Unending Bloodbath by Vanguard Media Limited

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Amosun’s Ogun APC faction Exco for inauguration Tuesday BY SEGUN OLATUNJI Abeokuta

HE State Executive Committee of the All Progressives Congress in Ogun State produced by the faction loyal to Governor Ibikunle Amosun will be inaugurated on Tuesday next week. Also to be inaugurated are the executives of Governor Amosun’s faction of the APC at the 236 wards and the 20 Local Government Areas. The parallel congresses held by Governor Amosun’s faction on the one hand and the supporters of the members of the National Assembly believed to be loyal to the National Leader of the APC, Chief Olusegun Osoba on the other hand had produced factional excos at the ward, local government and state levels of the party. Governor Amosun disclosed this yesterday at a meeting with APC stakeholders in the state. The governor, according to a statement by the state online media, Ogunpress20112 added that the event would hold at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Abeokuta. ”The executives of the APC expected to be inaugurated are Chairman-Alhaji Rokeeb Adeniji;Deputy chairman- Alhaji Tajudeen

Lemboy;Senatorial chairman (ogun central)Hon. Kunle Adesina;Senatorial Chairman (Ogun West)Basiru Fadairo; Senatorial Chairman (Ogun East)- Chief Folorunso

Elias while the State secretary is Toyin Ayebusiwa. ”Also expected to be inaugurated are Asst SecretaryKarimu Iyanda;Treasurer, Wale Adesiji; Asst Treasurer-

Alhaji Daudu Olokun; Legal Adviser-Moshood Taiwo; Asst Organising secretary-Kayode Olurin; Organising Secretary-Gbenga Adenmosun; Asst Financial Secretary-

Executive Governor of Anambra State, Chief Willie Obiano arriving the venue of the Elections petition tribunal with his aides and legal team.

S nations including Nigeria mark World Press Freedom Day which is today May 3, it affords our people an opportunity to reflect once again on the state of the media in Nigeria. This is the assertion of Mr. Femi Adesina, President Nigeria Guild of Editors (NGE). He said the country is passing through “very grave trials, threatening the very foundation of its existence.” He urged all stakeholders to forge a synergy to save the ship of state from running aground. According to him in a statement, if there is any time government should see the media as ally in nation building, rather than adversary, it is now.

OVERNOR Willie Obiano of Anambra State yesterday mounted the witness box at the Anambra State governorship election tribunal and denied being involved in multiple voters’ registration. Answering questions from the counsel to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Chief Adegboyega Awomlo, SAN, in the suit brought by Dr, Chike Obidigbo

Kwankwaso/Amaechi presidential campaign posters flood Kano streets BY ABDULSALAM MUHAMMAD, Kano

OLOURFUL

and

intimidating presidential campaign posters of Kano state Governor, Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and his Rivers state, counterpart Rotimi Amaechi under All Progressives Congress

(APC) platform flooded Kano streets yesterday. The posters pasted along strategic highways in the commercial hub of northern Nigeria adorned the stretch of Zaria road, Ibrahim Taiwo road, Gyadi Gyadi overhead bridge, Maiduguri road and Gidan Murtala by Kano Technical College

Highway, overhead Bridge. It was not clear those behind the Kwankwaso / Amaechi project in the state as there was no claim of sponsorship in the money spinning posters that were posted Thursday night. A city dweller, Malam Sani Adamu while responding to the develop-

good governance cannot be guaranteed, the fight against corruption would at best be tepid, our political development would be stunted and sluggish, while the fundamental rights of the citizenry would be trampled upon with impunity. “Journalists are still harassed, intimidated, brutalized, and even killed outright. The country is replete with cases of journalists killed in the line of duty in recent years, and not a single one of such cases has been unravelled by our security agencies. When the media is under assault, it is to the detriment of us all. As observed by UN Secretary-General, Ban Kimoon, “freedom of expres-

and universal access to knowledge will fortify our efforts to achieve lasting results for people and the planet.” “With 70 journalists killed worldwide last year, 211 held in various prisons, and well over 1,000 killed since 1992, let us use this occasion of World Press Freedom Day to re-

country to a free press, which can work without intimidation, harassment and interference. Our country will be the better for it. It is in our collective interest. That is the way Nigeria can realise her potentials, attain the vision of our founding fathers, and bequeath a worthy legacy to generations unborn”.

Musibau; Publicity Secretary-Sola Lawal. ”State Auditor is Michael Adeleke while Otunba Adesoye Odubanjo was elected as the Asst Auditor,” the statement added.

Obiano testifies at election tribunal, denies alleged double registration BY VINCENT UJUMADU , Awka

Free press is in our collective interest —Adesina, NGE President “Without a free press, sion, independent media dedicate ourselves as a

Prince Folarin Adesemowo; Financial Secretary-Kunle M u d a s i r ; We l f a r e S e c r e t a r y-Ti m o t h y Olakanmi; Asst Publicity Secretary-Onifade

ment noted that “this is a welcome development in a democracy, at least it create options to the citizens.” Adamu stated, “I assured the duos of my support because they have done better in their respective states, like here in Kano, everybody can attest to the fact that Kwankwaso is the architect of modern Kano”. Reacting to the development, Special Assistant to the Governor, Malam Hashimu Suleiman Dungurawa said government has no hand in it but was quick to add “This is democracy, people are free to identify with their role models”. Dungurawa said, “As at today, old Kwankwaso is the best material for presidency come 2015. He is the man that changed the political atmosphere of Kano to an envious position”.

challenging his election, Obiano explained that when he returned to Anambra State after winning the primaries of his party to contest for the governorship, he applied to INEC to transfer his voters card from Lagos State where he had been voting during elections, to Anambra to enable him vote. He said: “I registered as a voter in Lagos State. When I returned to Anambra State to contest for the governor, I applied for a transfer of my registration. I went in the morning of August 19, 2013 to ascertain the process of transferring my registration from Lagos to Anambra State and to make it possible for me to vote in a booth near my house at Aguleri. I applied on that August 19, 2013 and submitted it the same day. “The electoral officer, Nsofor, asked me to write an application and attach my voter’s card. I did so the same day and when I submitted it to him, he told me to come back in two days time. I went back on the 21st of August, 2013, hoping to pick up the new voter’s card. I was told to fill a form and I also did my biometrics. “He told me to pick the new card in two weeks time. On September 3, 2013, I went to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, in Awka to pick up the new card. I did not, at any point in time, have two voters’ cards. The valid one I used in the election was the one given to me in Anambra State.”

You must be part of selecting next C’River governor, Imoke tells Labour not understand the fact that

ROSS River State Gov ernor, Senator Liyel Imoke has called on the organised labour to brace up and be part of the process of selecting the next governor for the state.

Imoke, who made the call during a state banquet to mark the 2014 Workers Day at the Peregrino Hall, Calabar, maintained that, “The governorship of Cross River State, come 2015 is too

important for one man to decide, so be bold, be part of that decision in 2015. “This Labour Day reminds us of the role you play in the development of the society, anyone who underrates your role does

the decision makers in any society are the middle class and most of you constitute that class. The sooner you know your powers and rights as a middle class, then you can join us in giving directions to our state.”

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Unending bloodbath •19 terrorists killed in gun duel with military in Borno •10 others die in another attack •US condemns bomb blast •As relatives of Nyanya bomb attacks recount ordeal •Jonathan sets up committee on Chibok girls BY SONI DANIEL, Regional Editor, North; OKEY NDIRIBE, HENRY UMORU, OLA AJAYI, FAVOUR NNABUGWU, NDAHI MARAMA & SUZAN EDEH

ESS than 48 hours af ter innocent Nigerians were killed in cold blood with many others sustaining various degrees of injuries in a fresh bomb explosion in Abuja, on Thursday, suspected Boko Haram terrorists it was learnt also struck in Borno, killing 10 persons ; just as 19 suspected insurgents were killed in a gun battle with security

forces in Gwoza local government area of Borno state on Thursday. According to our correspondent, the incident where 10 persons were killed happened along Maiduguri- BeneshiekDamaturu road. Maiduguri- Beneshiek Damaturu road is said to have remained a death trap with series of ambushes, particularly last year during which over 50 passengers and motorists were killed in the evening, before setting ablaze over 20 vehicles in a single ambush by terrorists. During the incident, the insurgents seized about seven vehicles which were abandoned by their occupants.

Meanwhile, the United States Embassy in Nigeria has condemned the second bomb blast that rocked Nyanya, Abuja on Thursday evening killing over 20 persons and injuring over 66. In a statement by the embassy, it sympathised with the families of those who lost their loved ones or were injured by the blast. It read: “The United States Embassy strongly condemns last evening’s explosion in Nyanya, on the outskirts of Abuja, Nigeria. Our thoughts are with the families and loved ones of those who were killed or injured in this heinous act. This attack is not only on

innocent people but on a democratic nation itself. Lawless violence and intimidation have no place in a democracy. We continue to stand with the Nigerian government and people as they face the threat of violent extremism,” the embassy said. However, on the killing in Borno, Saturday Vanguard gathered that “the gunmen suspected to have emerged from Sambisa Forest enroute a new destination attempted to cross the busy road on Thursday evening, sighted vehicular movement and immediately ordered the drivers of two moving vehicles to stop. When they wouldn’t, they opened fire on the front and back tyres forcing the drivers to have no option than to stop. “Immediately when the terrorists rushed towards the ill-fated vehicles, they opened fire on the occupants before using knives to slaughter 10 of them on the spot,” our source narrated. When contacted on phone for confirmation, the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Gideon Jubrin said, he is not aware of the incident, but a top security source confirmed the incident, adding that, “about 10 persons were killed while some vehicles were seized on Maiduguri- Beneshiekh road by suspected terrorists on Thursday evening.”

We will confront terrorists — PDP

Reacting to the ongoing indiscriminate killing of innocent Nigerians by insurgents, national leadership of the ruling party, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP has called on all Nigerians, irrespective of tribe, religion and party to unite and join forces with President Goodluck Jonathan in exposing all terrorists among us in the fight against insurgency, just as it said that recurrent attacks by members of Boko Haram were no longer about Jonathan or the government. In a statement yesterday by PDP National Publicity

BOMB- Cleaning of bomb blast scene in Nyanyan Abuja. Pho Secretary Chief Olisa Metuh , the PDP noted that insurgents plan to destroy Nigeria and impose terrorism, adding that Nigerians cannot be cowed as terrorists will be confronted. Metuh who noted that ordinary people have remained victims of insurgency in the country, said that Nigerians must realize that regular citizens have generally become targets irrespective of religious and ethnic differences and as such must stand up and join hands with government in the fight against terrorism. Meantime, the Minister of State, Federal Capital Territory Administration, FCTA, Oloye Jumoke Akinjide yesterday joined other eminent Nigerians to condemn the bomb blast at Nyanya while also grieving with the families of those that lost their loved ones in the blast. In a statement by her special assistant, Media, Ayodeji Adeyemi, the Minister who noted that the FCT administration was grieved by the latest bomb blast at Nyanya, however assured Nigerians that the government would do everything within its powers to put an end to the insurgency, just as she implored Nigerians not to

allow themselves to be used by persons or groups who were bent on frustrating the government. She also urged Nigerians to be more vigilant and report any suspicious activities to the security agencies. Metuh continued, “Nigerians must realize that it is no longer about the President or the government, neither is it about government officials, all Nigerians are under attack. Ordinary people and regular citizens have remained general targets of these enemies of our country. “Hundreds of innocent Nigerians, Muslims and Christians alike have had their lives brutally ended by the wicked acts of these terrorists. Our people, businessmen and women, professionals, including security men, doctors and nurses, lawyers, artisans, market women, civil servants, farmers, school children, clerics, artistes, old men and women and bread winners pursuing legitimate endeavors have been brutalized and slaughtered. “Those behind these devilish acts seek mainly to intimidate, cow, frighten and destroy us thereby imposing a regime of terror, anarchy and chaos. They seek to decimate us as a people, destroy our

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APC governors condemn Nyanya bombing BY OKEY NDIRIBE, Abuja

HE All Progressives Congress, APC, Governors Forum yesterday condemned last Thursday’s bomb attack in Nyanya-

Abuja which occurred 17 days after the first incident that claimed over 70 lives. This was contained in press statement issued yesterday by the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and Governor of Imo State, Owelle Rochas Okorocha.

According to the group:” The Progressive Governors Forum, PGF, is deeply concerned about the growing state of insecurity and the volatile nature of bus parks

across the nation that seem to have become magnets for Boko Haram’s mass murder tactics. ”Our hearts and prayers go out to families affected

by yet another senseless attack on innocent citizens. In just 17 days after the first bombing at Nyanya, Abuja that left over seventy people dead, and hun-

dreds still battling to recover from their injuries, another bomb has gone off again, on a day that was meant to be peaceful.”

At Asokoro Hospital, FCT Minister condemns blast

CT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed has condemned Thursday evening’s bomb blast along the Nyanya road corridor which claimed some lives and left others injured.

Speaking when he visited the Asokoro District Hospital, Thursday night where some of the injured victims were receiving treatment, the Minister decried the act as inhuman while urging all

residents of the Federal Capital Territory to be security and safety conscious always. He condoled with the families of those who died and commiserated with the injured. He de-

scribed the incident as a serious emergency and assured FCT residents that the government and the security agencies were alert to ensure that they are safe and secure.

Jonathan must step on toes to defeat terrorists, says Yoruba Forum *Prof Abdullahi warns against military take BY SONI DANIEL, Regional Editor, North

oto by Gbemiga Olamikan common heritage and bring our nation to its knees, but they will surely fail. They cannot intimidate us, we shall not be cowed, we refuse to be frightened and we will not be destroyed. Let them know that our common resolve to live as one people under God remains irrevocable.” Calling on the citizens to unite as one people against insurgency, the PDP said, “To win this battle, all citizens must come together and present a common front against terrorism irrespective of our religious, political and ethnic differences. We must refuse to be slaughtered by our enemies; we must show bravery, go beyond shedding tears at each carnage and forcefully support our government and our security men and women by exposing terrorist elements and their backers among us. That is the only way to put the enemy under check and ensure that the blood of the slain was not shed in vain.” Metuh who warned that it will never compromise its belief in Nigerians and the Nigerian project, urged Nigerians not to be forlorn, that a brighter future awaits the nation in no distant time, adding, “As a party entrusted with the sacred

mandate of leadership, the PDP will never compromise or jettison its belief and commitment to the national interest. We remain steadfast in our belief in Nigerians and the Nigerian project. We reiterate that working together, our nation will come out of these challenges, a stronger, more united and more peaceful nation where all will live in peace and unity irrespective of ethnic, religious and political differences.”

My brother left a wife and three kids

LARMED by the atrocities being committed by the Boko Haram insurgents in parts of the North, the Yoruba Unity Forum, YUF, has made a strong case for President Goodluck Jonathan to step on powerful toes in a bid to defeat the terrorists and save Nigeria from the brink. The Treasurer of the YUF, Hon. Salvador Adegoke Moshood, who made the call in an exclusive interview with Saturday Vanguard, said that it was imperative for the government of President Jonathan to be firm in dealing with the insurgents. According to Moshood, the government cannot win

behind — Brother of bomb blast victim

Meanwhile, relatives of the deceased victims of second Nyanya bomb blast, wept openly yesterday after they had gone to inspect the corpse of their loved ones. Speaking to Saturday Vanguard at Asokoro General Hospital yesterday,

over of 3 northern states

the war against the terrorists by taking a simplistic approach towards the malevolent elements and hoping that they would change for the better. The politician, who is also a delegate to the ongoing National Conference on the platform of Socio-political and Ethnic Nationalities from Lagos State, said that Jonathan must keep political interest aside and tackle the insurgents for the overall interest of the nation. Also speaking, leader of the Northern Elders’ Forum, Prof Ango Abdullahi, has upbraided the protagonists of total military takeover of the three states of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno, as a means of ending the orgy of violence in those states.

Abdullahi, who spoke in an interview with Saturday Vanguard, noted that those calling for the dismantling of democratic structure in a democratic regime were the real enemies of Nigeria and should be avoided like a plague. The NEF bigwig said that it was absurd for people who were in a better position to advise the government properly to constitute themselves into agents of destabilisation and confusion at a time the nation needed clear direction and focus. The former Ahmadu Bello University Vice Chancellor, who likened the protagonists of military takeover of the affected states to anarchists bent on

plunging the country into deeper crisis for their selfish and myopic interest, asked President Goodluck Jonathan to distance himself from such elements. The NEF leader, who blamed rising wave of terrorism in the North-East on the failure of the Federal Government to adhere to the recommendations of the Northern group, said it was unfortunate that the problem of insecurity had been left to blossom into a serious national problem for Nigeria. Abdullahi noted that it was still possible for the government to defeat terrorism if it gives serious attention to tackling the menace with the firmness that it requires.

Emmanuel Jeremiah, elder brother to one of the victims, James who led other members of his extended family said, “James lived at Ado, along Nyanya-Keffi Road in Nassarawa State. ”My brother was aged 43. I was in the village when I was told that he was among the victims of the blast. I came this afternoon all the way from Zango Kataf Local Government Area in Ka-

duna State. He was returning home from work when the incident happened. He had a wife and three children.” Another relative to the late James who identified himself simply as Elkanah explained that “ it was James’ wife who called him to complain that after she heard the news of the bomb explosion, she called her husband’s phone lines but he didn’t pick his calls.” According to him:” It was later that a male voice answered and told us that James was a victim of the bomb blast at Nyanya. The male voice advised us to go round the hospitals in Abuja to find out where he had been taken to.” Commenting on the security situation in Abuja, Elkanah who lives in Abuja said the second bomb blast at Nyanya made him to feel unsafe in the city. His words: “I think that the security situation in Abuja has become something to be worried about. Something needs to be done to cope with the security situation and it has to be done fast.”

In response to a reporter’s question, he said, “ Nobody can really say why terrorists are bombing Abuja. All I know is that these insurgents don’t mind who they kill; they are not bothered by who comes their way.” According to the Medical Director of Asokoro General Hospital, Dr. Abubakar Ahmadu, about 11 corpses who were victims of the blast were deposited at the hospital’s mortuary last Thursday. He further stated that the hospital received a total of 26 injured victims and transferred 10 to other hospitals within the federal capital city. They include the public hospitals at Wuse, Maitama and Gwarimpa. The Public Relations Officer of National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, Mr Sani Deki confirmed there was a total of 19 casualties as a result of the bomb blast. He further stated that 60 injured persons were admitted in various hospitals for treatment while six had been discharged.

BOMB-The scene of the 2nd bomb blast in Nyanyan Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan.

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8 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

Man arrested for killing daughter over plate of rice BY EVELYN USMAN

29- year-old man, Kingsley Ekeret, is currently cooling his heels at the Homicide section of the Rivers State Criminal Investgations Department,SCID, for allegedly beating his seven- year-old daughter to death, for eating his plate of rice. The suspect, a commercial bus driver who hails from Nto Osung community in Ikot Ekpene LGA of Akwa -Ibom state was saddled with the responsibility of catering for his three children alone, after his wife reportedly abandoned them. He returned home at about 7pm on April 12, 2014, hungry and went for the pot of rice he had prepared before leaving for work only to meet an empty pot. Report said he angrily charged at Favour and unleashed his beastly tendencies on the innocent girl on discovering she was the one that ate the food. Neighbours said that explanations by the ailing child that she shared the food with her siblings when they were hungry fell on deaf ears. Her health, as gathered, aggravated and unfortunately she died hours later. Corpse kept in same room with siblings Preliminary investigation, according to the command, revealed that on noticing the motionless state of his daughter, Kingsley placed her body at a corner of his one room apartment in Obeama, Oyigbo Local Government Area where his two other children of ages two and three respectively were sleeping. He, thereafter, wrapped the corpse in one of his clothes at the wee hours of the next day and armed with a shovel, he reportedly dug a shallow grave behind his apartment where he buried the remains of Favour and went about his normal business. But the bubble burst after the caretaker of the building, one Ugwu, who noticed the unusual disappearance of Favour, demanded for her whereabouts from her father. Ekarete was said to have told the care-taker that his daughter took ill and was rushed to a hospital

in Umuebulu community where she died. Curious Ugwu reportedly insisted on seeing the corpse, promising to assist in providing money to bury her, a request the suspect refused to oblige. A resident who spoke on condition of anonymity told Saturday Vanguard that “ the caretaker informed a neighbour, one Pastor Emeka Onuoha, of Jesus Reigneth Ministry of the situation. While the accusations ensued, policemen attached to Afam Police division who were on patrol were flagged down by the Pastor, consequent upon which Kingsley was arrested and later transferred to the State Criminal Investigations Department.” Suspect claims deceased was poisoned In his statement to operatives of the Homicide section, Kingsley exonerated himself from the crime, giving rather different accounts as to how his daughter died. At first, he said: “ She died as a result of neglect by her mother. She left me to carter for my three children alone. I usually go out everyday to toil for what they will eat. She apparently died out of neglect.” At other time, he said , “Maybe she was poisoned. You see, being poor, I deposited my telephone with a Hausa man that sells rice, with a promise to collect it back when I pay. It was the rice I prepared for them that morning ,without knowing it was poisoned.” It was gathered that at a point, he became incoherent with his words. Efforts to get him take the operatives to where the remains of the child was buried failed at first as he reportedly claimed he buried her along the road ,on his way back from the hospital. He further stated that he had deposited the body in a mortuary at a neighboring village. Urged to take them to the places, he turned around and claimed he has forgotten the exact place. Truth unfolds The truth about his alleged involvement was later unfolded when his parents visited him at the SCID. His father was said to have told operatives that Kingsley called him

on the phone, informing him that he had mistakenly killed his daughter. They `narrated his strange behaviour even towards the mother of his children who ran away from home to avoid his excesses. Kingsley’s father also narrated how his son had called him immediately after the murder. Body recovered When it became apparent that his game was up, he reluctantly took operatives and members of his family to the shallow grave he dug behind his apartment where part of Favour’s body was reportedly seen wrapped in a blue cloth. Efforts to reach mother of the children have reportedly seemed futile. The Rivers State Commissioner of Police , Mr Tunde Ogunsaki, who described the act as a violation of the child’s right to survival and development as well as lack of parental care and protection said the suspect would need to go through psychiatric test apparently to ascertain his mental state before he would be charged to court. His assertion followed claims that Kingsley might be mentally deranged.

Princess Rabi Ibrahim, National Coordinator Women for Change and Development Initiative, (middle), and her Assistant Mrs Remi Kuku, (right), with other medical workers presenting medical malarial treatment to women on behalf of the First Lady, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dame (Dr) Patience Jonathan in Abuja, yesterday.

LG poll: 5 chairmen sacked in Anambra •As state judiciary sets up appeal tribunal BY VINCENT UJUMADU, Awka

HE Anambra State local government election tribunal has sacked five local government chairmen and some councilors declared winners in the December 14, 2013 poll. The dethroned chairmen are those of Ogbaru, Ihiala, Idemili South,

Awka North and Awka South. Already, the state judiciary has set up three election appeal tribunals to handle appeals that arose following the nullification of the elections. The three –member local government election tribunals, which were constituted after the December 14, 2013 local government

Olu of Warri Coronation Anniversary: Lori-Ogbebor accuses political office holders of deceiving Itsekiri people •Vows to sue perceived offenders •Walks out on Coronation Anniversary gathering BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI, Warri

CTIVIST and Igba of Warri, Chief RitaLori Ogbebor has accused Itsekiri in public offices of lying and deceiving the people over development of the Delta State ethnic nationality. Chief Lori-Ogbebor made the accusation after being shouted down from responding to scorecards presented by Hon. Daniel Reyenieju, member representing Warri Federal and that by Oritsua Kpogho, Chairman Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC at the lecture session of the opening ceremony of the 27th Coronation Anniversary of the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II. In the presentations which also attracted angry remarks from several

youths at the Olu Palace Hall, Hon. Reyenieju had claimed securing 500 slots for the Itsekiri nation under the Federal Government’s Amnesty Programme under which he said 100 Itsekiri have benefitted overseas post graduate scholarships while 25 are about embarking on aeronautics and pilot training in Germany and 250 for local skills acquisition among other benefits. In his presentation, Kpogho, the DESOPADEC boss told the Olu and his gathered subjects that his commission’s proposal at providing micro credit to some Itsekiri groups under its farming programme in the current operational 2013 budget was rejected by the Delta State Assembly, expressing hope in the efforts of Hon. Reyenieju to work something out in that respect from the Federal

Government. Defending her outburst and workout on the gathering which truncated that session of the coronation anniversary, Chief Lori-Ogbebor told Saturday Vanguard that both political office holders lied to the Olu and the Itsekiri people, adding that her denial from responding on the spur of the moment was to prevent her from exposing the lies. Lori-Ogbebor also addressed as Irowojo fumed, “Reyenieju has been a rep for almost eight years. What can he point to have given to the Itsekiri he represents? He is forging figures of overseas scholarship under amnesty to deceive the people because he wants third tenure. Who are these beneficiaries? It is not enough to claim figures. I challenge him to list the beneficiaries.”

election, sat for 60 days in three centers at Awka, Onitsha and Ekwulobia. Fifty six petitions (46 for councillorship and 10 for chairmanship) were filed in Awka and at the expiration of the deadline, judgment was delivered in 10 petitions, 24 petitions were struck out, 18 petitions were not concluded for want of time, while five cases were adjourned sine die. For Onitsha zone, 22 petitions were handled and only five went for full trial and judgment, while 17 petitions were struck out. In Ekwulobia, of the 41 petitions filed, 19 were fully heard and determined and judgment delivered in nine, while nine were disposed of after a short hearing. The Chief Registrar of the Anambra State judiciary, Mrs. N.D. Ezeani told reporters in Awka yesterday that 19 appeals have been filed after the winding up of the local government election tribunals, with eleven appeals filed in Awka zone, three in Onitsha and five in Ekwulobia, adding that parties not satisfied with the judgment at the tribunals had seven days within which to file their notices of appeal. Mrs. Ezeani said the state judiciary was impressed with the performance of the local government election tribunals. She also said that the appeal tribunals would be the final for the determination of the cases.

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

BY EMMANUEL EDUKUGHO

arriage is the union of a man and a woman in mutual consent to live together, become “one flesh”, be fruitful (have children), multiply and replenish the earth. From time of creation, God found it was not good that the man should be alone and He formed a woman out of him as help mate. Marriage involves two persons of opposite sex with differing personalities trying to develop common interests for the common good, in what was supposed to be a lifelong commitment. Although married people are faced with several socioeconomic problems, life may have turned out not as good and pleasant as expected. No wonder that thousands of marriages have suffered shipwreck. According to a psychologist in the University of Lagos, “half of all Nigerian marriages today are expected to end in separation or divorce within the first 10 years or even less of marriage.” He affirmed: “Even among those who re-marry, a significant number will separate again. The African, especially Nigerian marriage system is so fluid and flexible that marriages keep breaking up as spouses enter into fresh marital obligations or remain to stay single.” It is amazing that the number of single parent families has risen enormously in recent years. Ngozi Nwonye, a secretary in a leading insurance company separated from her husband just after four years of marriage and have the custody of their two children. One of them, an SSS 3 student told Saturday Vanguard about the tauntings from his school mates reminding him that he is the product of a broken home. “So when my son returned from school one afternoon complaining to me that some of his mates were scornfully referring to him as coming from a broken home, I told him to reply them next time that he is a C M Y K

SINGLE PARENTHOOD

Vogue or Stigma? special child. That answer did it and they stopped.” Dupe Martins, a supervisor in a pharmacy shop at Ojuelegba, Lagos, said her marriage has endured for nearly eight years and still waxing strong despite several turmoils. “Today, many things can strain a marriage. Some men refuse to accept their responsibilities. In the same vein, some women refuse to accept the headship of their husbands. In many marriages, one spouse is abused by the other. For others, economic stresses, human imperfections, infidelity, promiscuity, immorality, distorted sense of values can test loyalties of couples. However, there are spouses who remained faithful to their marital vows even in the most difficult situations,” Dupe pointed out. She added that above all, there is need for tolerance from both wife and husband. “We have to demonstrate brotherly feeling, affection for each other, be tenderly compassionate, show humility, not paying back evil for evil, injury for injury, cheating for cheating, distrust for distrust or reviling for reviling.”

Dupe contended that men have privileges in our communities and the society which on the other hand, women do not have. In an average, God-fearing family, women are subjected to their husbands. A manager in an oil company, Ejiro Kennedy postulated that several problems and challenges have made it extremely difficult for modern-day marriages to endure thereby bringing sadness, enemity, instability, divorce as many couples nowadays are unable to cope with human frailties and economic downturns. “My wife, a banker, left me with three children – two boys and a girl, accusing me of infidelity, that I was cheating on her having two women outside our matrimonial home which cannot be substantiated with facts. Meanwhile, I’ve found out through painstaking investigations that she had three lovers or boyfriends who frequently send her money without my knowledge and buy her expensive clothes and jewelery. When I confronted her with the hard facts, she had no option but to pack away from the house and rent a new apartment in Somolu. She is

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now a career woman, married to her job”. Mr. Ejiro is now coping with three children left behind by his estranged wife. He did not allow her to take custody of the children. “They are all in school. I wake up as early as 5 a.m to prepare them for school. It is tough taking care of them, making food and all that … I am planning to send the eldest child to my aunt in Bariga. For now, I’m not thinking of re-marrying.” Several widows and widowers have become single parents, with children born to their late spouses in their charge. “Those widows fortunate to have handsome inheritance left behind by their late husbands can successfully take care of their children without much difficulty,” said Mr. Ayodele. Yusuf, an advert executive in a newspaper company says, “But those without any tangible fortune to rely on or a good paying job may not find single parenting easy. A lot of stress and inconvenience are involved in taking care of the children.” While widowers may be able to cope with the challenges of single parenting, many widows seem trapped in the dilemma of catering for the children after the death of their husbands. This may explain why we have an explosion of area boys, fraudsters, political thugs, hoodlums and miscreants who have become social misfits in the nation, including militants, insurgents and prostitutes.

Children born outside wedlock are also constituting a menace to the society. Some cultures frown at such development especially when bride prices are not paid in respect of their mothers. Yoruba called such children “Omo ale” and not accepted in the family unless bride prices have been paid. Similarly, Igbo culture does not accept children whose fathers are not known nor paid dowries to the family.

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Vanguard , MA Y 3 MAY 3, 2014

BY EBUN SESSOU, FLORENCE AMAGIYA, ADERONKE ADEYERI and OLAYINKA AJAYI

and his family refused to come to my rescue because I refused to move to their village. It’s already one year since I had my baby and just a little more than a year since my wedding. My husband abandoned us 3 months after his child was born. He hasn’t as much as called or sent ten naira for his child’s upkeep. I cannot say that I am waiting for him because I believe he has his reasons for leaving me. But I have picked up the pieces of my life back by getting a job and singularly taking care of my child the way I have always wanted to. Perhaps, I may have a second chance at love someday, but at the moment, I am not even thinking about it. My advice goes to the single ladies who are desperate to be married without making attempts to add value to their own lives. Marriage is not a place where your troubles are solved; so if you haven’t settled your own singular problems before marriage, it becomes double woes in marriage. You do not go into marriage without preparation; you go into marriage equipped and prepared. As a woman, you must have something that you are doing to help out. A problem you haven’t already solved before marriage becomes magnified in marriage.

