OPS, Labour, otherscondemn N5,000 note

...towards a better life for the people

**

VOL. 25: NO. 61696

MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

We've started dialogue with Boko Haram •Pg.7 —Presidency

N150

Bakassi: Green Tree Agreement not yet legal — Senate •Pg.6

OPS, Labour, others condemn N5,000 note •TUC, textile workers, ACN, others kick •It's step in wrong direction — Awolowo Institute •No need for Ghana must go bags —LCCI

BY OMOH GABRIEL, BUSINESS EDITOR, VICTOR AHIUMAYOUNG & BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

L

AGOS—ORGAN ISED private sector, labour and others have joined Nigerians to oppose the proposed intro-

duction of N5, 000 note in the planned restructuring of the nation’s currency, saying it will aid corruption. Director General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Muda Yusuf in his comment said although the

Continues on Page 5

Fresh trouble in Telecom sector •PG.17 OCHEREOME NNANNA •P.41 DELE •P.34 SOBOWALE LES LEBA •P.40

Mr & Mrs

UN HOUSE BOMBING—Clockwise: Mr Emmanuel Nkwaukwu, husband of late Mrs Felicia Nkwaukwu; Representative of UN staff, Mrs. Uzorma Ihedirimadu-Abudu, assisted by a survivor, John Agbo; UN contingent and UN Resident Coordinator, Mr. Dauda Toure (l) with Miss Chiamaka Davies and other relations of victims of the August 26, 2011 UN House Terrorist Attack during a solemn Wreath-Laying, yesterday, in Abuja. Photos: Abayomi Adeshida/NAN.

We're not •Pg.13 deterred by Abuja bombing, says UN C M Y K

Ondo: INEC clears Mimiko, Akeredolu, Oke, 9 others •Pg.9

CCTV: N75bn security project faces setback •Pg.7

2—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

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Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012—3

4—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

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Vanguard, MOND AY, A UGUST 27, 2012—5 MONDA AUGUST

OPS, Labour, others kick against planned N5,000 notes Continues from Page 1 idea of restructuring the currency is a welcome development, “there is a flip side to the policy”. He said these include the following: The initiative is a negation of the cash-lite policy of CBN, if it is now much easier to carry around large amounts of cash. The introduction of N5,000 note will aid corruption as many cases of bribery and extortion involve use of cash. The higher the currency denomination, the better the use of cash as instruments of corruption” he said.

He added: "The risk of counterfeiting increases with denominations. The higher the currency denomination, the higher the risk of faking and this is something to also worry about,” he stated.

On the other hand, Yusuf argued:"This would mean that the use of Ghana must go bags would no longer be necessary to move large amounts of cash.

“The new currency restructuring initiative of the CBN is a step in the right direction. It should be seen as a policy response to current economic dynamics. I believe the introduction of

higher denomination of N5,000 would reduce the volume of cash needed for transactions in the economy. This, by extension, would reduce the cost of currency management – printing, movement, storage and distribution. For instance a N1 million transaction would normally require 2000 pieces of N500 notes or 1000 pieces of N1000 notes. But with the introduction of N5000 notes, only 200 pieces would be needed. This is a significant reduction in the volume which offers tremendous convenience for those who have cause to handle large amounts of cash.

“The ATM machines will be able to stock larger value of cash which could last much longer. This is very valuable for bank customers, especially during holidays. Pressure on the machines will be much less as well.

“It would reduce queues in the banking hall and reduce pressure on currency counting machines. It is faster to dispense higher currency denominations than lower ones.

"Coins will find better relevance because of the

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

E

VERYTHING you met here, you will leave here. I have seen many people die, I have never seen anyone die with a clenched fist. Even your body and bones, you will leave behind. Live a simple life.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

You can learn new things at any time in your life if you’re willing to be a beginner. If you actually learn to like being a beginner, the whole world opens up to you – Barbara Sher

T

HE writer, Steve Goodier says something in teresting about this approach to learning new things. There are some things I think I do pretty well. There are others that need improvement and still others that are probably beyond anything I can help.

I picked up golf for a while. How hard could it be, I wondered? I soon learned. It didn’t take long before I was consistently shooting in the lower seventies. Pretty much, every hole.

Like Albert Einstein. He once arrived in London carrying his violin case. After greeting him, an old friend asked: “You still play the violin, Albert?” The mathematical genius nodded and said “yes, but not very well. My teacher says, `the trouble with you, Mr. Einstein, is that you can’t count.”

He knew that he had much to learn if he were to play the violin well. And he was wise enough to know that he would learn better if he could approach it with a sense of humility; he had to stoop in order to drink.

higher value they would now carry. Coins have lost relevance in commercial transactions because the current values have no bearing with the prices of goods and services in the economy. Besides, coins have longer durability than notes.”

TUC, others react Also reacting Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, and the National Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, faulted the planned introduction of higher banknote of N5,000 next year as announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria under its currency redesign programme tagged ‘PROJECT CURE, advising CBN to concentrate on stabilizing the value of the Naira rather than legitimizing the devaluation of the currency.

TUC in a statement by its President-General and Secretary, Comrade Peter Esele and Chief John Kolawole, said: “We are surprised that the CBN could at this time decide to embark on the mission to make changes to the nation’s currency and to also create a N5, 000 denomination. The intention at coining the N5, N10 and N20 denominations does a psychological damage to the value of the Naira. We are surprised that despite CBN’s acquiescence to this, it still intends pushing forward with this objective.

“If the objective is truly the pursuit of a cashless economy, why would the CBN consider it too expedient at this time to also pursue concurrently the printing of more currencies especially the jumbo N5, 000 note?

“It should be remembered that the CBN has changed the face of the Naira severally in the past years mouthing the same arguments which have all proven in the long run to be baseless.

We see this rather as a sign of a monetary system management gone awry and the deeper malaise of the continued

wrong – headed management of the nation’s foreign exchange receipts.

“We therefore call on the CBN to immediately suspend this pursuit, allow it to be discussed nationally as our experience has shown that the outcome of this will affect majority of Nigerians adversely before any further action is taken. We would also want the CBN to tell Nigerians what it will cost the tax payers to move to this new currency regime.”

Textile union opposes new note Textile union in a statement by its General Secretary and a Vice President of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, Comrade Issa Aremu said: “We oppose the proposed introduction of higher banknote of N5000 next year as announced by the Central Bank of Nigeria. Lower banknote denominations of N5, N10, and N20 will be also coined according to the Central Bank of Nigeria. The current highest banknote of N1000 was introduced in 2005. We had currency review in 2007 and 2009.

It should not be customary for every CBN governor to change the nation’s banknotes. Incessant turning out of higher banknotes is an attempt to legitimize the devaluation of the Nigerian currency. There is a direct relationship between higher banknotes and devaluation of the currency.”

The CBN should concentrate on stabilizing the value of the Naira rather than legitimizing the devaluation of the currency.”

A step in wrong direction – Institute In its own comment the Obafemi Awolowo Institute of Government and Public Policy, Lagos said in a statement noting that, irrespective of the desirable objectives that may have informed the plan to introduce the new currency, including possibly the need “to raise government revenue” and “reduce the

POCKET CARTOON

cost of transactions”, such objectives are also likely to have “unintended effects” or inflict “collateral damage”. It said the plan signifies not only a regime of increased and sustained fiscal deficit financing but also inevitably generate further inflation that would “erode the real value of the seigniorage revenue derived” from the higher face-value currency. According to the institute the policy is likely to be perceived as an indication of government’s failure to effectively control inflation. Once this perception takes hold, increased inflation expectations can be built up quite rapidly. These have pushed many countries in the past, including Argentina (1975-1991), Bolivia (1984-1987), Zaire/ Democratic Republic of Congo (1986-1996), Nicaragua (1987-1990), Peru (1988-1990), Poland (1989-1992), Angola (1991-1995), the Russian Federation (1992-1998), and Zimbabwe in the first decade of this century into a situation of hyper-inflation, which has typically culminated in the re-denomination or even complete abandonment of the entire currency system.”

ACN cautions CBN In its own reaction, the Action Congress of Nigeria in a statement issued in Lagos by its National Publicity Secretary Alhaji Lai Mohammed warned that while the introduction of this new high denomination may serve the dual purpose of raising revenue for government on the one hand and reducing the cost of transactions

on the other hand, the unintended consequences and collateral damage of introducing the N5,000 may far outweigh the benefits of the new measure.

According to the party, “first, there is a strong historical evidence that the introduction of higher and higher face value currency notes in an economy often signifies a regime of increased and sustained fiscal deficit financing.

Secondly the issuance of such high value currency notes is likely to be perceived as an indication of government’s failure to effectively control inflation “Thirdly the issuance of the N5,000 currency note runs counter to the recent policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria to promote a “cashless” economy by encouraging the increased use of non-cash transaction instruments. The introduction of a high face value currency note actually does the opposite because by reducing the unit cost of printing and transportation, it actually would promote the use of cash.

“Fourthly, the issuance of the new N5,000 currency note also runs counter to the government’s often repeated commitment to fight corruption. It is widely recognised that large scale corruption tends to be facilitated by the ease with which unrecorded and large cash transactions can be made."

In conclusion the party warned that the introduction of the N5,000 currency note may be a step in the wrong direction, and down a slippery slope towards hyper -inflation and that it is time to abandon failed inflation-control policies and inadequately thoughtSee more on Page 52

6—Vanguard , MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

Bakassi: Green Tree Agreement, not yet legal — Senate zNo peace until justice is done, say Bakassi leaders

BY HUGO ODIOGOR, HENRY UMORU, INALEGWU SHAIBU & IKECHUKWU NNOCHIRI

B

ARELY 45 days to October 10 when Nigeria will lose its right to appeal against the controversial judgment of the International Court of Justice, ICJ, which had in 2002, ceded the oil-rich Bakassi Peninsula in Cross River State, to the Republic of Cameroon, the Senate yesterday said the agreement stands illegal until the National Assembly ratifies it even as the presidency still keeps mum on the verdict.

The Paramount ruler of Bakassi, in his reaction declared that the issue of Bakassi has gone beyond what Nigeria can handle as the people of the disputed Peninsula have decided to approach the UN to demand for a referendum in the area.

Going by the procedural rules of the ICJ, by October 10 this year which makes it exactly 10 years after the verdict was delivered, by the terms of the 2005 Green Tree Agreement, Nigeria’s cession of its erstwhile territory would be perfected, except she raises fresh issues for a review of the case.

Under the prevailing Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, Bakassi Peninsula remains and is still listed as part of the 774 local government councils in the federation. Section 12(1) of the 1999 Constitution states that “No treaty between the Federation and any other country shall have the force of law except to the extent to which any such treaty has been enacted into law by the National Assembly.”

Thus by implication, the divisive “Green Tree Agreement” can still be revoked by Nigeria under the constitution which is the graund-norm.

Reacting yesterday, the Senate said until the National Assembly ratifies the agreement and legislate on it, any action taken will not be legal.

In a message to Vanguard, Chairman, Senate Committee on Information, Media and Public Affairs, Senator Enyinnaya Abaribe, PDP, Abia South said, “If National Assembly has not

ratified the Green Tree Agreement, it is not yet legal.”

FG keeps mum on appeal of ICJ ruling Efforts by Vanguard to get the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, SAN, to establish whether the administration of President Goodluck Jonathan has the will power to challenge the ICJ verdict proved abortive.

The Chief Press Secretary at the Ministry of Justice, Mr Ambrose Momoh, who spoke to Vanguard on phone, said he was not aware if the AGF was making any moves towards lodging an appeal against the ICJ judgment before the October 10 deadline elapses.

He said: “there is no new development on the case for now but when I get to the office tomorrow (today) I will make further inquiries from the AGF.” Meantime, following alleged inhumane treatment meted out against the Bakassi indigenes by the authorities in Cameroon, lawmakers in Cross River State recently visited the Federal Ministry of Justice in Abuja, where they urged AGF to immediately apply for a review of the ICJ judgment and the “Green Tree Agreement.”

Rising from an interactive fact-finding session with the people of Bakassi in Ikang, the lawmakers said fresh facts have been gathered on the Bakassi matter and the ICJ permits a review of its judgment within 10 years based on fresh facts.

The lawmakers in the meeting included Mr. Saviour Nyong representing Bakassi in the state House of Assembly, Mr. Essien Ayi representing Calabar South/Akpabuyo/ Bakassi in the House of Representatives and Prince Bassey Otu, the Senator representing Cross River South Senatorial district in the Senate; former Chairmen of Bakassi Mr. Emmanuel Etene, Ani Esin, traditional rulers, and Youth Groups.

In his speech, Mr Otu who convened the meeting said: “I am here to meet with you face-to-face and to hear from you, relay greetings from the Senate and to let you know that the fight (to regain Bakassi) is not over

INAUGURATION—From left: Emir of Kazaure, Najib Adamu; former Military President, Ibrahim Babangida; Governor Umaru Ishaka of Zinder, Niger Republic, and Governor Sule Lamido of Jigawa, during the inauguration of Dutse Model International School in Dutse, yesterday. Photo: NAN

yet. I will not give in or surrender until we achieve positive result. We have never been conquered in a battle before and we will not be conquered."

Otu stressed that the “Green Tree Agreement was not ratified by the National Assembly and all other reasons, which I will not like to state here and let me also remind us of the Charter of People’s Rights, which we can deploy to revisit being compelled into a particular territorial entity.

In a scenario that we as the people of Bakassi must be fixed in Cameroun, Nigeria or a Bakassi Republic, we shall have to make the choice.”

Likewise, Mr Ayi on his part said “few days before we went on vacation, I raised a motion on Bakassi and the House endorsed it to put pressure on the Federal Government to file papers in the ICJ on a review of the judgment and we will not rest until the matter is resolved. We met with the President and on Thursday, we will meet with the Attorney General of the Federation to ensure that the papers are filed and we want a plebiscite to follow suit. It has happened in Southern Sudan so why can’t it happen here.”

The Bakassi member in the state House of Assembly and Leader of the Save Bakassi Group, Mr. Maurice Ekong, equally noted that the ICJ judgment relied on the 1913 unsigned Anglo-Dutch treaty whereas the people of Bakassi through the Obong

of Calabar had in 1884 signed a protectorate treaty with the British which he said supersedes whatever treaty that subsequently took place over the region.

The Paramount ruler of Bakassi, Etiyin Etim Okon Edet also said in Lagos last week that the issue of Bakassi has gone beyond what Nigeria can

handle as the people of the disputed Peninsula have decided to approach the UN to demand for a referendum in the area.

Only UN referendun can solve crisis He said: “The people of Bakassi are praying to God,

we have called on our ancestors and we know that God will answer our prayers. The world should ask its conscience some questions. Why was the people of Abyei in Sudan not relocated to South Sudan or merged with Sudan. Why is UN contemplating of a referendum there?

Insecurity: Catholic Archbishop calls for overhaul of political system zWe 'll not disappoint Nigerians — Ihedioha

BY SAM EYOBOKA & OLAYINKA LATONA

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AGOS—CATHOLIC Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, yesterday, advocated an overhaul of the nation’s political system as a means of addressing the current security challenges just as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Emeka Ihedioha assured Nigerians that the National Assembly won’t disappoint them.

The archbishop argued that a constitutional review that will give bite to the nation’s dreams of a true federalism was long overdue, adding that activities of Boko Haram were not only crippling the economy of the host states, but were also compounding the economic development of the nation.

Giving a lecture at this year’s Catholic Young Men Association Annual Lecture

at the St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos and titled: “Sustaining democratic dividends and economic growth in the face of current security challenges,” the Lagos archbishop said his visit to the Internet revealed that it was only in Nigeria that politicians talked about dividends of democracy while the basic ingredients of democracy like free judiciary, press and such like were relegated to the background.

According to the Archbishop, “the security threat have been made worse by the fact that government seems to be unable to know what to do about it. The fact that various recommendations of the numerous panels of inquiry that have examined some of the issues in the past have not been released or implemented gives the impression that no one can touch those who disobey the law of the land as they create

chaos and anarchy.

