2015 RESIDENCY: PDP Plots consensus ticket for Jonathan

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 61939

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ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

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MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

Godogodo, bigger than Shina Rambo •P.6 — Police 2015 PRESIDENCY:

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PDP plots consensus ticket for Jonathan

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR, CLIFFORD NDUJIHE & HENRY UMORU

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•Atiku kicks; S-South leaders endorse president

AGOS—LEADING officials of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, are in fresh moves to push President Goodluck Jonathan through a rancour-free contest for the party ’s ticket for the 2015 presidential election.

The party apparatchik Continues on page 5

•P.17

COLUMNISTS:

DELE SOBOWALE •P.39

LES LEBA •P.40

OCHEREOME NNANNA•P.48

Mr & Mrs

ANENIH @ 80—

President Goodluck Jonathan flanked by the First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan (2r) and Cardinal John Onaiyekan while the Senate President, Senator David Mark (r); Chairman PDP Board of Trustees, Chief Tony Anenih and his wife, Mrs. Anenih (l) watch after a Holy Mass celebrated to mark Chief Anenih's 80th birthday at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, Pro-Cathedral, Area 3, Garki, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida. More pictures on Page 14.

NPAN in Appeal Court over APCON's Advertising Code 8 C M Y K

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Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013—5

POCKET CARTOON

LESSER HAJJ —Vice President Namadi Sambo being received by Saudi Arabia protocol officer, Khaled Al-Abad at the King Abdul-aziz International Airport, Jeddah on his way to commence the process of Umrah or Lesser Hajj. With them is Nigeria's Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Amb. Abubakar Shehu Shuni (centre).

2015: PDP plots consensus ticket for Jonathan Continues from page 1 that had earlier proposed the adoption of a right of first refusal for

the president and governors are now proposing a double-phased convention to accommo-

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

There is a seed of greatness in every individual, it takes patience to discover this seed; to plant and nurture it into greatness require great patience.

Mixed with sacrifice and discipline it becomes truly outstanding.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

The people who get on in this world are the people who get up and look for the circumstances they want, and if they can’t find them, make them — Bernard Shaw

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WO men fell on hard times. Try as they might, they couldn’t find work. They heard that a museum was willing to pay $50 apiece for live rattlesnakes so, in desperation, they decided to catch snakes.

Outfitted with a net and basket, they hiked to a remote area renowned for its large snake population. But as they scaled a steep ledge, rock gave way and they tumbled down a slippery bank into a deep pit crawling with rattlesnakes.

One of the men quickly sized up the situation and shouted to his friend, “Look! We’re rich! We’re rich!”

I find this story hilarious but it is a very good principle to illustrate the intensity of seeing only the possibilities in all situations. Maybe the feller in the snake pit didn’t fully appreciate his predicament. But in most situations, I believe there is a sunny side.

Steve Goodier puts it beautifully: “I’ve learned that my greatest power may well be my power to choose my outlook.” As Abraham Lincoln wisely said, “most people are about as happy as they make up their minds to be.” The truth is, I can choose to view tough times as growing times, I can choose to see life challenges as seasoning for unfoldment, and I can choose to focus on whatever good there is to be found in living.

date the concerns of party members aggrieved at the earlier proposal of the right of first refusal.

Among those in strong opposition to the right of first refusal are some two-term governors from the North and former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakar.

Suggestive of his perceptions of the alleged moves to turn the scale in the president’s favour, Atiku has written the National Chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur over his exclusion from the Adamawa State delegates list for the party’s mini convention. He said it could be part of a plot to push him out of the party.

In the new move being pushed by party leaders, President Jonathan and first term governors desiring a second term would be considered for a referendum on their achievements in the first term before a party convention. As part of the referendum, delegates to the party convention would be asked to affirm a yea or nay on the president’s performance upon which he would be adopted as the party’s consensus candidate.

Should the president

fail to get a majority in the referendum, a second convention would be called within one month in which all interested presidential aspirants in the party would be subjected to a contest that would also include the president as a candidate.

The right of first refusal for the president in 2015 was first openly canvassed by the chairman of the party’s Board of Trustees, Chief Anthony Anenih last May at a meeting of PDP SouthSouth chieftains in Asaba, Delta State.

“I do not see anything wrong, if the PDP considers automatic tickets for the President and its governors who have performed well and are seeking for a second term,” Anenih had said at that meeting.

The proposal immediately ran into a storm with Northern stakeholders, including Atiku, raising objections. This led to the fresh proposal.

Anenih, it was learnt, is equally supportive of the fresh amendment and is vigorously pushing it.

In line with that fresh push, Anenih and senior presidency officials are pushing Federal Government officials to vigorously sell the achievements of the Jonathan administration in various sectors.

Towards this end, the administration would in few weeks commence a media blitz of the achievements of the Jonathan administration to sell the performance of the government.

Atiku protests, writes Tukur Meanwhile, Atiku has written Tukur on his non-inclusion in the list of delegates for the party ’s forthcoming convention.

In the letter dated July 11, 2013 obtained by Vanguard, Atiku said he had waited without a response from the party on his reported exclusion despite its publication by a national daily.

“After waiting for a public statement from the party, correcting or refuting the abnormality in vain, I decided to draw your attention to this mistake. You may recall, Mr. Chairman, that section 8, sub section 8 (b) of the consti-

tution of the Peoples Democratic Party, 2012 as amended, states that “a person who desires to rejoin the party after leaving it, unless given a waiver by the National Executive Committee (NEC) of our Party, be placed on probation for a period of not less than one year.”

Noting the approval the NEC gave him on September 15, 2010 to rejoin the party and upon which he contested the 2011 presidential primary, Atiku said: ”It is in this regard, that I consider the omission of my name as a mistake since it contradicts Section 32 sub section 1 (a) of our Party constitution which states that the Board of Trustees members of our Party shall consist of “all past and serving Presidents and Vice Presidents of the Federal Republic of Nigeria who held or hold the respective posts as members of the Party and who are still members of the Party.

"As a bonafide member of our party, I look forward to the respect and privileges conferred on the office of the Vice President and founding fathers of the party by our party constitution. I, therefore, request for a correction and restitution of my right to attend the forthcoming special national convention of our great party and also membership of the Board of Trustees.”

Atiku’s associates, it was learnt, are working on the theory that the exclusion from the delegates list for Adamawa State may be part of a plot to exclude him from the presidential contest.

South-South leaders endorse Jonathan Meanwhile, elder statesman and Ijaw

leader, Chief Edwin Clark and some SouthSouth leaders, weekend, advanced quantum achievements by Jonathan since he came to power as why he should go for a second term.

Besides the achievements in various sectors, they said the president had carried on as a detribalized Nigerian without favouritism or subverting the Nigerian constitution for any sectional interest.

The leaders, who included Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; former Minister of State (Education), Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi; former Presidential Spokesman, Olorogun Ima Niboro; Urhobo Leader, Chief Ighoyota Amori among others, spoke at a rally held at Sapele Athletics Club, Sapele, Delta State.

The rally was organized by Gbagi to unite the Urhobo nation in Delta Central Senatorial District and mobilize support for President Jonathan’s transformation agenda.

Clark, who was represented by Chief Godwin Ogbetuo, Chairman, Delta Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders Forum, urged the North to back Jonathan’s re-election in view of past political alliances between the South-South and the North.

“Considering the good political alliance between the South-South and the core North in the pre-independence constitutional conferences also in the First and Second republics, supporting the SouthSouth aspiration in President Jonathan come 2015 is like payback time for the support of the region for the North in the past,” Clark said."

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

Osun Police probe attempted defilement of 4-yr-old girl

Godogodo bigger than Shina Rambo —Police

BY IFEANYI OKOLIE

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

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SOGBO —THE Osun State Commissioner of Police, Mrs Dorothy Gimba, has ordered an investigations into the case of attempted defilement of a four-year-old girl by one Lateef Olateju, a barber, at Yemoja area in IdoOsun, Egbedore Local Government Area of the state.

The commissioner also directed the family unit of the state Police command to ensure proper medical care for the victim, a pupil of Ibiyemi pre-primary school in IdoOsun.

It was gathered that Olateju had attempted to defile girl at his barbing salon on August 2, this year before one Obisesan Gbolahan caught him and reported the matter at Dada Estate Police Station in Osogbo.

The suspect, however, escaped from the scene of the incident and his whereabouts could not be ascertained at press time.

The victim was handed over to the police and the development prompted the state Commissioner of Police to order detectives in the command to ensure the arrest of the suspect. She also directed that the victims be given adequate medical attention.

Man, 42, docked over N1m kerosene fraud

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BADAN — A 42-YEAROLD suspected fraudster, Gbolahan Bolarinde, has been arraigned before an Ibadan Chief Magistrates’ Court sitting at Iyaganku for allegedly defrauding a kerosene dealer of N1 million.

The prosecutor, Inspector Aliu Samad, said the defendant was arraigned on a three-count charge of conspiracy, obtaining money under false pretence and stealing.

He alleged that Bolarinde committed the crime on May 15 at Olosan-Alakia area of Ibadan.

Samad said the defendant, with one other person now at large, fraudulently acquired the sum from one Madam Jumoke Babalola with the agreement to supply her 10,000 litres of kerosene.

The defendant subsequently vanished until he was apprehended.

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AGOS — THE Police High Command, weekend, said that South West robbery czar, Abiodun Ogunjobi, aka Gododogo, who was nabbed last week after a massive manhunt was a bigger threat than the famed Shina Rambo. The police said Godogodo reigned in the underworld for at least 14 years.

His notoriety was such that some governors have called the police high command to hand over the underworld king to them so that they can re-assure their people that Godogodo has actually been arrested.

Vanguard gathered that the six police commands including Lagos are currently clamouring to interrogate the suspect who has terrorized the region for over 14 years, killing more than 50 policemen and many other civilians.

Police sources told Vanguard that Commissioners of Police from these states who have lost policemen and rifles to this deadly robber were seeking to have him paraded in their states to restore public confidence in the police.

A police source disclosed that activities in one of the banks raided by Godogodo and his gang last year, leading to the death of unspecific number of people are yet to resume.

“They all want to have a time with the notorious armed robber. They are all victims of his escapade and they all want to interrogate him to know how he coordinated some of these operations.”

death of scores of policemen and civilians in the 90s.

According to the source, “we did not make it public because of the need not to frighten the people. But any top police officer will tell you that he was bigger that Shina Rambo. Was it the number of policemen he killed, the businesses he raided? He was the top man.

“He became prominent because of his access to arms.

They operate in syndicates. For

instance, in the Ajah zone, there was Saheed who looked out for targets. In this same zone, there was Omoba who had a six-man gang. When they identify a target and feel that it's huge, they would invite Godogodo who would storm the place with his superior arsenal.

They operated like that in every part of the region.

“However, before he was caught we had depleted his men. Some of them like AY,

"These people believe in sorcery and charms. They are usually emboldened by their charms. Initially, we assumed they lived outside the country but gradually we started putting some of the evidence together which led to their arrest.

"What also struck us was that they operated on weekends. We still don’t know why. These guys were deadly.”

Asked why they have decided to take him to some South-West states, the police top shot said he doubted if he would be alive for such parade.

He said: “Godogodo was in pretty bad shape when I saw him. I don’t think he will be alive for such exercise except the doctors perform a miracle.”

BY TONY EDIKE

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Abiodun Ogunjobi, aka Gododogo

Godogodo bigger than Shina Rambo —Police Explaining how big he was in the underworld, a top police officer said he was bigger than Shina Rambo, who shot to public consciousness with his daring raids that led to the

Sorcery and charms

Man ambushed, set ablaze in Enugu

Governor orders intensive treatment of suspect Meanwhile, Vanguard also gathered that a South West Governor has ordered an intensive treatment of the suspect who was injured from bullet fired at him during his arrest in Egbeda area of Ibadan, Oyo State.

Sources said Godogodo was rushed to the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, last Thursday. He was bleeding from injuries he sustained during his arrest.

Seye, Omoba and Saheed had been arrested. We killed people like AY and Paul.

Some of the vehicles smashed during Army, Okada riders' clash in Abuja, yesterday. Photos: Gbemiga Olamikan.

NUGU —THE Enugu State Police Command said it has commenced investigations into the alleged ambush and murder of one Sunday Ugwoke at Akpa Edem in Nsukka Local Government Area of the state, Saturday.

The state Police Pubic Relations Officer, Mr. Ebere Amaraizu, who made this known in Enugu, yesterday, said the command was determined to unravel the circumstances surrounding the murder of the man.

He said the victim identified as Sylvester Ezema was at about 5.30am Saturday “ambushed by a man later identified as one Sunday Ugwoke who allegedly poured petrol on the victim and set him on fire.”

