Yakowa buried amid tears, eulogies

...towards a better life for the people

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VOL. 25: NO. 61780

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

N150

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

NASS passes N4.987trn 2013 Budget •Pg.7

EFCC declares ex-gov Audu wanted •P 8

Yakowa buried amid tears, eulogies

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

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•Jonathan, govs, others pay last respects •I had a perfect marriage with Yakowa — Wife •Kaduna Govt names N6bn bridge after him

ADUNA—TEARS flowed freely, yesterday, amid eulogies as President Goodluck Jonathan led dignitaries to pay their last respects at the burial of former Governor of Kaduna State, Patrick Yakowa at his country home in Fadan Kagoma.

Yakowa died on Saturday, December. 15, in a

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Social Media and Social Exchange •P.19 theory... (2)

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DONU KOGBARA: •P. 17

Mr & Mrs

YAKOWA'S FUNERAL—President Goodluck Jonathan consoling Amina, the wife of late Governor of Kaduna State, Sir Patrick Yakowa during the funeral service, yesterday at Fadan Kagoma, Kaduna.

Senate okays $8bn for medium term external borrowing —P.6 C M Y K

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POCKET CARTOON

KWARA BUDGET—Kwara State Governor, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed (right) being welcomed to the State House of Assembly by the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Rasaq Atunwa for the 2013 budget proposal presentation in Ilorin, yesterday.

Yakowa buried amid tears, eulogies Continues from page 1 helicopter crash at Nembe Local Government Area of Bayelsa alongside five others, including former National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew Azazi.

Late Yakowa’s wife and children fought back

tears as they performed the dust-to-dust rites for the late governor after the funeral oration by the Bishop of Sokoto Diocese, Rev. Mathew Kukah.

Among the dignitaries at the burial were, former Head of State,

LIFEWORDS

P

BY PASTOR ITUAH

UT others first, see yourself as the vehicle for others’ growth and enrichment. The first shall be the last and the last will soon be the first.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

D

R. Hawkins, based on his 29 years research, suggests that it is crucial for each of us to be aware of the significance of raising our frequency of vibration to the level where we begin to match up with the energy of the universal Source.

Here are some fascinating figures from Dr. Hawkins’s research for you to contemplate as you review the impact you can have on humanity simply by being on the higher rungs of the ladder: “One individual who lives and vibrates to the energy of optimism and a willingness to be nonjudgmental of others will counterbalance the negativity of 90,000 individuals who calibrate at the lower weakening levels. One individual who lives and vibrates to the energy of pure love and reverence for all of life will counterbalance the negativity of 750,000 individuals who calibrate at the lower weakening levels. One individual who lives and vibrates to the energy of illumination, bliss, and infinite peace will counterbalance the negativity of 10 million people who calibrate at the lower weakening levels. One individual who lives and vibrates to the energy of grace, pure spirit beyond the body, in a world of complete oneness, will counterbalance the negativity of 70 million people who calibrate at the lower weakening levels.” Every thoughts and action of yours is meaningful, it is divine to act and live life in an uplifting way.

Gen. Abdusalami Abubakar, the Senate President, Senator David Mark and the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal.

The Chairman of Governors’ Forum, Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers and his wife, Judith; Governors Babangida Aliyu of Niger, Gabriel Suswam of Benue and Oluegun Mimiko, Ondo; Peter Obi of Anambra, Seriake Dickson, Bayelsa and Fayemi of Ekiti State were also in attendance.

Also at the burial were Deputy Governors James Ngilari of Adamawa, Peter Kishira of Kwara, Abubakar Aliyu of Yobe, Umar Mustapha of Borno and Damishi Lucas of Nasarawa.

The National Chairman of PDP, Alhaji Bamangar Tukur, his predecessors, Chief Solomon Lar, Chief Audu Ogbe, Alhaji Amadu Ali as well as Prof Jerry Gana, were also in attendance.

Also present were ministers, the national Security Adviser Col. Sambo Dasuki and some aides of the President.

Yakowa goes home The casket bearing the remains of Yakowa arrived open ground of St. Paul Catholic Church

in an ambulance with registration number KDS 157 by 10:20am.

It came by road from Kaduna, 250 km North of Kagoma, and was escorted by Yakowa’s widow Dame Amina Yakowa; her four children, and a convoy of family members, friends, associates and some cabinet members of Kaduna State Government under tight security.

As the casket was brought out of the ambulance, there were wailings from the crowd, as the casket was carried into the main church.

The burial ceremony started at 11am with the arrival of President Jonathan Goodluck to the open space of the church where three large canopies, each twice the size of basketball field, were erected and surrounded by heavily armed guards.

Yakowa was a nationalist —President Jonathan In his remarks, which he delivered extempore, President Jonathan Goodluck said: “This is a solemn occasion. I thank the church for what it has done today and for praying for Nigeria.

With your

prayers, Nigeria will move forward. I condole with the people of Kagoma community and the people of Kaduna for this great loss.

“Let me condole all Nigerians over this loss.

Our late brother was a nationalist. Death is a necessary end that will come when it will come.

How and when it will come will make us think and act differently.

“We have been told by philosophers that the world is a stage where everybody plays his part.

Yakowa played his part very well, as a civil servant, he epitomised the best of the civil service; the discipline of the civil service; the character of the civil service not the kind of civil service today that Directors have more houses than the richest man like Dangote.

“Surely he played his role on earth very well.

He left us at a time his vision is too loud, it is unfortunate but that is the will of the Almighty God. “Yakowa from all we have heard is somebody that had no ethnic and religious divide in his blood.

“When we elders in our private discuss things that will divide us, Yakowa talked about peace, love and unity and development.

“He has brought all of us here today. I will use this opportunity to urge all Nigerians, especially those of us who have been given this privilege of holding very high political offices that sometimes we don’t merit, but because God wants it that way and by divine providence we are holding such offices; we should emulate the life style of our late brother”.

He was a different kind of politician —Mark

The Senate President, Senator David Mark also spoke at the service, saying “Patrick Yakowa was a different kind of politician, he was humble, dedicated and a committed nationalist.

“He built bridges not just between Muslims and Christians, but even within the government. We shall miss him, but more than anything else, we as Christians, know that Yakowa is resting in the bossom of the lord. May his gentle soul rest in peace.”

He died at God's appointed time — Kukah Earlier in a message, Rev. Mathew Kukah, said no one could neither teach God knowledge nor question his decisions; therefore people should not feel despondent over the death of Yakowa.

He said the deceased died at his appointed time by God and urged the people to ignore those who are wielding suspicious story about his death.

He debunked the purported claim that a section of religious divide in the state was rejoicing over the death of Yakowa.

He noted that former head of State, Gen Muhammadu Buhari, a devout Muslim, cancelled his 70th birthday in honour of Yakowa.

He said the deceased made his marks as the first child from the Christian dominated southern part of Kaduna to attain top position at various levels of government. Kukah said Yakowa also broke the jinx by becoming the first Christian executive governor of Kaduna.

Continues on page 8

6—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Senate okays $8bn for medium-term external borrowing

BY HENRY UMORU & JOSEPH ERUNKE

A

BUJA — THE Senate, yesterday, gave President Goodluck Jonathan the approval to go ahead with external borrowing to the tune of $8,209.53 billion to enable him fund the proposed pipeline projects under the medium-term (2012-2014).

The approval by the Senate is higher than the original $7.9 billion requested by President Jonathan.

The Senate also noted that the Federal Government’s external debt profile was presently at a level it could accommodate more borrowings without exceeding the international limit of 40 per cent Debt/GDP ratio and the country’s limit of 25 per cent.

Also recommended by the upper chamber was the approval of projects to be implemented by Federal Government and its agencies, just as it approved projects for states which the amount for on-lending has been stated.

The approval by the Senate was upon discussions on the report of the Senator Ehijie Edobor Uzamere (ACN, Edo South) led Joint Committee of Local and Foreign Debts and Finance on proposed pipeline projects under the Medium-Term (2012-2014) External Borrowing plan.

According to the proposed total loan amount, states will have $2,263.239 billion; Federal, $4,846.3 billion, totalling $7,109.53 billion while continuation of the Eurobond issuance for federal projects is $1 billion and Diaspora Bond for Federal Government is $0.1 billion.

The lawmakers also called for robust oversight by relevant committees on the implementation of the projects for which these loans were being approved, just as the Senate deferred projects for states under any facility which the amount for on-lending is not stated.

Aftermath of fire incident at the extension of ‘D’ Wing of Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Ikeja, in Lagos, yesterday.

Suleja bombing: SSS tenders 250 IEDs as evidence zAs court declines custody of evidence

BY IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

A

BUJA — A Federal High Court sitting in Abuja, yesterday, admitted into evidence, 250 different explosive making devices allegedly meant to be used by six apprehended members of the Boko Haram sect to attack the venue of an event that was attended by Vice President Namadi Sambo in Kaduna State on July 28, 2011.

However, trial Justice Bilkisu Aliyu, yesterday, declined to take custody of the evidence comprising IEDs and bundles of connector wires, even as she granted the State Security Service, SSS, leave to take them away for safe keeping pending when it would be needed for examination by the court.

Meanwhile, there was palpable tension within and outside the court premises immediately the proof of evidence was brought to court

amidst tight security.

The entire court vicinity was cordoned-off by hordes of security personnel comprising the SSS, Prison officers and armed mobile policemen who mounted sentry at strategic points within the court until further hearing on the case ended yesterday.

It would be recalled that a Senior Army officer who led the team of soldiers that caught the six accused persons while on their way to wreak havoc in Kaduna State, had on December 6, told the court that “the dangerous components of Improvised Explosive Devices, IEDs, we caught them with, if you prime them, it can in matter of seconds bring down the whole of this high court building.”

The witness whose identity was masked owing to the sensitive nature of the case, previously told the court that in a bid to beat the security

Solid minerals yield N1.7bn —RMAFC

BY EMMA UJAH

A

BUJA — THE Federal Government earned about N1.7 billion from the solid minerals sector between 2010 and 2011, the Revenue Mobilization, Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, has said.

The government which attributed the earnings to its advocacy and mass mobilization campaigns on economic diversification said the states from where the minerals were mined would be

paid the 13 per cent derivation next year.

Chairman, RMAFC, Public Affairs and Communication Committee, PACC, Ambassador Zubairu Dada, who disclosed this to newsmen at the end of the 67th plenary session of the commission, in Abuja, yesterday, also expressed optimism that beside complimenting revenue from oil, revenue from the solid mineral sector could ensure even development in the country as every part of the

country produces one solid mineral or the other.

He explained that in line with the second Executive Order of July 2002, the sharing of the derivation fund to beneficiary states would be based on the 13 per cent Derivation Indices using 2010-2011 Solid Minerals Revenue Contribution by the 36 states and the FCT. The PACC chairman said it was gratifying to note that unlike oil and gas, Solid Minerals were found in every state of the federation including the Federal Capital Territory.

checkpoint mounted by soldiers at Gummel Junction at Kachia in Kaduna, the suspects hid themselves inside a trailer covered with tarpaulin.

Before the case was subsequently adjourned till January 9, 2013 for further hearing, a radioactive expert with the SSS, Mr Michael Adebayo, in his testimony, yesterday, told the court that the explosives could be easily triggered by constant contact, noting that as such, it would be dangerous to bring them

out in the open court for further analysis.

He explained that once the explosives were connected to cordex cables which were also tendered as exhibits before the court, it was capable of razing a five-storey building with over seven thousand metres impact.

Ab-initio, two other prosecution witnesses confirmed that they indeed recovered the items after three of the suspects were arrested in Kaduna State, adding that the other items recovered from the alleged Boko Haram kingpins included four handsets and a black Honda civic car.

Oteh must go, Reps insist

BY OKEY NDIRIBE & EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

A

BUJA — THE House of Representatives, yesterday, insisted that until the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh, was fired, the commission would continue to enjoy zero budget allocation.

Addressing journalists on activities of the House in the last one year, Chairman, House Committee on Media and Public Affairs, Zakari Mohammed, said:”We will not touch her budget until she is sacked. We have done our findings and we have made our recommendations. We will always have a meeting point.

It is like a child and his parents having a quarrel, they both must meet somewhere. ”We and Oteh are at a meeting point now and as you are aware, it was the House resolution which has the force of the law.”

Mohammed explained that the House and Senate were on the same page on the issue.

On the endorsed 2013 N4.987 trillion budget, Mohammed said the 2012 budget components would not run over to 2013, saying: “If we allow that, it would affect capital projects in the budget. ”The $79 benchmark was agreed upon by both chambers because we know it is possible as the excess will be used to settle local debts. This development will go a long way in boosting the private sector of our economy. “ Reacting to a question on why the Millenium Development Goals, MDGs, budget was approved, despite the failure of the promoters to defend the budget, Mohammed said: “MDGs are global things and Nigeria is a signatory to them. We will be failing in our duty if we fail to appropriate money for them. “

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012—7

BY OKEY NDIRIBE, EMMAN OVUAKPORIE, HENRY UMORU & JOSEPH ERUNKE

A

BUJA — THE National Assembly, yesterday, suppressed agitation against executive non-implementation of the 2012 budget and passed the 2013 budget of the Federal Government, albeit with a N63 billion increase to the N4.924 trillion proposal submitted by President Goodluck Jonathan.

The passage nonetheless, the battle line with the executive remained with the zero allocation accorded the Securities and Exchange Commission, SEC, upon reservations of the administration’s failure to adopt its resolution demanding the dismissal of SEC’s DirectorGeneral, Ms. Arunma Oteh.

In passing the budget, the National Assembly adopted $79 as the benchmark for crude oil price, though it adopted the executive proposal of crude oil production of 2.53 million barrels per day and an exchange rate of N160 to a US dollar.

President Jonathan in his proposal had requested crude oil price to be fixed at $75 per barrel.

The passage of the budget by the two Houses, Vanguard learnt last night, was upon serious lobbying by the executive and the last minute moderation by some legislators especially in the House of Representatives who had mobilized to truncate the earlier promise of delivering the budget before year’s end.

Deputy President of the Senate, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, who presided in the Senate and the Deputy Speaker of the House, Chief Emeka Ihedioha who chaired the House, in their separate remarks, however, brought the angst of the legislators to the fore as they lamented the poor implementation of the 2012 budget.

Remarkably, the National Assembly extended the time frame for the implementation of the capital side of the 2012 budget until April 2013.

Emodi’s intervention

The decision by the members to pass the budget, it was learnt, followed serious consideration of the pleas of the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters, Senator Joy Emodi who many of the legislators considered in toning down their opposition. Senator Emodi was at the head of executive trouble shooting missions to the two Houses during the consideration of the budget.

The reservations of the legislators nonetheless, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday hailed the lawmakers for the speedy consideration of the budget, saying it was a loud commentary on the maturity of the leadership of the two houses.

An enthused Emodi also said

BOOK LAUNCH: From left: Hajia Adepeju Shittu; Chief Rasheed Williams, first President, Eko Club/Chairman, Board of Trustees; Alhaji Muritala Ashorobi, member; Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State and Engr. Labi Lawal, President, Eko Club at the public presentation of Blessings: A History of Eko Club, in Lagos, yesterday.

NASS passes N4.987trn 2013 budget zJerks budget by N63bn zWarns against poor implementation zCuts off funds for SEC zExtends 2012 budget to April 2013 zSenate uncovers fictitious projects in budget it was a bold declaration of the inspired leadership in the two houses and maturity of members of the National Assembly.

“By the early passage of this budget, the Executive and the Legislature have indeed made a joint statement that they are truly partners in governance and are increasingly taking steps to place Nigeria on a path of economic growth and prosperity,” Senator Emodi told newsmen in the National Assembly, yesterday.

In the 2013 budget, N387,976,000,000 was set for statutory transfers while N591,764,000,000 went for debt service just as N2,386,024,770,349 was earmarked for recurrent (nondebt) expenditure while the balance of N1,621,477,655,252 was left for capital expenditure.

Under the capital expenditure, Works got the lion share with N168,173,800,000, followed by Water Resources that was allocated N84,228,166,366 while Power got N73,159,378,866.

Senate uncovers fictitious projects

In the report submitted to the Senate by the Senate Joint Committee on Appropriation and Finance on the 2013 Appropriation Bill, the committee noted the presence of fictitious projects.

“If the painful sight of abandoned projects in Nigeria

will be a thing of the past, then on-going projects must be properly defined.

“A situation where projects not found in 2011 and 2012 budgets are found in 2013 as on-going projects is very misleading. In the same vein, a situation where uncompleted projects are not included in the budget of succeeding years is wasteful.”

Warns against slow, non full implementation

The Senate also observed that “the Auditor-General who serves as a check to government accounts within and outside the country is left with meagre amount that can barely sustain his office.”

It regretted that conceptualisation of the budget by the executive was still a problem that it must face, adding: “Conceptualisation of the budget by the executive is still a big issue that we must confront as the representatives of the people. There should be veritable template for budgeting especially on capital projects. If the painful sight of abandoned projects in Nigeria will be a thing of the past, then on-going projects must be properly defined.”

Extends 2012 budget to April

The same proposals were adopted by the House of Representatives following the earlier harmonization by the appropriation committees of the

two chambers.

The House in its report decided to roll over unspent capital funds till April next year and decided not to approve funds for SEC under the leadership of Ms Oteh.

“Notwithstanding the provisions of section 19 of the Finance (Control and Management) Act, 2004 or section 1 (I) and (iii) of the 2012 Appropriation Act or any other finance law for the time being in force, all unutilized, unexecuted and unimplemented capital expenditure component of the 2012 Appropriation Act shall be rolled over and shall be construed to form part of the 2013 Appropriation Act, provided that the unutilised capital expenditure component of 2012 Budget shall lapse on the 12th day of April 2013.”

Cuts off funds for SEC

Ruling out funding for SEC upon its misgivings on the executive’s failure to heed its resolution on the sack of Oteh, the House report read: “All revenue to SEC, however described including all fees received, fines, grants, budgetary provisions and all internally and externally generated revenue shall not be spent by the Securities and Exchange Commission for recurrent or capital purposes or for any other matter, nor liabilities therein incurred except with prior appropriation

and approval by the National Assembly.”

However, Communication adviser to SEC, Mr. Obi Adindu, last night said the capital market regulatory body would not comment on the development.

The deputy speaker of the House, who presided over the session explained that the decision of the chamber to brush away perceived frictions with the executive and pass the budget was in line with the promise given by the House that it would pass the budget before the end of December.

In line with the submissions of the Deputy Speaker, House spokesman, Hon Zakari Mohammed noted that though the House had some reservations about the budget, it had to pass it in fulfillment of its promise and in the general interest of the masses.

Meanwhile, the Senate following a motion by Senate leader, Senator Victor NdomaEgba, adjourned sittings to January 16, 2013.

Emodi hails quick passage

Hailing the passage of the budget yesterday, the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters said the quick passage was a pivotal moment in the history of the nation.

Speaking with journalists yesterday, Senator Emodi noted that the development was a confirmation that all is well between the National Assembly and the Executive, adding: “This development is a confirmation of my position that harmonious working relationship exists between both arms of government and has put paid to speculations that there is rift in their relationship.”

8—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

May your tenure be fruitful.

I thank all of you who have come here for us. God bless you.

Jatau Yakowa, Yakowa’s son

Akwa Ibom State Governor, Godswill Akpabio (m) with General Overseer of Redeemed ChristianChurch of God, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, praising God during the 9,999 AKSG Carol Night in Uyo Sport Stadium, yesterday.

Yakowa buried amid tears, eulogies Continues from page 5

He was humble — Bishop Kaigama “Yakowa was a humble dedicated Christian Catholic; he was loyal, he loved the church. He was not the pretentious Christian, he was not a Christian by political convenience, he was a Christian from the heart and he loved his God and his people. If you ask me what you want the governor, Yakowa, to tell God, I know he is with God, so I will request that he should tell God three things.

The first one is that he should tell God to tell us in Nigeria to respect the sanctity of life. The way we kill with such recklessness is so abominable.

“People use religion as a political weapon, to kill and attack, people use religion to foster their political and group interests. Yakowa stood for every person, why do you have to use your religion to exploit another person? Why do you have to exclude the other person because he does not worship in your religious way?”

Governor Rotimi Amaechi “There is one aspect of Yakowa that nobody has spoken of which he spoke about several times. He said that when we talk about peace and disagreement, it is the rich men, those in government. The poor man does not fight a Muslim or a Christian. He said there is no difference between the Kaduna Muslim and the Kaduna Christian. He said only one thing unites them- poverty.

He said the solution to peace is to fight poverty. He promised me that the number of years he will be in office, he will fight poverty.

“Until we are able to fight poverty, that is when we will achieve peace. I have told my friends including Bishop Kukah that no matter how you preach on the pulpit, a hungry man is a hungry man.

Yakowa believed that all of us who are in government should fight poverty together and then we as Muslims and Christians can worship in peace.”

My marriage was a perfect one —Mrs Yakowa “As if he knew that he will go before me, he imbibed in me all the virtues that have been described; the fear of God, peace, patience, respect, loyalty, dedication, humility, justice, hardwork, contentment, sharing, sincerity, prudence, loving among other things “I will live with my children, to partake in the bounties of these virtues.

“I thank President Goodluck Jonathan, Vice president Namadi Sambo and their respective wives, for showing that `my husband was part of them. I thank the governors` wives for showing sisterly love to me. I will miss you because I will no longer be in your forum.

“Most of you have promised me that this relationship has already been established and it will be forever. I pray that may Yakowa’s death may bring unity to the people of Kaduna State.

“I also want to congratulate the new governor, Alhaji Muktar Ramalan Yero, my

younger brother. Since you have worked with my husband, you will be up to the task. I pray that God will give you that wisdom.

“I call on all the people of Kaduna State to please cooperate with our new Governor.

“We all need your prayers and support to fill this extra large shoe, because we believe with prayers nothing is impossible. I stand today a very happy man, because from what I gathered, Nigerians have unanimously testified that Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, CON, a papal Knight of St. Gregory. Dan Massanin Gwong, Baba Jatau, Giwan Amina was a good man and a bridge builder who touched the lives of many across the length and breadth of this country.

“We have embraced our father ’s death in good faith, as our father has taught us to accept anything that happens in life, no matter how painful as the will of God. “He has spent his life as servant of the people. My father was an apostle of peace, always preached peace at any given opportunity and has made the ultimate sacrifice.

That sacrifice was made on

the altar of peace.

“I pray that this sacrifice will not be a wasted sacrifice. I pray there will be peace in Kaduna State; I pray there will be peace in Nigeria.

“I described the helicopter crash which killed my father as a grand design by God to show Mr. President that Yakowa, indeed his brother, sincerely believed in him and his administration. It was a design by God to show northerners and southerners that we are indeed brothers and sisters.

“Daddy, God has finally called you to rest, the rest that you constantly denied yourself while alive. We are happy that you are in a better place with God watching over us.”

Kaduna Govt names N6bn bridge after Yakowa Kaduna State government yesterday named the N6billion Fourth Kaduna Bridge after the former governor of the state, late Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa.

Governor Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, made this known during Yakowa’s burial in his home town, Fadan Kagoma yesterday.

Alleged Embezzlement: EFCC declares Audu, ex-Kogi gov wanted

By IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

A

BUJA —ERSTWHILE Governor of Kogi State, Abubakar Audu, yesterday, ran before the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court, begging it to invoke its powers and stop the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, from arresting him.

The embattled ex-governor approached the court shortly after the anti-graft agency declared him wanted yesterday.

EFCC had in a statement issued launched fresh man-hint for the former Governor over alleged offences bordering on conspiracy, stealing and misappropriation of public funds.

The commission, said in the statement by its Acting Head on Media and Publicity, Mr Wilson Uwujaren, that its action “followed the failure of the suspect to respond to invitation”, stressing that, “attempt by the EFCC to arrest Audu at his 32, Sulaiman Barau Street, Asokoro, Abuja residence on December 11, 2012 failed as he allegedly evaded arrest.”

Specifically, Audu was accused of fraudulently enriching himself to the tune of over N4 billion while he held sway as governor of Kogi State between 1999 and 2003.

The move to arrest him fol-

lowed a Supreme Court ruling of November 23, 2012, which gave the EFCC the nod to go ahead and prosecute the former governor, after the apex court dismissed appeal seeking to abort his trial, as substantially lacking in merit.

Consequently, EFCC, yesterday, implored “anyone having useful information about the whereabouts of the suspect to notify its offices in Abuja, Port Harcourt, Lagos, Kano and Enugu or report at the nearest police station.”

M

eanwhile, in a counter move, the former governor, through an originating summons that was entered by his lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, yesterday, urged the high court to put an end to what he termed “an abuse of court process” by the EFCC. Contending that the action of the agency in declaring him wanted was baseless, Audu, told the court that there was no need to commence any fresh process of investigation and or prosecution against him in respect of his tenure as Governor of Kogi State between May, 1999 and May, 2002, since he had already been charged on an 80-count charge still pending at the High Court of Loko-

ja, Kogi State.

He prayed the court to de clare that EFCC’s letter No: CR: 3000/ EFCC/ABJ/ISOS/TM.11/ VOL. 7/ 37 dated December 11, 2012 inviting him to interview by one Kabiru A. Shehu on an undisclosed on-going investigation activities involving the Plaintiff, with a view to freshly arraigning him before a Court in Abuja in the face of a pending charge duly initiated by the same respondent at the High Court of Justice presided over by Justice S. T. Hussaini during the same period of the plaintiff’s tenure as governor, amounts to a gross abuse of the process of court.

Besides, he beseeched the court for “a declaration that the plaintiff cannot legally be arraigned and /or prosecuted by the respondent or any other person or authority within the country in respect of offences allegedly committed during his tenure as governor of Kogi State between May 1999 and May 2003 when there is subsisting a charge pending before the High Court of Justice, Lokoja, presided over by Hon. Justice S.T. Hussaini and the Court of Appeal, Abuja in Appeal No: CA/A/381c/2011, alleging the same offences committed during the same period and arising from same facts as the pending and extant charges.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012—9

Only Amosun sent representative to us — Pilot’s family, ...shelves burial plans

BY BOSE ADELAJA

T

HE AGED parents of copilot Navy Lt. David Adeyemi Sowole, who also died in last Saturday ’s chopper crash in Bayelsa State, yesterday refused to comment on the Chief of Defence Staff, CDS, Admiral Ola Sa’ad Ibrahim’s assertion that the Defence Headquarters had rendered the necessary assistance to the family.

