzoigwe said some suspects have been arrested in connection with the murder. He promised that the police would ensure that whoever was found culpable was brought to justice.

‘While we were fighting, Mentus arrived and rushed to separate us. It was then that one of the apprentices picked a pair of scissors and started pursuing him.

Mentus was running and the assailants were chasing him until he fell inside the gutter. When one of them saw that Mentus had fallen inside the gutter, he rushed there and stabbed him severally in his chest and abdomen with the scissors until he became unconscious and died’

Mentus

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 DAILY SUN

17

NewsPlus A helping hand for mothers, kids … As Fashola commissions 8 maternal, child-care centres

By TESSY IGOMU

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ith Nigeria rated one of the highest in the area of maternal and infant mortality in the world, the Lagos State Government has taken a giant step to help reduce the ugly trend. It recently completed and commissioned eight maternal and child care hospitals in various areas of the state.

The government also put in place machinery to operate a 24-hour primary healthcare centre in each of the 57 local government and local council development areas, to help boost effective healthcare delivery services across the state for the mother and her child.

The five of the newly commissioned centres are located at Gbaja in Surulere, Ikorodu, Ifako-Ijaiye, Isolo and Ajegunle. Two of them located at Amuwo-Odofin and Alimosho areas are near completion, while contracts for an additional two to be located in Badagry and Epe have been awarded. The fourstorey hospital complexes are designed to accommodate 110 beds, two surgical theatres and seven consulting rooms.

Governor Fashola, while commissioning the projects, said five of the hospitals have gone into full operation, while out of the remaining three, two have been completed and equipped with well trained staff specially recruited to operate the equipment on the facilities.

He explained that the project is within a comprehensive programme that started in 2007, noting that when he was elected governor, one of the challenges he resolved to confront was the unacceptable index of maternal and child mortality.

Fashola disclosed that between the time the facilities were opened in 2010 and 2012, about 45, 249 babies were delivered, while out of the number, 15,050 were caesarean sections and 29,497 normal deliveries. He further said that within the same period, a total of 415, 259 women have been attended to in antenatal clinic visits.

On primary healthcare and grassroots investment, the governor said in line with the commitment of the state government to provide one model primary healthcare centre that will be open for 24 hours in each of the 57 councils, the first five are ready to start providing 24-hour service, while others are in various stages of renovation and provision of equipment.

The governor disclosed that his interactions with professionals in the medical fields, both within the

state service and in the private sector, showed that the causes of infant and maternal mortality are many and varied.

Among them, Fashola highlighted, were the issues of diet, lifestyle, undiagnosed non-communicable diseases like hypertension and diabetes, complications during pregnancy, quackery and distance to properly equipped hospitals which sometimes led to fatalities during emergencies.

He, however, explained that progress was being made to overcome the problem and risk that most diseases pose to pregnant women, and also at the implementation stage of projects to reduce the distance that pregnant woman have to travel to access healthcare.

Speaking on the success recorded so far by his administration, Fashola revealed that a number of the challenges earlier faced have been resolved, while some others are still receiving attention.

While giving an overview of the success made on diabetes and hypertension screening and treatment which he said was one of the first to be flagged off at Ifako-Ijaiye on his assumption of office, he revealed that between 2007 and July 2012, a total of 96,468 people have been screened.

His words: “What was most revealing was the lack of knowledge displayed by our people and women of child bearing age about their lifestyle choices, what they ate and how this pre-disposed them to risk during pregnancy. Of course, there are cultural issues about the gender preference in our society and not a few women have lost their lives in order to have a child of a particular

sex, especially when seeking to please relations or themselves.”

Shedding light on other components of his healthcare programme, Fashola said the state has also enacted provisions to protect pregnant women from being denied financial support, which is critical to accessing good nutrition by the men who impregnated them. He also disclosed that there is also a law in place for the protection of women who suffer post-partum depression by legislating it as a defence to any criminal act they commit during the period of depression.

Another step being taken to overcome the challenge of infant and maternal mortality, the governor noted, is the improvement of midwives and the traditional birth attendants with the government already embarking on training of 2350 traditional birth attendants, 231 health workers on Emergency Obstetric Care, 121 Local Government Health workers on Essential Newborn Care and 51 health workers on Contraceptive Logistics Management system.

Fashola also used the opportunity to launch the home based Maternal and Child Health handbook, as an integral part of sensitization and enlightenment towards maternal and child mortality reduction. He also directed that the book be distributed freely to pregnant women upon registering for Ante-Natal care.

“Our women of reproductive age are advised to carry the handbooks at all times during pregnancy. If properly used by all mothers, it could serve as an important means to assessing epidemiological characteristics of the pregnant popula-

Fashola holding the first set of twins delivered at the centre tion, necessary for deciding priorities, planning and budgeting from a public health perspective,” he stated.

Governor Fashola restated that number four and five of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) are meant to be achieved by the state, even as he commended the Maternal and Child Mortality Reduction (MCMR) ambassadors who have accepted to take on the task of championing the cause.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris expressed optimism that with the formal commissioning of the centres, gaps in maternal, infant and child health service delivery

Fashola commissioning the Gbaja-Surulere Maternal and Child Care Centre

will be further addressed.

He noted that the state will continue to increase her investments in human resources for health, infrastructural upgrade of health facilities and advocacy relevant to reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health. He said they would also continue to promote collaboration with related sectors like education, water and sanitation, transportation and information and communication technologies to attain its objectives.

The Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu, who was represented by the Chief Medical Director of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, Professor Akin Osibogun, commended the efforts of the Lagos State government towards the well being of the mother and child.

The minister noted that the high level of maternal mortality rate in Nigeria prompted the federal government to put in place several measures to achieve the Millennium Development Goals by 2015.

He pledged that the federal government will continue to provide necessary assistance to the state government in improving healthcare, even as he also thanked the development partners for partnering Lagos in promoting maternal care.

Dr. Olubunmi Asha, a representative of the United Nations Children Educational Fund (UNICEF) and World Health Organisation (WHO), said the United Nations would continue to support the state to ensure that every birth is safe and that every woman and girl child is treated with dignity and respect.

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DAILY SUN Tuesday October 30, 2012

The Ondo election T

he hard-fought battle for the Ondo State governorship seat ended on Saturday, October 20, with the re-election of the incumbent, Dr Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party, for another four-year tenure. Mimiko, with 260,199 votes, beat front-runners, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate, Chief Olusola Oke who got 155,961 votes and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) candidate, Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu (SAN), with 143,512 votes, to second and third positions, respectively.

We commend all the stakeholders in the Ondo gubernatorial contest. The peaceful resolution of the hotly contested election is a confirmation of the growing maturity of the nation’s electoral process. Considering the high tension and muckraking that characterised the campaigns, it is heart-warming that the election was conducted without rancour or political upheaval. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the electorate, the contestants, the police and other security agencies involved in the poll deserve kudos for conducting themselves in a manner conducive to the smooth conduct of the exercise.

Although some of the contestants have disputed the outcome of the election and are considering contesting it, we advise that they do so within the ambits of the law. If they cannot accept the result in the spirit of sportsmanship, they should approach the election petitions tribunal for adjudication of the matter. They should not take the law into their hands.

Most reports on the election, however, indicate that the contest was largely fair and above board.

Reports of late arrival of election materials and other logistics problems that always mar elections in the country were not rife in the Ondo instance.

The police deployed 11,000 personnel, who ensured that they kept the peace during the poll.

Thuggery and violence were largely kept at bay.

The INEC also deployed its personnel in a way that favoured transparency of the poll.

All these, following a robust campaign by the leading contestants, ensured that the wishes of the Ondo people prevailed in the end. All the people involved in the election demonstrated maturity, a confirmation that the learning curve is grow-

ing in the Nigerian electoral process. The turnout was commendable and the people demonstrated firm resolve to elect a new governor in a peaceful atmosphere.

The Ondo poll, like the recent gubernatorial contest in Edo State, is truly a positive defining moment in Nigeria’s electoral history. It is a good foundation for the nation to build on. President Goodluck Jonathan and other highly placed Nigerians have congratulated Mimiko and commended the process that led to his re-election.

One fact that has emerged from both the Edo and Ondo gubernatorial elections is the greater chance of success of staggered elections in Nigeria. This, obviously, is due to the fact that both INEC and the security agencies were able to deploy enough personnel to man the process.

This helped to contain rigging and thuggery. The positive outcome of these two elections has held staggering of elections out as an option that Nigeria should consider for future electoral contests.

We also commend President Goodluck Jonathan for staying neutral on the electoral contest and promptly congratulating Mimiko. This is a good example from the president, and a welcome departure from the dark days of willful manipulation of elections and electoral outcomes by some of his predecessors.

We congratulate Mimiko on his re-election. His victory is, undoubtedly, a result of the electorate’s appreciation of his services to the state. His efforts to transform Ondo State won the hearts of the people, and we commend his example to other politicians holding elective offices. The lesson for them all is that the best way to retain the loyalty and commitment of the people is to do the work for which they were elected. It is not through manipulation of elections or their imposition on the people by godfathers.

Now that Mimiko has won another four-year term, he must not deviate from the path of service to Ondo people. He should not relent in his good works, but work harder to consolidate his programmes by spreading them to all parts of the state. He must be careful to fulfill his campaign promises to the people.

We congratulate the people of Ondo State on the success of this election. It is a good example worthy of emulation in all parts of the country.

COMMENT

Send your short and crisp letters to: letters@sunnewsonline. com.

LETTER The allure of Gold and Grammy THE Olympic family is perhaps the only family that rivals the United Nations in membership, on the surface of the earth. So, making the Olympic list is being on the world stage; winning an Olympic medal is a life time achievement. Being decorated with an Olympic gold enlists one in the halls of fame, both of the games or sport one attains victory and of one devoted to a country’s greats.

I can only place the Olympic gold in the same class of achievement with the Nobel and the Grammy. Each is the highest aspiration in Sports, knowledge and music respectively. Only the gifted and the talented, the gurus and wizards, the ingenious and the geniuses get to be decorated with these prized medals for their inimitable attainment and unparallel skills. The medals represent self-actualization. With an Olympic gold, the American Grammy and the Nobel Prize come all the glitters and attention one can imagine, unsolicited friendships and companies for their winners, but at the same time unintended exposure. They become a joyful pain in the neck, and they may intoxicate. Here lies the challenge: how

does a medallist manage success and fame that they do not constitute regret in his or her life?

I found the Grammy and the Nobel possessing similar allure in our pursuit of distinction, fame or eminence in life. In one way or the other, every height we aspire to reach, every goal we aim at, and all that we want to be celebrated for in life becomes the gold in our sight, priceless! So, what price must we pay for the gold that is dear to us? What sacrifices must we make to reach our goal in life? What is the end of our goal? How relatively valuable is that gold? What is the goal of the gold?

In the philosophical realm, these look like as ethical questions. And answers to ethical questions can be very subjective and situational, varying by time and circumstances, by personality and emotions, by motivations and the needs. Therefore, the goal of the gold may be very altruistic and impersonal. It can also be borne by the frustrations, denials and neglects we suffer just as it can be to masturbate our egos. Whatever fires our quest for the gold, there is another troubling question on how we go about it.

What taste does it leave on our palates? What traces does it leave in our bloodstreams? What pollutants,

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virus, infections and diseases, or the hangovers does it leave in us? Ultimately, what frame, picture or colour does it paint us?

There are stories of Olympic gold medallists, melting the gold in the medal to make money and mourning despite their fame. There are stories of high achievers smashing their trophies at the height of desperation and depression. There are stories of world champions in boxing and wrestling ending behind the walls. There are tales of soccer stars living as wretched of the earth, in poverty after making millions; of tennis champions running into debts; of cricket baseball whiz kids who had spent nights in the best of clubs in Europe and America, sailed in expensive yachts, drove exotic cars and chauffeur-driven in limousines, flew in private jets to some Caribbean Islands in the embrace of rubies as damsels, smoking the fattest cigars, downing the choicest wines but ending all in penury. Is this the goal of their gold, dying in infamy? Should this be the end of the gold?

There are also tales and instances of Grammy winners, masters of music but are failures in mastering their own emotions and relationships.

Invariably, they are mastered by their servants and drivers, mastered by the food they love, the crack they smoke, the cocktail of drugs they live on and the fear they nurture, the fear of losing acceptance and fame. In this circumstance, they court tragedy as they drove themselves crazy in order to remain on top. Riding to the top, however, is not as challenging as remaining on the top. The reality of being on the top is that there is always someone else

gunning for our spot on the top. The top is not for one person alone. The lesson here is don’t ever think you will remain on top for ever, otherwise you drive yourself to extinction too soon. The second lesson is: always create room for others when you reach the top so that you will have jolly good company on the top.

The most important lesson however is: while gunning for gold or the grammy, never take the short cut. Never give others hard sliding tackles, the crippling kicks or the benumbing knuckles to overpower or overtake. It is not only your victims that suffer the pains. His will be physical all right. But you will ever live with the shame and trauma of cheating to get your gold. You may fake that all is well for some time, but you may never be forgiven by the man whose glory you stole and by God who confers the ultimate glory and honor, who crowns genuine, sincere efforts in gold both in this world and in the life to come. The final take here is not all that glitters is gold.

These are not my words, but evergreen sayings that have guided the path of many men of wisdom to the ultimate honour and glory in their lives. The Grand Architect of the Universe is the one who designed the courses on which we run the race of life; He is the all-seeing umpire and the most accurate time keeper. So, in the race for fame and honour, you can never cheat before Him or hijack the gold from Him. If you deserve it, you will get it.

Abdulwarees Solanke, Lagos.

CMYK

DAILY SUN

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

19

Lessons straight from staggered elections Tuesday with T

he much- awaited governorship election in Ondo state has come and gone. But, there are many reasons to take more than a cursory look at the outcome of the poll which Governor Olusegun Mimiko of the Labour Party (LP) recorded a historic victory over his two main rivals – Olusola Oke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)-Rotimi Akeredolu of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Clearly, the re-election of Mimiko for a second term must be an endorsement of his accomplishment in the last four years. Ultimately, how history will judge him will depend to a great extent on what he does with the fresh mandate of Ondo electorate.

Much of this is plain truth: Gov Mimiko must thank God for His faithfulness and Ondo voters for their unflinching support. Some politicians have accomplished much yet against all predictions, lost a crucial election. First, all the accomplishments of Dr Mimiko would have been overturned and his branded programmes disappear, had either PDP or ACN won the election. Maybe, Mimiko would have by now be facing, perhaps the worst moment of his political career if the rampaging ACN had won it. Enoch Powel famous quote that “all political careers end in tears”, would have been the fitting tar brush to describe and demonize Mimiko’s regime. In other words, no words would have been spared to paint the level of corruption alleged to have taken place under the watch of Mimiko. It bears repeating that if ACN had won the October 20 poll , it would have been mission-accomplished.

Again, let’s not gloss over this fact, for which Mimiko must be eternally grateful. Had chief Olusegun Obasanjo remained in power today, Mimiko wouldn’t have been been twice lucky.

It is not unkind to say that as President, Obasanjo was more like a beast in our electoral system and every politician a potential frog in the pan. Ideally, modern democracies thrive on a sound political party culture and free election. Unfortunately, this was not the case under the tight-grip of Obasanjo as President. He never hid his attitude to politics as a “do or die” affair. It was a negative and irrational tendency that he applied to elections.

For the former president, winning at all cost supercedes everything else.

For those who demonized Prof Maurice Iwu as

Dan Onwukwe

08023022170 dan_onwukwe@yahoo.com INEC chairman, they fail to realise what the man went through in the hands of the former president.

It was as rough as anyone could imagine. That’s why one must not fail to commend president Jonathan in allowing the votes of Ondo people to count. Ondo would have been such a big prize that the former president wouldn’t have allowed Mimiko to win it. Neither would ACN have had a voice do cry out loud.

It was therefore no surprise why the President’s spokesman, Dr Reuben Abati had to issue a press statement soon after the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Ondo state declared Mimiko the winner.It was in “celebration” of yet “another proof of president Jonathan’s commitment to democracy”. Dr Reuben was right. Perhaps he exaggerated a bit when he said that President Jonathan has never abused the enormous powers of the Presidency to “influence the outcome of elections”.

However, every president would have liked his party’s candidate to win. Often, that is seen an exercise of the power of incumbency. Maybe, the President was aloof in the Edo governorship election. And now, by allowing the popular wish of Ondo electorate to prevail, that could be a good sign that Mr President will keep to his promise on electoral reform and correct the public notion that INEC cannot conduct a transparent and credible election in Nigeria. One recalls that during his first official foreign visit to the USA as Acting President in 2010, Jonathan had said, “people have the perception that INEC cannot do what is right, and even when they do what is right, people find it difficult to believe”. The president had also told Christiana Amanpour of CNN that the issue of electoral heist in Nigeria was beyond Prof. Iwu. Indeed, the picture painted by president Jonathan remains even now, the public perception of Nigeria’s electoral process. The main

Similar election has taken place in Cross River, Adamawa, Delta, Sokoto etc. These elections became inevitable because of the reversals at the Tribunals or courts in the aftermath of the 2007 polls.

Initially, very few saw any wisdom in conducting elections at different dates, taking into consideration, peculiar circumstances of each state.

Certainly, the damage already done to the electoral process due to rigging and other electoral malpractices are enormous. As the outcomes have proved in Edo, Kogi, Anambra and now, Ondo, the burden on INEC is much less. It provides the electoral body a fresh challenge to make amends and get it right.

With staggered election, INEC’s leadership will concentrate more on the task in fewer states.

It helps the commission minimize the manifold problems often associated with conducting all the governorship elections across the country in one day. No system is error-proof, however, if the lesson of Ondo governorship election is a guide, it makes sense to give the option a place in our Electoral Act. One recalls that way back 2009, INEC sent a proposal to the National Assembly, seeking the amendment of the 2006 Electoral Act to stagger elections based on geo-political expediency. If that proposal had sailed through the National Assembly, it would have taken effect with last year’s elections. INEC had argued then that logistics problems such as the movement of electoral materials and management of personnel have become serious challenges to the conduct of free and fair elections.

While INEC argument gives an impression of subtly dividing the country in the name of election, the fallout of the two most recent guber elections in Edo and Ondo States should give fresh impetus to re-open the need for a deliberate, staggered election, except of course, the Presidential election that must take place across the country same day. If the mistakes of past elections offered useful lessons to future polls, a staggered elections, is not a bad idea. It could be the renewed verve that can strengthen our electoral process. It may not be the medicine to cure all ailments in our electoral system, for that might be asking for too much, but it will help lessen the tension often associated with the conduct of elections in Nigeria.

problem has to do with what the sitting Presidents wants. It has little to do with the courage or weakness of the electoral umpire.

Clearly, the president’s interest often determines the outcome of elections. Reform is never a medicine for all ailments. You cannot honestly and effectively reform the electoral map without the politicians reforming themselves. That would mean attitude and behaviour of both the politicians and their supporters. I n Edo and Ondo states, we saw something close to the required standards of democratic behaviour. This to a large extent, has much to do because of the staggered nature of the election. It gives much attention to seemingly little things and INEC the focus. Again, whatever lessons from the recent elections in Edo and Ondo, perhaps Jonathan has realized that every president is defined in part, by the challenges that confront it, and the kind of legacy the president wants to leave behind. This is partly a function of the issues he chooses to address.

Electoral reform is one big issue Jonathan can use to redeem his shrinking presidency and keep hope alive on our fledging democracy. One hopes that the president promise on electoral reform is beginning to bear fruits. I hear u say, too early to say how splendid the day has been until the sun goes down. It’s true. Nonetheless, one fact has become obvious now. It is the success of staggering elections in our democratic process. Let’s begin from the point of convergence. Without a doubt, election itself is a human activity. It is a process, not an end in itself. Success in it requires diligence and adjusting course where errors have been made.

Ondo governorship election was one in a series of staggered elections that became inevitable in our democratic process. The first under this dispensation was the governorship election in Anambra state on February 6, 2010, in which Gov Peter Obi of APGA was re-elected for a second term. * You can reach me on twitter@ebukadan

Of Achebe, Awolowo, Gowon and Biafra

BY PRINCE IBORO UDOM igeria’s political history is a story in contradictions. This accounts for why her quest for national unity and integration has been unsuccessful, quite to the chargrin of the few genuine patriots who had dreamt of a Nigeria that would be the envy of all in the community of nations.

But upon the attainment of political independence, the hope that a Nigeria nation could emerge out of a multitude of tribes and tongues has unfortunately evaporated like ash such that it seems it could never realize it’s rather cherished but unfulfilled dreams.

While we try to “understand our differences” as Sir Ahmadu Bello advised rather than to “forget our differences” there seems to be a progressive rise in the quantum and intensity of ethnic consciousness as shown by the reactions by ethnic Lords over sundry issues. This dangerous tendency was recently manifested following the release of a book written by Prof Chinua Achebe and titled: “There was ACountry: APersonal History of Biafra” In the latest book the renowned literary icon, blamed the plight of the Igbos especially following the war on the deliberate economic policies formulated by the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo as Finance Minister and Deputy Chairman of the Federal Executive council which was headed by General Yakubu Gowon, the then Head of State.

These policies, according to the literary icon impoverished and economically strangulated the Igbos including other Easterners.

These myriads of reactions bring to the force the contradictions, the mischief and sheer absence of love and understanding of the plight of other Nigerians by those who have arrogated national interest and welfare to themselves and see any other person as undeserving of concern.

My honest contention would be that it is always very good to apportion blames if by doing so the wrongs done could be rectified or remedied. In the case of Biafra and Nigeria, undoubtedly, great wrongs have been done with noticeable harm.

Ethnic chauvinists and pretenders to the Nigerian unity project are wont to say that

N

Biafra is past and should not be revisited, but they must be advised that we are all products of history. It has been asserted that those who chose to ignore the lessons of history are more often than not ignored by history itself. This is true of Nigeria. It has refused to learn from history as a guide to the future but has rather unwittingly been repeating the same mistakes all over again.

The result is that it has become like a patient who after medical diagnosis throws away the reports which contained details of his ailment and the recommended treatment to be administered d. when he eventually appears before the doctor, the process is ordered to recommence once again, and chances are that before another process of medical examination is concluded, the situation has become precarious and regrettabley, beyond medical redemption.

The issues mentioned in the said book are all too familiar, but if one may ask, “what were the immediate and remote causes of the Nigeria Civil War (1967-1970)? Who should be blamed for the events that led to the declaration of independence by “Biafra”? What was the real intention behind the war and post –war policies?

The earlier we sincerely give answers to these salient questions, the better for our quest for nationhood. The moment we begin to tell ourselves the home truth even when such revelation and admission/confession is against our personal or tribal interest, the better for the healing process to commence in full swing.

Without any fear of contradiction, let me state clearly that the mindless and senseless massacre and destruction of Igbo lives and properties following the counter coup by the reactionaries led by Lt Col. T. Y. Dnjuma more than anything else caused the attempted secession bid by Colonel Udumegwu Emeka Ojukwu, then Military Governor of the then Eastern Region.

The macabre that attended the well-organized and superbly supervised genocide perpetrated against the Igbos in the north and supported by the northern leaders, albeit as a ‘retaliation’ against the murder of their leaders in the first coup de’tat could have been nipped in the bud if the beneficiaries of the “unitary” government for which General Aguyi Ironsi was sacrificed had taken any sincere step to dis-

suade their people from the course they had taken against the innocent Igbos who had to pay a great price for their belief in one Nigeria and their spirit of enterprise. Let the facts be stated the umpteenth time for the mischievous and peddlers of falsehood who distort clear undeniable facts of history for their selfish and tribal interests.

Agreeably, the northerners were never known and have never been know to be pro-Nigerian in their thoughts, inclinations and pronouncements, and for the records, they never wanted independence for Nigeria and neither did they embrace the idea of one Nigeria Resolutions of the Northern Regional House of Assembly regarding the “strangers” on their soil, the various pronouncements of Sir Ahmadu Bello, Premier of the Northern Region, and the aborted speech by General Gowon announcing the division of Nigeria are all in the public domain for Nigerians to see.

Another fact of history is that Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe left the Eastern Region, contested and won election into the Western Regional House of Assembly and was in the process of forming the government in the Region, his party, the National Convention of Nigerian Citizens, NCNC, having won the majority of seats at the Election, but the late sage Awolowo sensing disgrace and obvious loss of relevance, orchestrated through blackmail and recourse to primordial ethnic sentiments and emotions, the “cross-carpeting of the NCNC members of the House to the Action Group, AG,. This singular act killed the spirit of national unity and accommodation that was becoming visible by the wider acceptance of NCNC by the Westerners.

The result of this political ‘masterstroke’ by Awolowo forced Azikiwe unceremoniously back to the Eastern Region where he, out of frustration; having failed to also go the central Legislature in Lagos equally orchestrated a fresh election to the Eastern Region House of Assembly. This singular act again affected the brotherly love in the region and the nationalist spirit as the Efiks, Ibibios and the Annangs etc who were the major victims began to lose hope in the federation, nay the Eastern Region. This perhaps explains why the Igbos were denied their

support during the course of the war.

Agreed also that in war, just like Awolowo rationalized, that “everything is fair and starvation is one of the weapons of war, could it rightly be said that post-war anti-people and anti-development policies are accepted especially were it was declared,”no victor, no vanquished”?

It is not true that humanitarian service provided by international voluntary organization to Nigerian held territories were denied the civilian populace in Biafra, not the soldiers? Was this not a clear case of genocide alongside the earlier pogrom in the north targeted at Igbos?

And if, as the Awolowo and Gowon apologists are arguing, that they don’t deserve any blame for the suffering of the Igbos nay Easterners during and after the war, can any truly sensible person rationalize the policy conceived and implemented by the said otherwise great Awolowo to the effect that every Easterner (mostly Igbos) that had whatever amount of money in the bank was only given “20 pounds” Not only this, property belonging to Igbos across the country were seized by the Federal Government and were classified as “abandoned” properties even when the owners had survived the war and needed a means of sustenance. The late Ikemba (Ojukwu) had to fight for many years to repossess his father’s property in Lagos State.

The result of this deliberate and mischievous economic policy was despite deceitful programme of Reconciliation, Rehabilitation and Reconstruction. And when public enterprises were nationalized, no Igbo man/woman was in a position to purchase any shares in those companies. This was against the backdrop of the fact that the Eastern Region, up to the late 1960s was rated as the fastest growing economy in the world.

The literary Icon, Prof Chinua Achebe has not committed any crime by writing his memoirs while alive. Others are enjoined to also tell Nigerians what they know about the war, the pogrom and proffer a way out.

We have lied for too long, we have pretended for too long. Time for admission of wrong and confession of sins is now. The Igbos deserve our sympathy and off course, apologies.

Iboro Udom writes from Akwa Ibom state CMYK

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DAILY SUN Tuesday October 30, 2012

Towards a fruitful national prayer

BY EMEKA EJERE he war against crisis and insecurity in Nigeria took a prayerful recently when President Goodluck Jonathan flagged off a one-year national prayer at the Christian Centre Abuja during an interdenominational service to mark the 52nd anniversary of Nigeria’s independence. There could not have been a more appropriate occasion for such a declaration than a service that had the President of Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, who earlier identified pride and wickedness as major hindrances to prayer.

In a message entitled “God Still Answers Prayer”, the man of God regretted that pride and wickedness of our leaders (elected and appointed) has brought about a total disconnect between them and their subjects with a large majority of Nigerians lacking in the midst of plenty. He however concluded on a prophetic note that the rain of peace was coming to Nigeria, But how ready are we to meet the conditions for this beautiful rain to come?

What may be different perhaps is that a prayer of this magnitude may involve customized T-shirts and face caps with banners and quality prayer booklets of a national- colour cover that will improve the living standard of some emergency and opportunistic contractors who may be reaping the fruit of their electoral investment or unflinching loyalty to the power that be. It will also require the services of prayer

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coordinators to be trained by the organizing committee. Only genuine men of God can save us from having Abuja mistresses as prayer coordinators by handling the recruitment exercise themselves. Politicians should steer clear so that we do not end up offending God the more.

I know it will be unpatriotic to be against a national prayer and I cannot afford to be unpatriotic. I also know that a national prayer without addressing the numerous issues separating us from peace may not be fruitful. The first step to getting it right is telling ourselves the simple truth. The solution to our problem is right in our hands and we know it. Yes, God still answers prayer but certainly not when the necessary conditions are not met. But how ready are we to meet the conditions.

Even with established evidences of subsidy claims for fuel either not imported or diverted to neighbouring countries, it is shocking that these men still have the freedom to hold Nigerians to ransom, importing and not importing at will, selling and not selling at will. Some of them are rich enough to offer a bribe that even the few saints in Nigeria cannot resist. Yet, this is a country where many go to bed hungry and of course angry. If we are ready to tell ourselves the truth, we will know that the amount so far lost to fuel subsidy casino can get our four refineries working and at full capacity too. During the subsidy removal protest, promises of awarding contracts in favour of the refineries were made, but nearly one year down the line fulfillment of these promises is yet to record first visible steps. God still answers

prayer but how ready are we?

We are in a country where the local health and educational facilities are only patronized by the commoners while the ‘real’men and women sort themselves out abroad. Only truth will make us understand that the fortune spent by our government officials on foreign healthcare and education can bring our hospitals and schools to the standard of their UK, USA and Indian counterparts. A nation where a letter from a Senator or a Minister guarantees employment at the expense of even a first class degree is certainly not telling the truth just like a system where poverty alleviation programmes end up making the rich richer.

N17.6 billion has just been earmarked for flood mitigation. I pray there may be transparency and accountability in this regard.

I don’t know if the judiciary is still the last hope of common man in our dear country. I also don’t know if it is fair for the size of your pocket to determine your chances of getting justice at different levels of our court. But I know that a system where a man is jailed for four years for stealing a goat and another man who stole several billions of naira is enjoying the sweet breeze of freedom after parting with a relatively insignificant N50 million out of his booty for bail is not too conducive for the much desired peace. God still answers prayer, but how ready are we?

If Nigeria is still existing with questionable integrity in almost all the key sectors of the economy , sacrificing a competent, visionary and result-oriented servant like Barth Nnaji for the integrity of a privatization process in one sector

cannot be justified. A process that recognizes the bids of well known economic saboteurs cannot lose credibility by accommodating the business interest of a serving minister whose proven integrity has rescued Nigerians from a perennial darkness. Only a right replacement for Professor Nnaji can vindicate the position of the Federal Government on this matter.

However, there are governors who did not wait for the national prayer to prove themselves ambassadors of peace. These governors have not only said the hard truth that government is not broke but have also pursued their transformation agenda with vigour. Accordingly, I wish to congratulate Governors Rochas Okorocha of Imo State, Babatunde Fashiola of Lagos State, Godswill Akpabio of Akwaibom State, Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State, Sullivan Chime of Enugu State and Adams Oshiomole of Edo State. Those whose accomplishments have not gone beyond television screens should borrow a leaf from these shining examples. I also commend President Jonathan for not interfering with INEC’s job so far and for allowing Nigerians to lament freely when necessary, urging him to keep it up. . When an average Nigerian is happy, we may no longer need a security-biased budget let alone an elaborate national prayer for crisis and insecurity to give way to peace. If we do our part, God’s part is guaranteed.

Ejere, writes from Lagos.

NAFDAC’s new anti-counterfeiting strategies

BY DUROJAIYE OLUMUYIWA

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he menace of counterfeit and substandard drugs has been on the front burner of national discourse as far as the safety of the health of Nigerians is concerned. This led to the setting up of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) by the Federal Government in 1993 with a clear mandate of safeguarding the health of the nation through the provision of effective regulation of the food, drug and chemical sector of the economy. While NAFDAC’s mandate covers the food and chemical industry, it is the drug market that draws the most attention, no doubt because of the pivotal role the sector plays in the health of the nation and because of the lucrativeness of the sector which makes it attractive to unscrupulous counterfeiters out to profit at the expense of the safety of Nigerians.

