Saraki opens up: I escaped abduction on inauguaration day

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Protests rock Anambra over alleged relocation of Boko Haram detainees

By Vincent Ujumadu and Nwabueze Okonkwo, Awka

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MATRICULATON: From left: Akwa Ibom State Governor, Mr. Udom Emmanuel, President, Uma Ukpai School of Theology & Biblical Studies, Rev. (Dr.) Uma Ukpai and Executive Director, Pastor (Mrs.) Philomena O. Uma, during the 3rd convocation & 5th matriculation ceremony of the school.

NGRY youths, yesterday, brought commercial activities in markets in Anambra State to a standstill following alleged plan by the Federal Government to transfer suspected Boko Haram prisoners to Ekwulobia Prison in Aguata local government area of the state.

Thousands of the youths blocked major roads in the state, including the Head Bridge and the Enugu Onitsha expressway in Onitsha, as well as the popular Zik Ave-

nue in Awka, causing traffic gridlock for several hours.

Though the protest was peaceful, policemen in Onitsha were later seen firing teargas canisters to disperse the protesters. The security operatives, later joined by soldiers stationed at the Uga junction on Atani Road, were also seen removing the barricades used by the youths to block the roads.

In all the cities in the state, the youths waved placards with inscriptions that read, “We don’t want Boko Haram prisoners in Anambra”; “Buhari, Igbos will not accept

Bribe allegation: My story, Oyegun, APC National Chairman

By Levinus Nwabughiogu

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ll Progressives Congress (APC) National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, is challenging those accusing him of receiving gratification over the Senate President and Speaker of the House of Representatives elections to prove their claim.

“It is my integrity they are trying to smear”, Oyegun fired back yesterday.

The party leader had been accused of being bribed to conduct mock election that produced Senator Ahmed Lawan and Hon Femi Gbajabiamila as the APC candidates for the Senate President and House Speaker respectively.

But some APC senators not only defied the party’s choice, but also collaborated with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lawmakers to elect Senator Bukola Saraki as Senate President and Hon. Yakubu Dogara as House Speaker.

The opposition PDP Senator Ike Ekweremadu equally emerged as Deputy Senate President.

One of those who accused Oyegun of being compromised on the mock election issue and asked for his resignation was the APC Deputy National Publicity Secretary, Comrade Timi Frank.

By virtue of his office, many see him as having taken sides, especially with the northern power bloc in the party seemingly being controlled by President Muhammadu Buhari and former Vice President Atiku Abubukar.

Some quarters have also aligned him with the camp of Saraki, accusing him of ditching the camp of the national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, which worked assiduously for his enthronement as National Chairman.

But the allegations, according to Oyegun are unfounded.

He maintained his neutrality in the emerging power blocs, saying that his interest was to bring the party back together to deliver on its campaign promises to Nigerians.

The APC leader spoke with Sunday Vanguard, yesterday.

Excerpts:

His feelings on crisis

“It is an unfortunate thing and I think it has arisen because of the clash within major interest groups within the party and that has given rise to gross disloyalty and an unacceptable level of indiscipline and disrespect to the party. But that notwithstanding, we are doing everything we can to stop this civil war and bring the party back again so that we can focus on our essential agenda of delivering service to the people of this nation. What is happening now is very unacceptable and painting us in a very bad light. But thank God we have this period of recess in the National Assembly to bring things back together again.

We are doing everything we can to ensure that by the time the national assembly reconvenes, all of these things would have been squarely behind us.

On gratification

“Well, the issue is simple.

SOLUTION

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Gratification to do what and for whom? And what have I done to justify that gratification except to stand as neutral as possible in the circumstance and emphasize adherence to the supremacy of the party. So that is it. Gratification for what? Let anybody who says he brought come out and say that. It is a public thing. It is my integrity they are trying to smear. That comes only through blackmail from some forces that feel that I am standing in the way for whatever their intentions are. But that is neither here nor there. What’s important is that we must put our party back together again and focus on the promises we have made to the Nigerian people.”

Punitive measures for indiscipline

“Well, at this stage, that is something we are still considering. When there is indiscipline, there are penalties. But first, in the process. When you restore peace, there has to be

a make for the indiscipline.

There is no question about that. One way or the other. But what is important now is putting the party back together.

Buhari’s intervention to end rift

The reality is that we will welcome all hands, all assistance to put things back together again. The president was right. The House has the freedom in consultation with the party which is exactly what has happened. But other interests have prevailed in the matter. The process has derailed but must be put back on the rails.

Smear campaign, call for resignation and reputation

That is going on all the time.

People are trying to push me in one direction or the other but one thing I have to my credit is my neutrality. I don’t belong to any of the contending power blocs in the party.

And of course, that has its

price. And that is why you have heard a lot of it directed personally to smear me. I have built a reputation that has lasted for over 70 years. I don’t have to go and be taking peanuts from some political gladiators. So, whatever they try to do, they cannot smear my character. If anybody has given me gratification to do anything, let him come out and say so, where and when and how much.

The visit of eight governors

“Well, the Governors came to consult with me which is beautiful, legitimate and I valued the views and the ideas that they came with and that was all there was to it. Nothing more, nothing less.”

Just consultations?

“There is a situation in the party and people have views to express and they came to express their views. It was very good and I value those views.

We voted for change and we cannot start messing around now.”

SARAKI OPENS UP

How I escaped abduction on inauguration day Continued from page 1 abduction plot to keep him off the National Assembly, he altered his schedule by arriving the parliament car park at 6am, stayed in his car and then trekked at quarter to 10am into the chamber.

He dismissed the insinuation that for him to win, he entered into a pact with the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for Senator Ike Ekweremadu to be produced as his deputy, just as he stressed that the absence of All Progressives Congress, APC, senators in the chamber paved the way for the emergence of Ekweremadu.

The Senate President, who noted that the emergence of Ekweremadu will make things difficult for him, said, “Never in our wildest imagination did we envisage that some senators would not be present on the day of the inauguration.”

Speaking with journalists, in Abuja, Saraki insisted that he never got any message to attend a meeting at the International Conference Centre (ICC) with President Muhammadu Buhari on the Senate inauguration day. “First of all, as regards the meeting (at ICC), on the morning of the

inauguration, I didn’t finish at a meeting until 4:00am of that day and I had got information that efforts would likely be made to make sure that I didn’t get access into the chamber”, he said.

The Senate President narrated further: “So, as early as 4:00am and 5:00am, I had made contingency plans that I must get into the National Assembly because the plan before was that senators-elect should go to Transcorp Hilton Hotel around 8:00clock and 9:00am to proceed to the National Assembly.

“But I was advised that it would not be safe or it would not be secure for me to do that because if some people made sure I didn’t get into the chamber, it would not be possible for me to be nominated, for the nomination to be seconded and for me to accept the nomination.

“I can tell you today that I was in the National Assembly Complex as early as 6:00 in the morning and I stayed in a car in the car park till quarter to 10:00am. That is the truth. I stayed there and I was there with no communication whatsoever.

“So, anybody who said he spoke to me to go to the ICC was not being truthful because I didn’t even know what

was going on. All I was monitoring was how people were arriving the complex.

“It was just before 10:00 that I got information that the Clerk to the National Assembly had entered the chamber.

So, I got out of the small car I was inside, stretched myself and put on my Babariga because I didn’t have it on before then.

“I walked from the car park into the chamber. That was why some of you would have seen that I looked very tired that morning.

“Even when I was in the chamber, I didn’t know what had transpired earlier. The only thing I observed was that it appeared that some of our senators were not in the chamber, but because of the fact that my colleagues arrived in batches, I had the opinion that they were on the way and, by 10:00am, the programme started.

“Before I knew it, my election had come and gone. Even my people were worried; it was only when I got into the chamber that they were relieved.”

Speaking on the emergence of Ekweremadu as Deputy Senate President, Saraki said, “In my own view, and, in the

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your prisoners”; “Anambra is special and secured”; “Anambra is not a party to terrorists and should not be involved in it”; “We say no to Boko Haram people in Anambra” and “Buhari, why Anambra”.

At the Ekwulobia Prison, which was named as the likely new abode for the Boko Haram prisoners, there was nothing on ground to show that a large number of inmates were brought in there.

Some officials of the prison however said that they heard a rumour that some prisoners from the northern part of the country would be brought there.

According to them, “there was nothing on ground to show that new inmates were being expected as the situation here has not changed.”

President General of Anambra Markets Amalgamated Traders Association, AMATAS, Dr. Okwudili Ezenwankwo, who addressed reporters in Onitsha, said they had from a very reliable source that plans had been concluded to bring suspected Boko Haram prisoners to the state, adding that they would do everything within their power to resist it.

Pressed to say how they got information that such prisoners were to be brought to the state, Ezenwankwo said: “We have our ears on ground and that is the much we can say for now. We were informed that federal government wants to transfer the Boko Haram to Anambra State and this is unacceptable to us.

