BUDGET: Jonathan plans to spend N4.9trn in 2013

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 61729

**

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

N150

BUDGET

Jonathan plans to spend N4.9trn in 2013 •Sets oil benchmark at $75 per barrel •FG performance on budget unimpressive —Tambuwal •Expect alteration, Mark tells Jonathan

BY CLARA NWACHUKWU, OKEY NDIRIBE, HENRY UMORU, INALEGWU SHAIBU & MICHAEL EBOH

BUJA— PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, presented to the Joint National Assembly a total budget of N4.92 trillion as the aggregate expenditure for the 2013 fiscal year, just as he pegged the benchmark oil price at US$75 per barrel, an increase from the US$72 per barrel of 2012.

The 2013 budget, which is five per cent increase over

A

Continues on page 5

Don’t wait for job, create one, Adeboye tells RUN graduates •Pgs 25-32

Chinua Achebe, Biafra and the travesties of war •P. 17

OCHEREOME NNANNA Much ado about Achebe on Awo •P.19 2013 Total Expenditure Recurrent Expenditure Capital Expenditure Oil Price (Per Barrel) Oil Prod (Barrel P/d) GDP Growth Fiscal Deficit Statutory Transfers

N4.92trn N2.41trn N1.54trn US$75 2.53m 6.5% 2.17% N380.02bn

2012 N4.88 trn N2.472 trn N1.32trn US$72 2.48m 7.2% 2.85 % N398bn

Sectoral Allocation Security Education Health Works Agric & Rural Devt Power

N668.56bn N426.53bn N279.23bn N183.5bn N81.41bn N74.26bn

N921.91bn N400.15bn N282.77bn N180.8bn N78.98bn N161.42bn

Bakassi: NBA dissociates self from FG's position •P. 6 Efik, S-Cameroon to form •P.11 republic Capital Oil boss, Ifeanyi Uba spends •P. 9 second day in detention

Mr & Mrs

2 —Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

C M Y K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 3

C M Y K

4 —Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

C M Y K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012—5

POCKET CARTOON

Jonathan plans to spend N4.9trn in 2013 Continues from page 1 the N4.749 trillion of 2012, is made up of N380.02 billion for Statutory Transfers , N591.76 billion for Debt Service, N2.41 trillion for Recurrent(NonDebt) Expenditure and N1.54 trillion for Capital Expenditure.

In the budget proposal which is tagged "Fiscal Consolidation with Inclusive Growth," Security comprising defene and Police gulped the highest allocation of N668.56bn with Education coming second with N426.53

billion; Health, N79.23 billion; Works, N183.5 billion; Agriculture and Rural Development, N81.41 billion and Power, N74.26 billion.

The government has proposed to reduce the nation’s annual domestic borrowing from N744 billion in 2012 to N727 billion next year, just as the share of recurrent spending in aggregate expenditure is expected to reduce from 71.47 per cent in 2012 to 68.7 per cent in the 2013 budget.

Capital expenditure as a share of aggregate spending is set to increase from 28.53 per cent in 2012 to 31.3 per cent in 2013.

President Jonathan said

against the backdrop that power and gas sectors require a lot of investments to sustain supply improvements, the government had set aside in the budget a Proposed Infrastructure Euro Bond of about $1 billion to complement available resources geared towards completing gas pipelines and other infrastructure investments, adding: ‘’We have also programmed other grants and soft credits critical to infrastructure and other sectors in our medium term external borrowing plan."

Fiscal deficit to improve to about 2.17% of GDP According to him, 2013 fiscal deficit is projected to improve to about 2.17% of Gross Domestic Product, GDP compared to 2.85% in 2012, adding: "Based on these assumptions, the gross federally collectible revenue is projected at N10.84 trillion, of which the total revenue available for the Federal Government’s budget is forecast at N3.89 trillion, representing an increase of about nine per cent over the estimate for 2012.

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

T

ODAY, I will resist doubt and pessimism and warm my world with a smile. I’ll maintain a strong faith, expect nothing but the best, take time to be happy, see every task as an opportunity to honour the Lord, and endeavour to leave His footprints on the hearts of those I meet.

John Boykin wrote: ‘Time is your life, nothing more, nothing less. The way you spend your hours and your days, is the way you spend your life. So pray, ‘Lord, help me to maximise this day.’

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

Love does not cost anything. Kind words and deeds do not cost anything. The real beauty of the world is equal for everyone to see. It was given by God equally to all, without restrictions — Carla Masterson

E

VERYONE was given a beautiful vehicle in which to express love to others. Feelings are free to express and give to ourselves and each other through our willingness to give and care.

What is complicated about this? There is no need to make other persons feel they have to climb mountains and swim oceans in order to make a difference.

All we need to underasstand is that human life was given equally to us all, not partially but in totality. The sun was given to all. It does not shine on few. So, just as nature is indifferent to our station or situation, we need to know that we are all equal.

We need to focus on the things that are constant and not place our values on things that can be blown away with the next great wind.

Value life, for we will understand that the only law we were meant to follow, was to love ourselves and each other. Love heals and makes all things beautiful.

‘’Non-oil revenue is projected to continue to grow in 2013 as the ongoing reforms in our revenue collecting agencies, and the implementation of initiatives to further develop the nonoil sector continue to yield results. ‘’Based on the above, the fiscal deficit is projected to improve to about 2.17 per cent of GDP in the 2013 Budget compared to 2.85 per cent in 2012. This is well within the threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 and clearly highlights our commitment to fiscal prudence.

We are determined to further rein in domestic borrowing, and this way, ensure that our debt stock remains at a sustainable level. ‘’The SURE-P will continue with the expected resources of N180 billion in 2013 augmented by the projected 2012 unspent balances, bringing the total to about N273.5 billion. We hope to make further progress in the programme, providing additional infrastructure investments and social safety net schemes for Nigerians.

Foreign reserves now US$41.6bn Jonathan who noted that the proposed benchmark price of oil was based on a well established economic method of estimating oil price moving averages, however, stressed that the projected Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth rate is now estimated at 6.5 per cent compared to the 6.85 per cent in the Fiscal Strategy Paper.

According to him, inflation has dropped from 12.9 per cent in June 2012 to 11.7 per cent in August 2012, with plans by the government to reduce it further, just as he disclosed that the nation’s foreign reserves now stand at US$41.6 billion, noting that it was the highest in over two years.

"We intend to continue with our programme of fiscal discipline and prudent monetary policy in order to continue to improve our country’s macroeconomic environment," he said.

Duty on machinery for local sugar manufacturing As part of moves to diversify the economy, the President disclosed that machinery and spare parts imported for local sugar manufacturing industries will now attract zero per cent

duty with a five-year tax holiday for sugarcane to sugar value chain investors, adding that import duty and levy on raw sugar will be 10 per cent and 50 per cent respectively, while refined sugar will attract 20 per cent duty and 60 per cent levy.

According to him, "A 10 per cent import duty and 100 per cent levy will be applied to both brown and polished rice.

All commercial aircraft and aircraft spare parts imported for use in Nigeria will now attract zero per cent duty and zero per cent VAT. This will appreciably improve safety in our skies as newer fleet and less onerous maintenance will prevail. Machinery and equipment imported for use in the solid minerals sector will now attract zero per cent import duty and zero per cent VAT. "In order to encourage the production of mass transit vehicles in Nigeria, duty on Completely Knocked Down components (CKD) for mass transit buses of at least 40-seater capacity, will now be zero per cent, down from five per cent.

Government is desirous of supporting green growth and, in this regard, will explore options for providing incentives for energy efficient vehicles from the 2014 fiscal year.

Good incentives and package for women Jonathan, who rolled out a lot of good incentives and package for women said: "This administration is gender-friendly and has worked to improve the position of women in society and empower them economically.

"Nevertheless, to further integrate women in the various sectors, we have developed an innovative approach to mainstreaming gender issues starting with five pilot ministries: Agriculture, Health, Communication Technology, Water Resources and Works.

These ministries are signing MoUs with the Ministry of Women Affairs to deliver on specific services for women.

"The Ministry of Agriculture, for example, will work with the Ministry of Communication Technology to ensure that five million women farmers and agricultural entrepreneurs receive mobile phones to be able

to access information on agro-inputs through an ewallet scheme.

"The Ministry of Health, in addition to scaling up its ongoing “Save a Million Lives” initiative, plans to give back health and hope to one-third of the pool of young girls and women who have been waiting a long time for V.V.F repairs through surgery and economic rehabilitation. In addition, we are up_scaling routine immunization. ‘’For 2013, the Ministry of Works plans to increase the number of women that are employed in public works programmes as contractors, workers and project evaluators, setting itself a target of 35 per cent for women in FERMA rehabilitation work. In every geopolitical zone, at least three roads leading to areas where women’s socio-economic activities are concentrated, will be prioritised and completed.

"To support these activities, we have set aside N3 billion to be disbursed to participating MDAs as incentives for them to deliver on these targets.

Our focus on empowering women is part of our agenda for improving the country ’s human development indicators. In this regard, we shall not relent in our efforts to improve access and quality in our health and education sectors."

‘2013 budget is anti development’ Early reactions to the 2013 national budget presented by President Goodluck Jonathan yesterday criticised the proposals as antidevelopment, and not propeople, which they said is an indication that Nigeria is not in tune with global realities.

Critics who spoke with Vanguard based their assertions on the fact that as usual, Recurrent expenditure is proposed for the lion share of N2.41

trillion representing about 49 per cent of the total budget proposal, compared with the N1.54 trillion or 31 per cent set aside for Capital expenditure.

Recurrent expenditure had generated huge controversies last year, when it was revealed that the Senate President earned at least three times the American President’s salary, while other political office holders helped themselves to unbelievably high salaries, where regular Nigerian workers struggled to get approval for N8,500 monthly income, which is less than 10 per cent of the tea allowance for some political officeholders.

Former President, Society for Petroleum Engineers, SPE, and Managing Director/Chief Executive of International Energy Services, Dr. Diran Fawibe, stressed the need for government “to bring down the amount for recurrent expenditure to enhance development.”

President of the Trade Union Congress, TUC, Mr. Peter Esele, warned that if the recurrent expenditure was not reduced, “there will hardly be any development in 2013, and if any, it will be at snail speed, and until there is a change, we cannot move forward.”

Esele maintained that the high recurrent expenditure proposal indicated that government had not learnt anything from previous budgeting processes, adding that now here in the world is recurrent expenditure higher than capital expenditure, which impacts directly on the lives of the people.

Other respondents, some of whom spoke in confidence, noted that the strength of budgetary proposals are derived from their capital proposals, and in turn dictates the level of economic activities anticipated within the fiscal Continues on page 43

6—Vanguard , THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI BUJA—AS Nigeria fi nally forfeited its right to formally appeal against the controversial judgment of the International Court of Justice, ICJ, which in 2002, ceded the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun, the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, yesterday, distanced itself from the position of the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, on the matter.

Addressing newsmen yesterday, NBA, through its National President, Chief Okechukwu Wali, SAN, said it was convinced that Nigeria ought to have applied for a review of the ICJ Judgment based on fresh facts and evidence it said had emanated since 10 years ago when the verdict was delivered in favour of Cameroun.

The legal body noted that though it championed campaign for the Federal Government to appeal against the ICJ judgment, it was regretable that neither the Federal Government nor the AGF, involved the association in the process that culminated to the eventual surrender of Bakassi Peninsula to Cameroun.

Wali said: “It was a pity.

The position of the Nigerian Bar Association right from the onset was that Jonathan should go back to the ICJ for a review of that judgment. We believe he heard us and set-up a committee to revisit the judgment. Unfortunately, NBA was not a part of that committee and therefore did not know what the committee did.

A

Bakassi: NBA dissociates self from FG's position Says Mubi, Aluu killings, sign of total system failure verdict to be appealed against, failed to “show that Nigeria has discovered a decisive fact that was unknown to her before the ICJ judgment, which is capable of swaying the court to decide in its favour.” Adoke had insisted that “most of the issues canvassed in support of the case for a revision of the ICJ judgment had been canvassed and pronounced upon by the ICJ in its 2002 judgment.”

He said the Federal Government had retained a firm of international legal practitioners to advice on the merits and demerits of the case for revision, adding that “The firm after considering all the materials

that were placed at its disposal against the requirements of Article 61 of the ICJ Statute came to the reasoned conclusion that “an application for a review is virtually bound to fail” and that “a failed application will be diplomatically damaging to Nigeria”.

According to him, “In view of the foregoing, the Federal Government is of the informed view that with less than two days to the period when the revision will be statute barred October 9, 2012), it would be impossible for Nigeria to satisfy the requirements of Articles 61(1) -(5) of the ICJ Statute. Government has, therefore decided that it

will not be in the national interest to apply for revision of the 2002 ICJ judgment in respect of the land and maritime boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria.”

Calls for prosecution of Mubi, Aluu killers Meantime, the NBA yesterday said it was deeply concerned about “the alarming rate of insecurity in the country and the attendant debasement of our national psyche leading to disregard for the sanctity of human life.”

Consequently, the legal body maintained that

“nothing short of the identification and prosecution of the Mubi and Aluu killers and collaborators will assuage the feelings of Nigerians,” describing the uncanny incidents as signs of “a total system failue.”

The NBA said; “There is no disputing the fact that these show a total system failure. Neither of these dastardly acts took place in a time frame that the security agencies would not have arrived the scene and prevented the murders, if there had been timely intervention.

State police

“The NBA repeats its support for the call for state police, we believe that it will inter-alia, aid adequate funding, training and intelligence gathering. These deaths were preventable with timeous intervention by the police. Our policing system today has failed; it is underfunded and so ill equipped and incapable of protecting lives and property.

“The NBA has put plans in place to organize a national summit on peace and security in Nigeria, designed to bring stakeholders together to discuss internal security as the biggest threat to national developments, integration and progress.”

Besides, NBA, inaugurated a committee that will within the next one month, fashion out blueprints towards engendering a holistic reform of the legal association.

The committee is headed by the Director-General of the Enugu Law School, Mr. Ernest Ojukwu.

Appeal option “We only heard that the committee weighed the fresh facts that were brought before it and took its decision. We condemn frivolous litigation but we were unable to tell the weight of the said fresh evidence that was brought before the committee because of the fact that NBA was not part of that committee.”

It will be recalled the AGF, Adoke, on Tuesday, espoused reasons why the Federal Government could not appeal the ICJ judgment. He said: “The Committee proceeded to examine the case for revision against the requirements of Article 61 of the ICJ Statute and was constrained to observe from the oral presentations made to it by the proponents of the revision that the strict requirements of Article 61 could not be satisfied.”

Contending that those that clamoured for the ICJ

DINNER—From left: Deputy Chief Whip of the Senate, Sen. Hosea Agboola; Deputy Minority Whip, Sen. Ibrahim Abu; Deputy Senate President, Sen. Ike Ekweremadu; President Goodluck Jonathan; Senate President David Mark; and Senate Leader, Sen. Victor Ndoma-Egba, cutting the anniversary cake during a dinner hosted by Senate President in Abuja on Tuesday.

Gunmen kill 14 in renewed attack on Plateau

BY TAYE OBATERU

OS—GUNMEN sus pected to be Fulani herdsmen, yesterday, killed 14 people in three villages of Riyom Local Government Area of Plateau State.

The gunmen were said to have attacked the three villages simultaneously shooting sporadically and destroying property.

Eight people were killed

J

at Ranghol in Sopp ward, all members of the same family, were shot dead at Dallyam village in Tahoss District and another two brothers killed at Lotton village in Jol ward as they were returning to the village on motor bike.

Several others were injured in what was described by eye witnesses as coordinated attacks. Those killed at Dallyam were a woman and her three children.

The police confirmed the attacks but said only six corpses were found when they got to the area. Police spokesman, Mr. Emmanuel Abuh, who said investigations had commenced into the attacks said more policemen have been deployed to the area on the orders of the state Police Commissioner, Mr. Dipo Ayeni.

The raid on the villages came a day after the out-

break of fresh hostilities between locals and Fulani herdsmen following the gunning down of two people by suspected Fulani men which resulted in the killing of a Fulani man in a reprisal attack.

Member representing Barakin-Ladi/Riyom federal constituency in the House of Representatives, Mr. Simon Mwadkon confirmed that 14 people were killed in the attacks, regret-

ting that the hope that peace had returned to the area has again been shattered.

He blamed the situation on the failure of the authorities to tackle the matter decisively adding, “people commit atrocities at will because they know they will go scot free. Killing innocent people is gradually becoming a natural phenomena in Nigeria.” The bodies of those killed have been deposited in the mortuary.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012—7

BY OMOH GABRIEL, BUSINESS EDITOR APAN—THE World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim, yesterday, disclosed that economic losses caused by natural hazards have more than tripled over the last three decades and amounted to $3.5 trillion. The multi-lateral institution's head stated this at a discussion forum on natural disaster, entitled: “The Sendai dialogue”, which was hosted by Japan and the World Bank Group at the on-going 2012 World Bank Group/International Monetary Fund, IMF, annual meetings that featured government officials, multi-lateral institutions and civil society with the goal of sharing knowledge that will advance the integration of risk management into development planning.

Recently Nigeria has witnessed unprecedented flooding that has caused damage to property, farmlands and farms with the fear that it could lead to famine next year.

The World Bank and Japan, together with global policy makers, at the forum called for greater efforts to integrate disaster risk management into national development plan and international development assistance.

A joint statement issued

by Japan and the World Bank urged governments and development partners to accelerate efforts to proactively manage growing disaster risks by incorporating disaster risk management in development policy and investment programmes.

The statement by World Bank President, Jim Yong Kim said: “We need a culture of prevention, no country can fully insulate itself from disaster risk, but every country can reduce its vulnerability. Better planning can help reduce damage and loss of life from disasters and prevention can be far less costly than disaster relief and response.”

J

Risk management “I hope that lessons derived from Japan’s long-established disaster management culture, as well as the Great East Japan earthquake and its reconstruction process, will be globally shared,” said Japanese Finance Minister Koriki Jojima.

“I expect the Sendai dialogue to help form a consensus on the need to mainstream disaster risk management in all aspects of development processes,” he stressed.

The Sendai dialogue was C M Y K

Economic losses from natural disasters amount to $3.5trn — World Bank Calls for better planning, prevention among nations informed by the Sendai Report: “Managing Disaster Risks for a resilent future”, which is an official development committee paper for the 2012 annual meetings, and by a series of 32 knowledge notes produced by the World Bank in cooperation with Japan. Dialogue participants, who included World Bank Group President Jim Yong Kim, Koriki Jojima, Japan’s Minister of Finance, Christine Lagarde, Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Laarde, Kristinalia Georgieva, EU Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, and President Haruhiko Kuroda of the Asian Development Bank, reaffirmed their commitment to providing technical and financial support for building resilience to disasters in vulnerable countries.

Disaster risk management is increasingly central to World Bank business. Over

the last 10 years, the bank financed nearly $18 billion in activities focusing on natural disasters, which has helped to protect the lives

and livelihoods of people in 92 countries. More than two-thirds of the World Bank’s country partnership strategies have already

started to incorporate disaster risk management, and the goal is to bring that figure to 100 percent. The conference took place in Send-

ai, the largest city in the Tohoku Region along the Pacific coast of Japan, which bore the brunt of the 2011 Great East Japan earthquake and tsunami.

MEETING—From right: Governors Liye Imoke of Cross River State; Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State; Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State; Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State; Theodore Orji of Abia State and Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State during the meeting of the Advisory Council of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, at Government House, Asaba, Delta State, Tuesday.

Police arrest notorious terrorist in Delta

BY EMMA NNADOZIE, CRIME EDITOR SABA—THE Police at Zone 5 Area Command, Benin City, yesterday, arrested a notorious land speculator alleged to be terrorizing genuine land owners in Delta State and its environs, identified as Maxwell Okonkwo Ezechie.

Also arrested with the suspect said to be a dismissed police corporal, is the son of a serving police officer simply called Augustine Igbinoba who was described as the suspect’s chief executioner and two others. Police sources said the main suspect, Ezechie, was arrested after the Inspector- General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, directed that he should be fished out following report of his terrorist activities in the area.

Vanguard gathered that, in addition, the management of a popular Lagosbased newspaper had petitioned the Police boss in Abuja alleging that Ezechie and his thugs invaded their building site at AkwukwuIgbo, Okpanam, Delta State, and unleashed mayhem on their workers.

In the petition titled “At-

A

tempted murder, kidnap, terrorism, harassment, intimidation and threat to life” against the suspect, the management of the media outfit alleged that Ezechie led thugs, armed with dangerous weapons including guns, cutlasses and broken bottles and invaded the parcel of land allocated to it by Delta State government last month.

According to the petition, the suspect held all the workers on the site, including armed policemen, hostage after which they disarmed the policemen and subjected the workers, including a 70-year- old site engineer to torture and beating.

A top management staff of the media outfit who was on the site when they struck was reportedly manhandled while they attempted to force him into the booth of their car. Police sources said after dealing with the people on the site, the suspect used his cell phone to invite another gang of thugs who were armed and dressed in both police and army uniforms. It was learnt that the thugs left the scene after the police from Delta State Command sent a reenforcement.

Following this develop-

ment and the directive from the Police boss in Abuja, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 5, Hashimu Argungu and his two Deputy Commissioners of Police, swiftly swang into action and detailed a strong team from anti-kidnapping unit to raid the suspect’s home. Police sources said when the suspect got wind of the presence of the policemen from Benin, he disappeared.

The team, however, succeeded in arresting one of

his thugs described as the "chief executioner’’ and said to be the son of a serving police officer in the state.

Sources said when the detectives from Benin led by DSP Eboh succeeded in entering the suspect’s compound at Akwukwu-Igbo, they were shocked to see impenetrable walls with multiple entrance gates, suspected to be the protective armour of the suspect and his dangerous gang.

It was gathered that the AIG had since directed that

thorough investigation be carried out on activities of the arrested suspects with a view to ascertaining whether they are involved in other crimes in the area based on the type of protective walls and multiple gates used in his vast compound.

Meanwhile, police sources said the suspects have made useful statement to the police and may likely be flown to Abuja, after the completion of the investigation.

Flood: NMA urges quick intervention to avert outbreak of epidemic

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

S flood continues to ravage parts of the country, the Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, yesterday, canvassed urgent intervention to avert outbreak of epidemics.

The medical doctors also called for judicious utilisation of relief funds for the speedy redressing of the identified health and social problems in the areas.

In its preliminary findings after a tour of some of the flood ravaged communities

A

and states, President of the Association, Dr. Osahon Enabulele, said they were alarmed at the possibility of epidemic outbreaks.

Proffering possible solutions to immediately prevent outbreaks of diseases, Enabulele stressed the need for effective education on personal and communal hygiene, particularly in the area of water purification measures.

His words: “In most of the communities visited there was poor waste disposal and inadequate toilet facilities while the underground

wells, boreholes and surface water which are the sources of water in the flood ravaged communities, have been polluted.

“There was also the attendant risk of outbreaks of water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid, gastro-enteritis.

“In some of the camps there were outbreaks of diarrhoeal with some reported deaths of displaced persons, inadequate food supply with the attendant risk of development of protein-energy malnutrition.”

8—Vanguard , WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 10, 2012

Lamentations of flood victims in Delta

BY EMMA AMAIZE & AKPOKONA OMAFUAIRE

ARRI—IT was a continuation of anguish for flood victims in Delta State, weekend, as more communities went under water, while villagers took refuge in the bush to escape the fury of flood.

Among the communities were Asaba-Ase, Abari, Ekregbesi, Uzere communities of Ndokwa East, Patani and Isoko-South Council Areas of Delta State.

Narrating his ordeal, an octogenarian, Elder Frank Aketi said: “Every year, the flood starts at this time, but this year’s own came to everybody by surprise and it is embarrassing and you can see that the whole community is flooded since I was born I have never seen this type of flood. I am now a refugee in my own country.

W

Loss of all belongings On her part, 80-year-old Mama Atatorezi from IkpidheIrri community who sat dejected by a farmland said, “I am now like a bird that does not have a home, this flood is terrible, I lost my house and all my belongings, what am I living for.?”

Several hundred hungry and dejected looking displaced persons were seen stranded on Uzere/Ase road, as Vanguard boarded a boat to Asaba-Ase and Abari. Asaba-Ase, which is 12-kilometres from Uzere could hitherto be reached by road, but on this day, it was totally submerge and any visitor would have to board a boat at Uzere before getting to the community.

Abari community, maternal

home of the Minister for Petroleum was a mini ocean when Vanguard arrived the scene. Pathetic could best describe the situation, as the displaced persons were seen packed together in the storey building owned by the grandfather of the minister. There was no means of escape.

Mrs. Frank Akpeti, a displaced person at Abari said, “We are hopeful that help Flood victims at the Delta State Government rehabilitation camp in Oleh, set up for internally displaced will come, the persons during the sharing of clothes donated to the inmates.

Deputy Governor armanage for now because noFormer chairman of Abari com- is going to be like this. Right body knows what will happen rived here before the flood got worst, we cannot go away from munity, Mr. Francis Seibido as- now, we are very hungry here. in 2013. Right now, there is no here now, where do I go from serted, “Right now, there is no The government should come food anywhere,” he stated.

According to him, “Personally my home, I will stay up here good water for us to drink in to our aid because we are I was among the people that this community. We drink the suffering”. till help comes.”

John Ogheneriye, added, “I were selected to come and resMr. Lawrence Aketi who took water that you are seeing and am from Asaba- Ase and I am cue Asaba Ase, Iwelle, Igboko, here because the whole of Iberemi, Ivrogbo. When I got Asaba- Ase has been flooded. there, I met the auditor general The situation in Asaba Ase is of the state that, he was the only very critical because as we are man that was discussing with talking right now there is no- me and doing his best to resbody in Asaba Ase. Some were cue people. The man from the evacuated to Kwale, while some House of Representatives was have gone back to their various called and he said he was comcommunities in Isoko South and ing, but up till now we have not Vanguard round the areas said, you know it is unhealthy for us. North. seen him”. “ “I do not know what the gov- We need drugs. The only trans“He has abandoned us to our ernment is doing about this former we have has been sub- Relief fate. Apart from the auditor because they only came here merged in the water and right materials general, I did not see anybody to the communities and told us now we do not have light.” there. In Asaba Ase, all the to move out, but we do not see A businesswoman, Victoria His words: “And right now, houses have been submerged anything that they are doing to Daniels noted, “Today, a basket Isoko South is already flooded in water and there is nowhere give relief materials to aid them of garri is sold for one thousand and we do not know where they that is not flooded. As I am here or transport to support them. naira and we do not know how are going to go from here. All now I am just like a bird and I The community people are much they are going to sell it of us here are very hungry. do not know where to perch,” using their hard earned money for us tomorrow. I am from Oleh Even I that is talking to you I he said. to evacuate themselves. and the flood is now coming to have not had my breakfast since Another displaced person, “This is a major disaster be- my area. Foodstuff is expensive morning. I ate last yesterday by Dominic Egelibe from Irri said, cause it has never happened now because there is no food 8.00 pm”.

“I am a civil servant. Right now, in the history of the Niger Delta anywhere and we do not have “What I want the government my house is collapsing and I and we are surprised at it. This money to buy food. It is true that to do is to send people, have no where to go. The name is an international issue”, he government has warned us ear- especially from our of my community is Ekregbesi added. lier but we did not know that it representative from the House but I work as a security man of Representatives and the Sen- here in Irri. I am working at the ate to come and help us with Ministry of Education. I am 35 relief materials so that they can years.”

,

New Analyses

I am now like a bird that does not have a home, this flood is terrible, I lost my house and all my belongings, what am I living for

,

Delta State Deputy Governor, Professor Amos Utuama (middle) and members Officials of Bayelsa State Emergency Medical Services rescue 120-year-old woman of the State Flood Management Committee during a visit to the flooded Ogodobiri from the flood.

Community.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012—9

Judge stops witness’recall at Akingbola’s trial

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH, ONOZURE DANIA & MICHEAL OLADEPO

E

FFORTS TO recall a defence witness, Mrs. Ayoola Ayinde, in the on-going trial of the former Managing Director of Intercontinental Bank Plc, Erastus Akingbola, was yesterday rejected by Justice Habeeb Abiru of an Ikeja High court.

Akingbola, who was charged alonside his former business associate, Bayo Dada, by the antigraft commission, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC over alleged stealing of N47.1bn owned by the rested Intercontinental Bank (now Access Bank Plc) had applied to the court on October 9 to recall Mrs. Ayinde, a former head of foreign operations of Intercon- tinental Bank to tender 75 documents as exhibits to shore up his case.

The documents were to explain the 8.5 million and 1.3 million pounds transactions which according to her, was an instruction by Akingbola for transfer to Fulgher Solicitors, a United Kingdom-based law firm under the bank’s regular transaction.

She was expected to tender the documents to show that the money transferred to Fulgher was owned by Rockson Engineering Ltd, an explanations that contradicted the charge before the court.

His lawyer, Chief Felix Fagoungbe, SAN has said: “In the charge, the first de-

fendant (Akingbola) is alleged to have stolen the bank’s money. We are now saying through these documents that the money belonged to Rockson and that the total amount on Rockson’s account was paid out based on the 75 instructions including that of the first d e f e n d a n t . ” However, responding, the EFCC counsel, Mr. Godwin Obla, SAN, submitted that it was a ploy by

Akingbola’s counsel to delay the trial.

In his ruling, Justice Abiru held that recalling Ayinde was unnecessary because she had already tendered all the relevant documents she had in her possession as exhibits.

The matter was adjourned to Oct.23 for further trial at the instance of the defence who pleaded to bring their last witness to court.

EFCC re-arraigns, Arisekola’s son, others over subsidy scam

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH, ONOZURE DANIA & MICHEAL OLADEPO

OR THE third time, Abdulahi, the son of the Ibadan based business tycoon, Alhaji Abdulazeez Alao Arisekola was yesterday arraigned alongside four others over their alleged involvement in N1.1bn fuel subsidy scam.

Abdulahi was earlier arraigned before Justice Habeeb Abiru as well as Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo on a nine count charge for subsidy fraud by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, in July, 2012.

In a fresh six-count N1.1 billion theft charge brought against Alao, he was accused alongside Opeyemi Ajuyah, Olanre-

F

waju Olalusi and two companies; Majope Investment Limited and Axenergy Limited before Justice Lateefa Okunnu of the state High Court, Ikeja.

The defendants were arraigned on a six count charge bordering on conspiracy, obtaining by false pretence, forgery and uttering of docu- ments.

They were said to have conspired amongst themselves on February 14, 2011 to obtain the sum of N1,110,049,444.35 from the Federal Government of Nigeria by falsely claiming that the sum represented subsidy accruing to them under the Petroleum Support Fund, PSF, for the importation into Nigeria of 15,206.733 metric tons of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS), This according to EFCC

Fuel Scam: Capital Oil boss, Ifeanyi Uba detained over 24 hours

By EVELYN USMAN

OPE FOR the im mediate release of the Managing Director of Capital Oil & Gas Industries Ltd, Mr. Ifeanyi Uba and five management staff of his company, was dashed yesterday, as indication emerged that they would be spending the second day in detention.

They are being held by operatives of the Special Fraud Unit, SFU, Milverton, Ikoyi, over the alleged involvement of his companies in the fuel subsidy scam, As at 8p.m. yesterday, frantic effort as gathered

H

From left: Mr. Martin Thomen, Vice Consul, United States of America Consulate, Lagos; Dr. Dayo Mobereola, Managing Director, Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA) and Shawn M. Strange, a Transport Analytics expert from the United States, during a visit to LAMATA.

,was still being made by the oil magnate’s lawyers to effect his release. But all was to no avail. There were, however, indication that they would all be charged to court from the Unit today.

Identities of five of the management staff of Uba’s company detained at the Unit are; Mr. Joseph Orji, Executive Director, operations; Mr. Afam Azubike, Executive Director, Special duties; Mr. Chibuzor Ogbuokiri, General Manger, Operations; Mr. Godfrey Okorie, Depot Manager and Mr. Nsikan Usoro, Head, Trading.

Sources informed that Uba and his manage-

ment staff were detained in the cell Tuesday night and brought out yesterday from where the operatives continued another section of interrogation. As at 8p.m., they were reportedly being interrogated.

Uba arrived the Unit at about 2.30p.m. on Tuesday. His company was indicted by Mr. Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede led 15-man Presidential Panel constituted by President Goodluck Jonathan to re-investigate the findings of the report of an earlier investigation panel set up by the Ministry of Finance on fuel subsidy payments valued at over N2 trillion.

is an offence contrary to Section 1 (3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and other Fraud Related Offences Act, 2006.

The Commission also accused the oil marketers of obtaining by false pretence the sum of N1,110,049,444.35 from the government on April 18, 2011, by falsely claiming that the sum represented subsidy accruing to them under the Petroleum Support Fund for the importation into Nigeria of 15,206.733 metric tons of Premium Motor Spirit (PMS).

They were also alleged to have forged a document enitled, “Shore Tank Certificate” dated 22nd of January, 2011 purporting the document to have been issued by an officer of Q & Q Control Services Nigeria Limited, the offence allegedly contravened section 467 of the Criminal Code Cap. C17, Laws of Lagos State of Nigeria 2003.

They all pleaded not guilty to the offences.