“If we address the structural deficiencies in our political system and restructure our economy such that opportunity for self-employment are more abundant we shall have the dividends of democracy in abundance".

Earlier in his remarks, the special guest of honour at the event organised by the Catholic Young Men Association, CYMA, Chief Ihedioha who was represented by Ambassador Timothy Ihenmadu, said the seventh National Assembly will do everything within the books to make sure that Nigeria have sustainable development.

“Unabating sectarian violence in parts of the country as well as kidnapping and other forms of militancy in Nigeria are capable of bringing the nation that our forefathers fought very hard to put in place, to her knees,” he stated.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012—7

We 've commenced dialogue with Boko Haram — Presidency z As Jonathan seeks support of Nigerians

BY BEN AGANDE

A

VISIT—From left: Media and Publicity Consultant, Amalgamated Niger Delta Youths for Peace Initiative, Mr. Sony Neme; former President Olusegun Obasanjo; President of the group, Mr. Henry Nwabueze and Director, Projects and Finance, Mr. Greg Fiberesima, during a courtesy call on the former president at his hilltop residence, Abeokuta.

CCTV: N75bn security project faces setback zNCC in a fix about company to handle contract

BY SONI DANIEL

A

BUJA—EFFORT by the Federal Government to monitor criminal activities in the country with Closed Circuit Television, CCTV, appears to be facing a setback, as the frequency, a vital facility required for the smooth operation of the $470 million (N75.2 billion) National Public Security Communication Systems, is shrouded in protracted controversy.

Findings by Vanguard indicate that the telecommunication frequency, which ZTE, the Chinese company handling the project, insists must be deployed for the scheme, had already been allocated to another company by the Nigerian Communications Commission, NCC, which is now in a fix on how to resolve the riddle.

It was learnt that ZTE is insisting on the use of the controversial band based on what a source described as ‘an excellent quality transmission based on testruns’ by the foreign contractor.

Findings revealed that the firm has already installed about 2,000 CCTV cameras complete with solar-powered terminals in Abuja and Lagos in readiness for the take-off of the new security monitoring system in Nigeria but has been held down by the

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frequency feud.

Frequency tussle It was gathered that about 1.5 million lines are expected to be made available for security and commercial use once the CCTV project comes on stream. Out of the number, 500,000 lines are slated for the security agencies while the remaining 1,000,000 lines would be used by the private companies.

A top police ministry official described the unresolved problem over the frequency as a dilemma that could slow down the project and give room for more attacks in the country.

The officials said, “The problem is that they (ZTE) wanted the present frequency, which they are operating to be changed since it is being used by another agency.

Alternatively, they want the other user to concede the frequency for national use.

“But, in my view, there is nothing that should be compromised for the security of our nation.

Although there is an existing user of that frequency, there is need to look at it patriotically and concede the frequency for national interest,” said the source.

Efforts to confirm the status of the controversial frequency failed as neither the Executive Vice

Chairman of NCC, Mr. Eugene Juwah nor the Head of Media, Mr. Reuben Mouka, could be reached for comments. But a source familiar with the controversy said it was not possible to retrieve the frequency from its original owner and allocate it to the Chinese firm.

The source noted, “Frequencies are managed by the Frequency Management Council and it is that council that has the power to look into the matter but it may not work at the end of the day because of previous controversies that arose over attempts to withdraw licences already given out by the NCC. “The commission is cautious not to be seen to be toying with allocated commercial frequencies so as not to be perceived by foreign investors of subjecting frequencies to political influences that have the capacity to drive away investors and dent the country’s image.”

Asked if the former allottee could not relinquish the channel for national security, the source explained that it would not be very easy to get it done.

Presidency intervention But it was learnt last night that the Presidency had mandated the Vice President, Namadi Sambo,

whose office supervises parastatals, to urgently intervene and get a suitable frequency for the Chinese firm to use for the security project in view of the challenges the nation was passing through.

It will be recalled that in the wake of rising insecurity in the country, the Federal Government on August 27, 2010 signed the multimillion naira agreement with ZTE to deploy satellite technology to address strategic security and other needs of the country following an approval given by the Yar ’Adua administration in 2008.

In particular, the project is intended to provide adequate and sophisticated communication system to enable the Nigeria Police and other security agencies to effectively combat crime in the country.

Under the agreement reached with the Chinese Government, Nigeria is to make a down payment of 15 per cent ($70.5 m) while Chinese Exim Bank is to provide the balance of 85 per cent ($399.5 m) to be paid back as loan over time

by Nigeria.

Already, a tripartite agreement has been sealed among Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Police Affairs and the Nigerian Communications Satellite Limited, NIGCOMSAT, for the smooth management of the CCTV scheme.

BUJA—DESPITE denial by Boko Haram spokesman, the Presidency, yesterday emphasised that government had commenced dialogue with members of the sect, assuring Nigerians that the insurgency will soon be brought under control.

Speaking with newsmen, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati, said the dialogue was through third parties and not directly with Boko Haram officials.

Abati said that what President Goodluck Jonathan is asking from Nigerians as he tackles the issue through the multifaceted levels is support.

“When government says it is already talking to Boko Haram, the form of that dialogue must be properly understood. I think a lot of people are under the impression that the dialogue involves a situation whereby government officials are sitting on one side, Boko Haram persons are sitting on the other side in an airconditioned room and there are negotiations across the table. That is not the form of the dialogue.

"The form of the dialogue is that back room channels are being used to reach across with the sole objective of understanding what exactly the grievances of these persons are, what exactly can be done to resolve the crises, in the overall best interest of ensuring peace and stability in Nigeria and the security of life and property. And all of this is consistent with the position of the President.

"So what is called dialogue is at many levels: through back room channels and through multi-level, constructive interventions to address a difficult issue that is multi-farious”.

Explaining further, the Presidential Adviser said “one thing that is noteworthy is that the Boko Haram spokesperson made it clear that they were prepared to go a step further to ensure that persons who are using the name of Boko Haram for political and criminal purposes are identified and checked.

What that original statement indicated was that indeed

Boko Haram has many faces. It confirms that this thing called Boko Haram is such a multi-faceted phenomenon.

"The true situation has already been stated by the Minister of Information on two different occasions. First in an interview, second through a press release, namely that the Federal Government is involved in dialogue with Boko Haram.

“You will recall that what led to this is that a spokesperson for Boko Haram issued a statement confirming that government and some leaders of Boko Haram were already discussing; in that particular statement the issues being looked at were clearly identified.

“You will recall that in one instance, during a Presidential Media Chat, President Jonathan had made it clear that the Boko Haram phenomenon, the terror phenomenon in Nigeria, is quite a novel phenomenon and that many of the persons involved in the low level insurgency are not known, they have not come forward.

However if such persons should come forward, government will grant them a listening ear to know what it is that they are after.

“Again the President is on record, as having made it clear that government’s approach to checking the Boko Haram insurgency is at many levels. The available option according to Mr President is not solely one of military action or police action and it is on the basis of this that he had reached out to leaders of political thought in the parts of the country that are affected.

“It is on this basis that President Jonathan held meetings with politicians from the Northern states.

Because his position is that look, these people, yes they may not come forward but they are not ghosts, they live in communities. They are members of the Nigerian community, there would be persons who know them. There would be leaders in these communities, in these villages, in these towns who may have an idea and such persons needed to be carried along to assist in addressing the Boko Haram issue".

8— Vanguard , MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

Fayemi issues 7-day ultimatum to Ekiti NULGE

DOING IT RIGHT...

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BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

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DO-EKITI—THE Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, yesterday, issued a sevenday ultimatum to the state leadership of the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE, to withdraw its allegation that he has been deducting N1 billion from the monthly allocations of councils.

NULGE, had in a letter to the governor and signed by its secretary, Mr Victor Adebayo, accused the government of the wrong deduction.

Fayemi, in a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Yinka Oyebode, dismissed the allegation, saying there was no iota of truth in it.

He said: “Therefore, for the purpose of record, it is important to state unequivocally that at no time did the governor order the deduction of N1 billion from the allocations of the councils as alleged by NULGE and orchestrated by some political charlatans in the dubious attempt to score cheap political point.

“As a matter of fact, a simple breakdown of the monthly allocations to Ekiti State and the 16 councils shows that it is practically impossible to deduct N1 billion from the councils’ allocation.

“It is quite ridiculous for anyone to claim that N1 billion is deducted from the councils’ allocation giving the fact that what is accrued to the 16 LGAs are usually pre-distributed at the Federation Account Allocation Committee based on some sharing indices.''

Minister of Culture, Tourism and national Orientation, Chief Edem Duke (left), presenting the "Do the Right thing" logo to the Kwara State Governor, Alhaji Abdulfatah Ahmed, at the Government House, Ilorin.

From left, Vice-President, Nokia West Africa, James Rutherford; Founder, Cherie Blair Foundation for Women, Cherie Blair and Global Head & VicePresident, Nokia Life, Jawahar Kanjilal, at the Nokia Business Women launch at the Civic Centre, Victoria Island, Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

Police arrest ‘prophet’ for man's death

BY EVELYN USMAN

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AGOS—A self-ac claimed Man of God, was weekend, arrested in connection with the alleged death of a motorcyclist in the Bariga area of Lagos.

The deceased identified as Sule Ade reportedly left the suspect’s apartment on Ajenifuja Street, Bariga, about 8 p.m. on Saturday, but started bleeding as he was about mounting his motorbike.

He was said to have fell and died on the spot.

Amosun's govt is too slow — CPC

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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BEOKUTA—CON GRESS for Progressive Change, CPC, has described the administration of Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, as too slow in the process of giving the dividends of democracy to the people.

Speaking in Abeokuta, National Vice-Chairman of the party in SouthWest, Mr. Razaq Muse, rated Amosun's performance as below average.

The party, which also C M Y K

3rd Mainland Bridge not collapsing, by FG

condemned the recent local government election, however, implored Amosun to make his administration more resultoriented, transparent and ensure good governance in the state.

Speaking through the Lagos State Chairman, Chief Ajibade EmiabataBalogun, who led a threeman visitation panel to the Ogun State Chapter of CPC, Muse said the ACN-led administration in Ogun State appeared too slow in spreading the dividends of democracy

to the people of the state.

He said: “Comparing the socio-economic development and infrastructure renewal going on in Lagos and Oyo states but, Ogun State is too slow in distributing the dividends of democracy to the people.

“From the information reaching me and my two visits to Abeokuta, there has not been significant change in the state capital since Senator Ibikunle Amosun took over the mantle of power in the State over a year ago.”

Reports, however, said no one could say what his mission was at the home of the suspect, popularly called prophet.

While some claimed he went there for prayers over an unknown ailment, others said he went there for a session of deliverance prayers.

Spokesman for the Lagos State Police Command, Ngozi Braide, confirmed the incident, stating that the suspect, identified as 'Prophet' John Jegun, had been transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation.

She said: ''Ade visited the 'prophet' about 6.30 p.m. on Saturday and left after two hours. His widow reported the case the following day at the Bariga Police Division, and the 'prophet' was apprehended.”

She did not give further details, but said investigation was on.

AGOS—THE Federal Ministry of Works has debunked speculations in the social media that the Third Mainland Bridge, Lagos, was about collapsing due to structural defect.

In a statement, yesterday in Lagos, Mr. Dominic Avishigh, the ministry ’s Director of Highways Design (Bridges), urged motorists to disregard the rumour, describing it as unfounded.

It said a joint inspection of the bridge was first carried out by a team of engineers, following insinuations that the bridge was oscillating in 2006.

Avishigh said: “At the end of the inspection, it was resolved that an internationally-reputed bridge consultant be invited to carry out further inspection of the bridge.

“An international bridge consultant was thereafter invited to carry out a series of inspections and investigations along with

the contractors and the bridge design consultants.

“The studies revealed that there was no threat of collapse on the Third Mainland Bridge.”

It noted that it was the same fears that led to the commissioning of underwater studies of the substructure of the bridge recently.

He said the preliminary report of the yet-to-be concluded studies showed that the metal casing housing the concrete was rotting away.

According to the statement, the rot was due to the activities of certain sea creatures attracted to that section of the Lagos lagoon due to the discharge of organic effluent into it.

He said: “Following the report, the Minister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, wrote to the Lagos State Government to stop the discharge of organic effluents into the lagoon in the area.”

Navy arrests ship for illegal operation

BY EVELYN USMAN

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AGOS—THE Western Naval Command of the Nigerian Navy, weekend, arrested a vessel suspected to be operating illegally on the nation’s territorial water around Lagos Island axis, restating its commitment to making the waterways safe for maritime transaction.

The arrest was effected about 9.30 a.m, during a patrol with NN Andoni, the newly-built ship by the Nigerian Navy.

The arrested ship, MV Andonai, was arrested while being assisted by a

tuck and was consequently taken to the Naval base.

Another ship suspected to be into illegal bunkering activities was intercepted during the patrol.

But the ship, according to the Commanding Officer, Commander Semiu Adepegba, explained that it had permission to do the transaction.

Commander Adepegba explained that since the Naval vessel was commissioned two months ago, she had gone on patrol over 10 times, adding that it had helped in patrolling the waterways in no little ways.

World mayors hail Badagry festival

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A DAG RY — D R .

James Walls, President, World Congress of Mayors, has commended the organisation of the 2012 edition of Badagry Festival, which came to an end on Saturday.

Walls told the News Agency of Nigeria,NAN, at Badagry Grammar School, venue of the grand finale, that “the organisation of the event was good.

“The festival was good, innovative and showed the heritage of the people and their awareness about it,” he said.

Walls hailed the Africa Renaissance Foundation for putting up the package.

He, however, said the event should be well promoted with a view to making the blacks in Diaspora to come back home to invest in it.

Vanguard , MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012 —9

Ondo: INEC clears Mimiko, Akeredolu, Oke, 9 others For October 20 poll

BY DAYO JOHNSON

A From left, Chief Executive Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Steven Evans, Dickson Osuala, Olanrewaju Ogunyimika, winners of the Etisalat FCB promotion and Chief Commercial Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Wael Ammar during the winners' trip to Barcelona, Thursday

Alake on leave, Bankole steps in

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

A

BEOKUTA—THE Alake and paramount ruler of Egbaland, Oba Adedotun Gbadebo, has appointed the father of the former Speaker of House of Representatives, Mr. Dimeji Bankole, Chief Alani Bankole, the Chairman, Egba Regency Committee, which will act as the ancient town’s paramount ruler.

This was sequel to a letter by the Alake informing Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, of his intention to proceed on his annual leave.

According to the Alake, Bankole would lead the committee as protem Alake for 42 days due to his experience in Egba tradition and custom as one of the kingmakers in Egbaland and the Oluwo of Iporo-Ake. The monarch, in the letter, said during the leave, he will attend the bi-annual conference of Egba National Association, USA/Canada, as special guest of honour.

According to Alake, the Regency Committee saddled with the responsibility of overseeing the palace is constituted in accordance to the custom and tradition of Egbaland.

“The Regency Council is made up of the representatives of the five permanent members of the Egba Traditional Council namely Ake, Iporo, Ijeun, Itoku and Kemta and a representative each from Agbeyin and Eku, to oversee the kingdom in the absence of Alake.

Other members of the seven-man committee are Chief Oluseye Ayinla Adeniji, Oluwo Igbein; Chief Peter Sodunke, Jaguna Ake and Chief E.A. Fanaye, Balogun Ikopa.

Others are Chief Siji Soetan, Ekerin Ijeun; Chief Sherif Adejolam, Otun Itoku and Chief Oluwatosin Fadare, Lukotun Kemta, who will serve as the secretary.

KURE—THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Ondo State, yesterday, cleared candidates of 12 political parties and their deputies to contest the October 20 governorship election in the state.

Also, cleared was Olutope Adedipe, the state secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, as Mr. Oluwarotimi Akeredolu’s runningmate.

Three women also emerged as deputy governorship candidates.

In the list, INEC named Governor Olusegun Mimiko as the candidate of the Labour Party, LP, with Alhaji Ali Olanusi as his running-mate, while Chief Olusola Oke and Mr. Saka Lawal were cleared as the candidate and deputy for the Peoples' Democratic Party, PDP. Other parties on the list included the Allied Congress Party with Mr. Adeuti Taye as candidate and Tolupe Clement as his deputy.

