Buhari opposes senators facing graft cases by Vanguard Media Limited

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SENATE PRESIDENCY: Buhari opposes Senators facing graft cases By Henry Umoru

S the 7th Senate winds up ahead of the inauguration of the 8th Senate on June 4, the upper legislative chambers is at the moment caught up in a highlevel of intrigues, horse-trading and lobbying, backstabbing, in a bid to outwit one another or zone on who becomes the next president of the Senate. However, this was even as facts have emerged that the Presidentelect, Major General Muhammadu Buhari, rtd, is not willing to support any Senator or member of the House of Representatives who has had or still has any corruption case or matter with the anti-corruption agencies or police for the leadership position in the National Assembly. Buhari, it was gathered is said to be uncomfortable with most of the aspirants currently fighting for the National Assembly, as they President Goodluck Jonathan and the President-Elect, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari have one case or the other to answer with the anti- corruption emerging from a closed-door meeting at the State House, Abuja. Pic: by Abayomi Adeshida. agencies especially the Economic and Financial Crimes State; Senator Danjuma Goje of Representatives and the Senate, Ekweremadu and Victor NdomaCommission, EFCC. Apart from corruption, the Gombe State; Senator Ali Ndume hence it produced both the Egba respectively. The PDP will president-elect was also said not from Borno State, among others Speaker of the House and Senate also lose the position of the be interested in working with are said to be interested in President throughout the period Senate Chief Whip now being those alleged to have links with occupying the position of Senate it controlled power. held by Senator Bello Hayatu President. However, under the APC’s Gwarzo as all the four top insurgents like Boko Haram. Only one or two of the dispensation, the PDP now has positions will go to the APC. It was not known which zone would produce the Senate candidates jostling for the Senate 49 senators against APC’s There is however, a high risk Presidency but sources said President had no case with the majority of 60 Senators. The for the APC in throwing open the yesterday in Abuja that the EFCC. One even has a Boko Senate is made up of 109 contest for the leadership Senators. Senator Bola Tinubu bloc in the Haram related case in court. positions in the Senate as a It was learnt that Buhari would With this development in the united PDP with 46 members can All Progressives Congress, APC, want to respect the Senate, the PDP has lost its power still produce the Senate President was allegedly working to ensure that the former governor of Benue independence of the National to produce the Senate President supporting a single candidate, if State, Senator George Akume, Assembly. However, he would or the Deputy Senate President the 60 APC Senators split their emerged. The party had already not want to support any one who as well as the Senate Leader votes along two or more members zoned the position to North has had a graft case in order to currently being occupied by contesting for the position. enable him have a clean break Senators David Mark, Ike Central. The search for who heads the from the past and pursue his antiSenate would have been sealed corruption stance to the letter. “The President-elect respects if Senator Chris Ngige from the rule of law and would not Anambra State had won the election as the position would want to meddle into the politics have just gone to South East geo- of the National Assembly but he political zone of the country is not comfortable with any one who has or has had a corruption without any stress. Saturday Vanguard gathered case being the Senate President,” By Ben Agande & but today is not for that. Today is that the Tinubu group was a top party source said Friday. Levinus Nwabughiogu, for us to continue with our Interestingly, of all the backing Akume for the singular conversation. Abuja. aspirants for the Senate reason that the former governor So we don’t need to worry the Presidency, one of the two said of Benue State is the oldest in the President, we don’t need to to be very transparent has opposition camp who came to the RESIDENT Goodluck worry the President Senate on the platform of the questions about his social life. Asked how fruitful the meeting The aspirant was said to have Jonathan and the defunct Action Congress of was, President Jonathan said: a lot of things going in his favour President-elect, General Nigeria, ACN, thereby making the “You can see that we are smiling, except his drinking habit, even Muhammadu Buhari met party popular in his area. it was a fruitful one. We are The North East geopolitical as he was alleged to have Friday in the Villa. discussing for the interest of the undergone some transformation The meeting which held at zone of the country also angled in his behaviour and thus could the Presidential Banquet hall of country” he said. for the position of the Senate General Buhari did not say prove his critics wrong. the Aso Rock was the second President saying that such any thing, noting that: “The Those working for this meeting between the two position would placate them after President has said it all”. particular aspirant told Saturday leaders since General Buhari Boko Haram insurgency ravaged Buhari was accompanied to the zone. The zone also argued Vanguard that ‘’a personal habit emerged winner of the March the meeting by the National which may affect an individual 28 presidential election. that it produced the second President Jonathan and Chairman of the All Progressives highest number of votes after the character is better and manageable than an alleged General Buhari had earlier met Congress APC, Chief John North West, for the APC, adding corrupt person.’’ last Month on Good Friday at Oyegun and former Chief of that with this singular contribution Army Staff, Lt-Gen. The change in the position of the same venue. to the success of the party, the Abdulrahman Dambazau. the Senate President and other President Jonathan who spoke position of Senate President In a move to accord the should go to them. But they have leadership positions had became with state House correspondents President-Elect some imminent following the woeful after the meeting said the two of to succumb to party decision presidential respect even before Peoples defeat of the ruling them agreed to pick a date later Thursday morning that zoned the Democratic Party, PDP, by the when he will take the President- being sworn-in, the federal seat to North Central. . government has made available As the race for the position opposition All Progressives elect on a tour of the Presidential the Defence House for his Congress, APC. Villa. begins, Senators Bukola Saraki, and official The PDP which ruled the “We will take a date when the private Kwara Central; Senator George engagements. country for 16 years, controlled President will come and I will Akume from Benue; Senator Vanguard gathered that the the House of show him round the State House Abdullahi Adamu of Nasarawa both

Interestingly, the North Central zone, especially Benue State had been lucky in producing Senate Presidents. The state has produced Dr Iyorchia Ayu as Senate President from 1992– 1993; Senator Ameh Ebute as Senate President from 1993 till the late military Head of State, General Sani Abacha took over power after the palace coup that ousted Chief Ernest Shonekan as the Interim Head of State. The outgoing Senate has Senator David Mark who hails from Benue as president since June 6, 2007 with Senator George Akume, also from Benue as Minority Leader in the same Senate. According to sources, even with its present status of producing a large number of Senators, the APC lacks a two- third majority or 73 seats required for key decisions. And with this, the APC would count on the PDP as well as the Labour Party, LP; Accord and the Social Democratic Party, SDP which share five seats. The leadership contest in the National Assembly is capable of causing deep crack in the party if not well managed bearing in mind that the out-going PDP government never recovered from the Aminu TambuwalMulikat Abiola- Akande saga at the House of Representatives which saw Tambuwal emerging as Speaker against the position of the party that Mulikat Akande should emerge. The choice of former Speaker Ghali Umar Na’Aba that was resisted by former President Olusegun Obasanjo also, almost earned Obasanjo an impeachment.

...Meets Jonathan again, to tour Aso villa *Moves to Defence House

House was built by the regime of the former Military president, Ibrahim Babangida. The residence is also called “Safe House” and can only be accessed by Nigerians with presidential status. Buhari who has been in his private residence in Asokoro area of Abuja metropolis before his election on March 28 moved into the place on Monday upon his return from Daura, Katsina State for the April 11 governorship and state assembly elections. So, far, he has received dignitaries including ambassadors of Morocco, Isreal, China and Equatorial Guinea who paid him a congratulatory visit at the place that now wears a new look. He also received the chairman of ECOWAS and Ghanaian president, John Mahama at the place on Apparently, the House will provide temporary shelter for the president-elect until he finally moves into the Aso Rock presidential Villa after his swearing-in next month.

6 — SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

62 abandoned babies, 940 beggars rescued in 2014 By Monsuru Olowoopejo

On sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, abscond cases

O fewer than 62 abandoned babies and 940 beggars were rescued from the streets of Lagos in 2014. Also, 6, 628 sexual abuse, abscondment and teenage pregnancy cases were treated in Lagos State in the year under review. Permanent Secretary of Office of Youth and Social development, Mr. Adesegun Oshinyimika who disclosed this yesterday at the 2015 ministerial press briefing held in Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja, added that the state government will not resist from ridding the state of destitute. Oshinyimika explained: “A total number of 62 babies out of which 34 were females and 28 males, were rescued during the period under review.” He noted that 85 babies were released for adoption, adding that “76 adoptions were legalized through the Family Courts; 51 were Local, 18 International and 4 were for Relative International Adoption. One Fostering Order was extended at the Family Court.” His words: “In the last one year, 940 beggars/destitute/ mentally challenged were rescued from the streets of Lagos. 1,486 were taken to the Rehabilitation and Training Centre, Majidun, Ikorodu, where the State Government has made provisions for facilities to help in turning the lives of the destitute/beggars around, while the mentally unstable are given medical attention,” he added.

According to due permanent secretary, “some of the aforementioned cases were referred to family courts and the affected pupils were placed on supervision to enable them settle down well both at home and at school.”

Oshinyimika stated that the affected persons were also counselled under the School Social Service Unit of the ministry, adding that “about 1,754 public school students were counselled on truancy and 2,399 on antisocial activities. According to him, “The objectives of the unit include stemming the wave of

crimes now prevalent among our school population identifying and reducing the incident of truancy, petty stealing, cigarettes and hemp smoking among school children, and working towards reducing school dropouts by taking prompt action on matters relating to problems of students.”

Synagogue: “Collapse was caused by infrasonic weapon” By Abdulwahab Abdulah & Bartholomew Madukwe

Army pulls out 31 retired generals

N explosives expert and researcher, Mr Biedomo Iguniwei, yesterday before a coroner court investigating the collapsed building in the Synagogue Church of All Nations (SCOAN), in Ikeja, said the collapse was caused by an infrasonic weapon fired at the church by the aircraft that hovered over the building. Mr Iguniwe, who argued as baseless the position of the Lagos State government which said structural defect was responsible for the collapse building, maintained that scientific evidence coupled with the CCTV footage of the collapse building, suggested that the building collapsed due to high energy infrasound absorption. “The Lagos State Government has been pushing the reason for the collapse to be due to foundational/structural defects to poor construction standards used by the church engineers to construct the building, while the church has alluded the collapse to a terror attack/sabotage by explosives and controlled demolition. “Having looked at all the reasons adduced and personally visited the scene of the collapse and analysed the video footage of the preceding moments before the collapse it was deduced that the collapse resulted from high energy infrasound absorption by the building leading to a high energy resonance of the constituent atoms of the building,” Iguniwei stated. According to him: “This is even more accurate based on the fact that all other options being put forward were eliminated scientifically, creating what appears to be a mystery (due to limited knowledge) surrounding the collapse of the building. “The foundation failure option cannot hold scientifically, because upon inspection of the foundation pads of the

*As Bassey harps on sound professionalism

A’Ibom H/Assembly workers down tools

Police recover guns, ammunition inside secondary school ceiling in Kogi By Boluwaji Obahopo, Lokoja Kogi State Police Command said it has recovered some arms and ammunition from a secondary school, in Adavi Local Government area of the State. The State Commissioner of Police, Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi who disclosed this to newsmen yesterday while briefing on the effort of

By Kingsley Omonobi, Abuja

HIRTY-ONE generals of the Nigerian Army who retired between January 2014 and April this year after the mandatory 35 years in service were yesterday pulled out of service with the former Chief of Police and Plans, Major General Essien Bassey insisting that the Army must imbibe sound professionalism in the conduct of its duties no matter the nature or degree of importance of the assignment. “The current security chal-

the command in the past months said the guns and other weapons were hidden inside the ceiling of one of the classrooms of the secondary school. He said the police were able to recover the weapons after a tip-off from an informant who revealed that some hoodlums have been visiting the school for a while and planing to foment trouble during the last election in the

lenges that the Nigerian army currently faces come to mind. The Army must carefully document its experiences in the ongoing operations in the North-East with a view to improving on its overall combat efficiency”, he said. General Bassey who was speaking on behalf of the other retired officers, called for a review of combat operation methods and logistics amongst others to enhance combat readiness and efficiency. “It is heart-warming however, to note that very sig-

State. Ogunjemilusi revealed that the police were stunned to find out that two AK47 rifles, 4000 rou0nds of live ammunition, cutlasses, charms and other dangerous weapon were hidden inside classroom ceiling. The command also paraded 30 suspects who were arrested for different offences of kidnapping, armed-robbery, culpable homicide

nificant progress has been made in the fight against terrorism. The Army must therefore sustain the current momentum and put this difficult moment of our national history behind us”, he said. The retired Generals are Major General TO Umar, Major General SY Audu, Major General KK Kitchener, Major General PJ Isang, Major General HG Aminu, Major General JS Kwabe, Major General FM Airende, Major General BVT Kwaji, Major General JO Nwaogbo, Major General OS Adeosun and Major General A Chukwu among others.

By Tom Moses

ORKERS in the employ of the Akwa-Ibom State House of Assembly yesterday commenced a threeday warning strike to compel the state government to honour the agreement it reached with the union on the payment and implementation of new consolidated salary structure. The aggrieved workers numbering over 100, blocked the entrance to the House of Assembly gate with fresh plantain leaves and other objects to prevent visitors from going into the Assembly complex. The workers who also chanted anti-government war songs lambasted the government for paying lip service to the welfare of members of the union. Speaking at the scene the Akwa-Ibom State Chairman of Parliamentary Staff Association of Nigeria, Mr. KufreAbasi Aderi explained that the union decided to embark on the strike after the expiration of 21 days’ ultimatum it gave to the government.

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015 — 7

B-R-I-E-F-S ‘You’re inciting the North against Jonathan’, Clark tells ACF chairman

NGE visits Fashola as biennial conference begins in Lagos F BY MONSURU OLOWOOPEJO

ORRIED by the trend of the 2015 election campaigns, Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State yesterday urged media practitioners in the country to set agenda that will guide and shape political debate in 2019 election campaigns. Fashola who made the appeal while receiving the members of the Nigerian Guild of Editors led by its President, Mr. Femi Adeshina at the Lagos House, Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja, said that issue based election campaigns would increase participation in future electoral process, saying “even the children would freely participate in future election campaigns and town hall meetings.” He said, “Though there is no nation without conflicts, I think in all that has happened, one thing was missing in the last election; we didn’t see our children

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (right) with the President, Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE), Mr. Femi Adesina, during the visit of the guilds to Lagos House, Alausa Ikeja....yesterday. Pic: Bunmi Azeez there. “One question I have continued to ask myself is that if this is about the future, why do not our children come to the campaigns or the town hall meetings? Why don’t we have sessions where school children on excursion begin to get

involved? How many parents can allow their children to come, given the atmosphere that we’ve created? Yet, we say this is about tomorrow? “This is one of the issues we all must reflect on, and I hope that it will manifest

BY HENRY UMORU

ORMER Federal Commissioner for Information and South South Leader, Chief Edwin Clark, yesterday described as most uncharitable comments by former Inspector- General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim Coomassie that the removal of Suleiman Abba as Inspector General of Police was suspicious. According to Chief Clark, Coomassie’s statements were ethnically driven and designed to incite the North against President Goodluck Jonathan, just as he stressed that elections have come and gone and winners and those who lost should shelve their differences and work together for the overall interest and well-being of the country and called on Nigerians to jettison all divisive tendencies for the unity of the country. He said adding, “For unity to be sustained, equity, justice, fairness and trust are the sacrosanct ingredients to cement our co-existence. We must be our neighbour’s keeper and for this to be realized, all hands must be on deck.” Addressing Journalists yesterday at his Asokoro residence, Abuja, the Elder statesman who noted that comments by the Chairman, Arewa Consultative Forum, ACF were provocative, wrong and unwarranted especially coming from him as a former Inspector- General of Police and Chairman of ACF, an umbrella body of the North.

itself even in your relations. You (editors) know better than all of us what the issues are. And we expect BY DAVIES IHEAMNACHOR that you will tackle as well as confine the candidates HERE is palpable tension in Rumuosi community who are seeking to lead and in Akpor Kingdom, Obio/Akpor Local Government see who best articulate the Area, Rivers state over land sharing, and the aggrieved issues,” the governor add- youths of the area have allegedly chased their traditional ed. ruler out of the community. The Rumuosi community which is one of the host communities to University of Port Harcourt yesterday witnessed a free-for-all following an alleged claim that the paramount ruler of the community and a cartel have been secretly selling off the community land. Based on this the community was thrown into confusion which has resulted into exchange of dangerous weapons. Saturday Vanguard gathered that the paramount ruler of the community has been chased out of the community by some aggrieved youths who were on rampage. A reliable source from the community who related the development to Saturday Vanguard said the issue of few people selling off the land belonging to the entire family has lingered for long, adding that it has ended in a free-for-all.

Youths send traditional ruler on exile over community land in Rivers

Suleiman Hashimu, Lagos to Abuja trekker meets Buhari in Abuja BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

ORE excitement filled the air around the presidential campaign headquarters of the All Progressives Congress, APC in Abuja late Friday evening as Mr. Suleiman Hashimu, the Lagos to Abuja trekker finally met with the president-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari. Hashimu had made a personal promise in 2013 that should Buhari contest and win the 2015 presidential elections, he would trek from Lagos to Abuja. Having won the March 28 elections, Hashimu was forced to fulfill his promise and on Monday, April 20, 2015, he arrived Abuja from Lagos amid a cacophony of excitements and surprises. Giving details of his journey to the president-elect, the trekker said he passed through Kwara to Niger and then Abuja. Though his story may sound incredible, Hashimu said he didn’t care about what people would say of him, stressing that what mattered to him was the fulfillment of his promise to God and himself. He said: “I made a promise because of the love I have for Mr. President that if Buhari should win the 2015 elections, I will trek from Lagos to Abuja which

I have done. I thank God that I made a promise and I fulfilled the promise. “I passed through Kwara and Niger states to Abuja. I was trekking from 6.00am to 6.00pm and anywhere I found myself when it was 6.00pm, I passed the night there. I spent 18 days from Lagos to Abuja. “Once I found myself inside the bush by 6.00pm and I managed to continue the trek till 9.00pm to a nearby village. “I made this promise two years ago. I am based in Ibadan and I started my journey from Lagos because Lagos is the most popular city in Nigeria and I started from Berger junction in Lagos. “I am not bothered about what people think. It is a promise between me and my God. I don’t want any-

Suleiman Hashimu, the Lagos to Abuja trekker finally meets with the President-elect, General Mohammadu Buhari in Abuja yesterday. body to believe me. I left Lagos because I made a promise. Right from Kwara state, I never walked alone for five kilometres. People walked with me to the next village.” Speaking at the event, Buhari congratulated Hashimu and thanked God that his health did not fail him.

“I want to congratulate you for making it. He is a young man and he was lucky that his health did not fail him. I also heard so many stories that you wore almost half a dozen pair of shoes. I also understand that there are people who have been quite generous to help you to pay for more pair of shoes”, Buhari said.

Olu of Warri coronation anniversary holds May 1

RRANGEMENTS are at the top gear for the 28th coronation anniversary celebration of his Majesty Ogiame Atuwatse II CON, the Olu of Warri. According to the chairman of the anniversary committee, Chief (Dr.) E.A. Tetsola JP, the Oluabajaje of Warri Kingdom, the celebration will commence from Friday May 1, to Sunday May 3, 2015. Also in a release sent to Saturday Vanguard and signed by the Chairman,

Publicity Committee, Emma Okotie-Eboh, said the programme of event will commence with a praise and worship session by 10.00 p.m. at the palace ground. The event will be followed by free healthcare services and a drama presentation at Main Hall, Federal Government College, Warri. Emma Okotie-Eboh stated that on Saturday, there would be traditional homage paying; cultural displays; traditional

dances at the Olu’s palace at 3.00 p.m and followed by the Olu of Warri Lawn Tennis tournament at Warri Club. He disclosed that there will be a thanksgiving service at Foursquare Gospel Church, Olu Palace, Warri followed by traditional dances, on Sunday among other activities. He however advised that all groups and individuals who wish pay homage to his Majesty to register with the palace Secretary before the day.

Tension in Adamawa as Deputy Gov faces ICPC

BY UMAR YUSUF

ENSION is mounting in Adamawa State as the cri sis rocking Kofare community and the Adamawa State Deputy Governor, Sa’ad MC Tahir over the blockage of an access road has taken a new dimension. Members of Kofare “A” Ward in Yola South Local Government Area of Adamawa, have dragged the State Deputy Governor to the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) for alleged blockage of access way to the ward thereby causing untold hardship to the residents. In a petition addressed to the Chairman of ICPC by counsel to the community, Augustine Sambo Esq and made available to journalists in YOLA Friday, the community accused the Deputy Governor of using his office to take over the land which they noted initially belonged to him but was taken from him by government three years ago on grounds of overriding public interest which resulted in paying him compensation by the then Murtala Nyako administration.

8 — SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

B-R-I-E-F-S

Re-run polls: Force Hqtrs redeploys DIG, 4 AIGs & 7 CPs •Issues order on restriction of vehicular movement BY KINGSLEY OMONUBI, Abuja

HEAD of today’s re-run gubernatorial elections in three states whose results were declared inconclusive by INEC after the April 11 elections, Acting Inspector General of Police, Solomon Arase has redeployed one Deputy Inspector General of Police, four Assistant Inspectors General of Police and seven Commissioners of Police to the three states to ensure violence free polls. Consequently, One (1) Deputy Inspector-General of Police, One (1) Assistant Inspector-General of Police and two (2) Commissioners of Police have been redeployed to Abia state; One (1) Assistant Inspector-General of Police and three (3)

founding father of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Ben Ezeibe has described the failure of President Goodluck Jonathan to clinch a second term ticket as a divine intervention to save the nation from further economic devastation. Speaking from his vacation base in South East Asia and United Kingdom, Chief Ezeibe, who was a former Vice-Chairman and Treasurer of the Anambra State chapter of PDP, blamed the party for the woes of the PDP in the recently concluded general elections, stressing that the party’s leaders were the architects of Jonathan’s

Acting IGP visit to INEC Chairman : INEC Chairman Prof. Attahiru Jega (right) chatting with Acting Inspector General of Police Solomon Arase during his visit to INEC office in Abuja. Photo by Gbemiga Olamikan. Commissioners of Police redeployed to Imo state while two (2) Assistant Inspectors-General of

Police and two (2) Deputy Commissioners of Police are redeployed to Taraba state.

failure. He called on the members of the National Working Council of the PDP to resign honourably having failed for the first time in 16 years to win a general elections. “The National Working Committee of the party must resign if they are men and women of honour”, said Chief Ezeibe, who described greed and corruption that ravaged the NWC as not only unfortunate but scandalous and ultimately led to the failure of the party at the polls. “It is time to ask questions on the integrity and character of a cabal that led the party to its disgraceful outing”, said the Enugu

based industrialist and commodity broker, who said he was not keen to return soon to the country until the new PresidentElect can guarantee that he would get rid of corruption from the nation. He noted that corruption has brought the nation to its knees and made the country a laughing stuff in the eyes of the international community. “Some of us in the organised private sector are worried at what percentage corruption could be allocated because for years, we have been at a crossroads on how to deal with this all-mighty evil that has defiled every solution. We need someone who can fight the scourge headlong for us to have real confidence in this project.

A statement from Force Headquarters noted that the IGP has sent a serious note of warning to all Officers involved in the rerun elections in Abia, Imo, Kogi, Delta and Taraba States to conduct themselves in line with established Standard Operational Guidelines. While reminding officers to be above board and maintain the highest level of professionalism for which the Force has been widely commended both locally and internationally, the IGP warned that severe disciplinary sanctions would be meted out to any deviant officer who breaches the code of conduct. Also, as part of efforts to ensure adequate security in the affected states, the IGP has ordered restriction on vehicular movements in Local Government Areas of Abia, Delta, Imo, Kogi and Taraba States where rerun of the ongoing general elections are scheduled to take place on Saturday, 25th of April, 2015 between the hours of 08.00am to 5.00pm.

Okeke, ex-police service commission boss lauds Buhari Tells PDP to go back to drawing board BY NWABUEZE OKONKWO

ORMER Chairman of Police Service Commission, PSC, Chief Simon Okeke has expressed confidence that the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari (Retd) would be capable of handling the affairs of the

HE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC would today be conducting re-run elections in 56 wards of Delta Central Senatorial District that were declared inconclusive in the March 28, 2015 National Assembly elections. Returning Officer, RO for the election, Prof Greg Okagbare while acknowledging irregularities that trailed the election, declared the election inconclusive in parts of the district. According to the INEC head of department, Voters Education and Publicity, James Popoola, the election would hold in the 56 wards and 803 units of eight councils in the district namely; Ethiope West, Okpe, Udu and Ughelli North.

...tasks Buhari on corruption

BY PEREZ BRISIBE

I‘ll not fail you, Imo lawmaker tells constituency members

Jonathan’s loss, a divine intervention — Chief Ezeibe BY JOHN EGBOKHAN

INEC to hold re-run election in parts of Delta Central today

country, even as he predicted that Buhari might face hard time “because our foreign reserve has gone down badly.”. He said he was optimistic that Buhari would steer the affairs of the nation to stardom, since he has all it takes to better a bad position, even with the present status of the nation’s economy which he said is not in an

enviable status. Okeke, a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP who spoke to newsmen at his Akatar Lodge country home, Amichi in Nnewi South Local Government Area of Anambra State, said those defecting to the All Progressives Congress, APC now or to other parties because of the party’s victory at the federal level were political prostitutes

with no political maturity. According to him, all the PDP had to do was to go back to the drawing table and get it right for next time, adding that personally, he had no reason to defect to the APC as he was no longer looking for any political appointment or anything that would distract him from his advisory role as a statesman in Igbo land and Nigeria in general.

VER two thousand youths in Ihitte/Uboma L.G.A who recently stormed the country home of the newly elected Imo House of Assembly member, Dr. Mrs. Uche Ejiogu have vowed to protect her from what they described as the charm of the older aristocracy and its evils. Spokesman of the youths, Mr. Achi Chris Achi, an Architect, said that the former Commissioner for Education’s story has been an inspiring one that has always fired the zeal and determination of the young generation to take maximum advantage of the opportunity available to them to acquire good education.

Obiano visits Buhari in Abuja •Begs Buhari for second Niger Bridge BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

OVERNOR Willie Obiano of Anambra State on Friday visited the President-Elect, General Muhammadu Buhari in his Aso Drive residence, Abuja. Obiano’s visit came when speculations were rife that he was planning to defect to the All Progressives Congress, APC from the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA where he was elected. But speaking to Journalists at the premises of General Buhari, after a closed door meeting, the governor said that his mission to the president-elect was to congratulate him. He said he was still in APGA but would work with Buhari, dismissing insinuation of defection. “It is not correct. I will remain with APGA and work very closely with Mr president”, he said. The journey was to also reassure Buhari of the support of the south east even as he asked the president-elect not to isolate Ndigbo in federal appointment. Obiano also made a case for the incoming government to build a second niger bridge. He said: “Well, I came to congratulate His Excellencey the President -elect on his victory and I am also here to reassure him that Anambra and the south East would support him. I also pleaded with him on some pressing problem that are of importance to the south east like the second Niger bridge and some of the federal roads.

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015 — 9

Uduaghan commissions Effurun Flyover Bridge inBRIEFS Warri

Adenuga’s Oil coys top winners at 2015 oil & gas awards T

WO oil companies owned by b u s i n e s s m a n extraordinaire, Dr Mike Adenuga Jr. were the top winners at this year ’s edition of Oil & Gas Awards held Thursday night at Eko Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The companies are Conoil Producing which won the Best Company in Local Content Award and Continental Oil & Gas Limited which emerged winner of the Best company in Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Award. The event was organized by oil industry experts, Oval Energy and leading business p u b l i c a t i o n , B u s i n e s s D a y Newspapers. The Publisher of BusinessDay, Mr. Frank Aigbogun, said “the award aims to recognize, reward and celebrate excellence, innovation and contributions of i n d i v i d u a l s , organizations and institutions to the growth and development of the upstream, mid and downstream subsectors of the Nigerian oil and gas industry.” He stated that Conoil

Producing won the Best Company in Local Content under the Sole Risk Independent Company category after meeting the required parameters such as Ratio of Nigerian to foreign

contractors engaged, Nigerian Human Capacity Development Initiatives, Sponsorship and Partnerships and Number of Nigerians in Management Positions. Mr Aigbogun explained that

Continental Oil & Gas emerged the winner in CSR for showing the most commitment to donations, scholarships and development of host communities and also in motivating employees to give their time to CSR work.

GLOBAL OIL PRICE DECLINE:

NNPC proffers solutions for Nigeria

MIDST the growing challenge of dwindling crude oil prices faced by the global oil and gas industry, the NNPC has offered strategic solutions aimed towards cushioning the effects for Nigeria. NNPC’s Coordinator, Corporate Planning & Strategy, Dr. Timothy Okon provided these solutions while speaking at the 2015 Oloibiri Lecture Series & Energy Forum (OLEF) held at the Shehu Yar’Adua Centre in Abuja, recently. According to Dr. Okon, the Nigerian Oil & Gas Industry would have to adapt to the new realities facing the global sharp decline in crude oil prices which include the realities of politics, environment, technology and the economics of scale.