However, the court adjourned the case till October 19, 2012 for hearing.

Lagos tackles mental illness in residents

BY MONSUR OLOWOOPEJO

L

AGOS STATE Government, yesterday, said it is working on a comprehensive plan to bring about prevention and adequate care of those suffering from mental illness.

Commissioner for Health, Dr. Jide Idris, who disclosed this to newsmen at the ongoing free medical health mission organized by the Eko Club International in conjunction with Lagos State Ministry of Health held in Ikorodu axis of the state, said the government will be more concerned about preventive measures.

At the event which was also attended by Senator Gbenga Ashafa, representing Lagos East Senatorial District, Idris, explained that mental illness arises from a lot of factors which include stress, anxiety, depress- ion, hinting that the state was putting in place a work plan to approach mental illness in a holistic manner.

“Mental health is categorized under non- communicable diseases, the burden is huge on Lagos State Government because of our mega city status. Our policies are being drawn out from the aspect of preventive measure,” Idris said.

Ondo guber: Lagos ACN urges electorate to vote Akeredolu

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

HE LAGOS State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, has urged indigenes of Ondo State to vote massively for the candidate of the party, Rotimi Akeredolu, in the forth coming governor- ship election in the state.

The party stressed that Ondo State should not allow itself to be dragged into playing a role in scut-

T

tling the regional integration of the South West because of the ambition of one man who has not acquainted himself well with the governance of the state in the past four years.

According to a statement by the state ACN Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, Ondo will benefit massively from the present wave of good governance that is sweeping through the ACN states.

October 1 at Ikeja City Mall HE FIRST day of October certainly spells fun to most Nigerians and above all, it reminds us of the patriotic spirit that should be portrayed at all times. This was evident amongst the drove of shoppers at the Ikeja City Mall, Alausa, Ikeja in Lagos on Monday October 1.

Shoppers turned up at the mall dressed in the Nigerian national colours of white and green. Others had the Nigerian flag

T

painted on their bodies.

Some even had their hair dyed green and white and had the colours painted on their faces.

This complimented the Ikeja Mall’s ambience and decor done by Eventplus Managers Ltd, who put up a special “NAIJA” look, using indigenous Ankara fabric to decorate the mall.

To spice up the independence mood, a “green carpet” photo shoot and a taste of special Naija cui-

sine dishes by Sumptuous Meals, one of the businesses at the mall, was offered to customers.

Commenting on the activities at the mall, Mrs. Debola Majeko- dunmi, the Center Man- ager said, "Ikeja Mall is positioned to deliver a shopping experience with fun at all times." She said there is an even greater package to look forward to during the upcoming Moslem festival later this month.

10—Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

Ondo clarifies involvement in tractor contract

BY DAYO JOHNSON

From left: Alhaji Zikrullai Olakunle Hassan, Chairman of Osun State Hajj operation; Alhaji KareemBuramoh, Secretary; Dr. Mikail Folorunso, a member of the Alfas, during the delivery of Governor Aregbesola’s welcome address to the 1st and 2nd batches of pilgrims, at Osun Lodge, Mecca, Saudi Arabia, yesterday.

AKURE—ONDO State government yesterday cleared the air on the contract for the purchase and supply of 100 tractors it awarded a contractor last year.

It was reacting to alleged shady deals in the award of contract by one of the opposition political parties in the state.

I n f o r m a t i o n Commissioner Kayode Akinmade, in a statement in Akure, said that the state government had terminated the contract awarded to Messrs Dynamic Agrosol to supply 100 tractors and

Kidnapped Osun State Speaker’s wife incommunicado

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

O

SOGBO — BARELY 24 hours after unknown gunmen kidnapped the wife of the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Mrs. Muibat Salami, the kidnappers are yet to

reach out to the husband of the victim, Hon. Najeem Salami.

Muibat was on Tuesday evening kidnapped in the Bamagay Square area of Ejigbo, Osun State shortly after she had left her shop where she sells

bags of rice and other commodities.

It was gathered that the victim’s Honda car was overtaken by the vehicle of a six member gang who forced her out of her car and later forced her into theirs.

When our correspond-

Why we have not paid bursary to undergraduates – Aregbesola

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

O

SOGBO - OSUN State government will require no less than N200 million to pay the new N10,000 per student of Osun state origin in all the tertiary institutions in the country.

The Osun state governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola who was reacting to Tuesday ’s mass protest by students of tertiary institutions in the state over nonpayment of annual bursary award by the government stated that the nonpayment was because it was not budgeted for in this year’s annual budget.

Aregbesola recalled that because of resolve of his administration to make education affordable for students that he increased the bursary from N3,000 previously paid by the Oyinlola’s administration to N10,000.

The governor said, “To determine the adequate number of bursary beneficiaries, our

administration set up a committee that went round the country to have true number of our students scattered in all tertiary institutions.

They came up with a figure of 20,215 in 74 institutions all over Nigeria as against unverified figure of 10,264 in 62 institutions by the previous administration.

“Compilation of these statistics took time and efforts. However, before the final compilation of the accurate figure,

budget for 2012 had been made.

What was appropriated was N70million since appropriation is a compulsory requirement for government expenditure. The need to get the House of Assembly’s go-ahead for the new requirements to meet the N216,334,000 required for the payment of the new bursary, our government is at the moment processing the supplementary budget at the House of Assembly.”

The governor said.

ent visited the private residence of the Speaker in Ejigbo yesterday, sympathizers were seen clustering around the compound.

Similarly, spiritual steps are being taken with prayer warriors have been raised by the husband of the victim in order to 'coarse' the kidnappers to release their victim.

When contacted for comment, the Speaker made it clear that he would not comment on the incident until the riddles behind the kidnap are unravelled.

Also, the state Commissioner of Police, Mrs. Kalafite Adeyemi has said that the state Police Command is currently investigating the kidnapping cases in the state.

The Commissioner while speaking with newsmen in Osogbo said investigation was on and any headway made would be communicated to the public.

Oyo ACN backs Ajimobi over N50bn loan OLA AJAYI

I

BADAN — THE Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Oyo State chapter, has described as economic illiteracy the recent criticism by the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over the N50 billion bond and the African Development Bank, ADB, loan that Governor Abiola Ajimobi proposed to borrow.

The PDP both at the

state and the South West had condemned loans being taken by the ACN governors in the zone.

Speaking through its state Publicity Secretary, Mr. Dauda Kolawole, the ruling party said the criticism of these economic efforts by the PDP was a reflection of the alleged party runners’sparse knowledge of economics, especially the concept of borrowing from the

capital market.

Justifying the action further, it added, “All over the world, there is an understanding that governments can hardly be run without borrowing. Indeed, what you intend to do with the borrowed money is far more instructive than the fact of the borrowing”.

The tragedy of borrowing this money in the past, according to the party, was that it was

recovered N594.8m from its management when the firm failed to honour the contractual agreement it signed with the state.

Akinmade explained that the clarification became necessary because the opposition political parties had been portraying the transaction as “a shady deal” He said that following the breach of the contractual agreement, the state government went to court According to the Commissioner the court specifically directed Agrosol to refund N594, 819.95m to the state.

South West PDP pledges to re-take zone

BY DAPO AKINREFON

T

HE SOUTH-West Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, has said that the party is in the process of consolidating to retake the region from the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in subsequent elections.

Speaking in Lagos yesterday, the Zonal Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kayode Babade expressed optimism that the recent victory of Mr. Jide Obanikoro has given the PDP hope come 2015.

While he urged the judiciary not to cave in to financial inducement in

the Ikoyi/Obalende Local council Development Area, Babade said the party would resist any move by the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, to thwart justice.

According to him, “ we have noted the weak and very dishonest attempt by the ACN to respond to the unmasking of the deceptive character of the leadership of the self acclaimed leading opposition party.

"It is gradually becoming clearer that the days of deceit of leaders of ACN in the South West are coming to an end.”

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012—11

Delta Commissioner's kidnap, inside job —Police

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA S A B A — D E LT A State Police Command has said that most of the kidnap cases in the state, including the recent kidnap of the state Commissioner for Higher Education, Prof. Hope Eghagha, had been traced to the handiwork of insiders.

State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Charles Muka, said the command was still trailing the kidnappers of Professor Eghagha, whose whereabouts

A

INAUGURATION: President Goodluck Jonathan (middle); Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, Chairman, Presidential Delegation to 2012 Christian Pilgrimage; Vice President Namadi Sambo (2nd left); Executive Secretary, Nigerian Christian Pilgrims Commission, Mr. John Kennedy-Opara (right) and others, shortly after the inauguration of the delegation at State House, Abuja, yesterday. Photo by Abayomi Adeshida.

Efik, S-Cameroon to form republic …We’ll pursue the course till it’s redressed—Imoke

BY HUGO ODIOGOR & JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU ALABAR—THE Obong of Calabar and grand patriarch of Efik Kingdom, His Eminence Ekpo Abasi Otu, has said that the Efik were considering the invitation by the people of Southern Cameroon to form a republic as the Federal Government had sold their ancestral land to Cameroon.

The Obong, at the solemn assembly organised by the Efik Kingdom and the entire Bakassi people through the Save Bakassi Group, yesterday, in Calabar, Cross River State, after the Federal Government refused to file for a review of International Court of Justice, ICJ, verdict, said the people were weighing the options available to them.

C

Remain calm —Imoke Meantime, Governor Liyel Imoke of Cross River State, has, advised the people of Bakassi to remain calm, saying that the government and the elected representatives of the state were committed to the course and will continue to pursue it until it was redressed.

Governor Imoke, who gave the assurance, when the royal fathers and the people of Bakassi, led by the kingmakers of Efik Kingdom after a solemn

assembly, went on a protest march to the governor’s office over Federal Government’s decision to hand over Bakassi to Cameroon, said that the challenge of Bakassi remained with the people and that it was a challenge that must be confronted.

He described October 10, 2012 as a very important day in the history of the people adding that as the displaced people of Bakassi and the Efik Kingdom decided to commit their challenge unto God with prayers, God will look into their plights and console them.

Challenge The governor said that in time of seeming adversity, there will still be something good, adding that the problem of Bakassi was a challenge that had stayed for 10 years, which had gone international.

Coordinator of Save Bakassi Group, Mr. Maurice Ekong told Vanguard that it was only the beginning of a long drawn battle for sovereignty as the fate of Bakassi could not be foreclosed by the Attorney General of the Federation, Mr. Mohammed Adoke, who was not prepared to work on the case and for Bakassi people.

He said: “We have a right to approach the United Nations with our case as indigenous people, whose culture and history have come under

threat of extinction from Cameron.

“The denial of Bakassi people their Nigerian citizenship makes mockery of Nigerian government’s declaration of Citizen Diplomacy as a cardinal plank of its foreign policy. A government has a responsibility to defend its citizens and the people of Bakassi have all these years seen themselves as Nigerians, but we have been deceived on a grand scale.”

Abasi Otu, who was represented on the occasion

by Chairman of Etubom Traditional Council, Etubom Bob Duke, said that they had to embrace their fate after being deceived and rejected by the Federal Government of Nigeria over the ceded oil-rich island, which they described as their heritage and ancestral home.

UN, African Union Also speaking at the event attended by prominent Efik sons and daughters in the country and in the diaspora, Chief Barbara James, who had liaised with the wife of the former Prime Minister of Britain, Mrs. Blair to get international lawyers and assemble materials to be presented at the Hague for the review, which the country turned down, said that already, they were taking the matter to the United Nations and African Union to agitate for self determination as

well as report cases of human rights abuse.

Chief James said: “We shall rise from our shell that justice must reign.

We had lost Bakassi, we had lost 76 oil wells, this injustice cannot continue.

We are being advised by the wife of the former British Prime minister, Mrs. Tony Blair. We are advised at the international level.

Enough is enough “The Federal Government has to tell us why we were not protected.

Enough is enough. We prepared a 12-paragraph document, legal brief, a very strong brief and evidence of human rights abuses to submit, but we were told that if Nigeria appealed against the judgment, it would not have good relationship with the international diplomatic corps.

“We have options, we are going to pursue these options at the United Nations and African Union.

We have international legal experts advising us.

This injustice will not stand.”

Also speaking, former Senator representing Cross River South, Senator Bassey Henshaw, recalled that when the Cameroon security agents were killing and maiming Bakassi people, it was the late Gen. Sani Abacha who went to repel the Cameroon soldiers to protect the people and create Bakassi Local Government Area.

were still unknown, one week after his abduction.

Muka, in a statement in Asaba, yesterday, said: “Delta State Police Command’s war against kidnapping and other violent crimes had been successful in the last few months. The successes we recorded were as a result of cooperation and collaboration from well meaning Deltans. It should be noted that no kidnap case was recorded in the months of August and September 2012 within Asaba and environs."

Shark attacks woman in Delta

BY FESTUS AHON

GHELLI—A 38year-old woman, identified as Mrs. Torugbene-Ere Aboh, escaped death by the whiskers, following a violent attack on her by a shark at Forcados River in Oboro Community, Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State.

Vanguard gathered that the woman, a mother of five, who was taking her bath in the overflowing river, had gone for a three-day fasting programme in a church in the community, when

U

she was attacked by the shark in the river.

Narrating her ordeal, Mrs Aboh, said: “Shortly after I started bathing, I felt a sharp cut on my right leg and I screamed for help. The screaming drew the attention of my brethren who were also in the river and they came to my rescue.

“I was immediately taken to a nearby patent medicine shop, where I was given 12 stitches before I was later taken by my husband, to a private clinic at Bomadi, for proper medical treatment.”

NASU tasks private varsities on unionism

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

A

SABA—NON-AC ADEMIC Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institution, NASU, has expressed concern over alleged refusal by owners of private tertiary institutions in the country to allow their workers join unions in line with Section 40 of the 1999 Constitution as amended in

2011 and International Labour Organisation, ILO. NASU, in a statement at the end of its National Executive Council, NEC, meeting in Asaba, Delta State, argued that the actions of the proprietors of the institutions were unlawful and called on Minister of Labour to intervene and call the private university owners to order before the situation gets out of hand.

Annang groups join forces for 2015 A-Ibom guber

BY TONY NYONG

YO—AHEAD of 2015 elections, political jostling has commenced in Akwa Ibom State, as the Ati Annang and Ntanta Offiong Annang merged, weekend, to present a common front.

During the ceremony which took place at Chief Godswill Akpabio Hall, Ukana Ikot Ntuen, in EssienUdim Local Government Area, the two

U

groups agreed to work together in the interest of humanity.

National chairman of Ntanta Offiong Annang, Mr. Boniface Ebewo, said: “Having watched closely the activities of Ati Annang over the years, we came to the conclusion that the philosophy, aspirations and vision of the two bodies from Annang are the same, and therefore, decided to team up with Ati Annang to continue to develop our land."

12—Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

Flood wreaks havoc on Itsekiri communities in Delta

BY DANIEL GUMM

W

CASHLESS SOCIETY CONFERENCE: From left: Partner, George Etomix Partners, Mr. George Etomi; Executive Director Legal Services, Globacom, Mrs. Gladys Talabi; Managing Partner, Olaniwun Ajayi and Co, Dr. Koyin Ajayi, SAN and Partner, Reach Legal, United Kingdom, Mrs. Henrietta Abraham, at the Cashless Society Conference, sponsored by Globacom, in Lagos.

4,000 Nigerians in Turkey prisons —IG

BY ALBERT AKPOR, EVELYN USMAN & DANIEL ETEGHE HE Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday, in Lagos, said that no fewer than 4,000 Nigerians are in Turkey prisons over drug related and human trafficking cases.

The IG who arrived from Turkey, vowed to fish out killers of the four students of University of Port Harcourt and those at Mubi, in Adamawa State.

Briefing journalists on arrival at the Police Air Wing, Ikeja, Abubakar explained that his visit to Turkey was to share experience, exchange ideas and acquire knowledge from his Turkish counterpart. He noted that both countries would soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding, MoU. He, however, expressed dismay at the number of Nigerians in Turkey prisons, saying: "Turkey is a

T

CORRIGENDUM HE Management of College of Education, Agbor, Delta State, hereby, informs the general public that candidates applying for the post of the Registrar of the College should be under 60 years old on appointment and not under 55 years as earlier published.

T

very central country and most drug and human traffickers, pass through there. Unfortunately, we have 4,000 Nigerians who are in various prisons in that country. So, you can see that every day in the international airport in Turkey, arrests are made of drug and human traffickers, most of whom are Nigerians.”

He said that investigations into the circumstance that led to the gruesome killings of the four University of Port Harcourt students and those at Mubi, Adamawa State, had commenced. “The investigation will tell what

happened. I want to assure Nigerians that we are doing our best to apprehend the culprits of those ugly incidents and we shall not tolerate such barbaric acts in this country. Nigerians will hear from me as soon as I am briefed by the Commissioners of Police and the Zonal Assistant Inspector Generals, based on their documentations,” he said.

Abubakar debunked insinuations that there was disharmony between the Police and students, explaining that it was improper for the police to storm the premises of any University without a writ-

ten invitation by the Vice Chancellor.

He added that the responsibility of fishing out the killers rests more on traditional rulers and residents of the areas.

ARRI—SCORES of Itsekiri communities have been sacked by the rising water level along the Benin River and its tributaries. The communities, which are located on the Benin River axis of Warri North Local Government Area, Delta State, started experiencing the unusual rise in water level since last week.

Farmlands, fishing ponds and residential houses had been flooded.

Thousands of residents have turned their canoes into residential accommodation.

Some of the victims had to travel to Warri to report their plight at the constituency office of Mr. Daniel Reyenieju, who represents Warri Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives.

Spokesperson of the victims, who led a team

of five to Warri, yesterday, Mr. Esimi Nanna, said the flooding had become an annual occurrence, but had not been reported in the media.

He said this year's flood was unprecedented, and had precipitated untold hardship and devastation in the area.

He said the disaster had not been covered by the media because of the remoteness of the area as the communities were not accessible by road.

Responding, the Senior Legislative Assistance to legislator, Mr. Oti Orugbo, thanked the people for the confidence they reposed on the Constituency Office and their representative in Abuja, and assured them that he had relayed their complaints to Mr. Reyenieju.

He assured them that Reyenieju had made provision for relief materials to be purchased, adding that same would be made available to them tomorrow.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012—13

10 feared dead over flood disaster in Anambra As 5000 jobs are on the line

BY VINCENT UJUMADU WKA—NO fewer than 10 persons in the flood-ravaged communities in Anambra State have been feared dead during their attempt to rescue members of their families and property.

This happened as no fewer than 5000 workers employed by some industries at the Harbour Industrial Layout in Ogbaru and Onitsha Local Government areas affected by the flood may lose their jobs, if financial assistance did not come to the companies as soon as possible.

A

Following the reported deaths, the mood in some of the camps set up by government for the flood victims was low yesterday, even as some prominent people in the state have been visiting them and giving them words of encouragement and gifts.

Industrialists in the affected industrial area have in their separate statements called on the federal and state governments to come to their aid by giving them special grants to enable them resume production after over three weeks of inactivity.

Some of the industrialists

said they lost machines, raw materials and finished goods to the rampaging flood.

Some of the industries affected by the disaster are A.N. Ejeagwu and Sons Limited, the newly commissioned Kristoral and Company Limited, PZ Cousins Plc, Pokobross Group of Companies, Brollo International Profiles Resources Limited, ANES Industries Limited, Dragons Industries Limited, among others.

He said none of the industries affected has less than 600 direct and indirect staff that may be put out of

job if the needed assistance from governments failed to come their way, adding that Federal and State governmentas could help them access funds to come back to business by giving them grants and tax waivers.

Chairman of one of the companies, Mr. Chukwudi Ejeagwu, said: “The entire Habour Industrial Layout employs over 10,000 workers and over half of the companies employing them have been submerged by the flood, which had destroyed their machines,rawmaterialsandfinished goods.

Court restrains IG, others from arresting lawyer

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

O

WERRI—JUSTICE Florence DurohaIgwe of an Imo State High Court sitting in Owerri has restrained the Inspector General of Police, IGP, his AIG in Zone 9, Umuahia; Julius Berger Plc, from arresting a Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Emeka Ozoani.

Also restrained alongside the IGP and Julius Berger are ASP P.S Njoku and DCP, both from Zone 9 police headquarters and one Peter Ogunyanwo.

Ruling on a Motion Exparte dated October 2, 2012, Justice Duroha-Igwe

restrained any of the respondents or their agents from arresting Barrister Ozoani.

The order was sequel to the motion filed by the lawyer after being declared wanted by the police.

The judge upon reading through the Motion Exparte with the affidavit of urgency and supporting affidavit filed with a written address and the arguments of the applicant himself, ordered the defendants not to arrest the lawyer.

She ordered: “That the respondents, their agents, officers severally and jointly restrained from arresting Barrister Emeka Ozoani on the strength of the newspaper publication declaring the applicant a wanted person in respect of a suit where he is discharging his professional legal services.

“Pending the hearing and determination of the motion on notice for enforcement of his fundamental rights. That this order subsists pending the hearing and determination on notice.”

Flood: Cleric accuses FG of fire brigade approach

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B

ENIN CITY—THE General Overseer of the Omega Fire Ministries, Apostle Suleman, yesterday, regretted that Nigerians are suffering the unfortunate disaster caused by flooding and urged the Federal Government to always sensitize Nigerians on warnings from the ecological department in order to avoid “fire brigade approach in future.”

The man of God who also raised an alarm that his Church located along Benin-Auchi road, is being threatened by the flood, said government had failed in safe guiding the lives and property of its citizens and lamented that lack of sensitisation had caused Nigerians their property and homes.

He said: “We have a government that doesn’t react on issues until it hit them directly. So insensitivity is a major diarrhea that afflicts the Federal Government.

Government did nothing to the flooding issue because we watch when those in the ecological department predicted this disaster two years ago. We have this emergency approach to issues and that is a problem.”

C M Y K

14—Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

Royal father assassinated in Enugu Police arrest 20 suspects

BY TONY EDIKE NUGU—TRADI TIONAL ruler of Umuode Community in Nkanu East local government area of Enugu State, Igwe Moses Ugwu has been assassinated.

Meanwhile, the police have arrested 20 suspects in connection with the murder, even as tension has gripped Umuode and Oruku communities.

Ugwu was reportedly shot dead by two young men who stormed his shop at Akpoga Nike at about 7.30pm Tuesday.

The gunmen were said

E

to have shot at him several times and left him in a pool of his own blood, and escaped immediately without removing anything from the shop.

The royal father who was popularly called Ode 1 of Umuode, had occupied the chieftaincy stool for over 10 years.

Sources said he was rushed to the Annunciation Hospital, Emene, Enugu by some of his relations who rushed from his community after they were alerted of the incident, but he was only confirmed dead by the doctors on duty.

His body has been deposited at the hospital’s morgue.

Igwe Ugwu’s Umuode community from where the immediate past Minister of Power, Professor Barth Nnaji hails, had been at war with their Oruku neighbours since the past eight years.

The two communities engaged in random shooting of guns recently apparently to signal another round of hostility but security operatives deployed to the area later calmed the tension.

Following the assassination, tension has heightened among natives of Umuode community in Nkanu East local government area of Enugu State, following the assassination of their traditional ruler, Igwe Moses Ugwu Tuesday night.

Their Oruku neighbours were also said to be apprehensive and vigilant to ensure that the death of the royal father did not lead to another round of hostility between them and Umuode natives, who had been locked in a communal feud for over 20 years.

Enugu State Police command said over 20 persons had been arrested, while investigations had commenced to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death of the monarch.

The police raided Akpoga Nike where the incident occurred as well as Onuogba Nike, a neighbouring community where the suspects were arrested for questioning.

EFCC quizzes monarch over alleged diversion of fund

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

A

WKA—OFFICIALS of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, yesterday stormed the sleepy community of Ikenga in Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State to quiz the community’s traditional ruler, Igwe Alfred Obumnaeme, over his involvement in alleged diversion of N6.5 million approved by the federal government for the execution of water project in the area.

The traditional ruler was said to have unilaterally decided to change the water project meant for his community to the renovation of a market in the town

for which the people of Ikenga cried foul, insisting that there was no decision to stop the water project and that no market was renovated in the town with the said money.

The visit of officials of the anti-graft agency followed a petition to EFCC by executive members of Ikenga Town Union, alleging that the said water project was not executed, even as their traditional ruler wrote a letter of commendation to the Federal Ministry of Environment, Housing and Urban Development, commending government for the renovation of a market in his domain with the money that should have been used to execute the water project.

Magistrate blames justice delay the court, including matters on lawyers already decided by other BUJA—AN FCT Chief Magistrate, Kabiru Lamido, has blamed some lawyers for the slow pace of justice delivery in the country.

Chief Magistrate Lamido was speaking during the resumed trial of the former Chairman of Orsu North Development Area of Imo State, Damian SantaOkpara, and two others for allegedly giving false information to the InspectorGeneral of Police.

The magistrate said most lawyers instead of addressing issues before the court, derived pleasure in addressing matters not before

A

MEETING: A group photography of leaders of Ohanaeze Ndi Igbo and Arewa Consultative Forum meeting in Enugu. Photo: Hill Ezeugwu.

ACF, Ohanaeze hold crucial talks in Enugu Insist on national unity

BY TONY EDIKE

NUGU—THE Arewa Consultative Forum and apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, yesterday, held a crucial meeting at the Universal Hotel in Enugu and emphasised the imperative of national unity, dialogue and consensus based on the principles of equity, justice and cooperation among the various people of Nigeria.

The Ohanaeze, in the two-page communique jointly signed by leaders of the groups, President General of Ohanaeze, Ambassador Ralph Uwechue, and Chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF, Alhaji Aliko Mohammed, however, requested for time to study and respond to the vital issues raised by its northern counterpart during the meeting.

The leadership of Ohanaeze and other Igbo leaders at the meeting, including former Vice Presi-

E

dent, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, viewed the issues raised by the Arewa delegation as very weighty, noting that after a careful study of the points, they would make their response available for discussion at a future meeting.

The two organisations said the meeting, the first of its kind in the nation’s current dispensation, all the same, had opened a channel of communication that ought to be maintained for the benefit of the country.

The meeting, which was presided over by the respective chairmen of the two groups, Uwaechue and Mohammed, was attended by large delegations of leaders from both sides.

Participants from the Igbo group were former Vice President, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, former President Generals of Ohanaeze, Justice Eze Ozobu, Prof. Joe Irukwu, Justice Mbaduike Amaechi , former Ebonyi State governor, Dr. Sam Egwu, Prof. Uzodinma

Nwala, Prof. Obiorah Ike, among others.

On the side of ACF delegation were the chairman national executive council, Alhaji Aliko Mohamed and the secretary general of the organisation, Col. Musa Shehu (rtd). Others in the entourage included the deputy chairman, Alhaji Saidu Barda; assistant chairman, Senator Joseph Kennedy Waku; Major General Lawrence Onoja; Ambassador Adamu Mohamed; Hajia Halima Alfa ; Amina Ladan Baki, Ambassador Ibrahim Mai Sule and Alhaji Ladan Shinnu.

There were also the legal adviser, Mr. Bitrus Gada; the publicity secretary, Anthony Sani; treasurer, Ismaila Zarma; Amina Ladan Baike and Col. Mohamed Abdu.

Earlier, Chairman of ACF, Aliko Mohammed, whose speech dwelt on many topical national issues, told the gathering that ACF was under pains to reassure Nigerians, “especially our

brothers, the Igbo, that leaders of the North do not, and will never condone violence, let alone those targeted at specific groups of Nigerians.”

He stressed that all violence took the country many years backward since it destroyed whatever assets ‘we have managed to acquire,” pointing out that “Igbo people promote the concept and spirit of one nation through their settlement in larger numbers everywhere in Nigeria.”

courts of competent jurisdiction.

He regretted that his promise to give the case which started since 2009 accelerated hearing, was being hampered by these extraneous factors.

Damian Santa Okpara, Edwin Obiezue and Ambrose Ogbuji are standing trial for allegedly informing the Inspector-General of Police in a petition that Chief Nelson Janel Okpara, Mr. Mathias Akunebu, Alphonsius Ojimba and late Ichie Silas Umedinnu burnt the house of Edwin Obiezue and kidnapped his four children.

Abia varsity shut over students' “ no -fee-no -examinaprotest tion” directive issued by

BY ANAYO OKOLI MUAHIA—ABIA State University, Uturu, was yesterday shut indefinitely, following protest by the students against the management’s decision not to allow them write their examinations unless they paid their first and second semesters’ school fees.

The students said the

U

the university management was draconian, considering the difficult economic situation in the country.

Sources said that majority of the students had not paid the fees because of the increase in fees, adding that students pleaded to be allowed to write their examinations, even as they asked for more time to pay up.

30,000 benefits from Eko free midical mission

BY CHIOMA OBINNA AGOS—NO fewer than 30,000 Lagosians have benefited from Eko Club International free medical services tagged; “Medical Mission of Hope” from 2004 to date.

The Chief Liaison Officer and Chairperson, Eko Club International, Mrs. Kemisola Baljak who disclosed this to Vanguard during the 2012

L

Medical Mission organised in honour of Dr. Nurudeen Olowopopo, explained that this year’s mission would focus on diabetes, hypertension, asthma and infectious diseases including HIV&AIDS. She described the mission as a way of giving back to the society, even as she regretted that Nigerians have failed to

take their health seriously.

Speaking, the Public Relations Officer of the Club, Mrs. Toyin Ola, recalled that the Mission of Hope was instituted by members of the Eko Club International to promote healthy living among Lagosians through education, treatment and provision of essential medicines.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012—15

Anambra, DFID sign MoU T HE United Kingdom Department for International Development, DFID, has expanded its programmes in Anambra State.

The Memorandum of Understanding, MoU, for the implementation of the programmes was signed by the state government and the UK agency in the Exco Chambers of Government House, Awka.

The signing of the MoU increased the programme of DFID in the state to five, covering good governance, service-delivery and malaria control, among others.

Governor Peter Obi signed for the state government, while the head, DFID in Nigeria, Dr. Richard Montgomery, signed for the agency.

In his speech, Governor Obi said the partnership would assist in the state government’s efforts to uplift the quality of life and entrench principles of good governance.

He explained that his administration introduced public participatory and grassroots-oriented governance, while poverty

mapping and effective data-generation have enabled government to identify poorest communities and introduce multidimensional approach to fight poverty and eradicate hunger.

The governor said in addition to various economic empowerment programmes, the state government was equally supporting and promoting agricultural programmes and attracting investors to generate employment opportunities.

Montgomery said the agency was impressed with Governor Obi’s efforts to tackle various developmental challenges and reposition the state for sustainable development.

He explained that the partnership was geared towards the support of the state government to promote good governance and enhance service delivery.

Montgomery noted that Governor Obi’s administration had continued to carry all stakeholders along in the implementation of its policies and programmes and applauded his efforts

in attracting development parties and donor agencies.

He explained that bilateral relationship with Nigeria was yielding the desired goals as the agency was supporting socio-economic and political reforms in the country.

DFID Regional CoOrdinator, South-East, South-South, Mrs. Olachi Ronnie, said some of the programmes were already on in the state, while new ones had been introduced.

PRESENTATION: From left— Dr. Paul Orhii, DG, NAFDAC; Mrs Shonell Oushun, GM; Dr. Ugochukwu Echendu, Head of Operations, both of Orange Drugs, and Mrs Stella Denloye, Director Laboratory Services, NAFDAC, at the presentation of a Toyota Hilux pick-up van to the management of NAFDAC by Orange Drugs Ltd. in Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: Biodun Ogunleye.

Jonathan begins tour of flood disaster areas

BY BEN AGANDE BUJA—PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will today begin the first phase of a tour of states devastated by flood as part of his promise to have a firsthand experience of what Nigerians affected by the flood had been going

A

through.

A statement by the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, yesterday, said the President would embark on the tour after the inauguration of the National Committee on Flood Relief and Rehabilitation, today.

The committee was set up as part of measures by the Federal Government to provide urgent succour and relief to victims of devastating floods across the country.

The committee, which has Alhaji Aliko Dangote and Mr. Olisa Agbakoba as its CoChairmen, has been given the responsibility of raising additional

funds to support ongoing efforts by the Federal Government to ensure the provision of adequate relief to flood victims and effective postimpact rehabilitation of affected persons and communities.

In this first phase of the tour, Dr. Abati said President Jonathan will visit flooded parts of Kogi, Anambra, Delta, Bayelsa and Rivers states.

Achebe indulged in ethnic chauvinism, says Fani-Kayode ORMER Aviation Min ister and historian, Mr. Femi Fani-Kayode, has asked literary giant, Prof.

Chinua Achebe to apologise to late Chief Obafemi Awolowo’s family and the Yoruba race over comments that Awolowo, alongside General Yakubu Gowon, implemented genocidal policies that killed millions of Igbo during the Civil War. In an article entitled Obafemi Awolowo and Chinua Achebe’s Tale of Fantasy, Fani-Kayode said neither Awolowo nor Gowon could be blamed for the suffering of Biafrans, especially children and women.

He said the defunct Biafran leader, Colonel C h u k w u e m e k a Odumegwu-Ojukwu, should bear the blames for refusing the Nigerian Government’s offer of a road corridor to ferry food to the easterners.