My church doctrine misled me into being a single mother —Augustina

or Augustina Chigozie, the journey to single parenthood is painful and regrettable. Narrating her experience to Saturday Vanguard, she said, “I did my traditional and white wedding. That was a few months after the man proposed to me. We did not go into a long courting before I got married to him. This was due to the fact that I met him in my church yearly camp meeting. I attend a very popular church and we have this yearly conference that brings people from all walks of life together. So, I met him in the Youth Forum and we started seeing ourselves even after the programme ended. The church was brought in, we went for counseling and the eventual wedding took place. As it was our church custom; long courtship was prohibited. I was of age numerically; I had thought that was enough for me as a woman wanting to be married. On the other hand, they made us believe in church that God would bring a man our way; who would take care of us; that it doesn’t matter what the man does. That God in His infinite ways would take care of our needs. So my husband didn’t have much doing and I on the other hand was working with so much faith in God. But that was not the case. I went into marriage with the hope of a brighter future, but I didn’t have a job or business I was doing at that time neither did my husband have sufficient something doing. From the day one of the marriage; it was a case of hope against hope. But nothing really was happening from my husband’s side. This led to untold quarrels and cases between us. It became so bad that outsiders were brought in to settle us. I picked up a teaching job because l went to school and studied Economics Education, but my take home pay was useless because my husband and I lived in a village environment. Meanwhile, l took in almost immediately after the marriage and this brought up a lot of issues. My husband could not raise money for ante-natal but somehow, I managed to do that myself, but the due date came and I had delivery complication because my blood pressure had risen due to too much thinking and lack. He was asked to deposit fifteen thousand naira, N15,000 and that nearly cost me my life. Meanwhile, l was wise enough to have collected some money from my mum prior to my delivery date because of the obvious hand writing on the wall. So, when my husband couldn’t deposit the money he was asked to drop; l was advised by the doctor to save myself if l can. I had to give my husband my ATM card to get money from my account to save my life. I spent three weeks in the hospital because my husband couldn’t raise

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My experience as a single mother has made me wise—Ifeoma

Challenges of single parent families money to discharge me. All these l swallowed. Whilst in the hospital, my husband couldn’t as much as provide food for me to eat until its evening and l was already breast feeding the baby. When he eventually did, it was just bread or pap. However, we went home. Meanwhile, when I met my husband, he told that he has a degree; that he finished from one of the

The marriage was consummated and she had her first baby, which turned out to be a girl. The second child, a boy came not too long after; then another boy

Nigerian Universities. But I found out that he didn’t go anywhere, but only has Secondary School Certificate. Yet he refused to go out to look for work and each time l complained; there would be a fight. The fight continued until l got some money to get a place for us in town; so l can get a better job because l needed to feed myself and my child as I was already living on left overs from neighbours. We moved to this new apartment. All of a sudden, he claimed he got a job elsewhere and stopped coming home and each time l called him on his mobile phone, he would have a new story to tell. I called his family to complain that my husband had abandoned me and my child; I was advised by my husband’s father to move back to their family compound in the village if my husband wasn’t taking care of me. I refused to move into his parent’s house in the village. At some point, my husband changed his mobile line and all access to him became nil. My church tried severally to reach him but they couldn’t. My husband refused to come back to the house

feoma Azubuike’s story is not so different from other single parents’ tale only that she had stayed unmmarried even after separation for over 18 years. She was only 16 years old when she met her children’s father in Lagos, Nigeria. At that time, she was only a teenager staying with her elder brother in Kaduna, who took her from their mum in the village and brought to the city. She grew up with his children as though she was one of them. She finished her secondary education and visited Lagos for Deeper Life camp programme at Sagamu in Ogun state. After the camp meeting; she visited a cousin in Lagos and stayed for a week before embarking on her journey to Kaduna. It was on one of such visits that she met Okafor. Okafor is an older guy who was already a movie producer when they met; hence he worked with a lot of actresses and actors. She didn’t know why he wanted to marry her from the word go, but she felt like a princess because there were more than enough beautiful ladies coming to see Okafor but he claimed it was her or no one else. The marriage was consummated and she had her first baby, which turned out to be a girl. The second child; a boy came not too long after, then another boy. “My husband would leave me with pregnancy and go to what I would describe as unending location trips. At first, I thought he was honest. As time went on, I knew something was wrong because friends of his would come home to visit and claimed that

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Continues from page 10 they saw him in the neighbourhood. But each time I complained, he would say they are wrong because he was in Abuja or Zamfara for his normal filming. I believed his stories until I saw him myself one fateful day. I was returning from a church programme one evening when I saw his car driving pass; I was walking on the side of the road that was not close to where he was driving from, so perhaps he didn’t see me. I followed him on a bike. He was in his car with a lady who was all over him. He branched at a supermarket and went in it to get something. I waited and confronted him. Okafor gave me the beating of my life. But he didn’t stop there. We got home and he threw all my belongings outside his apartment including my young, tender children. With the help of my neighbours; my children and I packed our things to our church auditorium. All attempts to reach him from my family proved abortive. The church gave me three thousand naira N3,000 at some point to start petty trading because I didn’t have any money whatsoever on me. I didn’t have any certificate except Secondary School Certificate. I couldn’t feed my own children. At that time, things were better than now; so I went into selling female wears. My husband and I never reconciled; infact I do not want to go back to that marriage again. My petty trading blossomed into full blown business and I have two big boutiques in good areas in Lagos. My daughter got married when she clocked 20 and has a child of her own already. My first son is in the Higher Institution; my last boy, but not my least is through with his SSCE. I am not saying that I do not believe in marriage, but I am happy that I got a chance of becoming my own person instead of begging a man daily for a piece of the action and having heartbreaks for all the lies they tell.

More Nigerian single parents recount painful experiences

“T

he ordeal encountered as a result of being a single parent is enormous and painful. Infact, it is difficult to tell how hard it is for me to be a single parent”. These were the words of a 60-yearold journalist who would not want his name published. He told Saturday Vanguard that since his wife left him, his life has been miserable. According to him, “One must think well before going into marriage as marriage cannot be predicted because as some people are rushing out, some are rushing in. Therefore, one should think before marrying. One should know the woman very well to be sure of compatibility before going in; to also know if she is the supportive type and the man also”. Sharing his experience with our correspondent, he said, “I was working as a Senior proof reader with Daily Times. I worked for 11 years before I was retrenched. The

Life as a single parent

Therefore, one should think before marrying. One should know the woman very well to be sure of compatibility before going in; to also know if she is the supportive type and the man also problem started after I had spent my gratuity during the first year of retirement. Though, I was publishing a magazine, the money I realized from the business was not adequate for my family upkeep and my wife left after a few years because she felt I would not be able to provide for the excessive wants and felt I would not secure another appointment on time. But as God would have it, I secured another job and I moved on.” Asked in whose care were the children kept, he said, “She left with our children and went to remarry, I have really suffered. Anytime, I think about this incident, I weep because, my life has been shattered”, he lamented. For Helen, not a real name, the journey of her single motherhood began when she discovered she has missed her period and was dumped by the man who impregnated her. Narrtaing her ordeal to Saturday Vanguard, she said, “My friends gossiped about me. My family members called me a shame and called me names. Some said I was going to bring a “bastard” child to

the world. Those who were supposed to support me turned their backs against me. After my delivery, I could not secure a job. “I could not even buy the cheapest baby food. My parents turned me away when I needed them the most because they couldn’t get over their pride, they didn’t think of how I would survive with the baby.” Also, Modupe, not real names, a young single mother of four kids (three by her first man who later abandoned her with the kids and one by an in-and-out man) loathes her stigmatized single status. However, she has not given up hope of someday settling down with a husband. Conscientiously churchgoing, she however admits that, her predicament both keeps her away from the church’s Holy Communion and her children from infant baptism. She is traumatized by the stigmatization of the society that she is morally debased. Explaining the issues surrounding single parenthood, Dr. Uchendu Alaefule, a medical director said, “the economy is responsible for most of the changes in society. She further opined that what has contributed to the increase in single parenthood is money and education”. According to her, “An instance where the woman has so much money, she finds it difficult to come down and stay under a man and wonder why she should answer “sir ” to a man when she can fend for herself. Adefule is of the view that these children need and miss that fatherly love and at a point in life when they grow up, they would begin to ask questions, wanting to know who is their father. Naturally, the mothers

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would not want to disclose their father’s identity but will try to cover up by telling them their father is dead or that he had an accident. “This at times results in how the child behaves and in turn gives a negative perception of who the child really is. Single mothers who may still be open to marriage find it hard to get someone who would want to marry them with the extra load of children fathered by another man.” At times, children innocently in their own way blame themselves for their father’s absence, leading to self-crushing sadness, depression, disappointment and anger. Her words: “Parenthood is challenging enough even under the best of conditions. So, being a singleparent in our society is tasking, to say the least. This is because, with one parent, the challenges are multiplied. Single parenting in our society has been the focus of much interest and research in recent years, no doubt due to divorce, death and the increase in the incident of birth outside of marriage. “Single parenthood may occur for a variety of reasons. Some of the most common reasons are by choice, as in divorce or adoption; or as a result of unforeseeable circumstances such as a death, child abuse, child neglect, or abandonment by biological parents. “Single parenthood is circumstantial; resulting from occurrences and situations such as divorce, death, child abuse among others”, she added. Ruth Olurounbi, a veteran journalist suggests, “it is an option for freedom and independence. Single parenthood contrary to the general belief does not just happen as a result of unsuccessful relationship or divorce; it is sometimes created through widowhood, unplanned pregnancy, adoption and other lifechanging situations. And those who choose this path, according to them, crave freedom and independence, among other reasons. “While any of the parents may be involved, majority of single-parents are women, who by nature, are ‘primary carers.’ So, when the subject of single parenthood is being discussed, it would almost certainly involve women. And, as a single parent, the situation of a woman is rather complicated. Apart from being the primary care giver, she becomes the bread winner and head of the family.” Another speaker, Obot who corroborated the assertion said, education was a possible cause of single parenthood. Explaining the challenges involved in single motherhood, he said, “Single mothers are often perceived as being promiscuous. Single mothers will often encounter the problem of explaining their single status to their kids”, he said. A visit to the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, WAPA, Lagos State Government revealed that, the ministry presently has a 150-bed hostel / transit shelter not majorly for single parents as said by one of the officials but for victims of

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Men crave for legal approval Continues from page 11 domestic violence, abuse and trafficking. According to the source, the transit shelter for the traumatized women and children is located in a serene place in Lagos state. Rehabilitation of victims is effected through counseling, free legal aid in conjunction with the Office of the Public Defender, Lagos State; vocational training, literacy programmes for school age children, assistance with accommodation rents when possible; and reconciliation with family members. Several women and children who are survivors of domestic violence, abuse and trafficking have been sheltered in the transit home and have subsequently moved on to live a more peaceful and productive life.

Catering for the children by single parents is a huge task —Odumakin

n her contribution, a human

right activist and President Women Arise for Change Initiative Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin in an interview x-rays issues surrounding single parenthood and the legal implications “There are numerous emotional challenges which face single parents particularly in this part of the world where the living standard of an average family has been on a daily decline. What is the legal position on single parents? From my own understanding, most common factors responsible for being single parents are basically that of conception outside wedlock and divorce by couple. The law permits divorce and hence doesn’t make being single parents a crime under any law. Nonetheless, in the case of divorce, certain conditions are given and are expected to be met by the separated parents. How are the children catered for? In most cases, catering for the children by single parents have often been a huge task especially when you consider the economic realities and the challenges of bringing up the children most importantly in giving them quality education and their basic welfare. It is actually challeng-

ing. In case of children who are underage, how do we reconcile them? What does the law say on such children? In most scenario, the law usually grants custody of the young children to their moh ter

Odumakin

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and the fathers are legally mandated to be responsible for the upkeep of such children. Even in the advanced world, the needs of children being catered for are directly deducted from the income of the father thereby ensuring that such children do not suffer under any guise. In whose care are the children placed? Usually the mothers. What is the legal implications on who takes care of the children? That is an issue clearly spelt out by the law, custody can only be given to the father if a separating mother concedes or feels incapable of ensuring the welfare of such children. But often time when the court is involved in a divorce, custody is given to the mother. About single fathers

There have been calls for singlefatherhood to be embedded in constitution around the world for the purpose of accountability and impartiality relating to child maintenance. Oftentimes, men are being denied fundamental rights which is allowed and sometimes even sanctioned by the courts. In customary courts, public discussion is driven by empirical data; so it is with the fact that reactions have continued to trail the issue. Saturday Vanguard sought the view of some single-fathers on the challenges that spur them into such action. Sunday Obi, a civil servant with the Nigerian Ports Authority dragged his wife before the Ifelodun customary court to dissolve their 20 years old marriage. He stated that his wife’s fighting and adulterous attitude necessitated the motive for his singlefather hood. His words: “if you have not come across a troublesome woman as a wife, you won’t think about being a single parent. My wife fought virtually everybody in the compound and she was caught having illicit affairs with a pastor and when I confronted her, she embarrassed me publicly. All efforts to make her turn a new lifestyle were to no avail .Family and friends tried in their own ways to make her amend her ways but she fought them in return. I have been a single parent for six years now with my three lovely children but the court is yet to endorse them staying with me because I am a man,” Obi lamented. In the same vein, Tolu Makinde, a businessman in

his late 30s also narrated the ordeal that spurred him to be a single-parent; “My wife has been having extra marital affairs since our marriage. She left our matrimonial home for two months and every effort to see her was abortive. My wife’s

friend hinted me of her whereabout in another man’s house somewhere in Ajah. On getting to the place, I

showed the man a photograph of my wife and our baby but to my greatest surprise, the man said I was showing him his wife and his baby ’s photograph. I left the place in utter confusion. “The next morning, my wife came with the baby and when I challenged her about what her boyfriend said and also that the young man is claiming the paternity of the our baby, she denied everything, saying there was nothing like that between her and any man.” e further said that the ordeal was what spurred him to be responsible for the up-keep of his family for 12years, not minding the challenges of taking proper care of his children as a single father. Ladi Adoyi, a native of Kogi state also narrated the challenge that propelled him into a single parenthood. His words; “My five year old marriage crashed as a result of my wife’s inability to cook regularly for the family. My wife from the beginning of our marriage finds it hard to cook regularly but my hope was that when we start having children, she would be committed to her primary duty as a woman but to my uttermost amazement after having three children, I was still the one catering for the welfare of the family without her assisting me even in the kitchen. I left my matrimonial home with my two grown up children to another apartment where I gladly look after there well keep as a single parent. When one considers the increase in single-fathers worldwide alongside with the sprouting of those advocating for the judicial backing, it is difficult to escape the conclusion that it is time to take note.If fathers, long labelled as absentee, are acknowledging that

they have to be responsible for their children and are willing to do so rather than being forced by court orders, they naturally should be allowed opportunity to be declared fit and be fully engaged in their children’s lives.

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Itsekiri are being marginalised in the Nigerian polity —Bo Boyyo

HRIS Boyo is the Chairman of the Boyo Descendant Union of Jakpa community in Warri North Local Government Area of Delta State. In this interview with Gab Ejuwa, he speaks on the initial exclusion of Itsekiri from the ongoing national confab, the non-inclusion of Chief Festus Okotie-Eboh and Chief Alfred Rewane from the recent centenary awards despite their enormous contributions to the development of the country, among other issues. Excerpts: What is your reaction to the exclusion of Chief Jemide’s name from delegates to the National Conference? It was quite embarrassing and very discouraging as an Itsekiri man and most annoying was government’s statement that there was an anomaly. It’s quite shameful. Do you see it as a set back for the Itsekiri ? It’s gradually showing that the Itsekiri are being schemed out of things in the Nigerian polity which is an evidence of lack of leadership. What do you think is responsible for the exclusion? The Itsekiri can no longer speak with one voice due to lack of a

leadership structure. Fragmented groups abound in the Warri Kingdom, seeking recognition for sharing the benefits of oil discovery, viz-a-viz slots for contracts and other derivable benefits and paying less attention to the political survival of the Warri Kingdom. So much hatred, in-fighting and blackmail abound amongst the Itsekiri.Why can’t the Itsekiri have a strong and dependable political body like the UPU, Urhobo Progress Union, INC, Ijaw National Congress, ACF, Arewa Consultative Forum, IDU, Isoko Development Union and a host of other bodies that can always stand-in and lobby for their various ethnic nationalities. No one is there to lobby and speak for and on behalf of the Itsekiri nation. What is your reaction to the unending tussle in Ugborodo leadership? Sincerely speaking, that leadership tussle should not be there at all. My very candid and brotherly advice and plea is that parties in this tussle should come together and work for the good of their Ugborodo brothers and sisters in order to enhance the development in Ugborodo land and our kingdom. They should not forget that there are other zones itching seriously for the relocation of this project that is tearing them apart.

Boyo Enough is enough, Ugborodo must progress. Some persons are showing interest in the Federal House of Representatives, what qualities do you expect from the person that should hold this post? Indeed, several persons are indicating interest in the Federal House of Representatives, which is their civic right. But there again, in order to have a powerful presence, we need a person like Hon. F.S. Okotie Eboh, who was there from 1954-1966 before he was cut down by the 1966 coupwhose long presence in the House gave him so much experience and dexterity in the art of politicking to the advantage of his party and constituency. This gave birth to the Mid Western Region of old. This being the only State that has so far been created by an Act of Parliament in Nigeria. With his long stay, Okotie Eboh was able to lobby and convince his friends in the House to success-

fully pass the Bill for the creation of a Mid Western Region from the Old Western Region. It is our desire to regain our past glory and it is quite expedient to allow our son presently in the House to mature to a colossus in order to move our Itsekiri nation to a greater height. Experience, they say, makes perfect. Personal ambition and interest should now be put to rest in the politics of Iwere land. Let us remember the days of the Rewanes and Begho, when experience mattered in the choice of Representation of Itsekiri in the various Houses, when the likes of Late Retd. Justice Atake, to the Senate, Late Hon. Bon Omoruwa to the Federal House, and Barrister Isaac Jemide to the Bendel State House. If we cannot get quality representation, we can build it by zeroing on the ones already acquiring the experience. Enough of the ‘it is now my turn politics in our land’. We have to nurture and groom those we have in the various Houses of Parliament to grow and give us quality representation. And here again, we need a leadership forum for effective directives and monitoring of our representatives. This is surely going to be a bedrock for us to bounce back to political relevance in Nigeria and in our state. In conclusion, I seriously frown at the appointments of those men and women in the present confab that have served the nation in the 2nd Republic. Their presence in the conference will hardly move the nation forward as they are all there with set minds about what they have always wanted for their ethnic nationality. You cannot teach old dogs new tricks’ is a wise saying. There should have been an age limit.

ond Chief itle Ekweremadu and the Oduma Reception:: Bey Beyond Chiefttaincy TTitle “I have not come to receive a chieftaincy title, no; I have come to celebrate with the people of Oduma because God has eventually heard their cries” - Sen. Ike Ekweremadu Oduma is an agrarian community in Aninri Local Government Area of Enugu state. Oduma is easily the most populous clan and perhaps second to Igbo Eze clan in Enugu state. During the administration of Governor Chimaroke Nnamani, Oduma was split into eight autonomous communities, each having a traditional ruler. Oduma quickly comes to my mind because of its enormous farm produce. The Oduma swampy soil is noted for rice, yam, okro, palm oil, etc and other economic fruits. For their enormous farm yields, Oduma and its environs are referred to as Aninri (land of food). Oduma was one of the most neglected areas in Enugu state in terms of social amenities. The road passing through the swampy area was so deplorable that only lorries with auxiliary gears contemplated it on the specified market days. So marshy and slippery was the Oduma road that a high-ranking government official once described it as “an impossible terrain”. The issue of rural electrification was, of course, inconceivable in Oduma. The deleterious consequences of the Oduma neglect are better imagined than

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Sen. Ike Ekweremadu experienced. Due to the poor and inaccessible road, the sales of farm produce were not commensurate to the labour cost, and most times the perishable farm produce did not have exit to the wider market. In the school and church systems, a transfer to Oduma was often a condign punishment to the recalcitrant. School and church teachers detested Oduma. For these and other reasons, all the schools were not only in lack of quality teachers, but were in pitiable condition. The healthcare delivery was also in an abysmal state such that guinea worm, ringworm, hookworm, etc, thrived unabated in Oduma. In summary, Oduma was so humiliated and retrogressed by

this neglect that identifying with it attracted both martyred look and condescension. However, all those were before the coming of Senator Ike Ekweremadu as the Senator representing the Enugu West Senatorial District. As the Chairman, Oduma Development Union, Chief Ezekiel Chukwu as well as the President-General of Oduma Women association confessed, Ekweremadu’s infrastural transformation of Oduma has firmly put Oduma in the league of contemporary Igbo societies. The turn-around of Oduma from the labyrinth of abandonment to symmetry of modernity is such that Ikeoha, as Ekweremadu is fondly called, is on the lips of the old and the young. The school children have unconsciously composed various songs with Ike Ekweremadu as their saviour, the God sent, emancipator, the redeemer, change agent etc. he has also won hearts of the communities in Enugu Senatorial District through his focused rural transformation programmes. It was in appreciation of such quality representation that the Oduma communities set aside April 19, 2014 for a Grand Reception to honour him as well as the Chairman of the house Committee on Works who is also from Enugu State, Hon Ogbuefi Ozomgbachi; Minister of Works, Arc. Mike Onolememem; and the Group

Managing Director of SETRACO Nigeria Limited, Engr Fayez Khalaf. In fact, anyone who saw the little children, pregnant women, old and the young line up from the entrance into Oduma to the venue of the grand reception and conferment of chieftaincy title on him would understand that Ikeoha had touched their lives the way no person had ever done. Not even the emergency embargo placed on the conferment of chieftaincy titles by way of a written order to all recognised traditional rulers by those who believe that Enugu State and the fullness thereof belong to them could stop the people of Oduma. Even the various forms of threats to the community and their traditional rulers changed nothing. Perhaps, the State Government forgot that there is this spirit that emboldens and stirs the passion, soul, and tigritude of the average Odumaman, which once it is sufficiently provoked, becomes irrepressible. Thus, in a most dramatic display of bravery, the more the threats, the more the indigenes of Oduma surged out in their numbers to receive and hail their beloved illustrious son of Aninri.

Chiedozie Alex Ogbonnia is the Special Adviser (Public Affairs) to the Deputy President of the Senate on Public Affairs

SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, MAY 3, 2014 — 15

s catch phrases go, this is as good as many. And those who have been attracted—or entrapped—in the past by alluring phrases like ‘Land of the flowing sun’, The paradise of the East’, ‘An exotic blend of Western and Eastern civilisation’ to mention a few, only to find that what was offered and purchased was not what was delivered will hesitate to buy into it. (Nobody to my knowledge has been able to melt the sun to see its liquid form.) So many cynics might see the catch phrase ‘Holy week in the holy land’ along the line of another tourist scam. It is poetic and appealing, but can it be true? Can a land so unsettled by intolerance and lack of brotherly love be called holy? Yet, the phrase rings true. Israel and its environs represent some of the historically holy places for the world’s two largest religions. And the week, also called the Passion Week, is recognised not only by Christians as a Holy Week, but by Judaists as well because it is when the ‘Feast of Preparation’ and ‘the Pass-over Feast’ are celebrated. I bought into the programme of spending the Passion Week in the holy land for two main reasons. One, I have always wanted to go to Israel. I included it when I did my tour of the Middle East while in Punch but was advised to drop it because an Israeli visa could affect my chances of visiting some other countries. Two, with age came a deepening interest in the Bible which in turn has led to a desire to visit those places where Jesus and the early men of God trod. But there is no denying, even if one went with a religious group that the Israeli Government and people, see the throngs of people visiting the historic sites largely as tourists and Israel is well geared towards tourism.

From a Christian point of view, the trip was a mixed bag

ven the catch phrases that predated the founding of modern Israel had good tourist rings; if you remember such phrases as ‘the land flowing with milk and honey’, ‘the promised land’, ‘the land of Abraham’. Some even stretch it further to call Israel ‘God’s dwelling place’. There is also not denying the fact that a lot of atheists and ‘unbelievers’ visit these places regularly. And in any case, the Jews, majority of whom do not believe by the way that Jesus is the Messiah, have learnt to be well, Jews. They will sell anything to anyone who makes the mistake of listening to their sales pitches. Many of those who market ‘genuine cross from genuine olive tree,’ do not believe in the virgin birth. Many of those who eloquently describe the Stations of the Cross’ and take you on the boat ride that ‘Jesus took’ are not Christians. And many pilgrims have bought badly configured rosaries because they had assumed the sellers were Christians. Some members of my group almost made that mistake when

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they thought they had a good deal since they negotiated a bulk purchase—the Jews will negotiate anything— until one of us opened the box and counted the beads out of curiosity. The deal flew out of the window in a jiffy. But credit to the Jew—and a mark of a true entrepreneur—he called the person to one side and asked her what was wrong with the rosary. I am sure he would go back the following day with a different set of rosaries! From a tourist point of view, Israel makes you wonder; especially if you come from an arable country like Nigeria. What you see is not a land flowing with milk and honey, but a barren land of hills and desert, unfit for any one except the desert Bedouins. What you see also is a land that has been subdued by science, ingenuity and hard work. Despite the preponderance of hills and rocks, the highways are straight. Despite the absence of rivers and seas, the taps keep running. Despite the desert that stretches as far as the eyes can see, tomatoes and vegetables are grown for export. From a Christian point of view, the trip was a mixed bag. There are about 1.2billion Catholics in the world. Other Christian denominations will probably add another 2billion. Yet the land where the foundation of Christianity sprang from has less than 300,000 Christians. With about 1.5 million Muslims and 6million Judaists, they are a minority within a minority. You are disappointed for example, to find that there are more mosques around many of the historic sites. Even the temple the destruction of which Jesus foretold as he was entering Jerusalem, and which is now symbolised by the Wailing Wall, has three mosques around it! But then, some of these places are holy to Muslims too. At the foot of the wall, devout Judaists are still praying fervently—oblivious to the teeming crowd— for the coming of the messiah who will redeem Israel! There are many pleasant memories for me however and certain things stand out. For example, to be in the Upper Room on a Thursday — the anniversary of the Lord’s Supper— and to walk the same agony road from the garden of Gethsemane to the Golgotha hills around the time Jesus did, were a privilege. So was seeing the tomb of Jesus and celebrating Easter at St Peter ’s Square in Rome within touching distance of the Pope as he drove round. Celebrating Good Friday in the church erected on the relics of where the Holy Family once lived in Bethlehem is something I will always remember. In all these, you see the toil and sacrifice of those who fought to keep Christianity alive during those years of war, turmoil and ruins. One man, St Francis of Assisi exemplified this. His Franciscan order has reclaimed many of the historic sites in Jerusalem and Rome that would have been lost forever. For them, it is work in progress still.

Don’t le our mis es ssttop yyou ou lett yyour misttak akes

o many people have been frustrated in life, marriages, families, busi ness and careers because of a mistake they made in the past. Thus, they say to themselves that they can never make it in life. They do not see themselves any better than the mistake they have made. The truth of it all is that the mistake is nothing compared to who you really are and can be tomorrow. Though your now may be small yet your latter end shall greatly increase. Beloved, there is so much ahead of you. The plan of God for your life is so great for you to allow the wrong of yesterday to stop you from your tomorrow. You must know that anyone is capable of making mistakes in life because we are all not perfect. Some of the most important and successful people in life today are people who made some mistakes but rose above their mistakes. They learnt the lessons, corrected the situation and moved on in life. You don’t have to stop where you are now. There is a glorious end ahead of you. The only being that can never move on is the devil himself. He already knows its end and it can never be changed. Thus, if the only being that can never move on is the devil, it then goes to show that we all can still move on. The truth is that, what the enemy meant for evil, God can turn it around for good. You are too much for your mistake to stop you. There is the greater one inside of you, if you are a believer. The power of the highest resides inside of you. This power is unstoppable. The world cannot stop it and so you cannot be stopped. Stir up the power of God that is within you. The scriptures says, “now unto Him that is able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think according to the power that worketh in us” (Eph 3:20). It is your responsibility to stir up the power that will cause you to rise above the mistake. Listen; don’t allow the devil to lie to you that you are a failure. There is no truth in the devil. In fact the bible calls him the father of all liars (John 8:44). So don’t expect him to tell you anything that will encourage you to rise above your present

Holy week in the holy land

level. Hear me, you can rise and rise to any level you desire because the limitation has been broken. The barriers have been taken away. The scripture says,” arise, shine, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon you” (Isa. 60:1). You cannot shine dwelling in the mistake. You have to rise first and then you can begin to shine. Hear me you can rise in every area of your life. It is not too late. As long as you are alive, you can become a miracle. David made mistake in his relationship with Bathsheba and rose above it. Peter denied Jesus three times but rose above it. Apostle Paul killed many, arrested Christians and threw them in jail and made mockery of the church but rose above it and wrote two thirds of the new testament. What is the mistake that you have made that you cannot rise above? All you need to do is to run to God and receive mercy and grace and advance in life.

The plan of God for your life is so great for you to allow the wrong of yesterday to stop you from your tomorrow

You are destined for greatness. The height is incomparable. The future is too glorious and the devil is envious of you. Don’t let him stop you with his lies. You are still relevant and precious to God. God will never give up on you because he knows that you can rise above every circumstances and challenges in life. If God does not give up on you why then should you give up on yourself? Pick yourself up and shake off the dust and put on the new clothes and move on. Now is the time. Don’t dwell on that mistake one more time. It will steal your strength and rob you of progress. Know that the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former. I pray that the Lord by His mercies shall turn around your mistakes into miracles. Everyone that has mocked you last year because of your mistakes shall weep this year because they will see you blossoming in life. You will rise and end well this year. God bless you, our great nation Nigeria and President Goodluck Jonathan. Have you accepted Jesus as your Lord and Savior? If you have not already done so. Pray this simple prayer. Father, you said that whosoever shall call on the name of Jesus, shall be saved. I call on the name Jesus. Please forgive my sin and cleanse me from every form of unrighteousness. Fill me with the power of the Holy Spirit. Thank you for saving me and giving me the gift of eternal life. I praise you and give you all the glory. For your praise report, prayer requests, testimonies and financial support, you can contact us through our contact details below. God shall surely change your situation and make you to experience His realities.

For more details, contact us at Christ Reality Church, beside Gossard Hotel, opposite First Bank Sports Ground, Community Road, Satellite Town or P.O.Box, 3196, Yaba Lagos. Tel: 08023062635 08168955932; 08033378769. Email: Johnson_crm@yahoo.com. Website: www.christrealityministries.org. Our account details are Pastor Johnson Omomadia, Guaranty Trust Bank, A/C Nos. 0005171407; Christ Reality Ministries, Zenith Bank A/C 1011711622.