To address these challenges, Dr. Okon advocated solutions such as the speedy passage of the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB), restructuring of the public finance, focusing on more profitable entities and the review of spendings on capital expenditure. Other solutions, Dr. Okon observed, include the removal of fuel subsidy, exploring Asian markets, optimization of local refineries as well as delivering gas projects (LNG and other domestic gas obligations). In his remarks, the Group Managing Director of the NNPC, Dr. Joseph T. Dawha who was represented by the Group Executive Director, Gas & Power, Dr David Ige called for institutional collaboration between the

NNPC and the International Oil Companies (IOCs) in the quest to make Nigeria an investment hub for oil and gas business. He also urged the various stakeholders to ensure that concerted efforts are geared towards cost reduction and addressing the menace of crude oil theft, vandalism of pipelines and other oil and gas installations across the country. Also speaking at the occasion, the Chairman of the Oil Producers Trade Section (OPTS) and Managing Director of Total E & P Nigeria Ltd (TEPNG), Mrs. Elisabeth Proust said decline in crude oil prices was not new to the industry as it has been witnessed in 1986, 1998 and 2009.

Community honours NNPC Chief for humanitarian gestures

General Manager with the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Sir Christian Eke has been conferred with the Ebekuodike chieftaincy title in Ngor Okpala Local Government Area by the traditional ruler of Ihitte Okwe, Eze Barnabas Obirieze. Conferring the chieftaincy title on Sir Eke, in Imo State at the Eze’s palace, Eze Obirieze described him as a generous man with a large heart who has contributed enormously to the growth and development of the community. Eze Obirieze noted that the recipient has empowered several youths and women in the community and urged other prominent sons and daughters of the land to emulate Chief Eke. He said the conferment was in recognition of Chief Eke’s good works and to encourage other illustrious sons of the land to take a queue. The Eze enjoined youths to shun kidnapping, robbery, thuggery, violence and other social vices in order

Group blames Lagos Dep Speaker’s defeat on sabotage By Bashir Adefaka

OLLOWING the defeat of the Deputy Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon Kolawole Taiwo in the last April 11 polls, a Badagry-based group, HTK group has expressed displeasure over the failure of the lawmaker to return to the House describing it as “undeserved defeat.” Honourable Kolawole Taiwo is currently a member of the State House of Assembly representing Ajeromi/Ifelodun Constituency. Addressing newsmen in Badagry recently, the leader of the group, Mr. Rauf Alagbada, said the plight of the lawmaker was caused by the antiparty activities of some members of the party urging the party’s national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to address the issue in order to forestall any future re-occurrence. “We want to communicate our displeasure on the intra-party discord that led to the defeat of our party in Ajeromi/Ifelodun State constituency to the opposition, People’s Democratic Party, PDP at the last April 11 election. The APC should get to root of all complaints so as to unravel the elements that worked against the interest of the party. This will help to check various acts of antiparty activities within the system and forestall any future reoccurrence. Reacting to the development, a party leader in the area, Alhaji Muhideenn Are, in a telephone chat with Saturday Vanguard claimed that aspirants who contested against the deputy speaker at the primaries worked against the party. “We have never lost election here in Ajeromi/ Ifelodun, the defeat was caused by some saboteurs but we have accepted the outcome, as an act of God,” he said.

Ajie lauds Osanebi for intervention in rainstorm By Festus Ahon, Asaba

leader in Ndokwa East constituency, Mr. Oputa Ajie, has commended the member representing the constituency at the Delta State House of Assembly, Mr. Friday Osanebi for his quick intervention in the rainstorm which destroyed over 50 houses in the constituency. Speaking with newsmen in Asaba, Ajie noted that the legislator visited the affected areas immediately he got wind of the incident to assess the extent of damage and promised to put machineries in place to assist the victims. He noted that Osanebi had been very useful to the constituents since 2011 when he was elected into the state house of assembly, saying he had been committed to meeting the yearnings and aspirations of the people. According to him, the lawmaker had embarked on various empowerment schemes in the nooks and crannies of the constituency, thanking the people for voting massively for him in the just concluded state assembly election.

BAT rewards 300 farmers for productivity By Franklin Alli •Sir Christian Eke, General Manager, Corporate Planning & Strategy, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), and wife stepping out to be conferred with the chieftaincy title of Ebekuodike of Ihitte Okwe, Ngor Okpala Local Government Area, Imo State. They are flanked by members of the Ihitte Okwe Traditional Council. to become prominent citizen of the community like Chief Eke adding that they are the leaders of tomorrow and shining lights of this generation. In his response, Chief Eke said the chieftaincy title came as a big surprise noting that the honour done him and his family would spur him to continue to contribute his quota to the speedy development of the community.

Chief Eke implored other prominent citizens of the community to see themselves as vessels through which the society must grow adding that as for him and his family they would continue to give back to the community which nurtured them from the cradle to where they are today. He expressed gratitude to Eze Obirieze for the title and assured that he would continue to be a good ambassador of

the community. He reassured that he would endeavor to justify the confidence reposed in him. He commended President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan for his sterling leadership virtues which steered Nigeria from disintegration and crisis after the just concluded general elections in the country. The ceremony was graced by people from all walks of life.

RITISH American Tobacco Nigeria Limited has rewarded 300 farmers in Oyo for the supply of raw materials valued at N740 million in 2014 financial year. The tobacco farmers drawn from 30 farmers associations in the state, were given new motorcycles, water pumps with accessories, over –head-water tanks including sprayers for their efforts in last year’s production. Speaking during the public presentation of these items to the affected farmers at Iseyin, Thomas Omofoye, Head of Leaf, BAT Nigeria Limited, said the farmers supplied the company leaf worth N740 million which was higher than the N224 million in 2013 under the company’s leaf growing scheme. “The productivity awards ceremony is a kind of encouragement for them to appreciate them better. First, farmers don’t tend to appreciate what they are doing, perhaps they don’t know that farming is actually a business. So we thought of celebrating them, their activities, and their commitment and to ensure that they are actually earning a living from farming operation,” he said.

10 — SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

SATURDAY

Xenophobia:

Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015—11

Living in South Africa is the highest risk non citizens are taking

BY OGHENE OMONISA, EMMANUEL EDUKUGHO, EBUN SESSOU, OLAYINKA AJAYI& TOFARATI IGE

r. Ugo Nwangaga called home once in a while with exciting stories about a refreshing new life in South Africa. He moved down there in 2006 in pursuit of the proverbial greener pastures, and he found success. A profitable business dealing in computer accessories, a comfortable apartment, a smart car, a Nigerian wife, his girlfriend whom he had returned to Nigeria to marry in 2010, and

taken with him back to the rainbow nation, and who has given him two lovely kids: the good life. But the calls with exciting stories recently stopped, not because Mr. Nwangaga wanted an end to calling home, but because his folks back here no longer want such calls. They crave assurances about his safety, following news of antiimmigrant attacks over there. Now, it is he that receives frequent calls from home, worried calls. ‘They’ve every reason to be scared’, he concedes. He reveals that he is in his late 30s, with his parents still relatively young; and he has

three sisters and a brother, all of whom will like to have him living and not dead. ‘And dying violently and especially in a foreign land is something nobody will wish for a loved one.’ Mr. Nwangaga is not alone among Nigerians in South Africa whose relatives back home are very worried about. The frightening footage of foreigners being hunted and beaten in broad daylight, of shops being looted and torched, of homes up in flames, of cars being smashed, of scared immigrants huddled in dirty blankets in open camps or queuing for food, is enough to send shivers up the spine of

When hard work, entrepreneurship, romance ignite hatred

The attacks stem from a perception that immigrants, mainly from other African countries, are taking jobs at the expense of South Africans in a country with high unemployment

the toughest father or brother, not to mention a mother or sister or even child. The images from South Africa certainly give genuine reasons for Mr. Nwangaga’s folks to keep up with his safety, like every other Nigerian and African who has a loved one holed up in a country that was before now regarded as a land of dreams. The anti-immigrant riots have left at least six people dead, more than 5,000 displaced, and shops looted and razed. According to the Nigerian Consul-General in South Africa, Ambassador Uche Ajulu-Okeke, the loss by Nigerians in the attacks included looted shops, burnt shops, two burnt mechanic shops, 11 burnt cars and two stolen cars among others. The attacks stem from a perception that immigrants, mainly from other African countries, are taking jobs at the expense of South Africans in a country with high unemployment. Though many immigrants have left the country since riots began, more are still behind. Much of the violence are concentrated in the port city of Durban, in the KwaZulu-Natal Province, especially the poor sections, generally called setllements. According to Mr. Nwangaga, many successful African migrants feel safe in other major towns like

Continues on page 12

12—SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

Xenophobia

Where there no secury forces or rescue operators in South Africa

Ready to butcher non South Africans Continues from page 11 Johannesburg, Cape Town and Port Elizabeth, mostly in highbrow sections, and in other towns across the country. ‘So, it is not as if every immigrant has been attacked, which is exactly what I try to tell my people back home.’ But not every successful Nigerian living in South Africa will agree with Mr. Nwangaga. Mr. Idah Peterside, Nigerian ex-international and Super Sports football analysts has a different story to tell. He says in a telephone chat that returning home one evening during the heat of the riots last week, he sighted two or three menacing youths close to his house at Sandton, a highbrow suburb of Johannesburg. They were armed. He had to drive past his own house. Driving back, he quickly used his remotecontrolled key to open the gate,

drove in and quickly controlled the lock before the merchants of brutalities realised what happened. They had guns. That only goes to show no foreigner was completely safe.

Xenophobic society

Seeking reasons for the xenophobia will not lead too far. South Africa’s status as a country with one of the most unequal societies in the world is not far-fetched, a violent legacy of racial apartheid. There have been frequent explosions of xenophobic violence over the past few decades, notably in 2008, when 62 people, including 21 South Africans, were killed and more than 150,000 displaced. Prior to 2008, at least 67 people died between 2000 and March 2008, in what were identified as xenophobic

attacks. ‘Buyelekhaya’ (go back home) campaign has frequently been used to justify these xenophobic actions, blaming foreigners for unemployment, crime, illicit drugs and the spread of HIV/AIDS. The recent eruption of xenophobic violence was allegedly instigated by Zulu King Goodwill Zwelithini, who reportedly told a cheering crowd on March 22 that foreigners should ‘pack their bags’ and leave, and that they were ‘lice’ who should be ‘plucked out and left in the sun’. He added, ‘I won’t keep quiet when people who have no say are playing with this country. We ask that immigrants must pack their bags and go back where they came from.’ These comments by the king were made in a province that President Jacob Zuma and the governing African National Congress (ANC) rely on to keep political power. Rather than being condemned by other influential figures in the country, they were only fueled when Mr. Edward Zuma, the president’s son seemed to support the king by claiming that ‘foreigners were taking over the country’, and raised the suspicion of a coup. Furthermore, ANC Secretary General, Gwede Mantashe, suggested that all undocumented migrants would have to be moved to refugee camps. If the violence was instigated by elite comments, the commoners easily bought into it with their mindset. “Our citizens took action because they (immigrants) wouldn’t leave and they were being told they must leave”, says Mr. Nana Mkhonde, 29, a

Scores were burnt to death while South African security watch diligently.

They were Celebrating killing innocent non citizens of South Africa. resident of Bottle Brush, Durban’s impoverished informal settlement. They came with nothing, they can Our citizens go with nothing as well. I took action feel bad because they left because they crying, but we have no choice.” (immigrants) The governing African wouldn’t leave National Congress has condemned the violence but and they were an unemployed being told they Mkhonde, single mother, responds: must leave “The government says it’s Continues on page 13

When life is no more safe in South Africa

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015—13

Continues from page 12 wrong because when they give jobs they help themselves. If you don’t have friends in the ANC, you get nothing. What about us? Our government is doing nothing for us. The reason we’re fighting foreigners is because of our government.” Police minister, Nathi Nhleko, describes the attacks as examples of ‘Afrophobia’, not xenophobia. “What you don’t see is you don’t see Australians being chased on the streets, Britons being chased on the streets and similar demands being placed on them that they should leave the country and so on,” he says. “What you effectively see is largely Africans against one another in a sense now. That’s why I’m saying it represents a certain type of political problem that has got to be dealt with by ourselves as South Africans. In a sense, what we are witnessing are actually Afrophobic kind of activities and attacks, resembling all elements of self-hate among Africans.”

Immigrants are known to be more hard working than locals, explains Barr. Ben Owem, a Lagos-based legal practitioner. He posits that immigrants are mostly chased out of their countries by war, poverty, unemployment and other social problems. “These make them to fight to survive. They have to work, whatever work and at whatever rate, to survive. Every penny is of great value and it is put to good use – no wastefulness. These form the driving force which local South Africans have found in African immigrants which they term stealing their jobs. Jobs South African will not do, and rates they will not accept.” “We have to work to survive’, explains Mr. Adolphus Abu, a Nigerian who was once in South Africa and presently based in Ghana. “It’s the spirit of hustling. That is what the these black South Africans find fascinating. Where does a black South African travel to? They lay back in their country and complain of no job. But other Africans will come, do those menial jobs, save from the jobs and start a trade. Then when they see Nigerians, Malawians, Zimbabweans, Ethiopians and other African migrants prosper, they tell you their jobs are being stolen.” Many black South Africans whim about the government not making education readily affordable for them, providing this as one of the reasons why they are unemployable. Mr. Nwangaga disagrees: “That’s the talk of a lazy man. I, personally, don’t have a university degree, but I came to South Africa and started work as a marketer, from where I saved to start my own business. While education guarantees a good job, lack of it is no hindrance to do something

South Africans happily watch non citizens become a prey in the hands of their youths

Xenophobia meaningful”. But Mr. Mkhonde, the South African resident of Bottle Brush, Durban insists: “They (migrants) should go because we have no jobs. I’m a citizen and I want to work for 150 rand a day but foreigners will do it for 70 rand a day. In the kitchens and the factories they are taking over our jobs. They bring cheap goods and we don’t know where from. They leave their countries with a lot of skills and we have nothing. Our education is not good enough.” The successes accomplished by these immigrants could generate envy and jealousy in some South Africans, which could lead to the violent attacks. Mrs. Toni Mazwembe, a resident of Johannesburg agrees: “Yes, one can’t overlook that aspect. Today, you see a Nigerian, Mozambican, or Zimbabwean arrives with almost nothing, tattered and hungry looking. In a few months’ time, you see him looking well fed and welldressed, then you begin to wonder what he did that you had never done before his arrival. And this is your country.” Did he ever have the feeling of being envied by South

Africans while in South Africa? “Yes”, Mr. Abu reveals. “I noticed such feelings. Though it’s natural, I don’t see it as reason enough to want to kill your fellow human or ask him to leave your country. Success through hard work is supposed to be admired and imitated, but not be revolted against.” Successful Nigerians are reputed for big spending, especially where women are involved. Could this have generated envy in male South Africans, that immigrants are stealing their women from them too, and played a role in instigating them to take to violence? “One can’t overlook that factor ”, Mr. Abu laughs. He expatiates: “Of course, you know we Nigerians. It’s an open secret that the average South African woman would rather have a relationship with a Nigerian man than her countryman. The reason for this is not far-fetched. Traumatised by long years of war and repression, most South African men do not have the patience to woo a lady. They often have no time to waste and would rather go straight to the point. Women, however, want a man who would care for them, devote attention and time which their men are often too impatient to provide. Little wonder then

Hard work, entrepreneurship

Another factor is that South African girls dream of marrying Nigerian boys, so the South African guys hate us because of that

that South Africa has one of the highest cases of rape in the world. “While on the other hand, Nigerian men living in South Africa are known to be flamboyant and they spend time on women. “As a matter of fact, in some night clubs, South African men are not allowed entry because they don’t have the financial wherewithal to buy drinks. This in turn makes the Nigerian men more attractive to the womenfolk as they see them as more willing and capable of taking care of their needs” What an irony. Nigerian women claim that their men are not romantic. But to South African ladies, Nigerian men are simply good in treating women nicely. Abu continues: “Another factor is that South African girls dream of marrying Nigerian boys, so the South African guys hate us because of that.” Does Mrs. Mazwemba agree with this view? “I’m happily married with kids, please’, she says with a wry smile. “I’m not interested in men. But I think Nigerian men are romantic, going by the few I know.” But not every South African is proud of the evil actions of their fellow citizens though. Ms. Sue Continues on page 14 C M Y K

14—SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

Xenophobia

South African youths are happy dramatising gruesome killing of non citizens in their country Continues from page 13 Clark, 50, from a property company that gathered donations for victims of the attacks via a Facebook post, muses: ‘At the beginning of the week I was saying I’m no longer proud to be South African, but now I’m saying I’m truly proud to be South African. “This is hope. Just so many people want to make a difference.”

African response

If the world is a global village, the South African youths who traded in violence did not realise it. Every country hosting a foreigner equally has its nationals in other countries. Leaders and countrymen of killed, maimed and displaced African immigrants have followed the riots live back home. They have decided to teach the South African a lesson or two. Protests have been held at various South African embassies across the continent during the week, and several South African musicians have been forced to cancel concerts abroad. A group of about 200 Mozambican protesters this week blockaded the Southern Lebombo border and stoned South African vehicles, refusing to allow cars with South African registration plates to pass. Sasol, an energy and chemical giant, evacuated 340 South Africans from Mozambique over fears for their safety. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has also condemned the ‘barbaric, criminal and xenophobic murder of innocent foreigners.’ Back home, protesters have

Imagine such callous act against humanity stormed the South African High hours to halt the attacks or face the consequences. In a brief Commission in Abuja, YouTube video message, the threatening to shut down South group threatened to export its African companies in Nigeria if terror to South Africa if Pretoria the killings and arson are not does not contain the situation. stopped and suspects brought to justice. Protesting youths have also stormed MTN office Remorse in Benin City, Edo State. It has turned out the South And dreaded Islamic group, African violent rioters, like their Boko Haram, late last week, government, did not realise the ironically gave Pretoria 24

If the world is a global village, the South African youths who traded in violence did not realise it

gravity of the destruction and the implications for South African immigrants and their investments in other African countries. Goodwill Zwelithin, the Zulu King who allegedly sparked off the violent riots with his inciting comments, has since denied making them, claiming he was quoted out of context. President Jacob Zuma cancelled his state visit to Indonesia early this week to frontally attend to the crisis. He visited a camp for displaced African immigrants in Chatsworth, South of Durban, where he promised ‘to stop the violence’, and assured foreigners of their safety in the country. The South African Defence Force was sent to the streets mid this week to contain the riots, and four South African men suspected of killing Mozambican national Emmanuel Sithole in Alexandra township in an apparent xenophobic attack, have been arraigned this week at the Wynberg Magistrate Court in Johannesburg.

What next?

The streets of South Africa are now almost calm, returning to normal. The violence leaves scares, many shallow, others deep, so deep they will take time to heal. Some immigrants have left to return no more. Some may return. And those who remained behind, keeping with memories of the haunting and beatings, of looting and torching and general anarchy will hurt for long. South Africa has had a history of xenophobic riots and violence. Will this be the last in recent times? It is hoped that President Jacob Zuma will not only stop the violence but also begin to reduce the factors that triggered off violence - make young black South Africans employable and employed.

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015 — 15

C M Y K

16—SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, APRIL 25, 2015

started writing a novel in 1987 while I was still a student of English, at the University of Lagos where I teach now. I gave that novel a title I considered and still consider interesting and that title is a simple, gripping and somehow uncomfortable word; just one word: Guilty. When I shared the idea of that novel with few friends of mine, later in our career as students; albeit, postgraduate students, they agreed with me that it is a profound dream. What surprises me most about that 1987 dream is that I am still dreaming. I can assured you (as if it is an award winning statement), that no one has ever seen that work of fiction on any shelve in any part of the “…and Judas bought a piece of land world. But be it known now with the 30 pieces of silver and hung that that title has been himself…” he quickly closed the page “copyrighted.” regrettably because he hated to read Today, I have decided to that, that was not edifying as he was open up discussions on that told the Bible would be. But he was not dream and I still call it going to give up. Then he opened the “My Guilty Dream.” The Bible again and his eyes went straight dream was and is to to another portion which simply read challenge all my “country “… go and do likewise…” he felt people,” soon after the very discouraged and went to seek counsel. controversial series of I was like that man when I conceived messages which emanated the work, “Guilty.” When one does not from the stable of Federal immediately get an expected Ministry of Information satisfaction from a carefully considered and credited to the action, there is a temptation to give up; Honourable Minister at however, only the brave can overcome that time, Prince Tony that Momoh. The title of the My guilty dream was a product of my messages was “Letter to incapacitation towards what I think I My Countrymen.” After can do, yet I know I cannot do. I want that manner, I decided to to see this country better than the best write too. I recall a very countries of the world, so do all of us. I interesting story of a man think I can help in doing this and so do who just got converted to all of us, yet I cannot do it. Everybody Christianity as “born- believes that I cannot do it so nobody again.” He was to take his thinks I can do it. Please, this is not a new faith very seriously dream anymore, it is real. So I am and the first injunction for going over to the Guilty equation. Since that seriousness was that I think I can make this country better he must read his Bible than the best and I am not doing what I every day. Being new and think, then I am guilty. Since everybody inexperienced, he decided believes I cannot do it (while indeed, I, to read portions of the who know my abilities, think I can) Bible, at random. He everybody is guilty. opened the Bible and read I am back to the dream. I saw the

MY GUIL GUILTT Y DREAM! military in power and the reason they came was because everything had became so decayed that only the gentlemen of strict discipline could salvage the society. We all moped at them like sheep lost in the labyrinth of their thought. Later, it dawned on us that they were the most unlikely set of citizens to undertake the noble task of repossessing the society. You know, like I do, that we became incapacitated and they stayed on and on and on and at last we were deep inside the quagmire of irresponsibility, then like the dramatic intervention of Deus ex machina, the hand of God literally hacked them out. Though they went, we still did not come out of the quandary that they dragged us into. So, logically, the decayed situation they came to address grew worse. Decadence experienced corruption! The entire society was covered by putrid. The rancid odour would choke and indeed choked many people. We are reexamining the ugly situation now, because it appears as if we have survived and of course, we will always survive. We survived with blistered noses. We must live with broken lungs. We have breathed the harsh air of oppression. We have been subjugated, deprived, brutalized, exploited, ill-treated and I suppose, castrated. Yet we survive!

They are GUILTY of all that happened to us. The men in khaki and their cohorts! Good, there I become relevant. Those who perpetrated the atrocities include those who prepared the atrocities, those who packaged them, those who delivered them and those who administered them and the final set are those who consumed them. So it is obvious that everybody is involved because all had a part to play. I listed them in my dream beginning from my constituency; the academia, where many of us helped to script the drama of “the act of violence against the country;” then the lawyers who tailored the thin gloss of legality over the incredible cruelty of the time. I recall the medics, who condoned the installment death decreed on the people of the nation through acquiescence to unacceptable healthcare system. I mentioned teachers, students and parents who are the stake holders in the educational sector and how they easily and voluntarily

Abia: Finding a common ground in today’s supplementary polls •PDP, APGA claim winner of April 11 polls •It was a rigging competition between the two parties —APC candidate BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

eft to either of them, today’s polls are inconsequential. They both won the first election on April 11. And today’s supplementary election makes no sense to them. This was the position of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, PDP and the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, at the last count. But because, the independent National Electoral Commission, INEC had taken a decision and announced the rerun, both parties swallowed hard. Their resolve to partake in the run was reluctant as each of them continued to lay claim of the victory of the previous election. A Professor’s double-speak Controversy started when mid way into the collation of results, the State Returning Officer, Professor Benjamin Ozumba who is incidentally the Vice Chancellor of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, canceled the election in three local government areas namely Osisioma Ngwa, Obingwa and Isialangwa Local Governments, citing irregularities.

He was later to reverse himself to the chagrin of all and sundry. Yet in another breathe, the election was declared inconclusive. Days after, a new date, which is today was fixed for the supplementary election holding in some polling units across 9 local government areas. The new battle grounds are: Aba North, Aba South,Ikwuano, Ohafia, Osisioma, Ugwunagbo, Umuahia South, Umuahia North and Umunneochi. Meanwhile, in the approved results, Ikpeazu of PDP polled 248, 459, while Dr. Alex Otti of APGA got 165, 406 votes,

leaving APGA trailing by 83,053. Baring his mind on the supplementary election, Ikpeazu said it was INEC that has forced them back to the field. Ikpeazu’s grouse “We won that election but they have asked for a re-run in certain areas they have cancelled at the state level. We are watching to see what those who sent them to Abia will do about it. APGA and APC’s stand Similarly, in an interview with Journalists, the national chairman of the APGA, Chief Victor Umeh said APGA won

the election. But while both parties bicker, their APC counter-part, Dr. Anyim Nyerere has taken a diffident position. Even though, they are going back to the contest, Nyerere doesn’t want the election to hold. Therefore, he has requested for outright cancellation of the elections, saying that what transpired on April 11 was a rigging competition between APGA and PDP. According to him, the will of the people did not prevail in the polls. He said: “With due respect I don’t know if I might sound out of context not to refer it as an election. I will say it was a rigging competition in Abia state because there is a difference between election and rigging. What actually took place in Abia state on the 11th of April was not election but rigging because everything that has to do with election was quite absent.”The competition was between APGA and PDP. You see, we are talking about a situation in this time of our democratic dispensation were in most polling units, there were no result sheets. In most polling units ballot boxes were snatched with impunity. I don’t think it happened

killed interest in learning and education thus plunging the nation into a ridiculously low standard on interest in education. I got over to productivity, which I consider crucial, especially in relation to our GDP. Silence prevailed there and as Soyinka once said, “the man dies who keeps silence in the face of tyranny.” The work force did not only suffer, it died. One cannot exonerate any stakeholder there, from the employers, through the individual employees to the organized labour. I recognized the public and private sectors, as the economists would teach us; then there is “the “preferred sector,” (oil and gas; huge merchandize, essential commodities manufacturers, government top blue positions and later, the religious circle) where people who were grossly incompetent flooded and desecrated. I also went to the markets, our common markets, to unravel fraudsters, cheats, “profiteerers” and many other who decided to take advantage of all others. I think I have to stop here for now before I cry, but before then, my enquiry found out that all have sinned and fallen short… of the expectation of the nation. I had the great courage to condemn all as GUILTY! In my dream, everybody confessed and accepted guilt so we thought of what next? Since we are so badly brutalized, we need a complete therapy, after which we can organize a summit. I got out of bed here and fellow compatriots; this is the residue of the guilty dream.

elsewhere because the degree of lawlessness, impunity in Abia state, I don’t think any other part of the country witnessed such.” Nyerere also accused INEC officials and security of aiding and abetting unfortunate situation, saying it was responsible for the present crisis in the state. “They just bugled the whole results straight to the local government headquarters where fierce looking security men just allowed few people they wanted inside the hall. Agents of other parties especially the APC agents were never allowed to come near until they finished whatever they wanted to do.”They are covering up something and those things by God’s grace will be exposed one day”, he said. Nyerere maintained that no single local government area in the state could be isolated from massive malpractice, even as he called for total cancellation of the election. “So the only path of honour is to have the election cancelled. Where will you spare? The 17 local government areas had the same problems; one polling unit, two polling units in all the wards had irregularities. We went to the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission telling them our position, describing in details what actually transpired and what I expect them to do is to investigate and as I have said, the only path of honour for INEC is to cancel the election and start it all over.”

