Fresh controversyover N5,000 note

...towards a better life for the people

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VOL. 25: NO. 61706

N150

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

Three policemen, four others killed as robbers, police clash in Lagos •P.8

Adenuga tops list of 149 national honours awardees •Odili, Uduaghan, MD Abubakar, Kure, Eso, Maduka, Elumelu, others listed

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

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AGOS—CHAIR MAN of Globacom Limited, Chief Mike Adenuga, yesterday topped the list of 149 awardees, who will be conferred with National Honours by President Goodluck Jonathan on

September 17.

Adenuga will be the only recipient of the GCON award this year, according to a statement

by Dr Henry Akpan, Permanent secretary (Special Duties) Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF).The business mo-

gul, would be the second businessman to bag the GCON award, the second highest national award in Nigeria, after Alhaji Aliko Dangote, who was so honoured last year.

See honours list on Page 10

Fresh controversy over N5,000 note •Already printed, awaiting distribution — Source

•No, what is printed is the design — CBN

BY OUR REPORTER

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AGOS—FRESH controversy, yesterday, trailed the proposed introduction of N5,000 note as there were speculations that the controversial note had already been printed abroad and shipped into the country preparatory to distribution.

This came as the National Assembly and the National Economic Council insisted that they were yet to give the policy their blessing.

The Central Bank, however, declared that what had been printed was just the design and not

Continues on Page 5

Ibori appears again in London court today•Pg.5 Mr & Mrs AFRICAN LITERATURE—From left: Gov Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State; Prof Wole Soyinka; Mr Sifiso Mzobe, winner; Mrs Francisca Emmanuel, Gov Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State; Prof Olu Obafemi, Mr John Agyekun Kuffour, former Ghanaian President; Mr Donald Duke, former Governor of Cross River State and Mr David Maaji, Globacom Director, representing the Chairman, during the prize presentation for the fourth Wole Soyinka Prize in African Literature, organised in partnership with Globacom in Lagos, weekend. Photo: Shola Oyelese.

Shareholders threaten to sue NSE •PG.17 C M Y K

OCHEREOME NNANNA •P.41 LES LEBA P.40 DELE •P.25 SOBOWALE

ORANMIYAN FESTIVAL CONTROVERSY:

Alaafin dares Ooni •P.53

2 —Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

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Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012—3

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Vanguard, MONDAY MONDAY,, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

US Election: Obama widens lead over Romney P

RESIDENT Barack Obama, picking up support following the Democratic National Convention, widened his narrow lead over Republican U.S. presidential challenger Mitt Romney in a new Reuters/Ipsos poll released on Saturday.

The latest daily tracking poll showed Obama, a Democrat, with a lead of 4 percentage points over Romney. Forty-seven percent of 1,457 likely voters surveyed online over

the previous four days said they would vote for Obama if the November 6 elections were held today, compared with 43 percent for Romney.

“The bump is actually happening. I know there

was some debate whether it would happen... but it’s here,” said Ipsos pollster Julia Clark, referring to the “bounce” in support that many presidential candidates enjoy after

nominating conventions.

Obama had leapfrogged Romney in the daily tracking poll on Friday with a lead of 46 percent to 44 percent. The president’s lead comes despite a mixed

reaction to his convention speech on Thursday night in Charlotte, North Carolina, and Friday’s government data showing that jobs growth slowed sharply last month.

APEC nations pledge economic growth A

SIA-PACIFIC nations including China, the United States and Japan promised measures to boost growth on Sunday and rejected limits on food exports to

try to revive the flagging global economy.

Countries on the Pacific Rim ended a two-day summit on an island off the Russian port city of Vladivostok by expressing

concern about the state of the world economy, global food security and growing signs of protectionism.

The 21 members of the Asian-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC)

group agreed to slash import duties on “green technology”, take steps to bolster growth and liberalise trade to counter problems heightened by Europe’s debt crisis.

BRIEFS Romney embraces Obama’s health programme

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EPUBLICAN presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who promised early in his campaign to repeal President Barack Obama’s health care overhaul, says he would keep several important parts of the overhaul. “Of course there are a number of things that I like in health care reform that I’m going to put in place,” he said in an interview broadcast Sunday on NBC’s “Meet the Press.”

“One is to make sure that those with pre-existing conditions can get coverage.”

Romney also said he would allow young adults to keep their coverage under their parents’ healthinsurance.

Those provisions have been two of the more popular parts of Obama’s Affordable Care Act. “I say we’re going to replace Obamacare. And I’m replacing it with my own plan,” Romney said. “And even in Massachusetts when I was governor, our plan there deals with preexisting conditions and with young people.”

Chinese quake survivors await relief

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URVIVORS of a series of earthquakes that killed 81 people and injured more than 800 in a mountainous area of southwestern China were desperately waiting for more aid to arrive Sunday as jolting aftershocks kept fears high and hindered rescue efforts.

The latest victim was a 2-year-old child who was hit by a falling wall as an aftershock struck Saturday night, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported. The first earthquakes struck Friday in a region of small farms and mines near the border between Guizhou and Yunnan provinces, where some of China’s poorest people live.

They toppled thousands of homes and sent boulders cascading across roads, and authorities evacuated more than 200,000 villagers. The area was still being jolted by aftershocks Sunday, raising fears of more injuries and fatalities.

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Vanguard, MOND AY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012—5 MONDA

Fresh controversy over planned N5,000 note Continues from Page 1 the original naira note which will come into effect in March 2013.

Those who saw the design said it was the yet to be introduced notes, which they claimed had been printed and imported waiting for authorization of its release and distribution. CBN officials who want their names out of print, however, said the notes had not been printed. One of them said: “What ever any body saw is the design of the proposed currency not the real currency ”. According to him, “before introducing any currency, you have to print a design copy for the monetary authorities to vet and look at the features to ensure they meet security specifications and every other feature in it” He said that the new N5,000 note may not be introduced this year but sometimes next year although there were speculations that the N5, 000 may come into circulation in January 2013.

But a source close to the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting Plc (NSPM) said some officials of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) were working out the modalities for the release

and distribution of the soon to be introduced currency.

It was gathered that the design of the proposed N5, 000 note was being discussed in preparation for today’s meeting of the 17th Conference of the Association of African Banknotes and Security Documents Printers in Lagos.

Vanguard gathered that part of the modalities being considered for distribution of the new N5, 000 notes is the withdrawal of the N1, 000 notes currently in circulation so as to pave way for distribution of the N5, 000 notes.

The public outcry against the introduction of the note will not stop the CBN from introducing the currency having gotten approval from President Goodluck Jonathan to print the N5, 000 notes. “The entire N5, 000 printing project is a fait accompli”the Nigerian Security Printing and Minting source said.

The Chief Executive Officer, NSPM, Okoyomon said: “Following the Federal Government’s endorsement of the N5, 000 which has provoked a lot of controversy, the 17th Conference of the Association of African Banknotes

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

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OVE People And Use Things - Not Love Things And Use People.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives — John F Kennedy

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CCORDING to the renowned poet Maya Angelo, “let gratitude be the pillow upon which you kneel to say your nightly prayer. And let faith be the bridge you build to overcome the unpleasant and welcome the good.

“We must find time to stop and thank the people who make a difference in our lives.” I find that if I fill my mind with the little irritants of life, I have no room, or energy, left for anything that nurtures and feeds my spirit. No room for genuine appreciation.

No room for understanding. No room for enjoyment.

No room for fond memories. No room for storing a list of things that bring pleasure.

Humorist Bob Orben rightly said: “The next time you feel like complaining, remember that your garbage disposal probably eats better than thirty per cent of the people in this world.” Steve Goodier sums it aptly: “I want to leave room in my mind for a long gratitude list that I can readily recall when I need a boost. I want to notice what’s good and right about the world. And I want to fill my heart and head with that which brings some joy so that I may go to bed each evening contented.”

and Security Documents Printers that will start in Lagos today will be an opportunity for awareness creation.”

It will be recalled that the National Economic Management Team (NEMT) - made up of some senior government officials and prominent businessmen has given its blessing to the introduction of N5, 000 following a briefing by Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Governor Sanusi Lamido Sanusi.

The President had in 2011 approved the proposal but Nigerians from all walks of life have vehemently opposed the idea of the introduction of N5, 000.00 into circulation in the Nigerian economy, stating that currency restructuring was not the nation’s priority.

The new higher denomination will be introduced alongside the new coins of N5, N10 and N20. The policy is expected to take effect early 2013.

But NEMT argued that it was the primary responsibility of the CBN to effect changes in the nation’s currency with the approval of the President. The economic management team also allayed the fear that the note will heighten inflation, saying that there is no link between inflation and currency denomination. Besides, the group argued that the introduction of the higher currency will help shore up the Naira value as most people who store money in hard currency will now embrace the high denomination.

The NEMT, which is headed by the President, comprises the Minister of Finance and coordinating Minister for the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; CBN Governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi; Minister of National Planning, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman; Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), Director General of the Bureau for Public Enterprises (BPE), one representative each of governors of the South and the North as well as key private sector players.

Usman who spoke at the end of NEMT meeting presided over by President Jonathan ex-

plained that contrary to criticisms that the introduction of the N5,000 note would bring about inflation in the economy, the new denomination according to him, will rather assist in big business transaction. The note, he said, would not be high in circulation but will be used mostly by the banks. Usman said the higher denomination was not at variance with the cashless economy proposed by the CBN. His words: “Clearly, the N5,000 note will not lead to inflation. There is absolutely no link. I am an economist; I have been deputy governor (Operations) of the Central Bank.

“During the last review of the introduction of N1000 note and the various coins, I was deeply involved; it was my responsibility at the Central Bank. There is absolutely no link between inflation and the currency denomination.

So, obviously, the discussion today was basically

POCKET CARTOON

to endorse. “Mr. President had already approved; that is the only requirement by law. The CBN is to propose and Mr. President is to approve. And since Mr. President has approved, really, what is important is to just explain”.

Meanwhile, the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry has argued that the new currency restructuring initiative of the CBN should be given a chance, noting that “the policy should

be seen as a response to current economic dynamics”.

In a statement by its president, Goodie Ibru, the chamber said, however, that “the introduction of higher denomination should maintain an incremental sequence of N2000 and N5000 in line with historical trend and international best practice.

The CBN should constantly ensure a proper alignment between the cash-less policy and its currency management strategy.”

Ibori appears again in London court today •May be freed Feb 2, 2017 CLIFFORD NDUJIHE (WITH AGENCY REPORT)

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AGOS—ONE hun dred and forty-two days into his 1,748 days jail term, former Governor of Delta State, Chief James Onanefe Ibori will make a dramatic return to the law courts today.

He will return to the Southwark Crown Court at 10 a.m. Specifically, the former governor will appear at Courtroom 5 of the South East Court Southwark, London, for the confiscation of assets hearing.

According to reports, the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) had finalised arrangement to confiscate Ibori’s £50 million assets for which he received a 13-year sentence at the same court.

Ibori, fondly called Odidigborigbo by admirers had earlier requested to be present in court in May when the confiscation hearing was listed for mention, but the Judge, who jailed him, declined, saying it

was not necessary.

At press time, it was not clear who would be on Ibori’s defence team when state prosecutors make their case to strip him of his alleged illgotten wealth.

Following a plea bargain by Ibori’s defence some weeks before the trial was scheduled to commence, Judge Anthony Pitts jailed Ibori for 13 years in April.

For not wasting court's time and British taxpayers’ money, Pitts had, in jailing him, said: “Total sentence which I impose on you is 13 years. You are to serve half (six and a half years) of that. The 625 days (one year and 260 days), which you have spent in custody are to be credited to the amount of years to serve.”

In essence, Ibori was to spend 2,373 days in prison. However, if 625 days were deducted, he has a balance of 1,748 days. Since April 17, he has spent 146 days, leav-

ing a balance of four years, 142 days. So, barring unforeseen circumstances, he is expected to become a free man on or before February 2, 2017.

Although, the former champion of resource control, who ruled Delta State between 1999 and 2007, is to serve less than five years, today’s court appearance and hearing will determine whether or not he will be freed in 2017 or be held for a longer period.

A detective reportedly said: “Everything depends on him and his defence team. If they make the prosecutor ’s job easy on Monday by readily giving all necessary information to get the stolen wealth confiscated, Ibori will be deported to Nigeria around Christmas of 2016. However, if he fails to co-operate, he will not be released until the CPS “gets every penny.”

6—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

MP accuses UK trust fund of funding Boko Haram

BY UDUMA KALU, WITH AGENCY REPORT

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IGHT months after a United Kingdombased charity organisation, Al-Muntada Trust Fund, was accused by the State Security Service of funding the Islamic sect, Boko Haram, the charity group has come under UK’s probe after a British member of parliament accused the trust of funding the Nigerian sect.

The probe was announced in a report published in the British newspaper, The Guardian on Sunday.

It said that David Alton, a member of the House of Lords, raised concerns about the Al-Muntada Trust Fund’s activities with Foreign Office minister Lord Howell in July, as well as with the United Kingdom’s Charity Commission and the Metropolitan police.

However the Charity Commission was quoted by the paper as stating that while they are aware of concerns regarding AlMuntada’s affiliations with Boko Haram, they were unable to confirm whether those concerns are directly related to the Londonbased Al-Muntada, since

there are several other charity organisations registered under the same name.

The report said the London-based AlMuntada is notorious for being a platform for radical clerics, and that Nigerian state security also has concerns with Al-Muntada allegedly funding Boko Haram.

Last February, the State Security Service, SSS, aided by other agencies were shocked to discover that Boko Haram actually received funding from a UK organisation and others in the Middle East.

Arrested leaders of the sect allegedly opened up on the sponsors. The leaders were said to have revealed that while the group got funding in its earlier days from al Qeada, its links with Al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) opened it to funding from groups in Saudi Arabia and the UK. The UK group, AlMuntada Trust Fund,was specifically named as a Boko Haram financier by the SSS. Other Islamic organisations were also named as the group’s financiers, including Islamic World Society with headquarters in Saudi Arabia.

N5,000 note: Northern chamber of commerce backs CBN

BY HENRY UMORU

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BUJA—DESPITE criticisms that have been trailing the proposed introduction of a new N5,000 note by the governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Conference of Northern States Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture CONSCCIMA, weekend threw its weight behind it.

Speaking with newsmen, Chairman of the Conference, Alhaji Ahmad Rabiu said rather than N5,000 note, it should be N10,000 or N20,000, just as he stressed that cashless society has nothing to do with currency.

Rabiu who noted that the economy of the north has suffered greatly with high level of underdevelopment and the rising wave of organised violence which continues to cripple its economy, said CONSCCIMA was putting in place the second edition of the Northern Nigeria Economic and Investment

Summit, NEIS. According to him, if any meaningful development must take place in the north, there was the need for a partnership between the public and private sector, lamenting the absence of strong partnership of the Governors of the northern states with the private sector in the 2008 summit which he said created a great challenge in implementing recommendations of the summit.

Rabiu also expressed regret that the region which is inhabited by over 60 per cent of the population and occupies 65 per cent of the country’s landmass is also the region with the poverty ratio of over 70 per cent of the population.

According to him, "statistics that has been released by various experts has it that as at 2008, Northern Nigeria had ownership and control of only three per cent of banking assets in Nigeria, two per cent of insurance assets and 10 per cent of industrial assets.

NDA CADETS PASS OUT—From left: Liberian President, Mrs. Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Senate President, Senator David Mark and former Commonwealth Secretary General, Chief Emeka Anyaoku during the passing out of 59 regular course cadets of the Nigeria Defence Academy, Kaduna on Saturday. Photo: Olu Ajayi.

We 'll generate 5,400Mw

by Dec — Presidency zConstruction work to begin on Lagos-Ibadan expressway in 4 weeks

BY HENRY UMORU BUJA—THE Federal Government has disclosed that construction work on the Lagos-Ibadan road will commence within the next four to six weeks, just as it said Nigerians would begin to experience uninterrupted light by December, 2012 with plans to generate 5,400 mega watts from the current 4,400 mega watts.

Speaking with newsmen weekend, the Senior Special Assistant to President Goodluck Jonathan on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe who noted that the president was gradually delivering on the promises which he made to Nigerians before the election, said the electoral reform, which was part of his promises was gradually becoming a part of the nation against the backdrop that the presidential election of 2011 was adjudged the best globally as well as that of Edo governorship election which was conducted recently under the watch of Jonathan’s administration.