Worship with us on Sundays, 1st Service: 745am-9:15am; 2nd Service 9:1511:30am. Wednesdays Word Revelation 6pm. Counseling days Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. 11am-5pm daily or by appointment. Showers of blessing every 2nd - 4th Sat. of each month, 6 a.m - 7.15 am.

16 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

hen Gov Nyako’s memo to Northern Governors’ Forum first leaked to the press, there was a huge argument on whether the letter was real or forged. The memo titled On-Going FullFledged Genocide in ‘Northern Nigeria’ dated April 16, 2014 was sent to Vanguard’s mailbox on Friday April 18 and it triggered off an argument in the newsroom as to whether somebody forged Nyako’s signature; whether the memo was real or fake and other security questions.The argument also bordered on whether the seal of Adamawa state government was real or super-imposed. The argument degenerated further into whether a serving governor and ex- soldier who understands security issues would be so irresponsible to write about security issues in that manner. When our argument was getting nowhere, we called Editors of other newspapers but most of them claimed they didn’t see the memo. At the end of the day (Friday April 18), we decided to call the Chief Press Secretary to the governor who didn’t pick our calls. We called two others in Nyako’s government who claimed ignorance of what we were talking about. At that point, we decided not to do any write-up on the matter. But by Sunday, most newspapers and on-line publications had gone ahead with the publication of the story, some sensationalising it and even quoting the presidency’s reaction. The first paragraph of Nyako’s memo read: “The adverse security situation in Northern Nigeria in particular and Nigeria in general is being felt by all of us. While every State Government is doing everything possible using virtually all its resources to stem the tide of near disaster facing all of us especially in the North, it is a wellknown fact that the present Federal administration has now become a government of impunity run by an evil-minded leadership for the advancement of corruption that is apparently enjoying the protection of the Federal administration but is being denied by the administration using its mass murderers/cutthroats imbedded in our legitimate and traditional Defence and Security organisations. It is very clear that the protection of life and property of innocent citizens in Northern Nigeria and recognising their Human rights and Voting rights in the forthcoming general elections is no longer a cardinal principle of the administration.” The memo went ahead to allege that the victims of Jonathan administration’s evil-mindedness are substantially Northern Nigerians, accusing the administration of determination to bring wars to the North between Muslims and Christians and within them; and between one ethnic group and another or others in various communities in the region. Nyako claimed that cases of mass murders by Jonathan administration’s bloody minded killers and cutthroats are well known and accused the government of attributing the killings to C M Y K

girls of Chibok? When will

Questions without answers

Furthermore it is a well-

Gov Nyako

Boko-Haram. In other words, Nyako perceived the killings to have been carried out not by Boko Haram but Jonathan administration’s henchmen. This memo was perceived as most irresponsible and very inciting and many think that such a governor in other climes, ought to have been arrested and tried for sedition and treason.But Nigerian government didn’t take any serious action against him. He wrote further: “Thousands of our young girls and boys have been kidnapped by clearly organised militia in the last few years and kidnapping is now a random affair all over the far North. These organized kidnappers must have the backing of the Federal administration for them to move about freely with abducted children just as those who convey ammunition and explosives from the Ports to the safe-houses of so called Boko-Haram in the North. “We no longer accept let alone believe that our prominent Mallams in the Mosques in Kano and Zaria have been killed by ‘innocent’ Boko-Haram members or Christians in the North, nor do we believe that the killing of the Pastor and other worshippers in the Christ Apostolic Church in Jimeta-Yola was done by any Muslim or Boko-Haram members. We know where we are now pointing our fingers. There have also been attempts to assassinate the Senate President (Northerner) in Imo State, two Executive Governors of States in the North (the Governor of Benue State and my humble self), two of our most prominent Traditional leaders (Shehu of Borno and the Emir of Kano), Senators and others too numerous to

mention, all from Northern Nigeria. This is in line with the demonic policy of the evil-few in and around the administration that have advocated how Northerners, both Christians and Muslims, are to be so dealt with, ill-treated and oppressed! “No wonder, we in the Northern Nigeria are now facing an organised ethno-re-

ligious campaign of hate fuelled by the Federal administration to make communities which hitherto have remained peaceful

known fact that virtually all the soldiers of Northern Nigerian origin recently recruited to fight Boko-Haram have been deceived in that aspect. They are being poorly trained, totally ill-equipped, given only uniform and are killed by their trainers in Nigerian Army training centres as soon as they arrive in the Nigerian Army camps being used by socalled Boko-Haram insurgents. Virtually all the Nigerian Army soldiers killed/murdered in these operations so far are of Northern Nigerian origin. The administration has also hired militia from all across especially North Africa who have been deceived into accepting to come because they were made to believe that they would be fighting infidels...” It was the most irresponsible letter to have been written by anybody, let alone a serving governor? What did Nyako intend to achieve by those frivolous allegations? Should a responsible leader habour such in his thoughts or imagine same in his imaginations let alone put pen on paper to write same to anybody? What Nyako was trying to do was to incite people and create more blood-letting in the polity. Was he trying to blame the South for the carnage in the north? Or was he trying to say that it was the southerners who went to northern Nigeria to be killing southern-

“Thousands of our young girls and boys have been kidnapped by clearly organised militia in the last few years and kidnapping is now a random affair all over the far North

for centuries to start killing the minorities in their midst and to facilitate mass killings of the innocent and the arbitrary arrests and torture of elders of minority ethnic groups in the various Northern communities... “Fulani communities in parts of the North who have been in their locations for over 100 years are now being raided and uprooted by paid killers within the Nigerian Army for the satisfaction of the Federal administration instead of being protected as citizens with their rights and dignity safeguarded. This has happened to those communities at Keana L.G. in Nasarawa State and Laddoga and Kachia in Kaduna State. It is presently extended to Benue, Zamfara and Katsina States.

ers and after succeeding in driving them away from the north, are now creating sacrilege in Northern Nigeria as being witnessed today?

as it Jonathan that vowed to make Nigeria ungovernable in his own regime? Haba, Gov Nyako! Did you really write this or did somebody else do it on your behalf?

Ordinarily, one would join the call for milads to take over four northern states as that could bring total sanity in the system but this is democracy and we are giving it all it takes. o much was said about the kidnapped school girls in the North and many are also beginning to ask more questions.When are we going to see the faces of the parents of these alleged kidnapped school

the school authorities publish the faces of the kidnapped girls, those that escaped from their captors and those still missing? Can we see the faces of the parents crying over their missing daughters? What are the roles of politics and 2015 elections in this issue? What is the exact number of the missing girls? 100, 200, 230 or 234? Can the principal of the school speak on camera? Can we see her face and know what she looks like? How did it happen? Who saw it happen? Was it so easy to kidnap about 234 girls and nobody raised alarm till the completion of the operation? We have had series of protests. Do the protesters know these truths? The school girls that allegedly escaped, can their faces be seen? Can they speak and narrate their experiences on camera? Were these girls actually abducted in the first place or was the whole thing stage-managed? But something in Nyako’s letter appear true indeed. The killings started in Borno and we mused over it until it degenerated. Then it moved on to Yobe and we didn’t take them seriously. The killers proceeded to Adamawa State and we watched and condemned. And progressively, the killings continued. They attacked Kano, Katsina and Sokoto. We condemned. Now their tanks and marauders have begun rolling into the North-Central. They have invaded Abuja, even the seat of power and they are making progress. They keep hitting Abuja and on May 1, did it again. Imagine the impunity of the terrorist! The other day, Boko Haram scare hit Lagos! But there is a scenario I have noticed. And it can become something else in the future. We are contending with Boko Haram. There are also the Fulani herdsmen who have invaded our communities and are creating tension. Now, there are other questions we have not asked ourselves. In Lagos alone, most okada riders along ApapaMile 2 axis are non-Nigerians. In our homes in Lagos, they are our mai-guards. And down our streets, they operate kiosks and shops. They polish your shoes and kill your cows. In the South-East, while the natives leave their homes and villages to hustle in the cities, the villages are left in the hands of these itinerants who came into Nigeria from neighbouring countries. They dig our boreholes, our latrines and toilets and do other menial jobs. They are the mai-guards even in the villages where we come from. They are also well organised like Boko Haram but are working for us at present. We don’t know their links with the others and how dangerous they could be. Yet they are our watchmen! Some are northerners but most are not Nigerians and they are everywhere all over Nigeria. Now, that is one issue! If Nyako truly wrote this memo to Northern Governors’ Forum, he was very economical with the truth. The only truth about his memo is that we should watch the spread. And that is the biggest issue.

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

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Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014—17

18 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

People laugh when I say I’m a DJ — Frizzie BY KEHINDE AJOSE

rances Higgwe hit the limelight when she did the female version of ‘Wizkid’s Holla At Your Boy’ titled ’Don’t Holla At Me Boy’. Known as DJ Frizzie in the Nigerian entertainment landscape, she is one of Nigeria’s foremost female DJs who is giving the guys a run for their money. In this interview, she reveals how the journey began for her among other issues. When I finished secondary school in 2005, I actually had to stay home for a year because my JAMB result was cancelled and at that period, I was doing my A levels. I visited my cousin one day and I stumbled on a virtual DJ software which I got crazy about because of my love for computers and soft -wares. I love working with my hands. When I stumbled on this DJ soft ware, I went home, installed it and started playing around with it. What actually intrigued me about it was that you can actually move from one song to another without stopping the beat. I love the beat-matching aspect. That was how it began. Before I stumbled on the software, I hadn’t heard of the word DJ. I took the software to school, and whenever my friends were throwing a party, I was always excited to play for them. I was doing it only for the passion then. When I was in school, I wasn’t a social person. I could stay indoors all day. Being a female DJ is bigger than what people see. Using myself as an example, I had challenges from my family because my mother wanted me to work with my certificate as an Environmental Engineer, probably in an oil company. The DJ career is not something people see as responsible. Before now, the music industry was seen as one for irresponsible people. At some point, my mum started taking me to pastors to talk to me. But the pastors saw that I really wanted to do what I wanted to do. There is always this fear of sexual harassment and security .The perception people have about female DJs also poses a challenge. They believe you might not be able C M Y K

I take my job serious like someone who works in a bank. As an entertainment brand, I am out there to inspire others to stand up for what they believe in. to deliver because you are a female. There is also the issue of gender discrimination, people just don’t trust a female DJ to deliver the way a male would.

I have never been heartbroken. Heartbreak is a very big word but I have been deeply disappointed. I am not engaged to anybody neither am I planning to get married now but my friends support me in my career. Dress-wise, I love to wear shorts but not bum-shorts and I also love Tee shirts. One of my unforgettable moments was when a dude asked me what I am into and I told him I am a DJ. He just started laughing. I was so embarrassed and when I asked him what’s on his mind, he said to me; ‘Can anyone ever hire a female DJ?’. He later apologised, saying he didn’t mean to offend me. I was hurt and I actually cried. I believe there will always be that doubtful mind that says a male can do it better than a female, but on the flipside, there are people that see it from another perspective that a

STAYING IN

As an introvert or a shy person that does not like going out, these are some of the things you can do to keep you busy while at home; Arts and Crafts: Arts and crafts may bring flash-backs of pasty kindergarten fingers and construction paper, but the act of making something creative with your closest friends can be cathartic and fun. Make cards for upcoming holidays or birthdays, or put together some wall art for your new room or apartment. Use this time to let loose your inner child and let your creativity run rampant. Housework: Dusting furniture and mopping floors can scarcely be considered fun and appealing...on it’s own perhaps. But show your bestie “how you roll” with housekeeping by cranking up your favorite music and dancing your chores to completion. You will feel both productive and cheerful when accompanied by your companion. If necessary, bribe them with baked foods in return for their help with your janitorial tasks.

female DJ will spice things up to make things look classy and different. Even though I don’t work with a radio station at the moment, I have had my club chat video mix on MTV base for like three times. I was part of Seyi Law’s Akure Must Laugh show. I am not just a female DJ, I am also an Environmental Engineer. I am only doing this for the love I have for the craft. I take my job serious like someone who works in a bank. As an entertainment brand, I am out to inspire others to stand up for what they believe in. It’s not just about me being a DJ, there are so many people’s destiny tied to mine who will be inspired to pursue their dreams just by my own example. I also write and produce music too.

GOING OUT Going out with your best friend could be as basic as grabbing a coffee together or as formal as seeing a symphony. Here are some excellent ideas for exploring the world with your friends. Friend Date: Need some one-on-one time with your best friend? Plan a friend date together. Stop by a local coffee shop or your favorite restaurant for a few hours of catching up. If you are in the mood for something a bit more special, try dressing up and making reservations one evening at a fancy restaurant. Concerts: Bonding through music is a major best friend phenomenon. Find one of your mutually-favorite bands or artistes and make a trip to see them live. In the summer especially, outdoor concerts are a great way to bring out the audiophile in all of us.

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014 — 19

By JULIET EBIRIM

This is a great loss —Clarion

Chukwurah, Actress

Nollywood pays tribute to Amaka Igwe T he Nigerian movie industry and the country as a whole was recently thrown into a state of mourning following the news of the death of celebrated Nollywood producer and entertainment entrepreneur, Amaka Igwe. Torrents of tributes have continued to rain for the late Icon from Nollywood.

am just speechless,

too sad to make any comment.It is too early for public comments, as I’m sure you realise that this is a great loss that affects one deeply.

No one can ever be like her — Cynthia Agholor

maka Igwe is a goddess in the entertainment world. She is an inspiration to all the female movie makers. She is one classic and intelligent woman that makes movies of a kind. No one can ever be like her. Her legacy shall remain. May her soul rest in peace.

We ‘v e lost a ffemale emale ‘ve giant —Antar Laniyan, Actor A female giant. Her soap opera ‘Checkmate’ gave my name a boost in those days. She was very strong and hard working. Rest in peace, Ene Amaka Igwe.

She ttouc ouc hed and ouched changed lives

She was a woman with a voice

—Emeka Ike, Actor Whether critics like it or not , Amaka has touched and changed lives and has her footprints in the sand of time. Adieu Hero.

—Halima Abubakar, Actress

I professional. I love a woman who is a voice anywhere and I’m glad she was one. call her Queen mother. She was amazing and very

Even though she hardly made noise, her works speak on her behalf. She will be missed.

She was a visionary —Bimbo Akintola, Actress

maka was a visionary. We can never talk about Nollywood without mentioning her contributions. As a producer, she was special. My heart bleeds for the loss of such genuine talent. May her soul rest in peace.

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She carved my yesterday, defined my today

— Empress Njamah, Actress

he carved my yesterday and defined my today as an actress. She was a woman of her words and principles. My biography as an actress is never complete without the mention of her name. Rest in Peace, My Teacher/Mama.

20 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

08111813050

Meet famous Nigerian male designers

Frank Oshodi F

rank Oshodi is no doubt a force to reckon with in the Nigerian fashion scene. He is one Nigerian designer who is a true picture of the dynamic diversity which is Nigeria. Starting his career as a model for many fashion houses like Dakova to Nikki Africanna and TV commercials like Macleans, then becoming a model manager; Frank Oshodi has since ventured into areas like choreography and finally found his niche in makeup with his label, House of Bunor and Fashion designing. His name reached the household mark when he was selected by Silverbird to be the make-up artist and designer that finally led Agbani Darego to her reign as Miss World 2001. Since then, the name Frank Oshodi has been associated with simple elegance and effortless beauty. He has since spear headed events that brought Nigerian fashion to the forefront with programs like the West African Fashion Week 2008.

Unlike before when many Nigerians depended solely on clothes made by world acclaimed designers from Europe, America and Asia to make a statement, some local designers have taken the bull by the horn and revolutionized the industry.

Soares Anthony S

oares Anthony is a Lagosian that is making a huge statement with his unconventional but attractive masculine designs. Definitely, a designer to watch out for, the young man has created pieces that can make an ordinary Nigerian man look like a multimillionaire businessman. His very suave clothing line ‘Soares Anthony’ is dedicated to creating a picture of sophistication and opulence. He is inspired by Nigerian fabrics with the tailoring of Japanese excellence. Anthony who is a bachelor degree holder and owner of SG2, a fashion magazine, celebrates Nigerian fashion in its entirety. His pieces have been worn by very affluent politicians and have been exported to London, France and the USA. He has been giving back to the Nigerian fashion industry by running a program that helps teach young Nigerian designers what they need to make their work of competent international standards.

•Duro Olowu

•Soares Anthony •Frank Oshodi

Ohimai Atafo

Duro Olowu H

is designs have been character ized as colourful, controversial combinations of African prints in a classic seventies tailoring. These wonderful creations have gained him clients like, Michelle Obama, Uma Thurman, Linda Evangelista, among others. His name is none other than Duro Olowu. He has taken the ancient Nigerian culture, spirit and turned that uniqueness into a classy, elegant fashion statement. Based in London and of a NigerianJamaican heritage, this lawyer cum fashion designer has received lots of awards and has enjoyed a lot of recognition globally.

WARD winning Nigerian male designer Ohimai Atafo is an accomplished fashion designer by international standards. The owner of Mai Atafo inspired clothing designs portray the Nigerian man’s unique personality. Recently, he was accredited as the Hottest New Male Designer at the City People Fashion and Style Award. The buzz surrounding his name has continued to resound as he came out with amazing designs at the Arise Magazine Fashion Week 2012 in Nigeria . With his wedding line ‘Weddings by Mai’ and creations like Funke Akindele’s wedding gown, he has also stolen the hearts of his female fans. Having been in the business of fashion for over six years, Atafo is creating giant waves and is definitely not slowing down.

•Ohimai Atafo

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014 — 21

Ade Bakare A

•Ade Bakare

de Bakare is a name too familiar to most London and Nigerian high society belles. His dresses have been described as classic, with a touch of modernity, using fabrics such as wool, silks, lace, crepes but he is more celebrated for his gazar and organza sweep coats which are ultra feminine and luxurious. With fabrics that flow and finishings that are nothing but perfection, he is one of the Nigerian designers that make Nigeria proud. With 20 successful years in the fashion scene, he started his line in London, making clothes for boutiques in the UK and France. He finally opened salons in London and Nigeria which has since been tending to his high end clientele till date. He has also added a perfume line called Breeze and a jersey line called Ade Breeze to his many achievements. As his way of giving back to the fashion community, he has written a lot of fashion articles and currently writes his column ‘Camera Obscura’ for Le Vogue.

MODELA A

fter winning NFS (Ni geria Designer of the Year), the multi-award winning Modela Couture established in 2004, is a household fashion label in Nigeria and Africa at large. Joseph Adebayo Adegbe, better known as Modela is a former model cum modeling agent, model manager/ international model instructor and scout, make up artist, show producer, choreographer and couture fashion designer of repute. Known for producing avant garde creations with perfect details and finishing, he has designed and produced fashion outfits for various celebrities and events. With over 31 awards both locally and internationally. Washington DC, Paris, Libreville, London,

•Joseph Adegbe with some models

•Mudiaga Enajemo

MUDI I

N tandem with his mission to design clothes that reflect the versatility and creativity of the world with an accomplished work force, Clement Mudiaga Enajemo, otherwise known as MUDI has always surpassed the expectations of his clients by providing them with outstanding and world class designs. With vision of being the most sought after brand name in fashion and with over 18 years experience in the industry, Mudi is not only a household name in Nigeria,but also in other parts of Africa. Mudi Africa Limited believes that every fabric has its unique language and that the ability to understand the language of the fabric makes a designer, resulting in the creation of a Masterpiece. It is therefore only fitting that Mudi’s designs are a limited collection with only four pieces of each in production to guarantee exclusivity. Mudi Africa's major focus is on customer satisfaction, which is achieved based on the powerful and unique designs that his clothes represent. Mudi's clientele consists of high profile individuals ranging from musicians and actors, to business men and politicians. It has been privileged to dress John Fashanu, Ramsey Noah, Desmond Elliot, Olu Jacobs , Salif Keita, Youssou N’dour, and John Kufuor to name but a few. With its head office in Lagos and branches in Abuja , Accra , Dakar , Johannesburg and Nairobi, Mudi Africa expresses the dynamism in the African culture through their designs, the affluence and bold personality of the African man. Also, it communicates peace, unity and progress through their work.

Lexy Mojo Eyes

•Lexy Mojo Eyes

EO of Legendary Gold Limited, Lexy Mojo Eyes is one fashion icon who has contributed immensely to the development of the Nigerian fashion industry. The Afro hairstyle loving man of style who‘s on the board of Governors of the World Fashion Organisation is a household name known for organisation of the Nigerian Fashion Week, Nigerian Fashion Show, Nigerian Fashion Awards, Nigerian Model Awards, Africa Fashion Reception, Legendary Models and Legendary Pictures. Since its inception in 1995, Legen-

dary Gold Limited which is the foremost fashion, modelling and general events production Company in Nigeria is the industry’s reference point. Legendary Gold Limited revolutionised and re-oriented the entire Nigerian fashion industry to looking inward to various ethnic cultural backgrounds for inspiration through the use of locally made fabrics, accessories and designs in their production line. Legendary Gold Limited is very famous in terms of exposing Nigerian designers and models all over the world in partnership with the Federal Ministry of Culture and Tourism and Foreign Affairs.

22 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

When I recorded Blush I had an idea of the guy I want to marry — Tipsy BY KEHINDE AJOSE

K based beautiful female rapper Yetunde Abiodun a.k.a Tipsy who amazingly blends Yoruba and English to create a groovy tune is back with a fresh track which she calls Blush in which she features the soulful GT da Guitarman. In this track, the Akure, Ondo State-born damsel walks the vulnerable emotional path pouring out her mind to her imaginary lover. The song is an upbeat R n B tune where the lovestruck rapper promises her lover the good things of life. In her words:’ When I recorded Blush, I had an idea of the guy I want to spend the rest of my life with. I just thought, ‘ well, let me voice it’, someday, someone will deserve the song.

Sean Tizzle signs endorsement deal worth N20m with MTN BY IYABO AINA

elecoms giant, MTN Nigeria has added Sean Tizzle to their roster of celebrity brand ambassadors for a cool N20 Million . An insider at Tizzle’s camp said the deal has been signed and sealed. They like Sean because he’s hot and believe they can make money with his music. They also go on to say Tizzle’s management has been in talks with MTN for a while and his impressive run in the last 12 months with his mega hit Sho Lee informed their decision to bring him on board. C M Y K

Don Jazzy reda Jazzy,, FFreda Francis dating? BY IYABO AINA

op music maker, Don Jazzy has been smart enough to put a lid on most of his romances, that is, until recently when his cover was blown and the Don was caught pants down and red-handed, with the person who may be rocking his world and maybe spending all those millions stashed away over the years as a leading boss of the mic. It is none other than Freda Francis, the once dark-skinned beau, now all-white. The duo have been linked together too often and what has been spiralling as a rumour came to light with high possibility, at the Tiwa Savage, Tee Billz wedding in Dubai penultimate weekend. They were both photographed, holding hands and holding -on tight, like they feared someone would come out of nowhere to separate them. Now people are beginning to wonder if Freda is the mystery lady Jazzy posted sometime ago, with a caption “ Dear future wife, you could have been in bed with me now but you probably bust turning up somewhere in the world. Oya hurry up and find me as it seems I have lost my compass”.

Niyola undresses in new video KEHINDE AJOSE

ust like Maheeda and Afrocandy, Nigerian entertainers are experimenting with the idea of baring it all to let all see what they look like in their birthday suits. Eniola Akinbo, popularly known as Niyola recently released a picture from her new music video shoot for the single: ‘Love to love you’. The picture shows her with no clothes on, as Niyola shyly covers her boobs with her hands. Niyola is signed on to Banky W led Empire Mates Entertainment and her song ‘Toh Bad’ is fast becoming fan’s favourite.

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Ayo Onikoyi 08052201215

Dr. Sid, Simi Osomo set to walk down the aisle!

Why I directed my music video

BY IYABO AINA

igerian singer-songwriter Sidney Onoriode Esiri, popularly known as Dr Sid whose fiancée Simi Osomo, graduated from Law School on November 2013 has finally declared his intention to tie the knot with his sweetheart. As we all are aware that Nigerian entertainment industry was abuzz at the weekend with the star-studded wedding of Nigerian music diva, Tiwa Savage and her husband, Tunji ‘Tee Billz’ Balogun. For most artistes, it was a time to felicitate with the bride and groom. As the ceremony got underway, guests were given room to make speeches. But interestingly, Tiwa ‘s coMavin artiste, Dr Sid, dropped a bombshell. In a few words, the Surulere crooner announced that his wedding would come up in July. He didn’t disclose the details as the artiste set the entertainment world in an anticipatory mood.

—Donna Diva

BY KEHINDE AJOSE

onna Diva stomped into limelight through her avatar inspired video :’Gaga’ .She is known for her energy driven performances, exceptional and unconventional dress sense, and afro -entric genre of music. She opens up to Showtime on the reason why she took the plunge by directing her own music video. According to her :’ I have two new videos out Super Love and My Oga. The Super Love video was directed by me. I wanted to do something unique. I just conceived the concept and I decided to be part of the execution process. Super Love is a pool side kind of video. I felt good because I did what I had in mind and the responses I have been getting have been amazing.

Tiwa Savage, Tee Billz

on hone ymoon honeymoon bliss

AFRIFF unveils plans for 2014 edition T

he much talked about Dubai wedding between super diva, Tiwa Savage and her heart-throb, Tunji ‘Tee Billz’ Balogun held penultimate Friday with so much fanfare that could be expected of a top celebrity event. The Mavin crew, led by Don Jazzy himself were everywhere, throwing their weights around, while making sure the event lacked no glamour and glitz. Don

Jazzy took the role of the big boss and even shocked the couple with a gift of a SUV. However, for the first time after their wedding, the couple have come out to show their faces and the latest entertainment husband in Town, Tee Billz posted the picture of himself and wife on Instagram, on a beach having a quality time.

he call for the submission of entries for the 2014 edition of the Africa International Film Festival (AFRIFF), a platform that seeks to give expression to African cinema by recognising and rewarding excellence in the industry, has announced the 4th edition of AFRIF billed to hold between November 9 and 16 at Tinapa Resort, Calabar, Cross River State. Executive Director and founder of the AFRIFF, Chioma Ude, who, last

Mrs Obioma Liyel-Imoke presenting an award for best feature film at AFRIFF last year year, announced Rita Dominic and Lynn Whitfield as Ambassadors of the festival, stated that strategic

plans are on ground to make this year’s edition globally respected by film enthusiasts. C M Y K

24 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

By ADERONKE ADEYERI

ith the up surging trend in the man dress apparel, brim and crown style hats play a pivotal role to blend the overall look. The male overall look comes from the complete dress up style including a nice hat. If you want to enhance your perfection through the aid of fashionable accessory, then selecting a right hat always adds more charm to your personality. Basically, men wear hats to protect themselves from sun and rain. But hat serves as the elegant accessory to blend the overall personality. Among the variety of fashionable accessories including belts, wallets, jackets, handbags, ties and shoes, the combination of hats blend your perfection to the upper level. While selecting the hat, you must consider certain factors which help you to make the right decision. A hat is not just limited to a fashion accessory; it is an integral part of men dress suit which make over your perfection. You have to consider the fashion pattern, the quality of the hat and most importantly, the size which perfectly fits your head. Select the best hat and flaunt the fantastic appeal from your perfectionist appearance and blend the handsome look.

C M Y K

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014 — 25

By ANOZIE EGOLE

First Kiss Punch for lovers O

ften times, lovers seem to explore new things that they feel they have not done or eaten before especially, during celebrations. For many who are not in the know, there is a drink that is specially meant for lovers because of its unique look and ingredients. First kiss punch is a cocktail that is meant to give lovers the fun they crave for. It was named after St Valentine. A taste of the cocktail will convince you.

Whiskey Lamonade

oing by the method of preparation, this kind of cocktail could be said to be very easy to prepare. It’s a combination of lemon juice, whiskey and simple syrup over ice. Garnish with lemon zest. Add a splash of water if desired and you will get a very nice whiskey lamonade. To get the best out of the drink, serve it chilled.

Fir st Kiss Punc h First Punch I

t’s so much fun to make a big batch of a yummy cocktail for small gatherings. It’s fun to create a custom punch recipe for each occasion and it saves so much time mixing cocktails as guests can help themselves. This punch is called First Kiss, in honor of Valentine’s Day. Heart shaped ice cubes can be used. To make these, freeze grenadine, blood orange bitters and raspberry gingerale. It is prepared when you combine: 2 cups of honey; whiskey; 1 cup of light rum; 1 cup of StGermain; 1 cup of raspberry pucker; 2 cups of pineapple juice; 1 cup of grapefruit juice; 3 litres of gingerale; 4 tablespoons of grenadine syrup; 8 splashes of cherry and blood orange bitters in a large container. You can top it with ice before you serve it.

