Jonathan 'll contest in2015 — E.K.Clark

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 61630

Discordant opinions trail •P.7 planned election offences tribunal

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ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

N150

FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

•Inside the Big Brother Stargame house •P.35

Jonathan 'll contest in 2015 — E.K.Clark

BY HENRY UMORU

•Tasks Northern leaders to ensure peace

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BUJA—Against the backdrop of the resolution of the 19 northern governors not to support any presidential candidate from the southern part of the country in 2015 election, elder statesman and Ijaw leader, Chief Edwin Clark declared, yesterday, that President Goodluck Jonathan will contest the 2015 presidential election because former Presidents of the country contested for second term in office.

The northern governors

Continues on Page 5

DONU KOGBARA: Dickson’s first 100 days •P. 17 CHILDREN'S PARLIAMENT— Cross section of children and parents at a special sitting of The Nigerian Children's Parliament to commemorate 2012 National Children's Day Celebration yesterday in Abuja. Photo: NAN.

End bloodshed now — Sultan “

The north must come back to its senses and declare firmly and resolutely that enough is enough of the bloodshed.

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Mr & Mrs

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POCKET CARTOON

Jonathan 'll contest in 2015 — E.K. Clark Continues from Page 1 at their forum last week, expressed their determination to sink their differences and unite towards producing the president in the next election.

Addressing newsmen in Abuja as part of activities to mark his 85th birthday today, Chief Clark, however, said section 137 of the 1999 Constitution gives President Jonathan the constitutional right to seek for a second term in office, adding, “I am not aware whether he made any commitment to contest for only one term to Nigerians which is irrelevant at the moment. Personal promises cannot override the constitution of Nigeria”.

Making reference to former President Shehu Shagari to support his point that Jonathan must run for 2015 Presidential election, Chief Clark stressed, “for mer President Shagari contested the presidential election in 1979 and won and in 1983, he contested for the second term in

office before he was ousted by the military, led by General Muhammadu Buhari (rtd).

“Also, for mer President Olusegun Obasanjo contested for the presidential election in 1999 and won and later contested for the second term in office in 2003 and won”, asking why the case should be different for President Jonathan.

According to him, “Jonathan is a Nigerian. Nigerians voted for him beyond religious and cultural differences. What we should be asking is that he should perform as President in office. If he performs well, the same Nigerians should vote for him as he has another term”.

No to scrapping of EFCC The Elder statesman who criticised those calling for the scrapping of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) and the Independent Corrupt Practice and

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

“

SO teach us to number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom” psalm 90:12 Time has been aptly described as the currency of life. It is what you spend your time doing that determines the quality of life you possess.

The way you use your time is a reflection of who you are, your daily pattern is an indication of who you will be tomorrow. Time well spent is an investment well made. Time spent in idleness is a seed of sorrow planted to bring a harvest in regret.

So number your days, take stock of how you spend your time and apply your heart to wisdom! Spend your time well and take the right steps.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

Attitude is a little thing that makes a big difference – Winston Churchill.

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NCE upon a time, there was a king who ruled a prosperous country. One day, he went for a trip to some distant areas of his country. When he was back to his palace, he complained that his feet were very painful, because it was the first time that he went for such a long trip, and the road that he went through was very rough and stony. He then ordered his people to cover every road of the entire country with leather. Definitely, this would need thousands of cows’ skin, and would cost a huge amount of money.

Then one of his wise servants dared himself to tell the king, “Why do you have to spend that unnecessary amount of money? Why don’t you just cut a little piece of leather to cover your feet?”

The king was surprised, but he later agreed to his suggestion, to make a “shoe” for himself.

There is actually a valuable lesson of life in this story- to make this world a happy place to live, you better change yourself - your heart; and not the world.

other related offences Commission (ICPC), stressed that scrapping them was not the best alternative.

Speaking on the conviction of former governor of Delta state, Chief James Ibori for corruption by a London court, Clark said that it will remain a dent on the Nigerian judiciary that had earlier given Ibori a clean bill.

On the activities of members of the Boko Haram sect, Chief Clark appealed to northern elders to help fast-tract the process of dialogue as that would bring an end to the insurgency in the northern part of the country. He stressed that what is happening at the moment is an evil wind which will blow the country no good, just as he urged them to emulate the Niger Delta elders who went to the creeks to talk to the militants to lay down their arms.

Clark who hailed the Sultan of Sokoto, His Eminence Alhaji Muhammad Sa’ad Abubakar III, and the Arewa Consultative Forum (ACF) for ensuring dialogue between the federal government and the Boko Haram sect, said that some politicians must be blamed as masterminds of the Boko Haram sect insurgency.

The Elder statesman who titled his statement: “My 85th Birthday Message to Boko Haram is Peace”, said, “these attacks challenge the very foundation of our unity as a nation. They strike at the root of our democracy, challenge our settled ways of life, our purpose and everything that we stand for.

Nigeria belongs to all of us “Nigeria belongs to all of us, not to a select few and we cannot allow a few group or persons to condemn our country to the dangers of terrorism and threaten our very existence. Open and honest dialogue is the solution to any grievance whether real or imagined. There is no misunderstanding or grievance that dialogue cannot

resolve”.

The press conference was attended by another 87 year-old politician, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai who noted that it was wrong to associate the Boko Haram crisis to the run off to the 2015 general election but traced the emergence of the sect to 2003 during the regime of President Obasanjo in the states controlled by the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP).

Obasanjo can't comment on corruption Chief Edwin Clark also tongue-lashed exPresident Olusegun Obasanjo for saying that many of the lawmakers at both the states and national assemblies are rogues and thieves. According to the Ijaw leader General Obasanjo has no moral justification to

describe members of the National Assembly as rogues and armed robbers.

He argued that the former Chairman of the Board of Trustees, BoT, of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP is the least person to present people as corrupt against the backdrop that he never showed good example on corruption.

According to him, “he never showed good example. What was he in 1999 when he assumed office and

today, he is one of the wealthiest in this country?

“Presidents build their libraries when they leave office. Look at his investment at the librar y, look at his investment at Transcorp. What was he in 1999?", Chief Clark said, while castigating Obasanjo on corruption, explaining that in the United K i n g d o m , parliamentarians go to jail because of a mere one thousand pounds bribe.”

End bloodshed now — Sultan LUKA BINNIYAT & VICTORIA OJEME

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ADUNA — THE Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar (III), yesterday, condemned for the umpteenth time, the spate of killings and destruction in the northern part of the country by the militant Islamic sect Jama'atu Ahlus Sunnah Lid Da'awati Wal jihad, commonly refered to as Boko Haram and declared “enough of the bloodshed”. Towards this end, the Sultan has charged Emirs and Islamic clerics to do all within their powers to end the bloodshed.

Addressing the Central Council meeting of the Jama’atu Nasril Islam (JNI) in Kaduna yesterday, the Sultan of Sokoto, who is President in council of the (JNI) said: “We must not relent in our efforts for the search of peace and security within our society.

“The current level of insecurity in the Northern states is not

only a source of worry and concern to all of us but is also slowly but surely tearing apart the fabric of our religious, social and economic life.

You must put in your best efforts to find an end to this bloodshed.

“The north must come back to its senses and declare firmly and resolutely that enough is enough of the bloodshed. Each and every one of us must come to appreciate that we cannot continue on this destructive path.

“We must open active, meaningful and sincere channels of dialogue and communication to ensure that we listen to those who have real grievances and to take genuine efforts to address them.

“The Muslim Ummah must be resolute and stand against those who take advantage of this unfortunate situation to wreak havoc on society in pursuit of their narrow interests “Allah is never indifferent to the plight of his servants and will definitely put to shame

those who seek to violate the honuor and sanctity of Muslims.

“I charge Traditional and religious leaders to counsel those in position of authority at the federal, state and local government levels that governance must necessarily be equated with service to the people and the socioeconomic development of the society.

The Sultan argued that “the prosperity of the state must translate into the prosperity of the entire populace, it shall not be the exclusive preserve of the few who happen to have access to state resources.

According to him, “The current level of poverty, especially in the Northern states cannot be acceptable in any decent society. We must all work together to build viable community organizations to ensure that no man, woman or child is left to go to bed hungry regardless of his or her status and no individual is deprived of a decent education or access to a functional health facility regardless of his or her economic circumstances”.

6—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

Senate to probe cases of unpaid taxes

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Sudanese Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Tagelsir Mahgoub Ali (left) presenting his Letter of Credence to President Goodluck Jonathan at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: State House.

Removing CBN's autonomy 'll hurt the economy — IMF zSays Nigeria needs structural reforms

BY EMMA UJAH, ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF

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BUJA — AS the debate over Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) autonomy continues to rage, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, has warned that removing the autonomy of the CBN would only hurt the nation’s economy and that those behind the move should let the autonomy be.

According to it, removing the CBN autonomy would not only weaken the apex bank’s regulatory roles but also make it ineffective as those in the helm of its affairs would place political and other considerations above policy decisions necessary to ensure an effective payment system and a generally stable banking sector.

Briefing journalists on the Fund’s recently published Sub-Saharan Africa Regional Outlook, in Abuja, yesterday, the IMF Country Chief and Senior Resident Representative, Mr. W. Scott Rogers, said if the autonomy was removed, CBN officials would be afraid to take policy decisions that might be unpleasant to certain interests that wield political powers.

His words: “The IMF has always argued for strong independence of the Central Bank. It provides them with the autonomy to depoliticize monetary policy actions. Without a strong Central Bank you will not have an independent monetary policy. Everything then depends upon the budget alone and C M Y K

as you can see now, without the Central Bank’s ability to do what it is doing, the results you are seeing won’t be there.

“It is primarily because of the Central Bank’s ability to tighten monetary policy which is the right thing to do.

“It is important for the Central Bank to have the autonomy to hire the people they need and to undertake modernisation that they need to manage payment system effectively.

They should be able to do that without the fear of being penalised. Because they took an unpleasant decision on interest rate policy or because they decided they needed to close a bank. Those are decisions they need to take constantly.”

Time to build buffer

According to Rogers, the economic outlook of the region looks good with some of the countries in Africa, including Nigeria, having the fastest growing rates, globally, but that this is the time for Nigeria to undertake fiscal consolidation measures to strengthen the economy’s resilience “because we don’t know what will happen next.”

According to him, Nigeria must “prepare for future adverse shifts in global economy” by building safety buffers by maintaining fiscal surplus while oil prices are high.

According to the IMF chief, the country should prepare for slow-down growth in the near future as a result of the global eco-

nomic crisis, especially in some countries in the Eurozone which will ultimately affect crude oil demand.

Need for financial discipline at the two lower tiers of govt

Rogers observed that the Federal Government c ould not alone create the necessary fiscal surplus since it spends only about half of the federation revenue and that there was need for the states and local governments to do same.

“The Federal Government spends about half of the federation’s money. The other half is spent by the states and the local government. So if the Federal Government is saving but the others are not it will affect the overall performance of the economy,” he said.

Structural reforms for the needed growth

The IMF Country Rep noted that for the nation to achieve the expected accelerate growth rate, the government must undertake structural reforms in key sectors of the economy, especially power, transportation, the gas sub-sector of the oil petroleum industry, water, education an security.

According to him, the government should move from direct ownership and operation of power to regulation and oversight functions, while in the gas sector, he advocated a reform that would make cost recov-

ery possible with a view to making it attractive to foreign investors.

His words: “Long term growth in any economy is a function of the accumulation of machines, equipment and technology, education of your workforce.

This is where your longterm growth comes from.

"Reforming the power sector, reforming the gas subsector— moving from government direct ownership and operations to regulations and oversight functions. Targeting government spending at people who are adversely affected by such reforms."

BUJA—THE Senate in Abuja, yesterday mandated its Committee on Finance to investigate all issues relating to unpaid taxes and tax evaders.

The committee is to recommend appropriate modalities to be adopted by the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) to effectively block the loopholes created in the system through Back Duty Investigation compliance.

The Senate took this decision following a debate on the need to improve internally generated revenue of the Federal Government through the implementation of back duty investigation.

The sponsor of the motion, Senator Bassey Otu (PDPCross River) noted that recent findings revealed various discrepancies and manipulations by some companies in almost all the sectors of the economy in the payment of taxes.

Otu, who was Chairman of the Finance Committee, said ‘Back Duty Investigation’ was an anti-tax evasion tool applied by the tax authority in Nigeria to recover unpaid taxes.

He said this was obtainable when there had been an omission or error in the assessment or collection of taxes and where there had been falsification or doubtful claims or allowances or relief.

According to Otu, although the FIRS has increased its efforts at inves-

tigating tax cases, the results are still insignificant to the population of all taxable Nigerians.

“Corporate companies operating in Nigeria have undeclared income in terms of Company Income Tax, Withholding Taxes and VAT which forms the major bulk of tax revenue to the government.

He decried the fact that state governments and some Federal Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) had failed in their statutory obligations to remit Withholding Taxes and VAT deducted on contracts to the FIRS. While contributing to the debate, Sen. Smart Adeyemi( PDP-Kogi) said it was unpatriotic and criminal for people to evade payment of taxes.

Adeyemi even accused some Senators of being culpable but Ahmed Lawan (ANPP-Yobe) in a swift reaction noted that senator’s taxes were deducted at source.

Lawan said each senator was paying tax to the tune of N250,000, adding that it was an over payment.

Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, who presided over the plenary session, stressed the need for the country to revolutionise its tax collection system to enhance development.

He also said it was important for the country to increase its internally generated revenue outside the oil sector.

Jonathan reiterates commitment to change educational system

BY BEN AGANDE

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BUJA — PRESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, reiterated the commitment of his administration to changing the country’s educational system from the primary school to the tertiary level in order to provide a pool of trained personnel for the transformation of the country.

Jonathan, who spoke while swearing in members of the presidential committee on award of post graduate scholarship to first class graduates in the State House, noted that for the country to maintain its position as the leading country in Africa, it must develop its human resources to meet up with modern challenges.

He decried the situation

whereby more than 60 per cent of the teaching staff in the country’s tertiary institutions do not have Ph.D, noting: “That is quite embarrassing, it is not good enough.

“I will set up an interministerial department to work with some of you in the academics to come up with policies for robust training for young men and women who are interested in academics to go anywhere in the world. We must reduced that, there is no way that we have up to 60 per cent academic staff without Ph.Ds, it should not be more than 10 per cent.

“We must also select our best brains and expose them properly so that they would form the first core of human tool that would lead to a sustainable transforma-

tion.

“Every year we should tap from among our best brains, selecting our best brains. We are starting with 100 because we have not made adequate arrangement for funding but the number will increase when we make budgetary allocation for it in 2013. We select our best brain in the area of science, enginnering and some areas of economics and expose them to the best facilities available in the world.

“The ministry of education and this committee will have to travel to these universities to negotiate for positions in the top 25 universities in the world. The idea is the best brains, for you to benefit, you must have first class, it is based purely on merit, no quota."

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012—7

Discordant opinons trail planned election offences tribunal

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BY DAPO AKINREFON

AGOS — EMINENT Nigerians, yesterday, expressed diverse views on the Federal Government’s approval of the establishment of a Special Election Offences Tribunal.

The Federal Executive Council, on Wednesday, approved the establishment as a step to check election violence.

From left: Chairman of NERC Sam Amadi; Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu; Minister of Power, Barth Nnaji and President of TUC, Peter Esele at the meeting on increase on electricity tariff and other matters with the Federations of Trade Unions in Nigeria, NLC and TUC at Ministry of Labour, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

I 've no power to hire or fire doctors —Fashola zDenies walking out on doctors

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE, CHIOMA OBINNA & GABRIEL OLAWALE

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AGOS —Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, said he had no power to reinstate the 788 sacked doctors in the state health service, adding that he has no power to employ or sack any doctor.

Fashola who spoke in a television programme in Lagos denied any involvement in the sack of the doctors.

The governor, who spoke without prejudice, regretted that people had failed to understand that government is only an institution and people in public office would one day complete their service and leave while the institution remains.

Fashola said: “I don’t even have the power to employ a doctor. A doctor is employed by the Health Service Commission and the Hospital Management Board that have delegated authority to the commission in line with the law made by the State House of Assembly. This body deals with employment, they approve promotions, they have disciplinary powers and also powers to review disciplinary procedures.

The law does not give the governor any role to play in that process.

“Except the appointment of the chairman and other members of the board on the recommendation of the Commissioner for Health, that is the only role the gov-

ernor has to play there.”

Fashola further explained that his approval was not needed in promotion, employment as well as in disciplinary procedures, stating that what is happening currently with the doctors was an institution that is acting.

Condition for their recall Fashola who insisted that government would allow institutions to work independently noted that the only condition for their recall would be if he is advised to do so by the appropriate authorities.

Fashola said the doctors were employed by the state health commission and were answerable to it and not the governor, noting: “If I receive advice that I can do so, I probably would.

The problem there is that the law does not give me a role to play except in appointment."

Drawing analogy with elections, he said: "The law says that once you appoint a chairman, he is independent. Then, it is wrong for me or anyone to say go and change that. No matter how aggrieved we feel, we must allow institutions to work. If anyone is aggrieved with the results, you have to go to a tribunal to say that the results were wrong.

“If they failed to do their job or is done improperly, there is institution also set up to correct them. They cannot be self correct.”

He said if all the parties genuinely seek solution,

there will be away out.

Denies walking out on doctors He denied reports that he (Fashola) ever walked out on the doctors, saying he only excused himself for another engagement.

He said: “All I can do is what I did yesterday. I had an engagement to receive a governor, I was running late. I had an appointment.

They doctors said they want to see me.

"The courteous thing to do was to see them with our people. And to say look I

don’t believe that the doors are closed but you find the keys to open the doors. Go back to your employers. But you must excuse me for this meeting because I am going somewhere. As a courtesy, I have received you and even in spite of that, I spent time with you and have to excuse my self.

These are the facts of the matter.

“Those who know me know that it was not the truth. I have a legitimate reason not to be with them but I waited for them to see what we could do to promote peace."

Hembe: Reps accuse EFCC of bias, finger Oteh

BY OKEY NDIRIBE & EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

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BUJA — THE House of Representatives, yesterday, accused the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) of bias over the arraignment of Chairman, House Committee on Capital Market, Hon. Herman Hembe. The lower House pointed accusing finger at the Director General of The Securities Commission, SEC, Ms Arunma Oteh over the development.

The anger of the leadership of the House was based on the fact that it is widely believed that Oteh must have used her connection as a statutory member of the EFCC to ensure Hembe was embarrassed.

Deputy spokesman of the House, Hon Victor Ogene, disclosed that the EFCC knew that the Capital Market probe was on-going yet the commission went ahead to arraign the chairman and his deputy.

He explained that “how on earth can you make available travel documents and estacode on October 19 and expect the person to travel same day?

“It is unfortunate that the Ethics and Privileges committee mandated to investigate the matter was still waiting for the probe to end when Hembe was arraigned.

“They are basing the whole thing on Section 308 and we know nothing will come out of it because we allow other arms of government to perfect whatever they are doing."

It’s a fraudulent act — Sagay

Constitutional lawyer, Professor Itse Sagay, faulted the tribunal, noting that the tribunal’s jurisdiction should include trial of electoral fraud and rigging.

Sagay accused the Peoples Democratic Party, PDPled government of allegedly trying to deceive the nation, adding that the tribunal should also prosecute electoral offenders and riggers.

He said: “When I read it, what came to my mind is that it is a fraudulent device. I say that because on reading the newspapers, it was reported that it was limited to election violence.

That is not the problem with us, our problem is election rigging and fraud. Honestly, the way I see it is that the PDP is deceiving the whole country and diverting our attention to violence when the main thing they thrive on is rigging and fraud. As long as that is not done, I am not interested in it because it is fraudulent.

Speaking further, he said: “That tribunal should cover everything; it should cover electoral fraud, it should cover election rigging so that those who are rigging elections will also be punished not just those who are violent."

It’ll reduce election violence — Balarabe Musa

National Chairman of the Conference of Nigeria Political Parties, CNPP, Alhaji Balarabe Musa, said the establishment would reduce election violence, adding: “INEC needs a special court to try cases of election violence.”

Musa, however, urged that the tribunal should try cases of violence arising from the 2011 elections to stop perpetrators from being violent during the 2015 polls.

According to him, “If it will start with the next elections, it does not make sense; it should start with previous elections.”

I support it — Aturu

On his part, rights crusader, Mr Bamidele Aturu, said: “My view is that it is a welcome development but government needs to show very clearly that all those who participate in rigging elections are made to pay dearly for it. And once this is done, I believe that many of the hoodlums who engage in this act will go out of circulation."

It’s a welcome devt but... —SNG

In the same vein, the Save Nigeria Group, SNG, described the decision as a welcome development Speaking on behalf of the SNG, its spokesperson, Mr Yinka Odumakin, said: “It is a plus for government on one side in respect to which the reason why people continue to engage in electoral offences is because those who engage in it have never been prosecuted. By the time we have such a tribunal, we are going to measure their performances.

"On the other hand, if you don’t conduct credible elections, the setting up of a tribunal to prosecute electoral offenders is a waste of time, that is a mockery of the process. The government that is setting up the tribunal must ensure that we have credible elections because if we have credible elections, there won’t be need to set up tribunals to prosecute offenders."

It’s a good one — CPC stalwart

A chieftain of the Congress for Progressive Change, Mr David Aghanya, also hailed the planned establishment.

“INEC needs a special court to hasten up crucial legal issues. In fact, we advocate that the EFCC and ICPC should also have special courts,” he said.

No need for special court — PPP chairman

However, the National Chairman of the Progressive Peoples Party, Mr Damian Ogbonna, kicked against the plan, saying there was no need for such special courts.

Ogbonna said that the regular courts should be able to accommodate all cases.

He said: “It is unnecessary; our regular court system is okay; the investigators and prosecutors are still the same Nigerian police.”

8 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

Vanguard , FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012—9

Ex-director's ill-health stalls Atuche's trial

Briefly

Fashola inaugurates 8 roads

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH, ONOZURE DANIA & MICHAEL OLADEPO

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI & MONSUR OLOWOOPEJO

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A G O S — GOVERNOR Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, handed over eight inner network of roads totalling 13 kilometres in Alimoso area of the state to the residents as part of efforts to create alternative access roads in the communities.

This came as the governor, after inspecting Igando Housing Estate, ordered the Lagos State Property D e v e l o p m e n t Corporation, LSDPC, to stop further collection of down payments from individuals interested in purchasing houses in the estate.

The roads which have just been rehabilitated by the government were Shasha/Orisumbare Ejigbo roads, Agodo Community roads, Association Avenue, Old Ota road. Others were Rufai, Yekini, and Church streets in Egbeda/Akowonjo area of the local government.

Bi-Courtney marks MMA2 @5

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KEJA—ACTIVITIES marking the fifth anniversary of the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Ikeja, Lagos, begin on Monday, May 28.

A statement by the Public Relations Officer (PRO), Bi-Courtney Aviation Services Limited (BASL), operators of MMA2, Steve OmolaleAjulo, yesterday, said the firm was celebrating the revolution it had brought to flight operations in the country in the last five years through the stateof-the-art terminal, which commenced operations in May 2007.

It said, “the celebration is necessary because MMA2 is the first successful Public-Private Partnership, PPP, project in the aviation industry in the country”, adding that with the pioneering initiative, the terminal had become the benchmark for other airports in the country.

PRESENTING IT RIGHT: From left, Director-General, National Orientation Agency, NOA, Mr. Mike Omeri; presenting the “Do the Right Thing Transform Nigeria” plaque to Director-General, National Sports Commission, NSC, Dr. Patrick Ekeji, during an advocacy visit of NSC management team to NOA Corporate Headquarters, Abuja,

Court rejects Lagos plea to stop striking doctors' suit zTrial begins June 19

BY BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

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AGOS—THE National Industrial Court, NIC, Lagos Division, yesterday ruled that it had jurisdiction to entertain the suit filed by the Medical Guild against

the Lagos State Government.

Delivering ruling on a preliminary objection filed by the state government challenging the court’s jurisdiction, Justice Benedict Kanyip said the subject-matter of the suit centred on industrial disputes.

According to him, “the jurisdiction of this court lies in the National Industrial Court Act and Section 245(c) of the 1999 Constitution that allows it to adjudicate on labour matters related to wages, strike or dispute between employers and employees.”

JAF seeks visa ban on Lagos officials for medical trips

BY VICTOR AHIUMA -YOUNG

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AGOS—JOINT Action Forum, JAF, umbrella body for prolabour civil society organisations, yesterday, wrote to foreign missions in Nigeria not to grant travel visas to officials of Lagos State Government

for medical trips.

JAF, in an open letter to Ambassadors and High Commissioners of foreign missions in Nigeria, entitled, “Ban on travel for health purpose on Lagos State public officials”, said the request became imperative following information that senior officials of the Lagos State Government and their

relations are leaving the country for medical treatment, at very great cost to the taxpayer, while the greater mass of the people suffer under the current situation.

The letter was signed by

by Dr. Dipo Fashina and Mr. Abiodun Aremu, JAF Chairman and Secretary respectively.

Adeboye tasks Nigerians on love, unity

BY OLAYINKA LATONA

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AGOS—GENERAL Overseer of Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, Pastor Enoch Adeboye, has called on Nigerians to imbibe the spirit of love and unity to enhance Nigeria’s socio-economic development.

Believing God is in control of the situation of the country, Pastor Adeboye said with the spirit of love and unity, the country will regain its lost glory and bounce back as the giant of Africa.

Speaking through the Assistant Pastor of RCCG national headquarters

parish, Pastor Goke Aniyeloye, at a briefing to herald the monthly special prayer meeting of the church, Adeboye asked Nigerians to shun sins and other negative tendencies and work towards the betterment of the country.

According to him, “The number one thing Nigerians should embrace is love, let the Easterners love the Westerners, Northerners and vice-versa, without this we cannot be living as one nation but with different groups and minds. We should support those in leadership positions and through these the

country will bounce back not only as the giant of Africa but giant of the world.”

Kanyip ruled that although the Medical Guild was not a registered trade union as claimed by the government, it was too late in the day for them to say so as they had always dealt with it as a body.

The judge said even if the Medical Guild had failed as a juristic body that could sue, the two doctors who had sued on behalf of the guild could sue because they were persons who were allowed by law to do so.

Justice Kanyip said, “I am of the view that the suit is suitable and can be sustained, whether it succeeds comes after we go into the merit of the case. I think that justice of this court will give the parties the opportunity to hear this matter not to shut out the claimants as requested by the respondents. ''I hereby hold that the suit is competent and that the court has the jurisdiction to hear the case. The objection is dismissed and no cost is awarded to the claimants.”

He adjourned the case to June 19, for trial.

AGOS—THE absence of Mr. Lekan Kasali, a former Director of Bank PHB,(now Keystone Bank), who was charged alongside former Managing Director of the bank, Mr Francis Atuche, yesterday stalled further hearing of the N7.2 billion fraud suit brought against them by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC. EFCC had accused Atuche and Kasali of allegedly stealing the money belonging to the bank.

When the matter came up before Justice Adeniyi Onigbanjo, Mr. Chris Eme, who represented Kasali, informed the court that his client was indisposed and on admission in the hospital.

Apologizing, Eme said it was Kasali’s state of health that necessitated his absence from the court.

While tendering a letter from the hospital as a proof, he said, “My lord, the second defendant is presently ill and is on admission in the hospital.

My lord will notice from the court records that he has never been absent from proceedings. On the basis of his ill-health, I will be craving the court’s indulgence for a short adjournment.”

Accepting the request for adjournment, counsel to EFCC, Kemi Pinheiro, SAN, said he could not oppose the call for adjournment since he could confirm that the second defendant had never been absent from proceedings.

Atuche’s counsel, Mr Deji Sasegbon, SAN, did not object to the application for adjournment.

Edo citizens fault court's verdict on LG tenure

L

AGOS—EDO State residents in Lagos, under the umbrella of “Edo United”, Lagos, yesterday, condemned a judgment delivered by Justice A k o m o l a f e -W i l s o n , saying, “it was wrong because she failed in her duty to study 2003 Supreme Court verdict on the tenure of local government officials which advised for the

elongation of Local Government Councils through the enactment of law by the State Houses of Assembly”.

