EFCC storms Rivers for alloyd, others

...towards a better life for the people

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VOL. 25: NO. 61940

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

N150

TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

35 killed in Borno P.9

Gov Fashola's dad dies at 80

P.10

EFCC storms Rivers for Lloyd, others

BY SONI DANIEL, REGIONAL EDITOR, NORTH & JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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•Lloyd granted bail, sues IGP for N50bn •IG in Rivers; shuns Govt House, Police Hqtrs

AGOS—Embattled Majority Leader of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Mr Chidi Lloyd who was arrested for allegedly hitting an anti-Amaechi lawmaker with a fake mace may be in for more trouble as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday stormed the state capital, Port Harcourt to quiz him and other lawmakers for undisclosed financial crimes.

Continues on Page 5

RCCG plants 1,000 parishes in one year •P.49

COLUMNIST:

•P.17

Mr & Mrs

SUSPECTS—A cross section of suspected robbers paraded in Port Harcourt, yesterday, by the Rivers State Police Command. Below: 'Dr' Mrs Chinyere Emeka-Precious (left) and Mr John Joseph (right) suspected child traffickers also paraded yesterday. Photos: Chijioke Nwankpa

Why I killed DSS officials— Godogodo C M Y K

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2 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

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C M Y K

4 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

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POCKET CARTOON

ROUNDTABLE—From left: Minister of National Planning, Dr Shamsudeen Usman; Director-General, Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms Arunma Oteh and Minister of State for Finance, Dr Yerima Ngama, at an Infrastructure Round table in Lagos, yesterday.

EFCC in Rivers for Lloyd, others Continues from Page 1

The lawmaker on his part is suing the Inspector General of Police, seeking N50 billion as damages for alleged inhuman treatment meted to him in detention, just as a Rivers State High Court sitting in Ahoada, yesterday, admitted him to bail.

Vanguard learnt that in a bid to thwart the release of Lloyd on bail, EFCC operatives want to probe his tenure as majority leader of the Riv-

ers House of Assembly and take steps to prosecute him with immediate effect.

The agents are likely to arrest Lloyd to answer some fraud-related charges over which he might be moved to Abuja for trial.

Under the plot said to have been hatched by top Federal Government officials in Abuja, the EFCC has been ordered to file some fraud-related charges against Lloyd in order to prevent the state Attorney-General, who

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

You are beautifully and wonderfully made; you are not a biological mistake, you are created for a purpose, to rule, reign and have dominion. Don’t be put down by others, your self esteem starts and ends with you.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

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EVER do a single thing in the anticipation to prove something to someone who has hurt you. If someone has hurt or offended you (whoever that person may be), never perform anything or strive for anything in your life with the mind of proving something to that someone, to those people. May nothing that you do be done with any thought of them in mind. There is nothing that needs to be proven — Joy Bell C Life is not compassionate towards victims. The rule is not to see yourself as one. It’s never too late! You may have felt like the victim in various situations in life, but, it’s never too late to realize that one’s responsibility is to stand on victorious ground and know that whatever one is experiencing or going through are just the clouds rolling by while you stand here on the top of this mountain! This mountain called Victory! The clouds will come and the clouds will go, but the truth is that you are high up here on this mountaintop that reaches into the sky and beyond! You are a victor.

Mahatma Gandhi sums it beautifully! “When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and the likes, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall.

Think of it- always.”

has powers to try him for attempted murder, from doing so.

It was also gathered that in a bid to nail the lawmaker, a crack team of EFCC operatives, had already arrived Port Harcourt and searched his home for ‘credible evidence’ in order to nail him.

Although it was not clear over which financial or economic matter Lloyd was being investigated by the anti-graft agency, it was learnt that the move was aimed at thwarting any move by the state to free him from prosecution over the attack on Michael Chinda.

A top Rivers State official lamented yesterday that it was painful that the Federal Government was playing dirty in a bid to jail Lloyd.

The source said: “They have brought in the EFCC to interrogate and investigate Chidi Lloyd, the House Leader. They want to take over the prosecution by ulterior means.

The government is trying to change the charge from attempted murder, which is under the state purview to fraud-related issues so as to use the EFCC to prosecute Lloyd in order to please some interested persons in Abuja.

“We fear that some desperate persons might have planted something in Lloyd’s house in order to use it against him and Governor Amaechi,” the source alleged.

But the EFCC said yesterday that its operatives were in Port Harcourt to probe Lloyd over an undisclosed ‘investigative matter’, adding that it was not under the instruction

of anyone or institution to do its work.

Spokesman for the EFCC, Mr. Wilson Uwujaren, confirmed the presence of the agency’s operatives in Port Harcourt with a view to probe Lloyd but did not say over which matter he was being investigated.

“Our operatives are actually in Rivers State over an ongoing investigation that involves Lloyd and others in a number of South-South states,” Uwujaren said.

Asked to give details of the probe, the spokesman said: "There are no details now because we don’t want to conduct the investigation on the pages of newspapers.”

Lloyd was transferred from the Police Headquarters in Abuja to the Rivers State Police Command, where he is being kept and prosecuted for attempting to kill his colleague for daring to attack him on July 9, 2013 during a failed bid to unseat the leadership of the 32-member House of Assembly.

Although the state Attorney General is expected by law to prosecute the matter for which he is being charged, a private legal practitioner is being used by the prosecution to try the Majority Leader, a development opposed by the state. The intervention of the EFCC is however seen as a dramatic twist to the trial, which is likely to take a new shape this week.

Chidi Lloyd granted bail Eighteen days after Lloyd was arrested, a Rivers State High Court sitting in Ahoada, yesterday, admitted him to bail.

Lloyd was first charged before Justice Justice L. Nyordee of the state high court in Port Harcourt on charges of conspiracy and attempted murder, but argument by counsel over the propriety of the prosecution counsel, a private lawyer, prosecuting the case without the fiat of the state AttorneyGeneral stalled the charge being read to him and his plea being taken.

A Federal High Court, last week, also refused a similar bail application.

But the trial judge of the state high court in Ahoada, Justice Charles Wali, admitted Lloyd to bail, yesterday.

The court, also ordered Lloyd to submit a photocopy of his international

passport to enable him attend to his health. His lawyer had argued, “We came here (court) because of his deteriorating health condition. Police may not bring him to court tomorrow (today) or the court may not even sit. So this is the magic.

The judiciary is calling for his release. The Police have no business keeping him.”

Rivers PDP faction faults bail Factional state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, led by Felix Obuah, has, meanwhile, faulted the bail granted Lloyd. He has also petitioned the National Judicial Council, NJC and described the bail as a travesty of justice.

The state PDP chairman in a statement, yesterday, said: “The leadership of PDP in Rivers State has expressed shock and utter disappointment over the bail granted the former leader of the state House of Assembly, Chidi Lloyd, who is in police detention for attempted murder by an Ahoada High Court today (yesterday). This is a vindication of our fears and alarm that Mr Michael Chindah cannot get justice in Rivers State.

“Alarmed by this seeming contradiction in the face of ongoing sanitization of the judiciary by the NJC, the bail and order stopping further arrest and prosecution of Chidi Lloyd made by Justice Wali is a travesty of justice.”

The statement by the Special Adviser on Media to the state PDP, Jerry Needam, queried the logic behind the order by Justice Wali in a case properly before another judge of coordinate jurisdiction in Port Harcourt, who is handling the matter and has adjourned till August 6, 2013.

The statement noted with disdain the plot to drag and further implicate the state judiciary in

a clear criminal case of attempted murder.

“This has confirmed our earlier claim and fears that Governor Rotimi Amaechi and his cohorts are doing all within their power, using his office to want to let Chidi Lloyd off the hook while his victim, Michael Chinda is dying in a London hospital. Why run to far away Ahoada when the offence for which Lloyd was arrested was committed in Port Harcourt?"

IG shuns Rivers Police Hqtrs In a related development, Inspector-General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday, shunned the state Police headquarters in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, during his visit to the state. He also did not visit Government House, Port Harcourt, though Vanguard gathered that Governor Chibuike Amaechi was in town at the time of his visit to Port Harcourt.

He also avoided the media during his visit.

The police boss was in Port Harcourt to commission 100 vehicles donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC to the Police at the Police Primary school in Town area of Port Harcourt.

The sudden change in his itinerary could not be explained at the Police headquarters on Moscow Road, Port Harcourt, though some top Police officers argued that it may not be unconnected with the political development in the state.

Top Police officers who did not want their names mentioned said the IG was aware of an interaction between him and the media slated for 10am at the Police headquarters.

“He was aware of the media arrangement for 10am. On a second thought he chose to skip it,” a source said.

6—Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Slain Ekiti varsity student’s family demands inquest

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BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

DO EKITI— The family of Seyi Fasere, a student of Ekiti State University who was killed in Oye Ekiti by yet to be identified persons has demanded the setting up of a coroner inquest to unveil the circumstances behind the demise of their son.

In a letter dated July 30, 2013 emanating from the chamber of Philip Olu Ojo and Associates and signed by Mr Durodola Olabode, the family issued a 30-day ultimatum to the Chairman of Oye LocalGovernment Area to institute the coroner or face legal action.

The family frowned at the circumstances leading to the death of Fasere and how he was tagged as an armed robber.

In the letter copied to Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Wale Fapohunda, said the council would be sued in accordance with the Ekiti State Coroner’s Law if it fails to act accordingly.

The deceased who was a final year student of Ekiti State University, Ado Ekiti was allegedly killed by the police in Oye Ekiti on February 28, 2013 during a gun duel between the cops and some robbers, who had earlier raided a new generation bank in the area.

The family stated that the deceased student was at home to collect his school fees that would enable him write his semester examination when he met his untimely death while returning to school in Ado Ekiti.

Onitsha hotelier arrested over human heads seeks bail

BY OKONKWO EZE

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NITSHA — AN Onitsha High Court in Anambra State, presided over by a vacation judge, Justice A. O. Okuma, is expected to commence hearing, Thursday, in an application for bail filed by Dr. M. N. Umenweke, Mr. F. N. Ibeh and others, counsel to the detained hotelier in Onitsha, Chief Bonaventure Mokwe.

Mokwe, the proprietor of Upper Class Hotel, Onitsha which was demolished last Thursday on the orders of Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State for allegedly harbouring human heads and firearms, is currently being detained by the police at the Anambra State Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) headquarters, Awkuzu, since the alleged discovery of human heads inside his hotel room.

In the suit, No. 0/2168m/13 filed before the court, yesterday, Mokwe’s counsel, Umenweke, is praying the court to declare that his arrest and detention by the police and the Anambra State government is illegal and unconstitutional.

He is also asking the court to declare that his continued detention without allowing him access to his counsel and relations is unlawful and unconstitutional and that he should be released from detention.

IPC lauds JTF over fight against bunkering, kidnapping

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BY ETOP EKANEM

AGOS — THE Ijaw Peoples Congress, IPC, has commended the Joint Task Force, JTF, Operation Pulo Shield, led by Major-General Bata Debiro, saying JTF has successfully waged war against illegal oil bunkering, kidnapping and robbery in the Niger Delta.

In a statement by its National President, Mr Ekanpou Enewaridideke, the group said the JTF commander had, with this war, debilitated and stifled activities of kidnappers and oil bunkerers.

According to Enewaridideke, “for the purpose of further invigorating the relentless war, the Federal Government should constantly create the enabling environment for the JTF commander to continue the fierce war against the illegalities in the Niger Delta as the government of President Goodluck Jonathan has always done.

“Debiro has the professional, operational and psychological capacity and virility to wage and win the war against any illegalities in the Niger Delta and should be courted by any patriotic and law-abiding individual or community. The absolute peace and security in Ayakoromo community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State is a testimony to the operational professionalism of Debiro.”

Enewaridideke advised the JTF commander to initiate a regular patrol of communities around their military formations “as this will ward off the proliferation of any criminal group bound to snowball into a threatening criminal behemoth. Routine patrol of communities around their military formations in the Niger Delta would be a measure against any criminal formation.

Fuel-laden kegs recovered from suspected pipeline vandals by the joint operation of the military and Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, at Ogere-Remo, Ikenne Local Government Area of Ogun

Why I killed DSS officials — Godogodo

BY IFEANYI OKOLIE

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AGOS — NOTORIOUS robbery czar, Abiodun Ogunjobi, aka Godogodo, who was arrested recently in Lagos State, is currently telling the police how he coordinated some of his operations within Lagos and some South-Western states.

Vanguard gathered that the 36-year-old native of Ogun State confessed to some high profile deadly robbery operations within Victoria Island, Lekki and Ajah axis of state.

Police sources told Vanguard that Godogodo has also confessed to the gruesome killing of four officials of the Department of State Services, DSS, whom he met at Alpha Beach Hotel located around Lekki area of the state in August 2012.

Vanguard learnt that Godogodo, who was discharged from the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, LASUTH, where he received treatments from bullet wounds sustained during his arrest, weekend, told his interrogators, at the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, that he was left with no option than to kill the DSS operatives who he said posed immense danger to his operation in the hotel.

A source who craved anonymity said: “Godogodo told

us that he didn’t know that the people he killed at Alpha Beach Hotel were DSS officials.

“He said a member of his gang he identified as Yinusa, told him that some policemen who were lodged in one of the hotel rooms had a fisticuff with a member of his gang and when he went to the room, he said he opened fire on everybody to prevent the police from attacking him.”

Vanguard further gathered that the Lagos State office of the DSS is preparing to liaise with the Lagos State police command to prosecute Godogodo.

Meantime, euphoria was high in SARS detention cell when Godogodo was brought in from LASUTH. Sources told Vanguard that other robbery suspects detained in the cells chanted Godogodo’s name as he was led into his cell.

It was also gathered that the cell marshal where Godogodo was detained relinquished his position as the head of the cell immediately he stepped in there.

It was also gathered that the breakthrough that led to Godogodo’s arrest came after a three-week intensive search for the bandit in Ibadan, Oyo State.

Vanguard gathered that the

officer in charge of SARS, Lagos, Abba Kyari, re-inforced the search for him few days after the gruesome murder of the owner of 04 Hotel in Ajah and six others.

The search for Godogodo had been on in Lagos and the South-West for close to two decades.

Godogodo

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—7

5 die as rival Civilian JTF battle for supremacy M AIDUGURI — AT least five persons were killed, weekend, following a deadly clash between two rival vigilante youth groups seeking to curb the menace posed by the Boko Haram in Borno State.

The two groups, popularly called ‘civilian JTF’ were fighting over the control of Biu, a town about 190 kilometres from

Maiduguri, residents said.

“The Civilian JTF in Biu had asked those that came from Maiduguri to leave the town because their presence was likely to cause more harm than good to residents of Biu town,” Abdullahi Mohammed said.

He said it was during the ejection of the Maiduguri civilian JTF that fight ensued be-

tween the two youth groups, which led to the killing of five persons.

“I saw five corpses before I was rushed to hospital. It is possible the casualty figure may be more than five because only two of us survived the shooting. I can’t tell where other dead bodies were deposited,” he said.

Police parade 14 robbery suspects, alleged fake medical doctor

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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d officials of Ogun command of Nigeria n State, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN.

ORT HARCOURT — THE Rivers State Police command, yesterday, paraded 14 robbery suspects arrested at various Police operations. Six AK 47 rifles, three laptops and about 15 mobile handsets were among items recovered from the robbers.

Also a lady who claimed to be a medical doctor and two others arrested for running a fake maternity centre in the state were paraded.

According to the Police Public

Relations Officer, DSP Angela Agabe, the 'doctor' ran a maternity centre where she sold babies to women looking for children without their knowledge.

She said she would inject her patients with a substance that would make their bodies and breasts to swell as if they were pregnant. On the day of ‘delivery,’ she would take them to the theatre in her clinic and inject them with sedative drugs to make them sleep.

She would then pour blood she procured from other sources on

their private parts and babies to create an impression that the babies had just been delivered. She would then present to them as what they gave birth to.

DSP Agabe gave the alleged fake doctor's name as Dr Emeka Precious Chinyere.

She said the alleged fake doctor charged as much as N3 million for her service.

The other two who were paraded with her were a couple who allegedly sold their one monthold-baby to the doctor for N300,000.

Court jails man 3 months for intimidating woman

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BUJA — AN Abuja Senior Magistrates’ Court, yesterday, sentenced Oluwatobi Oyediran, 34, of no fixed address, to three months in prison for criminal intimidation and possession of a dangerous weapon.

The magistrate, Mr Celestine Odo, who sentenced Oyediran after he pleaded guilty, did not give the convict an option of fine.

Odo said the court had recognised the fact that the convict was a first time offender and also that he did not waste the time of the court.

He held that the convict must, however, be punished to serve as a deterrent to other offenders with similar intention.

The convict, who pleaded guilty to the charges against him, begged the court for leniency, saying: “It is the work of the devil. I did not know why I held Ms Rahab Idris hostage. I am sorry and I am begging the court for mercy."

Earlier, the prosecutor, Cpl. Sani Yusuf, had told the court that the convict was arrested in a black spot in Mabushi on Aug. 1.

Yusuf said the convict was caught at the spot where he held Idris hostage demanding that she must become his girlfriend.

He said the convict threatened to stab Idris with a poisonous jack-knife when she refused to succumb to his request.

Governor Peter Obi of Anambra (middle) with some retirees during the launch of payment of gratuity and pensions to 945 living and dead retirees in the state, in Awka, yesterday.

PHOTO: NAN.

Court remands motorcyclist for stabbing colleague

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AGOS — AN Oshodi Magistrate’s Court, yesterday, remanded a commercial motorcyclist, Kingsley Adidoju, in Kirikiri Prisons, Lagos, for pleading guilty to stabbing his colleague with a broken bottle.

Adidoju, 36, who resides at 2, Ojekunle St., Orile-Agege, is standing trial over a charge of assault.

The magistrate, Akeem Fashola, directed that the accused be kept in custody pending when judgment would be given.

He adjourned the case to August 7 for facts and sentencing.

Earlier, the Prosecutor, Cpl. Kehinde Olatunde, had told the court that the accused committed the offence on July 24 at Oshodi Motorcycle park.

According to him, Adidoju admitted stabbing the complainant, Mr Adeniyi Fajenmisin, the treasurer of Commercial Motorcyclists Association, Oshodi Unit.

“Adidoju stabbed him with a broken bottle on the head and injured him. The accused had always criticised Fajenmisin since he was appointed treasurer that he was incapable of handling the association’s funds,” Olatunde said.

He said the lingering crisis led to the stabbing of the treasurer by the accused.

The offence, Olatunde noted, contravened Section 171 of the Criminal Law of Lagos State, 2011.

Drama as 21-yr-old accused asks magistrate for food

BY UJU MBANUSI

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AGOS — THE magistrate's court sitting in Yaba, Lagos, yesterday, witnessed a mild drama following an outburst by one of the arraigned suspects.

The incident occurred during the hearing of a two-count felony charge brought against the suspect, Tunde Balogun (21), who instead of pleading to the charges, brought out some drugs from his pocket as he cried to the magistrate: “Please Ma, I have been on these drugs since Saturday. I am not feeling okay. I have not had anything to eat since morning. Please Ma, if you can help me, just give me something so that I can swallow these drugs.”

This prompted the magistrate to halt the session for some minutes to ascertain the health condition of the accused from the Prosecuting Officer who brought him to court. It was then revealed that it was a strategy to distract the court session.

After the second charge was read, the accused remained silent for a while, after which he told the magistrate: “I heard what you said, but I don’t know anything about the charges you just read to me. I am not guilty of the charges. I am not feeling very fine, please I need to take these medications I bought from the chemist since Saturday.”

It was further revealed by some witnesses at the hearing that a previous case of felony and assault committed against a young lady in February 2013, was struck out in court last Friday, but in-

stead of turning a new leaf, the accused who is a son of a retired court official, committed another felony the next day.

According to a witness,“he is unrepentant and this has caused his father, who is a retired court registrar, so much pain."

When asked reasons for misbehaving during the hearing, the accused told our reporter: “Truly, I am innocent of the charge against me. That evening, I went with one of my friends to purchase some drugs at a chemist, and suddenly we heard people shouting and running after some young men.

"In confusion, we joined them, but before I knew what was happening, they mobbed me. They broke a bottle on my head in the process. Look at the wound,” he said, showing off a wounded back of his head.

The suspect, Tunde Balogun, displaying the drugs.

8—Vanguard , TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

FAAN, passengers in free-for-all over new luggage charge

BY DANIEL ETEGHE

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AGOS—PASSENGERS arriving the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, Lagos and officials of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, were yesterday engaged in a free-for-all as FAAN attempted to force most of the passengers to pay a N2,000 charge on all checked-in luggage.

FAAN, however claimed that the N2,000 luggage charges was not imposed on all passengers but strictly on cargo agents who use passenger planes to transport their cargo at the airport.

When Vanguard visited the airport terminal at 3:15pm, there was confusion at the arrival hall of the terminal as passengers queried the motive behind the charges on checked-in luggage, when all the payments were included in the ticket.

One of the affected female passengers, a lady, who spoke to Vanguard, said she arrived Lagos aboard Emirates from Dubai at 12 noon. At baggage reclaim, she narrated, an official of FAAN said their luggage had been taken to the cargo section of the airport, adding that she should go and make payment there.

The passenger said she was still at the airport because of her luggage, as FAAN has refused to release them to her.

At press time, some of the passengers were still at the arrival hall, while others went to the airline office to lodge complaints over what they called unnecessary charges.

Meanwhile, General Manager, Corporate Communications of FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Dati, pointed out that the N2,000 charge was mandatory on cargo agents as most of them often transport about 20-30 luggage unaccompanied, or accompanied by proxies with passengers’ plane.

CRUDE OIL THEFT, VANDALISM: We're helpless, says DPR

BY MICHAEL EBOH

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HE Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, yesterday, said it was handicapped in stemming the rising incident of pipeline vandalisation and crude theft in Nigeria, raising concerns that the trend may continue unabated in the next couple of months.

Speaking during a visit of the House of Representatives’ Committee on Petroleum Resources (Upstream) to DPR as part of their oversight function, Mr. George Osahon, Director, Petroleum Resources, said DPR was not empowered to monitor the pipelines and was presently not in a better position to address the anomaly.

According to him, DPR was not an enforcer and does not carry arms, adding, however, that it intends putting in place the necessary machinery to address the ugly trend.

Also, members of the House Committee expressed displeasure at the high incident of crude theft, saying that the House was worried over the country's loss of about 400, 000 barrels of oil per day.

Mr. Ajibola Muraino, Chairman of the Committee expressed concern that the development was threatening Nigeria’s revenue and if left unchecked, would attain a worrisome dimension.

alive to its responsibilities in line with the country’s dwindling crude output, which is likely to threaten the country’s revenue in the years ahead.

C’ttee’s recommendation

He called on the Federal Government to immediately implement the proposal of its Committee on Pipeline Vandalisation, saying the recommendations will go a long way in reducing crude theft.

Among the recommendations, he said, was the proposal that the government establish a dedicated telephone line so that members of the public can report acts of vandalism.

Another proposal was that the Federal Government dis-

continue the use of private security outfit in policing oil installations nationwide since these private security outfit would later make use of military and para-military personnel.

He said: “We also proposed that the Federal Government deploy security operatives to the export terminals where these ships take off with crude oil to other countries.

“When security operatives are deployed to these export terminals, they will be able to determine ships that are carrying stolen crude.”

DPR beats revenue target

He commended DPR for its exceptional performance over the last six months, saying that

DPR surpassed its revenue target for the period by N86 billion. According to him, DPR’s approved revenue for the period, January to June 2013 was N383 billion, but on proper scrutiny of the books, it discovered that DPR generated about N470 billion.

Muraino called on DPR to step up efforts at internallygenerated revenue, saying that they were expecting a proposal from DPR on how to grow its earnings.

Muraino directed DPR to ensure that petrol is sold at the official rate at filling stations across the country, by stepping up its monitoring activities and putting in place dedicated telephone lines, where members of the public can report sharp practices by filling stations.

N2.5trn annual loss

His concern stemmed from the the loss of 400,000 barrels of crude per day which translates to a loss of about $42.728 million (N6.836 billion) daily, $1.282 billion (N205.08 billion) monthly or $15.38 billion (N2.461 trillion) annually for the country.

Muraino said: “This amount is equivalent to the total daily crude output of about 14 countries. This is nothing to be happy about.”

Meanwhile, Osahon had earlier urged the Federal Government to take steps towards addressing this worrisome trend, calling for an urgent military intervention in protecting oil facilities across the country.

He said: “Limited funds has hindered DPR from carrying out what it should have done. Another issue is crude theft and gas flaring.

“DPR alone cannot solve the issue of crude theft. Urgent steps need to be taken, such as military intervention.”

He appealed to the National Assembly to assist DPR in any way it can to address the challenges of crude theft and vandalisation of oil facilities.

However, Muraino emphasised the need for DPR to be

COMMISSIONING: From left— Mrs Adeola Olatunji, Group Head, Strategy and Business Development; Mrs Eyoanwan Ndiyo-Aiyetan, Group Head, HR and Admin; Mallam Alhassan Maju, Chief Operating Officer of Tata Trading Company, representing Chairman of the company, and Mr. Ogunremi Solomon, Plant Supervisor, during the commissioning of Borkir Gas, a subsidiary of Dangote Group, in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

North needs 4 yrs to groom Jonathan's replacement— Abba-Gana

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, Political Editor

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LDER statesman and former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Mohammed AbbaGana, has dismissed assertions of a united northern opposition against President Goodluck Jonathan.

He said Prof. Ango Abdullahi and the Northern Elders Forum, NEF, do not speak for all northern elders.

Abba-Gana, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees, BoT, said the North presently would need at least four years to search for a suitable presidential material that could unify the north, add-

ing that after producing nine of the country’s leaders, the North should give other sections a break.

Abba-Gana spoke as Senator Emmanuel Bwacha from Taraba State, also dissociated northern minorities from the clamour for power shift back to the north.

The two spoke at two different interactions with newsmen in Lagos.

Abba-Gana also endorsed the proposal for President Jonathan to be offered the right of first refusal to the PDP presidential ticket in 2015.

He said the proposal first articulated by the chairman of PDP BoT, Chief Tony Anenih, was logical on the

basis of what he claimed as the achievements of the president.

Abba-Gana also dismissed the newly registered All Progressives Congress, APC, as a hurricane warning for PDP, adding, however, that it will blow over without much damage.

He said: “The North is not against Jonathan because there are several well respected northern leaders who are supporting him.

“The Northern Elders Forum, NEF, led by Prof. Ango Abdullahi, is just an interest group which is pursuing what I see as their own view of Northern interest. But there are other groups which are against them in the same region.”

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—9

FAREWELL: President Goodluck Jonathan (right), presenting a gift to Amb. Chris Houter, outgoing Canadian High Commissioner to Nigeria, at the State House in Abuja, yesterday. STATE HOUSE PHOTO.

35 killed as Boko Haram attacks police base in Borno z32 sect members, 1 policeman, 2 soldiers zI ordered Kano attack to prove my leadership— Marwana

zSays he warned FG, as ICC indicts sect

BY UDUMA KALU, with agency reports

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RESH attacks by gunmen suspected to be members of Boko Haram Islamist sect has left at least 35 persons dead, including two soldiers and a policeman, with several others injured in Borno State, military officials said.

The spokesman of the Joint Task Force, JTF, Lt Col Sagir Musa said Boko Haram members, who had threatened to launch massive attacks as Ramadan ends, lived out their threat by launching coordinated attacks on Sunday.

Mr. Musa said: “Troops have successfully repelled Boko Haram attack on a Mobile Police Base and Bama town. The sect members, using sophisticated weapons and Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, launched attacks at about 6:45am on Sunday.

“The encounter led to the death of one policeman and 17 Boko Haram members, two soldiers were also wounded.”

Musa also said two soldiers were killed when Boko Haram staged another attack on the operatives of the Multi-National Joint Task Force, MNJTF. The soldiers were able to kill 15 Boko Haram members during the at-

tack.”

He said the attack took place “about 10am on Sunday, when some Boko Haram members armed with sophisticated weapons attacked MNJTF location at Malum Fatori.”

