N I G E R I A @ 5 2 We can't afford to break—Eminent Nigerians

...towards a better life for the people

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VOL. 25: NO. 61721

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

Nigeria @ 52 Special Report •Pgs. 84-93

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2015: North plots Bomb, gunfire rock •P. 6 Jonathan's ouster Zaria •2 attackers killed, 3 others injured

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We can't afford to break —Eminent Nigerians

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE, VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG, OLASUNKANMI AKONI, DAUD OLATUNJI & IKENNA ASOMBA

AGOS — EMINENT Nigerians, yesterday, took a dispassionate peep into the topsy-turvy journey of Nigeria into

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Proposed Nigeria oil bill taxes are fair —Minister •P. 25

Mr & Mrs

From left: National President, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor; Senate President, Sen. David Mark, and President Goodluck Jonathan, at the 52nd Independence Anniversary church service in Abuja, yesterday.

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We can't afford to break —Eminent Nigerians Continues from Page 1 nationhood 52 years after independence and returned a grim verdict: There is nothing to celebrate because the country is hanging on the precipice of disintegration amid worsening poverty among the citizenry. They dissected the causes of the country ’s stunted development and proffered solutions.

In clear terms, they said there was urgent need to deepen the country ’s fragile unity, address lingering insecurity, decaying health and educational facilities and epileptic power supply among others. They also agreed that in spite of mounting challenges, the country would not implode.

Among those, who spoke on the issue were former Chairman of the Nigeria Economic Summit Group, Prof. Anya O Anya; Second Republic Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Richard Akinjide; Second Republic member of the House of Representatives, Dr Junaid Mohammed; Governors Babatunde Fashola of Lagos and Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State.

Others include Anglican Archbishop of Lagos Province, Most Rev. Adebola Ademowo; Mrs Doyin Abiola; former Lagos State Attorney General and Justice Commissioner, Professor Yemi Osinbajo; Senator Gbenga Ashafa; Rep. Charles Odedo; Bishop of Egba Diocese, Anglican Communion, Rev. Bishop Emmanuel Adekunle and the Trade Union Congress (TUC) among others.

While Akinjide attributed

the country ’s stunted growth to human factor and bad leadership, Junaid identified the first military coup of 1966 as the genesis of the crises and accused successive governments of ruining the country.

We' ve put the cart before the horse — Ademowo Most Rev Ademowo said: “I see Nigeria’s 52 years as a very challenging stage of creation; but in truism, we have put the cart before the horse, making attempts at living before creation. And because of this, the country has passed and is passing through very burly rings…

Our country is becoming one of the most dangerous places on earth.

"In this country, we experience militia killings, brutal attacks and bombings. Amidst all, Nigeria is still one through the special grace of God. The country is too great to shred into pieces all in the name of greed, ethnicism, nepotism, religion, etc.

"In view of the above, our country is daily moving towards total political, economic and social collapse, and disintegration and the situation must be arrested before it is too late.”

Nigerians must keep hope alive —Ashafa To Senator Ashafa, Nigerians must keep hope alive even though there is nothing to celebrate as of now.

Urging leaders to take stock of events in the

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

You can't loose what you never had. You can’t keep what is not yours. You can’t hold on to something that doesn’t want to stay. Let life be!

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

“If you think unfolding in life, unfolding spiritually is hard … try not unfolding.” — Rodney Jones.

The renowned Jazz maestro, Rodney Jones, also a professor at Julliard University in New York, in a symposium presentation made a remark to the more than four thousand listeners: “so you think you have made some errors in the past, cut yourself some slacks. These so called mistakes are vital for your spiritual growth, you learn from them and you make better choices and decisions because you now have a much broader understanding of life than before."

Doreen Virtue sums it aptly: “One reason why life may appear unbalanced in the past has been a reluctance to accept full responsibility for your happiness. The thought of being totally accountable to yourself brought up fears and pressure that you wanted to avoid."

You now realise that self-responsibility for your happiness isn’t a test that you can pass or fail. It literarily means being responsive to your own core, after all no one, but you, can know what will make you happy .

country and carry out an honest and candid appraisal of the situation, he said: “We must admit that we are in a mess and not by making nostalgic and inspirational speeches on October 1 every year about the “labours of our heroes past,” pat each other on the back and congratulating one another on our independence.

Parochial sectional interests must be dislodged—Tinubu National leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu in his statement on the nation’s 52 nd independence anniversary urged Nigerians to refocus on their country and rededicate themselves to its development, saying :“Nigeria, our dear country, could be passing through a very difficult time now, but these are not problems we cannot collectively solve, if we all put our minds to them.”

Tinubu said one of the burning challenges was that of a constitution to make Nigeria a true federation and correct all the structural imbalances that have resulted in mutual distrust and slowed down economic growth and prosperity. He called for the strengthening of our various institutions to serve the interests of the citizenry and not personal political interests.

According to him, ”the sustenance of our democracy is important.

The can do spirit of Nigerians must be harnessed. Parochial sectional interests must be dislodged. And we must work collectively for peace and stability of the nation.”

Amosun wants synergy between leaders, followers In Abeokuta, Governor Amosun called for a synergy between Nigerian leaders and followers to move the country forward.

Speaking to reporters after a church service to mark the 52nd Independence Day celebration, he absolved leaders of full responsibility for the country ’s woes at 52, noting that followers too should be part of the blame.

He said: ”That is why there is this need for a result-oriented and positive synergy between the leaders and the followers for us to get over the woes. Yes, it is true that leadership has a role to play in the challenges we are facing now. The country ought to grow beyond this level we found ourselves.

The type of leaders will ultimately determine the road to progress, but that

notwithstanding, the followers’ angle is also very important."

We must reclaim our pre-eminent status in Africa —Fashola On his part, Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State said it was time for Nigerians to halt the slide, reclaim their preeminent status in Africa and re-new their commitment to the Nigerian project to actualise the dreams of their founding fathers.

Fashola, speaking on the state of the nation, said in the context of the African continent being the next investment destination of the world, Nigeria should rise and take the lead in reaping the economic benefits of that reality.

He also called on Nigerians to be sober, humble and listen more to those they have entrusted with authority, adding that if those in authority fail to perform, Nigerians have the chance to throw them out during the next election.

Fashola expressed delight that in the last 48 hours, Nigerians had been asking very honest questions as to whether we, as a people, are the problem or the nation itself.

He said: “This is not the worst place to live on earth and I can tell you that. Let us take the financial issues for instance, the Spanish government raised its taxes by 52 per cent, Italy has raised its tax by 60 per cent. Italians are leaving their country. That is not our position here. People are being struck by earthquakes, Tsunami, but we have arable land for farming here. There are challenges here alright but they should be seen as building blocks for us to aspire to greater things.”

Why Nigeria is still crawling — Anya, Osinbajo, Abiola Prof. Anya, Osinbajo and Abiola at an Independence Anniversary Lecture, entitled: “Nigeria at 52: Embracing Peace and Unity,” organised by the Cosmopolitan Women’s Club, CWC, in Lagos, weekend, identified corruption, quota system, misplacement of priorities, non-patriotism, over reliance on oil, and inequitable distribution of the country ’s wealth among other as factors hindering the country’s growth.

Anya, who was the guest speaker at the occasion, attributed the sectarian crises leading to bloodletting in the country to the inequitable sharing of the nation’s resources by the British colonialists.

He said: “Today, the contemporary Nigeria could best be described as a knife-edge. All these travails could be traced to the act of the British colonialists in milking resources from the then Southern Protectorate to enrich the Northern Protectorate. The shaky political structure and sharing formula have been the cause of all the sectarian crises in Nigeria today.”

elite to chart a positive direction for the development of the country.

Abiola blamed the tottering state of the nation on lack of maintenance and sustenance culture.

According to her, it’s a common place in Nigeria to see projects of a previous administration abandoned by an incoming administration no matter how positive it may be.

On quota system

Political, economic space must be opened—TUC

The former university teacher said the quota system, which establishes that leaders must emerge based on some factors rather than merit, portended doom for the nation, if not revisited.

Anya said: “After 52 years of Independence, Nigeria has produced 13 leaders, where nine are from the northern part of the country.

These northern leaders have been in power for 32 years of the country’s 52 years of existence. Amidst this long period in governance more than any other region, the North has remained in abject poverty and underdevelopment."

Over-reliance on oil He held that if Nigeria aims to join the comity of developed nations within any stipulated time, she must stop relying on oil, since it’s bound to deplete, adding: “Rather than overdepend on oil, which has become a curse rather than blessing, the government must ensure it educates its citizens on how to be productive and create wealth that must be equitably distributed.”

The task ahead On their part, Osinbajo and Abiola, who were discussants at the event, opined that the myriads of challenges, such as corruption in public and private offices, the Boko Haram insurgency, rot in the education and health sectors bedevilling the nation after 52 years of independence came as a result of the failure of the

In a statement to mark Nigeria’s 52 independence anniversary, the Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, yesterday said only genuine talks among ethnic nationalities in the country could halt the nation’s drift into anarchy. It argued that the current insecurity challenge facing the country posed the greatest threat to the nation’s unity since the end of the civil war.

In the statement entitled: “Nigeria at 52: The Journey thus far”, TUC PresidentGeneral and Secretary General, Comrade Peter Esele and Chief John Kolawole, respectively, declared that the political and economic space must urgently be opened to build an inclusive nation that would allow all to creatively contribute and participate in the hallowed effort of nation building.

“A combination of deep internal political schisms and serial inept but corrupt leadership despite the huge resources both human and material robbed the nation of the various opportunities to transform itself into a great nation that would deliver to her citizens the best possible benefits. This failure to get it right in these past years has foisted on the people one of the greatest burdens of the contradiction of increasing suffering and deprivation in the midst of increasing revenue to the government; the syndrome of ‘rich dad, poor children.’”

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

BY SONI DANIEL, ASSISTANT EDITOR BUJA — THERE are indications that the North is working assiduously towards dumping President Goodluck Jonathan in the 2015 election for one of its own.

The action of the North, it was gathered, is not unconnected with the deepseated anger running across the region over Jonathan’s alleged betrayal and tampering with the political economic interest of the region.

Findings by Vanguard reveal that the North is angry with Jonathan over his rejection of the zoning arrangement of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and subsequent contest of the 2011Presidential poll, which he eventually won.

Although Jonathan has not declared his intention to run, his foot soldiers have already begun to claim that Jonathan must be allowed to complete his two terms as provided by the Nigerian Constitution.

According to findings, Jonathan is said to have appended his signature as number 37th of the 47 political leaders in the country, who met with Obasanjo in his Ota farm in 2003 to firm up arrangement for the PDP elections.

But, following the death of Alhaji Shehu Yar’Adua, the President reportedly said there was no zoning arrangement barring him from running for the nation’s top job, thereby incurring the wrath of the North.

A member of the Northern Elders’ Forum, NEF, Prof Ango Abdullahi, confirmed the anger of the region against Jonathan when contacted.

According to Abdullahi, who is the spokesman of the NEF, Jonathan had betrayed the North and would not be supported in the next election.

Abdullahi, a former Special Adviser to Chief Olusegun Obasanjo on Food Security, admitted that the North was angry with Jonathan having failed them in many respects, chief among them being manipulation of the political process to emerge as the PDP presidential candidate in 2011 and failing to provide the needed leadership for the country.

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Jonathan accused of neglecting the North The former Ahmadu Bello University Vice Chancellor, said: “We in the North cannot trust Jonathan because of his attempt to deny the zoning formula he was a signatory to in 2003.

“The North expected him

2015: North plots Jonathan’s ouster For dumping 2003 PDP zoning formula to have completed Yar’Adua’s tenure and step down in 2011 for the region to complete its term but he bought over some Northern lackeys to say that he could contest the election.

“The zoning agreement effectively disqualified Jonathan from contesting the 2011 election on moral grounds.

“But surprisingly, they cleverly manipulated the primaries and other processes and enthroned Jonathan. That was possible because some Northerners sold out and connived with him to undo the area for their own selfish interest.

“I can assure you that the North will not sit back for 2011 to repeat itself. That is what I can say at this point in time, we cannot support someone who reneged on a gentleman's agreement that disqualified him from contesting in the election on purely moral grounds.

“Again, it is left for Nigerians to judge whether the man has come close to being an effective president for Nigeria since he became president, whether acting or substantial".

Although he did not name those bought over by Jonathan to undo the area, Abdullahi said the people of the North had taken note of the ‘traitors’ and would at the appropriate time expose them to the world.

Beyond ‘imposing’ himself on the people, Abdullahi accused the President of failing to cater for the crisis-prone areas of the North, thereby showing himself as someone who has no genuine interest in the region.

He said: “Despite all the crises and problems in many parts of the North, Mr. President has never for once visited to see the victims or provide for their needs.

“Now, show me what attributes of leadership that Jonathan has exhibited as a President of a great country.

“As far as we are concerned, he has failed in all.

He continues to make all manner of statements that portray him as totally unsuitable and unqualified for national leadership that Nigeria needs at this point in history.”

Abdullahi also accused the present administration of aiding and abetting corruption and piling up debts that had been partially

JONATHAN AT UNITED NATIONS—President Goodluck Jonathan (middle) with, from left, Dan Akpovwa, CEO & Publisher of The Abuja Inquirer; Chief Rufus Ada George, former Rivers State Governor, Prof. Joy Ogwu, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru, Foreign Affairs Minister and Mrs. Diezani Allison-Madueke, Minister of Petroleum after the President delivered his speech at the 67th UN General Assembly meeting in New York. Photo: State House.

cleared by the previous administrations.

He added: “Jonathan should not seek office in 2015 because even those who supported him initially have come out to say that he is one of the most incompetent presidents that this country has ever produced.

Incompetence is the key word.

On corruption, debts “Corruption is at its peak under his leadership and that is why the country is reversing to the debt trap.

