We feared Jonathan would not accept defeat - Buhari

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•L-r: Rt. Revd. Sunday Adewole, Bishop, Diocese of Jebba; Chief & Mrs Segun Osunkeye; and Rt. Revd James Olusola Odedeji, Bishop, Diocese of Lagos West, during the 2015 Jesus Festival organised by Diocese of Lagos West. Photo by Diran Oshe.

•From left: Mr Wale Edun; Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Emir of Kano; Oba Rilwan Akiolu, Oba of Lagos; and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, during the Emir’s congratulatory visit to the All Progressives Congress, APC, national leader, Tinubu ,in his Bourdillon Road residence in Ikoyi, Lagos.

Presidential poll: How Jonathan, Ahmadu Ali averted crisis

By Lekan Bilesanmi

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UT for President Goodluck Jonathan and Director-General of his campaign organisation, Dr Ahmadu Ali, the outcome of the presidential election would have ended in chaos.

Prior to the announcement of the All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential candidate, General Muhammudu Buhari, by the Independent National Electoral Committee, INEC, as president-elect, Jonathan had called to congratulate him.

Investigations revealed that from the outset, Jonathan did not want violence before, during and after the election.

A very reliable source told Sunday Vanguard: “In Jonathan’s reckoning, as well as Ahmadu Ali, even though there were irregularities in the North and South, the peace and stability of Nigeria was far more im-

portant.”

Considering the tension the electioneering campaigns had generated across the country, it was felt that conceding even before the final announcement of election results would douse tension.

The source explained that to put the APC leadership on its toes and dismiss the notion that the PDP tried to manipulate the electoral process, “it was agreed that congratulating the APC and General Buhari ahead of time would force the APC to begin to focus more on the transition and governance than on politicking.”

To achieve this objective, according to the source, “a meeting of the PDP Campaign Organization and the National Working Committee, NWC, of the party was called last Tuesday afternoon.”

It was at the meeting that the president and his PDPP-

THOUGHT FOR TODAY FEAR AND FAITH (1)

By Richard Eromonsele

Fear is that feeling you have that something bad might happen to you.Some thinkers express it thus:False expression appearing real.Faith on the other hand is to trust in something or somebody.For example,you can trust in God.The height we can attain in life is to a large extent determined by either our fear or our faith.If fear is the predominant occupant of our life, then we will find it difficult or impossible to achieve our goal.The truth is that the things we fear never really exist.Therefore,their existence is only a figment of our imagination...

CO DG “made their points”, the source stated.

The source disclosed that Ali’s close relationship with Jonathan helped to create a synergy between the Villa and the Campaign Directorate such that each had the

other’s confidence.

Though the APC cast aspersion on the President, the source said the campaign organisation refused to throw mud.

“All through the campaigns, it would have been

noticed that Ali cautioned against the use of incendiary words,” the source explained.

“And Ali was never heard using hate language all through the campaign. Ali helped to properly organise

and structure the campaign.

Ali also worked tirelessly with other leaders of the party like the BoT Chairman, Chief Tony Anenih, to bring together the many tendencies within the party for unity.”

Fayose, Ekiti APC lawmakers bicker over impeachment notice

By Gbenga Ariyibi, Ado Ekiti

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HE 19 All Progressives Congress (APC) lawmakers in Ekiti State House of Assembly have served Governor Ayo Fayose and his deputy,Dr Olusola Olubunmi Eleka, notice of gross misconduct.

The lawmakers, who left the state last November after the purported impeachment of the Speaker, Hon Adewale Omirin, staged a come back on Wednesday after INEC pronounced General Muhammadu Buhari the president-elect, stormed the assembly and hurriedly held a prayer session.

The comeback came as the seven PDP lawmakers, led by factional Speaker, Hon Dele Olugbemi, held plenary in the House. When it was apparent that the face -off between the APC and PDP lawmakers could lead to the breaking down of law and order,the state Police Commissioner,Mr Taiwo Lakanu ordered his men to seal-off the House.

According to the letter, said to have been sent to the governor by the APC lawmakers, titled, Re: Notice of Allegations of Gross Misconduct , eight impeachable allegations were levelled against him., * These include invasion of the House of Assembly with thugs and micreants, instigating unconstitutional take over of the House by seven legislators to sit in contravention of Section 96(2) of the Constitution, prevention of 19 APC legislative members from performing legislative duties with the use of security agents and armed thugs and sponsoring an unlawful impeachment process in the House., Responding, Fayose described the APC lawmakers as jesters.

The governor, who said he read the notice of the impeachment like any other

person online, noted that Omirin has ceased being the Speaker of the House.

“The script being acted by the APC is a failed one because no one, no matter how highly placed will be allowed to test the will of Ekiti people,” he stated.

He said the purported impeachment notice was the “joke of the century”. “The Speaker of the Ekiti State House of Assembly is Hon Dele Olugbemi and not Dr Adewale Omirin”, he said.

In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Fayose said: “Omirin is already in court, challenging his im-

peachment and common sense dictates that when you are challenging an action already taken in court, you have accepted the consequences of such action pending the determination of the suit you filed.”

He explained that the APC lawmakers should stop advertising their ignorance and crudity in the market place by posting impeachment notice online.

“Since last year November, these so-called lawmakers abdicated their duties and ran to Lagos only for them to resurfaced on Wednesday, but they hurriedly ran away again.

“Now they are posting no-

tice of impeachment signed on March 9, 2015 and Ekiti people are asking; was the motion for impeachment moved and adopted in Lagos or Osun State House of Assembly?

“Is impeachment of a governor done along LagosIbadan Expressway inside a moving bus?

“Rather than going about advertising their ignorance and crudity, the APC lawmakers should wait for the court to adjudicate on the case they filed because even the President-Elect, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) will respect the rule of law when he assumes office.”

At Easter, Jonathan, Mark, Amaechi, Oshiomhole, others preach sacrifice

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has called on Nigerians to seize the opportunity of the Easter celebration to reflect deeply on what more we need to do as a people, to ensure that the political process in which we are currently engaged is successfully concluded and Nigeria continues to move towards a better future.

In his Easter message, the President said Nigerians must make sacrifices for greater unity, peace, political stability and progress of the country.

According to him, having successfully scaled the hurdle of the presidential and National Assembly elections, he was optimistic that the gubernatorial and state assembly elections will also be conducted peacefully.

“This year’s celebration of Easter is taking place at a period of very critical national choices and decisions, during which we must all be prepared and willing to make sacrifices for greater unity, peace, political stability and progress in our beloved country.

“We must therefore seize the opportunity of the Easter holiday to reflect deeply on what more we need to do as a people, to ensure that the political process in which we are currently engaged is successfully concluded and that our beloved country, Nigeria continues to move towards a better future for all of its citizens.

“Happily, we have already successfully scaled the hurdle of the presidential and National Assembly elections. I am quite hopeful that the gubernatorial and state assembly elections will also be conducted peacefully.

Senate President David Mark, in his own message, said: “Which ever side of the religion or political divides we may find ourselves, what must be paramount is the interest of our country. What makes for the good of all; welfare and security of our citizens must of a necessity be our vision and purpose.”

In the message signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, Mark said that despite the socio-eco-

nomic and political challenges facing the nation, “with collective will and cooperation of all we can surmount our difficulties.”

Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State advised Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of humility displayed by the Lord Jesus who offered himself a sacrifice for all by dying on the cross.

The governor, in his Easter message in Ado-Ekiti, said being humble, no matter the exalted position one occupies as shown by the Lord, must be a top virtue Nigerians should aspire to get, if our nation would move forward.

Rivers State Governor and Chairman of the Nigeria Governors’ Forum, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, in his own message, called for peace, love and unity among Nigerians.

In a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. David Iyofor, Amaechi said Christians have a task to reflect their belief of the resurrection power of Jesus Christ Continues on page 7

PAGE 6 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015

Man kills brother; mother dies on hearing news

BY OBIALUNAMMA NWADIOGBU, Ekwulobia

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NAKU, Nnokwa community in Idemmili local government area of Anambra State has been deserted. The police were making arrests and nobody wanted to be caught. Nobody too was speaking.

It was double tragedy in the community as a 38-year-old man, Christian Nwokike, was murdered allegedly by his younger brother during a scuffle over the ownership of a family building.

There were three brothers from the same mother but two were against the eldest allegedly in support of their mother, Mrs Nwokike. There were conflicting reports on what happened but two people are dead in the family following the rift.

A source said the eldest brother came home but his brothers prevented him from sleeping in the house. He was said to have started building the house in question, before things went bad and his younger ones completed it. He was said to have been killed by one of his siblings after he insisted on sleeping in the house.

Their mother, on hearing the news, allegedly slumped and died at Nnobi Police Station the same night when she was taken there to give account of what transpired in the family.

The two bodies, it was learnt, have been deposited in an undisclosed morgue in Nnobi or Nnewi.

A source said there had been a feud in the family involving the brothers before the incident.

Head of the family, Mr Chi Ifeakandu, declined to comment on the matter. He directed Sunday Vanguard to Nnobi Police Station which he said was the right office to speak to the media.

Sources at Nnobi Police Station confirmed the incident but directed us to Awka where the Police Public Relations Officer, Anambra State, Mr

Uche Eze, said: “I’m not aware of it. I have not heard about it. I must tell you I’m just hearing about that for the first time. There has not been any signal to my office to that effect.”

The traditional ruler of Nnokwa, Igwe Emmanuel E. Ajamma, Oranyelu IV; and the President General of the community, Eugene Ezekwem, could not be reached at press time for comments on the incident.

From left: Dr. Alfonso A. Casal, Scientific Director; Mr. Adekola Azeez; Mr. Jose E. Prieto, President & CEO of BID Group One; H.E. Adejumo Ademola, Ambassador of Nigeria to WTO in Geneva; Mr. Kolawole Adeniji, Managing Director & CEO of Niji Group; Mr. Hakeem Subair, Consultant; Mr. Craig Miller, President of the QC100, and Mr. Norman Ingle, President of the Quality Mix during the BID Award presented to Mr Adeniji at the Convention held in Geneva, Switzerland.

Police launch manhunt for killers of Rivers chief, children •Amaechi raises judicial commission on killings during polls

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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IVERS State Police C o m m a n d , yesterday, vowed to unmask those behind the murder of nine persons in Obrikom community, Ogba Egbema in Ndoni local government area on Friday night.

The Command’s Public Relations Officer, DSP Ahmad Muhammad, who confirmed that nine persons were shot dead by gunmen that night, appealed for useful information from the public.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that Chief Christopher Adube, his two children, and driver were among those killed when the gunmen stormed Adube’s residence that night.

The Chairman of the local government council, Mr Austin Ahiamadu, has imposed a dusk to dawn curfew in the area, adding that security operatives should be proactive in the local government with the gubernatorial election around the corner.

He enjoined the

people of the local government to shun electoral violence, reminding them that, after politics, they remain relatives.

Meantime, Governor Chibuike Amaechi is to set up a judicial inquiry into all killings in the state during the presidential and National Assembly

elections, saying any one indicted would be made to face the law.

“This morning, I got approval from the Executive Council to set up a judicial commission of enquiry to investigate those deaths that happened before, during and after the elections.

Anybody found guilty will go to jail. I didn’t

set up administrative enquir y.

I set up judicial commission of enquiry. It means that the man sitting there is sitting as a judge. He is not sitting as chairman, he is sitting as a judge, if you are found guilty, straight to jail”, Amaechi said.

Lagos-Apapa Expressway: Woman crushed as container falls on bus Immediately it happened,

BY LEKAN BILESANMI when the driver lost control.

RAGEDY struck, Meanwhile a yesterday, when a commercial bus driving container fell off a truck against the traffic (oneand killed a woman. The way) was approaching. truck, carrying the The truck hit the median number plate, BDG and the container fell on 808YF, coming from Tin- the bus. An eye witness Can Island, was entering told Sunday Vanguard: the service lane at Berger “The bus took one-way Yard Bus Stop on Apapa- while the truck was Oshodi Expressway coming from Tin-Can

T

Island. The truck lost control, hit the culvert.

Immediately the bus driver saw that, he wanted to avoid it. The passengers ran out, some fell into the drain. It was only a woman that died in the rush.

It happened that while she was rushing out, the container fell on her and cut her into two.

the truck driver took to his heels.” Four people in the bus were said to have sustained minor injuries.

They were taken to hospital immediately by the personnel of Federal Road Safety Commission,FRSC, who mobilised to the scene, even as the truck has been impounded by the commission.

Dickson urges Bayelsans to keep faith with PDP •Wants people to vote massively for party in state assembly polls

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA, YENAGOA

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AYELSA State Governor Seriake Dickson, yesterday, urged Bayelsans to keep faith

with the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, by voting massively for the party in the state House of Assembly polls.

Rising from a crucial meeting with key political

stakeholders in the state in Yenagoa, Dickson said the state remains key to the PDP. Dickson, who described Bayelsa as a traditional

home and stronghold of the party since the advent of the present democratic dispensation in 1999, added that the people of the state, especially the

Itsekiri congratulate Buhari, Osinbajo

BY EMMA AMAIZE

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HE Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, IloT, y e s t e r d a y , congratulated the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), and his deputy, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, on their victory at the presidential poll.

The group, in a

statement by the Chair man, Pa J.O.S Ayomike, Deputy Chairman, Chief Isaac Jemide, and secretary, Mr. Edward Ekpoko, said, “We reiterate our implicit confidence in General Buhari to make Nigeria belong to Nigerians and assure him of our cooperation in his task of moving

Nigeria forward.

“We also rejoice with our brothers, General Alani Akinrinade, the convener and participants of the Yoruba Summit held at Ibadan in March, the Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, under the chairmanship of IGP Ibrahim Coomaise, GCON, and other well -

meaning organizations for steadfastness in seeing that this day came to pass.”

ILoT also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for his exhibition of maturity and good sportsmanship by conceding defeat and congratulating the winner.

political class, owe the party a duty to remain loyal and committed to its principles, goals and ideals, which have become a part of the body polity of the state.

According to him, as one of the major beneficiaries of the party, in time past, it becomes even more expedient for the people to remain resolute in their support for every programme of the PDP. He noted that with the governorship and state House of Assembly elections yet to come, Bayelsa cannot afford to sit on the fence now but maintain its ever relevant and dominant posture in the affairs of the party.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 7

Delta: Emerhor renews promise

By Akpokona Omafuaire

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•Gov Godswill Akpabio addressing Akwa Ibom people at the Ibom International Airport on his arrival from Abuja.

HE Director of Strat egy, Research & Planning of O’tega Campaign Organization, Olorogun Ogbarode Ogbon, has said that if elected, the governorship candidate of the All Progressives, APC, Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, will turn Delta State to a Dubai Ogbon gave the assurance in Effurun, Delta State during a chat with Sunday Vanguard on the chances of his party in the coming Governorship election.

Ijaw message to Buhari: ‘Rule with the fear of God’ •’Our son made us proud’

By Olayinka Ajayi

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S Ijaw, we feel proud that one of us has provided Nigeria an example of a true democrat.’’

With these words, the founding Secretary of the Ijaw National Congress (INC), Pastor P. Z. Aginighan, spoke the minds of his Ijaw people on the presidential election.

Also from Aginighan, a former Executive Director, Finance and Administration, Niger Delta Development Corporation (NDDC) and Acting Managing Director, came a message from the Ijaw to the president-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari: “He (Buhari) should govern with the fear of God and deliver on his promises to Nigerians during his electioneering campaign. Now that he is about to enjoy the fruit of democracy epitomised by the decent democratic conduct of President Jonathan, he should do all to strengthen the democratic institutions in the country. He should also have the courage to do likewise if he is defeated in an election.”

The INC leader, in an interview with Sunday Vanguard, explained that the Ijaw mobilised for their kinsmen, Jonathan, ahead of last weekend polls, saying, “I heard the President of the Ijaw National Congress, Barrister Boma Obuoforibo, appeal to all Nigerians to re-elect President Jonathan for a number of days on NTA. Other Ijaw groups from Arogbo/Apoi clans in Ondo State to Eastern Obolo/Ibeno clans in Akwa Ibom State all mobilised for Jonathan.”

On the message Jonathan was trying to send by conceding defeat to Buhari, Aginigham said: “That was the manifestation of the finger of God upon Nigeria. It was the greatest demonstration of love for Nigeria. It was an uncommon show of statesmanship. General Buhari that he conceded defeat to never did same to him in 2011. His action is in conformity with the injunction of the Holy Bible in Romans 12:21: ‘Be not overcome of evil but overcome evil with good’. Jonathan kept his date with history. As Ijaw, we feel proud that one of us has provided Nigeria an example of a true democrat.’’

On the response of the world leaders to the Presi-

dent’s disposition to the outcome of the March 28 election, he stated: “For a man who resisted the temptation to use the instruments of coercion and stupendous state resources at his disposal to perpetuate himself in power, for a man who congratulated his opponent while the collation of results was still going on, for a man who averted the wasting of lives of thousands of innocent Nigerians through a post election violence, all the outpouring of commendation from within and outside Nigeria is well deserved.

President Jonathan has lived out his often quoted saying that nobody’s ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.’’

On the insinuation in some quarters that Jonathan is more of an Ijaw President than a Nigerian President, the former NNDC Acting MD said: “To me, Jonathan is not an Ijaw President as he has been painted in certain quarters. He is a Nigerian President of Ijaw extraction. He recognised that he became President of Nigeria in 2010 by divine providence. In 2011, Nigerians overwhelmingly elected him as their President. He served Nigeria to the best of his ability with all the challenges that he faced, particularly the Boko Haram insurgency in the North.

Jonathan has constructed so many roads for Nigeria with none that he has commis-

sioned in the Ijawland since he became President. He established Almajiri schools in the North but none for the migrant fishermen in his native Ijaw land. There are SURE-P mass transit buses all over Nigeria but no SURE-P boats throughout the coastal belt that is inhabited largely by the Ijaw. No part of the Ijawland is benefiting from the railways Jonathan has revamped.

Ijaw does not have any airport to refurbish. Jonathan’s Ijawland is largely in darkness, inaccessible by road, without potable water. He pleased the rest of Nigeria and forgot his people, thinking that by so doing they would re-elect him, but that did not happen.”

Ogbon boasted that with Emerhor expertise in business, Delta will be transformed and that there will be social security scheme for the aged. “Emerhor as a business fortune changer will bring his expertise in the business sector to bare in his hunger to transform Delta State”, he stated.

“The unemployed youths will be employed because avenues for employment will be opened by establishment of industries, empowerment of the youths and women through his 10 billion Naira

empowerment Scheme programme, free education as well as social security scheme for the aged.”

Ogbon also used the medium to congratulate Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, the president-elect, expressing optimism that his victory at the polls will catapult Emerhor to victory.

He stated that the victory of Buhari will usher in the needed orientation as well as development to Nigerian Citizenry in a nation blessed with human and natural resources.

Abia: Don’t tamper with people’s will, APGA warns

By Akoma Chinweoke

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HE governorship candidate of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, in Abia State, Dr. Alex Otti, has warned that unless President Goodluck Jonathan takes more than a passing interest in what happens in the states in the April 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections, the towering public acceptance profile he has achieved in the last couple of days may be diminished, gravely.

According to him, if the outgoing president would allow the ensuing atmosphere of peace prevail in fair and transparent contest in governorship and House of

Assembly elections in the states, history would certainly be fair to him and his administration.

“Some states like Abia, as things stand, have been identified as areas that require his attention if he is to retain his current exciting reputation”, the gubernatorial candidate said.

Otti noted that the anger occasioned by the National Assembly election results which some Abia residents alleged were cooked in favour of PDP candidates was yet to go down and warned that riding roughshod on the collective will of the people would amount to taking the joke too far.

At Easter, Jonathan, Mark, Amaechi, Fayose, Oshiomhole, others preach sacrifice Continued from page 5 through constant prayers for the nation.

“Our Christian leaders should use the Easter period to pray for peace, unity and love among Nigerians, we are one Nigeria. Christians, at this time, have a duty to always reflect their belief according to the resurrection power of Jesus Christ through prayers for our nation. This is because, Jesus Christ died and was buried, and on the third day arose that the world may be saved”.

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, in his message, said the peace which has prevailed in Nigeria post-election is enough reason for Nigerians to give thanks to God. In his Easter broadcast to people of the state, the governor said: “This period of Easter offers us another opportunity to reflect on our lives and our commitment to God; a period to remind us of God’s love for us. This period, we are enjoined to show love to our neighbours, our family members and indeed to our great country”.

In Akwa Ibom State, Governor Godswill Akpabio enjoined the people to find comfort in the shared commitment to unity and find strength in a common aspiration for a greater state.

Akpabio, who gave this advice in his radio and television broadcast marking Easter, said “Let those who seek to divide us with politics be reminded that Christ said it was through loving one another that one can

prove himself as being a true disciple”.

Akpabio commended Mr. President for this powerful national lesson during this season of love and sacrifice, admitting that “He lived up to his vow that no ambition was worth anybody’s blood.

We should bear this in mind as we prepare to elect our next governor on April 11, 2015".

Abia State Governor Theodore Orji called on Christians to use Easter period to pray for continued peace and unity of Nigeria.

Orji, in his Easter message, also urged Nigerians, irrespective of religion or tribe, to pray for peace and unity of the country.

In a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Charles Ajunwa, he said “the lessons of love, humility, sacrifice, selflessness, forgiveness and perseverance shown by the Lord Jesus Christ through his death on the cross and resurrection should be emulated by all Nigerians at all times especially at this critical period in our nation’s history”.

Former Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, congratulated the people of the state and Nigerians in general for witnessing another Easter, urging them to emulate the sacrificial nature of Jesus Christ who laid down his life for the salvation of mankind.

Fayemi, in his Easter message, signed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Olayinka Oyebode, called on Christians to always demonstrate the virtues of love and sacrifice which the Lord

Jesus Christ exhibited in ensuring the salvation of humanity.

The All Progressives Congress (APC) urged Nigerians to come together, irrespective of the fault lines separating them, for a national rebirth, in the spirit of Easter.

In its Easter message, contained in a statement issued in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said this year’s Easter celebrations could not have come at a better time, hence the lessons must not be lost on Nigerians. ‘’At the core of Easter, which celebrates the resurrection of Jesus Christ, are the messages of renewal and rebirth, sacrifice, forgiveness and love. In the culmination of his life of selfless sacrifice, Jesus Christ gave his life for others to live.

Let us emulate him, in our private and public lives, by exhibiting those virtues for which he lived,” the party said. ‘’This year’s Easter celebrations have coincided with an ongoing political transition that has so far been widely adjudged a success, and one that also paves the way for us to have a national rebirth. In doing this, we must show love and eschew bitterness. We must put the acrimony of the long drawn electioneering campaign behind us.”

The gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Delta State, Senator Ifeanyi

Arthur Okowa, urged Deltans to use the occasion of the Easter celebration to reflect on the noble virtues of love, sacrifice, selflessness, and commitment which Jesus Christ displayed through His death, resurrection, and ascension.

In his Easter message, he asked Deltans, and indeed all Nigerians, to emulate these qualities which, he asserted, are imperative for the service of God and humanity.

The Speaker of the Kwara State Assembly and member-elect of House of Representatives, Barr. Razak Atunwa, urged Christians to draw substance from the significant life of Jesus.

The Speaker, in his Easter

message, stated that religious beliefs and practices are fundamental to nationbuilding.

The senator representing Kwara Central in the National Assembly,Senator Bukola Saraki, urged Nigerians to make huge sacrifice and place the country on a high priority.

The former governor, in his Easter message, said: “At this moment when Nigeria is globally celebrated on her emergence of a new democratic dispensation, I extend a hearty felicitation to our dear Christian families all across the country.

“For this to come to life, we all need to make huge sacrifice and place this nation on a high priority.”

Minimum Wage: Ignore PDP’s lies — Fashola

By Akoma Chinweoke

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AGOS State Governor Babatunde Fashola has said the state government remains the first state in the federation to implement the Federal Government approved minimum wage.

He also debunked what he described as the propaganda of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on minimum wage in the state’s civil service describing as untrue the allegation that Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the All Progressives Congress (APC) flag bearer in Saturday’s gubernatorial election in the state, was sacked from Lagos Pub-

lic Service. “He retired voluntarily after 27 years of meritorious service” He however, alleged that ahead of the gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections in the state, the candidate of the PDP, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, placed posters around the state secretariat, Alausa, promising to implement the National Minimum Wage and pay leave allowances to public servants if voted in.

A statement by the Special Adviser on Media to the Governor, Mr. Hakeem Bello, explained that the administration of Fashola was not only the first to implement the minimum wage but also added to the N18,000 minimum wage across board.

PAGE 8—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

What Abians need

DIASPORA MATTERS

By Charles Uzoukwu

A

My Friend Has A Story (1)

I

ran into an old friend some time last week. He is the type of friend you only see, probably once in a decade. I have known my friend from way back in the primary school when we were the best of friends and sometimes, the worst enemies. We argued, fought and laughed on basically everything. We were the best of friends.

Although as we grew older, we kind of drifted from each other. This is understandable because we both had to face life's challenges individually while chasing our destinies. Over the years, we usually run into each other. With the little times we had together on these "run ins" we always tried to catch up on each other's stories. My friend is one of the few from my primary school days that I still have connections with.

My friend and I usually bump into each other in odd places. Before last week's unplanned meeting, the last time we saw was in 2007 at the Edinburgh Airport. Prior to running into my friend in the historic city of Edinburgh, I saw him last in Lagos in 1999. With the advent of the Internet, we did try to keep up with each other via email messages and Yahoo messenger, but at a point one of us (or both) changed email address and that was the end of that means of communication.

You wonder why we do not "meet" on social media. Well, my friend seems to have a big dislike for the social media? I had searched online many times for him, with no luck. Facebook is not his community.

You can therefore imagine our excitement when we ran into each other again at the Leeds Train Centre. Bless my friend, he is a great talker. Growing up, our friendship was always a means of amusement as we were classed opposite of each other.

While he can talk a dead man back to life, I am always the type that believe in sitting back and see events unfold, offering one or two comments where necessary. But I always admire people who can talk without any “ restraint”, whether they make sense or not. I guess I hung out with my friend most times in my early years just to make up for my short fall in the "talking department".

However, one thing I learnt growing up is when you talk too much, you are most likely to say "things" out of context and regret later. Or you say

One thing I learnt growing up is when you talk too much, you are most likely to say "things" out of context and regret later. Or you say things that are inappropriate for the moment things that are inappropriate for the moment. My friend may be classed as one of the people who delight in talking themselves into whatever position they think will benefit them. He might be a bit quiet with new people, but with me he lets down his guard. He must tell me his stories.

When we ran into each other, he could not hold himself back.

He screamed and did a 100 metres dash in the opposite direction, made a uturn, charged at me in full speed and got me off my feet. By stature, under normal circumstances I should not be easily swept off the ground by my 5ft tall friend. But he did. It was a spectacle at the station as the folks passing by thought we were having the African wresting (Ijakadi). If not for the smiles on our faces, the policemen on standby at the station would have mistaken us for terrorists about to detonate grenades.

My friend was in the Train Station enroute to London after speaking at a Centre for African Studies, University of Leedssponsored programme. I was at the station to pick up train tickets for a guest of mine. My friend had mistaken his departure time and came early to the station only to be told he has another fifty minutes to wait. And here I am to fill the gap for him, as I knew it was an opportunity for him to keep me updated on what he has been up to in the past years.

“Lets get somewhere comfy to sit and talk”, he said. I know it’s time for a real long talk. So we headed to the lobby of the nearby Queens Hotel. “Bobo (that’s the name he likes calling me) you have shed a lot of weight. The last time I saw you, you were bigger than this.”

“Yes. I know. You know it’s no longer fashionable to be fat. You are not do-

ing badly, still retain your stature at your age, ” I replied.

“Bobo, I could not have put on any weight at all. I have been through a lot in recent times. If I start the story I won’t finish it till tomorrow. But I thank God I am still standing.”

We finally found a space at the lobby and it was in here he unloaded all. He told me how life has been very good to him, has been moving from one level to another in his career, travel all over the world on speaking assignments, have properties in some choice cities of the world.

I can see his pride. But behind all these, I could also see there was a hurt that he was trying (albeit unsuccessfully) to hide.

“Good for you, my friend. You are not doing badly,” I said. By his look and story, I knew he was not doing badly. You know there are some people you see and just conclude they are doing fine in life. Sometimes we judge by their appearances, clothing, and all the superfluous things. We often forget that as human beings we know how to cover up. As a result, it is most times possible for a man or woman to be in real pain and disguise without sharing this with friends or family members.

My friend was not going to cover up. No. I am not that type of friend, he will cover up for.

“Bobo, you know while growing up, we always tease each other on the type of wife we will marry.”

“Please dont get to that again, you know I sure remember,” I answered him, while I recollected how we "dreamt" as kids.

He continued: “Bobo, while growing up I have always had an idea of the type of woman I wanted. I fantasised everyday about my type of woman. Back in the days in the classroom, while classes were going on I was always “ weighing” my female classmates against the criteria I had drawn up in my head for my future wife. I had a clear picture of the type of wife I wanted.”

“But you are married now, so what’s all these got to do with the present,” I asked him.

He ignored me and continued. “Bobo, growing up I wanted a woman who can read and write. I said to myself in my secondary school days that a Primary School graduate will be okay for me, as long as she knows how to cook good food.”

TO BE CONTINUED.

S the countdown to April 2015 governorship elections begins, politicians in Abia State including some governorship aspirants are decamping to the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) in solidarity to Dr. Alex Otti, seen as a liberator in the state. Since 1999, Abia State has been governed by two political parties, the PPA and PDP respectively. Yet, the people are saying there was no difference between the two, in terms of character and performance. Governor T.A Orji’s exit from a party he co-founded, spoke of a man who could not be trusted. That defection to PDP, sequel to his rejection in APGA, created confusion in the state’s economy. For instance, promises the Governor willingly made to Abians could no longer be realized. This is exactly the way he made his pronouncements to the people of Abia. Governor T.A Orji had said he would start and finish a new Government House before the end of his tenure.

He would start and finish one of the best airports in the country for Abians. He said, Golden Guinea brewery will resume pro-

duction before he leaves office. T.A Orji also boasted to Abians that, he will build a coliseum on the old market site in Umuahia and Shoprite will commence operation before 2014. These were his promises and none has been realised. That these projects, which the Abia governor willingly promised to do, and could not, compares with what APGA Governor in Anambra State was done in less than one year in office.

Governor Willie Obiano of Anambra State is showcasing what will be replicated in Abia State, when the APGA candidate Dr. Alex Otti, becomes Governor of the State. In less than one year in office, Governor Willie Obiano is constructing an Airport for Anambra State and Abia State Airport project is still on the drawing board.

Abia State is the only State in the South-East that without a National Sports festival, because no befitting stadium exists in the state, yet the state have two premier football clubs. Aba town has some of the worst road networks in the world.

The Governor ’s praise singers are always quick to point at the movement of Umuahia main market to Ubani, as his greatest

achievement, but this is yet to be realised. Judging Ochendo Global, with his counterparts in AkwaIbom and Delta States respectively, Abia as an oil producing state has remained backward and Abians impoverished by irregular payment of salaries and pension. The people of Abia State will not accept any successor from Governor T.A Orji that will entrench his catastrophic regime on the state again. Because of Orji’s poor performance in office, Abians will never accept anyone close to him as governor of the state.

Therefore, Dr. Alex Otti has been generally accepted as a replacement.

Abia people are tired of deceit, misrule and financial recklessness. Ochendo Global, yes fine name, but Abia people cannot factor, if the Global means: Global Success or Global failure. The people of Abia State are rooting for Dr. Alex Otti, whom they see as an upright, well educated, tested and trusted that will govern with the fear of God. So (what Abians need) is Dr. Alex Otti as their Governor

*Uzoukwu, writes from Abuja

Ikpeazu: Why the stooge sentiment doesn’t fly

BY UDUMA KALU S it easy to cage an Ngwa man, and one with a Phd that will be first Ngwa as governor? It has never worked and not in Igboland. But in Abia, some people are going about deceiving the people that it is easy to cage an educated mind, and that the state’s PDP guber candidate Dr. Okezie Ikpeazu will be a stooge of Theodore Orji.

However, in Aba, a political analyst and lawyer, Chief Elekwachii said godfatherism has never worked in Igboland. And Ikpeazu agrees, “You can’t show one example of somebody that has been tied and put in the pocket and he is a governor...nobody is contemplating such.”

Igboland is in a hurry to develop. A week- long independent tour of the South showed a people ready to fly. And this is where the anger sets in: a people full of energy, ready to burst and fly but stalled by incompetent and inept leadership that cannot match their haste. And the fear of godfatherism or stooge.

The seat of a governor is powerful, another analyst in Umuahia, Mr. Torti said. A study of godfatherism in Igboland since 1999 shows that it never worked. For example, Chimaroke Nnamani of Enugu state was installed by some Enugu state elites such as Chief Jim Nwobodo but the romance crashed and Nnamani liberated himself. Nnamani in turn installed Chime Sullivan. But as we have seen, Chime fought out Nnamani and freed himself. In Anambra where Dr.

I

Mbadinauju could not free himself from Emeka Offor, perhaps due to time issues, he was voted out, paving way for Dr. Chris Ngige who fought his godfathers for Peter Obi to step in. Today, Chief Willie Obiano is reportedly fighting his installer, Peter Obi. Dr.Chidi Ohakim of Imo state fought Orji Kalu to free himself even in his first term. In Abia state, Orji freed himself from his Orji Uzor Kalu grip whom he accused of stalling his development plans for the state. From hindsight, therefore, it will be difficult for anyone to think that Ikpeazu will be a stooge of Orji. It has never worked and won’t work now.

In Abia what drives the politics and campaigns mainly are the issues of stooge. Followers of the APGA candidate Dr Alex Otti argue that the PDP Dr Okezie Ikpeazu will be a stooge of Gov Theodore Orji who they said propped him up as PDP gubernatorial candidate. For anti Orji followers, therefore, an Ikpeazu government will be an extension of Orji’s which the opposition is vehemently against, and the opposition appears to be growing. But the PDP alleged that Otti himself is a stooge of the capitalist world like Dangote and Zenith Bank who the allege are sponsoring him with the hope of reaping the state’s resources.

But the anti Ikpeazu group thinking that he will be a stooge appears all sentiment, founded on nothing. In fact, as it is said, the first victim of war is truth. A critical mass judges Ikpeazu on his own merit. A corps member, Ndidi, in Umuahia, asked

Abians in a country like Nigeria where politics is controlled by the party, Ikpeazu could only emerge from a structure powered by the governor ’s machinery but like others will break free.

And Ikpeazu had already spoken out in this vein, saying in his task of tackling Aba’s problem, he is ready to step on toes if that is what it will take to get Aba right and reposition Abia State. But the question is: Why would the people trust Ikpeazu that he will not be a stooge? Ikpeazu has worked 20 years for Abia, under various jurisdictions unlike his main rival. His work as ASEPA deputy general manager attests to this. This is man who worked like a labourer in Aba, day in day out clearing the dirty. He carried the dirt of the city with his own hands and shovels. He was with cleaners and truck driver in the day. And helped shovel the dirt in the night. He informed the wish of the people to the governor. He had no office when he was posted there and was in the rain and in the sun in under a tree besides a recharge cards seller. He had cash problems but he worked with whatever he had. He got shovels, tippers, trucks, personnel and all and worked till he cleared Aba and the people still applaud him for this. In the course of that, he also discovered the drainage and other problems of Aba. And he worked out a development plan for the city and Aba having lived and worked with and for them day and night.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 9

PAGE 10—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015 to stop there for now. At least one book will come out of this from me. It has taken four years longer, but I predicted this in 2011.

Jonathan’s long trip back to Otuoke

O

utgoing President Goodluck Ebele A z i k i w e Jonathan, GCFR, should now start preparing for the longest journey he had ever undertaken in his life. He is going home. Although, given any of the fleet of ten aircrafts at his disposal, and a military helicopter, the trip should not last more than one hour. But, to a Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces, of any country, who has just been defeated in an election, every nautical mile will appear like ten thousand miles. Each will be filled with unpleasant sensations.

And, arrival at the destination will bring more pain – unlike previous visits to the small community which were joyful. To be sure, there will be people there to welcome him. But, even the returning native son knows that the atmosphere, instead of being fun-filled, will be the opposite. The reason is simple. They don’t really want him back; at least not in 2015. And, they don’t want him returning like a beaten cock its feathers drooping and head bloodied. But, go he must; and receive him back, they must – for he has no place else to go. As Poet Robert Frost, 18741963, had told us, “Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.” (VBQ p 93).

One of the major differences between this trip and others before it soon becomes manifest.

Until now, the pilots and motorcades dropped him

Nigerians took back the reins "All truth passes through three stages: First, it is ridiculed; second, it is violently opposed; third, it is accepted as self-evident." ? Arthur Schopenhauer

T

he last couple of days has been a roller coaster ride.

And what a ride it was! It was a heart stopping highs and deepening lows with an exhausting and exhilarating finish. From start to finish, many of us were glued to the screens and other social media for updates.

May I say a special thank you to a well organised group of social websites including #Nigeria decides 2015 and many other individuals who were at the epicentre giving many of us live updates? , We thoroughly were kept informed and the commentaries were gold.

With this election, from start to finish, we saw a Nigeria that we wished for, but dared not think it possible. It seems that the will and determination of the average Nigerian was far greater, they wanted change and went out there to make every single vote count. We all bear witness to history and March 28th will be remembered by those who lived it. It will be

seen as a seminal point in Nigeria's history. The hero of the moment is the Nigerian, who took the unprecedented move to shift the political landscape away from politico, tribal, religious and regional alliance lines.

The message for all politicians is that; Nigerians would no longer play the divisive game and those who are arrogant and do so will be cast out into the political wilderness.

The hero of the moment is the average Nigerian, from the ailing retired cardiologist flanked by two nurses determined to vote, to the determined individuals who lent their generators to the INEC so that counting could continue when there was no power. Then the brave women and men who in spite of intimidation by the police and the army, stood fast and refused to be moved.

Local and overseas election observers were very impressed and they declared that the poll was by and large free and fair.

Many people at home and abroad praised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for a well-managed election, despite some

at home and waited for further instructions about where to go and what to do. This time, they offload him and Patience, their luggage and give him a final salute and they depart – to take instructions from the new

,

“It is the loser who finds the horrors of war on his very doorstep.”—Phocion, 402317 BC, Athenian General.

(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 139).

“Politicians are their own grave diggers.” Will Rogers, 1879-1935.

(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 191).

GEJ AS SELFCONFESSED P O L I T I C A L UNDERTAKER -1 “You have given me your assurances of support but some of you are secretly campaigning for Atiku Abubakar. I can’t stand to be humiliated by you. I am the Captain of this boat. I am not going down alone. I am going to sink this boat and go down with all that are in it.

President Jonathan at

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was an accident waiting to happen – right from the day one Chief Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo, newly released from prison, was admitted as a member in 1998

,

Commander-in-Chief, Buhari. The era of GEJ has come to a close.

Since this is only a prelude to other articles that will follow on the RISE AND FALL OF G O O D L U C K JONATHAN, permit me

the 55th National Executive Committee Meeting of the PDP in 2011.

That was Jonathan in 2011 and, those gathered there at the convention to dig their own graves with him, were not sagacious

delays, few technical hitches and random violence, including the torching of INEC's offices in Rivers State.

Regardless of what a few disgruntled politicians may say, these issues did not overwhelmingly disadvantage any candidate or party.

The level of heroics during this election has been outstanding and inspirational. There has been a fear that there would be violence and threats that BH will scupper the proceedings and mar the election. But generally, it was relatively better outcomes that we had had dared to wished for. This was the best outcome that Nigeria could have hoped for. Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential

victory and he assured Nigerian that "I assure you that Boko Haram will soon know the strength of our collective will and commitment to rid this nation of terror and bring back peace. We shall spare no effort until we defeat terrorism. In tackling the insurgency, we have a tough and urgent job to do."

He offered that his government will be a receptive government "for all Nigerians" that would work to eradicate the "evil" of corruption. And that "there shall no longer be a ruling party again. His tempo was measured when he talked about APC will be a governing party. And that they shall faithfully serve and they shall never rule over the people as if they were subservient to

With this election, from start to finish, we saw a Nigeria that we wished for, but dared not think it possible election by more than 2.5 million votes; and it was apparent before the final votes was officially verified that GEJ got on the phone to concede defeat and congratulate the victor.

Muhammadu Buhari praised Goodluck Jonathan after winning Nigerian presidential election. For the first time ever an incumbent Nigerian president has failed to win the popular vote. Nigerians have spoken and it is a landmark for democracy In his first speech after his victory, Buhari appealed for calm and sober reflection even in celebration of his

government.

He said "Our long night has past and the daylight of new democratic government has broken across the land." It was truly inspirational and just tempered for the mood of the nation. That alone is a significant shift in the crystallised mind-set of many Nigerian and it has heralded a new dawn in Nigerian politics and the way that we should proceed as people in terms of nation building.

Messages have been coming thick and fast. One from OBJ congratulating Buhari on his victory and

enough to understand that, like the pilot bent on committing suicide, given a plane to fly, he will take as many people as possible down with him.

Many, whose political careers are in ruins today, should have had the wisdom to disembark from the plane. After all, an Area Boy like me, not even a professional politician could read the danger signals involved in flying with a captain who threatens to go down with everybody. But, what are Nigerian politicians if not grave diggers. They went on board anyway.

Even some, who were not initially on the flight, squeezed themselves in at the last minute. Permit me to list, not necessarily in order of importance, all the individuals and organizations which went down with “Captain Goodluck”.

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was an accident waiting to happen – right from the day one Chief Olusegun Aremu Obasanjo, newly released from prison, was admitted as a member in 1998. The real surprise to me was how long it took…More on this later.

The grand old men of Afenifere, AWOISTS, and their new young recruits, went into partial oblivion when they agreed that the Alliance for Democracy, AD, would present no Presidential candidate in 2003, in exchange for OBJ letting them keep their

states. They kept their promise; I warned them; then OBJ betrayed them.

GEJ lured them into their own political coffins; Afenifere is now in the graveyard for sure; so is OPC… Niger Delta Militants, as well as their “god-father ”, Chief Edwin Clark, have a new battle on their hands.

Most of the militants are still young; but if they want to live to be as old as Chief Clark, they better now eschew violence. It’s a new ball game.

Finally, at least for now, Mrs Patience Jonathan can go home with her crude words and uncouth behavior. The office of wife of President had never been brought so low.

Character can never be hidden. She called herself “Mother of Nigeria”. My mother would never have insulted any person older than her as Patience did to Buhari. God had saved us from having to suffer through four more years of such a “mother ”. She can now go and be a mother to her own children and grandchildren anyway she likes. My kids will never emulate her and they are teaching their kids not to even try…Bad manners will never be fashionable in decent society.

LAST LINE: Regards to Fayose, Fani-Kayode, my co-columnists who said it could never happen. Now everybody knows who is prophetic.

charging him to fight corruption and carry out reforms in different sectors.

And not one to shy away from giving advice to GMB, he said the country "is blessed with men and women of goodwill, character and virtue across the board that you can mobilise to join hands with you in the reform, repairs and re-direction that will be imperative to put Nigeria back on the fast lane of good governance, unity, cohesiveness, development and progress."

From the White House, Obama thanked the president-elect for promoting calm and peaceful voting process and he noted the challenges facing Nigeria, including the threat from Boko Haram and he has promised that the US will continue to support Nigeria as it confronts those challenges.

On GEJ, Obama said: "President Jonathan has placed his country's interests first by conceding the election and congratulating presidentelect Buhari on his victory.

