RIVERS: Mo out Ogunshakin in

...towards a better life for the people

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VOL. 25: NO. 62075

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

N150

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Incitement: DSS arrests, releases Asari-Dokubo P.15

20 killed, as Plateau boils again

P.4

Rivers: Mbu out, Ogunshakin in •22 other Police Commissioners redeployed •Rivers State government reacts

Bianca Ojukwu becomes APGA leader •P.9

By KINGSLEY OMONOBI, JIMITOTA ONOYUME & DAPO AKINREFON

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BUJA—CON TROVERSIAL Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mbu Joseph Mbu, who was embroiled in a running battle with Governor Rotimi Amaechi, which has fuelled the political crisis in the state has been removed. The Police Service Commission, PSC, redeployed Mr Mbu to the Federal Capital Territory and replaced him with Mr Tunde Ogunshakin who

Continues on page 5

COLUMNIST:

•P.17

CP Joseph Mbu

OSUN SCHOOL: Baptist Conference asks parents to shun govt order P.11 C M Y K

CP Tunde Ogunshakin

Northern Elders fight P.4 over Jonathan Ima Niboro, Sola Omole head NAN, NTA P.15

Mr & Mrs

2 — Vanguard, FRIDAY,FEBRUARY 7, 2014

C M Y K

Vanguard, FRIDAY,FEBRUARY 7, 2014 — 3

4—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

20 people killed again in Plateau

BY TAYE OBATERU & MARIE-THERESE NANLONG

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OS — ABOUT 20 people were again killed in Plateau State, yesterday, when gunmen invaded Mavou village in Wase Local Government Area.

The latest killing is coming barely 48 hours after over 30 people were killed in two villages of Riyom LGA. Reports from Wase said the attackers who invaded the village at abut 2a.m. also torched abut 10 houses.

A resident who gave his name as Nangak said the attackers came in large number and shot sporadically as they raided the village.

The motive for the attack could not be immediately ascertained, but there had been skirmishes among communities in the local government for some time now.

It was learnt that additional security had been deployed to the area to restore normalcy.

Police spokesperson in the state, DSP Felicia Anslem confirmed the attack, but said she was yet to get the details.

Meanwhile, the Ambassador of Netherlands to Nigeria, Mr. John Groffen had urged citizens of Plateau State to sustain the peace being maintained in the state ahead of coming elections, describing peace as key to development.

Speaking, yesterday, while on an assessment visit to the University of Jos, he said the Royal Dutch Embassy was impressed with the efforts made by the institution in sustaining the peace in the communities in the state.

“The Kingdom of Netherlands has respect for Nigeria and cooperation has always existed between both countries. Nigeria is a power house in Africa hence its stability is vital to Netherlands.

“We are impressed by the institution’s achievements in peace building. As the state is getting set for local government election and the country prepares for the general elections next year, we know security issues are of importance to the stability of Nigeria and we urge all to continue to be peaceable,” he said.

Northern elders fight over Jonathan zThey are political prostitutes —Junaid

BY SONI DANIEL, Regional Editor, North, LUKA BINNIYAT and BEN AGANDE

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ORTHERN opposition to President Goodluck Jonathan's second term ambition was yesterday fragmented with the emergence of a new group of elders supportive of the president and his policies towards the region.

The Northern Elders Council, NEC led by elderstatesman and Second Republic Presidential Adviser, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai, which was inaugurated in Kaduna by Governor Mukthar Yero of Kaduna State, immediately pledged to oppose all those they claimed were out to cause confusion in the land.

The group comprising former ministers and National Assembly members and businessmen including billionaire businessman, Alhaji Hassan Adamu, Wakilin Adamawa, former Senator Muktar Aruwa among others.

However, the new group was immediately dismissed by Second Republic legislator, Dr. Junaid Mohammed, who said the group cannot deliver Jonathan in 2015. Junaid’s assertion nonetheless, immediate past governor of Kano State, Mallam Ibrahim Shekarau pledged to work for the re-election of Dr. Jonathan in the 2015 presidential election.

Yakassai at the inauguration of the council in Kaduna said the group emerged to protect and project northern interests

and at the same time secure the existence and stability of the country.

“We reject intimidation, threat and violence. Leaders and elders must lead by example. It is unacceptable for elders to make inciting and inflammatory statements capable of breaching the peace. We say no to war-like and belligerent posture,” Yakasai said.

“Let me reiterate that the purpose for the establishment of NEC is to protect the socioeconomic and political interest of the north, the corporate existence and stability of the Nigerian nation.

“We are firm and committed to the Nigerian project, we recognise the significance of Nigeria’s centenary as a political entity and call on all

Nigerians to serve as agents of consolidation of national unity and continued existence of our nation as one indivisible country.

“The Northern Elders Council acknowledges the current spate of violence and insurgency in the North, armed robbery and kidnapping in the other parts of the country and we urged all men and women of good will to act in concert to eradicate these menace and stabilise the polity.

“The Northern Elders Council applauds the excellent working relationship with between the President Goodluck Jonathan and his vice, Mohammed Namadi Sambo, as the political leader of the north.

Namadi Sambo has shown total loyalty and dedication to Mr. President and we urged them

to continue work together in harmony in the interest of our nation,” Yakasai said.

He said the group was supportive of the forthcoming national dialogue.

Inaugurating the group yesterday, Governor Yero said the emergence of the group was a welcome development, adding that “as an ardent believer in the power of dialogue in building unity among diverse people, I salute the courage of our elders in forming this eminent group and I declare my absolute support to the ideals of the Northern Elders Council”.

Junaid Mohammed, however, immediately dismissed the group, saying that they would be inconsequential in the determination of Jonathan’s fate in 2015, describing members of the new group as political prostitutes.

From right: Chairman, Northern Elders Council Alhaji Tanko Yakasai; Governor Mukhtar Yero of Kaduna State and Alhaji Hassan Adamu, Wakilin Adamawa at Northern Elders Council inauguration meeting at Arewa House, Kaduna, yesterday. PHOTO: OLU AJAYI.

Okonjo-Iweala tackles Budget 2014 critics

By EMMA UJAH, Abuja Bureau Chief

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INISTER of Finance and the Coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, yesterday tackled critics of the 2014 budget, saying that the high recurrent was compounded by the pension burden and the 53 per cent federal government salaries increases of 2010.

Okonjo-Iweala has been under fire by some critics who accuse her of being responsible for the high recurrent budget, rising debt profile and inadequate provisions for the social sectors.

But her Special Adviser, Paul Nwabuikwu said in a statement in Abuja, yesterday, “though government is continuous

and the Minister has no desire to shirk her responsibilities, the effort to personalize these issues on the basis of inaccurate information must be roundly refuted.”

According to him, “the first point made by some Senators is that she is responsible for the rising recurrent expenditure, which according to them rose “from 69 per cent in the 2013 budget to 76 percent in the 2014”. This is inaccurate.” He said the decline in the budget base is one of the factors responsible for the upsurge in the recurrent budget.

His words, “total expenditure of N4.64 trillion in the proposed 2014 is about a 7% decline from the 2013 budget level of N4.98tr.

From a mathematical standpoint, this reduction in

the budget base will result in a slight increase in the weight of the recurrent expenditure in the budget, which in absolute terms, has increased from 2013 levels”.

On the pensions factor he said “it is also important to note that the country is yet to fully absorb pension’s implications of the 2010 wage increases. Starting in 2013 budget, this Administration commenced tackling the payment of outstanding military pensions, and Budget 2014 will further address civilian pensions. We have been under pressure from many quarters, including Senators, to integrate the civilian component of pension, and doing so will further increase the recurrent budget.

Will the Senators blame Okonjo-Iweala for this”?The

data of the recent of recurrent budget indicated as follows: 2006 -70.1 % , 2007-64%, 2008-71.4 %, 2009-67%, 2010-64.7 %, 201174.4%, 2012- 71.5%, 2013-67.5% and the current year-74 %, He explained further that the government awarded salary increases of 53% in 2010 across the board to the public service, which increased the wage bill from N856.9 billion in 2009 to N1.36 trillion in 2010.

“At the time, finances were inadequate to back this award, and the government had to increase domestic borrowing significantly to cover the shortfall.

This rise in government domestic borrowing, from N524 billion in 2009 to N1.36 trillion in 2010, is clearly the singular cause of the country’s rising domestic debt profile, from 14.83% of our Gross Domestic Product, GDP, in 2009 to 17.98% of GDP in 2010."

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014—5

POCKET CARTOON

GMoUFAIR: From right, Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Chairman/ Managing Director, Chevron Nigeria, Mr. Andrew Fawthrop and Commissioner for Justice and Attorney General of Delta State, Charles Ajuya (SAN) during the Global Memorandum of Understanding Fair by Chevron Nigeria held in Abuja, yesterday

Rivers: Mbu out, Ogunshakin in Continues from page 1 formerly held sway at the Special Fraud Unit, SFU. Twenty two other police commissioners were redeployed alongside Mbu, including Adenrele Shinaba, one time commissioner in charge FCT, now posted to Kano State, Felix Uyanya, formerly Commandant, Police College, now posted to Ekiti State as the new helmsman.

Ambrose Aisabo, who was formerly in charge of Ports Authority Police, Lagos, is now to head the Kwara State police command, while Kalafite Adeyemi was posted to head Taraba State Command.

Also moved were Abdulmajid Ali, formerly in charge of Bomb Disposal Squad, now posted to Imo State police command, Benjamin Onwuka, formerly Deputy Commandant, Police Staff College, Jos now in charge of Kebbi State.

Ibrahim Maishanu is also now in charge of Osun State Command just as Adamu Ibrahim was posted to the Abia State Command and Umaru Shehu, formerly of Nasarawa State Command moves to the Kaduna State command.

Also, Sotonye Wakama, formerly in Ekiti State will now head the CounterTerrorism Unit; Aderanti Kayode heads the Ports Authority Police, PAP,

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

Never test the depth of a river with both feet.

Take life one step at a time.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

S

UCCESS is to be measured not so much by the position that one has reached in life as by the obstacles which he has overcome —Booker T. Washington And from Alain Botton from his TED presentation about a kinder gentler philosophy of success, he says that one of the interesting things about success is that we think we know what it means. A lot of the time our ideas about what it would mean to live successfully are not our own. They’re sucked in from other people. And we also suck in messages from everything from the television to advertising to marketing, etcetera. These are hugely powerful forces that define what we want and how we view ourselves. What I want to argue for is not that we should give up on our ideas of success, but that we should make sure that they are our own.

We should focus on our ideas and make sure that we own them, that we’re truly the authors of our own ambitions. Because it’s bad enough not getting what you want, but it’s even worse to have an idea of what it is you want and find out at the end of the journey that it isn’t, in fact, what you wanted all along. And remember that your own resolution to succeed is more important than any other.

Western Port, Lagos; Godfrey Okeke moves to to Police College, Oji River, as Deputy Commandant, while Danladi Mshelbwala is the new man at the Bomb Disposal Unit.

Mohammed K. Mohammed is the Deputy Force Secretary just as Agboola Oshodi-Glover is the new

commissioner in charge of Infotech at Force Headquarters. Chintua Amajor-Onu is, however, in charge of the Homicide command even as Salisu Fage Abdullahi is the helmsman at the Federal Investigations & Intelligence Bureau (FIIB).

According to the police authorities, Esosa Amadasun moves from Zone 6 to Force Headquarters to head the ‘X’ Squad.

Furthermore, Mr A.J. Abakasanga, formerly in charge of Infotech at Force headquarters was transferred to Adamawa State as commissioner while Ibrahim Idris was moved to Nasarawa State to head the command.

Meantime, the Chairman of the PSC, Sir Mike Mbama Okiro has asked the newly redeployed officers to put in their best in their various commands’operations, to provide a secure environment for the people and their businesses to thrive.

Observers are of the view that with the redeployment of Joseph Mbu in particular, as the Com-

missioner of Police in Rivers State, the tension existing between the Rivers State government and the State Police Command might simmer down and the normalization of relationships restored.

Before his posting to Rivers State Command, CP Joseph Mbu had served as CP in charge Oyo State. He had served also as CP in charge of Police Mobile Force at Force headquarters and before then, was the Director of Education of the Police Force.

Ogunsakin, the new CP

in charge of Rivers State is a crack detective who was one time Director of Operations at the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. He was also Director of Operations at the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC. He has held several other appointments at Force headquarters, the most recent being at the SFU. Meantime, the Rivers State government, yesterday, said the police as defenders of the people should abide by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria

Mbu: Timeline in Rivers State 1

5/4/2013: Mbu dis patches five paratroopers and over 25 policemen to seal the PDP Secretariat and prevented Chief G. U. Ake, PDP chairman ousted by the court from entering the building.

3/5/2013: Mbu seals Obio/Akpor Council Secretariat with mobile policemen and Armoured Personnel Carriers, (APCs) claiming bomb scare and said it was based on the orders of IGP. The Rivers State House of Assembly had suspended the council two weeks earlier.

06/05/2013: Thugs including ex-militants invaded the Rivers State House of Assembly and sacked the members from the premises. The Policemen deployed to the premises were helpless.

09/05/2013: Mbu orders withdrawal of the Mobile Policemen attached to Okirika Local Government Council and the orderly attached to the Chairman of the Council.

10/05/2013: Mbu accused Governor Amaechi and the Rivers State Government of allegedly bribing a national newspaper to attack and cast aspersions on him, demanding an apology from

the governor and the newspaper.

12/05/2013: Hon. Justice H. A. Nganjiwa of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt ordered the Police to remove the barricade at the Obio/Akpor Council Headquarters to allow the Caretaker Members and Council workers access into the Council and to provide security for the Council.

14/05/2013: The Commissioner of Police ordered a complete withdrawal of the policemen from the council, contrary to the order of court that it should provide security to the council.

14/05/2013: Mbu says the Police has appealed the judgment of the Federal High Court, Port Harcourt.

14/05/2013: Rivers State women protested and called for the redeployment of the Police Commissioner, Mr. Joseph Mbu. 17/05/2013: Mbu summons the Speaker, Rivers State House of Assembly, Otelemaba Amachree to appear before him following an open letter written by the Speaker to President Goodluck Jonathan to wade into the political crisis rocking Rivers State.

26/06/2013: Mbu directs his men to restrain over 500 men and women from the Orashi Region of the state who were on courtesy visit to the governor. Many of the demonstrators scampered for their lives.

05/09/2013: Mbu redeploys and withdraws escort commander and some other security officers attached to the Governor of Rivers State.

05/09/2013 – 20/09/ 2013: Mbu withdraws security details and orderlies to the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Amachree; Secretary to Government, Mr. George Feyii; the Attorney-General of the State, Barr. Worgu Boms; the Chief of Staff, Sir Tony Okocha and all commissioners.

12/09/2013: Police mount barricade to the side gate of the Government House, preventing the governor and members of the Conference of Speakers from getting access to Government House through that gate.

21/09/2013: Mbu directs his men led by the Divisional Police Officer (DPO) in charge of Bonny Division to seal off the official residence of the Local Government Chair-

man and to disperse members of the RIVLEAF, a nong o v e r n m e n t a l organization with sympathy for the governor.

26/09/2013: Mbu accuses the Rivers State Government of mobilizing youths to protest against President Jonathan.

10/12/2013: Mbu orders Mobile Policemen to disrupt APC meeting at Isiokpo in Ikwerre Local Government Area. Mobile policemen from Mopol Unit 48 carried out the operation, shooting teargas into the gathering of the Ikwerre Local Government Chapter of the APC. 02/01/2014: Mbu prevents Governor Amaechi and Hon. Chidi Lloyd from flying to Abuja.

12/01/14: Senator Magnus Abe shot at a rally in Ogoniland. Police denies responsibility.

14/01/14: Ex-Militants call for the retention of Mbu. 20/01/14: Mbu orders detention of Chairman of Khana Local Government Local Area, Mr. Greg, one of the organizers of the failed Save Rivers Movement rally at Bori.

6—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Day old baby found dead at Ikorodu roundabout

BY PRISCA SAM-DURU

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AGOS — A day old baby girl was, yesterday, abandoned at a road construction site in the Ikorodu roundabout, Lagos.

According to eye witnesses, the baby, with placenta and fresh blood, whose body was wrapped in a lace material, may have been delivered by an unknown woman during the early hours of the day, and dumped by the road side.

Passers-by who gathered to catch a glimpse of the lifeless body of the baby gave diverse accounts of the incidence.

While some said the baby was discovered alive but died before help could come, others maintained that the baby was already dead by the time it was discovered at day break.

Four Okada riders docked for attempted murder of Policeman

BY CHINYERE ABIAZIEM

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AGOS — FOR alleg edly attempting to murder a policeman, Inspector Michael Mgbede, four commercial cyclists appeared before Ms B. Okusanya in an Ebute Metta Magistrate's court.

The accused,Nuru Tari (18), Ibrahim Mohammed (21), Awalu Zakariyau (19) and Simeon Linus (27) were said to have alleged given Inspector Mgbede machete cuts on his body.

Also, the accused “did unlawfully resist arrest by a team of policemen from Rapid Response Squad under Lagos State Police Command and caused the firing of a gunshot into the air in order to forestall escape and snatching of the police gun by hoodlums, thereby committing an offence punishable under section 228(1) of the criminal law of Lagos state of Nigeria, 2011.”

However, Ms Badejo who refused the plea to grant them bail, ordered that they should be remanded pending their arraignment in an higher court.

She adjourned the case till March 18, 2014 for further hearing.

Contempt charge: Court to rule on Ashimolowo's preliminary objection March 19

BY BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

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AGOS — NIGERIAN-BORN, London-based Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo will, March 19, know his fate on the preliminary objection to a contempt charge brought against him before a Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere, by four chieftaincy clans of Offiran and Aiyeteju villages on Lagos-Epe Expressway.

Ashimolowo, who is the President and Senior Pastor of Kingsway International Christian Centre, KICC and one Adedeji Obisanya were accused of not maintaining a status quo order ordered by the court on July 3.

The cleric’s company, Meridian Properties Limited, had dragged one Captain GOC Ugoh and 10 others to court for encroaching on his 26,486 hectares of land situated at Offiran village, which was acquired in phases by the company from various land owners in the village in 2003.

Other defendants in the suit are Chief Ganiyu Raji, Adio Shittu, Olusegun Busari, Ganiyu Tijani, Sule Kafaru, Lasisi Olooto, Muyideen Tijani, Omodele Oyafunke,Theophilus Oyafunke and Taiwo Oyafunke.

In its preliminary objection to the contempt proceedings, Ashimolowo’s firm, through its lawyer, Dapo

Pastor Matthew Ashimolowo Opakunle, argued that the required condition by law for the hearing of a contempt or committal proceedings were not met by the defendants.

Opakunle argued that the alleged first and second contemnors were not liable in law for contempt charges.

He also submitted that the claimant did not disobey any known court order, maintaining that the second to 11 defendants were incompetent to seek the committal of the claimant because they are not proper before the court.

Replying, the defence counsel, urged the court to grant the application for contempt against Ashimolowo, arguing that it was in the interest of sustaining the dignity and administration of justice since

the claimant’s alleged disobedience could bring the judiciary to disrepute.

Defence counsel alleged that in February 2013, when work started on the land, the defendant drove away its workmen; consequently, the claimant petitioned the office of the Assistant Inspector General of Police on the activities of the defendant.

He argued that the company has continuously disobeyed the court order by constructing and erecting entrance gate and other structures on the said land.

According to the defendants, despite the service of contempt proceedings on Ashimolowo, as a director of the company, the firm contin-

Scene of an accident involving articulated vehicle and a tricycle at Warehouse roundabout in Owerri, Imo State, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN.

ued with its construction in disregard to the court order, which ordered that parties should avoid the use of self help.

“The act of self help by the persons sought to be committed to prison is capable of bringing anarchy and break down of law and order in the community where the property is located,” they argued.

Although yesterday was fixed for hearing of both the contempt application and its objection before Justice Morenike Obadina, Ashimolowo’s absence stalled the hearing of the alleged contempt charge.

While apologising for Ashimolowo’s absence, Opakunle urged the court to take his application objecting the contempt charge.

He prayed the court not to entertain the contempt charge on grounds that counsel to the first defendant, David Aransiola, brought an ex-parte application on behalf of all the 11 defendants, without an appropriate application before the court, since the second to 11 defendants have another lawyer.

Opakunle contended that the defendant did not serve the requisite contempt proceedings processes on the alleged contemnors personally as required by the Sheriff and Process Act. Ashimolowo’s lawyer told the court that in its obeyed status quo order, that the claimant should remain in possession and maintain presence on the property while the defendants were ordered to keep off.

He urged the court to disallow the alleged contempt application.

Responding to Opakunle’s submission, defence counsel insisted that an order of substituted service was issued by the court and same remains valid.

Defence counsel argued that the denial by the contemnors/ claimants cannot hold water because there are documented evidence including pictures before the court.

Responding to the claimant’s submission that the counsel, who represented the second to 11 defendants in court, James Banjo, was not known to the court, Banjo told the court that they were yet to file their memorandum of appearance because the processes served on them were not complete.

After listening to parties, Justice Obadina adjourned till March 19 for ruling on whether the court will hear the contempt charge against Ashimolowo or not.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 —7

Man, 27, docked for assaulting police officer

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Traffic gridlock at Ojota in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN.

Osun school: Baptist Conference asks parents to shun govt order

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

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SOGBO— THE solution to the crisis over the new education policy of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State is not yet in sight as the state government and Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, are poised for a showdown.

The state government had, yesterday, summoned parents of the 92 students identified as the masterminds of the two-day tension that rocked Baptist High School Iwo, Osun State.

But in a counter directive, Osun Baptist Conference, OBC, asked all its members invited to Osogbo by the state government on the issue of the crisis in the school to shun such invitation.

Baptist High School, Iwo was for two days engulfed in crisis as students of the school appeared in different clothes that correlate with their religious beliefs.

While the Christian students who wore choir gowns sang Christian songs, the Muslim students, who appeared in hijab, on the other hand sang Islamic songs while some masquerades also appeared the following day in the school.

The state government last year introduced same uniform for all the public secondary schools students in the state and also legalised the use of veil, hijab.

A statement by the Director of Bureau of Communication and Srategy to Aregbesola, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, in Osogbo yesterday said: “Preliminary investigations reveal that 92 of the 2,500 student population in that school were involved in a protest over the wearing of hijab.

“In view of the development,

government has, therefore, invited parents of the 92 students involved in the protest for a meeting at 4 pm on Friday in Osogbo with a view to finding a lasting solution to the issues.

“The government also wishes to state that a panel of inquiry is to be constituted immediately to investigate remote and immediate causes of the perennial disturbance at the Baptist High School, Iwo. “The panel is to comprise representatives of the relevant organisations such as the All Nigerian Conference of Principals of Secondary Schools (ANCOPSS), Nigerian Union of Teachers (NUT), Parents Teachers Association, PTA, and community leaders with officials of the Ministry of Education.

“It must be stated that the government recognises protest as a legitimate avenue for registering grievances in a democracy which must be peaceful and decent.

However, it will not condone acts of indiscipline in any form from any quarters.

“We restate our commitment to the total reform of the education sector just as we are determined to bring reforms to other aspects of our people’s lives in Osun.”

OBC asks parents to shun meeting

The OBC, in its counter directive, reads in part: ”The Osun Baptist Conference has asked parents and guardians of the Baptist High School, Iwo who were invited to a meeting by the state government to discuss the issue of hijab to shun the invitation.

“The directive is contained in a communique issued to journalists in Osogbo, yesterday, after the

end of the meeting of executive committee of the conference.”

The communique signed by the President of OBC, Rev. Paul Oluwole said: "The OBC had the support of the leadership of Christian Association of Nigeria in the state to ask parents and teachers to shun the planned meeting and to ask Christian students to continue to wear religious garments to their schools.

“That the Baptist community in Osun State and Iwo community is vehemently opposed to the use of hijab in Baptist High School, Iwo.

“That no parents and students be invited to Osogbo under any guise to intimidate the parents and their wards, rather if there is any information to pass, it should go through the normal channel such as the school authority or the Parents Teachers Association.

“That in view of our observation that the wearing of hijab in Baptist High School appears to have the backing of the state government, we hereby also authorize and mandate all our Christian students to wear their religious garments.

“That Tutor-General and officials of the Ministry of Education should stop henceforth to intimidate students and their parents."

KEJA — A 27-year-old man, Chiwendu Nwachukwu, who allegedly assaulted a police officer, was yesterday brought before an Ikeja Magistrate's court.

Nwachukwu, who resides at Shasha area of Lagos, is facing a three-count charge of conspiracy, assault and conspiracy to pervert justice.

The prosecutor, Inspector of Police, Samson Ekikere, told the court that the accused and three others at large, committed the offence on February 4 at C.K.C. Bus Stop, Shasha, Lagos.

He said that Nwachukwu unlawfully assaulted a Police officer, Cpl. Emmanuel Enofe, by beating him and inflicted injury on his right leg.

Ekikere said that the incident happened when the officer was controlling traffic in the area.

He said, “The accused hindered Enofe from arresting a traffic offender and thereby inflicted injury on him, while trying to escape."

The accused pleaded not guilty to the charge preferred against him.

The magistrate, Mrs A b i m b o l a Oshodi-Makanju, granted bail to the accused in the sum of N100,000 with one surety in like sum.

Prison warders beat vendors for declining demand for free newspapers

BY OLA AJAYI

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BADAN —SOME prison of ficials went wild, yesterday, in Ibadan as they allegedly invaded the Forestry Research Institute premises armed with guns.

They were reportedly chasing a newspaper vendor, Mr. Adewale Moronkeji, who ran there for cover.

When they caught up with him, they beat the newspaper vendor to a pulp.

The vendors whose names were given as Adewale Moronkeji and Kola Ola were at the Forestry junction, about 1,000 metres from the entrance of the house of the controller of prisons when the warders led by the driver of the controller swooped on them.

After beating them up, they took one of them to the police

headquarters at Eleyele, Ibadan, claiming he wanted to attack the controller.

Vanguard gathered that some of the guards at the entrance of the Idi-Ishin residence of the controller had been putting pressure on the newspaper vendors to give them free newspapers to read which the vendors rejected.

The driver of the controller, with bottled anger, allegedly saw the vendors at Idi-Ishin junction, which is a distance to the entrance of the controller’s residence and ordered them to leave the place.

However, Moronkeji asked him if they were constituting nuisance to him.

This, according to Kola Ola, stirred up the anger of the driver who jumped down from the vehicle and started beating him.

Not satisfied with the assault on Wednesday, the prison officials

again stormed the Forestry junction, yesterday, where they saw Moronkeji and his friend, beat them to their satisfaction and drove one of them to Eleiyele police headquarters.

However, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, DSP Olabisi Clet-Ilobanafor said she was not aware of any newspaper vendor being detained in their station even though the Chairman of the Newspaper Distribution Association of Nigeria, Mr. Babatunde Abimbola and his men saw Moronkeji in one of the dark rooms in the station with swollen eyes and legs.

Pleading for the release of their man, the newspaper agents stormed the Correspondents’ Chapel at Mokola, yesterday, to protest the inhuman treatment meted to their colleagues.

Efforts to get the reaction of the Prison officials were fruitless.

8 — Vanguard, FRIDAY,FEBRUARY 7, 2014

C M Y K

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 — 9

Bianca Ojukwu becomes APGA national leader

BY GABRIEL EWEPU, PETER OKUTU & ENYIM ENYIM

A

BUJA—THE All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, under the leadership of Chief Maxi Okwu, yesterday, adopted Mrs. Bianca Ojukwu, wife of its late National Leader, Dim Odumegwu Ojukwu, as the party ’s National Leader.

This was disclosed in a communiqué signed by the party’s Acting National Publicity Secretary, Mr. Stanley Chira, which was read by the National Chairman, Chief Maxi Okwu after a National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting in Abuja.

Okwu said: “The National Executive Committee, NEC, of our great party reconfirms and further resolves the earlier decision taken on February 16, 2013 and on March 22, 2013, at the one year anniversary of the demise of our late leader and icon, Dim C h u k w u e m e k a Odumegwu Ojukwu. That he remains our symbol and leader the fact of his transit to glory notwithstanding. His wife and next of kin, Iyom Bianca OdumegwuOjukwu is hereby adopted as the living embodiment of his ideals. She shall in his stead be acknowledged as Leader.

She is aware of the existing situation and she gave her consent, and we adopted her. We still respect Governor Peter Obi as one of our leaders, and he is also aware of this development.”

Okwu also commended the judgement at the Federal High Court, Abuja, and promised to use it to recover, refocus and rebrand the soul of the party.

Wedding

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HE MANAGING Director, Punch Nigeria Limited, Mr. Ademola Osinubi’s daughter, Ranti, is getting married on February 8, 2014, at the Methodist Church, 1-3 Methodist Church Street, Off Salvation Road, Opebi, Ikeja, at 11am.

Reception follows at Yard 158, Kudirat Abiola Way, Oregun, at 2pm.

COMMISSIONING: From left: Wife of Benue State governor, Mrs. Yemisi Suswan, wife of the Vice President, Hajia Amina Sambo, First Lady, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan, President Goodluck Jonathan, FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, and wife of the Senate President, Mrs. Helen David Mark, at the commissioning of Wuye International Market by the President in Abuja, yesterday.

APC MEMBERSHIP REGISTRATION: One

feared dead in Rivers zAs PDP defectors hijack exercise in Gombe

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM,

JIMITOTAONOYUME, DEMOLAAKINYEMI & EMMANEULUNA AGOS—THE All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, continued its nationwide registration of members with pockets of violence in a few locations, which reportedly led to the death of a youth in Rivers State.

Unknown gunmen allegedly stormed a registration point in Degema area of Rivers opened fire and killed a youth on the spot.

Violence was also allegedly witnessed in some other parts of the state. While condemning the pockets of alleged attack on members of the party in several parts of the state, Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari said it was shocking that this could happen during mere registration of party members.

According to her, a former Chairman of Rivers State Civil Service Commission, Mr. Ben Orugbani was allegedly attack by some youths in his Bakana hometown ahead of the registration exercise. The Commissioner said Mr. Orugbani’s house was riddled with bullets, adding that he escaped death by the whiskers.

Continuing, she said Mr. Orugbani is the Coordinator of APC registration in the area, noting that his attackers fired several volleys of gun shots into his house.

She also alleged that a councillor in Ward 6, Okrika local

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government area was allegedly beaten by thugs on the orders of the rival Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in the state, stressing that similar attacks were witnessed in several parts of the state. Mrs. Semenitari blamed the PDP and the Grassroots Development Initiative, GDI, a pro-PDP group in the state for the alleged attack.

Edo State

The APC registration continued yesterday in Edo State amid tension following the fracas that erupted in some local councils, Wednesday.

The Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Samson Osagie and the political adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State, Charles Idahosa, described the exercise as a huge success and urged the INEC to learn from the APC’s exercise.

Osagie said: “It is expected that there will be some disagreements in any exercise such as this but we have recorded huge success.

This is hundred per cent better than what INEC did in Anambra State and that is why I will advise INEC to learn from what we are doing. I am very happy things are going well for the APC. Those who thought this exercise will divide us are hiding their heads in shame today.”

Thugs disrupt exercise in Abi, Cross River State

In Cross River State, APC registration officials embarked on door-to-door drive to register

members.

The exercise was meant to be carried out at designated polling units but no official was seen at those centres particularly in Calabar, the state capital.

Vanguard on Monday and Tuesday tried to locate registration centres in the city but could not come across any.

Rather some registration officials were seen knocking on doors of residents to get people registered.

A registration official, Okon Hanson told Vanguard that they were combing the nooks and crannies of the city to get people registered and the response had been encouraging.

He said: “We know that if we stayed on one spot people would not come out to register so we have to take the cards to them in their homes and shops.”

Saraki hails exercise in Kwara

In Kwara, people turned up in large numbers for the exercise.

Registration papers had been exhausted in many centres visited by Vanguard in Ilorin, the Kwara State capital.

As of 12pm yesterday, registration materials had been exhausted at centres at Opo Malu, Unity Road and Stadium Road among others.