The military said normalcy had, however, returned to the two towns. The recent attacks have heightened residents’ fear in Maiduguri, especially as they prepare for the Eidel-Fitri, which marks the end of the Ramadan fast.

ICC indicts Boko Haram

Meanwhile, the International Criminal Court, ICC, in the Hague, said yesterday that after a preliminary investigation, it believed that acts attributed to the Islamist group Boko Haram are likely crimes against humanity.

The ICC prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda said the acts include murder and persecution. But she will only move to a full-fledged investigation after further study and depending on whether Nigerian authorities prosecute “those who appear to bear the greatest responsibility.”

Her report, which was issued yesterday in The Hague, Netherlands, is based on evidence gathered through December 2012. In July last year, during her first visit to Nigeria since assuming office, ICC urged Nigeria to investigate crimes by Boko Haram.

Bensouda said she briefed President Goodluck Jonathan on ICC’s preliminary examination of the insurgency, but stressed that the court was not formally investigating the violence in northern Nigeria. “Crimes are taking place,” the Gambian-born prosecutor told journalists.

“These crimes may be called terrorist attacks but they could also qualify as crimes against humanity.”

Provided Nigeria takes action through its own judicial system, ICC does not plan to intervene, she said. According to her, “the intention is not to intervene, but to ensure that Nigeria has the primary responsibility of investigating.”

Why I ordered Kano attack — Factional Leader

Meanwhile, leader of a faction of Boko Haram Islamist sect, Mohammed Marwana, yesterday, disclosed that he gave Federal Government prior notice of last week’s attack in the Sabon-Gari area of Kano that claimed over 40 lives, but that the government ignored his warning.

In an audio message, Sunday,

Marwana said he ordered the attack to prove that he is the new leader of the sect and not the faction that claimed to have shot and deposed former leader, Abubakar Shekau.

Marwana is the leader of the Boko Haram faction that had been in negotiations with Federal Government appointed “Amnesty Committee” headed by the Minister of Special Duties, Turaki, who had earlier announced that Federal Government had secured a ceasefire deal with the sect.

A news report by Vanguard last week, said that Shekau had been shot and deposed by his own members.

There has been controversy regarding authenticity of Marwana as a member of the sect and its leadership, as he was recently dismissed by Imam Shekau in a Youtube video after he claimed that the sect had agreed to a ceasefire deal with Federal Government.

While confirming the ceasefire deal announced by the Chairman of the Presidential Committee on Boko Haram, Marwana had apologised and begged for the forgiveness of Nigerians for the atrocities the group had committed in the country.

He had added that his leadership, which he claimed was authentic, had decided to tread the path of peace.

However, in the audio message, Marwana, who spoke in Hausa language, said: “I personally instructed the attack in Kano to prove to the world that I am the real leader of Boko Haram because there have been retrogressive forces on the issue of dialogue, who kept doubting my leadership in the sect.

“I told them ahead that there will be attack, and it has happened. It is a warning, and we need to say again that we carried out the attacks in Kano.”

On Shekau’s death

On the purported death of Imam Abubakar Shekau, the globally known leader of the sect, Marwana debunked speculations, but confirmed that he only lost the leadership of the sect.

Marwana said: “Shekau is alive contrary to speculations, except that he lost leadership of the sect.

“I will not tell you where he is.

But he is alive, and we talked with him not up to three hours ago. Except if he died while I am talking.”

Zimbabwean polls: Jonathan lauds Mugabe

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has congratulated President Robert Mugabe on his victory in last week’s presidential elections in Zimbabwe as announced by the country’s electoral commission at the weekend.

President Jonathan in a statement, yesterday, by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Reuben Abati, enjoined President Mugabe and his party, ZANU-PF to re-dedicate themselves to working for the well-being and progress of all Zimbabweans.

“The President also calls on President Mugabe to ensure that all persons and parties who oppose the conduct of the polls and the announced results are given every opportunity to seek lawful redress as allowed by the country’s electoral laws and constitution. He welcomes the decision of the main opposition leader, Mr. Morgan Tsvangirai to avail himself of these avenues of peaceful and legal redress instead of resorting to unlawful actions that could lead Zimbabwe down the road of political instability again” he said.

10—Vanguard , TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Gov Fashola’s father, Pa Ademola Fashola dies at 80 ...to be buried today zPresident Jonathan, others mourn

BY OUR REPORTERS

L

AGOS — ALHAJI Ademola Fashola, father of Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, died in the early hours of yesterday, after a brief illness.

He was 80 years old.

The deceased, a former advert executive in the defunct Daily Times of Nigeria, was said to have developed breathing complication at about 1 a.m., yesterday, and was immediately rushed to the hospital where he was later confirmed dead.

However, the governor who was away in Saudi Arabia to perform the lesser Hajj, “Umurah” is billed to arrive the country today to perform the burial rite before interment.

A statement by Chief of Staff to Fashola, Mr. Lanre Babalola, confirmed the death of the octogenarian.

According to the statement: “In total submission to the will of Almighty Allah, we announce the passage of our husband, father, grand-father and great grand-father, Ibrahim Ademola Bayo Fashola which occurred today (yesterday) at the age of 80.

“He is survived by his wives, children, grand-children and great grand-children.”

Among his children are, Arinola Fuwa, Olayinka Fashola, Babatunde Fashola(SAN), Ademola Fashola, Omolara Fashola, Adewale Fashola, Ademola Fashola Jnr, and Ademola Keji Fashola The statement added that the remains of the deceased would be buried today, at the Vaults and Gardens, Ikoyi by 1p.m.

Family head speaks

When Vanguard visited the residence of the deceased at No. 31 Oladipo Olabinjo Street, Off Bode Thomas, Surulere, many early callers to the house, described his death as “a great shock.”

Though, newsmen were initially prevented from entering the compound, they were later allowed in with a condition not to step beyond a particular boundary.

The head of the Fashola’s family, Engr. Bolaji Fashola, said: “I was shattered when the doctor broke the news to me at about 10:00a.m. today (yesterday). I was sad because he was my younger brother. I saw him yesterday and we couldn’t speak much because he was breathing heavily.

“But I didn’t know he was going to die. Before I left his house, he wanted to sleep. I will miss him a lot because we

were very close. I cannot remember the last time we quarrelled.”

Burial preparation

Although Pa Ademola will be buried today, the preparation for the interment, led by the General Manager of the Lagos State Resident Registration Agency, LASRRA, Ms. Yinka Fashola commenced immediately inside the premises of the Surulere Secondary School, located opposite Pa Fashola’s house.

When Vanguard visited the premises, the wife of the Governor, Dame Abimbola Fashola, was sighted with gloomy eyes.

Jonathan, Mark, governors, condole Fashola

Meanwhile, President Goodluck Jonathan, Senate President, David Mark, state governors, among other Nigerians and groups, yesterday, sent condolence messages to Governor Fahola over the demise of his father.

President Jonathan in a condolence message through Mr. Reuben Abati, his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, said: “On behalf of himself, his family, the Federal Government and the people of Nigeria, I convey sincere condolences to Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State on the death of his father, Pa Ibrahim Ademola Fashola earlier today in Lagos.

“As they mourn Pa Fashola, President Jonathan urges Governor Fashola, his family and people of Lagos State to give thanks to God Almighty for the octogenarian’s very exemplary and accomplished life.”

“The President urges them to be comforted by the knowledge that Pa Fashola is returning to his Creator as a very blessed and fulfilled man who lived to see his son become a two-term governor of one of Nigeria’s most populous and vibrant states.

“President Jonathan joins Governor Fashola, members of his family and the people of Lagos in praying that God Almighty will grant Pa Fashola peaceful and eternal rest from his labours on earth.”

On his part, Senate President, David Mark, described the death of Pa Ademola Fashola, as not only shocking but sad, saying the deceased passed on at a time his wealth of experience and wisdom were most needed.

Mark, in a condolence message to the governor, govern-

‘

I was shattered when the doctor broke the news to me at about 10:00a.m. today (yesterday). I was sad because he was my younger brother. I saw him yesterday.

And we couldn’t speak much because he was breathing heavily. But I didn’t know he was going to die

ment and people of Lagos State, through his Chief Press Secretary, Paul Mumeh, noted that Pa Fashola lived an eventful and accomplished life, worthy of emulation.

According to the statement, “I received the news of the death of your beloved father with shock and sadness. This came at a time his wealth of experience and wisdom were most needed. I am, however, consoled that your father lived an exemplary life and left a legacy of selfless service to the community.”

Also, in his condolence message, through his Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State, said the death of elder Fashola, would leave a huge vacuum in the extended Fashola family as well as in Lagos social and political circles.

’

He noted that the unexpected transition of Alhaji Fashola would certainly deny him and some of his colleagues counsel and wisdom they had enjoyed, saying, “the sudden exit of Papa Ademola Fashola invoked mixed feelings in me, one of costly loss of a redoubtable father and leader and the other of a glorious exit of Papa after a well led life on earth.”

Similarly, Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State in his condolence message, said the late Fashola would surely be missed by all, especially for his genuine display of love.

According to Mimiko: “It is sad that Papa did not wait to mark his 80th birthday which would have come up next month, but God knows best.

“In his life time, Papa displayed genuine love to all and sundry. He was religious,

very open and full of wisdom.

I pray Allah grant him eternal rest.” ”It is sad losing a good father like Pa Fashola who was cherished and loved by all, but there is consolation in the fact that he lived a worthy and exemplary life and only God can give the bereaved family the grace to bear the loss.”

In the same vein, Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, in a statement, said, “on behalf of the government and good people of Ekiti State, I commiserate with my friend and brother Governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, on the peaceful transition of his father, Alhaji Ademola Fashola.

“I also commiserate with the entire Fashola family and the Lagos State Government. I pray Almighty God to grant them the fortitude to bear the irreparable loss.”

Also, Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State, in statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media, Mrs. Funmi Wakama, Amosun, described Papa Fashola as a model of industry, discipline and integrity.

The governor said: “He was a dedicated family man and devout Muslim, who trained his children in the way of Allah. It is not surprising that one of his children, Mr. Raji Fashola, later rose to become the governor of Lagos, where he has recorded outstanding successes.”

Lagos PDP, Eko Club condole

Also, President Eko Club Alhaji Owolabi Lawal, in a statement on behalf of members, said, “the death of Pa Fashola is a painful occurrence which we would continue to remember. He was not only a founding member of our great club, but we would also continue to appreciate his contributions to the development of Eko Club and of course, his warmth, friendship and dedication in his liberal interactions with us all.

“And for this, we would continue to miss him. We wish our patron, Governor Babatunde Fashola and the entire members of the family the fortitude to bear the loss.”

Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in a statement by its chairman, Captain Tunji Shelle (rtd), described the late Pa Fashola as his club’s Patron and member, and one who related well with other members of the club and who did not underrate any person.

Vanguard , TUES DAY,

NDLEA arrests youth counsellor with 2.120kg of drugs during the outward screening of passengers on a Virgin Atlantic flight to London, weekend.

According to Ofoyeju Mitchell, Head, Public Affairs, NDLEA, Arinze, who claimed to be an Alumni Ambassador of Bolton University, also holds a bachelor’s degree in Business Administration at Madona University, Okija, Anambra State.

He also has a master’s degree in International Business at Bolton University, United Kingdom

in 2011. He has lived in Bolton for the past three years.

Mitchel further said that four parcels containing substances that tested positive for methamphetamine were found in possession of Arinze.

“The drug which was detected inside Arinze’s luggage was carefully hidden. Officers had to cut open the sides of the bag to recover the drugs. He claimed to have an interview in London,” according to NDLEA Airport

Commander, Hamza Umar .

During interrogation, the suspect confessed to the crime, statPERATIVES OF the Na ing that he was given the bag by tional Drug Law Enforcea friend who bought his return ment Agency, NDLEA, at the ticket.

Murtala Muhammed Interna“I came to Nigeria in June as tional Airport, MMIA, Lagos an Alumni Ambassador of my have apprehended a 30 year old university. Work was at advanced career counselor and alleged stage for an exhibition in Onitsha alumnus of Bolton University, with parents and prospective canUnited Kingdom, Arinze Ifeanyi didates who are interested in furJohn found in possession of thering their education in the 2.120kg of methamphetamine United Kingdom.

"In the process, I got an interview request in London which I had wanted to quickly attend and continue with my assignment in Nigeria. My friend who assisted me with a return ticket, gave me the bag to use for my trip.

"It was inside the bag that the parcels of drug were found. I am very sorry for what has happened. I want my friends, relatives and business partners to please understand my situation,” Arinze stated.

NDLEA Chairman/Chief Executive, Ahmadu Giade commended the officers for the arrest.

Giade promised that, “the agency will continue to counter the modus operandi of drug trafficking cartels. The suspect had perfected his plan but for the professionalism and expertise of the arresting officers, the drugs were detected.

"It is sad and disappointing that the suspect could yield to the demand to smuggle drug, considering his acaVISIT: From left, Wold Bank Task Team Leader, Professor Funso Okumadewa; Permanent demic background and proSecretary, Ministry of Water Resources, Rural Development and Community Affairs, Engr. Adelere fession as a career counselor.

Oriolowo; Head of Service, Mr. Sunday Owoeye, and Osun State Deputy Governor, Mrs. Titi The suspect, who hails from Laoye-Tomori, during the World Bank Task Team's visit to Osun State on Community and Social Anambra State, will be Development Mission, in Osogbo. charged to court soon.

By LAWANI MIKAIRU

O

Tension in Oyo APC over Ajimobi, Lanlehin face-off

BY OLA AJAYI

I

BADAN — AS cold war be tween Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State and Senator Olufemi Lanlehin representing Oyo South rages, the latter has vowed to put the governor on track for allegedly introduc-

ing anti-people policies.

Lanlehin and the governor have engaged in a war of words over the 2015 second term bid.

Both of them belong to the All Progressive Congress, APC. Lanlehin, in a statement signed by his media aide, Olawale Shadare, said, “If

Governor Ajimobi can disregard the party manifestoes and chooses to embark on some anti-people policies at the expense of the popularity of the supposed ruling party, we owe it a duty to put him on check.

"This has never gone down well with the clique of political jobbers he made for himself, but

we shall not be deterred by their antics.”

He warned the governor ’s aides not to subject the state to another round of political turmoil by manipulating public opinions in a bid to champion the cause of second term in office for their boss as the 2015 general elections draw nearer.

Surely, enough is enough!

POEM

BY OLA BALOGUN

MUST ALL the collec-tively owned lands and houses in Nigeria continue to be sold off by irresponsible and greedy so-called ‘leaders’?

Yesterday, it was the Race Course, where lovely trees and a huge expanse of carefully manicured lawns was transformed into the eyesore that is currently known asTafawa Balewa Square...

Then it was Ikoyi Park, where beautiful pristine lands were unceremoniously converted into a hastily developed housing estate...

Then the civil service houses all across the Federation of Nigeria (including the famous 1004 Estate on Victoria Island, Lagos), were sold off overnight, with no thought about where the future genera-

tions of civil servants will live...

Then the national legislators’ houses in Abuja were disposed of at ridiculous prices...

And now ‘they’ have set their sights on the National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos.

Na wa o!

Will there be no end to the ghastly series?

We must draw the line somewhere.

This time, we MUST stand and be counted: NO PASSARON! (to borrow the battle cry of the Republican patriots durng the Spanish civil war) MBA! TUFIA KWA! KO LE SE SE LAI LAI! BABU! Make dem no chance us o!

AUGUST 6, 2013— 11

Eid Fitri: Govt declares free train ride for Osun residents

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

O

SOGBO — Osun State government, yesterday, announced free train ride for this year's 2013 Eid Fitri participants in the state.

A statement from the Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives and Empowerment, Mr. Ismail Jayeoba, disclosed that the free train would be between Wednesday and Saturday.

The statement said that the free train would convey people from Lagos to Osogbo, the state capital on Wednesday.

My government has benefitted all — Fayemi

E

KITI STATE Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi has said that over 200 communities in the state have benefited from the various peopleoriented development programmes and projects executed by his administration in the last 33 months.

The governor, who made this known in Usi Ekiti during the town’s Day celebration, explained that the N300 million grants-inaid recently disbursed to 82 communities for different self-help projects, was part of ways to develop all the communities in the state.

He added that the fund was doled out to the communities for the execution of their priority projects.

Ogun cautions ruling houses to maintain law and order

T

HE OGUN State Government has cautioned the Oniro Agude ruling houses to maintain law and order in determining who emerges the next monarch in Ipokia Local Government area of the state.

Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Basorun Muyiwa Oladipo while resolving the lingering crisis at a peace meeting with members of Idofa, Okero and Saaja ruling houses, among other stakeholders in OkeMosan, Abeokuta, said the concerned parties should exercise patience, co-habit peacefully and shun any act that may plunge the community into crisis.

12—Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Rivers Judicial Commission assures on fairness

BY JIMITOTA

ONOYUME

P

ORT HARC O U R T — CHAIRMAN of the Judicial Commission of Inquiry into the fracas that rocked the Rivers State House of Assembly, Justice Belema Georgewill, has assured that his commission would discharge its assignment dispassionately.

Promising that all parties in the crisis would be treated equally and fairly, Justice Georgewill, who spoke, yesterday, at the inaugural sitting of the Commission at the Port Harcourt High court, said the body would, on the basis of hard facts to be revealed during its proceedings, make necessary recommendations to the government that would bring about lasting peace in the state House of Assembly.

He said his Commission would also apportion blame where necessary on the basis of facts presented .

“We assure all who are affected or interested, of our oath of impartiality and neutrality in inquiring into the facts and circumstances leading to the crisis that rocked the Rivers State House of Assembly on 9th and 10th July 2013”, he said.

Justice Georgewill, who said his commission would carry out thorough investigation and painstakingly review all the facts and evidence that would be placed before the Commission publicly, said all persons affected would have adequate opportunity to present their own side of the story.

How I escaped plots to kill me in prison —Al-Mustapha

BY PETER DURU

M

AKURDI—MAJOR Hamza Al-Mustapha, former Chief Security Officer, CSO, to late Head of State, Gen. Sanni Abacha, has revealed that he escaped several plots to kill him while he was still in prison. He said but for the intervention of Wantaregh Paul Unongo and retired Controller of Prison, Iorbee Ihiagh, he would have been eliminated after the death of his former boss Gen. Sanni Abacha.

Maj. Al-Mustapha spoke last weekend in Jato Akaa, when he led his wife, son of the former Head of State, Mohammed Abacha, friends and loyalists to pay homage to Second Republic Minister of Steel, Wataregh Paul Unongo, in his country home.

He said: “On the 29th of March, 2004, some people planned to kill me. I was to be forced out of the prison and taken to an unknown destination where they were to take my life.

“Thank God, a reliable and trusted son of Tivland and my friend was officer in charge.

He was directed to release me without documents in the wee hours of the night.

“As God would have it, he sought for guidance from our father and leader, Wantaregh Paul Unongo, who in turn directed him not to allow them

take me away for subsequent killing.

“God saved my life on that day. Let me say, from the day the journey started, the day my father, the late General Sanni Abacha, died to the 12th of of July this year when I was released, we have had so many attempts to take our

lives but God Almighty preserved us.

“Alhaji Mohammed Sanni Abacha and I initially were framed through scripted stories released to the media and we were arrested. Thank God that subsequently justice was served having passed through series of travails and torture.

“But today it is just normal that we should come home to Tivland before my father Wantaregh Paul Unongo and in the presence of CP Ihiagh, who was prematurely retired because he refused to play games with my life. God Almighty has decided that I will still see today.”

INAUGURATION: From left: Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State; Chairman, Governing Council, Ambrose Alli University, Prof. Greg Akenzua; Members, Prince Tony Omoaghe and Dr. Godwin Ogboghodo, at the inauguration of the Governing Council, in Benin yesterday .

Cholera outbreak: NIMR to screen suspected samples

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE &

CHIOMA OBINNA

T

HE Nigerian Institute of Medical Research, NIMR, Yaba, Lagos, has directed all health facilities and communities in the South– West geo-political zone to send samples of suspected cases of cholera and gastroenteritis (food poisoning) to its laboratories for analysis.

This is coming on the heels of a red alert by the Federal

PUBLIC NOTICE

LETTER OF INDEMNITY This is to inform the general public that I, MR. OPARAEKE CASMIR AKANDU, purchased a One Room Apartment at 5th Avenue, Block 8, Flat 4, Festac, Lagos, from MR. LATEEF ABIODUN KOLEJO on 23rd March, 2009 and put in possession.

That in 2011 when I applied for Change of Ownership, Federal Housing Authority Festac, Lagos, discovered that the Seller’s Signature was irregular and invited him to come personally.

That all my efforts through phone calls, SMS from 2011 to 2013 to ensure that Mr. Lateef Abiodun Kolejo comes to FHA Festac, at my expense to rectify his irregular signature, has proved abortive.

That I indemnify FHA, its servants, against all proceedings, claims, and liabilities whatsoever that may be incurred by reason of approval of consent of transfer made to me by Mr. Lateef Abiodun Kolejo.

Signed: Oparaeke Casmir Akandu.

08092282037.

Government on Lagos, Ondo, Osun and Oyo States, which share borders with Ogun State, where outbreak of the disorders has been officially confirmed, even as the Federal Government confirmed a total of 144 cases with five deaths with a case fatality rate of 3.55 per cent, according to a statement issued yesterday in Lagos.

The statement by the Institute’s Head, Emergency Preparedness and Response Re-

search, EPR-RG, Dr. Stella Smith, noted that facilities had been repositioned to receive all samples sent to the Institute.

She explained that the analysis on the samples would be carried out purposely to confirm suspected cases of cholera in all reported cases of gastroenteritis, characterise all confirmed cases of cholera to determine the circulating strains as well as do sensitivity tests on all confirmed cases of cholera for effective treatment and also for rational use of antibiotics.

Smith, however, announced that the Director General of the Institute, Professor Innocent Ujah, directed that all tests on the samples should be carried out free of charge.

The intervention, she noted, was part of its contribution to the reduction of mortality and morbidity among the

people, particularly the vulnerable group which are mostly, the less privileged, women and children and also aimed at achieving the objectives of the Millenniun Development Goals, MDGs. Earlier, the Federal Government had warned states and the entire citizenry on the need for concerted efforts at preventing the spread of the disease.

The outbreak of the cholera disease was reported in four local government areas of Ogun State: Abeokuta South, Abeokuta North, Obafemi Owode and Odeda, on July 8, 2013.

“On receiving the report, the Federal Ministry of Health swiftly dispatched, same day, an eight-member team, comprising doctors, consultant epidemiologists, laboratory scientists and environmental health officers to contain the situation.

“The team donated essential medicines for the treatment of the disease to the Ogun State government which include Amoxycillin, Zinc sulphate, Paracetamol, Ciprofloxacin and Albendazole,” she said.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—13

Rivers secures licence for Omega-Butler refinery

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

P

ORT HARCOURT— THE Rivers State Government has been granted a licence by the Department of Petroleum Resources, DPR, to establish Omega-Butler Refinery to be sited in Okpokiri, Ogu/Bolo Local Government Area of the state.

The state Energy and Natural Resources Commissioner, Mr. Okey Amadi, disclosed this in Port Harcourt at a meeting with chiefs and elders of Ikpokiri community in his office.

He said: “Government is committed to the completion of this project because of the benefits of employment and other economic ventures which our people stand to leverage to better their living standards.”

Amadi solicited the co-operation of the host community to enable the core investors mobilise to site immediately, charging the chiefs to

go back and sensitise their people on the benefits they will enjoy from the project.

Responding on behalf of the community, Chief Jonah Tamuno, assured that “the people of Ikpokiri community are committed to the success of this project and will do eve-

rything possible to ensure that it commences without any hitch.”

Rivers quest for Omega Butler Refinery, a Public Private Partnership modular refinery, was conceived during the Governor Peter Odili administration.

Construction of the refinery has 18 months timeline with structured 5,000-10,000 (BPD) barrels per day production capacity and room for upgrade to maximum 30,000 bpd as demand grows.

SAP INNOVATION FORUM: From left: Managing Director, Accenture SAP, Mr. Alexis Perez; SAP Innovation Centre & Capability Lead Accenture South Africa, Mrs. Rita Govender; Mr. Babatunde Adebola, SAP Capability Lead Accenture, Nigeria and Mr. Richard Edet, Managing Director, SAP West Africa, at the 2013 SAP Innovation Forum in Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

Akpabio restates commitment to Ibaka Seaport Project

A

KWA Ibom State governor, Chief Godswill Akpabio, has said that he was committed to the actualisation of the Ibaka Deep Seaport project and expressed hope that a substantial part of the project would be completed before he leaves office.

Akpabio who spoke when the Managing Director of China Civil Engineering Construction Company, CCECC, Mr. Shi Bing, led the management team of the firm to present an architectural design of the project to him in Abuja, said he was elated about the Chinese firm’s interest in the maritime industry in Nigeria, because the Ibaka Deep Seaport represented the future of the maritime industry in Nigeria.

He said: “I see a future for Ibaka in the Gulf of Guinea. It will help decongest existing ports in Nigeria and also make Nigeria attractive destination for shippers. It will become a major trans-shipment destination because of the depth of the water.

“It will also be of advantage to countries bordering Nigeria on the coastline.

Akwa Ibom State has the largest and longest coastline in the country and we

C M Y K

are glad that your company is interested in making use of these numerous advantages.”

Akpabio acknowledged the reception the Chinese government and CCECC gave to President Goodluck Jonathan during his recent visit to China and said he was delighted by the cooperation between the two countries.

Minister lauds Lahor Labs on DNA test equipment

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

B

ENIN—MINISTER of Health, Professor Christian Chukwu, has called on Nigerians to take advantage of the genetic sequencer for DNA test acquired by a private medical laboratory in Benin, Edo State, Lahor Research Laboratories, to minimise capital flight associated with frequent medical trips abroad, which he said, “is a drain on our collective wealth.”

The minister, in Benin, yesterday, at the International Biotechnology Workshop and the launch of the Genetic Sequencer, said that the Federal Government was appreciative of the private initiative as it will go a long way in the training of needed human resources to manage the country’s health institutions across the country.

He added that with the acquisition of the gadget and other equipment, the flight of Nigerians to foreign lands for medical treatment will be reduced.

He noted that the Federal Government has increasingly been improving healthcare in order to ensure higher quality, greater access and better value for money, adding that one of the approaches adopted was the introduction of quality improvement and quality management principles and concepts into the pre-service or in-service training curriculum.

Youths beg Manager to contest Delta guber poll

P

ORT HARCOURT —SENATOR James Manager has been called upon to announce his intention to run for governor of Delta State come 2015.

Coordinator of Delta youth groups based in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Mr. Fullpower Bussa, said they were asking him to run for the office in 2015.

He said the Ijaw and other ethnic groups in Delta State were satisfied with his achievement in public service.

He said: “It has come to our knowledge that Senator Manager has no interest, according to a survey conducted by the youths.

He should recall that former President Shehu Shagari wanted to run for Senate but the Northerners asked him to go for President. We want to cast our votes for Senator Manager in 2015.”

Fullpower appealed to other ethnic groups in the state to reciprocate the support they had enjoyed from the Ijaw nation by identifying with Senator Manager in the election.

14 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Anambra: APGA to rake in N163m from sale of guber forms

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

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BUJA—THE All Progressive Grand Alliance, APGA, is set to rake in N163 million from the sale of expression of interest and nomination forms to the aspirants jostling to fly its ticket in the November 16, 2013, governorship election in Anambra State.

Already, 14 governorship aspirants have collected the expression of interest form, paying N2 million each, totalling N28 million, barely three days after the party invited aspirants to declare interest in the race.

The nomination form costs N10 million for men and N5 million for women, respectively.

A member of the House of Representatives, Uche Ekwunife, is the only woman among the 14 aspirants expected to pick the form at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja today.

The sale of the expression of interest form was opened on July 29 and by the close of work on August 2, 2013, 14 people had taken the expression of interest forms.

Group asks FG to expunge quota system from constitution

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

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group, Ohanaeze Youth Council, OYC, has called on the Federal Government to expunge quota system and federal character from the constitution, saying they hinder growth and national development.

Making the call in Lagos, the Secretary, Board of Trustees of the association, Mazi Okwu Okwu, said the move would mark the beginning of merit and service delivery in Nigeria, if implemented.