However, they told sympathisers that they were grateful to Governor Ibikunle Amosu of Ogun State who was the only one that sent a representative to commiserate with them.

The family said there are no burial plans for the late pilot for now.

They also said they did not want to be-labour the issue of partiality by the Federal Government, whom they accused of pretending that only former Governor Patrick Yakowa and former National Security Adviser, Andrew Azazi died in the crash.

They said the family was still having a closed door meeting with other relations in connection to the issue.

The deceased’s elder sister Funke Kalejaye, who spoke to Vanguard in their Iyana-Ipaja abode, said the burial plans will be made public whenever the family is set.

"You know his body has just left Bayelsa and it is proper to perfect our plans before disclosing it to non-members of the family,’’ she said.

Kalejaye, also appreciated the gesture of the press so far, adding, ‘’I also finished from NIJ and I know the impact of the press, but for now, we have said all that need to be said

and the rest of the meetings will be behind closed door.’’

When Vanguard visited the No. 28, Akintoye residence, at 9a.m., the family was still in a sorrowful mood as scores of

sympathisers urged the deceased’s mother to find the courage to forge ahead.

A prayer session was held in one of the family ’s bedrooms but later moved to

Prince Bola Ajibola, SAN, former Minister of Justice and Attorney General of the Federation (left) and Oba Olusanya Adegboyega Dosunmu, Olowu of Owu kingdom, during the Olowu's son's engagement ceremony in Lagos, yesterday.

S’ Court adjourns hearing in FG, Lagos land revenue face-off

BY BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

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AGOS —Supreme Court has fixed March 14, 2013 for hearing in a motion over which tier of government should issue consent for transactions on federal lands in Lagos State, which the Federal Government filed a suit against Lagos State Government.

Filing a motion for judgment, the Federal Government, who gave fiat to Olisa Agbakoba & Associates to challenge the practice in the Supreme Court in its original jurisdiction, asked the Supreme Court to enter judgment for the Federal Government in default of the defence of Lagos State, noting that Lagos State has filed a Memorandum of Appearance but

Acid victim, Egbo dies in Lagos

BY IFEANYI OKOLIE

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AGOS —CHIKE Egbo, the 25-yearold student at Enugu State College of Education, who was bathed with acid by her estranged fiancé, David Suleiman, in November, has been reported dead.

Vanguard gathered that, Egbo died early yesterday morning, at the Burns Unit of the Lagos State University Teaching Hospital, Ikeja.

Egbo's father, Matthew Egbo, who confirmed the incident told Vanguard that his daughter fell into comma around 11: p.m. on Wednesday night and was placed on a life support machine before she gave up the ghost around 1a.m. yesterday.

Suleiman was alleged to have attacked Egbo and an Okada rider, identified as Sunny Daniel with a can of acid at Bakare Street, Ikotun, Lagos, on November 5, 2012, following Egbo’s refusal to allow him access to their only child.

Suleiman, who was subsequently arrested by the police in Ikotun was transferred to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, in Yaba.

He was later charged to an Ebute-Meta Magistrate Court on a two counts charge of attempted murder and causing grievous bodily harm.

failed to file a defence.

In the suit, Federal Government is asking the apex court to declare that Lagos State has no power under the Land Use Act to issue consent in respect of lands owned by the Federal Government in Lagos State.

The practice which involves billions of naira in land revenue to Lagos State has resulted in a face-off between the two tiers of government, with the former Attorney General of Lagos State Olasupo Shasore, SAN, admitting in a letter dated 19th July, 2010 that the issue might require a judicial pronouncement.

While the Federal Government issues consent, Lagos State government insists on issuing its own consent in a practice called “regularisation”.

Fire outbreak at MMIA, Lagos

BY DANIEL ETEGHE

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AGOS —THE D wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport, MMIA, was yesterday gutted by fire at about 11:30a.m.

According to sources, the fire broke out at the construction site which is an extension of the MMIA terminal building of the airport during an ongoing welding work.

General Manager C o r p o r a t e Communications of the Federal Airport Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, Mr. Yakubu Datti, confirmed that the fire was caused by the activities of welders working on the site and lasted for about 15 minutes.

It was further learnt that the fire broke out from the spark of the welding that fell on the synthetic foams amongst other building materials which then went into flames.

Datti, however, noted that the fire was put out by the prompt intervention of the fire service attached to the airport.

CLO condemns arrest of JAF leaders

BY INNOCENT ANABA

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AGOS — Civil L i b e r t i e s Organisation, CLO, has condemned the arrest and detention of leaders and members of Joint Action Front, JAF, a coalition of civil society organisations in Nigeria, at a peaceful protest to demand for the repeal of Lagos State Traffic Law, recently enacted by the state government.

CLO in a statement by its Executive Director, Mr. Ibuchukwu Ezike, yesterday, expressed shock at the rising tide of intolerance by certain over-zealous security operatives working for corrupt and lawless politicians, who try to criminalise human rights defenders.

He said activists fight to expose their fraudulent practices and gross disdain for respect for rule of law and human rights.

Those arrested were Dr. Dipo Fashina, National Chairman of JAF; Mr. Abiodun Aremu, Secretary of the Coalition; Hassan Taiwo; Usman Oloyede and Segun Oladunmi.

10—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Apology

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N PAGE 52 of our December 12, 2012 editiion of the Vanguard Newspaper, we published a news story entitled 'Tension Mounts as Izala Vows to Attack Christians During Christmas.'

We have since discovered that the story was not correct.

We hereby retract the news story in its entirety and apologise to Izalatul Bidi’a Wa IkamatusSuna in Bauchi for the inconvenience the said publication may have caused.

-Editor

Police nab medical doctor, 24 other alleged pipeline vandals .Doctor says vandalism more lucrative than medicine

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AGOS— THE Inspector General of Police’s Special Task Force on AntiPipeline Vandalism Unit, Force Headquarters Annex, Lagos, has nabbed 25 suspected vandals, including a medical doctor, for allegedly

vandalising pipelines in different parts of the country.

Mr. Friday Ibadin, Assistant Commissioner of Police, ACP, in charge of the task force, disclosed this yesterday in Lagos, while parading the suspects before journalists.

According to the task force commander, the doctor, who has a clinic, claimed that he went into the business because it was more lucrative than the medical profession.

Ibadin said that some of suspects were arrested in

Ikorodu, Takwa Bay, Altlas Cove and Owode in Lagos State, as well as Ibafo, Igbesa, Iperu, Sagamu and Fidewo in Ogun respectively.

He said that items recovered from them were two (33,000 litres) trucks loaded with

RCCG embarks on evangelism

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S PART of its annual evangelism programme, the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) has started its five-day “Lets-Go-A-Fishing” programme.

The yearly event serves as an evangelisation platform to reach out to people and draw them closer to God. The General Overseer of the church, Pastor Enoch Adejare Adeboye will minister on the last day of the programme while King Sunny Ade is also expected to minister in song on Christmas Day, at the Centre for Management Development (CMD), Shangisha.

Anenih is chairman of NPA; Tukur, TCN

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HE FEDERAL Government last night announced the reconstitution of the boards of four of its parastatals, the National Ports Authority, the Nigerian Maritime Administration And Safety Agency (NIMASA), the Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC and the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN. Chief Anthony Anenih is to act as chairman of NPA, Abu Kefas is chairman of NIMASA, Chief Funsho Lawal, chairman of CAC and Engr. Hamman Tukur, Chairman of the board of the reconstituted TCN.

Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State (2nd right); his deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori (middle); his Special Adviser on Women Affairs and daughter of the late Justice Kayode Eso, Mrs Funmilayo EsoWilliams (2nd left); son of the deceased, Arc Olumide Eso (right) and grand children during the last stopover of Justice Eso's corpse at Gbongan Junction/Ife-Ibadan road, yesterday.

petroleum products, 105 (50- litre) jerrycans and 18 (25 litres) jerry cans filled with petroleum products.

Other items included 32 drums filled with petroleum products, a pumping machine and an outboard engine.

“One of the suspects, popularly known as Sesan (a.k.a Vandal) has been on the wanted list. That name is not his real name.

He lives big in his community, but his main job is to vandalise NNPC pipelines.

Amosun okays severance pay for Daniel’s aides

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

A

BEOKUTA— Indication has emerged that Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun has ordered the payment of severance packages of all political office holders that served between 2003 and 2011 during the administration of former Governor Gbenga Daniel.

The order for the payment which was contained in a circular issued by governor Amosun himself to the state Commissioner for Budget, Mrs. Oluwande Muoyo instructed the commissioner to pay the allowances.

Vanguard gathered yesterday that, Amosun changed his mind some months after he had stopped the payment of the cheques earlier reportedly issued by Daniel to all political office holders that served under him.

It was learnt that, first of the sledged hammer Amosun wielded on Daniel and his associates was when he stopped the order of payment made by Daniel at the twilight of his administration shortly after he was sworn into office few days after Daniel’s order.

However, Governor Amosun was reported to have said that the decision was part of his respect he has for the rule of

law as well as his avowed determination to uphold justice in the state.

Vanguard gathered that the least paid among the political office holders would go home with a minimum of N3m according to the circular which was released by the governor.

Confirming the

development, former Special Assistant to Daniel on Media Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Adetokunbo Fakeye who spoke with newsmen, however, appealed to Amosun to consider 13 former Daniel’s aides who had been excluded from the list before Daniel left

office.

He also declared that since the severance allowance was statutory, himself as well as other 12 affected former political office holders would be eternally grateful should Amosun respect the dignity of labour and carry them along in the payment of the money.

Tributes as Eso begins final journey

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SUN STATE stood still yesterday, for the lying in state of the late icon of the bench and a retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Justice Obakayode Eso. Eminent Nigerians from all walks of life, who came to pay their last respects to the late jurist, thronged the Abere Government Secretariat of the state.

The atmosphere presented a mixed bag of emotions, a brief moment of mourning but protracted period of celebration of the life of one of the finest gentlemen to have ever sat on the hallowed bench of the highest court in the country.

It was indeed a day of tribute as eminent jurists, politicians, friends and well-wishers showered encomiums on Justice Kayode Eso. The Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, in his tribute to Justice Eso, said the lying in state is a celebration of the passage of one of the foremost jurists, a quintessential patriot.

Aregbesola said Justice Eso bestrode the Nigerian legal firmament and the hallowed chamber of the Supreme Court of Nigeria like a colossus.

The governor said the late jurist had a sterling performance in the public service since his appointment as Acting Judge in Western Region until his retirement from the Supreme Court.

The Speaker of Osun State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Nojeem Abdulsalam, in his tribute, described Justice Eso as an icon of justice and a great legal mind.

He observed that the late jurist rose to prominence through handwork, dedication and Spartan courage.

He noted that Eso also fought for the integrity of the nation’s bench regardless of whose ox was gored.

In his own tribute, another eminent jurist and former Chairman of ICPC, Justice Emmanuel Ayoola, described his late colleague as a legal intellectual and a humanist par excellence.

He noted that Eso would forever be a beacon of hope, courage, dedication and honesty for the bench and legal profession.

For the Acting Chief Judge of Osun State, Justice Gloria Olagoke, the late Kayode Eso is a world class jurist in all ramifications.

She averred that Eso contributed immensely to the growth of judiciary and legal profession.

Vanguard, FRIDAY FRIDAY,, DECEMBER 21, 2012—11

Govt urged to support indigenous oil firms

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IL producing communities in Delta State have called on the State and Federal Governments to shield indigenous oil companies from host communities, as such support would go a long way to improve their gains in the oil and gas industry.

Chairman, Kesidogu Oil Field Services Ltd, Mr. Moses Kragha made, the call during the inauguration of Ekugbe Oil and Gas Company, owned by indigenous communities of OML 34, at OtorUdu. Kragha said the inauguration of the company would give rise to active host communities participation in the oil and gas business. He added that with the company in place, the issue of unemployment in host communities would be a thing of the past as the youths will have the opportunity of being trained in different skills.

UNIPORT killings: Three more suspects appear in court

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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ORT HARCOURT— THREE more suspects were arraigned, yesterday, before a Port Harcourt Magistrate Court, Rivers State, for the October 5, killing of four students of University of Port Harcourt, in Omuokiri–Aluu community.

Their arraignment brought to 16, persons charged to court for the killing of the students, Ugonna Obuzor, Toku Lloyd, Chiadika Biringa, and Tekenah Elkanah.

The three suspects were brought under a five-count charge of conspiracy to kill the four students. Those arraigned were Finebone Jeffrey, 23; Joshua Ekpe, 27 and Abang Cyril, 27. Their pleas were not taken.

Chief Magistrate Emmanuel Woke, in a short ruling, said his court lacked jurisdiction to entertain the case and adjourned the

matter till February 28, 2013.

The other 13 suspects were brought to the court premises but did enter the court room.

Meantime, the Human Rights Council of Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Port Harcourt branch, has applied for the case file of the suspects.

Chairman of the branch, Mr. Austin Ojeukeudo, told newsmen at the court, that the association wants to ensure that there was no miscarriage of justice in the trial, adding that the body would monitor the trial to the end.

The charges preferred against the suspects, read “you and oth-

ers at large on October 5, 2012, at Omuokiri, Aluu community in the Port Harcourt Magisterial District, did conspire amongst yourselves to commit felony to wit: murder and thereby committed an offence punishable under Section 324 of the Criminal Code Cap 37 laws of Rivers State, 1999.”

VISIT: Acting Governor of Cross River State, Mr. Efiok Cobham (left), receiving a plague from the President, Chattered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria, Chief Asiwaju Jegede, when the group paid him a courtesy visit in Government House, Calabar.

Harriman, great asset to Itsekiri nation—Uduaghan

BY EMMA ARUBI

G

OVERNOR Em manuel Udua-

ghan of Delta State, yesterday, said that the late Chief Hope Harriman was a great asset to the Itsekiri nation as he was always present in all elders’ associations in the country, particularly in the South-South region, to protect their interest.

Speaking at the service of songs held at Harriman’s residence in GRA, Warri, Governor Uduaghan, said Harriman was a great Nige-

rian, who achieved a lot in his life time.

He appealed to the Itsekiri people to ensure that they were always represented anywhere decisions concerning the South–South region are to be taken.

The service of song had in attendance eminent Nigerians and foreigners, including the Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers, Mr. Sam Amuka, first class chiefs, businessmen and

Insecurity: Oshiomhole urges increased funding for security agencies

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

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ENIN—GOVER NOR Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State has renewed his call on the Federal Government to adequately fund security agencies from its lion share of the Federal Allocation, to enable the agencies tackle the security challenges facing the county.

The governor, who made the appeal during a courtesy call on him by the

state Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, Mr. Chike Ikpeanmonwu, at Government House, Benin City, said the people expect the Federal Government to equip and fund its institutions adequately.

He said: “I believe that the Federal Government should not set up institutions it cannot fund. They take 52.4 per cent from the Federation Account of all the resources declared and there are some that are not declared.

“The Federal Government is given so much from the Federation Account and our people expect corresponding responsibility from the Federal Government to fund and equip security agencies in the country.”

other top government functionaries.

Chief Isaac Jimide, of Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, ILOT, at the event, hailed the achievements of the late marine merchant, noting that at every level, Harriman would do anything to serve the Itsekiri cause, adding that he was immensely wealthy and thoroughly enjoyed his wealth.

Former governor of Western State, Brigadier Esijolomi Tuoyo, (rtd), said Harriman was a consummate humorist, who loved the native Itsekiri pepper-soup (Igbagba), that was always ready for him any time he got home. (See photo album on Page 13).

Mutu donates cars to constituents

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OUSE of Representa tives member, Mr. Nicholas Mutu, yesterday, donated Passat GL cars to five of his constituents as reward for their commitment toward the advancement of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, activities in the area.

He noted that the loyalty and dedication exhibited by the party faithful needed to be recognised and rewarded by leaders of the party to encourage others to emulate them.

12—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Jonathan urged to work with prophets

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R. Oyakogha Oyimi, Chairman, Movement for the Actualisation of the Dreams of Niger Deltans, MADND, has stressed the need for President Goodluck Jonathan to work closely with anointed prophets of God in the country.

Oyimi, who stated this in a chat with newsmen said, without God’s direction, the country can not move forward.

He said: “The mysterious happenings that have befallen Jonathan’s government, underscore the need for him to hold on to God and move with anointed prophets of God in the country. Even in the bible, rulers of cities or countries move with anointed prophets of God. I think Mr. President should be wary of his advisers because some of those close to him appear to be agents of darkness who are poised to destabilise his government.”

LASU alumni gets new exco

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AG O S— L AG O S State University Alumni Association, last Thursday, inaugurated its new Executive Committee after the expiration of the tenure of the outgoing executives, led by Mr. Lekan Ogunbanwo.

Vice-Chancellor of LASU, Professor John Obafunwa, at the event, enjoined the new executives to consolidate on the achievements of the past board, while thanking the outgoing President for his contributions towards the development of the university.

Speaking, the newly inaugurated President of the association, Major General Cecil Esekhaigbe (rtd), expressed his profound gratitude for the confidence reposed in him to lead the alumni association.

Rights group carpets Reps over calls for Demuren’s sack L

BY KENNETH EHIGIATOR

AGOS—CIVIL Society Aviation Coalition, CSAC, yesterday carpeted the House of Representatives over its declaration that Director-General of Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, Dr. Harold Demuren, be sacked due to the role he allegedly played in the processes that led to the crash of Dana Air plane at Iju Ishaga in Lagos.

The crash, which claimed the lives of all 153 persons on board and others on ground, occurred on June 3, 2012.

The House of Representatives had last Wednesday, alluded to the deployment of MD83 aircraft by the airline, which it claimed had been phased out in other parts of the world, as one of the reasons responsible for the crash.

But CSAC, in a statement signed by Emmanuel Onwubiko and Maimuna Al-Hassan, said the lawmakers only played to the gallery, noting that the MD83 aircraft type was still being operated in

less than 21 countries of the world, including the U.S., the maker.

It noted that those pushing for the sack and prosecution of the NCAA DG on account of the obvious falsehoods and misrepresentation of facts displayed by the lawmakers had ulterior

motives.

The group stated: “We in the Civil Society Aviation Coalition (CSAC) have read with considerable shock and disappointment, the report of the House of Representatives Committee on Dana Crash with a recommendation to sack the DG of

MEETING: From left: Mr. Wale Tinubu, GMD/CEO, Mr. Chuka Eseka, MD/CEO, Vetiva Capital; Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, Alake of Egbaland, Chairman of Company and Ms. Ayotola Jagun, Companey Secretary, during Oando Plc Completion Board meeting to raise, N52.9 billion through rights issue in Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

Boko Haram insurgency, signal of failed state —Musdapher F ORMER Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN), Justice Dahiru Musdapher, has warned that the activities of Boko Haram, kidnapping, armed robbery and other social upheavals in the country were drifting Nigeria towards a failed state.

Musdapher, who spoke at the second annual lecture and book presentation of the National Mirror in Lagos yesterday, said: “More than ever before in the history of Nigeria has the scourge of terrorism posed great challenges to the Nigerian state.

“Our slide into anarchy has assumed dangerous dimensions perhaps beyond the capacity of our security agencies to deal with the menace effectively.

“Boko Haram insurgency, political violence, corruption, nepotism, tribalism, indiscipline, abduction and kidnappings, armed robbery, murder and extortion, bombings of places of worship and innocent Nigerians are all indicators of a failing state.

“These social upheavals clearly threaten the survival of the Nigerian nation and we all have a duty to rise and stem the tide. ‘’ Musdapher, in his parer, entitled “Media and The Judiciary: The necessary symbiosis”, expressed concern that the country was in a grave situation that required its best collective effort to surmount.

He said: “Our capacity to in-

vestigate, arrest, prosecute and convict those found guilty of contravening our laws is evidently weak and compromised; yet no none is held responsible. There is no objectivity in national discourse.

“Most newspaper articles and reports reveal an underlying sentimental pull that seems to outweigh the values of simple decency.

“If a person is accused of wrongdoing in Nigeria, his kinsmen are quick to relegate his clear transgressions to some kind of conspiracy against one of their own. Corruption and nepotism is supported and encouraged by its benefactors at the expense of all others.”

Edo Dep gov tasks journalists on innovation

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

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ENIN CITY—DEPUTY Governor of Edo State, Dr. Pius Odubu, have tasked journalists in the state to come up with ideas that will assist government to positively touch the living standard of the people of the state.

Odubu who stated this, yesterday, when he met with the newly elected members of the Correspondent Chapel of Nige-

NCAA, Dr Harold Demuren and bring criminal prosecution against him .

“We are not particularly bothered about the call for the sack and the call for criminal prosecution, but the reasons adduced for the call which are based on falsehood, fallacies and misrepresentation of facts.

rian Union of Journalists in Edo State, commended what he described as the objective reportage of events in the state by national dailies and urged journalists to assist the Comrade Adams Oshiomhole led administration in tis developmental projects.

He said: “Our doors are always open to journalists in the state because we believe that we all are partners in progress.

The Comrade Governor has

never shied away from criticism, he runs an open door policy and that is why you see that Edo has changed.

“I will also appeal that you assist us with ideas that will help touch the lives of our people. We are here to serve, our Comrade Governor is very passionate about moving the state to the next level and we know that we cannot do that with out the media.”

Activist sues INEC, AGF over de-registration of political parties

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

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WKA—A HUMAN rights activist and legal practitioner based in Onitsha, Anambra State, Mr. Jezie Ekejiuba, has dragged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and Attorney General of Federation, AGF, to the Federal High Court, Awka, challenging the recent de-registration of 28 political parties in the country.

Ekejiuba had last year, filed a similar suit in the court in suit No FHC/AWKA/CS/620/2011, when INEC announced the deregistration of seven political parties, and prayed for an order of perpetual injunction restraining INEC and its agents from putting into effect the deregistration of registered political parties.

Vanguard, FRIDAY FRIDAY,, DECEMBER 21, 2012—13

SERVICE OF SONGS FOR LATE CHIEF HOPE HARRIMAN IN WARRI Photos: Akpokona Omafuaire

Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (left) and Hon. Temi Harriman, daughter of late Chief Hope Harriman.

Mr. Sam Amuka, Publisher of Vanguard Newspapers (2nd right); Dr. Eyimofe Atake SAN (right) and Chief Ben Apollo Oseragbaje.

Former Minister of Police Affairs, Alaowei Broderick Bozimo and wife, Justice Rose Bozimo, former Chief Judge of Delta State.

Chief Isaac Jemide and members of Itsekiri Leaders of Thought.

Cross section of Chief Hope Harriman's children.

From right; Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, former Minister of State for Education; Senator Adego Eferakeya, and Chief Tom Ikimi.

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14—Vanguard , FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Sovereign Wealth Fund becomes operational March 2013 —FG

BY EMMA UJAH, ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF

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From left: Governor Olusegun Mimiko of Ondo State, Professor Bamitale Omole, Vice-Chancellor, Obafemi Awolowo University, OAU, and wife of Ekiti State Governor, Mrs Fayemi, at OAU’s, 50th anniversary binner and endowment fund launch in Lagos.

Ebony TV begins search for talk show grammes, Magazine & light alongside Mo to host Talk-EbonyLife TV, San- present top celebrities

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

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AGOS—THE or ganisers of TV talk show, Moments with Mo, have disclosed that they are shopping for a young, brilliant, exciting and dynamic person to co-host the show alongside its pioneering host, Mo Abudu.

A statement by the Associate Director, Pro-

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dra Amadio, said the show will in the coming months, wear a refreshingly different look with its new host.

According to her, “this is a great chance for hot, fresh and brilliant young people who have been dreaming of being on the hot seat to interview top celebrities. It’s the chance to be in the spot-

and happening people to a pan African audience, from the younger person’s perspective”.

She further stated that the set design will constantly be innovative, invigorating and refreshing, adding that it will underline the quintessential global black disposition of the EbonyLife TV network.

BUJA—THE Ni geria Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA, will become fully operational and commence investment in March, next year, following the approval of its Strategy Document by the Board of Directors.

According to a statement issued, in Abuja, yesterday, by Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu, Special Adviser to the Coordinating Minister of the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, the Strategy Document was ratified by the Board led by its Chairman, Alhaji Mahey Rasheed.

He said that the board met twice since its inauguration on October 9 to review and reshape the draft submitted by the management team led by the Managing Director, MD, of NSIA, Mr. Uche Orji, with a view to ensuring an accelerated prepa-

ration of blue print.

The Spokesman also revealed that the NSIA investment policy guidelines and the processes for the three fund mandates of the organisation have almost been finalised with efforts to hire its key personnel and acquire a functional office having reached an advanced stage.

Mr. Nwabuikwu quoted Dr. Okonjo-Iweala, as saying that with a world-class team of experts the NSIA would open a new vista of opportunities to rapidly grow the nation’s economy by attracting a high net worth of international investors to the country.

“There is still a lot of hard work ahead, we need to remain focused and disciplined so that we can reap the rewards. We are not yet there but we are on the right track. The question we must keep asking ourselves is: Other countries have benefitted from SWF.

Why not Nigeria?”, she said.

Mr. Orji, who was appointed MD in October following an international head hunt, explained the status of plans to appoint a Chief Investment Officer, CIO, for the organisation: “We are in the process of filling the role of the CIO. We received 300 resumes for the CIO role and will soon commence the process of short-listing the candidates. We hope to have the interviews early next year and have a CIO in place by early March”, he said.

He stated that other key management and staff positions in the NSIA will be advertised starting today (December 21) and projected that the full complement of staff would be in place by the first quarter of next year.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012—15

PATRICK YAKOWA LAID TO REST Burial Mass was held for former Governor of Kaduna State, late Patrick Yakowa, in Fadan Kagoma, Kaduna State, yesterday. PHOTOS: State House & Olu Ajayi.

President Goodluck Jonathan (left) and Governor Muktar Yero of Kaduna State at the funeral of late Patrick Yakowa, former governor of the state.

Hajia Zainab Maina, Minister for Women Affairs (left) and Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Finance Minister.

From left— Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State; Governor Ibrahim Shema of Katsina State; Gen. Abdulsalam Abubakar (rtd), former Head of State, and Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State.

Catholic Church Knights at the funeral.