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015â&#x20AC;&#x201D;17

AKWA IBOM GOV POLLS:

It was state terrorism in action â&#x20AC;&#x201D; Umana, APC candidate

â&#x20AC;˘OBONG Umana Umana

BY DAPO AKINREFON AND CHARLES KUMOLU

BONG Umana Umana is the governorship candidate for the All Progressives Congresss, APC, in Akwa Ibom State. In this interview, Umana alleges irregularities in the just concluded governorship elections and vows to seek redress in the court of law. Excerpts: The March 28 and April 11 general elections have come and gone. You seem not to be satisfied with the conduct of the polls in your state, Akwa Ibom, what exactly happened? The reports we received from Lagos and other states in the South West, in the North, those reports were encouraging. We could say that elections were properly conducted, it was peaceful, nobody was molested and harassed. Voting was properly done, results announced at the polling units as provided for in the guidelines. In some other parts of the country, the election went very well and I am not surprised. I must say that in my own state, unfortunately, it has been a different story. What is the story? When we had the presidential elections in March 28, there was a deliberate plan to subvert the will of the people. This plan was systematically executed through the deliberate removal of sensitive electoral materials allegedly by officials of INEC in connivance with PDP officials, agents and officials of the state government. On March 28, what we experienced was that in all the polling units, result sheets had been removed. I went to my unit to vote

and my party agent explained to me that when he asked to see the result sheets, the presiding officer told him that the electoral officer had taken the result sheets away. We know our our rights and so my party agent insisted that if the materials are incomplete, there is no way you can even commence the process of accreditation. If you vote and at the end the results cannot be properly recorded or someone else had already filled the result, then it would have been a futile exercise going through accreditation. The guidelines had stipulated that all the materials must be complete before the election can commence. I personally raised an alarm when I discovered that we did not have result sheet and I confronted the electoral officer of my local government who told me he was going to look into it. After 30 minutes, they brought something to my polling unit which turned out to be photocopies and not the original result sheets. Apparently, they had filled them up already and there was no way he could bring them. So, that was the experience in my own unit and it was not isolated. We had set up a situation room to monitor what was happening across the state and we discovered that the situation was across the state. The result sheets had been removed and so, we could not have elections on March 28 because what followed was protest by the voters who said they could not have elections without result sheets. That did not stop INEC from announcing results the following day. Collation did not take anywhere in Akwa Ibom in March 28. That was what happened in the presidential and National Assembly elections in March 28. Again, there was incidence of thuggery and violence. Some

wearing police uniforms, moving around in the buses allegedly procured by the government. They attacked and the materials taken away. I was not spared even as the governorship candidate of the APC. The materials meant for my unit had been hijacked, as governorship candidate, I could not vote because the materials had been hijacked by bands of thugs. These things were done in such a brazen manner.

persons were killed and the police appeared to be helpless. Even when you called the police, nothing was done. So. My party took a position that the elections were totally flawed and results allocated. We protested and our party requested for the redeployment of Resident Electoral Commissioner and the Commissioner of Police. We gave our reasons but unfortunately, that was not done and if you study the results of March 28, you will know that the figures allocated were simply fictitious, it had nothing to do with the way people voted or the way people would have voted because they were not allowed to vote. Figures were just allocated. Before the elections, people were aware of the strong presence and strength of the APC in Akwa Ibom. They just sat down and wrote results and claimed that the PDP won the presidential elections with over 1 million votes, while they allocated some thousands of votes to the APC. Those figures were simply allocated. But did you suspect any foul play prior the elections and did you forward your petition to the relevant authorities? Yes we did. You see, my party received intelligence one month before the elections that a governor had allegedly procured 400 brand new buses and that police uniforms were being sewed and that thugs were been assembled, that the thugs would be provided with guns and police uniforms and that they would be used to terrorize voters on Election Day. We got the intelligence, we raised an alarm and we wrote a petition to the appropriate authorities but unfortunately nothing happened. So, after the presidential elections, we protested and the response we got was that an Assistant Inspector General of Police was posted to Akwa Ibom alongside two Commissioners of Police. We then thought that with that response from the authorities, that the elections of April 11 would be different but it is sad to say that things got worse. There was a total failure of security. The conspiracy we had witnessed on March 28 also repeated itself on April 11 and the difference between March 28 and April 11 was that the electoral officers went through the notion of pretending that electoral materials had been released in the presence of party agents so that they would have the record that materials had been released. Immediately the adhoc INEC staff took delivery of the materials, as soon as they stepped out of the INEC office, they were attacked by thugs

We are going to court to challenge the results because we could not have had results when we did not have elections

Were these irregularities restricted to areas where the APC had strengths or it was widespread? It was widespread because the APC was strong and on the ground. Like I sad earlier, we set up a situation room and people were sending text messages to the situation room from their various polling units. I also received some of the text messages which I forwarded to the AIG Adisa Bolanta who promised to investigate. This went beyond elections, it was an organised crime against the people of my state. This was state terrorism. We did not have elections in Akwa Ibom state and the perpetrators of these crime should face justice in the International Criminal, Court. This was not about elections. The example in Akwa Ibom is that the only way you can become a governor is that you must have a private army to terrorize people on Election Day. It is not about me, but if that is the message, then we can imagine what would happen in the future when other people also set up their private armies, if it becomes clear that that is the only way to become governor. That is the legacy they are leaving behind in Akwa Ibom state and it is indeed very sad. What is your next step? We are going to court to challenge the results because we could not have had results when we did not have elections. Another way to prove that we did not have elections is that we did not have have collation of results in the ward and local governments. Have you consulted with the national leadership of your party on this? They are aware. They have all the facts and they have instructed us to challenge the results in court because the position of my party is that we did not have elections in Akwa Ibom and Rivers.

18—SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

election materials were supplied but thugs invaded the place and took away ll the election materials. “Given the widespread failure of the INEC to supply election materials to most parts of the state, the rampant snatching of ballot boxes and the blood letting by PDP thugs that characterised the conduct of the elections, we as a party hereby call for an outright cancellation of the elections. Their outcomes cannot be allowed to stand because they can never reflect the wishes of Akwa Ibom people.”

2015 POLLS:

Unending controversy in Akwa Ibom BY CHIOMA ONUEGBU

HE heat generated by the elections in Akwa Ibom State is gradually cooling off. A host of non indigenes, who out of fear, travelled out with their families have returned to resume their normal businesses in the state. However, the controversies trailing the polls have remained. Opposition parties are still challenging the conduct and outcome of the March 28 Presidential and National Assembly polls as well as the April 11 Governorship and State House of Assembly elections. They are claiming that there was no election in Akwa Ibom due to irregularities/ malpractice and violence that characterized the entire process. Now accusations and counteraccusations are the order of the day between the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and major opposition parties especially the All Progressives Congress (APC). This is coming as the electorate in Ukanafun state constituency go to the polls on Saturday following the death of the APC candidate, Obong

Okon Uwah, who was allegedly murdered by political thugs from the area some weeks before the general elections. The APC and Accord Party, in separate petitions to the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof Attahiru Jega, accused the PDP of conniving with INEC officials and the Police in the state to rig the polls. APC petition Akwa Ibom APC Chairman, Dr. Amadu Attai, in the petition, called on Jega to cancel the elections because they were marred by fraud and malpractices such as non supply of election materials to most polling units across the senatorial districts, hijack and snatching of ballot boxes, and violence. Attai had said: “In areas where polling materials were received hordes of deadly armed thugs escorted by men in Nigeria Police Uniform stormed the polling units and made away with the election materials midway into accreditation. For instance in Ndiya 3 Unit 004 in Nsit Ubium which happens to be the polling unit of our governorship candidate,

Akwa Ibom APC Chairman, Dr. Amadu Attai, in the petition, called on Jega to cancel the elections because they were marred by fraud and malpractices such as non supply of election materials to most polling units across the senatorial districts, hijack and snatching of ballot boxes, and violence

Victor Attah concurs Obong Victor Attah, former governor of the state and a member of the PDP Board of Trustees, told newsmen in Uyo that he had a nasty experience during the said polls. His words: “I got to my unit a little before 10 am that fateful day with my PVC in my hand and I looked round and the whole place was empty. Except for the people who came out to vote I did not see any INEC staff. The story I got is not a matter of hijacking on the way to this unit but at the distribution centre that people came with guns and machetes and shot in the air and carted away all of the materials and I said including even your card readers? And the answer was yes. “And this issue of shooting and attacking people and carting away materials including card readers, what does anybody want to do with card readers? They want to use it to accredit who? We used to understand that they take away ballot papers and thumb printing and so on but now you did not even allow accreditation to take place. “So my appeal which I have made to everybody that is prepared to listen is to accept the fact that truly there were no elections whatsoever in this state. I am not talking about my unit. I am talking about cancelling the election in Akwa Ibom

and conducting a fresh one as soon as INEC finds it possible so that all eyes will be beamed on Akwa Ibom, and people will now be forced to do proper elections. It is now I am beginning to understand why Akwa Ibom was regarded as battle ground. But I didn’t come to fight. I came to do an election.” There were elections in Akwa Ibom –Gov Akpabio, PDP leaders However the outgoing governor and Akwa Ibom Nort-West Senator-elect, Obong Godswill Akpabio and other PDP stakeholders have debunked the allegations that there was no election in the state. The governor after receiving his Certificate of Return alongside other National Assembly candidates and the Governor-elect, Udom Emmanuel, last Thursday, at the INEC office, denied bribing the INEC officials and countered claims that the elections were characterized by irregularities. Rather, Akpabio accusing Police of conniving with the opposition to foment trouble during the April 11 election in the state. His words: “The Police brought an AIG to Akwa Ibom who came with commissioners of

Continues on page 58

SATURDAY

ne religious crisis , throats will be slit and thousands will perish. Nigeria. The supposedly pious will zealously and sanctimoniously disembowel pregnant women and

disgorge fetuses. Some innocent non indigenes of the wrong faith will have to choose between dying by the knife or drowning in a well. Hopes and livelihoods will disappear. Many, fortunate, will run hundreds of kilometers to the safety of their hometowns . Neither the victimized living nor the butchered dead will be accorded even a semblance of dignity. The dead will be lumped onto lorries , open tipper trucks and driven to hurriedly dug pits , graves, in the dark in the interest of national unity. And the living will get no redress, no rehabilitation. The instigators and the perpetrators , to whom all impunity belongs , will walk away free. And the House of Representatives that has found its voice in the wake of the South African crises will offer tepid resolutions and nothing more. And the government will console not the bereaved but the trouble makers , so that -”we can move forward”. And they will set up a committee and the committee will come up with papers that will be discarded by the government because the committee was in any case, a ruse. You die , you die and life goes on . Or how else can it be interpreted? You die for nothing! “No one is greater than Nigeria” they always say. So sleeping rabid dogs are left to lie, free to bite and bite again. Egregious evil is often banal. And the banality of gross unspeakable acts of inhumanity is the reason the whole of humanity must always be on guard . 800,000 skulls in 100 days. Rwanda . Man’s capacity for monstrous evil must never be underestimated. Common every day people when intoxicated by the brew of hate served them by unscrupulous powerful , self seeking , elements can perpetrate mind boggling evil against fellow humanity. If it were not so thousands of Germans – drivers, doctors , priests, nurses would not have actively cooperated with Hitler and the Nazi regime to achieve the holocaust. And many other good men would not have acquiesced by being passive. The Zulu king spewed hate and parts of South Africa went aflame. South Africans have been noted to exhibit an exceptionalism , a shared self perception as non Africans . And many have tried to find the reasons for such a ‘superiority complex’ or sense of otherness . Their struggle against apartheid may have conditioned them and foisted on them a sense of uniqueness sufficient to justify the conception of brother Africans as “others”. But nothing can explain a penchant for naked hate filled violence by black south Africans against black Africans of other nationalities. The current spate of attacks is preceded by other such events. Everyday street interaction reveals a population seething with hate for black immigrants in many parts of south Africa Many South Africans allude to the fact that many of the foreign African nationals in their country engage in nefarious activities and help to worsen the deteriorating crime situation in the country. A particular charge is laid against Nigerian nationals for drug peddling, advance fee fraud and armed robbery. It is true that years of apartheid has left many black south African youths and families impoverished and educationally backward. These black communities suffer many social dislocations and

Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015—19

Xenophobic South Africa and hypocritical Nigeria

•Xenophobic-attacks in South Africa deprivations and all of these have contributed in raising family and social tensions. Such communities can ill afford aggravation of broken situations by immigrants. But rather than employ mob justice and barbaric methods , why wouldn’t such an aggrieved society use the criminal justice structures and immigration processes to stem any such foreign criminal proliferation. The other popular but patently spurious refrain is that black immigrants have usurped jobs meant for locals. And this , however viewed , is a ludicrous charge. If jobs exists locals always get priority. And this is acceptable worldwide. And if locals consider the jobs beneath them or lack the expertise to fill the roles then immigrants would naturally take up the roles. Hard working, law abiding immigrants benefit all nations. Why would the success of black African immigrants engender murderous envy in a predominantly black country where whites dominate at all levels. Whites live in opulence, legacy of apartheid . Blacks live in squalor , no thanks to Botha and his ancestors . Yet down trodden indigenous black Africans transfer murderous aggression to fellow sympathetic black Africans. South Africa has deep seated problems of social inequality which scapegoatism can’t solve . And at the risk of being misconstrued as a racist, why are South Africans targeting only their black African fellows if their xenophobia is borne of economic desperation ? Why are immigrants of other races so welcome where the fellow black Africans aren’t? White South Africans must be on their guard, the tiger may turn on them soon. Many African nations sacrificed so much in the fight against apartheid and the inexplicable lukewarm attitude of South African leaders in the wake of the attacks has baffled many. A group of hitherto shackled people who, in their dark days , lived off the benevolence and charity of others in the spirit of African brotherhood. And whose freedom was purchased by the contributions of sweat and blood by many African nations. People , who privileged on the identity of ‘Africanness’. How can they so treacherously now turn their backs on Africa and repudiate African brotherhood and murder and burn Africans on the streets

of Durban in day light? But Nigerians have so much to learn from these events. The Zulu king asked foreigners to pack and go. That was extremely irresponsible and the gravity of the offence he committed lies in the enormous influence he wields. The Oba of Lagos, recently,made a worse pronouncement. He swore by Allah and promised death for all Igbos he voted contrary to his imperial dictations. Many have called for the head of the Zulu king for instigating this chain of calamitous events and many of those screaming from their rooftops in Nigeria were not heard after the Oba’s venomous pronouncements . Before the Oba could be asked “ what were you thinking?”, many rose to his defence without any squeamishness. And even well known human rights activists and social crusaders went dumb. A few mustered a few whimpers in the spirit of political correctness but betrayed themselves when they sought to control , moderate and limit the grief of the primary victims. Those who felt victimized and outraged were often asked , peremptorily , to let sleep dogs lie and move on. When Femi Falana managed to ask the Oba to

apologise reminding him of the crimes he had committed, we were told it would be sacrilegious for the Oba to apologize. An Oba who is no longer a sovereign , whose word is no longer law anywhere, cannot tender an apology for a grave moral and legal infraction he committed against millions in Lagos? Come to reality, this is not 1800. The Oba defiantly refused to apologise, and the state failed to take any action against the Oba and , by so doing, set a dangerous precedent. People charged with the constitutional responsibility of maintaining law and order cowered

and abdicated their duties. The South African Human Rights Commission is investigating the Zulu king but the Nigerian Human rights commission known for barking and not biting only rendered a couple of perfunctory and ineffectual howls. The Oba and Lagos state government have conveniently swept the matter under the carpet. It is my prayer that the seeds of discord sowed by the Oba and

The Zulu king asked foreigners to pack and go. That was extremely irresponsible and the gravity of the offence he committed lies in the enormous influence he wields. The Oba of Lagos, recently,made a worse pronouncement. He swore by Allah and promised death for all Igbos he voted contrary to his imperial dictations.

watered by a manifest disregard for the feelings of his victims in the failure of a proper resolution of the matter do not sprout and bear fruits someday . And someone wondered why the Oba should be sanctioned since , as she put it , – no one died. But the gravity of such a grave moral and criminal offence is not primarily determined by its actual immediate physical consequences. Nothing grieves a victim more than the remorselessness of a conceited offender. Oba’s refusal to apologise is an aggravation of the offence, moral and otherwise, he committed. And that lack of penitence is in itself immoral. “ Lagos is not a no man’s land” many yelled in the wake of the Oba’s saga , yet some of them would cheer Nigerian youths who rallied to defend themselves , holding their grounds in Durban and Jo’Burg and repelling violence with violence. They aren’t particularly asking their countrymen who live in Durban to pack and come back. It is easier to ask why a legal immigrant in Durban is not entitled to his peace than to understand that a Nigerian citizen in Lagos does not owe his continued flourishing there to anyone’s magnanimity. Let any returning Nigerians pass through and pay homage to the Oba. Let them lay some of their woes at his feet. Perhaps experience will teach best. Lagos, I insist, is comparatively, very accommodating. Be it in Kano , Aba, Markudi or Jos , amongst those yelling and tearing themselves up and decreeing death to south African businesses here are people who make living intolerable for non indigenes. In many parts of Nigeria , especially up north, non indigenes sleep with eyes wide open, live on the precipice of disaster because locals would leverage on any breakdown of law and order and prey on their lives and property. Yes, amongst some who actively took part in the killing Gideon Akaluka and amongst others who endorsed that heinous crime by their eloquent passivity are later day human rights activists whose sense of moral outrage is only touched by distant events like xenophobia in South Africa. But they will kill and

maim fellow Nigerians in exercise of religious and ethnic bigotry and retain equanimity The pictures coming from south Africa are gory and horrific. Conspicuous free flow of moral outrage is good and hopefully will be effective deterrent. But emotional outpourings are not enough. While we demand firm justice against perpetrators and protection and rehabilitation for our citizens and others, we must soberly reflect on the goings on in that country and we must internalize the experience. Women and children have been decapitated severally following religious riots in northern Nigeria. Thousands have died in Plateau state in many ethnic / religious confrontations between indigenes and “settlers”. Instigators and perpetrators have always walked away and victims have never been rehabilitated. So we can make demands on South Africa but we must set same standards for our selves. Punish offenders, soothe victims, reorient the society. Let justice, peace and unity reign.

20 — SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

SATURDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, APRIL 25, 2015—21

Who is a Lagosian? it was to a small city. Surulere, the middle class suburb, was walkable. The Island was also walkable and the only bridge that linked the two was Carter Bridge. I have since watched this city develop in leaps and bounds into a mega city. I feel I am part of the growth; I feel that I, with people like me, have contributed to the growth and therefore entitled to the dividends of that growth. But having said this, I have also watched people come in from different parts of the country to make a life and a living. A popular adage then was ‘Eko gba ole o gba ole’. (Lagos accommodates all

bout 12, 15 years ago, when the issue of who is really a Lagosian was nothing more than a stimulating debate among friends, I had asked a friend to write an article on it for me. His was one of the more passionate voices when the issue was discussed at Ikoyi Club amidst banter and drinks then. He had every reason to be passionate. He was born and bred in Isale Eko, the ‘cradle’ of Lagos of Edo father and Yoruba mother. He bears his Yoruba name and his spoken Yoruba is rich and often laced with proverbs and idioms. He is also now a Chief in one of the suburbs in Lagos. Surely he qualifies to be called a Lagosian. Unfortunately, his surname gives him away. Another friend who was also born and bred in Isale Eko goes to the Campos area every fortnight to ‘feel the earth’ and identify with his roots. He proudly bears his Yoruba name but there is nothing he can do about his surname. Does that make him less of a Lagosian? Another, a colleague in my days at the Vanguard is an Ijaw from Bayelsa, but was born and bred in Lagos, and attended one of the popular secondary schools in Lagos. Even when he ventured out, it was to the University of Ife and it was to Lagos he came during breaks and holidays. He says proudly ‘omo Eko l’awa’. (We are Lagosians) despite his names which scream Ijaw. Is he in denial? Now, let me come home. My brother ’s wife is from Akwa Ibom but was born and bred in Lagos and has a Yoruba middle name. Her Yoruba is more fluent than her Efik. My wife is Edo but born in Lafiaji in the heart of Lagos Island. She even has a Yoruba ‘oriki’ which she uses from time to time when she wants to praise herself. She has lived in Lagos all her life. Yet anybody who comes from a Yoruba hinterland in say 20 years ago, would feel more entitled and demand more ‘ownership’ than these people. When I, an ‘ara oke’, (upland country man) came to Lagos some 50 years ago,

virtually all their adult lives in Ilesha which makes the place the only other place I know outside Lagos. But If I attempt to go there for an elective post, somebody will tell me the full story of my father. Sometime ago, a couple of states from the Northern part of the country purged themselves of people from the civil service because they were not indigenes of the states despite being of the same tribe. The same thing happened in a state in the South East which purged itself of non-indigenes in government including Igbos. So if we feel Lagos State is not doing enough for those of us who believe we have contributed to its development,

Many settlers have risen to top positions in Lagos and we treat it as of right

shades of people). If it was true then, it is even truer now. Lagos State is easily the most accommodating State in the country and whatever contribution we have made therefore, is due to the accommodating system in Lagos. Many settlers have risen to top positions in Lagos and we treat it as of right. Many have become landowners and we treat it as of right. We are probably right under the constitution. But why is Lagos the only state where this happens? For example, my parents had lived

we should look around and we will see that no state has done half as much as Lagos to make its residents feel welcome. Now to my original question; who is a Lagosian? As a layman, I believe your length of stay or your financial contribution to a state confers some rights on you as a resident. But it does not necessarily make you a citizen. Citizenship must include spiritual as well as physical attachment along other prerequisites like ancestry and birth. Lagos for many is a place to make as much money as they can; a place to be exploited before they retire

Satan is out to steal your joy. His ministry is to steal, to kill and to destroy (Jn. 10:10). He knows that if he can steal your joy, he can keep your properties. This is why he will do anything to frustrate you and everything that has to do with you. He wants you to be sorrowful so that you block the avenues to fruitfulness. The devil knows that when you are fruitful his kingdom will be more in a mess. Hence he will use whatever it takes to stop you. Do you know that the devil can use your colleague, husband, wife or friend to offend you and make you think that they are the ones who have something for you before? If your the challenges, God has made offended you? His primary purpose is answer is yes, do you think that He provisions for us to overcome whatever to cause you pain whilst hiding behind has changed? Mal. 3:6, says, “for I the the world can throw at you. it may be them. Lord, I change not: therefore ye sons true that you may not know what The devil disguises and manifest in of Jacob are not consumed”. God tomorrow holds but if God is your God, so many ways to deceive man so that cannot change. He is the same He knows what tomorrow holds for you man will turn around to blame God. yesterday, today and tomorrow. What and knows how to bring it to pass in You see Satan knows that if he can He did for you yesterday He can do your life. Don’t be afraid of tomorrow succeed in deceiving you, you may much more today and tomorrow. because of yesterday’s mistakes or doubt God and miss your blessings that Believe Him. He said if it was not so failures. God says “remember ye not will ultimately make you more sad and He would have told you so (Jn. 14:2). the former things, neither consider the bitter. Bitterness can never produce The devil wants you to believe that God things of old. Behold I will do a new fruitfulness. is not worth it or trustworthy. But then thing now it shall spring forth, shall Whatever you are trusting God for we know that the devil is a liar. He ye not know it? I will even make a way that is yet to manifest is not enough has no truth in him. Thus he is called in the wilderness and rivers in the reason to be sorrowful. Know that God the father of all liars (Jn. 8:44). desert” Isa. 43:18-19. is who He says He is and would do You see, God did not save you to Beloved, know that your what He says He will do. God cannot leave you at the mercies of the enemy tomorrow shall be greater lie. His word is settled in heaven. If or of this world. The fact that you are a than where you are right now. you are yet to receive the solution does Christian does not mean that you might Stop worrying. Worrying has not mean that God has not done it or not suffer things like sickness, loss of never solved any challenge is not going to do it. God is ever job, disappointments etc. But in all of in life rather it makes things faithful. God is more concern about you receiving the For more details, contact us at Christ Reality Church, beside Gossard blessings than you are. Hotel, opposite First Bank Sports Ground, Community Road, Satellite Town Instead of being sad check or P.O.Box, 3196, Yaba Lagos. Tel: 08023062635 08168955932; 08033378769. E-mail: your life. If you are convinced Johnson_crm@yahoo.com. Website: www.christrealityministries.org. that you are right with God Our account details are Pastor Johnson Omomadia, Guaranty Trust then just hold on because God Bank, A/C Nos. 0005171407; Christ Reality Ministries, Zenith Bank A/C is always right on time. He is 1011711622. never late. Stir up your Worship with us on Sundays, 1st Service: 745am-9:15am; 2nd Service 9:15confidence in God. He won’t 11:30am. Wednesdays Word Revelation 6pm. Counseling days Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays. 11am-5pm daily or by appointment. Showers of blessing disappoint you. Has God ever done every 2nd - 4th Sat. of each month, 6 a.m - 7.15 am.

Hold on to your joy

C M Y K

to their ancestral homes. A prospective citizen must integrate himself into the community. You cannot make yourself superior to the place or disdainful of the culture of the people you want to make your own. You must believe in the future of the place and be prepared to do anything necessary for the attainment of that future. For as long as you are repatriating the proceeds of your business endeavours to another place, then you are in the market and not at home. For as long as you are not providing schools, scholarships, hospitals in your place of residence or doing things that will improve the lot of the less privileged there, then you are not in your final home. For as long as the interests of another city is more important to you than the interests of the place you claim to belong, then your claim is shallow and exploitative. So a prospective Lagosian must be prepared to burn his bridge and adopt Lagos in its entirety- warps and all. He must declare like Ruth in the Bible, “Where you go I shall go. Where you live I shall live. Your people shall be my people and your God my God”. In other words, if your interests conflict with the interests of Lagos, then you cannot be called a Lagosian and Lagos must defend herself against such interests. Simple. Finally, why do people want to identify with Lagos? It is because Lagos is successful as a land of opportunities and possibilities. And Lagos is successful because it is cosmopolitan and inclusive. Those charged with the administration of Lagos must never forget that. The strength of Lagos lies in providing opportunities to all who come in contact with her. But the true Lagosians, those who have no other home to run to should there be famine or civil unrest, must be protected. They must not be squeezed out.

worse. Know of a surety that God is working things out behind the scene. Know also, that the glory of the latter house shall be greater than the former. Hold on and wait for God’s end. It is always glorious. No wonder the bible says “weeping may endure for a night but joy cometh in the morning”. Rejoice child of God because your victory is assured in Christ. Apostle Paul, said, rejoice, again I say rejoice. Make up your mind that the devil will not rob you of your joy. Gird your loins with the truth (Word of God). Don’t allow Satan to deceive you and rob you of your joy because if he succeeds, he can defeat you and rob you of your blessings. Satan’s mightiest weapon is deception. His only hope of winning is to get you to quit and rob you of your joy. The only way he can take anything from you is by deceiving you into handing it over to him. Stop believing in his lies and start walking in the word of God that has made you an overcomer and more than conqueror. Receive grace to remain joyful and RISE. God bless you and bless our great nation Nigeria.

22—SATURDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 25, 2015

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015—23

By Ikeddy ISIGUZO, Chairman Editorial Board

CHUKWUMERIJE

– Commander, Comrade Who Counted

WENTY-THREE years after the Civil War, Comrade Uche Chukwumerije’s stint as the Minister of Information (1992-1993), unearthed echoes of his role in Biafra as the Director of Propaganda – such is how sublime he was. He was deep – prided himself as a thinker – and he often deployed solutions that played above the commonness of a fray. He was a comrade and proud of his association with labour, the socialist front, where it existed, or he created it even as a student. He graduated in Economics at the University of Ibadan, in 1961, worked as a journalist in West African Pilot, Daily Times and Radio Nigeria, but left radio as Head of News at the beginning of the war. His war contribution resonates almost 49 years after. The longevity of the memories that generations now have of him, testifies to the profoundness of the comrade. Chukwumerije embodied passions that shunned ordinariness. His commitments and mental discipline shone through whatever merited his attention. Did he learn that from martial arts, religions or his socialist inclinations? His outputs were too engaging to permit time for speculations about the sources of the depths from which he drew. His management of the propaganda machinery of Biafra was just an example. I call him Commander of the Propaganda Forces. Though Enugu went under within weeks of the first shots of the war being fired in Gakem (in today’s Cross River State), Radio Biafra that was hoisted on a jeep, until it was captured at the end of the war at River Nwangele in present Imo State, sustained a blitz that overstated the ferocity of the Biafra army. Those shots in the morning of 6 July 1967 dislodged the Biafran soldiers who were camped on the Ushara hills of Gakem, a settlement near Vandekiya in Benue State. The war began and Radio Biafra fought it with a consuming zest that Biafrans imbibed. Radio Biafra had all its broadcasts from “Enugu” until it “fell” at Nwangele. Institutions like the University of Biafra, Biafran Law School, and Bank of Biafra, and even markets, were in perpetual movements as the war progressed, but Radio Biafra “located” them in Enugu, creating a dissonance that sometimes made some believe that Biafra controlled at least parts of Enugu, or the loss of the capital was momentary. A major task of the federal troops (federal vandals according

to Radio Biafra), was to capture the radio. After they did at Nwangele, they realised that human resource, more than equipment made Radio Biafra. Possibly one of the most important voices on Radio Biafra was Okoko Ndem, a polyglot, who rendered the news and its analyses in flawless Igbo and enjoined Biafrans to be vigilant to the point of sleeplessness because enemies surrounded them. When Okoko Ndem (always his full name was rendered) passed on in 2003, Ndigbo gave him a hero’s burial in his native Akwa Ibom. Radio Biafra was the biggest mobiliser for the war. The people depended on it to learn about the latest exploits of the Peoples Army and war contributions they needed to make. Thousands of young people scrambled to join the army, unconcerned about tribulation or death, Radio Biafra called everyone to make sacrifices whether in the Peoples Army or the Land Army (farmers); it cemented a people’s resolve to fight for their lives. Chukwumerije and his team internationalised the propaganda. The war was about oppression of Ndigbo, the blockade had reduced thousands of children to skeletons. It was genocide, it was deliberate, and it had to stop. The international media witnessed these and the Directorate of Propaganda never missed a chance to portray the justness of the Biafran cause. Biafran propaganda remains a subject of research interest in institutions abroad. After the war, Chukwumerije founded Afriscope, a magazine that projected his socialist and pan-African views. It circulated internationally. Politics found him in the camp of Aminu Kano’s Peoples Redemption Party. He was National Publicity Secretary, then Secretary General. From 2003 until his death, on April 19, at 75, he represented Abia North in the Senate. His war memoirs are in drafts and so are his ploys that torpedoed Olusegun Obasanjo’s thirst for a third term as president. His biographer was to have an appointment with him for Tuesday. He passed two days earlier. While the socialist movements, politics, labour and journalism would claim him, Chukwumerije in his final years belonged more to sports, where he single-handedly financed and encouraged his son Chika to win a bronze medal in taekwondo at the 2008 Olympic Games. A deep voice (not just measured by timbre) has departed. A commander, a comrade, who counted, has completed his course. C M Y K

24 — SATURDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 25, 2015

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015 — 25

C M Y K

26 — SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

With FLORENCE AMAGIYA 08061644307 email: daise4000@yahoo.com

Sonny Irabor: Taking br oadcasting to the zenith! no aster, Sonny Irabor needs CE broadcaster and toastm especially lovers of introduction to Nigerians, is a nny Irabor Live on TV. He So d an FM N IO AT IR SP IN talk. lly jokes that he is paid to ua us o wh y on rem ce of r maste o and more than three decades ag m hi for d rte sta ey rn jou e Th taken seasoned broadcaster has is he is not about to quit. The of radio and television. He ds un bo e th nd yo be g tin es of broadcas oadcasting outside the shor br en tak s ha o wh few e th one of of side it. Irabor is the C.E.O ng alo g tin ac ile wh ria ge Ni ent advertising agency, an ev Inspiration FM, he has an c relations consultant and bli pu a is he y, an mp co nt manageme tty e on T.V. He is married to Be Liv r bo Ira y nn So of r ato the cre zine, a sher of “Genevieve” maga bli pu d an r ne ow e th r, bo Ira are blessed with a son ey Th . ria ge Ni in e zin ga fast selling ma e same line of business. and daughter who are in th Enjoy!