Okwu declared that a nation that denied her citizenry jobs, opportunities and rights to admission to schools, including tertiary institutions, due to ‘social injustice systems’ known as quota system and federal character, was practicing economic terrorism.

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HEZBOLLAH: Court grants Fawaz access to seized property

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI BUJA—LEBANESE suspect, Mustapha Fawaz, accused of complicity in the illegal importation of arms into Nigeria, yesterday, secured an order granting him access to two of his properties. They are Amigo Supermarket Limited and Wonderland Amusement Park Resort, both situated in Abuja, hirtherto seized by the Federal Government.

Fawaz is the first accused person in an ongoing terrorism case before Abuja Division of the Federal High Court.

The Federal Government had in a 16-count charge it preferred against him and two of his compatriots, Abdullahi Thahini and Tahal Roda, alleged that they belonged to the military wing of a Lebanon-based terrorist organisation, Hezbollah, just as it called 10 witnesses and tendered over 25 exhibits with a view to

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PDP blasts Fashola over deportation of Ndigbo

BY PETER OKUTU

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BAKALIKI—THE Zonal Working Committee of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, South-East, yesterday, described the action of Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State over the deportation of Ndigbo as unconstitutional, despotic and dictatorial.

In a statement by the zonal Publicity Secretary of the party, Ali Odefa, the PDP called on the leadership of All Progressives Congress, APC, to immediately recall, rehabilitate and compensate victims, whose rights were violated by the government of Lagos State.

Odefa, who stated that the action of Lagos State government was capable of destabilizing the fragile peace in the country, pointed out that the PDP would continue to uphold the rights and aspirations of Nigerians, irrespective of ethnic, religious, social and economic background.

The statement read in part: “The Peoples Democratic Party, in the South East geopolitical zone strongly condemns this unconstitutional, dictatorial, despotic and unjustified criminal deportation of Ndigbo by Lagos State government.

“We urge Nigerians and Ndigbo, especially, to be steadfast, calm as this act is just one of the many divisive strategies the APC has outlined in their unbridled quest to take power in Nigeria".

proving their involvement in the operations of the organisation in Nigeria.

The exhibits which included guns, cartridge belt holders with ammunitions, pellets for Air Rifles, 150 cartridges, 158 rounds of cartridges, two bound copies of still pictures of arms and ammunition allegedly discovered in one of their premises at No 3 Gaya Road, off Bompai Road in Kano, two video CDs and witness statements, were admitted into evidence by the court.

Besides, the court took possession of the sum of $61, 170 which one of the suspects, Mr Thahini, allegedly attempted to smuggle out of the country on May 11, 2013, even as one of the government witnesses, told the court that the accused person made frantic efforts to bribe officials of the Department of State Services, DSS, that apprehended him at the Mallam Aminu Kano

International Airport when he tried to escape the country to Beirut via a Middle East airline.

However, the accused persons who concluded their defence, refuted all the allegations, insisting that they were separately manhandled by foreign agents who they said belong to an Israeli security outfit, Mossad.

The suspects took turns and narrated in the court how they were brutally tortured by six Israeli agents and a masked white man for 14 days while in custody of the DSS, adding that they were not only denied food for days, but forced to undergo a polygraph test with threat that they would be committed to prison to be raped my Nigerian inmates should they fail to admit belonging to Hezbollah.

The accused persons brought a lawyer from Lebanon who gave his name as Youssef Finianos, to testify before the trial court.

In his testimony, Finianos, maintained that Hezbollah was a political party in Lebanon,

though he admitted that about seven years ago, an organisation that named itself Hezbollah, hijacked a plane and took its passengers hostage.

He told the court that Hezbollah political organisation had one Hassan Lasvella as its head, “It is like a resistant movement, though some countries consider Hezbollah as a terrorist organisation. I am aware that in July 2013, the European Union, labeled Hezbollah as a terrorist group,” the witness added.

In his testimony, the second accused person, Thahini, who admitted that the sum of $61, 170 was found in his handbag, said it was revenue that accrued to him from a business he did in Nigeria, saying he was travelling to Lebanon to buy goods the day he was apprehended by the DSS. He told the court that he was already cleared by the immigration and was on his way to the declaration desk to register the money on him before two DSS officials sandwiched him and took him to their office in Kano.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—15

Why we can't use electronic voting in 2015, by Jega zCommission to prosecute over 93,000 electoral offenders

BY OKEY NDIRIBE

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BUJA—CHAIRMAN of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, yesterday, said the commission was handicapped over adoption of the electronic mode of voting for future elections in the country.

Professor Jega stated this at an interaction with the commission, media professionals and civil society groups on plans for continuous voter registration and voter register optimization.

He expressed regrets that despite the fact that voting electronically had become the trend across the world, the commission had been barred from adopting it by the amended Electoral Act of 2010.

Jega said:: “We have recommended to the National Assembly that the statute ban on electronic voting, be lifted because that is the trend in the world.”

Commenting on INEC’s preparation for the forthcoming governorship election in Anambra State, the INEC boss said the commission will soon commence prosecution of over 93,000 electoral offenders to serve as a deterrence to others before the November poll.

He further stated that the commission was already taking delivery of permanent voters cards, adding that INEC would take full possession of the cards before the end of the year.

Jega said the commission had cleaned up the voters register and was already preparing towards constituency delineation which will be concluded before the end of next year.

Commenting on the challenges posed by registration of under-aged persons as voters, he lamented the pressures that were usually exerted on the commission’s field staff to participate in the illegal exercise.

He said INEC had already introduced measures to curb the incidence of under-aged registration of voters, adding that persons suspected to be under-aged registered voters will no longer be allowed to collect their voter's cards until they provided proof that they were qualified.

He said: “If persons who are suspected to be under-aged are registered, we won’t give them permanent voters cards until they are able to provide evidence that they are qualified at their local government headquarters.”

Responding to a question on which of the factions in Anambra

State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was recognized by INEC, Professor Jega said the commission recognized only the state leadership of the party which emerged from congresses supervised by the electoral body.

He said: "INEC recognizes only one Chairman in Anambra State chapter of PDP because he

emerged from State congresses that we supervised”.

Jega stated further that the commission would no longer condone what happened in the past in the state chapter of PDP, where parallel party congresses were conducted by different factions of the national leadership of the party.

He further stated that the

commission learned many lessons from the 2011 elections.

He added: The lessons we learnt from the 2011 elections have guided us in subsequent polls. We have since reviewed our performance in-house and we also appointed external consultants to evaluate the Commission and make recommendations.”

Eid-el-Fitr: FG declares Thursday, Friday public holidays

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BUJA—THE Federal Government has declared Thursday, August 8 and Friday August 9, 2013, as public holidays to mark Eid-el-Fitri celebration.

Minister of Interior, Comrade Abba Moro, who made the declaration on behalf of the Federal Government, enjoined all Muslim faithful and Nigerians in general to extend the spiritual benefits of Ramadan, which are love, joy, peace, to their daily living and through this, contribute to the development of the nation.

Moro also enjoined Nigerians to seize the opportunity of the holiday to reflect on the imperative of peace in nation building.

The minister, in a statement signed by the Permanent Secretary, Fatima Bamidele, wished all Nigerians a most rewarding and peaceful celebration.

APC holds National convention January, 2014 TRAINING—From left: Head of Training, Ilorin International Aviation College, Captain Abdulmumin Abdulkarim; Pilots Sam Gadzama, Babatunde Bakare and Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, during delivery of two training aircraft purchased by the Kwara State government for the Aviation College, Ilorin, on Sunday.

ERA urges FG to set up $100bn N-Delta restoration fund ...asks govt to compel Shell to clean up mess in Ogoniland

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

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BUJA——THE Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria, ERA/FoEN, yesterday, called on the Federal Government to set up without delay $100 billion Niger Delta Restoration Fund and compel Shell Nigeria to clean up its hydrocarbon pollution in Ogoniland.

Executive Director of ERA/ FoEN, Dr. Godwin Ojo, who made the call at a one-day civil society meeting to mark the second year anniversary of the release of the United Nations Environment Programme, UNEP, assessment of Ogoniland in Abuja, said the fund would help to clean up the region which had been devastated as a

result of activities of oil companies.

Ojo said it was absurd and unacceptable that two years after UNEP assessment was submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan and a committee set up to make critical recommendations on its implementation, there is nothing on ground from the government to make the company take responsibility of its alleged crimes in Ogoniland.

He said the UNEP findings released on August 4, 2011, showed hydrocarbon pollution in surface water throughout the creeks of Ogoniland and up to 8cm in groundwater that fed drinking wells.

Ojo stated: “Soils were found to have been polluted with hydrocarbons up to a depth of

five metres in 49 observed sites, while benzene, a known cancercausing chemical was found in drinking water at a level 900 times above World Health Organisation, WHO, acceptable levels.

“The issues in the UNEP report are about the devastation of the ecosystems, water bodies, livelihoods and how Shell’s oil extraction activities have impoverished the Ogonis, and sentencing them to slow deaths.

“Sadly, the Nigerian government and Shell are still promoting cosmetic approaches to the remediation measures recommended by UNEP. “These measures seem clearly focused on guaranteeing Shell does not take responsibility for its mess in Ogoniland. Shell, clean up your mess because a day of reckoning is at hand.”

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

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BUJA——BARRING any last minutes change, the newly registered All Progressives Congress, APC, will hold its national convention to elect substantive national officers and state executives by January, 2014.

Vanguard investigation revealed that the present interim national executive, led by Chief Bisi Akande, was to stay in office not later than six months for the substantive executive to be put in place to steer the activities of the party in preparation for upcoming elections in the country.

A reliable source in the party told Vanguard yesterday that former national executive members of the three political parties that fused to APC, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP and the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, will be meeting today at the party’s headquarters, Abuja, to deliberate on the setting up of structures at the states, local governments and ward levels.

16—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 5, 2013

CONDOLENCE VISITS AT FASHOLA'S HOME

Condolence register for Late Alhaji Ibrahim Ademola Fashola, father of Mr. Raji Babatunde Fashola, Governor of Lagos State.

Sympathisers at the residence.

From left: Special Adviser to Lagos State Governor on Central Business District, Mrs Derin Disu; Commissioner for Education, Mrs Olayinka Oladunjoye and Secretary to Lagos State Government, Dr Oluranti Adebule, during a condolence visit to the residence of Late Alhaji Ibrahim Ademola Fashola,in Surulere, Lagos.

Cross section of other sympathisers.

Strike: Students task FG, ASUU to save education

BY IKENNA ASOMBA

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OLLOWING the protracted industrial action by university lecturers over the Federal Government’s failure to fulfill its agreement, the Lagos State University Students’ Union, LASUSU, has challenged government alongside the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, to save the nation’s education system.

This is even as it argued that all stakeholders must put hands on deck to salvage the education system from total collapse, so that the unborn generations would not suffer the same untold hardship.

In a statement signed by its Ag. President, Comrade Mojirade Hassan, the union expressed displeasure over the one monthold strike embarked by ASUU, despite series of meetings which has met deadlock.

While blaming government over its failure to accede to the agreement it willingly entered with the ASUU in 2009, it however, appealed to the union to consider the plight of Nigerian students, thereby returning to classrooms as soon as possible.

Hassan said: “Posterity will forever judge the few who have piloted the affairs of this country; C M Y K

who have prevented the masses from gaining the dividends of good governance in order to satisfy their selfish and personal aggrandizement. We, the entire students of Lagos State University hereby express our dis-

pleasure with the one month old strike by our lecturers, because of the negative implications it has on us as students.

“Ahis is a struggle for which all Nigerian students must rise up against. The leaders we have

Senator Anthony Adefuye .

elected to govern us have turned the dividends of governance against us and it’s our right to stand up against this oppression in unity. In unison, we are charging the Federal Government that if quick and necessary actions are not taken to end this strike soonest, we would go all out to defend what is rightfully ours with every means possible.”

Soldiers raid homes in Kafanchan, arrest four gunmen

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

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ADUNA—Nigerian sol diers drafted to maintain peace in Southern part of Kaduna State, over the weekend, raided some homes where arms were stocked pilled in Kafanchan, Jema’a Local Government Area (LGA) and arrested four suspects, sources informed Vanguard in Kafanchan.

As early as 6am on Sunday morning, a crowed had formed on streets adjoining the Kafanchan General Hospital discussing the incident.

A resident, who does not want his name mentioned, narrated to Vanguard the incident as thus: “as early as 3am this morning, we heard the angry shout of soldiers. They were going from door-to-door banging them. They used their gun

detectors and hands to search for weapons. They came to our house, and almost brought down our door. My dad opened the door while we lay on the ground out of fear. They asked if there were any guns in the House, but my dad swore that he had none. After searching the house, the kitchen and even toilet, they left.

“We were too afraid to come out. But this morning, we heard that four people were arrested.

They were said to have been arrested at the home of one tailor (name withheld). The man has no family. He rented the house about two years ago. We just call him tailor.

“I heard that many guns were recovered from the house”, he said.

The said House was firmly

locked when Vanguard visited it. No one was ready to volunteer more information about the said Tailor, out of fear.

But, the Spokesman of the 1st Infantry Division Kaduna, Col. Sani Usman denied that such an incident took place.

“That is a lie!”, he told Vanguard on phone. If such an operation took place, I would have been informed. The Colonel in-charge of the soldiers left my office not long ago. He would have informed me of such development”, he said.

Southern part of Kaduna has come under night raids by marauders since the April 2011 post election crisis.

Last month, soldiers killed 3 cow rustlers out of the scores that attacked Fadan Kaje, in Zangon Kataf and stole 67 cows.

Anambra guber: Aspirants test grassroots strength AS countdown on the closure of return of nomination forms by the Anambra 2014 gubernatorial aspirants of the Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, begins, most of the aspirtants were, weekend, sweating it out with the much needed endorsements.

One of the aspirants, Mr Walter Okeke, who spoke in Awka, who spoke through a member of his campaign organization, Chief (Mrs) Ngozi Nwanmuo, Ada Dioranma Isiagu, told journalists that the party members were excited at Okeke’s pedigree, especially his humility.

She said “the bond of friendship, brotherhood and care Mr Walter Okeke built over the years through his multi-faceted humanitarian activities and buoyed by his painstaking consultative tour of the 326 electoral wards in the state ahead his formal declaration has now counted heavily in his favour.”

Mrs Nwanmuo said that the wide acceptance of the aspirant was unprecedented in the contemporary Anambra political history, “apparently because he is a fresh face with a golden heart”.

A retired director in the state civil service and resident of Odekpe in Ogbaru council area of the state, Mrs Josephine Ekwo praised Okeke for making the welfare of the downtrodden his lifestyle.

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T initially appeared like a joke - a very bad joke- when Senator Ahmed Sani Yerima took the microphone at a hearing of the Senate constitution review committee, which had earlier recommended alteration of section ‘29’ of the constitution that deals with the manner of renunciation of citizenship, questioning why the section dealing with age of a married woman was deleted, describing the move as “un-Islamic”.

The constitution states that full age means 18 years and above, and the committee had proposed a removal of part ‘b’ of the clause which states that any woman that is married shall be deemed to be of full age, a move originally overwhelmingly backed by the upper house.

In the popular Nigerian parlance, Monkey no fine, but im mama laik am. If after the scandal and infamy of the event in 2009 when Dr. Yerima took a 13-year old as a bride to much public

Senator Yerima, marital age and 1999 constitution are being represented. It can even be the topic for another discussion, that of the possibility that Sani Yerima is representing the interest of his people better than many other of his peers are doing. And so, while the South throws its arms up in outrage, there are sections of the country in which Yerima’s attempt automatically bestows upon him

,

As a matter of urgency, insistent and deliberate steps must be taken to unite Nigeria and Nigerians physically, psychologically, economically and most importantly, culturally

renouncement the former governor had been slapped on the wrist by his constituency, he would not have been given another chance at leadership. It is safe, therefore, to assume that the people he represents either are oblivious of his antics or are perfectly happy with the way they

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—17 can be deemed an be frowned at and questioned. attack on his Ethnicity and religion are less f u n d a m e n t a l and less likely to be considered human right, as factors in assessing religion can easily performance of politicians. If we be wielded as a were ever on the way to t h r e a t e n i n g democracy, we are now. But by weapon in the face far the most urgent matter arising of moral logic and is that of the progressively natural law. widening gap between one Already, we are Nigeria and the other. Within seeing this in the this geographical expression, public defence of there are so many Nigerias that the Senate by its it becomes increasingly difficult president, David for one Nigeria to recognize the Mark. It is a Nigeria of another. In The Great situation worthy of Divide: global income inequality concern that the and its cost, a Ford Foundation lines have become research report, Nigeria was blurred between religion and named one of the countries in politics, and this phenomenon is which oil money was widening not restricted to Islam alone. Very the gap between the rich and the seldom are the actual holy books poor, rather than bridging it. The consulted for purposes of widening economic gap between authentication or disproof of the rich and the poor has been theories and passages being an issue for so long that it is no bandied by those using them to longer an issue, particularly as further political ends. that gap is being effectively Looking on the bright side of bridged by the things we do all things, Nigerians have become have in common: insecurity and suddenly interested in how their low standards of living across respective senators have voted board. The bigger issue now is with respect to Local that this insecurity and religion Government autonomy and have prevented free movement marital age, among others. For of people and ideas within the the first time, they are seizing the country and free debates power of our vote and taking between those of differing steps that suggest they are religious sentiments. holding their federal As a matter of urgency, insistent representatives responsible. and deliberate steps must be It is heartening that the Yerimas taken to unite Nigeria and of this world cannot single- Nigerians physically, handedly make laws. Political psychologically, economically messiahs are fewer and further and most importantly, culturally. between, while ill gotten wealth This ought to be:the first focus of obtained at the expense of the any constitutional review. governed is now more likely to

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a hero’s status. There is no doubt that the unspeakable has happened, and Senator Yerima has been emboldened, his tongue loosed by activities of self styled Moslem terrorist group Boko Haram. There is no doubt, either, that votes cast in the Senate during the constitutional review

hearing that Tuesday in which the age specification was inadvertently removed on when a woman can marry were influenced by a mindfulness of not heating up the polity any further than it is heated already.

There are those such as Abiola Akiode-Afolabi of the Gender and Constitution Reform Network, GECORN, who have insisted, in their protests, that Islam as a religion is being misrepresented by Yerima and his clique. Voices such as these are likely to be muted, even stifled. It gets more complicated in view of the recent antihomosexuality law, which amazingly criminalizes homosexual acts and associations in the country.

Again, the tension lines are being identified and difficult to ignore between human rights, religion and morality. In a country where preventing a man from engaging fully in the practice of his religion

18 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

FOR the people of the Islamic Republic of Iran, the assumption of office by their newlyelected President, Hassan Rowhani, is a great opportunity to rejoin the mainstream of world politics, economy and society. The immediate past president, Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, took his extremist policies often to ridiculous and unnecessary ends, setting the entire Middle East Region astir and on edge with frequent sabre-rattling at the Jewish State of Israel.

Ahmedinejad unrepentantly issued provocative statements, questioning the veracity of the Holocaust (a painful part of the Jewish people’s history), declaring that Israel “did not exist” and vowing to destroy it. This also incited the Jewish state into making belligerent moves to take out Iran’s military and perceived nuclear facilities in self preservation. It is a major, pleasant surprise that restraint was able to prevent a military strike on Iran by the United States.

A sticking point was the nuclear programme which Iran has been pursuing for decades. Ahmedinejad stopped cooperating with the Unit-

For Iran, a fresh impetus ed Nations International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), thus fuelling fears that the programme was being turned into a facility to develop nuclear weapons.

The world lived on the brink throughout Ahmedinejad’s tenure of office, as the West vowed never to allow Iran become a nuclear weaponcapable state. Iran under Ahmedinejad also became a great source of threat to the security of Nigeria. Apart from many terrorist cells and extremist Islamic groups being traced to sponsors within the ruling establishment and private concerns in Iran, a ship containing weapons of war was intercepted in the Lagos ports in 2011 made in Iran. It caused a huge diplomatic rum-

pus between Nigeria and Iran, with many Nigerian groups calling for the suspension of diplomatic relations.

The new president, Mr Rowhani, a moderate cleric, has sown the seeds of hope, with his declaration, after winning 50.7 per cent of the votes: “Iranians voted for moderation. Iranians want to live free”. He vowed to work to end the sanctions imposed upon his country by the West and nominated moderate technocrats to serve in his cabinet.

We are hoping that Rowhani will also re-open talks with the IAEA to allow experts to ascertain that the nuclear plant is, as Iran has always insisted, for peaceful ends. We call on Iran to mend fences with its neighbours in the region, particularly Israel, Iraq and others. It is only in an atmosphere of peace and friendship that the Iranian economy can resume its surge truncated by Ahmedinejad’s belligerency.

As a country burdened with a war on religious extremists, Nigeria will be relieved to see a friendlier, more progressive Iran as a close diplomatic ally and partner on the economic and security fronts.

OPINION

BY DANLADI NDAYEBO

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HE world over, non-governmental organisations, NGOs, are agencies or social movements that open up the liberal political space, engender equalisation of opportunities, improve the circumstances of disadvantaged peoples and institutions and hold governments to account.

Ordinarily, NGOs are expected not to be profit-oriented and are supposed to be independent of the control of government.

These usually value-based institutions or organs pursue activities to relieve suffering, promote the interest of the poor, protect the environment, provide basic social services, or undertake community development.

But in Nigeria, the mushrooming phenomenon in the third world has prompted some scholars to contend that it has suffered some “explosion, derailment, and displacement”. This is because charlatans who merely masquerade as NGO operatives have infiltrated the rank of these social, popular democratic movements.

Drawing from his experience with his hitherto leftist friends, associates and acquaintances, Edwin Madunagwu in 2006 underscored the proliferation and bastardization of the NGO sector thus: “Almost every friend I know, every comrade of mine has an NGO. I know someone who is running three non-governmental organisations, is involved in about five others, and has about four others already registered awaiting activation when the need arises.”

Any keen observer of the events that have

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The corruption in Anti-Corruption W atc h Watc atch shaped the nation’s politics in the last few months will discern the unwieldy tendency of political actors to use these “changeagents” to foster acrimony and disunity in our dear nation. A case in point is an unknown organisation that goes by the name, Anti-Corruption Watch and its recent activities.

Existing only on newspaper advertorial pages, it has made it a business to teach independent government agencies their modus operandi only to please their paymasters.

Currently, the amorphous NGO played the devil’s advocates by inciting the public and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, to beam searchlight on Niger State over some spurious allegation that first sprouted in 2009 at the height of the political shenanigans orchestrated to filibuster the job of the Chief Servant, Dr. Mua’zu Babangida Aliyu.

Being a whistle blower, the Anti-Corruption Watch can only be applauded if the job that it has elected to do is anchored on truth.

But the present exercise is a failed attempt by mischief to put spanner in the work that has been internationally acknowledged as exemplary.

But the climate has gone sully again because of 2015. Now, time is ripe for political do-gooders to dig into things known and unknown to convince their paymasters that the Mu’azu Babangida

Aliyu’s administration does not justify the rating that has put Niger as a frontline state in terms of poverty reduction and great developmental strides. The same State that is currently rated as the least povertystricken state is now being tarred by those without empirical basis as corruptionriddled and enmeshed in sharp practices.

Had they known that the allegations of wrong-doings have been investigated and dispensed with by the agencies accused of ineptitude, they would have covered their faces in shame.

Scooping money from their gullible promoters to incite the masses against the administration only exhibit the limitations of the paymasters and their hack men. This was the same route of perdition that ended grievously and many of them had to eat their words when the Babangida Aliyu’s administration set out to develop all the sectors of socio-economic life of the people.

It is understandable that the mouth of detractors who had failed woefully to wrestle power by hook or crook should be filled with sour grapes.

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ow in collaboration with people who feel the Governor has an eye on the top or would not brook the idea of leaving the top seat as an exclusive preserve of present occupants, they have gone back to their faeces to rake up maggots. The real and behind-the-scene motives for the

unrelenting mischief making by wellknown detractors of the current administration in Niger State should be obvious to all thinking people.

No one who visited Niger State before and after Dr. Babangida Aliyu came to power will fail to attest to the fact that he has filled the void of the same devastated state that had been abandoned in a state of helplessness.

Because of the yawning developmental gap left between what was and what is now, it has not been easy for these lily-livered rumour mongers to come to terms with the giants stride being made to make the State one of the three most developed states in the country by 2020, a major plank of the MBA’s transformation agenda code-named 3: 2020.

It is no wonder that as a way of trying to pull the wool over the eyes of the people, these shameless detractors who obviously do not have the interest of the masses of Niger State and by extension, most Northerners and indeed Nigerians in mind, have resorted to various arm-twisting tactics to sow the seed of discord in every venture that Mu’azu Aliyu supports.

It will be recalled that the Anti-Corruption Watch is aping what an article written in 2009 under the pseudonym Engineer Yahaya Mahmood spawned through a ridiculous petition, sent to the Niger State House of Assembly, leveling all manners of tendentious allegations against the Babangida Aliyu administration.

Mr. Ndayebo is CPS to the Niger State governor.

Vanguard, TUESDAY,AUGUST 6, 2013— 19

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“

ASSEY Ekpe (not real name, 33, loves apples. A resident of Ikeja, a Lagos suburb, Ekpe has eagerly eaten apples for well over 10 years. The catch is he does not know where these apples come from or how they get to him.

Therefore , it was really a surprise to him when a little while ago, this year his eyes caught an inscription on the carton, on which the fruit seller near his home had laid her adorable apples, when she went to buy them. It read:”Grown in South Africa!” South Africa!

Then, the question that flashed in his mind was:”So, how do I get them fresh everyday?”

Well, perhaps, some of us can hazard a correct answer.” By Air”.Well, the issue really is that, for too long, Nigeria has been missing out on this lucrative trade in fresh agriculture produce which are daily freighted by air to various markets round the world in which they are in demand.

South African grown fresh apples began appearing on Nigerian streets in 1999 shortly after the return of democracy to the country and the re-establishment of strong business and political relations.

Yet, it has been a one-sided

trade—as far as fresh fruits and vegetables are concerned.”99 per cent of cargo aircraft flying into Nigeria, return to their places of origin—empty!”. The global trade in perishable farm produce is worth several billions of dollar per annum. In 2010,African countries participating in this trade recorded a turnover of about N245 billion. The countries involved are South African, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Kenya ,Cote D’Ivoire ,Benin Republic and Ghana. Nigeria was completely missing on that list. Today, the situation is still the same. But from all indications things are about to change.

The current Aviation minister Princess Stella Oduah has set in motion a new air cargo programme that is expected to transform the air cargo sector and also provide immense benefits to Nigerian farmers. The minister has undertaken a radical step of refurbishing and redesigning of 22 airport terminal across the country. She has also designated 13 of these as cargo terminals and has began the process of constructing additional facilities at these airports to make them function effectively as cargo airports. A few months ago, a new department was created in the

Available statistics indicate that about 70 per cent of agricultural produce especially perishables such as fruits and tomatoes are wasted while trying to get them to several markets round the country

,

Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria ( FAAN) to spearhead the new drive for the development of air cargo sector in the Nigerian Aviation industry.

Furthermore, under the multibillion dollar agreement signed by President Goodluck Jonathan on behalf of Nigeria with the Chinese government, five brand new world class airport terminals would be built in the country by the Chinese state-ownedconstruction company, CCECC. These new airport terminals have been designed with facilities for air cargo.

How Farmers Will Benefit

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he Aviation ministry and FAAN are currently laying the groundwork that would open a new world of opportunities for Nigerian farmers. The global market in fresh agricultural

FOI A ct Act ct:: Where His Lordship go gott it wrong

BY EDETAEN OJO

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N a recent ruling, his lordship, Justice Gabriel O. Kolawole of the Federal High Court in Abuja suggested that the Freedom of Information Act, 2011 was somehow defective because it provides in Section 1(2) that an applicant seeking information from a public institution should not be required to demonstrate his or her interest in that information and called on the National Assembly to amend the Law to restrict its application.