I look forward to working with President Jonathan throughout the remainder of his term, and I thank him for his many years of service and his statesmanlike conduct at this critical juncture From the UK, Cameron said: "I send my warmest congratulations to General Buhari on being elected as Nigeria's next president.

This election has been a credit to the Nigerian people and a truly historic moment for Nigerian democracy And Ban ki Moon, the UN secretary general, who spoke to both Nigerian leaders by phone on Tuesday, said: "The successful outcome of these

polls is a testament to the maturity of Nigeria's democracy."

I am tempted to give post mortem but this is not the time to do so, I will let the dust to settle in the meantime. I think it is appropriate to give the time to all well-meaning Nigerians who took their future in their hands and spoke loud and clear.

Halls of corrections There have been disgraceful shenanigans and in particular, by some notable people that cannot go on unmentioned.

First that of the so-called "Elder" Godsday Orubebe, former Minister of Niger Delta Affairs and the People's Democratic Party (PDP) agent for the presidential election.

Godsday Orubebe shown what is wrong with Nigeria today .His attitude, his showmanship and loutish behaviour lay bare of what is wrong with many of our politicians. They believed in their self -importance and blunt refusal to follow due process. In full view of national and international media was disgraceful.

Although, he has since apologised to Nigerians he has earned a reputation of how not to behave. If we do not know before, he has earned the dubious honour of rude and arrogant diktats. I would advise him to personally apologised to Prof Jega and spend his time repairing his reputation with remorse.

Prof. Jega was highly composed during the confrontation and he earned the peoples' admiration on how to behave and respond to supercilious behaviour from a supposedly former minister.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 11

informed the article in this column on Sunday July 17, 2011 titled “For states like Nasarawa, it is now or never.”

The article drew attention to the fundamental issue of

,

V

irtually everyone who knows Umaru Tanko Al-makura, the incumbent Governor of Nasarawa State would testify that the man is an achiever having made a success of every previous assignment he handled. As if he was destined to take Nasarawa out of the woods, he sought to reverse with much passion his discovery that the state had “since its creation been held hostage to the folly and excesses of its rulers”, Governor Almakura on assumption of office, did two rather simple things which his predecessor for inexplicable reasons couldn’t dare. First, he appropriately relocated the state owned College of Agriculture from Lafia to Doma.

Second, he approved the use of the new House of Assembly complex which for longer than makes sense could not be commissioned notwithstanding that the legislature was in a tardy m a k e - s h i f t accommodation. With this posture the question on the lips of all, was: could Almakura be the longawaited redeemer of Nasarawa State? It was that question which

On the second issue of whether or not politicians in search of comfort would allow the governor to be, Al Makura is about to make history as the only governor in Nigeria who refused to succumb to political blackmail and yet could not be impeached

,

Nasarawa still crawling at its 15 th anniversary and admonished the achievergovernor to take steps to make a difference. We imagined that if he did otherwise, the good people of Nasarawa State will have in their hands a failed state hence we urged him on. As an impetus, we reminded him of the feat of two former visionary Governors, Audu Bako of Kano and Samuel Ogbemudia of the Midwest who in the 70s overwhelmingly transformed their states

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos, , 08116759758

Consolidating democratic culture in Nigeria (2)

A

s I argued sometime ago, democratic governance is a team effort, not a one-man show. Thus, no matter how disciplined or incorruptible a politician might seem to a certain segment of the population, he or she cannot make solid positive impact if the political structure is as skewed as what we have presently - indeed, it is the single most profound cause of our arrested development. So, expeditious restructuring of the Nigerian federation such that more political and fiscal powers are devolved to the six geopolitical zones is the most urgent political task at this period in our national development.

Let us focus our attention on the attitudes of politicians and their supporters shortly before, during and immediately after elections. It is regrettable that many prominent politicians and their supporters are yet to imbibe appropriate democratic outlook with respect to elections. Their minds are still dominated by the loathsome attitude of door-die politics reminiscent of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo's political ideology and praxis.

To be candid, comparatively speaking, Gen. Buhari, far more than President Jonathan, has made threatening and incendiary comments about the current

within a short period and with fewer resources than available today. Indeed, till date, Ogbemudia in particular has remained a living legend to his people.

To gain an insight into how Al-makura would fair in

elections and their aftermath.

Aside from his frightening remarks about dogs and baboons being soaked in blood if the elections were rigged by the PDP (as if APC was immune from rigging), APC members as a whole have manifested appalling disdain for President Jonathan. Never in the history of Nigeria has a sitting President been criticised, ridiculed, insulted and jeered at by the opposition as Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. The barrage of hyperbolic disdainful language against Mr. President reached its zenith when he was uncharitably described as clueless, weak and incompetent, and his government as the most corrupt in Nigerian history. Of course, the campaign machinery of the PDP also tried really hard to discredit Gen. Buhari's electability, but APC was already ahead in the media war of attrition, stridently exaggerating and parading the shortcomings of President Jonathan while trumpeting the alleged virtues of Gen. Buhari.

Now, I believe that despite the inherent combativeness of electioneering campaigns, there should be respect for the office of President since it is the epicentre of political power in the country and embodies core political values that hold different

Nasarawa, we decided to keenly follow developments in the State with the aid of two research questions. i) Will Almakura heed our advice and purposefully serve as an agent of transformation in his state? ii) Based on Nigeria’s political culture of greed and pervasive corruption, will politicians particularly the legislators in the state let the governor be? With less than one week to Al-makura’s reelection or rejection at the governorship polls of April 11, 2015, today appears ethnic nationalities together.

Therefore, for democracy to thrive, Nigerians must cultivate the attitude of respect for political institutions, particularly the presidency, irrespective of who occupies various positions in the system. Constant disparagement of a sitting President belittles the office and compromises its symbolic value and the positive magnetic pull it should have on the citizenry.

Politicians must recognise that leadership is about service, and that the attitude of decency and respect towards political opponents is a virtue, not a sign of weakness. A politician that does not respect his political rivals lacks maturity: he would be disrespectful to the people as well. Decency, selflessness, humility, and brotherliness are essential attributes to be cultivated by politicians who really desire to elevate the democratisation process in Nigeria. In this connection, Dr. Jonathan, inspite of his failures as President, deserves credit for his civilised attitude to political power. In his speeches and conduct, the incumbent President manifests total commitment to the concept of politicswithout-bitterness. Now, although his laid-back attitude to power, to political contestation, creates the impression of weakness in the minds of his traducers, there is hidden strength in that very attitude. In a fledgling democracy like ours where political office is one of the quickest means of amassing wealth, most politicians deliberately discard morality in their quest for power.

Therefore, it requires a politician with moral fibre

saving of about ¦ 63 million which he deployed to good use.

Having stabilized the state, Al-makura, obtained a N10 billion bond from the capital market to provide infrastructural facilities across the state.

In commerce, he constructed modern markets in Lafia, Akwanga and Karu; in Information, he concluded in record time, the digitization of radio and television facilities at the Nasarawa State Broadcasting Service (NBS); in health, he built three Ultra-modern hospitals in Lafia, Akwanga and Nasarawa; in education, he constructed thirty six (36) Model Schools in all the thirteen (13) local governments and Development Areas. The list in fairness is virtually in-exhaustive On the second issue of whether or not politicians in search of comfort would allow the governor to be, Al Makura is about to make history as the only governor in Nigeria who refused to succumb to political blackmail and yet could not be impeached.

Balarabe Musa, Governor of Kaduna State in the 2nd Republic, himself a man of accountability could not make it in the midst of hawks. Others in the same situation either bought their way through as in the case of Edo where Comrade Adams Oshiomhole got his opponents to defect to his party while some others used brute force supported by federal might as in the case of Ekiti where Ayo Fayose redefined

democracy as the rule of the minority by scarring majority legislators from his state.

In the case of Nasarawa where Almakura bluntly refused to be intimidated, the legislators did put up a severe fight; they sought to compel the governor to implement their otherwise advisory resolutions, they queried the governor for not obtaining permission to travel outside the state and even tried to pass retroactive legislations to criminalize actions already undertaken- a good example being the inchoate amendment to the Nasarawa State Local Government Law 2009 concerning the composition of management committees for local development areas.

Perhaps the most contentious battle was the attempt to impeach Almakura. Unlike the ease with which their counterparts used their federal connection to undo Governor Murtala Nyako in Adamawa State, the attempt by Nasarawa legislators to sack Almakura met a brick-wall as the masses that had being taken along in the governance of the state through people-oriented policies revolted. This, along with the governor ’s sincerity of purpose and the fear of God provided an impregnable defence.

However, in these days of the nation-wide popularity of the governor’s party-the All Progressive Congress, time will tell if the masses will be with Al-makura again in next Saturday’s election.

and enlightened disposition to power to approach politics with an urbane mentality. Mr. President himself made it clear that nobody's political ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian. If this kind of attitude becomes widespread among politicians in the country, the

the voter in a large democracy feels so impotent to influence political decisions that he or she often does not consider it worthwhile to vote. Given that scenario, the best way to consolidate democracy is to ensure that election results reflect the true wishes of the electorate. Unfortunately, because of the irrational desire to win at all cost, rigging and different types of electoral malpractices have punctuated Nigeria's democratic evolution several times. To discourage this, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) must deploy welltrained staff and technology to make the electoral processes more transparent and immune from manipulation. Additionally, government and nongovernmental organisations should continuously embark on enlightenment programmes highlighting the dangers of electoral malpractices and the role citizens can play in preventing unscrupulous politicians and election officials from manipulating the system. This means that Nigerians have to be involved more than ever before in the political process.

If the people genuinely want a solid democracy, they must work hard for it, in the full knowledge that effective representative government does not just happen: on the contrary, it is created and nurtured by patriotic citizens who see themselves as responsible stakeholders in the difficult task of nationbuilding. Politics, the way I see it, is too important to be left in the hands of politicians and INEC officials alone. The attitude of indifference or siddon look is out of the

question; it provides fertile opportunities for scallywags to hijack the political process.

Since politics abhors a vacuum, it is imperative for Nigerians of eighteen years and above to get involved politically, especially by voting in every election to prevent kakistocracy.

Democratic consolidation in Nigeria, like in every other country, demands the diffusion of certain mental attributes in the citizens. The attitude of mutual respect, tolerance in all its ramifications and willingness to compromise are essential.

But none of these is clear-cut or easily applicable in the practical political situations where they are actually needed.

At this point, let us harvest some key points of our analysis. The democratic experiment in Nigeria is an alloyed blessing: it has allowed a greater proportion of the people to have a say in who governs them, and created a non-violent avenue for replacing politicians who failed to meet the needs and aspirations of the people.

However, it has also deepened centrifugal forces, which if not properly managed might lead to disintegration. To consolidate the modest gains made since the return to democratic rule in 1999, Nigerians must cultivate and practicalise democratic values embedded in the notion of live and let live, respect for one another and willingness to engage in the political process. Democracy is fragile, but it is the best political fruit of civilisation.

Consequently, it must be nurtured and nourished in an atmosphere of intellectual and moral freedom.

Concluded

,

A Second look at Nasarawa’s Governor Al-makura

appropriate for us to present some of our key findings as follows: First, the governor has since repaid the debts he inherited. According to the yet to be refuted widely publicised claim by Yakubu Lamai, Chief Press Secretary to Governor, over N40billion has been paid off. Again, although salaries of civil servants in the state have risen sharply from N800million to N1.2billion per month, payments have been consistently regular. That the payment of inherited debts, current salaries and all other expenditures are made from state resources without resorting to bank loans adds ample credence to the decision of the Foundation for Transparency & Accountability (F TA) to confer the award of “Most Transparent Governor in Nigeria” on Governor AlMakura on Saturday, February 21 2015. The story of how he was able to achieve this is told everywhere in the state. He reportedly organized a template for prudence, accountability, fiscal discipline and open government which was intertwined with costcutting processes, so as to make great savings for the public good. For example, like Kwankwaso of Kano, he stopped the old practice of indulging some privileged persons with the payment of various perks, including contingency allowances. He organized a staff audit of civil servants in the state which revealed the existence of 846 “ghost workers” leading to a monthly

Politicians must recognise that leadership is about service, and that the attitude of decency and respect towards political opponents is a virtue, not a sign of weakness

,

ugly bugbear of politics-withbitterness will be tamed.

It must be admitted that democratic governance requires continuous work and unceasing adjustment to make it successful. Decisionmaking in such a system is inherently cumbersome and slow, especially in large, multiply pluralistic democracies like Nigeria.

That is the price for avoiding the crippling evils of monarchy and authoritarianism. Moreover, since the citizens are compelled to entrust power to elected representatives, there is a tendency for the masses to have so little a sense of power to the extent of considering elections pointless. In otherwords, except he feels enthusiasm for a politician,

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Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

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hen the gunmen stormed in, barefoot and barking in Swahili, student Hellen Titus scampered into a closet and stayed quiet.

Bullets whizzed past as her schoolmates fled in the dark.

Gunshots pierced their heads, one after another.

In the chaos, Titus decided she was safer in the closet. But her refuge was short lived — the gunmen who raided her college in the Kenyan town of Garissa on Thursday came for her an hour later.

They led her and dozens of other students into a community room normally used for viewing television.

Lie down, the attackers told them, lecturing them on how the Quran forbids the killing of women. They killed the men.

Not much later, they turned the weapons on the women.

“He was telling him, ‘shoot them, shoot them’,” she said of a terrorist.

Titus survived by smearing a friend’s blood on her face and playing dead.

“I just rubbed myself, soaked myself with that blood,” she said Friday at a makeshift center for evacuated students. “They skipped me.”

Students still missing More horrific details emerged, yesterday, about the terrorist attack, the deadliest in Kenya since al Qaeda bombed the United States Embassy in Nairobi in 1998. Last week’s attack by Somali militant group Al-Shabaab left 147 people dead.

Yesterday, two days later, some people still didn’t know whether

Garissa terror attack: More horrific details emerge as Kenya searches for victims •I escaped death by smearing a friend’s blood on my face – Survivor •Christians appear to be militants targets worried and it made me rush here in Nairobi to look for him,” he said.

Titus...survived attack their loved ones are alive.

Zeddy Godwano has not slept for hours; his brother is still missing.

Godwano has looked for him at major hospitals in the Kenyan capital, Nairobi, where most of the wounded were airlifted.

“Since we heard news in the radios and televisions, I was

Broken, shocked Most friends and relatives streamed in at dawn, patiently awaiting confirmation of the fate of their loved ones. Others lay on the ground, wailing, too broken to stand.

“They are coming when they are very shocked ... when they are very confused,” said Professor Catherine Oshotha, a psychologist. “They do not know whether their loved ones are here ... whether they’ve died. They are coming here because they’ve tried to contact their children and they are not getting them or they are not hearing from them.”

Kenyan police arrested five suspects Friday, Interior Minister Joseph Nkaissery said.

The militants killed 142 students, three security officers and two university security personnel. The attack left 104 people injured, some of them in critical condition, Nkaissery said.

As search and recovery efforts continued, police found a man who was not a student hiding under a bed, sources said. He was taken into custody and was being treated as a suspect, sources close to the search said.

After the man was discovered, authorities conducted an additional search of the building. Three people, all students, were found alive. One female student was under

a pile of bodies; another was in a closet. A male student was hiding in a bathroom, the sources said.

Most of the victims had been shot in the back of the head, a medic said.

“They’re facing down, always,” a worker with St. John’s ambulance service said Friday.

The Education Ministry has closed the university indefinitely.

Raging gunfire The explosion and gunfire cut through Thursday morning’s quiet on the campus, 90 miles from Kenya’s border with Somalia, tearing students out of their sleep.

The gunmen first stormed a Christian prayer service, where they killed some worshipers and took others hostage. Then they went across campus with them, shooting non-Muslims and sparing Muslims. They gave religious sermons as they killed, witnesses said.

Al-Shabaab has intensified attacks in Kenya since the country sent troops to Somalia in 2011 to help battle the militants.

The terrorist group released a statement Friday threatening more bloodshed.

“Do not dream of security in your land until security becomes a reality in Muslim lands,” it said.

The university was expected to confirm, yesterday, whether everyone has been accounted for following this week’s attack. *Source: CNN

The world’s fastest growing religion is Islam — Study •Christianity takes second position •Muslims projected to be more than 50% of Nigeria’s population

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f tech futurists are to be believed, by the year 2050, robots will do many of our errands and drive our cars. If a new study on religious trends is to be believed, many of those robotcontrolled cars will stop and park at mosques and churches.

Yes, despite predictions that religion will go the way of dinosaurs, the size of almost every major faith — sorry, Buddhists — will increase in the next 40 years, according to a study released Thursday by the Pew Research Center.

The biggest winners, Pew predicts, will be Islam and Christianity.

Islam, the world’s fastest-growing faith, will leap from 1.6 billion (in 2010) to 2.76 billion by 2050, according to the Pew study. At that time, Muslims will make up nearly one-third of the world’s total projected population of about 9 billion people.

Christianity is expected to grow, too, but not at Islam’s explosive rate. The Pew study predicts Christians will increase from 2.17 billion to 2.92 billion, composing more than 31% of the world’s population.

This means that by 2050, more than 6 out of 10 people on Earth will be Christian or Muslim. And, for perhaps the first time in history, Islam and Christianity would boast roughly equal numbers.

Looking even farther into the future, Islam’s population could surpass Christianity by 2100, Pew says, despite Christians’ six-century head start. (It’s

possible that Muslims outnumbered Christians some time in the past, perhaps during the Black Plague that decimated Europe. But scholars aren’t certain.)

Based in Washington, Pew is a nonpartisan “fact tank” that regularly produces sweeping surveys of this kind without taking public policy positions.

Six years in the making, its study collected data from 234 countries and territories to predict the fate of five major faiths — Buddhism, Christianity, Hinduism, Judaism and Islam — as well as folk religions and the religiously unaffiliated, including atheists. The study, which Pew says is the first of its kind, bases its projections on the age of populations, fertility and mortality rates, as well as migration and

conversion patterns. Simply put, Muslims are having larger families, retaining more members (conversions are illegal in some Muslim nations) and are younger than adherents of other faiths. More than 1 in 3 Muslims is younger than 15.

But religious trends have never been measured on the study’s vast scale, Pew says, so a few cautions are in order.

First, the population projections are based on current data and assumptions about demographic trends. For example, Muslim women have an average of three children, the highest of any religious group. In the future, if education and employment rates rise, those numbers could change.

Second, nobody at Pew has a crystal ball, so events like cataclysmic wars, rampaging diseases, natural disasters

and economic meltdowns could throw the numbers off.

But it’s clear from the 245-page report that Pew and the demographic experts they consulted did their homework, so the study is worth taking seriously. With that in mind, here are some of the study’s top findings about what the world will look like — at least, faith-wise — in 2050.

— Atheists, agnostics and religiously unaffiliated people will increase in the United States (from 16% to 26%) but decline as a share of the total worldwide population.

— Also in the United States, Christians will drop from 78% to 66% of population. Muslims will surpass Jews as the largest non-Christian religion in the U.S. — Sub-Saharan African will be home to 40% of the Christian population and Nigeria have more Christians than any other country except for the United States and Brazil.

— India will have the largest Muslim population in the world, passing Indonesia, but Hindus will retain a majority.

— More than 10% of Europeans will be Muslim, while the number of Christians in Europe will drop by 100 million.

— Hinduism (1.4 billion adherents) and Judaism (16 million) will increase, while Buddhists will be about the same size as in 2010 (5.2 million).

— In the coming decades, 106 million people are projected to leave Christianity. (46 million will convert to Christianity, offsetting the losses a little.)

— The number of countries with Christian majorities will drop to 151, as Christians are projected to decrease in Australia, Benin, BosniaHerzegovina, France, the Netherlands, New Zealand, the Republic of Macedonia and the United Kingdom.

— Muslims are expected to make up more than 50% of the population in 51 countries, including the Republic of Macedonia and Nigeria.

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 15

In Delta, Okowa remains the best man to lead

By Paul Odili OLITICS in Nigeria has P changed, no pun intended.

However, the PDP in Delta state

remains positive and optimistic about its future and confident of its success in the April 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections. The reason for this assertion is simply because, since becoming a PDP dominant state since 1999, Delta has not deviated from this path.

Through thick and thin, the party has developed a bond with the people and has built leaders in the state that continue at different levels to work for it in spite of occasional desertion. It is the core of these leaders, past, present and serving, that the PDP will rely upon to do the job of mobilising the people as it has done for so many years, in delivering the party at different elections.

It is also, to a large extent, true that the PDP has kept to its core principle of inclusiveness, which includes spread of appointments and projects, spread of benefits and opportunities and, ultimately, its adherence to the principle of equity and justice. In the beginning, it was James Ibori, Urhobo from Delta Central, that governed the state for eight years; he was succeeded by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, an Itsekiri from Delta South, and so the party, rightly in December, settled for Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, from Delta North, thus closing the loop of justice.

In truth, for politics to remain

an arena of shared goals and beliefs, there must be equity and fairness, otherwise politics becomes a tool of oppression and exclusion. Delta PDP abhors injustice but adheres to the core values of equity and justice knowing quite well that society must have this critical balance for progress to be made.

In Okowa, who has shown himself ready for the job, who has campaigned with vigor and style, who has shown understanding and knowledge of the state, Deltans see a man prepared for the job. Amongst other qualities, the gubernatorial candidate comes to the turf ready to deliver.

That is about Okowa. For the opposition, we are left with head scratching and bewilderment, because it it is difficult to judge what they stand for.

The candidacy of Mr O’tega Emerhor of the APC and Great Ogboru of the Labour Party is not the future that Deltans crave for.

The two are divisive and conflicted in their politics. They have no plan for the state and are interest in politics for the sake of power.

They remain two most divisive politicians ever seen in Delta, no wonder there is civil war in UPU! So far, they have appealed to the base sentiments of their ethnic group, Urhobo. But the Urhobos we know are sophisticated, socially progressive, inclusive and from every indication,ave concluded that their lot will not make be improved upon by the personalities in the opposition parties in the state.

The kind of politics that the

•Okowa opposition plays may have worked in the past but not anymore. They pander and promote ethnic agenda and seek to situate this as the only route to political Eldorado. But they are mistaken. Having being together in the last 16 years with the PDP in the vanguard and with the evolution of politics in the state, our people are wiser and more comfortable on a platform that gives equal opportunity and access to everyone.

Today, every component part of the state feels a sense of ownership of the Delta project. We all feel that given the dimension and direction of things, it is better to be equal part of the whole than to be half of the whole. Okowa and the PDP preach equal part of the

whole, while the opposition preaches half of the whole. The danger is that the politics of the opposition frightens the people, it disturbs the Urhobo. Because the Urhobo know what is being said and presented is not who they really are. People rightly fear politics of domination and control. Everybody wants affirmative right: a right to be seen and respected as a stakeholder. Half of the whole by the opposition is politics of exclusion and marginalization.

And this is politics of the past.

The 16 years of PDP has stabilized Delta and created integration in ways many did not know was possible. A vote for the opposition will completely reverse this.

In this sense, Okowa and the PDP in Delta represent the future of the state, a future in which, according to Okowa’s plan, prosperity will flow. There will be more investment in infrastructure such as roads, bridges, power and industrial parks. Okowa has promised to further develop the rural economy, there will be great emphasis on agriculture and ago-processing— valueaddition, the economy needs to be able to grow and reduce poverty. Okowa has rightly identified environmental and urban renewal as a focal point which means he will further extend efforts in combating climate change and environmental degradation.

The Okowa plan is also mindful of the place of educa-

tion and health care system that will ensure further growth in human capacity. His emphasis on universal health insurance policy for all Deltans is admirable and is the logical next step to ensure that Deltans are healthy. In truth, what Okowa offers is by far qualitatively superior to what the opposition is putting on the table, which is actually nothing.

It will be horrifying if having made this progress to suffer a reversal by placing political power in the hands of the opposition without direction and whose reasoning and vision will retard the state. One other thing that some have parroted to sway the uninformed is that with APC, now at the centre, the PDP should not go into the opposition. That is nonsense.

There is not party that has greater experience in the politics of Abuja than the PDP and, therefore, in and out of Abuja, the party has the capability and wherewithal to get what is due to Delta regardless.

The state will not suffer nor will the government fail because of Abuja. What is important is to elect the right man to lead and to give him the House of Assembly to work with him, something Okowa needs. Nothing more. Deltans know this, contrary to what some people may think and we are confident that they will turn out in their thousands to do their historic duty of electing PDP candidates on April 11 . *Odili is a member of Delta State PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Publicity Committee

Gambo Lawan in last-minute push for Borno governorship

By Ibidapo Balogun

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E will rally round you because we know you; you have been with us. You identified with us and shared in our agony and anguish.”

“We know you and we know what you stand for. As our council chairman, your record of achievement speaks for you. We wish you well.”

The foregoing were some of the words and sentiments expressed at the weekend by some prospective voters in Maiduguri, Borno State capital, once ravaged by Boko Haram insurgency, as the Peoples Democratic Party governorship candidate in the state, Alhaji Gambo Lawan, began a last-minute campaign for the governorship.

Lawan is the former Chairman of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and Chairman of the defunct Grassroots Democratic Movement. He had won the PDP governorship primaries conducted at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa following President Goodluck Jonathan’s intervention to resolve the lingering disagreement over the PDP governorship ticket in the state. The president himself was the Chief Returning Officer of sort for the C M Y K

primary held at the Villa. In attendance during the primary election were VicePresident Namadi Sambo, Senate President David Mark and PDP National Chairman, Alhaji Adamu Mu’azu.

Others were Chairman, PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih; Borno State PDP Chairman; Minister of State for Power, Hon. Muhammed Wakil; PDP Board of Trustees members and other stakeholders from the state. Lawan was affirmed by the party’s delegates, After Lawan’s emergence, Jonathan was quoted as saying: “Nothing can change this victory. The PDP leaders here (who supervised the process) were like the Supreme Court of PDP and this election is now fool-proof ”. But for some inexplicable reasons and notwithstanding the presidential assurance, the governorship ticket was yanked off Lawan’s hands a few days later. On the eve of the submission of parties’ governorship flag bearers to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Lawan’s name was substituted by the PDP National Chairman Muazu with that of Alhaji Mohammed Imam, a nominee of former governor of the state,

•Gambo Lawan Senator Ali Modu Sheriff.

Lawan was not told anything. Even the President who assured everyone Lawan was the candidate did not volunteer any explanation to him. Imam that was picked as the party’s flag bearer in the state had contested and lost the House of Representatives seat in the 2011 general elections to the incumbent Hon. Kaka Kyari Gujbawu of the PDP. Piqued by the development, some concerned elders and stakeholders of PDP in the state immediately kicked against the wrongful substitution of Lawan as the party’s governorship candidate for Borno in the 2015 election. In an

open letter to Jonathan dated December 26, 2014, the party stakeholders called for a reversal of the wrongful substitution in the interest of justice and fair play. The petition was signed by Aminu Yakudima, Ibrahim Abatcha and Salisu Aliyu.

When Jonathan and PDP refused to right the perceived wrong, Lawan dragged Imam to a Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, claiming he was the rightful candidate. In the end, the court returned a verdict that Lawan is the bonafide PDP candidate for Borno State and that his name should be forwarded to INEC. Specifically, the court ordered INEC to take all necessary steps and actions including the listing of the name of Lawan as the governorship candidate of the PDP for Borno and allow him contest the April 11 governorship election. The top echelon of PDP expectedly dragged their foot on the matter. But the electoral commission complied with the order of the court to replace the PDP governorship candidate in the state, Imam, with Lawan.With the clean bill of health given

him by INEC, Lawan has hit town, traversing the length and breadth of the insurgency ravaged state. The state at present is a major stronghold of the All Progressives Congress with Alhaji Kashim Shettima as governor. But Lawan insists Borno is a PDP state and would be won back from APC. His campaign message has been predicated on his having the capacity to lead and provide service to the people. Lawan said his decision to run for the governorship was a product of a long period of self-interrogation and the strong conviction that he had of the capacity to help in rebuilding the state. The gubernatorial candidate said he would also build confidence and trust in the state and members and leaders of the party who have become distraught from internal wrangling that has fractured harmony in the party and damaged the party’s structure in the state.

Apart from being Chairman of Maiduguri Metropolitan Council and GDM Chairman, Lawan was also at a time Board Chairman of Warri Refining and Petrochemical Company in Delta State. He had also vied severally for the national chairmanship of PDP.

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SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 17

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By TOFARATI IGE

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T does appear that busty and beautiful Yoruba actress, Bose Arowosegbe, is fast becoming a controversial personage. No one can question her boldness. But not many of her colleagues thought it was boldness when she brazenly disclosed in an interview with Vanguard, sometime ago, that lesbianism also exists in the Yoruba sector of Nollywood just as it does in the English-speaking sector. Now, it seems some women may be calling for her head for asserting with strong conviction that all women are prostitutes.

So strong is Bose’s conviction that she made a movie about it. In fact her fifth self-produced film titled ‘Tani Asewo’ literally meaning ‘Who’s a Prostitute’ is to drive home her belief that all women, bankers, actresses, lawyers, businesswomen are all prostitutes.

“It’s because people think that actresses are prostitutes. To say the truth, I believe that all women are prostitutes.

People who think it’s only actresses should go to other fields and see what they do there” she told our reporter, explaining t h e inspiration behind the film.

Our women are prostitutes — Bose Arowosegbe

When the reporter suggested she should have used another title for the film instead of calling all women prostitutes, she shot back, “Like which one?

Maybe you should give me a title to use. To me, I still insist that every woman is a prostitute. People should go and watch my film, and they’ll know how. They should go to other fields, and they’ll see for themselves that those people are even worse than actors. God gave me the inspiration and I did it. It was God’s saying. Besides, this is the fifth film I’m producing by myself. Besides, I noticed that everybody, both in the industry and outside, loved the title and the concept. The movie aims to dispel the notion people have that all actresses are prostitutes. Between a banker, actress and police, who is the prostitute? I worked with people like Faithia Williams, Biodun Okeowo, Aremu Afolayan, Ope Olusanya, among others in the film” When she was told it seemed she believed that actresses are glorified prostitutes, she replied tersely again, “ No! Every woman is a prostitute.

Didi flaunts bum again, with word of caution on ‘envy’

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ot Nollywood actress, Didi Ekanem has said she wished people would notice her for her talent rather than for her bum and hips which continue to make headlines week in, week out. She was particularly pained by this, or at least so it seemed when she told me but it looks like Didi herself has a thing for flaunting her asset. She is ever present on the social media, in different poses, laying the goods to the good.

Last week she struck another pose on Instagram with various hashtags which may be discerned as her •Didi Ekanem way of telling other girls not to envy her shape.

Guess how many girls would want to have that ticking bomb shape? A lot I guess.

“If #envy had a shape, it would be a #boomerang. If #envy were a disease,most people would be #sick . Envy has no #holidays ,it has no #rest.

The envy that compares us to others is #foolishness . They are only comparing #themselves with each other,and measuring #themselves with #themselves.

What foolishness! Judge that ye may not be judged. And may we never let the things that we can’t have or don’t have,spoil our enjoyment of the things we do have and can have. #behappyforabrotherorsister #prayandbelieveyouhaveaturn #whenthereislifethereishope #blessedweek #happymondayagain •Amanda Ebeye #didiekanem” she quips.

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Bose Arowosegbe

ANOTHER LESBIAN STORY?

Why Amanda Ebeye loves Sylvia Ukaatu so much Its no longer a strange happening to have persons of the same sex dating each other as man and woman. At least, we have heard so many confessions out of the movie industry of lesbianism and homosexualism. So, when Amanda Ebeye, a Nollywood actress and now a producer reeled out her greetings to Sylvia Ukaatu, another Nollywood actress on her birthday, it got tongues wagging. The birthday message was so emotion-laden that many began to question what may be the big deal between the two movie stars.

But as it turns out; there is nothing extraordinary between the two girls. If any, it was just a fondness one person feels towards the other, for some extraordinary experiences shared. Amanda, who produced her first film recently, Agwonma, took time out to explain why Sylvia is very special to her.

“Let me tell you something about Sylvia Ukaatu. When I was filming in Ghana I caught chicken pox.

Everyone started avoiding me and of course, I couldn’t

blame anyone . But Sylvia stayed with me all through. She took care of me and rubbed calamine lotion on my body. When I was hot, instead of allowing me to scratch she would fan me. She stayed with me till I got better. And you know the truth? She never had it before and miraculously she didn’t catch it after. Happy birthday dear. God bless you forever” she wrote on her Facebook page.

Amanda has just tried her hands at movie production and she has in the market as Easter gift, her movie Agwonma featuring veteran movie actor Ejike Asiegbu, Francis Duru, Prince Eke, Joy Helen and others.

•Sylvia Ukaatu

PAGE 18, SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

Some enchanting Nollywood chemistry on set

By Damilola Sholola part from the entertainment value we get from movies, they are also used as a means to express several points of view, emotions and opinions of people.

Although fictional, a good movie is one that has the ability to capture your imagination so well, you start seeing reality in a whole new light. When you watch a movie and you see chemistry between an actor and an actress on screen, you start wondering if there is anything going on behind closed doors. Here are some celebrities who have great chemistry working on set

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MAJID MICHEL & GENEVIEVE NNAJI (BURSTING OUT)

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ajid Michel is one of the most crushed after actors in Nollywood and Ghollywood and many female celebrities have revealed their attraction to him based on his acting skills and onscreen presence. Genevieve Nnaji is also a household name and an icon in Nollywood and Majid referred to her as his ‘Marilyn Manroe’ in one of his instagram posts. There is no doubt that these two have chemistry and their scene in ‘Bursting Out’ was so sensual, you would think they were just repeating a scene from a one night stand they had off camera. That particular scene got them an award for Best Kiss at the iROKO TV Choice Awards

JIM IYKE & RITA DOMINIC (MY FIRST WIFE)

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im Iyke and Rita Dominic have great chemistry working together and whenever you see them in movies, you can be sure it is going to turn out very well.

We saw great chemistry between them in a movie titled ‘My First Wife’ which also featured Nikki Samonas, Jibola Dabo,Ebere Okaro and some other people. The scene that got our attention was one where Jim Iyke kissed Rita Dominic in a bedroom and it looked like they were about to have sex but Rita Dominic seemed not in the mood. In that same movie, Jim Iyke also had a very raunchy scene with Nikki Samonas and people started believing it was a sex tape

ALEX EKUBO & EBUBE NWAGBO (THE OTHER SIDE OF A COIN)

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hese two have been seen on screen and off screen together and they always seem to be having fun whenever they pair. Even though Alex Ekubo has appeared in many pictures with several women, many still don’t believe he has the grit to be a true ladies man. Notwithstanding, he did lock lips with one of the hottest Nollywood actresses Ebube Nwagbo in a movie titled ‘The Other Side of a Coin’. The movie is directed by Lancelot Imasuen and also stars Monalisa Chinda, Mercy Aigbe, Seun Akindele

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SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 19 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

Some enchanting Nollywood chemistry on set BRYAN OKWARA & JULIET IBRAHIM (ONE NIGHT STAND)

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ryan Okwara and Juliet Ibrahim share a chemistry working together but their relationship is more like brother and sister rather than anything sexual. Their intimate scene in the movie ‘One Night Stand’ was so good you would think they were actually involved in a hot romance in real life.

Bryan revealed that kissing Juliet Ibrahim in the movie was awkward. Juliet Ibrahim also told us in an interview that she has very good chemistry working with Bryan Okwara but they are just good friends not lovers

MAJID MICHEL & BEVERLY NAYA (FORGETTING JUNE)

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CHRIS ATTOH & DAMILOLA ADEGBITE

everly Naya has revealed previously in an interview that she is a very good kisser and the scene in Forgetting June with Majid Michel proved it. Even though Majid has smooched some of the hottest Nollywood actresses, this particular scene with Beverly Naya got them an award for Best Kiss at the 2014 Best of Nollywood Awards beating the likes of Monalisa Chinda, Ini Edo, Blossom Chukwujekwu who were also nominated in the same category. Beverly Naya stars in a new series titled B430 premiering on Sunday 29th on Africamagic by 8:30PM

(TINSEL)

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hanaian actor Chris Attoh and stunning Nollywood actress Damilola Adegbite met while playing the role of Kwame Mensah and Thelma Duke in the hit TV series Tinsel. We would later find out that their chemistry wasn’t only on set but also off set. The pair had been dating for a while and got engaged in New York City last year. Damilola Adegbite had been pregnant during the engagement and she later delivered a baby boy sometime in September. The couple got married this year on Valentine’s Day in Accra Ghana. Damilola Adegbite also stars with Beverly Naya in the new series B430

TONTO DIKEH & YUL EDOCHIE (PLEASURE AND CRIME)

Even though Tonto Dikeh is known mostly for her controversial demeanor, she is very good at what she does. Tonto is not someone we really want to see do a sex scene because she is known for her ‘tomboyish persona’. Her scene with Yul Edochie however showed a much more feminine side of her. In the scene, she seduced Yul Edochie into having sex with her and he played the role of a male prostitute disguised as an electrician in order to gain access into rich people’s homes. The movie also starred Ini Edo and Annie Macaulay Idibia.

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PAGE 20, SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

By JULIET EBIRIM Tell us about you? y name is Etiko Destiny. I’m from Enugu State, Udi precisely. I had my primary and secondary education in Enugu, while my tertiary education was in Anambra State. I got into the movie industry in 2011. It wasn’t easy then because I had to grapple with school and my acting career. I graduated from school in 2012 and I’m doing my youth service at the moment. I did a movie in 2012, though it was released in 2014 titled Idemili, produced by Ernest Obi and shot in Enugu. The movie gave me a nomination at the City People Awards and it brought me into limelight.

M

So far, how many movies have you done?

Before Idemili, I had done some minor roles in movies like Airline Babes. But after Idemili, I’ve done so many good jobs. Four of the movies where I played a sub-lead role recently came out, namely Black Xmas, After Wawa, More Trouble and School Trouble, etc. and others that are yet to be released.

In a recent interview you granted, you said your dad was against your becoming an actress....?

My mum was actually acting when I was younger. So what I meant was that my mum loved acting and wanted to take it up as a career and my father agreed initially. But later on, acting started taking most of her time as it is very demanding.

My dad then told her that it was better for her to quit and concentrate on her family and business. Those days, I used to go with my mum to movie locations. My father asked my mum to quit acting because it wasn’t giving her time to perform her duties as a mother. So, when I wanted to venture into acting, my dad told me that since I’m a woman who would get married someday, acting will not give me time for my family the same way it did my mum. So, I explained to my dad that I’m still young and unmarried, when I get to that bridge, I would cross it. So at the end of the day, he accepted.

So what if you fall in love right now with a man who wants to get married to you by next year, how would it affect your acting career?

Before I started acting, I’ve always said I will never work for anyone, but rather be independent doing my own thing. I read marketing. Acting is something I love and I’m passionate about. So whoever I’m falling in love with or having a relationship with should understand that I love acting and that I’ve been doing it before we met.

Does it mean you can’t quit acting for any man?

I’ll have to look for an understanding man. Probably, there has to be an understanding that there are some roles I shouldn’t do, like smooching, kissing, caressing and all. I would agree to that because I love him and want to keep him.

He shouldn’t stop me from doing what makes me happy. Most people who are married and still into acting are not doing it for the money, but because of the love and passion they have for it. So, the man has to understand, I can’t ask him to quit C M Y K

ETIKO DESTINY ON SEXUAL HARASSMENT

Sleeping around is not a guarantee to getting movie roles — Etiko Destiny Etiko Destiny is a budding Nollywood actress who is already on the radar as a star to watch for. Unlike many of her peers who would shy away from discussing sexual harassment in the industry, Etiko gave her own version and maintains there is indeed, sexual harassment in the industry:

Has your mother ever told you that she regretted leaving acting?

As a matter of fact, she once said she isn’t happy she left. But she had to do it for the peace of her home and so she supports me completely in what I’m doing.

What has been your experience with men, within and outside the industry?

The normal thing is, as a good-looking, promising young lady, you’d surely have a lot of toasters around.

Has she ever told you she misses acting?

Of course, she has.

What has been your experience as regards sexual harassment in the industry?

Sexual harassment is everywhere, not just in Nollywood and I won’t lie to you that I’ve never experienced it, because I have. There are people who would want to deprive you of the role given to you because you didn’t sleep with them. Some will even sleep with you and still not give you the role. So, it is left for you to know yourself and know your job. If you can act well, your blessing will locate you. If you want to sleep around, it is your choice but it cannot guarantee your getting roles often. So many girls who have succumbed to such harassment have come to regret it.

What kind of roles do you have an affinity for?

As an actress, you have to be versatile.

You don’t have to be stereotyped and that’s what makes you an actress. I can’t say this is exactly what I

Has there ever been a role you feel you didn’t do well?

There was this movie I did in 2011 and that was my first time acting with Mercy Johnson. I was given four scenes to do with her. Tchidi Chikere was the director of the movie. It’s not really as if I didn’t do well, but I lacked complete confidence because I was a beginner. But everything in life takes a gradual process and you get better by the day.

As an upcoming actress, is there a role you wouldn’t do?

I don’t think so. Like in Idemili, I carried a life python. In another movie, I played a tomboy. There’s really no role I won’t take up. It might not be completely perfect, but I will do it.

his job.

Don’t you think that being localised in the eastern part of the country limits your scope?

Not at all, apart from doing movies in Enugu, Asaba and Owerri, I’ve done movies in Lagos and Benin. The truth is most movies are shot in Enugu.

Most big marketers and producers come from Lagos to Enugu and Asaba to do movies.

love doing, I do all sorts. In all modesty, the roles I’ve done so far; village girl role, glamourous girl or the usual everyday girl, I think I did them well. Personally, I know when I’ve done something well and when I’ve messed up.

As an actress, you have to be versatile. You don’t have to be stereotyped and that’s what makes you an actress.

Koga Studios concludes work on “The Visit” Koga Studios, the entertainment company popularly referred to as ‘powerhouse’ of Nigerian entertainment has concluded works on the anticipated four-cast movie, The Visit.

The Visit is Nollywood’s first ever fourman cast movie featuring Bayray Mcnwizu, Femi Jacobs, Nse Ikpe Etim and Blossom Chukwujekwu. Funke Fayoyin of ‘`The Gods are not To Blame fame directed the historic flick.

For the first time, a production house is using two world-most expensive camera to shoot and has quality members of cast.

That is huge’.

Speaking on the project, the director, Funke Fajoyin said it was a privilege to have worked on the movie project.

‘It was a privilege to have worked on the project with this cast. These are great actors in the making. Nse is phenomenon.

Femi Jacobs has been fantastic. He’s the kind of actor who gives you what you want. Bayray has been enjoying meteoric rise and Blossom is the kind of actor we call director’s delight. Working on this project with this kind of investment is an honour. I can’t wait for this movie to be out. This is the kind of ambitious project Nollywood should do. Am proud of Koga Studios’ she concluded.

Robert Jeyibo, an official of the entertainment company said the movie should be ready any time soon. ‘We have taken our time on the movie because our goal is to ‘set-the-properkind of history’ just as people have said. This is the first time a four-cast movie is done in Nigeria; we have had two-cast, three cast but not four-cast.

A lot has gone into the movie; it will be available for people to watch soon. We will let people know if it will be in cinema or on our online TV. One thing that is however clear is that, the movie, The Visit will open new chapter in Nollywood’.

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 21

St op ffeeling eeling po werless Stop pow

BY ONOZURE DANIA

D

o you find yourself working so hard to get a relationship and keep it going? If so, I know all too well how that feels, because trying to keep a relationship afloat always takes up all your thoughts and energy.