“If you visit the Ekwulobia Prison, you will discover that something is going on there.

We are not against President Muhammadu Buhari, but we want him to keep these special prisoners where they belong.

“We know our president is a good man and he will not do anything that will cause insecurity in this part of the country to add to the existing one caused by Boko Haram insurgents. Anambra is peaceful and we don’t want Boko Haram to come and cause confusion.”

According to Ezenwankwo, Anambra traders have already brought the matter to the attention of Governor Willie Obiano, adding that the governor was mandated by the traders to take their protest over the matter to President Buhari.

Anambra State Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Mr. Uche Eze, said the situation was properly handled because the police was on top of the situation.

Christie Aderibighe for burial

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s Christie Ndidi Aderibigbe (nee Chukwuma) is dead. The deceased, according to a burial arrangement announced by Committee of Friends, Maureen Kitchen, Towry Street, Lagos Island, will be laid to rest on July 1, at Icy Cemetery. The body, a statement said, leaves Gbagada General Hospital after a short prayer, for the burial site at 11 a.m.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 5

‘How I escaped abduction on inauguration day’ Continued from page 4 view of some of those who worked closely with me, I worked hard for my election.

I had direct contact with every single senator, one on one; weeks leading to the election, I did not rely on anybody. I worked hard; both in our party, the APC and out of it.

“I approached every senator, I talked to them, we built confidence, not only in the APC, but, also, in the PDP. I

talked to them. That was why I laughed when people said I had a deal with Ekweremadu or I had a hand in the emergence of Ekweremadu.

“I didn’t need any deal to win. I had penetrated, there was no deal; I didn’t need any deal in the first place. I had worked hard such that everybody who was a Senator, I campaigned hard and canvassed for their votes and won their confidence.

“At one of the meetings held

at Transcorp Hilton which Senator Godswill Akpabio co-chaired with Senator Ibrahim Gobir and a few others, which had both APC and PDP members, if you heard most of them there, the position they took was that ‘this is the Senate President they want.’

“Across party lines, that day they believed in me and that this is the Senate President that can lead us, there was no deal.

“Sometimes, I wonder how some of our colleagues found

Evangelists fault US Supreme Court ruling on same-sex marriage

By Sam Eyoboka with Agency reports

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vangelists have fault ed the United States (US) Supreme Court decision to legalize gay marriage across the US in a 5-4 vote.

The historic ruling, which, on Friday, overturned same-sex marriage bans in 13 states, came as a concern to many Christians, who believe marriage should be reserved for one man and one woman.

The ruling changed American history forever.

Russell Moore, President of the Ethics & Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention, urged Christians not to panic. In a blog published on The Washington Post website, Moore wrote: “The Supreme Court can do many things, but the Supreme Court cannot get Jesus back in that tomb. Jesus of Nazareth is still alive. He is still calling the universe toward his kingdom.”

Continuing, Moore said: “The church will need in the years ahead to articulate what

we believe about marriage; we cannot assume that people agree with us, or even understand us. Let’s not simply talk about marriage in terms of values or culture or human flourishing. Let’s talk about marriage the way Jesus and the apostles taught us to — as bound up with the gospel itself, a picture of the union of Christ and his church (Eph. 5:32).”

Billy Graham Evangelistic Association and Samaritan’s Purse President, Franklin Graham, said the Supreme Court does not have the authorities to redefine marriage.

“With all due respect to the court, it did not define marriage, and therefore is not entitled to re-define it,” Graham wrote on his Facebook page.

“Long before our government came into existence, marriage was created by the One who created man and woman—Almighty God— and His decisions are not subject to review or revision by any manmade court. God is clear about the definition of

Families besiege mortuary in search of 12 dead Ogun varsity students

By Daud Olatunji

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t was a hectic task for workers of Olabisi Onabanjo Teaching Hospital, Sagamu to control the crowd as families and friends of some students of Olabisi Onabanjo University (OOU), Ago-Iwoye, Ogun State, who lost their lives on the Sagamu-Benin Expressway, on Friday, besieged the hospital in search of them.

No fewer than 12 persons lost their lives when a container from a truck fell on a 14-seater commercial bus they were travelling in from Ago-Iwoye to Lagos State.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that some relatives were told by the hospital authorities that the bodies were not deposited at their morgue as reported by some media outfits.

A senior staff of the hospital, who craved for anonymity, noted that grieving family members of the victims were directed to comb private morgues within the town, saying information at his disposal had it that some bodies of victims were deposited at a private hospital mortuary.

It was further gathered that the university’s Head of Students Affairs,Professor Lekan Arikewuyo, and the Chief Security Officer, Mr. Rasheed Adekunle, were, early yesterday morning, in search of private morgues were the bodies of the victims of the accident were deposited.

marriage in His Holy Word:’Therefore a man shall leave his father and his mother and hold fast to his wife, and they shall become one flesh’ (Genesis 2:24),” Graham said.

themselves at the ICC. If it had been a case that the Clerk of the National Assembly had made an announcement and the event had been postponed or it was no longer holding, plus, the invitation, I’m sure some are asking now, what really happened?

“First of all, the PDP senators had announced to the public that they were supporting me without even meeting me because, in their own meeting, majority had decided to vote for me.

“In their own interest, strategically, they decided that, `look, this is a fait accompli’ because 30 of their own senators were going to vote for this man anyway and the remaining felt it was better to join.

“It wasn’t until 2:00am that they called us to tell us their decision . With regards to the deputy, when they told us that they had a candidate, we, too, told them we had a candidate

for Deputy Senate President in the person of Senator Ali Ndume!

“After our own meeting, it was our thinking that it was after the election of the Senate President that the two groups in APC would meet and we would agree on a candidate. We never in our imagination thought they would not turn up. By the time we got there, we were only 24 while the PDP was more than 40.

“In an election, there’s no way they would not have defeated us and that was what happened? And now, when people say it was a deal, I say that if the CNA had started the procedure in the House of Representatives first, and moved to the Senate, thereafter, today, we, the APC, would have had a deputy Senate President.”

Speaking further on the election of Ekweremadu, the Senate President said: “It is unfortunate that we have a PDP man as deputy Senate

President. It is painful. It is painful for every APC member because when we went through the struggle, that was not what we signed for. But it has happened; but it is unfortunate and it is not fair to put the blame on one side because it is a combination of errors and miscalculations that led us to have, that morning, some Senators were at another place instead of being there.

“So, to suggest that it was out of a desperate act to emerge, is what I reject completely and those who followed the events would know that I didn’t have that deal to emerge.”

When asked to speak on his rumoured ambition for 2019 presidency, Saraki noted that there were enough challenges confronting the country and not 2019, adding that those talking about the election at the moment could be described as irresponsible.

More National Assembly crisis stories at pages 6-12.

Nigeria records highest number of drug related convicts in the world — NDLEA

By Wole Mosadomi

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he National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, NDLEA, has said that Nigeria has the highest number of persons serving jail terms for drug related offences worldwide.

Mr Iweajunwa Okechukwu, NDLEA commander in the Niger State, told Journalists in Minna, the state capital, that this development has now become one of the biggest problems confronting the country today.

“All over the world, Nigerians are notorious for drug trafficking. We have the highest number of traffickers serving jail terms more than any other country in the world,” he said.

He said Government is worried about this development, hence the Theme of this year ’s drug free day is ‘Lets Develop our Lives, our Communities and our Identities without Drugs.’

Okechukwu reminded Nigerians of the recent Indonesian drug saga in which Nigerians who were involved were executed, adding that more Nigeri-

ans are also facing similar charges in some other foreign countries. This, he said, is not a good devel-

opment for the country.

He said in Niger State drug abuse is now becoming a serious issue, espe-

cially the prescription of drugs and psychotropic substances such as tramadol, rohypnol and diazepam.

Twin suicide bombers kill two in Borno

By Ndahi Harama, Maiduguri

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win suicide bombers, yesterday, suspected to be targeting a market in Molai village on the outskirts of Maiduguri, Borno State capital, detonated their explosives at the main gate of the Missionary Leprosy and General Hospital, Molai, killing two passersby.

The incident took place at about 3pm when the new market was at its peak.

Molai village is south and about 10km drive to Maiduguri along the closed down Maiduguri-Damboa- Biu Road.

An eye witness, Mallam Ali Usman, a taxi driver, told our correspondent that the “twin male suicide bombers, sighted from nearby trenches dug by military operatives, were suspected to have sneaked into the area from Sambisa forest”. He went on:

“When the bombers realized the tight security put in place around the market, they had no option than to detonate their Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) at the hospital entrance before reaching their main target.

“It would have been a deadly incident if the twin suicide bombers had entered the market that is now attracting traders and

buyers from surrounding villages and Maiduguri metropolis”.

It was learnt at press time that the bodies of the bombers and the two victims were still lying at the scene.