Admitting that all parties, including Awolowo, Gowon and Ojukwu, made mistakes during the war, he said Achebe presented half truths and indulged in ethnic chauvinism against Awolowo and the Yoruba race in the book entitled There Was a Country.

Fani-Kayode said: “I am

F

a historian and I have always believed that if we want to talk history we must be dispassionate, objective and factual. We must take the emotion out of it and we must always tell the truth.

“The worst thing that anyone can do is to try to rewrite history and indulge in historical revisionism.

This is especially so when the person is a revered figure and a literary icon.

“Sadly, it is in the light of such historical revisionism that I view Professor Chinua Achebe’s assertion (which is reflected in his latest and highly celebrated book entitled ‘There Was A Country) that Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the late and much-loved leader of the Yoruba, was responsible for the genocide that the Igbo suffered during the Civil War. “This claim is not only false but it is also, frankly speaking, utterly absurd.

Not only is Professor Achebe indulging in perfidy, not only is he being utterly dishonest and disingenuous, but he is also turning history upside down and indulging in what I would describe as ethnic chauvinism.

“I am one of those that has always had tremendous sympathy for the Igbo

cause during the Civil War. I am also an admirer of Colonel Emeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, who stood up for his people when it mattered the most and when they were being slaughtered by rampaging mobs in the northern part of our country.

“At least 100,000 Igbo were killed in those northern pogroms, which took place before the Civil War and which indeed led directly to it. This was not only an outrage but it was also a tragedy of monumental proportions.

“Yet we must not allow our emotion or our sympathy for the suffering of the Igbo at the hands of northern mobs before the war started to becloud our sense of reasoning as regards what actually happened during the prosecution of the war itself.

“It is important to set the record straight and not to be selective in our application and recollection of the facts when considering what actually led to the starvation of hundreds of thousands of Igbo women, children and civilians during that war.

“And, unlike others, I do not deny the fact that hundreds of thousands were starved to death.”

16—Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

Gunmen kill 2 FRSC officers

BY ABDULSALAM MUHAMMAD

K

ANO—UNKNOWN gunmen, yesterday, killed two officials of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, and injured another at Madobi Road, near Sani Abacha Youth Centre in Kano State.

The incident, which occurred at 1pm, triggered pandemonium in the metropolis.

Sources told Vanguard that the gunmen, who rode on a motorcycle, opened

fire on the FRSC patrol van with four of its personnel, killing two instantly and critically injuring the third.

The fourth escaped unhurt.

Sector Commandant of the FRSC in the state, Shehu Zaki, said: “Two officers died instantly, while one sustained bullet wounds. But the fourth person survived the attack. It is a very sad incident.”

The attack on the FRSC officers came barely 24 hours after gunmen killed two policemen on

polio immunisation exercise, Tuesday, at Kofar Dawanau quarters of Dala Local Government Area of the city.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, also confirmed the incident, saying a special squad has been deployed to comb the area in search of the gunmen.

Idris told Vanguard on the telephone that his men have arrested eight suspects in connection with Tuesday’s killing of two policemen.

Bankole proffers solution to leadership crises

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

A

B E O K U TA — FORMER Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, yesterday, blamed politicians for the country’s woes, saying if Nigerian leaders had adopted the standards and achievements of the previous years, when competent leaders held sway, the country would have made tremendous breakthroughs.

Bankole spoke as a guest lecturer at the commencement lecture of the Federal University of Agriculture, Abeokuta, FUNAB, in Alabata, Abeokuta. He spoke on Mentoring and the challenge of leadership in Africa.

Bankole, who spoke in the presence of eminent persons, including Mr. Gbenga Adefaye, Editorin-Chief/GM, Publication,

Vanguard newspaper, and President, Nigerian Guild of Editors, insisted that democracy would survive if mentoring of upcoming leaders was taken seriously.

He said: “These leaders failed to mentor those that are to take over from them and what we have instead are sit-tight leaders, who decide to die in office. Nigeria will only be placed on the path of progress, growth and development when we start to prepare our youths for leadership.

“Proper tutelage is indispensable for success in any vocation and Nigeria must urgently start the process of disallowing untutored and untested persons from mounting the saddle of leadership.”

While proffering solution to the problems facing the country, the former speaker suggested three proposals

on which he hinged total stability of the country.

Bankole said: “I wish to propose that we give further thought to ensuring that the choice of deputies is underlined by the requirement of competence and a modicum of collective enlightened self-interest.

“Another is the development of the agricultural sector. Studies have shown that our farming population across the country is ageing fast. We must seek to build a system that enables us make creative use of people, who have occupied leading positions in our national life to gain useful experience.”

Former Head of Service of the Federation, Prof.

Oladapo Afolabi, who chaired the occasion, and the Vice Chancellor of FUNAB, Prof. Olusola Oyewole agreed with Bankole's position.

Commonwealth advocates debt relief for ‘small, vulnerable members’

BY OMOH GABRIEL & EMMA UJAH

T

OKYO(JAPAN)—THE commonwealth is set to push for debt relief for its small, vulnerable, highlyindebted member nations before the G20 group.

The G20 includes 19 sovereign members and the European Union, namely: Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, France, European Union, Argentina, France, Japan, India, Indonesia, Italy, Republic of Korea, United Kingdom, United States, Saudi Arabia, South Africa and Russia.

Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Mr. Kamalesh Sharma, who was accompanied by the Prime Minister of St. Kitts and Nevis, Mr. Denzil Douglas, and Mr. Cyrus

Rustomjee, who is the Director of Economic Affairs at the Commonwealth Secretariat, told journalists, yesterday, that the debt relief push was one of the decisions taken at the meeting of the Commonwealth Ministers of Finance at the on-going World Bank/International Monetary Fund, IMF, Annual Meeting, in Tokyo, Japan.

He said that debt relief had become necessary as the affected member nations’ sovereign debts had reached unsustainable levels.

He said: “Yesterday, the Commonwealth Secretariat followed through on a commitment that was made to the Commonwealth leaders when we met in Perth last year and that was to look at the very serious debt situa-

tion that was confronting the Commonwealth’s small, vulnerable economies.

“Looking at the spectrum of membership of the Commonwealth, there is a significant number of members that are small and vulnerable in their economies.

“So we wanted to pay some attention as to how we could build consensus among ourselves as ministers of finance of the Commonwealth in presenting a particular platform to other members of the Commonwealth, who are of the G-20, and also to other international financial institutions and international community generally, as to what we see as ministers will be necessary to assist us at this very critical time in our development.”

Saif’s lawyers threaten ICC HE lawyer for the son and one-time heir-apparent of the late Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi has given warning that the International Criminal Court’s reputation will be damaged if it allows Libya to put him on trial.

Melinda Taylor, one of Saif al-Islam Gaddafi’s court-funded defence lawyers, told judges at The Netherlands on Wednesday that any trial in Libya will be “not motivated by a desire for justice but a desire for revenge, and there is no

T

•Saif Gaddafi right for revenge under international law.”

Taylor, speaking at a hearing that will ulti-

American scientists win Nobel Prize for Chemistry WO American scien tists won the 2012 Nobel Prize for chemistry yesterday for research into how cells respond to external stimuli that is helping to develop better drugs to fight diseases such as diabetes, cancer and depression.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said the 8 million crown ($1.2 million) prize went to Robert Lefkowitz, 69, and Brian Kobilka, 57, for discovering the inner workings of G-protein-coupled receptors, which allow cells to respond to chemical messages such as adrenaline rushes.

“Around half of all

T

medications act through these receptors, among them beta blockers, antihistamines and various kinds of psychiatric medications,” the Nobel Prize committee said. Working out better ways to target the receptors, known as GPCRs, is an area of keen interest to pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies. Lefkowitz told a news conference by telephone he was asleep when the phone call came from Sweden.

“I did not hear it - I must share with you that I wear earplugs to sleep.

So my wife gave me an elbow. So there it was, a total shock and surprise,” he said.

mately decide whether Saif al-Islam is tried in his homeland said that though the “government has tried to diplomatically dance around the issue of the death penalty, let’s be very clear: if convicted. Mr [Saif alIslam] Gaddafi will be hanged.”

Saif al-Islam was indicted in [2011 by ICC prosecutors on charges of murdering and persecuting protesters in the early days of the popular uprising that ultimately toppled his father’s regime.

A third warrant for Muammar Gadaffi was scrapped after he was killed by rebel forces on October 20 last year.

The 10-year-old Haguebased tribunal is a court of last resort, meaning it only takes on cases from countries where authorities are unwilling or unable to prosecute defendants.The Saif alIslam case is a test of that principle.

Judges have to weigh the desire of Libya’s new rulers to prosecute him against their ability to do so in a nation still in post-conflict turmoil, where the rule of law is being slowly rebuilt after more than four decades of neglect under the Gadhafi regime.

Judges are expected to take weeks or months to weigh their decision.

Syria rejects UN’s call for ceasefire YRIA has rejected a call by the UN chief for it to declare a unilateral ceasefire, insisting that rebels fighting the government must stop the violence first. Jihad Makdissi, Syrian foreign ministry spokesperson, said yesterday that twice during the abortive UN military observer mission deployed to Syria between April and the end of August, the Syrian government had implemented a ceasefire.

But he said the rebels “used the opportunity to expand their armed deployment and increase casualties due to terrorist activities”.

Makdissi’s comments came as the government was sending tanks from Mastumah, south of Idlib

S

city, to Maarat al-Numan, a rebel source told an AFP news agency reporter in the nearby town of Sarmin.

It had also deployed soldiers along the highway to Maarat al-Numan to secure the passage of its heavy armour to the strategic town on the Damascus-Aleppo highway. The opposition fighters were battling to halt their advance, however, using rocket launchers and improvised explosive devices, the source said, adding three tanks were damaged.

The intensifying battle for Maarat al-Numan was “very important”, said the rebels who took control of the town on Tuesday after 48 hours of fierce fighting and heavy shell-

•Assad ing.

Rebels also intercepted troops on the outskirts of Khan Sheikhun, south of Maaret al-Numan, where intense clashes erupted even as warplanes bombed rebel zones, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights (SOHR) said.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 17

,

IDN'T remember to tell you yesterday, but I've just finished reading Achebe's THERE WAS A COUNTRY. I'm amazed at his cavalier attitude to basic facts of history and the strident tone of victimhood along with the inability to see anything wrong with Biafra.

Not to mention his frightening subjectivism in appraising historical figures on the other side of the divide. Achebe has opened new flanks of battle: intellectual and political"TEXT I SENT TO SEGUN AYOBOLU I spent the weekend reading Chinua Achebe's long-awaited book on his Biafran experience: THERE WAS A COUNTRY: A PERSONAL HISTORY OF BIAFRA. It is a very explosive personal account of the most tragic phase in Nigerian history: the Civil War of 1967 to 1970. I am not surprised that despite the fact that most people have only seen excerpts from the book, they have reacted angrily to his descriptions of the motives and actions of historical figures. This has been true of his description of Chief Obafemi Awolowo's war policies. It was clear that the Yor uba elite and other champions of the war-time Finance minister and architect of Nigeria's economic policies in the immediate post-war years, would not take things lying low. Chief Awolowo is no longer alive to respond to

"

D

Chinua Achebe, Biafra and the travesties of war Achebe's description of an alleged wartime statement as 'callous and unfortunate'; that: "all is fair in war, and starvation is one of the weapons of war. I don't see why we should feed our enemies fat in order for them to fight harder". The responses to these have gone viral on the internet.

If people have been angry about the strident tone of accusations, nothing has stoked anger more in the South-west, than his characterisation of Chief Obafemi Awolowo: "It is my impression that Chief Obafemi Awolowo was driven by an overriding ambition for power, for himself in particular and for the advancement of his Yoruba people in general. And let it be said that there is, on the surface, at least, nothing wrong with those aspirations.

However, Awolowo saw the dominant Igbos at the time as

Prof. Chinua Achebe the obstacle to that goal, and when the opportunity arose-the Nigeria-Biafra War-his ambition drove him into a frenzy to go to every length to achieve his dreams. In the Biafran case it meant hatching up a diabolical policy to reduce the

number of his enemies significantly through starvationeliminating over two million people, mainly members of future generations". Expectedly, the followers of Chief Awolowo are baying for battle!

War is a most brutal

Kwankwaso, Ekwueme and state creation

T

HE Kano State Governor, Dr. Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso has become something close to a hate figure for many circles in Southern Nigeria in recent times for views he expressed about some of the current issues of controversy in Nigeria. Kwankwaso had argued for the review of the on shore/off shore revenue sharing formula. As has become usual in such circumstances, being a Northerner, a threatening chorus was ratcheted up filled with abuses; and these included governors of oilproducing states, such as Dr. Uduaghan, warning that the 'boys' in the creeks still had their guns and if anybody dared to review the on-shore/ off shore formula, they would go back to war! So it did not come as a surprise when his comments about an extra state for the South-East has also raised some dust.

As a matter of fact, the campaign to wring our hands for an extra state for the Igbospeaking people is one of the most elaborate emotional campaigns of blackmail in recent Nigerian history. An ethnic consensus has been carefully crafted which runs to the highest levels of government; is central to political calculations and is carefully canvassed in the media. The Southeast is alleged to be "disadvantaged" in the number of its states, according to this emotional, ethnic narrative. The only way to right this alleged 'injustice', according to its champions is to create another Igbo state.

The most 'sophisticated' argument for this position has been canvassed by the father

C M Y K

of the 'geo-politicisation' of Nigeria himself, Dr. Alex Ekwueme, former vice president and a leading member of the ruling PDP. Ekueme gave an interesting interview to THISDAY newspaper on Sunday, October 7, 2012, where he gave an elaborate exposition of his views on several of the issues he has become so wellknown for, in recent years and the most central being the six geo-political zones, which seems to mean a lot to people in the South of Nigeria and is treated with indifference or in extreme cases, with contempt, in Northern Nigeria.

The different attitudes can be understood from the basis of the decision to advocate the platform in the first place. For the political elite in Southern Nigeria, curtailing the political influence of the North is the only way to achieve the Nigeria of their dreams (whatever such dreams might consist of). This was important to those in the First Republic, and has remained a perpetual goal for successor elements of Southern Nigerian politics up till today.

B

ut none has been as wellcrafted as Ekwueme's six geo-political zones. It was in fact one of the main reasons that he lost the chance to become the PDP's presidential candidate in 1999 and maybe, the reason he will never become Nigeria's president!

The THISDAY interview gave a fairly good idea of the working of Dr. Ekwueme's mind. And it is interesting that he reminded that Obasanjo's political conference (a discredited effort to achieve the Third Term Agenda),

"unanimously" agreed that "an additional state should be created in the South-east zone", before the gymnastic about how some states transformed into newer states.

In all he said, he avoided the fact that the Nigerian states were not created as ethnic states, but were based on the old regions from independence.

The weakness of Dr. Ekwueme's emotional argument for an extra state is that it is ethnic-based. But we are a territorial country; and no reasonable appreciation of our history will allow us to be drawn into this ethnic argument. On the basis of regions of old, there are nine states in the old Eastern Nigeria: Anambra, Imo, Ebonyi, Enugu, Abia, Rivers, Bayelsa, Cross River and Akwa Ibom. These are the facts on the ground that Dr. Ekwueme and the canvassers for an extra Igbo state have conveniently forgotten. The delusion of six geo-political zones will not erase these historical facts. But to deepen his campaign against Kwankwaso, Dr. Ekwueme raised the controversy about populations in Lagos and Kano. He said "the population of Lagos state, to all independent observers, is well in excess of the population of Kano". That may well be true; but Nigeria's last population census was conducted by the PDP regime of Olusegun Obasanjo and a statutory body, the Nigerian Population Commission (NPC), not by his "independent observers".

Furthermore, he added that "Lagos State went and did its own census where they came out to say they have about five

million people more than Kano State"; as if that meant anything more than the politics which underlined the futile effort at its basis. They did not even help Dr. Ekwueme's argument. The truth is that the emotional blackmail will not wash.

I

t will be very difficult to create new states on the basis of the crudely ethnic argument that a highly respected former vice president, and other members of the Igbo elite have continued to canvas in its support. Nigeria faces an interesting dilemma; some members of the elite argue that the states cannot guarantee development and so must be jettisoned, yet others stridently demand states while the Igbo elements want one just for themselves only! It is impossible to find consensus in this cacophony of self-serving arguments, which in real terms is to earn prebendal fiefs to further impoverish the Nigerian people. If Kwankwaso has ruffled feathers so much, it is because his argument seemed to have touched raw nerves in very high places. On a final note, Dr. Ekwueme rode his geo-political zone horse again, to determine the number of years that each of them has occupied Nigeria's presidency, arguing that "South-east has had it for only six months plus few days"; therefore "the South-east would be justified in their quest to be given the first chance as president at the next dispensation". If only politics were that simple. And I thought that Dr. Alex Ekuweme knew these things better!

Biafra was the height of propaganda and reading through Achebe's book, it was amazing to see how our greatest writer himself helped to fashion the process of propaganda

,

continuation of hegemonic political battles and the events of the 1960s pitted against each other formidable foes. A ruling class consensus had foundered long before the coup of January 1966 scattered the political process. But the sinister element was the ethnic dimension which the first coup assumed, consciously or accidentally. The fact that only leading members of the regional political leadership of Northern and Western Nigeria suffered disproportionately, was bound to set the stage for the counter-coup and the crisis which that generated in turn: the massive killings of Easterners; the mass movement of people around the country; the political impasse which became the prelude to the declaration of Biafran secession and the war. In war, the earliest casualty is often the truth and propaganda becomes the handmaiden of political expediency. Biafra was the height of propaganda and reading through Achebe's book, it was amazing to see how our greatest writer himself helped to fashion the process of propaganda; was an emissary for the secession and ultimately, became a believer of the propaganda of his own side of the tragic war.

I

was surprised that Chinua Achebe can be as cavalier with basic facts as he was in the book. For example in page 46, he said: "when Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, decided to create the Northern People's Congress (NPC) in the late 1940s‌" But Dr. Barau Dikko CREATED the NPC! So if our great writer is ignorant of this basic fact, what else has he been ignorant of, in his narrative? The prejudice flows through when he talked about "Ahmadu Bello and HIS HENCHMEN (my emphasis)" in describing the Northern leadership. He went further to join the fashionable Southern mindset about how a British official named Harold Smith had been selected by Sir James Robertson "to oversee the rigging of Nigeria's first election 'so that its compliant friends in (Northern Nigeria) would win power, dominate the country, and serve British interests after independence'".

Yet the basis of a political process which made it difficult to overcome regionalism, had been a central aspect of his book. It was the famous writer, Tolstoy, who once said that the most important thing in art as in life, is to tell the truth. We will look at the truth in the face, through Achebe's book, next week.

18 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 T is beside the point, whether the four lynched students of the University of Port Harcourt were cultists, serial rapists, or robbers. Unacceptable as criminality is in our society, it is also unacceptable for suspects to be killed in the bestial manner witnessed in Umuokiri, Aluu in Ikwerre Local Government Area of Rivers State.

People taking the law into their hands, they were allegedly taken before the traand in extreme measures, would be incom- ditional ruler and his council members, prehensive and that is the situation in this who ordered their being stripped naked case. Issues that instantly arise from these and publicly executed. The horrible act killings are the efficacy of security agen- went on for four hours. The police post in cies, particularly the police, in protecting the community claimed incapacity to interour people. vene. Security agencies arrived to engage There are reports that the police did not in post-event crisis management. respond to the distress calls, which allowed Why do people take the law into their the killers hours to try the suspects, parade hands? A major reason could be loss of faith them naked, before setting them ablaze. in the law enforcement agencies. The same What allegations against the killed students police that refused to intervene could have could warrant these lines of action? Why had the same attitude to the community’s was there no prevailing voice that could complaints about robberies, rapes and cult rescue the students? Has Nigeria degener- violence students allegedly perpetrated. ated to a point where bestiality means nothWe condemn the killings, in the same way ing? that we condemn the students resorting to A vigilante group arrested the students, self-help by setting the village ablaze. Law-

I

Justice for UNIPORT four

lessness in any form is abhorrent.

There would be a long list of people to punish for this incident. Outside killers from the community, there are the police officers, who ordered the inaction in Aluu.

If the police had intervened, lives could have been saved and the subsequent burning of the village, which has further marred relations between the community and the students, could have been prevented.

Vigilante groups around the country lack techniques of effective, modern policing.

They have minimal respect for life, yet they are communities’ way of dealing with deteriorating security situations that stiff police structures cannot manage.

We urge university authorities to resume aggressive building of affordable students’ hostels on campus, even if in partnership with private developers. It will help to secure the lives of students and let the university environment have more impact on them.

More importantly, the authorities have to make the point, with this incident, that self help remains unacceptable under the law.

OPINION Continued from yesterday

BY AMBROSE UWAKWE

N the strength of his conviction and the uncommon courage of an Army officer, he dismissed threats by opponents and entreaties by associates not to waste his resources challenging a sitting governor. He was unmoved and went the whole hog.

What could have become the most embarrassing electoral upset was, however, averted when President Obasanjo overruled the party’s hierarchy and handed automatic tickets, with the entire party machinery, to PDP governors, as a survival strategy in his face with Vice President Atiku Abubakar. He did not become governor but Abians were glad to embrace a new breed, high-minded leader who did things differently, one who had a brand name to protect.

Ihedioha enjoys a rock star status in Imo State where he is de facto party leader. He is also PDP’s most effective battle general in the post-2011 era, with a string of victories under his belt.

If a politician is as successful as his last electoral victory, then Ihedioha is Imo PDP’s prized asset. The entire Owerri

O

C M Y K

At Mbutu Mbaise, rebranded Imo PDP reveals new strengths zone is an impregnable PDP stronghold mainly because Ihedioha drew a line on sand and has made light of APGA’s control of Douglas House, Imo’s seat of power.

The prominence and full participation of South East PDP leaders at Mbutu Mbaise blends perfectly into the narrative of Imo’s rebuilding process.

Politics is an art best painted in muted signs and unspoken language. Like bees to a honeycomb, politicians flock to a leader with a strong back. During a solidarity visit to Imo PDP leaders by the South East zonal exco led by Akobundu, the path to reconciling and rehabilitating aggrieved party members became clearer. That solidarity visit, the first by a National Vice Chairman, became the rallying point for erstwhile dispirited party men and women seeking leadership and direction.

Many members had left the party in the build-up to the 2011 elections and had sought refuge in APGA and other parties. Some had secured tickets in those parties and ran against PDP candidates. Some harboured grudges,

others said unprintable things against those running the party at the time.

Although Imo is a solid PDP state, the experience of 2011 shows that the party can no longer take internal democracy and conflict resolution for granted.

Time has come to re-engineer the party along dynamic ways. The party needed men of vision and integrity to steer its course on the right path of democratic realism.

T

he coming of Akobundu began that rebuilding process and ultimately changed the public’s perception of PDP leadership in the South East. A man of few words who chooses his battles, Akobundu has relied and reinforced existing party structures to restore members’ confidence. Committees have swung into action and meetings are being held regularly in Owerri, Enugu and Abuja on how to reconcile and rehabilitate members.

Many decampees are trooping back in response to the resolution processes he and his team put in place. One high

ranking official of the Okorocha administration told anyone who cared to listen that he and his colleagues were waiting for the right moment to rejoin PDP “because APGA is sinking fast”. The good news is spreading in Imo that PDP is undergoing transformation and you can feel the buzz among the political class, especially those disappointed by the irredeemable incompetence of the APGA government. At Mbutu Mbaise, they converged to make a statement of emboldening common front and of an unfolding agenda that can deliver real change in contrast to Rochas Okorocha’s rabble-rousing, amorphous and vacuously populist blusters. 2015 may still be far and variables can alter but politics in Imo State is transforming on a new transcendent leadership axial highly visible at a corner of the high table in Mbutu Mbaise on Ihedioha’s special day.

Concluded * Mr. Uwakwe, a commentator on national issues wrote from Mbaise, Imo State .

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012—19

, Much ado about Achebe on Awo (1) HE current tribal face-off between Igbo and Yoruba commentators over Professor Chinua Achebe’s book: There Was a Country is an automatic reflex.

That is the kind of row you kick off in Nigerians whenever you criticise any act of the champions of Nigeria’s ethnic and regional politics, particularly the trio of Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and Alhaji Ahmadu Bello. The last bit of fighting occurred almost a year ago when Ojukwu died and his place in history was discussed in the public arena.

It unleashed a three-cornered fight between the Big Three: Igbo, Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba. The funny thing is that many people engage in the fight without fully understanding what it is all about.

An excerpt of Achebe’s book, which is currently circulating in the ‘Net' makes the point that the way the Federal side treated the Igbo during the civil war amounted to “genocide”. He pointed an accusing finger at the Vice

T

Chairman of the Federal Executive Council, Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as the brain behind the use of starvation as an instrument of warfare, and alleged that about two million Igbos, mainly children, died from starvation. He calls the use of hunger as an instrument of war a “crime against humanity”.

That is the major point that draws the battle line between the two Southern giants. I really do not know why Yoruba commentators are angry with Achebe. Awo never denied he authored that policy. He merely justified it, through cold logic, as his own sure means of ending the war as quickly as possible. By blockading and starving the enemy, three quarters of the war was won. The shooting war ’s end became a matter of time. It was a barbaric, coldblooded strategy to win a “civil” war. But literary legend, William Shakespeare, long ago declared” “All’s fair in love and war”.

Those who criticise Awo should first put on his shoes. If they found

I really do not know why Yoruba commentators are angry with Achebe; Awo never denied he authored that policy; he merely justified it, through cold logic, as his own sure means of ending the war

,

themselves in his position, with every incentive to help defeat a close rival and inherit all his booties which the two struggled bitterly for control before the war, what would they do? Before you answer the question, bear in mind that the East, West and North were engaged in bitter war of sectional rivalries, with each one looking for means of undermining, belittling and disadvantaging one another.

F

or instance, the East allied with the North, after the 1959 federal elections, to form the first post-independence indigenous federal government. The North produced the Prime Minister (Alhaji Abubakar Tafawa Balewa).

The East produce the ceremonial President (Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe), leaving the West to produce the Leader of the Opposition in the Parliament (Chief Obafemi Awolowo). The East and the North shared power at the Centre, and many Yorubas in Awolowo’s party (such as Chief Samuel Akintola)

felt themselves outsiders. They argued that the West was better served in an alliance with the North. They started a rebellion in Awo’s camp and the North loved it and encouraged them. The crisis in the West was a consequence of this. It did not bother the East, until their friendship with the North started slipping.

Secondly, the East partnered with the North to create the Mid Western Region from the old West, and thus reduce the size of the latter.

When Awolowo was convicted of “treasonable felony” and cast into jail, the East felt it gave them greater political opportunity.

North’s intention was to obliterate Awolowo as a political force and empower an Akintola as a Western lackey. Thereafter they would turn against the East, and the conquest of the South would be complete.

The January 1966 coup, and the ensuing bloody quarrel between former allies, the East and North, became a major lifeline for Awo. A North-dominated military government furiously courted his cooperation to scuttle the political power of the Igbos.

The West had given as much as it was being given. It was the West that fomented Minority headaches of the East (Calabar-Ogoja-Rivers, COR Movement) and North (Middle Belt Movement) and used its ethnic-based federalist ideas to justify their aspirations for autonomy.

It was also the North and West that came together to encourage the Western Cameroons to win the plebiscite to leave Eastern Nigeria for Cameroun by a slim margin of votes. They were the ones who ceded Bakassi to Cameroon after the war and signed illegal treaties to sanctify it. Though Bakassi is on Minority soil, it was really the

Igbos both sides had in mind in taking that action.

When the civil war was about to begin, the creation of 12 states cutting off the Igbo from the sea, the establishment of the sea blockades and the use of hunger as a means of winning the war were all actions taken in an alliance between the North and West in tandem with the rest of Nigeria to eliminate the Igbo political stake in the country.

Bearing this mutual backstabbing in mind, it will be difficult for any objective analyst to accuse Awolowo for doing something extraordinary when he was only playing the game, just like everyone else.

The Big Three were wicked to one another and to their regional Minorities. And the regional Minorities were equally wicked to their Majorities whenever they found the opportunity to hit back.

They did this by seeking alliances with bitter rivals of their regional Majorities.

Again, it may not be accurate to see the besieged Biafrans as mere victims with halos circling their innocent heads. The invading forces probably lost more ablebodied men than the rag-tag Biafran Army, which scored heavy casualties through booby traps and the deployment of Ogbunigwe, the “crude” weapon of mass destruction. At the end of the war, there were no recorded cases of war prisoners coming out of Biafran jails because there simply were no jails! Biafrans took no prisoners!

I therefore summarise this first instalment with the following conclusion: It was not what happened during the war that mattered so much. It was more of what happened after the war. We will go into it on Monday, God permitting.

As immunity begets immunity

C M Y K

defamatory and sales of painted or engraved materials containing defamatory matters.

The company’s plea that the President could not sue while in office was quickly thrown out at the Abuja Chief Magistrates Court. At the appellate level, however, the ruling of Chief Magistrate Sunday Ochimane collapsed. Hear Hon Justice Abubakar Talba: “Chief Magistrate Sunday Ochimane erred in law when he refused to adjourn the case sine die, even when it was obvious that there is an infringement on the rights of the accused persons as enshrined in Section 36(5) and (6) of the 1999 Constitution… Section 308 0f the 1999 Constitution has undergone intense scrutiny by superior courts in the country and it is clear that it is intended to confer absolute immunity without barring them from enforcing their fundamental human rights”.

The import of this ruling is that the rights of the accused persons have been abridged ab initio since they cannot compel the President to appear as a witness as he enjoys absolute immunity. This is where the issue of fair hearing comes into full focus. Finally, the Appeal Court ruled: “There is merit in the appeal and the ruling of the Chief Magistrate is set aside. This case is set aside sine die”.

In a sense, immunity for one is immunity for all: He who cannot be sued can also not sue. This is immunity in the reverse --for as long as chief executives remain immune from public prosecution, the public is also immune from prosecution by them. The precedent had been established earlier in the cases of Tinubu vs IMB Securities and Mediatech vs Lam Adesina, where the courts held that the respondents were shielded from prosecution.

Like any other thing in Nigeria, people easily point to instances of the abuse of the immunity clause as currently contained in

,

VEN where the President of a country dies intestate these days, it may not come as a surprise. After all, most deaths now come suddenly. Since we are not privy to the will of the late President Musa Yar’Adua, we have no way of knowing whether a particular item, the case of Yar’ Adua vs The Leadership Newspapers was properly accommodated in his will. But how much right has a man after death?

Death and sleep are closely related. They differ only in degree. You keep denying them until they really occur. In the particular case of the late Yar’Adua, the fact of his illness remained a top secret, even unto death. If only the Saudi authorities knew what happened, they would not blame Nigerians for being carefree about their President. All those who would have flooded the entire place with get-well cards were told that the man was having a bed rest.

And suddenly, we even abandoned our African tradition of broadcasting and announcing afflictions because you never can tell at whose back yard lies a remedy.

From very early in life, we were taught to believe that if you hid a disease, it would kill you.

But in the case of Yar’Adua, anyone who dared mention that he was ill simply landed himself in deep trouble. The Leadership Newspaper Group must still be telling its story to whoever cares to listen. Then newspaper had in its issue of November 8, 2008 reported that the President was ill.

With the speed of lightning, the President slammed a five-count charge on Sam NdaIsaiah (Chairman/Editor-in-chief); Abdul– Razaq Bello (Editor, Daily); Lara Olugbemi (Weekend Editor); and Simon Imobo-Tswan (Reporter), accusing them of allegedly conspiring to indulge in illegal act, defamation of character, injurious falsehood, painting or engraving matter known to be

E

Essentially, the immunity clause is the best protection for those intent on serious governance; it presupposes that every Chief Executive is in the business of serious governance

,

our Constitution. We have also maintained that Nigeria should not be in a hurry to remove the clause from the Constitution because the Constitution is for all times, not something that should be tinkered with every day.

N

igeria is one country where politicians hardly accept defeat in electoral contests. That explains why they are quick at rushing to Elections Petitions Tribunals immediately after every election.

Even after they have been thoroughly beaten at the Tribunal and appeal court levels, they must look for ways and means of disturbing the winner from performing his duties. One obvious device is to keep instituting frivolous court cases with a view to keep him running between the courts and his office throughout his tenure. Meanwhile, governance suffers.

There is the mistaken view that the

immunity clause is an attempt to promote chief executives above the law. Somewhere along the line, somebody has abandoned his duty post. The framers of the Constitution saw the need to insulate Governors and Presidents from frivolous court actions that would distract them from quality governance and they provided the immunity clause.

All the same, the framers of the Constitution realised that some Presidents and Governors might abuse the powers conferred on them by the immunity clause.

When that happens, the legislators should first impeach them so that they would be stripped of immunity, after which they would become ordinary citizens, when they could be tried for their crimes. The missing link is that legislators are not yet alive to their responsibilities!

Essentially, the immunity clause is the best protection for those intent on serious governance. It presupposes that every Chief Executive is in the business of serious governance. We are gradually getting there.

Without prejudice to other states, indigenes of Edo, Akwa Ibom, Rivers, Lagos, Imo, etc, would readily accept that their Governors are doing well and that frivolous court actions should not be allowed to impede the serious business of quality governance.