Over the years, successive Directors-General of the Agency have come up with different strategies to curb the menace of fake drugs and each in his or her own way have helped to significantly address the problem working together with officers of the Agency. According to studies conducted by NAFDAC from 2001 to 2012, there is a positive trend in the progressive decline in the incidence of counterfeit medicines in Nigeria. In 2001, counterfeits stood at 40% due largely to the indefatigable effort of the NAFDAC team under the then Director

General, Prof. Dora Akunyuli, this was reduced to 16.7% in 2005. Shortly before she left the agency, there were threats of resurgence of the incidence as counterfeiters too have not rested and have also continued to come up with novel ways of evading detection by NAFDAC and other law enforcement agencies. A study carried out in 2008 shortly before the arrival of the current Director General of the Agency, Dr. Paul Orhii, on the Quality of AntiMalarials in Sub-Saharan Africa (QAMSA) puts the incidence of the faking of anti-malarial drugs at 64%, which led the new DG declaring a zero tolerance war on counterfeits shortly after assuming office.

In the past, a common strategy adopted by NAFDAC was the use of NAFDAC registration number on packages to be able to detect fake drugs. But drug counterfeiters taking advantage of the growing access and sophistication in printing technology now manufacture fake drugs affixed with fake NAFDAC registration number and package them in such a way that they closely resemble the original registered by NAFDAC, thereby circumventing the checks put in place by the Agency.

It is in realization of this fact that the current administration of Dr. Paul Orhii came up with a strategy that is not just only effective but one that is also guaranteed to place the Agency many steps ahead of the counterfeiters in such a way that every of their moves is anticipated, checked and thwart-

ed by the Agency. One such strategy is the introduction of cutting-edge technology by Dr. Orhii that has provided a more profound method of detecting counterfeits on the spot. Technology like the TRUSCAN machine for example have been deployed by the Agency at the ports and entry points of the nation to carry out on the spot check of drugs before they are cleared into the country.

The Agency’s officers have also gone to the 36 states of the federation and the FCT with the TRUSCAN machine paying unscheduled visits to medicine outlets to fish out counterfeit drugs and destroy them. NAFDAC is the first medicine regulatory agency in the world ever to deploy the technology and its effectiveness in curbing the menace of fake drugs has not only drawn the attention of international medicine regulatory agencies but has also made the agency’s DG, Dr. Orhii the toast of the moment among foreign governments and in the industry.

Other technologies deployed by the agency to fight counterfeiters are the text messaging system (Mobile Authentication System) that puts the power of drug detection into the hands of the consumers who can send a direct message using the code on the drug they are about to purchase to verify whether it is genuine or fake. There are also other additional technologies like the black eye and the Radio Frequency System technology introduced by the agency to help in the detection of fake drugs.

The result speak for itself: three and a half years after Dr. Orhii came on board, the incidence of counterfeiting has been reduced drastically by the Agency. A national survey on quality of medicines using TRUSCAN device was conducted by NAFDAC across the 36 states and the FCT between January 2010 and April 2012. The result of the survey showed that the incidence of counterfeiting has been reduced to 6.4%. Another survey on the quality of medicines was conducted in Lagos state in May, 2012 using the TRUSCAN device. Tests carried out on medicines comprising anti-malarials, anti-biotics, anti- diabetes and anti-inflammatories showed that counterfeiting was at 3.8% in the state which is significantly less than the national average. Lagos is less than the national average in this regard because of the emphasis placed by NAFDAC on the state as it is the main transmitting line to the nation. In addition, the Agency’s enforcement directorate is domiciled in Lagos, a factor which has increased the level of surveillance, the level of awareness and enforcement efforts.

These results in so short a period has drawn the attention of regulatory agencies in Kenya and Sierra Leone who have sent people to study NAFDAC’s success in the use of cutting-edge technologies. Dr. Orhii has been invited three times by the Council of Foreign Relations in America Olumuyiwa writes from Lagos

Remembering Ambrose Ali

BY GABRIEL OMONHINMIN rofessor Ambrose Folorunsho Ali was a former Executive Governor of the defunct Bendel State, from 1979 to 1983 under the then Unity Party of Nigeria (U.P.N.). He would have been 83 years old had he been alive. Twenty- three years ago, on September 22nd 1989, the day he would have turned 60 years of age, ProfessorAli died as a very poor man.

He was so broke that he could hardly afford anything for himself and members of his immediate family.

This is unthinkable in modern day Nigeria, where the philosophy of this generation is founded in the belief that one’s value, self-worth, self-esteem and self-concepts is derived not from who they are but from what they possess. Up till present times, questions are still being asked, why a man, who had the rear opportunity of governing the former Bendel state, now made up of two States, Edo and Delta for four years, could not make any provision for the raining day of his life.

That was the truth about Ali’s life; he was selfless in his service to the people of old Bendel State, he kept nothing and had nothing materially after his death.

When Ambrose Alli left office in 1983, he retired to his family house. After the military government of Major-General Mohammadu Buhari took power, he was sentenced to 100 years in prison by a military tribunal for allegedly misappropriating N983,000 in funds for a road project. He was later freed when the Esama of Benin, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, paid the fine on his behalf to the government. Professor Alli did not survive his ordeal in the hands of the military; he took ill immediately he was released from the prisons and later died on his birthday on the 22 September 1989, at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital.

Although the man left no tangible wealth for his children, he had goodwill. His legacy and monumental achievements in the area of education, health, agriculture

P

and Internally Generated Revenue and tax rebate for the people of old Bendel state will forever endear him to the heart of the masses in present day Edo and Delta States.

Just recently, I had cause to pass through Ekpoma, the then rural community, Ali cited a University in 1982.

That rural setting of old has now become a big city bubbling with life. What a great legacy I murmured to self.

Also recently in Benin City, the capital of Edo State, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, the man who the then National Party of Nigeria (N.P.N.) used to upstage Professor Ali as governor of old Bendel State, made a true confession while comparing the incumbent Governor Adams Oshiomole to Professor Ali. He was quoted as saying “while Ali was a silent worker who achieved a lot, Oshiomole was also working very hard, but his works were accompanied with lot of media blizzard”.

Now a cursory look at the monumental jobs done by Professor Ali, with very minimal budget, compared to what States and Local Government Councils today received from the Federation’s Account. In the area of education, which was his government priority, Professor Ali within a period of two years established 116 Primary Schools with 1,247 classrooms, with a total enrolment of 138,340 pupils and 7,743 teachers, on assumption of office on October 1, 1979. He therefore, achieved an incredible increase in all facets of the state primary school educational system in two years from 1979 to 1981 in the following range of 7.2%, 7.1%, 17.4% and 34.8% respectively. In the area of post-primary institutions, Ali established 493 Post-primary institutions, with 4,779 classrooms, 166,989 students and 5,981 Teachers.

Percentage increase in the period in question stood at 258%, 159.3%, 136.2% and 128% respectively.

He established five new Colleges of Education at Benin City, Warri, Agbor, Igueben and Afuze, and upgraded the College of Education, Abraka to a University College of Education, with effect from October 1, 1979. The combined Student in-take in the six

Colleges of Education within the period under review rose to over 12,000. The former Bendel State University now Ambrose Ali University, Ekpoma took off on January 4, 1982 with 300 students. The Ali government within the period of 1979 to 1981 disbursed a total sum of 26,616,784.50 million naira as bursaries to 15,261 students in Nigerian institutions of higher learning. The sum of 12,024,810 million naira was paid out as bursaries to Bendel State students in institutions of higher learning abroad.

In the same vein, a total sum of 12,045,513.41 million naira was spent on the purchase of books and writing materials for distribution free of charge to 1,220,872 pupils in primary and post-primary schools.

While the sum of N5.671 million was spent on the renovation, rehabilitation and repairs of existing primary schools. N23.52 million was also spent on the construction of new classrooms for existing secondary schools.

The sum of N1.311 million was utilized for the provision of classroom furniture made up of 8,071 three-seaters, 5,407 single-seaters, 363 tables and chairs.

His government made sure that 24,021 teachers were sent on training from 501 classrooms across the state, while another 786 teachers were trained in 13 teacher training colleges as at October 1, 1981. Corresponding percentage increase are 99.8% and 52.03% respectively.

Ambrose Ali’s government disbursed the sum of N1.617 million on the construction of 231 new classrooms for teacher training colleges across the old Bendel State.

His government also made sure that the sum of N.445 million was spent on the purchase of furniture for teacher training colleges. The sum of N7.574 million was approved by his government for the construction of seven new teachers’ colleges located at Ibillo, Isiokolo, Abavo, Obiaruku, Sapele and Usugbenu-Irrua. The Ali government made sure that 37 new workshops valued at N11.464 million were constructed in five technical colleges in the old Bendel State.

His government spent N2.8 million then on the provision of science equipment for post primary institutions.

Late Professor Ambrose Ali established 2 new Polytechnics at Ozoro and Ogwashi-Uku and 3 new institutes of Industrial Technology at Igarra, Kwale and Patani. From the above picture, it was no surprise to anybody that the old Bendel State years after Professor Ali left office became exporter of manpower to other states of the Federation.

In the area of rural development, Professor Ali’s government made sure that the sum of N36 million debts incurred by the military regime that handed over power to him, on road development projects were settled by February, 1981. He now went on to build 30 Kilometres of roads inherited from the preceding government, and completed 2,060 Kilometres of roads constructed at a cost of N761 million naira.

Atotal of 352 Kilometres of roads were built in Benin City, the State Capital and 18 other Local Government Headquarters at a cost of N83.8 million naira.

In the area of health, his government ensured that 41 General Hospitals in the old Bendel State were functional. 11 more hospitals were nearing completion, while 300 Health Centres were in operational. The then Bendel State government under Ali provided 17 Mobile Hospitals for the rural areas in the state. While 4 Mobile Boat Clinics were constructed in Western Germany for the Riverine Local Government Areas of Warri, Bomadi, Burutu, Isoko and Ughelli.

Within the same period, N2.1 million naira was spent on the construction of two new 500-bed Specialist Hospitals at Warri and Benin City.

The late Professor Ambrose Folorunsho Ali, will forever remain my hero, because of his pragmatic approach to the development of education and other areas in the former Bendel Sate. May his soul find peace with God. Omohinmin writes from Lagos

DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Memories

Philip Nwosu 08176449110

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R YOU S U SEND HOTOS P OLD wosu@yahoo.co.uk phillipn e-mail:

Today in History

Euthanasia chief jailed over suicides The secretary of the UK’s proeuthanasia group, Exit, was on this day in October 1981 jailed for two and a half years for aiding and abetting suicide.

Nicholas Reed was found guilty on three counts of aiding and abetting suicide and one of conspiracy to aid and abet.

Mark Lyons, 70, Mr. Reed’s co-accused and the man who helped people commit suicide by providing pills and alcohol was given a two-year suspended sentence.

“If you get into trouble in the next two years you are going to cop it,” the judge told him.

He was spared a jail term after the judge took into account his age and the fact he had already served 325 days awaiting the trial.

“I take into account the fact that you are not as young as you used to be. But you are not as old as I am,” said the judge, Mr. Justice Lawson.

The judge added that he believed Mr. Lyons had learned his lesson and was “not going to start messing around with plastic bags and pills anymore”.

The pair were tracked down after the death of a multiple sclerosis sufferer. As a matter of routine her death was reported to the coroner and a post-mortem revealed she died from taking a barbiturate drug with alcohol.

Two women at the inquest, who had been at the dead woman’s house the day before she died, identified Mr Lyons as a visitor to the house.

When police went to Mr Lyons’ flat in West Hampstead they found thousands of pills and tablets and several diaries that outlined visits to people wanting to commit suicide.

In court Nicholas Reed described how he had sent Mr Lyons on missions to “comfort and console” people but said he had no idea that he was helping people commit suicide.

1981

The Military Governor of Anambra State, Navy Captain Allison Madueke (right), in a handshake with his successor, Group Capt Emeka Omeruah, during a handover ceremony at Government House, Enugu in 1985. PHOTO : OKORO NWOSU Firm assurances were on this day in October 2003 given by the Federal Government of Nigeria’s resolve to cede the controversial areas of Bakassi Peninsula to neighbouring Cameroun by April 2004.

The pledge was made in Abuja by the Attorney General of the Federation and Justice Minister, Chief Akin Olujimi, at the opening of the sixth session of both countries’ joint commission on the disputed area.

The minister, however, restated the government’s resolve to protect the interests of its citizens in the peninsular as well as those in the 33 communities ceded to Cameroun by the World Court, which mediated in the dispute.

The World Court judgment was given on October 10, last year.

The United Nations Secretary-General’s

2003

Nigeria to withdraw from Bakassi Special Envoy to West and Central Africa, Mr. Ahmedou Ould-Abdallah, who presided over yesterday’s session, expressed regrets that donor agencies were yet to redeem their pledges to offer aid to indigenes of the disputed areas.

Former World Court judge, Bola Ajibola and the Director General of the National Boundary Commission, Alhaji Dahiru Bobbo, are at the head of the Nigerian delegation.

The Camerounian team headed by its Justice Minister of State, Amadou Ali, had arrived in Nigeria at the weekend for the parley ending tomorrow.

In his address at yesterday’s opening ceremony, Bobbo commended members of the

commission for their resolve to ensure the peaceful implementation of the World Court judgment.

Highlights of the working calendar of the mixed commission made available yesterday showed that by this December, there would be deployment of mixed commission observer personnel in the Lake Chad area while the withdrawal of Nigerian civil administration, military and police forces from the area would kick off on December 8.

By December 31, the withdrawal would be completed while consideration of the progress report of the sub-commission on the affected population would take place about the same time.

Muhammad Ali wins the Rumble in the Jungle On October 30, 1974, 32-yearold Muhammad Ali, became the heavyweight champion of the world for the second time when he knocked out 25-year-old champ, George Foreman, in the eighth round of the “Rumble in the Jungle,” a match in Kinshasa, Zaire.

Seven years before, Ali had lost his title when the government accused him of draft-dodging and the boxing commission took away his license. His victory in Zaire made him only the second dethroned champ in history to regain his belt.

The “Rumble in the Jungle” (named by promoter Don King, who’d initially tagged the bout “From the Slave Ship to the Championship!” until Zaire’s president caught wind of the idea and ordered all the posters burned) was Africa’s first heavyweight championship match. The government of the West African republic staged the event—its president, Mobutu Sese Seko, personally paid each of the fighters $5 million simply for showing up—in hopes that it would draw the world’s attention to the country’s enormous beauty and vast reserves of natural resources. Ali agreed. “I wanted to establish a relationship between American blacks and Africans,” he wrote later.

“The fight was about racial problems, Vietnam.

All of that.” He added: “The Rumble in the Jungle was a fight that made the whole country more conscious.”

1974

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DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Jubilation as Shanghai Industries is commissioned

By DICKSON OKAFOR

T

he life of Ubomiri people in Mbaitolu Local Government Area of Imo State, will never be the same again as October 4, 2012 will forever remain in their hearts. They were short of words to express their joy as they entered a new life.

The beautiful community endowed with material and human resources situated along Orlu-Owerri Road, is strategically located to be economically viable but, unfortunately there had been no able hand to harness this God-given advantage to transform the area. But all that has now changed.

Thanks to the determination of one man, Mr. Festus Uzoma Mbisiogu. Mbisiogu chairman of the Blue Diamond Group of companies, strived to establish a multi – million-naira industry to reduce unemployment rate in Imo State. That dream came to fufilment on October 4, 2012 when the factory was eventually opened. Now the story of Ubomiri has since changed for good.

The people actually prepared for the day, as they declared Thursday, Oct. 4, public holiday to welcome Governor Rochas Anayo Okorocha who was represented by the deputy, Mr Jude Agbaso and the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga represented by the minister for state, Sam Ortom to the community for the official commissioning of Shanghai Engineering Works Industries Nig. Ltd. The people were on hand to receive these august visitors with traditional, cultural dances and songs of praise. Jubilation, excitement and tears of joy were uncontrollable as the people showed appreciation for being the beneficiary of an industrial complex.

Mbisiogu did not only touch the lives of the people, he showed that the greatest use of wealth is to spread it for something that will endure.

“We make a living not by what we get but by what we give,” this was how a member Representing Mbaitolu state constituency in Imo State House of Assembly, Hon. Victor Ndunagu described. Mr. Mbisiogu.

He praised the Blue Diamond boss for building the industry in his constituency. Hon. Ndunagu said Mbisiogu, who is also the president of Uzotex Foundation is a rare gem who has continued to better the lives of people in so many ways. “My brother you have given hope to my constituents and we will forever remain grateful to God and to you for citing Shanghai Engineering Works Industry in Ubomiri,” the lawmaker said He pledged his people’s cooperation with the management of the company.

The state commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Ichie Best Mbanator, in his

own words, commended the Blue Diamond boss for complementing the state government effort to reduce poverty and unemployment in the state through provision of basic amenities such as potable water. He stated that the company’s target of 3000 jobs is realizable.

Ichie Mbanator was of the view that Imo is now indeed an investment haven because Gov. Okorocha is determined to attract more investments to the state by paying more attention to aggressive and massive road construction linking communities in the state. He expressed the state government’s readiness to partner Shanghai towards job creation.

He restated: “Commerce and industry is the economic backbone of the state government hence Governor Okorocha has provided an enabling and conducive environment for investments.”

In his keynote address, the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr Olusegun Aganga, represented by the Minister of State in the ministry, Dr Sam Ortom, said the establishment of Shanghai Engineering Works Industries Ltd, came at an opportune time when the Nigerian government is involving the organized private sector in industrial development.

He stated that in one of his visits to the People’s Republic of China in 2011, he informed Nigerians and foreign investors to come and invest in the country. Dr Ortom reiterated that the government attention is to secure the confidence of investors already operating in the country by creating necessary environment for foreign direct investment.

According to the minister, government is making effort to support industrialists to achieve their goals. He noted that it is against this background that the management of Shanghai industries is able to bring in expatriates and experts to set up the complex.

“I wish to commend the chairman and entire management of the company for setting up an industry of this magnitude that will no doubt generate employment, bringing about skill acquisition and improve the living standard of the people,” Ortom said, even as he commended the Imo state government for keeping faith with the people by providing them dividend of democracy. “I have seen the effort of the state government under Governor Okorocha to create enabling environment for investment and industries to thrive in Imo.” He recalled when Mr Mbisiogu ran into certain challenges in the course of constructing this industry, and drew his attention, the Hon Minister put a call to governor Okorocha who he responded to the situation immediately. He praised Okorocha for having listening ears.

The Minister assured investors of security of their

Dr. Sam Ortom, Minister of State for Trade and Investment, flanked by Mr. Jude Agbaso, Deputy Gov. Imo State and Mr. Festus Mbisiogu, CEO Shanghai Industries, at the commissioning of the factory in Imo State recently investments by entering into bilateral investment promotion agreement. He stated that the Ministry of Trade and Investment has concluded development of the comprehensive industrial policy that will enable the private sector take up their role as catalyst for industrial development.

Governor Okorocha, in a speech delivered by his deputy, Sir Jude Agbaso, declared that the success story of Shanghai Engineering Works Industries Ltd was occasioned by the conductive environment that the state government has been able to provide within the sixteen months of the administration. Okorocha assured Mr Mbisiogu and the people of Ubomiri of adequate security. According to the governor, the state government has invested massively in the security of lives and property of the entire citizenry of the state. While admitting that insecurity and lack of steady power are major factors discouraging investors from coming to invest in the country, Governor Okorocha pointed out that the state government has acquired more than 40 hilux buses, equipped with the state of arts communication equipment for both the army, police and the State Security Service (SSS) and they have been deployed for protection of lives and property of the people of Imo state.

“Security of lives and property is paramount to my administration and I will continue to ensure this at all times,” the governor reassured.

Okorocha thanked Mbisiogu for coming to invest in Imo and promised his government’s support for the company by providing manpower and training. On power, Okorocha noted that power has improved and will be sustained to ensure greater productivity.

He said Shanghai wouldn’t experience shortage of manpower because the state government through its free education programme would soon turn out a large number of specialists.

On tax, Okorocha explained that the state government has unified taxation in the state. “In Imo state multiple taxation has been abolished so that people are not unnecessarily harassed espe-

cially the private sector. I urge investors to take note of these provisions that is put in place to attract more investment from China, USA and Europe.

He said the state government plans for a housing project called the Diaspora village and the village will provide more than 1000 housing units for sons and daughters of Imo living outside the country. This is targeted at encouraging them to come back home and bring their expertise to bear.

Governor Okorocha affirmed that Imo state is becoming a perfect destination for investment.

Earlier in his address of welcome the Blue Diamond boss Mbisiogu recalled vividly how the minister of state for trade and investment, Dr Sam Ortom during a visit to China in 2011 encouraged him and other Nigerians in Diaspora to come home and invest.

He said this word of encouragement by the minister was what has yielded the

fruit that we are witnessing today. “I wish to place on record the role played by the Hon Minister, Sam Ortom, I recall vividly his visit to China in 2011 and the encouraging words and advise he gave to Nigerians in Diaspora urging us to come home and invest. I must say that this encouraging words is the fruit of what we are witnessing today.” His words: He also commended Rochas Okorocha for delivering the dividend of democracy to the people of Imo. Mr Mbisiogu reiterated his commitment to partner the state in the area of youth empowerment. According to him, the industry is capable of producing over 20,000 bricks a day.

He agreed that with education receiving greater attention in the state, Shanghai industries would not experience shortage of manpower.

He called on the host community to collaborate with security agencies to protect facilities at the complex which according to him is the only

way the industry can continue to function. Already over 600 people have gained employment at the industry.

Shanghai Engineering Work Industries specializes in the aluminum manufacturing, brick making, production of nails, binding wires, doors and tiles.

Among the dignitaries who graced the occasion were secretary to the state government of Imo state, Prof. Anthony Anwuka, the Chairman of Council of Ndieze Imo state, His Royal Highness, Chief Sam Ezenwa Ohiri, Commissioner for Public Utility, Prof.

Chima Iwuchukwu, Commissioner for Youths and Sports, Hon. Kenneth Emelu, His Royal Highness, Eze G.A Eze Hekaibee V of Umuma Isiaku, Ideato South L.G.A, Imo State. Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftancy Affairs, Hon. Jerry Okoli, and Uchechi Nwabueze (Africa) CEO, Prince Everbright Nig. Ltd. and the traditional ruler of Ubomiri.

Ilaro, three other communities get free healthcare

BY ONYEKACHI JET

T

he wealth of a nation, to a large extent, is dependent on the overall health of its citizens. To live life and live it in abundance, man must be healthy in mind and body.

Paincare Outreach, a NonGovernmental, Non-profitmaking Organization (NGO) seeks to achieve these objectives through the free health services it offers to Nigerians.

One of such medical/evangelism mission held recently at the Gateway Multipurpose Hall, Ilaro for people of Ilaro, Ifo, Neka and Aiyetoro communities, all in Ogun State.

The free health programme which was supported by Greenlife Pharmaceuticals according to the General Pastor in-charge of Redeem Christian Church of God Ilaro, Pastor Sesan Akinnowo is part of Corporate Social Responsibility (CRS) by the organizations explaining that the programme is interdenominational. “We invited even the Moslems and the traditionalists. “We’re doing this in conjunction with the

Paincare group. We’re inspecting their health status, administer free drugs and at the same time, give them God’s word. And we know they have been richly blessed”.

Describing the programme as a medical/spiritual outreach, Dr. Oludeji Oladapo from the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH) who led the team of medical team which was made up of 20 medical doctors, pharmacists and other health experts said the health mission is one that would help to safeguard the health of the people of those communities.

He spoke on some of the diseases for which the beneficiaries were treated. “The major diseases from the elderly are Diabetes, malaria, diarrhea, respiratory tract infections and of course, diarrhea disease because of the water they drink. For patients who require referral we send to nearby government or private health facilities where they will receive further medical attention.” he explained”.

In addition to the free

health services and drugs, the beneficiaries also received various food items ranging from rice, bread, diaries and toiletries and free clothing.

In a chat with newsmen, Pastor Steve Oluwole Akindasa of Paincare Outreach said the mission was to take care of the physical and spiritual wellbeing of the people of the community by offering them free med care, and by extension, draw them closer to God. He explained why the organization took the pains to go the extra mile in reaching of two Nigerians. “We’ve been doing a lot in Lagos.

We’ve been to Aja, Badore and Shasha. We’ve been to so many places in Lagos –Kuramo. We had the last programme at Kuramo Beach we can’t just stay in Lagos alone. There’s a reason why God said we should come out One of the beneficiaries Mr. Olorinmisomo described the medical mission as one of a kind. “The mammoth crowd here shows that the people are poor, sick and hungry. 6,000 were expected people but people here are over 10,000.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

DAILY SUN

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South-South Report Flood:

Submerged building

We’re submerged, abandoned From CHRIS AGUNWEZE

T

he people of Idu in Ogba /Egbema Ndoni Local Government area [Onelga] of Rivers State are crying out calling on the state Governor Rt. Hon.Chibuike Amaechi and President Goodluck Jonathan to come to their rescue, saying that they have been abandoned by their representatives and government agencies after flood devastated their community.

Idu, a coastal community of the Orashi river with about 3,000 people were among the first communities to go under water as flood invaded the state The people now displaced by the flood and scattered to other communities lamented th at they have been clearly forgotten by their representatives in various arm of government and other government agencies saddled with the responsibilities to carter for flood victims in the state. They were disturbed that their representative in all the legislative arms of state and federal governments disappointed them.

Gift Nwokeocha in the state assembly representing Onelga Constituency 2, Asipa Honourable representing Onelga–Ahoda East Federal Consistency and Senator Wilson Ake representing Rivers West, according to them, did not visit Idu to see the extent of devastation the flood caused.

“We have been grossly neglected and abandoned to our fate by those who are supposed to come to our aid,” Chief Elijah Eluozo Ezeudo, lamented.

“Our farm lands were the first to be swal-

–Idu community

Flooded street lowed by the flood and we were forced to harvest our crops prematurely”. The people were still mourning the loss of their crops and thinking how they will cope with hunger when one day at the deep of the night families woke up and saw themselves deep inside water in their living rooms. The following morning there was great confusion and anxiety and that was how our people began to evacuate the town to become refugees in neighboring villages.”

One of the victims of the Idu flood Izidor Ikeagwu who said that his house and every property in it was one of the early houses to go under water, collaborating Eze udo’s story said that the flood advanced steadily and final-

ly the entire Idu community submerged. “As I speak to you now it is difficult to separate greater portion of the community from Orashi river” Comrade Emeka Agilar a company worker who said that his two houses he built newly went under, told the Daily Sun that Idu was half under water for several days , before it finally submerged , he complained bitterly that within the period the agencies that were created to handle such emergencies did not show any concern to them but they went to other neighboring communities flooding there were not as big as that of Idu. Eze Zik Emmanuel and Chika Monday who said they lost everything they labored

for since their youth to the flood, also expressed disappointment that government agencies like the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the Presidential Committee on Disaster turned their back on Idu after visiting neighboring communities despite the magnitude of the flood and its devastating effect in Idu. “We were so ignored because we have nobody in government,” Zik said.

“But we heard that Sun Newspaper is the voice of the voiceless. We are appealing to you to take our plight to the state governor Chibuike Amaechi and Presidsent Goodluck Jonathan.”

But the most radical comments came from the youths of the community who were very angry that the senate committee in charge of environment and national disaster lead by Sen. Olusola Bukola Saraki were in Rivers and visited the local government but according to them were diverted from Idu.. They said that such gesture was a systematic step to undermine Idu when compensation will be paid.

The youths who said that Idu have a good number of oil wells contributing to the nation’s economy accused some multinational oil companies operating in the area of total neglect. According to them those multinationals did not show any sign of commitment when the flood devastated Idu their host community.

“The worried youths called on NEMA , the state committee on flood lead by deputy governor Tele Ikuru and the National Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation lead by Aliku Dangote to visit Idu and see where flood caused real havoc.

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DAILY SUN

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

South-South Report Why peace is elusive in Niger Delta –IMPACT From PAUL OSUYI, Asaba

T

he history of the Niger Delta region, co-habited by multiethnic nationalities, over the years has been fraught with complexities such as communal disputes, violent confrontations, hostage taking and other criminal activities.

While government through deliberate policies is addressing the structural and proximate conditions promoting violence within the region, security agencies have made attempts to reduce access to the use of arms by restive groups within the communities.

Also, while state authorities were addressing issues of militancy, hostage taking and vandalism, there was upsurge in communal conflicts involving autonomous ethnic groups or oil companies and host communities or both, a situation that has made civil society organisations to institute measures to curtail violence.

Even oil companies have evolved strategic frameworks and policies for conflict resolution especially those relating to oil prospecting or those that pose a threat to oil prospecting

which often culminates in the signing of fresh Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the companies and host communities.

In spite of the above measures, stable and lasting peace has continued to elude the region and the reason for this, according to a non-government organisation, Impact for Change and Development (IMPACT) is because the steps taken by the various stakeholders were weak and ineffective.

IMPACT made the observation in Asaba, Delta State capital at a public presentation of the book Enhancing Peace in the Niger Delta: A Project Report on Capacity Building in NonViolent Conflict Management Skills for Community Women, Youths and Traditional Leaders.

The project said to be a pilot scheme was carried in Amai, Ukwuani Local Government Area and Oleh, Isoko Local government areas, Delta State by IMPACT in collaboration with the European Union (EU).

Executive director of IMPACT, Naomi Akpan-Ita, said the project was targeted at traditional, women and youth leaders, government, security agencies, oil companies, the

media, CSOs; and community development associations (CDAs).

According to her, the objective of the project was to build capacity for effective participation in decision making with regards to peace and security within the selected communities for the promotion of peace. She said it was observed while the project lasted that measures taken by stakeholders in addressing conflicts in the region were largely based on erroneous perception and understanding of conflict within the communities.

Besides, Akpan-Ita stated that the target groups of traditional, women and youth leaders factored-in the approaches by stakeholders lacked conflict management and peacebuilding skills, hence peace was always short-lived among communities in the region.

She also decried the lack of collaborative efforts toward sustaining peace and security within the communities, pointing out that it was observed that the various stakeholders were working in isolation, thus resulting in the replication of interventions with very minimal impact.

She noted that series of interlinked activities were carried out

Akpan-Ita presenting the book to Dr. Golwa while the project lasted where the above and other anomalies were observed, adding that possible recommendations to enhance lasting peace were documented in the book for implementation.

Director-General of Institute for Peace and Conflict Resolutions (IPCR), Dr. Joseph Golwa, said the project empowered 171 community leaders selected from Oleh and Amai communities with non-violent conflict management skills. He opined that the empowerment has boosted the capacity base of the target communities to employ mediation, negotiation, dialogue and other alterna-

tives to violence in dispute resolution.

According to him, the capacity building also “empowered women and youths to participate in conflict resolution processes alongside their men counterparts thus contributing to gender-sensitive conflict management approach advocated globally.

Secondly, the project has through an intensive conflict analysis, generated information to aid stakeholders make informed interventions. The analysis which is part of the published project report also constitutes a useful advocacy kit in seeking response to conflict.”

NISLT plans to establish forensic lab, holds national conference next week

By GABRIEL DIKE and GBENGA ADESUYI

T

he Nigerian Institute of Science Laboratory Technology (NISLT) has concluded plans to establish a forensic science laboratory in the country to assist in the investigations of criminal cases that requires laboratory input.

The Registrar/Director-General of NISLT, Dr. Ighodalo Ijagbone, disclosed this in Ibadan while briefing newsmen on the forthcoming 28th Annual National Conference/scientific workshop that would hold in Calabar, Cross River State from November 7th to 10th.

Ijagbone said with facilities put in place in the Multipurpose Science Laboratory (MSL), “we plan to include forensic services as part of our extension services to the public”.

According to him, the forensic laboratory analysis would assist investigations of criminal issues that need laboratory input stressing that the concept has been prepared for the Federal Government consideration.