Efforts to get Borno State Police Commissioner, Mr. Aderemi Opadokun, for confirmation of the incident proved abortive as his cell phone was not reachable.

Shema debunks claim of N42bn debt ormer governor of Katsina State, Alhaji F Ibrahim Shehu Shema,

has debunked the claim that his administration left a debt of N42bn. He said that up to his last day in office last month, the state was not owing anybody.

The Katsina State transition committee chairman, Mustapha Muhammad Inuwa had disclosed last

week that the Shema administration left behind a debt of about N42 billion while submitting his committee’s report . The Shema Media Team, in a release at the weekend,said the claim was the figment of the imagination of the committee chairman, adding that it should be ignored.

3 roasted in Benin-Lagos road crash; motorists stranded

By Egufe Yafugborhi

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ire from two accidents involving four trucks left three person burnt beyond recognition and several cars at the Ovia River Bridge on the Benin-Lagos Road, yesterday. The incident left scores of motorists stranded.

A police officer, Samson Owanwohin, narrated that at about 9am, a second collision occurred at the spot where two tankers had earlier collided.

At the scene were policemen, fire fighters and men of the Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC, whose crane went up in flames while trying to clear the road following the first collision.

Osanwohin said, “Two tankers, one hauling a caravan container and the other, a gas tanker, first collided at the spot on the lane coming from the Ovia end of the road heading towards Benin.

“A large rescue crane of the FRSC then came trying to pull out the container carrier whose head had broken from the impact of the accident lane to block the other lane.

“The operation was going smoothly to open up the road to traffic when another tanker came came from the opposite lane and crashed into the rescue crane. The crane exploded in flames but it was the driver and two boys in the fuel tanker that crashed in that got burnt beyond recognition.”

PROTEST: Youths protesting alleged planned relocationn of Boko Haram prisoners to Anambra State in Onitsha yesterday.

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Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

BY JIDE AJANI

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his is the story of how the All Progressives Congress, APC, shot itself in the foot. Whereas some individuals, very familiar with anointing individuals to fill positions irrespective of the sensibilities and sensitivities are involved, the national stage, which has its own fervor, appears confounding. As the party – or a section of it – continues to attempt to impose its will on others, it is becoming clearer that President Muhammadu Buhari has successfully innoculated himself from the shenanigans going on in the APC in the name of party supremacy. This report will show that only a few individuals, intent on imposing their will, are responsible for the generation of heat in the polity.

BETWEEN A GUBER CANDIDATE AND NATIONAL LEADER Pin-drop silence! That was it. The encounter between one of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, APC, from Lagos, and a gubernatorial candidate of the party, who had served as minister during Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure, ended abruptly. The leader had attempted to cause the realignment of interests and expectations. Having clinched the party’s ticket in this very strong North-West state, which used to serve as capital of old Northern Region, the former minister was told to ensure that the first runner up to him should be awarded a senatorial seat as compensation. The former minister would have none of that. His explanation was that some individuals were already far afield in the campaigns for the Senate and candidates had even emerged for the three senatorial zones of the state and, therefore, substituting another candidate with the loser in another different contest would go against the grain of natural justice, adding that such a voyage in autocracy comes with the consequence of disrupting the activities of the party.

To that explanation, the APC stalwart charged, invoking his status as a big man in the party that must be respected.

The former minister, known for his principled firmness, charged back: “Please, this is not your state in the South West where you people fix things. What do you know about the politics of our state that it would now be within your remit to determine who goes for what? Please stop it!”

End of discussion.

PARTY LEADERS, WHAT DO YOU WANT? The crisis in the National Assembly is nothing but the internal battle for the control of the party which produced majority of members. After performing beyond its wildest imagination in the last general elections by winning the Presidency and taking control of the National Assembly, APC is just experiencing the reality of the wise saying that when hunters go on a joint expedition, the rigours of the hunting exercise cannot be as tedious as that of sharing their spoils.

Information available to Sunday Vanguard suggests that, early last year, when the APC was going for its national convention in Abuja to elect national officers, there was an informal attempt by its leaders to share different offices or, at least, ask the major protagonists what position each of them was interested in.

While it was obvious that the then General Muhammadu Buhari was interested in the Presidency, others like Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Alhaji Musa Kwakwanso and Chief Rochas Okorocha also indicated interest in the nation’s number one position.

Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the respected leader of the party, who many were expecting to take the Senate Presidency,

•Buhari

•Oyegun

•Tinubu

WHO ARE THE LEADERS OF APC?

Daylight in their magic

•The Saraki, Dogara resistance •Greed, treachery, ambition as catalysts

•Atiku

said he and the South West wanted the Vice Presidency.

Dr Abubakar Bukola Saraki was asked whether he was still interested in the Presidency as he contested for the same position in 2011. He declined and stated clearly that he wanted to return to the Senate and that he was interested in the Senate Presidency. All that was last year!

VOICE OF JACOB, HAND OF ESAU Pulling the strings from outside, the permutations, which went awry and which may tear down APC, are symptomatic of an individual directing the affairs of a political party.

Today, Buhari is President. Tinubu, after failing to get the Vice Presidency for himself because of the Muslim/Muslim issue, has given the position to his loyalist, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

In fact, it would be recalled that but for the enfant terrible, Femi Fani-Kayode, who

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SUND AY SUNDA

•House of Reps rowdy scenes

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

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here is no doubt that the All Progressives Congress, APC, is the ruling party and the mantra of change has been in the air before the March 28 and April 11 general elections. But the way the party has carried out its activities, especially in the sharing of political positions, has created opposition within the party.

The intra-party squabble has now raised questions on whether this is really the change the party promised before the elections as it appears it is unable to manage the victory it recorded at the polls.

It has been argued in some quarters that some members whose interest was to chase the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, out of power are now in supremacy tussle over who controls the party.

In the National Assembly, the ego problem and attempts to hijack the leadership by some party chieftains are tearing the party apart and, at the same time, portraying the rejected PDP in the general elections to appear better coordinated.

The show of shame, exhibited by those that go with the title, honourable, in the House of Representatives, on Thursday, has left a sour taste in the mouths of many Nigerians who have high hopes and expectations from the party.

However, for those who have been watching events as they unfold since the APC won elections, it was not a surprising thing. Some analysts say the problem bedevilling the party is individual interest, greed and power drunkenness. According to them, some APC bigwigs seem bent on having their way irrespective of the consequence on the party and the nation.

The problem with the APC, many believe, is how to manage victory and the area of concentration in the supremacy war is the National Assembly.

The uproar of Thursday was the consequences of the June 9 inauguration of the 8th assembly where saw a high wire power inter play and those who were bruised appear to be completely out to fight to the end, while those who were victorious are also

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 7

APC

and the war without end doing everything possible to protect the victory.

As a prelude to the drama that played out in the House of Representatives which snowballed to physical fight, head booting and a move to hijack the mace, three geopolitical zones had, on Wednesday, raised the alarm on the plan by the national leadership of the APC to shoot them out of the political equation.

The North Central, which claims to have about 40 APC lawmakers in the lower chamber of the National Assembly, had, while addressing journalists, said the leadership of the ruling party had perfected plans contrary to the Constitution provision on federal character.

This was also the same complaint by the South East APC Caucus in the House of Representatives. The zone, though with two members, alleged that the national leadership of the APC had perfected plans to exclude them from the sharing of principal positions in the Green Chamber.

However, there was no inkling that the alarm was going to generate to an unpalatable and tumultuous scene the next day. But, behold, on the floor of the House was pandemonium, and some lawmakers turned themselves to wrestlers and boxers, kicking and head booting opponents.

Immediately after the Speaker, Hon. Yakubu Dogara, was through with the opening rituals and called for a motion for a closed-door session to trash out issues in the executive session, heaven was let loose as some members loyal to the party leadership and Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila from, Lagos State, who was the adopted candidate of the party for the Speaker, started raising point of order and shouting that Dogara should read the letter from the leadership of the party with names of nominated officers to fill the vacant positions of the leader, deputy leader, chief whip and deputy whip.

As confusion took over proceedings, some members went for the mace, the symbol of authority and leadership in the house to grab it, but their efforts were thwarted perhaps by those Continues on page 8

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Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

APC and the war without end Continued from page 7

suspected to be loyal to the Speaker who put up strong resistance to protect the mace before the seargentsat-arms managed to take it to safety. An unconfirmed account has it that before the chaos, some of the APC lawmakers had met where the decision was taken that if the Speaker did not read the letter from the party’s leadership, nothing would work. Besides, to avoid what happened in the Senate where the Senate President, Dr. Bukola Saraki, turned blind eye to the nominees from the party for principal offices and went ahead to read those of the caucuses, the members ensured that there was no room for such to happen.

The APC members, also to confirm that they were ready to disrupt the proceedings if the letter was not ready, had also come with placards with the inscription, ‘Party is more supreme’, and even some shouting on top of their voices for the Speaker to read the letter.