Immediate past governor of the state, Senator Bukola Saraki, who arrived at Agbaji in Ajikobi Ward in Ilorin West Local Government Area of the state for registration at about 3.30pm, expressed satisfaction with the

turn out of people for the exercise, saying it was a strong indication that the party would record landslide victories in forthcoming elections.

He said: “Today I am here to register as a bonafide member of APC. It is of great joy that this journey has got to this place. In all the polling units, the initial number of 100 per polling unit has already been utilised in 1,894 polling units. You can do the arithmetic yourself, it means by now we are already having 189,400 votes in our kitty in just two days!”

Crisis rocks Gombe APC

In Gombe State, the APC is currently grappling with an internal crisis as the party commenced its membership registration yesterday.

The member representing Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency, Khamisu Mailantarki, told reporters that the party had been hijacked by defectors from the PDP. The lawmaker said the APC guidelines stated that each of the merging parties must be considered in the constitution of leadership at the state and local levels, which he said had not been done.

He said a complaint had been sent to the party’s national secretariat on the development but nothing was done about it.

Mailantarki appealed to the national leaders of the party to intervene and make the party in the state to abide by the guidelines and include everybody in the scheme of things.

10—Vanguard , FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Oil spill hits Delta community

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ORRIED by the unabated oil spill in Kantu community, Warri South-West, in Delta State, a leader of the community, Chief Satchie Etoromi, has appealed to the National Oil Spill Detection and Responds Agency, NOSDRA, to come to the aid of the affected communities.

Speaking in Warri, Chief Etoromi, said the spill which started over 10 days ago, has caused colossal damage to the people of the community as their means of livelihood, which is fishing, has been destroyed.

He also appealed to the Delta State government and other government agencies to come to the rescue of the people, claiming that there was hunger and sickness in the community as a result of the oil spill which he said had spread across the creeks.

The community leader said: "So we are appealing to NOSDRA to come and help us salvage the situation. Apart from us, the Kantus, who are the owners of the place, there are other people in Odidi that are also affected by the spill.

Fashola's wife visits Vivian Fowler college

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AGOS—THE wife of the Lagos State Governor, Mrs. Abimbola Fashola will on Monday February 10, 2014 at 10am pay a visit to Vivian Fowler Memorial College for Girls, Oregun.

The visit is aimed at encouraging the students to imbibe the virtues of womanhood and remain focused in their academics.

The Director of the college, Mrs. Olufunke Amba said the visit is part of the vision of the school on the Integration and promotion of womanhood into the topmost height in all aspects of human endeavour through both academic pursuit and moral discipline.

Amba asserted that the college is focused on raising the individual girl-child to develop attributes of academic and moral excellence.

Lagos empowers customary courts to handle criminal matters

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH

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AGOS—LAGOS State government yesterday disclosed it has commenced the process of accommodating some aspects of criminal jurisdiction in the state customary laws.

This was disclosed by the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Ade Ipaye at a workshop organised for the Customary Court Judges.

He said unlike the past, this will enable some aspects of the criminal offences to be handled at the local level.

According to him, the government is much interested in the suggestions by those advocating that some lesser neighbourhood criminal offences be handled at the local level and is working seriously on the suggestions.

Ipaye said: “We are bringing this power back. When we do, we rely on you to display appropriate sense of responsibility in dispensing justice.”

He explained that part of the reasons why the criminal laws were initially expunged from the Customary Laws was to prevent judges at the local level from

being influenced and using their position to send people to prison arbitrarily.

However, he urged them to shun corruption and admonished them to apply criminal law only in extreme cases when the criminal jurisdiction is restored.

Former chairman of the Judiciary Committee in State

House Assembly, Hon. AbdulLateef Hakeem, who delivered a key-note address on the theme, “Administration of Justice at the Grassroot: Myth or Reality,” lamented that the public took to self help and engage in jungle justice because they have lost faith in the system.

He admonished the judges

against miscarriage of justice, stressing that they should use their position to influence the life of other members of the society positively.

The state Chief Judge, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, represented by a Deputy Registrar, Mrs. A.O. Soladoye charged the judges to maintain a high level of honesty and integrity in the administration of justice at the grass-root.

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COMMISSIONING: From left: Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, deputy governor of Lagos state, Mrs. Olayinka Oladunjoye, Commissioner of Education, Alhaji Saliu Balogun, Baale Sabo Oniba, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija,cutting the tape, during the commissioning of Alice Ogbara Memorial Junior Secondary School, Sabo Oniba, built and donated to Lagos State government by Mrs. Folorunsho Alakija in memory of her late mother in Lagos. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

Lagos licences private firms to operate slaughter slabs

BY OLASUNKANMIAKONI

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AGOS—LAGOS State Government has concluded arrangements to issue licence to prospective private companies to upgrade existing slaughtering slabs in the state to international standard.

Also, the state government has commenced transformation of the Oko-Oba Abattoir, Agege from its traditional operations.

Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Prince Gbolahan Lawal, disclosed this yesterday, after a stakeholders’ meeting with the operators of Oko-Oba abattoir, Agege.

According to him, as part of improving the conditions at the Lagos abattoir, the following remedies were being given attention: licensing private companies to avert all existing slaughtering slab locations to mechanized process and removal of illegal structures, access control, waste management, food safety hygiene and quality control, developing standard operational procedures for animal markets and the meat supply chain-abattoir.

Lawal said the measure was part of the ministry’s pro-active step to further ensure wholesome, healthier meat distribution to its citizenry.

While affirming that meat being distributed in the state was healthy for consumption, the commissioner noted that the

ministry recently clamped down on illegal abattoirs and slaughter slabs operating in order to avert incidents of diseased infected

animals.

According to him; “Animals slaughtered at illegal abattoirs are not hygienic and not

compliant with the relevant laws governing meat slaughtering in the state.”

....Court orders IG to produce AGF, defence minister

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH

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AGOS—JUSTICE Olubunmi Femi-Adeniyi of an Ikeja High Court yesterday issued a bench warrant against some principal officials of the government, ordering the Inspector General of Police, IGP, to produce them for their alleged refusal to appear in court yesterday to defend a suit filed against them.

Those to be brought to court by

the IGP are the Attorney General of the Federation, Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN); his Defence counterpart, Mr. Labaran Maku, the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh and the Nigerian Army (operating as ministry of defence & defence headquaters).

They are to appear in court to defend an N18.7 billion naira suit brought against them over a sealed property in Lagos.

The judge had last December

granted an ex-parte motion against the defendants because of their alleged refusal to comply with an earlier order instructing them to reopen the closed Mammy Market located within Giwa Barracks, Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos.

The Defence authorities had on February 2007, sealed off the 225 shops in the market following a one week notice given to the market men and women to vacate the place.

NIMASA, NLNG in legal battle over earnings

BY INNOCENTANABA

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AGOS—NIGERIAN Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA and the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, are back at the Federal High Court in Lagos over the disputed demand for the payment of three per cent of gross freight earnings.

NLNG had gone to court over blockade of its vessels by NIMASA, while NIMASA

hinged its action on the nonpayment of certain statutory levies and charges which it claimed were due to it from NLNG. But by a temporary arrangement reached by parties, NLNG agreed to continue to pay the three percent of gross freight earnings under protest, while the legality of the demand would be argued before the court.

NIMASA in turn agreed to lift the blockage of NLNG vessels.

But at yesterday, hearing in the matter, Global West Vessels Specialist, the second defendant in the suit, moved its application for stay of proceedings in the matter pending an appeal before the Court of Appeal in Lagos.

But NLNG objected to the application for stay and urged trial judge, Justice Mohamed Idris to reject same.

Meanwhile, ruling on the motion for stay has been adjourned till February 10, 2014.

Vanguard , FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 —11

Osun Guber polls: APC, PDP biker over plans to cause mayhem

BY GBENGAOLARINOYE

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SOGBO—BOTH the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, and the main opposition party in Osun State, the Peoples’ Democratic Party ,PDP, have accused each other over alleged plans to create mayhem ahead of August governorship election in the state.

The APC in a petition addressed to the Inspector General of Police, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, said: “A crescendo of desperation has taken hold of Peoples Democratic Party in the state as, we hear, they have put in place plans to kidnap, and assassinate leaders of the APC in Osun state.”

The petition signed by the state Chairman of the party, Mr. Adelowo Adebiyi also condemned the recent activities of one of the governorship aspirants of the PDP. The APC added: “Reliable source within the PDP itself told us that we would be taking this piece of information with levity at our own peril; which is why we hurry to inform security agencies that we have one of the deadliest threats to peace in Osun since its creation.”

“We do not intend to let off on our guards, and we are confident that the security agencies will also take seriously the alerts we have been given them in the last couple of months about the nefarious plans of the PDP which could inflame the state and possibly destroy democracy in the country.”

PDP's allegation

The PDP in its allegation against the ruling party said: “Our attention has been drawn to orchestrated plan by Governor Rauf Aregbesola to unleash mayhem on those coming to witness the public declaration of Senator Iyiola Omisore slated for Saturday, February 8, 2014 at the Freedom Park , Osogbo”.

According to a statement by the PDP Director of publicity, Prince

Diran Odeyemi; “The planned attack was rehearsed on Tuesday when All Progressives Congress, APC members attacked members of People’s Democratic Party, PDP, who have converged at the party secretariat to witness the public declaration of one of the PDP gubernatorial aspirants, Hon. Wole Oke.

Information on thugs

“Information at our disposal indicated that thugs are being trained in different parts of the state by the ruling APC to cause major crisis in order to give Senator Omisore a bad name and

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BADAN—AS the 2015 elections approach, police authorities have called on all politicians from two All Progressives Congressgoverned states that are next in line of gubernatorial elections, and others in the South West generally to get police permit before organising their political rallies.

Also, the security men warned all members of National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, Amalgamated Commercial

Akande slams Okupe

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VETERAN Journalist, Mr. Felix Olugbenga Aliu, aged 54 has been declared missing.

Aliu who has worked with various Newspapers which include the defunct Lagos Weekend, New Star and Vanguard Newspapers was last seen in his residence, no. 150 Pipeline Street, Ojokoro, LCDA on the night of December 31, 2013.

Family sources said report has been filed at both Ojokoro and Isokoko Police Stations.

Any one who knows his where about should report to the nearest Police Station.

Blessing Otuya dies @ 44 COMMISSIONING: Ondo State governor, Dr. Olusegun Mimiko (2nd right), cutting the tape to commission the 22.5km Ugbe-Iboropa-Ise road and the Afira bridge in Akoko NorthEast Local Government Area of Ondo State. With him are Commissioner for Works, Mr. Gboye Adegbenro (right), Caretaker Chairman, Akoko North-East Local Government, Olalekan Bada (middle), Olukare of Ikare-Akoko, Oba Akadiri Momoh (2nd left), the Olubaka of Oka-Akoko, Oba Adebori Adeleye (left), and others.

Ogun's bank obligations stand at N35bn

BY FUNMI AJUMOBI &

BOSE ADELAJA BEOKUTA—OGUN State government has said that at the end of December 2013, the balance of infrastructure loans taken under the Ibikunle Amosun

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2015: Police warn politicians in Oyo, Ondo, Osun

BY OLA AJAYI

portray him as a violent person.

“We also have it on good authority that T-shirts and fez caps with the insignia of Omisore are being distributed to the thugs to carry out the dastardly act.

“We have also been inundated with calls by our supporters across the state that APC thugs have carried out several attacks on them in order to intimidate them.

“We are using this opportunity to alert all the security agencies in the state to beef up security and be on red alert to forestall any attempt to cause problem.”

Meantime, the Interim National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress APC Chief Adebisi Akande has blasted the Special Adviser to the President on Public Affairs, Dr Doyin Okupe, saying he lacks political value and warned him to stop criticising the APC and its leaders.

Akande who spoke with reporters in his Ila-Orangun country home shortly after he was registered as a member of the APC in the ongoing registration of the party stated that “for Okupe to have said that the APC is a sinking ship shows that he lacks the basic knowledge of the country’s political system.”

Veteran journalist Gbenga Aliu declared missing

Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association of Nigeria, ACOMORON, and other road transport workers to shun acts capable of causing trouble in the state.

The Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of zone eleven, David Omojola gave the warning yesterday in Ibadan.

The states from where politicians attended the gathering are Oyo, Osun and Ondo states.

The interactive session which held in Ibadan yesterday had the representatives of political parties from those states.

administration is N35.6billion.

The administration has, since May 2011, already repaid approximately N20.3 billion in capital in line with its medium term financial strategy, the government stated this in a statement signed by Commissioner for Finance, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun yesterday.

The government said: “The figure included loans taken from banks as well as the balance of loans inherited from the past administration. Also inherent in the loan profile is the sum of N1.7

billion which remains unused.

The unspent loan included counterpart funds relating to the State Universal Basic Education Board, SUBEB, and Millennium Development Goals, MDG, which are awaiting rollout.

“The loans have been utilised to finance its investments in security, education, environment as well as the massive ongoing state-wide urban renewal programme, all of which have positively reshaped the economic and physical landscape of the state,” it added.

Ekiti expresses concern over sudden death of civil servants

BY GBENGAARIYIBI DO EKITI—EKITI State Commissioner for Health, Prof Olusola Fasubaa has raised an alarm of increasing number of deaths of civil servants in the state in recent times.

He equally attributed problem of power failure as the major reason for the inability of the multi million Naira Funmilayo Olayinka Cancer and Wellness Centre in Ado Ekiti to take- off

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Fasubaa who was speaking at a press conference heralding the commencement of Free Medical Screening for Civil Servant in the State, said the surge is given the state government serious concern He said: “We realise that as a result of recent incidences of sudden death among civil servants in Ekiti State, there is obvious need for regular medical screening to examine their health profiles."

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HE death of Mr. Blessing Chukwuneku Otuya has been announced at Ebedei - Uno, Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State.

Late Mr. Otuya died on Saturday, January 25, at the age of 44, after a brief illness.

Until his death, he was a senior Mathematics teacher at Chube Grammar School, Sapele and a devout Christian.

He is survived by a son, Master Austin Otuya, widow, Mrs. Anwuli Otuya, aged father, Chief Johnson Otuya, mother Mrs. Dora Otuya and six siblings.

According to a programme issued by the family, the body of the "Chike Obi of Ndokwa Nation” as he was popularly called will be committed to mother earth at Ebedei-Umunyalum on Saturday, February 8.

Late Blessing Otuya

12—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Edo teachers kick against competency test

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM & GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

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ENIN—SCORES of teachers in primary and secondary schools in Edo State, yesterday, held a protest rally against the state government’s plan to conduct a competency test for all teachers in the state.

The teachers, who stormed Auchi, Etsako-West Local Government Area of the state, rejected the plan by the government to subject them to any form of test.

It will be recalled that the government had fixed February 8 as date for the competency test for all primary and secondary school teachers in the state.

The competency test is coming on the heels of the sack of 836 teachers by the government in 2013, due to falsification of age and certificate forgery, among others.

Meanwhile, Governor Adams Oshiomhole, yesterday, insisted that the proposed competency test for teachers in the state was not meant to witch-hunt anybody.

Disagreeing with Oshiomhole, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, through its state chairman, Chief Dan Orbih, accused the government of using “the competency test, along with some other policies including repressive tax policies, to shore up the state’s depleted vault.”

Orbih insisted that the use of the competency test as a yardstick for retrenchment means using teachers as scapegoats for the dire financial crisis the state government has plunged the state into.

Oshiomhole, when civil society organisations in the state paid him a call, said that only those incompetent to teach should be afraid of the test, noting, “any of the problems dragging us down, the earlier we identify it and find the courage to fix it, the earlier can we make up for lost time.”

He argued that even if everybody cannot go to the university, everyone deserves to have sound basic primary and junior secondary education, adding: “In this state, I am sure that we have many qualified teachers who are unemployed. So why should we fold our hands and watch those not qualified take charge of the future leaders of our state?

“A level 12 teacher earns more than a civil servant. This is in recognition of the importance we attach to education. We are not getting what we should . God will punish me if as governor of this state, who has been so favoured by every person in terms of the number of votes I got from the local government areas, that I knowingly dumped the Edo child on teachers, who will not impart knowledge in them.”

Orbih, faulting the test, said: “We condemn in very strong terms, the decision to conduct the competency test. It is discriminatory and unacceptable. For it to be justified, the state government should first subject everyone to competency test, starting from the Government

House. We sympathise with teachers at this time because we know they are being made the sacrificial lamb.

“As we have repeatedly stated, the proper thing is to organise in-house training for teachers as done by the administration of the late Ambrose Alli. Teachers who were found lacking then were not discarded as being planned, but trained to become useful to themselves and their families.

We say Governor Oshiomhole should not turn people who are bread winners in their families to bread seekers.”

Speaking during the rally on behalf of the teachers, Mr Mike Uhunwangho, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Teachers, NUT, Edo Chapter, said that teachers would not participate in the competency test.

He said the protest was

being carried out across the state, adding that teachers would not be subjected to the test.

“We are unanimously rejecting the call by the Edo State Government to have us write a fresh competency test to determine our suitability for teaching jobs in the state. We have directed all the teachers not to attend any form of competency test nor accept any letter from anybody inviting them for the test,” he said.

11TH CVL ANNUAL LECTURE: From left: Ms Ada Osakwe, Senior Investment Adviser to Minister of Agriculture; Apostle Hayford Alile and Ambassador Joe Keshi, Chairman, UBA Board, at the 11th CVL Annual Lecture with the theme: Leadership and the Scourge of Poverty in Africa at NIIA, Victoria Island, Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Biodun Ogunleye.

INC insists on dissolution of IYC leadership

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HE Ijaw National Congress, INC, yesterday, said it stands by the dissolution of the national leadership of the Ijaw Youth Council, IYC, despite a purported five days ultimatum by the youth group.

INC, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Victor Burubo, said “ we wishe to make it clear that congress was not, is not and will not be part of any illegal and arbitrary decision to dissolve

the duly elected organs of the IYC at all levels.

“INC notes that the crisis rocking IYC affects only the national executive of the youth council and does not in any way affect the parliament, the zones or the clans. It is abundantly clear that Chief Edwin Clarke hosted a meeting on January 30, 2014 to which INC, Ijaw elders and IYC presidential candidates were in-

vited. The decisions reached at that meeting are as follows: that the purported election of Udengs Eradiri was null and void; that the IYC presidential election will hold in June 2015 and that a care-taker executive committee of IYC be set up to run the affairs of IYC until June 2015."

N-Delta leaders to APC: Shut down govt,lose all elections

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

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EADERS of thought across Niger Delta, have vowed to ensure that All Progressives Congress, APC, does not win any meaningful election in the region, should the party continue with its plan to shut down the President Goodluck Jonathan-led government.

At a meeting in Ughelli, Delta State, to announce its programmes for 2014, the leaders, under the aegis of Niger Delta Leaders Assembly, NDLA, condemned APC’s position, reminding its members in the National Assembly that the federal budget which passage they have vowed to block, was for all Nigerians and not for APC or Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, only.

We'll be embarrassed if Jonathan refuses to contest in 2015 —Ijaw students

BY EMMA AMAIZE

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ARRI—THREE Ijaw students’ groups in Niger Delta, yesterday, said that they will not be happy if President Goodluck Jonathan fails to seek a fresh mandate in 2015.

In a statement by the leaders of Izon-Ebe Students, National Association of Izon-Ebe Law Students, NAILS, and National Associaiton of Izon-Ebe English Students, NAIES, Ebi Wayas and others, said: ‘’President Jonathan’s concern for building quality and affordable education for Nigerian students cannot be over estimated.

“Students of Ijaw nation and Niger Delta region will always give their support to Jonathan to show gratitude for his rapid transformation of education and other sectors of the economy. We have confidence in the person of Jonathan for better Nigeria, despite the orchestrated efforts of some unscrupulous elements in the country to make him unpopular and unacceptable."

Pa Ugbechie passes on at 92

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R. Gabriel Ugbechie of Isho village, Ubulu-Uku, Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, is dead, aged 92.

He was a community leader, philanthropist and devout Christian.

He is survived by 16 children, numerous grandchildren and great grandchildren, among whom is Mr. Ken Ugbechie, Editorin-Chief of Political Economist magazine and former editor of Daily Times and Post Express newspapers.

His burial has been fixed for April 24 and 25 in his compound.

Late Pa Ugbechie

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014—13

Delta 2015: Aboh kingdom urges Ugbomah to contest guber race

Patani group begs Rep to re-contest

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HE people of Aboh Kingdom in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State, have urged the political adviser to the state governor in charge of Delta North, Omordi George Ugbomah, to contest the 2015 gubernatorial election in the state.

Speaking under the aegis of Delta Vision 2015 for Omordi George Ugbomah, the people noted that the Aboh Kingdom designed the December 2013 annual masquerade carnival specifically to call on Ugbomah to contest the 2015 governorship election.

The group described Ugbomah as a “true son and a worthy ambassador of Aboh Kingdom and a patriotic Deltan, who has served the state meritoriously in several sensitive positions and still serving as Political Adviser.”

Spokesman for the group, Prince Olise Imegwu expressed optimism that if given the opportunity to serve, “Ugbomah has the requisite knowledge, to take Delta State to a greater height.”

Livingword Ministry holds anniversary

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IVINGWORD Discipleship and Evangelical Ministry, will on Saturday, begin activities to mark its 2014 anniversary and family deliverance outreach.

The activities lined up for the event include thanksgiving, prayers and dedication of its new hall. It will also feature deliverance and healing service to be conducted by Rev. Gomba Oyor of God-Will-Do-It Ministries Ibadan .

In a statement by the Senior Pastor of the Ministry, Pastor Charles Ikoabasi, said, "the first convention of the Ministry , also known as Livingword Family Church, is dedicated to the deliverance of Nigeria from the claws of Darkness.

“For so long, Nigeria has been writhing under the plague of darkness, manifesting in the forms of deep poverty, frustrations, failure of social infrastructure, insecurity, leadership failure and national stagnancy."

CONDOLENCE VISIT: Cross section of traditional rulers during a condolence visit by the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, to the Oba of Benin at his palace, on the death of the Oba's wife, in Benin City. Photo by Barnabas Uzosike.

DELTA: Utuama contradicting Uduaghan —Gbagi ….He's a serial liar —Dep governor

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

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ORMER Minister of State for Education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi and Delta State deputy governor, Professor Amos Utuama, SAN, continued their bitter exchanges, yesterday, with both men accusing each other of lying.

While Gbagi alleged that Utuama contradicted Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan's praises of him (Gbagi) as a person worthy of emulation, Utuama dismissed Gbagi as a serial liar.

On Tuesday, Gbagi said he had nothing against the deputy governor other than protecting the interest of Deltans and raised issues that cast shadows on Utuama's place of origin. The deputy governor responded by pooh-poohing Gbagi’s allegations and described him as a pathological liar.

Responding to Utuama's comments, Gbagi, in a statement by his Media Assistant, Desy Smith, said, by casting aspersion on him, Utuama was contradicting Uduaghan.

But Utuama, in a statement by his Press Secretary, Mr Augustine Avwode, said: “We maintain that Gbagi is a pathological liar. Like any one suffering from such incurable disease, he will always concoct stories to reinforce previous lies as is always the case with a serial liar. It is in Gbagi's character to always want to pull down those whose stature he can never

attain. For now, we will no longer join issues with him because it is common knowledge that whoever runs after a mad man on the street, on account of anything, stands the risk of being called a mad person.”

Meanwhile, Smith said: “We have read the Septuagenarian, Utuama, as contained in his statement in the Vanguard Newspaper, and as the Media Assistant to the distinguished Olorogun Gbagi, I was with him when he visited Utuama in his office for the first and only time he ever did.

“Utuama said at that meeting, and I quote: ‘Gbagi, you are a big problem.’

Olorogun Gbagi then asked him and I quote, ‘ why am I problem?' to which question the Professor replied: 'You are bluntly honest. You are

too blunt. You know we in government don’t like blunt people.' Gbagi again asked him 'Would you prefer that I be dishonest like those of you in government?' Utuama replied and I quote him again: 'No. Your name and personality act as a check and balance when we need to use it'.

“I am pained as I witnessed Utuama’s living with Gbagi at a time just before he was appointed Attorney General and for the same man for obvious personal political interest to now contradict Governor Uduaghan, who only few months ago publicly acknowledged this great investor, moulder of society to the admiration of old and young people in Delta and in Nigeria.”

MEMBER of the House of Representatives, Mr Nicholas Mutu, has been called upon by the Patani Development Forum, PDF, to seek re-election in 2015.

The group also passed a vote of confidence on Mutu for his excellent performance as the representative of Patani/Bomadi federal constituency of Delta State in the House.

Coordinator of the group, Mr. Lawrence Akpeti, who is also a Peoples’ Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain in the state, said they were impressed with the representation by Mutu in the House.

Akpeti said “Over the years, we have never had it so good as Mutu has touched the lives of the people of our constituency in so many ways which we can attest to. He is from Bomadi but we of the Patani extraction are well pleased with his performance."

2015: Urhobo youths insist on Delta guber slot

A

HEAD of 2015 general elections, Urhobo youths under the aegis of Oyivwi Rebirth Congress, ORC, have said that the Urhobo nation will not accept anything short of the governorship slot in Delta State.

They spoke yesterday in Ughelli, at the unveiling of ORC, a pressure group for Urhobo youths across the 24 kingdoms in Urhoboland.

National Coordinator of the group, Mr. Wilson Dodo, said that Urhobo youths would support any Urhobo candidate in the forthcoming polls, irrespective of political party.

Delta PDP youths threaten mass defection to APC A GGRIEVED youths of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in Delta State, have threatened to decamp to the All Progressives Congress, APC, over their alleged maltreatment and marginalisation by the leadership of PDP in the state.

The party's youths, led by Mr. Alex Umokoro, under the aegis of Delta PDP Youths Forum, yesterday in Warri, also expressed dissatisfaction that they were been

abandoned and neglected by the party, adding that in 2015, they would ensure PDP was voted out of power.

The youths said that they are the strength of the party that should not be treated with disdain, adding, “We are displeased with the poor handling of the party’s affairs in Delta State, where majority of our members are aggrieved and are silently hobnobbing with the opposition party APC.” The youths appealed to the

national chairman of the party to urgently prevail on the leadership of party in the state to reconcile all aggrieved youths of the party in order to prevent their defection to APC and subsequent crumbling of the party in 2015.

“Due to the incompetence and poor handling of the party’s affairs by the current leadership, we have lost confidence in the party which is the rationale behind our moving to APC, where we shall be recognised, appreciated and adequately rewarded for our efforts,” they said.

14—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Two arraigned for impersonating IKEDC staff

APGA begins contempt of court proceedings against Chief Umeh

BY SEBASTINE OBASI

BY PETER OKUTU & ENYIM ENYIM

A

BAKALIKI — NA TIONAL chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, Chief Maxi Okwu, said yesterday, that the party has commenced contempt of court proceedings against Chief Victor Umeh for disobeying the court verdict that sacked him from office.

This came as Special Adviser to Governor Peter Obi on Motor Parks and Markets, Chief Sylvester Nwobu-Alor, said the removal of Chief Victor Umeh as national chairman of the party by a Federal High Court, Abuja, three weeks ago was part of the age-long cry for restructuring of the party.

Okwu explained to newsmen in Abakaliki that the action was necessitated by the wilful disregard of the High Court ruling which removed him (Umeh) and his Secretary, Alhaji Sani Shinkafi, from office in January.

CONFERENCE: From left, Vice President, Publicity, Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, ECCIMA; Mr. Emeka Nwandu, president; Dr. Ifeanyi Okoye, and Director-General, Sir Emeka Okereke, during a news conference on ECCIMA 25th International Trade Fair, in Enugu, yesterday.

TWO PERSONS nabbed by the Police last week in Ojodu Business Unit for impersonating Ikeja Electricity Distribution Company, IKEDC, staff and illegally disconnecting and extorting customers for non-payment of bills were, yesterday, arraigned before the Ikosi Magistrate's Court.

The suspects, Isaac Eribadu and Sunday Olaleke, pleaded not guilty to the

charges and were each granted bail in the sum of N100,000, with Level 08 civil servants as sureties.

They were, however, remanded to prison custody pending the perfection of their bail conditions.

The case was adjourned to March 5 , 2014 for trial.

Speaking on the development, Pekun Adeyanju, Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs, IKEDC, said the case will serve as a deterrent to others.

Enugu to demolish 5 slums in capital city ...Court restrains govt

BY TONY EDIKE

E

NUGU — OVER 20,000 residents of Ugbo Okonkwo layout, a high density settlement in Upper New Haven area of Enugu, have been ordered to vacate their homes which the government has marked for demolition.

The demolition notice which was served on the property owners on January 30, 2014, by officials of Enugu Capital Territory Development Authority, ECTDA, Vanguard learnt, yesterday, was also extended to hundreds of landlords at Ugbo Chime, a former farm settlement founded by the late father of Governor Sullivan Chime, Igwe Elias Aneke Chime, First Republic parliamentarian and traditional ruler of Udi. An ECTDA source also revealed that the state government had already given approval for the demolition of three

other settlements described as slums within the state capital.

These include the densely populated Obiagu, Ikilike and Iva Valley. The action is part of Chime administration’s programme to give the capital city a facelift.

The development has thrown the residents into serious panic as the ECTDA officials’ commenced inspection of the affected old settlements last week and during the process informed the property owners of the government’s intention to recover the layouts defacing the aesthetics of the state capital.

Property owners at Ugbo Okonkwo settlement which was allocated to migrant farmers from Ezeagu Local Government Area by Nike community since 1859, received their notices of demolition on January 30 and were given a period of seven days to vacate their homes.

The final demolition notice, dated January 30, 2014, came to the thousands of tenants and property owners as a surprise, prompting an emergency meeting to find solution.

However, after two days of meeting, the property owners approached Enugu State High court and obtained an interim injunction restraining the state government from carrying out the demolition, which notice expired yesterday.

The presiding judge, Justice A. R. Ozoemena, who was approached by representatives of the property owners, including Joseph Amuji, Emmanuel Elo, Osmond Nwabuisi, Mrs. Justina Chibuzor and Kenneth Enulu, granted an interim injunction, Wednesday, February 5, restraining the State Attorney General and the ECTDA (Defendants), their agents, privies or assigns “from demolishing, forcefully removing or tempering with the plaintiffs/ applicants land situate at and known as Ugbo Okonkwo near New Haven, Enugu, pending hearing and determination of the motion on notice.”

Justice Ozoemena, who fixed hearing of the motion on notice filed by their counsel, Mr. B. N. Nebe, for February 12, 2014, however, stated that if the motion on notice was not heard and “it is the fault of the applicants within seven days from today, the 5th of February, 2014, this order stands vacated.”

The state Commissioner for ECTDA, Engr. Ikechukwu Ugwuegede, who visited Ugbo Okonkwo at 10 a.m. on Tuesday, February 4, told the affected property owners and the residents that the state government instructed him to issue the warning notice to demolish Ugbo Okonkwo in New Haven and Ugbo Chime at Thinker’s Corner in Enugu metropolis.

According to Ugwuegede, who was accompanied by two top officials of ECTDA, Messrs Asadu and Ozougwu, “the government of Chime does not want to see any slum in the city and, therefore, has in-

structed me to carry out the exercise."

The aged property owners who were shocked by his statement, broke down in tears and began to plead with the governor through the commissioner to tamper justice with mercy by giving them enough time to renovate or reconstruct their houses, some of which were built with mud over 150 years ago.

One of the aged landlords, Prince Obiora Elo, who came with clutches to the meeting between the commissioner and the property owners at 164 Upper Chime Avenue, pleaded with the state government to give them a “grace period” to reconstruct their houses, saying “it will be a sin against God and man if they should throw out the poor people of Ugbo Okonkwo community of about 20,000 people, including women and children, whose livelihood solely depends on these houses.”

Sit up or face sanction, Obi warns contractors

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

AWKA — GOVERNOR Peter Obi of Anambra State, yesterday, warned contractors executing projects for the state government to sit up or face sanctions.

Obi, who spoke while inspecting ongoing projects in various parts of the state, including road construction and renovation of school buildings, said while some of the contractors were performing to satisfaction, others were moving at snail speed

which government could not condone.