LTHOUGH Sonny Irabor is in his late 50’s, he can still remember vividly that he had a pleasant childhood; even though his parents were not wealthy. To him, the meaning of wealth to a child is when his or her needs are met when due and that's exactly how life was for him as a little boy. He recalls an experience he had with his mother when he was barely10 years old andthat lesson taught young Sonny the essence of being tenacious. The experience was such that he trekked for a whole day; alongside his mother who needed to take a very sick nephew C M Y K

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How it started

of his to see a doctor in a distant town. According to him, the journey must have started by5am in the morningbecause it was still very dark and they got to their destination very late at night. Sonny describes himself as a simple man trying to earn a living and his biggest dream came through was when he became a broadcaster. He often says that if there are people on earth that are born to talk and are paid doing it then he is one of them. He was still in Secondary school when a senior friend of his called Dele Olowu worked with a Radio station in 1968. According to the ace broadcaster, hearing his friend’s voice on the radio was indeed the most magical feeling he had ever heard in his young life

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•Sonny and Betty Irabor

At the moment, Sonny Irabor works at Inspiration FM; he was invited by the Chairman, Dr Akingbola in 2007. By the time he got there for the meeting, Dr Akingbola had obtained a license for a Radio station, so Sonny was appointed a member of the establishment. The necessary steps were taken and by December 8, 2008, Inspiration FM was born. He is not the owner of Inspiration FM, but amongst the team of foundation layers that midwife the establishment. A team of Dan Foster, the late Charles B, Sola Thompson, Wale Owejimi C M Y K

showing love, think positively, be upright enough to take on responsibilities when they are due. That is what makes the world go round at the end of the day. Inspiration FM became a business, but one done on a clean slate.

Betty his wife

He met his wife at the climax of his growing life. They met when Betty just graduated from the university and was already working as a Public Relations officer. As it was Betty ’s duty to invite members of the media to events, so on the basis of being a Music presenter, Sonny was also invited to

•Sonny Irabor & Florence Ita-Giwa

Morality has dwindled and many people run away from it, people have to take the bull by the horn and miss values of the society. They started by designing programs that would appreciate human nature, spirituality and becoming our neighbors’ keepers

•Sonny in studio

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(the first GM) was put together to fraction out what we have today. The name itself was a calling; they wanted to set up a system that was family oriented, with high moral value and spiritual wellness. Today’s Nigeria, morality has dwindled and many people are running away from it, people have to take the bull by the horn and get the values of the society right. They started by designing programs that would appreciate human nature, spirituality and becoming our neighbors’ keepers. T o truly engender and respect for the Rule of law, morality must be taken seriously. Be reciprocal in

•Donald Duke & Sonny Irabor

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Working with Inspiration FM

•Sonny, Betty Irabor and a friend

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and he was ready to give an arm to do what his friend was doing, but he was only in form three. After that incident, all he could think of was becoming a broadcaster. But the journey didn’t take a day as he had to complete his secondary education in 1970. After that, he worked for some time before going back to further his studies. Along the line, he met Patrick Oke while working in another job, he later took out time during his work break to visit Patrick Oke and some other new friends he met working in a radio firm. He got a chance to be auditioned on the radio along the line and he was given the opportunity to work as a freelance broadcaster, but he wasn’t officially employed to Radio Nigeria until 1976. Meanwhile his father never wanted him to be a broadcaster. He wanted him to study medicine, law or any other course. To his father, “broadcasters were hungry people who do not amount to much”. So Sunny couldn’t do much with his dream until he left his father ’s house in Benin City and joined his elder sister in Lagos state. And because of this, young Irabor couldn’t share his excitement with his father when he finally got a chance to work on the radio, for fear of his disapproval. It was not until his father ’s friend had told his father that a certain Sunny Irabor was reading the evening news and he received his father ’s blessings that he became proud of being a broadcaster.

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SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015 — 27

the launching of ‘’Jonell cross” music album. They became friends, he proposed in record time. Today they have lived together for over 30 years and still counting.

Give- back to the society

The Irabor ’s are involved in charity projects, but he refused to give out the details. He mentors younger people and give speeches to some tertiary institutions, rotary club districts, youth organizations and churches. AUTOMOBILE Sonny Irabor loves German cars, unfortunately he doesn’t own any. He has a black Land Rover 2008 model and a Ford Explorer. He also has a Toyota and a Benz car; they are made especially for durability and dexterity.

28—SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

By KEHINDE AJOSE By 08024212530 AYO ONIKOYI, 08052201215

Top artistes share their pains before fame Last week we shared how life was before fame came calling for 2Face Idibia, Waje, Yemi Alade and Cynthia Morgan. We shared in their pains, sighs and smiles. Today, we continue with more stars coming forth to share what life was like before the limelight. It is a #MySuperStarStory series.

I squatted with an uncle who was also a squatter – Bovi

I never wanted to be a musician —Naeto C

aeto C is one of the top rappers on the music scene. His mastery of the game has been proven with his successful albums with hit tracks like 10/10, Owu, Kini Big Deal, My P. Here is the shocker, the 33 year old, father of two never planned to be a musician. During a recent #MySuperStarStory interview however, Naeto C revealed that while growing up, music was an hobby for him, one that his parents didn’t approve of for fear that he would be distracted. Constant practice and sheer determination eventually helped him scale through the hurdles and make a point with music. Asked what his turning point was, he was quick to mention the Kini Big Deal track and advised that upcoming acts be realistic with their choices and decisions.

tand-up act Bovi is undoubtedly in the A-list of the Nigerian comedy scene. Having worked with the biggest names in Nigerian entertainment as well as international acts like Wyclef Jean and Ja-Rule, he is widely recognized as one of Nigeria’s finest comedians. During a recent #MySuperStarStory interview however, Bovi revealed that his sojourn to the top of the comedy circuit in Nigeria was far from simple. He mentioned that upon moving to Lagos, he squatted with an uncle who himself was squatting with a colleague. He went on to reveal that after taking up comedy as his career, he was billed to perform at a big comedy show in 2008, but upon getting to the venue he was told that he was not on the bill and he was not allowed to perform despite begging. The heartbreaking experience he said moved him to tears.

Lagos taxi driver ran away with my demo CD – Mr Raw

r. Raw is one of the icons of modern Nigerian music and a pioneer of indigenous language hip-hop and rap in the country. Famous for his lyrical wordplay, which incorporates proverbs and mixes Igbo and Pidgin English, he is a widely respected player in the Nigerian music industry. During a recent #MySuperStarStory interview however, Mr Raw revealed that prior to coming second in the Star Quest music competition, he faced a number of obstacles. In particular, he mentioned an incident with Klint da Drunk when a cab driver who brought them to Lagos for a talent hunt absconded after they left their demo CD in the car. The situation was saved by a sympathetic studio hand who agreed to transpose their music to a digital format. Soon after, he said, he came second in the Star Quest music show and his life changed foreve

I dropped school for music without knowing if I would make it —Davido

avido is arguably Nigeria’s biggest young artist and has gone from strength to strength since making his debut in 2011. He recently sat down for a #MySuperStarStory interview where he revealed that despite his comfortable background, achieving success was not straightforward for him. Born David Adeleke as the last of five children, Davido revealed that his desire to pursue a career in music did not fly with his dad, moreso because leaving school at the time for an unsure career was a huge risk. According to him, it was the grace of God that made him successful even beyond his own expectations. He summed up his advice for upcoming artistes and fans this way: “You don’t need to do it because somebody else is doing it. You need to love what you’re doing and know that that’s what you have a passion for.”

No one was laughing at my jokes — Omobaba

ver since breaking into the mainstream comedy circuit in the mid nighties, Omobaba has been a steady and consistent presence in the dynamic field of Nigerian comedy. He is one of Nigeria’s most popular and in-demand comedians with a solid body of work behind him He recently sat down for a #MySuperStarStory interview where he revealed that at one time, no one was laughing at his jokes. To counter this he said, he wrote a joke and then said that it was written by Alibaba. The audience then laughed heartily and this he said, was when he realized that he was not unfunny but rather, unpopular. This was his turning point. Admonishing upcoming comedians, Omobaba advised them to leave a good legacy and always communicate a positive message in their routines. In his words, “Have it in the back of your mind that whatever you say while being recorded on film is going to remain for years to come and your children will see it. Pass a message with your jokes.”

STOP PIRACY NOW! STOP BUYING PIRATED MOVIE AND MUSIC CDs, DVDs. IT IS KILLING THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. STOP! C M Y K

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015—29

By KEHINDE AJOSE 08024212530

Why I featured Omawunmi in my song —DJ Nana

Seyi Shay drops Jangilova to ease pains of Xenophobia T

hese days DJ’s are collaborating with musicians to get their voices heard. DJ Jimmy Jatt started out with this innovative idea, with the release of his album Industreet featuring the likes of Waje, Phyno and Ruggedman. Following in her mentor ’s path, Nanayat Abedoh a.k.a DJ Nana has collaborated on a new tune with Omawunmi titled Know. In a chat with Showtime, the charming DJ explains the reason for the song.”I made my music because I felt it was time for that. I didn’t plan it. I don’t know how to make you understand,but it came to me. I was in Jimmy Jatt’s studio and the producer Benie Macaulay asked me to listen to some beats he made. I heard one and said I’ll like to work with this. He gave me the go-ahead.I have always wanted to work with Omawunmi.I have always loved and admired her. I told her manager and he asked me to meet her where she rehearses. I did, played the beat to her and she liked it, viola we were ready to work. The next time we met was in the studio” She also threw more light on the reason she worked with Omawunmi on the song .”Omawunmi is a strong woman. Her voice and her style shows it. I watched her on Idols,I wanted her to win. I was her fan. I never believed I’ll meet her, talk less of working with her and because she hardly features on people’s song.When I went to her, she wanted to push me to another female act. I refused I insisted I wanted her on my first single and she said ‘Okay make I hear the beat’. Then she said ‘We go work’.I was so happy,she gave me her personal number and that was it”

he indisputably talented R ‘n’ B diva ‘Seyi Shay’ drops another single called “Jangilova” produced by Del B. The song “Jangilova” is a high-life track, a story of love and happier times; excellent for weddings and other milestone celebrations. This song is for everybody and captures Seyi Shay’s traditional flare. On why she put out this joyful track Seyi Shay says, “In the light of all that is going on with the xenophobic events in SA and the Boko Haram here in Nigeria, I wanted to give our people some light hearted music to help ease the pain and remind us of happiness so we do not forget”. Seyi Shay gives the UNILAG Creative Arts Department and its students the opportunity to work with her on creating a fantastic video for “Jangilova” starring Seyi Shay and OC Ukeje, scheduled to be out soon.

No one in the industry scares me – Baene By TOFARATI IGE

he Nigerian music industry is populated by talented, up and coming acts with tall ambitions. But just like any avid observer of the entertainment business will tell you, it takes much more than talent and ambition to make it to the top in the fiercely competitive industry. However, Helen Osang popularly known as Baene, the newest kid on the block, is filled with unbridled confidence that she has what it takes to have the industry eating out of her palms.

She said, “I know I am new in the music industry DJ Nana and we have a lot of talented musicians but that does not scare me; because I know what I have and I am going to work very hard to achieve my desire to rule supreme as a queen in the music industry.” erry G, Nigeria’s eccentric Afro hip The one-time television presenter also hop act may have found a new calling stated that she sometimes derives as he turned into a preacher at the inspiration for her songs from her pet Enugu leg of the Legend Taste and Tell dog. She quipped, “For my inspiration, activation held at the Spices Restaurant, it comes from anything around me, my Enugu, capital of Enugu State. little pet dog, my young nephew at The bell brandishing artiste interspersed home who gets on my nerves but I love his performance with verses and preaching him all the same. Even a moment of from the Holy Bible much to the excitement scolding from my dear of the lively audience. “God loves us the mother can turn out a way we are, that is why Jesus died for us”, big inspiration.” the Benue state born artiste stated during Cross River Statehis performance as he thrilled the audience born Baene who to a collection of his hit songs. recently released her The event also featured rib cracking comedy debut single “Sweet from ace comedian Aje Baba.The comedian Me” which was sent the audience reeling with his cleverly produced by delivered jokes.The evening was further Pwinxtonx is spiced with performances from local cultural managed by Sunz troupe, Pammy Udu Bunch and a live music Entertainment. from Tipsy Sounds, an Enugu based live band

Terry G turns preacher at Enugu Legend ‘Taste and Tell’ show

STOP PIRACY NOW! STOP BUYING PIRATED MOVIE AND MUSIC CDs, DVDs. IT IS KILLING THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. STOP! C M Y K

30—SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

ITH successful feature films like Figurine, Phone Swap, and a catalogue of scripts for favourite television series under her belt, Kemi Adesoye has built a solid career in scriptwriting. But becoming a scriptwriter was something Kemi never dreamt of. “I didn’t plan to become a script writer, she revealed, while speaking at this month’s edition of the Nollywood Studies Centre’s Filmmakers Forum, which held last Saturday at Pattaya Oriental restaurant, Victoria Island, Lagos. Kemi confessed that she never knew screenwriting was a profession, but always loved watching films and grew up with a vast film library of comedies, thrillers, westerns, drama’s and soaps. “I didn't know anything about script writing. But as a child, I loved watching films. The stories I came across then were those I saw in books before films. I have always wanted to be part of that story telling world. In fact, I didn’t know there was a profession called script writing.” However, as a student of Architectural Studies, Kemi has no business venturing into writing. But her passion for it was ignited when she stumbled upon a script writing book called, “The Elements of Script Writing”while as an undergraduate. The book, domicile in her institution’s science library lighted a spark in her and that was the beginning of her career in script writing. Speaking on the topic,”Writing a Successful path into filmdom:The thrills and Challenges of being a Scriptwriter in Nollywood”, Kemi, who has masters degree from the University of Technology Minna,Niger State shared with the audience the various hurdles she had to face in order to actualize her dream of becoming a successful script writer after graduation. She cited nonexistence of script writing school as part of the hurdles she faced at the early stage of her career. According to her, “The first school of script writers I attended was in a book I discovered in a science library. Secondly, there was no one to encourage me. As a result, I had to build myself from the scratch. Another hurdle was the problem of working with people who do not appreciate or understand the role C M Y K

I didn't know anything about script writing. But as a child, I loved watching films. The stories I came across then were those I saw in books before films. I have always wanted to be part of that story telling world. In fact, I didn’t know there was a profession called script writing

of a script writer in a film; meeting people who can’t tell the difference between a good story and a bad story because if they are crticizing your story which is good, then they are actually making it worse. I am not against criticism but there’s a good criticism that makes the script better and there’s a bad one that makes it worse. So, these were the hurdles I faced earlier in my career.” For Kemi, “script writing is a passion; I give it all. It’s something you do because you love it, first before it loves you. People have different experiences when it comes to script writing. To some people, their first attempt is a write-off. To some, they hit goldmine and that’s it, and to many others, it takes a bit longer.” While delving into script writing, Kemi said, “I thought I was totally a stranger to the profession”, adding “that defeat was the first lesson, I learnt as a writer.”

My journey into script writing

‘My story as a screenplay writer’

Narrating how her journey into script writing began, Kemi who was born and raised in the northern part of the country, by Yoruba parents who originated from Kwara State, said “ I didn’t plan to go into screenwriting. I worked in a radio station after graduation. But I wrote my first script in 1999. I attended a workshop at IFBA International Film and Broadcast Academy where I learnt of an M-net sponsored project called New Directions. They were looking for short stories. I sent in my first written short script and was picked along with four other semi finalists.

riter w , e y o s e Kemi Ad Afolayan’s of Kunle, Phone Swap Figurine

That script was called “ The special Gele”. I didn’t win but it offered some validation and made me realize, “I can do this”. The New directions offered me the opportunity to meet Nigerian filmmakers like late Amaka Igwe and other film producers. But the second and third time, I won the competition. Those stories were converted into short films. When Dstv decided to produce a medical series known as “Doctors Quarters”, I came on board. Gradually, things started looking good for me as I was called for more jobs along the way. It continued until I met Kunle Afolayan, and that was when we worked on his award-winning film, “Figurine.” He asked me to work on an idea he had, which I did. I remember that I typed and printed the script which I took to Kunle’s office. When I handed over the script to

him, I left because I don’t like to stay around while you are reading my script. Few days later, Kunle called me and said, “wow...that’s a nice script. Sometimes, it’s good to get all the ‘wows.’ That’s how my career in script writing started. I began writing TV series including “Doctors Quarters”, “Edge of Paradise”, “Tinsel”, “Hotel Majestic” and various feature films. I must state here that I have improved on my craft over the years. Definitely, you have to grow up and keep updating yourself. As a writer, Kemi said, you must develop your own unique style. “There is need for you to have a particular pattern of writing especially now that the industry is growing and the world becoming a global village. You must come out of your comfort zone to write yourself into prominence.”

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015 — 31

Omo orms S/Africa tto o Omottola st storms champion women empowerment

OP Nollywood actress, activist, and Times 100 superwoman, Omotola Jalade Ekeinde stormed South Africa yesterday to join the ONE Campaign and other celebrities across the globe in a new campaign

to promote Women Empowerment. She’s participating in a music thriller, accompanying a campaign song that will be performed by top African female singers including Omawumi (Nigeria), Judith Sephuma (South Africa) and Victoria Kimani (Kenya). The song will be coproduced by Cobhams Asuquo and Masterkraft. The campaign is tagged “Poverty is Sexist”, meaning that women and girls are most seriously affected by poverty. And in order to eradicate extreme poverty, there is a serious

•Omotola

•Majek Fashek

Majek FFashek ashek resurrects in The Grave Dust

women and girls, and ensuring that resources put to the service of women and girls are transparently and accountably used.

Speaking about her new role as ambassador for ONE Campaign, Omotola said, “I am fortunate to be a young woman living her dreams, a trailblazer of my generation. But I also recognize that many women and girls are not so fortunate. Women and girls are hit hardest by the effects of extreme poverty, but when we invest in women and girls, we increase and accelerate the chances of overcoming extreme poverty – for everyone."

BoI lunches NollyFund I

n continuation of BOI’s support for the Nigerian Creative Industry, BOI has developed a special Product Program called “BOI NollyFund” under which Nigeria’s leading movie producers will receive financial support to produce international quality films and screen them

through various platforms of movie distribution available both in Nigeria and internationally. To support this process and ensure that only commercially viable scripts with good story-lines benefit from the scheme, the Bank has set up a NollyFund Implementation Advisory Group made up of two (2) cinema management experts, one (1) national film distributor, two (2) production and post-production experts, two (2) film critics/reviewers, and two (2) film producers. The Group’s mandate is to critically review all the film scripts and associated budgets submitted to BOI by movie producers

Mr. Rasheed Olaoluwa, MD BoI

and make technical recommendations to BOI management for final credit appraisal and subsequent approval in line with the Bank’s Credit Policy.

NollyFund has an initial Program Limit of N1.0billion and a single obligor limit of N50million for individual loans. The Fund can be accessed by companies engaged in film production. According to him, “Every stage play for me is always a good experience. And this happens to be the culture of where I come from. It’s a historical play with empahses on the vacancy of the stool of the Olu of Warri for a period of 88 years. It’s a very interesting story for me because I like to know the culture, story and history of my people.” “It is a historical play bringing us to date on what happened or what led to the interregnum in Warri Kingdom. There are a little bit of ambition and greed in the play, but the main focus is that emptiness of the throne for 88 years.” For Ejike Asiegbu who is playing Olu Akengbuwa, he’s returning to his first love-stage after several years of being off the stage.

Olu Akengbuwa play:

EGGAE legend, Majek Fashek who has been off the scene for some years now, resulting from his addiction to drugs and alcohol has bounced back, producing the sound track of an upcoming movie, “The Grave Dust.” The iconic musician, now looking stable and agile is gradually getting his groove back. He said, he worked with the producer, Obi Madubogwu on a movie set some years back which informed his decision to ask him to do the sound track for the movie. The big-buget movie is due to premiere on the 29th of this month. Starring the likes of Joseph Benjamin, Ramsey Nouah, Amaka Chukwujekwu, Joke Silva, Emeka Okoro, Emma Edokpai among others, the movie is an intriguing story of love, and intimacy, full of suspense, action, denial and fulfillment. Obi, who also featured in the film described it as a very strong film, adding that it’s his first bold step to producing a cinema film. Joseph Benjamin believes that every film comes with its own challenges. Starring in the film, the Kogi State born actor said, he steps up his game, ensuring that he interpreted his role excellently. The film directed by Ikechukwu Onyeka centres on Johnson, a young handsome stockbroker who hangs his life, love and hope on a young hard working woman, Clara.

need to promote women empowerment. ‘Poverty is Sexist’ was conceived to support the ‘Africa Union Year of Women Empowerment’. The campaign was launched on Thursday, April 16, by the ONE Campaign in Abuja, at a policy forum that was attended by representatives of the National Association of Nigerian Traders (NANTS), Equity Advocates and Save the Children Nigeria among others. The song, according to the organizers, will be used to promote the campaign across the world, and will be officially launched in Nigeria, Mozambique, and South Africa, during the World Economic Forum for Africa and the African Union Summit. The campaign has a petition which calls on African leaders to fast-track the fight against poverty, by investing more in

•Asiegbu Ejike

Nobert Young, Ejike Asiegbu excited returning to stage

ETERAN actors, Nobert Young, Ejike Asiegbu and Peter Fatomilola are looking forward to gracing the stage again as Alex

Eyengho’s historical play, “Olu Akengbuwa” is being staged to mark 28th anniversary of the coronation of the Olu of Warri, His Majesty, Ogiame Atuwatse II, on Friday, May 1, in Warri, Delta State. When HVP, stormed the Artiste Village, within the National Theatre complex, Iganmu, where the cast of the play were rehearsing during the week, Nobert Young, who is playing the role of Chief Olumo, the father of Nana and one of the greatest merchants at the time the play was situated, was quick to express his joy being part of the production.

“I always love what I do on stage because acting they say is real and it’s also life. So, I am glad after so many years, I am coming back to stage to perform. I will do my best to interpete my role so that when the present Olu of Warri is watching the play, he will be able to situate the play and see some of his characters and traits in the interpretation of the Olu Akengbuwa that I am playing. I’m looking

forward to the grand performance. "

STOP PIRACY NOW! STOP BUYING PIRATED MOVIES AND MUSIC CDs, DVDs. IT IS KILLING THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. STOP!

MUSIC CDs, DVDs. IT IS KILLING THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY. STOP! C M Y K

32— SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

I am an expe exp comes to

— Teju Ba B

•Says his show was Johnny Carso

eju Oyelakin, host of the popular TV comedy show, The Teju Babyface Show, draws old and young both inside and outside the entertainment industry to his platform, making his show rank as one of the best entertaining shows on TV. The multi-talented comedian in this chat as our Showtime Celebrity talks about his show, comedy, his marriage and more.

By ADERONKE ADEYERI

•Teju Babyface

How long does it take to get your guests? It varies and depends on the guest. I can liken this to when I was wooing girls. I don’t believe in ladies who keep a man waiting. When I work on a guest for a while and I can’t see the green light, I will leave the person and may check back in a year’s time or so. I do not knock the same door every day. For instance, I have been trailing Prof. Wole Soyinka for five years and I have not given up on him. But that will not stop me from working on other professors. Which of your show do you consider most memorable? Every show and guest is memorable to

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Your show is always flooded with Alist celebrities; what’s the secret? etting guests for my show is one of the biggest challenges of running the show especially when I was not known. At the same time, I can’t remove the element of luck. However, for every guest that shows up on the show, there is one who will not be able to make it. My dream is to get to the level of having a waiting list of A-list guests, waiting to get on the show.

My wife is far from the traditional romantic woman, which is the exact reason I married her

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ert when it o women

How do you mean? I am an expert when it comes to women and I know a good one. She is one of the good ones and I will always appreciate her. She was kept for me. Can you recall your most romantic experience with your wife? My wife is far from the traditional romantic woman, which is the exact reason I married her. She is not the type who would jump at a gift without knowing the reason behind it. She is a very serious minded type who does not really need a man before getting things right. She doesn’t crave for attention like many women do. There was a time we forgot our wedding anniversary and when we remembered, we laughed at it. I would not have lasted with a woman who will nag or sob at things like that. She is a strong woman.

abyface Babyface

s fashioned after on’s show me. I remember every person who has come to my show and it’s been a wonderful experience. I remember how I feel before and after the guest arrives. And even my sentiments when he or she leaves. Every interview or interaction on the show leaves a signature on me. How has The Teju Babyface show affected your career? The greatest ingredient a man needs to outstanding success in life is equity. The Teju Babyface Show has brought me influence. What some people will have to queue for, buy with their hard-earned money, will come my way for free and without stress. The brand ‘’Teju Babyface’’ will make me come to your office even when I know nobody (though I don’t do that) and still get attraction. These and lots more are things Teju Babyface Show has done for me. The Teju Babyface has brought me brand equity. Why the name “Teju Babyface Show? It’s a brand; there’s no point changing a winning formula. We are building a structure that will house everything from the brand name. You’ve brought more celebrities even outside the entertainment industry on the show. How did that idea come to you? It was the combination of many things. I’ve always loved the Johnny Carson show and I wanted something like it. Something that will give me a platform and stand me out. So that

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was how it started. I’ve spent years building a brand as a comedian, after a while I knew I had to diversify, walk into other territories and make my mark. I prayed about it, talked to God and the people who inspired me. The show was born out of the zeal to create my own number one spot in life. You hardly attend comedy shows or mingle with comedians. Comedy is only a means to an end for me. It is a college of life that I am currently enrolled in and not necessarily the reason for going to the college. I graduated from the school of comedy into doing a talk show that is much applauded and celebrated. Teju Babyface has mainly music and interview content with a pint of comedy. I am not a comedian essentially. How would you describe yourself? My calling or profession is to captivate and inspire a mass audience using the media through my vocal and creative talent to influence them for a greater cause. I am an African man who will never pretend about it. How has marriage affected your career?

Some celebrities endorsed candidates in the last election but you didn’t. Why? I have no reason to endorse any political candidate publicly. I have not gotten to the level where my political choice will influence a large percentage of Nigerians. So endorsing one politician is a waste of time. I pray a time will come when politicians will seek my opinion. Seeking my opinion is an index that my opinion counts. And that is only when my opinion can influence a large number of the populace.

•Teju Babyface

My marriage has improved my career and also made me responsible. My marriage is great and gets interesting as the day goes by. I fended and thought for myself as a single man. I was also a bit reckless then. I am more responsible as a married

Which asset do you value most? Money is my best asset. I can get almost every asset with money. I am crazy about cars too.

man. Would you describe your wife? I married the best woman on earth. Sincerely, I got much more than I deserve in this regard. She is the best of all women.

What has been the lowest/highest fee you charged for a show My lowest was N3, 000 and that was my first show at the University of Lagos in 2000. Unfortunately, the producer absconded with my money before I noticed it. I have done many shows for free. The highest money I have received is in millions.