National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Oyegun, had, in the letter to the Speaker, listed the names of four House members to occupy the principal offices.

According to the letter, Gbajabiamila was nominated to occupy the position of leader and he is from South West zone with the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Yussuf Lasun; Hon Alhassan Ado Doguwa, from North West, for deputy leader; while Hon. M.T. Mongunu, who was the party’s candidate for speakership, was nominated to be the Chief Whip.

Mongunu is from the North East like the Speaker, while Hon. Pally Iriase, from South-South, was nominated to be the Deputy Whip.

For the PDP members, who appeared to be enjoying the drama, they were chanting, ‘APC shame’, repeatedly.

The crisis brought to a halt proceedings for about two hours until Gbajabiamila left his seat and conferred with the Speaker. The discussion was not made public.

Gbajabiamila, who appeared to have made peace with Dogara at the height of the crisis told Sunday Vanguard when asked what he told the Speaker that that appeared to have contributed in bringing normalcy simply said that it was his secret.

After the restoration of normalcy, the Speaker told members to remember their primary responsibility as

•War in the House

The House Adhoc Committee on Information and Publicity, after the rowdy session, while speaking with journalists, apologised on behalf of the parliament to Nigerians lawmakers.

The House Adhoc Committee on Information and Publicity, after the rowdy session, while speaking with journalists, apologised on behalf of the parliament to Nigerians.

Chairman of the Committee, Hon. Sani Zoro, with Hon. Jarigbe Agor Jarigbe, explained that the Speaker had called for the House to dissolve into an executive session before some members decided to throw caution to the wind and disrupted the proceedings.

But the APC caucus loyal to the party’s leadership, during their own briefing, accused the Speaker of disloyalty to the party, saying he was responsible

for what happened because he refused to read the letter.

The spokesman for the group, Hon. Nasiru Sani Zangon Daura, representing Zango/Baure Federal Constituency, Katsina State, said what happened during the plenary was in reaction to the alleged illegal and unconstitutional action taken

by Dogara.

He said it was the usual tradition of total disregard for the wishes of the majority members of the APC caucus, the party itself and the spirit of the APC by the Speaker.

But the PDP members called on President Muhammadu Buhari to call members of the APC in the House, who he described as rioters, to order.

Leader of the PDP caucus, Hon. Leo Ogor, said what happened was unparliamentary and that, from the minority position, it was important to put the facts before the public.

Ogor noted that in every democracy, the majority will always have their way and the minority will have their say, adding, “When elections were conducted, that election was very transparent and Dogara emerged.

“As Speaker, he is no more a Speaker of APC; he is a Speaker of the House of Representatives; he is guided by the 1999 Constitution and our oath of allegiance stipulates very clearly that we will respect the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria without fear or favour ”.

Speaking in an interview with Sunday Vanguard, an APC member from Imo State, Hon. Chike Okafor

said, “I am not quite pleased with what happened today (Thursday).

But my displeasure is mitigated by the fact that I also know that our democracy is evolving and that my displeasure is further mitigated by the fact that our party the APC is barely three years old and has found itself in the saddle of leadership of the nation and the leadership of the National Assembly at the same time”.

On the way forward, Okafor, who represents Okigwe South Federal Constituency, said, “I would advise that the leadership of the two chambers goes back to the party and the party should begin to look at it not from the point of view of personal benefits for some persons or some sections of the country.

“The party should look at it from the nationalistic point of view that Nigeria is an entity that is constitutionally divided into six zones and the Constitution recognises the federal character and of course it didn’t stop there, the government also went ahead to create Federal Character Commission.

“That means that in the sharing of political offices, each geopolitical zone should be carried along. I don’t know what happened in the Red Chambers, but I can tell you that what the party has done in the distribution of the remaining offices in the House of Representatives, leaves out one or two geopolitical zones and at the same time, one or two geopolitical zones are taking home more than one positions at the same time.

“If you want to go to equity, you should go with clean hands, I am not sure that the party has gone to equity in this case with clean hands. So, when you go to equity without clean hands, what you meet is chaos, what you meet is crisis, what you meet is resentment”.

Also speaking, a ranking member of the house and PDP member from Cross River State, Hon. Bassey Ewa, said that what happened clearly showed that the leadership of the APC lacked the political will and direction.

Ewa explained that the Speaker called a member to move a motion for executive session which was in line with the rules of the House when the leadership feels that there is an issue to be disclosed in close door.

According to him, “We can call for an executive session and even when the majority of the members feel there is an issue to be discussed, they can approach the leadership of the House for an executive session to be called.

“That is what transpired today, as a member who was nominated to move motion for executive session did that, some members started shouting point of order from the APC flank and went for the mace of the House.

“For some of us that is not what is expected by an honourable member elected by his people to represent them in the hallow chambers of the House of Representatives, things must be done according to order if their party is talking about bringing a change”.

On how to resolve the crisis, he said, “These are purely party matters. I have been here for about nine years now, the role of who leads the party is decided by the caucuses.

With the way things are going, it will take time for complete normalcy to return to the House in as much as the party leadership tries to have its way. It will be difficult for strange bed fellows to share the same vision as there will be acrimony and suspicion if the House is not allowed to choose its principal officers.

Besides, some zones that appear to be excluded have vowed to use all legitimate means to ensure that the right thing is done. It things are the party is facing war without end and the only solution is for external influence to hands off the activities of the House.

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 9

Continued from page 6 raised the alarm about the dangers of having a Muslim/ Muslim presidential ticket, the APC may have blinded itself to the sensibilities of people of other faiths.

Indeed, even after the alarm had been raised, Buhari, being the straight-faced person that he is, said in an interview with The Cable, an online medium, that left to him, he did not see any thing too bad in a Muslim/Muslim ticket. It had to take the rambunctious Obasanjo to warn the APC of making such a grievous mistake. That was how that thought perished.

Meanwhile, it was Tinubu who influenced the emergence of John Oyegun as APC Chairman.

Now, after the election, a wing of the APC, ostensibly headed by Tinubu, went to town with the story that Saraki is too independent-minded and cannot be controlled. Buhari was also informed of this.

They argued further that the former Kwara State governor is ambitious and already interested in the 2019 presidential race and, therefore, should not be trusted with the power of the Senate Presidency.

The new plot is hinged on the fact that after controlling the party and the Presidency, the next plan is to move into the legislature and fill its leadership with acolytes.

That was why Senator George Akume was first introduced as the APC candidate for Senate Presidency because it had earlier been agreed that the position will be zoned to the North Central geo-political zone.

When the Akume candidacy fell flat on its face, a new case was made for the position to be zoned to the North East.

Enter Senator Ahmed Lawan as the ‘perfect candidate’ for the position. Unfortunately, Lawan is seen by some as lacking support among his colleagues and has no personal charisma or network to aid the schemes by his sponsor.

Saraki, David Mark, Ali Ndume, Danjuma Goje, Joshua Dariye, like most senators and representatives, had argued that the National Assembly members should be allowed to elect their leaders. Saraki made it clear to the entire world that, as a democrat, he will put himself forward for election as President of the Eight Senate and he will respect the decision of his colleagues on the floor of the Senate.

Historically, leaders of the National Assembly chosen for the members have never lasted.

The cesspit of fallen leaders has Evan Enwerem, Imam Salisu Buari, Adolphus Wabara, Patricia Etteh. Only leaders chosen by members or senators have tended to do well and last long, except Chuba Okadigbo, who himself played a major part in his impeachment as Senate President in 2001.

The rest is history.

WHO ARE THE LEADERS OF APC? Sunday Vanguard learnt that some leaders of the party are already kicking and raising fresh

The Saraki, Dogara resistance

•Saraki and Dogara alarm. The likes of Atiku, Sani Yerima, Kabiru Gaya, Audu Ogbeh and some others are already questioning the appellation ‘PARTY SUPREMACY’.

One of these leaders asked and demanded an answer to this question: “Who and what constitute party leadership? Is the party leadership just Tinubu, Chief Bisi Akande, Alhaji Lai Mohammed and Mala Bunu?

This section of APC leadership has blackmailed the only voice of moderation in the APC headquarters, Chief John OdigieOyegun, by accusing him of collecting bribe”.

This allegation appears very wild because the quality of Oyegun that made him the preferable choice over Tom Ikimi was his integrity. Therefore, when did that key quality of his persona denitrify?

Another question: What manner of APC leadership exists without the inclusion of President Muhammadu Buhari? This selective and exclusive leadership without these eminent party leaders appears to be the one insisting that after losing the battle to impose the National Assembly officials, the entire legislature should be crumbled.

ONCE UPON AN AD, AC AND ACN! This same tactic was employed over a decade ago to destroy the leadership of their previous parties - AD, AC and ACN - in order to take control.