In a statement, the group's General Secretary, Mr. Inwalomhe Donald, said, “I want to draw the attention of Akomolafe-Wilson to the following Nigerian Electoral Acts that have not been domesticated in Edo State: The electoral

Act 2003, electoral Act, 2006 and Nigeria’s electoral Bill 2010.

“Governor Oshiomhole's dissolution of local government was a step taken in good faith and he acted in pursuant of section 10 (1) of the 2000 Local Government Law, which dealt with the tenure of the leadership of the Councils starting from three months before the end of the tenure.''

10—VANGUARD , FRIDAY, MAY 25,

2012

Ondo monarch's wife in public brawl z25-yr-old serial rapist docked

BY DAYO JOHNSON

A

SOCIAL SECURITY. L-R: Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Commissioner for Labour , Productivity and Human Capital Development, Mr. Wole Adewunmi; presenting a cheque to one of the beneficiaries, Mrs. Lydia Osadare, during the flag-off of the second bactch of the State’s Social Security Scheme for Elderly Citizens in Omuo, yesterday

K U R E —

POLICE in Ondo State have arraigned a 25-yearold suspected serial rapist, Oluwaseun Falegbe, before an Akure Magistrate's Court on a two-count charge of criminal conspiracy and intent to commit felony.

This came as the wife of a traditional ruler, Oba Kasali Adedeji, the Olusupare of SupareAkoko in Ondo State, Olori Sefiat Adedeji, was also docked before a Chief Magistrate's Court for fighting publicly.

News of the suspect has

ACN, PDP trade words over Salami's reinstatement

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

O

SOGBO—ACTION Congress of Nigeria, ACN, and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in the South-West, yesterday, traded words over the refusal of President Goodluck Jonathan to reinstate Justice Ayo Salami as the President of the Court of Appeal after recommendations by the National Judicial Council, NJC. ACN described the refusal of Jonathan to reinstate Salami many days after NJC’s recommendation as unfair, saying the President had shown partisanship on the issue, PDP challenged ACN to tell Nigerians whether or not Salami is a member of the party, ACN.

ACN speaks Speaking through its Osun State Chapter, in a statement by its Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, ACN said: “The unfolding manipulation of court process to prevent justice on the matter will backfire in a tragic way for the country’s judiciary and the administration of justice.

'We do not think it augurs well for the country ’s democracy and those who are watching us from outside this country will be disappointed that hope for the rule of law to be entrenched in Nigeria is fast fading with violence on the increase and poverty becoming endemic, C M Y K

because of corruption. Now injustice is also taking hold. ''ACN is worried that Mr President seems to be acting like somebody who has forgotten history. Those who had toyed with justice and democratic norms in Nigeria some 50 years ago paid dearly for it. If care is not taken, the events of 1962 and 1966 are about to repeat themselves.”

PDP reacts

Reacting, PDP said ACN and its “allies’ continuous attack on President Jonathan and other notable individuals and institutions in the country over the suspension of Justice Salami is a confirmation that the ACN has interests different from the sanctity and uphold of the rule of law in the country.”

Speaking through its Zonal Publicity Secretary, Mr. Kayode Babade, PDP said it was funny that the same ACN that kept silent when one of its governors, Dr. Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti State refused to swear in two people recommended for appointment as judges

by NJC was the one attacking the President for choosing to toe the line of rule of law on the issue of J u s t i c e Salami.

“The questions Nigerians must now begin to ask these ACN people are what their interest is in the Justice Salami issue? Why is it that they are the ones defending the suspended judge, organising protests and mobilising media support for him? Isn’t it now clear that Justice Salami actually sold Ekiti and Osun

states to ACN and the party is now paying him back by standing by him during his travail?

Moreso that the travail was occasioned by the ignoble role he played on the two controversial judgments?”

“Perhaps, Justice Salami is

actually ACN Deputy National Chairman (Judiciary) as now being said by members of the public, and the ACN people should be bold enough to unveil his (Salami) membership status in the party.”

been the talk of town in Akure metropolis following reports that he used to go around female dormitories of secondary schools to have carnal knowledge of the girls.

Police said he was arrested last week at a public secondary school where he was said to have gone for his illicit act.

Falegbe was said to have been on the wanted list of security operatives in the state for some time.

He was arrested by the security guards and students of Saint Peter’s Unity School about 2 am inside the female dormitory.

The suspect was said to have been armed with a knife and a liquid suspected to be acid.

Police prosecutor, Emmanuel Tanimowo,told the court that the suspect had been discovered to be the brain-behind the numerous rape cases and attempted rapes in the state capital at female dormitories.

The state counsel, Wale Bamisile, who has taken over the case in accordance with Section 211 of the 1999

Alleged N11bn scam: Case against Akala suffers setback

BY OLA AJAYI

I

BADAN—THE corruption charges preferred against former governor of Oyo State, Otunba Adebayo AlaoAkala, suffered setback,

yesterday, as the state High Court declared illegal the appearance of a private counsel who stood in for the counsel to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Chief Godwin Oblah.

Akala, one of his former

8 arrested over death of Okadaman in Abeokuta

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

A

BEOKUTA—THE police in Ogun State have arrested no fewer than eight officials of Ogun State Traffic Compliance and Enforcement Corps, TRACE, over the death of a motorcyclist, Samuel Adoke.

Adoke was allegedly beaten to death by TRACE officials on Wednesday over alleged traffic offence.

Vanguard gathered that the suspects have been detained at Eleweran Police Headquarters in Abeokuta after they reportedly made statements on the unfortunate incident which occurred on the yet-to-be commissioned road at

Sokori area of the town.

It was learnt that a u t o p s y w a s being conducted on Adoke who was an employee of one of the new generation banks in Abeokuta.

The result, it was learnt, would be ready in two days.

It will be recalled that the man allegedly met his death in the hands of the traffic officials numbering about 15 while plying a newly-constructed six-lane road scheduled for commissioning next week

by Governor Ibikunle Amosun.

The officials were alleged to have fled the scene after the man died, but one of them was later arrested by the police.

aides, Senator Hosea Agboola and an Ibadanbased businessman, Mr. Femi Babalola, are standing trial over alleged N11.5 billion scam during the past administration in the state.

The case was earlier stalled when the counsel to the accused persons argued that the prosecution counsel was wrong to have asked another lawyer to represent him.

At the last sitting, EFCC counsel was represented in court by Otunba Olayinka Bolanle, but Chief Mohammad Osman (SAN), told the court that he had no judicial power to represent the anti-graft counsel.

Bolanle told the court that he had been appearing along with Oblah since the commencement of the case and so he was qualified to represent Oblah.

In his ruling, Justice Akintunde Boade of court 2, ruled in favour of the defendants, saying the private counsel lacked the constitutional power to prosecute the accused persons since the fiat to prosecute the case was solely conferred on the lead counsel, Chief Oblah.

Constitution, immediately applied for adjournment to enable the state regularise its position on the matter.

Chief Magistrate Olayinka Omole thereafter granted his oral application and ordered that the suspect be kept in prison custody till the date of the adjournment.

Mean time, Olori Adedeji was said to have publicly fought one Mrs. Comfort Awogbamila in the town on May 4.

The charge sheet stated that “ you Comfort Awogbami and Olori Sefifat Adedeji that on May 4, about 8pm at Supare Magisterial District unlawfully involved yourself in fighting in public at Ugbe Quarters, Supare-Akoko and thereby committed an offence contrary to Section 83 of the Criminal Code Cap 37 Vol 11, laws of Ondo State”.

At the mention of the matter, yesterday, the Police Prosecutor, Mr Steven Dickson, said he had four witnesses that would testify against the accused and that he was ready to proceed with the case.

However, counsel to the Olori, Mr. Bayo Olorunmeke, said he has not been served with the charge preferred against his client and that he would need to study the charge.

S-West doctors to join striking colleagues in Lagos

BY DAYO JOHNSON

A

K U R E —

THE Nigerian Medical Association, NMA, in the South-West, yesterday, threatened to embark on solidarity strike in support of the 788 sacked doctors by the Lagos State Government.

South-West Chairman of NMA, Dr. Oluwatoyin Adetan, said this in Akure while speaking on the alleged systematic decimation of medical and dental practitioners in Lagos State.

Adetan, however, appealed to governors of the South-West states and well-meaning Nigerians to intervene in the crisis before it completely get out of hand.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012—11

You don't exist, sacked APGA members tell exco

Forceful Islamisation is wrong — Yakowa

BY EMEKA MAMAH

G

BY VINCENT UJUMADU & ENYIM ENYIM

A

WKA—EXPELLED members of Anambra State branch of All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, have said in Awka that their purported expulsion from the party was illegal as those who claimed to have sacked them have no authority to act on behalf of the party.

The state executive of the party recently announced the expulsion of Governor Peter Obi’s Special Adviser on Parks and Markets, Chief Sylvester Alor and two others, namely Dr. Godson Emebo and Mr. Ray Okoli, over alleged antiparty activities.

However, at a meeting, yesterday, in Awka, Nwobu Alor’s group said their removal from the party was unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect, adding that the APGA executive that expelled them had since ceased to exist.

Nwobu-Alor, also at the meeting brokered by elders and stakeholders in the state under the leadership of Dr. Tim Menakaya, insisted that he would never be a party to any reconciliation move by anybody.

Emebo, who addressed reporters after the meeting, also argued that those who announced their expulsion failed to follow constitutional means as those accused of anti-party activities were not given opportunity to defend themselves.

JNI MEETS: From right— Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar, Sultan of Sokoto; Alhaji Mukhtar Yero, Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, and Alhaji Abubakar Ibn Umar Garbai, Shehu of Borno, at the annual Central Council Meeting of The Jamaatu Nasril Islam, JNI, at Arewa House, Kaduna, yesterday. PHOTO: Olu Ajayi.

Insecurity mortgages our future— Nigerian children

BY VICTORIA OJEME

A

BUJA—AS part of activities marking the 2012 Children’s Day celebration, Nigerian Children Parliament sat, yesterday, demanding an end to the spate of killings in the North, describing rising insecurity in the region as a threat to their future.

The children parliament, at its sitting in Abuja, also called for dialogue to end the killings that had turned many children to orphans, leading to a hopeless and bleak future.

They said: “Our future looks bleak, this country cannot continue to move like this. Something must be done to save our future.”

Led by their Speaker, Idara Thompson, the children said there was need for concerted efforts to tackle the menace either in form of pleading

or dialogue.

The parliament said: “All these spilling of blood of Nigerians for the sake of money must be stopped for meaningful progress in the country.

The wordings and meaning of the National Anthem must be properly followed for this country to get to the promised land.”

Minister of Information, Labaran Maku, while blaming adults for

introducing violence to Nigerian children, said the menace will continue to bring division among Nigerian children.

Stating that Nigerian children were bothered by the high rate of violence in the country, Maku stressed the resolve of the Federal Government to do everything possible to stem the tide in the country.

He said: “It is the right of every Nigerian child to

live and grow in peace.

Where we have offended the Boko Haram sect, we will go and beg. If it is dialogue, we will engage in a meaningful one for peace to reign in the country.”

Minister of Women Affairs, Hajia Zainab Maina, while charging Nigerian children to hold their future in their hands, said they needed the leaders to enable them shape their future.

OVERNOR Patrick Yakowa of Kaduna State, yesterday, described the attempt by some Muslims to compel non-Muslims to change their religions as unIslamic, saying even Prophet Mohammed related with the Jews of the city of Madinah and the Christian delegation of Najran.

Yakowa spoke while declaring open a meeting of the Central Council of the Jama’atul Nasril Islam, JNI, at the Umaru Yar’Adua Indoor Sports Complex, Murtala Square, Kaduna.

Former Premier of Northern Nigeria and Sardauna of Sokoto, late Sir Ahmadu Bello, set up the JNI in January 1962 with the aim of, among other things, organising the Ulama (Islamic Scholars) as an effective and united body so that they could bring their vast influence to bear on the society more meaningfully and effectively.

Yakowa said: “Undoubtedly, I consider this invitation to declare open the 2012 JNI meeting as an opportunity to meet my brothers and sisters in order to join hands with them to promote love and compassion among the children of one family, that is the family of Adam and Eve.”

Govs major threat to democracy, says ex-Information Minister

BY TAYE OBATERU

J

OS—FORMER Min ister of State for Information and Communication under late President Umaru Yar ’Adua, Alhaji Ibrahim Nakande, has said the excesses of state governors must be

checked for democracy to take a firm root in the country.

He told Vanguard in an interview on the 13th anniversary of the return of democracy in the country that governors remained a major impediment to democratic

culture permeating the grassroots, accusing them of theft of public funds.

Nakande said: “Governors are practically stealing from the electorate. Most of them do not have the moral high ground to be in the offices they are occupying because all the elections that we have had in this country were marred by various malpractices.

“They are not just stealing, but they are also practically turning the constitution of Nigeria upside down. They are tampering with local government funds, they are trampling on the rights of even members of the houses of assembly in their oversight functions.”

Nakande, who noted that corruption had eaten deep into the fabric of the nation’s ethos, urged the National Assembly to use the planned review of the constitution to address some of the problems besetting the polity.

He said: “I pray that the National Assembly will have the political will to do what is necessary.” in amending the constitution by criminalising governors who violate the constitution.

12—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

Coalition faults Jonathan on Edo guber

BY VICTOR AHIUMAYOUNG

B

ENIN—COALITION for Good Governance and Economic Justice in Africa, CGGEJA, has faulted media reports credited to President Goodluck Jonathan, that “intelligence reports from different security agencies submitted to him suggested that Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, will win the July 14 governor-

Alpha May Club holds anniversary VISIT: From right— Mr. Emeka Nkwocha, Advert Manager; Mr. Mideno Bayagbon, Editor, both of Vanguard Newspapers; Mr. Sola Adebanwo, Communications Manager, Chevron Nigeria Limited; Mr. Victor Anyaegbudike, Senior Communications Representatives, Chevron Nigeria Limited and Odunayo Adewuyi, Communications Representatives, all of Chevron Nigeria Limited, during Chevron's visit to Vanguard in, Lagos, yesterday. PHOTO: Bunmi Azeez.

Urhobo youths petition Jonathan over fed appointments, amnesty programme

BY BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

U

RHOBO Youth Council, UYC, has petitioned President Goodluck Jonathan over alleged marginalisation of the Urhobo in the scheme of things, especially with regards to political appointments and empowerment.

In an open letter to the President, by the UYC National President, Henry Baro, and two others, the group particularly drew the President’s attention to the large scale exclusion of the Urhobo from the post-amnesty programme of the Federal Government.

The group lamented the fact that virtually all positions in the president’s government were reserved for Ijaw people, to the exclusion of other ethnic groups in Delta State.

The letter read: “We are constrained to write you this open letter to bring to your notice and necessary attention the gross marginalisation of Urhobo people and the appropriation of all appointments, projects and empowerment by the Ijaw nationality to the detriment of their neighbours and other ethnic nationalities in South-South geo-political zone.

“As your kith and kin fron the South geo-political zone, we are not unmindful of the serious security challenges buffeting your administration, including the Boko Haram insurgency and the spate of kidnapping C M Y K

and crime that are defying the road map of your Transformation Agenda.

“While we empathise with you as you struggle to steady the ship of state, it is pertinent that we draw your attention to the criminally gross marginalisation of the Urhobo who occupy Delta Central senatorial district and also form majority population in Warri South and Patani Local Government Areas in Delta State.

“For good measure, the Urhobo in Delta Central have registered votes of well over 920,000. Out of this figure, over 860,000 votes were delivered to you during the presidential election. It is thus amazing that your home state of Bayelsa with such votes in addition to your high office as President and Commander-in-Chief, also produced some of the following: Minister of Petroleum; chairman of NDDC; National Security Adviser, NSA, etc.

“To give vent to the rumoured Ijaw agenda at the expense of other nationalities, your administration went further to patronise the Ijaw of Delta State who are less than 12 per cent of the state’s population.

“Your administration brazenly took the ministerial slot zoned to the Urhobo by Alhaji Musa Yar’Adua and handed it to the minority Ijaw kinsman, Elder Godson Orubebe.”

The group noted that the Federal University of Petroleum approved and sited in

Urhoboland had remained largely unfunded, stressing that the East-West road was also in a perpetual state of disrepair.

To right the wrongs, UYC urged the President to ensure appointment of a qualified minister from

Urhobo, being the slot that was zoned to the Urhobo; inclusion of Urhobo, who subscribed to the amnesty programme, in the training of ex-militants, and funding of federal institutions and projects sited in Urhobo land and other nationalities.

... as NDYAPJ calls for probe

W

ARRI—A NIGER Delta youths group, Niger Delta Youths Assembly for Peace and Justice, NDYAPJ, has called on the National Assembly to institute a comprehensive probe to determine the extent to which the letters and spirit of the amnesty proclamation has been followed and implemented.

In a statement issued in Sapele, yesterday, and signed by the group’s spokesperson,

Mr. Ejiro Akpomiemie, the body decried what it described as “the monoethnic implementation of the programme.”

He said: “The situation in the Niger Delta region now is such that the whole region seems to be assumed as being inhabited by one single ethnic group which is the Ijaw.”

Such thinking in the view of the group is reflected in the patterns of political appointments and allocation of projects.

T

HE 27th anniversa ry celebration of Alpha-May Club will hold on Saturday May 26, 2012 from 1p.m. at the Metropolitan Club in Kofo Abayomi, VictoriaIsland. The theme of this year ’s anniversary is Ingredients of unity among the ethnic nationalities in Delta State.

The guest speakers are Chief Brodrick Bozimo and Mr. Emmanuel Ogidi, while the chairman of the occasion is Chief Arthur Mbanefo.

ship election in Edo State.”

The group said it does not believe that President Jonathan made the statement attributed to him.

CGGEJA, in a statement by its Coordinator, Alhaji Dada Akpeji, said if the President made such statement, then it was revealing and puzzling.

It said: “If Edo PDP and its leaders are waiting on Jonathan for assurance to win election rather than campaign, then they may need to get assurance from God to actually defeat the people they hope to govern.

“I want to believe that the President did not make the statement. As President of Nigeria and not of PDP, should he meddle in Edo State election?”

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012—13

Father of quadruplets gets employment

O

COMMISSIONING: Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State (middle) cutting the tape to commission six newly acquired waste disposal trucks for the state environmental agency ASEPA, in Umuahia. With him are from right Prince I. K. Apugo, GM. ASEPA, Mr. Solomon Ogungi, Commissioner for Environment, Abia state and on the left, Sen. Emma Nwaka, PDP Chairman, Abia State.

WERRI—IMO Transport Company has offered automatic employment to Mr. Matthew Ukuegbu, the father of a set of quadruplets recently delivered in Owerri.

Managing Director of the company, Mr. Emeka Duru, said in Owerri yesterday, that the gesture was to enable the parents to face the enormous challenges of raising the babies.

Duru noted that the challenges before the family had “quadrupled” owing to the birth of the babies, adding that the company was moved by

HIV prevention drug unveiled

Masses, problem of governance A in Nigeria—Obi

BY VICTORIA OJEME

BY TONY EDIKE

E

NUGU—VICE President of Nigeria Governors’ Forum, NGF, Governor Peter Obi of Anambra State, said yesterday, that the major problem militating against good governance in Nigeria was not necessarily the leaders, but mainly the masses.

According to him, the masses continue to feed the leaders with false information, instead of acting as a gadfly that should always keep the leaders awake to the reality of the situation in the society.

Obi, who made the assertion during the opening ceremony of a twoday NGF Governance Share Fair, South-East zone, currently holding at the Nike Lake Resort, Enugu, noted that the people being led hardly tell their leaders the truth, thereby contributing to the confusion which such leaders would have to tackle.

The Governance Share Fair was organised by the Nigeria Governors’ Forum in alliance with the South-East regional office of the Department for International Development, DFID, of the British High Commission.

Addressing the participants, Obi said: “ I was with some people the other day, and I told them that the problem of governance in Nigeria is the people and they said how, and I said can any C M Y K

of you tell me who among you that can tell the governor that you are doing the wrong thing? ”Therefore the heart of everything today is good governance. But good governance has two ways; yes, the leader must be visionary; the leader must galvanise and articulate what it takes to achieve his mission. The leader also needs the gadfly; you know when a cow moves, the average cow sleeps; what keeps the cow awake is that little thing that touches its tail, the gadfly.

"So we will continue to be awake, and we need

the people to keep the leaders awake by saying this is not right, this is not right. But whenever you go out, you meet ten people and they tell you that you are wonderful, so how can you know what is wrong in the system?”

The Anambra State governor said the participants were at the event to learn to do the right things that would move the society forward, rather than drag it backward. ”We are here to learn.

We want to know those things we are not doing right so we can do them right, because the people

You can’t sack us, expelled Anambra APGA members tell state exco Nwobu Alor and two othBY VINCENT UJUMADU & ENYIM ENYIM

A

W K A — E X PELLED members of Anambra State branch of the embattled All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, have said in Awka, that their purported expulsion from the party was illegal as those who claimed to have sacked them had no authority to act on behalf of the party.

The state executive of the party recently announced the expulsion of Governor Peter Obi’s special adviser on parks and markets, Chief Sylvester

ers, Dr. Godson Emebo and Mr. Ray Osita Okoli, over alleged anti-party activities.

But at a meeting yesterday in Awka, Nwobu Alor ’s group said their removal from the party was unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect, adding that the APGA executive that expelled them had since ceased to exist.

Nwobu-Alor, also at the meeting brokered by elders and stakeholders in the state, under the leadership of Dr Tim Menakaya, insisted that he would never be a party to any reconciliation move by anybody.

voted us to do the right things; to improve the situation of things in the country; they did not vote us to do the wrong things. There’s improvement, but we must do the right things,” he said.

In his speech, DirectorGeneral of NGF, Mr. A. B. Okauru, said the event was meant to enable state governments showcase their achievements and learn from one another.

He added that the NGF had overtime become more focused on policy priorities calculated to “ reduce poverty, enhance development and generally create better connection between government and the citizenry.”

the poor living standard of the couple.

He also announced that the company had paid the medical bills incurred for the birth, and donated an undisclosed amount of money to the parents for the upkeep of the babies.

In his reaction, Ukwuegbu commended the company for the gesture, pledging to be dedicated to his new job.

The Chief Medical Director, Federal Medical Center, Owerri, where the babies were delivered, Dr. Angela Uwakwem, commended the management of the transport company for the assistance.

BUJA—HIV pre vention drug, Truvada, under the Pre-Exposure Prophylaxis (PrEP), was yesterday unveiled by the United States Embassy, as one of the new biomedical prevention strategies against the disease.

Speaking during the introduction of Truvada, Director General of National Agency for the Control of AIDS, NACA, Professor John Idoko, described the drug as the newest HIV prevention tool developed as anti-retroviral to prevent HIV infection by the United States mission.

He stated that NACA was taking steps to fasttrack PrEP access in Nigeria as well as identify areas of collaboration on policy, regulation, delivery and implementation.

Idoko stated that NACA would adopt

three approaches to aid the implementation of PrEP to include, “remodeling with data analysis, projecting or to involve a number of formative research and we want to do a feasibility study in four states.”

Director, Prevention, Care and Treatment, Health International (FHI 360), Dr. Hadiza Khamofu, in her remarks, stated that infections in low risk relationships were acquired from high risk sexual encounters.

She cited a recent study

by Dr. Taiwo Ijawogin of the University of Ibadan on condom use with sex workers and abstinence behavior among men in Nigeria showed that of 1,396 and 459 married male respondents who reside in urban and rural areas respectively, only 137 had used CSW in the past six months prior to study and only 63 men had used a condom at the last visit.

14—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

Izon group warns Buhari against inflammatory comments

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B

ENIN—THE Izon Renaissance Movement, a socio-cultural organisation in the Niger Delta, yesterday, appealed to former military Head of State, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, to desist from making comments capable of destabilising the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

They warned that the people of the Niger Delta will resist any attempt to bring down the administration of President Jonathan, asserting that “it is not any individual’s personal ambition that would throw the country into unwarranted conflagration rather it is the inordinate desire of certain sections of the country to overlord rulership on the rest that will generate a revolution in 2015.”

Community devt: Pan Ocean sues for peaceful relations VISIT: From Right: Mr. Emeka Nkwocha, Vanguard Newspapers Advert Manager; Efeturi Doghuje, member of First Bank Plc, Media and External Relations team; Mr. Mideno Bayagbon, Editor, Vanguard Newspapers; Mr. Babatunde Lasaki, Head of Media and External Relations, First Bank Plc; Mr. Aderemi Edwards-Adebiyi, member and Mr. Bethel Obioma, member, during the First Bank Plc, Media and External Relations team courtesy visit to Vanguard Newspapers Head of Office Lagos. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

Uduaghan re-constitutes Delta State Council of Traditional Rulers ....Olu of Warri emerges Chairman

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

A

S A B A — D E LT A State Council of Traditional Rulers was yesterday re-constituted with the Olu of Warri, Ogieme Atuwatise II, emerging as the Chairman.

Inaugurating the Council, the state governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, charged the monarchs to prevail on their subjects to stop aiding and abetting criminal activities, noting that the state government was having challenges in some communities regarding criminality and youth restiveness.

Uduaghan also used the occasion to admonish various chiefs of various categories as well as president-generals in the various communities, not to extend their legal boundaries but carry on as persons who were under the canopy of their respective traditional rulers by remainig loyal to ensure harmony.

He said: “Please urge your people not to aid or encourage criminality in the state. The government is having challenges in some communities where projects put up are being destroyed by the youths. This is discouraging us from continuing to execute projects in certain communities.

“The President- General is a subject of the traditional ruler, and so should not rub shoulders with the traditional rulC M Y K

er.”

Responding, the First Vice Chairman of the Council and Obi of Owa, Obi Emmanuel Efezomor, who spoke on behalf of the Chairman, the Olu of Warri, said: “We will do nothing to disturb the peace of the state. We will ensure that peace and good relationship

reign in our various domains.

“As the custodian of our cultural values, traditional rulers have contributed a lot to instill the necessary discipline required for the maintenance of peace. They are indeed government’s invaluable partners in progress.”

S-South monarchs task FG on region's bad roads

BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU & PRISCILLA BADUGU

T

RADITIONAL rul ers from the SouthSouth geopolitical zone have cried to the Federal Government to save the people of the Niger Delta from the decaying roads in that region.

The South-South rulers, who were led by HRH, Chief Edmund Dakoru of Nembe Kingdom in River State, to the office of the Minister of Works, Arch. Mike Onolememen in Abuja, yesterday, pointed out that the road infrastructure of the entire Niger Delta region is key to the economic development of the country Dakoru, who was accompanied by HRM, King Dandeson Douglas Jaja, Jeki, Amanyanabo of Opobo Kingdom and HRM, Alhaji Aliyu Kelvi Danesi, Oba Idansei II of Aidonogie of SouthIbie, said: “As you know,

development is one of our key occupations as far the interest of our people is concerned. We are not royal fathers for ceremonial occasions.

Our primary concern to our people is to make sure that they enjoy development.

People should have secured means of livelihood.

“The East West road which links the SouthSouth geopolitical zone to the Western part of the country and the BodoBonny road in Rivers State which connects several oil producing communities, are of great concern to the traditional rulers in the Niger Delta region”.

He stressed that the people of the region were being deprived of meaningful investment of government due to lack of infrastructural development in the area, adding that the natural endowment in the region goes a long way to promote investment and economic activities.''

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ARRI—THE Op erations Manager, Pan Ocean Oil Corporation, Mr. Monday Ikhureigbe, has sued for the sustenance of cordial relationship between Ogunu Community and his company so as to attract increased development in the area.

Ikhureigbe made the call Wednesday in Warri during the 6th bi-annual inter-house athletic competition of Ogunu Prima-

ry School, held at the Ogunu Community football field.

