Rage in PDP over failureto constitute FG boards

...towards a better life for the people

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VOL. 25: NO. 61851

N150

TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

19 killed, four villages sacked over two cows ....10 others injured, 5,000 displaced

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

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Petrol station owners patronise us — Pipeline vandals

Rage in PDP over failure to constitute FG boards •Party members confront Tukur; boards 'll emerge soon — PDP

•It's a reflection of lacklustre governance — ACN

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

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A G O S — STALWARTS of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are angry over the failure of President Goodluck Jonathan to constitute boards of parastatals and agencies of the Federal Government 17 months after the boards were dissolved.

The angst of party members is further

Continues on Page 5

Inside

Mr & Mrs

LAGOS CARNIVAL—Participants at the 2013 Annual Lagos Carnival held yesterday at the Tafawa Balewa Square, TBS, Lagos. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

Police nab Lagos airport robbers•P.10 C M Y K

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POCKET CARTOON

CULTURAL FESTIVAL—Yan-Dawa Cultural Group performing at the 2013 Vih-Mah-Yah Unity and Development Cultural Festival in Boi Bogoro LGA of Bauchi, Sunday. Photo: NAN.

Rage in PDP over failure to constitute FG boards Continues from Page 1 fueled by allegations that the failure to reconstitute the boards is at the instance of some senior Presidency officials who are benefiting from the vacuum.

In the absence of the boards, senior officials in the Presidency are al-

leged to be wielding influence over government agencies and boards drawing and dispensing patronage and contracts at will.

Reacting to the development, yesterday, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN described the absence of the boards

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

WHAT WE WORSHIP DETERMINES WHO WE BECOME. If we worship money…we become greedy If we worship sex…we become lustful If we worship knowledge...we become puffed up If we worship power…we become corrupt If we WORSHIP JESUS…we BECOME CHRISTLIKE! – Mensah Otabil

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

life is yours. Take the power to choose T what you want to do and do it well. Take the power to love what you want in life and love it HIS

honestly. Take the power to walk in the forest and be a part of nature. Take the power to control your own life. No one else can do it for you. Take the power to make your life happy —Susan Polis Schultz You can move forward fearlessly on the path of your dreams, without anxiety or reservation in everything you do. So, today, boldly take one step in the direction of your dreams. Do so with complete confidence that there is always divine intervention; when you have done your part in creating, life blesses all your efforts and makes the difference.

Learn to listen to the voice from within and the guidance and helpful suggestion that are open to you.

If you learn to be still and to just be, you’ll always find an answer.

Doreen Virtues says, that our inner self, the soul is wise beyond limits, you can directly be in connection with the universal sources, which accesses all knowledge. Therefore, your wisdom comes from the same place as any genius, so even if you do not know a thing, you can always tap into the information that you seek. Just quiet your mind, ask and listen, the answers will come to you.

as a further reflection of what it described as the lacklustre attitude of the Jonathan administration to governance. The party which spoke through its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, also faulted what it described as the administration’s failure to appoint substantive heads for a number of federal agencies.

The PDP in a riposte said the boards would be announced this week even as it reassured that the process was delayed for the purpose of ensuring due diligence in the reconstitution. The party said that the PDP was mindful of empowering its people legitimately through board appointments unlike its opponents who restrict patronages to a handful.

Boards dissolved since 2011 The boards of Federal Government parastatals were dissolved by President Jonathan on October 19, 2011 few months after his election as president. It was expected at that time that the boards would be reconstituted shortly as a committee for the composition of the boards headed by Vice-President Namadi Sambo was immediately constituted.

When he inaugurated the Sambo committee on October 19, 2011, the

president had urged the team to act quickly apparently in realization of the need of paying patronage to party chieftains who helped him in his successful election bid.

“We are formally inaugurating this committee headed by the vice president, one of the most powerful committees because most senior people from the executive, the legislature and the party (Peoples Democratic Party) are members. We believe that you will do this work very quickly,” the president had said.

Though the Sambo committee has not formally submitted the report of its activities, presidency sources disclosed, yesterday, that the committee may have completed its assignments as the committee is no longer meeting.

One Presidency source disclosed that the administration has been selectively picking from the report of the Sambo committee in the recent appointments that were made into some selected boards notably, the governing councils of some federal universities, the Nigeria Ports Authority, NPA and that of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA. Party chieftains are, however, enraged that more than 17 months after the president dissolved the former boards

that he is yet to formally re-constitute most of the boards and thereby depriving party members the expected patronage.

One member of the PDP NEC lamenting the fate of party chieftains cited the case of a senior presidency official who was alleged to have used a family member to win some contracts across the country.

“You can imagine in this case that they won a contract to pull down, redesign and rebuild the airports but in the case of (name withheld) they refused to pull it down but only rehabilitated it but collected the full cost of pulling down and rebuilding.”

Members confront Tukur The outcry over the issue was a topical feature during the recent reconciliation tour embarked upon by the national chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur.

At the Northwest Zone reconciliatory meeting in Kaduna, party chieftains were reported to have complained about the issue.

“We told Tukur that it was discouraging for party stakeholders who worked for the party to be sidelined at a time like this and he was told that it has taken too long and that it has never been like this under a democratic setting.”

Tukur was reported to have only muttered that the issue was receiving attention and would be resolved soon.

Besides the rage of the party men, it is feared that the absence of the boards are constituting a barrier to the smooth operations of many of the government agencies.

“Many of these boards have strict rules on approval limits meaning that in the absence of the boards that the agen-

cies are handicapped in the discharge of their duties and it is a matter that has worsened the implementation of the capital budget of the Federal Government,” a business expert told Vanguard yesterday.

Reacting to the development yesterday, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the national publicity secretary of the ACN said it was a reflection of the lacklustre attitude of the PDP controlled federal administration.

“Clearly, the inability of this government to reconstitute the boards of the several agencies is a further testimony to the lacklustre leadership style of the government."

Reacting yesterday, Chief Olisa Metuh the national publicity secretary of the PDP said: “I can assure you that the boards would be announced this week.

Among the choice boards yet to be inaugurated are the boards of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, the refineries and other agencies in the petroleum sector, the board of the National Pension Commission among a handful of others.

Also yet to be reconstituted are the boards of federal polytechnics, colleges of education, Federal Government owned hospitals, agencies in the tourism sector and federal ministry of health, among others.

Among the boards in the tourism sector yet to be inaugurated are those of Nigeria Tourism Development Corporation, NTDC, National Institute for Hospitality and Tourism, National Orientation Agency, NOA; National Theatre; National Institute for Cultural Orientation; Centre for Black and African Arts Civilisation, CBAAC, National Museum and the National Arts Gallery.

6—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Woman who tortured, poisoned husband arrested

Owners of petrol stations patronise us —Suspected pipeline vandal zSays his gang caused Ijedodo fire zBegs operatives to release him in the spirit of Easter

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BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

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ORT HARCOURT — Late Chief Kingsley Wobo’s wife, Charity, who allegedly poisoned and tortured him to death in Mboshimini Community, Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State has been arrested by the police.

The 36-year-old suspect was reportedly arrested with one of her brothers, alleged to be an accomplice in the murder of Chief Wobo.

According to sources at the state Criminal Investigation Department, CID, the suspect did not act alone, as there were other suspects who assisted her in killing her husband.

Apart from this, family sources also confirmed that the relation of the woman was arrested when he visited his sister in the police station.

“Her brother had gone to see the sister (Mrs. Wobo) in police custody when the daughter of the deceased who had noticed his face the night her father was killed ordered the police to arrest him.After his arrest, the police later recovered the late Wobo’s three telephone sets from him,’’ the family sources also said.

According to the source, there were reasons to believe that Chief Wobo's death was premeditated as he was poisoned before being tortured and stabbed severally.

However, an elder brother of the deceased who identified himself as Mr. Wobo, said the family was awaiting an autopsy on the deceased as well as police investigation reports and would not jump into conclusion.

Chief Kingsley Wobo, a notable contractor in Port Harcourt, was reportedly stabbed to death after being poisoned about three weeks ago at his Mboshimini residence, with accusing fingers being pointed at the direction of his wife following alleged differences relating to late Wobo’s plans to take a second wife.

BY EVELYN USMAN

AGOS — SUSPECTED leader of a pipeline vandal syndicate arrested, weekend, in Lagos, by operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Task Force on AntiPipeline Vandalism, has disclosed that owners of petrol stations also patronized them.

The 52-year-old suspect identified as Kokumo Ayekede, was arrested alongside four others at 7th Avenue, Festac town, with the recovery of 270 bags of petroleum products worth over N2 million.

The suspects, according to the officer in-charge of the task force, Mr Friday Ibadin, an Assistant Commissioner of Police, allegedly broke a pipeline belonging to the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, in Oke Agemo, Ijedodo,under Iba Local Council Development Area of Lagos State and were transporting their loot in their canoes when they were accosted around Festac creeks by the task force team led by the Lagos State Sector Commander, DSP Onaghise Osayande.

A drama, however, unfolded when Kokumo who initially claimed to be a palm wine tapper was identified by one of the arrested suspects as his boss.

Again, he claimed to be a dredger who was paid to dredge holes for some vandals at the end of which he was paid N6,000 for the service. But barely had he finished when another member of the gang, James Awolowo, called him a liar.

At last, he owned up and said: “In fact, let me tell you all the truth and nothing but the truth.

Several persons, including owners of petrol stations patronise us. Most of these buyers wait for us at Apapa. Each sack contains 125 litres and we sell one for N6000.

Mode of operation "We decided to use sacks because they are easier to transport and allows for more contents than Jerry cans. Jerry cans are very difficult because of the level of water. As soon as we arrived pipeline location, with the aid of a dredger, we would open the pipe and use our valve to block it immediately. We would then run it through the hose to the water where the bags and my boys are waiting. We would then tie the bags together. For each trip, we can move at least 270 bags.

"I work for Ebi. In fact, I was forced to join after my business started experiencing shake-up.

The suspected pipeline vandals I am paid N60,000 after each trip.

"We usually don't have problem of selling the product because buyers are always waiting for us at Apapa. Our main job is to transport the product through the river and this we do at midnight. We usually use Festac canal because it is closer. If we scale through the route, then it will be a smooth sail to Apapa.

"Most times, buyers come with their tankers and I prefer working with women because security operatives hardly catch with them.

"But business had been bad since last June because of the arrests by security operatives.

And because of this, we usually carry out our operation with fear and that has been the cause of major fire outbreak in some pipelines.

My gang caused Ijedodo fire

with their families since it was a public holiday.

He said: “We were surprised when we saw them. But all I am begging is for them to release me for the sake of the Easter, a day we are celebrating the death and resurrection of Christ who came to die for my sins and yours.”

Needed money to travel to Europe for football career Another suspect, Eugene Stanley, blamed his indulgence on his financial incapability.

Eugene who claimed to be a footballer in Bayelsa State, said he was also tempted to join in order to raise money to travel to Europe for his football career.

“I needed money to travel to Europe to play football. Kokumo told me to join them if I really

"Last Christmas fire at Ijedodo was caused by fear. It was God that saved me. While we were leaving the site, one of the boys, Gbenga, used his lighter to cut the ropes they used to tie the sacs in the water and before we knew it,there was a blast and the rest is history."

Please release me in the spirit of Easter Kokumo further stated that his gang decided to operate on Easter Sunday because they felt operatives would be celebrating

The recovered sacks.

needed to raise money to travel.

My duty is to help tie the bags and move it to the receiver at the end of which I am paid N30,000 per trip.”

On his part, Oluwafemi Bamidele said: “I dropped out of the University of Lagos when I got the opportunity to travel to Sydney but unfortunately I was deported. I couldn’t go back to school so I learnt how to dredge sand. It was in the process that I joined them but was caught in 2011. When I was finally released, I made up my mind not to join them again.

"Since then, life has been so difficult for me. So, when Kunle, my brother, called me that there was a quick job, I decided to join him to get money to celebrate Easter. We were actually waiting for Ebi when we were apprehended,”he said.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013—7

19 killed, four villages sacked over death of two cows

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

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ADUNA — THE alleged killing of two cows through poisoning in Mafan village, Fadan Atakar Chiefdom of Kaura Local Government Area of Kaduna State, set off an orgy that led to the killing of 19 people, and the destruction of four villages between last Saturday and Sunday, according to the Chairman of Kaura Local Government Area, Mr. Kumai Badun.

Also, 10 people were critically injured in the violence. They were taken to Jankwano ECWA Church Hospital, Jos and Kaura General Hospital for treatment, Badu added.

According to him, no fewer than 5000 people from the four affected communities have become refugees and are camped in two places, Fadan Atakar, and Zangan.

The Public Relations Officer of Kaduna State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA, Mallam Abubakar Adamu, confirmed the development, saying as at Friday, the number of refugees at the two camps was 500, but the number was bound to rise.

The Kaduna State Police spokesman, Deputy Superintendent of Police, DSP, Aminu Lawan, corroborated the story, but said he had not been briefed on the casualty figure by

the Area Commander in charge of the affected area.

Speaking to Vanguard from one of the camps at Model Primary School, Fadan Atakar, Badu said it was the first time Atakar ever came under Fulani attack.

Narrating what led to the violence, Badu said: “There was a young man, Aboi Stephen (21), in Mafan who had been complaining that some cattle have been grazing in his dry season farm. I was told that the cattle destroyed a good portion of the farm, and that there was no end in sight to the destruction. Only the Fulanis own cattle there.

“About two weeks ago, two Fulani cows were found dead, apparently of poison. The owner of the cows was said to have publicly warned Aboi of the grave consequences of his action. I don’t know if it was Aboi that poisoned the cows, or even if they died of poisoning.

“Then one day, Aboi was found missing. After a search by the villages they found his corpse which had deep machete cuts and his throat was slit open.

“Upon that discovery, women and children mobilised to the palace of the chief of Atakar, Chief Tobias Nkom-Wada accusing him of inviting the Fulani into Atakar land in the first place. They vandalised the palace and the chief is now living in his personal house in Tachire.

“On seeing what the women

and children did, the Fulanis started moving out en mass to their kin in Kanawuri areas of Plateau State, which also has some Atakar speaking villages.

“On their way, they shot a young

man that same day in Kanawuri area. That pitched them against the Atakar in Plateau State and they fought for days. The fighting led to the burning of some Atakar villages.

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SABA — OBI of OgwashiUku kingdom, Professor Chukwuka Okonjo, has described the arrest of his palace guard in connection with the kidnap saga of his wife, Professor Kamene as a betrayal of trust and that he should be allowed to pay the full price for his action.

He stated this while fielding questions from newsmen at his palace in Ogwashi-Uku yesterday, while commenting on the Benin Court of Appeal judgment which ruled in his favour as the rightful occupier of the Obiship of Ogwashi-Uku. He said: “You can imagine, it is a pity I could have brought a picture showing you this young man who was arrested as being one of those who used to bear the ada, the insignia of the Obi. “In fact, he has found a job in the polytechnic (Ogwashi-Uku) as a security officer. I later banned him from coming here (palace).

He is with the authority. It is none of my business. They will find out.

They are arresting all those who had terrorized this area by kidnapping people and demanding sums of money.

“I know a lot about what he has got, how much money he has even in his bank account. It is unbelievable and he couldn't

account for it and so I stayed clear.

I am not the police, I am not State Security, I am not the Joint Task Force, I am not the Army, I am not a Naval officer nor an Air Force officer.

“They all have their intelligence services and they are trying to

A man simply known as Briggs dressed in special costume on evangelism mission at Maryland bus stop, Lagos on Good Friday. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

stop this kidnapping thing. I know that a lot of the kidnappers have been caught, there are still some of them who are likely to be caught.

“You can see Prof. Kamene Okonjo (seated beside him). She was taken away from here

(palace). We didn’t know this young man was one of them but now we know. So I am sorry I don’t know what will happen to him. The country has its rules and regulations so that is that”, he stated.

Gunmen kill UNIMAID lecturer

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AIDUGURI — GUNMEN, Sunday, shot dead Malam Murtala Mohammed, a lecturer at the Mass Communication Department of the University of Maiduguri, UNIMAID, at his residence in Maiduguri.

Eyewitnesses said Mohammed was shot at his 202 Housing Estate, opposite the university campus.

“He was shot at close range by a group of teenagers shortly after observing the Zuhr prayers in front of his house,’’ the witness said.

Also speaking, Malam Yusuf Ibrahim, a neighbour of the deceased, said the victim appeared to have been trailed by his killers from the university campus before coming to his house.

“Apparantly, the killers must have trailed him from the university campus where he had

BY TONY EDIKE

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Okonjo’s kidnap: Arrested palace guard a betrayer — Monarch

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

Oruku, Umuode communal crisis deepens

gone to perform some official assignments in the morning,” he said.

Ibrahim also said the killers fled immediately after shooting the deceased severally at close range.

Also confirming the incident, Malam Ahmed Mohammed,

UNIMAID Chief Information Officer, said he heard about the sad event in the afternoon.

He said, however, that the university authorities could not take immediate action as the lecturer was killed outside the campus.

NUGU—FIGHTING continued in the war-torn communities of Oruku and Umuode in Enugu State throughout Thursday night as residents reported sounds of heavy shootings from midnight till the early hours of yesterday but there was no official report on casualty.

Some of the fighters were said to have sustained bullet wounds in the latest gun duel even as the state police spokesman, Ebere Amarizu, was said to be in Abuja and therefore unable to comment on the development.

“Many people have deserted the villages because of regular shootings that have caused serious tension in the area. We kept vigil last night because from 11pm till the early hours of today (yesterday) they were shooting intermittently and it seemed the fighters were heavily armed with sophisticated weapons,” said one of the residents in a telephone interview yesterday.

The Oruku people had claimed that two of their natives had been killed while many others were injured while Umuode people on their part said they lost one life so far.

Oruku community, however, reacted yesterday to the claim

by Umuode community that it overran their village, dismissing it as false.

In a statement by Mr. John Nnamani, Public Relations Officer, Oruku Town Union, OTU, the community accused their Umuode neighbours of launching deadly attacks on them last Monday, killing one Anthony Obinna Ogbu in his compound.

Police arrest two over killing of PDP member in Ekiti

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

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DO EKITI —THE Police in Ekiti State have arrested two persons in connection with the murder of Mr. Ayo Jeje, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at Erinjinyan Ekiti in Ekiti West Local Government Area of the state, Saturday night Jeje was killed by yet-to-be identified persons while

attending a political meeting.

The state Commissioner of Police, CP, Sotonye Wakama, had while speaking on the telephone yesterday confirmed the arrest of the two persons.

The police boss, however, added that they were yet to get any corroborative evidence against the two arrested persons.

On the identities of the two persons, Wakama said he could not give their names because he

was not in his office.

“We have arrested two persons.

We went to Erijiyan and they pointed two men to us. They said that the two suspects were part of those who fired shots during the mayhem. But I am not saying that they were there or not. Further investigation will show if they are culpable or not,” the CP said.

The police boss, however, said peace had since been restored in the town.

8—Vanguard , TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Fear grips S-Africa as prayers pour in for Mandela's recovery

Northern leaders to Jonathan: Stop using Boko Haram to blackmail us

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ALPABLE fear reigns in South Africa where family members and South Africans continued to pray for former President Nelson Mandela, 94, who spent a fifth day in hospital, yesterday, with no significant change in his condition.

Doctors had earlier said that Madiba, the antiapartheid hero, was improving under treatment and able to breathe without problems as he continues to respond to treatment in hospital for a recurrence of pneumonia.

But a statement from the South African government said Mandela spent part of yesterday with some members of his family, and “there is no significant change in his condition."

Over the weekend, President Jacob Zuma’s office said doctors had drained excess fluid from his lungs to tackle the infection. “This has resulted in him now being able to breathe without difficulty.

He continues to respond to treatment and is comfortable,” the statement added.

The statement was the first detailed mention of his medical condition since his latest hospitalization, the third in four months. The presidency said the Nobel Peace Prize laureate had “developed a pleural effusion which was tapped”.

The office of President Jacob Zuma thanked South Africans who prayed for 94-year-old Mandela at Easter church services, as well as people at home and around the world who showed their “love and support in various ways” for the anti-apartheid leader and his family.

“We also thank foreign governments for their messages of support,” Zuma’s office said in a statement.

The government “is satisfied that the doctors are providing the former president with the best medical care possible to enable his recovery and comfort. They have reported a further improvement in his condition,” the statement said.

BY SONI DANIEL, REGIONAL EDITOR, NORTH BUJA—NORTHERN leaders, yesterday, frowned at what they described as a desperate attempt by President Goodluck Jonathan and his administration to blame the rising wave of insecurity in the north on the leaders.

The leaders vowed to resist any attempt by the Presidency to use the Boko Haram onslaught to blackmail them instead of taking proactive measures to nib the insurgence in the bud.

The grouse of the northern leaders was that whereas the President had earlier claimed that he could not offer amnesty to Boko Haram members as they were ghosts, he went ahead to call on Northern elders to enjoin Boko Haram to stop bombings in the country.

A member of the Northern Elders Forum, Dr. Junaid Mohammed and National President of the Arewa Consultative Forum, Alhaji Yerima Shettima, who spoke separately to Vanguard described the action of the government as a deliberate attempt to blackmail and provoke the north.

It will be recalled that during a visit to Borno State last month, Jonathan had rejected calls for amnesty to Boko Haram members, saying that he could not be dealing with those he described as ‘’ghosts”.

Last week, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Doyin Okupe, issued a statement, calling on the Northern elders to prevail on the sect to down tools and accept dialogue as the Niger Delta militants did before the late Yar 'Ádua offered them pardon.

Okupe said: “There is no need for over-politicization of the demand for amnesty, or to blackmail the President for taking strong, patriotic views that are contrary to those of some of our respected elders.

“The true expectation is that our respected leaders will go back to the drawing board and increase consultation and networking with the aim of reaching out to the leadership of the insurgents and convincing them to do the needful and step out to be counted.”

Amnesty for Boko Haram members Mohammed, a second Republic politician and leader of the ACF vilified the President for refusing to grant amnesty to the sect members, saying that what was good for one part of the

country was also good for the other.

Mohammed noted that the President had failed to use his position as the President and Commander-in-Chief of the armed forces to find an answer to rising insecurity that has led to the killing of innocent men,

women and children in the north despite the avalanche of security apparatus and intelligence at his disposal.

The ACF leader, Yerima Shettima, on the other hand, told Vanguard that the north took serious exception to the attempt by the Presidency to associate

its leaders with the Boko Haram sect.

Shettima noted, “We don’t control Boko Haram and have no way of knowing what they are doing and what they want. It is the President who once declared that there were Boko Haram members even in his government.

EASTER PICNICKERS—Cross section of picnickers at the Bar Beach to celebrate Easter, yesterday. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

....Hold Northern leaders responsible for crisis, by Arewa youths

BY SONI DANIEL

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S security problems in the north escalate, youths in the region, yesterday, expressed disappointment with the political leaders from the area, whom they accused of not showing enough interest in tackling the challenges to pave way for peace and development.

The National President of the Arewa Youth Forum, AYF, Alhaji Gambo Ibrahim Gujungu, who made the feeling of the youths known while speaking with Vanguard, noted that most of the leaders of the region were more interested in pursuing their personal goals than working for the overall welfare of the people.

Gujungu said: “We are disappointed that since the upheavals in the region started and is slowly crippling the economy of the region, those that are said to be representing the region have not deemed it necessary to meet and find a lasting solution to the impasse.

“As youths from the north we are not only disappointed but we also feel let down by those that we toiled for to occupy the exalted positions they are now enjoying today. We are worried

that instead of working for the good of the people, these leaders are busy pursuing personal agenda to the detriment of all.

“It is in view of this that we call on leaders of the north at different levels, governors, senators, ministers, lawmakers at the state and national levels, commissioners and even those at the local government level to join hands with the Vice

President Namadi Sambo, who is the political leader of the north and tackle the problems in the region.

“We use this opportunity to call on these leaders to put their personal ambition behind them and work for the good of the north as the youths and other well-meaning individuals are watching what is happening and will take necessary action when the time is right".

92-yr-old woman delivers 'stone baby' after 60 yrs pregnancy

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UANG YIJUN, aged 92, is from southern China and she recently made news after delivering a baby known as a lithopedion, aka ‘Stone Baby’.

Huang Yijun told the press she didn’t have the money to have her foetus removed after doctors told her it had died inside her in 1948. So she simply did nothing at all about it.

Lithopedion is a very rare medical phenomenon, which occurs when a pregnancy fails and the foetus actually calcifies while still in the mother’s body.

Medically, what often hap-

pens is the implanted foetus gets to an advanced stage before it dies. Too large to be absorbed by the body, the remains of the child or its surrounding amniotic sac slowly calcify, turning to stone as a way to protect the woman’s body from infection from the decomposing tissue.

If no complications occur, believe it or not, the mother can basically just go on with her life.

According to the Journal of the Royal Society of Medicine, only 290 cases of lithopedions have ever been documented by medical literature.

Vanguard , TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013—9

Political leaderships transient, no need to fight over them —Jonathan zSays I have sanitized electoral system

BY TONY EDIKE

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NUGU—PRESIDENT Good luck Jonathan, yesterday, asked those Nigerians who are bent on pulling the nation down on account of their dissatisfaction with the political set up to have a rethink, saying political leadership was transient and there was no need for people to fight over it.

He said those who are not too comfortable with any particular situation in government should patiently wait for the expiration of the tenure of the holder of such a political office and vote him out rather than engaging in violence that would have adverse consequences on the nation.

Jonathan was speaking during the dedication of the All Saints Anglican Covenant Church, Mpu in Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu built by the Deputy Senate President, Chief Ike Ekweremadu.

Mpu is the hometown of the Deputy Senate President.

The president told the congregation that what should be uppermost in the mind of Nigerians should be how to join hands to build the nation, saying he was committed to making those little things that would make a difference in the lives of the people.

According to him, one major desire he had on assumption of office as president was to sanitize the flawed electoral system which had made Nigeria a laughing stock in other countries, stressing that he had succeeded in effecting a positive change which could make votes really count in elections.

He said: “My message is just to concur with what His Grace, the Anglican Primate, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh said in the sermon. I totally agree with you that if we leave Nigeria and go elsewhere, we may have business friends, we may have all kinds of friends, we may use different passports that will give us automatic entry into some countries without even visas, but they still regard you as a Nigerian. You cannot fit in properly until you come home, so as we talk about building the church, let us join hands and build the nation that we, our children, grand-children and our children yet unborn will be happy.

“Irrespective of provocations, yes, during political system, just like the Primate said, political leadership is very transient, every leader comes and goes. As a leader you always pray that as you leave a footprint behind, you lead and go.

Other people take over and continue. And we believe that if every leader puts something solid that he could be remembered for then

as you progress, as different regimes come and go, the whole country will become developed and more solid.

“So, there is no need for people to fight over political leadership that is transient to the extent that you want to even burn your house down because you perceive that you are not too comfortable with a particular situation, be it at the local government level, be it at the federal constituency level, be it at the senatorial level , be it at the state level or the federal level.

“These are transitional leadership, luckily we have a constitution that defines the maximum tenure any individual can stay in office and even if the constitution does not clearly define it, no one individual will stay there for life because we

are biological specimen.

“I think collectively, we should think more about our own country; think more of building a society that our children will be happy in.

"For me, I believe that no leader can do everything for the society but think about some key things and try and do those ones very well. Just like the philosophy of the Singapore leader when he was asked how he was able to take that country from third world to first world, he said ‘take some few things and do those few things very well and continue to do those things very well’. He didn’t say do everything, you can’t do everything and succeed.

“And that is one of the reasons why in this present dispensation, by divine providence, grace of God and goodwill of

...threaten to suspend production, distribution Nigerians I happen to be the president. My feeling is that since the political dispensation, the first and foremost is to have free and fair elections. I always say that you can’t even talk about good governance where the elections of people are manipulated.

“You cannot steal a mandate and turn round to say you can govern well. Lawyers will say you can’t build something on nothing, so if your coming to power at all levels – from councillorship to presidency is based on manipulation, then there is no good thing you can do there.

You cannot go and celebrate it.

First and foremost, the people must vote for you. People must put you there before you can begin to talk about whether you will even run the system well or not".

DEDICATION—From left: Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu; Senate President David Mark; Primate of Nigeria, Anglican Communion, the Most Revd. Nicholas Okoh and President Goodluck Jonathan, during the dedication/handover of All Saints' Anglican Church, Mpu, Enugu State, yesterday. Photo: State House.

Francisca Okeke, UNN professor, wins UNESCO's $100,000 prize

BY UDUMA KALU, WITH AGENCY REPORT

A

Nigerian professor at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, UNN, Francisca Okeke has won the 2013 laureate award for her contributions “to the understanding of daily variations of the ion currents in the upper atmosphere which may further our understanding of climate change.”

A second Nigerian award recipient, Dr Eucharia Nwaichi, an environmental bio-chemist

from the University of Port Harcourt, joined 15 other young scientists in the “International Fellows” category.

Okeke, who is the first female Head of Department, Education Management, UNN, bagged the prize of $100,000 as one of the winners of the 2013 L’Oréal-UNESCO awards in Physical Sciences.

In a statement, UNESCO said Okeke has made the study of the ionosphere her lifetime work. The ionosphere lies between 50km and 1000km above the earth surface.

Oil workers decry crude oil theft, insecurity

“A very thick layer of charged particles, the ionosphere produces changes in the magnetic field on earth’s surface that affect the planet in a host of ways.

Her research could lead to a better understanding of climate change and help pinpoint sources of dramatic phenomena like tsunamis and earthquakes”, a summary of her research published by UNESCO read.

The awards were announced last year October, but the award ceremony took place last weekend in Paris.

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

W

ORKERS in the na tion’s petroleum and gas industry, have expressed concerns over the alarming rate of crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism, saying it should no longer be tolerated The workers, uderthe aegis of Nigeria Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, and Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association, PENGASSAN, also decried the level of insecurity in the country, especially kidnappings, killings and attacks by the Boko Haram members and resurgence ofviolence in the Niger Delta.

They threatened to suspend production of crude oil and supply of petroleum products should government fail to take concrete steps to address the issue.

Speaking to Vanguard on behalf of both unions, President of PENGASSAN, Babatunde Ogun, said crude oil theft and pipeline vandalism was becoming scandalous and a national embarrassment that needed drastic solution.

According to him: “Despite the presence of the Joint Task Force, JTF, to combat illegal bunkering and granting the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, the power to bear arms to combat product pipeline vandalism, the practice has continued not only unabated but brazenly.

"Our security forces have been unable to arrest this unwholesome practice as attested to by the running battle they keep having in Arepo, Ogun State for example over product pipeline vandalism .

Also, few days ago there was a shut down by Shell Petroleum Development Company SPDC, of the Nembe Creek Trunk Line where an estimated 60,000 barrels per day of crude oil was stolen and Agip’s suspension of production activity in Bayelsa State where 60 percent of its production of about 90,000 barrel per day was stolen.”

10—Vanguard , TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

‘Akinola was a prayer point'

CARNIVAL: From left— Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State; Chief Host Erelu Abiola Dosunmu, Ambassador, Lagos Black Heritage Festival 2013 Nigeria, and Elisa Larkin Nascimento, Ipeafro-Brazil, Ambassador, Lagos Black Heritage Festival 2013 Brazil, during the 2013 annual Lagos Carnival, held at TBC Lagos.

PHOTO: Bunmi Azeez.