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Widow of late Patrick Yakowa, Amina (middle) and her children.

Late Yakowa's children.

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State (right) and Senator Ahmed Makarfi.

From left— Senator Esther Usman, Chief Audu Ogbeh and Col. Ahmadu Ali (rtd).

From left— Governors Peter Obi of Anambra State, Gabriel Suswam of Benue State, Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom Stae, Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State and Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State.

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16 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Caleb Varsity admits 279

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ALEB University, Imota, Lagos State, has administered the matriculation oath on 279 students offered admission for the 2012/2013 academic session.

Vice-Chancellor, Professor Ayodeji Olukoju said this at the matriculation ceremony held last Friday, adding that the students spread across the 11 departments under the three colleges in the university.

FCT Minister wins award

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ENATOR Bala Mohammed, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has been honoured with the FCT Man of the Year award, while VIP Express and Tourism Ltd was adjudged the Best Performing Tourism organisation of the Year at the Federal Capital Advancement Award, FCAA, in Abuja.

Police station bombed, 2 killed, Frenchman kidnapped in Katsina

BY EMEKA MAMAH, with agency reports

K

ATSINA—A French energy worker, Francis Colump, has been kidnapped in Katsina State after 30 gunmen attacked a residence and killed a policeman and a security guard protecting the foreign employee, officials said yesterday.

A nearby police station was also said to have been bombed and some inmates freed from detention. Those killed were identified as Rabe Dan’Unguwa, 45, a security man at the residence of Colump, and Abubakar Sale, 25.

Katsina State Commissioner of Police, Abdullahi Magaji, told newsmen, yesterday, that gunmen attacked the police station to divert attention, as their main target was the abduction of the expatriate supervisor handling a mill project in Rimi.

State police spokesman, Aminu Abubakar also said the attack took place on Wednes-

day in Rimi town, about 20 kilometres north of Katsina and very close to the border with Niger Republic.

The kidnapped worker was employed by French renewable energy firm Vergnet, officials said. A Paris-based Vergnet executive confirmed the kidnapping.

Vergnet is a French firm that specialises in wind power turbines. The company is currently building Nigeria’s first wind farm based in Katsina State.

An eyewitness said the attack on the station and the residence of Colump was carried out simultaneously by about 30 gunmen, who divided themselves into two groups.

It was said that the attackers arrived the town in three vehicles and began shooting before setting off the bomb, which badly damaged the station but recorded no casualty.

A mobile policeman was injured in the attack on the Frenchman’s residence.

It was gathered that as soon as they shot the trio, the gunmen forced themselves into the residence and abducted the Frenchman.

Caretaker Committee Chairman of the council, Alhaji Nasiru Ala, conducted the burial rites of the two persons killed in the attack. Ala, who described the incident as “tragic,” prayed God to expose those involved in the act.

French Foreign Ministry could not confirm the kidnapping, but was making checks.

Ahmed budgets N94.4bn for 2013

BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI

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LORIN—GOVERNOR Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, yesterday, presented a budget proposal of N94.4 billion for the 2013 fiscal year to the state House of Assembly for consideration and approval. The budget shows a 10 percent

increase over last year ’s projection of N85.1 billion.

Presenting the budget, tagged Sustained Prosperity, Ahmed said it was designed to boost infrastructure, accelerate agro-led wealth creation, create jobs and sustain the state’s development.

The budget, he added, was also aimed at reducing the

state’s dependence on federal allocations and attract foreign and domestic investments into the state.

The governor explained that N6.3 billion was the total surplus revenue even as capital receipt was estimated at N42 billion with total capital expenditure also pegged at N42.6 billion.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 — 17

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Victims of the shootings at the Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Connecticut and Nancy Lanza and her son Adam

Woes and a blessing widespread frustration.

Nigeria is not a sacred cow or untouchable holy grail that must be slavishly and unconditionally tolerated at all costs, despite its multiple shortcomings. Those who try to silence valid detractions and paper over glaring cracks are, in my opinion, doing us a grave disservice and giving our largely inept and corrupt ruling class an excuse to cling to selfish, amoral Business As Usual rubbish.

Home is supposed to be a comfortable sanctuary for the body as well as the soul, not a

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S regular readers of this page will know, I rarely find anything good to say about the state of our nation. And, sure, there are people who accuse me of being unpatriotic.

But this viewpoint is not the norm, in my experience. Most of the Nigerians with whom I’ve communicated in the past few years have encouraged me to keep criticising our leaders and complaining about multiple systems failures that have not only lumbered us with security problems and a high unemployment rate but deprived us of benefits such as roundthe-clock electricity, a wellmanaged oil industry and decent hospitals, schools, roads, etc.

Meanwhile, a friend has just told me that when he attended a school reunion dinner in Lagos last month, 80 per cent of the former classmates on his table said that they were so unhappy with the status quo that they would emigrate with their relatives if they could get their hands on overseas residency/work permits. When so many citizens are sad, a journalist need not apologise for highlighting the societal malfunctions that generate such

depressing torture chamber in which one’s psychological/ physical wellbeing is at risk!

And journalism, lest we forget, is supposed to be about using one’s privileged access to public platforms to pursue Truth and demand Justice.

I am not a saint. But I struggle to be the best I can be; and I didn’t join this profession to be an obedient VIP praise-singer or to supinely collaborate with enemies of progress who think that aggressive accumulation of ill-gotten gains is acceptable and that they deserve power without responsibility. It is my job to speak loudly for the legitimately dissatisfied victims of bad governance.

Having said all this, foreign governments aren’t perfect either and Nigeria isn’t a completely lost cause. So, once in a blue moon, I come across situations that make me thank God for allowing Nigeria to be better, on a couple of levels at least, than countries that are superior

Let us also breathe a huge sigh of relief that Nigeria is not like America in this regard. Yes, we have Boko Haram. Yes, we have armed robbers. But shootings are not that commonplace in Nigeria because our gun laws are sensible

C M Y K

Lanza’s Sandy Hook Elementary School

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overall - the USA, for example.

Last week, a crazed American youth called Adam Lanza decided to murder his mother, 20 pupils of a nearby primary school and 6 of their teachers.

Shortly after he’d inflicted this vicious carnage on the quiet Conneticut community he grew up in, he turned one of his weapons on himself and committed suicide. This outrage that stunned the world was made possible by American gun laws…which enable every Tom, Dick and Harry to own dangerous firearms.

Right to bear arms Because the right to bear arms is enshrined in the American constitution, it is alarmingly easy to buy a gun in America. In Minnesota, for example, an 11 year old child can be eligible for a firearms certificate. And while powerful pro-gun lobbyists continue to hold sway, shocking statistics prove that successive American governments have been utterly misguided to listen to them.

300 million privately owned firearms - and 50 per cent of the guns in the entire world – can be found in America (which only contains five per cent of the world’s population).

Ordinary Americans – many of whom are mentally unbal-

anced - can legally keep weapons of mass destruction under their roofs, often without having to explain to anyone why they wish to acquire the kind of deadly assault rifles, etc, that soldiers use in war zones like Afghanistan. So I guess I shouldn’t have been surprised when I discovered that 94,388 people have been shot in the US so far this year…or that last Saturday alone, l90 were shot.

During one l2-month period, 9,484 people were killed by firearms in the United States.

During the same 12-month period, the firearm-linked fatality figures for Australia, Spain and England/Wales were 35, 60 and 39. Given such compelling evidence that American gun laws are insane, let’s hope that President Obama puts his foot down and stops the madness.

Let us also breathe a huge sigh of relief that Nigeria is not like America in this regard. Yes, we have Boko Haram. Yes, we have armed robbers. But shootings are not that commonplace in Nigeria because our gun laws are sensible.

Responses to: donzol2002@yahoo.co.uk or to 0802 747 6458 (texts only). PLEASE KINDLY NOTE THAT UNLESS YOU SPECIFICALLY REQUEST ANONYMITY, YOUR COMMENTS MAY BE PUBLISHED IN VANGUARD, WITH YOUR NAMES AND NUMBERS OR EMAIL ADDRESSES ATTACHED.

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 NEWS that some celebrated the demise of Governor Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State, in a plane crash, shows how dehumanised Nigerians are becoming either in pursuit of religion or politics. Why would anyone rejoice over the death of another, especially in such grueling circumstances?

Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger has described those celebrations as inhuman.

“No matter the religion one professes, the simple tenet is that we should sympathise with the dead and the bereaved and pray for the repose of the soul of the departed whose death is a colossal loss,” the governor, who is also Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum, said.

The celebrations were in the social media.

“Immediately we start praying for our leaders to die, then we are asking that the whole society should die. We must pray for our leaders. We must go back to our faith and practise our religion as demanded by the Almighty Allah. We must talk to our children. This development shows that we are failing in the duty to train our children,” Aliyu said.

Our New Nigeria?

The inhumanity of the Nigerian society is evident. We do not treat our people well in life. As they age, the treatment gets worse.

The children who Aliyu blames for their social media conduct are learning well from the adults, parents and guardians whose utterances promote conflicts.

It is not the children who cause pensioners, many aged, ill, bed-ridden, to line up under the elements, waiting for the pittance they are paid. It is adults who account for dead bodies that decay on our streets.

We place little value on life. Rather, we

invent ways of making life valueless. Daily, Nigerians are killed by groups who believe the only way to proclaim their beliefs, whatever they are, is to take lives.

Some of us try to explain the disregard for life. We justify the criminality that has become part of parts of the country under heinous arguments that point to the new Nigerian we are building.

Aliyu described Yakowa as a bridge-builder who brought Muslims and Christians in Kaduna State together. According to him, Yakowa provided peace and tranquility. Who would celebrate the passage of such a man except trouble makers?

We have a collective responsibility to redeem Nigerians from the callous society it is turning into, while we debate measures to stem criminalities that are assuming various guises. When a people have no value for life, they build a futureless society, since all they do is destroying themselves.

Our people need to be quickly cured of the sort of wickedness that makes them celebrate the misfortune of others – it is unNigerian, it is unAfrican and no religion permits it.

OPINION

BY LOUIS EJIKEME

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HE end is yet to come over the issue of which zone will produce the next governor of Anambra State come 2014.

Since Governor Obi’s avowed interest to support any credible candidate from Anambra North for that office everything else has been in flux. Newspapers are awash with varied interpretations of the unambiguous statement. A mishmash of reactions, spawned on the on-line media, sought to portray the man as undemocratic and high-handed.

Those opposed to the idea are obviously not amused at the partisan show of interest by the Governor. But this is not unexpected as the support is gaining wide acceptance, especially among the grassroots.

Incidentally gubernatorial aspirants from the central and south zones, conscious of the electoral implications, have been straining like Doberman on the leash, trying to blight its prospects.

Unperturbed, Governor Obi himself has continued to affirm his stand. In a recent tour of the senatorial zone, he was again quoted as saying to the people that it is fair and equitable for them to produce the next governor, going by the fact that they have not done so since Anambra State was created over 20 years ago. This position of the governor’s, however just and equitable, is least expected to be barracked for by aspirants from the other zones. Accordingly it has continued to receive flaks.

But a dispassionate assessor may be hard put to differ in position with the Governor.

Anambra north and the burden of governorship challenge If the zone’s agitation for the office is properly appraised it could be found there are more grounds upon which this support is exigent. The contributions of the zone, more than those of others, stand it in good stead for the position. Its fertile land area, as well as marginal aquatics, has impressive yield that ensured steady food supply in the State. At some point, it was the food basket of the State and more recently, its portal to oil wealth. Unfortunately, the economic status could not bolster its political fortunes as past efforts fizzled out disappointingly. The closest the zone got to the office being when Messrs Chudi Nwike and Chinedu Emeka were elected deputy governors under ex-Governors Chukwuemeka Ezeife and Chinwoke Mbadinuju respectively. Again those periods were colourless. Not much could be ascribed to the zone in terms of development because of inherent weakness of deputy governorship position. Not even political structures were built as the sinecure position guaranteed nothing. It is for this reason that even the efforts made by the Obi government with regard to developing the area are yet to make the desired impact. If past governments did not do much in the area, including those deputised by Nwike and Emeka, it goes without saying that Obi almost started anew. Some sprinkles of road constructions seen in the zone today are done by the government. Evidence of these could be seen in new roads and bridges built in

Anambra West, East, Oyi through Awka North to Ogbaru. Similar efforts by the same government in the commercial area of Onitsha have been dismissed by critics as a ploy to safeguard the governor’s business interests in the town. In spite of this, the zone is yet to approximate other zones in the State in general development.

Arguably the current efforts by the zone to produce the next governor of the State after Obi, however challenging, may not be unconnected with this. After all, is it not said that a child is better handled by his mother.

Development in the area is expected to go full circle if a governor of Anambra descent takes office in 2014. More than that, the whole idea of support will be meaningful if the following issues are addressed. The support will first and foremost ensure that a credible and acceptable candidate emerges.

Two, it must ensure the candidate’s strength is not chipped away via in-fighting. The third, which is almost like the second, is that all inchoate groups like Equity Association, Olu-na-Adagbe, Igboadagbe, Anambra People Assembly et al should be made to work for a common purpose. Those who are pushing for new associations should stop dissipating energy and embrace the existing ones.

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xpectedly, the quality of the candidate that will emerge from the zone will very much determine the outcome of the race.

This is because other zones are sure to field

veterans in the game. What will make the difference remains what new things the candidate of choice from the north zone will bring to the race. What he has that is in short supply among his co-contenders. How disposed he will be to the drudgery that is Anambra politics. Whether he can surmount many obstacles as may be laid in his path?

All considered, the candidate must be possessed of uncommon attributes to cope with the challenges of fighting his way through the race.

Those opposed to the idea of support for the zone, base their reason on the fact that no zone in the State suffers any form of marginalisation. That may be in terms of human capital because the marginal presence of government, until very recently, is an obvious indictment. Even the denial of the office regardless of the zone’s contributions to the making of the State is also another indictment. Notwithstanding, the implication is that the zone, in spite of support, must prepare well if it hopes to make a success of the race. It must very well know that a good number of stakeholders from the other zones may not easily indulge its wishes. It should also consider very seriously finance, which places it in comparative disadvantage in the oncoming race.

*Mr. Ejikeme, a commentator on national issues, wrote from Lagos.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 — 19

, Continued from last week

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N the recently concluded campaign for re-election, Barack Obama posted more than 250 videos on Youtube. He was not using Youtube to broadcast his material. Rather, he would link these videos in emails that followed. Thus, in targeting up to one hundred micro groups throughout the country Barack Obama was able to ensure that minority populations such as African Americans, Latinos, women, gays and lesbians and the youth, especially those voting for the first time gave him their votes. He had about eight hundred field officers monitoring the social media. It is not for nothing that both his tweet announcing his victory to

his virtual political base as well as his embrace of his wife before his victory speech went viral to become the most re-tweeted message and photograph ever!

Social Media and the fall of Hosni Mubarak, President of Egypt One of the jokes doing the rounds in Tahrir (Liberation) Square during the protest demonstrations against President Hosni Mubarak had it that Mubarak died and was met in Heaven by his two previous predecessors Gamal Abdul Nasser and Anwar Sadat. Nasser died peacefully in his bed September 1970 while Sadat

I

N remaking our constitution, we may be excessively concerned with the nitty-gritty of the process, the details of what should be in and what should be out, in the political calculation of who has won or lost or the implied trade-off therein that we may lose the soul of the exercise, the over arching message of a constitution to the citizens and the underlying mindset that creates both the national dream and the goods. The constitution should represent our common aspiration, our dream of a glorious, just, equitable and peaceful nation in which everyone has a stake now and its future.

But before we can address the details, we must underpin the constitution with a philosophical mindset. We must be clear whether we are creating a constitution for a nation with a hunter mindset or a farmer mindset, more like Esau and Jacob Nations in the Holy Bible. My brother and colleague, Prof. Vincent Anigbogu of the National Institute for Transformation is very adept in analysing these mindsets and I give him credit for stimulating this idea, but I have taken the liberty to give it my own coloration.

The hunter mindset is a chop-chop mindset: primarily a “predator ”, often individualistic, in pursuit of readymade food, ill-disposed to nurture, with kill and gather-loot mentality, no inclination for diversification because he must kill one at a time, not interested in new knowledge and ideas except that which makes the instrument of killing and loot gathering faster and more efficient, silent in pursuit but quick to gather, with great agility and prowess to track the loot, hide their tracks and take home the trophy. When the hunter gets home, his wife and tradition might compel him to share the loot with those who contributed nothing to the loot but have great expectations. Is this sounding familiar? Now let us examine the farmer

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was assassinated by his bodyguards in October 1981.

Both wanted to know what killed Hosni Mubarak. He answered simply: Facebook!

On June 6 2010, a 28 year old man Khaled Said was beaten to death by the Egyptian police.

Pictures of his mutilated body appeared on the social media. In January 2011 Wael Ghonim, the marketing executive in Egypt, created the Facebook Page entitled “We are all Khaled” and to mark his death muted a demonstration for January 25th 2011. For this, Wael Ghonim was detained in solitary confinement for thirty days. In the meantime, a number of leaders of different groups met on 20th January to plan for the protest demonstration on the 25 th of January. Some of the groups included Kifaya (Enogh), the Youth-based April 16 Movement, Karama, HASHD the popular Democratic Movement for Change, the Justice and Freedom

Our Constitution, our mindset

BY OSITA OGBU

Youth Movement and the Revolutionary Socialists.

The plan was to get tens of thousands of Egyptians onto the streets on January 25th and for them to stay there until Hosni Mubarak resigned. They were demanding justice, freedom, citizen rights and an end to Mubarak’s thirty year rule.

mindset. The farmer is a nurturer, a team player, grows the loot with multiple inputs and hands, worries about market conditions and nature, relies on new knowledge and ideas to survive, does not “equate activity to productivity”, does not assume that the loot will always be there, has very strong work ethics with a reward system that matches everyone’s contributions.

When everyone wants a State; when every Local Government wants to be a State whether they would be able to pay the basic salary of their civil servants to which mindset are they playing to? When we spend great efforts to debate derivation, resource control, off-shore-onshore without being mindful of acquiring the technology of the oil industry or mindful of its declining future value, to which mindset are we aligning? When we agitate for rotational presidency, and worry about the powers at the centre, and lack of it at the middle and the bottom of the tiers, of the relevance of zones and geo-political zones which mindset underlines our frame of analysis? Are they driven by a chop-chop mindset? When the issue of state police is discussed, is it discussed in the context of nurturing and adding to the national wealth, in creating a peaceful nation where everyone has a stake in it now and in its future or in the context of an instrument for predatory acquisition and political intimidation? When the agitation for legislative and judicial budgetary autonomy is made with ever increasing passion, one hopes that it is made with a mindset of legislative efficiency and judicial probity.

These discussions, agitations and concerns embedded in the remaking of our constitution are not on their face-value illegitimate. I am only interrogating the mindset that is behind them and to argue for a framework for deepening the discussions and eventual incorporation of new materials into a new constitution. And these mind-set discussions are important in

he organisers were public university graduates in their 20s. They asked people to gather in different street corners of Cairo and to bring cameras to record and document police brutality which they were sure would take place. To lobby for the support of the people, the organisers used Twitter and Facebook.

Sixty per cent of Egypt’s eighty million populations are youths under the age of 25 years. No wonder, the hastily appointed vice president Suleiman threatened to advice parents to tell their children to stay away from the streets of Cairo, a statement that annoyed the protesters. The organisers composed a rap song, they made a video plea by the mother of Khaled Said and formed Facebook groups to encourage people to join the protest.

Tweet and text messages circulated during the protest demonstrations giving information as to where demonstrations and security and thugs were, when they would arrive at particular points and who was wounded, arrested, disappeared or killed and in terms of this last item calling for ambulances to come and convey people to hospitals. One of the songs that circulated said: Christians or Muslims

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Social Media and Social Exchange theory and Strategic Contingencies theory (2)

The language of the social media was so pervasive that civilians patrolling neighbourhoods against governmentsponsored criminals and thugs used passwords, changed daily, to admit residents

The modern nation must therefore be an embodiment of national dream and aspirations of her people no matter how diverse, and at the same time have appropriate structures and leaders to deliver the goods that meet the aspirations of her people

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arriving at trade-offs, concessions, accommodations that are a necessary part of constitution making. They are also important in entrenching a deeper understanding of nation building, patriotism, that uncommon love and loyalty to nation, and the sacrifices they entail.

Above all, it provides a practical filter to those charged with administering the constitutional remaking process in deciding what should be in and what should be out.

Passing the farmers mindset test is an appropriate test for inclusion of any new item in the constitution.

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ut these agitations and concerns have not always been about our constitution. They have been, in most part, about the operatives of the constitution. The men and women charged with translating the constitution into our common dream, our common hope and destiny, and tasked with creating a nation bound together in love, faith and freedom, where everyone has a stake in it now and its future, have fallen short of these expectations. And this is at all levels of government. The agitation for new States, for new local government areas, for regional autonomy is to see if these new structures would address this dream and hope deficits. And if they don’t, the cycle might start all over.

It’s not important Similar poverty Similar concerns Hosni Mubarak Hosni Mubarak The plane is waiting The plan is waiting Saudi Arabia is not far!

Photo sites had pictures of empty tear gas canister, with the zoom focussing on ‘Made in USA’ At a point when there was a low in the demonstrations, a tweet circulated saying: “Dont forget that in Tunisia it took a month.

Egypt is bigger, it will take more.’

A 26-page pdf document entitled “Manual to the Egyptian Revolution” circulated as an email. “It contains a list of tools, clothes, marching routes and so on,” says the email. Further it admonished the reader: “Please spread using only email, home printers, and local photocopiers.

Do not spread using Facebook or Twitter as they are heavily monitored by Egyptian intelligence.”

In no time at all (28th and 29th January 2011) Facebook, Twitter and Internet were shut down.

Soon after this, mobile networks were also shut down. All were soon re-opened and it was possible to send updates by the second. The language of the social media was so pervasive that civilians patrolling neighbourhoods against government-sponsored criminals and thugs used passwords, changed daily, to admit residents.

One of the placards carried in Tahrir Square said: “Mubarak, Shift + Delete”.

On February 11 2011, Hosni Mubarak resigned as president of Egypt. It was the triumph of the social media. Concluded

Writing an Opinion piece on “Why Obama Cried” in the USA Today Newspaper of Monday, November 19, 2012, Prof. Stephen Prothero of Boston University underscored the essence of structures and people that produce the national dream and the imperatives of delivering on the dream. He indicated that the author of Righteous Republic, Ananya Vajpeyi of India “observes that countries today are caught in a fundamental contradiction. On the one hand, they are dream machines that bind diverse populations together through something akin to poetry or religion. On the other hand, they are pragmatic devices for the efficient delivery of government services.” While we may not really know why Obama cried, Prothero gave us some insights. The often stoic Obama broke down while thanking his young election staff after his re-election because “American elections are about America and Americans”, and after the dreaming and visioning, he must now govern; turn to “a task at which his skills are being tested”. Obama knows that to be a successful leader he has to both inspire and do.

The modern nation must therefore be an embodiment of national dream and aspirations of her people no matter how diverse, and at the same time have appropriate structures and leaders to deliver the goods that meet the aspirations of her people. It is in delivering the goods and services that the governments sustain the dream of a nation. Currently, Nigeria has neither a dream nor the mindset to construct a meaningful one with the appropriate structures and leaders to deliver both the dream and the goods that flow from its structures. The daily deluge of acts of corruption and lawlessness in our society can demoralise the most optimistic Nigerian. But we cannot give up.

In remaking our constitution let us have a farmer mindset. And we do need a mindset make-over. *Mr. Ogbu, a professor of Economic & director , Institute for Development Studies, wrote from UNN.

20 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

, Reign of impunity in Imo W

HEN I learnt that Imo State’s Governor, Anayo Rochas Okorocha intended to set up what was described as “the Fourth Tier” I was excited. My excitement was based on my long held belief that the current local government system has failed to take either governance or development to the grassroots.

For a very long time, I have campaigned for the scrapping of the local government system and the establishment of governments based on kindred-defined communities covered by the various town unions.

My reason is simple. Give power to the grassroots and impetus is immediately created for healthy competition and the grassroots will burst with economic, social, political and cultural rejuvenation. It will curb ruralurban drift of migration. Not only will the community councils generate their own revenues, but the federal and state counterpart funds that will come every month will be less likely to be frittered away through unchecked corruption. It will also do away with the internal colonisation which many communities suffer within the current local government system.

On Monday, May 28th 2012 on this column, I once again rooted for the adoption of the community government system when Okorocha took steps to activate it in his state. But I made it clear that neither Okorocha nor any other governor had the power to dissolve the constitutionallycreated local governments and impose a “Fourth Tier ” or community government. In fact, Okorocha’s “Fourth Tier ” is obviously a misnomer, since the “third tier” has been “abrogated” by him!

For emphasis, I noted as follows: “The Rochas idea has its many problems. The Community Government Councils (CGCs) cannot co-habit with the current LGAs. The LGAs have to give way first before the CGCs can take root.

And the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 has to be amended to do away with the ineffective, corrupt, colonising and money-guzzling LGAs”.

The best that Okorocha could have done, as a budding political leader, was to help create a broad national consensus on the need to do away with the local government system and allow states or regions to determine how the grassroots

Okorocha must obey the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) based on which he won election and was sworn-in; he must pursue his political agenda democratically, lawfully and with civility

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are governed. Once the constitution is amended to this effect Okorocha can proceed with his Community Government Council (CGC) novelty.

From all indications, we were addressing a man who does not believe in any constitution or law, even though it was through the constitution that his election under our democracy became possible.

Since he took over the reins of power eighteen months ago, Governor Okorocha has behaved worse than the political class that “made” him: The military. He has systematically dissolved many statutory bodies with tenures defined by law, such as the Civil Service Commission (CSC), House of Assembly Service Commission (HASC) and Judicial Service Commission (JSC).

He not only sacked the elected chairmen of the 27 local government areas but he also dissolved the Local Government Service Commission (LGSC).

Most of the affected interests took their cases to court and won against the government’s action, but an adamant Okorocha ignores

court rulings and goes on appeal instead.

The most celebrated of them all was the dissolution of the elected local government councils, a sin that most other governors have committed since the dawn of our renascent democracy in 1999. The Governor doggedly refused to obey serial orders of the High Court and Court of Appeal asking that these elected officers be allowed to go back to work.