In a goodwill message, the Chairman/Managing Director of Pan Ocean Oil Coporation, Dr. Festus Fadeyi, stressed the importance of sports in school curriculum and noted that apart from creating environment for healthy rivalry, school sports also enhances healthy conditions of the pupils.

Vanguard , FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012—15

FG reviews WTC's cost to N184.8bn

BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU

A

BUJA—THE Federal Government has reviewed the cost of replicating the World Trade Centre, WTC, in the country to N184.8 billion, from the initial cost of N156 billion.

The building, a 37-storey edifice being built on public-private partnership, PPP, arrangement by the Churchgate Group, will sit on 6.102 hectares of land in the Central Business District of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT. Disclosing the upward review at a briefing in Abuja, yesterday, FCT Minister, Senator Bala Mohammed, said the building which had already gone up to five-storey, was initially valued at $1 billion, adding that it had been reviewed to $1.2 billion or N184 billion.

He said the phase one of the project comprised 22floor commercial tower, a 22floor service apartment tower and a 30,000 to 40,000 sqm retail mall.

ICPC probes N599m FCTA allocations scam

BY OLA AJAYI

I

BADAN—THE Inde pendent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, ICPC, has set up a special task force to investigate alleged illegal deduction of N599 million between 2006 and 2010 from the statutory allocations of six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Chairman of ICPC, Mr. Ekpo Nta, who disclosed this at a town hall meeting in Ibadan yesterday, said the alleged deduction

by FCT Administration was alien to Section 7(1) of the Monitoring of Revenue Allocation to Local Governments Act of 2005.

To unravel the illegal deduction, he said the special task force would beam its searchlight on illegal deductions from statutory allocations to local government councils across the country. The investigation, according

to the ICPC boss, will begin with the six area councils in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

Represented by the Head of Public Enlightenment of the commission, Mike Sewo, the ICPC boss said: “The general perception across the country is that most of our local government councils have not succeeded in

bringing the dividends of democracy to their people.

“While this may be true, the ICPC is aware of certain factors that have been hindering the performance of these councils and have set in motion some measures that have started yielding results.

“Due to widespread reports and petitions on illegal deductions from statu-

tory allocations of local councils across the country, a task force to investigate these complaints has been set up starting with Abuja.

“Following the discovery, the commission intervened and ordered that such illegal deductions be stopped while the money so deducted is returned to the coffers of the affected councils.”

He called for the support of all Nigerians to ensure the success of the exercise, and lamented that the delay in the prosecution of suspects by the judiciary was not helping the commission in the fight against corruption.

Nta advised that for corruption to be completely rooted out of the country, all hands must be on deck.

... as teachers accuse NTI of N1.44bn fraud

BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU

T

EACHERS across the country have accused the National Teachers Institute, NTI, of shortchanging them of N1.44 billion allowances due them under the Federal Government’s Millenium Development Goals, MDGs, training programme.

President, Nigerian Union of Teachers, NUT, Mr. Michael Olukoya, told newsmen in Abuja, yes-

terday, that while each of the 125,000 teachers trained was entitled to an allowance of N14,000, only N2,500 was disbursed by the NTI. Olukoya said teachers would no longer endure a situation where they were short-changed and deprived of their entitlements.

He said: “Teachers were to be paid a stipend of N14,000 per participant for the six-day training programme organised for teachers nationwide by NTI under the auspices of 2011 MDGs programme.

The institute rather shortchanged the teachers by paying N2,500 to each participant.

‘This offer the union be-

lieves is a slap on the sensibilities of teachers in Nigeria. In modern day Nigeria socio-economic predicament, the NTI is offering N416 daily to a teacher in Nigeria to cater for his transportation and accommodation.

“The question here is what has happened to the balance of N11,500 per participant, amounting to a total of N1,437,500,000 for the 125,000 participants.”

It would be recalled that NTI had said 125,000 teachers were to have benefited from the N3.7 billion training in 2011 MDGs-funded project through the institute. The institute claimed to have spent over N18 billion to train teachers in secondary and primary schools in

the country for 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 and 2011.

However, the NUT President said: “As the umbrella body for all the teachers in Nigeria, NUT on behalf of the participants have not only rejected this slave pay, but also condemned the action of NTI, which grossly underrated the worth and integrity of the teachers.

“It is equally our submission that even the N14,000 is objectionable.”

Meanwhile, the union has indicted 13 states for failing to implement the 2008 agreement they had with NUT on 27.5% peculiar allowance for teachers.

The states are Cross River, Kebbi, Lagos, Ekiti, Kogi, Katsina, Delta, Zamfara, Niger, Abia, Nasarawa, Enugu and Benue.

Senate President decries poor funding of Navy

BY KINGSLEY OMONOBI

A

B U JA —SENATE President, David Mark, yesterday, expressed concern over the existing gaps in the asset holding of the Nigeria Navy.

According to him, government ought to equip and re-position the Navy, being the institution vested with the responsibility of securing the nation’s economic base where about 90 per cent of the revenue is generated.

He said: “Judging by the current operational state and challenges of the Navy, it may not be able to perform those noble roles effectively as before.

This certainly is not good for Nigeria’s image as a regional maritime power.”

Senator Mark, who spoke while declaring open a seminar organised to mark the Nigeria Navy 56th anniversary in Abuja, said given Nigeria’s reliance on the maritime enC M Y K

vironment for economic survival and prosperity, it was imperative to secure the maritime environment at all times.

“This, indeed, is a critical requirement for the attainment of the objective and goals of the National Transformation Agenda and Vision 20:20:20.

“In this context, the need for a virile Navy as a policy instrument for the attainment of national maritime security and economic prosperity objectives remains equally very important.”

Recalling the humble beginning of the Navy in 1956, the Senate President said the force posted a chequered revolutionary history spanning over 50 years, which resulted in the force emerging as a potent national and sub-regional maritime force from the 70s through the 80s.

He said: “During this period, the Nigeria Navy provided a fulcrum for the attainment of national security, economic and

foreign policy objectives of Nigeria within West African sub region and beyond.”

Madam Ochei for burial

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ADAM Josephine Osordi Ochei of Ogbe-Ahor Quarters, Ogwash-Uku, in Aniocha South Local Government Area of Delta State, is dead.

She is survived by many children, amongst whom is Mr. Tony Ochei, Special Assistant to the Minister of Transport.

Wake-keep holds today by 8pm, at Ogbe-Ahor Quarters Ogwash-uku, near the Post Office. Funeral service is tomorrow at 10am, followed by interment at the same venue.

Late Madam Ochei.

16—V anguard , FRID AY , MA Y 25, 2012 FRIDA MAY 16—Vanguard

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Sweet & SOUR

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 17

Donu Kogbara Allied to the above moves are the concrete steps that have been taken to be more prudent and to not only spend less but actively save.

Dickson’s first 100 days

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H

Bayelsa State Governor, Hon Henry Seriake Dickson (left) with South African President, Jacob Zuma (middle) as HRH A.J. Turner in Pretoria after the governor led a Bayelsa State delegation on a courtesy call after wooing investors to the state. new Bayelsa we are building”.

He is also courageously dealing with the need to drastically reduce the cost of governance. Bayelsa State Government’s monthly wage bill stood at N5.7 billion when Dickson assumed office and was second only to Lagos State’s, even though Lagos State is much bigger.

Dickson launched investigations that revealed that a massive scam was being organised by a fraud syndicate comprising senior officials. And he has declared war on them and is determined to prosecute guilty parties.

,

IS Excellency, Hon. Henry Seriake Dickson, Governor of Bayelsa State, has just completed l00 days in office.

I told you, a few weeks ago, that his Senior Special Assistant (Media), Daniel Iworiso Markson, is my friend. But I hope you will take my word for it when I say that I am highlighting the progress that his Boss has made to date NOT because Daniel hassled me to do so (he didn’t) and NOT just to support a pal who has always supported me, but because I genuinely believe that Dickson is going in the right direction and has achieved a lot in a short period of time.

One of his first acts as Governor was to initiate a new Transparency Law because he firmly believes that “…It is the right of the people of the state to know what funds accrue to the coffers of the state and the various local government councils and how they are utilised. This is the only way to secure the trust and confidence of the people in whom sovereignty lies. I have directed all local government chairmen to comply with this paradigm shift on the issue of transparency, probity and accountability, to reflect the

Long before his first l00 days were up, Dickson had drastically reduced the state government’s wage bill to N3.7 billion

Meanwhile, long before his first l00 days were up, Dickson had drastically reduced the state government’s wage bill to N3.7 billion.

And he’s not yet done with this very necessary waste-

,

eliminating and crimebusting exercise. Ghost workers are still being ruthlessly weeded out of the civil service as I write and the wage bill is expected to drop further.

Keep breeding?!

A

READER, who wishes to remain anonymous, objected to my claim in last week’s column that it is bad for families and bad for societies for African women to keep having several children apiece.

Dear Donu, Do you seriously believe Africa's or Nigeria's problem is overpopulation? If you look at all the issues bedeviling us as a people, do you sincerely think over-population is an issue? I don't think so at all!!

Is there any part of the world that is supposedly overpopulated, that their problem is the size of the populace?

Please think it through.

I remember being taught in school, this same theory of

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population exceeding resources. What a laugh!

Problems always relate to leadership, law, order, fellowship, philosophy of life, concern for others, etc. The size of the population is never the problem.

A nation with a high populace has so much potential for growth and development. Why do you think in the UK there are so many different nationalities?

With their dwindling birth rate and population size, they lack manpower and have to rely on foreign labour. Why does the United States have visa lotteries for green cards?

They know how bleak their future is with their population decline! To make matters worse, the growth of same sex

relationships will seal certain races' end!

Some of our parents did not have much while starting a family but were optimistic and strong-willed. I grew up in a family of 10 children – 8 boys, 2 girls. People used to snigger behind my mom’s back, saying that she gave birth like pigs, etc. Today when our family meets for an occasion, we do not need to invite outsiders (laughter) and because we are so united those who once laughed now look at us enviously! Imagine yourself as a mother with 8 hefty men behind you? Pride!

The assurance of wellbeing and security.

This is how our country should be! Population should never be an issue, but it is

today because we want to hide behind our weaknesses, our failures, our inept and corrupt tendencies and a host of other vices, as parents who run away from our responsibilities. If as parents we can preach and live upright, strive for success in all we do, never give up even when down, develop beyond our present state of financial insecurity, respect for law and order, we will have no time to criticise nor complain because there will be so much to do with our time.

Surely family size will take a back seat at this point because as the children come along, taking care of them and giving them the best we can will be as natural as work and pray.

ithin a month of him becoming Bayelsa’s CEO, Government House’s monthly expenses bill was slashed by almost half – from N1.7 billion to N1 billion.

Dickson has also established a Strategic Reserve & Savings Account, an interest yielding account dedicated to safeguarding funds for a rainy day. In addition, the State House of Assembly has passed a Compulsory Savings Bill (2012) which makes it mandatory for the state to put money aside.

Then, having declared a state of emergency within the education sub-sector from Day One, the Governor has quickly put his money where his mouth is; and primary and secondary education is now not only free but compulsory.

Furthermore, existing teachers have to undergo mandatory retraining. New teachers are being trained.

And the state government is underwriting the WAEC and NECO exam fees for 25,772 candidates, to the tune of N250million.

Dickson is also not shying away from frightening challenges relating to the thorny issue of security. He has made it clear that there will be zero tolerance for all forms of criminality and has squarely addressed the issue by forwarding the BAYELSA STATE SECRET CULT AND KIDNAPPING AND SIMILAR OFFENCES (PROHIBITION) BILL 2012 to the State House of Assembly for consideration.

Then there’s the fact that Dickson is sticking his neck out and making an issue of corruption. As Daniel puts it, “This government, unlike any other before it, has taken tough measures to strengthen its fight against all forms of graft…”

And the policies and initiatives I have mentioned are just the tip of the iceberg.

Dickson is making many other good moves right now.

Let’s hope, for the sake of our Bayelsan brethren, that he keeps up the good work.

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

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 UNICEF did a great disservice to the Nigerian child this year by focusing its State of the Child Report on “urban children” with the Kuramo (Bar) Beach in Lagos as setting of its story on deprivations Nigerian children face.

The choice of location and daily earning of about N500 by the subject do not reflect the harsh realities of Nigeria’s poor less so those of children who are the unfortunate beneficiaries of governments that plan Nigeria’s future without the children. If Nigerian children earned N500 daily, they would not be in the extreme poverty group with its consequences.

On 27 May, children will commemorate their day. Governments will make the same flowery speeches about the importance of children and their future leadership.

Nothing has been done since last year beyond tokens like renovation of some schools, photo opportunities during immunisation, and speeches fit for different children-related occasions.

Statistics on the Nigerian child remain depressing. Our children are at higher risk

Deceptive Images Of Nigerian Child of dying in the first five years of their lives, than most other African children, including those in Sudan that has been at war for more than three decades. These United Nations statistics are not getting better. Out of every 1,000 live births in Nigeria, 110 die before they are five years old. Comparative figures are Egypt (29 deaths in 1,000 live births), South Africa (45) and war blistered Sudan (65).

Where our children survive, malaria, cholera, polio and malnutrition ensure they do not improve on the average life expectancy of 48 years. Professor Oladimeji Oladepo of the University of Ibadan, reported two years ago that 41 per cent of Nigerian children are stunted and about 25

per cent are underweight. Malnourished children with poor mental and physical development will lead Nigeria.

As if these were not enough, the poor maternal statistics tell another story of unfailing negligence of the future.

Save the Children notes that in subSaharan Africa, up to 20 per cent of women are “extremely thin”, possibly too unhealthy to breastfeed their children. There is vicious cycle of maternal and child malnutrition.

Susan Grant, its Nigeria Country Director said: “The 2012 State of the World’s Mothers shows clearly that this crisis of chronic malnutrition has devastating effects on both mothers and their children. We urgently need global leadership on malnutrition that results in key nutrition projects being rolled out for mothers and babies to ensure their health and survival.”

The Nigeria child is a haphazard product.

Deprivation dominates its life. A profound appreciation of these is required for programmes that will create a future for our children. They will not work if governments neglect initiatives to save the Nigerian adult.

OPINION

BY SAM EKELEDO

I

LOVED it when I read in a recent interview where Hembe, step-aside Chairman of House Committee on Securities and alumnus of Benue State University called for the Director General, CEO and President of Nigeria’s Securities and Exchange Commission, Ms. Arunma Oteh to show culture for which grads of her esteemed Harvard is known and step aside from office as well. It is all so nice to say but Hembe must know that Harvard is quite a distance from here. Moreover, the weather here is not so clement and by the time you return from there another culture is sitting pretty in wait for you. Second base, jare.

However, he struck yet another point that gave me endless joy, that he may have began work in this committee as a greenhorn but now he holds a PhD in the field, no less. That is as it should be, growing on the job. And that makes the two of us.

I now hold a PhD in engineering of sorts, starting off with minor drainage and petty boy ’s quarters construction a few years ago. And this is a message and an adage.

Speaking seriously, we have been regaled in the last two or three months with a show that just won’t go away of the diverse wrong-doings, sheer bad management and absolute system failure inside the SEC, plus the unprofitably high flier expenses C M Y K

The Stock Exchange mess made out of obviously sinful profiteering being obscenely justified in public glare as private sector expenditure.

We are speaking of stock price manipulation and profiteering. We are speaking of insider-trading, which means that information about stocks is given by the relevant authority to a favoured few and withheld from the investing public. Insider-trading also involves information given by SEC or the NSE affecting stocks, mergers and acquisitions that a professional could turn to a particular advantage.

It includes revealed information about the true spread between prices bid and prices asked or the identities of buyers of large blocks of stock and the motives behind such purchases. In this way, prices are artificially raised. In all these, there are abuses.

I

t is quite fine that we have our own SEC but if we are going to have any improvement in our capital market and therefore, economic transformation as promised by President Jonathan, there just has to be a new profile SEC. Certainly not this one, no matter its pretences, Harvard alumnus and Professor and all. Did you see how commissioners and directors of the Commission were absolving themselves from DG

Arunma Oteh and her practices. These are very bad indications indeed for a national regulatory agency. Just imagine for one plain minute what remains of the Chairman of EFCC should the overall gang of his directors publicly deny him.

Else, we may never know what or who is playing the music Arunma Oteh is dancing. And this is a message and a proverb.

In view of the lightly surveyed issues above, we, who have been hapless victims and losers, do hereby call on the National Assembly to carry out an immediate review of SEC laws and further see to it that they enact corresponding criminal statutes and ensure enforcement capacity beyond whatever EFCC handlers can presently muster.

Equally, no bank should ever again be allowed, in whatever guise, to operate its own securities underwriting company.

Banks must be separated from the idea of raising of capital, distribution of stocks, bonds and such like securities. They must be tied to confront their traditional task, banking stricto censo. And finally, nka bu uka buru ilu.

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

Vanguard, FRIDAY FRIDAY,, MAY 25, 2012 — 19

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NYONE who has flown low over Nigeria’s coastline, or plied the creeks and rivers of the Niger Delta in a boat, must surely have been struck by ubiquitous stilted-root trees, with slim trunks and evergreen crests, thickly lining the waterways.

Those are mangroves—a defining feature of tropical and sub-tropical coastlines around the world and one of the unsung heroes of the earth’s ecosystem.

The important role these unique woody plants play in helping to sustain other lifeforms, including humans, is little known and even less appreciated, especially in Nigeria.

Increasingly, therefore, mangroves are becoming ecological martyrs—victims of public apathy and indifference.

Our failure to adequately protect and properly manage the

nation’s mangrove system threatens their survival.

A few years ago, for example, the National Space Research and Development Agency, NASRDA, in collaboration with the University of Missouri, at Kansas City (USA), carried out a satellite study of the Niger Delta and found that “between 1986 and 2003, 318 hectares of mangrove forests have been depleted”.

It has become standard, almost ritualized, procedure, to blame the destruction of Nigeria’s mangrove swamp—and almost all other environmental problems—on the oil companies.

But while the NASRDA study did name dredging and other oilextraction-related activities as very important factors, it did not stop there.

The investigators also cited rapid urbanisation--exemplified

,

by drastic population increases in Port Harcourt and Warri--the introduction of the voracious and highly destructive Nypa palm and the felling of mangrove trees for fire-wood, construction and other purposes by indigenous peoples.

T

he progressive loss of mangrove acreage may be more pronounced in Nigeria than in many other countries. But it certainly is not exclusive to us.

“Across the globe,” writes Natesan Balachandran et. al. in The Journal of Ecology and Natural Environment, “mangroves are threatened”.

According to the US National Aeronautics and Space

A missing link in Nigeria’s transformation programme

BY GABRIEL ZOWAM

T

HE Federal Government’s national transformation programme is expected to transform our power, roads and railway systems; our education and health systems; unemployment, budget deficit and inflation; government’s high recurrent expenditure and so on. To achieve all these, government will have to reduce the level of governance wastes and corruption; reform the bureaucracy, our ghost workers and ghost pensioners; attack our regulatory capture (the near-total relapse of our regulatory agencies); and so on! These reforms, in turn, call for a technical, “nuts and bolts” team, which can begin to craft the new reform initiatives for reforming the bureaucracy, fighting our ghost workers and ghost pensioners; our regulatory capture; and so on!

The first evidence that we need such a team is that nobody else so far, is crafting such vital initiatives! When people complain that we are not seeing enough of transformational initiatives, the question is: Who is there to craft such initiatives? Is it the Federal Executive Council, FEC, or the National Economic Management Team, NEMT, or the Economic Implementation Team, EIT? Certainly not, considering the very high level at which these bodies are constituted! That’s why we need a technically oriented, “nuts and bolts” team, to serve as the “engine” of the programme, while the FEC, NEMT, and EIT play the driving or steering role!

The second evidence of our need for this special crack reform-team, is that even when government has managed to launch some reform initiatives, they tended to be weak on some fundamental principles of reform!

We can use our power sector reform and the attempted removal of fuel subsidy, to illustrate this. A very tested reform principle is to deregulate a sector before privatising the government agencies in that sector. It

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is a technique which not only helps in managing the opponents of change, but also one that enables government to pre-test a sector in a deregulated environment, before taking the more drastic step of privatising its agencies in that sector. We leveraged this principle most impressively in our telecoms sector reform of 2001, when government (through NCC, the sector ’s regulator) started by deregulating the sector, before talking about privatising the government agencies in the sector.

This deregulation allowed private firms such as MTN and ECONET, to come in and set up their networks and sell their services at their own rates - while the government’s agency NITEL continued to do its thing. There could have been no protest from NITEL’s workers, since nobody was laid off, and since the private parties were spending their own money, not government money, and reducing the “supply” scarcity that NITEL was not coping with. Similarly, there could have been no opposition from the public and civil society groups to the higher tariff of the private-sector firms because their services were optional, and side-by-side with the NITEL’s services that the public had always had! Notice that the story would have been totally different, if the reform had started with a plan to privatise NITEL, or a plan to raise tariff to attract the private sector!

Now, most of the implementation bumps we have experienced so far in the transformation programme (including the last subsidy-removal protests), could well have been avoided if the process had been guided by this principle. When

Administration, NASA, the world has lost half of its mangrove acreage over the past 50 years, a third within the last two decades.

A joint study of NASA and the US Geological Survey, found that mangroves presently cover 137,760 square kilometres of the Earth’s surface in 118 different countries and territories. But 75 percent of this area is located in just 15 tropical countries, with territory on or near the equator.

Thanks to imperialist writers, such as Rudyard Kippling, Joseph Conrad and C.S. Foster, mangroves are closely associated with Africa and India.

But in reality, Asia contains about 42%, Africa 21 %, North and Central America 15 %, Australia and the South Pacific 12 % and South America 11 %.

In fact, NASA reports that most of the world’s mangroves are contained on Indonesia’s 17,000 islands, with Brazil and Australia ranking second and third respectively. Other sources put Nigeria—with the bulk of Africa’s mangrove forests--in fourth position, globally.

Technically, the word “mangrove” does not refer to a plant as such, but rather to an “ecological assemblage”, as Ilka C. Feller and Marsha Sitnik of the Washington-based Smithsonian Institution, put it.

The assemblage consists of shrubs and trees that have adapted to the wet, saline (salty), hot, humid and muddy conditions of tropical and sub-tropical coastlines.

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Mangroves: A vanishing resource (1)

Increasingly mangroves are becoming ecological martyrs; our failure to adequately protect and properly manage the nation’s mangrove system threatens their survival

bureaucracy!

We need a technically oriented “nuts and bolts” team, which can begin to craft the new reform initiatives for reforming the bureaucracy, fighting our ghost workers and ghost pensioners

,

some people say that our power and oil sectors are different from (and should not be compared with) our telecoms sector, they are only confirming how badly we need the proposed crack reform team, because in terms of fundamental principles of reform, these sectors are not different at all!

I

In the introduction to their “Mangrove Ecology Workshop,” the authors note that there are 34 species or so of “true mangroves” and another 80 of what they term “minor components” and “mangrove associates”.

True mangroves, they observe, are not only restricted to the swamp marshes and streambanks of the inter-tidal zones, but they have also developed several important adaptations that set them apart from other species.

One is the ability to exclude or excrete salt from their interior.

This enables the true mangrove to survive and thrive in the brackish waters of the Niger Delta’s creek system and river estuaries—places where most other woody plants would perish.

Another evolutionary asset of mangroves is their distinctive aerial root system in which embryo germination begins in the tree. Shoots then extend downward from the limbs to anchor themselves in the ground or float off to a distant location and help to establish a new colony—a process called viviparity.

“The tree later drops its developed embryos called propagules,” reports the website of the conservationist Mangrove Action Project, “which may take root in the soil beneath.

Viviparity may have evolved as an adaptive mechanism to prepare the propagules for longdistance dispersal, and survival and growth within a harsh saline environment”.To be continued

have tried to highlight the foregoing, as the kind of problems that the presence of the proposed crack team of reformers could have forestalled.

I can also flip the coin, to show some specific benefits that having such team will herald.

The first bonus is that it will enable us wrestle the transformation programme from the gridlock of the bureaucracy!

The team will dramatically raise the tempo of the programme by, for example, developing minimum technical guidelines that regulatory agencies and other MDAs would use in carrying out their individual reforms.

Note that simply allowing the ministers to “do their own things” in their ministries, without the feedstock and technical guidance of such central resource, has made the programme nonexistent in most of our MDAs! The ministers, however badly they may want to change things, are not reform experts; and this has in turn left the programme at the mercy of the

A

nother bonus of having such a special, technically-oriented reform team is that it will help government to begin to leverage the ideas and suggestions that various third parties can generate for the programme. As things stand now, who is there to sit down and pore through such third party proposals to determine those that have merit for the transformation programme?

Certainly not the FEC, NEMT, or EIT! Indeed, third party organisations with interesting reform ideas for the programme have been facing frustrations, getting the attention of right people in government! For example, I know that the CLSSP did develop several ready-for-implementation reform initiatives for the transformation programme (at no cost to government), including a new presidential initiative against corruption, a new presidential initiative to reform our public procurement, a presidential initiative to restore the Nigerian football, a presidential initiative for harvesting Nigeria’s abundant talents, a new presidential assault on ghost workers, and so on.

Nobody in government that the centre approached had the time to even look at these initiatives! And yet government has not been churning out any alternative initiatives! I am sure there are hundreds of other third party proposals from people who want to help the government! Note also that if people with ideas for government are not told where else to go, they will tend to inundate the Presidency with their ideas and proposals; which could simply create very busy waste baskets, since the Presidency officials would not have the kind of time required to pore through such proposals!

*Mr. Zowam, a social critic, wrote from Abuja.

20 — V anguard , FRID AY , MA Y 25, 2012 Vanguard FRIDA MAY

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 21

ICCO urges Nigerian manufacturers to explore cocoa potential T

HE International Cocoa Coordina tion Organisation (ICCO) has urged Nigerian manufacturers to explore the potentialities of cocoa so as to produce more cocoa-based goods.

The ICCO Project Coordinator, Mr Yunusa Abubakar, who made the appeal, said that the measure would improve the benefits of cocoa farmers in the country.

Abubakar said that there was the need for researchers to do more in the area of cocoa products that could be adaptable to the tropics as most cocoa products could not be stored for a long time in the region.

He said cocoa was mostly produced in West Africa, but widely consumed in Europe and America.

“Our researchers and manufacturers should step up efforts to tap into cocoa properly and produce more local beverages from it. We can increase the benefits farmers get from cocoa by encouraging local consumption. If we do that, it will increase demand and there will be competition between domestic and international demand to the point that it could. When the demand is higher than supply, it will

help maintain prices and that will improve farmers income generating capacity.’’

Yunusa lamented that in Africa, where 70 per cent of the world’s cocoa was produced, there was high level of poverty among cocoa farmers because of the lack of skills and low productivity.

He said that the annual production of

cocoa in Nigeria, which previously witnessed a decline was picking up, with a 240 tonnes per annum at present.

According to him, the Federal Government, the ICCO and the Cocoa Association of Nigeria are making frantic efforts to increase the tonnage.

The ICCO project coordinator said the organisation was also working to

increase the market access of Nigerian cocoa by improving its quality and considering safety concerns. A delegation from ICCO had on May 22, visited Dr Samuel Ortom, the Minister of State, Trade and Investment, to seek support for cocoa producers in West Africa.

Agric Transformation: FG to phase out wild palm trees — Official

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MPROVED palm tree seedlings will be introduced to replace the wild varieties under the palm oil value chain programme of the Agricultural Transformation Agenda (ATA). Dr Dickson Okolo, the team leader and Deputy Director in the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, disclosed this in Abuja.

Okolo said: “We are meeting with the states. Any state that accepts the removal of one wild palm tree will be given two improved seedlings.”

According to him, about 2.1 million hectares of palms trees are in the forest and are not productive. The wild palms trees are not improved varieties; we are working on replacing them with the improved varieties.’’