According to the police spokesman, the victim was rushed by sympathizers to Chukwudi Hospital Nsukka for medical attention but he was later confirmed dead by the doctor.

Meanwhile, the corpse of the victim had been deposited at Bishop Shanahan Specialist Hospital Mortuary, Nsukka for post mortem examination.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013—7

BY HENRY UMORU

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BUJA—P R E S I D E N T Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, urged political leaders, stakeholders and elders to stop making provocative statements capable of dividing the country, stressing the need for statements that will build Nigeria.

He spoke at the reception held in honour of Chairman, Board of Trustees, BoT, of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Tony Anenih, who marked his 80th birthday, at the International Conference Centre, Abuja.

President Jonathan said it was unfortunate that some highly inflammable statements were coming from elders, who witnessed the Civil War. He said: “That’s why I use this opportunity of celebration to plead with our elders to sing the song of unity in this country.”

President Jonathan, who described Anenih as a leader that had remained very relevant in the political landscape, said: “To pass through one winter is a tug of war, to cross 80, is worth celebrating.

“80 years of bad health is like punishment to the body. For all the period I have known Anenih, he has been very vibrant.”

He noted that it was not easy for the political icon to have remained relevant all these years, saying “to be relevant politically for all these years, is not easy. It is not easy for a politician to stay on top for a long time.

“I see something in him which is a little advice I will give to all us. Tony Anenih has shown that he is a nationalist. He has not shown that he belongs to one tribe, or one religion.

“So in spite of the challenges of politics, the unpredictable political environment, he continues to stand tall.”

Anenih weeps

Meanwhile, Chief Tony Anenih, broke down yesterday and wept while acknowledging the presence of Hajia Binta Yar’Adua, wife of late General Shehu Yar’Adua.

He sued for peace, saying governance was one person after the other, adding that if Nigeria’s past leaders and elders can genuinely advise President Jonathan, there would be peace in the country and the Boko Haram will be a thing of the past.

He said: “If you look round, you will know that Nigeria is here.

We must forget the past and move forward. I was thrilled when I saw former President Olusegun Obasanjo in the Church today.

For him to be here is to me forgiveness.

“I want to appeal to IBB, Abdusalami, Danjuma, Obasanjo that Nigeria needs peace. If they can give us peace and Jonathan is genuinely advised, he will move forward; if these men come together and advise Jonathan, Boko Haram will die.

“Nigeria is turn-by-turn. We should wait for our time.

Jonathan is there now, it will get

VISIT: From left— Mr. Abiodun Olalere, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Osun State Broadcasting Corporation Chapel; Mr. Femi Adesina, President, Nigerian Guild of Editors; Mr. Waheed Odusile, NUJ National Trustee, and Mr. Jimoh Babatunde of Vanguard Newspaper, at the Accident and Emergency Unit of Ladoke Akintola University of Technology, LAUTECH, for victims and survivors of the accident involving some journalists. PHOTO: Dare Fasube.

Jonathan asks politicians, elders to stop provocative utterances to another person; we should talk less.

“Let us put our hands behind the President. Time flies.

Today he is the one, tomorrow it will be your turn.’’

Cardinal Onaiyekan preaches charity

Earlier at the thanksgiving mass, which took place at our Lady Queen of Nigeria ProCathedral, Area 3, the Catholic Archbishop of Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan called on politicians to remember the poor in their daily activities.

Onaiyekan, who challenged politicians in the country to imbibe the true virtue of selfless service in their lead-

ership roles, said that what Nigerians need was peace and prosperity.

The Cardinal, who noted that most Nigerians were currently amassing wealth, which they do not really need, reminded everyone that life and the world itself were vanity.

Preaching from Ecclesiastes 1:2, 2:21-23, the cleric said: “It is foolish to store up treasure for one to be rich in the sight of God. Greed is same as worshiping other gods.

“Those who pursue political power with the intention of honouring God and improving the lives of others are doing His will.

As we celebrate Anenih at 80, let us also make our other brothers to see reasons and cause to cel-

ebrate.’’

He’s a father — Oshiomhole

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, who was at the service, told journalists that he was there to honour Chief Anenih, whom he described as a father to all, adding that his culture demands that elders must be respected.

Oshiomhole said: “Politics aside, he is our elder. At 80, he is a father of all of us. It does not matter that we disagree on some issues.

“Some of us may not believe in his party, but after politics there is life. In our culture, we respect our elders. I wish him well.”

Governor Godswill Akpabio, who spoke on behalf of governors of PDP,

hailed Anenih at 80, stressing that with Nigerians present in the hall including former presidents, heads of state, retired Chief Justices, among others, the BoT Chairman’s birthday could be used to discuss the unity of Nigeria and address all the problems in the country.

Abubakar speaks

Former Head of State, General Abdusalami Abubakar, who said he does not belong to any political party, said he first met the elder statesman in 1964 in Agbor.

Former Vice President, Alex Ekwueme, presented a card on behalf of members of the BoT to mark and welcomed him to the club of the octogenarians.

Death of journalists: Govs, Tambuwal, Sultan, others condole NUJ

BY OUR CORRESPONDENTS

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B U J A — S E N AT E President, David Mark, yesterday, sent a condolence message to the President and members of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, over the death of three journalists in a motor accident in Ilesa, Osun State, Friday.

This came as Governors Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, Adams Oshiomhole of Edo and Abdulfatai Ahmed of Kwara, as well as other Nigerians and groups, yesterday, commiserated with NUJ, over the deaths.

Also, Speaker of the House of Representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, National Union of Textile,

Garments and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria and Bayelsa State Council of NUJ, sent condolence messages.

In a condolence message to the President of the NUJ, Mallam Garba Mohammed, in Abuja, through his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, Mark lamented that the journalists were cut down in their prime.

He said: “I received with shock and sadness the death of your colleagues through a ghastly motor accident in Ilesa, Osun State. This is unfortunate.

“I share in this pain and earnestly identify with you in this moment of grief. Please accept my condolence on behalf of the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”

Ten other members of the union involved the accident which took place along Ilesa-Ife-Ibadan

Expressway, sustained various degrees of injury. While four of them are under intensive medical care in Lagos and Ibadan, six have been discharged from the hospitals.

The accident claimed the lives of Adolphus Okonkwo of the Voice of Nigeria, and former Secretary of Lagos council of NUJ; Olatunde Oluwanike of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, and Kafayat Odunsi of Nigeria Television Authority, Ikeja, Lagos.

Fatimah Abdulkareem, the National Treasurer of NUJ and chairman of Oyo; chairman and secretary of Lagos State Council, Deji Elumoye and Sylva Okereke, and Gbenga Opadokun are under intensive medical care. They were returning from Abuja after an official engagement.

In his condolence message, Governor Fashola of Lagos State, through Special Adviser on Media, Mr Hakeem Bello, expressed regret

that the journalists lost their lives in the course of promoting the interest of their profession.

Oshiomhole, in a condolence message by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Peter Okhiria, said: “I had met the late Adolphus Okonkwo at the Constitution Review conference of the NUJ held in Benin in 2011 and from my interactions with him, he came across as a dedicated, dutiful and thoroughbred professional who knew his onions. I have no doubt that the other victims, Olatunde Oluwanike and Kafayat Odunsi, were no doubt eminent journalists in whom their colleagues reposed great confidence thus electing them as their representatives. I commiserate with the President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, and the other entire media professionon this unfortunate

Continues on Page 45

8—Vanguard , MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

Shell moves to buy Chevron oil blocs

BY UDUMA KALU, with agency reports

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IL giant, the Royal Dutch Shell Plc has notified the Nigerian government that it would like to buy some of U.S. firm, Chevron Nigeria's licences.

A report by the USbased Wall Street Journal, WSJ, filed from London, weekend, quoted an unnamed senior Nigerian government official.

The paper said it would be a rare acquisition by an international energy company in Nigeria, where oil companies have in recent years generally exited acreage amid mounting security risks.

It could also herald Shell’s exit from longdormant oil assets in the Ogoniland region, where strident local opposition to its presence has prevented the company from producing oil since the 1990s.

The paper said buying Chevron’s blocs would effectively allow Shell to reduce its presence in the more challenging areas, while retaining enough assets to feed Shell’s existing pipelines.

Blocs OML 13 and 16 lie in Ogoniland, where opposition, following the execution of environment campaigner Ken Saro-Wiwa in 1995, has played a large part in preventing the company from resuming production.

Shell has already sold off other assets in the Niger Delta, where it has maintained the longest presence of any foreign oil company.

Last year, Shell agreed

VISIT: From left— Mr. Maryoud Elsunni, Executive Director, Engineering and Operations; Engr. Abdulahi Sule, Managing Director/CEO, both of Dangote Sugar Refinery Plc, and Olusegun Aganga, Minister of Trade and Investment, during the minister's visit to the refinery in Apapa, Lagos. PHOTO: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

NPAN in Appeal Court over APCON's Advertising Code

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

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EWSPAPERS Proprietors Association of Nigeria, NPAN, has urged the Court of Appeal sitting in Lagos to restrain the Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, APCON, from implementing the advertising code, which empowers it to vet and approve adverts before publication by print media in the country.

Joined as co-respondent in the motion on notice by NPAN against the ruling of a Federal High Court was the Inspector-General of Police.

The Motion on Notice is brought pursuant to Order 4 Rules 10 & 11 and Order 7 Rule 4 of the Court of Appeal Rules, 2011, filed by NPAN’s counsel, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo (SAN).

NPAN is praying the court to restrain the respondents,

whether by themselves, privy or servants “from continuing to rely on Article 21 of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and Sales Promotion or any other related enactment to threaten, coerce, solicit, persuade or interfere with the rights of members of the applicant to publish advertisements, pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.”

It also urged the court to restrain the respondents from continuing to rely on Article 21 of the said code and any other related enactment “to insist or otherwise compel the applicant’s members to submit their advertisements for vetting and approval by the 1st respondent (APCON) pending the hearing and determination of this appeal against the decision of the Federal High Court delivered in suit No. FHC/ L/CS/1067/12, in which the

constitutionality of the article formed the subject matter.”

Grounds of appeal

The appellant hinged its motion on the grounds that the constitutionality of Article 21 of the Nigerian Code of Advertising Practice and Sales Promotion is the res (subject matter) at the lower court against which they were appealing and that implementing the offending law will foist a fait accompli on the decision of the appellate court.

It also argued that permitting APCON to implement the law will tamper with the res of the appeal as well as denying the court to be “the master of proceedings in this appeal.”

In its 23-paragraph affidavit in support of the motion, the 24-members body averred that “the subject

Kano bombings: Nigeria belongs to all— Makinde

BY SAM EYOBOKA

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RELATE, Methodist Church Nigeria, His Eminence Sunday Ola Makinde, yesterday, joined the league of eminent Nigerians who are displeased by the recent multiple bomb blasts in Kano, which killed 15 innocent civilians.

Makinde, in a statement by the church’s Media and Public Relations Officer, Rev. Oladapo Daramola, said the sustained acts of terror being carried out against innocent people, espe-

cially Christians is “barbaric, evil and is the utmost disregard for humanity.”

He said: “Too many lives have been lost to these dastardly acts of terrorism and the perpetrators of these coordinated and sophisticated attacks obviously do not have any regard for the sanctity of human life.

“It becomes more troubling when one realises that they have continued to target predominantly Christian areas such as the Sabon Gari dis-

trict, dominated by ethnic Igbos from the South-East who are Christians.

“The nature of these attacks underscore the resolve of this group, which to me is nothing but to make life unbearable for those of the Christian faith and non-indigenes, who are of other extractions.

“This is, however, impossible because Nigeria belongs to all of us. Nobody under any guise has the right to trample on the right

to freedom of any other citizen of this country as enshrined in Nigeria's Constitution.

“This same place was attacked in March leaving about 25 people dead and here we are mourning another 20 innocent lives four months after.

“I am bewildered at the fact that it has been four years that this insurgency began and yet no one is in jail for participating in or masterminding these nefarious acts.”

matter of the suit in respect of which this appeal lies is inter-alia the constitutionality of Article 21 of the Nigeria Code of Advertising Practice, Sales and Promotion because Article 21 ultra vires the 1st Respondent (APCON).”

It stated further that the suit sought to determine whether Articles 21 and 137 of the Code are not inconsistent with the provisions of Section 39 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999.

APCON wrote Leadership, clients

It argued that despite the pendency of the appeal, APCON acting on the said law wrote a letter to the Leadership Newspaper, directing the appellant to “comply with the provisions of the said Articles 21 of the Code,” which is the subject of the appeal.