Ironically Rochas was a beneficiary of due process and the rule of law because as soon as he was pronounced the winner of the highly contested and controversial gubernatorial election in 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan, the leader of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) not only congratulated him but also ordered the entire state apparatuses to comply and enable him to assume power without hitches. In fact, though pained and unconvinced of Okorocha’s victory, his predecessor, Sir Ikedi Ohakim, gamely ushered him into the seat of power.

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ne would have expected Okorocha to extend this healthy democratic attitude to allow the elected local council officials to stay in office and woo them over to his side just as he was able to woo some PDP members of the State House of Assembly to his side. There are very few obstacles that political maturity and sagacity cannot achieve in a democracy. Before former Governor Ohakim, who was elected on the platform of the Progressive People’s Alliance (PPA), returned to the PDP (and derailed, as some put it) he was able to work harmoniously with a PDP-dominated State House of

Assembly. He always maintained that Imo people were first of all Imolites before being members of their different political parties.

With the mass appeal that Okorocha rode into the Government House mid-last year, he could easily have got majority of the council chiefs behind him through normal astute politicking.

But his resort to disobedience of court orders prompted a call on him by the Attorney General of the Federation, Bello Adoke, to obey the July 4th 2012 Court of Appeal (Owerri Division) ruling reinstating the elected officials.

This Okorocha also ignored, thus prompting a call for his impeachment by President Jonathan’s loquacious Political Adviser, Ahmed Gulak.

I do not believe that the solution to the conundrum in Imo State is for the Revenue Mobilisation, Allocation and Fiscal Commission (RMFAC) to withhold Imo local government funds to force Okorocha to obey the law. That would be applying Olusegun Obasanjo’s bad medicine. I will also not support the idea that the Federal government should pay Okorocha in his own coin by unleashing its coercive powers.

Two people cannot be mad at the same time.

Okorocha must obey the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (1999) based on which he won election and was sworn-in. He must pursue his political agenda democratically, lawfully and with civility. Many unsavoury indices of misgovernance are becoming too obvious. He still has enough time to correct himself or his political rising sun may never get to 12.00 noon! Recent by-elections which went to the PDP are useful early warnings.

A peep into our future

HEN the price of a bag of cement pointed to the direction of N15.00 in 1985, this writer addressed what looked like a world press conference, which touched principally on the outrage. I was the Chairman of the then Bendel Development and Property Authority (BDPA) and as the guest speaker of that year’s annual dinner of the Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, Bendel State Chapter, my stand was that, that “bagged dust” had no right to go beyond N5.00 per bag. It was the first time I hit the major headlines in most Nigerian newspapers.

My sister was perhaps the only one who saw tomorrow. She felt I was addressing the wrong side of the issue. For her, Nigeria’s problems had long defied the laws of economics. She said I should pray to God to give me the wherewithal to buy cement even if it gets to N1,000 per bag. Today, a bag of cement already dominates the region of N3,000 and nobody is complaining anymore.

Contrary to the popular view that Nigerians do not read and that perhaps the easiest way of hiding any information from them is to put it in print, we have just discovered that Nigerians could be very avid readers if they choose to. In every direction, our piece, “Drivers wanted: Minimum Qualification, PhD” has gone burst. It has been over-subscribed. Reactions range from the absurd to the sublime; and from such mild side as “That’s not our type of PhD. Ours were conferred after we were found worthy in character and learning. The PhD drivers got theirs after they were found wanting in character and learning”; to the wild side of outright heaving of abuses on Dangote, for an obnoxious programme that is aimed at holding down Southerners.

There is a consensus in many areas; the measure kills initiative. Very soon, it will

become extremely difficult, getting our children to go to school, particularly when they see their uncles who had reached the zenith of their education now driving trucks.

Again, readers feel that two steps need to be taken urgently: While we check out the post graduate programmes that issued those PhD, we must quickly arrange to examine the heads of the holders.

The emerging trend portends danger. Like what happened with the cement price, the PhD drivers’ scheme may as well be pointing to the direction of things to come.

We are giving up on the fight against terror. The penultimate week, we saw the king running away from battle leaving his subjects at the battle field in total disarray.

The Chambers of the National Assembly and members’ official quarters must now be completely deserted. Our leaders are scared stiff that Boko Haram can descend on them any time. Members have cried out that the National Assembly is no longer safe.

After the escapade of the past three weeks, it is clear that the merchants of death have now carried their battle to the enemy’s territory.

First, gunmen successfully bombed the church at the Command and Staff College, Jaji, Kaduna State, in which 17 people were reportedly killed and several others injured.

Less than 24 hours after, gunmen sacked the headquarters of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Abuja. And in quick succession, gunmen virtually sacked Auchi Town in Edo State. In a three-hour daylight operation on all Banks and the Command Headquarters of the Nigeria Police, – and in all this, the army cantonment was their next door neighbour. The soldiers only came to occupy the town after robbers had left safely! Worse still, the gunmen are on rampage in most cities across the country.

For all we know, in other climes,

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But the buck stops with the President; he must quickly do what will work! If he must be reminded, there is this hypothesis that the Boko Haram affair could also be about him and his desire to cling to power

Haram is a fulfillment of the naked threat to make Nigeria ungovernable under Jonathan. It goes further to say that the moment Jonathan relinquishes the presidency, Boko Haram would cease hostility.

Meanwhile, the bag won’t contain it but the native doctor won’t leave it behind. We hear that Jonathan may already be warming up for another tenure and he looks unstoppable, which simply means that Nigeria is about to be sentenced to yet another four or five years of Boko Haram, without any option of fine. Who will save us from this bleak future? Jonathan cannot feign ignorance of what will work here. Can he? Will he?

Election rigging has just been legalised in Nigeria! INEC has released its prosecution index for electoral offenders. INEC is beating its chest that out of 870,000 offenders, 200 have been successfully prosecuted, which represents a prosecution rate of 0.02 percent! Bravo! Put simply, out of every 4,350 offenders (ballot box snatchers, ballot stuffers, election riggers, shooters and killers at polling centres, etc.) only one person is prosecuted – a prosecution ratio of 4,350 : 1! Here, we are looking at the rate of prosecution, not conviction. The 200 may have been set free. In a more serious polity, this could engage our collective energies for the rest of this decade.

There is no greater license to kill than this!

It provides a frightening glimpse into our future. What noise, then, are we making about electoral reforms?

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frightened leaders don’t easily cry out. Even at the edge of doom, they would keep assuring and reassuring the citizens that all is well. In any case, they keep planning and fighting.

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ight more years of Boko Haram! One can hardly fault the excellent submission of President Goodluck Jonathan that the Odi Massacre was a fiasco, which means that the use of such brute force on Boko Haram is ruled out as something that will not work. We now know enough of what will not work.

But the buck stops with the President. He must quickly do what will work! If he must be reminded, there is this hypothesis that the Boko Haram affair could also be about him and his desire to cling to power. This hypothesis is built around the fact that Boko

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 — 21

From left: Divisional Head (Transport and Shipping), Fidelity Bank, Mr. Ndubuisi Agoh; NIMASA’s Director (Cabotage), Mrs. Oriware-Etete; Consultant on Maritime Security and Safety, Jeffrey Kuhlman; NIMASA exDirector (Cabotage), Mr Onwuka Igwe, and ISAN representative, Kunle Bankole, at the International Workboat Show, New Orleans, Lousiana,USA.

FG urged to incorporate flooding, natural disasters in budget allocation

BY PETER EGWUATU

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ederal and State Governments have been urged to consider flooding and other natural disasters in budget allocation and also put in place insurance schemes and other processes that would protect the citizens against human and natural disasters currently prevalent in the country.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc, Mr. Wole Oshin, made the call recently at the Delta State Liaison office in Lagos when his firm donated relief materials to Delta State flood

144.7

0.7

2,361.00

-36.00

19.25

-0.14

110.03 +1.19 89.51 CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL DOLLAR EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYA KRONA SDR

154.77 205.4107 169.8157 1.8322 0.2919 237.8322 24.8366 41.2687 27.5279 238.5934

155.27 206.0743 170.3643 1.8382 0.3019 238.6006 24.9173 41.402 27.6168 239.3642

+1.58 SELLING 155.77 206.7379 170.9129 1.8441 0.3119 239.3689 24.998 41.5353 27.7057 240.135

CBN Exchange rate as at 20/12/2012

victims.

According to him, nobody expected some of the crises (human or natural causes) being witnessed in the country. He stressed that now that natural disasters have started to happen, governments at both state and federal levels should put in place structures and processes to mitigate the risks.

He noted that government cannot continue to fund the enormous disaster that are beginning to happen as a result of climate change or general recklessness among Nigerians.

In his words, “Some years ago, we never thought some of the disasters we are seeing in Nigeria could happen. We do not know when it would happen next and when it happens, will we go through this process again of raising fund, donating materials and so on. This is not a sustainable approach. The more sustainable approach is risk management and in so doing, it is important and critical for government to embrace insurance such that a fixed sum of money is set aside and at the end of the day, they call on insurance companies who are experts in this area to pay claims and restore the people back to where they were prior to the losses,” Speaking on the relief materials (1,000 mattresses) presented to Delta State, Oshin said it was part of Custodian and Allied Insurance Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) to give back to society where they operate.

According to him, “ When this (flood)happened months ago, we thought of how to help communities that were displaced and Delta State came to our mind because of the enormity of flood in that region.”

Receiving the relief materials on behalf of the Delta State Government, Commission for Information, Mr. Chike Ogeah, said, Delta State thanked the company and others who had rendered similar support for their kind gestures.

You have come to donate to displaced people. On behalf of Delta State government and the good people of Delta State, we say thank you to Custodian and Allied Insurance Plc.”

Lagos to hammer hoteliers, hospitality operators over licensing law

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

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agos State government has begun moves to sanction owners of hotels, event centres, bars, clubs, fast food outlets and other hospitality and tourism establishments and operators that have failed to comply with the provisions of the state’s Hotel Licensing Law (as amended) 2003.

Senior Special Assistant to the Governor/Secretary, Lagos State Hotel Licensing Authority, Ms Aduke Gomez, said the measure was in line with the government’s resolve to sanitise the tourism industry in the state.

According to her, the names of identified non-compliant hospitality and tourism establishments have been filed at courts within various magisterial divisions across the state in order that implementation of proceedings against the proprietors of such establishments should commence. She added that the compilation of the names of such defaulting establishments was ongoing and that she expected that a second list of names would soon be submitted to the courts.

Gomez also noted that the registration of hotels and tourism related outfits is an internationally accepted control mechanism evolved by the World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO).

Maintaining that it is mandatory that all hospitality and tourism establishments operating within Lagos state be registered, she observed that the registration of all hospitality and tourism establishments will provide a data base for planning, marketing and research. The secretary, therefore, urged those that were yet to fully comply with the state registration requirements to do so immediately.

She added that hotel registration would provide accurate information to protect hotel clientele and will also provide information to users on the quality of facilities available in the establishments, while the publication of such data has the potential to increase customer traffic to accredited hotels and tourism establishments Reiterating government’s determination to make the state, the preferred destination for tourism, business and leisure in Africa, Gomez, stressed that the state government would ensure that all hospitality and tourism establishments operating in the register with the state’s Hotel Licensing AuthoritY. A total of 89 registered hospitality and tourism establishments operating in the State were recently issued licenses and permits to operate by the state’s licensing authority.

22 — Vanguard,FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Retail investors to commence trading of FGN bond on NSE —DMO

BY CHINEDU IBEABUCHI

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IRECTOR General of Debt Management Office, DMO, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, has said that retail investors who are interested in the Federal Government Bond can now do that through the secondary market, with the appointment of Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers to manage the bonds.

He disclosed this at the presentation of Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers to the Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, as government stockbrokers to its bonds.

He said, “Since 2003, we have been trying to develop the sovereign bond market in Nigeria and we have been taking various steps to do that. Recently, JP Morgan included the Nigerian Bond market in its index.

“That shows that in their independent assessment, our bonds market is growing, though we still have some more challenges to deal with, but it is appreciated all over the world that we are doing the best to develop the bond market.

“So going forward, we felt we need a bond broker so that the FGN bond could be actively traded on the exchange. The FGN bond is currently being traded on the counter. Though it is good, but in every economy, you also need it to be traded on the floor of the Stock Exchange.

“What we have done by appointing Stanbic Stockbrokers as the FGN stockbroker is to ensure that the FGN bond is actively traded on the Stock Exchange. That will ensure that retail investors are mobilised to participate. This will make development inclusive.

He said this was line with the transformation agenda of the government, adding that as the government tries to transform the economy, the capital market is an integral part, and as such, it is part of government’s effort at developing the capital market.

He added that trading the bond on the NSE and OTC will make the trading more balanced and boost market liquidity.

Also, Mrs. Patience Oniha, Director, Market Development, DMO, said the idea of appointing a stockbroker is to make it eliminate the challenge that retail investors go through in trying to trade his portfolios in the primary market.

She said: “The whole idea is that some retail investors do not know they could buy at the primary market and sell at the capital market.

Some who want to sell can now do it through the secondary market easily and at a fair price.

“For instance, some retail investors have bought, but because they bought in small volume, they could not sell easily. So, what we are trying to provide on the NSE is what is technically referred to as liquidity.

“Now the retail investor can buy from both the primary and secondary market, but more importantly, when he wants to dispose it off, he can do it more easily through the NSE in the same way he sells equity, and not necessarily going to the bank. This is the purpose of having a government stockbroker.”

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From left: Chief Executive Officer,Nigerian Stock Exchange, NSE, Mr Oscar Onyema; CEO, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc, Mrs. Sola David Borha; Director General, Debt Management Office, Dr. Abraham Nwankwo, and Executive Director, Market Operations, NSE, Mr Adeolu Bajomo at the presentation of Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Limited as the Government Stockbrokers to the market in Lagos, Wednesday.

Lagos disburses N33bn retirement bonds to PFAs in two years

By OLASUNKANMI AKONI

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overnor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State has disclosed that not less than N33 billion has been paid to the six Pension Fund Administrators, PFAs by the Lagos State Government as retirement savings account of state workers to date.

Presenting retirement bond certificates worth N3.58 billion to 604 deserving workers who retired from its service, at NECA House, Alausa, Fashola, who was represented by the Head of Service, Mr Adesegun Ogunlewe, said: “It is worthy of note that we have never failed to remit monthly contributions into the Retirement Savings Account of workers to date”.

“Similarly, we have been consistent in setting aside the funds for the payment of accrued rights, made up of gratuity and pension entitlements of every worker before April 1, 2007, when the contributory pension scheme started in the state as provided for in the Pension Reform Law.” The governor said: “As of today, a total of N3.58 billion has already been transferred into the Retirement Savings Account of the 604 retirees in this 7th batch.

“Today’s Bond presentation has thus brought the total accrued pension rights already paid into the Retirement Savings Accounts of 2,539 retirees in Lagos State to N13.91 billion. This is made up of gratuity and pension benefits for entitlements under the old Scheme.”

At the fifth Retirement Bond Certificate Presentation ceremony in March this year, I reiterated my call

that the Contributory Pension Scheme should be one of the easier ‘quick wins’ for the States of the old Western Region to achieve, by collaborating for better pension administration regimes and driving public service productivity under the Development Agenda for Western Nigeria (DAWN).

“This call becomes more imperative in the light of the recent disclosure that the country’s pension fund will increase from its present N2.9 trillion to N3 trillion by the end of 2012.”

On his part, the Director -General of the Lagos State Pension

Commission (LASPEC), Mr. Rotimi Hussain, said the state government would not relent in ensuring that welfare of the retirees are taken care of, adding that automated pension administration mechanism has been put in place.

“The commission has in place a highly automated pension administration mechanism and staff that have been trained to attend to retirees diligently. This has had a great impact on the administration of the pension scheme in the state’, he said.

NSE: Stockbroker blames low investors’ participation on poor analysis

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RESIDENT, Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers (CIS), Mr Ariyo Olushekun, has attributed the low participation of local investors in the nation’s bourse to inability to analyse the capital market.

Olushekun told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Lagos that the shortcoming has created room for foreign investors to overshadow the local ones.

He urged local investors to approach professionals for a proper analysis of stocks before investing to avoid investments without returns.

He said that the institute would continue with its enlightenment campaign to ensure that local investors increase their stakes in the market and partake in the recovery growth.

Olushekun observed that most key

stocks were selling below their correct valuation, adding that local investors should take the advantage and increase their stakes in the market.

“We can beat our chest to say the market has recovered when we have more local investors participating in the market than the foreign investors,” Olushekun said.

He insisted that local investors must pick stocks based on proper analysis or embrace the Collective Investment Schemes (CIS) managed by the professionals.

“The CIS has created different platformstoensurethatthestockbroker is well equipped to perform his roles effectively and protect investors in the market,” he said.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012—23

ATM fraud reduced by 99% in one year — Obaigbona

BY CHINEDU IBEABUCHI

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RAUDULENT transac tions through the Automated Teller Machines, ATM, have been reduced by 99 per cent within the last one year, Mr. Emmanuel Obaigbona, Chairman, Nigerian e-Fraud Forum, NeFF, has said.

He said that the crime has assumed a new dimension, migrating from ATM to what he called ‘card not present’ fraud as a result of the introduction of cashless policy which saw more e-payment channels springing up.

Disclosing this at the NeFF 2012 Annual General Meeting in Lagos, he said that the ‘card not present’ fraud, which means other forms of e-payment crime other than through the ATM, has been on the increase.

He blamed this on the inability of banks to disclose and share information of related fraudulent cases with one another, saying, there is need to strengthen the legal framework against electronic fraud.

He said all these necessitated the introduction of NeFF as fraud incidences had negatively impacted confidence in the entire system and not just on the banking institution.

He said, “By the time we move to the EMV technology, we discovered that ATM fraud has drastically reduced by 99 per cent. But then, in line with the CBN desire to promote electronic payment, there was need to introduce the cashless policy. And with the increase in e-payment channel, there

was an increase in e-fraudulent attack.

“So, there was need for the industry to do something because crime now migrated from ATM to ‘card not present’ fraud. So, NeFF was formed a year ago with a view to basically deal with fraud in its entirety.

“We discovered that in the cause of doing this, same style of fraud was committed in different banks. That is, the kind of crime perpetrated in ‘Bank A’, is same done in ‘Bank B’. This was because the banks were not sharing information. So there was need to bring the industry

together in information sharing.

“There is also the need to strengthen the legal framework against electronic fraud. We had a case of where someone defrauded a bank of millions of naira. When he was taken to court, he was given an option of N5,000 or three months imprisonment,” he said.

In his own contribution, Mr. Segun Agbaje, MD/CEO, Guarantee Trust Bank said that since the introduction of a particular payment system in 2011, e-fraud has assumed an inter-bank situation.

He blamed the lack of co-

From left: Mojisola Saka, Chief Operating Officer, Publicis Consultants, SoulComm; Mr. Fola Adeola, Founder/Chairman, FATE Foundation; Mr. Udeme Ufot, GMD, SO&U Saatchi and Saatchi, winner of Fate Model Entrepreneur 2012 (FME 2012) and Saheed Kekere-Ekun, FAME Award 2012 winner at the Fate annual celebration & entrepreneurial awards 2012, in Lagos.

Resort Savings returns to profitability, deposit base hits N1.9bn

BY PETER EGWUATU

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ESORT Savings & Loans Plc has bounced back to profitability, recording a N107 million unaudited profit for the third quarter ending September 2012, after the necessary provision on account has been made.

The company has grown its deposit base to N1.9 billion from a deposit liability of N480 million in 2009, according to the bank’s recent statement.

Within the same period, the leading mortgage banker has shot up from a 3 branch, 2 cash centre financial institution to a 9-branch and 4-cash centre bank.

Bringing the bank to this

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operation by banks in mitigating against fraud as the reason for its escalation in other e-payment channels.

“In a situation where a fraudster committed a fraud in bank ‘A’, even when bank ‘B’ is notified, such fraudulent account might not be sanctioned. Also, some banks delay, withheld or reduce the total cash that has been channeled to their banks fraudulently by scammers.

Some even under-report a crime, therefore undermining the tackling of fraud. The question is why an organisation must protect fraudsters?” he said.

healthy state, according to financial analysts, must have been a task that tried the expertise and managerial skills of the management team following the challenges the bank was confronted with up till 2009 when it recorded a deposit liability of N480 million and had many debtors to contend with.

To restore the bank to sound health, its Board sought and obtained the approval of the relevant regulatory bodies for three new directors who were appointed to represent the shareholders and direct the affairs of the bank.

Since then, the reconstituted team has continued to pilot the affairs of the bank towards stability and profitability.

Through its aggressive pursuit of the bank’s debtors, over N352 million has been recovered and much effort is still directed in this direction, with a source in the bank hinting on the recovery of more loans in the months ahead.

A source close to the company revealed that the management in its determination to recover all outstanding loans, has referred difficult debtors to the regulatory and enforcement agencies, to ensure repayment and/or prosecution.

Under the leadership of the new board, the bank is currently managing, developing, and providing mortgages in many states across the country.

They include: Jalingo, Taraba State-382 houses, Yola, Adamawa State-760 Houses, Ofada, Ogun State-420 Houses, and Pearl Gardens, Lekki The bank is also currently collaborating with the Lagos State Government in the development of over 120 hectares of land in different locations, while it is also working with the Federal Road Safety Corps FRSC, to develop and provide mortgages for a minimum of 400 officers in Ekiti State.

To deliver quality services to its fast expanding customer base, and in conformity with modern banking trends, Resort Savings & Loans has successfully deployed its Resort Debit Cards to all its branches and over 3,000 of its customers nationwide are currently enjoying

Ecobank rewards customers in third draw of Win Big Promo

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EEPING faith with the ongoing Win Big Promo, Ecobank has rewarded a third set of winners in Abuja where Chibuzor Nwaogo Jane of Jabi Branch, Abuja drew the star prize of a brand new Nissan salon car. The first and second Draws held in Lagos and Port-Harcourt respectively.

The atmosphere was electric as customers and guests waited with bated breath before breaking into hilarious celebration after Chibuzor Jane was announced as the star prize winner by Engr.

Sham Kolo of the Consumer Protection Council. Winners in other categories include Haruna Taiwo and Abubakar Sadiq Mohammed, both customers from (Ibrahim Taiwo Road) Kano and (Garki) Abuja respectively. They won 32 LCD television each as Ikebuoku Anthony Ndubuisi and Yahaya Raiyanu emerged winners of 2.5kva generators each, while the duo of Adamu Abubakar and Clement Maboh Peter (both from the FCT) won separate Blackberry phones.

Addressing customers and guests at the event, Funwa Akinmade, Head of Domestic Products, encouraged everyone to open accounts with Ecobank and enjoined existing customers to increase or maintain their deposits to the required monthly N20,000 and automatically qualify for a chance to win in the draws ahead as “This is a big opportunity to ‘Win Big’. Mr Akinmade elaborated that customers with steady deposits way beyond the N20,000 mark within the month stand multiple chances. He reiterated that the promo is “Ecobank’s way of saying thank you to all her customers and stakeholders.”

Mr Kehinde Ogundipe, Head Local Corporate Abuja, (who was representing the Executive Director Domestic Banking FCT/ North, Shehu Jafiya), also disclosed that Ecobank has earmarked four monthly draws for the promo to appreciate customers and help them enjoy the benefits of maintaining a good savings culture, adding that, “Each draw takes us closer to the 1st prize; a Sports Utility Vehicle (SUV) to be won in the Grand Finale which comes up in January 2013.”

24 — Vanguard,FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Energen boosts cereal market profile

Vodacom Nigeria unveils EVS for Nigerian businesses Stories by PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

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odacom Business Nigeria has unveiled its Enterprise Voice Solution (EVS)for Nigerian businesses. This SIP Trunking service supports cost effective routing with high call quality as well as improved levels of service on local and international calls for enterprises in Nigeria.

By providing direct connectivity between the customer ’s PBX and the Telecom Service Provider ’s switch, which runs via the Vodacom data network, the Solution enables customers to make outbound and receive inbound calls from anywhere across the globe using their existing PBX or IP PBX system.

Vodacom Enterprise Voice Solution aims to improve productivity, increase mobility and ramp-up response time for customers, partners and even employees. This is especially true for businesses that receive large volumes of inbound calls or that run big customer service operations. With this solution, customers can initiate and receive over 30 concurrent calls and add new lines as the business grows.

“Today, we have adapted the concept of SIP trunking in partnership with a licensed operator. This partnership enables us to provide direct connectivity to the operator’s switch which guarantees high voice quality. What’s more, by going this route service, availability will not be affected by any base station downtimes” said Abu Etu, Product Manager Vodacom Business Nigeria.

In addition, Vodacom Enterprise Voice solution will provide optimal utilization of bandwidth by delivering both data and voice in the same connection. This solution opens-up a different scope of creating other types of real time communication beyond LAN. Businesses in Nigeria now have access to high performance easy-to-use, easyto-manage telephone solution.

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Mr. Wale Sunmola, Sales Manager, East, Euro Global Foods and Distilleries Limited (middle) receives Best Schnapps Product award for Seaking Premium Schnapps from Mrs. Mae Solomon, Director, Higher Education, Rivers State Ministry of Education at the Institute for Government Research and Leadership ‘African Products Awards’ held in Port Harcourt. With them is Mr. Fred Oriunuebho of Tru-edge Communications, PR consultants to Euro Global. (left).

Sweet Sensation opens shop in Festac

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n what is best described as Brand penetration and expansion, Sweet Sensation Confectionery, a Quick Service Restaurant has fulfilled its promise of taking its products to Festac town.

The new outlet is equipped with unique features, which are value added specifically for the Festac Community that gives it a unique distinction from the normal quick service restaurant offerings.

The first unique feature is an expansive Outdoor Children’s play area with a wide variety of exciting toys to play with. It’s the first of its kind in Festac and any Sweet Sensation outlet.

The other unique feature is the provision of hot oven freshly baked bread for those who love their bread hot and fresh. Added to this is the fresh additions of scrumptious desserts, fruity smoothies and the ever healthy freshly squeezed juices.