At several instances and interview sessions, Chiefs Ayo Adebanjo, Olaniwun Ajayi, and others have told and retold the story of the history of ‘respect for party leadership’ as it relates to those who are now championing the concept.

APC’s SELF-INFLICTED DAMAGE What appeared to have happened on the Senate

Historically, leaders of the National Assembly chosen for the members have never lasted

inauguration day was that Saraki teamed up with the PDP senators and about eight from the APC to get the position at a time that about 51 other members of the APC were at the International Conference Centre, Abuja to attend a meeting with Buhari.

“As part of the trade-off by Senator Saraki, Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the PDP was elected Deputy Senate President.

Not a few wondered how a man could have stabbed his own party in the back the way Senator Saraki did, just to realize his ambition”. This is the claim.

However, upon closer scrutiny, the APC may have just been lucky not to have conceded a bigger blunder.

The 49 PDP senators in the chambers could also have

nominated David Mark. With their numerical superiority, Mark would have won before the other APC senators stormed the chambers.

Also ignored is the fact that Lawan, the candidate of the section of the party leadership which claimed that it is representing the APC, enjoyed the support of only 27 senators out of the available 108.

Thus, the so-called meeting purportedly convened by the President at the ICC, but which the Presidency has denied, was planned by the same section of the party leadership which now flagrantly used the name of ‘the party’ to legitimize its scheme.

The plan was to use the gathering, with the presence of Buhari, to railroad and coerce the senators and Representatives to go and rubber stamp its decisions.

That Buhari was not in the full know of what was going to happen at that meeting, sources in the presidency told Sunday Vanguard, “was itself an act of treachery and insult on the person of Mr. President; but providence and the mature disposition of the President on the matter, coupled with what appears to be the will of God at the moment, led to what happened.”

To buttress his point that Buhari was kept in the dark, the source pointed out: If it is true that President Buhari conveyned the meeting at ICC by 9a.m., how come that by 10. 05 a.m. when the Senate began sitting on the strength of the proclamation issued by the same President stating that the inauguration should be done by 10a.m. same day, Buhari had not arrived the venue of the meeting at ICC which they claimed he convened? Or why did he not send another letter contrary to the first letter he sent the previous weekend?”

It is worthy of note that APC

members present in the Senate chamber on the inaugural day fielded Senator Ali Ndume for the position of Deputy Senate President and voted for him but were defeated by the 49 PDP senators who were all present as against the 25 APC senators present. Those who kept APC senators from the chamber and did not realise that they ought to change the time on the presidential proclamation sent to the Clerk, made Ekweremadu the Deputy Senate President by default.

It should be noted that if the Clerk of the National Assembly had conducted the elections of the leadership of the House of Representatives before that of the Senate, the House of Representatives would have ended up with a PDP Deputy Speaker as it happened in the Senate. The two hours the Clerk spent conducting the election in the Senate before he started that of the House of Representatives saved the day in the House as it allowed APC members to return from the aborted meeting to the House chamber. Otherwise, the PDP would have been in the majority on the floor in of the House in the absence of the APC members.

Some leaders of the APC feel comfortable using the name of the President to pursue a personal agenda. They appear to be ready to sacrifice the stability of the Eight Senate for their narrow interest of enthroning stooges as leaders against the wishes of the senators and members of the House.

After losing in the contest for the Senate Presidency and that of his deputy, the battle shifted to the selection of other principal officers - Majority Leader, Chief Whip and their deputies.

Sunday Vanguard is aware that the convention since 1999 is for the senators from the various zones to elect the occupants of the office allocated to their zones.

Both Section 60 of the Constitution and the Senate Rule speak about the occupants of the positions coming from the party with the majority not that they should be selected by the party.

This time around, the same group of leaders chose to twist the Senate Rule and Convention to smuggle in their choices into the leadership of the Senate.

For example, they deprived the South-South of their due slot and then gave the North Central more than its fair share by adding the Deputy Majority Leader to the Senate Presidency it already has.

HOW NORTH-EAST SENATORS REJECTED LAWAN In the interest of peace and reconciliation, some senators actually worked and begged for the emergence of Lawan as Majority Leader.

Both at the APC caucus meeting last Wednesday and the various meetings of the North-East caucus, some senators, including Saraki, lobbied for Lawan to be accepted as the Majority Leader.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that Lawan was roundly rejected by 10 out of the 12 senators from

Continues on page 11

PAGE 10 —SUND AY —SUNDA

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

agencies, was leading to

It’s ‘overbearing’ ruling party versus peoples’ representatives

BY HENRY UMORU

O

n June 9, members of the National Assembly, particularly the Senate, put aside political affiliation to elect their leaders. Some of them defied their party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. A former governor of Kwara State, Senator Bukola Saraki, emerged the President of the Senate.

Whereas Saraki, representing Kwara Central, is of the ruling APC, Senator Ike Ekweremadu of the opposition PDP, surprisingly emerged Deputy Senate President, defeat- ing Senator Ali Ndume of the APC. The Senator President pledged that he would be guided by the enormity of the responsibilities that the national challenge had imposed on everybody while, at the same time, strive to be just, equitable and fair to all.

As the Senate resumed plenary on Wednesday, June 10, Saraki administered the oath of office and allegiance on the 28 APC lawmakers who were absent at the inauguration of the 8th Senate.

Immediately thereafter, the senators protested and even threatened to sue him over the process that produced him and Ekweremadu as President and Deputy President of the Senate respectively.

The group, numbering 51, loyal to Senator Ahmed Lawan, who had been

nominated for the President of the Senate by the APC leadership and had been at a meeting with President Buhari at the time Saraki and Ekweremadu emerged as Senate leaders, staged a walkout after being ruled out of order by the Senate President. Drama unfolded on the Senate floor when attempts made by Senators Kabiru Marafa (APC, Zamfara Central) and Barnabas Gemade (APC Benue North East) to get Saraki to reconsider the process that brought him into office through breaches of the privileges of the 51 APC senators that were shut out of the election.

Thereafter, the proLawan senators, led by Gemade, under the aegis of the Unity Forum, at a media briefing, accused the Clerk of the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa, of carrying out an illegality with the election of Saraki as Senate President when only 57 out of 108 senatorselect across party divides were around. They vowed to contest the process in the court of law.

But sensing that the ruling APC may explode, the APC National Chairman, Chief John Oyegun, threw his weight behind the emergence of Saraki as the President of the Senate, adding that the reality was that Saraki’s colleagues had duly elected him and the party was ready to live with the reality.

By last Thursday when the Senate President clocked 17 days in office, he had made germane statements concerning the economy,

The deadlock in the Senate over the choice of leaders and whips of the APC rumbled on with the senators elected on the platform of APC coming to near blows at a forum to choose their officers

politics, international relations, oil sector, revenue allocation, allowance for

lawmakers.

During the visit of some civil society groups under the aegis of Civil Society Situation Room, led by Sir Clement Nwankwo, Saraki attributed alleged corruption at the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, to what he termed “lack of operational budget”, saying such an era where there was deliberate nonprovision of operation budget for agencies of government to function was over.

According to him, nonprovision of operational budget for most agencies, especially income generating

“serious leakages.”

He disclosed that the 1999 Constitution Amendment Bill, the 2011 Electoral Act Amendment Bill, as well as the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, which were either passed by the last National Assembly or refused assent by former President Goodluck Jonathan would be given attention as soon as the Senate resumes from break.

Also during the visit of a delegation of the British High Commission led by the High Commissioner, Andrew Pocock, the envoy assured that the UK will work closely with the Nigerian government in ensuring good governance at all levels.

When he received the United States of America (USA) Ambassador to Nigeria, James Entwistle, in his office, the President of the Senate restated the hope of a brighter Nigeria and reiterated his commitment to enacting legislation that would sustain an investmentfriendly atmosphere with the view to bringing the country out of its current economic downturn.

Also during the visit of the Managing Director, Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC), Osagie Okunbor, Senator Bukola Saraki reiterated the commitment of the Senate towards the passage of the Petroleum Industry Bills (PIB) through intensive dialogue that will address the bottleneck which made the bill recalcitrant.

The Senate President equally admitted oath of office and allegiance on former Kano State governor, Senator Rabiu Kwankwaso, Kano Central.

To take off effectively, Saraki made his first official appointments, naming Senator Isa Galaudu as his Chief of Staff.

In a statement signed by the Deputy Clerk to the National Assembly, Benedith Efeturi, Saraki also appointed Yusuph Adesola Olaniyonu as his Special Adviser, Media.

Also during the period

under review, the deadlock in the Senate over the choice of leaders and whips of the APC rumbled on with the senators elected on the platform of APC coming to near blows at a forum to choose their officers.