Even Obasanjo left some substantial foreign reserves and virtually cleared the debt burden of the country before leaving office.

“But now the reserve is gone and we are back in debts. Subsidy is at the forefront of corruption. Over N2.6 trillion gone in the name of oil subsidy and it is evident that most people who fronted this scam did so to return most of the money to the electioneering campaign of 2011.”

Turning to the controversial onshore/offshore dichotomy Act of 2005, the NEF spokesman blamed top-ranking northerners in the Obasanjo government of also selling out the interest of the region to pass the bill into law.

According to him, it was wrong and against international law of the sea for the National Assembly to pass the oil dichotomy bill, allowing oil-producing states to

be paid revenue for oil taken from as far as 200 feet isobath, thereby denying other states of federal revenue.

Onshore/offshore dichotomy He said: “Governors, ministers and lawmakers from the North were all compromised with certain things all in a desperate and selfish

bid to pass the oil dichotomy bill.

“All those from the North who partook in the passage of the law are guilty of compromising the interest of the area and we have their names and will make them available to Nigerians at the right time".

He therefore sought an urgent review of the law to make more national resources available to all Ni-

gerians.

But the Political Adviser to the President, Alhaji Ahmed Gulak, has warned against any attempt by the North to stop Jonathan in 2015, saying it was a big joke.

Gulak told Vanguard in an interview that it was the President’s right to run for two terms and that nobody had the authority to stop him in 2015.

Security agencies, Boko Haram in fierce exchange of gunfire in Zaria Two suspected sect members killed

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

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ADUNA—AN early morning raid on a hide-out of Boko Haram members yesterday in Gaskiya Muslims quarters of Zaria town, 65km north of Kaduna metropolis led to exchange of gunfire between the sect and a joint operation by soldiers and security agencies leaving two members of the sect dead.

An explosion was said to have occurred at about 9 am around the area which caused pandemonium as the Army later evacuated residents in

the neighbourhood.

A statement issued to newsmen by the PRO, Nigerian Army Depot Zaria, Captain Ibrahim Abdullahi said, “Boko Haram members engaged the Army and State Security Service, SSS, in a fierce gun battle following a tip off that Boko Haram members were planning a major suicide mission in Zaria, Kaduna and Suleja to coincide with Independence day anniversary which led to the joint operation. During the exercise, we discovered heavy explosives in a warehouse which were meant for the operations.

“As a result a controlled detonation was carried out by Army engineers to save residents of the area and further stop the planning and execution of terrorism by the sect.”

Another statement signed by spokesman of the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Yusuf Shuaibu reads: “An explosion was detonated early morning today close to Islamic boarding school in Gaskiya Area in Zaria. Two of the suspects were killed by security personnel.

Injured victims have been taken to the hospitals.”

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Agagu asks CJN to re-instate him in face of fresh facts

BY OLA AJAYI

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L-R: Mr. Rotimi Akeredolu, SAN, candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN); Dr. Olusegun Mimiko, Labour Party (LP), candidate and Ondo State Governor and Chief Olusola Oke of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), during the live debate organised by the Nigerian Election Debate Group (NEDG) in Akure, at the weekend.

BADAN — THREE years after his removal from office, former Governor Olusegun Agagu of Ondo State has petitioned the Chief Justice of Nigeria, Mrs. Aloma Muktar, asking her to intervene since the police have discovered that the State Security Service, SSS, reports used to dislodge him were forged.

Agagu was removed from office in 2009 after the Court of Appeal delivered judgment in favour of the Labour Party, LP, candidate, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko.

In the petition which was made available in Ibadan, Dr. Agagu stated that the results which gave victory to the LP was fraudulently obtained through the forged SSS reports.

Jonathan exhorts all to help build Nigeria

By BEN AGANDE

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RESIDENT GOODLUCK Jonathan yesterday solicited the support of all Nigerians in order to tackle the myriads of problems confronting the country, saying that he cannot solve Nigeria’s problem alone.

He said this at the inter-denominational service to mark Nigeria's 52nd independence anniversary According to the president, there are many Nehemiahs in the National Assembly, the Federal Executive

Council, judiciary, educational and private sectors that would rebuild the nation just like God used Prophet Nehemiah to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem.

He emphasised that the problems confronting the country were temporary and would be overcome while thanking Christians and other religious leaders who are praying in the remote areas for this government to succeed.

He expressed the determination of his administration to bring about a change in the

ACN leaders storm Akure for 3 days rallies

BY DAYO JOHNSON

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KURE - THE Na tional Chairman of the ACN, Chief Bisi Akande, National Leader of the party, Asuwaju Bola Tinubu and other bigwigs would be in Ondo State for three days for a rally tagged Redemption Rally ahead of October 20 governorship election.

Other leaders expected at the rallies include all

ACN Governors, national and state lawmakers and other state and national leaders of the party.

Spokesman for the party on Redemption rally Ademola Adetula said the rallies would take three consecutive day -October 2 - 4 respectively in the three senatorial districts of the state, Ondo North, Ondo Central and Ondo South.

country, noting that his administration has sanitised the electoral process, and that corruption will soon be a thing of the past in the country.

“On corruption, Tr a n s p a r e n c y International that has never spared Nigeria admitted in its latest rating that Nigeria is second to America in commitment to fight against corruption. God willing we shall overcome it.

“On economic environment, at least, 249 new companies according to the

Manufacturers Association of Nigeria have entered the market, we shall continue to work hard to create jobs.

“Also, I want to assure Nigerians we will not sleep until we stablise power in this country.

“Leadership at all levels is collective. One person cannot change a nation. Agreed the leader matters but he cannot change things alone. All of us Nigerians must work together to rebuild our nation. Our men and women will change things in this country.

There are so many

Nehemiahs in the National Assembly, the Federal Executive Council, our judiciary, our teachers, businessmen and women and I believe God will use these Nehemiahs to rebuild the country.

“I can say again that Nigeria will succeed.

With your cooperation we shall succeed”.

President Jonathan later flagged off the one year prayer project, noting that prayer helped America determine the direction of their country and can do same for Nigeria.

LP accuses ACN of plans to capture Ondo State

.Claim baseless, fallacious – ACN T HE LABOUR Par ty, LP, in Ondo State has accused the Action Congress of Nigeria,ACN, in the state of planning to buy votes at the rate of N2.5m for each of the 203 wards in the state.

It also alleged that the plot code-named Operation Capture

Ondo State, was being coordinated by a South West governor.

A statement by LP’s Publicity Secretary, Mr. Femi Okunjemiruwa claimed that the plot was arrived at a popular hotel owned by a chieftain of the party in Ekiti State.

He said: ‘’Operation

Capture Ondo State and which is being coordinated by a South West Governor had earmarked N2.5m for each of the 203 wards in the state for the massive buying of voters' cards from the electorate at the initial stage. The money would be increased as the need arises in the next few days as the election draws near.’’

Meantime,speaking through its the Director of Media, Publicity and Strategy, Mr. Idowu Ajanaku, ACO has described the claims as "baseless and fallacious," adding that the ACN would rather spend money to provide logistics to her members for house to house campaign. ‘’,,,Buying voters' card is not necessary because the ACN is enjoying massive support from the people of Ondo State," he said.

Making allusion to the report of investigation by the police which was signed by Ali Amodu (Commissioner of Police, Special Investigation Unit, Force Headquarters, Abuja), he said, “it is against public interest for a party in a suit to produce fraudulent evidence to deceive the court into giving him a favourable judgment”.

The petition dated 28th September, 2012, argued that the tribunal relied on the reports in nullifying the elections in 10 local government areas won by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The petition which was entitled, 'The Travesty of Justice In My Removal As Governor of Ondo State', he alleged that deliberate inflation of votes for the LP in the affected councils, as well as deliberate reduction of PDP votes, were responsible for his removal.

Agagu alleged further that the Justice G.N. Nabaruma-led panel “inflated votes in two of the seven undisputed local government areas and these manipulations were upheld by the Court of Appeal”.

He listed the affected councils as: Akoko South West whose votes were allegedly inflated from 34,840 to 38,840, and Owo from 34,427 to 34,457.

These errors, he argued, made the PDP lose 4,030 votes.

He stated further in the petition that PDP votes in Akoko North West were also reduced.

There are 10 wards in the local government and election from Ajowa Ward 05 was the only one disputed and its result was cancelled by the tribunal. This cancellation ought to have given the PDP 9,850 votes and the LP 10,426 votes”.

When the judgment was delivered, he said the panel gave PDP 3,063 and LP 10,426.

According to Agagu, the Chairman of the Labour Party then, Dr. Olaiya Oni, admitted that the nine SSS reports tendered before the court “ were parts of the massive pieces of documents that were brought to the party secretariat by different people and he handed over the documents to the legal team for analysis and legal use”.

12—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

Why Nor th should allow Jonathan for 8 years —Owie

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN ORMER Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Roland Owie, has urged Nigerians to reconsider the circumstances that led to the emergence of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as President and allow him finish the eight-year period of the South-South under the ruling party’s zoning policy.

Noting that the quest by the North for the

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presidency was understandable given the truncation of the Umaru Yar ‘Adua presidency, Senator Owie described the development as a force majeure, which no one foresaw or could have arranged.

He said: “If you look at PDP constitution, zoning is there, allowing for eight years to the South and eight years to the North and it was a good thing put there by PDP to allow uniformity."

Activist lauds Kuku on N-Delta struggle NIGERIA @ 52 THANKSGIVING SERVICE: From left: Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, his wife Roli, and Prof. Amos Utuama, Deputy Governor, during an inter-denominational thanksgiving service to mark Nigeria's 52nd Independence celebration held at the Divine-Way Baptist Church, Asaba, yesterday. Photo: Henry Unini.

Gunmen abduct Delta Commissioner

BY FESTUS ASHON

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GHELLI—DELTA State Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof. Hope Eghagha, has been kidnapped. His security aide was killed in the process, while his driver, who was hit by bullet, is receiving medical attention at an undisclosed hospital.

Vanguard gathered that the commissioner was abducted at Abavo, yesterday, on his way from Warri for the 52nd independence anniversary thanksgiving in Asaba, the state capital.

A reliable source told Vanguard that the official Prado jeep of Prof Eghagha, riddled with bullets of the suspected kidnappers, was abandoned

Prof. Hope Eghagha

alongside his mobile phones.

The source, who pleaded anonymity, said the suspected kidnappers were yet to establish contact with Eghagha's family.

Bakassi: Try Obasanjo for treason —SNG

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

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ENIN—FOR ceding Nigerian territory to another country without legislative approval, Save Nigeria Group, SNG, has called for the trial of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and his accomplices for treason against the people of Nigeria.

It said President Goodluck Jonathan should face the same fate if he refuses to appeal the International Court for Justice, ICJ, judgment on Bakassi.

Meanwhile, with few days to the expiration of the window allowed by

Group lauds introduction of prayers in Delta govt offices

BY KENETH EHIJIATOR GROUP, Finger of God, has commended Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State for introducing morning devotions in all government offices in the state.

It also urged the people of the state to hold on to the word of God and

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Confirming the incident, state Police Public Relations Officers, Mr. Charles Muka, said the suspected kidnappers trailed Prof. Eghagha from Warri in a Toyota Camry car.

Muka said the armed men intercepted the offi-

pray for the state and country, as Nigeria celebrates its 52nd Independence Anniversary, today.

Mr. Clement Ogbo, Coordinator of the group, said the governor’s move would help to strengthen the state of the people’s moral firmament, especially with regards to civil servants serving diligently to move the state forward.

ICJ for Nigeria to appeal the decision ceding Bakassi peninsula to Cameroun, National Coordinator of South-South Ideological Forum, Mr.Goodnews Eichie, has called on President Jonathan to immediately appeal against the decision in view of recent facts emerging that the peninsula belongs to the country.

He said: “The President should immediately appeal against the ICJ ruling ceding Bakassi to Cameroun in exercise of his fundamental functions and oath of office, which he swore to defend the territorial integrity of Nigeria and because not doing so is not carrying out his duties as reflected in the oath he took."

SNG, in a statement in Benin, Edo State, yesterday, by its National President, Dr. Philip Ugbodaga, said: “We express our utter disappointment with the Nigerian National Assembly for waiting so long before passing a motion urging President Jonathan to appeal the ICJ judgment on Bakassi. It is the height of legislative complacency that the Senate waited till now to bare its fangs."

cial vehicle, shooting indiscriminately into the car, killing the police aide, Mr. Innocent Odah, a police Sergeant, and sped off with Prof. Eghagha in their car. He said the police was on top the situation.

Niger Delta activ ist, Mr. Frank Akiefa, yesterday, said the Special Adviser to the President on Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, has shown genuine interest in the struggle, challenges and development of the region, adding the he had again demostrated his commitment through his new book, Remaking the Niger Delta, Challenges

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and Opportunity.

Akiefa, in Warri, Delta State, said Kuku had distinguished himself as an appointee of the Federal Government among other Niger Deltans, pointing out that his recently launched book looked at the challenges, the way forward and proffered solutions to the age long neglect of the region and will remain a reference point for generations yet unborn.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012 — 13

Flood sacks corps members in Anambra

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

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From left: Mr. Emeka Umeh, Business Development Manager, GlaxoSmithKline, GSK; Dr. Anthonia Ogbera, Consultant Physician, Lagos State University Teaching Hospital,LASUTH; Mr. Jide Adeosun, Commercial Development Manager-Africa, GSK and Mr. Chidi Okoro, MD, GSK Consumer Plc, during a GSK’s 'Walk for a Healthy Heart' to mark World Heart Day in Lagos, weekend.

WKA—FLOODING which has rendered thousands of people homeless in five local government areas of Anambra State has sacked members of the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, posted to Ogbaru Local Government Area of the state.