According to the Executive Director of Sweet Sensation, Mr. Olatunji Kamson, these new value added features are just to reiterate the core values of the Sweet

Sensation Brand as an innovative and Customer-friendly brand that will not rest on its oars but strive to provide unrivalled services to its teeming Customers. He went on to state that the provision of an expansive outdoor children’s play area is to give children enough space to express themselves as well as provide a fun spot where they can celebrate their Birthday parties every month.

On the provision of hot oven fresh bread, he further stated that the move was a direct response to the peculiar needs of Festac and environs to have a spot where people can get their bread hot and fresh anytime they want.

To consolidate the strategic move of creativity and innovativeness by Sweet Sensation, Koffi, a comedian, Shank, one of Nigeria’s dance-hall music star, Vector the Viper, Festac-groomed and one of Nigeria’s finest Rapper and Iyanyan, “the Kukere” crooner and one of Nigeria’s biggest music artists were on hand to thrill the music loving community on Saturday 15th and Sunday 16th December 2012.

Crazy Twins-Nigeria Got Talent semi finalist also thrilled the Festac Community with their dance steps

Corporate Media bags franchise for Aero in-flight branding

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orporate Media, an out-of-home advertising company has secured the franchise for the in-flight branding of Aero-Contractor.

The agency has equally commenced plans to secure similar rights with other major airlines in Nigeria for branding purposes.

This was revealed in Lagos by the ViceChairman of the leading outdoor company, Mr. Niyi Latinwo, who said it is the agency’s new resolve to use alternative media platform for clients’ business.

According to him, the agency, working in partnership with MTN has been using available opportunities in the passenger cabin of Aero to project their brand and various topical messages.

His words: “As part of our move in seeking

alternative media for our numerous clients, corporate media is partnering with MTN in utilizing the various available opportunities in the passenger cabin of Aero to project their brand and various topical issues”.

Presently, Latinwo revealed, “the agency has branded the headrest cover of Aero airplanes for advertising”, stating that it is very effective as passengers are left with no choice than to see the message because it is right there in their face”.

He stated that since distraction is almost nil, recall rate for such advert is high which is one of the key advertising goals.

He further revealed that compared with other media, the effectiveness of this new platform is unparalleled as this is believed to be the reason why MTN, is using the platform as part of its out-of-home advertising platforms.

ereal brands market in Nigeria will witness a boost with the introduction of Energen cereal. The product from Indonesian Fast Moving Consumers Goods (FMCG) company PT Mayora Indah Tbk, will be marketed in Nigeria by Inbisco Nigeria Limited. Energen in practical packs is a blend of cereal and milk made from a selection of oat with with a combination of fibre fortified with vitamins and calcium.

Speaking at the launch, Country Manager, Inbisco Nigeria Limited, Mr. Emeka Ajoiyi, said the new product is not a meal for the breakfast table alone but will be playing in the cereal category of the Nigerian market with consciousness for healthy living.

Ajoiyi noted that Energen cereal contains fibre, no cholesterol, and enriched with eight Vitamin and minerals- A, B1, B2, B6, B9, B12, D, E, and Calcium.

The Inbisco Country Manager said the product is easy to digest because of its high fibre content Available in two different variants of vanilla and chocolate, but comes in a roll of 10 packs of either 30g or 50g.

Indomie showcases Nigerian talents through sponsorship BYESTHERONYEGBULA

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he 18 th National Sports Festival, Eko 2012 is come and gone, but the sponsorship by Indomie from the stable of Dufil Industries to showcase Nigerian talents through generations smirks of the brand’s effort to bring back the dwindling Nigerian sports to reckoning.

Some notable artistes present were Fred Amata, Benita Nzeribe, and Sunny Mac Don. Also Dejumo Lewis of the Village Headmaster fame made a special appearance where he talked about Nigeria today, yesterday and the future.

Anchoring the event was the duo of Paul Adams and delectable Bukky Wright. Prizes were given to the Best Dressed Guest in Ankara and the Best Dancer.

The event, which is endorsed by the Eko 2012 LOC with support of the Lagos State Judo Association, According to Mrs. Kemi Otegbade, Coordinator Nigeria sports Entertainment village, “the event is essentially the idea is to promote what holds us together as a nation.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 — 25

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26—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

UNWTO welcomes world’s one-billionth tourist Ekere (rhythm of Tribes) performance at the 2012 CARNIRIV held at Carnival Village in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.

Carnival River s: Celebration of the tribes

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his year ’s Rivers State carnival, CARNIRIV, which ended last weekend in Port Harcourt metropolis was many things- music, colour, movement, but above all, it was the spectacle of the tribes.

The main attraction was the “Ekere: Rhythm of the Tribes”, a display of the rich cultural heritage and glamour of the Rivers people in the 23 Local Government Areas. Each Local Government Area put up show of glamorous costumes and captivating dance steps.

The floats of the 23 LGAs and that of indigenes of Akwa Ibom State resident in Rivers State encapsulated the spice and essence of the pure Rivers Carnival spirit.

They showcased the diversity of the people’s primal artistic fervor, and the glamour of their patrician heritage.

The stories behind the traditional Carnival characters lend meaning and significance to those unusual portrayals of costumes and display with individual playing specific persona they have played in past editions becoming familiar with the traditions associated with those roles.

With thousands of costumed revellers transforming the landscape into a visual fantasia, the Director-General of the Rivers State Tourism Development Agency (RSTDA), Dr. Sam Dede, who was part of the parade, said “The main difference between CARNIRIV and other carnivals in the country

Former Miss Nigeria, Agbani Darego (left); Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State (second left); Deputy Governor, Tele Ikuru (second right) and deputy gov’s wife, Mina, during the Garden City freestyle parade, in Port Harcourt.

is that CARNIRIV is mostly a display of the indigenous culture of the Rivers People. The costumes, dance and music on display are indigenous.”

The Carniriv that is gradually evolving into a truly all-inclusive national festival drew participants from neighbouring states as well many expatriates from different parts of the world in attendance, even the governor of the state, Rotimi Amaechi, was in attendance with former Miss World , Agbani Darego.

Governor Amaechi was full of praises for the bands presidents, band leaders, international and local designers and dancers, and all others for being part of the carnival, noting that the carnival “ has told the story of our past, sing the songs of our present and light the path to our future.

He added that the carnival offered the people the opportunity to their uniqueness and rich

cultural heritage.” over the last six days we let our feet and our hearts do the talking. Yes , we danced. We celebrated our uniqueness and our heritage. Port Harcourt was one big theater”.

For the State Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Dr. Nabbs Imegwu, the carnival has become one of the most sought after cultural fiesta by tourists, adding that this year edition was repackaged with lots of varieties ranging from cultural display, Music Concert, featuring international artists, fashion parade and best designers in arts and crafts.

The one week cultural fiesta featured a variety of indigenous and international displays. The Black African Music Festival (BAMFest) featured Grammy Award-winning reggae star and rapper, Shaggy and fellow reggae singer, Patra, celebrated Nigerian music acts, Tuface Idibia and Duncan Mighty.

The artistes thrilled the crowd with a memorable performance.

A

BRITISH tourist visiting Madrid, Spain on December 13has been revealed as the symbolic face of the one billion international tourists travelling in 2012. The tourist was welcomed by the Minister of Industry, Energy and Tourism of Spain, José Manuel Soria, UNWTO Secretary-General, Taleb Rifai, and the Mayor of Madrid, Ana Botella, at an event in Madrid’s Museo del Prado, held to celebrate a record one billion international tourists in 2012. The event, part of the UNWTO One Billion Tourists: One Billion Opportunities campaign, recalled how tourism can create billions of opportunities for growth and development around the world.

“Today, we welcome the symbolic arrival of the onebillionth tourist,” said Mr Rifai.

“The one-billionth tourist, Mrs. Dale Sheppard-Floyd from the United Kingdom, is visiting Spain for three days. During that time she will experience a new culture, meet new people, support the local economy and help to sustain the jobs of waiters, tour guides and many more working in tourism, as well as of all those whose jobs are indirectly linked to tourism such as taxi drivers, food producers or shop attendees. If we multiply this impact by one billion, we begin to understand the enormous significance of reaching this milestone.”

Transcorp Hilton rolls out holiday packages

T

ranscorp Hilton Abuja rolled out packages for this holiday period, aptly tagged ‘Enjoy the holiday glow of Hilton with an impressive ceremonial lighting of Christmas Tree recently.

The package offers the guests a choice of any room type or suite at a rate that is inclusive of buffet breakfast.

With its well-appointed and comfortable rooms, cuisines that suit the season, lavish leisure and entertainment options, Transcorp Hilton proudly offers all the sweet ingredients of a Christmas holiday that lives in the mind much longer than the holidays.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012—27

BY BENJAMIN NJOKU & ANOZIE EGOLE

F

or septuagenarian film maker and former chairman of the Nigerian Film Corporation (NFC), Chief Eddie Ugboma(OON) today is significant in so many ways. Apart from the fact that he will be rolling out drums to mark 72nd birthday anniversary, one of his daughters is getting married today. Also, the naming ceremony of his grandchild coincidentally holds today, all roads lead to his Badagry residence. But despite these double celebrations, Ugbomah still finds time to reappraise the industry called, Nollywood and his grudges against the practitioners.

At 72, what’s the new thing about you?

There is no new story. Iam thanking God that I am 72 today. My daughter also is getting married today. My other daughter had her first baby recently. So, I will be having five celebrations all in one; naming ceremony of my grandchild, traditional marriage of my daughter, my birthday anniversary, Christmas and New Year celebrations.

How has the journey been so far?

The journey has been very fantastic. I am happy with myself but sad for the industry in a way. It has not met my expectations. It started off on a good note, and mid-way, it started showing signs of deterioration and now, the industry is dead which is sad.

When I am talking, I am talking about my profession that is movie making.

Do you think there is anything to celebrate in Nollywood at 20?

I believe we have a lot to celebrate.

The early practitioners shot with cameras, making a story out of it with no sound studio, no set, no location and everything was improvised yet they were C M Y K

churning out very good but badly told stories, technically poor. At least, the films were made in Nigeria for Nigerians.

I think the industry has come of age. There are a lot to celebrate. Afterall, Nollywood has done more good to this country than most of our politicians. But now, I am so disappointed that the last five

Information Ministers did not impact positively on the industry. I am talking about past and present Information Ministers; starting from Chikelu to the incumbent Minister, Labarak Maku. Maku is now 18 months in the office, yet, he has never had any roundtable talk with Nollywood practitioners.

What is your grudge with the industry?

The practitioners have refused to improve on the quality of their works.

Secondly, and perhaps, the saddest part of it, is that they are watching the industry dying systematically. What do you do, when you watch somebody kill your baby? Then, I am sorry for you. You find out that each of the guild have up to five presidents because they want to use the platform to

•Chief Eddie Ugbomah collect peanuts from the government, not because they want to improve on the industry.

That is what these guild leadership tussle is all about.

Whether it is in Nollywood, Kannywood and Yoruba movie

sector. Sometimes, you feel embarrassed as a Nigerian film maker watching our films on television. People around you would quickly urge you to change the channel because the film is boring. That is how Continues on page 28

Nollywood star, Ngozi Nwosu needs N6m to live

E

XCEPT a miracle happens and fast too, Nollywood may record yet another tragedy, following the deteriorating condition of Imo State born actress, Ngozi Nwosu.

The actress who played “Peaceful Peace’, one of the troublesome wives of Chief Fuji (played by Kunle Bamtefa) for over 20 years in Fuji House of Commotion is reportedly battling heart and kidney related ailments .

For the ailing actress to stay alive, she needs the sum of N6m to treat herself abroad.

And she needs it as soon as possible.

Earlier in the year, it was rumoured that the actress was infected with HIV/ AIDS virus. The once boisterous

actress kept mum and subsequently w e n t underground.

It was not until last Saturday when she reportedly appeared as a guest contestant on the popular TV game show, ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire’, that the picture of her ailment became glaring to all.

The actress who was a recipient of the One Million Naira that was won

on the show on that fateful day to help aid her treatment was assisted by entertainment journalist, Seun Oloketuyi.

It was also ironical that Nwosu appeared on the show a few years back to play for Usman Pategi, popularly known as ‘Samanja’ and little did she know that a few years later, she will be on the hot seat playing to raise funds for herself.

According to Oloketuyi, “One of the first signs that things were no longer right with Ngozi was the fact that we had to delay recording because while everybody else was virtually fanning themselves due to the studio lights, Ngozi was shivering from cold so much that the producers had to get her cardigans. I was flustered. When the programme eventually got underway, Ngozi still helped to Continues on page 28

28—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Nollywood star, Ngozi Nwosu needs N6m to live

Continued from page 27 answer some questions.”

Narrating further, Oloketuyi said, he was invited to participate in the game show and had no inkling that the actress was

going to be his partner. The Director only informed him few minutes before recording began when Nwosu sauntered in.

“When we probed further on what exactly her ailment is, Ngozi wouldn’t say but instead invited me to her home. Last Sunday, I was Ngozi’s guest, where she showed me results of tests stating that she had kidney and heart-related issues. I spent hours in her house as she led me by the hand through the whole gamut of her illness.

“She told me she decided to divulge everything because of widespread speculation that she was HIV positive. “I don’t have AIDS o,” she declared.

Also, few weeks ago, the National Association of Nigerian Theatre Arts Practitioners (NANTAP) rallied around the ailing actress when they had to raise some amount of money to support her.

Since the beginning of this year, Ngozi has been a shadow of her old self as she emaciated with her collar bones standing so glaring ahead of what used to be a robust neck. Her failing health was however linked to so many unimaginable things, but the “Fuji house of Commotion” star was unperturbed. She maintained that nothing was wrong with her.

How they ruined Ramsey Nouah’s career — Eddie Ugbomah Continues from page 27 low it has become . That’s my grudge with the industry.

They forgot that Nollywood is a big industry that is even mightier than the oil companies.It is the biggest employer of labour. In times like this when people are depressed and sad, movies and music make one feel happy again.

I have many disappointments with the industry. They don’t know what they are playing with; they are playing with a very powerful industry. It is an industry that provides a lot of jobs to our youths.

Is the new Nollywood, where they use mostly new faces instead of the old popular ones a good development?

Well, I have not seen any appreciable change in the whole thing because, the last five movies I have seen is the same old faces like, Desmond, Monalisa, Rita Dominic, Ini Edo among others. So, it is the same vicious circle. The people who are behind this practice are the lazy producers and marketers. They don’t want to create stars when there are many of them hanging out there. They want already made stars where they can shoot the film on Monday and put it in the market on Tuesday. When we were shooting film in Bayelsa, which my nephew, Twila Thompson was the director and it was her own movie, she invited me to come over as a consultant.

The movie was titled, “Up Creek” It’s about the oil spillage and the nonchalant attitude of the government. We found out that many Nollywood stars do not want to stay on the location for more than five

days. They want everything to happen within a day. So, I don’t want to mention their names, but three known stars were dropped.

They cannot stand the rigidity of film making. I buy the idea of the new Nollywood because there are s e v e r a l universities in the country that are graduating students from the Theater Arts Ugbomah Departments.

Again, greed has jettison,the profession of video directing.They have also made date. So, I have been trying to it obvious that if you are not do that.

I need to collect the negatives fair-complexioned, you cannot of Ogunde, Ola Balogun, get a role, they brought Nonso Diobi and Mike Ezuruonye to among others to enable me destroy Ramsey Nouah. When carry out the documentation. So, they felt their plan did not work I have told the Nigerian Film out, they brought two Co-operation to fund this Ghanaian actors, Van Vicker project and put them in the and Majid Mitchel into the archives so that we can retrieve picture. If they had brought in them anytime we want for those two actors to make our posterity. I need only N2m to films acceptable to Africans, it transfer the films to DVD. The would have been better but, one I saved in my plate are all they brought them to sell their burnt and wasted.

That was why I set up a movie films because they know that anything fair normally attracts maker’s Hall of Films. Most countries have hall of films for the eyes. professions. Right now, I have What plans do you have two galleries made up of towards the documentation of musicians because, most of our your celluloid films you talked musicians knew nothing about music. So because of this, I about a years ago?

Unfortunately, I have not decided to create a hall of film been able to do that because it for these great musicians with is capital intensive. I have the caption, “Talk Music” where thirteen series that I want to you can talk about music. These document. I need to do a things are relevant but when compilation of the movies that you have nonentities, you will have been shot from 1945 till do nothing.

Movie of the week Synopsis

Streets of Calabar Chuks Oti, mixed-race 419 (advance fee fraud) scammer and illegal immigrant recently deported back to his home country Nigeria from London. Once there he manages to wangle his way out of a possible jail term and ends up in the holiday resort city, Calabar, living with his loyal, much younger British girlfriend Margaret, who insisted on travelling with him to Nigeria.

Chuks takes on menial jobs to make ends meet, but life is difficult. When he runs into his old 419 mate, Mike, a Nigerian pleasure seeker who is full of wild energy and loves to take risks, the two down-on-their-luck

Movie schedule

friends, with no jobs and no prospects, soon find themselves back in the criminal world.

They become enveloped in a web of scams and danger presided over by the mysterious De Don, leader of a gang of underground arms and drug dealers, who’s hatched an evil plan to take over the peaceful streets of Calabar.

The movie is hitting the cinemas today.

21st December – 27th

SILVERBIRD CINEMAS, VICTORIA ISLAND Streets of Calabar: 11;00am, 4:25pm, 9:00pm.

Rise of the Guardian: 12:45pm, 4:40pm Pitch Perfect: 11:10am, 7;35pm, 9:45pm Hotel Transylvania: 11:00am, 2:40pm.

Inside Story: 6:35pm Arinzo : 5:15pm A thousand words: 11:00am Here comes the Boom: 12;40pm.

The Meeting: 2:45pm.

Twilight Saga: Breaking dawn part2: 6:45pm.

Bond23: Skyfall: 8:40pm SILVERBIRD CINEMAS, IKEJA Streets of Calabar; 1:05, 9:35pm Rise of the Guardian: 11;00am, 3;15pm, 5:00pm Arinzo: 1:40pm, 8:50pm.

Hotel Transylvania: 11:55pm, 1:35pm, 5:25pm.

Here comes the Boom: 5;30pm Inside Story: 7:35pm.

The Meeting: 11:05pm, 6:15pm Bond23: Skyfall: 12:45pm, 6:50pm, 9:40pm.

Twilight saga Breaking dawn part2: 3;20pm, 7:15pm, 9:30pm.

SILVERBIRD CINEMAS, ABUJA Streets of Calabar: 11:25am, 1:50pm, 6:20pm, 8:45pm Rise of the Guardian: 11:15am, 1;10pm, 3:10pm, 5:10pm.

Arinzo: 1:50pm, 9:15pm.

Inside Story: 12:20pm, 4:40pm, 9:00pm.

A Thousand Words : 1:55pm, 6;45pm, 8:40pm Pitch perfect: 11:25am, 4:10pm, 9:05pm Hotel Transylvania: 11:40am, 1:55pm, 5:55pm Twilight Saga: Breaking dawnpart2: 2:20pm, 6:40pm, 9:20pm.

THE TEAM BENJAMIN NJOKU njokujamin@yahoo.com AYO ONIKOYI OPEOLUWANI OGUNJIMI

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012—29

Off-Camera

Monalisa Chinda’s Xmas presents

By BENJAMIN NJOKU

L

AGOS is set to witness the most sophisticated dance production of the decade come next Monday, Christmas eve, as Nollywood’s top actress, Monalisa Chinda stuns Nigeria’s theatre with the maiden edition of her world class stage production titled, Project Help: A Dance for Life.

The play to be staged at the prestigious Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, is an enactment of a thrilling classical contemporary dance powered by the incredible Bailamos Dance Company, an ensemble that has treated Nigerian aristocrats, elites and technocrats to the best ecstatic performances. It is being directed by choreography wizard, BunmiOlunloyo. But Project Help, according to the actress promises more. It is a night that will parade the best of Nollywood stars in an amazing dance-styli form that is bound to leave audience spellbound.

Featuring an array of Nigeria’s biggest superstars

including, Desmond Elliot, Kate Henshaw, Segun Arinze, Bimbo Akintola, Bovi, Saeon, the prima ballerina, Monalisa Chinda and many more. The breathtaking dance production will showcase even more theatrical elements and aesthetics as the Nollywood stars will also deliver electrifying performances that will intensify the tempo of this historical Christmas dance production.

Speaking recently about the inspiration behind the highly anticipated event, Monalisa enthusiastically stated, “I’ve been nurturing the dance production idea for quite a while but my several engagements wouldn’t avail me enough time, so I kept developing it. I’ve always wanted a production, away from the norms, where people can experience classical recitals at its very best.”

“While this remains a great way to celebrate Christmas with loved ones, I also see it as a powerful means of awakening the dwindling culture of theatre in Africa at

O’jez holds Xmas concert, bonanza

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ELEBRITY hangout, O’jez restaurant, National stadium, Surulere, Lagos, has finalized plans to organise a yuletide concert.

Also, its Xmas bonanza will begin on Christmas eve, December 24, through January. Prices of items sold at the celebrity hangout will be slashed drastically as revealed by the management.

Scheduled to hold on Sunday, December 30, the Xmas concert tagged O’jez Xmas Blast is being organized by the O’jez Entertainment Forum, organizers of the monthly O’jez Entertainment Awards. Chief Joseph Odobeatu, Chief Executive Officer, O’jez in a statement signed by his media Company, Media Image Managers, MIM, said the show is part of plans lined up to reward “our loyal clientele that have patronized us all through the year. This is our way of saying ‘thank you’ to these wonderful and loyal people who without them, we won’t be in business today.”

large. We’ve been working on this for a while and it promises to be a memorable atmosphere of unlimited ecstasy, joy and bliss,” she affirms.

Jim Iyke and Nadia Buari hook up in Uganda?

C

OULD it be that Nollywood bad boy, Jim Iyke has anything to do with sexy Ghanaian actress, Nadia Buari? Far from what you are thinking at the moment, Jim Iyke and Nadia only got close to each other penultimate Saturday when they attended the ‘Kampala Nile Awards.

Iyke won an award for his role in ‘Last Flight to Abuja,’as well as bagging the ‘Entertainment Entrepreneur’ award, while Nadia was given the ‘Best Model’ award.

•Monalisa

Wadada, others thrill at La Royale Event Centre I

T was a harvest of music, comedy, and mouthwatering meal as La Royale Event Centre officially berths, promising the best of servicescum-world class facilities to Nigerians.

The groovy event which

•Wadada

held last Friday, at the magnificent edifice, Agege, Lagos, was spiced by the Kora award winner, Prince Wadada, among other ace musicians and comedians who proved their mettle with aweinspiring performances.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of La Royale Event Centre, Princess Adebola Dosumu, the strategically built and well equipped event centre with over 3, 500 capacities, exquisite bar and restaurant, kidds lodge, is aimed at providing standard event centre to Nigerians, especially those within Lagos State.

“The event centre will also give opportunity to up and

coming artistes to regularly showcase themselves through performances, especially on Friday nights. We want to cater for Nigerians. We want to cater for people who are holding weddings, seminars, conferences, and all kinds of shows and events. “The spaciousness of La Royale makes it special and different from any other within the city of Lagos.

Apart from our intention to render exceptional services, we boast of a robust infrastructure with a perfect combination of manpower as well as one of the most affordable and best in the city of Lagos.”

Dosumu averred.

The Kora award winner for Best African Reggae Act category, Prince Wadada who wowed audience at the event with his mesmerizing performance also used the opportunity to disclose that “no kobo has reached him” from Kora award organizers, after being promised some millions of naira prior to the award.

•Jim iyke and Nadia Buari

Deola braces up for album launch W

ith her debut effort Beremole currently rocking the airwaves, Adeola Ososami, says that she is fully prepared to take on the Nigerian movie industry.

Produced by Dr Mike Moodini of Lunakidz Music, the label on which she is signed, the artiste who is based in the UK says that currently, she is in the process of making an album which she believes will take the Nigerian movie industry by

storm.

Simply known by the stage name, Deola. The 22 year old songstress is currently an undergraduate studying dentistry even as she has been developing her own sound as an artist. “I try to incorporate the expressive Yoruba language into my songs to create a unique blend of contemporary Afro pop with a soulful twist. The inspiration for my sound is a fusion of genres and a range of artists,

like Asa, Corine Bailey Rae, Erykah Badu and more traditionally, The Kutis and Shina Peters,” she says.

F o r Moodini, h e a d honcho of Lunakidz Music, bringing Deola onto his

team stems more from her high sense of artistry. “She writes her own songs and when it comes to performance, she holds her own. I like the fact that she is able to write her songs her self and perform them.

Deola is one artiste who will go very far because as a song

writer she also performs life.

She has all it takes to blow in the industry,” he adds.

Her sojourn into the world of music started at an early age within church choirs and music vocal groups. She then attended the prestigious Tech music school, graduating with a CERT HE in popular music performance. She was also awarded best performer of the year ahead of a large number of musicians, after a showstopping performance at London’s Shepherd’s Bush Empire.

30—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 — 31

C M Y K

32 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

second the accusations of sexual assault by my husband.”Friends of the couple said their 20-year old marriage remained strong despite the new strains and that the allegations were unlikely to separate them

Nafisatou vs DSK: Nothing succeeds like having nothing to lose N

afisatou Diallo, the West Africa born hotel chambermaid who had accused Former International Monetary Fund chief Dominique StraussKahn of trying to rape her has reached an agreement to settle her lawsuit, likely ending a legal saga that forced the onetime French presidential contender ’s resignation and opened a floodgate of accusations against him.

It was a dirty case from the beginning, with both parties determined to fight dirty and to get away with anything there was to get away with.

But the chambermaid had too little to lose, and DSK too much.

Timeline May 14, 2011 Strauss-Kahn was arrested and charged with the sexual assault and attempted rape of 32-year-old Nafissatou Diallo, a housekeeper at the Sofitel New York Hotel in the Manhattan borough earlier that day. After calling the hotel and asking them to bring his missing cell phone to the airport, he was met by police and taken from his Paris-bound flight at New York City ’s John F. Kennedy International Airport minutes before takeoff and was later charged on several counts of sexual assault plus unlawful imprisonment. Strauss-Kahn was accused of four felony charges—two of criminal sexual acts (forcing the housekeeper to perform oral sex on him), one of attempted rape and one of

sexual abuse—plus three misdemeanor offences, including unlawful imprisonment. The U.S. State Department determined that Strauss Kahn’s diplomatic immunity does not apply to this

case May 18, 2011 Strauss-Kahn resigned from his position as head of the IMF. In his letter of resignation he denied “ with the greatest possible firmness all of the

allegations”. He said he wanted to protect the IMF and devote all his energies to proving his innocence.