I remember a friend telling me some time ago about how she was trying very hard to see that her

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relationship worked, but the harder she tries, the more the relationship got even worse off and she started feeling like something was actually wrong with her.

And even with all her efforts she never got anything in return. It was not that she wasn’t good looking or that she was dependent.

No, she wasn’t. She had every thing she needed but she just wanted to have a

very good and firm relationship that can lead to something real. However, all her effort was in vain, as she never got enough back from the man to fill her up enough inside so she could feel good.

After her narration, she discovered that this was exactly the problem. It took a lot of broken relationships before she finally figured out what had eluded her for so very long. She finally saw

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that the good feelings she was so desperate to have from a man weren’t possible if she wasn’t feeling good about herself to begin with. She explained to me how she discovered a powerful tool to put an end to this vicious cycle. Imagine that your attractiveness is boundless, your eyes are magnets, your heart is an open pool of gold that every man wants to dive into and your body no matter what you think is a lush place that every man longs for, feels awestruck just thinking about getting close to, and yet feels safe within!

Really imagine that’s what he sees, thinks and feels.

When any doubts, fears and negative thoughts come up, simply tell them to step aside and just paint this picture of boundless attractiveness for yourself in your imagination, right now, this moment, and keep it going all day and night.

No matter what happens, once this imaginary picture is in your mind and the good feelings it brings are in your heart and body, you will notice something different about you and this will reflect in your relationship.

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PAGE 22— SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

Gender equality to shape post-2015 global development agenda

BY JOSEPHINE AGBONKHESE

who was in New York, USA.

E

FFECTIVE and accelerated implementation of the Beijing Declaration Platform for Action will be essential to the post-2015 sustainable development agenda expected to sum up all major issues of global progress for the next 15 years. United Nations, UN, Member States came to this conclusion at the UN headquarters in New York, USA, while adopting a political declaration during the just-concluded 59th Session on the Commission on the Status on Women, CSW59, which marked the 20th anniversary of the 1995 Beijing World Conference on Women.

The post-2015 development agenda which will succeed the expiring Millennium Development Goals, MDGs, is expected to be adopted by Heads of States and governments from every part of the world at a historic UN summit in September 2015.

Presently, a wide range of activities are being undertaken by UN Member States, the UN system, civil society organizations, academia, research institutions and others on identifying the shape and priorities of the post-2015 development agenda.

Already, high-level panel reports on the post-2015 agenda reveal that one of its utmost priorities is ensuring that no person, regardless of gender amongst others, is denied basic economic opportunities and human rights.

CSW59

The 10-day session which reviewed progress made on the Beijing Platform for Action as well as drawbacks in the last 20 years, had over 11,000 participants comprising delegates, ambassadors, experts and activists from around the world, a figure attributed to "the well-documented attempts to scale back women's rights worldwide in the last year, including fundamentalist activities in

the Middle East and Africa, the kidnapping of 270 Nigerian schoolgirls by Boko Haram, and a growing culture of hostility and harassment of women", in the words of Soon-Young Yoon, UN Representative of the International Alliance of Women and Chair of the NGO Committee on the Status of Women.

Majority of the participants affirmed that progress has indeed been slow for women and girls worldwide, as, in 1995 when they had gathered for the Fourth World Conference in Beijing, China, hopes were high, following the adoption of the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action, a 12-point document, by 189 UN Member States, including Nigeria, who pledged to improve the status of women ‘round-about’, in line with the stipulated Platform for Action.

*Cross-section of participants at CSW59 in New York recently.

T

HAT 12-point document, known today as the most progressive blueprint ever for advancing women’s rights and achieving gender equity, highlights concerns ranging from women and the environment to power and decision-making, girl-child, economy, poverty, violence, human rights, education, health, media, armed conflict and institutional mechanisms for advancement of women.

However, 20 years forward, none of those countries has achieved the envisioned ‘round-about’ gender equilibrium as statistics show that women still earn less than their male counterpart in most parts of the world, onethird suffer physical or sexual violence in their lifetime, gaps in reproductive rights and health care continue to shoot up with 800 women dying daily at childbirth worldwide.

This is with analysts estimating that it will take 81 years to achieve gender parity in economic participation and 50 years to reach parity in parliamentary representation.

Political declaration: Ngcuka calls for action

However, 20 years forward, none of those countries has achieved the envisioned ‘roundabout’ gender equilibrium as statistics show that women still earn less than their male counterpart..., onethird suffer physical or sexual violence..., with 800 dying daily at childbirth worldwide.

Pointing out that the disappointing gap between existing commitments to gender equity and their implementation points to a collective failure of leadership, Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, UN UnderSecretary-General and Executive Director, UN Women, the global intergovernmental body exclusively dedicated to the promotion of gender equality and the empowerment of women, stressed that to prevent the forecast already made by analysts judging by current trends, “UN Member States must commence work immediately on the adopted Beijing 20th anniversary political declaration made at CSW59.”

The adopted political declaration, which contained actions towards achieving gender equality and women’s empowerment by 2030, had state parties pledging to take concrete action and efforts through six specific strategies.

The strategies are: do more to strengthen implementation of laws; bolster institutions vital to women’s empowerment; transform discriminatory norms and stereotypes; close resource gaps; boost accountability; and enhance capacities and data to track progress.

Ngcuka said: “The declaration says we will not continue to let down the women and girls of the world.

It is time to step up commitment and action. You must all put to work our

commitments to this political declaration immediately, and more intensely, so that in September we can hear about your ‘stepped up’ commitments.

“These must be building blocks to ending gender inequality as we implement the Sustainable Development Goals. We will need to see solid, measurable progress by 2020, and make sure that 2030 is the expiry date for gender inequality.”

Nigerian CSOs

The 59th session’s original programme was complemented by nearly 200 side events and 400 parallel events by Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, from different parts of the world, including Nigeria.

Among Nigerian CSOs that staged power-packed side events was the Women Advocates Research and Documentation Centre, WARDC, whose event, tagged Human Security, Maternal Health & Insurgency in Nigeria, was supported by the Embassy of the Kingdom of Netherlands. It drew participants from diverse nations.

Another is Partnership for Justice which, through a published shadow report on Beijing+20, presented a human rights situation report on Nigeria in coalition with five other CSOs; and the Women’s Consortium of Nigeria, whose event x-rayed the metamorphosis of the female gender from girlhood to womanhood.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 23

08112662589

When last did you ‘fine tune’ your wife?!

S

hould the romance in a marriage stop after the birth of a few kids? Forget slaving to put food on the table, pay the rent and put a sizeable sum of money aside for the kids education. The question is: When last did you give your wife a complete ‘MOT’, just as often as you do that priced car(s) of yours? What brought on this thought provoking poser is the recent experience of Linda confessed she she was elated she had. She just turned 40 but said sadly she couldn’t remember the last time her husband made proper love to her. “After almost 14 years of marriage”” , she continued, “I’d put on some weight especially when I had our fourth child.

Dare, my husband, had gone bald and the most exciting thing we did was share the occasional take-away treats with the kids. Sex was virtually non-existent, just a quickie every other week.

“I was at a classmate’s 40th birthday party when a friend I hadn’t seen for years looked shocked to see me. `Why have you put on so much weight?’ she squealed, `you used to be a stunner.

What happened to you?’ I felt a bit embarrassed. I had put on quite a lot of weight already what with the huge meals I shared with Dare, and scoffing the kids’ often left-overs so food wouldn’t be wasted. But did she have

to be that blunt? Her criticism stayed with me for days. Friends I saw regularly couldn’t be as outspoken as she was was for fear of hurting my feelings. Thanks to her, I took a good look at myself in the mirror and didn’t like what I saw. I vowed to give myself a health over-haul before my birthday. So, I ditched all the stodgy food and cut down on the portions I eat. I also started taking the staircase to my fourth floor office. At first it was hard but by the time my birthday loomed, the improvement was awesome. My critic of a friend had even visited, bringing me some cosmetic stuffs to `tone’ my skin and I’d bought lots more. Thanks to her, I now looked a million-dollars!

‘Only whenever I asked Dare how I looked, he’d just glowered and muttered ‘nice’ without even taking a proper look at me. I knew I looked and felt fantastic.

If he didn’t appreciate the way I looked, maybe someone else would. A few days after my well-attended 40th birthday party, a friend invited me to a party.

Her elder brother just had a son after two girls and he was throwing the bash to ‘wet’ the head of the baby.

His wife was still abroad and I reckoned it would be a ‘let it all hang out’ party now the cat was away. I didn’t let on to Dare that

the wife was still expected or he might want to come to keep me in check. ‘As it was, he was super-glued to Super Sports, on the telly, drooling at the games.

When I was dressed and ready to go, he was too relieved to be left alone to get on with his fun. But he really looked startled when he saw my outfit. I quickly left to join my friend who was impatiently hooting the car horn and I had conveniently forgot to put on my wedding ring. A wedding ring is always a dampener if you want to have fun. Men would just assume you’re either single, divorced or widowed!

“The party was a lively one and in my group was this cocky television

journalist happily controlling the flow of the conversation. I challenged his views from time to time and he too notice of me, with his eyes roaming all over my bod. I flirted right back – it felt great to have a man’s attention after all these years of grumpy Dare.

When he asked me to dance, I jumped at the offer. We swayed slowly to the haunting music, our hips locked together with my body pressing into his firm chest. He was tall and in his 30s and I was loving every minute with this hunk. My friend was watching with a big smile on her face – as if she was taking the credit for who I’d now turned out to be. I was now slightly tipsy and as my hand rested n his

tight bum, he pulled me closer to him and an electric shock went through me. His name was Ade and after we finished dancing, he got a bottle of wine and we talked some more. He told me about a project he was into and offered to show me the progress he’d made if I could come with him to his car. Clinging onto what looked like my conquest, I let him lead me out of the party and smiled defiantly at the shocked look on my friend’s face.

“The car was a bit of a clap=trap. Not the most glamorous setting for betrayal but I was far too wound up to care. As soon as we got to the back seat where the supposed `project’ was we were all over each other. He pulled up my long kaftan and was on top of me, the car seats rough against my bare bum.

Unfortunately, his prowess didn’t actually match his big mouth. He wasn’t the gentlest of lovers and he pawed at my boobs like a bush man. But none of that mattered. This was purely about proving to myself I was desirable and I felt deliciously wanton and sexy!

When we returned to the party, nobody seemed to notice anything – except for my nosey-partner friend who just kept on giving me curious glances. Ade and I merely sat together but had very little to sway to each

other. We’d both got what we wanted and there was nothing else to say.

“On our way back home, my friend asked me what happened when we went out, and I told her. She wasn’t a prude but wanted to know if what I’d just done made me feel guilty. I told her it did, but not in the way she meant. I felt bad for not feeling guilty enough not to want to try it again. For the first time in my marriage, I’d just cheated on my husband, had a wild romp with a complete stranger in a crummy car, yet I felt great! The only time I felt slightly guilty was when I let myself in and discovered Dare was already in the bedroom. I quickly had a rinse in the guest toilet before going to meet Dare.

He didn’t even bother to ask if I’d had an enjoyable evening. Instead, he was boring me with details of the highlights of the games. I was furious and I’ve since resolved that the next time I’m invited to a party and I’m propositioned, there will be a good chance I’ll say yes, especially if Dare wouldn’t be coming. I’m definitely not over the hill at 40 and I owe it to myself to find my own excitement anywhere and any time I can get it ...”

As you male readers read this, take a second look at your wife. When was the last time you rang her bell in spite of all the hints she gave you? A word is sufficient for the wise!

08052201867(Text Only)

The Shoulderstand can help Piles patients and others

Although it is a common sight to see it done in gyms, schools and health clubs without it coupled with deep breathing it becomes of very little therapeutic value.

Another name for the shoulderstand is The Candle Stand on account the body is kept straight as a candle.

Of great importance to both sexes, everyone should be encouraged to do this asana. Age should be no barrier. I have seen people well over 70 do the shoulderstand with skill and ease.

In this posture the thyroid gland which is situated at the base of the neck and the gonads or sex organs which lie low down the trunk, below the digestive organs are influenced.

The function of the endocrine or ductless glands are inter-related, in spite of the fact each had its own duties to perform. I shall return to the glands

C M Y K

when we get to the steadstand and how it affects them all.

To do the shoulderstand, lie down on your back with palms on the floor, slowly inhale and raise both legs.

With the elbows down, bring both hands to support the hips with the body resting on the nape of the neck and shoulders. Press the chin firmly against the chest. Now, push the trunk

upward while straightening the knees with the legs in a straight vertical line. Do

,

T

HE shoulder stand called Sorvangasana in Sanskrit is said to be one of the best asanas, postures.

With this exercise, the lower organs are strengthened and made to stay in place. It is especially recommended for women after child birth

,

*Shoulderstand

abdominal breathing-in and out movement of the abdomen on account of breathe. Keep very still. You may close your eyes to avoid distractions. Remain in the posture for as long as it is comfortable.

To return to lying position, just bend the knees, then curve the spine, gradually unfolding it like when one unrolls a carpet. With

the whole back on the floor, straighten the knees and gently lower your legs to the ground.

Take a little rest flat on your back.

Benefits: The shoulderstand affects the thyroid and sex glands.

It gives vitality to the nerves, purifies the blood and promotes good circulation.

With this exercise, the lower organs are strengthened and made to stay in place. It is especially recommended for women after child birth. Of immense help to sufferers of asthma, constipation and piles it must be practised with

deligence. It is of great help in overcoming painful menstration and other female disorders. In the menfolk, seminal weakness is corrected, manly vigour preserved.

Caution: People with organic disorders of the thyroid should refrain from this exercise and should be done for short periods - thirty seconds to a minute by those afflicted with chronic nasal catarrh.

Next in line after the shoulderstand is what is called The Fish Posture.

In the shoulderstand, the head is bent towards the

back. Continue the reclining movement until the done of your head is on the floor. Now arrange the hands as if in prayer.

Breathe normally.

The benefits of the fish are as follows: The pituitary pineal, thyroid and adrenal glands are affected.

The neck is stretched and limbered. It strengthens and tones the nervous system, the kidney, the stomach, the intestines, the pelvic organs and the nerves connected with sexfunctions.

For those who cannot sit down between the heels in this posture, they may keep the feet together and stretched out but arching the back and neck till the top (dome) of the head is on the floor with hands arranged as mentioned earlier in the full posture.

chest while the opposite obtains in the fish-the neck is arched, bending the head backwards.

Supta-vafrasana is San-skrit, the fish in done by kneeling on the STARTED floor with the feet Physical Therapy Centre spread apart. The body is then lowered down to @ 32 Adetokumbo Ademola, the point where a sitting Victoria Island Lagos. posture between the 9.00am — 10.00am heels is attained start reclining the body, and elon Saturdays bow. Drop the head far

Yoga Classes

P AGE 24 — SUND AY Vanguard , APRIL 5 , 2015 SUNDA

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk 08056180152, SMS only

It’s not how much you weigh, but how active you are

T

he strikes against being fat are a bit intimidating – it makes you more susceptible to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes – the list is endless, giving way to what victims now tag ‘fat fear’. Experts say that being obese is worse than smoking, heavy drinking or poverty.

They ’ve even called it the most serious threat to the future health of the nation’.

Aren’t they being overdramatic? Is there a glimmer of hope? Thank goodness there is and if you’re battling a weight problem, it will cheer you up to know that a ‘recent experiment shows that the key health may not be how much we weigh, but how active we are. Some medical experts recently studied a group of obese women for more than a year. At the start of the project, some were so unfit, they couldn’t even climb flight of stairs.

According to their findings, 62 women, aged between 24 and 55, all had a body mass index (BMI) of more than 30 – making them clinically obese. The researchers told them they could eat whatever they wanted – they didn’t have to count calories or bad particular foods.

Even chocolate was allowed. But they were asked to have smaller helpings and stop when they felt fill. More significantly though, the women had to exercise for four hours a week, undertaking a range of activities from swimming, aerobics to tái chi. At the end of the study, the women had only lost a few pounds in weight but they showed a great improvement in

their well being. Their blood pressure, heart rate and cholesterol levels had fallen, and their respiratory fitness increased – cutting the women’s risk of heart attacks and strokes. And not only were they healthier, they felt happy too.

Exercise psychologist, De. Erika Borkoles, who led the study, said that even very heavy people can get fitter. She explains: “At the beginning, a few o the women could hardly walk. Like babies, they had to learn how to move. One woman started by lifting one kilogramme weights while sitting down or walking around for two minutes at a time. One woman decided to set a timer when she was watching TV at home.

Every half hour, when it went off she got up and walked into every room in the house..

“Could this help others deterred from taking an exercise because of their weight”? Any movement is good. Start small – get up to change the TV Channel instead of using the remote control. You’ll become stronger and more flexible. Size isn’t all important if you’re fit.

If someone is very big, their behaviour is also important if they try to be healthy by exercising, that is better than being small and unfit. In other words, physical fitness is a better indicator of health than weight,.

Findings have shown that people with BMI of 30 or higher who did moderate physical activity had half the mortality rate of those who were a `healthy ’ weight but never exercised.

How has body fat come

to be regarded as a serious health hazard?

Borkoles points out that for centuries, many people regarded thinness as a mark of sickness, while bigger waist-line showed that you could afford to eat well and was regarded as a sign of affluence.

Only, in many countries,curves went out of fashion in the 20th Century.

She also questions the wisdom of using BMI to judge normal weight.

According to doctors, a BMI calculated by dividing your weight in kilograms by your height in metres’, square of 18 to 25 is ideal. People with large bones or well=developed muscles are often heavier than people of the same height with light bones. This makes nonsense of saying tht a BMI of 25 is ideal for everyone. “Being overweight isn’t an illness”, she says. “Predicting what diseases people may get based purely on what they weigh is mug’s game”.

High heels more than 3½” could prematurely

age your joints Plenty of women are happy to endure a few hours of suffering if it means wearing stylist stilettos. But they are also putting themselves at risk of serious long-term pain, scientists have warned. A study has found that wearing heels – even those measuring a relatively modest three and a half inches – puts women in danger of debilitating arthritis in years to come.

The research found that walking in heels at this height causes changes to gait similar to those seen in ageing and arthritic knees. It could help explain why osteoarthritis is twice as common in women as men. The researchers said: “Because women and men are observed to have similar knee biomechanics during barefoot walking, gender differences in footwear, specifically high-heeled shoes, have been implicated as a possible factor for the higher incidence of osteoarthritis in women.

Osteo-arthritis is the most common form of the disorder and is caused by

through the skies and ignite the night like a phoenix; the kind that cuts you loose like a wildfire and you can't stop running simply because you keep on burning everything that you touch! I say that's a good love; one that burns and flies.

Prince Charles charlesprince850@yahoo.com

Y

OUR column to express your loving thoughts in words to your sweetheart. Don’t be shy. Let it flow and let him or her know how dearly you feel.

Write now in not more than 75 words to: The Editor, Sunday Vanguard, P.M.B. 1007, Apapa, Lagos. E.mail: sunlovenotes@yahoo.com Please mark your envelope: “LOVE NOTES"

A good lover

They say a good love is one that sits you down, gives you a drink of water, and pats you on top of the head. But I say a good love is one that casts you into the wind, sets you ablaze, makes you burn

Dating for the right reason

Dating a graduate doesn't always mean they are industrious. Dating a church girl doesn't always mean she's morally decent. Dating a pretty girl doesn't always mean she's beautiful in character.

Dating a corporate guy doesn't always mean he's organised. (Check his bedroom. It' s usually a mess) Dating a sexy lady doesn't always mean she is sex freak. Dating a girl from a wealthy family doesn't always mean she will give you all you ask for always.

What is my point? My point is... If you don't date for the right reasons, you may actually end up getting

wear and tear of cartilage tht helps our joints take the straining of bending, lifting, gripping and kneeling. Stiff, swollen and painful joints can make walking difficult, with stairs particularly tricky. The researchers from Stanford University in California studied the gait of 14 women as they walked in different types of shoes, from flat trainers to heels measuring 8.3cm (three and a quarter inches).

The higher the heels were, the more their gait – including the movement of their knees -changed. Writing in the Journal of Orthopaedic research, the scientists said that being overweight may make it even worse.

Researcher Dr. Constance Chu said: ‘Putting on high heels changes how women walk in a way that places similar stress across the knees seen in the people with knee osteo-arthritis.

These effects were greater with higher heels and an increase in body weight’. She said that if women want to avoid knee pain, they can still wear a heel – as

long as it is below 2ins’.

‘For healthier knees, stay fit and wear flats or heels less than 2ins’.\ Other recent research has shown that when a woman slips on a pair of heels, it takes just over an hour on average for her feet to start to hurt. The survey, for the College of Podiatry, also found that women are three times as likely as men to cram their feet into uncomfortable shows – and that as a result, nine out of ten have suffered problems such as bunions, corns, sprains and strains. But it’s not all bad news – studies have also shown that men are more likely to help a woman wearing heels than one in flats.

Just like a man!

(Humour) A young man and a beautiful young woman answered the wanted ad for a l ion tamer and went along to the circus for their interviews. “Let me warn you”, said the circus owner, “that this lion is uncontrollable. The last six tamers have quit on me, so I don’t hold out much hope”.

The woman went into the cage and faced the wild beast. He growled menacingly and walked towards her, but as he got close she undid her coat to reveal a stunning naked body underneath.

The lion was immediately silenced. He crawled up to her, licked her legs and laid his head on her feat.

The circus owner was astonished. He turned to the man and said, “Can you do better than that?”

“Just let me show you”, said the man, “but first get rid of the lion”.

married for the wrong reasons to the wrong persons with a wrong life.

So think again before dating, #DateRight.

Chris Onunaku 08032988826/08184844015

My Sweet Heart

Take my hand and lead the way, Pour out all your deeper thoughts, Let your soft voice whisper swiftly into my ear, All these lovely things I want to hear.

Kiss my lips and touch my skin, Invoke my adrenalin, And bring out passion deep within, Draw me near and hold me tight.

Claim back the long lost smile, Back into my face at early dawn, I've been in this custody for years, Break the walls and enter my heart.

Release my soul held deep within... I'm ready now; Take my hand and let love flow!

Innocent Oluku olukui@yahoo.com

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 25

We drink water with goats from same source — Bauchi villagers

BY FUNMI OLASUPO

D

espite water being consistently cited as a top priority for poor communities and the fact that sanitation brings the greatest return on investment of any development intervention, rural communities have been overlooked in the global development agenda.

Targets set for maternal and child health, primary education, gender equality and economic growth are all in some way dependant on people gaining access to the most basics of human needs: safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation.

These issues will become ever more pertinent as the world’s population continues to grow, as cities and rural communities expand and there is increasing stress on global water resources.

C M Y K

This, together with the impact of climate change, means there is an increasingly urgent need to tackle the sanitation and water crisis facing the poor and the less privileged in Nigerian.

Such was the case with Taran and Gaukaka-Lasauya communities of Bauchi State when Sunday Vanguard visited the two communities in the eastern and northern parts of the state.

The visit was at the instance of the leadership of WaterAid Nigeria, a civil society organisation, CSO,with a mission to transform lives by improving access to safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation in the world’s poorest communities.

In these rural communities were men, pregnant women, youth and children whose appearance evoked sympathy.

Investigations revealed that in Taran community, there was only one source of water for the villagers and animals to drink.

For the villagers, it is a way of staying alive; it didn’t matter if water borne diseases become their way of life.

“We drink water from the same source with our goats.

When we get to the stream to fetch water and discover that goats have come ahead of us to drink, what we do is to fetch the surface that we believe the mouths of the

When we get to the stream to fetch water and discover that goats have come ahead of us to drink, what we do is to fetch the surface that we believe the mouths of the goats touched and pour it away, then proceed to fetch our own

goats touched and pour it away, then proceed to fetch our own,” said Rahal Bitrus, one of the women in Taran.

“We don’t have any other source of water. We just reduce the surface and fetch our drinking water even though we know there are consequences, but we are left with no option.

“The water sometimes gives us and our children diarrhea and typhoid fever and very painful urine, but we still go ahead and drink it to stay alive.

“We trek about nine kilometers to get to the river to fetch the water we are talking about, and, of course, it is affecting our lives, economy and even our children’s education.

“This lack of water affects our economy in the sense that we have to look for water before going to the market and, by the time you go and come back, on getting to the market, some transactions would have been made which you must have missed and sometimes we end up not going to the market because we must have been late and prospective customers gone home.”

In the case of GaukakaLasauya community, in an interview, the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH, community Chairman, Safianu Idris said the lack of water had been a serious challenge.

He said, “This lack of water has been a serious challenge to us and our children”.

Investigations revealed that no single child in the community of about 1,700 dwellers goes to school.

The closest school to the community is about six kilometers away.

Asked about government’s involvement in the provision of water, road, school and health center, Idris said the local and state governments had never done anything to assist the community.

“We have taken our plight to our local government several times, but there has been no response. The officials have refused to give us water not to talk of road, school or health center.”

To the communities, before the intervention of WaterAid Nigeria, life was like living in hell.

PAGE 26—SUNDAY

Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

HarvestPlus sets agenda on Vitamin A Cassava for 2015

By Princewill Ekwujuru

n pursuit of its delivery agenda for Vitamin A ICassava initiative and

• Pregnancy should not be death sentence

The Ilaje battle to deliver pregnant women from malaria deaths

By Gabriel Enogholase, Benin-city

I

LAJE Local Government Area of Ondo State, with its headquarters in Igbokoda, is a riverine area. Chevron Plc recently embarked on the “Prevention of Malaria in Pregnancy Project” in the local government.

The project was funded by the oil giant under its Roll Back Malaria portfolio.

The project, launched in September 2014, ended February 28, 2015 and focused on delivery intermittent preventive treatment of malaria in pregnancy in 35 health facilities in Ilaje.

While the goal of the project was to contribute to reducing malaria burden to preelimination level and malaria related mortality to zero level, it was also to provide at least 80 percent of pregnant women in the area with appropriate preventive.

Speaking at a ceremony to mark the end of the programme at Igbokoda, the representative of AFRICARE, which implemented the programme on behalf of Chevron Plc, Dr. Patrick Adah, described the scheme as laudable. He said Ondo State had been one of the beneficiaries of the project aimed at preventing malaria.

Topics covered include signs and symptoms of malaria, burden and intermittent preventive treatment in pregnancy with focus on antenatal care services, he said.

On the burden of malaria in pregnancy, Adah disclosed that approximately 45million pregnant women live in malariuos area, with 23million

of them in sub Sahara Africa.

He explained that 6million Nigerian women are pregnant yearly while malaria in pregnancy accounts for 15 percent maternal anaemia and 30 percent low birth.

According to him, the lesson learnt during the programme in Ilaje included high malaria incidence observed in remote communities from 24-76 percent, cases of entire family members testing positive for malaria and reduction of malaria cases in some areas.

Adah said that during the four months programme, 4902 people were reached with malaria interventions including test with RDTs, treatment with ACTs and LLINs just as pregnant women who had not attended Anti Natal Clinics (ANC) received the first dose of SP (IPTI), 12 received second dose of SP (IPT2) and 2 received IPT3.

He disclosed that 27,750 doses of Sulfadoxine Pyrimethamine (SP) were procured for distribution to the intervention facilities. He advised all pregnant women to ensure that they receive three doses of Sulfadoxine Pyrimethamine (SP) after discovering that they were four months pregnant and space then at least one month interval.

The Africare representative expressed gratitude to the Ondo government and the Ilaje local government for its assistance during the programme.

Some of the pregnant women who benefited from the programme lauded Chevron for bringing the programme to their local government.

•Anambra State First Lady, Chief (Mrs) Obiano, flanked by dignitaries at the graduation ceremony

Funfare as govt empowers Nnewi South graduands

BY TONY NWANKWO

E

fforts by Nnewi South LGA First Lady, Nneoma, Dr. (Mrs.) Mirian MboluIyiegbu, aka Mrs. Agbaegonkiti, to empower segments of her society received a boost. Under the aegis of her pet project, CAFE, the Anambra First Lady, Chief (Mrs.) Ebelechukwu ObianoOsodieme, while celebrating the first year anniversary of her husband, Governor Willie Obiano, in office, brought state power to complement the LG efforts. Speaking at the Ekwueme Square, Awka, as thousands gathered to celebrate the event, MboluIyiegbu said the local government was humbled by the gifts presented to her team

of beneficiaries who had undergone training to become self employed. The gifts included hair dryers, salon equipments, gas cooker ovens, cash and confectionery equipments and beneficiaries were Endaline Akaolisa (Osumenyi), Chizube Madueke, (Ukpo); Obiageli Ezeani (Osumenyi), Chika Elechukwu (Osumenyi), respectively, all from Nnewi South LGA.. Mbolu-Iyiegbu praised the commitment of the Anambra first family, whose dedication and resolve to help others was becoming legendary. “We are grateful to the Governor and our Big Mummy for this gesture and would advise beneficiaries to put items they received to good use”, she said.

preparation for the 2015 planting season, HarvestPlus Nigeria, after reviewing its activities last year, has set agenda for 2015.

The agenda setting initiative took place at a three-day work-planning/ review meeting with its 16 partners from four target states of Imo, Benue, AkwaIbom and Oyo as well as stakeholders in the agricultural sector in Imo state.

According to Paul Ilona, Country Manager, HarvestPlus Nigeria, “Part of the agenda for this year includes: dissemination of improved vitamin A cassava stems to over 700,000 farmers; establishment of over 300 processing centres for vitamin A cassava; establishment of over 300 points of sale for vitamin A cassava food products and confectionery; ensuring that at least three million Nigerians consume vitamin A cassava products this year; and, reaching out to over 50 million Nigerians with information on vitamin A cassava initiative”.

Commissioner for Agriculture, Imo State, Chief Frank Ibezim, while declaring the work-planning session and Vitamin A Cassava products exhibition open, said, “Imo State is happy to host HarvestPlus and its partners. We will support you in your drive to ensure that Nigerians have access to healthier and more nutritious foods using the vitamin A cassava initiative.” He called on HarvestPlus and partners to sustain the fight against hidden hunger, poverty reduction and empowerment of small and medium enterprises (SMEs).

Highlights of the three-day meeting include visits to local processors of Vitamin A Cassava as well as fabricators of cassava processing equipment in the state. The team also paid visits to Amauzari Vitamin A Cassava model village under the management of Forward Africa, one of HarvestPlus’s partners in Imo State.

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 27

How community leader was clubbed to death after failed knife attack – Eye witness

By Perez Brisibe

A

suspected lunatic has attacked and killed the community Chairman of Agbarha-Otor, vigilante outfit Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, Mr Kingsley Ejirefe in cold blood.“The incident, it was gathered, occurred around 9pm on Thursday at the Lagos Street residence of the wife of the late

community leader where he had gone to visit his family.“According to an eye witness, Mr. Kofi Apety, the victim has gone to visit his wife when the suspect suddenly pounced on him and stabbed him with knife without any grievance.“Apety said: "On arrival at the residence of his wife, the lunatic suddenly came on him, stabbed him, and when the stabbing did

not injure the victim who now was leaving the scene, the suspect grabbed a wood and hit him on the head.“"The victim who, immediately collapsed upon being hit on the head, was rushed to a private hospital at Ughelli were he was confirmed dead at about 12am on Friday while the

Our expectations from Buhari on Amnesty Programme,

suspect was arrested by the "B" Division of the Ughelli Police."“When Sunday Vanguard visited the community on Friday, the Commanding Officer of the 222 Battalion, Agbarha-Otor, Lt. Col Mathew Oyekola, was seen pacifying hundreds of youths from the community who had gathered to storm the police station to demand that the suspect be released to them for possible lynching.

by ‘Gener al’Akpodor o, ‘General’Akpodor al’Akpodoro, ex-milit ant leader ex-militant

BY ABEL KOLAWOLE

H

e is the President, National Coalition of Ex-Agitators, NCE-A. ‘General’ Israel Akpodoro was in partnership with the President Goodluck Jonathan-led administration to mop up arms and ammunition from militants in the Niger Delta after the declaration of amnesty by the Federal Government. In this interview,.Akpodoro bares his mind on the reasons behind the adoption by the coalition of Buhari, weeks before the presidential election.

What is your coalition all about?

The National Coalition of the Ex-Agitators, NCE-A, is made up of a group genuine youths of Niger Delta extraction who fought against the age-long neglect by successive governments of Nigeria. Membership of the coalition is strictly defined by the spartan lifestyle respect for constituted authority, solidarity for the region by ex-militant generals.

Are you saying the coalition is mainly for ‘generals’ who engaged the Federal Government in the agitation for a better Niger Delta region?

Yes. The essence of forming the coalition was for us to form a united and formidable force against those threatening fire and

brimstone should General Muhammadu Buhari win the presidential election.

We represent a new face in the sustained agitation for a better and greater region and that is why we decided to support General Buhari.

We adopted Buhari because we saw in the general the zeal, passion and commitment to render selfless service to Nigerian.

How did you ensure his victory in the Niger region?

Although we are all jubilating over the general’s victory today, that is not to undermine the fact that the forces against positive change in our clime stood against us but we were able to plant the gospel of General Buhari in the heart of our people. We engaged in a house-to-house campaign in the face of odds but God, with the victory of Buhari, has crowned our efforts. The law enforcement agencies denied us lawful association, we were forbidden from holding meetings where Buhari was the subject and to campaign for the APC candidate was like talking about contraband goods.

The hatred for Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu and Buhari in that region was so much that, at a point, they (agents of the establishment) started hounding us with all sorts of unfounded allegations such

•General’ Israel Akpodoro

as being a gun runners, kidnappers, armed robbers.

Do you have camps and where are they?

All my ‘generals’ have camps with teaming people under them. Most of them are of the Phass Two and Three of the Amnesty Program but, unfortunately, the outgoing government of Dr Jonathan grossly mismanaged the goodwill inherent in the program.

Allowances weren’t paid ex-militants and, when paid, beneficiaries are shortchanged by those in charge it. Payments of allowances were more regular to ex-militants of Ijaw extraction while others groan in abject poverty and despondency.

Do you think Buhari’s government will better manage the Amnesty Programme?

I have implicit faith in the incoming APC administration of General Buhari because his management of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) was enough to convince anyone that he has the ability to manage human and material resources.

The Amnesty Program is a

brainchild of the late Umar Yar ’Adua, an Hausa Fulani, which, of course, poopoohs the argument some people in the region that Buhari was going to withdraw the program when voted to power. We see the political will in the general and his incoming team to deliver.

Were you or any member of your coalition threatened or harassed by those in opposition to you from the region?

On several occasions, we were bullied and, at a point, I was arrested and kept incommunicado for over three weeks in Abuja for no offence. Till now, the police have no charges against me in any court of law.

In the name of APC and Buhari, I was humiliated in a failed attempt by the outgoing president to coerce us into supporting him but we resisted.

What about the threats of war by ex-militants?

Those threats were issued by the few beneficiaries of Jonathan’s administration who wanted the sustenance of status quo but they woefully failed.

Ekewenu lauds Jonathan’s good sportmanship

T

HE United Nations Ambassador on Milinium Development Goals, Karo Ekewenu, has lauded the sportmanship displayed by President Goodluck Jonathan on the just concluded presidential election, saying he is the number one agent of change in Nigeria.

Ekewenu said, “President Jonathan’s name would go down in history as the most democratic president Nigeria has ever had. I am still amazed at the level of independence the INEC has had in conducting and collating the election and its results.

Certainly, I am proud of President Goodluck Jonathan. I am proud of him as a true diplomat”.

He added, “I am happy also that Mr. President conceded.

It’s a sign of unity and greater things to come ahead for this nation. I love my country and want the best just as others do, so we all won as long as our ideologies are never at loggerheads with the path of peace, equity and justice for our dear Nation”.

Ekewenu prayed God to grant General Muhammadu Buhari the wisdom and courage to pilot the affairs of Nigeria, adding that President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari must continue with the legacy of Jonathan whom he described as most respected and dispassionate.

Foundation disburses N12 million to 250 traders in Kogi

By BOLUWAJI OBAHOPO, LOKOJA he Elder Leke Abejide T Foundation, EL AF, yesterday, in Kogi State,

disbursed N12 million to 250 persons.

The N12 million empowerment fund, disbursed under the Yagba People Empowerment Initiative, YPEI, was channeled to traders and artisans from Yagba Federal Constituency.

Founder of the foundation, Mr Leke Abejide, said the decision to establish the foundation was mainly to empower traders and artisans who are majorly women so as to help them to take care of their families.

According to him, “The aim of the foundation is to assist the people of Yagba constituency, especially the women, to become self sufficient and make them useful to their family”.

PAGE 28 — SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

Most African countries have been battling with low internet penetration and poor quality connections. This development affects the growth of businesses, especially the digital media industry. The Chief Executive Officer of Terragon Group, Africa’s innovative digital media company, Mr. Elo Umeh in this interview with Emeka Aginam at the 2015 Mobile World Congress while highlighting the benefits of its non-internet channel based advertising technology, a first for mobile in developing markets said that quality of mobile data is still poor and expensive in Africa, and is an inroad to better innovations.

Excerpt Adrenaline technology Adrenaline is a technology that allows advertisers reach users on mobile devices via internet based and non-internet based platform. This technology was created to address the low internet penetration problem as well as the poor quality of internet connection which significantly affects advert delivery on mobile.

Internet based channels are the popular mobile web and mobile apps. Our ‘Adrenaline’ technology delivers maximum compression to ensure great user experience with the least data possible. This is done on non-internet channels predominant to Africa which includes USSD-based balance enquiry, Call-Me-Back messages, End of Call Notification, Caller Ring back tunes, which are still very predominant to Africa. This means adverts are delivered without the need for internet connections. This technology powers the Advertising Server of our Mobile Advertising

Quality of mobile data still poor, expensive in Africa, says Terragon Group CEO business, Twinpine Limited, making it the most powerful mobile advertising platform in Africa.

Tailored for African market Yes, it is heavily and specifically tailored for Africa.

This is because the quality of mobile data is still quite poor and very expensive compared to the rest of the world. Just as is our custom within the Group to build innovative digital media solutions for the African market, Adrenaline was built to attend and rise above some of these unique problems.

Response The Response has been overwhelming. Many local and international advertisers have reached out to discuss execution details and how this new technology can be of value to their businesses. We also have a long list of partners discussing integrations and various areas of alignment to drive exchange of value.

Daily traffic We have an impressive daily traffic of about 500 million requests. We are confident that in the coming months, this number is sure to more than double especially considering that the adoption is in its early stages.

Cost of the solution the advertiser Advertisers who have run their campaigns on solely internet based platforms will

•Mr. Elo Umeh

find this solution to be lesser.

This is largely due to better technology and larger volumes.

The volume of inventory we have combined with our very robust audience platform, and real time bidding engine, ensures faster fulfillment of

Our proprietary click fraud detection algorithms are enterprise grade

campaign objectives without wasting impressions and clicks.

Security features While developing Adrenaline, we carefully considered and plugged all known vulnerabilities in the Advertising technology domain. We can confidently say that our proprietary click fraud detection algorithms are enterprise grade.

Market leadership in the digital media industry We are very passionate about innovation, especially using that innovation in our local environment and a peculiar market like Africa. It is our most important and continuous strategy. This is because we understand the challenges that

ts list barrier o mar ket gr owth Indigenous software: Exper Experts barrierss tto mark gro

BY EMEKA AGINAM

U

NLESS issues like poor policies, patronage lack of action, among others were resolved urgently, Nigerian local software market estimated to worth about $12 billion will continue to experience slow growth.

This among others were among the submissions of the IT experts at 2015 President’s Dinner organized by the Institute of Software Practitioners of Nigeria (ISPON) recently in Lagos.

While calling partnership with the ICT sector, the Executive Secretary, of NCDMB, Dr. Ernest Nwapa, who delivered the keynote address with the theme: ‘Software and Local Content in the Nigerian Oil and Gas Ecosystem’, said strong political will was most crucial to drive local content growth in the Nigerian IT ecosystem.

Lamenting poor patronage of local solution which he believes can compete globally with foreign brands, Nwapa said that with strong political will, software development could be explored in all the sectors of the economy, including the oil and gas industry.

Warning on the implications of consumption of foreign brands, he explained that local content is about local capacity, adding that his agency was

local.

He said that his agency was ready to collaborate with ISPON the way it has done with power sector to plug into its capacity building in training engineers for structural and other electrical and mechanical design in that sector.

“A software engineer who wants to develop an application in the oil and gas sector have many Nigerians working in the sector that can explain to him what the operations are all about, which will guide him in that regard. We don’t have that big gap like before when Nigerians are not allowed in some operational areas in the oil and gas sector,” he explained.

Local content drive, he said must be championed from the top and tied to national From left: Cross River State Governor, Liyel Imoke, receiving agenda, which award from former President of Computer Society of Nigeria, NCS, he described as Prof. Charles Uwadi while the President of Institute of Software been a long Practitioners of Nigeria, Pious Okigbo, Junior at the just concluded journey, but not a sprint.

2015 ISPON President dinner held in Lagos focusing on in-country value addition which includes promotion of capacity and use of local resources among others.

He said that implementing local content in any sector of the economy requires a strong political will to enforce.

Citing policy where Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEM) in oil and gas were not allowed to supply anything to oil companies without evidence of local content, he said that in IT sector, certain percentage of software in use must be

are specific to the continent.

Some of these challenges have to do directly with cost and access to data. We then empathize with the peculiarity of the situation, internalize that empathy and develop solutions to cater to address them.

Proprietary Mobile Advertising Server Like I mentioned earlier, our Ad server rests within the Mobile Advertising arm of our company, Twinpine Limited.

Before the launch of the Twinpine Ad server, Mobile advertising seemed like rocket science to a lot of businesses. It was foreign to them because they did not realise the immense benefits mobile advertising offered. Those who understood the benefits looked to foreign companies for solutions, and these solutions were globally tailored and didn’t meet the peculiarities of Africa. The first step we took to break into the market was to properly educate brands and publishers of these benefits.

Okpara harps on use of social media in crisis management

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

T

he Director of Corporate Communications and CSR, Airtel Nigeria, Mr. Emeka Oparah, has highlighted the imperative of putting the social media into consideration in crisis management.

He said this in his paper titled: “Contemporary Challenges in Reputation and Crisis Management” in commemoration of the 60th birthday symposium for Dr. Wole Adamolekun, at the Performing Arts Theatre, Elizade University, Ondo State.

He said this in the light of trying to provide insights into how Airtel Nigeria managed its 2011 call centre crises in Abuja and a bomb attack on one of its showrooms in Kano, in 2012.

Oparah said that the engagement of key stakeholders’ is significant to successful crisis management especially in the new communication world order ruled by social media, just as he urged communication executives to pay close attention to social media.

“With the overwhelming influence of this new media, it is important for media managers to adopt a proactive and robust strategy in managing its influence on stakeholders.

On the 2011 Abuja call centre crises, he said that Airtel leveraged on its massive goodwill to engage all the various stakeholders, noting that without a clear social media strategy at the time, the telecommunications briefly lost control of the crisis which cost it significantly in reputation and financial terms

SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 29

UPN governorship candidate bags Omu Ijebu title

P

.

Otunba and Yeye Otunba Rotimi Paseda dancing with honey calabash.

rince Olatunde Rotimi Paseda, Unity Party of Nigeria governorship candidate in Ogun State, and his wife, Oritsejemine, stole the show in Omu Ijebu, Ogun State penultimate Saturday when they were conferred with chieftaincy titles of Otunba Adeneye of Omu Ijebu and Yeye Otunba Adeneye of Omu Ijebu respectively.