A

S condolence mes sages continue to trail the death of Chief Bayo Akinola, the second-in-command to the paramount ruler of Ondo Kingdom, Osemawe, a prominent son of Ondo, Aare Mojibayo Olagunju, said in Lagos that the high chief was the prayer point of every aspiring youth because of his enormous wealth and intimidating personality.

He said: “Chief Akinola positively affected the lives of the needy and the less-privileged in the society. He lived his life to the fullest and he was a cheerful giver.

“While growing up, we kneel down to pray to God to make us as rich as Chief Akinola, a very successful businessman and industrialist known all over the world.”

Job seekers tasked on new skills

P

ROFESSIONALS and job seekers have been told that gaining new knowledge and skills is crucial to succeeding in the current professional climate.

Principal of United Kingdom-based Peacock College, Mr. Zenon Adamek, who gave the advice in a statement in Lagos, said: “Jobs are hard to come by, businesses are struggling and we find ourselves to be more adaptable, and we require more and more skills and education.”

According to the statement, Adamek spoke after his college received accreditation from International Student Association, ISA, Education to deliver professional academic programmes at Level 4-7.

Adamek explained how the accreditation will enable the college to assist professionals and students on job matters.

He said: “ISA Education is a qualification provider and awarding body and a quasi-autonomous sister organisation to the ISA, a non-profit organisation that provides guidance and support for international students studying in the United Kingdom."

Police nab Lagos airport robbers

BY IFEANYI OKOLIE

L

AGOS—LAGOS State Police Command’s manhunt for the robbery gang that, three weeks ago, raided Murtala Mohammed Airport, Lagos, killing two policemen and injuring several others, has led to the arrest of some members of the gang, Vanguard learnt yesterday.

Information available to Vanguard revealed that the suspects were arrested by operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, Ikeja, who took over investigations, following a directive from the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar.

The operatives, who acted on a tip-off, as gathered, arrested the bandits from their respective hideouts within Lagos.

So far, the suspects were said to have confessed during interrogation on how they planned and carried out the operation.

Vanguard gathered that the suspects first raided the airport in February 2012, where N700 million was carted away.

It would be recalled that a 10-man robbery gang, armed with sophisticated weapons, invaded the airport on March 13, 2013 at 9am and headed for the Bureau De Change, BDC, operators centre near the car park, firing indiscriminately.

During a shoot-out with a team of policemen attached to the airport, two policemen were reportedly gunned down while a member of the gang was also killed.

The fire fight, however, prevented the robbers from

reaching their target. Vanguard gathered that the sus-

pects may be paraded today.

Why Patience Jonathan travelled— SA

BY BEN AGANDE

A

BUJA—OFFICE of the First Lady, yesterday, said Dame Patience Jonathan’s visit to Germany and other European countries was for routine medical check-up and to visit her ailing mother, saying there was no need for negative insinuations in the media.

A statement by the Special Assistant to the First Lady, Ayo Osinlu, urged Nigerians to develop the habit of praying for their leaders as done in other countries.

According to the statement, “it is unfortunate that again, some media houses have allowed themselves to be used by dedicated mischief makers against the basic tenet of professional journalism, which regards truth as sacred.

“For the avoidance of doubts and ambiguities, we wish to state that the First Lady travelled to Dubai, after which she proceeded to Paris, France, to participate in the 1st Green Women Conference, which took place in Paris on March 17, where she received the 2013 Global Women Leaders’ Award for Peace.

“She, thereafter, pro ceeded to Italy from where she went to Germany to see her mother, Mama Sisi, who is currently receiving medical attention.

“The First Lady is spending sometime overseeing the management of her mother’s condition. She is also using the opportunity to spend quality time with her holidaying children before they return to school, as they are with her to see their grandmother.

“It is notable that Her Excellency has a history of visiting the hospital in Germany even before she became the First Lady, thus making her medical trips routine.

“It is also instructive to state

that medical experts have recommended that every human being should undergo medical check-up every six months, even if not suffering ill health.

“Therefore, hospital visitations of our leaders should not become leading media issues or attract disrespectful comments, just as the current circumstances of former President Mandela and other African leaders in similar situations, and even those who died, have not attracted negative comments from their people.”

Dux repositions retail mkt

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU & WILLIAM JIMOH

D

UX Global Services has launched a new general merchandise outlet in Lagos, designed to meet the retail needs of Nigerians at affordable rates.

Speaking at the launch of the retail outfit in Ilupeju, Lagos, Mr. Oluwaseun Olusola, Chief Operating Officer of Gr8tBuy, said the outfit was established to offer the best of quality goods at most affordable rates.

He said: “Our being in business is not just about making profit, it is about delivering quality to justify our name Gr8tbuy, which implies that you are buying quality

products at fantastic prices so that we can reach, as much as possible, people’s needs without necessarily having to pay so much.

“The concept behind the store is to design a store different from the regular stores that we have all around, because as you can see, it is a blend of all kinds of products.

We are not an LG store neither are we a Samsung. We are like mixture and that is why we are blending everything.

“If you are looking for babies’ toys, furniture and other home appliances, clippers for your everyday use, we have them. We want to get a little bit of all products so that we might be able to fit into all the aspects of the society."

Vanguard , TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013—11

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

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SOGBO—LABOUR leaders in Osun State, yesterday, insisted that the planned four-day warning strike over the unresolved N18,000 new minimum wage dispute with the state government would commence today despite threat of non-participation by four unions affiliated to Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC. It would be recalled Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE; Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, and the Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, M&HWUN, dissociated themselves from the planned strike.

Akinyemi Olatunji, State Chairman of ASCSN, had claimed the chairman of Joint Negotiating Council, JNC, Mr. Bayo Adejumo, who chaired the meeting where the strike order was given, was not competent to preside over such meeting as he had retired from the service of the Federal Government.

However, Adejumo said the warning strike would begin today unfailingly by all categories of workers in the employment of the state government.

He advised workers in the state to disregard a counter di-

N18,000 wage: Strike begins today, Osun labour insists rective ordering members of some unions to ignore the strike, alleging that the state government was sponsoring some labour leaders in the state to divide the workers union.

According to him, an industrial court had ordered the state government to honour the agreement it reached with the workers on the payment

of the new minimum wage across board.

He said the state government had been duly notified of the strike through a letter dated March 30, arguing that the strike would last for four days if the government failed to honour the agreement.

He said: “The main reason for the strike is to press home

the demand for the actualisation of the agreement reached between the government and labour about 19 months ago.

“The issue degenerated into government taking labour to court, but at the end of the day labour was vindicated as the court ordered the government to honour the agreement reached with the labour.”

Yoruba youths allege marginalisation

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

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DO-EKITI—YORUBA youths, operating under the umbrella of Coalition of Yoruba Youths, CYY, has decried perceived marginalisation of the people of the South-West geo-political zone in the current political dispensation.

CYY however, urged the youths in the zone to shun all forms of violence and any move that would compromise the peace and progress of the

country, saying “we all know had no Yoruba man or woman. development cannot be atIt lamented that the position tained in an atmosphere of of speakership of the House violence, killing and mayof Representatives ought to hem.” have been zoned to the reThe group called on Presigion, but regretted that the post was now held by somedent Goodluck Jonathan to one from the North-West zone. correct the imbalance in the According to CYY group, interest of the country.

President Jonathan must rise Speaking with the newsmen to the challenge of correcting in Ado-Ekiti, CYY’s national chairman, Wale Ayeni, and the imbalance if only to prove the National Director of Pubthat he was a president of all licity, Niyi Ojo, faulted a situNigerians irrespective of tribe ation in which the top five poor religion. litical positions in the country They said: “We as national officers of the group with membership from all the six states in the region, are opposed to the present situation in which the Yoruba cannot be found in the top 20 positions in the country.

“Although we would be launching the group officially in May, we are bound to voice our concerns regarding the situation. It is worrisome and we believe President Jonathan can help us correct it.

“We are not opposed to any section, group or association. Whether Ibo, Arewa or the Ijaw, we hold every other race as brothers and supporters in the development of the country. We even see other ethnic groups as partners in what we are demanding.”

Ogun PDP debunks reports of NWC feud

BY LAJA THOMAS

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GUN State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has faulted reports of crisis in the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party over plans to conduct a fresh congress in the South-West and nominate a candidate for the vacant post of the National Secretary.

The proposed congress will lead to the replacement of the Chief Ishola Filani-led Caretaker Committee with a substantive Zonal Working Committee and the former National Secretary, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, who was sacked by the Federal High Court, Abuja, on January 11.

In a statement by the

State Publicity Secretary, Waliu Oladidupo, the party described the reports of misgivings among the NWC members over a statement credited to the National Chairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, that the party would hold fresh congress where new officers would be elected for the zone and the National Secretary nominated, as the “handiwork of members of the party sacked by the court recently.”

The party said: “It is public knowledge that all the actions taken by the national leadership of our great party under the leadership of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur were based on court orders and judgments."

‘Why Osun must produce PDP scribe'

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

O

SOGBO—A chief tain of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Osun State, Prince Bola Oyebowale, has advised the leadership of the party at the national level to ensure that the post of the national secretary of the party remains in Osun State.

Fielding questions from newsmen, Prince Oyebowale said the need for the state to reproduce the national secretary of PDP arose from the fact that the state was not factionalised unlike other states in the South-West.

He said: “I believe the position of the national secretary should be allowed to remain in Osun State. This is because apart from the fact that we have qualified and experienced party members, who could occupy the office favourably, it is only in Osun State that we don’t have factions in the party.

“If there is any state the PDP had the hope of coming back to power in the whole of the SouthWest, I think Osun State tops the list.

"It is only advisable to encourage the state to continue to be together by appointing the new national secretary of the party from the state."

Burial

B

URIAL rites for Chief B. M. Akinsanya (JP), who died aged 83, begins tomorrow with a service of songs at her residence, 146B Gold Crescent, Bungalow, Ejigbo.

Christian wake keep is also at her residence.

Friday, April 5 is for funeral service at Holy Trinity Anglican Church, Ireshe Road, Ikorodu, by 11am.

Until her death she was a devote Christian.

Late Chief Akinsanya.

12—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

C M Y K

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013—13

2015: Deltans in diaspora root for Monye

BY TOMMY ANADUAKA

A

GROUP of profes sionals based in the United States of America, under the aegis of Deltans in Diaspora for Good Governance, has appealed to Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan on Economic Monitoring and Evaluation, Prof. Sylvester Monye, to contest the 2015 governorship election in Delta State.

The group, in a letter to Monye by its President, Dr. Kingsley Esealuka, said the request had become necessary following a recent survey by the group, in which Monye was found to be the most eligible to occupy the governorship position in 2015 at the expiration of the tenure of Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan in the state.

Alile, pioneer Edo SSG/ Head of Service clocks 70

D

R. Clement Alile turned 70 yesterday.

Dr. Alile, a Pioneer veterinary surgeon in the defunct Bendel State Public Service, was also Commissioner for Commerce and Industry in the state and later the pioneer Secretary to Edo State Government and Head of Service, when the new state was created in 1991.

Dr. Clement Alile

PDP to ACN: Don't politicise SURE-P

BY HENRY UMORU

A

BUJA—THE National leadership of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, urged Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, to stop politicising the Subsidy Re-Investment Programme, SURE-P, initiative of the Federal Government.

PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, also challenged ACN to show Nigerians what programmes the party has in its states from their share of the saved fuel subsidy funds.

Lambasting ACN for to politicising the SURE-P initiative of the Federal Government, PDP also accused the opposition states of frittering away their share of the funds instead of using same for the benefit of the people.

Reacting to media reports

by ACN that the SURE-P fund was being shared to PDP members, the party said the reports were part of a grand plot by the opposition to stir up animosity among the people and ensure that they do not benefit from government programmes.

The party said the leaders of ACN, “ who are used to syphoning public funds,” are clearly frustrated that the

SURE-P initiative was yielding results and that Nigerians across the board were benefitting from it.

Metuh said: “The attention of the leadership of PDP has been drawn to malicious and baseless media reports by the opposition ACN, that the Subsidy Re-Investment Programme fund is being shared to PDP members.

“To say the least, we find it

nauseating that the opposition would want to play politics with everything, including a programme meant for the benefit of all Nigerians.

We are aware that this is part of a grand plot by ACN to stir up animosity among peace loving Nigerians and prevent them from benefitting from the programme.

“The SURE-P initiative is a

AWARD: Rivers State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Sampson Parker (middle), with others, after the state won the award of the best state in malaria elimination and control.

Reps Minority Whip backs amnesty for Boko Haram

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

B

ENIN—HOUSE of Representatives Minority Whip, Mr. Samson Osagie, has supported calls for amnesty for Islamic sect, Boko Haram, insisting that anything that will ensure peace and stability in the country should be encouraged.

Osagie described the move by the House of Representatives to confer immunity on its members as misunderstood, saying that what the members of the lower chamber in the National Assembly were demanding for was simply a protection over what they say in parliament during sittings.

programme of the PDP-led Federal Government for the benefit all Nigerians. PDP members are Nigerians and we would be happy if they were truly patronised instead of the money going to the pocket of an individual as obtainable in the camp of ACN, where funds meant for the people are diverted to the pocket of a godfather."

Osagie, who spoke with Vanguard during the flag-off of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, campaign in Uhunmwode Local Government Area, for the April 20 local government elections, said government should be able to fish out members of Boko Haram, their sponsors and dialogue with them.

He said: “For me, I am in support of anything that will bring peace. If granting amnesty to Boko Haram will bring peace, I am all for it; but I believe too that it is something government needs to consider. We need to fish out those behind them and talk with

them, as that will not amount to condoning crime.

“We know what happened in the Niger Delta, the militants took over the place, vandalised pipelines and did a lot of things, but the late President Yar ’Adua, in his wisdom, thought it wise to grant them amnesty. I believe that BokoHaram and their collaborators should be identified by government and once they are identified, they should be discussed with and other ways should be found to ensure that their activities are reduced.”

Rivers comes tops in malaria elimination, control

R

IVERS State has been adjudged the best state in the federation in the area of malaria elimination and control programme.

This was made known at the 11th bi-annual meeting of states’ malaria control programme managers in Abakalike, Ebonyi State, organised

by National Malaria Control Programme in collaboration with the Roll Back Malaria partners to deliberate on the successes and challenges of controlling malaria in Nigeria.

Speaking during the presentation of the award to Rivers State Health

Commissioner, Dr. Sampson Parker, in Port Harcourt, the World Bank Specialist in charge of Malaria, Dr. Moriam Jagun, commended the state for doing so much in the fight to control and eradicate malaria in the country.

She said Rivers State Ministry of Health came first in the SouthSouth geo-political zone and first nationwide, using the scores from the three different segments of the competition and the ability of the state to address the previous agreements in the bi-annual meeting communiqué.

Italian oil firm suspends operations in Bayelsa over alleged theft

A

N Italian oil firm, Eni, yesterday, shut down its activities in the swampy oil fields located in Bayelsa State, over alleged theft.

The firm, in a statement in Yenagoa, attributed the frequent spills to alleged oil theft by vandals and said that it had decided to shut down operations to prevent further damages to the environment.

Eni, which operates in Nigeria as Nigeria Agip Oil Company, NAOC, said it authorised the suspension of operations on March 22 and subsequently declared Force Majeure on its oil output from the facility on March 23.

“Force Majeure is a legal notice that absolves an oil firm of liabilities for failure to meet supply obligations to crude buyers due to circumstances beyond the firm’s control.

“Eni confirms that between March 21 and 22, the company declared force majeure and ordered the closure of its onshore activities in Bayelsa State, Nigeria."

14—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

APGA chieftains disown All Progressives Congress

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

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WERRI — CHIEFTAINS of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Imo State, have distanced themselves from the merger that gave birth to All Progressives Congress, APC. Addressing journalists in Owerri, APGA State Vice Chairman, Sir David Iwuagwu, said: “The purported merger

of our great party with four other parties to form a messianic mega party called APC or any other acronym by which such party may be known, exists in the imagination of those propagating it.”

Iwuagwu categorically stated that at no time did their party take such a decision, adding that APGA remained a strong registered political party and will continue to grow and expand on its own.

“Here in Imo State, the implosion became a big problem to manage since the production of the sitting governor.

“Factions, real and imagined, have dotted the landscape,” Iwuagwu lamented.

He debunked the rumour that APGA had disintegrated or lost grip of its stronghold; he enjoined their members to remain loyal to its leadership.

Picnickers at Easter around Nigeria

Picnickers at Bar Beach, on Victoria Island, Lagos, on the Easter Monday Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi

Anambra North guber aspirants parley with Obi

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

A

WKA — THIR TEEN gubernatorial aspirants from Anambra North senatorial zone and different political platforms have met with Governor Peter Obi to thank him for his purported unwavering support for the next governor of the state to emerge from the area.

Obi has consistently said his party, the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, would select its governorship candidate from Anambra North, even as some aspirants argue that the governor’s campaign for Anambra North should not be binding on them because there was no

previous agreement to that effect.

However, encouraged

by Obi’s support for Anambra North governorship project, many aspirants have emerged from the area, which was a different situation from what used to happen in the past when the race was left for aspirants from the South and Central senatorial zones.

Though details of their meeting with Obi were not made public, it was gathered that the aspirants reaffirmed their determination to see the next governor come from Anambra North, irrespective of their party affiliation, adding that they would work together to actualise it.

Some of the aspirants

at the meeting said: “22 years after the creation of Anambra State, not one individual from Anambra North has emerged as a governor, even though Section 14 of the 1999 Constitution, as amended, recognised the need for balancing of elected and appointed positions within the states and local governments.”

They agreed that Anambra North producing the next governor was a matter of equity, justice and fair-play He added they would mobilise the people of the zone to sensitise stakeholders, traditional leaders and people at the grassroots in all the three senatorial zones to support Anambra North governorship project.

Abuja residents enjoying the Easter Monday, at the Wonder Land Amusement Park, beside the National Stadium. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida

Don’t subject sitting president, governors to primaries — Anambra guber aspirant

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

A

WKA — A governorship aspirant in Anambra State, Mr. Charles Udogaranya, has called

on political parties in the country not to subject their sitting president or governors to party primaries, arguing that it was an unnecessary waste of resources.

In a statement in Awka,

Alleged fraud: Heads may roll at Abia housing corporation

BY ANAYO OKOLI.

U

MUAHIA — HEADS may soon roll at Abia State Housing and Development Corporation, ASHDC, following the probe by the State House of Assembly on the financial and general management irregularities by management of the corporation.

At the centre of the crisis are the GM of the corporation, Mr. Michael Uwadileke, and chief accountant, Mr. Obinna Nwokoma, who was also accused of forging doc-

uments to withdraw money from the corporation’s account.

Already, the board members, general manager and other staff involved in the crisis have appeared before a committee of the House of Assembly looking in to a petition written by aggrieved staff of the corporation on the alleged wrongs going on in the place.

The board members, it was learnt, were in agreement with the House for the probe to go on to sanitise the ailing corporation.

the aspirant argued that the essence of party primary was to determine the popularity of candidates seeking nomination among cardcarrying members.

He added that the president and governors already had advantage over others and should, therefore, be allowed to contest the election without facing the party primaries.

“It is near insurmountable for any other candidate in the party to become more popular among party members, than a sitting president or governor, he said.

“To, therefore, ask other aspirants to go into primary election with their party leader (president or governor) is a sheer hypocrisy, wastage of funds, vexation of party builders and capable of causing disunity in a political party.

Fun seekers at the Agodi Gardens, Ibadan, playing with an ostrich..Photo: Dare Fasube

Another form of horse riding on Bar Beach, Easter Monday. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013—15

Bala Mohammed appoints Tangaza AGIS boss

BY LAIDE AKINBOADE

A

BUJA—The Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Sen. Bala Mohammed, has appointed Hajiya Jamilah Tangaza as the new Head of Abuja I n f o r m a t i o n Management Systems, AGIS. The minister said the appointment of Tangaza who was until last week, his Senior Special Assistant on Information Management Systems, was aimed at placing the right people “in positions where their contributions will impact positively on the overall performance of the FCT administration.”

According to Sen. Mohammed, Hajiya Jamilah’s redeployment to AGIS was part of the first phase of an exercise that would reposition his administration for better service delivery.

Before joining Sen. Bala Mohammed’s team at the Federal Capital Territory Administration, Hajiya Jamilah was the Head of BBC’s Hausa Service – one of the language services of the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC World Service.

As Head of BBC Hausa, it was her responsibility to oversee the production and transmission of the service’s daily output on radio, online and mobile phone. She ran two production teams – in London and in Nigeria; and managed BBC Hausa Staff which included producers, broadcast journalists and in-the-field reporters in Nigeria, Niger, Ghana andCameroun.

Prior to becoming the Head of BBC Hausa, Hajiya Jamilah worked as Acting Head of BBC Hausa between 2005 and 2006. She joined the BBC in 1992 as a producer - planning, producing, and presenting news and current affairs programmes for the BBC Hausa Service, among other appointments, before the present one.

Atiku approved Pentascope contract, lobbied for Ericsson — El Rufai

BY HENRY UMORU

A

BUJA — FORMER

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, yesterday said former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, approved the controversial Pentascope contract.

Replying the former Vice President yesterday, Mallam El-Rufai explained that because of Atiku’s intense lobby and what he termed smears deployed to advance Ericsson’s bid, ‘’Atiku and Abdullahi Yari, his then ADC, at different times spoke to El Rufai to favour Ericsson.

He added that the contract was then awarded to Ericsson at a price lower than what was submitted

by Motorola.

In a statement signed by his Media Advisor, Muyiwa Adekeye, Mallam Nasir El Rufai said: ‘’It is understandable that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar would be enduring some unease at the disclosures made in The Accidental Public Servant, Mallam Nasir El Rufai’s recent book. The former vice-president’s media team has tried to engage in obfuscation about their principal’s serial interference with contract award processes that were detailed in the book.

“Against this, they have reproduced El Rufai’s assertion that Atiku did not meddle in privatisation processes, which are very different and distinct in nomenclature and substance from seeking contracts for friends. ‘’Now that Atiku himself has spoken on the controversial NITEL GSM contract involving Ericsson and Motorola, it is obvious that the attempt at confusing issues persists. It is untrue that the NITEL GSM contract in question was split. Rather it was awarded to Ericsson, but at the lower price submitted by Motorola, because of Atiku’s intense lobby deployed to advance Ericsson’s bid. Atiku and Abdullahi Yari, his then ADC, at different times spoke to El Rufai to favour Ericsson. ‘’It is Atiku’s responsibility to explain why he became an Ericsson salesman, although the investigations conducted by Motorola after the debacle makes clear he was not engaged in an altruistic mission. This incident had diplomatic repercussions

as the American government wrote to protest this loss by an American company that had submitted the cheaper bid.

“Atiku persists in his laughable assertion that ElRufai’s brother is a shareholder and member of Motorola’s board, something any person can research and confirm to be an outright falsehood. ‘’On Pentascope, we see the same pattern of muddying the waters with falsehood. As chairman of the National Council on Privatisation, NCP, Atiku gave his approval in writing on February 21, 2003, for the management contract with Pentascope to be signed. The memo on which Atiku minuted his approval, BPE/I&N/ NT/MC/DG/280, is dated February 20, 2003, and was initiated by the director of BPE covering the DG’s duties at the time. By virtue of the high office he then held, Atiku knows that Penta-

scope was not foisted on NITEL but emerged from a properly advertised and competitive selection process.

“After the failure of the first attempt to sell NITEL, it had been decided that there was need for a management contractor to keep the momentum of preparing the company to operate like a private entity and preserve its assets. Pentascope assumed in NITEL on April 28, 2003, shortly before El Rufai left BPE to become a minister. ‘’The Pentascope contract terms included obligations by the BPE to monitor the contract, and for the NITEL Board to set up an executive committee to supervise day to day operations in NITEL. Between the new BPE leadership that neglected its responsibilities, the NCP, which Atiku chaired and which failed to supervise the BPE and the bureaucrats and politicians around the Ministry of Communications, the management contract was

frustrated and terminated in 2005.

“When a former vice-president asserts that NITEL was making N100 billion in profit annually, the mind must boggle that someone so unconstrained by fidelity to facts had once been saddled with significant responsibilities. NITEL never made such profits.

NITEL had never paid a single dividend to the FGN until the BPE forced it to pay N3bn in 2001 “While the politicians and bureaucrats were fighting to reclaim ministerial control of NITEL (and the inflated equipment contracts that came with it), the company was fast losing market share to the new kids on the block, the GSM companies that understood how to create and sustain value. ‘’It is to be hoped that Atiku will respond to the other matters concerning him in the book, but this time he must ensure that facts trump the braggadocio.”

Youths arriving with other Abuja residents to enjoy the Easter Monday, at the Millenium Park, beside the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida

NSCDC nabs 2 suspects in FCT ABUJA — The FCT command of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NCSDC, has arrested two for vandalising feeder transformers of Power Holdings Company of

Nigeria, PHCN. The suspects, Babano Bala and Babangida Ibrahim, were picked up at Jiwa town by NSCDC operatives, who worked in collaboration with

'Stop brutality against Boko Haram'

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

ABUJA — The United Progressive Party, UPP, has advised President Goodluck Jonathan to withdraw the brutal approach in tackling Boko Haram insurgency in the northern part of the country.

National Chairman of UPP, Chief Chekwas Okorie, who offered the advice while speaking in Abuja, argued:

“You can’t wipe out the whole village because you are looking for only one person.”

He recommended the invitation of foreign powers by the Federal Government to help it check the the problem of insecurity in the country.

On the call for amnesty for Boko Haram members, Okorie expressed sympathy with President Goodluck Jonathan, saying he was in serious dilemma.

Jiwa Chiefdom Vigilante group yesterday morning.

The agency ’s spokesman, CSC Okeh Emmanuel, said in a statement that items recovered from the suspects included18 Jerrycans of 30 litres filled with mercury oil, 10 empty Jerrycans and a Volvo car, and A6ER cooler truck with registration number Kogi XC 182 IK. He said the suspects had been taken to Upper Area Court, Jiwa, for prosecution.

FCT Commandant of the Corps, Aminu Abdullahi Kofar Soro, said his men would ensure that, in line with the directive of the commandantgeneral, every activity of vandals within FCT would be nipped in the bud.

16—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Lar hails appointment of head of service

BY TAYE OBATERU

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OS—ELDER statesman, Chief Solomon Lar, yesterday, hailed the appointment of the new Head of Service of the Federation, Alhaji Bukar Goni Aji, describing his choice as well deserved. In a statement signed on his behalf by the Executive Secretary of Solomon Lar Foundation, Mr. Ezekiel Adeyi, Lar said the appointment will strengthen the people’s confidence in the civil service. Aji served as secretary of the presidential committee on the Jos crisis which Lar chaired.

The statement said: “The rare and productive qualities Alhaji Aji was made of, were clearly manifested in the manner he served in the Presidential committee. Members saw the great potentials in Alhaji Aji, and his appointment is a confirmation that hard work and patriotism have a pay day, even if there seems to be a kind of delay.”

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Kogi flood victims reject N3,000 payout L

OKOJA—VICTIMS of the 2012 flood disaster in Kogi have rejected the offer of N3, 000 compensation from the state government, describing the gesture as inadequate. Some of the victims told newsmen in Lokoja, Sunday, that the N3, 000 offered to them by the government was far below the losses they suffered individually during the disaster.

The flood, which affected nine local government areas of the state, destroyed more than 500 houses and rendered 15,000 residents homeless. Some of the victims said that they were paid N3, 000 compensation on Thursday by a team of government officials at LGEA Primary School at Gadumo, Lokoja.

Among the victims were Mr. Zacheus Momorebe, Mr. James Oguche, Mr. Suleiman Ogidi and Mr.

Olaitan Ayorinde, who claimed to be landlords.

They said that their houses located on Ganaja Road and the old Polytechnic quarters were completely submerged by the flood. The victims said the amount could not in any way ameliorate the losses they suffered.

They alleged a lack of transparency in the sharing of the money given to the victims by the Federal Government, organisations and individuals.

Disbursement of N139million The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, recalls that the state government recently released N139 million to the nine affected local government areas. The local governments received sums ranging from N10 million to

N20 million to be disbursed to victims.

Reacting to the complaints, the state Commissioner for Environment, Alhaji Abdulrhaman Wuya, said that the money paid to the victims should not be regarded as compensation but assistance.

He said that considering the method used to allocate the N139 million to the affected areas and in the bid to spread the assistance, the amount each person would receive would be in the range of N3, 000.

“More post-flood measures that will benefit all of them are on the way. They should remain calm and bear with the government,” he said.

Wuya also appealed to people living along river banks and waterways to relocate to avoid the experience of the last year during which many lives and property were lost.

Saroh seeks payment of N41bn for military attack

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BUJA— A P R O M I N E N T politician, Prof. Daniel Saroh, has called on the Federal Government to pay N41 billion compensation to the people of Sankera in Benue over a 2001 military attack. A Federal High Court in Enugu had awarded the compensation over the invasion of the community by the Nigerian Army in 2001 during which lives and property were lost.

Saroh told the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, in a telephone interview in Abuja, yesterday, that the compensation was necessary to enable the people to re-start their lives.Saroh, a former Senator for Benue North –East, identified the destruction of the official residence of the Chairman, Ukim Local Government Council and the council secretariat, as some of the property destroyed during the invasion. He said since the victims went to court and won their case, government was duty bound to pay them damages.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013—17

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Before we swallow this APC become “progressives” with the “divine opportunity” to save Nigeria. In other words, the progressiveness of the APC will not be denatured by the influx of a polyglot of PDP non-progressives of yesterday! Should I allow myself to be so persuaded? I think not!

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t is obvious that Imam’s grouse, like that of other members of the proposed APC, has to do specifically and exclusively with the politics of the

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T the sixth edition of her Town Hall meeting, the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial District, the immediate past First Lady of Lagos State and wife of the national leader of the ACN, Mrs. OluremiTinubu asserted that the formation of All Progressives Congress, APC, is a divine opportunity to save the country (Daily Sun Tuesday 19 March 2013). Her rather hifalutin thesis rested on her claim that APC is “a broad coalition of progressively minded politicians on a mission to rescue Nigeria from the present slow pace of development”. This article does not intend to interrogate her definition of “progressively minded politicians” But so far, suffice to say that by their conducts we shall know them!

It is the usual political game the world over for the opposition to find faults with the policies of a ruling party and try to catch votes by blaming a ruling party for everything wrong in the country. In Nigeria’s case, because we have had a history of dominant political parties the opposition has often assumed a holierthan-thou posture to exploit the gullibility of the electorate by casting the ruling party as the devil. The dominance of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, has naturally elicited frustration among the opposition parties. This frustration is often expressed in such lamentation as “the PDP has been the problem of Nigeria in the last 12 years!”

But if you have observed keenly, you would have noticed that the dominance of parties either at the national level or at states levels has often created osmatic flow from the opposition to the ruling parties. That is, where a party is in power, the opposition deserts its “divine calling” and joins the ruling party to “chop”. The hypocrisy in Nigerian politics has been that where the osmatic flow is from the opposition to the ruling PDP, it is greeted with excoriation while those who decamp from the PDP to join the opposition are passed off as “progressives”.