As our assemblymen run around, looking for what to remove from the Constitution, they should leave the immunity clause alone.

By the time everyone starts playing his assigned role in the Constitution, it will be found that the immunity clause is a safety valve in the system.

20—Vanguard , THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

We need help, bomb attack victims cry out

BY SUZAN EDEH,Bauchi EMORIES of recent bomb attacks in Bauchi seem to be haunting residents of the State, creating fear and uncertainty in them. This is even as the victims of the latest bomb attack but who escaped death by whiskers, are presently recuperating at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital in Bauchi.

It will be recalled that a suicide bomber recently drove a car laden with bombs into the gates of the St. John Catholic Church while morning mass was in progress. The resulting explosion claimed the life of the suicide bomber, a woman and a child, while several others sustained injuries.

When Vanguard Metro, VM, visited the survivors at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Teaching Hospital, they were only too eager and glad to tell the story of their lucky escape from death on that fateful day.

Although the degree of their injuries varied from minor to critical ones, they were all responding to treatment, even as they intensified silent prayers to God to quicken their healing and recovery so that they can return home to their families.

Some of them who were strong enough to speak to VM said it was the worst experience in their lives, but gave thanks to God for being merciful in sparing their lives. They lamented the death of some of their friends and relations who were not fortunate to survive the attack and prayed for the repose of their souls.

One of them, Theophilus Nwankwo, narrated how the incident occurred that Sunday morning. According to Theophilus, he was trying to cross the road after the first morning service when saw the suicide bomber driving at high speed towards the church premises. He said: “I saw when the suicide bomber driving towards the church at top speed, but I never thought he was coming to attack the church. I only wondered why he was speeding in that manner. That’s the only thing I can remember, because before I knew it, I found myself and other people shouting and everybody was injured. It was a very horrible experience I pray I will never have in my life again. I thank God for sparing my life that Sunday”.

Theophilus, however, called on government to come to their aid because, according to him, although they receive medical treatment free of charge, they suffer hunger because some of them have no money to buy

M

S

*One of the lucky survivors on his hospital bed food. He said they usually get food from well-wishers and sympathizers who come to greet them from time to time.

Another victim, Egwuaka Rufus, said he arrived the church to participate in the

,

C M Y K

so far been treated and discharged.

“So far, 18 patients has been discharged. Fifteen of them who were seriously injured underwent surgery before they were discharged and more are still responding to treatment.

Within the next couple of weeks, they will all be healed and fit to be discharged,” the source said. aint John’s Catholic Church Bauchi is the Catholic Diocese headquarters where Bishop John Golten Malachi presides. It is also the second church to have been attacked .The first was the Harvest Field Church next to Living Faith Church,Yelwa Tudu,on the outskirt of Bauchi the state capital which was attacked by a suicide bomber on July 3, 2012. The Church which shares common boundary with Abubakar Tafawa Balewa Stadium was established in the 1970s outside the Bauchi City walls, and is located in the heart of the state.

Condemning what he described as a terrorist attack, Bauchi State Governor, Isa Yuguda, assured residents that security agents in the state were doing their best to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to justice. He advised all lawabiding Bauchi people to go about their normal businesses.

The Governor who spoke through his Chief Press Secretary Mr.Michael Ishola Adeyemi in Bauchi assured that security will be beefed up at churches and other places in the state.

The bomb attack is coming barely a week after 10 people were shot and killed at Zango area of the state capital by yetto-be identified and arrested gunmen.

when we arrived at the hospital that I learnt my mummy was dead and my brother injured. I cried bitterly but I am glad that she died in God because she had never missed the church service due to the frequent attacks on

The attack happened just like lighting; that day I saw death, it is just that God said it was not yet my time to die

second service, but fainted and later found himself at the hospital bed. He said: “I can’t recall hearing the sound of the explosion, all I knew is that I just saw injuries all over my body. The attack happened just like lighting, because everything was in a split of a second. I usually hear stories of bomb attack, but I never knew I will one day be a victim. That day I saw death, it is just that God said it was not yet my time to die; if not I would have been like those who lost their lives that day”. ut Ogoma Osi, a student of the Federal Polytechnic Bauchi, disclosed that she lost her mother to the blast. “When I got the news that the church was attacked, I switched my phone off so that I would not receive any sad story because my mummy Mrs. Veronica Osi and my brother were at the church when the incident occurred.

Later my father told me that my mother was in hospital and that she did not die but had only sustained injuries. He did not tell me my mother was dead for fear I would faint on hearing the news. It was only

B

started attacking churches in Bauchi, I told myself that nothing will stop me from serving my God. I believe, according to the Bible, that whoever tries to save his life will lose it, but anyone ready to lose his or her life for the sake of Christ will save his life. It is the part of the Bible that has been motivating me to be courageous. As I was coming out of the first service, I saw the car of the suicide bomber in front of the church gate; it seemed like the security men were interrogating him; that is all I can remember. The next thing I heard was a loud blast. I obviously became unconsciousness as I later found myself at the hospital”.

However, a source at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching hospital told VM that 18 of the patients have

,

churches,” Ogama lamented.

Narrating his own experience, another victim who pleaded anonymity, said that he was among those that attended the first service at the Church that Sunday. According to him: “Since when suicide bombers

MDGS: Nigeria adopts Brazilian model for poverty reduction S part of her quest to attain the millennium development goals, the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs said it is considering the adoption of the Brazilian model on poverty reduction and social protection.

The move is informed by the desire and commitment of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on MDGs, Dr Precious Kalamba Gbeneol to fast-track the attainment of the millennium goals, particularly those related to poverty and hunger reduction, health and education ahead the 2015 deadline.

It was in relation to this that some key officials in government including the House Committee Chairman on MDGs, Mr.Ado Doguwa recently visited Brazil

A

to understudy the Brazilian social protection system and Bolsa Familia. The South American country is reputed to have recorded huge success in the area of poverty reduction through the use of the world’s acclaimed ‘Bolsa Familia Conditional Cash Transfer, CCT and other complimentary social protection programmes. Brazil was also able to meet the MDGs goal one of halving the number of poor people and eliminating hunger within five years of the millennium goals declaration.

Mrs Gbeneol reiterated that the lessons learnt from the study tour would help the MDGs office in strengthening the social safety interventions to the pro-poor in the country

as the office moves to fast-track implementation efforts ahead of 2015. Speaking further, she said that her office OSSAPMDGs is leading the deployment of structured social protection schemes to sub-national governments.

According Dr Gbeneol, Nigeria operates a CCT scheme similar to that of Brazil in that it is modelled to help attain achievement of Health and Education MDGs indicators.

However the SSAP noted that with the new experience, the office is poised to work with key stakeholders in proffering better solutions to current implementation challenges faced by the Nigerian CCT while also strengthening it to help in poverty reduction.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 21

CIPM set to license HR practitioners in Nigeria

By YINKA KOLAWOLE HE Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM) is set to commence licensing of all practicing human resource personnel in order to introduce ensure professionalism and get rid of quacks.

President of CIPM, Mr. Abiola Popoola, disclosed this during the closing ceremony of the 44th annual national conference of the institute, in Abuja. “There is still need for a lot more of awareness of the importance of being a professional. Although we are not where we want to be yet and that is why the institute said we are going to introduce a regime of human resource licensing, that is, to be a human resource personnel, you must have a license which must meet particular requirements and the license must be renewable every three years,” he said.

Poopola stated that for people to be relevant in the society, every professional must always upgrade his/her knowledge and skills. “If you stop learning, you are not going to be relevant any longer, so we are going to insist that anybody who is or want to be a human resource manager or personnel, must have a practicing license and must always upgrade their knowledge and skills,” he said.

The CIPM boss however advocated shaping of youthful values from primary school level and not only when they

T

get to the place of work. His words: “Orientation of teachers at primary school level and parents is important in achieving this on how they bring up their children. It will be late at the stage of managers trying to shape people’s behaviour. So we are trying to collaborate with government to let them realize that we need to catch human beings from when they are babies to inculcate the right valC M ues in them. All our educaY tional system must have an K input of moral training and civic in them.”

Speaking on the theme of the conference, “Restoration of Values for national develop-

ment”, Popoola said no agenda could work well if the human element was not of good quality. “We want to ensure that people believe in it and act out the best in them.

N

o matter the agenda you have, without appropriate value, you cannot achieve anything; you must have the right attitude, right frame of mind to be able to make the agenda work. So this particular theme for this year’s conference is actually keying into the transformation agenda of the present government, saying let us grow our people so that they

will grow our country,” he stated.

In a 12-point communiqué at the end of the conference, CIPM among others recommended: “To build a high performing nation, leadership should embrace global leadership strategies, best practices, device a model of long term change and development, high moral standards and commitment to hard work.

There is need for fundamental changes in the values of governance, our leaders should redefine the purpose of leadership and begin a genuine national re-orientation geared towards rediscovering our national values and that leadership should not be given to unprepared people because immunity has been turned to impunity. Institutions should be empowered to train and prepare leaders who will be empowered with the moral values required to build our nation on the path to National Development.”

From right: Prince Gbolahan Lawal, Commissioner for Agriculture and Cooperatives, Lagos State; Dr. Olajide Bashorun, Permanent Secretary and Mr Anton Wagenaar, General Manager, Shoprite Nigeria at the 2012 World Food Day/Agric show press briefing by Lagos State Ministry of Agriculture and Cooperatives, in Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

Contractors protest police ministry’s non-payment for contracts ONTRACTORS handling various projects for the Nigeria Police Force, NPF are protesting against the nonpayment of debts of more than N7 billion for jobs done from 2008 to 2011.

The contractors under the umbrella of Association of Contractors to the Nigeria Police, on Tuesday went round the Federal Secretariat premises with placards and chanted protest songs.

The spokesman for the protesters, Mr Patrick Ojo, told newsmen that the contractors had been working since 2008 without receiving any tangible amount from the ministry.

According to him, the money was supposed to be paid in installments, starting with contractors who are owned less than N3 million, saying “Some of our contractors have contacted the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) and he has ordered payment of the money about six weeks ago, but nothing has been done since then; money was released for the work done in 2011 but no payment has been made to us.

Government voted money for community policing but the minister said the money is finished. What we need is for our money to be paid.”

Ojo explained that what caused the protest was the sluggish responses of the Director of Finance of the ministry, Mr. Adebowale Karaki, to pay N2.1 billion in accordance with an agreement reached between the ministry and the contractors.

C

Cargo clearance: NPA to commence single window operation

By GODFREY BIVBERE ANAGEMENT of the Nigeri an Ports Authority (NPA) is set to commence the Single Window Operational System as part of its effort to further improve cargo clearance time at the ports.

The Single Window Operational System is a web base system that allows all operators in the industry perform their business electronically without face to face contact.

Disclosing this in Lagos when the executive members of the Association of Nigerian Licensed Customs Agents (ANLCA) paid him a visit in his office, Managing Director, Mallam Habib Abdulahi, said all that they

M

C M Y K

are waiting for is the approval of Federal Government.

Abdulahi explained that as a Nigerian group, ANLCA could be rightly described as an association driven by national and patriotic interest within the Maritime Community, adding that both the Custom Agents and the Management have the same objective of improving the port industry.

A statement signed by Musa Iliya, Assistant General Manager, Public Affairs noted that the NPA boss further asserted that government is already working on bringing the Port Community System into a reality and that the effort is supported by the American Government.

Speaking earlier in his address, the National President of ANCLA, Prince Olayiwola Shittu advocated for regular meetings between his Association and the Management of NPA, adding that it would not be out of place if they are invited to meetings that involves shipping companies and other stakeholders.

Shittu also pledged that the ANLCA under his leadership will work with the NPA boss to improve the maritime sector of the economy with a view to making Nigerian the hub of maritime business in the sub-region.

He also solicited the support of NPA Management for the training programme of its members.

164.75

-4.35

2,434.00

+53.00

21.59

+0.17

113.34

+1.52

90.77

+1.44

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

154.75 248.1416 200.4322 165.4372 1.9774 0.2878 238.2362 24.6087 41.2634 26.8701 238.1912

155.25 248.9434 201.0798 165.9718 1.9838 0.2978 239.006 24.6887 41.3967 26.9569 238.9608

155.75 249.7451 201.7274 166.5063 1.9902 0.3078 239.7757 24.7686 41.53 27.0437 239.7304

CBN Exchange rate as at 10/10/2012

22 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

PWC raises concern over unfriendly tax system

BY MICHAEL EBOH ARIOUS measures be ing put in place to stimulate activities in the capital market seem to have started yielding results as liquidity flow to the market increased by 46.4 per cent to an average of N3.42 billion per day in the month of September.

The Managing Director, Financial Derivatives Company Limited, FDC, Mr. Bismark Rewane, made the assertion, while reviewing activities in the economy and capital market for the month of October.

He, however, stated that despite the increase in liquidity, Nigerian market still remained highly illiquid relative to other emerging markets.

The FDC boss cautioned that “inflow of hot money could lead to a domestic capital market bubble.”

Meanwhile, Rewane observed that there was increase in activity in small-cap stocks in the portfolio of market makers recently constituted by the Nigerian Stock Exchange,

V

NSE. He said, “Market making activity has not resulted in diversion of funds from traditionally heavy traded stocks.

There has been no significant change in activity of large and mid-cap stocks. However, the impact of market-making ac-

tivity will be better judged in upcoming months.”

He adjudged September the best performing months in the capital market since the market crashed the last three years, saying that there was 9.5 per cent return in the month compared to 5.23 per cent loss in

the same period of 2011.

He noted that the All Share Index, ASI, returned 20.4 per cent or 4,412.06 points in quarter three, adding that it was the first consecutive quarterly gain since fourth quarter 2007 and first quarter 2008. he explained that this was a

marked up performance relative to the gain of 6.77 per cent and 2.99 per cent in July and August respectively, adding that the market crossed the 24,000, 25,000 and 26,000 points barriers in the month.

He further stated that a total of 10.0 billion units shares was traded as volume increased by 83 per cent during the month, saying that the huge volume traded was consistent with other high volume turnover in the final months of quarter one and quarter two.

According to him, the recovery witnessed in the market in the month of September was supported by both fundamental and technical analysis, even as investors’ interest was driven by performance potenC tial, business model and stratM egy.

Y K “The recovery was supported by improved corporate earnings despite tough operFrom left: Mr. Femi Awoyemi, MD/CEO, Proshare Nigeria; Delme Thompson, Managing ating environment. Fund manDirector, Capital Market Academy(CMA) and Taba Peterside, General Manager, Listing, Sales agers were buying stocks to inand Retention of the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) at a media parley to announce the just crease equity exposure in portconcluded training for capital market operators. folio as yields in fixed income fall.

Big investors net buyers of stocks in August/September because to them, all the bad news had been discounted while corporate earnings were improving. There was falling yields in the bonds market rica in 2010 per United Nation as 38 per cent for the 15 to 24 ing to the Nigeria Bureau of Sta- making equity investment even (UN) figure. Figure for Nige- year age group in 2011 accord- tistics ( NBS).” more attractive,” he stated. ria for 2011 per Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN ) was US$8.9billion (gross) or US$8.1billion (net). Levels are modest in context of a market size of close to 170 million peoN line with its mandate of cently to the Exchange to participants current with up to ple. building the capacity of its deepen the market and im- date information relevant to their field, build their confiHe stated that there is need Dealing Members, its workforce prove liquidity.

He spoke further on the ben- dence, enhance the professionto more than double current and the wider market particirate of 2.7 per cent of GDP to pants, The Nigerian Stock Ex- efits of the workshop which he alism of the working in the Nisoak up unemployment in orchange (NSE) at the weekend said was aimed at keeping gerian Capital Market. der to join the likes of Brazil, organized a one-day ContinuRussia, Indonesia, and China ous Professional Development (BRICs) . session for Stockbrokers and While making a popular resome selected staff of The Exgional comparison of FDI in change. bokhaevbo.

BY WILLIAM JIMOH Africa, Akinkugbe, stated that Speaking on the workshop, At the draw, two winners the trend for Nigeria is more Head, Market Operations DeEVEN winners have namely-Karrem Adeleye and stable than South Africa (SA). partment on The Exchange, Mr. emerged in the Ecobank Olajide Oluwakemi, won BlackHe stated that Nigeria outIkponmwosa Obaseki explained Nigeria Plc ‘Win Big’ promo- Berry phones each, while Okaflows was largely in finance that the objective of the work- tion, the first of a series of four la Celestine and Abine Stell sector, which is now curtailed, shop was to provide practising draws which is to run from won the two KVA generators. adding “ SA outflows more distockbrokers with a strong September to December of the The grand prize of a Nissan verse, including mining, telegrounding in the advanced year 2012. car was won by Alhaji Musa coms and retail.” functionalities of the AutomatSpeaking at the event in La- Bashir of Hotoro branch in According to him, “Potential ed Trading System (ATS), a sol- gos, Executive Director, Do- Kano. of reform agenda and active id groundingon new products mestic Bank, Ecobank, Mr. Aigbokhaevbo urges the new infrastructure programme in trading on the Exchange such Kingsley Aigbokhaevbo, who and existing customers to open Nigeria will yield substantial as ETFs, new market structures was represented by the Head and maintain their current or increase in FDI.” such as market making, securi- Domestic Product, Ecobank, saving account with the bank as Commenting on the gains of ties lending and short selling. Mr. Funwa Aknimade, said that is all that is required of FDI, Akinkugbe, said, A subA detailed overview of the re- the draw which was designed them to qualify for their chance stantial increase in FDI in contail bonds market structure that to reward customers, would to win. junction with FGN’s infrastrucis being introduced by the Ex- afford more of the bank’s cus“New customers who open an ture programme has the potenchange was also provided, to- tomers to win more prizes. account with a minimum of tial to push the GDP growth gether with a comprehensive He maintained that with the N20,000 will be entitled to an rate from 7 per cent to 10 per lecture on ethics required by promo, the bank intend to re- instant gift and also qualify cent and beyond. The example stockbrokers. ward customers for their loyal- for the monthly draw if they of Brazil shows that agriculture The broad-based course also ty and recognition through de- maintain the deposit for 30 has piggy-backed on the buildprovided the audience with an posit mobilization. day period, while existing ing of roads for the developopportunity to hone in their ex“Those that will be reward- customers who increase their ment of natural resources.FDI isting skills as well as deepen ed today are the ones that keep balance by N2,000 also qualican help to soak up unemploytheir knowledgeof the new up to 20,000 in their current or fy for the draw and multiple ment, which was running at 24 products and market services saving account in the month of 20,000 give the customer per cent nationally and as high that have been introduced re- of September,” Said Aig- more chance of winning.

Pension: Public sector is under-represented — Akinkugbe

BY PETER EGWUATU HE low level of financial intermediation has been attributed to the low level of patronage in the pension business, insurance business and the overall savings industry.

The Managing Director/ CEO, FBN Capital Limited, Mr. Kayode Akinkugbe, made this assertion in his presentation at the 2nd Nigeria International Investment forum held in Lagos.

According to him, “Large gaps remain in the pensions business, insurance companies and in the overall savings industry. Filling those gaps on the buy side would transform the low level of financial intermediation. Pension assets under management have reached N2.75trillion but this is just 7 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and covers just five million employees nationally. The public sector is under-represented.”

He further revealed that the insurance penetration in the Nigerian financial system stands at just 2 per cent of the population, and called for the promotion of Collective Investment Schemes (CIS).

While commenting on the Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in Africa, the FBN Capital boss stated that Nigeria is a leading FDI destination in Africa.

According to him, “Nigeria was the no 3 destination in Af-

T

C M Y K

NSE builds capacity of dealing members

I

Seven winners emerge in Ecobank promo draw

S

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 23

C M Y K

24—Vanguard, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 11, 2012

APPOINTMENT & PROMOTION

Elumelu gets USAID appointment F

ORMER Group Managing Director of United Bank of Africa, UBA, and Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Mr. Tony O. Elumelu, has been appointed

to the United States Agency for International Development’s, USAID, Private Capital Group for Africa, PCGA, Partners Forum.

The Partners Forum is comprised of several leaders in industry convened to provide expert advice to the US Government on the best strategies for engagement with Africa’s private sector, and to better align its private investment and development goals.

Following the appointment of several prominent USbased members to the Forum including Edward Mathias, Managing Director and CoFounder of the Carlyle Group, and Thomas Barry, CEO and Founder, Zephyr Capital Management, USAID named Mr. Elumelu as the Forum’s founding

African member.

As Chairman of Nigeriabased Heirs Holdings, an African proprietary investment company with a focus on key economic development sectors including financial services, resources real estate, and healthcare, Mr. Elumelu understands the continent’s investment environment and leadership priorities.

He is also the founder of The Tony Elumelu Foundation, a catalytic philanthropic organisation focused on driving Africa’s economic transformation through private sector solutions.

The PCGA was initiated at USAID to leverage the agency ’s and US Government’s resources to accelerate and shape the flow of private capital to critical development areas in Africa.

•Mr. Elumelu

Arigbabuwo now AGPMPN chairman A

SSOCIATION of General Private Medical Practitioners of Nigeria, AGPMPN, Lagos branch, has elected new officers to run the affairs of the association for the next two years.

In an election, Dr. Jimmy Adeyeye Arigbabuwo emerged the Chairman of the branch while Dr. Olusegun Akeredolu was elected 1st Vice Chairman.

Also elected and also sworn in during the association’s Biennial General Meeting and Election are 2nd Vice President, Dr. Gani Oladosu Salaudeen, General Secretary; Dr. Austine Aipoh and the Assistant General Secretary, Dr. Emma Ebong.

Others are for the Treasurer, Dr. Abu Jimmy, Publicity Secretary, Dr. James A. Egejuru and Dr. Tunji Akintade, the social welfare secretary.

At a media presentation of the newly elected officers, newly elected Chairman of the AGPMPN, Dr. Arigbabuwo said the self regulatory mechanism would audit private practitioners to authenticate genuine members of the association.

Arigbabuwo who declared that the new executive would adopt the World Health Organisation WHO’s Guidelines as standard for its members, said already, AGPMPN had initiated a road map to work it.

C M Y K

The chairman, who noted that the major focus of the new leadership would be mainly on capacity building, acknowledged the need to have genuine database and increase research so as to plan proactively with existing data.

He said “We will

complement the public health delivery system, promote primary healthcare so as to prevent secondary and tertiary complication.

We would ensure affordability and accessibility of healthcare for the common man.”

African Cristal Festival names Akinwunmi Jury member

G

ROUP Chief Executive Officer, CEO, the Prima Garnet group, Lolu Akinwumi, has been appointed a jury member at the first edition of the African Cristal Festival.

The festival takes place at the famous Hotel D’Ivoire, in Ivory Coast, from the 25th to the 27th of October, 2012.

The Cristal Creative Festival has, in the last 12 years, set standards for creative excellence in Europe and Middle East.

This year, organisers have decided to celebrate “African creativity in advertising and media” with a regional award with international recognition by organising the maiden edition of the African Cristal Award dedicated to the Continent.

According to Christian Cappe, General Manager of African Cristal Festival, “this gathering will be an occasion for professionals to exchange ideas through conferences, debates,

O V E R N O R E m m a n u e l Uduaghan of Delta State, his deputy, Chief Amos Utuama, and 61 other prominent indigenes of Deltan, as well as 18 corporate organisations will receive the Delta Advancement Awards (DAMA).

The award comes of Thursday, October 25, 2012, in Asaba.

The DAMA meant to celebrate distinguished achievers of Delta State and super institutions in

Promasidor launches Quill Awards website P ROMASIDOR Nigeria Limited, makers of Cowbell milk; has launched a dedicated website for its Quill Awards which was launched earlier in the year to reward excellence in the media.

The website portal is http:// quillawards.promasidorng.com.

The site gives details about the awards, criteria for the

awards, how to submit entries for the various awards and in case of enquiries how to contact officials of the company for clarifications.

The Promasidor Quill Awards cover five categories: Brand Advocate of the year, Best CSR Report of the year, Most Educative Report of the year, Best Report on Nutrition and the Best Photo Story of

•Lolu Akinwumi gala dinners and awards ceremony. Eminent personalities will share their view of the future of communication as well.”

Akinwunmi, the only jury selected from Nigeria and the English speaking West African region, will be a part of the twelve-man Media, Creative and client team that will select the best creation of the year 2011/ 2012 in the Film, Press, Radio, Outdoor, integrated, Media and Digital & Mobile.

Uduaghan, Utuama, 78 others for Delta advancement awards

G

From Left: Dr. Olusegun Akeredolu, 1st Vice Chairman, Dr. Jimmy Adeyeye Arigbabuwuo, Chairman and Dr. Gani Oladosu Falaudeen, 2nd Vice Chairman during the formal presentation of new executives of the Lagos State Branch of Association of General Private Medical Practitioners, AGPMPN.

vicahiyoung@yahoo.com 08033348923

the year.

These categories had been carefully thought-out to accommodate most journalists in the country. Unlike other awards, entry for the ‘Promasidor Quill Awards’ is being done on an e-platform.

That is, it is being done strictly using the internet so as to avoid difficulties in submitting entries.

the state who may have never been recognised by government or society for their immense contribution towards building the state.

Those named as awardees include Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, Delta State PDP chairman; Rt. Honourable Leo Ogor, Deputy Leader, Federal House of Representatives; Senator Ifeanyi Okowa; Honourable Victor Ochei, Speaker of Delta State House of Assembly; Dr. Okonjo Iweala, minister of finance; Chief Edwin Clarke; Mr. Emmanuel Egbabor, deputy managing director of ProData Limited and Dr. Evelyn Oputu, MD, Bank of Industry.

Professor V. Jike, chairman of the Award Committee stated that the DAMA is an opportunity to thank the Delta indigenes who are achievers of the state that have contributed towards the growth and development since creation in 1991.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 25

rustication. He said; “It pains me as a pastor to find a 300level student rusticated for violating the university's policy, adding, “The vicechancellor of any institution should have a free hand to run the university as it should be run without interference. Tell your children that this university does not stand for nonsense.”

O

Don’t wait for job, create one, says Adeboye … As RUN churns out 24 first class graduates

BY DAYO ADESULU

A

s calls for self reliance con-tinue to pour in, the General Overseer of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye over the weekend joined other stakeholders in the education sector to urge Nigerian graduates not to wait for job, but endeavour to create jobs and be employers of labour. Adeboye who is a visitor to Redeemer ’s University (RUN) during their 4th convocation ceremony where 24 graduands made first class

said; “You have graduated into a world of uncertainty, don’t wait for ready-made job, create one.”

The clergyman charged unemployed graduates to be bold enough to start their own businesses instead of waiting for unavailable jobs. He prayed that within three months, if they hold on to the wisdom of God, they will succeed in their aspirations.

Moreover, Adeboye noted that for parents who think the Redeemer ’s University is a reformatory school where people who are not willing to

Two schools to represent Nigeria in World Robotic Olympiad in Malaysia — Page 26

C M Y K

do God’s will could be revolutionised if admitted, will be disappointed, stressing that

he, as a pastor, is not ready to influence the institution’s policy if a student does anything wrong that warrants his

n his part, the Chairman, Board of Trustees (BOT), RUN, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN noted that the realistic questions to ask given the state of the nation today are; “ what hope is there for a young person leaving school today? Where will we work? How will we pay for a post-graduate degree?"

In answering these questions, Osinbajo said that the problem with taking opportunities is how we use our time, adding that many young people do not use their time very profitably as many are addicted to chatting on the social media networks at the expense of the opportunities Continues on pg 31

Aluu 4: NANS seeks justice

BY AMAKA ABAYOMI

N

igerian students, under the aegis of National As sociation of Nigerian Students (NANS) have called on the Federal and Rivers State governments to bring those responsible for the murder of the four students of University of Port-Harcourt to justice so as to forestall future reoccurrences.

According to a release signed by NANS Public Relations Officer, Clement Olusegun, NANS will use her constitutional power to agitate for the right of Nigerian students if government and other relevant stakeholders fail to meet their demands.

“NANS outrightly condemns the address by President Goodluck Jonathan on Tuesday, 9th Octo-

‘Only specialised varsities can address our problems’ — Page 27

ber without any mention of the Uniport incident or condolence message to the families.

“NANS is in consultation with human right activists, after which we would move to University of Port-Harcourt to stage a peaceful protest against the killing of the four students who were accused of stealing in Aluu communityc of Rivers State.

Mountain out of a briefcase — Page 29

26 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

BRIEF

Two schools to represent Nigeria in World Robotic Olympiad in Malaysia T

O

n his part, the Commissioner for Science and Technology, Lagos State, Mr. Adebiyi Fatai Mabadeje, while remarking on the programme said; “The competition is about robotics and it cuts across the three arms of school, primary, junior secondary and senior secondary.”

According to him, robotic competition helps to stimulate students' ideas on how they can put into practice things they were taught theoretically in the classroom, thereby broadening their creative horizon in science and technology.

“The government will always be in support of any course that is geared towards developing the knowledge base of the children. One of our focuses is to strengthen educational sector and this is one way we hope to do that.

We partner with private sector to do so because government cannot do it all alone,” he said.

Also speaking, the General

C M Y K

BY EMMANUEL ELEBEKE

T

BY DAYO ADESULU

wo schools have emerged winners at the national robotic competition held in Lagos. Alofos Foundation, Surulere, Lagos and International School, Bayelsa were announced winners by the panel of judges after a stiff contest among 45 schools that registered for the competition across the country.

Subsequently, the duo are to represent Nigeria in Malaysia at the World Robotic Olympiad.

Speaking at the event, the Managing Director, Arclight Limited, Mr Tayo Obasanya stated that the aim of the robotic contest is to promote science and technology amongst students from age zero to 19, adding that by engaging our children in such competition will help them to compete favourably among science and technologydriven nations.

He said; “ whether you like it or not, in the next few years, the world is going to be different and one of the changing factors will be science and technology.

Today, our children are exposed to science and we are hoping that with events like this, we will grab their minds and engage them early.”

French education will reduce unemployment in Nigeria

Students in action at the national robotic comppetition, held in lagos.

Manager, Adebusola Adeniyi, Arclight Limited said the competition held at Oriental Hotel Lagos, is aimed at exposing children in terms of science and technology development because it is going to further bring interaction between the teachers and the students.

“The students should not just cram to pass, they should have hands-on experience.

They should be able to build

things and solve problems; they should know the solutions to these problems without having to cram. This is what lego education is doing.”

A

deniyi informed that the theme for this year's conference is connecting people and teams from each school are expected to assemble robots to do colour sorting. As the team that

builds their fastest get the robot to perform the task, will be heading to Malaysia.

She called on corporate organisations to help support disadvantaged children to get into the programme adding that with the support of corporate organisations, more children particularly the ones in public schools, will benefit from this exposure to science and technology.

Lagos State teachers celebrate World Teachers' Day

BY NDIDI UCHE

T

eachers in various schools in Lagos State celebrated the World Teachers’ Day last Friday.

A series of activities were carried out to celebrate the importance of teachers in the Nigerian society. While most students in major public schools were told to stay at home due to the celebration, private schools celebrated in their individual schools.

When Vanguard Learning visited some schools in Satellite Town, teachers in private schools were seen teaching in the classrooms till afternoon when they eventually had a Teachers’

Day programme.

Teachers were reminded that they are the foundation of life.

Without teachers, there will be no architects, doctors, engineers etc. The United Nations Organisation has recognised teachers’ contributions to the world.

Teachers are expected to be role models. The challenge of teachers in Nigerian society

is the way society treats teachers like orphans, having little or no regard for them.

Teaching should be seen as a privilege to serve humanity.

Teachers should have unity of purpose.

World Teachers’ Day is held annually to celebrate teachers all over the world and

Corporate bodies support 2012 World Teachers’ Day in Ekiti .

he Head of Cooperation and Culture of French Embassy, Patrick Perez has called on government and private sector to pay more attention to the study of French language to enable unemployed Nigerian youths access job vacancies in foreign missions.

Perez stated this during the official launch of first bilingual magazine in Nigeria, Le Clezio in Abuja.

He said that increase in the study of French language in Nigeria would not only enhance the bilateral relations between Nigeria and France but would enhance economic growth through job creation within and outside Nigeria.

Mr. Perez said the entry of Le Clezio magazine into the Nigerian market, which was written in both English and French languages, was necessary to enable the embassy remove the language barrier that had existed between Nigeria andFrenchspeaking countries in the world. ‘’It is very important we support French language because this is the first time we are having this kind of magazine in Nigeria. It will help readers improve their knowledge of the language. It is also going to improve the bilateral relationship between Nigeria and France. This will encourage good and harmonious relationship between Nigeria and all French membercountries in the subregion. ‘’France and Nigeria have excellent relation and have a lot of relations in education and different sectors of the economy. The introduction of this magazine would further enhance such relations and open doors for more benefits accruable to Nigerian youths,” he added.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 —27

BY IKENNA ASOMBA

A

midst Federal Government’s concerted efforts to ensure the teeming secondary school leavers and youths gain increased access to university education through the establishment of nine new conventional universities in February 2011, worries and criticisms have continued to trail the decision.

As the nation rolled out the drums to celebrate its 52nd independence anniversary penultimate Monday, an academic has argued that the establishment of the nine new ivory towers may not address the rot bedeviling the nation’s education, its economic growth and development, noting that the country should establish or upgrade its Polytechnics to specialised universities and deemphazise traditional courses such as engineering, law, medicine, accountancy, banking & finance and a host of others.