Some of the projects inspected include the five star hotel projects at Agulu and Onitsha; shopping mall projects in Awka and Onitsha, as well as bridge projects at Nsugbe, Atani and Ishiagu.

At some of the sites, however, the governor said he was not satisfied with the pace of work, adding that there was no reason any contractor working in Anambra State should not be serious with his work since government did not owe them.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014—15

FG appoints ex-defence chief, Agwai SURE-P boss zSola Omole becomes NTA D-G

T

HE FEDERAL Gov ernment, yesterday, appointed former Defence chief, General Martin Agwai, as Chairman, SURE-P, with Tanwa Olusi as his deputy.

Mrs. Fidelia Njeze, a former minister and ambassador was also appointed Special Adviser on NEPAD while, Suleiman Ajadi, was made Special Adviser on National Assembly, NASS. Also, the Federal Government has appointed veteran broadcaster and former Chevron image maker, Mr Sola Omole the Director General of NTA; while another broadcast veteran, Alhaji Ladan Salihu, becomes Director-General of FRCN. In the same vein, former Special Assistant to President Jonathan on Media and Publicity, Mr Ima Niboro, is now the Managing Director of the News Agency of Nigeria, NAN. Meanwhile, the International Bureau of Education, IBE, the world’s leading curriculum organisation, Wednesday in Geneva, Switzerland, elected Nigeria's Professor Godswill Obioma as its president at the 63rd Annual Conference attended by member states.

The election of Obioma was facilitated by a highpowered Federal Government’s delegation led by the Supervising Minister of Education, Nyeson Wike.

Oteju, 80, for burial at Ikorodu

F

ORMER SHIPPING magnate and lawyer, Mr. Stephen A. Oteju, has passed on, aged 80.

According to a family statement, service of songs for the deceased will hold on February 12 at his residence, 16, D’Aberto Road, Palmgrove Estate, Lagos.

Late Oteju will be interred at 102, Sagamu Road, Ikorodu, Lagos, on February 14, immediately after a funeral service.

Late Oteju

DSS arrests, quizzes Asari-Dokubo over inciting remarks zReleased at 4pm

BY CHRIS OCHAYI &LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

A

BUJA — THE leader of the Niger Delta People’s Volunteer Force, NDPVF, Alhaji Mujahid Asari-Dokubo, is currently undergoing interrogation at the Department of State Services, DSS, headquarters, following alleged inflammatory remarks credited to him about 2015 general elections.

He was, however, released at about 4p.m.

Asari-Dokubo in honouring the invitation extended to him, yesterday, stormed DSS headquarters with his lawyers and a few supporters.

“If it is war the North wants, we are ready for them because Jonathan must complete the mandatory constitutionally allowable two terms of eight years. At home, we have regrouped and we have put our people at alert,” Dokubo had said in a television interview in Lagos.

But the All Progressives Congress, APC, almost immediately criticised the DSS for looking the other way and not arresting Asari-Dokubo over his inciting remarks.

The party had wondered if the DSS was hibernating for not arresting the Niger Delta warlord for making those statements, even when it arrested its chieftain,

Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, over a similar allegation of making inciting statement about 2015 elections.

Deputy Director, Public Relations Department of DSS, Marilyn Ogar, who confirmed the development to Vanguard in Abuja, said Asari-Dokubo was then undergoing interrogation Meanwhile, earlier on his ar-

rival at DSS office, Asari who was accompanied by his kinsmen said he was prepared to answer any kind of question that may be posed to him.

"I'm here to honour DSS invitation, I don’t know if it is arrest.

"I'm not afraid of arrest, and have never been. Arrest is part of the dividend of the struggle. I have been arrested 73 times, today’s

arrest will be making it the 74th time. ”I'm going into DSS headquarters with my prayer mat, my Koran, tisbih, toilet bag, which contains my toothpaste, toothbrush.

"I'm also here with my drugs. I am fully prepared, if the DSS decides to arrest me, I'm ready to stay,” Asari said.

CEREMONY: President Goodluck Jonathan, flanked by Vice President Namadi Sambo (5th left) and the Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Jacob Minimah (4th left); Chief of Naval Staff, Admiral Usman Jibrin (2nd right); Chief of Air Staff, Air Vice Marshal Adesola Amosu (2nd left), and spouses of the Service Chiefs, during their decoration ceremony, performed by President Jonathan, at Aso Chambers, State House, Abuja. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida

Government not interfering with EFCC —Lamorde

BY SONI DANIEL, Regional Editor, North

C

HAIRMAN OF the Eco nomic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Ibrahim Lamorde, yesterday, dispelled allegations of interference in its anti-corruption fight by the government, it was working independently in accordance with extant law.

Lamorde stated this when he received the Director, Sub-Sahara Africa Department of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Michael Stibbe, and Ambassador of the Netherlands to Nigeria, John Groffen, in his office.

Lamorde cited the prosecution of the sons of powerful politicians in the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, as a sign of its independence.

He said: “We have enjoyed tremendous political goodwill. We charged the son of Bamanga Tukur, who until recently was the chairman of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party to court. We also charged the son of Ahmadu Ali, former chairman of PDP to court and a host of others.

SERVICE CHIEFS: From left, Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Adeshola Amosu; Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah; Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshal Alex Badeh, and Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibrin, after their decoration.

Fire out-break near Kaduna Refinery Production, distribution of products unaffected —NNPC

T

HE NIGERIAN National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, has announced that

there was a fire incident earlier in the day at the truckpark near the Kaduna Refinery in which

Why FG budget can’t work —Nduese Essien, ex-minister

BY SONI DANIEL, Regional Editor, North

F

ORMER MINISTER of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, Nduese Essien, has accused Federal Government’s ministries, departments and agencies, MDAs, of incessant duplication of items in national budgets, thereby making them unworkable.

Mr. Essien, who was reviewing the performance of President Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, insisted that the MDA’s

should be blamed for poor budget implementation in Nigeria.

Mr. Essien, a former member of the House of Representatives who was appointed minister by President Jonathan from April 2010 – May 2011, said there was need for overhaul of the national budgetary process.

According to Essien, who had served in both the national legislature and at the Federal Executive Council, FEC, there was a lot of loopholes in the national fiscal processes.

two tankers got burnt and two persons were injured.

The Acting Group General Manager, Public Affairs Division, NNPC, Dr. Omar Ibrahim, in a statement, yesterday, explained that the park where the fire incident occurred is some distance away from the Kaduna Refinery Complex and so did not affect the operations of the refinery in anyway.

“We, therefore, urge members of the public not to engage in panic buying as neither production nor distribution of petroleum products from the refinery was affected in anyway by the fire incident.

"The two persons who sustained injuries in the incident are currently receiving treatment at our clinic," Dr. Ibrahim said.

16—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

INVASION OF KAYRIOTT HOTEL, WARRI

Navy Lieutenant Uche Akalieze allegedly being brutalized

Delta Hotel fracas: Police, Navy at daggers drawn •Police assaulted naval officer -Mohammed Garba, CO, NNS Delta •Surrender erring naval officer for investigation, prosecution — Ikechukwu Aduba, Police Commissioner •We committed no evil—Navy

& EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

N

O love lost: Clearly, there is more than meet the eyes to last Thursday’ brouhaha at the Kayriott Hotel and Suites, Effurun, near Warri, Delta State, where a team of naval personnel reportedly invaded the guesthouse, brutalized hotel officials, disarmed and abducted two policemen on guard duty in the hotel following a heated disagreement with a waitress, Rachel Usen, over supposed non payment of N8,500 charges for food and drinks guzzled by a naval officer and his friends.

What has become apparent from the crossfire between naval and police authorities in the state since the incident is that that there is no love lost between the two security agencies. The verbal exchange between the Commissioner of Police, Delta State, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba and Commanding Officer, Nigerian Navy Ship, NNS Delta, Commodore Mohammed Garba, is a pointer to the state of affairs.

How Navy invaded Kayriott hotel Narrating what happened, proprietor of the hotel, Hon. Efe Afe, a former member of the Delta State House of Assembly, in a petition to the Chief of Naval Staff, Rear Admiral Usman Jibril, dated February 3, said, “One Navy Lieutenant Akalezie Uche attached to the Nigerian Navy, NNS Delta in Warri, Delta State, in company of a female friend and another young man visited the aforementioned hotel and was attended to

at the hotel’s pool bar by a waitress named Rachael Usen.”

Delta State based human rights activist and lawyer, Oghenejabor Ikimi, who was briefed by the ex-lawmaker stated,”The waitress at the end of the stay of the above trio demanded payment of the sum of N8,500.00 (Eight thousand, five hundred naira) for the food, drinks and ice cream which the said lieutenant and his friends had ordered and consumed, but the lieutenant claimed that he had already paid for same to the consternation of the waitress who insisted that she had not been paid a dime.”

Ikimi, also the coordinator of the Forum for Justice and Human Rights Defense, FJHD, Warri, said following altercation with the mobile police guard at the hotel

,

By EMMA AMAIZE, Regional Editor, South-South

Battered mobile Police, Sgt. Samson Ofoyeju attached to Kayriott hotel

by Navy personnel during their onslaught on Kayriott Hotels

personnel shoot, assault and abduct three staff of Kayriott Hotel, adding, “the incident that happened at Kayriott Hotel is still under investigation and was a case of assaulting a commissioned naval officer which necessitated admission the hospital.”

He said the hotel staff, including the general manager, Mr. Tony Oguns, were invited to write statements on the incident voluntarily and allowed to return to their business afterwards, while the navy “returned to the hotel as further investigation by demanding recording of the CCTV footage of the unfortunate incident which the hotel management misconstrued.”

Police beat up naval officer – Spokesperson NNS Delta Public Relations

The battered police personnel as at the time of filing this report is still lying critically sick and unconscious at the hospital

who tried to apprehend the trio for non settlement of their bill, Lt. Akalezie allegedly alerted colleagues from the NNS Delta naval base who stormed the hotel.

We committed no evil – Navy boss NNS Delta in response, Monday, however, said its men neither brutalized and kidnapped police officers or any hotel staff, saying to the contrary, that the naval officer was beaten up by policemen even after he identified himself.

Commanding Officer, NNS Delta, Commodore Garba Mohammed, said at no time did its

,

Officer, Lt C.I.D Yohana, added another twist when he maintained in a chat with Vanguard that the policemen, indeed, manhandled the navy officer and emailed some photographs, which he said showed how the said navy officer was brutalized. According to him, the navy officer who managed to appear at the press briefing, Monday, had returned to the hospital for medical attention as his ear was dripping blood.

Police chief, Aduba flares up If anybody was flattered by the explanation of the navy on the matter, it is not the Commisioner of Police, Mr. Aduba. He was, to say the least, nauseated by the

“feeble attempt” put up by his naval counterpart to exonerate his men from the “show of shame”.

Aduba described the navy's defence of the scandalous episode as the “height of falsehood,”noting “the simple fact which is well corroborated by evidence of eye witnesses is that the two policemen on guard duty at the hotel, fully dressed in service uniform, were over-powered by the naval personnel who stormed the premises of the hotel in a commando-like manner; disarmed the police personnel, battered them to stupor, before abducting them together with some officials of the hotel to the Naval Base.

“From the investigation so far conducted, the bone of contention behind this unholy act and a seemingly recurring decimal of occurrence between the navy and the police in the state is the payment of N9,000 for pepper soup and alcoholic beverages consumed by the man who was later identified as a naval officer and two of his friends at the hotel. An argument ensued between the said naval officer on civil outfit and the hotel receptionist over the nonpayment of the said N9,000 for services delivered, in the course of which the naval officer slapped the receptionist causing her ears to ooze blood."

Irritating cover up: He said the news of the incident was received by the Police Command in the course of the Command’s end of the month officers’ meeting at Asaba and he quickly got in touch with the Commanding Officer of NNS Delta, who regrettably attempted to put up a defense

to the effect that his personnel was fired at by the police personnel on duty at the hotel which would have been fatal, but for the bullet proof jacket being donned by the naval officer.

Aduba who told Vanguard the defence was completely at variance with the facts of the case as adumbrated above, said, “The battered police personnel as at the time of filing this report is still lying critically sick and unconscious at the hospital.”

Act of lawlessness His words, “We want to state clearly that the Police Force still remains the symbol of government and no profession has the act of lawlessness as part of its ethics, hence we strongly submit that the act of carrying two Hilux load of naval personnel - not for the purpose of storming/fighting our common enemies - the criminals, but rather for the purpose of overpowering fellow uniformed security personnel on legitimate duty which has occurred several times in Delta State will certainly not augor well for the good governance of our country which is the primary purpose of government.”

Navy should surrender erring officer “In the light of the foregoing, we want to state clearly, that the actions of the naval officer hinges on the realm of criminality and the only option left to the naval authority is to hand over the erring naval officer to the police for investigation and prosecution,” he said.

Vanguard, FRIDAY,FEBRUARY 7, 2014 —17

•Major-General Kenneth Minimah

•Alhaji Bamanga Tukur

Readers’ Responses

L

ast week, I praised President Goodluck Jonathan for appointing Major-General Kenneth Minimah as Chief of Army Staff (I said he had a good reputation and felt that those who were criticising Jonathan - simply because Minimah is a fellow Ijaw were being unfair).

I also described Adamu Mu’azu, the new Chairman of the PDP, as a good choice…but questioned the wisdom of giving Alhaji Bamangar Tukur, Mu’azu’s predecessor, the chairmanship of the ailing Railway Corporation.

I expressed the view that Tukur has some good qualities and can add value within certain contexts, but is not likely to shine within the context of a state enterprise that desperately needs dynamic and youthful leadership.

The above points attracted various responses from Vanguard readers and I’ve decided to publish two of these reactions:

From: Ifeka Okonkwo i fekaokonkwo@yahoo.com Donu, Alhaji Bamangar Tukur, the newly appointed chairman of NRC, stated when he was the chairman of PDP that it is a party of patronage and so it is no surprise that our president gave him that post for him to continue enjoying our proverbial national cake at his old age, without minding whether he modernises the railway system or not.

That is PDP for you, a party that recycles old men who should have since retired, instead of looking for a new crop of rulers…!!!

From: Usman Santuraki <ususanturaki37@gmail.com, C M Y K

a public affairs commentator who is based in Jimeta-Yola.

It is not in my character to respond to issues raised by respected columnists. But I am compelled to respond to your piece titled “Thank You Mr President”.

You said that, “Any Head of State from any tribe is entitled to select an army chief he feels he can totally trust, for whatever reason”. You need to be told in no uncertian terms that many previous Heads of State never selected their army chief from their area.

Chief Olusegun Obasanjo as military Head of State did not select his army chief from his tribe or area. Alhaji Shehu Shagari as civilian President never selected his army chief from his tribe or area and even the late President Umaru Yar’Adua did not select his army chief from his area.

As for the installation of Alhaji Adamu Muazu as the PDP National Chairman, it is not a smart move. This is because there is nothing Muazu can do towards making inroads in the North if President Goodluck Jonathan declares his intention to contest the election in 2015.

As for Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, he has come a long way and a lot of people are saying that with his age and exposure, he should vacate the scene and leave it for the younger generations.

Illuminating Interviews

I was recently invited to sit on an interview panel. The organisation in question wanted to recruit someone competent to run its public relations department and felt that I could add value to the

process because of my media experience.

A professional human resources consultant had prepared a list of questions for panellists to ask every job candidate. One of the questions was: “What is your greatest weakness?”

Much to my amazement, ALL of the candidates looked puzzled and taken aback when this question was fired at them. They had clearly not given any serious thought to their shortcomings and they all struggled to provide answers.

After long pauses, they said things like: “I don’t sleep when there is a lot of work to be done” and “I am too kind to people.”

In other words, none of them were initially willing to admit to any REAL weaknesses. The characteristics they presented to us as weaknesses were, in fact, strengths. One guy even smugly described himself as “totally perfect”.

I was flabbergasted and irritated by this ridiculous and mendacious arrogance and I pushed them to be more truthful. To make them understand that we wouldn’t hold it against them if they were more transparent, I pointed out that all mere mortals possess personality flaws and mentioned some of mine.

Interestingly, the male candidates rigidly stood

their grounds and refused to confess to any normal human failings, while the women – albeit reluctantly – eventually succumbed to the pressure and admitted that they weren’t saints.

Why does the average Nigerian find it so difficult to engage in totally honest self-analyses and interactions? If you cannot focus on or reveal your shortcomings, how on earth can you even begin to eliminate or mitigate them?

By the way, the fact that it was the female candidates who eventually realised that humility is not necessarily synonymous with stupidity is yet another reason why this country needs more women in positions of authority!

Job seekers

Responses to: donzol2002@yahoo.co.uk or to 0802 747 6458 OR 0811 675 9752 (texts only). PLEASE KINDLY NOTE THAT UNLESS YOU REQUEST ANONYMITY, YOUR COMMENTS MAY BE PUBLISHED, WITH YOUR NAMES AND CONTACT DETAILS ATTACHED.

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

W

HEN a 13-year-old boy, Daniel Oikkena, embarked on the dan gerous path of squeezing himself into the tyre compartment of Arik aircraft, with the belief that he would end up in America, the action sent out a strong message of migration driven by frustration. Ironically, government officials who ought to have been shamefaced, for making life in Nigeria a living hell, went to town celebrating the heroics of the young boy. The young man could have died in the process, just as so many other desperate persons that had tried to migrate through irregular means.

In recent times, migration has sparked off much interest and debates, especially in destination countries where political establishments have become sensitive to the socioeconomic pressures and demographic consequences arising from the process. Consequently, European countries have taken drastic steps to contain migration surge.

The history of emigration in Africa, especially in sub-Saharan Africa, has been chequered; and tumultuous. Incidents of political instability, lack of economic opportunities,

Danger ous Deser Dangerous Desertt Migrations

bad governance natural disasters, escape from persecution or quest for knowledge and leisure, have over time remained as the key precipitating factors responsible for the movement of people from Africa.

Today, there is a new wave of migration inspired by the desire to be part of the globalisation process and promises of a better life.

It is a development that we cannot ignore either for its positive contributions to human development or its adverse consequences, especially when caused by acts of desperation.

Only recently, about 87 persons perished in the Sahara Desert. Dangerous as this route has been over the centuries, many desperate young people have fallen prey to human trafficking syndicates that extort money from

them with promises to assist them get to Europe through North Africa.

Many of these desperadoes have ended up being killed and their kidneys sold to human organ traders. Those who tried to move Southwards, notably to Central and Southern African countries, using rickety boats and rafts, have either succeeded or died. It is disheartening that millions of those trapped in this desperation are young people, full of life and energy, people whose sweat and blood should otherwise be the engine blocks to build their nation's wealth.

These are people who prefer to die in dangerous migration process because life in their fatherland has become meaningless. We make bold to say that the fault lies squarely at the doorsteps of government and its institutions.

It is the fault of the leadership and the quality of governance that is offered to the citizens.

More than ever before, the government must focus on making life more meaningful for Nigerians. We can't afford to continue to lose our best to the horrific death most illegal migration has become. We need our best and brightest here to have a fair chance of competing in the global market space.

OPINION

BY CHARLES OGBONNAYA

R

ASCALITY is not a good political attribute. It is associated with thugs and touts. II is sometimes employed by disgruntled politicians who cannot swim against the currents to win cheap political points. As a matter of fact, political rascality was a major cause of the breakdown of law and order as witnessed in the First Republic. It was the major cause of the first military intervention in Nigeria in 1966. Sadly, all the events that directly or indirectly led to the collapse of the First Republic are today playing back and nobody seems to care.

If you ask me, the All Progressive Congress (APC) is playing politics of rascality. The party has no respect for due process. It does not promote quality debate. It does not encourage discourse and constitutionalism. My advice is that the APC should work towards educating Nigerians on its mission and vision of the party. The party should eschew the idea of trying to grab power through the backyard. A situation where the party is promoting indiscipline all round the country because it wants defecting members of other rival parties to come to its fold is nothing but political pollution.

We join well-meaning Nigerians more importantly, the Unity Group in the House of Representatives and other progressive-minded citizens of this great country to agree with the statement made by the Unity Group to C M Y K

This

rascality

the effect that 'No Nigerian anywhere will stand by and watch an opposition greedy with mischief and power lust, frustrate the hopes and aspirations of millions of Nigerians with regards to health care deliver y, revival of standard of education, agricultural growth and development, foreign investment promotion, water supplies, road works, utilities and other infrastructural upgrading including electricity.'

We are very much concerned with what is happening in the National Assembly today because it has polarised the country on the lines that brought civil war on all of us. Look at what I mean The APC is a South-west party that has suddenly become a national burden.

The problem here is that like the AG, UPN and ACN that begot it, the APC is now a national malady. The AG's rascality caused what was called Wild, Wild West and or Operation Wetie. It eventually led to the collapse of Tafawa Bafewa’s administration and also made the civil war possible. The UPN was also a factor that made the return of the military regime to Nigeria. For instance, its disagreement with NPN in the old Ondo State as to who won the 1983 governorship election was a major reason the military struck again on the last day of December 1983. It is

must

stop

public knowledge that the UPN made things unbearable for NPN's Akin Omoboriowo and thousands of lives were lost in the ensuing tussle. As it was in Ondo State, so also it was in the old Oyo State where the late Bola Ige lost the election to NPN. I have highlighted the above instances to drive home the point that what usually puts Nigeria on the keg of gun powder normally emanates from the South-west but dramatically, the zone will be the greatest beneficiary, not in negative terms, of the crisis it sowed.

We are very much aware that the crisis of the Western elections of 1965 was the remote cause of the civil war. It benefited the West because, from nowhere, Chief Obafemi Awolowo who was struggling to find his foot in the national polity and who was just the leader of the opposition in the Federal Parliament became the second in command to General Yakubu Gowon after the second coup of 1966. Second, the 1983 election crisis in old Ondo and Oyo States led to the return of military rule in Nigeria and it was a time that brought out high ranking Yoruba administrators and military men with General Oladipo Diya and Ernest Shonekan as the greatest beneficiaries.

After 10 years, another tension arose in the South-west and it was the 1993

presidential election which was believed to have been won by Chief MKO Abiola. The June 12 crises was the second time since 1960 Nigeria came close to disintegration. There were tension and anxiety all over the place. The entire nation was chaotic.

Finally, at the point of military exit, it was Olusegun Obasanjo who was heavily rewarded as he ruled Nigeria for eight years. Obasanjo hails from the South-west.

Now, the APC that has its headquarters in the Soutfi-west with Ahmed Tinibu as the national leader, is out once more causing national disharmony. If we allow APC to continue the way it is going, one does not need a prophet or seer to tell that Nigeria will be the worse for it and the South-west will still reap, not the whirlwind, but the good fruits that it did not sow. It has happened in the past as highlighted above.

My worry over APC is that, it is doing everything wrongly. What can we call a situation where all the party ’s national officers are Muslims? Now, what can we call a situation where APC is wooing the Northern Muslims to its fold? Why is APC fighting to take power at all costs from President Goodluckonathan , a Christian from the old Eastern Region (South -south)?

Indeed, the APC rascality must stop now.

*Mr. Ogbonnaya is deputy Chief of Staff to the Abia State government.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014— —19

I

N a few weeks’ time, by March 2014, the proposed ban of imported used vehicles which we call ‘Tokunbo’ into Nigeria, will kick in. Typically, the Federal government may insist in her wisdom, on implementing this policy as half hazardly thoughtout, as it appears. The details of the implementation of this policy remain largely sketchy even now.

Government continues to use two weapons of suspense and surprise to subdue Nigerians into accepting such poorly articulated policies, as if we are still under military dictatorship.

Nigeria has a right to develop policies to protect, encourage and revive our home grown automotive industry by Nigerians for Nigerians. But it should be done properly, in a measured manner and should certainly not be executed in a knee jerk fashion or in a hurry, as is the case now.

The automotive industry in Nigeria dates back to the early 1960s when private companies, like UAC, Leventis, SCOA, BEWAC and R.T. Briscoe, pioneered the establishment of Auto assembly plants that used completely knocked down (CKD) or semi knocked down (SKD) parts.

Government in the 70s and 80s,provided a platform for negotiation with a number of

automotive plants in Europe to set up car and truck plants using completely knocked down parts. As a result we had Volkswagen of Nigeria limited (VWON) in Lagos, Peugeot Automobile Nigeria limited (PAN) at Kaduna, Anambra Motor Manufacturing Company (ANNAMCO) at Enugu, Styer Nigeria limited at Bauchi, National Truck Manufacturers (NMT) at Kano, and Leyland Nisara Limited at Ibadan, Oyo. During that period, the Nigerian automotive industry had the capacity to produce 108,000 cars, 56,000 commercial vehicles and 6,000 tractors annually. In those days, we had the 1st, 2nd, 3rd etc, national development plans, providing continuity in governance and policies, unlike the rat race, we have created to no advantage at all to Nigerians, except for a few to milk the economy. We had the steel rolling mills to support the automotive sector, we had constant and steady electric power, and there were down stream manufacturers, providing support, and creating jobs.

However, from the 1980s, the industry shrunk from 90 percent capacity utilisation to 10 percent capacity utilisation. Today, vehicle manufacturing is comatose, with PAN, that seems to be reengineering a comeback, as the rest have thrown in the towel. We

While the zeal of Dr. OlusegunAganga to re-awaken the motor industry is appreciated and encouraged, any action must be matched with the needs of the populace and balanced with sustainable measures

,

hear the VON premises in Lagos are up for sale, and who knows, it will become a fertilizer warehouse!

T

he Volkswagen beetle was a common sight in Nigeria of the years past. It was a popular catch phrase among Nigerians to say ‘built for Nigerian roads.’ We used to say that the beetle never dies, but they killed it somewhere between Dodan Barracks and Aso Rock . Indeed, the desire to have a made-in-Nigeria car has never been out the mind of an average Nigerian. We had the Z-280 proudly displayed at Alaka bus stop on Western Avenue, Lagos, in those days. Dr. Ezekeil Izuogu had dreamt of the first Nigerian car, but that dream was killed by the wicked peculiarities of the Nigerian horrible political and economic environment, where inventors must go to commercial banks, with their cut throat interest rates to raise funds. Until such

Atiku–Buhari alliance: Even crocodiles shed tears

BY ALIU SHUAIB

T

HAT the North-East of Nigeria is today facing security challenges brought about by activities of insurgents is a fact that is well known to all.

There have been insinuations in some quarters about the possible sponsors of the insurgency and their reasons for doing so.

Among these insinuations currently is the one, which holds that some leading politicians and elders in the north angry that power had not returned to the north following the 2011 presidential elections, had unleashed the insurgents on the country.

This line of thought has not been waved aside by Nigerians given threats issued by some top politicians in the north between 2010 and 2011 to the effect that they would make Nigeria ungovernable if Goodluck Jonathan or anyone from the southern part of the country became president.

Many will recall Atiku’s disingenuous rehash of the quote that those who made peaceful change impossible will make violent change inevitable just like General Muhammadu Buhari’s incendiary comments after losing the 2011 elections to Jonathan set the stage for the bloodletting that followed in the north. It is on record that at least ten Youth Corps members on national duty during the elections were murdered in cold blood by the General’s supporters. The dastardly murder of these innocent young Nigerians cut down in their prime, did not satisfy General Buhari as he warned in 2012 that, "If what happened in 2011 should again happen in 2015, by the grace of God, the dog and the baboon will all be soaked in blood."

Not a few Nigerians viewed this as another open invitation to chaos should the General, who is still keen on contesting the presidential elections, if he fails to win.

Writing on General Buhari’s penchant for C M Y K

inciting Nigerians, Prof. Femi Ajayi, Head, Political Science and Public Administration Department, Babcock University, IlishanRemo, Ogun State noted “Buhari is a man desperate for political power who has consistently showed himself as divisive person who did not even campaign in the south in 2011 elections. He has to work on his failed assignments, the quizzes he cheated on; the term paper a friend wrote for him; and his plagiarised project paper, before his graduation. Time is tickling for his 'academic' period.” Today General Buhari has found a new associate in Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, a former vice-president of this country.

Atiku, a very ambitious man who will do anything to lead this country and who has in the service of this ambition nearly traversed all the political parties in the country in search of presidential tickets, appears to be in cahoots with General Buhari to run down the administration of Goodluck Jonathan.

Last week, the former vice president hit out at President Jonathan. In an interview granted a radio station based in Kaduna and which was widely reported by the leading newspapers in the country, Atiku state that the situation in the country was grim. He stated that President Jonathan lacked the capacity to conduct the 2015 elections and the National Conference and added that he and former military Head of State and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari had shared concerns about the political situation in the country. To quote Atiku, “I and Buhari have never seen things as bad as these since the pre-civil war period. It’s really serious.”

It is obvious that the renewed love between Atiku and Buhari is one that will not augur well for this country. If anything Nigerians should be wary of is this relationship. This

entrepreneurs are encouraged by the Federal government, we will continue to pay lip service to the Nigerian Automotive Industry. For now, big time inventors appear to be mad in Nigeria, because they are strictly on their own.

Yes, it is a thing of pride to have made in Nigerian vehicles once again, but having come thus far, we must move away from hasty policies as the ban proposed for next month. Dr. Olusegun Aganga’s quest for a policy to transform the Nigerian automotive industry and attract investment into the sector, is most welcome at this time, but greater efforts needs to be put in to ensure that it remains sustainable.

To succeed, the new policy must not be pursued in this type of hurry.

Time is required to follow a phased increase in import duty on used vehicles, while building local capacities at the same time. For instance, in ten years, from 1999 to 2009, available records show that over five million cars were imported into the country. Yet, for the same corresponding period, auto levy collection was for only two million cars. Implementing the new policy in this type of haste, will breed confusion and drive more money in to the pockets of corrupt customs officials, because it will promote increased smuggling of used vehicles. It will lead to transfer of the wealth of Nigerians to her neighbouring countries like Republic of Benin, from where millions of vehicles will be flown through all manners of routes in the country. The local vehicle production capacity must therefore be developed first, through tax, and many other

,

BY CLEMENT UDEGBE

,

Timing of the Nigerian new motor policy

As usual, the ubiquitous politician has packed his bags and baggage in his familiar search for an illusory presidential flag but Nigerians should see through the antics of Atiku and his General friend

,

becomes imperative when one considers the relationship between Alhaji Atiku as then Deputy Controller General of Customs and General Muhammadu Buhari as Head of State in the infamous 53 suit cases saga. It will be recalled that it was Atiku who served as the facilitator of the unlawful entry of those 53 suit cases in 1984! The union of a rabidly ambitious general, war monger and serial election loser and a stupendously rich, cunning and inordinately ambitious politician who almost sold out his boss as vice president of the country is a dangerous one indeed.

N

igeria may be going through challenges but things are certainly not as bad as the two men want the world to think. To compare the situation in the country to that which obtained just before the civil war is not only disingenuous but equally mischievous and smacks of desperation.

One is often at a loss as to why Atiku and Buhari have never found their voice to speak out against the murderous onslaught of innocent Nigerians by insurgents in Northern Nigeria but will always seek to bully a President on whose shoulders lie the responsibilities of putting out the fire stoked mainly by desperate politicians and

incentives and advantages. A 3-510 years plan or beyond need to developed and implemented rigorously to give them strength and courage to keep running. They may be given Electric Power rebates to make up for high cost of power in production of vehicles.

Part of this plan will include the policy to gently increase the duty on Tokunbo vehicles and perhaps followed by a gradual phasing out.

FG could then insist on showcasing our best vehicles by government officials driving made in Nigeria cars once again. The question is whether the life style of our politicians will allow them to do away with exotic SUVs in their convoys, and car parks.

The ban of imported goods is not new to Nigeria, and such policies had failed in the past.

The initiative by Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC) to encourage inventors in the automotive manufacturing sector to be showcased at the Shell Eco Marathon, in Doha, Qatar in November 2014, is the type of programme the Federal government must support, encourage, and even initiate.

While the zeal of Dr. Olusegun Aganga to re-awaken the motor industry is appreciated and encouraged, any action must be matched with the needs of the populace and balanced with sustainable measures.

Until then, we must avoid stumbling from one half-baked economic policy unto another.

*Mr. Udegbe, a legal practitioner, wrote from Lagos.

religious bigots.