The opposition paper, The Nation, last week gloatingly quoted a Board of Trustee member of the PDP, Kashim Imam, as promising at the 61st birthday dinner for the ACN national leader, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that once APC is registered, over 50 per cent of PDP members will defect to the APC. Before Imam’s projection, it had been speculated that nine PDP Governors would decamp to the APC. My reading of these speculations is that someone is trying to persuade me that once those PDP members responsible for all the failings of the country in the last 12 years decamp to the opposition APC, they

All the parties appear united and complicit in the rot, and none has the moral high ground to accuse the other. It may not make any difference if and when the opposition captures power. Nigerian politicians belong to the same ethnic group and one political party ideologically united against the Nigerian people. And salvation will only come from the Nigerian people

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occupation of Aso Villa in 2015 and not with any broader ideological commitment. Indeed, it should be clear that all the posturing, tergiversation and political peregrination are all about power; raw power to capture the

BY CLEMENT UDEGBE

HE recent Events in this our world should tell us many things if we will look up to the prophets of God. Prophets stand between God and man, they carry information from God to man and vice-versa. God never takes man by surprise; He is too caring, too big, too much for man to take him by surprise. Even the wicked whose end must come suddenly, God warns them several times, offer them several chances and opportunities to repent, but their wickedness would never allow then to beat a U-turn.

A world without prophecy is dead in hell; prophecy edifies, directs, leads, encourages, keeps and sustains the life of a good Christian, and God's Church. God’s prophecies never failed, but man may fail,thereby making prophecy appear unreal or postponed. When about Six years ago today, Barak Obama, a black man, announced that he wanted to Lead America, many thought he was on a political suicide mission, but God said he would lead, and Obama became President.

Last year against all odds, he again won tenure of four years because God said so!

On Wednesday the 6th of March 2013, the world got a new Pope for the Catholic Church, the largest church denomination in the world today. The Pope is more popular and perhaps stronger than the strongest President of the strongest nation with over 1.2 billion

resources of the country and any combination or strategy that procures power will do! That is why we witness so much politics and little governance.

And the politicians make no pretences about their motive. Since that is so, we need to ask what makes the difference between the PDP “devils” and the yetto-come APC “angels”. The difference is the same, except in name. There is nothing ideological whatsoever that distinguishes APC from PDP. The reason is simple. Majority of those touting the APC nirvana had their roots in the PDP. One of the “progressives” in the ACN today and active promoter of the APC, Chief Tom Ikimi, was the man Nigerians detested for rationalising Gen. Sani Abacha’s judicial murder of Ken SaroWiwa. He later returned as the man whose baritone voice yesterday intoned: “Obaasanjoo, Obaasanjoo...Ekweme, Ekweme, Obaasanjoo” at the Eagle Square at the PDP Presidential primary!

That is how Nigerian progressives are made. Two feet, enemy; four feet friend!

Take another typical example. When former Vice President Atiku Abubakar was in the PDP, he was savaged by the opposition as part of the “band of devils” that plagued the country for 12 years.

When he fell out with PDP and joined the opposition to form the AC, he became a hero and a “progressive”. But when he was squeezed out of the AC as a result of its enclave ideology, and had to run back to PDP, he became a “devil” once again.

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et us go to the National Assembly where you have members of the parties promoting the APC. Is there any discernible conduct so far that separates the “angelic” opposition parties from the ruling PDP “devils”? None whatsoever.

On all matters frustrating Nigerians, the entire members of the National Assembly are ranged against the people as one evil machine! Is it that the ACN, ANPP, CPC and the fractious APGA

legislators are unaware that Nigerians are incensed by the statutory kickback called constituency projects? Is it moral to arm-twist the Executive to approve for you money that has no place in the constitution so that you can play big man in your community and “donate” some of it to us as wheelbarrows, shovels and head pans? Did members of these “angelic confraternity ” distance themselves from the opprobrium of Herman Hembe’s alleged indiscretion for which he has been standing trial?

Did any of the opposition parties distance itself from the persecution of Arunma Oteh for her audacity to confront Hembe? Did the opposition parties in the National Assembly ever stand up to be counted among the angels in Lawan Farouk’s Otedola gate? Did all of them not close ranks over the scandal and even tried to blackmail the Executive by accusing it of trying to remove the House leadership?

If you scratched AshiwajuTinubu today, he would tell you that a National Conference, restructuring of the polity and true/fiscal federalism is answer to the nation's woes. Incidentally, Mrs. Tinubu is a member of the Senate Committee on Constitution Review. As the wife of the leader of ACN, one had expected her to take a stand, like many members of her party, that a National Conference is the most credible route to a participatory and inclusive constitution making. But when the National Assembly embarked on the now deadlocked but money guzzling fruitless constitution amendment, we did not hear or see her stand up to show the difference between her party and the PDP; or have they abandoned that position? Ironically too, it is an ACN member, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, who leads the arm-twisting of the Executive on some the issues Nigerians frown at while members of the “ruling” PDP just follow his lead in the demonisation of their party. It is an APGA member and former editor of a national magazine, Mr. Ogene, that rationalises the hounding of Arunma Oteh for exposing Mr. Hembe. The point is that the ideological posturing on which the proponents of the APC base their “divine opportunity to save the country” appears to stop at the car park of the National Assembly! ALL the parties appear united and complicit in the rot, and none has the moral high ground to accuse the other. It may not make any difference if and when the opposition captures power.

Nigerian politicians belong to the same ethnic group and one political party ideologically united against the Nigerian people. And salvation will only come from the Nigerian people.

OPINION God bless and be with our new Pope followers across the world. We as Pentecostal Christians want to know who leads the Catholic Church because we are all involved as members of one body of Christ.

Some of us pray regularly and often for our big and senior brother denominations; the Catholics, Anglicans, Methodists etc. With the resignation of Pope Benedict XVI, the first since over 600 years ago, we prayed for a Black pope to emerge. It would mean that God really was repositioning the black race in this time. We dreamt of a Pope that will cause the world reassess its offenses against the black race during slavery, just because the pope was black. When the descendants of Africa rule over America and the Vatican, it would bring a new release for the African race, etc., and for the fact that it would have been a Ghanaian, made me pray harder and harder. But many like me did not know that God had through His Prophets in times long past told the world who the next Pope would be after Pope Benedict XVI. The author who predicted Pope Benedict XVI would be the first pontiff in nearly 600 years to resign believes the election of Jorge Mario Bergoglio as the 266th Roman Catholic pontiff lines up with a medieval prophecy that would make him the “final pope” before

the End Times.Tom Horn, co-author with Cris Putman of the book Petrus Romanus: The Final Pope is Here,confirmed that it was a “fantastic fulfillment of prophecy.”

His book examines St. Malachy’s “Prophecy of the Popes,” said to be based on a prophetic vision of the 112 popes following Pope Celestine II, who died in 1144.

Malachy ’s prophecies, first published in 1595, culminate with the “final pope,” “Petrus Romanus,” or “Peter the Roman,” whose reign ends with the destruction of Rome and the judgment of Christ.Horn has said a pope of Italian descent would fulfill the prophecy, noting that Bergoglio is the son of Italian parents and a Jesuit.“Being a Jesuit is a very important aspect of the prediction . The name “Petrus Romanus” in the prophecy “implies this pope will reaffirm the authority of the Roman Pontiff over the Church and will emphasise the supremacy of the Roman Catholic Faith and the Roman Catholic Church above all other religions and denominations, and its authority over all Christians and all peoples of the world.”.

Continues on pg 18 *Bishop Udegbe, write from Lagos.

18 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 MUCH has been made about the discovery of improvised explosive devices, bombs, and guns in an abandoned Lagos building belonging to the Bayelsa State Government that the impression could be created that the ownership of the building was more important that the import of the discovery.

Terrorists and other criminals find comfort in abandoned buildings. We had so warned in an editorial earlier in the year about the waste and illegal uses of abandoned buildings, many of them belonging to governments.

Abandoned buildings pose a combination of risks. Their use for criminal activities is only one of them. There are hundreds of thousands of uncompleted or abandoned buildings in Lagos and our other towns and cities, some on the verge of collapsing. They belong to federal, state, local governments, corporations, or individuals. In the case of governments, the buildings form part of a bigger national malaise of unplanned projects, their poor funding, and supervision. At the individual level, ambitious developers who run out of funds, die, or are otherwise incapacitated also account for

Abandoned Buildings, Terroris ts’ Hideouts errorists’ abandoned buildings.

If construction stops, within days, the building is stealthily occupied, first at nights, and later, it becomes a rooming house for all kinds of characters. Illegal immigrants, vandals, vagrants and criminal elements find abandoned buildings useful as bases for their nefarious activities.

They are hardly challenged. Abandoned buildings also accommodate illegal immigrants who pour into our country assured of free accommodation. Many unemployed people, who have lost means to secure housing, use these buildings. What is certain is that crimes are never far from those surroundings. The search for criminal hideouts should include vehicles, many of which their owners abandon for years and

nobody cares how others use them. Criminals would remain unrelenting in inventing new ways of protecting their activities.

Legislations and effective planning regulations could be helpful in dealing with abandoned buildings. The statutes should be enforceable.

Given our current security conundrum, there should be an all-out effort to ensure that uncompleted buildings are properly policed to avoid their being used as criminal hideouts.

The recent arrest of nine suspected terrorists, including a Chadian, in the Ijora Badia area of Lagos metropolis, in the Bayelsa abandoned building - they had lived there for years – again shows the security challenges abandoned building pose.

Security agencies should remain ahead of criminals. For now, the best efforts of the security agencies are still behind the criminals’. Security agencies therefore need more intelligence to uncover the tracks of the criminals.

It would be more effective to block supplies of arms to criminals than discovering where they hide their arms. All these call for a more intensified approach to the war against terror.

OPINION

BY CLEMENT UDEGBE Continued from pg 17

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HE Jesuits order was organised “to stop Protestantism from spreading and to preserve communion with Rome and the successor of Peter.” They also predicted in their book that Benedict would step down, making way for history’s “final pope".

“Remarkably, more than 60 years ago a Belgian Jesuit theologian and academic named Rene Thibault came up with the date 2012 as the culmination of Malachy’s prophecies, Benedict made his decision to resign last year, (2012),before announcing it in February. Horn and Putnam translated the Belgian priest’s rare 1951 book, The Mysterious Prophecy of the Popes, into English.“Adopting the methodology of a mystic as well as a scholar,” Thibaut “makes a compelling case that ‘‘The Prophecy of the Popes’ is a real supernatural prophecy.”

Thibaut is among many Catholic leaders, including popes, cardinals and priests, who have affirmed Malachy’s work, which was kept in the Vatican archives for five centuries before it was first published.

Thibaut used a number of methods of cryptographic analysis to come up with the date 2012 in his book. “In other words,” Horn and Putnam wrote, “2012 was seen as an end-times ‘event horizon’ by at least one Jesuit priest before most readers were born.”

St. Malachy, an Irish saint and the archbishop of Armagh, who lived from 1094 to 1148, described the “final pope” this way: C M Y K

God bless and be with our new Pope(2) “In the extreme persecution of the Holy Roman Church, there will sit Peter the Roman, who will nourish the sheep in many tribulations; when they are finished, the City of Seven Hills will be destroyed, and the dreadful judge will judge his people.”,and he described the penultimate pope, which is believed to be Benedict, as “Gloria Olivae,” or “Glory of the Olive.” Benedict was not a Benedictine priest, yet he chose the name of the founder of the Order of Saint Benedict, which also is known as the Olivetans. The symbol of the Benedictine order includes an olive branch.

That Bergoglio--the final Pope on St. Malachy's list and the one prophesied to reign over the church as it enters the Great Tribulation period--named himself after Saint Francis of Assisi is intriguing given that shortly before his death Assisi prophesied that at the time of the tribulation a man would "be raised to the Pontificate, who, by his cunning, will endeavour to draw many into error and death… Some preachers will keep silence about the truth, and others will trample it under foot and deny it…for in those days Jesus Christ will send them not a true Pastor, but a destroyer” [Works of the Seraphic Father St. Francis of Assisi (1182–1226), Washbourne, 1882 AD, 248].

Furthermore, in naming himself after

Assisi, Bergoglio branded himself after an Italian (Roman) priest whose original name was Francesco di Pietro (Peter) di Bernardone -- literally, Peter the Roman. It would appear now, that we have Peter the Roman as the Pontiff. Premium Times recently published the following facts about Pope Francis 1;He was elected at the end of the conclave of 115 cardinals, 76-yearsold,an Argentinean, the first Jesuit priest to become Pope, the first Latin American to become Pope, the runner-up during the last conclave that elected Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI,a conservative known for his strong antigay stance.

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n 2010, he described homosexuality as a “destructive attack on God’s plan.”

He was a fierce opponent of Argentina’s decision to legalise gay marriage in 2010, arguing that children need to have the right to be raised and educated by a father and a mother; though conservative, he has criticised priests who refuse to baptise babies born to single mothers, and also believes condom can be permissible to prevent disease. He is well known for his austere outlook to life. He is famed for taking a bus to work every day in his native Argentina, giving up his driver and official limousine. His austere outlook towards life explains his choice of Francis as his papal

name. Francis Assisi, who he is named after, is a popular Catholic saint who lived humbly and gave possession away to the poor. When he was made a cardinal, he persuaded hundreds of Argentineans not to fly to Rome to celebrate with him but instead to give the money they would have spent on plane tickets to the poor. In 2001, during a visit to a hospice, he washed and kissed the feet of 12 AIDS patients, He is respected for his intellectual prowess. He is an anti-corruption crusader; he has also accused Argentina’s government of not doing enough to eradicate poverty. He has lived for more than 20 years with one functioning lung. His other lung was removed because of infection. Our new Pope, has called for a meeting with Muslims to discuss world peace, and have just washed the feet of Prisoners. Prophecy has it that this is the last Pope before tribulation sets in. As the coming of Christ draws near, the Church of God must not relent in prayer for the power of the Holy Spirit, the only Power that can restrain the avalanche of tribulations coming!! Let the saints in the body of Christ not forget the very prophecy of Saint Francis of Assisi that “at the time of the tribulation a man would be raised to the Pontificate, who, by his cunning, will endeavour to draw many into error and death…Some preachers will keep silence about the truth, and others will trample it under foot and deny it…for in those days Jesus Christ will send t hem not a true Pastor, but a destroyer”, and pray without ceasing that God will bless and be with the Pope.

Concluded. *Bishop Udegbe,wrote from Lagos.

Vanguard, TUESDAY,APRIL 2, 2013— 19

, Overhauling the national security management system (2)

We believe that the new strategy would entail the national security restructure of the society, a strategy that will impact both government and constitutional democratic governance

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Continued from last week enemy that the military was not organised to defeat; an enemy that is waging an insurgency that is outside of the types of warfare the military is trained to win.

The Nigerian Military has fought and won a secessionist war- that war is within its colonial brief of protecting the integrity of colonial Nigeria. It has been used for pacification of rebellious and restive populations; that is also within its law and order brief. It has contributed troops for peace support international assignment- essentially policing and pacification tasks. It presently faces demand for peace making in Mali and at home to defeat revolutionary state making insurgency, both of which are out-of-the-box task that entail adaptations that are tantamount to a reconstruction of the military. These new task are statemaking, creation of new orders of society and these are political tasks. International partners can contribute to the winning of the war but they cannot do the fighting that secures or establishes sovereigns.

ThisDay reports the opinion of experts on the reasons for the

challenges faced by the security chiefs, including the National Security Adviser. “Experts locate the problem in the nature of the country’s security management system, particularly, in the area of intelligence. A retired Army officer and security expert, Col. Anthony Nyiam, told ThisDay in an interview in July: “There are gaps in our higher national security management organogram. One of the principal gaps is that we do not have what you may call a chief of the Nigerian intelligence community, one with the responsibility for the coordination of our various intelligence agencies. State Security Service, SSS; NIA (National Intelligence Agency), and DIA (Defence Intelligence Agency). We don’t have somebody who coordinates their efforts. The NSA cannot handle that role. The NSA is in charge of policy making and ensuring their implementation. Policy making is separate from operations.

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nce policy makers start being in charge of operations there would be a conflict of interest, and that what

Why should Nigeria Christians not complain

BY TOCHUKWU EZUKANMA

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HE German theologian, Prof. Motlman, rightly stated that “it is not the idealistic concept of none violence that is in consonant with the Gospel, but a responsible action of love”. It is a misunderstanding of the Christian Gospel of non-violence for a man to passively watch a rampaging lunatic break into his house and bludgeon his son to death and rape his wife. The Christian belief demands that such a man, driven by his love for his family, fight off the lunatic.

So, while Christianity is not an incendiary creed, Christians must have the courage to take a responsible action of love, be it in defense of family, nation, justice or the Truth.

The Nigerian religious elite, in spite of their much vaunted born again credentials and self-professed oracles of God, failed to escape the decadence that gripped the Nigerian society. So, like the Nigerian power elite, the men of God are entrapped by greed, falsehood and other aspects of the moral squalor that engulfed this country. Like the political class, they, in deliberate oblivion to the poverty and suffering that pervade the lives of most of their church members, live in breath-taking opulence. They live in expensive mansions, own fleet of cars, and even jets while some of their members live 10 in a room in ramshackle houses and cannot afford one meal a day and basic medical services. In their selective amnesia,

they chose to forget the Christian precepts of charity and care for the poor and needy.

As such, they lack the moral authority to censure the power elite for their anti-people policies, corruption and downright thievery.

Instead of being Spirit-filled, fearless and daring warriors for social justice, equity and elevated moral and ethical standards, they are toadies, lickspittles and apologists of the ruling class. They convolute the Christian Gospel not only to fleece their members and justify their ostentatious and profligate lifestyle but also to nudge the people into docility and servility. In line with the desire of the ruling class to hold the people in subjugation, men of God are goading their members to passivity. In an edition of the Rhapsody of Reality, Pastor Chris Oyakilome urged his readers not to complain (against irresponsible and inhumane government policies and their ramifications), but to make efforts to improve their circumstances.

Christians, not complain? That is nonsense, monumental nonsense. It is unChristian, actually, sinful to not complain and take an uncompromising stance against bungled governance, misappropriation of public funds and extravagant lifestyle of the Nigerian politicians and the impoverishment and suffering they visit on Nigerians.

Interestingly, it is Christianity that provided the philosophical underpinnings for democracy. The basic values of Western civilization, including its form of politics,

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HE structure of the military was for subjugation and domination while its function was to safeguard the sovereignty of the Independence populace.

This structure has been modified and modernised over the course of the past five decades and yet with its functional capability remaining unaltered.

The Nigerian Military has thus functioned to maintain the structure of the colonial society and the effectiveness of government to govern within the context of the colonially structured society.

The Nigerian Military has never been the fighting wing of any Nigerian liberation movement.

The professionalisation of the Nigerian Military has, however, had the unintended consequence of maintaining its imperial purpose as a means of subjugation, pacification, control and domination. It was created to fight the imperial enemies both internal and external. It has unwittingly maintained government as a structure of domination.

The Boko Haram is a new

leads to corruption. For external defense, we have a good coordinator who is the Chief of Defence Staff. For internal security, we don’t have a coordinator ”. Nyiam believes Nigeria security crisis has lingered because it is fighting an unconventional war against terrorism with convention war tactics. To overcome the problem, he recommends a security management strategy anchored on four core areas. Chief coordinator of intelligence, whose occupant must be a spy master; chief of internal security operations, who should be a serving Army General, special forces who should be drawn from the Armed Forces and who should be volunteers; and the think-tanks, who should be people from the academic with national security strategic studies background”.

Colonel Nyiam’s main recommendation is to reorganise the government national security management and two contradictory justifications for his advice are offered. The first is the ‘gap’ theory- which explains the ineffectiveness of security management by the ineffectiveness of the NSA’s office. The second explains the crises as a function of the kind of war the Armed Forces are fighting to defeat the enemy. The operational explanation is more convincing than the bureaucratic reorganisation proposal. The deficiency of the second inheres in Colonel Nyiam’s description of the NSA’s office. The dichotomy he makes between policy formulation and implementation and coordination of operations is untenable. The effectiveness of the NSA is the core of the office’s policy formulation and implementation raison d’etre.

The NSA must take steps to ensure that implementation of policies are effective. And if implementation is operations, the NSA must be the coordinator

While Christianity is not an incendiary creed, Christians must have the courage to take a responsible action of love, be it in defense of family, nation, justice or the Truth

,

democracy, were informed by three heritages: liberty from the Greek, legalism from the Romans and Christianity from the Jews. But does not the Christian doctrine of the equality of all men before God, fairness and impartiality subsume the Greek ideal of individual worth and liberty and the Roman concept of the equality of all men before the law? Therefore, it is Christianity, more than any other belief that furnished the philosophical foundations for democracy.

D

emocracy recognises that power belongs to the people. And that those, whom the people have elected, that is entrusted with the power to rule over them, must be accountable to them. How then can a man of God urge Christians in a democracy not to demand accountability from those they have authorised to govern them and to censure the actions of these governing elite when they fail to respect the collective will of the people?

of the coordinators of operations.

The NSA’s organogram must include the reports of operations evaluated by chiefs of operations for the attention of the NSA upon which his advice to the President on the national security situations, internal and external, are based. All the suggestions on coordination of operations made by the Colonel are for the strengthening of the NSA’s office, for only in this sense that Nyiam’s recommendations cannot be construed as proposals for the bureaucratic enlargement of the National Security Management System.

This assessment of Nyiam’s proposal is supported by the first explanation for the ineffectiveness of the Military and Security Forces. “Nyiam believes Nigeria’s security crisis has lingered because the military is fighting unconventional war against terrorism with conventional war tactics”. This explanation has its implications and the most important one being that reform of the intelligence system of the Armed Forces that continues to fight unconventional war against terrorism with conventional tactics will continue to be ineffective until it recognises that its failure is explained by its appreciation of the insurgency.

The advice from this operational level is clear and not a bureaucratic creation of jobs; “change your tactics, change your strategy and war plans”. We believe that the new strategy would entail the national security restructure of the society, a strategy that will impact both government and constitutional democratic governance. Most importantly the strategy would involve a waging of an unconventional war with unconventional tactics by an unconventional Armed and Security Forces.

Concluded

Moreover, the history of the Christian faith is suffused with Christians in responsible actions of love, speaking out and acting out against forces of greed, wickedness and injustice. It was in a responsible action of love for the divine word (which stipulated that the house of God shall be a house of prayer), that Jesus Christ complained against the activities of the money changers and thieves within the temple and also, drove them out the temple. In Matthew 23, he criticized the Pharisees and Scribes for their hypocrisy and perversion of the Truth.

It was the audacious and selfless challenge of racial injustice by Black American men of God led by Martin Luther King Jr. that got America attempting to live up to her creed: The equality of all men, irrespective of colour and creed. “In the early Hanoverian period”, the British historian, George Warner, wrote: “Britain had sunk into a condition of moral apathy rarely paralleled in her history”. It was John Wesley, a religious leader turned social reformer, who roused the country from her moral apathy and got her showing increased kindliness and genuine commitment to alleviate poverty and suffering amongst the masses.

Therefore Nigerian Christians have civic, moral and spiritual obligations to complain and protest against the arrogance of power, misplaced priorities, corruption, theft of public funds and scorn for the Nigerian masses of the ruling elite. Complaints, strategically directed complaints and agitations, are potent weapons that must be employed against bad leadership in Nigeria.

*Mr. Ezukanma, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Lagos.

2O — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

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Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013—21

Firm invests N15bn in compressed natural gas for automotive, industrial use

By FRANKLIN ALLI

S

AGAS, a division of Borkir Energy Company Limited, a subsidiary of Dangote Group, has invested $100 million (about N15 billion) in compressed natural gas (CNG) as alternative fuel for use by automotive and

industries in the country.

CNG is a fossil fuel substitute for gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel or propane/LPG. Although its combustion does produce greenhouse gases, it is a more environmentally clean alternative to petrol and diesel fuel, and it is much safer than other fuels in event

of a spill. (Natural gas is lighter than air, and disperses quickly when released.)

Chairman of Borkir, Alhaji Sani Dangote, this in Lagos when he signed a 20 year sales and purchase agreement with the Nigeria Gas Company Limited (NGC)

to supply and distribute the CNG to all its filling stations nationwide.

“We are investing over a $100 million dollars in the next two years to ensure that gas CNG is available at every major highway in the country and some of the major cities. It is going to take a while for this

From left: Mr. Phillip Ihenacho, Chairman, Seven Energy International; Executive Director, Corporate Banking, UBA Plc, Mr. Ifeatu Onejeme and Managing Director, Accugas, Stephen Tierney during the signing ceremony of Accugas $225 million refinancing & expansion facility, arranged by UBA Plc and four other banks, in Lagos.

project to go around everywhere but at least, we are starting from somewhere and we believe when Nigeria starts seeing the benefits, it would encourage everyone that is mindful of economic aspect of energy to convert their petrol vehicles to CNG gas,” he said.

He explained that the pact was the beginning of a new era in gas utilisation in the country, stressing that his company has kick started the necessary process to provide gas as alternative to automobile and industrial fuel.

He said vehicles would be converted to be able to use the gas and that conversion centers would be established at various points across the federation, even as he disclosed that such center has been opened at Ikeja already in joint partnership with a foreign firm.

Dangote further disclosed that a pilot conversion for gas usage has commenced with the enlistment of Dangote Group’s 5, 000 trucks which are being converted for dual fuel usage (Gas and Diesel), with the hope of converting 20, 000 vehicles within the next one year of take-off.

Unilever reinstates commitment to quality products ...Introduces Close-Up Fire Freeze

By PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

U

NILEVER Nigeria Plc has reiterated its commitment to giving Nigerians products that will improve their lives, as it introduces Close-Up fire freeze. The new variant was launched at an event tagged; ‘The Magical Chemistry of Opposites’.

Speaking at the launch, the Managing Director, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Thabo Mabe, disclosed that the widespread patronage Closeup has enjoyed over the years has challenged it to do all that is possible to remain on the cutting edge of innovation.

“Innovation is absolutely essential if the world must combat the incredible rates of tooth decay that prevails globally and promote oral health. We today live in a world where tooth decay affects around 90 percent of people worldwide, while up to

20 percent of the world’s adult population suffer severe gum disease. We are proud that through innovations like Close Up Fire Freeze, we can play a part in promoting oral health in Nigeria and globally. Fire freeze truly embodies the timeless qualities that have made

Closeup the number one toothpaste brand in Nigeria.

This includes ingredients that offer consumers long lasting freshness and protection from germs that cause tooth decay ”. On his part, the Brand Building Director, David Okeme, said with the

new Closeup Fire-Freeze formulation, consumers can experience both warming and cooling sensations, working together in the mouth to give longest lasting freshness like never before.

MultiChoice spends N15bn on local content programming

By PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

M

ULTICHOICE, a pay-TV provider, says it has invested over N15 billion in the last seven years to acquire locally produced programmes for its viewing public.

The South African company, which entered into Nigerian broadcasting sector in 1993 said the continuous purchase of locally produced programmes has improved the economic disposition and skills of local producers.

“A lot of programmes we commissioned initially have brought out the biggest producers in Nigeria and acquisitions of local content has directly

136.5

-0.1

2,167.00

+17.00

17.62

-0.23

109.99 +0.30

impacted the ability of the producers to make 97.16 +0.58 additional content in the local market”, John Ugbe the CEO of MultiChoice Nigeria told members of Nigerian and South African CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING Chamber of Commerce in Lagos last week.

DOLLAR 154.75 155.25 Speaking at the chamber’s month of March 155.75 235.6182 Breakfast meeting, Ugbe, who has over 700 STERLING 234.1058 234.8622 198.2348 198.8753 199.5158 direct employees, said his organisation had EURO FRANC 162.4331 162.9579 163.4827 paid over N7 billion in taxes to the country YEN 1.6409 1.6462 1.6515 and spent over $22 million on broadcast CFA 0.2822 0.2922 0.3022 WAUA 230.789 231.5347 232.2804 infrastructure.

26.758 “We have bought some OB vans worth RENMINBI 26.5861 26.672 41.2634 41.3967 41.53 million of naira to support the Nigerian RIYAL KRONA 26.5861 26.672 26.758 Premier League. It is important we put the SDR 231.537 232.2851 233.0332 Nigerian football back on TV,” he said.

CBN Exchange rate as at 01/04/2013

22— Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

I

GNORANCE is dangerous.

It is the reason why many people have lost money investing in shares. For you to make profitable investment in shares, there are so many things you need to know, and that you must regularly be aware of, otherwise you may end up regretting buying shares.

In the last edition, we said that you must invest in a good company in order to make money, but no company exists in isolation. The company may be producing or selling an essential good, and has sound management, but that does not protect it from what happens in the national and global economy. Government policies have killed good companies selling necessities in the past.

A good example is Dunlop Plc. Sharp rise in crude oil prices, which rose to as high as $140 per barrel, resulting into high cost of diesel, have made many good companies to close shop.

So, as you are buying the shares of that good company, realise that nothing is static; anything can change at any time. Fortunately, we live in an age where information on anything is available and can be accessed almost freely either via newspapers, radio, television, or internet. There is nothing about everything and you can get it even for free.

The problem with many investors is that they don’t consider or realise that being informed is critical to making money in shares. Most investors especially retail investors are indifferent or apathetic to information about development in the stock market and in the economy.

Such indifference is reflected in the inquiry by one of our readers. He inquired, “I

Be an informed investor bought 4000 units of FinBank’s shares six years ago. I have never received dividend or bonus. I need to know the worth of my shares.” This implies that the investor just bought the shares; he did not monitor or pay attention to what happened to FinBank. He seems not to be aware that Finbank is one of the banks the CBN took over, and it has

been acquired by FCMB, and that the shareholders of Finbank were given one share of FCMB for 48 shares of Finbank. It is also obvious that he does not have information

,

BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

about the registrars of Finbank, and what happened to them.

Now, these are information he could access via the internet.

In fact, most of the complaints

Complaints and inquiries sent to Investors’ Forum reveal that a lot of retail investors are ignorant of very essential things relating to investment in shares.

,

Did you Know?

Securities and E x c h a n g e Commission

T

Investors’ rights under CAMA to fight corruption, malpractices

BY PETER EGWUATU

T

HE Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA) acknowledges the possibility of fraudulent tendencies in the way companies are managed hence it made provisions to checkmate such tendencies Section 287 of CAMA provides that a “Director shall not accept a bribe, a gift, or a commission either in cash or kind from any person or share in the profit of that person in respect of any transaction involving his/her company” A breach of this statutory duty

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and enquiries sent to Investor’s Forum reveal that a lot of retail investors are ignorant of essential things relating to investment in shares.

Some don’t even know that their stock broker had changed address, or even about the Central Securities and Clearing System (CSCS), or CSCS account. Many do not even know about company registrars and what they do, or about the Nigeria Stock Exchange, and the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Yet the activities or inactivity of these organisations to a large extent determine whether your investment in share will be profitable or not.

entitles the company to recover the actual gift from the Director(s), sue him and the giver of the gift, jointly and severally, for damages sustained without any deduction in respect of what the Director(s) has returned.

See Section 287 (2). Also the plea that the company benefited or that the gift was accepted in good faith shall not be a defense. See Section 287 (3).

Pertaining to loans, and advances, the law does not allow the Directors of a company to obtain loans or

other forms of advances with the motive to defraud the company or the giver of the loan or advance. Section 290 of CAMA provides that if a company receives money by way of an advance payment and with the intent to defraud, fails to apply the money or other property for the purpose for which it was received, every Director of the company shall be personally liable to the party from whom the money or property was received.

Meanwhile, the Directors of a company can be held personally liable for their

executive actions where such actions are not in conformity (i.e. ultra vires) with the company’s charter or its objects as set out in its Memorandum and Articles of Association. Also, Directors are personally liable for executive actions aimed at a particular group of shareholders where those actions are fraudulent or illegal.