The All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP, has Mr. Adeyemi Bolarinwa as governorship candidate and Mr. Ikwuewumi Rotimi listed as his

deputy, while Mr. Ayodele Olusegun was named as the governorship candidate of the Better Nigeria Progressive Party with Mrs. Ijitola Modupe as deputy.

The Change Advocacy Party, which also made the list, has Mr. Omoyele Olorunwa as its candidate and Mr. Babatunde Bidemi as his runningmate .

Also named is Mr. Olusoji Ehinlanwo as the governorship candidate of the Congress for Progressive Change, with Mrs Oluyemi Damilola as his running-mate.

The National Con-

science Party has Mr. Oladipo Lawrence as its candidate while Mrs. Ogbetor Benedicta is his running-mate.

Others are Mr. AbikanluOlusola and Mr. Adefila Cornelius as candidate and deputy of the National Solidarity Democratic Party while Mr. Victor Adetusin and Mr. Moses Iorsheer made the list for the People for Democratic Change.

The electoral body also cleared Mr. Omoregha Olatunji as candidate of the Progressive People Alliance with Mr. Alonge Ahmed named as his running-mate.

Group advises corps members to reject posting to unsafe states

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

A

DO-EKITI—THE Conference of Alumni Associations of Nigerian Universities, CAANU, has asked prospective corps members to reject National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, postings to states facing critical security challenges.

CAANU's National Chairman, Chief Richard Ahonaruogho, said, weekend, in Ado-Ekiti at its quarterly conference that

prospective corps members should not be compelled to serve in states or zones considered dangerous security-wise.

Ahonaruogho, however, urged the management of the NYSC to review the postings of prospective corps members to states that are not safe.

He said: “We expect all prospective corps members to reject posting to where they think they are not safe, we urge government to have a second look over the policy.''

Mimiko accuses Aregbesola of hiring cleric to It's a lie — Osun ACN hypnotise Ondo voters

BY DAYO JOHNSON

A

KURE—THE Olusegun Mimiko Campaign Organisation, weekend, in Akure, alleged that the Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, has hired an Iwo Moslem cleric (names withheld) to wreck havoc in Ondo State by planting fetish substances in major towns in the state.

The group alleged that Aregbesola, who is the arrow-head of the onslaught against the Olusegun Mimiko administration had in recent times vowed to ''capture'' Ondo State for his Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).

According to the organisation, Gov. Aregbesola had hired the Iwo-born cleric, who was alleged to be behind the training of some Moslem hard men in Osun State to carry out C M Y K

several nocturnal sacrifices in Ondo, Owo, Ikare, Akure and Okitipupa with a view to turning the hearts of the people of the state against Gov. Mimiko spiritually.

In a statement, the organisation's Director of Publicity and Media Relations, Mr Kolawole Olabisi, alleged that the fetish sacrifices for which the cleric had been paid N25 million are to be executed on or before September 10, barely a month to the October 20 governorship election in the state.

ACN reacts Reacting, the Director of Media and Strategy of the ACN in Osun State, Mr. Kunle Oyatomi, said: “The statement credited to Kolawole Olabisi of Mimiko Campaign Organisation falls below the

expected standard of intelligence and professional proficiency of a spokesperson of a political campaign organisation because they are outright false propaganda.

“Everybody in Ondo State knows that the desperate candidate, who is running helter-skelter to save his job is Gov. Mimiko himself, who has a notorious antecedent for playing outside the rule of the game and blackmailing his opponents.

“Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola’s interest in Ondo State does not have a tinge of desperation and he, therefore, has no need whatsoever to engage anyone in fetish deals to obstruct or destroy the lives of the very same people which the ACN wants to liberate from Mimiko’s misrule in Ondo State.

“It is a great pity, indeed, that Mr Olabisi is

latching on to a discredited allegation from Aregbesola’s opponents in Osun State which falsely accused him of seccessionist tendency to tag him as a troublemaker and an Islamic zealot.

“Mimiko’s troubles in Ondo State are entirely his own making and if his job is threatened today, it is only the people of Ondo State who will determine his fate. To think that someone from elsewhere can use fetish means to make Ondo people behave irregularly at the polls is the hallucination of a nitwit.

“If Mimiko had done well, his campaign organisation will have nothing to fear, but will simply go about demonstrating the ‘good work’ of the governor which will be enough to convince the people.”

10—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

Edo guber poll: Airhiavbere free to contest result at Tribunal—INEC

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B

INVESTITURE: Deputy Governor of Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Nsima Ekere (middle), the Anglican Bishop of Uyo, Rt. Rev. Isaac Orama (left) and former Deputy Governor of Anambra State, Dame Virgy Etiaba (right), during the initiation and investiture of new Knights of the Anglican Diocese of Uyo at All Saints Cathedral, Uyo, on yesterday.

Ex-militants condemn JTF's invasion of Bakassi camp

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

P

ORT HARCOURT— Former militant 'generals' in the Niger Delta have condemned Saturday’s invasion, by the Joint Task Force, JTF, of a militant leader's camp in the Bakassi area of Cross Rivers State belonging to one 'General' Lapto Marine .

Pastor Reuben Wilson, a former militant 'general', told journalists in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, yesterday, that Lapto Marine was on the verge of surrendering his arms and camp to the Federal Government before JTF Operation Pulo Shield stormed the place.

Flanked by five other repentant militant 'generals', Pastor Wilson urged JTF to withdraw from the

camp to enable 'General' Lapto and his boys key into the ongoing amnesty programme in the region, adding that they had not been able to establish contact with Lapto after the invasion.

The ex-militant generals, under the aegis of Leadership Forum for Peace in Niger Delta, said the Special Adviser on Niger Delta/Coordinator, Presidential Am-

nesty in the Niger Delta, Mr. Kingsley Kuku, was to have received General Marine's arms and ammunition but for the military invasion which disrupted the arrangement.

Wilson said: “The Army moved into Lactop's camp shooting.

We don’t know where Lapto is now. We are condemning the action of the military.”

Don't scrap Police Affairs Ministry —Owie

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

B

ENIN—FORMER Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Roland Owie, has opposed the recommendation of the Parry Osayande Panel on Police Reform that the Ministry of Police Affairs

be scrapped, describing it as selfish.

He also opposed calls for the creation of state police, insisting that any attempt to do so at this stage of the nation’s development would lead to riots.

Senator Owie, in Benin, weekend, reacting to

Create new federal constituencies in Delta Central —UPM

BY FESTUS AHON

U

GHELLI—NA TIONAL Chairman, Urhobo Political Movement, UPM, Chief Ominimini Obuivwevbi, has advocated the creation of additional federal constituencies in Delta Central Senatorial District of Delta State.

He insisted that the present three constituencies of Ughelli North/ C M Y K

The group enjoined Northern leaders to prevail on members of the Boko Haram sect to refrain from their terrorist activities, adding that this was a time to promote peaceful values in the country. Reuben, President of the body, added that this was not a time to plot to impeach Mr. President, stressing that such an action would backfire.

Ughelli South/Udu; Okpe/Sapele/Uvwie and Ethiope were too few for the senatorial district, considering the population of Urhobo people, adding, “Six new federal constituencies should be created out of the three existing ones.”

Obuivwevbi, after a meeting of the group in Ughelli, weekend, said; “The nine federal constituencies for Urhobo as being demanded by

UPM are: Ughelli North 1, Ughelli North 2, Ughelli South, Udu, Okpe, Sapele, Uvwie, Ethiope East and Ethiope West Federal Constituencies.

“The Urhobo nation deserves more than three federal constituencies. A committee that will advance the course to ensure that UPM’s demand for more federal constituencies was achieved has been inaugurated.”

calls by some prominent Nigerians for the amendment of the constitution to include state police, said: “I have been an advocate of state police even from the National Assembly. But unfortunately, when you consider the way some of our governors speak as if they never went to school, and in some states, where their supporters unleash terror on the people, you will not think of state police.

“Any attempt to create state police at this stage of Nigeria’s development will lead to riots.”

Noting that he was opposing the creation of state police for first time in 12 years, he explained that if the antecedents of some of the governors were anything to go by, they would use the instrument of state police to hound their political opponents into prisons.

ENIN—INDE PENDENT National Electoral Commission, INEC, weekend, said that Gen. Charles Airhiavbere, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, candidate in the July 14, governorship election in Edo State, or any other candidate for that matter, has the constitutional right to approach the election tribunal to challenge the conduct of the election.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Edo State, who conducted the July governorship poll, Mr. Kassim Gaidam, who spoke in Benin City, while handing over to the new Electoral Commissioner for the state, Mr Baritor Kpagih, said: “It

is a constitutional right of the candidate, who wishes to do so or his political party.”

Gaidam, who was deployed to the state to conduct the governorship election, said the immediate challenge of the new REC was handling the pending case on the governorship election at the tribunal.

Gaidam said INEC was ready to furnish the tribunal with every necessary document on the conduct of the election, adding that another challenge the new REC would face was the updating of the continuous voters registration exercise to tidy up the voters registers.

He said: “The exercise was cancelled to allay the fear and apprehension of politicians, so that updating of voters register would be done after the elections.”

Newswatch: We’re naïve to have trusted Ibrahim—Ekpu, others

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

T

HE face-off be tween Mr. Jimoh Ibrahim and four founders of the Newswatch Magagine, Messrs Ray Ekpu, Dan Agbese, Yakubu Mohammed and Soji Akinrinade, over the affairs of the organization, yesterday, took a turn for the worse with the foursome lamenting that they were naïve to have trusted Ibrahim.

Reason: Ibrahim has suspended publication of Newswatch, the first time it has happened in over 28 years, and has failed to completely honour the shares purchase agreement entitling him to 51 per cent shares of the company, among others.

Responding to a statement titled: Stop the Crocodile Tears (Part 1), published by Ibrahimowned Global Media Mirror Limited recently,

in which they were said to have been sacked from the board of the company, they stated that they had retired from their offices not from the board of Newswatch Communications Limited.

In a four-page statement titled: A Litany of lies, they wondered why Ibrahim was owing workers four months salary as of August 2012, failed to pay the balance of N500 million he was to pay the company as part of his 51 per cent share-holding and refused to remit to the tax authorities, the 10 per cent of money he deducted from their retirement benefits.

Claiming that Ibrahim did not pay them the retirement benefits in full as published as they agreed he could deduct money and pay the tax authorities, they challenged him to produce the receipts of the tax payment.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012—11

Rights group kicks against N5,000 notes, state police

BY AUSTIN OGWUDA

A

NIGER DELTA BEYOND RESOURCE CONTROL: Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (middle); Comrade Ovuozorie Macaulay, Secretary to the State Government (right) and Mr. Chike Ogeah, Commissioner for Information (left), during the public lecture on Niger Delta Beyond Resource Control, Burdens and Realities of Transformation, by the Governor, in Asaba, weekend.

JTF declares Bakassi militant leader wanted

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

C

ALABAR—JOINT Task Force, JTF, which rescued 28 workers of an oil servicing company, China Petrochemical Corporation, Sinepoc on Ikang waterways in Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State, has declared wanted, leader of the militant group, Lapto Marine Force.

One of the workers, who allegedly ran away out of fear, when JTF attacked the camp, where the militant leader, Lapto, had held them hostage, has been rescued in neighbouring Akpabuyo Local Government Area.

Commander of JTF, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, Major General Johnson Ochoga, yesterday, said, “The 28th person has been found. All of them are safe. The one that was

not immediately seen has been picked up and he is safe. They have been handed back to the oil company, Sinopec.

“The last person was rescued at Akpabuyo.

The 27 others were rescued from Lapto’s camp in the creeks, close to Ikang. All the oil workers were kidnapped when they were going to Sinopec’s worksite in Akwa Ibom State.”

JTF also denied allegations that the militant group was agitating for self determination for Bakassi people.

Although JTF had on Saturday, when it rescued the abducted oil workers, declared the gang leader, Lapto wanted, Gen. Ochoga, who said the militant leader was on the run, maintained, “He is declared wanted. He is not

Why my vision plan spans 50yrs — Uduaghan “All over the world, feBY AUSTIN OGWUDA

A

S A B A — D E LT A State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, has said that his administration was already building a vision plan that will span 50 years.

Uduaghan, in a lecture at the Business Hallmark Public Policy Forum Niger Delta: Beyond Re-

source Control, Burdens and realities of Transformation, in Asaba, said: “The vision to build a Delta State beyond oil, is a daunting one, but clearly conceived in anticipation of the day we will not depend on it entirely or the day oil will be one of the many other revenue streams of the state, not its only revenue stream.

Sacked council boss drags Bayelsa gov, Speaker to court

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

O

NE of the five ousted Bayelsa State local government area chairmen, Chief Timipa Orunimighe, has instituted a N100 million suit before a Bayelsa State High Court sitting in Yenagoa, challenging his purported removal from office.

a friend to any one, if he can take 28 Nigerians captive and this is not the first of its kind.”

One of the rescued workers, Mr. Boniface Christopher, explained that their abductors picked them up on their way to work at Coco River, adding that they were ordered to lie down before their raincoats were used to blindfold them.

Respondents in the suit are Governor Seriake Dickson; Speaker of Bayelsa State House of Assembly, state Attorney General; Clerk of the Bayelsa State House of Assembly; state Commissioner of Police and Mr Felix Ayah, who was sworn-in as his replacement.

Orunimighe, who was one of the five council

chairmen removed by the state House of Assembly on July 26, is claiming N100 million as damages against the defendants for his alleged unconstitutional removal from office, arguing that the House lacked the constitutional powers to sack him. He is also asking the court to reinstate him as the chairman of the council.

verish efforts are being made to end oil’s dominance of the energy basket. We will be foolish not to prepare for the end of the oil era.

“To prepare us for that day, this administration has been implementing systematic plans to protect the state from the shock by building infrastructure that will support diversification of the economy. Our infrastructure is both human and physical. We are in a hurry even though our vision spans a 50-year period. We believe that the thinking, planning, and implementation have to begin today.

“Our plan is simple do that which we can with an abiding concern for the future. We leave when our time is up.

When we hand over, it will be a state which others can build on because we had laid a solid foundation for its future, something that is sometimes difficult for our critics to understand."

SABA—FORUM for Justice and Human Rights Defence, FJHR, has kicked against the proposed introduction of N5,000 currency denomination by Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN. It also condemned calls for state police, noting that it was capable of worsening the already bad security and human right situations in the country.

National Co-ordinator, of the group, Mr. Oghenejabor Ikimi, in a statement in Asaba, Delta State, yesterday, said: “We make bold to say that economically, there is no sense in embarking on such suicidal venture of N5000 bill, as our economy will be worse for it, hence we oppose the entire exercise.

“If N5000 single note in circulation, same would

increase official corruption, money laundering, inflation and further devalue the naira, as we are a nation that heavily depends on importation.

On the State Police, he said “ we reject same as we are not ripe for same as a nation. We, however, concede that in a true Federation, component states are allowed to own their own police and even prisons outfits.

"State Police is not an antidote to the worsening state of insecurity nationwide and more strongly, many Nigerians amongst other factors fear that state governors would hijack police outfits in their respective states the way they have hijacked their various state Independent Electoral Commission."

12—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

Cleric escapes suspected assassins bullets in Owerri

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

O

LECTURE: From left: Mr. Ignatius Adegunle, Chairman at the occasion; Rev. Father Gabriel Agule, Assistant Parish Priest/Catholic Young Men Association, CYMA, Chaplain; His Grace, Most Rev. Alfred Adewale Martins, Archbishop of Lagos and Very Rev. Msgr. Philip Hoteyin, Marian Shrine Chaplain, at the CYM A 13th annual lecture, at St Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos, yesterday.

Photo: Lamidi Bamidele

WERRI—THE prin cipal of Holy Ghost College, Owerri, Rev. Fr. Cyprian Ogu, narrowly escaped death when gunmen suspected to be assassins, stormed his residence in the institution and fired several shots into his bedroom.