The installation ceremony had many Omu Ijebu illustrious sons and daughters as well as neighbouring monarchs in attendance. Photos by Wumi Akinola

L-R: Oba J.B Otukoya, Oligun of Ilugun North, Otunba Rotimi Paseda, Oba Mobolaji Mosuro, Olomu of Omu, Princess Oritsejemine Paseda and Oba OIusegun Adesina, Olowu of Owu, Ijebu

Astra Ejaife hooks MTN Dade K eshinr o Keshinr eshinro

A

t last MTN dude Dadeowo Keshinro and one of Lagos eligible bachelors has quit the club.

Penultimate Saturday, he tied the knot with his belle Astra Ejaife in style. After the solemnization ceremony,the jolly train moved to the D Cubicle Event Centre, Idimu area of Lagos,where a lavish reception was held .

The couple’s families played the role of the perfect host as they made available deluxe assortments of cuisines and drinks.

L-R: Otunba Babatunde Sokoya, Former Ogun State SSG and Head of Service, Otunba Arashi Lawal and Alhaja Olamide Olatunbosun.

L-R:Alhaji Abdul Ramon, governorship candidate, UPN Zamfara State, Hon. Umar Faruq, governorship candidate, UPN, Sokoto State, Alhaji Inuwa Garba, Seriki Hausam Sagamu, with Otunba and Yeye Otunba Rotimi Paseda

Ebkere Otumun weds Samuel Okoinemen EBKERE Otumun and Ebhohonlen Samuel Okoinemen have consummated their relationship.

The lovebirds took their nuptial vows at Christ Resurrection and Life Ministry, Ilupeju, Lagos before their families and friends. Photos by Diran Oshe

L-R: Mrs. Patrical Okodugha, groom's mum, Mrs Agatha Otumun, bride's mum, The couple, Mrs Regina Iyasele and Mrs Patrica Iyasele, groom sisters.

L-R: Mrs Racheal Otumun, Mr Richard Okotie, Mr Nicholas Otumun and Pastor Henry Okengwu C M Y K

L-R: Pastor ( Henry Ibe, Resurrection couple, Mr & others.

Mrs ) Beatrice Ayozie, Pastor Pastor- in-Charge of Christ and Life Ministry, with the Mrs Samuel Okoinemen and

The couple, Mr and Mrs Dadeowo Keshinro

The couple, Mr & Mrs Samuel koinemen and The couple with their parents. the bridal train

PAGE 30— SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

Intrigues, as battle for Senate leadership begins

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

A

FTER the National Assembly elections that took place on March 28, alongside the presidential election, there have been intrigues among some of the ranking senators over the leadership of the 8th Senate expected to start by the first week of June.

Some senators vying for the office of the Senate President and Deputy Senate President have embarked on secret consultations to canvass for support as the leadership of the current 7th Senate, headed by Senator David Mark, and his deputy, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, expires at the end of the 7th Assembly.

With the result of the National Assembly elections as announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the All Progressives Congress, APC, has the majority of senators. The party, for now, has 60sSenators-elect, while the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which, in the 7th Senate has the majority will now be in the minority in the 8th Senate as it has 49 senators including Mark and Ekweremadu.

The party with the majority number of senators will produce the Senate President and the Deputy Senate President. But it must also be emphasised that this is not anywhere in the rules guiding the composition or election of the Senate leadership.

The Senate rule has it that once you are a senator, you are entitled to vote according to your conscience, but it should also be noted that party influence is also considered, but it is not all the time that members succumb to the external influence as was witnessed in the case of the serving Speaker and Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and Rt. Hon. Emeka Ihedioha respectively.

There are some considerations that may play in determining the zone or state that will produce the presiding officers of the Senate. Such considerations include ranking of senators, the state that has produced more senators for the party, the character of the person and ability to carry others along.

Some have argued that in considering the states or zones that will produce the Senate President and the deputy, the South-East zone is completely out because there is no single APC senator from the zone and

C M Y K

•David Mark

that the best the zone can get is the Minority Leader as all the senators from the zone are of the PDP. Also technically knocked out is the South-South.

Although the zone has one APC senator from Edo State, the member is a first time senator and not a ranking member.

Besides, there is the argument that the National Chairman of the APC is from the zone, and that the Director-General of the Gen. Muhammadu Buhari Campaign Organisation, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi, who is likely going to occupy a prominent position in the government, is also from the zone.

Also not to be considered in the zone that will produce the Senate President is the the North-West where the president-elect is from. So, the contest will be between NorthCentral, North East and possibly South-West.

In the build-up to the inauguration of the 8th Senate in June, about seven senators from the APC are said to be in the race for the presiding officers. The senators, who are returning, and ranking Senators are Abubakar Saraki from Kwara Central, who was among the senators who defected from the PDP to the APC; the Senate Minority Leader, George Akum,e from Benue North-West and Mohammed Danjuma Goje, Gombe Central. Interestingly all the three are former governors.

Also said to be in the race is a former National Chairman of the PDP, Senator Barnabas Gemade, from Benue NorthEast who dumped the PDP for APC after allegedly being denied the return ticket by his state governor, Gabriel Suswan, but defeated the governor in the election; Senator Ahmad Lawan, from Yobe North, and Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, from Borno South.

There is the argument that the

•Bukola Saraki

position of the Senate President may likely go to North-East where Goje, Lawan and Ndume come from; North Central, which holds the position presently and where Saraki, Akume and Gemade hail from or even the SouthWest. However, it is going to be the decision of the leadership of the political parties in contention according to their zoning arrangement that will determine where to zone the position.

Already, there are insinuations that the battle for the Senate President may be between the former governors who are likely to engage in fierce maneuvering to grab it.

But also it has to be mentioned that nothing stops the senators from the PDP, including the current occupant, Mark, from contesting for the post, everything will depend on how they play their game.

Saraki has been described as a foremost contender as he is said to have been interested in

Already, there are insinuations that the battle for the Senate President may be between the former governors who are likely to engage in fierce maneuvering to grab it

•Danjuma Goje

the position even in the 7th Senate. He has the charisma to lead the Senate, but it appears that certain factors may likely work against him, which include his relationship with the present occupant of the seat. It was insinuated that if Mark is not going to contest, he will not be comfortable with Saraki as the Senate President going by the intrigues that played up in the Senate.

Besides,some have alleged that the core North will not also surrender the post to Saraki because of his parental background as he is seen by some as of Yoruba stock than the North.

Goje is said to possess credentials like the former Kwara State chief executive. It was gathered that the former Gombe governor has sponsored some senators to the Senate who would likely work for him, but he also appears not to be having that cordial relationship with the present leadership of the Senate which may likely be a force to reckon with in determining who emerges irrespective of party affiliation.

For Akume, he has been described as one that is intellectually sound and articulate like some of his colleagues in the contest, but it was not certain whether other states will be comfortable allowing the seat to remain in Benue as the present occupant of the seat, is from the state.

Gemade, apart from the three former governors said to be the strongest contenders, may not also be a push over in the race if he throws his weight into it.

But he has his colleagues from Benue to contend with and also the decision of the APC as he is just a new entrant who may have not contributed much to the party.

•George Akume

Lawan is one of the senators that is always passionate on issues concerning the North and this may likely affect him as some look at him as a northern irredentist. However, he has the intellectual acumen and capability to pilot the affairs of the Senate if handed the leadership of the red chamber.

Ndume is another senator that may be considered for the position of Senate President.

Though he may not be among the topmost contenders, a Senator from the NorthCentral, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the senator has the qualities to be the Senate President.

He also has good relationship with Mark which, if the PDP senators decide to surrender the position for the APC, they will be comfortable with one that seems to be cool headed and who will also give respect to the present presiding officers who may be ordinary senators in the 8th Senate unless there is a dramatic turn of events.

It should also be noted that there is the possibility of Mark retaining his position depending on how he manages the situation.

Whereas the PDP has 49 members against 60 from the APC, internal disagreement may likely affect the APC senators, especially the three most contending ones: Saraki, Goje and Akume. Even if the APC decides to cede the position to one person without allowing any contest, there may likely be a disagreement that may not favour the party.

But whatever may be the situation, new Senate President and Deputy Senate President must emerge by the first week of June.

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 31

Contenders for next Speaker of Reps emerge

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

A

S the 7th session draws to a close, the battle of who emerges as the next Speaker of the House of Representatives has begun.

Feelers from the parliament indicate that legislative experience may play a pivotal role in deciding who is the next leader of the House as it did at the outset of the 7th Assembly.

The 8th edition of the •Tambuwa Standing Orders of the House, Order 4 simply states: “A member-elect, addressing the position would go, among the clerk, shall propose another six-geo-political zones, member-elect with legislative indications that some very experience as member of the visible lawmakers like Hon National Assembly to the Yakubu Dogara, from North House to be Speaker and shall East, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila move that such member-elect from the South West and a few do take the chair as Speaker others are already positioning of the House of themselves for the coveted Representatives.

The 7th Assembly heavily seat.

But if the position is zoned relied on this Order to produce to the South-South, Hon Pally Hon Aminu Tambuwal who was not anointed by the ruling Iriase, representing Owan Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. East/West, may clinch the The issue at stake here is coveted position as no other whether the same thing may South South state has any play out as the old brigade APC returnee that could hold may shove aside all political the House.

Iriase, a two-time council permutations and rely on chairman, former Secretary to Order 4 of the House rule.

The implication of this is that Government, SSG, Edo State, either the majority or minority looks good for the position.

The Minority Leader of the party could produce the House, Gbajabiamila, is also Speaker.

What is basically required is eyeing Tambuwal’s seat. that the member must have Gbajabiamila’s chances cognate experience and, once appears a little bit bleak as his this is ascertained, he could be zone already produced the nominated.

Vice President.

If the APC controlled Dogara, one of the government allows the House contenders, is a lawyer and to be independent, then the present Committee surprises should be expected Chairman on House Services. in this session.

Since both the North-West and South-West had produced the President and his Vice, the zones may not produce a candidate.

The North-central too may not feature a candidate as the Senate presidency may be retained there.

Hon Zakari Mohammed, who was eyeing the position of Speaker had to drop his ambition as his former principal, Senator Bukola Saraki, is said to be gunning for the Senate presidency.

This makes it a straight battle between South South and the North-East as the South-East, which ought to qualify for the speakership race,does not have any APC Rep. Although the party has not come out to say where the

Since both the North-West and SouthWest had produced the President and his Vice, the zones may not produce a candidate

C M Y K

General elections proved doomsday prophets wrong — Gbemi Saraki

BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI

T •Zakari Mohammed

•Yakubu Dogara

A vibrant voice on the floor of the House, he is one good hand that could run the House if the position is zoned to the North-Central.

Other members who have interest in the seat are said to be still studying the atmosphere and that time is not yet ripe to declare for the position now.

A compilation made of some lawmakers who won clearly shows that the opposition has taken over the House.

APC cleared all the 22 seats in Kano State; in Katsina, APC had 11 seats and in Sokoto cleared all the 11 seats.

In Jigawa, Kebbi, Gombe, it also took all the seats while PDP had strong hold in the South-East and South-South.

The stronghold of the parties would determine where a particular officer of the House would come from. Like the South South and South East, it is obvious that they would take the minority positions.

The Majority Leader and other officers would come from the stronghold of the APC which cut across North East, North West, South West and North Central.

From all indications, the ranking members seemed to be favourably disposed to the candidature of Dogara who won the ticket back from Bauchi State because of his wealth of legislative experience and the fact that

•Gbajabiamila

•Pally Iriase

he is a lawyer.

Iriase too has a chance if he runs as he is seen in many quarters as cool headed and mature in his dealings with his colleagues Returning members are already forming themselves into various groups with a view to pushing forward their candidates before the new members resume.

The new members do have a prominent role to play but the fact that they do not have legislative experience may relegate them to the back seat.

The dynamism of picking a Speaker in the House changed during the emergence of Tambuwal and the scenario may replay as legislative experience will definitely play a role.

Seasoned members who have already formed Old Members Association believe that they are stakeholders and that they too should have a say on who becomes the next Speaker on June 6 when the 7th House wind up.

In the 7th House, the new members effectively checkmated the old members but the old lawmakers still had their way at the end of the day.

Tambuwal held the House together in four years because of his charismatic style of leadership laced with humility.

The in-coming 8th House needs a Speaker who will beat Tambuwal’s sterling leadership qualities that gave the lawmakers a strong voice.

HE gubernatorial aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Kwara State, who defected to the All Progressives Congress, APC, before last weekend elections, Sen. Gbemisola Rukayyah Saraki, has said the victory of General Muhammadu Buhari candidate has put paid to the prediction that Nigeria will disintegrate just as she commended Nigerians for ensuring “ the country’s arguably most credible elections in history.”

Ahead of next Saturday gubernatorial and House of Assembly polls, Gbemisola charged INEC to ensure that “ administrative lapses identified in the last elections are corrected.

The security agencies are also advised to continue to be nonpartisan and professional in carrying out their duties”, she added.

She spoke in a press statement issued by his media aide,Comrade Abdulkareem Alabi in Ilorin, Kwara State capital.

The statement went on: “These elections and the maturity that played out between the two camps has effectively put paid to prediction that Nigeria might disintegrate this year. Against apprehensions, the elections have turned out to be a rebirth of our destiny as against the fear of our apocalypse.

“In its infamous 17-page discussion paper entitled: `Mapping Sub-Saharan Africa’s Future’, a United State Security Think Tank, the National Intelligence Council (NIC) had, in 2009, predicted that our country might disintegrate.

“But in the face of daunting challenges, Nigeria has proudly proved it’s worth to the world as a nation of prized values. Yet again, we have proven to be a beacon of hope for the African continent. It is heartwarming that Nigeria has gained a renewed global respect for conducting its most credible elections in history.

“Nigerians must also note importantly that the change that we all yearn for starts with us.

All Nigerians, and not President Buhari or the All Progressives Congress (APC) alone must key into the change spirit by being better ambassadors of the country wherever we find ourselves.

PAGE 32—SUNDAY

C M Y K

Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 33

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PAGE 34—SUNDAY VANGUARD,

APRIL 5, 2015

INTRIGUING EXPERIENCES

ICHIE AND RIT A OBIAK OR, RITA OBIAKOR, 50 YRS AFTER

‘I thought my husband was too handsome to marry me’

By CHIOMA GABRIEL

T

oday is a day worth celebrating for Ichie Felix Obiakor, his beautiful wife, Rita, their seven children and 21 grandchildren. The couple is celebrating 50 years of married life and that is one celebration many couples in today’s Nigeria cannot afford.

Many have tried and failed in the area of marriage and some have lost their spouses and so could not celebrate. Others are victims of broken marriages.

To show appreciation to God, Ichie and Rita have thrown open their doors for friends and relations to come and celebrate with them today, April 5, in their country home, Adazi Nnukwu, Anambra State.

For the Obiakors, not every man a woman meets is meant to be his wife and not every relationship must end up in marriage because there are husband materials and friend materials, but when people end up marrying those who ought to be just friends, they would end up having all manner of marital problems. But when a man marries his real wife, ordained for him by God and a woman marries a man ordained for her by God, even if they encounter problems along the line, they always overcome because God has purposed them to be together. “ All that glitters is not gold.

The most beautiful woman is not the most marriageable just like the most handsome man is not. Sometimes what God desires for a man or woman may not be what they desire for themselves and, that is why in Igboland where we come from, we ask questions about the background of the persons we want to marry to know their family history and whether such a marriage will be positive. You do not just meet a man or a woman and jump into marriage and sometimes, too, God approves of our choices for ourselves when the love is too strong.”

Speaking about his wife of 50 years, Ichie said, “ In 1962 while I was working in the Ministry of Justice, Enugu ,l was transferred to Umuahia.

Coincidentally, I was living at No 21, Item street with the late Chief Charles Azaka who then worked at P & T, Umuahia. It was at that time that a little angel was visiting the family. l

C M Y K

•Ichie Felix Obiakor

•The couple on their wedding day in 1965

later learnt she was his niece and that she was working at Shell Hospital in Port-Harcourt as a nurse. As God would have it,l was transferred to Port-Harcourt in 1963 and that gave me the opportunity of being closer to her and I found that she was a good wife material.

In 1964, l was transferred back to Umuahia but was in contact with her. “ Her decency and humility attracted me so much that I made a marriage proposal which she accepted.

I wedded her on the 9th of January, 1965 at St Finbarrs Catholic Church, Umuahia.

God has been good to us throughout the years and blessed the marriage with more than half a dozen children and over 20 grandchildren. “ The choice of a good wife is hard but with God, it is easy. My choice fell on Rita (Decency), the queen of peace.

God is love and to marry in love means to marry in God. We are ever grateful to God for leading us through these five decades of married life especially in those years when a woman’s place was believed to be in the kitchen but she was educated and had a career. But she didn’t let that get into her head. She was humble and has remained so even all through the years. It was too long ago that she retired and she remained a pillar of strength which is a rare virtue in many relationships.”

Also speaking about her experience, Rita said, “I graduated from the School of Nursing at Holy Rosary, Emekuku Owerri, in 1962.

After school of nursing, I took appointment in Shell Hospital in Port Harcourt. I worked there till 1963, and visited my uncle, Charles Azaka, and his family at Umuahia during my vacation. A young man, Felix Obiakor, was also living in the same compound with his brother, Stephen. I did not see him during my trip but he saw me . Then he started making inquiries about me from my sister, Felicia Azaka, who told him everything about me.

“However, after my holiday, I went back to Port Harcourt. One day, he came to my hostel in Port Harcourt with his friend asking of me. When I came out, he introduced himself and said that he was looking for me. I told him I was the type keeping boyfriends, and he said he was looking for a wife, not a girl friend. I told him I could not marry him because he was too handsome, that throughout my life, I did not fight or quarrel with anybody and, as such, could not fight over him. He left and came back after some weeks and continued asking me to marry him. My roommate at that time, Patricia Anyanwu, advised me to accept his proposal and I accepted.

Of all the suitors that came to me, he was the only one I accepted, because I loved him so much.

“We started courting. In 1964, we went to Onitsha to see my uncles: The late Fidelis Azaka, the late Ben Azaka and my senior brother, the late Godwin Azaka, for introduction.

“Later, he came with his family members for the traditional marriage th we had our wedding on the 9 of January, 1965 at St Finbarr’s Catholic Church, Umuahia.

“After the wedding, we experienced challenges associated with marriage . We had our first set of twins, Nnaemeka and Chinyere, then Chijioke; another set of twins, Jane and Jude, before Chinedu and Ngozi came along. During this period, we went on transfer to Onitsha, Aba and then Lagos in 1977.

“We watched our children move from one primary school to the other and then to secondary school, university and then graduation. “ We nurtured them all through these years until they started working. Today, we have about 21 grand children.

“50 years have gone past and we are still living together.

It is not easy but to God be the glory. “To appreciate God for keeping our marriage for 50 years, we are opening our doors to friends and relations to come and celebrate with us on April 5, 2015 in our village, Adazi-Nnukwu, Anambra State”.

I told him I could not marry him because he was too handsome, that throughout my life, I did not fight or quarrel with anybody and, as such, could not fight over him.

He left and came back after some weeks and continued asking me to marry him.

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 35

PROLOGUE

The sacrificial lamb •The spirituality of Jonathan’s concession at Easter

BY JIDE AJANI

F

ew minds are as clogged and warped as those of some past Nigerian leaders.

With a clumsiness that is legendary in the face of expected clearheaded thoughts, they have floundered, wasted golden opportunities to do good and write their name in gold; and are responsible, largely, for the state of affairs of a once promising yet potentially great nation called Nigeria. And whereas some of their actions can be excused (not rationalized), the fact remains that an opportunity once lost can never be regained.

Between Matthew Okikiolakan Aremu Olusegun Obasanjo, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida – the latter is a self-confessed protégé of the former – on the one hand, and out-going Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, there is now a gulf in terms of mindset and statesmanlike conduct. Whereas Babangida’s albatross, the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election, can be excused on the grounds of hostagetaking and deadly military politics, only a fool would have any explanation to proffer for Obasanjo’s greed and pursuit of a third term other than that he just wasn’t satisfied with two terms of eight years as President and Commander-inChief. He wanted more. And when he couldn’t get it, he paid Nigerians back by imposing Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and Jonathan on Nigeria. To see Obasanjo come in the open and wax pontifical about who has ruled well or not and who deserves to be replaced or not is the very height of shameless conduct.

But rather than waste time on an entity whose relevance in global politics continues to drop altitude, the piece would focus on the essence of good conduct, sensible decision and a sacrifice that is at once incumbent and selfmanifesting as exemplified by Jonathan’s acceptance of defeat even before the final results of last weekend’s presidential election were announced. These, compared to Obasanjo’s discombobulating and selfish interventions in Nigeria’s political sphere.

For Jonathan, it was fitting that he did what he did.

Whereas some had argued that the President had no option than to concede, Nigerians easily forget that Obasanjo once described Babangida as an elephant in a Chinaware shop that needed to be carefully guided out while at the same time positioning himself to become Head, Interim National Government, HING, in 1993. And rather than side with the popular crusade of the time to get the June 12 presidential election result validated, Obasanjo told the world that MKO Abiola was not the messiah Nigerians were waiting for. Making a good choice between good and evil is not as simple as people sometimes think it is.

It was on this same continent of Africa that one Samuel Doe, against all entreaties, plunged his country, Liberia, into war, insisting that he must “see it to the end” – the war saw his end.

Moammar Gaddafi of Libya had the option of a soft-landing in exile but chose to stay put. What has become of Libya today is not different from the ruins that Syria, where President Assad, after the death of over 125000 people, is still clinging to power, has also become.

C M Y K

•President Goodluck Jonathan Pray, how has war started in the history of the world? One wrong decision or a bad choice has almost always led to conflicts.

The symbolism of Good Friday and Easter is hinged on sacrifice, the type paid

by Jesus Christ on the cross of Calvary.

In political terms and Nigeria’s political times today, that Jonathan did what no Nigerian leader, living or dead, has done marks him out as well as places him heads and shoulders above an

Obasanjo. Just one false move; a wrong-headed acceptance of ill-advice from the hawks inside Aso Rock Presidential Villa, would have thrown Nigeria out of kilter.

But Jonathan chose to swallow his pride, humbled himself and made the allimportant phone call to General Muhammadu Buhari.

It is instructive to point out that the selfsame Buhari had contested elections in Nigeria in 2003, 2007 and 2011 and at

no time did he concede or make the type of phone call Jonathan made.

It all the more becomes more provocative to mention here that had Jonathan not been positioned to be the one to put a lie to the prediction that Nigeria may break up in 2015; and had he won a free, fair and credible election, would the All Progressive Congress, APC, and its presidential candidate have accepted defeat? Ponder that!

For President-Elect Buhari, he would need to learn to tread softly and not allow those who would surround him hence, feed into his paradigmatic world view of spontaneous and kneejerk reaction once he becomes President and Commanderin-Chief.

An example would suffice to buttress the possibility that a Buhari defeat might have spelt doom for Nigeria.

In the face of provocation and frustration of gargantuan proportions occasioned by the episodic failure of the Smart Card Readers, SCRs, during penultimate Saturday’s elections.

Nigerians persevered, were patient and eventually voted; at a time when Jonathan was calling for patience and sympathy for INEC because there were early hitches, Buhari’s response was simply to the effect that these hitches should not be blown out of proportion and the cancellation of the election would not be acceptable. That should not be the statement of a would-be President.

It is pertinent to point this out because just as some around President Jonathan exploited his meekness to feed fat and deceive him, the hawks around soon-tobe President Buhari, sensing his proclivity for spontaneous reaction, could engineer actions that may not be in the interest of his government or Nigeria as a whole. There are lessons to be learnt here.

In the whole of this, the greatest loser is Obasanjo. From the moment he fell out with President Jonathan not because of his love for Nigeria but for selfish and self-serving reasons, Obasanjo sought to first discredit and then destroy Jonathan. Not that Jonathan did not sometimes deserve to be lampooned and pilloried, an Obasanjo, with many baggage and garbage strewn round his neck, was never a fit person to cast the first stone - or any stone at all.

Indeed, Jonathan’s disposition of demure demeanour, and the symbolism of a man either confused or too weak and scared to act and, therefore, recoils in self-pity and preservation, all came together to work for the good of Nigeria last Tuesday when President Jonathan humbly called to congratulate President-Elect Buhari.

From the jaws of near-total embarrassment and shameful defeat, Jonathan snatched heroism and praises from both within Nigeria and abroad with that singular act. Whereas unlike Jesus Christ, Jonathan did not put his life down, the sacrifice of swallowing his pride and accepting defeat in this season of Easter, something the likes of Obasanjo could never have related with, marks him out as a true nationalist and a sacrificial lamb for Nigeria’s democracy. That he has even stopped his party from going to challenge the results of the election in court is even a far greater sacrifice.

PAGE 36—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

How Igbo, Yoruba altered traditional voting pattern,

by Eddy Osifo •’The illegality of linking Ambrose Ali’s death with Buhari’ SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY

H

e may have retired from active politics but the name of Barr.Eddy Osifo rings a bell in the politics of the old Bendel State which comprised of the current Delta and Edo states. He was a close ally of the late sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as one can see in his membership of the Action Group of the First Republic and later Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, of the Second Republic. He was the godfather of the late Ambrose Ali whose governorship he facilitated in the then Bendel State under the UPN in 1979.

In this interview, he bares his mind on why Gen.Muhammadu Buhari won the presidential election.

While commending President Goodluck Jonathan for conceding defeat to Buhari, he stresses the need to allow the nation’s democracy to flourish by allowing the wish of majority of Nigerians to prevail, pointing out that the nation has remained backward politically and economically due to the failure of the ruling party to allow free, fair and credible elections.

Contrary to the belief in some quarters that the late Ambrose Alli was killed while incarcerated by Buhari, as military head of state, Osifo says Ali died from kidney disease, dismissing the allegation that Buhari unjustly jailed politicians after he took over government after sacking President Shehu Shagari in 1983.

As Awolowo’s ally I was among the nine who founded the UPN in 1978.

Our leader was Chief Awolowo and other founding members of the party include Ajasin, Bola Ige, Bisi Onabanjo, Jakande. I founded the party in Bendel but at my age I said I could not be governor. Chief Awolowo pleaded with me to be governor and that was why I took Prof. Ali to him. I went to invite him from the University of Benin, he was never in our group but when he became governor he did things to make me feel he hated me.

And that was why I laughed when I watched the daughter saying at a PDP rally that Buhari killed Ali, that is not true. Ali had kidney problem C M Y K

from the first day I knew him.

He had stone in his kidney, and that was what gave him problems until he died.

Buhari did not kill him. He was properly tried and jailed.

He was jailed three times, two of the three times were based on the evidence given by Esan people, his own people.

They gave evidence in two of the cases where Ali was jailed for 22 years. And when Ali left prison, they had vandalized his house; was it Buhari that also destroyed his house?

When I saw PDP people carrying the daughter up and down to say Buhari killed Ali, I called her and told her not to say that, maybe she did not know the story. And inspite of the way he treated me, I still went to Ibadan prison three times to visit him, he warned me that if I ever became governor, I should never deal with three people, he mentioned their names.

And after I made him governor, he went and gathered these people, I spent only one year as Commissioner in his cabinet.

I had to leave the cabinet when he started maltreating me. He was always coming to my house because I was the party leader then. I entered politics when I had my first meeting with Awolowo in Oke Ado, Ibadan on September 27, 1977. I organized the party in then Bendel State with my money before I handed over as Chairman to Prof. Ali because the Chairman of the party must be the governor.

Then we had people like Alfred Rewane, L. Rewane, Amadasun, Imafidon in the leadership of the party. I was the youngest but I was the organizer and leader until I handed over to Ali. Awolowo will assess you first and ensure that you are mature before giving you support. It is not now they say youths must take over from old men, nobody will give you chance unless you are incorruptible, you are not greedy, you are a serious politician. Those days we were not doing this thing politicians do now; if party A offends you, you ask party B to give you money and you move to the party, it is wrong.

I brought Omoaghe, the late Modino Emovon, Rowland Owie, Madam UPN into politics. And I never took one kobo from them. I sponsored Senator Owie to the House of Reps. I nominated Ali for governor, nominated Akpore for deputy governor.

•Eddy Osifo

Ali had kidney problem from the first day I knew him. He had stone in his kidney, and that was what gave him problems until he died.

Buhari did not kill him But today if you don’t know how to tell lies, how to rig elections, PDP will not accept you as their leader.

Unfortunately they have taught Nigerians how to do wrong things because that their bad character is what our youths are imitating today.

A government must be able to impact ethical and moral standards in the people, this government has failed to impact moral and ethical standards in the people.

Nigerians have no morality, that is why we have many of our people on death row in Indonesia for drug trafficking.

The average foreigner, when he disobeys traffic light, he feels bad but here there is nothing like that. In those days, once you joined the Action Group, Awolowo will tell you: “This place is not for making money, it is not for acquiring wealth; if you want to acquire wealth, let us know so that we will not give you political appointment”. When Awolowo said I should be governor and I said I didn’t want to be but I will go and look for some body, he said I should get an average man with an average income but not a man that has not achieved anything in his life.

That was why I went for Prof.Ambrose Ali who was on N3,500 salary.

Building Nigeria on ethical standard So if they built Nigeria on ethical and moral standards, Nigeria will not be like this.

Nigeria is off it entirely and that is why people are angry.

And when you see somebody who will correct the bad system like Buhari, they want to blackmail him, that he will jail everybody. If the evil people must run away because Buhari won the presidency, let them run so that Nigeria will be a better place for all. When they talk of Buhari’s age, you need an experienced, old man to rule a country that has no ethical or moral standards, a country that is defiant of laws and rules. A young man cannot whip Nigerians into line. The young man has noouse, bought a car, so he may be tempted to engage in sharp practices to satisfy his wants.

Young men usually have large appetite for women and money. We are getting it wrong, it is only countries that have morals that allow children to rule. That time we couldn’t build houses in the GRA, Awolowo would not take it, it was forbidden. That is why it was after Chief Enahoro left Awolowo that he built that house at Adeyan, in GRA. His first house was at Oregbeni Estate where he lived before he left our party.

He left us when I took over to lead the group.

But why have you been quiet politically?

Some of us are worried about this country in the sense that one regime has been in power since independence.

The NPN is like the PDP of today and, for several years, the NPN was in power until the military came in to chase them away. But each time they

wanted to hand over due to their alliance with the military, the military will hand over to them. So it is one regime that has been in power since Independence in 1960. The BBC describes this regime as a ruling clique in Nigeria that works with the army. Any time the army wants to hand over power to civilians, they will ask which group you belong, if you say you belong to Awolowo group, they will say that is not the one we want to hand over to. They said they could only hand over to the Shagari group. That clique stalled the development of Nigeria. This 2015 election seems to be the only opportunity to block the avenues of rigging. They tried to scuttle the use of the card reader which will make the election credible. Groups were hired to discredit the card reader. President Jonathan was dealing with different bad groups and bad people due to his ambition.

All those on trial for one matter or the other are the people around him and that is why people like me did not vote for him. And what is why he lost the election. But I am glad that he congratulated Buhari; he will enjoy the respect that concession of defeat earned him globally.

The three things wrong with Nigeria are corruption and patronage, economy and security. The President said our economy is good but how can economy move without power? He even tried to redefine corruption but he forgot that corruption is corruption.

The President said he built railway; what he built was locomotive railway, not the type of railway we need in Nigeria in the 21st century.

We want modern railway propelled by power, that is the one they are building in Japan and other places.

Jonathan does not know what is wrong with Nigeria and we could not elect somebody who does not understand the problem with Nigeria. He has influenced the police so much so that the police are being

Continues on page 38

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 37

BY IKENNA ASOMBA week af ter the O ne presidential election, human rights lawyer and former President, Nigerian Bar Association (2006–2008), Dr. Olisa Agbakoba, takes a critical look at the election’s outcome, describing the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, President Goodluck Jonathan, as the number one hero for conceding defeat to his All Progressives Congress, APC, counterpart, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.

Agbakoba speaks on the voting pattern in the South-East and North-West, how the incoming administration can help restructure Nigeria’s electoral process, the outcome of the National Conference, the huge cost of governance, PDP’s dissatisfaction with the poll result and the threat by the leader of the Niger Delta Peoples Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Mujaheeden Asari-Dokubo, to go back to the creeks, following the result of the presidential poll. Excerpts: The presidential election has come and gone. What is your critical appraisal of the entire process?

We have had this election, which ran for three days of absolute inactivity. I feel the country should not be shut-down because we are having elections.

However, I had predicted that nothing will happen to Nigeria. I was confident that there will be no violence. I was confident that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, will not come in time, I was confident that the smart card readers, SCRs, will not work efficiently, but I was confident about the process. It has generally improved. So, let’s not lament. For the fact that Nigeria has not vanished like many people thought, I think it’s a plus.

Following the outcome of the election, do you think we have heroes and villains?

Yes. The number one hero is the man that has worked himself out and discovered that he has been tremendously relieved, and that is President Goodluck Jonathan. President Jonathan didn’t make the mistake that Gen. Ibrahim Badamosi Babangida (IBB) made. The glory that Jonathan has now taken today was the glory that IBB would have taken in 1993.

What was IBB doing after nine years in office? So, I have the impression that Jonathan called himself to question, having been in power since 1999. He would have said, ‘well, I have given it my best shot but now I lost.

Rather than allow my supporter like Elder Godsday Orubebe to rubbish me, I will rather give in’.

The second hero, if I was to consider, are Professor Attahiru Jega, the INEC Chairman, or the Nigerian masses, but I give it to the Nigerian masses to decide.

However, I will say Jega is a hero. His calmness and civility resulted in the election being concluded peacefully and accepted by everybody. Even President Jonathan accepted it.

•Dr. Olisa Agbakoba

The problem with SouthEast, North-West votes,

by Olisa Agbakoba •’The election’s villains, heroes’ •Speaks on why Buhari cannot afford to ignore National Confab recommendations To expand on why I said Jonathan is a hero, it’s because there is no known dictator the world over that concedes defeat to an opposition. Again, he is a hero for the fact that he allowed the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, to grow. It may be easy to say Jonathan has no choice, but he indeed has choices. Robert Mugabe of Zimbabwe has shown that he can absolutely decapitate the opposition. So, that is a very strong commendation for Jonathan for allowing the democratic process to work, he allowed multi-party democracy, he allowed free elections. We have seen some Nigerian Presidents who didn’t allow it, we have seen how the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, frustrated Chief Obafemi Awolowo of the Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, from becoming President. We have seen how IBB did not allow the process to produce MKO Abiola.

So, we must give Jonathan the credit for being cool, calm and accepting defeat.

Again, the opposition APC is another hero. For the fact that there was a credible and intelligent opposition among whom were Babatunde Fashola, Dele Alake and Wale Edun, the thinkers, that is why they beat the PDP. The PDP was busy doing hate campaigns, which APC also did and we condemned

Yes. The number one hero is the man that has worked himself out and discovered that he has been tremendously relieved, and that is President Goodluck Jonathan it. What I saw was an APC with an absolute brilliant football team with people around. The PDP was a weak football team with a weak manager and that cost them the election. So, those are the four heroes.

On the other hand, the biggest villains are the South-East and the North-West. It is incredible for Jonathan to have won with such numbers in the South-East. It is unbelievable and doesn’t do the leaders of the South-East any good, neither does it do the leaders of the North-West any good for Buhari to score such number of votes. We need balance voting like we saw in the South-West. How can a man score about 90 percent? Is it that the South-East was shut-out from the national equation? So, the villains are leaders of the PDP in the South-East who don’t

understand the balance voting is critical. So, we hope that the April 11 gubernatorial elections will produce a balance voting in Lagos, Enugu, Kaduna and other states. I don’t want to see that Party A has 90 percent and Party B has 0 percent. That is not voting, that is the biggest drawback in this election.

What should be blamed for the imbalanced voting?

Ethnicity was the cause. We must get rid of that, because that is the only thing that would identify a region as a villain. The challenge for the APC government will be to zero into vote swinger pattern. These whole business of restructuring Nigeria, where settlers residing in a place can contest and win elections is what we need to do to move forward. So, we want

the April 11 gubernatorial election to reflect balanced voting. The problem the PDP had was that it got too confident because it was getting all the votes. So, we don’t want the APC to become the PDP and get all the votes. People should vote with their heads, for the party they want in a way that is straight.

Do you advise the new APC government to look into the outcome of the National Confab?

They should consider the outcome. I was a member of the National Conference and there were challenges. It depends on your interest. There are about 170 million Nigerians of different ethnic, religious and linguistic backgrounds, and something meaningful has come out of it was. But who would have believed that the National Conference would have gone as well as it is. So, we can do it. I expect that the APC will begin to find a common ground that all Nigerians can live together, that is the recommendation. So that in 2019, we won’t have this issue of imbalanced voting. It’s not good for the system.

However, to achieve absolute balanced voting, it’s a long-term thing. It requires discussions at a constitution conference, so that people begin to feel less about state of origin. Why do I need to indicate my state of origin on forms? The larger question is the constitution conference you referred to. We can start now by demonstrating that balanced voting is the way to go. Balanced voting is key. I don’t expect the South-East where I hail from, should have voted 90 percent for Jonathan. It was that balanced voting that Buhari got that made him win. What helped Buhari was the consistent balanced voting in the middle between 40 and 60 percent across the states.

But on the part of Jonathan, the few high-graphs proved

Continues on page 38

PAGE 38—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

‘Why Buhari cannot afford to ignore National Confab recommendations’ severely punished, you will be very shocked that people will be in line.

But if there is no perception that corruption will be severely punished, people will misbehave.

Continued from page 37 unhelpful. So, as a politician, it makes sense to me to appeal to everybody. I would rather split the votes with my opponent in my stronghold, and also split the votes with my opponent in his stronghold. By and large, it was the failure to understand balanced voting that caused the PDP the election.

This strategy of balanced voting was exactly what took US President Barrack Obama to the White House.

If Obama had felt that since I’m a black man, I’m going to stay with the blacks in America, he would have lost.

But he crafted his demographic voting strategy to the extent that everybody felt included. So, with what we have seen in this election, I believe Nigeria has passed that stage.

The cost of governance is high, while many live in poverty. What should be done?

They should decapitate the civil service. This is very important now, and I think General Buhari has alluded to it. If people are coming to the National Assembly with a view that they will receive the kind of emoluments they receive, let Buhari make it clear that they won’t get it.

Let him make it clear that if a lawmaker thinks he will be getting over N600 million representing the people, and we have more than 60 million unemployed Nigerians, let him (Buhari) make it loud and clear that his administration will not let it happen.

Again, we need to take up the Stephen Oronsaye Committee Report.

If you read that report, it rationalises out 30 percent of the civil service. So, the civil service is over-bloated and needs to be cut down, in favour of capital projects.

An all-inclusive government If I am Gen. Buhari, I will pick the best professional team, it doesn’t matter where you are from, so long that it complies with the Constitution.

For instance, if there is a person serving in the current administration that did well, I will pick that person to serve in my team.

•Dr. Olisa Agbakoba Again, considering the dwindling oil price, one big area the new administration should look into is the maritime sector. The money in the maritime sector is unbelievable as you can see that Apapa, in Lagos, is the largest port in Central West African zone. Particularly, as the government has declared a highly progressive social security policy of distributing benefits to the poor people, it has to look for money.

The third area that the new government has to look at is the counter-corruption programme. It has to absolutely dismantle the present framework and erect a new one. Let the message be made very clear that there will be a response by government should a public servant be corrupt. When there is the perception that corruption will be

PDP ’s dissatisfaction and impending law suit Nobody should cause that confusion.

The man who ran the election says, ‘I concede defeat’. If the PDP goes to court, they are on their own. I, as a lawyer, will not support the PDP going to court, when the principal has conceded defeat. This was the reason the petition in Ekiti State was not really strong, because Fayemi’s heart was not in it.

Today, we can see Fayemi celebrating, that is concession and the beauty of democracy. You can’t win all the time. Look, God has blessed Jonathan to the point where he has been in office consistently since 1999.

When Jonathan was working in the NNDC, I was long a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) and I am still a SAN. From NNDC, he became deputy governor, governor, vice president, acting president and then president.

Come on, this is one man? God has blessed him indeed to get to the peak of his political career.

By and large, even though logistics is a challenge, let us thank God that the elections were peaceful and results accepted. Out of this election process had come a number of new things.

Concession is one, the President conceded defeat. So, I will expect that in the gubernatorial election on April 11, we can get more concessions.

Then, we see the lines of fierce professional opposition. So, the next thing now is to begin to see the lines of strong parties. I want to see Nigerian parties emulating the parties in the United Kingdom. You can’t see the Labour lawmaker moving to the Conservative because an election was lost. It doesn’t happen because there is an ideology. Here, our political parties have no ideology, truth be told.

Hopefully, in the next four years, incidents where one political party fielding a candidate and still goes ahead to endorse another candidate will be impossible. We need to see a tougher INEC that disallows this kind of incidents. If your party’s candidate is on the ballot and you go ahead to endorse another party, the INEC Chairman should disqualify you.

What do you make of the renewed threat by Asari Dokubo to go back to the creeks, because Jonathan lost?

He will be in prison. Asari Dokubo cannot threaten Nigeria. Look, who is he working for? That is why I make Jonathan my number one hero. You can’t cry more than me that lost my mother.

The President has conceded, so who is Asari Dokubo to say he is going back to the creeks? What is he going back to the creeks to do? Let him go back to the creeks and he will die in the creeks.

Buhari has said his administration will run Boko Haram out of town. So, any miscreant that wants to make trouble, it is the duty of the President to deploy our cohesive force to flush the person out. We want peace, so nobody should disturb our peace in this country.

’The illegality of linking Ambrose Ali’s death with Buhari’

How do you compare this election with others held in the country?

election in this country was the preindependence election of 1959 which pitted Alhaji Tafawa Balewa against Chief Obafemi Awolowo during which Awolowo engaged in sky writing. He used helicopter which went far into the sky and was writing ‘vote Awo’, he was in the sea, he was in the air he was on land. In that election, three parties contested: the Action Group, the NCNC and NPC. At the end of the election, no one party was a clear winner. That forced the NPC and the NCNC to go into a coalition government and forced the Action Group into opposition.

This was the situation before 1966 coup which was caused by the rigging of the federal election in 1965 in Western Region.

The rigging was greeted by riots in the Western Region which ushered in the military regime of Nzeogwu.

This is the fairest election that was contested since independence.

Rigging was not possible just like the pre-independence election of 1959.

This is the first time the West will be working with the North in an election.

That is the difference. The West has always been in opposition while the East was always working with the North.

But are surprised that the SouthEast did not support Buhari, a norther ner, unlike their usual practice?

Since independence, this is the first election in which all Nigerians participated. The last keenly contested

The South-East will learn their lessons. Next time, they will vote more on principle than sentiment and

Continued from page 36 destroyed. The same way he is trying to turn our soldiers to politicians.

Why Buhari won The major reason for our backwardness is the nation’s inability to change government and that is why you see most Nigerians happy with this latest development. Jonathan dug his grave in the North, he tried to persuade the West before the elections but it did not work. Those supporting him in the West like Falae, Ayo Adebanjo are my friends, but have gone off the track because of the hatred they have for Tinubu. But you cannot cut your nose to spite your face. Bola Ige did it when we refused him nomination in AD, he started following Obasanjo, he did not know Obasanjo will use military tactics on him. Buhari detained me for two months after the coup in 1984 but I was not annoyed because it was a sacrifice I made with those who were corrupt. I was released from jail, they gave me back my international passport and apologized to me. They found N95 in my account.