34—SATURDAY

Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

What to do when you have Erectile Dysfunction W

hen a man has trouble getting or keeping an erection, he is said to have Erectile Dysfunction (ED) which is a common type of male sexual dysfunction. ED can be a total inability to achieve an erection, an inconsistent ability to do so, or a tendency to sustain only brief erections. Although ED becomes more common as a man gets older, it’s important to stress that it’s not a natural part of aging. You may have trouble speaking about sex, but if you have ED, you should tell your doctor, because ED can be a sign of health problems. Problems getting or keeping an erection are known to be signs of underlying health conditions that need treatment and a risk factor for perhaps a heart disease later on. It may mean your blood vessels are clogged. It may mean you have nerve damage from diabetes. So if you don’t see your doctor, these problems will go untreated. Having erection trouble from time to time isn’t necessarily a cause for concern. If erectile dysfunction is an ongoing issue, however, it can cause stress, affect a man’s self-confidence and contribute to relationship problems. If you’re concerned about erectile dysfunction, talk to your doctor — even if you’re embarrassed. Sometimes, treating the underlying condition is enough to reverse erectile dysfunction. In other cases, medications or other direct treatments might be needed. Here are the most common causes of ED. Depression The brain is an often-overlooked erogenous zone. Sexual excitement starts in the head and works its way down. Depression can dampens desire and can lead to erectile dysfunction. Ironically, many of the drugs used to treat depression can also suppress sex drive and make it harder to get an erection, and they can cause a delay in orgasm.

•Depression...when the story is not palatable Medications The contents of the medicine cabinet could affect performance in the bedroom. A long list of common drugs can cause ED, including certain blood pressure drugs, pain medications, and antidepressants. Street drugs like amphetamines, cocaine, and marijuana can cause sexual problems in men, too. Stress It’s not easy to get in the mood when overwhelmed by responsibilities at work and home. Stress can take its toll on many different parts of the body, including the nether region. Dealing with stress by making lifestyle changes that promote well-being and relaxation, such as exercising regularly, getting enough sleep, and seeking professional help when appropriate, really helps.

Anger Anger can make the blood rush to your face, but not to the one place you Alcohol Having a few drinks to get in the need it when you want to have sex. mood could be okay, but overindulging could make it harder It’s not easy to feel romantic when to start or even finish the act. Heavy you’re raging, whether your anger is alcohol use can interfere with directed at your partner or not. erections, but the effects are usually temporary. Moderate drinking—one Unexpressed anger or improperly or two drinks a day—might have expressed anger can contribute to health benefits like reducing heart performance problems disease risks. Those risks are similar in the bedroom. to erectile dysfunction risks. C M Y K

Anxiety Worrying that you won’t be able to perform in the bedroom can make it harder for you to do just that. Anxiety from other parts of life can also spill over into the bedroom. All that worry can make you fear and avoid intimacy, which can spiral into a vicious cycle that puts a big strain on your sex life— and relationship. Middle-aged spread Carrying extra kilos can impact sexual performance, and not just by lowering self-esteem. Obese men have lower levels of the male hormone testosterone, which is important for sexual desire and producing an erection. Being overweight is also linked to high blood pressure and hardening of the arteries, which can reduce blood flow to the male sex organ. Self-image When you don’t like what you see in the mirror, it’s easy to assume your partner isn’t going to like the view, either. A negative self-image can elicit worry not only about how you look, but also how well you’re going to perform in bed. That performance anxiety can make you too anxious to even attempt sex. Low libido Low libido isn’t the same as erectile dysfunction, but a lot of the

same factors that stifle an erection can also dampen your interest in sex. Low self-esteem, stress, anxiety, and certain medications can all reduce your sex drive. When all those worries are tied up with making love, your interest in sex can take a nosedive. General health Many different health conditions can affect the nerves, muscles, or blood flow that is needed to have an erection. Diabetes, high blood pressure, hardening of the arteries, spinal cord injuries, and multiple sclerosis can contribute to ED. Surgery to treat prostate or bladder problems can also affect the nerves and blood vessels that control an erection. Solving ED problems It can be embarrassing to talk to your doctor about your sex life, but it’s the best way to get treated and get back to being intimate with your partner. The doctor can pinpoint the source of the problem and may recommend lifestyle interventions like quitting smoking or losing weight. Other treatment options are ED drugs, hormone treatments, a suction device that helps create an erection, or counselling.

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Colorectal cancer: Screening saves lives E

very year, thousands of people are diagnosed with colorectal (colon and rectum) cancer, from which several die. It is one of the fast emerging causes of cancer-related deaths globally affecting people more often than expected. The toll of colorectal cancer is much higher among populations with limited access to screening and early treatment die much more often from the disease. Early detection, referral, and treatment can significantly reduce disparities in deaths from colorectal cancer. Colorectal cancer usually starts from polyps or other precancerous growths in the rectum or the colon (large intestine). People with precancerous growths or signs of colorectal cancer don’t always show symptoms. That’s why screening is important—doctors can see and remove growths or suspicious tissue before they become cancerous. Your risk for colorectal cancer increases if you answer yes to the following: Smoke, have a history of inflammatory bowel disease, ulcerative colitis, or Crohn’s disease or are diabetic. Also, a family history of colorectal cancer, a personal history of colorectal cancer or colon polyps, or having certain genetic syndromes are significant. You should see your doctor also if you have any of these symptoms, even though they do not necessarily indicate colorectal cancer. Warning signs include any of these: a change in bowel habits (for example, diarrhoea, constipation, feeling that the bowel does not empty all the way). Bright or dark blood in stool, stools narrower than usual, frequent gas pains, bloating, fullness, or cramps. Weight loss for no known reason or feeling very tired and vomiting should get you worried. Screening It is advisable to begin getting screened at age 50 if you are at average risk of developing colorectal cancer. However, some people at higher risk may need to be screened earlier and some may need to undergo more frequent screening. The most common screening option is colonoscopy. A doctor uses this thin tube with a light and lens to look inside the rectum and colon for

growths, other abnormal tissue, or cancer. It is invasive and requires sedation. A routine screening is advisable every 10 years. Another screening option is known as Flexible sigmoidoscopy. Here, a doctor uses a thin tube with a light and lens to look inside the rectum and lower third of the colon for growths, other abnormal areas tissues, or cancer. This thin tube may also include a tool for removing abnormal tissue for examination. Your will need to prepare for the test. Advisable every five years.

•Cancer Fecal blood test (gFOBTor FIT test)—Using an at-home kit from your physician, you take a sample of your stool and return it to a lab, where it is checked for hidden blood, sometimes a sign of cancer. If blood is found, you will need a colonoscopy to find out why. Routine screening: once a year. Stool DNA test —Using an at-home kit from your physician, you take a sample of your stool and return it to a lab, where it is checked for

SEXUAL ISSUES & SOLUTIONS SEXUAL ISSUES AND SOLUTIONS AMAZING FACTS ABOUT PENIS SIZE (VI) NORMAL penis varies in size and shape. Most penis(s) are curved due to normal anatomy. The bent shape of the penis is not something abnormal; in fact, according to research, it facilitates in delivering semen inside the vagina. The shape only becomes a problem if it interferes in sexual intercourse. A severe bend in the shape of the penis, where you can feel something hard in the penis, even when it is not erect, is a condition called Peyronie’s Disease. This condition could be hereditary or due to trauma, which could be because of violent sexual intercourse, or some injury. The hardness that is found in the penis is because of fibrosis. Fibrosis affects the elasticity of the penile tissue and causes the penis to get bent on erection. Subsequently erection and sexual intercourse then becomes painful and the person has to get treatment. I have serious pain in my waist, back and legs especially anytime I finish having sex; though im a bit diabetic and slightly hypertensive, the pain sometime is so unbearable. What can I do as I enjoy making love to my wife? Abbas Hello Abbas, I wouldn’t know what the cause of the pain is, but I’d like to say you watch out for over-exertion during sex. Try as much as possible not to go for positions that are very strenuous and secondly considering your health, you can take herbal aids like Cleanshield liquid supplement, Gingko tea, Oligosaccharide and probably get a massager like the dolphin massager, foot massager to massage the parts that you feel pain the most. I did prostate surgery about 3 months ago and since then I can hardly get a strong erection, talk less of keeping it hard and this is so embarrassing. I spoke with my Doctor and he referred me to two of your products that I can combine for a better and stronger erection that is the Plant Vigra with the Cleanshield liquid supplement. How true is this and how effective do you think they’ll be? IK IK, your doctor is very correct in recommending these two products for you in that Cleanshield is an alkaline liquid supplement that removes acidosis (High acidic level in which most bacteria thrive to cause illnesses in the body) which is responsible for the prostate problem initially. You need to keep the level of acidity low in your body so as to prevent

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the reoccurrence of the prostate problem. Plant Vigra on the other hand gives strong erection on demand within minutes of taking it. Other herbal aids that give strong erection on demand include; Libigrow, X-again, Rhino 5, Rhino 7, Sexvoltx. Any of these mentioned can be used alongside Cleanshield. I bought Vimax with Sta-erect cream from your store 3 weeks ago to help me correct early ejaculation and I am noticing that I now last for about 15 minutes before I ejaculate as oppose to 4 minutes which I normally do before I started this treatment. How long do I need to keep using these products and if I stop, will I have early ejaculation again? Yahaya To correct premature ejaculation and even weak erection, you are advised to take Vimax daily for two months and while you are at it, delay creams like Sta-erect, stahard, Stallion delay cream, Delay spray can be used to delay ejaculation during sex, though the creams give a temporary delay effect when combined with Vimax which does the corrective work, premature ejaculation will become a thing of the past. When you stop after the expiration of the two months, once you watch what you eat, drink and make sure you relieve stress. Thank you so very much Viewden, I bought Vigrx plus and Penis pump from you and I’m so happy that I’m starting to get my desired size after using for 2months. When can i stop using them? Willis Hello Willis, Like I normally say, to enlarge a penis, one needs to be patient because it is an organ and cannot grow overnight. I’m happy with the fact that you have been using for over two months and that’s why you are getting good result. Usually, penis enlargers ought to be used between 2 to 6 months depending on how fast you are getting result. Vigrx plus with Penis pump gives a good result over time. I’d advise you use for 3 months and after that you can stop and the size you have gotten would be permanent. These are all we can take for this week. Adults who needs any of these aphrodisiacs can cal 08034666358, 07059294782 or place your order at www.viewden.com. For further enquiries,send an email to us at: vieweden@yahoo.com, viewden@ymail.com. Kemi Fawole (MD )

blood as well as for genetic changes sometimes found in cancer and pre-cancer cells. If the test is positive, you will need a colonoscopy. Routine screening: every three years. Regular screening, beginning at age 50, is the key to preventing colorectal cancer. People at higher risk should begin screening at a younger age, and may need to be tested more frequently. Currently, individuals have several options for testing based on their risks and preferences. Consult your doctor to determine which screening programme is right for you. More people who get colorectal cancer are surviving or are surviving longer with the help of screening, surgery and/or drugs approved for the treatment of patients with colorectal cancer. Because not all populations react the same way to every treatment, scientists are also developing “companion diagnostics,” tests to determine, for example, if a mutation in a particular gene found in tumors will render a drug effective, ineffective, or even harmful among certain groups. Researchers study new ways to prevent, treat, and manage the disease. Patients who want to know about clinical trials— research studies that involve people—may want to discuss this option with those close to them and with their doctor. Risk reduction A number of factors may put you at risk for colorectal cancer: age, medical history, race or ethnicity. But you can reduce that risk. Exercise regularly and vigorously. Maintain a healthy diet (high in vegetables and fruits; low in red and processed meats). Maintain a healthy weight, limit the amount of alcohol you drink. Don’t smoke and avoid second-hand smoke.

36—SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

08 116759 759 081 6759759

Think tattoos are for thugs? ate Moss has her K Lucian Freud swallows, Cara Delevingne

has a lion etched on her knuckle and Rosie Huntington-Whiteley’s cute heart inking is seen dotted throughout her latest Vogue shoot. It seems tattoos on models no longer carry the stigma they once did. In fact, a tattooed model is becoming the norm for high fashion both on the catwalks and in front of the camera. And fashion photographer Christian Saint believes the tattooed model will reign supreme in the future. The New Yorker has been photographing solely inked models for eight years, after becoming disillusioned with what he calls ‘ narrowminded ideals of beauty’ after 20 years of working in the commercial fashion and beauty world. He set his sites on the tattoo community, using his experience as a successful photographer to help bring ‘alternative’ to the mainstream and his new book Tattoo Super Models celebrates this alternative

kind of beauty. The compendium documents his work from 2007-2015, what he describes as his seminal years as a tattoo photographer. The women featured have incredible bodies, but it is the intricate artwork etched onto them that makes them interesting. A brunette shows off her head-to-toe designs as she poses in a cut-out swimsuit and striped sun hat. And a pouty blonde displays dozens of colourful designs on her arms, stomach and thighs whilst a vampy redhead shows off two ‘sleeves’ of sketches. Christian told the MailOnline: ‘There’s something about tattoos that remind me of beautiful lingerie, the way the beautiful artwork hugs the human form. ‘I think people are realising that tattoos are not that different from fashion itself. Their artwork is as much of who they are as the clothes they wear. ‘I first started in 1993,

while working on a personal project. But it was difficult finding tattooed models back then. ‘All of these models [Cara, Kate, Jordan] have tattoos but are not “tattoo models”. They are hired in spite of their

tattoos not because of them. Rick “Zombie Boy” Genest, on the other hand, has made a career in the fashion industry from his tattoos. ‘I hope tattooed models won’t completely take over the runways. Diversity is what makes the world interesting. I do hope that one day everyone can be who they want to be without prejudice or labels,’ he added. ‘In my book, ironically enough, I wanted to use my skills in advertising, celebrity and fashion photography to bring the tattoo sub culture to forefront, creating super models from women that were once viewed as “alternative”.’

the hand of Yu The Great, the fox’s back, and wife’s chest. While the rest of the statue is black, the colour of the coating applied to protect the metal, the parts that have been touched have worn away to expose the metal underneath.

Yu the Great is thought to have lived between 2,200– 2,100 BCE, and is credited with uniting the nine early provinces of China. While little is known about his rule, as his predates the earliest written records by nearly a millennium, he is credited

with building an immense system of flood defences in central China. These helped to bring prosperity and stability to the volatile region, and so impressed another emperor that he named Yu as his heir, rather than his own son.

Cop a feel!

n ancient statue of the wife of China’s first ruler is damaged - after tourists kept rubbing the woman’s exposed breast. Officials have complained the bronze sculpture of Yu The Great’s wife has been worn down

and discolored by sightseers constantly fondling the artwork, reports The People’s Daily. The statue, which stands in a gardens in Wuhan, the capital city of central China’s Hubei Province, is to honour Yu The Great,

who founded China’s first dynasty in 2070 BC. The bronze tells the story of how the leader met his wife, after the couple were supposedly brought together by a mythical nine-tailed fox. Over the decade that the statue has been in place, people have been touching

Backlash as Jamelia says high street stores shouldn’t sell plus-sized clothing, claiming

amelia, who also claimed she was ‘all for celebrating people as they are’, added: ‘I don’t believe they [high street stores] should be providing clothes for below that range or above that range. ‘Yes, have specialist shops, but you should feel uncomfortable if you are unhealthy... to be available in every High Street store, I don’t think that’s right.’ Viewers were quick to criticise the former singer’s comments on Twitter, with many declaring she should be ‘sacked’ from the show, and not a single user taking her side. ‘I’m so disappointed with Jamelia’s comments on Loose Women today. WE. ARE. NOT. P R O M O T I N G . UNHEALTHY.LIFESTYLES. #PlusSizeDebate,’ wrote one. ‘Ah Jamelia. The advocate for self esteem telling people that if you’re over a certain size you shouldn’t shop on the high street. Idiot,’ argued another. C M Y K

Indeed, only yesterday the singer showed her support for a new Good Morning Britain campaign dubbed #SelfieEsteem, by snapping a first-take selfie and sharing it on social media unfiltered. Jamelia appeared to respond to today’s Twitter backlash with a quote

this afternoon. ‘Never waste your time trying to explain, to people committed to misunderstanding you,’ she tweeted to her 34,000 followers. Loose Women panellist Jamelia has sparked controversy after insisting that shops should not stock clothes for obese women. In a discussion about overweight teenagers, the 34-year-old mother-of-two said that obese women ‘should feel uncomfortable’ about their unhealthy size, and that high street stores should not be catering for them. She said: ‘I do not think it’s right to facilitate people living an unhealthy lifestyle, in the same way I don’t believe that a size zero should be available - it’s not a healthy size for an average woman to be.’

‘Serial animal rapist’ is accused of forcing himself on cattle, horse and water buffalo...

man has been accused of raping a A string of animals including cows, horses and even water buffalo in the

Philippines. Andy Loyola was arrested after he was allegedly caught having sex with a cow which had been reported missing by its owner in Silang, near Manila. The farmer, Rustico Sarno, later claimed the animal had become pregnant despite insisting it had never mated with a bull. Police said the cow may undergo a medical examination to verify the claims. Loyola has also been accused by the farmer of raping his other cattle

a number of times, including horses and water buffalo. The 46-year-old, who is believed to have been under the influence of drugs, is being held in custody at Silang Cavite Municipal Police Station, south of Manila. Officers said various drug paraphernalia were seized from the suspect when he was arrested last week, it was reported by Abs-cbnnews. Loyola is facing charges of violating the Animal Welfare Act. It is not known when he is due to appear in court.

SATURDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 25, 2015—37

NOW THAT

KESHI

•Keshi

IS BACK BY JUDE OPARA, ABUJA

t is no longer news that the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) has settled for Stephen Okechukwu Keshi as the coach of the senior national team, the Super Eagles. The federation in announcing the recruitment of the former captain of the national team described him as the best man for the job. But many people who have closely followed the progress of the national team in the past few years have continued to insist that beyond the glitz of contract signing and lofty speeches, it is not yet time for celebration even with the second coming of Keshi. The task ahead of Keshi is very enormous especially concerning the qualification for the next African Cup of Nations (AFCON) championship to be staged in Gabon in 2017. Nigeria who surprisingly failed to qualify for the last edition in Equatorial Guinea are drawn in the same group with another ‘ wounded lion’, Egypt who also lost out in the last three editions of the championship. Other contenders on the group are C M Y K

Tanzania and Chad. Many analysts strongly believe that the failure of the Super Eagles to have defended their 2013 AFCON trophy was because of the leadership style and quality of Keshi who appeared to have given the players too much liberty so much so that they began to see themselves as demi-gods who had no responsibility to anyone including their coaches. For Keshi and Nigeria to succeed, he must also change his own attitude which arguably worked against the true development of the game during his first coming. For instance, he must review his selection policy which seemed to reserve positions for some players irrespective of their club performance. A critical review of the qualification series for the 2015 AFCON suggests that Nigeria did not prosecute the matches with her best legs. Some of the boys who represented the country were truly not better than some who were left out. It was even so at the World Cup in Brazil. There are also those who think that most of the good upcoming players were not

given a chance because they did not allow the coach to manage them. For instance, the way and manner Keshi treated Sunday Mbah who played so well to help the team to win the trophy after 19 years and was equally in good form during the qualifiers left much to be desired. Another classical example is the issue of former U-17 talisman, Kelechi Iheancho whom Keshi invited to the camp of the Home Based Eagles for the 2014 African championship (CHAN) in January 2014 but because the young man allegedly did a thing or two against his advise, he was never invited again and when asked why he simply said he was too young for the national team. Now the question is whether the player was older or younger after 10 months had elapsed, The Super Eagles must give opportunity to the young and talented players to fight for shirts amongst the older ones and the more productive ones are given the chance to represent the country the brighter the future. We have seen a number of quality players especially in the national U-

The task ahead of Keshi is very enormous especially concerning the qualification for the next African Cup of Nations (AFCON) championship to be staged in Gabon in 2017

20 team; players like Taiwo Awoniyi should be encouraged to have a taste of the big action. The reign of a cabal among the players must not be encouraged hence the need to do a thorough screening of the players that will form the new national team. One other area Coach Keshi must watch is his relationship with his employers. The Coach must give his bosses at the federation all the respect they deserve. He must always remember that being an ex-international is not enough for him to excel as an employee of the NFF. The penchant to run to Security Service men for protection at the slightest excuse must be discarded for a number of reasons. All said and done, both the NFF and Keshi must find a way of operating in a harmonious manner that will rub off positively on the national team. Nigeria cannot afford to miss out of the next AFCON and to avoid that, we must hit the ground running immediately by forming a team that will most likely upstage Egypt who are in the same group with Nigeria.

Garb Lawa Why I at Kes Kesh

38—SATURDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 25 , 2015

ormer Super Eagles holding midfielder, Garba Lawal has said his attacks on Super Eagles Coach, Stephen Keshi were not personal but technical, JOHN EGBOKHAN reports

ues: The last time I saw you was at the Campos Square mini-stadium on April 8 when you reunited with your former teammates in a novelty match and most fans were dazzled with your display. It seems the game is still part of you long after your retirement That is the way it has been even after many years of quitting the game. I still train to keep fit and because football is what I love and what I have played throughout my life, it is difficult for the game to leave me. At times, I feel like coming out of retirement when I see the way our present players are playing but that is not possible again because I have left the scene for the young ones to thrive. The only worrying thing is that the young ones are not living up to expectations. They are simply taking things for granted and that gives me sleepless nights having once played to the highest level for this great country. And from your experience, what do you think is missing in the Super Eagles midfield? A lot is missing in that position. In fact, we seem not to have a functional midfield again. We don’t have that kind of creativity we had in my time. We don;t see that transition from midfield to attack. When one midfielder is overlapping, we don;t see the midfielder who is covering for the one overlapping. Today, the holding midfielder is almost non-existent. The midfield is the engine room of the team. If you have a solid midfield, you are as good as having won the match already. But today, our midfield seems like a house on fire. Sometimes, I wonder when will the real Super Eagle that I used to know of come back. I really hope that things will change sooner than later because the situation is very bad. How worried should Keshi be given the picture that you have just painted? I think that he should be very worried because it was our midfield that gave us away during the last qualifying race for the African Cup of Nations. Other departments also had their fair share of the blame but the midfield was simply not there to support the defence and attack,. I am not comfortable with the set-up because Keshi was a defender and should appreciate the importance of having a solid midfield. Germany won the World Cup because of their solid midfield. C M Y K

•Lawal

•Pinnick Spain also won the 2010 World Cup because of their strong midfield. Eagles did well at USA 1994 and the Atlanta Olympics because of the great midfielders the coaches had. But today, the reverse is the case as we don;t have midfielders who can tackle without committing fouls. They also don’t know how to cover up for their colleagues and easily loose concentration on the heat of an attack. Creativity is also lacking. Imagine the way they lost concentration and allowed Uganda to surprise us during the last friendly match in Uyo. It was an avoidable situation if we had a strong midfield. Turning to the issue of a coach for the Eagles, a deal has been struck with Keshi for the next two years. Given that you were one of his fiercest critics, when things were bad for him, what is your position now I came into the national team in 1994 when Keshi was about leaving. He’s my senior and I respect him a lot for all he has done for Nigeria, from being a defender to captain, then to coaching the team. I was not at the 1994 Nations Cup and USA World Cup of same year, so I missed playing with him and experiencing what it felt like playing with such a great centre half. Nobody can take away Keshi’s contributions to the Eagles because he gave his all

•Eagles

Sometimes, I wonder when will the real Super Eagle that I used to know of come back. I really hope that things will change sooner than later because the situation is very bad.

for the nation. When I came into the team, Keshi was one of the persons who canvassed for me and always supported me. He was one of my closest friends and always wanted the coaches to feature players who were disciplined and able to deliver on the pitch. My attacks on Keshi when the Eagles were going down last year were based on technical matters. We all saw that things were not going well for the team and given my openness on national matters, I thought that by telling him the truth that I was helping him but some bad friends went to tell him that I was one of those pushing for his ouster. They sold lies to him, pitting him against me and generally causing more damage to the

team. In the heat of the controversy, Keshi called and referred me to a headline in the newspapers, where I was quoted to have attacked him. I calmed him down and told him to read the story and not just the headline because the headline was just captioning what I was saying but the text of the story conveyed the message I was passing out and apparently he didn’t read the full story. At my level I should be able to say the truth about certain things. I told him that I did not have anything personal against him and wanted his success but would not fail to point out his errors when called upon to do that. He appreciated me after that discussion.

ba al: ttacked hi Today, we call regularly. At times, when I call him and he does not respond, he calls back later to explain that he was busy at that time. When he was assistant coach to Bonfrere and later to Amodu he was always there for me, so I do not see any reason why I would just stomach personal issues against him because he is a good person. I told him that no one can claim to be all-knowing and that if I didn’t do the right thing, he should point out my mistakes to me

In your estimation, what were the other things that Keshi did not do well and how should he approach them this time around? Football is all about team success, and if a team is not doing well, it is the coach who bears the brunt. One thing I want him to do this time is to take responsibility for what happens to the team. One of Keshi’s mistakes was his constant invitation of players, who were unable to justify their inclusion in the team. Some of the players he invited had no reason to be in the team given their poor performance in the matches they played for their clubs or those who were not even playing. In Hausa land, when a coach keeps inviting players who were not doing well , the general view of an average Hausa man is that the coach is up to something and that was why I had to speak against Keshi. It was simply on C M Y K

principles, nothing personal as my detractors wanted Keshi to believe. Is not curious that when the nation was against him, none of the Super Eagles players spoke in his defence? If they loved him so much, why did they not jump to his defence when Nigerians wanted to swallow him with criticism? It tells you the nature of these players and he should be wary of those he invites to the national team in future. They must be fit. No favours to anybody. No sentiment. After all, it was some players who also told the minister that their problem was with the technical crew – that one coach will say something and another says another thing. I was happy when I read him, after signing the new contract, say that he was going to invite players playing regularly and doing well in their clubs. I hope he keeps to that promise because that is the only way that we can engender competition in the team again. One of the questions begging for an answer is John Obi Mikel’s continued relevance in the team, given his low playing time in Chelsea and general low performance for the Eagles? That is for Keshi to decide but I need to know what role Mikel plays in the midfield because I don’t know who holds the defensive midfield position between both players. The coach says he wants to invite players who are playing regularly, so if Mikel isn’t playing every week, it is going to be difficult for him to command a regular shirt in our team. Some African players will also taunt him that he cannot get his way like he gets in Europe because African football is more physical than what Europeans play.. If I were in Keshi’s position, I will not only invite players playing regularly but also monitor European league. I will watch these players and if these foreign-based can’t give the results, Keshi should come

SATURDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 25, 2015—39

•Stephen

We all have to support Keshi because if he fails, it is Nigeria that has failed. His success is our success while Keshi’s failure is our failure and shame to our league and get players. In fact he should monitor our league and also monitor Europe. The 2017 AFCON draw is out and we have Chad, Tanzania and Egypt in our group, with only one team assured an automatic ticket to Gabon. How easy or difficult will it be for us? Every country now know how to play football. In fact, any match between Eagles and all these supposedly minnows is always going to be explosive. \It is a cup final when Nigeria play against other teams, who believe that once they beat Nigeria that their ratings go up. Nigerian is seen like the giant of Africa. Even Chad will play us as champions when we meet them , so our players must buckle up and know that the home games here will be more difficult than the away games because home fans want victory at any cost and if they are not seeing goals, they will start supporting the away teams and that will be counterproductive to the team, as they might concede goal at

home and that is very difficult to overturn when playing under pressure. We all know that Egypt have a very good record in Africa and know what to expect from them but we don’t know much about Tanzania and Chad. My message for Keshi is to play Chad and Tanzania the way he will approach the match against Egypt. What things should Keshi instill into the team? Focus and discipline. He should carry the players along even if he feels he does not need a particular player, he should call him to explain things to him if that player is a regular because players love to be carried along. He should talk to his players in a polite way. Even a player who is not playing well, should be treated well by the coach, who must encourage such a player that things will be well for him again. But he must also do that with some authority so that the player must return the respect. Discipline is the key to success, no matter how well you prepare, you will not succeed if you don’t have discipline. Success is not permanent. We all have to support Keshi because if he fails, it is Nigeria that has failed. His success is our success while Keshi’s failure is our failure and shame. It is about Nigeria and that’s why the NFF brought him back and what happened in the past should be put behind us for good. There is nothing we can do but to support him What is your perspective on inclusion of young players in the team by Keshi? The rave of the moment today is Taiwo Awoniyi, who has played for Golden Eaglets, the Flying Eagles and now the U23 team. He has proven that he can play and if Daniel Amokachi , who didn’t play for any of the age-grade teams can be invited to the Eagles by Clemens Westerhof at the age of 17, I see no reason why Keshi cannot invite Awoniyi to the Eagles for the upcoming qualifying matches against Egypt and Chad. Even if he does not play, the young boy will be motivated with such in invitation. I hope the young chap can go to a top European side soon so that his full potentials will come out On Amokachi’s exit from the new Eagles technical crew Well, he is my friend. We actually started together in Kaduna and when I saw the new appointments, I called him and he said that is the way he saw it and I told him that is the way God wants it. I told him that he should not see it as the end of the world and should count himself as one of the luckiest Nigerian coaches, having been around in the Eagles for about a decade. I told him to take it in good faith

and thank God for making him to be there for such a long, time. The likes of Shuaibu Amodu, Adegboye Omghinde and Christian Chwukwu were once there but were not as lucky as Amokachi. Secret of 1994 and 1994 success Every coach wants to win the midfield because if you do, the defence will not be under pressure. During my time in the Eagles, I was there with Sunday Oliseh, We were the two holding midfielders. We had great players in that team like Chidi Nwanu ,Goodwin Opara, Juliius Aghahowa and Austin Okocha. The substitutes on the bench were as good as the starting team, making for stiffer competition because a bad performance was capable of earning the player the axe. The quality on the bench made those of us on the pitch to work harder because the bench was so good, that we were always looking at them and scared of what might happen with one bad play. Personally, I was only interested in working hard and playing well. I also had the advantage of playing in the left-back position or holding midfield role. The options were there for me, so I was almost guaranteed of a starting role but I did not take things for granted We succeeded because we had good coaches and good players. The 1996 team might have ranked higher than the 1994 team because by the time the Olympics were going on in Atlanta, the players who featured at the World Cup in USA in 1994 had matured and had more experience which helped us to win the gold for the first time. It is pretty amazing how we succeeded the 1994 team. They had their class but the 1996 side were extraordinary. Their mix gave us the edge to fly higher. But who succeeded us? I think that’s where the problem started until we won the Nations Cup in South Africa. We have to work hard to prove that it was no fluke as many are already saying. Highest point of career I count myself very lucky to have played in two Olympics, winning a gold and playing at two World Cups and four Nations Cup. I thank God for these great feats because many Nigerians are praying to have just one opportunity to play at the Nations Cup while I have played in four tournaments. Nothing can be better than these Lowest point I didn’t know I was going to get this far with football when I set out to play football , so I don’t have any low point or bitter memory. Family life When I was playing I had no time for the family but thank God I now have time for them now but the journey has not been easy. My son loves to play football and if he wants to play it professionally, I would certainly encourage him

40 — SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

C M Y K

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015—41

Beat the heat with glamorous sunglasses

Oakley designer sunglasses

s the scotching heat continue to beat down, it’s time to get some form of protection. Get your self a nice pair of sunglasses. It will not only protect your eyes from the hot rays, but nothing says instant glamour like a pair of gorgeous sunglasses. Make that simple Saturday outfit extra ordinary with a pair of sunglasses. Be safe be chic.