Traditionally, the liability of shareholders of publicly quoted companies is limited to the amount of shares subscribed to in a company. This

he Securities and Ex change Commission (SEC), Nigeria is the apex regulatory institution of the Nigerian capital market supervised by the Federal Ministry of Finance. It is empowered by the Investment and Securities Act (ISA) 2007 to regulate and develop the Nigerian capital market.

Among other things SEC; sets the rule for capital market activities, and also enforces the rules; registers all securities (shares/equities, bonds etc); registers operators in the capital market (stock brokers, registrars stock exchange etc) to ensure that only fit and proper persons / institutions are allowed to operate in the market; Monitor and inspect activities in the market and investigates complaints and allegation of ille-

Continues on Page 23 means that a shareholder could only lose the amount invested in buying the shares of a company if the company is liquidated. However, in a privately owned company, the shareholder’s liability is unlimited because they are owners of the entity as there are no limited liability members. Conversely, a company can by its Memorandum and Articles of Association make the liability of its Directors unlimited from the time of the registration of the company. See Section 288 (1) of CAMA.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 —23

Conflict resolution in capital market, where to go to

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

O

FTEN times, conflicts arise in the course of buying or selling shares, or even transacting business in the capital market. That of course, should be expected since capital market transaction involves complexities of human nature. It is understandable that no matter what is done to stop some malpractice in the capital market, some people are always loking for opportunities to abuse the system and defraud others especially ignorant investors.

But conflicts involving stockbrokers, registrars and investors is not peculiar to Nigeria; they occur in other countries too. The difference however is the attitude and response of the regulators. this implie the commitment of the the regulators to ensuring that investors, who are defrauded in the course of their business with unscrupulous operators , do not feel cheated at the end of the day, by ensuring prompt resolution. Perhaps, this is where regulators in the Nigerian capital market will have to really sit up and do something that will put the market in good light.

•Emeka Mmadubuike, ASHON President and

•Arunma Oteh, SEC DG

In this regard , the Association of Stockbroking Houses of Nigeria, ASHON, recently said that it is planning quick resolution of conflict that will last for not more than five days.

Also, the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Ms Aruma Oteh, said that the Commission in conjunction with the Consumer Protection Council is working on a new Complaints Management Framework that will outline ‘where to go, what to do and what to expect’ in lodging and following up on complaints related to capital market transactions.

According to her, the new framework will make resolution of complaints efficient and investor friendly. Specifically, Oteh said that SEC intends to leverage the expertise of both the SEC and the CPC in delivering the desired result of efficiency, speed and cost effectiveness in complaints resolution, which she noted constitutes the roots of investor confidence in the market.

However, for investors that are having challenges on how to go about channeling their complaints, further details will be provided on that next week.

STOCKS IN THE NEWS Julius Berger Nigeria Plc

J

ulius Berger Plc is prepared to delight its shareholders with N2.50 dividend payout for the year ended 31st December, 2012.

This represents marginal increase over N2.40 paid in the previous year. Only investors, whose names appear on the register of members at the close of business on 31st May, 2013 will benefit.

The full year financial statement for the same period showed revenue went up by 19.0 percent to N201.57 billion from N169.413 billion in 2011.

The gross profits appreciated

by 33. 4 percent to N44.84 billion despite increasing cost.

Basic earnings also went up by 85.6 percent from 368 kobo in 2011 to 683 kobo in the review period, indicating 85.6 percent increase. However, the cost of sales rose to N157.73 billion from N135.79 billion in 2011.

The company has also enjoyed commensurate patronage from the investing public as the share price has risen by 58.36 percent between January and close transactions on 29th

March, 2013. Starting the year at N19.86 per share, the share price rose to N47.70 on Thursday 29th March, 2013.

Last year, Bilfinger Berger announced that it was reducing its minority stake in Julius Berger Nigeria PLC (JBN) and was selling to Nestoil Group of Nigeria. The Group sold ten percent of its shares in the company, which is listed on the NSE, to Nestoil Group. This reduced Bilfinger Berger’s investment from 49.9 percent to 39.9 percent. The sale took effect in the first quarter of 2012..

Did you Know Continues from Page 22 gal activities.

SEC executes ENFORCEMENT actions against market operators (stock brokers, registrars e.t.c) who are found wanting after investigation is carried out. In minor cases, an all parties meeting is convened by the Commission where it mediates between parties involved in a dispute. However, if the case is serious or where no

resolution is reached or a party fails to comply with a directive given at the all parties meeting, the defaulting party will be called before the Administrative Proceedings Committee (APC), which is a quasi judicial court, with only civil jurisdiction. Appeals against decisions of the APC are usually made at the Investment and Securities Tribunal (IST). Enforcement action may be in the form of

payment of fine, ban, suspension or even forwarding the case to the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) or the Attorney - General of the Federation (AGF) where allegations are found to be criminal in nature.

Thus, what the police is to the society, SEC is to capital market activities/transactions.

These include buying and selling of shares

COMPLAINTS & INVESTIGATIONS SEC, NDIC, where is the money I invested in Allstates Trust Bank

Sir, I bought some shares of Allstates Trust Bank, Amukpe branch near Sapele, Delta State few weeks before the bank went under. I was not issued a certificate except the teller with which I paid N4000 for the number of shares. Till date, I do not know how to go about getting my certificate, or even to know the bank that took over Allstates. I need your assistance to retrieve my certificate (Daniel E. Eyituoyo)

Investors Forum The public offer of All States Trust Bank was still in the process of being approved by SEC, when the bank was declared insolvent and its license revoked by the CBN. As a result, your money and that of all those that bought the shares of the bank during the offer, were trapped in the bank, as at the time it was closed by the CBN. Though SEC said that it was discussing with the CBN and NDIC to ensure release of the money collected during the offer, there have being no update on the matter. We assure you and all others that participated in the offer, that we would contact SEC and NDIC, to ensure that your invested is not lost.

AIMS Investment, where is my money In 2009, I bought 1000 units of slot with AIMS Investment, Utako, Abuja, with N125,000 and was told that after two years, our dividend will amount to N500,000. I hope this issue will be resolved as soon as possible as you help me recover my money (Amuzu Joseph)

Investors Forum Please contact AIMS Asset Management Limited on 07029523916, 08095988382. The Head office of the company is located at 23, Ajao Road, Off Adeniyi Jones, Ikeja.

I need N100,000 returns per month Kindly advise me or link me up with somebody that can advise me on a business that can I can invest N1 million and get at least N100,000 every month (Peter Ohworiewo)

Investors’ Forum Sorry sir, we don’t offer such advice here, or provide such link.

I need a reliable stock broker Please kindly advise me on reliable stock brokers (Timothy M.Y)

Investors’ Forum We cannot advise on reliable stock brokers. We can only advise you on registered or licensed stock brokers. These are stock brokers licensed by the Nigeria Stock Exchange and the Securities and Exchange Commission. For the list of these licensed stock brokers please visit http://www.nse.com.ng/Regulation/ForBrokers/ Pages/Dealing-Members.aspx What is happening to RiGGS Venture Please help me find out what is happening to my 100,000 unit of RiGGS Venture West Africa in 2008 through private placement and till date no dividend, nothing.

Investors Forum According to information on its website, RiGGS said that it is planning to register shares sold during the private placement with the Securities and Exchange Commission with hopes of possible listing on the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Meanwhile you can contact the company directly on +234 1 4619301, +234 1 4619302, or by sending email to info@riggsventureswaplc.com, riggsventuresltd@yahoo.com. The head office of the company is located at The Penthouse, Plot 5 Imam Abib Adetoro Street, Off Ajose Adeogun Street, Victoria Island Lagos.

Firstbank, Access Bank and FCMB! No certificate, no dividend I bought some shares of FirstBank Plc, Access Bank and First Monument Bank. I bought the shares directly from the banks during their public offers. Since then, no certificate or dividend has been given me.

(Augustine).

Investors’ Forum For your FirstBank shares contact First Registrars (Plot 2, Abebe Village Road Iganmu; Tel: 234-1773086, 7743309, 2701078, 2701079. Email:info@firstregistrarsnigeria.com) For your Access Bank shares contact United Securities Limited (10, Ojikutu Street, Victoria Island, Lagos. Telephone: 01-2714566 or 012714567).

For your FCMB shares contact City Securities Registrars Limited for your FCMB shares

COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS Do you have any challenge with your investment in the stock market or with any company (stockbroker, Registrar Company etc), write to vanguardinvestorsforum @gmail.com OR send text to 08157550673. We will INVESTIGATE AND REPLY

24 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Terrorist attacks: Railway authorities tighten security at stations

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

T

HE Nigeria Railway Corporation, NRC, has said it is implementing new security measures to forestall terrorist attacks on any of its stations. This is coming in the wake of a terrorist attack of a bus park in Kano that killed over sixty people.

The Assistant Director, Public Realtions, NRC, Mr. David Ndanusa made this known while speaking to Vanguard on

the safety of rail travelers following the development.

“By the grace of God rail travelers have nothing to fear but that does not mean that we are taking passengers’ security for granted. When this type of thing happens, it is a clarion call for us to be more vigilant.” He said.

“In view of what happened, we are taking serious proactive security measures to ensure safety. We are not joking with that. Even in all our sta-

tions from Lagos to Kano, we are very mindful of the security situation. Already we have plain clothed security operatives in all our stations even in all the coaches.”

He added.

He said the corporation would improve security emphasizing that they observe all the security details in all their services to ensure absolute safety.

“We are going to be more vigilant with what just happened. We have

started scanning passengers before they enter the train, so that we don’t carry anyone who would jeopardize the security of the trains. We also have close circuits cameras installed in all the stations. So we are securing not only the trains but the tracks, the entire stretch of tracks, from Lagos to Kano. Before any trains move, a pilot locomotive would first move to scan the entire stretch of tracks before the main train passes.” He explained.

From left: Chief Executive Officer, Computer Warehouse Group, Mr.Austin Okere; Country Managing Director, Accenture, Mr. Niyi Yusuf and Assistant General Manager/Head, Corporate Planning and Strategy, Skye Bank, Mr. Tajudeen Ahmed at the Nigeria Economist Conference, in Lagos.

Firm invests N15bn in CNG for automotive, industrial use

BY FRANKLIN ALLI

S

AGAS, a division of Borkir Energy Company Limited, a subsidiary of Dangote Group has invested $100 million (about N15 billion) in compressed natural gas (CNG) as alternative fuel for use by automotive and industries in the country.

CNG is a fossil fuel substitute for gasoline (petrol), diesel fuel or propane/LPG. Although its combustion does produce greenhouse gases, it is a more environmentally clean alternative to petrol and diesel fuel, and it is much safer than other fuels in the event of a spill (natural gas is lighter than air, and disperses quickly when released.

Chairman of Borkir, Alhaji Sani Dangote, disclosed this in Lagos when

he signed a 20 year sales and purchase agreement with the Nigeria Gas Company Limited (NGC) to supply and distribute the CNG to all its filling stations nationwide.

“We are investing over a $100 million dollars in the next two years to ensure that gas CNG is available at every major highway in the country and some of the major cities. It is going to take a while for this project to go around everywhere but at least we are starting from somewhere and we believe when Nigeria starts seeing the benefits it would encourage everyone that is mindful of economic aspect of energy to convert their petrol vehicles to CNG gas,” he said.

He explained that the

pact was the beginning of a new era in gas utilisation in the country stressing that his company has kick started the necessary process to provide gas as alternative to automobile and industrial fuel.

He said vehicles would be converted to be able to use the gas and that conversion centers would be established at various points across the federation even as he disclosed that such center had been opened at Ikeja already in joint partnership with a foreign firm.

Dangote further disclosed that a pilot conversion for gas usage had commenced with the enlistment of Dangote Group’s 5, 000 trucks which are being converted for dual fuel usage (Gas and Diesel), with

the hope of converting 20, 000 vehicles within the next one year of takeoff.

Stressing on the gains to the economy, he noted “With this kind of partnership, many transport owners and vehicle owners that are into transport business will experience a new look in terms of the cost of fuel and also we expect that they would save up to at least 25 to 30 percent in their fuel cost.

Engr. Saidu Mohammed, the Managing Director of NGC, described the agreement as part of the gas revolution agenda of the government saying the nation has enough gas and that it was a good thing that the gas is being domesticated for commercial use.

However, before now boarding the trains was always characterized by uncoordinated entries, a situation some passengers said may make it easy for security to be breached.

“This rushing in is par-

ticularly bad because of the current state of insecurity in the country now.

If people rush in like that, how would you know if someone who would jeopardize the security of the train would enter too?” Ayola who traveled by the rail from Abeokuta to Kaduna said.

NNPC Co-operative declares N157m dividend

BY KUNLE KALEJAIYE

T

HE Nigeria Nation al Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Staff Co-operative Multi-Purpose Society has declared a dividend of N15.318 million for its shareholders for the 2012 financial year.

The 2012 dividend witnessed a sharp decline of N44,014,736 compare to what was declared to shareholders in 2011 financial.

N201, 332,568.00 was declared in 2011 as against N157, 317,832.00 that was declared as 2012 dividend.

President of the Co-operative, Mr. OjeyemiAdeleke, made this known to shareholders at the Annual General Meeting (AGM).

Adelekealso calledfor the prompt remittance of deductions from staff emoluments adding that irregular remittance of deductions is one of the main challenges facing the cooperative society.

“This is our greatest challenge. It is hampering our operations and service delivery to our members. It also puts enormous financial pressure on us. Just as blood is to life, so is prompt remittances of our deductions from our members’ salaries to the society.

“We, therefore, on behalf of our Society and sister Societies in the NNPC Group, appeal to the NNPC management to regularly remit our deductions together with the payment of salaries,” he appealed.

He listedconstruction an of office complex in Lagos comprising of a new secretariat, multi-purpose hall, consumer shop and a new parking lot as the society target projects.

He explained that the co-operative is partnering with Israeli base Aqua Production Technology for an agricultural scheme on import replacement and export.

Human devt firm harps on sales personnel training

A

BY LAMIDI BAMIDELE

human develop ment firm, Vision and Talent has emphasised the need for the continuous training of sales personnel so as to equip them with skills needed to enable them contribute to the growth of their organisation's top and bottom line figures.

Speaking during a workshop on sales excellence organised by Vision and Talent, in Lagos, Paul Uduk, the Managing Director of the company, said it is necessary that marketers are routinely stretched to deliver on their assigned Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) both by product lines and by value. He further stated that training sales personnel will help them understand that determining which

customers to pursue and qualifying customers are essential steps for effective sales activities, in addition to knowing customers to focus ones efforts on.

He said the workshop is to further equip sales executives and supervisors on how they could be continually challenged to increase their sales volumes and margins in a dynamic and challenging market environment.

Also speaking, Mr Ladi Ahmed, Territorial Controller, Southern Region, Berger Paints Plc, expressed satisfaction with the workshop, saying, "I believe this workshop will make me a better manager and a good facilitator to my team as some of the strategies to make me a good team leader have been acquired here."

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 — 25

Govt must intervene to crash interest rate on mortgages — Experts

BY JUDE NJOKU

T

HE rate of poverty in the

Nigeria is unarguably very high.

In fact, the Bureau of Statistics in its latest report, estimates that a whopping 102 million Nigerians fall within the poverty bracket. The question is, how many of these less privileged Nigerians can borrow money from the bank at a 20 percent interest rate to either buy or build their own houses?

Against this backdrop, built environment experts are now campaigning for the direct intervention of the Federal Government in the mortgage sector so that interest rate on mortgage loans would not exceed a single digit.

Specifically, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers NIESV, which has been in the vanguard of calls for a reform of the nation’s land tenure system, has joined the fray in campaigning for a reform of the country’s mortgage finance system.

Its president, Mr. Emeka Eleh told Vanguard Homes & Property

Slash interest rate on mortgages to make such houses affordable that the reform has become very imperative in view of its multiplier effects on the economy.

“The Government must reform the mortgage finance system to ensure that mortgages are available at single digit interest rates. It would require a lot of shouting and that is what we want to champion from this March. We have been saying that Government has intervened in virtually every sector -the banking sector, SMEs, aviation, agriculture is a permanent intervention, people say the government even intervened in Nollywwod or whatever, so why can’t government intervene in housing.

Danger of lead poisoning EAD from paint, chips, and especially susceptible to lead L dust can pose serious health exposure, lead can be hazards if not taken care of dangerous for adults too. properly.

Lead exposure can harm young children and babies even before they are born. Even children who seem healthy can have high levels of lead in their bodies. People can get lead in their bodies by breathing or swallowing lead dust, or by eating soil or paint chips containing lead.

People have many options for reducing lead hazards. In most cases, lead_based paint that is in good condition is not a hazard.

Removing lead_based paint improperly can increase the danger to your family.

While low_lead exposure is most common, Exposure to high levels of lead can have devastating effects on children, including seizures, unconsciousness, and, in some cases, death. Although children are

Even children who appear healthy can have dangerous levels of lead in their bodies.

In adults, lead can cause: increased chance of illness during pregnancy, harm to a fetus, including brain damage or death, fertility problems (in men and women) and high blood pressure.

Other problems include: nerve disorders, memory and concentration problems as well as muscle and joint pain.

How lead gets into the body

People can get lead in their body if they: breathe in lead dust especially during renovations that disturb painted surfaces; put their hands or other objects covered with lead dust in their mouths or eat paint chips or soil that contains lead.

The American government even intervened in housing; there are interventions in housing all over the world. Because of the multiplier effects of investments in housing, the benefits to the government are enormous because if you invest in housing and employment is created and the economy gets robust and people can build their houses, whatever subsidy government has given, can be gotten back through increase in economic activities and betterment of the lives of the people,” he said.

One how to bring down interest rate to a single digit, the NIESV President said government should use the same model of intervention adopted for small and medium enterprises, SMEs. His words: “Our view is that government must intervene directly to bring down mortgage interest rates. The only way of having a single interest rate is by government’s direct intervention. Look at the way government funds SMEs. They will give you loan at maybe nine percent through a bank. The bank will now go to the Bank of Industry and the Bank of Industry will buy back the loan. If the bank gives you the loan at six percent, they (BOI) will buy back the loan at nine percent and the bank makes a spread of three percent. What it does is that people are able to borrow money under the SME scheme all over the country, not necessarily through BOI”.

Eleh insisted that the Federal Mortgage Bank should play the same type of role BOI is playing.

“We are saying that the Federal Mortgage Bank , FMBN

should play a strong role in fasttracking liquidity for the mortgage industry. Federal Mortgage Bank has no business lending to anybody, whether he is a developer or a private person. Their role should be to create an environment for liquidity to exist in the market and we say that one way of doing so is for government to intervene directly in such a way that mortgage funds would be available and would be given out to Nigerians through the retail banks. When I say retail banks, I mean First Bank, UBA etc. They all have mortgage units. I am not

created when more houses are built, it means that local governments will earn more money because people will pay tenement rates, it means that home ownership will improve and we are able to meet our MDG goals.

Housing also has a way of boosting the macro-economy. What we are saying is that the benefits of what we are talking about cannot be quantified; of course the government is not losing because the money will come back because the banks don’t give loans to those they don’t know. The multiplier effects of that kind of investment in the sec-

Our view is that government must intervene directly to bring down mortgage interest rates.

The only way of having a single interest rate is by government’s direct intervention discountenancing the Primary Mortgage Institutions, PMIs; what I am saying is that they (mortgages) should also be available to be given out through retail banks. That way, it is available all over the country. Let me give you a classic example, If the government comes out with N500 billion for investment in housing, they can say this money would be available through the Federal Mortgage Bank. If a bank gives out mortgages to Mr. A at six percent, they can sell the same mortgage to FMBN at nine percent. So, the individual is paying six percent while the bank will earn three percent. What it does is that the mortgages will be available all over the country.

We know the effect of investment in housing on the economy, it means that employment will be

tor which would be available all over the country, will be very immense for the country,” he posited.

Corroborating the views canvassed by the NIESV President, a Lagos-based construction cost expert, Mr. Obafemi Onashile called on the government to set aside an intervention or subsidy fund to enable banks give mortgages. Onashile who is a former Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, NIQS, explained that this is the practice all over the world.

Onashile who noted that mortgage interest rates currently oscillate between 14 and 15 percent declared: “Interest rate on mortgage loans should not exceed seven percent; if it does it becomes nonsensical and unattainable”.

26— Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Lagos Works Corporation rehabilitates Ladipo roads STORIES BY KINGSLEY ADEGBOYE

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HE Lagos State Public Works Corporation has commenced what its described as extensive maintenance work on major roads around the popular Ladipo Spare parts market which was recently re-opened for business. The market was sealed off for weeks due to what the government described as a its appalling state, especially with respect to health, safety and general outlook of its surroundings.

Executive Chairman of the corporation, Mr Gbenga Akintola disclosed that on the instruction of the State Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, he deployed workers to commence work on the rehabilitation of roads at Ladipo Alhaji Akinwunmi streets.

“The work being carried out on these two roads shall be comprehensive and extensive as it involves drainage work and base preparation works which are already on-going, while it is anticipated that other adjourning streets will also receive attention later,” he said. Upon completion, these major roads are expected to complement commercial activities in that axis by aiding free movement of people, goods and vehicles.

Meanwhile, the Corporation penultimate week carried out road maintenance activities on 45 roads in 16 Local Government Councils of the State. Included in the list is the night maintenance work which will be carried out on Mushin-Itire Road road, Surulere and Opebi Road, Salvation-Uturu axis, Ikeja. This is to enable smooth take –off of repair work on these roads as a result of high volume of vehicular activities experienced during the day, a statement from the Corporation noted.

The work schedule indicates extensive progress on five drainage systems currently undergoing construction in four Local Government Councils in the state. The drainage facilities under construction include Love of Fatherland/Crystal Avenue Oba Ogunji Road (Agege LG) Sapara Williams/Idowu Martins Victoria Island (Eti-Osa LG) Randle Road (Apapa LG) and Akinsulere/Odogbolu/Iyarere Streets in Surulere Local Government. Roads to be maintained in Ikeja Local Government include Alade Avenue, Balogun Joseph/ Olayinka Street Opebi, Olaribiro Street, Otunba Jobifele Way and Hakeem Balogun Street.

Others are Edun Alaran IfakoIjaiye, Onabu Road Imota Ikorodu, Marine Road Apapa, Agidi Street Alapere, Ketu, Odukoya Crescent, Akowonjo and King George V Road, Lagos Island.

Moshalashi-Ayobo Road

Lagos to deliver Moshalasi-Ayobo road in July R

ELIEF will soon come the way of residents and commuters plying the MosalasiAyobo Road in the Ipaja area of Lagos. This is sequel to a recent assurance by the Lagos State Government that the ongoing reconstruction and upgrading of Mosalasi-GateIpaja-Ayobo Road will be completed in July this year.

The State Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Kadri Obafemi Hamzat who gave the assurance during an unscheduled inspection of the project, noted that the confidence he expressed on the completion date was as a result of the quantum of work already done and the resolution of all the issues that

had hitherto delayed the project execution.

Hamzat who disclosed that the relocation of essential services such as power lines, water mains, and the presence of NNPC pipe and gas lines had hindered progress, further assured road users of the commitment of the government to reconstruct, maintain and provide user friendly road facilities across the state. He added that the process of seeking the consent of Federal authorities often poses challenges to delivery of projects.

The Commissioner also said the over 7km road is the second phase of the reconstruction efforts that have seen the state

rehabilitate Mosalasi to Ikotun through Isheri Round About.

Soliciting the support of citizens in maintaining public facilities, Hamzat said: “When communities do not pay attention but allow vandalisation, state resources suffer. We will again need to deploy resources to rehabilitate even when many projects are begging and competing for attention.”

Explaining that the project will finally link up to Ogun State through Aiyetoro Community, he said this will be under the Phase III of the programme.

In his remarks, the representative of Plycon Nigeria Limited, the construction firm handling the project, Mr.

Farouk Agoro assured the Commissioner on the provision of access road to communities by adopting a work plan that will not totally seal off the road, adding that the completion date will be adhered to.

The road with 16.0 metres width was awarded to Plycon Nigeria Limited following its deplorable state over the years due to inadequate drainage system and increase in vehicular movement along the axis.

At completion, it is hoped that the project will abate flooding, improve standard of living and enhance property value along the corridor.

Real estate operators urged to explore exhibitions as home & office fair ends R EAL estate practitioners and building materials manufacturing firms have been tasked to explore exhibitions relating to home construction and furnishing as marketing tools to expand their businesses.

The President of the Lagos Country Club, Ikeja, Mr. Adewale Osomo, gave this task at the just concluded 15th edition of the annual Home & Office Exhibition orgainsed by PR Distinction in collaboration with NTA Properties Investment Ltd. Osomo who was the guest of honour at the opening ceremony of the three-day event noted that marketing communication tools

such as after sales services, advertising and public relations are useful in promoting the growth of business ventures.

He pointed out that the idea of Home & Office Exhibition which was initiated by PR Distinction in 2000, has become significant to both small and medium scalebusinesses as a result of growth and and development of the real estate sub-sector of the nation.

He observed that the real estate industry is currently experiencing a boom as properties are springing up in choice areas all over the country. According to him, this scenario has created business opportunities for differ-

ent players that participate at the Home & Office Exhibition annually. Such participants include mortgage institutions, interior decorators, electronic delaears, power generating firms and furniture makers.

Imploring manufacturers of building materials to be up and doing in order not to lose the market to foreign competitors, he said “I appeal to the banking subsector of the economy to wake up to its responsibilities and drive the economy by supporting our local businesses to favourably compete and produce high quality products and services’’.

Earlier, Head Consultant, PR

Distinction, Mrs. Alero Edu said the fair has remained focused in exploring dividends for exhibitors and visitors annually. This has resulted in greater impact in business interaction and the economic well-being of the nation. Mrs Edu explained that since inception, over 200 companies have participated in in the fair “Our main aim is to ensure that the fair remains a focal point of reference where Home & Office Exhibition will be perceived as a one-stop-shop for all home and office needs in a relaxed environment”, Mrs. Edu said.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 — 27

Court grants AMCON leave to take over forfeited property

BY INNOCENT ANABA

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•East-West Road

East-West road will be delivered in 2014 — Orubebe available to the three contractors for the project which was initially scheduled for completion in 2009.

He further informed his hosts that to stem the rising agitation in the Niger Delta, the process of the award of the contract was done with just baseline designs.

Continuing he said, in 2009 when the project was transferred to the Ministry of Niger Delta Affairs, it became necessary to contract consultants who did a detailed design and drawing to enable proper execution of the project. At this time, it became clear that the East West Road has 42 bridges spanning 85m to 850m and 786 culverts.

He explained that of the 42 bridges, the ministry has completed 37 bridges while 756 of the 786 culverts have been completed. Orubebe observed that the

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

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HE East West road will be delivered in December 2014. .Minister of Niger Delta Affairs, Elder Godsday Orubebe who disclosed this during a working visit to some states in the Niger Delta, disclosed that already, 37 bridges out of a projected 42 have been completed. Similarly, 756 of the 786 culverts have been completed.

The Minister insisted that the process of the award of the contract for the dualisation of road projects was done with only baseline designs at the time it was awarded. This was in a bid to stem the rising agitation in the region.

Elder Orubebe who was on courtesy visits to the Governors of Bayelsa, Delta, Edo and Ondo States in continuation of his sensitization tour of the nine Niger Delta states, stated that because of this fact, the ministry involved consultants who did detailed designs and drawings, when the project was transferred to it in 2009.

ENTAL values in Dubai rose an The Minister informed the annual rate of between seven and governors that he came to for- 10 per cent over the past three months, mally brief them on the activi- with analysts forecasting up to a 17 per ties of his ministry particularly cent rise for the year. the East-West Road construcWhile the regional trading hub has tion project which he said had witnessed renewed business activity in recent times, drawn criti- creating more jobs and more business cism from the region. opportunities, Abu Dhabi rents have Recalling the circumstances fallen five to 12 per cent over the same surrounding the East West period due to the arrival of new housroad projects, Orubebe said in ing units.

2006, the contract for the con“The UAE’s real estate sector is enstruction of the road was joying a steady uptrend in the first few awarded by the President months of (the) 2013 market characOlusegun Obasanjo adminis- terised by more consistency and contration at a cost of over N200b. solidation within the primary markets He regretted however that of Dubai and Abu Dhabi,” said Masood only a paltry N1.2b was made

critical parts in constructing road of this magnitude are the culverts and bridges which have been done.

“The point being made here is that most of the work left to be done include bush clearing, sand filling and tarring. He emphasized that with the ministry ’s present financial planning in place and commitment of Mr. President, the East West road will be delivered in December 2014.

Other projects that are being undertaken by his ministry that are spread all over the Niger Delta states include housing schemes, skills acquisition centres, shoreline protection/land reclamation and construction of other minor roads.

Confidence could drive up Dubai rents to 17%

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Al Awar, chief executive officer of Tasweek Real Estate Marketing and Development, which released its latest market intelligence report on Saturday.

Tasweek predicted a sustained rebound within the coming months, driven by rising confidence in the Dubai market and strong market fundamentals in Abu Dhabi. The firm forecast a 10 to 17 per cent average increase on rental rates in the Dubai market in 2013, driven by several new project announcements made in late 2012.

More responsive legislation and robust real estate laws are also expected to quell local fluctuations on services and returns across the industry.

FEDERAL High Court sitting

Lagos, has granted leave to Asset Management Company of Nigeria, AMCON levy execution on (take over) the property of Mrs. Cecilia Ibru.

Cecilia Ibru, charged before Justice Dan Abutu and convicted by the court, had forfeited some acquired property to the Federal Government, managed by AMCON. Following the court judgment, the Federal Government made a Public Notice No. 58 in the Official Gazette No. 94 Volume 98, in which the judgment of Justice Abutu and the Schedule of the forfeited property were gazetted as having been forfeited to AMCON

by Cecilia Ibru.

On February 28, 2013, AMCON filed an application, for an order granting leave to it for the issuance of a writ of execution to take possession of some of the property vested in AMCON and listed in the Schedule attached to the subsisting judgment of Justice Abutu.

AMCON’s application was heard and granted on March 1, 2013 by Justice O. Okeke and the order was executed on March 6, 2013 and this prompted former staff of National Electric Power Authority, NEPA and Michaelangelo Properties Limited to file separate post execution of judgment applications seeking an order to set aside the order granted by the court as it relates to some of the properties.

FBN to assist Nigerians on London homes

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

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IRSTBANK of Nigeria,FBN, has con cluded plans to assist Nigerians in owning affordable homes in London in order to reduce the challenges encountered when buying property.

Disclosing this at a stakeholders forum recently in Lagos, the Head of Daniel Ford International, a London based real estate firm, Mr. Yemi Edun, said concept among others, seek to save Nigerians from making costly mistakes while buying properties in London.

His words: ‘’Everyone is a potential home owner. There is need to diversify portfolio and hedge risks like stable investment, political reasons, foreign currency income and investment beyond Nigeria. We make it easy for Nigerians to own properties without challenges. We simply find properties, in the right location and at the right price. We then help you arrange finance, and when we finish the purchase, we help you manage the property in such a way that brings about profit and value addition to the buyer .’’

He further disclosed that the FBN package has a circle which includes the prospective home owner, FBN UK, Daniel Ford, valuer, solicitor, vendor and surveyor. ‘’There are at least 25 auctions a year offering homes at bargain prices. Completion on auctioned properties can be achieved in 30 days as compared to open market deals that can drag on for months. So we offer bespoke property search to find exactly what you want,’’Edun added.

28— Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 28—Vanguard, years, he got married and by his 20th birthday, his first child, a baby girl was born.