He, however, said that the wild palms trees would be phased out only after three years, when it is expected that the improved seedlings would have started bearing fruits. Okolo expressed regret that Nigeria imports nearly 300,000 tonnes of palm oil every year to meet the nation’s local needs. “If we have the need for palm oil, we should produce. That is what other countries do. It is demand that drives supply. It is unhealthy for us to import palm oil; we need to go back and start planting.’’

He said that Nigeria may never develop, if it continued to import palm oil. Under the ATA, Okolo said that a total of 240, 000 hectares would be added to the existing hectares of palm trees from 2012 to 2015, to increase the country’s palm oil production. “What we have currently is 350,000 hectares; we are raising nine million improved seedlings to be planted on 60,000 hectares in 2013.

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From right: Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Oloye Olajumoke Akinjide; Coordinating Minister for the Economy and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala; and Chairperson, Senate Committee on Women Affairs, Senator Helen Esuene, at the Gender Policy Dialogue organised by the World Bank and the Department for International Development (DFID), in Abuja.

Global youth unemployment hits 75m, says ILO …Nigeria, other sub-Sahara Africa account for 11.5 percent

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

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LOBAL youth unemployment including Nigerians between aged 15 and 24, the International Labour Organisation, ILO, has said, is now over 75 million.

ILO in a “Global Employment Trends for Youth 2012” report just released, said the global youth unemployment rate for 2012 remained stuck at crisis peak levels and was not expected to come down until at least 2016.

In a statement by ILO’s Guebray Berhane, Senior Communication and Public Information Officer, Regional Office for Africa Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, said there had been four million more jobless youth since 2007.

According to the statement, “Projections show 12.7 per cent of the global youth labour force will be unemployed this year, unchanged from the peak of the crisis in 2009, and slightly up from last year’s 12.6 per cent, the report says. The rate would even be higher if one takes into account those who - often discouraged by the lack of prospects - give up or postpone looking for a job. The

adjusted rate would put the global youth unemployment rate at 13.6 per cent in 2011.

In terms of global numbers, there will be nearly 75 million unemployed youth aged 15 to 24 in 2012, an increase of nearly 4 million since 2007.”

“In North Africa, youth unemployment rose by 5 percentage points following the Arab Spring, leaving 27.9 per cent of young people jobless in 2011. In the Middle East the rate was of 26.5 per cent. In SubSaharan Africa, the rate, at 11.5 per cent in 2011, has been fairly stable since 2005.

Globally and in most regions, the crisis had a stronger impact on youth unemployment rates among women than men. The difference was particularly strong in North Africa, while in developed economies, the impact was stronger for young men.

Many young people are trapped in low-productivity, temporary or other types of work that don’t pave the way for better jobs. In developed economies, youth are increasingly employed in temporary and part-time jobs while in the developing world

many perform unpaid work supporting informal family businesses or farms.”

166.35

-8.15

2,12.00

-67.00

19.51

-0.29

105.51

-2.90

89.88

-1.97

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING CFA KRONER EURO POUNDS RIYAL SDR FRANC DOLLAR WAUA YEN RENMINBI

0.2817 26.5721 197.5055 244.5343 41.2489 236.1186 164.3472 154.7 235.6595 1.9364 24.4642

0.2917 26.658 198.1439 245.3247 41.3823 236.8818 164.8784 155.2 236.4212 1.9427 24.5437

0.3017 26.7438 198.7822 246.115 41.5156 237.6449 165.4095 155.7 237.1828 1.9489 24.6232

CBN Exchange rate as at 24/05/2012

22 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

Expert confident of sustainable equities rebound

BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

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financial expert and investment analyst, Mr Bismark Rewane, has expressed optimism that the current rally in the equity segment of the stock market will be sustained.

Bismark who made the assertion in his bimonthly review of the economy, said that strong macroeconomic fundamentals and attractive valuations favour the surge.

Additionally, he noted that liquidity being injected into the market,

as well as robust financial positions of many Nigeria companies would combine to make the rally more sustainable.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE)’s market capitalization, which has been hovering around N6 trillion in the last one year recently climbed to over N7 trillion marks, while the All Share Index, ASI, has moved to 22,000 basis points.

Specifically, at the end of transactions on Monday, 21 may, 2012, the market capitalization stood at N7.115 trillion, while the ASI rose to 22,309.62

points.

Breakdown of analysis contained in the review, a copy of which was obtained by Vanguard, indicated that the NSE gained nearly 7 per cent in April after a negative performance of 0.38 per cent in the first quarter.

“The up-trend has continued in May with a 2.30 per cent gain thus far in the month; leading to the NSE catching up with global equity return for the year with a return of 8.79 per cent.

Comparatively, the recent surge in the market, places the stock exchange amongst the best in terms of returns

globally. Currently, the ASI is the third best performing index in Africa, behind Egypt (38.44 per cent) and Kenya (12.30 per cent),” he posited.

The Financial Derivatives company (FDC)’s boss further argued that these fundamentals are impacting on investors’ sentiment and risk appetite.

Rewane said, “Many are surprised by the recent surge in the stock market and question its sustainability.

We believe it is not only sustainable but will accentuate.

Stock

market history confirms that equity valuations are a slave of earnings, and the history of corporate earnings has shown that they are a derivative of the underlying economic environment.

To some extent, this year’s torrid advance is simply the NSE playing catch-up. The index went nowhere last year despite solid profit gains by listed companies. The one year average earnings per share growth for the top ten most capitalized company is 13.45 per cent compared with an index return of -9.39 per cent over the same period.”

“All indicators show that stocks are extremely undervalued on the NSE. Banking stocks are trading at historical low prices with most banks trading at a Price-toBook value (P/BV) of less than 1. Equity valuations on many measures remain very

cheap. The price/ earnings ratio for the NSE stands at 7.10, very low compared to historical values and lower in comparison to other frontier markets such as Ghana and Kenya,” he added.

He remarked that the impending interest rate reversal in fixed income market attract portfolio rebalancing in favour of equities.

“It is true that fixed income has been the favoured investment option during the past year. Now we are seeing a revival in investor interest in equity which we expect to continue.

The main asset class on the NSE remains equities by virtue of the large number of listed stocks. Certainly fixed income is attractive and is growing in importance; however, impending interest rate reversal will make portfolio rebalancing in favour of equities inevitable,” he sated.

Award: Ernst & Young honours Access Bank, Notore CEOs

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Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State (right) and GMD/CEO, Diamond Bank Plc, Dr. Alex Otti during a courtesy call on the Governor at the Government House, Ilorin.

Transcorp first quarter income grows by 29%

BY PETER EGWUATU

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RANSNATIONAL Corporation of Nigeria (Transcorp) Plc has recorded a total income of N857 million in its first quarter financial performance ended March 31, 2012, representing a growth of 64 per cent from N664 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2011.

Further analysis shows that administrative costs fell by 26.4 per cent from N200million in first quarter 2011 to N147million for the same period under review on the back of disciplined cost C M Y K

optimisation initiatives.

Profit before tax increased from N399million in the first quarter of 2011 to N610million in the first quarter of 2012, an increase of 52.9 per cent.

The company also posted a profit after tax of N518million representing a 62 per cent improvement compared to N319 million for the first quarter of 2011.

The Company achieved the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) in line with statutory regulation.

Transcorp’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Obinna

Ufudo, said “We are excited by this early and positive indication that our turnaround and transformation initiatives are already taking root and yielding results.”

He further stated that “We will continue to sustain the trust of our key stakeholders by delivering sound financial returns, diversifying our portfolio mix in the Energy, Agri-business and Hospitality sectors and adhering to best corporate governance practices. In the coming months we will accelerate the pace of execution of our corporate strategy

towards even stronger results for the rest of the year.”

Transcorp is a publicly quoted conglomerate with a diversified shareholder base of over 300,000 investors. Its portfolio is comprised of strategic investments and core interests in the hospitality, agribusiness and energy sectors.

Some of its notable businesses include Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja ; Transcorp Metropolitan Hotel, Calabar; Teragro Limited - Nigeria ’s first-of-itskind juice concentrate plant; and Transcorp Energy - operator of Oil Prospecting License (OPL) 281.

RNST & Young is set to honour the Managing Director of Access Bank Plc and Notore Chemical Industries Limited, Messrs Aigboje Aig Imoukhudede and Onajite Okololo for 2012 Entrepreneurship award.

This is part of Ernst and Young contribution of rewarding outstanding entrepreneurs in West African countries for their contributions to economic growth and development.

According to a statement from the Ernst and Young, “ The award was introduced to West African countries last year and adjudged a huge success by both participants and industry watchers in Nigeria and Ghana. This is a yearly event designed to recognise and honour entrepreneurs who through ingenuity, hardwork and perseverance have created and sustained successful businesses.

To further expand the scope of the programme, entrepreneurs in Liberia and Sierra Leone will be participating in this year’s edition.”

The finalists for the 2011 programme were Aigboje Aig

Imoukhudede, GMD Access Bank for Master Category and his counterpart –MD/CEO Notore Chemical Industries Limited (Onajite Okololo), both whom emerged winners for the Master and Emerging category awards respectively in 2011.

Aig Imoukhuede will be representing West Africa region at the World Entrepreneur of the Year Award taking place in Monte Carlo in a few weeks time.

According to Ernst & Young Regional Managing Partner for West Africa, Henry Egbiki, the Entrepreneur award of the Year programme is designed among others to motivate and e n c o u r a g e entrepreneurs in the sub region to maximise their potentials.

Speaking on this year ’s edition, Bunmi Akinde, Entrepreneur of Year leader for West Africa, described the initiative as a very ‘welcome development’, noting that the inclusion of Liberia and Sierra Leone is a proof that the programme is making vivid progress.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 23

Ecobank sponsors African tour for Miss Universe

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COBANK is sponsoring an African tour for Miss Universe, Leila Lopes, as part of her HIV/AIDS and Children Awareness Campaign.

Roberta Annan Consultancy, a management and media consulting firm based in the US is organising the Miss Universe 2011-2012 Africa Tour programme.

The tour, planned for June 2012 will focus on Miss Lopes’s visits to HIV/AIDS orphanages in six African countries including Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire, Senegal, Togo and Kenya.

Miss Lopes will be accompanied by journalists from various media organisations as she visits different locations on her itinerary and attends events aimed at raising awareness on orphans suffering from HIV/AIDS. The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) estimates there are over 1.8 million orphans in Africa as a result of HIV/AIDS related deaths. This is more than a quarter of all orphans in the world.

In Nigeria Miss Universe is scheduled to visit the SOS Children’s Village International. The SOS Family Care Centre’s program aims at providing holistic support to children orphaned as a result of HIV/AIDS. The Centre provides nutritious food, shelter and education, alongside anti-retroviral medication (ARVs) for orphans infected with HIV/ AIDS.

Spanish bank audits to get international scrutiny

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NTERNATIONAL institu tions will oversee an audit of Spain’s banks aimed at reassuring investors that bailout costs will not spiral as the prospect of new Spanish borrowing threatens to further inflame the eurozone crisis.

Spain’s weak banks and overspending regions are central to the European debt crisis as many investors believe the government will only be able to support them by seeking international aid.

Spain announced a bailout of at least 9 billion euros ($11 billion) and full state takeover for troubled lender Bankia on Wednesday. Meanwhile, officials debated how to back regions that must refinance 36 billion euros this year.

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AfDB publishes report on household spending patterns in Africa

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

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HE African Development Bank (AfDB) has published the first all-Africa report on household spending patterns across the continent.

“Because Africa is a continent of 54 countries, finding data on how Africans live in terms of consumption and spending is not easy, but a new report from the African Development Bank (AfDB) helps to fill the knowledge gap.” The Bank Group said in statement yesterday.

The report is from the AfDB’s Chief Economist department, entitled “A Comparison of Real Household Consumption, Expenditures and Price Levels in Africa.”

Using the South African rand (ZAR) as the benchmark currency, the study found that 11 countries of the countries surveyed had per capita household finance consumption expenditure (HFCE) above ZAR 15,000 or USD 1,800. Nineteen had per capita HFCE of between ZAR 5,000 and ZAR 15,000, while 21 countries recorded per capita HFCE of less than ZAR 5,000.

Algeria, Egypt and South Africa were in the top group.

Those in the bottom group of less than ZAR 5,000 include several countries that have

recently experienced civil unrest and armed conflict.

Prices differ considerably among African countries, with island countries tending to have higher prices. Cape Verde, the Comoros, the Seychelles as well as Gabon and the Congo have prices that are 40 percent or more than

the average for Africa.

By contrast, Gambia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Tanzania have prices that are nearly 20 percent below the average for the continent.

Spending on the basics such as food also differs greatly. Food expenditure in Botswana, Mauritius, Swazi-

land and the Seychelles is more than three times the African average. At the other end of the scale, spending on food is less than half the average in 13 African countries, with particularly low spending in Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Liberia and Niger.

From left: Mr Nnamdi Okafor, Managing Director, May& Baker Nigeria Plc Lt. Gen. T. Y. Danjuma (Rtd )Chairman May& Baker Nigeria Plc and Mrs Adetoun Abiru, Company Secretary at the 61st Annual General Meeting (AGM) of May& Baker Nigeria Plc hel d in Lagos, yesterday. Photo by Diran Oshe

Arbitration, a viable means of resolving business disputes — Olawoyin, SAN

By INNOCENT ANABA

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Senior Advocate of Ni geria, Prof Gabriel Olawoyin, yesterday, said that the gains in the use of arbitration were far more than that of litigation in the resolution of business disputes.

Prof Olawoyin, also Chairman of International Chamber of Commerce, ICC, Nigeria, who addressed newsmen in Lagos, on the planed launch of the ICC Revised Rules of Arbitration 2012, slated for Lagos on May 30, noted that “The importance of the dispute resolution role of the ICC Court and its impact on the growth and development of international trade and commerce cannot be over emphasized. Disputes are inevitable in trade and commerce, hence the need to have in place effective and expeditious means of resolving them.”

He added that “In view of the reluctance of parties to submit to courts in unfamiliar jurisdictions, arbitration has

proved a viable solution in ensuring private alternative means of resolving disputes before judicial bodies usually chosen by the parties and outside the local court system.

The ICC Court provides a system of resolving international disputes under the auspices of an international body and allows disputes to be conducted in different jurisdictions.”

According to him, “The Rules launch will provide an excellent opportunity for those interested in gaining knowledge of arbitration and alternative dispute resolution. It will also ensure that the provisions of the 2012 Rules are given the widest publicity within our jurisdiction.

Changes made to the 1998 Rules will be highlighted. The following areas will be focused on: general provisions on the arbitral tribunal; improving time and costs efficiency; emergency arbitrator provisions and multiparty contract arbitration and consolidation.”

He pointed out that “The

ICC Court is not a “court” in the ordinary sense. It is not like an ordinary court in the sense that it does not pronounce any judgment on parties to a dispute. It essentially performs administrative and supervisory roles in ICC arbitrations. It oversees the entire process right from the time a request is made by the claimant to the time an award is released to the parties.

“The decision on any dispute is basically a matter for the arbitral tribunal and such decision is final and binding on the parties. ICC arbitration has grown to be very popular for various reasons including the availability of competent arbitrators who specialize in the subject-matter of the dispute, the confidentiality of the proceedings, the relative speed in the disposal of cases and the international recognition of arbitral awards by virtue of the New York Convention of 1958.

The role played by the ICC Court in scrutinizing awards

without affecting the arbitral tribunal’s liberty of decision is an added attraction of the ICC system.

“The work of the ICC with respect to dispute resolution is essentially carried out through the International Court of Arbitration and the Arbitration Commission.

While the International Court of Arbitration organizes and supervises arbitration under the auspices of the ICC, the ICC Arbitration Commission is broadly charged with responsibility to promote on a wordwide scale the settlement of international business disputes by means of ICC arbitration, mediation, expertise, dispute board and other forms of ADR; study the judicial aspects of arbitration and other modes of settlement of disputes of an international commercial nature and examine ICC dispute settlement services in view of current development, including new technologies,” he added.

24 — Vanguard, FRID A Y, MA Y 25, 2012 FRIDA MAY

AGOA boosts trade, supports shared growth with Africa

BY DANIEL GUMM

T

HE African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) has boosted exponentially the United States' trade with subSaharan Africa and remains the "centerpiece" of U.S. economic engagement with the region, according to Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson.

Speaking ahead of the annual AGOA forum, scheduled to take place in Washington June 1415, Carson said the pivotal economic development program "remains very relevant today not only for the trade preferences it provides eligible African countries, but also for the platform it gives the U.S. government to engage in an economic dialogue with our African

partners."

The assistant secretary told the House Foreign Affairs Subcommittee on Africa during testimony that U.S. trade with subSaharan Africa has grown significantly during the past 10 years.

U.S. exports to the region have tripled from less than $7 billion in 2001 to more than $21 billion in 2011, while U.S. imports hit $74.2 billion last year, according to the U.S. Department of Commerce.

The department reported the top destinations for U.S. exports in 2011 were South Africa, Nigeria, Angola, Ghana and Ethiopia. U.S. exports in machinery, vehicles, mineral fuels, cereals and aircraft drove the export growth.

U.S. imports from subSaharan Africa grew by

COMMISSIONING — Hon. Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Allison-Madueke commissioning African’s largest oil vessel, “Akpevweoghen Derrik Lay Barge”, acquired by an indigenous oil servicing company, Fenog Nigeria Limited, in Warri, Delta State, recently. The Executive Director, Fenog Nigeria Limited, Mr. Matthew Tonlagha (left) clapping in admiration. Behind the minister is the GED, Refineries and Petrochemical, NNPC, Engr. Andy Yakubu, while the GGM, Fenog Nig. Ltd, Mr. Bello Oboh, in glasses (right of the minister) watches.

14 per cent from 2010, driven by an increase in African exports of mineral fuels, precious metals and stones, vehicles and cocoa

products.

Major exporters to the United States were Nigeria, Angola, South Africa, Gabon and Chad.

Carson commended

Open borders, integrated supply chains break down trade barriers

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AST Asian economies have recorded marked improvements in their ability to enable trade, while traditional frontrunners, Singapore and Hong Kong retain a clear lead at the top of the global rankings, according to the Global Enabling Trade Report 2012, released by the World Economic Forum.

The report, which is published every two years, also confirms strong showings for Europe's major economies, with Finland and the United Kingdom both advancing six places to 6th and 11th, respectively, and Germany and France remaining stable at 13th and 20. Other large economies fare less well: the US continues its decline to 23rd, as does China (56th) and India (100th).

Among emerging

economies, Turkey (62nd) and Mexico (65th) remain stable while Chile (14th), Saudi Arabia (27th) and South Africa (63rd) climb in the ranking.

ASEAN members Thailand (57th), Indonesia (58th) and the Philippines (72nd) also improve.

As well as ranking nations' trade openness, the report finds that traditional notions of trade are increasingly outdated as global value chains require new measurements, policies and cooperation. The report also finds that security, quality and trade can be mutually reinforcing through supply chain integrity efforts, but a knowledge gap in identifying buyers remains an important barrier.

The biennial report, covering 132 economies worldwide, measures the

abilities of economies to enable trade and highlights areas where improvements are most needed. A widely used reference, it helps countries integrate global value chains and companies with their investment decisions.

"We learn from this report that a supply chain approach to easing border barriers while maintaining quality, security and integrity is increasingly important to success in trade facilitation," said Ronald Philip, Manager, Supply Chain & Transport Community at the World Economic Forum.

At the core of the report is the Enabling Trade Index, which measures institutions, policies and services facilitating the free flow of goods over borders and to destination. It breaks the enablers into four issue areas: market access, border administration,

PRESENTATION — From left: Mr. Chukwuma Ochonogor, Managing Director, Concept Nova, Mrs. Olubusayo Olayinka Balogun, Head Mistress, All Saints Anglican Primary School, Montgomery, Yaba, and Mr. Usman Imanah Head, Branding and Communication, Concept Nova, at the presentation of computers and a generator set to the school as part of Concept Nova’s (A member of Concept Group) CSR initiative for the year.

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transport and communications infrastructure, and business environment. The Index uses a combination of data from publicly available sources, as well as the results of the Executive Opinion Survey, a comprehensive annual survey conducted by the World Economic Forum with its network of partner research institutes and business organisations in the countries included in the report.

The report is a product of the Enabling Trade Programme, developed by the Forum's Industry Partnership Programme for the Supply Chain and Transport sector

these strengthening economic ties and said that "increasing two-way trade and enhancing investment helps to grow economies on both sides of the Atlantic."

While Africa's growth is impressive, he said, it still only accounts for less than 2% of global trade.

"It is my firm belief that Africa represents the next global economic frontier, and I am not alone in that assessment," Carson said, noting that the World Bank projects growth rates of between 5% and 6% during the next two years for Africa.

Carson said AGOA, which is part of the Trade and Development Act of 2000, will continue to be critical in supporting this growth.

AGOA allows participating countries in sub-Saharan Africa to export nearly all of their goods to the United States duty-free. By

removing taxes and other trade and customs barriers, AGOA has helped African countries to increase and diversify their exports.

Signed into law by then-President Bill Clinton in May 2000, AGOA was designed to expand U.S. trade and investment with subSaharan Africa, stimulate economic growth, promote trade and investment talks, encourage economic integration and help bring sub-Saharan Africa into the global economy.

Currently, 40 countries participate in AGOA. The 2012 forum will focus on how to improve Africa's infrastructure to facilitate and increase trade and development.

It will bring together more than 600 participants, including senior U.S. and African government officials, members of the private sector and civil society representatives.

AGRA to help implement new G8 global partnership on food security strengthened by AGRA

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HE Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA) was given a key role in the G8’s next phase of a shared commitment to achieve global food security. The Scaling Seeds and Other Te c h n o l o g i e s Partnership, part of the new initiative focused on increasing agricultural food production in Africa, will be housed at AGRA and will focus on strengthening Africa’s seed sector.

The Scaling Seeds and Other Technologies Partnership will strengthen the seed sector and promote the commercialisation, distribution and adoption of key technologies improved seed varieties, and other technologies to meet

concrete targets in partner countries. AGRA has been working since its creation five years ago through many partners to create breadbaskets in Africa through support to millions of smallholder farmers.

Particularly impressive are results in significantly boosting staple crop production.

Through the support of AGRA and its partners, an additional 40,000 metric tons per annum of hybrid seed, representing one-third of the commercially produced seed in Africa, is now reaching smallholder farmers.

These seeds have been produced by 60 small, African-owned seed companies launched with capital and

- a 100 percent increase in the number of such companies. In terms of food production, this means an additional four million metric tons of staple crops per annum. AGRA's experts believe that the tipping point to food security with respect to improved seeds is 500,000 metric tons per annum of high yielding, improved crop varieties.

AGRA has invested in training African scientists who will develop research capacity, and strengthen the capacity of seed companies both technically and in terms of management capability.

This represents a quarter of the scientists known to be working in this field today.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 25

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26 — V anguard, FRID AY , MA Y 25, 2012 FRIDA MAY Vanguard

How midnight inferno sacked Ogun traditional ruler

BY BOSE ADELAJA

B

UT for divine intervention, the community leader of Ayetoro in Ado-Odo Ota Local Government of Ogun State Pa Abiodun Adeniji Odutala and his family members would have been roasted alive. So it is a miracle that they are all alive today to tell their story.

On a fateful Tuesday their town was invaded by a group of hoodlums who torched the traditional home of the community and at the end of the midnight inferno, property worth about N10 million and other vital documents were lost.

On that Tuesday, no sooner had the family members gone to bed than a strange movement was noticed in the compound and before anybody realised what was happening, their house was set ablaze and the occupants were left to struggle for their dear lives.

Since the incident, the community has been left without a palace as sittings now take place in an open place.

Although some security operatives in the State have waded

photographs and some artifacts. Now it’s inevitable we pull down the remains of the building as they are now cracked and weak,” he said.

On noticing the incident, members of this family raised an alarm which attracted neighbours to the scene. But the arrival of neighbours proved rather late as they could not put out the fire after several hours of trying . “This is a difficult time in this town.

Some of my family members ran out half naked when fire engulfed the building,” said the traditional ruler.

A resident of the town, Madam Alaba Olateju, said she woke up following the alarm raised by her neighbours. “I was fast asleep when I heard an unusual noise which was alarming. I came outside to see what was happening but I was shocked to see the place on fire and the assailants have disappeared into the thin air. Nothing was salvaged in the process,” she informed.

A high chief in the town Olowo Taiwo, who traced the incident to some unnamed land speculators said: “ I believe the land speculators are

,

It is a taboo to have set a palace on fire and God is against this.

We cannot sleep with our eyes closed, we are all in danger now as we don’t know when the arsonists would come back to the town

into the matter and made some arrests, the residents are, however, angered about the way and manner the matter is being handled by the Nigeria Police.

According to them, the culprits are presently walking freely in the community, threatening fire and brim stone in the area.

Speaking with Vanguard Metro, VM, last Wednesday, Pa Odutala said the incident was a calculated attempt to throw the entire town into mourning. “On that fateful night, one of my relatives alerted me that some strange people have besieged the town and before we knew it, the traditional home was their port of call. Within a twinkle of an eye, a thick smoke had engulfed the compound and we all scampered for safety.

We all would have been roasted alive on that day but God was at work. Over N10 million worth of property was lost, including my C M Y K

,

at work again. That is what they do when they lose out and have no land to sell again”.

Other residents who spoke with VM said it was a taboo to set a traditional house ablaze, adding that this was a bad omen in the history of the town. One of them who simply gave his name as Oriade said: “It is a taboo to have set a palace on fire and God is against this. We cannot sleep with our eyes closed, we are all in danger now as we don’t know when the arsonists would come back to the town”.

As at the time of filing this report, some residents were priming to take the law into their hands unless urgent measures are taken by the Ogun State government.

“This is an abomination in Yoruba land! The Igbos will not act or behave like this, they respect their traditional rulers. The culprits have kicked against the norms of our fore fathers. It is a pity that

*The palace of the traditional ruler after it was gutted by fire following the attack by arsonists. (inset) Pa Abiodun Adeniji Odutala. this wanton destruction of property happened like this and the hoodlums are still boasting simply because they have the backing of the Nigeria Police and others at the helm of affairs. This is uncalled for; if there is any dispute, the court is there as an arbiter. Now the suspects are

released and are now going about boasting that they will unleash another mayhem. We are begging the state government to quickly wade in before this place become a theatre of war,” chorused Mr. Abolanle Oyelade and Timothy Elegbe.

Efforts to reach the Ogun

State Command proved abortive as its Public Relations Officer, Mr. Muyiwa Adejobi’s left his cell phone unattended to.

As at the time of filing this report, many residents were still confused and living in palpable fear.

Abuja: Awaiting the novelty of lady drivers

BY OKEY NDIRIBE

F

IRST Lady Dame Patience Jonathan has expressed confidence that the driving culture within the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, would change when the first batch of 200 trainees of the Lady Chaffeur Training Scheme begin to drive within Abuja.

Mrs Jonathan expressed this view in Abuja while delivering her speech at the launch of the Lady Chaffeur scheme by the National Directorate of Employment, NDE. She further praised the aspiring lady trainees, adding that it was another opportunity for Nigerian women to excel in a skill hitherto regarded as an exclusive preserve for men.

The First Lady further expressed hope that the young lady drivers would become change agtents by bringing the feminine virtues of caring, carefulness and patience to bear on the way we conduct ourselves on the road.

She further showered encomiums on NDE, adding that the

body had consistently pursued the task of creating jobs for our teeming unemployed youths through training in several skills.

Mrs Jonathan further stated that she was impressed that Nigerians had realised the strategic importance of women in any change process, adding that as change agents Nigerian women were ready to contribute their quota to socio-economic development of the nation.

In his own remarks at the occasion, the Minister of Labour, Chief Emeka Wogu, stated that the scheme was carefully designed to empower unemployed women within the FCT and its environs, adding that the increasing number of unemployed women was a serious threat to government.

Said he: “Our focus on young women in this schme is based on the realisation that women have an important role to play in our national socio-economic development. They constitute

about half of the population, forming about 70 percent of the agricultural labour force and largely dominating the informal sector sactivities”.

He expressed regret that evidence indicates that young women face greater difficulties in finding employment than young men in our society.