Delivering his ruling in Suit No. FHC/ABJ/ CS/402/2013: Between Paradigm Initiative Nigeria vs. Dr. Reuben Abati, his lordship declared confidently, but unfortunately, quite erroneously, that there is no “country in the world, where access to all forms of public records are thrown open even to an Applicant who is not required to show any specific interest in the information requested from a public body.”

Perhaps, if his lordship had been more circumspect on a matter which, by his own admission, he is not very knowledgeable about or if he had focused strictly on the issue that was before him or if he had invited counsel in the matter to first address him on the issue, he would not have fallen into such a grave error.

It is clear from reading through the ruling that although the issue was not even before him, his lordship had an intense desire to express his unhappiness with the Freedom of Information Act as most of his ruling dwelt on extraneous issues, which unfortunately betrayed his lack of understanding of the applicable principles and the specific provisions of the Law. It is now well established under international law that the right of access to information is a human right which states are obliged to give effect to through appropriate legislation. This view is now

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well settled in a string of decisions of international courts, most notably the judgement of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in Claude Reyes and Others vs. Chile, delivered on September 19, 2006.

The judgment is available at: http:// www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/ seriec_151_ing.doc.

Being a human right, people should not be required to give reasons for seeking to exercise or enjoy their human right, in the same way no one should be required to give a reason before they can exercise or enjoy the right to life, the right to freedom of expression, personal liberty, freedom from torture or any other fundamental right.

Indeed, in Claude Reyes case, the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights held in Paragraph 77 of the decision that every person has a right to request information while states are under a positive obligation to provide it, adding that: “The information should be provided without the need to prove direct interest or personal involvement in order to obtain it, except in cases in which a legitimate restriction is applied.”

Most countries with FOI laws have this basic principle incorporated in their laws to allow anyone to request information without having to demonstrate any interest in the information. Indeed, in some countries such as Finland, the Law specifically allows people to make anonymous requests to ensure that requesters are not discriminated against.

To give a few examples, stipulations that requesters need not provide reasons for their requests or demonstrate any interest in the information requested can be found in the FOI laws of the following countries: Serbia – Article 15(4); India – Section 6(2); Liberia – Section 3.2; Mexico – Article 40; South Africa – Section 11(3); Finland – Article 13(1); Uganda – Article 6; United Kingdom – Section 8; Sweden – Article 14(3); Brazil – Article 10(3); Australia – Article 11(2);

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BY YAKUBU DATI

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Air Cargo Revolution: How Nigerian farmers would profit…

produce worth well over $5billion,about N1trillion annually is being opened up for Nigerian farmers. Fresh tropical fruits such as oranges, pineapples, mangoes, tangerine, paw paw,grapes ,cashew, bananas, vegetables, flowers and legumes grown in the country are soon to head to international markets in Europe and the US where they would compete with similar produce from around the world.

Nigerian fruits which are invariably grown organically and are delicious are expected to compete favourably well with others on international markets.

Air freight would make this possible. Access to global markets means that Nigerian farmers would have greater demand for their output and perhaps, better prices. That is also expected to stimulate more agricultural production, which would in turn, boost the rural economy in the country. "There would be competition by farmers to produce more to feed the foreign and domestic market ,unlike what you have now”, says one analyst.

Nonetheless, there is a lot of work to be done. Support services such as cold storage containers will have to be provided at the airports.Specialised transportation for these perishables also have to be provided .And these services may have to be provided by the private sector, which is expected to buy into the new vision of the Aviation Ministry to transform Nigerian Aviation Industry.

The Aviation Minister has hosted a number of international road shows aimed at creating awareness in the international

What his lordship is proposing effectively amounts to urging the National Assembly to weaken the Nigerian Freedom of Information Act; FOI laws are guided by a set of principles, which define the strength and quality of such laws

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Canada – Section 6; among dozens of others.

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is lordship’s assertion that no country in the world allows people access to information without requiring them to demonstrate specific interest in the information requested, could therefore not be more wrong.

Not only do most FOI Laws specifically stipulate that persons seeking information should not be required to demonstrate a specific interest or need for the information, this is indeed one of the defining principles of such laws. It is also one of the attributes of a good and strong FOI Law such that what his lordship is proposing effectively amounts to urging the National Assembly to weaken the Nigerian Freedom of Information Act. FOI laws are guided by a set of principles, which define the strength and quality of such laws. The very first set of principles were drawn up by Article 19, the International Centre Against Censorship, in London in 1999. Titled: “The Public’s Right to Know: Principles on Freedom of Information Legislation,” the principles were subsequently endorsed by the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Protection and Promotion of the Right to

community about the possibilities of the country. The Aviation Ministry and parastatals are also in discussions with various chambers of Commerce and Farmers cooperatives round the country, to sensitize them to the possibilities available under the country ’s new air cargo programme and to explore various options for collaboration to achieve the objectives of marketing Nigeria’s perishable agricultural produce to the world.

With 13 designated air cargo airports spread around the country,farmers would not have to haul their produce over long distances by road, in order to find a market for them. For example, take the Enugu Airport. Cashew farmers from neighbouring areas would only have to get their produce to the airport ,from where these can be freight to different markets both in and outside the country.

Available statistics indicate that about 70 per cent of agricultural produce especially perishables such as fruits and tomatoes are wasted while trying to get them to several markets round the country.

Air freight could dramatically reduce this wastage, and put more money back into the hands of Nigerian farmers once the current restructuring, reorganisation and provision of cargo handling facilities being undertaken currently is in place.

To the Nigerian farmers, a new dawn beckons! *Mr. Dati, Coordinating GM on Information &Communication, Aviation parastatals, wrote from Lagos.

Freedom of Opinion and Expression as well as the United Nations Commission on Human Rights.

The Principles state that: “Public bodies have an obligation to disclose information and every member of the public has a corresponding right to receive information.

Everyone present in the territory of the country should benefit from this right. The exercise of this right should not require individuals to demonstrate a specific interest in the information.”

Finally, his lordship’s proposition, if anyone were to actually attempt to give effect to the idea, is so untenable that it would be difficult to implement in any reasonable, practical or effective manner.

The idea would require that the National Assembly provides within the amended FOI Act a list of every conceivable reason or purpose that would be sufficiently acceptable or justifiable to entitle any person seeking information access to the information.

This is because if a person seeking information has to demonstrate a specific interest in the information or justify his or her need for the information, that interest or need would have to fall within a list of such reasons or needs that are recognised by the Law. People seek information for such widely varied reasons, including a simple desire just to know, that it is difficult to imagine how the Law would approach such an exercise. Going by his lordship’s views, the need or desire to know would, of course, not be an acceptable reason under this new FOI regime that he envisages.

An alternative could be having the National Assembly prescribe some standards that the interest or need stated by the person seeking information has to meet or satisfy. Consequently, the Law would also have to give officials in all public institutions the discretion to determine if the stated interest or need meets or satisfies those standards. *Mr. Ojo, a social critic, wrote from Lagos.

20 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013 — 21

FG promises enabling environment in sugar industry

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

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he Federal Government has said that it is committed to supporting sugar production in the country by providing the enabling environment in order to ensure economic growth and development.

Speaking during a facility tour of Bua Sugar Refinery, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga commended the company for increased investments and commitment towards making Nigeria self-sufficient in sugar production, saying that it will provide special incentives for investors in the sugar industry, especially those that have keyed into government’s Backward Integration Policy in the sector.

Aganga noted that the incentives would be similar to what was given to investors who had keyed into government’s Backward Integration Policy in the cement industry, adding that the move will help the country achieve self sufficiency in sugar production for both domestic consumption and export.

He said, “We are fully aware that the processes of optimising the whole value chain in terms of moving from sugarcane to sugar take quite some time and require huge investment. That is why we have asked the operators of sugar refineries to provide us with their strategic and detailed action plans on backward integration in terms of what they want to do in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016. In addition, we want to see the practical demonstration of their commitment to the implementation of the policy.

“So, based on their demonstration of commitment to those things in their backward integration plans as it relates to moving from sugar cane to sugar production, we will give them

118.20

+2.60

2,291.00

-10.00

16.74

-0.09

108.79

-0.75

106.67

-1.22

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL DOLLAR STERLING EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL KRONA SDR

154.76 234.6471 204.5308 165.0949 1.5504 0.2942 233.4403 25.2483 41.2638 27.4251 233.3317

155.26 235.4052 205.1916 165.6283 1.5554 0.3042 234.1945 25.3303 41.3971 27.5137 234.0855

SELLING 155.76 236.1633 205.8524 166.1617 1.5604 0.3142 234.9487 25.4124 41.5305 27.6023 234.8394

CBN Exchange rate as at 05/08/2013

LAUNCH: Deputy Managing Director, United Bank for Africa Plc, Mr. Kennedy Uzoka (2nd right); Head, Cards, UBA Plc, Mr. Adedeji Olowe (left); and Divisional Head, e-Banking, UBA Plc, Dr. Yinka Adedeji during the official launch of UBA All About U Debt Card, in Lagos. special incentives. This is similar to what we did during the implementation of the Backward Integration Policy in the cement sector until we got to the point where we saw a significant increase in local cement production and we tied importation to production to bridge gap between supply and demand.

“By so doing, local production increased and importation was reduced drastically. That was how we were able to move from a country that was producing about two million metric tons of cement to one that has the capacity to produce 28.6 million metric tons of cement. It is the same principle and

approach that we want to apply in the sugar sector.”

Chief Operating Officer of BUA Group, Mr. Chimaobi Madukwe said that the minister’s visit to BUA Group is an indication of government’s support for industrial groups in Nigeria, through the National Sugar Development Council (NSDC) and other relevant agencies.

Madukwe said, “We recently launched another backward integration scheme with the acquisition of 100,000 hectares of land in Kogi State for the commencement of another sugarcane plantation before the end of the year” This will process 10,000,000 tons

of cane to produce 1,000,000 metric tones of refined sugar annually. This second plantation will assist in further boosting the sugar production of the group and enhance employment, and open up opportunities for ancillary industries.”

Executive Director, Bua Sugar Refinery Mr. Siva Kuma, , noted that with more favourable industrial policies couple with our well equipped refinery which meets world’s standard and food safety, BUA can increase production from the current 95 per cent to 100 per cent capacity and even expand to other States as well as create more jobs for Nigerians.

Nigeria seeks $450m from IDB to generate more power — Sambo ICE President Namadi Sambo support of the IDB to Nigeria.

Partnership (PPP) projects in some V says that Nigeria needs about 450 He stated that all the approvals priority projects. Responding, the IDB million dollars from the Islamic Degranted by the bank over the years had chief said that he wanted to use velopment Bank (IDB) to expand its electricity generation capacity to reach 20,000 megawatts. A statement issued in Abuja by Malam Umar Sani, the Senior Special Assistant to the VicePresident on Media, said that Sambo said this on Sunday when he received the President of the IDB, Dr Ahmed Mohammed Ali, in Makkah.

Sambo, who is in Saudia Arabia to perform this year ’s lesser Hajj, expressed appreciation for the continued

been ratified by the National Assembly and the Federal Executive Council (FEC). The vice-president urged the bank to consider the construction of a road linking Lagos to Abidjan in Cote d’Ivoire. He also requested bank to extend its support to the Nigerian private sector, particularly in the areas of education, aviation and agriculture.

Sambo called on the bank to partner with states in executing Public-Private

Sambo’s visit as a platform to boost Nigeria-IDB cooperation. Ali disclosed that the bank had approved three out of the five projects submitted by Nigeria. “They include construction of four new science secondary schools in Kaduna State, worth 17.9 million dollars; construction of 300-bed specialist hospital in Kaduna State at 43.15 million dollars; and the Zaria water supply project worth 81 million dollars,” he said.

22 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

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HE first thing cooperative societies do to individual members is development of savings culture. It is an age long established fact that nobody can escape poverty without a savings habit.

Anybody that spends everything on consumption is just a step away from poverty and its various consequences, no matter how rich the person is today. The story of the prodigal son is instructive in this regard. Savings culture means, irrespective of how much you earn today, and your needs, you put something aside for tomorrow, or invest, to make additional income.

This, however, is a great challenge for many people, especially for low income people, whose needs are far more than what they earn.

Some of them attempt to save, but because the saving is always within their reach, they find it difficult not to spend the money. Yet, everybody needs to save and invest to escape poverty. This is made relatively easy with cooperatives.

As a member of a cooperative, you must contribute regularly, most times monthly.

The contribution is usually

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

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mong the top ten performing stocks last week were Courteville Business Solution, Champion Breweries Plc, Stanbic IBTC Holding Plc, UBA Capital Plc and Fidson Healthcare plc.

The rest are Livestock Feeds plc, Multi-Trex Integrated Foods Plc, Academy Press Plc, Cutix Plc and Wema Bank Plc. Courteville Business Solution, listed on the computer based-system subsector of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, led the pack after advancing by 21.21 percent or N0.14 to close the market at N0.80 from N0.66 it started with. The stock started trudging up few weeks ago after a spirited argument by the company ’s Managing Director, Bola Akindele, that it was priced below its fair value.

From 50kobo, it picked up and had risen to N0.96 before

Benefits of cooperative societies to the individual deducted from your income, before you even receive it. So, irrespective of your needs, you save compulsory. Also, because the money is not within easy reach, you cannot easily access it to spend.

The second thing you benefit from cooperative as an individual is access to loans either in cash or in the form of goods. As it is difficult for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, so it is for the average individual to get loan from the banks in Nigeria. For low income earners, it is even worse, because they don’t have

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BY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

Savings culture means, irrespective of how much you earn today, and your needs, you put something aside for tomorrow, or invest, to make additional income. This, however, is a great challenge for many people

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collateral. Even for those that can meet the conditions for bank loans, the loan may not come promptly as needed. But as a member of a cooperative,

you can access loan promptly.

Your contributions serve as collateral and fellow contributors are accepted as guarrantors. Also, the interest

rate and repayment terms are not crushing as that of the banks. This easy access to loans has helped many people achieve improved welfare.

Corporate power is another benefit of cooperative to an individual. There are some things that a corporate body can achieve easily, which are near impossible for an individual. For example, if an individual buys a parcel of land, the land owners can go

back and resell the same land to another person. The individual, especially a low income earner, most of the time loses out eventually or may have to repurchase the land. But if it was a corporate body, especially a cooperative, the land owners will not even try such mischief, because from the beginning, a legal expert and government is involved (remember cooperatives are regulated by government).

Also, with a co-oporative, the individual participates in the running of the business of the group, and in the process, acquires knowledge and expertise, which can be beneficial in his personal affairs.

Compare these benefits to investment in shares or bonds or in a collective investment scheme.

These other investment options do not impact savings culture, neither do they provide easy access to loans. The individual also does not have the opportunity to enjoy corporate power. In fact, he may become a victim of corporate power. And because the individual does not participate in the management of the companies or his investment, he does not have opportunity to acquire business acumen.

Top 10 performing stocks sliding again, probably due to profiteering by investors. CBS was also among 13 companies recently commended by the NSE for compliance to good corporate governance by filing its 2011 year end result well ahead of stipulated submission date. In a bid to enhance shareholders value and stay ahead of competition, CBS, recently disclosed plans to extend its operations to more African countries. Available financial statement of the company for the first quarter ended 31 st March, 2013, showed that its turnover rose by 33.78 percent from N233.97million in the first quarter of 2012 to N 3 1 3 . 0 1 m i l l i o n .

Shareholders’ fund rose marginally by 3.08 percent from N2.82billion in the first quarter of 2012 to N2.90billion in the corresponding period of 2013, while retained profit grew by 63.21 percent to N86.84million in 2013, from N53.21million in 2012.

A brewery company, Champion Breweries Plc,

followed with price gain of 21 percent or N2.31 from N11.00 to N13.31. It emerged the top f o u r t h g a i n e r penultimate week with gain of 2 8 . 8 1 percent or N 2 . 4 6 .

Analysts believe that the proposed hybrid offer of debt-to-equity conversion and injection of fresh capital via rights issue have been the reason behind the galloping in the share price. Two years ago, Heineken, the parent company of Nigerian Breweries Plc, bought controlling interest in Champion Breweries.

Before the acquisition, Champion Breweries was struggling with problem of inadequate working capital, low productivity, poor market share and low employee morale. It recorded a loss after tax of N1.3 billion in 2012, while the turnover stood at N1.8 billion.

Stanbic IBTC Holding was the next with 17.75 percent or N2.64 gains. It started the week at N16.00 and closed at N18.84 per share. In keeping with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s directive that required banks to either divest from their non-core banking businesses or adopt a HoldCo structure, Stanbic IBTC last year officially adopted a Holdco structure and was admitted at N13.03 per share on the NSE. Last week, the bank announced an interim dividend of 70kobo and half year pre-tax profit of N13.1 billion from N6.1 billion in

2012. Also, the after tax profit ballooned by 105 percent to N10.2 billion as against N5 billion in 2012. Year-to-date, the share price has risen by 77.07 percent from N10.64 to the present market price. It had

risen to N20.72 before relapsing due to profit taking.

UBA Capital’s share price rose by 16.36 percent or N0.18 to close at N1.28 from N1.10.

Last year, a total of four billion shares of UBA Capital Plc, amounting to N4.64 billion were listed at N1.16 on the NSE. This is an indication that the stock price has not risen much from the listing price.

The half year financial result for June, 2013 showed that gross earning rose to N263.235 million from N172.879 million in 2012, while after tax profit went up to N39.76 million from N26.08 million in the corresponding period of 2012.

Fidson Healthcare’s share price advanced by 11.82 percent or N0.24 from N2.03 to N2.27 per share, Livestock Feeds gained 11.13 percent or N0.52 to close at N5.19 from N4.67.

Multi-Trex rose by 10 percent from N0.50 to N0.55; Academy Press followed with 9.88 percent gain to close at N1.78, while Cutix Plc and Wema Bank added 9.84 percent and 9.35 percent to their share prices to close at N2.01 and N1.17 per share respectively.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013 — 23

Investor Protection Fund: SEC delays compensation of investors

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE & PETER EGWUATU

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HE delay in approval of the draft rules for the implementation of the Investors Protection Fund (IPF) by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been a stumbling block to compensation of investors, who fell victim of unscrupulous dealings by some registered stockbrokers.

Recently, a group of investors lodged complaints with the NSE, demanding their money trapped in one of the stockbroking firms suspended by the Exchange.

The Exchange, however, told them that their complaints would have to wait until SEC approves the modalities for the implementation of the IPF. The group, which identified itself as Retirees from Delta Steel Company Ltd, Warri Delta State, stated in their complaint to Investors Forum, “ We all gave our share certificates to our stockbroker, Securities Solution Ltd (Member of The Nigerian Stock Exchange), which they

Oteh, SEC D-G verified with our CSCS Account in 2008 and sometimes in Jan., 2012. We mandated them to sell some of our shares and pay the proceeds to our bank accounts; we waited for payment and they never paid and we got to know later that they have been suspended by the Nigeria Stock Exchange for misconduct and wrong practices in February 2012.That is after much pressure to get our money from

Onyema, NSE D-G them.“We wrote NSE with attention to Mr. Adebisi Onipede, Head Stockbroker/ Dealer Regulation and forwarded the letter to the NSE head office in Marina, Lagos.

In the said letter, we informed them about what happened and how our money is yet to be paid by SECURITIES SOLUTION LTD, after selling our shares. The NSE replied and told us in a letter that they are still working on it and they did promised us they are

going to do something about it. But till date, they are yet to resolve the matter and the information we heard was that NSE Lagos had frozen the account of the stockbroking firm concerned, Till date, nothing meaningful has been put together by NSE to pay us since the money is in their custody and they are aware the money is in their account till date.” In its response to investigation by Investors Forum, NSE stated

“We acknowledge receipt of your email with respect to the above subject matter.

Unfortunately, your complaint has remained unresolved because Securities Solution Limited (SSL) is currently on suspension and has been in an inactive capacity since April 2012.

The firm is currently before the Disciplinary Committee of the Council of The Exchange for their consideration. In the interim, please be informed that the Board of Trustees of the Investors Protection Fund (IPF) of the Exchange has recently been constituted and is currently considering the modalities for the operation of the Fund regarding compensation to investors, who suffered losses in the capital market. Be assured that your complaint will be promptly resolved when the Board concludes on these modalities. The Exchange appreciates your concerns and patience in our bid to get a resolution to your complaint.

Please be assured that we take all complaints from the investing public seriously and will do all within our capacity to ensure that your complaint is resolved.”

COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS I need advice on my late mother’s shares

Investors Forum Please contact First Please I need to know what Registrars at Plot 2 Abebe to do concerning my late Village Road, Iganmu or call mother ’s shares in UACN. 08033018295, 08191410456 Since she passed on, there has been no follow up. Please what I need advice on is the procedure and how do unclaimed dividends we ascertain the exact amount I sold my shares in January of shares she has. Thank you 2013 but I have a backlog of (Mrs. J. Obi) unclaimed dividends from 2 0 1 0 .

Investors Forum Kindly advice me on how to The first thing is to visit the reclaim my dividends as I registrar of UACN, and inform have the warrants with me. the company about her death. (Ade Osemudiame) However, her shares can only be accessed by whoever she Investors Forum indicated as her next-of-kin, Take the dividend warrants and the process is usually a to the registrars of those long one. You will need the companies.

They will services of a stockbroker in this revalidate the warrants. regard, preferably the one your Thereafter, you can pay them mother patronised into your account. However, you should also register for No communication electronic dividend, so that from Daar future dividends can be paid directly into your account.

Communication I bought shares of Daar I want to invest N5000 Communication sometime ago Please what kind of and I’m yet to get my share certificate or any mail from investment can I do with them. Please how do I go about N5000? this?

Thanks Investors Forum (chidiruth49@yahoo.com ) You can invest in shares.

There are good companies with share price less than N3 per share. With N5000 you can buy about 1500 shares of such companies. But you need a stockbroker for professional advice. Visit www.nse.com.ng for list and addresses of licensed stockbrokers.

My Union Bank shares were understated

I used to have 42,333 shares of Union Bank before the 3:16 share reconstruction in 2011.

After the reconstruction I was credited with 5000 instead of 7937 Union Bank shares. Please help me correct this mistake unless it is an intentional attempt to defraud me. (Amilo Charles Chudu)

Investors Forum Please contact Union Registrars Ltd at No. 2, Burma Road, Apapa, Lagos. Tel: 2793160 – 2; 0700 826 7341

No communication from Afroil, IPWA

I bought shares of Afroil and IPWA but I have not received any dividend or update on my account, please help me out.

(A. Isaac)

Investors Forum For Afroil Plc contact, Unity Registrars Limited, Unity Bank Building, (2nd Floor) Plot 1683, Sanusi Fafunwa Street Victoria Island, Lagos. Te l 0803-3006-038, 01-7408123, 01-8418765. For IPWA contact Union Registrars Ltd 2, Burma Road, Apapa, Lagos. Tel: 2793160 – 2; 0700 826 7341

No communication from Daar Communication

I bought shares of Daar Communication sometime ago and I’m yet to get my share certificate or any mail from them. Please how do I go about this?

Thanks (chidiruth49@yahoo.com)

Investors Forum Please contact First Registrars Plot 2 Abebe Village Road, Iganmu or call 08033018295, 08191410456

I need advice on unclaimed dividends

I sold my shares in January 2013 but I have a backlog of unclaimed dividends from

2 0 1 0 .

Kindly advice me on how to reclaim my dividends as I have the warrants with me. (Ade Osemudiame)

Investors Forum Take the dividend warrants to the registrars of those companies. They will revalidate the warrants, thereafter you can pay them into your account.

However, you should also register for electronic dividend, so

COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS Do you have any challenge with your investment in the stock market or with any company (stockbroker, Registrar Company etc), write to vanguardinvestorsforum @gmail.com OR send text to 07043855187. We will INVESTIGATE AND REPLY that future dividends can be paid directly into your account.

24—Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Vanguard, TUESDAY,AUGUST 6, 2013— 25

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26—Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Vanguard , TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—27

By Theodore Opara

New Avensis sports dynamic, unique presence

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HE styling of the new Avensis gives dynamic and unique presence. The outstanding basic performance delivers agile driving with reassuring feeling. The Avensis provides a cutting-edge at the top of level in its class. This few words summerise the new Avensis whose image has continued to soar in the automobile world since it hit Toyota showrooms across the globe.

With European design and Japanese heart and blood, the new Avensis stands out in its class offering outstanding features in its segment.

From the exterior to the interior, the Avensis has a captivating design that easily stands it out in the crowd. The strong flowing lines of the front design express dynamic movement, heightened by seamless integration of the headlamps and sharp impression of the (LED) Daytime Running Lamp (DRL) that stays illuminated even when the headlamps are on.

Also the bold Toyota logo and foglamps couple with the simple grill gives the Avensis a more powerful presence. The rear view of the Avensis too, is imposing and intimidating adding to the Avensis all round powerful look.

Inside the Avensis, Toyota engineers and

designers were at their best in terms of creativity. The spacious

cabin with its premiumquality interior finish and sophisticated

equipment guarantee pleasurable ride in the Avensis.

Careful

attention was paid to details such as the choice of colour and materials. Coupled with spacious dimensions, the Avensis offers a truly comfort space.

The attention to details evident in the bold three-dimensional form of the instrument panel and flush surfaces of the centre cluster, creates a high-quality feeling too.

A feature of the luxurious cabin is the refined simplicity and ease of use of the abundant appointments.

Powered by a 16V 2.0 litre engine with four speed automatic transmission the Avensis delivers excellent

performance on the road.

Avenis refines the basics of performance and fuel efficiency to generate exciting dynamic driving. This compact lightweight engine integrates various advanced technologies to deliver both excellence performance and low fuel consumption.

The Avensis owes its good handling not only to the engine and transmission but also to the suspension.

MacPherson struts and double wishbone at the front and rear respectively add to the Avensis excellent road performance.

The Avensis reputation as a class leader also reflects in its safety features which have earned it five star rating by reputable safety institutes. High level of active and passive safety features which integrate the use of advanced technologies abound in the Avensis. Crash safety body, airbags, active headrests, disc brakes on all four wheels, anti-lock brake system with Electronic brake distribution, EPSVSC integrated control system, integrated AFS function, LED DRL (light), these and other features work in harmony to provide occupants of Avensis high level of safety at all times.

Okemuo takes over as ALBION president

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HE Managing Director and Chief Ex ecutive Officer of Dan Dollars Motors Limited, Sir Dan Okemuo, has been elected the National President of the Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria (ALBION), the umbrella body of luxury bus operators in the country.

Okemuo was elected at the 4th Bi-Annual General Meeting of ALBON held at the Rockview Hotel, Apapa, Lagos, recently.

He succeeds the former President, Prince Ejike Okoli. Also elected into the new executive council of the association as the 1st Vice President is Prince Emeka Mamah.

Dr Mamah is the Managing Director of Ifesinachi Group, which operates a fleet of long-distance buses.

Occupying the position of 2nd Vice President is Chief Sabestine Udemba, Chairman/ Chief Executive of Chiemezie Motors Nigeria Limited.

The Secretary of the association in the last executive committee, and Managing DirecC M Y K

tor/CEO of ABC Transport Plc, Mr Frank Nneji (OON), retained his position in the new administration, just as one of the founders of the association, Chief Vincent Obianodo, is to continue in his capacity as the Treasurer. Chief Obianodo (MON), is the Chairman of the Young Shall Grow Motors Limited.

The position of Financial Secretary went to Chef Anthony Ekwosimba, Managing Director of Ekwos Associates West Africa Limited.

A statement issued in Lagos by the Executive Secretary of ALBON, Barrister Raph Eke, said the new National President thumbed up for all members at the general meeting for the peaceful exercise, and thanked them for finding him worthy of leading the association.

He also pledged this commitment to the ideals of the association.

The new executive council will run the affairs of ALBON for two years.

28—Vanguard , TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

By Theodore Opara

Mimiko to flag off FUTA auto show and workshop

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OVERNOR Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State will on Tuesday, August 20, declare open, the Federal University of Technology, Akure, Auto Fair and workshop at the university campus in Akure.

The fair which is the first of its kind by any university in Nigeria is expected to be attended by automobile manufacturing company representatives in Nigeria, distributors,

spare parts dealers, oil and lubricant dealers, auto accessories as well as motorcycle dealers.