The corps members, whose lodge in the area was submerged, said they woke up only to find their residence under water, with most of their properties destroyed.

Deputy Governor of the state, Mr. Emeka Sibeudu, who addressed them, as-

4-year-old girl kidnapped in Ebonyi

BY PETER OKUTU BAKALIKI—A fouryear-old girl, little Miss Faith Chukwuka Okorie, of Ohaozara Local Government of Ebonyi State was last Friday reported to have been kidnapped by unknown gunmen at about 9 p m .

Little Faith, who is the daughter of a primary school teacher in Ebonyi State, was kidnapped at the

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Mgbom Enu, home of Mr. ChukwukaOkorie.

It was, however, gathered that Mr. Okorie while in his residence, was accosted by the hoodlums with guns who forcefully took away his daughter and as they (hoodlums) left the compound, they dispossessed family members of their mobile phones.

A source close to the family said the victim was a

pupil of the Federal Government College, Okposi Nursery School in Ohaozara Local Government Area and that so far, the family was yet to ascert a i n the motive behind the kidnap.

Although, the motive of the kidnappers was not yet clear, Vanguard learnt that the family had established contact with kidnappers

who demanded N5 million ransom before the victim would be released.

The incident has been reported to Ebonyi State Police Divisional Headquarters, Obiozara for appropriate action.

Contacted, Ebonyi State Police Public Relations Officer Deputy Superintendent Sylvester Igbo, who said he was yet to be communicated on the development, assured the family and general public of police preparedness to combat crimes and criminality in the state.

sured that the state government would address their plight, urging them not to lose hope.

Sibeudu called on the international community to come to the aide of the state, saying the loss and level of devastation was beyond what the state and even the federal government could handle.

He said: What I have seen in Ogbaru is beyond what any state government or

2015: Igbo presidency will finally end the civil war—Kalu

BY PETER OKUTU

BAKALIKI— FORMER governor of Abia State, Dr Orji Uzor Kalu, weekend, reaffirmed his commitment to lead the crusade for the emergence of an Igbo President in 2015.

He stressed that until an Igbo emerged the next President of Nigeria, after Dr. Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, only then would it be said that the civil war fought about 42 years

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ago had ended.

Kalu, who spoke when he received the leadership of Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, South East zone, led by its National VicePresident, Comrade Chris Isiguzo, at his Igbere country-home, insisted that time had come for the rest of the geo-political zones to concede the Presidency to the Igbo as a matter of “right”, noting that anything short of that would amount to great injustice.

Customs impounds contraband worth N550m State, has impounded conAGOS—THE Federal Operations Unit of the Nigeria Customs Service Zone C, Owerri, Imos

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Warri South-West LG threatens to sue chevron over tenement rate

BY EMMAARUBI ARRI—AUTHOR ITIES of Warri SouthWest Local Government Area in Delta State have threatened to drag oil-major, Chevron Nigeria Limited to court over default in the remittance of the established 2012 tenement rate to the council coffers.

The council had in four separate letters addressed to the Managing Director of Chevron with copies sent to the appropriate quarters and signed by Head of Personnel Management and

even the federal government can handle. The flood and devastation it had caused are so enormous that the residents of the local government can no longer get to their homes and they have been camping along the road under canopies with their belongings. This is not good for human existence and that is why we need the assistance of the international community.”

the Treasurer to the council, Chief F. O. Amudo and Mr Monday Agbeyi respectively accused the company of corporate irresponsibility and non-compliance with statutory provisions.

He said: “You are requested to pay the tenement rate into the treasury of Warri South-West council within three days of receipt of this demand notice to avoid legal action being taken against your company,” warning that plans have been concluded with their legal team in case of non-compliance.

traband worth N500 million from the zone, which activities covered South-East and South-South geo-political zones of the country.

Disclosing this to newsmen was the Comptoroller of the Zone, Mohammed Biu, who said the command made 16 seizures, comprising various goods, which was unprecedented in the unit.

Comptroller Biu explained that the seized items were intercepted along Obollo-AforUmmuna, 9th Mole axis.

The items include cartoons of imported soaps, second hand clothings, vehicles and second hand tyres. Also impounded were 1X4ft. countainer of second hand clothings along Port Harcourt-Aba road and a 10-tyre truck filled with imported soaps and textile materials at Calabar.

Over 5,000 Kogi flood victims now refugees in Enugu

BY TONY EDIKE

NUGU—OVER 5000 people from five major communities of Elele, Ekanyi, Obale and Affa in Analo Ward of Ibaji Local Government Area of Kogi State are now seeking refuge in neighbouring Idah Local government of the state and Uzo-Uwani local government area of Enugu State after a devastating flood took over their homes between Friday and yester-

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day.

Most residents of Ekanyi, Obale and Affa succeeded in crossing over to the Enugu boundary communities of Ogrugu, Ojjor and Iggah in Uzo-Uwani council Saturday and yesterday, using wooden canoes through the Mabolo river, also known as Ofu, leaving their property which had been completely submerged by flood.

The reports also said the

people of Elele, Odobo, Nwajala and Ejule whose communities were submerged early last week, have all relocated to Idah town where they are now seeking refuge.

Many people from Odeke community in Ibaji council whose homes were also taken over by flood relocated to Iggah community in Enugu State between Saturday and yesterday.

14—Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

MEETING: From left— Chief Olayinka Ogunmekan, President Nigeria-Swedish Chamber of commerce; Mr. Sam Amuka, chairman of the occasion; and Mrs. Lola Shodipo sales manager of Briscoe Industrial Equipment at the Briscoe Industrial stand during the opening of Nigeria-Swedish Chamber of Commerce product exhibition at the Ikeja Country Club,weekend.

Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

Security vote tears FCT ministers apart

BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU

BUJA—STRONG in dications have emerged that all is not well between the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Administration, Senator Bala Mohammed and Minister of State for FCT, Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, over security vote.

Akinjide was absent at the conferment of national honour on Senator Bala Mohammed and at the three-day Good Governance Tour of the FCT Administration. Despite these pointers, her aide made efforts to conceal the cold war, saying Akinjide visited Bala after the grand reception at the official residence of the minister at Life Camp.

Vanguard investigation, however, revealed that the tension between both ministers may be connected with the manner the senior minister managed FCT’s security vote without involving the junior minister.

Insider speaks A source in FCTA told Vanguard that the junior minister was not in the picture of the administration’s security vote.

The source, who sought anonymity, said: “Akinjide is not happy with the way things are done here. She has even threatened to petition the Presidency if the situation persist.

“On one occasion, she argued that all ministers are members of the Federal Executive Council and the dichotomy between the senior and junior ministers are mere creation of the media.”

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Specifically, some of the staff working under the Minister of State have expressed displeasure over the silent face-off between Senator Bala and Oloye Akinjide, saying “when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”

Staff's experience One of the staff, who does not want his name in print, said: “To be frank with you, I am not comfortable with the recent face-off between the two ministers. Most of you will not know what

some of us have suffered in the past.

“Not too long ago, similar scenario played out during Dr. Aliyu Umar and Sen. John Akpanudoedehe. During that period of in-house fighting between them, our entire land request was KIV (Keep in View) by Modibbo, while our colleagues working with the minister got approval.

“A similar thing occurred during the era of Sen. Adamu Aliero and Mr.

Chuka Udom. We are dying in silence because when two elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.”

‘There's no fight' However, Special Assistant to the Minister on Media, Mr. Nosike Ogbuenyi, dismissed insinuations of a rift between both ministers, describing the relationship between them as normal.

Ogbuenyi said: “She travelled out of the country with the Minister of National Planning during the Good Governance Tour of the FCT to negotiate business investment for the development of Area Councils and satellite towns.

“There is no quarrel anywhere. The two of them are working harmoniously for the development of FCT.” Meanwhile, some of the participants at the Good Governance Tour of the FCT, who spoke to Vanguard, claimed that the Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, was part of the tour, describing the foreign trip as figment of Ogbuenyi’s imagination.

Airforce under-funded— Reps

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

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BUJA—MEMBERS of the House of Representatives Committee on Airforce, yesterday, raised an alarm that the Nigeria Airforce was grossly underfunded as only N1.8 billion of the N5 billion allocated to it in the 2012 budget had been released at the close of the third quarter.

The Reps had argued that despite the fact that the Airforce maintained all the aircraft in its fleet locally, the Federal Government still

released less than half of its annual budget.

Chairman, House Committee on Air Force, Kenneth Archibong, made this disclosure, weekend.

Archibong, however, praised the financial prudence of the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal M.D. Umar, in the running of the Airforce. He explained that the Airforce was currently under-funded to maintain its personnel and equipment, a situation that has prompted the Green Chamber to push for more allocation in the 2013 budget.

He said: “From the spreadsheet we have on budget implementation, the releases are poor but despite the poor releases, what we saw on ground was quite encouraging.

“The envelope (Airforce budget) is about N5 billion and what they had as at the third quarter was N1.8 billion. We are hoping that at the next release, the Federal Government will do more because time is of essence and these equipment are very technical and have to be maintained.”

Akinjide tasks Nigerians on unity

BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU BUJA—AS Nigerians mark the country’s 52nd independence anniversary today, the Minister of State for Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide, has

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urged Nigerians to remain committed to the country’s unity and progress.

Akinjide, in an independence message to Nigerians and residents of the Federal Capital Territory, said: “The last 13 years of unbroken democracy in the country

has given Nigerians fresh hope for a more flourishing and prosperous future.

“The transformation agenda of the present Administration is on the right track and would guarantee Nigeria’s future and prosperity.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012—15

16 — Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012 THERE must be something great about Nigeria. Or there should be a uniqueness about Nigeria that makes it defy predictions about its pendulous greatness or the immensity of its proclivities for fumbling.

Nigeria’s greatness has descended to triteness. Pretences that Nigeria is “something” have deflated the boundaries of decency Signs of the unstable health of our federeven for the most permissive optimists. ation are evident. Agitations for more libFrom high hopes of relevance, Nigeria has erties, to afford the people a say in how spent its 52 years swamped by leaderships they live, is one of the strongest pointers to that marked their time and departed. the dissatisfaction with Nigeria. Out-ofWe are a country that easily relapses to power politicians may be instigating the living in its “glorious past”, not that the past process for their benefit, but the fact rehad momentous foundations for Nigeria, mains that more robust debates about the but low as the standards might have been, future structure of Nigeria are important. they still exceeded today’s boisterous govWill the constitutional amendments adernments that lead by words. dress the vacuums? Nigerians should grab Nigeria is sliding off the global radar in a the opportunity to see that happen. The 52nd way that demands emergency measures to independence anniversary calls for a sore-focus it. Gleeful bouts of government ber review of how to make the country policies paint a different picture. We con- work better. The authorities could deceive found the simplest matters about our exist- themselves with flowery speeches that list ence and ignore more complicated issues, their achievements, the most important, acsometimes postponing them to a time too cording to them, being the unity of the late to do anything about them. country. The truth lies elsewhere.

At 52, the search continues

Nigeria cannot make progress without leadership that provides direction. The wasted years resulted from running the country on ad hoc programmes. Governments’ grandiose pronouncements have never thought of the welfare of Nigerians as the essence of governments.

The wastes go beyond the immediate mismanagement of the country’s resources.

The consequences of today’s indecisions would haunt the country for years. The present has been misused. The future has been blurred by poor planning and in most cases no planning, making the rosy pictures that politicians paint of the country a mirage.

Our youth are ill-prepared for the demands of the quick-paced transition to the vast possibilities information technology provides. These do not bother our leaders who think that whoever gets into office should pull all the stops to look after himself and his panjandrums.

Nigeria would be ruined irredeemably, if promotion of leadership as authorised access to unrelenting looting of the commonwealth continues.

OPINION

BY EMMA FEJOKWU

HE birthday of any living being is usually significant as it is a day that marks the birth of such individual who in turn spiritually give thanks to his or her creator for being alive to witness another year added to his or her years. On the other hand, the day is also used to reflect on activities and achievements of such a person.

That is the case of a young and very amiable gentleman, a lawyer and a politician who today by the special grace of Almighty God is the special adviser to the Governor of Delta State, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, on legal matters.

This unassuming patriot, a Christian of the Catholic faith and who is humble to a fault, is Andrew Osernedua Odum.

As he clocked forty years recently, there is no doubt that Odum has carved a niche for himself not only in the law profession but in other areas of human endeavours.

His profound interpretation of the law, commitment to duty and the overall zeal to ensure success in spite of all odds, has singled out this great son of Onicha-Ugbo in Aniocha North Local Government Area of Delta State as an icon of repute. Odum in his continued zeal to take his immediate community to stardom politically contested election through the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, and won with landslide victory to emerge as Councillor

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Tribute to an icon representing Ward Two of Aniocha North Local Government Council Area.

During the period, his creativity and outstanding performance at the council went a long way in attracting meaningful socio-economic development to the entire ward and beyond. A distinguished personality, Odum's pronouncements centre on transparency both at government and in the cultivation of a competitive process in public procurement. His apostolic zeal at the delivery of the law both in private practice as a one time chairman of the Nigerian Bar Association Asaba Branch or as Secretary, Transition Committee of Aniocha North Local Government Council and now in government, lifts him to the level of an economic missionary and one that is concerned about a societal progress which is only achievable through openness.

At age 40, Barr. A.O. Odum, as he is often addressed among his colleagues, is not necessarily the regular Nigerian. He may not also qualify as the irregular; maybe the unusual Nigerian will be a better description. The regular Nigerian is the one interested in sustaining the ageold perception of the citizen as being representative of all things bad. Many of these border on how one man can

circumvent the rule to cheat on the other.

It borders on the so-called smartness which drives one to exceed the point where the right of others should start. They concern corruption, nepotism, greed, avarice and prebendal profiteering.