In his own speech at the event, the Managing Director of NDE Mallam Abubakar Mohammed stated that The occasion was another milestone in the efforts of NDE to towards creating employment opportunities for Nigerian youths with special emphasis on women who are more vulnerable among the unemployed.

He further stated that NDE had tackled unemployment in the country through through its various training programmes adding that the goal is to create a new generation of young and enterprising Nigerians who will be able to chart a new course for our future economic well-being.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 27

Sex in the Big Brother Stargame house S

ixteen days after this year ’s edition of the Big Brother reality show kicked off, the show has recorded its first ever sexual encounter in the house.

Namibian housemate Jessica and her Liberian counterpart, Luke were the first housemates to have sex in the house.

The ‘bonking affair ’ happened few hours before Luke was evicted last Sunday from the house along with his Liberian partner Yadel and Sierra Leonean Dalphin.

While the housemates were sleeping, Luke and Jessica hopped into bed. Luke began giving Jessica a very sensual massage and shortly after, the two hit it off. They must have thought no one would see them as the lights were off but trust Biggie to have his infrared cameras on stand-by.

However, since the ugly incident happened, viewers of the reality showhavecontinuedtoreactonline with some questioning the rational behind the yearly programme .

Tiwa Savage writes song for Gr ammy aw ar d winner Grammy awar ard winner,, Monica

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op female singer, Tiwa Savage who recently was signed by Mavin Records has made another history few days after she landed a multi-million Naria Pepsi deal. The singer got a writing credit for American R&B star, Monica. She wrote the song, ‘Catch Me’ for Monica’s 2012 Deluxe ‘New Life’ album.

This is one of Tiwa Savage’s obligation at

Sony’s ATV Publishing unit as a singer and songwriter.

Monica is a Grammy award winning singer. She broke into international fame with her duet with Brandy’s hit single, “The Boy Is Mine.”

Tiwa Savage left her banking job in the UK to start a music career in Nigeria. Her debut single, “Kele Kele Love” became an instant hit in Nigeria.

Wizkid, Ice Prince for 2012 BET awards H

omeboys Ayo ‘Wizkid‘ Balogun and Panshak ‘Ice Prince‘ Zamani have been recognized by the 2012 BET Awards.

Both acts have been nominated in the “Best International Act: Africa” category.

The nominations were announced in New York.

Among the notable musicians who graced the occasion were Mindless Behavior, Big Sean, Melanie Fiona, DJ Khaled, Astro, A$AP Rocky and Diggy.

The list which was unveiled Wednesday night sees the two gifted Nigerian artistes up

against the likes of Kenyan Hip-Hop/R&B group Camp Mulla, Ghanian rapper Sarkodie, South African singer Lira and French speaking Malian rapper Mokobe for the coveted Best African Act prize.

Wizkid who released his debut album ‘Superstar‘ last year has had a fantastic run; winning a MOBO Award, signing up with Akon’s Konvict Music and touring Nigerian and the UK. He is to kick off his US tour later in the year.

Ice Prince has also had it going pretty well for him; also

INSIDE

Julius AAgwu’s gwu’s ‘Jok es Apar t’ ‘Jokes Apart’ goes on air

releasing his debut ‘Everybody Loves Ice Prince‘, collaborating with Jamaican reggae singer, Gyptian and winning the ’Best African Act’ at the 2012 Ghana Music Awards.

Last year, African pop giants D’banj and 2face came out tops and received a joint award prize in the same category.

US rapper Kanye West leads this year ’s nominations list with seven nods, six of which are from his star collaboration with Jay Z off the ‘Watch the Throne‘ album The awards ceremony will

take place on Sunday, July 1, 2012 at the Los Angeles’ Shrine Auditorium and will be hosted by veteran Hollywood

Day I nearly lost my life because of football — Dr. Ladipo

actor and ‘Avengers’ star, Samuel L Jackson with performances from Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj.

Wizkid and Ice Prince

Pacifier debuts to help premature babies feed well

28 —Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25 , 2012

WEEKEND GROOVE Movie of the week

Synopsis

Tobi premieres in Nigerian bo x of fice box office

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OBI, a movie by US-based Nigerian producer, Emmanuel Ijeh premiered at Ozone Cinema, Yaba, on May 18. Directed by Bethels Agumuoh, the film features Chet Anekwe, Chisom Oz-Lee, Mark Williams, Jimmy Allen, Elizabeth Harness, and Ray Reynold.

•Star Trek artistes

STAR TREK 2012:

Tuf ace, 9ice, Obesere, uface, others storm Ibadan today

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tar Trek, Nigeria’s biggest After the Ibadan show, the Star Trek musical country tour, is set to train will move to Makurdi where kick off, this morning in Wande Coal, J.Martins, Naeto C, Ice Ibadan.

Prince and Diamondz are billed to Leading the arrays of artistes perform on May 26. Up next will be scheduled to perform is the music Lagos State where Wande Coal, 9ice, maestro- Tuface Idibia who will thrill Obesere and J.Martins will perform at fans at the very first concert, holding the Ejigbo Mini Staduim on June 1. at the Adamasingba Staduim, Ibadan, Ilesha, Osun State, will be the next Oyo State. Tuface popularly called Tu location as Wande Coal, 9ice, Yinka Baba will be joined by two other top Best and M.I are billed to perform on artistes, 9ice and Obesere. The night’s June 2.The train will move to the show will also feature performances South-South zone where the Koko from the sparkling, recently crowned master- D’Banj, Flavour, Sound Sultan winners of Star Quest 2012, Crystals. and Tiwa Savage will perform in Benin The line up for the night will be .On June 8. Sapele will come alive as completed with the appearance of Flavour, Sound Sultan, Omawunmi, Juke Box, the 2010 winners of Star Waje, M.I and The BEAT, 2011 Quest.According to Omotunde winning band of Star Quest, will Adenusi, Brand Manager, STAR, Star entertain fans on June 9.Music lovers Trek 2012 would be bigger and better east of the Niger, will also have a feel than previous editions. His words: of Star trek as Flavour, D Banj, Sound “When you talk about Star Trek, you Sultan, Mr Raw and Diamondz, will are talking about the biggest, entertain fans in Awka on June 15; nationwide musical concert tour that while the quiet town of Abakiliti will parades the best of Nigerian music erupt in excitement with the visit of stars and touches every nook and Flavour, Mr Raw, J.Martins, Naeto C cranny of the country. In keeping with and M.I on June 16. Uyo, capital of our tradition, we are taking the Akwa-Ibom State will play host to Star excitement to various cities across the Trek’s array of superstars as Wande countr y. We promised unrivalled Coal, Wizkid, Mr. Raw and K.C will entertainment.” On this year ’s Star thrill revelers on June 22. The curtain Trek, three female musical artistes will will close on Star Trek in Calabar, Cross be performing on stage. They are Tiwa River State capital with Tuface Idibia, Savage, Omawunmi and Waje, Wizkid, Wande Coal and K.C, regarded as the three top rated female wrapping the show up on June 23. musicians in Nigeria at the moment.

Goldie out with single ...as Jaywon shoots new video

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igeria’s representative in the on-going Big Brother Star Game, hip hop star, Goldie, has released her hot single entitled I Don’t Wanna Leave. At the moment, the song has elicited a lot of reactions from her fans in Nigeria and across Africa . The star that is the centre of attraction at the on-going reality TV show, stunned viewers when she performed the hot single to the Kenyan contestant. The young man was swept off his feet as Goldie sang her song.

Incidentally, Kennis Music, Goldie’s record company has shot the video of another of its star artiste, Jaywon’s song, Why We Are Here. Shot last week at Nigezie studio in Lagos , the video was directed by Skills. “It’s a double offering from Kennis Music this time around as we also plan to start airing Why We Are Here video on Kennis Music TV as well as Primetime Africa programmes on all TV stations in Nigeria and Star Times digital TV.Jaywon had wowed fans with his Tinko Angel which is still enjoying airplay and dance floors across Africa.” Mr. Kenny Ogungbe, Chief Executive Officer, Kennis Music International said in a statement .

It explores the consequences of the decision of 21-year old Akinola Tobi to join a gang. Played by sensational newcomer Mark Williams, Tobi is caught between a father, Chet Bashari Anekwe, who’s love knows no bounds and a society that doesn’t seem to have anything to offer. A last minute decision is bound to determine whether he lives or dies. Tobi is a heart wrenching drama that slowly unfolds and takes you through a world of unconditional love, betrayal, pride, and triumph.

The film, shot in New York and New Jersey, boasts of a deployment of first class legal battle antics beautifully woven into the court room scenes.

In the words of the producer, “my dream was to bring the Nigerian movie industry closer to its American counterpart, Hollywood.”

Top 5 films for the week 1. Men in Black 2. The Vow: 3. American Reunion 4. Battleship 5. Ghost Rider

Movie Schedule GENESIS DELUXE CINEMAS, LEKKI Men in Black 3: 12:50pm, 3:00pm, 5:10pm, 7:20pm, 9:30pm, 11:40pm.

Battleship: 12:00pm, 2:35pm, 5:10pm, 7:45pm, 10:20pm.

American Reunion: 8:00pm.

Arthur Christmas: 10:10am, 2:15pm.

The Hunger Game: 6:30pm, 9:15pm.

GENESIS DELUXE CINEMAS, PORT HARCOURT Men in Black 3: Battleship: Ghost Rider 2: The Hunger Game: The Vow: 5:

10:00am, 2:30pm, 4:35pm, 6:40pm, 8:45pm.

2:00pm, 7:30pm.

11:00pm.

6:10pm, 8:55pm, 11:40pm.

20pm.

GENESIS DELUXE CINEMAS, ENUGU Men in Black 3: Battleship: The Vow: The Hunger Game:

10:30am, 12:40pm, 2:50pm, 5:00pm, 7:10pm, 9:20pm.

5:50pm, 8:20pm.

3:30pm.

8:15pm.

OZONE CINEMA , Y ABA YABA Men in black 3: Battleship: 3:45pm, American Reunion: Dr Seuss:

4:20pm, 6:30pm, 8:40pm.

6:25pm, 9:00pm.

10:35am, 12:25pm.

11:50am.

SIL VERBIRD CINEMAS, THE G ALLERIA , LA GOS SILVERBIRD GALLERIA LAGOS Men in Black 3 (3D): 11:00am, 5:50pm.

Men in Black 3 (2D): 1:10pm, 3:50pm, 8:00pm, 10:20pm.

Battleship: 1:30pm, 8:10pm, 10:10pm.

Ghost Rider 2: 1:30pm, 8:10pm, 10:10pm.

The Vow: 1:30pm, 8:00pm, 10:10pm.

SIL VERBIRD CINEMAS, SEC, ABUJ A SILVERBIRD ABUJA Men in Black 3: Battleship: The Vo w : American Reunion: Dr Seuss: The Lorax:

12:40pm, 11:20pm, 12:20pm, 11:10am, 12:00pm,

2:50pm, 1:50pm, 2:40pm, 1:30pm, 2:00pm,

5:00pm, 4:20pm, 4:50pm, 3:50pm, 4:00pm,

SIL VERBIRD CINEMAS, CEDDI PLAZA , ABUJ A SILVERBIRD ABUJA Ghost Rider 2: The Hunger Games: 21 Jump Street:

•Goldie

4:40pm, 8:50pm.

1:30pm, 4:10pm, 9:00pm.

12:30pm.

7:10pm, 6:50pm, 7:00pm, 6:10pm, 6:00pm,

9:20pm.

9:30pm.

9:05pm.

8:50pm.

8:00pm.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 29

FG, May & Baker renew agreement on local vaccines production …Shareholders direct company to seek funding from TY Holdings

BY MICHAEL EBOH

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HE Federal Gov ernment has re newed its joint venture agreement with a pharmaceutical company — May & Baker Nigeria Plc for the local production and distribution of vaccines in Nigeria.

The agreement will see May & Baker producing vaccines that will help eliminate and reduce the impact of preventable diseases across the length and breadth of the country.

General Theophilus Danjuma, Chairman, May & Baker, who disclosed this at the company’s Annual general Meeting in Lagos, yesterday, said the company was notified of the renewal by the Federal Ministry of Health.

According to him, the renewal will secure the health of a vast majority of Nigerians, especially children and women who are most vulnerable to vac-

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cines preventable diseases.

“With this development, the doubts the future of our subsidiary, BioVaccines Nigeria Limited is cleared. We expect that the appointment of new Board members for the company will be accomplished soon to enable it take off effectively,” he said.

He said the company is committed to ensuring that BioVaccines operations are kick started going by its immense public health interest to Nigerians.

He lamented the delay in getting the necessary approval from the regulatory authorities restart the operations of the subsidiary.

He said, “It is rather unfortunate that despite all efforts by management and the Board during the past, we are yet to get the final approval from government to restart operations of BioVaccines.

“I however, wish to reassure all our shareholders that our company has a strong case with this project and we will not rest until we accomplish our goal of getting this company operational.”

At the meeting, shareholders of the company unanimously agreed that the company seek funding to boost its operations.

In a special resolution, the shareholders agreed that the company approach the Chairman and its company — TY Holdings, for funding, with terms to be agreed by both parties at a later date.

In its financial performance for the year ended, December 31, 2011, May & Baker recorded a turnover of N4.8 billion, rising by 4.5 per cent from N4.6 billion recorded in 2010, while profit after tax stood at N255.5 million, rising by 32.5 per cent from N192.9 million recorded in 2010.

The company also de-

clared a dividend of 10 kobo per share for its shareholders for the current financial year, with Danjuma expressing optimism that the dividend payout will increase significantly when it begins

to reap the benefit of its investment in the newly commissioned PharmaCentre.

Mr. Nnamdi Okafor, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, May & Baker of the company, said

the PharmaCentre has secured the approval of the National Agency for Food, Drugs, Administration and Control, NAFDAC, stating that the centre will soon commence operations in the next couple of months.

Learn Africa records 18% dip in turnover

BY CHINEDU IBEABUCHI & ITORO UDOFIA

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EARN Africa Plc has reported a turnover of N2.923 billion, representing an 18 per cent decrease from the figure recorded in the previous year.

Also, in a bid to reposition its products for better future performance, the company has repackaged and introduced new series of textbooks into the market as well as launched an e-book called LA PAD and e-content.

Briefing newsmen in Lagos, ahead of its forthcoming Annual General

Meeting, AGM, the Chairman of the company, Mr. Emeke Iwerebon, said the company, despite the decrease in its turnover, achieved a moderate increase of 16 per cent in its profit before tax of N382.79 million in 2011, from N328.78 million in 2010.

“Shareholders funds also increased marginally from the previous year by 1 per cent to N3.435 billion in 2011 reflecting enhanced efficient management and better allocation of the Company’s resources.

“The Board of Directors of the company has therefore recommended a dividend of 25 kobo per share

to be approved by our shareholders at our next Annual General Meeting, AGM. “The Board recommended the dividend after taking into consideration numerous factors such as the many challenges associated with divestment by the majority shareholders; the complexities and related costs involved in the transition from Longman Nigeria to learn Africa Plc; the reduced turnover during the corresponding period; and the bonus issued by way of gift to the existing shareholders on a pro rata basis,” he said.

30 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

BY CHRIS OCHAY I

M

INISTER and D e p u t y Chairman, National Planning Commission, Dr Shamsuddeen Usman, said yesterday that the African countries are endowed with knowledge, the technology and the means to end hunger and food insecurity and therefore must stop begging for food.

Dr. Usman who stated this at the launching of the Africa Human Development Report 2012, added that a number of African countries, including

African countries begging for food unacceptable, says Usman Malawi, have shown that this can be achieved rather quickly, but what have been missing are political will and dedicated action.”

The Africa Human Development Report 2012 with theme “Towards a Food Secure Future” was organised by the UNDP in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Agriculture at Transcorp Hilton Hotel Abuja.

Dr Usman further revealed that, Nigeria h a s however, demonstrated

that political will in the A g r i c u l t u r a l Transformation Agenda, which President Jonathan himself is the council’s chairman.

According to him, “in Nigeria, Agricultural Transformation Agenda being pursued by this administration combines both political will, as typified by the inauguration by President Goodluck Jonathan last week of the A g r i c u l t u r a l Transformation Council, of which he is Chairman,

and the dedicated action represented by the detailed programme and projects in the Agenda, which the

Honourable Minister of Agriculture is championing” Dr Usman has always

been an advocate for Africa’s self reliance in attaining its developmental needs.

FISON chairman decries low fish production in Nigeria

BY JIMOH BABATUNDE WITH AGENCY REPORT

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HAIRMAN of Fisheries Society of Nigeria (FISON), Rivers State chapter, Dr Awoteinm George, has decried the low level of

fish production in the country.

While speaking with journalists in Port Harcourt, he said that only 40 per cent of the fish consumed the country was produced locally.

George, a lecturer in the Department of fisheries, Rivers state University of Science and Technology (RSUST), explained that the importation was impacting negatively on the nation’s economy.

The Chairman explained that many Nigerians would have been employed if 100 per cent of the fish consumed in the country were produced locally.

“It should have not only provided employment for the people, but also generate income,” George said.

He said that Rivers and Bayelsa states were expected to be the “fish basket” of Nigeria, by the virtue of their geographical locations but that reverse was the case.

George said that Rivers’ fisheries projects that were expected to change the situation had collapsed.

Cassava value to increase after 12 months — IITA Manager

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TATION Manager of International Institute for Tropical Agriculture (IITA) in Abuja,Mr Olusegun Adunoye, has said that the impact of new government policy on cassava will manifest after one year.

Adunoye told the News Agency of Nigeria ( N A N ) i n Kubwa, Abuja that cassava normally grow within 10 months and 12 months in parts of the country.

He said that the Federal Government recently launched the cassava bread,and that the economic benefits of cassava should be expected in a year’s time.

The manager expressed the hope that the livelihood of poor farmers would be better after one year of thorough cassava usage by bakers.

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Vanguard, FRID AY , MA Y 25, 2012 — 31 FRIDA MAY

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 —

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HEREVER the decision was taken by Ndigbo to back the presidential quest of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan before the 2011 election, Evangelist Elliot Ukoh as President of the Igbo Youth Movement, IYM was into it. As a member of the Ime-Obi as the Ohanaeze Ndigbo inner caucus is also known, Ukoh had an additional reason to back Dr. Jonathan.

However, almost one year after the inauguration Ukoh was not very enthusiastic about his choice and that of Ndigbo during a recent chat. He was indeed looking for the fresh air promised by the President.

“We don’t understand why cosmetic palliatives are applied to the very serious issue of youth unemployment,” he said as an example of the historical malaise he said is yet to be addressed by the Jonathan administration.

“The reality on ground, one year on does not reflect the promises he made during his electoral campaigns We love our country and want to see things really change for the better.

Nobody is excited so far. The government must be told the truth. Nigeria is still drifting.”

The youth leader also disagreed with claims by the government that it had done a number of things to improve on the fortunes of the citizenry, saying: “Nobody will agree with them except those in government, desperate job seekers and sycophants who lie to leaders by telling them the sweet things they want to hear.”

True federalism, regionalism as the way out Ukoh advocated true federalism and regional autonomy as the surest way to move the country forward. He warned that the country might implode without reversion to regionalism because “no matter how long you try to stifle it, 80 per cent of Nigerians will vote for regionalism in a referendum any day. Those opposing it are only ignorant. They don’t understand yet that Nigeria will drown eventually unless we revert to regionalism. The Aburi Accord appreciated our differences and agreed that each region should take care of its basic needs like it was in the First Republic. The regions will be forced to harness other sources of revenue, apart from crude oil; Regions will be financially strong enough to embark on big projects like steel plants, dams etc, which no state in Nigeria can handle at the moment. But most importantly each region will grow at its own pace.”

Stressing the need for a national conference, he said the platform would afford Nigerians the opportunity “to air their grievances and a holistic job will be done in so many areas and consensus reached amicably on each issue. We have to save Nigeria before it becomes C M Y K

ONE YEAR AFTER:

We're looking for fresh air — Ukoh *Nigerians can’t understand why graft is being celebrated impossible to save her. There is really no reason to go on delaying.”

On fears that Nigeria may disintegrate in 2015, the Ohanaeze chieftain said the country would survive because “it is in everybody’s interest that it does” noting however that “we must revert to true federalism and regional autonomy. We should convene a national conference and fashion out a new and truly peoples constitution. We must subsume large ego and religious bigotry. We must remove “born to rule” mentality completely. We must place the nation above self or group whims and caprices and appreciate that nation-building entails sacrificial hard work especially when the foundations originates from a forced colonial amalgamation.”

North records 246 bloody clashes since 1953 Ukoh also commented on the spate of insecurity in the country

,

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

A7

*Ukoh: When will transformation agenda begin?

“Nobody has been prosecuted for inspiring or leading mob attack

The Aburi Accord appreciated our differences and agreed that each region should take care of its basic needs like it was in the First Republic

noting that current attempts at addressing it were only scratching the surface.

“The big malaise is the undiscussed culture of bloodletting, which has come to stay in Northern Nigeria.

Regrettably, it has been accepted by the people as a way of life. It has become the norm, the tradition to kill, loot and burn fellow compatriots on flimsy, religions, ethnic or political arguments.

,

on fellows Nigerians. In May 1952, exactly 60 years ago, six Igbo men were killed in Kano over flimsy argument over a bicycle at the Kano Railway Station. In May 1953, Alhaji Inua Wada, then secretary of the Kano branch of the Northern People’s Congress (NPC) and later federal minister of Works in the Balewa Government incited a large horde of armed young men, who claimed they were waiting to attack Chief Samuel Akintola of

the Action Group (AG), who was scheduled to campaign in Kano on Saturday May 16, 1953. They claimed that a Lagos crowd booed and jeered at northern parliamentarians. As it turned out, Akintola shelved his trip, yet 28 Igbo men lost their lives in a most unwarranted and brazen attack on unarmed civilians. An inquiry was set up. Nothing came out of the panel. Since then, over 246 incidents of blood letting has occurred in northern Nigeria till date if we removed the horrendous pogrom of may 29 – June 3, July 29 – August 3 and September 29 – October 3 of 1966.

Over a quarter of a million Nigerians have been willfully murdered in northern Nigeria through violent attacks in the last 60 years.

“It doesn’t happen in Cameroon, Benin, Togo, Ghana, etc only in Nigeria and in all of these West Africa countries, the demography

replicates a southern Christian population and northern Muslim population. These blood baths have never occurred in PortHarcourt, Lagos, Calabar, Osogbo, Benin, Uyo, Ogbomogbo, etc. Churches are attacked, pregnant women are brutally slaughtered, in one gory instance there was a macabre dance round the city of Kano for days in 1995 with the head of Mr. Gideon Akaluka of Imo State placed menacingly on a spike.”

Ukoh disagreed with comments attributing the violence unleashed by the Islamic sect to poverty and argued that it was politically motivated because it became widespread and more deadly after the 2011 presidential polls.

“Did poverty rear its head in the North under Jonathan?

Where these northern youths very rich under Shagari, Buhari, Babangida, Abacha ,etc? Why did the North begin to burn immediately central power shifted to the South? Did ‘poverty’ motivate Governor Sani Ahmed Yerimah of Zamfara State to introduce Sharia law during the first year of Obasanjo’s presidency, over a decade ago?

In the “political Sharia” experiments, thousands of people died in several northern communities. What has poverty got to do with 863 lives including about a dozen youth corps members slaughtered in Northern Nigeria as the results of the presidential elections of April 2011 began trickling in? Is poverty responsible for the slaughter of over 220 Nigerians over a cartoon in faraway Denmark? What has poverty got to do with over 62 lives wasted over an article in This Day newspaper about a beauty pageant?

The many sides of EK Clark

BY MICHAEL OBERABOR

O

N the May 25, 2012, he would have clocked 85 years on earth and remains as controversial as ever.

Over the years, he has maintained a particular aura around him. To different people, he is many things. Edwin Kiagbodo Clark- EK Clark for short- is a household name in Nigeria and has been so since 1967 when he accepted his first political appointment as a director on the board of Asaba Textile Mills. This was barely two years after he was called to the Bar in England as a member of the Honourable Society of the Inner Temple and as solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court

of Nigeria in 1965. His enthusiasm for work and unbridled will to serve had manifested long before this time.

Before his educational pursuit in England, Chief Clark had trained as a teacher and on qualification was headmaster and community development officer where his contributions to the development of education and the mobilization of the people for community development caught the attention and participation of the American Peace Corps. A visiting team of Corps members joined young Clark and other community volunteers to build a foreshore wall at Akugbene community. This was about 1961, long before mass mobilization of

volunteer community development service became the vogue decades later. This quality was quickly recognized by his fellow students in London who elected him for a two year tenure as president of the British Council hostel for Commonwealth students.

In this hotel, were young Nigerian students, who later became known by such title as Alhaji Hassan Adamu Wakilin Adamawa, Chief (Professor) Joe Irukwu of Ohaneze Ndigbo, Justice Kalgo of the Supreme Court, and former Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Alhaji Abdullahi, SAN. Though Chief Clark returned

to Nigeria a lawyer, it was politics that engaged him most and in which he made his greatest contribution.

When Col. Samuel Ogbemudia decided to establish the Midwest Institute of Technology, now University of Benin, he charged Chief Clark with the assignment.

Chief Clark was thereby the first Pro Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of the institution as well as the Chairman of the Building Committee of the University of Benin Teaching Hospital. He was involved for five years in the establishment of the University as Commissioner of Education and later as Commissioner of Continues on page A8

A8—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

The future of Lagos PDP

BY DAPO AKINREFON

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AVING participated in four consecutive elections and performed dismally, the Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is putting its house in order ahead of the 2015 poll in Lagos.

Since 1999, the party and its governorship candidates have failed to secure the required votes to take over the reins of power in the state christened Centre for Excellence.

Respective party chairmen, have over time, promised to wrest power from the ruling Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, without delivering.

From Messrs Olorunfunmi Bashorun, Murtala Ashorobi, Rasheed Alaba Williams, Bayo Williams to Setonji Koshoedo, promises were made to ensure the party clinches power but all to no avail.

Their plans and strategies to lead the party to victory during elections have failed to click as in-fighting, internal crisis, godfatherism, mudslinging, mischief and all manner of anti-party activities have remained the bane of the party.

Already, some aggrieved party leaders and members have decided not to work for the interest of the party and this trend has persisted.

With only three years to the 2015 governorship polls, Captain Olatunji Shelle (rtd), who was sworn-in as chairman of the party, is also expressing optimism that Lagos PDP would form the next government in Lagos.

Shelle, who is believed to be a loyalist of Chief Olabode George, said the PDP intended to partner with various civil society groups as part of its plan to win the 2015 polls in the state. He explained that the partnership was part of its broad plan aimed at repositioning the PDP in the politics of Lagos State.

While explaining what informed the party’s decision to collaborate with rights crusaders, at a press conference in Lagos, he said, “ we shall open our offices to partner with the civil societies, NGOs, professional bodies, genuine activists and any other groups willing to work with us.”

Restating that the party was committed to the agenda and spreading the PDP gospel of a ‘new Lagos’ where there would be better policies and improved infrastructure, Shelle expressed the view that his party could have performed better if it were the government in power. He stressed that “these are some of the issues of concern to the C M Y K

PDP in Lagos State and we believe we can do better when we are in government. The task to make Lagos State a PDP state is one that must be done and collectively too.”

He stressed: “The new executive of our party is poised to redefine the basic issues in our politics by running an inclusive and responsible administration for the greater good of the state.”

Though, the party top notch identified the subsisting problems of governance in the state, which he maintained was important to the party.

Noting that life could be better for the good people of state, he unveiled his agenda to lead the party to victory in subsequent polls.

“This press conference is about our agenda for the next few years while we continue to make amends on the best methods and practices that will not only deepen

,

2015:

mudslinging, creation mischief and all manner of anti-party activities is gone and this should be clear to all our members because these tendencies have not helped our party.” On the need for faithful to be committed to ideals of the party, he proposed that “ we are interested in real progress and development in the party.