Louis Vuitton sunglasses

Gucci

Choppard sunglasses

TOM-FORD Cat-Eye Aviator sungalsses

Felicia Leatherwood for Nigerian Natural Hair and Beauty Show os Angeles based celebrity hair stylist and founder, Loving Your Hair With Natural Care, L Felicia Leatherwood, will lead other eminent hair

Jennifer Obayuwana C M Y K

stylists and experts to speak at the launch of Nigerian Natural Hairthand Beauty show scheduled for May 16 in Lagos. Other experts expected to speak at the workshop include, Ngozi Opara, Obia Ewah, Wunmi Akinlagun, Ijeoma Eboh, Cassidy Blackwell and LawrenceRay Parker of Lawrence-Ray Concepts. The one day first-ever expo dedicated to healthy hair care, beauty and lifestyle, is being organised th by Kinky Apothecary in celebration of its 5 anniversary. Established in May, 2010 by Nibi Lawson, the Kinky Apothecary is Nigeria’s first one stop natural hair shop set up to bring superior hair products and information within the reach of women in Nigeria concerned about the health of their hair. Nibi Lawson, C.E.O of the Kinky Apothecary said, “ with the Nigerian Natural Hair and Beauty Show, we hope to create a fun yet educational environment where people can relax, mingle, shop, but most importantly, learn. She pointed out that “in an environment where weaves and relaxers are celebrated, the Kinky Apothercary’s mission has been to change ideals of beauty in Nigeria and beyond by offering resources, products, inspiration and support to women who have taken a step in going against the mould”. She also revealed plans to set up a salon and flagship store all in Lagos. The event will present Nigerians the opportunity to shop, network, and get expert tips and advice on how to wear the natural hair.

Nibi Lawson and Felicia Leatherwood

42—SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

BY MOSES NOSIKE

r Dorothy JeffNnamani is Managing Director/ CEO, Novo Health Africa. Novo Health Africa is a Health maintenance Organization (HMO) in Nigeria with the mission to develop, provide and manage sustainable health care programmes, service and support systems through a dedicated team of professionals, ensuring quality and outstanding client servicing. In this interview with Saturday Vanguard to commemorate World Malaria Day, Jeff-Nnamani tasks stakeholders, Nigerians, all and sundry to help eradicate malaria parasite – a silence killer in Nigeria and African. Excerpts: The programme centres on malaria, why malaria? Malaria, as we all know, is a disease that has been around with us and people most times forget how deadly it is. Malaria is a major contributor to mortality in children under 5, pregnant women and the elderly. This program is centered on malaria because we have over the years as an organization collected credible statistical data on diseases common among Nigerians.

Millions of people die annually of malaria

What we saw is alarming and collaborates data on other sources on Malaria. It is therefore an evidencebased program seeking to create awareness and call for support of the federal government approved National guidelines on management of Malaria. Do you know that from our data (2014), out of all the diseases analyzed, Malaria alone stands at 43% for all the out-patient visits? One disease claimed this percentage out of all other health issues you can think of. How prevalent is that? This trend was also observed for admissions especially in children. This, for us speaks volume. Now you can begin to imagine the impact malaria has on our lives. To really understand the effect on our physical, social and work life, imagine what this means for staff absenteeism in an office. So if something is properly done, then absenteeism can reduce significantly, so to say. Now because it is endemic in Nigeria, there are people with significant parasite load, who have not visited the hospital but physically experience that feeling of unwell and therefore cannot operate optimally. So at work, those people are present but absent -present absenteeism. The effect of this affects the GDP of an entire nation. What about resources committed in each of the hospital visits? Resources that can be directed to socially improving one’s life. Because of the magnitude of the effect of malaria on the population we need to look seriously at winning this fight. If you look in the course of history, there are so many other infectious diseases that are deadlier than malaria that have been phased out, eliminated and we have been able to achieve global eradication of those infectious diseases. We believe that malaria can as well be C M Y K

to contain Ebola as deadly as it is. In the case of malaria, I think people are nonchalant about malaria due to poor knowledge of its harmful impact, both direct and indirect. According to WHO, Malaria is a major public health problem in Nigeria contributing directly to poverty, low productivity, reduced school attendance and accounts for more cases and deaths in Nigeria than any other country in the world. The federal MoH in Nigeria estimates financial loss from malaria (in the form of treatment costs, prevention, loss of man-hours etc) to be roughly 132 billion Naira per year and attributes 30% of childhood deaths and 11% of maternal deaths to Malaria.

— Jef f-Nnamani Jeff-Nnamani

eradicated. So, by this programme, we are calling all stakeholders to get involved; the doctors and others because there is something each and every one of us can contribute. It is not left for international organisations alone. Of course for many years, Nigeria and the rest of the world have committed huge resources to fight malaria, yet we still have to deal with the scourge. So, we are calling everybody, we are all stakeholders, to do what is necessary from the fundamentals of raising awareness, taking precautions on the first line of defense against malaria which is protection from mosquito bites, to the professionals who should be able to give accurate diagnosis and treatment of malaria. It is important that doctors understand so that they will be able to detect and make accurate diagnosis and also provide correct treatment of malaria because if you don’t know about the correct treatment protocol you cannot offer a patient due treatment. You may even be doing more harm than good. In serious cases especially in children death can occur. It is therefore important that we wake up to this call. So far, the fight has been on going and we have not been able to curb malaria. What is missing in this fight

against malaria? It’s because malaria has been with us and people don’t feel threatened even though it is a major contributor to mortality. In our industry, we have the privilege of partnering with many hospitals across the Nation which has exposed us to understanding some fundamental challenges in the management of Malaria. We have a number of other infectious diseases that present with similar symptoms like those of malaria, so if appropriate guidelines are not followed you may arrive at misleading diagnosis. Also we must stress on constant education on malaria. As we are meeting our providers in this forum today, we are reminding them of their pivotal role in this struggle. Every contact with a patient serves as an opportunity to provide health education. Educational materials should be available during hospital visitations and patients encouraged to undertake their own responsibilities such as self or family protection from mosquito bite like the use of insecticide treated mosquito nets. Go back to the time we had Ebola scare, everybody had personal responsibility to sanitize. You could hardly spot any Nigerian without their hand sanitizer. In short it practically replaced mobile phones (laugh). There were so many literature, you could read from the internet and people were well informed. You knew what to do, even in churches people were cautious and we were able

Is Novo Health Africa having any programme with World Health Organisation, WHO to make World Malaria Day a success? We’ve set the ball rolling today in support of WHO’s World Malaria Day and the federal government approved National guideline for malaria. WHO representatives are the key speakers in this programme with statistical illustrations of the global impact of the parasite and also emphasized on the urgent need for all stakeholders to adhere to the approved protocols, prevention and control intervention strategies. So we are supporting and creating awareness for the fight against malaria and calling on all stakeholders to join this global struggle. What is Novo Health Africa all about? Novo Health Africa, is a Health maintenance Organization (HMO) in Nigeria with the mission to develop, provide and manage sustainable health care programs, service and support systems through a dedicated team of professionals ensuring quality and outstanding client servicing. We provide health insurance and other forms of health care financing, health management solutions and community health project delivery. We collaborate with NGOs, the public and private sectors to provide support in addressing health care related issues. Is Novo Health Africa taking malaria awareness to the rural areas? In that case, we have been looking at the financial impediment for people going to the hospital in general and we acknowledge this challenge in Novo Health Africa. We have Novo Health Africa Foundation which serves as a vehicle to provide healthcare for the underserved population. We are committed to raising the quality of care and provision of healthcare services to Nigerians regardless of socio-economic status. So, we have Novo Health Africa Foundation as that arm to ensure that people who lack access to healthcare facilities because of limited finances get access on the platform of the foundation. The foundation is funded internally through a monthly wilful charity contribution by staff and management of Novo Health Africa. It is a strong sign of our commitment to the Nigeria health care system and our corporate social responsibility. Presently, we have such programme running in Ajeromi Local Government in Ajegunle where we provide health education, health checks and registered members of the scheme receive medical services in nearby hospital. We also plan to replicate same in Port Harcourt and Abuja where we have our regional offices.

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015 — 43

44—SA TURD AY 44—SATURD TURDA

Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

Dame A def ope TTyychus celebrat es @ 60 Adef defope celebrates DAME (Princess) Adefope Tychus, wife of Otunba Adesina Tychus, former Managing Director, th CONIOL took the centre stage of Lagos social circuit when she rolled out drums to celebrate her 60 birthday. After Thanksgiving Service at Methodist Church Nigeria, Wesley Cathedral Olowogbowo, Lagos, guests moved to City Hall, Lagos Island for a refreshing reception. Photos by Diran Oshe

Justice, Court of Appeal, Justice Dotun Adefope-Okorie, Apostle Nike Wilheims and Funke Aboyade

Celebrant, Adetope, husband, children and grand children cutting her Diamond Birthday Anniversarycake

Lion (Professor) Ayoade Adesokan, Lion Toyin Adesokan and Vice District Governor Waheed Kadiri

Chairman, AWABATI LLC, Mr Abdul Abayomi and CEO, Arc Harris Construction, Arch Aib Harris Igiehon and the celebrant

OGISEC weds

boss’

son

lhaja Risikat Ogunfemi, Chairman, Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission, OGISEC had the pleasure of hosting the crème de la crème of Ogun State’s social circuit when her son, Mr. Abdul Kabeer Ogunfemi took former Miss Basirat Abike Mustapha for wife. The Wolimat Nikhail took place at Amazing Grace Centre, Obasanjo Area Abeokuta last Saturday. Photos by Wumi Akinola

Olakunle Agbebi, Akin Cole and , Segun Kennis

Erhuvwu Club honours Delta HOS, Perm-Secs

rhuvwu Club of Nigeria, Asaba recently held a reception in honour of the immediate past and present Heads of Service, HOS, and newly appointed Permanent Secretary of Delta State. Also honoured were retired members of the State civil service. Photos by Nath Onojake

L-R:Prof. Patrick Muoboghare,Commissioner for Agriculture and Chairman of the Occassion presenting award to Sir Paul Evuarherhe, former HOS, Delta State and wife.

L-R: Mr.Abel Esievo, President, Erhuvwu Club of Nigeria ,Asaba, presenting award to Mr.Sam Adjohwenyo,the new Permanent Secretary, Delta State. C M Y K

L-R:Sir Paul Evuarherhe presenting award to Mr. Patrick Origho, HOS,Delta State.

L-R; Mr.Imokinoivo Itobore, Mr.Collins Ashoro and Dr.Wilson Oghenekevwe (Members, organising committee

Mr. & Mrs. Abdul-Kabeer Ogunfemi cutting their wedding cake.

Alhaja Risikat Ogunfemi, Chairman, OGISEC, groom mother welcomes Oba & Olori Dapo Tejuoso. Osile Oke Ona Egba

R-L: Are Professor Is-Haq Oloyede Secretary-General “SCIA” Alhaji M. Ola Yusuf Imam Noah Sodeinde, Chief Imam Of Owu Kingdom, And Imam Yunus Kehinde Chief Imam/ Missioner Nud Worldwide

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

he eight nightmarish days of the Mr. and Mrs. Leke Orekoya finally ended on the night of Tuesday, April 14, when they were reunited with their three children: Demola, six; Adedamola, four, and 11 months old Aderomola, who were kidnapped by a nanny, Mary Akinloye (real name Funmilayo Adeyemi). The family had employed Adeyemi two days earlier via OLX, an online portal. Expectedly, the media — print, electronic and social — were awash with the news. Some commentators blamed the Orekoyas for taking in a total stranger and entrusting her with the custody of their children without due diligence. But what the Orekoyas did is not different from what many of us do. We should rejoice with them for Mr. Kayode Aderanti, has also advised the safe return of the children would-be employers of domestic staff to and learn from their mistakes. approach the divisional police officer (DPO) Thank God the long arm of the of the nearest police station for data capture law also caught up with and background check, which he said is Adeyemi, a mother of four, who free. Wonderful, but I hope this service said kidnapping is a family does not end up like bail. Bail is business. Before you engage supposedly free, but you scarcely get a bail a nanny or house helps, please without parting with money in police stations. take the following steps. Four, the person must One, determine your needs. Do you need a resident help have a guarantor of fixed or a non resident nanny. address and a permanent Sometimes all you need is home address; somebody can be held somebody who will help you who keep the house clean, while accountable when things go you put the children in a day wrong, like we just witnessed in the care and pick them up after Orekoya’s case. Five, whoever you are work. Second, how do you employing should be 18 years or above. source the person you need? Do not employ children to bring up your Is it through family, friends, children. That is immoral and online sources like OLX or counterproductive; it is also child labour. other service providers? Three, Do not stunt other children’s progress for if the person is a stranger, you your children’s. Five, like every need to do a thorough employment, the terms of the engagement background check with the should be clearly spelt out to avoid written (not oral) information bickering later. and photo provided. You must Six, if the person meets your expectation go the extra mile by tracing and satisfies all the above, he/she should his/her roots to a permanent undergo a thorough medical check before address, such as his/her moving into your house. Check for HIV village, not the temporary city virus and other sexually transmitted address. The photograph must diseases (STDs), hepatitis and other also match the name during communicable and non communicable your due diligence. The Lagos diseases. Children are vulnerable… so State Commissioner of Police, they need all the protection. Beyond that,

Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015 —45

Before you engage that help many parents might not know, but their children are being defiled and deflowered by their house helps. It is bad enough that a domestic help is introducing your under aged children to sex, but to infect them with HIV virus or other STDs is double tragedy. And you might not know until the STD has wrecked much havoc. Once the help is in, put checks in place. It is in the nature of man to overstep his bounds;

Do not employ children to bring up your children. That is immoral and counterproductive

that is why we have laws to keep us in check. Some people employ modern technology to monitor what goes on in their homes, no matter where they are. That was how the Ugandan nanny-from-hell, Jolly Tumuhiirwe, whose who was recorded brutalizing an 18 months old toddler, was caught. If you live in a compound or community with common security, be friendly with the security men. Let them know, for instance, that your house help cannot take the children outside the compound without prior information. They should have your number and your spouse’s in case of emergency. Also be friendly with your neighbours; discuss with them. They probably have a similar situation as yours and you can watch one another ’s back. Sometimes people who can afford it engage two house helps. Beyond sharing the chores, they act as check against each other. Not that

this arrangement is foolproof because they can collude and perpetuate evil. I have also seen a neighbour ’s two house helps fight each other to a standstill on who rightly “owns” the neighbour ’s married driver. Occasionally, you should make surprise trips to the house. It is usually an eye-opener. You catch domestic workers off guard. People have caught helps maltreating their children, sleeping when children are about to come to harm and having sex or bringing in their lovers. A neighbour ’s driver used to take the help on driving lessons after dropping the children in school. I do not have issues with adding value to the young lady’s life, but were these lessons being done with the Oga’s consent? In the cause of learning how to drive, there can be an accident resulting in third party death, injuries or property damage. There can be own damage too. If the vehicle insurance covers only third parties, then the owner is faced with the expenses of fixing his own car. Sometimes, people go to motor parks or licensing offices, instead of approaching insurance brokers or underwriters, and unknowingly purchase fake motor insurance. If that is the case, the owner will be faced with third party liabilities as well as own damage because of the nefarious activities of his driver. Beyond that, it is a breach of the Road Traffic Act which forbids the use of a vehicle on a Nigerian road without the minimum motor insurance protecting third party interests. You might not have a foolproof strategy, but you cannot be too careful on issues of domestic workers.

(Text Only)

Panacea for all human ailments The Headstand

he Headstand, one of the most potent postures, is often referred to as the “King of the Asanas” because of its manifold mental and physical benefits. Many rightly see it as a panacea for all human ailments. If you have only a short time for practice, and want to maximize the benefits, do the Headstand. In this inverted position, at least 90 per cent of the body weight should rest on the elbow. Hardly any pressure should be taken by the head or neck.

•Headstand

Technique: To perform the headstand, sirshasana in sanskirt, get on your knees, interlacing the fingers, place the hands on the floor in front of you. Lean forward and place the head on the floor and supporting its back with the interlaced fingers. With

the help of the feet raise the hips up in the air. Now, raise the feet and bend the knees until stillness is obtained standing on the head. Straighten the legs rather slowly until the whole body is in a straight vertical line. Benefits: •Gives the heart a well deserved rest, as gravity helps to return venous blood to the heart. • Regular practice helps to strengthen the respiratory system and the circulation, keeping them flexible and slowing down the rate of breathing and the heartbeat when at rest. • The body is generally enhanced by the deep breathing and the brain, spine, and entire nervous

Yoga Classes STARTED @ 32 Adetokumbo Ademola, Victoria Island Lagos. 9.00am — 10.00am on Saturdays

system receive a rich supply of nutrients. This refreshes and rejuvenates the entire body.

Shoulderstand Technique:

Lie flat on your practice mat or blanket with the feet stretched out and hands besides you. Now raise both legs up as well as the buttocks supporting them with the hands. Then straighten Leg Raiseup the trunk and legs and let your chin fit into the hollow at the base of the neck. You may now commence deep breathing for 15 to 30 seconds. To come out of the posture, simply bend the knees and roll down the trunk and legs much the same way you would a carpet. You’re ready to face the day!

•Shoulderstand

46—SATURDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 25, 2015 I’m in deep shit over relationships. I’m a 35-year-old woman and met a very handsome 43-year-old man. We’ve been dating for five months now and still haven’t slept together. My problem is that in the beginning of our relationship, he asked me how many men I’ve slept with and worried about how he would react, I lied and told him I’d slept with seven men. But after a few months, I could not live with the lie and finally decided to tell him the reason why I still haven’t slept with him yet. I told him I didn’t want to make love because I was scared that he’d lose respect and eventually leave me like all the other men. At this point he asked me again, just how many men were there, to which I replied forty-three. His reply was, “Hmm, one for each of my birthday.” And from that day on, I never heard from him again. I don’t get it , why is it that when men sleep around, they’re studs , yet when women sleep around, they’re sluts ? Why can’t women have their fun too? Bubu, Abuja Dear Bubu, I’ve spoken with quite a number of women asking the same question. I don’t want to pass judgment on

juliecoker100@yahoo.com

I lost my man because I slept with with so many men

women, nor am I saying that women shouldn’t enjoy themselves sexually. But men and women are never the same. You expressed fear about losing respect and the way I feel as a woman is that women should be worshiped by their men. An object that has value is worshiped, respected, cherished, and shared with very few deserving people. As soon as you start sharing that object with anyone and without care, the object starts to lose value. The more people use the object, the more it depreciates and the less bargaining power it has: this is a plain psychological fact of life. Most women don’t realize the importance men place on a woman’s promiscuity. Women think that because

men don’t care about how many women they’ve slept with, they won’t care about how many men their woman has slept with. But the reality is that most men, those looking for a serious relationship and not a onenight stand do place great value on a woman’s sexual restraint. There was a time when many women cherished their bodies much like a sacred temple where only a noble man, one who respected and loved her, had access to her body. But over time, it seems that women have failed to realize the important role their sexuality plays in finding a long-term mate. Thanks to the women’s movement, women are so

I’m haunted by my past Aunty Julie, As a student in the University, I used hard drugs. I graduated several years ago and have served in NYSC. I used to have an attitude when I was taking drugs but I no longer have them. I dated many ladies and dumped them and I was extremely extroverted. My lifestyle has changed. Now that I do not go out to clubs or party, I am finding difficulty in relationships. Women do not understand why I do not drink. When they ask, I tell them where drugs and alcohol have gotten me in the past. This always seems to scare them off. I feel guilty not telling them that I used to be an intravenous drug user, but when they ask about the tattoo on my arm that symbolizes a promise to myself never to inject again, I am honest about what it stands for. I have been tested for AIDS/Hep-C and all of the tests have returned negative. I am having difficulty finding someone that understands. Please help me. Sunday, Lagos

Dear Sunday, You have made an incredible change in your life and stuck to it . And yet, some romantic interests decided to put the book back on the shelf without understanding what it’s really about. Unfortunately, a history of drug use is often accompanied by stigma, sometimes resulting in assumptions about a person that may not be accurate. When you mention you’ve been tested for HIV and hepatitis C, it’s clear that you are aware of both

the health risks involved in intravenous drug use and the stigma placed on drug users both past and present. The good news is that not every person you’re interested in will rely on assumptions when you disclose your past drug use. It may be that a few negative reactions early on in your recovery have made it seem like more women will be “scared off” than really will be. When it comes to finding that connection, the places you go to

meet people and disclose your past, and describe your present may ultimately help or hinder your romantic success. To take some of the pressure off, first dates may be devised to be casual and easy to leave if things aren’t going well, such as meeting for a lunch. Meeting over lunch is a natural way for people to chat and get to know each other with food and people around. If you’re looking for opportunities to meet potential

busy trying to compete with men, including in the sex department, that they fail to realize the consequences of their actions. Today, it seems that women are the ones who are collecting notches on their Prada belts by giving their bodies away too easily. But if women themselves don’t value their bodies like they used to, why should men? Some women will argue that if men have the right to sleep around, so should women. But I ask only one question: If women adamantly believe this, then why is it that when faced with the question of how many men have they slept with, most women who have slept around with truckloads of men always lie? Some women will rationalize that they must do so because men can’t handle the truth. But if this is the case, why don’t women let men decide for themselves if they can or can’t handle it? Why do women need to lie to protect men’s egos? I think women lie to protect themselves rather than men because if it’s not shame or regret that’s making you hold your tongue, then the potentially dire consequences of the truth surely are. The power lies with women...

partners, consider pursuing interests you have where substances aren’t involved. While your story may have been previously met by with negative reaction, a few strategies might get the ball rolling in the right direction with a potential date. It may be helpful to acknowledge some of the negative associations with drug use and explain specifically how you do not fit the mold. Sharing the positive steps you’ve made in your life may also help to correct any misbeliefs held by those you’re interested in dating. Don’t share your story immediately with a romantic interest. Get acquainted first before deciding to what extent you can open up. By preparing an approach that is both honest about the past and confident about the future, you may find that there are people out there who are able to look beyond the book’s cover and want to read every page.

My woman competes with me Aunty Julie, I have been dating my girlfriend for almost four years now but one problem keeps rearing its ugly head. She has always been competitive, but it’s never been something we’ve discussed. Every time I’m wearing something trendy or something new, she will do the same thing. When we used to run in aerobics class, she would constantly try to beat my scores. I confronted her about that, but she never seems to learn. She seems to forget I’m a guy and have my pride but she copies me and competes with everything. She even said she would want to have more money than me. Should I really “waste” time talking to her about her competitiveness? Or, is there a way to hint at it or persuade her to do something original? Ray, Calabar,

Dear Ray, A little competition in relationships is common and healthy, as long as it’s acknowledged, mutual, and energizing to the

Children There once a wife who had fifteen kids. She loved them all but found it hard to look after them. Eventually, the stress got the best of her and she died. At her funeral, the priest said, “Now, finally, they ’re back together as they should be.” “What do you mean?” asked her husband. “The kids and I are all still alive!” “No,” the priest replied, “I meant her legs.” The last straw After just a few years of marriage, filled with constant arguments, a young man and his wife decided the only way to save their marriage was to try counselling.

relationship. Friendly rivalry has the potential to inspire, encourage, and support friends to do more and be more. Your friend’s continued unwillingness to “do her own thing,” however, even after confronting her about it, sounds frustrating, and threatening to your relationship. Perhaps her constant competitiveness is her way of complementing your strengths in drive and ambition. Maybe, she admires you so much that she wants to mimic your every move. Or, her ability to seek out her own aspirations may be affected by low selfesteem. Or, perhaps things are going on in her life that aren’t apparently obvious; the constant competition may be her outlet for coping with personal issues. Your relationship might already be built on a foundation of competitiveness. If this is the case, it’s possible that your friend feels compelled to be “the one” to up the ante just to keep up with you. Sometimes, what

C O C K - T A L E S When they arrived at the counsellor ’s office, the counsellor jumped right in and opened the floor for discussion. “What seems to be the problem?” The wife began talking describing all the wrongs within their marriage. After 15 minutes of listening to the wife, the counselor went over to her, picked her up by her shoulders, kissed her passionately for several minutes, and sat her back down. Afterward, the wife sat there speechless. He looked over at the husband who was staring in disbelief at what had happened. The counselor spoke to the husband, “Your wife needs that at least twice a week!” The husband scratched his head and

we despise or find annoying in others is what we dislike in ourselves. You may be experiencing or expressing a clash of similar personalities and traits. Although it may be uncomfortable and seem unfair, maybe it’s time to revisit a heart to heart with your girl Taking the time to make sure you are saying exactly what you need to, and expressing all that you need might be a good idea. Doing this is not a waste of time, since you still seem to be invested in your relationship. The purpose of saying what you need is not necessarily getting what you want, but maintaining/gaining self-respect, as well as a sincere commitment to be clear about your feelings. Besides, you can assure your friend that you are eager to listen, to help understand what makes each of you bring out the competitiveness in one another. You might try saying something along the lines that you feel honored and/or flattered that she has taken such an interest in your interests, and it’s time that she take notice of and focus on herself and her unique qualities.

replied, “I can have her here on Mondays and Thursdays.” Would you marry again, scummy? A husband and wife were golfing when suddenly the woman asked, “Honey, if I died, would you get married again?” The man said, “No dear.” The woman said, “I’m sure you would.” So the man said, “Okay, I would” Then the woman asked, “Would you let her sleep in our bed?”And the man replied, “Ya, I guess so.” Then the woman asked, “Would you let her use my golf clubs?”And the man replied, “No, she’s left handed.”