For the likes of Odum, those things add no value to life and its contents. A close look and investigation carried out by this writer on the person of Odum revealed without reservation that he has always raised qualitative points in his drives not just to fulfill a passion, but to belong to good side of history as the ultimate judge of men.

A one-time legal adviser to his party, the PDP, in Aniocha North Local Government Area, in the opinion of this writer, he is one Nigerian who has brought his vocation to bear on his calling to serve his father land.

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rom a humble beginning, Andrew d u m started his primary education at the Aniemeke Primary School ,Onicha-Ugbo, secondary at the St. Pius Grammar School also in Onicha-Ugbo and the University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, where he graduated LL.B (Hons), BL (Nigeria Law School) and obtained his LLM O

degree(University of Benin, Uniben) and rose to become member, General Council of Bar; member, planning committee(Bar leaders summit on the future of the MBA); member, Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (Nigeria); member International Bar Association, IBA; member, project steering committee on the establishment of the Delta State MultiDoor Court; member, Koko Free Trade Zone Programme Board, among other achievements.

This feat coupled with his exemplary character and unassuming posture has continued to yield positive results as Odum, in spite of his accumulated busy schedule, takes time off to harp on the need for youths to engage in meaningful ventures to better themselves and their immediate environment.

Odum, who is married to his beautiful wife Felicia Ngozi and blessed with four lovely children, has as his hobby singing, teaching and as a choir master, he conducts sacred music.

As he attains this age of 40, this writer joins his parents, sisters/brothers, relations, friends and well-wishers and, of course, political associates and legal colleagues in wishing him many happy, healthy and fruitful years ahead.

*Mr. Fejokwu, a media analyst, wrote from Asaba , Delta State.

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Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012—81

recent THE announcement by President Goodluck Jonathan that Lagos, the former capital of the country, will be given a special status is a welcome development, though belated. Better late than never, they say and I always concur.

According to the President, the metropolis is responsible for about 52 per cent of the nation’s economic and commercial interests. Majority of Nigeria’s non-oil revenues, especially through the Customs and the ports, as well as Value-Added Taxes, VAT, are derived from Lagos, which still maintains the designation as the nation’s economic capital.

A large chunk of the Federal Government’s holdings in terms of buildings and landed property were cornered by the high and mighty connected to the government of former President Olusegun Obasanjo through the drainpipe of its so-called monetisation and privatisation of government assets. This affected its estates in the Lagos Island/ Ikoyi axis. The Federal Government still controls so much land and so many institutions in the Apapa/Ojo axis that are not

Wishing our Dame Patience Jonathan quick recovery

Lagos special status

bridges infrastructure still serving the city, though poorly maintained. In fact, the Third Mainland Bridge, the nation’s longest bridge, a tourist attraction and one of the prides of the nation

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The new special status that the President Jonathan government plots for Lagos should be a partnership above politics, bearing in mind the economic and socio-political importance of Lagos to the country

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easily subject to privatisation.

Some can only be given out on closely-monitored concession due to their strategic importance to the economic and security interests of Nigeria. These include the many army, navy, air force, customs, immigrations, prisons, ports and related institutions.

Also, as the capital of Nigeria up till December 10, 1992, the bulk of funds realised from the oil boom of the 1970 and some of the Gulf War oil windfall of 1990/1991 were invested in Lagos, as evident in the massive road and flyover

of the French colonial masters when they were rejected by the people of Algeria and Sekou Tuore’s Guinea in their effort to convert their former colonies in Africa into “French Africa”. While willing countries like Senegal, Cote D’Ivoire, Cameroun, Gabon and others were rewarded with continued financial, technical, security and other supports, the French authorities looted and destroyed structures they had built in Guinea and Algeria, thus forcing these new countries to start from the scratch after independence.

Abdicated commitments: The Federal Government abdicated its commitments to Lagos when it moved to Abuja. The President Obasanjo regime gave as its condition for maintaining its facilities in the state, the electoral “capture” of Lagos. Obasanjo went as far as illegally withholding local council funds and creating Federal Roads Maintenance Agency, FERMA, militia specially to frustrate the Bola Tinubu regime’s capacity to run the state. After failing in their political ventures the ruling class simply went back to abandoning the state. Today, the worst parts of the state in terms of road and bridges maintenance are in the Apapa and Ojo areas because neither the federal nor state government is ready to show responsibility despite the revenue both sides get from these areas.

The new special status that the President Jonathan government plots for Lagos has not been spelt out. I suggest that it should be a partnership above politics, bearing in mind the economic and socio-political importance of Lagos to the country. There is no clan in the country that is not adequately represented in Lagos. That alone says a lot.

Lagos is a state. It is part of the South West. But it has never been, and will never be a tribal enclave, and must never be viewed by anyone in that light, and thereby denied its right to full attention by the Republic of Nigeria.

Happy Independence!

but not properly projected as such by governmental agencies charged with that responsibility, is a recent federal infrastructural investment (completed in 1994) compared to the flyovers built during the General Yakubu Gowon era.

Given these special attributes of Lagos as a former capital of Nigeria, its commercial capital and the custodian of the second largest amount of federal presence after Abuja, Lagos should never have been abandoned. It should not have taken so long for the federal

authorities to resume caring for Lagos because the “political expediencies” that necessitated the abandonment expired long ago. Let me spend a little time to analyse these “expediencies”.

Even though the plan to develop a new capital was originally conceived by Nigeria’s first ceremonial President, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who favoured the relocation of the capital to a virgin territory around the centre of Nigeria, the actual official selection of Abuja and preparations towards actualising the project came through the Justice Akinola Aguda Panel set up by the General Murtala Mohammed regime. Following the adoption of its recommendations, Decree Number 6 of 1976 was promulgated and the Federal Capital Development Authority, FCDA, set up.

Preparation of the 8,000- square kilometre city proceeded at a leisurely pace until certain events in 1990 and 1991 forced the regime of General Ibrahim Babangida to fast-track Abuja’s

development and “bolt” over there.

Lagos/Ibadan Axis Press Over time, the presence of the capital in Lagos had made the socalled “Lagos/ Ibadan Axis” of the Press a powerful weapon in the arsenal of the pro-Awoist anti-North political class. The North-controlled Federal Government had become very uncomfortable because the views of the Press and its supportive human rights and civil society activists and groups often triggered regime changes through coups or attempted coups. It made political protests and Labour/student unrests difficult to contain, and the Northern political establishment often found itself torn between being forced to make so many concessions to the West and mounting repressive measures to get its way.

The Orkar failed coup of April 1990 really rattled the Babangida government. The lucky incident of the Gulf War oil windfall of 1990/1991 brought in a lot of extra billions of dollars which Babangida spent largely on Abuja to enable him escape the harassment of Lagos.

Incidentally, that move assisted in no small measure in stabilising our democracy, as no serious coup plot has taken place ever since.

The attitude of abandonment of Lagos is almost akin to the attitude

OPINION

BY WALE BOLORUNDURO

Continued from Friday Viewpoint page S a matter of fact, the Oyinlola-led administration’s decision to take the term loan on the verge of its illegal second term in office is tantamount to financial recklessness with questionable intentions. For posterity sake, why should a government whose illegal tenure is less than 12 months obtain N18.3billion term loan of three years tenor? Anyway, PDP’s regime in the state was characterised by its lack-lustre attitude and cluelessness in governance.

In addition, the claim of expectation of over N2billion reimbursements from some capital projects, and refund of excess interest charges on some offshore facility, which he said were meant to cater for part liquidation of the term loan is funny and ridiculous. How on earth can any serious government base its expectation on extraordinary revenues? Moreover, one wonders if the structure of the referenced term loan took into cognisance those expected receivables as sources of repayment. As customary of PDP administration’s manner of financial squander in the state, the receivables would have also gone down the drain in usual style, had it been they came before the Oyinlola-led government was disgraced out of office. Afterall, the state also frittered away the bulk of excess crude oil revenue

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Osun PDP and the limits of denial (2) earned during PDP regime.

It is very important to let the world know that although the state plans to access money from the capital market, it has not taken any amount yet. As a matter of fact, his comment on the bond programme revealed knowledge gap about the dynamics of capital market. We are only accessing N30 billion. Although, we are planning for future needs of the state and anticipating increase in revenues by creating a future shelf or room of N60billion.

The approval we are processing is for N30 billion and that’s what the state’s revenues can carry for now. It is a disciplined process and approvals are not granted recklessly. One, therefore, wonders where he got the information that the state has issued N60 billion, 10 year bond at 15 per cent per annum. This is a frivolous allegation similar to the N25billion loan he alleged Governor Aregbesola has taken to help his fuzzy maths.

Osun’s only loan is N8.6 billion and it was used to offset the unreasonable loan Oyinlola took on crazy terms, period!

For your enlightenment, bond issuance programme is a rigorous and transparent exercise which requires a lot of documentation and scrutiny by various regulatory authorities such as Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Debt Management Office, DMO and Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, among others. The various advantages of

bond over bank facility and our administration’s transparency are, of course, the impetus for the proposed capital market borrowing. It is cheaper on the long run, interest rate is fixed and certain, and there is no exchange rate risk.

The promissory note facility mentioned in the publication is meant for spontaneous financing. This enables contractors to move to site without being mobilised based on negotiable instruments (promissory notes) issued to them by the state. This is possible based on the ingenuity and credibility of the current administration under the leadership of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. I think we should ask if the Oyinlola-led administration in the state had such level of initiative, integrity and enviable credit rating to attract such confidence and trust of contractors and investors. Records of unpaid contractors’ liabilities our administration inherited when we came on board exist for verification.

In summary, we will like our detractors to provide answers to questions to further justify their intentions on the referenced term loan.

Concluded •Mr. Bolorunduro is the Commissioner for Finance, Economic Planning and Budget in Osun State.

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NIGERIA, TWO YEARS TO CENTENARY:

The gains, losses and hopes of a Nation

*Taking charge: President Goodluck Jonathan being inaugurated on May 29, 2011

N just two years, it will be 100 years since Nigeria was created as a single amalgamated political entity by the British colonial adventurers. Today, as we celebrate our 52nd independence anniversary, we have our eyes more on the Centenary, because it offers us a great opportunity to assess our hundred years of gains, losses and hopes.

The gains: Of all the entities which the European colonial powers amalgamated all over the world, especially in Africa to further their colonial interests, Nigeria stood out in many ways.

She was the biggest nation populated exclusively by Black people on the face of the earth, with the largest population on the African continent.

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Sahelian ambience From the mangrove coast in the South to the Sahelian ambience of the North, Nigeria is wholly arable, and therefore able to support healthy populations year round almost evenly throughout its territory.

It is also blessed with enormous natural resources, including

petroleum, coal, bitumen, limestone, iron ore and so many other mineral deposits in commercial quantities. Its agricultural resources include palm produce, cocoa, groundnuts, timber, rubber and other forms of cash and food crops.

Before the advent of oil boom, Nigeria’s economic and political prospects were rated so

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By OCHEREOME NNANNA

some cultural groups, notably the Igbo, Ibibio, Ijaw, Tiv and Plateau groups had developed intricate forms of republican democracies which forbade expansionist imperialism while stiffly defending their own respective independence from invaders.

The amalgamation of 1914, which some now describe

Nigeria is looked upon as the leader of Black Africa; a role she has gallantly endeavoured to play. However, her many failings have always come in the way between her and Uhuru

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highly among the emerging Third World countries that she was categorised along with Brazil, India and South Africa.

Historically, even before the coming of the white man, Nigeria boasted prestigious empires, such as the Benin, Oyo, Sokoto Caliphate, Kanem-Borno and powerful coastal kingdoms at Bonny, Calabar, Lagos and others; all of which had established treaties and diplomatic ties with world powers out there. Apart from the monarchies,

as a “mistake” created a model with the potentials to put a black nation among the frontrunners of world political economy.

In addition to its large population, the quality of human resources found in the country was second to none. In fact, the three largest ethnic groups – the Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba, each had enough population to compete for the top five of Africa’s largest linguistic groupings.

Nigeria was also one of the first to catch the bug of independence.

Through the efforts of Nigeria’s father of independence, Dr Herbert Macaulay and Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, who shone the light for other Africanists such as Dr Kwame Nkrumah, Dr Julius Nyerere and even Dr Nelson Mandela to find their ways to remove their people from the clutches of colonial rule, Nigeria quickly moved, on gaining independence, to establish Africa as the centerpiece of her foreign policy.

She dedicated much of her efforts towards the struggle for freedom of southern African countries still in the grips of the colonialists, such as Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia, Angola, Malawi, Botswana and South Africa.

Regional security Nigeria contributed her troops and funds to help bring peace to war-torn African countries such as the Congo, Angola, Liberia, Sierra Leone, Cote D’Ivoire and Sudan, thus becoming a partner with the African Union, United Nations and the sole superpower, the USA, in the maintenance of regional security and stability. This is one of the reasons for which she has for long queued up for the

prime spot for a permanent seat in the United Nations should the decision be made to grant Africa a slot.

Nigeria is looked upon as the leader of Black Africa; a role she has gallantly endeavoured to play. However, her many failings have always come in the way between her and Uhuru.

The losses: Wherever countries have managed to achieve unity in diversity, their greatness in the wider world arena is almost always assured.

This is because every group within the nation submerges its individual interests to that of the nation and act as one people towards the realisation of grander national objectives.

Therein lays the power of diversity. And that is the ingredient that is boldly lacking in the Nigerian experiment, which accounts for the huge losses she has experienced since: (a) the country was amalgamated in 1914, and (b) Nigeria got her independence in 1960.

The British colonial adventurers sowed the seed of discord, not necessarily because they meant to ensure Nigeria did not work but more for their own self-interest of administering the vast colony at minimal cost and maximum gain.