Vanguard investigations revealed that the unusual and ceaseless barking of dogs for about two hours aroused the suspicion of the priest about the presence of unwanted visitors in the premises at that unholy hour of the day.

It was gathered that a note left behind by the sus-

Group faults ACN on planned naming of Bridgehead after Ojukwu

Police arrest woman over alleged selling O of nephew

BY INNOCENT ANABA

BY PETER OKUTU

A

BAKALIKI— EBONYI State Police Command, has arrested a middle-aged woman, Mrs Elizabeth Elom, for alleged

theft and sale of her nephew, little Favour Onwe.

The Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Ebonyi State command, Deputy

Superintendent of Police, DSP, Sylvester Igbo, said the suspect who hailed from Umuoru village in Ohaukwu Local governm e n t

area of the state, was arrested alongside one Mr. Izuchukwu Okeke alleged to have linked the suspect to the buyer, Mrs. Nkiruka Okonkwo.

Vanguard gathered that Mrs. Okonkwo who bought the child for N100, 000 however, took to her heels when argument ensued on the rightful ownership of the child.

Igbo told newsmen that the command was able to unravel the circumstances behind the missing child, when it became obvious that the boy was last seen with the suspect who sold him (the child) at Awka in Anambra state.

“When the parent was looking for the child, the woman (suspect) was also worried and was searching for the child until the information came that the child was seen with the very woman and that she was pretending as if she did not know anything about the missing child. When the pressure became too much for her due to police interrogation, she had to confess to the crime.”

He called on members of the public to always give useful information to the police, assuring that their identity would be protected even as he warned parents not to leave their children under the care of people with questionable character.

The suspect, Mrs Elizabeth, who spoke in pidgin confessed to the crime, saying, “Na devil. I steal the child and sold him to Mr Izuchukwu Okeke, who gave me the connection.

Aloysius is my brother”.

pected assassins and signed

by Canon Terror Acid, showed that they could be members of the Black Axe Confraternity, AYE. Narrating his ordeal to newsmen, Fr. Ogu said the gunmen stormed his residence about 1a.m., and went straight to his bedroom window and started firing gunshots at his bed.

“The dogs aroused my consciousness about a looming danger in the compound. I gathered all the boys staying with me and we quietly moved into the parlour shortly before the firing began,” the priest recounted.

NITSHA—INTER NATIONAL Society for Civil Liberties and the Rule of Law, has faulted Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, Anambra State Chapter, for opposing what it called commendable steps by the Anambra State and Federal Governments to rename the Onitsha Niger Bridgehead and Upper Iweka end of the OnitshaEnugu expressway after Dim Chukwuemeka Odumegwu-Ojukwu.

The group in a statement by its Chairman, Mr Emeka Umeagbalasi, weekend, said: “It is saddening and shocking that the likes of ACNAnambra State had identified itself as one of the posthumous enemies of this great African, who was mourned in over 250 cities around the world. It is now clear to all and sundry that the party’s leaders’ participation in the great Ojukwu’s funerals was pretentious and for cheap political relevance too."

Union flays debate on State Police

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-

K

YOUNG

ADUNA—NA TIONAL Union of Textile, Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria, NUTGTWN, weekend, condemned the ongoing debate for and against a State Police, saying it “is uncalled for, unhelpful and diversionary."

The union in a statement by its General Secretary, Comrade Issa Aremu, said many state governors had no moral basis to maintain

critical institutions like the police, arguing that many of them had been proved not to manage any institution under them and could not manage a state police.

Comrade Aremu who is also a Vice President of NLC said: “The ongoing debate for and against a State Police is uncalled for, unhelpful and diversionary. National policing is not divisible. It is either we have police or not. The debate should rather be on how to make the Nigeria police more effective."

Rotary canvasses support

BY AKOMACHINWEOKE

L

AGOS—FORMER Governor of Rotary Club, Dr Tunji Funsho has charged government as well as individuals in the country to support the club’s various on-going humanitariancommunity-basedprojects aimed at alleviating sufferings and making the world a better place.

Tunji who spoke at the unveiling of the club’s plans for Rotary year, said one child with “polio means all children are at the risk of contracting the disease. Until

the world is free of polio. Rotarians will remain awake in chasing out the disease from the earth.”

Speaking, President of Rotary Club of Lekki Phase 1, Lagos. Mr Wilson Akhator-Eneka said the club would establish more ICT centres, Libraries, boreholes, youth development centre with micro credit for the less privilege in various villages, schools as well as equip hospitals and police stations.

“We need more men, women andcorporatebodiestojoinhands withusinorderto widenthescope of our humanitarian work."

Vanguard,MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012 —13

We're not deterred by Abuja bombing, says UN

BY ABAYOMI ADESIDA WITH AGENCY REPORT

A

BUJA—THE United Nations, UN, yesterday, said it was not deterred by the bombing and killing of its staff in Abuja last year.

The United Nations Resident Coordinator in Nigeria, Daouda Toure in his speech at the anniversary of the attack which killed 23 persons and injured 120 others, said: “Although the devastating attack took the lives of our colleagues and

partners and maimed many people, all of whom were in the building in the pursuit of service to humanity, our spirits have not been dampened.

“Their death mobilises us more than ever before.

Their sacrifice will not be in vain. We will strive to pursue our work for the people of Nigeria for the continuance of peace and stability of this great nation, and the socio-economic development of all. The UN identifies with the people of all its member states, which justifies the expression ‘we, the people,’ as prescribed in the UN Charter.

The families of our fallen colleagues should be proud of the altruism of their loved ones.”

He said the death of staff and partners of the organisation killed by the bomb blast which brought down the UN House in Abuja on Friday, August26, only helped to mobilise their surviving colleagues.

Toure saluted the resilience and courage of UN staff and officials who had continued undaunted with their development and humanitarian work of helping the people of Nigeria regardless of the constraints.

“From our temporary office locations, the UN agencies

and organisations are pursuing their mission and mandate for Nigerians. As an illustration, barely 24 hours after the bomb attack, the UN operation was back on stream and helping the flooding victims in some states – a reaffirmation of the UN’s commitment and promise to the great member state, Nigeria.”

He reaffirmed that the United Nations System in Nigeria would continue on its mission to assist in improving the lives of poor people, to conquer hunger, disease and illiteracy, and to encourage respect for each other’s rights and freedoms.

Fraud: UK to go tough on Nigerians coming for child anything. delivery United Kingdom minisBY UDUMA KALU

T

HE UNITED King dom has said it will no longer tolerate abuse of its National Health Service, NHS, by Nigerian visitors after a Nigerian woman reportedly flew to the UK to have her baby in a British hospital.

The unnamed Nigerian woman was alleged to have received treatment totalling £10,000 but returned to the country after having had her child without paying

ters said the Government would not tolerate abuse of the NHS. London Evening Standard said UK Ministers had warnedthatgvernmentwouldnot tolerate abuse of the NHS by foreignvisitorsaftertheNigerianflew intotheircountrysothatshecould have her baby in a British hospital.

The ministers’ anger came a year after one Bimbo Ayelabola, a Nigerian, who gave birth to quintuplets in UK ,wasembroiledinaresidencyrow over her extended stay there, despite the fact that she was a visitor.

Ayelabola, 33, reportedly took a fertility drug (Clomid) overdose in order to aid conception after losingherveryfirstpregnancy.As soon as she found out she was pregnant, the woman allegedly relocated to the UK to be able to take the needed rest outside of the hustling and bustling of Lagos.

In UK, she underwent a scan which revealed she was expecting 4 babies in the first instance before it was discovered later during the baby delivery that there was a 5th baby. Hence, she was put on an emergency National Health Scheme, NHS, programmewhichasatJulylastyear, had depleted the scheme’s purse to the tune of £200,000 ($320,000).

However, last week, Health Minister Simon Burns said that the Government was looking to tighten the rules to prevent “inappropriate” access to free hospital treatment by Nigerian and foreign visitors.

The heavily pregnant woman was said to have travelled from LagostoManchesterbecauseshe was concerned about the standard of treatment she would receive in Nigeria.

Passage

C

HIEF AUGUSTINE U. Obilor, Ugwumba 1, 77, of Enyiogugu in Aboh Mbaise Local Government Area of Imo State, is dead.

Until his death, he was a community leader, devout Christian and a philanthropist.

He will be buried on Wednesday, August 29, in his home town.

He is survived by a widow, Mrs. Maria Obilor, children and relations including Engr.

Ethelbert Obilor, Transmission Manager, Intels Nig Ltd, Port Harcourt.

Late Chief A.U. Obilor C M Y K

14—Vanguard , MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

INSPECTION: From left— Mr. Suleiman Richiba, Kaduna State Commissioner for Works; Governor Patrick Yakowa and Mr. Diab Arichimi, site engineer, at the inspection of Jere-Krumin-Jibrin-Kwai and Kafanchan road projects in Kaduna, weekend. PHOTO: Olu Ajayi.

Down Syndrome delegates protest visa denial by S/African embassy

BY EBELE ONUORAH

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OWN Syndrome Foundation Nigeria, DSFN, has condemned the decision of the South African High Commission in Nigeria to deny the foundation’s delegates entry visas into Cape Town for the World Down Syndrome Congress 2012.

DSFN noted that the decision of the Department of Home Affairs in the Commission to deny entry visas to delegates of the foundation, including its National President, Mrs. Rose Mordi, on the excuse of holding “invalid fake Yellow Cards” was vindictive, callous and a well thought out plan to stigmatise and discriminate against people living with Down Syndrome and their carer-givers.”

The delegates, led by its National President, were to travel for the 11th World Down Syndrome Congress, holding in Cape Town, South Africa,

billed for August 14-18.

DSFN noted that members were denied the opportunity of interacting with their counterparts from all over the world at the event, despite the appeal made by their President, Jacob Zuma to South Africans with regards to people with Down Syndrome.

The foundation lamented losing the opportunity, being the only African organisation to be presented with an international award in recognition for taking care of people with Down Syndrome by Down Syndrome International, DSI, which was to be presented at the congress.

It further noted that the foundation’s delegates made application for visitor’s visas on July 27, and had made arrangements, hotel accommodation, congress registration, among others, before they were denied visas for no just reason.

Jigawa flood victims get N9m relief materials

BY ALIYU DANGIDA

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IGAWA—GWARAM Local Government Area of Jigawa State has distributed food items and relief materials worth N9 million to victims of the recent flood disaster in the council.

It will be recalled that recent flood in the council led to the death of one person, while several others sustained injuries. It was also gathered that 500 farmlands were submerged with hundreds of houses destroyed.

The council chairman, Alhaji Bala Kila, told Vanguard that the council C M Y K

came to the aid of the victims because they were indigenes of the area, adding that the gesture was aimed at cushioning the effect of hardship faced by them and not to compensate what they lost in the disaster.

Items donated included 500 bags of rice, maize, guinea corn, millet, 500 rubber mats and 500 pieces of Atamfa.

Areas affected by the flood disaster were Dabara, Haya, Kafin Doki, Fiji, Sakuwa, Rahama, Zaburan, Zandamta Gabas, Kadale Bakin Kogi, among others.

LITERATI: Mr. Nicolaas Vervelde, MD/CE Nigerian Breweries; Mrs Clementine Vervelde; Chimamanda Adichie, Creative Director, Farafina Trust, and Mr. Victor Famuyibo, at the literary evening to round off 2012 NB/Farafina Creative Writers Workshop, weekend.

Dickson sends security delegation to Okordia over monarch's kidnap

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

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E N A G O A — GOVER-NOR Seriake Dickson of Bayelsa State, yesterday, dispatched a high-powered delegation to the troubled Okordia clan on a solidarity visit over the kidnap of their 70-yearold paramount ruler, Chief Richard Seiba, by unknown gunmen.

The state government delegation included chairman of Yenagoa Local Government Area, Mr. Michael Ogbolosigha; state Director of State Security Services, SSS; Commander of Joint Task Force; Police Area Commander; Special Adviser to the Governor on Security and other top government and security personnel in the state.

The delegation, on a sympathy visit to the clan, according to a source, also visited the monarch’s residence, from where he was forcefully taken away at gunpoint by the hoodlums.

Though the whereabouts of the embattled monarch remained unknown, informed sources

told Vanguard that the police and other security agencies in the state had commenced manhunt for his kidnappers with a view to securing his early release.

According to a family

source, the kidnappers were yet to make contact with them. The kidnappers, who stormed the monarch’s residence on Saturday at 2am, were believed to have used the river routes to the

community on the bank of Taylor Creek in Yenagoa council.

It was gathered that the invaders gained access to his residence after cutting the metal burglary proof in one of the windows.

Presidency plotting NLC's break-up— Omar

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

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HERE are strong in dications that the presidency has not relented in its attempt to break up Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, as a former Registrar of Trade Unions (names withheld) has been recruited to hasten the plot.

President of NLC, Mr. Abdulwaheed Omar, in an interview, claimed that several clandestine meetings had been called by the former registrar with some of the affiliates of NLC that were registered when he was saddled with the responsibility of registering unions.

Omar, however, said most of the invited af-

filiates told the registrar that they were committed affiliates of NLC. Omar said: “It is no longer news that government is not happy with what happened in January over the issue of fuel subsidy. So they intend to weaken NLC. The first move visibly made was when a Senator tried to sponsor a bill called ‘Democratisation of Labour Union.’

“The bill was to amend the law that from now on, any union that wants to go on strike must obtain express permission from all the members through the ballot. That means 50 per cent of the entire membership would vote.

“For instance, if NLC

has to go on strike, and it has over one million members, over 500,000 has to vote ‘ yes’ before the strike is embarked upon.

“We got wind of that and worked with progressive members in the National Assembly to scuttle the bill. And we sensitised Nigerians on the short falls of the bill.

“However, they are still attempting to break NLC by using some of the aggrieved members, who lost during our last election, by telling them that they can form their labour centre.

“I heard they are holding clandestine meetings. We are also aware that a former registrar of trade unions is commissioned to do the job.”

NEMA attributes ocean surge to nature

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FTER a week of rescue efforts and assessment of the impact of the devastating Atlantic Ocean surge at the coastline of Lagos State, a team from the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, concluded its assignment with a report indicating that the causes of the surge were natural disaster, while humancasualty was man-made.

Also using an emergency boat, NEMA rescue officer, weekend, recovered another body floating on the water near Nigerian Navy Dockyard, Victoria Island, Lagos.

Leading the NEMA team after the completion of the assessment, weekend, Director of Planning Research and Forecasting of the agency, Dr. Charles

Agbo, said: “Though nine bodies have so far been recovered and confirmed by NEMA officials while others, as claimed by residents, are still missing, the surge at Kuramo beach and other areas of Lagos was natural phenomena.

“But the human casualty could be blamed on carelessness of people living too close to the danger of coastline,

when early warning alert were raised by appropriate authorities on the effect of climate change and global warming.”

The agency said more beaches might be affected by wave tide after the team assessed the impact on Kuramo Beach, Oniru Private Beach and some parts of Ojo, Badagry, Tarkwa Bay, Maiyegun and Alpha Beach.

Vanguard , MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012—15

Ahmed blames salaries' delay on allocation

BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI

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LORIN—GOVERNOR AbdulFatah Ahmed of Kwara State, yesterday, absolved the state government of blame in the delay in payment of local government workers’ salaries.

Governor Ahmed said: “There had been a drop in the allocation to the state and local governments since March. Shortfalls were recorded in May, June, July and August.”

He advised the local government administrations to check their expenditures

and strategise on how to improve on their internallygenerated revenue, IGR, to enable them meet their financial obligations.

Ahmed spoke to newsmen on his return to Ilorin, the state capital, from Saudi Arabia, where he went for the lesser Hajj.

On the rumoured rift between him and the immediate past governor of the state, Senator Bukola Saraki, Ahmed said: “The relationship between me and our political leader is very cordial. We have a very robust relationship.”

Delta North PDP chair lauded

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EOPLES Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain and public analyst, Sir Kenny Okolugbo, has congratulated Mr. Eric Anigala on his swearing-in as Delta North Chairman of the party.

He advised Anigala to remain steadfast, a quality that served him well despite attacks by detractors.