The director-general of NISLT noted that the police do participate in seminar/working organized by the institute and issues on forensic laboratory analysis cropped up severally revealing that if established it would the Nigeria Police and other security agencies.

He explained that as part of NISLT regulatory functions, the institute visited some tertiary institutions to inspect and assess their laboratory facilities to ensure they meet global best practices.

The NISLT boss said through inspection and accreditation, the institute has been able to assist in installation, repairs and maintenance of laboratory equipment as well as training of laboratory personnel arguing “many laboratories that were not functional before are now being revived especially in science and technology education”.

He noted that experts in the field would present papers during plenary session while members of the institute would also present 73 research papers and on November 9, the Annual General Meeting (AGM) would round off the conference.

Among the dignitaries expected are Senator Liyel Imoke, Governor of Cross River state, Obong Godswill Akpabio, Governor of Akwa Ibom state, Prof Ita Okon Bassey, Minister of Science and Technology, Prof James Epoke, Vice Chancellor, University of Calabar. Others include, Senator Robert Boroffice, chairman, Senate Committee on Science and On the forthcoming conference/scientific of the institute and interested stakeholders to Technology, Hon. Abiodun Akinlade, chairworkshop, Dr. Ijagbone, disclosed that the meet and brainstorm on several issues with man, House of Representatives Committee on Science and Technology. event would provide a platform for members nology in production and quality control.

L R, Mr. Jackson Osuh, director, education training and inspectorate, Dr.Ijagbone and Mr. Musa Joseph, director of finance and admin during the briefing in Ibadan

LIRS rolls out N1.2m for young writers

By SAM OTTI

T

he Lagos State Internal Revenue Service (LIRS) has mapped out the sum of N1.2m cash reward for winners of this year’s essay competition on taxation.

The Chairman, Tunde Fowler, said winners of the 5th LIRS secondary school essay competition would bag scholarship awards and other consolation prizes.

Addressing journalists at the LIRS Conference Room, Good Shepherd Building, Alausa, Fowler said over 10,000 entries were expected from both junior and senior secondary school students, which cut across 300 public and private schools in the state. The competition, which started October 22 would end Friday, November 9.

He said the contestants for the junior category have two essays to choose one. One of the topics is, Payment of tax is your duty, your civic responsibility and the law. Discuss.

Likewise, those in the senior secondary can write on one of these topics, Tax payments

fund infrastructural development in Lagos State. Discuss.

The Chairman said winners of the first prize in each category would smile home with N250,000, while N200,000 and N150,000 would go to the second and third place winners.

Fowler expressed satisfaction with the growing interest in the competition among students of different schools, which he also linked to the remarkable improvement to tax compliant by the people in the state.

According to him, a total of 7000 entries were received during last year’s competition from schools spread across the six education districts of the state.

“By the rate we are going, in believe if we continue to receive this kind of entries, our youths who would be the leaders of tomorrow will understand the importance of payment of taxes and they will also pay their taxes when they begin to earn their income”, he said.

To guarantee the authenticity of the essays, Fowler said writers of selected entries would

pass through an interview stage and defend their entries.

To encourage more schools to participate in the contest, he said computer set and its accessories would be given to schools that produced the overall winners, even as other contestants would be rewarded with consolation prizes.

Fowler lamented the high incidence of tax evasion in Africa, as he implored working adults in the state to be honest in paying their taxes to encourage sustainable developmental projects by the government.

“It is clear the world over that the only for sustainable development and social advancement is through funding and any government that wants to fund such things needs a consistent revenue source and that can only be possible through taxes. Lagos state decided to revive the tax administration in Lagos State, right from the days of Tinubu. As children who will be the leaders of tomorrow, we believe it is quite imperative for them to understand the need for the payment of taxes”, he said.

DAILY SUN

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

SUNSummit

amodu200910@yahoo.com Tel: 08059306448

From TAIWO AMODU, Abuja Former Osun State governor and Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP) National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola has submitted that the zoning of elective and appointive offices among geo-political zones in the country has come to stay in the party. While he admitted that the policy has experienced hitches in recent time, Oyinlola noted that its application was desirable to give the various ethnic groups in the country a sense of belonging.

“-I want to let you know that what has endeared PDP to most Nigerians is the zoning formular, which has given the hope to those who belong to minority groups to have aspiration that they can be at the helms of affairs of this country, at any given time… So, we have abiding faith in our zoning policy and since it has so far endeared us to generality of the people of Nigeria, we will continue to hold on to it’’ The party national scribe also offered insight into the trouble shooting efforts of the national leadership of the party, aimed at reconciling factions in state chapters of the party, among others issues .

Excerpts:

41

TAIWO AMODU

Zoning still alive in PDP – Oyinlola

Y

our party just lost an election in Ondo State; what do you make of the party defeat?

Well, the people of Ondo State at that election made their choice; they told the world their preference among those who have sold their manifestoes to them, that they wanted to lead them. All it has done to us is that we should go and do an appraisal of where we have missed it and continue to work hard enough. But the people have spoken.

There is always acrimony in PDP after its primary and congresses and this has been narrowed down to lack of internal democracy in the party. The most recent is Adamawa. My question is, what is the present Peoples’ Democratic Party, (PDP) National Working Committee, (NWC) doing to restore internal democracy?

Well, let me assure you that a major objective of the new NWC is to ensure that the dictates of our constitution is followed to the letter, in whatever we do, be it primary, be it congresses or any affair of the party and I want to assure you, that’s the way it is going to be.

If you want to administer a peaceful party that will be devoid of rancor, it is expedient that you follow the tenets of the constitution.

If you don’t, then there will be confusion from left, right and centre, because those you are dealing with, the party members, will not take offence if they know that your policy application are in consonance with the party constitution; that’s what we all subscribe to and we will toe the line of the national working committee policy direction.

Last week the NWC inaugurated a caretaker committee to administer the Adamawa State chapter of the party. Two days after, the governor came to apologize. What’s the situation now in Adamawa. Do we take it that the sins of the dissolved executive has been forgiven, or the caretaker is fully in charge?

The situation is that we are still meeting, to discuss the apology rendered by the state governor and that has been followed with a written letter. When the NWC meets, we will decide which direction we will go. But one thing is certain, the sole objective is to ensure that party discipline is restored and that the party remains supreme, if you want to have a well organized and disciplined party.

Observers of the Ondo election are worried that after your party national secre-

Oyinlola tariat congratulated the Labour Party, the state chapter came out to distance themselves from the position of the national secretariat. Is it that you are working at cross purposes?

No, we aren’t working at cross purposes.

Until we get a detailed feedback from those who are on the ground, because we sent observers there, it is only normal and a very civilized mode to congratulate whoever has emerged winner in any contest. If we have at the end of the day, any cause to say otherwise, then we will come out and give reasons for saying so. But in any civilized society, that is the normal practice.

You are talking about discipline. In line with what happened in Edo: The party

said no litigation over Edo election, the state took the same stance, but the party candidate is in court, would the party sanction him?

Like I said, if we don’t get the detailed report of the conduct, we cannot take any decision here.

But what about the individual that decided on his own to go to court?

He is exercising his constitutional right.

There has been insinuation that the party sealed deal with Governor Mimmiko and that accounted for the lukewarm attitude towards the Ondo election from the national secretariat and the Presidency. Is there any arrangement going on for Mimmiko to return to PDP.

While I want to say that the national working committee has never been briefed in that direction, but I can add that our umbrella is big enough to accommodate whoever wants to be part of our party We learnt that plans are in the offing to restructure the party national working committee; there have been allegations that some members of the NWC didn’t fulfill the constitutional requirement for the office they are occupying. We want you to confirm this sir.

Secondly, your party lost two elections in quick succession: Edo and Ondo States.

Is the NWC not worried?

Continued on Page 42

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

DAILY SUN

SUNSummit Continued from Page 41 I don’t have any inclination in that direction and I will be surprised, if such an exercise will become a reality, in the sense that before you go for an election don’t forget we were all elected. Before you go for an election, your credentials must have been perused, screened and that’s why we have a screening committee.

The moment they have adjudged you to be competent to contest an election, I don’t see how after you won somebody will say you aren’t qualified. Honestly, I have no inclination in that direction.

On the second question, having lost two elections, we are deeply concerned and like I said, in my answer to the previous question, all we need to do is to go back to our drawing board: Where have we missed it?

Where have we not impressed the people, so that they can do the bidding of our party?

That’s all we need to look at.

Why is PDP acting now on Adamawa crisis, because we could recall that after conduct of your party congresses before the national convention, INEC wrote to PDP asking it to regularizes conduct of congresses in ten states which it believed fell short of expectations of the electoral act.

Why is it taking you such a long time to act?

My answer to that is that, if you look at the Electoral Act, what role specifically, does it have for INEC? There are some parties that didn’t do anything close to what PDP has done and they ran election.

What did INEC say about that one?

I want to believe that the points contained in the Electoral Act make the position of INEC advisory in nature. Some people never even do any screening; some parties never did! So, how can you now hold us to ransom that we even gathered ourselves together and did congress? How many parties conducted their congresses before election? Let us ask INEC, why there were no letters to them for what they didn’t do.

As former governor of Osun State, you appeared before a panel of inquiry, set up by the present government in the state to look at certain activities taken by your administration. We would like to know your experience there.

Well, if you want to know what I said at the panel, I will avail you with a copy of the recordings so you can go and study it.

It is too lengthy for me to be rewinding now. But one thing is certain: if I wasn’t confident that I haven’t done anything untoward, I wouldn’t be bold enough to appear there. I did appear and explained everything that was being asked. I believe that it has given me the opportunity to let the people of the state and indeed Nigerians know what transpired during my tenure as governor of Osun State.

Though the people of Osun State were taken along with us in governance, I say so, because every first Saturday of the month, I made myself available to the people of the state through the open forum programme, where people come to ask about governance in the state. But that panel has made the rest of Nigerians too to know what transpired during my tenure in Osun State.

Still on the Adamawa crisis; in spite of the appeal by the state governor, the National Chairman of PDP still wrote to security agencies in Adamawa, intimating it of the dissolution of the party executive.

Similarly the dissolved executive has gone to court, to challenge the dissolution.

What is the way forward?

Well, it is a constitutional right to approach court for adjudication when one is aggrieved, but in spite of that, we are still working towards an amicable resolution of the problem. You said at the beginning of this interview and you saw him, the governor came and even told you that he has come to plead with the National Working Committee on the actions, which wasn’t intended in any way to belittle the NWC. If a governor would humble himself that

‘Zoning still alive in PDP’ ing ranks, it was called Accord. When the UPN and GNPP were merging, they called it ganging up. Honestly speaking, ganging up is an indication of some xcertain weaknesses.

Why can’t a party stand on its own and contest election, if you are sure that you will be acceptable to the people?

You don’t need to gang up. But that one notwithstanding, we will remain focused by delivering on the dividends of democracy to our people, so that we can endear ourselves to the minds of the people of Nigeria, so that they can continue to trust us that we will do their biddings. If you are ganging up, then you don’t have the spread.

The only national party today that cuts across the nooks and crannies of Nigeria federation is the PDP and that is why the spread of the party gives them concern as to how do we wrestle power from PDP and that’s what called for what I will call, ganging up.

It has never succeeded and it will not succeed.

The FCT council poll is slated for February. Why has the party not conducted its primary?

This is October, the election is in February, will it be strategically wise for us to do it and those who aren’t selected to go and jump into another party? I am only asking. You must strategise. So, we are following our strategy.

At a point in time, the PDP was in power in south-west, but it is like the broom has swept away the umbrella.

What exactly is the party doing at ensuring that the acrimony among its members is resolved towards ensuring a formidable front in 2015?

Jonathan much to come and apologise over a situation, I don’t think we need to ask for more glove to be able to do the boxing than to look for amicable way of resolving the impact and we are still on that.

We want to know the level of reconciliation in Ogun State and your involvement, because only last week, a faction claimed that you are working against the interest of former Ogun State governor, Gbenga Daniel and working against his faction of the party.

You know, I am taken aback that anybody can say the son of Oyinlola is working against somebody’s interest for him not to be.

I have said that, I am at the moment and for the rest of my life thanking God for all His blessings. You know a bit of my history: I lost my mum at the age of eight and six months after I lost my dad and this is me today. Why then would I be working against the interest of any soul? Never, not the son of Oyinlola.

His blessings wouldn’t continue to abound if I have anything, sinister against any soul and that’s why you know me.

When you offend me, I tell you straight away and if you say sorry, it ends there; it doesn’t go with me till the following day.

So, why should I? I have in all my interactions with my broth-

er, Otunba Gbenga Daniel always worked for his interest and if you ask him, he would tell you how many times I have, even intervened to resolve differences between him and some leaders in the state. So, he cannot run away with that impression that Oyinlola is working against his interest. He is my brother and I always tell anybody the truth and I stand by it. So, there is nothing like that.

The President has cause to observe one day that it is desirable that some members of the party in the national assembly to publicly support him, unlike what happened at the national assembly at the joint session on 2013 budget presentation, when certain principal members of national assembly opposed Mr. President. Why has it become impossible for the party to control its members? Has the party lost control?

No, far from it. I want to appreciate your observations. It is an open secret but that is our own internal affairs and we are going about resolving it. We are dialoguing over the issue.

The opposition parties are engaged in alliance discussions. Is your party threatened by such discussions?

No, we don’t think we are threatened by what I will call ganging up. You know, in those days, the NPN and NPP were clos-

Thank you very much. Let me state here clearly that of the six south-western states that we lost, three were lost to the judiciary, not through the ballot. So, get that one clear.

The dusts that it has generated isn’t yet settled; it is an open secret and I wont say more than that.

Now, what are we doing to ensure that we bring cordiality between our members in the south-west states is that the Bamanga Tukur led NWC has planned reconciliation team, not only for south-west but for the whole zone of the federation.

Any moment from now, those team will move out to reconcile the warring factions and settle differences, so that we can all come back together and move on as a member of the same family. Like you know, were it not for the differences we had in Ogun State, we would have won that state; were it not for differences between the Akala led side and Senator Rasheed Ladoja going to Accord party, we would have won Oyo State.

So, these are the problems we want to get teams to go and resolve.

You know that the chairman inaugurated reconciliation with Dr Alex Ekwueme as head of the team. They will soon move out and we hope that they will be able to reconcile all the warring factions within the PDP family.

The zoning formular of your party has been a subject of controversy; as we approach 2015, is the party going to adopt the policy in picking its presidential candidate?

I want to let you know that what has endeared PDP to most Nigerians is the zoning formular, which has given the hope to those who belong to minority groups to have aspiration that they can be at the helms of affairs of this country, at any given time.

I am told in my village that if a medicine is working fine for you, you don’t throw it away. So, we have abiding faith in our zoning policy and since it has so far endeared us to generality of the people of Nigeria, we will continue to hold on to it.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

DAILY SUN

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SUNSummit

Budget impasse: Mark, Tambuwal remarks in bad faith – Okupe ensure accountability and to ensure that the era of contract inflation and overinvoicing was stopped.

National revenue should not be frittered on the altar of speedily disbursing of money to the MDAs. I do not want to believe that the Speaker is saying the control measure be abrogated.

From: TAIWO AMODU, Abuja

A

t a recent interactive session with newsmen in Abuja, Dr Doyin Okupe, Senior Special Assistant, Public Affairs to President Goodluck Jonathan declared that the comments of Senator David Mark and Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives, respectively on the 2013 Budget presented to the joint session of the National Assembly by the President was unnecessary and most unfortunate.

The Senate President in his speech had said the National Assembly was not a rubber stamp parliament. Honourable Tambuwal while presenting vote of thanks had made some observations which he noted were infractions on the part of the Presidency in budget implementation and execution.

Among such infractions according to the Speaker of the House of Representatives was what he viewed as poor releases of fund and poor utilization of such funds by agents of the federal government.

Okupe at the media session had submitted that the Speaker should have refrained from making such comments at joint session of National Assembly.

“Normal legislative courtesy demands that such a visitor be allowed to perform his constitutional functions without any attempt to rubbish the document that was yet to be discussed even by the members themselves,’’ Okupe told newsmen.

We bring you excerpts of comments by Dr Okupe at the media session.

We aren’t craving for rubber stamp parliament Specifically, the Senate President mentioned three major issues.

First, that the Senate was not a rubberstamp. Let me state emphatically here and now, that the President and his administration do not expect and has never conceived an idea, that in a healthy democracy, the National Assembly, not only the Senate would just rubber-stamp whatever is presented to it. It is quite clear that this is not a high-handed administration and it does not wish in any way to be.

In a healthy democracy, there is useful exchange of ideas and deliberations over various issues of national importance until reasonable agreement are reached. We also felt that referring to budget as mere estimate diminished the quality of the documents itself. The budget represents the vision, the intention and the definite steps that the government intends to take over the next 12 months.

What it requires is to table it before the elected representatives of the people for them to consider it, deliberate upon it.

Where amendments are required, of course, they should do it; where adjustments are required, of course they should do it. But to call these figures as mere estimates is rather unfair.

FG committed to implementation He also spoke of the non-implementation of the budget. This has been a raging issue in the couple of months. The current budget for 2012 became law at the end of April 2012. The budget has just been implemented for just five months only. A budget is expected to last for 12 months, but because of its late passage, it has only been implemented for five months only.

On Wednesday, the President gave a figure of N700.11.6bn as having been disbursed out of capital budget. That repre-

Okupe sented a figure of about 53 per cent already disbursed in five months. The issue of implementation cannot be taken in isolation. That has to be taken in consideration of when the budget became law.

In hammering on the non-implementation of the budget, was an attempt to discredit this administration. It is not fair.

This is not the time to blame anybody. If a budget is for 12 months and was only passed five months ago, then that is not fair.

Tambuwal played to gallery His comments were only to be a vote- of -thanks, even though vote of thanks accommodates some views, it is not usual that it is converted into speech. That place was not an executive session of House of Representatives.

Some of the issues raised by the Speaker were erroneous. He said that interim oversight reports were clearly unimpressive both in terms of releases and utilisation.

This statement cannot be wholesomely acceptable if you look at the background and the reason for which the assemblymen hurriedly packaged the visits.

In one week, the assembly had gone

round the whole country and quickly completed oversight functions and came to this conclusion.

It is the same argument that goes for the non-release of money. That judgment was not fair. They talk of release of money to MDAs as at when due.

There are a couple of issues that guide the release of money. These are the issues of demand, necessity and availability and only the executives can give answers to these points. Up till now, none of the MDAs had complained or had been hampered for functionality simply because monies due for projects were not released.

The difference between the National Assembly and the Executive is that you passed the budget and then you wait for it to be expended. But there are procedures for spending government money which cannot be abridged. The time of Father Christmas or flushing of ministries with funds that are irresponsibly expended and people complain is over.

The Speaker also complained about the Bureau for Public Procurement, which he said had become a bottleneck to effective capital budget implementation. That is unfortunate. The BPP was brought in to

“Hammering on the non-implementation of the budget, was an attempt to discredit this administration. It is not fair. This is not the time to blame anybody. If a budget is for 12 months and was only passed five months ago, then that is not fair.”

NASS cannot fix benchmark That was pure drama. The President submitted the budget; the budget is yet to be looked into, debated and passed. Here is another arm of government in a dictatorial manner, saying authoritatively, that it has decided that the benchmark shall be $80dollars.

One would have expected that he would have explained the parameter with which he got the benchmark. You will recall that in 2008 at the peak of oil boom when one barrel of oil was selling for $147dollars, it suddenly because of massive global economic down turn, the price went to $38 dollars per barrel.

Algeria is using a benchmark of $38dollars; Qatar is using $55, Venezuela is using $50; Saudi, $60, Angola is using $77, Kuwait is using $60.

This $75 is the upper limit of what is reasonable. Even Ghana has decided to save all the money accruing to it from the oil revenue.

What is wrong with us in this country that we want to consume everything today without thinking of future generation?

This is not the time to be unduly careless, or reckless about our benchmark. It is time to be conservative.

He also said people no longer care for words, but action. But this administration is very low in words and definitely highly prolific in its actions. He was playing to gallery. It does not apply to this administration and it is unnecessary.

On would have expected the NASS to commend the Presidency and not condemnation.

Resolutions : you cannot dictate to President The President will not disregard resolution from the National Assembly and their resolutions are very serious advice. Although they may not carry the force of the law, but they are weighty enough for serious consideration by the Executive.

But the truth of the matter is that many of these resolutions required consultations and further consultations before they could be implemented. The Speaker raised the issue of the Directors-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises, Ms. Bolanle Onagoruwa and the Security and Exchange Commission, Ms. Arume Oteh, who the National Assembly said should be sacked.

In the case of the BPE, the woman in question was not even there when the majority of the transactions took place.

In the case of Oteh, she was accused of not even qualified to be there. It is for this reason that the board of SEC met and asked her to step aside. Investigations were carried out by an international reputable organization and she was not found guilty. Why must she be sacked?

Having said all these, my believe is that in the interest of the Nigerian people, for the sake of our masses, the National Assembly and the Executive must of necessity find common ground on all these issues, instead of unnecessary grandstanding and playing to gallery, which will not help anybody. The President has accepted this as a burden of leadership.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

WOMANoftheSUN

Women leadership will turn around Nigeria –Ndubuoke •Ndubuoke

By CHRISTINE ONWUACHUMBA

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igeria is replete with women who have overcome against all odds. At one period or the other played the role of wife, entrepreneur and mother. Whilst leading in the transformation of society through various social initiatives in their respective communities. Mrs. Chinese Ndubuoke, the Managing Director of MR FAN’S Ltd is one of such women.

In a recent chat with Daily Sun, she bared her thoughts on the way forward for Nigeria; What are your suggestions as regarding the current issues confronting Nigeria?

For me, I strongly believe that having a woman on the helm of leadership in Nigeria would turn the country around.

If more women would be allowed to have executive powers, there will be a significant change. Although I must commend the men for their effort so far because they have been steering the leadership of this country since inde-

pendence but I still insist that if women are empowered or elected into executive powers, Nigeria will be better for it.

Are you saying that women can successfully revolutionize Nigeria?

Women are silent revolutionaries; it is not a hidden fact that women are usually exceptional each time we are saddled with any responsibility. We are all living witnesses to the wonderful work Professor Dora Akunyili did in her capacity as the Managing Director of NAFDAC. It was possible for her to have continued in that position for a longer period if Nigerians could have demanded for it. About the same time she was making waves at NAFDAC, another great woman, Oby Okwezirieze was doing another wonderful job at the Due Process office. Her ideas paid off so much that Nigerians nicknamed her Madam due process. Even now, we cannot wish away the good work of a woman of substance like the Finance Minister Professor Okonjo Iweala. Do not forget that she was the one that negotiated the debt relief for us and she has brought her wealth of experience to bear on so many sectors since she was

“I strongly believe that having a woman on the helm of leadership in Nigeria would turn the country around.

If more women would be allowed to have executive powers, there will be a significant change” appointed as the Coordinating Minister under President Jonathan. You can visit any institution or body that has a woman at its helm and you will confirm that we have what it takes to move mountains.

Are you suggesting an aggressive take-over?

As I said earlier I commend the men, they have done their part. Let us allow us do ours, We are not trying to upstage the men or do battle with them on the political front but we are only stating that we have the potentials that can take Nigeria to the next level if we are duly empowered. You must understand that God created women in a unique way.

From your experience, what is the major challenge women face?

Work, the difficult balance of work and family life. There are some jobs that do not allow most working class women to perform their domestic duties at home.

Such women still make out time during public holiday or at weekends to show that they are still not at loss with their primary responsibilities. At this juncture, it is

incumbent of the men to appreciate the fact that their wives did not just decide not to do their jobs at home and I am very glad that majority of the men are aware of this fact and they are well behaved. I mean, it is pretty difficult for a woman who closes at 6pm and gets home about 8pm because of traffic, to still jump to the kitchen to prepare dinner when she is expected to wake the following morning at five o’clock to the day’s official job.

Any woman who does this for five days in four weeks and 24 months of the year will certainly break down. In this regard I must tell you that I am a bit lucky because I am self employed so, to a certain extent, I am the master of my time and this makes me to attend to so many family and domestic issues. For instance, I cook for my husband and this makes our love evergreen. My advice to all women, is to learn to co-ordinate their time. Cook for your husbands, pamper and take care of him when you have time.

Always try and create an “OUR TIME” moment. It keeps the fire burning and the love stronger.

Where aspect of our lives are women lacking?

Dressing amongst women is utterly lacking, pathethic and most times very shameful. I mean mothers should really look into this. You see, it said that you are addressed the way you are dressed. I am not happy that mothers no longer teach their daughters how to dress well.

Imagine a mother will sew suit for her sons and cover them very well for occasion while the daughters are left half covered. We are not saying that anybody should be dressed as a religious zealot but there is the urgent need to discourage indecent dressing. Teach them that boys or the men will appreciate you more when you dress decently than when you walk about almost naked.

DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

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Good Health NCPP wants comprehensive cancer centre built in Nigeria

By AZOMA CHIKWE

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o reduce high mortality rate, resulting from cancer, a non- profit health organisation, Mass Medical Mission, has called for collaborative efforts to establish a comprehensive cancer centre in Nigeria.

National Coordinator of Mass Medical Mission and National Cancer Prevention Programme, Dr. Kin Egwuonwu, spoke recently in Lagos during the maiden edition of the organisation’s Pink Day. The day was marked to draw attention to the nation’s worsening health profile, especially cancer. He said Nigerians had no cause to die from cancer, if only the rich in the country would take initiative from their counterparts in other countries to establish comprehensive cancre centre in the country.

Egwuonwu explained that wasteful spending among Nigerians, if well managed, could go a long way in establishing comprehensive cancer centres in strategic locations of the country.

Lagos State Coordinator of Mass Medical Mission and National Cancer Prevention Programme, Dr. Abia Nzelu, tasked Nigerians to avail themselves for regular health screening for early cancer diagnosis and treatment.

She urged Nigerians to support the organisation to built first cancer comprehensive cancer centre in Portharcourt, Rivers State, expected to gulp about $63 million, by texting CANCER to 44777.

Egwuonwu said: “The pink day is a day for sobre reflection of the health status of Nigerians.

Pink is not just the colour of cancer; it signifies health. That is why we talk of being in the pink of health. So the pink day is to remind us the need, as a nation, to improve our health indices. Nigeria

Prof. Chukwu has 13th lowest life expectancy in the world.There are only 12 nations in the world that lead shorter life expectancy than Nigeria. Most of those nations are at war. Although we are not officially at war, we have low life expectancy of 47.

There are many nations like U.S.A and UK,Singerpore,Brazil and Japan where life expectancy is about 80.Yet they are always talking about health. If you look at the current campaign in the US, health is a major issue.How come that people who have huge challenge in healthcare are not talking about it? No matter how much money one may have, if one does not have good health, one will not enjoy it.

“Because the month of October is cancer awareness month, we are also using the day to focus on cancer situation in Nigeria where most

Nigerians cannot afford good treatment and have to go to India. What about the poor who cannot afford to go India? They stay back and die. India has 120 cancer comprehensive centres, while Nigeria has none. Most of these Indian centres were not built by government, but community non-profit organisations. The first cancer centre was set up in India in 1941 by Carta Group.Bangalore is a city in India with about 8 million people, but has about four comprehensive cancer centres. But Lagos is more than 10 million population without a comprehensive cancer centre. So if one has cancer, one would have to go to India. But if one goes to India, how does one know that the emotional effect of living one’s family support is not going to affect treatment?

Treat is not just about drugs. You can give a sick person drugs, but if his mind is not there, the drugs will not work. Many of our people who go to India for treatment do not do well.

“We have 120 private jets in Nigeria. Each of those private jets is enough to set up comprehensive cancer centre in Nigeria. The richest woman and man in the world, Queen Elizabeth and Bill Gates have no private jets. If someone who is the head of state of over 12 countries does not have a private jet, how can somebody who lives in a country where people are dying be buying one private jet after another? Some Nigerians even have up to three private jets. But when that person has cancer, he/she wants to go abroad for treatment, but the irony of it is that either they would be refused visa or be delayed in accessing it. So let us repair our own. There are 1.2 billion people in India,while Africa as a continent has 1 billion population. How can we be taking the problem of 160 million people to people who are trying to carter for the heath needs of 1.2 people?”

Stroke Action Nigeria addresses stroke, trauma

By AZOMA CHIKWE

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troke survivors, their families and carers have a new reason to breathe easy as Stroke Action Nigeria, a stroke-care organisation for stroke survivors, says it will provide a holistic approach to preventive care, rehabilitation, self management and social support.

An associate of Stroke Action UK, Stroke Action Nigeria is a not-for-profit communityinterest organization working with stroke survivors, their carers, and families to promote meaningful, evidence-based and quality ‘Life after a Stroke’ in the community. Mrs, Rita Melifonwu, the founder and Chief Executive of both Stroke Action UK and Nigeria, and also the winner of the 1999 Mary Seacole Nursing Leadership Award, explains that the launch of the Nigerian associate was borne out of the need for greater stroke support and awareness of the disease in Nigeria. Melifonwu states, “With the launch of our organization in Nigeria, stroke survivors will have access to the necessary care and rehabilitation that they need, alongside support for social reintegration, which is too often neglected in our society.”

Melifonwu says that the organization will raise awareness for stroke and stroke-related issues; provide medical support for survivors; build capacity for families that care for stroke survivors; and assist survivors’ social reintegration.

“Too often stroke survivors, their carers and families are left to suffer in silence as they are faced with a strong stigma of ‘no longer being normal’. Stroke Action is here to help,” Melifonwu concludes.

The organization will establish stroke centres that will carry out a health risk assessment for visitors to find out their risk factors; check their blood glucose level, blood pressure, cholesterol level, body mass index (BMI); and one-on-one support that will help smokers quit the habit. The centre will also carry out holistic assessment of the physical, psychological, emotional, social, cultural, spiritual and vocational needs and plan

individual goals for the survivors as well as provide a platform for survivors to have access to physical activity and physiotherapeutic attention daily. To make these centres a reality, Melifonwu solicits for support in form of funding and volunteers from well meaning individuals and corporate bodies both home and abroad.

Dr. Biodun Ogungbo, a consultant neurosurgeon and one of the Executive Directors of Stroke Action Nigeria cites the World Health Organisation noting that stroke is the third leading cause of death worldwide, after cancer and ischemic heart disease, and one of the leading causes of death in Nigeria, accounting for 3.7% of emergency admissions, 8.7% of medical admissions, and 4.17% of medical deaths.

“Stroke is a disease that can happen to anyone,

but it can be prevented. We can manage the incidence of stroke in Nigeria and also rehabilitate and care for stroke survivors,” says Ogungbo.

“This is why we have found it expedient to launch Stroke Action services here in Nigeria.”

As part of the activities to launch Stroke Action Nigeria, the organization is set to host the Stroke Assembly, which is an open access conference held annually on the World Stroke Day on the 29th October each year.

The Stroke Assembly provides joint working platforms for partners in the care and prevention of stroke, stroke specific organizations, medical and nursing councils, professions allied to medicine, agencies and individuals with interest in stroke care, stroke survivors, carers and the government to discuss the issues that surround prevention and management of stroke in Nigeria.

Halleluya Diet comes to Nigeria

By JOAN IKEKHIDE alleluja Diet, a creation of Hallelujah Acres, United States America (USA), will be formally presented to the Nigerian Public by a delegation led by President of Hallelujah Acres, USA, Dr. Paul Malkmus, at a four-week-long programme.

Hallelujah Diet is a food-based supplement brand, which has proven effective in reversing chronic health conditions where orthodox therapies had failed. The diet, which, according to the company, is based on the physical nourishment as intended by God in Genesis1:29 where He said: “I have given you every herb bearing seed, which is upon the face of the earth for food,” emphasizes eating more of fruits, vegetables and fibres, less of saturated fats and hydrogenated oils, drinking a lot of water, eating, getting more exercise and isolating stress.