Problem started when a returning senator from Ondo State said the ruling APC would not dictate to senators, saying the party’s nominee would not have emerged as Chief Whip if the vote was left to the South-West senators to decide. He was said to have suggested Senator Ajayi Boroffice for the post. This angered Senator Kabiru Marafa, Zamfara Central. It was at this point that the two senators in different camps went for one another’s jugular before some

colleagues rushed to separate them.

Saraki, while declaring open the meeting of the APC senators, had said, “I appeal to you all to let us do those things that will unite us than to those that will divide us. I am ready and desirous, as colleagues to work with all of you in order to provide that focused leadership in the Senate and National Assembly as an institution”.

Last week, the jostle to fill the principal officers in the red chamber also tore the APC apart.

The ruling party has these positions: Senate Majority Leader; Deputy Majority Leader; Senate Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip while the opposition PDP has the Senate Minority Leader, Deputy Minority Leader; Senate Minority Whip and Deputy Minority Whip.

The APC nominees were as follows: Senate Majority Leader (North east-Senator Ahmad Lawan); Deputy Majority Leader (North central-Senator George Akume); Senate Chief Whip (South west-Senator Olusola Adeyeye) and Deputy Chief Whip (North west-Senator Abu Ibrahim).

For the PDP, it was gathered that its caucus would push forward the immediate last Chairman, Senate Committee on Niger Delta and Senator representing Delta South, Senator James Manager for the position of Minority leader; the immediate past Senate Committee Chairman on Power and Senator representing the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Philip Tanimu Aduda for Deputy Minority leader; former Governor of Plateau State and senator representing Plateau Central, Joshua Dariye as Minority Whip and former Vice Chairman, Senate Committee on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters and Senator representing Gombe South, Joshua Lidani for deputy Minority Whip.

Again, the pro-Saraki senators defied the APC leadership to come up with lawmakers loyal to them to fill four principal offices.

At the end of the day, Senator Ali Ndume (Borno, North east) was favoured as Senate Majority Leader, Senator Bala Ibn Na’Allah, a first timer in the Senate, but a two-term member of the House of Representatives from Kebbi State got the position of Deputy Senate Leader while Senator Olusola Adeyeye, from S/ West, was favoured as the candidate for Senate Chief Whip and his deputy was the only Senator from the South south, Francis Alimikhana, Edo North.

Meanwhile, the Senate has suspended plenary till July 21.

SUND AY SUNDA

BY LEVINUS NWABUGHIOGU

W

orried by the emergence of a new power block in the party, they decided to wade in. But that step escalated things.

This is the inside story of eight All Progressives Congress, APC’s governors whose actions cost Senators Ahmed Lawan and George Akume their ambitions to become the Senate President and further compounded the crisis in the 8th National Assembly Their coming was both sudden and suspicious. No one had an inkling of it or of the meeting with the National Chairman of the party, Chief John Oyegun. But in apparent determination to deliver, eight governors of All Progressives Congress, APC, left the Presidential Villa where they had a meeting with President Mohammadu Buhari on the state of the economy and stormed the national secretariat of the party in Abuja on Tuesday. Their mission? To deliver a list of names of candidates for Senate Majority Leader, Deputy Majority Leader, Chief Whip and Deputy Chief Whip. There was also a list for the House of Representatives.

They had written a script and only needed to route it through Oyegun as the APC’s position.

They didn’t come to seek his opinion but to pass it on. That was a foist, a command, an intimidation and definitely not a plea. Now, who are these people? Senators Ahmed Lawan, George Akume, Sola Adeyeye and Abu Ibrahim.

In case you don’t know, Lawan and Akume were the same persons who were fielded by the party for Senate presidency and deputy Senate presidency. But they were

SARAKI, DOGARA

Eight APC govs’ misstep

roundly defeated in the elections, nay, they were not at the palace on coronation day.

And in their desperation to be at the Senate leadership cadre, the party’s forces brought them back.

But the foist was a bitter pill Oyegun could swallow. In fact, were it not for self restraint, he would have resigned as the National Chairman of the party. Why? Because the governors acted against the principles of good faith and justice. This is according to insider ’s information which Sunday Vanguard was privy to.

For Oyegun, nothing was wrong with the governors distributing the remaining offices amongst the geopolitical zones but attaching names and stamping them, willy nilly, was not it. To him, a friendly negotiation with the new leaders of the National Assembly in the interest of peace would have suffice but that was not the kind of gospel the governors needed to hear and so insisted on their list. Whose instructions were they following?

Meanwhile on the mission were Comrade Adams

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 11

Oshiomhole (Edo), Tanko AlMakura (Nasarawa), Mallam Nasir El-Rufai (Kaduna), Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Abubakar Sani Bello (Niger), Senator Abiola Ajimobi (Oyo), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi) and Abubukar Badaru (Jigawa).

Anybody who has been following what is now degenerating into a cul de sac in the APC on the periphery would be in a haste to crucify Oyegun. Recall that the National Deputy Publicity Secretary of the party, Comrade Timi Frank, on the heels of the election, that brought Dr. Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara as the Senate President and Speaker, House of Representatives respectively called for the National Chairman’s resignation.

Chief among the reasons Frank cited was the mock election conducted by APC that produced Lawan and Akume as the official candidates of the party in the Senate elections.

Frank had pricked Oyegun, asking why he would cave in to pressure to conduct the straw poll against the wishes of the majority members of the party.

To him, Oyegun compromised.

And that was one mistake that denied APC the office of the Deputy Senate President.

But current issues playing out in the party have exonerated Oyegun whom some people had wanted to take the fall for it. Sunday Vanguard scooped that all along, Oyegun had been under pressure to do the bidding of the powerful in the APC but he has fought hard to do what is both justifiably and justiciable.

But the process that enthroned him as the national Chairman has been his albatross. He had been trading

cautiously not to offend the “gods”. However at the moment, it does appear things are being stretched to their elastic limit, forcing the hands of Oyegun.

Worst of it all is that, critics of the Chairman had been accused of distancing himself from the interests of the hands that fed him just to smear him.

But many people believe that making Oyegun a scapegoat is an idea that is dead on arrival.

Now, the bubble has burst. The governors have failed and failed woefully, compounding the woes of the party. Who will save APC? Buhari to the rescue Not many hailed the decision of President Mohammadu Buhari to give a free hand to the National Assembly in electing their leaders. Even before the inauguration of the 8th Assembly, he repeatedly said he had no interest in anyone for any position.

Perhaps, this helped in the election of Saraki and Dogara.

With the show of shame at the House of Reps on Thursday, will Buhari sustain his silence especially now that the governors have goofed? The President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu answered: “Well, with the event of today (Thursday), I don’t know whether he will continue to be silent. But I know that as of two nights ago when he met with the governors, they are the ones who advised him to remain silent, that they will handle it.

But with what we have today, I don’t know if the governors will not advise him to come or they can still handle it. I don’t know.”

‘Greed, treachery, ambition as catalysts’ Continued from page 9 the zone. Surprisingly, his sponsors refused to intervene and compel other senators from the North East to accept him.

Information available suggests that the Senate President had delayed the announcement of the new Senate principal officers to leave room for the North East caucus to shift ground and accept Lawan. Yet, the senator who wanted to lead the entire Senate could not convince Lawan’s colleagues from his zone to accept him.

Saraki clearly read out letters from the zonal caucuses nominating the senators for various positions. The letters were supported by list of senators who signed to support the content. It was obvious that the parliamentary procedure did not support the Senate president reading a letter from the party chairman on a matter concerning only a caucus of the Senate. The appropriate procedure is for the party Chairman to write the leader of his party’s caucus. The

without question.

•APC leaders discussing the way forward caucus can then adopt the contents of the letter and write the Senate President on the issue. At that point, the Senate President will have no option than to make the announcement of the contents of the letter open to senators.

However, the APC knew majority of its caucus members were opposed to the contents of its letter.

The only equivalent of that action would have been APC writing Buhari, listing the names of all ministers as chosen by the party and insisting that the President should adopt it.

Likewise, the APC leadership may want to direct its state chairmen to submit the list of all commissioners to its Governors, with a directive that the Governors must adopt the list

WORKING TOGETHER Eventually, the list of principal officers released showed that the two Senate groups, Unity Forum and Like Minds, shared the positions equally. Both Sola Adeyeye, the Chief Whip, and Ibn Na Allah are members of the Unity Forum supporting Lawan while Ali Ndume, the Majority Leader, and Frank Alimikhena are members of the Like Minds.

It is heartwarming that even the so-called leadership of the party conceded that Saraki enjoys support across party lines because majority of the senators believe in his capacity and capability to protect the independence of the legislature and nurture the principle of separation of powers which undergirds the presidential system. The option left to both sides is to reconcile and work together.

None definitely has the figure to remove the other. The Senate President, however, is expected to constitute committees and the

Senate will move on to serious issues.

JOHN STUART MILL ON AMBITION AND POWER In John Stuart Mill’s PRINCIPLES OF POLITICAL ECONOMY, we are made to understand that human improvement has no tendency to correct the intensely selfish feelings engendered by power.