NPAN further claimed that APCON purportedly wrote to the clients of the Leadership Newspaper, “dissuading them from placing advertisements with the newspaper.”

It stated that unless the respondents, particularly APCON, are restrained, “they would most certainly compel the members of the applicant to comply with the provision of the Article the constitutionality of which the appellant is challenging in court.”

It added: “I verily believe that the conduct of the respondents, particularly the 1st respondent is a well calculated attempt to destroy the res of this appeal and thereby render the success of the appeal nugatory.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013—9

Girl-child marriage complete child abuse — Bishop Peace Okonkwo'

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

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CONFERENCE: From left, CEO, Steven Evans; Director, Business Segment, Lucas Dada, and Chief Finance Officer, Andrew Kemp, all of Etisalat Nigeria, during the Etisalat Mobile Assistant Press Conference, on Victoria Island, Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola, photo editor

'DEPORTATION': APC tells Obi to apologise

to Nigerians …. No, Fashola should apologise to Obi — APGA

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE AND OLASUNKANMI AKONI

AGOS — All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, accused Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, of threatening the country’s unity and whipping up tribal sentiment by sensationalising the recent ‘deportation’ of some indigenes of the state from Lagos.

The party in a statement by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, called on Obi to apologise to Nigerians, noting that only 14 Anambra indigenes were deported and not 72, as widely claimed.

But National Chairman of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Victor Umeh, in a reaction, said there was no basis for Obi to apologise to anyone, as he did not err in any way.

According to Umeh, “Why should Obi apologise to somebody, who did a wrong thing?

There is no law in Nigeria that empowers anybody to deport Nigerians from one part of the country to the other.

"What Babatunde Fashola did is illegal and unconstitutional.

Nigerians have the fundamental right to reside in any part of Nigeria. Instead of Obi apologising to Nigrians, Fashola should apologise to Obi.” APC in its statement, said Governor Obi should apologise to the people of Nigeria for allegedly engaging in a blatant distortion of facts, making himself an agent of destabilisation and sensationalising what it described as a routine issue he (Obi) wanted to give a certain political party a bad name just to hang it.

The party said: “We are not saying Obi has no right to play politics, but he must fight clean and avoid any action that could hurt not just the enduring harmony between the Igbo and the Yoruba, but also the unity of the country.

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"Resorting to primordial sentiments anytime election is approaching is Obi’s modus operandi. He did it just before the 2009 election, when he labelled the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN under which Dr. Chris Ngige contested as a Yoruba party, and he is going down the same path now.

"This is all about the November 2013 election. If Obi is sure of his performance, he should allow that to speak for him and stop whipping up tribal sentiments. ‘’It is very dishonourable for a political leader at the level of Obi to show total disregard for the truth and to whip up emotions for personal gains, as he has done on this issue. By his deliberate and blatant distortion of facts, as we will show shortly, Obi has raised a serious doubt about his leadership qualities. ‘’Equally guilty of indiscretion at best and deliberate peddling of falsehood at worst are the various ‘analysts’, ‘commentators’, out-of-luck NGOs and organisations that have jumped onto the bandwagon of bashing Lagos over the issue, mischievously tagged ‘deportation’ instead of what it is (home return for proper integration), when they could have sought the truth from the Lagos State Government. ’’Even some of the respectable Igbo socio-political organisations failed the simple test of fairness by not unearthing the truth before making pronouncements.

"Even if they do not trust the Lagos State Government, they could have, at least, inquired about what happened from their son, who is a ranking member of the cabinet of Lagos State.

Condemning Governor Obi’s action, APC continued: “There was an exchange of correspondence dated 9th, 15th and 29th April 2013 between the Lagos State Government and

Anambra State Government, through its Liaison Office in Lagos, about the ‘integration’ not ‘deportation’ of the 14 people.

"Anambra State Government did not respond to requests by Lagos State to come and validate/identify the people who claimed to have come from Anambra. Had it done so, this issue could have been better managed.

"Lagos State itself received notice from the Government of Akwa Ibom to come, identify and pick up two Lagos indigenes whom they picked up in a ‘lunatic clean up’ exercise in Uyo. Lagos responded promptly without making any noise about it."

“In December 2011, the same Anambra State Government that is now crying foul over the home return of Anambra indigenes, arrested and repatriated 29 beggars to their home states in Ebonyi, another Igbo State, and Akwa Ibom. Then it was conveniently not ‘deportation’ but ‘ repatriation’ and no tribal

meanings were read to such action.

"Also in 2011, Abia State Government sacked 3,000 non-indigenes (but fellow Igbo) from her workforce and asked them to go back to their respective states, yet not even a whimper was heard from all those who are now raising hell over the ‘’deportation’’ of 14 Anambra indigenes from Lagos. ’’If Obi’s logic is to be followed, then the government of Akwa Ibom, and the entire people of the state, harbour bad intentions toward Lagos State and the Yoruba by asking Lagos State to come and pick up two ‘vagrant psychotics’ identified as Lagosians who have been rehabilitated.

"Suffice it to say that these home returns have been going on for a long time among states, even within the same ethnic groups (as we pointed out above), and has never before elicited the kind of jaundiced interpretation that has been given to the return of 14 Anambra indigenes.’’

Health workers give minister ultimatum over NIC judgment BY: VICTORIA OJEME

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BUJA — HEALTH workers in the country, have given Health Minister, Prof.

Onyebuchi Chukwu, 21 days to implement the judgement of National Industrial Court, NIC, on the 2009 agreement they had with the Federal Government or face an industrial action.

Justice B.A. Adejumo of the NIC had ruled in favour of the workers, operating under the aegis of Joint Health Sector Union, JOHESU, on the implementation of the 2009 agreement but dismissed their prayers on the National Health Bill.

In a letter to the Minister of Health in Abuja, weekend,

JOHESU called on the minister to immediately commence the implementation of the NIC ruling within 21 days or risk a massive industrial action in the sector.

The letter entitled “Compliance and implementation of National Industrial Court of Nigeria, NICN, judgement in respect of suit No. NICN/ABJ/ 238/2012 delivered on Monday, July 22, 2013,” was signed by the JOHESU chairman, Dr. Ayuba Waba, and two others.

The letter read: “We urge your ministry to give life to the judgment by immediately complying with the ruling and decisions of the court within 21 days from the date of this letter."

AGOS — WIFE of Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, TREM, Bishop Peace Okonkwo, weekend, condemned the attempt by the National Assembly, especially the Senate, to legalise girlchild marriage, describing it as “complete child abuse and inhuman.”

Speaking during a One –Day Free Medical Fair organised by Women of Global Impact, WGI, in collaboration with the Lagos State Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, to screen at least 1,000 women for breast and cervical cancers among other health checks, Okonkwo queried, whether those championing for underage marriage could give out their girl-children at the age of 13 years.

Ex-Lagos commissioner,

Macaulay’s mum dies at 89

BY BASHIR ADEFAKA

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ADAM ESTHER Ibijoke Macaulay, former Lagos State Commissioner for Information and Culture, Mr. Adejumobi AdesolaMacaulay, is dead.

She died in Lagos, weekend, at 89, after a brief illness.

Madam Macaulay, who was a prominent old Northern Nigerian agricultural produce merchant beginning from the end of the Second World War, was survived by her only child, Adejumobi Macaulay, who held sway at the Ministry of Information and Culture under the administration of Brigadier-General Raji Rasaki as Military Governor of Lagos State.

According to a release, Adejumobi Macaulay, Madam Macaulay’s funeral rites had been scheduled to take off with a wake keep at the Chapel of Christ The Light, Central Business District, Alausa, Ikeja, Lagos on Wednesday August 7, 2013.

“Burial takes place on Thursday 8th of August, 2013 at Ikoyi Cemetary after a funeral service at Wesley (Methodist) Church, Obalende, Lagos.”

10 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

Osun plans 1,000 low cost houses

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

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SOGBO — OSUN State Government has declared that it will construct 1,000 low cost housing units as part of its urban renewal programme.

The low cost housing scheme which will cost the state government a sum of N2billion is aimed at cushioning the effect of clearing of illegal buildings from the road.

The state Commisioner for Finance, Budget and Economic Planning, Dr. Wale Bolorunduro, stated this while receiving a delegation from the French Development Agency with a view to partnering with the foreign agency on the on-going urban renewal project.

Bolorunduro, who spoke on behalf of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, reiterated the strong determination of the state government to develop nine selected cities under the urban renewal programme.

The commissioner declared that the urban renewal programme of the state government will gulp up to N28billion, adding that that was why the state is seeking the assistance of the French agency.

‘Only less controversial PDP candidates can defeat APC’

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

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GOVERNORSHIP aspirant of the People Democratic Party,PDP, in the forthcoming gubernatorial election in Osun State, Senator Akinlabi Olasukanmi has said that the party must field non- controversial and popular candidates, as to upturn the dominance of All Progressive Congress, APC, in the South West.

He also dismissed reports that campaign office had been opened for President Goodluck Jonathan in the state, noting that the action would amount to putting the cart before the horse.

Police arrest 3 over burying ‘suicide’ suspect

BY DAYO JOHNSON

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KURE — POLICE in Ondo State have arrested three persons for hurriedly burying an 18 year old boy, Sanmi Kehinde who allegedly shot himself dead with his father’s gun.

Kehinde reportedly shot himself last Wednesday with his father’s dane gun at Oriokuta community in Akoko South East council area of Ondo State.

The Police image maker in the state, Wole Ogodo said the family of the deceased did not make any formal report to the police before they hurriedly buried him.

Ogodo said detectives in the state police have commenced investigation to unravel the circumstance that could lead to the death of the teenager.

He said the report of the autopsy is still being awaited by the police.

According to him: “ Immediately the incident happened neither the family nor the neighbours reported the case to the police before they went ahead to bury the deceased, that is why the police arrested some people on the incident.

“When the boy killed himself, the police was supposed to be informed, so that they would visit that scene of the crime, and

if the boy would be buried, the order would come from the police.

“The postmortem examination would be carried out because it is one of those things to be done.

“We should know whether it is true that the boy shot himself or not; if it is true that he

shot himself, where is the gun?

Why should they hurriedly bury him, that is why we are suspicious, and made the arrest.”

Meanwhile, report had it that kehinde climbed the ceiling of their house to carry his father’s loaded dane gun in company of his friend, Bolu.

It was gathered that the

sound of a gun-shot attracted people to the house and kehinde was met rolling on the ground in his own blood by neighbours who rushed to the scene.

However, his family shortly after the ugly incident hurriedly buried their son without formal report to the police.

DONATION: From left, Mrs. Funlola Buraimoh-Ademoyewa, President, Soroptimist International of Nigeria; Mr. Kehinde Oduneye, Assistant Publicity Secretary; Mrs. Cordelia Barber, President, both of Soroptimist International, Eko; Rev. Sister Rita Ogidan, Sister in Charge, St. Leo Medical Centre, Ikeja; Mrs. Marie Stella Sonuga, Project Officer, Soroptimist International, Eko, and Mrs. Anne Efeyini, Treasurer, during donation of drugs by Soroptimist International, Eko to St. Leo's Catholic Medical Centre, Ikeja, Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola.

PDP chieftain alleges APC’s infiltration of INEC

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IGERIANS HAVE been alerted of an alleged infiltration of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC by elements loyal to the All Progressives Congress, APC. Reacting to the nomination of Lagos State University, LASU don, Prof. Abubakar Momoh as the Director General of the Electoral Institute, Afenifere Chieftain and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, in a release issued on behalf of Prince Adedayo Adeyeye Movement (PAAM) yesterday, stated that Prof. Momoh was one of the

notable support for Senator Bola Tinubu and governors of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in South West States.

Adeyeye said: “Momoh was one of the partisan elements disguised as Election Observers during the Ekiti State governorship rerun election in 2009, who were caught in Oye and Ifaki-Ekiti, with electoral materials.

“Momoh was caught alongside one ACN chieftain in Lagos State, who was then a Commissioner in the Lagos State Civil Service Commission, Fuad Oki and other chieftains of the party. When they were

caught, already prepared election results were found on them with telephone contacts of top leaders of the defunct ACN.” The PDP governorship aspirant noted that, “Prof. Momoh was also one of the witnesses of the ACN candidate, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, current Governor of Ekiti State at the election tribunal.

“He (Momoh) had also served on the Board of Governor Fayemi’s Non-Governmental Organisation, the Centre for Democracy and Development, CDD. “Therefore, with such a personality now given a prominent

Mayhem as Okada riders, soldiers clash in Abuja

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BUJA — THERE was mayhem at Nyanya, a sprawling slum located at the suburb of Abuja, the Federal capital city, yesterday, as a result of an encounter between a commercial motorcycle popularly called Okada rider and a soldier.