The product presentation/launch which will take place in the strategic cities of Abuja, Port Harcourt, and Lagos will feature a three-day training programme for prospective health ministers. Health minister are internationally certi-

H

fied practitioners in the Hallelujah Acres Food Ministry trained to consult with clients and recommend recovery diet for various health conditions.

Speaking on the development, the Executive Chairman, Hallelujah Acres Nigeria, Sir Godfrey Ohuabunwa, said that he was motivated to bring the company to Nigeria to improve the wellness and healthy living of Nigerians who are troubled by deadly chronic diseases.

“I am deeply concerned by the increasing incidence and ravaging effects of some hitherto little known but deadly diseases among Nigerians.

Many families are faced with huge medical bills, while the rich travel to India for treatment with little result. Others are without any opportunity for treatment because of the high cost.

Hallelujah Acres offers an effective remedy to this debilitating situation through its Diet, which is a “life-changing, life-giving recipe.”

Founded in 1992, Hallelujah Acres is a Christian organization dedicated to helping people discover how they can live healthy lives free from sickness and chronic diseases by simply changing their diet.

LASUTH gets new dialysis units from Heineken Africa Foundation

By JOB OSAZUWA Heineken Africa Foundation, in collaboration with Nigerian Breweries, has donated two comprehensive dialysis units to the Renal Unit, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital (LASUTH).

The donation was made in view of increasing number of people, living with Human Immuno Deficiency Virus (HIV), Hepatitis B and other related diseases globally but with limited centres for diagnosis and treatment in Nigeria, The Chief Medical Director (CMD) of LASUTH, Prof. Wale Oke, said he was delighted at the kind gesture of Nigerian Breweries stressing that the moment has long been waited for. He noted that the new machines would in no small measure enhance diagnosis of HIV scourge and the likes.

He regretted that the existing dialysis units at the critical centre in the hospital were not enough to meet the number of cases seeking medical attention from the hospital. He pointed out that there was still need for more of such units in the hospital but was optimistic that the newly acquired units would touch the lives of many Nigerians.

While unveiling the N16 Million centre,which consists of installations, one year planned maintenance and provision of consumables, Prof. Oke promised to run the Units effectively by ensuring that the purpose for which the units were established is not punctured.

He disclosed that LASUTH would complement Nigeria Breweries effort through provision of two laptops to set up data management outlet where information on activities in the units could be accessed on regular basis.

Prof.Oke said the dialysis unit was not a static one emphasing that efforts are in place to continue to expand on the existing facilities in the hospital. He revealed that moves to establish a transplant centre in the hospital is on.

Highlighting the necessity of the machines, the Manager of Nigerian Breweries, Lagos State branch,Mrs Ethel Udie noted that the donation and other lined up health related projects was in line with the company’s social r e s p o n s i b i l i t y .

“For us in Nigerian Breweries, this ceremony stands as one of our practical demonstrations of the commitment to our host communities.

Lagos is very important to us. It is the birthplace of our company, the home of Nigeria’s first brewery and the land of the country’s first beer brand,” she said.

She stated that the company would continue to pursue good health delivery but urged LASUTH to make judicious use of the equipment, promising to support more future developmental aspirations of the hospital.

Head, Department of Medicine, Dr Onyekwere Charles noted that Hepatitis B was more deadly than the dreaded HIV/AIDS, stating that if the blood of the patient was dropped on the floor, the virus can still be active after one week which give room for contraction.

Also commending the move by the Breweries, the Head of Renal Unit, Dr Awobusuyi Jacob Olugbenga said with the establishment of the units, hope has come alive for the patients. He stated that the machines were tested and in perfect working condition.

He assured the donor and LASUTH that he was going to make best use of the units. He said maintenance culture would be his watch word in the course of handling the machines, emphasising that proper data, records, would be kept to ascertain the functionality of the units.

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DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Good Health Is this stomach ulcer?

Dear Dr., I am having this stomach pain, which occurs between the upper and lower parts of my stomach. Many people think it is ulcer due to my complaints whenever it occurs. At this present moment, it is aching me even though currently I am making use of gestid or genocid 2, which appeases the disturbance. It comes and goes without my using anything but when it emanates, it is something else. I’ll like to be enlightened about how to have a cure for it, I mean the sort of drugs to use in treating the above mentioned plight of mine. Thanks for the anticipated help towards my plight because you have done greatly. Have a nice day, take care and cheers.

FBA, Ilorin Dear FBA, I won’t ever tell you drugs to use by post that’ll make me a quack - it won’t help you either (Just think - suppose we think it’s only an ulcer while it’s stomach cancer? Or pancreatitis? Or gall bladder disease?). We dare not assume that any and every belly pain is ulcer. What I’ll do is tell you how to take care of peptic ulcer disease using natural common sense. Then you’ll need to see a proper doctor who will take it up from there by first confirming that it really is an ulcer; okay? Actually, the few symptoms you describe sound like ulcer.The medicines you mention are veritable antacids and the fact that they give you relief makes ulcer a very likely diagnosis.So go on taking antacids— anti acids.Natural antacids are best. Milk is a wonderful one; garden eggs is another; walnuts is fantastic; cooked eggs wonderful; groundnuts too—better when cooked. Snack on these foods; eat on time; don’t skip meals or fast—be really careful about your stomach because all these factors help ulcers to develop and become worse.

Best of all, see your doctor and follow his prescriptions. Send me feedback.

Cheers

Why painful menses?

Hi Doc, Compliments of the season to u over there.

Well i just want to ask you some questions.First i just want 2 know the reason why females use to go through a lot of pains during their menstrual period; and the reason why some girls don’t enjoy sex.

BNK, Nsukka, Enugu State Dear BNK, Reasons vary why ladies cry during menstruation but here are half a dozen 1. PID — Pelvic Inflammatory Disease 2.

Endometriosis 3. Wounds from brutal instrumentation 4.Primary Dysmennorrhea—they always had it so — for no reason 5.

Secondary Dysmenorrhea — did not use to have pains but the pains have just started.

6.IUCD— this is intra-uterine contraceptive device.

Again women do not enjoy sex because of many reasons that are varied— but the commonest is the Premature Ejaculation that males suffer; the lack of foreplay that many men are guilty of; and lack of lubrication— all of these from the men. The girl herself may be someone who has a psychological problem with sex—maybe she was raped as a girl;maybe she is afraid; maybe she has a PID—so many reasons. You both will need to discuss this with a doctor first before you can get to the root and solve the problem.

Constant Boils Dr Caleb Bibbi Oluranti Medical Director Healingtouch Royal Hospital, Lagos.

Mobile:0803 346 6574 Direct line: 01 4732056 Private Mail:doctorbibbi@doctor.com

Exercise, regular health checks, key to healthy living –Experts

By ONYEKACHI JET and VERA WISDOM- can be attained.

His words: “sometimes, you could alight a BASSEY few meters or blocks away from your office and nactive lifestyle, according to experts, is a walk, instead of using the lift all the times, dissimajor predisposing factor in quite a num- pate some energy by taking the staircase, in the ber of diseases, affecting many individuals. morning, do things that will exert you, don’t eat Experts have, therefore, warned against late at night, eat less of carbohydrates, and take sedentary lifestyle, which they say, has more of fiber, fruits and vegetables. “ Then, make conscious effort to avoid all become a norm.

Nigerians have also been advised to take care of forms of Junk foods, they don’t help us. Avoid their health by being mindful of what they eat sugary foods and eat more of natural foods. and ensuring they eat balanced diet. These health Health is wealth, so make the money and live to tips were emphasised by healthcare givers dur- enjoy it”.

Also speaking at the event, the chapter chairing this year’s World Physiotherapy Day in man of Nigerian Association of Lagos.

The health professionals further emphasised Physiotherapists,Lagos chapter, Mrs. the importance of routine health checks to state Njokanma ensure one’s entire health structure is monitored Benedicta explained why every hospiat all times.

Speaking on the occasion, Assistant Public tal must have a physiotheraRelations Officer, Mr. Ayobami Oni advised py unit. According to her, need for Nigerians to go for medical checks at least two the or three times yearly. He also emphasized the Physiotherapists as careimportance of regular checking of one’s blood givers involved in preventive and curative healthcare Pressure (BP) and sugar level.

Continuing, Oni stressed the need for every- cannot be overemphasized.

On the benefits of physione to acquire wealth and remain alive to enjoy cal activities, she explained the wealth.

According to him, one way to maintain that it is cost effective and healthy living is to indulge in regular physical helps reduce non-commuexercises. He lamented that it has become a nicable diseases. “It does norm for every chief executive and even middle not involve money, rather it class citizens to be chauffeur-driven. This trend is beneficial. As a car he said should be discouraged if healthy living owner, instead of going to

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the car wash, once in a while, you should do the wash yourself. And instead of riding on a bike, one could take a five-minutes-walk; it helps reduce non communicable diseases like diabetics, hypertensions and helps the heart function normal.

Njokanma who also warned against obesity, said there is need to also seek expert advice from physical health experts for tailored exercise programme, adding that, “a daily 20 or 30 minutes aerobic dance done at least three times weekly can be of immense benefit and helps to add spice to your life, helps you lose weight and keeps you fit at all times”, she explained.

L-R: Mrs. Njokanma, Mr. Fatai, Mrs. Abosede and Mrs. Smith during the event

‘Moderation, vital for healthy beverage consumption’

BY AZOMA CHIKWE and OGE OKONKWO

T

he Nigerian Bottling Company PLC., makers of Coca-cola soft drinks and a range of other beverages, has advised that moderation in beverage consumption is key to healthy consumption of not only beverages but all food items.

The company debunked insinuations on the level of sugar content of some of their products, saying such rumours were misleading and unfounded as the peddlers did not get their information from authoritative sources, which including them, the manufacturers.

Speaking in a plenary session during the 36th Annual Conference and General Meeting of Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology in Lagos,Mr Clem Ugorji,Communications Manager,Coca-Cola Nigeria Limited stated that a very vital aspect of beverage consumption is hydration of the body.”All beverages hydrate,including those that contain caffeine.

“Sparkling beverages,both regular and low calorie,contain between 85 percent and 99 percent water,making them appropriate choices to meet your hydration needs.Some studies have shown that consuming a variety of beverages can help people achieve adequate fluid intake and therefore promote proper hydration.

“We offer beverages with or without calories to help meet hydration needs.When consuming beverages with calories,it is important to remember that all calories count,no matter what food or beverage they come from.

On what sweetners are used in coca-cola products,he said “sweet tastes usually come from two types of sweetners,caloric sweetners like sugar,which provides 16 calories per teaspoon,and low and no calorie sweetners,which provide few or no calories.

“The American Diabetes Association has affirmed its support of low and no-calorie sweetners for use by people with diabetes.All of the sweetners used in our products meet strict regulatory standards.

“The amount of sugar and calories in sparkling beverages is about the same as the amounts found in many fruit juices.Fruit juices also provide other nutrients,such as vitamins and minerals.”

He noted that the important thing is moderation in consumption of beverages and living a balanced life is important.”Know your intake and limit,do exercise,eat well and do everything in moderation.Another factor is genetic

makeup,there are people don’t take sparkling beverages at all and they are diabetic,and there those who take soft drinks and they don’t have diabetes.

“We also offer our consumers variety,so that they can choose.We have coke light that contains little sugar and come January next year,we will introduce a brand of coke that has no sugar at all,”he said.

On wellness,Wanjiku WairiaLumula,Chairperson, Clinical Nutritionists and Dieticians Association of Kenya said that people who are likely to achieve wellness are people who wake up with a focus or purpose for life,”people who eat well and take good combination of food,people who focus on family and believe in family values,people who go outdoor and enjoy outdoor activities,maybe to eat, relax

etc.

“They also include people who are faith based and engage in activities about four times a week.They are closely attached to their faith,people who find themselves relating to people of like mind or have people of like mind around them,people who exercise,may take a walk ,jog etc. In his remark,Dr John Obiora Onuora,President,Nigerian Institute of Food Science and Technology [NIFST] emphasized the need of food security in Nigeria.”There is need for our people to feed well and eat right.Have enough food to eat and also eat the right kind of food in the right combination.

“We need a paradigm shift in this direction and the people who will bring about this paradigm shift are the people trained on issues of food,that is the food scientists and technologists,”he said.

Experts advise on need for quality antenatal care

By UKAMAKA IBEMENA

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xperts have called on pregnant women in the country to seek medical advice from qualified medical doctors for adequate care.

This statement was made by the Medical Director of Tolu Medical Centre, Ajegunle, Lagos, Dr. Itah Asuquo, in an interview with our correspondent.

He told Daily Sun that most Nigerian women especially in Ajegunle Area of Lagos, during pregnancy prefer to patronize traditional medicine otherwise known as “Agbo” rather than coming to the hospital for antenatal.This he said often pose a great risk to maternal care and safe delivery.

Dr. Asuquo disclosed that the situation could be attributed to high level of poverty in the country,” most of the pregnant women that patronizes the traditional medicine know that the right thing to do is to frequent the hospital but because they can’t afford the hospital bills they turn to the traditionalist for cheap medication.

He said that most people in Ajegunle are so poor that they expect treatments to be offered at penury or even for free in most cases.According to him running a private hospital in the area has been a great challenge, “we need patients to pay up to expectation so as to keep the place running.

The doctor also noted that the government has a bigger role to play in saving maternal situation in the country.”The government, need to build more general healthcare centres at different areas of the states.

“For instance, in Ajegunle,they have only one general healthcare centre and few medical personnel who are over stressed by the large number of people that visit centre.

“The government need to empower the primary healthcare centre,so they can educate the grassroot, especially the pregnant women on how to take care of themselves during pregnancy,to avoid complications in the labour room.”

Meanwhile Dr. Charles Nwanne of St.Charles Medical Centre, Olodi-Apapa, Lagos, who spoke on the same issue,told Daily Sun that high maternal death in the country is caused by ignorance and superstitions amongst the people.

According to him, they’ve had some cases where problems were detected on pregnant women and when they confront them,they will tell you it is spiritual, so instead of coming for treatment they will go to church for spiritual cleansing and fasting and return to the hospital in a critical condition.

He alleged that some churches this days are established for double purposes “they serve as worship centre and at the same time maternity homes.Those maternity homes he said has no medical facilities and qualified medical personnel. This is where most women deliver their babies which is very risky.

He therefore advised that the government should set up a team to checkmate those churches where such practices are done to ensure that the places are conducive for child delivery and that they have all the necessary medical facilities needed and qualified medical personnel to run the places.

DAILY SUN

SUN Tech T

elecom giants, MTN, has said operators can’t remain in the cities alone if they want mobile money to succeed in the country . ccording to its General Manager, Business Development, Sales and Distribution, MTN Nigeria, Richard Iweanoge, the company’s strategy was to make a point for e-money transaction to be as close as possible to where you can buy airtime.

Role of mobile operators We are more like the service providers. Like the name implies, mobile money is for you to transact money on your phone. We are the service providers on mobiles. We don’t have a license but we are working with partners who are licensed to provide service to the customers. So even with the license we still need a mobile partner technically to provide the service. so in this case we partner with Fortunes bank and Standard IBTC bank for now but we will still partner with others to provide service to the consumers.

Service Provision Mobile money financial service obviously needs to work on a platform. The interactivity between the platform, the bank, the subscriber are what is being managed. So without the network that ties us together, MTN through the banking services, the subscribers. We enable that service to happen. You have a licence for it, I have a platform for it. we come together and say let us provide this service for the customers.

What is the extent of that interoperability?

First of all we are providing this service to our own customers what the licenses is for access to our own customers. We provide a unique service to our customers. Of course, those with licences can approach other operators and partner with them.

Are we moving fast enough?

Kenya is a model everybody looks up to any day. so I don’t want to say Kenya is not doing well. When I see the potential of mobile money in Nigeria, compared to Kenya. I am always convinced that sooner or later we will take over. In terms of population I know how many times of Kenya’s population we can remove from Nigeria. Think about the numbers of people who use mobile phones in Nigeria. Compare the size of our economy, and our exposure. So when I see the potential, I am so certain we will over -take. We will definitely there.

What measure is put in place to address mobile money illiteracy It depends on what you consider what illiteracy. You can be educated and at the same time be an illiterate and you can be uneducated and be very smart. Mobile money is really about financial inclusion. People carry out financial transactions every day. Most of all the people in this country have a mobile phone. Mobile phone will be what credit cards are for Western Union, everybody has access to it. All we are trying to do with mobile money is to bring a lot of people in the country are enjoying financial service to the formal financial channels. So in terms of illiteracy, In terms of text message, I think everybody can perform mobile money transaction, we made it so simple so that the numbers of steps you need to take are basic. We have people in channels, there principal role is to represent us in front of the customers and

A

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 Bisi Olaleye

IT News Weekly

08094000013 b.olaleye@sunnewsonline

Best ICT Reporter of The Year

Success of mobile money depends on rural areas they are properly trained by us. The code is when the customers sit with them they can take the customer through how this things work. We carry out career training for them and we constantly advertise so that we can get the information in knowledge out there for people to transfer money.

Market response I was surprised last month when we went out and saw the large response. At the moment we have seen close to twenty thousand people registering on daily basis for the service. Astronomically considering that we just started considering that not many people know about it. We have like 18,000, 20,000 people registering per day. People seems to want mobile money services.

Mobile money service Mobile money is enhancing the government’s desire ,because now, I can transfer money to my son in school, to my grandmother in the village electronically, I don’t need to move money physically from location to location. I can actually buy things in certain places and use my mobile set to make the payment. A phone is the closest thing to people now so having my phone with me, means having access to my money and carry out financial transactions.

How can we grow it?

Let me use an analogy to answer that question, if you want to buy MTN airtime now, you can buy it on the street anywhere, so how did that succeed? We created a very robust channel of distribution where people saw the opportunity to be distributors, self distributors, retailers. The reason , I am using that analogy is that the team for MTN”s sales and distribution is the team that made that happen. So it is the same team that is getting a robust distribution for our mobile money. Even with the current distribution channel that we have which is the retailers, the self distributors, clearly we will have more than that 250,000 agents.,that is our goal we think it’s a matter of time, as the more people understands more agents will come in. within one year we will surpass the 250 thousand. It is really replicating what we already have. We have people who are set to participate in mobile money. Provided they have the right documentation to make them start.

If the CBN had adopted a mobile operator-led model, what would mobile operators have done differently?

The end result has always been simple. In Uganda and Kenya for example, it is the operator that has the license but I am not 100 per cent sure.

In other countries, it is the banks and some other people that owns the license. I really don’t think we might have done things differently apart from the license. Then in terms of the services, the functionalities are exact-

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ly the same thing.

The role MTN is playing in spreading agents To start with, I am not in competition with other networks on this. My goal is to give customers the ability to do transaction where ever they are. I want to be able to send money to you anywhere and you can cash out where ever you are. So this is not a competition of any sort. We need to have a robust distribution channel, that is, enough people who take over money as a business .We have a census that tells us that we have over a billion in Nigeria. We currently have in our data base 33,0000 we interact with. If we can get close to 33,000 on board, because already I have this number.

We try to create provisional value proposition for business that people will see the business and be interested in it. In terms of value proposition we have a very robust offer. People call it retail agents and these retail agents, they have the register and bring the customers. There is a commission at the end for the agents after carrying out the service. So if you go to them and you cash out or cash in or transfer money, there is something they get.

By next year the numbers of the agents would have increased drastically.

The next two years The next two years, mobile money points of service will be similar to the way air time is sold. It will be as common as the point where you can buy airtime.

Poor network The technology we came in with is a very dynamic and fast one. 11 years ago, the equipment we installed were state of the heart. Over time, many things have changed. What MTN is doing at the moment is to swap old equipment for new ones, which is called modernization. Of course ,that comes with some things. You cannot tell customers to wait that you want to change your network. We will soon be through and we will have a more robust and up to date equipments.

When you say due to SMS hanging, account balance enquiries, or SMS delivers in time at times. The channel through which mobile money goes is totally different because we know it is money we are dealing with. The duty of the electronic money transfer is traceable. Everything is visible. If there is an issue, we set up a dedicated help desk. The number is called 118. The reason you do not know it is because it is only our agent and super agents that deal with mobile money that have access to use it.. If you make a transaction and you have not received notification, the agents will tell you the state of the transaction.

The frequency at which delay will happen is so low not like SMS or call Is MTN, a mobile network?

Let me be deliberate in answering

Richard Iweanoge this, we are providing mobile money service to customers in partnership with mobile money license works. At the moment I have Fortis bank and Stanbic IBTC bank as our partners.

We are open to partner with those who have licenses. At the moment those are the organizations we are working with.

MTN is seen as the service provider and mobile money in every commercial MTN mobile money is always powered by MTN, but you will also see Fortis micro finance bank and Stanbic IBTC bank as part of the communication. We don’t have a license but we are partnering with them to provide service to our subscribers.

Yes, we don’t have a license from CBN, but even when you have a license, remember it is a mobile money transaction so you still need to provide mobile service to mobile holders. So a licensee still has to partner with the mobile service. So we don’t mind partnering with anybody as far as you have the license.

Who has the highest stake in the partnership?

It depends on what you mean by the highest stake. It is the service we want to provide to our customers. The licensee knows how to reach our customers. So we give them access to our customers. It is not about who has the highest stake. It is about the customer, It is about financial situation of Nigerians. People need to be able to transact business electronically, it is about empowering and pushing forward the govt wish for the society so it is all wrapped up in one. So Is it the government or MTN or the licensee that has the highest stake. As for us, we are happy to see our customers enjoy these things.

Security number Here security comes into being. In the end it will be about people’s money. I can lose my airtime, but if I lose my money I will be so mad. The first thing is that when you want to participate in mobile money service, there are some key information we have about you, like your full details,

and passport. There is a form you will fill and that form contains other vital information. Secondly, if you register from a mobile money service you will be given a unique form of identifying yourself like a passport. One will be given a code and there is no transaction that you make that you will not be told to put your code and your code tied with your number is the unique thing. If one actually loses a phone and that person wants to use the stolen phone to transact business, it will not go through except one has divulged it.

The way I see this, when the banks came up with ATM cards, it was just a magnetic strip and people were hacking those things and succeeding.

After a while they changed that pin to code. We have data of our registered customers so we know exactly where the transfer is coming from and where it is going to. It is not that cash can disappear it must go somewhere, and because it is going somewhere, we know who owns it. In terms of security we have put in the best. If we are not convinced that it is a secure solution, We don’t want to open a channel that will encourage frauds. Two months down the road we haven’t had any cause to experience fraud.

Mobile money shops becoming mini banks. As a manager do you think it will work?

We cannot isolate ourselves from what is happening in the larger society. People not license informally receive and gives out things and it can also happen electronically but when I transfer money to you, nobody knows the reason why I am transferring money to you. There had been guidelines given by the operators in terms of financial services that our partners understand how those guideline works. And we keep insisting they adhere to those guideline,there are things two people will do electronically and you will never have a view of.

Mobile money in villages For mobile money to succeed, we can’t remain in the cities alone. Our deliberate plan in MTN is to eventually is to make a point for e-money transaction as to be close as to where you can buy airtime. The same team that set up that infrastructure is working hard to set up the same thing for emoney so we have super agents that we have recruited people. In all the states we have super agents that are threre. So assuming you are in Abia we have six or seven super agents there. From every local government they must go and recruit people who will act out as retail agents. They are the ones customers will come to.

Unlike airtime where you can sell it anywhere, for mobile money you must have a place where people need to come to you. Basically we recruit a lot of retailers who already have businesses on going. People already know you, they come to buy things from you. The reason why you have not seen it in most places is because we just started. These agents are businessmen so we entice them. The amount we are proposing that you will earn is what your while. It is a incremental revenue to the business you already do. In terms of security, they don’t deal with raw cash. We help them deal with cash that normally accumulate in the business . so I don’t have to work around with cash.

There is a lot that can be done with mobile money but People say it is a nice service so there are so many benefits in moving to rural areas and urban areas.

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DAILY SUN

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

SUN Tech

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Visafone signs on BB on its CDMA platform

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enabled BlackBerry smartphones in Africa and the Middle East, which is a critical part of Visafone’s data strategy.

“This partnership represents a big step forward in Africa’s mobile history and we are excited to be at the forefront of such a ground-breaking development in Nigeria. We have responded to our customers’ demands for Blackberry services by being the first to provide them with a suite of CDMA-enabled BlackBerry smartphones that best meet the region’s growing mobile needs”, he said.

But more broadly, the launch, Ovia said was a significant boost to the telecoms regulator’s efforts to

spur growth of data usage amongst the country’s over 101 million active mobile lines.

The CDMA operator is launching three Blackberry smartphones on its network, namely: Curve 9310, Curve 9370 and Bold 9930 devices.

Speaking in the same vein, Waldi Wepener, regional director for RIM in East, Central and West Africa, said: “We are proud to support the Nigerian mobile industry with the first-time availability of CDMA BlackBerry smartphones in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Our partnership with Visafone demonstrates RIM’s commitment to working with key partners in Africa, to bring the widest

range of services to people that want to be connected across the continent.”

The range of CDMA-enabled BlackBerry smartphones, according to Wepener, will run on BB 7.1 Operating System (OS), which introduces a next-generation browser one of the best in the Industry.Browsing results are up to 40 percent faster than BlackBerry 6 smartphones and up to twice as fast as BlackBerry 5-based smartphones.

“All the new BlackBerry smartphones can be used as mobile hotspots so that other Wi-Fi enabled devices can use the mobile network connection on the smartphone.”, Wepener said.

Alliance holds stakeholders forum on NigComSat bill CT Publishers, Alliance, is rallying stakeholders to a one-day forum to brainstorm on the Nigerian Communication Bill, otherwise known as NigComSat Corporation Bill, now before the National Assembly.

The Forum will hold in Lagos on November 8 at the Sheraton Hotel & Towers, Ikeja.

The Forum is designed to create awareness on the bill among all stakeholders and the general public with a view to raising public awareness on the formation of the law on NigComSat as conceived by the Bill.

Expected at the Forum are stakeholders from the private and public sectors of the economy including heads of MDAs, CEOs of ICT companies, telecom analysts, lawyers, the media, trade industry associations and members of the academic community.

NigComSat Limited is a government owned company with the mandate to launch and manage Nigerian Communication Satellites. The company already has a Communication Satellite, NigComSat 1R in orbit and plans to launch two other Satellites, NigComSat 2 and 3.

NigComSat 1R is Africa’s first communication satellite in space with footprints over the entire continent.

NigComSat 1R is designed to provide backbone connectivity bandwidth chiefly for Nigeria and African countries, where bandwidth is still scarce and costly. NigComSat 1 R is expected to be a major driver in addressing Nigeria’s broadband challenge. It is also expected to be the major provider of bandwidth to meet

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08057104995 b.olaleye@sunnewsonline Best ICT reporter of the year

HP debuts six printers

The Ikoloba of Olubadan, Oloye Lekan Alabi, Chief Sales Officer, Inusa Bello, and the Deputy Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Hon.Tunde Olaniyan, at the corporate relaunch of Airtel Nigeria in Ibadan, Oyo State, recently.

n order to further propel its market share in Nigeria, Research in Motion (RIM), BlackBerry maker, has signed an agreement for the launch of BlackBerry services on Visafone’s Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) mobile network.

The bilateral move, according to industry analysts, is also aimed at raising Visafone’s stake in the smartphone and data segment of Nigeria’s telecommunications market.

According to Chairman of Visafone, Mr. Jim Ovia, the agreement marked another milestone in the country’s highly competitive market, with Visafone becoming the first carrier to introduce CDMA -

Bisi Olaleye

Nigeria’s strategic communication and security needs.

The ICT Publishers Alliance is Nigeria’s foremost group of owners of ICT trade journals with a cumulative industry experience spanning over 30 years. Alliance is also a major employer of labour in ICT trade journal publishing and has consistently raised discourse within the industry as they affect the sector. The one day Stakeholders Forum on NigComSat bill is part of Alliance objective to bring to public consciousness industry issues so as to encourage participatory engagements of all stakeholders.

The Bill which seeks to establish NigComSat as a Corporation has already been approved by the House of Representatives as at March 2012.

The Bill is now set for deliberation at the Senate before it will eventually be sent to the President for assent. By this Act, all assets and liabilities of Nigerian Communications Satellite (NIGCOMSAT) will be inherited by the new corporation.

It is also envisaged that the Act will position Nigcomsat Corporation to be more decisive and effective in the highly competitive communication satellite terrain where several privately owned and other governments owned companies are playing. The Act will empower NigComSat to engage in, purchase or otherwise acquire, or take over, all or any of the assets, business, company, firm or person in furtherance of any business relating to the satellite communications industry and to enforce all regulatory measures relating to the general control of the satellite communica-

tions sector.

The Act will also save Nigcomsat Corporation from bureaucratic tendencies in order to allow it act swiftly

and take business decisions in line with its functions as a corporation as spelled out in the bill.

IT training firm is Microsoft 2012 valued partner

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ew Horizons Nigeria, IT training organisation, has emerged Microsoft 2012 valued partner, putting the organisation in the top five per cent of Microsoft’s ecosystem globally.

The Microsoft competency differentiates organisations, such as New Horizons, in the business world and enables the organisation to capitalise on market opportunity with tailored benefits such as eligibility for a direct relationship with Microsoft, customer technical sales and advisory services, and prioritised exposure on the Microsoft customer marketplace.

The MD/CEO of New Horizons,

Nigeria, Mr. Tim Akano, said this partnership is an added advantage to New Horizons, which is a fast growing organisation with strong interest in the growth and development of the information technology and E-business aspect of Nigeria’s economy, as it will increase the Nation’s opportunity to have more Microsoft Certified Professionals.

Furthermore, he said New Horizons will continually use its unparalleled knowledge gathered in its 30 years of operations in 80 Countries and six continents of the world to ensure the best IT and Ebusiness trainings for Nigerians.

arping on the ills of counterfeiting, Hp has introduced six new printers that offer more choices for affordability, quality printing and wireless direct printing without network.

These printers are HP Deskjet Ink Advantage: 2515, 3525, 5525 , 4625, 4615 and 3515, which have various functionalities, ranging from intuitive graphic displays and boderless document printing, among others.

According to Rita Amuchenwa , HP Channel Development Manager during the launch, the product came after study informed them of their customers need to print more and as such request for affordable ink that will not encourage counterfeiting.

During the printers demonstration, Seyi Lawson, a photographer explained that one of the features of these printers especially 5525 include touch screen, high speed, wireless and quality printing , which makes technological and economical sense. He added that it had further enhanced his job quality and allowed him to print more at a cheaper price.

With the new Ink Advantage printing systems, HP is making quality printing more affordable for home users and micro-business customers, enabling them to print up to two times the amount of pages for the same cost.

IWS Product Manager, West, East and Southern Africa, Printing and Personal Systems Group, Janet Thiong’o, says, ” HP has an unrivalled track record of bringing industry-leading innovation and choice to our customers. Our growing HP Deskjet Ink Advantage portfolio will offer more affordable choices that allow our customers to print more at a lower cost, without sacrificing quality or reliability”.

He disclosed that HP introduced the Ink advantage series to enable customers to print up to two times the amount of pages for the same cost and offers the most extensive line-up in Nigeria. HP’s new lineup of Deskjet Ink Advantage printers are enhanced with more features and faster print speeds than predecessors, while offering different price-points to address customers’ varying needs.

Dimension Data, BMSL end 8-yr-pact

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imension Data, ICT solutions and services provider, and Beachfront Management Services Limited (BMSL) have reached an amicable agreement to end their eightyear-relationship in West Africa.

Dimension Data had purchased BMSL’s 49 per cent stake in Dimension Data Nigeria for an undisclosed sum and both companies confirmed they would explore new market opportunities separate-

ly in the Nigerian market.

The alliance between Dimension Data and BMSL began in 2004, and resulted in the formation of one of the largest systems integrators in Nigeria.

Speaking on this development, Chairman, Dimension Data Middle East and Africa , Andile Ngcaba, “Both parties are committed to West Africa and will continue providing the best, most effective solutions and services to further the business

goals of our West African clients.”