According to a statement from the office of the vice chancellor, Professor Adebiyi Daramola, the target groups for the fair include, people who want to buy new cars, companies who want to change their fleet, all students in various engineering and related departments in FUTA and other universities in neighbouring states in mechanical, material and

metallurgical, industrial designs, computer and electrical and electronic engineering departments.

Others include state governors in the South West and South South regions, commissioners and director of works and transport, chairmen and directors of transport in local government councils, federal and state government parastatals, corporations and i n t e r n a t i o n a l organisations.

According to the vice chancellor, the objectives

of the fair is to expose participants to the importance and advantages of buying new vehicles, dangers of purchasing used vehicles, initiate modalities of purchasing brand new vehicles without financial stress.

Others are, to create awareness on the mechanism of brand new vehicles, promote, develop and sustain market for all brand new cars in the region through diverse private and public car users,

eradicate unproductive patronage initial by individual automobile marketers.

The vice chancellor also explained that the fair will enhance face to face experiential interaction with customers and stakeholders in the industry as well as interactive education and sampling of product benefits.

He also called for supports and contributions from stakeholders in the auto industry through

partnership and collaboration with the institution in the following areas: Establishment of automobile service centre branded with name of the sponsors, Endowment of chairs in automobile in the name of the sponsor, Bus for field trips for the students branded in the name of the sponsors, Car for mobilisation branded in the name of of the sponsor.

The vice chancellor promised that “names of the sponsors will be on the Roll of Honours of the institution.

Lagos introduces ‘Expanded Return Loop’ to solve traffic gridlocks

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ETERMINED to find lasting solution to traffic gridlocks on most Lagos roads, the state Ministry of Transport has introuced what it called “expanded return loop” in most parts of the roads.

The state Commissioner of Transport, Comrade Kayode Opeifa who briefed journalists during a pilot test run of the scheme before its full implementation last week, said that it has been observed that traffic gridlocks were caused by motorists making u-turn at certain points of the road, adding that their aim was to achieve further reduction in traffic gridlocks and time spent on the road.

According to him, Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola's administration has been developing various master plans that would improve transportation in the state, adding that the next stage was to block some identified openings along the road to ease traffic flow.

At a test run of the pilot scheme along Mobolaji Bank Anthony Way in Ikeja, on Tuesday, Opeifa explained that his ministry chose the particular location because of the unending traffic gridlocks along the road, which sometimes, extend to Maryland bus stop.

He noted that henceforth all motorists will

now make a U-turn at the Police College bus stop or Customs FOU to connect to either Ikeja or Maryland.

For him, the decision to block the link routes is a temporary measure, to know if it will work, adding that links will soon be blocked permanently.

He however implored residents of Ikeja and environs to reason with government on the new initiative, pointing out that it was meant to bring lasting traffic solution to the area.

“It is called ‘Expanded Return Loop’ concept. It is the same thing that we have under the bridge in Jibowu, Yaba.

Under it, it is a similar thing. You see that two motorists are making uturn and they don’t meet each other. It is like turning a roundabout into half. We just block the U-turn and stop every left turn. Where you have two lefts turn, we will block it. We have blocked the opening at Joel Ogunnaike to Ikeja. We have blocked the one at Mobolaji Bank Anthony to Joel Ogunnaike. Likewise, we have blocked the link from Ikeja to Ola Ayinde. The only route left for motorists to turn is at the Police College or Customs FOU bus stop,” Opeifa said.

Porsche Middle East and Africa appoints new director

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ORSCHE Middle East and Africa FZE, a wholly owned subsidiary of Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, Stuttgart, has announced the C M Y K

appointment of Steffen Fleck as Director for a new Network D e v e l o p m e n t department which opens in line with the company’s 2018 growth strategy.

Vanguard , TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—29

By Theodore Opara

Alloy rims enhance car performance —JD Auto boss

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FRONTLINE rim distributor and specialist who is also Chairman of JD Auto Designs Limited, Mr. Jude Uchenna Obiekwe, has stated that beyond aesthetics, the fitting of alloy rims in vehicles comes with a lot of benefits to motorists.

Speaking in Lagos at one of his company’s outlets, he said “you need to install alloy rims for aesthetics, durability, performance, class, and stability of the car because it helps the suspension of the vehicle as well as the braking system.”

The specialist in rims added that “If you come to JD Auto Designs, you get value for money, with pocket friendly

prices, quality customer care, because when you treat your customer good, they will always come back, we take customer retainership policies very seriously.

“The interesting thing about us is that you get rims that fit the pockets of all customers –for high profile vehicles like Range Rover, Porsche, G-Wagon to the regularly saloon cars.

“And to further make our products and services more accessible, we just opened a Lekki, (Lagos) office, and we have a nation-wide network to easily reach all who are in need of our services throughout the country”, the chairman added.

ExxonMobil, FRSC take safety campaign to Lagos

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HE Pan Nigeria Safe ty Awareness campaign, an initiative of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) in partnership with ExxonMobil has been launched in Lagos.

The event took place at Ketu main Motor Park. The Nigeria Safety Awareness is a campaign aimed at raising the level of safety awareness on the roads with a view to reducing carnage on Nigerian roads. The year-long campaign, which was formally launched in Abuja recently by the Corps Marshall and Chief Executive of FRSC, Osita Chidoka, focuses three critical areas: seat belt usage, speed reduction and use of phone while driving.

In attendance at the Ketu event were Akin Fatunke, Manager, Public & Government Affairs, Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Ozemoya Okordion, Mobil Producing Nigeria and Joseph Samuel Udoabba, Acting Unit Commander of RS-2.17 Unit Command. Others include Regina Peter, Assist-

ant Route Commander RS-2.17; Sunday Ogundipe and Idowu Otudotun, Chairman and Secretary respectively of the Ketu main motor park. Several drivers from the motor park were also in attendance.

Speaking at the event, Mr. Akin Fatunke explained that ExxonMobil was supporting FRSC on the campaign to promote attitudinal change among road users in Nigeria in order to curb road accidents. According to Fatunke ‘the national road safety initiative reflects the level of priority which ExxonMobil accords safety in all its locations of operation in Nigeria. This campaign is a demonstration of our commitment to safety and support for Nigeria’s aspiration for accident-free roads’.

Fatunke said that ExxonMobil has a large pool of world class drivers in its fleet who have been trained in Nigeria and abroad to ensure that they imbibe best practice habits on the roads. He advised drivers to ensure that they use their seat belts.

30 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Why building collapse continues in Lagos – Govt agency

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

A

S the spate of building collapse continues in Lagos State, it has become a source of worry not only to the government but also residents.

In the last few months, Lagos has witnessed at least five incidents of collapsed buildings in different parts, leaving over 20 people dead and several others injured.

The areas include: Surulere, Oshodi, Ojodu and EbuteMeta, Lagos.

According to revelations, following various investigations carried out recently by the management of Lagos State Building Control Agency LASBCA, the building culture in the state has to change as soon as possible if there must be a safe and sustainable

quality structures for habitation.

Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State last weekend announced plans by his administration to commence redevelopment of distressed Adeniji-Adele Housing Estate in Central Lagos to avoid losses of lives.

According to the governor, many houses in the estate, which was built on reclaimed land more than two decades ago, are noticeably in very bad conditions with many of the ground floors already submerged in water while the walls of most of the buildings are cracked and showing signs of serious structural defects.

Also, in the wake of the collapses, Commissioner for Special Duties, Dr. Wale Ahmed explained that the state will look inwards and

query any staff found to have been negligent in his monitoring duty, stressing that henceforth, sanctions will also be applied to all those who break the seal placed on the building and owner of collapsed building.

LASBCA, also conducted tests on some buildings at Ebute-Metta, Yaba Local Council Development Area, LCDA, where about 20 buildings were found be distressed and marked for demolition.

Managing Director of LASBCA, Mrs. Abimbola Animashaun, disclosed that; “Today, we have identified about 20 buildings, apart from the one that we have identified before. Out of these, we have identified five that should be demolished completely because they can cave in any time.”

Some of the areas where buildings including residential and commercial, estimated to be over 100, have been marked as distressed are: Lagos Island, Ojo, Agege, Mushin, Ikorodu, OrileIganmu, Ejigbo among others as investigations are still onongoing.

Fashola, Lagos State governor

Features of distressed buildings HEN contacted over what constitutes a distressed building, Managing Director of LASBCA, Mrs. Abimbola Animashaun blamed property owners, developers and site engineers for building collapse. She gave some of the criteria they look for before declaring a building distressed thus; “When we mark a building as distressed, it means that it is a dilapidated structure that was already full of dis-repairs and structurally not stable.

“When one looks at the scratches on the building, the first assumption was that they are distressed. Until the structural stability test is conducted to know its state, we have to categorise it as distressed. “When the result shows that the building is stable, we have no option than to allow the building stand.

“A building is regarded stable when all the columns (pillars), slabs and the beams are intact.

But with that, when the test result is released, it would be stated that at the time of inspectionmeaning the result was based on the last inspection of the building. After that time, new development might have occurred.

“For instance, the building that collapsed in Ojodu Berger axis of the state. It was only one of the pillars that was faulty initially. But while trying to repair it, the entire building caved-in. ”That was why whenever the test result is released, we also direct our engineers to re-visit the site to see if the entire building is in distress and to ascertain which pillar was bad. And the reason for this was that all the pillars in a building serve important and different purposes. ”We are all using the British standards. But the British whose

,

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woods but in other advanced countries nothing like that is seen.”

For buildings under construction: Also, expatiating on the monitoring of buildings under construction by LASBCA, Animashaun, a professional architect, with 35 years experience said that; “Monitoring starts from the approval date to commencement of construction. ”Our inspection commence immediately one gets approval to erect a building. That is why we have used all the media to enlighten the public that as soon as

,

When we mark a building as distressed, it means that it is a dilapidated structure that was already full of dis-repairs and structurally not stable

style we use never use substandard or poor materials to construct their houses. “The British standard states; 23 by 23 but for me, I will go for the international and the Italian law which sets; 30 by 30 as their preferred standards for columns. When one looks at columns in Nigeria, one will see

they receive their building approval, they should alert the agency.

“This will give us the opportunity to start from soil investigation. With this, we will be able to give the owner the preferred foundation for the building. But owners of structures do not contact us

A collapsed building and further erect their building on the entire perimeter of the land and this contravene the Building Control Law. The approval states that there must be 3 meter space away from the foundation.

“Some people when they apply for building approval, they seek for one storey approval but when one visits the place, all you will see is two storey building. But the recommendation and the calculation given for the foundation was one storey.

“That means the foundation cannot withstand the weight of the building. That is what happens in this country. Even when it happens in other advanced countries and when the building control agency visits the site, if it discovers such they order them to remove it and they yield.

“But the owners of the building in Nigeria only invite the agency when the building is completed as against what happens in advanced countries. In those countries, they invite the building control agency at all the stages of construction.

“In Nigeria when we visit and we spot any fault, the next word one hears from the owners of the building was that the construction is already completed. And it wouldn’t be appropriate to commence demolition. And they start begging.”

Physical signs of distressed building: According to Animashaun, the first sign to look for in such buildings is to look for cracks. To check if the plastering is still effective and others.

“The building is termed dis-

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6 2013

— 31

Our schedule — LASBCA boss

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CCORDING to Animashaun; “We have 22 zones and our staff go round to identify distressed buildings and enlighten the public on the need to involve the agency in their construction on daily basis.

“At present, we are still collating the number of distressed buildings in the state. But a rough estimate so far will reveal over one hundred distressed buildings across the state. We are also moving fast to prevent any untoward development.

“Lagos state is a metropolis and it will require employing hundreds of thousands of workers to monitor the entire state.

“That was one of the reasons why LASBCA has asked the citizens to assist the agency. In order to enlighten the residents of Lagos, we embarked on road show; we are also using the conventional media. We cannot do this work alone.

We need the citizens of the state to send short messages (SMS) or call whenever they discover any building that is in bad state. We will respond immediately. And when we get to the site, we will advise the owners of the building on what to do on the building.

“For the buildings marked in Ebutte Metta, we have called them and we have enlightened them that building don’t alert the occupants when it is about to collapse. We advised them to leave the house and either rent another elsewhere or squat with their relatives.

In Agege, we discovered a building and the occupants begged me and I told them that I will not allow them to continue living in the building. We carried out inspection daily and yesterday we were in Oke-Afa in Isolo. And we told them that they have to demolish their buildings. And on the government owned, they have to hasten work on it because they have already demolished four buildings.

Lab testing requirements “We also direct owners of buildings to do lab tests at the Lagos State Material Testing Laboratory, Ojodu, but they are not obliged to go there. “There are other laboratories in the state that conduct structural stability test. The difference with the state Lab is that it has better equipment than others.

“Property owners will have to do the comprehensive test that would be handled by competent engineers. We only recognize registered engineers especially chartered engineers.”

LASBCA Challenge ‘The major challenge facing the agency is that when we seal a building because it is in distress, people break the seal and continue to occupy the house. That is the case of many houses in the state especially in Lagos Island axis of the state.

And when we discovered that, we arrest them. “When we seal, we do not expect occupants to move back into the house.

That was why we have decided to always re-visit any house that is sealed.

tressed when the cracks are big, that is cracks that are obvious from afar. “That is a structural crack because one can differentiate between mere cracks and structural cracks.

“When one starts noticing cracks all over the building, it means that there is a problem with it. When one sees a tilting building, there is a problem. And when one sees a building with its iron rod already rusting, it shows that the building has some challenge. ”And a lot of landlords in the state after building for over 10 years, they want to add another storey. What we have noticed was that when one is increasing the storeys of an existing building, rather than use light weight materials, they add structure that has

higher weight,” she said.

Quacks in building industry is another challenge: “There are times when we ask the owner of the building to carry out repairs, and that they can only embark on it when they have a registered structural engineer on site.

Qualified engineers “This is one aspect that is still affecting construction in the country. Many build today without having qualified engineers on site.

“And one thing that differentiates the construction process between the country and other advanced countries is that even the bricklayers there have National

Vocational Qualification Certificate, NVC. “They all go to school to get certificate. That gives room for discipline because if they failed in their duty, their license can be seized from them. One cannot just approach a construction site without any form of qualification. ”What we intend to do is to introduce NVC training, so that plumber, electrician, bricklayers and others will have that certificate with them to show that they are qualified. One has to apply for demolition permit through the agency. And when it is time to demolish, he has to alert the agency because the building materials are full of hazardous substances.

Appeal “I want to advise developers to always adhere to doing quality job as against shabby construction by complying with safety, international standard. I also advised them to go for comprehensive training on what to look for as a developer on a building. A novice in civil engineering cannot be a developer because at the end of the day, they would have to employ someone. “Engineers need to understand that their profession is not about paper work. But they are effective on the field. We are ready to change the mentality in this country.

General Manager of LABSCA, Mrs. Abimbola Animasaun

32—VANGUARD, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Aregbesola is our common enemy— Olasunkanmi •We'll send him back to Lagos SENATOR Akinlabi AbdulRasheed Olasunkanmi is a PDP governorship aspirant in Osun State.

He was a Senator between 2003 and 2007 and later served as Minister of Youth Development in the Yar’Adua/Jonathan regime for four years. In this interview he speaks on the PDP in Osun State and the elections of 2014 and 2015.

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

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HAT are your expectations from Governor Dickson’s Reconciliation Committee.

The establishment of that committee is one of the smartest moves by the PDP in recent times.

Before its establishment, everything was heated up. The crisis in the PDP was getting to a boiling point. But you can see that within a short time the tension is coming down.

The crisis in Ekiti has been stemmed if not completely resolved. That of Anambra State is already being nipped in the bud. I am sure that if the Committee continues with this vigour and pace normalcy will be returned to the PDP nationally.

What is the nature of the crisis in Osun State and how easy would it be for the Committee?

Osun State PDP is relatively peaceful. I don’t think the Committee will have any major assignment to carry out on Osun.

The party is one and the chairman is Alhadji Gani Olaoluwa who is doing his utmost best to ensure that the party remains one indivisible entity.

There are four of us who have

the side of our party; PDP. President Jonathan recently visited former President Obasanjo where he said he was a son to the former President. My only prayer is that God will touch the heart of the gladiators who are magnifying the perceived differences between these two leaders.

Is it true that Osun PDP has endorsed President Jonathan already and has gone ahead to open a campaign office for him in Osogbo?

I am not aware of another endorsement by Osun PDP. But, I was actively involved in the South West meeting that took place at the Airport Hotel in Lagos where the entire zone adopted him for a second term.

I am very certain and categorical that Osun State PDP leaders and stakeholders have not held another meeting for this purpose.

As for opening a campaign office for the President in Osun State, I think that will be putting the cart before the horse since Mr. President has not formally pronounced or declared that he is contesting.

For the records, don’t forget that I coordinated his campaign

Aregbesola is our common enemy and we have resolved among ourselves that he must go back to Lagos next year, so, there are no factions

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indicated interest in contesting for governorship next year and we are all working hard to get the party’s ticket. Aregbesola is our common enemy and we have resolved among ourselves that he must go back to Lagos next year.

So, there are no factions.

On which side of the divide are you in the national politics; Is it Obasanjo or Jonathan That question may not be necessary because both of them are national leaders and statesmen who are on the side of Nigeria. And if we are talking about partisan politics, I am very certain that both of them are on

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in Osun State in 2011 when I was a Minister that represented him in Osun State. If you ask me whether the President should contest for a second term in 2015, my answer is in the affirmative.

What gives you the confidence that you will be your party’s candidate and go on to win against Aregbesola?

Fair is fair. From my party I believe I am the most qualified and most experienced to fly the flag. I have served this country as a Senator and also privileged to have served as a minister. I have solid academic background and nothing about me is

playing politics by publishing different figures as compensation to owners of properties whereas evidence shows that most of the affected people are yet to be paid anything. I have challenged the government to publish the names, addresses and the amount paid each affected individual for verification and authenticity of such payment claims.

Since the beginning of the year, different officials of the Osun State government have announced different figures like N54m, N132m and now N600m as compensation already paid out. If these claims are true, the government should douse tension in the state by making public the list of all those that have been paid.

But when real compensation would be paid, every citizen should benefit from it because such payments in the past were given to those who have proper building approvals and other documents, which most of those owners never had.

Census of buildings

•Olasunkanmi shrouded in controversy. I served without blemish. I am a very compassionate person and a bridge builder who loves Osun State with a passion. Since my party seriously desires to win back Osun State I believe they will do the right thing by giving me the ticket through democratic means.

I firmly believe that we have to return Osun State to the path of rectitude.

Osun State government under Aregbesola should stop treating our people with disrespect. The government should be more humane in its

programmes and allow some real human feelings to prevail over physical development.

The entire Urban Renewal Programme has been carried out without government’s sensitivity to the feelings of the people of Osun State. It was wrong for the government to start demolishing homes and businesses of the people before consulting them.

But the government said it has paid compensation to the tune of several millions of naira to people whose properties were demolished.

The government has been

In my opinion, I believe that a census of buildings and other properties ought to have been taken before the demolition exercise; while those with valid documents are paid full compensation those without should be paid estimated amounts as compensation.

Nobody should be made to vacate his property empty handed without adequate and commensurate compensation.

The issue of debt has generated furore between those in opposition and the Osun State government. What is at stake here?

Nothing is at stake than Osun state and its future. We are worried that the government is mortgaging the future of unborn generations by taking loans indiscriminately.

The government is busy giving excuses and accusing the previous PDP government. The government is living a new lifestyle of debt to sustain itself in office. It is common knowledge that the stock of uncompleted projects dotting the state are being funded with debts.

VANGUARD, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013 —33

Believe me, Oshiomhole is making ACN lose ground in Edo — Akhere BARRISTER Vincent Ose Akhere is the Edo State Youth leader of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). A former Commissioner for Arts and Culture during the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole’s first term, Akhere who hails from Uromi in Esan North East Local government of the state in this interview comments on issues pertaining to the pending election in the local government saying the actions of the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN are detaching the party from the grassroots. Excerpts:

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

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HERE are speculations that the cancelled Esan North East election will be conducted in the month of August. How prepared is your party?

We are fully prepared to face ACN in Esan North East any time, any day; if that election holds now I am one hundred per cent sure that we will floor ACN. But the ACN, candidate Mr. Samuel Oboh says the ACN will defeat PDP in that election and that there is nothing like meaningful development in Esan North East by the administration of John Yakubu when he was the chairman of the council?

I will describe his comment as the ranting of an ant. Sam Oboh is a product of imposition; in fact he is a political liability to ACN as a political party in Esan North East.

The people of Uromi rejected him the day he was nominated as the ACN candidate and

•Akhere they demonstrated that during the cancelled election by voting overwhelming for

the Peoples Democratic Party against him. If you go to Uromi now, the market women are clamouring for Yakubu, the mad men and women a r e clamouring for Yakubu, even the b l i n d , disabled are campaigning for Yakubu, because of what he did in his first tenure in office.

So I am very sure that if the election h o l d s t o m o r r o w, Oboh will be floored by Yakubu. Yakubu remains the candidate to beat in that election and in fact Yakubu is

our chairman in waiting.

Uromi people have resolved to ensure that Yakubu is installed as the next executive chairman of Esan North East, come rain or sunshine. Even if they give then all the money in the world, they will vote in Yakubu because they want to ensure that he goes back there to continue from where he stopped before he was booted out by the evil government of ACN in Edo State.

The initial election was said to have been cancelled due to violence, is it true?

I will say that election was the freest and fairest election ever conducted in this part of the world in recent times.

There was no case of thuggery; it was devoid of rancorous experiences.

We did not have any problem, the Commissioner of Police was on ground; I was with him at ward 5. The Director of SSS was there, they stayed two nights at Uromi and they even tried in vain to persuade the chairman to announce that result. God

Almighty knows the truth.

That election was free and fair and the PDP won also because of the very unpopular candidate imposed on the people by the ACN-led government in Edo State.

Do you have faith in the same EDSIEC to conduct the rescheduled election?

We have since lost confidence in EDSIEC, they are there to do the bidding of the state governor because he appointed them.

He is the appointer so they believe that their job will be at stake, in jeopardy if they do not do what the Government House wants them to do. We have no confidence and we do not believe they will do a good job this time around.

And I want to say this: if the result is not announced at Uromi as instituted in the electoral law, we shall reject it, and we will even stop the election until they are ready to declare the results at the polling booths as required by the law.

contemporaries are measured.

To explain the foundation of his beliefs, his political sagacity, his inexplicable skills at surviving all political battles would require many years of unbroken research.

Nevertheless, my knowledge of him, attests to one fact, that his continuous relevance in Nigerian politics, has been informed more by his adherence to certain religious principles of loyalty and justice.

No wonder the book of Proverbs 3:3,4 says: “Never let loyalty and kindness get away from you. Wear them like a necklace, write them deep within your heart, then you will find favour with both God and men and you will gain good reputation”.

Similarly, his love for justice derives from the scriptural injunction espoused in Isaiah 56:1 which says “Be just and fair to all says the Lord, do what is right and do good’”. is more, Chief Tony Anenih is an embodiment of loyalty.

He is loyal to his friends,

associates and followers, ft is the infectious nature of this disposition that elicits equal and corresponding loyalty from the people around him.

As a leader, he has touched many lives across the length and breadth of this country.

That is why his political network has remained active, effective and enduring over years.

As a father, he carries his children on his shoulders so that they can see beyond him.

This is one of the reasons amongst others, why the Ugbesia family is unrepentant, unapologetic and passionate in referring to Chief Tony Anenih as “Our God father” Consequently, as he turns 80; we rejoice with him and join millions of Nigerians in wishing him God’s continuous protection, good health and more fruitful years in the service of this great country.

Happy Birthday - the Godfather *Senator (Elder) Odion Ugbesia, writes from Abuja.

To my godfather at 80

BY ODION UGBESIA

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ROM whichever perspective it is viewed, the attainment of the 80th milestone in a man’s life-span is an event of utmost significance.

This is particularly so, when, experimentally, a man ceases to be moved by anything that would ordinarily rattle or baffle those with lesser or limited encounter with the vagaries or challenging circumstances of life.

This, aptly captures the life of Chief Tony Anenih, having witnessed and withstood most of the vicissitudes of life- its successes and adversity, it trials and tribulations; its ups and downs; its intense unpleasantness and exulting comedies.

I speak of this godfather from a vantage position, having enjoyed an unbroken and uncommon relationship with him that have spanned over thirty years. Even at that,

I still have difficulty and constraints in defining this enigma called Chief Tony Akhakon Anenih.

To many, he is simply the leader, to some, he is Mr Fix it, a master strategist and a chartered political engineer, whose political judgment in most cases, help in no small measure in untangling seeming intractable political problems.

However, it must be noted that his adversaries who cannot comprehend him, see him from a negative angle - a villain and a master rigger.

The totality of these different perspectives or descriptions of him points to one undeniable fact that Chief Tony Anenih is a master of the game who cannot be an easy task for anybody to fathom.

No wonder a writer once described him as an enigma wrapped in a puzzle, tucked inside a mystery.•h This accounts for the reason why as a politician, he has remained the main issue

•Anenih around whom solid political permutations revolve in Nigerian politics.

Accept it or not he is the leader against whom all his

34— Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Making a relationship work?

By ONOZURE DANIA

Much ado about child marriage (2) E

VER since the story broke and Nigerians took to the streets and social media platforms to express their dissatisfaction with the retention of Subsection 4(b) of Section 29, there have been all manners of reactions from across the country. The enormity and passion of the protests have been quite impressive.

There has been a few names calling, labelling and derogative remarks about persons, groups and sections. Feelings have been hurt and enemies made. The issue has shifted from Citizenship and Section 29 (4b) to something more pertinent, Child marriage.

Ironically, Yerima being the “Face of child marriage in Nigeria” and with the dust from his marriage to a 13 year old Egyptian girl three years ago yet to settle, it is unfortunate that he is caught again in the middle of this crisis as the arrowhead for the campaign in favour of child marriage. Yerima’s reaction to the allegations against him has not helped his case. In a purported text message via BlackBerry Messenger, Yerima was alleged to have written and I reproduce here: Nigerian has many uncountable problems and none of them is early marriage. As a matter of fact, early marriage is the solution to about half of our problems.

For those who wonder if I can give my daughter(s) out in marriage at the age of 9 or 13, I tell you most honestly, I can give her out at the age of 6 if I want to and it is not your business. This is because

school children disvirgin themselves behind toilets on Valentine day •I live in a city where young girls flood the streets at night looking for men that would give them N500 to have sex with them.

•I live in a city where parents send their daughters out overseas to prostitute and send dollars down.

them are linked with his “pet project”, child marriage. Poverty, high maternal mortality, malnutrition, illiteracy, gender inequality, over population, food shortage, discrimination, violence against women and children, child slavery, child sexual abuse, social insecurity and indeed, youth unrest and poor parenting can be adequately tackled if we

•I live in a city where government officials pick undergraduates from university car parks with coastal buses to wild sex parties.

•I live in a city where abortion is so common that even a Chemist store owner can perform abortion with just N2,500

pay priority attention to the education and empowerment of our young people, especially the girlchild. The adage that says, educate a woman and you educate a nation has not been faulted to date. Only a woman who is fully developed physically, emotionally and mentally can be a successful wife, mother and productive citizen of any nation. Education gives her an added advantage to contribute her quota to nation building in whatever capacity she may find herself.

,

Only a woman who is fully developed physically, emotionally and mentally can be a successful wife, mother and productive citizen of any nation .

I am a Muslim and I follow the example of the best of mankind, Muhammed (PHUB). In Islam, marriage is not only about sex. It is about family and helping one another in achieving their goals, which is the attainment of Pardise.

In Islam, a girl can be given out in marriage as early as 6 years old but consummation of the marriage can only be done when the girl becomes physically mature and she gives her consent to it because unlike English law, it is not permissible for a man to rape his wife in Shariah law. So what can anybody tell me?

•I live in a city where young girls at the age of 12 have already become serial fornicators and cannot count the number of men they’ve had sex with.

•I live in a city where primary

,

These are your daughters and this should worry you and not Yerima’s private matters. So, ask me again why I support early marriage and I will slap the Jinn (demon) out of your head.

Senator Ahmad Sani Yarima.