This baby girl called Talle was the one Sheik Allaramma proposed to marry in 1993. Talle had only one younger sister who is two years younger, named Hindatu.

When Sheik Allamara made up his mind about marrying Talle and approached Mallam Abba on the issue, he entertained no fear about its success. Indeed, the only feeble opposition to the marriage came from me. Otherwise, nobody in the village raised any objection. As for Talle, her opinions did not matter. She was never asked what she thought about marrying a 60 year old man with 28 children. She was only told that a date had been fixed for her marriage with her aged teacher.

Engrained as part of the religious beliefs of the people is that a girl should start her periods in her matri-

Challenging the decree of God

Emancipation and equality In Nigeria as with many developing parts of the world, culture, tradition and religious beliefs have been identified as the main challenge to female emancipation and equality.

And more than a decade into the Millennium, very little or nothing seem to have changed especially for the woman in remote settings outside the few cities in the country.

The discussion reminded me of a contribution by one of my readers many years back which I titled “the decree of God” The writer narrated a true life story about the ordeal of two young girls who were given out in marriage barely in their teens. It was not only alarming but depressing to see the level of ignorance and bigotry displayed by the individuals concerned.

I have decided to reproduce the said contribution for two reasons; to reawaken our conscience of the fact that those who have access to education and information are a minute number compared to the overwhelming vast majority in the

villages and remote settings.

The second reason is for us to appraise our situation and evaluate how far we have been able to break off from these shackles.

Please bear in mind that a few years back, a former governor and current Senator of this country, married a teenage girl from Egypt under the guise of religious practice. Though the issue raised so much dust across the country and beyond, it has since been swept under the carpet.

Dear reader, have you or anyone

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ARCH 8 was celebrated as the International Women’s Day all around the world. It was another opportunity to appraise the female gender, her journey so far, her challenges and successes, as well as how she can be assisted to take her rightful place in society. Several activities including seminars, symposiums, lectures, walks, demonstrations and protests took place across the globe to reiterate their beliefs and positions on what the place of the woman ought to be while also condemning practices and laws that prevent the woman from achieving her full potentials as human specie. Incidentally, Vanguard was not left behind in the celebration. In collaboration with the Centre for Black African Arts and Civilisation, a Round-Table discussion were women from different walks of life were brought together to discuss the Nigerian woman.

In attendance were; Professor Mrs. Ajike Osayin of the Education Department, University of Lagos, Dr. Sade Alli, a Consultant and Cardiologist at the Lagoon Hospital, Apapa, Mrs. Idera Oshinusi-Martins, a business woman, Mrs. Janet Mba-Afolabi, award winning Journalist and Publisher, Mrs. Sola Oladehinbo, Woman Leader, People’s Democratic Party, Lagos, Mrs. Funmilayo Adesegun, Proprietor and school owner, Dr. Gloria Chuma-Ibe among others and was chaired by the Director General of the Centre, Professor Tunde Babawale.

As for Talle, her opinions did not matter, she was never asked what she thought about marrying a 60 year old man with 28 children, she was only told that a date had been fixed for her marriage with her aged teacher .

HI

you know of had a similar experience? Please do write in and share with us. Also, we would love to read your contributions on the Nigerian woman and her quest for equality.

As you write, please bear in mind the following questions; Is culture really the main challenge of the Nigerian woman? Is the Nigerian woman properly equipped to turn things around in favour of herself?

Our mailing addresses are: Vanguard Media Limited, P.M.B. 1007, Apapa, Lagos and thehumanangle93@yahoo.com We are anxious to read from you.

Thank you.

Sheik Allaramma is a short man, dark complexioned, a bit on the plump side with an imposing beard. By his own estimation, he was 65 years old by January 1998.

By profession, he is a local teacher in their village’s informal school.

Up to the year 1992, he had only three wives with 28 children. In early 1993 he decided to marry a fourth wife, thus reaching the ceiling as per the permission by the Islamic religion. After considering several potential brides, his mind finally settled on his pupil, Talle, the 13 year old daughter of Mallam Abba.

This is where I, the writer came into the picture. Mallam Abba and I are maternal cousins. I visit their village often and know virtually everybody there. Mallam Abbah and I are very close, being born in the same year in addition to the blood relationship. We are always together whenever I visit their village. He takes care of my village interests – the interests that can be expected in a village, like some few chickens, goats, one or two cows, a farmland, etc. On my part, I’m his everything regarding modern civilisation e.g, clothes, money and drugs for common ailments.

When Mallam Abba turned 19

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The passionless relationship

BY ONOZURE DANIA

DOES it seem like the passion has gone out of your relationship and you don’t quite understand why?

Your man says he loves you and he says he’s committed to you but you still feel like something is missing and that your relationship may be headed for trouble? Then you need to read this to know why so many women experience this feeling in their love life.

More importantly, what you can do about your specific situation.

I want you to take a second and think back to a time when you and your boyfriend or husbands were madly in love with each other.

Do you remember the intense attraction and excitement you felt just being in each other’s presence?

Can you think back to how you looked and felt?

Were you taking better care of yourself and feeling sexy, beautiful, joyful, and energized? Did your guy surprise you by bringing you small gifts or creating spontaneous moments with you? Looking back, does all that seem like a distant memory?

If so, I’m betting that a lot of the pain you feel right now is because things used to be so good with the man in your life.

And on the other hand, you might be in a situation where your relationship has never been as passionate and connected as you would like and

monial home except where she fails to get a suitor in time.

Also, the question of age difference in marriage is a non-issue. I classify my own opposition to the marriage as feeble because I only whispered a few cautionary words to my friend Mallam Abba. In the society where I come from, the dividing line between a constructive objection and blasphemy is very thin.

Once they level me as irreligious, then all doors are shut, contacts and relationship will be easily severed.

A week after the wedding between Sheik Allaramma and Talle, I went and greeted the groom and bride and gave them my gifts. I joined them in a simple prayer, asking God to bless their marriage. And God must have answered the prayers because five months afterwards, my friend Mallam Abba informed me that Talle was two months pregnant. I said congratulations! This means you are going to be a grandfather at 34. Is it possible that we request Sheik Allarama to allow Talle attend ante-natal clinics in Kaduna? If he agreed, I intended to shoulder all the responsibilities in that regard. I will make sure I send a car to pick her from the village and convey her to Kaduna. After the clinic the car would bring her back. I shall pay all the charges up to the time of delivery, including post natal charges.

Mallam Abba said “well, thank you very much.

I know you mean well by the offer. However, I am not sure the Allaramma will allow it. All the same, we can go and speak to him”. So, we rose and went to Allaramma. After we greeted him, I gave him a big sum of money as gift so as to further soften his mind towards me and the proposal I had at hand. I began in my most patronising voice by praising the Allaramma and then gradually veered to the subject of advances in medicine. I spoke at length of the benefits of the ante-natal clinics, about the dangers of VVF, about the hazards normally associated with pregnancy in young teenagers and concluded by requesting that he allowed me shoulder the responsibility of his pregnant wife, Talle.

All the time I spoke, the Allarama did not interrupt me. When I finished speaking, he looked at

you are wondering if you will ever feel madly in love with each other.

In either case, what if its possible for you to just reignite passion, love, and excitement in your relationship so that you could hold on to those incredible feelings for as long as you wanted?

As a woman, there must be nothing worse than doing everything you can think of to make things work in your relationship.

Meanwhile all you are feeling inside is worn down, unappreciated and over extended.

For lots of women who have men they live with or are married to, the fact that you not only try and carry your relationship isn’t where it ends.

You are also doing everything to keep your life, home, family, etc. together, while he doesn’t seem to be doing his part. It’s enough to drive you crazy. The very last thing you can feel like doing after a full day is giving more to your man to help you reconnect.

How could it be that even though you are trying hard to make a great relationship with the man in your life that fun, free, easy feeling of love and passion and connection seems to drift farther and farther away from you?

For lots of women, what once started out as an “easy” relationship where you and a man simply connected and enjoyed being together no matter what can unexpectedly turn into something a lot more difficult and frustrating.

me, then at Talle’s father and addressed him as follows: “Mallam Abba, I am very surprised and disappointed in you. How can you allow yourself to accompany this “city man” to my house to tell me this rubbish? You may be Talle’s father and I respect you for that but right now, I am her husband. God has put her under my care and protection. Life does not start and end with modern medicine.

I, Sheik Allaramma know a lot about medicine.

Our medicine! We have the medicine to give a woman when she conceives, we have the one to give her as the pregnancy advances and we have the one to ease her delivery.

However, medicine or no medicine, no man can alter what God has decreed for him. You can see we have no hospital in this village but the people are healthier than the city people. Our women give birth without any problem. Take this disease for example, the one we call “o hell! here comes the bastard” (meaning HIV/AIDS) is it not only the city people that get afflicted with it?”

To be continued

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 — 29

30 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

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Vanguard , TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013—31

Lagos Motors show will be the best — Agwu

BY THEODORE OPARA

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HE Managing Director of BKG Exhibitions, Mr. Ifeanyi Agwu has said that the 2013 Lagos Motors will be one of the best ever organised by the company.

Mr. Agwu who spoke to Vanguard on phone said that apart from the fact that the fair will be holding at

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a Five Star Hotel, many automobile franchise holders and leading manufactures of Original Equipment will be at the exhibition which is the number one in the entire West Africa region.

The Managing Director who stated that the fair has been scheduled to hold from May 10-16, 2013, said “the fair will

be a landmark and a benchmark in auto show business in the entire West African sub-region.

The Managing Director stated that, “almost all the major vehicle manufacturers and dealers in Nigeria will be participating at the fair.

Notable Banks and Insurance Companies; major Oil Companies;

manufacturers and dealers in auto-accessories have indicated interest and are seriously preparing to participate in the event.

“Each of the nine days that the fair will last is loaded with activities and events that will make this edition remarkably different and we intend to improve and add on

this in subsequent editions,” Mr. Agwu, revealed further.

On parade shall be unique ranges of automobile products from notable companies from the Asian Continent dominated by Japanese, Chinese and South Korean auto-firms. This include products from Honda, Mazda, Mitsubishi, Kia, Nissan.

Also European and American products will equally be on parade with products from the stables of Ford, Mack, Mercedes, Chevrolet, Volvo, BMW, Skoda etc.

From the home front, PAN Nigeria, National Trucks Manufacturers Limited [NTM], etc will showcase the latest in their ranges of products.

These products range from personal choice exotic cars, SUV’s, CUV’s, Jeeps, light and heavy duty haulage Trucks, and Buses of various capacities for corporate and mass transit businesses.

Feelers from most of the firms indicate that visitors to the various stands will enjoy lots of goodies. Some have packaged gift items, lucky dips and many other forms of entertainments, which according to sources will last all through the fair.

Strategically as we did last year, we are laying more emphasis on the Spare Parts sector in this edition. This is as a result of our guided intention to enhance the development of cottage industries in the spare parts sub-sector of the automotive business sector of the economy with the attendant multiplier effects on the economy of the nation. Our target is to attract many reputable Original Equipment Manufacturers of Spare Parts from across the globe to participate in this edition as well as in subsequent ones. Over 70 confirmed Original E q u i p m e n t Manufacturers from all over the world are already preparing to be at the show.

In conjunction with our foreign partners: SENEXPO International Fairs Inc of Turkey, we have reached out to many of such companies and happily the response has been tremendous and we are expecting close to 150 of them. Our intention in bringing them to Lagos which is the hub of automotive business in West Africa is to enable Nigerians and neighbouring West Africans engaged in auto spare business work out rewarding and lasting business relationships with the main companies engaged in the manufacture of auto spare parts.

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32—Vanguard , TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

N30bn BRT lane extension to Ikorodu for completion next year

BY THEODORE OPARA

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HE Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, L AMATA, Dr. Dayo Mobereola has assured that the 13.5 kilometre BRT lane extension from Mile 12 to Ikorodu Town would be completed by the end of next year. On completion the extension would bring the total length of BRT lane, from CMS to Ikorodu town to 35 kilometres.

Mobereola spoke during a parley with journalists in Ikeja, Lagos adding that the world bank financed project would cost N30 billion to complete. The LAMATA boss called for the understanding of Lagosians to enable them complete the job on time.

According to him, solving the transportation problem in Lagos required gradual solution. “The situation in Lagos is that the transportation problem has been on for over 40 years and cannot be solved in one day ”. He stated that LAMATA is looking into total transport solution in Lagos, which include road, water and rail adding that over 200 million passengers have so far been carried by the BRT buses since it started operation in 2008 on the Ikorodu — CMS corridor. The LAMATA boss pointed out that when they started construction of the BRT lanes years back, the end users did not understand the benefit.

He highlighted some of the benefits of the BRT bus operation to include reduction in waiting time, journey time saving, reduction in pollution among others.

Mobereola who briefed the press with his management team further explained that the idea of BRT lane project was to ensure better life for the people of Lagos.

He however added that LAMATA would not encroach into peoples’ land while building the project as they would

Michelin rewards dealers

Managing Director of Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA), Dr. Dayo Mobereola (second left) explaining a point at a press conference in Lagos. With him from L-R are Deputy Director, Safeguard, Professor Olukayode Taiwo, Director of Roads, Engr. Funsho Elulade and Director of Public Transport, Engr. Olugbenga Dairo. ensure that it is within the 60 metres right of way.

According to him, the people have been cooperating with the agency by ensuring that they move back on their own and are not within the 60 metres right of way as stipulated by the law.

“People have started moving back on their

own. The Ministry of Physical Planning has marked the area, so that those within the stipulated right of way would adjust by themselves,” he said.

Continuing he said, “Lagosians are law abiding and compliant.

When they are in a place that don’t belong to them they don’t erect expensive structures.

They have been

informed and we are working within the right of way,”he added saying that “the issue of compensation may not arise as we are working within the right of way.”

So far, he said, that they have been talking to the stakeholders in the last three and a half years.

“We have consulted widely. The issue of compensation

may not arise. The governor has signed the law on 60 metres right of way,” and the people are complying.

He assured that traders won’t displaced until a new location had been allocated and built for them.

“To the best of my knowledge, that is the only compensation we might pay” he stated.

Dunlop tyre brand returns to Nigeria T

HE Dunlop tyre brand has formally been reintroduced into the Nigerian market by Dunlop South Africa, The brand relaunch which came up at Eko Hotel & Suites Victoria Island Lagos was attnded by CEO Dunlop, South Africa, Mr. Riaz Haffejee and supported by the Head of International Businss, Mr. Covin Ram. Dunlop Tyre is now under a new handler in Nigeria, Somotex Nigeria Ltd. Speaking at the unveiling, the Chief Executive Officer, said that the brand was given to Somotex on the strength of the company’s experience, extensive network of distribution channels which are not only spread across the country but has stood the test of time. According to him, “Dunlop South Africa is deploying all necessary assistance to aid expected growth of the brand in Nigeria. In his words “We are fully committed to supporting SOMOTEX in re-building the Dunlop brand in Nigeria and you can count on us when it comesg to him, to putting our full

weight behind it. As you can see, the new Dunlop tyre coming into the market is backed with warrantee. This is a sure sign of our commitment to the brand internationally and we shall keep our word always. Our plan is to continually ensure that Nigeria’s iconic brand – Dunlop is back on the wheels on Nigeria roads ensuring safety, better performance and above all value for money”.

In his remark, the Managing Director of the new partner in Nigeria, Mr. Anil Mohinani promised that Somotex Nigeria Limited, a part of the Multinational Mohinani group is ready to re-position the brand back at the top of the Nigerian tyre market where it rightfully belongs. According to the Managing Director, “We are into this re-launch of the Dunlop brand to first, inform the masses of the new distribution channel in Nigeria – Somotex, secondly to create awareness about the brand re-launch and importantly to let the tyre users know that the prod-

uct is back with the best offering tyre users can get, which includes quality, safety and low cost per kilometre – all backed up by warrantee cards which was launched in the course of this event. As can be seen from the audience generated today, there is an increasingly growing acceptance of the product courtesy of Somotex’ pedigree and brand popularity.

Also speaking at the event, Mr. Ajay Singh, the Vice President of Somotex Nigeria Limited

said “We are ready to roll the Dunlop brand into the market through the SOMOTEX distribution network which has presence in all the regions of the federation, including Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory; Our nationwide network of distributorship has been on ground for long time now caring for the needs of the consumers and the addition of the Dunlop brand, a popular brand in Nigeria, is expected to leverage on this”.

EEPING to her tradition of maintaining a very close relationship with her dealers over the years, Michelin Tyre Services Nigeria has again delivered special packages to its dealers during the just held 2013 Michelin Business Associates Conference held in Lagos.

During the conference, dealers had the opportunity of listening to presentations by the National Head of Marketing and Sales of Michelin Nigeria, Mr. Kayode Sangotayo who talked on new trends in tyre marketing couple with the commercial condition in favour of dealers for the new year 2013. A new initiative, Michelin Advocate Dealers was also introduced.

According to Sangotayo, the conference is “meant for Michelin Business Associates, who are Michelin partners in progress. We appreciate them every year to give them our heartfelt appreciation of their performances; we bring them together in order for them to have a sense of belonging both locally and outside the country.

“Because we appreciate and hold our dealers in high esteem, we ensure that they are being appreciated every year giving them extra bonuses at the end of each year, and we also reward them by way of exposure to different countries. This, we have been doing over the years,” he said.

Anil Mohinani, MD, Somotex, Dunlop Tyre partner co and Lagos State Commissioner fr Transport, Comrade Kayode Opeifa during the launch of Dunlop, in Lagos.

Vanguard , TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 —33

Luxury bus operators cry out to govt over bomb blast •Demand N495m compensation

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HE Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria, (ALBON), the umbrella body of all luxury bus owner in the country has cried out to the Federal and Kano State governments over bomb attack o their Kano garage in Kano which claimed more than 200 peoples.

In a petition to the President, Dr. Ebele Goodluck Jonathan signed by its president and secretary, Prince Ejike Okoh and Mr. Frank Nneji

respectively, titled: “Petition against unprovoked attacks on our members and passengers at the luxury bus garage, Kano State and in some other northern part of Nigeria, an appeal for protection, redress and compensation,” which was also copied to the Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives, the luxury bus operators appealed to the federal government to pay the affected members the sum

of N495 million compensation. It also demanded the sum of N275 million compensation from the Kano State government to cushion the effect of losses by their members.

Other demands made by the luxury bus operators include compensation for the families of all those who lost their lives in the attacks as well as foot the hospital bills of those wounded on admission in hospitals in

Kano State.

The union also appealed to the president to direct the Inspector General of Police to provide 24 hours security coverage for all its members operating at the luxury bus garage in Kano and other parts of the country.

Recalling their ordeals, the luxury bus operators said: “On that fateful day, five luxury buses fully loaded with our innocent passengers and about to embark on their respective journey to their various destinations from the

luxury bus garage Kano State, were in gestapo fashion, bombed by some misguided and disgruntled elements in our society. The singular incident resulted in the precious loss of lives of over 200 lives made up of our workers and innocent passengers and completely burnt of five new generation luxury buses belonging to our members.

The buses belong to God Bless Ezenwata Nigeria Ltd, Ifeanyi Chukwu Industries and Commercial (Nig) Ltd, Gobson Motors (two buses) and Chimezie Motors Nigeria Ltd. Apart from the recent

bomb attack at Kano garage, the members said, “similarly from February 2011 till date another four luxury buses belonging to their two members Ekwos & Associates (WA) Ltd, Dan Dollar Motors were bombed, Jos Zaria, Kaduna and Gombe.

They however, argued that the spate of bombings and attacks in some parts of the country were targetted at private business dominated by a section of the citizen.

“Never was private business like our own become the target of this misguided elements in our society” the petition said.

FRSC, NURTW partner on Passenger Manifest

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HE Federal Road Safe ty Corps FRSC, and the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW have kicked off a joint campaign on vehicle passenger manifest.

Speaking at the Ojota Motor Park rally on Thursday, the FRSC Lagos Sector Commander, Mr. Nse Obong Akpabio explained that it has been discovered that drivers from various unions, and not only NURTW don’t go on interstate journey with passenger manifest which makes it difficult for relations of passengers and drivers to be contacted in the case of accidents or any other eventualities.

He said that they decided to raise the awareness to enable transport operators see the importance of the passenger manifest, which is mandatory for every driver on inter-state journey.

According to him, the National Road Traffic Regulation, Section 51, sub section 5 made it mandatory for all commercial drivers on inter state journey to carry passenger manifest at every journey.”s “The passenger manifest is a form designed to capture, passengers’ and driver’s data during any interstate journey and should be produced by the driver on demand by officers of Federal Road Safety Corps. It also helps in security of the travellers as it discourages drivers from picking passengers on the road.

“It is a form designed to capture drivers data including drivers name, license number, address, vehicle details, telephone number, date of departure,

time of departure, destination, etc.” he stated.

On the passengers side, the form should carry detail of every passenger including the name, address, sex, destination, next of kin with his address as well as telephone number.

Commander Akpabio however warned that the corps would not hesitate to impound any vehicle plying inter-state without duly signed vehicle passenger manifest.

He pointed out that the punishment for any offer who fails to produce a vehicle passenger manifest is N10,000 payable in a bank and therefore warned drivers to ensure that they carry along their manifest whenever on any trip.

“If there is a crash, the passenger manifest will enable the victims to be identified. The first responder could be the police, Road Safety officer or even any citizen at the site of the crash” he noted.

He advised passengers to always ensure that the driver takes their data in the manifest before embarking on any trip. For security reason, the Sector Commander said that drivers were not supposed to pick passengers on the road because they could not be sure of the character they are picking on the road.

Also speaking to Vanguard Motoring the NURTW state secretary, Dr. Mathew Day commended the FRSC, saying that the joint campaign was geared towards safety of passengers and drivers.

34 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

By OLASUNKANMI AKONI

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UMPSITE management is a unit under Lagos Waste Management Authority, LAWMA. There are three major landfills and two temporary sites serving Lagos residents. The three major landfill sites are Olushosun, at Ojota, Abule Egba, old Alimosho and Solous, Igando Approximately, 10,000 tons of waste are received per day across the metropolis Oloshosun landfill site is situated in the northern part of Lagos within Ikeja Local Government and receives approximately 40 per cent of the total waste deposits from Lagos.

The size is 42.7 hectares and a residual life span of 20 years.

Abule Egba landfill site occupies a land of about 10.2 hectares in the western part of Lagos in Alimosho Local Government and receives waste from the densely populated area. The residual life span is approximately eight years.

Soluos landfill site is situated along Lagos State University–Iba Road. Soluos II-is on 7.8 hectares of land with average life span of five years, while Soluos III- a new site with approximately five hectares of land with average life span of five years. Each site receives an average of about 2,250 tons of waste per day. There are other satellite landfill sites. They are Owutu (Ikorodu), Sangotedo (Eti–Osa) and Temu (Epe). These sites serve asback–ups for the three main landfill sites, and also have an advantage of proximity.

They are temporary sites, and receive an average waste of about 1,864.29 tons per day.

Modernisation of landfill sites The present administration in the state led by Governor Babatunde Fashola, through LAWMA, is working to ensure that all the landfill sites in the state are modernized and transformed into other facilities. Upgrading of the three principal landfill sites are ongoing and nearing completion. It aimed to improve turn-around time of trucks, and also reduce traffic congestion.

The transformation agenda started with Olushosun, which is expected to end up as a Green Field. LAWMA is creating a green park in Olusosun. the Refuse dump at Olusosun today is more than 20 million tonnes of waste, according to LAWMA Managing Director, LAWMA, Mr. Oladimeji Oresanya. Speaking when he led a delegation of the agency on a courtesy visit to the management of Vanguard Newspapers at its Apapa, Corporate Headquarters, Lagos, last week, Oresanya explained that the 20 million tons

LAWMA signs MoU with UK investor on landfill sites re-devt •To create 2,000 jobs from clearing of drainage prog

of waste would be used to generate methane for the next 100 years and more.

“The degradation would go on for millions of years. Some years after one million years, it would turn to crude oil. But for now when we are still alive, we will turn it into Green Park and make it beautiful so that people can come there and learn about how they can further improve their environment.” Oresanya added.

In the coming months, LAWMA will commence the redevelopment project in Soluos, at Igando and the rest. “In the next two months, we will commence a project in Soluos, we

are recovering the site and we would turn the site into a material recovery facility. This will be done in partnership with a United Kingdom, UK, based company.

We have signed the Memoranda of Understanding, MoU, and everything is ongoing.”

Conversion process About 25 per cent of Lagos wastes go into conversion process both formally and informally.

Oresanya said LAWMA planned to scale it up through the expansion of the conversion rate to about 40 percent. On street

sweeping, the state is expanding the street sweeping capacity through community cleanup programme called the 3Cs, Community Cleanup Campaign.

It is to allow communities that want to create employment and training programme to do so.

The LAWMA boss added: “We have started that in Makoko and Obalende axes of the state, this is working effectively. LAWMA pays 50 percent of the remuneration and the community generates the balance. “We create employment for people within the community.

They engage in sweeping of their community, monitor waste disposal. This programme is

running effectively. We have started in Surulere and we are moving to Ajegunle, Apapa very soon. These are the initiatives from the communities to team up and share the vision.” The community drainage service is being introduced to provide alternatives for communities, that is, they can engage people within their community to do the drainage cleaning service. While the owner of the house pays part of the entire cost of the drainage cleaning, LAWMA also pay half of the required fund for the cleaning. “We have started in Ikoyi, Ikeja and Victoria Island.

Residents, fun seekers, go wild at Heritage

BY MONSUR OLOWOOPEJO

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UNDREDS of residents, tourists and foreign investors among other fun seekers, stormed Lagos State to participate in the fourth edition of the state’s Annual Lagos Heritage Week, which kicked start with Water Regatta 2013, last Sunday.

Cultural troupes from various coastal communities were on hand to entertain fun seekers. Large fishing boats, ferries, water lightening, barges and other marine vessels were on display depicting various socio-cultural and traditional folklores that abound in the state. Swimmers of the Lagos Water

Regatta were also not left out as they displayed their swimming skills.

Interestingly, four years after the state government commenced the celebration of the Heritage festival the event has continuously received world attention, with several African countries visiting the state to understudy it for replication in their country’s upcoming festivals.

The new addition to the list of countries that have visited the state for the weeklong event is Zimbabwe, which sent six officials from its Tourism Authority, to witness how the 2013 event would be organised.

This year’s event themed: “Bring Back Brazil” had several activities lined up to

thrill tourists who have come to witness the Heritage week that has earned permanent date on the government yearly calendar.

Among the event lined up for this year’s celebration was the ‘2013 Lagos Water Regatta’, held at the Regatta Village on Easter Sunday, which was introduced in 2012, to serve as exhibition stands, viewing centre for all the activities, relaxation spot and others.

The colourful event which was held at the lagoon side served as an opportunity for many fun seekers to catch the glimpse of 26 communities especially communities from the reverine areas in the state, to showcase their rich cultural heritage.

The communities with their boats all

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 — 35

World Bank reviews urbanisation project in Lagos

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Lagos govt adopts measures against flooding L

AGOS residents now live in fear as the 2013 rainy season gather momentum. This is apparently due to the devastating effect of floods that come with the season. Previously, particularly, 2010 and 2011, there weres heavy rainfall accompanied by severe rainstorm which claimed hundreds of lives and destroyed property worth billions of naira across the metropolis.

School pupils under the ages of three and 16 were not spared in the catastrophe that shook the foundation of the state, prompting the incumbent Governor Babatunde Fashola to order an immediate holistic approach with the aim of mitigating of the situation. Though, flooding ravaged many states of the country last year, Lagos State is taking a special precaution considering the ever increasing population estimated at over 19 million people currently.

Early this year, rainfall was recorded to have wreaked havoc on several communities across the states, and rendered people homeless in the process. Last

week, several buildings were damaged in some parts of Kwara State, after a heavy downpour accompanied with rainstorm.

In preparation for the rainy season, following the prediction of heavy rains in 2013 by the Nigerian Institute of Meteorology, NIMET and need to take proactive steps towards mitigating the effect of flooding, Lagos State has adopted palliative measures of clearing all the drains across the state to allow easy flow of storm water.

Construction and upgrading of drainage channels numbering over 250 are ongoing in all the 20 Local Government Areas, LGAs and Local Council Development Areas, 37 LCDAs as the present administration promised that it would continue to embark on plans and programmes that would bring succour to the citizenry. State Commissioner for the Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello, in his continued tour of drainage project sites, last week inspected water channels in Lagos Island to assess the progress of work in the axis.

While conducting pressmen round the project site, Bello stated that the tour was aimed at de-

termining the extent of work done and to examine where clearing, cleaning and expansion of drainage would be needed before the rains come. He gave assurance that the state government was fully prepared for the rainy season, stressing that most of the drainage channels would be completed soon.

Allaying the fear of flooding, Bello explained that “flash flood maybe experienced in the state,

,

By OLASUNKANMI AKONI

Bello, therefore, warned that the state government would close down any market that fails to comply with the state sanitation laws.

Some of the drainage projects site inspected include; the proposed construction of LAWMA yard/ Ebute Elefun Collector Drain; Patey/Zapas Collector Channel; Epe/Adeniji Adele Channel; Omidun/Adeniji Adele Channels, among others.

Validating draft policy on water,

Early this year, rainfall was recorded to have wreck havoc on several communities across the states, and rendered people homeless in the process

but it would disappear within a short period of time”, even as he urged residents to be on the alert and continue to clear the drains.

The state government frowned at the attitude of some traders who shun the compulsory weekly Thursday sanitation exercise. As a deterrent, some stalls in Anikantamo, Lagos Island were locked up for failure to participate in the exercise as the drains in front of their stalls were full of dumped refuse.

festival decorated with different colourful attires floated on the water to entertain the crowd who cheered them with their South Africa trumpet popularly called ‘Vuvu zela’ as they paddled their canoes.

The crowd went wild following the ‘open water swimming’ and ‘the canoeing’ competitions whose winners were separated by seconds. The swimming competition had 27 males and 18 females Speaking to Vanguard at the Lagos Water Regatta, the Chief Executive officer of the Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, ZTA, Mr. Karikoga Kaseke said “we are here to replicate it at the Harare International Festival Arts, HIFA.

,

sanitation: Meantime, the state government has engaged stakeholders in the three senatorial districts to obtain their input with a view to enriching and validating the draft policy on water and sanitation for the state.

The Ministerial Technical Committee under the Chairmanship of the state Commissioner for the Environment, Bello, had been set up to review and develop a sustainable policy on water supply and sanitation.The policy is to address the following areas: water demand and supply, preservation and enhancement of quality water towards improved sanitation and promotion of regulations that would result in qualitative, available, affordable and sustainable water and waste-water services.

A water audit would be conducted to determine the sources of water relied upon by the various sections of the state and ascertain the demand for the state’s water services.

According to Bello; “we need to get the buy-in of the people into this policy and encourage ownership by the people. This is why we have been conducting this stakeholders’ meeting in the three Senatorial districts of Lagos state.”

ORLD Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Mrs Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly, has expressed confidence in the ability of the Lagos State Government through the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, LAMATA, to implement the Strategic Transport Master Plan, STMP, which is geared towards transforming Lagos into a world class city.

Against the backdrop of projection that Lagos’ population might hit 25 million inhabitants by 2015 to make it the third largest city in the world, Marie-Nelly, said the development of the transport master plan was a bold step in tackling the expected surge in population, which would require the development of new infrastructure and upgrade of existing one.

According to Managing Director, LAMATA, Dayo Mobereola, the World Bank Country Director, who was at the agency’s office to oversee the mid-term review of the Lagos Urban Transport Project, LUTP, phase two which the Authority is implementing, described the state as the “engine room of growth in Nigeria.