He added that he never interfered with it and government ensured neutrality.

Okupe explained that the 5,400 mega watts target will be achieved following the arrangement by the National Integrated Power Project, NIPP, where by December, 1,000MW would be added to the current 4,400 currently

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available in the country, as against the little above 1,900MW before Jonathan took over.

According to him, President Jonathan inherited grounded and moribund NIPP with 10 of the projects abandoned and with the rehabilitation process and efforts made, some of the grids are adding about 600MW. Okupe debunked insinuations by some critics that power increased because of increase in the water level. He said: "When the President assumed office, the energy capacity of the country at that time ranged between 1,900 megawatts to some 2,200 megawatts.

The Independent Power Projects, 10 of them were grounded and nearly moribund, but today Nigeria is generating in excess of 4,400 megawatts of electricity.

"Some cynics have said this is due to high level of water in the hydro generating plants in Shiroro and Kanji. This isn’t true.

"I can tell you authoritatively that why it is true that every year there is a marginal increase in power supply, because of the increased contribution in the hydro plants, that cannot account for the 15 hours or so that is being currently enjoyed in many parts of the country.

The reason for this additional increase is

coming from the NIPP that are now adding between 600 and 800 megawatts to the national grid. That’s what is responsible for this new improvement and between now and December, we are expecting nearly an additional 1,000 megawatts, because of increase and an arrangement that have been made for purchase and supply of gas to some of these NIPP projects.

More areas will enjoy longer hours of electricity supply by December.”

CBN to begin awareness campaign on N5,000 note On the proposed N5,000 note by the Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, the Presidential aide stressed the need for the apex bank to begin serious campaign as part of moves to carry the people along, adding that the introduction would reduce the demand on dollars, as people who purchase dollars do so to reduce the volume of money they carry about.

Okupe who insisted that the new denomination will not conflict with the cashless society, said, “It does not conflict with cashless society. Cashless society does not mean that you do not go about with money or pay for items with money. The printing of N5,000 note has no conflict

with distinction. It will reduce demand on dollars, because people that purchase dollars do so to reduce the volume of money they carry about.

“We are losing so much on issue that is not as important as other issues.

We tend to politicize issues and this is an issue we should have left in the hands of experts, it will not have impact on the economy. I did not say that consultation should not be done, but Nigerians should focus their attention on issues that have direct impact on the economy.”

On Lagos-Ibadan Road, he said, "the one that gives a lot of anxiety to the Nigerian public is the Lagos-Ibadan Express road. It is a test case in the Public Private Partnership and it is obvious that globally this is a trend that governments are patronizing. It is important that we don’t give wrong signal on this major one and that is part of the reason why government is taking its time.

"Federal Government has judgment debt in excess of hundreds of billions of naira. So, government is also trying to avoid issue of unnecessary litigation, but I can tell you, authoritatively also that everything concerning the Lagos Ibadan road is about to be perfected. Real construction work is likely to commence within the next four to six weeks, maximum.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012—7

Vandals kill 3 NNPC staff in Arepo M

ANAGEMENT of Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, weekend confirmed the killing of three of its personnel after suspected oil pipeline hackers opened fire on a team of engineers and technicians of the Pipelines and Products

Marketing Company, PPMC, deployed to effect repairs on the recently vandalised products pipeline in Arepo Village, near Lagos in Obafemi/Owode Local Government Area of Ogun State.

Acting Group General Manager, Group Public Af-

fairs Division of the Corporation, Mr. Fidel Pepple, in a statement made available to Vanguard, yesterday, said that while the three members of the repair team have been confirmed dead, some others are receiving treatment as a result of injuries sustained from the

LAUNCH: From right— Mr. Olajide Adeyemi, Retail Customer Marketing Manager; Ms. Linda Yeo, Produce Manager, and Mr. Kesiena Ogbemi, Marketing Manager, all of Nokia Wast Africa, during the inauguration of Nokia Asha smartphones in Lagos, Friday. PHOTO: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

vandals’ gunfire.

NNPC had dispatched a team of pipeline engineers and technologists to the ruptured products pipeline site in Arepo after it successfully put out the flames by ensuring a complete cut-off of product supply to the pipeline from the Atlas Cove.

The PPMC team was on the verge of gaining access to the damaged point to commence proper assessment of the scope of work when they ran into an ambush.

Describing the situation as sad and regrettable, the NNPC spokesman called on Nigerians to collaborate with the Corporation in its quest to ensure effective supply and distribution of petroleum products across the country by reporting the nefarious activities of pipeline vandals to security agencies.

He said: “Nigerians need to identify with NNPC and recognise that it is our collective responsibility to work towards securing the nation’s oil installations, which is our collective national asset.”

State police: NASS to adopt open ballot as govs intensify lobby

BY SONI DANIEL

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BUJA—WITH governors of the Northern and Southern parts of Nigeria sharply divided over the issue of state police, the two sides have begun serious lobbying of their lawmakers to key into their positions on the controversial matter.

However, in a bid to ensure equity and fairness in arriving at an acceptable position on the matter, it was

learnt that the National Assembly might adopt open ballot system during the vote to end the lingering controversy over the matter.

A member of the Constitution Amendment Committee of the National Assembly confirmed to Vanguard that many committee members had been approached by some governors to support the rejection or adoption of state police, depending on the

region, when the matter comes for debate.

Although he did not say how many governors were involved in the lobby, the lawmaker stated that many of the members were under pressure from their governors to support their stance on the matter.

He said: “Certainly, many governors have been talking to our members to support their respective positions and there is nothing anyone can do because this

‘Tinubu never said Obama invited him'

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

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ATIONAL Publicity Secretary of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has berated those making issues over Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s invitation to the just concluded Democratic Party National Convention, DNC, in Charlotte, North Carolina, United States of America, as an ego massage thing.

The media was awash with criticisms targeted at Tinubu over alleged comments that President Barack Obama personally invited him to the convention as Obama’s tacit enC M Y K

dorsement of Tinubu as his preferred choice of leadership for Nigeria.

According to them, the former Lagos State governor paid 5000 US dollars for the generic invitation.

Reacting to the allegations, yesterday, Mohammed accused those bearing the allegation as being indolent, especially as Tinubu never said that Obama invited him.

His said: “This indolence on the part of those making the allegation; anybody, who is conversant with the Democratic Party National Convention, DNC, and US politics, will know that you will never be invited to the convention unless you fall

into any of these three categories: you a candidate, a delegate or supporter of the party.

“If you are a supporter and you are being invited, you will be addressed with your first name as if the President (Obama) invited you.

“Asiwaju (Tinubu) never said he had personal invitation from President Barack Obama. Why the brouhaha about who invited him? The question is was he there or not? He was invited because of his support for the Democratic Party, and he never said he was personally invited by Obama.”

is democracy. The issue of state police has, therefore, been given a top priority and is one of the major issues slated for constitutional amendment.

“The debate can be won and lost depending on the mood of the members of the National Assembly and the matter can go either way.

In fact, the way I am seeing the arguments now, we may have a divided house on the matter, which means that each member will vote on it.

“This will have to be done to assuage the sharp division that has arisen between the northern and southern governors and among well-placed Nigerians.

“Even the President has spoken on the matter and everyone can see that it is an issue that is of utmost interest to most Nigerians and we must undoubtedly do something about it.”

The debate over state police has polarised the once powerful and united Nigerian Governors’ Forum, NGF, with the Northern governors rejecting the matter, which has been well accepted by their Southern counterparts as a panacea for ending security threats in the states.

56 years after, Oloibiri to get Oil & Gas Museum

BY HENRY UMORU

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BUJA—FIFTY-six years after Nigeria’s first commercial oil discovery was made at Oloibiri in Bayelsa State, Bureau for Public Procurement, BPP, and Petroleum Technology Development Fund, PTDF, have finally approved the construction of Oil and Gas Museum in the area.

BPP Director-General, Engr. Emeka Eze, in a letter to the Director-General of PTDF, Due Process Office, reduced the cost quotations for the construction of the Oil and Gas Museum

from N36.315 billion to N33.949 billion. The construction work is to be executed by seven firms.

Seven oil and gas companies bided and won the contract for the construction of the Oloibiri Oil and Gas Museum.

It will be recalled that to maintain the historic life of the little village, former President Shehu Shagari proposed the construction of the Museum, being the first spot where oil that has brought the Niger Delta region and Nigeria to limelight, was found by Shell Petroleum Development Company.

S-East govs set up joint security c'ttee

BY TONY EDIKE

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NUGU—GOVER NORS of the SouthEast states, yesterday, set up a joint security committee headed by the General Officer Commanding 82 Division of Nigerian Army, Enugu, Major-General Olayinka Oshinowo, to recommend ways of tackling the rising problem of insecurity in the zone.

The committee, which membership was drawn from various security agencies, including the Army, Police and Air Force, is expected to submit its report to the Forum of South-East Governors

within two weeks.

Chairman of the SouthEast Governors’ Forum and Governor of Anambra State, Mr. Peter Obi, announced this after a joint meeting of the Forum and all the security councils of the South-East states at the Enugu State Governor’s Lodge.

He said the meeting discussed common security operations and set up a committee headed by the GOC to come out with a plan on how the zone could deal with insecurity with a view to coming up with “what is required to make SouthEast a safe haven.”

Samsung launches direct-to-customer store

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AMSUNG Electronics has opened its first retail direct-to-market store in Nigeria. The retail outlet, tagged Samsung Experience Store, located at the Ikeja City Mall in Alausa, provides consumers with an avenue to experience and interact with Samsung’s line-up of products in a stand-alone location.

Speaking at the launch of the store, weekend, Bangryong Kim, Managing Director, Samsung Electronics, West Africa, said the Experience Store was developed primarily for Nigerians to explore and interact with Samsung hand-held products like mobile phones, cameras and premium PCs.

Taraba Police boss lied on attack— NYSC members

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ICTIMS of last Thurs day’s early morning attack at the Redeemed Christian Corpers Fellowship, RCCF, in Jalingo, Taraba State, have denied police statement that the attackers does not carry arms.

State Police Commissioner, Mr. Ibrahim Mohammed Maishanu, was reported as saying that the attackers were local thieves and hood-

lums armed with cutlasses and sticks and not guns.

The NYSC members, however, condemned the silence of the state government over the attack at a time they needed encouragement from all quarters.

They said the attackers carried deadly arms and charted away N122,600, and N652,590 worth of valuables, including three laptops.

8—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

Code of conduct tribunal to arraign DG, provost, others

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

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BOI HOLDS AGM—From left: Managing Director, Bank of Industry, Ms. Evelyn Oputu, Chairman, BOI, Malam Mohammed Dikwa and Company Secretary, Alhaji Waheed Olagunju during the 52nd Annual General Meeting of the Bank at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, weekend Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

3 policemen, 4 others die as robbers, police clash in Lagos

BY ALBERT AKPOR, OLASUNKANMI AKONI & IFEANYI OKOLIE

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AGOS—Agege and Ikeja areas of Lagos State were literally turned into a theatre of war yesterday after a gang of robbers engaged a team of policemen attached to the Lagos State Security outfit, Rapid Response Squad, RRS, in a marathon shootout. The gun battle which eye witnesses said lasted for more than 30 minutes resulted in the death of three policemen, a commercial bus driver and three civilians.

An official of Lagos State Transport Management Authority, LASTMA, was also badly wounded around Anthony area by the fleeing robbers.

Sources said the bandits started operation by invading a bureau-dechange at Oke-Koto, Agege where they reportedly killed three civilians. A team of RRS men on routine patrol in the area reportedly raced to the scene but encountered the fleeing bandits around Oba Akran Avenue and Medical road in the ever-busy Ikeja roundabout.

The dare-devils reportedly gunned down three police officers attached to RRS. While shooting rapidly to escape, the gang reportedly sighted a commercial bus painted in Lagos colour with number plate XQ 336 EKY with a policeman in uniform as one of the occupants.

They opened fire at the bus C M Y K

prompting it to veer off the road and landed in a ditch by the railway crossing.

While in the ditch, the hoodlums reportedly drove closer to the bus and rained several bullets at the driver and the policeman who died on the spot.

Eyewitnesses said there was pandemonium at Ikeja and its environs while the fire fight between the bandits and the police lasted. Many people were said to have taken to their heels thinking there was a bomb blast.

A trader who spoke to Vanguard said he saw a bus loaded with badly wounded passengers at Oshodi after the shooting subsided. He hinted that many lives must have been lost because the incident took place in the busy hours when many people were coming back from church while others were going for one engagement or the other.

It was also gathered that a LASTMA official simply identified as Sosan, 37, attached to Anthony area was hit by stray bullets as the bandits were fleeing from Ikeja. At press time, the wounded official was said to be receiving treatment in an undisclosed hospital. According to reports, the victim was on duty at Anthony area and unknown to him, the bandits were approaching on a motorbike. He reportedly tried to stop them when they released volleys of bullets on his legs. He was immediately rushed to a hospital by other colleagues and sympathizers. An official of

LASTMA who confirmed the story said the victim is alive and responding to treatment at press time.

Meantime, identities of the deceased policemen and the commercial bus driver could not be ascertained but sources said a re-enforcement of anti robbery squad and

RRS men have since cordoned off major roads in the metropolis with a view to tracking down the fleeing robbers.

Lagos State Police spokeswoman, Ngozi Braide when contacted confirmed that there was a robbery but stated she was yet to get the details.

Robbers in possession of police walkie-talkie— CP ...orders manhut for fleeing bandits

T

HE Lagos Commissioner of Police, Umar Manko in his account of how the robbery attack was carried out said: “The operations started early in the morning, the robbers dressed in mufti snatched a vehicle around Gbagada area with intent to use it to carry out robbery attack in certain places.

They were intercepted by the traffic policemen who were just resuming duty while they abandoned the vehicle and disappeared.

“The bandits now resurfaced around IkejaAgege axis in the afternoon, going round looking for places to rob. While they were doing that the police were on their trail looking out for them but police lost control of their whereabouts because the robbers were in possession of police walkietalkie and were intercepting police conversations.

“A few minutes after that they succeeded in robbing a Bureau de Change at

Agege and as they were coming out the police anti-robbery team and Rapid Response Squad, RRS, members who had already blocked all major highways on the instruction of the CP now intercepted them around Oba Akran Avenue and Ikeja under bridge. They succeeded in killing three of the policemen there in an exchange of fire.

“Some of the armed robbers were fatally wounded as there were blood stains at the scene after they escaped through the old toll gate.

Meanwhile, the CP has ordered a 24-hour surveillance and combing of all the nooks and crannies of the state in search of the fleeing bandits.

He has also directed Area Commanders and DPOs to comb all the areas under their jurisdiction with a view to arresting the bandits.

BUJA—THE Director General, National Centre for Technology Management, Dr. Willie Siyanbola, will appear before the Code of Conduct Tribunal, CCT, this week, to explain how he allegedly recruited over 60 percent of his staff from a particular section of the country.

The Tribunal chaired by Justice Danladi Umar which is billed to resume sitting after a long vacation, will equally hear cases bothering on official corruption and alleged non-declaration of assets by some public servants okayed for trial by the Code of Conduct Bureau, CCB. Besides, information from the tribunal revealed that among the proceedings which will span from

September 11 to 15 will include the arraignment of the Provost, Federal College of Education, Kontagora, Dr. Nathaniel Olaitan Odediran, over alleged manipulation of contract award.

The Provost was allegedly accused of forcing his Director of Works to award contracts worth over N150 milliom to crony companies in contravention of provisions of the Public Procurement Act. In addition, Emil Lemke Inyang, a former Chairman of Biase Local Government council will be tried for being a member of an illegal cult group.

Inyang is being accused of being a member of the National Association of Buccanneers, which membership is incompatible with functions and dignity of his office.

Attack on corps members: NYSC assures on security ...urges Taraba govt to assist victims

BY CALEB AYANSINA

A

BUJA—FOLLOWING the armed robbery attack on one of the Corpers’ Lodges in Jalingo, Taraba State, the National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, has appealed for calm, assuring that security measures had been put in place for corps members across the country.

NYSC in a statement in Abuja, meanwhile, called on Taraba State Government to come to the aid of those who lost valuable belongings in the incident.