In Mill’s estimation, which is the warped and bleached version of the modus operandi of the Wantoks of Papua New Guinea – the Wantoksare the ‘big men’ who accumulate state resources any which way and then redistribute via patronizing schemes that keep their people in perpetual servitude - a paradigm that appears to be creeping into the politics of a wing of the APC, politicians will need to learn the lesson that the welfare of a nation must rest on the justice and judicious selfdetermination of its citizens – and, by extension, party members.

PAGE 12 —SUND AY —SUNDA

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

Unveiling the APC power game

BY SHERIFF GARBA

T

he All Progressives Congress (APC) bridge of change is gradually undergoing avoidable turbulence at the federal level and nobody seems to be in control at the centre except one, two or three ambitious northerners camouflaging individual interests as those of the entire country. And without equivocation, the avoidable leadership squabble in the National Assembly must have emanated from the antics of these men who have stayed long enough in the corridors of have now forgotten that they

have nothing more to contribute to the country but trouble.

The unraveling power game, though unnecessary, is a testimony to the need for the altruistic leadership of the ruling party to think deeply now about how to rescue the party from imminent perdition from inordinately ambitious members.

And the sad truth is that the buck stops on President Muhammadu Buhari’s table as leader of the party; he must do something to guarantee party supremacy that governors under the platform are demanding.

Now that the party with the ‘change’ mantra has mounted the saddle, what Nigerians are being subjected to is another theatre of the absurd as senators’ and Reps are in leadership contest. The man at the heart of the bout is Dr Bukola Saraki who won the Senate Presidency through subterfuge in an election that deliberately ensured that half of senators were disenfranchised.

This development has kept mouths agape while pundits are wondering if the defiance to party order by Saraki was not without the backing of powerful elements within the fold. Saraki had gone ahead to defy the party on the list of other principal officers of the red chamber. Speaker Dogara equally played the Saraki game in the appointment of principal officers for the House of Representatives.

Some observers have pointed out that ordinarily what transpired on the day Saraki was elected in cahoot with the opposition PDP is nothing but a betrayal of the APC and what it stands for. How can the party

mantra, are already scheming to succeed him in 2019 by putting up structures in the legislature and the states and also preparing

Some observers have pointed out that ordinarily what transpired on the day Saraki was elected in cahoot with the opposition PDP is nothing but a betrayal of the APC and what it stands for that produced the presidency make meaningful change in a National Assembly with the leadership that allied with the opposition which the electorate worked assiduously to send out of power during the last elections?

Others argue along the same line saying that despite the political inadequacies of Buhari, some northerners, who ought to help him achieve the ‘change’

ground, even though pretending to be the president’s loyalists, to dismember the APC before returning to the PDP stronger to possibly take over power.

One of such northerners, a former chieftain of PDP and AC, but now in APC,occupied a top position under the Obasanjo administration.

Pandits pointed in the direction of his recent press release that needlessly distanced him from the shenanigans called election in the Senate that produced Saraki as Senate-president contrary to the position of the ruling APC. This position must have been given impetus by an earlier release by the APC chieftain’s media office moments after Saraki was elected in a controversial manner and at a time other respectable leaders of the party were still at a cross road over the abracadabra that happened in the red chamber..

Some moments after the Senate election, he congratulated Saraki and Dogara. As a northerner, I consider it an irreconcilable

hypocrisy for the chieftain to believe that irrespective of the political mix through which the presiding officers emerged, even if it means that the PDP is directly in control, the 8th National Assembly would not lose focus of its role as a partner in progress with the other arms of government, especially the executive arm.

It would not be wrong to agree with some observers that see his calling on those that collaborated with the PDP to shortchange APC to ‘see their elections beyond the narrow interests of respective political parties’ as a signal of his plan to gather more followers across party divide to buy into his future presidential ambition which many believe he plans to pursue by 2019.

Further to the fact that there is no rumour without an iota of truth behind is the content of his second release which tried futilely to dispel the notion that his target was how to dislodge the current presidency in 2019.

In that release, he dispelled the insinuation that he has anything to do with the avoidable tussle in the Senate despite admitting that it is correct for individuals or groups

to seek to pursue their interest

even if such is in defiance of party principle and resolution and can break down chain of discipline.

For instance, in a situation where a party man’s ambition contradicts that of the political party that gives him the mandate, this top APC chieftain did not tell Nigerians how that can benefit and sustain our democracy or promote equity, fair play and justice. To him, supremacy of the party can be sacrificed simply because, according to him: “In politics, it is a mistake to expect fixed outcomes.” No wonder that he has not said a word about the latest defiance to party directives

by Saraki and Dogara.

Simply because Buhari, in his wisdom, maintains an apolitical stance on the democracy of ambush that happened at the Senate that tallies with the mindset of the particular APC chieftain, he has gleefully announced to the world: ‘On this, I stand with President Buhari.’

Will he still be standing with the president in the next three years or is his loyalty with him in as much as he feigns non-concern to measures he and his team are taking to dislodge the president

from power?

In his usual way of playing politics of divide and rule, he has infiltrated the rank and file of the party. Just recently, the APC, under the aegis of the Chairmen’s Forum under the leadership of its Acting Chairman, Alhaji Umar Haruna Muhammed of Kano State, after supposed four days of deliberation in Abuja, noted: “We are urging all the aggrieved National Assembly members to embrace dialogue and the re-conciliatory moves championed by Mr. President, and the national leadership of our party, for the sake of national interest and APC”.

The question to ask the group is, how can you have time to pursue national interest in the midst of unleashing detrimental parochial interest and infliction of injustice against elements in the party?

The direction that the Saraki clique in the Senate, with the obvious covert backing of the northern APC leader, will only dump the nation in a cul-desac that may act as catalyst for denying Nigerians the much expected change. This urge for inordinate ambition will only batter beyond recognition the APC and the Buhari brand.

The president can only be a victim of his dangerous apathy to serious issues of politics.

Where is the national interest that they claimed was being pursued in this instance? May God save the country from politicians without conscience! *Garba is a political scientist and lives in Asokoro, Abuja.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 13

APC leaders are poor students of history — Senator Roland Owei

•’We will expose PDP big wigs who betrayed Jonathan if ...’

•Senator Rowland Owie

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM, BENIN CITY

S

enator Rowland Owie is a former Chief Whip of the Senate and a chieftain of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). In this interview, Owie speaks on the crisis in the National Assembly, faulting the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for picking principal officers for the lawmakers.

He admonishes the APC leadership to embrace the new leaders of the National Assembly to give President Muhammadu Buhari the right atmosphere to fulfil his promises to the people.

Owie attributes the failure of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to win the March 28 presidential election to betrayal on the part of some PDP leaders while alleging dictatorial tendencies of people close to former President Goodluck Jonathan.

He hints on how the next governor of Edo State will emerge in 2016. He acknowledges that the APC government of Adams Oshiomhole has done better than PDP former administrations.

How do you react to the crisis in the National Assembly?

I would not have commented because I will be telling the APC what to do, but, as a major stakeholder in the Nigerian project, I am particularly a Catholic Knight that has obligation to say the truth

both in private and public, I wish to advise the leadership of the APC to steer clear of what is happening in the National Assembly so that the country can move forward and so that the party can have peace. This is because when a party in power does not have peace, the government that it produced will not be able to perform. In 1979-83 when I was in the House of Representatives, the NPN, though in power, had 34 per cent of the membership of the National Assembly, while the other parties had the remaining percentage. And as soon NPN and NPP got into an alliance in the National Assembly, principal offices were shared. Joe Wayas became the then President Senate President while Ume Ezeoke of the NPP became the Speaker of the House, and the principal officers were chosen. And for that four years, there was stability in the National Assembly and Shagari budget never stayed more than three weeks in the National Assembly.

For instance, the new Benin Post Office, near the Oba’s palace, was the project I put in the budget even as an opposition member but it was implemented. The current National Chairman of the APC, Chief Oyegun, was Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Internal Affairs. It shows the accommodating nature of the NPN Federal Government then and there was peace. Three House of Reps members, Rowland Owie; Dr Sowho, representing Ethiope Federal constituency now Delta State; and Hon.Iduwe, representing

Ika Federal constituency, now in Delta, jointly put in the budget the Agbor-Evboghae-Oghara Road, the three of us didn’t belong to the same party and Shagari approved it.

They started constructing it even though it was not completed before that regime was sacked by the military. That tells you it is good to have a united and peaceful National Assembly.