According to a bus driver who simply identified himself as Emeka, a commercial motorcycle rider who had parked his bike wrongly, close to St. Mary’s Catholic Church, Nyanya, was cautioned by a soldier and ordered to park it elsewhere.

Said he: “But the man refused

to obey the soldier and even challenged him. The soldier decided to subject him to physical punishment. The soldier asked the motorcyclist to lie down inside a nearby gutter.”

It was gathered that the soldier had forced the Okada rider into the gutter.

However, the motorcyclist who was said to be a Muslim raised alarm that he had been forced to drink gutter water even though he was fasting.

According to Emeka, “the incident attracted other motorcyclists and passers-by. As a result of

this, motorcyclists who gathered at the scene suddenly grew into a crowd and turned violent.”

Emeka said the mob attacked the soldier and other motorists who were within the vicinity.

He said: “I was driving my bus through the area when they attacked me. They smashed the windscreen of my bus and hit me several times. I managed to escape.”

Another eyewitness told Vanguard that the soldier who was attacked escaped and reported the matter to military authorities who promptly deployed soldiers to the area.

position in INEC, his disposition and extent of the compromising capability in any electoral contest, especially the 2014 governorship election in Ekiti and Osun states, involving the opposition parties, can better be imagined.”

VC debunks allegations against private varsities

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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BEOKUTA — VICEChancellor of Crescent University, Abeokuta, Professor Kehinde Okeleye has cleared the air over the allegation that most of the private universities in the country sell their first class degrees to highest bidder, describing the claim as a fallacy.

Okeleye, while reacting to the allegation by a professor in a public university, lamented that, lack of facilities in public universities has made it difficult for students to perform well He said that private universities in the country are on the verge of reverting the good old days where, according to him, students were exposed to the required facilities in the schools.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013—11

Ogonis to drag Shell to court over sale of assets

BY EGFUE YAFUGBORHI

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ORT HARCOURT—SELF determination seeking Ogoni ethnic nationality in Rivers State has said it would drag Shell Petroleum Development Company, to court to stop the oil multinational from selling its assets in the area.

Shell, whose vast oil exploration operations in Ogoniland had been shut since the 90s following Ogoni struggle against the Nigerian State as a result of the killing of Ken SaroWiwa, is believed to be secretly selling off the idle assets in furtherance of its divestments from Nigeria.

At a rally by thousands of Ogonis in Bori, to protest two years of Federal Government’s non-implementation of the United Nations Environmental Programme, UNEP, report on Ogoniland, the people vowed to stop Shell from selling any Ogoni assets till all contentious issues were resolved.

Celestine Akporbari of the Ogoni Solidarity Forum, who led the protest, said “Nothing is working in Ogoni because of the evil destruction of our land by Shell, which is now secretly selling all its assets to private companies. That is why we are going to court next week to stop Shell. Whoever buys anything is buying Shell’s liability.”

Akporbari added that the people had run out of patience over Federal Government’s continued indifference to the UNEP report, saying that the development was pushing the country towards a violent struggle.

He said: “Today, the report of UNEP has exonerated Ken Saro-

Wiwa’s struggle and ours that Ogoni environment has been polluted. Instead of doing something about our plight,

government is playing politics with our lives. We have not seen anything relating to the implementation of the report in

Ogoni. The people are suffering. Water, crops, air and the environment have been poisoned."

Uduaghan tasks committee on decongestion of prisons

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

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INAUGURATION—From left: Chairman, Delta State Board of Internal Revenue, Mr. Joel Onowakpor-Thomas and Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan at the board's inauguration in Asaba, weekend.

Group calls for arrest of Wike over alleged inciting statement

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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ORTHARCOURT—A GROUP, Rivers Peoples Forum, RPF, yesterday, called for arrest and prosecution of the Minister of State for Education, Mr Nyesom Wike, over an alleged statement credited to him at a rally in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

In a statement, president of the group, Mr Charles Bekwele, described the statement by Wike as a threat to the peace of the state.

Wike was quoted as saying at

a rally organised for him by Grassroots Democratic Initiative, GDI, in Obio Akpor Local Government Area that: “We will make sure they will not sleep again, as they are sleeping now. They will not sleep with their two eyes closed.

One eye will be open because they know there is danger.”

The group said the statement was a threat to the peace in the state, adding that security operatives should arrest and prosecute him.

In another development, the family of one of the lawmakers that sustained injuries in the fracas that rocked the state House of Assembly, Mr Chinda Michael, has petitioned the National Judicial Council, NJC,

over what they alleged to be undue interference by the Chief Judge of the state in their bid to prosecute leader of the House of Assembly, Mr Chindi Lloyd.

The family accused the Chief Judge and the state government of allegedly frustrating efforts to seek what they termed justice on the issue.

Meantime, the Minister of State, Wike, yesterday, addressed a rally of his GDI supporters in Bodo, Gokana Local Government Area of the state, where he drummed up support for the second term of President Goodluck Jonathan.

Wike said that the region must work to deliver President Jonathan in 2015.

...lauds Uduaghan for re-appointment of Onowakpor-Thomas as DBIR chairman

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OVERNOR Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State has been commended for reappointing Mr Joel OnowakpoThomas as the chairman of Delta State Board of Internal Revenue.

The Itihikpebe Campaign Organisation, in a statement by its Director General, Mr Ambrose Okuhor commended Uduaghan for finding Thomas worthy for the reappointment.

The statement said, “the reappointment of Thomas shows that Uduaghan is a governor that appreciates anyone that performed creditably well. There is no doubt that our leader and

founder, Thomas performed creditably well in his first four years as chairman of the board.

“The reappointment is not an accident but the result of his hard work, diligence, commitment to the state and contribution towards her development.

"It is no longer news that in his first term, he raised the state’s Internally Generated Revenue from less than a billion mark to over N5.7 billion, driving the state to achieve the laudable Delta Beyond Oil programme and the three-point agenda of the state government.”

SABA—A SEVENMAN Advisory Council on the Prerogative of Mercy has been inaugurated in Delta State, with a charge to assist in decongesting the prisons in the state.

Inaugurating the Council, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, said “the setting up of this council is part of the reform to assist the criminal justice system and eradicate conceivable clogs in the wheel of speedy criminal justice dispensation.

Uduaghan said: “You have to visit prisons, interact with the authorities and those in custody and facilitate policy formulation that will reform the system and help decongest the prisons and transform the criminal and penal system in the state.

“You should make transparency, probity and due process your watchword in all you do. Let me advise you to adopt best practices and comply with the statutory guidelines in the performance of your duties.”

DPP is dead — KOKORI

F

ORMER National Secretary of Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria, PENGASSAN, Chief Frank Kokori, weekend, said that the Democratic Peoples Party, DPP was dead.

He spoke during a visit of Olorogun Otega Emerhor, a senatorial hopeful for the vacant seat of Delta Central Senatorial District in his Ovu country home in Ethiope East Local Government Area of Delta State.

Chief Kokori noted that DPP had outlived its usefulness, adding that All Progressives Congress, APC, which flag Otega Emerhor, seek to fly in the forthcoming poll, was the rave of the moment and the party to beat.

Kokori said: ‘’To be fair with everybody DPP was not the party we wanted.

"Ogboru is the luckiest Urhobo man ever who the Urhobo fought for in 13 years without cash. We want people like Olorogun Emerhor because with his good name, he will deliver the dividends of democracy to all Deltans."

12—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013 — 13

14—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

CHIEF TONY ANENIH'S 80th BIRTHDAY CELEBRATION

From left: President Goodluck Jonathan; Chief Tony Anenih and his wife, Dame Patricia cutting the birthday cake at a reception in a Abuja, yesterday.

From left: Chief Sunny Odogwu; former President Olusegun Obasanjo and Chief Tony Anenih, the celebrant, during the Holy Mass at Our Lady Queen of Nigeria, ProBELOW: Chief Edwin Clark (middle); his wife (left) and former Cathedral, Area 3, Garki, Abuja to mark Anenih's 80th birthday, yesterday. PHOTOS: Head of Service of the Federation, Mr. Steve Oronsaye at the STATE HOUSE & ABAYOMI ADESHIDA. event.

From left: Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State; former Governor Adebayo Alao-Akala of Oyo State and former Governor Segun Oni of Ekiti State

Former President Ibrahim Babangida (left); Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd) (right) and President Goodluck Jonathan.

Chief Barnabas Gemade (middle); former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme (2nd right) on behalf of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees presenting birthday card to Chief Tony Anenih (left).

Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State (right) and the celebrant.

A cross section of celebrant's children and grand-children.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013 — 15

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16 — Vanguard, MONDAY,AUGUST 5, 2013 THE nation was shocked when, earlier last week, it was reported that the Benin Airport was closed down. Hundreds of air travellers going and coming from all parts of the world were subjected to an embarrassing, inconveniencing and humiliating thwarting of their travel plans without any prior notice.

They met an airport that was under lock and key, with no one around to explain why.

Information came out later that it was the Governor of Edo State, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, who ordered the shutting down of the airport over the failure of the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) to pay tenement rates due to the state government. Sanity, however, prevailed when a day later, the Director General, Mr George Uriesi, went in company of top executives of FAAN to meet with and apologise to Comrade Oshiomhole for roles the Authority played which led to the incident.

It was at the occasion that the governor disclosed he did not order the shutting down of the airport. Rather, according to him, the tax authorities of the state obtained a court order to seal off the office of the FAAN Manager. After the order was carried

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BY GODDY UWABUKO

ITH the wind of the 2015 general elections already blowing across the country, politicians are increasingly scheming for relevance. Some of them will stop at nothing in bringing whoever they see as a stumbling block down. Where they feel they cannot do it themselves, they use their hatchet men, including emergency journalists without a known or registered medium. They specialise in blackmail and readily extort from unsuspected individuals or government officials who fall prey to their antics. It is a development which has given the journalism profession a negative perception in the public. These armchair critics who claim to be journalists or public affairs analysts but lack factual information on issues and events, often appear on television stations to do the bidding of their paymasters against whosoever they were commissioned to run down.

For more than three decades, I have followed the Nigerian media and journalists. They have done very well in sustaining, promoting and deepening our country’s democratic governance despite some minor and major hiccups. But most annoying of it is that some jobbers and quacks are trying to invade the scene.

Recently I was opportuned to watch the Channel Television's morning programme tagged SUNRISE. On the stage was one Don Norman Obinna who claimed to be a journalist and was discussing developments in Abia State, especially in the education sector. Having been conversant with

The Benin Air por w Airpor portt ro row out the FAAN manager decided to shut down the airport “to gain public sympathy”!

The airport row was clearly avoidable. The government of Edo State is correct to insist on individuals and corporate organizations, including those owned by governments, should pay their taxes according to the law.

Democracy is incomplete without taxation.

It is when citizens pay taxes that they earn the right to demand accountability. FAAN and other governmental corporate bodies are still living in the military past when such organizations and their helms-people felt they were above the law and refused to play the civic roles spelt out for them under the law.

FAAN should sanction its Benin Airport Manager for his childish misdemeanor that subjected the travelling public to untold suffering. His behaviour was totally unbecoming of the holder of such highly placed office. Aviation management is not a job for the boys. It is a serious assignment and those who administer them must bear in mind that every airport is part of an international network that must operate like clockwork for business and social activities to thrive. There are no local standards for today’s aviation worldwide.

In more advanced countries FAAN could become a target of fierce litigations from travellers whose businesses were disrupted with such rude impunity. As the nation prepares to join the league of big players in world economy, we must upgrade the attitudes and conducts of our system managers, particularly their attitudes to customer care and consumer protection.

The legal system should also become more alert and come to the assistance of citizens unlawfully subjected to avoidable torture such as the Benin Airport incident. When people know they will pay dearly for such misbehaviours they will think twice.

OPINION road map for the development of the Armchair critics and Abia's development down state by Orji’s predecessor which Orji’s Nigerian media for years, I know that Obinna is a not journalist by practice, because I cannot recollect reading his stories in any national daily or listening to him in any radio or television station. I listened to him as he criticized the present government in Abia State for nonperformance after six years. When I searched internet Obinna was addressed as the publisher of the Spokesman Magazine that was about to debut. It was alleged that he had tried to do business with the Abia government but failed in his bid. It could be recalled that before Obinna, there was one Odimegwu Onwumere, a self-acclaimed poet and author, who has been busy attacking the Abia government on the pages of newspapers, blogs and internet. He was also a praise singer of the former governor of Abia State, Chief Orji Uzor Kalu.

Being an indigene of the state though residing in Lagos for more than 20 years now, I was convinced that the acclaimed journalist was hired to do a dirty job which was to run down the state government.