Okolugbo said: “We know that with Anigala on board,

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the people of Delta North will get fair treatment and would no longer be marginalised.

“I also felicitate with the new party chairmen at the local government level: Mr. Dan Ossai, Ndokwa West; Mr. Kingsley Ashobogwu, Ndokwa East; Deacon Monday Ossai, Ukuani, and Dr. Kingsley Okpako, Ethiope East.”

Minister, PDP boss supremacy battle stalls Benue's ward congresses

BY PETER DURU

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AKURDI—AFTER four previous cancellations over disagreement among major stakeholders, the rescheduled Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ward congresses in Okpokwu Local Government Area of Benue State, weekend, also ended in a deadlock.

Okpokwu is the home town of Mr. Abba Moro, Minister of Interior, and Mr. Agbo Emmanuel, state Chairman of PDP, who had been locked in a supremacy battle with the Minister and other bigwigs of the party in the area.

Vanguard investigations revealed that the crisis rocking Okpokwu PDP stemmed from the state chairman of the party’s insistence that only 600 party members from each ward would be allowed to vote at the party’s aborted congresses contrary to PDP guidelines, which allow all card-carrying members of

the party to exercise their franchise in the process.

The decision sparked angry reactions from leading members of the party in the area, including Moro, Juliana Obeta, George Okoh, Obande Obeya, Theresa Ikwue, current and past lawmakers and other notable politicians from the area, who resisted the plot and vowed that the party guidelines must be followed to the letter.

The development forced another cancellation of the congresses after several hours of negotiations and persuasions, when it became obvious that the state party chairman was not ready to play by the party's rules and allow a free and fair congress in the area.

Meanwhile, when it became obvious that parties were not ready to shift ground, all the materials meant for the conduct of the

exercise were lodged for safekeeping at the Okpoga Police Divisional Headquarters.

When contacted on the development, Moro said: “You can see that PDP members in Okpokwu council trooped out in their numbers to exercise their franchise but some persons were determined not to allow them do so. Is that fair?

Is that the meaning of democracy?”

... as Plateau North aspirant denies ANPP the handiwork of mischief to get the ticket for the

BY AKANINYENE EZEKIEL

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OS—AN aspirant to Plateau North Senatorial seat, which became vacant by death of Senator Gyang Dantong, Mr. Jack Pam, has disowned posters suggesting that he is contesting the election on the platform of All Nigerian Peoples Party, ANPP, describing same as

makers.

Reacting, yesterday, to inquiries on the posters linking him with ANPP, he said though he contested the last senatorial election on the platform of ANPP, he had since returned to Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. He said: “I am a founding member of PDP. I left the party briefly in March 2011, after three attempts

Senate to no avail due to god-fatherism. I took ANPP ticket due to mounting pressure from my supporters.

“Unfortunately, the general elections took a different dimension after the April 9, 2011 cancellation of election by Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. I had since July 11, 2011 returned to my party, PDP.”

16 — Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

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RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan was in a battle mood in the chambers of Aso Villa last week when he administered another oath to members of his executive, commiting them to shape up and deliver quality service or be shipped out. The President further committed them to what he called “Performance Contract Agreement.” The desire of the President to ensure that ordinary Nigerians feel the impact of his government was unmistakable and totally understandable. The mantra on “good governance” has lost its meaning or have at best become a gibberish often uttered by government officials But most importantly was Mr. President’s displeasure with the mass media and its owners, who he claimed have become partisan and captive to the rich and powerful in the society at the expense of ordinary Nigerians who require information on the achievement of his administration.

As far as the President was concerned, the information that comes out of the Nigerian media is patently lopsided and jaundiced, to the extent that majority of Nigerians, particularly the poor have have been denied access to unbiased information..

While we share some of the concerns raised by President Goodluck Jonathan in his speech, we believe that the media has a crucial and critical role to play both as the fourth estate of the realm and as an institution that is globally recognised as the watchdog which monitors and reports what it sees and what is presented to it.

Politicians have long recognised the influence and

Scapegoating the media in Aso Rock power of the media in moulding public opinion and galvanising social and political actions in the society and these roles are not about to change now or in the near future.

Regardless of how those in government feel about the press, the truth remains that the media has always taken side with the oppressed and the deprived.

Even when some media owners belong to the wealthy segment of society and fraternise with political actors, those who decide the editorial content are usually those who feel the pulse of the downtrodden. Media managers are largely influenced by what the man on the street wants to read, especially the misdeeds of those in public offices, the misdemeanor of high and mighty. The media celebrates the unethical conducts of leaders in public and private places, without regard to political and centric divides. The media also does not close its eyes to reporting concrete

accomplishments of elected public officers. But it cannot report non event or glaring under performance.

In directing his anger at the mass media, the nation’s number one citizen is following the tradition set by other politicians before him whose stock in trade was attacking the straw man.

What is clear before us, however, is the fact that ministers have under performed and that has collectively affected public perception of governance at the federal and other levels of government. This manifests clearly when they brief Nigerians after each FEC meetings, there is nothing for the citizens to take away. There is also a complete failure on the part of those who manage government information. It is easy to make the media the scapegoat, but the truth remains that the media has a duty to monitor and report the activities of people in government, the constitution recognises this role and the society expects the media to maintain that delicate checks and balance in governance and it must not be cowed.

The advent of social media has denied the traditional media of its monopoly to inform, educate and entertain the society. The President has his facebook, he can use Twitter and could connect with Nigerians at home and any part of the world on his programmes. He has access to powerful electronic media which have hosted his presidential chats, it is absolutely surprising to think that at this stage of our democratic evolution, only one voice should be heard.

OPINION

BY TEMPLE MORFORD

Starting from Friday, the writer today continues his argument that the demolition of the waterfront communities was not in the interest of the residents.

HE Commissioner for Information and C o m m u n i c a t i o n , Mrs. Ibim Semenitari claimed that the residents in the waterfront communities live demeaning life and that the government had decided to take the people away from such miserable condition of living. In fact, what the government is doing is to render those who live in slums completely homeless.

Though, the government claimed to have a compensation package, the compensation was imposed on the landlords without prior negotiation in a ‘take it or leave it’ approach.

The tenants are not even considered for compensation. To challenge the authoritarian manner with which government is going about the demolition and compensation, the absence of alternative homes, blackmail of the residents etc., the waterfront communities have taken the government to court and have held a series of protests.

According to Amnesty International, 12 people were wounded in 2009 when security forces fired at demonstrators protesting the slum housing demolition in Rivers State.

Before the current phase of demolition, Governor Amaechi had threatened to use maximum force against the residents who dared challenge the demolition. Like a war General who wanted to conquer a people, Governor Amaechi roared: “When we want to demolish, the Airforce will deploy helicopters, the Navy will move to the areas with gunboats, while the Army will have its officers and men on the land, to ensure the demolition is effected and to prevent resistance”(Leadership newspaper of Monday June 11, 2012).

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Demolition of Abonnema and other water front communities(2) A new dimension has been added to the displacement of innocent citizens when armed soldiers and police men invaded Elechi Beach on Monday July 16, 2012 at 3am.

These armed soldiers and police men who were sent by the Rivers State government with support from Aso Rock invaded, arrested several youths and set some houses on fire as claimed by some eye witness. Though, the JTF claimed that they were after criminals who refine stolen petroleum products, their method showed otherwise. The invasion and method is devoid of security intelligence. According to one of the victims of the harassment, Samuel Okoh and reported in the Guardian of Tuesday July 17, 2012: “The police started a mass arrest by 3:00a.m. Honestly, there was no problem here. There was no incident of violence. When they knocked on my door, my wife and son were startled, but I tried to calm them. When I opened the door for the armed police men, the first thing they asked me was, ‘What do you do for a living’, I replied that I am a taxi driver, showed them my identity card and they left for the next door”. If really the JTF know the criminals they were looking for, why would they have to ask each person what he or she does for a living, which is a basis for arrest?

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ccording to the same report, a musician, Kufre Sunday, claimed that when the soldiers stormed the waterfront, they picked up some sticks from inside berthed speedboats, dipped them in petrol and then went to a nearby house to light them before returning to where the drums of diesels were stacked and torched them. As the fire started to spread uncontrollably, efforts by some persons to

stop the spread of fire were thwarted by the soldiers.

Besides, the government brazenly disregards court processes while carrying out the demolition. For instance, before the state government demolished Njemanze waterfronts on August 28, 2009, the landlords had already sued the government and the next adjourning date was October 23, 2009. Also, the case between the Abonnema Wharf Community and the Rivers State government was still in court when government rolled in its bulldozers.

These poor residents of waterfronts for no fault of theirs live in ghetto-like environment because they have been abandoned and neglected by past and present leaders despite huge resources accruing to the state as an oil rich state. Rivers State is one of the richest states in Nigeria; its 2012 budget is N438 billion with an internally degenerated revenue of about N7 billion monthly. This shows that Rivers State has the capacity to rebuild the waterfront without displacing thousands of people. All the government need do is to plan and manage public resources judiciously and democratically, and carry the communities along in the process. But the pursuit of profit and accumulation of wealth at the expense of the working masses is one major reason why the poor will continue to be neglected.

The River State branch of the Democratic Socialist Movement, DSM, hereby calls on the state government to end the ongoing demolition of waterfronts and pay adequate compensation to all affected landlords and tenants.

Concluded *Mr. Morford, a social critic, wrote from Port-Harcourt, Rivers state.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012—41

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42—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

V anguard, MOND AY, A UGUST 27, 2012 — 43 Vanguard MONDA AUGUST

Group criticises Gambia executions G

AMBIA has executed nine death row prisoners, after President Yahya Jammeh vowed to carry out all death sentences by midSeptember, rights group Amnesty International says.

“Amnesty International has received credible reports that nine persons were executed last night [Thursday] in Gambia and that more persons are under threat of imminent

executions today and in the coming days,” the rights body said in a statement on Thursday.

A Gambian security source told the AFP news agency that all 47 death row prisoners had on Thursday night been “transferred to one place” but he and other sources could not confirm the executions.

“The man is determined to execute the prisoners

Jammeh.

The president’s office said in a statement late on Friday that the people on death row “have

Libya seizes tanks from pro Gaddafi militia President Yahya Jammeh and he will do so,” the security source told AFP, referring to President

GOP Convention: Romney’s wife gets prime speech slot

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EPUBLICAN officials shuffled the speaking lineup at their convention in Tampa next week to ensure that presidential candidate Mitt Romney’s wife Ann will reach a prime-time television audience when she speaks to the gathering.

Ann Romney will now

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speak on Tuesday night after it became clear that television networks were not planning to show her Monday-night address before a prime-time audience.

Romney ’s wife has proved to be one of his most popular assets in his run for the White House

exhausted all their legal rights of appeal as provided by the law”. The statement made no comment on the nine alleged executions.

against President Barack Obama, helping to humanize a candidate who has consistently been criticized as out of touch.

New Mexico Governor Susana Martinez was originally scheduled to speak on Tuesday night in the slot now given to Ann Romney, but officials said her speech has been put back until Wednesday.

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ORE than 100 tanks have been seized from a militia loyal to Libya’s ousted leader Muammar Gaddafi as authorities hunted the perpetrators of a double car bombing, the interior ministry has said.

A ministry official said lastweek that an investigation into the attacks on Sunday helped in detecting the militia which posed as “revolutionaries” and was housed in barracks in Souk al-Ahad near Tarhuna, 60km southeast of Tripoli. “More than 100 tanks and 26 missile launchers were seized” from the militia,

Abdelmonem al-Hur, spokesman for the interior ministry’s High Security Committee, told a news conference.

The car bombs killed two people and wounded four others in Tripoli in the dawn attacks which took place as Muslims prepared to attend prayers on the first day of the Eid al-Fitr holidays. The spokesman said that one person was killed and eight others were wounded as security forces arrested the militia’s leader, Khaled Ibrahim Krid, in an operation on Wednesday. Thirteen people were also arrested in the operation, while three others escaped.

First man on moon, Armstrong, dies at 82

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.S. astronaut Neil Armstrong, who took a giant leap for mankind when he became the first person to walk on the moon, has died at the age of 82, his family said on Saturday.

Armstrong died following complications from heart-bypass surgery he underwent earlier this month, the family said in a statement, just two days after his birthday on August 5.

As commander of the Apollo 11 mission, Armstrong became the first human to set foot on the moon on July 20, 1969. As he stepped on the dusty surface, Armstrong said: ““That’s one small step for (a) man, one giant leap for mankind.”

44—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012—45

Continued from Thursday last week

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AY after day and sad event after sad event, it is becoming clear to many of our minority brothers that by joining in bringing down the Igbo the (North, along with the West) and their international business and political partners were merely given an unfettered right of way into the South East and South South to plunder and exploit.

There are many who still do not quite see it this way but it is hoped that the situation does not continue to degenerate to the point where they become convinced through intensified painful means. There is no need for anybody to be revanchist or gleeful about the loss of Bakassi.

My people, the Abiriba, have been sea-faring (some choose to say “smuggling”) between Calabar, Douala, Fernando Po, Equatorial Guinea, Bonny and Port Harcourt for centuries. That environment did a lot to shape our commercial culture, which has now become associated with the entire Igbo race since the war ended. It is not the Efiks and Ibibios alone that will suffer the immediate consequences of this ugly turn of events. Sure enough, the crayfish trade will continue, but it will now be under the laws of Cameroun, unless we can find a way to wrest some political solution out of this imbroglio.

Why we lost Bakassi to Cameroun (2)

aftermath of the World Court ruling. Should Nigeria obey and vacate Bakassi or should she disregard it and fight if necessary? My answer is that Nigeria, as a signatory to the UN Charter, should not be seen to brazenly disregard the ruling on one of the UN’s important bodies set up for arbitration. One day, we will need the World Court.

Economic attachments

Political solution

•Gowon ...pawned off Bakassi

Gowon’s view of the Bakassi Peninsula as something that could be pawned or hocked to win the civil war showed the limited regard that he and his sponsors and supporters paid to certain parts of the country, especially where we call the South East and South South today. If Cameroun takes full charge over Bakassi, apart from the hundreds of thousands of Nigerians who would automatically become third class citizens of Cameroun (second class being the Anglophone Cameroun and first

class the Francophone), strategically Cameroun will be in a position to “breathe down the neck” of Nigeria.

Our strategic interests in the zone include not just the oil reserves that are associated with the Peninsula. Bakassi overlooks our Calabar Export Processing Zone and oil wells in the eastern Niger Delta, including the gas pipeline network in nearby Bonny. They are vulnerable to shortand medium-range missile attack.

It has been argued that Camer-

oun and their French masters will not dare to target the oil facilities that belong to fellow Western countries. But then, can you really predict how far an enemy is willing to go if he wants to cripple an otherwise giant African nation now or in the future?

We have allowed Cameroun to come close to our soft-underbelly.

This is an aspect that has escaped strategic considerations of our military generals and “civil war heroes”. There are two major options before Nigeria in the

We should pursue political solutions. We must let the international system know the importance of what the court describes as “affectivities” to us.

These “affectivities” relate to our long historical, cultural and economic attachment to the Peninsula. We can put pressure on both the international system and Cameroun to settle amicably with us. We must let the international system and Cameroun know that our people in Bakassi and the strategic safety of the gulf of Calabar are more important to us than the oil associated with the Peninsula.

Cameroun should see reason and voluntarily cede the Peninsula in the interest of African brotherhood and good neighbourlines.

We should subtly let Cameroun realise that it is neither in their interest nor ours to refuse a political settlement as we are not contemplating abandoning our people living in the Bakassi Peninsula to their fate.

An addendum

EN years after this article was published here is an addendum. One of the consequences of giving up Bakassi to Cameroun is that Cross River State has lost its oil wells and been deleted as a state in the Niger Delta. It has ceased to be a littoral state! They are no longer “people of the sea” (ndi mba miri, as Igbos would say).

What a calamity!