Even though most pundits argue that the National Universities Commission’s approved 500 admission quota for each of the new universities makes little or no impact to salvage the plight of the over 500,000 candidates that are not likely to secure admission despite having the cut-off marks stipulated by the Federal Government in the last Universities Tertiary Matriculation Examination, Olujimi Kayode, former Ag. Director of Nigerian Institute of Journalism, Lagos, has a different view.

According to Kayode who spoke to Quadlife in an exclusive interview, the

*Prof. Julius Okojie, Secretary, National Universities Commission

Nigerian Education Sector @ 52:

‘Only specialised varsities can address S our problems’

etting the priority right

pertinent issue is not the number of students admitted but the quality of the graduates. This, he said, can only be engendered by the establishment or upgrading of Nigeria’s polytechnics to ‘specialised universities,’ rather than building more

FREQUENTLY CONFUSED WORDS Rob – Steal – Burgle Rob means ‘to take property from a person or place illegally’. To steal is ‘to take something that belongs to another person without permission or legal right and usually secretly.’ A thief is a person who robs people or steals things. A thief or robber robs a person of things, especially money. A robber also robs a place such as a bank. Burgle is also a synonym of ‘rob’ and ‘steal’ but it does not have the same cognitive and emotive import with them. To burgle is ‘to enter a building, especially by force and steal from it or somebody.’ Synonyms C M Y K

C o m m u n i c a t i o n (LASUAASOC), noted that gone were the days when foreigners stream to the country for quality education.

He said; “In our days at the University of Lagos (UNILAG), we had the Bangladeshis, Sierra Leoneans, South Africans, Britons, Americans, Zimbabweans, Kenyans, Togolese and Ghanaians studying with us in this country, because they value our education system. Today, even with the proliferation of universities, it’s now a commonplace to see Nigerian parents send their children to neighbouring Ghana, Benin and Togo to acquire education.

This is an irony! And oftentimes, I have pondered on how we could trace back our missing link and get our priorities right.

“I think we got it wrong when we tried to liberalize the university system for all manner of students to come in.

Unfortunately, we opened the door for everybody without restructuring the curricula to care for various manners of students coming in.”

conventional universities.

he old good days

T

Recalling the old good days between 1948 until a point in the late 1980s, the Head, Department of Journalism, Lagos State UniversityAdebola Adegunwa School of

“As an academic, I’m not concerned about the ruling political party in the country.

My concern is for us to get the education sector right.

Because when this sector is right, one can beat his chest in anticipation of an improved economy, which will come about by the high number of self-employed graduates our ivory towers will churn out annually.”

In an emotion-laden voice, the don asked; “What’s wrong

are demarcated by context of use. These three words denote the taking away of what belongs to another but differ in the circumstances of the action. Robberies are mostly accompanied with violence. People are often wounded or killed in bank robberies. A burglar burgles/enters a building by forcing his way into it and stealing from it.

Note that rob and steal do not collocate with the same preposition. While ‘steal’ and ‘from’ collocate, rob goes with ‘of ’.

Thus, we have: rob someone ‘of ’ something; steal something ‘from’ someone. This distinction should be kept to avoid collocation error.

Examples: Wrong: Someone robbed my bag as I was leaving the bank.

Correct: Someone robbed me of my bag as I was leaving the bank.

Or I was robbed of my bag as I was leaving the bank.

Or Someone stole my bag from me as I was leaving the bank.

Note that it is also correct to say: He stole N500.00.

He stole money from his parents.

They robbed a bank stealing millions of Naira.

The house was burgled while they were on holidays.

They’ve been burgled three times this week.

Use the appropriate word, especially when making a report to the police.

Rupture – Fracture Rupture and fracture signify ‘to break’ but they denote different kinds of breaking according to the objects to which the

in say, having a Bachelor's degree in skills-based vocational courses like catering, fashion designing, barbing, hair dressing, plumbing, welding, arts/craft and their likes? We have been getting it wrong by the undue emphasis placed on conventional degrees like law, philosophy, engineering medicine, physics and the likes. I’m not trying to denigrate these courses, but the earlier we establish or upgrade our polytechnics to specialised universities to suit into our basic needs as a nation, the better our chances of making the list of top economies of the world.”

ND/BA, BSc. dichotomy

H

The journalism lecturer also stated that another problem dragging the nation’s education sector back is the unnecessary dichotomy placed between certificates acquired in polytechnics and those acquired in universities.

“Sometime ago, the Federal Government came up with the idea of upgrading about five polytechnics into universities.

This is the easiest means of establishing the specialised universities. Rather than spending huge amount of money going round in circles, why not invest in all federal polytechnics, giving them infrastructural upliftment and converting them to specialised universities?”

Kayode reiterated that if this is done, it will lead to an improved skilled youth population, since not everybody is bookish enough to undergo the traditional courses offered in our ivory towers.

action is applied. Rupture conveys the idea of ‘break or burst’ while fracture, ‘break or crack’. Thus, soft substances may suffer a rupture: hard substances a fracture. Rupture is ‘an injury in which something inside the body breaks apart or bursts’ e.g. the rupture of a blood vessel.

Fracture is ‘an instance of breaking something especially a bone’ e.g. a fracture of the leg, arm, hip etc. Note that rupture and fracture can be used as a noun or a verb.

Examples The doctor was careful in operating the patient to avoid the rupture of a blood vessel.

He suffered from a ruptured appendix.

While Dodonzo was playing football on the field, he had a fracture of the leg.

Old people’s bones are more prone to fracture than young people’s bones.

28 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

BRIEFS

BY ABUTU AGADA,UNN

F

ollowing the latest hike in tuition by authorities of the University of Nigeria, lions and lionesses as students of the federal institution are called, have resorted to protests to show their displeasure over the development.

The riot which started in the early hours of Monday at the Enugu campus of the university, was a move by the students to communicate their disapproval at the introduction of an additional N17,000 which the university authorities claim is for internet (Lionet) and allied fees.

As at press time, the entrance of the school was locked by security operatives.

Vanguard Learning gathered that those intending to enter the campus were turned back and those inside were stranded. There is said to be very heavy presence of security operatives in and around the campus as policemen and other security operatives were seen in the environment.

High fees spark off riot in UNEC We were still reeling from the effect of that shock when the authorities brought out yet another fee they termed “other.” It was on that basis that we collectively agreed to carry out a peaceful demonstration.” He went on to reveal that security operatives swung into action

curtailing their movement beyond the gates of the campus.

A

t the time of filing this report, Vanguard Learning gathered that the authorities placated the students by telling them that the matter will be looked into.

According to them, they will suspend payment of the school fees, pending the time the matter will be looked into.

The students confided in Vanguard Learning, however, that should nothing positive be done by the authorities before Friday, they will resume the protest.

*From left: Godfrey Efeurhobo, Regional Operations Director, South Region, Airtel Nigeria; Prof. Offiong Offiong, Commissioner for Education, Cross River State; Rajan Swaroop, MD/CEO, Airtel Nigeria; Joseph Ebam, Executive Chairman, Cross River State Universal Basic Education Board; and Emeka Oparah, Director, Corporate Communications & CSR, Airtel Nigeria, during a courtesy visit to the Cross River State Government to launch its ‘Adopt a Rural School’ scheme.

Provost cautions students against social vices

BY BASHIRU ABDULLAHI, FCE-YOLA

A

gainst the backdrop of violence which reportedly led to the loss of no fewer than 50 students of the Federal Polytechnic Mubi, Adamawa State and the School of Health Technology, Mubi penultimate Monday, the Provost of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Yola, Adamawa State, Professor Abdul-Mumin Sa’ad has cautioned students of the institution against engaging in any form of antisocial behaviours.

Professor Sa’ad who gave the warning while delivering a speech at the Matriculation ceremony of National Certificate in Education (NCE) part-time students for the 2012/2013 session. Prof.

C M Y K

BY BABATUNDE ALAO &TEMITOPE APANISILE, AAUA

R

I

n a comprehensive chat with one of the protesters who pleaded anonymity, the student explained that the authorities took them unawares by craftily introducing one bill after the other. “The school first released the normal school fees. A few days later, they brought out another fee which they called the internet fee.

AAUA students express mixed feelings over compulsory mid-break

Sa’ad, who also informed the students that the college has almost concluded arrangements to start degree programmes to brighten their chances of furthering their studies, added that the college will not condone any act of indiscipline or lawlessness.

“The management of this college has made and is still making a lot of efforts in the area of water and electricity supplies. We are upgrading our Library and ICT facilities, to ensure that you are provided with an enabling environment and the right atmosphere for teaching and learning.

“You should be warned that this college does not condone cultism, examination misconduct, drug abuse, indecent dressing and such vices. "

UNICAL alumni honour fallen hero

BY EMMANUEL AHANONU, UNICAL

T

he national body of UNICAL alumni has organised a memorial lecture in remembrance of one of its own, Miss Grace Ushang Adie who was gruesomely murdered in 2009 at Maiduguri, allegedly by suspected members of Boko Haram sect, during her compulsory youth service.

In his opening speech, the National President, Mr. Kennedy Dike recounted how he was treated like “a small god” during his service years in 1994 in Anambra State.

“But those who went out to serve their fatherland in present Nigeria have become victims of brutality because of ethnic hostility of which Miss

Grace Ushang Adie was a victim in 2009. He noted the increasing need for government intervention and protection of lives which is one of the pivotal reasons for organising the memorial lecture, especially, for those who fall in the course of serving their father land.

On his part, the ProChancellor of UNICAL, Dr. Roland Ehigeamosea noted that, “unless Nigeria’s security is ready to guarantee the security of corps members in that area, they shouldn’t be posted there.” He called on the Federal Government to see the dire need to rise and tackle such menace which is eating deep into the survival of the nation.

esuming school with high enthusiasm after a busy weekend, students of Adekunle Ajasin University, Akungba-Akoko (AAUA), Ondo State, have expressed mixed feelings over the stunning text messages they received, which instructed them to vacate the campus from Tuesday, October, 2nd 2012.

The message, according to investigations, is not unconnected with the challenges students are currently facing in the areas of water and electricity, consequent of the strike action embarked upon by the Non-Academic Staff Union of Educational and Associated Institutions (NASU) that has affected activities in the university.

According to the message sent to the students via the AAUA mobile and also pasted on various notice boards across the university campus, the students are to go on a mid-semester break as from October 2, 2012 and are to vacate the school premises.

The message reads in part; “The Vice-Chancellor has approved, on behalf of the senate, that students should proceed on the mid-semester break with effect from Tuesday October 2nd 2012.

Students are enjoined to note the above approval and vacate the campus as scheduled for the midsemester break.”

Against this background, the students who resumed for the second semester of the 2011/2012 academic session on August 6, 2012 raised questions as to why the break is coming up a week before the scheduled date on the school’s academic calendar.

Commenting on the situation, speaker of the Students’ Representative Council (SRC), Hon. Akomolafe Abiodun said; “I just came back from lectures to hear people talk about receiving text message notifying them of the mid-semester break. The union leader was not informed about the senate’s decision. We met with the school management few weeks ago and we were informed that we may go on break two weeks before the election but the situation on ground is surprising.”

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 29

TASUED alumni appeal for release of certificates

BY MUSBAUDEEN SHEKONI

G

STORIES BY LAJU ARENYEKA

I

F there’s an item that makes a fashion statement on Nigerian campuses, it’s the colour-block-briefcasehandbag. Forget ‘brief,’ it’s a major case! Throwing out the fashion rule that ladies must have a black bag to go with everything, the briefcase combines style, colour and practicality that makes you feel like you’re in handbag heaven.

Your heaven might be shortlived though, if you don’t take the following into consideration: 1. Durability: Could I possibly be asking you to buy only the designer stuff at exorbitant prices? Not really.

The thing with bags is that nobody knows which is which

Mountain out of a briefcase

our roommate has the capacity to make or mar your entire academic calendar or journey altogether. Today, Quadlife teaches you how to deal with different classes of difficult roommates or better still, to avoid being one. *The Dirty-Lazy: These two ‘virtues’ walk hand in hand.

The least the dirty-lazy roomie can do is embarrass you.

Climbing up the ladder, he or she may subsequently invite more roommates studying Pest 101, such as rats and roaches.

Solution: Help your roommate with dirty laundry once in a while. This will get you frustrated enough to either throw him/her out or have a sincere conversation about the situation. Also, encourage your roommate to work with you during your cleaning efforts, and reward such efforts. *The Gossip: It doesn’t seem half as bad when your room mate is a database for all the current happenings in other people’s lives. It doesn’t take much to hit the share button when the status is not your

C M Y K

administrative disposition on the part of the management of TASUED/TASCE. They, however, appealed to the governor to intervene.

“We plead for immediate resolution of the lingering crises between the institution and the University of Ibadan that has stalled the issuance of certificates to U.I Affiliate graduates.

‘NO’ to payment of any form of dues when the certificates are out, immediate abolition and closure of the TASCE/ TASUED Alumni account which has been a source of extortion from students and graduates seeking documents from the institution."

The statement was signed

by Com. Jephta Omavueya, the Secretary and Com. Francis Nwapa Watch, the convener.

SIM holds maths contest until you get close to the label, or worse, until the first tear. So sister, treat your briefcase with utmost care, especially if it isn’t as legitimate as people think.

2. Cleanliness: This is as close to godliness as your bag will ever get. Coloured fashion items get dirty, so clean immediately after use. Avoid putting it on the floor or on dusty surfaces.

3. Storage: Where you keep

your bag is important, you want to preserve it from dust, dirt and unnecessary wear and tear. A khaki bag with holes in it is an ideal place to store your briefcase. Also avoid hanging on the wall as this could spoil the hand of your bag.

What to wear? The colourblock-briefcase-handbag. How to wear?

Read Quadlife fashion next week.

Coping with difficult roommates (pt 2) Y

RADUATES of Tai Solarin College of Education, Tai Solarin University of Education and University of Ibadan under the aegis of Exstudents Association, have appealed to the governor of Ogun State, Governor Ibikunle Amosun to intervene in the case involving the institution and the gradutes.

In a statement made available to Vanguard last Tuesday, the students decried the cruel and unjust delay in their certificates since year 2000 after graduation in both four-year degree and three-year NCE programme.

The students attributed the perennial delay in the issuance of their certificates to a q u e s t i o n a b l e

private information. It will take a while, but soon, you will come to the sudden realisation that if your room mate is telling you about everyone else, then she/he must be telling everyone else about you. So follow the golden rule, don’t encourage your gossiproomie to tell you about others.

The next rule is platinum keep your business to yourself. *The Hugging-Famzy: You’ve never heard this term before, but somehow y o u recognise it. You recognise it from your roommates ‘butt marks’ on your freshly made bed, his/her finger prints in your wardrobe, and unwanted eavesdropping into telephone conversations. You saw it last in your room mate’s lipstick marks on your cheek or his one millionth handshake for the evening.

The number one step is to loosen up a bit on the issues that you can at least condone, so you don’t have a heart attack. Next, make a list of the things that you

absolutely cannot live with and talk them over with your roommate. *The Acute Borrower: A hungry man is an angry man.

And that’s what you would be if you let your room mate rip you off. So if your roomie is an a c u t e b o r r o w e r w h o doesn’t pay except when threatened, then don’t lend stuff that you aren’t willing to give out altogether. *Law Breaker: The roommates of the guys who do drugs almost always get expelled with the guys who do drugs. Such is life.

Surely, all those years of waiting for admission weren’t because you were looking forward to taking the bullet for someone else.

So if talking calmly won’t do the trick, tell someone else whom your roommate respects to intervene. If that won’t do, then… be a coward and change your room, or be a snitch and report to a higher authority.

Better safe than sorry right?

BY MOSES IKEBELI

R

ecently in Lagos, Supremacy In Mathematics,SIM, organised a mathematics competition for secondary schools in Lagos State.

The competition had four schools progress to the final, which was held at the Iyana-Oba area of Lagos. The schools that participated in the finals were Millbank Hall Secondary School, Iba Housing Estate Secondary School, Fidel Madonna Secondary School and Isashi Grammar School.

Before the competition proper, a lot of entertainment took place.

Different dance groups thrilled the audience with exciting performances, but the peak of it all was when comedian “Z i p h i l o 4Christ” stepped on stage. From the moment he held the microphone, he rendered joke after joke and received a loud applause from the audience when it was time for him to step aside. Before the main e v e n t s t a r t e d , M r.

Joseph, a first class graduate of the University of Lagos took to the stage and encouraged the students not to be afraid of mathematics. He reiterated that with practice and passion, mathematics will be conquered.

Four schools showed the stuff they were made

of. At the end of a keenly contested competition, Millbank Hall Secondary School emerged the winner and got the cash prize award from Queensmeal Foods Ltd, with a lot of other exciting prizes. Iba Housing Estate Secondary School emerged second and went away with a lot of exciting gifts as well, while the third and fourth secondary schools were Fidel Madonna and Isashi Grammar School respectively.

Speaking to Va n g u a rd Learning, the founder of SIM, Mr. Temitope James and the co -founder, Mr. Adekunle Adepoju after the event, jointly stated that in the next five years, they want SIM to be a global organisation. “ We s e e S I M g o i n g places globally and we have high hopes that the competition will soon get television coverage.”

They also noted that SIM would be hosting different competitions not only in mathematics, but in other subjects as well.

Miss Nike Eniola, the president of SIM also had this to say; “SIM is organised to build the bridge that has collapsed in mathematics for a long time now." She reiterated that mathematics is an important subject that should not be over-looked, stating that “to gain admission into any university n o w, mathematics is an essential part of the requirements, even if you want to study law.”

30— Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 Ngcmac: Thanks Prof. You have helped me to conclude on the first crop to plant in my desire to go back to farming. My father used farming of cassava to train me in the university in the late 9 0 s . We u s e d t o e n j o y roasted yam and palm oil in the farm. That was enjoyment. Thanks Prof and Vanguard for this information.

RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT

9jaBrozz: This is a treasure! We need more of such sustained information.

Well done Prof Ekpa.

Aisha Muh’d A’karim: Indeed, Nigeria is blessed, but unfortunately, political propaganda will never allow us settle and have a focus so as to even think about investing largely in such a valuable area other than crude oil!.

Mark David: Vanguard, thanks for this wonderful piece. Your people should engage more of our professors and researches to bring the results of their works to the ordinary public.

Every society is made to survive by the riches of its environment. Theoritical modern scientific development has its root in the West but most of the materials to make its achievement visible are surplus on the African soil.

We import all sorts of juice and drink while mangoes, oranges etc are wasting all over the place!!!!

Readers' comments on Palm oil is another black gold — DOUGLAS EKPA *Prof. Douglas Ekpa

T

oday, we present comments from Vanguard online readers on a story published on this page with the above title.

Daddy: Thank you sir for this wonderful piece. I have been trying for a very long time to prove to my European friends the quality of palm o i l b u t n o w, t h e y a r e shocked beyond doubt to see what they have been missing. They can see why we don’t get old quickly enough!!!

PhilipEwEmeriewen: Prof. Ekpa is making a good arguement. We have been told that palm oil or cream contain high cholestrol, meaning don’t eat it or use it in any form. I believe it was propaganda.

If it is good for us, let us continue to eat it. I will eat it this week.

Procalx Providence: Prof. I can’t stop saying it; you are always the best and if our leaders will become chemists, there will be a spontaneous change.

C M Y K

Okike: Great expose Prof. Readers are not commenting on this lecture because it is not about Abuja politics and treasury looting.

,

BY EBELE ORAKPO

Political propaganda will never allow us settle and have a focus so as to even think about investing largely in such a valuable area other than crude oil!

,

Murphy: Thank you Prof. This is what our government is supposed to know and act upon. When I was a kid, I was used to seeing white men probably from t h e Asian countries coming to my father ’s oil palm plantation in the 70s to collect the seeds. I remembered vividly that the Oyibo will tell us to pick for them the ones that have smaller kernels inside.

The government should do something to revamp oil palm industry in Nigeria to generate foreign exchange.

I also need help from any quarter to clear the bush and replace overgrown plants with new seedlings, for my father's own covers so

many hectares of land.

Like that of my father, they have overgrown and producing less, This is the area government should look into so as to revamp it and in this way, create employment for the youths.

Chukwuke: Thanks Prof. for this info.

The sooner we realise that t h e We s t e r n w o r l d o n l y wants us to remain as consumers of their finished products, the better for us.

During the colonial days, our locally made gin was tagged “illict.” It could also be pointed out that the colonialists held palm produce in high esteem during their days on our shores.

Hypocritically, they have now turned round to malign the same crop.

Humour Corner COMPILED BY EBELE ORAKPO

E

rrors in language construction, punctuations, spellings etc., can mar a piece of an otherwise great work.

Below are some examples. The intended message came out with entirely different meaning. *Save regularly in our bank.

You’ll never reget it.” *We do not tear your clothing with machinery. We do it carefully by hand.” *Tired of working for only $9.75 per hour? We offer profit sharing and flexible hours.

Starting pay: $7 - $9 per hour.” *Vacation Special: Have your home exterminated.” *Get rid of aunts: Zap does the job in 24 hours.” *Used cars: Why go elsewhere to be cheated? Come here first.

*Dinner Special — Turkey $2.35; Chicken or Beef $2.25; Children $2.00.” *For sale: An antique desk suitable for lady with thick legs and large drawers.” *Wanted: Man to take care of cow that does not smoke or drink. *Illiterate? Write today for free help.” *Mother’s helper — peasant working conditions.” *This house has been fully insulted.” *Auto Repair Service. Free pick-up and delivery. Try us once, you’ll never go anywhere else again. *Dog for sale: eats anything and is fond of children. *Don’t let worry kill you. Let the church help.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 31

BY NDIDI UCHE

S

ix oil-producing states have reiterated commitment to improving the quality of education in the region, the Director-General of the BRACED Commission, Ambassador Joe Keshi, has said. He noted that BRACED, is an acronym for Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Edo and Delta states.

The education summit for the six states is expected to commence its maiden edition in Port Harcourt, Rivers State from November 15 – 17, 2012.

Keshi said, “The summit among other things is expected to review the state of education in the region through encouraging exchange of new thinking, new ideas and innovations with the ultimate goal of improving and strengthening education among the people, adding, With quality education, the BRACED states can engineer the right social transformation among themselves, ensure steady growth and development and contribute effectively to Nigeria’s economic growth and stability.”

T

he Director General, disclosed that with such initiative, the summit will provide for the six BRACED states opportunity to address the state of education in the region with a view to fashioning out different ways to improve the quality of education, learning environment and over all well being of the various stakeholders in the education process especially the

Six states unite to revamp education sector *Ambassador Joe Keshi

teachers and the students.

According to him, since the rebirth of democracy in 1999, there has been significant improvement in education infrastructure and processes in the BRACED states with some states not only building new standard classrooms but also giving scholarship incentives to students and pupils as well as improved remunerations to teachers.

Keshi who pointed out that the summit is coming at a time when there is general drop in the standard of education in the country, noted that the South-south which comparatively is among the regions with a superior record in the pursuit of education excellence in the country is spearheading an education summit which would focus

mainly on how to improve standard. He added, “The summit, is to remedy the damage done to education in the region as evidenced in its poor performance in WAEC, JAMB and NECO exams as well as the poor intellectual content of graduates of tertiary institutions in the region.” He, however noted that although the falling standard of education is not peculiar to the BRACED states, governors of the states are desirous of given quality of education at all levels with a view of turning the region into a sought-after-knowledge resort on the continent. He regretted the situation whereby Nigerian parents and guardians have to send their wards to schools in neighbouring African countries.

Don’t wait for job, create one, says Adeboye Continues from pg 25 that exist today. ccording to him, there are more free on-line courses for self-improvement in a variety of disciplines than are available in most universities, urging them that their priority before and during their service year should be self-improvement. His words; “Read useful materials on the economy, local and international politics and finance. Many useful magazines such as The Economist, Time and Newsweek are available free on-line.

Many opportunities now come globally and you can take advantage of them without even stepping out of Nigeria. Today, many foreign companies are outsourcing their work. Good engineers, architects, well spoken graduates who write well are getting high paying international jobs while still resident in their own countries. This is the way of the future. But the future belongs to those who are prepared for the incredible opportunities available.

One other useful way of preparing yourself is to improve

A

C M Y K

your written and spoken English. English still remains the most important language for communication and presentations commercially and socially.

You must deliberately improve your capacity to express yourself clearly orally and in writing.”

Meanwhile, the ViceChancellor, Professor Debo Adeyewa stated that out of a total of 489 graduating students, 24 graduands made first class, 156 graduated with second class upper division while 238 graduated with second class lower division as about 71 graduands fell into other categories.

The Vice-Chancellor while justifying the numbers of first class graduates produced this year, explained that Redeemer’s University students are doing pretty well academically due to the school's conducive learning environment with qualified lecturers and professors in charge of each department and state-of-the-art labouratory equipment the institution possesses.

According to him, all the 14 academic programmes the university presented to the

National Universities Commission (NUC) in March 2012 were granted full accreditation.

The programmes are: Accounting, Banking and Finance, Business Administration, Marketing, Insurance, Biochemistry, Industrial Chemistry, Industrial Mathematics, Computer Science, Statistics, Economics, Political Science, Sociology and Social Works. Others include: English, History and International Relations, Theatre Arts, Psychology, Actuarial Science, Mass Communication, Microbiology, Physics with Electronics.

He said some of the programmes have gained recognition and endorsement from some professional bodies such as Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, Advertising Practitioners Council of Nigeria, and Council for the Regulation of Freight Forwarding in Nigeria, adding, "In the international fora, RUN has been recognised for excellence by becoming member of Association of Commonwealth Universities (ACU), the Association of African Universities (AAU).

SUCCESS RECIPE WITH

UDEME ARCHIBONG

HOW MUCH DO YOU LOVE YOURSELF? H

ow much you love yourself will determine how much you love others. How much you love yourself determines personal effectiveness and the quality of your relationship with others. How much you love yourself will determine how much others will love you.

How much you love yourself determines the standard you set for yourself and your capacity to live up to the highest standard possible without compromising. How much you love yourself determines how much you respect and value yourself. How much you respect and value yourself determines how much you respect and value people. How much you love yourself determines how much confidence you have in yourself and your abilities and this in turn determines how much confidence people will have in you. How much you love yourself determines how much you approve of your life and this determines how much other people will approve of you. How much you love yourself will determine how much you will make out of yourself and this determines how much you will make out of life. How much you know and accept yourself determines how much you love yourself. When you love yourself you will invest your time wisely rather than spend it on trivial and self defeating activities.

The more you love yourself, the greater will be the goal or dreams you will set for yourself. The more you love yourself the more persistent you will be in pursuing your dreams; never giving up on yourself and your dreams. The more you love yourself the more you will improve on yourself in every important areas of your life. The more you love yourself the more constructive habits you will imbibe and will discard destructive habits. The more you love yourself the happier you will feel about the success of other people.

The more you love yourself the less pressure you will feel about earning the love and approval of others.

The more you love yourself the more you are able to act according to your values and convictions irrespective of the opinions of others. The more you love yourself the less you will compete with others and the more you will compliment them. The more you love yourself the fewer faults you will find in other people and the more you will appreciate them. How much you love yourself determines if you will invest your time or spend it. The more you love yourself the more positive will be your thoughts, words, feelings and behaviour.

S

elf love is not an ego-driven existence or selfish and self-centred myopic way of living but rather a calm confidence in yourself, in your abilities and in the value you add to the world. It is a positive self esteem; a feeling that you are good, valuable and worthwhile person. It’s the correct estimate of your value to the world and how good you feel about yourself. And on this platform determines the quality of every area of your life.

Ponder on the words of John Foppe, “I am a child of God. That’s the only consistent, lasting basis for selfesteem. We come from God, and we go back to God. Our lives are in his hands. We are worthy because He says we are worthy. He thought we were worthy to be born, He thinks we are worthy to live, and He has made provision of His forgiveness available to us because He thinks we are worthy to live forever ”.

Therefore, how much you love yourself is determined by who you are.

32 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

Nigerians urged to patronise NFLV

BY DOTUN IBIWOYE

BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU & AMINAT AMUDA

P

resident Goodluck Jonathan has ordered the Minister for Education, Professor Ruqayyatu Ahmed Rufa’i to select top 25 universities in the world for 101 qualified candidates of the annual presidential scholarship test.

The minister disclosed this in Abuja during the presentation of the certificate to the awardees. She said the presidential scholarship scheme for innovation and development (PRESSID) was instituted by the Federal Government of Nigeria as part of government’s efforts geared towards achieving Vision 20:2020 goals which would be achieved through the sponsorship of outstanding students for post graduate studies in the top 25 universities in the world.

Beneficiaries of the scholarships are first class students of government recognised and approved universities in the disciplines of Sciences, Basic Medical Sciences, Special Aspects of Biology, Economics, Engineering and Technology, as well as Medicine.

T

he awardees who are expected to study in the 25 best universities of the world up to Master's and PhD levels, ‘are between 21 and 30 years of age, 20 female and 81 male among them is one physically challenged c a n d i d a t e .

The minister said; "It is important to note that all the 449 short-listed candidates performed very well but it is unfortunate that in this maiden edition of the presidential scholarship scheme, there are limited spaces," and only 101 candidates were taken.

She also revealed that 1,300 applicants registered on the electronic portal for the scholarship scheme and 449 were invited for a computerbased test and the results released instantly to avoid any form of manipulation.

She advised the recipients to be of good behaviour as the Federal Government "will not hesitate to withdraw the scholarship if at any point we discover any act of m i s c o n d u c t .

"The scope of the offer includes tuition, accommodation, and eating, return flight tickets, living expenses and local travels, apart from "the actual breakdown and other special conditions, will be contained in another letter to be issued," she said.

The minister further said C M Y K

FG approves top 25 world varsities for scholarship candidates that all the candidates performed very well but regretted that the maiden edition of the presidential scholarship was limited.

She stated, “They have all demonstrated extreme intelligence judging by their performance in the examination conducted and other certificates they were presented. I have no doubt in my mind that the seed that is

being sown today will yield tremendous benefit for Nigeria.”

S

he, however, urged those who were not selected not to lose hope but continue to excel in whatever they engaged in. She advised the selected candidates to be God-fearing, humble, law abiding and show exemplary behaviour as they are

representing Nigeria.

Also speaking, Executive Secretary of NUC, Professor Julius Okojie said the programme is very competitive and open to everybody.

He went further to say that there is no problem about funding the candidates as the Federal Government is known to keep its words.

*From left: President, Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture, Engr.

Solomon Nyagba and former FCT Minister, General J. T. Useni greeting students and pupils of Shining Star College, Kubwa during the official opening of the 7th Abuja International Trade fair held in Abuja.

he Director-General of T Nigeria French Language Village, NFLV, Prof. Samuel Aje has disclosed that the 20 years old institution remains the only place in West Africa where interpreters are trained.

He also averred that the NFLV is the only place in the world where only French is spoken as a means of communication in a non-French speaking environment.

He said this in a chat with Vanguard while stressing the need for students and parents to acknowledge the illegality of sending students abroad to learn in unrecognised and unaccredited French schools.

According to Ale, it was unfortunate that several Nigerians still believe that whatever comes from abroad will be better than what is produced at home.

“There is no other institution of this type in this part of the world. I mean to say French language is the only language being spoken and it is located in nonFrench speaking environment. It is really very unfortunate that many Nigerians believe that whatever comes from outside the country must be better than what we have even though what we have is 10 times better. The standard here is far better than what is obtainable in institutions outside the country."

Senator Ashafa distributes free educational materials to pupils

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

T

he legislator representing Lagos East Senatorial District, has

flagged off the distribution of educational materials to schools in Lagos East Senatorial District for the purpose of enhancing

adequate learning for students of his constituency at Lady-Lak Primary School , B a r i g a .

The senator who was

84 Nigerians receive scholarship worth N1billion

BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

N

o fewer than 84 Nigerians were weekend in Lagos presented with scholarship fund valued at N1 billion.

The presentation which was done during an international conference organised by the British School of Project Management in conjunction with Global Project Management College was targeted at educational development of Nigerian citizens.

According to the organisers of the scholarship fund, the opportunity is also open to Nigerians from the age of 21 years and interested in

advancing themselves, career and nation.

In his paper entitled; Sustaining the Emerging Economic Giant through Global Project Management, Professor Andrew Leicester affirmed that Nigeria has all it takes to emerge an economic giant given its human intellectual resources and economic potentials. eicester added that with the right application of knowledge, skills, tools, and techniques, the collective aspirations and endeavour of the Nigerian nation would be achieved.

He further explained that with the right application of project management, it is pos-

L

sible to engineer the country’s evolution into a developed nation via attainable and sustainable projects that would act as growth catalyst aimed at transforming the nation into an economic giant.

In his view, Project Controller, British School of Project Management, Nigeria, Dr. Tochukwu Ukasonwa, said that the conference theme; Independence of the Mind, came about because the organisation believed there must be a paradigm shift and a recreation of the Nigerian mind.