Chairman of BMSL , Frank Onuzo, also added that Dimension Data and BMSL have enjoyed a successful partnership together over the years and are parting ways as friends.

“Going forward the Nigerian market will benefit from both companies’ focus on ICT solutions.”

“Dimension Data is committed to Nigeria and the African continent today, tomorrow and into the future,” concluded Ngcaba.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

DAILY SUN

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Carnival Calabar to become world class …As Gov. Imoke unveils theme

By EMEKA ANOKWURU

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s the year gradually rolls to end, the organizers of Carnival Calabar have expressed their preparedness to host a world-class carnival that will offer more excitement, fun and business to indigenes, visitors and sponsors than previous editions of the annual carnival.

In view of the development, Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, has flagged off the first leg of the carnival Dry Run and also unveiled the carnival theme in a colorful event held recently at the Millennium Park, Calabar.

While commending the Cross River State Carnival Commission, organizers of the carnival, in his address at the flagging off ceremony, Governor Imoke assured that the carnival is becoming self-sustaining with more private sector involvement. The ultimate aim, according to him, is to make the carnival private sector-driven like other successful carnivals across the world and also to use the tourism platform to improve revenue generation, job creation, entertain visitors and to foster peace in the state.

Speaking on the theme of this year’s carnival: “Celebrating A New Dawn”, the Governor hopes that the four participating carnival bands will through their dance, song and presentations interpret the theme which has a prize for correct interpretation.

He commended the team spirit of the organizers and urged the citizens, visitors and investors to work towards realizing the new dawn in the state’s tourism, hospitality, business and leisure industry among other sectors.

“As we celebrate the new dawn with great hope and expectations, we will combine a number of things to make Carnival Calabar a world class brand while the state remains amust-visit for all”, Imoke noted.

A bevy of beauties on parade The governor who was accompanied by his wife, Obioma, gave kudos to out-gone and incoming members of the state Carnival Commission for introducing what will help the state realize its vision of a carnival that will grow from strength to strength and outgrow already established carnivals across the world.

Speaking earlier, Gabe Onah, chairman,

Cross River State Carnival Commission, assured that the commission would put everything in place to ensure that 2012 Carnival Calabar becomes one of the greatest events in Africa and beyond. The successful Dry Run, which flags off the 2012 Carnival events, according to him, is a sign of more excitement and unique outing that awaits visitors for the 32-day Carnival in Canaan city.

Onah commended the strong and growing Public Private Partnership in the 2012 carnival, which makes it more exciting than ever as a lot of surprises have been introduced to make it the first of its kind.

Onah noted that the private sector led by the corporate world should identify more with the carnival which is the largest street party in Nigeria because of the marketing, product activation, networking and among other cor-

porate benefits that are on offer on the carnival platform.

With the successful first leg of the Dry Run, three other ones will be held before the main carnival in December. Onah noted that the Dry Run mock carnival is necessary to create more awareness, assess the level of preparedness of the band, and enable the organizers to make amendments that will lead to a successful outing at the grand finale. One of the new events in this year’s edition is the Children Carnival Dry Run. However, the five competitive bands in this year’s carnival are: Bayside Band (Blue), Passion Four (Green), Seagulls Band (Red), Master Blasta (Orange) and Freedom Band (Yellow). They participated in the mock carnival while securities, department of public transportation were at hand to ensure things were in order.

‘Mimiko’s re-election, challenge to do more’

By RAZAQ BAMIDELE

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pro-democracy group, Orange Family Initiative (OFI), has lauded the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) for the peaceful conduct of the recent Ondo State gubernatorial election, describing the outcome as “a challenge for Dr. Olusegun Mimiko to do more during his second term in office.”

In a statement from the group’s Director-General, Dr. Lanre Adeleye, OFI noted that “with the conduct of the recent election we can authoritatively say it is evident that the pro-masses policies of the Labour Party administration in Ondo State have been compensated by massive turn-out of voters in favour of the party in election.”?Adeleye emphasized that the impact of the Labour Party has on lives of majority of Ondo State people over time has been undeniable and this has made the governor prevailed over his political rivals.

While congratulating Mimiko on his electoral feat, the group stated that “You have fought bravely and won triumphantly against many obstacles and hindrances and since we are committed to deepening of democracy in the country, we at OFI heartily felicitate with you and the good people of Ondo State.”

The group therefore urged the governor never to relent on his outstanding performance just as it encouraged the residents of the state to join forces to support the government of Governor Mimiko to delivMimiko er the goodies.

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Tuesday, October 30, 2012

DAILY SUN those vehicles donated were parked at the government house to protect the governor.

When you bring two APCs for a state for example, where will it go? The governors are really trying. Without what they are contributing, I don’t know where Nigeria police would have been but it will be very nice if this money they are spending are contributed into a general trust fund and say, this is a trust fund for the police. And then, the IGP will know what type of operational vehicles, gadgets to buy.

Dame Comfort Obi is a member of Police Service Commission (PSC). She heads the Disciplinary Committee of the commission. She is of the opinion that Nigeria is not yet ripe for state police.

She spoke recently with CHRISTOPHER OJI. Excerpts: State police

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stand by what the President said and I stand also by the opinion of the Chairman of the PSC, Mr. Parry Osayande. I also stand by the submissions of the former Inspectors General of Police.

The establishment of state police will be a tragedy. Our people like power too much. Have you ever been to government houses, state houses and see the behaviour of the security personnel attached to these governors? Have you seen how some of them behave? They behave as if they are lords, emperors. Sometimes, they behave as if the world starts and ends with their bosses. They listen to nobody, they obey nobody and they are very harsh to civilians.

Let me give you an example with Lagos here: Have you encountered LASTMA before? I think LASTMA is a state police in some sense. They are lawless and they obey nobody but their boss. I don’t think it is right for now. May be in some decades to come, it will be desirable but it needs a re-orientation of our leaders.

Have you even seen an ordinary person, maybe, one money bag, who has a policeman illegally attached to him? Have you seen how they treat them? They ask them to carry their bags; they use the policemen to do anything they like. With all due respect, the governors that are asking for the establishment of state police, I think they want to use it for something sinister.

It is for self aggrandisement and it is for more power for them. That’s the way I see it.

Funding the police Successive governments have treated the police like gutter. Until the coming of the late president Yar’Adua administration, a constable went home with N8,000 a month. It was that regime that upgraded their salary to about N28,000 a month.

But even at that, the Nigerian policeman is the least paid in West and it is very sad.

I agree that the problem has been with the government but I have seen some seriousness in this administration. Maybe very soon, things will change for the better.

Motorized patrol vehicles Everywhere in the world, security takes a lot of money. Take the Ibori case for example; it cost the British government over £14 million to prosecute that case.

With the banning of roadblocks, the right thing is to flood everywhere with motorized police patrol vehicles. The lack of it is the reason you are seeing armed robbers along most of the expressways having a field day. The police need more funding from the Federal Government than we have seen. If police have more funding, I believe they will be equal to the task. With the little that is given to them, they try but you can see that they don’t have operational vehicles and that is why when these governors say that they want state police, I just laugh.

This is because basically, they are in charge of the police in their states. I don’t see a governor that will call a Commissioner of police in his state and he will not answer.

On the contrary, in the Police Service Commission, we are always worried on the way some commissioners of police attach themselves to state governors.

When governors are going somewhere, you will see the Police Commissioners following them. That’s not right. It should be Assistant Commissioner, Operations, that should follow the state governor. A Police Commissioner follows the President and the Vice president and nobody else. But because they are being given some money, some vehicles, some things here and there, you see them most

Policemen not well paid There is an old adage that says, a hungry man is an angry man. We have the type of police that we need. You treat your policemen with respect, show them that you care for them and they will work. Why is it that when they go outside the country where they give them everything, they are rated number one but here, they are not? You see them taking 20 and 50 naira along the road and that is why they banned the roadblocks. But again, when you talk to some of the policemen about their welfare, I think it has changed now. But before, they give them vehicles to go out, those vehicles will not be fuelled for them. If it breaks down, there will be no money for them to repair it they take it to police workshop and it stays there for months without repairs. So, I think the Nigerian police should be better funded, I also think we should thank our governors from what I have said for trying to give out some of these things and also bringing out money to buy operational vehicles.

Comfort Obi

Create special trust fund for police – Comfort Obi, member, PSC times with governors and you become embarrassed.

You go to a governor’s office and you see the state Commissioner of Police sitting down at the reception waiting to see the governor. I think that is disrespectful.

He should be in his office. It takes much to be a Commissioner of Police of a state.

And the type of commissioners we have now, they are not those you can dismiss with a wave of the hand. They are well read; it has cost a lot of money to train them. I don’t think they should go to offices of the state governors as their junior staff. It is okay to answer them sirs, sure they are the governors but that commissioner should realize that he is in the

state to work for everybody and not for the governor. The governors answer chief security officers of the states but if you check it, take Lagos for example, check some of the top politicians in Lagos, check the number of police men attached to them. The RRS for example in Lagos is an appendage of the state government or the governor.

Governrs giving police vehicles When some of them give these vehicles, about five of the vehicles are parked at the government house. A couple of years ago in one of the South-East states, they donated these vehicles, they donated APCs, but when you visit that state, more than half of

Federal Government delib erately weakening the police I don’t think it is so. I think we will see a change very soon. I think the IGP has asserted a little bit of independence of the police. I think any state he has visited, he has laid the rules and I think many of the police commissioners are threading his line saying we think we should sit down now plan and do our jobs. You talked of trust fund for police. How do you convince the people expected to bring these money that when they bring it, the IGP or the people in charge of it will not squander it? There has been no trust fund for the police.

Between state police and community policing State police is controlled. They want the governors to recruit their own police men, pay them and all that. Community policing is actually a federal police but patterned in a way to mix-up with the community where you live; study them, their mannerism and all that. In fact, right now, the Nigeria Police is practicing community policing. There is a branch at Force Headquarters that is for community policing and they are doing well. What we are saying is that there is a federal police, that if state governments are allowed to have their own police, it is capable of breaking up this country. It is like having an army to you. Look at what we are battling; from the Niger Delta militancy, to MASSOB, then OPC to the ones in the North, which is now called Boko Haram.

Those are like private armies, you cannot control them.

If you have a state police, if there is problem between Ogun and Lagos for instance, there will be trouble. There will be at times when the President will be visiting a political opposition state; they will use state police to block him from entering. Yes! It could happen. Did you listen to Danjuma speak at the leadership summit?

He said that the governors have too much power. The federal police in their states are used anyhow by them. The commissioners of police in those states come to them to beg for money because they are looking for money to secure the state. But if there is a trust fund and the police are well funded, these things will not happen.

You will not see a commissioner of police going to sit down at the governor’s reception with everybody else for six hours and be looking at the face of an ADC who is an Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) to book an appointment. It happens all the time. Only few commissioners don’t do it.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

DAILY SUN 51

State police ’ll solve Nigeria’s security problems –Iroham, retired AIG M

r. Donald Iroham is a retired Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG). He spoke with CHRISTOPHER OJI recently on state police and police reforms.

Excerpts: Is the Police Service Commission (PSC) effective?

The PSC is responsible for appointments and promotions of persons to offices other than the IGP; dismiss and exercise disciplinary control over all officers and men except the IGP; formulate policies and guidelines for the promotion, discipline and dismissal of officers, identify factors inhibiting or undermining discipline in the force.

It has performed generally above average. However, many challenges have made it difficult to do better. These factors include the Herculean job of catering for over 400000 officers and men of the force. Paucity of funds is another and staff inadequacy. The force is too large to be supervised by the commission as presently constituted.

The problem with police reform On police reforms, here we jam mirage as we say in Nigerian parlance. The more you look the less you see. We have had many reforms. Recall Prof Tekena Tamuno, DIG Danmadami’s, M.D Yusuf’s and Parry Osayande.

Nothing has really come out of these so-called reforms because the will and wherewithal to implement the recommendations were not just there. Maybe it is now time to reform the reformer.

Maybe the police would be the better for it.

A proposal for the expenditure of about N1.2 trillion over a period of about five years in the reforms.

How do you monitor the expenditure and what about performance indicators on the implementation of the reforms? How many experts were trained and in what fields?

How do you establish a working forensic laboratory? What is the performance of the intelligence unit? Can the IGP communicate with his men in real time say a Sgt in a remote community in Nigeria?

If Nigeria is a federal state, why do you have an unwieldy national force that has become difficult to rein in?

The reforms cannot work unless the necessary foundations are laid.

Nigeria must operate true federalism where the federating units must decide what suits their peculiar geographic areas. There can never but uniformity in policing a multi ethnic, multi religious, diverse cultural entity like Nigeria.

We don’t need experts to tell us that a system that has been the subject of several reforms and yet can-

not get its bearing right is a failing or failed system.

Is Police Affairs Ministry necessary?

The ministry has performed below expectation. It would appear that it has derailed from its statutory mandate and is more focused on total financial control of the police. There have been allegations of contracts awarded with little or no inputs from the police management team. If the ministry awards a contract for the purchase of cutlasses for cutting of grass at police formations nation wide whereas the force needs ammunition for fighting crime, of what use is the ministry in this regard? The problem is such that mechanisms must be put in place to have checks and balances for the ministry to perform better or in the alternative the police council can take over the functions. The council hardly meets thereby giving so much latitude to the ministry chaps.

Between community policing and state police Community policing, is basically a philosophy that promotes strategies, which support the use of partnerships and problem solving techniques to proactively address the immediate conditions that give rise to public safety issues such as crime, social disorder and fear of crime. The partnership is the collaboration between the law enforcement agency and the individuals and organizations they serve to develop solutions to problems and increase trust in Police.

State police can be considered a universal set, mathematically speaking, while community policing is a subset of state police. The two terms may be considered as two sides of the same coin as the philosophies are not mutually exclusive.

Community policing reflects the nature of the society in which it exists causing local models to evolve according to the differing

needs of differing communities. Its core values are respect and protect human rights. Be transparent and open in their policing functions, be willing to seek, listen to and act upon public opinion and perception. Ensure that citizens with a grievance against the police have effective communication channels and redress. These are lofty ideals if implemented would have given police image the necessary boost.

From the foregoing one can easily discern that for local models to evolve for an effective and efficient community policing the local content aspect must be given a pride of place. What do we mean by that? If local models must evolve it means that the peculiar environment under consideration must have officers who are very familiar with the terrain they are policing. Such factors such as the local language, culture of the people and the local knowledge of the place by the officers is of great importance. Community policing has not recorded the desired result because of the same fundamental reasons we adduced earlier. The dog wags the tail and not the tail the dog. You cannot place something on nothing and expect it to stand. The structure of the Nigeria police has made it virtually impossible for the force to realize it’s dreams.

Concentration of power at the centre has not really worked wonders for the country. Look at PHCN and see how the devolution of power in old NEPA is gradually yielding positive results. Why can’t we do the same for the police? With due respect to IGP M.D. Abubakar who is doing his best to reposition the force for greater efficiency, he can only do the much that the system will permit him to do.

One is reliably informed that police contractors are owed over N4 billion. These liabilities were incurred before this fine gentleman took over the control of the force. How he is going to manage

‘The argument by some people that Nigeria will break if you have state police has no basis whatsoever. Law is made for man and not man for the law.

With all the federal might, the police, military, SSS yet we cannot contain Boko Haram. So why continue with a system that is not working well?

If we cannot police the country properly with a national force why not try smaller units that are manageable like state police?’

Iroham the force after settling these debts?

How do you purchase vehicles, APC’s, weapons, stationery, carry out training programs etc for the force? If not for the support of state Governors, the Nigeria Police would have collapsed a long time ago. I was once a participant observer so I do know. If without the support of state governors the police would have collapsed, then, who is afraid of state police?

Obviously, community policing has not worked. Does that validate the argument for state police?

Nigeria operates a federal system just like USA. Canada, Australia and Switzerland. Check out their police systems. In a true federal system, the federating units sit down as brothers and fashion out a workable system that caters for all federating in line with the principle of “every man according to his ability and every man according to his needs.” Each federating unit will control its resources and would also ensure security of life and property within its area.

Even Britain and France that operate unitary systems of government have local police forces. The UK with a smaller population than Nigeria has 53 police forces. The City of London Police has jurisdiction over only one square mile of territory. You also have harbor police and others. In the USA each state has its own force and policing works.

The argument by some people that Nigeria will break if you have state police has no basis whatsoever. Law is made for man and not man for the law. With all the federal might, the police, military, SSS yet we cannot contain Boko Haram. So why continue with a system that is not working well? If we cannot police the country properly with a national force why not try smaller units that are manageable like state police?

The kind of state police after my heart is the one that would have uniform standards across the length and breath of the country. I want to see a federal police concerned only with federal crimes like kidnapping, high profile homicide cases, fraud, cases of high magnitude, elections into political offices. The police coun-

cil will monitor the activities of state commissioners to curb excesses without unduly interfering with Police operations. The National Assembly should also have the power to call an erring commissioner of police to order.

How do we reform the police?

Any attempt to reform the police without firstly reforming the Nigerian system will continue to fail. The Slogan unity in diversity should not only be on paper but should be practicalized. We are different peoples brought together by the British. We did not freely elect to become Nigerians because the British welded the different nationalities in Nigeria together for reasons of their own interests.

Nigerians must agree to come together, sit down and discuss the terms of our union. It is not sufficient to come out blazing with finality that northern governors are against state police. So what if southern governors insist on having state police what then happens? The beauty of federalism is that you can create structures that would best serve your interests that may be peculiar to your region.

An officer from Otamkpa in Abia State cannot police well in Dutse Ma in Katsina and vice versa. Those who want federal police can go ahead and have what suits them, afterall there is freedom of choice in a federal democracy.

To reform the police, we should do the following: establish state police, establish a police equipment fund with companies, deemphasize on numbers but on quality of personnel, quality not quantity, make community policing to be an integral part of state police and locals to Police their areas and to live in same community.

Parry Osayende was mandated

by Etim Inyang to fish out the notorious robbery kingpin Anini in Benin. Parry is a Bini Prince and knew the terrain well. Why was Gambo from the North not sent?

Simple. It would be more difficult for him to win the confidence of the local populace. It was IBB who approved the deployment of Osayande to Benin then. No wonder his ardent and stringent cry for the establishment of state police.

52

DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Banking Utomi calls for review of recent bank reforms

Access Bank targets 22% credit growth in 2013

By CHIMA TITUS NWOKOJI

T

he Director of Lagos Business School (LBS), Professor Pat Utomi has called for the urgent review of the recent bank reforms in Nigeria to enable stakeholders ascertain the logic of the choices made by the federal government of Nigeria through the central bank.

“I have and will repeat the call for international consulting firms to be hired to review decisions on our recent bank reforms for logic of the choices made; even though National Assembly probes have already showed they were pervasion of justice,” said.

In his speech titled: “ building institutions for national development, “at the 42 nd conference of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), the LBS director pointed out that institutional weaknesses in the financial sector has kept Nigeria in the recursive mode and can be directly linked to the current state of high unemployment in the country.

Condemning the approach taken by the operators and regulators of the banking system in tackling debtors, Utomi warns that the system may be in for a future in which people are afraid to lend or borrow or to invest because without “moral hazard they are criminalized and their investments arbitrarily usurped.”

By KELECHI MGBOJI

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From left, the principal Ojodu Junior Grammar School, Mrs Adebola Kolawole. Reginal Director, Ikeja Directorate Skye Bank Plc, Mr Owolabi Kamson. Head Strategic brand Management Skye Bank, Tokunbo Adegboye and C.E.O Gem Publications, Bola Olawale at the donation of books to the school by Skye Bank and Gem, in celebration of World Literacy Day recently.

CBN to restructure MFBs with N220bn intervention fund

By CHIMA TITUS NWOKOJI

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he Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it will soon come out with a regulation on microfinance banks that will make the sub-sector effectively play its role in the economy.

Moghalu, said this in a chat with Daily Sun at a Euromoney forum held in Lagos recently. This is even as the bank has concluded plans to launch a N220 billion, Micro Small and Medium Enterprise Development Fund (MSMEDF), before the end of the year. The fund seeks to provide wholesale funding requirements of the microfinance banks for on-lending for micro and medium enterprises.

According to Moghalu, the

banking sector watchdog would soon come out with a new supervisory framework for the sub-sector.

“There is a regulation of microfinance banks that is on-going but we are coming out with a new supervisory framework for microfinance bank with which there will be unit microfinance banks, States microfinance banks and national microfinance banks. That framework will improve the effectiveness of microfinance banks and their lending efficiency as well.

“Of course, traders and

Sterling Bank Facebook campaign produces winners

Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability (CBN), Dr. Chiedu K.

S

Funds, bonds traders anticipate moderate liquidity as FG’s N17bn bond matures

terling Bank Plc recently rewarded five winners in its ongoing Facebook Campaign meant to promote patriotism for the country among Nigerians. The winners include Breezy Jumbo, Akinyere Uko, Timothy China, Ajayi Olabambo and Abanbola Olaniposi.

Speaking at the end of the competition Group Head, Corporate Development, Shina Atilola, explained that the bank had through Facebook, requested from members of the public to write under the topic: ‘1,000 things I can do for my country’, and post their answers in the social network.

He said that participants in the exercise sent comments on what they can do as individuals to improve the image and perception of the country both locally and internationally.

Some of the answers posted on Facebook by participants were:’ I will stay out of crime; I will not be involved in bribery and corruption, I will abide by rule of law, I will not be involved in examination malpractices among others.

He said that after the comments were sent, they were put to vote on facebook.

Thereafter, comments with highest number of ‘likes’ got Blackberry phones and Samsung phones while the first 100 entries got free movie tick-

By AMECHI OGBONNA

Y

ields on financial market instruments are likely to end this week moderately as traders look forward to N16.63 billion Open Market Operations (OMO) bills, maturity expected to stabilize rates on funds of various tenors.

Given that the main feature of last week was treasury bills auction, dealers say their position was informed by the fact that the Debt Management Office does not intend to issue any bonds this week.

Speaking on expectations for the week, investment analysts noted that the DMO has not issued 20year bonds in recent months as the range of tenors of FGN bond auctions has been between 5 and 10 years.

In view of the general paucity of information in the domestic financial markets, it was therefore suggested that the non-issuance of 20year FGN bonds in recent months was a strategy adopted by fiscal authorities to manage government's exposure to the cur-

rent high interest rate regime.

This so because the country has since shifted its source of funding to foreign creditors who offer longer term funds at relatively low rates. They have therefore raised concerns over Nigeria's growing foreign debts given her history of poor debt management.

Meanwhile at the treasury bills auction last week, about N34.89 billion worth of 91day bills was offered and sold at the rate of 12.88per cent against 13.00per cent at the previous auction, whilst N45.00 billion and N31.86 billion worth of 182day and 364day were offered and sold at the rate of 13.25per cent and 13.27per cent respectively as against 13.34 per cent and 13.39per cent during the last auction.

Consequently, subscription was N231.47 billion as stop rates at the auction came out slightly lower than the previous. This trend was however attributed to the high demand for Nigerian government securities given that, in recent months, there has been an influx of offshore investors who were attracted by the high

rates obtainable in Nigerian markets. It is noteworthy that Nigeria’s yield curve is inverted as short term interest rates remain higher than rates at the long end of the curve.

At present, the spread between yields on Nigeria’s 1M treasuries and the 20-year bond is 140bps. The shift in investors’ preference for short term government securities was informed by the increase in the monetary policy rate to 12per cent in Q4 2011 as monetary authorities sought to rein-in inflation and stabilize the domestic currency.

Consequently, the spread between short and long term government securities tightened over time, which initially led to a flat yield curve and subsequently an inverted curve as short term yields became more attractive to investors.

Meanwhile, the over-thecounter (OTC) market was relatively active as the market traded more bonds compared to the previous week. It was observed that yields will continue to trend lower than where they closed following the last auction.

others that patronise microfinance banks will go to the size of microfinance bank that they can obtain the type of resources and interest rates that are mutually accepted between both parties. We are also working on the reform of microfinance banks, it is a process, it not an event, and I want people to be patient.

There are problems which are being addressed. But I think the system is becoming more matured.”

Moghalu pointed out that microfinance banking was introduced into the country in 2005, adding that the subsector is still at its maturity stage.

“You find a lot of people that were affected by the consolidation of commercial banks in 2005, moved into microfinance banking with a mindset that was not that how a microfinance bank is operated. But the central bank is training and certifying microfinance operators to understand the philosophical basis of microfinance banking. So, with that, you create a new culture in the industry,” he explained.

Moghalu who attended a forum for directors of banks and other financial institutions, had also charged the directors to continue to discharge their duties responsibly, saying that the resolution of the banking crisis was not a guarantee against another crisis in future.

According to him, to sustain and consolidate on the gains of the reforms, complementary reforms are necessary in other areas of the economy, He, however, stressed that the central bank was committed to the continued safety, soundness and stability of the financial system.

he Group Managing director and Chief Executive Officer, Access Bank Plc, Aigboke AigImoukhuede, has said that the bank will soon resume credit expansion.

According to him, the target is to increase lending by as much as 22 percent next year and through the interest income grow its profit by additional N20 billion.

In a conference call last week, Aig-Imoukhuede said that the bank deliberately avoided growing its loan book following last year’s purchase of Intercontinental Bank Plc, bailed out by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) three years ago.

But now, “We can resume credit expansion and we will do just that.

We will switch it on,” he said during the conference call in Lagos.

According to him, the bank expects to increase lending by between 5 percent and 7 percent in the final quarter of this year.

“It will target loan-book growth of 12 percent to 22 per cent in 2013. With that target, Access Bank could add as much as N20 billion to profit next year,” he said.

The bank recently made public its third quarter unedited financial results on the floor of the Nigerian Stock exchange (NSE).

The results showed impressive year-on-year growth in top and bottom line figures. Gross earnings were up 88 per cent to N162.7 billion from N86.3 billion in Q3 2011, while pre and post tax profits for the period also swelled year-on-year by 117.2 percent and 156.9 per cent to N39.1 billion and N35.1 billion from N18.0 billion and N13.7 billion respectively.

Despite the turbulence of the market the review period for most banks as interbank volatility exerted significant pressure on interest income, the bank was able to pull through significant improvement in all performance indicators.

Based on these results, share price of the stock traded at the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) has maintained rising profile, closing upbeat at about N9.00 per share on Wednesday October 24, 2012.

DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

53

Banking...Insurance NAICOM partners SEC on insurance stocks supervision

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PenCom’s implementation of CPS adds 8% to GDP

n a way that will check irregularities arising from insurance stocks transactions in the capital market, the last seven years has record- CPS, which was introduced for insurance, finance and National Insurance Stories by MADUKA by the 2004 Pension Reform labour correspondents organNWEKE ed modest achievements.

Commission (NAICOM) has The commission said that Act to address the abnormali- ized by PenCom, the opted to collaborate with the highlighted he National Pension the hype generated by the ties in the pension industry, Commission apex capital market regulaCommission (PenCom) implementation has increased now contributes about eight some of its achievements and tor, The Securities and has said that the imple- the number of companies that per cent to the nation’s Gross challenges and received feedExchange Commission (SEC) Domestic Product (GDP). back on its performance in the to curb infractions in the sec- mentation of Contributory registered with the scheme.

During a one-day workshop supervision and regulation of Pension Scheme (CPS) in the According to PenCom, the tor.

Assistant Director, Corporate Affairs, NAICOM, Lucky Fiakpa, in a statement made available to Daily Sun said, the need to partner was reached when the Director General Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms Arunma Oteh, paid a courtesy visit to the headquarters of the NAICOM in Abuja yesterday.

The Commissioner for Insurance Fola Daniel, noted that some 10 years ago, the commission would have little or nothing to do with SEC because not more than three insurance companies where listed on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. But, today, well over 30 companies are listed on the Exchange.

He said: “Some of the companies we have primary responsibility to regulate also have one or two things to file or do with SEC by virtue of the fact that they are quoted on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. This therefore makes it imperative for the two L-R: Bayo Osinowo, Lagos Regional Director, Airtel Nigeria, Oloye Lekan Alabi, Ikoloba of Olubadan, Inusa Bello, regulators to collaborate to Chief Sales Officer, Airtel Nigeria and Hon. Tunde Olaniyan, Deputy Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly at the ensure effective supervision and Corporate Re-launch of Airtel Nigeria in Ibadan, Oyo State recently. regulation of the entities they have to deal with.”

Oteh stressed the need for the two agencies to collaborate in joint inspection and supervision of insurance companies that are he National Pension which is risk-based and con“As part of the implementa- said. listed on the Exchange.

Commission (PenCom) sultative, adding that invest- tion of the opening the transAhmad noted that the comhas said that since the ment regulation that would fer window, the Pension Fund mission would continue to A&G Insurance settles introduction of the allow multiple funds is being Administrators (PFAs) and collaborate and engage state NCAT N1.2bn claim Contributory Pension reviewed.

Pension Fund Custodians governments in the implelliance & General Scheme, (CPS) about 21 Ahmad said the Retirement (PFCs) who are key stake- mentation of the scheme in Insurance (A&G) Plc state governments have Savings Account (RSA) holders on the pensions the states. has paid over N1.2 bil- adopted the scheme while transfer clearing system industry will participate in the Head, Research and lion in claims to Nigeria 14 others are at various lev- application that would be various workshops geared Corporate Strategy PenCom, College of Aviation els of enacting their CPS used to coordinate the towards ensuring their full Dr Farouk Aminu, said lack Technology’s (NCAT) aircraft laws. processes relating to the trans- understanding and participa- of adequate knowledge about that crashed in 2010, A&G According to Dr. Farouk fer of retirement savings tion in the transfer process, the working of the scheme, Chief Operating Officer (COO), Mr. Dotun Onipede Aminu, Head, Research & accounts is being developed before the window opens. multiple registration, lack of Corporate Strategy of the and tested to ensure that it The estimated date for the clear identification of RSA has said.

Recall on 23rd May, 2010 a Commission, during a work- meets the capacity and opening of the transfer win- holders among others are the dow is December, 2012,” he bane of the industry. plane belonging to NCAT shop on the developments in robustness required. crashed during the process of the Pension industry organlanding by a trainee pilot, how- ized by the Commission, ever there was no causality but about 5.28 million Nigerians the plane a model, TAMPICO are already registered with the TB9 plane was totally wrecked scheme as at September, with many of its components 2012. totally bruised, including the Aminu said that of the 5.28 propeller, the engine, the sliding million that registered, 54 per he Chairman, Pension he/she lean on in form of insur- pensioners. If an operator does gear, the fartewells, the wings Funds Operators (PenOp) ance when finally disengaged not have enough capital he cent came from the private and the plane curling. of Nigeria, Mr. Dave from salary job. would not be able to open A&G also said it spent over sector while the 46 came from Uduanu has absolved the The Chairman argued that offices across the nation. One of the public sector adding that N250 million on one of the association of allegations of instead of discouraging remis- the emphasis operators are Aviation College’s most presti- growth of pool of long term colluding with employers to sion of contribution, PenOp has making is to ensure that they gious aircraft, 5N-CAG that investible funds for economic delay remittance of workers spent much in trying to con- place their services close to the crash landed months ago to be development has grown to contribution under the con- vince employers to remit contri- retirees. This is because we ferried to Denmark for repairs. about N2.84 trillion as at tributory pension scheme butions of their employers argu- know that when people retire in He said the aircraft is ready, August 2012 with a growth (CPS). ing that, that is the only way the Lagos, they often do not stay in that Nigeria Civil Aviation rate of 30 per cent per annum.

Uduanu who was reacting to scope of PenOp business could Lagos. The fact is that with Authority (NCAA) has gone to Earlier, the Director- allegation that PenOp connive stronger capital base, PFAs inspect and will soon issue a General National Pension with employers of labour to be increased. He argued that it is would be able to provide servicnot the capital contributed that ferry-permit to allow the air- Commission (PenCom), withhold employees’ contribucraft to be returned to Nigeria. Mohammad Ahmad, had tion reminded those making the they rely on rather profits that es very close to the retirees and accrue from investing the con- that gives them assurance that He noted that the crash is their pension assets is available indeed pathetic but “we should noted that 54,558 retirees allegation that more business tributions.