If anything, this text has not helped his case and I doubt that he indeed wanted it to. This message only affirms him as an unrepentant supporter of child abuse and serial paedophile and sociopath.

It is a fact that Nigeria has ‘many uncountable’ (sic) problems as stated in Yerima’s alleged defence. What he has failed to admit or figure out as a “distinguished” Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and a former two-term Governor of a State in Northern Nigeria is that many of

Challenges of matrimony So, I beg to disagree with the Senator and his colleagues that early marriage is the solution to our national problems. If anything, it is a major part of the cause. Perhaps Yerima and his colleagues need to be informed that analysts have linked the high level of restlessness, crime and violence involving young people and indeed children in the North to poor parenting and even lack of parenting. For, what type of parenting can a 10 year old mother give to her child?

Yerima also declared with pride that he can give his daughter out at age 6 if he so wishes and it is nobody’s business. I ask, how many of his daughters has he giv-

K

NOWING how to make a relationship work is really simple, yet most lovers overlook the simplest of things in a relationship.

Perfect relationships are the simplest things on earth to hold on to. But most of us give it so little attention and care that it vanishes into thin air before we even start to care.

“A happy love life can give you a positive outlook towards life. It can also make you feel happier and free of stress. But if there’s one thing we have noticed, more people have difficulties knowing how to make a relationship work than anything else.

“To make a relationship work, there is just one simple rule.

You should understand your partner. That’s it. It’s quite simple but not very easy to follow.

Does your partner have any flaws that could hold them back from reaching their true potential? Don’t be picky about little things like slurping soup or eating too fast. Think about real issues.

Can your partner confront issues in life? Can your partner make a stand in front of someone else, or does your partner feel awkward to speak in front of an audience? If you feel there’s something holding your partner from becoming a better individual, then point out their flaw. Your partner may frown or sulk for an hour but help them through their issue by talking about it and advising them.

“By helping your partner become a better person, they would be grateful to you once the transformation is complete and they have also become a better person. Improvement as an individual and gratitude in love is something that can make a big difference in knowing how to make a relationship en out at that age so far? If he has not, does it then mean that he does not have female children or he is yet to convince himself that they can survive the challenges of matrimony? Those who kill by the sword are often afraid of anyone holding a knife.

Again, we were informed in the text message that marriage in Islam is not about sex! Pray, what is marriage in Islam then about?

If an old man is hell bent on assisting a female child of six years from an indigent poor family, must he marry her to do so? If these men don’t sleep with these young girls, who does? Where do they get the pregnancies that ravage their young underdeveloped bodies from? Any child pampered with gifts and attention will give her consent to almost anything once she is as-

work. Help each other become better individuals and your love will blossom and become stronger as the years go by.

“Most people just put up with partners or give up on them when this happens.

You become two individuals living together, not a couple in a relationship, and that can ruin a relationship in the years to come.

“Most of us are very strong headed when it comes to apologizing, we just don’t like it because we have been told that saying sorry makes one appear weak. In love, it couldn’t be further away from the truth.

All of us have an ego and we can portray that to the world. But in love, you should have no ego or pride. You should have enough humility to cry like a baby in your partner ’s arms or perform a victory dance like an arrogant monkey after a bowling strike.

“Many relationships fail because of arrogance. Lovers just don’t want to give up a fight and that’s really stupid. What are you trying to prove, that you are right?

What difference does it make? In love, we should avoid trying to prove points.

Instead, you should learn together as a couple.

“If you want to know how to make a relationship work, you need to understand this pointer. A relationship comprises of two individuals with unique likes and dislikes. And you can’t really expect your partner to like everything you like, or vice versa. But if you want to make a relationship work, you need to try and understand your partner ’s likes and dislikes.

sured of the continuum of such largesse. This does not mean that she is prepared for the challenges of matrimony as posited in the above statement by the Senator.

Any man who takes advantage of such situation is guilty of statutory rape and will be prosecuted if it were in an organised society where no one is above the law.

The message went on to list six points on activities he believes young people in big cities are exposed to and which according to him is more grievous than child marriage. Yerima may be right on all six points but has he ever read anywhere that Nigerians approve of all these vices and are lobbying for them to be constitutionalised?

No one cuts the nose to spite the face.

To be concluded

Vanguard Vanguard,,

TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013 — 35

36—Vanguard , TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

DPP intact, says Ogboru, Dafinone, others zAs Urhobo Forum tasks INEC on Delta Central by-election

123 retirees drag Edo govt to court over pensions

BY EMMA AMAIZE, GODWIN OGHRE & AKPOKONA OMAFUAIRE

S

APELE—NOTABLE politicians in Delta State, including former governorship aspirant on the platform of Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, Chief Great Ogboru, yesterday, denied claims in some quarters that the party was dead in the state.

He said that the party was waxing stronger in the politics of the country and the state in particular. He spoke in Abraka, Ethiope East Local Government Area of the state.

Meanwhile, Urhukpe r’ Urhobo Forum, URH, an Urhobo ethnic nationality group in the state, has urged Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to ensure that the forthcoming by-election in Delta Central Senatorial district that became vacant seat following the death of Senator Pius Ewherido, was devoid of violence and fraud.

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

B

ENIN—NO fewer than 123 Edo State civil servants, who were compulsorily retired from service in 2000 have dragged the state government to the National Industrial Court sitting in Benin, Edo State, over non-payment of their pension arrears and the non-implementation of the harmonised pensions arrears, among other claims.

The claimants are Dr. Solomon Esemuede and 11 others for themselves and on behalf of retired Directors, Assistant Directors and principals, Special Grade 1 and 11 (SGL15 &16) in the Edo State Civil/ Public Service as at October 1, 2000.

Defendants in the suit are Edo State governor, Mr. Adams Oshiomhole; the state Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice; Edo State Pension Board, National Salaries, Income and Wages Commission and the Accountant General of the Federation.

“DPP can't lose”

The group in a statement by the facilitators, Chief Abel Idigun and Mr. Tony Ejoh, yesterday, in Warri, Delta State, urged DPP members in the senatorial district to close ranks and work assiduously for the success of the party in the by-election.

The statement said: “At this

point, our party cannot afford to lose the by-election and must bring out its best cerebral materials as our representative to avoid a ‘seat warmer ’ in the Senate.”

However, other speakers who took turn to address a large turn out of DPP faithful in Abraka, who thronged the Abraka River Resort and Motel, venue of a rally staged by Chief Ogboru, spoke in one accord that DPP was thriving better than ever in the state.

It was Ogboru’s first political event after the Supreme Court judgment, which ended his gubernatorial legal tussle over his attempt to unseat Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.

We're still in court — Ogboru

Ogboru, who confirmed that the party was still in court to invalidate parts of the Electoral Act, which runs contrary to Section 285 of 1999 Constitution, as amended, said that his battle over the 2011 election with Uduaghan was not yet over.

He said he hopes that “in a short time, justice would be done, because if the aspects of the electoral law which runs contrary to Section 285 of the constitution are repealed by the court, then the merit of my case will surface.”

State Chairman of DPP,

Chief Tony Ezeagwu also confirmed that the party was not in merger with All Progressive Congress, APC, though he did not foreclose the possibility of a merger, which he said can take place if ongoing negotiations favour the tenets and aspirations of the party.

DPP only Delta party— Dafinone

Ace chartered Accountant, Chief Ede Dafinone, who was at the rally with supporters to

‘VC not responsible for sack of 144 UNIBEN staff'

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B

ENIN—THE Authorities of the University of Benin, UNIBEN, have described as absurd and misleading, insinuations in some quarters that the Vice Chancellor of the institution, Prof.

Osayuki Oshodin, was behind the recent sack of 44 staff of the university.

The university explained that the Governing Council of the institution took the decision after investigations were carried out on the affected staff and not the Vice-Chancellor as it was being insinuated.

Edo community withdraws from dukedom over oil bloc

BY FESTUS AHON

U

GHELLI—ANGERED by their alleged marginalisation in the OPL 283 bloc, the people of Iwevbo community, Orhionwon Local Gov-

ernment Area, Edo State, have withdrawn their membership of the Orogho Dukedom.

The community, in a letter addressed to the Managing Director, Newcross Petroleum Limited, explained that as one of the host

communities of OPL 283 bloc, it formed a union called Orogho Dukedom under a Memorandum of Understanding, entered between the communities and the company under the headship of Enogie of Orogho.

Lawyer to the community, Mr. Onokowhake, in the letter, said that Orogho Dukedom also constituted a Project Advisory Committee to oversee the implementation and execution of projects in the various communities.

Meantime, Vanguard was informed that the life of Prof.

Oshodin had been threatened since the sack of the staff, who were found wanting.

Police in the state, Vanguard gathered, are investigating a failed attempt to kidnap the VC by unknown persons.

However, a statement by the Public Relation Officer of the University, Harry Osarenren, said: “The affected staff were sacked by the Governing Council of the university after they were found to be involved in various offences that bother on gross misconduct.

“Petitions were written against them and the Council carried out its investigations, those involved were given fair hearing before a decision was taken on them.

“As an institution that is desirous in maintaining its standard as one of the leading universities in Africa, it will not fold its arm and allow illegalities to flourish in the university.”

By Bartholomew Madukwe

PEOPLE SPEAK

08102479985

showcase his readiness to contest the senatorial by-election to fill Delta Central Senatorial District vacuum, advised DPP faithful to disregard rumours that the party was dead and urged them to be steadfast, adding that DPP was the only party of the state.

Other DPP senatorial aspirations at the event, include Sir Richard Odibo, Chief Napoleon Gbenije and Chief Abel Adijala, all of who confirmed the vibrancy of DPP in the state.

(nwamad@yahoo.com)

On ‘deportation' of Igbo

I

F every Governor starts sending nonindigenes out, then where is the constitutional right to move around, associate and do business in any part of the country as a citizen? The signal is a bad one. Every thing should be done to resolve this.— Miss Harlis Udoh, Student.

I

F it is true, the deportation is wrong.

This is happening within Nigeria. As long as someone is a legal and bona-fide citizen of Nigeria and since we all have the choice of doing business wherever we deemed fit, this is wrong.— Mr. Ismaila Abiodun, Businessman.

I

really do not think that it is lawful for the state government to allegedly detain a person for more than a month, especially if it is not clear whether or not that person is really a destitute. These are Nigerians we are talking about, for Christ sake.— Miss Lucy Amuzie, NYSC Member.

T

HE truth is that Igbo are the biggest investors in Lagos. That is the truth.

That on its own destroys the question “ whether the Lagos State government was right to have allegedly deported Igbo from the state?”— Mr. Kalu Anya, Movie Producer.

I

F you don’t have a business in Lagos, or at least an address or someone who can identify you here, you can as well pass for a dangerous person or criminal.

The greatest dangers to Igbo in Lagos is the homeless Igbo in Lagos.— Mr. Nelson Nwamara, Writer.

F

ROM what I heard, there was an exchange of correspondence for the ‘integration’ not ‘deportation’ between Lagos State Government and Anambra State Government, through its Liaison Office in Lagos, dated April 9, 15 and 29, 2013.—Miss Sophia Osuji, Student.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—37

Fresh clash looms between herdsmen, Delta community

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

A

SABA—ANOTHER clash between cattle rearers and a community over indiscriminate grazing is imminent in Delta State, despite assurance from the state government and security agents to check the activities of the herdsmen.

While the people of Ogume community in Ndokwa West Local Government Area of the state are still licking their wounds over the killing of no fewer than 10 farmers in a bloody clash with herdsmen in April this year, another community is being threatened and the people are already living in fear over the carnage.

This time, Akumazi community in Ika North-East Local Government Area is being threatened.

As a result, the traditional ruler of the kingdom, Obi Stephen Chukwuyemeze Osagie III, has sent a Save our Souls, SOS, message calling for protection before any harm befalls them.

The Obi, who spoke at his palace, lamented that the farmers were now living in fear as the herdsmen’s cattle graze on their farmlands, destroying their crops. He noted that the

Cleric donates to hospital in Delta

BY TOMMY ANADUAKA

W

IFE of a former com missioner in Delta State, Pastor Florence Izagbo, has donated valuable items and cash to the General Hospital, Ibusa, in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State.

Pastor Izagbo, accompanied on the occasion by her husband and Ide of Ibusa, Dr. Austin Izagbo, family members, friends and members of SeeJoy, an non-governmental organization floated by her, said that the donation was in memory of her uncle, Ogbueshi Edward Esenwa, who died recently.

The items donated include 100 plastic chairs, cartons of disinfectants, bales of toilet rolls and detergents.

Pastor Izagbo, Managing Director of Caniz Ltd, a major distributor of Unilever also presented cash of N350, 000 to the hospital for the repair of the giant size generator abandoned over the years, so as to provide stable electricity to the hospital as it has been without electricity for years due to vandalization of the PHCN equipment by unknown persons.

few farmers who dared the herdsmen were wounded.

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan had, sometime ago, while reacting over destruc-

tion of farmlands by cattle rearers said: “It is very wrong for cattle rearers to allow their cattle go into people’s farmland to graze and destroy the

crops. The land owners who rent their lands to Fulani cattle rearers to graze their cattles should stop it or they will be punished.”

MEETING: From left, Minister of Petroleum, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke; Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Mr. Mohhamed Adoke; Foreign Affairs Minister, Amb. Olugbenga Ashiru and Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr. Akinwunmi Adeshina at a stakeholders meeting on the Green-tree Agreement (Bakassi Peninsula) presided over by President Goodluck Jonathan, in Abuja, yesterday. Photo: State House.

S-South Muslim leaders to FG: Check relocation of industrialists from Nigeria

BY EMMA AMAIZE

W

ARRI—MUSLIM leaders in the SouthSouth region have expressed concern that entrepreneurs were moving their industries from Nigeria to other African countries, especially to Ghana, because of poor power supply in the region and urged the Federal Government to quickly address the drift.

The Muslim leaders, who

met under the auspices of South-South Muslim Leaders Forum, in Warri, Delta State, also called on President Goodluck Jonathan to appoint Muslims from the zone into the federal cabinet, boards of federal parasatals and other relevant institutions.

In a communiqué by its Chairman and Secretary, Alhaji Mumakai Unagha and Alhaji Isa Enebong, they lamented the apathy of some state governors to Muslims in

the zone.

They called on them to integrate Muslims of the zone into the state and local polity to justify their religious equality as enshrined in the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

On the strike action by Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, the forum said the Federal Government should fulfill the agreement reached with the union “to ensure that our children return to school.”

Jonathan orders federal agencies in Edo to pay tax owed state govt

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B

ENIN—THERE are in dications that President Goodluck Jonathan might have ordered all federal agencies in Edo State to pay the over N2.5 billion owned to the state government from Pay As You Earn, PAYE, to avoid a repeat of the crisis that led to the closure of the Benin Airport last week.

Vanguard gathered that the President gave the charge shortly after he met with Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who briefed the President on the reasons for the closure of the administrative building of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, at the Benin Airport last week Monday.

It was learnt that the President agreed that meeting tax obligations was none negoti-

able and directed all federal agencies to meet their tax obligations in the state.

After the FAAN management had apologised to Nigerians and Governor Oshiomhole for the disruption in flights caused by the Benin Airport incident, the management, Vanguard learnt, is making frantic effort to pay the N15 million owed the Edo State Government from PAYE.

The chairman of Edo State Board of Internal Revenue, Chief Useni Elamah, had last week expressed frustrations in collecting taxes from federal agencies in the state despite the fact that the state government was meeting its tax obligation to the Federal Government and disclosed that the federal agencies owed the state government over N2 billion.

DPP faction gets new exco in Delta Central

BY FESTUS AHON

U

GHELLI—A FACTION of Democratic Peoples Party, DPP, in Delta State has inaugurated a new executive for the party in Delta Central Senatorial District as part of efforts to reposition the party ahead of the forthcoming Senatorial bye-election, following the death of Senator Pius Ewherido.

During the inauguration, Vice Chairman of the party at the state level, Chief Henry Olori, said: “There is a major challenge before the party which has to be properly addressed hence the decision to reposition the party particularly in Delta Central.”

Among those sworn in were Chairmen of DPP in the eight local government areas in Delta central, Chief Joseph Aghefada, Chairman Ughelli North; Mr Dolor Mijefe, Chairman of Uvwie; Chief Sam Sokoh, Chairman, Udu; Chief Solomon Okpako, Chairman, Ethiope East; Mr Ikoge Solomon, Chairman, Sapele; Mr Dick Onisuru, Chairman, Ethiope West; Elder Vote Emetavwodo, Chairman, Ughelli South and Christopher Aseroraye, Chairman, Okpe.

Appealing to elected party officials to be transparent in running the affairs of the party in their respective local government areas in a manner that would continue to endear DPP to majority of Deltans, Olori said: “The unfortunate and sudden demise of Senator Ewherido has necessitated the need to properly restrategise so as to emerge victorious again in the forthcoming byeelection.”

Ex-militant leaders, women worry over state of and Bayelsa Women Association girl-child education in Akwa Ibom State, led by Mrs. BYSAMUELOYADONGHA

Y

ENAGOA—FORMER militant leaders and women groups in the Niger Delta, weekend, expressed worries over the poor state of girl child education and the rising cases of rejection of employment offers provided through the Presidential Am-

nesty Implementation Office for ex-militant youths by some construction firms and state governments in the region.

At a meeting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, convened by exmilitant leaders under the Leadership, Peace and Cultural Development Initiative, LPCDI, led by its President, Mr. Reuben Wilson

Florence Abiye, participants agreed on the need for the youths to review their position on the employment offers.

Mrs. Abiye, described the issue of women marginalisation in the ongoing amnesty implementation and the poor policies of Niger Delta states on the training of the girl-child as worrisome.

38—Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Imo govt promises to partake in construction of hostel at UI

INEC to create more constituencies in Amuwo Odofin LG

T

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

O

WERRI—IMO State government has promised to play a prominent role in the proposed construction of a 1,000-bed space hall of residence for post-graduate students at the University of Ibandan.

Governor Rochas Okorocha made the promise when he played host to the National Executive of University of Ibadan Alumni Association, UIAA, in Owerri.

Okorocha said: “I have a very soft spot for education. I am prepared to do anything in support of education. My administration will play a prominent role in realizing the proposed 1,000-bed space hall of residence for post graduate students in the university”.

He was particularly happy with the composition of the national leadership of UIAA, stressing that it cut across the geo-political zones of the country.

He said: “I strongly believe in one Nigeria. I have decided to pick the next members of the State Executive Council from any part of the country.”

Tension in IMT over staff regularization

MEETING— From left: Council Member, Business Recovery & Insolvency Practitioners Association of Nigeria, BRIPAN, Mr Ayodele Akintunde; former President of BRIPAN, Chief Anthony Idigbe, SAN; BRIPAN President, Mr Dele Odunnowo; Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga; General Secretary; Mr. Victor Ihekweazu and Director of Legal Services, Ministry of Trade & Investment, Mrs. Uju Aisha Hassan-Baba at meeting on the Nigeria Insolvency Reform.

PDP may disintegrate before 2015 — AHAMBA

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

O

WERRI—FEARS have been expressed that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, may disintegrate before 2015, if the multiplicity of internal problems bedeviling the party was not quickly addressed.

An Owerri-based legal practitioner and former chieftain of Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, Chief Mike Ahamba, SAN, who made his feelings known, also said the ominous signals were palpable.

Ahamba said: “I am inclined to believe that the problem of PDP largely hinges on the deviation of the principles of democracy by the party’s leadership”.

“PDP lacks credibility in all ramifications and this explains why party loyalists and the masses are

BY TONY EDIKE

E

NUGU—SOME staff of the Institute of Management and Technology, IMT, Enugu, are now living in fear of losing their jobs, following the inauguration of a committee set-up by the institution’s Rector, Prof. Mike Iloeje, to regularize appointments of temporary staff recruited before 2007 and after 2011.

The nine-man committee, headed by F.N Okafor, Deputy Rector, was mandated to carry out the process of regularization of temporary appointment of various cadres of staff who were employed before 2007 and after 2011 and determine their suitability for permanent employment/ regularization.

The committee’s terms of reference also include to make appropriate recommendation to enable the management of the institution take final disposal action on them.

C M Y K

disgusted with the party’s leadership pattern and operation.”

Ahamba expressed regret that for over 14 years, the PDP had woefully failed to offer anything reasonable to Nigerians and Ndigbo in particular.

He said: “PDP has not only subjected Nigerians to untold hardship but has smuggled the country into a dilapidating quagmire and they lack the political, social and mental will to rescue it.”

While taking the PDP to task on the second Niger Bridge, which he said had been the party’s sing-song since 2003, Ahamba, however, said the All Progressives Congress, APC, would effect the desired change.

“PDP usually raise the issue of second Niger Bridge each time elections draw nearer, with a view to attracting Igbo votes but as soon as the elections are over, nobody gets to hear about it again”.

On the possibility of an Igbo man rising to the Presidency, he said Ndigbo must shun greed and the run-him-down syndrome.

Ahamba pleaded that “Ndigbo must help themselves by shunning greed and runhim-down syndrome, if they want to rule this country.

“Igbos are unique people and have the capability of redeeming Nigeria but they must shun those nasty factors that have retarded the political growth of the Igboman”.

Group flays Rep's attack on airport remodelling zSays Lagos govt deportation of 70 Ndigbo an insult

BY KENNETH EHIGIATOR

A

SOCIO-POLITICAL group, Anambra Youth Vanguard, flayed a member of the House of Representatives, Abiodun Adeleke, for alleging that Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, awarded contracts for re-modelling of airports across the country without due process.

It also condemned Lagos State government for dumping 70 indigenes of Anambra State at Onitsha bridge, saying the action amounted to an insult on the people of the state.

President of the group, Uche Ifeanyi Okonkwo, said the actions were designed to demonise Anambra State and its people.

According to the group, the attacks show that in spite of efforts

by the people of Anambra and other Igbos to regard the people of the South West as their brothers and partners in progress, the dominant party in the region has not stopped stabbing the Igbos in the back.

He said the good relationship that had been thriving between the people of the South East and South West should not be sacrificed on the expediency of party politics and parochial interests of those who struggled to get what they wanted by all means, even if they plunged the country into the crisis nobody knew when it would end.

He said: “Let us take this case of the Minister of Aviation, for instance; I have been travelling by air in Nigeria and outside

Nigeria. I know how embarrassed I feel and other Nigerians feel when they arrive the country and witness the dilapidated infrastructure.

“Now, Princess Oduah is changing all these and somebody is talking about due process. Why is it that all the due process secured to rehabilitate these airport facilities in the past never materialised to any physical change of these airports?

“Why is he talking about due process now that Nigerians have seen the good work the Minister is doing and are applauding her for her vision and determination to transform the nation’s airports, in spite of enormous opposition from people like Adeleke.

HE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has expressed its readiness to create more constituencies and polling units in Amuwo Odofin local government area to cater for the growing population of eligible voters.

Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, for Lagos State, gave this indication at a stakeholder’s forum on the delineation of constituencies and polling units in Lagos.

Ogunmola, who expressed satisfaction at the large turnout of stakeholders at the exercise, appealed to participants to be patient with the commission, saying INEC was poised to perfect its strategies in addressing the observable flaws in the last general elections constitutionally.

He said: “A permanent voter's card would be given to eligible voters and it will have a chip built in it. This card will not be renewed”.

Chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government, Comrade Ayodele Adewale, wondered why the local government was being short changed in the electoral process, despite the growing population of over 1.5 million people.

AllisonMadueke to grace oil, gas summit

S

AMA Books Launch Services, SBLS, will hold a summit on oil & gas, operational safety and security in Lagos .

The Minister of Petroleum Mrs. Diezani AllisonMadueke will be the special guest of honour.

A statement by the Principal Partner of SBLS, Mr. Dafe Sama said the summit would hold in October.

His words: ‘’ In 2011, Sama Books Launch Services, organised a World Conference on maritime services in Nigeria, with the theme : Compliance and Ecommerce as a Catalyst for Trade Facilitation. The event was well attended and cosponsored by Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA and COTECNA.”

Vanguard , TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013 —39

MEETING: From left, Dr. Bolaji Adebiyi, Medical Director, Alimosho General Hospital, Lagos, Nonny Ugboma, Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation; Dr J . O . Awobusuyi, representative of Nigerian Association of Nephrology, NAN, and Dr. Angela Uwakwen,MD, FMC, Owerri, at the 2nd MTN Foundation and MSP Stakeholders' Meeting, in Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola (Photo Editor)

VISIT: From left, Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese and Presidential Mediator on Ogoni, Dr. Hassan Matthew Kukah; Justice Peter Akere, and President, Ogoni Generation Next Project, Kadilo Kabari, addressing pressmen on Ogoni matters, during the visit of Ogoni Generation Next Project to Bishop Kukah, in Abuja. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan

AWARD: From left: Mr. Tope Ashiwaju, Public Relations Manager of Dufil Prima Foods Plc; Oshungunwa Anifat, student of Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, one of beneficiaries, receiving cheque from Mr. Deepak Singhal, MD/ CEO, Dufil Prima Foods Plc, and Dr. Oluseye Onabonjo, Senior lecturer, Department of Nutrition and Dietetics, FUTA, Abeokuta, during the presentation of cheque to the Indomie MSC Nutrition Scholarship Award, in Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola, photo editor

CAMPAIGN: From left, Secretary, National Union of Road Transport Workers, Ikosi/Isheri Branch, Mr. Idowu Oludotun; Acting Unit Commander, Federal Road Safety Corps, Ojota, Mr. Joseph Udoabba; Manager, Public and Government Affairs, ExxonMobil, Mr. Akin Fatunke, and Senior Representative, Public and Government Affairs, Mobil Producing Nigeria, Mr. Ozemoya Okordion, during an ExxonMobil-FRSC road safety campaign, in Lagos. Photo: Akeem Salau

BURIAL: From left; Elder Akindeko Felix, Secretary, Burial Committee; Apostle T. O. Obadare, Rev. Toluwani Paul, chairman, with Prof. Oyebode Ayeni, Vice Chancellor, Littoral University, Benin Republic at a press conference to herald the burial activities of Apostle Obadare, Christ Apostolic Church, CAC General Evangelist, World Soul Winning Ministry, in Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi

VISIT: The out-going Prelate Methodist Church of Nigeria, Dr. Sunday Makinde (2nd left); the Bishop of Lagos Mainland Diocese, Rt. Rev. O.O. Babalola (2nd right), flanked by the Principal, Methodist Girls High School, MGHS, Yaba, Mrs. Olusheye Awobiyi (right), and the MGHS Board Chairman, Mrs. G.A Ajayi (left), during a farewell visit by the clergymen to the school.

PROGRAMME: From left, the best student from Batch 12, Miss Williams Oladunni; Senator representing Lagos East, Gbenga Ashafa, and the best student from Batch 11, Miss Ogunnowo Adebusayo, during the graduation ceremony of Senator Gbenga Ashafa Information Communication Technology programme, at Magodo, Lagos.

VISIT: From left, Commissioner Kefas, Prof. Cyprian Okonkwo, SAN, and Chief Charles Uwensuyi-Edosomwan, SAN, Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Committee on Constitutional Review and Law DONATION: Pastor (Mrs.) Florence Izagbo (7th left) with some of the items she Reform, during a visit of the Committee to the Law Reform Commis- donated to General Hospital, Ibusa, Delta State, and the Chief Medical Director of the hospital, Dr. Samuel Bialonwu (6th left), with other staff. sion, LRC, in Abuja.

40—Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

ASYARF mourns journalists

Northern Govs condole with Emir of Kano over Waziri's death

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AGOS—THE Asabe Shehu Yar ’Adua Foundation has described as heart-rendering the crash involving some Nigerian journalists that claimed some and injured a number of others.

In a condolence message signed by the Founder Dr. Asabe ShehuYar’Adua, the body said the incident has denied the nation of yet some dedicated patriots who had made enormous sacrifice towards nation building.

“We join other well-meaning Nigerians and groups in commiserating with NUJ. It is indeed a trying time for all of us. This again brings to the fore, one of the hazards of the noble profession of journalism,” the organisation stated.

ASYARF said the death of the journalists was a personal loss to it because of the undisguised devotion of Nigerian journalists to the cause of humanity.