SA TURD AY SATURD TURDA

Vanguard, APRIL 25 25,, 2015—47

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

Society sympathises with male divorcee than female

INDING yourself suddenly without a partner after years of being part of a couple could be soul-wrenching. You decide to launch yourself back into society, and what do you find? Some 12 years ago, Yetunde was riding on the crest of happiness. According to her: “Friends and family were amazed when, in my early 40s, I announced that I was to marry a divorcee I met six months before. My marriage that had blessed me with my two children had not worked out and I’d been determined not to make the same mistakes again. So, why did I rush into this marriage? Because we had fallen in love almost immediately and he wanted marriage very badly. He reasoned that if we went out together for three or four years we would find all the reasons not to get married. What’s more, neither of us was that young, and if we wanted to try for more children, we were better off getting on with it. So, we

longer invited me to their fancy parties because they either couldn’t abide an odd number round the table or they would rather invite my ex and his new wife. During my marriage, I’d enjoyed a wide social circle. We’d all drink together, dine together and attend functions together. Some acquaintances even became regular holiday companions. And, when you rent service flats together,

Now as a middle-aged, divorced, single mother-of-four, I am the classic social outcast did. “From the day we tied the knots, I seemed to be living a charmed life—successful husband, desirable residence and a thriving business of my own, I blissfully filled my time between my business and school runs. This lifestyle consumed me for a decade—and then it came crashing down as suddenly as it had begun when, weeks after our 10th wedding anniversary, my husband announced he was moving to one of his houses—with a 30-year-old who was expecting his second child! “Apart from being so devastated, I felt humiliated. But, I never bargained for suddenly being friendless—I no longer received air kisses— instead I got distant waves from other wives who no

shop together and let your hair down with them on a regular basis, it’s normal to regard them as friends. But it took the death of my marriage to teach me an unpalatable truth: that you’re only acceptable to others for as long as you are just ‘like them.’ “Now as a middle-aged, divorced, single mother-offour, I am the classic social outcast. Once I was a regular at an endless streams of drinks, dinner parties and open-house dos, suddenly barely a soul dreams of inviting me now I’m the odd one out. I have become ‘that poor bitch whose husband left her for someone younger.’ “At a recent 40th birthday party, couples partnerswapped on the dance floor all-night while I sat alone, nursing a bottle of wine, not knowing where to look. At

my age, I could hardly dance alone, the wives’ suspicious looks wouldn’t let me. It seems divorced women are perceived as a threat, even by their friends. It’s as if we metamorphosed into sex-starved man-eaters for whom anyone’s husband will do. “My suspicions were confirmed a few months ago when friends organised a surprise birthday for me.

While we had a fabulous time, it saddened me that only women were invited. I had once socialised, holidayed and got on famously with their husbands for years. Now, because I no longer had one of my own, I was disqualified from socialising with theirs. “Ironically, it is very different for men. My friend Charles, a widowed father of two is invariably inundated with invitations. My mother believes that women are expected to, can, and generally just get on with enforced single life, while the average abandoned male tends to fail at moving on. Which must be why wives experience waves of sympathy for a ‘useless single dad’ and are driven to envelope, include and nurture him. He brings out their maternal instinct like a weepy, lonesome child does!” According to a psychiatrist, Dr. Cosmo Hailstorm: “The tendency for women to ostracise their friends when they become middle-aged divorcees is a strange

phenomenon. The superficial answer is that you become a danger. They worry that you might be after their husbands. But there is more to it than that. “Once you are no longer in a couple, it gets complicated for people to include you. While they probably do want to invite you, they may think better of it because they’re embarrassed or don’t know what to talk about. “Additionally, we tend not to build many, if any, new relationship in middle age. We make our friends at school, university, in our early jobs and then we get married, have children, and befriend parents of our children’s school friends. “It’s unusual to meet new people outside that framework. When you divorce you lose half your friends because you lose your husband’s friends. This is noticeable as you aren’t making new acquaintances to fill the gaps they leave behind.”

Does your love life have the ‘S’ factor?

t’s exhilarating to fall in love, but will it last? To help you sustain the glow of the love you so much cherish, here are some guides given by a sexologist guaranteed to put a bit of sizzle into your love life—all starting with the letter S! SNUGGLING: There’s plenty of evidence to show that hugs can do great things for our relationships. Tests show that oxytocin the ‘cuddle chemical’ our bodies produce during sex—is also released by non-sexual touching, such as stroking. Research has found that happy couples are likely to have at least four hugs a day. And in a recent survey, six in ten people said being touched by their partners help them to relax. SHARING: You may share a bed, but do you and your partner share the housework? If not perhaps it’s time you had a word. A recent report found out that divorce rates are lower in families where the man takes on a fair share of domestic chores. It avoids resentments building up and helps foster a sense of teamwork and togetherness. SNOGGING: Adolescents are obsessed with it, but snogging isn’t just for teenagers. According to reports couples who kiss regularly are more likely to have a happy healthy relationship. Forget the polite pecks. When you both get home

after work, give your man a sweet, loving kiss on the lips. Slowly build up the passion. Tease his tongue with yours... you should see an instant spring in his, er, step! SURPRISE AND SPONTANEITY: A little element of surprise helps to ignite romance. Yet in a recent study of 3,000 couples, a third of them said their relationships lacked a park of spontaneity. It needn’t mean jetting off to exotic locations. How about an Impromptu candle-lit meal at home, or revisiting the place of your first date? SENSUALITY AND SEDUCTION: Appeal to all your partner’s senses to set the ultimate mood for romance. Light some scented candles for an exotic aroma. Open a bottle of something sparkling and taste those bubbles. Play some sexy music to enhance the atmosphere. Set the lights low, then use a silky scarf as a blind fold to introduce a thrill of uncertainly and concentrate on sensual touch. SPENDING TIME TOGETHER: Statistics show that on average, couples without children spend around three hours a day together. And after the patter of little feet fills the air, it’s typically half that. But the activity that takes up the most of their time together is watching TV—not very intimate! So try turning off the telly and doing something different. Go for a leisurely walk, or make a special dinner together. Even playing cards means you ‘re focusing on each other rather than staring at the box.

48—SATURDAY

Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

YETUNDE AREBI

In search of Chioma

n the course of my writing on human experiences, not just about love and relationships but also all spheres of human life, I come in contact with all manner of people that cut across age, class and sex. We share stories, experiences, problems, challenges, some good, some with happy endings, some filled with hope, motivation and inspiration, and some full of pain, despair and hopelessness. I feel happy and accomplished when I am able to contribute my little knowledge, contact and sometimes widow’s might to help sort out issues and bring succour to the aggrieved, just as I rejoice in their success stories too. Because most of these stories are told in first person narratives, I get to meet many people physically. Many others are however told by those close to the subjects. Often times, I also receive stories by mail which means I may never get to meet the characters. However, once a while, one does come across stories or persons that will touch the core of one’s heart and soul and leave one with many unanswered questions. I came across one of such stories about four years ago when I received an SMS on my cell phone. The numbers are usually published on the adolescence and youth page, my contribution in the monthly Vanguard Kiddies Magazine. I am usually very impatient and quick to discard vague messages. But there was something in the text which called to something deep inside me. Something told me it was a cry for help and that it was a serious problem. The text was simple, the English was not so good but it was clear. The writer requested to speak with me on a personal problem but gave me a specific time frame to respond to the request as the phone through which the text was sent was not her own and the owner would be leaving later that Sunday evening. So, I quickly responded and told her I was available for whatever she wanted to discuss. Then she told me she could not talk to me on that same phone but will call me sometime later in the week when we would be able to discuss. I was very disappointed. I knew I had hit a very good story and somehow, it was slipping through my fingers even before I knew what it was. What if she changed her mind and decided not to share this great story anymore. But I had no choice but to wait. I kept my phone beside me always and even took it to bed with me so I would not miss any opportunity to talk to this young lady who I assumed was a teenager at the time. When it eventually came one afternoon, I wasted no time in offering to pay for the call. So, I called the number back. Her story left me with mixed feelings but more with anger with everyone connected with the gross negligence and selfishness. According to the girl who gave her name as C M Y K

Chioma, she was 27 and had never had a menstruation in her life. She came across my article on girl puberty and menstruation and wanted to know if something was wrong with her. I was lost for a few seconds because she did not come across as a 27 year old lady. She sounded like a child with a small, frightened voice and not so good English. No, she could not be 27. A 27 year old girl anywhere ought to be smarter than this. But after hearing the whole story, I concluded that almost anything in life is possible depending on the circumstance. Chioma told me that she lives in an Estate in Lekki and had recently started learning fashion designing after she finished secondary school. She had been sent to live with her Aunt and Uncle several years ago after they got married by her father. This was after the demise of her mother whom she now only remembers vaguely as she was very young at the time. The aunt is her father ’s relative. So, all the couple’s four children were born into her hands, nursed and cared for by her while she waited hand and foot on them. In return, she was sent to public schools grudgingly while their own children attended the best

schools and two were already in the university at the time. She said she became worried when the first girl of the couple began menstruation about three years prior to our contact, while she was yet to even experience a manache (first menstrual flow). She said despite calling her aunt’s attention to the situation severally, she was only told that it would eventually come and that it does happen to some people. Really? My first response was to ask if she was sure she is a girl. Does she have boobs and other female organs? She confirmed. Has she had sex before? She said yes. Has she been pregnant before? She said no. Did she use protection? She also said no that the guy told her he was using something that would not make her pregnant (oh my God!) I told her I was sure that she had a medical condition and would need to seek serious medical attention as it was not normal for a female of her age not to menstruate. She said she did not have access to a hospital. (What, for someone living in Lekki?) She told me it’s the couple and their children who visit the doctors when they fall ill. Her aunt only gives her medications at home when she falls sick as they said it’s a company hospital meant only for them and their children. At this point, the picture began falling into place. It was clear that though living with a relative, Chioma was no better than a slave living on charity. She was worse than a housemaid as the later would at least, be entitled to some financial payment at the end of the month. The couple simply just struck gold by deception as they have merely been able to hoodwink Chioma

and her father that they were doing them a favour by keeping her in Lagos and helping to train her. I felt torn inside. I really wanted to help. So, I told her that she could go to a government hospital and that I could help her arrange it. This was where I hit a brick wall. Chioma told me this would be impossible as she was not allowed to go out. She was only allowed to go to her mistress’ shop which is on the same street where she lives and return home. Her mistress is her aunt’s friend and would report any strange movement by her. Well, I could come and talk to her aunt and we’ll take it from there, I suggested. At this point, Chioma informed me that this was impossible as she would be killed (literally, of course) by her aunt. She said the aunt would accuse her of exposing her to the world and plans to ruin her home. So what to do? I told her to think about it and get in touch with me since it was clear we would not achieve much that day. That was the last time I spoke with Chioma. But despite our brief contact and the years between, I have never forgotten her. I keep hoping that she would call again one day to give me the good news that all is now well with her. However, I see Chioma in my subconscious every time I come across a shabbily dressed young girl backing, carrying or holding a well kept child while an equally well groomed madam walks behind. I see Chioma in every teenager walking the streets during official school hours. I see Chioma is every little girl turned maid or slave for the benefit of a handful of individuals under the guise that they are helping to care for them. My grouse when I see cases like this is not really with the parents of these children but with their adopting parents or rather, supposed carers. There is very little a parent can do once they discover they cannot provide adequately for their child. Once a child is born, it automatically has a right to grow and be integrated into society. Parents cannot on their own kill their children because they are financially handicapped, what is done is done. But why would anyone lie and make promises to helpless parents and vulnerable and impressionable children of a better life in the city only to turn around to take advantage of their circumstance to abuse and enslave them? If Chioma’s aunt was insensitive, was her husband also blind to happenings in his own household too? If the madams are wicked, what are the ogas doing to correct them? I recall a lady who came under serious scrutiny and criticism in my former neighbourhood in Iju area of Lagos State over the ill treatment of her husband’s nephew who lived with them. Story had it that the boy was never allowed to sit on their chairs and had to sit on the floor whenever he was permitted to watch TV with the family. He was not allowed to sit at the dining table to eat but in the kitchen and to cap it all, he ate from different pot of stew. The uncle’s wife would tell anyone who cared to listen that the boy was destructive as anything he touched got spoiled and she could not allow him destroy her home. But this same destructive boy was an expert in washing the family clothes, doing all the house chores, waiting hand and foot on their little children and their mother (his uncle worked on the rigs with an oil company) as well as run errands until late every night. She never stopped to think of what might become of the boy in future, after all, God remains the ultimate deciding factor of all men. Two years after moving into their newly built personal home, this lady died from complications after heart attack, leaving her young children in the hands of the “destructive” slave relative. There is no doubt that we are all created differently by God. Not everyone is blessed with a heart large enough to accommodate or tolerate the excesses of others who are not their biological children or direct blood line. Not all of us are blessed with the milk of human sympathy flowing in our veins. But we are all students of history. We have all heard stories of slave children who grew up to become successful citizens and even courted kings and queens. Stories of grass to grace abound all across the world just as there are, the other way around too. No one prays for misfortune for anyone, but it is important that the rich and successful do not play God over other less fortunate creatures of God. If you cannot treat your ward with the love and care you desire for your own children, at least, you must show some level of decency and human decorum. Otherwise, let these poor children be. I still look forward to hearing from Chioma some day. This time, hopefully with a happy story to share with me. Do have a wonderful weekend!

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015—49

SULEIMAN ABBAS’S SACK AS IGP:

Jonathan’s pound of flesh BY EMMA NNADOZIE, Crime Editor

C M Y K

• President Goodluck Jonathan all over the country. Unfortunately, Abba did not envisage that the tide would turn against him someday. Eventually when it did, ‘escapist’ became his second name. Sources at the Force Headquarters said Abba’s grand design to frustrate efforts of his benefactor – President Jonathan kick started with the preparation of officers and men of the force for the onerous task of ensuring that there was a peaceful election devoid of rigging by any of the parties. He was expected to deliver the highest level of professionalism even when one cannot completely rule out having allegiance to the party in power. However, sources said that he had a grand plan to to be firm even as some alleged he had sympathy for the opposition party, APC. This came to the fore after reports of many under aged Northerners being allowed to vote without restrictions by, especially, members of the force, reached the Presidency. There were also allegations of short changing of members of the force that took part in the elections with regard to their welfare as against their counterparts in other security agencies. This, it was

• Suleiman Abba gathered, demoralized them to the extent that many looked the other way even while some people were deeply involved in electoral malpractices. Suleiman Abba reportedly crowned his grand plan by discreetly issuing a standing directive to all top officers to ignore orders from anywhere and obey only his while on duty. That, according to sources, was what played out in Port-Harcourt after the presidency discovered, to their utter chagrin, that AIG Ogunsaki who was posted to their much-cherished Rivers State, was also firm. Sources said efforts to effect immediate changes were nearly thwarted after Suleiman Abba made himself incommunicado while frantic efforts were been made to reach him. That done, it was learnt that the Presidency kept on receiving security reports of clandestine meetings. The whole scenario came to the limelight few weeks after Buhari was declared the winner of the election. President Jonathan was reportedly shocked to his bone marrows after he saw a video recording of his own IGP receiving the President-elect at

peculations have continued to trail last Tuesday announcement of the sack of Suleiman Abba as the 17th Inspector-General of Police in Nigeria. The sudden sack which came barely one month to the official handover by President Goodluck Jonathan to the incoming Buhari regime, has certainly fuelled the rumour making rounds that President Jonathan was poised to take his pound of flesh against loyalists that allegedly betrayed him during the just concluded elections in the country. The first victim, Suleiman Abba, was chosen to occupy the exalted position of number one policeman after the then Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Dikko Abubakar completed his mandatory 35 years of service in the force. MD, as he was popularly called, had the option of either retiring gracefully or applying for an extension. In his quest to accomplish what was generally perceived as the good works he was doing in the force, he applied for extension of tenure which, unfortunately, was rejected by President Jonathan, who quickly appointed then unknown Suleiman Abba as his successor. When the race for a new IGP was at its peek, many tested and well known officers including Solomon Arase who was just appointed as the Acting Police boss, were in contention. Feelers said President Jonathan woefully ignored wise counsel to choose the much tested and admired Arase and went for his old time friend, Abba, whom he reportedly trusted will not rock the boat in his quest to continue in office. To a large extent, Abba did not initially disappoint him. He held sway unabashedly, and even had the temerity to wade into the crisis over speakership at the House of Representative. He posted and reposted tested and tried officers to suit his political whims and caprices, unknown to many. One of his victims was the vibrant and crime bursting former Commissioner of Police, Lagos State and later the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in-charge of Zone 2, Umaru Manko, who was humiliated out of Lagos just because some people spread the wicked and unfounded rumour that he was relating with APC members. The former Police boss did not wink an eyelid when he replaced him with AIG Mbu, a posting that raised dust

President Jonathan has vowed, according to sources, that this trend will continue with any other political appointees found to have played ignoble roles against him during the elections

the airport without clearance from him. To worsen matters, he was also shown the same IGP conspicuously among those who attended the ceremopny when General Buhari was handed his certificate of return from INEC. Sources said the visibly enraged President quickly detailed his aides to ascertain if the IGP was officially invited by INEC and it emerged later that he was not. Then the vexed issue of Ekiti state. Even when political pundits posited that Jonathan called for peace, he did not fail to show his displeasure on learning that the warring 18 APC Honourable members were enjoying the services of formidable teams of mobile policemen posted by Suleiman Abba against the interest of Governor Fayose of the PDP. At this stage, a flurry of security reports flooded the presidency about Abba’s possible sympathy for APC while those that appointed him were still in power. Spectacularly, one of the reports detailed how Abba allegedly reached out to passionately plead his retention after the May 29th handover date. His emissary was said to have reeled out innumerable measures Abba embarked upon, using his office, to under cut the ruling party to the chagrin of his spectators. According to impeccable sources, immediately Jonathan lost the election, Abba threw caution to the winds and started negotiating with APC for tenure elongation. He started treating Buhari like the President even while Jonathan was still in office. The presidency was flooded with complaints of his disloyalty even from other security chiefs who were piqued by Abba’s aloofness and uncooperative attitude during the elections. In fact, his conduct after the elections tried to expose other service chiefs as been disloyal. Police sources said President Jonathan was so rattled with the ugly trend of events especially, as it concerns Suleiman Abba, whom he reposed so much confidence in, that he decided to use him as the first major victim of perceived disloyalty. President Jonathan has vowed, according to sources, that this trend will continue with any other political appointees found to have played ignoble roles against him during the elections. Just like one of the columnists recently observed. “Abba’s treachery must have struck the wrong side of Jonathan. That may explain why the man exhibited the level of swiftness that is clearly alien to him.”

50—SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

LAMENTATIONS OF A WIDOW:

Alfa cast spell on my hubby, milked him dry and killed him BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

DEPATURE FROM HOME According to Iya Yusulf as she is fondly called, “My husband was a crane operator who worked in Lagos. Because of the traffic, he usually went to work very early in the morning and came back late. The last time I saw him was on a Friday morning before he left home for work. Later in the afternoon, I called him to know how his work was going and he said all was well. Little did I know that it would be the last time I would hear his voice again. As usual, I waited for him to come back till about 11 pm when I slept off in the sitting room. I called his number, it wasn’t going through. FRANTIC SEARCH BEGINS At about 4 am on Saturday morning when I woke up, I noticed that my husband was still not back from work. I went inside the room to check him, and he was nowhere to be found. I kept trying to reach him on his phone but it was switched off. At this time, I had become very worried but I never for once thought any evil had befallen him. Later in the morning, I saw one of his apprentices called Turheeb. I thought my husband sent him to me because he didn’t give us money for feeding and housekeeping before leaving the house on Friday morning. CALLS MADE TO FRIENDS Unknown to me, they had not seen him since he hurriedly left his workplace on Friday evening. Turheeb told me they were trying to reach my husband but his phone was switched off. He was shocked when I told him I had not seen him Friday morning.

arely two months after her husband Rafiu Suleiman, was allegedly murdered by an Islamic cleric called Alfa Fathia in Magbon community along Lagos /Badagry expressway, the reality of losing her husband is gradually dawning on Titilope Suileman and her little children. In a chat with Crime Guard recently, the 38-year-old mother of six recounted the events that led to the discovery of her late husband’s body after five days of waiting for him to return back to his family from work.

At about 4 am on Saturday morning when I woke up, I noticed that my husband was still not back from work. I went inside the room to check him, and he was nowhere to be found. I kept trying to reach him on his phone but it was switched off. At this time, I had become very worried but I never for once thought any evil had befallen him

MYSTERIOUS BANK ACCOUNT While we were contemplating on the next line of action, Turheeb asked if I noticed that my husband was becoming lean. I told him that it could be because of the strenuous nature of his job. He went further and showed me details of a UBA account owned by an Alfa in his phone. He said his boss (my husband) always sent him to deposit money into that account. After he described the Alfa, I realised my husband introduced him and two other men to me during my baby’s naming ceremony about a year and ten months ago. I then remembered that all the financial problems we started having started after the birth of my last child Malik. I can count the few number of times he had given us money for upkeep and feeding for the family. All he kept saying was that there was no work, that business had been down. The most painful aspect was that he kept borrowing from people, telling them different stories. Some, he told that he needed money to take care of his child in the hospital which was not true. He collected N130, 000 from my mother which he promised to pay. IN-LAWS INTERVENTION Later, my brother in-laws whom I notified of his disappearance arrived. We also went to the Police station to report the incident. From Turheeb’s description, we decided to trace Alfa Fatai Aderomu’s house in Magbon through the help of some commercial cyclists at Magbon bus stop. We were able to get his phone number. We called him and he came to Magbon bus stop to meet us. We asked him if he saw my husband. He said that the last time he heard from him was five days ago when they spoke on phone. But Turheeb said that was a lie because while they were at work, the Alfa Fatai called my husband twice by 5pm and 7pm. This was part of the things that made me suspect that Alfa knew something about my husband’s where about. We asked some of the commercial motorcyclists in the community. They said they saw him that Friday morning while he was going to work and also while he was returning. They said he was searching for someone to give him N5000, that he was going to see an Alfa in Magbon. MISSING HUBBY APPEARS IN DREAM On Sunday night/ Monday morning, I saw my husband in the dream. He asked me to forgive him and I told him that I had already forgiven him. From then onward, each time I tried to sleep, it would be

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fantastically well in that area.

Anambra: 58 in Police net over electoral malpractices

CHECKMATING EXCESSES OF POLITICIANS I was in touch with a lot of them. I had personal contacts with them. I was able to make most of them see the reason why the elections must run free and fair and they also cooperated in this regard. But like I said earlier on, you cannot remove the fact that there were a couple of places where we had one or two cases OF malpractice but that has been taken care of and investigation is ongoing.

•How we operate - Cp Okaula

he elections have come and gone in the country with T their attendant complaints. Crime Guard spoke with the alternate Commissioner of Police in Anambra State, Sam Okaula on how the police operated. There was no governorship election in Anambra. Okaula bared his mind. Excerpts:

HOW the election was conducted The election was free and fair, very peaceful and I think we should give ourselves kudos for that. This happened because we were able to provide enabling environment for the electorate to come out freely and cast their votes. When I came here, I observed that there was a great need for me to lecture the officers and men which I did. I also felt that there was a need for me to effect one or two changes which would inject new blood into the system. My ultimate goal was to ensure that before, during and after the election, there was peace and there was free atmosphere for everyone and that was exactly what

happened. So far, so good we never recorded any major incident. There were cases of electoral malpractices here and there but we were able to effectively take control of such situation. We effected some arrests in some places too, and the suspects are undergoing interrogation at the state Criminal Investigations Bureau. If they are found culpable, they would be charged to court. ARREST OF SUSPECTS We have well over 58 suspects. There were no major crime situations or criminal activities during this period because we went on air and made it loud and clear that potential trouble makers and criminals should keep off Anambra state. So, it was a very successful, free and fair exercise and I think I commend the Police officers and men of this Command for having done a good job. SYNERGY WITH OTHER AGENCIES We have a cordial relationship with other security agencies like the Army, the

•Cp Sam Okaula Navy, the Air-force, Defence corps, the immigration etc, and I met that on the ground when I assumed office. We held meetings before the elections and were always in touch during the elections. We also created an operational base for all the agencies to exchange ideas and react to situations. So, we have a joint control room at the base here in the State Police headquarters. We posted senior officers from all the agencies that were also in touch with the men in the field. That went a long way to create this enabling environment that I talked about earlier on. So, the synergy between the police and all other security agency

as if someone was speaking into my ears. On Sunday morning, the Alfa came to our house at Mowo and asked if I had seen my husband and I said no. He said maybe he travelled for an outside job, that I should not worry, that he would return. Later, my husband’s relatives decided that we should go to Alfa’s house but because we didn’t know the exact address, we had to lure him to the bus stop through a phone call. When he came, we took him to the police station where they took his statement before he was arrested.

THREATS FROM IN-LAWS At this stage, my in-laws were already threatening me to produce their son even when it was obvious I knew nothing about his whereabouts and was

MAJOR CHALLENGES Well, of course in all elections there will always be challenges, contending forces. In the last election here we stood our ground firmly and we made everyone know that we were going to be impartial and we were impartial all through. We were not intimidated, we were not blackmailed and we ensured that we also educate the key actors and politicians to keep the peace and allow the electoral process to be free and fair. Those were the major challenges but we were able to overcome them and we did to get hold of myself. When we got to his compound, I pretended as if I came to see the Alfa over a problem. Interestingly, the unsuspecting wife of the Alfa told me that the husband has been arrested because one useless woman had accused him over a crime he knew nothing about. She did not know that I was the woman whose husband was missing. While she was explaining to me why her husband was arrested, she kept cursing and swearing that it will not be well with the woman who got the husband arrested. She assured me that the husband will soon be released because he knew nothing about the crime.

Continues from pg 50

AT THE POLICE STATION The next day, I went to the station to see the Alfa and I pleaded with him that if he knew the whereabouts of my husband, he should let me know. He denied knowledge of the whereabouts of my husband and kept on saying that he was innocent of the accusation against him. I almost bought his story of innocence but something kept telling me that he was not sincere. I went home, cried not knowing what to do next or how to go about locating my missing husband.

was fantastic and I am happy with that.

LAMENTATIONS OF A WIDOW still as confused as they were. On Monday, the police said I should go and get photograph of my husband as they would transfer the case to State Criminal Investigations Department, Panti, for further investigation. On our way back home, I

decided to go back to Alfa’s Fathia’s house because I had this strong feeling in my spirit. I went there with my brother in-law and my husband’s apprentice. On our way, close to his house, I began to feel very feverish. I could not walk. I began to pray till I was able

STRANGE REVELATIONS, DISCOVERY After that, she excused herself saying she wanted to buy something from the market. When she left, I began to question her daughter, Amina and she revealed a lot concerning the father’s shady deals before the mother returned. With all she said, I became convinced that Alfa knew something about my husband’s whereabouts. While all these were going on, my inlaws and the apprentice with me were busy searching the bushes around the area. Later, they discovered something that looked like headless body of a man abandoned in a pond some meters away from Alfa’s compound. When they checked further, they realised it was the

ADVISE TO ANAMBRA PEOPLE I think I want to thank the people of Anambra state for conducting themselves in such a peaceful manner. I want to thank them for co-operating with security agents. I also want to put on record that this place is a wonderful state and the people are actually very law abiding. We can not rule out one or two cases like I said, but all in all, Anambra people were fantastic and wonderful. I am happy with them. GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE Well, it wasn’t all about government of the state. We had mechanism on ground that facilitated our movement and monitoring the elections but it was not like the government did anything more than the ordinary. But I think that it was good.

remains of my husband. They cleverly hid it from me and advised that I go back home. It was on Tuesday that family members broke the news to me. Further investigations showed that the Alfa deleted my husband’s number from his phone and the call logs in his phones to avoid any trace while investigation was on-going. He put my husband under a spell and kept on manipulating him. That was why he became his slave, working and giving him all he earned. As if that was not enough, he made me to keep on collecting loans from people and channeling them to him. The Alfa later admitted collecting monies from him. I am happy that at long last, we have been able to find out the truth. While police is still going ahead with their investigations, I am appealing to the government to help me with the children’s education because they are still very young with the eldest, 17 and the youngest a year and ten months old.” The man was said to have died after the Alfa gave him a concoction to drink. It was meant to help empower him in many ways but he collapsed and died and the Alfa, with the help of another Alfa deposited his body in the pond. They had cut off his head and smeared his body before they dumped him.

58—SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

Unending contr sy in Akw controover versy Akwaa Ibom Continues from page 18 police. The instruction was that the command has changed at the centre and that anybody who wants promotion must support the APC. At the end, they went from house to house searching the houses of my commissioners. “In Ibiono Ibom they ransacked the house of Ignatius Edet. In Ibesikpo Asutan, they ransacked the house of anybody related to government. The same police opened fire on an innocent child and the person is in the hospital today. They went to Essien Udim and shot into the air. The idea was to leave the impression that there was no election in Akwa Ibom or that there was violence. “I am saying it today in the public so that the IG will hear and mention it in the council of state meting so that other heads of government will know that, that is not the way to use security in this country. They should have provided a level playing field but they turned things around with propaganda that PDP were the

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA “Inconclusive result”, is not a new phrase in Imo political phraseology having first reared it’s head in 2011, when the incumbent governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha, wrestled the governorship seat away from Chief Ikedi Ohakim. Not minding that Ohakim had some comfortable lead, Okorocha eventually was returned as governor after that round of supplementary election. History is now repeating itself as Okorocha now flying the ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC is pitched in battle against the challenge of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP candidate, Chief Emeka Ihedioha.

people causing trouble in Akwa Ibom.” The governor, who spoke against the backdrop of reports sent to Abuja by AIG Adisa Bolanta on what transpired on Election Day, however, commended the INEC on the conduct of the election and urged those with grievances to seek redress at the tribunal. Why PDP won – stakeholders PDP stakeholders attributed the party’s landslide victory at the polls to the fact that Akwa Ibom has remained a PDP state since 1999. Chief Nduesse Essien, former Minister of Lands, Housing and Urban Development while leading a delegation of Eket Senatorial Leaders Forum on a thank you visit to Governor Akpabio, said the zoning of the governorship slot to Eket Senatorial district contributed to the success of the PDP at the polls saying that many Akwa Ibom people saw it as fair and just since the district has not produced a governor since the creation of the state in 1987.