Why should Nigerians believe a man like Atiku, a man whom we learnt courtesy of the WikiLeaks cables lent himself to be used to undercut his boss, President Olusegun Obasanjo, a reason the latter turned against him. Atiku told his listeners in that interview that he was forced out of the PDP by Obasanjo but he neglected to tell them that it was his treachery that forced Obasanjo to turn on him.

The manner he led some members of his party, the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) out of the party’s convention to announce the formation of a new party, the New PDP, which has since been shot down by a court, speaks volumes of his ability to stab his friends and associates in the back. After causing confusion in the party, he tactfully withdrew leaving the others in the firing line and went ahead to float yet another party, the People Democratic Movement (PDM).

Clearly Atiku’s ambition knows no bounds and his latest alliance with Buhari as well as his current romance with all the leading parties in the country at the moment should surprise no one. In an interview in June last year he had said “If Party A does not perform well, we’ll move on to Party B and see whether it can perform better through competition.’’ Note that for Atiku, parties' performance do not mean how well they are able deliver or their impact on the people, but how well they afford him the opportunity to manipulate his way into getting a party’s presidential ticket.

As usual, the ubiquitous politician has packed his bags and baggage in his familiar search for an illusory presidential flag but Nigerians should see through the antics of Atiku and his General friend. Nigeria is bigger than the ambition of any man and certainly no politician who regales in threats of violence has a right to the heart of fellow citizens. When these desperate politicians pretend as if they have motives nobler than their antecedents, Nigerians will be quick to remind them that even crocodiles shed tears in their desperate search for preys!

*Mr. Shuaibu, a public analyst, wrote from Ilorin, Kwara State.

20 — Vanguard, FRIDAY,

FEBRUARY 7 31, 2014

I prefer to live in Lagos, cries 70-yyear- old 70 destitute

lived under a shade until his health deteriorated.

“Before now, he ran errand for some of us and we reciprocated in cash and kind.

“He also sold banana and snails. On noticing his dwindling health condition, we contributed money to relocate him to his hometown but he refused. When his health became very bad about three months ago, the owner of the shade where he slept, chased him away hence he relocated to the road side,” he said.

Another resident who said she retired from the Nigerian Airways, is always on hand to assist Pa Okon. She brings food to him twice daily and assists him to take his bath.

But for some days now, she said, Pa Okon has not taken his bath.

She showed VM a bucket of water which she brought to enable the destitute to take his birth but without success.

…Rejects offers to relocate to Akwa Ibom

Call of nature

Pa Okon... I prefer to remain in Lagos

P

A Eteh Okon, who hails from Akwa Ibom State is well known to many of those who reside near Ile-Epo BusStop, Ejigbo, a Lagos suburb.

Pa Okon who has been living in the neighbourhood for the past five years, was described by many of the residents as a very jovial and hardworking man.

Pa Okon who is currently homeless, said he relocated to Lagos shortly after the civil war. Although he could not recollect his exact date of birth, Vanguard Metro, VM learnt that he could be in his 70s.

The ailing Okon who lives on alms, was recently evicted from a shade where he resided. Apparently worried by his deteriorating health, a group concerned citizens offered to assist him to relocate to his hometown in Akwa Ibom State.

But the offer was flatly rejected by Pa Okon who said he preferred to live in Lagos to any other place. He made it clear to them that he had lost contact with his relations back home.

C M Y K

Before his health deteriorated, Okon did menial jobs for some wealthy individuals in the community.

He also worked as a gardener to an affluent landlord in the area. The work afforded him the opportunity to engage in small-scale farming.

The proceeds from the farm, which included snails were sold in the local market. But things have gone from bad to worst for Pa Okon who is presently living by the road side near a private Polytechic at Ile-Epo Bus-Stop.

Personal belongings The hitherto vibrant septuagenarian is now looking very pale and weak.

He can no longer walk about because his legs are now swollen.

Pa Okon was fast asleep with flies swarming around him when Vanguard Metro paid him a visit. He looked very unkempt. By his side were some sachets of water (pure water) and other personal belongings. Human faeces which emitted very offensive odour scared people away

from him. However, a good Samaritan offered to wake him up to enable VM have a chat with him.

Although he was weak and hungry, the ailing Pa Okon tried to recount his ordeal to VM .

Going down memory lane, he explained that he was married twice with children.

Both wives left him when his financial condition worsened.’’I was married twice and my wives gave birth to children. One of them, an Igbo lady, left me when things were rough. Trust women, they are never satisfied,’’ he lamented.

Asked about his children, he shook his head and in a tone of anger asked, ‘’What kind of question is that? If my children are alive, would I be in this condition? They are all dead; one died during the civil war while the other one died few years ago.’’

The septuagenarian said he has lost contact with his kith and kins.

He said: “I attended Methodist School, Mbiong, Akwa Ibom for my elementary education before I relocated to

Lagos after the war. I have lost contact with my relatives. One of them lived in Ikeja before his untimely death.”

When VM wanted to know how he came to live in Ejigbo, he retorted: “I used to work as a house help to one Mr. Okpo, an Executive Officer with Dunlop Nigeria Limited. Both

,

BY BOSE ADELAJA

She said: “He asked for water to take his bath about a week ago and I fetched him a bucket of water but he has refused to take his bath for days now. I bring food to him twice daily but in most cases, he does not return the plates. Instead, he uses the plates to answer the call of nature.

“People drove him out to the street when they noticed his poor health condition. Before his health deteriorated to this point, he went to the Health Centre but was referred to the General Hospital. The Community Development Association, CDA offered to relocate him to his hometown but he refused. He told

If my children were alive, would I be in this condition? They are all dead; one died during the civil war while the other one died few years ago

of us lived at Ikeja for a number of years before he was assassinated.’’

At this juncture, he struggled to control his tears.

Continuing, he said in an emotion-laden tone: ‘’Things were okay when he was alive but I became jobless and homeless after my Oga’s death. I came to Ejigbo to look for another work. I could not afford to rent a house, that was why I slept here and there.’’

Some of the people who spoke to VM in the area, sang the praises of Pa Okon. One of them who did not want to be identified, said Pa Okon

,

everybody that he prefers to live in Lagos State. she said.

“I used to offer him multivitamins and food but for the past two days, I have not done that because of lack of money.

“A neighbour has presented his case to the authorities at both Alausa and Ejigbo Local Council Development Area without any positive result.”

While the conversation was still ongoing, Pa Okon dipped his hand into his pocket, brought out money and beckoned on a teenager to buy him a plate of eba. ‘’I am hungry,’’ he said.

Vanguard, FRIDAY,FEBRUARY 7, 2014 — 21

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

T

HE Federal Government has been urged to protect the aluminium extrusion and steel industry by putting a stop to exportation of scrap metals, as it is hindering growth in the sector.

Managing Director/CEO, Tower Aluminium Nig. Plc, Dr. Jinesh Chandra Dugad made the call in an interview with Vanguard in Lagos.

Dugad, who lamented the impact of unfriendly government policies on aluminium manufacturers, also called for a separate interest rate regime for manufacturing and agriculture sector, saying that double digit interest rate is a disincentive to growth of the economy and job creation.

He said: “In protecting the aluminium industry in Nigeria, the government should ban exportation of scraps so that we will not be short of raw materials used in our local production. Exporters of those scraps do nothing significant; all they do is put the scraps on export, yet they get incentives. “The government will be doing local manufacturers of aluminium great if they can place an unconditional ban on the export of scraps since we don’t make the products from iron ore, presently.”

“If you are exporting a finished product, which has value added, then it has a meaning if such export has incentives. But to export scraps which have no value added and then you get 20 percent, 40 percent incentives, it makes no meaning.

“So, the aluminium sector in Nigeria needs a very urgent attention of the government in the area of incentives and policy change because aluminium is vital in building and the more you encourage its manufacturing in a way that it is locally produced, the products can then compete perfectly with what is imported, housing will be very cheap and housing should be made

FG urged to ban exportation of scrap metals cheap and affordable because of its necessity in human lives,” he added.

Dugad said it was high time the government replicated the success story it recorded in Cement industry that has made the nation self-sufficient in cement production in steel and aluminium industry, saying that so far, Tower Aluminium is the only rolling

mills functional in Nigeria.

“For example, Nigeria has become self-sufficient in cement. It did not just happen, but because the government created a policy, enabling environment and incentives, which favoured the manufacturers of cement.

“They have been allowed to import cement from the foreign market but at

From left: Chief Nike Oshinowo, Creative Director, AOE Events and Entertainment Ltd; Miss Queen Ubah, New Centenary Queen and Mr Chris Ndulue, MD, Arik Air during the visit of the new Centenary Queen to Arik headquarters in Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

Deficits in power generation, bane of rapid de devvelopment — Angbazo

By PETER EGWUATU

T

he Chief Executive Officer, General Electric (GE) Nigeria, Mr. Lazarus Angbazo has decried the deficit in power generation in Nigeria, describing it as the bane of rapid development of critical sectors of the economy.

Angbazo, who made the remarks at the Standard Bank Investor ’s Conference in Lagos, stated that, though Nigeria is growing at amazing 7%, the country is doing so with almost no power compared to other rapidly advancing nations.

“Nigeria’s deficit in power generation is the bane of rapid economic development, industrialisation, and job creation is probably over flogged, but for good reason too.

“Today our consistent power

the same time, they were encouraged by the policy to put up the facilities here and so whatever money is made from importation of cement is put on ground here to start manufacturing cement locally. Lafarge is expanding so much because of this type of policy; same thing with Dangote Cement.”

generation output stands at about 4000 megawatts for a country of over 170 million people with power generation needs in excess of 200,000 megawatts. Let’s put it in proper perspective. South Africa with a population of about 50 million people, which is less than a third of Nigeria’s population, generates over 45,000 megawatts of electricity.

“Texas alone generates over 34,000 megawatts of electricity –nearly 10 times more electricity than the whole of Nigeria.The city of New York with a population of 8 million people consumes 200,000 megawatts of electricity every day, 50 times more than we presently generate for 170 million people,” he said. Nevertheless, Angbazo

sees light at the end of the tunnel for Nigerian power sector as being driven by the various efforts of the government to turn around the sector. “As primitive as the present situation appears, nearly everyone can now see light at the end of the tunnel due to a combination of factors.

Fundamentally, a “well-thoughtout” power sector reform is being implemented by the Nigerian government. Our confidence is buoyed by the fact that the right steps are being taken in the right direction. As you are aware, the Power sector is capital intensive and the financial and technical resources required to rescue Nigeria from this dismal and unacceptable condition are clearly beyond the government’s capabilities.

143.0

6.75

2,883.00

+6.00

16.05

0.05

106.32 97.54 CURRENCY

BUYING CENTRAL

DOLLAR 154.75 155.25 POUNDS 251.933 252.747 EURO 209.2065 209.8825 FRANC 171.0512 171.6038 YEN 1.5295 v 1.5344 CFA 0.3 0.31 WAUA 236.3452 237.1089 RENMINBI 25.5274 25.6103 RIYA 41.2623 41.3956 KRONA 28.0304 28.1209 SDR 237.0925 237.8585

CBN Exchange rate as at

-0.01 +0.16 SELLING 155.75 253.561 210.5584 172.1565 1.5393 0.32 237.8725 25.6933 41.5289 28.2115 238.6246

06/02/2014

22 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

First Bank promotes entrepreneurial development for students

A

From left: Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Lafarge Cement WAPCO Nigeria Plc, Joseph Hudson; Executive Vice President/ Country Chief Executive Officer, Lafarge Nigeria, Mr. Guillaume Roux, and General Manager, Sales and Customer Services, Lafarge Cement WAPCO, Mr. Sam Ndionyema, during the commissioning of Lafarge WAPCO Customer Value Centre, in Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

More IPOs expected in capital market this year — Onyema

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

T

he Chief Executive Officer of the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, Mr. Oscar Onyema, has assured that the equity market will be a lot busy this year following flurry of initial public offers expected from prospective companies.

He spoke as one of the panelists at the 5th Standard Bank West Africa Investors’ Conference in Lagos.

Onyema said his optimism was borne out of several changes that have occurred in the market in the last three years, adding, ‘ we have taken steps to facilitate access to the market.’

Besides, he said that the NSE is pursuing an all inclusive growth that goes beyond development in equities market and listing of companies to attracting listing from fixed income instruments, Exchange Traded funds, Futures and Options He emphasised that the Exchange has since shifted focus from pursuing market transformation to a drive to achieve emerging market status having established a level of stability in the market.

“We are trying to drive growth of the capital market, not just in equities but also in fixed income products, Exchange Traded Fund and very soon, derivatives. Late last year, we started work on a mid term strategy to move away from transformation now that we believe that we have stability in the market to a strategy that tries to take the Nigerian Stock Exchange from a frontier market to an emerging market,” he said, adding, “ we have modified our strategy to be underpinned by five pillars, the first one being to attract as many listing across five assets classes as possible. So, we are not just focusing on companies, but we

are also looking at listings from fixed income securities, Futures, Exchange Traded Funds and Options. Then to drive all these, you have to have liquidity in these asset classes.”

“We started out with a transformation

programme that is based on five pillars targeted at 21st century technology strategy, sound regulatory environment and investors protection initiatives and these are wrapped around an advocacy programme.

S normalcy gradually returns to the various universities in Nigeria, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, an FBN Holdings Plc company, in partnership with Strand Student Fair has concluded arrangement to bring to Nigerian higher institutions across the country its annual Student Fair.

The platform, a student fair where students can visit, not only to only to purchase goods and services at reasonable prices but where they can gain requisite knowledge and experience in various areas of endeavor as well as interact with one another will run from this February and end in November.

The First Bank Strand student fair, which kicked off with the University of Ibadan, will also feature University of PortHarcourt for this month. In the month of March and April, the fair will move to Federal University of Technology, Owerri and the University of Lagos, while in the month of May through to July it will feature institutions such as LASU, YABATECH, LAUTECH, DELSU and OAU .The final lap of the student fair will run from August to November and will have the Universities of Uyo, Calabar and Jos as well as the Cross River University of Technology, Federal University of Technology, Akure and Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ago Iwoye.

Pan African Venture: Elumelu Foundation donates $150,000 I

n its support for growth in Africa , Tony Elumelu Foundation has made a commitment to back the emergent African development initiative.

Following the convening of the African Union Heads of State Summit in Addis Ababa , the inaugural promoters’ meeting of the newly established “African Union Foundation” was held. The meeting was led by the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Her Excellency Dr. Nkosazana Clarice Dlamini Zuma, who is also the founder as legal representative of the African Union.

In response to his invitation to the Council, Mr. Elumelu said, “I am honoured to be a part of the Chairperson’s vision for an emergent Africa developed by Africans, and look forward to participating in this effort to change the paradigm of African development.” As a clear indication of that support, the Tony Elumelu Foundation made a $150,000 donation to the start up costs of the African Union Foundation, the first contribution made to the ambitious initiative. At the same meeting, a pledge of $100,000 was made by the

Government of Jamaica, represented by Ambassador Carlton Masters, who indicated, “This underscores the commitment of the Diaspora towards African development.”

A formal launch of the African Union Foundation and comprehensive awareness and fundraising campaign

is planned for later this year.

Dr. Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma, Chairperson of the African Union Commission presented the objectives of the Foundation for voluntary contributions towards financing African priorities at the Headquarters of the African Union in Addis Ababa , Ethiopia.

US stocks fluctuate as payrolls report offsets services data

U

NITED States stocks fluctuated after the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index rebounded from its worst drop since June, as a private report showing companies added fewer jobs than forecast offset acceleration in service industries.

Cognizant Technology Solutions Corp fell 4.5 percent on a disappointing forecast. Estee Lauder (EL) dropped 4.7 percent as its quarterly earnings prediction missed estimates. 3D Systems Corp. slumped 14 percent after its projection trailed expectations amid sluggish consumer demand.

Genworth Financial Inc. and Radian Group Inc. each rallied 3.9 percent after posting profits from insuring US mortgages.

The S&P 500 fell 0.1 percent to 1,753.82 at 1:31 p.m. in New York. The Dow Jones Industrial Average added 9.67 points, or 0.1 percent, to 15,454.91.

Trading in S&P 500 stocks was 22 per cent above the 30-day average during this time of the day.

“There’s uncertainty around the economic outlook,” Walter Todd, who oversees about $950 million as chief investment officer of Greenwood Capital Associates LLC in Greenwood, South Carolina, said in a phone interview.

“People had a lot of confidence coming into this year that the economy was accelerating, and the recent set of economic statistics have thrown that into question.”

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 — 23

VCN goes tough on quackery in FCT

BY GABRIEL EWEPU

A

Executive Director, National Inst. for Freshwater Fisheries Research (NIFFR) New Bussa , Dr. Augustine. Okhaime, National Project Coordinator (WAAPP-Nigeria) Prof. Damian Chikwendu; Director of Fisheries, Federal Department of Fisheries (FDF) Mrs. Foluke Areola and Permanent Secretary,Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mrs Ibukun Odusote.

WAAPP- Nigeria hosts aquaculture experts … Seeks to ensure high standards

By JIMOH BABATUNDE

W

HILE aquaculture is gaining popularity and momentum in Nigeria, the sector is still underdeveloped and inefficient. Fish farming inputs such as fish meal, fish feed, fish health supplies are mostly imported and their costs are too high for small scale fish farmers Locally produced fingerlings are also expensive and many are of questionable quality, this has created a phenomenon in which every fish farmer seeks to undertake both forward and backward integration without regard to scale of operations or skills.

Consequently, specialization or division of labour in the aquaculture sector is currently non-existent. It is not uncommon to find a micro-scale fish farmer attempting to hatch their own fingerlings, produce their own fish feed and concoct their own medicine.

To address the above issues, experts in the field of aquaculture from the Economic Communities of West African States (ECOWAS) gathered recently in Lagos under the World Bank assisted program, the West Africa Agricultural Productivity Program (WAAPP).

The objectivity of WAAPP is to improve agricultural productivity in the sub-region as well as encourage integrated development of agricultural research into technological generation.

Addressing the gathering, the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Mrs. Ibukun Odusote, said aquaculture plays a very significant role in Nigerian agricultural economy

as it offers employment to millions of people along its divergent value chain.

She added that it was on the basis of its role that the ministry created the fisheries and aquaculture value chains under the Agriculture Transformation Agenda.

“The main emphasis of these value chains is to create an enabling environment for increased and sustainable production of over one million tons of fish and gradual reduction of fish imports which lead to conserving foreign exchange.”

Odusote disclosed that the fisheries and aquaculture value chain is set to increase the annual production of fingerlings by 1.25million; 400,000 tons of fish feed and an additional 250,000 tons of table fish, and 10,000 tons of value added fish and fisheries products.

She added that the key identified areas for development and strengthening are hatchery

management and brood-stock bank development for increase in production of improved fish fingerlings, table fish production, fish feed-milling, fish processing and fish marketing.

“The intention therefore is to increase annual fish production from the current level of 780,000 to three million tons per year in order to achieve self sufficiency in fish production by the year 2015.

The Permanent Secretary said to accelerate and improve on the technologies of brood-stock, fingerlings and table sized fish production, fish feed research and adaption as well as post harvest using available local adaptable technologies that meet increasing commercial demands of aquaculture and associated products are being promoted.

“The subject of fish biotechnology and genetics in the sub region are relatively at their infancy and deserve greater attention to increase fish farming.

She urged WAAPP to help find solutions to the lingering problems of aquaculture development in Nigeria and the Africa sub region.

The National Project Coordinator, WAAPP-Nigeria, Prof.

Damian Okey Chikwendu in his remark said the body seeks to unbundled and increase technical proficiency and productivity of various sub-component services in aquaculture.

WAAPP-Nigeria, according to him, has sponsored the formation of a national aquaculture value chain innovation platform represented by stakeholder groups.

He added that he has turned the National institute for water Fresh Water Research in Niger State into a National Centre of Specialization in Aquaculture, “the objective is to develop and release top-notch technologies in aquaculture for adaption in Nigeria and ECOWAS countries to increase productivity.”

Ogun pays compensation on land acquired for agriculture O VER four hundred and sixty nine people whose farm lands were acquired by the Ogun state government for agricultural purposes in Imasayi,Yewa North Local Government area have been compensated.

Supervising the payment, the state commissioner for Agriculture,Mrs Ronke Sokefun, said the compensation was paid on crops lost on the acquired land and thanked the beneficiaries for their cooperation in making their land available for food production The commissioner represented by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Agriculture, Mr Wale Ogunyomade, said that the beneficiaries’ efforts will go a long way in contributing to the state

government’s resolve in making the state the nation’s food basket in no distant future.

Also speaking, the Managing Director, Freerange Farms Mr Micheal Waugh whose organisation will use the acquired land for Poultry farming, said the project would provide employment for over two thousand people while a scholarship programme will be established for the indegenes of the town as part of its social responsibility.

For the traditional ruler of the town,Oba Gbadebo Oni,he praised the state government for paying the compensation and assure Freerange Farms of peaceful operation in the community.

BUJA- THE Veterinary Council of Nigeria, VCN, said the council was going tough on quackery in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, as it had put in place measures to eradicate the illegal business carried out by unqualified persons.

This was stated by the Chief Veterinary Officer, Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Dr. Garba Zayyan, who was represented by Dr. Ademo Idris, while delivering a keynote at a one day seminar organised by FCT Agriculture and Rural Development Secretariat in collaboration with Veterinarian Council of Nigeria.

Zayyan also said that the VCN had placed a ban on non-veterinarians in the FCT from handling livestock products, including dispensing of powdered drug preparations and treating of animals, as it was the exclusive preserve of veterinarians to do that, therefore stated that anyone caught will be prosecuted.

He said: “You will agree with me that the veterinary practice is dominated by quacks. The Veterinary Council of Nigeria, VCN, view this with a lot of concern and it became an item in its agenda. At its 87th regular meeting in March 2004, it resolved to create the Veterinar y Practicing Premises Registration Committee.

“We should realise that compared to other professions, ours is now free for all, with individuals venturing in and out at will.

In line with this, sale of pet green cards by people other than veterinarians is hereby banned. Also, dispensing powdered drug preparations by rationing into small packages is prohibited in FCT. “Treating animal diseases is an exclusive preserve of the veterinarians such as no person should indulge in it.

Anybody caught will be prosecuted in line with the Veterinary Surgeons Act (as amended).

“I wish to call on veterinarians to be careful in licensing premises for other people. You should only license premises in areas where you live as the committee will no longer recognise situations where the veterinarian lives far away from the premises.”

24—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Why we open S/African tourism office in Lagos — Van Schalkwyk

By JIMOH BABATUNDE

A

SIDE from being one of the fastest growing economic sectors in the world, tourism can actually help to create better understanding between people.

This was the submission of

the South African Tourism Minister, Mr. Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, at the opening of the country’s Tourism Marketing office in Lagos recently.

“Tourism is the fastest growing economic sector in South Africa, one of the fastest growing sectors in the world, but apart from its obvious economic benefit of

job creation we must see tourism as one of the antidotes for mistrust, for conflicts and for war. Tourism will actually help to create better understanding between people.”

Mr. Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, accompanied by his Nigerian counterpart, Chief Edem Duke, said South Africa sees the special

and longstanding relationship between his country and Nigeria as pivotal towards maintaining an Africa that is economically vibrant, “an Africa that grows through partnerships between nations.”

He added “Key to creating economic vibrancy and resilience is working together to develop industries

Right to left: Ambassador Mokgethi Monaisa, South Africa Consul General in Lagos; Thulani Nzima, South African Tourism Chief Executive Officer; Edem Duke, Nigeria Minister for Tourism, Culture and National Orientation and Marthinus Van Schalkwyk, South Africa Minister for Tourism at the unveiling of South African Tourism West Africa office, in Lagos.

Zimbabwe carnival will give the country more exposure T

HE managing Director, National Convention Bureau of Zimbabwe Tourism Authority, Ms. Tesa Chikaponya, has said that the Zimbabwe International carnival billed for May this year in Harare will bring more exposure to Zimbabwe.

She said the International Carnival was born out of the need to consolidate the country’s tourism brand and enhance interaction between Zimbabwe and other countries Chikaponya, who disclosed

this at the last Abuja carnival, noted that May being an off pick season for the hotel industry, the International Carnival will bring business as tourists will occupy the rooms, adding that many people will want to experience the country’s attractions too.

She disclosed that they are looking at collaborating with Nigeria because the country has been in the business of carnival organisation longer than Zimbabwe.

“We have seen that this is

an economy that can be created to benefit those at the grass-root level and we feel that we have a lot to learn from Nigeria as the country has done this for many years and seem to be very successful.

“If you look at showcasing your destination, you find people saying they want to go to Nigeria for carnivals and I think this is very good for the country’s destination image and this will also turn out for Zimbabwe.

Chikaponya explained that

the inaugural Zimbabwe international carnival was a learning curve for them, “we were still learning and it will take us years to learn and we are hoping that we are going to get quite a lot of benefits out of the carnival.”

She added that Zimbabwe’s tourism attractions will benefit as the country parades lot of attractions, I am sure everybody is aware of the Victoria falls as this will be the first thing that will come to any one’s mind if you hear of Zimbabwe. The country has got a lot more besides the Victoria falls.”

that have the potentials to contribute meaningfully to our GDPs and job creation on the continent. Tourism is certainly one such industry.”

S

peaking on reasons for opening the South African Tourism marketing office on the continent of Africa, Nigeria being the first to be opened, Marthinus Van Schalkwyk disclosed that it is a sign of their confidence in Africa tourism and especially in West Africa and the realization that there are huge potentials for tourism on the African continent.

The South African Tourism Minister disclosed that his country has experienced positive growth figures out of West Africa with a total of 73.282 Nigerian tourists visiting his country last year marking a 13.8 percent increase from 2011.

“At the end of June 2013, Nigerian tourists’ arrival had continued to grow on a strong trajectory with 15.9 percent during the first six months of 2013.”

He added that the tourists arrival into his country from Ghana for the same period of time show that the West Africa region are valuable to their markets.

Mr. Marthinus Van Schalkwyk said for tourism to play a major role in African economies issues of air transportation, visa and marketing need to be addressed by African leaders.

“On the issue of air transport, it is a challenge to all of us, we must convince our government to make it easy for our people to connect and to reach destinations, but we must also address our governments that we need to implement the Yamasouko decision to open up our skies in the Africa continent.“ He added, “Secondly, is the issue of visa. We will all want visa free world, but the reality is that for a long time to come there will still be visa process in place, but we must take a look at how we streamline the processes that make it possible for people to afford all the long queues.

While looking at the way of e-visa to address the visa issue, the South African Tourism Minister urged African countries to do a lot of tourism marketing within the continent, “so that the people can know what we have in our own continent and what people can experience. Like Edem Duke said, tourism cannot be a one way thing; it must be a two way thing to be successful.”

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014—25

I N S I D E

Confab: The unending bickering over modalities

Mu’azu and Yuguda: Trouble is still ahead

PAGE 26

They're talking more about politics and less on commonsense economics PAGE 28

PAGE 27

Marking Okonjo-Iweala’s answer script:

In for re-sit or revenge?

GIVEN the globally acknowledged intellectual fecundity of Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, it was a shock that the House of Representatives Committee on Finance scored her a miserly 20% in when it marked her answer script on the 50 questions on the state of the Nigerian economy. Does the minister deserve a re-sit or is it political retribution?

•Jonathan: Sent Okonjo-Iweala to lay budget

•Tambuwal: Legislators not happy with president's absence

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

A

FORMER managing director of the World Bank, an alumnus of two institutions with global reckoning, Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Mrs. OkonjoIweala’s cerebral prowess has never been in doubt, not even to her detractors.

It was on account of her brainy quotient that President Goodluck Jonathan took the unprecedented step of adding the responsibility of coordinating the economy to her duty as finance minister.

Many have on that account dubbed her Nigeria’s Prime Minister. It was perhaps in that respect that she got the unique honour of representing the president in laying the 2014 budget proposal of the Federal Government before the National Assembly on December 19, 2013.

Hours after that unique honour, members who had been peeved with the failure of the president

•Jubrin: Set the questions to physically lay down the budget as has been the practice with all healthy Nigerian rulers under democratic rule, got their retribution on his hapless senior minister.

The minister had been invited days earlier to a hearing on the state of the economy being

•Okonjo-Iweala: I ve answered conducted by the House Committee on Finance.

After all the stress of presenting the budget, the minister when she appeared before the House committee, informed the legislators that she was a little unwell, but was prepared for the hearing.

Her assertion, however, did not please the committee which asked her to go and take care of her health and respond to the 50 questions raised on the economy by the committee.

The arrowhead of the attack on the minister was the chairman of the House Committee on Finance, Rep. Abdulmumin Jibrin, himself an equally brainy man who has laced his cerebral endeavours with entrepreneurial success.

Jibrin who according to sources, had some good working relationship with the minister was sympathetic but insisted on the minister returning to look after her health. But she was to go with 50 questions which he insisted should be answered in written form.

Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala, however, insisted on giving verbal answers to the 50 questions dwelling on facts and figures of the circumstances of the economy, job growth and leakages in the economy right there.

Her insistence on answering

immediately created a scene at the committee hearing leading to a verbal spat between Jibrin and the minister.

“I must tell you that I’m feeling sick. For the past one week I’ve not had sleep, so I’m not feeling fine. But I had to come because I respect the parliament and the committee. I’ll try my best to respond to your questions as much as possible, and my other colleagues who are also here with me will contribute,” she said.

Responding, Jibrin said: "We’re not insensitive to your situation as human beings, and if you had told us this before now, we would have given you some time. We have 50 questions for you, and we can give you time to respond in writing,” he said.

The insistence of the minister to be heard was overruled by Jibrin turning the hearing into a scene as the committee, as if working on a script, refused to hear her and insisted that the minister should leave.

As she reluctantly exited, the minister told journalists:

Tone of the conversation “I don’t understand. We came to give a testimony and I said I wasn’t feeling well and I was treated with the courtesy by the chair of the committee that I deserve. And you were all witnesses to it. That’s all to it. I have utmost respect to the committee members who have been very kind. But the tone of the conversation for someone who is not feeling well was not very good.”

Faced with the seeming hostility of the House, Mrs. Okonjo-Iweala proceeded to answer the questions and eventually submitted them on January 15.

Her 102 page response gave a point by point answer to the 50 questions noting number of jobs created, the impact of some key

Continues on Page 28

26—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

•Okunrounmu and Anyim: This is our style

Confab: The

unending bickering over modalities O

NE week after, the modalities released by the Federal Government for the forthcoming National Conference are still raising dust in the polity. Apart from the issue of suitability or otherwise of the template for mid-wiving an effective dialogue, some critical stakeholders are now mounting road blocks to the exercise.

The first to kick was the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA), which threatened to boycott the conference unless the professional body is given more slots at the confab. In the modalities, NBA was mandated to nominate one delegate.

After the NBA, the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties (CNPP) also kicked against the 10 slots allocated to the political parties, which will be filled up by the five parties that have members in the National Assembly.

Kicking against the move, the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), has threatened to go to court to force the Federal Government to include it in the talk shop.

PPA National Chairman, Mr. Peter Ameh said: “How can you recognize only 10 delegates drawn across five political parties outside the 25 registered political parties and you expect Nigerians to believe in your sincerity? Our party the PPA has met all laid down requirement for a registered political party in Nigeria both within the

constitution and the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) Section 78 sub-section 2, which states that a party must at least have a seat in the State House of Assembly and the party met this condition because, my party contested and won a seat in the Bayelsa State House of Assembly during the 2011 general elections. Victor Prezi is a member of the PPA and currently represents Ekenemor II state constituency in Bayelsa

Nigeria (IPAC), the recognized platform for all registered parties in Nigeria expressed disappointment with what it described as ”the wrong composition of proposed national dialogue by the Federal Government despite our earlier warning.”