26 — SARTURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

vie Okujaye is an Economics graduate of the University of Abuja. The Delta State-born actress who is referred to as ‘Little Genevieve’ due to her striking resemblance to Genevieve Nnaji proved her mettle with her first role in Alero’s Symphony alongside popular R&B star Faze. An Amstel Malta Box Office winner, Ivie has won multiple prestigious awards such as the African Movie Academy Award (AMAA) and the African Magic Viewers Choice Award (AMVCA). She is also a scriptwriter and some of her works include “The Volunteers”, a movie shot in Ghana, Sierra Leone, Liberia and Nigeria by Desmond Elliot. Her first ever produced movie, Make a Move is due to hit the cinemas from June 6, this year. In this interview, she talks about the movie, her career and the challenges of delving into movie production. BY JULIET EBIRIM

hat’s your latest movie, ‘Make a Move’ all about? ‘Make a Move’ has to do with healing through the arts. A lot of movies have tried to explore and eradicate the issue of abuse. We are not focusing on abuse, but importantly, on how you can get out of that situation you wouldn’t want to find yourself. It’s about emancipation; taking a step and finding the audacity to do something that would help your life. Why did you decide to preach this message through music and movie? Actually, I intentionally did not want to say, it’s either music or dance. I prefer to say it’s for the arts. Although it’s more about dance, I’m hoping that people would see that the characters change the direction of their lives through the artistic choices they made. So, it’s really not about music, it’s about healing through dance. Talk about the soundtrack you did for movie? I’m an adventurous person, I do a bit of different things. And as an actress, I should be able to do a bit of different things. Singing is something I can do and I intentionally did the soundtrack for the movie. It’s not a single per se, rather it’s a soundtrack for the film and people liked it. Why ‘Make a Move’? I’m very particular and partial towards the affairs of women and children. If I have any opportunity to help a child or a woman, I would do so. That doesn’t necessarily make me a feminist. If I also come across a man who is passing through a difficult situation, I’ll equally assist the person. I’m not against the opposite sex. I’m just more passionate about the affairs of women and children because they need help more and I’m very passionate about my art and craft. So, I had to bring these two things that I love together to enable me preach something that I hope would inspire a lot of people. Does this have to do with a past experience? Not at all. But I insist that people who have not had bad experiences in life need to rise up and help those of them who have been badly hit by the storms of life. I have not experienced any kind of abuse,but I have seen and heard about people who go through these things and to me, it’s injustice and I just felt I had to use this medium to lend my voice. What has the reception been like? At the moment, what is making waves is the trailer. But the film will be out in a few days from now. Judging from the trailer, the reception has been heart-warming. A lot of people loved it, giving the fact that it’s a dance movie. Though dance is an aspect of it, but what most people don’t realise is that there is more to it than just dance. Hopefully, when they see it, they’ll get to understand it better. What was the experience like, being your first movie? I was lucky to have selected tested-hands that helped make the experience a glide. It was like having a wonderful ride. The cast and crew were fantastic. It was so easy, we met our target everyday. Everybody was united. I know it’s my film, but it’s one of the best set I’ve ever been on. You set an initial target of N30m for the project, were you able to meet that target? That particular issue is a bit tricky. What was meant was that other films have met a particular target and I hope to

I’m everybod little sister in Nollywood — Ivie Okujaye

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t used to be that a woman who had no uterus (womb) could not be a mother. But that is old news. Today, a woman can not only get pregnant at an older age, she can become a mother even without a uterus. These days, there are numerous cases of successful “out-ofuterus” or “surrogate uterus” pregnancies. It is quite possible for a woman’s mother, sister, friend or niece to bear children for her. This phenomenon known as surrogacy is fast gaining ground. Grandmother bears own grandchildren There is a celebrated case of a grandmother who gave birth to her own grandchildren, using her daughter ’s eggs and her son-in-law’s sperm. This was reported as far back as 1989 and the whole procedure was necessitated because the woman’s 27 year-old daughter had no uterus. The daughter had lost her uterus from a hysterectomy (removal of uterus) but she had normal ovaries and her husband had good sperm. As it turned out, her 48 yearold mother was willing to serve as the surrogate uterus to carry her daughter’s baby. Their menstrual cycles were synchronised with birth control pills. Then the daughter’s eggs along with her husband’s sperm were used to create two embryos in a culture dish. Both embryos were then placed in the womb of the grandmother-to-be to facilitate her becoming pregnant with her daughter ’s twins. Nine months later, she gave birth to two healthy grandchildren whom she then immediately turned over to her daughter and son-in-law. Thus, in one delivery the grandmother gave birth to her own grandchildren. This is one of the earliest surrogate uterus cases reported. Mother with no uterus Essentially the history of “gestational surrogacy” is well known. It was in 1985 that the first successful case of a woman with no uterus friend. whatsoever was able to have Any woman can have a baby her own genetic child was There is also the case of a reported. The 37-year-old 29 year-old woman who had woman was pregnant, but her uterus and both ovaries her uterus spontaneously removed, and desperately ruptured at 28 weeks of wanted to have a child. Her gestation necessitating a husband had perfectly Cesarean Section and a normal sperm, and they both hysterectomy. The baby girl wanted a baby by her subsequently died and the husband’s sperm. The woman was left childless question was who would and without a uterus. provide the eggs and who he couple, however, would provide the uterus? remained strongly Luckily, one of her sisters committed to having their was willing to donate an egg own genetic child and the and another sister offered to wife asked that an embryo of lend her womb, while her hers be transferred to the husband provided his uterus of a friend who was sperm. The egg and sperm interested and willing to were fertilized in a carry the child as a laboratory dish, and surrogate. The friend was a transferred into the healthy, married young “borrowed” womb. The mother of two. The couple was rewarded with a reproductive cycles of the beautiful daughter, who two women were technically, now had three synchronised. The patient’s mothers— the legal one, the eggs were incubated with one who provided the egg, sperm from the husband, and the one who “bore” her. and three days later an Thus, with an open attitude, eight-cell embryo was and loving friends and transferred to the uterus of family who are willing to the surrogate. The surrogate help, virtually any woman became pregnant and nine can have a baby. months later delivered the Your body, my baby healthy genetic baby of her It’s thanks to the radical

•If the woman is relatively young...her eggs can be harvested during an IVF procedure

Get pregnant without a womb

scientific approach known as IVF and egg donation that women who have no uterus can “bear” their own biological children, assuming their ovaries are still functional. Technically, if a woman’s uterus has been removed, she will not be able to carry a pregnancy. But it has been proven over and over that she can still be a mother assuming she still has her ovaries intact. If the woman is relatively young, perhaps, not above 35, her eggs can be harvested during an IVF procedure. If she cannot produce viable

eggs, then she could benefit from donor eggs. The eggs can be fertilized in the laboratory with sperm from her partner or another donor and then transferred into the uterus of another woman, who is called a gestational surrogate. However, the child will be genetically related to the woman whose eggs were used, not to the surrogate. Surrogacy limitations To be a surrogate, a

The ultimate message is that surrogate uterus pregnancies are here to stay

woman must not be the genetic mother. The rule is that the egg donor must not also be the surrogate. This makes biological and psychological good sense. If the surrogate were also the egg donor there would be severe danger of psychological “bonding” conflicts, regardless of the original intent of the wouldbe parents and the surrogate. The implication is that couples who wait too long can still get pregnant even if the woman has no uterus. If there is an egg problem, egg donation either from an anonymous donor or from a good friend or younger sister of the woman, or even a niece who has not yet gone through menopause helps.The ultimate message is that surrogate uterus pregnancies are here to stay; they are morally and ethically completely proper, and they offer an opportunity for a relative or a loved one to give the greatest gift possible to a woman without a uterus.

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Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

By Sola Ogundipe, 08056180112, solazed@live.com

Celebrity

I’m playing my part to eradicate malaria — Chika Okpala, a.k.a Chief Zebrudiah

When he was picked an accredited as an Ambassadors for Malaria No More NightWatch Campaign 2014, Chika Okpala, a.k.a. Chief Zebrudiah Okoroigwe Nwogbo, Alias 4.30, of the Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, 1970s-80s slap-stick comedy drama series —Masquerade (later New Masquerade) considered himself fit for the role. In his view, Okpala, now 60, says he has suffered several bouts of malaria and as a result knows what to do about the control, prevention and eradication of malaria. Reasonably healthy I’m satisfied with myself. I’m 60 years old now. I eat well, and whatever I eat goes well with me. I don’t eat too much. I eat at least 3-4 times daily using tea to complement at night. I take decaffeinated coffee, drink palm wine sparingly and reasonably health conscious. NightWatch messenger I, Chief His Royal Palm wine Powerless, became a messenger for Malaria No More NightWatch campaign 2014 because I am a recurrent victim of malaria. They picked the right person. I have lived with malaria all my life. I experience malaria monthly. My doctor knows. I grew up cutting leaves to prepare anti-malarial concoctions. Right from my childhood, I have been treated with uncountable brands of antimalarial drugs. Experience I used to take herbs. One day my father took me to the bush with a machete under his armpit. I looked at the machete, looked at my father and ran backwards. But he commanded me to come forward. I told him, daddy, you are making a mistake. It is Isaac that was offered as sacrifice in the Bible. He laughed and threw away his machete. He

I am a recurrent victim of malaria. They picked the right person. I have lived with malaria all my life pointed at a paw paw tree and asked me to pluck some of the fresh leaves. He said get lemon grass, guava leaves and cut some branches of dogonyaro. I gathered them and we went home. At home, he asked me to get a big cooking pot, wash the leaves, put everything into the pot, and boil. After wards, the next thing is to either strain the mixture, allow it to cool, and drink one glass daily for 30 days. Alternatively, get your blanket, sit down on a kitchen chair in front of the open pot, and cover yourself with the blanket with your eyes wide open. I did that for 10 days. Polluted environment Although I live in a clean environment, but you cannot guarantee your neighbours will be as clean. Everywhere is polluted—the air, water and soil. If I had my way, I

would live in an isolated place. As an Ambassador for Malaria No More, I’m educating my neighbours and all Nigerians to stop those habits that are encouraging mosquitoes breed. Simple things like pouring water in the gutters, mosquito breeds there. Mosquito knows no borders. We are saying the mosquito must go. If we all join hands, we can eliminate malaria that has been a thorn in the flesh

of people especially in the West African sub-region. Eliminating malaria Malaria is responsible for over 25 percent of deaths in Nigeria. How many times shall we stand up in silence for all those who have died of malaria? Is it proper to sit and watch our dear ones die without protecting them? We can see mosquito everyday. I am sorry for people like me who suffer malaria attack. If you have malaria, you lose

Brain food is served

your bearings completely. Mosquitoes have no firearms, no munitions store, yet malaria knocks you down for days. It is necessary that all Nigerians rise up to eliminate mosquitoes and malaria. Mosquitoes bite Mosquitoes spread malaria. Malaria kills. Protect yourselves from mosquitoes with all preventable insecticides, sprays, Indoor Residual Spraying, IRS etc. Play your part.

IQ boosting power Packed with brain-boosting fats, walnuts are rich in the plant-based omega-3 fat, alphalinolenic acid—the beneficial fats, which comprise the brains and nervous systems. Regular consumption is linked to numerous other brain-related benefits, including the prevention of neurodegenerative diseases such as dementia and Alzheimer ’s disease, and improved inferential reasoning, concentration spans and interneuron signaling. Cancer prevention Walnuts slow the growth of colon, prostate and renal cancers with whole walnuts providing the biggest benefits. This is attributed to certain antioxidant compounds in such as tocopherols, beta-sitosterol and pedunculagin, which possess anti-cancer properties. Walnuts are best eaten raw and whole. A lot of people dislike their •Walnuts bitter skins, no knowing nutrients improve our cardiovascular they may contain up to Though walnuts’ rich systems, and walnuts are no 90 percent of the main supplies of good fats will exception. Walnuts have been cancer-fighting always be their biggest shown to decrease “bad” LDL antioxidants, draw, we shouldn’t cholesterol and blood They are highly pressure. So add more overlook their surprisingly nutritious with health walnuts to your diets to help high concentrations of benefits bordering on prevent cardiovascular nutrients, which include total healing. calcium, iron, magnesium, disease. Walnuts can boost phosphorus, zinc and endothelial function, making Strengthened them a viable treatment for most B vitamins. Walnuts cardiovascular system are especially high in type II diabetes. Foods rich in beneficial magnesium and a good fats are known to source of protein. Source of additional

SATURDAY

By CHIOMA OBINNA

Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014—29

Mother & Child

Pregnant women should be immunised

mmm! Each day, these people come up with a story. The more they do this, the more they get me confused. Why does a pregnant woman like me need immunisation for? The woman was asking her neighbour waiting to be attended to in one of the Primary Healthcare Centres.

No! Madam, asking you to get immunised does not mean you are a child; they are only trying to keep you and your

•Immunisation

baby safe during pregnancy. Do you know your baby obtains immunity (protection) from you during pregnancy? This immunity offers protection during the first few months of life, but decreases over time. Babies need to be vaccinated at birth to stay protected against 14 serious and potentially life threatening diseases Now, there is no evidence of a safety risk for the mother or her fetus. Regular contact with a woman during pregnancy is used to ensure she is up to date with her tetanus and diphtheria immunisations and also reduce the risk of neonatal tetanus. Pregnant women are at high risk for influenza. There is also evidence that an influenza immunisation in the late stages of pregnancy can also provide protection against influenza in the newborn. A free whooping cough booster immunisation, with a combined Diphtheria/ Pertussis/Tetanus, DPT, vaccine, is free at 28-38 weeks of pregnancy to reduce risk of getting the disease and passing it onto their newborn. When the booster

Diet Doctor

Ban these foods from your fridge Diet drinks Calorie-wise, diet sodas and colas are a better bet than full-sugar colas, so gulping down with lunch is okay but not exactly beneficial to your system or your diet. Artificial sweeteners have been linked to a number of problems, from throwing off appetite regulation and increasing cravings, to upping the risk of stroke and heart disease. Tip: Go for good old water. A bottle of water instead of a fountain soda isn’t very exciting, but the benefits you’ll get are incomparable. Water is essential for every metabolic process, and staying hydrated can stave off hunger, maximize metabolism, and enhance mood. Margarine Tossing a cheap box of bright-yellow margarine into your grocery basket is budget-friendly, but it’s only going to mess with your body later. It’s loaded with partially or fully hydrogenated fats, which

•Diet drinks increase “bad” LDL cholesterol, and therefore raise heart disease risk as well as inflammation, a known trigger of premature aging and disease. Stock coconut oil instead. A little bit of coconut oil can go a long way, whether you’re cooking with it or adding it to whole-grain toast. It’s a heart-healthy fat that has been shown to improve cholesterol profiles, reduce inflammation, and rev metabolism.

Butter Honest, real butter is better for you than margarine, but the truth is that eating too much saturated fat can contribute to weight gain. Eating a little butter on occasion is fine, but because you get saturated fat from full-fat dairy products, meats, and baked foods, it’s wise to minimize it as an add-on or as something you cook with at home. Easy solution: Don’t keep it in the house. Go for avocados which are creamy, so you get that butter-like texture, but they have hearthealthy fats and nutrients. Spread it on wholegrain toast or crackers if you need a quick snack.

immunisation is given before 36 weeks of pregnancy, some protection will cross the placenta and may reduce the severity of whopping cough in babies for up to six weeks after they are born. It is also important for pregnant women at risk of infection with hepatitis B, to receive the course of Hepatitis B immunisation. Generally, vaccines can help keep you and your growing family healthy. If you are pregnant or planning a pregnancy, the specific vaccinations you need are determined by factors such as your age, lifestyle, medical conditions you may have, such as asthma or diabetes etc. Today, many women may not realise that they are not up-to-date on their immunization and are susceptible to diseases that can harm them or their unborn child. Pregnant women should talk to their doctors to figure out which vaccines they may need and whether they should get them during pregnancy or wait until after their child is born. Vaccines are safe. They are tested for safety under the supervision by regulatory agencies and checked for purity, potency and safety. Vaccines considered safe include Hepatitis B, Influenza, Diphtheria/ Pertussis/Tetanus, DPT. A number of vaccines, especially live-virus vaccines, should not be given to pregnant women, because they may be harmful to the baby. Vaccines that can be potentially transmitted to the unborn child and result in miscarriage, premature birth or birth defects include Hepatitis A, measles, mumps, Rubella Varicella, pneumococcal, Oral Polio Vaccine (OPV) and Inactivated Polio Vaccine, IPV.

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not going to stay put throughout the night. Nasal valves Consider it. The FDA has approved them for treatment of sleep apnea and they may be available over the counter for snoring as well. However, they’re one-time use, and not exactly cheap. Oral devices Consider one if you’ve exhausted other options. In someone with sleep apnea who either doesn’t respond to or doesn’t tolerate treatment with a continuous positive airway pressure, a type of mouth guard that moves the jaw can be helpful. Surgery Consider it infrequently. CPAP is the gold standard, and if your snoring is so bad you’d consider surgery, you probably do have sleep apnea. Surgery would only be considered in cases where CPAP treatment didn’t prove effective.

•When Snoring occurs

Save 120 lives, donate blood voluntarily

N line with its corporate social responsibility and contribution to local community and Corporate Citizenship, Novartis Pharma Services English Speaking West Africa started a blood donation drive to raise 120 pints of blood through voluntary donation. The event, took off at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Idi Araba, Lagos officially marking Novartis Community Partnership Day. It is aimed at saving lives through education and encouragement of the general public on the importance of saving lives through voluntary nonremunerated blood donation. The “120 Lives Saved Project” is aimed at giving blood free to the community as part of its commitment to saving lives and addressing the paucity of blood by encouraging voluntary, non-remunerated blood donation among Novartis English West Africa Associates with the expectation that this will bridge the gap in blood availability in Nigeria. Safe blood saves lives - but, for too many patients around the world and in Nigeria in particular whose survival depends on blood transfusion, blood is neither available nor safe. Many issues contribute to its paucity, including various myths and religious beliefs preventing its acceptability. By motivating potential donors to donate blood voluntarily on a regular basis there will be achievement of a safe and sustainable supply of blood and blood products, while encouraging a healthy lifestyle.

Typically Male

Please,don’t snore! W

hen you are snoring, you’re spending too much energy to breathe. Snoring tells you something is wrong, but doesn’t tell you what. Snoring occurs when airways have narrowed, causing the air that passes through it as we breathe to vibrate the soft tissue of the throat. In principle, snoring is not normal. Don’t ignore your snoring, especially if you have other health conditions or feel tired during the day. Here are options that might work or may not be worth your time or money These usually don’t work. A narrowing of nasal passages that’s severe enough to cause snoring happens deeper than can be fixed with a sticky strip.

Fancy pillows Skip them. While it’s true that different neck positions can expand or narrow the airways, chances are you’re

Losing weight Try it! Excess weight can add tissue to the neck that presses and restricts airways, leading to the vibrations that produce snores. Sleeping on your side Try it! There’s greater pressure on the throat when you’re lying on your back, shifting to your side can really quiet that snore.

•Snoring

Excess weight can add tissue to the neck that presses and restricts airways, leading to the vibrations that produce snores

dy’s n

SARTURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014 — 31

Ukeje’s discipline. I love Majid Michel’s intensity as an actor. Lydia Forson is a very honest actress in the sense that she interpretes whatever character she’s given the way it is. I admire certain things about different people, but I don’t have someone I’d say I want to be like.

either meet or beat the target. When you embark on a project, you hope for the best. You look at what your competitors are able to make in terms of return on investment and you hope to beat their record. But, I can’t in all fairness sit here and give you a definite amount I hope the movie will make when it hit the cinemas. The film industry is probably one of the risk filled industry in the country, because there’s no assurance that you’ll recoup whatever you spent producing the film.

Some people refer to you as ‘Little Genevieve. What’s the relationship with her like? I admire her success, she has created a very prominent career for herself. I haven’t had the opportunity to meet her yet. I like the way she carries herself and I think she’s intelligent. I’ll like her a lot when we eventually meet, I hear she’s simple.

Do you hope to continue with music? I would like to conquer the movie industry for now. You can never to be too old to chase new dreams. So, if I’m able to do this by God’s grace, I would definitely venture into a few other things, expand a bit and if people like it, I’ll be dancing to my songs in a club one day, who knows!

How do you relax and what’s your fashion sense like? I enjoy watching cartoons and I always find time to go swimming, because as a human being, health and fitness is important. Fashion wise, I don’t go with the trend. The most important thing for me in fashion is comfort. I don’t care how beautiful the shoes are, if I can’t walk in it, I won’t wear it, except it’s for acting. Arthritis is real and I’m not going to forget that because I’m still young. Comfort and decency is my watchword.

What has been different about you since you joined Nollywood? I’ve been very fortunate because I’ve heard a lot of people tell stories of woes. But I’ve not had any. I was lucky to come in through a platform that is respected and recognised which is Amstel Malta Box Office. Aside that, I’ve worked very hard to open windows of opportunities, to keep the doors that AMBO created for me open. I’ve never had any experience that would drive me out of the industry. I’ve had challenges, which is normal with every job. Are you saying you’ve not been harassed sexually? No, I haven’t. Most people I work with, take me as their younger sister before anything else. They tend to draw me close as a friend and to advise me. When I go to them for any consultation, they are happy to help. I’m someone you’ll just enjoy talking with, that has worked for me. Maybe, that’s why I find it easy, I’m everybody’s little sister. How daring can you be in interpreting roles? I’m not too daring, I feel that there’s a way things can be tastefully interpreted without necessarily being too visual or graphic. There’s a way you can express love and romance in a film without doing certain things that would make the Censors Board have issues with the film. There are a thousand ways to interprete one thing. What if you were expected to interprete it that way? If I can’t do it, I’ll politely decline. There are some actors and actresses who have gone nude, but it doesn’t paint them black. It just means that they have a more flexible mindset on how professional they can be. It’s still a job at the end of the day. I’m just not flexible in my mindset yet. I came into the industry through the platform of AMBO and I’ve managed to set a standard for myself. It would be nice to maintain that standard without distraction. If you were offered a large sum of money about 10 million Dollars, wouldn’t you be ‘flexible’? The money will not influence my decision. It’s the story that will influence my decision. The movie that gave Lupita her award is titled ‘Twelve years a Slave’. She exposed certain parts of her body, it’s a historical story that has to do with what the blacks went through in the past. It’s possible to move me based on the story than the money because my passion and my craft revolves around stories and how I can interprete them. So, it’s not about the money, it’s about the story and the effect it will have on the general public. So, if the story will impact positively on the people, you’ll go for it? I’m still waiting for that story that will make me throw my borders aside. I’m looking forward to it because if I get it, it means I have grown, to be able to get that kind of story. How have you been able to avoid scandals and controversies? Simple, I’m a boring person. Though I’m not an introvert, I’m a sociable person. I rather sit at home watching cartoons than hang out. You are not going to see me in certain places to start spreading rumours. I’m grateful it hasn’t happened. I live a very simple life and I’m a simple person. It would be a shame for anybody to paint another picture of that. Who do you look up to in the industry? I don’t necessarily look up to people, I admire them. I admire Kate Henshaw for her down -to- earth approach to everything and her smiles. I love O. C

Talk about your relationship? I’m in a relationship with the same person I have known even before I hit stardom. It’s a friendship that has blossomed over the years, and by God’s grace it will continue to grow.

There are some actors and actresses who have gone nude, but it doesn’t paint them black. It just means that they have a more flexible mindset on how professional they can be. It’s still a job at the end of the day

What was the attraction? What attracted me to him and what I admire in people is a certain level of humility mixed with confidence. Being able to balance both and I can’t stand sluggishness. What’s your take on pornography in the movie industry? It’s not something that is good. I would not associate myself with such practice. But I will not judge those who are into it. Are you hoping to achieve the kind of success Genevieve has achieved? I’m hoping to make my own kind of mark. Different people have made marks for themselves. I would like to create something that’s strictly an ‘Ivie Okujaye’ success. A lot of people have made different success stories, I admire them, but I’m a different person from them, so I hope to make my own mark too. If you could change anything in the industry, what would it be? Piracy. I would completely eradicate it. A lot of people are working so hard, taking a lot of risks and pirates would just come and enjoy everything. If piracy can be completely eradicated, you’ll see how much stronger the industry would be. There would be enough funds for projects and people will want to invest more in film making. Now that you are tilting towards filmmaking, what is it you’d be doing differently from other filmmakers? I’m not going to sound like I’m the new ‘Jesus’ of Nollywood. A lot of producers are doing the right thing, but they’re also facing the same challenges that I’m facing such as funding, piracy and the environment. I intend to take some of the standards that these producers have and run with it and hopefully make my own mark on the industry. What challenges do you face as a new actress? Stereocasting is a slight challenge. The industry tends to give the same types of roles to actors and actresses because of how they look and what they enjoy doing. In my case, I’m athletic, not necessarily tom boyish. I tend to get roles that have to do with that and sometimes, it can stereotype you. Sometimes, stereocasting helps you make money, but it reduces your artistic abilities because you tend to forget how to do other things. That’s one of the challenges I face. The other challenges have to do with regular jobs which is getting the opportunity to show that you can do better than you did the last time. I’m happy, I’ve not really had major challenges.

32— SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

Why I married my wife —Comedian Elder O

omedian, Elder O finally

wedded his heartthrob, Charity Odoemelam recently in an elaborate and colourful wedding reception held in Lagos. Interestingly, what many, especially his fans are oblivious of, is the fact that the ribcracker met his spouse while compering an event at Akwa Ibom State. “Our meeting was divinely inspired. I met her in December 2011 at Akwa Ibom State, where I went to compere a wedding ceremony. The truth is that, God made our paths to cross. I went close to her and I discovered she is the most wonderful woman any man can pray to have as a wife,” the Abia State-born rib

Chinyere Ogbukagu

‘The Heroes’ unit es Segun unites Arinze, If ean yi Ifean eanyi On Onyyeabor

ctor Segun Arinze and director Ifeanyi Onyeabor are joining forces for a new reality TV show titled, The Heroes: Back to the Roots which is obviously Nigeria’s first cultural reality TV show. The show is also set to commence auditions at the twelve designated centres nationwide. This was made known in Lagos by the producer of the reality TV show, Chinyere Ogbukagu of De Havillah Timeless Productions, Jos. The host of the show, Segun Arinze, assures of his readiness to take the final 37 contestants who would emerge from the various states of the federation and the FCT into the House for specific tasks which would show their deep knowledge of the Nigerian culture. Explaining further, technical director of the production, Ifeanyi Onyeabor said, “A people without culture are like a people without a past, a foundation. Culture is a veritable medium for galvanising a people, predicated on attitudinal behaviours, dress sense, foods, ways of life, heroics and visionary latitudes. This reality show is an expository presentation to the front burner that will drive cultural content and put an end to the alarming drift to the doldrums, as many youth are alien to their cultures,” he said.

fter he emerged the first winner at the reality TV show, Star Quest with his partner Kcee, Presh of the defunct KC Presh went on a musical hiatus to improve on his musical talent. The talented singer who staged a comeback with his hit tract, Olegelege bared his mind on the issue of doing a collabo with other artistes.According to Presh, “I’m not against people doing collabos, but it will not give you the opportunity to explore your talents. I am not saying that I regretted the collabo with Kcee but considering the way artistes are breaking up, I would not

support that for anything. Do your thing yourself and if it profits you, you’ll enjoy that alone. If you lose, you’ll also

cracker recounted. Present at the high-profile wedding ceremony

were Ejike Asiegbu, Okey Bakassi, Senator, Lolo of WAZOBIA, Odogwu, Mr. O, among others.

I am back ffor or good, sa ys says Presh

enjoy that alone. It will also make you know what you can do. I am

promising my numerous fans that I am back for good,”he said. star, 2face and multiplatinum and Grammy Award- winning American rapper, Faheem Najm better known as TPain will be thrilling the crowd individually and collectively, especially performing the remix of 2face’s song, “Rainbow” which featured the American star. No doubt, 2face will be the cynosure of attraction at the event, which is being sponsored by Arik Air. Speaking on the event, Founder/CEO of Big A Entertainment, Mr. Anderson Obiagwu said, his company is determined to sutain the drive towards a world class African show, through its “crossing boundaries with music’ project. “This event will not only celebrate the music of Africa, but celebrate the unique sounds, culture and artiste that tell the stories of our continent as a whole,” said Obiagwu.

2face, T-Pain to perform at AFRIMMA Organisers of African Muzik Magazine Awards, AFRIMMA, Big A Entertainment have confirmed the acceptance of another set of music superstars who will be performing at the award night, scheduled to take place on the 26th of July, at the Eisemann Centre, Richardson, Texas, United States. The new addition, Nigeria’s music super-

2face

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014—33

here he is, the man of your dreams. He’s sit ting across from you or standing at the opposite side of you. His eyes meet yours, a quick glance. Was he giving you a signal? It’s not easy to decipher the mind of the modern male, but learning to decode what his nonverbal communication truly means is an invaluable asset in the game of love. So in order to be sure you’re reading him right, look out for the following signs. Leaning into love: If a guy is interested in you, you’ll find that his body will lean forward toward yours. This move can be either very subtle or extremely “in your face” (literally!). It’s his way of letting you know he’d like to get even closer. Once his interest is piqued, you’ll both find it hard to pull away! Keeping it even closer: A vital aspect of the physical nature of romance is reciprocity. Translation: meeting his advances with your own. This not only signals your own interest, but also serves to keep his. The eyes have it: We’ve all heard the proverb, “The eyes are the window to the soul.” If he’s interested in you, he’ll focus on you with those piercing peepers and hold it. Return his romantic gaze with a quiet smile and let him know that you are interested. He’ll be at your side in no time. Touching is a good thing: If a guy is interested in you, then he’ll want to be near you. He’ll also want to take every opportunity to touch you. Maybe it’s your arm, your leg, your knee — it doesn’t matter, as long as his presence is physical and affectionate. It’s his way of letting you know he likes you. Funny meeting you here: Coincidence is out. Serendipity is in. Those so-called “happy accidents” may not be so accidental after all. Perhaps his “surprise” appearance at your favourite hangout is a signal that he’s trying to connect with you (but doesn’t want you to think he’s a stalker!). Take this as a positive sign and make the most of your next en-

e h w o n k u o y How do ? u o y yo n i d e t is intteeresst counter. You may find that you share more in common . Listen closely: How do you know that you have a guy’s attention? When he’s not talking about himself. It’s that simple. The next time you meet, listen closely to any table full of men and you will hear them speaking rapturously about their favourite subject: themselves. For a man to shut up and really listen to what you have to say, you know it must be love (or at least a strong attraction). He’ll put that male genetic to rest once and for all

PERT X E S E H T ASK I am a 24-year-old girl. I like to walk a lot as a result of which I have developed rashes and itching between my thighs, and I have developed black patches on the affected skin. These patches look ugly and this has been affecting my confidence. Kindly suggest an ointment or other treatment to get rid of these patches.

Use an antiseptic powder like Nycil on the affected area after a bath. Also, apply a cream called Candid-B on the patches in the night for 10 days. In case there is no improvement, consult a skin specialist.

I am suffering from Hepatitis-C. Can it be transferred to another person through kissing? Hepatitis-C gets transferred through blood. Kissing should be safe.

after he’s found his Miss Right. Funny lady: Can’t tell a joke to save your life? Does he laugh at it anyway? Men are very in touch with their sense of humour (women often complain that men never take anything seriously, right?). So if he’s sending some hearty laughter your way, it’s a good bet he’s looking at you as relationship material. Confidence man: If a guy’s into you, you make him nervous. He’ll get goose bumps or a rapidly beating

For a man to shut up and really listen to what you have to say, you know it must be love (or at least a strong attraction)

heart just from being around you. Look for signs like unexplained laughter, sweaty palms and fidgeting. Guys always want to be in

I am a 24-year-old man, soon to be married. My penis is 6.5cm when erect but flat and thin. I would like to know if the thickness of the penis affects the ability to satisfy a woman. I have been masturbating for the last 13 years now. Does that affect the sperm count in any way? The length is fine. Thickness does help but a flat penis does not mean you will be unable to satisfy your partner. Masturbation does not affect sperm count. I am a 27-year-old guy. My parents are planning to get me married soon. The problem is that my penis is curved and leans towards the left when I am aroused. What should I do to get it straight? Will this be harmful while having sex? Also, I ejaculate very small amounts of semen and with very slow speed. I don’t have a proper moustache

control of their emotions —

they like to be in charge. If he has trouble doing that around you, it’s most likely because you make him nervous and excited. Don’t take it for granted; help him to relax, and he’ll thank you by being a great guy you can depend on.