We must reclaim Bakassi Peninsula. After all, our Constitution does not recognise the cession. Bakassi is still a part of Nigeria. Let’s keep it. Or at least, allow the people of Bakassi to determine their future, as Western Cameroun did when they left Nigeria and Adamawa Province of Cameroun did when they joined Nigeria, by plebiscite in 1961. There should be a referendum to give the people the choice of coming back to Nigeria, staying in Cameroun or going solo as a separate republic as East Timor did when it pulled out of Indonesia in 1999 through a UNsponsored referendum.

The effort should not be left to Bakassi people or the Efiks or Cross River State alone. It has to be embraced as a regional struggle belonging to the old Eastern Region, now South East and South-South. The people who own the land must lead the struggle. The North and West came together to pawn off Bakassi over 40 years ago. Olusegun Obasanjo was pursuing an elusive personal glory (Nobel Peace Prize) ten years ago when he ignored larger national interests to give away a territory that General Sani Abacha had patriotically fought to keep in Nigeria.

The East must close ranks and persuade Nigeria to bring back Bakassi. Thank God an easterner is the President of Nigeria. Surely, this is a rare opportunity, with the ten year window about to elapse in October this year. If tomorrow Nigeria breaks up, only the regional East will be the loser over Bakassi. The North and West will feel nothing.

OPINION

BY BOSE ADELAJA

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STHER Ekene Jarikre (nee Ugboko) hailed from Ogwashiukwu in Delta State. But she was born and bred in Lagos and attended St Gregory Primary School, Falomo and Orile-Iganmu Secondary school. ‘’Aunty Esther’’, as you were fondly called by friends, especially those of us who laboured with you at Tower Gate Private Schools, Ipaja, Lagos, you were indeed special.

Though you enrolled as a cook but through hard work and determination, you were redeployed to the teaching section where your love for kids was explored.

Your age and background meant nothing to you among the kids and you humbled yourself among the staff, parents and students. No wonder you later obtained a Grade Two certificate at the National Teachers Institute, NTI and a National Certificate in Education, NCE, from the same institute.

Your passion for the kids was evident and within a space of time, you became a force to be reckoned with, especially among nursing mothers. Today, many children who received tutelage under you are reminiscing your caring heart.

I remember your days at a dilapidated building at Ipaja where you stood as a pillar of encouragement to the family.

Inspite of the various challenges as a teacher and a mother of four, you stood as a symbol of encouragement to the school, ensuring that the school was always neat.

Good night, Esther Ekene, you were a moulder of destiny, a visioneer and teacher to those who came in contact with you.

Though our days in Tower Gate were not rewarded but you pitched your tent with Honey land Private Schools, Ipaja where your Montessori talent was discovered and you succeeded in moulding the lives of many children to the delight of their parents.

Gradually, your business acumen also came to manifestation and you gave up the teaching job and ventured into the boutique business. You were able to leave a legacy for your children, especially Charity who now runs a business alongside her studies.

Esther, our ten years of friendship was no joke though they were filled with numerous challenges both physical and spiritual.

I remember your gentle voice at all times; you were a teacher, a counsellor and a confidant among your friends.

Also, your prayer life was spirit-filled and many benefited from it. Your last visit to my family on April 28 keeps ringing in my heart. If I knew the ailment would degenerate so fast, perhaps we would have taken some drastic steps.

I remember my moment of challenges in year 2008 and your words of encouragement to heal my broken heart.

Esther, you stood as a pillar of strength during the period.

Ekene, I find it difficult to forget our stay at Ipaja-Ayobo

where your role as a comforter proffered solution to some challenges.

What about your dress sense which was quite unique? If I knew the April visit was the last one, I would have tapped more idea from you, especially in the area of business. You told me you would visit again within two weeks oblivious that death was close by. Indeed your sudden eclipse on Wednesday July 18, 2012 remains a mystery to many.

You have always told me to ‘put the past behind and forge ahead’ but your thoughts keep running in my mind. Aunties Comfort Ajibade and Funmi Adebisi will never forget our days together as four jolly good friends.

During our friendship, we dreamt of so many good things, part of which was to be responsible mothers and wives.

Alas! The cold arm of death had snatched you in your prime.

As a pastor’s wife at the Manna Mountain and a Women Leader at Foursquare Gospel Church, Majiyagbe, Ipaja, your life as a prayer warrior has left a vaccum which is difficult to fill.

Your husband of 22 years, Felix Jarikre, of Our Daily Manna Ltd ODM, will never forget your role as a mother and wife, while your children: Charity, Christian and Caleb, will live to remember your kindness to all.

Esther, I love you but God loves you most. Rest in the bosom of your creator till we meet part no more.

Adieu my good friend. *Mrs. Adelaja is a staff of Vanguard Newspapers.

46—Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

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HIS intervention has been made necessary, not by any personal dissent with the catalogue of issues and constancy of criticism of the President, but their stereotypically patterned style from a club of journalists and opinion article writers, who willynilly, have been levying a perpetual media war against the Goodluck Jonathan administration.

This club of journalists and writers has turned themselves into a diatribe monster against the President Jonathan-led Federal Government. They criticize the President destructively in everything.

For these ideologues, diatribe journalism has become an end in itself; a way of life. They have made themselves ready tools for discrediting and running down the administration, whatever that approximate.

It must be understood that our ‘newspaper professors’ whose pens drip with venom don’t see anything good about Nigeria. They contribute to and in fact, compound the issues bedeviling the country. The antics of these writers reasonably interfere with the fights against corruption, terrorism and insecurity, and in extreme cases, threaten the sovereignty of the Nigerian state.

This is why it is often said that the Nigerian media are part and parcel of the Nigerian problem.

Arguably, the Nigerian media

space has been callously abused and the press freedom ascribed to the Constitution itself has now been converted to a license for panel-beating the nation, especially the President. Is it then a thing of surprise that the administration too has naturally developed a thick skin to the unabating winter of criticisms directed at it? The danger in this is that even well-intentioned pieces of constructive criticism, however objective they may seem, are now being viewed with an eye of cynicism and suspicion by the Nigerian establishment.

It is fashionable for these Nigerians to brand themselves public affairs analysts, specialising of course, in nothing else but the ossified problems of their country.

The funniest part of it is that they always want to prove to the reading public that they are ‘professors’ in the special craft of vitriolic and lambasting Nigeria.

That is sadly their benchmark of being good writers. They, therefore, feel vindicated by the negative things they write about their country.

They don’t offer any reasonable solutions to the multitude of challenges besetting the country.

Reeling out Nigeria’s ailments week in week out, they write with gusto. Their pens drip with venom; their pieces are characteristically heavy on character assassination, and they want the world to believe that they are pen professors who specialise in destructive criticism

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of their country, especially of the President.

Secondly, this intervention has also been justified by the compelling need to articulate that destructive criticism is no longer a mark of patriotism, courage, intelligence or nationalism as it once used to be taken for in the past, especially during the colonial era.

As it were, the Nigerian print media space has been poisoned and contaminated by invectives, sustained campaigns of calumny, propaganda, canards, mauling, mudslinging, buck-passing, namecalling, stereotyping, recriminations, and glittering generalities.

Destructive criticism in all its manifestations had never done any good to a nation in the long-run in that it is not a component of sustainable nation-building.

The use to which the Nigerian print media has been put in recent times calls for caution because it bodes ill for our democracy. It would seem that the freedom of the

Ngige, hero @ 60

BY JUSTUS ANYADIORA

C

ALL him a man of destiny and circumstance or a man of honour, commitment, courage and a date with history at 60, it is never an exaggeration, because he had always been so right from his childhood. While some were born great, others attain or achieve greatness, Senator Chris Nwabueze Ngige (OON) exceptionally had all from a humble beginning. During our days as pupils at St ‘ Patrick Primary School Ogbete Enugu, which we left in 1964, Ngige was an outstanding pupil both in academics and other extra-curriculum activities.

He was never found wanting in anything. So I was not surprised when he made distinction in the school certificate examination at St. John Secondary School Alor in 1972.

I had thought that he would be a lawyer because he had studied Arts and Commercial subjects to class four before switching over to science subjects, leaving his younger brother, Mr Emeka Ngige (SAN) to continue with Arts subjects; a feat many of us never tried because of fear of failure.

As if that was not enough and without much delay, Ngige secured admission to study medicine at the University of Nigeria Nsukka, UNN, where he graduated with flying colours in 1979.

This was at a time most of us were still retaking our school certificate. While in the university, he was actively involved in student union politics, which he never allowed to affect his studies and performance. There were few of them who were medical students and were involved in it then.

Upon his graduation, many of his colleagues travelled to overseas, while others picked jobs in multinational companies where they would be paid well,

but Ngige in line with his deep flair for public and humanitarian service opted for a job at the Federal Ministry of Health where he worked for years, before leaving voluntarily in 1998 as Deputy Director of Hospital Services, Federal Medical Centres and Teaching Hospitals.

While in the Federal Ministry of Health, he was instrumental in the establishment of permanent sites for most of the federal medical centres and teaching hospitals, especially in the South East zone. In continuation of his burning desire for public service, he ventured into the murky waters of Nigerian politics as one of the founding fathers of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. No wonder he was appointed the protem zonal publicity secretary of the party in the South East in 1998 and later the assistant national/zonal secretary of the party in the South East zone between 19992002. The same year he was conferred with the national honour of Order Of the Niger, OON, for his diligence and accountability in public service.

It was from there that he emerged the governorship candidate of the PDP in Anambra State in 2003, though his initial ambition was to become a senator, but he was persuaded by the party stakeholders to run for the office of the governor.

Having been in public service all his life, Ngige is always conscious of Harold McAlindon’s saying; “Do not follow where the path may lead, but go instead where there is no path and leave a trail". So from childhood, he never believed in bandwagonism, but in carving a niche for himself in anything he do.

It was for this obvious reason that he redefined governance in Anambra State within the short period he was governor of the state. He set the pace and made the people realise that with sincerity, commitment and transparency, a state government could do much for the people

press is being abused by these writers who have turned themselves into ‘pen warriors’ against the Jonathan administration.

Diatribe journalism, as media literati often calls this practice, has contributed to the collapse of governments.

This is why media academics in the mass communication departments warn their charges that a print journalist who wants to positively contribute to nationbuilding should not make destructive criticism their habitual writing style.

The promoters of this smug campaign of attrition should realise that if they use the power of the pen to destroy this Fourth Republic, like the proverbial child which denied its mother sleep, it would conduce to a no-win situation for all, except those subterranean interests driving it.

Dr. Jonathan, to whom this diatribism is directed, is not the architect of Nigeria’s problems that are as old as the country itself.

Jonathan is Nigeria’s President today, but he is not the originator of Nigeria’s endemic corruption, even as a section of the Nigerian judiciary has made itself an accomplice of the corrupt.

The President who is doing his best to ensure there is peace and stability in the polity is not the originator of Boko Haram menacing the nation.

The Ghandian principle of statecraft makes it explicitly clear that knowledge without character destroys a society. Clive S. Lewis, the Irish poet and scholar, was probably guided by this timehonoured nugget when he said: “Education without values, as useful as it is, seems to make a more clever devil”. Therefore, it must be noted that the current trend

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BY DENNIS ALEMU

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Destructive criticisms against Mr. President

Destructive criticism in all its manifestations had never done any good to a nation in the long-run in that it is not a component of sustainable nation-building

He redefined governance in Anambra within the short period he was governor of the state; he set the pace and made the people realise that with commitment, a state government could do much for the people

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in terms of good governance and provision of basic amenities.

Today, his numerous achievements, especially in the area of infrastructural development that cuts across the state, are obvious and unprecedented. And it has become difficult for his successor to equate or measure up to them. As governor, Ngige demystified political godfathers in the state when he took the battle for the soul of the state to them, despite the tremendous backing they enjoyed from the Presidency.

He fought and put his life on line for the liberation of the people of the state, even when he had the option of wooing the godfathers financially in order to remain in office; he resisted it and fought for what was right.

H

is survival of his political abduction on July 10, 2003 by his estranged godfather in connivance with security agents, was a clear manifestation that God was with him and he has not completed his good work for his people. The judicial/ presidential conspiracy that led to his removal from office as a governor was known to Nigerians. His removal was not about winning the election, but his refusal to open the state treasury to the godfathers which was the tradition in the state before he assumed office.

in the Nigerian print media, if left unchecked, would crowd out intelligent discourse in the Nigerian public space.

In fact, the prevailing print media climate in Nigeria today once again brings into the spotlight the role of the media in a democracy.

This is an old question. It was an identical press climate in the 1940s that made Henry Luce, Time Magazine owner and publisher, to fund an independent commission of scholars, politicians, social activists, and legal experts to study the role of the press in society.

Professor Robert Maynard Hutchin, then Chancellor of University of Chicago headed the commission. The findings from the study gave birth to the Social Responsibility Theory of the press in 1947. Is this club of writers being guided by this normative theory as a guide-post for their trade? Is needling the administration over every issue under the sun, even going as far as literally condemning the shape and size of the President’s nose, without an iota of respect for his person and office, part of media literacy? One doesn’t think so.

In literature, opinion is free; facts are sacred. However, being editorially responsible requires drawing a line between constructive and destructive criticism; between fair and malicious (libelous) comment.

Nigeria, despite its challenges of governance, is not an animal farm; it is a society governed by laws and journalists and opinion article writers should always realise this when crafting their works.

•Mr. Alemu, a journalist, wrote from Lagos.

It is on record that between 1999 and 2007, Ngige was the only governor that lost his seat in court, even when it was obvious that the 2003 general elections were massively rigged across the country, especially in the South East zone.

Upon his removal from office, he was given a clean bill of health by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, led by its chairman then, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu.

True to belief, Ngige left PDP and cofounded the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, with the likes of Senator Bola Tinubu, former Vice President Alhaji Atiku Abubakar and others. This was at a time nobody gave his new party any chance of making an in road into the South East zone, but Ngige has proved the doubting Thomases wrong as the party has remained a force to reckon with in the zone, especially in Anambra State where the party won national and state assembly seats during the 2011 elections.

As an evidence of how heroic and popular Ngige is in Nigeria politics, especially in Anambra, Ngige defeated Prof. Dora Akunyili, the candidate of the incumbent governor of the state Mr. Peter Obi in the Anambra Central senatorial contest in 2011.

As senator currently representing Anambra Central zone in the Upper Chamber of National Assembly, Ngige has continued to identify with the people through his quality debates and contributions on the floor of the Senate. He has continued to remain live up to expectation as a man of the people. No wonder ahead of Anambra 2014 governorship election, majority of the Anambra people are already mounting pressure and calling on him to stage a comeback to the Government House to complete the good works he started which his successor has far failed to complete.

Mr. Anyadiora, a lecturer, wrote from Owerri, Imo State.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012—47

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2015:

Northern leaders’ opposition to Jonathan, a huge joke — Gulak Ahmed Gulak, a lawyer and politician is the Special Adviser on Political Matters to President Goodluck Jonathan. He can be described as a sharp shooter because he does not mince words on issues bothering on the administration and Nigeria. His depth of knowledge of contemporary Nigerian issues, eloquence, fearlessness and outspokenness, especially on matters that seem to touch on his boss, have singled him out as one of the most visible aides of President Jonathan. In this interview Gulak takes opponents of the President to task and warns them to desist from distracting Mr. President from concentrating on the job Nigerians elected him to do. He particularly cautions former President Olusegun Obasanjo to stop stirring the political waters ahead of the 2015 poll and describes northern leaders’ opposition to Jonathan’s 2015 ambition as the greatest joke of the century. The interview is explosive and irresistible. Excerpts:

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HAT do you make of former President Obasanjo’s alleged endorsement of Governors Sule Lamido and Rotimi Amaechi for President and Vice President in 2015?

As a politician, that does not surprise me because everyone is entitled to his own opinion.

Everybody has a constitutional right to aspire and to assume leadership of certain positions to anoint or be anointed. But the President’s position is that we need to use the time at our disposal to work for the overall

benefit of the country and desist from dissipating energy on what does not bring any benefit to Nigerians.

And anybody who is deeply involved in 2015 talks now, I think, is not being fair to this country. If it is true that Obasanjo is fronting Lamido and Amaechi for 2015, I assume it is not true, I would say that he has his own right. But the question is in what capacity would he do that? Is it as the father of the nation or the President of Nigeria or what?