Minimum cost and maximum gain For decades after amalgamation, the Southern and Northern Protectorates were administered differently, with Indirect Rule in the North and Direct Rule in the South. While the North was allowed to preserve its Islamic values with cautious adoption of Western education and values, the South embraced Western education and values on a massive scale, and became the front from which the drive towards independence was ignited.

The colonialists reacted to the slow pace of push for independence in the North with many geopolitical favours, while the Southern Regions (East and West) suffered many disadvantages, including census and electoral c o n s t i t u e n c y configuration that ensured the North would always win elections.

It was with these serial clashes of values and perception of injustice visà-vis one another that the Continues on page 86

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012—85

We must fix security, education and power — Rep Odedo and I believe we need an alternative or a very good opposition to make sure that things are done differently because the purpose of government is for the welfare of the people and without improving the welfare of the people, it means you have not done it right. You cannot be doing the same thing and be expecting a different result. So, my view is that I am really very happy where I am and I will continue to be there and that is the ACN. His impact on his constituency so far

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

Hon. Chiwendu Charles Odedo represents Idemili North and South Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives on the banner of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN). He sees security, education and power as crucial challenges that must be surmounted urgently.

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n the need for Nigeria to appeal the ICJ judgment ceding Bakassi to Cameroun before October 10 My take on the issue is really different from that of most people because the Bakassi judgment is the judgment of the World Court and we entered into it voluntarily. We signed up to it before the process and the final judgment. If we are not happy with the judgment we have an avenue for appeal and timing of the appeal will soon elapse. If don’t like the judgment we can explore that option for the court to review the judgment and of course in doing so, we have also need to do like a plebiscite. Use the result of the plebiscite to show that the people of Bakassi really want to be in Nigeria that

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*Rep Odedo

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IS take on Nigeria at 52 A whole lot of things needs to be put right, but the most important one is the security situation of this country because there cannot be development without peace. So, we need to tackle the security challenges of this country so that the atmosphere will be conducive for the development.

Coupled with the issue of power which is a very big concern because it led to the high level of poverty, unemployment and as we all know all those things will improve if we have a constant power supply in the country.

The former Minister of Power, Prof Barth Nnaji just resigned about a month ago and some of us outside the industry see it as a set back to the power industry and I think the Executive could have managed the crisis that resulted to his resignation so that the little hope that Nigerians see in the slow and steady improvement in power will be maintained. Well, we just hope that it continues because it is going to help us a lot. Education, Security and Power are the three most important areas will spread out to other areas.

And as I have said power will give rise to employment generation which would play a major role in boosting the economy, the industries and the commerce.

His stand on the agitation for State Police My view on the creation of the state police is that we should approach it cautiously. As much as I support that view I think we should amend the constitution to give flexibility to the experiment. What I mean is while retaining the Nigerian Police Force (NPF), we should amend the constitution in such a way that even as a pilot scheme we can start the state police in say five states and run it side by side with the Nigerian Police Force because a lot of people are afraid that the state police would be abused by some state governors and that is why they are against it. I think that the best approach is to try something different because the present security situation demands some kind of creative solutions.

A whole lot of things needs to be put right, but the most important one is the security situation of this country because there cannot be development without peace

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is documentary evidence with an appeal for a review. And in the final analysis whatever is the decision of the court I want the country to obey it whether it is for or against us because we have gone there to voluntarily submit ourselves to the process and we cannot reject the process because we don’t like the judgment. Cameroonians also submitted themselves to the process and what ever is the outcome, the government should accept it.

On Reps plan to impeach President Goodluck Jonathan The fact that there was suggestion by the House Minority Leader, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, that if by September the budget implementation does not improve, that the House will draft article of impeachment does not amount to a resolution.The President seems to be as concerned as the House on this budget implementation and therefore I urge the President to take action against any Minister or Head of parastatals that is found wanting on budget implementation. I believe that there is no need to talk about impeachment of the president at this time.

On speculations that he might return to his former party, PDP Well, I think this is funny.When I won the election and got to Abuja, many people were saying that there is this rumour that I am going to return to PDP. I don’t think there is any need for me to return to PDP because PDP has been in control of the Federal Government for 13 years and this country has not improved

have always admired the politicians that do a lot of infrastructural development. I believe in human empowerment because it is more important than any other empowerment.

In other words, as Nigeria is decaying, the roads are bad, the hospitals are not working fine, and the most terrible thing to lose is the mind.

So I believe that people should be empowered alongside the development of the infrastructure, in terms of education, in terms of training them, helping them with jobs, assisting them with cash to expand their businesses and other means that would alleviate poverty in their lives. Although, before I joined politics, I have started assisting my people.So the benefit of human empowerment is what I have seen even before I joined politics. So, I stick with that and I do it on yearly basis.

I have impacted on many lives. For example, I have given so many people cars and some of them use it for transportation business which they use in feeding their family and even their extended family members.

Of course, it is not easy but I think that creating a more conducive environment is important in Nigeria so that businesses can expand and boom to enable the private sector employ more people.

His assessment of Mr. Peter Obi as governor of Anambra State I think the governor has done very well. The reason I said so is because he has a unique approach to development.

He does not have like one point, three point or seven point agenda. He comes with all sectors agenda. As much as he has not handled the very big things like an airport or creating a mega city, he has been able to do a lot of the small things.

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or example, the schools, he has renovated and equipped so many of them. He has also done a lot of roads projects and others. But the most important achievement as far as I am concerned is his discipline, he lives by example and he has discouraged the politics of godfatherism and a lot of politicians moving around doing nothing. So, his lifestyle is simple and he has come across as an honest, disciplined person.

So, I think he has done very well but when there is success without a successor all he has done will come to nothing. So he needs to be careful in handling who is going to succeed him.

Meanwhile, I learnt that he is trying to zone it and zoning may not produce the best. However, zoning is a principle that needs to be discussed by all concerned and agreed. As long as that has not been done and you are trying to introduce it half way it is going to cause a lot of problem. So, the best man for Anambra State should emerge and continue from this legacy that Obi has started.

86 — Vanguard,

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

The gains, losses and hopes of a Nation Continues from page 84

East, West and North went into unhealthy rivalries; each fighting to dominate the others while going into alliances with the sole purpose of undermining one another.

Besides, the Minorities embedded in each of these Regions also wanted selfdetermination and freedom from what some of them saw as “internal colonisation” by the Majorities.

They commenced internecine struggles that often had them joining up with the rivals of their own local Majorities to undermine them for selfish gain.

This is the summary of the causative factors defining the apparently unending crises, wars and mini-wars and bloodletting, which have gripped Nigeria in the throat from independence in 1960 to date.

The rivalries started in the political parties and later spread to the ranks of the military class when the first coup took place in January 1966, which was read to be an “Igbo coup” due to certain trends it took. Another coup came up in July the same year, which was equally dubbed a revenge “Northern coup”, thus setting the pace for the civil war and an attempt at secession by the breakaway Republic of Biafra.

Attempt at secession When the war ended with the defeat of Biafra and the Igbos sidelined from the mainstream of power, the coalition that fought “to keep Nigeria One” went at each other ’s throats for dominance. Some groups felt they led the war and must permanently call the shots of power. Others felt they also had the right to vie since without their effort the secession would have succeeded. The Minorities of the North felt their role during the war entitled them to princely treatment and status like their Majority fellow Northerners. The upshot was a series of coups, counter-coups and failed coups that bedeviled the nation between 1970 and 1995.

However, a watershed was reached when Chief Moshood Abiola won a presidential election on June 12 1993 – the first time ever a

southerner achieved that feat – in what was seen as the freest and fairest election in Nigeria. The military, in the grip of the northern elite, annulled the election and toppled the Interim Government to bury Abiola’s mandate.

It became the turn of the Yorubas to fight against injustice, which they did with every ounce of determination at their disposal through the National Democratic

Ijaw youth gathered at Kaiama in Bayelsa State and issued a declaration for “self-determination” and thus started a militancy campaign which nearly brought the Nigerian economy to its knees.

However, following an amnesty deal offered by the government of the late President Umaru Yar ’ Adua, peace returned to the Niger Delta; even though a high level of

the economy of the north and sent thousands of innocent Nigerians to their early graves through their orchestrated suicide bombings and gun attacks, even in places of worship.

But the Nigerian security forces have swooped on them and the signs are beginning to emerge that there is light at the end of the tunnel.

The hopes: Nigeria has gone through the blacksmith’s forge. Way back in 2009, predictions emerged from a report submitted to the US Congress committee on Foreign Affairs by diplomat and expert on African affairs, Mr. John Negroponte that Nigeria could disintegrate by 2015. Some say the activities of Boko Haram might bring this prediction to pass. Others are of the firm view that since Nigeria could not break up in 1966 – 1970 and after all that she has gone through the country has become unbreakable.

Symbiotic relationships

*In the beginning: Queen Elizabeth (II) and Prime Minister Tafawa Balewa at the Independence ceremony on October 1, 1960 Coalition (NADECO) between 1994 and 1998.

Power was ceded to the West, and General Olusegun Obasanjo, who was in jail for alleged complicity in a coup plot against the regime General Sani Abacha, was released and empowered to rule again, this time as an elected president.

The Minorities have also fought their own protest wars. The most poignant has been the uprising in the Niger Delta against the exploitation and despoliation of their environment by oil giants with an insensitive Nigerian state seen as coculprits. The uprising of the Ogoni ended in murders of a section of their elite, while the state arrested the factional leaders of the Movement for the Survival of Ogoni people (MOSOP) led by Ken Saro-Wiwa and hanged them on November 10th 1995. A couple of years later the

violent crimes are still going on in the Niger Delta and its immediate surrounding states.

Oil has brought Nigeria stupendous wealth valued at nearly $500 billion since 1958. But rather than become a catalyst for rapid development, it has unleashed a curse blamed for the civil war, runaway corruption, indolence of the elite and high poverty rate among the common people. It has reduced Nigeria to a net importer of every need, including goods that used to be produced in Nigeria and exported.

Resultant poverty Misrule and its resultant poverty are blamed for the rise of religious extremists in Northern Nigeria known as Boko Haram. Linked to international Islamic Jihadist group, Al Qaeda, Boko Haram has crippled

Perhaps, Nigerians themselves underestimate the quiet, offpolitics symbiotic relationships that have evolved over the past 98 years and beyond, which bespeak of the people’s preference to stay together under wellnegotiated terms and conditions that will remove injustice, domination and corruption.

Nigeria has indeed changed a lot in the past 13years since the return of unbroken democracy – the longest unbroken run.

For the first time in her history, two presidents have been elected from the South and one from the North.

The era of power belonging to one section is now over. With a Minority person elected president in 2011 in a mandate given by the electorate from across the board, hope is rekindled that Nigeria is outgrowing her postcolonial teething problems. The journey to Uhuru is still a long one, but many good things hitherto thought impossible are now happening. If Nigeria is able to successfully create states in the ongoing constitution amendment, she would have crossed a major hurdle that will assure that anything else can be solved through

constitutional means rather than violence, wars and threats of disintegration.

The economic front is also very promising. The national goal of making Nigeria one of the 20th largest economies by 2020 was based on prognosis of foreignbased economic rating agencies such as Goldman Sachs way back in 2004. It has now become the Nigerian vision, even though the drive towards achieving it has been rather inchoate. But that Nigeria is once again an emerging economy is in no doubt. There are now talks of a BRINCS of the near future (Brazil, Russia, India, Nigeria, China and South Africa).

Perhaps, for the first time ever, a US President (Mr. Barack Obama) has taken public note of a rosy future unfolding before Nigeria on the economic front. Matters are helped by the fact that the economic team in the President Goodluck Jonathan cabinet is peopled by world renowned technocrats, such as Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Finance/ Economy) Dr Akinwunmi Adesina (Agriculture), Dr Olusegun Aganga (Investments), and Mrs. Stella Oduah (Aviation) and till recently, Professor Barth Nnaji (Power).

Security challenges There is hope that by the time Nigeria celebrates her Centenary in 2014, the security challenges of the nation, especially in the North, would have been largely overcome, and the “surprise” that President Jonathan promised recently would be there for all to see. A lot of governors are working very hard to develop their states and the rot left behind by the military is gradually being addressed.

The Nigeria once dreamed of might bounce back from the stupor of hopelessness to a glittering reality. When that time comes the world will rush to Nigeria to pick nuggets. They are already coming. But are Nigerians ready to play?

Or will they wake up one day to find out that “foreign investors” have re-colonised their economy and thus resort to another struggle against “foreign domination”? Time will tell.

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012—87 In 2014 Nigeria will be celebrating 100 years of her existence. The land mass in which Nigeria is located is a land flowing with milk and honey.

Many have looked at the progress made in desperation and have written off the country.

But many out there are seeing the Nigeria experiment as a land of great opportunity. The United States of America recently described Nigeria as the next economic success story.

Apart from its natu ral resources, Nigeria has a young and dynamic population made up of upwardly mobile middle class. It is this middle class that current serve as attraction to the international business community as attraction because of the huge market it represents.

Telecom operators

*Marina, Lagos:Epicentre of Nigeria's economic hub

Nigeria, World’s next economic giant E

FFECTIVE leader ship is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. Peter Drucker Peter Drucker the management expert in his book the practice of management wrote that “Innovation is the specific instrument of entrepreneurship, the act that endows resources with a new capacity to create wealth.

Management must always, in every decision and action, put economic performance first. It can only justify its existence and its authority by the economic results it produces. There may be great non-economic results: the happiness of the members of the enterprise, the contribution to the welfare or culture of the community, etc. Yet management has failed if it fails to produce economic results. It has failed if it does not supply goods and services desired by the consumer at a price the consumer is willing to pay. It has failed if it does not improve or at least maintain the wealth-producing capacity of the economic resources entrusted to it.

Apply this principle to the Nigeria nation; many have asserted that Nigeria is a failed state.