Unfortunately the anchors of the programme did not give opportunity for listeners to ask him some salient questions and there was nobody from government’s side to balance the issues. So he had a field day.

He did not deny that there are many ongoing and completed projects in the state such as the State Judiciary Complex,

New Workers Secretariat, the Renovated Old Workers Secretariat, New Government House, New International Conference Centre, Abia Dialysis Centre, 250 health centres, many roads constructed and renovated and others still ongoing and several other projects scattered across the state, including the revival of the education sector which Obinna alleged to have been abandoned. Constructive criticism is a good tonic to spur government into action if the need arises. But the problem today is that most people criticise government out of sentiment, hatred and malice devoid of facts and figures.

I

n

his criticisms of the state government’s performance so far, the critic, Obinna, did not inform Nigerians what were on ground in the state in the area of infrastructure when the present government came into office in 2007. He did not state the number of schools or roads built or reconstructed by successive governments in the state before now, especially between 1999-2007 when the state witnessed uninterrupted democratic governance. What was the state of the commercial city of Aba then and now?

Another issue is whether what the present government inherited in the area of debts and infrastructural decay were commensurate with the monthly allocations that accrued to the state before they came into office? Was there any laid

government did not sustain? Who was responsible for the politically-motivated kidnappings that turned the state into a pariah that only ended following Orji’s government intervention? Billions of naira spent in tackling the menace would have been used in developing the state, but there will be no development without adequate security.

He did inform Nigerians that the Orji government was held down during his first term in office by the now estranged godfather of the state politics. A development which was made possible by the tactical alliance between the godfather and the Presidency under the auspices of the late Umaru Yar'Adua's Government of National Unity, GNU. For almost four years, Abia State’s monthly federation allocations were kept out off the reach of the state government. The council areas’ monthly allocations were also hijacked by the same godfathers who took it upon themselves to appoint all council chairmen in the state and other key members of the state executive council.

The consequence was that the Orji administration inherited a debt of N29.9 billion on assumption of office.

So, considering what Governor Orji has achieved within a short time in spite of the antics of a desperate godfather, it is quite clear to all and sundry that his government has done pretty well. *Mr. Uwabuko, a computer scientist, wrote from Lagos.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013 — 41

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Vanguard CLASSIFIED UDOFA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Augustina Udofa, now wish to be known addressed as Mrs. Augustina Orugbo. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

O G U N TAY O — I , formerly known and addressed as Dr. George Akinniyi Oguntayo, now wish to be known addressed as Dr. George Akinniyi Oluwatayo. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

O G U N TAY O — I , formerly known and addressed as Dr. (Mrs.) Beatrice Olatundun Oguntayo, now wish to be known addressed as Dr. (Mrs.) Beatrice O l a t u n d u n Oluwatayo. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHIKWENDU—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Chikwendu Onyinye Sandra, now wish to be known addressed as Mrs. Onyima Onyinye Sandra. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

UCHE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Agnes Chioma Uche, now wish to be known addressed as Mrs. Agnes Chioma Larry.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

MOLOGE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Brenda Enebimoere Mologe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Brenda Enebimoere Nwabudike. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ODAFE —I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Odafe Faith Oberhiri, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oderhohwo Faith Oberhiri. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OKI—I, formerly and addressed as Miss O m a g b i t s e Anomuogharan Oki, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Omagbitse Moji Jimi.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

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AGWU—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Agwu Uzor Ijeoma, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Emelogu Uzor Ijeoma. All former documents remain valid. Federal Road Safety Corps R.S Headquarters Abuja and general public please take note.

BENSON—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Benson Olubunmi Sonia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeniyi Olubunmi Sonia. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.

UZOKA —I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Patience Iweanya Uzoka, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. G l o r y Chukwunonyelim Ijei. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

O M O KWA L E — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Victoria Omoro Omokwale, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Victoria Omoro Franklin Ibegbulem. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AIRIAGBONKPA — I, formerly known and addressed as Mr. Airiagbonkpa Felix Osakwe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Osakwe Felix Osakwe. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AITANUN—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Aitanun MaryJane, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ero MaryJane. All former documents remain valid. The authority to whom it may concern and general public to take note.

OKOTIE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Esther Nyerhovwo Okotie, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Esther Nyerhovwo Vincent-Onakpoyaya.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

FREGENE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Mary Fregene, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Mary Ogilo. All former documents remain valid. College of Education, Warri and general public please take note.

OGIDIAGBA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Dafe Ogidiagba, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Dafe Oro. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OGWU—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ogwu Kevwe Rita, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Yesufu-Oki Kevwe Rita. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

EKHAGBAI—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ekhagbai Maureen, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Danjuma Maureen.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AMINU—I, formerly known and addressed as Muhammed Aminu, now wish to be known and addressed as Igene Muhammed Aminu. All former documents remain valid. First Bank and general public please take note.

Confirmation of Name This is to inform the general public, First Bank Plc and P.H.C.N. Ogorode Sapele, that Nwaguh Valentine is the same person as Nwagu Valentine Chukwuekeh.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Inclusion of Name AMEH—I, formerly known and addressed as Mr. Ameh Gabriel Mathias, wish to include Enoch to my name. I now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Ameh Gabriel Mathias Enoch. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OFEI —I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ofei Ebun Cynthia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Akpobara Ebun Cynthia Sharon. All Former documents remains valid. General public please take note.

Govs, Tambuwal, Sultan, others condole NUJ Continues from page 7

inci dent.”

Ahmed: On his part, Governor Ahmed, through his Chief Press Secretary, Alhaji Abdulwahab Oba, described the death as unfortunate, shocking and devastating. Ahmed said: “The death of the journalists has again brought to the front burner the issue of insurance policies for working journalists in view of the hazardous nature of their vocation.”

Ahmed urged employers of journalists, whether in the private or public sector, to wholeheartedly embrace journalists insurance culture , just as his administration has done for all working journalists in the state, irrespective of their employers.

Sultan: In the same vein, Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar, in a statement on his behalf by Professor Ishaq Oloyede, the SecretaryGeneral, Nigerian Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, NSCIA, said: “We received with deep grief and sorrow, the news of a road accident in Osun State which reportedly claimed the lives of three national officers of the Union. Coming at this time of our national life, such a disturbing incident only amounts to additional agony for the entire country, especially with daily reports of callous killings in one form or another”.

While commiserating with families of the deceased and the national leadership of the NUJ, the Sultan prayed the Almighty God to grant the souls of the victims eternal rest.He also prayed to God to grant their families the fortitude to bear the loss.

Tambuwal: Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Waziri Tambuwal, in a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Public Affairs, Malam Imam Imam, described victims of the auto crash as heroes who dedicated their professional lives towards the progress of their country.

He said by their sudden deaths, the nation has lost the services of vibrant and consummate professionals who gave their all for the unity and development of their union and the country at large.

Textile union: For NUTGTWN, its General Secretary Issa Aremu, who is also a Vice President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, said in a statement: “Our heartfelt sympathy goes to the dead, their dependants as well as the ten others that reportedly sustained injuries in the accident and are receiving treatment “We pray and wish all of them a quick recovery. The death of these Journalists and comrades is highly regrettable as it was preventable if there were good road governance in terms of good and maintained roads, and appropriate road safety measures. Indeed the sudden deaths of these working Journalists further points to crisis of governance in Nigeria.”

Bayelsa NUJ: In a statement in Yenagoa signed by the chairman, Tarinyo Akono, the state council of the NUJ, noted that it was a trying time for the NUJ family adding that only God could see media practitioners through.The statement said: “We commiserate with the families of our colleagues who died in an auto accident last Friday.

May God console and strengthen their loved ones. Our prayers also go to those injured and hospitalised.”

VANGUARD'S LAGOS OFFICE YOU CAN B O O K Y O U R A D V E R T S AT OU R L A G O S I S L A N D O F FI C E — VA N G U A R D MEDIA LIMITED (LAGOS OFFICE) K I O S K 4 8 E A S T P AV I L I O N T B S , L A G O S .

L-r: Marketing Director, Reckitt Benckiser, Oguzhan Silivrilli; Consultant, Gastroenteriologist, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, Dr. Funmi Lesi; Professor, Ege university, Turkey, Prof. Serhat Bar and Category Leader for Healthcare, West Africa, Reckitt Benckiser, Qaiser Sahind at the Reckitt Benckiser Golden Faculty on Reflux Diseases held at The Weathbaker, Ikoyi, Lagos. Photo:Diran Oshe

46 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

Middle East: US, UK, others shut missions amid terror threats

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NITED States, Germany, France and United Kingdom yesterday closed most of their missions in the Muslim world amid security concerns of potential attacks on American citizens by AlQaeda, in the Middle East and North Africa.

The United States and Britain issued a worldwide travel alert at the weekend warning their citizens that al Qaeda may be planning attacks in August, particularly in the Middle East and North Africa.

Infact, the UK Foreign Office urged Britons to leave Yemen as a two-day closure of its embassy in the capital Sana’a begins.

Both France and Germany had joined in closing their embassy in Yemen. In addition to the embassy closures, a global travel warning to US citizens was issued, following fears that al-Qa’ida or its allies might target US

Several countries have temporarily closed their missions in Sana'a government buildings or private American interests.

There was no details on the nature of the threat, but Secretary of State John Kerry, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel, National Security Adviser, Susan Rice, Secretary of Defence and homeland security General Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff , as well as the directors of the FBI, CIA ,were in attendance.

“Early this week, the president instructed his

National Security team to take all appropriate steps to protect the American people in light of a potential threat occurring in or emanating from the Arabian Peninsula,” the White House said in a statement. “This afternoon, National Security Advisor Rice chaired a meeting with the Principals Committee to further review the situation and follow-up actions,” it said, referring to the group of advisers.

Opposition rejects Zimbabwe’s poll result

C

ONTROVERSY trailed Robert Mugabe’s seventh consecutive election victory as President of

Zimbabwe which the opposition Movement for Democratic Change and former prime minister,

Libya faces uprising over Gaddafi’s son

T

O his captors, the fate of Libya’s most prominent prisoner, the son of ousted dictator Muammar Gaddafi, can be sealed only in one place in the small straggling mountain town where they have kept him locked up for nearly two years.

The prize of former rebel fighters who triumphed in catching him as he tried to flee the country, Saif alIslam Gaddafi is being kept in a secret location somewhere among Zintan’s sandstone and concrete buildings.

The one-time heir apparent remains out of reach of the government in Tripoli and even further

from the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, which also wants to try him. His captors, distrustful of a government they say is failing the state, say any tribunal he will face should be in Zintan.

Mali polls: IBK, Soumaila Cisse in run-off

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ALI’s election, which follows a military coup, an Islamist seizure of half the country and French military intervention, will go to a run-off, the government has announced.

Although no candidate

Egypt crisis: US, EU in diplomatic push to seek compromise

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S and EU envoys have been meeting officials from Egypt’s military-backed government and supporters of ousted President Mohammed

M o r g a n Tsvangirai.described as political “theft”. But South African President and other member countries of African Union have hailed the election of the 89-yearold President Mugabe and his Zanu PF. In a press conference in Harare, Mr Tsvangirai announced that he would be legally challenging the election results. Election officials declared that Mr Mugabe won 61 per cent of the presidential vote against Mr Tsvangirai’s 34 per cent.

Morsi.

Their talks took place amid mounting tensions over plans to break up two mass sit-ins by Morsi loyalists in the capital, Cairo.

gained the 50% needed for victory, former Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita and ex-Finance Minister Soumaila Cisse will contest a second round on 11 August.

The election is intended to restore democracy after 22 months of unrest.

On Monday, France hailed the election a success and the European Union said it had gone well and was marked by enthusiasm among voters.

France sent more than 4,000 troops in January to regain control of northern towns and cities from alQaeda-linked militants.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013 — 47

Telephone conversation with Solomon Ogba

,

C

HIEF Solomon Ogba whose name appeared on the list of Ministers designate is a chieftain of the PDP in Delta State.

Recently when it was time to appoint a successor to Chief Patrick Ekeji as Director General National Sports Commission, again his name was mooted to be on the card. On both occasions, just as the name appeared, so did it disappear….It is to his credit though that he is linked to such high sports offices in the land.

The one that has been constant though is the Presidency of the Athletics Federation Of Nigeria, AFN. The evaluation of his reign at the AFN depends on the “camp” you belong to, either that of “ he has done well”, “ he has tried”, “he has not done well” or “ he can do more” however no matter the camp you belong to, you cannot deny him the enthusiasm he carries into track and field.

On Thursday, disturbed by raging media controversy on whether the Federation has received enough financial and moral support from the National Sports Commission as they prepare for the Athletics world cup, I put a call through to him. I nearly regretted it. For the about thirty minutes that our conversation lasted, I do not remember whether I put in five minutes of contribution.