First, Obasanjo is not the president of Nigeria and secondly, although he is one of our leaders, nobody has

agree we are running a constitutional government, if we agree we are running a democratic government, if we agree it is the constitution that leads us. It is his right to run or not. No individual or group has the right to warn President Jonathan not to aspire to lead the nation as provided by the law of the land. You can’t ask him not to pick the party’s nomination form. Nobody can intimidate President Jonathan, absolutely nobody because by the grace of God, he is the president of Nigeria. The fact that the man is simple, humble and does not abuse executive powers like some of our past leaders does not mean that he is weak.

Talking about constitutional provision, are you aware of the provision in the law that prohibits a person from being sworn in more than two times? A PDP member has already gone to court to stop the president from contesting in 2015, arguing that he would have been sworn in for

For anybody to warn President Goodluck not to pick form or to aspire to lead the nation again is the greatest joke of the century

*Gulak...President needs time to focus on issues

BY SONI DANIEL

cross it. But we are only in 2012, just one year after the last election.

Are we, therefore, telling Nigerians that everything is just about election? Why are we relegating to the background our promises to the nation? Obasanjo was part of the system from 1976 to 1979 and then from 1999 to 2007. Obasanjo should play the role of a father-figure, to advise and not to keep on poke-nosing into the affairs of the nation, to choose people who should run and who should not.

He had played his role, everybody gave him their support. One good turn deserves another. It is, therefore, incumbent on him to support President Jonathan to deliver on his electoral promises to the people and not to distract the system by stirring the political waters unnecessarily.

But don’t you think that it is the President’s apparent indecision about 2015 that has given the impetus to Obasanjo to make the political move?

You see it must be understood from the context of that particular fact. We say that we should focus on how to move this country forward first before we begin to do politics.

Our infrastructure is in comatose: our railway system is not working, our educational system needs turnaround, our power generation is very low. Why don’t we focus attention on these critical areas?

arrogated the monopoly of anointing candidates to him. But the fact as I have always said, is that Mr. President’s position is that it is too early to begin to dissipate energy on 2015. We need to gear ourselves towards working for Nigeria. Anyone who is so involved in 2015 talks now is not fair to this country.

Having said that, if it is true that Obasanjo has done what has been credited to him, then it is safe to say that he is not fair to this country and I believe that what this country needs to do is to deliver on the promises made to the electorate in 2011. When we reach the bridge we shall

Electricity generation Why do we have to distract the administration at every turn? As far as I am concerned everything is not all about election. When the time for election comes, it will be addressed. But for now, let our leaders for God sake, support this administration to focus on electricity generation, distribution and transmission, support the turnaround of the educational system, let us focus on making our railway system functional once more. Everything is not about election.

It is not only Obasanjo who has taken steps towards 2015.

Some well-placed northerners have also warned the President not to collect form for the 2015 election because doing so would have kept the region out of power for too long.

That is the greatest joker of the century. For anybody to warn President Goodluck not to pick form or to aspire to lead the nation again is the greatest joke of the century. President Jonathan has that constitutional right and nobody can abridge it; it is left for him to decide whether to contest or not. But no individual, group or institution can take away that right if we

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the third time, if he wins.

That issue came up in 2003 when Obasanjo was taken to court by Buhari. They said Obasanjo had been sworn in several times and should not have contested the election in 2003. Although the present situation is not the same with that of Obasanjo, it must be made clear that President Jonathan contested election in 2011 for the first time and won. He was given the mandate to run this country for four years, which will terminate in 2015. Do you mean to tell me that if the constitution allows somebody to go for a second and last leg of his office, somebody has any right to attempt to reduce his eight-year mandate to six years?

T

he argument of his opponents is that he completed Yar ’Adua’s remaining tenure.

That argument has no place in law at all. The constitution says eight years. Why should they abridge it to five or six years? If we want our democratic culture to improve, there are certain things we must put in place.

In America for instance, incumbent presidents are not allowed to contest primaries with any other candidate within the party. So, if PDP must put its house in order, they should adopt that system-that an incumbent should be challenged by any other party candidate. The reason is that internal contest in Continues on page 48

48—Vanguard,

MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

No one can intimidate Jonathan — Gulak the party, especially when incumbent is involved is so dirty that the opposition party would exploit it at the general election and hammer the party seriously.

That is what we want to avoid.

My position is that unless a sitting president or governor is incurably bad and nonperforming, he should be given the opportunity to go for a second term without any primary election.

But Dr. Junaid Mohammed and Malam Nasir El-Rufai, two prominent northern leaders, recently asked Mr. President to step aside for being unable to provide solutions to the country’s problems. What do you think about the advice?

Let me start with El-Rufai. I will classify El-Rufai as the most disappointing young man in this country. He is so disappointing that a lot of people have lost their respect for him.

The most annoying thing about this country is that once somebody is out of the government, he now becomes an incorruptible person, they become watchdogs of the community, the spokesmen of the society and the people begin to see them as their defenders.

Appointment on return from exile Nigerians have not forgotten the activities of the Dino Melayes, the el-Rufais. These things are on record. So, if they say this administration has failed, I would not be surprised because of their posture. El-Rufai’s anger is that he is out of government. If Goodluck had given him appointment as minister when he returned from exile, he would not have been saying all these things about the government. During Yar’Adua’s time he was in exile.

El-Rufai returned to this country through the benevolence of President Jonathan with high hopes, he would be made a minister. And when he was not made minister, he now began to criticize the government and the President. It is a shame. It is a very big shame the rate at which people who fail to get what they want from government, try to pull it down. That attitude cannot take this country to anywhere. It is a sordid situation indeed.

So, what do you think Junaid Mohammed wants from the government if not performance to move the country forward?

Junaid Mohammed has what I would call ‘diarrhoea of the mouth’. He enjoys sitting in his comfort zone and criticizing.

There is insecurity in this country. We cannot deny it.

Everybody believes there are people behind it and all Nigerians should rally round the administration to confront it

because it is a national problem.

It is no more politics. Let us put politics out of it and face the reality at hand for the benefit of this country. Lives are being lost and property are being destroyed on a daily basis and if you are a true patriotic Nigerian, you must be concerned and begin to do whatever is possible to find answers to the problems and stop sitting down to criticize president Jonathan. Yes, he is the President but he needs everybody ’s support when this type of matter comes up.

As someone who advises Mr. President politically, were you surprised when he said he did not give a damn to making his assets public during a recent media chat? Do you believe Mr. President is serious about checking corruption?

Jonathan is somebody who says what he means and means what he says. There is no law in Nigeria that mandates the President to declare his asset publicly.

Freedom of Information Act There is none. Therefore, if there is no law that mandates him to declare his asset publicly and if he has done what the constitution warrants him to do, why should people prevail on him to do what the law does not say? With the Freedom of Information Act in place, Nigerians are free to approach the Code of Conduct Bureau and get information on the asset.

But the CCB says the law has to be amended by the National Assembly before they can even make the asset declarations of public officers public. But I insist that we should always work by

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Continues from page 47

*Gulak...insecurity in the country affects everyone People supported him and nobody asked him to declare his assets publicly. Now, Jonathan is on the seat. He did not give that seat to himself: Nigerians voted overwhelmingly for him. In first place, when Yar’Adua passed on,the constitution states that his vice should step in as the President. But you know what we passed through for him to take over as provided for in the law.

Junaid Mohammed has what I would call ‘diarrheoa of the mouth’, he enjoys sitting in his comfort zone and criticizing

the law and leave sentiments alone. Whether you like President Jonathan’s face or not, he remains the president and he derives his powers and responsibilities from the constitution of the land.

So,if they want the constitution to be amended, they should go to the National Assembly and the State Assembly to amend the law to give them access to whatever they want in this country. It is not in the president’s powers to amend the constitution to give them what they want. You see, what I hate in this scenario is that Obasanjo was on the saddle for eight years. In spite of his limitations, he did his best and left the scene. He was from the Yoruba extraction of the SouthWest and a Christian.

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There was political upheaval before we could get the now famous ‘Doctrine of Necessity’ to allow Jonathan to take over. Why Jonathan? Is he not a Nigerian?

Doesn't he have the constitutional right to aspire to the highest office in this country?

People should leave out sentiments in governance. Today it is Goodluck Jonathan, tomorrow it may be Hassan Adamu and all that we want is for all Nigerians to support the President to move this country forward. The support is not about him as a person but about Nigeria and its people. Whether you like Goodluck Jonathan’s face or not he is the President and there is nothing any of those opposed to him can do about it.

Nigerians are still unhappy that the Presidency has not done enough to punish those who squandered the subsidy funds.

What is your reaction to that?

Here they come again. We are not running a military regime.

You cannot just go and bundle people to the prison because of mere allegations that he has stolen some money or has committed a crime. No, it does not work like that. If you are alleging that somebody has committed a crime, the first step is to subject the suspect to proper investigation by the operatives of the law or experts. This, the administration has done-the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission and the police are on the matter.

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ut as far as some Nigerians are concerned, they would want Mr. President to pack the suspects straight to the prison.

No, that will not happen because the court would release them when the cases go on trial. We are doing is to subject the suspect to thorough investigation, amass sufficient evidence to guarantee conviction, then you take them to court.

Do you believe what you are saying will still happen when the sons and close associates of top PDP chieftains are involved in the subsidy fraud?

Let me assure you that President Goodluck Jonathan is not going to spare or support

anybody. He has no sacred cows; whether you are the son of Bamanga Tukur or Ahmadu Ali or the son of Gulak. If the current investigation confirms that anyone had committed fraud, they will face the music. That is Goodluck Jonathan for you.

The Christian Association of Nigeria in the North last week lamented that President Jonathan had failed them for not deploying force to deal with Boko Haram. Do you believe the government has done enough to protect Nigerians from Boko Haram?

I have taken time to reflect on that development. It was a misguided statement from the CAN. The insecurity in the country affects everybody-the Muslims, Christians, the Yorbuba, the Igbo, Hausa, Fulani etc. Every Nigerian is a victim.

You have heard that there was a bomb blast at the Central Mosque in Maiduguri and the Shehu of Borno escaped by the whisker. The same thing happened in Damaturu; you have heard that some people planned to go and bomb Kano during the Eid. These are all Muslim communities. So, what is happening is that the President cannot just deploy the tanks to go and kill suspected persons anywhere there is a threat. You have to use intelligence to swoop on those who are actually causing mayhem in this country.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012—49

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50— Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

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Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012—51

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52— VANGU ARD, ANGUARD,

MOND AY, A UGUST 27, 2012 MONDA AUGUST

POLICY ON N5, 000 CURRENCY

New notes'll ruin the economy, kill cashless policy

Much ado about very little

By DELE SHOBOWALE No government deficit can create inflation unless the uantity of money goes up.— G. Haberter in, Inflation, its causes and cures.

(VANGUARD BOOK pg I03).

S

ANUSI Lamido Sanusi, the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, belongs to a small league of public officials - including Obasanjo, IBB, Jonathan, and now Okupe - whose pronouncements are guaranteed to provoke controversy. Even merely saying “Good morning” at 7 a.m is sufficient to ignite rejoinders. All sorts of meanings will be read into the statement; motives would be imputed and accusations made by

•Specimen of the new N5,000 currency

By OMOH GABRIEL, Business Editor

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HEN the Central Bank of Nigeria CBN wanted to introduce the cash less policy its argument was that less than 10 per cent of the Nigeria population draws on the average that amount of money from the banking system thus placing the burden of cost of cash management on the banks and the CBN. Every entreaty to persuade the CBN out of it failed. The rest is now history. Today the apex bank has come up with yet another controversial policy, that of introducing N5, 000 note and the coinage of the lower denomination of the naira. Economic history has shown that several nations that travel this path have long abandon the use of higher currency denomination in favour of electronic transaction towing the cashless policy.

The move by the CBN to introduce the N5,000 into circulation in the face of its cashless policy is an admission of failure of the policy and is looking for a way out. The introduction and coinage of the lower denomination will have several unwanted effect on the economy. With the introduction of N5, 000 it is good business for those who are engaged in currency counterfeiting as it pays to do the business the higher the denomination in circulation.

In economic management, theory and practice, there are basically three motives for holding

,

has taken two steps intended to address the menace of money laundering in the country; the know-your-customers revalidation exercise carried out by banks, and the on-going cashless Lagos. The argument was that to effectively monitor illicit trafficking of money and other financial crimes, banks must ‘know their customers’ hence a revalidation of all banks’ customers in 2009/2010.

The Cashless Lagos Nigerians were made to CBN governor, Sanusi Lamido Sanusi understand was designed to reduce cost of managing cash; by so doing, help the nation the political opposition - even to test run migration from paper-based before the announcement has monetary transaction to non-paper-based been studied in detail. It was to system. What Nigerians are yearning for is be expected, therefore, that the for the CBN to replace the polymer notes (N5, first voices to be raised against the N10, N20, and N50) that seemed not to have proposed N5000 bill, as well as secondhand value in terms of durability and the coining of lower denomination not to introduce them as coins. bills, were those of the Action This policy which is aimed at reducing the Congress of Nigeria, ACN; the use of cash had been justified by the need to All Nigeria Peoples Party, ANPP; reduce the burden of the cost of and the Congress for Progressive printing and distributing Change, CPC currency notes. The introduction It is really unfortunate because of a high face value currency most of the criticisms were long note actually does the opposite on politics and personal because by reducing the unit cost animosities but short on economic of printing and transportation, it principles. It was indeed a real actually would promote the use “tempest in a tea pot”, amusing of cash. even if not illuminating. At the The issuance of the new N5,000 risk of being labelled an apologist currency note also runs counter to the for the CBN Governor, it is vital government’s often repeated commitment to to separate, the politics and fight corruption. It is widely recognised that personal antipathies against large scale corruption tends to be facilitated Sanusi from the economic by the ease with which unrecorded and large repercussions of the initiative; cash transactions can be made. which are at best minimal; In the market place, Nigerians have rejected rendering the entire measure coins. Once the new coins are introduced the perhaps “unnecessary”. first thing that will happen is that prices will be redenominated in N50. This was what Increasing happened when the CBN introduced new inflation coins that drove out the use of one naira, five kobo that were coined. This will be the The most common criticism by beginning of hyper inflation. The CBN plan people whose grasp of economic has no mechanism of revaluing the naira. The principles centres around its likely revaluation of the naira would have served a acceleration of inflation. The more useful purpose than the planned National Publicity Secretary of one restructuring. of the political parties after To be concluded tomorrow asserting, as if it were true, that

The introduction of a high face value currency note actually does the opposite because by reducing the unit cost of printing and transportation, it actually would promote the use of cash

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money: transaction, precaution, and speculative motives. A higher denominated currency will encourage individuals to hold money which in economic terms amount to hoarding thus depriving the economy of access to free funds for those who need it to finance production. If the CBN had earlier promoted cash-less Nigeria which it has implemented half hazardly, this is a direct negation of the cashless Lagos and Nigeria. The move to restructure the country’s currency can best be described as cosmetic, a clear contradiction of the cashless policy that will induce inflation if not stopped.

The CBN had said that will introduce N5,000 note, redesign N50, N100, N200, N500 and N1,000 notes, while lower banknote denominations of N5, N10 and N20 will be coined, under its currency restructuring exercise, codenamed Project Cure. The CBN in recent times

“the action of the CBN would lead to inflation” went on to proclaim that it is a “premeditated agenda to further mop up cash from the nation’s space”. Only, a noneconomist or a politician could contradict himself in one sentence without realizing or caring about it.

Now the generally accepted definition of inflation is “too much money chasing too few goods (including services). Obviously, if “the premeditated agenda is to mop up money from the nation’s space”, then it cannot be inflationary. If anything at all, it will reduce aggregate spending and lead to recession, at best; or depression at worst. The other aspect of the criticism, namely, the aversion of Nigerians to spending coins, while more valid, as the very recent experience by the CBN, under Professor Soludo, demonstrated can be taken care of by taking additional measures.

This matter will be addressed later on.