May 21, 2011 Anne Sinclair, the wife of Dominique Strauss Kahn said: “I don’t believe for a single

Af Afffirmative Action vvss Af Afff irmative action W hen, earlier in the year, Nigeria got her first female Chief Justice, Justice Mariam Aloma Muhktar, there was much enthusiasm in the camp of those who held the belief that women, being homemakers and gently cultured, are better managers and less corrupt leaders.

In many cases, this has been the case. Dora Akunyili has remained one of the more enduring icons of credibility and integrity of our democracy, despite the fall of her political career. There is, of course, the finance minister Ngozi Okonjo Iwealla and various others who have given credibility to the belief.

And though the euphoria of this has worn off in the face of more present, unpleasant realities, President Goodluck Jonathan actually remains the first president in history to employ gender affirmative action in the appointment of ministers in his administration.

It was thus something of an irony, and rather

disappointing, that another form of affirmative action it was that brought about the controversy that was brought about by the fact that Muktar had on November 5, declined to swear-in Justice JomboOfor alongside 11 other newly appointed Justices of the Appeal Court, following a petition challenging the state of origin declared by the judge, who was nominated under a slot reserved for Abia State, the CJN having decided to step-down her swearing-in following agitation from some quarters that going by the prevailing judicial policy in the country; she was not qualified to represent Abia State on the

appellate court bench.

The petitioners had contended that though Justice JomboOfor is currently serving under the Abia State judiciary, she lacked the requisite locus to take a slot meant for the state since she was originally from Anambra State, notwithstanding the fact that she is married to a man from Abia State.

Jumbo Ofor

Mukhtar

June 14, 2011 IMF announced two candidates had been shortlisted for the post of managing director of the IMF-Agustin Carstens, governor of the Mexican central bank, and Christine Lagarde, French finance minister. On June 28, the IMF announced they had selected Lagarde, the first woman ever, in what seemed like poetic justice.

June 29 2012 After months of standing by shamed former IMF and paying more than £1million in bail on his behalf Anne Sinclair appeared to have finally had enough as she has kicked out the self-confessed sex addict and serial adulterer from their £5million Paris home.

August 8, 2011 Diallo filed a civil action against Strauss-Kahn in the Supreme Court of the State of New York, County of Bronx.

August 22, 2011 Prosecutors filed a recommendation for dismissal of all charges against StraussKahn. They told the court that inconsistencies in the accuser’s testimony led to the decision to Continues on Page 33

It is with a deep sigh of relief that various women rights organizations round the country regarded the decision of the National Judicial Council, NJC to persuade the Chief Justice rescind her decision and swear-in Justice Ifeoma Jombo-Ofor to the Appeal Court Bench.

The law, afterall, is made for the people, and not the people for the law.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 — 33

Continues from Page. 32

recommend all charges be dropped. Their decision to drop the case was based on a number of facts outlined in a 25-page document. The next day, prosecutors stated they could no longer believe Diallo beyond a reasonable doubt. Diallo’s attorney, Kenneth Thompson, publicly attacked DA Vance, claiming that Vance’s office had been abusive to their client, had leaked false information, and sought to undermine Diallo’s credibility. All charges against Strauss-Kahn were dismissed as requested by the prosecution March 2012 Students at Cambridge University in the U.K. protested against Strauss-Kahn being allowed to speak on campus.

Because of the original charges and the maid’s allegations, a campus women’s group opposed his visit, with 750 students signing a petition to withdraw his invitation.

In defending their decision to invite him, the president of the student union explained that “we can’t engage in any kind of judgement on people,” while a university spokesperson added that the university “respects academic freedom and freedom of speech.” A student protester who was interviewed defended the protests, saying “. . . we wanted to exercise our own freedom of speech as individuals and let the union know what we think.

May 15, 2012 A few days after the French election for president, StraussKahn filed a countersuit against Diallo for making “baseless accusations that had cost him his job as managing director of the International Monetary Fund and ‘other professional opportunities’.” Until his arrest, Strauss-Kahn was considered to be a likely candidate to run against the incumbent president, Nicolas Sarkozy December 10, 2012 Dominique Strauss-Kahn reached a settlement with the hotel maid who claimed he sexually assaulted her, bringing the 18-month-long saga to an end.

The agreement is confidential yet the amount could run into millions of dollars in return for Nafissatou Diallo dropping her civil lawsuit against the former head of the International Monetary Fund.

The settlement, made in the New York State Supreme Court in the Bronx on Monday, was previously reported to be for $6 million, although Strauss-Kahn’s lawyers have denied this.

French newspaper Le Monde reported that Strauss-Kahn will ask his former wife, multimillionaire Anne Sinclair, for half of the money and the rest will come from a bank loan. He has no savings.

LEAP has done it for 10 years Ndidi Nwuneli, chief executive officer of Leadership, Effectiveness, Accountability & Professionalism (LEAP) Africa in the last quarter of 2012 played hostess at the nonprofit’s 10th Anniversary and 9th Annual Nigerian Youth Leadership Awards. For LEAP, the event was a great opportunity to showcase its work and impact over the past

ten years and recognize young social innovators. Running its leadership and practical life skills building programme in select public secondary schools, the Leadership, Ethics & Civics Programme (LEC) develops, empowers and encourages young students in SS1 to serve as change agents by implementing sustainable social development projects

addressing a need in their immediate environment, to increase opportunities and improve the livelihood of individuals.

At the Anniversary Celebration, the young beneficiaries received awards for Best Social Change Project and Best Participating School in Anambra, Lagos and Ogun States where the curriculum is currently being delivered.

Community

From L - R Mr. Udeme Ufot, Mrs. Nwuneli and Mr. Babatunde Dabiri

T

he yuletide season is here at last and it’s party, party party from now on. Chances are, you’ll put on a lot of pounds this season that you’ll spend the rest of 2013 trying to get rid of. Unless, of course, you pay attention to one or two of the following:1.eat before you leave the house it’s what women tell their kids before going off to a party, right? Itcertainly does not sound like something an adult should be saying to herself but it’s Christmas season and it is what an adult should be saying to themselves. Filling yourself up with wholesome food before the tempting food is still the ageold way of resisting yummy temptation.

2.Break the alcohol There will be a lot of wine, champagne, congac, irish cream- enough alcohol to go round; and you have every excuse to indulge, the trick is to embrace the sandwich drinking programme: a glass of water after every glass of alcohol before the next glass.

This will not only make you buzzed later, it will keep the system cleaner and add on far fewer calories 3.Make use of the spare time

Secondary School-Umuokpu Anambra-Taking Back My Environment, Orile-Ilugun Comprehensive High School, O g u n - Computer Literacy for St. Paul Primary School a n d I m m a c u l a t e Heart Comprehensive Senior High School- Providing Eye Glasses for Market People of Onigbongbo, Lagos each won the 2012 Awards for Best Social Change Project on initiative aimed towards improving the livelihood and sustaining communities.

To celebrate the anniversary, LEAP had an official showing of its 10th year documentary.

In addition, there were 10 speakers drawn from its large network of Alumni, beneficiaries of its leadership programmes and special projects across Nigeria shared ‘their LEAP experience’. Since 2002, LEAP Africa has impacted several thousands of youth and entrepreneurs, providing them with skills and resources for personal, organizational and community transformation.

The Annual Nigerian Youth Leadership Awards is one of LEAP’s most highly anticipated events of the year, bringing young people from across the nation together to learn from inspirational stories of young change agents and gain insights from experienced leaders.

Robust Christmas, not Hips the holidays afford you as an investment towards your health. Ideally, take long, leisurely walks, preferably with an interesting partner.

It will keep you more relaxed when the hustle sets in next year.

4.Count the Calories Again, seemingly obvious one, but the cost of not counting can

be higher during the estivities than at any other time.

5. Give, give, give.

If you’re preoccupied with feeding the less privileged in society (and even the privileged) you will naturally

be less concerned about feeding yourself, hopefully.

Take the opportunity this season to- even if for once- to visit the motherless.

Mandela’s Wife sad to see hubby “Age” Graca Machel, wife of former South African President Nelson Mandela has said that she is losing hope as the icon battles lung infection. Machel said it was painful to see her 94 year old husband “ageing”. “I mean, this spirit and this sparkle, you see that somehow it’s

fading,” she said.

Though he spent 26 years of them in jail, Nelson Madiba Mandela has packed more into one lifetime than most people would pack in three.

As Madiba throws the entire world into panic over his health (a lung infection suspected to be tuberculosis, and then an op to remove kidney stones) the globe is reminded once again about just how important the Nobel laureate is to the scheme of things. Entire television and radio stations are dedicated to monitoring his progress- or the lack of itNot much of a success in his personal relationships, Nelson Mandela has been married thrice, his various incarcerations and his lifelong agitations for majority rule in his home South Africa being the most responsible factor.

Graca Markel was the widow of former Mozambican president Samora Machel who had died in a car crash twelve years before hitching up with Mandela more than a decade ago in his most successful marriage so far.

34 — VANGUARD, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 With PRINCE OSUAGWU princeosuagwu@gmail.com

The taste of new BB10 to come

H

ave you ever seen a shot of well posed and smiling person only to see him surprisingly sleeping?

That is what happens when between the snap of the shutters, the person suddenly blinks his eyes. And in that case, it is believed the photographer is helpless and could do nothing about it.

But with the new Blackberry 10 device billed to debut first quarter of 2013, the myth is broken. There is absolutely something the photographer can do now. At least he can reverse the shot in the BB10 device and eventually open the eyes of the image.

Magical, isn’t it? That is part of the features which RIM’s Director, Product Management for Africa, Mr. Rui Brites showed off at the weekend when he stormed Nigeria to show journalists and techie enthusiasts what to expect in the about to be released BlackBerry 10 enabled device.

The feature is a clock-face-style dial that allows the user to rewind or go forward in time from the moment he presses the shutter, to pick the best facial expression.

Although the device is a work in progress, the BB10 spots features which exposed the device maker ’s desire to take over the smart market which it actually pioneered.

Giving the device a truly smart face, RIM showed class in some features like the ‘ work, life balance’, which allows its user switch between a personal and work mode. This means that the work mode of the phone’s data can be controlled and wiped if necessary without affecting the personal data.

RIM also showed off its forthcoming smart keyboard software which will be used in full touchscreen BB10 devices.

Although the demo didn’t offer any major revelations for the keyboard, the centre of attraction as the device was demonstrated by Brites was a feature called ‘next word projector ’ which positions suggested words above the next letter that the user intends to type or spell out.

Son o ffight ight Apple, Sonyy tto Samsung with new Experia phone

A

pple’s Nigerian Value Added Distributor, Core Group Africa, is reorientating Nigerian iPad lovers to the need of patronising authorized Apple resellers when they desire to pick the device.

As a result, it struck a deal with innovative telecom player, Etisalat to give customers that buy an iPad device from any Apple Authorised Reseller in the country, a free one-year data plan on Etisalat’s high speed broadband service.

Announcing the booty, Executive Director of Core Group Africa, Mr Rutger-Jan van Spaandonk said that “offering a free one-year data plan with the purchase of an iPad from authorised resellers is further testament to our commitment to establish an official reseller channel in Nigeria.

“It is important for Nigerians to have the assurance that when buying iPads from authorised resellers, they know it is the genuine article, warranty will be honoured and aftersales service will be provided” he added.

The free data comes in addition to the recently announced one free year of warranty that iPad buyers get when purchasing from authorized resellers, and so, for Spaandonk, “there is no longer any reason not to buy from

What the new BB10 may look like

D

iPad devices,

Apple gives iPad users more Etisalat booty officially appointed resellers,”.

As part of the partnership, most Etisalat Experience Centres will be appointed Apple Authorised Resellers.

Meanwhile, the amount of free data depends on the iPad model purchased. Customers get 300MB, 500MB or 750MB every month for 12 months (in total 3.6GB, 6.0GB and 9.0GB) when buying a 16GB, 32GB or 64GB iPad Wi-Fi + Cellular respectively. The value of these packages range from N18,000 for the 300MB one to N36,000 for the 750MB one.

evice makers, Sony, is preparing a mobile war with Apple and Samsung with a new Xperia smartphone that will stand toe to toe with the iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S3 that will debut soon.

The company’s officials revealed that Sony will create in the near future a flagship model that can compete with Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy S3.

For a device maker that recorded a loss of about £924 million in the 2011 financial year, the statement is reassuring to mobile enthusiasts that competition would still remain in the mobile market for some time.

After the acquisition of Ericsson’s stake in the business, Sony has maintained a bit focus with its products and perhaps a touch of innovative and strong marketing strategy like Apple and Samsung do, may bring it back as strong competition The handset that is touted to bring the killer punch is likely to be unveiled at Sony’s press conference at CES 2013 in Las Vegas, followed by an appearance at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona before hitting the shelves in stores and markets.

Sony also admitted that it had a good relationship with Microsoft and at such, if the windows phone becomes the in- thing, the possibility of having a Sony windows phone may not be ruled out.

At the centre of mobile war…..New Sony Experia phone

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 — 35

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36 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

B

ismillahi Rahamani Ra heem. Wasalatu wasalam ala seyidina Muhammad, wa ala alihi, wa ashabihi, wasselim.

O

bviously, there is no limit to the favours of Allâh, a Muslim should unceasingly keep himself occupied with the remembrance of Allâh and express his gratefulness to Him. No matter the iota of goodness, it is worth more than anything human being can give.

People spend their entire lives in need of Allah. From the air they breathe to the food they eat, from being able to use their hands and feet to being able to work

Tel: 08098097290

email: isholaism@yahoo.co.uk

Every breath worths expressing gratitude to Allah and walk, speak, hear, smell; from shelter to laughter and from happiness to healthy living; these are indeed Allah’s belssings on us.

Then he added onto us other extra favours that most people erroneously think come solely with their efforts and endeavours. You

Allah.

Some think that everything happens spontaneously.

No! Nothing happens except that it has been decreed to happen. Working hard to achieve your goal is paramount though, but God decides how he rewards mankind. The blessings bestowed by

,

“And If you would count the blessings of Allah you would not be able to count them…”

(Surah Ibrahim 14:34) “Therefore remember Me (by praying, glorifying), I will remember you, and be grateful to Me (for My countless Favors on you) and never be ungrateful to Me.” (Suratul-Baqarah 2: 152) “Then which of the Blessings of your Lord will you both (jinn and men) deny?” (Surah ArRahman) “Strange are the ways of a believer for there is good in every affair of his and this is not the case with anyone else except in the case of a believer for if he has an occasion to feel delight, he thanks (Allah), thus there is a good for him in it, and if he gets into trouble and shows resignation (and endures it patiently), there is a good for him in it.” [Muslim Chapter 14, Book 042, Number 7138]

If one reflects only for a moment, he would instantly comprehend that he is always surrounded with infinite favours. At every moment, every minute, there is an uninterrupted flow of favours reaching him

won a contract, or an award is another extra favour on some lucky ones. I was honoured, I won the Nigeria Media Merit Award for Investigative Reporter of the Year. recently. It is marvellous in my eyes and I give glory to

,

Allah are more than what we can count. Showing gratitude is one way of recognising the favours of Allah on you and you are bound to have more. Allah says in the Quran: “If ye are grateful, I will add more (favours) unto you”. A cleric once told me that in

the word Lainshakartum La azidannakum” in verse 7 of Suratul Ibrahim, the underlined La in the second word is used to confirm, without doubt, that Allah will further blesses the person who show gratitude to Him and that it is actually in the form of an oath. So, Allah is promising any being who gives thanks to Him would be further blessed. Indeed, Allah never breaks His promise.

“And remember! Your Lord caused to be declared (publicly): “If you are grateful, I will add more (favours) unto you; But if you show ingratitude, truly My punishment is terrible indeed.”

Some are wont to wait for special occasion to render thanks to Allâh.

They failed to understand that every moment in someone’s life is as good a time for showing gratitude to the Creator. In fact, every breath in our lives worth more than a million gratitude to Allah. If one reflects only for a moment, he would instantly comprehend

•From left: Managing Director, Omolara Trading Ventures Limited, Alhaja Banke Shuaib; Deputy Governor, Osun State, Mrs. Titi Laoye -Tomori; Chairperson, Ansar-Ud-Deen Women Worldwide (Osun), Alhaja Sidikat Daudu at an award ceremony in recognition of the contributions of eminent Muslim women to the development of the society in Osogbo. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

that he is always surrounded with infinite favours.

At every moment, every minute, there is an uninterrupted flow of favours reaching him: his life, good health, i n t e l l i g e n c e , consciousness, his five senses, the air that he breaths; in brief, everything that makes life possible is given to man as a favour. In return for all these, a person is expected to serve Allâh in gratitude. Those who are heedless of these favours and accordingly neglect to turn to Allâh for expressing their gratefulness, only acknowledge the importance of these favours when they are deprived of them. This is indeed a punishment for their ingratitude.

Gratefulness to Allâh is one of the concepts mostly emphasised in the Qur’ân. In almost 70 verses, the importance of rendering thanks to Allâh is stated. If you give thhanks to your creator, you are sure of getting more rewards as He as promised that expression of gratitude attracts more blessings while failure to glorify God over the blessings of God attracts punishment.

Gratefulness is also closely related to the punishment in the Hereafter. No punishment shall befall those who have faith and are grateful: “What will Allâh gain by your punishment, if you are grateful and you believe? Nay, it is Allâh that recognise (all good), and know all things.” (AnNisa, 147) This verse, together with many others give the good tidings that Allâh reward those who remain grateful to their Creator: Expression of gratitude is a part of the test by Allah. Man is surely endowed with favour from Him and is informed about how he should benefit from this favour.

In return, man is expected to assume a submissive attitude towards his Creator even as he rejoices and expresses gratitude to God. Ibn Majah recorded

that Ibn ‘Umar said that the Messenger of Allah said, (A servant of Allah once said, ‘O Allah! Yours is praise that is suitable for the grace of Your Face and the greatness of Your Supreme Authority.’ The two angels were confused as to how to write these words. They ascended to Allah and said, ‘O our Lord! A servant has just uttered a statement and we are unsure how to record it for him.’ Allah said while having more knowledge in what His servant has said, ‘What did My servant say’ They said, ‘He said, ‘O Allah! Yours is the priase that is suitable for the grace of Your Face and the greatness of Your Supreme Authority.’ Allah said to them, ‘Write it as My servant has said it, until he meets Me and then I shall reward him for it.)

Always say Alhamdulillah.

My Lord, Sustain me that I may be thankful for the favours that You have conferred upon me and my parents, and to do what is righteous that I may receive Your s a t i s f a c t i o n .

Alhamdullilah RobilAlameen.

ASK YOUR IMAM

How do I prevent evil thoughts from my mind?

T

he best way to prevent and stop evil thoughts and evil deeds is to seek refuge with Allah (SWT) from the accursed Shaytan.

Whenever you find an evil thought coming to your mind, or you are tempted to perform an evil action, recite the Qur’anic phrase: Auzhu billahi mina shaytani Rajeem ’I seek refuge with Allah from the accursed devil’ and move on. Again, you have to be very conscious of your actions and thoughts. If you think you action is being influenced by devil, then, make it a habit to seek refuge with God from the devil by saying the above phrase often. The devil wants to be obeyed and when he is disobeyed, he feels defeated and will not return to you again.

Also, try to muster outmost concentration in your daily prayers.

You will overcome the devil. Insha Allah.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012—37

PRESENTATION: Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State, (left); Mr. Uchenna Duru, MD/CEO of Grand Towers (right), and Alhaji Yakubu Sallau, Chairman, Chanchaga Local Government, during the presentation of a copy of a Memorandum of Understanding on the construction of Minna City Center to Mr. Duru, at Government House Minna.

From left: Prof. Donald Idu, Vice Chancellor, Benson Idahosa University; Hon. Ame Ogbemudia Uhumnwangho and President, Benson Idahosa University, Bishop FEB Benson-Idahosa, during the presentation of Changing Nigeria Award, to Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, by the university, in Benin City.

Governor Rochas Okorocha of Imo State (middle), with members of Presidential Committee on Flood Disaster who paid a courtesy visit to Govt. House, Owerri.

From left: Dr. Samuel L. John; Dr. Samuel A. Oloyede; Prof. A. A. A. Atayero, (Dep. Vice-Chancellor, Academic, Covenant University) and Dr. Solomon Oranusi, after their promotion as new Covenant University professors.

PRESENTATION: From left: Mr. James Eze, Head, Public Relations, Airtel Nigeria; Mrs. Eyitemi Taire, Head, Brand Communication, Airtel; Amarachi Uyanne, winner of the competition and Mrs. Emike Uyanne, mother of winner, during the presentation of N10 million to Amarachi, winner of Nigeria's Got Talent, in Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo: Editor.

VISIT: Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State (left) and Mr. Chike Ikpeamonwu, Commandant, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, Edo State Command, during the Commandant's courtesy visit to the governor in Benin City, yesterday.

OKUNOLA @ 60: From left: Alhaji Mikhail Okunola, Mr. Ismail Kudaisi & Alhaji Wasiu Suliaman, representing Oba Akran of Badagry, at the launch of the book,The Making of a Great Leader and 60th birthday of Alhaji Okunola.

ANNIVERSARY LECTURE: From left: Mallam Sada Saliu Rumal, representing Katsina State Governor; Dr. Amos Akinlagba, Chairman, Nigeria Re-insurance; Dr. Jimoh Ibrahim, Publisher/GMD, Energy Group, chief host and, Justice Dahiru Musdapher, former Chief Justice of Nigeria, and guest speaker, during National Mirror's Second Anniversary Lecture, in Lagos.

Photo: Diran Oshe.

38 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

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40—Vanguard, FRIDAY FRIDAY,, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Kwara gov assures on fight against poverty

BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI

I

MoU: President, Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, Lagos Chapter, Mr. Lasisi Akinsanya (left); exchanging the MoU on the Glo/NULGE Close User Group, CUG, scheme with Mr. Tunde Amunikoro, Head, Public Sector, Globacom in Lagos. With them is Chairman of Yaba LCDA, Mr. Jide Jimoh.

From left: Director, Procurement, Etisalat Nigeria, Jamal Eddine Trache; CEO, Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans; VicePresident, Alcatel-Lucent, Middle East/Turkey/Africa, Amr K. El-Leithy and CEO, Alcatel-Lucent, Nigeria, Hatim Zougari, after signing the Phase 6 Contract between Etisalat Nigeria and Alcatel-Lucent in Lagos.

Group advocates regional govt

BY EMEKA MAMAH

L

AGOS—A pan-Igbo political association, Odinma Igbo, has called for the introduction of six federating units of eight states each in the 1999 Constitution.

It also called for 50 per cent derivation as was the case with the 1963 Constitution.

This was contained in a statement issued in Enugu, yesterday, by the National Secretary of Odinma Igbo, Chief Maxi Okwu.

Okwu said: ‘’It is our position that the present six geopolitical zones be enhanced by making them the constituent units with the centre as the federation. The zones should get constitutional recognition as political and administrative regions. In the first instance the principle of zonal equality must be understood and respected. ’’All regions would take off with an initial eight-state structure. Subsequently the

six regions shall be left to delineate by themselves without any federal interference the number of states or sub-regional structures making up the region.”

J

subsequently to the states in the areas of agriculture, education, health, administrative structure, policing and state security.

PDP chieftain denies certificate forgery

BY LAJA THOMAS

L

AGOS—PEOPLES Democratic Party, PDP, Chairmanship candidate for Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA in the last council election in Lagos State, Otunba Busari

Ayinde, yesterday, denied ever submitting any fake certificate for the election.

Ayinde, who was recently declared winner of the said election by the state Election Petition Tribunal, told Vanguard, that “the allegation of

Chime’s continued absence from office worries CLO

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH NUGU—THE Civil Liber ties Organisation, CLO, has expressed concern over the continued absence of Governor Sullivan Chime of Enugu State from office, saying that this was affecting

E

Plateau govt, labour to dialogue over strike

BY TAYE OBATERU & PHILIP EKIGWE OS—THE Plateau State Government said it is ready to dialogue with labour to end the current strike in the state and has offered to pay striking local government workers three months salaries out of the seven months they have been on strike.

Director of Research and Documentation, Government House, Jos Mr. Chris Kwaja, who briefed journalists said government was desirous of an amicable solution to the dispute in a manner that there would be neither winner nor loser.

He said although government’s position on the strike was guided by the law, it was nonetheless ready for continued dialogue with the workers to demonstrate the admin-

The irreducible minimum of democratic structures at all levels must be respected. That substantial powers shall be devolved to the regions and

istration’s commitment to their welfare.

He said government was concerned about the violent dimension the action by workers was taking, noting that it was being hijacked by hoodlums and urged local government workers to return to work and participate in the biometric verification exercise meant to ascertain the actual workforce of the local governments.

Kwaja appealed to the National Working Committee of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, to reconsider the planned nationwide strike in solidarity with the striking workers in the state The NLC has threatened to mobilise workers across the country to join the strike in solidarity with the workers in Plateau State, if the state government failed to resolve the dispute.

governance in the state.

The CLO’s position was contained in a statement issued by its Executive Director, Ibuchukwu Ezike, in Lagos, yesterday.

The statement said: ‘’The CLO is worried by the continued absence from office by the governor of Enugu State, Mr. Sullivan Chime, since September 19, 2012. CLO gathered that the governor had applied to the Speaker of the State Assembly, Mr. Eugene Odo, for a two-week leave but has not resumed since then. ’’The Deputy Governor of the state, Mr. Sunday Onyebuchi, was said to have been asked to act in the governor ’s absence in the said letter.”

presenting a fake certificate by me is a mere propaganda and a way of diverting people’s attention from the matters on ground by Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, because they are not comfortable with the decision of the tribunal. All documents requested by Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC, from all candidates before the election were submitted and subjected to screening before the election and this is almost a year and a half now. ‘’I challenged the declaration of ACN winner of the October 22, 2011 local government election by LASIEC because the result of the election was never declared. They released the result and announced ACN as winner.