He said, “It is not the capital and that they can access it any give glory to God that no life from public and private sec- means more profits not only to was lost in the process, adding tors have collected over PenOp but to all profit making that the pensioners are relying time they need it,” he said.

On the investment of pension on rather; it is the pension fund that “Our company is ready to N151.52 billion amounting to organizations.

According to him, despite the or the assets the PFAs are man- fund in infrastructure, Uduanu tackle this issue with high level N1.77 billion monthly.

He said the commission has fact that the association is new, aging. A well capitalised pen- explained that recently, there of urgency required being the only training institute for pilot continued with its regulatory the interest and target is to make sion fund administrator would was a clamour for pension in Nigeria.” and supervisory philosophy, everybody keep something be able to give better service to funds to be invested in every

T

Only 21 states have complied with CPS – PenCom

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A

pension matters in the country.

The Director General of PenCom, Mr. Muhammad Ahmad in his welcome speech highlighted the main objectives of organising the workshop as providing a platform to interact with the general public through the media.

Speaking on the achievements of the Commission in the last one year, Ahmad said a total of 5.28 million Nigerians had registered with the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) as at September this year.

He confirmed that about 54,558 retirees from the public and private sectors under the CPS have collected over N151.52 billion as lump sum payments and about N1.77 billion as monthly pension. He further stated that assets worth N2.94 trillion have been accumulated as at the end of September, 2012.

He added that the Commission has successfully completed the recapitalisation exercise which required the Pension Fund Administrators (PFAs) to raise shareholders fund from N150 million to N1 billion.

Mean while, Mr. Dave Uduanu, Chairman Pension Fund Operators noted that PenOp has continued to up the ante through aggressive logistics with employers, however noted that there are challenges as regards paying contributors’ benefits.

According to him, people that have died but their nextof-kin have not shown up for their benefits. “We want the next-of- kin of those that died to come and claim their benefits. Next-of-kin are normally the spouse, but some people use their children. If a child is below 18, he/she needs a legal guidance to get the benefits.

People should also prepare their Will, so that when they die the benefits would be disposed according to the Will.”

PFAs won’t support non-remittance of contributions – Uduanu

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sector of the economy. “The stockbrokers want the pension fund to pomp up the equity market; the housing sector wants pension funds to be used to finance housing; the ministry of power wants pension to be used for power. There are all sorts of demands. We had a session recently with the capital market community and the Finance Minister was there”.

He said that the issue was why pension funds could not be used to support the equity market? “Our responds was that pension fund is not national savings. It belongs to individuals who need it when they cannot afford the money when they are 60 years and above. The first job of every PFA is the security of the pension funds.

54

DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

Banking...Review

By EMEKA EZE

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ajority of reports and analysis of Tuesday, 23rd October, 2012 on the subject of the Public Hearing on the touchy issue of amendment of the Central Bank of Nigeria Act, 2007 tilted against the proposed amendment. The position of the CBN Governor based on the Reuters report from Tanzania where he was attending a meeting of the African Development Bank shows his vehemence over the impending amendment. Bank stakeholders including former governors and directors of CBN have the same view with Sanusi Lamido Sanusi (SLS).

The Nigeria Labour Congress was also ad idem with this seemingly popular view of “noamendment.” I am in opposition to the “noamendment” campaign although there are certain propositions in the amendment I disagree with. I do not support the proposed composition of the CBN Board, which is scheduled to include a Director in the Ministry of National Planning, Director of Federal Inland Revenue Service, among others. The business of the CBN is too serious to be handed over to some of these nominees who are not profound in monetary policies and banking practices. Moreover, appointing a former CBN Governor as chairman of the Board may create problems that will polarize the Board. A former CBN Governor may have “analogue” ideas while the sitting CBN Governor may have “digital” ideas. The latter may be hampered by the former who may refuse to acknowledge the rapid changes manifesting in global economic trends.

The whole essence of the CBN Act of 2007 is to clothe CBN with a garb of autonomy for monetary and price stability in the economy. At that time, the framers of the law thought that each CBN Governor will assume his position, concentrate on his job and paddle through the vicissitudes of economic combinations and permutations.

It was not conjectured that a governor will appear on the political firmament of Nigeria and use CBN as fulcrum to challenge the powers of the National Assembly on appropriation, donate huge sums of money to Kano and Madallah bomb victims, make political statements at will and enjoy controversy as fish enjoys an aquatic environment.

It was also not contemplated that the nation will be saddled with a CBN Governor who runs a secretive and speculated annual budget of about N400billion (almost 10% of the total annual national budget) for a population of not up to 5,000 persons (who constitute the Board members and staff of CBN).

One: The power of the National Assembly to appropriate public fund of the Federation is derivable from the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended. Various sections of the Constitution confirm this position. For instance, section 80 (3) of the Constitution provides that: No moneys shall be withdrawn from any public fund of the Federation, other than the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation, unless the issue of those moneys has been authorised by an Act of the National Assembly.

Section 81 (1) and (2) of the Constitution (as amended) makes it mandatory for the president to lay before the NA budget estimates by way of Appropriation Bill before money can be expended from the Consolidated Revenue Fund of the Federation. Section 4 of the Constitution as amended provides: (1) The legislative powers of the federal Republic of Nigeria shall be vested in a National Assembly for the Federation which shall consist of a Senate and a House of Representatives.

(2) The National Assembly shall have power to make laws for the peace, order and good government of the Federation or any part thereof with respect to any matter included in the Exclusive Legislative List set out in Part I of the Second Schedule to this Constitution.

Acloser look at the Exclusive Legislative List, Item 1, Part 1 of the Second Schedule shows that the National Assembly has exclusive power to legislate on – Accounts of the Government of the Federation, and of offices, courts, and authorities thereof, including audit of those accounts.

It is indubitable that CBN derives its powers from the CBN Act of 2007. If this be so, it means that the Constitution (as amended) is in a tug-of-war with an Act of the National

Sanusi

David-Mark

Reasons why CBN Act of 2007 should be amended Assembly. In this contest, section 1 (3) of the Constitution resolves the matter by stating that “If any other law is inconsistent with the provisions of this Constitution, this Constitution shall prevail, and that other law shall to the extent of the inconsistency be void.”

Therefore, any law that purports to take away from the National Assembly the power to appropriate expenditure arising from public fund is void to the extent of its inconsistency. Where are the checks and balances if the CBN Board that makes the budget is the same one that approves it? This is not how to exercise autonomy.

Two: The CBN Governor is reported to have argued that the NA has, by the provision contained in section 6 (3) of the CBN Act, “donated” its power of appropriation to the CBN Board. One need not be a Senior Advocate of Nigeria to know that the legislature in a democracy cannot wholly donate a power donated exclusively to it by the Constitution, which is the suprema lex. It is a well-founded legal maxim that delegatus non potest delegare (that is, one cannot delegate a delegated authority) but even where partial delegation has been permitted in cases of this nature, the power of the delegator to retrieve the delegated power cannot be questioned. It is trite that he who has power to give also have power to take back. Can the CBN Board argue that the power to appropriate has been donated to it ad infinitum? This argument of the CBN is, therefore, grossly misplaced and without substance.

Three: The Act should be amended to promote accountability and transparency. The CBN Act authorises the CBN to audit itself contrary to section 85 of the 1999 Constitution which authorises the Auditor-General of the Federation to carry out such function. Section 85 (2) of the Constitution states that “The public accounts of the Federation shall be audited and reported on by the Auditor-General who shall submit his reports to the National Assembly….”

I refer readers to subsections (3) and (4) of section 85 of the said Constitution, which provides as follows: (3) Nothing in sub (2) of this section shall be construed as authorising the Auditor-General to audit the accounts of or appoint auditors for government statutory corporations, commissions, authorities, agencies, including all persons and bodies established by an Act of the National Assembly, but the Auditor-General shall – (a) provide such bodies with – (i) a list of auditors qualified to be appointed by them as external auditors and from which the bodies shall appoint their external auditors, and (ii) guidelines on the level of fees to be paid to external auditors; and (b) comment on their annual accounts and auditor’s report thereon.

(4) The Auditor-General shall have power to conduct periodic checks of all government statutory corporations, commissions, authorities, agencies, including all persons and bodies established by an Act of the National Assembly.

Notwithstanding the clear provisions of the Constitution on matters of audit, section 6 (3) (b) and (d) of the CBN Act provides that the CBN Board shall be responsible for: (b) the approval of the audited and management accounts and the consideration of the management letter from the external auditors; (d) making recommendation to the President for the appointment of auditors in accordance with section 49 of this Act, the provision of the necessary facilities and the rates of remuneration.

A juxtaposition of the constitutional stipulation on audit and that of the role of CBN on audit clearly shows that of CBN as unconstitutional in view of the conflict. In fact, under the CBN Act, the same Board that expends the public fund is responsible for the approval of the audited and management accounts and the consideration of management letter from the external auditors,

“Where are the checks and balances if the CBN Board that makes the budget is the same one that approves it? This is not how to exercise autonomy”

and making recommendation to the president for the appointment of auditors. Certainly, the Auditor-General has not been given any role to play in the CBN Act thereby destroying the system of checks and balances required in a democracy.

Four: The NA has argued that the Fiscal Responsibility Act of July 2007 is later in time and as such takes precedence over and above the CBN Act of May 2007 placing reliance on the legal maxim of lex posterior derogat priori. The CBN, on its part, seem to rely on the interpretation of generalia specialibus non derogant, which means that a general thing does not derogate from a special thing. In this context, the Fiscal Responsibility Act is the general thing while the CBN Act is the special thing. This implies that a general law like the Fiscal Responsibility Act cannot derogate from a specific law like the CBN Act. I tend to agree that the Fiscal Responsibility Act overshadows the CBN Act hence the CBN Act contains subordinate provisions to those of the Fiscal Responsibility Act and this is the intendment of the draftsman.

Five: Not amending the CBN Act will amount to flagrant and express breach of section 21 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007. That section provides: Preparation of estimates of revenue and expenditures by corporations, etc.

1. The Government corporations and agencies and government owned companies listed in the schedule to this Act (in this Act referred of as “the corporations”) shall, not later than 6 months from the commencement of this Act and every three financial years thereafter and not later than the end of the second quarter of every year, cause to be prepared and submitted to the Minister their Schedule estimates of revenue and expenditure for the next three financial years.

2. Each of the bodies referred to in subsection (1) of this section shall submit to the Minister not later than the end of August in each financial year: a. An annual budget derived from the estimates submitted in pursuance of subsection(1) of this section; and b. Projected operating surplus which shall be prepared in line with acceptable accounting practices.

3. The Minister shall cause the estimates submitted in pursuance of subsection (2) of this section to be attached as part of the Appropriation Bill to be submitted to the National Assembly.”

Six: CBN is the only government corporation that fixes the salaries of its board and staff; makes and approves its budget; accounts to and audits itself. For instance, section 8 (3) of the CBN Act provides that salaries, fees, wages or other remuneration or allowances including pension and other allowances payable to the Governor and the deputy governors shall be as stipulated from time to time by the Board subject to the approval of the President. In practice, the President is too busy to scrutinize any sum fixed as salaries and wages by the Board. As it is today, the annual take-home pay of the Nigerian President is known but that of the CBN Governor is not known. The National Assembly wants to amend this provision so that the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission would bear the responsibility of fixing these salaries and wages. Can it be said that CBN does not have confidence in any other government institution except itself? How does this amount to loss of autonomy?

Seven: To reduce impunity on the part of the CBN, its Act should be amended. The Board of CBN is comprised of 12 members. Section 6 (2) of the CBN Act provides as follows: The Board shall consist of – (a) a Governor who shall be the Chairman; (b) four Deputy Governors; (c) the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Finance; (d) five Directors; and (e) Accountant-General of the Federation.

From this list, the four deputy governors and five directors are answerable to the CBN Governor, who is their boss. They kowtow and grovel to him on any issue, more so where under section 7 (1) of the CBN Act the CBN Governor determines who, among the deputy governors, acts for him in his absence.

•Chukwuemeka Eze is a Lagos-based Attorney and the Principal Counsel of the law firm of Eze & Associates.

DAILY SUN

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

55

BUSINESS NEWS Tilcor Stone steel roofing tiles launched in Nigeria

N

igeria’s property developers and building contractors are set for a boost as Emel Building Materials, a leading name in the nation’s construction and building materials sector has launched a new roofing product, Tilcor Stone Coated Steel Roofing Tiles from New Zealand, into the market.

Tilcor Roofing Tiles was introduced to a cross section of industry practitioners at a special launch held at Lagos on Wednesday.

According to Cameron Ross, Director of Exports, Tilcor, the launch of these new products is to reinvigorate the Nigerian roof tiles market by providing it with the highest quality and most modern roofing capabilities.

Tilcor is an innovative manufacturer and supplier of affordable, lightweight stonecoated and satin-finish roof systems in Zincalume protective steel with each one carefully crafted to address specific customer needs.

The Tilcor tiles range caters to all types of construction needs from residential to light–commercial and public works. The range comprises of three distinct brands: Shake, Tudor and Royal and are available in a wide range of colours, are lightweight, versatile and easy to install.

Speaking on what makes Tilcor products different from others; Ross noted that “Tilcor roofing systems offer exceptional strength and durability in different climates. They are water, fire and earthquake resistant and

can withstand hurricane-force winds. With a minimal amount of periodic maintenance, Tilcor will provide years of lasting performance and all products are ISO 9001 accredited. Moreover, all Tilcor products come with a 50 year warranty.”

During the launch event, guests, who included architects, engineers, designers and property developers, were taken through a demonstration on the successful installation and performance of Tilcor roof tiles.

The session also enabled the guests to gain valuable insights on various emerging trends in roofing systems, suitable roofing products for the Nigerian market and qualities to consider when choosing the most dependable roofing materials.

Speaking on behalf of Emel Group, the authorised distributors of Tilcor in Nigeria, Ashok Franklin, Head of Roofing Division, Emel Group noted that with the launch of Tilcor’s products Emel has further strengthened its commitment to provide world-class products and services to the Nigerian marketplace and continues to be a leading player in the country’s building materials sector.

“Emel Building Materials has a proven track record in providing building material solutions to various customers and its products are more in demand than ever throughout the country.” He said the newly introduced products are now available all over the country through its extensive distribution network.

Fear grips investors over abduction of market leader

By DAVID ONWUCHEK- returned from Nnewi Sports Club.

WA, Nnewi “He returned, to his house Chief n indigenous investor but unknown to in automobile indus- Akudolu, three armed men try, Mr Sunday were lying in wait and swiftEzeobiora, has lamented ly entered the gate and asked the level of insecurity in the man who opened the Anambra with the rising gate not to raise any alarm at a gun point, and arrested wave of kidnappings.

Ezeobiora, who is the Akudolu was busy inside his chairman and CEO of E. Siena car making a phone Sunny Vespa International call.

“The gun men now came to Limited, said that all notable investors and importers in the car and bundled him into Nkwo Nnewi markets have the car booth and zoomed gone into hiding for fear of off,” the source said. Daily being kidnapped despite the Sun learnt that the abductors efforts by security agents san- took their victim up to Umuoji area in Idemili South itize the area.

Meanwhile, palpable fear Local Government Area, has gripped traders and abandoned the car there and importers at Nkwo Nnewi escaped with their victim in market following the kidnap another vehicle to an of a market associations’ unknown place.

It was also gathered that the leader, Chief Gozie Akudolu, (aka Iroko) last Wednesday Special Anti Robbery Squad after recreation at Nnewi (SARS), Nnewi zone has been on the trail of the hoodSports Club.

Daily Sun source said that lums as no contact has been Chief Akudolu, former chair- established with them as at man of Nkwo Nnewi Traders the time of filing this report.

When contacted, the Police Association and currently the Vice President of Anambra Public Relations Officer, State Police Markets Traders Association Anambra (AMATA) was abducted at Command, Awka, Mr Ralph the gate of his Nnewi resi- Uzoigwe confirmed the incidence by 9:30 pm when he dent but did not give details.

A

L-R: Business Leader HHP, Samsung Electronics, Ghana, Mr Jaspreet Singh; Mobile Business Leader Nigeria, Samsung West Africa, Mr Emmanuel Revmatas; HHP Business Leader, Senegal, Samsung Electronics Senegal, Ms Khadi Gueye; Director of Mobile Communication, Mr Craige Fleischer and Vice President/Chief Operating Officer, Samsung South Africa, Mr George Ferreira at the ?Samsung Galaxy Note II World Tour in Cape Town, South Africa.

ECOWAS needs $26bn for power generation, distribution MERNYI, Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Dr. Amadou Diallo, who o avert an imminent dropped the hint in Abuja on power crisis in the West Monday, said the sub-regional African sub-region, organization has made giant countries within the region strides in recent years, particuare sourcing $26 billion that larly in the area of power transwould enable them gener- mission and its distribution to ate, transmit and connect many member-nations.

Diallo, who stated this at the every country with electricity with a view to realizing the opening of the 7th Session of region’s economic, industrial the General Assembly of West and manufacturing poten- African Power Pool (WAPP), however, expressed concerns tials.

Secretary General of over lack of funds to invest in From DENNIS Abuja

T

the generation and effective connection with the remaining nations.

He stated: “The real challenge we are facing is the cost of power because tariff is high for some countries but in others it is vice versa. What we are using to produce power is too low in csome countries and too high in other countries who cannot afford it but something has to be done to balance it. We are looking at raising $26 billion to interconnect West African sub-region to generate

C’River contributes N200m to community projects

By JUDEX OKORO, Calabar

T

he Special Adviser to Governor of Cross River on Economic Affairs, Prof. Ndem Ayara, has disclosed that the state has doubled her annual project funding from N100 million to N200 million in 2012.

Ayara, who stated this in Calabar at a three-Day Capacity Building Training Workshop organised by Cross River Community and Social Development Project (CRSCASDP), said it is high time members of the Community Project Management Committee worked hard for sustenance of projects in their communities.

He stated that the state government and the local government areas were committing 0.5 per cent each as funding monthly in order to keep the projects going.

According to him, the state government was very much concerned about life-span of the projects, adding that “it was as a result of this the state has also doubled her annual project funding contributions from N100 million to N200 million in 2012.”

“The outcome of the projects being sited in your communities is very important to us. So, my challenge to you is that you should develop a vision of how you are going to sustain the projects for the benefit of the future generations,” he said.

While arguing that the government was fully committed to the development of the rural people in the state, he said “We want to still assure the World Bank, local government areas and communities in Cross River that we are not going back on our resolve and commitment to deliver good governance to the people.

“We will do everything possible in order to sustain the projects in order to affect peoples’ lives at the rural communities.

He, therefore, urged the participants to take the contents of the course seriously, particularly the management aspect as well as interact with one anoth-

er in order to build the state, while commending the agency for leading others in the state in developmental projects.

Earlier, the General Manager of CRSCASDP, Mr. Victor Ovat, said that the training was in continuation of the agency’s involvement of the people in development projects.

Ovat said that so far, 112 projects have been completed across the state, adding that the target was to affect all the communities in the state before the end of the programme in 2013.

He said that one of the challenges facing the agency was the difficult terrain in parts of the state as representation of 15 social groups participated.

the needed power. We commend all our financial partners in the electricity projects across the sub-region. With their support, we have been able to put in place necessary transmission strategies in place in many West African countries while others are currently undergoing connection processes.This rapid state of development brings us hope that we are fast becoming one of the competitive players in the electricity sector in the world among other big nations”.

In his address, the Chief Executive Officer of Transmission Company of Nigeria, Engineer Olusola Akinniraye, explained that the conference further reinforced and examine issues relating to the integration of the Power Industry in the West African Sub Region.

According to him, the interconnecting lines and sub- stations that would make it possible to have a reliable power system within the West African sub-region is ongoing.

He added: “WAPP has succeeded through donor agencies, the World Bank, the French Agencies in sourcing funds for projects that are ongoing. In the Nigerian context, we have the Ikeja West from Lagos, to 33KV line that supplies power to coutonu.

IITA proffers recipe to food insecurity

F

ood security in Africa will remain elusive with isolated successes, fuelling a sense of false optimism in an otherwise dismal situation unless decisive actions are taken to assist small-scale farmers to grow more and more valuable crops, according to the Director General of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture (IITA), Dr Nteranya Sanginga.

Addressing participants at the Crawford Fund annual conference in Australia, Dr Sanginga noted that in spite of the progress made in crop improvement, low soil fertility and nutrient depletion continue to present huge obstacles to securing the needed harvests.

The Director General’s posi-

tion is supported by recent studies by IITA in the Great Lakes region of Eastern Africa that show that majority of the soils in that region are now barren with very little fertility. The barren soils are a result of years of mining and insufficient replacement of nutrients by smallholder farmers, mostly practicing lowinput agriculture.

Dr Sanginga suggested the adoption of Integrated Soil Fertility Management (ISFM) which is defined as ‘the application of soil fertility management practices, and the knowledge to adapt these to local conditions, which optimize fertilizer and organic resource use efficiency and crop productivity.’ ISFM is also the topic of an ongoing international conference in Nairobi, Kenya, where the

Institute’s natural resource management specialists and experts, including the DG, are attending.

Dr Sanginga said that ISFM presented a means to overcome the dilemma of low productivity, by offering farmers better returns for investment in fertilizer, through its combination with indigenous agro-minerals and available organic resources.

He, however, pointed out that disseminating the knowledge of ISFM and developing incentives for its adoption now stand as a challenge for national planners and rural development specialists, and if done efficiently would result in more productive and sustainable agriculture, improved household and regional food security, and increased incomes among small-scale farmers.

56

DAILY SUN

Tuesday October 30, 2012

49 BUSINESS NEWS

DAILY SUN Monday, August 1, 2011

Daily Domestic Flight Schedule

ARIK AIR Lag-Abj: 07.15, 09.15, 10.20, 15.20, 16.20, 16.50, 18.45 (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun).

Abj-Lag: 07:15, 09.40,10.20, 12.15, 15.15, 16.15, 17:10, (Mon-Fri/Sat/Sun); 12.15, 15.15, 16.15 (Sun) Lag-PH: 07:15, 11.40, 14.00, 16.10, 17.15 (Mon-Fri) 07.30, 11.40, 15.50 (Sat) 11.50, 3.50, 17.05 (Sun) Abj-PH: 07.15, 11.20, 15.30 (Mon-Fri) 07.15, 16.00 (Sat) 13.10, 16.00 (Sun) PH-Abj: 08.45, 12.50, 17.00 (Mon-Fri) 08.45, 17.30 (Sat) 14.40, 17.30 (Sun) Abv-Beni:08.00, 12.10 (Mon-Fri/Sat) 08.56, 12.10(Sun) Benin-Abj:09.55,13.30, (Mon-Fri/Sat) 10.50, 13.30(Sun)

PRIMARY MARKET AUCTION (PMA)

NUPENG threatens strike over sack of members

By PETER ANOSIKE

TENOR

AMOUNT

RATES% ISSUE DATE

91 Day

30,159.21 13.00

10 Oct. 2012

182 Day 73,490.87 13.34

10 Oct. 2012

1 Year

10 Oct. 2012

68,184.89 13.39

MAJOR EXCHANGE RATES – PARALLEL MKT (AIRPORT AS AT 22/10/12) CURRENCY

BUYING (N)

USD 158 POUND ST. 250 EURO 206 Source: FMDA

SELLING(N) 159 253 210

T

he Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers (NUPENG) has condemned the victimization and sack of its union officials at the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC).

In a statement signed by Comrade John Eddy Oassai and Comrade Isaac Aberare, deputy president and acting general secretary, respectively, the union directed that the NUPENG SPDC Caretaker Committee Chairman, Comrade Enomate Kingsley, and 16 other union members affected by the severance, should immediately be reinstated in the interest of industrial peace and harmony.

According to the union, it dissolved the executive committee of the Shell branch of NUPENG for anti-union activities and set-up a caretaker committee to run its affairs in the interim.

They alleged that the management of SPDC

refused to recognize the care-taker committee and has been planning to victimize the union officials.

They also alleged that SPDC planned to outsource the Fire Department where majority of the workers are based against the union’s opposition to the plan.

“To actualize their plan, the SPDC management transferred the former Chairman, Comrade Fidelis Okandeji, expelled by the union for anti-union activities and his loyalists out of the department leaving members of the caretaker committee vulnerable, while hiding under the guise of divestment and management business decision to severe the union officials.

“The NUPENG leadership was taken aback when on October, 22, 2012, the SPDC management carried their threat and distributed severance letters to the union officials including the Chairman of the caretaker Committee, Comrade Enomate Kingsley,” the statement read in part.

Los-Abv: 09.55, 13.30(Mon-Fri/Sat) 10.50, 13.30(Sun) Lag-Enugu: 07.10, 13.45, 18.30(Mon-Fri) 07.10, 14.00(Sat) 10.20, 13.45, 18.30(Sun) Enugu-Lag: 08.30, 12.00, 18.25 (Mon-Fri) 08.30, 12.00, 15.40(Sat) 12,00, 18.25(Sun) Abj-Enugu: 08.30, 12.00, 18.25, (Mon-Fri) 08.30, 12.00, 15.40 (Sat)12.00, 18.25 (Sun) Abj-Enugu: 10.30, 17.05(Mon-Fri) 10.30(Sat) 17.05(Sun) Enugu-Abj: 08.50, 15.25 (Mon-Fri) 08.50 (Sat) 15.25(Sun) AERO CONTRACTORS Lag-Abj: 06.50, 13.30, 16.30, 19.45 (MonFri/Sat/Sun), 12.30(Sun) 16.45(Sat) Abj-Los: 07.30, 13.00, 19.00 (Mon-Fri/-Sat, 10.30, 14.30, 19.30 (Sun, 18.30 Sat) Lag-Benin: 07.45, 11.00, 15.30 (MonFri/Sat/Sun) 12.30 (Sun 15.30 (Sat) Ben-Lag: 09.15, 12.30, 17.00 (MonFri/Sat/Sun) 17.00 (Sat) 14.00 (Sun) CHANCHANGI AIRLINES Los-Abj: 7.15, 10.00, 13.30, 15.30, 17.30 Abj-Lag: 08.00, 11.45, 13.40, 15.30, 17.30 Lag-Kad: 10.45 (on Fri), 17.00 (MonFri/Sat/Sun) Kad-Lag: 7.30 (Mon-Fri), 08.00 (Sat/Sun IRS AIRLINES Lag-Abj: 9.45, 11.45, 2.45 (Mon-Fri), 9.30, 12.45 (Sat & Sun) Lag-Kano: 6.15 (Mon-Fri), 16.30 Sat&Sun Kano-Lag: 07.30 (Mon-Fri), 10.30 (Sat & Sun) OVERLAND AIRWAYS LAGOS LOS - ILR Mon - Fri 0715hrs LOS - MNA Mon, Wed & Fri 0715hrs LOS - IBA Mon - Fri 0715hrs

IBADAN IBA - ABV Mon - Fri IBA - LOS Mon - Fri

0800hrs 1700hrs

ILORIN ILR - ABV Mon - Fri 0900hrs ILR - LOS Mon - Fri 1630hrs ILR - MNA Mon, Wed & Fri 0900hrs MINNA MNA - ABV Mon, Wed & Fri MNA - ILR Mon, Wed & Fri MNA - LOS Mon, Wed & Fri ABUJA ABV - ILR Mon - Fri ABV - IBA Mon - Fri

0920hrs 1520hrs 1520hrs

1500hrs 1500hrs

• L–R: Vice President Namadi Sambo, Deputy Chief of Staff, Abubakar Kachalla, and Director-General, Bureau of Public Entreprices (BPE), Ms Bolanle Onagoruwa, during National Council on Privatisation meeeting in Abuja, yesterday.

Nigeria to earn N200bn from software devt From BISI OLALEYE, Calabar

S

takeholders in the Information and Communication Technology (ICT) sector have predicted that software development in the country could yield well over N200 billion annually if well harnessed.

This prediction was made yesterday(Monday) at the opening ceremony of a three- day, National Software conference and competition organized, by the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON)in Tinapa, Calabar. With the theme: ‘The cloud and the future of software Nigeria’.

Speaking at the occasion, the Cross River state , Special Adviser on ICT, Mr. Odo Effiong, noted that the first five richest men in the world are software entrepreneurs and this has made them richer than what they expected.

“Even India makes more money from software than we get from oil. Nigeria spends more a lot on importation and outsourcing to Indians , all of us are

buying foreign software, this should not be. We need to develop capacity in human capital especially in our students at all levels this alone . We will generate more revenue that will run into billions, though it’s hard to quantify. Tentatively, in the realms of over N200bn can be generated from there.

“This will come to reality, when everything is policy driven by the tiers of government , telcos, and other stakeholders. With that, it will lead to transformation and it has already started right in Cross River State. Already have partnerships with the Communication Technology Ministry, National Information and Technology Development Agency (NITDA) and Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) and other private firms where we will take ICT to the next level”.

Speaking in the same vein, Director General, National Information Technology Development Agency, (NITDA),Prof. Cleopas Angaye, said

that ICT was growing by 30 percent and as such cloud computing will reach $21billion by 2015.

“The cloud and the future of software in Nigeria , could not have come at a better time than now, when the Nigeria ICT is growing at a rate of 30 percent, a pace only second to China, with the outsourcing market presently standing at $500bn and having a future projection of $1.651.8trillion by 2020.

According to him, “The benefits of cloud computing is that it offers enormous of storage with improved scalability and elasticity. More so, with the efficiency and economics of scale ,the services are becoming much cheaper solutions to deploy IT services. For instance ,software as a service has become a common delivery model for many business applications including accounting, collaboration, Customer Relation Management(CRM), management information system(MIS) and Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP)”.

NAPEP to reduce poverty rate by 15% in 2015

By STEVE AGBOTA

T

he National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP) has projected that the overall global poverty rate will fall below 15 per cent by 2015.

According to the National Coordinator of the National Poverty Eradication Programme (NAPEP), Mukhtar Abubakar Tafawa Balewa, the federal government, through its poverty eradication programme, could attribute the development to current efforts in this regard.

Balewa disclosed this at the 2012 International Day for the Eradication of Poverty IDEP, with the

theme, ‘Ending the Violence of Extreme Poverty; Promoting Empowerment and Building Peace.’

Said he: “As the transformation agenda of this administration gets underway and with improvements in our Gross Domestic Products (GDP), the expansion of our domestic productivity, we shall achieve significant success in our fight against poverty.

“NAPEP will ensure that the President’s agenda of transformation is carried out to the letter. Its ultimate target was the eradication of poverty among Nigerians and this will ensure that Nigerians are provided with an inclusive growth as provided by the Millennium Development Goal (MDGs) which seeks to provide steady

source of income, basic health facilities.”

He added: “Quality education for all children, skills acquisition for our teeming unemployed youths, access to micro-credit facilities for eligible able bodied women and youths as well as stable and affordable power supply to hasten the development of small and medium enterprises that will move the country and our people forward.”

According to him, the agency targeted 100,000 benefiting households with school-age children.

Adding that through its Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) throughout the federation, they will ensure that they are in school.

DAILY SUN

DAILY SUN NAME OF CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL US DOLLAR 154.76 155.26 POUNDS STERLING 247.8946 248.6955 EURO 200.3678 201.0151 SWISS FRANC 165.6073 166.1423 YEN 1.9384 1.9446 CFA 0.2878 0.2978 WAUA 237.4157 238.1828 YUAN/RENMINBI 24.7678 24.8483 RIYAL 41.2638 41.3971 DANISH KRONA 26.8541 26.9408 SDR 237.7887 238.557 Official exchange rates as at 24/10/2012

SELLING 155.76 249.4964 201.6625 166.6774 1.9509 0.3078 238.9498 24.9288 41.5305 27.0276 239.3252

NIBOR TENOR

RATE

CHANGE

DATE

Call

12.2083

0.08

24 Oct, 2012

7 Day

12.8750

0.17

24 Oct, 2012

30 Day

13.9167

0.04

24 Oct, 2012

60 Day

14.5833

-0.04

24 Oct, 2012

90 Day

15.2083

0.12

24 Oct, 2012

Source: FMDA

Union Bank’s positive capital now N190bn – Osibodu …As she bows out of bank

By EMEKA OKOROANYANWU nion Bank of Nigeria Plc vaults is now awash with a positive capital of N190 billion as against N378 billion negative capital it had in 2009.