So when they say Buhari will jail everybody, it is a lie,

•Eddy Osifo emotion. The South-East has always made this mistake because their first leader, Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe, led them to believe that the West was not reliable and that the North was reliable based on his experience in the 1952 parliamentary election in the

Western Region which he claimed he had won because his NCNC claimed to have won it through the West African Pilot and the AG also claimed they have won the same election through Daily Service. But on getting to the Western House of Assembly where the Action Group caused a division by arguing that the two parties should sit separately, it was discovered that the Action Group won the election by a narrow majority. Dr Azikiwe had to walk out of the Western House of Assembly and became eternally bitter against Awolowo and the Western Region. So his alliance with the North was borne out of this experience. Azikiwe was prevented from becoming the Premier of Western Nigeria by reason of ethnicity, he also used ethnic majority to push away Eyo Eta as Premier of Eastern Nigeria.

That caused the Eastern Nigeria crisis of 1953.

What is happening now is a mixed grill. You find that in the South-South, Jonathan got very large votes while all over the North, Buhari won majority. Again performance came in and that was why most of us supported Buhari. Some of us don’t believe in ethnicity, we believe in performance.

People voted for Buhari due to his principles.

This time, the Yoruba agreed that Jonathan’s government has failed and needed to be changed and that is why they supported the North to oust him.

The South-East will regret not backing the North when they should and it is very unfortunate.

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 39

BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

A

reporter’s diary of the activities of President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari from Abuja to Daura, Katsina State and back to Abuja.

Somehow, the planned mega rally in Abuja on January 29 failed. It was supposed to be the ‘mother- of-all rallies’ of the All Progressives Congress, APC, before February 14, the date initially scheduled for the presidential and National Assembly polls. But the shift in the polls dates affected it and never did anyone mention it again; instead, town hall meetings, which appeared to be General Muhammadu Buhari’s last minute’s engagements, became inevitable.

This saw him visiting many places ahead of the rescheduled March 28 elections. Activities however reached their apogee 48 hours to the presidential election. Below is an account of how the period went for Buhari.

Thursday, March 26—Last Press briefing But just before the expiration of the 48 hours constitutional time off to the campaigns, Buhari had time with journalists at his campaign headquarters in Central Business District, Abuja. Day was Thursday, March 26.

Calm and calculative, Buhari entered the auditorium with the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun, sat down before television cameras, microphones and tape recorders.

The conference basically featured a reiterated commitment to stamp out corruption, insecurity and unemployment.

“I specifically called this press conference to thank millions of Nigerians for their support and their enthusiastic commitment to the imperative of change. I am particularly overwhelmed that, despite the sustained smear campaigns against me by the ruling PDP, the support Nigerians have for me has remained intact. The enthusiasm of Nigerians for change is understandable”, the then APC presidential candidate said.

He added: “The 16 years of PDP administration is a story of despair, despondency, disillusionment and pervasive fear, caused by unprecedented insecurity.

The basic functions of the government such as the security, welfare and happiness of the citizens appear only in paper. It is morally wrong for any government that has woefully failed in these basic responsibilities to demand or expect another mandate from the disillusioned citizens of Nigeria”.

Friday, March 27—Journey to Daura The journey to Daura, Katsina State, home of the president-elect, was done in separate flights on Saturday, March 27, when there was a reunion of Buhari and journalists.

Saturday, March 28-Election Day As early as 5:30 am, the day had broken and Daura was beckoning. And so, an approximately two hours drive from my Katsina hotel brought me to Daura Motel, a walking distance to Buhari’s house to meet with colleagues. Minutes later, Mallam Garba Shehu, the Director, Media and Publicity Directorate of All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organization, APCPCO, showed up. From there, the next destination was the polling unit 003 at Kofar Baru in Sarkin Yara “A” of Daura Local Local Area.

By 8:30 am, the INEC adhoc staff were already on ground. The place surged with enthusiastic voters. Enquiries indicated that the Presiding Officer, PO, of the unit was Mr. Abbas Mohammed and Assistant Presiding Officer 1 Abba Zaradin. Security operatives both in uniform and plain clothes were handy even as the voters register and the card

Five crucial days with the President-Elect

• Buhari

briefing journalists

Sai Baba, Sai Buhari, an Hausa chant meaning “only Buhari”, filled the air. To drive out from the place became a movement that was controlled by the people who danced in front of Buhari’s convoy

reader were also seen on display.

At exactly, 8:38 am, the motorcade of Buhari drove in. Amidst cheers, Buahri and his wife alighted and went through the accreditation process within five minutes and exited the scene at exactly 8:48 am also.

Speaking to journalists after authenticating his PVC, the then APC presidential candidate said the electoral system was transparent.

He said: “I like the integrity of the system. If people are allowed to vote, rigging will actually be impossible in this system. I think they (INEC) have done very well and I have said it to my colleagues elsewhere that, from their presentation to the Council of State which I happened to be one of the members, INEC, this time, has done extremely well.”

Buhari and his wife were to make a return to the polling unit to cast their ballots at 4:58 pm that Saturday. This time, the crowd had tripled. Those who had done their accreditation and even voted stayed back to catch a glimpse of “Baba” on his return. And true to fact, the vicinity of the unit erupted in elongated cheers and hails upon the return of Buahri.

“Sai Baba”, Sai Buhari”, an Hausa chant meaning “only Buhari”, filled the air. To drive out from the place became a movement that was controlled by the people who danced in front of Buhari’s convoy.

At Buhari’s residence It was almost nightfall when journalists were called to Buhari’s house for a chat. A stage had been made under a tree. All had seated when Buhari gracefully emerged. The briefing was not a speech thing but a chat off the scripts on virtually contemporary issues.

And it went thus: On the issue of integrity of the system “I base it on the performance of INEC. If I could recall, I even referred to the submission by the INEC chairman of their activities from the end of the last General election in 2011 till how. I said the document was very good and even INEC said they were ready to conduct this election. So, whether I said that INEC

is performing or not performing is based on the current issues. We see them documented on records.

I just can’t work on rumour because if you work on rumours in Nigeria, you get missing in action.”

The cheers from the people “The reception I received in my constituency has always been like that since April 2002. So, for you, if may be something spectacular, but it has always been a regular thing.

The electoral violence in Rivers State “I spoke with the governor of Rivers state and I think that what has been happening in Rivers state is a continuation of the hostility between the ruling party the APC. The governor has been fighting and today, it is out of hand. I must admit that again, I am happy with the decision taken by INEC that in places where election has not taken place, it will take place tomorrow. From the information we are getting which has not been confirmed, there is failure of some of the card readers. For example, it took me less than five minutes to do accreditation. When I came back home, I was watching on Television and it took the President about 30 minutes to be accredited. But it took his wife and mother about two minutes each to do it. There is discrepancy in the performance of those gadgets. For INEC to give the notice that because of failure in some up the equipment, elections will continue tomorrow (Sunday) where elections did not happen today.”

On peace pact “Even before the first Abuja peace accord, i have told my supporters not to be rude or take up weapon against any Nigerian. After that, we signed the first Abuja accord presided over by Kofi Annan, former Secretary General of the United Nations which we all signed as Presidential candidates and the recent one signed three days ago between me and Jonathan

Continues on page 40

PAGE 40—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

Continued from page 39 presided over by General Abdulsalami Abubakar, Bishop Kukah and Bishop Onaiyekon and two others. We gave assurances that we will make sure that our supporters do not become violent during and after the election. In constituencies where there is violence, it is up to the parties to make sure they set up a process of disciplining those involved. We can’t sign an agreement as leaders of our parties and Presidential candidates and somebody down there will be doing the opposite of what we pledged and signed. That is indiscipline.”

On rumoured polls cancellation “How many places have hiccups? I can count only about four. In Rivers state, Enugu state, Delta. I think it is maximum of five states out of 36. Please don’t forget that there were elections in Afganistan and they have been having issues in the past 15 years. There was election in Syria and they are at war because they are still fighting. There was election in Pakistan.

So, all these negative thoughts about Nigeria election shouldn’t hold because of problems in a maximum of five states.”

The interview marked the end of the Daura trip. I returned to Abuja the day after. We were to meet again on Monday in Abuja but for the delay in the announcement of election results by INEC, it was postponed to Tuesday.

Tuesday, March 31/Wednesday, April 1: Unusual days I had practiced journalism for some years now. I know how intellectually tasking and energy sapping it could be.

But Tuesday, March 31 presented a dimension to this sacrifice. I didn’t know why I had to wake up at 4 am that day.

May be I was used to it. But it compounded the trouble that followed later in the day as I couldn’t get even a minute to nap off until the following day.

With the results of the presidential election trickling in, showing brighter chances for Buhari, I knew I had a task of gathering minute-by-minute reaction of APC chieftains including Buhari. And I figured that the places they could be at the time were the campaign office or the APC national secretariat. So, I started shuttling between both places in Central Area and Wuse 2, Abuja. Later we were told that Buhari would brief journalists immediately after INEC had declared him winner. Time was given as 8pm. But it never happened until 5 am the next day.

With this, I retired early enough to the national secretariat. While the clocked ticked towards 8pm, it was uncertain whether the time was feasible.

Meanwhile, as early as 5 pm, a red carpet had been laid heralding Buhari presidential reception. The secretariat suddenly became agog with the APC National Chairman, Oyegun, the party ’s governors, some elected National Assembly members, party supporters, those who were overtaken by the euphoria in celebration mood.

Everyone had free access into the secretariat not minding the presence of security operatives who cordoned off the streets leading to the place.

Meanwhile, by 12 am, INEC chair, Professor Jega, was still tiding up the paper works at the International Conference Center, ICC, which served as the National Collation Center. But the crowd at the secretariat had depleted by 11 pm when an announcement came that the ceremony would continue Wednesday by 11am after the official declaration.

Time was far beyond bed time. But the announcement was definitely not for journalists. And so, I stayed put, occasionally stealing glimpses at the television set even as sleep had taken the better part of me. I couldn’t count

• Buhari

on election day

Five crucial days with the President-Elect

The good people of Nigeria, answered the call of history.

When the account of this fine moment is written, it will be said that it was the people themselves who led this nation to democracy

how many times I nodded my head answering no one in particular. The power of sleep.

At 2 am, my phone rang. It was a senior colleague from another news medium who called from the ICC to say Buhari would speak any moment from then. And we regrouped.

At 5:45 am, Buhari, now president-elect, his vice president-elect, Professor Yemi Osibanjo, and a horde of APC’s chieftains came into the conference room at the national secretariat to address us.

There, Buhari read his acceptance speech.

It was after the speech that I left for home at 6:05am. Excerpts from the speech: “At exactly 5:15pm this evening President Jonathan called to congratulate me on my victory. For this I want all Nigerians to join me in congratulating and appreciating Mr President for his statesmanship.

“President Jonathan engaged in a spirited campaign and was a worthy opponent. I extend my hand of fellowship to him. I look forward to meeting him soon as we plan the transition from one administration to another. He will receive nothing but understanding, cooperation and respect from me and my team.

“The good people of Nigeria, answered the call of history. When the account of this fine moment is written, it will be said that it was the people themselves who led this nation to democracy.

“You stood in line patiently for hours in the sun, rain and then in the dark to cast your ballots. Even when the vote was extended to Sunday in some places, you still performed your civic duty. You did so peacefully. You voted with your heart. Your vote affirms that you believe Nigeria’s future can be better than what it is today.

You voted for change and now change has come.

“INEC has released the official results of the Presidential election. INEC has declared that I gained the most votes with the required spread and thus won this election. In a more profound way, it is you, Nigerians that have won. The people have shown their love for our nation and their belief in democracy.

“The declaration of INEC accurately reflects the will of the people. While there might have been some logistical obstacles and irregularities associated with the exercise, the result shall stand as what the people want.

“I thank all Nigerians who have made this day possible. Our country has now joined the

community of nations that have used the ballot box to peacefully change an incumbent President in a free and fair election. To me this is indeed historic.

“Most people will welcome the result because it is the one they voted for. Others will naturally be disappointed. I ask that we all be circumspect, respectful and peaceful in times like these.

“This was a hard- fought contest.

Emotions are high. We must not allow them to get the better of us. This is not the time for confrontation. This is a moment that we must begin to heal the wounds and work toward a better future. We do this first by extending a hand of friendship and reconciliation across the political divide. We hope and pray our friends in other parties reciprocate.

“I thank all the members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, for their commitment and their hard work through the formation of the party, the campaigns and the Presidential elections. Let me equally extend my appreciation to the media, Civil Society and the Security agencies for their selfless service.

“The International press and our friends abroad deserve special commendation for their support throughout the process. We promise a robust and dynamic engagement with your countries in matters of mutual interest to nations.

“In the interim, I call on all Nigerians to be law abiding and peaceful. The eyes of the world were focused on us to see if we could vote in a peaceful way and carry out a representative election in an orderly manner. You have proven to the world that we are a people who have embraced democracy and a people who seek a government by, for and of the people.

“We have put one party state behind us.

You have voted for a party and president that will serve and govern but never rule over you. Change has come. A new day and a new Nigeria are upon us. The victory is yours and the glory is that of our nation Nigeria “I will make a more formal address to the nation tomorrow after receiving the certificate of return from INEC.”

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 41

•Aso Rock Presidential Villa

Jonathan’s testy night of decision BEN AGANDE, ABUJA

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan’s dramatic acceptance of defeat in the presidential election, sealed with a telephone call to congratulate his All Progressives Congress (APC) rival, General Muhammadu Buhari, evoked mixed feelings at the Presidential Villa where the collation and announcement of votes was being keenly watched on television.

While some aides of the President, who, with the benefit of hindsight, contributed to the sad outcome of the presidential election, wore long faces and even broke down in tears, there was excitement, even if muted, amongst some die hard supporters of Buhari.

Though Jonathan had consistently made known that he would concede if he was defeated in the presidential election, not many people thought he would do so in so short a time, especially when the results were still being collated and when there were several conspiracy theories that the delay in bringing the results from Delta State, a stronghold of the president’s Peoples Democratic Party, was to allow for the ‘padding’ of votes for Jonathan to upturn the clear lead of the APC. But those who were surprised at Jonathan’s concession may have done so out of sincere ignorance of the intrinsic quality of a man who is hugely misunderstood by many Nigerians.

Apart from the oft repeated story of the President’s humble background which many Nigerians could relate with, Jonathan remained a truly humble man and stridently strives to remain connected to his roots within the limits of security.

So while those who knew him closely were not in doubt that he would keep to his word and concede defeat if the electorate preferred his opponent to

•Jonathan him, his new found friends strived, albeit unsuccessfully, to make the President compromise the process in order to remain in office.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that shortly before the President made the call to Buhari to concede defeat, some top government officials approached him with a proposal that “there was still a window of opportunity with the delay in the results of some states” for him to exploit and narrow the gap in the released result between the APC and the PDP. According to sources in the Villa, Jonathan resisted all persuasion to compromise the process with the intention of perpetuating himself in office.

“The President’s refrain to those who

came to persuade him to allow the process to be doctored was: ‘Nigerians freely elected me in 2011 and I made a promise that I would not compromise the process for my own personal interest. Nigeria is greater than my ambition and I have promised Nigerians that my ambition is not worth the blood of any Nigerian.

I would not change my position now,”one of the sources said.

So when it became obvious that the PDP would not be able to bridge the gap in the election result, the President, without consultation with any of his aides, except Vice President Namadi Sambo, decided that it was time for him to make the decision that has catapulted him to the stature of a statesman, nationally and

internationally. Shortly after hosting the leaders of the monitoring team from the African Union, the Economic Community of West African States and the Commonwealth Observer Mission, the President called the heads of the nation’s national security agencies to direct that there should be no breakdown of law and order, retired to the inner recess of his residence and placed the ultimate call. It was a single move that has set a new milestone not only in the country but the continent and has largely obviated some of the failings and even genuine mistakes of Jonathan while in office.

The President’s decision sent shock waves when he announced to his aides that he had taken the ultimate decision and had conceded defeat.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that while a few of the aides accepted the decision with equanimity, others were overcome with emotion and broke down in tears.

The reaction of the staff at the Presidential Villa varied, depending on the class and closeness of the aides to Jonathan. For members of the presidential body guards whose duty it is to ensure the safety of the President, many of whom have grown to know Jonathan more closely than many Nigerians, the President’s loss was seen as a betrayal by those he had trusted implicitly to look over his back, but who had sadly turned to sycophants and had painted scenarios different from the reality on ground.

But in retrospect, though Jonathan conceded defeat and has won the respect of many Nigerians and the world, the role of some leaders and aides have earned them medals of shame because of the negative roles they played in dressing the President in borrowed garb. It is a lesson that the President’s successor needs to hold dear to his heart knowing that as it was with Jonathan, so can it be with him.

PAGE 42—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

By Clifford Ndujihe, Deputy Political Editor

O

NE of the issues President Goodluck Jonathan campaigned with for his botched re-election, penultimate Saturday, is the implementation of the 633 recommendations of the 2014 National Conference.

However, following his loss to Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd) of the All Progressives Congress (APC), what becomes of the confab recommendations is an issue agitating the minds of prodemocracy activists and others who were in the thick of the struggle for the convocation of a National Conference.

The pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, and the Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) anchored their support for Jonathan in the presidential election on the implementation of the confab recommendations.

Major recommendations The National Conference came up with a number of farreaching recommendations which, if implemented, will pave the way for rapid development of the country.

The recommendations include: Part-time legislature The confab recommended bicameral legislature, but all elected members of the legislative arms of all the tiers of government should serve on part-time basis.

Power rotation among the six geo-political zones It also recommended that presidential power should rotate between the North and the South and among the six geo-political zones while the governorship will rotate among the three senatorial districts in a state.

Abolishing local govt as a tier of govt According to the confab, the Local Government will no longer be the third tier of government. The federal and state governments are now to be the only tiers of government.

States can now create as many local governments as they want. The Joint State/Local Government Account be scrapped and in its place the establishment of a State RMAFC with representatives of LG and a Chairman nominated by the Governor. The Constitution should fix the tenure for Local Government Councils at three years.

Conference recommends the scrapping of State Independent Electoral Commission, SIECs. No immunity for criminal charges The immunity clause for president, vice-president, governors and deputy governors should be removed if the offences attract criminal charges to encourage accountability.

No more govt sponsorship of pilgrimages The Conference recommended that there will be no government sponsorship of Christian and Muslim pilgrimages to the holy lands.

It also resolved that churches and mosques should begin to pay taxes.

Creation of new states

•Buhari

•Jonathan

Whither the National Conference Report under Buhari?

Another recommendation is the creation of 18 new states (three per geo-political zone) and one new state for the South East to make the zone have equal number of states with the other zones except the North West which has seven. It also recommended that states willing to merge can also do so based on certain conditions.

Resource control/derivation principle/fiscal federalism The Conference noted that assigning percentage for the increase in derivation principle, and setting up Special Intervention Funds to address issues of reconstruction and rehabilitation of areas ravaged by insurgency and internal conflicts as well as solid minerals development, require some technical details and consideration. The Conference therefore recommends that Government should set up a

It also recommended that presidential power should rotate between the North and the South and among the six geo-political zones while the governorship will rotate among the three senatorial districts in a state Technical Committee to determine the appropriate percentage on the three issues and advise government accordingly.

Reduction of FG allocation to 42.5% It also recommended that the sharing of the funds to the Federation Account among the three tiers of government should be done in the following

manner: Federal Government – 42.5%, State Governments – 35% and Local Governments 22.5% That the percentage given to population and equality of states in the existing sharing formula be reduced while that assigned to Social Development sector be increased to a much higher percentage so as to ensure accelerated development of all

parts of the country.

Forms of govt Delegates recommended the Modified Presidential System, a home-made model of government that effectively combines the presidential and parliamentary systems of government. The president shall pick the vice president from the Legislature. The President should select not more than 18 ministers from the six geo -political zones and not more than 30 per cent of his ministers from outside the Legislature. Reduce Cost of governance by pruning the number of political appointees and using staff of ministries where necessary.

Anti-corruption special courts A Special Courts to handle corruption cases should be established in the light of undue prolongation in the trials and prosecution of corruption cases in the regular courts. A non-conviction-based asset forfeiture law should be enacted with broad provisions to deal with all issues of proceeds of crimes by the antigraft agencies and the courts.

Other recommendations Other recommendations include the re-introduction of the old National Anthem, state police, independent candidacy and establishment of special

Continues on page 43

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 43

Continued from page 42 courts to handle corruption cases as well as supreme courts at the state level.

Hard won battle Hard in coming, the National Confab was the first of its kind since political activists and elders, especially from the South-West, kick-started the campaign in 1992. Some have likened it to the preindependence constitutional conferences of our founding fathers who discussed without being teleguided.

The clamour for a Sovereign National (SNC) got more impetus following the annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election presumably won by the late business tycoon, Chief MKO Abiola.

The 1994 Abacha National Constitutional Conference (NCC) fell short of what the South-West leading lights and activists across the country, like the late Senator Abraham Adesanya, demanded. They consequently boycotted the exercise and left the field for what they described as the Third Eleven of Yoruba leaders.

Though the Abacha conference was said to have been ‘teleguided’ by the then Armed Forces Ruling Council (AFRC), it, nevertheless, came up with a number of good recommendations such as the six geo-political zones, 13 per cent derivation and rotational presidency between the North and South.

However, Nigerians were taken aback when the report of the NCC was tinkered with by a series of committees and never really became a constitution until Abacha died on June 8, 1998 paving the way for General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) to take over and ran the fastest transition to civil rule ever witnessed in the country.

At the time Abubakar handed over to President Olusegun Obasanjo on May 29, 1999, more than 11months later, Nigerians knew next to nothing about the contents of the 1999 Constitution. Even Obasanjo was said to have opened the code-book after his swearing-in. It was therefore not surprising that the preamble: ‘We the people...’ elicited controversy from political activists, who insisted that the Nigerian people were never part of the making of the 1999 Constitution and restated their demand for SNC. Yielding to the demands, Obasanjo, in 2005, held the National Political Reforms Conference (NPRC), which ended in a stalemate over resource control. While Niger Delta delegates insisted on 25 per cent derivation and later staged a walkout, the conference elders agreed to make derivation 18 per cent.

Whatever gains that could have accrued from the NPRC died with Obasanjo’s Third Term agenda and the clamour for a genuine confab of the people continued.

Road to 2014 confab On rd October 1, 2013, in his 53 independence anniversary, the President said he would convene a National Conference for Nigerians to discuss their grievances and hammer out best ways of living together as one united people.

He set up the Senator Femi Okurounmu Committee to tour

Whither the National Conference Report under Buhari?

•Tinubu all parts of the country and prepare the grounds for the exercise. The exercise took off in March 2014 and ended four months later with far-reaching recommendations that can accelerate the country’s development, if implemented.

APC, Buhari, Tinubu opposition The proposal elicited criticisms from leaders of the opposition APC which dismissed it as political, deceptive and diversionary.

The party boycotted the confab and almost got APC states to do same until the last minute.

Fresh from a medical trip abroad, on October 5, 2013, APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, criticized the National Conference, describing it as “deceptive” and “diversionary” and wondered why the president was proposing a national dialogue only 15 months to the 2015 general elections. ‘’Why is the conference coming at just about 15 months to the next general election?

When will it hold? Why so sudden? I see a contradiction and diversion...National conference is by whom, for whom, and at what stage? How many level of deception? These people (federal government) are not even smart at public perception and deception. I see a contradiction. I see diversion.

I see deception, lack of honesty and integrity,” he said.

Though Tinubu’s litany of questions were promptly answered via the successful outcome of the dialogue, which the conferees said was devoid of government interference, the APC presidential candidate and now president-elect, Buhari, said on March 12, exactly 16 days to the presidential election that the conference was a waste.

Speaking at a town hall meeting with some youths at the MUSON Centre in Lagos, Buhari said: “This government voted N7 billion to do a national conference, which is the duty of the National

•Falae

•Fasoranti

Given the stance of APC leaders and Buhari, the questions on the lips of many observers include: Will the confab recommendations be implemented? Or, will it be consigned to the dustbin?

Assembly. The money should have been put in education.

Our students in the universities and other tertiary institutions would have had no cause to be home as a result of incessant strikes. This government does not care about the education of its people and just like in other areas of endeavour. They don’t care about what happens to us, what they care about is their own pockets.”

Whither confab recommendations?

Given the stance of APC leaders and Buhari, the questions on the lips of many observers include: Will the confab recommendations be implemented? Or, will it be consigned to the dustbin? Can the APC government deliver on their lofty promises without restructuring of the polity? How can they get resources to run the government without developing other sources of revenue apart from oil as recommended by the confab? If side-stepped when will Nigerians have another opportunity to address their problems?

Efforts to get the APC National Secretariat to comment on these issues did not yield results at the time of this report. Calls to the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, were also not answered.

PRONACO tasks Buhari on restructuring

Speaking on the issue, the Pro National Conference Organisation, PRONACO, said that the good intention and widely acclaimed integrity of Buhari may be compromised by the present constitutional structure operated by the country if a constituent assembly of the Nigeria people is not immediately set up to finish the restructuring process started by the Jonathan administration PRONACO spokesperson, Olawale Okunniyi, urged Buhari to note his discussions with the late Chief Anthony Enahoro in 2006 on federalism and restructuring Nigeria in ensuring there is no alibi of constitutional and structural obstacles to his anti-corruption agenda Okunniyi also said members of Enahoro political family, who stood firmly by Buhari to pivot his political movement in the CPC and later the APC, will be proud to see him hit the ground running and taking the bull by the horn to ensure drastic whittling down of Nigeria’s governance structure and paraphernalia through a popular constitutional restructuring “But our concern is that In a constitutional democracy unlike military administration, the President elect, Muhammadu Buhari cannot be an island in cleaning up and overhauling the system, so he urgently needs a popular complimentary constitutional foundation to be able to succeed in his anti

corruption stance otherwise he would soon be messed up and demystified by the existing constitutional template and conspiring political class ‘’However, by our understanding of the corrupt nature of the Nigerian constitution, any adherence to the rule of law in the present circumstance is invariably a big boost for Nigeria’s corrupt system. The President elect should seriously note this immediately technical point in ensuring that he looks at the processes started by the outgoing president and set up a constituent assembly of the Nigerian peoples to take ownership of Nigeria’s constitution once and for all,” Okunniyi advised Implement confab report, Falae, Fasoranti urge Buhari Also speaking, National Chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), Chief Olu Falae, on Thursday, urged Buhari to implement the 2014 National Conference report on assumption of office. According to Falae, the implementation of the report would help to revamp and re-launch the country. “I want to advise Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari that he should see government as a continuum. I urge him that as soon as he is inaugurated and settle down to initiate action on the implementation of the report of the 2014 National Conference. The implementation of that report in my humble opinion is the blueprint for restructuring Nigeria, revamping Nigeria and re-launching Nigeria into a new orbit,” he said.

Afenifere Leader, Chief Reuben Fasoranti, also spoke in like manner and urged Buhari not to jettison the confab report. He also advised Buhari to make the people’s interest paramount in his government and the need to eschew politics of bitterness and hatred.

Will Buhari continue from where Jonathan stopped on the National Conference? Only time will tell.

PAGE 44—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

T

of an outgoing governor failing to pay salaries, has another delicate problem of confronting the ethnic gang-up of nonBeroms in the state against him. Many political stakeholders are peeved by the decision of the governor to project a fellow Berom man from his senatorial district as successor.

Another PDP controlled state that may fall on Saturday is Kaduna where the incumbent, Mukthar Yero, is matched against Mallam Nasir El-Rufai flying the ticket of the APC. Despite the fact that Vice President Namadi Sambo is from the state, the PDP was thoroughly disgraced penultimate Saturday as it picked up only 27% of the votes leaving Buhari’s APC with 65% of the votes. The prospects of another humiliation for the party on Saturday are not farfetched except something dramatic happens to upturn the situation.

he declaration of Muhammadu Buhari as president-elect could have some telling effects in some states having governorship election on Saturday.

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOr It was an unusual sort of celebration for the leading lights of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from the South-east, on Thursday, in Owerri, Imo State. The leaders of the party including Senator Chris Ngige, Senator Osita Izunaso and Chief Ogbonnoya Onu, were being hosted by Governor Rochas Okorocha for what was tagged the Southeast APC Jubilation Rally for President-Elect Muhammadu Buhari.

The leaders who converged for the rally, overlooked their personal losses during the celebration to look at what they believed was the brighter side, to wit, how Buhari’s emergence would turn the scale against their political foes in the rival Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Ngige, Izunaso and Okorocha, in their separate remarks, had a common thread as they all alleged that the results that emerged from the Southeast was not a reflection of the voting that took place during last weekend’s president and National Assembly elections. The leaders alleged that the votes were skewed in favour of the PDP through the connivance of security agencies and officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. After rebuking the military and police for their alleged partisanship, the governor moved on to warn that such acts would no longer be condoned.

“They should rather protect the lives and property of the masses. APC would henceforth monitor the activities of the armed forces and report them to the appropriate quarters for the necessary actions”, Okorocha said.

The warning was to drive fear into military and police officers that further acts of partisanship could be counted against them after the inauguration of Buhari as President at the end of next month.

Indeed, there were speculations in Lagos after the announcement of the results that a very senior police officer who had had controversial tours of duty in Rivers State and Abuja and recently posted to Lagos had sought to make peace with a national leader of the APC in Lagos.

Such fear may have also been conveyed by the action of one of the country’s most unusual governors, Mr. Ayo Fayose, of Ekiti State. Even before President Goodluck Jonathan made that decisive phone call conceding defeat, Fayose had already put forward his own congratulations to the man he so much taunted during the campaigns.

Fayose’s move and reconciliation with Buhari are indicative of the measure with

•Nigerians go to polls

April 11 governorship poll: The Buhari effect which political gladiators are approaching reality. That reality will further express itself on Saturday as Nigerians go to the polls to elect 29 governors and members of the 36 state Houses of Assembly.

In a number of the states, the outcome of the presidential election would be decisive in altering the permutations.

PDP Controlled States In a number of states where the PDP or its candidates were relatively strong, the outcome of the presidential election would do little to help the APC candidates or depress the votes for the PDP. Among such states are Enugu, Delta, Abia, Cross River and Taraba. In all four states, the APC is either not strong or is matched with an overwhelming presence of the PDP. In Delta State, the emergence of Buhari is of relative insignificance given the fact that the threat to the PDP was essentially from Labour Party, a party that was in support of PDP’s presidential candidate, Jonathan, against Buhari.

The situation is, however, more gloomy for the PDP in Abia State where the candidate of the party is being tackled by an internal insurgency, led by a former bank executive, Alex Otti, of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, on one side and the Peoples Progressive Alliance’s

In a number of states where the PDP or its candidates were relatively strong, the outcome of the presidential election would do little to help the APC candidates or depress the votes for the PDP candidate, Chief Chikwe Udensi, on the other.

However, what could play to the advantage of the PDP’s candidate, Okeize Ikpeazu, at the Saturday polls, would be the failure of the two opposition candidates to reach an agreement before the election.

Chief Orji Kalu, a former governor of the state who single-handedly planted the outgoing governor, Chief Theodore Orji had, recently, spoken of his determination to forge a united front with other Abia major stakeholders on the issue of succession, irrespective of the wishes of the present governor. If that desire is realised, that will present a serious challenge for Ikpeazu.

However, the APC candidate, Chief Anyim Nyerere, despite the assurance he received from Okrorocha at last Thursday’s APC celebration rally, is almost

doomed given the defection of his initial running mate, Prince Eke Idika, from the party.

Four PDP states, however, look more vulnerable after the presidential election. They are Benue, Plateau, Kaduna and Akwa Ibom.

The APC won two of the three Senate seats in Benue and is now posing a serious threat for the first time to dislodge the PDP from control of the Government House. The failure of the outgoing PDP administration to pay a backlog of salaries was one of the reasons the PDP was punished in Benue penultimate Saturday and there are indications that the same punishment may be more severely meted to the party on Saturday.

The Plateau PDP candidate, Senator Gyang Pwjok, also faced with the same challenge

APC Controlled States Buhari’s election is expected to give some comfort to candidates in APC controlled states as the expected militarisation of the electoral space which many of them feared would expectedly be restrained in the light of the expected change of guards in Abuja.

However, for such APC controlled states as Lagos and Rivers where the stakes have already been raised to explosive heights, the guesses are that the political gladiators would as well go for broke given that a loss on Saturday would be politically disastrous.

Chief Bode George, a former Deputy National Chairman of the PDP, who had, in the past, been quoted as saying he would go on exile if Buhari won the presidential election, was more restrained in an interview published in a national newspaper. According to him, he would put all his energies into ensuring that the PDP captures Lagos on Saturday as that could be his last foothold.

“I am here and I will be at the centre of operation. The people of Lagos also want a change, and we are going to be here to lead the battle. The battle is on and the people of Lagos want a change, and we will ensure that we get it right,” he was quoted as saying.

The scenario for Rivers remains unpredictable especially given the ‘coup’ of the PDP against the APC during the peunultimate Saturday that saw the PDP carrying all National Assembly seats in the state.

Undoubtedly, in all states holding governorship election on Saturday, the emergence of Buhari as president-elect has tilted the scale not in terms of voter preferences but in terms of a more level playing ground for the political gladiators.

With the emergence of Buhari, a saner outlook could emerge that would allow for a real electoral battle that remains unpredictable.

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 45

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

A

look at the campaign promises of PresidentElect Muhammad Buhari.

In spite of divergent views that Nigeria’s presidential election campaign was hardly issuedriven, the leading presidential candidates still made their plans for some critical sectors of the nation’s life known.

The All Progressives Congress, APC, candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari, who won the contest, in line with preelection prognosis, was known to have remarkably deflated the current state of many key sectors during his campaigns.

That informed his vow to prioritize many areas that have become increasingly important to the electorate.

Retrospectively, the areas Buhari, who received substantial jabs from the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the days leading to the poll, promised to focus on include: Security, education, unemployment, economy, health care, social security, infrastructure, energy, environment, human capital development, politics and governance.

A breakdown showed the then presidential hopeful being specific on how some of these sectors would be fixed within time frame, while time line was not attached to others.

Security Buhari had, during his various campaign stops, said the present government had not responded appropriately to the wave of terrorism in the country.

Hence, he said the Boko Haram insurgency would be tackled before any other thing. ‘’The fundamental problem facing this country now is security. I pledge to tackle the Boko Haram crisis if elected, ‘’ he noted.

Economy On the nation’s economy, rated the largest and fastest growing in Africa, he pledged to create a market-based economy.

Buhari said such economy would be operated with clear unambiguous regulatory framework and effective enforcement mechanism.

The then APC presidential candidate envisaged that it would help Nigerians participate and engage in productive economic activities, in order to revamp the economy.

He promised to ensure diligent implementation of annual budgets to guarantee accountability and transparency in public resource management.

Stablization of the Naira There was also the promise of stabilizing the naira if elected. He pledged to do that by ensuring that the country’s currency is equal to the dollar.

Health The blueprint for the health sector involves the transformation through the provision of modern equipment, qualified personnel and adequate drugs.

His party also pledged free maternal and child health care.

Corruption The president-elect, who is a

Buhari’s 12 million jobs and other promises

ay ffor or ward •Da vidWest, Abubak ar TTsa sa ther therss speak on w wa orw •Davidvid-W Abubakar savv, o other Walfare and better equipment Speaking on Buhari’s promise of defeating terrorism, Tsav said: “The issue of equipping the military should be taken seriously.

He should ensure that the military is well equipped and well motivated. That would ensure better results from them. The Mobile Police should also be better equipped to carry out their duties. The senior officers should always visit those in the frontline to boost their morale.

“It is important to not to always allow the troops to stay long when they are deployed. They should be changed every three months. Contracts for military equipment should be strictly handled by the military because they know what they want.

Civilians should not be involved in the contract execution. I am hopeful that he will do well.”

•Buhari known anti-corruption crusader, at most campaign stops, assured that he would wipe out corruption.

He was of the opinion that if Nigeria doesn’t kill corruption, it would kill the country.

Unemployment At a campaign rally in Kano and other places, he promised to create three million jobs yearly to solve the problem of unemployment.

In addition, his then running mate, Prof Yemi Osibanjo, at a campaign rally in Akure, pledged 20,000 jobs yearly totaling 720,000.

He also wants to make all who looted the treasury return what they allegedly stole.

Energy He hopes to ensure steady power supply so as to resuscitate local industries which he described as dying.

Infrastructure Buhari plans to complete moribund road projects and improve infrastructural development nationwide especially in the war ravaged North-East.

In line with these and other assurances, expectations are rife about the feasibility of achieving some within the life span of the incoming administration.

Eminent Nigerians, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, differed on how best to achieve some of the key goals, while others were unanimous in their belief that Buhari would bring to reality

At a campaign rally in Kano and other places, he promised to create three million jobs yearly to solve the problem of unemployment most of the pledges.

Those who made their positions known include Professor Tam David-West, former Minister of Petroluem; Dr. Sam Ekeh, Presidential candidate of Citizens Popular Party, CPP; Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, Commissioner of Police (rtd), Dr Yunusa Tanko; Chairman of National Conscience Party,NCP, and President Inter Party Advisory Council, IPAC; Prof Idowu Sobowale, a former Head, Department of Mass Communication, University of Lagos and Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye, and Mr. Olumide Akinatyo. President, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN.

LGAs should be involved in job creation On job creation and the oil sector, Tanko stated: “His promise on job creation is the simplest thing to do if he would put round pegs in round holes.”

Highlighting how that can be achieved, the NCP leader said: “For him to achieve, he must make sure that job creation is not done at the state capitals alone.

We have about 774 local governments in Nigeria. All that he needs to do is to allow local governments create jobs at their level. If that is done, I am sure the unemployment challenge will be reduced drastically.

“People, who supervised employment processes in the past, did it on sentiment; now that he has been elected, the removal of all the challenges that had made the unemployment rate alarming should be done if he must achieve his objectives in that area. I believe he can do that.”

Challenges in health sector On his part, Akintayo said: “The starting point for anyone that wants to fix the health sector is to address the avalanche of problems arising from appointments in the sector. The other one is the supervisory role of the Ministry of Health where the current administration appointed two medical doctors as ministers. That is wrong because it reduced the ministry to a ministry of doctors. It did not carry other health workers in the sector along.

“Appointments in health sector should be done to do justice to every professional in the sector.

The business of health is like every other one where everyone is carried along for good results. If he is going to succeed in his targets in the health sector, there should be universal health coverage which encompasses social health insurance. It

depends on how he wants to achieve his goals. “ The PSN boss added: “The normal practice all over the world is to embrace preventive health care. That should be his cardinal goal but it can only be achieved through a functional primary health care system.

Unfortunately, the primary health care system in the country is skewed in a manner that it will not disturb the status quo. If he must succeed, all professionals must be involved.”

Building four refineries possible On the possibility of building four new refineries in four years, David-West responded thus: “That is very possible. All he promised to do in that sector are possible.”

Eke, the CPP presidential candidate, who contested last weekend’s poll, in his submission, said: “I want to congratulate Buhari irrespective of how any body feels. His victory is as a result of consistency and perseverance .

His victory shows that our democracy has arrived like that of Ghana. Nigerians were not fed up with the President, but the way things are being done by those around the President. The issue now should not be on his promises, Nigerians should brace up for the times ahead. We must not deny the fact that oil which is the mainstay of our economy is no longer selling at high prices.

And his government will face that challenge.”

Bracing up for the times ahead He added: “There is no government that is Father Christmas, so he will face so many challenges. Therefore, for him to be able to do the things he wants to do, our currency must be devalued. Buhari’s promises should not be the issue now, because he has got a lot of work to do. The first thing I want him to do is to reduce the cost of governance. That should be done by reducing the recurrent expenditure for there to be economic growth and developmental growth. If we achieve this, the common man will feel the impact of the country’s economic growth rather than the statutory figures of economic development that we are being deceived with.

“Buhari should be given a chance because he is going to start his administration with a budget he did not initiate. As a true democrat, he has to implement it. I don’t expect him to perform miracle in the next one year because he has a tough job ahead.”

He will do well on education When confronted with Buhari’s pledges on the education sector, Sobowale was upbeat that the duo of Buhari and Osinbajo would revive the sector.

He said: “ The Buhari / Osinbajo administration should revisit the education policy of the country. The sector must be st steered to meet the 21 century demands. The educational infrastructure across the states of the federation should be of utmost importance.”

PAGE 46—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

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p to the time Professor Attahiru Jega, Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, was announcing the results of the March 28 presidential election on Wednesday, fear of uncertainty engulfed the All Progressives Congress, APC, and its presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari.

However, it was not a fear occasioned by any conceivable loss of the election because with the result already trickling in the previous day, the camp knew the APC was coasting home to victory.

But it was the uncertainty that President Goodluck Jonathan, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the election, would reject the results and invoke a military intervention to stop Buhari from ascending to the presidency.

The otherwise, after all, smacked a big surprise to APC, Buhari and his campaign organization.

And for conceding defeat and subsequently calling to congratulate the president-elect even before the last result was officially announced, Jonathan did not only carve a niche for himself but also launched into the community of patriots and statesmen.

These were thoughts expressed by the Director, Media and Publicity Directorate of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Organization, APCPCO, Mallam Garba Shehu, in Abuja.

Speaking with Sunday Vanguard, Shehu, who was central to the election of Buhari by way of information dissemination and management, said that the campaign was the fiercest he had ever witnessed since he debuted into partisan politics.

He said: “I can say that the President acted with grace. He surprised us because we never expected that they would accept defeat. In fact, the sense everyone had was that they probably had plan A, B, C or D. And in any case, with the kind of thing that Mr. Orubebe did at the collation center, you knew that even when the President had grace, given the chance with the community of people around him, they could have threatened this democracy.

“Look, I have been involved in presidential campaigns about three or four times in the past, the difference is that this is the most fearful campaign that I have ever experienced. This is the most life threatening campaign because we were dealing with opponents we thought would stop at nothing because they were throwing everything into it.

“So, we were not taking anything for granted. It affected our lives.

Would you see me in a night club?

You couldn’t risk it because you didn’t even know who was trailing you. And it came as a huge relief.

“Again, we were getting security reports from our own sources.

Until the President said ‘I concede’ and congratulated Buhari, we felt every minute that something wrong would happen. There was a clear and discernible threat to democracy as a system of government.

“Look, everyone felt concerned because, what if, God forbid, he

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Buhari: ‘We feared Jonathan would not accept defeat’ •Campaign Organisation says Fayose, FaniKayode, Clark, Asari-Dokubo are forgiven declared a coup? These scenarios had been laid before Nigerians. Mr. Okupe, the Special Adviser to the President, was he not on Youtube, recorded on video, saying that Buhari will never become President? What do you take that for? It means that Buhari would win and they will take it away from him.

“This careless talk, arrogant display of power, it had come from the Villa. Many sources with linkages to power: Asari-Dokubo, Chief E.K. Clark and all of them, were they not sounding words to the President? They had said it that they would take away their part of the country from Nigeria if Buhari won.

“But for the President to have come and say ‘I accept accept defeat as the leader of the country’; that had an effect of really calming things down. And that’s why, whether they like it or not, President Jonathan has written his name in gold in so far as this is concerned.”

Shehu assured that the president-elect would not avenge the attacks on his person by the allies of Jonathan, saying there was enough work to do to meet the aspirations of Nigerians than pursuing mundane things.

Excerpts from interview: Your camp alleged hate campaign and messages from the other camp. How were you able to weather it?

The starting point is that the presidential candidate himself laid down the rule from day one.

General Buhari said ‘don’t abuse anybody’. ‘Don’t beat or attack anybody because of this campaign’. He set the rule that we must not abuse or insult anyone.