The feeling is mutual: Men and women have very different brain chemistries: She is verbal; he is not. He is driven by visual desires, while she is guided by her deep emotions. Women are taught to rationally express their feelings and feel no shame in crying, and men punch things. Therefore, if you get a guy to actually open up and express his emotions, consider it a major achievement in your relationship. Discussing your feelings for each other is a powerful bonding experience for the two of you and serves to strengthen a relationship for whatever challenges the future may bring.

and beard. Therefore, I look about 21. Is this a hormonal problem? Check with an endocrinologist if your hormones are fine. If the curvature is not very much, then an adjustment of your body can accomplish intercourse. If the curvature is acute, then see an andrologist. I am a 27-year-old single man. When I was 14, I underwent an operation whereby doctors removed my left testicle. Could this affect my sex drive and will I be able to please my wife sexually? Your sex drive does not come from your testicles but from the hormone testosterone, which is produced within it. One testicle is adequate to produce it. If you find any problem with your erection or masturbation, see an andrologist.

C M Y K

34—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

Compiled by

Ephraim Oseji

oseji16@yahoo.com 07032769933

Chelsea

Roma join chase for Rodrigo

sign £35m Costa C

oma are showing an interest in signing Benfica striker and Liverpool target Rodrigo. The 23-year-old has been in fine form this season, scoring 15 goals in total to help fire the Portuguese giants to the Europa League final, and he now looks set to be the subject of much interest in the upcoming summer transfer window. Liverpool and Atletico Madrid have been among those chasing Rodrigo, though Roma are also showing a sstrong interest as the summer approaches, as Rudi Garcia hopes to add reinforcements upfront. The Italian giants lost important attacking players such as Pablo Osvaldo and Erik Lamela last summer, and have been linked several times with new strikers since then.

helsea have apparently got their man after finally agreeing to sign Diego Costa from Atletico Madrid. Costa, who scored a penalty against the Blues in the Champions League, is Jose Mourinho’s number one transfer target – and he’s landed him early. According to reports in Spain, Chelsea have wrapped up the transfer after agreeing to meet the striker’s £35million buyout clause. Costa has also accepted personal terms on a five-year-contract and £200,000-a-week with the move set to be formally announced at the end of the season.

Monaco

Guar diola asks Ba Guardiola Bayyern ttoo decide

could make Balotelli bid

if they want to sack him

ep Guardiola has called on Bayern Munich to decide whether he is the right man to take the club forward after a turbulent week in Bavaria. The fallout of Bayern’s 4-0 humiliation at the hands of Real Madrid has seen Guardiola personally blamed by the German press for the loss and despite this only being his first year in charge, there have been questions asked about his future. Those questions will continue to be asked after Guardiola reiterated that his philosophy will not be adapted and he called on Bayern to decide whether he was the right man to take the club forward.“I can’t train the players with other coaches’ ideas,” he said.

Courtois 'dreams of £41m summer move to Barcelona'

rsenal are ready to battle with neighbours Tottenham Hotspur for the Ajax central defender Joel Veltman. With the future of club captain Thomas Vermaelen unclear, Arsenal are considering a number of possible replacements this summer. Veltman is high on the list, but the 22-year-old has also impressed Tottenham’s scouts.

eal Madrid are ready to open contract talks with Alvaro Morata and offer the Spain Under-21 international a new and improved deal. The promising attacker's existing deal is due to expire in the summer of 2015 and several clubs are believed to be closely monitoring his situation at Madrid. Inter president Erick Thohir recently admitted that he would like to bring Morata to Serie A, while the striker has also been linked with clubs such as Juventus. etc

ario Balotelli looks increasingly unlikely to be at AC Milan next season and Monaco could step in to sign him. After another season of controversies and discontent, Mario Balotelli is expected to be on the move again in the summer. The Italian international has managed an impressive total of 14 goals during a miserable campaign for Milan, but he has also become embroiled in off-the-field drama.

Arsenal and Spurs battle for Veltman

hibaut Courtois' future at Chelsea may have taken a new twist after Spanish press reports that the young goalkeeper wants a summer move to Barcelona. The Belgium international is currently spending a third successive season on loan at Atletico Madrid since joining the Blues from Genk in 2011. He is yet to make his debut for Chelsea but with Petr Cech still established as the No.1 at Stamford Bridge he is unlikely to return to London this summer. Spanish reports claimed earlier last month that Jose Mourinho has urged Courtois to sign a new deal with Chelsea in order to secure his long term future.

Real Madrid to open Mor at act ttalks alks Morat ataa contr contract

Tott enham ttoo re-sign ottenham Taar abt aarabt

Lane. The 24-year-old is currently with Queens Park Rangers, but is spending the ottenham second half of this season on Hotspur are pondering a move to loan at AC Milan, who are keen to keep him permanently bring Adel Taarabt after his impressive form at back to White Hart the San Siro.

Unit ed suf tbac United sufffer se setbac tbackk Sagna edges closer to Man City move in signing Car Carvvalho acary Sagna is moving closer to a Nigeria international

anchester United's chances of signing William Carvalho from Sporting Lisbon have taken a step backwards after the Portuguese club's president claimed he would remain with the club. The 22-year-old has been one of the most consistent perfomers in Europe this season, helping Sporting break up the Benfica-Porto strangle hold on Portugal's top flight.

summer move to Manchester City after failing to negotiate a new deal with Arsenal. The French defender has been in negotiation with Arsenal over a new deal since the turn of the year but failing by both sides have seen him linked with a summer exit . Interested clubs such as Fenerbahce, Galatasaray, Inter Milan and Monaco have all been credited with a move for the right-back.

C M Y

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014—35

REAL MADRID, MAN UNITED emerge clubs with ‘Most shir shirtt sold in the world’

Van Gaal ttoo mak makee Hummels ffir irirsst signing

eal Madrid and Manchester United emerged as the clubs with the highest shirts sold in the world, with 1,400,00 shirts sold per year, amazingly, Cristiano Ronaldo alone sells over one million shirts, which is more than Bayern Munich, Chelsea or Liverpool do altogether. The Red Devils are the biggest shirt sellers in England by a large distance, and it will be interesting to see if their foreign fan base remains faithful ahead of next year, when the club will be without Champions League football. Chelsea and Arsenal are 4th and 7th respectively.

rospective new Manchester United head coach Louis van Gaal has made highly rated Borussia Dortmund centreback Mats Hummels his number one transfer target when the Dutchman’s appointment at Old Trafford has been officially confirmed, according to reports The experienced Dutch trainer is expected to be announced as the successor to the recently sacked David Moyes in the Theatre of Dreams hot seat by the middle of next week.

Lazio’s Mar tti Marcche hetti agrees Milan switch A

C Milan are set to complete the signing of Lazio goalkeeper Federico Marchetti, Il Corriere dello Sport has quoted Swiss media as saying. The two clubs have reportedly agreed on a •13 million transfer fee, with the player yet to reach an agreement over personal terms. The Rossoneri see the former Italy international as a great long-term replacement for veteran keeper Christian Abbiati. Milan have been keeping close tabs on Marchetti for quite a while and they decided to act when it became clear the player was unhappy at Stadio Olimpico.

Fiorentina keen on Vr saljko saljkoo keen on VVrrsaljk

ime Vrsaljko's agent has confirmed Fiorentina's interest in the Arsenal target but admits they are not the only club in pursuit of the Croatia defender. Genoa right-back Vrsaljko has settled very quickly in his first season in Italian football and is now wanted by some of the biggest club sides in Serie A, as well as Arsenal. Reports revealed that AC Milan, Inter Milan and Fiorentina are all in pursuit of the 22year-old. His representative Giuseppe Riso says the latter club want the right-back but insists they will have a fight to land him at the end of the season.

Daniel AAgger gger Player deal expected with Barca

arcelona are reportedly ready to offer Cristian Tello on loan to Liverpool and cash in return for Daniel Agger, Catalan reports claim Barcelona are ready to make a summer move for centre-back Daniel Agger this summer and are ready to do business with Liverpool over the Danish defender and winger Cristian Tello. Tello has struggled to force his way past the likes of Neymar, Pedro Rodriguez and Alexis Sanchez for a starting place and it is fully expected that he will depart this summer.

Chelsea to dump fifteen senior players over summer C

helsea could dump no less than 15 of their senior squad this summer in a massive overhaul. The Blues owner Roman Abramovich will tell manager Mourinho to build an attacking side at Chelsea and is ready to back his manager in the transfer market. Attacking trio Fernando Torres, Demba Ba and Samuel Eto'o will be offloaded. Other big names at the Bridge could be sold to raise funds, with the outgoing list set to include David Luiz, Ramires, John Obi Mikel and Victor Moses. Other names among those set to be shipped out are Marko Marin, Oriol Romeu, Gael Kakuta, Josh McEachran, Hilario and Sam Hutchinson.

FANS ZONE Are you a Manchester United, Chelsea, Arsenal, Liverpool, Barcelona fan and would like to meet fans, male or female from other parts of the country. Then send your name, age, where you live and the club you support to 0802354-2350. sms only.

zAmakashe Roland Junior, 35, Edo State, Chelsea fan needs a female fan as friend. 07083715771 zMarvis 20, Sapele, Manchester United need friends. 07064618017 zBenjamin, 33, Ibadan, Arsenal need both male and female friends.07032534953 zKelechi Chinyere, 25, Warri, Manchester United need friends.08036947328 zDr Peter Akpoturi, 38, PH, Chelsea need friends. 08174623206 zWayne, 20, Lagos want cool female fans as friends.08104330220 zSimon, 27, Lagos, Liverpool need friends.08153149042 zEmmanuel, 17, Chelsea, need friends.07014525585

Sevilla sniffing around Shaqiri

eports in Germany have linked Xherdan Shaqiri with a summer move away from the Allianz Arena. The 22-year-old Swiss international is a target of Spain's Sevilla who just reached the final of the UEFA Europa League. After a stellar first season with Bayern Munich under Jupp Heynckes, Xherdan Shaqiri had what should be described as an up and down season under new coach Pep Guardiola.

Ci ty pl ot £5 0m , pl us ovv an d Kol ar o Dz ek o fo r Po gb a

anchester City are preparing a £32million bid for Juventus midfield star Paul Pogba, plus either Aleksandar Kolarov or Edin Dzeko. The versatile midfielder ’s agent is currently trying to negotiate a new deal with the Turin club. Pogba’s demands include a massive wage hike, somewhere in the region of £70,000, and with Juventus’s financial worries they may not be able to agree to this.

Casillas should be Madrid aldano 1, VVald o.1 No.

he former Madrid director has voiced his concerns with the Spain goalkeeper's lack of gametime ahead of the Champions League final Former Real Madrid general manager Jorge Valdano believes Iker Casillas should be los Blancos' No.1 for the remainder of the season.

QUIZ

of the week

Pu lis & Wi ck ha m ha nd ed Ap ril aw ar ds

Which team will win the Champions rystal Palace boss Tony Pulis has League final in Lisbeen awarded the Barclays bon? Send your an- Manager of the Month award for swers to 0802354- April. Sunderland striker Connor 2350 sms only. Wickham was named Player of the Month.The 21-year-old scored five Note. times to take his team out of the drop The first correct pre- zone, with key strikes against title diction will receive contenders Manchester City and N1,000 recharge card. Chelsea.

36 — SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, MAY 3, 2014

08111813022

END OF AN ERA: Why I created ‘Checkmate’ --Amaka Igwe I

conceived “Checkmate” by watching “Mirror in the Sun” produced by Lola Fani-Kayode. I had written a script about an all conquering female hero like Queen Amina. I wrote it like a traditional stage play thing. When I saw “Mirror in the Sun’, I decided to make it a modern all conquering female hero story. However, when I was producing Checkmate, Lola Fani-Kayode asked to see me one day and I was overwhelmed. Some people also asked her to produce a soap opera to antagonise and defeat Checkmate. She called me to let me know… A soap opera is a project which belongs to everyone in the project. It is not for that person who is only concerned about how much he or she is going to be paid. No, soap operas don’t even pay any money. You won’t believe it, in Late Amaka Igwe Solitaire, no one asked me for the money. Now, the payments are soon to be made and we want to compute all the episodes they are and offset the bills.

Amaka Igwe was a game changer — RMD Richard Mofe Damijo, RMD, who starred in “Checkmate” as Segun Kadir described Amaka Igwe as the best screen writer of her generation. She was the game changer not only for Nigerian soap operas but Nollywood too. She not only penned and produced the best TV dramas and movies, she brought class and glamour to it. Raised the bar of TV production with an unparalleled sense of humour. Her death has created yawning gap in the Nigerian creative industry. I will miss her because she was more than a friend.

What I learnt from Amaka Igwe —Bimbo Manuel

s Nigerians have continued to mourn the demise of frontline producer and director, Mrs Amaka Igwe, who died last Monday at age of 51, some of the popular characters on her created sitcoms,”Checkmate’ and “Fuji House of Commotion”, have taken a trip down memory lane, sharing sweet stories of how they came in contact with the deceased. According to Bimbo Manuel, “I didn’t start working with Amaka on “Fuji House of Commotion.” Rather, I started working with her right from the time of “Checkmate,” from where I got the name Nduka .Some of us had already done some productions before then. How I got involved in “Checkmate? A classmate of mine, Dami Awuse called me on phone to be part of the production. It wasn’t as if I walked into the character because it was totally a professional environment. After the audition, they promised to contact me, which they did. That was how I got the role of Nduka in “Checkmate.” On “Fuji House of Commotion”, I think it was based on my creative ingenuity, having worked with her on Checkmate,” he reminisced. For Manuel, Amaka’s ability to make the characters live up to their billing was part of the lessons he learnt while working with her.

he first opportunity I had to work with late Amaka Igwe was on the set of “Solitaire” and later, “Fuji House of Commotion.” It was a period of hard work that resulted in huge growth for me as a professional and in my personal life. The only way(to my knowledge) that you can get a role in Amaka Igwe’s production is through audition. I don’t think Mrs Igwe encouraged a situation where people recommend artistes to her. Even if somebody recommended you to her, you still need to prove your mettle. She was dedicated, driven, passionate and consistent. It was clear who,Amaka Igwe was and what she stood for.

The Amaka Igwe I know —Iretiola Doyle She was also a huge personality and a game changer. Her legacies Her legacies will be sustained by people like us whom she helped to shape their future through her craft. Immortalisng her name Amaka Igwe was all about training and retraining. Establishing a film institute in her name would be nice. But it wouldn’t be properly equip, there’s no point embarking on such project. The Mrs Igwe I know would hate to have her name associated with mediocrity.

SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, MAY 3, 2014 — 37

08111813022

Late Christy Essien-Igbokwe’s hubby opens up on his new marriage L

*Actress Oluchi Philip

ate Lady of Songs, Christy Essien Igbokwe’s husband, Chief Edwin Igbokwe has broken his silence, explaining why he decided to remarry barely three years after the death of his wife of 31 years. Chief Igbokwe secretly got married to actress Oluchi Philip, who is believed to be in her 40s. The couple had both their traditional marriage and white wedding recently in Anambra State. The new union is said to have created a storm within the Igbokwe family as the children of the late singer boycotted the ceremonies because they were reportedly not happy with their

father ’s decision to remarry barely three years after the demise of their mum. But in a chat with HVP, Chief Igbokwe explained why he decided to remarry. According to him, “I thought I could stay alone but I discovered it wasn’t possible. It would have been terrible if people start seeing different women around me. I wanted a responsible situation and moreover, I want to live longer. My feeling at a point was; what am I still doing here? But we are not God. Life must go on. On how he met his new actress wife, Igbokwe said, “I knew her father before the civil

war. It was after the war that he got married to his wife. She was born after the war. I also met her mother when her father died. Even when my mother died many years ago, they paid me a condolence visit from their place. That was when her mother introduced her to me. It was my late wife who received them when they visited us in Awka. She knew her then, but there was nothing between us. I granted an interview where I said ‘there is no way I can get married again,’ but it happened with the passage of time.”

Exclusive!

Nollywood is going to the OSCARS in 2015 A

head of the 2015 Oscars, the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences (AMPAS), has approved a twelve-man committee of Nollywood stakeholders, the Nigerian Oscars Selection Committee (NOSC), paving the way for Nigerian entries to be considered for the world’s most prestigious prizes for films. Each year, countries with an approved selection committee may submit one film for consideration for the Foreign Language Film Award, only 5 films are chosen from all international submissions for Academy members to cast their votes and choose a winning foreign language film. “This is a great opportunity for Nigeria to have a voice in the international film arena”, said Chineze Anyaene, filmmaker and committee chairperson. The NOSC comprises twelve outstanding professionals who have over time proved their mettle as some of the finest in the movie industry and will select one Nollywood movie each year to be submitted for the Oscars.

Ramsey Nouah They include Chineze Anyaene, Ngozi Okafor, Olumide Amure, Ramsey Nouah, Kene Mkparu, Emeka Mba, Chioma Ude, Akin Salami, Mildred Okwo, Biola Alabi, Charles Novia and Shaibu Husseini. According to Academy rules, the members will consider submissions on seven criteria, which are: story, direction, acting, cinematography, sound, music and universal theme. Every Nollywood movie selected each year will compete with movies from eighty-five (85) other countries for the coveted Best Foreign Language Film Award. Academy members will then pick a shortlist of five foreign language pictures ahead of the awards ceremony.

MultiChoice out with BoxOffice

ultiChoice has officially launched Box Office in Nigeria, in what is yet another move to provide DStv subscribers with the ultimate in home television entertainment. BoxOffice is a service that allows subscribers to conveniently rent and watch the latest blockbuster movies in the comfort of their homes, right on their DStv Explora decoders. With BoxOffice, DStv subscribers can now rent and keep movies for up to 48 hours, for N400 per movie, and your first movie is courtesy of DStv Nigeria.

Thereafter customers using the service may choose to use any of the flexible payment options to rent and make anytime movie time with BoxOffice. Mr. John Ugbe, the Managing Director of MultiChoice Nigeria said that with BoxOffice, DStv Premium subscribers can enjoy the best and latest of Hollywood and Nollywood on their Explora decoders. “DStv services like BoxOffice form part of a bigger MultiChoice strategy to use cutting-edge technological innovation to help people enjoy some of the best entertainment available at a time that’s convenient to them.”

Half of a Yellow Sun saga:

Security operatives, NFVCB meet in Lagos T

here are strong indications that the internationally acclaimed film, “Half of a Yellow Sun” which is currently facing roadblock in Nigeria after its world premiere in Canada last year, may begin showing in the cinemas across the country any moment from next week. HVP, learnt about this new development during the week, after a close-door meeting involving a team of security operatives, representatives of cenors board and the distributors of the film was held at the FilmHouse, in Surulere, Lagos. During the meeting, which lasted for a few hours, our source disclosed that the film was screened to the audience to enable the security operatives assess it as well as make their recommendations. An adaptation of Chimamanda’s Ngozi Adichie’s award-winning novel, the film was supposed to have started showing in the cinemas since Friday, April 25. But had to be stopped by the National Film and Video Censor

Board, NFVCB, which has delayed its registration over “some unresolved issues which have to be sorted out.” Meanwhile, many commentators on social media believe that the film was stopped from getting into the market due to the parts that tend to whip up tribal sentiments, especially on issues that led to the Nigerian civil war. The board is said to be afraid that tribal rivalries could be inflamed if the movie is shown in the cinemas across the country. “The film is “a beautiful production, ” but the only problem is that the distributors did not follow the normal procedures before releasing the film into the market,”a source who was at the meeting told HVP. He assured that as soon as the board receives the recommendations of the security operatives, they would not hesitate to certify the film.

38—SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 3, 2014 Dear Aunty Julie, My boyfriend has recently told me that I am a flirt at work (we both work together). I feel that I am just friendly and if another man takes my comments further than they are meant to go, is it my fault? I think that my boyfriend is taking it too far. Recently, for instance, I came in and said “nice haircut” to a co-worker who had been there all night and all hell was let loose. I need some advice as to how to handle this situation. Briddy, Sapele Dear Briddy, Most people would agree there is a difference between flirting and being friendly. However, most people would also agree that the difference between flirting and being friendly can be difficult to discern. For some, flirting is the first step in seduction. They’re testing the water to see what kind of response they will get to help them gain the courage to take their interests a step further. For others, flirting is a way of connecting with another person, of making contact, of flattering the ego of the person you’re flirting with, and a way of flattering yourself. Being friendly could also be interpreted, by the recipient of your friendliness, as flirting, even if you have no flirtatious intentions. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to examine your own behaviour and your own motives. Are you just being friendly? Are you massaging your own ego? What is your intent? Can you be friendly without flirting? Perhaps as important, how is your flirting being received? Is it accepted casually, or are you getting invitations, or responses, you may neither want nor expect? Once you think about these questions, it may help to explain your thoughts to your boyfriend. Perhaps the way to look at this situation is from your boyfriend’s point of view. How would you feel if you overheard him saying, “Nice hair,” in a teasing, playful way to a person at work under similar circumstances?

Women are not crazy about me

He thinks I’m a flirt This may give you some insight into how he feels. Maybe, the issue here isn’t your flirting, but the insecurity of your boyfriend. You could think about having an open dis-

How do I let her know she is special Aunty Julie, There’s this lady I met sometime and I really love her. She is everything I desire in a woman and we are very compatible. We love similar things from my observation. But the issue is that I am married already and cannot marry her. But I want her to know I love her and will like to be close to her. Even though I’m married, I still love her and would have loved to marry her if I was single. I don’t want to mess her up. I really care about her and would protect her. I wanted to talk to her, to tell her all these but I am extremely shy. I’m thinking of writing her a letter and giving her a gift. Yet, I do not know what to really write to make her feel like responding. My other question would be, if she is interested, how could I keep her? I really love her and would like her to be my very close friend. Gbenga, Abeokuta Dear Gbenga, Your idea is very romantic, and may allow you to save face if your beautiful stranger doesn’t reciprocate. But you cannot eat your cake and have it. When playing the role of suitor, it may be helpful to

Honeymoon An elderly couple decided to celebrate their 50th anniversary in the same hotel and city where they spent their honeymoon. Before the act, the man excused himself and went to loo and after a while, came out laughing loudly. “On our first night,” the woman said, “you did the same thing and came out laughing. At the time, I was too embarrassed to ask what you were laughing about. Can you explain?” “On that night while urinating,” the husband explained, “I made the roof wet. Today my shoes are wet.” Hold me Husband and wife are getting all snugly in bed. The passion is heating up. But then the wife stops and says: “I don’t feel like it, I just want you to hold me.” The husband says, ”WHAT??” The wife explains that he must not C M Y K

cussion with him. Do you understand why the “flirting” bothers him? Does he understand? How does he define flirting, and how do you? And, does he feel left out or ne-

glected when he perceives you’re flirting with someone else? You may be able to come up with solutions together, if you can sit down to discuss how you both feel. With some open communication, maybe you can continue to be your naturally friendly self, and give your boyfriend some reassurance at the same time.

maintain both an optimistic and realistic attitude. In other words, proceed as though there’s a possibility of rejection alongside a possibility of reciprocation. But you are not a suitor since you are married. You cannot keep a woman you are not going to marry. But if you want friendship in platonic terms, approach her and express yourself. Being shy will not take you anywhere. But you can start small. Try smiling and starting your conversation based on what you think you have in common. Stop if your beautiful stranger seems annoyed or creeped out. Remember, many people often receive unwanted advances and comments in public spaces — be respectful of the person’s boundaries. If your beauty notices you and seems okay, say “Hello,” if the opportunity presents itself. You may watch for clues about this stranger’s interests. Does the object of your affection read any magazines, books, or a newspaper? You may start a conversation based on that. Try to take it slowly and see what happens. If your admired stranger seems willing to chat, great. If not, then at least you tried. As for your question about how to make someone feel spe-

cial and keep the person’s interest once you’ve met, try to go with your feelings and your heart. Focus on being honest and genuine so the person likes the true you. Consider what it would be like in the other person’s shoes and what would be caring, sensitive, respectful, and loving to you and your special someone. When you hold someone dear, it shows in your actions and words. Remember that you can’t control another person’s thoughts, feelings, or behaviours. The best you may do is to just be yourself and enjoy the time you spend together. Let a relationship develop and grow naturally. Buy a gift, if you want. Don’t feel like you have to.For now, your main concern is getting closer to her. So, start by talking casually with your admired, and be yourself. Keep in mind that desperation or neediness is usually obvious and unattractive. Since you love her and wants to protect her, don’t make promises you cannot keep and let her know you have a family. And don’t spoil things if she is already in a relationship. If not, let her date other men and find happiness and cause no obstruction. Just be her friend. Platonically. And that is if she cares .

C O C K - T A L E S be in tune with her emotional needs as a woman. The husband realizes that nothing is going to happen tonight and he might as well deal with it. So the next day, the husband takes her shopping at a big department store. He walks around and has her try on three very expensive outfits. She can’t decide. He tells his wife to take all three of them. Then, they go over and get matching shoes worth $200 each. And then they go to the Jewelry Department where she gets a set of diamond earrings. The wife is so excited. She thinks her husband has flipped out, but she does not care. She goes for the tennis bracelet. The husband says, ”But you don’t even play tennis, but OK if you like it then let’s get it.” The wife is jumping up and down, so excited she cannot even believe what is going on. She says ”Okay, I’m ready, let’s go to the cash register.” The husband says, ”No – no – no, honey we’re

Aunty Julie, I’m a guy of 32 years who can’t seem to find the right person. I’m not unattractive or a louse, but for the longest time, I’ve had trouble starting a relationship with anyone. The problem is that when I meet a woman, I can’t seem to progress past the friendship stage. Many of these women become my good friends, but they just don’t seem interested in starting a physical relationship. My bad luck has left me feeling unattractive and unconfident. I get frustrated when I hear about my friends falling in and out of relationships. How can I improve my relationship status? I know it’s vague, but it’s been troubling me for a long time. Donald, Auchi Dear Donald, Luck often doesn’t have a lot to do with romantic relationships. It seems you must know that because of the strong feelings you’re having about not being in a physical relationship. When potential intimate relationships are not progressing as anticipated, someone’s frustration with this may cause her/him to just give up rather than spend time fostering that potential connection with a possible partner. If you feel romantic about someone, flirt and clearly communicate that you are interested in pursuing the relationship past friendship so that the other person knows of your interest. Take it slow, but not too slow, so the initial excitement and momentum do not diminish. And then your next steps will be determined from there.It sounds as if you need to start defining yourself for who you are, not by who you’re with. Men and women alike are attracted to confident people with high self-esteem. Your lack of confidence may be detectable to potential partners and give off the vibe that you aren’t ready to fully enjoy a new relationship with someone because you aren’t yet content with yourself.

not going to buy all this stuff.” The wife’s face goes blank. ”No honey – I just want you to HOLD this stuff for a while.” Coming home late Two married buddies are out drinking one night when one turns to the other and says, “You know, I don’t know what else to do. Whenever I go home after we’ve been out drinking, I turn the headlights off before I get to the driveway. I shut off the engine and coast into the garage. I take my shoes off before I go into the house, I sneak up the stairs, I get undressed in the bathroom. I ease into bed and my wife STILL wakes up and yells at me for staying out so late!” His buddy looks at him and says, “Well, you’re obviously taking the wrong approach. I screech into the driveway, slam the door, storm up the steps, throw my shoes into the closet, jump into bed, slap her on the butt and say, ‘You as horny as I am?’ . . . and, she always acts like she’s sound asleep!”

SATURDAY

Vanguard, MAY 3 3,, 2014—39

Prostitutes and their dangerous punters! A

NYONE who enters the world of prostitution thinking it’s going to solve all their financial problems will be bitterly disappointed. The cold reality is that you deal with the darker, seedier side of life on a daily basis. Many of your clients don’t have a good level of personal hygiene and it’s all you can do to prevent yourself from throwing up. Many of those so called customers are arrogant and treat you like dirt because they’re paying. Others always push their limits, wanting more and more...”, observed Fidelia, recently. Some six years ago, Fidelia was a carefree secretary in a fairly big firm with lots of friends and oodles of confidence. She got herself a couple of boyfriends and her social life became frenzied. Thanks to some high-flying colleagues who combined their jobs with frequent trips to Dubai to bring back goods they sold in the office, Fidelia was able to dress well •\on credit. “Before I knew it, I was owing two or three colleagues huge sums of money”, she said, “and things came to a head when I was roughened up by two of the ‘traders’ within a month! A classmate of mine had always hinted I could make easy money by going to private parties organised by some top ‘guns*. I already knew what to expect and always turned her down. This time around, I was the one who singled her out to take me with her on her next outing, and that’s how it all began. “True, I’ve met the flash type who throw money at you, but I’ve also met men who think they can do what they like because they ’re paying•\ being violent at times and forcing you to have unprotected sex. If you say you won’t do something, they quickly down the dram. Sadly, I become extra aggressive, its doubt if I’ll ever trust another man just you and him alone in the again. All my ‘boyfriends’ are room. One grab round the married; most of their wives have throat by a drunken punter no idea what monsters they’ve and you wouldn’t even be landed themselves with. able to shout for help. Your “With prostitution, all you invest opinion of men goes very

Prostitution is an industry where so many women and children are exploited and abused

in is your body. And sex is one of the commodities that sells even in a credit crunch. As good as the money is, it comes at a terrible price. You become a bit fearful in case any of

your friends guess what you do or start asking questions about your money. I mean, how would I feel if my friends and family •\or worst of all, future kids •\ found out? How would it feel if I lost my reputation just for a bit of cash? That’s why a lot of my so-called girlfriends in the trade are alcoholics. Drinking numbs the guilt they feel selling their bodies. “At times, when I attend a big do and a man stares at me, I cringe in case he’s one

of my ‘customers’. In spite of my fears, I still haven’t quit. I thought that once I’d paid off all my debts, I’d stop, but the money has become addictive and I began spending it as fast as I was making it. My boyfriend almost found out recently when one of his friends told him he’d seen me before being led to a room at one private party. I denied it so vehemently that he cut his friend off for wanting to ruin our relationship! “The shock of discovery made me more careful and I intend to stop soon. I still have my health and am lucky not to be roughened up by a violent man. You can be as careful as you like but a violent man is not likely to use a condom and you’ll be very unlikely to stop him. Prostitution is an industry where so many women and children are exploited and abused. Many do not want to be there and quite a few get damaged for life. It’s just not worth it....”