Medical professionals brainstorm on reflux diseases

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ECKITT Benckiser has organised a forum for leading gastroenterologists, especially the members of Society of Gastroenterologists and Hepatologists of Nigeria, SOGHIN. The meeting which was held under the name ‘Golden Faculty’ was attended by a group of highly qualified and accomplished medical professionals from Nigeria, Ghana and Turkey.

Themed: ‘Optimizing the Management of Reflux Disease in the 21st Century’, the forum had members and other distinguished consultants in gastroenterology, family medicine, pharmacists and other specialties to share views on diverse clinical practice to determine alginate place in therapy.

The meeting was facilitated by a professor in Gastroenterology at Ege University School of Medicine, Bornova, Izmir, Turkey, Prof. Serhat Bor. Professor Bor who is also the President of Neuro-gastroenterology & Motility Study Group of Turkish Society of Gastroenterology, emphasised that more awareness must be created in developing countries on how to prevent reflux diseases.

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VISIT—From left: Vice President Namadi Sambo and President of Islamic Development Bank, Dr. Ahmad Mohammed Ali al-Madani when the VP visited him at Makka Conference Palace Hotel on Sunday.

Court registrar indicted over release of land documents

BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU

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HE Registrar of an Abuja High Court (name withheld) is facing investigation following alleged complicity in the controversial release of an original Right of Ownership, R of O, in the custody of the court over a disputed plot of land to one of the claimants.

The aggrieved claimant, Alhaji Yahaya Suleiman, has petitioned the Chief Judge of Abuja High Judicial Division, Inspector General of Polce, IGP, Bwari Area Council Zonal Land manager, Chairman of Nigeria Bar Association, NBA, Bwari branch and the Judge of affected High Court, alleging fraudulent release of original Title document in the court’s custody to his opponent’s lawyer.

In the petition titled, ‘Complaint

of Fraudulent Collection of Original Title Document in Court’s Custody ’ Alhaji Yahaya Suleiman, claimed the case was decided in his favour in May 2012, but lamented that on April 24, 2013, his lawyer, Ojo Olukayode, informed him, that “he could not collect our title documents from the Registrar’s office, on the ground that he found out that the original of our document (R of O) was released to our opponent, sometimes in September last year.

“I went with my lawyer on April 30, 2013 to the High Court to meet the registrar and requested for the original R of O from him, he then asked my lawyer to call my opponent’s

lawyer. When My lawyer called, he refused to pick my lawyer’s calls. He only picked when the Registrar called him and the Registrar casually told him to return the original of the R of O to his office "From April 30, 2013 till now, I have still not been given the original R of O. This is an unfortunate situation where document in the custody of a court can be released to a wrong person who is not a true representative of the rightful depositor. I shall be grateful if this case can be investigated and my original document returned to me. This is most unfortunate, worrisome and calls for proper investigation because the judiciary is believed to be the last hope of the common man.”

ASUU decries infrastructure decay in Kogi State varsity

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CADEMIC Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, has decried the rate of infrastructural decay at the Kogi State University, KSU, Ayingba, saying current state of the university is quite degrading.

Chairman of the university chapter of ASUU, Dr Sylvester Ukwuteno, lamented that there had been less development in the education sector in the state contrary to campaign promise of the present government, arguing that KSU was just an example.

Ukwuteno said: “Amenities in the university are decaying

without attention. Lecture rooms are in shambles and laboratories are not equipped for learning.

"The classrooms have very few seats while student population is increasing at an alarming rate with no enough classrooms to accommodate them.

"The learning environment is not conducive. Because of the situation, practicals are not done as expected. The question is how can these students meet international standards in modern reality?”

He argued that the proposed increase in school

fees from N14,000 to N100,000, is outrageous and uncalled for.

"This increment will bring about hardship and woes to students and citizens of Kogi State."

The ASUU chairman urged the government to address the decay and lack of amenities in the school to enhance learning, calling on the governor to personally intervene in the planned hike in fees “as it will bring about a drastic decrease the in the number of indigenes who could afford university education in the state.

INNA—NORTHERN States Governors Forum, NSGF, yesterday described the late Wazirin Kano, Malam Isa Waziri, as a great Islamic scholar and community leader, describing his death a great loss to the people of Kano, Nigeria and humanity.

Chairman of the forum and Governor of Niger State, Dr Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu, said through his informed contributions to the Kano Emirate Council, the late Waziri touched the lives of many in a positive way.

The Chairman who spoke through a state a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Danladi Ndayebo, noted that over the years, “the late Isa Waziri was a uniting force who worked for peace, unity and tolerance among diverse ethnic and religious interests in Kano.”

The statement said Isa Waziri’s exemplary life of selfless service lived with uncommon humility and absolute faith in God, is worthy of emulation by all.

NGO holds breast feeding summit

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AGOS—AS part of ac tivities to mark World Breastfeeding Week 2013, Colostrum International, an NGO, will hold a national breastfeeding stakeholders summit/award today in commemoration of this year's world breastfeeding week.

A statement by the Project Coordinator, Colostrum International, Dr. Bunmi Ogundimu, said guest speakers expected included Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Zainab Maina; President, Women Arise for Change Initiative, Dr. Joe Okei-Odumakin; Prof. Ayo Atsenuwa, Department of Public Law, University of Lagos; Prof. Mopelola Omoegun, Dean, Faculty of Education, University of Lagos and a nutritionist, Dr. Abimbola Ajayi.

According to her, “the summit is expected to draw concerned stakeholders to deliberate on the benefits and challenges of breastfeeding, particularly on the sharp decline in breastfeeding and child rearing practice in Nigeria.”

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—41

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GIFSI raises alarm over hepatitis risk among health workers

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• L-R: Emeritus Professor of Medicine, University of Ibadan, and Chairman, Pfizer Cardiovascular Scientific Advisory Board, Professor Oladipo Akinkugbe; with the guest speaker and Professor of Medicine/Chief of the Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes and Metabolism, University of Tennessee Health Service Centre, Memphis, USA, Professor Samuel Dagogo Jack and Country Manager, Pfizer Nigeria and East Africa, Mr. Carl Engleman, at the 6th Cardiovascular Summit held last week at the Intercontinental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Experts worry over imminent Tsunami of non communicable disorders in Nigeria • Call for urgent scientific control and prevention strategies

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

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GROUP of medical experts has called for adoption of scientific control and prevention strategies to stem what they described as the imminent “tsunami” of Non Communicable Disorders, NCDs, such as high blood pressure, stroke, cancer, diabetes, renal failure and other chronic diseases that are of increasingly public health significance in Nigeria.

Speaking during the 6th Cardiovascular Summit - an annual scientific symposium aimed at updating clinicians on the recent trends in management of cardiovascular diseases, renowed endocrinologist at the University of Tennessee Health Centre, Memphis, USA, Professor Sam Dagogo-Jack urged the nation to separate fact from fiction when dealing with issues surrounding CV disorders.

“We must increasingly adopt scientific methods, which is a separation from the metaphorical approach. When we are talking about a silent killer that needs to be detected before it can actually be treated, a killer that is right at the centre whether or not we believe in the orientation, let us go into C M Y K

the aspect of scientific explanations,” Dagogo-Jack, who was Guest Speaker at the event asserted.

Arguing that many people could drop dead from heart attacks, while not being aware of the source of heart problems, he regretted that the ravages of hypertension and diabetes can be seen daily on the faces of Nigerians who have suffered a stroke or heart failure or developed kidney failure or lost a leg in amputation.

“We are dealing with a set of conditions called silent killers, that is, they do not announce they are coming and establish their presence by a set of complications and by then it may be too late.

Drawing attention to the ravages of hypertension, heart disease and diabetes, heart failure, stroke that cripple or kill people and cost the nation billions in lost productivity, Dagogo-Jack observed that the “silent killers” need no expensive gadget,or methodology.

“Blood pressure can be easily measured outside the laboratory with a simple gadget, you just pump it up and get a reading. So why should society have less than one third of the people without their blood pressure

recognized, and less than a third of those recognised is treated at all, and less than a third of those recognised controlled? It's a question of priority.”

Chairman of the Pfizer Cardiovascular Scientific Advisory Board,Emeritus professor of Medicine at the University of Ibadan in Oyo State, Nigeria, Professor Oladapo Akinkugbe, remarked that less than a third of Nigerians who are hypertensive are aware of their status.

“Of those that are aware, less than a third is on teatment, and of those on treatment, less than a third is being adequately monitored. So we can see that just a small fraction of patients are adequately catered for. We can say the same for diabetes and cardiac events.

“We need to take preventive measures. The average man on the street should know about the risk factors for these disorders. One of the things we could do is sensitise government to look set targets and tie then to the Vision 202020. By then, we would expect to have reduced cardio vascular disorders by a certain percentage. That is an achievable goal, even if we acheieve only half, at least it is

measurable,” he argued.

The event was put together

by Pfizer Nigeria, Ghana and East Africa Region, NEAR, was a platform for healthcare experts from across the globe to advance medical knowledge and patient care on the nature, diagnosis and management of CVDs in Nigeria.

HE Global Initiative for Safe Injection and Medical Waste Management, GIFSI, has raised alarm over the potential hazard of nonimmunisation of all categories of Nigerian healthcare workers against hepatitis B & C, and called for establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Injection Safety to curb the menace.

Issuing the alert in a chat with Good Health Weekly on this year's World Hepatitis Day, Executive Secretary and National Coordinator GIFSI, Mr. Goddie Ereoforiokuma, warned that infected health workers, besides suffering the consequential impairment of acute Hepatitis B infection, are a source of risk to patients for whom they provide care.

“There is currently no provision for health care workers to be captured in any immunisation programme whether national or state. This is in clear contradiction of current paradigm of global best practices. World Health Assembly Resolution 60.20 (2007) urges member states to give special attention to occupational health and implement campaigns to immunise healthcare workers against Hepatitis B virus,” he argued.

Quoting baseline data from a

Continues on page 45

Only 39% infants exclusively breastfed in 2012 — UNICEF

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NITED Nations Children's Fund, UNICEF has revealed that only 39 per cent of children aged less than six months were exclusively breastfed in 2012 even as it lamented that Nigeria has made no improvement over many years. Some of the lowest rates in the world are in Somalia, Chad and South Africa.

"This global figure has improved very little for the past several decades, due in part to large countries where the breastfeeding rate is low, and to the general lack of a supportive environment for breastfeeding mothers,” it noted.

In a statement on this year's World Breastfeeding Week, UNICEF Deputy Executive Director Geeta Rao Gupta noted that countries with supportive policies and comprehensive programmes that reach all communities have been able to increase their breastfeeding rates significantly.

In a bid to boost such low rates in the world’s most populous country, UNICEF and the National Centre for Women’s and Children’s Health in May launched a “10m2of Love” campaign to locate, register, certify and publicise breastfeeding rooms in order to raise awareness and support for breastfeeding.

The ED noted that such examples reflect insufficient global leadership on breastfeeding, as it continues to be undervalued relative to its importance in the life of child.

Vanguard, TUESD AY, AUGUST 6, 2013 — 45 TUESDA

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S breastfeeding, one of Nigeria’s most treasured value systems, gradually losing signifcance? It is undisputable fact that breast milk has no substitute hence breast feeding is the only practical parenting skill that offers the child subsistence and emotional development.

But for some time now, mothers have been found wanting in their responsibility towards their newborns and babies as they have not been indulging in the natural act of breast feeding which is essential for adequate early childhood care.

Data from the World Health Organisation, WHO, show that Nigeria’s breastfeeding rate has gradually dropped from 80 percent in the 1970s and 1980s to as low as 15 per cent today.

On this year’s World Breastfeeding Week, CHIOMA OBINNA sought views of key stakeholders as to why Nigerian women should go back to the age-long act of breastfeeding. Excerpts:

We should not deprive our children of their inherent right — Dr. Yewande Adeshina, Special Adviser on Public Health to Gov Fashola

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• Dr. Yewande Adeshina

Every mother should see breast feeding as mandatory — Mrs. Lola Alonge, Director, Child Health Advocacy Initiative

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HEN we talk about the Rights of the child to which Nigeria is signatory, which of them is the Right to life? One of the ways you can give a child the right to life is to breast feed that child so the child will survive. That is why it is said that mothers should breast feed exclusively for six months.

Mothers should see breastfeeding as the right of the child and the best gift you can give to the child.

So every mother should see it as mandatory that they need to breastfeed exclusively for six months. For career mothers, looking at the other challenges they are going through and how they can get over it, this can be taken care of

family, the benefits are enormous.

Employers of labour also need to know that it is the right of the child and assist the mothers to breast feed the child for six months.

HERE is nothing wrong with breast feeding. It does not cause breast sagging. A 60-year-old that never had a child will have sagging breast. It is natural, it is aging and there is nothing anyone can do about it short of plastic surgery. We shouldn’t deprive our children their inherent right to a healthy start in their lives by denying them the breast milk.

When we were younger, breast milk was the in thing but modernisation has caused us to veer away from that.

Breastfeeding reduces medical cost, the children are less sick. So we spend less, the mothers are happier because the children are healthier. The productivity at work and in family responsibilities is improved. When the children are grown, you have more productive members of the society that provide for the revenue of the state. So it behoves the state and nation to invest properly at an early so that they can reap the rewards of their investment in the future.

Many women complain about social constraints. They are embarrassed to bring out the breast to nurse in public because they think it is a low social and common class act. You won’t find a grass roots person embarrassed with breast

Many things can wait, but not children — Dr. Bunmi Ogundimu, Executive Director, Colostrum International

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CCORDING to Gabriella Mistral, “we are guilty of many errors and faults but our worst crime is abandoning the children and neglecting the foundation of life. Many things we need can wait. The children cannot. Right now, is the time his bones are being formed and his senses being developed, to him we cannot answer tomorrow. His name is today. The mental and emotional

stability produced through bonding is the basis of value systems of each society or culture. The first child’s school is the mother’s chest which runs for about 36 months of life. Breast milk provides both adequate and proper nutrition for the baby is not only specie – specific, it is also produced to meet the specific needs of each child at any particular time.

Fathers should also encourage their

feeding. Most of the people that have challenge are in the middle and upper class because there is a social status women are trying to protect. I am here to encourage them that there are many ways to breastfeed in public without exposing the breast. Our men should also understand that women breastfeeding in public is not an advertisement. Our women need to get away from vanity and look at the investment in the health of their children for the future after all the children will take care of us in our old age, and if we don’t give the right nourishment and environment to grow we may not be able to get the dividends of our investment from pregnancy into adulthood.

• Dr. Bunmi Ogundimu women to breastfeed and that is why we are advocating six months maternity leave for women and two weeks paternity leave for fathers to ensure complete survival of the child. If Nigerian women should practice breastfeeding consistently and conscientiously, our identity will begin to speak more of “ours, yours and theirs”; rather than the present “me, myself and mine.” Then the Nigeria of the future will emerge where the truth and justice will reign.

GIFSI raises alarm over hepatitis risk among health workers

• Mrs. Lola Alonge by expressing the milk or taking the baby along with you just for the six months.

Devote time to breastfeed your child.

You can keep the milk for seven hours without putting it in the refrigerator.

Breast milk can last up to three months when frozen. In the US, they do that but in Nigeria we are not looking at 24 hours campaign. The rule is feed on demand and feed at least 10 times within 24 hours. Breast feeding is an investment no mother should afford to miss. You will be surprised what that investment is going to yield in the future. That child is going to be intelligent, bond more with you and save more money for the

Continued from page 44 2004 national cross-sectional survey by the Federal Ministry of Health in conjunction with USAID, Ereoforiokuma, pointed out that nearly half of healthcare workers who are occupationally exposed have at least one needle sick injury a year, while nearly 90 percent of the nation's healthcare workforce is not immunised against hepatitis B. His words: “The WHO also recommends that all health care workers should receive three doses of Hepatitis B immunisation prior to starting work in health care settings and that students undergoing professional health programmes (nursing, medicine, dentistry, microbiology, etc.) should receive Hepatitis B vaccine prior to commencement of their clinical rotations and be monitored to ensure completion of the three doses.”

The World Health Organization, WHO, has established that an estimated 16

billion injections are given annually in developing nations with Nigeria having a high injection burden of about 750 million injections per annum; up to 50 percent declared unsafe being administered with re-used and/or unsterilised syringes and needles.

Hepatitis B is the most serious viral hepatitis for which Nigeria is endemic and has a prevalence of more than 8 percent: about 20 million Nigerians are currently estimated to be infected while an estimated 6.08 million persons are projected to have contracted the hepatitis virus over time through unsafe injection and poor healthcare waste management practices.

"It is instructive to note that 25 percent of adult chronic carriers of Hepatitis B are likely to die from consequences of chronic Hepatitis B. The implication is that over the next 25 - 30 years an estimated five million Nigerians who contracted chronic Hepatitis B in

childhood are likely to die from liver cirrhosis or cancer of the liver as a result of the chronic infection.

Calling for establishment of a Presidential Task Force on Injection Safety, the GIFSI Scribe said it would raise the awareness of relevant cadres of Health care workers on injection safety in the context of infection prevention and control.

“The task Force will also be in a position to collaborate with relevant agencies and ministries, as well as integrate private sector healthcare providers as active participants in injection safety. Presently there is no effective coordination of efforts to ensure compliance with the provisions of the national policy on injection safety and Health care waste management. An Injection Safety Task Force will certainly assist in making this happen in a manner that can be sustained".

46 — Vanguard, TUESD AY, AUGUST 6, 2013 TUESDA

Avon HMO debuts with affordable healthcare plans

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

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LAUNCH• L-R: Dr. Abdulrahman Sambo, Executive Secretary, NHIS flanked by Dr. Awele Elumelu, Chairman Avon HMO, (left) and Mrs. Simbo Ukiri, MD/CEO Avon HMO, during the official launch of Avon HMO in Lagos.

IGERIA moved a step closer towards universal health insurance for all as Avon Healthcare Limited, Avon HMO, was formally launched in Lagos recently, raising expectations that its market entry will help widen the scope and availability of affordable health insurance penetration in the country.

Acting Executive Secretary, National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, Dr. Abdulrahman Sambo, listed universal health coverage as one of the key issues in the health industry.

He expressed confidence that Avon HMO will help reach the vast majority of Nigerians who are still without health

NHIS: HCPAN seeks fixed number of enrollees

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

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ORRIED about the uneven distribution of enrollees in the National Health Insurance Scheme, NHIS, healthcare providers under the auspices of Healthcare Providers Association of Nigeria, HCPAN, are advocating a fixed number of enrollees allocated to health facilities across the country.

Making the call in Lagos during the Association’s Mid-Year General Meeting, the National President, Dr. Adenike Olaniba, while noting the disparity in distribution of enrollees to health facilities, said most enrollees are in tertiary or secondary public institutions while primary care facilities are left with few or none.

“In many developed countries, the primary care physicians and other healthcare providers within the communities are the first port of call for enrollees. The referral system is institutionalized within the system in those countries which gives a level playing ground to all stakeholders.

“When the NHIS came out with facilities that will be accredited for primary care, they listed the tertiary institutions and General Hospitals under primary care institutions and enrollees went ahead and chose tertiary and General hospitals. It is not done like that abroad.

“Right now, tertiary institutions are having primary care enrollees up to 23,000 to 50,000. A tertiary institution

that should be teaching researching and doing major operations is now treating malaria, and cough. They have opened out-patient departments in their emergency units. That is wrong.

Enrollees should start from their primary care.”

Olaniba, a consultant public health physician, urged government to revisit what she described as “uncompromising” behaviour of some Healthcare Management Organisations, HMOs, who she said have refused to attend the bilateral standing committee meeting of the HNCAN/HCPAN. She appealed to the HMOs to come back to the negotiating table and address the issues raised by the providers.

insurance.

“Indeed, we at NHIS are happy at the entry of a strong HMO like Avon. With Avon, we will surely see a very strong penetration of the health insurance market in Nigeria.”

Mrs. Simbo Ukiri, the MD/CEO, Avon HMO, was optimistic of the company’s commitment to providing a health plan for everyone Nigerian, no matter their social strata.

“Our task in Avon is simple. We want to ensure that Nigerians from all walks of life have access to affordable and adequate health care, without facing financial obstacles when they need to attend to their health. That basically is what the Universal Health Coverage is all about, and that is what we are going to be working towards.”

In the view of Dr. Awele Elumelu, the Avon HMO Chairperson, everyone, no matter the ailment, health condition or diagnosis that life throws at them, deserves to live their lives to the fullest level that they possibly can. ”Avon HMO is set to be a key player and leading contributor to the wave of healthcare reforms sweeping across the country,” she added.

With over 300 hospitals currently in its network, Avon Healthcare, a part of the Pan-African investment group, Heirs Holdings, offers health insurance plans, health risk assessment, occupational health management, employee wellbeing and other services to individuals, families, groups, companies and the government.

Its full range of carefully designed health plans provides increasing levels of care, which cover a wide range of typical ailments and procedures.

COMMON SEXUAL PROBLEMS AND THEIR NOVELTY BASED SOLUTIONS (ADVERTORIAL)

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ELLO everybody and welcome. Today we have a whole new list of exciting love products that married couples and couples in committed relationships will benefit from. Today’s theme is keeping the passion in the bedroom. It sounds like a cliché but it is so important to remain excited about the man or woman you are supposed to love.

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This is what we are trying to achieve today with these new love products. So without further delay, here is what’s new.

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And that’s it for today. We wish you all a wonderful holiday. Zee Virtual Media will be closed for a one week holiday on the 8th of August and reopens on the 15th.

Adults in need of these treatments/novelties can place their orders online at www.zeevirtualmedia.com. We will process them when we reopen on the 15th of August, 2013. For enquiries, send your emails to custserv@zeevirtualmedia.com - Uche Edochie, MD, Zee Virtual Media.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—47

Group collaborates with UN-Habitat on World Urban Campaign

*A Housing Estate ... high cost of land affects the price of such schemes

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Expunge Land Use Act from Constitution now —Experts tell NASS T

he 1978 Land Use Act which seeks to regulate land ownership, is unarguably one of the most contentious legislations in Nigeria today. The law, the brainchild of Chief Olusegun Obasanjo when he first presided over Nigeria as a military dictator, was “smuggled” into the 1979 Constitution by the then Supreme Military Council.

Although the Act has its own merits, most built environment stakeholders posit that it is the greatest clog in the wheel of housing development in the country. The Act, according to these experts, is overdue for a comprehensive review/ amendment which cannot be done because of the constitutional requirements for such amendments.

Constitutional amendments Against the backdrop of ongoing constitutional amendments in the National Assembly, these experts have renewed the clamour for the Land Use Act to be expunged from the Constitution to make its amendment less cumbersome.

Vanguard Homes & Property recalls that Late President Umaru Musa Yar ’Adua made some efforts to reform the land tenure system but effort was frustrated because the Act is part of our statute books. In the same vein, President Goodluck Jonathan last year, inaugurated another Land Reform Committee but all these efforts have not yielded the

expected results because of the bottlenecks inherent in amending the Constitution.

Leading the campaign for the expurgation of the Land Use Act from the Constitution, the President of the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, Mr. Emeka Eleh explained that the Act should not be a constitutional issue since most lands are vested on the state governments.

He posited that all efforts to amend some contentious sections of the Act, as recommended by estate surveyors and valuers and relevant stakeholders failed because it was entrenched into the 1978 Constitution and has remained there till date. Even the constitutional reviews carried out

by National Assembly in the past, did nothing to either expunge the Act from the Constitution or amend its contentious sections because the politicians were only interested in amending the electoral act and other sections they had interest in.

The NIESV President further posited that the clamour to remove the Act from the constitution is not a ploy to whittle down its efficacy but an attempt to make its amendment, as the need arises, less cumbersome. “Amending the Land Use Act is a very tedious process because it is part of the Constitution. The Act should be removed from the Constitution so that those sections that we consider the major problems like the consent provision can be amended,” he said.

Another Estate Surveyor and Valuer, Mr. Stephen Jagun argued that there would be no

meaningful growth in the real sector if land continues to be under the firm grips of state governors. He therefore called for the removal of the land legislation from the Constitution.

“Land has become so expensive because unlike what used to obtain, you could buy a piece of land from either the community, an individual or from even a company and you go and register that title at the Land Registry.

Once it is registered, it becomes a bankable document. Today, it is not so; you go and pay the usual fee and you take the document that they give to you and the survey plan to the government who will

,

By JUDE NJOKU

in the Constitution or not, what is important is that land should be easily accessible to those who are genuinely interested in investing in housing production.

Beyond the legalistic issue of how long it takes to amend an Act that is part of the Constitution, Mr. Shonubi regretted that most states particularly Lagos, Ogun, Rivers and FCT Abuja are charging outrageous amounts of money as consent fees and transfer of mortgages because they view land as their own black gold and a resource they must maximise to boost their

Land has become so expensive because unlike what used to obtain, you could buy a piece of land from either the community, an individual or from even a company and you go and register that title at the Land Registry

then issue you a certificate of occupancy, C of O. At the end of it all, it is just double payment, and the C of O is a document that one waits ages for. The whole process has failed.

The Military which promulgated the Land Use Decree said the reason they did so was to make land accessible to more Nigerians than before. But from our own experience, the reverse has been the case,” he posited.

The Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, NIQS, Mr. Olayemi Shonubi opined that whether the Land Use Act remains

,

internally generated revenues.

“Whether it is in the Constitution or not, what is important is can we really get the kind of amendment we are clamouring for. It is only here in Nigeria that people make laws for their own selfish interests and when those who feel that such laws do not favour them come into power, they try to amend them. Any act that is good, should stand the test of time and should be in the interest of the general public,” he said..

he United Religions Initiative, URI - Africa last week signed an agreement with the United Nations Human Settlements Programme, UN-Habitat to become an Associate Partner of the World Urban Campaign.

The agreement was signed

by UN-Habitat Executive Director Dr. Joan Clos and Ambassador Mussie Hailu, Regional Director of the United Religions Initiative-Africa and Representative of URI at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa.

Dr. Clos praised the initiative and commitment of URI–Africa in joining the World Urban Campaign to advance a positive vision of urban development, to place cities at the center of strategies for change, and to disseminate the key messages of the Campaign..

He also appreciated the work of URI in Africa and the rest of the world in building bridges of partnership for common goods and promoting interfaith and intercultural harmony and a culture of peace and for promoting the teaching of the Golden Rule which is a universal value.

Universal value On his part Ambassador Hailu acknowledged on behalf of URI member organizations the outstanding work of UNHabitat.URI is a global grassroots interfaith network that cultivates peace and justice by engaging people to bridge religious and cultural differences and work together for the good of their communities and the world. URI is registered as a Non-Governmental Organization with Consultative Statues with the United Nations Economic and Social Council. As such, it is committed to support and promote the World Urban Campaign through its over 120 member organizations in over 30 African Countries. The ambassador said his organisation also shares the purpose of the Campaign with its global network of URI members in other parts of the world. “It is with this in mind that URI Africa joins hands with the UN-Habitat campaign under the slogan ‘I am a City Changer’ and commits to take action and change cities for a better urban world,” The World Urban Campaign is a platform for public, private and civil society actors to elevate policies, share practical tools and raise awareness for sustainable urbanization

48—Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Abuja was designed without consideration for public transportation — Ajayi Stories By KINGSLEY ADEGBOYE

Part of Federal Capital Territory,Abuja

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former President of the Nigerian Institute of Town Planners, NITP, Mr..Moses Olubunmi Ajayi has faulted the design of some Nigerian cities without taking the culture of the people into cognisance. He particularly faulted the design of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT Abuja, saying that it didn’t take public transportation into consideration.

“For your planning to be meaningful, you must understand the culture of your people, you must understand the socio-economic circumstance of your people.

Look at Abuja, it was designed without consideration for public transportation, and that is why the design is not compact. Where are the bus stops in Abuja? They are just coming now after almost 20 years. The railway is just being considered. This goes to say that the moment you plan without considering the people’s way of life, it is either they will not relate to it or they destroy it and that is the problem,.” he said.

Ajayi who spoke at the launch of his book, Perspectives on Urban and Regional Planning in Nigeria, also faulted the urban renewal project of nine cities embarked upon by the Osun State Government. According to him, the scheme may be a fruitless effort if the implementation aspect which is the key part of the project is neglected.