So, we were guided by that. But let me tell you this also without meaning to be boastful. Coming from some professional background, you know that the most important thing in a campaign is the message. Insult, abuses and throwing of muds don’t win elections anywhere. If those things win elections, they would have won it for President Jonathan because they threw everything at us. Look, let me tell you, we didn’t do one documentary that was negative on Jonathan. We isolated the issues. We knew that the country is concerned about security, the economy and the effect of joblessness and corruption. And you know, the presidential candidate led the way.

He said at every rally, people were attacking him for saying too little.

He has a load of agenda for the country and he isolated them to be these three things. He called them the tripod of evil upon which every wrong doing in Nigeria rested

•Buhari

This is the most life threatening campaign because we were dealing with opponents we thought would stop at nothing because they were throwing everything into it whether it is Boko Haram, kidnapping, or anything you can think of. Because, if you have young people gainfully employed, corruption - free country, economy that is thriving and doing well and people are living in a secure environment; who is that person who is going to create trouble? So, we had a message and the message was successfully taken to the people. If you ask me, was it easy staying on the message, I would say no, it wasn’t easy. Because all of these people; the party supporters, the low level masses don’t understand the game that played out. If they see Fani-Kayode on the television throwing insults at Buhari, your phone will begin

to ring. ‘You, what are you doing?

What are you doing? You are not answering this man. Why won’t you respond?’ The masses want you to respond in like manner. But we understood what was playing out. They wanted to take us off the message. They didn’t want us to talk about corruption or insecurity.

So, we had to fight. As it I said, it was not easy for our supporters.

Some of them did not understand us. They felt like we were conspirators inside. That we had come to undermine the campaign because here is somebody who is throwing insults, abuses and why are you not replying him? Mr. Kayode even declared when he took up the job that he would go

after the personal life of General Buhari. And we maintained that we would not join issues with him and you can see that all efforts for us to stand side-by-side with him in a TV debate failed. I can’t stand with somebody whose stock in trade is to throw mud, insults and abuses on people. So, that’s how we managed it.

There were speculations that APC campaign also hired its own experts to sharpen its campaign messages. How do you respond?

Where is the US expert? You know this breed. If you have a US expert, where is he hiding? The man should make a contribution from morning to sundown. We didn’t have them. The Presidential Campaign Council, PCC, did not have any foreign specialist. If we had one with us, you would have seen him. But we had wished we had because, you know, some of them can bring value to your campaign.

There are those who had had presidential campaigns in 40 countries. You need that

Continues on page 47

SUND AY SUNDA

Continued from Page 46 kind of experience to help you.

But then, we were here and we did all by ourselves.

But are you not surprised that most of the perceived hate speech campaigners turned around to congratulate your presidential candidate immediately he was declared the winner of the election?

No, I wasn’t surprised because if one says one is surprised, then one does not really know Nigerians. There will be bandwagon. People will ride on the bandwagon train. They would like it. And it tells you that the people who were doing all of that didn’t even believe in the kind of things that were going on. They were just led to it.

Basically, they had gone there to fight and there was plenty of food and money for them, otherwise why was it that they couldn’t defend the positions?

They couldn’t defend anything because they never believed in it. So, for us, we are very happy about it. The other day, one security man was saying ‘Oga, NTA and AIT people were at the door, we must stop them with your permission’. I said no. If we do that, then we are not graceful.

We have won this election, we must show grace. In any case, the president-elect has said that he will be president for all Nigerians. And I can assure you that it is the same way he said that President Jonathan will have nothing to fear. That speech has been closed as far as we are concerned. Those guys have done their own part and we still believe that a good number of them still have things to contribute positively to the new administration because this is their own country. They have no other country than this one.

The campaign was time consuming. Did that have any impact on your family life?

How do you also describe your joy having won the election?

Obviously, it had impact because it took you away from them. But that was expected having being a journalist, an editor yourself. I know an editor, after seven years somewhere, he said that if he walked the street of his town, most people will not recognise him because he would have left home when everybody had gone to work. By the time he comes back, everybody would have slept off, even his children. So, most times, no time for socialising. So, having been editor and all of that, you are used to all that with your family. Look, I have been involved in presidential campaigns about three or four times in the past, the difference is that this is the most fearful campaign that I have ever experienced. This is the most lifethreatening campaign because we were dealing with opponents we thought would stop at nothing because they were throwing everything into it. So, we were not taking anything for granted.

It affected our lives. Would you see me in a night club? You couldn’t risk it because you didn’t even know who was trailing you. And it came as a huge relief. Again, we were getting security reports from our own sources. Until the President said ‘I concede’ and congratulated Buhari, we felt at every minute that something wrong would happen. There was a clear and discernible threat to democracy as a system of government. I can say that the

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Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 47

Buhari: ‘We feared Jonathan would not accept defeat’ sabotaged the card reader technology, insisted on the use of voters register for accreditation and that took the election back to the PDP’s manner of doing things. And that’s how those numbers came. It is incredible that all House of Reps seats, all senatorial seats in Rivers, they have been taken. They will go to court I believe and they will recover their seats. But you know that the card reader worked in the North, South-West and this is why elections were credible in those parts. In some parts of the South East, it did work. But in Imo State, it didn’t. But I am saying that, for us, we have chosen to show grace because by accepting those numbers from Akwa Ibom, Delta, Rivers, you could see that it only narrowed our margin. It didn’t stop us. So, what else do you want? You have won the elections fair and square.

•Shehu President acted with grace. He surprised us because we never expected that they would accept defeat. In fact, the sense everyone had was that they probably had plan A, B, C or D. And, in any case, with the kind of thing that Mr. Orubebe did at the collation center, you knew that even when the President had grace, given the chance with the community of people around him, they could have threatened this democracy.

Your party did say that the President’s action helped to douse any conceivable postelection crisis. Did you share that perspective?

Absolutely. Look, everyone had felt concerned because, what if, God forbid, he declared a coup?

These scenarios had been laid before Nigerians. Mr. Okupe, the Special Adviser to the President, was he not on Youtube, recorded on video, saying that Buhari will never become President? What do you take that for? It means that Buhari would win and they will take it away from him. This careless talk, arrogant display of power, it had come from the Villa. Many sources with linkages to power: AsariDokubo, Chief E.K. Clark and all of them, were they not sounding words to the President?

They said it that they would take away their part of the country from Nigeria if Buhari won. But for the President to have come and say ‘I accept accept defeat as the leader of the country’; that had an effect of really calming things down. And that’s why, whether they like it or not, President Jonathan has written his name in gold in so far as this is concerned.

But people may say that those statements were mere politics, that there was a time to play politics and they did play politics irrespective of what was said. Don’t you see it as that?

Let me tell you that even politics has norms. There is a bottom line. It should be said of somebody that this person cannot go beyond a given point.

This is the most horrible campaign anybody could have run. It wasn’t politics. It was enmity. We saw it. It was hatred.

These scenarios had been laid before Nigerians. Mr. Okupe, the Special Adviser to the President, was he not on Youtube, recorded on video, saying that Buhari will never become President? What do you take that for? It means that Buhari would win and they will take it away from him

And that was why when we took our case to the ICC, they were very quick to understand the import of our petition.

Now that politics is over, would the president-elect embrace everyone or would there be some temptation to...?

No. Don’t even ask this question. There will be no temptation to go after anyone.

There is no time for witch-hunt.

He has said it. The enormity of the challenges ahead of him is such that he doesn’t need to spend one minute looking back to what has happened. There is enough to do looking forward.

He has extended his hand of fellowship to all Nigerians and please take note of this: it includes Fani-Kayode, Governor Fayose, Chief Clark, AsariDokubo, all of them. Those outrageous people, he has extended his hands of fellowship.

He will embrace them and they should be prepared to play their role in the reinvigoration of this country.

That is my understanding of what he has said.

Now, assuming the election went the other way, would you have accepted it the way President Jonathan has done?

With the credibility all across, let me tell you one thing, APC, in accepting all of the results, I believe you will agree with me that we have blind-sided all of the outrageous things that happened. You know that in Imo, Delta, Akwa Ibom, Rivers States, no elections took place because two things happened: they

So, what do you want again? You know that kind of thing.

Otherwise, there is a real case to be made with all of things that happened there. And it had a substantial effect on our margin.

We knew we were going to win the election. It was clear between 65 to 75 percent.

How do you mean, “you knew you were going to win the election”, even before the election?

No, not before the election.

Even from the numbers we got.

Look, we had polling agents in the 150,000 polling units across the country except in the places where they were chased away. So, before INEC announced their results, we had our numbers upstairs. We had a situation room where we collected all the results and I am telling you that the accuracy with which we recorded our numbers was such that except in Akwa Ibom, Delta, Rivers and Imo states, every result that came here seemed to be confirming the results. As Professor Jega was reading the numbers, our people were saying “ yes, yes, yes”. So, we didn’t get it wrong.

Some people also complained of a litany of underaged voters especially in the North.

No. If they have evidence, they should produce it. And how do you know if those were not historical pictures? Let me tell, the card reader technology worked in the North and SouthWest. It didn’t work in the South East and South-South.

But it didn’t dictate age?

Well, people had a responsibility. If anybody was voting with under aged children, everybody was represented by an agent. It is not like in Port Harcourt where some exmilitants came with guns and chased them away. They had representatives there. I don’t want to believe what you saw. I don’t believe it happened.

Unlike in the past contests, the love Nigerians showed to General Buhari this time around was unprecedented.

Would you attribute that to the coming together of the legacy parties to form APC? Yes, that is one of the factors.

Of course, another one is also the fact that this country has been mismanaged by the PDP in the last 16 years and the environment was ripe for change. Let’s give it to Nigerians.

Number three is the integrity factor of General Buhari.

Nigerians, at this time, are looking for someone they could trust. So, it won it for him. Yes, the opposition parties have the majority than the ruling party.

They came together with their number and won the election. I think it is an important lesson Nigerians have come to teach the rest of the world and African countries that atomization of the parties is unhelpful. This one gets five percent, that one gets 10 percent. But by the time you bring it together, you will see that you can defeat the ruling party and it has worked this time around.

Transition will soon take place. What do you think both the outgoing and incoming governments should do to meet the aspirations of Nigerians?

No. This should be made very clear. Even our supporters should know that this country must have only one President at a time. And between now and May 29, Dr. Jonathan remains the President of Nigeria and he calls the shots. So, don’t expect General Buhari or his team to interfere in any way, trying to influence this or that. No. One thing has been assured: Full cooperation to Mr. Jonathan by our team and also the fact that he would be given his full regards. We will respect him. So, whatever Buhari has by way of a plan, this must wait until May 29 and beyond.

There is speculation that General has said that as soon as he is sworn in, Boko Haram would be a thing of the past.

How do you react?

We have just reported that General Buhari never said that.

We have circulated all the speeches, the interviews he did on CNN, BBC, never did he say that. Yes, he did promise quickest end to Boko Haram, saying that we will show them the strength of the will of the people of this country. What is he saying? He is saying that some appreciable progress has been made by the outgoing administration. We will bring it to full completion and eradication as soon as we can.

How can he promise two weeks or two months? He hasn’t even sat down with the army commanders. He hasn’t seen the number of troops we have, the weaponry available to the army.

What more do they need? There must be calculations based on facts and he needs to get in there, receive the intelligence, the knowledge and information that is needed to make this decision.

PAGE 48—SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015

The Naira recovery at the black market .Time to boost SMEs, non-oil sectors – MAN

BY UDEME CLEMENT

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IGERIA’S economy may experience investments inflow in 2015 as the local currency appreciates by over seven percent. The battered Naira, which sold for between 228 and 230 to a dollar at Bureau de Change (BDC) weeks to the just concluded presidential election, has appreciated to about 208 -211 to the dollar.

Though the inter-bank rate still stands at 197, experts are of the opinion that the exchange rate at BDC can go below 200, as many individuals who stockpiled dollars during the presidential campaigns are already selling it after the poll.

In the same vein, the Acting President, Association of Bureau de Change Operators of Nigeria, Alhaji Aminu Gwadabe, said he was expecting the Naira to appreciate further following the peaceful conclusion of the presidential election, which allays the fear and uncertainty in the financial market.

He added, “I think the trend

would continue for the Naira to appreciate further from 211 to 197 currently at the interbank market rate because a peaceful economic environment is what we are witnessing as aftermath of the presidential poll”.

It could be recalled that weeks to the presidential election, the economy witnessed huge investments outflow, as foreign investors pulled N846.53 billion from Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). Within the same period, another investments outflow hit Nigeria, as investors withdrew N4.9trillion from the economy.

Speaking, the Chairman Toiletries and Cosmetics (T&C) group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) Mr. Ikpong Umoh, explained that the tension and speculation experienced in the country before the presidential election worsen devaluation of the Naira.

He said, “Already the declining oil prices and devaluation of Naira brought crisis into the economic system. So, the tension of what happens and who wins in the presidential poll made the situation worse, as many people were afraid that the economy may collapse completely. Aside from high exchange rate, many investors withdrew their money and investments from Nigeria because they were afraid of losing their investments. With the peaceful outcome of the presidential poll, we expect that in the next four years, the economy would be stabled.

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Naira versus Dollar. (Inset: Mr. Ikpong Umoh) On what would be the prospect for manufacturing sector, he explained, “Those of us manufacturers are still facing challenges because the raw materials we use for production are imported, as such, they are tied to dollars.

Some of us have loans to pay in dollars, so we are calling on government to support manufacturers, especially producers of toiletries and cosmetics products. We are also appealing to government to check the activities of regulatory agencies as they are killing Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with multiple taxes”.

He went on, “Recently, government launched the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) in order to create a platform for Macro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to access loans.

The effort of government in salvaging the financial needs of MSMEs through establishment of DBN is a good initiative but may be counterproductive, as the regulatory agencies are waiting to ambush the MSMEs with their regulatory requirements to collect their own “share of the National cake” or embark on a clandestine mission for some bigger companies and multinationals to introduce tougher entry regulations to discourage MSMEs from partaking in similar ventures that compete with their products in the market.

“In implementing this new plan of re-invigorating MSMEs, government needs to identify and remove numerous obstacles that can stand in the way of establishing new MSMSEs, stabilising and expanding existing ones. Government should protect MSMEs by

Our government needs to review this Global Listing policy with a view to changing the shelve-display equation to favour indigenous manufacturers.

We must encourage patronage of locally made goods to ease out importation that have local substitutes ensuring that similar regulatory frameworks, either from the State or Federal agencies are streamlined to make compliance affordable.

The agencies should be adequately funded by tax payers money as it is the standard practice globally,so that their drive for revenue generation does not adversely work against SMEs. Where fees are to be charged, only nominal fee of not more than N2,500 should be allowed.

Government should establish and enforce anti-trust laws to prevent surreptitious manipulation of regulatory framework and market –space definition to rope in the MSMSE and force their early exit from the market where they are already proactive.

“Government policies in attracting Foreign Direct Investments (FDI) have also added to the problems of cosmetics and other MSMEs. This is especially evident in the Global listing incentive given to foreign investors in the supermarket chains. This incentive permits them to import into the country their wares to fill the shelves despite the fact that most of the products found in these supermarkets are already being made by some MSMEs. The owners of such

supermarkets preferentially import products from their home country instead of patronising local suppliers.

While a handful of jobs are created for Nigerians, Multiple stream of jobs are created for their home country labour force along every aspect of the value chain.

“Our government needs to review this Global Listing policy with a view to changing the shelve-display equation to favour indigenous manufacturers. We must encourage patronage of locally made goods to ease out importation that have local substitutes. Imposition of heavy taxes and fines as well as quantity allocations are legitimate instruments used by all liberalised economies to protect their local industries.

America used it against importation and dumping of Steel from China. Nigeria can adopt these measures to check the activities of the supermarkets. If this is done as part of the steps to ensure the success of the DBN, the beneficiaries of loans would have a ready market.

Therefore, the percentage of locally manufactured products in the supermarkets can progressively increase from near zero to 50 percent this

year and 80 percent by 2016.

“MSMEs has contributed immensely to job creation with over 32million people benefiting from this sector, However, the establishment of DBN would bring about a robust finance backing for MSMEs. The institution plans to offer loans to about 20,000 MSMES within its first year of operation and its billed to start full operations in 9months time. Therefore, I would say this is a giant step towards the growth and development of MSMEs and would like all members of the T&C group of MAN to take advantage of this initiative to develop and stabilise their operations.

While, we applaud the efforts of government in this direction, we want to point out that T& C group is not only faced with the issue of funding alone but also with issues that appear subtle but devastating in short term and long term effect. Such issues include multiple regulations from government agencies such as NAFDAC, SON ,LASEPA,NESREA ,WEIGHTS &MEASURES among many others that are supposed to render social services and draw their funding from taxpayers money inform of budget allocations.

“These agencies have accused the government of starving them of funds and therefore have to resort to “self-help “ with their Internally generated revenue and taxation driven regulations. The attitude of these agencies were majorly responsible for the colossal failure of previous efforts to re-invigorate MSMEs. MSMEs are forced to comply with double and sometimes multiple regulations. As such, they end up paying money to these agencies for certifications and permits. The process of compliance gulps man-hour, management time and un-receipted sums of money ,all of which constitute a big drain on the meager resources of MSMEs. it should be noted that while the large companies and multinationals can meet and surpass some of these regulatory requirements, the MSMEs are disproportionately disadvantaged and endangered in trying to meet some or all of these requirements. Some MSMEs in cosmetics, soaps and beverage industry are closing shops in the process of struggling to meet some of these excruciating regulatory conditions of regulatory agencies.”

SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 49

N4.9trillion investment outflow wrong signal for Nigeria – LCCI DG

BY UDEME CLEMENT

Huge investments outflow hit Nigeria as investors withdrew N4.9trillion from the economy.

This came weeks after foreign investors pulled N846.53 billion investments from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE). While some economic experts are calling on the federal and sub-national governments to curtail excessive spending of public funds this election year, others advised government to strengthen the non-oil export sectors for optimum growth. The Director General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), an Economist, Mr. Mudashiru Yusuf, speaks on the need for government to embark on a holistic structural change of the economic system to encourage industrialisation, reforms in the oil and gas sector while fixing the refineries to reduce importation of petroleum products and thus prevent the external reserves from shrinking further

W

eeks after foreign investors with drew N846.53 billion investments from the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), the nation’s economy is hit again by huge investments outflow estimated at the monetary value of N4.9trillion. Is Nigeria’s economy going to collapse?

Well, the increase in investments out-flow from the economy is a function of lack of confidence by investors due to what can be described as uncertainty in our economic system. Aside from the declining oil prices in the international market and the devaluation of the Naira, the perceived uncertainty in the economy is surrounding by the up-coming elections.

These challenges have also affected the stability of macroeconomic fundamentals in the system. I think that after the 2015 general elections, things will normalise and the economy would pick up again.

As an Economist, what pragmatic measures would you advise the three tiers of government to put in place to resuscitate the economy?

What we need right now is a structural adjustment of the entire economy to reposition all the sectors for tangible growth and development. This implies that we change the structure of our economy from what we have now to encourage industrialisation. This is the time for us to look inward to boost productivity in our economy. Government should invest massively in infrastructure development to increase productivity domestically.

Experts have been calling for immediate diversification of the economy for a along time but government seems to

C M Y K

Government should do something about the condition of our refineries for the plants to function optimally. This also means that government should carry out holistic reforms of the oil and gas sector of the economy

Mr. Mudashiru Yusuf slow, what do you think should be done to fast track the process?

We should realise the fact that our economy has been dependent on revenue from crude oil for a very long time, so the process of diversifying the economy cannot be achieved over night. It has to be done systematically and all hands must be on deck to turn the economy around in order

to move the country forward. At present, our economy is facing the problem of weak productivity locally. And for us to improve on domestic productivity, we need an enabling operating environment for industries to thrive and expand their operations. Once we are able to improve local productivity, the rate of unemployment and poverty in the country would reduce. As such, there is the

tendency that the economy would experience more investments and income inflow.

Also, the government should do something about the condition of our refineries for the plants to function optimally.

This also means that government should carry out holistic reforms of the oil and gas sector of the economy. This is quite imperative because the biggest pressure on our foreign exchange today is the importation of refined petroleum products into the country to meet the increasing demand of the popula-

tion. The moment we are able to refine the products locally, we would not have any reason to import such products again. For instance, reforms in the downstream petroleum sector would automatically reduce the pressure on our foreign reserves. How long would we continue to import refined products? As a matter of urgency, government must do everything possible to ensure that the refineries are functional and can produce at optimum capacity.

The financial industry that has been reformed to support the real sector is also experiencing crisis, as some commercial banks are now suffering dwindling revenue, incessant robbery attacks and other environmental challenges. What is the way out of this precarious situation that our economy is into?

Actually, there are many challenges, which include erratic power supply, lack of other basic infrastructure, a condusive operating environment and other issues, which I mentioned before. The way forward is for these problems to be addressed in order for us to have a stable economic environment capable of improving productivity. Also, the biometric authentication of bank customers, in terms of fingerprinting introduced by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), is a good monetary policy, which would check fraud and sharp practices in the system when fully implemented.

PRCAN to enforce law regulating PR Consulting in Nigeria

BY PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

P

ublic Relations Consultants Association of Nigeria (PRCAN), the body charged with the responsibility of regulating public relations consulting business in Nigeria has affirmed its readiness to work with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations to enforce the law regulating PR consulting business in Nigeria.

The association rose from its Extraordinary General Meeting held on Thursday 19, March 2015 with a clear mandate given to its Executive Committee to work with the Nigerian Institute of Public Relations, NIPR and relevant security agencies to take all legal means necessary to enforce the provisions of the Bye Law No. 3 of 1993 which empowers PRCAN to regulate PR consulting business in Nigeria.

While presenting his presidential roadmap for PRCAN in 2015 during the first quarter extraordinary general meeting, President, Mr. John Ehiguese bemoaned the manner in which foreign PR agencies come into the country to set up their agencies without the knowledge of regulatory bodies in the industry.

“The public relations consulting business is one that is regulated by law. Before any foreign agency can set up in Nigeria there are conditions to be met as in other jurisdictions too. You cannot just go into South Africa and set up an agency. You will not be allowed, because the laws are there. Nigeria cannot be a country of anything goes”.

He added that, “Public Relations consultants in Nigeria

can compete favourably with their counterparts in other African climes like South Africa and other countries with highly developed Public Relations industry but one thing we need to work on is the coordination of the industry in terms of reforms”.

“Before a foreign PR agency can set up in Nigeria, there are conditions to be met; 75% of the company shares must be owned

by Nigerians, the company must

be a financial member of PRCAN, senior executives of the of the company must be members of NIPR and certified to practice PR” he added.

Also speaking at the meeting, the Vice President, PRCAN, Mr. Muyiwa Akintunde said “membership of PRCAN is a legal requirement for firms wishing to offer public relations consultancy services in Nigeria.

SURE-P to empower 50,000 graduates

BY EDIRI EJOH

I

n line with the mandate to empower youths in Nigeria, Sure-P has promised to provide jobs for no fewer than 50,000 graduates who are to be empowered with working experience in its Graduate Internship Scheme, GIS. Sure-P GIS is a programme designed by the Subsidy Reinvestment and Empowerment, which is to cater for the employment of graduates.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of a three-day

Orientation Training for interns and representatives of firms in Edo State, a representative of the National Coordinator of Scheme, Mr. Peter Papka, Abubakar Sani Jega, pointed out that the scheme is determined to achieve the target of supporting, developing and strengthening core skills with potentials to empower the graduates.

“Other objectives of the scheme include providing the interns an opportunity to share experiences with other participants, including firm representatives on opportunities and challenges in the workplace, as well as exposing them to opportunities for life after internship,” Jega

said.

While commending the Federal government led by President Goodluck Jonathan for the initiative, a consultant with SIGADEP Consults, Innocent Moses, noted that the training must be utilised to explore the opportunities to turn around their fortunes.

He stated: “The training which was executed by SIGADEP consults was concluded on Friday, March 20. Participating graduates will be placed in interested and viable firms for mentoring and enhancement of employability.”

PAGE 50—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

BY PATRICK DELE COLE

N

EARLY fifty years ago, it is said that people in E n u g u , N s u k k a , Ngwo, and Abakaliki had little clothes to cover themselves. In 1947, the District Officer prohibited nude people coming to the Ogbete Market in Enugu.

Ye t , i n 2 0 s h o r t y e a r s the Igbo were the number one traders in textile. The Onitsha Market was brimming with it. People came to buy from all over Nigeria. In Broad Street, the only competitors in textile trade were those we called Syrians – who were probably Lebanese.

All ethnic groups in Nigeria had some clans who were suspected of cannibalism. I have no first hand knowledge of this.

B u t Enugu, Ngwo, Abakaliki, some parts of Abia near Umuahia, and near Obowu in Imo State were similarly suspected. If it was so, it did not last long because the Criminal Investigation Division (CID), and the District Officers (DOs) and native administration soon put a stop to it, as they did among some Ijaws, like the Okrika, who were similarly suspected.

The British Government had found that the “Indirect Rule” system did not work in the East, as it had done in the North and t h e West, mainly because the later had kingship institutions. Where these institutions existed, it was easy for the British to rule through the District Officer (DO) who passed on d i r e c t i v e s t o t h e Obas, Chiefs, Bales, Emirs, e t c .

The DOs were the unseen hand that controlled the local administration. But because the Igbo did not have kingship or chieftaincy that ruled over a larger area, the British, in 1931, through the Warrant Chiefs Ordnance of that year, tried to establish territorial kingships or chieftaincies. Hence, the need to create “ war rant chiefs” who were supposed to work like their counterp a r t s i n Yor ubaland and Hausaland. However, it did not work.

The Igbo now claim that the acephalous nature of their people meant that they were genetically democratic.

Therefore, their Age Grade S y s t e m c o n t i n u e d , even under the kingship dispensations. Thus, they continued to have the “Elders”, who worked with their “kings ”; whilst the “Youths” continued to operate as the law enforcement personnel, until the modern policing system displaced them, and the Native Authority Police took over that task from the”Youths”. Some anthropologists and linguist have described the Igbo as autochthonous- so unique have their culture been that it must be indigenous.

The Founder of the Yoruba Dynasty was Oduduwa, who migrated from Egypt.

The Hausa/Fulani claim C M Y K

The Igbo giant strides against all odds

they came from Arabian in the Middle East.

The Igbo have a vague idea of being Jewish- one of the lost tribes of Israel.

All stories of origins of different peoples round the world are folkloric and mythical. So, we cannot dismiss the Igbo claim of Jewishness out of hand.

One thing is certain, the Igbo have a great deal of empathy for the Jews, who have been persecuted over the centuries, by Europe and Asia; the Igbo sublimate and claim that they too have been persecuted for centuries.

Just as the Jews have vanquished their oppressors, so the Igbo believe that they would triumph over all comers who persecute them.

The Igbo identify with Jewish success as an inevitability regardless of what obstacles may be thrown in their way. They are God’s chosen people. This is an extremely powerful tonic for the survival and great foundation for success. No other ethnic group in Nigeria is so armed for struggle of efficient development.

Trusted employees The slave trade affected most of West Afri c a . The chiefs along the coast soon became procurers or middle men in this odious trade.

Many of those sold off were their own people captured from many slave raids in the interior of Nigeria. This is where the story of the Igbo and the Ijaws of Bonny and elsewhere began. Bonny was a major

The kola nut is a central feature in Igbo land. I have never understood why this is so except to guess that if people speak the same language there must be a single symbol that unites them slave trading port; its deep water shores made it unnecessary for European slavers ships to venture into the interior. The Bonny (Igbani Ijaws) sold slaves and even had a most lucrative empire. One Bonny chief went to England and bought a steamship fully outfitted with an English captain, officers, and sailors to bring him back to Nigeria.

Such business needed trust worthy lieutenants.

These the Bonny chief found among the Igbo slaves who became his trusted employe e s . T h e “Civil Ser vant Employees” became trustees. The Igbani chiefs, however, were not over trusting. They did not want the Igbo to learn their language for fear of being overthrown or appealing directly to their gods.

The Igbani,therefore, decided to learn Igbo to better com-

municate with their t r u s t e e s ; w h i l e keeping Igbani as the royal language to be used only by the Chiefs among themselves. In a little while, the Chiefs became proficient in some kind of Igbo better described as pidgin or patois Igbo.

After the slave trade the Igbo remained in Bonny, i n t e r-mar r i e d a n d continued to speak this bastardized Igbo, so pervasive had the Igbo influence been that the patois Igbo became the lingua franca.

Unfortunately the Chiefs and people of Bonny started losing touch with their own language.

Today, I g b a n i i s losing ground to Igbo; whilst the study of Igbani has been reintroduced in schools and it is beginning to pick up.

The Bonny, t h e O k r i k a , and the Kalabari are, to a large extent,bilingualspeaking an Ijaw dialect and Igbo just as the Abua, the Egeni, the Ikwerre of Isiokpo, and the Igbo in Oguta, Imo S t a t e , c a n speak Kalabari and their own language.

There is even a Kalabari beach in Oguta, Imo State.

There are Igbo speaking peoples in Rivers Statethe Ikwerre, the Etche, the Andoni, etc, and in Delta – the people from Asaba right through to the outskirts of Benin – through Isele-Uku, Ogw a s h i - U k u , A g b o r, Boju Boju Owa, Obiaruku, A b r a k a , e t c . We would have to place these people within the Igbo linguistic family. But there are distinct behavior patterns which differentiate these various groups from mainstream Igbo.

Among the Ikwerre, Ahoada, etc, the chieftaincy practices have tended to veer more towards Kalabari, Ijaw than the mainland Igbo. In Delta and Edo, the Igbo cousins have a chieftaincy profile more like Benin (Edo) than the acephalous Age Grade System of the Igbo. This superficial observation is strengthened by the Yor u b a c l a i m t h a t the Asagba of Asaba, the Obi of Onitsha, and the O l u o f Warri were grandsons of Oduduwa. (The Edo, on the other hand, counter claim that Oduduwa was a son of the Oba of Benin and therefore the Yor uba are Edo). There is a definite relationship between the Benin Kingship and the Yor uba kingships: The Benin the Itsekiri kingship, the Lagos kingship, the Badagry kingship, the Urhobo and Isoko kingdoms and even the Benin Republic kingship are all inter-related. The relationship is not necessarily one of subjugation. In fact, in

many cases, there was no such subjugation. Rather, the relationship has been familial. But the Oba of Benin has a special position in Asaba, L agos, War ri and nearly all the large kingships in Edo. Any student of history will soon discover the close and confusing relationship between the kings of France, Britain, Spain, Italy, Holland, Austria, etc.

Many of the kings of Britain could not speak English even as late as less than 200 years ago! These close ties did not stop the wars for over 300 years among the kings of Europe.

Do the Igbo then have a central core of worship – which, therefore, mentioned kings and chiefs and Obas have? One belief is t h a t , t h o u g h autochthonous, they have a core of religious beliefs which were maintained through the itinerant mystics or spiritualists- the Aro – from a place known as Arochukwu.

Central feature Closely allied to this is that the source of all Igbo and their spirituality is from a village called Nri. I have no idea how much of this is a general belief among the Igbo. But if people claim that they are genetically democratic, then you may not be surprised if quite a few do not accept this interpretation.

The kola nut is a central feature in Igbo land. I have never understood why this is so except to guess that if people speak the same language there must be a single symbol that unites them; and, for the Igbo, it is the kola nut. It appeals to the individual soul, to the collective soul, to the unseen spirits that capriciously rule or ruin our lives; it is a symbol of welcome, a drama stage to concentrate all thoughts. It is non-threatening – a simple nut to be divided according to divination, speech, manners and conduct.

It is never rejected, except to declare war. [But the above can also be said of the Kola among the Urhobo, the Isoko, etc.].

The closest and best answer to why the kola is that central is that the eating and breaking of kola is a near eschatological experience.

I think that we tend to underestimate the extensive influence of contact for many years. Some symbols are easier to assimilate than others.

The Ijaws, for example, have no kola culture, yet they have been close to the Igbo for over 500 years.

Among the Igbo there are other spiritual places in Ogbunike, etc. But, as I have said, many do not push these new tourist resorts beyond Nri which itself is problematic for an acephalous people.

The Igbo live in a family homestead surrounded by the family farm which may be large or small depending on the number of people in that family.

To be continued

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 51

By Matthew Hassan KUKAH

T

he old order changeth, yielding place to new, And God fulfills Himself in many ways. Lest one good custom should corrupt the world. More things are wrought by prayer than this world dreams of… If, knowing God, they lift not hands of prayer….. For so the whole round earth is every way, Bound by gold chains about the feet of God (Alfred Tennyson (18091892), Le Morte d’Arthur.

Amidst protracted pain and suffering, a cynical world jeered at Nigerians, wondering how we could still be the happiest and the most God-believing people in the world. We have been told to rise from our knees and walk on our feet because our problems defy prayers. Over time, we ourselves have been tempted to believe that our religiosity is merely an excuse and a compromise for corruption. Many of us have been tempted to think that perhaps God has turned away from us because of our many sins.

I have spent the better part of the past year trying to encourage our people not to panic or lose hope. When people ask the basis of my optimism, I have answered that I am a Christian, and faith is the commodity I market even to a cynical world. However, nothing prepared me for what we have just witnessed this holy week. INEC chose the holiest period of Christianity, a time when the heavens are open to receive our fast and prayers, to organize its elections. How God works! Today we could say that God has proven to us once again that He is indeed a Nigerian.

I therefore wish to focus on a few themes by way of this Easter Message to Nigerians.

Have Faith and remain Obedient to God Notwithstanding our foibles, God has remained patient with us. We know that patience is a major attribute of God. The LORD is slow to anger and abundant in loving (Numbers 14:18, Ps 86:15, 103:8). Joel adds to this when he says that: Now return to the LORD your God, For He is gracious and compassionate, Slow to anger, abounding in loving kindness and relenting of evil (Joel 2:13).

Abraham and Sarah remained faithful despite being childless.

Abraham obeyed God when called upon to offer his only son.

In return God does far more than Abraham could ever have contemplated (Gen 22). That is why Abraham remains today our father in faith.

Faith is surrender, not a transaction with God Our relationship with God has tended to be transactional, us behaving as if all we have to do is to placate God. It is good to remember that while we struggle through the days and years, while we create a calendar of activities and plan what we shall do, God has assured us that He has us and our plans in the palm of His hands (Is 49: 16). He is our shepherd and we shall not want, even when we walk through the C M Y K

DO NOT LET OUR ENEMIES ASK,

WHERE IS THEIR GOD? (PS 42:10) 55:8). Therefore, when we think that God has not answered our prayers, the opposite is the case.

This is what Easter reminds us of.

With human eyes, we see in the passion of Jesus evidence of one abandoned by God, evidence that all this was a fraud.

However, in the end, the old rugged cross becomes a treasure.

It is only our faith, patience and trust in God that can enable us experience the triumph of His will, especially when we face serious challenges. After all, God has assured us that: My word that goes out from my mouth will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it. (Is. 55:11).

However, we must know that God is not a magician who must pander to and please his customer by fulfilling his or her will so he or she will come back. Answered prayers must always align with the will of God.

•Kukah

valley of darkness, He is there (Ps 23: 1, 4). Therefore, God’s love and faithfulness is not dependent on us keeping our part of the bargain, as it were. No; God is always faithful and what God asks of us is surrender our lives to God who loves us and in whom we trust. From the book of Job, that even unearned suffering has its meaning. Trusting in God, surrendering our lives into God’s loving hands, we seek to do His will and obey His commandments: in faithful surrender, we seek to love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and to love our neighbours as ourselves.

Faith is a Gift of God Our nation has been weighed down by religious intolerance built on ignorance. Many ignorant so-called believers have turned themselves into demi-gods who own religion. They believe that it is only their variant of religion that God accepts, that it is only their mode of prayers that God accepts. They have formed believers who have faith but do not have reason, and who therefore easily become fanatics.

They have thus built a wall around their followers and have turned their communities into breeding grounds of hatred.

We need to remember that faith is a gift from God and that therefore religion too is a gift from God since it is an expression of faith. Freedom of religion as enshrined in our Constitution must be guaranteed. This must include freedom to change our faith or freedom not to believe in

Let not our enemies

Our nation has been weighed down by religious intolerance built on ignorance.

Many ignorant socalled believers have turned themselves into demi-gods who own religion God. This guarantee of freedom can be helped by strong laws but it is every teacher and every believer who must ensure those laws are kept. Threats of punishment, ostracization, banishment, death, or denial of rights, only lead to hardened hearts. St Francis has said that we should preach our religion by the witness of our lives and only use words if necessary! It is only authentic witness that will draw people to our faith.

We are children of One Father As believers of different faiths, it is imperative that we show one another that we are all children of the One Father. We have tended to express our unity in the exchange of gifts and salutations, sharing food during our sacred feast days; we must do much

more. In the course of electoral campaigns, both Muslims and Christians were going around asking for prayers, attending Churches, Mosques, and Shrines.

Why does this show of tolerance and accommodation not continue after the political campaigns? We as believers, especially Christians and Muslims, must begin to show greater solidarity in concrete terms. We must end the divisive culture of Christian and Muslim prayers in public functions since this only deepens our sense of difference. I am in full support of the adoption of the second stanza of our National Anthem in opening or closing public events.

God answers Prayers God’s ways are not our ways and the way we think is not the same as the way God thinks (Is

ask, where is our God? For over two years, Nigerians agonized over the fact that Americans had predicted the collapse of our country. There were fears that the elections would be a series of funeral rituals. Most of this was not true, as I have said on several occasions. What was true was that there were fears that if we as a people and as a nation did not change our ways, the worse could happen to us. Boko Haram, that untreated cancer, was the first symptom of the danger lurking around.

I myself, for almost three weeks, tried to meditate on the faithfulness of God especially His redemptive power over darkness and fear. I said with the Psalmist: Why should I go on suffering from the cruelty of my enemies.

Why should I be crushed by their insults as they keep asking me, Where is your God? (Ps 42:10). I remembered the assurance of Micah that the Lord will not let our enemies gloat over us (Micah 7:8, Ps 38:16). I recalled with the Psalmist that those who trust in God shall never be put to shame (Ps 25:2). Let all of us be invited this Easter season to meditate on God’s faithfulness, strengthen our trust in God and allow God change our ways.

Christ is Risen: Let our enemies Flee As Christians, we are children of the Resurrection. The resurrection is a promise made and a promise fulfilled. It closes the doors of uncertainty or speculation. After the resurrection, we have no doubt about who God is. After the resurrection, we cannot be afraid of even the darkest clouds of the future. After the resurrection, we know that the mountains of fear will move. After the resurrection, the dry bones shall become a standing army marching to victory (Ez. 37:10). This is a time of joy because we know that our redeemer lives (Job 19:25). It is the time of fulfillment of the promise of Emmanuel, God-iswith-us.

However, we must enter a note of warning. Like the blind man whom Jesus healed, let us not take God’s love and generosity for granted. Let us not simply relax, believing that we can always summon God to our cause. Our politicians must end their prodigality and irresponsible misuse of our resources. After Jesus healed him, He warned the blind man: Behold you have been healed, go and sin no more or something worse will befall you (Jn. 5:14). Let those who have ears to hear, listen.

A happy Easter and God bless our dear country. Long live Nigeria. *Kukah is Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto

PAGE 52—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

The pastor behind CAN N7 billion bribe story has come to beg – Helen, Oritsajefor's wife

*‘God used Indian friends to lift me up after I lost millions to a fraudster’

• Helen Oritsajefor

By Sam Eyoboka PASTOR Helen Oritsejafor, fondly called Mama Helen Oritsejafor, is a co-pastor of the Word of Life Bible Church, Warri in Delta State. She hails from Ado Ekiti in Ekiti State and is married to Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, the National President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN. Apart from being a co-pastor of the Word of Life Bible Church, she is the Chairman, Board of Directors of Eagle Flight Micro Finance Bank Limited, Eagle Heights International Schools and the African Broadcasting Network, ABN. In this interview conducted before the presidential election, but after the women convention of the Word of Life Bible Church, known as Daughters of Sarah Convention, the mother of three bared her mind on several national issues.

Excerpts...

What triggered your salvation and how did you get to this stage?

It’s quite interesting because every time I think of it, it tickles me because, first and foremost, my Anglican background must have played a very big role in this. My father actually built an Anglican church in our estate and it was mandatory for us to go to church in those days, but that didn’t bring the change, besides the fact that I had a moral background and upbringing. There was this thirst in me to know God more. My Bible and my big cross then were always in my bag. I will never forget a particular day I went to C M Y K

the bank and I needed to meet with the bank manager. Whilst I was waiting, the bank manager's secretary engaged me and asked if I had given my life to Christ. I told her yes and I brought out my Bible and my big cross. She started laughing. So I asked what she was laughing at and she said she was not talking about my religion; instead she wanted to know if I had given my life to Christ. She spoke to me about the need to do so and advised that I attend a particular church on Sunday. I didn’t go. When I showed up again the following week at the office, she looked at me and asked if I attended the service and I said yes. So she looked into my eyes and said I just lied. I was shocked because I couldn’t believe she would be that bold to say that to me. Right there, I made up my mind that I was going to attend the next service which I did. And that day, as the service was going on, it was as though the man of God was speaking about my life. I lost my mother when I was four. Growing up, even though I was in a home of affluence, the fact that my mum was not there created a big vacuum for me and my siblings.

Having to now groom yourself to be very independent with the belief that there isn’t anything you can’t achieve, that has always been my resolve. I was very radical in that aspect. I could just throw myself into a place and believe that all I need to do is to pray and everything will start turning. For

someone now to start preaching and saying you’ve always believed you could do everything by yourself, you need Christ.

Those were the things that really pushed me out and I was really touched by the experience because I just felt I was just tired of struggling and needed to give myself totally to the Almighty God, which I did.

Recently, you started the Professionals Entrepreneurs' Businessmen Fellowship. What informed the formation of PEB and what it is all about?

PEB Fellowship actually is an idea that came to Papa and I. We sat down one day and looked at what had been going on in our environment, and found that apart from the fact that Christians believe that the only thing they need to do to bring a change into their lives, they also need to fast and pray to make things work. So we had been discussing on how to take our children to the next level of life. Apart from preaching the gospel to them and showing them how to go to heaven, we also need to give them the impetus; what is going to

active in that area. So we want to be able to teach our children how they can to distinguish themselves in whatever field they might find themselves. And it’s not just in Word of Life; it cuts across, meeting the needs of the community and, of course, in Nigeria as a whole.

Those who have attended the PEB Fellowship will attest to the fact that the sessions are unbelievable and unprecedented. And if we can work on the information, no doubt we will start seeing Christian multibillionaires who, through that, can change their world positively still remain in faith. So the whole essence is to build a total man outside the spiritual aspect of impartation and make them very functional and prosper in their endeavors as the case may be.

In your position as President of Daughters of Sarah Fellowship, how do you rate the fellowship and its annual conventions?

Daughters of Sarah Fellowship is a body of women from Word of Life Bible Church, of 30 years and above, married and unmarried.

The essence is to expose them to spiritual emancipation, financial, material, marital emancipation.