Are you a chocaholic?

fter the long weeks of Lent, Easter came,various super-markets were chock-a-block with various shapes and sizes of chocolates ranging from Easter eggs to jumbo packs that make you salivate. And they are all arranged to hit your face as soon as you enter the shops. Needless to say, most of us will be chomping through helpings of the lovely stuff, but what impact will all that chocolate have on our bodies? Some people think it’s good for you, some say it’s bad. So who’s right? The British Consumer’s Association has tried to find out by examining various theories. Here are some of their findings to help you cope with being a chocoholic! Chocolate gives you spots: Those of us prone to an outbreak are advised to eat fewer and fatty, sugary foods. But studies have revealed that what passes our lips has little impact on ours chances of developing spots. It gives you Migraines: Studies looking at chocolate as a possible trigger for migraines have been unable to prove a link. One suggestion is that some sufferers may simply eat more chocolate before an attack because they’re already feeling unwell. It’s good for your heart: Chocolate contains substances called flavonoids, C M Y K

which have an antioxidant effect on our bodies, helping fight diseases, including cancer. There are some evidence that dietary antioxidants may slow narrowing and hardening of the arteries. But can chocolate really help? Research published in the scientific journal, Nature,took a look at the level of flavonoids in the blood of a group of healthy volunteers who had eaten either dark chocolate, dark chocolate and a glass of milk, or milk chocolate. Researchers concluded that while flavonoids in dark chocolates were able to increase the antioxidant power of the blood, the addition of milk seemed to negate these beneficial effects. So

Easter is when you throw caution to the wind! in milk•\calcium and vitamins B2 and B12. It rots your teeth: Chocolate contains a lot of sugar. This causes the bacteria in the mouth to produce acid and if the process happens too frequently our teeth starts to decay. However, the high fat content encourages the flow of saliva, which tends to wash away any potentially demanding build-up. You’ll pile on the pounds:Yes, chocolate is full of calories. But just how many? Indulge in a 500g bar and you’ll be consuming around 500 calories. That’s about a quarter of your daily energy requirement if you’re adult and female. The same bar will contain about 30g of fat, two

Cocoa also contains chemicals that inhibit mouth bacteria that attack teeth

to see any benefit we would probably have to nibble on dark chocolate. It’s full of nutrients: Dark chocolate in particular contains magnesium, copper and iron. Milk chocolate also contain many of the nutrients found

thirds of which is saturated. This is almost half the recommended fat intake for a woman and one third of the intake for a man. It’s no surprise then that experts say that chocolate should be a rare treat for those of us

who lead sedentary lives. Choc facts: Chocolate melts at 34oC, just below body temperature. So it melts immediately when it is placed in the mouth. Real vanilla is used only in fine, chocolate. Most brands contain vanillin, an artificial vanilla that can leave a nasty

aftertaste. Why you shouldn’t give up chocolate Altogether: Chocolate is less likely to cause tooth decay than other sweets because it only leads to a small increase in acid production in the mouth. Cocoa also contains chemicals that inhibit mouth bacteria that attack teeth. So a square of chocolate is a better treat than a toffee or bailed sweet. Chocolate also contains a chemical called theobromine, which suppresses the nerve activity responsible for causing us to cough. A little chocolate is also good for your heart. A study found that women who ate one or two servings of dark chocolate each week cut their risk of heart failure by as much as a third. Another study found that about a square of dark chocolate a day lowered blood pressure and reduced risk of heart attack and stroke by 39 per cent. Eating chocolate during pregnancy may make for contented babies. Scientists questioned 300 women before and after they gave birth, and found those who ate chocolate daily were more likely to say that they had happy babies.

40—SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

bombard him with accusations the second you’re alone. This really drives guys crazy. Everyone knows that communication is important to a good relationship, but knowing when and where to communicate can be just as important. Bringing up a problem at an inappropriate time or place will almost never solve it, and will become a problem in its own right. And he’ll be reluctant to bring you along to his cousin’s wedding if he’s worried you’ll be shooting him dirty looks all night.

08052201257 anyagafu@yahoo.com

Are you sabotaging the relationship?

Take a moment to ask yourself: Are there issues or arguments you had with your former guy that still bother you

here is a problem if you cringe and cover up when your partner

sees you naked; compliments make you nervous and defensive; or thinking about his positive attributes makes you wonder what he’s doing with you. When we are ashamed of our bodies, we “withdraw sexually” and have trouble “being playful and free. The first step to the solution is awareness: realizing, for example, that when he says, “ you look beautiful in that dress” and you hear, “go to the gym,” it’s not because he’s being sarcastic, but because you feel ashamed of your body. The second step is to learn to talk about it in an open, honest way. Explain your insecurities to him, why you think you have them, and how they make you feel. Then, pledge to yourself to throw the symptoms of insecurity out the window. Once you stop calling yourself fat, for example, you may stop feeling so fat.

here is also a problem

Or do you snap so often? You know you have this problem if... your partner complains you’re always blowing up at him.

if... you bring up sore points on issues you argue about often or recently — at

romantic dinners, family functions, or company events. Or, worse yet, you

f you scream at him, you know he’s going to scream back.” Excessive anger may be a sign that you’re insecure about his feelings for you. Snapping at him allows you to control his behaviour because his response — anger — is predictable. But if he feels like he’s always about to step on a land mine, you may be doing the very opposite: driving him away. The next time you feel mad at him, ask yourself if your anger is proportionate to the offense. If not, think about why you feel so furious. You’re sabotaging your

My friend has multiple sex partners

ues: My friend in the University is still in 100 level and she has already had sex with several guys. She is having safe sex, so it’s not dangerous in that sense and she claims to be enjoying herself. However, it seems to me that such behaviour is unhealthy and damaging to one’s emotional state and reputation — but I’m not sure how to explain to her how I feel, or articulate what is wrong with how she’s acting. Do you think what she’s doing is wrong, and if so, how should I confront her? Nora, Lagos Ans: While it may be disconcerting for you to think of your friend having sex with multiple partners, it’s tricky to pinpoint exactly how this behaviour will impact your friend psychologically or socially. For some young women, casual sex can be associated with depression or lower self-esteem. But it’s not safe to assume that casual sex will cause negative outcomes for all women (or your

friend). No-strings-attached sex may be more common than some people think. A research revealed that 70 percent of Univeristy students had sex with someone in a non-romantic (casual) context. And while the verdict is still out on what impact casual sex has on young adults in general, girls and guys do seem to be affected differently by lots of mattress hopping. Some studies show that women having the highest frequency of casual sex also have the highest frequency of depressive pathology, perhaps as a result of seeking external validation via sex or male attention, or even because of an association with their sexual encounters and a strong sense of regret. However, there is no evidence to say that having casual sex causes feelings of depression, only that the two tend to be associated in some women. When it comes to casual sex in universities, drugs and alcohol can play a role. Probably the most ubiquitous combo of social lubricant and inhibition blocker out there, there is a not-sosurprising correlation between substance

use/abuse and getting it on. If your friend is consuming alcohol as foreplay to her encounters, there is room for worry. Substance use and risk-taking go hand in hand, and casual sex from a health perspective is already on the riskier side of the spectrum. Even if a person normally has safer sex when sober, alcohol may impair sexual negotiation skills, making it harder to insist that partners use condoms and/or other safer sex precautions. An important factor to consider is the sexual double standard for men and women in our society. This double standard says that different sexual behaviours (for example, casual sex) are acceptable depending on whether a person is a man or a woman. Sexual reputations (as you mentioned) are a perfect example of the double standard: active, healthy female sexual desire is labeled negatively while an active, healthy male desire for sex is not only expected, but positively encouraged.

• Ibrahim, 35, businessman, based in Lagos, needs a Muslim lady aged 25-34 for a serious relationship on 08146375498 •Chibike, from Rivers State, 49, fair, business man,widowed, based in Lagos, needs a dedicated lady of 35 and above for a

relationship that will lead to marriage on 08063596153 •Emeka, 26, based in Lagos needs a wealthy lady in Lagos, aged 28-45 on 07083109899 •Adeyemi, 48, employed, God

fearing, wants a mature woman of 40-45 on 07013083292 Do you have reactions to our stories or have you any experience you want •Ola, 30, male, undergraduto share with our readers? Please e-mail,chiomagabriel@vanguardngr.com ate, single, needs a caring lady for a godly relationship that will lead to marriage on Do you want to be linked? Neither Chioma Gabriel nor Saturday Vanguard has any relationship with anybody wanting 08060391690 to be linked. We have no agents anywhere and charge no fees. We have no personal informa•Bruno,36,needs a lady for a tion of people who have been linked or want to be linked and therefore, are not answerable for relationship that will lead to disappointments or embarrassments some people may encounter in the process. marriage on 07067646293 C M Y K

relationship if you're keeping a tally of the gives and the takes. You say things like, “Yes, we hung out with my friends tonight but I hung out with his friends for the last five days.”

r do you feel like you always make more sacrifices for the relationship? Keeping score provides you with ammunition to win the argument “ who’s the better partner” but that's sabotage and it’s childish behaviour that you should do your best to minimize.Be hyper-vigilant when your thoughts slip into the “yes, but...” pattern. Or do you blame your beau for problems you had in your last relationship? Your ex had an affair with his female secretary, so you tell your new boyfriend you prefer him to have a male secretary. It’s a basic truth of psychology that “ we often repeat problems in order to solve them. For example, when you’re suspicious that your new boyfriend is going to cheat on you, like your ex did, your subconscious is trying to come to terms with the old problem. The effect will hardly be productive.

ake a moment to ask yourself: Are there any issues or arguments you had with your former guy that still bother you? If so, write them down and be on the lookout. The next time you’re angry with your current boyfriend for something similar, ask yourself whether or not he deserves it. But be clear that you’re talking about your old flame solely for the purpose of improving your current relationship.

Mining the differences between empowered, pleasure-seeking behaviour and a more harmful pattern of sexual decision-making can be difficult. Before talking with your friend, you may want to ask yourself what concerns you most: the perception that she is risking her reputation? The chance that she may be putting herself at risk for sexually transmitted infections and/or pregnancy? The idea that she will feel regret or other negative emotions as a result of casual sex? Once you’re clear about your own concerns, you can propose that the two of you have a conversation about the fact that you seem to be making different sexual choices and how those choices may be impacting you positively and negatively. Remember to ask permission before getting started — your friend may not want to talk about it, that’s her decision. Also, keep in mind that while you have concerns for your friend and are a good friend for expressing them to her, she may not end up sharing those concerns.

•Winifred, 24, female, humble, seeks a caring man

aged 27-32 for a serious relationship on 0817497424

•Best, 49, female, based in Lagos, needs an honest God fearing man aged 50 and above who is ready for marriage on 0811276609 •Blessing, male, wants a lady of 25-30 years from any part of the country for a strong relationship that will lead to marriage on 081233442688

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

C M Y K

Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014—41

42— SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

Continues from page 7

19 tterr err oris ts killed in Borno erroris orists No fewer than 19 suspected Boko Haram insurgents were killed in a gun battle with security forces in Gwoza local government area of Borno state on Thursday. The incident which lasted for about three hours happened when the militants stormed a security check point mounted by the military, leading to a fierce shoot-out. A resident of the area who declined identification told newsmen on phone that the attackers, believed to have emerged from the Gwoza hills, took the soldiers unawares when they appeared from different directions. The source explained that the invaders threw several Improvised Explosive Devices, (IEDs) into the direction of the military, before opening fire. “But the insurgents suffered serious casulaties as 19 of them were killed in an encounter with combined team of military and policemen attached to the Counter Terrorism Squad (CTS), who were quickly mobolised to the scene of the attack. "I cannot say if there was casualty recorded from the side of security personnel

because we were not allowed access to the scene till the following day when soldiers displayed corpses of the insurgents killed in the incident and asked everyone to come and catch a glimpse ”, the resident said. According to him, "by mere looking at all the slain terrorists, they were between the ages of 15 and 17.

Jonathan sets up committee on Chibok girls By Ben Agande, Abuja

resident Goodluck Jonathan yesterday set up a fact- finding committee comprising of security agencies and international organizations to assist in the possible rescue of 276 abducted female students in Chibok area of Borno State.

Building collapses in Ibadan, one feared dead By OLA IBADAN

AJAYI,

tipper driver identified as Kabiru was trapped yesterday under the debris of a 2-storey building which collapsed at Ologuneru in Ido Local Government area of Ibadan c i t y . Divine providence, however, made dozens of others working at the uncompleted building site escape unhurt. As at the time of filing this report, all rescue efforts made by officials of Oyo State Government,

Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps and other agencies as the crane brought to the site could not lift the heavy debris up to rescue the man. One of the survivors who preferred anonymity said there were many of them mixing granite and cement to deck the middle floor of the building. According to them, before the collapse of the building, there was a deafening noise around 2pm which made all of them to run out of the building".

Minister of Information, Labaran Maku who briefed state House correspondents after an extensive meeting with security chiefs said the decision to set up the committee arose as a result of conflicting information about the abducted students. Maku who was joined by Spokes persons of the security agencies said yesterday’s meeting received updates on the second Nyanya bombing, the ongoing search for the Chibok girls, and efforts made so far to deal with related incidents of insecurity and terrorism in the country. He said security chiefs also briefed President Jonathan and the meeting on efforts so far made to locate and rescue the girls, and bring the perpetrators to justice. President Jonathan, he said gave instructions for additional proactive measures by security agencies to enhance public safety, including increased public awareness for citizens to step up their cooperation with security agencies by reporting suspected activities and persons likely to cause a breach of public peace, safety and security.

The minister added that the Air force has kicked out extensive surveilance of all the routes leading into and out of Chibok up to the Chad and Cameroun borders . ”Other parts of Borno and Adamawa states are also under the searchlight.” He added. ”Every information relayed to security agencies has so far been investigated, including the search of all places suspected as a possible hide-away of the kidnapped girls. The police, backed up by the military and DSS, have combed and are still combing all reported places that the girls might have been taken to.” He said President Jonathan also commiserated with the families of the deceased in the latest bombing at Nyanya. He said the President has directed that full medical treatment be given to victims at government expense. ”The President also shares in the pain and anguish of the parents and guardians of the Chibok girls abducted by the terrorists. The President’s heart goes out to these our

unfortunate daughters who have had to endure the trauma of abduction and separation from their loved ones. The government and people of Nigeria stand solidly by them”. President Jonathan has appealed to the parents, guardians, relations and members of the public to furnish security agencies with all the information that will assist in the rescue of the girls. ”Government also appreciates the public outpouring of support and the sentiment expressed so far by all Nigerians, including civil society groups who have come out to condemn the abduction of the girls and terrorism in the country.

Government strongly believes that the people of Nigeria, standing together, will overcome the current security challenges” Maku added. Emphasizing on the Chibok abduction, Maku said, “The President assures Nigerians that “wherever the girls are in the world, we will get them back, apprehend and punish the culprits”.

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

W Akpo Esajere gives daughter in marriage

en the

t was indeed a parade of society movers and shak ers when Akpo Esajere, the former group political editor of Guardian newspaper gave the hand of his daughter, Veno Esajere in marriage to Oritsetimeyin Omamuli last weekend. While the traditional wedding took place penultimate Thursday, the church wedding held last Saturday. Photos by Kehinde

Vanguard, MA Y 3 MAY 3, 2014—43

Ogun State awards

IRS

OGUN State Internal Revenue Services, IRS, gave out awards to corporate organisations and individuals during ‘a day’ with the Governor, Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State held at the Cultural Centre, Kuto, Abeokuta recently. Photos by Wumi Akinola

Gbadamosi

From right: Mr Akpo Esajere, father of the bride; Rev Felix Ovbude, and Mrs Voju Atikpokunju

The couple, Mr Oritsetimeyin and Mrs Veno Omamuli.

From Right: Bishop Chioma Dauji, Apostle Baba Dauji, and His Royal Majesty Leonard Ezebuiro, Royal Father from Imo State.

Chief Godwin Koma Omamuli, Prof Peter Okpli, and Mrs Juli Omamuli,, parents of the groom

From Right: Dr Mathew Eshalomi, Mr Peter Arigbe, and Dr Olu Oma-William.

Dr Samuel Adenekan, corporate affairs manager, Nestle Nigeria Plc receives 'Most Corporate' award from Gov Ibikunle Amosun.

Mr. Olufemi Ransome Kuti on behalf of Larfage receives 'Most Responsible Corporate' award from Gov Ibikunle Amosun.

Mr & Mrs Jide Jones admire their 'Most Responsible Individual' award received from Governor Ibikunle Amosun

Helen Edet and Omodele Saheeb OMODELE Saheeb and his sweetheart, Helen Edet, took the giant step into matrimony when they were recently pronounced man and wife before family and friends at their traditional marriage which held at Satellite Town Ecumenical Centre,Satellite Town, Lagos. Photos by Akeem Salau

L-R:Mr Abiodun Saibu,Mrs Edet Iso, bride's mother;Mrs Mariam Sule, groom's mother,the couple; Mr and Mrs Saheeb,with Mr Edet Iso, bride's father;Mr Oshomah Niyu and Mrs Omije C M Y K

L-R: Rev (Mrs) Magret Omijie and Mrs Momodu.

L-R: Alhaja Muyibat Olaide Adams and Alhaja Efiguve.

44—SA TURD AY 44—SATURD TURDA

Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

Nigeria ahead in optometry practice in Africa — Dr Udom Dr. Uduak Christabel Udom, the immediate past President of the African Council of Optometry, has just been elected the President of the World Council of Optometry (WCO). In this interview, she speaks about the problem of optometry in Nigeria and Africa and what can be done to move the profession forward. Excerpts: get the prescribed contact lenses, it is very necessary to meet a profesBY SONI DANIEL, sional. Regional Editor, North

profession. What is Optometry all about? Optometry is a younger healthcare profession and not as old as Medicine, Nursing, Dentistry, etc. But a lot of people are getting to be aware of the profession. In the country, we have what is known as Optometrists and Dispensing Opticians Registration Board of Nigeria, ODORD, which regulates the practice of Optometry in the country. Again, the Nigerian law defines Optometry simply as the art and science of vision care. In a layman’s language, our scope of practice includes a comprehensive eye examination, treatment of minor ocular diseases, correction of errors of refraction using glasses and contact lenses, orthotics which has to do with the management of vision imbalance between the two eyes and muscular imbalance between the two eyes, contact lens practice and general eye care. Now that contact lenses are going more cosmetic these days, is your profession involved in cosmetic practice too? Contact lenses have gone cosmetics because of the variety of colours but you can still have contact lenses correcting errors of refraction while also combining the cosmetic aspects. There are people who use contact lenses merely for the cosmetic appeal. But I must warn that it is dangerous because such action may result in infection, especially when people get such lenses off the counter without knowing the proper way to fix, clean and remove them. Some leave contact lenses for a longer period, work under dusty environment where dust gets trapped in the lenses thereby leading to infection. Even for people considering plain contact lenses, it is advisable for them to see an optometrist. Are you implying that it is safer to use the conventional lenses to the contact lenses? No. I am saying that using contact lenses without professional guidance and attention can be dangerous. If you want to use contact lenses for merely cosmetic appeal, it is advisable to see an optometrist or contact lenses expert to guide in fixing, removal and cleaning processes. To

Is the practice of Optometry embedded in the Nigerian healthcare delivery practice across board - from the primary to tertiary healthcare levels? Yes, it exists across board from the primary to tertiary level of our healthcare delivery system. But we don’t often see such services especially at the level of primary healthcare delivery in the country? That is true. In some states, we see Optometry mostly at the secondary and tertiary healthcare centres. We still need to do some advocacy to get the practice down the ladder. We have seen people who have simple infections that could have been treated at the primary healthcare level and they don’t have the money to go to the eye clinics in the cities. Sometimes, they go to general hospitals where there are no eye clinics leaving them with the option of going to the teaching hospital. Some of such people won’t bother to go all the way to get treatment and would go back to the villages and use herbs. Somebody will tell them to use urine or other substances that could further damage the eyes. Having served as a volunteer during eye care outreaches in several local communities, I have seen so many go blind because of a simple infection that could have been treated at the early state that caused the blindness. When you ask them, was there a time your eyes were red and painful and they would answer yes. When you asked why they didn’t go to hospital, they tell you they didn’t have the money. If there were services at that level, the blindness could have been prevented. Does it mean that Optometry is not a part of primary healthcare services in Nigeria? It is supposed to a part of the primary healthcare system but it hasn’t yet been integrated into the system in Nigeria. Why is it so? That is why I said that we need to do more advocacies. You rightly said that a lot of people in Nigeria don’t know what Optometry is all about. Besides, our healthcare policy makers may not also understand the role of Optometry in the healthcare system. For instance, before I became the President of the African Council of Optometry, I was the President of the

Dr. Uduak Christabel Udom

any Nigerians don’t know much about your

There are people who use contact lenses merely for the cosmetic appeal. But I must warn that it is dangerous because such action may result in infection Nigeria Optometry Association and we tried to take advocacy to the level of meeting the Senate Committee on Health. We booked appointment and tried to make presentations to make them understand the role of optometry and the need for us to start a school eye services. Many children are not doing well in school today because they have some eye problems and the parents don’t know. I have been with the wife of governor in this country whose children had eye problems and she didn’t know. So it is not even the question of enlightenment. It was the teacher who sent a note to her that it appeared the children were not seeing properly. She took the children to an optometrist and it was discovered that they were short-sighted and glasses were recommended. The children picked up immediately and got tops of their

classes after that and the mother became so passionate about issues of eye care. It is not a matter of saying my parents are educated and so they will know. That is not true but if there is a school eye care programme in the country where the teachers would offer training to one or two teachers in a school free , they would identify children with eye problems and refer them for treatment early enough at the primary healthcare centers. But even if they have to go to the secondary healthcare facility, such teachers would book appointment for the children to see specialists. We also took the advocacy to local government chairmen at the time and what they told me was that they don’t have money to employ optometrists at the heath centers. We, however, insisted that they could employ at least one professional per council area. Some

states bought into the idea. For instance, we had a meeting in Imo State at that time and over 33 optometrists were later employed and sent to all the local government areas of the state. It’s all about understanding the need for optometry services by policy makers. You were talking about taking your advocacy to the Senate. Did you succeed in meeting them after all? Well, we did to some extent. Some members of the Senate Committee on Health at that time said they were tired and couldn’t sit down to listen to our presentation on the day they gave us an appointment. They told us they had a long meeting before then. So

Continues on page 45

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

Denial is a major reason Nigerians suffer eye damage Continues from page 44

had brought the father to the clinic

are infrastructure and where they would easily break even. That is why you see many people opening clinics in Abuja, Lagos, Port Harcourt and other big cities. This situation has deprived the public service of professional optometrists. Are you saying that there are 3,000 optometrists in Nigeria’s public health system?

lectures, they have now been upgradUdom ed to doing a six-year programme leading to the issuance of OD. These are the only countries in Africa that is following the system in the US. South Africa is still doing BSc and is still struggling to upgrade to a straight programme for OD. In terms of numbers, South Africa has the largest number of Optometrists in the continent with over four thousand registered practitioners followed by Nigeria

majority of them left and we ended up addressing the chairperson and three other members only. We gave them examples of states that bought into our programme including Bayelsa and Lagos states. One of the members was biased that we mentioned Lagos state which is controlled by an opposition party, thinking that we were supporting that state government. We took time to explain to them that we do not belong to any political party but that we were concerned with what would benefit the children of Nigeria. We told them that many children drop out of schools because their eye conditions were not detected early enough. Do you think the senators who walked out of you feigning tiredness understood the import of your services to the nation’s healthcare delivery system? I can’t say, but I know that some of them do have problems with their eyes and they get the best treatment. They probably don’t think this thing about the children is important. I don’t know please. But that is a subtle indictment on the part of the senators who are paid with taxpayers’ money to make laws for the good of the people of Nigeria including the children? I don’t know about that. Currently, where is Nigeria in the practice of Optometry? Nigeria is ahead in optometry practice in Africa. Are you sure considering what is happening in South Africa and Ghana? We are ahead and I am going to explain that to you. Optometry around the world has different competency levels. The reason is that some countries never had optometry before. Nigeria is actually ahead of the United Kingdom in optometry training. UK had three year post A-level which is like the four year programme we have here which is BA Optometry. The reason is that UK has two types of opticians, that is the ophthalmic opticians and the dispensing opticians. The ophthalmic opticians’ scope of practice was restricted to eye examination and prescription of glasses while the dispensing optician does all the technical work leading to the issuance of the recommended glasses. But optometry started in the United States about a hundred and three years ago. It progressed from one level to the other until they started using therapeutic drugs which was introduced. To qualify in the US, you do a science degree in the related area and move straight into the Optometry School for another four years, making it a total of eight years. But in a few schools in the US, there is a straight six-year optometry programme that offer OD, that’s Doctor of Optometry. Nigeria started the UK way with a BSc Optometry before we reverted to the system in the US. In Nigeria, we have a six-year straight programme leading to the award of Doctor of Optometry. Ghana started with a BSc in Optometry but with the help of Nigerian

Denial is one of the major reasons why a lot of Nigerians suffer eye damage.

with over three thousand registered practitioners. The last time I made enquiry, I was told Ghana has about four hundred registered practitioners. I don’t know how many people they have graduated recently. With about three thousand practitioners in a country with over 170 million persons, don’t you think we are still lagging behind? It is inadequate but we are still producing more professionals. The World Health Organisation, WHO, in collaboration with the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness, IAPB, has come up with the ratio of optometrist per population. The ratio is one optometrist to 250,000 persons. But there is an issue with what we call “mild distribution.” Right now, we do enough based on the international ratio because many of our colleagues are not absorbed into the public health system. Majority is into private practice and of course, you wouldn’t want to take your private practice to a rural community for any reason. Private practitioners would always go to cities where there

Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014—45

No. The 3,000 I talked about is the total number of registered members. Majority of these are in private practice. And this happens because the government has not created opportunities for them to be absorbed into the public health sector. Based on your years of practice, can you tell us the major eye problems people face in Nigeria and Africa? One of the major problems we have in this part of the world is glaucoma. African ancestry is a risk factor in glaucoma. There are different kinds of glaucoma but the most prevalent is the chronic open angle glaucoma also known as the thief of sight. We call it thief of sight because it steals a person’s sight without the individual knowing. When its starts, the individual does not feel any pain while the pressure inside the eyeball continues to rise and as this happens, the sight nerves are being damaged gradually. The individual will still be seeing but the field of view is progressively narrowing. By the time the individual realises that something is wrong, the damage has extended to the centre of the eye. At that point, nothing can be done to save the affected eyes; medically speaking. We also have refractive errors most of which are caused by hereditary factors. Some refractive errors are also caused by environmental factors including lifestyle. It is also caused by age. As one gets to the age

of 40, a lot of changes might have occurred in a gradual basis. At a younger age, the crystalline lens is jellylike. It changes shape easily for proper focusing when an object is brought closer and when it is taken farther; that is if there is no error of refraction. But as an individual grows older, the crystalline lens start thickening from the center and moving out gradually. At age 40, it has thickened to the extent that the lens is no longer able to change shape and focus as before. It becomes difficult to read tiny prints at close range. When an eye problem begins, many people engage in denial and claim they can still see and so would not seek medical attention. Denial is one of the major reasons why a lot of Nigerians suffer eye damage. I have seen a situation where a father has glaucoma and I advised the child to allow me carry out a test on her eyes free of charge because glaucoma is hereditary. She

and I had checked and found that he is at the end stage of glaucoma and there is nothing we can do medically to redeem the situation. At that point, we may only refer the patient to an ophthalmologist for surgery but that again would not improve the vision. It will only allow whatever vision available to remain for a while. Sometimes, after the surgery, the pressure goes up again and the cycle continues. I was shocked that even at that kind of situation; the child told me blindness in not her portion and would not allow a test to be carried out on her. This is a young girl who has a life to live but would not give herself the opportunity to live well. Denial is a major issue in our part of the world. Are you saying that faith has no place in the practice of medicine and optometry? Well, you are bringing something to my own lifestyle. I am a Christian. I believe in God and I know that God works miracles. But there is something called presumption and I have come to know that many people take presumption for faith. There is a story in the Bible where people disobeyed God when He told them not to go to a battle. The people said no, we are going to win. The Bible said they went in presumption. They were defeated at that battle. A lot of people mistake presumption for faith. Faith is based on the word of God. I tell people who say they don’t want to use medication that there was a blind person that Jesus touched and he was healed. There was another blind person where he spat on the ground, mixed the spit with sand, rubbed it on the eyes of the blind man and asked the person to go and wash it off. That was perhaps, the beginning of the art and science of optometry. The bible records that herbs are meant for the service of man. All the medications we have today come from herbs. When we were studying glaucoma in school, we came across a particular drug called Eserine. The textbook indicated that the drug was extracted from a particular beans found in the Calabar area of Nigeria. This is a textbook written in the US. It is indicated that the drug originated from a bean found in the Calabar region of Nigeria. Right there, my classmates asked me to go and find the beans. I came back home and went to the market and asked whether people knew any beans called “Eseri.” They looked at me in amazement. They didn’t say anything to me. Eventually I went to my aunt and told her I’m looking for a particular bean called “Eseri.” She told me I shouldn’t have asked for it openly adding that

the bean is used in preparing charms. She took me to a place in Ikot Ekpene Market where they sell fetish items and she whispered to the seller that we needed “Ased.” That was what I was calling “Eseri” based on what I read from the textbook. The glaucoma drug Eserine is made from “Ased.” There is a professor of Botany from the University of Benin who asked me to look for certain herbs and leaves from Akwa Ibom for him to use in his researches. When we got back from the market, I asked my aunt why people don’t openly ask for the bean and she told me it is used in arresting witches and wizards.

Vanguard, MA Y 3, 2014 MAY

here is a question that used to get me really irritated:“If you,your wife and your mother are in a boat and the boat is sinking and you can only save one person, who will you save, your wife or your mother?” I get irritated because I feel it is an unnecessary assumption meant to cause disaffection. What do you want a guy to say? That his mother is old and in the departure hall (apologies to Baba Obasanjo) already, so he would rather save his wife? Or he can always marry another wife but his mother is irreplaceable, so he will save his mother? In every man’s heart, there should be a place for his wife and his mother and each person’s space should be enough. Trouble starts when either wife or mother oversteps her bounds or becomes unnecessarily selfish or intolerant or/and the man at the centre of it is not man enough to draw the line. I do not understand why some men even allow or encourage mother-wife rivalry. The relationships are totally different and you should manage these two important women in your life effectively. Long ago, a friend told me a story. He was an upstart then, but he is now a media/business baron. He said he used to sometimes eat eba morning, afternoon and evening. On this morning, he had eaten eba with the delicious soup

Wife versus mother prepared by the wife. When he came back from work, she served him the same soup, but it tasted totally different. He asked his wife: “Clara (not her real name)…wetin come happen to the soup? No be this soup I chop go work this morning?” “Mama say salt no do, e come add salt,” the wife responded. He was furious. There and then he went to the mum (who was visiting) and told her the kitchen is his wife’s and if she had any issues with the soup, she should have altered only her portion and not the entire pot. Sorting out mother and wife issues for me is a matter of justice, fairness, firmness and diplomacy. Incidentally, I do not have personal experience to rely on because my mother and my wife are best of friends (I have nothing to do with their closeness) and my mother does not even get involved in children’s marriages. Getting her to even visit you is like manually uprooting an Iroko. Her

standard response to such requests literally translated is, “I don’t want to be uprooted from my base.” Personally, I do not feel you should make efforts to make your wife and your mother friends. Let their relationship evolve naturally. They do not even have to be friends if they do not want to. But there must

46 — SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

your mother and motherson issues should be kept away from your wife. Sometimes keeping them apart is not possible; for example, if your mother is living with you for health or some other reasons. Women can be territorial and your mother must know that your house is your wife’s turf. It might not make sense to her that she has limited rights in the home of the son she sold her wrappers, jewellery and made other sacrifices to train, but that is the way it is. Sometimes it defies logic, but that is partly why marriage is a mystery. Wives must, however, be magnanimous in this

Women can be territorial and your mother must know that your house is your wife’s turf

be mutual respect or they should at least tolerate each other. You have an obligation to protect your spouse from your overbearing mother, while you should not allow your wife to trample on the woman who carried you for nine months and whose breasts you suckled. If they want to live like cats and dogs, put them in separate water-tight compartments, let their paths be parallel; do not take your marital issues to

“victory” marriage has thrust on them. This is Africa and mothers-in-law are older; be considerate and respectful. Someday, you too will become mothers-in-law. Related to this is when parents try to run their children’s homes after they have married. The truth is once your son/daughter gets married; the new couple becomes a new family called nuclear or immediate family, while parents and siblings become extended family. It is

a tough situation to accept and it is not comforting to the ear that a complete stranger, as a result of marriage, is now immediate family with your son while parents and siblings are now extended family. But that, again, is one of the mysteries of matrimony. Parents (and siblings) must learn to let go, you must allow your children to live their lives. You had all the opportunity to mould them while under your roof. That task is over. What you owe them now are: prayers and love. For couples whose families are intrusive, he/she must shield his/her home and spouse from them. That is your responsibility. Couples must however have mutual respect for each other ’s family. My elder brother, Fr. Tony, told me that when I was getting married; it is important. If there is a difficult family member or situation, the man should deal with it, if it is his family and vice versa. That way, one party does not get accused of being disrespectful to the other ’s family. But if the concerned spouse refuses to act, after much insistence, the other spouse should sort it out without being disrespectful. Very few problems get solved by being ignored; they usually get bigger.