IPAC National Publicity Secretary, Chief Samuel Eke, said: “the allocation of only five slots to parties with presence in the National Assembly is grossly insufficient S t a t e a n d Assembly unacceptable and by this Apart from the issue of to IPAC. We PPA is a see it as a parliamentary suitability or otherwise party. of the template for mid- direct insult to the “We expect wiving an effective existing 25 that these five parties obnoxious dialogue, some critical and a clear modalities be stakeholders are now c o r r e c t e d mounting road blocks to indication that the before the organisers conference the exercise are not well commences informed of or else we will be left with no other the role, importance, primary alternative as a law abiding entity actors and unavoidable presence than to approach a court of law of political parties at such to fight for the right of our dialogue as no person can shave members who are Nigerians and the hair of political parties in our need to be heard, because our absence.” great party has already suffered He continued: “It is only in greatly in the misapplication of Nigeria that political parties are our laws and must be accorded subjected to different definitions: * An association registered by the opportunity to also participate and air its grievances and views INEC to compete for political without any fear of intimidation powers * An association that has a seat or favour.” in house of assembly IPAC seek 25 slots for political * An association that has a seat in national assembly parties ”Whenever the political Echoing similar views, the Inter-Party Advisory Council of parties are to be shortchanged

,

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

,

the authority will apply any of the above definitions that suits its purpose but IPAC rejects definitions ‘B’ and ‘C’ manufactured in Nigeria while we solidly stand on definition ‘A’ that is internationally accepted otherwise the Federal Government is embarking on another white elephant project that IPAC shall never support.

The most important decisions of any nation are political decisions and as the primary custodians of democracy, implementers and executioners of the expected outcomes of the proposed national dialogue, political parties should be fully represented. IPAC therefore demand for an automatic 25 slots for the registered parties in Nigeria.”

Egolum, Gbagi, Umoette, Oganah back confab Looking at the issues, former National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) chieftain, Chief Chuba Egolum and National Publicity Secretary of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Mr. Tonnie Oganah, hailed the dialogue modalities.

Egolum said: “The confab modalities are okay. They meet my expectation even though ethnic nationalities should have had more delegates. They will certainly lead to a better Nigeria if we approach it meaningfully.

It should be a sincere exercise as opposed to another jamboree.

I salute Mr. President for his uncommon courage especially at this difficult juncture of our political engagement.”

On his part, Oganah said: “Nothing human is ever perfect, so the modality is okay for the Igbo.”

Also speaking, former Minister of State Education, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, urged Nigerians join hands and make the exercise a success.

“I have followed arguments with regards to the national conference. The mere fact that President Goodluck Jonathan has constituted a national conference is a fantastic and courageous step since independence to date. All we Nigerians should do now is to build on it for our children to continue from where we stop “We should stop this attitude of throwing away the baby with the bath pan. We should take the good of any policy and improve on it for the better and greatness of our children. Advanced countries are still bringing laws, ideas, holding conferences to better their lots. My advice is that the conference is a right step in the right direction; let us collectively as a people get it to work for the good and greatness of Nigeria,” he said.

In like manner, a governorship aspirant in Akwa Ibom State on the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Robert Umoette, said: All Nigerians should commend President Jonathan as a truly listening President. I say this because we all have asked for a national confab at one time or the other even before the emergence of President Jonathan, where we can discuss burning issues in the country as they affect us all. Most Nigerians have asked for a confab without limits on topic to be discussed and this in itself means the entity called Nigeria may not exist anymore after such a confab, which is why Mr. President, in his wisdom, has set in motion a national confab where everything can be discussed except the unity of Nigeria. This has shown that the President is truly a nationalist.”

Expressing his support for the conference, he noted that Nigerians from all ethnic nationalities need to sit down and agree on terms of the union and in so doing, fashion a people’s constitution based on true federalism.

Umoette recalled the declaration of General Yakubu Gowon (rtd) through Alhaji MD Yusufu in Kaduna back in 2009 at a meeting of ACF (Arewa Consultative Forum) that Nigeria had not evolved much beyond a mere geographic expression as the late Chief Obafemi.

Awolowo called it and that the entrapped nationalities within it have not recovered from the “mistake of 1914” as Sir Ahmadu Bello once lamented.

Arguing that the amalgamation of the Southern and Northern Protectorates in 1914 was not a

Continues from Page 28

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014—27

Mu’azu and Yuguda: Trouble

is still ahead

ON his emergence as the new national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Adamu Mu‘azu promised not to tamper with Governor Isa Yuguda’s grip of the party in their native Bauchi State. That promise is a long way from being kept given the prize before them.

BY SUZAN EDEH

T

HE emergence of the immediate past governor of Bauchi State, Alhaji Ahmed Adamu Mu’azu, as the national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has opened a new chapter for the party in Bauchi. It has also altered political calculations ahead of the 2015 election.

Before now, Governor Isa Yuguda, who is in his second term, was arguably the sole ‘kingmaker’ in the PDP and all those nursing political ambitions milled around him wittingly and unwittingly soliciting his endorsement.

Now, another ‘kingmaker’ has emerged and expectations of PDP stalwarts in the state are high. Prior to Mu’azu’s appointment as PDP national chairman, the party in the state was facing intense pressure mounted by the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC), which led to massive defection of PDP members to the APC. But with the emergence of Mu‘azu as the PDP national chairman, all those disaffected with Yuguda and had been contemplating shifting to the APC are having second thoughts.

Test for Yuguda, Mu’azu’s renewed friendship The friendship between the governor and the national chairman according to local folklore goes back to their childhood. Their relationship, however, fell apart in 2006 when Mu‘azu stopped Yuguda from getting the PDP gubernatorial ticket forcing the latter to decamp to the defunct All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP on whose ticket he won the election. And then the vengeance. Mu‘azu was probed and his associates disappeared until President Goodluck Jonathan reportedly intervened to broker peace which eventually culminated in the election of Mu‘azu.

Though Mu‘azu promised to be of good behaviour after he was proclaimed national chairman, there are still fears that the question of selecting Yuguda’s successor may remain a sore thumb because of the political aspirations of many of their associates.

Many Mu’azu’s loyalists who went into hiding when Mu’azu had problems with the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) have now resurfaced and are declaring their political ambitions which could

•Mu'azu: I will not spoil Yuguda's fun threaten the political calculations of Yuguda for 2015.

The development if not properly managed may not go down well with Yuguda and his associates who view this situation as a threat to their future political hold on the state.

Conversely, the national chairman may also encounter some challenges in carrying out his assignment in some northern parts of the country if President Gooduck Jonathan insists on recontesting.

In 2011, Yuguda who was at the forefront of the campaign team of President Jonathan had a difficult task in convincing Bauchi people to vote for Jonathan and he almost lost his seat while campaigning for Jonathan. Buhari won with the majority of votes against Jonathan.

Mu’azu too, may not find it easy to deliver his state to Jonathan in 2015 even though he and Yuguda work together on the project.

Yuguda’s anointed candidates Many politicians in the state believe that Yuguda has anointed Barrister Ahmed Ibrahim Dandija, the Secretary to the State Government to succeed him because he has been part and parcel of his government from inception and can continue with the programme of the Yuguda administration seamlessly.

That assertion is, however, disputed in other circles where it is claimed that Dr. Musa

•Yuguda: Associates worried

Babayo, a former acting national chairman of the PDP is the favoured candidate. Babayo is favoured by the fact of zoning, which also works against Dandija. It is given wisdom that Yuguda would want his successor to come from Bauchi North, given that that part of the state is yet to produce a governor.

Aside these two, there are six other PDP chieftains, who have indicated interest in succeeding Yuguda. They include Alhaji Babayo Gamawa, former deputy governor during Yuguda’s first

Ogun APC:

term; the incumbent Deputy Governor Sagir Aminu Saleh; Alhaji Ibrahim Makama Misau; Deputy Senate Leader, Senator Abdul Ahmed Ningi; FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed and Barrister Ibrahim Zailani.

Politicians speak Some politicians, who spoke with Vanguard said that with the appointment of Ahmed Mu’azu from the Southern Senatorial district, the chances of Bauchi North producing the next governor may be bright given that

both Yuguda and Mu’azu are from South.

However, a political analyst, Ibrahim Sani said: “At the end of the day Yuguda and Mu’azu may likely have a common and consensus candidate in order to continue to work together as friends. At this juncture, they will have to bury their differences and work together. Yuguda will have to sacrifice his interest to save his political future”.

A one-time Commissioner for Information during the tenure of Mu’azu, Alhaji Madaki Hamma said Mu’azu’s appointment is a blessing to the state and the nation as a whole and there is nothing to fear because Yuguda and Mu’azu are friends and they have reconciled their differences.

“The Ahmed Mu’azu I know and have worked with for over eight years is a leader that will work hard to unite the PDP family. He has assured every member of the party of a level playing field during the elections and will respect the choices of the electorate,” he said A PDP chieftain in Bauchi, Alhaji Bashir Bukar Rimin Zayam said that he does not foresee any problem between Yuguda and Mu’azu in 2015 general election as they have been childhood friends and are brothers.

According to him, “I think when the time comes the two friends will cross the bridge without any arguments” In the view of the North East zonal Publicity Secretary of APC Youth Vanguard Alhaji Nasiru Ibrahim Darazo, Mu’azu’s appointment cannot change anything because PDP is an old fashioned party that has no respect for internal democracy.

Window dressing

GOVERNOR Ibikunle Amosun and his foes in the Ogun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC appear to have sheathed their swords, but almost everyone agrees that it is the peace of the graveyard.

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

I

T was obviously for the purpose of avoiding any hiccups in the membership registration exercise of the All Progressives Congress, APC that warring factions in the party decided to call a truce.

The recently reported reconciliation between the warring factions of the party led by the governor of the state, Senator Ibikunle Amosun and former governor of the state and a national leader of the party, Aremo Segun Osoba could at best be described as a stage-managed-

truce.

The real reconciliation, according to findings, is yet to be achieved as the causes of the crisis have yet to be addressed.

The supremacy battle between the two factions had embarrassingly, snowballed into violence to the extent that officials of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP across the country started referring to the APC in Ogun State as an example of what a national APC government could bring.

National Assembly members from the state all of who belong to the APC have refused to see eye to eye with the governor over sundry issues.

But, in a dramatic manner, Amosun and the federal legislators who have for long not sat down together, surprised all recently when they attended the stakeholders’ meeting on the party’s registration exercise. The meeting of the two factions many said, was to give a lie to the rumours of polarisation within the party.

At the meeting at the Gateway Hall, Abeokuta, the APC State Registration Supervisory Committee chairman, Mr. Adeniyi Fabikun, who was appointed from outside the state,

Continues on page 29

28—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

T

HE good news about Nigeria is that life is never dull – there are always moments of drama and fun. The movement of the former Vice-President, Atiku Abubakir from the Peoples‘ Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Party (APC) has been described by Atiku as normal in Nigeria‘s political evolution. It should be recalled with considerable amusement that the former Vice-President is not new in the game of seeking political green pastures.

Perhaps, he is an adept in such a game of political opportunism. Who would not seek the prime political prize in a country where ‘everything goes‘?

It seems that the country has for sometime been witnessing the amusing gyrations of the country‘s honorable ‘Members‘ of the National Assembly.

There appears to be free or inhibited flow of some ‘Members‘ from PDP to APC and also, (in lesser quantity) from APC to PDP. All in the act of exercising the democratic right of free movement. Also, all is perceived to be right in as much as the salaries and allowances of those involved by the pernicious trafficking are not affected. In that regard, the gullible electorate has no right to be consulted because once elected, the servants (before elections) become the masters.

Many questions are being asked in enlightened political circles about the quality of the existing political parties and their membership. The structure of the country‘s main political parties is being challenged on the premises of political ideology and economic orientation. Even the military President, Ibrahim Babangida made the distinction between a party to the ‘Left‘ and a party to the ‘Right‘ in his ‘two party structure‘.

The brutal dictator Abacha did much, without success, to introduce distinction among his five political parties (Ige‘s ‘five fingers of a leprous hand‘) which adopted him as their only candidate for the election of a civilian President. The recent political maneuvers could be another political form of magic – optical trick. Not many people are convinced about the real difference

They're talking more about politics and less on commonsense economics between the ruling party (PDP) and the Opposition (APC), which is now becoming the haven for PDP renegades and others of dubious political inclinations.

At the time politicians are busy digesting the INEC‘s elections time-table for 2015, President Jonathan was announcing his own time-table for the National Conference in 2014. Many believe that the National Conference is of that great importance that any thought about 2015 elections should wait a bit.

Many analysts are hoping that President Goodluck Jonathan would attach great importance to the structure of the National Conference and make it a great success because on it might rest any future elections in the country. It is expected that decisions of the National Conference would touch on sound electoral system, type of government, devolution of power, including Police, etc and also, the form of arrangement suitable for a united Nigeria.

Many people are of the candid opinion that the Federal Government is not right in declaring a ‘no-go‘ area in the debates in the National Conference. It is probable that many Nigerians will not willingly want their country to break-up even with the obvious problems of staying together as one nation. It is a question of what crude-oil has joined together, let no one put asunder, but it is necessary to hear

the argument for breaking the country, if there is any.

It should be realized that many powerful nations have at present, formed the country called Nigeria. The Hausa/Fulani, Igbo, and the Yoruba are nations by themselves which have definite borders, accepted cultures and traditions and each could stand as a country if it wishes. So are other smaller well defined tribes in the country whose interests are inter-woven in the complicated union of the country. It would be necessary and highly desirable for the views and the aspirations of these ethnic groups to be taken into consideration in the deliberations at the National Conference. It would be a gross mistake to say ethnic groups do not exist.

THE ECONOMY The strength of the Nigerian economy eloquently stressed at the recent Davos Economic Conference by President Goodluck Jonathan would be duly propagated by the Nigerian team at the World Economic Forum of Africa in May 2014 in Abuja, the Nigerian capital. As stated often and supported by reliable statistical figures, Nigeria has achieved macro-economic stability with appreciable growth rate, foreign exchange stability and inflation rate below 10 per cent.

According to the Central Bank, ‘the moderation in domestic price level was

largely due to tight-monetary policy stance coupled with the relatively stable exchange rate regime during the period, which resulted in single digit inflation in the three measures for the whole year.

This is the first time the country has achieved this since 2007‘. That was an outstanding economic achievement in Africa As I have noted in this column several times, the macro-economic stability being gloriously chimed by the Central Bank has been achieved at the expense of employment and glaring inequality in the distribution of income. The Finance Minister, Dr. (Mrs) Okonjo-Iweala noted in Davos, ‘In Nigeria, we are growing fast, but that growth has come with increasing inequality and lack of inclusion of certain segments of the population.

Nigerian policy makers will have to choose, and quickly too, between slight increases in prices, which might be necessary at times for growth and largescale unemployment with severe consequences of insurgency, armed bank robberies and kidnappings for monetary ransoms. The country has also to choose between a small colony of glittering wealth and a vast land of abject poverty in a fast growing economy. This is where a judicious mixture of fiscal and monetary measures could work wonders in an atmosphere of commonsense economics.

AID TO EMPLOYMENT: If importation of drugs is strictly controlled, the manufacture of drugs used in all Nigerian hospitals could be entrusted to some reliable pharmaceutical manufacturing companies in Nigeria who, without fear of foreign competition would seize the golden opportunity to expand production of drugs in the country. The import of antibiotics and other high technology drugs could be handled by these trusted domestic manufacturers who will become the supply centre to the hospitals and the Nigerian market. The advantage of this will be increase in employment, and fewer deaths from imported fake drugs.

Marking Okonjo-Iweala’s answer script:

In for re-sit or revenge?

Continues from page 25 government programmes such as the SURE-P, You Win among others.The clerk of the House committee on finance, Mr. Farouq Yakubu Dawaki confirmed the receipt of her answer scripts and even commended her for answering the challenging questions in reasonable time in a statement titled: “The Search for Truth Begins”.

“The House Committee on Finance acknowledges receipt of the 102-page response from the Honourable Minister of Finance and Co-ordinating Minister of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, to the 50 questions on the state of the economy given to her to answer by the Committee on December 19, 2013.

“The Committee commends the Honourable Minister for responding to the questions within reasonable time.

“The Committee will commence work immediately on the response. However, if in the process the need arises for further explanation, information or additional document the Minister will be promptly informed. “The Committee will also call for memorandum on the state of the economy and 50 questions from professionals, academics, civil society and all well meaning Nigerians. This will be followed by a public hearing.

“Finally, the process will be concluded with the presentation of a report on the true state of our economy to the House.

Given the tone of the acknowledgment it was not surprising that the committee would subsequently raise issues with Okonjo-Iweala’s answers. However, few expected the committee to score the minister a miserly 20%.

In a statement detailing the committee’s observations on her answers, Jibrin demanded for additional information on 40 of the 50 questions.

“Having gone through your responses, the Committee noted that some questions were either not answered, partially answered, out rightly ignored or completely misunderstood”.

“The Committee further noted glaring missing gaps in the responses, absence of supporting proofs to assertions and lack of relevant documents to back up the presentation as is the practice in any legislative oversight or investigation”.

“Also noted were the wide ranging comparison you made with other advanced and developing countries while responding to some questions but failed to apply the same in some cases that obviously require such approach”.

“In some instances, you abruptly referred the Committee to relevant agencies for clarification”.

“The Committee is surprised at that because of its conviction that if all the questions raised are beyond the competence of the Minister of Finance, it is certainly not beyond the competence of

the Coordinating Minister for the Economy to the extent of information you must have in your possession unless you say otherwise”.

“In view of the above and ahead of the investigative hearing on the State of the economy, the Committee is obliged to forward to you additional observations and requests to be submitted to the Committee not later than 20th February, 2014”.

Whether the minister is preparing for the re-sit or makeup exam could not be ascertained as at press time. But what is

clear to almost all is that the issue has navigated to the political terrain and two of the sharpest minds in Nigerian government, Okonjo-Iweala on the executive side and Jibrin on the legislative side have been taken in by the atmospherics of the charged political ambience. Many regret that the legislature has picked one of the few seemingly clean and altruistic ministers in the proxy political war as a target. But in war, nothing really is fair.

Confab: The unending bickering over modalities Continues from page 26 mistake, he however, attributed the problems of the country to bad leadership “Nigeria has been bedeviled with leadership problems since independence which has kept us where we still are and which has led some people to wonder if it would not have been better if the colonialists stayed longer to develop the country.”

He anchored the necessity of the dialogue on the intractable challenges of the country and issues surrounding the

1999 Constitution. According to him, the 1999 constitution has been largely declared as faulty and a failed document disowned by the people which has led to rejection by states within the federation as demonstrated by the creation of 57 councils in Lagos as against 20 recognised by the 1999 constitution which Osun State has followed suit. The same manner of rejection, he said, has been expressed by 12 states in the North, which adopted variants of Sharia that was not in tandem with the provisions of the 1999 constitution.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014—29

$20 billion alleged missing money:

Sanusi should stop singing — Sen. Anosike S

ENATOR Emma Anosike represented Anambra North in the Senate between 2003 and 2005. Before then, he served in the House of Representatives from 1999 to 2003. He is presently, the chairman of the Governing Council of Federal College of Education, Abeokuta, Ogun State. In this interview Anosike picked holes in last Tuesday’s allegation by the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi that $20 billion from the nation's oil revenue is yet to be accounted for. He accused the CBN governor of speaking from the two sides of his mouth. Excerpts:

BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

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HAT is your take on the allegation by the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Sanusi Lamido Sanusi that $20bn is missing from the nation's oil revenue?

I feel so disappointed. The Central Bank Governor should stop playing to the gallery. The last time he spoke to this country, he came out, first of all made an allegation and the second time, he came and apologized that he had reconciled with them.

This time around, he has said that $20 billion is missing. What do we believe?

How do we have confidence in this kind of person?

Moreover, he should stop this kind of smear campaign. If he has any problem with the government, he should not go ahead and be blasting the government that he is serving.

As a Central Bank governor, what is important in this issue is for him to do what he is supposed to do at the right time.

CBN is like a parastatal to the Ministry of Finance. He should able to go directly to

Ogun APC:

Window dressing

Continues from page 27 unveiled the guidelines for membership registration of the party.

It was gathered that the truce reached came on the heels of reconciliatory meetings brokered by traditional rulers, including the Awujale and paramount ruler of Ijebuland, Oba Sikiru Adetona, and the Alake of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo.

The Osoba group was represented at the meeting by the deputy governor, Segun Adesegun and Senators Adegbenga Kaka, Akin Odunsi and Gbenga Obadara.

The House of Representatives members that attended the parley included Segun Williams, Olumide Osoba, Adekunle Adeyemi, Kehinde Odeneye, Bukunola Buraimoh, Babatunde Ogunola and Abiodun AbuduC M Y K

•Anosike: Sanusi is warm and cold his Minister and tell the More over, he has to find a Minister what his misgivings way of interfacing between are. It is not to come out on himself and the government. the road and start shouting. He can’t be shouting. I am not

saying that he should not open up to the National Assembly. But before he opens up to the National Assembly, somebody appointed him.

Somebody felt comfortable by saying “ yes” he can do the job. He is supposed to be reporting to people. He is a regulator which is key. He has told us that a lot of banks are supposed to be sold. He has not told us what is happening to our banks as a regulator.

The interest rate is going high every day.

The issue of integrity and mannerism is critical in any body that is the central bank governor because any statement he makes becomes very sensitive. You don’t just talk careless on the road, open up and start singing. You don’t sing as a CBN governor.

But some think the CBN is doing Nigeria some good by letting Nigerians know the true state of things?

It is unfortunate. If he wants to do it, he is doing it the wrong way. You don’t need to overheat the system. He has a better way of doing that.

By what he is doing, he’s giving us the impression that there is problem. There is no problem. Anybody can get up and make allegations.

Why I became uncomfortable was that he made this allegation early, later I saw him on the television with Ministers of Finance and Petroleum.

All of them sat down and said no, what I said was wrong. We have reconciled

Balogun, all of who belong to the Osoba camp.

A day before the truce was brokered, the two factions of the party had reportedly engaged one another in a verbal war at the palace of the Alake of Egbaland.

The Alake had convened the reconciliatory talks between Governor Amosun and Osoba’s associates with a view to ending the political logjam.

The meeting was attended by the Awujale, Amosun, Secretary to the State Government, Taiwo Adeoluwa and all members of the National Assembly elected on the platform of APC. The meeting ended in a deadlock.

This occurred after the first series of reconciliatory meetings facilitated by the Awujale in his palace also ended in deadlock.

Vanguard gathered that at the meeting at the Alake

palace which started at 4:30 pm and ended 7:30 pm, the governor was accused of being the mastermind of the sponsored attacks on them and their members.

The senator representing Ogun East, Adegbenga Kaka and a member of House of Representatives from Ifo/ Ewekoro federal constituency, Adekunle Adeyemi raised the allegation on behalf of their colleagues.

Vanguard gathered that, the aggrieved lawmakers told the governor that they had no personal problems with him but, told him that political problems could only be resolved politically and not in the palaces of traditional rulers.

The governor on his part, was said to have accused the lawmakers of plotting to make the state ungovernable for him. The

•Amosun: Man in battle two traditional rulers were thus said to have appealed for calm between the two camps.

It was reliably gathered that the royal intervention nonetheless, that the present truce might just be window dressing as the lawmakers have vowed not to fall into the trap of the governor.

One of the conditions given to Amosun by his antagonists is the dissolution of his cabinet preparatory to accommodating

the papers. They were correct, etc. And now, he has got to the National Assembly and brings up another issue. That was why I talked about integrity and mannerism.

But some persons believe that he was threatened to recant his earlier stand?

Then, there is no integrity.

At his level, as a CBN Governor, if he feels uncomfortable with the government, let him resign.

Who intimidates who? If he feels uncomfortable, he should resign. He has donated money to some individuals.

What if Sanusi had decided to correct an age long anomaly in the system assuming there was one with his outburst?

I am not against his opinion.

He has the right to his opinion. He has where he got his own information from. But what I am saying in effect is that he should not be strong on that opinion.

What he should do as a regulator, for instance, as a governor of CBN, if he observes things like that, you have the NNPC GMD, draw his attention. He didn’t tell us that he has spoken to the GMD and he refused to reconcile. No, what he should be telling Nigerians is yes, we have observed this but we are working with NNPC to reconcile it.

the interests of other stakeholders.

Another condition is that the deputy governor, should be given his deserved respect and role in governance.

It has been alleged that the Amosun camp had vowed that the deputy governor would only read newspapers throughout the four years of the government, because he was foisted on the governor ahead of the 2011 election.

The governor is also being expected to involve all the stakeholders of the party in the affairs of his government.

Some of these conditions were yet to be met before the show of unity at the commencemnt of the membership registration exercise. It is no surprise that it the show of unity was described as window dressing.

30—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Customs, PAAR and its ignorant critics (3)

BY OKEY IBEKE

This is the concluding part of this piece

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HESE campaigns have continued after the takeover with the Comptroller-General and his officers touring the various Customs commands and meeting the importers even in the markets to educate them on the new clearance procedure.

At Apapa Port which is the heartbeat of Customs activities, which handles about 60 per cent of container traffic into the country and from where a large chunk of Customs revenue is derived, the Customs Area Controller, Comp-

Comptroller General of Customs, Inde Dikko Abdullahi

troller Charles Edike, a highly resourceful and pro-active Customs of-

ficer also organized several enlightenment campaigns, seminars and workshops to complement what the headquarters was doing. He also established a Computer/IT Centre in the command and organized trainings for agents on how to log into the trade portals to do their transactions.

In addition, the Edike-led Apapa Customs Command has also been sponsoring radio jingles to sensitize and educate the trading public and all stakeholders on the Pre-Arrival Assessment Report (PAAR), how to log in entries and how to benefit maximally from the system by making true and honest declarations.

PAAR Implementation Status: Contrary to the baseless claim by Mr. Uchu Block and his fellow sponsored detractors, the new Pre-Arrival Assessment

Report, PAAR, has been running smoothly. Despite the 99,000 RARS and over 300 imports to which no RAR was issued by the Service Providers which tended to clog the process, PAAR implementation has been largely successful.

As at January , 2014, a total of 5672 PAARs have been issued. Similarly, 14225 final documents had been uploaded by authorized dealer banks with 8585 of the final documents approved.

Notably on the close of work on that day, 50138 forms ‘M’ had been pulled into the PAAR application “including historic applications registered by the Scanning Service Providers.”

It is interesting to note that before the commencement of the PAAR, there was significant increase of internet bandwidth from 5mb to 18mb with the view to ensure that connectivity highway is created to enable fast and robust network connectivity. The officers in charge also ensured optimization of PAAR application and database to enhance the speed of the application and to enable fast and speedy processing of files. They also quickly fixed bugs and issues arising in the course of processing the transactions.

According to the PAAR Activity Status Report issued by the Ruling Centre, all the daunting difficulties and challenges encountered during the transition with regards to the implementation of PAAR within the first six weeks have been stabilized.

Implementation enhancement “Following the stability of the implementation, it is expected that phase 2 of the PAAR implementation enhancements will commence,” the report said. These implementation enhancements include: •Comprehensive Automated Risk Management System (ARMS) including manifest and SGD data.

•Live vessel management.

• Interactive exchange with the various units of customs and partner government agencies which will commence and consolidate.

With the smooth take off of full destination inspection by the Customs, the progress being recorded in implementation of PAAR, one wonders how somebody can say that PAAR has failed. Instead of making baseless remarks and displaying ignorance, Uchu Block and his cohorts are therefore advised to stoop to learn so as to be part of the new system or become completely irrelevant in the scheme of things.

Okey Ibeke is the Publisher of Business & Maritime West Africa.

C M Y K

Vanguard, FRIDAY , FEBUARY 7, 2014 —31

Meal times could have a significant effect on the liver

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

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EW findings in mice sug gest that merely changing meal times could have a significant effect on the levels of triglycerides in the liver.

The study carried out by Weizmann Institute of Science study, recently published in Cell Metabolism, not only have important implications for the potential treatment of metabolic diseases, they may also have broader implications for most research areas in the life sciences.

According to the study, “Many biological processes follow a set timetable, with levels of activity rising and dipping at certain times of the day. Such fluctuations, known as circadian rhythms, are driven by internal “body clocks” based on an approximately 24-hour period — synchronised to light-dark cycles and other cues in an organism’s environment.

“Disruption to this optimum timing system in both animal models and in humans can cause imbalances, leading to such diseases as obesity, metabolic syndrome and fatty liver.

Night-shift workers, for ex-

ample, have been shown to have higher incidence of these diseases.

In studying the role of circadian rhythm in the accumulation of lipids in the liver, Family enjoying meal time together postdoctoral fellow Yaarit Sanford-Burnham Medical ReAdamovich and his the labora- search Institute, Orlando, US, tory of Dr. Gad Asher of the quantified hundreds of differWeizmann Institute’s Biological ent lipids present in the mouse Chemistry Department, to- -liver. They discovered that a gether with scientists from Dr. certain group of lipids, namely Xianlin Han’s laboratory in the

the tridriglycees (TAG), exhibit circadian behavior, with levels peaking about eight hours after sunrise. The scientists were astonished to find, however, that daily fluctuations in this group

Benue, Bio-Organics combat malnutrition with ’enrich’

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O reduce the burden of malnutrition particularly among children, Benue State Government and Bio-organics Limited is distributing food fortifying Micro-Nutrient Powder (MNP) known as “Enrich” to about 86, 000 children.

This is made possible with the purchase of 10 million sachets of MNP. According to the state government, “Micro-Nutrient Food

Powder, manufactured in Nigeria by Bio-Organics, will reach thousands of children in Benue State between December 2013 to May 2014, thereby fortifying them against malnutrition and diseases associated with micro-nutrients deficiency.”

At the launch of Enrich Micro-nutrient food powder in the state, First Lady of the State, Mrs. Dooshima Suswam, said

that there was need to address the problem of malnutrition in Benue with the MNP, given that lack of nutritious food, poor feeding practices lead to malnutrition, which is the underlying cause of about half of deaths recorded in children under age of five years and severe acute malnutrition affecting millions of Nigerian children.

Suswam expressed delight with the innovation strategy

International Lab Auditors audit Nigeria labs I

of lipids persist even in mice lacking a functional biological clock, albeit with levels cresting at a completely different time — 12 hours later than the natural schedule.

Adamovich noted that these results came as a complete surprise, adding that one would expect that if the inherent clock mechanism is ‘dead,’ TAG could not accumulate in a timedependent fashion.

When the scientists proceeded to check the effect of an imposed feeding regimen upon wild type mice, however, they were in for another surprise: After they provided the same amount of food — but restricted 100 percent of the feeding to nighttime hours — the team observed a dramatic 50 percent decrease in overall liver TAG levels. These results suggest that the time at which TAG accumulation occurs, as well as its levels, are determined by the clocks together with timing of meals.

NTERNATIONAL Laboratory Auditors are in Nigeria to audit labo ratory facilities in the country even as the Medical Laboratory Science Council of Nigeria, MLSCN, has declared its determination to upscale the delivery of quality medical laboratory services to the citizenry by helping the sector to build capacity and strengthen their quality systems.

The visit of the International Laboratory Auditors from the African Society of Laboratory Medicine (ASLM), is part of the Council’s efforts towards standardising laboratory services in the country.

Welcoming the delegation, the Registrar/Chief Executive Officer of the Council, Professor Anthony Emeribe said it was gratifying that many medical laboratory operators and facilities had begun to appreciate the efforts of Council towards bequeathing a culture of quality medical laboratory services to the country. Emeribe who further noted that more laboratories are now keying into the mentoring process, which could potentially lead to their accreditation, added that it was only a matter of time before others follow. The Registrar disclosed that so far, 16 out of

the 23 first cohort PEPFAR-supported laboratories in the country had been externally audited, and the next round of auditing should cover the remaining seven. He, therefore, enjoined the facilities to continue to partner with Council to fill whatever gaps exist in their processes so as to prepare them for both national and international accreditation.

“Our goal is to continue to deploy the tools of advocacy, approval, mentoring and inspection among others to upscale the delivery of medical laboratory services in the country. Gradually but steadily, more laboratories are keying into the quality improvement mechanisms, which we have put at their disposal. We therefore thank the ASLM for sending this team of lab auditors to Nigeria, as quality benchmark is now global and every facility no matter where it is located should internalize the relevant standards in their processes, infrastructure, products, personnel etc.” he said.