The scheme appealed to parents of the victims to see

the robbery incident as an isolated case, that should not be taken as security threat, while calling on the Police authorities in the state to fish out the perpetrators.

The statement said, “NYSC management wishes to appeal to the Taraba State Government, which sits in locus parentis for the corps members serving in the state to take steps towards alleviating the suffering of those who lost valuable belongings in the incident. Taraba State Police Command is also urged to expedite action towards fishing out the perpetrators of this dastardly act and to make them to face the full wrath of the law.

Flood sacks 2 communities in Kogi

BY BOLUWAJI OBAHOPO

L

OKOJA—NO fewer than 100 residential houses, farmlands and property worth millions of naira in two communities have been destroyed by flood in Yagba East Local Government Area of Kogi State, after many hours of torrential rain.

The rain, which devastated Idofin and Ijowa communities of the council, rendered many of the inhabitants homeless.

Vanguard gathered from some of the affected residents, that the flood had cut the Idofin linkage roads, making the health centres and markets inaccessible.

The severe flooding, which crippled business and farming activities in the affected communities also swept away farm yields preserved by farmers, for the next farming seasons.

The flood has left the affected communities without food and potable water in places where they are taking refuge.

Vanguard , FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 —9

L-R: Mrs. Adenike Vincent, widow; Mr. Jaiyeola Vincent, son; Mrs. Taiwo Bali, daugther and Mr. Tokunbo Bali, son-in-law, during the outing and thanksgiving service for late Elder Olatunde Olabode Vincent yesterday at the African Church Cathedral, Bethel, Lagos.

Photo: Shola Oyelese.

L-R:Chief Ernest Shonekan, former Head of Interim National Government; Chief Akin Disu Bobagunwa of Lagos; and Chief Femi Olopade at the outing and thanksgiving service for late Elder Olatunde Olabode Vincent at the African Church Cathedral, Bethel, Lagos, yesterday.

Photo: Shola Oyelese.

Probe: Oyinlola seeks fresh date for appearance

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE, OSOGBO

F

ORMER governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola has written to the Commission of Inquiry probing the N18.3billion loan and other major financial

transactions and contracts awarded by his administration to excuse him from sitting today, pledging to show up at another rescheduled date.

A letter addressed to the Chairman of the Commission, Professor Femi Odekunle,

Oyinlola said that he was willing to appear before the commission but because he is currently out of the country that he would like to make another date given to him by the commission.

Odekunle disclosed this to newsmen in Osogbo yesterday,

adding that Oyinlola would now appear on Thursday, September 13, 2012.

Meanwhile, former Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Works and his counterpart in Local Government Ministry under Oyinlola, Auditor General as well as

NIPP project adds 1,150 megawatts to national grid – Official

L

AGOS – About 1,150 megawatts have been added to the national grid from new power projects executed under the National Integrated Power Project, NIPP, the Niger Delta Power Holding Company, NDPHC. Mr James Olotu, NDPHC’s Managing Director, made the disclosure yesterday in Lagos in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria.

He said out of the 10 newly constructed power generation stations in the country, four stations had contributed a total of 1,150

megawatts to the national grid.

“We have 10 newly constructed power generation stations in Nigeria. Out of these, four of them, located in Olorunsogo in Ogun, Omotosho in Ondo State, Sapele in Delta and Alaoji in Abia, have brought new units of power into the system.

“As of now, about 1,150 megawatts from these units have been thrown into the national grid,” Olotu said.

He said the inspection of some of the NIPP projects in the eastern and northern parts of the

country, as well as Ibadan and other parts of the western states, would soon commence.

“By next month, we will go to Ibadan and Benin and commission further projects and that will continue till December,” the NDPHC official disclosed.

He said that NDPHC gave some NIPP contractors a deadline to round off their projects in June and that they had complied with the directive.

The managing director said the NDPHC would no longer condone the culture of delaying projects by contractors.

He also said the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, had promised that between 300 and 500 millions of gas would be made available and dedicated to the NIPP power plants.

D

IRECTOR General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, has, weekend, raised alarm over fraudulent facebook page account created in his name to defraud unsuspecting members of the public.

Orhii told newsmen that he has no facebook page account, hence C M Y K

members of the public should disregard any body asking them to pay any amount of money to secure contract in the agency.

Represented by the agency ’s Deputy Director in charge of Public Relations and Protocol, Abubakar Jimoh, Orhii said, that fradusters have already posted a message on his supposedly facebook page account, asking people to pay N250, 000 to get contracts from the

agency.

Jimoh said: “We wish to state that the NAFDAC DG, Dr.Orhii does not have any facebook page account and as such, he is not the one asking people to pay money.

This is purely the work of Internet fraudsters and we hereby urge the public to disregard same.”

He spoke when he hosted judicial reporters in Lagos, noting that the agency had made tremendous progress

labless kits for public primary and secondary schools in the state at the contract sum of N4.6billion.

The upgrading of the technical colleges was abandoned while more than 90 per cent of the contract sum had been collected by an Israeli contracting Firm “Skill G”.

The Executive Secretary of the Board, Mr. Olakunle Oyebanji had told that Commission when he appeared that he knew nothing about the project, saying that the chairman of the board and Director General, Public Procurement, Mr. Gbenga Abiola concretized the execution of the project.

Lagos issues fresh alert over Lassa fever

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

L

AGOS State government at the weekend, again alerted the public on the need to

NAFDAC boss disowns fraudulent facebook page

BY INNOCENT ANABA

Director of Works in all the 30 local government councils and Modakeke Area Office in the state, would appear before the Commission of Inquiry to explain their roles in the award of 91km road project tagged “Honey Comb.”

Also expected to appear before the commission today is a member of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other related Offences Commission (ICPC), Prof. Olu Aina, who was the Chairman, Board of Technical Education in Osun State under Oyinlola. He was invited to explain his roles in the upgrading of all the nine Government Technical Colleges (GTC) in the state and supply of

under the current DG, especially in prosecuting drug counterfeiters.

He commended Justice Okon Abang of the Federal High Court, Lagos who sentenced a fake drug dealer to three years imprisonment, enjoining other judges to use the campaign to rid the country of fake and counterfeit drugs as a collective one.

He urged other judges handling NAFDAC cases to take a cue from Justice Abang.

prevent outbreak of lassa fewer in the state following the outbreak in some parts of the country even as it urged residents to maintain personal and environmental hygiene at all times as part of the precautionary measures to prevent it.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris who disclosed this in Lagos over the weekend explained that the advice became necessary as part of the state government’s efforts aimed at stemming the possible outbreak of the disease in Lagos.

Idris also urged members of the public to avoid contact with rats, cover their foodstuff and water properly, to cook all their food thoroughly, as well as block all rat hideouts and holes

through which the rodents can enter the house.

He also stressed the importance of storing grains and other dried food items in containers with cover, properly disposing of refuse, maintaining adequate sanitation, as well as keeping pets like cats that feed on rats.

The commissioner explained that lassa fever is caused by the lassa virus that is associated with persistent high fever that makes the patient to develop facial swelling, fluid in the chest, bleeding from the mouth, nose, vagina and the gut, low blood pressure, shock, disorientation, coma and kidney and liver failure.

10—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

S/NO

NAMES

CLASS OF MEDAL

DR. MIKE ADENUGA, CON HON. JUSTICE MAHMUD MOHAMMED HON. JUSTICE WALTER S. NKANU ONNOGHEN HON. JUSTICE SULEIMAN GALADIMA HON. JUSTICE BODE RHODES-VIVOUR HON. JUSTICE NWALI SYLVESTER NGWUTA HON. JUSTICE MARY UKAEGO ODILI HON. JUSTICE ANDREWS OTUTU OBASEKI (RTD) HON. JUSTICE KAYODE ESO (RTD) M. D. ABUBAKAR IGP BRIG. GENERAL MOBOLAJI JOHNSON CHIEF GABRIEL OSAWARU IGBINEDION, CON RT. HON. GABRIEL SUSWAM DR. EMMANUEL UDUAGHAN CHIEF MARTIN ELECHI ALH. DANBABA DANFULANI SUNTAI ALH. AHMED MUAZU SEN. VICTOR NDOMA-EGBA, OFR, SAN SEN. ABDUL AHMED NINGI, OON SEN. AYOGU EZE SEN. ZAINAB ABDULKADIR KURE SEN. AHMAD IBRAHIM LAWAN SEN. UMARU IBRAHIM TSAURI SEN. EMMANUEL BWACHA SENATOR BALA MOHAMMED SEN. HAMISU MUSA SEN. BELLO JIBRIN GADA AMB. (SEN.) ADAMU AJUJI WAZIRI SEN. EMMANUEL AZU AGBOTI SEN.MIKE AJAEGBO DR. AKIN ADESINA HAJIYA INA CIROMA ALH. KAWU BARAJE PROF. STEPHEN DEBO ADEYEMI MR. TONY ELUMELU, MFR DR. COSMAS MADUABUCHUKWU MADUKA MR CLETUS IBETO HON. MULIKAT AKANDE HON. SULAIMAN KAWU HON. HALIMS AGADA HON. BASHIR ADAMU CHIEF ANTONY ANI JUSTICE N. O. ADEKOLA (RTD) MRS. SARAH ADEBISI SOSAN ENGR. EMEKA EZE OLUWOLE OLANIPEKUN, SAN ALEX A. IZINYON, SAN GODWIN JEDDY AGBA O. OMONUWA, SAN DR. PATRICK DELE COLE H.E. ALHAJI SANI ABUBAKAR DANLADI DR. IFEANYI OKOYE ERIC, mni BARR. DAN NWANYANWU, mni JOHN GOZEN GOBAK DR. AMBROSIE BRYANT CHUKWUELOKA ORJIAKO ALH. MOH’D SANI ALIYU AUGIE ALHAJI IBRAHIM K. ALIYU mni ALH. MUHAMMADU INDIMI DR. EMMANUEL SAMSON MIRI ALHAJI BASHARI AMINU ALH. ADAMU ALIYU ENGR. (MRS.) ESTHER GONDA DR. EMMANUEL OKEREKE ENGR. BALA NA’ADE ADAMU LT. COL. SHEHU IBRAHIM (RTD) HABIB BABA HABU HAJIA MUHEEBA DANKAKA UCHECHUKWU S. OGAH ALHAJI SALISU MAIKASUWA OTHMAN BABAYOLA MOHAMMED ALH. YAKUBU MUHAMMED DR ADESEGUN AKIN-OLUGBADE CHIEF ALEXANDER CHIKA OKAFOR PROF. CYPRIAN OKECHUKWU OKONKWO (SAN) DR. NIMOTA NIHINLOLA AKANBI DR. TAHIR MAMMAN MAJ. GEN. A. A. OLANIYI AVM. TOMBOIYI DICK IRUENABERE REAR ADMIRAL EMERAKU IJIOMA PROF. CHARITY ASHIMEM ANGYA PROF. OLUFUNMILAYO FALUSI OLOPADE ALHAJI MOHAMMED KABIR AHMED HON. MUSA IBRAHIM AHMADU ALHAJI MAHMOUD LAI ALABI MRS. MARY GALADIMA PROF. (MRS.) ADENIKE ABIOSE MR. PIUS J. MAJOR AMB.S. O. WILLOUGHBY DR. PAUL BOTWEV ORHII MABEL ALABA AMONI-OKWUONU INYANG, SAMUEL EDWARD (MR) BRIG. GEN. ANTHONY DANIEL ETUKUDO (RTD) MR. TIJANI YUSUF MR. MATTHEW OSAYABA AIKHIONBARE ENGR. CHIEF JAMES BUKOHWO ERHUERO MRS. SARAH ALADE SULEIMAN BARAU DR. KINGSLEY BOSAH CHIEDU MOGHALU MR. ABU KAROFI TECO BENSON PROF.ABUBAKAR ADAMU RASHEED ARCH DANIEL NWABUEZE DENNE NWANKWO HRH. IGWE PETER CHUKWUMA EZENWA BISHOP MICHAEL CHUKWUNWEIKE OKONKWO RT.REV. GODFREY ANAYO CHUKWU AGUPUSI HRH. EDUN AKENZUA

GCON CFR CFR CFR CFR CFR CFR CFR CFR CFR CFR CFR CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON CON OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OFR OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON OON MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR

HIS LORDSHIP, BISHOP PETER IMASUEN

MFR

C M Y K

S/NO

NAMES

CLASS OF MEDAL

HRH. EZEUDO ABEL NWOBODO PRINCE EZE MADUMERE HAJIA DIJE BALA JIBRIN HRM. OBA DR. VICTOR ADEMEFUN KILADEJO DR. ADEGOKE OLAOYE JACOB HRM. OBA RAUF OLAYIWOLA OLAWALE BITRUS PAM KIM HON. (CHIEF) GODSPOWER UMEJURU AKE DIG. AUDU ABUBAKAR, NPM (RTD) HRH. ALHAJI ADAMU ABARA GUMMI ALHAJI UMAR AHMAD USMAN DAN ALI B/MAGAJI PEACE ANYIAM OSIGWE HRM ANSELM ODALOIGHE EDENOJIE II, JP CHIEF DAVID NNOCHIRONYE ONYENWEAKU ARCH HARCOURT ADUKEH CHIEF JOSHUA FUMUDOH OKECHUKWU NWADIUTO EMUCHAY CHIEF (DR) MICHAEL OLAWALE COLE, FNIM MUHAMMAD TAHIR ZAKARI BASORUN DOJA ADEWOLU AUTA MAMMAN BUSA HRM OBA KEHINDE GBADEWOLE OLUGBENLE ALHAJI ALHASSAN SULE GWAGWA HON. ZEPHANIA B. JISALO ALHAJI MOHAMMED ADAM ALHAJI MUHAMMED BABA ABOKI MOST REV. BISHOP CALLISTUS V.C. ONAGA ARCH. FERDINARD NWABUEZE AGU MR. JELANI ALIYU LT. COL. M. A. SULEIMAN ALH. YAKUBU HARUNA DR. USMAN ABDULKADIR MAIDUGU HAJIA MUSLIMAH KAMALDEEN ELDER EVANG SAMUEL MADUKA ONYISHI ALHAJI IBRAHIM BUBA VOKNA ELDER CYRIL CHUKWUDI NGEMEGWAI ADO HUSSAINI ABDULKADIR JIBRILU IGWE CHRIS OGAKWU AHMED ABDULLAHI LAWRENCE AYINDE OSAYEMI CHIEF (MRS.) OBALEYE OLAYINKA

MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MFR MON MON MON MON MON MON MON MON MON MON MON MON

AWARD: From right: Former Minister of Information, Chief Alex Akinyele; wife of Osun State governor, Alhaja Serifat Aregbesola; her husband, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; former Defence Minister, Aliyu Mohammed and Commissioner for Special Duties, Lagos State, Mr. Wale Hamed, during the conferment of award on Governor Aregbesola as Governor of the Year in Information Communication Technology (ICT), at the 8th Nigerian Telecom Awards in Victoria Island, Lagos.

3 die,5 injured in Ogun road crash

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

A

B E O K U TA — N O fewer than three people lost their lives while five others were critically injured in a road accident yesterday on the AbeokutaIbadan road in Odeda Local Government Area of Ogun State.

The accident, according to an eye witness, occurred in the morning when an articulated vehicle heading to Ibadan veered off its lane and had a head-on collision with an oncoming commercial bus going to Abeokuta killing three passengers on the spot.

Confirming the incident, Federal Road Safety Sector

Commander, Ogun State, Ayobami Omiyale, said the accident involved two articulated vehicles and a bus.

Omiyale blamed the accident on the driver of one of the articulated

vehicles marked Lagos FST 86 XB, for wrongfully overtaking another articulated vehicle and ramming into the oncoming white Nissan bus marked Lagos FST 386 XB with eight passengers.

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012—11

FUPRE’s N20bn capital grant trapped in CBN, Asaba

BY EMMAAMAIZE

W

CONVOCATION: From left: Representative of Nigeria's First Lady, Dame Patiance Jonathan, Hajia Zainab Maina, Minister of Women Affiars; Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; Dr. Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo -Iweala, Minister of Finance and Prof. Amos Utuama, Deputy Governor of Delta State, during the 7th convocation of Delta State University, Abraka, Saturday.