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By OMOH GABRIEL, Business Editor

Nigeria is a land of ample opportunity and immense possibility. In a fast changing and evolving world, where weaklings of yester years have become economic giants and the strong of yesterday are fading in economic glory and becoming weaklings Nigeria has a chance to make a difference

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This is far from the truth. Nigeria is a land of ample opportunity and immense possibility. In a fast changing and evolving world, where weaklings of yester years have become economic giant and the strong of yesterday are fading in economic glory and becoming weaklings Nigeria has a chance to make a difference.

That the United States is the leader today, economically and socially, does not mean it will remain so for ever. Twenty years ago no economist would have accepted any theory that postulates the emergence of China India and Brazil as economic power houses.

Today China is the second largest economy in the world beating United Kingdom, Japan, France, Germany and Italy. According to the United Nations economic data the global economy Gross Domestic Product as at

2010 was $62.6 trillion. Of this the United States of America account for $14.447 trillion as the largest economy in the world. It is followed by China with a GDP of $5.739 trillion making it the second largest economy.

Japan the third largest has $5.458 trillion GDP. Germany which is fourth has a GDP of $3.280 trillion while France the fifth has $2.559 trillion GDP. Britain which dominated the world for decade as the economy to beat is now a distant 6th economy in the committee of nations. Nigeria is occupying 47th position with a GDP of $238.920 billion.

This shows that from the peak there is only one easy way to go: downwards. It always requires twice as much effort and skill to stay up as it did to climb up. In other words, there is real danger today that in retrospect the United States of 1950

may come to look like the Great Britain of 1880— doomed to decline for lack of vision and lack of effort.

Going by the current trend and projection by 2020 there will be a major shift in the global balance of economic power compared to 2010.

Emerging economies will rise in importance and China would have overtaken the USA to lead the list of the world’s top 10 largest economies by GDP measured in PPP terms.

Consumer markets Consumer markets in emerging economies will present enormous opportunities but their rapid growth poses a challenge to the global environment. Early this year Japan confirmed that China’s economy surpassed its own as the world’s second largest in 2010. In the nominal GDP method, it can seen that the developed world leads the pack, but that China has already broken into this exclusive club, and is now the second largest economy in the world by both measures.

Come 2014, the geographical expression called Nigeria will be 100 years old. The Northern and Southern protectorates were amalgamated

by Lord Lugard in 1914.

The experience of the telecom operators in Nigeria bears this out clearly. It is for Nigeria to put its act together and get it right. Nigeria’s economy has been growing at 6-7 per cent in the last few years without regular supply of power, when eventually the country gets the power equation right, the economy will frog leap.

President Barack Obama himself declared Nigeria as the world’s next economic success story, stressing that this was one of the major reason his government was committed to helping the country build strong democratic institutions and remove constraints to trade and investment through the African Growth and Opportunity Act. Making this declaration at the US-Nigeria Trade and Investment Forum, an event organised by the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDOA) in Washington DC, Obama who was represented by Ambassador Eunice Reddick, said that his country expanded opportunities for Nigeria to effectively access markets and diversify its economy beyond a narrow reliance on natural resources. “As we support these efforts, the Diaspora can play an important role in contributing to a strong, vibrant and economically prosperous Nigeria” he noted.

In his own view US Department of State Director of West African Affairs, Ambassador Eunice Reddick, in a keynote address to Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation of the America conference Continues on page 88

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

Nigeria, World’s next economic giant Continued from page 87

revealed that Nigeria’s bilateral trade with the U S in 2011 stood at $38.5 billion up by nearly 12 per cent from 2010.US exports to Nigeria, primarily wheat, vehicles and refined petroleum products valued at 4.8 billion dollars in 2011, an 18 per cent increase from 2010 figure.

She declared that America believes that Nigeria could be the world’s next major economic success story, “that is why according to her, the United States is committed to helping Nigeria build institutions, remove constraints to trade and investment through the African Growth and Opportunity Act, expand opportunities for Nigeria to effectively access its neighbour’s markets and diversify its economy beyond a narrow reliance on natural resources.”We are also working to strengthen Nigeria’s agricultural sector, which employs nearly 70per cent of the country’s population by encouraging improvements to infrastructure that would facilitate agricultural growth, liberalising trade policies to foster regional trade reforming the customs system to bring it in line with global best practices and encouraging policy reforms to enable private investment in agriculture.”

Largest economies It is not only the US government that is seeing the great possibilities in Nigeria. In 2004, Goldman Sach said that Nigeria will emerge one of the 20 largest economies of the world in 2025. This was the basis of Nigeria’s vision 20-2020 by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, He said 2025 was too far and could be fast tracked to 20:2020.

In a recent presentation on Nigeria’s Debt Capital Markets, Richard Fox, Fitch Rating’s Head of Africa/Middle East sovereigns, had compared Nigeria’s current sovereign debt metrics to those of Emerging Markets (EMs) that have recently made the transition to investment grade (IG) and came to the conclusion that Nigeria is on the path of success. Are you taken aback? Just wait and hear him. He said: “Since 2004, seven EMs have moved up the rating scale from Nigeria’s current ‘BB-’ level to the lowest investment grade ‘BBB-’ rating. The most

recent was Indonesia in 2011; the others are Azerbaijan (2010), Brazil (2008) and Bulgaria, Kazakhstan, Romania and Russia (2004). Of the seven, four are oil producers to varying degrees. The three notch upward movement has typically taken between six and eight years, which makes it a plausible ambition for Nigeria in the context of its Vision 2020.

“Among the key indicators that Fitch uses to assess sovereign creditworthiness, three stand out as being well outside the range of experience of recent newly IG EMs: per capita GDP, reserve cover and governance (the latter measured by the World Bank’s governance indicators). These areas represent Nigeria’s

debt ratio which, despite creeping up, at a little under 20 per cent of GDP, is lower than the 26 per cent average for newly IG sovereigns. Nigeria’s ability to finance itself domestically, in its relatively well developed domestic capital market, is also a major strength compared to many newly IG sovereigns.”

This is a prompting to the international community to look beyond what is happening now in Nigeria to massively invest in the opportunities available in the country. Already China accused of only interested in Africa’s natural resources is taking the lead. It is investing in Nigeria. But beyond the construction and buying of crude Nigeria should

from the traditional model. Today the global climate change is having adverse effect on the economy. The north which was regarded as arid zone has experienced heavy down pour this year while area like Lagos have seen scanty rainfall. Climate change will need to be handled with new methods and differently.

The focus areas are on good governance, infrastructure and human capital development with the expected outcome of the jobs creation, better resource management, elimination of corruption and sustained economic development. The World Bank’s Doing Business Index of 2012 ranked Nigeria as 133rd out of 183 countries on the basis of

and since then Nigeria has had no development plan or short term development strategy. The fourth Nigeria needs to return very quickly to development planning if it is to tap into the vision many are seeing for it.

If the fourth development plan that was jettisoned was religiously implemented, Nigeria would be singing songs of freedom today. In that plan, the framers said “Since the fourth national development plan is only one in the series of medium term plans intended to transform the Nigeria economy and society over time, its basic objectives are naturally broadly similar to those of its immediate predecessors. What ever changes there are would be no more than a reflection of the lessons of experience derived in the implementation of the preceding plans”.

Specific objectives

*Nigeria's Apapa seaport biggest challenge to improving its “Nigeria’s stable and robust GDP growth of more than 7 per cent since 2009 compares well with the record of newly IG sovereigns and is even more creditable given its reliance on the non-oil sector.

However, structural reforms planned in the electricity, oil and agriculture sectors, will be crucial if growth is to be diversified and sustained closer to double digits, in order to close the large gap in per capita income. Even with a likely substantial increase in nominal GDP this year due to the rebasing of the national accounts, Nigeria’s per capita GDP will still be outside the range enjoyed by the newly IG countries when they became IG. “Nigeria’s inflation rate is also still on the high side – in low double digits- compared to an average of 7.5 per cent for newly IG sovereigns and a range of five per cent to 12 per cent. By contrast, Nigeria scores much better on the government

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88— Vanguard,

It is not only the US government that is seeing the great possibilities in Nigeria. In 2004, Goldman Sach said that Nigeria will emerge one of the 20 largest economies of the world in 2025. This was the basis of Nigeria’s vision 20-2020 by the then President Olusegun Obasanjo, He said 2025 was too far and could be fast tracked to 20:2020

engage China to invest in manufacturing here just as many companies in Europe, Asia and America cited their plants in China and today China is an economic success story.

If the goals of this administration’s transformation agenda are to have strong, inclusive non-inflationary growth, to generate employment and alleviate poverty and to achieve value reorientation Nigeria must begin to take advantage of this positive disposition. Nigeria must look beyond contract of road construction and encourage partnership with China to develop agriculture away

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the constraints encountered in starting a business, dealing with construction permits and registration of property and enforcement of contracts. It also identified differences in state regulations and in the enforcement of national regulations that can enhance or constrain local business activity.

Nigeria was on the path of greatness at independence. It evolved development plan which saw major development in the country at the early stages of the nation’s development. The first, second and third plans were executed but the fourth was abandoned

The over riding aim of any development is an improvement in the living conditions of the people using the resources, human and material, with which the country is endowed. It is around this principal goal that the specific objectives of Nigeria’s development efforts were woven.

The nations set objectives in the 3rd National development were what the country is clamouring for today. It envisaged increase in real income of the average Nigerian; more even distribution of income among individuals and social economic groups in the country; reduction in the level of unemployment; increase in the supply of high level man power; reduction of the dependence of the economy on a narrow range of activities; balanced development – the achievement of better balance in the development of the different sectors of the economy and various geographical areas of the country; increased participation by Nigerians in the ownership and management of the productive enterprises; greater self reliance that is increased dependence on internal resources in seeking to achieve the various objective of society. This implies increased efforts to achieve optimum utilization of Nigeria’s human and material resources; development of technology; Continues on page 90

MONDAY Vanguard , OCTOBER 1 , 2012 — 89

C M Y K

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

Nigeria is a country, not a nation — Akinjide •‘Human factor has robbed us of progress’

By JIDE AJANI

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IGERIA is just two years away from becoming a 100years post amalgamation.

Yet, when the United States of America, USA, celebrated her second centenary in 1976, the escapist wisdom dominant in Nigeria at that time was simply that Nigeria was merely 37years as an independent nation. Today, that excuse no longer suffices because by the time America was two years from its first centenary, it had wrought many wonders. What wisdom has Nigeria wrought? The new wisdom is about Nigeria becoming one of the greatest 20 economies of the world by 2020. A tall dream! In this interview with Chief Richard Osuolale Abimbola Akinjide, CON, SAN, FCI Arb. FCE, reflects on Nigeria, two years from its centenary post amalgamation. Excerpts: The things he sees of Nigeria two years before its centenary as an amalgamated body?

Some times success, some times disappointment.

I do not want to make a judgment of which one is bigger than the other. But something over which I have no doubt is that Nigeria should have been a bigger and better country than what we are today.

At independence Nigeria was far better than Singapore and Malaysia and a number of other countries of the world; but today, Nigeria is not what it should be and I think the problem is human; it’s a human problem. It is not a question of resources because we’ve got enor-

mous resources – is it cocoa, groundnut, oil and gas, rubber? We’ve got everything.

The critical factor is what do you make of what you produce and what do you make of the proceeds of what you produce? Look at Sierra Leone, it was founded before Australia and Switzerland but look at these two Western countries and look at where Sierra Leone is our African neighbour is one of the worst in the world.

If you look at geopolitics globally the most advanced countries are America, Europe, China, Russia, Japan and those next to them are India, middle East and the Latin American countries and the most backward is the

*Akinjide

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90— Vanguard,

At independence Nigeria was far better than Singapore and Malaysia and a number of other countries of the world; but today, Nigeria is not what it should be and I think the problem is human

African continent.

Is it a black thing? Is it because we are blacks?

It has nothing to do with race because if you look at the United States you would discover that some of those who are also making advancement in science and technology and other spheres, you have blacks among them. Why has Singapore which was backward at our own time of independence become

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very developed and we have not? You know the answer: humans.

When the problem started At the time of independence, Nigeria was very advanced. I entered politics when I became a lawyer at the age of 24 and at 26 I had entered parliament.

Then we had the quality of leadership that we have failed to put up again and when the mil-

Nigeria, World’s next economic giant Continued from page 88

reduction in rural urban migration; the promotion of a new national orientation conducive to greater discipline, better attitude to work and cleaner environment.

The main trust of Nigeria’s strategy during this period was in the direction of increased self reliance and considerable reduction of its dependence on the external sector in general and the petroleum sector in particular. If these objectives were rigorously pursued

Nigeria would not be playing a catch up game in the global economy.

Nigeria needs to return to its roots, plan, strategise and push to become relevant in the eyes of other nations.

This will require greater sacrifices especially in terms of established consumptions habits if resources are to be freed for pressing development needs. There will be no room for subsidy. It must free resources for development. This strategy will demand a greater spirit of innovations, hard

work, and greater utilization of domestic resources and in particular, the involvement of the masses especially at the local level in the development process. A conscious effort must be made to mobilize the Nigeria masses—the entire Nigeria population for the implementation of the new Nigeria vision. If China could successfully mobilise its populace to achieve the second largest economy position out of obscurity, yes Nigeria can. Nigeria and China has certain things in com-

mon, a growing population, an emerging middle class that constitute a huge market for industrial products, a huge land mass. Yes, Nigeria can move into the league of top economies of the world. All that Nigeria needs is an effective leadership.

Like Peter Drucker said “Effective leadership is not about making speeches or being liked; leadership is defined by results not attributes. Will President Goodluck Jonathan take Nigeria there?

itary intervened, things changed. If you look at natural resources, the continent of Africa has the most but at the same time the most backward is the continent of Africa.