The moment the topic is track and field Solomon Ogba mounts the pulpit, reeling out figures, names and statistics with amazing ease. Those trying to bring the Federation into conflict with the Commission, he says are not helping him. He says. “….. If there is any minister that has athletics in mind, it is this one. He honours all our programmes and is always in touch with us as to how we are faring,” the AFN boss added.

Chief Ogba laments the situation where the National Sports Commission has “only ” three billion as its budget. “……Paul do you believe that? Three billion to take care of over thirty sports. How can they cope? I know of ministries who have up to sixty billion, hundred billion as their budget. Three billion is grossly inadequate” he argued.

“Track and field is not

,

If there is any minister that has athletics in mind, it is this one

something you throw money into in a hurry.

You have to plan, track the athletes monitor their diet, education, progress and what races they run and where. “ Nigerians may not know how much it cost us to get Okagbare to this level by restricting the metres of races she does and the number of jumps she takes. Today she is in the top three in the world in 100 metres and Long Jump and if that is not progress, I wonder what is. “ I am confident Okagbare will win a medal in Moscow in a country where we have never won a medal at the Athletics world Cup” I took him on concerning the woeful outing at the World Juniors in Ukraine. “ woeful?” He exclaimed. Again ,some education. Nigerians he argued should not forget that we have never won a medal at that competition. This year the AFN hosted and won the African Juniors, but only in those sports that we queue behind Jamaica and USA among others.

That even at that, we got sixteen athletes into the semi final and eight into the finals which was a great improvement on past competitions. That of the eight in the finals, they returned “Personal Best times” an indication that they did better than even their Warri triumph. As he was talking to me, American Universities have offered the athletes scholarships and there is no going back.

Must they go out?

Can we not tutor and train them back home.

Chief Ogba singled out the Cross River State Government for commendation. “…what they are doing in Cala-

bar is exactly what we should be doing. I commend the professionalism of their programme.

Very soon there is no state in this country that will match them. Those students they are training will soon explode” I mentioned to him that Courtesy Mobil Producing Nigeria we will soon go into holiday camp to train the champions of the yearly track and field competition for secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State. “……there is no doubt that Mobil’s sponsorship of track and field is traditional. But I believe they can do more. I want them to give us a track in this country, preferably in Eket. “ Listen, go and check.

Akwa Ibom is reputed to have produced the best athletes in this country, especially in the sprints.

Just look back….Utit Ofon, Eno Smart. Ekong Okpon,( late) Udeme Ekpenyong, Emem Edem, Ime Akpan, Victor Edet……even recently, Uduak Ekah, they are so many. Come to think of it Enefiok Udobong is the chairman of Coaches in Lagos while Gabriel Okon is the National President of Coaches, they must go back to Akwa Ibom and revive track and field, they must. “ Gabriel Okon is today one of the best coaches in Nigeria. He is handling Peace Ukoh who came third in the trials and will be part of our relay quartet in Moscow and I am happy with the result…..”

Then the line dropped.

Should I call him back?

Will he call me back?

Perhaps I was happy he could not get me……I believe I had heard enough of athletics, for one day.

See you next week.

48—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

I

No to local government autonomy For any capital project they want to embark upon they must submit their proposal to the state government through the State House of Assembly. If approved, the money is released and its implementation is strictly supervised by the Commissioner for Local Government who reports to the Governor. This procedure, according to state officials, is to (a) ensure even and uniform development of the local government areas according to Governor Sule Lamido’s vision, and (b) control corruption.

Even the quasi-autonomy has failed My view is that the current local government system should be abolished, rather than given financial or any other type of autonomy. The state (or better still, geopolitical regions as a federating unit) should be in total control of local government matters. They should evolve the kind of local government system that suits their respective local needs. I favour the type of system Okorocha is experimenting in Imo State: the Community Government Council.

My take on Constitution amendment (3)

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UST as in the case of immunity removal, I am going to depart from the perceived popular sentiment on the issue of local government autonomy. During the votes at the National Assembly the Senate voted “No” to financial autonomy for the local government while the House of Representatives voted “Yes”. When the two chambers resume in September they will meet in conference. My guess is that they will toe the line of the House, which appears to be the more popular view.

But it will definitely die a natural death when the proposal goes to the various state Houses of Assembly. The governors and the state House members will see to that.

,

T will fail for the simple reason that autonomy for local governments is like one wearing a borrowed robe. It will either be oversized or undersized since it was not your measurement that was used in sewing it.

To me, the local government is not, and should not be, a tier of government.

There is no legislative list for the local governments in the Constitution. State Assemblies are empowered to legislate for the local governments and control their purses, while the state governor has supervisory or coordinating control through the ministry for local government. Every state in the federation has it.

The non-viability of the local government as a separate tier has been proved by the fact that most states in the federation defy the Constitution, appoint interim chairmen and officials of councils, and get away with it. The Lagos State Government under Bola Tinubu, created 37 Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs, out of the 20 local government councils. It funds the LCDAs with federal allocation accruing to the LGAs, and it got away with it after surviving former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s politically motivated economic sanctions.

In Imo State, Governor Rochas Okorocha ignored the LGAs, disobeyed court rulings and established the Community Government Councils. It has got away with it. Most states of the federation simply seize the federal allocations going to the local councils, give the officials enough money to pay salaries and service their executive offices. They withhold the rest for payment of contractors and funding of the luxuries of the governors, state assembly members and party officials.

They get away with it.

In Jigawa State, the funds allocated to the 27 local governments from the federation account is domiciled primarily with the state government. The councils are given funds to cover personnel cost.

The current local government system is one of the embittering evil vestiges of the civil war, and those of us who are at the receiving end of its inequitable consequences will never be enamoured of it

,

The current local government system is artificial and a creation of a military class which used it to distribute federal revenue in accordance with the scale of privilege the North-controlled military evolved after the civil war.

The North and West collected the largest share, while Igboland (former Biafra) was given the least. The current local government system is one of the embittering evils vestiges of the civil war, and those of us who are at the receiving end of its inequitable consequences will never be enamoured of it.

I have toured the North extensively and I noticed that every little settlement of a few hundred or couple of thousand inhabitants is automatically a local government headquarters! It is one of the ills of having the federal government control local government affairs.

Granting autonomy to local governments will introduce permanent political strife in the states. Imagine what

would have happened if the Rivers State local councils were autonomous!

Governor Amaechi might not be able to move out of the Government House because the Federal Government could use the Police and other forces of state coercion to cage the governor in league with the local government chairmen, who are all of the PDP. If you grant financial autonomy to local councils, the chairmen will turn into 774 demons and tin gods, just as we have 36 of them in the states. They will spend the money as they like. They will defy the governor and run to the president for protection.

The states could become ungovernable, particularly for any governor who does not have rapport with the president.

The local government of my dream will not be listed in the federal constitution.

It will be listed in the state constitutions, since the states or geopolitical regions will create them following closely the characters of the various kindred communities. In my type of local government system, the traditional rulers will their have roles spelt out, covering the areas of cultures and traditions as well as security. Executive committees and councilors will be elected to collect revenue and run social services while reporting to the Governor through the Houses of Assembly. The Governor should have a vision of how he intends to run the local governments and develop his state.

This was the type of local authority system in place, especially in the East, before the civil war. It engendered healthy competitions among communities and sped up development at the grassroots. It gave power to the people of the locality. Power rose from bottom up, rather than the current inverted pyramid that simply cannot work.

Condolence to Patience Jonathan

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SYMPATHISE with the wife of our President, Dame Patience Jonathan and her family, whose mother, Madam Charity Iwari-Oba, met her untimely death recently. Death is an opportunity to share the grief of our neighbours, rather than display mischief and play unsavoury politics. All will die, and none will escape bereavement here on earth.

I urge her and family to be strong and depend on God, the Ultimate Consoler.

He makes everything all right in the end.

OPINION

BY SUNDAY ALIFIA

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ILLIAM HAZLIT in his book says " the least pain in our finger gives us more concern and uneasiness than the destruction of millions". Selfishness is the key here. The whole activities of man on the surface of the earth is to employ every possible means to outdo his neighbour criminally towards achieving his own personal goal.

Aftermath effect of his activities is none of his business.

The drama that took place between President Goodluck Jonathan and the four Northern Governors in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, was an ominous sign of what to come. Both actors in the scene arrived in the capital city separately to be anointed by ex-president Olusegun Obasanjo. But the show got twisted when the four Governors decided to hide in order to avoid their own President who was holding a secret meeting with the same Obasanjo they came to see. The drama got more interesting when Nyako said" we have come to greet the most accomplished Nigerian and to consult him for a very important matter".

President Jonathan also visited the Hilltop to greet the "Father" and of course, for consultation as well, while Obasanjo remain the consultant. The irony here is that all actors are from the PDP and at the same time dribbling themselves, using hide and seek tactics to achieve their selfish ambition. It is obvious from their desperation that the actors at Obasanjo's house are working towards the presidency, in 2015.

Why the hide and seek politics if both actors are working towards pushing Nigeria from political and economic doldrums? Why is everybody working in different directions?

2015: This game of hide and seek In the National Assembly, Speaker Tambuwal is accused of playing double standard. In Rivers State, Governor Chibuike Amaechi is seen as a traitor simply because somebody wants to achieve a personal goal. The year 2015 is still some miles away, but the political atmosphere is heavily pregnant; the North is singing war tunes to take over power; President Jonathan says he is hanging unto power by all means even though there are clear evidences that he is struggling. But the stark reality is that all these proponents are seeking sectional agenda, not the interest of a decaying generation.

The personal agenda syndrome in our system is our problem. A US report has just warned Nigeria leaders to beware of another civil war. The report says that "parochial interests, cultural, ethnic, economic, regional and political secessionist tendencies are endemic in Nigeria". Very interesting indeed! The birth of insurgency in the North that is now spreading like wild fire is not accidental. The fact remains that the youths who transformed into the terrorist group in the North and other parts of the country today were used by politicians to outsmart their perceived opponents or enemies, but dumped thereafter. However, these misused youths could no longer remain in the dustbin while their so-called " Oga, Rankadede" are cruising around in their Jeeps and flying in their personal jets.

We are still swimming in an ocean of sectionalism. All the regions in the country feel marginalised, thereby becoming

fragile. This also tells of our working in opposite directions like the four governors and Mr. President in Abeokuta where Obasanjo is seen as the only pathway to Aso Rock.

The North has ruled this country for over 40 years; their quest to remain in power forever is not realistic. As far as the North is concerned, no other region has what it takes to rule. So they end up heating up the polity, drawing lines of battle, singing war songs to achieve their selfish aim. I am from the North, precisely Kogi State and I know very well what their domineering spirit has cost the land. It is time to drop sectionalism for the sake of generations yet unborn.

Can we win war against this menace called selfishness, the disease that has eaten deep into our marrow? Isn't it the more reason why human beings are slaughtered like Christmas chicken across the country? Governors conducting minor election among themselves end up in a mud; a House of Assembly member using the mace to kill a fellow lawmaker? How do we move the country beyond where we are when our thoughts and permutations are on how to promote personal interest, towards milking the available resources, then leaving the masses in their grave yard of poverty. Nigeria is rich and the God-given resources can simply go round if they are not left in the hands of few greedy individuals. *Mr. Alifia, a political analyst,wrote from Ibadan, Oyo State.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013 — 49

Umeh under pressure to merge APGA into PDP — APC zMy suspension from APGA irrelevant, of no effect— Okorocha

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN & CHIDI NKWOPARA

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WERRI—THE All Progressive Congress, APC, weekend, said the national chairman of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, Chief Victor Umeh, has capitulated to pressures from Governor Peter Obi to merge APGA into the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Leaders of the South East zone of the APC at an emergency meeting in Enugu, said the final indication of the capitulation was last weekend’s suspension of Governor Rochas Okorocha from APGA on the basis of his association with the APC. This came as Imo State governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, lambasted the leadership of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, for suspending him from the party.

The APC said Governor Obi had taken opportunity of the death of the former APGA national leader, Dim Chukwuemeka Ojukwu, to now fast-track the integration of APGA into the PDP. A resolution of the meeting signed by the APC South East Publicity Secretary, Osita Okechukwu, said the first phase of the merger was when APGA leaders at the South East zonal rally of the PDP prior to the 2011 election, publicly declared support for the PDP presidential candidate.

Okechukwu said: “With the exit of Dim Emeka Odimegwu Ojukwu, Dikedioramma Ndigbo, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State commenced the final phase of the merger.

“We regret that APGA national chairman, Chief Victor Umeh, who fought gallantly against this unholy merger, capitulated lately”.