ARRI—A N20 bil lion capital grant for development of infrastructure in Federal University of Petroleum Resources, FUPRE, Ugbomro, Effurun, Delta State, for the first quarter of 2012, has been trapped in Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. Vanguard learnt that the university was unable to access the N20 billion grant, domiciled in CBN, Asaba branch, because a wrong name was used to open the account by some officials of the Federal

Delta community exco dissolved over alleged cultism

BY FESTUS AHON

Four suspected kidnappers gunned U down in Delta

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

A

SABA—FOUR members of a notorious kidnap gang that had been involved in various kidnap cases, including the kidnap of a medical doctor attached to the Federal Medical Centre, FMC, Asaba, Delta State, have been killed.

The four members of the gang met their waterloo, weekend, after they were trailed to their hideout at Anwai while trying to collect N2 million ransom from the family of their victim.

State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Charles Muka, who confirmed the incident, said the gang had attempted to kidnap a woman, Mrs. Victoria Offor, at IsseleUku, by her gate on her way to church on Sunday.

But the woman was said to have raised alarm, which attracted her sonin-law, one Mr. Jude

Molokwu, to the scene.

He added: “The woman escaped in the process while the kidnapers seized the said Molokwu and whisked him away in a waiting car. However, our new special anti-kidnap unit being their first, outing, reassured the family and swung into action. They trailed the

kidnappers to Anwai forest.”

He said that following a gun battle that ensued, four members of the gang were gunned down while others escaped with bullet wounds. He added that a mechanic with a workshop close to the woman’s residence was also picked up over alleged complicity in the

New Presidential Task Force on Power dead on arrival —NUEE

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

P

ORT HARCOURT— NEWLY inaugurated Presidential Task Force on Power has been pronounced dead on arrival.

General Secretary of the Nigerian Union of Electricity Employees, NUEE, Mr. Joe Ajero, in a chat with Vanguard in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, noted that the set-

backs and weaknesses in the power sector cannot be wished away with impulsive committees or task forces.

President Goodluck Jonathan had, in Abuja last week, reconstituted the Presidential Task Force on Power.

Ajero said the diversion of funds meant for reinvigorating the power sector was at the heart of the problem frustrating efforts aimed at improv-

Bayelsa House didn't divert N78m for S-Africa retreat —Speaker

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

Y

ENAGOA—LEAD ERSHIP of Bayelsa State House of Assembly has described as untrue, claims that members diverted N78 million approved for the 43rd Commonwealth Parliamentary Association held in South Africa in July.

The House said that an

incident.

“The gang was responsible for the kidnap of a doctor at FMC, Asaba, about three months ago for which doctors protested. One of the suspects, who was arrested, confessed that N3 million was collected from the doctor. He is helping in our investigation,” he said.

unspent N19.5 million meant for the conference registration was returned to the state treasury since members arrived late for the event.

Speaker of the House, Mr. Kombowei Benson, who addressed newsmen in Yenagoa, denied the allegations, insisting that the claims were not true and that members of the House had been questioned by the anti-

fraud unit of the Nigeria Police over same.

Though the House had said its six weeks recess was to ensure the speedy completion of renovation work on of its ailing structures, the opposition Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, said it was a ploy to sweep the matter under the carpet, describing the action as “distasteful” and “a show of shame.”

ing the system, adding that task forces often lacked the political will to chase after those stealing the money and have rather become part of the problem.

He said: “In all, its self-destructive. The Elumelu House of Representatives Committee in its power sector probe report indicted persons, not faceless, for misappropriatiing over N16 billion and nobody has cared to hold those fingered accountable.

Renaming task forces will not solve the problem. They are just looking for job for the boys.”

He said it was also erroneous to credit recent improvement in the power sector to serving ministers or task forces whereas the field workers in the industry, particularly Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN staffers, who work under deprivations and poor welfare were the ones who make things happen.

Government.

A reliable source, who confided in Vanguard, said: “Another tranch of the capital grant for the second quarter of 2012 had just been released.

We do not know what the fate of FUPRE is because there is a penalty clause attached to it, if the first tranch was not used.

“The school authorities were not allowed to open the account by themselves, it was opened for the university in the name of College of Petroleum and Gas Engineering, which is not the name it bears at present."

GHELLI—WOR RIED by the alleged attack on Okorogwe community, Okpe Local Government Area, Delta State, by a suspected secret cult group, the people, weekend, dissolved the community executive led by Mr. Lucky Ikpini, accusing it of complicity in the attack.

The community was two months ago deserted after it was allegedly attacked by a secret cult over sand dredging dispute. The Ikpini-led executive was dissolved at an emergency meeting of

the community convened by its elders.

Passing a vote of no confidence on Ikpini's administration, the people accused the dissolved executive of violating the rules and regulations of the community."

12—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

Igbinedion Varsity lecturer's body recovered from Ovia River

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

B

ENIN—THE body of one of the lecturers of Igbinedion University, Okada, Edo State, who drowned in Ovia River last week Wednesday, has been recovered.

The corpse, identified as that of Mrs. Shirley Imade, was recovered on Saturday,

Vanguard gathered.

Earlier, the bodies of two of the male lecturers, involved in the accident, Mr. Morgan Uwoghiren and Lucky Ehiorobo had been recovered, when the vehicle in which they were travelling was pulled out of the river after a four-hour rescue operation.

Late Shirley and three other lecturers of the univer-

‘Anioma deserves Delta guber by 2015'

BY EMMA AMAIZE

A

GBOR—NATIONAL Coordinator of Anioma Welfare Initiative, AWI, in Delta State, Elder John Ehikwe, has said it will be against natural justice for Deltans to deny North Senatoral District (Anioma) governorship of the state in 2015.

Speaking at a meeting of the group in Agbor, he explained that the Central Senatoral District (Urhobo), had ruled the state for eight straight years under former

governor, Chief James Ibori, while the South Senatorial District, comprising, Ijaw, Itsekiri, Isoko ethnic groups, would complete their eight-year turn through the incumbent governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, by 2015.

He said: “All AWI is saying is that it is against natural justice for the North Senatorial District not to be allowed to produce the next governor after being instrumental to the election of governors from the Central and South districts.”

sity were travelling to Benin from Okada, when their vehicle skidded off the road and plunged into Ovia River, while avoiding a head-on collusion with a trailer that swerved into their lane while avoiding a bad portion of the road.

Benin Tollgate Unit Commander of Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, Mr. Ameen Adewale, confirmed that the corpse of Mrs. Shirley had been recovered.

COMMISSIONING: Dr. David Agbaje, Assistant Comptroller-General of Customs, representing Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, NCS (left) and Mr. Nigel Balchin, Managing Director of SGS, at the official commissioning of the two gantry scanners at Onne Port, Rivers State.

Govs 'll abuse state police, says Okiro zFG's misusing the force— Idahosa

BY EMMA AMAIZE & SIMON EBEGBULEM

F

ORMER InspectorGeneral of Police, Mr. Mike Okiro, has disagreed with state governors and others canvassing for state police, saying it would not help the nation.

Meanwhile, former Edo State Commissioner for Information, Chief Charles

Idahosa, weekend, said state police was the only solution to security challenges facing the nation, noting that those against the creation of a state police were being economical with the truth.

Idahosa, a chieftain of Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and Political Adviser to Governor Adams Oshiomhole, argued that contrary to insinuations that state governors will use the state police to intimidate their opponents, it was the Federal Government that was using the force to intimidate governors, who are not members of their party.

He said: “Lawrence Anini was the most dangerous criminal Nigeria had ever produced. He defied all security arrangements made at the time by the Federal Government. But at a point, the police hierarchy and former Military Head of State, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida (rtd), assembled all the police officers from Benin and drafted them to Benin.

“Parry Osayande, current Chairman of the Police Service Commission; Irabor, Aghedo and others, were brought to Benin to fish out Anini and they succeeded.

“So we should not be deceiving ourselves with this talk that governors will use it to victimise their opponents.”

However, Okiro faulted calls for state police. He spoke to Vanguard in Warri, Delta State, at the meeting of South-South Peoples Assembly, SSPA. The ex-police boss said: “State police cannot help the country. We have tried it before in this country under the regional governments and it did not work.”

He said the British colonialists also saw it as unfeasible and that was

why they went for central policing.

Okiro said: “It is clear that state governors will misuse it if we go back to state po-

lice. They will use it against their political opponents and I think in a democracy, people should be given the freedom to exercise their rights.”

Probe Nnaji— CAN

BY FESTUS AHON

U

GHELLI—CHRISTIAN Association of Nigeria, CAN, weekend, called on the Federal Government to probe the activities of Prof. Bath Nnaji, former Minister of Power.

Chairman, CAN Ughelli North Local Government Area chapter, Delta State, Rt. Rev. Diamond Emuobor, said Nigeria was the only country where a serving minister could buy government assets that had failed and “supply same

to the same Federal Government, where he failed.”

Emuobor said all privatised establishments in the country had been in shambles, adding “in Nigeria, when you say you want to privatise, the people who are privatising are the ones buying, which is why it is not working.

“There is no private institution in Nigeria that is buying anything. They are bought by the same government officials; by the same people who are selling them.”

Ruling Council debunks rumours of dissolution

W

ARRI—CHAIRMAN of Yonwuren and Agbeje Family Ruling Council of Ugbuwangue in Warri South Local Government Area, Delta State, Prince Agindotan Yonwuren, has denied media report that the Olu of Warri, Ogiame Atuwatse II, dissolved the family ruling council.

He said there was nothing like Ugbuwangue Community Ruling Council as contained in the report by the authors, whom he accused of “openly displaying their ignorance of the leadership structure in the community.”

Yonwuren, a descendant of Yonwuren, founder of Ugbuwangue and Agbeje, told newsmen in Warri, Delta State, that: “The Olu of Warri only directed that all vacant positions in the family ruling council, which

was created as a result of deaths, be reconstituted.”

Yonwuren noted that his leadership told the Warri monarch in a meeting he convened that those who informed him of their intention “to form a government have no right by birth to do so.”

He said that before anyone can become a member of the Yonwuren and Agbeje family ruling council, such “a person must be a member of the family by birth and more than 60 years of age.”

Noting that the position of Olori-Ebi “is a compound issue and has nothing to do with the community,” he challenged anyone, who want to publish anything about Ugbuwangue to “tell the public what their father’s lineage had done to develop the community.”

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012—13

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14—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

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Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012—15

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16— Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 OR many Nigerians, Tuesday, August 28, 2012, when news filtered out that one of the most promising ministers in the cabinet of President Goodluck Jonathan, Professor Bartholomew Nnaji, had resigned and the President immediately accepted he should go, it was total disbelief pressured to quit or be sacked following and shock. the mind-boggling disclosures over the peThe official reason adduced was “conflict troleum subsidy scams. A presidential of interests,” as a company he had business aide, Mrs. Maryam Ali, is standing surety interest in was involved in the bidding for for one of those currently under trial by the some of the unbundled and privatised Pow- Economic and Financial Crimes Commiser Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) sion (EFCC) and yet no case of conflict of subsidiaries. interests has been raised against her to quit.

Many Nigerians still believe there must It is in this light that we see Nnaji’s resighave been more to it than “mere” conflict nation as an extraordinary example that of interests in a country, where the privati- must now be the way to conduct public afsation of government enterprises and in- fairs in Nigeria. Strong adherence to morvestments has routinely been hijacked by al principles is one of the essential ingrepublic officials, including former presi- dients that built up great and advanced dents, ministers and top officials and their societies in Europe, America and Asia. If fronts in the private sector as well as for- this country is to join the elite club of deeign partners. veloped countries, the Nnaji example Even the Goodluck Jonathan presidency should guide us. However, it will be a sad is full of highly placed and connected min- day if this is just a one-off flash in the pan. isters who should have been similarly Then those who think there is more to it

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Power sector after Nnaji

than mere morality might be justified.

Professor Nnaji’s contributions to the reconstruction of the electricity sector after decades of neglect and ruin will remain indelible. He showed exemplary courage by being the first Nigerian to venture into private provision of power supply in Abuja and Aba. As minister, he was able to withstand the pressures mounted by cartels importing generators, who used the Labour unions in the sector to thwart our march to a new era of steady power supply. They have been rejoicing openly. Under his watch, Nigeria was able, for the first time in its history, make the 4,477 megawatts of power supply, with so much more potentials waiting to be unleashed into the national grid in the near future.

The Presidency has assured Nigerians that Nnaji’s resignation notwithstanding, the steady march to the Promised Land would no longer be interrupted. We hold very fast to this promise. The search for Nnaji’s replacement must be thorough to ensure we do not slide back to where we have been all these years.

OPINION

BY UZOR UZOATU

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has publicly declared that he is the most criticized president in the world. Presidential spokesman, Reuben Abati, followed up with the wellcirculated attack on the critics of his principal, especially the ones using the social media such as Facebook and Twitter.

The truth though is that it’s not criticism all the way, as exemplified by this post on Facebook by Justin Akpovi-Esade which I find quite remarkable: “Perhaps President Jonathan's only smartest decision till date was the appointment of the IG of Police, MD Mohammed Abubakar. I really could not believe that a Nigeria police would treat me so politely as I drove home late last night. I was stopped by these guys (it was not the usual road block stops) and politely asked if there was any problem. I said no. The one close to the window asked if I had the division's emergency number, again, I said no, and I was promptly given the number and told to drive safely. I thought I was a character in an American movie, I swear because what happened to me could only be viewed in C&I channels ONLY by an average Nigerian. Pray, what did Abubakar do to these guys that other past IGs could not do?

And to think I was vehemently opposed to his appointment at first! Please, let the police continue like this, we are tired of living like animals. The bad eggs among them should align now or leave the force”.

The recognition given to the work of IGP MD Abubakar by the vast majority of Nigerians is an eloquent reason to still have faith in the country. Nobody can take away the fact that President Jonathan appointed IGP Abubakar. On the day of the recent Edo gubernatorial elections, I was one of a handful of analysts selected to do a live programme on the polls at Galaxy TV, Lagos. I remember one of my co-analysts arguing that President Jonathan must have upped

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ICP Abubakar as reason to believe Abubakar’s appointment from Acting IGP to a substantive one so that the now-confirmed Inspector-General would help the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, rig the elections! When the results of the elections got announced with the PDP gubernatorial candidate losing his deposit, as it were, it was the erstwhile nay-saying analyst who phoned me up to salute the courage of Abubakar “for being his own man”. Not a few Nigerians have been made to change their minds on the workability of the Police given the positive marching orders of IGP MD Abubakar.

It is a real change for the good that Nigerians are for once seeing a police force displaying a measure of personable certitude in its functions. When the State Security Services, SSS, curiously stepped into the murder case of Edo Governor Adams Oshiomhole’s Private Secretary, Olaitan Oyerinde, the Police under the astute leadership of IGP Abubakar refused to be swayed from continuing with its own investigations. The murder suspects have now been charged to court by the Police as it ought to be.

T

he dismantling of police roadblocks had been beyond the ken of past IGPs but Abubakar pulled down the affront without the heavens falling. The fear had been that he stood to make himself unpopular with the rank and file who made a daily killing through the checkpoints. In a major twist it is there to be seen that the IGP’s men and women are dutifully following his lead. This goes to show that Nigerians can always forge ahead given the right leadership. If the Police which had been written off can show signs of

improvement, what institution cannot be salvaged?

What will ultimately stand IGP Abubakar in good stead is to understand that perception is almost always seen as reality all over the world. The paradigm shift in the Police ought to be displayed to the world through comprehensive public relations. If the general public cannot grasp what is going on there would still be the cynicism that the Police had not changed.

The anti-corruption crusade in the country will gain needed cubits through a thorough sanitization of the Police as is ongoing now. On the evidence of what has been happening thus far there is no denying that Abubakar is poised to take the tough decisions and kick some butts. The training and re-training of the Police rank and file cannot be gainsaid.

Conflict management ought to be done through intelligence rather than brute force. Partnering with the community in policing will yield great dividends. It is the local populace that can tell the violators in the midst. There ought to be inter-service and inter-agency cooperation at all levels. Police work should be seamless, synergized like the Nitrogen Cycle.

Thus far, IGP Abubakar has his finger on the pulse and button through his robust championing of improved conditions of service and enhanced welfare package for the Police.