One thing we’ve realized also is that women are the most marginalized sex, not just in Africa but around the world. It’s worse in Africa. We know that in the western world, there has been some level of improvement because now we are

Christians are supposed to be in charge of wealth. We are supposed to be the ones to teach unbelievers how to make money, but, unfortunately, we haven’t been active in that area make them shine here on earth. It is not going to address the professionals only, the initiative is intended to address expatriates, professionals, business men and women; and, of course, we also believe that the world in which we live in is not created for only unbelievers. Unbelievers are not supposed to be the ones in charge of wealth. Christians are supposed to be in charge of wealth. We are supposed to be the ones to teach unbelievers how to make money, but, unfortunately, we haven’t been

beginning to see women heading countries. I’m hoping that, one day, we will be able to produce a woman as the President of Nigeria. There’s this uniqueness in a woman, because a woman is actually a man with a womb and that is the added value of a woman. A woman can think through things if she is under pressure, you can see that she can easily balance out things. Those are some of the attributes that God has deposited in a woman

and, if she is allowed to function in her aunction, not only would she be able to bring transformation to her immediate environment but the community and beyond. A fellowship like this is to allow our women fulfill destiny in every area of life without having to be timid and feeling low with less esteem, but given a platform to function and to bring out the best in them. The beauty of this fellowship also is that it does not only encourage women in all aspects of life, but even the male folks as well. The fellowship does not allow the women alone to attend the programme, for instance, like the just concluded convention, but it’s also for everyone because we do not only teach you on how to make your homework. Don’t forget, if your home is strong, automatically, every aspect of your life would be.

Men were in attendance as well as children. I believe that this year ’s convention was mind blowing because, every year, God has always tailored it to address something in our lives and it has always been incredible.

The theme was 'Great Grace to Arise’. Nigeria is going through a lot of things right now. In the political atmosphere, Christians are being battered everyday; so many things are happening.

Whether we want to agree or not, the Boko Haram insurgency happening in the North, Christians are the ones paying the higher price apart from the few Muslims who are also affected. If you look at the economic situation of the world, it seems a little bit on the difficult side because of the sheer introduction of oil in the market that has more or less put the United States of America in a place where they now determine the consumption pattern.

Unfortunately, the developing nations have never been able to diversify their economies to a level where they can conveniently run their affairs without having to depend on revenue that comes from the US. Looking at all that, and then, of course, the personal struggles that we all have, God is saying that at this time, He is going to multiply His grace for us to be able to rise out of our ashes, out of our dungeon, out of our problems, out of things that seem to be affecting us, things that put us in a very bad state in life. What the programme did was to give us another chance.

You have also incorporated an international trade fair into the convention. What do you think is the role of the Church in business and what is your vision about women empowerment?

Continues on page 53

SUND AY SUNDA

Continued from Page 52 When we started, we had a situation where a major crisis was here in Warri, Delta State. It was an inter-tribal war that ravaged this place to a point where a lot of businesses either closed down or relocated to different parts of the country. What that tells you is that youths would be on the streets looking for jobs. Some tribes suddenly felt that they were no longer one anymore and they started killing each other unfortunately, and that put Warri and environs in a terrible state.

We created and looked for an avenue where we can champion business through Athens Trade Fair whereby people can advertise what they do and people will get to know about it. We also looked for another avenue where we brought some of the tribal leaders to the trade fair opening and create an atmosphere where they can now start interacting. To God be the glory, we were able to successfully do that. Before we could say jack, businesses started springing up in Warri. People were now beginning to think it is still possible. People from the eastern part of Nigeria were now coming to Warri to partake in the trade fair and through that people started having all sorts of things to make their lives beautiful.

I believe that Christianity has a role to play in business. God is a businessman. A lot of time Christians don’t even know that business started from the kingdom of God. When God said “let us make man in our image” and He created the man and animals and so on for the use of human beings, He said to man: “multiply and have dominion”.

How do you multiply without engaging in business?

Multiplication does not come without a trade. There has to be an exchange and that’s all what business is all about. Christianity has a big role to play in business.

The only thing here is that we also know that in order to succeed, we need God and that is the beauty of Christianity. What this convention has been able to do is not only to bring in peace but to also trigger business opportunities in our community and to also open up people’s minds to various opportunities.

Day after day, people have been testifying of how God has used you to transform lives, education, family, marriages and so on. How do you assess yourself and your contribution towards the kingdom of God? Will you say you have achieved your goal?

I haven’t even started. I quite appreciate people’s perception concerning me, but, sincerely speaking, I don’t think I'm there yet. I believe more still needs to be done. How do you go to a crusade ground and you are having thousands of people in need and you are only able to make impact on a few lives? You need more to be able to do that. Honestly, my heart's desire is to be able to enter into a place one day and just pick on people who have been considered as nothing, and God using me to take them to a higher ground. This is just the beginning of greater things to come.

All great people around the world face challenges. People like you have faced so many challenges as well. Can you tell us some of them and how you overcame such challenges?

There is always a story behind every glory. Anyone who tells you he just woke up one day and

Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 53

’I recovered miraculously after losing millions to a fraudster’ suddenly became great is a liar. It doesn’t happen. Even to manage success is also a big problem as well because you have to continue to manage. Someone can just say 'let God bless me with a million naira and it will make me a millionaire'. By the time God puts one million naira in your hands, if you don’t utilize it properly, you will be back to becoming a thousand-naire. Life itself is a race.

The very first experience has to be many years ago when I was duped.

It was supposed to be a business transaction.

Somebody approached me and said he had cashew nuts and apparently Germany had written him wanting him to supply cashew but needed finance. I took him to my bank and released funds to him.

He told me that, in one week, the cashew nuts would arrive, that he had already gotten a warehouse and he would bring the cashew nuts to the warehouse. To my amazement, the one week came and went, nothing like the trailer load of cashew nuts. I called again and they said it’s coming that very day. I went to stay by the road side and parked my car waiting for the trailer load. So every time a trailer approached my direction, I would say this must be my cashew nuts coming, but then it would pass.

The money I'm talking about was into millions. This was about 27 years ago. It was very devastating because what I had left in my

that experience, and that’s why I'm never afraid to start anything afresh. It has never been a challenge to me. Whenever things happen, I just look at it as if this is another way of making me better. When I sit back here and think about how many companies by the grace of God I have started afresh and sustained over the years, that experience came to bear from that experience I had 27 years ago when I faced with a ridiculous situation where I happened to start all over again.

Challenges come in life but you must never give up and you must never despise your humble beginning. Most times, people have difficulties embracing their humble beginning and that’s why they are unable t o sustain what they come across. People want to just start big.

People also need to know as well that they need God because I actually got my courage from Jehovah God who empowered me. The money was gone but the real me was still there. Believe me, when you say I can’t do it, that’s when I want to do it to tell you it is

I was getting N500 on top of every N7,000 worth of ministepper. Before I knew it, my N500 became half a million, my half a million became a million and then I was able to push myself back into doing big businesses account then, was nothing. To cut the story short, I lost the money.

The cashew nuts never came. The question then was how was I going to start all over again? So I went to God, where and how am I going to start? After I was done with praying, I remembered the experience of David. The Bible says David encouraged himself. So I encouraged myself. I started driving myself because I couldn’t pay my driver’s salary. My staff were still coming to the office and we were still believing God for a miracle. An Indian friend of mine just came by with his wife to my office. I had not seen them for two years. She asked me what had been going on and I explained to her. Then she said her husband brought in what they called ministeppers for exercises. I asked her how much was the mini-stepper, and she said N7,000. I said I was interested. 'Let me be your representative and try to sell the mini-steppers.' I was not in that kind of business before. I bought two mini-steppers from them and put same in my boot, combing everywhere looking for buyers.

This was me that was signing cheques of millions that was now looking for N7,000 worth of ministeppers. It would shock you to know that that was how I became lifted again. I thank God today for

possible. You must never give up, and then learn how to manage wealth. I was getting N500 on top of every N7,000 worth of ministepper. Before I knew it, my N500 became half a million, my half a million became a million and then I was able to push myself back into doing big businesses.

What happened to the dupe?

Unfortunately, nothing happened to the fellow in the sense that, initially, the matter was reported to the police. But on the long run, I just was not ready to waste my time chasing shadows.

So I decided to put back my strength into building back myself. Meanwhile, about two years ago, I learnt that the person left Nigeria with his family for the U.S and then he came back to Nigeria, and he’s dead now. I didn’t have to do anything to him.

I'm not happy saying it, but that is what happened.

How do you manage being a preacher, a mother, a wife, an entrepreneur, a role model?

I believe it is God. God has given me the grace to be able to function. I married a man of integrity, a man who would do anything and everything to make sure that another man becomes somebody in life. My husband has been a major encouragement to me. But, essentially, God has been

wristwatch you put on their wrists, it is how much you care about who they are that will speak for you tomorrow. These bring me to time management; the ability to manage your time effectively is very important.

There is this controversy that CAN, led by your husband, received, first, N6 billion and later, N7 billion, from the Presidency to campaign for GEJ's re-election. What was your initial reaction?

It’s quite laughable. The challenge we have in this country is that we are not people of thinkers, and it’s quite unfortunate. And that’s the reason some of these people keep playing on our intelligence. If we are people of thinkers, it would be very difficult for them to do so. A thing like that never happened to start with. It’s what propelled it that I think I will like to address. The whole essence was to create division amongst Christians.

Strike the shepherd and the sheep will scatter.

Suddenly, Christians are now the ones that everyone believes that in order for them to win an election, they must have our support, for the first time in the history of our nation; instead of people to play it right and bring down their manifesto.

When they are unable to do that, what they • Helen Oritsajefor now chose to do is to discredit the leadership hoping to be able to leverage through that by awesome. God has multiplied His securing a portion of our grace unto me by giving me the Christians to be in support of wisdom to know when to be at what they are trying to do, which African Broadcasting Network, is extremely sad because what when to make myself available at that tells me is that they must be the bank as the chairman, how to the ones doing it and they also make myself available as think that others will have to do Chairman, Board of Trustees of same as well. And since they Eagle Heights Schools, how to could not get the leadership of Christians, the question will be make myself available as the who tried to bribe the leadership Director of Eagle Medical, how of CAN to sway their votes two to make myself available in our years ago and how much was it Bureau de Change, how to chip they offered the leadership of in a word in Eagle Secure Win CAN? And at the end of the day, which is an insurance company, the leadership of CAN stood up how to make myself available as and walked away from such the a mother in the house to my meeting because the question children; because, at the end of then was all we just needed you the day, if you are successful out to do is to de-marry this man and there and a failure at home, you we will give you this and this are a number one failure. For man walked out of the meeting. one thing, I do not joke with my And that’s why since then they husband. There was a day we all have been going after him went on vacation and, before because they believe he is a man anything else, I’d always make that cannot be bribed. He is a sure daddy is well taken care of, man that is very passionate he’s happy before I will attend about everything he is doing. to the children. One day, one of And because they know that, my daughters said to me, 'we they are doing their very best to know we have to take care of see how they can malign him and daddy before anything else, give him a bad name. They’ve right?' I said yes we have to make done everything to set him up. I sure daddy is happy because if thank God no one has been able daddy is happy, we are all going to come out and say that he was to be happy. These are some of caught in the house of XYZ. the things that are very Everything you see is to come up important. I do not joke with with different stories to give him him. What he eats is what he eats. a bad name. But it’s too late now.

My husband is the kind of person The reason I say it’s too late now that does not eat overnight food. is because we have Nigerians who Every meal has to be fresh. I've are smart enough to read between known him for that so that I the lines knowing fully well that make sure he eats fresh. And also something is evidently wrong my children, I make sure I take here. The question is, are you care of them because it is not going to vote someone to power money that is going to make who has done everything to them, it is the love and care. Two rubbish your faith and to rubbish days ago, daddy was at home, what you believe by going under and presently, the children are the leadership to cast aspersion on in their exams period. Early it, or are you going to support morning before they leave, I someone who is upholding your must do revision with them; so tenets? It’s an easy question. It’s I'm already up by 5:30 am doing just like someone telling you that revision with them. Those are the your parents are bad but the ways you show to your children children are good. The same you care. Those are the things yardstick used in caning your they are going to remember later in future. They are not going to remember the expensive Continues on page 54

PAGE 54—SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

’Jonathan did not need to bribe Christians’ Continued from Page 53 parents will be used in caning you too. If you are a true child of those parents, you will know that whosever can wag his hands on your parents can also do same to you and you will never pay attention. David said to Goliath, how dare you defy the king of the Jews?' I want Christians to know that their destiny; let us not sell our birthright because of whatever reason. Let us follow our spirit. It is my prayer that we will allow reasoning to come to bear in this matter.

Can you tell us who attempted to bribe some people two years ago?

I'm not going to talk about the governor who unfortunately is very desperate right now. He’s

desperate because a man who thought he was going to end up being a vice president is no way in the same politics where he started off as a governor.

The initial offer dangled at him that made him to betray and leave a party for another was because he was to become the vice president should this party win. Unfortunately, he’s no longer in the race and he has spent all of his life in it, so obviously he has to continue to gain relevance in that position.

The pastor collaborating with him; I feel for him because he is a pastor that my husband has helped so much. There is nothing my husband has not done for him. But we had a big challenge with him for which we had to keep our distance. It was at that point in time that my husband felt he was no longer going to have anything to do with him. I just see a man who feels that this is a time I can get back at this man. He’s been coming to beg. I'm quite aware that he has

been looking for different ways to come and apologise for what he did.

From what I heard again, I hear he’s putting it on somebody else which I'm not going to mention the name. But the fact remains, Jonathan does not need to bribe Christians to vote for him. He’s a part of us. What we are talking about here has to do with Christians in Nigeria. I’ve not heard anyone trying to give us that assurance that we are safe in this country. What I have seen is someone trying as much as possible to label us by creating division, not giving us assurance that we are safe. No one has been able to say it with his mouth. What the leadership of Christians is saying is; are we safe? Will Nigeria become an Islamic country if we bring you in? Because I keep seeing adverts from a part of the West saying when you become the President of Nigeria, we believe you will introduce Sharia. They claim we have one million Muslims in the West and yet they don’t allow them to practice their

religion. Now we are saying it’s not about money here; we are not going to sell our birthrights. I want to secure a nation for myself, my generation and generations to come. And we are asking, are you going to give us that leverage to continue to practice our religion or are you going to force another religion on us? And no one has been able to address that. Instead of addressing the real thing, they are casting aspersion because it’s more or less like divide and rule. I still have a fresh memory of what happened many years ago when these same people were in power and I couldn’t wear trousers, I couldn’t wear my scarf, I couldn’t leave my hair uncovered. Nigerians forget easily. When these people were in power, I can never forget, my stepmother was to go to the market to buy something, she didn’t have her head covered, they had to smuggle her inside a store and look for a scarf for her because she was almost going to be arrested for not covering her head. A son or a daughter who decides to align with the enemies of his parents is a bastard, and I'm not one.

Engage youths in your govt, Commonwealth Youth Council tells Buhari

BY ABIODUN ALADE

C

ommonwealth Youth Council has congratulated president-elect, Gen. Muahmmadu Buhari and urged him to ensure that Nigerian youths are part of his government.

Ahmed Adamu, the chairperson of the council, praised Nigerian youths for ensuring a violencefree poll and for participating in the electoral process, adding that the political outcome was determined by the youth’ votes; therefore, their voices must matter in governance.

“Nigerian Youth have made sacrifices and stood on queues, under the

scorching sun and under the rain for hours, and many for the first time in their lives, because they believed their voices must be heard. They voted for the candidate of their choice,” Adamu stated.

“These are manifestation that Nigerian youth have understood their democratic rights and are ready to actively participate in shaping the future they will live in. This is a victory to the youth.

“There is no better time than now for Nigerian youth to work collectively in pursuing a youth development agenda. The Nigerian youth must take their rightful position, be in the centre stage in a democratic society.

Urhobo/Isoko group tasks Buhari on north, south unity

T

HE Urhobo/Isoko United for Change, UUIC, in Delta State has congratulated Gen. Muhammadu Buhari on his victory at the presidential election, urging him to foster unity between the South and Northern Nigeria.

The national coordinator of the group, Mr. Williams Onohwakpor, in a statement in Warri yesterday also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for his timely concession speech, which he described as a rare statesmanship quality that saved the country from being plunged into crisis follow-

ing the outcome of the election.

Onohwakpor, said that Buhari’s victory is a pointer that we are into positive change in all spheres of the nation’s economy, expressing confidence that the President-elect’s coming government will not disappoint Nigerians who voted him to victory.

He said: “The people of Urhobo and Isoko nations of Delta are desirous of working closely with the incoming administration of APC government. We are tired of being relegated to the background as the fifth largest ethnic group in the federation”.

Ijaw elders solicit support for Okowa/Otuaro

T

HE Delta Izon Con gress,DIC, has enjoined all Izons in the state to vote for the Okowa/Otuaro governorship ticket of the Delta State Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, in the April 11, 2015 governorship elections.

In a statement endorsed

by Brig-Gen Cletus Emein and Chief Bare Etolor, Chairman and Coordinator of Ijaw Communities respectively, the DIC said the Okowa/Otuaro governorship ticket was “ within the declared position” of the Izon(Ijaw) body.

The DIC said it had resolved to produce any of the Governor, Deputy Governor and Secretary to the Delta State Government leadership positions in Delta State.

The body thanked people of the three Senatorial Districts in Delta State for aiding the Ijaw to what it held out to be “this very good development that serves equity”, adding that they should “expand their continued support for the victory of the Okowa/Otuaro governorship ticket come April 11, 2015”.

APC chieftain wants Deltans to vote for Emerhor

A

chieftain of the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Delta State, Chief Efe Olowu has called on Deltans, particularly the Urhobo ethnic nationality to vote en masse for Olorogun O’tega Emerhor, the governorship candidate of the APC in the April 11 general election.

Chief Olowu, who, spoke to journalists during the victory party organized for the president-elect in the just concluded presidential election, General Muhammadu Buhari of the APC in Ewherhe –Agbarho

in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State, said Delta State cannot afford to remain in the opposition as that would affect the development already initiated by the out-going administration.

He further called on Deltans to forget zoning of any sort and vote for the APC in all future elections. as “Delta State is not a clinic where a medical doctor leaves for another medical Doctor to govern, advising Dr. Ifeanyi Okowa to look elsewhere.

SUNDAY Vanguard, MARCH 22, 2015, PAGE 55

six months now; this is dangerous and could compound the insecurity situation in the nation. As the head of the new government, there ought to be a meeting of fertile minds on how to urgently resolve the impasse. No nation cannot afford to close its door to judicial workers in a democratic system. Judges of questionable character must go. The Nigerian Judicial Council (NJC) must take judicial measures against erring judicial officers. This will go a long way to sanitise the temple of justice and give the nation the change we need.

Buhari, the man of the moment

By Yomi Obaditan

THE

2015 general elections, though full of tension, has brought the much-awaited change at last. While some African countries like Algeria, Tunisia , Libya and Egypt were going through their wind of change, some comfortable and visionless Nigerians boasted that such change could never come to the country. While the wise ones were preparing for the change through the ballot box, so as to avoid violent change, some engaged in blackmail and shenanigans. At the end, like the former French leader, Napoleon Bonaparte, who saved France at the hour of great battles, Muhammadu Buhari has won and he will surely lift the nation to the place it ought to be in the comity of nations.

The end eventually came for the 16 years of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) being in power. The All Progressives Congress ( APC ) must learn from the mistakes of the outgoing president and ruling party, and avoid the pitfalls.

Buhari was among the Nigerian Army officers who saved the nation from civil war.

He gave direction to the people as a military head of state.

Discipline and orderliness were restored. Nigerians were respected and honoured. The economic sector was at its zenith. Some Nigerians still commend him for his incorrutibility, patrotism and stern discipline.

Now that the mandate has been given to him, much is expected; he will have to fight corruption and compulsive

stealing; the evil-twins that have cancerously eaten up our economy, destroyed the integrity of our so-called leaders and has rendered the political system annihilated. In as much as he will not be expected to waste time probing his predecessor, he will have to work together with the National Asembly to unravel how federal ministries, departments and agencies spent over N16 trillion that were not budgeted for. A Senate committee reported that 601 MDAs generated and spent money as they pleased without parliamentary approval, in clear violation of the Constitution. He will need to work on how to restore our foreign reserves that fell to $30.87 billion in March 2014 and, in January, 2015, remained $3.4 billion. The Central Bank Governor will need to restrategise and come up with economic plans to reposition our battered economy.

It is said that Buhari is so straight forward. This is a man who was a Minister of Petroleum. He doesn’t have oil bloc; he doesn’t even have a filling station. Buhari doesn’t have plots in Abuja as a former governor. This self-discipline would have to be imbibed by the team that will be working with him. Nigerians are sceptical about leadership in the country; they condemn all politicians as thieves and selfish. They will be watching him and his lieutenants, and would want to measure his integrity and his ministers with the same measure they measured the ousted regime. He must remember he promised to declare his assets publicly, his ministers must

Unemployment

•Muhammadu Buhari follow his example if the change he promised the nation would not be compromised. Any wouldbe minister that abuses his office must not just be sent away but must be made to face the law.

Security

Security of lives and property must be sacrosanct. Apart from the war against insurgency in the North, which must be fought and won, internal security nationwide must be improved upon through the use of closed circuit television nationwide. Nigeria can no longer let her security to be porous.

Security agents require modern equipment and training. The old hands with bad records must be shown the way out. Military aircraft must be modernised and new ones acquired. The new National Assembly must review and examine the need for state police. The emoluments of security agents must be reviewed as soon as our economy improves.

Judiciary

The judiciary needs urgent attention. The judiciary in many states has been on strike for over

Not long ago, the world witnessed the Arab Spring due to youth joblessness. This led to the removal of many heads of government. Former President Olusegun Obasanjo has drawn the attention of the nation to the implication of neglecting the army of unemployed youths. The implication is invitation to unimaginable revolution. To avoid this, the new central government must study how Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, governor of the State of Osun, successfully carried out the Osun Youth Employment Scheme (OYES) and implement it nationwide. Where there is vacancy in federal ministries and parastatals, the new government should handle it bureaucratically. We must not allow a repeat of the tragedy caused by the handlers of the Immigration Service.

Workers salaries The plight of workers nationwide, including federal workers, owed salaries and allowances deserve urgent attention. Whatever has gone wrong must be rectified.

Workers must be paid as and when due. The Minster of Finance, Dr.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, has stated they were not owing any state but that the states were being given what they never expected.

The implication of this is that

there is a short fall in the allocations to states, which made it difficult for them to pay their workers. The workers believed in the mantra “Change”; if their expectations are not met, they may not cooperate with the new government. All the government needs to do will be to block all loopholes corrupt government officials were utilising to siphon funds into private pockets.

The decline in public service must be addressed. The poor planning, inconsistency of policy, lack of participation, poor budgeting, diversion of public funds and poor human resources are some of the anomalies that must be purged from the public sector.

Agriculture If we are to recover faster from the effect of dwindling funds from oil sales, we must practically be involved in agricultural revolution. The various states must get down to the soil and work.

Agricultural equipment must be acquired. Lands and seedlings must be made available to farmers, particularly youths. Old cash crop trees must be replaced and replanted. Rural development is a must if we want people to go back to farming. Loans and fertilizers must be provided to aid farming schemes.

Power

The power sector has remained a leaking pipe for thieves. The new government must address it squarely.

Modern development begins and ends with power generation. No nation can survive without stable power supply.

Industrialisation can only be meaningful when we get it right with the generation and distribution of power. Similarly, the moribund refineries should be replaced. Enough with oil importation. If there is going to be real change, the change must affect the power sector positively.

Udom is the real face of change — AIAPAC

A

socio-political organization, the Akwa Ibom Amalgamated Political Action Committee (AAPAC), has advised Akwa Ibom people to vote for the PDP candidate, Udom Gabriel Emmanuel in the April 11 governorship election. According to its spokesman, Barrister Andem Andem, Emmanuel represents the real face of change.

“Udom is the real face of change in Akwa Ibom politics. Look at his antecedents, he has been in the corporate world for the most part of his productive life and even when he was appointed the Secretary to the State government, he saw the assignment as a call for service. Udom it must be stated here did not collect salary for the one and half years that he served as the SSG,”the group, which is not aligned with the campaign organization, stated.

The group celebrated Emmanuel’s bi-partisanship credentials. “He knows how to work with people he may not necessarily agree with, to get things done. The banking world is based on collegiality and as the governor of Akwa Ibom come May 29th; he will work across the political aisle to continue to develop Akwa Ibom state and improve the welfare of our people. He will work hard to reduce unemployment to its barest minimum; work to empower the youth, provide quality health care, provide stable electricity and bring about industrialization.”

The group explained that the good thing is that Nigeria is a federation where states have certain degree of autonomy and “to change the fortunes of your people you don’t necessary have to belong to the party at the center.” It continued: “Look at the achievements of Godswill

•Udom

Akpabio and the uncommon transformation; he was able to achieve all that, because of the nature of our federation.

At this time of dwindling oil prices, Akwa Ibom people are exceptionally lucky to have Udom Emmanuel as their next governor because he will apply a deep sense of prudence in the management of the stateâs resources. He is an upright person with unassailable integrity, a man of

He will work hard to reduce unemployment to its barest minimum; work to empower the youth, provide quality health care, provide stable electricity and bring about industrialization Christian forbearance and masculinity, a great family man who constantly desire to raise peopleâs hand up as opposed to handing them handouts.

The group however decried

the apparent gang-up of the Hausa Fulani and the South west geo-political zones against President Jonathan who is from the Niger Delta.

“The election of General Buhari however, has further illuminated the disparate currents that define the Nigerian electoral process. It has amplified the fault lines and the ascendancy of geography and the searing forces of primordialism over common sense approach to political contestation.”

It continued: “For the first time in our evolving political culture, the majority tribes in two geographical zones, relying on their population and jingoistic instincts electorally conspired to neuter the political potency of the people of the South East and South south geo-political zones. It was the second President of the United Continues on page 56

PAGE 56 —SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

Matthew Urhoghide’s new deal

BY EFOSA BELLOOSAGIE The use of the term, effective representation, has become hackneyed due to misuse by politicians but in practical terms, effective representation refers to the quality of contributions on the floor of parliament, number of bills and motions sponsored to tackle and resolve challenges that are peculiar to the constituency, projects lobbied and captured in the national budget, projects lobbied and captured as constituency projects, effective monitoring and supervision of projects implementation, mobilization of the resources of local and international donors to facilitate development in the constituency, assistance to constituents in appointments and sundry issues, and the impact of these on constituents. Against this background, the performance of past representatives since 1999 has been adjudged by constituents in Edo South as dismal. Arising from the above, one should expect the people to be preoccupied with nothing but to seek enhancement of the quality of representation at the legislature, particularly the Senate during the upcoming election in March.

Edo South has not been that lucky with the quality of her representatives •Urhoghide Pharm. Urhoghide has left no one in doubt that his motivation for entering the race for the red chambers of the National Assembly is to do what has been left undone and that is to bring Edo South to the mainstream of planned development using the instrumentality of Federal structures. It is in realization of the fact that many senatorial districts across the country elect their best to the National Assembly in order able to take full advantage of the opportunities therein. Edo South has not been that lucky with the quality of her representatives. That explains why he is campaigning on the mantra of paradigm shift i.e. to do things differently, since the manner of representation in

last sixteen years has been out rightly condemned as self-serving. Indeed, most of the representatives and Senators seemed to have adopted the presumptive trustee delegate model of representation.

Against this well informed background, Urhoghide recognized the absolute necessity to redefine representation upon the anvil of a new deal. His new deal with the people is encapsulated in the concept of delegate model of representation which strengthens the citizens’ control of their representative. As delegate representative of Edo South in the Senate, if elected, he

will be bound to follow the expressed preferences of his constituents.

In 2013, Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume declared that a total of N900 billion was appropriated for constituency projects between the period 2004 – 2013. One is yet to work out the percentage of this figure that was appropriated to Edo State and Edo South in particular. It is doubtlessly a huge sum without taking the plunge of a hazardous guess. Yet, no one can point to any major socio-economic project delivered within the period in question. The representatives at the National Assembly operated the trustee model of representation and could hardly be said to be truly representing anybody but themselves. Some of the socalled Honourables and Distinquished former members of the Nationa Assembly ended their tenures in stupendous wealth and never found the need to relocate back home.

That has become the standard practice!

Urhoghide is simply asking Edo South not to repeat the mistake of the past but to give him the opportunity to demonstrate that unlike past and present representatives in the National Assembly, effective representation can be delivered differently and in

an evidently transparent and credible manner.

Compliant with the demands of the delegate model, Pharm. Urhoghide intends to develop a plan with active participation of his constituents in order to capture their priorities that will span his tenure.

By subscribing to the delegate model, Urhoghide has eloquently demonstrated his resolve to defend the rights of his constituents and their entitlements in the Nigerian Federation as no one has done before. It is in the same breath a vow to ensure full participation of constituents in critical decisions and engagements of the Senate. At the end his tenure, Urhoghide is not one to come to his people with excuses. Clearly, something new has been brought to the table; rather than the deceitful and mimicry of representation, he has brought a more practical model that puts the people in the front burner.

That is the new deal he offers! Edo South has thus been presented with an opportunity to cover lost grounds and right the wrongs of the last decade and even more.

president from the second public ran and won a second term without the majority ganging up against them; why is the Jonathan case different?

“Our people must rise up, and lead a protest vote against the tyranny of the majority. We must show anger at the gubernatorial elections coming up in April 11, and tell them that we will not allow our rights and future to be circumscribed by the forces of the majority. If it didnât happen in the United States, it should not happen here.

As the gubernatorial elections is coming up, show them that you sayâ noâ to politics of gang-up. Show them that our votes count and we will fight to ensure that our votes count. Show them that their trick of using both the manual and card reader for accreditation which gave them large

votes cast as opposed to the South East and South south that followed the laid down rules of using card readers and only got to know that manual accreditation was allowed, very late in the day, will not stand, come April 11.

Register your anger against political gang-up. What happened to President Jonathan may happen to our children, the marginalization must stop and Udom Emmanuelâs election on April 11 will send a powerful statement to those who wish to return us to the days of slavery and as houseboys and gate men to those who think they own this country. The good people of Akwa Ibom state will not let this happen.

Tinubu and his northern cohorts want to appropriate our commonwealth and we will resist them with our votes.”

*Bello-Osagie, a public affairs commentator, is resident in Benin-City, Edo State.

Udom is the real face of change — AIAPAC Continued from page 55

States- John Adams who fearing what the adverse effect that the untrammeled forces of the majority could have over those of the minority and conscious of the fact that such resorts, could imperil the young republicâs nascent democracy, coined the phrase âtyranny of the majorityâ and warned against the majority negating the electoral rights and advancement of the minority.

“The French political scientist, Alexis De Tocqueville in his seminal work âDemocracy in Americaâ also wrote extensively on the ill -effects of the ascendancy of the majority over the minority. This reasoning has since defined the American political and electoral culture, and those smaller and populationchallenged states that other-

wise would have been trampled upon and swallowed by the electoral leviathan of the states like California, New York, Texas, Pennsylvania have had their rights and advancements protected.

“If cooler heads did not prevail and the right judgment call made, the two coasts: East and West, and the Midwestern region with huge populations could have permanently conspired to shut out smaller states in the Deep south and South west or Bible Belt, and the democracy we have come to celebrate today and the system it has thrown up- the Presidential which we have copied, could have long been threatened and possibly replaced with another system of government. The Nigerian experience as seen in the just concluded election raises a lot of concerns and troubling

angles and thoughts.

“The people of South East and South South have pledged their fidelity to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and are ready to continue to bring about the dividends of democracy and the appropriation of the ethos of the common good through this platform. Our people will resist the gang-up of the majority who are only interested in stealing and appropriating our common wealth.

We must speak with one voice, and continue to solve our common problem within the platform of the PDP. “It is disconcerting and alarming to see this blatant gang-up against the people of the South East and South south. Is our region only good for the pillaging of our resources but not good enough to be entrusted with political power? Every other

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015,

VIEWPOINT

By Fidelis Ogbogoh

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

Increasing the momentum of development

T

HE news making the round in Delta State is the kind of vision that Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, the governorship flag bearer of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, would bring to governance, if he emerges victorious in the April 11 elections. What is his mission in government and what antecedents of his should Deltans be pointing at as something that should give them hope and optimism that Okowa was the right choice and the best man for the job? I think that what our people have been angling for in a post-Uduaghan era in Delta is precisely someone who possesses what it takes to consolidate what has been achieved by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan all these eight year.

Some of the qualities going for Okowa, are that he is a resolute, resourceful and focussed player in nation-building. A senator, a former Secretary to Delta State

Page 57

Okowa and Uduaghan’s legacy Government, a former Commissioner and former Chairman of his local government.

Okowa appears well prepared for the tedious job of governing a state as complex and richly endowed as Delta. He surely understands the difficulties that local governments face, the intricate balance required for the state government to work and, as a senator, Okowa is not a stranger to the high-wired politics in Abuja. He is at home in the three-main critical axis upon which Nigerian politics and governance rest.

It is therefore easy to capture Okowa’s vision and mission in government and what he has specifically itemised as his social contract with our people – an unwavering commitment to economic and social reforms by upgrading existing facilities, deliberately promoting public policies that would improve quality of life of our people, and totally repositioning Delta as the pace setter in the federation, unlocking hidden economic

potential in all the sectors of the State’s economy as well as making transparency in government an article of faith. “If the good people of Delta elect me as their governor in April”, he once said at a political rally, “I will certainly put in place appropriate policies, procedures and structures that would stimulate economic growth and development with longterm social and economic benefits to all Deltans. I come fully prepared to serve our people.”

And he talked about his fivepoint agenda for the people of our state which he insists define his vision and mission: strategic wealth creation initiative and provision of jobs for all Deltans, meaningful peace-building platforms for socio-political stability, agricultural reforms and industrialisation, relevant health and education policies that would ensure more successes and transformed environment through massive urban renewal.

As a former SSG, Okowa knows, and he says so, that government is

always faced with too many competing demands. He is aware of the urgent need to reduce the rate of unemployment among the youths, jump-start an early transfer of relevant skills to secondary school students, graduates of tertiary institutions and pursuing ICT competency in the civil service as essential tool for the 21st century knowledge economy. He considers this as important and critical to his vision of reformed and refurbished civil service in Delta.

Again, as a former Local Government Council Chairman, Okowa knows what rural citizens of the state expect from the state government and what the people at the grassroots level need and anticipate.

He knows and appreciates that protection of life and property from wanton destruction by fire and other calamities like flood is one of the critical hallmarks of good governance.

To meet Delta State energy needs, the flag bearer plans to put in place an energy audit

programme to collate a comprehensive database of the installed capacity and actual amount of energy/power requirement in the state. The rationale behind the energy audit is to use the information to plan for Delta medium and long term energy strategy.

I am convinced that Okowa would, when elected by the generality of our people, sustain the legacy of Uduaghan and increase the momentum of development of this strategic and important state in Nigeria. We support him because we are convinced that he is a bridge-builder, a desired flag bearer of his party and someone who will, come April 11, begin to actualise our shared dream of transforming our lives more meaningfully than we had ever imagined. As he angles for the number one seat in Delta, we know he is able, capable and ready for service.

•Ogbogoh, an engineer, is a retired Comptroller-General of the Federal Fire Service.

BUHARI: Lest we forget Abuja accord, others VIEWPOINT

By Charles Kumolu

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The road to an election devoid of violence

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NARGUABLY the calm that followed the announcement of the presidential election results deflated most post-election prognosis about the likelihood of crisis should the outcome go either way.

For a country that was pushed to the brink by the mudslinging and tension that characterized the build up to the poll, this current relaxed atmosphere comes as a surprise.

Interestingly, so many reasons have been adduced as responsible for this surprising tranquility trailing Nigeria’s hotly contested election with President Jonathan

VIEWPOINT

By Yinka Chwukuma

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

The case against everybody aligning with the ruling party

S

INCE the emergence of M a j o r - G e n e r a l Muhammadu Buhari as President-Elect, I have watched with concern, and frankly with disdain, as many of our so-called elite have overnight become rabid fans and supporters of the APC and Buhari. Typical of the chameleonic nature of the political class, many, who were hitherto singing the praise of the PDP, are today taking out full page advertisements to congratulate Buhari on his victory. The sad truth about our political elite is their lack of ideological conviction, personal morality, and ethical conduct.

They are purely driven by selfish interest as against the collective interest of the people they seek to lead, or should I say rule.

In Delta, the swan song now

the blessing of the President and Buhari in setting up a meeting for the two of them to sign the reaffirmation of the Abuja Accord on March 26, 2015 in Abuja.

Behold, the sight of the two front line candidates hugging each other was believed to have had a symbolic psychological impact on the psych of their supporters.

Other forum that preceded the Abuja Accord, which were in line with the desire for a rancour free post-election election era, came in form of sensitization workshops across the country.

In states like Edo, Anambra, Ondo, Ekiti and Osun where governorship elections held, the Office of the Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs, under the leadership of Sen Ben Obi, ensured that such workshops took place.

The primary aim was to douse political tension and educate the candidates and their parties on the need to eschew violence during their campaigns and after declaration of results.

The manner in which election results were received in the aforementioned states, speak volumes about the outcome of the workshops.

A part of the programme, which observers found interesting, was the resulting communiqués which held all stakeholders accountable should there be violence.

Further testimonies to the fruitfulness of the series of activities, could be found in the President’s congratulatory messages to Governors, Adams Oshiomhole, Willie Obiano, Rauf Aregbesola, Olusegun Mimiko when they defeated his party men in their governorship elections.

The benefits of being in opposition

Fashola era. We can see the same pattern of performance in all the states controlled by the APC. The people of Delta, I believe, can testify to this. Despite all the talk of not being in opposition, what can Deltans really say they have gained from being a part of the ruling party at the centre in the last 16 years? That is the big question they should be asking themselves. The politicians selling this agenda are merely interested in how they can benefit from the largesse at the centre; they are not really concerned about the welfare of the people.

If they truly have the welfare of the people in mind they will know that being in opposition is not a death sentence; it will only serve to wake the politicians up from their slumber and make them become alive to their responsibilities. They will realise that it is no longer business as usual, and will have to perform to earn the confidence and trust of the people.

•Chwukuma is a Lagos-based journalist.

remarkably taking much credit.

The President’s angle is understood from the notion that his congratulatory phone call to Gen Muhamadu Buhari helped douse tension across the country.

While the role the President’s call played is not in contention, analysts have pointed at the Abuja Accord—a post-election peace treaty as the move that midwifed the current tranquility which has gained international repute.

Initiated by the Office of the Special Adviser on Inter-Party Affairs, as part of its sensitization programmes, the signing of the agreement, was necessitated by the tension and violence that hallmarked the presidential election campaign.

Called the Abuja Accord, the treaty contains provisions which compelled all presidential candidates, particularly Jonathan and Buhari to sign the

seems to be that the state cannot afford to be in the opposition. It would have been okay if this position is being canvassed by the unenlightened and those who do not know any better. But when you hear supposedly enlightened people making such statements, you wonder about the future of this country. Even respected lawyer, Festus Keyamo, took out a full page advertisement calling on his “Urhobo brothers and sisters” to vote for the APC because “historically the Urhobo have never settled for an opposition” (Vanguard, April 4 page 17). That was distasteful.

The campaign by people like Keyamo and some unscrupulous politicians that Delta cannot afford to be in the opposition, smacks of crass opportunism and a deliberate ploy to hoodwink the gullible electorate for their selfish purposes.In the first instance, it makes me wonder if

agreement to ensure that their supporters do not cause violence after the election.

Though some differ on how well the accord assisted in calming the polity before the polls, analysts consider its place in the history of 2015 presidential poll as sacred.

Unknown to many, it was same treaty that suggested for a National Peace Committee,NPC, which was later put together under the leadership of a former Head of State, Gen Abdulsalami Abubakar ,retd.

With its membership comprising of people like Rev Dr. Mathew Kukah, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Mrs. Priscilla Kuye; former President of Nigeria Bar Association among others, the committee played a commendable trouble shooting role.

To its credit, the NPC received

the clamour of change is for all Nigerians to become members of the APC. Is it that they want Nigeria to be a one-party state?

What manner of change is that?

Secondly, are we to believe that people like Keyamo who are supporting the APC today are doing so simply because it is going to form the government at the centre not necessarily because of any shared values and ideology? Does that mean that if, in 2019, the PDP returns to power at the centre, these politicians would be making another “clarion call” on the Urhobo to follow the PDP? As a Yoruba married to a Deltan, I believe Deltans would be making a very big mistake if they fall for this cheap propaganda that the state cannot afford to be in opposition.

Having lived most of my life in Lagos, I know that being in opposition can be a blessing in

disguise.

It is an incontrovertible fact that the South-West part of Nigeria is the most developed part of the country. Yet, since the First Republic, this is one part of the country that has often been in opposition to the government at the centre, so much so that it proudly wears the opposition tag. The reason the South-West has been able to forge ahead is because being in the opposition compels the leaders to work harder to earn the trust and confidence of the electorate. The late Chief ObafemiAwolowo launched his free education programme and the Odua Investment Company which was responsible for the industrialisation of the region as an opposition leader in the 60s.

Being in opposition can be a blessing because the focus is usually on performance as we saw in Lagos during the Tinubu/

PAGE 58—SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015 sam.eyoboka@gmail.com

08023145567 (sms only)

It's Easter Sunday

By Sam Eyoboka & Olayinka Latona FTER several days and nights of high wire tension over the presidential elections, millions of Nigerian Christians will today join fellow Christians worldwide to point to the celebration of the empty tomb.

Today is Easter Sunday. Easter is the most important Christian religious holiday and widely regarded as the second most popular holiday after Christmas. In the Catholic religion there are 40 days of fasting preceding Easter.

The Lent starts on Ash Wednesday and ends on holy Saturday. It is observed to imitate the 40-day fast of Jesus before his death. Generally only one meal a day is allowed and meals shouldn't include meat or fish. Exceptions apply for children and the elderly. The day after the lent period ends people eat a rich breakfast - break the fast which consists of eggs, ham, bread and fish followed by games throughout the day.

Did you know that the word "breakfast" originates from "breaking the fast" after a 40 day Lent period preceding Easter?

A

The resurrection and Christianity The resurrection is central to the Christian's faith! It was indeed a "New Creation," immeasurable by time, because it was not a "coming back" from the dead. It was a going beyond death. It was not a coming back to mortal existence (as was true for Lazarus). It was nothing less than Jesus' entrance into the life of God. The Risen One can never die. He is totally in God who is all life. Jesus entered into an entirely new kind of existence: an immortal existence that robbed the grave of its victim, not temporarily, but forever.

New hope for humanity The risen of Christ from the dead brought forth new hope for a lost world. With the resurrection, humanity is now sure of sharing eternal life with God, provided we believe and accept Him. By His resurrection,

Christ gave a deadly blow to the mortal body and transformed same for immortality, life everlasting. Thus, one day, this our earthly body shall be no more and we also shall rise in glory with our eternal Father. Hallelujah

Christ has risen, Christ has risen Easter is not just a happy ending to Jesus' story. It is a radical new beginning for him and for the human race. The grave was no terminal event for him. And because of him, it will never be such for us either.

Easter means that what is mortal becomes what is eternal. Eternal life for Jesus and for all of humanity was born in the grave.

Easter is the gateway into the new paradise. Jesus risen from the dead is the new Adam. He is also, in Paul's words, "the firstborn of many brothers and sisters" (Romans 8:29). We are those brothers and sisters.

For us, therefore, Easter speaks of the process, already begun in our baptism, of our

entering into eternal life.

Easter is indeed the story that lives forever.

President, The Way of Reconciliation Evangelistic Ministries (TWOREM), Lagos, Rev. Oladipupo Funmilade-Joel, in his Easter message, described the essence of fiesta as love, sharing and making a covenant with Christ to be responsibly effective in sharing Christ with others.

Funmilade-Joel stressed that Christ death and resurrection is the guarantee for the forgiveness of the sinner who believes in Him…, adding that resurrection of Christ always bring joy, peace, hope and blessing to the believers.

The cleric stressed the need for Nigerians to pray more for this period of national unrest, insecurity and economic depression as only God can redeem the country.