Responding, the delegates thanked the Council for sustaining its partnership with ASLM. A member of the team, Mr. Teferi Mekonen observed the enthusiasm of the facilities audited towards improving their standards, this, he said, was evidence that the tools of advocacy and mentoring being deployed by Council were effective.

Mekonen urged Council not to relent in its efforts to transform the sector in spite of the intransigence of some deviants who would stop at nothing to scuttle even the most laudable goals.

aimed at reducing infant mortality in the state saying, “Benue State Government has procured 10 million sachet of MNP for distribution to 86, 000 children between age of six months and 59 months during the Maternal Newborn and Child Health Weeks (MNCHWs) of December 2013 and May 2014.

Also, Chief Executive Officer, Bio-Organics Nutrients Systems Limited, Dr. Kenny Acholonu said that most complementary and staple foods lack sufficient amounts of vitamins and minerals required for optimal growth and development in children, especially in the first 1000 days of life.

Schools, Unilever move to save children with cancer

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S the Nigeria joined the world to mark 2014 World Cancer Day, Avi Cenna schools Ikeja Lagos and Unilever Nigeria Plc have thrown their weight behind advocacy efforts by the Children Living With Cancer Foundation, CLWCF, in their fight against cancer.The two establishments recently, partnered with CLWCF to donate medical equipment worth millions of naira to the children cancer unit of the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH), Idi-Araba.

The initiative is said to be directed at reducing the cancer burden among Nigerian children affected by cancer and their families.On it part, Avicenna Schools donated to the ward, equipment which includes oxygen panels, its distribution and pumps, with the various rooms in the wards being fitted with three oxygen outlets each.

While Unilever has come to the aid of CLWCF by availing the unit with six pulse oxymeters, 14 infusion pumps, 180 bone marrow biopsy needles, 20 central lines.

Expressing gratitude over the organization’s gestures, Founder CLWCF, Dr Nneka Nwobbi who disclosed that the NGO will 18th of this month, formally hand the hospital equipment to LUTH management.

She also revealed that CLWCF is staging a three-day fundraising Art exhibition.

Funds realised from February end event would be channeled towards the treatment and welfare of Nigerian children affected by cancer.

Nwobbi further disclosed that CLWCF is also, partnering with Arrester Divine School, Ajao Estate, Pinefield Schools, Lekki and Caleb British School, Magodo to raise awareness on childhood cancers; on what it tagged, the Bandana Day.

32— VANGUARD,

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

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Isa was not crucified brought them conspicuous signs, they said: ‘This is plain sorcery.”

We studied in the Qur’an that the life of Jesus on earth was as mysterious as his birth. This was no less than his messages and private life which were all the same esoteric. He was born without a father by a virgin and divinely inspired Mary.

The Qur’an states that Mary was overcome by the pains of childbirth. During her agony and helplessness, God provided a stream of water under her feet from which she could drink.

Furthermore, near a palm tree, Mary was told to shake the trunk of the palm tree so that ripe dates would fall down and she could eat and be nourished. Mary cried in pain and held onto the palm tree, at which point a voice came from “beneath her”, understood by some to refer to Jesus, who was yet in her womb, which said, “Grieve not! Your Lord has provided a water stream under you; And shake the trunk of the palm tree, it will let fall fresh ripe dates upon you. And eat and drink and calm thy mind.” That day, Mary gave birth to her son Jesus in the

desert.

The Qur’an also goes on to describe that Mary vowed not to speak to anyone that day, as God was to make Jesus, who Muslims believe spoke

made me blessed wherever I am and has enjoined upon me prayer and zakah (charity) as long as I live; (He) hath made me kind to my mother, and not

,

UR recent story on the coming back of Jesus, the son of Mary, (peace be upon him) elicited some questions and remarks from readers. The most pertinent of them was that since Islam does believe in the coming again of Jesus, does it also believe in his crucification; just as another non-Muslim reader remarked that the Qur’an must have been copied from the Bible. But my response to them goes as follow.

The Quran certainly was a revelation from God through someone who was not lettered, who had never been tutored by any homo sapience. So, it couldn’t have been that the Prophet (s.a.w) read the Bible or know a little about it before he had the revelations. He was divinely inspired and related his revelation about the Bible even more that what is contained in the book.

Is it not instructive that Muhammad the prophet of Islam (s.a.w) is mentioned only four times in the following Chapters and verses of the Qur’an – 3:144; 33: 40; 47: 2 and 48: 29, while Jesus, was mentioned 27 times? These are 2:87; 2:136; 2:253; 3:45; 3:52; 3:55; 3:59; 3:84; 4:157; 4:163; 4:171; 5:46; 5:78; 5:112; 5:114; 5:116; 6:85; 19:34; 33:7; 42:13; 43:57; 43:61; 43:63; 57:27; 61:6; 61:14 excluding the connecting verse between the two prophets where ‘Ahmad’ was mentioned. This could be found in Surat Saff 61:6. “And remember, Jesus the son of Mary: O children of Israel: ‘I am sent forth to you from God to confirm the Torah already revealed, and to give news of an apostle that will come after me whose name is Ahmad.‘ Yet when he

Allah made faith triumph over the forces of evil and adversity. For Jesus to die on the cross would have meant the triumph of his adversaries; but the Qur’an asserts that they undoubtedly failed in their plan

,

while on his cradle bed. He said: That was his first miracle.

It was then that God made the infant Jesus speak from the cradle and he spoke of his prophecy for the first time.

He said, which are verses 19:30-33 in the chapter of Mary in the Qur’an: He said: “Indeed, I am the servant of Allah. He has given me the Scripture and made me a Prophet. And He has

overbearing or miserable; So peace is on me the day I was born, the day that I die, and the day that I shall be raised up to life (again)!”— Qur’an 19: 30-33 His death crucification

and

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he cardinal point of the Christian doctrine is that his life was taken on the

ASK Y OUR IMAM YOUR

Muslim women protesting against the ban on Hijab in public schools in Lagos State during the Hijab Day

Question: As a Muslim, is it right to contribute a fund to help the family of deceased who is a Christian knowing fully well that the non-Muslims seldomly contribute to any Muslim cause?

Answer: It is certainly permissible to help a poor Christian family, do not relent in the cause of humanity no matter the religion.

Remember that it is Allah that guides to the right path, if they are not Muslims today, they may become Muslims tomorrow.

They may even become Muslims by the singular act of charity you do unto them. It was reported that Umar ibn Al-Khattab saw an elderly Christian man begging. He asked about his situation and when he was told that the man who was a Christian had lost his source of income, he ordered that he should be given help from the treasury of the Muslim state.

We can emulate that and help all those that requested for help. Help them to meet their immediate needs first before considering them on the basis or issues of religious differences.

cross of Calvary which according to them meant the blood sacrifice or the vicarious atonement for sins. Islam does not support neither in the atonement of sins nor his death on the cross. The issue about his death appeared in four places. These are in Sura Aal Imran, Chapter 3; Sura Nisa’chapter 4; in Sura Ma’ida, chapter 5; and in Sura Maryam chapter 19 explaining that Jesus was not killed by the Jews, either by stoning or by crucifixion.

The Qur ’an states that people (i.e., the Jews and Romans) sought to kill Jesus, but they did not crucify nor kill him; “this was made to appear to them as though they killed him”.

“And [for] their saying, “Indeed, we have killed the Messiah, Jesus, the son of Mary, the messenger of Allah .” And they did not kill him, nor did they crucify him; but [another] was made to resemble him to them. And indeed, those who differ over it are in doubt about it. They have no knowledge of it except on assumption. And they did not kill him, for certain.”

“Rather, Allah raised him to Himself. And ever is Allah Exalted in Might and Wise. “ Qur’an 4:157-158. Muslims believe that Jesus was not crucified but instead, he was raised up by God unto the heavens. This “raising” is often understood to mean through bodily ascension.

There was an account of St. Barnabas which supported the Islamic view that Jesus was not crucified rather he was substituted on the cross. The Jews did not kill him, he was raised up by Allah (“Bal rafa‘a-hu Llahu ilai-hi) and based on Allah’s pronouncement that every one shall die, (kulu nafsun zaiqatul maot) he will appear before the final hour and die before resurrection.

Again still on the issue of crucification, Allah made faith triumph over the forces of evil and adversity. For Jesus to die on the cross would have meant the triumph of his adversaries; but the Qur’an asserts that they undoubtedly failed in their plan. There are other references in the Qur’an on this. For more reading consult Chapters 3:55 and the whole of Chapters 19:2735 and 19:91-95.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014— 33

MSS vows to mobilise students against APC in Lagos if...

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our home ref lect yyour our Muslim family: Le Lett yyour reflect faith — Imam Abojututu

BY ADERONKE ADEYERI

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S a microcosm of the society, the family is an important institution that must be well managed and protected in line with the guidelines set by the creator. Facing the Kaaba in a chat with Imam Abdul Hafeez Abojututu dissects the conundrum of an ideal Muslim family and offer tips on how to make the union sustainable.

Excerpts: What does an ideal Muslim family look like?

I will start by mentioning the components of a family, the father,

means having peaceful and godly society. According to a Muslim scholar Shiek Dr. Fathi Yakan, whom I respect his opinion dearly mentioned six qualities of an ideal Muslim family. This great man said they must be Muslims in their faith, meaning even in their thinking as a family, their religion must be obvious. Also, their mode of worship must be that of Islam. Again, an ideal Muslim family must follow Prophet Mohammed in character and deeds, they must be far from any kind of ungodliness. The house of an ideal

•Imam Abdul Hafeez Abojututu mother and children. Therefore, an ideal family starts with the right selection of people. By this, I mean a man who is a Muslim must search for a woman who also believes in the teachings of Prophet Mohammed to marry before one can begin to think of an ideal family.

The process of marriage in Islam must be followed, I mean Nikkah and observing the required prayers before having canal knowledge of themselves.

However, an ideal Muslim family consists of a legally married couple (husband and wife) and their children. It also includes their parents, siblings and other relatives. A Muslim family comes into existence through blood relationship and marriage.

Allah (SWT) says, “And it is He Who has made man from water: Then He has set up relationships of family and marriage: And your Lord is ever All Powerful (over all things).” [Surah Al Furqaan: 54] What are the attributes of an ideal Muslim family?

A family constitutes a unit of the society and having an ideal family

Muslim family must portray Islam.

You should not be told this is a Muslim house as you step into it.

This does not necessarily mean the photographs on the wall or frame but the setting of the house or even the way you are received into the house. The members of an ideal family must submit to the will of Allah. They must be ready to forgo

their interest for the sake of their believe. Lastly, they must live and be ready to do anything for Islam.

People in their community must appreciate Islam through their deeds, that is how to make humanity better. If all these can be put into practice, the society will be a better place.

What social and religious activities are expected of an ideal Muslim family?

Religious activities expected of an ideal Muslim family includes observing the daily prayers as when due. Organizing and attending seminars where the word of Allah will be propagated.

Fasting during Ramadan is also a religious activity that an ideal Muslim family can not but participate. The annual pilgrim to Mecca is also a religious activity.

In fact, all these activities bring the family together. The social aspect has to do with our personality and social functions like marriage ceremony, burial, child naming and even meeting your wife. The teachings of Prophet Mohammed has given us guidelines on how best to go about all these. Islam is not a religion that preaches isolation as some people erroneously say but a religion of love. Let people around you see love in your character and give alms to the needy.

How can a Muslim family in discord trace their feet back to Almighty Allah?

Today, our society is full of many vices that only takes the grace of Allah to remain faithful. There are many false ideologies in our society that people use as cover up for their shortcomings.

However, the best thing one can do to a family in discord is to call them to order. It could be as a result of a difficulty faced by one member of the family and as such, they need prayers and the teachings of Prophet Mohammed (s.a.w) from those around them.

They need to follow the teachings of the Prophet in their relationship and pray fervently over their situation.

HE Lagos State Area Unit of the Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria (MSSN) has again called on the Lagos State Government to respect the right of female Muslim students to use Hijab in public schools.

The body said that the government’s adamant posture on the issue call to question, its sincerity and commitment to the rule of law and protection of the fundamental human rights of Lagosians. The organisation added that it would mobilise the entire Muslim students in the state against the government in the 2015 elections if it does not allow the use of Hijab in schools.

The calls came as the society joined millions of Muslims across the globe to mark the World Hijab Day recently.

The Amirah (female president) of the association, Hajia Hafsah Badru, wondered why Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), who is believed to be versed in the matters of the law, would deny Muslim students, whose parents are tax-payers, their divinelyordained and

constitutionally-guaranteed rights.

Badru, who led the students on a walk from Maryland bus stop to the Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, urged the Governor to emulate his Ekiti State counterpart, Dr Kayode Fayemi, who recently prohibited the discrimination against Muslim students using the Hijab in state public schools.

“We advise Governor Fashola to do the right thing just like Dr Fayemi had done in Ekiti State. Allowing our sisters to use Hijab in schools is not a favour we are seeking from the government. We are only demanding that this divinelyordained and constitutionally guaranteed right be recognised and respected,” she said.

Making reference to the current Hijab case before the Ikeja High Court, Badru chided the government for what she called “delay tactics,” accusing it of attempting to frustrate Muslim students in the state from seeing the case to a logical end.

It would be recalled that the case has suffered five adjournments most of which came on the applications by government’s counsel.

MUSWEN condemns killing of Islamic cleric in Zaria

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HE Muslim Ummah of Southwest Nigeria (MUSWEN), on Wednesday, condemned the killing of a renowned Islamic Scholar, Sheikh Muhammad AuwalAlbani on Feb. 1.

Auwal-Albani, together with his wife and son, were killed by unknown gunmen around 11.30 p.m. on his way back home from a preaching session in Tudun Wada, Zaria, Kaduna State.

MUSWEN condemned the killing in a statement issued by its Executive Secretary, Prof. Daud Naibi in Ibadan.

The group described the killing as “surprising and embarrassing.

“What is surprising about it was the manner and the motive behind such barbaric

murder.”

Naibi said Albani was an open critic of Boko Haram’s violent style of Islamic proclamation.

He stated that “Albani had consistently insisted that the Muslim world needed technological development to face the current challenges.

“Albani’s stand was based on the sayings of the Holy Prophet Muhammad (SAW), who counseled Muslims to seek knowledge even if they have to travel as far as China.

“He believed, like other wellinformed Muslims, that seeking for knowledge as preached by Prophet Muhammad in the quoted sayings was without any distinction.”

Lagos State Muslim Students under the umbrella body of Muslim Students’ Society of Nigeria, MSSN, Lagos State Area Unit, on a procession from Maryland to Gani Fawehinmi Freedom Park, Ojota calling on Gov Fashola of Lagos State to permit the use of Hijab in public schools as part of the event marking 2014 World Hijab Day recently.

34 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

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TREBLE CHANCE Aston V. Crystal P. Liverpool Tottenham Bolton

v West Ham v West Brom v Arsenal v Everton v Bournemouth

Charlton Derby Middlesbro Carlisle

v Birmingham v Q.P.R v Blackburn v Gillingham

Guest Forecaster BAYO AKINWAMIDE NAP – 2,39,46,49 Going good, Saturday February1,2014 as fans celebrated ¾ - [1,9,11,19]. And, Saturday February8,2014 are Chelsea vs Newcastle, Liverpool vs Arsenal, Walsall vs Milton. TIPS > > > NAP: 2,4,34,38. NAP: 6,36,46. NAP: 22,40,46. NAP: 31,39,43,49. NAP: 2,39,46,49. NAP: 2,31,43,46.

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Facebook: bayodusports@yahoo.com WEEK12- Fixtures Saturday October5,2013 with Coded-Numbers being-15/13. That’s 15-13=2x9=185=13banker. Checked for Week12 matches played Saturday October5,2013, Napped-13. .

WEEK21- Fixtures Saturday December7,2013 with Coded-Numbers being-11/13. That’s 11-13=2x9=187=11banker. Checked for Week21 matches played Saturday December7,2013, Napped-11.

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FOUR AWAYS PAIR 30 11X 12X 13 X X 17 PERMUTATION 31 1 X 3X 4 X 10 AVOID X 13 X 16 14 TIPS RISKY 17X 20X 25 21 CREDIT Aldershot York Wycombe Torquay Walsall Sheff Utd Port Vale Carlisle

2 2 2 3 3 3 3 3

Cup & CUP – 2013/2014 English Football Association Cup 2013/2014 Season and the amazing discovery, guaranteed perfection for 6-times. ## #.Programmed –A&B.* Section-A) * first Round F.A.CUP – Fixtures Saturday November 9,2013; >> Second Round F.A.CUP –Fixtures Saturday December7,2013; >> Third Round F.A.CUP - Fixtures Saturday January4,2014; >>( Section-B)* Fourth Round F.A.CUP – Fixtures Saturday January25,2014; >> Fifth EXCELLENT Round F.A.CUP – Fixtures Saturday Aston V. 7 February15,2014; >> Sixth Round Crystal P. 7 F.A.CUP – Fixtures Saturday March 8,2014

Liverpool Tottenham Bolton Charlton Derby Middlesbro

7 5 5 5 5 5

Let me have your comments on our Guest Forecaster.

Thanks.

X-RAY OF THE DRAWS WEEK 30 Barclays Premier League 1 Aston V. 2 Chelsea 3 Crystal P. 4 Liverpool 5 Man Utd. 6 Norwich 7 South'pton 8 Sunderland 9 Swansea 10 Tottenham

v West Ham v Newcastle v West Brom v Arsenal v Fulham v Man City v Stoke v Hull v Cardiff v Everton

.

XX 1 XX XX 1 2 1 XX 2 XX

Sky Bet Championship 11 Barnsley 12 Blackpool 13 Bolton 14 Brighton 15 Burnley 16 Charlton 17 Derby 18 Huddersfied 19 Leicester 20 Middlesbro 21 Reading 22 Yeovil

v Ipswich 2 v Nottm For. 2 v Bournemouth XX v Doncaster 1 v Millwall 1 v Birmingham XX v Q.P.R XX v Wigan X v Watford XX v Blackburn XX v Sheff Wed XX v Leeds 1

Sky Bet League One 23 Bradford C. 24 Brentford 25 Carlisle 26 Colchester 27 Leyton O. 28 Notts Co. 29 Oldham 30 Port Vale 31 Sheff Utd. 32 Stevenage 33 Tranmere 34 Walsall

v Crewe 1 v Crawley 1 v Gillingham XX v Rotherham 2X v Peterboro 1 v Coventry 2 v Bristol C. 1 v Swindon XX v Shrewsbury XX v Wolves 2 v Preston 2 v Milton K.D. XX

Sky Bet League TTw wo 35AFC Wimbldn 36 Bristol R. 37 Dagenham 38 Exeter 39 Mansfield 40 Morecambe 41 North'pton 42 Scunthorpe 43 Torquay 44 Wycombe 45 York

v Rochdale 2 v Oxford 2 v Hartlepool XX v Portsmouth 1 v Southend 2 v Burton A 2 v Plymouth 2 v Chesterfield XX v Bury XX v Accrington S.XX v Cheltenham XX

1 3 4 10

Conference Premier 46 Aldershot 47 Braintree 48 Foret Grn. 49 Grimsby

v Chester v Nuneaton v Barnet v Southport

XX XX 2X 1

Revised Pairs 1x 3, 4 x 10 16 x 43,46 x 47

44—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

NDDC orders road contractor in Delta back to site

BY FESTUS AHON

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G H E L L I — D E LTA State Commissioner on the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Chief Tom Amioku, has directed the contractor handling the 12 kilometers Oviri-Oha Road project to accelerate work on the project to ensure its early completion.

Amioku, while inspecting NDDC projects in Warri, Okpe and Ethiope East Local Government Areas, said the 12 kilometers road project from Oviri-Court to Oha passed through more than six communities.

He observed that judging by when the contract was awarded, the contractor has not done enough, urging him not to toy with the road project “as it is a vital link for the communities and for the people to carry their commodities to the nearest market points.”

Amioku noted that there was enough work to be done, enjoining the contractor to take advantage of the dry season to expedite action on the road project.

Directing the acting Director of the Delta State NDDC office, Mr. Gbubemi Ogor, to keep the contractor on his toes as he would come visiting the site anytime, he charged the contractor not to hide under the guise of some issues bordering on evaluation report and payment of compensation in some sections of the road to delay the work.

Delta community chief drags state gov, CP to court over alleged harassment

BY ONOZURE DANIA

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HE most senior Okakuro of Ovade community in Ogharefe sub-clan in Oghara, Ethiope West Local Government Area of Delta State, and businessman, Chief Jumi Evughe, has dragged the state Commissioner of Police and the state governor before a Federal High Court sitting in Warri, over alleged harassment in the disputed chieftaincy stool in the community, in violation of his fundamental human rights.

He is also alleging threat to his life in the suit.

Other defendants in the suit include Chief Nioble Eshemitan, Osasa Divisional Police Officer, Oghara and Supol Odige OC, Homicide, SCID. Evughe is asking the court to declare that the use of Police powers of arrest for the harassment, intimidation and oppression of the applicant over a chieftaincy dispute by the respondents, is an abuse of powers, unlawful and unconstitutional abuse of the fundamental right of his freedom of movement, personal liberty and inhuman and degrading treatment as guaranteed by section 33to 39 of the 1999 constitution, as amended.

The applicant is also asking the court to declare that his arrest by the second, third and fourth defendants on November 18 and 19, 2013, at Oghara Town, without any offence or allegation, amounts to an infringement of his right of the freedom of movement.

The applicant, through his counsel, Oghene Jakpor, is further asking the court to restrain the respondents, their agents, privies and assigned officers, from harassing him and falsely arresting or intimidating or taking him to Asaba over his opinion and pursuance of his legal claim over the Ovie of Oghara stool or for

Opposition faults Uduaghan for saying only PDP exists in Delta

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

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SABA—THE leadership of Labour Party, LP, in Delta State has faulted Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for saying that there was no other political party worth its salt to challenge the ruling party, when he visited the Abuja national secretariat of PDP on Wednesday, where the state PDP endorsed President Goodluck Jonathan for the 2015 presidential race.

Reacting to the statement, on behalf of Labour Party, Mr. Emeka Nkwoala, said his party took exception to such remark, saying, “We have read the governor’s remark on one party state in Delta with dismay.

The governor should know that his host at that forum in Abuja, where he made this remark, is an experienced person.

“No wonder he lambasted them when they told him (PDP

National Chairman, Mu’azu), they are on ground. He retorted ‘ which ground,’ go to the grassroots he charged them.

We are taken aback on how our dear governor has forgotten so soon the 2011 guber elections

and its outcome. The major credible alternative political platforms are coming together very soon in the state to dislodge PDP. We shall know who is on the ground soon,” he added.

No faction in Public Service JNC, says Delta NLC Chair

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HE Chairman of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Delta State Council, Mr William Akporeha, has said that there was no faction in the state Public Service Joint Negotiation Council as being reported a section of the media Speaking in Asaba, the state NLC chairman noted that the only known JNC in the state was the one recognised by the national leadership of JNC and NLC, led by Mr Goodluck Ofobruku.

He expressed surprise that labour movement, which he said has no economic attachment to it other than selfless

service to enhance workers welfare, had been reduced to party affairs, thereby, sending wrong impression to the public.

“I wish to state unequivocally that as the NLC chairman in Delta State, there is no faction or division and it is the one led by Comrade Goodluck Ofobruku,” he said.

Akporeha noted with dissatisfaction that some persons were fanning the embers of crisis in the labour movement in the state when there was none, ostensibly to satisfy their personal interest.

PEOPLE SPEAK

08102479985

holding his opinion against some interests in Delta State.

He argued that he was being arrested and nvited to Asaba for investigation over a non- existing criminal allegation, as he had not been informed of the alleged crime committed by him.

RUSAL-ALSCON appoints Ag MD, other senior managers

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HE Aluminium Smelter Plant of Nigeria, UC RUSAL-ALSCON, in Ikot Abasi, Akwa Ibom State, yesterday, announced changes in its senior management at the plant.

A statement by Anastasia Voronkova, Internqational Media Relations Manager, UC RUSAL, Moscow, Russia, named Mr. Ime Inyang, a former technical director, as the acting Managing Director of the company.

Other new appointments are Dr. Ikpa Etukafia, acting Director, Human Resources; Elder E. Amba, acting Director, Finance and Mr. Ata Udom, acting Director, Commercial while Mr. Ibrahim Magaji, Company Secretary/Legal Adviser, now heads the Legal Unit.

Engr. Ekpenyong Antigha, Director, Energy and Utilities; Engr. Charles Anyaefuna, Director, Cast House and Engr.

Uyime Udofot, Director, Reduction Plant as well as Mr. Alexy Kuksin, Director, Resources Protection and Pastor Uduak Obot, Director, Quality, Health, Safety and Environment keep their positions.

The statement added that the new appointments at ALSCON go along with contract termination of a number of senior managers as well as long-term business trips of current plant managers due to operational needs.

By Bartholomew Madukwe (nwamad@yahoo.com)

On the forthcoming National Conference

I am in support of the National Conference, but ethnic groups should not be forced to live together.

Let them decide the way forward. All areas should be touched and that is the essence of a national conference. Mr. Lawrence Iwebor- Businessman.

We cannot, on the basis of hidden agenda, refuse to move further in the process of the National Conference. We dare not make decide to boycott the National Conference on the ground of an allegatiion of hidden agenda. Mr. Taye Bukola- Trader.

Nigeria needs to make more progress in convening of the National Conference. The process is supposed to be made public. Let us move further to see what this one will achieve at the end.

Ms. Nnenna ChimezieStudent.

Nigerians have become aware and therefore will resist the old and ineffective ways of handling serious matters of national interest. We have to dialogue and we have to table our grievances. Mr. Ademola Tunde- Baker.

We have come to the point where we must trust our leaders if we want them to succeed.

Any conference, the resolutions of which will be forwarded to the National Assembly for ratification, is a complete waste of public funds. Ms. Chinonye Chinny- Student .

I will not be surprised if after this conference another committee is set up to fine tune the grey areas. What Nigerians need is for the President to tackle headlong, the problems confronting this country. Mr. Saidi Adekunle- Engineer

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014—45

2015: Group endorses Obielum as Delta guber candidate

Mu'azu, a competent, tested patriot —ODIBO

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BY FESTUS AHON

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GHELLI—THE people of Ushie in Ndokwa East Local Government Area of Delta State, have endorsed Chief Godswill Obielum as their governorship candidate in the 2015 general elections.

Ushie people, under the aegis of Ushie Positive Agenda, UPA, said: “We know the capabilities of Chief Obielum. He will ensure that the projects of this administration that may not be completed by 2015 are completed across the state.”

Chairman of the group, Mr Ogechukwu Aghaosa, said Obielum has all it takes to govern the state, describing him as a detribalised Deltan, who has the overall interest of the people of the state at heart.

“We therefore, appeal to Deltans to give Obielum the opportunity to govern the state in 2015. We are confident that he will deliver if given the mandate.”

Onuesoke to Sylva: You can't apologise on behalf of N-Delta

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HE Director, Western Operation, Network for Good Governance, N4GG, Mrs. Pear Onuesoke, has faulted a statement by former governor of Bayelsa State, Mr Timipre Sylva, apologising on behalf of the people of Niger Delta to the people of Adamawa State for campaigning for President Goodluck Jonthan in the 2011 general elections, describing his action as that of a person, who has fallen out of favour in his home state of Bayelsa and Niger Delta.

Reacting at its regional meeting, N4GG said that Sylva does not have the capacity to either speak or apologise on behalf of the people of Niger Delta, adding that he has insulted the integrity of the people of Niger Delta with his comment.

Igho Onuesoke, who spoke for the group, wondered why Sylva would speak on behalf of Niger Delta people, when in actual fact he has lost favour among his people.

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11TH CVL ANNUAL LECTURE: From left: Prof. Pat Utomi, Founder, CVL; Prof. Ebere Onwudiwe, Chairman of the occasion and Dr. Akinwunmi Adesina, Minister of Agricuture and Rural Development, Guest Speaker, during the 11th CVL Annual Lecture, in Lagos, yesterday. Photo: Biodun Ogunleye.

2015: Gbagi has everything against Utuama —PDP GROUP

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

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ARRI —A GROUP, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP Progressive Political Forum, PPF, has condemned what it called the unjustified verbal attack by Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, former Minister of State for Education, on Delta State deputy governor, Prof. Amos Utuama, over perceived conflict of interest in the 2015 governorship tussle in the state.

PPF National Secretary, Mr Oghenero Ogbeferere, who spoke yesterday, in Jeremi, Ughelli South Local Government

Area, expressed the group’s displeasure over the renewed criticisms by Gbagi against Utuama.

Ogbeferere, said: “Gbagi has everything, without justification, against Prof. Utuama simply because he fears that he has no clout to stand the deputy governor in any election, even though Prof.

Utuama has, so far, not declared any intention to run for the 2015 governorship poll.

“Gbagi has become a regular candidate, who declares governorship interest in Del-

ta at every transition year, not with any self conviction to win at the end of the day, but rather he declares the interest as leverage to abuse perceived political rivals whose interest and leaning run contrary to his in PDP.” Ogbeferere cautioned Gbagi to desist from further attack on the person of Prof.

Utuama, saying: “Leave Utuama or any other personality out of it. Deal with the issue. If you are interested in Delta governorship, fly your posters and let Deltans decide who is fit.”

NEPC, USAID partner to expand exports of agric products

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IGERIAN Export Promotion Council, NEPC, United States Agency for International Development, USAID and the Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transport, NEXTT, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, to partner for the delivery of technical assistance and capacity building for Nigerian Exporters and Business Development Service Providers, BDSP. The partnership was endorsed

by USAID Director of Mission, Michael Harvey, the Executive Director/CEO of NEPC, Mr. Olusegun Awolowo and USAID/ NEXTT Chief of Party, Mr. Alf Monaghan.

The event was witnessed by Mr. Robert Orya, MD of NEXIM Bank, the Director of Trade Federal Ministry of Trade, Industry and Investment, Mrs. C. Ikpechukwu and Mr. Chuks Chikezie from Ministry of Foreign Affairs,

among others.

Under the MoU, USAID and NEPC will evolve export development strategies that would result in increased export of agricultural products, including cocoa, shea, cashew, sesame and processed agricultural products.

Through jointly sponsored trainings under NEXTT, export-ready firms would be supported to exploit export opportunities in targeted value chains in importing nations. The partnership will also provide technical and capacity building support to network of Business Development Service, BDS, providers serving non-oil firms.

According to USAID/Nigeria Mission Director, Mr. Harvey, “USAID is pleased to collaborate with NEPC to drive the country’s economy through exports as we share

a commitment to see Nigeria advance its diversification of the non-oil economy and take advantage of the African Growth and Opportunity Act, AGOA.” The CEO of NEPC, Mr. Awolowo, said: “The partnership will help increase nonoil export of select products by 30 per cent over the next three years,” thus enhancing the country in its focus of becoming one of the top 20 economies by the Year 20:2020, in line with the current administration’s economic agenda.

He recounted that the country was losing as much as approximately $12 billion worth of revenue due to informal trade in Africa alone, whereas Nigeria is making just a paltry $3 billion from other parts of the world, formally.

LEGBETE Moses Odibo, a member of Goodluck Support Group in Delta Central Senatorial District of Delta State, has said that with the coming on board of Alhaji Adamu Mu'azu as Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, National Chairman, the party now has a very capable captain.

He spoke when the group paid a courtesy call on the new PDP Chairman at his office in Abuja.

He said: “The main project of our generation is to restore and strengthen the structures of our democracy,” calling on all Deltans and Nigerians in general to support the government of Goodluck Jonathan and his transformation agenda.

Odibo commended members of the Goodluck Support Group saying, "the storm in PDP is over and it is now time for to work for the electoral success of the party."

Among those on the entourage were the co-ordinator of the group, Alhaji Gulak, the Political adviser to President Jonathan and Senator Mantu, the chairman of the group.

Group flays call to dismember Ambrose Alli Varsity

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HE Esan Youth Association has faulted the recent call by the Afemai Youth Coalition for the decentralisation of the Ambrose Alli University, AAU, Ekpoma, Edo State, by moving the University’s College of Medicine to Edo North senatorial district and other campuses created for Akoko Edo, Owan and Etsako Areas of Edo North.