The knowledge is readily available that effective crime prevention and control comes through “intelligence-led policing”, as is clearly stated in the book, Policing Nigeria in the 21st Century edited by Solomon E. Arase and Iheanyi P. O. Iwuofor. There is no doubt in my mind that, as IGP Abubakar is putting the stamp of discipline on the Police, Nigeria stands to reap bountiful rewards in the patriotic drive toward having a stable polity. It is my clarion cry that we should all support this fresh charge of electricity, a veritable reason to believe. *Mr. Uzoatu, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Abuja.

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012—41

I

READ a very interesting in terview that Leadership Newspaper’s Midat Joseph had with retired Air Vice Marshall Muhammadu Yahaya published in the paper’s online edition on September 2, 2012, and I decided to discuss it with you today.

If Yahaya’s fellow Northern Muslims shared his urbane mindset, the region would not be the theatre of religion-related violence that is sinking it and the country at large.

Yahaya is a committed Muslim from Adoka Local Government Area of Benue State. He is married to a Christian woman.

Both are strong adherents of their respective faiths but still they support each other to the hilt and the union has lasted all of blissful 47 years. Says he: “We have never had any issues on religion because we respect each other’s religions. During fasting, she gets up early to cook for me, so we have no conflict”. The retired air warrior has seven children: three boys and four girls. All the boys are Muslims while the girls chose to be Christians.

AVM Yahaya’s fine example

Wishing our Dame Patience Jonathan quick recovery

Social and political might Again, I quote the interview: “When the girls were marrying I went to church and handed them over (at) the altar. That does not change my faith”. The most important part of this interview, to me, was where he analysed the problem posed by the murderous Boko Haram insurgency which, even erstwhile tongue-tied Northern Muslim elite now admit is destroying the economic, social and political might of the North. AVM Yahaya correctly posited that it is a political problem and has very little to do with religion. Again, I quote: “We have a situation where people are developing thugs.

When there is a change of baton and the same carrot is not there, there would be a reaction”. And his idea of a viable way out of the problem? Here again, I

power? As for AVM Yahaya’s solution to the Boko Haram insurgency, that is exactly what we have said here, which some mischievously choose to misinterpret to satisfy their own hidden motives? The only role the Federal Government can play in the matter is exactly what they are doing: Using the security and armed forces to quell a bloody, foreign-sponsored uprising that is claiming thousands of innocent Nigerian lives and their

property across the upper North.

The Federal Government has a duty to enforce the law, protect the territorial integrity of Nigeria and the lives of Nigerians.

If the grouse of the insurgents is “injustice” the Federal Government and other Nigerians have no hand in it, except, perhaps in isolated cases of unilateral acts of impunity by security personnel.

The dialogue that many have advocated should be between the Northern leaders and the insurgents. The Federal Government can only encourage and assist insofar as it will achieve DESIRABLE and ACCEPTABLE results. I hope the committee set up by Northern governors and leaders recently to pursue this objective will address these issues appropriately, rather than embark on shadow-chasing or turning in a report that will turn around to blackmail the Federal Government.

I wish them success in their endeavours.

*Air Vice Marshall Muhammadu Yahaya(rtd) quote him: “Northern leaders should sit down and find out what is going on before it destroys the North…so we in the North, if we are waiting for the Federal Government to solve this problem, it is not going to be solved. Northerners must solve the problem themselves”.

I have said it times without number that the major problem that breeds violence and disunity in Northern Nigeria is not religion but the use of religion as a weapon of political contestation. AVM Yahaya and his family have a mindset shared by Muslims of Yoruba stock, who constitute nearly half of the indigenous population of South Western Nigeria. They face their religions, leaving politics out,

thus affording themselves the peace and harmony that grease C individual the path to M social stabiliaccomplishments, Y ty and development.

K remain poor, The North will fractured, unstable, underdeveloped and socio-politically suspected by other Nigerians unless its Muslims separate politics from religion.

You cannot have peace if you insist that people of other faiths must change to your own through your campaign of terror and violence. What business of yours is another person’s religious beliefs? Why must you seize every opportunity to impose your religion on others simply because you have the privilege of transient authority and

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HE scriptures enjoin us to pray for our leaders (including their spouses and perhaps, children). I am not praying for our ailing First Lady, the indefatigable Dame Patience Faka Goodluck Jonathan simply because she is the wife of the President. It is not merely out of the usual humane consideration for someone who has fallen under a severe weather of ill health.

More importantly, it is because I like her guts. She is a resolute, unstoppable, unflappable and focused activist. We need her around a president who is more liable to be swayed this way and that. She is a great watcher of the President’s back, if you catch my drift.

Of course, she has her own human foibles, such as the Bayelsa Permanent Secretary

post she incongruously accepted and the public censure of Governor Chibuike Amaechi over the use of Okrika lands for government projects. She could have done better in those episodes. But tell me, who does not have foibles and brief moments of straying off the beaten path?

I pray for her quickest recovery and long life. When she comes back, let her deploy her fierce energies to persuade government to install modern facilities in Nigeria so that those who cannot afford to be taken out of the country to posh hospitals in presidential jets can also have access to help. Enough of these medical tourisms abroad by our top office holders!

Come back soon, fit as a fiddle, our ebullient First Lady!!!

OPINION

BY UZO ABAGWU

E

VEN before the recent announcement by the Abia State governor, Chief Theodore Orji that 1,800 houses built on sewer lanes in Aba would be demolished to pave way for easy de-flooding and proper drainage in the commercial city, residents of the city and visitors had clamoured that such action be taken. Unfortunately, the persistent calls then for the demolition of illegal structures built on the drainage channels by greedy landlords in the city who had grossly bastardized the master plan of the city fell on deaf ears. This was essentially because officials of successive governments in the state, especially at the local council level, had always colluded with these landlords to secure approval for them to build indiscriminately to the detriment of others.

Several pleas and pressure on the immediate past government of Chief Orji Uzor Kalu to restore the Aba master plan were not heeded as he cleverly stayed action for perceived political reasons. That is why Aba had proved a hard nut to crack despite efforts by the present government in the state at tackling environment challenges in the city. The reason being that people often ignored what was legal and right to build houses and shops almost on the major roads, including single lane roads. Every little space in the city has been converted to shop or residential home.

The situation is so bad that firms engaged for construc-

Before the demolition of 1800 houses in Aba tion and rehabilitation of roads and drainage channels in the city usually find it difficult doing their job due to lack of space. But it is ironic that residents and traders who create these environmental problems are always quick to blame government and its agencies.

Rather than be blamed, the state government should be commended for taking the bull by the horn to rid the city of illegal structures. The move should be encouraged and supported by all and sundry irrespective of political party affiliation, differences and sentiment. The step is a move in the right direction. There must be a limit to impunity because evil thrives where good men do nothing. For development to take place, a price must be paid and people must make sacrifices. . So the planned demolition by the government is very timely and welcome.

Those that would be affected by the demolition should be given enough time to relocate. But those to be affected should know that it is not the constitutional responsibility of the government to provide them with alternative accommodation, especially when they built without government approval and do not have certificate of occupancy. Even if they had certificates of occupancy, as the case might be, and it was discovered that such were

wrongly issued to them without taking public interest into consideration, government has the right to revoke them without paying compensation.

It is clear that when the demolition exercise commences, some misguided elements in the state, especially those who have lost out in the power equation might mobilize the affected people and civil societies to protest against it.

But the state government should not be deterred by such antics because it is expected given the acts of impunity that have reigned before now. So they would always want status quo to remain so that they will continue to benefit at the expense of the majority.

After all, that was how they criticized the Task Force set up by the government to remove illegal structures in the state, even when the exercise brought some level of sanity and orderliness in the state, especially in Aba. Maybe it has not occured to some few armchair critics of the present government that the major problem in rebuilding Aba is the indiscriminate and illegal building of shops and houses on drainage channels in the city. They are quick to criticize, but are unable to provide alternative panacea to problems.

So government should not give up on the planned demolition, no matter the opposition, barrage of criticisms or attacks that might spring up. The government must remain focused and leave judgement to posterity •Mr Abagwu, an estate agent wrote from Aba, Abia State

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42—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

ONDO GUBER: The candidates,

their vision, mission and chances

•Akeredolu

,

,

We know that you want your children to have quality education without you selling your properties. We will continue to work to make Ondo State a real place of pride in Nigeria

,

BY DAYO JOHNSON

T

HE Ondo State governorship election, scheduled for October 20, 2012, would notonly be interesting but also redefine the political fortune of the candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN and the Labour Party,LP. The three gladiators fielded by the leading political parties in the state are from the South, North and Central senatorial zones. Each of the candidates is holding tenaciously to his political base.

Instructively, the candidates of the PDP and ACN, Chief Olusola Oke and Oluwarotimi Akeredolu are from the Southern and Northern senatorial zones respectively, while the ruling LP candidate, Governor Olusegun Mimiko, hails from the Central zone.

Since the three parties picked their candidates at their various congresses held on the same day at different locations in Akure, political activities have picked up tremendously.

The trio of Mimiko, Akeredolu C M Y K

•Oke

Another force that is driving me is that there is no judicious use of the economic resources of this state and so because of that, I believe there should be a change and I have the capacity to bring that change

and Oke are easily the leading candidates as the others, so far, have little or nothing on ground to show that they are serious about the coming contest.

Among the frontrunners,Akeredolu is the newest entrant into the political arena because he has not contested for any political position in the past. But Mimiko and Oke are not new on the political turf, they have fought many electoral battles.

Electoral battles Although, ACN leaders' choice of Akeredolu caused ripples intially, the party is gradually getting over the issue as many of the aspirants have teamed up with him, while others have defected to the PDP and LP. However,supporters of some disenchanted aspirants are believed to have remained in the party.

One of the aggrieved aspirants, Saka Lawal was picked as the running mate to

,

Oke, while another aspirant, who was a former Defence Minister, Dr. OluAgunloye, has pitched his tent with the incumbent governor.

The PDP leaders' decision to give the deputy governorship slot to the ACN man was seen as a political strategy to garner some votes from the North where the ruling LP picked its deputy governorship candidate, Mr. Saka Lawal.

Christian/Christian ticket: However, the ChristianChristian ticket of the PDP has been described as a liability in some quarters, as other political parties have started using it against the party.

Also, none consideration of any of the aspirants for the deputy governorship slot, is believed to be generating mixed feelings among members.

Even the appointment of Dr. Dare Bada as the Director General of the party’s campaign committee to placate the people from the central zone, did not address the grievances of some aggrieved members.

However, it has been widely speculated that Bada may have

,

•Mimiko

We will ensure that we generate employment for our teeming youths who are now roaming the streets.

We will do this by expanding the capacity of government to absorb some of them, set aside a fund where they can draw loans to engage in vocations

been promised the position of the Secretary to the State Government, SSG, if the party emerges victorious at the polls.

Other members of the campaign team include a former governorship aspirant, Comrade Alaba Isijola and former Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Mayowa Akinfolarin.

Political observers have argued that the PDP may have shot itself in the foot by picking Lawal, whose popularity appears to be in doubt.

Candidates at glance Akeredolu, SAN Oluwarotimi Akeredolu was born to Reverend J. Ola Akeredolu of Akeredolu family in Owo and Evangelist Grace B. Akeredolu of Aderoyiju family of Igbotu, Ese Odo, on the 21st July, 1956 in Owo and started his primary education at Government School, Owo before he proceeded to Aquinas College, Akure, Loyola Colege, Ibadan and Comprehensive High School,

,

Ayetoro, for his secondary school education and Higher School Certificate, respectively.

Fondly called Aketi by his admirers, a nickname that he took from his secondary school days, Akeredolu went to the University of Ife (now Obafemi Awolowo University) to study Law. At Ife where he graduated in 1977, he was elected as the Vice President, Students’ Union, for the 1975-1976 academic sessions. He was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1 9 7 8 .

Akeredolu was appointed Attorney General of Ondo State from 1997-1999 and was made a Senior Advocate of Nigeria,SAN,in1998.

As an activist, he served the Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) at various levels starting as the Secretary General of the Ibadan branch in 1985 and has been a member of the National Executive Council of the Association since then. He served as the Publicity Secretary during the regime of the late Alao Aka Bashorun, a period considered as the golden era of the Bar, 1988Continues on page 43

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012—43

Our plans for Ondo — candidates Continues from page 42

1989. He was also a member of Legal Aid Council of Nigeria from 1989 to 1991 and became its Chairman in 2005.

He was a member of the Governing Council, Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies between 2008 and 2010, a member of Council of Legal Education, a member of Council, International Bar Association and Pan African Lawyers Union during the same period. He currently serves as NBA representative in the National Judicial Council (NJC).

Olusegun Mimiko Olusegun Mimiko was born on October 5, 1954 into the Famimikomi family of Ondo Town and had his primary education at Aponmu before attending St. Joseph’s College, Ondo from 1966 to 1970 and later Gboluji Grammar School, Ile Oluji, for his Higher School Certificate (HSC) between 1971 and1972.

He was admitted into the University of Ife now Obafemi Awolowo in 1972 where he got B.Sc. Health Sciences in 1976 and went on to earn the MB; CHB in 1980.

After his internship as House Officer in the then Ondo State Health Management Board at the General Hospital, AdoEkiti, he worked in two private establishments in Onne, Rivers State and Lagos, and returned to public service and by 1985 he started his own practice and established the Mona Clinic in Ondo.

He was involved in politics during the military period and in 1992, was made the State Commissioner for Health in the old Ondo State, a position he again occupied when the military left governance in 1999.He resigned from the government of Chief Adebayo Adefarati and the Alliance for Democracy (AD) when he was schemed out of the party governorship primaries to

•Jega pitch his tent with the PDP under which he was made the Secretary to the State Government (SSG) in 2003.

A vacancy in the slot of Ondo in the Federal Executive Council saw him being appointed as Minister for Housing and Urban Development in 2005, a position he held till the end of 2006 when he again, resigned from government and the PDP to float the LP under which he contested and won the April 14, 2007 governorship election.

It took him 22 months of legal tussle to reclaim the 2007 mandate from Dr Olusegun Agagu of the PDP and on February 23, he was inaugurated as the governor of the state.

,

Vision “I am concerned about the economic development of the state and the well-being of the people. I can see that in this state today the people are disillusioned and there is hardly anything anyone can point to as the gain of our venture in the past three years.

There is no economic activity or any substance that anyone can point to, and that has rendered the state comatose.

That is one of the driving forces. Another force that is driving me is that there is no judicious use of the economic resources of this state and so because of that, I believe there should be a change and I have the capacity to bring that change.”

Map of Ondo State

promises and Ondo State is working again and we are happier. We have in place over 350 projects in all our rural communities dictated by our people themselves,” he stated at the flag off of his re-election campaign in Owo recently.

Mimiko further said, “I sincerely assure you that we shall continue to work for you with renewed vigour. We have been with you; we know your concerns and aspirations and we have been meeting. We know that you want your children to have quality education without you selling your properties. We will continue to work to make Ondo State a real place of pride in Nigeria. We will continue to develop Agriculture, build

The trio of Mimiko, Akeredolu and Oke are easily the leading candidates as the others, so far, have little or nothing on ground to show that they are serious about the coming contest

Vision Mimiko had promised to work for the people with renewed vigour towards a better Ondo. He pledged to consolidate on his administration’s seven-plan agenda.

“In 2007, we promised to work for you, we promised that your concern shall be our concern; that in all seasons, we will work for you; that we shall unleash our incredible creative ingenuity to develop the state.

In the last three and a half years, there are empirical facts on the ground that we have delivered on our

,

more roads, build more mega schools for our children, markets for our women, more hospitals, our cities shall be the best cities in Nigeria.”

Olusola Oke Olusola Oke was born on April 7, 1956 at the little fishing settlement of Ilowo located on the Ilaje coastline of Ondo State and was admitted to UNA Primary School in the community in 1961. He enrolled at the then University of Ife and bagged LLB in 1986 and was called to the Nigerian Bar on October 22, 1987. Oke ventured into politics and was initially a member of the Ondo

State Board of Internal Revenue in 1991 before he got elected into the Lower Chamber of the National Assembly as a representative of Ilaje/Ese-Odo Constituency in 1992 on the platform of the Social Democratic Party (SDP).

At the return of democracy in 1999, he became a member of the board of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC) representing Ondo State.