“To change a person, you have to change the person's mind, change the environment and that way, you can make thing work and move ahead.

represented at the flag-off of the Back to School Project by Alhaji Anifowose Dengel, council Chairman, Bariga LCDA, stated that there is the need to support the people at the grassroots, especially the young pupils and students with the necessary educational m a t e r i a l s . ”One major promise I made during my electioneering campaign was to embark on projects that will boost education in my district, which is being fulfilled today in another form different from the previous educational projects I have done in the past,” he said.

Some of the educational materials given to the pupils include school bags, books, pens, erasers, water bottles, raincoats among others.

Aside from the educational materials,free medical check ups were carried out on the pupils and free drugs were given to those that needed them.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012—33

Nigeria offers highest returns on investments — Aganga STORIES BY FRANKLIN ALLI IGERIA is the most attractive emerging economy in Africa that guarantees highest returns on investment, said the Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga.

The Minister, who spoke on “Nigeria, Africa’s preferred destination for investment” during the 2nd Nigeria International Investment

N

Forum held in Lagos, dangled the country’s huge market size of 167 million population and an abundant raw materials for production as reasons for the highest returns on investments.

He said that foreign investors had better come and invest in key sectors of the economy with growth potentials, affirming: “Nigeria offers highest returns on investment.”

According to him prospective investors should take advantage of the

country’s competitive edge of huge market size and raw materials, coupled with the fact that government has put in place 84 actionable points to make the environment business friendly.

He pointed out that all investors that had failed to invest in Nigeria in the past had always turned around to regret their decision.

“Investors like MTN took advantage of the opening up of the telecommunications industry in Nigeria

while other global players were indecisive. Today those who failed to invest in the sector blame themselves when they see what MTN is making from its Nigerian operation.”

Aganga said Nigeria is at the moment the preferred destination for investment in Africa and ranks number twentythree globally, stressing that this was an outcome of the effort of government to improve the business environment in the country.

Entrepreneurs Organisation berths in Nigeria

BY PEACE ONYEUKWU & VICTOR IGIRI

NITED State based Entrepreneurs Organisation (EO) has called on Nigeria entrepreneurs to join its fold in order to achieve accelerated business growth.

EO has an annual generated revenue of $1.7 billion USD and a total work force of 1.6 million employees worldwide.

Speaking during the launch of the EO Chapter in Lagos, Mr. Abdlrasaq Ayodeji Shittu, President, said the organisation has been in existence for 25 years having 8,000 members spread across 40 countries.

He affirmed that the birth of the organization in Nigeria will afford Nigerian entrepreneurs the opportunity to interact with their counterparts globally, enjoy unlimited access to learning, mentoring and business networking to en-

U

gender further development of individual businesses.

“Research states that by 2025, Nigeria will be one of the twentieth largest economies in the world. And for Nigeria to achieve this, small and medium business must strive productively. The catalyst for the development of small and medium businesses in Nigeria is definitely predicated on global business networking,” he said.

Mr. Dele Agekameh, member of the Board of Directors Nigeria chapter, said that the organization helps to transform the lives of entrepreneurs by enabling small and large businesses owners to learn from each other, leading to greater business success. “For local insights, connections and assistance, a member can tap into the experience of more than 25,000 peers through the organisation’s member exchange”.

WEMPCO lauded for sourcing raw materials locally

BY VICTOR IGIRI HE House Commit tee on Industry has commended Western Metal Products Co. Limited (WEMPCO) on local sourcing of raw materials. Chairman of the Committee, Mohammed Ogashi Onawo, gave the commendation when the House Committee visited the factory in Mowe, Ogun State.

He said that the local sourcing of raw materials would boost Nigeria’s economy.

The Group Managing Director of WEMPCO, Mr. Lewis Tung, told the House Committee that only a proportion of the raw materials they use are sourced abroad and

T

that in five years time, all will be 100 percent local.

According to him, since inception the company had a vision to run their industries from locally source raw materials which they have now achieved; he disclosed that all the furniture at Oriental Hotels in Lekki, one of their companies was achieved with 100 percent local materials and labour.

He also added that from its commencement of business in Nigeria, that the company had been known for plugging back whatever money it makes from the local economy and that this process would continue.

Kraft Foods debut as Mondelez International RAFT Foods Inc has transformed its corporate name to Mondelez International Inc, and it has also retained Cadbury Nigeria PLC name locally, said Irene Rosenfeld, Chairman and CEO. “While our parent company name might be new, we’ve done business in Nigeria for decades and we will retain the Cadbury name for our local business,” said Rosenfied.

“We’re making our debut as Mondelez International and unleashing a global snacking pow-

K

C M Y K

erhouse that is uniquely positioned to delight consumers,” said.

“We’re the world’s greatest start-up. We have $36 billion 1 in momentum and brands like Oreo, Cadburyand Milkathat have been loved by consumers around the world for generations.” Rosenfield said the world’s pre-eminent maker of chocolate, biscuits, gum and candy, is commemorating its launch as a new company with events across its operations in West Africa.

34—VANGUARD, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

dayobenson@yahoo.com I N S I D E

Understanding Human Rights Law in Nigeria

Counsel Corner — Pg 36

— Pg 35

Powers of CBN dominate J-K Gadzama lecture — Pg 37

Antigraft war: How far can ICPC's preventive initiative go?

BY DAYO BENSON GAINST the back ground of collective result of stakeholders across the country to wage an unrelenting war against sundry graft, one of the agencies responsible for anti corruption crusade has taken it’s approach to combat the menace to another level. Instead of the traditional method of prosecuting offenders after the crime has been committed, the new initiative is preventive in nature.

Hence, the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related offences Commission (ICPC) is taking the fight to a new level having resolved to henceforth lay emphasis on prevention of the vices of corruption as a means of fast-tracking attainment of results.

For the Commission, preventing the acts of corruption in government establishment schools and institutions would prove more effective in the anticorruption war than going after culprits which had been the practice in the country over the years.

To achieve this, the ICPC has embarked on a process of Corruption Risk Assessment which involves training of one hundred Corruption Risk Assessors whose task after training would be to study the areas that are vulnerable to corruption within the government’s establishments and develop a good model meant to pluck the loopholes being exploited for corrupt practices.

Already the training of Corruption Risk Assessors (CRS) which commenced in Abuja was conducted by the ICPC in a synergy with the UNDP Virtual School Geneva, Trainees were drawn from Federal Ministries of Education, Health, Water Resources, the Media and the Civil Society groups.

ICPC chairman, Mr Ekpo Nta, a lawyer, who spoke at the occasion, said the new design for fighting corruption commenced in November 2011 with a team of international and local consultants who he explained developed the tools and methodologies for assessing corruption risks in the public sector organizations.

He said, “The CRA Methodology identified the need a pool of Corruption Risk Assessors as a prerequisite for the conduct of the assessment in the MDAs for which a curriculum and modules for the training were developed. The plan is

A

to train one hundred assessors in the first instance for duration of 8 weeks comprising on-line and face-to-face sessions.

“We must as a nation chart and sustain a new momentum and synergy to free ourselves from the shackles of corruption. The ICPC and sister law enforcement agencies must resist the temptation of being drawn into

,

C M Y K

•Justice Minister, Mohammed Adoke SAN

•ICPC chairman, Mr Ekpo Nta

The future of any country is determined by the past and present antecedents of what you invest in. Our youth is our future and one monster that stands between them and a good future is corruption

,

unnecessary rivalry or working at cross purposes.

“We must remain firmly committed to our respective mandates, improve on our performance ratings, and overcome challenges with the common goal and determination of making Nigeria a country we all can be proud of”.

In the same vein the commission has gone a step further to inculcate ethical values and anti corruption campaigns into school curriculums which are in

tandem with it’s mandate. To achieve this, ICPC had in 2003 approached the statutory body for curriculum development in Nigeria, the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) for a collaboration to inject the study of ethics and values into the school curriculum. This collaboration produced the National Values Curriculum (NVC) which secured official approval of the National Council on Education in December 2004.

The overall purpose of NVC is to expose the Nigerian Child to a sustained value-based curriculum that incorporates ethical issues into academic studies from the early years to adolescence. The Curriculum is structured into twelve thematic areas viz; Honesty, Right Attitude to Work, Justice, Discipline, Citizen’s Rights, Contentment, Courage, National Consciousness, Regard and Concern for Interest of Others, Role of the family, Role of Religion and Nigerian Values. The curriculum is applicable across all educational levels and its elements have been infused at the Basic 1-9 (i.e. from primary one to Junior Secondary) Similarly, the NVC has been infused into ten carrier courses at the Teacher Education Level (National Certificate in Education). This, according to the commission, has contributed to the return of civics as a core subject in schools. It is also planning to include NVC into the curriculum at the Polytechnic and the

University levels. Also, the Commission in partnership with NERDC developed a Teacher’s Guide as a training material for the teachers that will teach the infused topics.

Resource persons were drawn from lecturers from the universities, Colleges of Education and ICPC. At a Public Sensitization Lecture in Lafia, Nassarawa State, organised by the Commission’s National AntiCorruption Volunteers Vanguard Corps (NAVC) and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), the ICPC Chairman whose message was delivered by the National Coordinator of NAVC and Resident Consultant, Media and Event of ICPC, Mr. Folu Olamiti, explained that introduction of ethics as a core subject on corruption into the school curriculum was to enlighten the children on reasons they must fight the menace, which had eaten deep into Nigerian system, from their tender age.

The ICPC boss mentioned examination malpractice, bullying and cultism among other things which they must not indulge in at their tender age.

For the NYSC members, youth and adolescents he had this to say: “The future of any country is determined by the past and present antecedents of what you invest in. Our youth is our future and one monster that stands between them and a good future is corruption”. ”Today’s programme is meant to help you identify the monster and teach you how to wage war against it if you are desirous of reaping and enjoying what is rightly yours in a country richly blessed by God. If we do not sustain a zero tolerance for corruption we can safely aver that sustainable economic and social development is unattainable because security and stability in the society is threatened”, he added.

In his lecture titled “Corruption: The Continues on page 37

EDITORIAL TEAM Dayo Benson (Editor) Innocent Anaba Wahab Abdulah Ikechukwu Nnochiri

VANGUARD, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012—35

Understanding Human Rights Law in Nigeria

BY CHARLES EZEAGU UMAN rights are the totality of all rights which an individual inherits merely because he is human with life, blood, soul and spirit. Some of these natural rights are often selected, and protected in the constitutions of the various states as fundamental or constitutional rights which the state must not infringe upon, but enhance. Fundamental rights better known as “Fundamental Human Rights” in many countries are now a common feature in constitutions that they hardly need to be explained.

According to a one-time Chief Justice of Japan: “Fundamental human rights were not created by the state but are eternal and universal institutions, common to all mankind and antedating the state and founded upon natural law.” –See: Dr. T.A. Aguda: The Judiciary in the Government of Nigeria (1983) P. 41.

The word “right” is derived from the Latin word rectus which in the noun form means that to which a person has a just and valid claim, whether it be land, a thing or the privilege of doing something or saying something. We have what is called a legal right which is either the liberty (protected by law) of acting or abstaining from acting in a specific manner, or the power (enforced by law) of compelling a specific person to do or abstain from doing a particular thing. A legal right is thus the capacity residing in one man or group of men, to control a thing with the assent and the assistance of the state, the actions of other.

See: Oputa CA, Human Rights in the Political and Legal Culture of Nigeria; 2nd Idigbe Memorial Lectures (Lagos) 1988, pp-38-39.

“Human” has been defined as pertaining to, characteristic of, or having the nature of mankind, moral and rational creatures. Human rights are therefore rights which all persons everywhere and at all times equally have by virtue of being moral and rational creatures. They are inherent in any human being simply because of his humanity – the birth-right of all mankind. The expression “human right” in its widest connotation embraces those civil, political, economic, social, cultural, group, solidarity, and development rights which are considered indispensable to a meaningful human existence.

See: Ogbu O.N., Human Rights Law and Practice in

H

C M Y K

Nigeria (Enugu, CIDJAP Publishers; 1999) P. 2.

“Right” here is used in a composite sense and not in a Hofeldian sense and includes both moral and legal rights.

Legal human rights are those human rights that are guaranteed by positive law (Lex lata), while moral human rights are claims which ought to be in the positive law (Lex feranda). Thus human rights have been defined as representing demands or claims which individuals or groups make on society some of which are protected by law and have become part of lex lata while others remain aspirations to be attained in future. See: Eze O.C., Human Rights in Africa: some

•Charles Ezeagu is selected problems (Lagos, 1984) Ch. 2.

It is my submission here that human rights are inherent rights to be enjoyed

by all human beings of the global village and not gifts to be withdrawn, withheld or granted at someone’s whim or will. In this sense, they are said to be inalienable or imprescriptible. When they are removed from any human being, he will become less than human. They are part of the very nature of a human being, and attach to all human beings everywhere in all societies, just as much as do his arms and legs.

Constitutions and other codes do not create human rights but declare and preserve existing rights. Perhaps, this is why statutory provisions for the first generation human rights are couched in negative terms.

For example, to say that no

person shall be deprived of his personal liberty presupposes that personal liberty is an existing right. See: Nwabueze B.O., Constitutionalism in the Emergent States (London: C. Hurst & Co Ltd, 1973) P. 41.

In line with the foregoing, it will be apposite to allude to some celebrated age-long human rights fighters. Patrick Henry posited “Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take, but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!”

To be continued Ezeagu is a Legal Practitioner and Human Rights Activist based in Abuja, Nigeria.

The subsidiarity principle and federalism fissures in Nigeria (2)

BY EDOBA OMOREGIE Continues from last week Practically, the principle constitutes an integral part of the United States' federal system. Being essentially of European origin, the principle is very well part of the constitutional design of Germany, Switzerland and the European Union.

Recently, it has formed the basis of constitutional reforms in many European countries including those traditionally classified as unitary such as the United Kingdom, the Netherlands and Italy as well as asymmetrical federal arrangements in Spain.

The problem of federalism in Nigeria seems to be the erosion of this imperative principle since the coup of 1966. The principle was implicit in the design of the federal system introduced in the last colonial constitution of 1954. It was also manifest in both the Independence

Constitution of 1960 and the Republican version of 1963.

Sadly, when the military restored democratic rule in 1979 and later in 1999, they discarded the subsidiarity content of the pre-1966 constitutional framework in place of the phantoms called "even national development", "national integration", "national unity" and "federal character". Even the Supreme Court of Nigeria (unlike the apex courts of successful federations) has been complicit in sustaining this journey to nowhere when it consistently adopts a double standard of judicial review whereby in asserting its status as a court of law and policy, it has upheld the so-called unquestionable power of the Attorney General over public prosecution among other constitutional questions citing the historical dictates of the common law tradition and basic principles, but yet continue to deny the place of

our federal history and even settled federalism principles while adjudicating federalism disputes!

In my humble view the multitude of issues thrown up by the federalism debate fall within the purview of matters for which compromise can be struck using the subsidiarity principle. If we are honest about continuing as a federation or even as a single indivisible entity, matters such as the police system, labour, fiscal federalism, local government system, political party and the electoral system, role of tradition rulers, infrastructural development, the health care system, corruption, the sharia, state creation and several others threatening to dismember our country can pragmatically be resolved using the template of subsidiarity. But if we persist on the path of hard-line,

denial and insulting riposte, the resultant outcome will be bitter disintegration. To forestall this grim possibility, I urge that we adopt either of the following universally acknowledged strategies of constitutional change: A. Alteration of the federalism components of the constitution to reflect the subsidiarity principle; or B. If the process of constitutional alteration of those components is mired in political fissures as it is sadly turning into, then the Supreme Court should devise a federalism doctrine which institutes the subsidiarity principle as a cardinal policy in its arbitration of vertical federalism disputes.

Dr. Edoba Omoregie Faculty of Law, University of Benin edobaomoregie@yahoo.com, 08023381110

36—VANGUARD, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

VANGUARD LAW IN PIX SERAP HOLDS MEDIA-ROUNDTABLE

Feedback

Socio-Economic Rights Accountability Projects, SERAP, held a Media-Roundtable tagged, “Promoting Ethics and Integrity Within the Courts System Towards Citizens Access to Justice”, last week in Lagos.

Below are the pictures of participants at the programme.

Breach Of Contract

I

SUPPLY drugs to the Nigerian armed forces.Since 2005 I have successfully been getting contracts from them. On Feburary14 that same year,I signed an agreement with the company to be their sole facilitator of their company getting contracts from the Army and once from the Airforce. But ever since then, the MD of the company always subtracts any money he gives me ( from my commision) to persue this contracts and it was never stated in our agreement that I would use my own funds to run around.Last year, I got a major contract from the Army and we agreed to pay the man that influenced it but the man said we should give the money to his boys.My partners refused and now he says he does not want to do buisness with me anymore as he now knows his way around.Please what can I do.

From left: Mr Babatunde Ogala, Onuogu C.I. (Mrs.), Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni.

From left: Mr Adetokunbo Mumuni, Dr. Oluwatoyin Adejonwo-Osho, Mr. Bajulaiye A.O.

From left: Eliana Martins, Bakare I.B, Chukwueka Nkechi.

From left: Mrs. Tejumade Oke, Adetunji Adeogun, Omorodion Kingsley, Chinyere Nwafor (Mrs.).

Cross section of participants

Barrister Matthew Burkaa who represented the guest speaker, Mr. Tayo Oyetibo, SAN

Barrister Omolola Satar, Mr. Safari Ganiyu, Mr. Bajulaiye A.O., who represented the Lagos State Solicitor-General, Mr. Lawal Pedro, SAN.

Mr. Safari G.A, Barrister Adetokunbo Mumuni and Mr. Adeboye Bajulaiye.

Barrister Mumuni, Dr. Oluwatoyin Adejonwo-Osho, Mr. Bajulaiye.

Lawyers who were participants at the Round-Table discussion

BRUME OBADA Lagos.

E

VERY contract is guided by terms and conditions and parties to the contract are bound by this(terms and conditions) which are specifically stated in clauses.This is the essence of what is refferd to as sanctity of contracts for example,the right and obligations of the parties are spelt out in such clauses.The contract you signed with the company as a middle man between it and the armed forces is binding on the parties and so it is enforcable, especially when there is a breach of any of the the terms and conditions.The cost of pursuing the contract which you said the MD of the company subtracts from your commision may appear as a breach of agreement between the two of you.However,some contractual terms are either expressed or implied. In the instant case,since that aspect is not stated in your contract,it may be implied.Second,the decision of the company to be dealing with armed forces directly now that it knows its way around is a fundamental breach of contract but all I have said depends on the terms and conditions of the contract you signed with the company which I do not have details of as an aggrieved party,you have the right to ask for damages for breach of contract.You need the service of a lawyer in this regard.

Arbitrary rent increase

I

WAS paying 600 thousand when my land lady incresed my rent to 1.2 million. I negotiated 800 thousand but she asked me to pay 1 million, I refused and she accepted the 800 thousand with a quit notice this month(September) i offered to pay 1 million but she refused asking me to pay the extra 200 thousand and I have renovated the house with her consent orally for about 220 thousand so she asked me to pay extra 100 thousand from the 200 thousand of last year. Is it right to increase from 600 thousand to 1.2 million and without any renovations and what are my chances because she wants to go to court.

Mrs Ngozi.

Answer to the above question will be provided next week due to space. Please bear with us.

You can send your questions to dayobenson@yahoo.com or 08056180119 (text only) C M Y K

VANGUARD, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 37

BY INNOCENT ANABA ENTRAL Bank of Nigeria, CBN, was the focus of discussion at the 2012 Annual Public Lecture organised by the law firm of JK Gadzama & Partners in Lagos, recently.

CBN’s insistence on the introduction of the N5,000 note, until President Goodluck Jonathan caved into pressure from Nigerians to stop it, had compelled Nigerians to ask if the apex bank was too powerful and should be brought under legislative control so that some of its policies can be thoroughly examined before implementation or it should be left to carry on with the way it has been carrying out its duties.

Speaking at the event, former Information Minister, Mr Frank Nweke (Jr), who delivered the lecture entitled: Nigeria in the Year 2012: The Vision of a Cashless Economy, noted that the National Assembly must not tamper with CBN’s autonomy, and described as “unhealthy” what he said was a deliberate effort by the lawmakers to “subordinate” the CBN. He pointed out that such a move was “unhealthy and clearly portends danger for the management of Nigeria’s monetary policy management.

In order for CBN to be effective, their work must be devoid of any political considerations and or interference.

“The precedents which are now being laid by the National Assembly with the proposed amendment of critical sections of the CBN Act 2007 to strip it of its

C

Dr. Koiyin Ajayi, (SAN), Mrs. Gladis Talabi, Mr. George Etomi, and Mr. Paul Usoro, (SAN), at a two-day workshop on legal framework on cashless society in Lagos.

Also at the event were Ms. Funke Aboyade and Dr. Bayo Adarelegbe and a guest.

Powers of CBN dominate J-K Gadzama lecture autonomy, and most recent interference in the project CURE, run against the grain of global best practices,” he said.

CBN Deputy Governor, Corporate Services, Alhaji Suleiman Barau, who represented Mallam Lamido Sanusi, governor of the apex bank, warned against political control of the bank. He noted that politicians, who “think short term” would be more concerned about pleasing the electorate with a view to winning election, and could try to hold CBN back from certain policies that may appear unpopular.

Executive Director, Community Development Foundation, Mr Akin Akintola, on his part, said the CBN should have “100 per cent independence,” adding, however, that the apex bank should not run too fast to get

policies that might subject the people to untold suffering.

Senator Nkechi Nwogwu, a former Chairman, Senate Committee on Banking, argued that CBN “is not an island” and cannot be absolutely independent.

“There is no agency that is an Island. We are saying that there are some CBN projects that need democratic review.

Certain monetary policies must be brought before the legislature for a review. That is what we are concerned about. We are not at loggerheads with CBN. What we are saying is that they should consider the opinion of Nigerians.”

Chief Anthony Idigbe, SAN, agreed, noting that CBN should not be given the freedom of power without control, noting that absolute power can lead to corruption.

“The greatest fear of

Nigerians is arbitrariness in implementation of policies.

There should be some level of oversight over the CBN,” he argued.

For Chief Judge of Lagos, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, what she wants is a drop in the charges banks impose on transactions. Nigerian Bar Association (NBA) President, Chief Okey Wali, SAN, represented by Dr Joseph Nwobike, SAN, noted that interest rate regime in the country was “suffocating.

“Over 60 per cent of businesses that borrow money from banks ultimately fail.

Those of them, who are operating do so on pretentious grounds. The issue of interest rate is more important to us Nigerians. “There is nothing with introducing N5000 banknote. What is wrong is access to it, and not whether or not it is introduced. In any

Antigraft war: How far can ICPC's preventive initiative go?

Continues from page 34 Genesis of Nigeria’s SocioEconomic and Security Challenges; The Way Forward”, Mr.Olajide Ayodele, a Public Speaker, said “Nigeria has no business being poor and so corruption has to be fought in all ramifications. At the root of the corruption quagmire in Nigeria is the failure and virtual collapse of governance, the contamination of democratic values, the erosion of accountability procedures, and the looting of the money meant for the socio economic development of the country, thereby creating poverty and security challenges. ”Nigeria has no business being poor and so we have to take the bull by the horn and fight this menace called corruption. It has made governance to be ineffective and delivery of dividends of C M Y K

democracy impossible. We must upgrade our value system to the best ethical practice. Our leaders must think aright and stand up to this canker worm eating us apart. ”Now is the time to say NO to corruption and YES to a peaceful and developed nation where we have everything in abundance or we will have a system that will eventually consume everyone.

The time for change is now”, he advised.

However, it appears the change being envisaged may be a mirage if petitions being received from tertiary institutions is anything to go by. According to ICPC it is being inundated daily with petitions from students, staff, unions, and other stakeholders alleging all manners of corrupt practices and abuses in most of our tertiary institutions.

These petitions, according to

the commission highlight flagrant abuse of processes in student admissions, examinations, appointment and promotion of staff, manipulation and falsification of academic records like transcripts, sexual harassment and victimization of applicants, students and staff, syndicated plagiarism, delay or non-payment of gratuities and pension to pensioners, non-adherence to bidding processes in the award of contracts, bastardizing accreditation processes through deception, running unapproved Study Centres, affiliates and programmes, establishing and operating unapproved and consequently illegal universities, etc.

“We are all witnesses of the frustrating, disruptive and at times, fatal consequences these have on innocent members of the university community, the nation and our international ranking due

to institutional decay, corruption and blatant abuse of processes.

Our preliminary investigations point towards the absence, utter disregard or failure of regulatory systems within these academic Institutions.

ICPC intends to invoke its statutory mandate derived from Section 6 (b)-(d) of its enabling law to undertake a comprehensive Systems Study and Review of the Nigerian University system with the principal aim of identifying and correcting corruptionprone processes. ICPC’s intervention is specific and does not conflict with the regulatory, supervisory and/ auditing roles of the Visitor, Ministry of Education, Councils and indeed the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC)” said the commission.

However, how far the commission can go in its new effort to tackle corruption from the root remains to be seen.

case, the CBN governor is doing very well. He is an intellectual. But I think he has to do more in managing interest rate.”

Justice George Oguntade, retired Supreme Court Justice, in his own contribution, faulted the high interest rate, noting that it was “curtailing growth.” He recalled that he discouraged his wife from obtaining a bank loan to run a private school because repaying is difficult.

Idigbe, who discussed Nweke’s paper, said even law firms need credit to carry on successful practices so that they can compete globally.

Akintola criticised the imposition of penalties on Cash-lite Lagos, saying CBN should have encouraged incentives rather than fines.

He said government should also pay the penalties.

Head of Chambers, J-K Gadzama & Partners, Abuja Office, Mr Henry MichaelIhunde, called for a strong regulatory regime for the legal profession. He called for the establishment of an Independent Financial Ombudsman to address issues raised by bank customers in the cash-less regime.

Chief Joe-Kyari Gadzama, SAN, whose firm organised the lecture, said it was in fulfillment of their corporate responsibility to the society.

He said, “By our mission and vision as a firm, we seek to contribute not only to the growth and progress of the legal profession in Nigeria, but the nation as a whole.

This, we intend to achieve, through our annual public lecture.

“Over the years, issues affecting the Nigerian populace had been analyzed and solutions proffered. The annual event is part of efforts aimed at giving back a little to the society that had given us all we have today, especially now that we are not just a law firm, but a Limited Liability Partnership.”

38—Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

Memories are for ever (2)

Rahama, (30), Lawyer, tells a funny story, though she did not find it funny at the time. Read her: It happened while I was out shopping around Balogun area of Lagos. I was tired, thirsty and exhausted. But I was shopping for my sister’s wedding.

All eyes at the party were going to be on me and I was determined to give them an eyeful.

Suddenly, I started feeling my knees buckling under my weight and my vision bluring. I managed to make it to the front of one shop and asked for help. Then, I found out that I wasn’t being coherent, my voice wasn’t loud enough too.

As the woman got up to move closer, I felt my bag fall from my grip and then I went down too.

I didn’t know what happened after that, but I woke up to discover that I was half naked, at least, down to my waist. I was wearing a skirt suit and the buttons had been undone.

The skirt too had been pulled down to my waist

to allow for better circulation of blood and air. Apart from the fact that I was near nude, my embarrassment was made worse by the battered state of my underwear.

My bra was a bit lose, so I had stitched it up carelessly with a blue thread. My slip was no

,

H

i, Everyday, things happen to us. They might be good, bad, embarrassing, uplifting, disappointing, you name it. Depending on our perception of the event, years later, its memory still lingers on.

It keeps springing up, even when you’ll rather forget it. Some of our respondents shared their stories of such moments with us. I know you have some wonderful stories you can share with us too. Please send your contributions to: The Human Angle, Vanguard, P.M.B. 1007, Apapa, Lagos. Or our email address: humananglepage@yahoo.com Happy reading!

would happen to me which will warrant my clothes being taken off, or some of it as the case turned out.

I have different clothes for different occasions, the same went for underwear too. I have the one I wear everyday to the office, the one for outings and parties and

I probably wouldn’t have been so bothered if my underwear had been in perfect condition

longer the brilliant white it used to be, it had seen better days.

To make matters worse, people had gathered around to see what was happening. You know that typical Lagos reaction to such scenario.

People gather for the intention to observe and make comments, never to assist.

When I came around and saw the crowd, I wanted to faint again, or better still, die, so that I would not have to get up to face the crowd.

I tried to gather my clothes which were now wet together and when I was decent enough, I quickly expressed my gratitude to the women and made my way out of the area.

But not before they had taken turn to give me tips on my state of health. I had never fainted in my life and didn’t know why I should now do so in a market place for that matter.

I probably wouldn’t have been so bothered if my underwear had been in perfect condition.

But they were not. It was one of those days when you feel like just slipping into anything and I never suspected that something

,

I even have a set I wear to my boyfriend and perhaps, visits to the doctors. I also have a different set for my monthly period and some to wear for relaxing at home.

I’m sure its the same way with most people.

However, since that incident, I never step out of my house without wearing good underwear.

The only problem is that I have not fainted again ever since, so, no one has seen me in my good underwear.

I’m sure a repeat of that incidence in the same location with the same observers will really soothe my battered self esteem.

Tinu, (29), a banker, recount what she described as a demeaning experience: It was a long time ago, I was very young and in Primary school then. I, along with my other siblings had this very troublesome bout of lice.

It defied all recommended treatment by relatives and friends.

You just can’t imagine how terrible it was.

Sometimes, it would appear as if we had overcome the plague, but

soon it would appear again. It laid eggs so quickly that you can have hundreds of them on your head at once.

Then one day on the assembly line in school, a girl standing behind me, picked one from my neck.

The nasty creep must have wondered off from the safety of my hair. She tapped my shoulder to inform me of her discovery, holding the trophy in the palm of her hand.

At the same time, she was drawing the attention of some other girls too. On realising what was happening, the other girls started squealing and making silly noises, pretending to be frightened.

In seconds, everyone moved away from me and I was the only one left on our line. I was scared as I stood rooted to the spot.

Naturally, this drew the attention of the headmistress and teachers.

I was called outside in front of the assembly to explain why I had lice on my head. I had never felt so humiliated in my life and I just couldn’t answer the question. I began weeping as the headmistress gave a brief speech about cleanliness and how she could not allow me infect other girls with my “disease”.

I was asked to go home and return only when I’d gotten rid of my lice. In short, I was asked to scrape my head clean.

That morning, I cried all the way back to my daddy’s office, located nearby.

Luckily for me, he was around and explained what had happened to him. He too gave me another round of scolding before asking one of his office boys to take me to the nearby barber’s shop.

My hair was cut so low that I hardly recognised myself.

When I got to the office, he’d asked someone to buy a can of insecticide and antiseptic.

The whole can was expended on my head and I was made to tie a scarf around it for about an hour or more. Later, he put me in the bath and I was washed my head with the antiseptic.

Asisited by Onozure Dania

To be continued

Friends Searching Males •Ben 26, from Edo state, but resides in Lagos, needs a sincere, God fearing and employed lady, for a serious relationship.07030148518 •Iroro, 50, a businessman, from Delta state, needs a humble, faithful, caring and respectable registered woman nurse, with a good family background who wants to settle down for marriage, within a short time, aged 30-40.08037893852 •John, 32, needs a comfortable, caring and loving lady, aged 25-40, for a relationship. 08037038098 •Bems, needs a tall lady, who is a graduate, from Delta state, aged 35-40,s for a relationship.

07089452125 •Ty, 35, 6ft tall, dark in complexion, a business man and resides in Lagos, needs an employed lady, aged 28-38, for a relationship, that will lead to marriage.08160934189 •Sherif, 34, 5.5ft tall, dark in complexion, a businessman, in Lagos, needs a lady, aged 30-35, C M Y K

for a relationship, that will lead to marriage.

08027760982 •John, 32, needs a comfortable, caring and loving lady, aged 25-40, for a relationship. 08037038098 •Isiaka, needs a lady, who is a Muslim, for a serious •Dear readers, please note that neither Vanguard, nor Yetunde Arebi will be liable for any error in the publication of requests on the Lovezone that may result in any form of embarrassment to any member of the public.

Also note that we do not run any match-making agency in or outside the country. Any reader who transacts business with anyone claiming to be our agent does so at his/her own risk.

Henceforth, only messages sent through the numbers readers want to be contacted on will be published.

This notice is necessary in order to serve you better in our refreshingly different style. To get your requests published, just text it to the code number 33055. For further enquiries, call 08026651636. Cheers!

The words his heart needs to hear

BY ONOZURE DANIA

OW many times have you wanted or wished to tell a man exactly how you feel and what’s on your mind but panicked that doing so would push him away? How often have you said what you’re feeling to a man only to have him withdraw or become angry with you, or disappear altogether?

Does your man think you’re dramatic, that you make a big deal out of nothing and take everything too seriously? Are you sick of stuffing down your feelings, walking on eggshells and pretending everything is okay?

It’s so hard to know what to do, should you sugar coat your emotions hoping that he will still get the message, only to be disappointed when he doesn’t. If you are anything like that, then you know what it’s like to constantly hide your real feelings from a man.

Not telling him how you really feel about him, leaves you feeling bad about yourself, especially since it often means you end up putting up with unacceptable behavior for a long time.

There are acute and chronic effects of hiding your feelings. You see, by not expressing how you feel, your true emotions backfires because he never gets to experience the real you, so he senses there is something about you that he doesn’t understand, which makes him to be unable to connect with you.