He also urged prayers for the Lord to heal the nation's wounds and enthrone peace, while Christians in the troubled North were enjoined to hold on to their faith in the face of bombings and killings.

The origin of Easter The month of April was dedicated to Eastre the Anglo-Saxon goddess of offspring and fertility, her symbol being the rabbit. Eggs and rabbits symbolize birth and fertility in many cultures, with eggs decorated in bright colors and given away as gifts. In 325 A.D., at the Council of Nicaea, Emperor Constantine issued the Easter Rule stating that Easter must be celebrated on a Sunday between the dates of March 22 and April 25. Nowadays, many Christians, in place of Easter, celebrate Resurrection Sunday to commemorate that Christ is risen from the dead and He sits at the right hand of the Father interceding for us.

The beauty of Easter Director of Social Communications at the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Rev. Monsignor Gabriel Osu described Easter as the greatest feast in Christendom.

According to him, "Easter is the greatest feast in the Christian calendar. On this Sunday, Christians celebrate the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. For Catholics, Easter Sunday comes at the end of 40 days of prayer, fasting, and almsgiving known as Lent. Through spiritual struggle and self-denial, we have prepared ourselves to die spiritually with Christ on Good Friday, the day of His crucifixion.

The fulfillment of our faith Easter is a day of celebration because it represents the fulfillment of our faith as Christians. St. Paul wrote that, unless Christ rose from the dead, our faith is in vain (I Corinthians 15:17). Through his death, Christ saved mankind from bondage to sin, and He destroyed the hold that death has on all of us; but it is His Resurrection that gives us the promise of new life, both in this world and the next.

*Prelate of Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence, Dr. Samuel Chukwuemeka Kanu Uche washing the feet of church members at the Methodist Church of the Trinity, Tinubu, Lagos to mark this year's Maundy Thursday.

EASTER:

Clerics task Govt on unemployment

By Sam Eyoboka & Olayinka Latona

C

HRISTIAN leaders across the country have, at Easter, called on the Federal Government to tackle unemployment and poverty to improve the lives of the citizens.

Abuja branch of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) used the occasion to hold special prayers for President Goodluck Jonathan at the presidential villa after the clerics had broken their fast with the President.

Rev. Isreal Akanji, chairman, Abuja CAN told State House correspondents that the action of President Jonathan in accepting defeat and congratulating Gen. Buhari made him a hero.

He described Jonathan as a true statesman who succeeded in strengthening the country’s unity, adding; “we came to pray with him and salute his courage as a result on the outcome of the recent elections.

What President Jonathan has done is sacrifice for the unity of the nation.”

The CAN chairman urged Nigerians to toe the line of the President and allow peace to reign.

Prelate of Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence Samuel Chukwuemeka Kanu Uche also congratulated Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and called on him to put together an all inclusive government which will leave no one behind.

In his Easter message made available by the church’s Director of Media and Public Relations, Rev. Oladapo Daramola, the prelate said the emergence of Buhari at a time the world is celebrating Jesus Christ’s exemplary sacrificial leadership is a clear sign that he must be prepared to sacrifice his all for the country’s socio-economic and political freedom and to lead Nigeria on a new path to prosperity and peace.

According to the prelate, "our inability to love our neighbours as ourselves has

continued to promote intolerance, hatred and abuse which contradicts the purpose of his death and resurrection. This is the reason why a group of people under the guise of religious fundamentalism and a revolt against Western Education (Boko Haram) would continue to inflict pain and suffering on others through extremist actions such as killings, maiming, wanton destruction of lives and properties amongst other satanic and terrorist acts.

"They do not believe in the need for them to show respect for the rights and freedom of other people neither do they have regards for the sacrosanct nature of life which unfortunately, they cannot create.

"For this same reason, a cabal continues to seat on the commonwealth of our Nation because they do not recognise the import of His sacrifice for us all. Our political leaders especially our newly elected president in-waiting, Gen. Buhari must

Continued on Page 60

SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015, PAGE 59

CAN, Christian Elders commend Jonathan, congratulate Buhari ...say Jonathan is a true Christian democrat

By CALEB AYANSINA

A *Winner of the March 28 presidential election, General Muhammadu Buhari (retired).

BUJA - The Christian Associa tion of Nigeria (CAN) and National Christian Elders Forum (NCEF), yesterday, congratulated the President-Elect and presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) on his election.

The two religious organizations in their separate

Accreditation of voters in process at Ward 02 Unit 17 at the Redemption Camp along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.

PHOTOS: LAMIDI BAMIDELE

...Martins congratulates Buhari, commends Jonathan

By Sam Eyoboka

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ATHOLIC Archbishop of Lagos, Alfred Adewale Martins has congratulated the newly elected president of Nigeria, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (Rtd), on his recent electoral victory, even as he commended President Goodluck Jonathan for his spirit of sportsmanship.

In a release signed by the Director of Social Communications, Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos, Msgr. Gabriel Osu, Archbishop Martins, while felicitating with the president-elect, however charged him to see his historic election as an act of God and a divine mandate to diligently direct the affairs of the nation with the fear of the Almighty.

Martins commended the resilience of Gen. Buhari who, despite having failed in three consecutive past elections, remained unflinching and determined until he actualized his ambition of receiving the people’s mandate to govern the country as a civilian president.

“I want to use this opportunity to congratulate Gen. Buhari on his election as the new president of Nigeria.

My prayer is that God would grant him the enablement to rule with the fear of God and exhibit due diligence throughout his tenure in office. For President Jonathan, I want to commend him for his gallantry and for exhibiting great sportsmanship by conceding defeat in a timely manner.”

While urging the president-elect to approach the task of governance with the highest sense of responsibility, Archbishop Martins reminded him that the task before him was enormous, especially in this period of the nation’s history when the people are desirous of a leader that would engender rapid transformation in all sectors of the economy.

He charged Buhari to henceforth see himself not as a member of APC, but the president of Nigeria, hence his policies and leadership style must be flexible and fair enough to address the myriads of needs and aspirations of all Nigerians.

Martins equally commended President Jonathan for providing a level playing ground for INEC to conduct a free and fair election while also calling on all Nigerians to pray for the continuous good health of their new president-elect and for the wisdom and understanding to function effectively in office.

congratulatory messages issued, in Abuja, also commended President Goodluck Jonathan for displaying quality Christian and democratic character and concession of defeat at the elections.

The President of CAN and Founder of Warri-based Word of Life Bible Church, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, in his message to Buhari also saluted Nigerians for a peaceful election and called for "harmony between Christians and Muslims in their quest for a prosperous Nigeria."

While praying for a prosperous future for

Nigeria, Oritsejafor also praised President Goodluck Jonathan for exhibiting good sportsmanship in conceding defeat to Buhari.

The Secretary of NCEF, Pastor Bosun Emmanuel, in his congratulatory message said, "despite the enormous tension and apprehension that preceded the election, Nigerians have demonstrated political maturity that elections can be won and lost without recourse to violence or acrimony."

While congratulating Buhari for his victory at the elections, NCEF wished him a successful

Crowd of voters at the Ward 02 Unit 17 at the Redemption Camp being accredited.

tenure in office and "joined all Nigerians and indeed the entire world to commend his act of statesmanship, quality Christian and democratic character by his peaceful concession of defeat."

Emmanuel said, "It is encouraging to observe that Nigeria is maturing democratically. Today, we celebrate a sitting President, who after conceding defeat at the polls can say, “I promised the country free and fair elections. I have kept my word.” Mr. President, we are proud of you.

"The sterling Christian and democratic qualities aptly demonstrated by President Jonathan are in line with our objective that democracy must thrive and be firmly rooted in Nigeria. The fruit of democracy is a peaceful, just, fair, and equitable society. These are the pillars upon which we can build a prosperous nation. We shall continue to work to entrench these values in our nation."

The organization also encouraged all politicians in the country to play politics according to the admonition of Jonathan that “nobody’s ambition is worth the blood of any Nigerian.”

...Match challenges with determination, CANAN tasks Buhari

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BUJA - THE Christian Associa tion of NigerianAmericans, CANAN, has told the President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari that all eyes were on him for the country's development, just as it tasked him to match country's challenges with determination, reports CALEB AYANSINA. The executive director of CANAN, Pastor Laolu Akande, admonished Buhari not to be deceived by people, but instead strive to ensure remarkable development across the country.

Pastor Akande, in a statement made available to Sunday Vanguard in Abuja, noted that the change promised by the duo must be delivered to Nigerians positively.

He assured the presidentelect of faithful's prayer support, adding that his victory was an answered prayer.

"CANAN and several other US-based groups had embarked on a month-long prayer session crying out to the Lord to impose His will on Nigeria. We asked Him to choose for the nation and we believe He has done it.

"We congratulate the President-elect, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari and the Vice President-elect, Pastor Yemi Osinbajo. CANAN is confident that the duo will take the mandate of the Nigerian people with a sense of responsibility and fear of God. "The Buhari-Osinbajo ticket campaigned and won on the platform of change. We pray that the change would be delivered by the grace of God. "We commend Gen. Buhari and Pastor Osinbajo for their determination, resolve and exemplary char-

Rt. Rev. David Akinyemi, Bishop of The African Church (3rd Left) and some members of St. Paul's African Church, Ilupeju, Lagos during Palm Sunday Service procession in Ilupeju, Lagos last Sunday.

acters which have now been validated by Nigerians.

"Their determination will be surely tested by the enormous challenges ahead of the incoming administration and they have our prayers, support and good wishes," he said.

The group also lauded the spirit of sportsmanship and statesmanship displayed by President Goodluck Jonathan by accepting defeat and called on his supporters to maintain peace and seek redress through due process.

"We congratulate out-going President Goodluck Jonathan for his statesmanship conduct by conceding defeat to the incoming President Buhari. That action by Dr. Jonathan deserves the praise of all people of goodwill, and has secured the smooth transition of power in the next couple months.

"Finally, we congratulate Nigeria and Nigerians, knowing fully well that the destiny God has in mind for Nigeria would soon become manifest and restored. We call on all Nigerians to come together and turn the nation's diversity into a huge strength," Akande said.

PAGE 60—SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015

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NCE, the police ar rested my business manager on trumped up charges. I had to go to the station to see what I could do. Before I left, I said a short prayer asking God for help. I asked him for the favour of God and the favour of man.

When I got to the police station, I spoke to the arresting officer. The man listened to me intently for a few minutes and then decided to release my manager. Then he gave me his reasons.

He said to me: “I am releasing him for three reasons. I am releasing him because I have a lot of respect for people who have grey hair, and you have lots of it. I am releasing him because I understand you have a doctorate, and I just have lots of respect for people who have doctorates. I am releasing him because I understand you are a pastor, and I just have a lot of respect for pastors.”

I told the officer: “I am sorry to disagree with you, Sir. You are not releasing him because of any of the reasons you have given. You are releasing him because before I came here I went down on my knees and prayed and asked God to give me favour.”

You see, right from the beginning of that episode, God brought the case to a man whose mind he had already prepared to be sympathetic to me. All the issues about grey hairs and doctorates were simply the devices of God. Somebody else could have hated me precisely because my hair was grey; and he could

pers, he redeemed my past.

Sam Amuka phoned me to ask that I should take over the newspaper page of the late renowned Vanguard columnist, Pini Jason. I was back writing political articles again.

GATHER UP THE FRAGMENTS OF YOUR LIFE (2) have despised me for having a doctorate.

Jigsaw puzzle of life Beloved, recognise this; God has planted his people everywhere as salt and as light. He told Elijah that he had in Israel reserves of the righteous who had not bowed down to Baal. (I King 19:18). He told Paul not to be afraid to preach in Corinth because he had many people strategically placed in the city. (Act 18:10).

Your life is like a jigsaw puzzle that God assembles.

That includes every word you are going to speak on earth. It includes everything you are going to do. That is why you could not have been born in another century. You could not have been born a woman, or you could not have been born a man. You could not have been white or you could not have been black. You could not have been anywhere else except where you are right now. You could not have been doing anything else right now except reading this article.

Without interfering with your free will, God puts you in a particular space where your disposition and your

Your life is like a jigsaw puzzle that God assembles inclinations are precisely suited to his will. It is like acting in a play. The Director tells you that you could say whatever you liked, and do whatever you wanted in this scene. But he foreknew you. He knew your character; he knew your disposition.

He knew if you saw a man being attacked, you would not stand idly by. He knew if you saw an old woman walking across the road, you would be inclined to help her. So he said to you: “Be yourself.” But in being yourself, you are simply acting according to his will, because he has contrived everything about you fearfully and wonderfully.

Be anxious for nothing That is why the wise man of the scriptures says: “The king's heart is in the hand of the LORD, like the rivers of water; he turns it wherever he wishes.” (Proverbs 21:1).

This shows there is no situation that God cannot affect or change. There is no heart immune to the power of God. God has full control

over the tendencies of your parents. He has perfect control over the inclinations of your boss. He has full control over the disposition of your teacher.

Therefore: “Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. (Philippians 4:6-7).

God uses everything. He uses the good, the bad and the ugly. He is like an amazing chef who uses all kinds of strange ingredients to make to make the most scrumptious dishes. He is the builder who uses even the stones that Julius Berger rejected as the chief cornerstone of the world’s tallest building. Therefore, gather up all the fragments of your life, nothing will be lost.

Everything about your life is for a reason. No detail is overlooked. No episode is insignificant. Take another look at some of those bible stories. You will find that God is a God of meticulous and punctilious detail. He

EASTER: Clerics task Govt on unemployment Continued from Page 58 sacrifice their personal egos and forge a common front to make life better for the common man whom they have been elected to serve." According to the prelate, our roads, hospitals, are in sorry state while power supply has reached an all-time low despite the laudable Power Sector reforms which if implem-ented effectively would resolve the unemployment challenges confronting our nation today.

"The level of insecurity is alarming which is why it has become imperative for each and everyone of us to be extra-vigilant and security conscious because Government alone cannot be left with that responsibility," he noted stressing that these are the enormous challenges that must be confronted head long by the incoming administration.

"I use this opportunity to remind us that our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ died on account of the sins of humankind, including ours today, and He rose for the redemption of history, including our own.

"So my message is intended for everyone, and, as a prophetic proclamation, it is intended especially for peoples and communities who are undergoing a time

of suffering, that the Risen Christ may open up for them the path of freedom, justice and peace.

In his Easter message, the Diocesan Bishop of Lagos and Dean Emeritus, Church of Nigeria (Anglican Communion), Most Rev. Ephraim Ademowo, said it was being projected that Nigeria’s population would rise to 188 million in four years, urging the government to get ready for the increase.

“With unemployment situation, poverty starring us in the face, there is the need for those in government to project, reach and have concrete plans for the populace,” the archbishop said.

Ademowo said government should have statistics

of the unemployed youths in the country while politicians should reduce ostentatious lifestyle, which, he maintained, will also reduce the cost of governance considerably.

The cleric emphasised the need to reduce food importation, saying “it is time to till the ground to produce the items of food we import by ourselves. Graduates should be financially empowered to keep them busy and government should directly invest in huge agrobusiness that can mop-up a large number of the unemployed,” he said.

The Anglican Bishop said the message of Easter is not a future tense and totally unrelated to life here and now, but Christ intended that Easter should mean so

much.

“He means that we should let this Easter glory get its grip on us and motivate us to some high end, Easter should pull us away from chasing the shadow because Easter is a sure promise of victory from day to day,” he said.

Similarly, the chairman of CAN, Lagos chapter, Apostle Alexander Bamgbola, congratulated Nigerians on his Easter message, noting that it is a season of liberation and freedom for mankind.

Apostle Bamgbola also congratulated Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, saying it is time for Nigerians to work together for the country’s progress.

He noted that the election of Gen. Buhari and the fact that the incumbent president conceded defeat was a testimony that “God is on the throne of Nigeria.”

The President-elect, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, has also called on all Nigerians to embrace peace this Easter and celebrate the nation’s rebirth as they commemorate the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, asked the citizens to unite for a new Nigeria as they celebrate Easter.

In a message in Abuja, Buhari urged the citizens to unite and use the season

does not miss a beat.

Redeeming the past I spent nine years in the university. Another 16 years pursuing a career in international relations. I was a columnist in African Concord. I also wrote articles regularly in The Guardian and National Concord.

Then suddenly God stepped in with his own completely different agenda.

He asked me to drop everything and preach the gospel. So what was the point of my B.A., my M.A. and my Ph.D.? For 15 years, I thought they were all wasted as I obeyed and devoted my whole life to the scriptures.

Then my friend, Hakeem Bello-Osagie, told me he was starting a newspaper and introduced me to the publisher, Dele Olojede.

That was how God gave me a faith column in a newspaper called NEXT. A few weeks after NEXT closed down; a familyfriend took me to see Sam Amuka, the chairman of Vanguard; who hired me on the spot to continue my column in his newspaper.

Then, 20 years after the Lord made me stop writing political articles in newspaof Easter to celebrate both the resurrection of Jesus Christ and the rebirth of the Nigerian nation.

According to the statement, “having overcome the anxiety and fear that tended to overshadow our efforts and commitments towards free and peaceful presidential and National Assembly elections, let us move forward in the spirit of the resurrection to rebuild our nation with the values of peace and love for one another.

“Our country depends on

Keep thanking God Therefore, I repeat the word of the Lord: “Gather up the fragments, that nothing may be lost.” The Good Shepherd who is determined that no fragments of bread and fish should be lost is unlikely to lose any sheep. Neither is the Almighty likely to lose or waste any fragment of your precious life.

Accordingly, “in everything give thanks.” (I Thessalonians 5:18). Thank God for the promotion you missed, had you obtained it, it might have been your ruin.

Thank God for your brother who died, had he lived longer he might have lost his salvation. Thank God for the man who ditched you, had you married him you would have lived a life of agony.

Thank God for the exam you failed because you failed it for a reason. Take nothing for granted.

In every situation, go to the loving Father and ask him: “Dear Father, what are you saying to me through this situation? What do you want me to learn through this delay? What are you trying to teach me through this adversity?” That is the will of God in Christ Jesus concerning you.

you---the Nigerian people to make Nigeria safe for all citizens and foreigners alike. I pledge that our administration shall strengthen all national institutions that promote harmony and national unity.”

In a message by his media office in Abuja, Atiku wished Christians and all other Nigerians peace as they celebrate Easter and prayed that all Nigerians will come together for the rebuilding of the Nigerian nation this Easter and beyond.”

2015 polls: Prayers saved us from national disaster — Cleric

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

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OPUL AR War ribased cleric, Prophet Jeremiah Fufeyin has said the just concluded presidential elections would have caused a national catastrophe if not for God's intervention through prayers by the populace.

Fufeyin, General Overseer of Christ Mercyland Deliverance Ministries, during his miracle healings service, urged Nigerians not to entertain any fear of crisis in next Saturday's governorship and state assembly elections, saying God is in control.

The cleric, better known as Owomowomo in Christian circles told journalists

in Warri, Delta State, that “The presidential election was one of the most peaceful election in the history of Nigeria, not because of anybody's making but by the intervention of God. "My message to Nigerians is that they should continue to pray so that the elections generally will end peacefully. Nigeria is walking on the path of peace and progress and we must allow His will to lead us to national greatness.

He commended President Goodluck Jonathan for "the maturity in conceding defeat and tasked in-coming Gen. Muhammadu Buhari not to disappoint Nigerians with his promise of monumental change in the administration of the country.

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015 — 61 japhdave@yahoo.com 08066625505

By PRISCA SAM-DURU REVIEW

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he 2015 International Women Day celebration which held at the Access Bank Head office, Victoria Island, Lagos, turned out to be a most entertaining programme, way out of what was expected prior to the event.

Organised by the Public Affairs Section of the US Consulate General, Lagos, in collaboration with Access Bank Plc. and Idea Builders Initiative, the event featured documentary films, a panel discussion and a theatrical performance aimed at increasing women’s civic, corporate and political engagement in Nigeria showcasing the theme: “Make It Happen.” Over 200 women participated in the program.

The documentary film featured the life and times of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to vie for president of the United States of America. The documentary titled Shirley Chisholm, Unbought and Unbossed, shows Chisholm at the Concord Baptist Church in Brooklyn, NY, during her declaration of interest to run for the office of the president on January 27, 1972, where she said that she was candidate for the people.

“I stand before you today as a candidate for the Democratic nomination for the Presidency of the United States of America.

I am not the candidate of black America, although I am black and proud. I am not the candidate of the women’s movement of this country, although I am a woman, and I am equally proud of that. I am not the candidate of any political bosses or fat cats or special interests...” She told the people.

A strong woman by all standards, Chisholm refused to bow to racial pressure or be bossed around by the many men in the congress when she was there. The documentary showed an instance where she was given an assignment to sit on the House Agriculture Committee and she rebelled.

She had affected lives in many ways by her campaign, which shows that ‘yes we can’.

Hear word, a spellbinding dramatic piece that dazzles and at the same time, sensitises all, on the need to respect the rights of women, was staged to the admiration of the audience.

The theatrical performance of Hear Word which was directed

by Ifeoma Fafunwa and produced by iOpenEye, actually concluded the celebration. The play shared a truelife story of inequality and injustice largely undermining Nigerian women with the view to examining the causes and effects of the lack of female support and leadership in our society.

The enthralling drama which parades Nollywood A-list actresses; Joke Sylva, Taiwo Ajayi- Lycett, Iretiola Doyle, Bimbo Akintola, Ufuoma Ejenobor and a host of others, xrays the challenges of the

Drama, documentary loud at women day celebration The documentary film featured the life and times of Shirley Chisholm, the first black woman to vie for president of the United States of America • Nollywood Actress Taiwo Ajayi-Lycett and others show women the way in the drama, Hear Word

typical Nigerian woman, while echoing the importance of empowering women and transforming the nation.

The staging of Hear Word which premièred last year in Lagos has proved explicitly that Ifeoma’s effort has metamorphosed into a play for both social advocacy for the emancipation of the woman as well

as pure entertainment. It emphasises on issues ranging from denial of widowhood rights, domestic violence, rape, female genital mutilation, etc. The play also exposes diverse ways in which women are employed as militating factor against the progress of the women sector.

The program also featured a

panel discussion with speakers, including: Toyosi Akerele, Olajumoke Adenowo, Adesuwa Onyenokwe, Fela Durotoye, Amaechi Okobi and Ope Wemi-Jones, Access Bank executives.

One of the panelists, Akerele, who doubles as the CEO of Rise Network called

on the older women in the society to mentor the younger ones, adding that the younger generation should submit themselves to such mentoring opportunities. For her part, Adenowo lamented that there were economic constraints negatively affecting women, discouraging then from taking the lead on the political scene. Renowned motivational speaker Durotoye gave remarks on gender inequality in the corporate environment, while Adesuwa insisted that women are at a vantage position to “Make it Happen” in the Nigerian situation.

The U.S. Consul General Jeffrey Hawkins opened the event with remarks focusing on women’s role as civic leaders and political actors. He noted that Nigeria will be better, if women are given more opportunities to participate in governance at all levels.

Hawkins described Chisholm as an inspiring political figure in the United States. He called on Prof. Comfort Sonaiyan, the female presidential candidate in the 2015 general elections, to be the Chisholm to Nigeria.

SWP es P oe tr olar WP,, tak takes Poe oetr tryy out of the lips of books-- A J Dagga TTolar

By ELIZABETH UWANDU INTERVIEW

In the world of arts, especially performing arts, AJ Dagga Tolar is no stranger. He is a poet, a performing artist, a coach and founder of AJ House of poetry. He was also a co facilitator of the work shop of ‘’Spoken Words Poetry’’ held in Port Harcourt and in Lagos, 2014 edition.

In this interview, he speaks on his current project ‘’Freedom Spoke Words’’ poetry slam and other sundry issues.

H

ow long have you been in the arts?

I started writing songs, reggae precisely in 1986 and by 1987, I began writing and performing poems. For me, I can not say I was born with poetry skills, but the misfortune and the prevailing circumstances I grew in shaped me into writing. As a growing child, I listened to reggae albums my dad played on his little radio and this formed my first background understanding of lyrics. The university also formed the base for my writing of poems and performing on stage. This was because, as a History student, I had opportunity to perform as a reggae artist in the English and Literary poetry performance but a day came seeing people performing poetry and getting ovation made me said to myself, “I can also perform poems’’. So by next edition, I told the organisers that I want to perform poems. Since then, I have not looked back.

Tell us about your works?

My first collection ‘’Daggering Boot’’ was in 1987, although, I

have been writing actively since 1986. Daggering Boot was an attempt to explain the pains and woes of military rule. ‘’Season of Struggle’’ actually became my first publication done in 1997. Before Season of Struggle I had done two works, ‘’Death in a Shell’’ which focused on the life and time of the Niger Delta activist, Ken Saro Wiwa and the plights of the Niger Delta people. I have other works.

Of note is my first publication, Season of Struggle that was made possible from the money I got from a case I had with West Africa Examination Council. WAEC at that time, used one of my poems in their Yoruba question and I happened to stumble on it and sued them for copy right. At the end, the case was settled out of court and the proceed from the case half of which went into the

production of Season of Struggle.

Tell us about the project you are on now?

Freedom Spoke Words is a poetry performance workshop meant to take poetry out of the lips of books.

For instance, when you read poems alone, most times we really do not grasp fully the meaning unless they are performed live on stage. Therefore, FSW created the

platform for poetry performance, evaluation and appreciation.

Another reason for this slam is that as a coach, it is good to see one’s students express and perform what they are taught.

Freedom Spoke Words provides this forum for •A J Dagga-Tolar young talents to express themselves in poetry How is the programme and at same time learn from sponsored? guest artists. And to God be I must commend Goethe the glory, guest artists like the Institute, Lagos for lawyer, Donna Ogunnaike providing the venue, and Titilope Sonuga a refreshment and equipment Canadian cum Nigerian poet we use for the event. have performed in the However, we need more programme. sponsorship to executive some of our projects. hat is your greatest achievement?

F r e e d o m (laughs) Through AJ Spoke Words House of poetry, the mother of Freedom Spoken Words, provides the critical minds are been for um for created. Today, I am happy young talents to that people like Uche Uwadinachi of Metro FM, e x p r e s s Kemistree Bakare, Osigwe themselves in Benjamin, Kolawale Paul and Innocent Ehiz that will poetry and at be attending a conference same time learn in Berlin this year. These are all products of AJ House from guest of poetry. artists

W

PAGE 62 SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015

Problems of Nigeria football are administrative — Onigbinde •Charges Buhari on sports development

By Solomon Nwoke

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UPER Eagles coach to the Korea/ Japan 2002 FIFA World Cup, Chief Adegboyega Onigbinde has expressed worry about the present state of Nigerian football. He called on football authorities to find a lasting solution to the unending drama in the Nigeria Football Federation. He was also expectant that newly elected President Mohammadu Buhari will give the sports sector the desired attention that would see sports in the country soar in the next four years of his tenure.

The Super Eagles recently played two friendly matches, first against Uganda and against South Africa, what do you make of those games?

I don’t believe that any patriotic Nigerian, who is a football follower will be happy at those friendly match results. Some excuses have been given, but I don’t accept those excuses. This is because I am very much aware that Nigeria is capable of being at a much higher level in football than we are today. And that makes it painful. And Uganda coming to beat us at our home ground, that will not definitely be acceptable to anybody and we went to South Africa and we know the history of our friendly and competitive matches between Nigeria and South Africa, so what is happening? I believe that the administrators will sit down and look critically at what has been happening with the view to finding solution to them.

Are you not worried that till date the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has not named any substantive coach for the Super Eagles?

When I say that the major problem with our football is administrative, people get angry, they think that I am running them down. You have a very strictly technical matter that we have not been able to appoint a coach. It is also purely administrative matter, an issue that could be resolved within a couple of weeks. But I believe they must have their reasons for delaying it till

this time, it’s about eight months now. I will still implore them to sit down and get things straight and again, I have a lot of respect for everybody on that board. I don’t bloody care much about how you get into a position, but I care much about what you do when you get there.

Just some days ago Nigerians elected a new president in the person of Gen Muhammadu Buhari, now as a sports man and football administrator, what should Nigerians expect from him or what are your expectations from him in terms of sports ?

Firstly, I will like to congratulate him (Gen Buhari) I believe he deserves his victory and I want to also congratulate Nigerians because this system looks like a step forward for our practice of democracy. So I congratulate all of us.

Now coming to his focus on sports, I wouldn’t say football in particular, but sports in general, we have been having a major problem in this country with our sports. There is no discernable developmental programme for our sports and I hope he will be able to set a body that will look into that area, because without a programme, we cannot make it. And coming down to football, I have been in Nigeria

•Onigbinde and in football for this long and I am not aware of any developmental programme for our football. I have written and spoken and some of the times you speak, you make enemies, so I will implore the president to look critically into that, get people who actually know about all these things, not only in football. Nigeria is only a country where a carpenter will be the chairman of the medical board. It is my hope that the president should look into that area especially in

sports. When you have a pack of people who are only interested in what they are going to get from sports rather than what they will put into it. It’s a big problem.

In the past we have been unlucky to have people without sports background appointed as sports ministers. What is your advice to the i n c o m i n g administration?

Even some of them who have the background, what is the depth of their background? This is exactly what I am saying.

Sports is not something that should be politicized, that’s why our clubs are not stable, that is why they are not doing well because if you look at it critically, by FIFA regulation we don’t have even one football club in Nigeria. FIFA regulation says in article 17 that any football club should be able to run its affairs without any interference from a third party and when a government starts funding a club, is that not a third party? And not only that, people complain that government is pressurizing them on how the money is spent, why will it not? Now let us get out of FIFA regulation and come to the basics.We all know what a club is. When people of like minds come together to form a club to pursue their interest, who will appoint chairman for them, who appoints secretary for them. But a situation where the board of every club in Nigeria is appointed by the government, that doesn’t go well. That is not in conformity with FIFA regulation and because in most cases club chairmen are politicized as they are appointed by the government that funds them. Well, it’s not funny. There is another section of the FIFA regulation that says that members of any football body must be democratically elected or appointed by a higher body and must have a registered office. Which club in Nigeria answers those name and that is where the problem starts from.

Summarily, what are your expectations for the incoming president?

Well I have my hope that he will do it well because, I am being sentimental and personal here, in 1998 when I took Nigeria to African Cup of Nations he sent a personal message to me which shows that he wanted something good for football. That again reminds me that when he gets in there he will do something good for sports development. Well sports development is not just for competitions and that’s. one major mistake we make in our sports especially football. We organize competition for the sake of competitions whereas competitions are supposed to be used to assess the level of development in sports.

Now we abandoned development and organizing competitions to assess sports.

Competitions in football are like examinations in schools. Why does a teacher set up an examination. He wants to know the level of what the students have learnt in what he has taught them.

That is the purpose of competition in sport. Even the competitions we re running and taking part in , we don’t even have a system that will allow us to assess how we are performing. There is a difference between performance and result.

And I put it in this form, it’s not every time you worked hard that you achieve the desired result and vice versa, but there must be a system that will allow him to assess their level of assimilation. Well I wish Nigeria the best of luck!

Igboka laments exodus of Anambra athletes A NAMBRA State athletics coach, Jonny Igboka has lamented the continued exodus of the State’s athletes to compete for other states during national competitions.

Igboka, was speaking in Awka stated that athletes poaching was one of the major challenges to growth of sports in the state, which is regarded as a breeding ground for budding athletes.

The coach said that the Anambra would have be topping athletics medals table in all national competitions due to the fact that Anambra is a catchment area for the sport. He called on the State government as a

matter of priority look into the possibility of supporting the Anambra athletes, to stem the exodus.

Igboka who is also a national coach, said two of the state’s athletes, Grace Anigbata and John Olisakwe who competed for another state jointly won three gold for that particular state during the last national under-20 D.K Olukoya championships in Lagos.

“One of the major challenges encountered before and during the competition was athletes’ migration to other states, including Delta,” he said.

He recommended payment of incentives like payment of monthly stipends to unemployed

athletes as well as engagement of more qualified coaches to arrest the slide.

Meanwhile, one of the defector athletes, Anigbata has apologised to the Anambra government in a letter for dumping the state for Delta in Lagos.”Please sir, accept my sincere apology for neglecting and disappointing Anambra at the just concluded D.K. Olukoya national youth championship where I competed for Delta state,” she said.

It will be recalled that Tony Nnacheta, Commissioner for sports in Anambra had promised sports lovers in the state that no fewer than 66selfexiled athletes would be made to return to the state.

Catch Them Young... 13-year-old Peace Ihuoma Nwaogu won a triple 200m, 400m, 1500m gold at the inter house sports competition organised by Dorcas Memorial College Awodi-Ora Lagos

SUNDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 5, 2015 PAGE 63

Unstable football administration affects our game — Onazi S

UPER Eagles midfielder, Ogenyi Onazi has argued that the endless drama at the Nigeria Football Federation concerning administration and technical matters was disrupting the progresses of the national team.

Ogenyi, stated that the recent performances of the team could be traced to the delay in appointing a coach for the Super Eagles pointing out that it was the reason Nigeria failed to qualify for the African Nations Cup 2015.

“We should have consolidated on our Nations Cup success and the World Cup run, but we failed to capitalise on the positives. If things are stable on and off the pitch, we can fly high.

“If we play every game with zeal, collective dedication and team work I am sure we will return to the summit of African football. It is easy to talk, but first we must put our house in order and perform on the pitch,” Ogenyi said in

Enyimba Continued from b/page Smouha will bank on the support of their ever loyal and vociferous fans which is a plus for them going into this fixture. But Enyimba are not new to this competition and know what to expect in Egypt today.

The two-time champions easily dispatched Buffles du Borgu of Benin 4-0 on aggregate in the earlier round. They will be banking on rock solid Chinedu Udoji to marshal the backline while also needing the expertise of Kingsley Sokari - who also stars for the country’s U23 side, the Dream Team Raphael Boumsong, Chinonso Okonkwo, Idris Aloma, Andrew Abalogu, and a host of others to lead them to safety.

Enyimba’s technical adviser, Kadiri Ikhana, who led the team to their first triumph in 2003 is well

an interview.

The Super Eagles have failed to win a single match since drawing 22 with South Africa during the 2015 AFCON qualifiers in Uyo. At that time, coach Stephen Keshi was out of contract and it was taking the NFF a long time to get things sorted out. Up till last weekend the Eagles still without a substantive coach, lost to Uganda 1-0 in the Uyo and in the follow up match against the Bafana Bafana in South Africa, the Eagles conceded in the dying minutes after taking a precious lead in the second half.

CONCENTRATION... Ogenyi Onazi in action for the Super Eagles. He wants a near perfect Nigeria Football Federation for the national team to thrive.

Osaze is fast recovering, says Stoke coach

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•Osaze armed with knowledge of the terrain. He will no doubt prepare his players adequately for the intimidating and turbo charged atmosphere they will be in on Sunday.

Even though the match is too close to call and the end of ninety minutes will tell who progresses to the next round, I still put my money on Enyimba to make us proud.

TOKE City coach Mark Hughes is confident that Peter Odemwingie will soon be available for selection again after a spell on the sidelines due to injury.

The 33-year-old has not made a competitive appearance for the Potters since being stretchered out of a 1-0 win at Manchester City in late August with knee ligament damage.

However, Hughes believes the Nigeria international will soon be able to resume squad training and take the next step in his recovery.

“Hopefully in the next two to three weeks we may well see him back in the group,” Hughes told Stokesentinel.co.uk “If he’s back in the group then you’re

Pillars Continued from b/page yesterday.

TheMoroccansprovedthat they meant business when in the 33rd minute Mouchine Iajour, who scored a hat-trick in the first encounter, registered the first goal.

However, Pillars drew level after61minutesthroughTony Edjomareigwe.

The home team scored again a minute from full time through Rabiu Ali, who

dribbled his way into the box before he fired home.

But it was too little, too late as Pillars needed to score six more goals to advance to the second round of the competition.

Pillars were also eliminated from the tournament last year in the preliminary round by AS Vita of DR Congo. Vita Club won the first leg 3-1, but lost 2-1 in Kano to the Nigerian club.

looking at another couple of weeks before he’s available for selection.

“He’s as close as he

been to returning and we’re encouraged by that.”

Odemwingie scored five goals as he sparked Stoke’s surge up the

table in the second half of last season after joining from Cardiff in a swap deal involving Kenwyne Jones.

Messi fit to face Celta Vigo

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ARCELONA striker Lionel Messi is fit to play against Celta de Vigo today, despite being absent from Argentina’s last two friendlies against El Salvador and Ecuador due to an injured foot.

But speaking to the press on Saturday, Barcelona coach Luis Enrique said that the star striker will be on the pitch on Sunday: “Blows happen and

Leo Messi gets a lot of them in every match.

Most of them don’t go any further than that but of course it can happen.

From what we’ve seen in training he’s perfectly fit, in perfect condition.

Players are used to this and Leo and the rest of the strikers know that it’s a part of their career in football.”

Messi is the top goal scorer in the Spanish La

•Messi Liga, and Barcelona on top with 68 points, four ahead of arch rivals Real Madrid.

Amosun storms Ogun Federation Cup final

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GUN State Governor,Senator Ibikunle Amosun is expected to grace the Ogun State Federation Cup final billed for today at the MKO Abiola Stadium, Kuto, Abeokuta.

Amosun who is the governorship candidate of the All Progressive Party, APC, will take the traditional kick-off at 4pm to signal the commencement of hostilities in the final match of the 2015 Oguin

State Federation Cup between Gateway United and Remo Stars.

Chairman of the Ogun State Football Association, Alhaji Ganiu Majekodunmi, confirmed that Governor Amosun will also be on hand to present prizes, medals and trophies and will be assisted by other top government officials.

A minute silence will be observed before the start of the final match in honour of the former Ogun FA Chairman, Pa

Joseph Akanbi Adeola who died on the 19th of last month at the age of 7 6 .

A former Technical Director of the Nigeria Football Federation, Dr Kashimawo Laloko who recently turned 70 will also be honoured during the third-place match which starts at 2pm between Indomie FC of Ota and Wusu FC of Idiroko for his immense contribution to football development in Ogun state in particular and Nigeria in general.

SUNDAY Vanguard, APRIL 5, 2015

Enyimba seek glory in Alexandria E

in the second leg, first round of the CAF Champions League. Smouha is a relatively unknown

NYIMBA Football Club of Aba will be guests to Smouha SC at the Egyptian port city of Alexandria in the

club in the continent’s premier club competition.

In the first leg played in Aba, the commercial hub

Invite Iheanacho, others to Eagles — Nwankwo E

X-Nigerian interna tional, Kanu Nwankwo has urged the Nigeria Football Federation to promote Flying Eagles’ Kelechi Iheanacho and his colleagues that gave Nigeria the 4th FIFA U17 world cup at the United Arab Emirate in 2013 to the senior national team.

The Manu Garba-led side also clinch the African U20 Youth Championship in March and picked a world cup ticket as the African champions in staging at New Zealand in May. Kanu said that Kelechi and Musa Yahaya have proven that they can function well in the Super Eagles haven’t been invited to camp by Stephen Keshi in a friendly game but Kanu insists its not out of place to extend regular invitations to the youngsters.

The 2-time former African footballer of the year joined the Super Eagles in 1994 as an 18 year-old pretty much the same age of the same players whose cases he’s taken up.

“Kelechi Iheanacho should be in the national team by now and I hope the Coach will give him as well as Nwakali and other players from the U20 team their chance with the Eagles.

“When you bring them into the squad now they stand the chance of learning a lot from the Senior players than leaving them out.

Continues on page 63

Pillars crumble under Moghreb weight Kano Pillars beat Moroccan side Moghreb Tetouan 2-1 at home, in the second leg of the CAF Champions League, the Nigerian champions crashed out on a 5-2 aggregate score.

Pillars lost the first leg 4-0 and they will have themselves to blame for the myriads of scoring chances which they squandered at the Sanni Abacha Stadium in Kano

UNSTOPPABLE: Arsenal forward, Oliver Giroud beats Liverpool defender, Kolo Toure in an aerial battle. Arsenal won 4-1 to move to second spot in the table.

“These players have great talent and it’ll will do us more good if we can introduce them already,” Kanu Nwankwo explained.

A

RSENAL registered a 4-1 win over Liverpool at the Emirates Stadium yesterday and moved to the second spot

1

DOWN 1.Sleeping vision (5) 2.Possessor (5) 3.Tax (4) 4.Depressing (9) 5.Argentinian dance (5) 6.Wash lightly (5) 11.Greek letter (3) 12.Distress call (1-1-1) 14.English boy’s name (5) 16.Obstacle (3) 17.Bovine animal (3) 18.Mindfulness (9) 19.Alarm (5) 21.Help (3) 23.Village house (3) 25.Gnome (3) 26.Vast age (3) 27.Condescend (5) 28.Youthful (5) 31.Circular (5) 32.Trades (5) 34.Old Russian King (4)

Continues on page 63

Blazing Gunners wallop Liverpool 4-1

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1.Nobel-winning Archbishop (7-4) 5.Sailor (3) 7.Consumed (5) 8.Domesticates (5) 9.Ovum (3) 10.Electricity counting gadgets (6) 13.Highlander (4) 15.Poem (3) 17.One that contests (9) 20.Nigerian tribe (5) 22.Cereal (5) 24.Demoted (9) 27.Pig’s pen (3) 29.No one (4) 30.Sulks (6) 33.Away (3) 35.Presses (5) 36.Till (5) 37. Swine (3) 38. “The Man Who Saw Tomorrow” (11)

of southeastern Nigeria, inside a capacity packed stadium, Enyimba narrowly edged the North Africans who were only content with sitting at the back and soaking The Elephant’s relentless pressure.

It took the brilliance of Enyimba’s Cameroonian forward, Raphael Boumsong, to unlock the North African defence, sending the edgy but cheering Enyimba fans into ecstasy.

The return fixture is expected to throw up a different challenge and the Nigerian giants are expected to be at their best on the night to contain and decode the tricky pace and play of the Egyptians who will be firing on all cylinders with a view to cancelling the deficit incurred three weeks before.

2

3

7

in the English Premier League table.

Hector Bellerin gave Arsenal the lead in the 37th minute. Three minutes later, Mesut Ozil scored from a free kick before Alexis Sanchez scored the third goal to see Arsenal open a three goal lead before the break.

In the 76th, Jordan Henderson pulled one back for the visitors 4 5 6 before Olivier Giroud restored Arsenal’s three goal cushion in

8

RESULTS

9 10 11

12

17

18

22 23

27

13 14

19

20

24

28

25

29

33

15 16

37

26

30 31 34

35

21

36

EPL Arsenal Everton Leicester Man Utd Swansea West Brom Chelsea

4 1 2 3 3 1 2

Liverpool Southampton West Ham Aston Villa Hull City QPR Stoke

1 0 1 1 1 4 1

32

TODAY’S MATCHES EPL Burnley v Tottenham 1:30pm Sunderlandv Newcastle 4:00pm

38

See solution on page 49

CAF championship league Smouha FCv Enyimba 5:00pm

stoppage time.

Bellerin raced on to Ramsey ’s pass, shimmied his way past two men in the area and curled a left-footed strike into the bottom corner to give Arsenal the lead in the 37th minute. Arsenal were awarded a freekick after Santi Cazorla was fouled in the 40th minute and Ozil curled home a sublime free kick from 20 yards.

At the stroke of half time, Sanchez then gave The Gunners a three goal advantage after an Aaron Ramsey pass found him.

Goalscorer Bellerin then gave away a penalty to Liverpool in the 76th minute when he tripped Raheem Sterling inside the box and Jordan Henderson gave Liverpool a lifeline from the spot.

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