NB: More on parental involvement in children’s marriages next week

(Text Only)

1. Forward Bend with Knee Up

Technique: Sitting down with both legs extended forward, bend the left knee and clutching the wrist of the left hand with the right hand behind you, lower the forehead as close to the right knee. Stay on the position for 10 seconds and build over to 20 seconds

Quadriceps and Hamstrings:The w or kout wor ork backwards while turning the hands in and placing the foot on the floor behind the left hand, keep the left hands straight and spread out the shoulders throwing the head

Forward Bend with Knee Up

Technique: Stand with the feet together, bend the trunk down and with the fore finger and thump form a ring around the big toes with the corresponding fingers of both hands. Keep the knees straight and flatter the back with the head hold up. Benefits: This posture tones the digestive organs. Add

flexibility t o the spine and tones the hamstring(muscles of the back of the legs). 4. The Crab Technique: Stand straight with the feet

wide apart, bend the knees and passing the arms beneath the knees. Bring the hands out and place them neatly on the feet with the head held up.

The Crab over time. Benefits: The posture tones the abdomen, hamstrings and strengthens the arms, and back muscles. 2. Backward Bend Technique: Get on your hands and knees then extend the left leg

backwards, hold for 15 seconds and change. Benefit: This posture renders the knee supple, strengthens the arms and back muscles. It also helps to tone the abdominal wall. 3. Standing Forward Bend

Yoga Classes STARTED @ 32 Adetokumbo Ademola, Victoria Island Lagos. 9.00am — 10.00am on Saturdays

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Student auctions her virginity with the highest offer at $300k M

ed student, 27, auctions off her virginity with the highest offer at $300k.. and says she doesn't need the

money to pay off student loans.A 28-year-old medical school student who is auctioning off her virginity on the

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014—47 details and is confident internet has already she ‘can execute and received bids as high as control’ the unique $550,000, as she reveals ‘transaction,’ which will her face in an effort to in fact take place in attract more hefty offers. Australia because The student, who is prostitution is illegal in using the alias ‘Elizathe U.S. beth Raine,’ launched To be safe, the winner her online auction on must have no STIs and March 31 and initially be willing to wear a hid her face to conceal condom. her identity before later He must also not be deciding it would help drunk or on drugs convince skeptical during the encounter, customers. attempt anal sex or treat Just a week before her violently. bidding ends on May 7, She, however, told the the current top bid listed Huffington Post that she on her website is is open to kissing the $550,000. Raine claims winning bidder, and that while she’s doing believes she could even this for the money fall in love with the man primarily, she is also who pays the most for attracted by the advenher flower. ‘I wouldn’t ture, eroticism, scandal rule out love, but it’s and the chance to very unlikely,’ challenge norms about Raine said while she virginity. She added likes older guys and tall that she’s been planmen, she knows she ning the auction for a can’t control who wins. year and it’s transBut she has ruled out formed her, making her sleeping with a woman, more educated about claiming that would be prostitution, virginity ‘out of my comfort zone.’ and ‘slut-shaming.’ She also can’t guaranRaine told the Huffintee that she’ll be any gton Post she was born good in the sack. in the southwest but ‘There will be a legal spent much of her contract between us,’ childhood in Saudi she said. ‘[The winner] Arabia because of her may not be happy [with dad’s job in the oil the sex], but he knows industry. what he’s paying for.’ She believes that she has thought of all the

Injured driver refuses to be rescued until his wif irms she 'll sstill till wifee conf confirms love him if disabled S

eriously injured truck driver refuses to be rescued until his wife confirms she will still love him if

he was disabled. A truck driver who was left seriously injured after a road crash refused to let firefighters save his life until he had called his wife to ask the question: ‘Will you still love me with one leg?’ Kong Huang, 35, was left trapped inside his truck after a crash in southwest China. He was driving a lorry loaded with sand when he hit another car on a bend in Suining, Sichuan province. When she said yes, Mr Huang ended the call and told rescuers: ‘Ok, go ahead, I can live.’ After a

rescue operation which lasted several hours Mr Huang was cut free from the wreckage and was saved without his limbs being amputated. Recovering in hospital, Mr Huang said:‘I was

doubly blessed this day. I got the love of my wife unconditionally and I have the good fortune to return to her a whole man. I am very lucky.’ Staff spent almost a day clearing the wreckage from the smash.

Tyr ant Mugabe yrant claims Brit ain has Britain ‘gone to the dogs’ T

yrant Mugabe claims Britain has ‘gone to the dogs’ because of a loss of values, and says people with ‘gay habits’ should be ashamed Dictator Robert Mugabe has laid into Britain describing it

Man allowed Hy ena ttoo eat his genit als Hyena genitals M

an allowed Hyena to eat his genitals because a witch doctor told him it would make him rich. A man has been left without genitals and with three missing toes after a witch doctor told him that losing his body parts would make him rich. Chamangeni Zulu, from Malawi, has been hospitalised at Chipata General Hospital in Zambia, near the Malawi border, after he allowed the hyena to eat his manhood. Mr Zulu told the Times of Zambia yesterday that he was promised by a witch doctor that by sacrificing his body parts he would become rich. ‘I met some business persons who told me the best way to become rich was to sacrifice parts of my body,’ he told the paper. At around 4am on Monday last week, the man went into the Zambian bush. Mr Zulu said: ‘I was instructed to be

as ‘small in mind’ and a nation that had ‘gone to the dogs’. The Zimbabwe President said people with ‘gay habits’ in Britain should be ashamed adding that he felt ‘pity’ for the Queen, who he admires. In a rare interview, the 90-year-old tyrant hit out at the Labour ‘ruffians’ of 1997 and branded then Prime Minister Tony Blair and US President George W Bush ‘liars’ over their dealings with his homeland. He said: ‘That wisdom which the likes of Churchill had, where is it? ‘You can’t see it in people now with gay habits – shame on them. I pity the one lady I admire, the Queen, that she is in these circumstances, I’m sure down deep she must be groaning (at) the loss of values in Britain.‘They’ve gone to the dogs.’He went on to say that ‘countries don’t respect Britain any more’ and that Prime Minister David Cameron ‘doesn’t talk much, but he acts in the same was as (George W) Bush’.The extraordinary outburst also involved an attack on current US President Barack Obama who he claimed had abandoned the black population in the US.The interview, due to air tonight at 9.30pm on the BBC News Channel, came just weeks after the dictator marked his 90th birthday by telling Britain: ‘We don’t hate you, we only love our country better ’. As part of the £600,000 celebrations, he released 90 red balloons at a football stadium in the small farming town of Marondera in Zimbabwe. In recent months the country has seen allegations of massive corruption in state enterprises at a time when many Zimbabweans are surviving on less than £1.20 a day.

naked and a hyena came to me and started eating my toes and eventually my manhood was eaten.’ Mr Zulu said that the witch doctor did not make it clear that his body parts would be ‘lost’. Yet despite the horrific ordeal, Mr Zulu admitted he was still hopeful of becoming rich. ‘Even if I have lost some important parts of my body, I still want to get rich,’ he said. The Malawi man has been living and working in Zambia for the past four months. Chipata Hospital described the man’s condition as stable and said that he had been brought to the hospital by police officers.

48—SA TURD AY 48—SATURD TURDA

Vanguard , MA Y 3 MAY 3, 2014

MAY DAY 2014 IN LAGOS

How Lagos rally was hijacked by protests • As Fashola urges trade unions to shun illegal strikes, protests

rescue the girls. He condemned the tuition increase in LASU, describing it as a sure way to deny children of the poor access to education. “How many civil servants can afford to pay the fees of their children without stealing government’s money? The fee is outrageous and we are condemning it. “Public education should be accessible to everyone. There is nowhere in the world where universities are built only for the rich. LASU should not be an exception’ ‘he said. On the issue of the State University (LASU), the Governor said he has met the students who were involved in the issue of increased school fees twice and that he has explained the circumstances and reasons that informed the increases asking them to proffer alternatives to the problem with both parties resolving to have a middle ground.

Fashola reacts

Gov. Fashola at 2014 workers’ day rally at Onikan Stadium)

overnor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, has urged workers and labour unions in the country to shun the use of illegal strikes, especially during an election year to settle trade disputes between them and their employers as such acts affect productivity and employment drive of governments. Meantime, the annual Worker‘s Day rally in Lagos was almost disrupted as students and Senior Staff Workers of the Lagos State University, LASU, and some civil society groups staged an unexpected protest at the Onikan Stadium, Lagos Island, the rally ground , seeking for immediate reversal of the hike in tuition fees of the institution. The senior staff of LASU, including lecturers, numbering about 50, staged a peaceful protest round the venue, chanting anti government slogans with various placards with inscriptions condemning the hike in the tuition fees of the school. The situation resulted in delays and intermittent stoppage at the rally, as armed policemen, led by the state‘s Commander of the Rapid Response

Squad, Mr Hakeem Odumosu battled hard to bring the protesters under control. They had to use iron barriers to ward off the surging crowd. Thousands of workers who had turned out for the rally, watched as some of the protesters attempted to force their way into the state box, where Governor Babatunde Fashola and other guests were sitting. Other groups, such as the Joint Action Forum (JAF) and other civil society groups also, staged simultaneous protests against LASU fees, abduction of school girls in Borno State by Boko Haram insurgents, among other issues. Dr Adekunle Idris,Chairman ASUU, LASU chapter who led the lecturers’ protest said they decided to mobilise to the rally to bring the problems of LASU to the public glare. ‘’ We are not here to celebrate because there is no cause for that. We can’t celebrate when our students pay exorbitant fees,the school fees that range between N197,000 to N300,000.We believe it is anti-people, and that is one of the reasons we are here. ‘’Also ,we are not happy with the issue of premature retirement of professors at LASU, and the poor career growth in

form of slow promotion of staff .We are not happy with all of these because that is not how universities are run worldwide. ‘’he said. Idris urged the state government to take urgent steps to address some of the issues at LASU in order to salvage the institution from collapse. Also speaking, Mr Abiodun Aremu, Coordinator of JAF said some of the workers and members of his group had decided to stage protests rather than

By Olasunkanmi Akoni

Governor Fashola said contrary to the impression created by some sponsored protesters at the rally about the issue at LASU, he received a reply from the students whom he met a day before the rally and that the content of their letter would be presented to the State Executive Council for consideration.While speaking on the significance of past May Day celebrations, the governor said in the past 20 years there had been no remarkable difference in the manner of May Day celebrations and called for mindset change that would occasion a sense of originality and creativity. He however, commended the Nigerian workers for their contributions to nation building, saying they are the engine of the nation‘s development. Fashola , urged workers to use the opportunity of the Workers‘ Day anniversary to see how they could help to further move the country forward rather than staging protests and strikes. According to him: “The mind set must change. There must be a sense of originality and creativity. I have listened here to so many speeches that government needs to do this and that, who really is government? If we do not understand it, am only one member of government am the leader of government but I am not government.”

We are not here to celebrate because there is no cause for that. We can’t celebrate when our students pay exorbitant fees,the school fees that range between N197,000 to N300,000.We believe it is antipeople, and that is one of the reasons we are here

celebrate in view of the problems in the system. He said the abduction of no fewer than 200 school girls in Borno was disturbing and that it had dampened the mood of most Nigerians. Aremu said Nigerians and workers would continue to be worried until the relevant agencies took practical steps to

On strike He continued: “So for me, as someone has suggested, that I don’t like strikes, there is nothing offensive to me about strikes, what I have advocated year after year is that the power to strike is a very potent weapon and it must be used very sparingly and discretionarily and if you use it everyday, after awhile it would lose its efficacy.

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

Ijaws are proud of Dickson’s footprints in Bayelsa — Ev ah Evah Comrade Joseph Evah, Human Rights Activist, Coordinator, Ijaw Monitoring Group and former Publicity Secretary, Ijaw National Congress, (INC) in this interview, spoke on the new wave of development in President Jonathan’s home state of Bayelsa being spearheaded by the Governor Seriake Dickson. He also spoke on his meeting with the US Ambassador over Niger Delta among others. He spoke with Azu Akanwa, Production Editor.

ayelsa State is the homeland of the B Ijaws. How do you rate the state governor?

Governor Dickson is very focused. You know that I don’t manage words about politicians. Governor Dickson, by every standard symbolises the Ijaw character and boldness. You know I criticised him when some youths were arrested for demonstrating about employment and as a listening leader, he allowed the court to set them free. We have states in this country that force the courts in their states to keep those opposed to their policies away in prison custody for years. You see, Dickson is desperate to develop Bayelsa and he is a selfless servant who will never compromise hard work to deliver the dividends of democracy to the people. Is the governor’s relationship with the presidency still cordial? Is there any plan to replace him? There is nobody in the presidency planning that. President Jonathan will never plan such a thing. The president is lucky that somebody who is prepared to work is there for him to have rest of mind in Abuja. The president and his wife are still pleased with Governor Dickson. Let me tell you the truth, no normal Ijaw person will talk about replacing Governor Dickson now. Anybody thinking about that needs to re-examine his head. This is a governor that the speed with which the

government took off has not yet abated. We know the kind of political class we produce in our region; 90 per cent of them are political gamblers. They don’t have conscience . So if we identity few that can work for the people, we have to encourage them. There are few people proving to the world that we are in government. Kingsley Kuku and Mr. Patrick Akpoloka of NIMASSA and few others are the symbols of Ijaw greatness. The secret of Governor Dickson’s leadership qualities and that of the likes of Ambassador Godknows Igali, Kingsley Kuku, Akpolokami and few others is that they entered government to work for the people. So, the spirit of the struggle for mankind will push them to do their best for society. When my set of of executives in the Ijaw National Congress, INC, left the scene after the military era, the Exco that Governor Dickson belonged to took over. I was the spokesman of INC when Abacha hanged Ken Saro-Wiwa during the military era. Dickson cannot be a governor and do something else. It is God who saw the plight of Ijaw people and sent him to be in charge now. So anybody who tries to be funny with his mandate will face the power of the people and I believe he will never derail because the spirit of Ijawness is burning inside him. We pray he did not fail till the end of his tenure. You met with the American Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. James Entwistle and

Man ssttabs girlfriend ttoo death By Dayo Johnson Akure

25-year-old commercial motorcycle rider popularly called okada, Ayorinde Igbasan has stabbed his girlfriend, Tope Ajibade, aged 17 to death, for allegedly double-dating in Okitipupa area of Ondo s t a t e . Saturday Vanguard gathered that the suspect thereafter attempted suicide by slashing his throat with the same knife he used to stab the lover. The ugly incident according to a police source occurred at Ayeka new site, in Okitipupa area of Ondo state at about 1:30pm on M o n d a y . Sources said that the lover boy has been having a running battle with the deceased for

having another lover despite being adequately taken care off by him. The suspect was said to have complained to his friends and those close to the deceased that he is not pleased with the double- dating activity of Tope. He was said to have told those who cared to listen that there was nothing Toperequested from him that he did not give her and wondered why she was still double dating. The deceased it was learnt had brushed aside the threat of the suspect on several ocassions, accusing him of being jealous and overprotective. She reportedly denied having any other lover and that those seen with her are just acquaintances and not her lovers.

However. Police sources said the matter got to a head when the suspect accused the deceased frontally of dating another man. As usual, the deceased reportedly denied and made a joke of the matter which according to sources infuriated the suspect who rushed to get a knife and stabbed her. Sensing that the girlfriend was about dying, the suspect allegedly used the same knife to slash his throat but was saved by neighbours who heard the cries and groaning of the deceased girlfriend. Both lovers were rushed to the Okitipupa specialist hospital where the girlfriend was confirmed dead. The suspect was treated and thereafter transferred to Ondo state trauma centre, in

Evah Assistant Secretary of State Bureau of Conflict and Stabilisation, Mr. Rick Barton at the Ambassador’s residence in Lagos, why the parley with the American top envoys? The meeting was about the situation in Niger Delta. I told them the situation is very bad and that we need international assistance as it happened during the Apartheid regime in South Africa. They are aware of the situation and I don’t want them to pretend about the bad situation. There is no industry in the region. I told them to encourage President Goodluck Jonathan to implement the United Nations Report on Ogoni. The Ogoni report is a masterpiece, it is the road map to cleansing the Niger Delta. I don’t know the reason for the delay of implementation. President Jonathan owes this generation and the future generation a duty to implement the United Nations (UN) report on Ogoni which by extension means the clean up of the Niger Delta region. After achieving this feat, I mean the UN recognition of our environmental problem, then somebody will tell my generation that Nigeria does not know what to do with it? And that the report will be abandoned the Nigerian way? That is unacceptable to

Ondo town for further treatment. Contacted, the State Police Image Maker, Wole Ogodo confirmed the incident. Ogodo said that the suspect stabbed to death his girlfriend for allegedly double dating despite spending “lavishly for her ”. He pointed out that preliminary investigation is in progress while the suspect who was unconscious is now responding to treatment.

Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014 — 49

this generation. Do you think the Americans are ready to assist the Niger Delta? The Americans are ready because how long are we going to run round a circle about the development? They have seen that the Niger Delta youths are peaceful and law abiding but no job to engage their idle brains. We want massive engagement strategy to save the situation. Some of the governors are really trying their best but we want coordinated approach by the Federal Government, NDDC, Ministry of Niger Delta and the government to massively work out a solution. When you hear that the Federal Government is owing NDDC N800 billion debt,, you continue to wonder whether we are in a mad country that does not want peace. The Federal Government has been owing NDDC since the Obasanjo era. It is a shame. And our Royal Fathers are in court over the debts, it is shocking. Do you agree with the President’s stand on the no-go-areas in the National conference? Every area has to be discussed. The president cannot dictate for us what do discuss and what not to discuss. We must discuss on all areas, including whether we should disintegrate or not. You can see that the Yoruba nation is going to the conference with national identity. We are going to the conference to discuss on resource control and true federalism, maybe the president is afraid that some really wanted to breakup Nigeria. Niger Deltans are not interested in breaking up. Not even after we have seen what is currently happening in South Sudan. They said they wanted a breakup and that was because of their oil. They said let those who aren’t producing oil go. Today, look at them, are they drinking their oil or they are drinking their blood? So with the kind of greedy politicians we have in Nigeria, I don’t think that even the masses would really want this country to break up. The masses know that if we divide this country, the greedy political class will destroy us in a matter of seconds.

Itsekiri group lauds Olu over coronation By Gab Ejuwa

n Itsekiri sociopolitical group, Iwere Knights Association, has felicitated with the Olu of Warri, His Royal Majesty Ogiame Atuwaste II for his wisdom, tact and sensitivity in handling matters of state, and the entire Itsekiri nation on the occasion of the 27th coronation anniversary of the king which started on

Thursday. In a release signed by the president Mr. Taiye Ajiyen and the secretar y Mr. Tosan Clarke, the group enjoined the Itsekiri people to always speak with one voice in all matters affecting the Itsekiri nation. Finally the group prayed that the Lord grants the monarch many more years on the throne of his forefathers.

Madam Eunice Uzor Ezenwaonu for burial

adam Eunice U z o r Ezenwaonu is dead, aged 76. She died on the 8th of February,2014. A statement released by the family said the burial is slated for Saturday the 3rd at Ezenwaonu compound, On-

uogudu, Uburu. Ebonyi State. Reception follows immediately after internment. A thanks giving service is slated to hold tomorrow at the Reformed Presbyterian Church of Nigeria Uburu at 9am. She is survived by

children, grand children, brothers and sisters.

50 — SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014

t a glance, Anambra State Commissioner of Police, Akila Usman Gwary, will easily pass as one of those easy-going and carefree officers. But on closer observation, one will notice a tough mien coated with a penchant to achieve results. In fact, you need not be told that you are with a well grounded officer of the Nigeria Police force especially, when he engages in a lengthy discussion on how to move the force forward. He bared his mind to EMMA NNADOZIE on how he has been able to fight crime in the state and what to expect before he leaves the office. Excerpts: *Crime Situation in the state One cannot say that Anambra State is completely crime-free, no, but the crime has been reduced to the level so many people did not expect, did not believe that crime will be reduced within a short time. I am pleased with the level of achievement so far. In about two weeks, before Easter, no single kidnapping has been recorded, no recorded case of armed robbery, and usually during this period of Easter that criminals also plan to take advantage of the population, the influx of people to commit nefarious crimes, but the fact that this had been crime-free tells you that there have been great improvement, and I am pleased. It is not as if we have reached the level that we desire but we have reached a level that we are fairly comfortable. *Impediments We have a lot of challenges: logistics, lack of adequate manpower; and when I say logistics, it involves a lot of things; vehicle to move about on

*On the part of the people Sincerely, the people of Anambra State are very cooperative, you know the people here are business men and a lot of them have made it and they want a very conducive environment so that they can invest whatever they have gained as profit. Before now, because of the crime rate, a lot of them carried goods away from the state in terms of investment to other areas, but today, so many have told me that they have a change of mind and if what we have now can be sustained, a lot of them are coming back home to invest. A lot of them come back home for festivities because this is their home and that is where they live, so we have received a lot of commendations from so many people, because they have seen it, they have felt it and their prayer is that this thing should be sustained and by God’s grace, it will be sustained. *Monitoring the beats You see it is very important for the CP at times, to move out for you to have the feeling that the boys are actually doing the work and feel the kind of problem they encounter, sometimes you go out. I have gone out on several occasions where we had crisis in Onitsha area, we had crisis in Aguleri and especially where we moved to recover the body of the late Ilonsi,the father of Isaiah Ogugua, I led the team myself into the bush and recovered the corpse and I

patrol, funds for the provision of fuel because the vehicle requires fuel to move, and this is something that is done 24 hours. So, to move most of these vehicles for 24 hours requires a lot of funds. You do shifts, this one comes and use the same vehicle, another one comes takes over and uses the same vehicle and no matter what, even if your beat is not very large, the fact that you move about within an area continuously you will know that at the end of the day, a lot of funds must have been used in the purchase of fuel and diesel.

In the past one week now, no single kidnapping, no single case of armed robbery has been recorded and, usually it is this period when you have so many people around coming for Easter that criminals also plan to take advantage of the population

*Commissioner of Police, AkilaUsman Gwary

C-R-I-M-E: We have recorded tremend success in Anambra – CP *Calls on victims of kidnapping to assist

police in prosecution of suspects had gone out in the night, 1am, 2am and I go round the states for a first-hand information to see what happens in the night across the state and that had helped me in my planning because, most people in this state, because of fear, by 10 o’clock, almost everybody has gone home. But now people have realized that they are free to move about without any fear of molestation, so you can go out and still have people around by 11pm. In Awka town, even 12pm, 1am you see people. So, am happy, it makes me feel proud, it makes me feel somewhat satisfied when I go out in the night and see that things are moving fine. *Kidnapping We have established a very formidable team under antirobbery and they also handle kidnapping cases because kidnapping and robbery are inter-twined and we hardly

Gwary - I will arrest and charge all members of proscribed organizations to court

have boundary because this people, when they kidnap, they use arms and when they use arms and kidnap you, they use arms also to extort money and if you look at it, all the elements that prove a case of robbery is also there in kidnapping, so before you could prove a case of kidnapping, you would have to prove that of robbery. So, the team, special anti-robbery team, they are marvelous and

I am telling you they are very hard-working. I hardly praise somebody that much but I now believe in the saying that “people who deserved to be praised should be praised”. We had arrested and we have locked up so many kidnappers in this state and towards the end of February, there was a press release we made showing about 181 kidnapers and so many of them being charged to court, they are in prison now. Some of them that have been arrested of recent, we are still investigating them. We arrested recently three major leaders that had gangs, since we picked these people, sincerely, everything went down again and by the time we continue like this, I assure you that in Anambra, kidnapping will be a thing of the past. One challenge that we have is that, you know Anambra is surrounded by other mini states and also Igbo speaking states and they

are also fighting seriously but sometimes, criminals try to run into areas that they will have some leverage and when it is too hot here they will run to another area that is a little bit free. And when it is almost the whole states, I am able to achieve the desired level, then we can now be sure ... if they are not there and if you are able to take care of your own and also have taken care of theirs, then of course, everything will stand-by and then we will have peace. *Collaborative efforts Yes,we’ve been having serious collaborative efforts and whenever we have problems and maybe we have realized a particular route that they follow, we try to contact the C.P and he would plan against that. Sometimes, if you are chasing them and they noticed and they are on their way, we quickly inform the

neighbouring states especially when we are convinced that they are heading to one particular state and the C.P there will block the area. We have been able to successfully arrest two teams like that. There was one that was heading towards here from Enugu and we blocked our own, they took to Orji River area, we contacted Imo, we got them. So, there is a very good relationship. *Government efforts and synergy with other agencies Yes, it is helping me a lot. You see, I started this and the governor realized it was a very good thing and the governor has done a lot. In fact, we have observed his determination and zeal to clear the state of crime and criminality and we have asked him that we require small logistic to fuel our vehicles, we also want him to have combined, not task force as such but , operation team to consist of the ar my, the navy, the police and the SSS which he obliged. So,

dous Gwary immediately he approved, we formed it and when you have this, automatically, you have a larger field and when you have a large team,when you want to use a massive attack, you use the team completely but when you want to go to a small place, you share the teams to go to different places. And since then, we have done a lot that is why we’ve been able to clear Onitsha. *Clamp down on terror gangs They are there in my cell. The past 2 weeks we have been able to arrest about 91 criminals that have confessed to one criminality or the other in the state, a lot of them are in court, some of them have been charged to court. The few ones that have not been arrested by the police have taken to their heels. They have gone into hiding but I am assuring the public that we are waiting for them to come out, if they come out we will trail them and pick them up but if they decide to go somewhere else and change, good for them. *Coping with politicians I did not have much problem,when I came,and my focus was on two types of crimes, kidnapping and armed robbery. I spent most of my resources and time on how to reduce

kidnapping and robbery. kidnapping and robbery are very serious offenses in the state and it punishable with death. Most of the politicians, when a case has to do with kidnapping or robbery and there is evidence, they try to keep off and that one has helped me a lot. *Prosecution of kidnap suspects Some of our problems, in cases of kidnapping and robbery is that sometimes when one is kidnapped and may be, he paid ransom and is released and the police was able to arrest the culprits, the culprits will confess and admit that they are the ones who kidnapped this man and they will mention the exact amount the person paid to them. We will then call on the victims to come and give evidence saying yes, these people have confessed and all we needed from you is to say yes. First, to say on a so-called date, I was kidnapped, maybe we will take you to the place, you will now recognize the place and say yes, this is where they brought me, then may be you can identify one and say yes. But when the victims give up easily, they are not helping in the prosecution because you have been released and you have gotten your freedom and you don’t want to do anything with that thing again. We charge these people to court, but for the victims to come and give evidence, but they will not come and you know our lawyers these days, you will not get conviction and a mere admittance or confession of an armed–robber or a kidnapper, because at the end of the day, the lawyer will tell you that. However, we have been able to block that one because at least, with communication, there have been improvements in all these technology, then we video them confessing willingly and you will not see any mark nor beating, they will confess and if the lawyers says it will be obtained by asking, there will be no hope. You know sometimes, when somebody who is a victim fails to co-operate with the police to send that person to jail or to make sure that the maximum punishment is given to him, you will give the lawyers and the judges the opportunity to discharge such suspects. That is one of the reasons that of recent, we’ve been able to talk to people, some people have gone round and tried to educate people but we need to be able to give evidence to convict, to put this man in jail so that he does not do it to another person and one should not be afraid to come out in the night. My advice to the people of Anambra State is that they are doing a lot and that they should do more by assisting the government in providing

necessities for security agencies and I want them to realize that fighting crime is not an easy task. The people here have the hearts and the resources to make things work, so the moment they invest in security. I have the belief that things will work out and they can now come home peacefully as business men. *Decongesrtion of cells We have been decongesting the cells and most of them are now in prisons. I also make sure that I pay routine visits to almost all the cells that are strategically placed in order to ensure that they complied with my directives that the cells must be clean, conducive and people are not dehumanized. Even at that, human right groups also have free access to our cells and where there is any issue, we address it. I am also working hand in hand with the Attorney General’s office in that regard. *Leadership of the force so far It has been very very good so far. The police is a very large organization but the present IGP has been able to sensitize a lot of our men in almost every command to the extent that even a

SATURDAY Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014 — 51

the run. They were constituting a big problem because they will go to the market and extort money from helpless traders. But now, we have spread our dragnet, routing them out and we will not hesitate in clamping down on all of them.

Gwary - the people of Anambra are very co-operative

our men about two three times

in a week to adhere strictly to the directives of the IGP and we go extra miles to also monitor them. Our men at the X-squad are relentlessly after those that go against our directives and no matter your rank or whom you know, if you go against IGP’s directives, you must dance to the music. Secondly, we have since discovered that visibility policing as espoused by the IGP is the best type of policing and it has been paying off tremendously in crime fighting and prevention. Our only problem now is manpower and I know with time, it will improve. I fervently pray and wish the

The present IGP has been able to sensitize a lot of our men in almost every command to the extent that even a commissioner of police will always be on his toes because he knows that his IGP expects a lot from him and will stop at nothing to monitor his activities every now and then

commissioner of police will always be on his toes because he knows that his IGP expects a lot from and will stop at nothing to monitor his activities every now and then. There is nothing as good as when you know that somebody put you here and expects you to perform well and he is supervising you well, you will put in your best, because you know that if I don’t do this, Oga will know. And he is the sort that will always try to know so that you have no other option than to perform or be thrown out. And he has so many ways of knowing. Sincerely, the way he has been able to have a firm grip on the force within just two years is marvelous. *Implementing IGP ’s visibility policing and no road blocks We have forgotten about road blocks. It is no longer the issue. When ever you see our men on the road, it is the issue of stop-and-search. I have always told my men that if a vehicle refuses to stop, that is not the end of the road, if he does not stop here, he must stop somewhere and we must get him. We have been talking and lecturing

IGP will be allowed to continue with these good and commendable policies he started so that we can get to a conclusive end. In fact, with what we are experiencing now from Abuja, I bet you that by 2016, Nigerians will see a new, improved Nigeria police Force. This wish is not borne out of any selfish desire but for the love of the profession which I cherish so much even in my next world.