ACN,won the Osun and Ekiti tates governorship polls through judicial process which was accepted by the PDP. The party is supposed to obey the rulings of the tribunal, but instead, they resorted to blackmail, threat to my life, and now allegation of fake certificate.’’

Urhobo DESOPADEC commissioners get kudos

BY FESTUS AHON GHELLI—CHAIR MAN of Delta Central chapter of Host Communities of Nigeria, Oil and Gas, HOSTCOM, Mr. John Ayoro, has congratulated the commissioners representing the Urhobo nation on the board of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC. They include, Chief Ominimini Obuiwebvi, Mr. Festus

U

Utuama and Chief Henry Ofa. Ayoro who spoke during the swearing in of the new executive of the chapter in Ughelli, yesterday, reiterated the preparedness of the people to work with the commission to tackle the challenges facing the host communities.

He also commended the immediate past chairman of the group in Delta Central, Chief Moses Irimisose “for paddling the affairs to this extent.”

LORIN—GOVERNOR of Kwara State, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, has reiterated the commitment of his administration to partner with community and religious associations in its effort to eradicate poverty and improve the well being of the people Ahmed spoke yesterday, at the Charity Home in Ilorin, during a special prayer to mark the 50th birthday of his predecessor and senator representing Kwara Central Senatorial District, Dr. Abubakar Bukola Saraki.

The Governor however, commended the Ilorin Emirate Descendants’ Progressive Union, IEDPU, for being a dependable ally for growth and development in the state.

Ex-councillor lauds Uduaghan over roads

F

ORMER COUNCILL OR in Ukwuani Local Government Area of Delta State, Mr. Basil Ishiekwene, has commended the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan for declaring a state of emergency on all roads in the state.

Ishiekwene made the commendation while addressing newsmen in Amai, during the convocation of Novena University.

He said he was impressed with the decision of the Governor to rehabilitate all roads in urban areas and to continue with ongoing projects in the state.

Isoko nation builds cultural centre in Warri

BY EMMA ARUBI

W

ARRI—ISOKO eth nic nationalities’ apex socio -cultural group, Isoko Development Union, IDU, Warri branch, Delta State, has completed its 23-year-old ultra modern Isoko Cultural Centre, ICC, at the cost of N5million.

The president of IDU,Warri branch, Mr. Augustine Etugbo, who was recently re-elected for a second term made this revelation, during this year’s endof-tenure conference, at the cultural centre in Warri, saying that with the completion of the centre, all IDU businesses would now be conducted at the centre.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 — 41

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44—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Senate and the pension circus Pensioners who deservedly should be enjoying their retirement through regular pension payments are in distress arising from the systematic fraud in the pension roll. An intervention by the senate takes the form of a circus upon mutual allegations of bribery between the senate panel and some indicted pension scammers. Who is thinking of the pensioners

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

I

T was a spectacle at the gate of the National Assembly last Wednesday as rival sets of obviously hired demonstrators carried banners in support and against the activities of the Federal Government’s Pension Reform Task Team, PRTT. While one group praised the team for its work in exposing the pension thieves who have been accused of stealing more than N200 billion from the pension roll, another group chanted war songs accusing the team and its chairman, Abdulrasheed Maina of compounding the woes of pensioners.

Indeed, not many would be surprised at the morally offensive revelations flowing from the Senate and its investigations of the corruption in the nation’s pension roll. After all, big money is said to be involved.

At the centre of the ongoing scandal is the Chairman of the Senate Committee on the Establishments, Senator Aloysius Etok who is handling the investigations and the PRTT head, Maina.

Both senior government officials who remarkably should be working on the same page towards solving the mess in the pension roll are now locked against one another in a moral crisis that should in better societies have been decisively solved.

The crisis between both parties emerged in March when allegations

*Maina: Lost confidence in the committee

to distract the committee. Let the task force make public any form of bias by the committee,” Etok added.

Etok’s allegation was also in the wake of allegations that one of the

Meanwhile, the country’s pensioners continue to bear the brunt of the power play and intrigues

,

of subterranean dealings between both men surfaced in the media.

The Mania led task force was accused by the Etok panel of offering bribe to the committee for the purpose of twisting the findings of the senate investigations into the pension fraud last April.

Etok who said the panel members rejected the money observed: “The Taskforce team had some big people to bribe the senate committee to soft pedal.

“The task force team had sent some big people to offer us bribe and we refused because we are not ready to compromise our work.”

“We cannot be intimidated and we see the media war orchestrated by the task force as a blackmail and attempt

,

suspects being prosecuted over the multi trillion naira pension scam bribed the senate investigation committee to the tune of N3 billion. A newspaper report claimed that out of the N3 billion allegedly received by one of the leaders of the committee, that only N500 million was shared out to other committee members, a development that stoked ill-feelings within the senate committee.

The bribe allegation is now the subject of an internal enquiry in the senate.

Remarkably, Senator Etok who claimed to have been offered the bribe has not disclosed who in the Pension Task Force tried to bribe him or the committee. But the ill-feeling between the committee and the Pension Task

*Etok: Unable to get Maina to appear

Force has led to the well publicised rancor between the Etok led pension senate committee and the Maina led pension task force.

It is not surprising given the amount of money that is involved. Maina speaking at the presidential villa last Tuesday alleged that the pension scam had neared N3.3 trillion, that is an amount that is almost the size of the Federal Government budget.

“I want to tell you that what we have uncovered will surprise Nigerians. We have found that pension fund up to N3.3 trillion was stolen by the cabal and we are going to recover all the money,” Maina told reporters in the presidential villa last Tuesday.

Maina said the task team has so far recovered about N221 billion and has deleted 71,135 ghost pensioners from the pension list.

“N74 billion of the N181 billion discovered and saved by the pension task team has so far been mopped up for utilization in the 2012 budget,” he said.

He subsequently accused the Senate committee of bias. “The committee is unfair to us because they have taken sides with the cabal against those of us that are fighting the corruption in the system. That is why I wrote a

protest letter the Senate President to complain how the committee is biased.

They don’t allow us to answer questions because they will insist on yes or no as answer and that is unfair.”

He debunked knowledge of the alleged theft of N195 billion by the pension office pointing out that “ we have been doing all this work without running cost and we don’t even have money to buy some basic office items.”

Bad blood between the parties The bad blood between both parties came to a head last October when Maina refused to appear before the Etok following what he claimed was a petition he raised to the senate president alleging bias on the part of the committee.

Etok had responded with a threat of arrest and promptly got the senate president and the senate clerk to raise a warrant for the arrest of Maina.

The controversy was deepened penultimate Tuesday when the Etok committee alleged that N195 billion was missing from the pension fund, a development that they asked Maina to compulsorily come and defend the Continues on page 47

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012—45

This is the friendliest NASS to a president KNOWN in her days in the senate as the Joy of the Senate, Senator Joy Ifeyinwa Emodi’s character and content contributed in no small measure in the transformation of the image of the legislative body. In the chamber, committee and constituency, Senator Emodi left sterling legislative imprints that put her above the regular. It was as such no surprise that she was last year appointed the Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters.

Mrs. Emodi in this interview responds to questions on life on the executive plane, the challenges of managing relations between the executive and the legislature among other issues. Excerpts:

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

H

OW have you settled down to duties as Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters?

Well, it has been over a year since I assumed office as the Presidential Adviser on NASS Matters. I must say that I have since settled down because it is a familiar terrain.

The National Assembly is where I have the most number of friends and colleagues. And serving as a middleman between the Presidency and the National Assembly is for me a natural thing and great honour done to me by Mr. President.

What qualities or experience as a Senator have been of help to you in your present duties?

I think others are in a better position to judge my qualities. But I must say that experience as a Senator has helped me a lot. I dialogue with lawmakers a lot. I convey exactly their views on issues to Mr. President.

All my life, I have never known how to play to the

Recipe for failure *Emodi loyal aide of Mr. President.

But besides that and worst of all, I would be incurring the wrath of my conscience and

To be fair to the National Assembly, this is the friendliest National Assembly in terms of executive-legislature relationship.

Not a single executive bill has ever been shot down

,

gallery or what Nigerians call “eye service”. If out of a retinue of eminently qualified former federal lawmakers Mr. President has found me fit for this position, I owe it to him, my conscience, and indeed Nigerians to tell him the truth at all times.

If I fail to convey things as they are exactly or play the “eye service” and things go wrong, I would have failed in my duties as a committed

democratic growth.

In any case, the word parliament came from French word parlement and also the Latin word parliamentum.

These essentially mean ‘talking’ ‘speaking’ or ‘discussion’. The business of legislation is primarily about talking or discussing on behalf of their people. Each day the parliament sits, its business is to discuss both what is going on well and what is not going on well in governance and society in general.

They have to make laws for the good governance of the nation. If they are not doing that, then they would not be deemed as doing their job.

But the good thing is that Mr. President understands this and indeed respects the legislature and its constitutional duties as a very important arm of the Transformation Agenda.

Remember his popular statement during his declaration of his presidential ambition in 2010 that he had no enemy to find.

That remains true of him.

And at any time anybody around wants to overstep his or her bound, Mr. President has always come to tell such persons that they are totally on their own.

,

God. So, I try to be factual and truthful in relating with both my boss Mr. President and my friends, the lawmakers.

Again, I think trust goes a long way when you are a middle person. One always needs to strike a balance; and that balance is found in the fact that both the President and members of the National Assembly mean well for Nigeria and are working for a better Nigeria.

I have related quite closely with Mr. President and I have no doubt that he truly and deeply loves this country.

Even the President’s most critical political opponent, after relating with him on close range cannot but go away with the impression that ah, behold a President who loves his people so passionately. This mutual trust has seriously helped me in my assignment.

How would you define the relationship between the present National Assembly and the Executive arm?

Very cordial! Sometimes I am surprised when some Nigerians talk about the Executive and the National Assembly as though they were parallel governments. Maybe it is because of the newness of our democracy.

Both are different arms of the same government, are collectively responsible to Nigerians. Both will be

collectively judged or assessed at the end of the day.

So, both can only swim or sink and succeed or fail together.

With that knowledge, both are working to move the country forward.

However, that does not mean they must agree on every issue. That will be very unrealistic. Even in your family, every member of the family does not agree on every issue every time. But once you are joined by a common purpose, the various opinions on how to get to the goal can always be harmonised. It is like a football team.

Political temperament And I must point out that I am glad to be working with a President who is very comfortable with divergent opinions. He is a democrat to the core. His political temperament is excellent for

If you sign for either Barcelona or Rangers or any other club for that matter, you have already contracted to help it win laurels. All the team members are bound by the purpose of putting the ball inside the opponents net.

If they disagree over the formations as you people call it, it does not mean they are quarrelling. You cannot also say because this formation paid off today, you must always apply it to every team you meet.

That is a recipe for failure and relegation. By arguing the formations, you come out with the best approach and practices to winning your matches.

If the Super Eagles win a match, you won’t see Ethiopia 0 - Stephen Keshi 3. No, what you see is Ethiopia 0 – Nigeria 3. If they lose, it is just the same team. Both the National Assembly and the Executive won’t feature

Continues from page 47

46—Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

*Daniel

*Obasanjo

Ogun PDP: How juju caused war among Obasanjo’s boys

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

THE visit of the National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur to Ogun State was expected to help reconcile the warring factions of the party in the state, but alas it was not so. It only worsened matters.

The party in the state had long been enmeshed in crisis which had polarized it into two factions with former President Olusegun Obasanjo and one time party financier, Buruji Kashamu leading the warring factions. Tukur, who paid a courtesy visit on Obasanjo was quoted to have affirmed the leadership of the Dipo Odujirinled executive supported by Obasanjo.

Leader of the party The National Chairman while fielding questions from newsmen after holding a closed door meeting with Obasanjo in his hiltop mansion in Abeokuta, said: “whoever that the people have elected as far as am concerned, is the chairman of our party in Ogun.

“Let me assert here that there is no crisis here in Ogun PDP at all. I have come here because of the former President, Olusegun Obasanjo who is the leader of our party and I am now the chairman.

“We do talk with the leaders of our party throughout the country because you will remember in my own programme of reconciliation, reformation; rebuilding and so I have been going around to the leaders and stakeholders of our party. So I can assure you that there is nothing about crisis here.

“Our party is based on equity and justice, no imposition so that everybody will feel to be part of that great party. Because it is only when you give people the leadership they did not elect that is when you then start to get crisis. Two days after his visit, the Kashamu group led by Adebayo Dayo reacted when it faulted the assertions of the National Chairman.

In the statement issued by Dayo, the party said while it is true that Tukur visited former President Olusegun Obasanjo at his hilltop residence in Abeokuta, there was nowhere he was quoted as affirming Odujinrin as the Chairman of the party in the state.

“Rather, what our respected National Chairman said was that ‘whoever that the people have elected, as far as I’m concerned is the chairman of our party in Ogun’,” he said.

Dayo added: “We are aware that it was the sacked National Auditor of the PDP, Bode Mustapha that manipulated the remarks of the National Chairman to suit his selfish

interest. Whereas our National Chairman knows that our exco emerged from the congresses organized by the Dayo Soremiled Harmonised Exco under the supervision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and other relevant agencies, the Odujinrin group’s had no INEC representatives.

“Even the Congress Monitoring Committees of the party also declared the purported congresses as null and void.

Again, the November 16, 2012 judgment of the Federal High Court, Lagos, which sacked the Odujinrin group, confirmed the position of the committees.

Perhaps, not satisfied with the lackadaisical attitude of the National Executive Committee in the matter, the Kashamu faction stormed the party secretariat in Abeokuta which later led to a bloody clash that Wednesday.

There was a confusion following the bloody clash between the members of PDP factions loyal to the two political gladiators over the possession of the State Party Secretariat leaving one on danger list.

Political gladiators Members of the two factions which had been at loggerheads over the possession of the Party Secretariat located along the Presidential Boulevard,

Abeokuta caused stir when they allegedly used various dangerous weapons, charms and missiles against one another.

According to an eye witness, the violence started at about 10:00am when the members of the Dayo-led State Executive Council stormed the party premises for an emergency meeting which was resisted by the Obasanjo faction and

,

The struggle for supremacy in the Ogun State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP turned bloody on Wednesday after a member of one faction hit a man in a rival faction with a charm

looking policemen and plainclothes security operatives have stormed the place and prevented journalists from gaining entry into the premises after the situation was brought under control.

Dayo in his reaction described the developments that led to the fracas at the party secretariat as the “illegality of the highest order” being perpetrated by some elders of the party in the state.

Dayo who spoke with newsmen in Abeokuta however, insisted that his exco remained the only recognized leadership of the PDP in the State.

He said “some youths wanted to hold a meeting at the secretariat but some people tried to stop them and this led to the fracas. We all belong to the same family and if we should be fighting ourselves, what happens when we have to confront the opposition parties? We should go and buy rockets? I don’t understand why we should always fight ourselves whenever we meet”.

In his reaction to the fracas, the Publicity Secretary of the Obasanjo faction, Mr. Bidemi Osunbiyi accused the other faction of initiating violence.

Osunbiyi said “We normally hold our meetings on Wednesday but this morning they (Kashamu faction members) came and said that they wanted to make use of the secretariat, too.

They were led by some security men. But while we were still talking, one over-zealous boy hit one of us with a charm and

During the melee, one of the hoodlums in the Obasanjo’s faction was allegedly hit with an object suspected to be a charm which prompted him to vomit blood profusely

resulted in the bloody clash which created panic amongst residents of the area. Vanguard gathered that several members of the two factions sustained various degrees of injury in the fracas which was burst by the Security operatives thirty minutes after.

Vanguard findings revealed that, during the melee, one of the hoodlums in the Obasanjo’s faction was allegedly hit with an object suspected to be a charm which prompted him to vomit blood profusely.

The Security operatives which included armed policemen, operatives of the State Antirobbery Squad and State Security Service arrested five of the hoodlums and subsequently took over the Secretariat.

When Vanguard visited the place some armed and stern-

,

people now held him. But the police came and said that all of us should leave the secretariat.

By tomorrow morning (Thursday) we shall surely be back at the secretariat. What happened today is the beginning of the end of the crisis”.

Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Ikemefuna Okoye who led other senior security chiefs to the Ogun PDP secretariat told newsmen that his men were at the party premises to maintain peace, law and order.

Okoye said that he rushed to the party secretariat when he was informed that there was a “little problem” in the party premises.

The police boss, however, assured the residents of the area not to panic as policemen had already “taken over the secretariat.”

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 —47

E

VEN if one is not a religious fanatic, one is bound to be captivated by the simplicity of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan at the recent Annual Convention of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG). At the Redemption Camp (Lagos/Ibadan Expressway), the President was reported to have asked Nigerians to continue in their prayers for the country and his administration, asking also for the advice of people at anytime he is making mistakes. The President returned to the Camp where he sought for God‘s direction two years before. The Presidential Election was won and like King Solomon, in the Christian Bible, the President has returned to seek for wisdom.

I am always impressed, as many people would, by the action of many people in high places bringing themselves low to seek prayers and advice of people in the conduct of their affairs. I agree fully with the Psalmist when he said, “Oh thou that hearest prayer, unto Thee shall all flesh come”. (Psalm 65:2).

President Jonathan was reported to have said, “I request that you continue to pray for our country.

As a Nigerian, I will like to complement the President‘s call to prayer with another biblical quotation which reads, “watch ye therefore, and pray always that ye may be accounted worthy to escape all these things that shall come to pass and to stand before the Son of man” (Luke 21:36). The collonary to the President‘s call for prayer is an adage which says, Pray

before him is to arrange for Nigerians to sit down peacefully and discuss meaningfully on how to live in a peaceful and prosperous country. It is a job that needs prayer and hardwork.

07059197616

Not prayer alone but... and Work.

Since the President has solicited for advice when his government is going the wrong way, one could answer with justification that many good advices have been given in the past which have been ignored, and that the reports of many committees have been submitted without any action. However President Jonathan, perhaps out of repentance would prefer new prayers and new advices, it is easy to re-package old ones in new colors. Though the President has been described as a listening leader, many may not be sure about the quality of his advisers or the substances of the advices given to him.

It would be 100 years in 2014 when the Northern and Southern Provinces were amalgamated into what is now known as Nigeria by the British Official, Lord Lugard. The prayer is that

Nigeria should still exist as a strong and united nation under the leadership of President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan. This prayer assumes that Boko Haram insurgency would have ended, that corruption should have been seriously tackled if not totally exterminated, that inflation would have been properly managed and unemployment reduced to a minimum. The pre 1914 era could be imagined as an era free of agony and distress of today.

If it is true there is a secret clause that enjoins Nigeria to examine its position after 100 years, the time now is ripe for all Nigerians to reflect on the activities of the last 100 years and what would follow next.

What all Nigerians would expect and work for is that the year 2014 should not find the country disjointed and in deep poverty. The great job I think President Jonathan has

INFLATION As I have noted before in this column, inflation like corruption has become an endemic disease in the country. Inflation is a process of rise in prices. The inflationary process can come about as a result of change in demand or supply conditions or both. However, the essential feature is that effective demand exceeds output at the current price.

This is likely to occur once the zone of full employment is reached (3% unemployment or less in developed economies), but no exact percentage can be given at the point where inflationary process may commence.

The fear of the growth of inflation, a situation where money is becoming useless as a means of exchange or store or value has been the problem of the Central Bank under the present Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi. Since his assumption of office, the Central Bank has changed the Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) six times to the present rate of 12%. These changes have affected the Deposit Bank‘s lending rate upwards to over 20%. It looks as if the Central Bank has been able to persuade the Government as to its suitability of tight monetary policy as the most effective cure of inflation. It is a surprise that the Federal Government with its array of brilliant economists under the

Finance Minister and the Coordinator for the economy, Dr Mrs Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala will be taken for a ride by believing that inflation is a monetary phenomenon that will be wished away by the romance of a conservative monetary policy.

In its simplest form, tight monetary policy would only appeal (with its implication of high interest rate) to those who have idle money to lend and by those large organizations on which the direct effect of such tight monetary policy is minimal.

The victims of high lending rates are small scale enterprises, local governments, private school entrepreneurs, and similar local organizations which rely on borrowed funds.

As experiences in the economically developed countries had shown, and Nigeria’s recent happenings have indicated that there is no romantic magic by which an economy could be rightly guided and wisely directed by the Central Bank. Thus, the heavy reliance on the Central Bank (with its tight monetary policy) for combating effectively inflationary pressures should be discarded.

The earlier this is done, the better off the economy would be. It should be emphasized again, and again, that when there is mass unemployment and considerable idle capacity (as they exist in Nigeria today) through CBN‘s tight monetary policy, an excess of government‘s expenditure over receipts (taxes etc) is the most acceptable and reliable way of expanding economic activities.

This is the friendliest NASS to a president Continued from page 45 individually on the score board of Nigerian but collectively.

And to be fair to the National Assembly, this is the friendliest National Assembly in terms of executivelegislature relationship. Not a single executive bill has ever been shot down. We have had about 99.9% of presidential nominees for various positions confirmed.

But we have seen some of your colleagues in the executive attack members and leadership of the National Assembly. In fact, even the Senate had to pass a resolution asking the President to caution his aides Well, but you have also heard the President come out loud and clear that such persons were on their own. In fact, I issued the statement. The President will be the last person to impugn or denigrate the institution of the National Assembly o tots members. Never!

Particularly, do you see the face-off between the two

arms of government over the Aruma Oteh affair as posing any constitutional crisis, given the determination of the House of Representatives not to attend to her?

No, there is no problem or face- off. We have been dialoguing and we see one another ’s faces. Nobody ’s face is off our common goal of moving Nigeria forward and everything is under control.

President a thorough person It is all about dialogue and the President is a thorough person.

What is your assessment of the leadership of the Senate and House of Representatives?

Very mature and patriotic.

Quite dynamic and also unassuming. These are people who have come a long way, not just in politics, but in the legislature.

Someone like the Senate President has been there since 1999, while the Deputy Senate President joined the

Senate in 2003.

Both Senator Mark and Ekweremadu are leading the Senate for the second consecutive time. The House

leadership is also quite experienced.

I think they have done quite well leading 109 Senators and

360 members of the House of Representatives from various cultural, political, and ideological background.

Senate and the pension circus Continued from page 44 following day.

Maina’s retort during a chat with some senate correspondents last Sunday was that Etok was misinformed even as he claimed that another N20 billion lodged in a secret account by government officials has been discovered by his task force.

Meanwhile, Maina has continued to defy the summons of the committee with his claim that Etok has lost the confidence of his task force.

The dithering procrastination of Maina to honour the summons of the Senate is itself significant. On what basis should a public official dishonor the summons of the senate?

Alleging loss of confidence in the committee, Maina had said: “We have documents, Newspaper reports and TV clips of such sentimental harassment and the Task Team views it as a deliberate

attempt to tarnish its image and it further buttresses our claim that the Distinguished Senator Aloysius led Committee had declared judgment against the Task Team even while the probe is ongoing.”

Senator Etok in defence of his committee’s determination had fired back: “We have not shown any sign of bias, we work according to our conscience, and these boys in the task force have resorted to black mail because we have refused to be compromised.

Nigerians would judge us at the end of the day.”

Following the failure of Maina to again appear before the Etok committee, the senate committee earlier this week deferred further deliberations to next year.

Meanwhile, the country’s pensioners continue to bear the brunt of the power play and intrigues that obviously only a cabal can weave. Something is obviously fishy.

48 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 —

49

Cost of Labour was a challenge due to scarcity of required skills and new minimum wage legislation. It said that the unabated influx of finished consumer goods as well as fake and substandard products into the country posed a major challenge to manufacturing in the country. It said that sales/turnover and margins dropped across the entire manufacturing sub sector. It said that expansion, diversification and new employment were rare in the course of the year. Importation of technical skills required by the industry affected the bottom line.

Difficulty, delays and high cost of getting bank loan remains a formidable threat. Innovation and planning is suffering on the back of uncertain and unstable policy environment."

I

Boosting Local Content in Nigeria’s Oil Industry

•Seeks full deregulation and scrapping of NNPC

By OMOH GABRIEL, Business Editor

L

AGOS Chamber of Com merce and Industry, a body of organised businessmen based in Lagos has urged the federal Government to fully deregulate the oil and gas sector in 2013 beyond the removal of oil subsidy and to scrap the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation. The chamber suggested that in place of the scrapped NNPC, a regulatory body be set up to properly regulate the oil and gas sector. It also said that the government should take bold steps and privatise all the refineries and depots in the country.

The Chamber in its 2012 end of year business environment assessment report signed by its Director General, Mr Mudal Yusuf, that was released, yesterday, said that operators in the oil and gas sector have long proposed as the way forward for the industry “Full deregulation of the downstream oil and gas sector beyond removal of fuel subsidy; immediate privatisation of all the refineries; petroleum products depots and pipelines. The Chamber is also in favour of the recommendation that a strong regulator, an equivalent of NCC in the telecom sector be installed in the oil and gas sector and the subsequent scraping of NNPC and its affiliates institutions”.

It said that President Goodluck Jonathan’s transformation of the Nigerian economy agenda was critically dependent on the quality of investment climate. The

chamber noted: “In pursuance of its policy advocacy mandate, the Lagos Chamber undertook an evidence based assessment of the business environment in 2012 with inputs from its members and stakeholders in the Nigerian economy. The purpose of this exercise was to identify key issues for advocacy and engagement for the improvement of the business environment.

"The business and economic environment was typically characterized by upsides and downsides, but the latter seem to have outweighed the former. The economy (as always) offered tremendous opportunities during the year, but the capacity of investors to harness the opportunities was constrained by the prevailing challenges of the operating environment.

Indigenous enterprises The limitations were even more profound for indigenous entrepreneurs. The country is reputed for its robust natural endowments, youthful demography, large coastlines, largest population in the continent, seventh largest oil exporting country in the world, a large enterprising population, an innovative banking sector, a GDP growth of 6.6 per cent, which is one of the best globally; rising foreign reserves which was $44.5 billion as at November 2012, excess crude account of $9.6 billion and a stable polity, bolstered by increased credibility of the electoral process. All these form the major components of the upside

in the economy in 2012. However, for most investors, the downside was more overwhelming.

The operating environment was generally adjudged to be unsatisfactory by many investors. This had profound impact on returns on investment and profit margins.