“I am pleased to see that the state has a plan for development and in its overall development, there is a transport system which is a critical element for the citizens to be happy,” she enthused.

She disclosed that the World Bank was carrying out a review of urbanisation in Nigeria with focus on seven to eight cities of which Lagos is one. Such cities, she said, have population in excess of one million inhabitants, saying the review would take into account their sustainability.

Ms.Marie-Nelly, who took a ride on the Bus Rapid Transit, BRT system as well as visit to the on-going BRT extension project from Mile 12 to IkoroduTown, commended the overall organisation of the project describing it as “impressive.”

According to her, “the extension of BRT from Mile 12 to Ikorodu, will bring a lot of value to the people of the area.”

36—Vanguard , TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

‘DESOPADEC may take over Bendel Glass'

BY FESTUS AHON

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GHELLI—COMMISSIONER representing Ethiope East and Ughelli North Local Government Areas of Delta State on the board of the state Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, Chief Ominimini Obiuwebvi, has said the commission might take over the moribund Bendel Glass Factory, Ughelli as part of effort to industrialise oil bearing communities in the state.

Speaking during a tour of the factory, which went under over 20 years ago, Obiuwebvi said the commission was looking at the possibility of taking it over “with a view to generating employment for youths in the area.

“We decided to visit Bendel Glass to know the level of dilapidation of the place and how useful and beneficial it will be if revamped.

"We have come see that some of the machines are still useful and if we commit some money into the place, we can start doing some work and everybody will smile."

Rotary donates to expectant mothers

FOR AUTISM: From left— Kim Goldsmith, Special Educationist; Bola Adewole, Director, The Learning Place Centre, TLPC; Christopher Flint, Founder; Katie Hence, Director, both of AACTION Autism and Mrs. Dotun Akande, Proprietress, Patrick Speech & Language Centre, at the introduction of structural teaching for autistic children by Chicago-based AACTION Autism at a seminar by TLPC in Lagos.

Edo LG polls: PDP accuses ACN of recruiting workers for EDSIEC

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

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ENIN—EDO State Peo ples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, said it had received reliable information that Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in the state was recruiting ad hoc staff from within its members and supporters for the state’s Independent Electoral Commission, EDSIEC, ahead of the April 20, 2013 local government elections.

ARRI—ROTARY Club of Warri, District 9140, has donated 250 bathing kits to expectant mothers at the Central Hospital, Warri, Delta State.

President of the Club, Rotarian Adamson Ejuoneatse-Thompson, said it was in line with one of the six areas of focus of Rotary International for the year 2012/2013.

He said: “We present these child bathing kits to expectant needy mothers in order to cushion some of the challenges associated with delivery of new born babies.”

He said the donation was also in recognition of the state government’s support through appropriate funding of the health sector, noting that government cannot do it alone.

Matthew Urhoghide, said: “The plan is unprecedented, unlawful and unacceptable to PDP as this has never been the practice in our country.

“If the plan is not checked, it will occasion a visible and substantial slant in electoral fortunes in favour of ACN in the election over and above the others parties.

"EDSIEC and the Local Government Electoral Officers must be allowed, as is the lawful norm, to recruit their own ad hoc election staff."

Bayelsa govt denies plot to gag journalists

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

BY EMMA ARUBI

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However, state Chairman of ACN, Mr. Thomas Okosun, described the allegation as false and baseless, insisting that there was no truth in it.

He said: “ACN is not synonymous with EDSIEC and so, we are not in a position to recruit ad hoc staff for the commission, it is its responsibility to recruit its staff. We are not involved and we are not going to be involved."

Edo PDP in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr.

Y

ENAGOA—BAYELSA State Government has said its proposed bill on Public Information Management (rumour mongering) was not geared towards checking journalists in the state, as being speculated.

State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Markson Fefegha, in Yenagoa, explained that the proposed bill

by Governor Seriake Dickson was to give legal backing to the work of the Committee on Public Information.

He said: “The bill, which the governor is proposing, is not in any way aimed at gagging the media in the state as insinuated by some.

“What the governor is proposing is a bill to give legal backing to the Committee on Public Information Management, which was inaugurated recently.”

According to him, the governor as a lawyer and a

former lawmaker, would never gag the press because he knows the important role of the media in the society.

He explained that the committee’s work was to bridge the poor gap that existed in the flow of information between the government and the people.

“We are going to take the committee down to the local government level, so that its task of information manage-

ment can cover all parts of the state properly,” he added.

State chairman of Nigerian Union of Journalists, NUJ, Mr. Tarinyo Akono, said the incidence of rumour mongering was also worrisome to journalists, who depend on information for their job.

He said NUJ had planned to organise a public lecture to address the trend when the government came up with the idea of a committee.

Bayelsa employs 300 teachers

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

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E N A G O A — BAYELSA State Government might have lifted the embargo on employment into the state civil service, following its recruitment of over 300 science teachers in the state.

The state government also announced the opening of an employment data bank for

unemployed youths in the state to access and have the chances of gaining employment and other empowerment schemes of the current administration in the state.

Commissioner for Science and Technology, Dame Didi Walson-Jack, said the lifting of embargo on recruitment in the civil service had started with the recruitment of over 300 science teachers in the state.

SPDC contractor dragged to court

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HIEF Executive Officer of Ukawima’s Dredgering and Marine Services Nig. Ltd., Mr. Magada Justus Ewerikumor has dragged OPI International Nig Ltd, a contractor to Shell Petroleum Development Company to court over alleged non-payment of outstanding contract sum of $642,600 for the provision of offshore vessel, MV Cnic Express to accommodate Joint Task Force, JTF, personnel.

The plaintiff in the matter before a Delta State High Court sitting in Warri, is contending that the contract was awarded to his company

by OPI International to provide moving vessel known as MV Cnic Express to accommodate nine JTF military personnel for $2,000 per day, which is still in the custody of OPI International at the Forcados Yokri Integrated Project, FYIP as the JTF personnel are providing security services to OPI International till date.

According to him, despite total compliance with the terms of the contract, OPI International for no just cause, stopped its payment from April 1, 2012 till date despite the fact that Cnic Express remains in the custody of OPI International till date.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013—37

Osunbor faults Reps on immunity for lawmakers

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

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ENIN—FORMER governor of Edo State, Professor Oserhiemen Osunbor, has disagreed with the House of Representatives over its move to secure immunity for members in the proposed constitutional amendment, insisting that there was already in existence, a law that protects them from what they say or do on the floor of the House.

It will be recalled that the House of Representatives recently approached the Senate for the enactment of a law that would grant members immunity over their activities in the National Assembly.

Prof. Osunbor who spoke to Vanguard in Ekpoma, yesterday, said: “We already have a law in place which is the Legislative Houses, Power and Privileges Act, which grants immunity to members of the National Assembly. In fact, all legislators, including state Houses of Assembly, have immunity in respect of what they say or do in the House and even in committees of a legislature.

“So, I am not sure of what the intention is in the new bill. I have not seen it, so, I cannot really comment, but to the best of my knowledge and as a former member of the National Assembly, I do know that there is a law in place that protects members from liability, criminal or civil, in respect of what transpires or what they do in the cause of their legislative business within the legislative Houses.”

On the insecurity in the country, the former governor, said: “The law enforcement agencies have been charged on the need to be proactive and vigilant. Mr. President himself has shown leadership by challenging those he has put in charge of security to be up and doing and I think we are beginning to record some success, so, I hope they will do more to reduce to the barest minimum, the level of criminality such as kidnapping and bombing."

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Bayelsa women threaten to disrupt AGIP's ...as three kids die from polluted water operations

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

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ENAGOA—AGGRIEVED women from the coastal Letugbene town in Ekeremor Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, yesterday, threatened to disrupt the operations of Nigerian Agip Oil Company, NAOC, following its alleged refusal to respond to their demand in the wake of the death of three children from polluted water in the area.

The community, it was learnt, had, in a statement

by Chief Noel Babazouwei and Wilfred Ikere, accused the company of complicity in the death of the three kids, following the alleged intake of polluted water from the oil company's wastes.

The deceased children were identified as Osumayin Eniy, 7; Kpegbolo Oyadonbenfa, 5 and Boroyegha, 10.

The women, who vowed to embark on protest march against the oil company, said the company’s operations in their community had brought untold sorrow on them, polluting their source of drinking water, which had led to

the deaths of their people from cholera and skin related ailments.

Interacting, yesterday, with the National Coordinator of Ijaw Peoples Development Initiative, IPDI, in Ekeremor, the aggrieved women argued that they had decided to give the oil compa-

ny a seven-day ultimatum to respond to the demands of the parents of the dead kids or face the consequence.

“We, the women of Letugbene community and parents who lost three kids after drinking polluted water from an oil rig operated by Agip oil firm in the state, have de-

CORONATION ANNIVERSARY: Delta State Deputy Governor, Prof. Amos Utuama, (middle), Elder Statesman, Chief Edwin Clark (right) and Ohworode of Olomu Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Richard Ogbon Ogboni-Oghoro I, during the 96th birthday/25th coronation anniversary of the king.

Oil spill: Fishermen demand N4.32bn compensation from SNEPCo

A

RTISAN fishermen of Nigeria, ARFAN, Niger Delta region, has demanded N4.32 billion compensation from Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Co., SNEPCo, for five states impacted by oil spill in the region.

The Association’s Secretary and Niger Delta Coordinator, Elder Inyang Ekong, stated this in an interview with News Agency of Nigeria in Eket, Akwa Ibom State.

He said that the claims and compensation were necessary due to the extent and

impact of the spill on the people of the region.

It will be recalled that SNEPCo, on the Bonga oil spill located offshore Nigeria, estimates that about 40,000 barrels of crude oil escaped into the Atlantic Ocean on December 20, 2011.

Ekong said that the oil spill had caused untold hardship to the fishing communities and the association's members in the region.

He said: “We have written and nothing had been done for us. We are still waiting

and we went on consultation and still nothing is happening. Up till today, we have not received any positive response from the regulators nor from the Federal Government.

“We have been so weak and sorrowful because our members are frustrated by the oil spill that cuts across the Niger Delta region.”

According to him, the oil spill had thrown the fishermen in all the states of the region into “a very big confusion.”

EDSIEC denies paying N4m to INEC for last week was purely a printing of voters’ register media reaction of the politicians not

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

B

ENIN—CHAIRMAN of Edo State Independent Electoral Commission, EDSIEC, Mr. Solomon Ogoh, has denied recent media reports that the commission paid N4 milion to Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in the state, for the revision of voters’ register ahead of the April 20, local government elections in the state.

cided to disrupt the activities of the company with a protest to express our anger against the injustice our people have suffered because of the company’s operations in our community. We have given a seven-day ultimatum and when it expires, we will shut down Agip operations," they said.

Describing the publications as false, he insisted that at no time did INEC demanded for such payment from EDSIEC before releasing to them the voters’ register for the forthcoming elections.

He said: “As at today, we have not paid for the revision of the voters’ register and we have not been brought in to assist in the revision of the register. Even if there is anything of that nature, we will operate at official level, but what was published in the

EDSIEC against INEC. “EDSIEC and INEC are brothers and we are still operating as brothers and even as we are now, they are to train our staff for the elections. Certain things which they have and we don’t have, they are going to give to us for the election. So, our cordial relations still firmly exist. What transpires between EDSIEC and INEC should not be given any political coloration because these are bodies that will continue to operate together.”

Easter: Nigerians urged to show love for one another

BY FESTUS AHON

U

GHELLI—FOUNDER of Destiny Helpers International, Mrs. Victoria Fregene, has urged Nigerians to show love to one another irrespective of their religious beliefs and ethnicity.

Fregene, at Koko, Warri North Local Government Area, Delta State, while presenting gifts to aged people and widowers in the area, charged Nigerians to use the Easter celebrations to reflect on their lives and make better use of the celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

She said: “Christ sacrificed Himself to reduce the pains and sufferings of the poor and less-privileged by bringing hope to the hopeless. Destiny Helpers International will continue to show love by ensuring that aged people in society are cared for.

“In spite of Jesus Christ's pains and anguish while on the cross, He still heard the cry of the penitent and forgave. Therefore, Nigerians should steadfastly demonstrate same kind of love and virtues to perceived enemies by shunning religious intolerance and ethnicity."

38—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Obi visits hospitals, pays bills for patients

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

A

WKA — AS part of this year’s Easter celebration, Governor Peter Obi has visited some hospitals in Anambra State where he interacted with the sick and settled the hospital bills of indigent patients who were discharged long ago, but could not pay the bills.

At the Holy Rosary Hospital, Waterside, Onitsha, the governor paid the bills of 10 poor people that had been discharged but could not leave the hospital premises because of their inability to pay the bills, as well as 15 other women that were delivered of new born babies.

Obi said at the occasion that beyond Easter celebration, the gesture was a way of identifying with the people and letting them know that their governor felt for them at all times.

According to him, the feeling he had for the people informed his efforts to improve the healthcare delivery in the state to enable the health institutions serve the people better.

He said further that the collaboration with the church was informed by the fact that they treated the people of the state and that their charges were affordable as they were more of charity organisations.

One of those that benefitted from the governor’s gesture, Sergeant Kevin Osai extolled Obi for his commitment to the promotion of the welfare of the people.

Jonathan’s second tenure will ensure stability — Arthur Eze

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

A

WKA — MULTI-MIL LIONaire philanthropist and chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Arthur Eze, has said that the only way to restore stability in

the polity was to allow President Goodluck Jonathan a second tenure.

Eze, who addressed PDP supporters at Ukpo in Dunukofia Local Government Area of Anambra State after obtaining the party’s membership

From left: Gov. Theodore Orji of Abia State; his deputy, Sir Emeka Ananaba and Rt. Hon. Udeh Okochukwu, Speaker, Abia State House of Assembly, at the South-East preachers and leaders' seminar of the Church of Christ, in Umuahia.

ARIS — UNIVERSITY of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, has recorded more than 50 per cent increase in the number of female students studying sciences since 2009, the ViceChancellor, Prof. Bartho Okolo, said.

Okolo made the statement in an interview with the Western Europe correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Paris when two Nigerian female scientists received the 2013 UNESCO-

understand issues properly.

Maybe it is due to vested interests. We should always put the interest of the nation first and play down individual and regional interests. What we want in PDP is a lasting peace.

“Now that we are talking with everybody in the party, I want them to emphasise on those things that can ensure lasting peace.

“First, there must be support for President Jonathan in 2015 so that his zone, the South – South, will complete eight years in the presidency. The South West has already had its eight years.

“After Jonathan, the North should do its eight years and it will them be the turn of the South East. If we do not do it this way, there will be no end to the problem of which zone should produce the president at any point in time. What the zones require is patience and wait for their turns.”

Eze commended PDP leadership in the state, led by Prince Kenneth Emekayi, for working hard to ensure that peace returned to the party and urged members and stakeholders of PDP in the state to give the leadership their maxium support.

Emulate Jesus’ love for mankind, Christians urged

L

AGOS — AS the Easter celebrations take over the air, Christians in the country have been advised not to see the Easter period as that of merry making but a season of sober reflections on the life and times of Jesus Christ who laid down his life so that mankind may live.

Making the plea on Thursday, in Lagos, was the Special Adviser to the Lagos State government on Religious Affairs, Rev. Mrs. Yewande Akitoye-Braimoh while speaking to newsmen on the significance of Easter to Christians, an occasion where

she claimed that without Easter, there would have been no Christianity.

“Easter gives us the confidence and faith that we are worshiping a living God, after resurrection, Jesus was taken to heaven, this means he will come back again for he appeared to Mary Magdalene. He resurrected so that we may have hope of salvation and it was after his ascension that the disciples now face the duty of evangelism,” she said.

Akitoye-Braimoh, who is the Public Relations Officer of Christian Association of

Sciences: UNN records over 50 per cent increase in female students

P

card, observed that the problem in PDP was often caused by those who, he said, were placing personal and regional interests above national interest.

He said: “I don’t know why our people find it difficult to

L’Oreal awards. ”Science is the centre of development in the world. As a university, we have taken it as a key priority to train 60 per cent in science courses while 40 per cent in other fields.

“In the past five years, the level of literacy in science has gone up very high, more girls are now interested in various science related courses. ”On a scale of 100, I will say more than 50 per cent of girls have been admitted to

study sciences since 2009, “ he said.

He said that the university would continue to create the enabling environment to encourage students in sciences.

The vice-chancellor said the award to the women “ will motivate others in the field of science”.

The UNESCOL’ O r e a l a w a r d e e s w e r e recognised each in the "laureates and fellows” honours categories.

Nigeria (CAN), advised Nigerians irrespective of religious leanings to show love to their fellow men and women.

He stressed that with godly love dwelling in people’s hearts, there will be no cases of inhuman acts like kidnappings, robberies, murders and fraudulent

practices, among others.

She further advised new generation churches to believe in the Palm Sunday, which she claimed was the beginning of the crown glory of Jesus Christ, adding that it has been predicted in the Old Testament that a king is coming, "riding on a horse."

Motherless Babies Home pleads for assistance

E

NUGU — MATRON of Nigerian Red Cross Motherless Babies Home, Enugu, Ezinne Chinyere Ogbonna has appealed to Nigerians to assist orphans at the home with food, bus and other materials.

Speaking with newsmen during the birthday celebration of Mrs. Chidi Okoli at the orphanage, Mrs. Ogbonna stated that Obeke’s gesture was a challenge to other Nigerians.

She urged people to emulate the legal practitioner by celebrating their birthdays with the motherless babies as a way of blessing their lives.

The matron disclosed that the orphanage needed a bus that would take the inmates to hospital when they are sick.

Obeke disclosed that she decided to celebrate with orphans to alleviate their pains, saying that being a mother herself she felt the pains of people without parents.

She stated that she and her friends decided to utilise “this time to be with this children and be their mothers and fathers”.

The legal practitioner and her friends used the opportunity to present some items, including rice, a baker and clothes to the home.

Also speaking, a lawyer and friend to the celebrant, Sophia Ugwu said she was inspired

by Obeke’s gesture, saying it was capable of bridging the wide gap between the rich and poor in the country.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013—39

AWARENESS—From left: Miss Grace Imaga, Assistant Category Manager, Oral Care, Unilever Nigeria Plc; Prof. Adeyemi Olushile, Vice President, Commonwealth Dental Association; Dr. Olurotimi Olojede, President, Nigerian Dental Association; Oba Adetoyese Oyeniyi, Olufi of Gbongan Kingdom and Dr. Victor Ajieroh, Nutrition & Health Manager, West Africa, Unilever Plc during a rural oral health awareness campaign held in Gbongan, Osun State.

FESTIVAL— From left: Representative of Emir of Dass, Alhaji Marwan Bilyaminu; Commissioner for Special Duties, Alhaji Bappah Azare; PDP Zonal Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Sani Al-amin; Member, Bauchi State House of Assembly, Rifkatu Samson; National President, Vih-Mah-Yah, Mr Ayuba Kyauta and Caretaker Chairman, Bogoro LGA, Mr Simon Taimako at the 2013 VihMah-Yah unity and development cultural festival in Boi Bogoro LGA of Bauchi State.

Miss Nigeria, Florida, USA, Ayoyemi Ajimatanrareje, with the management of Pampers Private School, Surulere, Lagos where she had her primary education.

Members of the NBM carrying out a check on a police corporal during its free healthcare programme in Warri, Delta State.

ROAD SHOW— From left: Solutions Executive, DELL Technology, Mr Segun Aina; Client Product Marketing Manager (Anglophone East & West Africa) DELL Technology, Mrs Annie Odo-Effiong; Business Development Manager, Microsoft, Mr Temofe Ugbona and Channel Account Manager, Mr Samuel Ifejoku, at the DELL/Microsoft client road show at Sheraton Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos.

SYMPOSIUM—From left: Dr. Disu Yahya, Chairman, Lagos State Association of Medicine Officer; Dr. Oluwabiyi Opeyemi of Department of Paediatrics, Isolo General Hospital, Guest Lecturer, Dr. Folu Olatona and Dr. Mazhar Qureshi, Category Business Manager, Nestle Nigeria Plc, during the Nestle nutrition symposium in Lagos. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

BRIEFING— From left: Head, programmes, V Channels & Odua TV, Awal Abdulfatai; Public Relations Manager, Startimes, Rete Anetor and Brand Content Manager, Startimes, Bose Adewara at a briefing on "startimes family rewards" for the Easter celebration in Lagos.

CONFERMENT—Special Adviser to the President on Technical Matters and Secretary SURE-P, Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo and his wife, Lolo Obiageli during conferment of chieftaincy titles on them.

40—Vanguard , TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Foundation donates to Kogi rainstorm victims

BY BOLUWAJI OBAHOPO

L

OKOJA—FOLLOW ING the rainstorm that ravaged Kabba Community in Kabba/Bunu Local Government Area of Kogi State three weeks ago, Olobatoke Kayode Joseph, OKJ, Foundation has donated 20 bundles of zinc to some of the victims.

Chairman of the foundation, Olobatoke Kayode Joseph, who made the donation, yesterday, also gave out 20 electric power generating sets, 15 pieces of hairdressing machines, 15 motorcycles, 15 sets of grinding machines, 15 sewing machines, 15 clippers and awarded scholarship to 15 indigent students from the community.

While presenting the items during what he termed as 2013 Teach Them How to Fish Scheme, Kayode said the materials were to provide jobs for those trained in various vocations but could not purchase the materials or tools needed to start their trades.

He also said that the gesture was because he wanted to be remembered as one of those who provided selfless service to his community and humanity.

Competition

P

REPARATION For Life, PFL, an international education consultancy agency, has introduced Social Media Championship, an education-based competition using social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter.

In a statement, Brenda Uphopho, an official of PFL, said the competition, which is educationbased, is open to senior secondary school, foundation and ‘A’ level students.

She said qualification for the competition was simply evidence of an active social media presence and participation was via www.facebook.com/PFLNigeria or @pflnigeria.

WEDDING: From left— Governor Jonah Jang of Plateau State; his wife, Ngo; DSP Timothy Jamberlang, Governor Aliyu's ADC; Maryann, bride; Hajiya Jummai Aliyu, and Governor Babangida Aliyu, during the ADC's wedding at ECWA Headquarters International Conference Centre, Jos, Plateau State.

FG to establish 100 Almajiri special schools G

USAU—VICE President Namadi Sambo has said the Federal Government will establish 100 Almajiri special schools across the nation as part of its efforts to prevent street begging.

He stated this in Gusau, Zamfara State, Sunday, at the end of the week-long National Qur ’an Recitation Competition.

Sambo said when the schools become functional, they would promote both Islamic and western education among school-age children, who are roaming the streets.

He said although the schools would be built across the country, a larger number would be established in the northern part of the country.

Sambo said the Federal Government had procured 96 million text books in core subjects of English, Mathematics, sciences and social studies to improve teaching and learning at the junior secondary school level.

He said the text books, which would soon be distributed, were purchased through the Text Books Initiative of the Universal Basic Education Commission.

Sambo commended the organisers of the competition as a good initiative towards discovering hidden talents which would assist oneness, unity and brotherhood among the Muslim Umma and their relationship with others.

He also noted that the initiative would also be a mechanism for the attainment of lasting peace.

The Vice President commended Zamfara State

government and the Centre for Islamic Research of the Usman Danfodio University, Sokoto, for organising the event.

Earlier in his welcome address, Governor Abdulaziz Yari, urged participants to use the event in praying for

peace and well being of the nation.

At the end of the competition, 60 winners in six categories of the competition, made up of males and females, were given one car each, Hajj seats, lap tops and digital Qur ’an.

... as CENFET identifies woes of education sector

BY PETER DURU

M

AKURDI—LACK of political will by successive Nigerian governments in the last 14 years to embark on far-reaching reforms in the education sector has been identified as the reason for the decay in the sector.

Executive Chairman of Centre for Non-Formal Education and Training, CENFET, Dr. Rosemar y Nwangwu, made this known while delivering a lecture at the one-day breakfast meeting for newsmen by the United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF ‘A’ Field Office in Makurdi.

Nwangwu said: “Nigeria’s education sector has failed to yield the desired results over the years due to persistent policy somersault and because governments in the country have been paying lip service to the much craved reforms in the sector.

“Right from the Obasanjo’s administration, governments had keyed into the UNESCO plan for reform in the education sector but un-

fortunately we have not had the chance to lift the sector because of lack of political will by our leaders to implement the recommendations of UNESCO and other relevant agencies and bodies.”

She said the sector would only attain the desired height if it was better funded and Nigerian leaders showed greater commitment to uplifting educational.

She said: “We must go back to the drawing board and also ensure that policies and programmes in the sector are accorded top priority in such a manner that education would be easily accessible to every Nigerian child irrespective of his or her location in any part of the country.”

Chief of Field-A Office, Mr. Charles Nzuki, said: “UNICEF is prepared to partner all relevant agencies and governments to attain better education standards in Nigeria.

“The desire of UNICEF is to ensure that every Nigerian child is availed good and qualitative education in line with universal best practices that would prepare them for the challenges of life.”

Catholic cleric tasks politicians on election promises

BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI

I

LORIN—CATHOLIC Bishop of Ilorin Diocese, Kwara State, Dr. Ayo-Maria Atoyebi, has asked political leaders to strive to deliver on their electoral promises so that Nigeria can enjoy the gains of democracy as obtainable in developed countries.

Atoyebi, in his Easter message in Ilorin on Sunday, noted that the gains of democracy have eluded Nigerians due to the inability of some politicians to fulfill their electoral promises.

He, however, urged Christians to rejoice and be grateful to God because the resurrection of Christ had not only transformed them but established for them a new relationship with God. Atoyebi decried the attitude of some politicians, whom he said failed to deliver dividends of democracy, saying that facilities such as good roads, portable water and security of lives and property had continuously eluded the common man because of this development.

He said most of the political manifestos and agenda remain unfulfilled, even as governments were supposed to exist for the welfare of the people.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013—41

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42— Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Abia: Two years without elected councils

BY ANAYO OKOLI

continue to continuously appoint caretaker committees to run local government areas”.

Eze-Obiezu submitted that the caretaker system has also brought hardship to the rural dwellers as funds no longer circulate to the reach of the rural masses, who usually interact with their elected councilors.

“The sleaze and corruption inherent in the concoction is bad as community participation in rural development is denied the people. The governors who treat the local government areas as appendages to their states deny them statutory and even counterpart funds”, the PPA spokesman added.

F

OR over two years running, Local Council administration in Abia State has been managed by appointed caretaker committee members. They usually have a three-month tenure which is renewable if the Governor is satisfied with their performance.

The last elected local government administration in the state was in 2008. The election was conducted by the Governor Theodore Orji Administration. When the term expired in 2010, the government appointed a caretaker committee and has since been using the system to run the councils.

Fairplay in council elections

Why Orji appointed caretaker cttees

No polls after paying debt Having offset the debt, Abians expected the government to conduct council election and they, especially the opposition, flayed the continued use of caretakers to run the system and called for council election.

The state Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prince Nnanna Ukaegbu, described the caretaker committee administration as “illegal and an aberration.” According to him, APGA is vehemently opposed to the caretaker committee system as “it is undemocratic.”

However, in response to calls and in obedience to the Constitution, Governor Orji about three months ago, announced that the state would conduct council election in January, and urged opposition parties to be ready and get

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prepared, promising that a level-playing ground would be provided for all the parties.

Surprisingly, shortly after the governor ’s pronouncement, the State House of Assembly overruled him, saying that the state electoral commission, ABSIEC, was not prepared for the election. According to the House, the commission did not even have any budget for the election, let alone other preparations. The House did not however, give any new date for the election but only promised that it would ensure that a credible election was conducted.

So with this action by Abia House, the state still remains among the league of states in the country operating without elected local government administration. This has not gone down well with some stakeholders, especially the opposition parties who view the action of the House as a set back for democracy.

According to Ukaegbu, APGA chairman in the state, “the party is putting heads together to go court to challenge the continued administration of the local government councils with caretaker. This is illegal and an aberration. The caretaker system is mainly responsible for the rot in the council areas because they do nothing there”.

For the Progressive People Alliance [PPA] in Abia State, the use of caretaker committee to run the councils is totally against the Constitution and

*Orji: Failed to conduct LG polls should not be allowed. The party regretted that the nondemocratic system of

,

However, before adopting the caretaker system, Governor Orji said that the past elected chairmen incurred a huge debt of N29 billion, mainly in unpaid salaries of council workers, some of whom were owed over 10 months arrears by the chairmen. He therefore said he would use caretaker committees to clear the debt.

Governor Orji promised then that he would drop the caretaker system and conduct council elections after liquidating the debt. He said the action was a rescue one aimed at saving the system which was messed up by the last elected council leaders who owed huge workers salaries.

Both APGA and PPA do not believe that the opposition parties receive fair play in council elections conducted by state appointed electoral commission, as they claim that they are usually manipulated by the ruling party.

They have therefore called for the abrogation of caretaker committee administration in the country, saying that it retards the growth and development of the rural areas which council administration was designed to enhance.

Eze-obiezu said that PPA feels that for adequate functioning of the local government system, there should be among other things, a central/national electoral body to conduct elections in all the local councils.

The party, he said, also subscribes to a uniform tenure for all elected local government administrators, just as they call for financial autonomy for the

In response to calls and in obedience to the Constitution, Governor Orji about three months ago, announced that the state would conduct council election in January, and urged the opposition parties to be ready and get prepared

administration has greatly affected rural development in the councils.

According to the Publicity Secretary of the party in the state, Chief Oliver EzeObiezu, caretaker committee “is unconstitutional and negates the principle of our fledgling democracy. It is wrong for state governors to

,

local government system.

So in Abia now, the bulk to conduct the council elections rests with the House of Assembly which overruled the governor. The people are eagerly waiting to get a goahead from the House and a directive to ABSIEC to conduct council polls.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 — 43

2015:

The crisis over Kebbi guber seat

WITH Governor Saidu Dakingari bound to leave office in 2015 after two terms in office, an interesting contention for succession is exacerbating fresh and old wounds on marginalisation in the state.

BY SAAWUA TERZUNGWE

T

HE political atmosphere in Kebbi State is now full of jostling and systematic scheming ahead of the 2015 general elections.

Tension is rising dangerously as it is believed that zoning is going to emerge as one of the most important issues leading to the next gubernatorial election.

It would be especially so in the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP). That is given the fact that all the notable gubernatorial aspirants are from the PDP the party that has so much put zoning on the front burner.

Whereas zoning in other climes is especially contested among senatorial zones which are also present in Kebbi, the issue of rotation among the four emirate councils in the state has come to the fore. The four emirates are Argungu, Yauri, Gwandu and Zuru. Zuru Emirate which is under kebbi south is agitating for the governorship position on the point that it is the only emirate not to have produced a governor of the state since its creation in 1991.

Previous democratically elected governors were Alhaji Abubakar Musa from Yauri Emirate (1992

*Dakingari to 1993); Adamu Aliero from Gwandu (1999 to 2007) and the incumbent, Saidu Usman Dakingari from Gwandu Emirate.

Dakingari, though from Gwandu Emirate belongs to Kebbi North senatorial district (Argungu Emirate) which comprises Argungu, Augie, Arewa, Dandi and Suru Local

Government Areas. The contention of critics of the agitation of the Zuru people who inhabit the Southern senatorial zone with the people of Yauri is that their Southern senatorial zone benefited from the governorship through the first democratically elected governor of the state in 1992.