The APC noted the consistent failure of the PDP's administration to address the infrastructure deficit in the South

East zone, despite the support of the people in the 2011 election.

He added that: “To worsen matters President Jonathan whom Ndigbo took as their own and voted massively for; could not find it worthy to assign Ndigbo to any of the four top positions, president, vice president, senate president and speaker.

“Handy with these PDP failed promises, Governor Owelle Rochas Okorocha, Dr Ogbonniya Onu, Senator Chris Ngige and other eminent sons of Ndigbo said, "Enough is Enough" and joined APC".

Meanwhile, Governor Rochas Okorocha, has taken a swipe at APGA over his suspension from the party.

The governor’s position was

not only made public by his media aide and former Commissioner for Information, Culture and Tourism, Mr. Chinedu Offor, but had also continued to be aired at intervals by the state radio and television outfits.

According to the statement, the governor described his suspension as “irrelevant and of no effect.”

INSPECTION—From left: Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, Director General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA; Mr George Uriesi, Managing Director, Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN; Princess Stella Oduah, Minister of Aviation and Dr George Oti, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Aviation, during the minister's inspection of the expansion work at the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos, weekend. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

Deportation: Babatope faults Lagos govt

BY HUGO ODIOGOR

A

Chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, has condemned the action of Lagos State governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, for deporting 72 indigenes of Anambra State last month.

In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday, Chief Babatope, who was the Director of Publicity of the defunct Unity Party of Nigeria, UPN, in the second republic, said: “I have read all arguments on the deportation of some Anambra State indigenes living in Lagos by the Fashola administration, I submit that the action is highly regrettable, illegal as well as being a grand assault on the fundamental rights of the affected Nigerians under the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

“Babatunde Fashola must urgently reverse this disturbing policy with apologies to the affected Nigerians".

“Although Governor Fashola has a good record of performance in office, his present action will destroy his credibility. All well meaning Nigerians must denounce this obnoxious policy.”

Why APC cannot be a better alternative —Presidency •Says its leaders have expired politically

By HENRY UMORU

A

BUJA— CRITICISMS have continued to trail the registration of the All Progressives Congress, APC, as a political party, with the Presidency describing the amalgamation of the opposition political parties as ideologically ill defined.

According to the Presidency, the only reason for the merger was to grab power from the Peo-

ples Democratic Party, PDP, just as it said that it was a tall dream which is not realizable.

It said: "This is further reinforced by the fact that even its political leadership parades politically expired, analogue and yesterday’s men including the likes of Bisi Akande, Tom Ikimi, Bello Masari, Muhammad Buhari, Audu Ogbeh, Bashir Tofa and their likes who do not promise any hope for today’s Nigeria and, therefore, cannot bring any meaningful change to the polity.”

Speaking on the development yesterday, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe noted: "the membership and composition of the APC is nothing progressive.

They are ideologically ill defined and seem to have come together for only one purpose which is to grab power from the PDP and united on one sentiment which is their peculiar hatred for the person of President Goodluck Jonathan. Is there an offence in being a

President from a minority tribe?

"Those who cooperate with them from the North are not true mainstream northern politicians but rather anarchists and irredentists who pursue political power based purely on ethnic sentiments. From the first day of the Jonathan Presidency, these people have tried all methods to suffocate his administration and make it impossible for him to govern. Immediately the President was sworn in, he was made to contend with major post-election violence unprecedented in the annals of our political history. This paved the way for the escalation of the Boko Haram insurgency also to the level that was totally and absolutely unimaginable; reducing previous episodes like the Maitatsine riots and similar previous sectarian violence in the North look like a child’s play.

"It is to the glory of God, tenacity of purpose and ingenious administrative capacity of Goodluck Jonathan that in spite of these overwhelming and daunting security crisis the administration still records a most distinguished performance in

terms of delivering remarkable dividends of democracy ever recorded in the annals of the history of Nigeria.

"Isn’t it surprising too that since their coming together, Nigerians are yet to know what the APC stands for in terms of definite programmatic agenda? What do they have that is better than the PDP? They have no official manifestoes rather what we hear from one leader is a sharp contradiction from what we hear from another.

For example, the leading ideologue of the APC in the North, Gen Muhammed Buhari delivered a lecture in London where he spoke unambiguously against the much talked about restructuring of the Nigerian federation, resource control, sovereign national conference and other core demands of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria.

"The other leader Senator Bola Tinubu went to a similar event more recently and ingeniously listed out their proposed programmes on power, agriculture, and rail transportation which are not in any way different from the contents of the Transformation Agenda of the PDP."

50 — VANGUARD, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

M

INUTES before they commenced the about 12 hour round of voting on the amendments to the constitution, Speaker Aminu Tambuwal charged members of the House of Representatives to vote in line with the resolutions adopted at the popular Peoples Sessions conducted in the 360 federal constituencies.

Any member who is not bold enough to vote in line with the resolutions of the people’s session is not fit to be a Honourable member, Speaker Tambuwal was quoted as telling his colleagues during a closed door session.

Speaker Tambuwal’s charge was not surprising. Days to the vote on the constitution amendment proposals, House members had been the target of serious lobbying by various groups with diverse interests in the outcome of the constitution amendment exercise.

Especially forceful in their lobbying were governors who were determined to stave off some of the more radical proposals that would have limited their powers in the polity. Especially touchy for many governors were the issues of autonomy for local governments and the state houses of assembly.

Speaker Tambuwal’s assertion was especially sensitive given the fact that the Senate had days earlier voted down some of the more popular measures like the autonomy for local governments.

The House unlike the Senate was also not faced with the prospect of altering the controversial section 29 through which Senator Ahmed Yerima had used to advocate his support and participation in marriage to underage girls.

Marriage to underage girls The House Committee on Constitution Review had identified 87 different items for amendment in the 1999 constitution.

Among the items were State/ Local Government Council Joint Account which has now given way for Local Government Councils (LGCs) Financial Autonomy, the Independence of the State Legislatures, the scrapping of State Independent Electoral

•House of Representatives in session

CONSTITUTION AMENDMENT:

The vigils in the House The House of Representatives penultimate Wednesday voted on the 87 items proposed for alteration by the House Committee on Constitution Review. The voting which was characterized by intrigues was nevertheless shaped to a conclusion by the determination and steadfastness of Speaker Tambuwal.

Commissions (SIECs), and the removal of Immunity Clause of the President and the Governors, life pension for President, Vice President, Governors and their Deputies which has now accommodated the Senate President, Deputy, Speaker of the House of Representatives and the Deputy Speaker.

In fact, days preceding the day of voting penultimate Wednesday, July 24 the House was stirred with horse-

trading and hire-wired intrigues which saw the members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) take a detour from their earlier stand of supporting the sovereignty of the local governments. They adduced reasons that in the long run, they may not be solvent enough to pay salaries and develop infrastructure.

However, with the admonishment from Speaker

YEA

Tambuwal many members in the end adjusted themselves to voting in line with the resolutions from their constituencies.

How members voted D-day was historic in many respects. It was arguably the longest legislative sitting with members sitting put in the chamber from just before noon till midnight.

A break was only allowed

NAY

ABSTENTION 7 votes

Autonomy for LGs

293 votes 39 votes

Scrapping of SIECs

331

16

11

Removal of the Immunity for President, Vice, Govs and Deputies

292

26

30

Deletion of “Force” from the Nigeria Police Force

318

2

19

when Speaker Tambuwal and muslim members took time to break the Muslim fast at dusk.

Attendance was also unprecedented since inauguration with as many as 339 lawmakers present.

The voting was, however, marred with technical hitches which stalled the use of the electronic voting system that had been earlier canvassed by the House.

Votes on some of the clauses were as follows: Local Government Council’s (LGC) Autonomy got 293 as against 39 and 7 abstentions. The Scrapping of State Independent Electoral Commission (SIECs) got 331 votes in favour, 16 against and 11 abstentions. The removal of the Immunity currently enjoyed by the President, Vice President, Governors and their Deputies got the nod of 292 members as against 26

Continues on page 51

VANGUARD, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013—51

Tukur is not a PDP member, this is the proof — Ugochinyere BARRISTER Ikenga Imo Ugochinyere is an activist member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP and was Senior Special Assistant to Governor Ikedi Ohakim of Imo State between 2007 and 2010, a former spokesman of Ohaneze Ndigbo Youths and Director of Youth Mobilisation for the Umaru Musa Yar‘Adua Presidential Campaign in 2007. Ugochinyere has been in the forefront of the campaign for sanity in the leadership of the PDP. In this telephone interview he spoke on topical issues in the party. Excerpts:

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

W

HY are you in league with the three men challenging the status of the acting National Working Committee of the party?

I am not in league with the three men. The foundation of those three men and what they set out to do runs a little bit contrary to the objectives we have fought for over the years.

But I think along the line they have rediscovered themselves and their sponsors have also seen that the right thing needs to be done. So, their bid to remove the chairman is good and it is welcome, but it is on erroneous grounds.

There is a fundamental issue that people have kept off the radar, which is that at this moment as I speak to you now, he is not yet a member of the party.

You know in 2001 he was expelled from the party and you know the procedures for readmission and till this moment he has not been readmitted into the party. So we are going to trash that out completely before the court and we are instituting a fresh suit on whether a man who is not yet a member of the party has the right to stand for election and be elected as the national chairman of the party.

Founding fathers We are calling on stakeholders and the founding fathers of the party to come together for a national PDP stakeholders’ meeting so that we can be able to save the party. The party is dying and what is remaining is the burial of the party and we are saying that we are worried that this party cannot be buried because of the ambition of few people and Bamanga is completely on the part of those who want to bury the party.

Look at the kangaroo disciplinary committee he has now set up. How can you appoint Umaru Dikko chairman of the disciplinary committee? First of all, the constitution of the disciplinary committee is the exclusive duty of the National Executive Committee. And again this matter has been brought before the NEC in 2012 when people said, ‘no, go back and draw a new list.’

So, he is supposed to go back to the NEC, NEC did not give him the power to go and do it for it. So, the announcement

•Ugochinyere: Faults Tukur is baseless and the choice of Umaru Dikko who has not been a card-carrying member of the party is wrong.

Is he not a member of the party?

He is not a member of our PDP. So, you can see the determination of Bamanga to sink this party. You bring in Umaru Dikko, you bring in Serikae Dickson (as reconciliation chairman) who is part of the problems in the PDP; you set up Dickson who has not achieved much in the party.

Who is he going to reconcile?

Is he not part of the problem in Rivers? Is he not the one backing Jonah Jang to cause problem in Governors Forum?

So how can a destroyer be the one who will bring peace? So, when we looked at all these, one thing is clear, the president does not want peace to reign in the party because if he wants peace to reign in the party he needs to call Tukur to order and that Dickson panel has to be disbanded.

PDP as Nyako said is

heading to be buried and let me tell you we are ready to join in burying it, everybody is ready to bury this nonsense because it is not in the interest of our democracy neither is it in the interest of our interparty politics.

Let them continue what they are doing because there are up to seven governors who are vehement against what is happening. You may not see them moving with Nyako and others, but they are aggrieved.

You talk about Tukur, Dickson and others doing things to bury the party but people have raised issues on who and what is motivating you?

When they say somebody is sponsoring me, they may mention Adamawa governor, Atiku Abubakar and others.

When Atiku and Obasanjo were fighting in 2007 I led a protest to Aso Rock against Atiku, and as far back as 2007 I fought to stop Anyim from being elected national chairman of the PDP with a court order because he was not a member of this party.

At that time, Anyim people said that Sam Egwu’s people were funding me. When I went after Nwodo because he was not a member of the party which I proved with video documentary evidence the president did not listen to me because he had a motive, they said that some people were funding me.

When I moved against Bamanga they said it was Atiku sponsoring me, and at the end of the day when he and Atiku reconciled, they now said it was Nyako. But the truth is that if in your family somebody is supporting you against somebody, the other person will definitely say that they are doing it because of something.

There is no fight that you will take on in this world that somebody will not be against you. There must be a side that is benefiting from what you are doing and there must be a side that is not benefiting. As an activist in intra-party PDP politics, if I require your help to promote a project that I believe is in the interest of the party I don’t have any regret on that.

Definitely I cannot be using all my money to promote it.

When the battle started I had to look for people who had the same mindset with me and share the same objectives with me to support me financially.

But that does not remove the fact that I have fought tirelessly all over the years to say that the beginning of PDP stability is the installation of intra-party discipline and I can tell you that nobody is funding me, but if there are people who like my project and have decided to support me financially, I have no regret about that.

The vigils in the House Continued from page 50 votes and 30 abstentions.