The group described the call as a threat to the peaceful co-existence of the various ethnic groups in the state. It said it would resist the attempt to dismember and destroy the legacy of Prof. Ambrose Alli, who set up the university. It noted that when a similar attempt was made to dismember the Auchi Polytechnic, Auchi, it took the intervention of General Agbazika Innih, then Bendel State governor, to reverse the movement of some of its departments from Benin City to Auchi.

46—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Police nab kidnap suspects

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

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WERRI — TWO kidnap kingpins allegedly connected with the kidnap of one Margaret Odor have been arrested by Imo State Police.

Parading the suspects in Owerri, the Commissioner of Police, CP, Mr. Mohammed Katsina, said the two hoodlums were arrested during an operation to rescue Odor, adding that the hapless woman had been reunited with her family.

“The two kidnap suspects are Nwodu Josephat, 33, from Umuduru, Onuimo Local Government Area and 22-year-old Jude Ihentuge from Obazu, Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state,” Katsina said.

Why Gov Orji is popular, by former aide

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PEOPLES Demo cratic Party, PDP, stalwart and former aide to Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State, Mr. Ben Onyechere, said yesterday in Umuahia that the governor became popular with citizens of the state as a result of his developmental strides since he assumed office.

“The flame of currency belying the avalanche of endorsements and encomiums on the governor, no doubt have proved that criticism of his government is not only the fantasy of self-delusion, but an effort in futility to undermine the achievements of his administration.

“The governor who has written his name in gold in the sands of time has endeared himself to the people of Abia through his sincerity of purpose, orderliness and sense of discipline which has characterised his administration," he said.

Confab: Ndigbo warned against sending politicians as representatives Ndigbo, since they are always mindful of their personal interests.

He also cautioned the group not to dabble into politics but allow the Professor Ben Nwabueze-led Igbo Leaders of Thought to articulate the position of Ndigbo for the conference.

Oyibo said the warning became necessary, following what he saw as betrayal of Igbo interest by Igbo

U

Gov Orji disowns senatorial posters in Abia

BY ANAYO OKOLI

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MUAHIA — ABIA State governor, Chief Theodore Orji has disowned campaign posters flooding Umuahia and other places in the state urging

him to contest for Abia Central senatorial seat in 2015, saying he had not mandated any person or group to print posters for him.

Governor Orji, who also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission,

O

NITSHA — THE National Agency for Food Drug Administration Control, NAFDAC, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria, PSN, and Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, PCN, have moved to implement the Federal Government new policy on drug distribution by checking the sale of fake drugs in Onitsha.

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INEC, for releasing election time table in good time, however, appealed to those behind his posters to wait for the commission to give the go-ahead for campaigns.

He said early time table would enable political parties and poli-

Umeh robbed APGA of internal democracy — Anakwe

BY ENYIM ENYIM

O

NITSHA — ACTING chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, in Anambra State, Chief Shedrack Anakwe, yesterday, accused the former national chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh, of robbing the party of in-

ternal democracy in the past 10 years of his leadership.

Addressing reporters at the party secretariat in Awka, Anakwe said the recent barrage of complaints arising from the just concluded local government election, where the party’s candidates were replaced by people who did not attend primaries, showed a

Agencies move against fake drugs in Onitsha

BY ENYIM ENYIM

members of the confab committee led by Senator Okorounmnu which went round the country to gather views of Nigerians on the conference.

He said Igbo Leaders of Thought was made up of selfless and prominent Igbo people who had the interest of their people at heart and should be allowed to marshal out the position of Ndigbo at the conference.

Oyibo warned that Ndigbo should not repeat the mistake made in 1998 when patriotic MUAHIA — AS PREPANdigbo had apathy for politics, RATIONS for the national making way for those he deconference intensify, a nominee scribed as “gamblers, insincere of World Igbo Congress, Engr. Obi and fraudsters” to dabble into Oyibo, has warned Ohanaeze politics to represent Ndigbo.

Ndigbo against allowing politiHe said Ndigbo would lose out cians to represent the Igbo at the if the selection of membership of parley. the national conference was done According to him, politicians based on federal constituency, will trade off the interest of insisting that the best representatives that would take care Igbo interest would be by ethnic representation.

Oyibo also expressed worry over the squabbles in the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, saying it was wrong for the apex Igbo socio-cultural body to wash its dirty linen in public, a development he described as an embarrassment to respected Igbo leaders.

“I feel ashamed and insulted that Igbo are washing our dirty linen in public. Ohanaeze is a socio-cultural leadership of Ndigbo, not political leadership.

Ohanaeze should not be dragged into politics. There are so much for Ohanaeze to do to correct the current malaise in Igboland.

“An organisation so divided can’t hold Igbos together. Igbo Leaders of Thought should be LAUNCH: Nigeria's First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan, supported by the Senior Special allowed to lead the way in articuAssistant to the President on MDGs, Dr. Precious Gbeneol, while decorating one of the Vil- lating the Igbo position in the lage Health Workers, (Bunmi Olukosi), during the launch of the Village Heath Workers national conference,” Oyibo inScheme, in Abuja. sisted.

BY ANAYO OKOLI

Following this development, stakeholders in the industry are to work together with drug dealers in the markets to regulate the distribution network in the area.

Speaking at a one-day workshop on drug distribution in Awka, Assistant Registrar of the Pharmacy Council of Nigerian, Mrs. Gloria Obumere, explained: “I think it will take a lot of dialogue and communication and most important, there must be

similarity of purpose,. that is making sure that drugs are made available to the people by working within the confines of the law of the land.

“We are working together with the Federal Ministry of Health, the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria and the NAFDAC to ensure that at the end of the day, what get to the people are drugs that their qualities can be guaranteed."

case of lack of internal democracy in Umeh’s administration. ”It is regrettable that for some time APGA could not display its noble qualities as a true democratic party due to the lack of inclusion of popular ideas into its organisation and businesses. ”There have been complaints here and there that those who stood for primary elections were not eventually fielded as candidates.

“We have to urge our members to sheathe their swords in the belief that from now on things must be done properly,” he said.

Anakwe promised that with the enthronement of a new national executive, led by Chief Maxi Okwu, true internal democracy would henceforth be introduced and practised to ensure every member was given a level playing ground and be carried along in the scheme of things."s

ticians adjust and prepare well for 2015 elections, pointing out that it would enable the commission to listen to genuine complaints to be presented by parties and politicians.

Speaking to journalists in Umuahia, Orji said the posters could be from people in his senatorial zone who felt he could give them quality representation in the upper legislative chamber.

The governor said: “I have not printed any posters, neither have I mandated any person to print posters for me or paste posters for me. So if posters are there, they are there on their own.

“Therefore, it is those people that are eager, who want to see me in the Senate, I believe; they are the people who are doing that.

“If I have made a categorical statement that, 'yes, I want to go to the Senate,' I know how to pursue it. But right now I have not made any statement about that and the urge is everywhere for me to go to the Senate, and Abians want me to go to the Senate, especially those from my senatorial zone, and I am sure they are the people doing that.

“You can’t stop them, that is their wish. We can only appeal to those doing it to take it easy until the time when the whistle will be blown and they will come."

Vanguard , FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 - 47

SEMINAR: From left: Professr Henkjan Verkade,key guest speaker,Prof. Ngozi Nnam,President, Nutition Society of Nigeria, Rev. Isaac Agoye,member, Board of Directors, Friesland Campina WAMCO Nigeria Plc., and Prof. Tola Atimo,past President, Nutrition Society of Nigeria, at the 9th Olu Akinkugbe WAMCO Nutrition seminar organized by Friesland Campina WAMCO in Lagos.Photo: Akeem Salau.

REGISTRATION: From left: Mrs. Folashade Ashafa, Prince Abiodun Awoderu, Hon. Dele Ajayi and registration officials, during the commencement of the All Progressives Party, APC, membership registration exercise, at Magodo, Lagos.

From left: Mrs. Bukola Faleke, Mr. Abiodun Faleke, member House of Hepresentatives, Ikeja Consituency,Sunday Adenuga, with Princess JacksonGoyea Lola, All Progressives Congress, APC, regristion officer, during the party's registration exercise, at Ojodu, Ikeja Lagos. Photo: Akeem salau.

REGISTRATION: Acting National Chairman, All Progressives Congress, APC, Chief Bisi Akande (right) and Otunba Segun Awotunde, Chairman, APC, Osun State displaying the APC membership card after registering at Unit 12, Ward 4, Atewogbade polling unit Ila Orangun, Osun State, during the ongoing party's nationwide membership registration

PARTY窶認rom left: Mr. Wale Osomo, Olowo of Owo, Oba D.V. Folagbade Olateru-Olagbegi III, Olori Yeyesa Ololade Olateru-Olagbegi and Dr. Wale Ahmed, representing Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, at the Lagos Country Club new year party in Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

DECORATION: Public Relations Officer, Oyo/Osun Customs Command, Ijeoma Nwala, being decorated with her new rank by the Customs' Area Controller, CAC, of the command, Mr. Oteri Richard (right), assisted by another Customs official.

COMPETITION: From left: Chief Jimi Agbaje, Trustee, Atlantic Hall School, Lady Smith, Chairman, National Academicals Sports Commission,NASCOM, Mr. Yemi Idowu, special guest of honour, Mr. Femi Olubanwo and Chairman 20th Annual Inter-house Sports Competition, Mr. Austin Ufomba, at the Atlantic Hall School annual inter-house sports competition, at Poka-Epe, Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

OPENING: From left: Dan Forster of Inspiration FM, CEO, Diva Cakes and Confections, Eugenia Okafor and MD, Public Relations Distinction, Alero Edu, during the official openiing of Diva Cakes and Confections in Lagos.

PRESENTATION: From left: Pastor-in-charge of Province, Dominion Sanctuary, Pastor Femi Atoyebi, wife of the author, Mrs. Bridget Edokpolo, author, Noruwa Edokpolo and Book Reviewer, Professor Gbenga Ogunmoyela, at the official presentation of NAKED:: The Mystery of Openness, Agidingbi, Lagos.

48—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Kukah blames disasters on corruption in government

BY LAWANI MIKAIRU

C

ORRUPTION and ineptitude in government are the causes of air and other disasters in Nigeria. This is the contention of the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Matthew Kukah. The bishop disclosed this in Abuja at the memorial symposium and launch of a N500 million fund for the “60 Angels Memorial Staff Residence”, in memory of the 60 students of Loyola College who lost their lives in the Sosoliso crash in Port Harcourt.

He said disasters were the outcome of bad governance and corruption that have stunted the country’s development, alleging that government officials divert huge resources from public fund, while nothing is left to carry out strategic development of the country. Kukah said, “What we are reaping is what the hand of fate has dealt us, namely, a tale of tragedy, misfortune and disaster which has come to be known as governance in Nigeria. It is almost impossible to understand how and why other nations like India built on and turned the colonial railways into one of the most prestigious and economically viable areas of employment in their country. Sadly, in our own situation, the areas of our greatest failure such as electricity and public infrastructure have proved to be the most lucrative for the operators.”

Customs elevates 2000 officers

BY MARIAM EKO

T

HE Nigeria Customs service has elevated more than 2000 officers in its fold. Those elevated include officers in Ports and Terminal Multipurpose Limited, Tin Can Island Custom Command, Zone A Command, among other commands nationwide.

Speaking at the event in Lagos, the Area Controller General and Zonal Coordinator of Zone A command, Mrs Grace Adeyemo while addressing officers said the promotion was a reward for diligence and hardwork through patriotism and integrity, adding that it was also a call to higher responsibility to officer, especially in international trade.

C M Y K

Debt Mgt Office to sell N90bn FG bonds T

HE Debt Management Office, DMO, yesterday, said it will sell N90 billion Federal Government bonds on February 12. The DMO said this in its “February 2014 FGN Bond Offer Circular” posted on its website

yesterday.

It said that the N90 billion worth of bonds comprised N45 billion three-year paper and N45 billion of 20-year paper, adding that the bonds would mature in August 2016 and July 2030, respectively.

The DMO said that the 2016 and 2030 instruments would attract 13.05 per cent and 10.00 per cent coupon rates, respectively.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the sale is the

second monthly debt auction for 2014. The DMO, on January15, issued two tranches of Federal Government bonds totalling N90 billion to investors. The bonds had tenors of between three and 20 years with coupon rates of 10.5 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.

Plateau spends N600m on arts complex

J

OS—The Plateau Government said it spent N600 million to remodel and expand the Luka Bent Indoor Arts Theatre Complex in Jos. The Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Mr Abraham Yiljap, made this known when he addressed newsmen after inspecting ongoing projects in the ministry on Thursday.

Yiljap said that when completed the theatre would boost the internally generated revenue of the state government.

He expressed satisfaction with ongoing work at the theatre complex, stressing that the Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed (right) signing the APC registration book at Bale ward of complex would be a utility Share in Ifelodun LGA during the Party's Registration Exercise while his Wife Mrs. Omolewa c e n t r e . Ahmed and others watch...Wednesday.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, reports that the indoor theatre complex has a 2,500 capacity hall, five conference

BY NDAHI MARAMA uri, the state capital. It also shares stormed the Council at about 7pm halls, two eateries, space for bank, AIDUGURI—GUN border with Madagali Council yesterday and opened fire on resoffices, shops for rent, IT centres, MEN suspected to be Area of Adamawa State which idents and other security posts, among others.

Yiljap said that the Governor Boko Haram terrorists, yesterday, had witnessed a deadly church using AK47 rifles, Improvised Jonah Jang-led administration invaded Askira, the headquar- attack that claimed over 30 lives. Explosive Devices, IEDs, and had recorded great success in ters of Askira-Uba Local Govern- Residents who spoke on the con- petrol bombs.They said the gunimproving the tourism sector ment Area of Borno State killing dition of anonymity told Vanguard men wrecked havoc for more than which had the potential to be a three people. But the state Police that the gunmen in their numbers three hours by killing several inmajor source of income for the Commissioner, CP Lawal Tanko in Hilux vehicles and motorcycles nocent people with the burning said it was an armed robbery at- with some of them disguising in of shops, houses and vehicles, state. tack as the gunmen only attacked military camouflage uniforms before they fled into the bush.

He said that when fully a beer parlour in Askira town and developed, tourism could carted away hundreds of thougenerate more funds than sands of naira before they shot agriculture and could only be and wounded three people incompared with the oil sector. cluding a Policeman.

IRECTOR-General, Na vided for the Institute’s clinic and The commissioner said that there Unconfirmed report, however, tional Teachers’ Institute, a fire service station, respectively. was need for public-private has it that the gunmen also at- NTI, Dr. Aminu Ladan Sharehu, The DG expressed optimism that partnership to take the sector to tacked two policemen at a differ- has commissioned nine vehicles, the vehicles would enhance the an enviable height. ent locations in the town and shot out of which seven were ear- institute’s monitoring capacity Yiljap said that Plateau was richly them at one of the sensory marked for monitoring the Insti- which he described as key to NTI endowed with beautiful natural organs.Askira-Uba is in southern tute’s programmes nationwide. programmes. and man-made tourists’ sites, part of the state, and about 200 The other two were an ambuSharehu said NTI has more which if private investors partner kilometres away from Maidug- lance and Fire Service Truck pro- than 300 centres, 36 state offices with government to develop, and six zonal offices across the nation noting that at the beginning of his administration, one of the challenges faced was insuffiBUJA—The Independent that the commission would use registration centres at the ward cient number of monitoring vehiNational Electoral Registration Area Officers, has to do with increasing the cles.

Commission, INEC, yesterday, RAOs, for the registration at ward participation in the process.”

He said, “Today we are happy fixed March 12 to March 19 for levels.

He, however, noted that those to commission these vehicles. Any the Continuous Voter Akem who said that INEC was who could not register at the ward time we have the opportunity, we Registration, CVR, for Osun and looking at the possibility of using could come to the INEC Local increase the number of vehicles, Ekiti governorship elections. mobile platforms to carry out the Government offices to register. monitoring these programmes in INEC Director, Voter registration, stressed that the The director also said that the the centres would improve on the Registration, Emmanuel Akem CVR would correct some of the commission would comply with quality of what the NTI does. The made the disclosure at a anomalies detected in the 2010 the Electoral Act that places vehicles which were brand new Stakeholders’ Forum on the voter register, stressing that the N100,000 fine on any person included new five Toyota Corro“Status of Continuous Voter CVR was not for those that could involved in multiple registrations. las, one Hilux Pick-Up, One Jeep, Registration (CVR) toward the not register in 2010. Earlier, Dr Hussaini Abdu, a fire service truck and a Mer2015 general elections” in Abuja. He said, “We want to use the Country Director, ActionAid cedes Benz Van which was an He said this will enable the opportunity of the CVR to correct International, Nigeria, said that ambulance." Sharehu recalled the commission to accommodate all some of the mistakes in terms of the credibility of the voter fire incident the Institute expericomplaints that may arise from biometrics in the previous registration was a major enced two years ago, which he voter registration before the registration. The choice of the determinant of a credible election. said informed the need for the progovernorship elections, adding vision of a fire service truck.

Gunmen invade Askira-Uba, kill 3

M

NTI commissions programme monitoring vehicles

D

INEC fixes dates for Osun, Ekiti guber polls registration

A

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014—49

I don’t like ugly guys — Chita Agwu

N

ollywood beau, Chita Agwu, who started acting in 2009 has worked her way up to the top of the ladder with more than 40 movies to her credit. Despite having a jollyride with her career, things have not always been all rosy for Chita. She recently had an accident with her car, lost her mum but as they say, tough times never last, tough people do. Here, she speaks on a variety of issues, including the kind of man that can rock her world. Excerpts:

BY FLORENCE AMAGIYA

W

hat have you been doing lately?

Let me put it this way, I did a lot of jobs last year and since January, I’ve not done anything.I’ve done 15 scripts but I am still trying to put some things in place and wrap them up. I’ll start working soon, I have about six scripts to work on.

You did a movie recently where eight of you ladies had your head shaved, what was the movie about?

In the movie, there was this cult where you had to kill your husband to belong.

The hair cutting was a cover up to make people believe that your hands were clean.

You lost your mum recently and you didn’t shave your head?

I didn’t shave my head because in my place, we are born of God. If you are in the world, you can do the traditional thing by shaving your hair, but if you go to church, you don’t have to.

So how have you been coping without your mum?

It hasn’t been easy because I see her everyday in my dreams. I just had to let go, but it has made me to stop frequenting home as I used to. I feel it’s no use going home since she’s not there. It’s not funny at all, I miss her everyday. It’s just that she departed from this world, but she’s still living.

•Chita Agwu

You can never catch me tying wrapper on my chest. While growing up, my mum used to advise me a lot on that and she used to say tying wrapper on the chest will press one’s breasts down

How nude can you go to interpret a role?

I can never be nude. I can be sexy or half naked; you don’t have to be completely nude to get a man. When I enter a place, if I see who’s going to toast me, I’ll know. My smile alone can make you fall. I have a very wonderful smile. have the fear of God in you, even if you don’t have money, though I know money is important, I would consider. But, looking at me, there is no way God would not bless me with someone who has money.

Continues on page 50

C M Y K

Miss V al Val crown Iyabo Ojo arrives Vs Laide Lagos Bakare Nollywood Tangos:

As a beautiful woman, how do you handle male advances?

Very simple; I listen to you. I don’t insult you because I’m not a rude person. I just listen to what you have to say.

What will it take a man to date you?

There is nothing a man can give to me.

I like someone who is honest and cute, because I don’t like ugly guys. If you also

A report said that you bought a brand new car after that accident you had with your car in Ijebu Ode and that you have moved to a choice apartment?

I have changed like two cars after the accident I had and they are all brand new

I N S I DE:

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014—51

50—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

My smile alone can mak e yyou ou make fall

I dress as the spirit leads.

When I wake up in the morning, I just dress the way my mind tells me to. But generally, I am a tomboy as I love sneakers.

My boyfriend buys them for me a lot.

What would you not be caught wearing?

You can never catch me tying wrapper on my chest. While growing up, my mum used to advise me a lot on that and she used to say tying wrapper on the chest will press one’s breasts down.

Continues frompage 49 cars. As for the apartment; l had to move from my old apartment because it became too small for me. I only moved to a bigger apartment and not to a choice apartment!

Can you marry an actor?

If it’s my luck, yes. Everything about me is about love, I practice love a lot.

So did it work for you; I mean your mum’s advice on not tying wrapper over your chest?

I did and it actually worked for me! I am what l am today because l obeyed my mother ’s instruction and took that advice she gave me. And l can say with confidence that when you tie wrapper over your chest as a woman; the tendency that your breasts would fall is very high. Many women can also testify to this also.

How would you describe love?

If you love someone, just be real to that person. Let that person love you for who you are. Everything about you should project honesty; you can do anything for that person. It’s not necessarily all about money, money is not love. Love to me is giving without reservation; just like Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross of Calvary.

Tell us about your programme on TV? The name of the programme is ‘Aka Nchawa’. It started last two months. It is a programme where I interview a lot of people, not necessarily actors and actresses, but businessmen, civil servants and so on. It’s been quite interesting. The funny thing about it is that I speak Igbo, so if you are not Igbo, you won’t be able to understand the programme.

You are very versatile when it comes to dressing, how come you dress the way you do?

What’s your favourite food?

I love to swallow! Any soup is fine for me as long as it’s swallow.

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Stories by Ayo Onikoyi

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J. Martins

welcomes baby boy

H

ip-hop singer J. Martins woke the world up to the news of his being a father after his wife, Nnezi Diana Mbila, whom he married nine months ago, was delivered of a bouncing baby boy on Tuesday at Gwinnett Medical Centre, Atlanta Georgia, United States.

“Good morning, Congratulations to me”... both mother, baby, Jason and father are fine and in good condition. Join us and thank God”. J Martins announced.

Blessing Patrick

celebrates birthday with motherless babies

N •Iyabo Ojo

•Laide Bakare

Nollyw ood TTangos: angos: Nollywood

Iyabo Ojo Vs Laide Bakare

By AYO ONIKOYI

N

ollywood Yoruba actresses, Iyabo Ojo and Laide Bakare are both popular stars who have years of experience behind them as successful actresses. Their successes have taken them from the terrain of acting to that of producing, which anyone does really in the Yoruba sector of the movie industry.

But Iyabo Ojo and Laide are turning out to be the most prolific producers who produce quality flicks.

Though they are friends, the rate at which they produce films tend to make them out as rivals. Even though the duo may not be working to any particular scripts, their productions seem to have stories running parallel to each other.

When Laide released ‘Jejere’, a movie that made so much noise some couple of years ago, Iyabo was not found wanting as she released her own ‘Arinzo’. Both films made big money for the actresses even though their release dates were apart by months.

Then Laide stormed the market with ‘Alhaja Tio Common’ to which Iyabo also replied with ‘Tenbelu’.

Now two months into 2014, both actresses are already waving in our faces new movies and the battleground has shifted from Yoruba films to multi-lingua films.

Laide premièred ‘Money Bag’ a few weeks ago and only recently Iyabo also released the trailer of her much awaited film ‘Silence’, a film that brings the reality of child abuse to fore.

ollywood actress Blessing Patrick has shown she is really a makebelieve star with a real heart when she took household materials to the Motherless Babies Home to celebrate her birthday on February 2, 2014.

Blessing would have painted town red with orgy of funky celebrations but instead elected to visit Nigerian Red Cross Motherless Babies Home, Enugu.

Miss V al Val crown arrives Lagos The Miss Val Beauty Pageant Crown arrived Nigeria on February 3, 2013 from Europe for the February 18th 2014 edition of the show in Nigeria at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Night of 25 ‘Famous Couples Award’ evening is a glamorous entertainment evening to promote family, friendship and love among couples meeting in one forum and a rallying point for fun and entertainment.

According to Chief Macaulay Okolugbo, the President of Delight Productions and organisers of Night of 25 Famous Couples Award evening, “The evening will feature live music performances, fashion show, comedy and raffle draw for guests born in the month of February” he said. The identities of the 25 famous couples are expected to be made public soon.

Chike Bryan needs N10m for kidney transplant

T

he National President of Scriptwriters Guild of Nigeria, Chike Bryan who has been battling with kidney ailment since July of 2013 has opened up he needs help to raise N10m for a kidney transplant in an Indian hospital. An Access Bank, Chike Bryan with account number 0000268736 has been made available for intending contributors.

Dakore Egbuson delivers second baby

N

ollywood actress, Dakore Egbuson-Akande who married Olumide Akande, son of billionaire Harry Akande has given birth to baby number two. Reports say the actress was delivered of her second baby girl on Tuesday at a U.S. Hospital. Dakore and Olumide married in 2011 and had a daughter in 2012. This is their second girl.

Tope Osoba

stars in ‘Shade Shadow’

B

eautiful and sexy Yoruba actress, Tope Osoba, who has been widely adjudged as one of the most beautiful women in Nollywood is back with a bang in a movie titled ‘Shade Shadow’ where she plays the part of Natasha, a lady who can be in two different places at the same time. The movie cast includes Femi Adebayo, Shola Akintunde and many others.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014—51

50—Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

My smile alone can mak e yyou ou make fall

I dress as the spirit leads.

When I wake up in the morning, I just dress the way my mind tells me to. But generally, I am a tomboy as I love sneakers.

My boyfriend buys them for me a lot.

What would you not be caught wearing?

You can never catch me tying wrapper on my chest. While growing up, my mum used to advise me a lot on that and she used to say tying wrapper on the chest will press one’s breasts down.

Continues frompage 49 cars. As for the apartment; l had to move from my old apartment because it became too small for me. I only moved to a bigger apartment and not to a choice apartment!

Can you marry an actor?

If it’s my luck, yes. Everything about me is about love, I practice love a lot.

So did it work for you; I mean your mum’s advice on not tying wrapper over your chest?

I did and it actually worked for me! I am what l am today because l obeyed my mother ’s instruction and took that advice she gave me. And l can say with confidence that when you tie wrapper over your chest as a woman; the tendency that your breasts would fall is very high. Many women can also testify to this also.

How would you describe love?

If you love someone, just be real to that person. Let that person love you for who you are. Everything about you should project honesty; you can do anything for that person. It’s not necessarily all about money, money is not love. Love to me is giving without reservation; just like Jesus Christ did for us on the Cross of Calvary.

Tell us about your programme on TV? The name of the programme is ‘Aka Nchawa’. It started last two months. It is a programme where I interview a lot of people, not necessarily actors and actresses, but businessmen, civil servants and so on. It’s been quite interesting. The funny thing about it is that I speak Igbo, so if you are not Igbo, you won’t be able to understand the programme.

You are very versatile when it comes to dressing, how come you dress the way you do?

What’s your favourite food?

I love to swallow! Any soup is fine for me as long as it’s swallow.

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Stories by Ayo Onikoyi

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J. Martins

welcomes baby boy

H

ip-hop singer J. Martins woke the world up to the news of his being a father after his wife, Nnezi Diana Mbila, whom he married nine months ago, was delivered of a bouncing baby boy on Tuesday at Gwinnett Medical Centre, Atlanta Georgia, United States.

“Good morning, Congratulations to me”... both mother, baby, Jason and father are fine and in good condition. Join us and thank God”. J Martins announced.

Blessing Patrick

celebrates birthday with motherless babies

N •Iyabo Ojo

•Laide Bakare

Nollyw ood TTangos: angos: Nollywood

Iyabo Ojo Vs Laide Bakare

By AYO ONIKOYI

N

ollywood Yoruba actresses, Iyabo Ojo and Laide Bakare are both popular stars who have years of experience behind them as successful actresses. Their successes have taken them from the terrain of acting to that of producing, which anyone does really in the Yoruba sector of the movie industry.

But Iyabo Ojo and Laide are turning out to be the most prolific producers who produce quality flicks.

Though they are friends, the rate at which they produce films tend to make them out as rivals. Even though the duo may not be working to any particular scripts, their productions seem to have stories running parallel to each other.

When Laide released ‘Jejere’, a movie that made so much noise some couple of years ago, Iyabo was not found wanting as she released her own ‘Arinzo’. Both films made big money for the actresses even though their release dates were apart by months.

Then Laide stormed the market with ‘Alhaja Tio Common’ to which Iyabo also replied with ‘Tenbelu’.

Now two months into 2014, both actresses are already waving in our faces new movies and the battleground has shifted from Yoruba films to multi-lingua films.

Laide premièred ‘Money Bag’ a few weeks ago and only recently Iyabo also released the trailer of her much awaited film ‘Silence’, a film that brings the reality of child abuse to fore.

ollywood actress Blessing Patrick has shown she is really a makebelieve star with a real heart when she took household materials to the Motherless Babies Home to celebrate her birthday on February 2, 2014.

Blessing would have painted town red with orgy of funky celebrations but instead elected to visit Nigerian Red Cross Motherless Babies Home, Enugu.

Miss V al Val crown arrives Lagos The Miss Val Beauty Pageant Crown arrived Nigeria on February 3, 2013 from Europe for the February 18th 2014 edition of the show in Nigeria at Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island, Lagos.

The Night of 25 ‘Famous Couples Award’ evening is a glamorous entertainment evening to promote family, friendship and love among couples meeting in one forum and a rallying point for fun and entertainment.

According to Chief Macaulay Okolugbo, the President of Delight Productions and organisers of Night of 25 Famous Couples Award evening, “The evening will feature live music performances, fashion show, comedy and raffle draw for guests born in the month of February” he said. The identities of the 25 famous couples are expected to be made public soon.

Chike Bryan needs N10m for kidney transplant

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he National President of Scriptwriters Guild of Nigeria, Chike Bryan who has been battling with kidney ailment since July of 2013 has opened up he needs help to raise N10m for a kidney transplant in an Indian hospital. An Access Bank, Chike Bryan with account number 0000268736 has been made available for intending contributors.

Dakore Egbuson delivers second baby

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ollywood actress, Dakore Egbuson-Akande who married Olumide Akande, son of billionaire Harry Akande has given birth to baby number two. Reports say the actress was delivered of her second baby girl on Tuesday at a U.S. Hospital. Dakore and Olumide married in 2011 and had a daughter in 2012. This is their second girl.

Tope Osoba

stars in ‘Shade Shadow’

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eautiful and sexy Yoruba actress, Tope Osoba, who has been widely adjudged as one of the most beautiful women in Nollywood is back with a bang in a movie titled ‘Shade Shadow’ where she plays the part of Natasha, a lady who can be in two different places at the same time. The movie cast includes Femi Adebayo, Shola Akintunde and many others.

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was alleged to have attempted to hit the wife on the head What actually is required in those cases is that we need women organizations to rise up because most of the time the victims are prevailed upon by their relations including contractors amongst them not to pursue any case against their husband. You are simply told, your father did worse things to me.

Pro-bono public, in the interest of the public otherwise cases of domestic violence would go on unchallenged and the law is there. For instance the Lagos state government enacted a law in August last year against abandonment of pregnant women. That law has stipulated five years in prison.

uman Rights activist and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) Femi Falana is not a stranger to controversy; and so when controversy arose over his role in the alleged “house arrest” of Enugu State’s First Lady Clara Chime by her husband the governor, he embraced it with both hands. Chief Falana discusses this matter, and others militating against the freedoms of women in general in Nigeria There was the particular case involving the First lady in Enugu. What lessons to be learnt from that?

It took time to even get the police to arrest him (The governor of Enugu State) on the orders of the court, and when he was eventually taken to court he and his lawyers were full of apologies and of course on that day the woman was liberated; released from illegal detention. In all parts of Nigeria today rape is on the ascendance because of the attitude of law enforcement agencies and our courts. There is also the traditional approach of parents particularly mothers saying I don’t want to expose my daughter, she may not get a suitor so why do I need to pursue a rape case. There is rape committed by pastors and teachers, uncles and people simply suffer in silence. Most of the time the police ask you to settle out of court. You will be compensated- forget about it . Our courts have this rule that require corroboration in cases of rape but a Kenyan case Mogudu and Mogudu. The court of Appeal in Kenya has decided that since it did not require corroboration in male related offences, that aspect is discriminatory. The belief was that women were given to telling lies. Of course rape is never committed in the marketplace. That case has said this is unacceptable.