Perhaps the point being made here can be made clearer by asking if it will make a difference to the total money supply or in circulation if five one thousand naira notes are replaced by one five thousand naira note? The obvious answer is: none at all.

What matters is the volume of money in circulation; not whether it is in NI00, N200 or N5,000 bills

Negation of cashless policy Another common “flaw” which commentators have pointed out is that the introduction of N5,000 bills negates the Cashless policy of the CBN. This is even less credible than the first one. To start with Cash-less does not mean No-cash”. Even the most advanced economies have not totally dispensed with cash.

All they have done is to reduce the cash carried by individuals.

And that varies from one country to the next and from person to person.

Anyone or business having decided to maintain a certain level of cash position will not alter it simply because the CBN has introduced a higher denomination note. If the personal level is N5,000; it can be in fifty NI00 or ten N500 or one N5,000. The cash policy determines what would be held in cash not the currency.

What does the measure represent? Devoid of all politics, personal animosities, and sentiments, the new initiative is nothing more than a verdict by the CBN that our current assortment of currencies are totally out of alignment with our spending habits and the level of prices.

To be concluded tomorrow

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012—53

54 —

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

26 Eagles resume battle ffor or shir ts agains shirts againstt Liberia S

TARTING this Mon day morning in Abuja, 26 players of the Super Eagles will be literarily up in arms against themselves as they battle to impress Coach Stephen Keshi and his crew that they are up for the Nations Cup qualifier against the Lone Star of Liberia.

The Eagles crew is expected at the end of the week to name an additional 11 or nine players to complement, the 11 foreign based players already announced for the September 8 encounter, that will hold at the Samuel Kanyon Doe Stadium in the Liberian capital For sudden first teamers like Godfrey Oboabona, Azubuike Egwueke,

Sunday Mba, Ejike Uzoenyi and Gabriel Reuben, the battle will be stiffer as they will battle against fresh faces like Sani Sanusi, Philip Asuquo, Zango Umar, Jabason Solomon, Solomon Kwambe and Emmanuel Francis, who were very impressive in the international friendly against the Menas of Niger Republic two Wednesday’s ago.

Keshi has repeatedly assured all players that only current form will inform his choice of players for the encounter in Monrovia, which will make the next one week a very competitive one among the players that have been invited to camp.

Wenger sstill till in the mar ket mark

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RSENAL manager Arsene Wenger anticipates doing business before the transfer window closes, providing the right quality of player is available.

Wenger has signed Lukas Podolski, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla this summer, but has also seen Robin van Persie and Alex Song make high-profile departures from the Emirates Stadium.He was interested in signing Nuri Sahin on loan from Real Madrid before the Turkey international joined Premier League rivals Liverpool for the season.

KING PAIR ... heroes Hazard and Torres embrace Torres

Torres full of praise for Hazard C

HELSEA striker Fernando Torres says it is a privilege to

play in the same team as the likes of new Stamford Bridge favourite Eden Hazard.

Both Torres and Hazard had outstanding games in the 2-0 win over Newcastle on Saturday.

The 28-year-old Torres won the Blues a penalty that was converted by Hazard who then teed up the Spaniard for the second goal with a clever back-heel.

Torres has struggled for goals since his £50million move from Liverpool to Stamford Bridge but a change in mentality, plus the additions made over the summer, means he is now in a better position to find the back of the net on a more regular basis.

He told ChelseaTV: “We have showed to everyone how strong we are when we have to defend like we did last season but we have another way to play as well - I think it is important a big team to have different kinds of ways to play.

“We are enjoying ourselves, I think we are having a really good start to the season and everyone can see from the stands we are enjoying it and I think the fans are enjoying it too.

“We are playing really good football for the moment so lets keep building on it.” Chelsea lifted

the FA Cup and Champions League last season under Roberto Di Matteo playing with a somewhat defensive set-up but with Hazard, Marko Marin, Oscar and Victor Moses all being added to the squad a more attacking philosophy has now been adopted and Torres is pleased to be a part of it.

Adepitan wants ‘Paralympics D’Tigers’ a documentary about the

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NFLUENTIAL British paralympics athlete, Ade Adipitan has expressed his desire to see a Nigerian Basketball team at the future Paralympics Games.

Adepitan who is a member of the GB basketball team to the London 2012 Paralympics Games, which begin on Thursday, disclosed that he will return to Nigeria and encourage the growth of wheelchair basketball. “I want to go back to Nigeria to make

plight of disabled people there. I want to change perceptions of them and even see a Nigeria disabled basketball team,” said the 39 year-old Adepitan.Adepitan who has established himself as one of Britain’s most recognisable disabled sportsmen and TV presenters, is confident the country’s Paralympians will put on a show to rival the spectacle of the Olympics – particularly the basketball pals he has his eye on.

Sudanese referees for Sunshine against Esperance Referee Abdelrahman position with seven

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IGERIAN champi ons and sole representatives in the CAF cups, Sunshine Stars of Akure have been handed Sudanese referees in the crucial match against group leaders Esperance at Stade De Rades, Tunis on September 2.

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Khalid will be assisted by Ahmed Ali Waleed, Hamid Adam and Adam Hashim.

The match Commissioner is Libya’s Mohammed Gremida, while Souleymane Magassouba of Mali is the General Coordinator.

Lying on the second

points, this is a match that Sunshine stars can get a result from given the fact that the Tunisians have already qualified with the maximum twelve points from four matches and are likely to relax their pressure on the pedal by trying some of their non regulars.

Vanguard, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012 — 55

Ordega powers Nigeria past Italy STORIES BY KATE OBODO, Japan

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FRANCISCA Orde ga hat-trick saw Nigeria cruise into the FIFA U-20 Women’s World Cup quarter-finals with a 4-0 victory over Italy to top Group B. Italy required victory by at least two goals to progress following their early draw against Brazil and defeat against Korea Republic.

Nigeria, on the other hand, went into the match holding a one-point advantage at the top of Group B and knowing victory would assure progression as group winners.

Two goals in each half saw Nigeria to a comfortable victory in Kobe with Italy ’s fate rarely in doubt once Ordega opened the scoring midway through the first half.

Ordega doubled the advantage just prior to the interval, before completing her treble just two minutes into the second stanza.

The second goal was perhaps the most notable, with Ordega finishing a neat counter-attack after Esther Sunday played the final pass.

Substitute Osarenoma Igbinovia iced the cake with a fourth a few minutes from full time as Nigeria booked a quarterfinal berth.

“Nothing has changed between 2010 and 2012, except that all the girls who were already there have worked hard and improved,” said Nigeria coach Okon Edwin.

“We always come to the World Cup to win it. We were close in 2010. We still aim for the final, and this time, we just hope that the result will be different.”

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TALY coach Corrado Corradini has admitted that the Nigerian side, the Falconets were better than them, following their 4-0 defeat.

According to Corradini, the Falconets were a complete set and outshone his girls with experience.

As you can see Women football is still developing in Italy but then we are very happy that we were given the chance to be here. Without mincing words, our opponents were superior to and they deserve their victory,” he said Stressing that, “for Italy Women Football to develop, there is the need for the Italian Foot-

S Nigeria’s Under20 Women’s team move on to the knockout stages of the on-going FIFA Under-20 Women’s World Cup in Japan, the Honourable Minister of Sports and Chairman of the National Sports Commission, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi has urged the team to go all the way to the final of the competition and bring the cup home.

Abdullahi who congratulated the Falconets for their decisive 4-0 victory over the Italians today, said he was impressed with the form of

the girls. “ They were discipline, tactical and very exciting to watch,” he said. “ I have no doubt that if they maintain their current form, no team can stop them.”

The Minister singled out Nigeria’s three-goal hero Francisca Ordega for special praise. He said she was excellent and precise in front of goal. “She definitely has a great future.”

Abdullahi also commended the technical crew for their effort and assured the team of the support of all Nigerians.

Hear tland ret ain F ederation Heartland retain Federation Cup Continues from B/P sides were level at 1-1 with only four minutes to full time. They were only waiting for the referee’s final whistle, for the penalty shootout to begin.

Heartland brought in veteran penalty stopper, Chijioke ‘Arugo Monkey’ Ejiogu in anticipation of penalty kicks.

However, in the 87th minute Osa Okoro turned the game on its head when he made a pinpoint cross that found the head of substitute Bredan Ogbu and it was

lights out for Lobi.

“In football you will always have a winner.

May be this is where God want us to reach. We were looking for a double, but we still have one game to go in the league. Let’s wait and see what will happen,” said Lobi chairman, Dominic Iorfa.

Ogbu was crowned man of the match and went home with N550,000. Heartland’s reward was N2m, while Lobi received N1m.

Third placed Prime got N500,000, while highest goal scorer Isa Akom was N200,000 richer.

ball Federation to ensure there is a professional league. There is a need for us to develop our professional league. If we don’t, it will not attract professionals.

However, chief coach of the Falconets Edwin Okon expressed his delights over his team’s s victory. He attributed victory to God and the Nigeria Football Federation, whom he said have been supportive thus far.“The main motivators are God and NFF who have been massively supportive on the team and I pray at the end we willcome out victorious,” Okon added.

Koreans end Brazil dreams

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second-half double from Jeoun Eunha saw Ko rea Republic through in second spot in Group B with a 2-0 win over Brazil.

Holding a one-point advantage over their rivals, Korea Republic required just a draw to advance into the knockout stage.

A tentative opening was enlivened in the early stages by Thais Guedes delivering a well-hit freekick which cannoned back off the crossbar.

Abdullahi urges team to go all the way

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Falconets are superior to us — Italy coach

HARD TO TAKE ... Rooney clutches his gashed leg

alconets Falode: F Falconets will bring cup home

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ATIONAL Wom en’s teams’ Coordinator, Aisha Falode, has attributed the valiant performance so far of the Falconets at the ongoing U20 Women’s World Cup in Japan, to the visionary leadership of the NFF leadership and by extension that of Sports Minister, Bolaji Abdulahi and President Goodluck Jonathan.

Falode, who spoke from Kobe, Japan after the Nigerian lasses whipped Italy 4-0, to advance to the quarter finals of the tourney, said weeks of serious preparation in Korea and timely support of the Aminu Maigari NFF board, has been the tonic behind the girls’ splendid performance so far.

“I want to thank President Goodluck Jonathan, Alhaji Aminu Maigari and his entire executive committee members, the coaching crew and all

well meaning Nigerians who have been supporting the team through prayers and goodwill messages. What I can assure them is that the tournament is now separating the women from the girls and at this juncture we will not let Nigerians down”, she declared.

She noted that now that Nigeria is the only hope that Africa has in the tournament the Nigerian girls will go all the way and ensure that they win the tournament after emerging runners up at the last edition behind host and current champions; Germany.

“We will give it our all to ensure that we come out tops and wipe away the tears of many Nigerian sports lovers who were not too happy at recent developments in our sports sector, but we seek steady support from all and sundry”.

Okagbare’s Olympics woes continues Continues from B/P the women 100m race at the Aviva Grand prix meet in Birmingham, England yesterday.

Okagbare was hoping to put the disappointment of London 2012, where she failed to meet expectations in all her outings, including her signature

event the long jump. But she failed at the blocks while compatriot, Gloria Asumnu raced 11.22 seconds to place fourth in the race won by Olympics silver medalist, Carmelita Jeter with 10.80 seconds, she beat gold medalist Shelly-Ann Fraser-Pryse who returned at 10.90 seconds.

US Open: Fear of Serena is...

Continues from B/P the last seven grand slam tournaments, it is nearly inconceivable that Serena Williams would be seen as the overwhelming choice to win the US Open.

But after her Wimbledon and Olympic triumphs, many of her rivals seem to think the year ’s final grand slam is hers to lose.

“Serena is probably the favorite coming in given her recent form,” said Australian Samantha Stosur, the defending champion. “No matter who you are, I don’t think you can really deny that.”

The U.S. Open begins on Monday at Flushing Meadows and Williams

is seeded fourth, behind Victoria Azarenka, Agnieszka Radwanska and 2006 champion Maria Sharapova, who won this year ’s French Open.

Kim Clijsters, a threetime U.S. Open champion is playing in the last tournament of her career, also tipped her hat to Williams.

“Serena is the best ever just because physically she just stands out,” Clijsters said.

“When she’s in good shape she just stands out tremendously.

“I mean, she’s fast, she’s strong, she has a very good eye, as well.

It’s the combination.

What we have seen over the last few months is the best player ever.”

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VANGUARD, MONDAY, AUGUST 27, 2012

Hear tland ret ain F ederation Cup Heartland retain Federation

BY JACOB AJOM

H

EARTLAND FC of Owerri made a successful defence of the Federation Cup when they beat hard- pressing Lobi Stars of Makurdi 2-

1 in the final of the 2012 edition decided at the Teslim Balogun Stadium yesterday.

It was indeed heart break for Lobi who were looking to carry the day and make their dream for a double this season

Ordega powers Nigeria past Italy

come true. But it all turned into a nightmare as Heartland grabbed the winner, during injury time after both

Continues on page 55

Okagbare’s Olympics woes continue

It's Nigeria versus Mexico •F alconets are superior •Falconets to us — Italy coach •Abdullahi urges team to go all the way

•Okagbare IGERIA’S Blessing Okagbare returned to more track misfortunes as she was disqualified in

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alconets will Falode: F Falconets bring Cup home

Continues on page 55

US Open: Fear of Serena is...

— Details inside EPL RESULTS Stoke City Liverpool Swansea City Aston Villa Man Utd Norwich City Southampton Tottenham Chelsea

0 2 3 1 3 1 0 1 2

H O T - S H O T •••Three goal heroine, Francisca Ordega gave out a f i v e - s t a r performance against the Italians yesterday; she is joint hot-shot target with a Mexican player.

Arsenal 0 Man City 2 West Ham 0 Everton 3 Fulham 2 QPR 1 Wigan Athletic 2 West Brom 1 Newcastle 0

Koreans end Brazil dreams — P.55 TODAY'S

PUZZLE

YESTERDAY'S

W

ITH seven differ ent champions in Continues on page 55

ANSWERS

ACROSS 2 List (5) 7 Pack (4) 8 Formula (6) 9 Senior (5) 11 Bench (3) 13 Vehicle (3) 15 Absent (4) 16 Favourite (3) 18 Measure (4) 19 Wed (7) 20 Fibbed (4) 22 Tipster (4) 23 Fugitive (7) 25 Employed (4) 27 Nothing (3) 28 Spouse (4) 30 Stick (3) 31 And not (3) 33 Suit (5) 36 Nap (6) 37 Just (4) 38 Romany (5)

DOWN 1 Scatter (5) 2 Couple (3) 3 Sprout (3) 4 Stray (3) 5 Perform (3) 6 Gush (5) 10 Pitcher (4) 11 Sitting-room (7) 12 Hesitated (7) 13 Arab (7) 14 Coloniser (7) 16 Heathen (5) 17 Test (5) 18 Encountered (3) 21 Counterfeit (3) 24 Broad (4) 26 Noise (5) 29 Madness (5) 32 Court (3) 33 Plead (3) 34 Dandy (3) 35 Plaything (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1, Banal 5, Bisect 8, Dodge 10, Emerge 11, Arab 14, Malign 15, Cabinet 18, Net 19, Lid 21, Deal 23, Motif 24, Food 27, Pal 29, Peg 31, Network 32, Clever 34, Note 35, Matter 38, Slash 39, Recent 40, Heart.

How to Play Sudoku

THE VIGILANTE

DOWN: 2, Aim 3, Adroit 4, Log 5, Beam 6, Scaled 7, Tunnel 9, Develop 12, Ram 13, Bite 16, Also 17, Titan 20, Dilemma 22, Aver 24, Factor 25, Open 26, Devote 28, Swathe 30, Get 33, Rest 36, Ash 37, Err.

e-mail: rowolove@yahoo.co.uk

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line can have two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (also nine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within a bold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1 through 9. This means that no number can appear twice in any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, division or multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-8944295. Advert Dept: 01-7924470; Hotline: 01-8737028; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail: editor@vanguardngr.com, news@vanguardngr.com, letters@vanguardngr.com. Advert:advertproduction@yahoo.com Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

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