Controversial circumstances When the tenure of the board expired, Oke became the Chairman of the Ondo State Oil-Producing Areas Development Commission (OSOPADEC), and in the 2003 general elections, he was denied the seat of Ondo South Senatorial District in controversial circumstances after getting his party’s (PDP) ticket and announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as the winner of the election.

Oke was a member of the National Political Reform Conference (NPRC) in 2005 and had served as Chairman of the Boards of the Federal Polytechnic, Bida and the Steel Raw Materials Exploration Agency, Kaduna as well as a member of the Technical Committee of the Federal Government on Niger Delta.

He is the immediate past National Legal Adviser of the PDP. Vision While stating what he intends to do if elected governor, Oke said “I will complete the Akure Stadium that the PDP started but was abandoned by this government. The Owena dam

which has been completed but requiring only reticulation before it was abandoned will be resuscitated to supply water to about six local government areas. We will ensure that we generate employment for our teeming youths who are now roaming the streets. We will do this by expanding the capacity of government to absorb some of them, set aside a fund where they can draw loans to engage in vocations.”

He also said, “We will also ensure that we encourage them to become petty contractors.

There are many projects that don’t require expertise in execution. They will be encouraged to register companies and form partnerships to benefit from this. And finally some of them would be appointed to government positions and those that would require loan to trade, will be empowered. Of course by the time we open our forest and coastal resources, the processing companies that will spring up will also help in absorbing some of these youths.”

Other candidates Other candidates include: Adept Taye, Allied Congress Party; Mr. Adeyemi Bolarinwa ANPP Better Nigeria Progressive Party; and Mr. Omoyele Olorunwa of Change Advocacy Party,CAP. Others are Mr. Olusoji Ehinlanwo, Congress for Progressive Change,CPC; Mr. Oladipo Lawrence,National Conscience Party,NCP; Mr. Abikanlu Olusola , National Solidarity Democratic Party,NSP; Mr. Omoregha Olatunji, the Progressive People Alliance; and Mr. Victor Adetusin, People for Democratic Change, PDC. C M Y K

44 —Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

C M Y K

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 —45

Police Task Force records major break-through in Kaduna ••smashes 3-man gang of car thieves ••recovers 19 stolen vehicles

By DONALD ARJI

O

PERATIVES of the In spector-General of Po lice’s special task force on heinous crimes recorded a major breakthrough recently when they raided some notorious and dangerous criminal hide-outs in Kaduna State. The raid which was carried out between August 22 and 28, 2012, recorded fruitful results as the operatives recovered no fewer than 19 stolen vehicles from the hide-outs.

Police sources said the Special Task force, working on a tipoff, in reaction to the upsurge in incidents of car theft in some parts of the country, proceeded to Kaduna State on August 22, where it smashed and arrested S/NO

a three-man gang that specializes in car theft. It was gathered that the task force met stiff opposition from members of the gang as they engaged them in a fierce battle. Crime Alert learnt that they were able to subdue the gangsters with their superior weapons after some hours of gun duel.

After they were rounded up, the gang reportedly made disclosures that led to the recovery of 19 stolen vehicles of various makes and brands. Information of this recovery, according to police sources, has since been disseminated to all the 37 State Police Commands for circulation to the public, to enable persons whose vehicles were stolen to come forth for necessary identification and possible

TYPE OF VEHICLE

COLOUR

Inspector General, Mohammed Abubakar collection. The vehicles recovered are shown in the table below.

Deputy Force Public Relations CHASSIS NO

1 2

TOYOTA CAMRY GOLF WAGON

GOLD NAVY BLUE

4TIBG22K71U09711 WUWZZZ1HZSW1053

3

VECTRA OPEL (1.81)

MAROON

WOLOOOO8S5273647

4 5

HONDA ACCORD (BABY BOY) NISSAN PRIMERA

ASH RED

IHGC6546XA802693 JNIBAAN15U0510309

6 7 8

HONDA ACCORD (EOD) HONDA CIVIC HONDA CRV

GOLD BLACK BLACK

JHMCM45503C201055 JHMEG3200S212494 JHLRD1858VC807859

9

HONDA CIVIC

DARK GREEN

2HGEJ6670VH555237

10

HONDA CIVIC

BLACK

JHME044500S026250

11 12 13 14

HONDA ACCORD (BABY BOY) TOYOTA CAMRY HONDA ACADEMY HONDA ACCORD

GREEN GOLDEN GREEN GOLDEN

IHGCG565XXA0444991 4TIBG22K2WU1898927 IHCD66XTA141698 IHGCG564XYA149622

15

HONDA CRV

ASH

JHLRE48527C043010

16 17

TOYOTA CAMRY LE NISSAN PATHFINDER

DARK ASH DARK ASH

4TIB322K33U776092 5N1AR18W55C749614

18

TOYOTA CORROLA

ASH

INXBU4EE4AZ359074

19

HONDA CRN

RED

JHLLRD1853VCO12900

Officer, Frank Mba, who confirmed the development said the task force is still combing parts of the state to ensure that all members of the gang were fished out and prosecuted. He reiterated the commitment of the Inspector-General of Police towards getting rid of criminals in all nooks and crannies of the country.

Mba said: “the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed

,

of these crimes. He stated that the new outfit relies to a great extent, on vital information made available to the police by the public and attributed the recent break-through to the growing trust and cooperation between the Force and the public.

“The IGP commended officers and men of the task force for their exemplary courage and gallantry, even in the face of

The task force was created in the wake of the emergence of heinous crimes in some parts of the country, as part of renewed efforts to check-mate, through proactive measures predicated on intelligence policing

,

Abubakar, has observed with satisfaction the high sense of patriotism and professionalism with which the members of the IGP’s Special Task force on Heinous Crimes have carried out their duties so far.

“The task force was created in the wake of the emergence of heinous crimes in some parts of the country, as part of renewed efforts by the Nigeria Police to check-mate, through proactive measures predicated on intelligence policing, the activities of the sponsors and perpetrators

very difficult working environment. He expressed his readiness to ensure a well motivated Police Force. He challenged personnel of the Force to see the successes recorded by the Task force and other numerous Police breakthrough in recent time as a stepping stone to greater achievements.

“The IGP assured Nigerians that the Police will remain dynamic and creative in formulating new strategies for fighting crimes and criminality and urged Nigerians to continue to support the Force.”

46—Vanguard, MONDAY,

SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

High Blood Pressure:

Beware of belly fat

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

D

ID you know that your belly fat may lead to High Blood Pressure? Recently, the world including Nigerian has witnessed an upsurge in sudden death. Although, there have been so many explanations regarding the causes of these preventable death, one major indicator has remained High Blood Pressure, HBP. A silent killer, medical expert have stressed the need for regular monitoring and the need for healthy eating.

Unfortunately, many Nigerians are yet to come to terms with the stack reality of the disorder. Many Nigerians are yet to understand that good food can be healthy food and vice versa but eating well and healthy would give the body a chance and keeps it working well for a long time. It is now a common place to find young Nigerian suffering from chronic High Blood Pressure.

According to experts, HBP almost never shows up in the body alone. Instead, it usually brings along a dangerous posse of high cholesterol, insulin insensitivity, obesity, and atherosclerosis. Together, this toxic medley represents a huge risk to health and to life. High blood pressure and belly fat are inexorably connected. Fat in the stomach falls into two distinct categories: subcutaneous fat and visceral fat.

Subcutaneous fat is the “pinchable fat” that resides just below the surface of the skin. Visceral fat lives much

deeper inside the midsection and causes chaos throughout the body by snaking around organs and manipulating the body’s hormones.

Science is beginning to make the connection between mid-section fat and high blood pressure. Many doctors believe that visceral fat puts pressure on the kidneys and liver, increasing the production of LDL (bad) cholesterol.

This cholesterol can make its way up into the arteries of the heart where it decides to put down roots in the form of thick, waxy plaque.

As plaque lines the walls of the heart and arteries, it grows hard and thick forcing the heart to pump harder and harder in order to move blood throughout the body. And this, results to High Blood Pressure. The harder the heart has to work, the more easily it becomes tired and the higher the chance of a heart attack or a stroke.

Cardiologists have also discovered that High blood pressure is the gateway to the lifestyle diseases that currently afflict the population, diseases such as diabetes, obesity, cancer and metabolic syndrome. Health officials predict that over 70 per cent of adults will die of preventable lifestyle disease.

Lowering HBP: However, the best way to lower high blood pressure is to prevent it in the first place.

This means tackling your belly fat today. All the same rules apply to losing belly fat as losing any other fat in the body: eat nutritious meals, exercise and try to relax.

• Exercise alone cannot make your belly fat to go away. Experts recommend you watch your diet.

Expert blames upsurge in sudden deaths on unhealthy lifestyles ••as Justy Foods begins healthy living campaign

A

nutrition expert and Chief Executive, Justy Confectionaries and Foods Limited, Mr. George Ekeh has blamed the upsurge in sudden deaths in the country on unhealthy lifestyles. According to Ekeh, 99 per cent of the deaths were preventable if measures were taken to eat right and live right.

Addressing hundreds of participants at the flag-off of its campaign on Healthy living tagged: “Why Die Now?” Eke queried why Nigerians continued to die at the age of 30 and 50 years, blaming it on poor attitude to health. “Why die young? Why do people import toxins into their bodies? Why are Nigeri-

ans not taking exercise? Many of the best tasting foods are the worst foods for people” He stressed that good food can be healthy food and vice versa but eating well and healthy would give the body a chance and keep it working well for a long time.

Noting the dangers pose by fat tummy, he stated: “It is one major source of diseases such as cancer, heart diseases, kidney failure, and diabetes etc. For instance, belly fat has been implicated in High blood pressure.”

Lamenting the low life expectancy in the country, he noted that in the past Nigerians lived above 100 years even as they fed

Lagosians walk for digestive health with Nutricima’s YO! Yogurt

R

ESIDENTS of Maryland and Ikeja, Lagos State became the first to benefit from the healthy living initiative put together by Nutricima Limited as they joined officials of the firm in the Walk for Digestive Health from Maryland to Ikeja weekend.

The health walk, led by Dr. Femi Funsho Adebayo, a consultant and public health expert, was part of activities aimed at encouraging healthier lifestyles amongst the populace and promoting the wellness platform of the brand.

The digestive health walk saw hundreds of people, from different social strata, march in an atmosphere of conviviality from Maryland roundabout to Ikeja roundabout with fully equipped medical practitioners on hand to offer health tips and render free professional medical care to deserving participants during the

exercise.

Head of Marketing, Nutricima Limited, Mrs Wande Oluwasegunfunmi said the event was part of a healthy living campaign by YO! Classic Yoghurt Classic to drive home the overall positive association of yoghurt to healthy living amongst Nigerians. She describes yoghurt as the life food for today’s generation.

On her part, Senior Brand Manager, Deola Kasali, YO! Classic noted:“We are doing this in furtherance of the successful launch of our YO! Classic Yoghurt, to educate Nigerians on the benefits of healthy consumption habits and healthy lifestyles”.”

The walk is part of the YO! Yoghurt Community Service initiative on digestive health and is one of several activities planned to last over a 90-day period across Lagos State.

The activity involves fitness walk, aerobics, family fitness activities, educational seminars and the deployment of professional medical practitioners to all nooks and cran-

nies of the state to educate people on healthy consumption and lifestyles while also rendering free medical services to all who desire, particularly the indigent.

• Cross section of participants during a walk tagged: “Walk for Digestive Health” organised by Nutricima Limited in Lagos.

only on natural foods.

“Our fore-fathers ate natural foods, they trekked and use bicycles. Today, many Nigerians no longer exercise. They choose westernised foods over the local foods. They ignorantly import toxins into their systems. All these misbehaviours are the reasons why Nigerians are dying young,” he said He further announced that in recognition of these and more, Justy Confectionaries and Foods Limited decided to embark on the Campaign tagged; “Why die now” to educate Nigerians on the need to eat right and take exercise seriously as well as introduce its products formulated to tackle unhealthy eating and free the body system of toxins accumulated in the body.

Speaking on its products, Biniza ultra, he said the organisation is using the most universally accepted food items bread, cookies and cereal, consumed by everyone irrespective of age, or state of health, as vehicle to convey to the body a therapeutic food, which contains 35 vitamins and minerals, high protein and fibre.

According to him, these are what the body needs with some exercise, to stay very healthy, and free of cancers, cardiac heart diseases, high blood pressure, malnutrition, infertility, obesity etc.

He further added that the materials used to formulate Biniza ultra was capable of re writing DNA of an individual Encouraging Nigerians to eat right and exercise, Ekeh announced that the nationwide campaign, would be taking around all communities in Lagos including, Badagry, Epe, Lekki, Surulere, Ikotun, Agege, Yaba amongst others.

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012—47

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SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

BY CLEMENT UDEGBE

B

EFORE this year, the road block was the main plank of police response to security enforcement challenges in this nation. Whenever there was any incident, be it crime or robbery on the road, in the village or city, their first reaction was to mount a road block which would quickly be converted to traffic blockage, to check vehicle particulars, cargo by vehicles, road worthiness, all to ensure that as many people as possible parted with money. Road blocks were so abused that they acquired the name of Police toll gates, and worse still you could get away for as low as N20! The commuters were their main victims. At a stage, I was tempted to think that the South Eastern bound commuters were special targets of these police men. For example on the February 14, this year, between Shagamu and Ore towns along the expressway, I counted 25 road blocks which meant that we had a road block almost every five kilometres or so, yet robbery, and accidents never abated along this road, no thanks to the corruption in the Ministry of Works which refused to fix that road.

Often these road blocks by their nature and location would cause a road accident, claiming lives and these officers would simply relocate to a more convenient spot along the same road! There was a situation, in November last year, when I thought I was being pursued by robbers, and I sped ahead to a road block around

Ajebandele Area of Ogun State, alighted from the vehicle and announced to the gun-carrying officers that robbers were pursuing me. To my huge surprise, they jumped into the bush, and I followed them, to discover a clean and clear bush track that led to a very safe haven near the road!

Road blocks did not help the police themselves. Often, robbers would run into these road blocks spray bullets at them killing some and wounding others, just because their vigilance was compromised due to the tolls! The image of our police force suffered on account of the abuse of road blocks. It is against this background that the scrapping and ban of road blocks by the IGP across the nation must be commended, supported and encouraged by all.

In the past, whenever road blocks were banned, robbery and crime rate would suddenly shoot up badly, the police boss would panic, and restore them, thereby allowing security checks to relapse into business as usual. For the first time in decades, we have an IGP who has put his foot down. We have lived here without multiplicity of road blocks for six months and running. Nigerians are happier and freer for it, and we thank God for using this IGP, as we are now getting used to driving without road blocks.

Those of us who drive regularly from Lagos to the South East are most indebted to the IGP for this bold and good stand, which should be maintained till it beds or sinks into our psyche as a nation. It is against this background that I believe that this new and proper

The image of the Police suffered on account of the abuse of road blocks; the ban of road blocks by the IGP must be commended and encouraged by all

,

shift in paradigm in the police must be supported and encouraged to keep the force busy, engaged, effective, effectual,friendly and sustained in their job without road blocks. We have to be honest here because policing is a very serious business.

O

ne reality and fact is that road blocks provided money for those in the system. The officers on the beat on the roads made returns to their bosses in the offices, and now that this huge source of money and income is removed, the police and government must realistically put in place an increase in salary income for the force personnel and build confidence and integrity into the system. The force needs to earn well and adequately to deliver effective security nation wide.I still see police men on bathroom slippers at some points along the road.These elements who lack self image must be retrained and remoulded for good or flushed from the Force.The Police uniform allowance just has to be increased, the appearance of a nation's police says volumes about that nation.I do not believe we are among the poorest nations in the world, and

Abati, Jonathan they don't know and prophesy

BY MAGNUS ONYIBE

R

EUBEN ABATI,President Goodluck Jonathan's spokesman's piece titled, "The Jonathan They don't Know" syndicated in both national and online media platforms last week made incisive and interesting reading.The opening stanza of the article ‘ which was rather caustic to members of his immediate past constituency-media criticsarrested my curiosity.Hear him: "'They', in this piece, refers to all the cynics, the pestle wielding critics,the unrelenting,selfappointed activists,the idle and idling,twittering,collective children of anger,the distracted crowd of Facebook addicts,the BBM-pinging soap gossips of Nigeria,who seem to be in competition among themselves to pull down President Goodluck Jonathan".