Unfortunately our judges are still living in the past. Quite a lot of rape cases are lost on technical grounds.

Supposing you do it in another state?

That is why the campaign has to go round.

•Chief Falana

MRS CHIME:

No regrets for intervening

What about rape cases in domestic situations?

It’s the same attitude. We have a lot of cases now, me and my wife So there are no constitutionally recognized checks and balances?

Of course there are. If the complainant says I’ve been asked to forgive and forget.

Nobody is going to give evidence against the rapist.

The prosecutor is helpless.

After a few adjournments the case is struck out.

What we are doing is to get the Lagos state house of assembly to recommend punishment for complainants and their relations who are trying to frustrate the course of justice.

In many countries you have hundreds of thousands of people in court to demand for justice when you have rape cases You mean protesters Yeah. But here everybody is on his own. They are even not followed up by the media.

Can you then be made to drop the pursuit of the case?

In this particular instance I was briefed by the mother who sent me an email to me.

That was what the governor alluded to when he said he regretted the fact that he

— Femi Falana (SAN) The penal code allows a man to beat up his wife like a child, as long as it is reasonable. Who determines what is reasonable

allowed his wife access to her ipad and telephones, as it you are dealing with a baby. That case shows the lack of commitment of the society in fighting domestic violence.

Not a single Women group in Nigeria, not one, issued a statement on that. In fact I was flabbergasted when a lady called me from Uganda to ask me what Nigerian women were doing about that.

About four years ago the Nigerian high commissioner to Kenya beat up his wife in the embassy which is regarded as part of Nigerian territory but Kenyan women went to the streets. I took it up then with the minister of foreign affairs, Mr Odein Ajumogobia SAN who informed me that the man had

Mrs. Chime a wonderful record and he had only few months to go. I then declared to the minister there was no way he could retain him. Happily he was moved and that is what is expected in any civilized society. But here people called me. It became a case of Falana gbo ti e (Falana mind your own business) I have never met this gal from Adam but I am very satisfied that we liberated her from the den of the governor who claimedand a senior lawyer for that matter- that the wife was mentally challenged. Is that a psychiatric hospital?

Supposing he was really

trying to protect her The governor was attorney general in that state for eight years. Under the asylum law it’s illegal to keep anybody who has a mental case in your house and in this there is no trace of insanity. It is just an attempt to call a dog a bad name in order to hang it. That invokes some sympathy. The man took ill sometime, flown to the United Kingdom for treatment. So that is the basis of my involvement.

Isn’t that why some of these cases ought to be politicized?

There is another case also about a former member of the National Assembly who

What advice would you give to the legislators?

Look at loopholes in our laws and see how to remedy them. How penal codes and criminal codes will have to be modernized to remove sections that support the oppression of women Can you oblige us with examples?

The penal code allows a man to beat up his wife like a child, as long as it is reasonable. Who determines what is reasonable. The constitution says any woman who is married is an adult so if I marry a 10 year old child she is regarded as a mature person.

Two years ago my wife challenged a police policy that requires a woman police officer not to get married for the first three years and if she is going to, to get a written licence from the Commissioner of Police.

Her male counterpart can get married even the very day of recruitment. When this matter came up the counsel to the police said this law is to protect police women from marrying dangerous men. Of course that was countered by the fact that, can’t police men marry dangerous women too?

On that occasion the court nullified regulation 124 of the police act that allows this kind of discrimination.

Hundreds of women police officers came calling. Many of them were married but they were still bearing their maiden names because they didn’t have to go through horrendous embarrassment with all the implications.

These barbaric provisions have to be tested in our courts Continues on page 53

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

— 53

No Regrets for Intervening •Continues from page 52 and that is what other countries in Africa are doing. I remember a case in Zambia where a woman went to an hotel.

Because she was not accompanied the management said no, you cannot enter this hotel. Of course she went to court and won. We need such efforts.

Outside of government provisions?

Men also have to be involved.

We must liberate all aspects of our lives and if any aspect of society especially women that constitute not less than 50% are marginalized that means we have no freedom in our country.

Why are anti domestic laws important?

If children are abandoned by their parents who are required to provide for them via the child rights act. UNICEF came out with a figure of 10.5 million children out of school. We have cases where parents who have the means simply abandon their children. We need anti domestic violence laws to take care of such situations. We cannot have a decent society when we have scattered homes.

•Yvonne

•Omotola

How celebs wear skinnies reason, skinny jeans appear to have come Fortosome stay and are fast attaining the status of classics.

What is the position of the law right now with regards to domestic violence?

Domestic violence is justified.

There are criminal and penal codes. A married woman is treated like a baby to be whipped by the husband. In a place like Lagos, since 2007, there has been a law against domestic violence.

Unfortunately again most women are not aware of their rights.

For the stylish woman who wants to show her curves without being too exhibitionist, Skinny Jeans are the ultimates, and when they are not all trussed up, glammed up or dolled up, Nigerian celebs of Nollywood and beyond have embraced this trend and given it their individual marks.

•Chika

Whose responsibility is it to prosecute?

Before you prosecute you have to be aware of your rights so you can lodge complaints.

Unfortunately the police and a number of our magistrates do not take the law very seriously.

As far as the police is concerned it is a domestic matter; they do not want to get involved.

But it is a domestic matter For them it’s not a matter that should require the intervention of the law. A woman who has been beaten up is simply told to go and cope and learn to adjust yourself. Even her parents also contribute to domestic violence.

A woman can go to court to ask for protection against harassment from her husband and partner. Children can go to court to ask for maintenance funds. I remember one case where a man locked up his wife for three months in Ikeja. When the court papers were served him he simply ignored them.

I’m dealing with my wife, what is the business of the court?

•Agbani

• Genevieve

•Rita

•Mercy

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NEWS BRIEF

UN urges Syria to step up chemical weapons destruction

Ibori, not target of Prisoners' swap — Envoy

BY HUGO ODIOGOR

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RITAIN has denied claims that the recent Prisoners' Transfer Agreement it signed to send home 500 Nigerians in its jail was motivated by political considerations.

Britain which is backing the prisoners' transfer programme with 100million pound sterling said the PTA was done without regards to the status of any of the prisoners' that his being held as a guest of Her Majesty, the Queen of England.

British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Mr. Peter Carter disclosed this yesterday in Lagos where he was responding to issues raised by a Lagos based Lawyer, Chief Michael Agbamuche the Nigeria-Britain Association 2014 Akintola Williams annual lecture, held yesterday at the Muson centre.

The Deputy High Commissioner debunked insinuations that the PTA was contrived to enable the former Delta State government, Chief James Onanefe Ibori, whom many expect would be a beneficiary of such gesture.

He said the agreement was initiated and concluded without regards to who ever was going to be among those to be transferred to Nigeria to complete their jail terms.

Chief Agbamuche had alluded to the politics of 2015, where Chief Ibori

•Peter Carter who is in control of political machinery in Delta State and the Niger Delta, could play silent but significant role in the political development in the state in the forth coming elections.

Carter said the UK has

provided 100 million pounds to enable Nigeria upgrade and rehabilitate some of its prisons to make them more comfortable for the returnee prisoners.

The guest lecturer and Nigeria’s former Foreign Affairs Minister, Mr.

Odein Ajumogobia, who spoke on the topic entitled: Nigeria and Britain: From Protectorate to Partnership, building and enduring foundation for growth and prosperity, observed “that Nigeria and Britain have deep rooted historical, political, cultural and economic ties arising from the historical antecedents of the 1914 amalgamation”. Odien who traced the hiccups in the relationship between the various national groups, said “that proposed National Conference is an opportunity for Nigerians to refocus and reappraise the progress that they have made, correct the mistakes of the past and built a better future for the country”.

The former foreign Affairs Minister said Britain must not distance itself from the unfolding events associated with the National Conference as both countries have much to benefit from a stable and prosperous Nigeria.

Visa reform: India warns US of backlash

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NDIA has warned the United States of consequences for its companies if lawmakers tighten visa rules on high-tech firms as part of an immigration overhaul.

A m b a s s a d o r Subrahmanyam Jaishankar said that India would see a decision to restrict certain temporary visas for skilled workers as a sign that the US

economy is becoming less open for business.

“We think this is actually going to be harmful to us.

It would be harmful to the American economy and, frankly, it would be harmful to the relationship” between the two countries, Jaishankar told AFP in an interview.

“Once I feel I’m not getting a fair deal, I am less responsive to the concerns of the other party.

Then tomorrow if an American company comes

and says, ‘You know, we’ve got this set of problems,’ the temptation for me is to say, ‘I’m out for lunch,’” he said.

The Republican leadership of the House of Representatives recently laid out general principles for an overhaul of immigration — whose main goal would be to give legal status to the estimated 11 million undocumented foreigners in the United States.

Iran’s President lists benefits of nuclear talks

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RANIAN President Hassan Rouhani has said his country has started to benefit from a deal reached at nuclear talks with Western countries last November.

Rouhani made the comments on Wednesday in an interview with state television.

“Regarding the issue of the joint action plan or what is known as the Geneva agreement, our people witnessed that in the first step we were able to reach an agreement with the great powers while keeping the dignity and preserving the rights of our nation,” he said.

“Today we are seeing that many of these oppressive chains that were unrightfully bound on the economic movements of our society, are being torn apart.”

Under the terms of the interim deal reached between Iran and the five permanent members of the UN Security Council as well as Germany, Tehran agreed to limit parts of its nuclear programme, in exchange for the easing of some international sanctions.

US President Barack Obama said after the deal was signed that it “opened a new path toward a world

•President Rouhani

Hassan

that is more secure” and added that it was a “first step” that would achieve a lot.

The deal requires Iran to neutralise its 20 percent enriched uranium stockpiles and to suspend its enrichment of all

uranium above 5 percent.

Tehran also committed to halt its expansion of the nation’s uranium enrichment programme, halt the installation of additional centrifuges and ban the use of advanced c e n t r i f u g e s .

The breakthrough came after 10 years of negotiations that often ended in failure, with Iranian officials, including supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei, vowing to press ahead with the nuclear programme, stoking fears the Islamic Republic was bent on developing a nuclear bomb.

S

YRIA’s delay in destroying its chemical arsenal is “ not insurmountable” but Damascus must sharply step up the pace to meet its deadlines, the UN Security Council heard today “As the Council is aware, the intermediate timeline objectives have not been met. Syria is at critical juncture,” diplomats quoted Sigrid Kaag, the operation’s coordinator, as warning the council.

“Delay is not insurmountable,” she added. “But with deadline on the horizon, it is essential that Syria accelerates. Time for action is now.”

Egypt’s army boss declares interest in presidency

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GYPT’s army has said that a Kuwaiti newspaper “misinterpreted” remarks by Field Marshal Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in which he said he would seek the presidency, saying he would only announce such a decision to the Egyptian people.

Kuwait newspaper Al-Seyassah ran an interview with Sisi yesterday in which he was quoted as saying he would run in the presidential election due to be held before midApril.

Turkish MPs endorse Internet control law Turkey’s parliament has adopted a new Internet bill roundly criticised as an assault by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on freedom of expression, access to information and investigative journalism.

After hours of debate, the measures were adopted late on Wednesday where Erdogan’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) dominates with 319 of the 550 seats.

The text notably permits a government agency, the Telecommunications Communications Presidency (TIB), to block access to websites without court authorisation, if they are deemed to violate privacy or with content seen as “insulting”.

Pakistan holds landmark talks with Taliban

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EGOTIATORS for Pakistan’s government and the Taliban called for a ceasefire after meeting Thursday in the first round of talks aimed at ending the militants’ bloody seven-year insurgency.

The two sides gathered in Islamabad for a preliminary meeting that lasted more than three hours to chart a “roadmap” for future discussions, amid deep scepticism over whether dialogue can yield a lasting peace deal.

Reading from a joint statement following the talks, Maulana Sami-ul-Haq, the Taliban’s chief negotiator, said his side agreed with a government demand that “there should be no activity by either side which can potentially harm the peace efforts”.

South Sudan rebels claim govt troops defection

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EBELS fighting government troops in South Sudan said yesterday that 700 men from the government side have defected with all their equipment and were heading to join the rebels.

“Kiir’s army has suffered its biggest yet mass defection since the current conflict began on 15th December,” rebel spokesman Lul Ruai Koang said in a statement.

Koang said the defectors “engineered an internal revolt, opened fire on loyalist soldiers and in the process killed the commanding officer with the rank of colonel.”

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OBAFEMI—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oluwakemi Elizabeth Obafemi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oluwakemi Elizabeth Osasenaga Omorogbe.

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

O D U N TA N — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Olufolake Modupeola Oduntan, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Olufolake Modupeola Ehinju. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

KPOKPO—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Unwana Bassey Johnson, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Unwana Edirinoghene Kpokpo. All former documents remain valid. Delta State Civil Service, Institute of Management and Technology Enugu NYSC and general public please take note.

EHIREMEN—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ehiremen Lucy, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Odigwe Lucy. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OMUGHELE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Anne Edinai Omughele, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Anne Edinai Aiyeola.

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

N G B A N WA H — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Ngbanwah Vera-Hilda Asua, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onwuegbuzie Vera-Hilda Asua. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OSUAGWU—I, formerly known and addressed as Osuagwu Emeka Charles, now wish to be known and addressed as Chukwuemeka Emeka Charles. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

EKWUEME—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Angelina Ugochi Ekwueme, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Angelina Ugochi Eugene. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ADEGBITE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebola Abigael Adegbite, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adebola Abigael Makanju. All former documents remain valid. First Bank and general public please take note.

OGWU—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Joy Chinazum Ogwu, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Joy Chinazum George. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

ANOZIE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Bibian Ngozi Anozie, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Bibian Ngozi Ahamefula-Okere. All former documents remain valid. FCDA, Area Council Services Secretariat (ACSS) and general public please take note.

ABE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Abe Oghifo Franca, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Udi Oghifo Franca. All former documents remain valid. Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Anambra State and general public please take note.

ADETOLA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adebimpe Abisola Adetola, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adebimpe Abisola Adetola-Raji.

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

Confirmation of name JOHN—This is to certify that the name Miss Ugorji Nkechi John and Miss John Nkechi Jennifer is one and the same person, but now wish to be known and addressed as Miss John Nkechi Jennifer. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public please take note.

BEDWELL—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Inerepamo Mary Bedwell, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Inerepamo Mary Ikioumoton. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

JIMOH—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Osaro Jennifer Jimoh, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Omasheye Osaro Jennifer. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

CHRIS-DENEDO —I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Chris-Denedo Sharon Onome, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Ingowerikumo Sharon Agbadabina.

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

IBEH—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ruth Ibeh, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ruth Egheleme.

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

TUDJEGBE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Roberta Tudjegbe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Roberta Isaac Oghenetega.

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

Confirmation of name JOHN—This is to certify that the name Miss Ugorji Nneka John and Miss John Nneka Francisca is one and the same person, but now wish to be known and addressed as Miss John Nneka Francisca. All former documents remain valid. First Bank Plc and general public please take note.

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

Private Health Alliance launches health innovation marketplace

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RIVATE Health Alli ance of Nigeria (PHN), a public-private institution aimed at leveraging private sector capabilities to improve Nigeria’s health outcomes is leading a coalition of partners to launch the Nigeria Health Innovation Marketplace (NHIM), an intervention aimed at identifying and developing innovative products, approaches, processes and technologies that will impact on the nation’s effort in meeting Millennium Development Goals (MDG) 4, 5 and 6.

The launch set to hold today at the Lagos Oriental Hotel, Lagos with the theme ‘Creating the Nigeria Health Innovation Market Place to advance Nigeria’s progress in meeting MDGs 4, 5 and 6’, is positioned towards discovering innovators that will utilise existing technological advances to reposition healthcare delivery as is the case with certain African countries.

Muntaqa Umar-Sadiq, executive director/chief executive officer, PHN, said that a number of African countries like Ethiopia, Malawi, have recently ridden a wave of locally appropriate health technologies and innovations to accelerate progress in the health related MDGs. According to the CEO “Nigeria Health Innovation Marketplace focuses on four inter-related core objectives; identify promising innovations, provide market linkages and incubation support to enable health innovation to achieve scale, make targeted investments in selected innovations that make it through the incubator and build a sustainable convergence platform around health innovation.

“The low application of innovation and technology in healthcare delivery is believed to be the biggest missed opportunity in transforming healthcare delivery in Nigeria’. Health innovations that exist in Nigeria tend not to attain scale or create sustainable impact due to poor support system for health innovators (lack of access to capital, business and financial management), little visibility by investors on compelling viable health innovations as well as Investors and health innovators lacking the convergence platforms that create market and technical linkages.

62 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Igiebor returns

World Cup: Mba, Ali battle for Keshi’s nod Omeruo savours Boro debut

*Igiebor

E

AGLES midfielder Nosa Igiebor has resumed to full training with Real Betis ahead of Saturday ’s clash with Valencia.

Igiebor suffered an injury setback getting concussed after taking a knock on his return to action for Betis as they beat Espanyol 2-0 in the Spanish La Liga on Sunday.

But after tests the concussion has not been deemed too serious and Igiebor participated in training on Wednesday without any limitations.

K

ENNETH Omeruo admitted that while the result could have been better, he was more than pleased with his own performance during his Middlesbrough debut.

The Nigeria international joined Boro on loan from parent club Chelsea in January, and savoured his first taste of English professional football as he played the full 90 minutes of the 00 draw with Doncaster Rovers at the weekend.

“I wish we had won the game, it would have been better but it was a difficult game, I am disappointed with the result but happy with my performance.”

NOGIG 2014: NNPC, Chevron battle for soccer gold

A

FTER a grueling week of tough competition, Chevron and NNPC have emerged as contenders for the gold medal in the football event of the 2014 Nigeria Oil and Gas Industry Games.

The two teams overcame all oppositions to qualify for the final which comes up on March 1 at the Legacy Pitch, National Stadium, Lagos.

To reach this stage, Chevron topped Group B in the preliminaries, defeated Group A leaders NAOC 2-0 in the semi final.

Similarly, former champions, NNPC topped Group C in the preliminaries and dismissed Shell 2-0 in the semi final.

The battle for bronze which will feature NAOC against Shell will precede the final.

*Omeruo

K

ANO Pillars mid fielder Rabiu Ali is set to battle Francebased Sunday Mba for a place on Nigeria World Cup squad.

Rabiu Ali will therefore be one of the players from the 2014 CHAN for next month’s friendly against Mexico in the USA. The pre-World Cup friendly will be played on March 5 in Atlanta as part of the African champions’ preparation for the World Cup in June.

“Rabiu was excused from the team’s training camp to proceed to Abuja to submit his papers for visa application to the USA,” a Pillars official i n f o r m e d MTNFootball.com The skilful midfielder along with Ejike Uzoenyi and Kunle Odunlami were picked by CAF for the CHAN Tournament XI. Coach Stephen Keshi has already hinted he plans to call up several players from the recent CHAN in his build-up to Brazil 2014.

*Ameobi

E

*Mba

*Ali

Uche, Haruna get Eagles recall L

*Haruna

Ameobi: We are ready for Chelsea

UKMAN Haruna and Ikechukwu Uche are to be recalled to the Super Eagles ahead of the World Cup in Brazil, officials have said.

And both players could well get their chance as early as next month’s pre-World Cup friendly against Mexico in the USA. Dynamo Kiev midfielder Haruna has been superb for his Ukrainian club after a recent injury setback, while Villarreal striker Uche has scored 12 goals in La Liga.

However, it is left to be seen whether a hamstring injury suffered by Uche last week may not stop him from the Mexico match.

Haruna last played for Nigeria at the 2010 World Cup, while Uche has not been involved with thenational team since he bombed at the 2013 Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

MTNFootball.com has also learnt that several other players who were not part of the qualifiers for Brazil 2014, but have been doing well at their various clubs in Europe will also be considered by coach Stephen Keshi.

“My team will be open to any Nigerian player who is doing well,” maintained Keshi.

The Eagles are due to resume training camp by the end of the month ahead of the friendly against Mexico on March 5.

AGLES forward Shola Ameobi insists Joe Kinnear’s departure has not distracted Newcastle’s players ahead of Saturday ’s match away to Chelsea.

Kinnear resigned as the club’s director of football this week, less than eight months after he was controversially appointed by Magpies owner Mike Ashley.

“As players, you just concentrate on your job,” he said.

“In football, there are a lot of different aspects to it. As players, ultimately what we have got to do is concentrate on what we do as a group of guys on the pitch and try and implement what the coaching staff want us to do. That’s our focus, that’s always been the player’s focus.

“Obviously a lot of things have been said outside of that, but you just have to remember what we are here for and that’s to win games of football, and that’s what we’ll do this week.”

4th DOAMF golf tees off March 8

T

HE 4th edition of the DOAMF Charity Golf Championship is scheduled to tee-off at the Golf Course of Ikoyi Club 1938 on March 8.

The event, a memorial, set up to honour the memory of late Master Daniel Ogechi Akujobi who died at the age of in a ghastly motor accident, on his way back to school, has become one of the biggest charity golf events in the country.

*Uche

Vanguard, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014 — 63

O

capacity. I wish Keshi wins the Nations Cup so that he can be among the greats from Ilah.”

And when this happened and Uduaghan was hosting the team he commended the feat from Ilah people and spoke of a possibility of citing a football academy in Ilah. He respects the potentials the town churns out and hopes that there could be more stars from Ilah. That will be commendable. It is a town that has produced stars and ready to continue if the academy comes to town. Oganwu is interested and wishes this to happen.

08053068728

Pa Ojidoh’s last regret duced the first black and non- priest (Lay) to be Principal of the famous St. Gregory’s College in Obalende, Lagos. His name was Paul Amenechi. His younger brother, Patrick was first Nigerian to obtain First Class Honours in Chemistry at the University of Ibadan. Ilah produced the first West African fe-

•Late Pa Ojidoh

male Architect in Joy Ugboda, an elder sister of Mrs. Ifeajuna, the wife of Emmanuel Ifeajuna.

Julius Chigbolu set British and

,

N Monday night, Pa John Ojidoh passed on in his home town, Ilah in Delta. He was 88.

Pa Ojidoh would be remembered for many things.

First, he was a devout Catholic. Secondly, he was a wonderful man, humorous, warm and friendly.

He lived sports. He was at home with any topic in sports. He knew the rules and techniques so well that he coached in athletics and football. He officiated in both sports and ended up a sports administrator who also wrote for Vanguard among other commentaries. During the last Nations Cup in January, he called to analyse the games. He was already bedridden but football could not put him down.

He called Stephen Keshi his son.

In memory of this great man I publish the concluding part of my column on the reception Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan held for the Eagles in Asaba, which was spiced by my contact with Pa Ojidoh few days earlier. Read the piece published on March 7, 2013. ... When Uduaghan stood to speak, he first reacted to the points Oganwu made. Oganwu is from Ilah in Oshimili North Local Government Area of Delta State. Uduaghan recalled that Austin Ofokwu that Oganwu remembered hailed from Ilah. He also mentioned Pa John Ojidoh, a veteran sports administrator who at his young age coached in track and field and football before becoming an officiating official in athletics and a referee in football. ‘’Pa Ojidoh may not be strong now otherwise he would have been here today,” Uduaghan said of the 86 year veteran, who still finds time to comment on sports matters. Ojidoh was reacting to developments during the Nations Cup. On January 16, few days to Nigeria’s first match at the Nations Cup, I visited Ojidoh at his home in Ilah. On a sick bed, he spoke on sports, recalling dates in such a manner that marvelled me. His body may be weak but his brain was still sharp.

It was my first visit to Ilah and when I told him that I liked the town he cut this way: ‘’It’s a peaceful place. The white men, the missionaries came here in 1888, before they got to Asaba. Ilah pro-

When I die tell Nigerians that I leave a sad man on one aspect

,

Commonwealth High Jump record in 1954 with a jump of 6.94 mark. He was from Ilah. We can go on and on about the people of Ilah. Austin Ofokwu, a one time captain of the Eagles came from here.

Stephen Keshi is from here and before Keshi was Mathew Onyema who was Eagles captain in acting

AFN targets IAAF World top three ranking in 2014

T

HE Athletics Fed eration of Nigeria (AFN) said yesterday that it would target the number three spot in the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) ranking for 2014.

Solomon Ogba, President of the AFN said in Abuja that the target when achieved would go a long way in repositioning athletics in the country.

According to Ogba the IAAF latest World ranking recently released which placed Nigeria 19th in the world and 3rd in Africa was an indication that things were getting better.

“Generally if I assess what we have done, I think modestly one will be happy to say it has been good but not where we want it to be yet.

“We want to have at least three, four or five athletes ranked within the first three in the world; if we have that then we can now begin to beat our chest.

“One of our goals is to erase most of the national records set before and we’ve started doing that because many records have been falling.

“The technical committee is actually the engine

room of the federation because no matter where you run an administration and have nothing to show they will say you have not done well.

“But if you have medals and titles to show, then, they will say you have done well and what brings about titles is technical.

“So, we looked at the people we think can work with synergy, work together closely, who understand what it is because the sports have moved so much from

FTER watching Comprehensive Secondary School, Ogwashi-Uku, cart away a cash prize of N2m and a 30-seater Coastal bus last year, all secondary schools in Delta State have been waiting eagerly for the kick off of the 2nd edition of Delta State Governor’s Cup football competition. The moment has come.

Over 25,000 school children from 200 secondary schools from across the state watched last year’s final at the Warri City Stadium, where Comprehensive school defeated Alegbo Secondary School Effurun 1-0 to emerge the overall cham-

Pa Ojidoh, a great man from Ilah died on Monday evening.

For about two years before he departed he reminded everyone that he was in extra time of life. Many top Nigerian sports authorities have been mourning his death. Amanze Uchegbulam, Nduka Irabor, Sani Toro, Amaju Pinnick, Nwabufo Obienu, Jonathan Ogufere, Paul Bassey, Mitchel Obi etc have used many great words to describe the man from Ilah. Governor Uduaghan said his place in Nigerian sports would be difficult to fill. I agree.

Ojidoh said the following as his last words in that January 16, 2013 interview: “When I die tell Nigerians that I leave a sad man on one aspect; that Emmanuel Ifeajuna, who was the first black African to win gold in the 1958 Commonwealth Games was denied National Honours because he fought on the side of Biafra during the Nigerian civil war. How can Ifeajuna be punished for a war that happened about nine years after his feat in the Vancouver Games in Canada? He deserves the posthumous award that they have been denying him. And I am sad that Nigeria has done this to a man who sweated and worked so hard to lift the country’s name.

He jumped 2.03m to win gold. Patrick Etolu jumped 1.99m to win silver and another Nigerian, Nafiu Osagie won bronze with 1.99m. Africans swept the medals in the High Jump and that made us proud.

Is Nigeria proud of Ifeajuna’s feat? Why have they meted injustice to him? That’s the sadness I’ll leave this world with.”

Keshi *Continued from BP

*Blessing Okagbare (l) on duty for Nigeria. what they used to be.

“What a lot of people

think they know is no more what is involved.“

Delta Governor’s 2014 Cup kicks off

A

Litany of mourners

pions.

The enthusiasm generated in that epic final has increased the number of entries for the 2014 edition. A total number of 456 secondary schools from the 25 Local Govt.

Areas of the state are in the race.

In a fixture made available to journalists yesterday from the office of the Commissioner for Education (Basic and Secondary), Prof Patrick Mouboghare showed that the battle for zonal tickets has already commenced at local government level. Mouboghare doubles as Chairman of the Local Organising Committee (LOC) of the

Governor’s Cup. Already, intra local government matches have started in Aniocha South, with Adaigbo Secondary School trading tackles with Otulu Secondary School, while Abah-Unor Mixed Secondary School is paired against Nshiagu College. Other fixtures are Ngwu Mixed Secondary School vs Olloh Mixed Secondary School, Ewulu vs Ifite, Nsukwa Grammar School Vs EjemeAniogor, Egbudu-Akah vs Adonte, Comprehensive High School vs Anthony’s Model College and Ashama Comprehensive Vs Isho Mixed Secondary School.

vanus Okpala, a former team-mate during their playing days, who was relieved of his duties after the 2013 African Cup of Nations victory.

The governing body gave Keshi free reign in the search for an international assistant, but the tactician insisted the only addition to his team that he approved of was that of Okpala, which the NFF refused to sanction.

“Stephen Keshi was offered the chance to choose a foreign assistant, who will work under him but he made it clear he was fine with his current assistants and backroom staff. The federation did this because they felt Keshi needed additional assistant,” said NFF Technical Committee spokesperson Paul Bassey.

“But Keshi said he wanted one of his assistants, Sylvanus Okpala, to be recalled. The federation told him Okpala can’t be recalled because he was sacked for insubordination.”

Maigari *Continued from BP Maigari said in a chat with reporters in Cape Town, South Africa that the former Nigeria international will not be recalled to the national team because he was disengaged.

“Okpala was disengaged. He is not the first coach to be disengaged.

Why should he be recalled?” Maigari asked with a tinge of anger in his voice.

Continuing, the NFF

boss said, “Nigeria is such a big country, blessed with a lot of talents. There are so many competent coaches in this country. It is nothing personal.”

Corroborating the NFF boss’ statement, Technical Committee member, Paul Bassey said “Okpala was axed not because he was incompetent. He was good but was disengaged because of insubordination. It is not possible for him to be recalled."

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 7, 2014

Inside Sports Vanguard

Keshi rejects foreign technical assistant •Wants Okpala back STORIES BY JACOB AJOM

S

UPER Eagles coach Stephen Keshi is set to be on a collision course with his employers, the Nigeria Football Federation as he was reported to have rejected the NFF’s offer of a foreign assistant.

Instead, Keshi is requesting the reinstatement of his former righthand man, Sylvanus Okpala.

Keshi currently has Daniel Amokachi, Ike Shorunmu and Valere Houandinou on his coaching staff and previously worked with Syl-

Continues on pg 63

Why NFF won’t recall Okpala – Maigari

P

RESIDENT of the Nigeria Football Federation, Aminu Maigari has explained that NFF will not recall former Super Eagles assistant coach, Sylvanus Okpala.

Continues on pg 63

OUT OF REACH . . Super Eagles point man and CHAN Most valuable Player, Ejike Uzoenyi (L ) escapes Black Stars of Ghana’s defender, Joshua Tijani’s tackle during their semi final match at the recently ended 2014 CHAN in South Africa.

*Maigari

*Okpala

QUICK CROSSWORD

Sudoku TODAY'S

PUZZLE

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

Across 2 Excite (5) 7 Crawl (5) 8 Ethical (5) 10 Stitched (5) 12 Moo (3) 13 Bird (5) 15 Long-suffering (7) 17 Pressed (6) 19 Favourite (3) 20 Desperation (7) 23 Detail (4) 25 Quote (4) 26 Harmed (7) 30 Posed (3) 31 Trader (6) 34 Gun-holder (7) 37 Liberated (5) 38 Meadow (3) 39 Frogman (5) 40 Shelf (5) 41 Hut (5) 42 Trivial (5)

Down 1 Earlier (5) 2 Lac (5) 3 Began (6) 4 Pace (4) 5 Prudent (7) 6 Tan-coloured (5) 9 Fish-egg (3) 11 Mottled (7) 13 Inflexible (5) 14 Drilled (5) 16 Beverage (3) 18 Discussed (7) 21 Firearm (5) 22 Learnt (5) 24 Rub (7) 27 Rug (3) 28 Flaw (6) 29 Perforated (5) 32 Dress (5) 33 Weird (5) 35 Guided (3) 36 Mature

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS Across: 2, Porch 7, Fire 8, Expert 9, Water 11, Rip 13, Map 15, Earn 16, Set 18, Pall 19, Menaced 20, Also 22, Anon 23, Sweeten 25, Even 27, Rod 28, Isle 30, Did 31, Sad 33, Sewer 36, Savage 37, Ally 38, Witty.

Down: 1, Tibia 2, Pew 3, Rat 4, Her 5, Ape 6, Trial 10, Eden 11, Related 12, Pressed 13, Madness 14, Planned 16, Sever 17, Tamed 18, Pea 21, Own 24, Tome 26, Vital 29, Ladle 32, Wad 33, Sew 34, Wet 35, Ray.

How to Play Sudoku

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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