We want to see greater participation by all PDP members in all our activities, getting everybody involved for the overall interest of our party ”. In addition, he pledged that his party would provide the credible alternative yearned for by many people in Lagos.

While he enjoined all members of the party to work in tandem with the state executives, Shelle said “the era of rumour mongering, mudslinging, creation mischief and all manner of

Shelle, who is believed to be a loyalist of Chief Olabode George, said the PDP intended to partner with various civil society groups as part of its plan to win the 2015 polls in the state

democracy in our party but also ensure that we deliver on our objectives as a political party,” he said. He enjoined members to brace up for new strides in the party because “the era of rumour mongering,

,

anti-party activities is gone and this should be clear to all our members because these tendencies have not helped our party.” Besides, he said the party leadership would not condone any form of anti-

*George: The king-maker of Lagos PDP party activities noting that “ while we shall adequately reward loyalty and commitment, we will be firm on constitutional sanctions on all manner of anti-party activities.” The retired naval officer said it was imperative for discipline and decorum to be instilled in the party, stressing the need for all hands to be on deck if success must be achieved in the party.

“Of course, without discipline, we can hardly deliver on our set objectives and this is why we are craving the indulgence of our

members to appreciate the need for cooperation and collective contributions in the new dispensation. The task to make Lagos State a PDP state is one that must be done collectively too. We have to realize that it is when we win election that we can be happy because the dividends of democracy can then benefit everyone. This should be a major lesson going by our history.” As the new executives of the Lagos PDP swings to action,how the new leadership will weather the storm in the party is to be seen.

The many sides of EK Clark Continues from page A7

Finance. It is on record that during his tenure as Commissioner of Education, school teachers in the Midwest received their rewards on earth rather than the proverbial deferment to Heaven’s Gate.

Chief Clark was appointed Federal Commissioner for Information in 1975. On return to party politics in 1979, Chief Clark joined the National Party of Nigeria, NPN, and aside being a member of the National Working Committee, was coordinator of minority groups of Plateau, Kwara, Niger, Bendel, Rivers and Cross River States.

He was subsequently elected Senator of the Federal Republic representing Warri, Western Ijaw and Isoko of present day Delta State.

Chief Clark has been associated with the struggle against the oppression by the more populous ethnic groups since his return to Nigeria in the mid sixties. In many instances, he has helped raise legal teams to assist his fellow minority rights activist in the Middle Belt. On

*Clark: Remains vibrant at 85 the delineation of Nigeria into six geopolitical zones, the minority ethnic nationalities of the South were grouped into the South South zone. Chief Clark assembled elders and leaders of the zone to form the South-South Peoples Conference, the first such pressure group in any zone in the country.

He became deputy leader under the octogenarian, Chief Harold Dappa-Biriye. The SSOPEC became a political lobby group and rallying point for the zone and achieved immeasurable successes including the agitation for the formation of the Niger Delta Development Commission.

The SSPA campaigned vigorously for the other zones to concede the presidency to the South-South at the 2007 general elections. Following these agitations, the South South clinched the Vice presidency slot in the dominant party, the PDP, and his Excellency, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan was elected Vice President of Nigeria, first time for a South-Southerner.

Today, the rest is history as Dr. Jonathan is the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, a situation that arose more or less to the indefatigable sagacity and negotiating skill of Edwin Clark following the death of Alhaji Umaru Yar ’ Adua and the attendant challenges that developed therefrom. Clark

brought his negotiating skills to bear on the many groups across Nigeria culminating in the invocation of the doctrine of necessity by the Senate. Of significance also is Chief Clark’s leadership role in the resolution of the Niger Delta crises.

He has led his Ijaw peoples from the six coastal states to all peace negotiations convened on the conflict and continues to seek succour and relief for his suppressed and oppressed tribe who unanimously acknowledge him as Ijaw National Leader.

In 2002, former President Olusegun Obasanjo honoured this great nationalist with the award of the Order of the Federal Republic, OFR. In December 2008, President Umaru Yar’Adua honoured him with the award of the Commander of the Order of the Niger (CON).

At 85, his personality is awesome and he remains as controversial as ever.

*Dr. Michael Oberabor Medical Officer, Baker Clinic Warri.

Vanguard, FRID AY , MA Y 25, 2012 — 33 FRIDA MAY

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34 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 35

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36 — V anguard, FRID AY, MA Y 25, 2012 Vanguard FRIDA MAY

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GROOVE Extra

Julius Agwu’s ‘Jokes Apart’ goes on air O

ne of Nigeria’s most versatile entertainers, Julius Agwu is ready to launch his TV show which he calls Jokes Apart. The show which is currently in its final editing stages, we scooped will soon hit the airwaves.

Julius is not a newcomer to television programme. He was once the host of “Laugh Line” on NTA which was later changed to “Humour on Ice.” Speaking about the show, Julius said “Jokes Apart’ is not a new concept.”

According to him, the show started in early 90s as “my stage name back in the University. Then anytime I appeared on stage, I punctuated my performances by saying “Jokes” and the crowd would respond “Apart”. But when •Julius Agwu

I relocated to Lagos to begin my career comedy business, I decided to push my family name, Agwu as I already had future plans for the name Jokes Apart.

Going down the memory lane, Julius said “many people will still remember I anchored a programme on NTA known as “Laugh Line” which later changed to ‘Humour on Ice.” That was when the inspiration for “Jokes Apart with Julius Agwu” kicked off.’

Speaking further concerning the new TV programme, Julius said he wants to be the voice of the people.

“I want to be the voice of the people, as the show will dwell on the political, social, cultural and economical issues affecting Africa countries using satire.”he added.

Onyeka Onwenu shuns COSON’s appointment

F

ollowing her recent appointment as one of the members of Advisory Board of the Copy Right Society of Nigeria(COSON), embattled Onyeka Onwenu(MFR), has come out to reject appointment.

The veteran singer was appointed as a member of the association’s Advisory Board during its 2nd annual general meeting meeting which held recently at Eko FM Hall, Ikeja, Lagos. She was appointed alongside Professor. (Sir) Victor Uwaifo(MON),Dr. Dan Maraya Jos (MON), Mr. Laolu Akins,Mr. Sunny Neji, Mr. Toju Ejueyitchie, Dr. Ben Ofoeze, Mr. Ossy Affason and Mr. Dayo Ogunyemi Rejecting the appointment through an e-mail sent via Black Berry wireless device from MTN, to WG, Onyeka said “I received with consternation, news that I have been appointed as a member of COSON Advisory Board. I was never contacted or informed by COSON directly until this appointment was announced on the pages of

newspapers.”

Continuing, she added “the idea of an Advisory Council is that of Tony Okoroji.” He raised it at the last COSON General Meeting, right before the pre-determined election of a new board. It was not the decision of the old board and certainly not the new one which is made up of people who will rubber stamp his decisions.”

“Ordinarily, and if properly canvassed, with a sincere purpose, an Advisory Council for COSON would not be a bad idea. As it is however, the move was made to ameliorate the impact of the coup, the schemes and shenanigans that characterised the last board elections, where people like Chief Ebenezer Obey, Laolu Akins, Toju Ejueyitchie, Charlimo, Sikiru Agbola and myself, all who are on the Board as sticklers for due process, were schemed out by a well selected list of voters, most of whom had proxies. Well, we are not fooled. I hereby reject my appointment.”

Ra alised af Rayy J hospit hospitalised aftter Billboard Music Awards

U

S singer-actor Ray J collapsed right after the Billboard Music Awards ended on Wednesday, May 22, 2012 and was rushed to the hospital.

TMZ reports that the 31-year-old was ‘extremely upset’ after the family of his late girlfriend Whitney Houston confronted him during the ceremony.

‘On Monday morning, someone went into Ray J’s hotel room and realized the singer was “out of it” and couldn’t get out of bed’.

Reports also say the family might have just triggered what Ray J has long coming – a case of exhaustion and dehydration as he had just returned from a quick, 32-hour round trip to China for business and a 4-hour drive to Las Vegas for the show.

•Ray J Ray J is still in the hospital with no sign of being discharged.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 37

GROOVE INTERVIEW

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38—VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MAY 25 , 2012

Day I nearly lost my life because of football

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— Dr. Ladipo P

resident-General of the Nigeria Football Supporters Club, Dr. Rafiu Ladipo, is a man who has dedicated his life to supporting football in Nigeria. In this interview, he shares the touching story of how his support for football nearly sent him to his early grave,amongst other issued raised by our reporter.

Enjoy it:

By KATE OBODO Growing up I grew up in Ibadan where I had my early education. When I left secondary school, I relocated to Lagos and worked with CFAO Company.

I later joined TRANSCAP Nigeria Ltd, a shipping department of CFAO. I took after my father who happened to be a business man and a dealer in those days. As a shrewd business man, my father was a strategist. In those days, as a

kid, my father used to hide his money in my pocket while we were returning from the market to avoid being attacked by armed robbers.

Romance with football I played football between the 1950s to 1980s before I had a terrible ankle injury which stopped me from playing. As a

•Dr. Rafiu Ladipo holding the FIFA U-17 World cup.

youth, football was everything to me. Then, I hardly missed any football match. In fact, I would ensure I saved some money everyday to enable me get to the stadium to watch a football match.

Becoming a member of the supporters club In 1978, I went to watch a match between then Oluwole

At a point, I was giving up the ghost, and to save myself from the ugly situation, I had to bite one of my attackers. For the first 45 minutes of the game, I was unconscious. What saved me was the breeze blowing across the outer part of the stadium.

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•Dr. Rafiu Ladipo with a supporters club member.

As a public figure, I have a lot of female admirers but do not have affair with them, the only thing I do is to appreciate them

•Dr. Ladipo,

Warriors, which is now Shooting Stars of Ibadan and B e n d e l Insurance. I paid four Naira (N4.00 )as gate fee. When I entered the stadium, it was crowded and there was no place for me to sit. I had no choice than to watch the game while standing.

S u d d e n l y, something t e r r i b l e happened, some people uprooted me and threw me into the crowd.

I started rolling and rolling until I landed on the concrete.

And before I knew what was happening, a lot of people rushed me.

At a point, I almost gave up the ghost. To save myself from the ugly situation, I had to bite one of my attackers. For the first 45 minutes of the game, I was unconscious. What saved me was the breeze blowing across the outer part of the stadium.

After the first half, I managed to regain consciousness as somebody then offered me a place to sit.

But from where I was sitting, I still could not enjoy the match because of excruciating pains all over my body. When the match ended, everybody left but I sat still, glued to my seat.

To my greatest surprise, on the network news that night, it was announced that about 32 people died as a result of the stampede in the stadium.

After the incident, I thanked God for sparing my life, but it never stopped me from going to watch football matches in the stadium.

My first contact with supporters club One day, while a match was going on in the stadium, I saw a group of people in Green and White. They were not up to 20 in number and they happened to be the only people that were not molested in the stadium. I discovered that they were members of the Supporters Club. So, I went to them for inquiry and I was told that I had to pay N2 as

membership fee. Quickly, I paid the money and automatically became a member of the club. Since then, my life has revolved around this club till now.

Early signs of leadership quality The very first day I joined the club, I brought some transformation into it. Because of my little knowledge and exposure, I suggested to my members that there was need for teams to get into the field under the national flag. That was how I became the first national flag bearer of the teams. When the teams filed out, I was always ushering them into the field, flying the national flag.

That was how I rose through the rank before becoming the national chairman in 1990.

Today, we have grown in size and number and are virtually in every state of the federation. I am proud to say that the Nigerian Supporters Club is the most entertaining, disciplined and well-behaved group in Nigeria.

My Kind of dressing My style is simple and smart. However, as a celebrity, wherever I go, I always dress as a proud Nigerian with a touch of Green and White colour on my clothes. This is a practice that does not matter if the dress is English or traditional. And I can assure you that everywhere I go, people admire that patriotism.

Me and my admirers As a public figure, I have a lot of female admirers but do not have affair with them. The only thing I do is to appreciate them, whether they are male or female admirers.

Meeting my Wife Meeting my wife was love at first sight. The day I met her, I asked her to marry me.

She said to me, why me?

Reason is that she always saw me with a lot of female admirers and was surprised I could propose to her.

Smoking and Drinking Right from my youth days, I have never tried smoking because I never liked the smell. For drinking, my fear has always been that I could get drunk and I don’t like how drunks behave. So I totally refrained myself from any alcohol.

My kind of Food As Omo Ibadan, I like Amala and Gbegiri and Efo soups. I also eat fruits a lot.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MAY 25 , 2012 — 39

40 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

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mong all income groups, the majority of women with young children working part-time have made a positive choice to do so in order to better balance family commitments with the financial imperative to work and, in some cases, their desire to continue their careers. However, it is clear from the responses that women in the higher income group enjoy greater freedom in the choices they make than those on lower incomes. The financial pressure facing families on below average incomes means that more of them feel that their choices are constrained and would choose to work longer hours if it made more financial sense. As it is, many of them would be no better off if they extended their hours because of the high costs of childcare. Furthermore, the financial need to work means that more of them are forced to take jobs that are below their skill level than women in higher income families.

What emerges from the survey is that women in different income groups face different challenges that need different responses. While those in the higher income group would benefit from more affordable childcare and greater job flexibility, their main challenge is finding part-time work that matches their skill level. This reflects the fact that part-time employment is concentrated in low paid, low skill sectors.

Higher skilled jobs tend to be offered on a full-time basis or four days a week. Some respondents said that, while they had wanted to work only three days, their employer would not accept such an arrangement.

For women on low to middle incomes and for those on the lowest incomes, the priorities are different. Their priority is to work longer hours to alleviate the financial pressure on their family budget but they are hampered by the high costs of childcare and the lack of more flexible full-time employment options. While there has been significant growth in flexible employment since the introduction of the right to request in 2003, parttime remains the most common type of flexibility offered by employers.15 More flexible options that are compatible with longer working hours, for example term-time only, compressed hours and working from home, are less common but would provide mothers with greater opportunities to increase their hours, while still being able to

*Perpetua Ijeoma Nkwocha

*Chioma Ajunwa

*Mary Onyali

eporttage Repor

The Cost of Motherhood Over the last 30 years, female employment has become increasingly important in maintaining the living standards of households on low to middle incomes (LMIs). Female employment falls significantly behind some of our international competitors among women over 50 and women with children. To find out more about the nature of the choices women face when opting for part-time work, this report presents the results of a survey conducted by the Resolution Foundation. Overall the survey finds that the majority of women with children under five across all income groups choose to work part-time, although more than a third of women in the LMI group do not feel that part-time work is a choice. Furthermore, nearly 50 percent of the LMI group have been forced to take a lower skilled job by working part-time than if they had remained in full-time work. Higher income mothers who work part-time are less likely to want to increase their hours given that they are financially more comfortable but continue to be dissatisfied with the availability of high quality part-time jobs. fulfil their family commitments.

Based on the results of this survey, there are three changes that could significantly improve the working lives of mothers with young children: greater access to affordable childcare; access to more flexible employment opportunities; and access to well paid, high skilled employment on a part-time basis. While securing additional investment for childcare is challenging in the current fiscal environment, restoring the pre-April 2011 levels of childcare support through the tax credit system should be a priority when new funding is available. This would significantly improve the work incentives for single parents and second earners on low to middle incomes.

While employers have made significant progress in meeting the needs of employees for flexibility, there is a need to look beyond simply part-time employment to provide a greater range of flexible working options such as compressed hours, home

working and term time only hours. These flexible options needs to be offered to fathers as well as mothers to help families as a whole balance work and parenting commitments. In addition, there is a strong economic and business case for employers to develop more part-time employment opportunities at all levels of the workforce not just in low skilled, low paid sectors. This will ensure that women with skills and experience remain in the workforce after they have had children, benefiting household living standards as well as the economy as a whole A total of 1610 part-time working women responded to the Resolution Foundation/ Netmums survey. Part-time was defined as up to 30 hours a week, with respondents being able to specify how many hours they worked in blocks of five. Where possible, the results have been analyzed by income group in line with the Resolution Foundation’s definition of low to middle income households

The Look

Sporty Chic

G

one are the days when sports wear was associated with drab and sweat.

These days, thanks to the innovation and style of sports fashionistas such as Serena Williams and her sister, Venus, Women the world over are expressing themselves in sportswear as much as everything else.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 41

Sportswears

PROFILES: n e m o W ic p m ly O Celebrating

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ith just a few weeks to go in the countdown to the so-called greatest show on earth, more women than ever are going to be competing for glory and country in :London this summer. Some women in time past made this happen, and it’s time to celebrate these women who put Nigerian women on the map of global sports.

Violet Odogwu MON

She paved the way for the rest. Last month, Nigeria’s Violet Odogwu-Nwajei (Vice-president) was unanimously returned unopposed to the government of Confederation of African Athletics (CAA) for the fresh mandate that will see them rule the till 2014.

Born May 15, 1942 in AsabaAse, Violet Odogwu had the following podium finishes at major championships: 3rd in the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Long Jump. At the 1958 British Empire and Commonwealth Games she finished ninth in

the high jump, twelfth in the long jump, and was eliminated in the heats of the 4×110 yards relay (with the non-Olympians Esther Ogbeni, Freda Payne, and Olu Onwuchekwa). At the 1966 British Empire and Commonwealth Games Odogwu also finished eighth in the 80 metres hurdles.

Chioma Ajunwa

Born in 1972 in Ahiazu Mbaise Imo State Chioma Ajunwa gave Nigeria her first individual olympic gold medal - that was in the long jump event of the 1996 Atlanta games. The police officer was competing in only her third meet after returning from a curious four-year ban for drugs. Ajunwa jumped 7.12 metres and clinched the gold.

She joined the Nigerian police force in 1999. Joined the female football team Angels in 1990.

Played football for awhile. She has won many African Games.

African Championships in the years 1989, 1990 and 1998. She formerly played football.

Mary Onyali

Onyali-Omagbemi, 44, is best

known for winning bronze medals for the 4×100 metre relay at the 1992 Summer Olympics and the 200 metre race at the 1996 Summer Olympics.

Raised by her mother after her father died when she was very young, the talented athlete is the eldest of four children. As such, a lot of responsibility was thrust upon her at an early age.

Onyali-Omagbemi attended St John’s Primary School, Olodi-Apapa, Lagos and was said to have been actively involved in various sports from youth. In secondary school, she narrowed down her interests to track events such as Long jump, High jump and Sprinting.

Her love for sports increased but took a toll on her education, forcing her late mother to make her discontinue participating in them. With no choice but to study hard in order to get back on the field, she focused on her studies, eventually made team captain and represented her school in inter-house sports where she excelled.

After some false starts, her sports career kicked off in 1984

when she competed in Cairo, Egypt where she emerged second in the 200M race. She was later offered free admission into the Texas Southern University, where she met Mr. Tobias Igwe, who became her mentor.

In 1986, she participated in the World Junior Championship in Athens, winning a Silver medal in the 200M race.

Just six years later, in 1982, Mary Onyali and her fellow runners Beatrice Utondu, Faith Idehen, and Christy Opara-Thompson emerged third place in the 4 X 100 relay race at the Olympics.

She quit running almost a decade ago, and now works as a consultant while operating her sportswear manufacturing outfit Yali Yali Enterprises in Houston, Texas.

Perpetua Ijeoma Nkwocha

Born January 3, 1976, she is a Nigerian female professional footballer, who currently plays for Swedish Damallsvenskan club Sunnanå SK. She is also a member and the captain of the Nigerian Women national football team .

Nkwocha was voted African Women Footballer of the Year in 2004 and 2005 by CAF. With the Nigeria national team, she has participated in three CAF Women CAF Women’s Championship CAF Women’s Championship”s Championship (2002, 2004, and 2006), winning all three of them. At the 2004 Women Women’s African Football Championship” 2004 Women’s African Football Championship”s African Football Championship, she scored four goals in the final against Cameroon to help her country win the title. She also set a record by scoring nine overall goals during the tournament, and was named the best player of the tournament.[3] Nkwocha has also participated in the 2003 and 2007 FIFA Women Women’s World Cup”s World Cups and the Olympic tournaments of 2000, 2004, and 2008.

In June 2008, the BBC reported that Nkwocha had announced her plans to retire in two years, and that after doing so she wants to continue to be involved in football by becoming a coach

42— VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MAY 25 , 2012 With PRINCE OSUAGWU princeosuagwu@gmail.com

A new digital guitar that utilises the power of iPhone

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*UniKey

With ‘Smar t’ U nik ey, ph ysical ‘Smart’ Unik nike physical door k eys become ancient ke W

hat does technology actually think it is doing? Altering the cause of nature? Could you have imagined that the humble door lock key, which has been around in one form or another for literally thousands of years, may be getting replaced by an app that works with a dedicated lock?

That is exactly what the UniKey system has come to do — replace the old way of getting your door locked. The new lock technology has some features that are actually kind of clever, through some app that transmits a Bluetooth signal from the user’s iPhone, Android or BlackBerry

smartphone.

All the user has to do when he reaches the door is simply touch the outer surface of the lock and the dead bolt lock of the key will electronically withdraw. Also, a touch of the lock can likewise be used to lock it when the user is leaving.

What’s more intriguing about the technology is that the system has the ability to send, revoke, and limit access to virtual “copies” of the key.

The device was designed in a way that when the user has a visitor coming to stay with him, he can simply send them a key to his house via their phone, in the form of a text message. This copy, according

Pacifier debuts to help premature babies feed well

O

ne of the myriad of hurdles premature babies must overcome after birth is learning how to suck and feed.

To address this problem and get premature babies feeding normally, a professor at Florida State University, Professor Jayne Standley has developed a pacifier that provides musical reinforcement every time the baby sucks on it.

The activated Lullaby device uses a specially wired pacifier and speaker to play a gentle, soothing lullaby when the infant sucks on it properly, encouraging them to continue with the sucking motion to ensure the lullaby continues.

A pressure transducer system, relying on sensing, control and feedback algorithms integrated into the device, can be calibrated to individual babies to provide the lullaby feedback whenever the preset pressure criteria indicating correct sucking is met.

Studies conducted by Standley at several hospitals showed that infants exposed to the musical reinforcement increase their sucking rates up to 2.5 times more than those who aren’t.

The PAL has also been shown to reduce a premature infant’s hospital stay by an average of five days.

to the manufacturers of the device, can take the form of a one-time, extended or permanent use key.

Regardless of which type is chosen, it can also be revoked at any time. People such as maids, on the other hand, can be granted keys that only operate at certain times.

Should your phone get lost or fall into the wrong hands, the lock itself can be reset to work with your new phone.

The lock also does come with a traditional physical key, which can be used if your phone is lost .

The UniKey company is currently looking at selling the technology to a larger corporation, although it said it could end up selling the product independently. The cost per system is estimated to be between US$149 and $199.

earning to play any musical instrument, particularly the guitar, can be difficult, especially for those who aren’t naturally gifted in that regard.

The guitar is particularly difficult to learn to play, with a steep learning curve and some extraordinary finger dexterity required right from the start. Therefore, any tool designed to make the process less painful is welcomed with open arms by budding guitar geeks.

However, a Santa Clara, California based technology company, Incident, has designed a new digital guitar, tagged gTar, which utilizes the power of the iPhone, to make playing the instrument painless.

Incident says its new guitar tech comes to the aid of guitarists of all skill levels.

The device looks like a cross between a real guitar and a Rock Band/Guitar Heroguitar.

The gTar comprises a digital guitar with strings, frets and various other of the different components that make up the instrument. The big difference is the presence of an iPhone running a specially-designed app.

Instead of pick-ups to amplify the sound of the string being strummed, the gTar has sensors along the neck that are able to detect, in real time, which note is being played.

This information is then relayed to the iPhone docked in the body of the gTar, which produces the actual sound.

The gTar frets display on the iPhone app and the guitar.

The app comes bundled with songs that the user can choose from to play along with.

Despite the name, the gTar is not limited to guitar sounds, with the app making it entirely possible to play a grand piano by plucking the notes instead. Whatever the song and whatever the instrument, users have a choice of three levels of difficulty: Easy, Medium, and Hard.

•Gitar

Soon your street signs will turn phone charging points E

ven as mobile phone companies are saddled with the job of mass producing the conventional charger that will work with the millions of phones being churned out on the daily basis, some creative thinkers are also busy innovating on a smarter way.

The result is the creation of the Street Charge concept that would seek to turn everyday city street signs into illuminated charging stations for mobile devices.

The novel technology is coming from a tech company, DIWire. The company says it is still modifying the prototype and would release it as soon as possible. When it does debut, there is no doubt that the Street Charge is the tech buzz in town.

DIWire said that when completed, a user only needs to

Strap some photovoltaics to any upright piece of street furniture such as a bus shelter or street sign, and it becomes a simple matter of cables and conduits to turn the furniture into a charging station into which pedestrians can plug their telephones.

They even go as far as to add surfaces on which to rest y o u r phone,

coffee, elbows while you wait.

Concept images suggest that the underside of the small PV array could be embedded with LEDs to offer supplementary pedestrian lighting - mainly for those using the charging station by night.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 43

Nigeria: Can North survive without the South? (2)

Amounts received by the three Regions of Nigeria from the Federation (in Pounds) S/N ITEM 1 Import Duty (Tobacco)

Continues from Wednesday

H

OWEVER, Southern leaders have picked holes in the Northern leaders’ claim that the North built the country through agriculture. According to them, as early as 1910, the two southern regions – East and West had always generated more revenues than the North, a major reason they said influenced the British amalgamation of Southern and Northern protectorates.

In an article, Structural Constraints to Socio-economic Development in Nigeria, published on November 11, 2007, Kayode Oladele said the increasing pressure to amalgamate Northern and Southern Nigeria in 1914 appeared to have been motivated by two socio-economic factors - to relieve the British treasury of financial burden, and surpluses derived from Southern Nigeria could be used to subsidize the North.

In furtherance of these, he said Mr. L. Harcourt, the then Secretary of State for the colonies, while addressing the British Parliament in June 1910 said: “In Southern Nigeria, the revenue has increased by £867,000 and the expenditure by £661,000 and there is for the current year (1910) an estimated surplus of £120,000… Northern Nigeria has up to now been and still is a subsidized protectorate, but whereas in 1906, the Grant-inAid…was £315,000, in this current year, after providing for such interest, the Grant-in-Aid asked for is only £156,000 or less than half, and with the amalgamation ……

Grants in aid I hope that we may be able to set a short term to these Grantsin-Aid and at the same time relieve the Treasury from its liabilities and the protectorate from Treasury control (House of Commons Debates, 29 June, 1910, Vol. 18 Cols 1036-8).

In his book Nigeria: The Tribes, The Nation or the Race? F.A.O. Schwarz showed how much each of the then three regions (East, West and North) got from the federal distribution pool between 1959 and 1962. According to the book, while the former Eastern Region generated more revenues, it received the less from the distribution pool compared to Western and Northern regions.

Then, revenue allocation was based on 50 per cent derivation, per capita distribution, population and balanced development among the regions.

For instance, in 1959-60 fiscal year, the North generated 5,396 million Pounds and got 12,124 million Pounds (69.2 per cent) from the Distribution Pool; West generated 4,273 million Pounds and received 15,417 million

Pounds (78.3 per cent) while the East generated 5,341 million Pounds and got 9, 413 million Pounds (63.8 per cent).

In 1960-61, the North’s IGR nose-dived to 3,885 million Pounds but it got an increased allocation -13,775 million Pounds (78 per cent). Within the year, the West generated 4,294 million Pounds and received 16,250 million Pounds (79.1 per cent) while the Eastern Region’s IGR was 6,189 million Pounds and it was allocated 10,629 million Pounds (63.2 per cent).

Also, in 1961-62, the IGR/ Allocation in millions of Pounds were: North, 6,333/15,504 (71 per cent); West, 6,031/16,307 (63.2 per cent); and East 7,274/13,390 (64.8 per cent. The East started getting a raise following improved oil exploration. By 1963 after the creation of Mid-Western Region and increased revenue from crude oil, Schwarz said the money distributed came from two sources: 30 per cent of all import duties (other than the few mentioned in the table, which are transferred in their entirety to the regions, and the duty on beer, spirits, and wine, which was kept by the Federal Government) goes into a Distributable Pool Account.