Life is full of paradoxes because just a few months ago, as the chairman of the Guardian newspaper editorial board and celebrated author of the popular weekly column Cross roads-which was a veritable platform for government bashing,Abati could have been described in the same unsavoury terms by any of the former presidential spokesmen, ranging from Doyin Okupe,Remi Oyo who served under former President Olusegun Obansanjo or Segun Adeniyi, under the late Umaru Musa Yar'Adua and lma Niboro, his predecessor in office as President Jonathan's spokesman, but they did not.

Today,the table has turned and Abati seem to be under the type of pressure that he so pleasurably dished out and rather than remaining stoic, he is pouring invectives on his erstwhile colleagues(mainstream or social media),whom some have described as meddlesome interlopers? At this

juncture,permit me to share with you a prophesy about Abati which came to pass a few months after his appointment was foretold Before he was named the presidential spokesman, Abati had written an article critical of the process through which President Jonathan picked his running mate, Vice President Namadi Sambo by comparing it to how Elena Kagan was nominated into the USA Supreme Court. It was brought to my attention by our mutual friend, Martin Udogie, publisher of Bottomline magazine.

Below is a verbatim reproduction of text message conversation between Martin and l on one hand and between Martin and Abati on the other hand.

First,Martin to Abati:Rueben,l asked people to read your article of today.Now,while many loved it,as l did,l found this guy's take very intriguing,and l thought l should forward it to you.Beauty of democracy indeed...My response to Martin which he forwarded to Abati:l just read Abati's column and l'm not impressed.l'm a realist and would not expect Lagos to be exactly like New York or WashingtonDC to be exact replica of Abuja which in my view is Abati's fantasy.l'm sure he knows the difference in quality between New York Times and the Guardian newspaper where he works..The level of debate about Elena Kagan in the US and Namadi Sambo in Nigeria is reflective of the level of political sophistication of Americans and Nigerians.I pray Abati takes up an executive or legislature job in government in the near future so he can have first hand experience of how government works and the contending forces that have to be balanced...Abati's response to Martin who forwarded my comment to him: l see.Thanks.So is he saying we should remain the way we are and writers

modestly dressed police at all times and occasions will be good for our image as a nation.

Police barracks anywhere in this country present squalid and badly run down environment, overcrowded, unhealthy, and harsh places to live in. Good housing must be their priority now.We are aware that a good housing policy was started but stalled for some reasons which must now be resuscitated and pursued with this new vigor through the elimination of blockages to that policy and plan.

A situation therefore, where the police contractors are pushed to complain publicly must be resolved with speed. Let the old things pass away and let new things start. The IGP, I believe, is very equal to this.

The police facilities and equipment status must be improved, increased and enhanced. The time for effective and effectual forensics have come.

How many forensic laboratory facilities do we have? With the desired change from the arrest, search, detain and interrogate mentality of the force to people friendly investigative policing, the need for adequate forensic laboratories and their full complements have become more imperative. Fully equipped, properly staffed forensic laboratories should be located carefully in at least each of the six geo-political zones of this country for a start.

Police crime prevention information gathering system must be expanded and enhanced, with established and certified contacts in hotels, drinking parlours, churches, mosques and meeting places. These contacts could be drawn and built from Okada and Keke riders, registered state or LGA taxi operators, airport taxis, commercial bus drivers,

,

Policing Nigeria without road blocks

,

48—Vanguard, MONDAY,

Abati now understands the tensions that people in leadership positions have to deal with on a daily basis and the needless distractions that incorrect comments and labels cause such leaders

,

should stop dreaming up progress about change?That's the ((un-PDP)Magnus l have come to know-intellectually pugnacious,no playing to the gallery. l can imagine targets of Abati's article posing his rhetoric question some 20 months ago to him: "So is he (Abati)saying we should remain the way we are and writers should stop dreaming up progress about change" ?

I'm particularly excited about the rather ironic sea change of roles because like the Biblical Saul, the prosecutor who suddenly became Paul the evangelist when he saw the light, Abati now understands the serious tensions that people in leadership positions have to deal with on a daily basis to keep the ship of state moving and the irritation that needless distractions that the incorrect comments and labels that he catalogued in his piece cause such leaders.

U

nderstandably, as the spokesman of Mr President, Abati's job is to stop his principal from growing early grey hair arising from preventable anxiety related stress which the alleged wicked lies he complained about could cause his boss.

Considering that President Jonathan has suddenly started manifesting grey hairs even though he is only in the mid fifties in terms of age, Abati's concern cannot be glossed

village heads, traditional rulers, community leaders. Civil servants, oil sector workers, political parties, to name a few. These centres should work and serve in fusion with the state and federal policing systems. All hands must be on deck now to assist the police to give us a secure nation.

More than ever before our police will need a massive campaign to showcase them as people friendly.

This conscious and deliberate friendly police campaign should be driven through LGAs, states, educational institutions, civil services, using the all sections of the media. The police must work to change the mindset of police officers to a people friendly force to be effective in the face of new challenges in security provision at this time. There is need for properly equipped and staffed police information and databases for crime, criminals and those with criminal tendencies. There should be an information centre per LGA in liaison with the divisional police offices in the area.

We have come to the realisation that humans appreciate a thing more when they lose it. The lessons to our nation from the security challenges of these times, especially in the North of Nigeria has made it clear that insecurity is the railroad into poverty for any society. If we must build a virile and prosperous nation, civil security must be made a very serious business and the police and other civil law enforcement works in Nigeria must be made as attractive as the best we can afford.

Whatever any may say or think, a tattered law enforcement unit will provide a tattered security enforcement and arrangement.

God help us !

*Mr. Udegbe, a lawyer, wrote from Lagos.

over.In what has been largely attributed to stress of office,Ghana President,John Atta Mills and Ethiopian Prime Minister,Meles Zenawi, recently passed away as serving presidents at relatively young age ,obviously hastened by stress of office.

To demonstrate that the pressure of office is not just an African malaise, compare the youthful looks of British Prime Minister, David Cameron, before he took over the reins of power a couple of years ago and his current posture and look closely at the current greying hairline of President Barack Obama of the USA since mounting the saddle less than five years ago,compared to when he was a mere senator .

Intriguingly, and on a more serious note, Abati's sentiments conveyed in his interesting narrative echoes that of President Jonathan.

While administering the new performance contract with ministers in Aso Rock villa penultimate week,Mr President was said to have railed against journalists for misrepresenting facts about his administration's accomplishments and that formed the plank of Vanguard newspaper's editorial comment of Tuesday,August 28. l align with the Vanguard newspaper comment that scapegoating the media in Aso Rock is not the most auspicious approach to remedying the damage. As the newspaper pointed out,media briefing after the weekly Federal Executive Council ,FEC, meeting has proven to be inadequate, hence the gaps.

According to Abati,"President Jonathan is a clever,methodical and intelligent man who is very adept at wrong footing all the persons who make an effort to second -guess him or guess estimate him".Obviously,this is the image of Mr president that he wants in the public arena.

Continues tomorrow on the Viewpoint page *Onyibe, a former commissioner in Delta State, wrote from Abuja.

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 —49

Vanguard CLASSIFIED CHUKWUMA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Chukwuma Cynthia Eziachi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Enubuzor Cynthia Eziachi. All former documents remain valid.

Optometrist and Dispensing Opticians Registration Board of Nigeria, Delta State Polytechnic, Oghara and general public please take note.

NWEKE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nweke Uche Grace, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Amaefuna Uche Grace. All former documents remain valid. Federal Polytechnics, Oko and Federal Polytechnic, Nnekede, NYSC and general Public please take note.

N S O F O R — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Jacinta Ebere Nsofor, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Jacinta Ebere Ewuru. All former documents remain valid. NYSC and general public please take note.

EZENWUBA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ijeoma Joan Ezenwuba, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ijeoma Joan Obi. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

IGUODALA—I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Abosede Osariemen Iguodala, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Abosede Osariemen Osagie. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

MARY—I, formerly known and addressed as Mary Omoaluna Etokhana, now wish to be known and addressed as Favour Omoaluna Etokhana.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ONOVAKPURI—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss G r a c i o u s Onovakpuri, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Gracious Abanga. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

SHANDORF—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Anthonia Omasan Shandorf, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Anthonia Omasan Ekwejunor.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

Confirmation of Name This is to confirm that the name Adai Donatus, refers to one and the same person as Agbaji Adai Samuel, now wish to be known and addressed as Agbaji Adai Samuel. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

LAGOS—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Lagos Faith, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Okoro Faith. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

ASSANGHA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss I m a o b o n g Assangha, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Imaobong Ori-Jesu.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

A D O M I — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Adomi Endurance Jevwe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. A y o m a n o r Endurance Jevwe.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

JENNIFER —I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Okeke Jennifer Ngozi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Emoh Jennifer Ngozi. All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

EGBUNA — I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Nneka Judith Egbuna, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Nneka Judith Etiaba. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AGU—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Agu Charity .U, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ugwu Charity .U. All former documents remain valid. Broad bamd Technologies Limited, PHB health care, other prospective employees and general public please take note.

PA L M E R — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss M a r c y Ogeneyerome Palmer, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. M a r c y Ogeneyerome Odusanya.

All former documents remain valid. MTN and general public please take note.

MGBADA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Mgbada Chidinma Annabel, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Elechi Chidinma Annabel.

All former documents remain valid. NYSC and the general public should take note.

EBABODE—I, formerly known and addressed as Ebabode Ebifemoere, now wish to be known and addressed as Stephen Ebifemoere Jessica. All former documents remain valid. Sagbama Local Government Council 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 .

50—Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

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ORANMIYAN FESTIVAL CONTROVERSY:

Alaafin dares Ooni Stories by OLA AJAYI, IBADAN

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S the controversy over the celebration of Oranmiyan deity rages between the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, and the people of IleIfe in Osun State, the monarch has decided to go on with the celebration irrespective of the disapproval from Ile-Ife. Though, Alaafin has decided to keep mum over the matter for now, it was gathered that the monarch will still respond to the comments made by a spokesperson for the Ife community, Oba Adebolu Fatunmise, Adagba of Iyanfoworogi, Ile Ife that before any Oba in Yorubaland could worship a deity like Oranmiyan, he should first contact the custodian of the deity which is Ile Ife. While justifying the claim that Ife had the historical superiority to the deity, Oba Fatunmise had said, “the new contraption which they described as metro-

Ooni of Ife, Oba Okunade Sijuwade...should be contacted before celebrations

Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi...goes ahead with Oranmiyan celebrations

politan Oyo only came into existence in 1836 under the leadership of Prince Atiba who they later made the head, that is the nucleus of the Alaafin you have

today.”

While speaking with Vanguard on phone, yesterday, a reliable source from Oyo town said the words from Ife commu-

nity should be disregarded. He noted that irrespective of what Ife people said, the celebration of the deity would continue adding that Oyo town was not ready to join issues with anybody over it.

Another source who spoke with Vanguard said Oyo town had not been celebrating the deity before now but that the monarch who cherishes Yoruba culture with relish decided to be celebrating the Yoruba deities from time to time.

Vanguard asked the personal assistant to the monarch, Prince Azeez Fehintola, to comment on the issue, but he refused stressing that he would not want to pre-empt Oba Adeyemi. He was, however, quick to say that the monarch would make further comments when the time was ripe.

Prince Fehintola said: “Don’t worry. Papa, Alaafin, will speak at the appropriate time. We shall soon invite all of you to come for briefing”.

Ajimobi Petitions CJ over Tokyo’s reinstatement cause embarrassment to the impartial status and dignity of the court.”

Meantime, the Governor of Oyo State, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, has approved the appointment of Prince Adetunji Wasiu Gbadegesin as the Acting Permanent Secretary and Solicitor-General of the Ministry of Justice, Oyo State.

Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi

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OVERNOR Abiola Aji mobi administration in Oyo State has petitioned the Chief Judge of the Federal High Court over alleged abuse of office by the Deputy Chief Registrar of the court in Ibadan.

The Action Congress of Nigeria led government wrote the petition following a case that the former Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW in the state, Alhaji Lateef Akinsola, popularly called Tokyo filed against it.

The Deputy Registrar, according to the state government, had, in a letter marked FHC/ IB/111/2012, sought for police assistance in reinstating Tokyo as NURTW Chairman in the state.

Speaking on behalf of the government, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice,

Mr. Adebayo Ojo, said the letter which was purportedly authored by A. A Tahir, the Deputy Chief Registrar, Ibadan Division, was written to the Commissioner of Police, Oyo State and copied the Assistant Inspector General of Police Zone XI. In the petition, Ojo alleged that the Deputy Registrar was seeking police assistance to execute a declaratory judgment which he or his office was a party to. He stated: “It is worthy of note, that there is a pending application before the court, by the persons named as the second to the 13th applicants, praying the court to set aside its judgment on the grounds that the suit was fraudulently commenced in their names without their knowledge or consent.

“Under these circumstances,

Solicitor general

Oyo State NURTW former chairman, Lateef Akinsola

the letter of the Deputy Chief Registrar is, therefore, a thing of curiosity and if actually confirmed to be authored by him, ought to raise suspicions as to what his interest is in seeking the assistance of the Nigeria Police in executing a declaratory judgment.”

The commissioner said that Tahir ’s act was designed to usurp the powers of the court

by issuing an order of execution under the guise of a letter of assistance to execute a judgment, adding: “We, therefore, urge your lordship, in your capacity as the administrative head of this noble court to cause an investigation to be carried out into the authenticity of the letter and the conduct of Mr. A. A. Tahir, in order to nip in the bud, activities which might

Prince Gbadegesin was born on April 23, 1962 to the Royal Ladigbolu family of Oyo, Oyo State. He attended L.A. Primary School, Idi-Ope, Oyo between 1968 and 1974; and Ladigbolu Grammar School, Oyo between 1975 and1980 for his secondary school education.

He proceeded to the Federal Government College, Odogbolu, Ogun State between 1982 and 1984 for his Higher School Certificate. He attended Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, Osun State between 1987 and 1991 where he got a degree in Law and was called to the Nigerian Bar on July 17, 1993. Prince Gbadegesin joined the Civil Service of Oyo State in 1994. He is a devout moslem and married with children C M Y K

54—

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

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glad that one of us has been blessed with this opportunity. There is no how Nneka cannot come back more informed, an asset to self, her employers and the nation at large.

I have dwelt on this considerably because it is opportunities like this that we fail to capitalize on, yet we wake up blaming ourselves for not competing effectively against the rest of the world.

FIFA says women football can benefit from specialist treatment and extra fillip and we say “ Relax”.

Women, Youth, the future of Nigerian football

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AST Saturday was indeed a busy one for Nige rian football with the country involved in three key matches.

First to kick off was the third place match in the FIFA U-20 Women World cup and the Falconets lost 1-2 to Japan.

Gloom. Prayers were offered that the Almighty should not allow the result to affect the two remaining matches, even as we forgot that the girls had emerged as the fourth best team in the whole world.

Next came the Golden Eaglets, facing a very daunting task, that of Nigerien teams always having our numbers. (They knocked us out of the last CHAN and held the Eagles to a draw few weeks ago) it is now history that the Eaglets dominated in an emphatic victory that would have stopped their opponents coming to Calabar for the return leg, if not for Fair Play and resultant sanctions and fines!

So encouraged, the Super Eagles filed out in Liberia, survived an early scare, went ahead only to re-capitulate. Since I did not see the match and have not been sufficiently briefed, I have no opinion about a result that many consider “… not good enough”

T

ODAY, I am forced to go back to the pending issue of the employment of Technical Director for our nation’s football. I have said it before and I repeat that FIFA emphatically stated that the employment of a Technical Director should be linked to DEVELOPMENT and WOMEN FOOTBALL. There is no ambiguity. That all Federations should communicate the CV of that coach to FIFA which will go ahead to support with over 250 thousand US Dollars yearly to every Federation to help in the developmental programme put in place, that the Technical Director will help to implement.

Because we have politicized this issue, not only have we let drop by not appointing a Technical Director, we have in over two years now, forfeited the grants due us from FIFA. I HAVE NO DOUBT IN MY MIND THAT IF A TECHNICAL DIRECTOR WAS IN PLACE, TO HELP IMPLEMEMT FIFA’S DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME AS RELATED TO FEMALE FOOTBALL, THE FALCONETS WOULD HAVE GONE FARTHER IN JAPAN. Why have we decided to crawl when the world is running?.