*Coping with the activities of MASSOB, other groups MASSOB is an organization that has been giving us some challenges. But now, we don’t consider them as such. This is because the organization has been proscribed.If an organization has been proscribed and you are seen to belong to the organization, If I arrest you, I will charge you to court. That is why we have gone after those of them in Onitsha and charged them to court. Based on this, some of them are now on

*When I leave Anambra By the time I leave this state, I would like to be remembered as the man that reduced crime and criminality in Anambra to the barest minimum. To the extent that night life will come back. *Advise to Anambrarians They are doing a lot but they should do more by assisting the government in providing the necessities for security. They should realize that fighting crimes is capital intensive. They have the heart and the resources, if they provide for security, they will have the conducive environment they deserve. This will make them come home, invest here and relax to enjoy their hard earned money. *Boosting the morale of our men The IGP has done a lot in that regard. Within the past few months that I have been here, a lot of our officers, over 200 have gone for promotional courses and have been promoted, and they are happy. Their spirit is high in this state. When they go on special duty, they are given allowances for feeding, unlike before when they depended on salary alone. And when they are sent on special duty and are given these allowances you see that they do their work better. And the state government is doing very well in that direction; they have always provided small allowances especially those working outside their base. *Local gun manufacturers We have taken care of the issue of local gun manufacturing in Awka, one of the first things we did was to make sure that all those that manufacture guns, were visited by us at odd times. Now, the local manufacturers of cutlasses , hoes and other things have an association and we monitor them closely through their association. In Awka, we have not had any serious issue at all, to the extent that when I visited, people were asking me if I performed magic and I told them that God is answering our prayers and that they should continue to support us. They have been co - operating and giving us information about those they suspect.

52 — SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 3, 2014

We need industries to end youth restiveness— Agbonif gbonifoo

Chief Godpower Agbonifo

hief Godpower O. Agbonifo (JP), is the Chairman, Joma Frozen Food Products and Group of companies. He is also the founder of Agbonifo Foundation, an NGO he uses to empower communities. In this interview with Saturday Vanguard Business, he sends a clarion call to government on the need to create industries for youth employment, even as he uses his business acumen to ensure the success of Wellington Hotel Ltd., Jocean Ventures Ltd. etc. Excerpts: Your Foundation in partnership with Bishop Felix Onomeregbor of Peace, Unity and Development Commission sponsored a community empowerment programme in Kokori, why did you take such step? Bishop Felix Onomeregbor has an outreach that empowers the poor in the hinter-lands of Niger Delta. When I saw him doing that, I developed interest in joining him carry out such humanitarian services and that was how I sponsored the Kokori empowerment programme and crusade. Bishop Felix Onomeregbor is a very good friend of mine. I respect him very much because he is a bishop with a difference. His humility is worth emulating. He goes to remote areas with the gospel to empower people physically and spiritu-

ally. That is what he does in troubled communities to secure peace and unity. A lot of graduates in Nigeria are unemployed, how do we create jobs for them in order to reduce the rate of unemployment and criminality in the society? That is a good question! Youth employment has always been in my mind and it pains me a great deal that many of our youths graduate from higher institutions without a job. It’s also unfortunate that our forerunners, I mean those governing us are not establishing industries at all even private companies to reduce unemployment. So, this is the reason I established the few companies I have in Warri to enable our young graduates work and if they are working, youth restiveness would be reduced in the society and parents/ guardians would have less responsibilities. My prayer today is that if God provides me with enough money, I would establish more industries where many of our youths can secure employment and they would not

foment trouble in the society. Some trouble the country is experiencing today are because many of them are frustrated. I appeal to government and individuals to create an avenue of empowering youths for peace to reign in the country, bearing in mind that youths are future leaders of tomorrow. Apart from empowering Kokori community, which other communities have you empowered? Because of my passion for youths, I have done it at Eboh-Orogun community which is my village and I have been empowering individuals. And I can tell you that the few are the beginning of more good things to come by the grace of God. However, Niger Delta youths need empowerment, Nigerian youths as a whole need empowerment and if we engage them seriously, criminality and other vices associated with youths will be reduced drastically and our country will become a better place to live and enjoy. Nothing is too small or big to empower somebody. Many companies in Nigeria today have been liquidated, but yours are still operating, what is the secret? The secret is the grace of God. Again, when you see companies beginning to liquidate, some factors are responsible. First, you must know what you are doing to prevent liquidation because it is not enough to establish a company and you go to sleep, that company cannot work. Also, you have to supervise what you established and ensure it works, and train people that would take over from you. This is what we are doing in Wellington Hotel. It is like a training ground for youths and some of our workers when they leave for other places to work they perform better because of the quality training they have received from us. I’m happy too that people resign from this hotel to work in other hotels and by so doing they are selling the name of Wellington

Hotel. We train people in every department here. I can say that management of Wellington Hotel is strong because as the chairman I carry everybody along and things are done collectively. What are the challenges you encounter running the hotel? Too many challenges! One of the biggest challenges of running hotel business is epileptic power supply. It has crippled businesses. We spend a lot of money on diesel to run generator 24 hours everyday. Now, we have four giant generators we use for business and with the cost of diesel it’s difficult to run them sometimes. Another challenge, are the cases of kidnapping that gave a bad name to Warri,as a result, strangers find it difficult to lodge in Warri for business transactions. We are appealing to the media to learn how to polish their publications. How do I mean, when Warri was in turmoil, papers were using scary headlines to blow up little issues that made strangers think the end of Warri had come. Things that happened in the riverine areas, the media would say it is happening in Warri instead of telling people where it happened.They kept saying Warri is on fire, and these kind of news create fear and wrong impression in foreigners. With your experience how can you describe hotel business in Nigeria? Hotel business is a lucrative one, even though it is strenuous. But in the case of Warri and its environs, it is not paying much because strangers are scar ed of lodging in Warri because of what happened in the past. Most oil workers and other companies are afraid to lodge here. People still believe Warri is the den of kidnappers but it

is not true. Business life is normal here. That wrong notion is still affecting hotel business here. Apart from that, hotel business is a lucrative one if you manage it well. Since the privatisation of NEPA, the situation has become worse , what is your take? The privatisation of NEPA as far as I’m concern is still on paper, we have not seen it in real terms. In this hotel, I have not seen it practically. The same thing in my house, I don’t know if you have in your house. I appeal to those that bought it to be serious with the project because if we tackle power supply, I bet you in two years time, the economy would change for better. Talking about Niger Delta youth empowerment, what do you tell other wealthy and rich industrialists in the region? I appeal to them that we need industries to end unemployment in Niger Delta. Building estates, houses can’t help the youths because we put those houses on rent and the money returns to your purse. But if we build small scale industries that can remove youths from the streets that would go along way in saving many families. There is enough land in Niger Delta even in Warri here to establish a lot of things that could create employment for our graduating children from the universities. If they are not idle, they can not cause trouble in the communities and cities. For instance, if someone establishes a nail industry, plastic industry etc. youth restiveness would reduce. Wealthy Nigerians should think towards this direction after building their own private houses.

Red Star Express reiterates Megacare of irirsst online pharmacy ser vice deliver offfer erss Nigeria’s ffir service deliveryy commitment to its “I care”project

aping into the Information and Computer Technology (ICT) that has dragged the world into a global village where access to information is made easy for effective and efficient production, education and most importantly healthcare system, the management of Megacare Pharmacy, has launched Nigeria’s first online pharmacy and health mart to provide a healthier you and also bring shopping of its products to your doorstep through online portal. In a media chat with journalists at the company’s head office in Ikeja, Group Managing Director, Olayinka Oredola, said, as part of our corporate social responsibility (CSR), we desire to redefine the healthcare service in Nigeria and to empower the sector to become fully compatible with her counterparts in the developed countries knowing how easy access to health-related information and products could save many lives, she said.

For these reasons Oredola said, we have decided to introduce an online portal (www.megacareonline.com) to give people quick access to health-related products. It’s a one-stop online healthcare mart that gives prompt access to healthcare and lifestyle products, saying Nigerians can have access to relevant products and services without physical presence anytime, anywhere just at the touch of the computer button. to her, According Megacareonline is the online healthcare mart of Megacare Limited with over 15,000 products, including health, medical devices, body care, mother & child, health food, perfumery, toiletries, house hold, sport nutrition & fitness, eye care, oral and dental care veterinary, gifts and cards. She

explaind that, there is a flexibility and provision for different payment systems with options to pay online, in-store, on product delivery or pay into the bank. Our delivery timelines span from express delivery option to 48 hours delivery within Lagos and 3-5 working days outside Lagos. Our focus is to create a “healthier life.” Our vision is to be in every home saving lives, she said. In addition, General Manager, Dr. Nkem Chimezie said, we revolutionalised the retail pharmacy practice in Nigeria and with our new innovation we can now be in all homes and offices, everywhere in Nigeria at the click of a button, and with our layout of professionals, we are strongly committed to customer delight and contentment, positioned to deliver superior value by way of products and services.

ne of Nigeria’s leading lo gistics company, Red Star Express PLC, exemplified the spirit of caring and giving to the less privileged as it visited the Red Cross Orphanage Home at Makoko, and the Old Peoples’ Home on Lancaster Road, both situated in Yaba Local Council Development Area of Lagos. The visits saw officials of the one-stop logistics company donating items, mostly food and kitchen appliances, with the hope that the items would help to improve the quality of life of the beneficiaries. Marketing Manager, Red Star Group, Ngozi Ochokwu, said the visits are activities of the company that have been established as part of its corporate social responsibility initiative which is tagged “I-CARE PROJECT”and aimed at alleviating the plight of the less privileged in the community.

“Every year, Red Star Group uses the “I-Care Project” as a platform to reach out to communities with needs. It is the least we can do as a corporate organisation and we are committed to it. The project kicks off with a nationwide campaign in all our offices. The Administrative Officer, Red Cross Orphanage Yaba, Gloria Chiekwe while commending the Logistics Company said items donated are partly used to assist unfortunate victims of natural disasters and accidents. Feyisayo Olaore, Matron of the Old Peoples’ Home also commended Red Star for the donations tasking other corporate business organisations to emulate the gesture.

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

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Vanguard, MAY 3, 2014—53

54 — SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 3, 2014

Ex athletes accuse NUGA of ‘pinching’ their money

EVENTEEN years after they represented the country at the World University Games in Fukuoka, Japan, eight of the Nigerian athletes are still crying over their unpaid allowances which was denied them by the leadership of the Nigeria University Games, NUGA. The former athletes, some of whom now reside in the United States include Clement Chukwu, Kenny Aladefa, Kenneth Enyiazu, Udeme Ekpeyong, Ibukun Akinremi, William Erese Jude Monye and Pat Itanyi. Of these lot, Saturday Vanguard sports spoke to two, Itanyi and Ekpeyong both of whom described as unfair the illtreatnment of athletes either by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria, AFN or NUGA whenever they represent the country at international competitions.

•Itanyi

•Chukwu According to Itanyi, “these officials carry on as if they are doing you the athlete a favour. They never consider your welfare but want you to put in your best. Worst still they often try to hold on to allowances due toyou.” She revealed that “most of us who represented Nigeria at the 1995 World University Games didn’t get our allowances. Every effort we made to talk the president then, Adeoti and even Bola Orodele who was the secretary failed.” Through Itanyi, Saturday Vanguard sports got to know the names of the remaining athletes and made efforts to get them to speak on the issue even though it happened a long time ago but only Ekpenyong was able to get back to this reporter. He said that what pains him is that both NUGA and the AFN behave alike, always trying to short-change athletes who burn themselves to represent the country.

“They seem to always cook up schemes to cheat athletes out of what is due them. I’m not here wanting to fight simply to get my money back but rather to illuminate what athletes face in a bid to represent Nigeria,” he stressed, adding that “in the 1995 University Games in Fukuoka, Japan, where I won silver in the 400m, the then president (Dr. Adeoti) said there was not enough money on hand to pay us.” When contacted to reactv on the allegations made by Itanyi and Udeme, the immediate past NUGA president, Dr. Ken Anugweje said that he was not in a position to say what happened to their money or if they could be paid now as there was no record on that. The president and secretary of NUGA at the time, Adeoti and Orodele respectively could not be reaced to throw more light on the athletes allegation.

NBBF embarks on community service, visits Old Peoples’ Home

S part of giving back to its immediate community, the Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF, will on yesterday embarked on its Community Outreach Programme with a visit to future players of the game and the less privileged in the society. According to the president of the NBBF,

Tijjani Umar, the day’s programme began with began with a visit to the current champions of the National Secondary Schools Basketball Championships, the International School, Lagos at Akoka where the students were be given career talks and other motivational addresses. The NBBF team which

included some members of the All Stars team took the students on some basketball skills as well as allow a question and answer session with them. The Community Outreach programme also took the NBBF team to the Old People’s Home in Yaba and was later rounded off at the National Stadium in Surulere later in the day.

Niger Potters fined, warned over abandoned match

OR failing to honour its Week 7 game against Gombe Bulls in Gombe on April 18, 2014, Niger Potters Basketball Club of Minna have been fined N60,000 while the match is awarded to Gombe Bulls with a warning that such should not repeat itself in their own interest. The Nigeria Basketball Federation, NBBF stated in a letter to the club that

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the fine is to cover the money expended on the match officials who were on ground for the aborted match. In acknowledging the response of Niger Potters to the federation’s query on the aborted game, the NBBF noted that while it appreciates the club’s dire financial condition as explained, “it will no longer be acceptable as a reason for not honouring

matches in the future (as) we will apply the maximum penalty of relegation if this happens again.” It would be recalled that Royal Hoopers of Port Harcourt suffered the same fate after they failed to show up for the season’s opener against Dodan Warriors in Lagos on March 7, 2014 and were subsequently walked over by the Lagos side.

Okagbare threatens Fraser-Pryce in Kingston

IGERIAN sprint empress, Blessing Okagbare is hoping to make a bright start to her season with a win over Olympics and world champion, Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce in today’s Jamaican international invitational meet. Okagbare is one of the elite athletes already in Jamaica for the race. It will be her first major outing of the season as she prepares to win her first Commonwealth Games medals at Glasgow 2014 and re-establish herself as the 100m champion at the African championships in Morocco. She lost the title to Ruddy Zang Milama at

the 2012 championships in Porto Novo, Benin Republic. During last year ’s Anniversary Games in London, Okagbare out-ran Fraser-Pryce in the 100m to set a new African record of 10.79. However, all eyes will be on the diminutive Fraser-Pryce, who is having her first serious outdoor outing of the year – not counting the special 60m she ran in Kingston back in February – after a super-successful indoor season which culminated in her winning the 60m title at the IAAF World Indoor Championships in March in a world-leading time of 6.98.

However, Okagbare laid down the gauntlet and added that she believes Fraser-Pryce is beatable on her home soil, despite the fact that the statistics point to the Jamaican being the heavy favourite. In addition to FraserPryce’s plethora of medals from major championships, including winning three golds at last summer’s IAAF World Championships in Moscow, the 100m headto-head record between the pair is 12-3, Okagbare’s last win coming at the IAAF Diamond League meeting in London just before Moscow 2013.

World Relays: We expect our teams to do better — Nesiama

THLETICS Federation of Nigeria technical and performance director, Omasteye Nesiama has stated that the performances of the Nigerian relays teams at the Mt Sac and Penn Relays in the USA, was heart-warming, but there was still room for improvement. Navy Commodore Nesiama was speaking against the background of preparations for the IAAF World Relays May 24-25 in Nassau, Bahamas. The Nigerian women 4x400m quartet ran 3.27.16 the fourth fastest time of the season in Philadelphia and in the estimation of the the AFN technical director, the relay teams need to work harder to produce podium performances. Some top Nigerian athletes are already in Houston, Texas training. “We expect them to do more because there is great competition out there. Their performances so far have been very

CHASING...Blessing Okagbare tearing away from Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryce during a meet. encouraging, but we are working towards getting medals at the world relays. “Not only the women, the men 4x100m are also doing well. Most especially the homebased, we are going to work on them and see that

Warri Relays: More countries show interest

number of countries have indicated their interests to participate in the Warri and CAA Grand Prix billed for June 13, 2014 at the Warri Township Stadium in Delta State. This is borne out of the

Golden League: Athletes eye better outing in Akure

S the AFN/Solid Works golden league enters its third leg, some of the leading athletes are hoping to improve on their performances when the meet resumes on May 10, 2014 in Akure. Temidayo Oshunbanjo, who won in the Abuja and Ilorin Golden Leagues said: “I wish to post a better performance than I did in the previous events. “Having clinched gold at the last two events, I have the confidence that I will make it at the final qualifiers for the CommonwealthGames. “My main concern now is to remain unwavering and improve on what I have.

they improve on their current performances. “At the world relays, all our teams are targeting the final. This is because, they need to qualify for the world championships,” said Commodore Nesiama.

“ I want to remain on top until the All Nigeria Cross River Athletics Championships in June, which will serve as qualifier for the Games,” Oshunbanjo said. EzeAnayo,anothergold medalist in 800m men in the April 12 league at the Federal CapitalTerritory(FCT)saidhe would use it to stage a comeback. “Although I did not have an impressive outing in last Saturday’s event in Ilorin, Akure will be used to ensure a strong come-back. “My aim is to remain steadfast in the remaining championships and consolidate my aspiration,” Anayo said.

need to pursue qualification for their relay teams ahead of the world championships next year in Beijing, China. “A number of countries have made inquiries. And we are looking at the number that we can accommodate, before we decide on what to do. It is an international event and it is an opportunity to earn qualification for the world championships,” said a member of the organising committee. He added that it will also be an avenue to test Nigeria’s athletes readiness for the Commonwealth Games and the African championships. Delta State, sponsors of the meet announced a total $147,400 dollars (about N23.9m) prize money in addition to providing a conducive atmosphere for the participating athletes. Some of the events include 100m, 400m, 100m and 400m hurdles, 5000m, 4x100 and 4x400m relays.

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SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 3, 2014 — 55

CHAMPIONS LEA GUE FFALL ALL -OUT LEAGUE ALL-OUT

Mourinho hits back at Hazard J OSE Mourinho has questioned Eden Hazard’s team ethic in the wake of Chelsea’s midweek

AYC: Iheanacho, others test flight in Porto Novo F

LYING Eagles coach Manu Garba will test the intention of his team to win the African Youth Championship with a match against their Benin Republic counterparts in Porto Novo on Sunday. Garba who led the national under-17 team to a triumphant run at the 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in the United Arab Emirate has called most of the players in that winning squad, they include Kelechi Iheanacho, skipper Musa Muhammed, Chidiebere Nwakali, Musa Yahaya, Taiwo Awoniyi, Abdullahi Alfa and Zaharadeen Bello. Others on the squad are Alhassan Ibrahim aka Mu-azam, Wilfred Ndidi, Ifeanyi Matthew and goalkeeper Joshua Enaholo. The match according to the Flying Eagles coach, was to prepare his wards for the AYC qualifiers against Tanzania on the weekend of May 9-11. Both team teams had clashed in the AYC 2013 qualifiers with Nigeria winning the first in Tanzania, with a brace from big striker Alhaji Gero. The Flying Eagles under coach John Obuh and also won the return in Ilorin 2-0 with goals from Abduljaleel Ajagun and Gero. The overall winners of this match-up will face the winners of another second round clash between Swaziland and Lesotho against Angola, who were also drawn bye to the second round. Meanwhile Tanzania under-20 coach, John Simkoko acknowledged that it will be an uphill task for his wards to beat Nigeria and qualify for the finals billed for March 8-22 2015 in Senegal. “It is going to be great test

Kicking... Former Eaglets star, Kelechi Iheanacho during last year’s FIFA U-17 World Cup in the UAE, can he led the Flying Eagles to success in 2015? for us. We know Nigeria have a strong team, and they also have a strong tradition in the tournament. But we can rise to the occasion. “We have to work very hard in training and be focused on beating Nigeria to reach the final in Senegal,” said

Midfielders: Chidiebere Nwakali, Musa Yahaya, Kelechi Iheanacho, Abdullahi Alfa, Akinjide Idowu, Wasiu Jimoh, Ifeanyi Matthew, Ifeanyi Ifeanyi Strikers: Alhassan Ibrahim ‘Mu-azam’, Taiwo Awoniyi, Sulaiman Abdullahi

MTN football scholar train hits Abuja A

FTER a successful outing in the cities of Pot Harcourt, Calabar, Akure and Enugu, the audition to the academy of the ongoing season four of MTN Football Scholar has started at the Astro Turf pitch of the national Stadium in Abuja. This will afford the youngsters living in the federal capital city and its environs to have opportunity to participate in the widely

Ihensenkhien buries mum today ORMER Edo state commissioner of sports, Barrister Ken Ihensenkhien will today bury his mother, Chief (Mrs.) Enibokun Ihensenkhien at their family home in Idumowu Ebelle in Igueben Local Government Area of Edo state.

the coach. Goalkeepers: Joshua Enaholo, Adamu Abubakar, Abdulazeez Abubakar Defenders: Musa Muhammed, Mustapha Abdullahi, Ifeanyi Nweke, Wilfred Ndidi, Izu Omego, Zaharadeen Bello

Chief (Mrs.) Ihensenkhien who passed on in January this year left to mourn her children, sisters, brothers and In-laws among who are Barrister Ken Ihensenkhien, Barrister(Mrs.) Irene Ideva and Mr Wilson Ideva.

acclaimed annual football scholarship initiative. Speaking on the initiative on behalf of the company at the Calabar centre of the audition, Joseph Ogbuka, the assistant Manager, Youth Segment, MTN, has described the programme as one of areas where the company is specifically touching the lives of its teeming subscribers through their passions. “MTN has resolved to

•Ogbuka

always make its consumers better that the way it met them. That is why it is committed to r e s o u r c e f u l programmes such as MTN Football Scholar. In three years of its existence the initiative has continued to yield positive results”. He asserted. After Abuja, the nationwide auditions will move to the commercial city of Lagos. At the close of the auditions, successful candidates will proceed into the Soccer Academy where they are to receive SAT preparation and soccer instruction from Alist Nigerian and American coaches. Ten winners of the first two editions are currently in top-rated American Universities with fullfledged scholarships funded by MTN, while other ten from the season three will be travelling to the US later this year.

Champions League exit. Chelsea let slip a 1-0 lead as Atletico Madrid won 31 at Stamford Bridge to reach the final, and the visitors’ first goal came as a direct result of Hazard’s failure to track a Juanfran run. The midfielder appeared to criticise his manager’s tactics after the semi-final exit, claiming Chelsea were set up solely to counter-attack. And, while Mourinho has praised Hazard’s willingness to work at times this season, there was little support for the Belgian at Chelsea’s pre-Norwich press conference. “I listened to the interview,” said Mourinho. “There was nothing critical in what he said. When the comments come from a player like Eden it’s normal because he’s not the

kind of player to sacrifice himself for the team. “Normally you get these kind of comments from players like him, from players that can’t resolve a problem like we had in the first goal. “Eden is the kind of player that is not so mentally ready to look back to his leftback and to leave his life for him. “If you see the first goal of Atletico you completely understand where the mistake was and why we conceded that goal. “The perfect team at the top level cannot make these kinds of mistakes.” Mourinho showed his ruthlessness in January, selling fans’ favourite Juan Mata because of a perceived inability to adapt to his tactics, and Hazard has been linked with Paris St Germain in recent weeks.”

Amuneke searches for more Eaglets

OLDEN Eaglets coach, Emmanuel Amuneke said that he is on the look out for fresh talents for the the national U-17 teams after a mix bag of performance at the WAFU tournament in Lome, Togo. This is just as the coaches resumed their open screening of players on Thursday. The exercise was suspended to enable the team participate in the tournament where they won a bronze medal. “The tournament in Togo gave us the ample opportunity to gauge the players’ response to competition as well as their general attitude and conduct. “But, efforts will be geared towards getting a pool of 50 talented players who will be registered for the qualifiers, as well as the 2015 CAN Under-17

•Emmanuel Amuneke

Championship in Niger. “We will use the next two weeks to look at new players because we need to reinforce the team as it were. “This is because our objective is to have a pool of good players who we can draw from, from time to time, because this is a long journey,” Amuneke said. The Eaglets have drawn bye into the second round of the qualifiers and will meet the winners of the first round clash between Burundi and Congo DR. The first leg match is billed to hold between July 18 and July 20, while the second leg match is between Aug. 1 and Aug. 3. The Golden Eaglets were runners-up at the 2013 edition of the championship in Morocco, after losing to Cote d’Ivoire 4-5 on penalty kicks.

SATURDAY VANGUARD, MAY 3, 2014

Zenith Bank Basketball Delta Force GT 2000 Oluyole Babes Immigration AHIP Queens Benue Queens First Bank Plateau

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Taraba Hurricane First Deep Water IGP Queens Sunshine Coal City FCT Angels Customs Dolphin

Westerhof gets soccer shocker at national stadium BY JACOB AJOM

ORMER Nigeria coach Clemens Westerhof yes terday received the shock of his life at the arena he achieved his life dream some twenty years ago. Westerhof who arrived Nigeria on Wednesday with a television crew in his entourage is telling the story of his life at 74. The crew from VPRO, a national TV network in Holland is doing a special documentary on the man who first qualified Nigeria for the FIFA World Cup and took the Super Eagles to the fifth best national team in the FIFA rankings.. The crew wanted to take visuals of Westerhof standing at the centre of the main bowl of the national stadium, where he had his best moments as a coach. When Westerhof got to the national stadium with the TV crew, he was told they could not enter the arena because they needed clearance from Abuja. “It is a shame. It is a pity,” Westerhof said, while speaking to journalists at Hotel the Diplomat yesterday. “The crew wanted to take

Stranded...From Left;Mark Berg;VPRO Television Netherlands;Mr Clemens Westerhof,Formal Super Eagles Coach With Wiro Brugman Camera Man,And John Bakker,VPRO Television Netherlands. They were locked out of the National Stadium Surulere, Lagos. pictures of where I achieved glory with Nigeria twenty years ago. We have been to Ota, the Honda pitch where we used to train.” He said he will repeat his trip to the stadium today with his class of 1994 Eagles to be

led by Super Eagles coach Stephen Keshi, Dan Amokachi, Peter Rufai among others. However, a stadium official hinted that the state of the national was very bad, hence their decision to deny the former Eagles tactician and his

HERE is likely to be a tough time for unseeded teams as Fifa has confirmed that clubs do not have to release players for the first rounds of 2015 Africa Cup of Nations qualifying. This is because the dates of the four matches fall outside of Fifa’s calendar for international matches. This opens the way for clubversus-country rows, especially with the opening matches clashing with continental club games. The ties in the Nations Cup, Confederation Cup and Champions League are set for 16-18 May. However the group stage matches featuring the likes of Ghana, Nigeria and Cameroon do fall on dates approved by Fifa, meaning clubs around the globe must release players for these games. The president of the Namibia Football Association John Muinjo admitted he had not

realised the opening rounds of qualifiers would be affected. “It is actually news to me but moving forward, we want to concentrate on the game at hand and then take it from there,” he told BBC Sport. “The possibility that clubs might not release players could have far reaching consequences. “But at the same time I do think that one has to be positive because there is nothing to be done to reverse the situation. “One should just work harder and capitalize on the situation because all countries could be affected that as well. “Now we need to focus on preparations [for the match against Congo between 16-18 May] and also start to negotiate with the clubs because they might not release players.” Players like striker Edward Sadomba could well be affected by the clash of dates between the 2015 qualifiers and continental club ties.

BOUT 3,000 athletes includ ing 20 world elite runners are ready to compete this morning as the second edition of the Okpekpe 10km road race rolls off the starting the line in the sleepy town of Okpekpe in the norther part of Edo State. The race, which will be flagged off by the Athletics Federation of Nigeria president, Solomon Ogba will see the local and foreign athletes compete for the $25, 000 first prize for the men and the $15, 000 for the women. The race technical manager, Yusuf Alli confirmed yesterday that all the athletes were ready to compete adding that he was expecting last year’s performances to be eclipsed. “We have all the athletes in and waiting to run. We have 20 elite athletes and other 3000 or so Nigerian runners eager to win the top prize. “Last year Moses Masai of Kenay ran 29 minutes, 39 seconds to set the course record. “I am confident we can get a sub 28:50seconds run tomorrow in the men’s race to better Massai’s record,” Alli a former African long record holder stated. All eyes will be on reigning world race champion, Aziz Lahbabi of Morocco, who will be joined by other top East African runners who will throng the hilly and sandy course. “Everything is ready, we have mapped out the course and we expect the athletes to put in their best,” added Alli. He stated that competent technical officials are on ground to ensure that there was compliance with IAAF set standards.

TODAY’S MATCHES West Ham Aston Villa Man Utd Newcastle Stoke City Swansea Everton

2015 Nations Cup: Tough time for teams over players release

country men entrance into the stadium. “We didn’t want them to photograph the stadium, which is a state of disrepair, it will not be good for the image of the country.”

Okpekpe road race ready to roll

Across

Down

1 Ukraine Prime Minister, Arseniy – (9) 5 Yoruba God – (3) 7 Sphere – (3) 8 Midday – (4) 10 Former Ugandan President, Idi – (4) 11 Large Vehicle – (5) 12 L.G.A in Anambra State – (9) 16 Hebrew Alphabet – (5) 18 Kenyan Interior Minister, Joseph Ole – (5) 19 Egyptian Capital City – (3) 20 L.G.A in Jigawa State – (9) 24 Kwara United Media Officer, Prince Olayioye – (5) 26 Story – (4) 27 Paddle – (3) 30 Addition – (3) 31 The Oba of Benin HRH Omo N’Oba- (9)

1 Japanese Currency – (3) 2 Burkina Faso “Stallions” Midfielder, Wilfried – (5) 3 Adamawa State Governor, Muritala – (5) 4 L.G.A in Niger State – (9) 5 Former Delta State Governor, Mr. Felix – (4) 6 Ebonyi State Capital – (9) 9 Traditional Ruler of Warri – (3) 13 Manchester United Winger, Luis – (4) 14 Linear Measurement Unit – (9) 15 Ethnic Group in Ghana – (5) 17 Super Eagles Striker, Ahmed – (4) 21 Avarice – (5) 22 L.G.A in Benue State – (5) 23 Adult Male Sheep – (3) 25 L.G.A in Cross River State – (4) 28 L.G.A in Abia State – (3)

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Tottenham Hull City Sunderland Cardiff Fulham S’hampton Man City

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SOLUTION on page 15

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