The contention against Zuru and the Southern senatorial district is especially strong from the Central senatorial district which presently harbours a number of very active gubernatorial hopefuls. They include; former gubernatorial candidate of Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) Alhaji Gari Mallam, Senator Atiku Bagudu who is currently representing Kebbi Central in the National Assembly, the newly appointed minister of special duties Alh. Kabiru Tanimu, Alh. Bello Ibrahim Gwandu and Major General Bello Sarkin Yaki (rtd).

One of the leading hopefuls is Bagudu, but his wildly acclaimed positives nonetheless,

he is faced with what is generally described as the possible opposition or wrath from the state’s leading political godfather, Senator Adamu Aliero.

Bagudu earned his place in Aliero’s bad books after he joined with the incumbent governor to frustrate Aliero’s re-election bid to the senate in 2011 when Aliero vied on the ticket of the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC. However, since then, Aliero has returned to the PDP and retaken his position as Dakingari’s godfather following the reconciliation between him and his successor forged by former President Olusegun Obasanjo.

It is now claimed that Governor Dakingari would endorse any gubernatorial candidate produced by Senator Aliero and few believe Aliero would go out of his way to endorse the very man who humiliated him in 2011.

Many believe that Bagudu’s past could open the way for the 2011 gubernatorial candidate of the CPC Alhaji Gari Mallam also from Kebbi central who followed Aliero to the CPC in the days of the troubles with Dakingari.

Yet, Senator Umar Abubakar Tafida is interested in engaging in this potential and prodigious battle even though he is from Kebbi North where the incumbent Governor hails from.

Nevertheless, the people of Zuru who believe in the rotational formula insist that for

democratic principles, fairness, justice and peace to reign in the culturally diverse state, the rotational formula on governorship position should be maintained and observed strictly from where it started.

Political mainstream The Zuru Emirate which lamented that the state leadership does not want to recognize it in the political mainstream of the state. The frustration of the Zuru people was worsened in 2012 when the ministerial nomination of Brig. Gen. Bitrus Ushie from Zuru as minister of defense was engulfed by intrigues that later saw the zone lose out to Central which fielded Kabiru Tanimu who was later assigned the portfolio of special duties.

Their agitation nonetheless, political stakeholders are frustrated by the dearth of contenders from Zuru. Presently, only Senator Mohammed Magoro from Zuru and Alhaji Bala Musa Sakaba are known to be warming up for the contest.

The CPC which almost became a hollow shell after Aliero’s defection is now encouraging people from the emirate to show interest with the party leaders saying that unlike the PDP which would not open the contest to them that the CPC would do so.

Anambra Guber:

Money bags 'll not push us this time — Odife

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU & ALICE FESTUS

D

O you think the people at the grass root are enjoying the benefit of democracy?

Most definitely not, that is the problem, from one regime to the other, from one government to the other it is the same tale of woe. We have actually seen no difference.

People look at Anambra State as a difficult state to govern. Do you share the same opinion?

Why would anybody say that Anambra state is a difficult state?

There are states where you have riots, skirmishes, violence.

But in Anambra State, governor after governor do whatever they like, you don’t hear of riot. Anambra state was one of the early oil producing states are you aware? The oil was sealed up, they didn’t riot, nothing. Even if you go to the area where the oil was found, it is a normal farm land. Onitsha market, the biggest market in West Africa, but from five to six o’clock people are running away to their homes like chicken, so Anambra is not a violent state, unfortunately the C M Y K

CHIEF Denis Odife, one of the country ’s most prominent capital market personalities has thrown his hat into the Anambra gubernatorial contest on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. In this interview he addresses his prospects, the permutations of the contest among other issues. Excerpts: quality of life is so poor.

What is your opinion on the agitation for the gubernatorial ticket to be restricted to Anambra North?

I praise Governor Obi particularly for having the courage to come out to say that let us give these people a chance.

There is something about the spirit in Anambra North where people are rather contented. It is not that they are not competitive, they are.

What is the cause of the instability in the state chapter of the PDP that you have not organised a congress for a long time?

It is the problem of the leadership of the political process. A lot of brigandage has been taking place and people have been picked here and there and people have been excluded.

When you pick some, you exclude others, and those who

have felt excluded have either gone on brigandage or abdicated completely. The remedy is to do things properly. Don’t tell me that Anambra is too big for government to come out for people to do things properly and implement the policy of one man one vote.

Stuffing ballots In our place I have already made it very clear to people that everybody should come out and vote, I don’t believe anymore that it can be done by stuffing ballots.

In the past, it was the case of who had more money because you will be told that no matter whatever you do, they will buy the process.

What would be your agenda as governor?

Anambra is a relatively small state, it must surprise you

therefore that a small state is not secure, so security must come top. I know some of our young men and women who are doing well in other parts of Nigeria and the world, who are afraid to come home. Secondly, we have Onitsha market as a fantastic asset. It is the biggest market in West Africa today and it must be modernized with better roads, better facilities, with water and so on so that people can make a good living. The third one is that a small state like Anambra, people can hardly drive from Onitsha to Awka on a straight line, we have poor quality road network, so the road network has to be improved.

An area like Awka which is the capital does not look like a capital and evidently we must make it a capital that we can be proud of.

Onitsha used to have the best secondary schools but ironically our people are going to other parts of the country, so we want to begin again to build good secondary schools that people can be proud of, not to talk of universities.

How will you checkmate the threats of money bags?

•Odife: Anambra is too small not to be safe It could be true, it depends on who you call a money bag, people had even called me a money bag but am not a money bag, I had the courage to come out to say I want to contribute.

Well, I think most of those things depend on the people.

The money bags are willing to give the assistance to support the candidate of their choice, they can support the candidate but they don’t go to do the voting, so the ordinary people are still there who still go to the ballot to put ballot in the box.

44—Vanguard, TUESD AY, APRIL 2, 2013 TUESDA

Trouble in Nigeria’s house of health •Uncertainty looms in health sector as Joint Health Sector Unions threaten showdown with FG

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

T

HERE is trouble in Nigeria’s house of health at the Federal level, where health workers under the aegis of the Joint Health Sector Unions, JOHESU, are spoiling for a showdown with Federal government.

The grouse of the workers, comprising nurses, midwives, laboratory scientists, nonacademic staff and others affiliated with the five unions in the health sector, and the Assembly of all Health Professional Associations, all operating under JOHESU,in Federal hospitals and other institutions, is not unconnected with series of issues which they describe as inimical to their welfare in particular and healthcare delivery in the country in general.

Top on the demands of the workers include, among others, the call for the sack of the Minister of Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu: implementation of the May 10, 2012 Collective Agreement that caters for promotion of members under the controversial CONHESS 14 to 15 (among other issues), and the cessation of appointment of medical and dental professionals as Chief Medical Directors and Medical Directors of Federal tertiary

health institutions.

They also alleged various acts of discrimination and victimisation while decrying what they described as paltry compensation of families of health workers killed by extremists in Kano State during the National Programme on Immunisation exercise.

On March 18, 2013, JOHESU declared a nine-point trade dispute upon which itissued a 15-day ultimatum to Federal Government to implement the May 10, 2012 Collective Agreement, among others.

Although spirited moves were made to resolve the protracted industrial dispute at the highest levels including JOHESU, the Ministry of Labour and Productivity, the Federal Ministry of Health, the National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission and the National Industrial Court of Nigeria, NICN, findings reveal that much remain to be desired, and even as the ultimatum expires today, a shadow of uncertainty hangs over fortunes of the nation’s health sector.

Just last week, at a media parley in Lagos the health workers unanimously threatened to “perpetuate unrest within the health sector” if the stated demands are not met.

• A typical hospital setting inNigeria. Lack of harmonious working relationship between health workers and professionals is robbing the average Nigerian access to quality healthcare services.

They have called on President Goodluck Jonathan to wade into the ongoing deterioration of health services especially at the tertiary level of care which they allege has

•Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu

turned hospitals in the country into mere consulting clinics.

Making the call during an update of happenings and developments in the health sector, National Chairman, JOHESU, and President, Medical & Health Workers' Union of Nigeria, Dr. Ayuba Wabba, urged the President to step in and save the sector from imminent collapse.

“The industrial relation atmosphere in the health sector has been the worst in recent times and the total absence of a harmonious working relationship between medical and dental practitioners on one hand and other health professionals on the other.

“The cliff of disharmony

NIMR records 97% cure rate for TB, but...

BY CHIOMA OBINNA HE Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, NIMR has recorded 97 per cent cure rate for Tuberculosis, TB, in the last six years, even as it decries the effect of the HIV/ TB coinfection which has more complex.

Director General of the Institute, Prof essor Innocent Ujah, who disclosed this in Lagos, said the between 2006 and 2012, among over 4,500 patients who have accessed services at the institute 3 per cent failure rate in treatment was recorded as a result of default on the part of patients apparently due to stigma associated with the disease.

"To reduce the 3 per cent treatment failure, we have instituted a counselling programme aimed at reducing the default

T

rate among TB patients. Currently we have also brought down the number of defaulters from 22 per cent to 6 per cent.

Our target is zero default rates and I am sure that we can achieve the target."

Ujah who further lamented the implication of HIV/TB coinfection which has made treatment programme difficult, disclosed that 27 per cent of all people living with HIV and accessing anti- retroviral treatment (ARV) at the institute have tuberculosis.

On the threat of multi-drug resistant TB cited by the WHO and Global Fund, he said the NIMR laboratory is being upgraded to bio - safety level 3 laboratory (BSL-3), courtesy of Family Health International, FHI. "We have many diagnostic fa-

cilities including light and florescent microscopy, molecular biological techniques such as Hain Assay and GeneXpert for the detection of multi-drug resistance, in addition to solid culture (LJ slopes) and liquid culture (MGIT) Techniques.

Noting that Nigeria is still rated among countries with high rate of TB patients, he called on stakeholders to redouble efforts to bring the prevalence of TB in Nigeria to an acceptable level.

In his lecture entitled, "Treatment outcomes of a modified Directly - Observed Treatment for Tuberculosis, DOTS", Dr. Dan Onwujekwe from the Clinical Sciences, NIMR, explained that the rapid fall in default from treatment was the introduction of quality improvement measures identified

from route cause analysis and deployment of innovative approaches to implement Directly- Observed Treatment Short - Course, DOTS, a global gold standard for TB treatment.

Onwujekwe recommended that National TB Control Programmes that are challenged with high burden should adopt innovative ways to reach more patients with effective treatment.

"A well managed once-aweek health worker observation of treatment, backed by strong laboratory component, can produce cure rates as high as DOTs. This may be useful way to move towards achieving the Stop TB targets of halving Nigeria's TB burden by 2015," he stated.

encouraged by the Minister of Health keeps widening daily and we are very concerned.

Nigerians who are entitled to quality healthcare services are at the receiving end,” he remarked.

However, a statement from the office of the Minister of Health said a careful scrutiny of the grievances “indicate that there is either a demand for what is not provided for in Extant Government Circulars and Regulations or what requires a review of relevant Laws and Regulations by the appropriate agencies and organs of government”.

Career structure According to the statement: “If anything, it is under the watch of Prof. C.O. Onyebuchi Chukwu as Minister of Health that progress was made in adjusting the career structure for health workers, removing the barrier to promotion to the directorate cadre for health workers.

“It is surprising that they would call for the removal of the Minister under whose watch, Nigeria's score rose from 47.5 percent in 2009 to 50.7 percent in 2011 in the Mo Ibrahim Human Development Index (Health Category).

When considered in totality especially as some of the matters they are aggrieved about are already before the Industrial Arbitration Court and the Federal Ministry of Health with scheduled meetings ahead to resolve all outstanding matters,” the statement said

Vanguard, TUESD AY, APRIL 2, 2013—45 TUESDA

Friends Africa seeks universal access to TB treatment

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

T

OWARDS forestalling unnecessary death from tuberculosis, TB; stakeholders under the auspices of Friends Africa have called for universal access to TB treatment in Nigeria even as they say that massive awareness will drastically reduce the unacceptable mortality rate.

At a Breakfast Meeting in Lagos last week, Chief Executive, Friends Africa, Dr. Akudo Ikemba, stated that TB, a completely treatable disease should not be taking lives, adding that access to all forms of TB drugs including the second line drugs would reduce the prevalence in Nigeria.

Ikemba said heavy funding is required to procure second line drugs to check the rising prevalence of multi drug resistant TB, while domestic financing should be improved.

Querying why 8.7 million people fell ill with TB even when the various partners like the Global Fund has made

available free TB drugs, she blamed most of the deaths on ignorance on the part of the population. “There is therefore the need to raise public awareness about the spread and treatment of TB so that the deaths can be stopped.”

Further, Ikemba urged the media media and other stakeholders to support Nigeria’s goal of halving the prevalence and deaths arising from TB by 2015. “The media should use their various platforms to upscale the awareness around Tuberculosis so that no other life will be lost to a disease that is totally curable if not totally preventable.

“We are calling on individuals to ensure people with persistent cough around them get tested to know their TB status while those infected gets treatment and stick to their prescription plan religiously. The general public is called upon to take responsibility by ensuring annual screening for the

Continues on page 46

• L-R: Foluke Ojelabi, Technical Programmes Manager, Dr. Akudo Anyanwu Ikemba, CEO/Founder, Bez Idakula, Singer/Friends Africa Advocacy Ambassador, Bissalla Bello, Partnerships and Research Manager, all of Friends Africa at the media parley last week in Lagos.

‘Male factor causes 40% of infertility cases’

BY CHARLYNE IKPE

A

CONSULTANT Gynaecologist, Dr. John Idahosa, has said that 40 percent of infertility problem is attributable to men, and dismissed common belief that only women have infertility issues.

Speaking during a three- day

Emmanuel Iyamah, hole-in-the-heart patient sends SOS to Uduaghan

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

P

ARENTS of Emmanuel Iyamah, the sixmonth-old infant born with a hole-in-theheart, have sent a Save-Our-Soul appeal to Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan.

In the appeal, Patrick and Virginia, little Emmanuel’s father and mother respectively, are appealing for the Governor’s assistance towards facilitating their son’s crucial

• Emmanuel Iyamah, hole-in-the-heart patient

corrective heart surgery projected at N2 million A medical report from the Paediatric Cardiology Unit, LUTH, describes Emmanuel’s condition as symptomatic congenital heart disease and confirmed by echocardiography to be a heart murmur and bronchopneumonia.

The couple who brought the appeal along with their ailing infant to Vanguard;s Corporate Head Office in Lagos, lamented that since his birth on September 25, 2012 at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, little Emmanuel’s life has been a series of trials and challenges Patrick, a sales representative hails from Idumuesah in Ika North LGA of Delta State, while his wife,Virginia, is native to Abavo, in Ika South LGA of Delta State, noted that Emmanuel has been in and out of LUTH so many times with different drugs administered on him to no avail.

Narrating his ordeal, he stated: “We are appealing to Governor Uduaghan to use his good office to help save our son whose only hope is to undergo corrective heart surgery in India.

The condition is beyond doctors at LUTH so we were referred to India for this much-needed surgery over three months ago, but we have been unable to pursue the option because of lack of funds. This is our big drawback.

“We have spent all that we have on tests and drugs. Now we need help to raise the N2 million.

We are pleading with Governor Uduaghan and well meaning Nigerians to help restore our son’s hope for life.

“Our expectation has been to see changes, but the reverse has been the case. The situation is geting worse. He is in constant pain and cries ceaselessly,” Patrick noted.

• If you wish to assist Emmanuel, please send your donations to Iyamah Patrick, First Bank 3044398122 or call 08026666880 fordetails.

free medical programme tagged ‘Breaking the Barriers of Bareness’ organised by Grace House Church, Idahosa said men and women contribute equally to infertility.

"Looking at our society today, a man without a child has no saying in the society’. Erectile dysfunction (impotence), that is the inability to achieve erection or a tendency to sustain only a brief erection, is known as the major cause of infertility in men.

Idahosa further noted that causes of impotence include mental stress, adding that medication, illness, excess smoking, excess alcohol intake and consistence sleeping on a brighter light could also cause erectile dysfunction.

He advised men to increase their intake of multivitamins as

help boost their sperm count.

Fibroid and infections also are the causes of infertility in women. infertility issues to investigate such issues.

According to Host Pastor, Omar Pela: "The issue of childlessness has led to many broken marriages but we ar eusing this the medium to break every yoke of bareness medically and spiritually.

“We decided to also include the seminar to impact the knowledge about the problem and how to prevent it as well as conduct a free fertility screening for those willing to break the yoke of bareness in their lives, free of charge.

Pela urged women and couples believing God for the fruit of the womb to seek solution without shame.

GSK urges Nigerians to adopt good oral health

BY ADEKUNLE ALIYU

O

N the 2013 World Oral Health Day, dental experts once again called on all Nigerians to pay attention to their oral health as it is crucial to general well-being.

Medical Director, GSK Consumer Nigeria Plc. Dr. Bode Adesoji who spoke during the internal launch of Sensodyne Rapid Action at the GSK Corporate Head Office, Ilupeju, said it was important to raise awareness on oral health so as to encourage individuals, families, communities and governments to take measures to lower the incidence of oral disease.

In Nigeria, there is a lack of awareness about consequences of poor oral health due to lack of adequate information on the subject.

Adesoji acknowledged this fact when he pointed out that

"Oral health awareness is poor in Nigeria because people don't understand the interconnection between oral health and general well-being.

I have also realized that a lot of people associate the dentist with pain and this fear hasprevented a lot of people going for dental check-ups.

Nigerians also believe that dental treatments/procedures are too expensive hence they would rather cope with the pain".

On the ratio of qualified dentists to patients in Nigeria, Adesoji suggested more training institutions and better remuneration to avoid brain drain and influx of quacks in theprofession.

"I believe the wide ratio is as a result of inadequate training institutions for dentists in the country as well as the unattractive remuneration compared to other opportunities in other parts of the world.

46—Vanguard, TUESD AY, APRIL 2, 2013 TUESDA

Environmental toxins in the body

T

HERE are several types of toxins that can build up in the body. If you are fi ghting cancer, it is especially important you remove these toxins from your system or you will never be able to aff ectively deal with the disease.

As you have learned from previous chapters, you can physically remove a cancerous tumor, but unless you also remove the original cause, the cancer will ultimately return.

Type 1: Cellular Toxicity Cellular toxicity is formed when there is a buildup of acidity in the body preventing the body from getting rid of dangerous toxins. The toxins have nowhere else to go and end up taking residence in our vital cells. You don’t need me to tell you that this simply isn’t

good.

Type 2: Heavy Metal Toxicity Do you eat a lot of fresh water fi sh?

Do you have a mouthful of amalgam fi llings? Th en you may have heavy metal toxicity. Heavy metal toxicity results from years of being exposed to toxic heavy metals. The body becomes weak and vulnerable to disease. If you receive a cancer diagnosis it’s vital to do what you can to remove these deadly heavy metals from your body. The best way to do this is to take three days to drink only pure water (and organic herbal teas) and consume organic and locally grown fresh fruits and veggies.

Type 3: Chemical Toxicity On a daily basis we’re all exposed to

Julia Oyefunke Fortune

The Cancer

FIGHTER

juliafortune@hotmail.com

chemicals. Depending on your body’s own unique makeup these chemicals can build up and lead to chemical toxicity or your body can simply expel the chemicals as long as there aren’t too many on a daily basis to deal with.

Chemicals used to clean your house, wash your car, do the dishes and laundry, as well as kill weeds in your fl ower garden can all contribute to chemical toxicity. Th is buildup eventually catches up with the body resulting in disease as well as organ and skin problems.

Type 4: ColonToxicity You may have seen some of the news stories of patients engaging in colon cleansing to remove colon toxins. A glance at any one of these pictures

reveals a lot of disturbing material coming out of the body during a colon cleansing to fi ght colon toxicity. From entire, intact vitamin pills to what looks like hardened rubber, it’s shocking to find what’s been sitting inside of your colon for years, maybe even decades.

Colon toxicity is the result of hard to digest food and unpassed fecal matter staying inside of the colon for far longer than it is supposed to stay. When these matters aren’t eliminated from the body these toxic materials begin to decay and release their toxins into the body. This not only adds more dangerous toxins to the body it prevents the proper absorption of nutrients from the other foods we’re eating. I recommend regular colon cleanses.

Friends Africa

• Cross section of pupils at a healthy hydration game “Go with the Flow” held as part of the Water Education Programme organised by Nestlé Waters, Nigeria, in conjunction with Star Bright Consulting on the 2013 World Water Day at the Nestlé factory, Agbara, Ogun State.

Continues frompage 45 Tuberculosis bacteria and other diseases causing organisms. “African private sector should join the fight against deadly pandemics like TB by supporting the government and other institutions actively involved in the fight especially in Sub Saharan Africa. The international community should upscale support for the continent including further research into ensuring effective treatment of multiple resistant TB strains is continuously achieved in sub Sahara Africa.

She said Friends Africa would upscale its advocacy efforts within the year by leveraging on its Workplace Policy Development Project to ensure that Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in five African countries are empowered in preventive knowledge of AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria.

Song Writer and Artiste, Bez Idakula who was crowned TB Ambassador stressed the need for people to share knowledge about TB as part of strategies to reduce TB mortality, improve funding for treatment and stop TB for life.

COMMON SEXUAL PROBLEMS AND THEIR NOVELTY BASED SOLUTIONS (ADVERTORIAL)

I

FOUND a condom in my 19-year-old son’s room and I am in shock. I cannot believe my child is having sex and I am not sure how to confront him about it – Mrs Echezona Dear Mrs Echezona, as parents, we are never really prepared to accept that our children are growing up until something like this happens. If you are wondering what to say to him, there really isn’t much to say.

To make yourself feel better, you can try telling him not to have sex. But we both know that’s not going to work.

Our parents told us the same thing. And then we went off to the university and had sex anyway.

I think your son is smart for thinking about protecting himself. Many young people don’t prepare themselves for a chance encounter with a girl that may lead to sex.

If more young people thought about protection, we wouldn’t have all these cases of folks dying of AIDS. It is a pity you had to find out this way but kids grow up.

We were once kids ourselves, playing with toys and watching cartoons.

And then we grew up. A nineteen year old is no longer a child. He is a man now and I suspect he will be making his own decisions from here onwards – Uche Good day sir. I am 44 years old. For the past five months, each time I get an erection to have sex with my wife, by the time I climb her, I will lose my erection. Sometimes the erection is so weak that penetration is impossible.

Please what do I do? Benjamin Are you diabetic? There are several biological factors that can cause this type of erectile dysfunction such as diabetes mellitus, groin surgery, multiple sclerosis, prescription drugs, hormonal imbalance etc. But diabetes is the most common cause.

There are supplements and devices that I can recommend to enable you get back your erections but you should go and do a diabetes test to find out what is causing it. For the time being, you can wear a device called a Cock Ring during intercourse. It will enable you maintain your erection (if it is hard) until you finish

having sex. The Screaming O Cockring and Dual Studded Cock Ring are good for this.

But if your erection in general continues to be weak, then what you need is a supplement that will facilitate greater blood flow to the penis such as Exploding Thunder and Xzen 1200. These are 100 percent natural supplements that work for days to give powerful erections, stamina and multiple performances.

Another option for you is to use a penis pump to get an erection. Within minutes of pumping, you will get your erection. You will then wear a Cock Ring to maintain the erection for sex- Uche Sir please I will like to know the difference between Mia Thickening Cream, Max Width, Max Size and Maximus Enlargement cream. I have a small penis that I want to enlarge but I don’t know the appropriate product – Austin Dear Austin, there are two different types of enlargement products. There is the instant type that works within minutes and gives results that last for 3 to 24 hours. Max Width, Mia Thickening Cream, Plump Cream and Penis Pumps are all instant penis enlargers. The second type of penis enlargement product takes months to work but the results last for a much longer time. Examples are the Maximus Enlargement Cream , Max Size, Big Bam Boo and Penis Pumps too. When a penis pump is used regularly for three to six months, the results are more permanent – Uche Hi. I am loving this Exploding Thunder. I used it yesterday night and ‘exploded’ as expected. Thanks - Chief That’s it for today. The names of the people featured here have been changed for their privacy. Adults in need of these treatments/novelties can call 08027901621 or 08051924159 or any other number here to order or they can order online at www.zeevirtualmedia.com. Zee Virtual Media delivers to you wherever you are in Nigeria.

For enquiries, send your emails to custserv@zeevirtualmedia.com - Uche Edochie, MD, Zee Virtual Media..

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 — 47

Why AMCON operations winding down is necessary

BY OMOH GABRIEL

T

HE International Monetary Fund IMF, last week advised the Central Bank as well as the federal government to consider winding down the operation of Asset Management Company of Nigeria. The advice is based on Article IV of the IMF’s agreement with members of the FUND. The Articles of Agreement states that the IMF holds bilateral discussions with members, usually every year. This involves a team of IMF staff visits to the country, collects economic and financial information, and discusses with officials the country’s economic developments and policies.

On return to IMF headquarters, the staff prepares a report, which forms the basis for discussion by the Executive Board. At the conclusion of the discussion, the Managing Director, as Chairman of the Board, summarizes the views of Executive Directors, and this summary is transmitted to the country’s authorities. It was after due consultation with the Nigeria authorities that it released the report in which it considered the current tight monetary stance of the Central Bank of Nigeria to be consistent with the authorities’ objective of reducing inflation to single digits. IMF Board also

the CBN intervening in five of the banks with N620 billion as bailout package. To ensure that none of the existing banks failed, the CBN in collaboration with the ministry of Finance set up the Asset Management Company of Nigeria AMCON. The call is also to curb moral hazards and fiscal risk that would arise if AMCON continues in business of buying off non performing loans from banks. Al-

,

Certain banks have been compelled, in consultation with AMCON and the CBN, to sell systematically important loans to AMCON to forestall any further crisis in the future

took note of the staff’s assessment that the exchange rate in real effective terms is broadly realistic.

Directors commended the Nigerian authorities’ success in restoring financial stability after the 2009 banking crisis. In light of this achievement, they recommended winding down the operations of the Asset Management Company to curb moral hazard and fiscal risks. The call for winding down of the operations of AMCON is based on the fact that the CBN has succeeded largely in restoring stability in the Nigerian financial system which was hit by crisis in 2009 as a result of huge non performing loans which threatened the existence of many banks and saw

Chike-Obi

Sanusi Lamido, CBN Gov.

,

ready operators are raising issues with the Company’s purchase of some performing loans.

According Chike Obi the Managing Director of AMCON, Asset Management Company of Nigeria was set up to achieve three-fold function, reducing the level of Non Performing Loans on the books of eligible banks; assisting in the recapitalisation of banks deemed to be in grave danger and managing all acquired assets in a manner consistent both with minimum resolution cost.

The Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON) has acquired 95 per cent of the NonPerforming Loans (NPLs) in the banking sector. Addressing newsmen in Lagos, the Manag-

ing Director, AMCON, Mustafa Chike-Obi, stated that at the end of October 2011, AMCON would have successfully acquired N2.78 trillion face value of bad loans from 21 banks at a cost of N1.16 trillion, adding that it had also injected N1.36 trillion into the remaining five banks, which failed the stress test carried out by the industry regulators in 2009, to bring them to a position of zero capital. ChikeObi stated that the corporation is now moving to the third stage of managing all acquired assets, including NPLs, equity and real assets.

This is where the IMF advice came in. AMCON has achieved its primary objective of ridding the Nigerian banks of non performing loans which had the potential of triggering systemic distress in the Nigerian financial system.

Financial system By acquiring 95 per cent of non performing loans in the nation’s bank, the financial system is left with about 5 per cent non performing loans which is the threshold of best practice internationally. The International Monetary Fund is saying that AMCON should not take on fresh non performing loans nor inject funds into any bank in a bid to recapitalize such bank. It should now confine itself to managing the assets it acquired from the banks.

But curiously AMCON has

Map of Nigeria been acquiring even performing loans saying it is doing so to save the banks. Chike Obi had disclosed that AMCON had negotiated a takeover of some performing loans, particularly those involving Zenon Petroleum, Seawolf Industries and Geometric Industries from the banks, explaining that the decision was based on the fact that the debts posed a grave danger to the industry.

He said “Certain banks have been compelled, in consultation with AMCON and the CBN, to sell systematically important loans to AMCON to forestall any further crisis in the future. Notable among these are loans of Zenon Petroleum, Seawolf Industries and Geometric Power Industries, which owe banks N150 billion, N100 billion and N25 billion respectively”.

The AMCON boss maintained that greater part of the next ten years would be devoted to recovering the NPLs. Chike-Obi said

AMCON injected N736 billion into the three bridge banks, namely Mainstreet Bank, Keystone Bank and Enterprise Bank, adding that they were now performing their role in the financial community. He said the remaining five rescued banks had been recapitalised to zero level.

The reasoning at the IMF is that if AMCOM is allowed to continue its operation of acquiring non performing loans of banks it will pose a moral question as banks may have a field day in granting loans they know will not perform knowing that AMCON is there to absolve them. This kind of behaviour if allowed uncheck will endanger the financial services sector that AMCON was set up to arrest.

Last year some banks shareholders protested the taking over of performing loans by AMCON. The acquisition of over N275 billion of performing loans from some banks, by the Asset Management Corporation of Nigeria (AMCON) caused a disquiet in the industry, as operators regarded the action as an undue favour that is being exploited by the affected banks, to enhance their financial position, as the liquidity squeeze bites harder.

Coming at a time when the banks were intensifying their efforts to discount the zero-coupon bonds for cash, at the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to beef up their liquidity position, the operators said the decision may have been deliberate and intent upon assisting the banks financially.

Mustafa Chike-Obi had said that the need to forestall any likelihood of further crisis in the banking industry, and the fact that large sums were involved, led to the acquisition of N275 billion worth of performing loans, adding that the smaller loans were still being managed by the banks.

Obi said that the possibility of the huge loans posing potential risks, having assessed the systemic risk linked to the exposures, made the AMCON to compel the banks to purchase the loans of Zenon Petroleum of N150 billion, with about five banks involved; Seawolf Industries (First Bank), N100 billion and Geometric Power Industries (Diamond Bank) worth N25 billion, from the balance sheet of the banks, at between 85 to 95 percent of the face value of the loans.

48— Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

C M Y K

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 — 49

Mali troops search for Islamists in Timbuktu F

RENCH and Malian troops have combed the northern city of Timbuktu searching for Islamist rebels thought to be hiding in homes after fierce fighting.

Militants holed up in a house near the army barracks opened fire as soldiers conducted searches, reports said.

Clashes broke out over the weekend after a suicide bomber attempted to attack an army checkpoint.

Earlier this year, French troops pushed Islamists out of much of northern Mali but sporadic fighting has continued.

Tensions remain high in Timbuktu with militants still believed to be hiding in the town, the BBC’s

AFP reported.

Air power The suicide bomber was killed before he could

Kenya anticipates economic boom after polls

K A Malian army checkpoint was attacked at the weekend.

Thomas Fessy, in the capital Bamako, reported.

Several rebels reportedly engaged Malian and French troops in a fire fight on

Monday morning from a house by the entrance of the army’s barracks, our correspondent says.

The area was cordoned off as residents barricaded

themselves in their homes, fearing renewed fighting downtown.

At least three Islamists were killed in fighting on Monday, news agency

ENYA’s tourism industry may be a swift winner from the election of Uhuru Kenyatta, owner of hotels and a vast business empire, as east Africa’s biggest economy seeks to benefit from a vote that avoided a re-run of bloodshed of five years ago.