So did 30 per cent of the royalties and rents received from mining enterprises, including oil wells.

Then the money in the Distributable Pool was transferred to the regions in the ratio of 40 to the North, 31 to the East, 18 to the West, and six to the Mid-West.

State Abuja (FCT) Abia Adamawa Akwa Ibom Anambra Bauchi Bayelsa Benue Borno Cross River Delta Ebonyi Edo Ekiti Enugu Gombe Imo Jigawa Kaduna

Kano

Contribution of crude-oil and gas to Nigeria’s total export The North’s contribution to the Distributable Pool of the Federation paled into insignificance from 1970 when crude oil became the chief revenue earner of the country.

Throughout the decade of the 1960, the contribution of proceeds from crude-oil to total Federal Government revenue was of limited importance.

However, according to the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Statistical Bulletin, Golden Jubilee Edition, December 2008, Nigeria earned N166 million from crude-oil in 1970 representing 26.1 percent of the total revenue. This jumped to N12.353 billion (81.1 percent) out of annual total of N15.233 billion in 1980. By 1990 the contribution of oil earnings to total Federal Government revenue stood at N71.887 billion (73.2 percent) of total revenue. In 2000, proceeds from crude-oil and gas contributed N1.591 trillion out of a total of N1.906 trillion representing 83.5 percent. And the contribution of crude-oil and gas earning to total federal government revenue in percentage continued to hovered around 80 per cent except in 2007 and 2009 when it fell to 78 percent as a result fall in production and export resulting from political tension in the oil producing areas.

In 2008, the figure was N6.530 trillion (82.9 percent) out of a total federally collected revenue of N7.868 trillion.

1961-62

516,347 515,731 1,142,413 1,068,845 1,564,862 1,429,868

479,600 1,002,010 1,243,070

N. W. E.

759,878 679,385 1,350,459 1,179,871 772,917 880,344

759,850 1,988,350 982,800

N. W. E.

496,659 402,759 410,562

858,600 802,950 667,800

N. W. E.

4,451,466 8,447,011 2,684,841

4,078,298 7,488,591 2,457,199

3,354,800 5,658,710 1,883,600

N. W. E. 6 Mining Royalties & Rents N. W. E. 7 Distributable Pool (Mining) N. W. E. 8 Distributable Pool (General Imports) N. W. E. 9 Total Rounded off N. W. E.

1,449,433 1,619,285 500,601

1,522,640 1,708,743 388,956

1,881,890 2,116,470 479,600

414,255 79,247 415,717

529,454 114,919 492,476

689,720 1,326,200 2,951,350

282,983 169,983 219,180

982,960 589,780 761,790

3,654,671 2,192,802 2,183,370

4,993,662 2,999,060 3,868,119

2 Import Duty (Gasoline)

3 Import Duty (Diesel Oil)

4 Export Duties (Produce, Hides, Skins)

5 Excise Duty (Tobacco)

12,124,000 15,417,000 9,413,000

655,597 611,270 525,785

13,775,000 16,250,000 10,629,000

5,431,580 3,259,950 4,209,470 15,504,000 16,307,000 13,390,000

10 Sub-totals Regional Revenue (Federal + Internally Generated) N. W. E.

17,520,000 19,690,000 14,754,000

17,660,000 20,544,000 16,818,000

21,837,000 22,338,000 20,664,000

Source: Adapted from Table 11.1 of Book by F.A.O. Schwarz (Nigeria: The Tribes, The Nation or the Race? MIT Press, 1965; page 206).

Distribution of solid minerals in Nigeria

Mineral Marble and tantalite; Gold, salt, limestone, lead/zinc, oil and gas Kaolin, bentonite, gypsum magnesite, barites, bauxite Clay, limestone, lead/zinc, uranimum (traces) salt, lignite (traces), oil and gas Lead/zinc, clay, limestone, iron, lignite, salt glass-sand, phosphate, gypsum, oil and gas Amethyst (violet), gypsum, lead/zinc, uranium Clay, gypsum, hignite and manganese, lead / zinc (traces), oil and gas Lead/zinc, limestone, iron-ore, coal, clay, marble, bauxite, salt, barites, gemstone, gypsum, oil, gas; Diatomite, clay, limestone, oil and gas (partially investigated) gypsium, Kaolin, bentonite; Limestone, uranium, manganese, lignite, lead/ zinc, salt, oil and gas Marble, glass-sand, clay, gypsum, lignite, ironore kaolin, oil and gas Lead/zinc, gold, salt Marble, clay, limestone, iron-ore, gypsum, glasssand, gold, dolomite, phosphate, bitumen, oil,gas Kaoline, feldspar, taticum, granite, syenites Coal, limestone, lead/zinc; Gemstone, gypsum Lead/zinc, limestone, lignite, phosphate, marcasite, gypsum, salt, oil and gas Barities Sapphire, kaolin, gold, clay, serpentinite, asbestos, amethyst, kyanite, graphite and sillimanite, mica, aqua marine, ruby, rock crystal, topaz, flouspar, tourmaline,gemstone, tantalite Pyrochlore, cassiterites, copper, glass-sand, gemstone, lead/zinc, tantalite;

Extract

North West East

••North has always depended on the South – Southern leaders

By CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

Region 1959-60 1960-61 (estimate)

State Katsina Kebbi Kwara

Mineral Kaolin, marble and salt Tantalite, limestone and bitumen Gold marble, iron-ore, cassiterite, columbite feldspar and mica Lagos Glass-sand, clay, bitumen, sand tar, oil and gas Nasarawa Beryl (omerald), acquamarine and bellodor, dolomite/marble, sapphire, tourmaline, quartz, amethyst (garnet) topaz, zircon, tantalite, cassiterite, columbite, limonite, galena, ironore, baryles, feldspar, limestone, mica, cooking coal, tale, clay, salt and chalcopyrite Niger Gold, talc, lead/Zinc and iron-ore Ogun Phosphate and clay feldspar Ondo Bitumen, kaolin, gemstone, gypsum, feldspar, granite, clay, glass-sand, dimension stones, coal, bauxite, oil and gas Osun Gold, talc, tourmaline, columbite, granite Oyo Kaolin, marble, clay, silimanite, talc, gold, cassiterite, aquamarine, dolomite, gemstone, tantalite Plateau Emerald, tin, marble , granite, tantalite/columbite, lead/zinc, barites, iron-ore, kaoline, cassiterite, phrochlore, clay, coal, wolram, salt, bismuth, fluoride, molybdenite, gemstone and bauxite Rivers Glass-sand, clay, marble, lignite, oil and gas Sokoto Kaoline, gold, limestone, phosphate, gypsum, silica-sand , clay, laterite, potash, flaks, granite and salt Taraba Kaoline, lead/zinc Yobe Diatomite and soda ash Zamfara Gold Source: Federal Ministry of Solid Minerals. Abuja (cited in Tell, July 11, 2005) and Multi-disciplinary Journal of Research Development Volume 9 No. 2 December, 2007

44 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

Gov Orji is education friendly

Pa Frank Nani: An icon of fatherhood

—Onyebuchi

O

TRIB UTE TRIBUTE

By ETATSEMI ONORIODE & VICTOR OGHOTOTUYA

CHIEF (Sir) MICAH ONYEBUCHI is the Executive Chairman, Abia State Universal Basic Education Board, ASUBEB. A professional teacher all his life, he retired as principal at the Methodist College •Chief Micah Onyebuchi, Chairman, ASUBEB Uzoakoli, Abia State and lectured for nine years at the Rivers State College of Education, do so. But because of the vision Department of History before being appointed, Director of our Governor he knows the General, Abia State Local Government Service Commission importance of these fund to eduunder Governor Ogbonnaya Onu in 1991, before his present cation and he is totally committed to assessing it so that it is used appointment. He spoke on a wide range of issues including in developing the infrastructure efforts of the Abia State Governor to transform the primary and developing the future of our and secondary schools Education in the state through ASUBchildren.

EB. Excerpts What are your constraints in the Board and other areas you inwell as basic science and other tend to extend your activities?

BY ERIC UGBOR, ABA reading materials. We have also Well, when you talk about conHAT are the major func distributed library materials in the straints in the fields of education, tions of the Abia State primary schools and also in the your mind should immediately Basic Education Board, ASUB- junior secondary schools. And we run into funding and that is usuhave also distributed furniture in ally a problem. You know that EB? Well, primarily, the Board is re- most of the schools. There is hard- education takes a lot of money, it sponsible for administering the ly any school in Abia State, you is just like a bottomless pit, whatpublic primary schools in Abia cannot find furniture, lockers, ever you throw into it, it swallows State including the nomadic benches, desks, in both the pri- it. The next challenge we have is schools and special education; mary and junior secondary to make sure that there is quality This Board until the beginning schools, we’ve done that, the stu- teaching and learning in the of this session was also responsi- dents are now sitting comfortable schools which requires constant ble for running the junior second- and studying in the schools. supervision of instructions in the There is this role between the schools and to facilitate that, our ary schools in Abia State but administratively, this session, 2011, state and Federal Government Governor has given 17new Hithe junior secondary school has in the area of counterpart fund- lux Vans and distributed to the been re-emerged with the senior ing or matching grant. How is 17 local education secretaries to secondary school under the con- the State responding to it and enable them reach all nooks, and trol of the State Education Man- how does it affect the functions crannies because there are some agement Board, SEMB. But the of the Board? areas that have geographical Yes, the Federal Government is challenges, such territories, that project from the Universal Basic Education Commission, UBEC, an interventionist body because are difficult to go through but with for junior secondary schools is still primarily the running of educa- these Hilux Vans, they go into all under the influence of this Board tion is the responsibility of the the schools to inspect the work because UBEC still has the man- State government. It is on the con- being done by the teachers in date to control all the primary and current list and falls squarely on schools in the rural areas. That is junior secondary schools in Ni- the State Government but the a challenge.

Federal Government intervenes geria.

Now, we also have the chalWith the inception of the by giving grants which in our lenge of not having qualified present administration of Dr. T.A own parlance we call marching teachers in some of these techniOrji, how have you been able to grant, in that case the state pro- cal areas. It is not enough for you vides 50 per cent of the fund and to go to a road side place and said execute these functions?

Thank you very much, it has been a successful tenure, and this is engineered by the maximum support giving to us by the Governor of Abia State, Dr. T.A. Orji (OCHENDO) who is educationally friendly. He gives us all the support, well withal to administer this place and in that vein, we have been able to construct many new classroom structure or build- the Federal Government provides you have acquired knowledge of ings in Abia State. As at now we the other 50 per cent making a computer for three months and have constructed over 270 three 100 per cent of any project that now you say you can teach the classroom blocks and two class- should be carried out in any par- children, No you must either go room blocks in the whole of Abia ticular year. So Abia State has and obtain NCE Certificate in State scattered within the three done very well. This intervention computer science or a degree in senatorial zones of the State. fund started in the year 2005. Abia computer science to qualify you There is no area in Abia State that State has accessed its fund from to teach the children, so these are you cannot notice our presence 2005 to the first quarter of 2010 some of the challenges, in the or influence. Apart from building so the only one that is yet to be Technical Education Technology, all these classroom blocks, we accessed is the last quarter of the teachers are not there. Even have also distributed a lot of in- 2010, the whole of 2011 and the in basic sciences like Physics and structional materials in terms of first quarter of 2012 but the gov- Mathematics, you hardly find books, in fact, we have distribut- ernor has almost completed ar- teachers, so there is the need to ed mathematics and English text rangements to assess this funds, intensify the training of teachers books in all our primary schools whereas in our neighbouring in this area and making sure that which are over 850 in number, we states, many of them have not when they finish, that there is an distributed this books to all the been assessing their funds, just incentive to keep them especialclasses from class primary 1-6, as now that they are struggling to ly at the rural areas.

W

,

As at now we have constructed over 270 three classroom blocks and two classroom blocks in the whole of Abia State scattered within the three senatorial zones of the State

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N Saturday, May, 12, 2012, Pa Frank Ejoughamokeneduoyemi Nani, a devout Christian, disciplinarian, astute sportsman, counsellor, teacher of repute, a man of impeccable character and efficient administration, answered the call to glory. It was his 80th birthday. He had gathered his children and prayed for them, then passed on peacefully.

His widow, Mrs. Judith Enajero Nani (nee Odudu), who shared 38 blissful marriage years with this great personality, said: “Papa was not just a husband but a pillar of support, an inspiration and indeed the bone of my bone.”

Testimonies of his children sum up the life of a man who is a symbol of what parenthood means.

Hon. Talib Tebite, member, Delta State House of Assembly, described Pa Nani as a great man who, through hard work, left behind a good legacy.

The eldest son, Mr. Peter Nani, said: “Daddy! You maintained your exceptional brilliance even in old age. I remember you for

Town in 1939 and was later transferred to Saint Luke’s Anglican School, Sapele (1940-1948), where he obtained his First School Leaving Certificate. He taught at the Anglican School in Oghara, Sapele District in 1949 before proceeding to the Teacher Training College, Benin in 1950-1953, where he obtained his Teacher’s Grade III Certificate.

He was actively involved in sports while there.

Pa Nani taught at St John Anglican School Amukpe in 1954, then at Saint John’s College Owo, Ondo State (1954-1955). Whilst there, he obtained a Teacher’s Grade II Certificate (Higher Elementary) and was later posted to Benin Archdeaconry from 19561958, where he was assigned to teach at Auchi C.M.S. in Auchi District. He then obtained his GCE before he was transferred to Sapele District. On his return to Sapele, he taught at Anglican Secondary Modern School Sapele in 1959. He left there for Academy Grammar School, Sapele, now Okotie-Eboh Grammar School, where he taught from 1960 to 1963. He was made Secretary of Greyer Cup Zone ‘C’ due to his love for sports.

Pa Nani resigned from the Brit-

your frankness and your obvious delight in having people around you.

Sleep daddy and rest in the everlasting arms of God, till we meet again.”

Hon. (Barr.)

John Nani, Majority Whip/ member representing Ethiope West in the Delta State House of Assembly, is Papa Frank’s third •Late Pa Frank Ejoughamokeneduoyemi Nani child. He said: “Born 1932, died in 2012. Cued ish Civil Service to take up a job for 80 years and two days. All with Nigerian National Oil Coreven. You never saw odd in your poration, NNOC, now Nigeria life. I missed you, but be there for National Petroleum Corporation, your children, never to see odd NNPC. He was in their lives. Adieu daddy.” employed as a Senior Marketing For Mr. Augustine Oyowe: Officer and rose to the position of “Your advice on the importance an Assistant Marketing Managof hard work, faith and honesty er before his retirement in 1984. has paid off for us. Dad, you are Pa Frank is dead but lives in his a man of high integrity.” children and his legacy takes on Okiemute, in her tribute, wrote: life in their tributes and testimo“I am so grateful God gave me a nies. Oghenevwede said: “I can father like you. I learnt account- never express with words how ability, honesty, candour and in- much you mean to me and all the tegrity from you. Sleep well dad- ways you have made such a wondy.” derful difference in my life. I can An only child, Pa Frank was never thank you enough for takborn in May 10, 1932 to Mr. ing me down to school on the busy Enavbie Ugboka Nani of Akure road and playing lovely Erhiekevbe descent, one of the classical music..” Teary Ufuoma founders of Idjerhe Kingdom, and said: “When you return from Mary Ikhuwuomaraye Nani (nee work, you would ask me quesEruoghorore), a cousin of Ono- tions on my school work. You were sode and Okeriente. Aged 12, he such a disciplinarian. Looking was actively involved in the Dra- back, I would forever be thankful ma and Music Unit of Saint Pe- to God for giving me such a faters Anglican Church, Idjerhe, ther like you. I love you always Delta State. He attended Saint Dad.” Peter’s Anglican School Idjerhe

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012 — 45

From right: Mrs Tolulope Oko-Igwe, Chief Executive Officer, Most Beautiful Deaf Girls in Nigeria organiser of Miss Deaf in Nigeria; Miss Cassandra White, (Jamaican citizen) and the Most Beautiful Deaf Girl International; and Mr Alabidun Idris, Lagos co-ordinator, Miss Deaf Nigeria, during the arrival of The Most Beautiful Deaf Girl International, at the Murtala Mohammed International Airport, Ikeja, Lagos.

Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi

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L-r: Patricia Ehrnman, cultural coordinator, Bureau of African Affairs, US Department of State; Comrade Ayodele Adewale, Chairman, Amuwo Odofin LG; Taiwo Adewole, Secretary, Amuwo Odofin LG climate change unit and an official of the US State Department after a meeting on how the US State Department can partner with Amuwo Odofin LG on exchange programmes

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Vanguard, FRID AY, MA Y 25, 2012 —53 FRIDA MAY

BY ISHOLA BALOGUN & BASHIR ADEFAKA

A

On Boko Haram and wrong impression on Islam Religion is prominent in our professional lives. It is quite profound, and you know before any one can give evidence on oath in court, he would be asked to swear either with the Holy Qur’an or the Holy Bible or do an affirmation.

It is the fundamental prerequisite for giving evidence in our courts.

Now, the stigmatization of Muslims as a result of various terrorist activities and acts of destruction in the country over the years is an issue that cuts across all strata, not necessarily limited to a Muslim lawyers.

But there have been persistent efforts by a number of clerics to seperate the cause of Boko Haram from what Islam stands for.

But it is convenient for people to take advantage of the circumstance to mischievously behave as if they haven’t heard enough explanation by Muslims and they generally view all Muslims as terrorists.

Another area of the prob-

Tel: 08098097290 email: isholaism@yahoo.co.uk

Terrorism:

Our character 'll change the wrong impression — Segun Ajibola lem is to assess us in several ways including employment. There was an interview in an establishment and a number of our sisters were asked to go there and the moment they came in, let us say half of the marks that the assessment was based on had gone by their appearance.

And the fact that they are fairly competent became a secondary issue. It’s not spoken but I have noticed so far that, their appearance is not liked by some employers.

Lately, I was speaking to some bank executives and they were telling me how much investments they had made in the educational sector in the country. And they were referring to a number of universities: the first four they mentioned were all Christian denominated universities. So, I now challenged them that, ‘Ah, is your bank a Christian bank or bank of a particular religion or so’? Why won’t you extend your supports to other universities which are not necessarily of the Christian faith?” And a number of Muslims, who

are professionals and who are at the helms of affairs in a number of institutions do little or nothing to change the situation. So, in a way, we are architects of our own problems. We don’t stand up to fight for our people and protect our religious heritage, instead

It is convenient for people to take advantage of the circumstance to mischievously behave as if they haven’t heard enough explanation by Muslims and they generally view all Muslims as terrorists

,

we watch others doing so for their religion.

Muslim Lawyers tackling the issue Like I said, the question is not necessarily what they have done or what they should do. Even the Federal Government with all its machinery, personnel and financial capacity is

IMA offers life scholarship, N1m to miracle baby

T

HE Islamic Mission for Africa (IMA), Abeokuta, Ogun State has offered a life scholarship to baby AbdulWahab Irawo, born with a sealed copy of the Holy Qur’an in a church in Ijeshatedo area of Lagos State on May 7, 2012.

The President of the mission, H.E. Judge Bola Ajibola made this offer during a scheduled visit of the organisation to

the baby’s parents in Lagos.

Ajibola, the former Justice Minister pledged on behalf of IMA a life education sponsorship of the miracle baby from crèche to the university level, noting that “ we have come to witness the miracle and mercy of God through this baby”.

He also donated a N1m cheque which he signed in the presence of the

parents during the visit.

Ajibola noted that in all his experiences throughout his career as a world court judge, he had never witnessed the kind of miracle.

The father of the baby, Mr Waliyu Abolore Irawo, on behalf of his family expressed gratitude to the organisation for the good gesture towards the baby and the family.

•Bola Ajibola, (middle) flanked by the parents of baby Abdul-Wahab Irawo during a visit to the family in Lagos recently.

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still groping in the dark as to what to do on the Boko Haram problem. Managing the problem is a challenge for the Federal Government with all its powers. In terms of awareness, education and enlightenment; these are areas where associations can

,

desegun Ajibola (SAN) is a son of retired Judge of the International Court of Justice, at The Hague and former Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation, Prince Bola Ajibola (SAN). Segun is the Principal Partner, Bola Ajibola & Co and a Member of Board of Trustees of the Islamic Movement for Africa (IMA). He spoke with Vanguard’s Facing the Kaaba on Islam and good character. Excerpts:

The way people see us give them the idea of what the faith is all about. They don’t know much about the faith. They rely on you, not just in your appearance but also in your conduct, to give them guidance as to what your religion really is. So, if you do things that are against the tenets and directions of the religion, you have misled those people.

Therefore, the job is largely ours and how we intend to carry it forward. It is bad enough that we do those things that are against the direction of faith and reli-

play a role. I would implore them to develop programmes where enlightenment campaign can be carried out on a large scale. In Kaduna and Kano, there are some Muslim groups who always come out on Sundays to offer some kind of supports or assistance to Churches to avert or prevent the possibility of any bomb attack.

This is a clear and open demonstration of the pressing effort by those groups to see that they are not necessarily what some people say they are. That will go a long way in fostering the confidence and trust of our other brothers and sisters in other religion, that we are different from the terrorist groups that we all know. So, I think these are the kind of areas which professional bodies could look into; but I dare say that they don’t have the kind of resources to do more than what they are doing for now. Otherwise, it is easy to label all of us who are Muslims as terrorists and that trend is very dangerous for any society.

On northern leaders Well, we will be fooling ourselves if we don’t concur with the idea that the issue of religion is crowded by other reason other than faith itself. Politics is one, undoubtedly so in the country. There are some of our leaders who are there to play politics with religion or play religion with politics, whichever way we look at it. And when you mix these things together, you get a very uncanny result and a very unusual product will emerge.

•Segun Ajibola, SAN Advice to Muslim groups How we conduct ourselves; how we carry out our activities, our character, our sense of leadership, our sense of fairness will help in changing some of these wrong impressions.

So, our conduct is important because we are ambassadors of the religion.

gion.

So we have to take care of our own; take care of our religion; nurture it, pamper it, enrich it, flourish it, make it attractive, make it beautiful, make it nicer, neater and better! That is the work on our hands and that is my advice for our fellow Muslims.

Injustice, bane of national insecurity — El -Rufai

F

ORMER Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Mallam Nasir El-Rufai, has blamed the problem of insecurity in the country on bad leadership, injustice, mismanagement of national resources and deceits by the government.

El-Rufai gave the knocks while in a public lecture with the theme: The Challenge of Internal security and Implications for National Development in Ile Ife during the 2012 National Re-union conference of the Obafemi Awolowo University Muslim Graduates’ Association (UNIFEMGA).The former Minister painted a gloomy picture of the Nigerian state, stressing that attaining a sustainable internal security requires good governance, stemming out of astute political leadership, effective policing, impeccable intelligence gathering, and equitable justice system with a sound economic base, all of which he lamented were presently lacking in the country.

Regretting that none of the six geo political zones of the country was spared of the insecurity problem, El-Rufai berated the Federal government on substituting facts with lies. He declared that the apparent causes of insecurity in the land included economic decline, income inequality, unemployment and hopelessness among the people, noting that these were governmental responsibilities. President Goodluck Jonathan he stressed has failed to deliver on his electoral promises on good governance.

The one time Director General, Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) accused the President of laxity and lack of commitment to resolve the Boko Haram insurgency in the some Northern states, citing the indifference of President Jonathan to the Borno Elders Forum which volunteered in June 2011 to coordinate dialogue with Boko Haram, but refused. He added that by “consistently advocating a military solution without intelligence gathering, community engagement” and creating room for negotiations justified the argument that the present administration lacks willingness to find lasting solution to the menace.

Mallam El-Rufai faulted the huge vote on security and defence by the Federal government which he said has failed to achieve the intended objectives, stating that these have negatively impacted on investment flows and functioning of markets as the security was essential for development.

He said: “Over 70 percent of the country’s estimated 160 million people live below the poverty line” while unemployment was estimated at about 30 per cent.

54—V anguard 54—Vanguard anguard,,

FRID AY , MA FRIDA MAY Y 25, 2012 YOUR LUCK TODAY

LEISURE

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

GEMINI; Both your mood and element of luck are as friendly as you would want them to be. Thus success may come the harder way today. Protect your finances.

CANCER; Many will look up to you both for practical assistance and leadership direction thus, you must not ballup under pressure. Try to reason with your spouse.

LEO; Diplomacy may become very important today as development within your working arena calls for both maturity and cleverness. Be family minded today.

VIRGO; No matter how helpful friends were yesterday it is important you don’t dance to discordant tunes from any quarter today; gamble not with matters-of-the-heart.

LIBRA; Many people are under pressure today but, if you do away with sentiment and give priority attention to money making, your finances will be better for your efforts. Don’t allow misunderstanding within your family circle go out of hands.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

By Richard Eromosele

E

VERYONE of us has talent(s) given to us by God, our maker. And God expects us to apply the talent He gave us. He wants us to trade with it and make profit. He expects us to bless humanity with what He

The sin of laziness has blessed us with.

When we refuse to use the talent given us by God, we are not better than that child that refused the employment given him after all the investment on him by his father.

TERROR MUDA

Remember the parable of the talent?

One of the lessons of that parable is that God abhors laziness.

And that is why He took the only talent he gave one for refusing to trade with his one

in “Never say goodbye”

talent and added it to that of five.

Laziness is a sin.

Come to think of it: what could be more sinful than someone refusing to bless humanity with God’s blessing on him?

Think about it!

By Kola Fayemi

SCORPIO; To be on the safer side it is imperative you respect the law and it’s enforcement agents. Some people are trying to deceive you for an obvious reason.

SAGITTARIUS; Early part of the day may bring you good opportunity but for you not to lose it you must exhibit maturity. Protect both your money and source of income.

CAPRICORN; Others will step on your nerves yet it not the best for you to over-react today. It is good to prove reliable but your secrets must remain intact.

AQUARIUS; This may not be the best of days as there will be a few challenges within your working arena. If you rely on luck today, you would be disappointed.

PISCES; You will need to watch what you tell others, especially those friends you don’t know too well. Be more loving but refuse to gamble with love

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in

“Princess Shii’

By Andy Akman

ARIES; If care is not taken what you have gained yesterday may be lost due to your care-free attitude within your base of operation. Avoid deceit today.

TAURUS; You would fare better if you prepare your mind for possible confrontation from unexpected quarters. Don’t promise more than you can actually deliver.

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send yyour our dat tr ological datee and place of bir th ttoo the As Astr trological Counselling, PP.M.B .M.B 1100 00 7, Apapa, Lagos 007,

Who do you think I am ?

Dear Joshua, I have been following your write-ups for a long time you can not believe and to be sincere you are good. Now I wan you to analyse my star and tell me my horoscopic personality. More in to your pen.

Uche, Imo.

VIRGINIA

dadadekola@yahoo.com

Dear Uche, What you will find here under will prove useful if you take them seriously and utilise them ANALYSIS OF YOUR HOROSCOPE DATA/PLANETARY PLACEMENT Spiritual Neptune as the only Planet at home when you were born pointed to you as a person with great deal of spiritual energy you can tap at will, especially if you are conscious of it’s presence in your inner-self. But then, with majority of (five) planets placed in the Cardinal Zodiacal constellations you are equally an ambitious person who will desire worldly honour and prominence, and luckily for you, you were endowed with abilities to achieve your ambition.

Prominence of Mutable quality and Air Element in this chart are indications of a person with higher pitch of intelligence who can adapt to so many situations without being stressed unnecessarily. And GREAT LEADERSHIP QUALITY is present here. Although you are a Lady, with nothingless than SEVENTY PERCENT of PUSH-FULL INFLUENCE in your Horoscope you can unexpectedly become aggressive, especially when issue of freedom is to the fore. Beside 70% of PUSH-FULL INFLUENCE in you, mighty Sun (an indicator of your inner-self) with Uranus (a great freedom lover) conjoined in SAGITTARIUS ( another freedom loving Star Sign) all these are pointers to greater love of freedom in your deeper-inner-self. And whoever is trying to curtail such unnecessarily may unexpectedly court trouble, because you will resist such.