To delete “Force” from the current Nigeria Police Force and make it read “Nigeria Police”, the members voted 318 for, 2 against while19 abstained. This is amongst several other clauses and vote. But one significant thing was not all the 87 clauses scaled through.

The Deputy Speaker, Hon. Emeka Ihedioha who doubled as the Chairman of Constitutional Amendment Adhoc Committee in a statement following the sitting said the House had kept faith with the decisions of the people expressed during the Peoples’ Public Sessions that took place in the 360 Federal Constituencies of Nigeria, on November 10, 2012.

•Tambuwal Technical hitches that stalled Electronic voting It almost did not happen but for the determination of Speaker Tambuwal who nudged the

House to adopt the use of manual voting after the electronic voting system prepared by the Nigerian Satellite Communications Ltd, (NIGCOMSAT) disappointed at least three times.

It is an issue that could ensnare the b u d g e t appropriation for the agency next year.

Next step/Challenges Though the House of Representatives had done what seemingly met the

expectations of most Nigerians, it may not be uhuru yet. To receive the force of law, the items will pass through the 36 States Houses of Assembly. Adoption by at least two-third of the houses would be required to enroll the alterations into the constitution.

There are fears that some of the clauses especially the Local Government Autonomy and Independence of the State Legislatures which are obviously lucrative funnels for state governors to make more money will fail as Governors may lobby to kill it at this stage.

But that will be the concern of the Speakers of State Assembly. Ihedioha for one believes that Nigerians must keep vigil of the process especially at this stage.

52 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013 — 53

54 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013 — 55

Moses, Nsofor desperate for O Bafana Bafana T HE build up to the August 14 Mandela Challenge prestige clash between the Super Eagles of Nigeria and South Africa’s Bafana Bafana has started to reach the real actors of the game, with Chelsea of England’s Victor Moses, declaring that he has missed his colleagues in the national team and cannot wait for the Mandale Challenge to reunite with them.

Super Eagles Scribe Dayo Enebi Achor, was quoted by Media Officer, Ben Alaiya, as saying that Moses was the first player to put a call though to the team to say he will be available for the game and will be among the first player to arrive South Africa for the game.

In consonance with renewed interest by the national team stars for the game, Obinna Nsofor, has been making desperate enquiries about his return to the national team and has also promised to be early for the game in South Africa’s warmest

city of Durban.

Other players who have been making concerted enquiries about the friendly so far include power playing Lazio of Italy midfield ace, Ogenyi Onazi, wing wizard Ahmed Musa and slow poison striker Brown Aide Ideye.Arrival for all the players according to the NFF remains, Sunday, August 11 in South Africa for the game scheduled for Wednesday, August 14.

Similarly, the NFF leadership through the Secretary General, Barr Musa Amadu, has reacted quickly to an initial position of Russian side, Spartak Moscow, that it will not release CAN 2013 goleador Emmanuel Emenike for the Mandela challenge. “The NFF will not accept any of such claims that it’s not a FIFA free window, because it is and as I speak with you the NFF Scribe has also made his position known to Spartak”, team sources declared.

Drogba Continues from BP him back to the ground he did so much damage on.

A penalty, along with an emphatic strike in the closing five minutes sealed a comeback for the Turkish side who left Arsenal without a win in their own tournament.

Arsene Wenger handed a starting place to their only signing of the summer Yaya Sanogo in an otherwise full strength Gunners team.

An unexpected weight of pressure had been added to Sanogo’s shoulders with Arsenal’s inability to add a more reputable striker to the team.

The young Frenchman, who joined on a free transfer from Auxerre, impressed from the first minute however, as he immediately won the ball in the final third before neat footwork gave him the opportunity to shoot.

His tame shot was easily stopped by Fernando Muslera but the early signs were promising.

A second opportunity went by for Arsenal - this

time for last season’s top scorer Theo Walcott when Aaron Ramsey fed a superb ball over the top of the Galatasaray back four to release the England international.

With just the goalkeeper to beat, Walcott chipped the ball only to see it drop wide of the post.

With Galatasaray growing in to the game and the pace dropping, the pressure was on Arsenal to appease a home crowd that seemed on the verge of boredom.

That relief came with five minutes to go in the first half after Walcott’s cross drifted past a sea of players, dumbfounding Muslera and finding the back of the net.

A 1-0 win would be enough to see Arsenal lift the Emirates Cup but with Drogba leading an increasingly dangerous looking Galatasaray front-line, it seemed another goal would be needed if Arsenal were going to win.

GUNJIMI Lucas, a Professor of Human Kinetics and Health Education and a specialist in Athletic Training and Health Education has hailed the current plans

by Mobil Producing Nigeria to camp and train Secondary schools athletes during the forth coming holiday period. Holder of the Lecturer 1 License of the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) since 2007., Professor Ogunjimi sees this as the beginning of a bright future for track and field in the country. “ Permit me to join a lot of athletics buffs to celebrate what Mobil is about to do with secondary schools athletes in Akwa Ibom. If we do this regularly, through out the country, then we are soon going to be guaranteed a pool of young and talented athletes well brought up to excel” He said.

The first Nigerian to ob-

•Moses

Okagbare Continues from BP strong,” Ebewele said yesterday while trying to assess the Nigerian team.

“We went to the London Olympics and banked all our hopes on one person.

The same thing is happening today. We have a situation where the President of the Athletics Federation in the person of Chief Solomon Ogba is spending so much of his personal money to lift the sport. It does not augur well for Nigeria because he who pays the piper dictates the tune. If the federal government was helping out the National Sports Commission would have enough money to plan well. But with the envelopes that they are given as their allocations the problem in sports development will continue. “ Delta State governor, Dr Emmanuel Uduaghan has been the pillar behind Blessing.

He pays her and some elite athletes training grants. After the London Olympic Games, Blessing considered changing her nationality to run for any other country. When she placed last in the final of the 100m race at the

Olympics, the curtain seemed to have been drawn on her. But Uduaghan encouraged and motivated her to return to her beat. Ogba and Amaju Pinnick have been supportive too.

“It is certainly not good that Nigeria will go for such events as the World Championships and everybody is looking on one athlete to provide succour to all,” Ebewele, continued, adding “people say that potentials abound here but you cannot transform them the way we are funding sports. “Again, coaching has been a problem but what are we doing about it? We have people who can turn things around if given the chance but what do you say of a system that has no structure for coaching and a programme that will see them work to produce stars? Track and Field would have died by now but for Ogba. But even at that there are things we can do to get it right.”

Technical Director of AFN, Commodore Omatseye Nesiama said at the weekend that Nigeria could spring a surprise in the women’s 4x400m relay.

Ogunjimi, Okon hail Mobil on Athletics holiday camping tain the Area Technical Official (ATO) License of the IAAF and currently a Technical Officials Training Consultant to the Athletics Federation of Nigeria., Professor Ogunjimi hopes that the best coaches will be engaged and the students handled in such a way that even when they leave camp, they will be monitored continually for optimum results. “ For us to reap from this exercise, we should put together a mechanism that will continually track the athletes especially those that will distinguish themselves during the training period” He said.

The only Anglophone West African on the IAAF 2012 – 2014 Panel of Area Technical Officials for Africa, Professor Ogunjimi said he will be delighted

to be involved in seeing the students through their first basic introduction to track and field.

In another development, Coach Gabriel Okon, the current President of the Track and Field Coaches Association of Nigeria has thrown its weight behind the exercise scheduled for August. “ My only regret is that at that period I will be away to Moscow for the Athletics World Cup, if not I would not have missed this land mark event for anything” Coach Okon, described

by Athletics President Chief Solomon Ogba as “…one of the best coaches in Nigeria today” was speaking in Abuja where he is currently training some National Athletes that will feature in Moscow.

Neymar Continues from BP Anemia is a lower than normal count of red blood cells that provokes tiredness or weakness.

Barcelona told The Associated Press that “due to an operation on his tonsils this summer the player is suffering a case of anemia that is being treated and won’t impede him from training with normality with the rest of his team-

mates.” The club did not specify what treatment Neymar is following.

Neymar is currently with Barcelona in Israel on a “Peace Tour” of the Middle East.

Barcelona open their La Liga campaign against Levante on August 18.

The 21-year-old Neymar joined Barcelona from Brazilian club Santos this offseason.

Ronaldo Continues from BP his No 1 status at the club with the impending world-record arrival of Gareth Bale.

Ronaldo wants to remain in Spain, despite being linked with moves to Manchester United and Paris Saint-Germain, but he is insisting on being paid double Bale’s salary to underline his place as the club’s main galactico.

He will also expect the club to campaign more vigorously for him in future World Player of the Year awards and he also wants a cut of commercial opportunities he is opening up in Asia and America.

Having scored a staggering 175 goals in 167 games for Real, the Portuguese superstar wants

a sharp hike in his pay, although his contract has two years left to run.

Ronaldo earns around £160,000 a week — the same ‘starter’ wage that Bale will be on — but the former United forward thinks he deserves about £320,000 a week given his achievements in the Spanish capital.

The fact that Ronaldo has so far failed to agree a new contract has led to speculation about his future, with Real’s former president Ramon Calderon claiming last week the club will sign Bale because they fear losing Ronaldo.

However, it is not the player’s intention to walk away and, if anything, Bale’s arrival from Tottenham will strengthen Madrid’s position in negotiations to keep Ronaldo.

VANGUARD, MONDAY, AUGUST 5 , 2013

Drogba ruins Arsenal’s party D

IDIER Drogba came back to haunt Arsene Wenger ’s Arsenal as his late brace gifted Galatasaray the Emirates Cup at the expense of the home team.

The Ivorian scored a ruthless 13 goals in 14 games against Arsenal whilst at Chelsea and Wenger will be rueing his decision to invite Continues on Page 55

SWEET VICTORY: Drogba with the Emirates Cup yesterday.

•Okagbare

Okagbare may be under pressure in Moscow — Ebewele

BY ONOCHIE ANIBEZE

Pay me £320,000 a week or... — Ronaldo

C

RISTIANO Ronal do is leaning towards signing a longterm deal at Real Madrid, provided that he is given assurances about Continues on Page 55

'Neymar has anemia'

B

ARCELONA say that Brazil striker Ney mar has developed anemia, but that it won’t stop his preseason training with the Spanish champions. Continues on Page 55

T

RACK and Field buff, Brown Ebewele is not happy that Nigeria would be participating at the World Athletics Championships in Moscow, Russia with just one athlete in mind.

Blessing Okagbare is

ranked number four in the world and she wields the potential to win a medal in Moscow. She competes in 100m, 200m and the Long Jump. She has variously won these events in the different Diamond Leagues this season, capping it all with 10.79 seconds race in London that broke a 14 year old Africa’s

record. She carries the weight of over 160 million Nigerians and Brown is not comfortable with that. ‘’I fear that Blessing may be under pressure but I pray she remains Continues on Page 55

Sports Bassey P.47

QUICK CROSSWORD

Sudoku TODAY'S

PUZZLE

FRI DAY'S FRIDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 1 Speck (4) 4 Distant (3) 6 Quote (4) 8 Comment (6) 9 Character (6) 10 Ovum (3) 12 Assume (5) 14 Seat (5) 15 Shabby (5) 18 Trial (6) 20 Flag (6) 24 Enthusiasm (5) 26 Apart (5) 28 Unadorned (5) 30 Knowledge (3) 32 Unmarried (6) 33 Unwilling (6) 34 Relish (4) 35 Born (3) 36 Pour (4)

DOWN 2 Beg (5) 3 Trudge (7) 4 Sham (4) 5 Circle (4) 6 Capture (5) 7 Bend (7) 11 Deity (3) 12 Fuss (3) 13 Beverage (3) 16 Tree (3) 17 Longing (3) 19 Uneasy (7) 21 Pinch (3) 22 Prominent (7) 23 Sister (3) 25 Wonder (3) 27 Figure (5) 29 Edition (5) 30 Eager (4) 31 Title (4)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 2, Aroma 7, Elude 8, Inlet Major 12, Sit 13, Astir 15, Derided Neuter 19, Tug 20, Delight 23, Leer Tier 26, Residue 30, Vie 31, Expire Reserve 37, Pedal 38, Bin 39, Error Tinge 41, Siren 42, Level.

How to Play Sudoku

10, 17, 25, 34, 40,

DOWN: 1, Close 2, Admit 3, Reared 4, Mood 5, Insight 6, Deter 9, Lid 11, Retinue 13, Angle 14, Tuber 16, Rug 18, Relieve 21, Timid 22, Cruel 24, Revenge 27, Sir 28, Expose 29, Debit 32, Peril 33, Raged 35, Sin 36, Erne.

TWO WEEKS TO LIVE

P

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

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

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

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