“Funding was a major problem for investors in 2012. The cost of fund in the economy is high and access to credit was even more serious problem. The tight monetary policy stance of the CBN was identified as a major factor that affected the credit conditions.

Other areas of concern were: Collateral cover requirements by banks were beyond many investors. This impeded access to credit, slowed down the tempo of economic activities and undermined intermediation role of banks in the financial system. Government borrowing at a high cost of between 14-16 per cent which is one of the highest globally was a major source of the credit problem in 2012. It created a disincentive to lend to entrepreneurs; put pressure on interest rates and increased the flow of funds from the banking system to the government coffers; a scenario which was clearly not healthy for the economy”.

The Chamber report stated “The power supply situation in the country improved slightly midyear but declined in the last quarter. This scenario created sustainability concerns over the celebrated improvement in the power situation. High energy cost was thus a major issue for investors dur-

,

Lagos Chamber thumbs down economy

ing the year. This of course had implications for productivity and profitability of investments. Interest Rates and Regulatory uncertainty had adverse impact on the banking sector. Tough operating environment made lending very difficult as it increases the risk of loan default. Businesses, especially small and medium enterprises are reluctant to take loans because of the high interest rates which affect the banks on the long run.

Businesses are also prone to defaulting on their loans because of the cost of these loans and business fundamentals which affects the quality of the bank’s balance sheet.

Capital Market: The interest rate regime made it uneconomical to access bank borrowings for the purpose of investment in cap-

t suggested that government should ensure as a way forward that SMEs and manufactures get loan at single digit and eliminate delays associated with loan processing. There is urgent need to responsibly check the influx of fake, imitation and substandard goods into the Nigerian market. It suggested that government should swiftly and permanently fix the security problems in Nigeria, reform the curriculum of tertiary institutions in the country to bridge the wide gap between industrial skill requirement and the output coming from Nigerian institutions Agricultural Sector: In the agric sector the Chamber reported that commercial farming suffered frustration on account of poor access to credit and high interest rate as the intervention fund for agriculture has since been exhausted. It said that poor capitalisation of the Bank for Agriculture was also a major constrain to funding commercial farming in the country. It said that Agricul-

Funding was a major problem for investors in 2012. The cost of fund in the economy is high and access to credit was even more serious problem. The tight monetary policy stance of the CBN was identified as a major factor that affected the credit conditions

ital market. The dearth of capital sourcing by companies also affected the tempo of activities in the capital market. The huge inflow of bank assets into government securities also had a profound adverse effect on capital market operations during the year. Most businesses have placed expansion plans on hold because funding has been a major challenge during the year. Without expansion there will be no need for new capital which is a core activity in the capital market.

Manufacturing/Industrial: The report said that the “Insecurity in most parts of the North and few spots in the South impeded turnover and distribution throughout the year. Rising cost of production due to high cost of capital and alternative source of power remains a key concern. Increasing

,

tural insurance is virtually non existent. Investors had difficulty in getting claims from Nigerian Agricultural Insurance Company.

Access claims was fraught with heavy bureaucracy and corruption. Funding remains a major issue. Investors had to source commercial loans to invest in agriculture. Interest rates are as high as 25-30 per cent. Even access to credit at these rates was difficult. Many farmers have no title to their land. This made collateral provision for credit very difficult. Infrastructural facilities are poor making processing and transportation costs very high.

As a way forward the Lagos Chamber said there was the need to make long term fund available to farmers at single digit interest rate and the need to re-capitalise Bank of Agriculture.

50 — Vanguard, FRIDAY,

DECEMBER 21, 2012

Syrian rebels fight for strategic town in Hama province R

Free Syrian Army fighters take their positions as one of them fires during clashes with forces loyal to Syria’s President Bashar al-Assad in Qastal Harami area in Aleppo

EBELS to gegan push into a strategic town in Syria’s central Hama province yesterday and laid a siege to at least one town dominated by President Bashar al-Assad’s minority sect, activists have said .

They have made a series of advances across the country, seizing several military installations and more heavy weaponry, hardening the threat to President Bashar al-Assad’s power base in Damascus 21 months into an uprising against his rule.

Rebels said a day earlier they had captured at

least six towns in Hama province. Yesterday ’s heavy fighting erupted in Morek, a town on the highway that runs from Damascus north to Aleppo, Syria’s largest city and another battleground.

The opposition-linked Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said rebels were trying to take checkpoints in Morek, one of which they had already seized, and described the town as a critical position for the Syrian army.

UN backs Mali intervention force

More funerals, gun-control push follow T Connecticut shooting E

VEN as they buried more victims of the second-deadliest school shooting in U.S. history yesterday, residents of Newtown, Connecticut, looked for ways to pressure national leaders to restrict access to weapons.

Funerals were scheduled for half-dozen people, some as young as 6 years old, who were shot and killed on Friday by a heavily armed 20year-old man who attacked an elementary school with an assault rifle.

Hundreds of mourners packed into yesterday’s morning funeral for Benjamin Wheeler, 6, filing into the gray stone Trinity Episcopal Church past two rows of Boy Scouts who lined up outside as a flagbearing honor guard.

The December 14 rampage in which 28 people were killed, including 20 children and the gunman, has sparked new discussion on tightening gun laws, a thorny political issue in the United States, which has a strong culture of individual gun ownership.

Vice President Joe Biden plans to convene on Thursday the first meeting of a new White House task force

charged by President Barack Obama with drawing up a plan to tackle gun violence in the United States.

After the White House meeting convened by Biden, Attorney General Eric Holder is to travel

to Newtown to meet privately with law enforcement officials investigating the massacre.

The National Rifle Association, the powerful firearms lobby which has long resisted

any effort to restrict gun ownership, signaled this week it may be ready to bend. It said it would offer “meaningful contributions” to prevent future such massacres at an event in Washington on Friday.

A woman and young girl embrace as they watch the hearse carrying Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting victim Daniel Barden pass along Riverside Road in Sandy Hook village in Newtown, Connecticut.

Egyptian prosecutor suddenly retracts resignation

E

GYPT’S chief public prosecutor, forced to quit this week after opposition protests, retracted his resignation yesterday , setting the stage for more turmoil as the nation votes in a referendum on its political future.

Prosecutor Talaat

Ibrahim, appointed by President Mohamed Mursi when he assumed sweeping new powers last month, said he had changed his mind because his resignation on Monday had been offered under duress.

Ibrahim had quit after more than 1,000 members

of his staff gathered at his office in Cairo to demand that he step down.

Mursi’s decision to appoint Ibrahim, instead of leaving the appointment to judicial authorities, threatened the independence of the judiciary, the angered prosecutors said.

“The town of Morek lies on the Damascus-Aleppo road. It has eight checkpoints and two security and military headquarters. If rebels were able to control the town they would completely sever the supply lines between Hama and Damascus to Idlib province,” the group said in an e-mail.

The British-based Observatory has a network of activists across the country. Activist reports are difficult to verify, as the government restricts media access into Syria.

HE United Nations Security Council has authorised an Africanled military force to try to oust Islamists from northern Mali.

The council unanimously approved giving the force an initial oneyear mandate.

It said it should use “all necessary measures” to help Mali recover the north of the

country from “terrorist, extremist and armed groups”.

Armed groups, some linked to al-Qaeda, took control of northern Mali after a military coup in March and established a harsh form of Islamic law.

West African nations say they have 3,300 troops ready to go to Mali.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 20 12 — 51 2012

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KING—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oghenemibrura Ubiebor King, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Oghenemibrura Clementina Ikenye.

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

ONYIA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Charity Ifeyinwa Onyia, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Charity Ifeyinwa Nwenne. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

AKPOMERIENE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Dorcas Akpomeriene, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Dorcas OgheneO c h u k o Owhorukowho. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

SAMAILA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Fatsuma Samaila, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Fatsuma Hanson. All former documents remain valid.

Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and general public please take note.

LUCAS—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Lilian Lucas, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Lilian Michael Nadiliya. All former documents remain valid.

Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and general public please take note.

IMENJIMA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Amopho Ibimo Imenjima, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ibimo Soibibo Dabibi.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

H A L I R U — I , formerly known and addressed as Maimuna Suleiman Haliru, now wish to be known and addressed as Maimuna Suleimen.

All former documents remain valid.

General public please take note.

EMEDOH—I, formerly known and addressed as Mrs. Connie Francis Emedoh, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Connie Chidiebere Ekenwa. All former documents remain valid. Financial institutions and general public please take note.

AGOM—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Elizabeth Aladi Agom, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Elizabeth Aladi Araiyekomolafe. All former documents remain valid. Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa and general public please take note.

ONYIMA—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Onyinyechi Onyima, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Onyinyechi Adline Mark. All former documents remain valid.

Federal Polytechnic, Nasarawa and general public please take note.

IGWE-OMOKE—I, formerly known and addressed as Mr. Chinonso Samuel Igwe-Omoke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mr. Chinonso SamOmoke. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

E N E WA L LY — I , formerly known and addressed as Miss Harriet Uche Enewally, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Harriet Sam-Omoke.

All former documents remain valid.

Nigerian Medical Association (NMA) and general public please take note.

AWORK—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Esther Mary Awork, now wish to be known and addressed as Miss Awork Esther Akong. All former documents remain valid.

Federal Ministry Of Culture & Tourism, National Orientation Agency, Fidelity Bank Plc and general public please take note.

ADETUNJI—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adetunji Oluwaseun Omotayo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. O l o r u n t o b a Oluwaseun Omotayo.

All former documents remain valid.

Nigerian Immigration Service and general public please take note.

EJIRINDE—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Adetola Ifedolapo Ejirinde, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adetola Shekoyemi Jarumi. All former documents remain valid.

Federal Universtiy of Technolgy, Minna; The Management of National Assembly, Passport Office, Nigeria Immigration Office Abuja, and general public please take note.

CLEMENT—I, formerly known and addressed as Anthony Clement, now wish to be known and addressed as Anthony Paul. All former documents remain valid. Rivers State Universal Basic Education Board and general public please take note.

VIOLET—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Violet Idisi, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Idisi Agnes. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OLAOSEBIKAN—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Olaosebikan Aderonke, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Adeniran Aderonke.

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

WOKORO—I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Elsie Okobaere Wokoro, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Elsie Okobaere Forteta. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OVUOMARAYINI— I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ovuomarayini A u g u s t i n a Oghenekohworo, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Egagifo A u g u s t i n a Oghenekohworo. All former documents remain valid. General public and to whom it may concern should please take note.

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

52 — Vanguard Vanguard,,

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 YOUR LUCK TODAY

LEISURE

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

VIRGO; This is not the right time to rely on promises made by others. Continue to take matters-of-the-heart seriously. Reason with your reliable associates LIBRA; Tension within the domestic scene will start to ease off. Yet you will need to watch what you do within your base till after 10.15pm tonight.

SCORPIO; Both yourself and other important personalities to you are beginning to see things from same point of view making it easy for you to eliminate unnecessary rift SAGITTARIUS; Venus moves into a positive angle to your Star and encourages peaceful settlement. Exhibition of maturity on your part will favour you better.

CAPRICORN; Gradually you are dropping aggressive approach you have adopted in the last few days to the betterment of your cause. Remain practical till after 10.15pm

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Richard Eromosele

...THERE are rich folks who have no house of their own, and there are poor folks who have built mansions. There are managers who have no house of their own, yet, there are messengers who are comfirmed landlords.

It is not so much about

Are you a senior tenant? (3) how much money you have or how wealthy you are, it is basically a function of good planning. With proper planning, you can build your own house and become a landlord within a reasonable time. For example, one

TERROR MUDA

of my friends built his house by joining two sets of contribution meeting/association.

And when it was his turn to be given the monthly contribution in one, he pleaded with the rightful person in the second

in “Never say goodbye”

meeting. In that way, he collected both monies, bought land and commenced building his house.

Today, he is a landlord.

There are titles and there are titles, but senior tenant...? God forbid! Think about it seriously!

By Lanre Kehinde

AQUARIUS; Better than yesterday; however that is not to say you should throw caution to the wind. Improvement on your love life indicated. Try to comport yourself.

PISCES; After a few days of fun you may need to settle down to serious business. Those of you working till very late evening will need to be more careful till after 10.15pm. Reason with your tried and trusted old hands(friends) ARIES; Venus at positive angle boosts your sparkling personality to the betterment of your cause. Could be a nice day for the-young-at-heart TAURUS; It is important you don’t allow your mind to wander unnecessarily so that minor but costly mistakes would be averted. Avoid late evening confusion.

GEMINI; Recent tension generated by controversy over money will start to ease off. Be more vigilant if you are working late in the evening.

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in

“Princess Shii’

By Andy Akman

CANCER;. Other people will continue to have their says and if you try to indoctrinate them tensed atmosphere will be aggravated. Be patient LEO; Entrance of romantic Venus into your Star Sign will enhance your prospects. Both financial and love related success are possible.

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send yyour our dat th ttoo the As tr ological datee and place of bir birth Astr trological Counselling, PP.M.B .M.B 1100 00 7, Apapa, Lagos 007,

Would my life be stable?

VIRGINIA

dadadekola@yahoo.com

Dear Joshua, I want to know about my future, especially what I should expect from my love life both in the immediate and far future. However that is not to say I am not interested in good financial standing.

Omotayo-Oyo.

Dear Omotayo, Although there will be a particular time you will need to be more careful so that you will not gamble with love as predicted under your love life.

The love of luxury comes from your stelliu-Taurus which must not be totally discouraged but should not be allowed to go beyond your control. Yes envy and jealousy can creep in as indicated by the oppositions between your natal Venus/Saturn in Taurus and Jupiter in Scorpio, but that is not enough excuse for either failure or manipulation of occult powers against you. Whatever anybody says and/or does GREAT FINANCIAL SUCCESS is your portion.

The most influential planet during your birth hour is Venus-the planet of MONEY and LOVE. You are the romantic type whose magnetic personality and open handedness are sources of big trap to his members of opposite sex. As handsome as you are you truly crave stability in your love life/home and the happiness you desired will be yours. You will need to watch carefully around and during your 46th year on earth as you may be tempted to gamble with matters-of-the-heart.

Commen3

by Lawrence Akapa

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 — 53

Chukwu: Eagles will make FIFA rankings irrelevant

F

ORMER Super Eagles coach Christian Chukwu has stated that the latest FIFA Rankings which sees Nigeria Ranked 54th will count for nothing at the 2013 Nations Cup. Nigeria rose five places in the latest ranking but are adjudged as the tenth best team in Africa but Chukwu, who guided Nigeria to third place finish in the 2004 Nations Cup, said the Super Eagles will make the FIFA rankings insignificant at the 16team event.

He predicted that Nigeria will make at least, the last four of the competition holding in South Africa.

“The FIFA ranking will not in anyway affect the team because they are ready for the tournament. There should be no worry for Nigerians because I’m sure that by the time the Nations cup ends, the ranking will be made irrelevant.”Nigeria, once ranked as the fifth best team in the world, the highest ever by an African country, slumped to n all-time low in recent times largely because of the team’s failure to qualify for the last edition of the Nations Cup.

MISSION POSSIBLE: Nigeria's Super Eagles set to rubbish FIFA ranking.

Continues from B/P

…Dike gives kudos, harps on concentration

side ARSENAL will face last season’s beaten finalists Bayern Munich, while CELTIC will take on Italian champions Juventus as they look for a place in the quarterfinals.

Speaking about the draw, United boss Ferguson said: “Well, it’s the tie of the round.

“It’s a great opportunity for our fans to see Cristiano again and also for me to meet up with Jose again — I’ll need to order some good wine!”

Celtic boss Neil Lennon called his side’s draw with Juventus “a beauty ” — but very tough.

He said: “Well in terms of glamour it’s a beauty.

Juventus are one of the great traditional European teams.

“They ’re current Italian champions and finished the group stage very strongly.

“So in terms of glamour it’s great, in terms of qualification it is going to be very tough, but it could have been any of the other teams and it would have been just as tough.

“We believe over two games anything is possible. Juventus are littered with world-class stars and have been very consistent over the last 18 months and have got a great winning

T

HE Super Eagles got a dose of what to expect at the SA 2013 Nations Cup next month when they were held to a 1-1 draw by gritty Nigeria Premier League side, Nasarawa United on Thursday morning in Abuja.

The Nasarawa side managed by veteran coach Alphonsus Dike, played their hearts out in the encounter but it was the national team that showed more maturity and should have easily

won the game but for the several begging chances that were wasted.

The Eagles featured Femi Thomas, Solomon Kwambe, Benjamin Francis, Godfrey Oboabona, Azubuike Egwueke, Gabriel Reuben, Sunday Mba, Fegor Ogude, Tony Okputu, Ejike Uzoenyi and Gambo Mohammed in the first half and changed all the players for a new set of 11 players in the second.

In the early part of the game, the Eagles dominated and should have been at least two goals up in the first ten minutes but the chances that came their way were wasted by Mba, Reuben and Gambo. In the 18th minute, a defensive mixup by the national team allowed Nasarawa’s Ibrahim Ibrahim to steal in the opener of the game to the shock of the motley crowd that watched the game.

UPER Eagles handler, Stephen Okechukwu Keshi, has said he called up experienced right back, Chibuzor Okonkwo, because he believes that every person deserves to be given a second chance in life no matter what, but the player must now justify his call up.

It will be recalled that

•Keshi C M Y K

Okonkwo was among the first set of home based professionals Keshi invited last December but after a few days in camp he bolted out of the country for a fruitless trial with English Premier League side, Aston Villa.

This was after Keshi had decreed that home based players must be ready to stay at least six months with the national team before attempting to travel abroad for greener pastures. Since then he has been overlooked.

But Keshi said he deserves a second chance because he’s a versatile player and has the experience that can impact positively on the national team. “But he

has to prove that he’s a better player in terms of

discipline and action on the pitch”, he said.

Europa League last 32 draw BATE Inter Milan Levante Zenit Dy/Kiev Leverkusen N/castle Stuttgart A/Madrid Ajax Basle Anzhi M'kala S/Prague M’gladbach Tottenham Napoli

vs vs vs vs vs vs vs vs vs vs vs vs vs vs vs vs

Fenerbahce CFR Cluj Olympiacos Liverpool Bordeaux Benfica M/Kharkiv Genk R/Kazan Steaua Bucuresti Dnipro Hannover Chelsea Lazio Lyon Plzen

First legs to be played February 14, second legs on February 21.

proof of how different African football is. And we have seen it all in many games here in Africa. I advise Keshi to respect the potential of local players in African football and include the outstanding ones in his team and use them well during the competition.

He will have better options if he considers them. They are hungry and will not be playing safe to avoid injuries the way foreign-based players do regularly. We have seen that some big names in European football don’t fit in properly in African football. Keshi should know better.”

Ronaldo

Eagles hold Nasarawa in tune-up

Okonkwo must prove he’s better now — Keshi

S

Keshi

Continues from B/P outstanding homebased players in his selection. He will need them badly. A good combination of the local players and the foreignbased players will help the Eagles.

I hope that we will learn from the message Zambia sent when they won the Nations Cup with a team dominated by local players. They beat star-studded Ivory Coast. They lacked the finesse Ivorien players had but they made up with rugged play and fighting spirit.

They were very physical in their approach and that paid off. They are a great

mentality, but so have we.”

Bayern Munich chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge is optimistic his side can see off Arsenal.

He said: “I think we enter this match as the slight favourites, but we can be making the mistake of underestimating them.

“Arsenal have struggled at times in the league over the last few months, which a look upon the standings in the Premier League will tell you.

“But by no means will this be an easy game for us.”

United will play the first leg at the Bernabeu on February 13 with the return at Old Trafford on March 5.

Arsenal will play a week later with the first leg at the Emirates on February 19 and the second at the Allianz Arena in Munich on March 13.

Celtic will take on Juventus at Celtic Park on February 12, with the return leg in Turin on March 6.

Last 16: 1st leg February 12/20; 2nd leg March 5/12 Quarter-finals: 1st leg April 2/3; 2nd leg April 9/10 Semi-finals: 1st leg April 23/24; 2nd leg April 30/May 1 Final (Wembley): May 25

54 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

C M Y K

C M Y

Vanguard, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012 — 55

EUROPA Cup: Yobo faces BATE hurdle

S

UPER Eagles captain Joseph Yobo will join his Fenerbahce side to cross the huddle of Belarusian side FC BATE Borisov in the round of 32 of the UEFA Europa cup. Fenerbahce were paired against BATE in the draws conducted on Thursday.The round of 32 takes place on February 14 and 21, while the round of 16 will be played on March 7

and 14. The final is at the Amsterdam Arena on May 15.

•Yobo

Nigeria owe coach Stephen Marathon debuts at Keshi tw o months’ salar two salaryy Igue festival T F HE Nigeria Football Federation has revealed it owes coach Stephen Keshi two months’ salary - just weeks before the start of the Africa Cup of Nations.

Keshi, a former Nigeria international, has yet to make an official complaint about the non-payment.

And he is currently preparing for the tournament in South

Africa, which takes places from 19 January to 10 February.

“It’s a situation that is unfortunate but we are working to sort it out,” said NFF president Aminu Maigari.

“It’s not true that he is being owed six months salary. We will ensure he gets the two month salary due to him.”

The NFF, which appoints and pays national coaches, also

CDF uses boxing to rehabilitate kids

BY MMACHI ILECHUKWU

T

HE executive director, Child Dignity Foundation Mrs Amaka Awogu has disclosed that the organization uses sports to rehabilitate kids who

have gone through molestation and sexual harassment.

According to Mrs Ayogu; “Child Dignity Foundation is all about enforcing child rights and helping children who have gone through various forms of

molestation to have a sense of belonging in the society.”

Awogu said this at the mini-boxing event put together by the Jerry Okorodudu Boxing Academy(BOJA) at the Brai Ayanote Boxing Gym, National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

On her choice of Boxing as vehicle for children’s rehabilitation, Mrs Awogu said, “We want to promote a talent that people are not talking about.

Everybody is talking about football, we wanted something different.”

owes assistant coaches Daniel Amokachi, Sylvanus Okpala and Ike Shorunmu in salary arrears. Keshi’s situation is even more dire as is he still waiting for his official car and apartment, more than a year after he took over the job.

The NFF, which receives its funding from the sports ministry, has acknowledged the debts owed to the coaches but says they will have to be patient.

•Maigari

OR the first time since the 15th century of the traditional Igue festival was introduced to the Benin Kingdom by Oba Ewuare, plans have been concluded by the organizer’s to organize the first Igue festival Benin City marathon.

The event holds on Saturday, December 29.

This first edition will be a fun race, which will begin at the Samuel Ogbemudia stadium and end at the Oba palace in Benin City.The marathon is to promote healthy living, general physical fitness of the Benin people and to help project the Benin people and their rich culture. They however, urged all sons and sundry of the state as well as sports loving people of the state to join in celebrating the day.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, DECEMBER 21, 2012

Ronaldo, Mourinho head to Old Trafford •Arsenal get Bayern Munich in last 16

C

RISTIANO Ronaldo will take on Manchester United after Real Madrid were drawn against his old side in

the last 16 of the Champions League.

It will also pit Jose Mourinho against Alex Ferguson in the most mouth-watering tie of

the first knock-out round of Europe’s top club competition.

The only other English

Continues on page 53

RUMBLE IN EUROPE: Sir Alex Ferguson will face Jose Mourinho in the Champions League last 16 after Man U were drawn against Real Madrid as Arsenal's lot fell on Bayern Munich.

Keshi must avoid this mistake — Abigor

BY ONOCHIE ANIBEZE

G

ODWIN Abigor wants the Eagles coach, Stephen Keshi to

TODAY'S

consider the characteristics of African football before selecting the players he will parade at next month’s Nations Cup in South

PUZZLE

Africa.

The Warri Wolves chairman who is knowledgeable in sports said that the message Zambia sent to the world when they lifted the last Nations Cup should serve Keshi and his crew a big lesson that could YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

help their selection.

“Keshi must avoid the mistake of ignoring the potential of local players in African football when selecting players for the Nations Cup,” Abigor started.

“From what happened during the qualifiers,

ACROSS 2 Charm (5) 7 Lesser (5) 8 Trim (5) 10 Prise (5) 12 Pasty (3) 13 Bundle (5) 15 Withdrew (7) 17 Jewish (6) 19 Drunkard (3) 20 Turbulent (7) 23 Camera part (4) 25 Close (4) 26 Milk product (7) 30 Garland (3) 31 Mistakes (6) 34 Slander (7) 37 Sickened (5) 38 Pendulum (3) 39 Species (5) 40 Roof end (5) 41 Fleshy (5) 42 Wash (5)

Keshi himself experienced the dogged attributes of the local players and how they helped in crucial situations. It is against this background that I hope that Keshi considers the

Continues on page 53

How to Play Sudoku

Galatasaray vs Schalke 04 Celtic vs Juventus Arsenal vs Bayern Munich Shakhtar Donetsk vs Borussia Dortmund AC Milan vs Barcelona Real Madrid vs Man Utd Valencia vs PSG FC Porto vs Malaga

DOWN 1 Tax (5) 2 Of the sun (5) 3 Favour (6) 4 Dregs (4) 5 Momentum (7) 6 Inlet (5) 9 Help (3) 11 Renovate 97) 13 Projectile (5) 14 Hard wood (5) 16 Pigeon cry (3) 18 Desiring (7) 21 Reef (5) 22 Place (5) 24 Dissolvable (7) 27 Jewel (3) 28 Shock (6) 29 Clique (5) 32 Mounted (5) 33 Irritable (5) 35 Throw (3) 36 Shout (4)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

ACROSS: 2, Humid 7, Jibe 8, Rasher 9, Murky 11, Gum 13, Dip 15, Rein 16, Peg 18, Beer 19, Reproach 20, Mate 22, Wind 23, Uncanny 25, Card 27, Lid 28, Ring 30, Eve 31, Toy 33, Weigh 36, Pickle 37, Inch 38, Dunch.

THE VIGILANTE

Champions League Last 16

DOWN: 1, Pique 2, Hem 3, Mar 4, Dry 5, Ask 6, Belie 10, Keep 11, Grimace 12, Mixture 13, Deficit 14, Prodigy 16, Pedal 17, Grand 18, Bow 21, End 24, Nice 26, Void 29, Notch 32, Sky 33, Wed 34, Inn 35, Hie.

e-mail: rowolove@yahoo.co.uk

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

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

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

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