The most critical factor is the human being.

On the system of government and whether we have played by the rules?

No! We’ve not been playing by the rules. But don’t forget that the people playing the game and the rules with which they play the game are critical. When America became independent after a war with Britain, America emerged as the greatest country in the world.

Human element Why has Nigeria not emerged after independence with all our resources? It is the human element.

Look at India! After the end of the Second World War, about two years after, India became independent. Today, India is one of the very advanced countries in the world making ships, computers, space gadgets and the likes.

But for Nigeria, what have we made since then, little or nothing.

The problem is human and there can be no excuse because of the huge resources at our disposal.

Saying our problem is human appears escapist. There is a Continues on page 91

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012—91

Nigeria not a nation yet — Akinjide Continues from page 90

Nature of our humans That is the nature of our humans, though some people say you do not have to blame them. We seem to dwell too much on the tribe and where people come from rather than on the nation Nigeria.

Why shouldn’t we blame them?

It is because the way the British came in and amalgamated Nigeria was not for the interest of Nigerians but for British economic interests.

Between Lord Lugard and Lord Harcourt, Nigeria was caused to happen as a country but not as a nation.

Nigeria is yet to be a true nation but just a country. That is the reality.

*Akinjide

,

disconnect between those human beings of yesterdecades who helped develop Nigeria in the first few years after independence and those of today.

The leadership at that time was of the highest standard and nobody will tell me that the quality of leadership that we have today is comparable.

Why? Look at Singapore and Malaysia. These are two of the most advanced countries in the world today and if you look at their leadership, they are first class.

Look at what we have in Africa with all the resources – and not just Nigeria but the whole of the continent.

There is no way you can divorce the human element from our problem. It is very critical.

On why we have faulty federalism The reason is because most Nigerians don’t put Nigeria, our country, first.

What has consistently happened is that people see themselves as coming from State ‘A’ or State ‘B’, or from Tribe ‘A; or from Tribe ‘B’ rather than see themselves as Nigerians. That is part of our problem. In fact, that is our major problem as a people and as a nation because the average American would not think of himself as any other thing first other than the fact that he is an American.

But in Nigeria, woe betide the average Igbo or Yoruba or Hausa or Ijaw who does not see himself first as a tribal jingoist before thinking of Nigeria.

The British did not want Nigerians to take charge fully and, therefore, at independence, we were left with three nations in one – Northern, Eastern and Western regions. These were nations on their own and after the amalgamation, rather than fuse them into one, the British kept them apart.

There are records now to show that the civil servants did not like the approach of Lugard in building Nigeria but Lugard never wanted their suggestions to hold sway because of the lessons learnt from India where Nehru and Gandhi took charge.

The British did not want Nigerians to take charge fully and, therefore, at independence, we were left with three nations in one – Northern, Eastern and Western regions.

These were nations on their own and after the amalgamation, rather than fuse them into one, the British kept them apart.

But we seem to be making progress what with all the data about GDP and growth in some sectors of the economy...

Twenty years ago, Nigeria was still thinking seriously about producing her own cars and had put in place, the seed of the infrastructure required to do so. Today we are not even capable of properly repairing the

,

cars we import.

We may find solace manipulating global economic data to paint beautiful economic tomorrows.

We may console ourselves telling the world how great we shall be in 2020 in the hope that this will make us forget how tiny our achievements so far have been. We are only deceiving ourselves.

The real measure of social and economic progress goes much deeper than growth rate, international ranking, oil production level or volume of foreign reserves. What matters is not that Nigeria becomes the 20th largest world economy in some years in the future; what matters is that poverty recedes, that roads are properly maintained and that clean water, electricity, health care and education are as widespread as possible.

Let us stop misleading ourselves with global data which do not measure authentic development. Let us stop looking at our economic activity like a traveler ob-

serves a city from high up on a mountain, forgetting all the details and only considering the global machinery which produces income, revenue and expenses without any attempt to identify the source of this wealth.

Such prosperous countries as Japan or Israel, which are totally deprived of natural resources, are living examples of the fact that there is only one source of wealth - that of their men and women.

A few years ago, an illuminating World Bank report titled ‘Where is the wealth of nations?

Measuring capital for the 21st century’ undertook to measure the wealth of 120 world nations in the year 2000.

Individual balance sheet To do so, the report sought to determine the relative importance in each country’s individual balance sheet of the three categories of capital a country might own: natural assets, produced and intangible assets.

Added together, these three categories make a country’s national wealth.

Natural assets are the natural resources, produced assets are the accumulated productive capital and intangible assets are a country’s human and institutional strength.

The conclusion of the report is that it is NOT a country’s tangible assets whether natural or produced; it is NOT a country ’s mineral re-

sources, agricultural land, forests, industrial equipment and infrastructure which make the country rich and prosperous. It is rather the country’s intangible assets, that is: One, the skills and know-how embodied in the labor force; two, the ability of a nation to efficiently invest the rent extracted from the exploitation of exhaustible resources; three, the mutual trust which exists among members of a society; four, their ability to work together for a common goal to which they strongly adhere and in which they firmly believe; five, the quality of formal and informal institutions; six, the saving and maintenance culture; seven, the extent to which citizens have confidence in the laws of the land and abide by them; and, eight, patriotism, that is, both the extent to which citizens trust and support their government and the extent to which government trusts and supports citizens.

Attainment of prosperity Therefore, intangible assets are the policies, actions, values and attitudes which cement a society, make it efficient and allow the attainment of prosperity.

To quote the World Bank: “Rich countries are largely rich because of the skills of their population and the quality of the institutions supporting economic activity”.

In the Nigerian situation, the conservatives have always had their way and the so called progressives have always lost out I don’t accept the idea of conservative and progressive. It is the language of the Nigerian media. Nigeria is a liberal society. There is no radical socialist in this country. When you talk about conservatives, you must put the nature of our society into consideration. You know we have a chieftaincy society. We have this system in the North and South. In the East where this system is absent, the British created the warrant chefs. So, you can not call some progressives or conservatives.

Some people have said Nigeria would implode; Continues on page 93

MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012

How successive govts ruined Nigeria — Junaid

By GBENGA OKE DR. Junaid Muhammed, a medical doctor, Convener, Coalition of Concerned Northern Politicians is a Second Republic member of the House of Representatives. He says at 52, Nigeria has nothing to celebrate because successive governments have failed the nation.

Excerpts

H

OW Nigeria has fared 52 years

after It is self evident that we have not fared well at all.

There are factors or indices you can look at and say whether or not the country has done well over a certain period of time. First and foremost, look at the way we were on October 1st, 1960, the poverty rate in Nigeria then was 53 per cent according to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund.

Now, 52 years after independence, the rate of poverty in Nigeria is between 70 and 90 percent.

If we use one dollar per head on daily basis, that is 73 to 75 percent, if you use the 2 dollars minimum, you will have beyond 90 percent. If personal well-being and sense of accomplishment and human development is a factor in any development effort, you will have to agree that Nigeria has not done well at all.

Secondly, a nation is judged not only by how wealthy it is but also how secured and stable it is.

Sense of belonging I need not to tell you that the Nigerian security is in shambles, why, because our government and government institutions are illegitimate, they are not the choice of the people. Every election in Nigeria from 1959 till date has been rigged, every Nigerian leader has come and gone through a cloud, the bulk of the last 52 years were spent under military rule and of which we had to fight meaningless civil war which costs over onemillion lives of Nigerians from 1967 to 1970.

In addition to that, the Nigerian elite have failed woefully to give this nation a sense of belonging and a sense of direction.

An average Nigerian

*Junaid today is far worse than in 1960 in terms of being each others keeper. In those days, when you meet a Nigerian and wherever you meet him, if you ask where he is from, he will tell you that he is a Nigerian.

But today, when you meet a Nigerian, he will tell you I am an Hausa, Yoruba, Itsekiri, Igbo or whatever. That to me is a fundamental failure that we have failed to infuse into Nigerian values, attitude and a habit of behaviour which will make the average Nigerian feel comfortable and extremely proud to be a Nigerian and be prepared for sacrifices for his fellow Nigerians. All these have been lost because our elites have been responsible, the desire for power either legitimate or otherwise has become the over-riding driver of politics and political attitude behaviour in Nigeria and no nation in this kind of situation can develop and without development, the nation cannot move forward.

Now speaking about governmental institutions, the political party system and the judiciary; the Nigerian politicians have been irresponsible to the core that they are worst than armed robbers and shameless. That idea

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92— Vanguard,

In those days, when you meet a Nigerian and wherever you meet him, if you ask where he is from, he will tell you that he is a Nigerian. But today, when you meet a Nigerian, he will tell you I am an Hausa, Yoruba, Itsekiri, Igbo or whatever. That to me is a fundamental failure

,

of being shameless is so profound that they can do anything, they can steal and asked people to be killed in the interest for politics and the people they attract into government agencies like INEC are also like that. With all these things happening, you can see that we are not set for nation building, we are not set for nationhood, and we are not ready to meet the re-development aspirations which every country in the world is doing in this 21st century.

Corruption in the judiciary The corruption in the judiciary today is abnormal. You hear of judges being given hundreds of million and billions and we know judges who have been involved.

Some of them have been sacked while some have

been forced to resign because of corruption. If the judiciary is lousy, incompetent or badly afflicted, nothing in the country will move forward and that is the situation Nigeria has found itself today. There can never be any progress as long as the Nigerian judiciary is what it is today.

I hope and have absolute confidence in the current new justice of Nigeria; I hope she will be able to do something. For her to do something there must be co-operation especially from the executive and the legislative arms because some of the laws must be re-defined. I do not know how we will go about this honestly but this country is in serious trouble. My belief is that normal people that are in trouble will admit they are in trouble and ask what they have done wrong. In the

case of Nigeria, nobody asks about that, once you get away with murder, you continue to behave as if murder is a normal state of affairs in your country.

Honestly to me, there is nothing to celebrate in this Independence.

China has its own independence in October, the same thing with Nigeria.

But if you look at the declaration of the Chinese independence in 1949 compared to our own situation in Nigeria, you will see clearly that China before independence was a much more poorer country, was more challenged in a number of areas than Nigeria. But today China is a world power, it is the second most powerful nation in the world and they cannot be compared to Nigeria in terms of anything.

If you look at other countries that also got independence in the 60’s, countries like Malaysia, Indonesia, Singapore and Brazil, they are less advantaged than Nigeria in terms endowment, today look at the way they are being regarded as medium powers.

Nigeria's absence Even in Africa today, nobody regards us and our own President was absent at the last meeting of the African Union, nobody noticed his absence, it was the Sudanese President who sorted out the issue of who will be the President of the Council of African Union because Nigeria was absent. So you can see that in every sector, there is nothing to be proud of in this country.

Where and when Nigeria started derailing Honestly, the situation started getting terrible with the tribal coup of 1966 and to be frank with it, it was an Igbo coup, led

by Igbo officers for reason which I am bound to conclude that because they had no way of coming into power on their own and they are not happy with the subordinate status of the NCNC then and they did not have the principle and a sense of virtue, so they conclude dthat if we can’t be in government on our own, let us withdraw from the government and be in opposition because the Action Group chose to Continues on page 93

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012—93

Where Nigeria missed the mark — Akinjide Continued from page 54

is that possible?

About a decade ago, a celebrated CIA study made the headlines prophesying the end of Nigeria by political explosion. Nigeria, the study speculated, will not be able to hold together for very long. She will burst open in several pieces which will then acquire independent lives of their own.

T

he cut-off date which the CIA study put forward for the Nigerian explosion still belongs to the future. So one is not yet in a position to confirm its predictive accuracy or otherwise.

But a careful observation

of our society suggests that the risk of political explosion might have now lost some of its earlier momentum. While no one should regard the CIA’s story as a zero-probability scenario, Nigeria’s political explosion might no longer constitute the most probable adversity awaiting us. Rather, one can find compelling reasons to argue that a social implosion, that is, a shrinking collapse as opposed to a burst open split, has now become a graver menace to the revival and prosperity of our society.

To make sure that I am well understood in my use of the word “implosion”, I have borrowed from an excellent title on astronomy

(The Expanding Universe

by Mark A. Garlick, Dorling Kindersley, London, 2002) this short quote: (He quotes this passage) “All stars burn in the same way throughout their lives. But when stars get older, they undergo some astonishing changes. For example, the Sun will eventually begin to die by first swelling up to become a stellar monster known as a red giant, which is many hundreds of times larger than a conventional star although much lighter.

This stage is followed by collapse and death, leaving behind a tiny corpse known as a white dwarf, which is a hun-

dred times smaller than a normal star”.

B

y analogy, an imploded society would be one which has socially and economically shrunk to a point of recurrent and generalized malfunction because a great deal of its vitality has evaporated as a result of an extensive degradation of its social values and economic capabilities.

One only needs to keep both eyes open to observe in one’s daily surrounding the multiplication of supporting evidences as well as the depth to which the disease has penetrated our society.

You seem sober; you do not appear to be your

boisterous self. Is it because of the nature of the questions or something is wrong?

You say I’m sober? Do you think I am? Or do you think it is the reflection on Nigeria and the backwardness that has eclipsed the nation? You be the judge.

Will Nigeria make it as a nation?

Nigeria has all the ingredients of greatness.

No cross, no crown.

Geography, good luck, history and enormous human and natural resources are all on our side. After the false start, Nigeria will emerge as one of the global stars with badges of honour.

Nigeria will make it. We will not fail.

Successive govts ruined Nigeria — Junaid be in opposition and they remained in opposition but the NCNC wanted to be involved in opposition and also be in government at the same time and it didn’t work.

So they went and in cited their fellow tribesmen in the Army and they carried out the coup and in carrying out the coup, they borrowed some useless terms about morality, about social justice or socialism or whatever it is and then killed their tribesmen officers and men of other tribes and of course sowing or aggravating the crises that led to the beginning of the civil war in May 1967.