With your natal Sun (your conscious self) and Moon/ Stellium (your emotional state/ sub-conscious self) placed in Sagittarius and Libra respectively, you are mainly a Sagittarian and partly Libran and that is to say basic characteristics of the two Star signs are highly pronounced in your inner-self.

C M Y K

Commen3

by Lawrence Akapa

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012—55

NBA to change meeting venue from Kaduna over insecurity

Briefly

For Ondo guber aspirants

BY BOLUWAJI OBAHOPO

A

K U R E — A S preparations towards the forthcoming governorship election in Ondo State hot up, the aspirants have been warned against assertions and assumptions that may mislead the electorate.

Patron of Ondo-Ekiti Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists,NUJ, Prince Olu Ologbese, said this while reacting to reports that a birthday party held by one of the contestants, a former boss of Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, Dr. Olu Agunloye, turned riotous as a result of his statement on the occasion that he has been endorsed by his party, Action Congress of Nigeria,ACN, to be its candidate in the election.

L

VISIT:From left, Dr. Nelson Uwaga, Deputy President, Nigerian Institute of Management (Chartered); Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, President/Chairman of Counci and Malam Idi Mukhtar, Executive Director, Services, Kaduna Refining and Petrochemical Company Ltd. during a courtesy visit of the institute to KRPC. Photo: Oscar Ochiogu.

M

The late Madam H.Okoh

...Olayinka at 78

M

R. Sunday Olayinka, aka ‘Igi Owo’ is dead, aged 78.

Pa Sunday Olayinka, who died on March 18, was buried on March 19.

Olayinka, a devout C h r i s t i a n , compassionate and Godfearing, is survived by children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren including Prince Ayedun Sunday and Princess Olusola Osho.

Final burial ceremony holds at 78, Upper Akorede Street, Mosalasi B/stop, Surulere, Sagamu, Ogun State, on May 26.

C M Y K

Experts call for one world government

BY BESTMAN JOSEPH

L

Okoh dies at 85 ADAM Hannah Okoh, 85, is dead.

She died on March 26.

Wake- keep takes place at her residence, Ileh, Imumudumu, Ekpoma, Edo State, while interment is tomorrow after a funeral service at St. Michael's Catholic Church, Ileh, Imumudumu. She is survived by children, grand- children and inlaws, among whom is Mrs. Tina Emmanuel Omovo.

O K O J A — A P PA R E N T LY piqued by the level of insecurity in the North, the Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, is contemplating changing this year's annual delegates conference in July billed for Kaduna State to a less volatile state.

Also, due to insecurity,

PRESENTATION: Akwa Ibom State PDP Chairman, Obong Paul Ekpo, presenting chairmanship aspirant in Ikot Abasi Local Government Area of the state.

AGOS—SPEAKERS at a public symposium, ”Advancing a New World Order for the progress of the Human Race,” organised by the Lagos Zone of the Rosicrucian Order, AMORC, at Lagos Airport Hotel, Ikeja, have urged world leaders to evolve new ways of pursuing the collective destiny of humanity by the creation of one world government.

The speakers included the Grand Administrator and Director, Supreme Board, AMORC, Dr.

Enang tasks media on reportage of development issues A

BUJA—THE Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Senator Ita Enang, PDP- Akwa Ibom, has urged media workers to give priority to the reportage of development issues.

Enang made the appeal in Abuja, after receiving the “Most Media-Friendly

Legislator ” award at a valedictory/award dinner, organised by Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ. He advised Nigerian journalists to go beyond issues that were political and social in nature.

He said: “The headline of every newspaper, television and radio news is all about politics and

political activities.

“We do not give priority and attention to education, science and technology, matters of development and agriculture and so on.

“We will not do well as a country if we only concentrate on politics without development.”

Enang said the Senate would consider

Ohazulike blames insecurity on injustice

L

AGOS—EZEIGBO Lagos,Igwe Hycinth Ohazulike, has blamed insecurity in the country on injustice.

In an interview, Ohazulike said: ‘’I think it has to do with the level of injustice meted out to some parts of the country. ‘’Every part of this country is being cheated or neglected one form or the other. ’’But the Igbo are the hardest hit even as they are not as violent as the others with better deals from the government. Our leaders must realize that a stitch in time saves nine.

''If we all join hands to fight this monster, some of the problems plaguing the nation will fizzle out.

The situation is very unfortunate but it is not beyond redemption. ’’If the Aburi Accord that led to the NigeriaBiafra civil war had been implemented, it would have been averted. That’s why the defunct Biafran leader, Chief Odumegwu- Ojukwu got vindicated at the end of the day because he didn’t settle for war but something that came as a last option. ''That was why he

canvassed for national reintegration after the war but it has not really worked out as Ndigbo are still being cheated at all levels in the name of fighting a civil war.''

the association was considering reducing the number of participants at the annual general election to 4,000 people; instead of close to 10, 000 participants in the past.

NBA President, Mr. Joseph Daudu, said this during the association’s National Executive Committee, NEC, meeting in Lokoja, Kogi state capital yesterday.

amendments of relevant laws to ensure that media organisations give more time to development issues.

The lawmaker commended Nigerian journalists for their resilience and urged them to actively participate in politics by contesting for elective offices.

He described the award, especially coming from NUJ, as a “unique honour and recognition”.

National President of NUJ, Malam Muhammed Garba, appealed to Enang to support the Journalists Enhancement and Welfare Bill when it is re-presented before the Senate.

Kenneth Idiodi; Mr. Ekanem Kofi-Ekanem; Professor T. A.T. Wahua of University of Science and Technology, Port Harcourt; Professor M.Y. Nabofa, Niger Delta University, Bayelsa State; Prof. John Idiodi, University of Benin and Johnson Ikube, Managing Consultant/ CEO, JI Global Solutions Limited.

Dr.Kenneth Idiodi, who spoke on ”Personal security through internal roleplaying,” said the need for security was borne out of the instinct of selfpreservation of life itself.

He argued that peace cannot be said to abide in a society where people are living in a constant state of alertness and cannot sleep at night with both eyes shut, figuratively speaking!

In his presentation on whether one world government is desirable, Johnson Ikube argued that this is possible in that the majority of people believed that the universe is one large system under one governance; that of the Supreme Being, God; and also with the inspirations that led to the establishment of the United Nations. This vehicle is already here with us. Its operational modalities can be improved for better deployment; and also the formations of regional integration structures and mechanisms such as the European Union, African Union, the Americas.”

Youth leader decries bad roads in Isoko areas

BY DOTUN IBIWOYE

A

SABA—A youth leader in Isoko North Local Government Area of Delta State, Mr. Tabuko Emmanuel, has decried the deplorable state of roads in Isoko Iyede, Emovor and Ozoro areas, describing them as terrible.

Emmanuel lamented that the roads were causing

untold hardship to the people of the areas and asked the state and local governments to either reconstruct or grade them for the comfort of roadusers.

He spoke in an interview with Vanguard, saying that Ozoro people had been neglected by previous governments in the last 15

years, leading to stagnation in economic activities.

He then urged the Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan-led administration to use the available revenue from the mineral resources in the state to develop the areas which were of significant economic importance to the people.

56—Vanguard,

FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

SEC: Public hearing turns bizarre

for Hembe, Azubogu

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

G

IVEN the bitter exchange of brick bats and allegations of graft between the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Ms Arunma Oteh, and the Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Capital Market and other Institutions, Hon Herman Hembe, on March 15, it was obvious that the matter would end in the law court.

How it started It was on the second day of the committee’s public hearing on the crash of the Nigerian Capital Market. Hembe threw the first punch when he accused Oteh of breaching the code of conduct of public officials in some of her actions.

Among others, he had accused Oteh of expending N30 m on hotel bills in eight months following her appointment in January 2010, spent N850,000 on food in a hotel, incurred additional N85,000 expenses in the same hotel for which SEC’s account was debited, and hired two staff of Access Bank, Mr. Charles Ugheli and Mr. Titi Olubiyi to work as advisers to the commission even while they remained staff of the bank.

A furious Oteh countered with damaging allegations impinging on the morality of the panel doing a credible job.

Her words: “Hembe lacks credibility. For instance, he collected estacode and other travel allowances from the Securities and Exchange Commission to travel to the Dominican Republic on a capacity enhancement conference for capital market C M Y K

•Azubogu: Claims innocence

regulators. He did not go neither did he return the money collected.... Also, he asked the commission to contribute N39 million towards the ongoing charade of a public hearing and demanded another N5 million cash on Tuesday, March 13, 2012. He made both demands by proxy. So I doubt it if I can have fair hearing from this committee and this fact has been more than demonstrated with the way you are handling this important issue.”

Although the duo denied the allegations, the opening of the can of worms meant something must give. Hembe while disqualifying himself from heading the probe panel on the basis of the allegations, presented documents to the House of Representatives indicating that it was SEC, with Oteh’s approval, that offered N30 million to the committee, contrary to her allegation that the lawmakers demanded for bribes. In a counter move, the SEC DG responded with a letter detailing requests she said was sent to the commission by the House committee. Hembe stepped down as chairman of the panel. A new team headed

by Rep El-Sudi was raised to restart the investigation, which has been unearthing more revelations.

Some allegations leveled against Oteh include: N66 million house rent, N42.5 million vehicles purchase, N30million hotel accommodation, N1 billion corporate donations, N33 million payment to consultants, N17.3 million for corporate retreats, N200 million spent on SEC’s 50th anniversary celebrations, N42 million additional payment

to Transcorp Hilton Hotel, illegal recruitment of 31 senior staff among others without following SEC’s Tenders Board approval The road to the court With the allegations generating ripples in the polity, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) stepped in.

Pursuant to Section 185(d) of the Criminal Procedure Code, CPC, it approached an Abuja High Court with an application for leave to arraign Hembe over his alleged complicity in a N44 million bribe scandal.

We’ve evidence to nail Hembe, Azubogu–EFCC Moving the application on

,

•Hembe: Kick-started the battle

•Oteh: Unsettled Hembe's panel established a prima-facie criminal case against the accused persons. As ordered, Hembe appeared before the court on May 17 but he was not arraigned due to the absence of Azubogu Hembe’s lawyer, Jibrin Kutepa (SAN), told the court that he had an application brought under Section 154 of the Criminal Procedure Code, challenging the jurisdiction of the court.

Criticising the EFCC for allegedly trying the lawmaker in the media, Okutepa argued that the proof filed alongside the charge showed that Hembe traveled to Dominican Republic though he did not make it to the

Specifically, the TITN in a statement by its Co-ordinator, Abiodun Olawale, asked the EFCC to disqualify itself from the case because “it will be unfair for it to adjudicate in a matter that it has obvious interest

May 10, EFCC Counsel, Mr. Onejekwu Obe, told the court that the anti-graft had uncovered sufficient evidence capable of securing the conviction of the two lawmakers on allegations bothering on bribery, financial recklessness and misappropriation of public funds.

Granting the leave, the Justice Abubakar Sadiq Umar-led court, ordered Hembe to appear in court on May 17 to enter his plea to the two-count criminal charge preferred against him. He also ordered Azubogu, to appear in court alongside Hembe.

Describing the EFCC motion as meritorious, Justice Umar said he was satisfied that the antigraft agency successfully

,

conference.

My hands are clean — Azubogu Counsel to Azubuogu, Mr. Emeka Etiaba, told the court that his client traveled to Nnewi, Anambra State, following the kidnap of a member of his family.

He filed a preliminary objection, challenging the leave granted the EFCC to arraign Azubogu, saying there was no proof that a crime was committed by his client.

He averred that the money given to his client for the conference was an estacode and Azubogu was never requested to refund the money, which failure would have made an allegation of crime against him

legally valid.

Undone, Azubogu had on Tuesday, May 22, filed a motion on notice asking a Federal High Court in Abuja to discharge the leave granted EFCC upon which charges were brought against him. He described the charge as an abuse of due process as no complaint or investigation report was made indicting him for committing any offence.

According to Azubogu’s lawyer, Dr Onyechi Ikpeazu (SAN), based on all documents filed by the EFCC, there was nothing capable of sustaining the charge of converting to his own use the sum of $4,095 (N600,000) given to him by the SEC as traveling allowance to a conference in Dominican Republic in October, 2011.

Hembe, Azubogu to be arraigned May 28 Following the failure to arraign the duo last week, the matter will now come up on Monday. However, the planned arraignment is not going down well among some stakeholders.

Among the groups were the Citizens for Positive Change (CPC), Ethics & Corporate Compliance Institute of Nigeria and the Transparency, Integrity and Truth Network (TITN).

Specifically, the TITN in a statement by its Co-ordinator, Abiodun Olawale, asked the EFCC to disqualify itself from the case because “it will be unfair for it to adjudicate in a matter that it has obvious interest since the Director General of the Security and Exchange Commission is a member of the EFCC board going by the provisions of Section 2 (1) (a-g) of the EFCC Act.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012—57

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58—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

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IMEWE- I, formerl known and addressed as Miss Jennifer Eyituoyo Imewe, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Jennifer Eyituoyo Utunye. All former documents remain valid. University of Benin and general public please take note.

EZENWA - I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Christiana Obianuju Ezenwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Christiana Obianuju Ositadima. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

GOLDIM- I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Goldim Nanyitmwa Jan, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. James Nanyitmwa Panshak. All former documents remain valid.

F.C.E Pankshin, University Of Jos, FCT UBEB, J.S.S Garki-Abuja and general public please take note.

IGHOMUAYE- I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ejiro Deborah Ighomuaye, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ejiro Deborah Olonge. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

IBIZUGBE - I, formerly known and addressed as Ibizugbe Osamuyi Mavis, now wish to be known and addressed as Ibizugbe Fanimo Marvis. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

LUCKY- I, formerly known and addressed as Chiazor Isioma Lucky, now wish to be known and addressed as Chiazor Fred Isioma. All former documents remain valid. IMT Enugu, The British Embassy and general public please take note.

SARIA -I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Saria-Walson Juliet, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Aduwa Nelson Juliet.

All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

UDOBI - I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Udobi Philomina Ifeyinwa, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Owolaja Philomina Ifeyinwa.

All former documents remain valid. Central Bank of Nigeria and general public please take note.

DANIEL ZAM- I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Mbazar Daniel Zam, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Mbazar Labaran Jimmy. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

OVIEBOR -I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Oviebor Okeh Gold, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Gold Okeh Ebieto. All former documents remain valid; general public please take note.

KUBURAT - I, formerly known and addressed as Shofela Kuburat Temitope, now wish to be known and addressed as Shofela Temitope Mary. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

L-r: Head of Glo1Business Solutions, Folu Aderibigbe; Publisher of Interiors Magazine, Titi Ogufere and former Governor of Cross River State, Donald Duke at the launch of the coffee table book - Luxury Hotels and Hotels in Nigeria, written by Ogufere and sponsored by Globacom, at Radisson Blu Anchorage Hotel, Lagos.

L-R: Managing Director, UTC Nigeria Plc, Mrs. Folusho Olaniyan; Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Dr. Paul Orhii; and Member, Cassava Value Chain, Office of the Minister of Agriculture, Mr. James Awoniyi, during the launch of commercialised high quality cassava bread by UTC Nig. Plc, in Lagos

Mr Larry Ettah, Group Managing Director/CEO, UACN Plc (left) with Enyi Odigbo, Chairman, Casers Group at the launch of BBDO West Africa in Lagos

OLOGUN- I, formerly known and addressed as Cornelius Sunday Ologun, now wish to be known and addressed as Emmanuel Cornelius Adeola Akinola. All former documents remain valid. University Of Abuja and general public please take note.

ANDY-NWANZE- I, formerly known and addressed as Miss Ngozi Sarah AndyNwanze, now wish to be known and addressed as Mrs. Ngozi Sarah RowlandOnuegwunwoke. All former documents remain valid. General public please take note.

Delta State Deputy Governor, Prof. Amos Utuama (SAN) with the traditional ruler of Umukwata Kingdom, His Royal Majesty, Enyi Friday Odini Abaja after presenting staff of office to the king

VANGUARD'S LAGOS OFFICE YOU CAN B O O K Y O U R A D V E RT S AT OU R L A G O S I S L A N D O F FI C E — VA N G U A R D M E D I A L I M I T E D (LAGOS OFFICE) K I O S K 4 8 E A S T PAV I L I O N T B S , L A G O S .

L-R: Vice President of the Christian Booksellers Association Nigeria, CBAN, Mr. Segun Asaba; Director of Training for the Christian Trade Association International, CTAI, Mr. Jack Scott; and the CBAN Treasurer, Mrs Ify Nwosu at the ongoing workshop for Booksellers organized by CBAN at AHI Residence, Jibowu, Lagos

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012— 59

Keshi must not change now – Abigor •Green dreams superb combination

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ARRI Wolves Chairman, Godwin Abigor, is not in any way asking Coach Stephen Keshi to shut the door against foreignbased players in Eagles.

But he insists that since Keshi is building a team he should “continue to make the local players the nucleus of his team.”

Abigor reacted to yesterday’s 1-0 defeat of the Eagles in Lima, Peru this way: “I think that we need a combination of the local players and their foreign-based counterparts to form a formidable team. But now that Keshi is still building the nucleus of his team should be those he trains regularly and not those who come in two or three days to a match. It is difficult to

Keshi Contnues from BP

loss of this new order and return to training in the morning with an eye on victory at all times,” he thundered.

The Super Eagles struggled to gain a foothold in the game in the opening half, allowing Jeferson Farfan the freedom of the park.

The Hoffenheim man took advantage to orchestrate the game-winning goal on a break-away from a failed Nigeria freekick.

Moments later, it could have been two, but for Juwon Oshaniwa’s timely goal-line clearance.

Keshi threw on Obiorah Nwankwo and Nnamdi Oduamadi in the second

build that way. And from what is happening all can see that the team is gradually picking up. By the time they learn all the tricks and strike a rhythm they will be difficult to beat because the understanding will be there.

What is happening now is good and Keshi must not change his approach because of the defeat in Peru who are a strong side going by their performance in Copa America where they finished third. I’m impressed.”

For the World Cup and Nations Cup qualifiers, Abigor hopes to see at least five local players starting the matches.

“Keshi needs the flair and experience of the players abroad but he surely must not forget the

period, and the Eagles hauled themselves back into the game.

But it was not enough to earn them a share of the booty as they succumbed to their second defeat on the spin, following a 2-3 reverse against Egypt in their last match.

Keshi announced later that the foreign based quartet of Nnamdi Oduamadi, who led his Torino side to the Italian serie A promotion recently, Gege Soriola of Free State Warriors in South Africa, Atletico Belares’ Raheem Lawal and Obiorah Nwankwo of Parma of Italy, who is on loan at AS Gubbio, are to report to camp in Calabar latest Sunday evening. Only Lawal, who has a game on Sunday was permitted to report on Monday morning.

Ike Contnues from BP garnered here to pick the points in our African qualifiers”, quipped Okpala.

Ike on his part, felt the same way but has words of encouragement for goalie, Chigozie Agbim, who made several excel lent saves on the night.

“Agbim proved why he’s the captain of the team and I’m proud to have been associated with such a talented goalkeeper” the former FC Zurich and Super Eagles first choice goalie declared.

Okpala picked up the

gauntlet again, ripping apart the suspect officiating of the Peruvian referee for the encounter. He accused the referee of awarding suspicious free kicks to the host and allowing them get away with all manner of kicks against the Nigerian players. “But each time we reacted and tried to play hard against the host the referee was penalizing our players and that was why I was so angry and challenged him”. Recall that Okpala at a point got toe to toe with the referee and had to be reprimanded by Keshi during the encounter.

Pomp, cultural dance as Minister opens NOC AGM

BY JOHN EGBOKHAN, Uyo

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CRUNCHY... Super Eagles striker Raheem Lawal gets crunchy tackle from Lius Ramirez of Peru during their friendly in Lima, yesterday. physical attributes of the local players and their determination. And since we are in the building process Keshi must not change. You play friendly matches to learn and from what we have seen the players are learning fast. Few years ago who expected that we could

play Peru a country like Peru with local players?

It has happened although the likes of Lawal came in the second half showed good stuff. All the defence positions were manned by local players from the beginning to the end. We are getting somewhere and the journey should continue.”

IGERIA’S Sports Minister and Chairman of the National Sports Commission (NSC), Malam Bolaji Abdullahi performed his first official function as substantive sports minister yesterday when he declared open the Annual General Meeting of the Nigeria Olympic Committee at the Le Meridien Hotel and Golf Resort in Uyo, Akwa Ibom.

At a colourful, dramatic and well-attended ceremony, the NOC held a lavish ceremony which marked their efforts in the last one and a half years.

With about two months to the start of the London Olympics Games, this

Eagles failed to take chances — Raheem •Namibia will pay for Lima loss

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TLETICO Belares’ of Spain midfielder, Raheem Lawal, was one of the few players in the Nigerian squad that

Garba Lawal, Amun hail Eagles

BY SOLOMON NWOKE

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X-INTERNATIONAL, Garba Lawal and former Secretary General of the Nigeria Football Association (NFA), Fanny Amun have thumbed up for Eagles in their friendly match against Peru Thursday morning.

Both applauded the re-building exercise of the senior national team.

They said that the team, made up of mainly homebased players, was beginning to rise to the challenge of big-time soccer.

The Eagles’ former utility player, speaking with Sports Vanguard in a telephone chat yesterday from his base said though, a win for the Eagles would have been a morale booster as they prepare for their FIFA World Cup and African Cup of Nations’ qualifiers but opined that the essence of the game as a tune-up for the qualifiers was served.

“The focus of the friendly match should not be based on the result, but performance”, “I know games like this are not just meant to be

won, but also to watch out for lapses and put a good team together ”, Lawal said.

He however advised the local players to be focused and take their chances in matches. He said, sometimes players cannot be judged with friendly matches as they are different in ‘real’ competitive situation, adding that the essence of using a bulk of them in the

friendly match was to build them and not that Nigeria didn’t need the foreign players.

Also in his summation, t coach Amun gave kudos to the courage of the players who featured in the game against Peru.

“The way they played was more important than the result they came out with. I am impressed with their performance," Coach Amun said.

NOC hails Abdullahi’s confirmation as Sports Minister

BY JOHN EGBOKHAN, Uyo

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HE Nigeria Olym pics Committee (NOC) has hailed the confirmation of Malam Bolaji Abdullahi as the substantive Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Committee.

Having held forte as the Supervising Minister of Sports for about six months, Mallam Abdullahi was on Wednesday confirmed by President Goodluck Jonathan in Abuja.

And reacting to the development at his Annual

year’s AGM of the NOC was a unique one in that it gave the body the chance to present its scorecard and projections for the summer Games.

Speaking at the colourful event, the Sports Minister, who was represented by a senior Director in the NSC, Dr. Elias Gora, a one-time scribe of the NOC, said he was impressed with the giant strides that have been made by the latter as it seeks to put Nigeria in the vanguard of the Olympic fraternity.

Abdullahi said that at a time that Nigeria was preparing her athletes for London 2012, the NOC must brace up to the challenges of managing the Nigerian team for optimum output at the summer Games.

•Ndanusa General Meeting held yesterday at the Le Meridien Hotel in Uyo, the President of the NOC, Engineer Sani M. Ndanusa, said that Abdullahi’s elevation showed that he was the right man for the job of repositioning sports administration for optimum growth.

spoke perfect Spanish, which is the lingua franca here in Peru, and he spoke plenty of it after the slim 1-0 loss to Peru by the Super Eagles on Wednesday night.

Lawal, who was appreciated by all including Peruvians who beaded him after the encounter for a solid second half display, said in his opinion that the encounter was a very balanced one, the difference being that while the host took one of the many chances that came their way, Nigeria wasted all their chances.

The Ilorin born midfielder, with a quiet mien, said he was however happy with the team’s display and for Stephen Keshi who gave him the chance to shine in Nigerian colours. “I will continue to offer myself for service to Nigeria and surely we will get better and better”, he said.

On his part, towering defence ace, Azubuike Egwueke, said he was disappointed by the loss to Peru but noted that it was now in the past. “The coach always tells us to forget the past and duel in the future, that is why I want to forget this match and promise that we will punish our next opponents, for playing so well and losing in this encounter”, he said. The Super Eagles are expected in Calabar Saturday evening.

60—V anguard , FRID AY , MA Y 25, 2012 FRIDA MAY 60—Vanguard

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Vanguard , FRID AY , MA Y 25, 2012 —61 FRIDA MAY

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62—V anguard , FRID AY , MA Y 25, 2012 FRIDA MAY 62—Vanguard

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VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MAY 25, 2012

Ike hails Agbim, Okpala challenges Ref

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UPER Eagles Assis tant coaches , Ike Shorunmi and Sylvanus Okpala agreed on one thing while reviewing the international friendly against Peru on Wednes-

day night - that the team that the coaching crew headed by Stephem Keshi is building is gradually coming of age.

“The standard of the Copa America bronze

Keshi fumes over 2 defeat nd

•Resumes training in Lima

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IGERIA coach Stephen Keshi was outraged after seeing his wards succumb to a second consecutive defeat, this time against Peru in Lima on Thursday.

Jose Paolo Guerrero’s 37th-minute effort was the difference between the two sides, and Keshi was left fuming.

“We can talk about jet lag and all that but there is always a reason for failure, and I hate failures,” Keshi said as he broke with his tradition of giving his players the day off after a game and ordered them back to training in Lima. ”In my entire career as a player and a coach, I have never lost two matches consecutively.

That is why we must regard this as the very last

Continues on page 58 TODAY'S

•Shorunmu medallists is very high, I must admit and that is why I am happy at the reaction of the players to pressure. No team in the world could hardly play at a higher level than what we saw and we reacted well. It’s a slightly higher level than what we saw against Egypt, now we have to go and use the experience we Continues on page 58

Sports Vanguard pull-out —Inside

CONTEST... Peru's Claudio Pizarro vies for the ball with Super Eagles Gabriel Ruben during their friendly match in Lima yesterday morning. Peru won 1-0.

•Keshi must not change now — Abigor — Pg 58

PUZZLES

YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

Across 1 Mistake (4) 4 Burst (3) 6 Slice (4) 9 Rotter (3) 10 Elegant (8) 11 So be it (4) 14 Crowd (3) 16 Trivial (5) 19 Dead (8) 21 Kingly (5) 23 Decrease (8) 24 Tally (5) 27 Sheep (3) 31 Cheat (4) 33 Stirred (8) 35 Curve (4) 36 Pull (3) 37 Air (4)

Pomp, cultural dance as Minister opens NOC AGM — Pg 58

QUICK CROSSWORD

Down 2 Fat (4) 3 Choose (4) 4 Suggested (8) 5 Plague (4) 6 Climb (5) 7 Strike (3) 8 Skilful (5) 12 Hatred (5) 13 Perfume (5) 14 Spoil (3) 15 Start (5) 17 Track (5) 18 Sail-boat (5) 20 Harmful (8) 22 Edge (3) 25 Sharp (5) 26 Belief (5) 28 Divide (4) 29 Huge (4) 30 Intend (4) 32 Skewer (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS Across: 2, Asked 7, Roost 8, Below 10, Saved 12, Lad 13, Reset 15, Reduced 17, Edited 19, Lag 20, Decayed 23, Axed 25, Deal 26, Denoted 30, Bet 31, Decide 34, Floated 37, Limit 38, Eat 39, Dated 40, Maker 41, Teeth 42, Sneer.

How to Play Sudoku

THE VIGILANTE

Down: 1, Coped 2, Asset 3, Slated 4, Ewer 5, Deluged 6, Model 9, Lac 11, Delayed 13, Repay 14, Sited 16, Day 18, Devoted 21, Denim 22, Fleet 24, Debated 27, Net 28, Delete 29, Pleat 32, Cider 33, Dirty 35, Oak 36, Dawn e-mail: rowolove@yahoo.co.uk

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

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