Outgoing Group Managing Director of the bank, Mrs Funke Osibodu said yesterday in Lagos that the management of the bank under her leadership has successfully cleaned up the institution and brought it to profitable position.

Osibodu who will bow out of the bank on Thursday November 1, 2012 after a three year turn-around stint said the bank which had an unreconciled accounts of N3 trillion and a loan portfolio of N700 billion has reduced the loan burden to just 200 billion.

Said Mrs Osibodu: “The bank is now restructured. We have changed the face of our branches.

We now have a new look bank. Our corporate governance issues have been cleaned up as we now

U

have a clean balance sheet.”

According to the GMD, her tenure at the Union bank has been eventful as the institution now has a positive liquidity ratio of about 90 per cent, which came mainly from the new core investors and Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON).

She said: “When I came to the bank, three things were wrong; there was negative capital, corporate governance issues and liquidity crisis.”

She said after three years, all the indices are now pointing upwards as capital and liquidity are now positive while the corporate governance issues have been tackled.

Union Bank under Osibodu has been restructured with a new core investor-Union Global Partners Limited (UGPL), which pulled in $500 million into the bank.

The bank is owned now by UGPL, which controls 65 per cent of the shares, AMCON 20 per cent and existing shareholders 15 per cent.

International Flight Schedule

CROSS RATES

57 Monday, BUSINESS August 1, 2011 49 NEWS

Tuesday October 30, 2012

Ethiopian Airlines Lagos-Addis Ababa (daily) Departure time: 12:15 pm, Arrival time: 1:15 pm Contact no: 014611869/029

AFRIQIYAH AIRWAYS Lagos-Tripoli Tue, Wed, Thur and Sat Departure time: 01:30am, Arrival time: 22:25 pm Contact no: 012711506 BRITISH AIRWAYS Lagos-London Heathrow (daily) Departure time: 11 pm, Arrival time: 5: 50 pm Contact no: 012792690 0r 014615870-5 TURKISH AIRLINES Lagos-Istanbul Mon, Tue, Thur Sat Departure time: 10: 10 pm, Arrival time: 8: 10 pm Customer care no: Not available DELTA AIR Lagos-Atlanta (daily) Departure time: Btw 3pm and 5pm, Arrival time: 10:30 am Contact no: 014483111 EMIRATES Lagos-Dubai Daily (2 flights) Departure time: 3pm, 8.50pm, Arrival time:1pm, 6pm Contact no :01-2717600 LUFTHANSA Lagos-Frankfurt (daily) Departure time: 10:05 pm, Arrival time: 19:08 Contact no: 014612222, 0414480963 AIR FRANCE Lagos-Paris (daily) Departure time: 11 pm, Arrival time: 14:14 pm Customer care no: 01-4610777, 012617959 SOUTH AFRICAN AIRWAYS Lagos-Johannesburg (daily) Departure time: 10:30 pm, Arrival time: 8 or 9 am Customer care no: 2702681-5 QATAR AIRWAYS Lagos-Doha Daily Departure time: 9:45 am, Arrival time: 7:55am Contact: 012798888/014633333

L-R: Waldi Wepener (Regional Director, East, Central and West Africa, Research in Motion/BlackBerry), Tayshira Santamaria (Head of Marketing, East, West & Central Africa, Research in Motion Marketing/BlackBerry) and Omoyemi Akerele (Creative and Managing Director at Style House) at the launch of the Limited edition Jewel by Lisa BlackBerry accessories for the MTN Lagos Fashion and Design Week.

NCP approves preferred bidders for DISCOs, GENCOs •Disqualifies Southern consortium for multiple bid From JULIANA TAIWO-OBALONYE, Abuja

T

he National Council on Privatization (NCP) has approved the Power Holding Company (PHCN), Successor Generation Companies (GENCOs) and Successor Distribution Companies (DISCOs).

This is even as it announced the disqualification of Southern Electrcity Distribution Company for submission of multiple bids for Benin Distribution Company.

In the same vein, it has approved the next steps for the conclusion of the privatization.

Addressing State House correspondents at the end of its sixth meeting which lasted over six hours, the Chairman of NCP, Atedo Peterside, said the meeting which deliberated on the outcome of the financial bid opening for PHCN Successor Generation Companies (GENCOs) and Successor Distribution Companies (DISCOs), has approved that Amperion Power Distribution Company Limited with a bid of $132 million as the preferred bidder for the core investor sale of 51 per cent shares of Geregu Power Plc. It also approved that Mainstream Energy Solutions Limited which offered an annual fee of $50,760,665.18 and a commencement fee of $257 million as the preferred bidder for the concession of Kainji Hydro Power Plc; NCP approved that North-South Power Ltd which offered an annual fee of $23,602,484.87 and a commencement fee of

$111,654,534 as the preferred bidder for the concession of Shiroro Hydro Power Plc; The privatization body also approved that Transcorp/Woodrock/Sumbion/Medea/PSL/ Thomassen with a bid of $300 million as the preferred bidder for the core investor sale of 100 per cent shares of Ughelli Power Plc; NCP also approved that Amperion Power Distribution Company Limited with a bid of $252 million as the reserve bidder for the core investor sale of 100 per cent shares of Ughelli Power Plc; NCP approved that CMEC/EURAFRIC Energy JV Consortium with a bid of $201 million as the preferred bidder for the core investor sale of 100 per cent shares of Sapele Power Plc; NCP approved that JBN-NESTOIL Power Services Ltd with a bid of $106.5 million as the reserve bidder for the core investor sale of 100 per cent shares of Sapele Power Plc. Peterside, also stated that, given that Amperion is the preferred bidder for Geregu Power Plc, NCP also approved that Feniks Electricity Limited would be the reserve bidder for Ughelli Power Plc subject to their bid being revised to match the reserve price.

The NCP Chairman said that the DISCOs in which government selling 60 per cent, approved preferred and reserve bidders for the following Discos: Abuja Distribution Company: KANN Consortium Utility Company Ltd as preferred bidder; Benin Distribution Company: Vigeo Power Consortium as the preferred bidder; Eko

Distribution Company: West Power & Gas as the preferred bidder; Honeywell was approved as the reserve bidder; Enugu Distribution Company: Interstate Electrics Ltd as the preferred bidder; Eastern Electric Nigeria Ltd was approved as the reserve bidder; Ibadan Distribution Company: Integrated Energy Distribution & Marketing Ltd as the preferred bidder; NEDC/KEPCO was approved as the reserve bidder; Ikeja Distribution Company: New Electricity Distribution Company (NEDC)/KEPCO as the preferred bidder; and Vigeo Power Consortium was approved as the reserve bidder.

Others are Jos Distribution Company: Aura Energy Ltd as the preferred bidder, Kano Distribution Company: Sahelian Power SPV Ltd as the preferred bidder; Port Harcourt Distribution Company: 4Power Consortium as the preferred bidder; Yola Distribution Company: Integrated Energy Distribution & Marketing Ltd as the preferred bidder.

Peterside listed the approved steps for the conclusion of the privatization of the generation and distribution companies as follows: "After the approval of the results of the financial bids by Council, the highest ranked bidder for each generation or distribution company will be required to post an additional bid security ("Preferred Bidder's Bank Guarantee") in the form of a Letter of Credit or Bank Guarantee for 15 per cent of the transaction value within 15 business days of notification from the Bureau of Public Enterprises.

KENYA AIRWAYS Lagos-Nairobi (daily) Departure time: 11:05 am, Arrival time: 10:42am Contact: 012719433 CHINA SOUTHERN Lagos-Beijing via Dubai Tuesdays, Thursdays Departure time: 12:15pm, Arrival time: 10:30 am Tuesdays, Thursdays.

Contact: 01-4610777 or 01-2617959 EGYPT AIR Lagos-Cairo Mon, Wed, Thur, Fri & Sun Departure time: 2pm, Arrival time: 1pm KLM Lagos-Amsterdam (daily) Departure time: 11pm, Arrival time: 8:30pm Contact: 01-4610777, 01-2617959 VIRGIN ATLANTIC Lagos-London Heathrow (daily) Departure time: 10:20 am daily, Arrival time: 5:30 am Contact: 01-4612750, 01-4612747 ARIK AIR Lagos-London Heathrow (daily) Departure time: 10:05pm Arrival 7.00pm Lagos-New York Tuesdays and Thursdays Departure time: 11:20pm Arrival 6pm Lagos-Johannesburg (daily) Departure 11.15pm Arrival 4.15pm Lagos-West Coast (Freetown, Banjul & Dakar) Mon, Wed & Fri Departure 8:00am Arrival 6.45pm Lagos-Accra (daily) Departure 8.00am, 5pm 8.45pm, 5.45pm Contact: 01-2799999.

58

DAILY SUN Tuesday, October 30, 2012

BUSINESS NEWS

By CHINENYE ANUFORO

A

s stock market opened yesterday after the Sallah break, equities trading on the Lagos floor of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Monday closed on a positive note with investors stakeing N3.01 billion on 273 million shares in 4,956 deals.

This is contrary to 267.38 million shares valued at N3.10 billion exchanged by investors in 4,234 deals the previous trading session.

Consequently, the close of trading session yesterday, the NSE twin indicator All-share Index and market capitalization also closed on a green note.

Specifically, the All-Share Index inched up by

Investors stake N3bn on 273m shares 0.40 per cent to close at 26,982.55 points from 26,876.07 points.

Correspondingly, the market capitalization of traded equities appreciated by N33.93 billion to close at N8.59 trillion (as against depreciation by N108.02 billion recorded in preceding session to close at N8.56 trillion.

Also, four of NSE sectoral indices closed positive as NSE 30 which basically measures the performance of blue chips resumed uptrend by 0.43 per cent, NSE Food closed with 0.06 per cent gain while NSE Banking went up by 1.16 per cent,

NSE Insurance records 0.30 per cent loss while NSE Oil & Gas closed flat The New NSE LII moved down by 0.13 per cent.

The Financial sector led on the performance with 211.04 million units valued at N2.14 billion exchanged in 2,978 deals as against 223.65 million units valued at N2.29 billion exchanged in 2,421 deals recorded in previous session.

The volume recorded in the sector was driven by transaction in the shares of Zenith Bank, IBTC, Guaranty Trust Bank, UBAand Wema Bank. The total volume of 130.78 million units valued at 1.72

billion traded in the stocks accounted for 47.89 per cent of the entire market volume and their value represented 57.37 per cent of the market’s value.

However, 46 stocks featured on the price movement table with 22 gainers and 24 losers. On top of the gainers table were Fidson, Vita Foam, Unity Bank and Cutix. Each gained 7 kobo, 19 kobo, 3 kobo and 7 kobo per share to close at N1.19, N4.10, 68 kobo and N1.62 respectively.

Conversely, Dangote Sugar, AIICO, CAP Hotel MRS Oil led the losers.

THE DAILY STOCK SUMMARY AS AT 29/10/2012 1st Tier Securities Sector Company name

1st Tier Securities No of Deals

Main Board AGRICULTURE Crop Production FTN COCOA PROCESSORS PLC OKOMU OIL PALM PLC. PRESCO PLC Sub Sector Totals Livestock/Animal Specialties LIVESTOCK FEEDS PLC. Sub Sector Totals Sector Totals CONGLOMERATES Diversified Industries A.G. LEVENTIS NIGERIA PLC. JOHN HOLT PLC. S C O A NIG. PLC. TRANSNATIONAL CORPORATION OF NIGERIA PL C U A C N PLC. Sub Sector Totals Sector Totals CONSTRUCTION/REAL ESTATE Building Construction ARBICO PLC. Sub Sector Totals Infrastructure/Heavy Construction JULIUS BERGER NIG. PLC. Sub Sector Totals Real Estate Development UACN PROPERTY DEVELOPMENT CO. LIMITED Sub Sector Totals Sector Totals CONSUMER GOODS Beverages--Brewers/Distillers GUINNESS NIG PLC INTERNATIONAL BREWERIES PLC. NIGERIAN BREW. PLC. Sub Sector Totals Beverages--Non-Alcoholic 7-UP BOTTLING COMP. PLC. Sub Sector Totals Food Products DANGOTE FLOUR MILLS PLC DANGOTE SUGAR REFINERY PLC FLOUR MILLS NIG. PLC. HONEYWELL FLOUR MILL PLC NATIONAL SALT CO. NIG. PLC U T C NIG. PLC. Main Board CONSUMER GOODS Sub Sector Totals Food Products--Diversified CADBURY NIGERIA PLC. NESTLE NIGERIA PLC. Sub Sector Totals Household Durables VITAFOAM NIG PLC. Sub Sector Totals Personal/Household Products P Z CUSSONS NIGERIA PLC. UNILEVER NIGERIA PLC. Sub Sector Totals Sector Totals FINANCIAL SERVICES Banking ACCESS BANK PLC. DIAMOND BANK PLC ECOBANK TRANSNATIONAL INCORPORATED FIDELITY BANK PLC FIRST BANK OF NIG. PLC FIRST CITY MONUMENT BANK PLC. GUARANTY TRUST BANK PLC. SKYE BANK PLC STANBIC IBTC BANK PLC STERLING BANK PLC. U B A PLC UNION BANK NIG.PLC. UNITY BANK PLC WEMA BANK PLC. ZENITH BANK PLC Sub Sector Totals Insurance Carriers, Brokers and Services AIICO INSURANCE PLC. CONTINENTAL REINSURANCE PLC CORNERSTONE INSURANCE COMPANY PLC. CUSTODIAN AND ALLIED INSURANCE PLC GOLDLINK INSURANCE PLC LASACO ASSURANCE PLC. LINKAGE ASSURANCE PLC MANSARD INSURANCE PLC N.E.M INSURANCE CO (NIG) PLC. NIGER INSURANCE CO. PLC. PRESTIGE ASSURANCE CO. PLC. STANDARD ALLIANCE INSURANCE PLC. UNIC INSURANCE PLC. UNITY KAPITAL ASSURANCE PLC UNIVERSAL INSURANCE COMPANY PLC WAPIC INSURANCE PLC Main Board FINANCIAL SERVICES Sub Sector Totals Micro-Finance Banks FORTIS MICROFINANCE BANK PLC

Quotation(N)

Quantity Traded Value of Shares(N)

1 22 15 38

0.50 34.01 14.90

10,360 26,665 132,845 169,870

5,180.00 935,135.24 1,946,599.45 2,887,000

10 10 48

1.58

110,849 110,849 280,719

181,798.40 182,000 3,068,713.09

9 5 1 109 32 156 156

1.43 5.32 5.42 1.04 40.00

564,722 1,310 320 15,191,237 78,723 15,836,312 15,836,312

830,527.46 6,628.60 1,648.00 16,090,861.05 3,153,087.88 20,083,000 20,082,752.99

1 1

7.65

50 50

363.50 0

14 14

31.00

67,689 67,689

2,037,659.97 2,038,000

28 28 43

11.31

385,725 385,725 453,464

4,391,868.05 4,392,000 6,429,891.52

63 35 238 336

263.00 13.09 135.95

63,485 972,133 1,872,451 2,908,069

16,980,329.42 12,244,177.19 254,644,598.23 283,869,000

15 15

40.95

30,319 30,319

1,260,847.95 1,261,000

57 89 28 33 46 1

8.13 5.31 66.50 2.40 6.00 0.70

3,739,726 3,856,408 62,402 1,318,174 1,288,373 40

30,392,870.78 21,002,397.14 4,143,848.06 3,195,684.96 7,719,297.58 28.00

10,265,123

66,454,000

254 85 72 157

29.35 689.50

1,200,787 281,329 1,482,116

35,234,966.25 193,970,386.16 229,205,000

37 37

4.10

666,891 666,891

2,686,481.50 2,686,000

52 62 114 913

27.65 41.50

267,297 359,573 626,870 15,979,388

7,205,282.55 14,894,102.64 22,099,000 605,575,298.41

167 92 101 120 493 99 363 128 48 55 287 56 38 75 348 2,470

8.99 4.40 12.06 2.11 16.50 3.34 20.10 3.95 7.30 1.67 4.95 7.84 0.68 0.62 18.00

409 5 1 17 2 1 4 6 35 5 3 1 1 1 1 10

0.62 0.80 0.50 1.49 0.54 0.50 0.50 1.73 0.53 0.50 0.54 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.50 0.53

502 1

5.75

5,294,751 47,357,869.11 6,819,521 29,568,304.58 2,517,138 30,426,693.33 10,090,333 21,571,856.78 11,171,389 185,171,202.98 8,441,437 28,379,758.43 20,543,739 419,676,307.14 12,064,34 7 47,621,918.11 23,294,184 170,187,727.68 2,562,143 4,235,082.39 16,523,683 82,696,331.84 482,778 3,762,411.00 5,595,976 3,805,200.16 12,090,007 7,833,462.19 58,328,845 1,048,430,249.09 195,820,271 2,130,724,000 4,156,422 850,500 5,000 526,900 12,870 1,167 35,000 255,000 4,880,570 541,000 31,630 1,000 20,500 500 1,000 1,958,648

2,701,532.36 676,578.00 2,500.00 778,452.77 6,712.40 583.50 67,500.00 449,950.00 2,524,078.10 270,500.00 16,467.60 500.00 10,250.00 250.00 500.00 1,054,238.08

13,377,707

8,561,000

500

2,875.00

Sector Company name

No of Deals Quotation(N) Quantity Traded

Sub Sector Totals 1 Mortgage Carriers, Brokers and Services ASO SAVINGS AND LOANS PLC 1 RESORT SAVINGS & LOANS PLC 2 Sub Sector Totals 3 Other Financial Institutions ROYAL EXCHANGE PLC. 2 Sub Sector Totals 2 Sector Totals 2,978 HEALTHCARE Medical Supplies MORISON INDUSTRIES PLC. 1 Sub Sector Totals 1 Pharmaceuticals EVANS MEDICAL PLC. 3 FIDSON HEALTHCARE PLC 16 GLAXO SMITHKLINE CONSUMER NIG. PLC. 9 MAY & BAKER NIGERIA PLC. 10 NEIMETH INTERNATIONAL PHARMACEUTICALS PLC 4 Sub Sector Totals 42 Sector Totals 43 ICT Computer Based Systems COURTEVILLE BUSINESS SOLUTIONS PLC 1 Sub Sector Totals 1 IT Services NCR (NIGERIA) PLC. 2 Sub Sector Totals 2 Sector Totals 3 INDUSTRIAL GOODS Building Materials ASHAKA CEM PLC 49 BERGER PAINTS PLC 5 CAP PLC 41 CEMENT CO. OF NORTH.NIG. PLC 11 DANGOTE CEMENT PLC 19 DN MEYER PLC. 22 LAFARGE WAPCO PLC. 32 PAINTS AND COATINGS MANUFACTURES PLC 1 Sub Sector Totals 180 Electronic and Electrical Products CUTIX PLC. 17 Sub Sector Totals 17 Packaging/Containers BETA GLASS CO PLC. 2 Main Board INDUSTRIAL GOODS Packaging/Containers NIGERIAN BAGS MANUFACTURING COMPANY PLC 47 Sub Sector Totals 49 Sector Totals 246 NATURAL RESOURCES Chemicals B.O.C. GASES PLC. 3 Sub Sector Totals 3 Sector Totals 3 OIL AND GAS Energy Equipment and Services JAPAUL OIL & MARITIME SERVICES PLC 51 Sub Sector Totals 51 Integrated Oil and Gas Services OANDO PLC 233 Sub Sector Totals 233 Petroleum and Petroleum Products Distributors BECO PETROLEUM PRODUCT PLC 1 CONOIL PLC 12 ETERNA PLC. 5 FORTE OIL PLC. 21 MOBIL OIL NIG PLC. 31 MRS OIL NIGERIA PLC. 5 TOTAL NIGERIA PLC. 8 Sub Sector Totals 83 Sector Totals 367 SERVICES Automobile/Auto Part Retailers R T BRISCOE PLC. 34 Sub Sector Totals 34 Courier/Freight/Delivery RED STAR EXPRESS PLC 16 Sub Sector Totals 16 Employment Solutions C & I LEASING PLC. 7 Sub Sector Totals 7 Hotels/Lodging CAPITAL HOTEL PLC 3 IKEJA HOTEL PLC 11 Sub Sector Totals 14 Printing/Publishing ACADEMY PRESS PLC. 2 LEARN AFRICA PLC 7 UNIVERSITY PRESS PLC. 13 Sub Sector Totals 22 Transport-Related Services AIRLINE SERVICES AND LOGISTICS PLC 1 62 NIGERIAN AVIATION HANDLING COMPANY PLC Main Board SERVICES Sub Sector Totals 63 Sector Totals 156 Type Totals 4,956 Grand Totals 4,956

0.50 0.50 0.50

Value of Shares(N)

500

3,000

50,000 1,200,000 1,250,000

25,000.00 600,000.00 625,000

600,000 300,000.00 600,000 300,000 211,048,478 2,140,212,842.62

4.94

50,000 50,000

247,000.00 247,000

1.32 1.19 39.00 1.60 1.08

41,266 6,470,500 77,676 20,190 439,000 7,048,632 7,098,632

52,065.16 7,327,180.00 3,104,176.40 32,166.80 474,120.00 10,990,000 11,236,708.36

0.50

20,000 20,000

10,000.00 10,000

13.77

2,798 2,798 22,798

39,172.00 39,000 49,172.00

17.06 8.01 34.50 6.00 120.00 3.22 56.11 1.98

274,920 31,864 574,281 36,730 38,933 293,797 772,631 200 2,023,356

4,908,010.28 258,098.40 18,710,111.62 220,685.56 4,696,121.62 879,339.27 43,375,422.24 378.00 73,048,000

1.62

367,239 367,239

594,927.18 595,000

10.50

920

9,660.00

1.87

1,527,887 1,528,807 3,919,402

2,859,390.50 2,869,000 76,512,144.67

5.69

2,115 2,115 2,115

12,626.55 13,000 12,626.55

0.59

2,217,469 2,217,469

1,273,312.33 1,273,000

11.00

9,847,285 9,847,285

109,609,498.49 109,609,000

0.50 20.79 2.19 10.00 115.00 29.15 125.00

22 66,377 4,900 2,069,737 31,618 62,812 6,684 2,292,150 14,356,904

11.00 1,313,059.52 119,745.00 20,689,893.30 3,629,812.59 1,830,969.80 835,000.00 28,418,000 139,301,302.03

1.82

1,034,595 1,034,595

1,856,789.34 1,857,000

3.15

1,190,086 1,190,086

3,803,475.90 3,803,000

0.50

110,000 110,000

55,000.00 55,000

6.27 1.04

153,278 902,722 1,056,000

961,053.06 974,030.88 1,935,000

4.10 1.91 4.83

40,000 95,644 74,830 210,474

156,900.00 183,721.62 351,869.70 692,000

2.46 5.70

1,000 476,170

2,340.00 2,723,969.72

477,170 2,726,000 4,078,325 11,069,150.22 273,076,537 3,013,550,602.46 273,076,537 3,013,550,602.46

DAILY SUN

J

ohn Utaka has promised a 120% effort for Nigeria if he is picked for the next year's AFCON in South Africa.

The striker, who made a goal-scoring return for French champion, Montpellier, last weekend against Nice after he was sidelined by a groin injury, said his commitment to Nigeria was not negotiable.

“It's the coach who

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

59

Nations Cup: Utaka dreams Eagles return …Says his commitment to Nigeria not negotiable decides who to invite, but for me any time I am given the chance, I will give a 120% for my country, said Utaka, who started two qualifiers under Stephen Keshi in June.

Utaka started 2014 World Cup qualifiers against

Namibia and Malawi and was dropped for the 2013 AFCON qualifier at home against Rwanda after he failed to fired blanks in both games.

He said Nigeria had the quality to win a third Nations

Cup trophy in South Africa because Keshi had made remarkable progress with the team since he took charge last year.

"We have what it takes to win the Nations Cup in South Africa,” he told

MTNFootball.com “Coach Keshi has been doing a great job and anyone who is following the work of the coach will admit that huge progress has been made.”

However, he warned that a first round group that pitched the Eagles against defending champion, Zambia, Burkina

Faso and Ethiopia ought not to be taken lightly.

"I have seen our group and I must confess that no team in that group is easy.

Africa football is a different ball game now and you know that any country that files out against Nigeria wants to make history by beating Nigeria," he warned.

DAILY SUN

Sports

International friendly

Keshi to test fresh blood ...Against Venezuela

N

igeria’s Coach, Stephen Keshi, has said he would pick several players who are yet to feature for his team for a friendly against Venezuela.

Next week, the Eagles’ coach is also expected to make public his list of call-ups for the game billed for Miami, USA. The match will be played on November 14 and forms part of Nigeria's build-up to the 2013 AFCON, in which she is drawn alongside defending champion, Zambia, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

Keshi said, "I have plans to invite some new legs for the Venezuela friendly. They may not be new to Nigerians, but I say they are new because it would be the first time they would be playing under me."

The Eagles’ former captain, who was not willing to give away some of the names, added,"As I have said every Nigerian player will have his chance."

However, top officials of the football house have revealed to MTNFootball.com that "Keshi is looking at ways of strengthening his team and plans to bring in players such as Obafemi Martins, Onyekachi Apam, Joseph Akpala and Peter Utaka."

Keshi will now set his pre-AFCON training camp in Faro, Portugal, after his choice of Zimbabwe was overruled for lack of facilities.

60

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 DAILY SUN

SUN SPORTS

NEWS

AWC

No team can stop us S

uper Falcons’ Head Coach, Kadiri Ikhana, has declared that no team could withstand his wards in the on-going African Women’s Championship (AWC).

Ikhana said shortly after his team 2-1 opening match victory over Lionesses of Cameroon yesterday in Bata.

The Cameroonian side defeated the Falcons on penalties in the second leg of the London 2012 Olympics qualifiers, a defeat that meant the Nigerian side failed to qualify for the Olympics for the

– Ikhana first time since women’s football was introduced in the Olympic Games.

“We are happy with this victory and there’s no going back for us in the tournament,Ikhana said.

Ikhana had coached the men’s national Under-23 side and he made his debut in his first ever AWC as a coach against Cameroon yesterday.

“I am excited to be here and I am looking forward to the challenges of

a big tournament as this. However, I will be more excited when Nigeria lifts the trophy on November 11.

I’m concentrating more on the tournament itself and ensuring that the

women are ready for the task ahead.”

The Falcons have had three training sessions since arriving Equatorial Guinea”. The team has

responded very well in training. The motivation from the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has lifted its spirit and emotions, and the players are ready to face any team.”

Women league boss wants more seminars

C

hairman of Nigeria Women League Board (NWLB), Dili Onyedinma, has expressed happiness over the recently held first-ever FIFA Women Coaching Seminar organised by Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) and financed by FIFA for women football coaches in the country, saying the development is an indication of a better future for women football in Nigeria.

Ahly’s fans set to boycott African Champions League final

T

he fanatical supporters of Egyptian side, Al Ahly, the ‘ultras’, say they will not be attending the first leg of the African Champions League final.

Last week, Egypt’s Ministry of Interior agreed to allow about 20,000 fans to watch the game in Alexandria on 4 November against defending champion, Esperance of Tunisia.

But Ultras Ahly said on their Facebook page that they would not return to watch their team until justice had been served with respect to the fans that died in Port Said in February.

Ahly’s fans were among the more than 70 supporters that lost their lives during violent clashes as their team played Al Masry.

“Nine months have passed and we are still waiting for a verdict,” the statement said.

“Therefore we announce that neither Ultras Ahlawy or Ultras Devils will be present at the African final or any other match before claiming the rights of our colleagues.”

The match is set to take place at the 90,000-seat Borg El Arab Stadium and is only the second game in Egypt that fans have been allowed in to see since February’s tragedy.

There has been no league football in Egypt since the deaths and it has now been postponed indefinitely after several dates were proposed but then changed, owing to continued security concerns.

The 6-day clinic which was held in Pak View Hotel and FIFA Goal Project center, Abuja, was supervised by a South African FIFA instructor, Fran Hilton Smith, who thumped-up the attitude and conduct of the participants.

Onyedinma, while reacting to newsmen after the event commended the leadership of NFF, who she said for the first time facilitated a training and capacity building programme for the women football coaches.

“The second FIFA Member Association Elite Course for referees, referee instructors and physical fitness instructors, just ended in Abuja, and we just witnessed the first-ever FIFA’s Women Coaching Seminar. These are part of the several high-profile coaching clinics and refereeing courses that the Aminu Maigari administration attracted to Nigeria since coming into office two years ago”, Onyedinma noted.

She urged the 25 women football coaches invited for the exercise out of which about 20 participated to maximize all the derivable benefits associated with the clinics and bring the knowledge to bear on the game.

The NWLB’s boss, however, called for more such programmes, maintaining that if Nigeria must maintain its dominances of women football in Africa more emphasis should be placed on capacity building of technical personnel.

Also speaking in the same vein, Coach Ngozi Okafor, who is handling FTC Queens FC of Abuja in the Nigeria Women League and also among participants at the clinics said the clinics would in no small measure boost their level of productivity as a soccer coach handling women.

Okafor noted that the FIFA instructor, who conducted the clinic was quite resourceful and had really imparted modern coaching techniques to them with by taking them through many new helpful coaching routings during the practical aspect of the workshop.

Among other coaches that participated in the course are: Ann Chiejine, who was first-choice goalkeeper for the Super Falcons at three FIFA World Cup finals, the 2000 Olympic Games and several African Women Championship finals, and Rita Nwadike, another former Super Falcons’ star, who is an Assistant Coach of the current Super Falcons’ squad.

•Pepetua

NFF lauds Eaglets, Super Falcons

N

igeria Football Federation (NFF) yesterday praised the Under-17 national team, Golden Eaglets, and the senior women national team, Super Falcons, for excellent performances in the past 24 hours.

On Sunday, the Eaglets whiplashed the Under-17 national team of Guinea 4-0 in Conakry in the second leg of their 2013 African Under-17 Championship, to qualify for the final round of qualification series on a 7-0 aggregate. And yesterday in Bata, Equatorial Guinea, the Falcons edged out Cameroon’s Lionesses 2-1 to pick up the three vital points in their opening match of Group B at the 8th African Women Championship.

Speaking in Abuja yesterday, the Chairman of the NFF Media and Publicity Committee, High Chief Emeka Inyama, said: “The performances of the Golden Eaglets

and the Super Falcons followed on the heels of excellent outings by the Flying Eagles and the Super Eagles to qualify for next year’s African championships.

“The NFF is delighted that our national teams are now giving their all in important games and we will continue to ensure the teams prepare well for major championships within the limits of our resources.

“The Eaglets, in a way, avenged the defeat of the Super Eagles in Conakry during the qualifying series for the 2012 African Cup of Nations, while the Falcons have now paid the Cameroonians back for that penalty shoot-out blot that stopped our girls from the London 2012 Olympics,” said Inyama.

It would be recalled that the NFF flew the Falcons to Ghana for a one-week final training camp before the tournament and also hiked the team’s win-bonus to $3,000 per player.

NFF’s General Secretary,

Barrister Musa Amadu, assured that the federation will give every support to the Falcons in their next match against Ethiopia on Thursday and for the Eaglets in their final round of qualifiers against Mali.

“We are already putting arrangements in place for the Eaglets to return to Calabar immediately they come back from Guinea today, so that they can start preparation for their first leg match against Mali, which comes up on 18th November. Governor Liyel Imoke (CON) and the wonderful people of Cross River State have been very supportive and we appreciate them.