Nation at war When a nation is at war, you don’t ask about policies, you are looking at what will make the nation win the war. Thereafter, instead of the military organising an election and handing over power, they now created what is called reconstruction, reconciliation to borrow time and remain in power. When they remained in power, they enjoyed it and they didn’t want to leave, Gowon said the date they put for themselves in 1975 was no more realistic, they wanted to remain in power forever but he was overthrown by more ambitious officers and Murtala Mohammed came into power and gave himself 3years, he was about to do that but other officers also now on basis of

religion staged a coup an killed Murtala Mohammed.

After that, Obasanjo came but he had to leave because Army was now divided and scared especially the officer corps.

When he left, politicians came but initially, election was not properly held and they handed over power to NPN. Shagari came but unfortunately his coming to power coincided with global crises, so by 1982, Nigeria was already in crises, we were in recession and the inflation was very high.

With that, the Army found another excuse to take over power but now delayed a little bit until after 1983 election which of course was rigged, then immediately after the 1983 election, they pounced on power and the rest was now history.

They decided now to come back again after Babangida tried his own tenure elongation and it did not work, so they had to handover power to the civilians.

Jail term for treason When that hap pened, Abiola chapter came in and went out; finally they had to go and bring Obasanjo from prison while serving jail term for treason and now rigged an election that made him President. In doing that, he did not care about the fate of the nation; he was more concerned in making himself President for life and the rest is now history. When he now eventually hand-

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Continued from page 92

If we have to practice democracy, we must have people that respect the rule of law, sincere and patriotic about Nigeria

*Junaid ed over power, he went to pick a man who was dying and very sick and he made Yar’Ádua president.

And of course, Yar’Adua died and in replacing him, they made Jonathan President. Jonathan is a man with no experience of governance or whatsoever, he was deputy chairman of Local government, he was deputy governor and his governor was removed in a very controversial manner to make way for him, then he became governor.

Thereafter, he was vicePresident and he is now President and also wants to go beyond the limit of the constitution and stay in office beyond two terms and rule the country forever.

And when Jonathan came into power, he brought some bad aides and examples of such is the crisis we are having in the oil sector now. We

,

have many ministers who are doing very badly in other areas and that is why we are in the present situation we are and I believe it is not a one term and one man affair, it has been entrenched beginning from the Igbo coup of 1966.

With the present situation facing the country now, what do you think needs to be done to bring Nigeria out of these problems?

If you want democra cy to be institutionalised in the country, it is not just by proclamation, you have to invite democrats to come and practice democracy. Democracy entails not only individuals and group behaviours; it entails also dealing with the people in a manner dictated by democracy which includes the wish and wishes of the people.

In Nigeria since 1999, we have had the bad habit of electing, people who are

not democrats, who have no democratic spirits. We also have the bad habit of bringing to power personalities that are corrupt, irresponsible and unpatriotic. If we have to practice democracy, we must have people that respect the rule of law, sincere and patriotic about Nigeria.

We must also have leaders who will work above and beyond tribal or religious sentiments or identity, people who will realise that Nigeria is Nigeria and that the only way we can survive and prosper and live in peace is to agree that Nigeria is the only place we have.

Real and true democracy For all I care, we have to work towards real and true democracy. People continue giving excuses that because we are a multi-lingual country, we cannot live as one nation, it is nonsense.

Every country in the world has different languages and when you have problems of this nature, you handle it in a very statesman like manner. When you have people like Obasanjo presiding over a party from the very beginning is not a democratic party, then you have a very serious problems.

When you also have people with less experience as President or when you have ministers who have less knowledge about what governance is all about, you can see there can be no meaningful democracy.

94 —

C M Y K

MONDAY Vanguard, OCTOBER 1, 2012

Vanguard, MONDAY, OCTOBER 1, 2012 — 95

Flamingoes very fast, dynamic —Colombian coach FTER seeing his girl lose 3-0 to Nigeria in a final Group A game at the ongoing FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup in Azerbaijan, Colombian coach Felipe Taborda has described the Flaimingoes as a very fast and dynamic team capable of going far in the tournament.

“It was a difficult match, Nigeria are a very fast and dynamic team and we knew it wouldn’t be easy. I be-

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Cote d’Ivoire, Niger for CCSF Open Ta e k w o n d o Championship THLETES from Cote d’Ivoire and Niger Republic are among the hundreds of participants that will compete at the 1st Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF) International Taekwondo Open Championships scheduled for this week in Abuja .

Organized by the Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation, the tournament is one of the initiatives specifically geared towards helping Nigeria and West Africa consistently produce Olympics champions.

The tournament holds at Sheraton Hotel and Towers on October 4 to 7 with total prize money of N2.8million at stake for successful competitors .

Aside the two west Africa nations, states like Kano, Lagos, Edo, Delta, Rivers, Cross Rivers, Ondo, Oyo, Nasarawa, Bauchi, Imo, Bayelsa, Kebbi, Plateau, Benue, Niger and Abuja. Teams from the Nigeria Police, Airforce, Immigration, Custom and Civil Defence will also be part of the competition.

In a statement made available to journalists, the foundation believes that the lack of constant exposure to world class tournaments, training camps, equipment and training methodologies had been the cause of Nigeria’s and West Africa’s poor showing at major championships.

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lieve we can leave with our heads held high because we have worked together for just seven months and the teams in our group were very difficult sides, so we just did our best. For the Nigerians, they can go very far ” said Taborda.

BY JOHN EGBOKHAN

Eagles nest opens for Lone Star HE Super Eagles camp at the Bolton White Apartment opened yesterday afternoon. Home-based skipper, Chigozie Agbim was the first to hit camp. At the last count almost all the invited players had arrived camp.

Head Coach, Keshi was already on ground to welcome his players.

Training is expected to resume this morning at the training pitch of the National Stadium in Abuja.

Agbim, assured that the team is in the right frame of mind for the game against the Lone Star of Liberia, declaring that the strength of the team can only improve when the foreign based players arrive.

“We can handle the pressure, because we have been doing that".

T

PUNCH.....Lissa Cardozo (right) of Columbia punches the ball clear from Halimatu Ayinde (left) of Nigeria during the FIFA U-17 Women’s World Cup match at Bayil Stadium on September 29. Nigeria won 3-0. (Photo by Getty Images)

Let’s have more Soccerex seminars in Nigeria He continued, “I wish country so that the game — George Hassan this kind of programme can grow. With the way

BY JACOB AJOM

A former star of the defunct Stationery Stores Football Club of Lagos, George Hassan has called on organizers of the Soccerex seminar to hold the event more frequently and spread it to other parts of the country.

Osaile who was at the seminar as head of a delegation of Experience Sports Facilities Limited, Nigeria’s sole representative of Mondo Spa, a global leading FIFA recognized artificial turf and sports facilities manufacturers told Sports Vanguard that the Soccerex seminar was a welcome development.

“The programme is very enlightening and listening to the speakers, one will easily know that we are not running

Chevron Tennis Masters serves off

football in Nigeria. It will be good if those who run football in our country were here to learn.”

Continues from BP been motion without movement for the largest populated black nation in the world.

“Since 1952 that Nigeria joined the Olympic movement, Nigeria has won only 23 medals. That is poor. A single athlete like Michael Phelps of the USA has won more medals than Nigeria.

Even at the London 2012 Olympics, one athlete won more medals than our country that did not win any medal of any colour. If we have organised our priorities in sports, we ought to have achieved more. But as we enter the second half of the century, we should be asking questions of what have

was holding two or three times in a year and taken to other parts of the

things are now there can never be progress in our football.”

Sighs, hisses in sports we been doing wrong.

Since independence, we have won the African Cup of Nations only two times.

That is poor. We have hosted the All Africa Games only two times.

We’ve not hosted the Commonwealth Games.

And yet we pride ourselves as the giant of Africa when some lesser African countries have recorded more successes than Nigeria. That is not to disparage what we have done in the All Africa Games, Commonwealth Games, but the question remains, why have we not invested in the enormous resources at our disposal? “I don’t want to take defensive

method of judging sports with other sectors in the country. If we do that, we’ve done so well. But that is myopic. We’ve to aim higher and be the best, not limiting ourselves to comparative analysis with other sectors. We did so well in Atlanta ’96 Olympic Games, but why have we not replicated the feat? Is there any template that one can fall back on from that feat? Unless we build a system that can be replicated, a strategic plan of achievement, we cannot say we have done well.

And that is what I plan to do for Nigeria and for posterity. When I am not there as Minister, the

AFTER about two weeks of coaching, the 2012 edition of the NNPC/Chevron Junior Masters Tennis tournament, serves off today at the Lagos Lawn Tennis Club in Onikan.

According to the organisers, the age-grade tourney, which features the best tennis players in the country, is expected to end on October 7, with the Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Bolaji Abdullahi and the President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Sani Ndanusa, watching the final matches.

According to Chevron Nigeria Limited, the event is part of the company’s commitment to promoting youth and sports development in Nigeria.

“The objective of the Tournament is to enhance the development of both mental and physical capabilities in the young participants; and to revive tennis in Nigeria, thereby granting support to the Federal Governments efforts at sports development in the country.

“Skills learnt during this program provide youth with an opportunity to participate in Lawn tennis events at both national and international levels." next Minister can look at what we have done to build on it.

“The London 2012 Olympics was traumatising for me. I’ve put that behind me. But frankly, it has made me wiser and I have taken charge. I trusted people waiving many years of experience in sports. It’s a blessing in disguise. Though we did not win medals, some athletes excelled breaking records, surpassing their personal bests. People exaggerated our failure. I’m happy that the Paralympians did us proud and brought Nigeria back to the track at the Paralympic Games in London’’, Mallam Abdullahi said.

VANGUARD, MONDAY, OCT0BER 1, 2012 TUMBLE•••Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta (L) battles with Chelsea’s Nigerian midfielder John Obi Mikel during the match at The Emirates Stadium on September 29.

Chelsea won 2-1 PHOTO: AFP

Sighs, hisses in sports as Nigeria clocks 52 •Minister says nothing to celebrate

BY TONY UBANI S Nigeria celebrates her 52nd Independence Anniversary today, Minister of Sports and Chairman of National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has taken a cursory look at the country’s performance and passed a verdict of ‘’nothing to celebrate in sports 52 years after ’’.

The Minister in a blunt but fair interview admitted that there was absolutely nothing to celebrate in sports in the 52 years of nationhood. ‘’You want to know if we have done well in the 52 years of our independence? No. I don’t think we have done well as much as we ought to”, the youthful Minister said. He admitted that some individuals like Emmanuel Ifeajuna,

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TODAY'S

Hogan ‘Kid’ Bassey, Richard ‘Dick Tiger’ Ihetu, Nojeem Maiyegun, Peter Konyegwachie, Chioma Ajunwa among others have done well but maintained that it was not enough to give a pass mark to the country in sports. ‘’No doubt, those individuals have done amazing things for fatherland, but that’s not enough’’. The Minister who judged Nigeria with her performance in the Olympics since independence said that it’s Continues on Page 95

Results EPL A/Villa 1 West Brom 1 Arsenal 1 Chelsea 2 Man Utd 2 Tottenham 3 Fulham 1 Man City 2 Sunderland 1 Wigan 0 Norwich 2 Liverpool 5 Reading 2 Newcastle 2 Stoke 2 Swansea 0 Everton 3 Southampton 1

SERIE A Udinese 0 Genoa 0 Atalanta 1 Torino 5 Bologna 4 Catania 0 Cagliari 1 Pescara 2 Lazio 2 Siena 1 Palermo 4 Chievo 1 Sampdoria 0 Napoli 1 Parma 1 AC Milan 1 Juventus 4 Roma 1

Paul Bassey •Bolaji

PUZZLE

We are sorry we cannot serve you the Paul Bassey column today. Read the master tomorrow.

FRIDAY'S

ANSWERS ACROSS 3 Delete (5) 9 Loll (6) 10 Punctual (6) 11 Willow (5) 12 Broth (4) 15 Heated (4) 17 Introduction (7) 20 Knock (3) 21 Level (5) 23 Hunch (4) 25 Thin (4) 26 Plait (5) 28 Arid (3) 30 Own (7) 33 Notion (4) 35 Job (4) 36 Uncertainty (5) 38 Bloated (6) 39 Refuse (6) 40 Skirmish (5)

DOWN 1 Grasp (5) 2 Pig-tail (5) 3 Self (3) 4 Dwell (6) 5 Rushed (4) 6 Stray (3) 7 Daub (5) 8 Stub (5) 13 Fruit grove (7) 14 Vertical (5) 16 Inexperienced (7) 18 Arm (5) 19 Friend (3) 22 Fewest (5) 24 Snoop (3) 27 Twice (6) 28 Song (5) 29 Long (5) 31 Soil (5) 32 Border (5) 34 Cipher (4) 36 Obscure (3) 37 Fasten (3)

FRIDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Robust 5, Shroud 9, Tripe 10, Mosque 11, Ration 12, Banal 14 Slow 17, Day 18, Tuft 20, Sapid 22, Aisle 23, Disrupt 24, Heron 26, Throe 29, Anew 30, Sty 32, Earn 33, Steam 35, Suitor 36, Colder 37, Fight 38, Madcap 39, Thorny.

How to Play Sudoku

THE VIGILANTE

DOWN: 1, Remiss 2, Bishop 3, Stub 4, Thread 5, Spray 6, Heal 7, Odious 8, Donate 13, Narrate 15, Laden 16, Widow 18, Tithe 19, Floor 21, Din 22, Apt 24, Hansom 25, Relied 27, Raider 28, Energy 30, Strip 31, Yacht 33, Sofa 34, Moth.

e-mail: rowolove@yahoo.co.uk

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

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