Tourism is a vital sector for the nation of more than 40 million people and was one of the worst hit after a disputed presidential poll in December 2007 led to

S/Korea, US prepare to confront N/Korea threat A

S tensions ratcheted higher on the Korean peninsula amid shrill rhetoric from Pyongyang and the U.S. deployment of radar-evading fighter planes, South Korea will strike back quickly if the North stages any attack, the new president in Seoul warned on Monday.

North Korea says the region is on the brink of a nuclear war in the wake of United Nations sanctions imposed for its February nuclear test and a series of joint U.S. and South Korean military drills that have included a rare U.S. show of aerial power.

The North, whose economy is smaller than it was 20 years ago, appeared to move on Monday to addressing its pressing need for investment by appointing a reformer to the country’s ceremonial prime

minister’s job, although the move mostly cemented a power grab by the ruling Kim clan.

North Korea had said on Saturday it was entering a “state of war” with South Korea in response to what

it termed the “hostile” military drills being staged in the South. But there have been no signs of unusual activity in the North’s military to suggest an imminent aggression, a

South Korean defense ministry official said last week.

“If there is any provocation against South Korea and its people, there should be a strong response in initial

T

combat without any political considerations,” President Park Geun-hye told the defense minister and senior officials at a meeting on Monday.

CAR rebels ask S/African troops to leave •as leader consolidates power

C

ENTRAL African Republic’s coup leader solidified his hold on the government yesterday after announcing that he will serve as both president and defense minister, while other top posts are going to his fellow rebels.

Michel Djotodia, who led the thousands of rebel fighters who overthrew longtime President

Francois Bozize just over a week ago, made the announcement in a decree read late Sunday on state radio.

Not only will Djotodia hold the defense ministry, but his allies also will control the ministries of mines, commerce, communication, and security and public order, according to a decree issued on letterhead that

reads “presidency of the republic.” Opposition leader Nicolas Tiangaye remains as prime minister in the new government.

Alex Vines, head of the Africa program at Chatham House, a London-based institute on international affairs, has described the coup as being about “blind ambition” despite the rebels’ claims they are seeking greater assistance for their homeland in the

M23’s Bisimwa rejects UN force in DRC HE main rebel group in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, M23, has rejected the UN’s decision to deploy a special attack force to the area.

M23 political leader Bertrand Bisimwa said the UN had chosen the “war option”, rather than promoting dialogue to end the conflict in eastern DRC. The M23 briefly

detonate his bomb on Saturday evening. The failed attack was followed by militant attempts to infiltrate the city.

captured the regional capital, Goma, last year, with little resistance from UN peacekeepers.

Various armed groups have wreaked havoc in eastern DR Congo for two decades.

The M23-led rebellion flared up a year ago and has forced some 800,000 people from their homes.

Continue reading the main story.

From now on,

peacekeeping forces will wage war on groups of citizens who are demanding good governance” Last week, the UN Security Council approved plans to send an Intervention Brigade of about 2,000 troops to DR Congo in July to “carry out targeted offensive operations” to “neutralise” armed groups in eastern DR Congo.

deeply impoverished northeast. The rebel alliance that overthrew the government is known as Seleka.

“All the accounts of Seleka are that they have no development vision for CAR. It’s exclusively about redistribution of patrimony from having captured the state,” Vines said.

“There is so little other activity — capturing the state is sort of the main source of revenue,” he said.

UN troops set to “neutralise” rebel groups in DRC

weeks of tribal bloodletting, scaring away investors and tourists by the planeload.

This time, a row over who won the vote was led by lawyers instead of armed thugs. A reformed judiciary that reviewed the case commands more respect than it ever did, a victory for the rule of law that could also lift business confidence.

As well as seeking more visitors, Kenya wants oil and gas investment to develop hydrocarbon discoveries, funds for a major new port planned in Lamu and other infrastructure, and investors to boost the nation’s position as a regional manufacturing hub.

Libyan PM’s aid kidnapped

T

HE Libyan prime minister’s chief of staff has disappeared and may have been abducted amid a series of confrontations between the government and militiamen in the capital, officials said yesterday.

The prime minister ’s office said in a statement that it had lost contact with Mohamed Ali Ghatous, who works for Prime Minister Ali Zidan, and was searching for him.

Officials said he went missing late Sunday and his car was found on the side of the road on the outskirts of Tripoli the next day.

The officials say he may have been abducted, speaking anonymously in line with regulations.

Two years after the country’s civil war, Libya is struggling to build a unified army and police force and reign in militias, which include many rebels who fought to oust the country ’s longtime dictator Moammar Gadhafi.

50 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

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JIKE Osanyin: Because of the variety of cultural perspectives in Nigeria, it has not been easy for people to make inroads in terms of changing the culture of the people. For instance, take the issue of dressing, marriage and tribal marks. Your own culture may be different from mine and the moment you try to criticize my culture, I have a group of people who are ready to defend my culture so as a result, it has not been easy for any culture to be modified to a large extent and that is what we have been able to pass across to our children in the society.

Culture is extremely powerful and very difficult to change.

However, I would say that the problem of women is women themselves. The women are the ones who raise children, male and female children.

•Professor (Mrs.) Ajike Osanyin, Department of Earl Child Education, Faculty of Education, University of Lagos.

They are either the property of their husbands or their children.

Their father married them out either to make money or to survive if they are from poor family background. Their husbands also see them either as properties not to be heard but there to make children. Sometimes in our culture, women’s values are determined by how many children they give birth to. They do not mind about mortality and pains they go through during childbirth. In South Africa, women

Providing self esteem What values do they inculcate in these children? The foundation is the set of the structure and if the foundation is not there you have not provided things on which the girl child can actually stand that will provide self esteem for her. Things that will make the child feel that she is okay.

Women are the ones apportioning assignments and duties to children, stereotyping what the male child will do and what the girl child will do at home, or that is expected of them in the society. It is this that translates into the lives of children when they eventually grow up. Most of the rituals and abuses on women in the name of culture are done with the connivance and supervision

•Prof. Tunde Babawale, Director General, CBAAC. are regarded as cattle, livestock which could mean that they can be bought and sold. From these we can see that women at every level belong to somebody. We

,

As a mother, if you don’t have the right values, you cannot transfer it to your girl child

of other women. I want to say that women are the ones who have created the problems that we are facing in the society. So, the problem is that women and mothers should provide sound foundation for their children both male and female.

Janet Mba-Afolabi: Culture is a way of life. It is our custom, our traditions, our value and it varies from one place to another.

In most communities around the world, you see that many women do not belong to themselves, they don’t own themselves totally.

,

should change this perception by taking it out of the communiqué and moving it to the communities and schools and talk to children and catching them young.

Funmi Adesegun: You can identify a problem once you know it is a problem. Ignorance at times will not allow you to identify that something is a problem. I believe that you cannot give what you don’t have. So, as a mother, if you don’t have the right values, you cannot transfer it to your girl child.

There are lots of things we should have taught our children when

they are growing up so that it will become part of them when they are grown. Children copy us.

They do not have ears for what we say but they have eyes for what we do. When you are doing something wrong in the presence of your child, you cannot tell that child not to do it. Let us be role models to our children. There is nothing that cannot be changed.

It is only the time and the method employed. When we talk about the women in the Eastern part of the country, they knew before getting married that when their husbands died, they would have no say in their husbands

,

MODERATOR: Culture, tradition and societal values have been identified as the main clog in the wheel of achieving equality for the Nigerian woman. How far have we been able to break off these shackles, Professor?

The problem of women is women themselves

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c i r f A g n i r e w o p Em e r e f f i D a e to mak On March 8, 2013, Nigeria joined the rest of the world to celebrate the International women’s Day. As usual, the day was commemorated with walks, demonstrations, protests as well as symposiums and exhibitions among others. Vanguard Newspapers in collaboration with the Centre for Black African Arts and Civilization organized a Round Table discussion for women. It was a forum where selected women from various disciplines came together to discuss some of the challenges facing the Nigerian woman, her journey so far and also fashion out the way forward. The two hour jaw-jaw touched on issues such as parenting, culture and traditions, health, business, politics as well as building confidence and self esteem in the work place.

Today, we bring you excerpts from the conference.

properties so, why can’t they prepare their own properties so that they would not suffer when their husbands die? We need to

•Mrs. Funmilayo Adesegun, Wife of the Deputy Governor, Ogun State.

educate women. Humans were the ones who made culture, they sat down and thought about it and laid it down as culture. There are

certain things that were being done in the old days that cannot be applied to the present time.

There are lots of things we can

•Mrs. Henrietta Onwujei Okonkwo, Managing Director, Buchees.

•Mrs. Idera OshinusiMartins: Business Woman, Politician.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 — 51

teach your child that as a girl, you need to comport yourself, you are not flippant and must be vigilant.

Unfortunately, I’m sorry to say that most of our mothers have neglected that responsibility.

There is nothing we can do about the changes that are occurring culturally but we can arm our children to cope with the changes by encouraging them to develop confidence, by getting them educated, sensitizing and enlightening them. More importantly, I think we can use this kind of program to appeal to

,

can Women ence change with education. Let us educate people that we can change cultures with time and that nothing but good will come out of it for us.

Tunde Babawale: I think it is more universally accepted that the new culture is starting and as somebody observed, culture is dynamic. It changes every day.

In fact, if we look around us at the way our children dress, we will agree that our culture is changing and that is what I call cultural updating. Every culture has its positive and negative sides but what is important to us is to keep those aspects that are

•Mrs. Funmi Ajumobi, Kiddies Editor, Vanguard Media Limited.

positive and try to abolish those aspects that are negative. For instance, the culture of respect for elders and the culture of the dignity of womanhood abound in every African culture. A woman’s body is cherished; it was something of pride to observe what is called chastity before marriage.

It is modernization that has now made it possible for people to think that it is a sin for you to remain a virgin before you marry.

In those days, you can even get a medal for it. Historically, our mothers have been the ones to take care of the children. You

•Mrs. Shola Oladeinbo, State Woman Leader, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Men will not help you because they want to keep you down there

,

the government to make laws concerning violence against women because as I know, I have not seen someone go to jail for at least seven years because he raped a female.

Moderator: Next to culture, financial independence is another big hurdle towards achieving gender equality, how easy has this been, especially considering all the various kinds of empowerment government claims to be doing for women?

Mrs Okonkwo please, can you give us an insight into this using your own experience?

Henrietta Okonkwo: The first thing you need to know as a woman is that your survival is in your hands. Men will not help you because they want to keep you down there where they can continue to exploit you. So, you need to be determined to make it. When I wanted to start my business, my husband refused to give me the capital because he did not believe that the business will succeed.

Getting loan from government or banks I had to make use of the little I could from the paid employment that I had and the help of a friend that I was able to convince. When I hear a woman complaining of hunger, I get angry because there are so many things that a woman can do to get out of poverty. A woman can learn so many things by using her hands.

You don’t have to educate women by sending them to school alone. Unfortunately, some women prefer to jump from one man to the other looking for who will give them money. For how long will that be enough for you?

•Mrs Janet Mba-Afolabi, Publisher, Scroll Magazine.

Getting a loan from government or the banks is another problem entirely. They ask for conditions that are impossible for most women to meet. I went to a few of them but I was not able to get anything from them. Everything I own today, I did by myself. However, I think there is a lot we can achieve if women can learn to help each other. We don’t help ourselves enough as women. We rather play ourselves down than help ourselves.

Idera Oshinusi-Martins: We must always remember that we are one, and that we are fighting a common battle. So, how do we

•Dr. Sade Alli, Consultant, Physician and Cardiologist, Lagoon Hospitals. assist each other wherever we meet or need the support of each other? It is not by bickering at each other, backbiting and backstabbing each other. It is not by going behind to play devil’s advocate when you know that a woman is about to get help from somewhere. Whenever women meet, rather than face the real problems, we go into competition against each other, even for silly reasons. All these will not help us.

Also, we must realise that there must be something a woman can do apart from being a doctor, lawyer and so on, because, if we like it or not, the era of white collar jobs are over. The jobs are no longer there and those available are very competitive. Right from an early age, the girl child must be taught the importance of saving money. I have been in business all my life. I learned from my mother mainly because she

insisted that I will not do any other thing except her kind of business which is trading in clothes and jewelry. When I wanted to start my own, it was from the savings from assisting my mother that I invested into it. I was not able to secure a government or bank loan also. Government should also help women finance their business. They should open a micro finance bank targeted only for women with zero interest. I am also using this opportunity to appeal to the government to build a plaza, a women trade centre in Nigeria where women can have shops, do their businesses and also learn skills.

Ajike Osanyin: I think the problem we have in Nigeria is that there is no dignity of labor.

We want quick money and that explains why lots of girls go into marriages for economic survival and are ready to do anything as long as the man continues to give them money. They are not ready to actually labor for their own money. You have your certificate so what can you do with it? What other things can you do if the certificate is not actually bringing in money? Women should be wise.

Strengths and weaknesses You should actually assess yourself and know your strengths and weaknesses and you should also know what you can do to help yourself. We have to call ourselves back and add value and dignity to ourselves as women.

Moderator: So, what is the way forward for the Nigerian woman if we say that culture, financial dependency and government are not in her favour?

Idera Oshinusi-Martins: Women must realize that we are married to total strangers. Both the man and woman are coming from two different backgrounds with the aim of making something out of the relationship. We should have it in mind that anything can happen. So, the question should be how do I survive? So, what you should tell yourself is, ‘I can do this, I can make this work’.

To be concluded

MODERATORS: •Dr. Gloria Chuma-Ibe: Director, Exhibitions, CBAAC •Mrs. Yetunde Arebi: Deputy Woman Editor, Vanguard Newspapers.

Photographs: Lamidi Bamidele Transcription: Tolu Falola Edited by Yetunde Arebi

52—Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Peace, peace & more peace, Clerics urge at Easter

BY SAM EYOBOKA & OLAYINKA LATONA

AS Christians mark the resurrection of Jesus Christ, Nigerian religious leaders have again called on fellow Nigerians to emulate the virtues of Jesus Christ, who sacrificed himself for the sake of mankind.

Prelate of Methodist Church Nigeria, Most Rev. Sunday Ola Makinde, in his message, urged Nigerians to live in unity and co-oporate with various governmental agen-cies for the country to over-come its multidimensional challenges.

According to Makinde, the way forward for the country is to take the issue of nationbuilding much more seriously

than party politics, stressing the need for the nation's leaders to be true statesmen who fear God and allow peace to reign in the country.

He also advised Nigerians not to relent in seeking the face of God for His favour and for the betterment of the nation, urging that irrespective of beliefs, they should rise, support and champion the project aimed at ridding the nation of sectarian crises and corruption.

His words: “Nigerians should join hands to build a nation with effective security because insecurity can break up the country if we are not careful. Insecurity is not solely a governmental problem. Hence we must join hands with security agencies to tackle the menace

From left: Prelate's chaplain, Methodist Church of the Trinity, Tinubu, Very Rev. Dan Agbese; Bishop of Tinubu Diocese, Rt. Rev. Sunday Oluyemisi Ogunlere; Prelate of Methodist Church of Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Makinde and the Oroto-Presbyter of the church, Very Rev. Steve Adegbite, at the Easter Sunday service of Methodist Church of the Trinity, Tinubu, Lagos. Photo: Biodun Ogunleye.

of terrorism.

"As we celebrate the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, I am calling on all Nigerians to join hands to defeat corruption, unemploy-ment,

insecurity, poverty, pray and love one another so that everything that is dead in this nation can come alive again," he prayed.

We should allow peace,

The Resurrection: A fraudulent fabrication?

“Deference is the instinctive respect which we pay to the great and good; the unconscious acknowledgement of the superiority or excellence of others”. ----TRYON EDWARD (1809-1894)

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ROM time out of the reach of memo ry, through the Paleo-lithic age to the present era, philosophers, occults, men of God, free thinkers, necroman-cers and metaphysicians, etc have sanctimoniously postula-ted and didactically moralized on the truth and otherwise of The Resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

In Mein Kammpf, Adolf Hitler said: “By means of shrewd lies unremittingly repeated, it is possible to make people believe that Heaven is Hell and Hell Heaven…The greater the lie the more readily people will believe them.”

Chairman Mao Tse Tung of China further corroborated this fact about the “mechan-ics” and “dynamics” of propaganda. He said; “the greatest catalyst to mass mobilization is brain-washing the people through misinformation and disinformation hype”.

Is this what has happened to the issue of the resurrect-ion?

Resurrection is the spiritual bulwark, supernatural plinth and the fundamental fulcrum upon which the Christian faith, hope and conduct rotates. It is the locus classicus, the inittium et Finis and the prodigious matrix with which and on which the be-liever’s faith is built.

The resurrection has dual implications for most believ-ers, especially the Christians. They believe that Jesus Christ died on the cross and rose again on the third day (Matthew 28:1-14) and hence their definition of “Resurrect-ion” is to “rise” from the "dead”. This, they believe, was foreordained, actualized and exemplified

by Christ Jesus. Most religious sects believe in the resurrection, but some others do not believe in Christ not to talk of his resurrection.

The Muslims believe in the resurrection, but not of Jesus Christ in the mode of the Christians. They believe that on the day of Judgement the Almighty Allah will resur-

rect all mankind to face judgement according to their works. As recorded in the Holy Koran Sura 75 Ayat 1-6; “I swear by the day of resurrection and by the selfreproaching soul. Does man think we shall never put his bones together again?

Indeed. We can re-mould his very fingers.

Yet man would ever deny what is to come.

When will this be, he asks, this day of Resurrection? But when the sigh of Mortals is confounded and the moon eclipsed; when sun and moon are brought together on that day man will ask: whither shall I flee? No. There shall he be informed of all that he has done first and last. He shall be a witness against himself, even though he has to offer excuses.”

The Christians, Muslims and many other sects have a platitudinous symmetry of belief in the final resurrection and judge-

,

BY BOBSON GBINIJE

vaunted blood of Jesus and Holy Ghost fire are in vain. The miracles they perform are of the Devil. They practice a fake and powerless religion and all their self-righteousness will end up in Gehenna. The “Edenic tra-gedy” and the subsequent “Adamic fall” shall remain with mankind eternally. Christ, we are told, came to die for mankind so that our sins can be forgiven. But since there is no resurrection we remain in our waiting state of sin. “But, God forbid”.

The excavation of the “Shroud of Turin” in the middle of the 14th Century---a shroud reputed to be the actual burial cloth of Jesus Christ the Son of the living God has remained an enigma-tic relic to theologians and scientists for over 200 years.

This shows that Christ was a human personality who many testified to have seen and his resurrection is abundantly proven by his disciples. Buttressing the resurrection issue with submissions from the Holy Bible will be begging the dialectical matter. But it remains the cardinal author-

If it is true that Christ did not rise from the dead, then Christians are truly fraudulent 419ers and their counterfeit doctrines are cantankerously at variance with their professed and proclaimed morality ment. But some Judaistic Proselytisers, Agno-stics, Gnostics and Atheists do not believe. Does this make the Christians belief in the resurrection of Jesus Christ a lie? In his book The Universal Fraud, Prof.

Atuns Josef, the historiographer, posited thus: “The monumental hoax that their Christ rose from the dead remains the most bizarre dissimulation of falsity ever.

It is calculated to hoodwink the intellect, venerate and apotheosise an allegorical story. It has no basis whatso-ever with pragmatic reality.”

If it is true that Christ did not rise from the dead, then Christians are truly fraudulent 419ers and their counterfeit doctrines are cantankerously at variance with their profess-ed and proclaimed morality.

The basis of their belief is dangerously hollow and all their vociferous evangelical works, so-called miracles and the much

,

ity on the resurrection of Jesus the Christ.

The Bible states with the most unmistakable and perti-nacious exactitude that Christ Jesus rose from the grave on the third day (Luke 20:36, John 5:29, Rom. 6:5, Phil. 3: 10, Heb. 11:35, Rev. 20:15). But the most fundamental attestat-ion to the resurrection is the power in the “Resurrection Power” which many believers experience by faith. The “Resurrection Power” is the ultimate power capable of changing every spiritual and physical situation. It is capable of raising the dead, healing the sick, defeating and conq-uering Satan the devil and all his evil machinations. It wouldn’t have been so, if Christ Jesus did not rise from the grave. The resurrection is pragmatically and palpably real because we can feel and see the power of God Almighty in action.

Chief Gbinije wrote in from Warri.

friendliness, good relationship to resurrect to resurrect in Nigeria, Makinde appealed.

In a similar vein, erstwhile national secretary of Pentecostal Fellowship of Nigeria, PFN, and presiding bishop of Calvary Kingdom Church, CKC, Bishop Joseph Ojo described Easter as a great occasion which Christians must hold dear to their hearts.

According to him, this year's Easter marks 1980 years since the resurrection of the proginator of the Christian faith, arguing that a thousand years is one day before the maker of the universe, therefore it is not yet 2000 years as people erroneously claim. Ojo said the 2000th anniver-sary of the Christ's resur-rection comes up in 20 years time from now which will also mark day two of God's plan for mankind.

God's plan to be manifest Nevertheless, he said this year's occasion is significant in God's plan for this country, noting that though it appears things are not exactly pleasant at the moment but God's plan must be made manifest.

"I can assure you that God will turn things around this year for the nation, because it is not His will that these things are happening at this very time," Ojo who will soon mark his 20th anniversary as a bishop, stated.

Delivering his Easter message, the Dean of the Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion) and Archbishop of the Ecclesiastical Province of Lagos, Archbishop Ephraim Adebola Ademowo described Easter celebration as an important event in the Christian calendar, adding that any message that is not based on resurrection of Jesus Christ is not complete as Easter is the festival of rising.

Ademowo urged Nigerians not be part of problems confronting the nation, "be security conscious and intensi-fy your prayers for the country and her leaders."

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 — 53

Africa Youth Athletics Championships (AYAC) Warri 2013 in Pix as captured by Henry Unini

AFRICAN HERRITAGE . . . An Egyptian athlete dance and beat the Itsekiri traditional drum

UPCOMING STAR . . . Oduduru ‘Antelope’ Divine of Nigeria wins the 200m boys final in a time of 21.56secs.

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M Y K

SMILES . . . from left: Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, his wife Roli, Chief Solomon Ogba, President of Athletic Federation of Nigeria and President of the Nigeria Olympic Committee (NOC) Engr. Sani Ndanusa after a successful hosting of AYAC 2013 in Warri

SO COMPETITIVE . . . 800m boys on the run for the final gold

SHARP LEGS . . . Athletes in the 400m boys hurdles jumping over the hurdle for glory C M Y K

54— Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

C M Y K

Vanguard, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013 — 55

Obi back from injury 'soon' I

NTER midfielder Joel Obi has revealed that he will be back to full fitness soon after undergoing surgery.

The Nigeria international has been out since February through injury, but the 21-year-old has insisted that he will be available to Andrea Stramaccioni before the end of the season.

“I am missing football a lot,” he told reporters.

“But that is a normal thing [when you’re injured].

“My recovery is going well though. Hopefully I will soon be ready to take to the field again.

“When I return I will be even stronger.”

DEM BUSTER ...Chelsea’s Demba Ba ends Man U’s double charge with this astonishing winner

Ibenegbu explains Heartland’s revival

H

EARTLAND star, I k e c h u k w u Ibenegbu has declared that the 4-0 victory over Gombe United on

Joel Obi

Champions League: Heineken invites 350 fans to vie for 5 tickets

A

S the UEFA Champi ons League enters the quarter finals this week, Nigeria Heineken is inviting consumers and UCL fans to take part in a race to win five tickets to UEFA Champions League Final in Wembley on an all-expense paid trip.

350 consumers will be invited for this once in a lifetime race from the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos on April 13, 2013.

On their journey they need to solve riddles to overcome obstacles and complete the race. Entries for the race start on April 3 and close on April 10.

Registration could be done via the Heineken website or on facebook.

This year, the Final VIP viewing event will host over 250 fans from across Nigeria to experience the combination of football and music in the Heineken Champions Planet , Victoria Island, Lagos.

Meanwhile, as some of the best football teams in the world battle it out in the Quarter-Finals of the UEFA Champions League, Heineken has unveiled the latest element of its ‘Road to the Final’ campaign with the launch of a new ad campaign. The ad demonstrates how, with imagination and resourcefulness, one man is able to witness club football’s most prestigious event – the Final itself.

Bayern Continues from BP they are a stellar attacking force.

“Juventus are a side who are only part Italian,” the tactician stated on Monday. “They don’t play catenaccio and they have a very particular offensive organisation.

“I have rarely seen an Italian side who are so organised, so unpredictable, when they move forward,” he underlined.

Heynckes added that

he fears what the Old Lady are capable of thanks to their three central midfielders.

“They have midfielders who do break into attack a lot of the time. As a result we will have to organise ourselves as best we can because Juventus attack very well.

“Andrea Pirlo is a genius, while Arturo Vidal and Claudio Marchisio are great champions. We have players of that level too though.”

Matchday 5 of the NPFL is a confirmation the team’s quality.

Fans of the Owerri side left the Dan Anyiam Stadium dejected after the team lost at home to newly promoted Nembe City on Matchday 1.

Chelsea knock Man U out Continues from BP Cup semi-final against Manchester City at Wembley.

Ba’s athletic finish early in the second half leaves United concentrating on winning the Pre-

Mba Continues from BP But Wolves are alarmed over reports that they have agreed to sell the player to Rangers for N12m.

Speaking on the telephone last night, Executive Chairman of Delta State Sports Commission, Amaju Pinnick, said that the bone of contention was the player’s ownership and not the price tag, noting further that it was unprofessional and unethical for Rangers to revert to cheap blackmail.

“It is just the usual antics of Rangers to say that Wolves agreed to N12m. It gives credence to the fact that they are not properly run. There is no official correspondence from the committee to us and Rangers.

“We are bewildered by Rangers show of shame. Wolves would not succumb to blackmail or any attempt to

be pushed to the wall..

“The bone of contention is ownership, not the price. The price is just an opinion of some members of the committee. It is not even the opinion of the committee and even if that is the case, the board still has to ratify the recommendation”, added a fuming Amaju.

He noted that Wolves have nothing to resolve with Rangers as far as Mba is concerned, adding further that they might even decide not to sell the player to the Enugu-based outfit.

“We do not have any issue to resolve with Rangers, who are using certain elements to intimidate Wolves. But I know that the leadership of NFF is not aware of this. The President of NFF, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, who is a stickler to the Rule of Law and a beneficiary of due process, will not support any wrong process.

mier League title - with a 20th title all but secured as they currently hold a 15-point advantage.

Chelsea’s interim manager Rafael Benitez, meanwhile, was able to celebrate victory over old adversary Sir Alex Ferguson and remains in contention to win the FA Cup and Europa League.

Benitez attracted criticism for fielding a weakened side in defeat at Southampton on Saturday as they search for the top-four place that would assure Champions League football next season - but will feel a measure of vindication as this was still a win of some significance.

United were without Wayne Rooney because of a groin injury sustained on England duty and lacked some of their usual menace but it still took a save of the highest class from Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech to keep out Javier Hernandez’s header as they pressed for an equaliser.

They were left to rue the carelessness that saw them cast aside a twogoal lead in the first game and will now focus on next Monday’s derby with Manchester City at Old Trafford.

However, the team have since bounced back to record decent results against Warri Wolves and Kaduna United.

Heartland have scored eight goals in consecutive home matches.

“The loss to Nembe City on the opening day was an embarrassment to the entire squad. We had to bounce back to prove our quality.

“The defeat at home served as a tonic to change everything,” the Nigerian international said.

Ibenegbu added that the team’s recent results will boost confidence ahead of their CAF Confederation Cup second leg clash against Gabonese side, US Bitam.

Cole out for two weeks

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HELSEA left-back Ashley Cole will be out for at least a fortnight after injuring his hamstring in his side’s FA Cup win over Manchester United on Monday, interim manager Rafael Benitez r e v e a l e d .

Cole pulled up mid-way through the first half of the quarter-final replay at Stamford Bridge and was replaced by Ryan Bertrand after hobbling o f f . ”With this kind of injury, it’ll be at least two weeks,” said Benitez, who also revealed that centre-back Gary Cahill will be on the sidelines for “another 15 days at least” due to a knee complaint.

VANGUARD, TUESDAY, APRIL 2, 2013

Becks: We can beat Barca D

AVID Beckham is motivating his team-mates at Paris SaintGermain in a bid to see them overcome Barcelona in the Champions League "They’re perhaps the best team in the world, and Lionel Messi is the

best player, but he’s not out there on the pitch alone. We have to convince ourselves it’s possible.

“We’ll have to put in two great performances, be really focused and then we can hope to qualify. It’s the only way to progress beyond this round.

Nothing’s been decided yet.”

Wolves raise fresh alarm over Mba Bayern boss fears Champions League: Today's Q/final Matches

Bayern Munich PSG

•want Rangers punished

v v

7:45pm 7:45pm

attacking Juve

T

HE transfer saga surrounding Super Eagles midfielder, Sunday Mba, took a new and dangerous twist yesterday with Warri Wolves alleging that some elements in the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) were colluding with Rangers to blackmail Wolves into accepting a certain transfer fee for the 2013 Nations Cup winner.

Rangers and Wolves are involved in a fierce battle over Mba’s ownership. NFF set up a committee, chaired by Dr Sanusi. Their recommendations have to be ratified by the board.

Continues on Page 55

Juventus Barcelona

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UVENTUS may not have a ‘top player ’ in their forward ranks, but Bayern Munich boss Jupp Heynckes thinks

Continues on Page 55

Chelsea knock Man U out

D

EMBA Ba’s winner ended Manchester United’s quest for the domestic Double and secured holders Chelsea an FA

Continues on Page 55

VICTORIOUS . . . Nigeria’s Glory Nathaniel (left) raises her hand in celebration after winning the girls 400m final with a time of 62.04secs at the recently concluded AYAC 2013 in Warri. Photo: Henry Unini

Obi back from injury ‘soon’ P.55

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Sudoku TODAY'S

PUZZLE

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 1 Scope (5) 5 Myth (6) 8 Elbow (5) 10 Fee (6) 11 Flog (4) 14 Keep (6) 15 Ardour (7) 18 Moist (3) 19 Sailor (3) 21 Tear (4) 23 Thigh-bone (5) 24 Pant (4) 27 Lair (3) 29 Vessel (3) 31 Harmed (7) 32 Phlegmatic (6) 34 Story (4) 35 Diverted (6) 38 Lobby (5) 39 Powerful (6) 40 Irritable (5)

DOWN 2 Tree (3) 3 Disquiet (6) 4 Pull (3) 5 Licentious (4) 6 Spat (6) 7 Put on (6) 9 Dedicated (7) 12 Chop (3) 13 Head (4) 16 Region (4) 17 Called (5) 20 Renegade (7) 22 Bare (4) 24 Tattle (6) 25 Espy (4) 26 Taste (6) 28 Ripe (6) 30 Nothing (3) 33 Skilful (4) 36 Encountered (3) 37 Consume (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Gamut 5, Legend 8, Nudge 10, Charge 11, Whip 14, Detain 15, Passion 18, Wet 19, Tar 21, Rend 23, Femur 24, Gasp 27, Den 29, Pan 31, Damaged 32, Stolid 34, Tale 35, Amused 38, Foyer 39, Potent 40, Testy.

How to Play Sudoku

THE VIGILANTE

DOWN: 2, Ash 3, Unrest 4, Tug 5, Lewd 6, Gaiter 7, Donned 9, Devoted 12, Hew 13, Pate 16, Area 17, Named 20, Runaway 22, Nude 24, Gossip 25, Spot 26, Palate 28, Mature 30, Nil 33, Deft 36, Met 37, Eat.

e-mail: rowolove@yahoo.co.uk

P

lace 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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