Gradually, things start boiling up inside you and when you finally do express your emotions, you begin to burn up with anger and you explode, pushing him away.

Then he feels like your words are attacks and that you are making him wrong and telling him what to do, so, he closes up and becomes defensive.

If you continue to deflect your feelings, the truth about the issue is that, it is

H

never going to be resolved and resentment continues to build between the two of you.

The more you try to hide your true feelings, the more distance and tension he will feel. You feel you can’t win, and it feels awful, paralyzing you with fear of saying the wrong thing.

The truth is, sharing your emotions is the best way to connect to a man’s heart.

You just need to learn how to do it correctly.

You can learn how to make a man fall more and more in love with you everyday, to the point where he wants nothing more than to please you and make you happy.

You can find the perfect words that will inspire him to want to push your relationship forward, whether it’s commitment, marriage, or just deeper intimacy. You can turn your entire relationship around on a dime, no matter how bad things are, by simply changing the words you use with a man.

Unlike what we might be brought up to believe, men have emotional needs too and there are certain phrases that most men would love to hear to feel appreciated. Unfortunately for fear of sounding silly, for pride or timidity, we don’t tell our men often enough how much we appreciate them. ”I trust you I know you can do it”. This is a really magic phrase. It proves the confidence you have in him, in his physical and mental strength.

Men love this one as it makes them feel almighty powerful. Also, you can use this phrase when you want your man to do something for you. “I am so lucky I met you”, For him, this means you are marvellous, absolutely great and more important, “what would I do without you”.

This is another ego booster.

This is the perfect phrase for those situations when you are in trouble and he saves you.

relationship, that can relationshipLead to marriage.

08098283052 •Alao, 38, 7.9ft tall, fair in complexion, a business man, resides in Benin, needs a God fearing and employed lady, aged 35-45.08102173832 •KelvIn, from Delta state, needs a pretty girl, for a relationship.08160293997 •Santos, need a lady, for a serious relationship, that will lead to marriage.07066050714, 08138509165 •Williams,39,a businessman,resides in Lagos, needs an employed lady, for an intimate Relationship.08136034820 •Richard,38,5.7ft tall, dark in complexion, employed, needs a caring and romantic lady, aged 22-42,for a seriousrelationship.08036851909, 08079229364 •Adeola, 35, 5.9ft tall, chocolate in complexion, a businessman,needs a lady, for a relationship, that will lead to marriage. 08160933518

Vanguard,

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

GEMINI; Both your mood and element of luck are as friendly as you would want them to be. Thus success may come the harder way today. Protect your finances.

CANCER; Many will look up to you both for practical assistance and leadership direction thus, you must not ball-up under pressure. Try to reason with your spouse.

LEO; Diplomacy may become very important today as development within your working arena calls for both maturity and cleverness. Be family minded today.

VIRGO; No matter how helpful friends were yesterday it is important you don’t dance to discordant tunes from any quarter today; gamble not with matters-ofthe-heart.

LIBRA; Many people are under pressure today but, if you do away with sentiment and give priority attention to money making, your finances will be better for your efforts. Don’t allow misunderstanding within your family circle go out of hands.

THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 39

LEISURE

YOUR LUCK TODAY

By Richard Eromosele

God will provide ILL you answer such a child affirmatively? Will you just ignore him? Will you be happy that your child has no faith in your ability to cater

W

for him? Will you be hurt?

If we want to be frank with ourselves, the truth is that we cannot be happy when our children loose faith

TERROR MUDA

in us. It is the same God feels when we do not trust His ability to provide for us.

He feels hurt that in spite of His provision for us, we do not appreciate Him.

in “Never say goodbye”

Many of us behave like the son who the father married for and he still wants the father to consumate the marriage for him. This is not healthy. The father will not perform the role of the son for him.

By Lanre Kehinde

SCORPIO; To be on the safer side it is imperative you respect the law and it’s enforcement agents. Some people are trying to deceive you for an obvious reason.

SAGITTARIUS; Early part of the day may bring you good opportunity but for you not to lose it you must exhibit maturity. Protect both your money and source of income.

CAPRICORN; Others will step on your nerves yet it not the best for you to over-react today. It is good to prove reliable but your secrets must remain intact.

AQUARIUS; This may not be the best of days as there will be a few challenges within your working arena.

If you rely on luck today, you would be disappointed.

PISCES; You will need to watch what you tell others, especially those friends you don’t know too well. Be more loving but refuse to gamble with love

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in

“Princess Shii’

By Andy Akman

ARIES; If care is not taken what you have gained yesterday may be lost due to your care-free attitude within your base of operation. Avoid deceit today.

TAURUS; You would fare better if you prepare your mind for possible confrontation from unexpected quarters. Don’t promise more than you can actually deliver.

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send your date and place of birth to the Astrological Counselling, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos

Who do you think I am ?

Dear Joshua, I have been following your write-ups for a long time you can not believe and to be sincere you are good.

Now I wan you to analyse my star and tell me my horoscopic personality. More in to your pen.

VIRGINIA

dadadekola@yahoo.com

Ahmed, Jos. Dear Ahmed, What you will find here under will prove useful if you take them seriously and utilise them ANALYSIS OF YOUR HOROSCOPE DATA/PLANETARY PLACEMENT Spiritual Neptune as the only Planet at home when you were born pointed to you as a person with great deal of spiritual energy you can tap at will, especially if you are conscious of it’s presence in your innerself. But then, with majority of (five) planets placed in the Cardinal Zodiacal constellations you are equally an ambitious person who will desire worldly honour and prominence, and luckily for you, you were endowed with abilities to achieve your ambition.

Prominence of Mutable quality and Air Element in this chart are indications of a person with higher pitch of intelligence who can adapt to so many situations without being stressed unnecessarily. And GREAT LEADERSHIP QUALITY is present here. Although you are a Lady, with nothing-less than SEVENTY PERCENT of PUSH-FULL INFLUENCE in your Horoscope you can unexpectedly become aggressive, especially when issue of freedom is to the fore. Beside 70% of PUSH-FULL INFLUENCE in you, mighty Sun (an indicator of your inner-self) with Uranus (a great freedom lover) conjoined in SAGITTARIUS ( another freedom loving Star Sign) all these are pointers to greater love of freedom in your deeper-inner-self. And whoever is trying to curtail such unnecessarily may unexpectedly court trouble, because you will resist such.

Commen3

by Lawrence Akapa

40—Vanguard , THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

BRIEFING: From left— Mr. Deji Elumoye, Chairman, Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Lagos Council; Mr. Tony Oyatedor, President, and Evangelist Charity Gomba, Executive Director, both of Newstime International Company, at a media briefing on peace and unity in Nigeria at NUJ's Ladi Lawal Press Centre, Lagos.

FOUNDATION LAYING: From left— Mr. Hu Fang, Chief Executive Officer, Tianjin Yuyang Construction Company; Mrs. Funmi Olayinka, Deputy Governor; Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State, and Mr. Sola Oyelade, Project Architect, Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort, during the foundation-laying ceremony of the State Civic Centre in Ado-Ekiti, Tuesday.

20-yr-old jailed for cutting off farmer's fingers

BY SUZAN EDEH AUCHI—A Chief Magistrate Court in Bauchi State has sentenced a 20-year-old man, Abdul Fari, to one year in prison for chopping three fingers off the left hand of a farmer.

The incident happened in Kwabi village of Bauchi Local Government Area of the state.

Vanguard gathered that Fari cut off one Danmaliki Ibrahim’s fingers when the victim complained that the accused person’s cattle wandered into his farm and caused havoc.

According to court records, Fari used a machete to cut off Ibrahim’s fingers before allegedly stabbing him on his right leg.

Ibrahim, who lives in Gwaskwaram village in the

B

local government area, was alleged to have reported the matter to law enforcement agents, leading to the arrest of Fari, who was subsequently charged with criminal mischief and causing hurt contrary to Sections 326 and 241 of the Penal Code.

The accused person pleaded guilty to the offence before the court presided over by Senior Magistrate Shafau Ladan and asked for leniency being a first offender.

In her judgment, Senior Magistrate Ladan sentenced the accused to one year in prison with an option of N20,000 fine and another N50,000 as both compensation for damages done to the crops and the injuries the farmer sustained.

‘Religious tolerance'll solve Nigeria's problems'

BY OLAYINKA LATONA

EACEFUL co-existence and religious tolerance have been identified as panacea to the myriad of problems confronting the nation.

This was the submission of Mr. Tony Oyatedor and Charity Gomba, President/ Chief Executive Officer and Executive Director of Newstime Nigeria, respectively, at a briefing on Insecurity in Nigeria While Ensuring Peaceful Co-existence.

They said: “Nigeria must turn to God for peace to reign in the country. There are too much wickedness and hunger in the society, which in turn breed anger amongst the people.

P

C M Y K

“At Newstime, we have always stood for peace. Look at what happened recently in Port-Harcourt and Mubi.

We don’t need such wanton killings and waste of human lives in our society.”

They blamed the leadership of the country for the wanton killings and insecurity of lives and property in the country.

While charging leaders to lead by example, they said: “In the past, nationalists like Sir Ahmadu Bello, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo, were examples of leaders that led by example.

“They worked for the good of the people. However, today we have leaders that are only interested in themselves.”

Enugu govt has abandoned us— Nsukka people

BY CHINENYEH OZOR SUKKA—THE people of Nsukka in Enugu State have raised alarm over what they described as the state’s poor handling of the annexation of their areas by Anambra and Kogi state governments.

The people said the state government had been “‘partying while Nsukka is burning,” adding that it had done nothing to protect the people of Uzo Uwani and those in Ette, in Igbo-Eze North Local Government Area, whose areas were being forcefully taken over by the Anambra and Kogi state governments, respectively.

There had been trouble at both the Uzo Uwani border of Enugu State with Anambra and Kogi states over alleged illegal declaration of the oil-bearing area as part of Anambra by President Goodluck Jonathan, who declared the state as the 10th oil-producing area in the country.

However, according Nsukka Development Union, NDU, Chairman, Chief Joseph Nwezugwu, the state government had failed to act as tension was mounting at Ette.

N

This he said followed the sacking of Enugu State indigenous teachers in Ette and their replacement with Kogi State personnel, just as it had kept mute as Anambra State government had taken over the Igga area of Uzo Uwani, where Orient Petroleum Resources, OPR, was now exploring oil.

Nwezugwu, told news-

men at Nsukka: “We are in a regime where a government, which has sworn to protect its people, has abandoned them. We are in a regime where a governor has kept quite while his people are being killed and their property destroyed.

“These are people who voted for him. The people he inherited from the defunct Eastern Region, East-

Central State, old Anambra and old Enugu states, now the new Enugu State.

“These are hard times because our leaders have embraced our enemies and turned us into refugees.

“We fail to understand because nobody is talking to us. We feel like fighting back but we do not know the thinking of our leaders, who we voted for.”

Sambo, senators, others condole with Vanguard staff over mom's death

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

ICE President Namadi Sambo, the former governors of Anambra, Enugu and Kaduna states, and Senator Ayogu Eze are among prominent Nigerians that have condoled Vanguard Deputy News Editor, Mr. Emeka Mamah on the death of his mother, Gloria, 86, in Enugu, September 15.

Her funeral starts with a wake-keep on Friday, October 19.

Special Adviser to Sambo, Alhaji Umar Sani, who spoke for his boss, described the death of the matriarch of Mamah family as shock-

V

ing, just as former governors of Anambra and Kaduna states, Senators Chris Ngige and Ahmed Makarfi, respectively, wished her eternal rest.

Dr. Okwesilieze Nwodo and Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emodi also lamented the demise of the octogenarian.

Former Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Ezenwata Itanyi also lamented the death of Gloria and asked God to grant her soul repose.

The former Presidential aspirant on the platform of the defunct National Republican Convention, NRC, Dr. Joe Nwodo,

said: “Thank God for the life of late Gloria and her good works.”

Senator Abubakar Girei, in his own condolence message said: “What a great loss. May God Almighty grant her soul rest,” just as the former Minister for Information, Chief Nnia Nwodo expressed his “deepest” regret over the death of Madam Gloria.

Also, Senator Ayogu Eze and the former Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Gombe State, Mr. Nuhu Poloma, described the death of Madam Gloria as a huge loss to the people of Nsukka Senatorial District.

Declare 3-day fasting, prayers on security, cleric urges Jonathan

BY ETOP EKANEM cleric with Foursquare Gospel Church, Pastor Dayo Adewumi, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan to declare a threeday fasting and prayer throughout the federation over the current security challenges and for peace to return.

Pastor Adewumi, Foursquare’s Senior Pastor/Dis-

A

trict Overseer, Ikeja District, Lagos, made the call at a briefing as part of activities marking the church’s Silver Jubilee.

He said: “There is deep division, security challenges, poverty and joblessness across the land.

But we believe rather than give way to depression and despondency, it is a challenge to all Christians to pray and entreat God for

mercy.”

He said rather than lose hope since the country had not realised her full potentials 52 years after independence, Nigerians must continually pray for divine intervention as peace and sanity will be restored.

The cleric said activities lined up to commemorate the silver jubilee, with the theme Unto a Higher Altitude, include the dedication of the sanctuary of the

church by the General Overseer of the Foursquare Gospel Church in Nigeria, Rev. Felix Meduoye on Sunday; and an anniversary lecture, entitled Rekindling the Embers of True Gospel and Disciple Making for End-Time Revival on Tuesday, October 16.

The guest lecturer will be Prof. Israel Adu, Pro-Chancellor, McPherson University, while there will be revival fire conference between October 17 and 21.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 41

42—Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

KWARA:

Fresh charge to public officials SEVEN months since public officials in Kwara State were given the charge for enhanced performance, through Performance Contracting System of Governance,PCSG, there are indications that the policy seems to be surmounting the apprehension that greeted its introduction in the state public service.

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

W

HEN Kwara State Governor, Abdulfatah Ahmed in January 2012, introduced the Performance Contracting System of Governance,PCSG, for Ministries, Departments and Agencies ,MDAs, in the state, not a few were apprehensive over the workability of the policy, given that the concept was alien to Nigeria’s public sector.

Despite the mixed feelings that trailed its introduction, the policy which basically entails improving the performance of public organisations and officials based on identified performance indicators, was embraced by all the MDAs in the state.

To ensure the success of the policy, Ahmed it would be recalled, directed his commissioners, permanent secretaries and heads of agencies to draw up quarterly work plans and critical success factors. Unlike in some states, where such schemes were abandoned after inauguration, the state government, it was gathered, did not go to bed as it constituted a committee in August to review the

performance of MDAs in line with its Medium Term Sectoral Strategy ,MTSS. Justifying the move, Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold, said it was necessary to review the activities of its MDAs in order to enhance performance.

Though the committee is yet to submit its report, investigations by Vanguard, indicated that key ministries like Works and Transport, Education, Energy, Water Resources and Agriculture have made considerable progress towards the set objectives.

For example, further checks revealed that the Works and Transport Ministries have rehabilitated 900 kilometres of urban and rural roads including those inherited from the previous administration.

In addition, the government also intervened on federal roads in the state including the 14 kilometre Kulende-UITH Hospital Road, while works on Fate Road, Ilorin and Ajase-Ipo Offa Road are currently ongoing. Similarly, plans have been concluded for the rehabilitation of the KishiKaiama Road at N6b, just as the

Preventive Maintenance Policy, is getting rid of gullies on Ilorin roads through a monthly N30 million allocation to the Kwara State Road Maintenance Agency.

Relatedly, the government has moved closer to its target of 500 metre access to portable water with the provision of 180 boreholes across the state, rehabilitation of Pepele Waterworks which serves ten communities in Ilorin East Local Government, expansion of semiurban/urban waterworks and the on-going second phase multibillion naira Ilorin Water Reticulation Project.

In the education sector, the ministry has so far rehabilitated 200 blocks of secondary school classrooms, overhauled the Kwara State School for Special Needs, Ilorin and rehabilitated the ultra-modern Educational Resource Centre.

Another area where the PCSG appears to be making an impact, is the health sector where the administration has a target of 500-meter access to quality health care. Also, the rehabilitation of Ilorin, Offa, Omu-Aran, Share and Kaiama General Hospitals is near

Nigeria must diversify from Oil— Etienam Hon. Bassey Etienam is a lawmaker representing Urue Offong-Oruko State Constituency of Akwa Ibom State. A one time personal assistant to Governor Godswill Akpabio, he spoke to Vanguard in Uyo on grave national issues bordering on security, corruption and economy among others. Excerpts:

BY TONY NYONG

O

N Nigeria at 52 In comparison with Nigeria of yesterday, we still have so much to do. Everybody is now talking about oil, what is happening to the agricultural sector? Lagos State was developed through agriculture but today everybody is agitating for oil. Even those who don’t have oil, what is happening to the groundnut pyramids in Kano in Northern Nigeria?

What is happening to the palm oil? Malaysians came here to take our palm seedlings but today, we are buying oil from Malaysia.

What is happening to our palm oil production? If the crude oil price at the International market crashes today, what would happen to Nigeria? Beyond 52 years, we must begin to look inward and diversify.

For me, the 52 years independence anniversary should be a sober reflection for every Nigerian. There is nothing to celebrate and for the sake of C M Y K

our children we should think ahead. When we talk about corruption, I would say it starts from the home and so, to change this country we must be prepared in all totality to return to God. Right now, Nigeria is economically sick. We must accept the fact that we are sick to move forward. If we do not accept the fact that we are sick, then we cannot be treated.

On agitation for resource control There should be resource control if we must practice true federalism. What is true federalism? The states control their resources. That way we will not be agitating for states’ creation because you would not be ready to generate income and split to the centre. Everybody is looking for more states and local governments because the centre is feeding them. When you stop that you would make every state to begin to think inward. What we are doing now is throwing money around for people who

*Etienam are not able to generate income.

For Nigeria to forge ahead, we must allow the states control their resources. Take for instance, Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, how would you produce power in Akwa Ibom and it is distributed from the centre and you expect stability in power supply? If you produce power in Akwa Ibom and then sell your power to the centre, you can generate here and this state can

*Ahmed completion, while modern hospital equipments have been supplied to 13 General Hospitals and 33 Primary Health Centres.

Besides, the state government has also prioritised the energy sector, following the near 90 per cent implementation of budgeted capital expenditure for the Ministry of Energy. This has translated into 115 electricity projects comprising of rural and urban electrification, supply of transformers and provision of street lights in Ilorin metropolis.

It was further gathered that the progress being recorded by these ministries, are not unconnected with the peer review sessions organised at intervals by the state

government.

Each session, findings revealed, was chaired by the Deputy Governor, Elder Peter Kisira, who reviewed the performance of the MDAs. “This is a serious assignment and we treat it as such. Peer review meetings are our ways of ensuring high-performance in the public service and also motivating permanent secretaries as administrative heads of their ministries to continuously focus on achieving set targets and therefore accelerate the process of governance. It is also an opportunity to identify any challenges and bring them to the governor ’s attention for timely resolution, “ Kisira noted at one of the sessions.

now call for investors. It should not be centralized. Federal Government said, it would privatize PHCN for instance and what did it do? It took over major control. Is that privatization?

Privatization is allowing the market to regulate itself. You don’t control the market. It is like what we say, we are deregulating the oil sector and Federal Government is controlling the market, is that deregulation?

On Northern governors' call for the re-introduction of the on-shore/off-shore oil dichotomy Where in the world is that practiced? Are you telling me that the Exxon-Mobil oil spillage that occasionally happens at Ibeno Local Government in Akwa Ibom and spreads across the coastal lines to the onshore or that the people of Ibeno who survive mainly on fishing as their only occupation should do what? Or that the man in Kano State who is not affected by the spillage and other environmental degradations should come and share equal oil allocation with the man from Ibeno in Akwa Ibom State?

At Ibeno, Akwa Ibom State people are sick from oil while people in Kano want to share

equal money with the man in Ibeno. How fair is that if we must tell ourselves the truth? For me, the issue of offshore, onshore oil dichotomy had been sealed; it was a Supreme Court decision.

The only way to hold this country one is for us to be honest and fair. It is not clamouring for the unity of Nigeria while some other people would bring up issues that will cause disunity of the nation and we expect Nigeria to be one.

Let the sleeping dog lie.

The country’s unity seems to be threatened by the effort of some people who are creating tension to truncate President Jonathan’s administration.

What is your comment?

My take on that like I said is, we must return to God. On a truth I say because a nation without God, what happens?

There would be disunity every where. Nigeria as a nation cannot grow without God. So, it is not a matter of the North or South, if the people are far from God there would definitely be disunity. So, distractions would always come and like I said, Mr. President should stay focus on the agenda he has set to do for the country. He has all the powers and nobody or group should distract him from his focus.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012—43

Jonathan plans to spend N4.9trn in 2013 Continues from Page 5 year, especially in terms of attracting new foreign direct investments, FDIs, which Nigeria is in dire need of.

However, they opined that government appeared to be more concerned with what goes to the political class as opposed to what is best for the masses.

In view of its anti-people tendencies, Esele warned that labour would not support the budget except the capital provisions were made to be higher.

Crude oil benchmark, production Notwithstanding the criticisms, respondents agreed that the $75 benchmark was realistic, as according to Fawibe: “We need to cut down on the crude oil benchmark in view of developments in the global energy world, as more alternative sources are being discovered.”

In spite of the loss of production from the continental shelf through the loss of Bakassi to Cameroon, yesterday, on account of the International Court of Justice, ICJ’s ruling, Esele argued that the 2.53 million daily production target was still realistic, considering not all of the oil and gas resources was ceded to Cameroon.

Besides, with oil price still within the range of $100/ barrel, he said Nigeria still had a lot to fall back on if the price remained at current levels by next next year, which will help reduce budget deficits

Security gets N667bn allocation, education - N426bn In the proposed budget, security received a large chunk of the allocation of N668.56 billion, broken down into Defence N348.91 billion and the Police N319.65 billion.

The Educational sector followed with an allocation of N426.53 billion; Health 279.23 billion; Works N183.5 billion; Agriculture and Rural development 81.41 billion and Power 74.26 billion.

Jonathan disclosed that the budget is based on the prudent economic policies of the government, going by the uncertainty in the global economic environment.

The Federal Government’s crude oil production proposal of 2.53 million barrels per day is an improvement of 2.02 per cent over 2.48 million barrels per day estimate in 2012 The government is projecting Gross Domestic Product, GDP, growth rate of 6.5 per cent, compared

to 6.85 per cent, in its Fiscal Strategy Paper.

The revision in the GDP growth rate, according to Jonathan, is underpinned by the fact that the severe floods experienced over large parts of the country are expected to impact on economic activity in 2013, especially agriculture. He noted, however, that the growth prospects may improve with the plan to boost dry season farming.

The Federal Government is projecting gross federally collectible revenue of N10.84 trillion, of which the total revenue available for the Federal Government’s Budget is forecast at N3.89 trillion, representing an increase of about nine per cent over the estimate for 2012.

It is targeting an increase in non-oil revenue in 2013, adding that ongoing reforms in the country ’s revenue collecting agencies, and the implementation of initiatives to further develop the non-oil sector has continued to yield positive results.

Budget deficit of 2.17%, dropping from 2.85 in 2012 “The fiscal deficit is projected to improve to about 2.17 per cent of GDP in the 2013 Budget compared to 2.85 per cent in 2012. This is well within the threshold stipulated in the Fiscal Responsibility Act, 2007 and clearly highlights our commitment to fiscal prudence.

“We are determined to further rein in domestic borrowing, and this way, ensure that our debt stock remains at a sustainable level.”

Concerning the allocation, Jonathan said the government was maintaining its focus on critical economic and social sectors, noting that some of the sectors are largely driven by private sector activity, while others require a great deal of public sector support.

He said: “The power and gas sectors require a lot of investments to sustain our supply improvements. We shall, therefore, complement available resources with a proposed Infrastructure Euro Bond of about $1 billion in order to complete gas pipelines and other infrastructure investments.

“We have also programmed other grants and soft credits critical to infrastructure and other sectors in our medium term external borrowing plan.”

FG committed to reduction in cost of

governance Meanwhile, President Jonathan has said the Federal Government was taking steps to reduce the cost of governance, and has commenced moves aimed at rationalising agencies with overlapping functions.

He noted that in 2013, the government expects to save costs from the proposed rationalisation exercise.

He said government was also determined to reduce the cost of governance. We are reviewing the recommendations aimed at rationalizing Agencies of the Federal Government with overlapping functions.

This has been taken into account in the preparation of the 2013 Budget, and we expect some modest cost savings from this exercise in the course of the 2013 fiscal year.

“However, more significant progress will be made in 2014, as we work with the Legislature to harmonise those Agencies that have enabling laws, but which also have duplicative mandates.”

Continuing, Jonathan stated, “We have accomplished a number of goals in the Power sector reform programme in line with the Roadmap, including: completion of new units at our thermal power stations, to increase generation; rehabilitation of existing power infrastructure, which has yielded up to 1,000 mega watts of additional electricity.

“Fast-Tracking three NIPP projects, which will bring an additional 1,055 mega watts by the end of the year; and facilitating a power and gas financing package, which includes Government Guarantees, proposed Infrastructure Bonds of about $1 billion, and $150 million of external funding from the African Development Bank to support continued gas supply and the liberalization of the power sector.

“We will remain prudent with our fiscal resources but also ensure that the Nigerian economy keeps growing and creating jobs.

“To this end, the government will continue with the medium-term theme and interventions that are consistent with the objectives of the Transformation Agenda.

“One key plank upon which our economic transformation is based is the achievement of macroeconomic stability.

My Administration has made significant progress in putting the finances of the nation on a sound footing and laying the foundation for rapid and sustainable growth.

“We will stay focused on m a i n t a i n i n g macroeconomic stability in Nigeria.

The budget will be altered —Mark The Senate President David Mark, yesterday, spoke tough to the Executive arm of government that it should expect an alteration of the 2013 budget estimates, just as he warned that the lawmakers would not robotically pass the budget.

Mark told the President that what he presented were mere estimates and not immutable figures which members of the National Assembly would exercise their constitutional powers to do justice to the estimates.

He also told the President that the National Assembly would take into consideration the social and economic challenges the country was currently facing in the course of carrying out its constitutional power.

He said: "Our budgets, from my experience since 1999, have been dogged by three main areas of controversy. These are the time of presentation of the estimates to the National Assembly; whether the National Assembly has the constitutional power to make inputs on the budget estimates; and implementation of the budget.

"On whether the National Assembly has the power to make inputs to Appropriation Bills laid before it, our stand is that parliament is constitutionally empowered to make inputs. What the Constitution enjoins Mr. President to lay before the National Assembly are mere estimates, not immutable figures. And once the estimates are so laid, their consideration becomes subject to the constitutionally prescribed modes of exercising legislative power. ‘’Therefore, we do not think that the Constitution intended to turn the National Assembly into a mere mechanical rubber_stamp that must robotically pass budget estimates as presented. ‘’However, in exercising this constitutional power, we will be mindful of the fact that the social and economic challenges currently besetting our nation are the severest in our contemporary history.

The National Assembly is also conscious of the fact that urgent steps need to be taken to address our dire infrastructural challenges."

The Senate President who hailed the President on his timely presentation of the budget as against previous ones that were usually received late by the National

Assembly, said: "It is gratifying to note that the 2013 Budget Estimates is being presented unprecedentedly in October, 2012. Yet, Mr. President, a compelling case can still be made for a consistently earlier presentation. This will allow for a meticulous and exhaustive consideration and debate and ensure that we work towards passing it before the end of the year."

On implementation of budget estimates, Senator Mark said: "We believe that so long as our budgets are only partially implemented, the full benefits of your administration’s economic policies may not be accomplished."

The Senate President who reminded the executive of one of its legislative functions of oversight to ensure that the budget was fully implemented and projects executed by the Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, said, ‘’When the 2013 budget is passed and signed into law, the National Assembly will deploy its weapon of oversight, more than ever before, to ensure accountability, probity, transparency and full implementation. The need to ensure the efficient utilisation of public finance for the promotion of the public good will be our guiding principle. We will work to ensure that the lofty developmental goals embedded in the budget are fully realised. ‘’Furthermore, we must strive to make our economy conform to global best practices. Experience has shown that the most virile economies are private sector driven. We advise that we continue to follow this time tested economic philosophy. It is important to ensure that the 2013 budget appropriately regulates the compass of the national economy and confronts our various economic, political and social challenges.

FG performance on budget unimpressive —Tambuwal In his own remarks at the occasion, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal expressed the reservation of the Lower House over certain aspects of the budget proposal.

He explained that while passing a resolution on the Medium Term Expenditure Framework (MTEF) for 2013_2015 last Tuesday, the House had fixed the benchmark for the sale of crude oil at $80 per barrel for the purpose of reducing the deficit in the 2013 budget.

Tambuwal also reminded the President about the House’s earlier decision to embark on oversight trips

to monitor implementation of the 2012 budget adding that interim reports which had reached him indicated that the Federal Government’s performance was unimpressive.

Said he : “ As I speak, interim field oversight reports from House Committees on the 2012 budget implementation are clearly unimpressive both in terms of releases as well as utilization and this is a great challenge to all of us.

It is important to state at this point the clear provisions of Section 8 of the Appropriation Act to the effect that approved budgeted funds shall be released to MDAs “as at when due”. This is sadly observed more in breach.”

He identified another source of concern for the Legislature as the management of the excess crude revenues.

According to Tambuwal: “Since 2010 the Appropriation Act has legislated that the excess crude component of the Federation Account be operated under separate records for purpose of transparency and accountability. Besides, Section 30 of the Fiscal Responsibility Act makes it mandatory for the Budget office to submit budget implementation Assessment reports to the National Assembly and the Fiscal Responsibility Commission on a quarterly basis and to publish same on Ministry of Finance Website.

“The President may be unaware that the National Assembly is neither availed evidence of implementation of this policy along with the records of Federal Governments portion of the excess crude funds nor the quarterly implementation reports, as required under the two Acts.”

The Speaker further complained that the National Assembly had become increasingly concerned about the disregard for its resolutions and public comments by certain functionaries of the Executive on same.

He cited the Senate’s Resolution on the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE), the House Resolution on the state of insecurity of the nation, requesting Mr. President to visit and brief the House, the House of Representatives Resolution on the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC), the concurrent Resolution of the two Chambers on Bakassi among others.

He concluded that this situation did not promote cordial relationship between the Executive and Legislature and consequently stability in the polity.

44—Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

BITS

Health workers decry worsening healthcare delivery

BY VICTOR AHIUMAYOUNG

Budgetary allocation WAHSUN-in-session noted that most countries in the West African sub-region are nowhere close to meeting the 15% budgetary allocation for health as stated in the 2001 Abuja Declaration of African Heads of States. WAHSUN-in-session thus categorically reiterates its demand for compliance with this declaration towards revamping public health care delivery and thus helping to save the millions of lives.”

Legislation on decent work: Delegates considered legislation on Decent Work, in general, as a step in the right direction as such could help in ensuring qualitative improvements on working conditions where and when this is genuinely done.

The communiqué noted that “WAHSUN-in-session however

C M Y K

Oyebuchi Chukwu, Minister of health

considers the formulation of the Decent Work Act by the Liberian government, as being questionable and contrary to the spirit of the Decent Work Agenda as enumerated by the International Labour Organisation.

This is because it fails to cover civil servants and maritime workers, who comprise 60% of the country’s labour movement.

WAHSUN-in-session thus calls for an amendment of the law for it to be universally applied to workers in Liberia. WAHSUNin-session viewed the expan-

,

HEALTH workers in Nigeria and other West African countries gathered recently in Tema, Ghana, to review the state of healthcare delivery in the sub-region.

Under the umbrella of West African Health Sector Unions Network, WAHSUN, at 9th plenary session, decried the worsening public healthcare delivery in the sub-region.

Delegates from Health Services Workers’ Union of Ghana TUC, Ghana Registered Nurses’ Association, Medical and Health Workers’ Union of Nigeria, MHWUN, National Association of Nigeria Nurses and Midwives, NANNM, Sierra Leone Health Services Workers Union, National Private Sector Health Workers’ Union of Liberia and officials of the Public Services International Regional Office for English Speaking (East and West) Africa, who attended the meeting argued that the unfortunate healthcare crisis in the region was very worrisome and avoidable with adequate funding.

In a 12-point communiqué, by leaders of WAHSUN including Comrade Ayuba Wabba, President MHWUN, and Dora Etuk, NANNM, from Nigeria, said “WAHSUN-in-session was very much bothered by the fact that it is now very clear that countries in the sub-region will not meet the MDGs target, particularly with regards to health.

This is very worrisome and avoidable with adequate funding for health care delivery.

Comrade Ayuba Wabba, President MHWUN

intensive campaigns at organising health workers in the private sector, both in defence of health workers, and in pursuit of qualitative health care delivery in general. WAHSUN acknowledges that the challenge of ensuring qualitative health care delivery for the citizens of countries in the West African sub-region would require the concerted efforts of all stakeholders in the sector and a redefinition of the dominant paradigm guiding policy. Towards placing the common man, wom-

Towards placing the common man, woman and child at the heart of health policy and practices, WAHSUN will embark on a 3-year Campaign for Quality Health for All in West Africa, from 2013

sion of private sector delivery of health services with concern.