Human settlement Ajayi who is also a past President of the Association of Professional Bodies of Nigeria, APBN, opined that “for Osun State to become another haven for human settlement in the Nigerian space, the urban renewal programme embarked upon by the present administration must be implemented to the letter”.

The former NITP boss explained that Osun State embarks on the urban renewal of the nine cities without first doing the master plans, it will amount to a wasteful venture at the end.

He declared: “I think Osun has taken a very bold step in doing what they are doing but I think the critical issue is the will to implement the whole frame. Let us congratulate them so far, and at same time we need to continue to sound it in their ears that a situation where you plan and do not implement,

*Mr. Ajayi

it better you do not plan at all.

So, implementation is where we will test their strength.”.

Ajayi said what influenced him into writing the book was the reference to foreign authors by most academics..

“Honestly, I don’t really want to indict the Nigerian academics. I have attended more than 30 inaugural lectures and what I find is that everybody is trying to quote foreign authors. One third of the pages of an inaugural lecture are bibliography and this is rubbish. Why can’t we

have our own experience documented so that other people can now make reference to it. That is why I made up my mind that my experiences, which I have garnered over the years, must be in book form,” he said.

The book, he said “is more like something indigenous, something that will be relevant, something that Nigerian professionals will read and get benefit from rather than just cramming, copying things that will not work here. This is one of the reasons why a lot of

planning things don’t work here because they do not relate to our situation. So, since this from the Nigerian experience, it can be useful to Nigerians.”

The settlement expert blamed his professional colleagues for the woes of the profession, alleging that some of them lack the expertise to come with functional planning.

Vanguard Homes & Property recalls that the Osun State Government under its urban renewal scheme commenced the renewal of nine cities which include Oshogbo, Ikirun,

Ejigbo, Iwo, Ikire, Ede, Ilesa, Ila-Orangun and Ile-Ife. The Osun State Commissioner for Lands, Rural and Urban Renewal, Arc. Muyiwa Ige, who spoke on the project at the book launch, said 17 cities were identified but the nine are currently being attended to in phase allotment. Population, he said, was a major consideration for the cities chosen.

Ige stated that historic and cultural centres would be preserved in the course of the renewal exercise. Said he: “Under this programme, we are preserving historic and cultural sites at the same time.

That we are renewing does not mean that we should destroy our past and culture,” Ige said Speaking on the book, President, of NITP, Mr.Steve Onu said it came at a time that dependable text materials for professionals and in the academia were being sought after, especially from indigenous authors.

Similarly, President of Association of Town Planning Consultants of Nigeria, ATOPCON, Mr. Moses Ogunleye, said: “going by experience of the author, I can say that the publication will be of immense value to the practice of the profession of Urban and Regional Planning”..

Builders’ Mart to market FOTILE’s top-range kitchen appliances in Nigeria A

N indigenous firm, QMB Builders’ Mart, , has been given the sole franchise to market and distribute all the range of kitchen appliances manufactured

by FOTILE Kitchen Ware Co. Ltd. a foreign multi-national company.

Before now, FOTILE had a supplier in Nigeria but the company disengaged from the deal. The new partnership deal was struck by both companies after the Chief Executive Officer of QMB Builders’ Mart, Mrs. Toro Biobaku visited FOTILE based on the recommendations by the former supplier to FOTILE. "At the point of disengagement, the former supplier assessed all its distributors in terms of organisation, credibility, sales record and future plans to get the company that can best represent them nationwide. After looking at everything, vis a vis the potential of the product, and who has the right value, then they approached us to take over and they recommended us to the FOTILE factory and the factory now signed an exclusive franchise with us this year,”Biobaku said Some kitchen appliances manufactured by FOTILE include, hardware like kitchenhood for extraction of oil and smoke; burners,

microwave, oven, sterilisers and hotplates.

“These appliances are suitable for our style of cooking with oil and fries. They are better than the Euro-American appliances that are not suited for our way of cooking.

“The hood, for instance, has two types. There is one that is self-recycling and does not require drilling of the wall to install. It has a special auto filter that separates oil from smoke and processes the air/odour and releases clean air.

After about three to four months, you can take out the filter, wash and return it to the hood.

They come in different sizes. They are suitable for residential buildings. The second type of hood is the traditional type that requires the drilling of a hole in the wall”,the Builders’ Mart boss explained..

QMB, she said, has introduced lower prices for these products and is making good sales, which is the reason the company is looking for credible distributors nationwide.

FOTILE, the company officials claimed is environmentally conscious as it advocates healthy and green life-style, and ensures millions of families enjoy more in their homes.

FOTILE always insists on strategy positioning as “professional, high-end, responsible, and the brand power is growing constantly.”

The company claims control of 30 per cent of the Asian market. It distributes in the UK, Germany, Italy, France, Spain, USA, Brazil, a growing list of countries that Nigeria’s QMB Mart has become part of.

FORTILE was named as the famous brand by the SAIC of China. In the “Ideal Brand Survey in Chinese Consumers” from the third party, FOTILE won again” The No. 1 Ideal Brand in Chinese Consumers 2010", the first award in 2008.

Besides, FOTILE won continuously the No. 1 kitchenware market share in “Brand Survey in Chinese Business Man” and ranked the No.1 in brand fame, brand loyalty, rate of pre-ordering and so on, with over 30 per cent high-end market share.

After development of 16 years, FOTILE has built a worldwide distribution network, which now includes QMB Builders’ Mart, a company known for quality integrated kitchen and other finishes.

Apart from the powerful local design, FOTILE also absorbs the designs from Germany, Japan, Italy, among others.

Moreover, the company also brings in the international most advanced production equipments and crafts of high-end kitchenware.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—49

RCCG plants 1,000 parishes in one year

By SAM EYOBOKA & OLAYINKA LATONA

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ETWEEN last year ’s convention and this, a total of 1,144 parishes were planted in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, making the church led of the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, unarguably the fastest growing Pentecostal Church in the world.

And to feel the yawning gap created by the increasingly rapid growth, the leadership of the church has perfected plans to create 20 new provinces across the globe at the end of the current convention which began yesterday at the Redemption Camp.

Pastor Adeboye yesterday presided over an ordination service o flag off the 61st annual convention where a total of 8,850 deacons and deaconesses were ordained to help in administering the fast growing church and prepare it for the advent of Jesus.

can be saved.

In an interview with Vanguard, one of the newly ordained deacons, Dr. Olaleye Olujimi from Northern Province 12, Niger 1, expressed happiness that he was considered worthy to be among the number ordained to serve in the Lord’s vineyard.

“I am very happy to be among over 8,000 people that were ordained today. It is not my making but the Lord’s doing who gave me the grace to qualify. Ordination in Redeemed Christian Church of God is more than the

*Worshippers praying inside the auditorium during last year's convention. Insert: General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adeboye who will be leading other ministers of God at this year's convention.

Works of evangelism The theme of this year’s week long convention is; ‘Jesus’ with the general overseer and a host of other anointed men of God ministering.

Pastor Adeboye charged the newly ordained deacons and deaconesses to be more actively involved in soul winning and not just parade themselves as ministers of the church, but rather “work tirelessly in propagating the gospel of Jesus Christ and also take the church to the next level through various works of evangelism.”

According to him, the new ministers must rely only on God’s power and always trust the name of Jesus Christ as there is no other name through which mankind

*Dr. Olaleye Olujimi title but a spiritual thing. Also this year ordinations are significant since the theme of the convention is “Jesus” who is the saviour of mankind”.

Also speaking, Mrs Obukagua Faith Rike, Province 1, Dominion Sanctuary parish, Mushin, Lagos had this to say of her ordination: “I am delighted to be alive today and also be among the privileged to be ordained as a deaconess in the RCCG. God added to me spiritually since I have been in the church for the past eight years. I pray that God should uphold and help me to carry out the great task that is ahead of me.”

*Mrs Obukagua Faith Rike Malu scare:AN old African adage says; only with high wire wisdom the old man avoids the menacing approach of a cow. Despite assurances by the General Overseer, Pastor Enoch Adejare that this year’s convention would be the most wonderful spiritual fiesta in recent history, several of the participants at the Redemption Camp yesterday afternoon abandoned their wares, and took to their heels when a horde of about 200 cows suddenly found their way through open grounds of the old auditorium.

Several men, women and young holidaying children all took

to their heels, running for dear lives as the church’s volunteers escort the animals to the slaughter where they would be prepared for the benefit of the participants.

Efforts by the escorts to calm down the participants who were either relaxing or selling their wares across the Arena Road fell on deaf ears as they meandered their ways as they screamed ‘Jesus! Jesus!! Jesus!!!’ as they run to some safe corners.

Today’s events: Events at the convention today will begin with the ordination of assistant pastors for the ministry. Vanguard gathered that a total of 2,402 men

and women had dully been screened for ordination today as assistant pastors.

That will be the activity in the morning today; and there after, there will be ‘Children of God meet’ at 2.30 p.m., which will followed immediately at 4.30 p.m. by six group seminars. Title of those seminars include: Youth 1: I can do all things; Youth 2: Building on the rock; Elders: When we see Jesus; Children/Teenagers: Jesus loves me; Good Women Forum: All for Jesus and Men Forum: All for Jesus.

The main attraction of the day is expected to be the first plenary session with the General Overseer, Pastor Adeboye at 8.30 p.m. and the title of his message is expected to be ‘The Saviour.’

Weather: Due to the prevailing harsh climatic conditions at the Redemption Camp participants are hereby warned to prepare themselves against excruciating cold. They are advised to arm themselves with tick clothes and tarpaulins especially those who have not already booked accommodation at the Camp.

A healthcare provider explained to our reporters that diseases such as diarrhoea and pneumonia may be aggravated by the harsh weather condition.

5,000 policemen, others to ensure security, free flow of traffic

By SAM EYOBOKA & OLAYINKA LATONA

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HE Ogun State command of the Nigeria Police Force has agreed to deploy over 5,000 policemen to complete the efforts of a detachment of Federal Road Safety Corps members as well as officers and men of the Nigeria's Security and Civil Defence Corps to provide needed security as the Redeemed Christian Church of God begins its annual convention today.

A source close to the church told Vanguard last night that

participants who are coming for any of the programmes only need to obey instructions of the officers, some of whom will be drawn fron Lagos State.

According to the source, the church on its own has mobilised thousands of its workers to maintain law and order in and around the Camp as well as the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway throughout the period of the convention, noting that the Ogun State Command had already established a division in the fast growing city.

Asked if the facilities in the

Camp would be enough to cater for the needs of huge number of persons expected during the programme, the source said between last year and today, the church had built several additional facilities for the comfort of participants.

Additional water stations For instance, three additional water stations have been established in the last one year, toilets and more facilities have been put in place, "but honestly,

with the rate of expansion in the church, there is no way we can provide adequate facilities."

The source also assured motorists of the safety of their ve-hicles because the church has provided between 12 and 13 car parks in and around the Camp. Seven of the car parks can accommodate a minimum of 20,000 cars each and they are manned by the competent security operatives.

"Despite these efforts by the church, as at Thursday during the Ministers' Conference, accommodation problem had

started rearing its head.

Therefore, I enjoin all those who want to attend the programme to come early to avoid last minute desperation to enter the Cmp," the source told our reporter.

Also speaking on facilities in the camp, the Camp manager, Pastor A. F. Elufowoju said everything is set for a smooth take-off of the convention, noting that the church generates its electricity. "New things have been put in place since last year's convention," he stated.

50 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

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Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013 — 51

Terror: US closes more embassies in Africa, M/East

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HE United States of America has said that it would keep keep a number of embassies in North Africa and the Middle East closed until Saturday, due to a possible militant threat.

I would be recalled that not less than twenty-one US embassies and consulates were closed on Sunday. The state department in Washington said the extended closures were “out of an abundance of caution”, and not a reaction to a new threat.

Similarly, the UK said its embassy in Yemen would stay closed until the Muslim festival of Eid on Thursday.

The decision to close the embassies comes as the US government battles to defend recently disclosed surveillance programmes that have stirred deep privacy concerns.

Security at US diplomatic facilities also remains a concern following last year’s attack on the US consulate in Benghazi, Libya, where the US ambassador and three other Americans were killed.

While details of the threats are unspecified, the BBC’s David Willis, in Washington, says members of Congress who have been briefed about the intelligence seem to agree it amounts to one of the most serious in recent years - all pointing to the possibility of a major attack, possibly to coincide with the end this week of the Islamic holy month of Ramadan.

Al-Qaeda

A state department global travel alert, issued on Friday, is in force until the end of August.

The department said the potential for an alQaeda-inspired attack

Merkel party worries over early polls

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HANCELLOR An gela Merkel’s conservatives were worried that strong mid-summer opinion poll numbers may be overstating their strength for a September 22 election after they suffered nasty surprises twice before, their campaign manager said yesterday.

Presenting a first batch of “feel-good” posters featuring giant pictures of smiling Germans that is expected to blanket the country, campaign manager Hermann Groehe said he expects the race to tighten in the final seven weeks as it did in 2005 and 2009.

“The experience of the past serves as a warning to say that good opinion poll numbers 50 days before the vote aren’t a guarantee for a good election result,” Groehe told a news conference.

Meanwhile, Merkel is out of Germany on a three-week holiday.

“It’s a nice tailwind but we’ve got to guard against arrogance,” said

•Merkel Groehe, whose conservatives are polling around 40 percent, some 15 points ahead of the center-left Social Democrats (SPD).

Merkel’s conservatives and their Free Democrat (FDP) partners would win a combined 45 percent, according to an Emnid poll published on Sunday. The SPD and their Greens allies would win 38 percent, while the “Linke” or Left, a far-left partner-less opposition party, are on track to win 8 percent.

One of US embassies closed yesterday. was particularly strong in the Middle East and North Africa.

Al-Qaeda’s affiliate in Yemen, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

(AQAP), has tried to carry out several high-profile attacks in recent

years, including one on Christmas Day in 2009 when a man attempted to blow up a trans-Atlantic jet over Detroit, using explosives sewn into his underwear.

Months earlier, the group tried to kill the Saudi intelligence chief with a bomb on the attacker’s body.

The UK Foreign Office had earlier announced it would shut its mission in the Yemeni capital, Sanaa, until today.

Meanwhile, US diplomatic missions in Algiers, Kabul and Baghdad are among those which will reopen on Monday, Washington said.

Egypt’s Brotherhood rejects pleas to accept reality T

HE Muslim Brother hood has rejected pleas from international envoys to “swallow the reality” that Mohamed Mursi will not return as Egypt’s president, the Brotherhood spokesman said yesterday.

Meanwhile, international diplomats from the Gulf, the EU and the US have met the deputy leader of the Muslim Brotherhood, Khairat elShater, who is currently in jail.

The envoys, trying to resolve a political crisis brought on by the army’s overthrow of the Islamist Mursi a month ago, had visited jailed Brotherhood deputy leader

Khairat El-Shater in the early hours of yesterday.

But he cut the meeting short, saying they should be talking to Mursi, spokesman Gehad ElHaddad said.

From the other side, a senior military source said the army and interim government would offer to free some Muslim Brotherhood members from jail, unfreeze its assets and give it three ministerial posts in a move to end the crisis.

Meanwhile several thousand Islamist supporters marched through downtown Cairo calling for Mursi’s reinstatement and denouncing the army general who led his over-

Members of the Muslim Brotherhood and supporters of deposed Egyptian President Mohamed Mursi in Cairo. throw.

Marchers chanted “Mursi, Mursi” and “We are not terrorists”, and waved picture of the ousted leader.

The protest showed tension is still running dangerously high in Egypt despite the mediation effort by the United States,

the European Union, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates.

Mursi became Egypt’s first freely-elected president in June 2012, 16 months after the overthrow of U.S.-backed strongman Hosni Mubarak, who had ruled for nearly 30 years.

Zimbabwe's opposition threatens court action

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IMBABWE’S defeat ed presidential candidate Morgan Tsvangirai has prepared to mount a legal and political challenge against the “sham” election that may extend Robert Mugabe’s 33-year rule. Tsvangirai’s allies announced on Monday that they will launch a constitutional court challenge against the results of Wednesday’s election, which handed Mugabe 61 percent of the vote.

“Our lawyers are very busy at work. We will be lodging the presidential challenge before Friday,”

Douglas Mwonzora, spokesman for Tsvangirai’s Movement for Dem-

ocratic Change (MDC), told the AFP news agency. The case could delay

89-year-old Mugabe’s inauguration for another five-year term.

New Study links Cancer to cellphone use

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HETHER cell phone use causes cancer is an ongoing question with, as yet, incomplete answers. But a new study may shed light on the subject with the finding of “oxidative stress” in the saliva of cellphone users.The experiment, led by Yaniv Hamzany, an ear, nose and throat specialist with Tel Aviv University’s Sackler Fac-

ulty of Medicine, compared the saliva of 20 heavy cellphone users (those who spoke on their cellphones an average of 30 hours per month) with the saliva of 20 individuals, most of whom are deaf and either don’t use a cellphone or use it for non-verbal functions like texting. The results: The heavy cellphone users showed more signs of ox-

idative stress.

What does that term mean? Essentially, cell damage. More specifically, it’s a molecular imbalance between antioxidants and pro-oxidants, or free radicals. Free radicals are a natural byproduct of metabolism but are also linked with aging and, when they outnumber the antioxidants, cell damage occurs.

52 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013

Ronaldo signs new £75m mega-deal •Overtakes Messi as highest-paid player in Spain

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RISTIANO Ronaldo has reportedly signed a new five-year deal with Real Madrid worth £75million to keep him at the club for the rest of his career.

The Portugal forward had been linked with an emotional return to Manchester United but seems to have settled his differences with the La Liga giants.

But he will instead hope to link up with Gareth Bale should the Wales star complete his protracted, world-record move from Tottenham.

Madrid-based newspaper Marca reports that Ronaldo will earn around £900,000 more each season than Barcelona superstar Lionel Messi, making him the highest-paid player in Spain.

The 28-year-old is be-

•Ronaldo

lieved to have struck a deal with Real to increase his share of his image rights, which previously stood at 60 per cent.

Ronaldo, who cost Madrid £80million in 2009, met with club president Florentino Perez in Los Angeles and the pair ironed out their differences. The former United and Sporting Lisbon player had remained coy

on his future at a press conference over the weekend.

‘The situation still hasn’t been resolved and I don’t think now is the right time to talk about it,’ he said.

‘Perhaps we’ll be able to give more concrete news about this further down the line but now the only thing in my remit is to train and work.’

Emenike seals Fenerbache switch

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•Emenike

Al Nasr ttable able impro .5m Maigari: NFF very proud improvved £1 £1.5m of LMC Osaze bid P A L Nasr have made a new improved bid of £1.5million for unsettled West Brom striker Peter Odemwingie, according to reports.

The Dubai club had a bid of £850,000 rejected

by West Brom for Odemwingie last month with the player currently in limbo at The Hawthorns Odemwingie is out of favour under Steve Clarke after famously failing to engineer a transfer deadline day move to Queens Park Rangers in January despite driving to Loftus Road.

A number of Premier League clubs are thought to have expressed an interest in Odemwingie, but Al Nasr are hoping to win the race for the Nigerian international.

Al Nasr are thought to have increased their initial offer up to £1.5million and the possible deal could speed up this week with the chairmen of both clubs expected to hold talks in an attempt to find a resolution.

•Osaze

206 nations for World Championships

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HE IAAF World Championships Moscow 2013, which will take place in the Russian capital from 10 to 18 August 2013, is set to be the biggest ever IAAF championship.

With the deadline for the final entries now closed, no fewer than 206 IAAF member federations have confirmed their participation.

The previous highest

number of nations present at an IAAF World Championships was 200 at both Seville 1999 and Berlin 2009.

With a total of 1974 athletes having been entered (1106 men and 868 women), the record of participants is also on course to be broken as the previously most attended championships in terms of athletes was Berlin 2009 with 1895.

•Messi

RESIDENT of the Ni geria Football Federation, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, again sounded it loud and clear on Monday that the NFF is proud of the works and other activities of the League Management Company, and will continue to give the body (LMC) all the support it needs to forge ahead towards the goal of taking the Premier League to new heights.

Speaking at the NFF Secretariat during a presentation by the League Management Company, Maigari affirmed the NFF’s approval for the way and manner the LMC has been going on in the business of sanitising Nigeria’e elite division and stated that both organisations were on the same page.

“The NFF approves of all that the LMC is doing and we are proud of the steps that you are taking to turn the Premier League around for the better. We also note that you have been making efforts, as required, to carry along the club owners in your activities.

“The NFF is equally

MMANUEL Emeni ke will become a Fenerbahce player by Wednesday following a discussion between Spartak Moscow and his manager Erdem Konyar.

According to fanatik.com, Fenerbahce and Spartak Moscow are reported to have agreed on a transfer fee of 13 million Euros for the Nigeria striker.

Fenerbahce have been discussing with the Russia team, Spartak Moscow over the return of the Nigeria international to the team.

IAAF honours Ogba

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•Irabor proud of your moves to get the spectators back to the stadia so that our elite League can again be what it used to be in decades gone by.”

Maigari spoke as the League Management Company presented the NFF with the sum of N25 million, being five per cent of the monies the LMC has raised in sponsorship fees since coming on stream early this year.

LMC chairman, Honourable Nduka Irabor, who reiterated that the LMC is managing the League in trust for the club owners, and that both the company and the club owners now understand themselves better.

RESIDENT of the IAAF, Lamine Diack will, on August 9, decorate the President of the Athletic Federation of Nigeria, Chief Solomon Ogba with the Moscow 2013 - IAAF Veteran Pin. The award which holds in Moscow on the eve of the World championships, Sports Vanguard gathered is in recognition of Ogba’s contributions to the development of athletics in Nigeria.

Ogba’s reign as President of the AFN has seen Nigeria compete in numerous athletics championships including the Diamond League. Most of the trips by Team Nigeria are sponsored by Ogba.

“The IAAF will honour Ogba for his efforts at ensuring Nigeria regained her pride of place in world athletics,” an AFN source said.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013—53

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Vanguard, TUESDAY, AUGUST 6, 2013 — 55

New book on Super Eagles in honour of President President Goodluck printing compendium also The book published by Jonathan Jonathan and The Super gave an insight into the

A

new book which chronicles the exploits of the Super Eagles at the last African Nations Cup in South Africa is set to be released.

Vanguard Media Limited in association with Sola Ojewusi and Associates is in honour of President Goodluck Jonathan, titled Great Leader, Great Victory: The Story of

Okagbare Continues from BP But Uti dismissed such fears yesterday when he said that Nigerians should look on the brighter side of life.

“The Olympics is gone and Blessing has been in blistering form.

She has put that performance at the Olympics behind and has posted better times at the just concluded Diamond League where she set a new African 100m record of 10.79secs. We are, without question, in a better position going into the World Championships. We’re encouraged

by Okagabare’s form

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which no doubt will rub off on the team. We are prepared and focused”.

Dismissing the fears that Okagabare could succumb to pressure or buckle on the weight of expectation from millions of Nigerians, Uti said that Blessing was no longer a little girl that could be frightened by spectators. ‘’She is tested and trusted and has been performing before huge crowds. She is a world star athlete. Nigerians should pray for her. There is nothing to be afraid of. Team Nigeria will strike gold in Moscow ’’, Uti optimised.

Eagles. It is a collector’s item.

It has a total of 200 pages which traced the various stages of preparation and execution of the action plans and strategies which culminated into the success at the continental fiesta.

The all gloss, international standard

behind the scene involvement of both President Jonathan and the Minister of Sports, MallamBolajiAbdullahi, to the effect that the Nigerian Football Federation (NFF), the technical crew and indeed the national team made dramatic changes in attitude and determination unlike in recent past .

Neymar Continues from BP an operation that could have reduced the iron levels in his blood.

The Brazilian is suffering from anaemia, which is when there is less than the normal quantity of haemoglobin in the blood. It is not an illness as such, but rather a condition which can be brought about by several things - usually an iron deficiency - and which reveals itself through symptoms such

as exhaustion.

Neymar is currently being treated by the ‘Azulgrana’ doctors, and his father is concerned about his condition because the player has lost 7 kilos since the operation: “Neymar told me that he didn’t feel his normal self. He told me that he feels exhausted after training sessions lately”, said Neymar’s dad, adding, “I think that the surgery brought on the condition”.

President Jonathan

Rooney Continues from BP said: “A bid was received yesterday and immediately rejected.

Our position remains that he is not for sale.”

Rooney is determined to force through a move to Chelsea this summer and is considering submitting a formal transfer request.

David Moyes, the United manager, has continually insisted that the 27-year-old will not be sold this summer despite the

player ’s desire for a fresh start after nine years at Old Trafford.

Rooney is expected to be part of the United squad that faces Swedish side AIK in a friendly in Stockholm on Tuesday having missed much of the club’s pre-season preparations with a hamstring injury.

Rooney fears a fan backlash when he next pulls on the United shirt and feels there is no way back for him at the club.

V anguard AY, A UGUST 6 , 2013 TUESDA AUGUST anguard,, TUESD

Top stories inside •Emenike seals Fenerbache switch •NFF very proud of LMC •Al Nasr in £1.5m Osaze bid •206 nations for World Championships

Ronaldo topples Messi — Page 52 Moscow 2013 World Athletics Championships

•as highest paid player in Spain

Okagbare won’t falter in Moscow — Uti

BY TONY UBANI

World Top 10 Earners Samuel Eto’o (Anzhi) — E20m Cristiano (Real Madrid) — E17m Leo Messi (Barcelona) E16m Neymar (Barcelona) — E15m Ibrahimovic (PSG) — E14.5m Radamel Falcao (Mónaco) — E14m Rooney (Manchester United) E13.8m Sergio Agüero (Man. City) — E13.5m Yayá Touré (Man. City) — E13m Thiago Silva (PSG) — E12m

Neymar loses 7 kilos

S

•Ronaldo

Man Utd reject improved Chelsea bid for Rooney

T

HE Premier League champions immediately dismissed the bid on Sunday, understood to be worth

£25 million plus add-ons to take the deal to just under £30m.

A United spokesperson Continues on P.55

UNDAY Uti, one of the Athletic coaches who flew out with some home-based athletes to Moscow yesterday for the Championship that holds from August 10 to August 18 left an upbeat message to Nigerians that they would come back with medals.

There have been concerns from several quarters that Blessing Okagabare’s sparkling form could nose-dive as it did during the London Olympics where she faltered.

Continues on P.55

•Neymar

A

•Okagbare

FTER winning the Confederations Cup, Neymar underwent surgery to remove his tonsils, Continues on P.55

QUICK CROSSWORD

Sudoku TODAY'S

PUZZLE

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 1 Afraid (6) 5 Prosper (6) 8 Abuse (8) 9 Tender (4) 10 Fixed (3) 12 Salute (5) 15 Through (3) 17 Tune (3 18 Sicken (3) 19 Scull (3) 20 Perfect (5) 21 Finish (3) 22 Barrier (3) 23 Meadow (3) 24 Attempt (3) 26 Entrance (5) 29 Also (3) 33 Awful (4) 34 Disaster (8) 35 Boil (6) 36 Round (6)

DOWN 2 Fad (5) 3 Speed (4) 4 Dismal (5) 5 Name (5) 6 Foolhardy (4) 7 Poetry (5) 10 Brusque (5) 11 Late (5) 12 Dirt (5) 13 Upright (5) 14 Agree (5) 15 Fold (5) 16 Wireless (5) 25 Lift (5) 27 Recess (5) 28 Monarch (5) 30 Frequently (5) 31 Trial (4) 32 Exclude (4)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Spot 4, Far 6, Cite 8, Remark 9, Nature 10, Egg 12, Adopt 14, Chair 15, Seedy 18, Ordeal 20, Ensign 24, Mania 26, Aside 28, Plain 30, Ken 32, Single 33, Averse 34, Zest 35, Nee 36, Teem.

How to Play Sudoku

DOWN: 2, Plead 3, Traipse 4, Fake 5, Ring 6, Catch 7, Turning 11, God 12, Ado 13, Tea 16, Elm 17, Yen 19, Restive 21, Nip 22, Salient 23, Nun 25, Awe 27, Digit 29, Issue 30, Keen 31, Name.

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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