“With the agreement on zoning, the track record of achievements and God-fearing disposition of the PDP candidate as well as a firmly rooted political platform such as PDP, it was not surprising that the people came all out to support and vote for Mr. Udom Emmanuel,” he said. PDP cannot claim genuine victory –Accord Party However, the Legal consultant to Accord Party in the state, Barr Mfon Peters, disagreed with PDP leaders’’ claims that they won elections because Akwa Ibom is predominantly a PDP state. “There were no elections in Akwa Ibom. What transpired in the entire elections were irregularities and violence. The situation where hundreds and thousands of the eligible voters were disenfranchised were enough reasons for INEC to have cancelled elections in Akwa Ibom but it did not do that. “The CNPP wrote a protest letter to INEC Chairman and copied the Resident Electoral Officer, Okojie, to

The die is cast in Imo

by ballot box snatching, intimidation and other electoral crimes. “This election is the worst that has been held in the country. It was marred by arrest of our party agents,” Ezeobi said. OKOROCHA WILL FIGHT

INEC GIVES REASONS The supplementary election according to the State Returning Officer, SRO, Professor Oyewusi Ibidapo-Obe, stemmed from the cancellation of 144,715 votes in various polling booths in about 23 local government areas. Professor Ibidapo-Obe also cited various complaints of irregularities that emanated from several polling booths across the 305 wards of the state as part of the reasons for declaring the election inconclusive. According to the SRO, it was only in four out of the 27 local council areas of the state, where there would be no elections again. The four are Owerri Municipal, Ideato South, Ideato North and Ahiazu Mbaise. After announcing results submitted to him, the SRO, however, said: “I shall not do any declaration. We have various cancellations in various units and wards. The affected polling units in the local governments totaled 144,715. The margin of lead that we calculated from the two leading parties is

cancel the result. Governorship candidate of Accord Party, Bishop Akpan wrote a similar letter to INEC and I am aware that the APC openly protested and also wrote a letter to INEC even before the result was announced but Jega looked the other way. That Akwa Ibom has been a PDP state does not mean that things cannot change. If we could have change at the National level how much more Akwa Ibom that has been clamouring for change after eight years of misrule? Change was imminent and clear in Akwa Ibom. “I challenge the INEC Chairman, Jega, and all electoral officials, to call for fresh election in Akwa Ibom and let him come himself with other 12 RECS with adequate security drafted to this state and let us see how PDP will win elections in Akwa Ibom. It is a challenge” Meanwhile the aggrieved candidates especially those that contested the National Assembly and Governorship positions and mostly from the APC have gone to the Election Petition tribunal to challenge the outcome of the elections.

*Okorocha 79,529, and because of this figure, this election is inconclusive”. The APC candidate, Okorocha was in the lead with Ihedioha trailing him with the 79,529 votes. ALL PARTIES RIGGED The elections according to multiple sources were rigged by all the major parties in the election. There was an allegation that one of the contenders surreptitiously got the list of the INEC ad-hoc staff, invited them to a particular spot and gave those who responded to the candidate’s invitation, varying sums of money. Another intriguing malpractice was that the total votes cast in some polling units remained the same, but the name of the winner changed dramatically. It took the eagle-eyed party agent of the “losing” candidate

•Ihedioha to spot the anomaly who eventually caused a reversal. There were also reported cases of ballot box snatching, intimidation, violence, failed card reader machines, exchange of varying sums of cash and food at the polling units - electoral offences, whose perpetrators were neither arrested nor sanctioned by the security agents drafted to the areas. APGA DENOUNCE RESULTS In its reaction, the leadership of the All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, not only rejected the results already released by INEC but also demanded a fresh election. According to the State APGA Chairman, Barrister Peter Ezeobi, the elections were characterized

The incumbency factor may again stand in favour of Okorocha. He is most likely going to use his appointees and supporters to do one of two things. He will either get them to work on the electorate or carefully cause serious confusion that would make INEC cancel votes from such disturbed areas. Where this happens, he will still coast home with his over 70,000 votes in his favour and INEC will have no other option than to declare him the winner. Already, Okorocha and the APC leadership are accusing the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Dr. Gabriel Adah, of not only being a card carrying member of the PDP, sent to do Ihedioha’s hatchet job in Imo, but have consistently called on the INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega to remove him. Whichever way the contest is looked at, and not minding that it may be a herculean task for the PDP to erase the huge poll deficit, it will definitely be battle royale between Okorocha, Ihedioha and their respective parties. The truth, however, is that this is going to be last segment of the contest for the plum seat, and somebody must emerge at the end of the day.

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015—59

Landmines await Ugwuanyi in Enugu

•Chime

BY FRANCIS IGATA

s the clock chimes towards the May 29 handover date, those calling the shots in Enugu appear to be laying landmines for the incoming government of Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi. NEGLECTED WORKFORCE Undisputed statistics reveal that Enugu State Civil Servants are the least paid nationwide. Four years on, Governor Sullivan Chime is yet to implement the N18,000 Minimum wage approved by the Federal Government. The Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC,Chairman,Enugu State chapter,Mr. Chukwumaife Nze had told Saturday Vanguard that,”the government is yet to implement the minimum wage that is nationwide. Adding N10,000 to grade level 01 is not implementing the minimum wage exercise. “That is not minimum wage. Before you implement the minimum wage,their must be a chart for its implementation. The government and labour had not sat down to negotiate on the implementation of the minimum wage in the state. The governor at the heat of the struggle,dragged Labour to Industrial Court where he is arguing that he has implemented the minimum wage.” EBBING EDUCATION STANDARD At the tertiary level,Enugu State has not faired well which accounted for the withdrawal of accreditation certificate by the National Board for Technical Education,NBTE,on the Institute of Management and Technology,IMT,four years ago. The institution was then notorious for admission racketeering, outrageous turn out of National Youth Service Corp,NYSC, members, mark-for-money scheme,harassment of female students by male lecturers amongst others. A prospective corp member from the Enugu State University of Science and Technology,ESUT, was alleged to have been unable to fill her NYSC registration form at her orientation camp during the

same period. At Primary and Secondary School level,the Enugu State Universal Basic Education Board,ENSUBEB is currently facing a contract award probe of N3.6 billion at the Enugu State House of Assembly for prefabrication and renovation of 500 schools in the state. The House had out-rightly condemned the contract award processes which it noted was fraught with irregularities. The probe unravelled that contracts were paid for 100% upfront without supervision by ENSUBEB. The Board Chairman,Miss Nneka Onuorah had admitted to newsmen that she was overwhelmed by the challenges of the office as she had no prior experience of the workings of such exalted office. A dependable source had confined in Saturday Vanguard that due process was not followed in awarding up to 80% of the contracts. Investigations also showed that most primary and secondary schools in the rural areas in the state are in decrepit conditions, making learning process very difficult. However, Ms. Nneka Onuora, had while briefing newsmen, explained that Emenite was paid through Advance Payment Guarantee, AGP, even as she noted that the contract had

Angry All Progressive Congress, APC,Chairman,Enugu State chapter,Ben Nwoye said,”they have simply mortgaged the future of Enugu State

•Ugwuanyi

been awarded before she assumed office in 2013. Her words: “We have submitted all documents regarding the contract award. All due process was followed in the award. ‘’I must say that we had challenges because this is the first time the Board is handling projects of this magnitude. But I assure the people of Enugu State that all the projects will be done.” On supervision of the projects, Nneka said although 10 engineers were no longer with the Board, the state government had given approval for the recruitment of eight engineers to augment the three they had on ground. BURGEONING DEPTH PROFILE Indications from the Debt Management Office, DMO, show that Enugu State is among top 10 indebted states nationwide. Figures from the debt authority reveals that about the state owes about N24.3 billion from external and domestic borrowing. This is aside government’s desperate bid to secure another loan of N11 billion which was greeted with wild protests last week. The House of Assembly had hurriedly thrown away the request wondering why an administration that has few weeks to go would be keen on securing such a huge loan facility. Angry All Progressive Congress, APC,Chairman,Enugu State chapter,Ben Nwoye said,”they have simply mortgaged the future of Enugu State. Is this the price the incoming government will pay? “The government has shown fiscal irresponsibility. They are leaving the state worse off financially than they met it. Borrowing without approval will drown whatever efforts that are geared towards developing the state and should be avoided. “The incoming government will end up borrowing to services these loans especially now that there is a decline in oil revenue. “The last minute efforts by the House to check the executive, though belated, is commendable. We will rise up against this impunity from May 29 when there are no immunities protecting anyone.” ENUGU CITY WATER CONCESSION The Enugu government had embarked on the controversial concession of Enugu city water supply to an unknown firm called AG Gold Trust for 25 years. With the

deal,residents will pay 600% increase in water rate in the state. The House had passed a resolution,suspending the concession of Enugu Water Corporation to AG Gold Trust last week for being in violation of the Law. Speaker,Eugene Odo had condemned the phantom concession deal, revealing that a concession can only hold if there was a law enabling such. The Government had insisted on having their way which prompted a letter,directing the Managing Director,Enugu Water Corporation,Chibuzo Aka to handover to AG Gold Trust. He refused. Aka was last week fired for refusing to act on the government’s orders. APC in the state had frowned at the concession deal saying,”it is a consistent practice with the PDP to acquire public utilities for personal use. The past government did it as they were leaving office when they acquired most public properties like our Zoo and sold out the land to people. “Now, they want to dispose our water supply to people. Why this desperation? Commissioner for Water Resources, Dr. Michael Nwachukwu said that contrary to the report, the state government had merely executed a concession agreement under a Public Private Partnership, PPP, for the improvement of water supply to Enugu, the capital city, with a private concern, Goldtrust Limited. He stressed that the company, would under the agreement, reinstate existing water treatment plants at Ajalli, Oji and Iva Valley waterworks. It would also build five new water treatment plants in the state. SALE OF ICC LAND The Enugu State House of Assembly had expressed dismay over the sale of land within the Enugu International Conference Centre, ICC,situated at the three-arm zone, Independence layout,Enugu. The ICC which is bordered by the Government House and Michael Okpara Square was initiated by former governor Chimaroke Nnamani at the cost of over N2 billion. Construction work at the site had reached 90% completion before it was abandoned. Incumbent Governor Sullivan Chime had vowed not to touch the ICC, noting that there was no documentation of the project handed over to his administration by the predecessor. Enugu residents were however surprised as structures sprang from the expansive ICC premises which was meant for the construction of a five-star hotel befitting of the ICC. Dependable source told Saturday Vanguard that a plot goes for N25 million. The House had during its last sitting, adopted a motion condemning the allocation of land within the ICC to private individuals, warning those who benefited from such allocation to stop further development of such land as the allocation will not stand. It also condemned the sale of the State Water Corporation to AG Gold Trust Limited stating that it is unacceptable and against public interest and warned the company to desist from further going ahead with such deal as there was no law backing such deal. The Assembly further condemned allocation of land adjacent the Assembly Complex for the building of a shopping mall as well as the allocation of lands in the old Eastern Nigeria Industrial Layout along Zik Avenue, Enugu. These last minute developments were not consistent with a government that has been commended for the network of roads it constructed it Enugu, making it one of the most beautiful state capitals in Nigeria.

60—SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015 BY LAJU IREN 07017860213 ELLEJAYMEDIA@YAHOO.CO.UK

•South African youths happy killing innocent non citizens BY LAJU IREN

ccording to a 2005 report, South Africa is the number one destination for foreign students in Africa. Considering the fact that a South African University education will cost a foreign student one-third of what he or she would have spent in Britain or the United States, as well as the relative closeness to home and the quality of education the country can boast of, this is a good deal. But, with the recent wave of xenophobic attacks in South Africa, it has become a tricky, more dangerous deal. Elizabeth Johnson left Nigeria four years ago to study law at North-West University, in South Africa. Although, killing of foreigners in the country by a section of disgruntled youths may come as a surprise to many across the globe, she says that Xenophobia in itself is not a new phenomenon in the country. She told Saturday School Life, SSL that “there is nothing really surprising about it. Xenophobia has always been a lifestyle that sufficed across the country only that one couldn’t have imagined that it will escalate up to the current level after so many years of civilisation.” Zimbabwean, Nomatter Ndebele who recently graduated from journalism school at the University of the Witwatersrand is very surprised at the turn of events in the country she has come to call home. Her country, along with Botswana and Namibia, is one of the biggest providers of students to South African universities. Her words: “I am very surprised at these attacks. I have studied in South

Learning in the face of Xenophobia •Foreign students in South Africa speak up

Africa all my life; at every level. After the 2008 Xenophobic attacks I really tho u g h t t h a t t h e g e n e r a l i d e a amongst the masses was that it was a terrible and an unjust thing. People were so outraged, that I never imagined that they would willingly go back to that place.” Johnson on the other hand, admits that “insecurity raged severally as soon as her peers spotted her as a “foreigner.” ‘I have encountered xenophobia on several occasions since I came here, but you just have to continue to keep your head high! The fact that I could not speak or understand any of the 12 official languages in my first days in the Republic deterred me severally from getting assistance from natives.” Ironically, Xenophobia seems to be the case of the Black South Africans. Foreign students told SSL that most often the whites are always of assistance, easily approachable and easy to get along with. ‘It doesn’t makes sense,” says Johnson. “There really isn’t any reason to hate a fellow black African or any foreigner for that matter. As there are foreigners in South Africa so also do we have South Africans as foreigners in other countries. Foreigners pay taxes and add to the development of the country sometime we pay double to get services. South Africans in the days

of Apartheid sought refuge in other countries and were accepted with love. Why should they decide to pay back with so much hatred?” Individuals and groups responsible for Xenophobic attacks blame foreigners for taking opportunities meant for indigenous South Africans. But Johnsons brings in logic to this twisted tale. Why should an uneducated person think that a qualified medical Doctor from another African country is the reason for his unemployment? People travel long distances not

to play but to work hard. Xenophobia, I believe, is an extension of racism. Knowledge and exposure still has a paramount role to play. Everyone is a stranger somewhere. I love South Africa. It’s so beautiful here with the European weather to go with; fascinating Landscape, Mountains and Wild life. We are one Africa, and we should stick together and say no to Xenophobia.’ The latest wave of xenophobic attacks has left seven people dead, hundreds injured, and thousands without a place to call home.

SCHOOL CRACKS MATH PROBLEM TEACHER: Here is a Math problem. If your dad earned N500,000 in a week and he gave your mather half, what would she have? STUDENT: “A heart attack. SCHOOL TEACHER When asked for her occupation, a woman charged with a traffic violation said she was a schoolteacher. The judge rose from the bench. "Madam, I have waited years for a schoolteacher to appear before this court." He smiled. "Now, sit down at that table and write 500 times, 'I will not pass through a red light.” (Culled from www.brownielocks.com)

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015 — 61

C M Y K

62— SATURDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 25, 2014

Nigerian Premier League W atc h..... Watc atch.....

We won’t return emptyhanded from Umuahia

—3SCgoalkeeper 3

SC goalkeeper, Kola Ige has said he was confident the Ibadan based outfit were not going to return empty-handed when they travel to Umuahia to face Abia Warriors this weekend. The newcomers kicked off their comeback campaign tottering in the first two matches of the season but got

their steam back with a point at Nasarawa United in match day 4 clash in Lafia while they upped the momentum with a 20 spanking of Kwara United in match day five tie in Ibadan on Wednesday. Ige said he knew that once his side were able to claim a game their migraine headache will forever be a thing of the

past. “I think the difficult period is steadily nearing to run its full circle though the situation does not call for complacency or relaxation. “Of course, there is nothing like relaxation in the lexicon of 3SC as you’re expected to be up and doing at all times. “We’ve a bit of relief right

now following the point we picked at Nasarawa United and the three points against Kwara United. “Prior to the last two decent results the pressure as well as tension was at its breaking point, you can feel and perceive it wherever you turn your face. “Although I understand that what we needed was game to build our confidence now that we’ve got the tonic it’ll greatly help us in the game at Abia Warriors. “We’re taking the new found winning aura to Umuahia and I’m certain we won’t come back empty handed,” Ige told supersport.com. 3SC now have four points in their kitty from maximum 15 in the five-week old Nigerian top

•Ige

flight though with a game at hand against champions, Kano Pillars.

Sunshine SSttar ans ttoo ssttadium with drinks, umbrellas arss woos ffans ttendance at the Akure Township Stadium for the A Match Day 4 fixture between

Sunshine Stars and Dolphins reached a new high of 5,125 and officials of the club have attributed the improved turnout to a new drive by the Club’s management which embarked on awareness campaign and introduction of incentives to reward fans. Ondo State Football Agency’s Deputy Director Marketing & Corporate Affairs, Ayodeji Adegbenro explained in a chat with www.npfl.ng that the agency embarked on a public awareness drive to get the spectators to the stadium. He also disclosed that the chairman of the agency, Hon. Akin Akinbobola had earlier set up a task force to design and implement strategies on engaging the community to grow spectatorship on match days. On the strategy eventually adopted to achieve the increased turn out of fans last Sunday, Adegbenro said, “In the week leading to the game, we had a road show in Akure and neighbouring towns, radio

Ogbeide vows to cut Gabro s t o s iz e B

ayelsa United head ach, Solomon Ogbeide boasted that his sideco has when both teams clash would cut Gabros to their proper size in thi s we ek en d’s Premier League ma Oghara, Delta State. tch in Ogbeide, wile urging said he was already wo his players to be clinical in front of goal, was still suspicious. rking on the defence, which he admitte d “Goal scoring is a loose en d we mu st tighten very well befor head off to our next lea e we gue match. “I thank God for the tur n of event of late as we’ve for our first win to give been looking the players confidenc shell and we got that bre e to come out of their ak thr ou gh against in Oghara.“The FC raba victory was a reaFC Taraba on Sunday with another moraleTa booster, the draw at Sh l boost now followed “We’re not yet there bu arks. we get it 100% perfect t will continue to perfect our strategy un til “We’ll consolidate onthen the catch-up race will end. the newly found winn Gabros when both sid ing au ra against Warri Wolves coach. es clash at the weekend,” said the forme r

•Ogbeide

and TV jingles and also sent out bulk SMS to inform people about the game. On Match Day itself, we provided some side attractions that kept the fans entertained before, during and after the game. The match itself was just a part of the entire event.” He said the incentives introduced by the League Management Company (LMC) to reward clubs that record attendance of upwards of 5,000 fans in a match motivated the club to design and implement the plans that led to the increased attendance. Adegbenro also explained that “attracting huge crowds to games increases the brand appeal of the club to existing

and potential sponsors and inspires the players to improved performances on the pitch. Generally, it creates the right atmosphere for television broadcast and makes the league attractive to watch by those at home.” On the side attractions, the Sunshine Stars marketing director added, “the match day experience was fun-filled as we had a Disc Jockey (DJ) and a dance crew that entertained the crowd. We also held a promotional raffle draw that saw some of the spectators winning items such as footballs, club jerseys, Vuvuzelas, free drinks, etc we plan for this to be a regular feature all through the season.

This weekend’s fixtures Enyimba v Sharks 4pm Abia Warriors v Shooting Stars 4pm Bayelsa United v Gabros 4pm Lobi Stars v Giwa 4pm Akwa United v Dolphins 4pm Rangers v El-Kanemi 4pm Sunshine Stars v Wikki Tourists 4pm Warri Wolves v Heartland 4pm Kwara United v Nasarawa United 4pm Kano Pillars v FC Taraba 4pm Week 5 Results FC Taraba Heartland Gabros Giwa El-Kanemi Shooting Stars Wikki Dolphins Nasarawa United

0 0 2 4 1 2 1 1 2

Enyimba Abia Warriors Lobi Stars Akwa United Sunshine Stars Kwara United Warri Wolves Rangers Kano Pillars

1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 1

Scorers chart Name Team Goals Bright Ejike Heartland 3 Victor Yakubu Wikki Tourist 3 Esosa Igbinoba Nasarawa 3 Ebere Odiche Heartland 2 Jimoh Oni Heartland 2 Alimi Sikiru Warri Wolves 2 Alebiosu Segun Kwara United 2 Ibrahim Mustapha El-kanemi Warriors 2 Bode Daniel Sharks 2 Yusuf Jaiyeola Sharks 2

SATURDAY VANGUARD, APRIL 25, 2014

Countdown to fight of the Century....

Mayweather:

I’m not going crazy over Pacquaio

loyd Mayweather and Manny Pacquaio are in the final stages of preparation for their upcoming May 2 superfight at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. Given the circus-like

atmosphere that has surrounded the event, from the five-plus years of waiting for it to happen, to the manner in which it came together, to the bizarre details surrounding tickets and closed circuit seating, it has truly

dominated headlines from the moment it was believed to be and eventually became a reality. Both fighters have routinely starred in the biggest fights that boxing has had to offer

over the past eight or so years. Each saw their career soar to new heights following wins over Oscar de la Hoya, the last big box office attraction in the sport. Now with their head-on collision comes the opportunity to destroy all revenue records, including the record fight purses to be collected with their splitting a guaranteed $200 million pot in addition to financial upside to be gained. Far be it from either fighter to treat it as anything larger than life, however. Mayweather in particular heads into May 2 with the sense that he’s done this all before and has, given that he was the winning fighter in the two most lucrative fights in boxing history (wins over de la Hoya in May ‘07 and Saul ‘Canelo Alvarez in Sept. ’13). “I’m not going crazy. It’s just a fight to me,” Mayweather (470, 26KOs) insisted during a recent media conference call. “I know it’s the biggest fight in boxing history but I can’t approach it like that. I’m not going to put any unnecessary pressure on me. “I like to approach the fight like Manny Pacquiao is a very good fighter who’s extremely talented. My thing is to just be Floyd Mayweather.” In Mayweather’s mind it should be enough to leave the same way he

Pacquiao:

— 63

came in – undefeated, still welterweight king and the leading box office attraction, as he stands to earn a guaranteed $120 million, plus a heck of a lot more from the financial upside to be gained with the event. Pacquiao, who will make a guaranteed $80 million and figures to top out at well over $100 million, is the betting underdog but the overwhelming sentimental favorite, riding a three fight win streak including a sixknockdown, 12-round shutout of previously unbeaten Chris Algieri last November. Mayweather comes in having beaten Marcos Maidana last September, his second win in as many fights with the Argentine brawler. The bout was less competitive – and thrilling – than their first fight last May, in which Maidana pushed Mayweather to the brink only to come up just short on the cards. The close call with Maidana came eight months after Mayweather was forced to settle for a majority decision in an otherwise dominant performance over Alvarez. The moral of the story is that anything can happen on any given night, which is what Mayweather is prepared for on May 2. “People ask how this fight will be fought. I’m not psychic. I can’t predict the future. I just know I’m going to be at my best on May 2.”

Mayweather’s unbeaten recor d will give me vict or record victor oryy

•Pacquiao

efore breaking into a rendition of the song Manny Pacquiao wrote recently as entrance music for his May 2 fight against Floyd Mayweather Jr., Jimmy Kimmel asked Pacquiao if he is worried because Mayweather has never lost a professional fight. “No, I’m not worried at all,” Pacquiao told the late-night talk show host during a taping that last night. “It’s good for me because it gives more motivation, encouragement, focus to win the fight. It’s been a while that I’m an underdog in a fight, so … it was last in 2008.” The 38-year-old Mayweather (47-0, 26 KOs), a five-division champion commonly considered the best boxer in the world, is approximately a 2-1 favorite over Pacquiao. The last time the 36-year-old Pacquiao (57-5-2, 38 KOs) entered the ring as an underdog, he dominated Oscar De La Hoya (39-6, 30 KOs), who chose not to continue after eight one-sided rounds in their December 2008 bout in Las Vegas.

•May

Mayweather: God doesn’t want Pacquiao to win

here’s no question that Manny Pacquiao is the sentimental favorite heading into his epic May 2 showdown with Floyd Mayweather at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, Nevada. The bout pits the two best fighters in the world in what figures to go down as the most lucrative in boxing history, though not even such stakes are enough for fans to not have to choose a hero and a villain. Mayweather has grown accustomed to playing the bad guy during his rise to fame, to the point of a considerable level of his popularity due to boxing fans tuning in just to see if he will lose. His brash behavior and run-ins both with the law and other celebrities have only added fuel to the fire, while Pacquiao is viewed as

C M Y K

everything that is right with the sport, a fighter who carries himself with class. In recent years, Pacauiao has strengthened his own religious beliefs, to where he feels that by prizefighting he is doing the Lord’s work. He has also gone on record as to believing that God is in the same boat as most of the adoring public in wanting him to become the first to beat Mayweather. To his credit, Mayweather refuses to take the bait, instead believing that such a creator has a plan for all of his children. “God loves us all. I’m a fighter. What I do, I’m a professional prizefighter. I believe in God, I love God. I don’t think God takes sides,” explains Mayweather (47-0, 26KOs), who defends his World welterweight

championship, while both fighters defend a slew of alphabet titles. “Everybody has an opinion, regardless of the situation. My thing is this; I feel like we’re all God’s children. Whether you’re American, Filipino, African, Dominican, Asian, we’re all God’s children. “People are going to root for who they want to root for, it’s plain and simple. I’m pretty sure I got Filipino fans who like me, and I’m pretty sure you got Black American fans who like Pacquiao. I never try to focus on anything like that.I just try to focus on the best fighting the best. “He’s the last guy… or one of the last good fighters out there to scare up. It’s a fight that had to happen and I’m glad that the fight is happening.”

SATURDAY Vanguard, APRIL 25, 2015

6 pages of sports star t here, 37, 38,39, 62 & 63

Garba Lawal: Why I attacked Keshi

•Lawal

>>38,39

•Pinnick

It’s Barca vs Bayern, Juve draw Real

•Keshi

NOW THAT >>63 Mayweather, Pacquiao’s tickets sold out in 60 seconds

KESHI IS BACK

Today’s Matches EPL Southampton v Tottenham 12:45pm Burnley v Leicester 3pm Crystal Palace v Hull 3pm Newcastle v Swansea 3pm QPR v West Ham 3pm Stoke v Sunderland 3pm West Brom v Liverpool 3pm Manchester City v Aston Villa 5:30pm LA LIGA Espanyol v Barcelona Atletico Madrid v Elche Getafe v Levante Real Sociedad v Villarreal

3pm 5pm 7pm 9pm

BUNDESLIGA Dortmund v Frankfurt 2:30pm Cologne v Bayer Leverkusen 2:30pm Hamburg v FC Augsburg 2:30pm Hannover 96 v Hoffenheim 2:30pm Stuttgart v SC Freiburg 2:30pm Bayern Munich v Hertha Berlin 5:30pm SERIE A Udinese v AC Milan Inter Milan v Roma

5pm 7:45pm

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1)Former Croatian President, Ivo _ (9) 5)Traditional Ruler of Benin (3) 7)Objective (3) 8)Minister of Mines & Steel Development, Mohammed _ (4) 10)Egg-Shaped (4) 11)Large Vehicle (5) 12)Former Nigerian President, Rtd. General Ibrahim _ (9) 15)Hebrew Alphabet (5) 17)Former Akwa-Ibom State Governor, Mr. Victor _(5) 18)Bird (5) 19)L.G.A in Kano State (5,4) 23)Barcelona Assistant Coach, Jordi_(5) 25)Papua New Guinea Currency (4) 26)L.G.A in Borno State (4) 28)Espionage (3) 29)Beverage (3) 30)Flying Eagles (U-20) Midfielder, Kelechi_(9)

DOWN 1)Plateau State Capital (3) 2)Ethnic Group in Nigeria (5) 3)Traditional Ruler of Calabar (5) 4)Former British Prime Minister, Mr James _(9) 5)President, Nigerian Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Abdulwaheed _(4) 6)Director-General, Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NACA), Mr. Benedict _(9) 9)L.G.A in Abia State (3) 12)Romanian Capital City (9) 13)Ethiopian Currency (4) 14)President, Ghana Football Association, Mr. Kwesi _(9) 16)Yoruba Word for “Three”? (4) 20)Former Super Eagles Striker, John_(5) 21)Chairman, Joint Health Workers Union (JOHESU), Mr. Ayuba _(5) 22)Period of Twenty-Four Hours (3) 24)L.G.A in Taraba State (4) 27)State in Nigeria known as “The Pace-Setter State”? (3)

Solution on page 21

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>>37