By coincidence, on Saturday in Niamey, I got this text from Nneka Ikem Anibeze, the Manager Sports and Outside Broadcast of FRCN asking after Super Eagles result. I queried her where

I have no doubt in my mind that if a Technical Director was in place, to help implement FIFA’S development programme as related to female football, the Falconets would have gone

,

about, saying she was the one who should have provided me with the result since I was out of the country.

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HE then said she was in Washington DC pur suing a four weeks Global Sports Mentoring Programme , a pet project of US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton aimed at getting more girls to participate in sports, avoid gender violence and improve better pay and better living for women.

According to Nneka, 17 women from all over the world were selected, including a FIBA Referee, a Volleyball coach, Women Sports Advocate, Director of law and regulation and Director, Management and Strategic Planning of the Brazilian ministry of sports.

In conjunction with EspnW, (a dedicated ESPN channel for women,) and several of America’s leading sports entities, this is a programme that has been created to empower emerging women in sports through focused mentorship and meaningful global networking opportunities and am I

Y

ES I was thrilled by the showing of the Golden Eaglets in Niamey, yet as they progress in the competition they come across stiffer opposition, especially of the intellectual kind.

We need as soon as possible to establish frequent meetings between all the coaches of the national teams in an effort to enforce synergy and continuity ( fifty person of the Falconets should be able to pick up starting shirts in the Falcons line up ) just as the NFF must put in place a facility that will help our coaches benefit from attachment to clubs abroad and so on.

The great work Stephen Keshi is trying to do at the domestic level may not be helped by the fact that we cannot even swear on the ages of those players in the domestic league, making it difficult for them to perform optimally, even if they desire so to do. Or how else can you explain the struggle to beat Malawi, Rwanda, Niger and Liberia… after months of camping and undiluted support from the NFF? Did we have to get the President visiting, charter an aircraft, change hotels in Monrovia and offer out of this world bonus packages just to go and get a draw in Liberia? I am happy that Keshi himself has sounded the battle cry for a step up by October. The danger is not Liberia, the Challenge is the Nations Cup proper that will come up in South Africa less than THREE MONTHS away.

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HE MRI Scan innovation is a huge blessing to us. The present crop of the Golden Eaglets have in them over ten years of football and this is an investment that cannot go wrong, one that we will reap from, again and again. We cannot wait for FIFA and CAF to go ahead with MRI like auto gate keeping that will help us sanitise our sports and eliminate the “ age cheating tag” that we have muscularly tried to shake off over the years.

See you next week

LFA treatment baffles NFF, Eagles •Draw excites envoy, Maigari

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IGERIA Football Federation officials have expressed disgust over the desperate antics employed by the Liberia Football Federation (LFA), to win the Nations Cup qualifier against Nigeria, including taking the team to a dilapidated hotel and assigning a weather beaten ‘Molue’, without air-conditioner to the team for its stay in Liberia.

The NFF had immediately relocated the team to the Golden Gate Hotel, ahead of last Saturday ’s 2-2 draw in Monrovia.

Technical Committee Chairman, Christopher Green, said he was taken aback going by the smooth relationship existing between both nations and their FAs.

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NFF President Aminu Maigari, was also petrified that officials of the SKD Stadium refused to switch on the flood light at the arena, when Nigeria had its only training session there before the game.

Nigeria's Ambassador to Liberia, Chigozie Nnadozie told the play-

ers in a dinner she gave to the team that the away draw was a good result and that she was sure Nigeria would beat Liberia in Calabar to qualify for the Nations Cup in South Africa.

NFF President thanked her for her hospitality and care.

Imoke promises best-ever World Mountain Championships

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ROSS River state Governor,senator Liyel Imoke says his state is ready to organise the best-ever world mountain running championships that will serve as benchmark for future championships.Imoke made this pledge follow-

ing the award of the hosting right to Obudu Ranch Resort for the 30th World Mountain Running Association Championship which will hold in 2014.

The governor told WMRA officials and delegates at the association’s meeting in Italy penulti-

‘FAKA BUS’ FOR EAGLES . . . Liberian Football Federation (LFA) showed no respect to the Super Eagles of Nigeria as they assigned this weatherbeaten FAKA Bus (Mercedes Benz 406D bus) without Air-conditioner to convey the team to the stadium but the NFF got their own bus Photo: Onochie Anibeze

mate weekend via a recorded video message that the champioships in Obudu will be the best ever. “His Excellency expressed his total commitment to the project and assured that all that is needed to be done to

make the championships a huge success will be done”,revealed Patrick Ugbe,the Cross River state Commissioner for Youth and Sports.

Ugbe added that Gov Imoke`s message and the general acknowledgement especially by

WMRA president,Bruno Gozzelino of the huge success the annual Obudu International Mountain Race has recorded since its inaugural edition in 2005 ensured Obudu got the nod to host the championships in 2014.

Vanguard, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012 — 55

We threw away our victory — Keshi

BY ONOCHIE ANIBEZE, just back from Liberia

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HEN Salmon Grimmes put the Lone Star ahead in the 6th minute Liberians went wild in celebration.

They boasted so much about beating Eagles, banking largely on what they called “poor runs” of the Nigerians who could not qualify for the last Nations Cup in Gabon and Equatorial Guinea. That failure is now a reference point anytime Eagles are meeting teams Nigerians see as minnows. Rwanda and Namibia cited it and said it gave them confidence against the Eagles.

The media in Liberia informed the Lone Star that “if Angola could stop Nigeria from going to the 2006 World Cup and Guinea stopped them from going to the last Nations Cup, Liberia could also stop them from the 2013 Nations Cup in South Africa.”

And Salmon’s goal put them in good stead. But it was momentary. Nosa Igiebor equalised for Nigeria in the 15th minute and Ike Uche’s penalty after Victor Moses was fouled gave Nigeria a 2-1 lead. Liberians looked so vulnerable that Eagles appeared to take them for granted. They had chances to increase the lead. Ike Uche tapped the ball high after beating the keeper. Victor Moses had a tough game but he made things difficult for himself.

He ran with the ball more than it was necessary and at the end wasted moves.

Emmanuel Emenike was a

worse offender. He was always running into crowd of players and being dispossessed. Emenike would not pass the ball. He blew chances too. Emenike was awful in the 2-2 draw with Guinea that denied Nigeria a Nations Cup ticket. He was disappointing against Sierra-Leone and with what he played against Liberia he must be among the players asking for a time out from the team. He deserves one.

Vincent Enyeama has already gotten one. Nwankwo Obiora would always turn with the ball when it would pay more to go forward and mount pressure on opponents. Ike Uche would not fall back to help in marking. He also likes running with the ball when it may not be necessary.

Stephen Keshi left the pitch, noting some of these problems and knowing that he still has a lot of work to do. He admitted this but said “the moment I correct these things we shall have a solid team.” He missed Gabriel Reuben in the defensive midfield and because Ike Uche was not falling back to help a lot fell on Nosa Igiebor who had a good game.

“The result was not a bad one although we threw away our victory. I would not complain if opponents work for their goals. But it pains when you have the chance to win and through your own carelessness you blow it. That’s why I’m not happy with the way it ended.

But 2-2 away is not a bad result but we can be better,” Keshi said. He was said to have blasted the players for lacking fighting spirit.

Keshi Continues from BP ready to commit to the country ’s cause.

However, several top officials who accompanied the team to Monrovia have asked that whatever personal differences that may exist between the coach and the Chelsea midfielder be thrashed so that he returns for the return leg match in Calabar next month.

“My two midfielders, Nosa Igiebor and Obiora Nwankwo, had a good game. The only problem was that we played a 4-24 formation and we expected that the wingers, Ejike Uzoenyi and Victor Moses, would fall back into midfield when we are defending and they often did not,” Keshi explained.

The Eagles coach showed

his irritation that the issue of Mikel has again been brought to the front burner.

“I have said before that Mikel is still very much part of my team, but he has to show his commitment to the team for me to recall him,” defended Keshi.

A top NFF official said “If he were committed to the country, he would have agreed to play on any surface but since he opted out of the game in Liberia because it was first thought would be played on artificial pitch, which he said affects him, one would have also thought that after it was learnt the game will be played on grass, he would have called to play,” argued the official.

Terry blow for England

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HELSEA skipper John Terry has been ruled out of England’s clash with Ukraine on Tuesday night, the FA have confirmed.

Terry picked up an ankle injury in the 5-0 win over Moldova on Friday night and although the problem is not serious it is still enough to force him out of the game.

England had used all three substitutes so Terry played on until the final few minutes, something which is sure to have aggravated the problem further.

Our Error

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DROGBASTIC......Ivory Coast’s Didier Drogba (R) takes on Senegal’s Jacques Faty during their Africa Cup of Nations qualifier in Abidjan on September 8. Ivory Coast won 4-2. Photo: AFP

Enyeama

Continues from BP

tain victory Enyeama dropped a harmless ball in front of an opponent who wasted no time to eqaulise and ‘thank’ him for the gift.

Enyeama was criticised by both the media and his teammates for that blunder that cast doubt over his fitness.

Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi also frowned at his performance. Enyeama needed a brilliant outing to keep his number one position in Eagles. The opportunity came in the 2013 Nations Cup qualifier against Liberia on Saturday. He conceded two cheap goals and must now leave the stage for Austin Ejide, the Is-

raeli-based player who many even rate highly now and Chigozie Agbim, the local boy who keeps for Warri Wolves.

And so the building process of the national team under Stephen Keshi continues through elimination.

In February in Kigali, Rwanda Osaze Odewengie, Dickson Etuhu and Yakubu Aiyegbeni were so disappointing in Keshi’s competitive match that Vanguard reported that “it will be long before they can play for Eagles again.

Osaze had played such a poor game against Guniea in the 2012 Nations Cup qualifier in Abuja that many ac-

Eagles Continues from BP based professionals, including team skipper, Joseph Yobo left after the talk and did not make it to the team Bolton White Apartment camp on Sunday morning.

The team arrived the Abuja Airport at about 6:30am in the morning after a stop-over in Lagos for refueling the IRS Airliner that took them to Monrovia for the match

against Liberia. NFF President, Alhaji Aminu Maigari, was at the head of the delegation.

Team Secretary, Dayo Enebi Achor, said the NFF will take a decision on camping dates and place for the team later this week, but noted that a proposal that will see home-based resume camp ahead of their foreign counterparts is already been worked on.

cused him of playing a ‘vengeance’ game as he had issues with the then national team coach, Samson Siasia. But a repeat poor performance in Kigali meant he needed time to return to the national team. Keshi allowed him the time. It was so for Aiyegbeni, Etuhu and to some extent Joel Obi. Enyeama may join them after his poor show in Liberia. In the 6 th

HE Liberia and Ni geria Nations Cup match in Monrovia ended 2-2.

In the report from Liberia, the printer’s devil reared its ugly head in the first paragraph by reinstating what had been deleted as Eagles once led 2-1. It said that Eagles took a big step towards qualifying for the 2013 Nations Cup with a 2-2 away victory instead of a 2-2 draw.

The error is regretted minute his timing for the ball was so poor that Liberia’s Grimes ran in to jab in a long ball. The goal was cheap and the second he conceded even cheaper. Sekou Oliseh saw his poor positioning and lobbed a ball that sailed in. Enyeama did not make any attempt to save the ball.

Some officials confirmed to Vanguard that Enyeama will be allowed some time out in the Eagles.

Keshi reads riot act Continues from BP the team from leaving the arena. He also took time off to mention some players who did not show enough professionalism in the green white colours of the Nigerian side and said anyone who is invited and knows he will not be able to show maturity and patriotism should henceforth stay away from the national team and he will thank such a players.

“I will appreciate players staying away and saying they cannot make it than for them to come and show Nigerians that we are not serious here. I recall that when we thought we were going to play on a synthetic pitch, I called

Mikel Obi and he said its not healthy for him to play on such a pitch that is the type of maturity and honesty I want from all national team players”, he howled.

Keshi also told all the 22 players that went for the battle of Monrovia, that henceforth any player invited and can’t make it the appointed time to camp, should not bother to come late as he will not be welcomed. “Any player who cannot make it on time should just stay away, because we need all the time we can get to blend for our games, because the Nations Cup is just around the corner”, he said.

VANGUARD, MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 10, 2012

Eagles decamp, regroup in October

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HE Super Eagles was on Sunday officially decamped and are scheduled to resume camping in the first week of October for the October 13 crunch Na-

Klitschko spills blood, defends title P55

tions Cup winner takes all tie against the Lone Star of Liberia in Calabar.

Head Coach, Stephen Keshi had after consulting with the NFF leadership, addressed the players at the Nnamdi Azikiwe Airport in Abuja, when the team re-

turned from Monrovia, Liberia and told them that they can go their way as camp has officially be dissolved. Those that will be needed for the Liberia return leg match will be notified early, he told the players. Most of the foreign Continues on page 55

Keshi reads riot act to Eagles S

UPER Eagles play ers have been told in no uncertain terms that their display against Lone Star of Liberia, was a show of unprofessionalism and such will no longer be accepted, with Stephen Keshi declaring that he did not see

enough fighting spirit in the players.

Keshi addressed the players at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium in Monrovia, moments after the encounter, when surging fans prevented

Continues on page 55

Keshi, officials disagree after the team’s midfield on Mikel collapsed in Liberia.

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SUCKER PUNCH•••Ukraine’s World Heavyweight champion Vitali Klitschko (R) lands a right on Germany’s Manuel Charr in Moscow early on September 9. PHOTO: AFP

We threw away our victory — Keshi P55 TODAY'S

OP officials and Eagles coach Stephen Keshi are at daggers drawn over Chelsea ace Mikel Obi

Keshi insisted after his team were forced to a 22 draw that his midfield was intact and he would only recall Mikel if he is Continues on page 55

Enyeama loses number one place in Eagles STORIES BY ONOCHIE ANIBEZE, just back from Liberia

PUZZLE

V

INCENT Enyeama put his position on the line on June 9 in Malawi at the Kamuzu FRIDAY'S

ANSWERS

Stadium when he gifted Malawi a goal that denied Nigeria victory in the 2014 World Cup

ACROSS 1 Adapt (6) 5 Faucet (6) 9 Turn (5) 10 Reflect (5) 11 Stray (6) 12 Symbol (5) 14 Fog (4) 17 Offer (3) 18 Lake (4) 20 Overcoat (5) 22 Balloted (5) 23 Steal (7) 24 Regale (5) 26 Decoration (5) 29 Nervous (4) 30 Pendulum (3) 32 Christmas (4) 33 Purchaser (5) 36 Rank (6) 37 Smooth (5) 38 Being (5) 39 Rock (6)

qualifier.

Nigeria led 1-0 through a goal scored by Gabriel Reuben in the

89th minute. And as Nigerians celebrated what they thought was a cer-

Continues on page 55

DOWN 1 Nearly (6) 2 Gibberish (6) 3 Study (4) 4 Pulsate (5) 5 Stitched (5) 6 Plot (4) 7 Device (6) 8 Rotated (6) 13 Spoilsport (7) 15 Pondered (5) 16 Romany (5) 18 Cash (5) 19 Royal (5) 21 Sever (3) 22 Vigour (3) 24 Condition (6) 25 Appalled (6) 27 Sweet (6) 28 Chief (6) 30 Hector (5) 33 Beat (4) 34 Scour (4)

FRIDAY'S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS: 4, Boost 7, Appeal 9, Wet 10, Gas 12, Ahead 13, Zeal 15, Spore 17, Roster 19, Rude 20, Endow 22, Cab 24, Popular 27, Pal 28, Reign 31, Grit 33, Sadden 35, Waste 37, Flag 38, Stain 39, Eat 41, Net 42, Liaise 43: Screw.

How to Play Sudoku

THE VIGILANTE

DOWN: 1, Dazzle 2, Upward 3, Hag 4, Bear 5, Other 6, Standing 8, Last 11, Speculate 14, Loop 16, Oral 18, Swop 21, Neurotic 23, Beard 25, Pass 26, Reef 29, Inland 30, Nugget 32, Twine 34, Deal 35, Anew 40, Tip.

e-mail: rowolove@yahoo.co.uk

Place 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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