“As for the Falcons, we are putting heads together to see how we can further motivate them to fire from all cylinders against Ethiopia, as a win in that match will guarantee our semi-final place even before the clash with Cote d’Ivoire on Sunday.”

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 DAILY SUN

SUN SPORTS Tennis: Serena, Azarenka to open 2013 at Hu Hin

T

op-ranked Victoria Azarenka and Serena Williams will open their 2013 campaigns at the World Tennis Invitation Exhibition Tournament starting December 29 at the Thai resort town of Hua Hin. Lawn Tennis Association of Thailand’s President Suwat Lipatapanlop, said yesterday that he was “delighted” the pair have chosen to start their 2013 campaign in Thailand. Suwat said the tournament - used by many players as a warm up for the Australian Open would be a “once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for Thai fans to watch Serena play.”

Williams will enter the new year after a dominating 2012 that included winning the Wimbledon, US Open and Olympic singles titles.

Azarenka is defending her Hua Hin title after beating Caroline Wozniacki in last year’s final, while Williams will play in Thailand for the first time. Meanwhile, Azarenka of Belarus did not win the WTA Championships, but her semifinal berth there assured her of topping the prestigious year-ending ranking for the first time.

Azarenka has 10,595 points in Monday’s list to lead ahead of the Istanbul runner-up Maria Sharapova of Russia (10 045) and champion Serena Williams of the United States (9,400).

Azarenka is the 11th different player to top the year-ending rankings since they were introduced in 1975. She got her first Grand Slam title at the Australian Open and won six tournaments overall in 2012.

“It’s just been an incredible year I’ve had my two dreams come true.

To finish No 1 shows I’ve been playing really well throughout the whole year,” said Azarenka, who lost in the Istanbul semis against Sharapova.

“To be a part of this history is just an incredible thing. When I first started to play tennis as a little girl, becoming No 1 in the world seemed so far away, and now I’m standing here and holding that trophy.”

Sharapova won the French Open, while Williams was the most successful player as far as big titles are concerned, winning Wimbledon, the US Open, Olympic gold and the WTA Championships.

Gullit: People jealous of Ronaldo

R

uud Gullit says people criticise Real Madrid forward, Cristiano Ronaldo, because they are jealous of him.

The Portugal international often gets a hostile reception at away games, while has has also been targeted by a number of opponents throughout his career.

Gullit, however, has nothing but praise for the 27-year-old and compared his situation to another former Manchester United star.

“I think Cristiano Ronaldo is a phenomenon. The same thing happens to him as it did to (David) Beckham; people criticise them because they are envious that they’re very good-looking,” Gullit said to ESPN. “For me, he’s the ideal player.

He’s fast, tall, is good with his head, is technically good, shoots penalties, takes good free kicks and he’s a leader.

“I think that Real Madrid loves having Cristiano Ronaldo as a player.”

Ronaldo has netted 18 goals in 14 appearances for Real Madrid so far this term.

61

NEWS

EPL

Mikel, Clattenburg in race row C

helsea Football Club has made an official complaint against referee, Mark

Clattenburg, and alleged he used inappropriate language against two of its players in Sunday’s 2-3 loss to Manchester United in the

Barclays English Premier League.

One of the two Chelsea’s players is believed to be a Nigerian midfielder, John Mikel Obi. Part of the

•Mikel (left) and Clattenburg

...Mata keeps mum over allegations against ref

J

uan Mata stayed silent over allegations that Mark Clattenburg used “inappropriate language” towards him after his blog on Chelsea’s acrimonious loss to Manchester United went online yesterday.

Mata made no mention of claims that he and team-mate, John Obi Mikel, were the victims of comments made towards them by Clattenburg, which are understood to have been interpreted as racist.

Clattenburg himself has promised to co-operate with any investigation into the events that took place in Sunday’s Barclays Premier League match at Stamford Bridge, which United won 3-2.

The official also stood by his controversial decision to show Fernando Torres a second yellow card for diving, according to former referee, Dermot Gallagher, who claimed to have spoken to the 37year-old on Sunday night.

Replays clearly showed Torres had been fouled by Jonny Evans and the sending-off reduced Chelsea to nine men, allowing United to score a winner which itself should have been disallowed for offside.

Mata wrote on http://blogs.grada360.com/juanmata: “This time I’m writing to you from home, just arrived from Stamford Bridge, and obviously disappointed after our defeat.

“It was a very important match for us, first vs second, and we were eager to win in order to open a gap at the top of the table. Yet we couldn’t make it.

“The match started bad for us, conceding two goals in the early minutes (the first one very unlucky), but there was plenty of time to fight

back. And we did it.

“Little by little, with the support of the crowd, we put more and more pressure on United and we managed to tie the game thanks to a very intense start in the second half.

“But soon afterwards, when the team’s belief was higher, we had to

play with nine men after Torres being unfairly sent off.

“Yet, I prefer to be positive, we were very competitive against a great rival and we fought back with 0-2. Also we keep at the top of the table. It’s still too early, but it’s important to be up there.

allegation is that Clattenburg used racial language, supersport.com has been made to understand.

A Chelsea’s spokesman said an official complaint had been lodged with the English FA.”We have lodged a complaint to the Premier League match delegate.

The match delegate will pass the complaint to the Football Association,” the spokesman said.

Referees’ Organisation, Professional Game Match Officials (PGMO) later issued a statement which also revealed that it was aware of the allegations against Clattenburg.

“PGMO is aware of the allegations and it is being treated with the utmost seriousness. Mark will cooperate fully and welcomes the opportunity for the facts to be established.”

All four officials - the referee, his two assistants and the fourth official - wear microphones and ear pieces that allow them to hear what each other was saying throughout the match, although what is said between them is not recorded.

Clattenburg, 37, is viewed by the PGMO as one of the country’s leading officials. He regularly referees games in European competitions and was put in charge of the League Cup final in February and the Olympic final between Brazil and Mexico in August.In 2009, he was suspended over allegations about his business dealings but Clattenburg appealed and returned to officiating having served an eight-month ban.

Jossy Lad praises sponsors of Ibadan fiesta tourney

S

uper Falcons’ former coach, Joseph Ladipo, popularly called Jossy Lad has showered praises on the 11 local government councils areas within Ibadan metropolis participating in the on-going football competitions designed as part of activities marking the 2012 Ibadan Week Festival.

The 3SC board’s former chairman, who is also a member of the organising committee of the tour-

ney described the positive gesture of all the caretaker chairmen stirring the affairs of the councils as a good omen for development of grassroots football in the state.

Coach Jossy disclosed this while speaking with newsmen at Olubadan Stadium, Ibadan the venue of the tourney, saying the passionate attitude shown by the chairmen who raised and financed teams to participate in the tourney at a short notice was an indication of a better future for grassroots football.

The head of planning committee for the annual Ibadan Week Festival, Prince Oluyemisi Adeaga, speaking in the same vein, also lauded the efforts of Lanre Alabi of Kingzise Sports and Yomi Ojo of Capitech, who were cultivated to market the event.

The Ibadan Prince said involvement of marketers had greatly helped the event this year by creating more awareness and attracting sponsors for the cultural fiesta designed to celebrate heritage.

Schools gear up for GTBank Heritage Cup Season 2

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he stage is now set for the second edition of the GTBank Heritage Cup as defending champion, Anwar-ul-Islam College, Agege begins the race for the defence of the championship title which it won at the first edition of the championship which commenced earlier in the year.

GTBank, in a bid to re-ignite the passion and sentiment that once upon a time greeted the Lagos State Principals’ Cup tournament, initiated the Heritage Cup to revamp the past of schools that dominated the Principals Cup tournament decades ago since its inception in 1954.

The Heritage Cup being sponsored by Guaranty Trust Bank has

…As Anwar-ul-Islam begins title defence attracted more Heritage and private schools in Lagos and will begin in November with the semi-final and final billed for February and March 2013 respectively.

The draws for the second edition of the championship held recently in Lagos has in the boys category students from St. Gregory College, Ikoyi; Ansar-ud-deen Isolo; Atlantic Hall and Whitesand College, Lagos battle in Group A, while Group B have the defending champion, Anwar-ul-Islam, Agege; Grace High School; Dowen College, Lekki and Corona School, Agbara.

Lagos Principal’s Cup most successful team, St. Finbars College, Akoka leads Group C alongside

Ansar-ud-deen, Randle; Eko Boys High School and Western College, Yaba, while in Group D Kings College; CMS Grammar School, Bariga; Adrao Int’l School, V/ Island and Methodist Boys, Lagos will slogging it out.

In the girls category, Methodist Girls, Yaba; Grace High School; Dowen College, Lekki and Corona School, Agbara are to slug it out in Group A with Queens College, Yaba; Anwar-ul-Islam Girls, Ansar-un-deen Girls, Itire and Adrao Int’l School, V/ Island competing in Group B, while Holy Child College, Ansar-un-deen Girls, Isolo and Reagan Memorial Girls are to do battle in Group C.

62

Tuesday, October 30, 2012 DAILY SUN

SUN SPORTS

NEWS Glo Soccer Academy screening train moves to PH

W

•Messi (right) receives Euro Golden Shoe award

EURO BEST ... Messi thanks teammates after European Golden Shoe honour

T

he Blaugrana magician is delighted with the prestigious prize for scoring the most goals of any player in Europe last season, having beaten Cristiano Ronaldo by just four.

Argentina and Barcelona forward Lionel Messi, thanked his teammates for helping him to add another trophy to his collection, after receiving the 2011/12 European Golden Shoe.

The 25-year-old edged out fellow Liga star, Cristiano Ronaldo, who hit the back of the net an impressive 46 times, in comparison to Messi’s haul

of 50.

“It is a prize for scoring goals, but without my team-mates I couldn’t have scored them,’’ he humbly told reporters.

“I remember goals not because of their beauty, but because of their importance.

“I am happy to win my second

Golden Shoe. Although individual trophies are not what I compete for, I play to win team trophies.”

The Argentine then thanked his Camp Nou employers and revealed he hopes to stay at the club for the whole of his career.

“I’m grateful to Barcelona for what they’ve done for me. My dream

Madrid’s going in the right direction –√Mourinho

J

ose Mourinho feels Real Madrid is on the right track again after their difficult start to the 2012-13 campaign.

The reigning Liga champions beat Mallorca 5–0 at the weekend to extend their unbeaten run in the league to five games, and Mourinho remains positive that his side can get

January date for Okocha, Kujah legal battle

By MADUABUCHI KALU

J

ustice S.O. Nwaka of the Igbosere High Court 52, has adjourned till January, 1213 the legal battle between Mrs. Nkechi Okocha and Jay Jay Group West Africa Limited on one hand and FIFA-licensed footballers agent, Nigeria’s Soccer Ambassador, Mr. Friday Nwankwo Kujah.

They were in court over ownership, forceful entry and removal of documents, cash in foreign currencies and other valuables in Kujah’s office as the executive director of the company.

The case, which was heard yesterday, was adjourned at the request of both parties to enable them have ample time to study the case and possibly, consider settlement out of court as has been the clamour by friends of both parties particularly those of football circle.

is to end my career at the club, before returning to Argentina,” Messi added.

His club Coach, Tito Vilanova, also took the time to comment on his player’s achievement, claiming the forward was a unique phenomenon.

“Messi Golden Shoe? I don’t think we’ll ever see another player like Leo.

Efforts made to get in touch with Mrs. Okocha’s lawyer proved abortive as she was quoted as saying that since the matter was before the court, she would not be able to respond to any question as that would be pre-judicial.

It is expected that during the period of adjournment, both parties who are family friends may sink their differences and resolve their problems as the relationship between Kujah and

Jay Jay Okocha dates back to their bachelorship time. It was gathered that owing to good relationship between Kujah and Okocha, they may settle out of court. Ir would be recalled that when Kujah wedded, Okocha was his Best Man and as if to reciprocate that when Okocha alsi tied rge nuptial knut with his wife, Nkechi, Kujah was their godfather, that was how tight their relationship was but for their present court action.

Official sacked after stadium roof fiasco

R

obert Wojtas, was yesterday dismissed as head of the National Sports Centre (NCS) after a World Cup qualifier against England was postponed recently, when officials failed to close the stadium’s retractable roof amid heavy rainfall.

The NCS runs the National Stadium, which saw farcical scenes on October 16, when torrential rain

and a waterlogged pitch forced the match to be rescheduled for the following night.

Sports Minister, Joanna Mucha dismissed Wojtas, and said that Michal Prymas would take charge of the centre for the rest of the year.

Prymas was the head of Euro Poznan 2012, a company in charge of getting the central Polish city ready for the championships that Poland co-hosted with Ukraine.

back in the title race as the season still has a long way to go.

“We’re going in the right direction. Last season, we had a 10-point advantage over the second-placed team in March, and we felt that the league was still up for grabs,” Mourinho stated at a press conference.

“Now it is October and there’s not even a 10-point difference. We have eight points to make up. You have to try to keep closing the gap on the direct competition.

“I think we’re doing really well even though we lost in the last Champions League match.

“We have been winning matches since the game in Seville, although we are still not playing as great as we did for virtually the whole of last season.”

The Portuguese also responded to criticism of his choice to deploy Michael Essien at left-back following injuries to Marcelo, Fabio Coentrao and Alvaro Arbeloa.

“Essien plays where I want, and he doesn’t mind,” said the Los Blancos coach. “He’s shown the same attitude and mentality as when he decided to come to Real Madrid and play, while making less money than at Chelsea.

ith the successful completion of Glo Soccer Academy screening for potential players in Benin City and Enugu, the screening team has proceeded to the Garden City of Port Harcourt, where the exercise will start on Wednesday, 31st October at the Liberation Stadium.

Globacom in a statement on Monday confirmed that former internationals, Segun Odegbami, Victor Ikpeba, Tijani Babangida, Anthony Bafoe and Zion Ogunfeyinmi will handle the screening exercise.

From Port Harcourt, Abuja will be the next point, where screening will continue from Monday 5th to 6th November, 2012 at the Old Parade Ground, while the final screening exercise in Nigeria is slated for the nations’ commercial capital, Lagos at the Legacy Pitch of the National Stadium, Surulere from Friday 9th to Sunday, 11th November 2012.

The last leg of the screening exercises will hold in two locations in the Republic of Benin between 13th and 14th November, 2012.

The exercise had earlier been held in Ghanaian cities of Tamale, Kumasi and Accra.

Forty five players will be selected from all the screening centres in Nigeria, Ghana and Benin Republic, while 33 short-listed players will head for the Glo Soccer Academy at the Glo Soccer Academy facility in Lagos, where they will be trained by top coaches from West Africa and coaches from Manchester United.

NFF rues missing carton of white jerseys

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he Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has lamented the loss of a whole carton of white jerseys of the Senior Women National Team, ‘Super Falcons’, on transit as the team travelled to Equatorial Guinea for the 8th African Women Championship finals.

Speaking in Bata yesterday, after the ‘Falcons’ deserved 2–1 defeat of the Lionesses of Cameroon at the Nkoantoma Stadium, NFF’s Director of Competitions, Dr. Mohammed Sanusi, said the non-arrival of the carton added to the depression of Nigerian team officials at African women football’s flagship tournament.

“We arrived in Malabo to poor treatment, had to find a way to connect to Bata, we were rushed into a low-quality hotel and then discovered, after changing the hotel that a whole carton of white jerseys meant for the team had got missing on transit.

“It was a demoralizing situation and we just had to find a way to keep it away from the players until after the match against Cameroon. Thank God, the girls went out to secure victory.

“Since arriving in Equatorial Guinea, we have had to face a litany of troubles, but the Nigerian spirit doesn’t die and that is why the team is determined more than ever to crush every opposition on the way to retaining the title,” Sanusi concluded.

The Falcons scored first through Midfielder Onyinyechi Ohadugha, before the Cameroonians equalized through a controversial penalty kick.

Perpetua Nkwocha, four-time African Woman Player of the Year and top scorer at the last edition of the competition in South Africa two years ago, had the last laugh with a spectacular diving header in the 89th minute that sealed the three points for the Cup holders.

Tuesday, October 30, 2012

OFFSIDE Musing with

DAILY SUN

63

Okey Ndibe kndibe@yahoo.com; okeyndibe@gmail.com

ermany is Nigeria’s 37th state. All that remains is for our lawmakers to review the Nigerian constitution and make it official. They should get cracking.

Several weeks ago awoke to news that President Goodluck Jonathan’s wife, Patience, had disappeared from Nigeria. Nobody in Aso Rock bothered to inform Nigerians about the whereabouts of their “First Lady.” It later transpired that Mrs. Jonathan had sneaked away to a clinic in Wiesbaden, Germany. It was as if she’d merely left one room in the Presidential Villa to another.

In the end, it took enterprising online reporters to tell Nigerians that their president’s “missing” wife was in Germany, hospitalised.

In response, the woman’s spokesman denied that she was ailing. No, he said, she had exhausted herself from clinking glasses, eating and chatting with some other African leaders’ wives she hosted in Abuja. She’d then traveled to Germany to take a well-deserved “moment’s rest.”

Nigerians would discover that Mrs. Jonathan’s moment was counted in weeks. As in, more than four weeks. In a bizarre twist, the woman whose exit was shrouded in secrecy came back to a staged carnival-grade welcome. After all, she was returning from Germany, Nigeria’s latest satellite.

Last week, Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba State crashed a small CESSNA plane he was piloting as he attempted to land in Yola, Adamawa State. Initial reports said the governor had died. It turned out, thank God, that he was only injured. He was soon transferred to the National Hospital, Abuja.

President Jonathan went to see him there. Afterwards, Mr. Jonathan pronounced the governor’s condition stable.

In fact, the president’s words bear quoting in detail, for they reveal something about the mindset of the man currently presiding

G

“The National Hospital, Abuja used to be Nigeria’s best hospital. That was when Nigeria had only thirty-six states.

Since Nigerian officials unofficially annexed Germany as their country’s 37th state, the torch of best hospital has been passed on.

The best Nigerian hospital now is – wait for it – in Germany!”

Germany, Nigeria’s 37th state

Patience Jonathan over Nigeria. “We are quite happy that the governor is stable,” said Nigeria’s president. “I have seen him. Doctors are working very hard on him. I believe that God willing, he will come out of it. But he is still in hospital. Being a governor, people are worried. People want to know his state of health.”

A day or two after Mr. Jonathan spoke those words, Governor Suntai was airlifted to an undisclosed hospital in Germany.

The National Hospital, Abuja used to be Nigeria’s best hospital.

That was when Nigeria had only thirty-six states. Since Nigerian officials unofficially annexed Germany as their country’s 37th state, the torch of best hospital has been passed on. The best Nigerian hospital now is – wait for it – in Germany!

Last Sunday, several Nigerian newspapers reported the airlift of the injured Suntai to Nigeria’s outpost in Germany. A report in The Sun was quite revelatory. Governor Danbaba Danfulani Suntai, the paper reported, “has been flown to Germany for PROPER TREATMENT” (emphasis mine). The paper’s report continued: “The governor was on Friday taken to the National Hospital, Abuja, where Sunday Sun reliably gathered he was prepared for the longer journey to Germany for BETTER TREATMENT” (again, emphasis mine).

Nigeria has a class of people often identified as “stakeholders,” “political chieftains,” “prominent Nigerians.” They include current and past presidents, governors, ministers, commissioners, legislators, government-favored businessmen and women, local government chairmen, and party executives. They are routinely serenaded and garlanded at public events.

Their hirelings often tell us that these officials are political icons.

They’re not just superb leaders, they are – they and their spokesmen tell us – geniuses who have “totally transformed their states and redefined the art of governance.”

This breed love to collect national honors, however devalued. They

Danbaba treasure picking up such hollow prizes as “legislator of the year,” even when they hardly know how to spell the word bill, or “best performing governor,” even though their states look like advertisements for the Dark Ages, tiny portraits of hell on earth.

I won’t be surprised if Mr. Suntai had “won” a few awards for gubernatorial excellence. At any rate, he hardly shied from touting his achievements. Yet, one of the man’s reliable records is that he’s something of a showman. Taraba State lacks the most basic of facilities. But that fact would not detain Mr. Suntai. A lover of jets, he acquired a pilot’s license to enable himself to hop from place to place.

If he ever wrote a political playbook, jollity would be a venerated principle.

I could not help thinking about the state of Nigeria as I reflected on Suntai situation. Last week, three friends wrote or spoke to me about the ghastly condition of Nigerian roads. One, a businessman, described the harrowing experience of traveling by road from Port Harcourt to Enugu. “It’s unacceptable to see a highway so dilapidated,” he wrote in an email. He continued: “Attention must be drawn to save lives that are being needlessly lost. I saw victims being pulled out from a fresh crash at the

Aba/PH stretch. Right after Umuahia, you could only continue by driving on top of piles of chippings, two over-turned trucks on both sides were clear warning signs of the risk involved.” Another friend, a lawyer, detailed the sheer dread of driving from Lagos to Abuja to represent a client. The recent flood disaster, he said, had made the trip an even greater ordeal. The third friend, a banker, had traveled from Calabar to Anambra State. “I won’t make this trip again anytime soon,” he told me over the phone. “The road is so bad that it was like going through a war zone.”

Let’s be clear: Nigeria’s deplorable condition is, in large measure, a function of the individual and collective stupidity of the country’s top officials.

Paradoxically, these wreckers-inchief get airlifted to Germany (as well as such other locations as the US, the UK, India, Dubai and South Africa) for “proper” or “better” treatment. And the rest of us, whose lives they misshape, are left paying for them to get excellent treatment.

There were five passengers in Mr. Suntai’s plane as it crashed.

According to press reports, they all sustained injuries. Yet, it’s only the governor (as far as we know) who’s been airlifted to Germany.

The luckless others are apparently stuck in Nigeria where, we know, the treatment is hardly ever “proper” or “better.” Now, if the privileged men in Governor Suntai’s entourage don’t qualify to be treated in Nigeria’s 37th state, imagine, then, the grim fate of Taraba’s talakawa, peasants and civil servants.

Let us come round, then, to President Jonathan’s comments on Mr. Suntai’s condition. It’s amazing that the president described the seriously injured – and reportedly comatose – governor as “stable.”

Was the president out to mislead us? Or was it the case that the man who runs Nigeria can’t tell the difference between crisis and stability? Did the president simply borrow a leaf from his wife’s spokesman who called an obviously sick “First Lady” merely resting?

President Jonathan’s most curious statement about Mr. Suntai was this one: “Being a governor, people are worried. People want to know his state of health.” Here was Nigeria’s ruler telling us, in effect, that “ordinary” Nigerians don’t count. You have to be a governor for the Nigerian president and people to be “worried” about your condition. Is there any wonder that Mr. Jonathan can’t wait to forget the travails and crises of “ordinary” Nigerians?

Germany may be Nigeria’s 37th state, and the only one that really works. But that state is preserved for the likes of the presidential spouses and governors. For the rest of us, Germany is off-limits.

So, here’s a modest proposal.

Nigerian rulers should have a twopronged homework. First, they must figure out how Germany developed itself into an excellent society. Then they must apply the formula of German ingenuity to Nigeria. If they can’t – or won’t – then they have a choice. Either officially incorporate Germany into Nigeria, thus opening German borders to all Nigerians or cease their own junkets to enjoy the facilities of German medical marvels.

Suntai, passion and power Continued from Back page

What is rightly critical now is the survival of the victims: Suntai and his three officials. We do not know the extent of the injuries of the four passengers affected by the crash.

What we know is that in the wisdom of the officials—perhaps at federal and state level—the governor, after initial treatment at Yola Specialist Hospital, was rushed to National Hospital, Abuja, where there are obviously better expertise and equipment. By Sunday, he had been flown abroad to Germany for better treatment.

In a classic case of all animals are equal, but some animals are

more equal than others, the three injured officials were left at Yola Specialist Hospital until Sunday when they were transferred to National Hospital, Abuja. One of them was reportedly unconscious.

As PUNCH reported yesterday, their eventual and belated transfer to National Hospital, Abuja, came 30 hours after the governor has been flown abroad. So, why can’t the officials be treated abroad too?

This is simply cruel. Are the decision makers in Abuja and Jalingo, by this tardy and insensitive response to the injured officials suggesting that the governor’s life is more important than that of his officials? Perhaps, to the deci-

sion makers and the people who profit from the governor, that may be true, but to the families of the injured officials and before God, all men are equal before God irrespective of their stations in life.

We pray that nothing untoward happens to any of the three officials because if anything goes wrong, it would be difficult for those who in critical matters of life and death, responded to the medical needs of the injured with cruel partiality, to escape culpability before man and God. Any wonder that in Nigeria, governors are gods after all and are treated differently from others.

Okey Ndibe Writes: Germany, Nigeria’s 37th state N150 TUESDAY, OCTOBER 30, 2012 *VOL.7 NO. 2484

Suntai, passion and power

DIMGBA IGWE

SIDEVIEW

08055001932 dimgbaigwe2011@gmail.com

Taraba State, Danbaba Suntai and three of his top officials broke. It turned out that the governor who was an aviation freak, was the pilot. In addition to his busy schedule as an executive governor, he also saddles himself with flying himself in a private jet owned by the state. It’s not because he couldn’t find a pilot to hire, it’s rather that he is passionate about flying and had moved mountains to satiate this passion.

Everyone should pursue his life’s passion and Suntai’s passion is flying. His story is a dramatic human interest story. As a child his life’s passion was to be a pilot. But his dream did not come to fruition until August, 2010 when he successfully flew solo after a flying course at the Nigerian College of Aviation Technology, (NCAT) Zaria, Kaduna State.

As part of the initiation rites into flying, Suntai went on his knees and a full bucket of water was poured over him. Welcome to the skies!

But behind that initiation rite was perhaps an inspirational human interest story which Suntai shared with the media as reported by The Guardian of October 26, 2012.

He said: “Personally, right from the onset in my life, I chose aviation as a career and pursuing it, I was able to obtain admission to Mbrevidaila Aeronautical University in Florida, but coming from a very poor background, I could not sponsor myself in the school so I started seeking scholarship, but I couldn’t obtain a scholarship. So that was how I ended up in the pharmacy profession.

However, aviation has continued to bite me in my blood. And when I learnt that I could even fly at my age, (having become a governor!) I decided to come over here to see the rector and inform him about my ambition and he enrolled me. And after some few training, today, I was able to undergo this solo flight.

“So, in my blood I have it as a passion, so this passion translates to my belief in encouraging students who want to be pilots to be sponsored to train. Currently, I have

uring the last dispensation, Mike Awoyinfa and I visited the governor of a state on appointment.

But two days later, we had neither seen the governor nor received a word from him. Even his embarrassed commissioner for information, who visited us regularly at the hotel to update us on the governor’s whereabouts, was not able to reach him.

Sure, I was angry at such levity. But the commissioner merely pacified us with admonition for patience. “You know, governors are gods in their states,” he said.

Well, the theory of a governor as a god is one that I find interesting. But, in that case, you are not just talking about the governor but much of every important public office holder, from the presidency down to the local government chairman, from the leadership of the legislature down to the councilors!

Even when the public office holder has his wits about him and does not wish to act like a god, the people make them one!

Only on Sunday, PUNCH wrote an incisive editorial, castigating some female ministers, who joined presidency officials and a clan of other hustlers to dance and fawn over the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, when she returned in a presidential jet from two months of a mysterious private trip abroad.

We live in a highly insecure society with high poverty level. Survival is such a critical issue and man must chop, as the saying goes. Our national resources are concentrated in the state and government is by far the biggest spender. Most of the time, success comes at the pleasure of public officials and even normally reasonable men lose their senses trying to ingratiate themselves with those that control and dispense public wealth.

It is the frenzy of the efforts to be in the good books of public office holders that make many unwitting participants in the apotheosis of public servants. So in the end, public officials are gods and among the principal gods are the president and the state governors.

Last Thursday, the sad news of the tragic air crash involving the governor of Gov. Suntai

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about two students that we sponsored to this college. And I also recall that I sent somebody to South Africa to train as a pilot. So it is a passion and personally I have the interest to encourage students to come into the aviation college.”

Well, may God give us governors with passion! In pursuit of this private passion, Suntai is reported to have spent N9 billion to upgrade Jalingo’s airport with limited success so far. (Perhaps, he needs a tip or two from the ingenious Igbo engineers in Biafra who turned Uli highway into one of Africa’s busiest airports during the civil war, keeping it functional every night, despite persistent bombing by the federal troops!)

Additionally, the state government acquired a private jet and a helicopter with which the governor used to hone his flying skills and conduct his official travels until the near fatality of last week.

If you think I disapprove of the extent to which the governor translated his private passion into a public policy, far be it from me. Oh no, I don’t want to go into speculative argument as to whether an airport is the state’s major priority or not, for now.

That’s for Tarabans to debate.

I wish there were many Suntais in the country. In that case, those who are passionate about driving would build great roads; those who suffer from diverse diseases would build first class medical facilities not only for their use but for the generality; those who are passionate about learning would build good schools, those who love properties would build housing estates, etc.

In any case, even if I have any caution for the governor and his passion, it would be insensitive to do so now for a man who is battling for his life. Like millions of Nigerians including the president, my earnest prayer is that God heals Suntai and his officials and grant them speedy recovery. There would be time in future to consider whether a governor is not too busy to grapple with the intricacies of flying himself!

It is too early in the day to speculate whether the crash was due to technical malfunction or human error. Without expert report which takes time to investigate, any speculation would be prejudicial and premature. If human factor is part of the problem, then Suntai’s busy schedule as a governor and flying experience will be called into question.

Continue on Page 63

-Page 63

AWC

Falcons cage Lionesses

By MONICA IHEAKAM

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igeria’s Super Falcons yesterday, started their defense of the African Women Championship trophy on a good note by pipping the Indomitable Lionesses of Cameroon 2–1 in their Group B opener in, Equatorial Guinea.

The encounter in the water logged Nkoantoma Stadium in Bata was fraught with near misses from the Nigerians who are the defending champions of the competition.

Falcons got the lead with a stoppage time goal in the first half from Onyinyechi Ohadugha, whose volley from outside the 18yard after a corner that was headed out caught the Cameroonian goalkeeper napping.

The Cameroonians, however, got their opportunity in the 51st minute, when one of their players was brought down in the box and Patience Mani made no mistake in giving her side the much needed goal to level up with Super Falcons.

The Cameroonians mounted pressure on return of the second half, loosing a begging chance in the 66th minute after Falcons’ goal keeper, Precious Dede, rushed out to intercept the ball but was beaten by the Cameroonian, who equally frittered away the chance by ballooning the ball over the bar.

Apparently hoping for a draw, the Cameroonians resorted to antics and falling at any little contact feigning injury in a delay tactics that slowed down the game that was watched by a sparse crowd dominated by Nigerian fans.

Relief came to Falcons who struggled to up their game in the 88th minute, when Sunnana SK of Sweden player and 4 times Africa best player, Perpetua Nkwocha netted in a crossed ball to stun the Cameroonians.

It is on record that Super Falcons have never lost an AWC to Cameroon. In 2004, Nigeria thrashed the Lionesses 5–0, met them again in the semifinals of the 2010 edition and came away with a 5–1 victory.

Falcons who are topping Group B will face lowly rated Ethiopia in their second game on Thursday.

Zambia ‘ll fall – Ndongo

F

ormer Enugu Rangers’ man, Jesus Ndongo, has predicted that African champions, Zambia will be dethroned at next year’s AFCON in South Africa.

Ndong told supersport from his base in Madrid, Spain that he believes the Chipolopolo “will do well” but defending their title will be out of their reach.

However, the Equatorial Guinean did not mention which nation will be crowned African champions next year, though he tipped Nigeria believing their chances are based on their performance with each game.”

No, Zambia won’t win the Nations Cup but they will do well,” said Ndong in a blunt and straightforward tone. But the former Stella and Mogas 90 attacking midfielder said the Zambians would win Group C ahead of Nigeria, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia.

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