This situation is largely a reflection of the cuts in social spending, particularly for public health which started in the 1980s with the Structural Adjustment Programmes.

WAHSUN-in-session while calling for increased funding of public health noted that even when provided through private enterprise, health services are public services. The only way to make sure that private sector health providers inculcate this notion is by strengthening union presence in private health facilities, which are unfortunately, quite notorious for their anti-union stance.”

“WAHSUN member-unions thus committed themselves to

,

an and child at the heart of health policy and practices, WAHSUN will embark on a 3year Campaign for Quality Health for All in West Africa, from 2013. This campaign will equally be a major platform of advocacy for improving on issues that militate against qualitative health care delivery such as: inadequate and poor state of equipment and logistics, including standard medicines; unacceptable patient-health worker ratios and; violence at the workplace.”

Poverty in Nigeria Lamenting the growing poverty level in Nigeria, the communiqué noted that WAHSUN

was bothered by the seeming paradox of increase in both growth and poverty in Nigeria.

It said “While its GDP virtually doubled from $170.7 billion in 2005 to $413.4 billion in 2011, the poverty rate rose from 54% in 2004 to 69%, in 2011 with that for 2012 estimated at 72%, by the country’s National Bureau of Statistics.

Increase in social vices This situation has led to heightened disillusionment and increase in the incidence of social vices. WAHSUN considered this state of affairs as arising from the mono-cultural reliance of the country’s economy on the oil sector as well as the legendary corrupt character of the country’s ruling elite.”

“WAHSUN-in-session thus calls for an alternative model of economic development in the country which will place industrialisation and re-distributive social policy at its core. Further, the fight against corruption in the country must be hinged on building alternative social institutions which rest on trade unions and progressive civil society organisations that are genuinely interested in making sure that corrupt elite in the country are duly checkmated.”

The communiqué added that he 9th plenary session ended with a rededication of WAHSUN affiliates to deepening the growth and development of the Network and contributing significantly to the improvement of public health care delivery and the betterment of the lives of the millions of people in the subregion.

BITS NDE trains 530 unemployed youths IN continuation of it’s job creation agenda, in Nigeria through provision of various marketable skills, National Directorate of Employment, NDE, plans to training 530 unemployed youths under the Enviromental Beutification Training Scheme, EBTS. The training,according to NDE, is aimed at providing unemployed youths with opportunity to acquire necessary skills on routine aesthetic and beutification work of cities, towns and homes in the building and construction sub sector. A statement in Abuja, by Mr Edmund Onwuliri, Assistant Director, Information and Public Relations, of the organization, said the programme would also enable the youths not only to create employment for themselves but others upon completion.It said three states from each of the six geo-political zones and Abuja were slated for participation in first phase of the training, that will last for three months.

Lagos public service staff Dev centre win best practice award LAGOS State Public Service Staff Development Centre, PSSDC, Magodo, has emerged winner in the Public Sector category of the maiden Human Resource Corporate awards of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria, CIPM. At the awards presentation, during the 44th annual national conference of CIPM, in Abuja, the institute said that the award to PSSDC was in recognition of the unprecedented changes that had taken place not only in the centre’s service delivery focus but much more importantly in the development of key human resource competencies, skills and policies.

Presenting the award on behalf of the institute, a member of the Conference Planning Committee, Mr. Wale Adediran, noted that the award was the outcome of the assessment of the human resource policies and practices of the Centre as well as the perception of its employees.

Receiving the awards on behalf of PSSDC, its Director-General, Mrs. Olubunmi Fabamwo, expressed pleasure that the reforms being undertaken to reengineer the internal processes of the Centre as well as reposition it for relevance and excellence as a learning and development destination of choice in Nigeria and beyond, was being recognized by critical stakeholders in the capacity building community.

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 45

46—Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 Edited by MCPHILIPS NWACHUKWU 08026350360

ing the fruit of the womb, her prayer has always been “You my breasts you shall breastfeed babies. Infact, our forebears attach much importance to breastfeeding that they represent the goddess of procreation or fertility by a moulded or carved figure of a woman breastfeeding her baby in the traditional palaces, altars, or shrines like the Mbari religious mud house in Igbo-land.

In the past, mothers breastfed their babies with joy and animation for about two or three years; and their babies sucked breasts with relish and satisfaction, thereby establishing and consolidating the mother-child type of relationship or bond.

Indeed, breastfeeding endears a child to his mother. It establishes or strengthens the child’s confidence and trust in his mother. Thus, when a baby cries for food and he is being laid on his mother’s breasts, it rekindles his deep trust in his mother cum confidence that he is in a rightful place, not only for food but for care, affection and protection.

Mother's breast A mother breast feeding her baby.

Dying Breast Feeding Culture in Nigeria B

REASTFEEDING is an age-long tradition among all the ethnic groups of Nigeria which is religiously practised by our forebears for the psychological, spiritual, mental and physical development of the young.

It is abnormal and indeed a taboo for a mother not to breastfeed her baby.

Traditionally, a mother is expected to breastfeed her baby.

Peradventure if the child loses its mother at birth, it can be breastfed by a very close relation or a young grand mother or step-mother who relocates to do so.

Breasts are regarded as a sacred gift in African culture. God gave woman as well as other female mammals breasts for the purpose of nursing their children. For example, when Hannah gave birth to Samuel, the Bible says, “…So the woman abode and gave her son suck until she weaned him” (1Samuel 1:23b, KJV).

In other words, Hannah breastfed her son until she weaned him. She did not use cow-milk to give suck to her son but breast-milk. Her son was accustomed to the nipples of his

mother’s breasts, not the nipples of feeding bottles.

Owing to the sacredness attached to woman’s breasts in African culture, the elderly peo-

,

By APPOLOS IBEABUCHI OZIOGU

ter.

She will just hold her two breasts which she has used in nursing him or her, and raise them towards heavens and then

Breast-milk is a divine nutrient from the Creator, which changes to natural food for the nourishment and development of infants mentally, psychologically, physically, and spiritually

ple oftentimes use it as a medium of making good-wishes and blessing or evil spell on somebody. Hence, if an aged but happy parent or elderly person tells a maiden entering into marriage, or a young female benefactor saying, “Your breasts shall breastfeed babies”; that means she will be productive or she will nurse many children.

The contrary is the case when an elderly person in his or her great fury and rage tells a maiden, saying “Your breasts shall not breastfeed a baby in life”.

Sacredness of the breast Also, as a result of the sa credness attached to breasts, an embittered mother can place a curse upon her son or daugh-

,

pronounce a curse on her son or daughter and the curse shall surely stand.

To a woman, patiently expect-

The Bible encapsulates it all, saying: “But thou art He that took me out of the womb: Thou didst make me hope when I was upon my mother ’s breasts” (Psalms 22:9, KJV). When a baby is therefore placed upon his mother’s breast for suck his spirit is highly lifted; there is a strikingly strong relationship and agreement between his spirit and that of his mother.

In the same vein, a baby’s spirit can sense abject rejection of not being nursed by a mother and this can cause a life-time spiritual, mental and psychological wound. Not only does Bible support breastfeeding, the Quran also agrees that God created breastfeeding and designed it for the benefit of human beings and all other mammals. If breasts and breastfeeding are not important, God would not have created them.

Because of its importance too, the World Breastfeeding Week is held in the month of August between 1-7 annually which is

celebrated in more than 120 countries world-wide in commemoration of the policies of the World Health Organization and United Nations Children Fund.

Some renowned Islamic scholars said that God gave the required period for breastfeeding among human beings as two years. It is this kind of motherchild relationship or bond, emanating from a long period of feeding in the olden days that makes a breastmilk-addicted three-year old child, after playing exhaustively outside with his peers on the sandy ground under hot weather will rush home and quickly bounce on his mother and draw her sagging breasts with his two dusty but sweat-soaked palms and begin to suck them voraciously while his weak, weary and tiresome mother patiently endures the pains of her child sharp and tender teeth.

There is no specific time or reserved area for child’s breastfeeding. A mother can breastfeed her baby anywhere and anytime when he is hungry, be it in the public place like: Office, Market, School, Hospital or even in the commercial buses, boats. Aeroplanes, and or worship centres. Breastfeeding can be done in the private or isolated places like: Farms, residential areas or living rooms and bed-rooms. Breastfeeding therefore has no regulation of time or restriction of place.

The importance of breast feeding cannot be over-emphasized. Breast-milk is a divine nutrient from the Creator, which changes to natural food for the nourishment and development of infants mentally, psychologically, physically, and spiritually. According to African culture, a woman is believed to possess such effeminate characteristics and qualities as humaneness, tender-heartedness, humility and passion.

She is indeed regarded as a special seed of human species that births, not only natural seeds (children) but spiritual seeds of passion, affection and kindness. These seeds of passion, affection and kindness are believed to be transferable and passed to her baby through breastfeeding.

Terra Kulture exhibits 1000 Faces A photo Exhibition by Micheal Ogbaa titled 1000 Faces of Lagos will hold between the 27th and 28th of October, 2012, at the Lagos based culture house, Terra Kulture.

The exhibition according to the artist is meant to document the city of Lagos as a cosmopolitan mega city in sub Saharan Africa.

1000 Faces of Lagos is an attempt at telling the story of contemporary Lagos using a thou-

sand pictures. "Having invested about forty weekends and public holidays in touring various parts of Lagos, I have taken over ten thousand photos of

certain aspects of life in Lagos with the intention of sharing one thousand of them with the public using the most advanced channels.” He said.

Fayemi exhibits at Quintessence EYOND Silver Gelatin, a mixed media photography exhibition by Alfred Olusegun Fayemi will hold at Quintessence Gallery, Falomo, Ikoyi, Lagos. The exhibition which focuses on the diversity and

B

multiplicity of imagery that emanate from new element in photography to another level will feature 20 works of the US based documentary artist. It will open on 13th of October and run till 26th .

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 47

48 —Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

C M Y K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 49

50 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

C M Y K

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 51

52—Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

Women and ageing I

WAS called to deliver a presentation to a group of women professionals and the topic picked was “women and ageing”, and I thought to myself, women! We never want to age.

We still want to wear that size 8/10 top or pants even when we clock 70. Looking and feeling younger than one’s age is no crime really, but it takes a lot of self conscious effort. You can look and feel beautiful by watching what you eat. It just takes a lot of determination and making up your mind, what do I want to look like when I turn 60?

You need to start your day off right. Eat breakfast! Breakfast is an important meal and having a good breakfast just helps to give you the right start to your day. You can treat yourself to a cup of cereal with milk or a piece of toast with peanut butter, or grab a piece of fruit, if you are in a hurry to get to work.

It all boils down to the fact that you need breakfast. When you skip breakfast, then

eatrightconsult@yahoo.com 08091276796

go for brunch, your body has done a long stretch without the glucose it needs to keep it going. Skipping breakfast particularly, gives me headache!

Eat a variety of foods because your body needs a lot of nutrients to maintain its glow. No one food or food group can provide you with all the nutrients, so have a variety of foods to ensure that you are getting what your body needs. If you eat only fruits and vegetables in a bid to keep slim, you might run into trouble because you will end up skimping off on those needed carbohydrates and essential amino cum fatty acids.

And eat those foods in moderation too.

Too much of anything is bad. Any food can fit as long as you have them in moderation. It’s so typical of us ladies to overeat, when we eat out and somebody else is paying! Drop that habit; it doesn’t help

with Funke Oshifuye your waistline. More often than not, you enter a restaurant and you see most of the ladies with their meals and a bottle of soft drink by the side. Must we always take soft drinks? Don’t get me wrong, am not saying soft drinks are bad, if it is taken in place of your meals, fine! But with your meal that is already loaded with calories, you are adding extra calories. If you ask me, water is just fine.

Maintain a healthy body weight. Obesity and overweight is a risk factor for many diseases including heart disease, diabe-

tes, osteoporosis and loads of them. Excess body fat results when you don’t balance your energy intake with your expenditure. If you are very active, you can eat more. However, if your lifestyle is sedentary, you need to eat less.

Either way you need to do regular exercise. Get on the move! You don’t need to be an athlete to be on the move. You can park your car a little further and take a walk. Take a long stroll instead of taking the next available bike. You could use the stairs instead of the elevator. You could also do a brisk walk or better still, dance!

Dancing is a good form of exercise, you know? While you wind that waist and shake your body, you could actually enjoy it and maintain your weight.

Apart from the fact that exercise helps you to burn off those extra calories by helping to use up the excess glucose stores in our body, it also helps your circulatory system to work effectively. Exercise also makes you stronger by making you energetic and gives you confidence all the way.

Ijesha residents benefit from Free health charity fair

BY CHARITY UGWUANYI HERE was joy in abundance for the less privileged last weekend as they receive free health care services at St. Brigids Catholic Church, Ijesha, Lagos state, during the annual Charity Fair of an international charity organisation, St. Vincent De Paul.

The Fair which began 13 years ago, aims at providing free health care services to the less privileges that are in need of treatment but are hindered by some reasons, such as finance, are unable to get such treatments.

Chairperson organising committee for the 2012 Fair, Mrs. Mary Nneji, stated: that the organisation sees to the need of the

T

less privileged irrespective of their religion, sex, race etc. It was established since 13 years ago and it is a platform where the sick are being provided with free treatments.

Here, we invite several specialists and general practitioners and we also invite some pharmaceutical companies that support us with as many quality drugs as they can give.” Mrs. Nneji went further to announce that they sponsor the medical bills of people with severe illnesses at different hospitals such as LUTH and some other hospitals.

Speaking on the achievements of the Fair since it began, she went further to state that initially, they deal with 200 people but now they number up to a thousand and above who receive free medical care.

One of the invited doctors at the event, Dr. Unagwu Onyejiuwa Edward, a general practitioner, disclosed that common illnesses discovered during testing and screening included malaria, urinary track infection and diabetes.

“I am in charge of consultation in this section and anyone discovered with severe illness will be referred to the specialists in other sections.

Speaking on the challenges faced by the organisation in providing free medical care to this large number of beneficiaries, the president of the organisation at St. Brigids Catholic Church, stated that the major hindrances the organisation encounters in accomplishing her vision is funds. NIGE

COMMON SEXUAL PROBLEMS AND THEIR NOVELTY BASED SOLUTIONS (ADVERTORIAL)

D

EAR Uche, years ago, my wife left me for another man. We finally got divorced seven years ago. Since then I have not remarried. My kids were too young and unprepared. T hey are all teenagers now and two of them are in the university. It has been a lonely life for me all these years.

It will be nice to have a woman by my side again. But my children have been very hostile to my female friends.

The other day I came home and my daughter was shouting and abusing my lady friend. I have tried and sacrificed so much for these children. This is more than I can bear – Moses Dear Moses, your story is heart breaking. Life after a divorce is never easy. For children, it is worse. No matter what their mother did, children will always want their parents to reconcile and stay married. It is human nature.

Older kids are the ones most likely to clash with their father’s female friends because they see them as threats that have come to ensure their parents never get back together.

Here is what I suggest. Arrange a family meeting with your children. Quietly explain to them that when you got married to their mother, you never knew that your marriage will not last forever. Sympathise with them again for their pain and suffering.

Children suffer the most in divorces. Gently remind them that their mother was the one who cheated on you and left you while you stayed back and raised them all by yourself. Make them understand that you are not looking to replace their mother.

All you want is a woman in your life to end the loneliness and put a smile on your face again. Tell them that you love them so much and that they are the most important thing in your life, but that you need their help to move on just like their mother has since moved on.

After this heart to heart talk with them, hopefully they will realise that their father is just a regular guy who needs love too.

Your girlfriend will have to work extra hard to win the

friendship of your children as well.

It won’t be easy. But if you handle this well, I believe your children will find the strength within themselves to let you move on. Take care Moses. Good luck – Uche My wife does not enjoy intercourse and has never had an orgasm. What can I do to change this? Samuel Dear Samuel, get the movie Incredible Orgasms. It will teach you everything you need to know – Uche Can you help me find Mega Me? It is a penis enlarger that my friend used last year. He says it is very good but I cannot find it anywhere. I will appreciate it. Thanks – Adewale Yes Mega Me Penis Enlarger is very scarce but we have it. Call the numbers here or visit www.zeevirtualmedia.com – Uche I am always dry and I want to be wet always. Do you have any drug or something for this? Nancy Nancy what you need is a lubricant. They prevent vaginal dryness. Call and ask for Climax Burst Lubricant or Liquid Sex Orgasm Gel – Uche My erections just became so weak. I have gone for test and I don’t have diabetes. What to do – Nonso Nonso, there are many things that cause weak erection.

Take Sex Voltz supplement one hour before intercourse. It will give you strong erections, stamina and longer lasting performance – Uche The Mega Me Cream that I used for Penis enlargement worked well but your people have not told me what to do about my premature ejaculation – David David you can use a delay cream to stop premature ejaculation. Get Keep it Up Delay Gel – Uche That’s it for today. The names of the people featured here have been changed for their privacy. Adults in need of these treatments/novelties can call 08191978308 or 08027901621 or any other number here to order or they can order online at www.zeevirtualmedia.com. Zee Virtual Media delivers to you wherever you are in Nigeria. For enquiries, send your emails to custserv@zeevirtualmedia.com - Uche Edochie, MD, Zee Virtual Media..

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 53

C M Y K

54 — Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012

Sexy Sylvie van der Vaart trades catwalk for an elastic band Balancing act ... Sylvie gets help from Rafael

Hug ... fan embraces David Beckham after he gives her his LA Galaxy shirt

Becks gets hug after giving his shirt to fan

Happy couple ...

Sylvie and Rafael van der Vaart

S

AVID Beckham is pulled in for a hug by an overjoyed fan after he gave her his LA Galaxy top.

The footie ace, 37, took off his No23 shirt and presented it to the woman following his side’s 2-1 defeat against Real Salt Lake.

Despite the disappointing result, the dad of four happily

D

signed autographs for kids in the stands at the stadium in Carson, California.

And even those who did not get that close to the hunky star got a treat — as he showed off his toned torso after getting rid of his top.

We told earlier this week how the former England captain also gave tourists an eyeful

as their bus drove past him while he was modelling boxer shorts for H&M. Becks was filming an ad for the clothing giant in LA when he was surprised by the tour.

He got the giggles at the unexpected visit before making his escape in his black Range Rover.

•Fancy a quickie?

Going quick ... Usain Bolt

C

ONDOMS given out to Olympic stars like Usain Bolt are being sold on eBay by volunteers and staff.

After the Games, workers stripped the Olympic Park of memorabilia.

Everything from clocks and maps to mouse mats and umbrellas were grabbed by desperate souvenir hunters. Much of it is now for sale online — including many of the 150,000 condoms given to athletes to encourage safe sex. They are on offer for a fiver.

C M Y K

Bolt condoms on ebay in huge Olympic sell-off Even staff who worked for disgraced security firm G4S have put their green uniforms up for sale.

A source said: “After the Paralympics closing ceremony many of the venues and both media

centres were stripped out. Anything not nailed down was just lifted.

“Everyone expected a few things to go missing but it was still a shock to see how much stuff was grabbed.

“Tens of thousands of

Treat ... David Beckham shows off his toned torso after the game

YLVIE van der Vaart must have rued wearing glittery high heels when she faced the challenge of walking a taut rubber band.

The Dutch model was given a helping hand by her hubby Rafael as she carefully stepped along the thin elastic on German TV show Wetten, Dass...?

Sylvie did well to maintain her balance despite her inappropriate footwear

and frequent bouts of the giggles.

Another game called on the couple to play football, which can’t have been too much of a stretch for midfield maestro Rafa.

However, Sylvie didn’t display the same kind of silky skills as her fella, causing the sweet pair to contort in hysterics.

Clad in a stunning red dress, smiley Sylvie looked every bit a model as she took to the stage with Rafa at the Dusseldorf show.

Hulk Hogan afraid of another sex tape F U R T H E R embarrassment could be heaped on Hulk Hogan and his family following claims ANOTHER sex tape starring the wrestler could surface online.

A one-minute clip featuring the 59-yearold muscleman and the ex-wife of his DJ pal Bubba The Love Sponge emerged last week.

pounds worth of stuff has just disappeared.”

Some of the 70,000 volunteers — praised by 2012 chairman Lord Coe for their efforts — are selling their pink and purple outfits.

A

nd a road sign warning of delays during the torch relay in West Sussex is also available for £45, but hasn’t attracted a single bid.

The source added: “There’s always going to be a market for memorabilia. But some of the stuff is just silly.”

It shows the wrestling legend stripping off before climbing into a four-poster bed with Heather Clem and is thought to be just a snippet from 30 minutes of X-rated footage.

And now it’s been reported that Hulk has warned his ex-wife Linda, his daughter Brooke and son Nick that this wasn’t his only sexual tryst caught on camera.

It comes after Linda Bollea added to the family woes last week when she was arrested for drink-driving.

A source told RadarOnline: “Hulk is very concerned that a new sex tape could emerge.

“After the first video was leaked he warned Linda, Brooke and Nick that he could have been caught on camera in the past.

“The family is absolutely mortified their name has been sullied in such a tacky way.

They never

imagined that Hulk could drag them into such an embarrassing situation.

“Hulk’s admission has left the family praying that their reputation isn’t further muddied – last week was a week to forget for the Hogans, including Linda’s DUI arrest.

“But only time will tell if another sex tape finds it way on the internet.

The family is certainly bracing for the worst.”

•Hulk Hogan

Vanguard, THURSDAY, OCTOBER 11, 2012 — 55

125-man Liberia delegation arrives today Arsenal sign up Chuba A

THE Liberia Football Association on Wednesday informed the Nigeria Football Federation that its delegation to Saturday’s 2013 African Cup of Nations qualifying cracker against the Super Eagles will arrive on Thursday. The time of arrival was not stated.

The letter from the LFA simply stated that the contingent of 125 persons, comprising players of the Lone Star, technical and backroom staff, LFA officials, government functionaries, media representatives and supporters will storm Calabar in a chartered aircraft.

The Liberian delegation will be accommodated at the Channels View Hotel, while match officials, led by Match Commissioner, El Hadj Moucharaf Anjorin from Benin Republic will stay at the Axari Hotel.

The Confederation of African Football has picked South African match officials to take charge of the crucial game, with school teacher Daniel Bennett at the centre.

RSENAL’s young forward Chuba Akpom has put pen to paper on a first professional contract with the north London club.

Akpom is regarded as one of Arsenal and England’s most exciting young talents, and is yet another promising product of the Gunners’ excellent academy.

The new deal tops off a brilliant week for the Newham-born youngster, who turned 17 this week

Obudu LOC retains $50,000 top prize for winners

tie against the Lone Star of Liberia.

“If the medical team in Turkey clears him, we should be expecting Yobo on Friday, for the Saturday game.,” said the Nigeria coach.

“Our hearts go out to him and his family and at this point we want to say his health is most important to us because we will still need him soon for the Nations

TOUGH: Lone Star of Liberia player fights for possession against a Super Eagles defender in the first leg of the 2013 Afcon qualifier in Monrovia which ended 2-2/

Return our silver, get your gold, IOC tells Nigeria

BY BEN EFE IGERIAN men 4x400m team at the Sydney 2000 Olympics elevated to the position of gold by the International Olympic Committee has been

N

Cup proper and the World Cup qualifiers.

“We know he loves to play games like this, that was why he was shedding tears but we have assured him that capable replacement will help secure the ticket to South Africa 2013 Nations Cup.” Yobo’s deputy and first-choice goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama has thus stepped up as skipper in the absence of the influential centre back.

Ndubuoke Continues from BP board to return Nigerian football to the Samson Omeruah era where the Eagles were better placed in the FIFA ranking and a force to be reckoned with in the world. ‘’The rot did not start with Maigari, but they should not let us go through this rough road of shivering over Liberia. I know the Eagles will qualify ’’, he assured.

The for mer SWAN President regretted that C M Y K

HE Local Organising Committee for the 8th Obudu international mountain race and the 4th African Nations Mountain

T

Keshi Continues from BP

and scored his first ever goal for the Under-21 side in a 2-0 win over Reading.

“Everyone at Arsenal would like to congratulate Chuba on his first professional contract and we look forward to his continued progression with the club,” read a statement on the club’s official website.

Akpom, a precociously talented footballer, was selected for the Under-18s when just 15-years old, making 15 appearances for the club at that level.

Nigerian football had fallen to the valley to the extent that lawmakers now travel to watch U17 women football. ‘’I’m ashamed that an experimental soccer tournament like Women’s U-17 World Cup has been elevated to the level that our lawmakers now travel to be part of it. It is a pity.

I wish Eagles well. But we should not sleep with one eye open for Liberia’’, Ndubuoke cautioned.

given up to November 1, 2012 to return the silver medals in their possession before the process of awarding the gold medals could be commenced.

The United States was stripped of the gold after a member of its 4x400m team, Antonio Pettigrew confessed to dope use during the Games. The Nigeria quartet of Jude Monye, Clement Chukwu, Sunday Bada and Enefiok Udo-Obong clinched the silver in that memorable race.

The IOC executive

board confirmed before the London 2012 Olympics that gold medals will be formally awarded to Nigeria four years after it had stripped the Americans.

In a letter to the Nigeria Olympic Committee, the IOC instructed that the silver medals and second placed diplomas awarded to the team, be returned.

“In order to proceed with the re-allocation of items in line with the new ranking, we kindly ask your NOC to return the following items received

Yobo Continues from BP travel to Nigeria to morally boost his mates for the tie against Liberia.

“If the medical team in Turkey clears him, we should be expecting Yobo on Friday, for the Saturday game. Our hearts go out to him and his family and at this point we want to say his health is most important to us because we will still need him soon for the Nations Cup proper and the World Cup qualifiers. We know he loves to play games like this, that was why he was shedding tears but we have assured him that capable replacement will help secure the ticket to South Africa 2013 Nations Cup”, Keshi

said.

Keshi praised the patriotic zeal of the players in camp, who have assured him that they will pick the ticket not only for Nigeria but for their injured skipper.

“There is no panic over Yobo’s injury, we are just motivated to secure the ticket and reassure him that we will all be together at SA 2013.

Expectedly, Yobo’s deputy and first choice keeper, Vincent Enyeama, has stepped up as the team skipper in the absence of the influential centre back and has been playing the role quite well. He is now expected to lead Nigeria out against Liberia on Saturday in the final round of the Nations Cup qualifier.

by your team in connection with the Men’s 4x400m relay event,” the letter stated.

The other members of the team include Nduka Awazie and Fedelis Gadzama who were reserves.

NOC spokesman, Mr. Tony Ubani confirmed the reception of the letter. He added that all the concerned athletes have been contacted and that the NOC will meet the November 1 deadline.

R u n n i n g Championships has revealed an unchanged prize money outlay for this year ’s edition.

Two years ago,the total prize money for the 6th edition of the race was increased by over $35,000 by the organisers following the introduction of the women’s version of the African Nations Mountain Running Championship.

The total prize money which gone up from $245,500 to $278,000 has been retained for this year’s edition.The prize money for the first to the 10th position for this year’s race remains the same with the winners in each gender category going home with $50,000 each.

Mikel Continues from BP Speaking to Journalists, Keshi said that he needed all the good Players in the National Team but cannot have all of them at the same time to play a particular match.

He said, “We need Anichebe, we need Obafemi Martins; we need Uche Kalu; we need Yakubu Aiyebgeni; and we need all the good players. But I cannot bring all the players at the same time; there must be a number of players that I must work with in any match.”

Keshi said that invitation to the national team must always be on merit and not on sentiment and that he was thinking of how to make Nigerians happy on Saturday, adding that the players were ready to do their best against Liberia.

According to him, the super Eagles captain Joseph Yobo was missing in the team due to injury sustained while playing for his club.

He commended the Cross River State Government for the maintenance of the UJ Esuene Stadium, adding that the Stadium was getting better with every match.

“There is a lot of improvement; this is one proof that we can maintain things in this country; I just want to thank the good people of Cross River.”

He called for prayers for the team by Nigerians, stressing that the boys required the encouragement of all and sundry.

“I want Nigerians to come out and cheer the players; and they will reciprocate the gesture by wining the match,” Keshi stated.

VANGUARD, THURSDAY, OCT0BER 11, 2012

Mikel arrives camp

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU, Calabar

HELSEA Midfield er, John Obi Mikel Wednesday, completed

C

Yobo blow for Eagles!

•Bows out of Liberia cracker •Keshi confirms skipper's injury

UPER Eagles skip per, Joseph Ikpo Tambarin Yobo, spent over one hour on phone with Head Coach of the team, Stephen Keshi to confirm his unavailability for this weekend’s

S

Moses: Eagles 'll make everyone proud UPER Eagles and Chelsea attacker, Victor Moses said he cannot wait to silence boastful Lone Star of Liberia in Saturday ’s Nations Cup qualifier.

The Eagles are in a must win situation and

S

Continues on Page 55

BY TONY UBANI HE Lone Star of Liberia will arrive Nigeria today to further heighten the heart beat of coach Stephen Keshi and many Super Eagles fans over Saturday ’s crucial African Cup of Nations qualifer.

Coach Keshi has asked Nigerians to pray for the team to qualify while the NFF are running from pillar to post to make assurance doubly sure for the team to qualify.

Skipper Joseph Yobo, sent shock waves to the spines of many when he opted out of the cracker due to a torn cruciate ligament. Nigerians are

T

•Yobo

Keshi unruffled by Yobo miss N

PUZZLE

•Mikel

Why lose sleep over Liberia — Ndubuoke

Continues on Page 55

IGERIA coach Stephen Keshi said there is no cause for alarm in the absence of skipper Joseph Yobo just as Mikel Obi joined up on Wednesday.

“There is no panic over Yobo’s injury, we are just motivated to secure the ticket to South Africa 2013,” Keshi assured.

•Moses TODAY'S

crucial tie against the Lone Star of Liberia, the coach confirmed on Wednesday. Yobo’s knee is said to have swollen up after he played 70 minutes for his Turkish side at the weekend Keshi revealed that it was a tearful Yobo, who revealed to him that the medical team at Turkish side, Fernabahce, have ruled him out of the Nigerian tie with a torn cruciate ligament, and have put him on medical examination to determine whether he can

the 22 players invited by the Super Eagles head Coach, Stephen Keshi for the return leg of the final Afcon 2013 qualifier between the Super Eagles and the Lone Star of Liberia on Saturday at the U.J. Esuene stadium Calabar.

Mikel arrived at the Metropolitan Hotel Camp, Calabar at about 12noon to complete the number of invited players which excluded injured captain, Joseph Yobo.

Continues on Page 55

Keshi revealed that the medical team at Turkish side Fernabahce have ruled him out of the match against Liberia with a torn cruciate ligament and have put him on medical examination to determine whether he could travel to Nigeria to cheer the team to victory.

YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

Yobo’s knee is swollen after he played 70 minutes for his Turkish side at the weekend According to the Eagles coach, Yobo, spent over one hour on phone with him to confirm he will not be available for this weekend’s crucial Continues on Page 55

ACROSS 4 Moor (5) 7 Accident (6) 9 Container (3) 10 Energy (3) 12 Churlish (5) 13 Tread (4) 15 Destroyed (5) 17 George (6) 19 Orient (4) 20 Dullard (5) 22 Globe (3) 24 Plead (7) 27 Beverage (3) 28 Sarcasm (5) 31 Tie (4) 33 Strolled (6) 35 Weird (5) 37 Slaughter (4) 38 Group (5) 39 Tin (3) 41 Fish (3) 42 Holding (6) 43 Listened (5)

on the edge. But Fan Ndubuoke, General Manager of Heartland FC, is worrried stiff that our football has degenerated to the level of being apprehensive over Liberia. “It is sad that our football has gotten to the level of worrying over Liberia and our chief coach asking for prayers to beat Liberia. I know that the rot did not start today, but it is somewhat ridiculous that we are losing sleep over Liberia’’, Ndubuoke who has seen his team win two Federation Cups in his short spell said. He charged the Maigari-led Continues on Page 55

DOWN 1 Diverted (6) 2 Abaft (6) 3 Faucet (3) 4 Stockings (4) 5 Ooze (5) 6 Amulet (8) 8 Fairy (4) 11 Extensive (9) 14 Speed (4) 16 Withered (4) 18 Aperture (4) 21 Final (8) 23 Surety (4) 25 Rip (4) 26 Travel (4) 29 Hateful (6) 30 Yapped (6) 32 Dissuade (5) 34 Defeat (4) 36 Watched (4) 40 Novel (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Crop 4, Pal 6, Base 9, Urn 10, Business 11, Item 14, Map 16, Store 19, Laboured 21, Genus 23, Darkness 24, Stern 27, Lay 31, Gaol 33, Amicable 34, Ire 35, Fled 36, Din 37, Numb.

How to Play Sudoku

THE VIGILANTE

DOWN: 2, Roue 3, Pail 4, Prepared 5, Lose 6, Built 7, Art 8, Sneer 12, Class 13, Obese 14, Mug 15, Penal 17, Offer 18, Erase 20, Duration 22, Sky 25, Trail 26, Ruled 28, Raid 29, Gain 30, Slim 32, Ore.

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.

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-8944295. Advert Dept: 01-7924470; Hotline: 01-8737028; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Advert:advertproduction@yahoo.com Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

C M Y K