In 1999, PDP zoned their National Assembly offices, e.g the Senate Chief Whip to Edo and Delta and the Deputy Speaker to Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Cross River and Bayelsa. On the Chief Whip that was zoned to Edo and Delta, the PDP wrote a letter to the Clerk of the Assembly, the letter was signed by Chief Tony Anenih; Chief Solomon Lar, who was then National Chairman of the party; and Dr Patrick Dele Cole. In that letter, Senator Osunbor was recommended to be the Senate Chief Whip, while the South-South caucus of the PDP said no, it must be Senator Rowland Owie. And we went to the floor of the Senate and I defeated Osunbor. In fact, nobody seconded Osunbor’s nomination by Senator Zingina.

Obasanjo interfered and made Senator Enwerem the Senate President instead of the choice of the senators, Senator Chuba Okadigbo.

Also in the House of Reps, he bulldozed Salisu Buhari into becoming Speaker.

In no time, Buhari and Enwerem were swept off and replaced by the late Chuba Okadigbo and Ghali Nabba. In all of these, the PDP was mature enough and they quickly withdrew from confronting the

In that letter, Senator Osunbor was recommended to be the Senate Chief Whip, while the SouthSouth caucus of the PDP said no, it must be Senator Rowland Owie.

And we went to the floor of the Senate and I defeated Osunbor

National Assembly and, subsequently, the PDP at the national level never interfered on who becomes the leaders in the National Assembly apart from the last one that had to do with Hon. Tambuwal. They can advise but they will not enforce it because the greatest danger in a presidential system is for the President or a governor to have a hostile Assembly. You cannot sack them, you cannot suspend them; even the provision of recall in the Constitution is Herculean to implement. And that is the only arm of the three arms of government that gives the status of democracy to any government in the world. So I advise the National Chairman of the APC and the leadership to allow the National Assembly members handle their affairs and face their party so that they can deliver what they promised Nigerians. They should learn from the PDP so that Nigerians can enjoy dividends of democracy. They should allow House Speaker Dogara and Senate President Saraki be and, if they don’t want them in future, they can master the numbers to remove them. But what they are doing now is complete distraction.

Why do you think your party, the PDP, failed in the just concluded presidential election?

One is impunity in the choice of candidates. Some party leaders arrogated to themselves the power of God. For instance, look at the Adamawa gubernatorial primary, there was no war in Adamawa but they moved the primary to Abuja and Abuja imposed a candidate on the people. It also happened in Plateau, Abia, Benue, they imposed unpopular candidates, forgetting that the electorate are wiser now, you cannot intimidate them. Above all, former President Jonathan was fenced by a number of unpopular party leaders.

Continues on page 14

PAGE 14—SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

Continues from page 13 Because of what happened to Jonathan, my slogan now is that if a President or governor is elected, he is as good as being in prison unless that President or that governor has the will power to get out of the prison. That is the type of will power that Governor Oshiomhole has that made him to survive some sycophants who tried to cage him when we were in the party; even though he got out of the prison fairly late, some good people had already left the ACN then. Majority of the governors and former President Jonathan were imprisoned by people who will not allow good people to get near them. I make bold to say that for all the major actors around former President Jonathan, the most truthful person was Oronto Douglas; others were palace jesters who were only thinking about their pockets and not the future of the President or the PDP. For instance, they was the allegation of over N700million given by a governorship aspirant to some members of the National Working Committee of the PDP. Now, assuming that was true, how can such people attract respect for the party? For instance, the campaign for President Jonathan’s re-election was organized by a body outside the party and, with all due respect, Col Ahmadu Ali, who was made the DG of the campaign, could hardly win his ward, and the party became helpless. And in some states, DGs were appointed for Jonathan’s campaign who don’t have credibility to lead a campaign for a presidential candidate especially when some of them had contributed to the destruction of the PDP governments in their states before then and for which PDP was fighting to regain credibility. There were a lot mistakes made. But the way Jonathan accepted defeat was an indication that we were humbled to look inward and rebuild the party.

Also, those who pretended to be reconciling aggrieved PDP leaders all over the country flying in presidential jets, only to preach peace in the afternoon and privately tell some governors to betray the party and fight Jonathan, know themselves and should steer clear of the party or we will be forced to expose them. I want the Acting Chairman of the BOT of the PDP and other credible members of the body to ensure that there is no extension of tenure for all the executives of the party from the ward level to the national, they should all stand dissolved at the expiration of their tenure. No extension for anybody if they want the party to bounce back. Enough is enough of impunity and imposition in the PDP in Nigeria and PDP Edo in particular.

I thank God I have been in this vanguard since 1979 when we formed the UPN. Chief Anenih, Chief Gabriel Igbinedion, Dr Ogbemudia, Enahoro, Chief Michaeal Ibru, Chief Orikeze, my late maternal uncle, Chief

failures of the PDP government in Edo. Today, Lucky Igbinedion is being blamed whereas 75 per cent of the failure is attributable to those who surrounded him. Take a cue from the last PDP primaries in Edo, look at how most of the giants failed.

It is not that those aspirants were bad, the PDP members voting in the primaries were mirroring these aspirants against the back ground of what happened before. People were very watchful about where the aspirants were coming from, you could no longer fool anybody in Edo.

We are aware you are one of the founding members of the APC in Edo, but, overtime, those who left the PDP to join the then AC claim to have built the party including bringing Oshiomhole.

What is your take on that?

•Senator Rowland Owie

’We will expose PDP big wigs who betrayed Jonathan if ...’

D.N.Oronsaye, and host of other prominent Bendelites were all in the NPN. Myself, Tony Omoaghe, Barr.Eddy Osifo, Clement Edo Osagie, Dr Thomas Salubi, Chief B.O.Imafidon, the late Chief Idahosa (Akakasiaka), Chief V.I.Amadasun, we defeated those big names. It was only Chief Igbinedion that won the Ovia federal constituency, the rest lost woefully. So, by the grace of God, myself and some of our colleagues in the state will rebuild the PDP in Edo and ensure that these impunity operators who call themselves leaders are swept away.

Edo 2016 governorship One, it is not easy to give what you don’t have.

Credibility begets credibility, good name, they say, is better than riches. The Binis and Edolites are already aware of what good governance is by remembering the achievements of the late Prof.Ambrose Ali and seeing now too the performance of Governor Oshiomhole. The truth is that the PDP government of 19992007 cannot be compared to the performance of the Oshiomhole government because we all have eyes, we can see. You can see achievements in roads,

schools and many other spheres of life. The Ugoneki-Ehor Road, which passes through my community, was done in 1974 by the military administration; no body touched that road until Oshiomhole came. Today I can get to my village in 20 minutes from Benin. So he did better than my own PDP government of eight years. But the truth is that the poor performance of the Igbinedion administration is not the fault of Igbinedion alone, it is also the fault of some leaders who were supposed to guide him but because they were enjoying largess from that government, they could not. I am happy when I read the interview of Igbinedion where he said those who contributed to his problem were the over ambitious people around him who created different groups that disrupted his administration.

The 2016 governorship will not be based on political platform, it is going to be who that candidate is. I am going to join other wellmeaning leaders of the PDP to bring out a credible candidate who does not have connection with a failed government. For the PDP to be seen to have broken ranks with irresponsibility, we have to be sure that our candidate for 2016 will not have any relationship with previous

Also, those who pretended to be reconciling aggrieved PDP leaders all over the country flying in presidential jets, only to preach peace in the afternoon and privately tell some governors to betray the party and fight Jonathan, know themselves

ACD, which later became AC, then ACN, now APC, is the off shoot of the ANPP in Edo State.

It was put together by myself, Barr. Gentleman Amegor, who was to be the deputy governorship candidate to Adams Oshiomhole, and started from my house. It was at that point that Igbinedion’s supporters in the PDP were deregistered and a responsible clergy man led the former governor to my house so that those who were deregistered could work with us. After meetings and assurances, we agreed to work together and shared the party positions in Edo between our group and the PDP people that were deregistered.

Lucky Igbinedion brought Tony Omoaghe as Chairman of the party, I brought Amegor as Secretary. Lucky brought Modino Emovon as Woman Leader. I brought Reti Uzzi as Publicity Secretary.

Then we shared the local government positions. In Edo South, former ANPP took five local government Councils, Oredo,Ikpoba Okhai, Egor,Ovia South West and Ovia North East. Then the people that came from the PDP took the Director of Research and two local governments. So those who claim they formed ACN were with Igbinedion in PDP throughout his administration.

The only major operators that joined us openly were Rev.Eghareva and Charles Idahosa.

Charles Idahosa was the first National Publicity Secretary and each time he was going to Abuja for meetings, he went with our Royal Link vehicle. He fought openly, so I laugh when I hear people say they formed ACD and brought Oshiomhole, they didn’t form ACD. As a matter of fact, the late Haruna, Enogie Ebue and Oshiomhole worked with the programme I prepared, touring the whole state. Oshiomhole worked hard, he made contacts.

Yes, Lucky Igbinedion brought money to support us secretly but they were not founding members like Pastor Ize-Iyamu is claiming.

They didn’t form the party, they were PDP members then. So this issue that they brought APC, they brought Oshiomhole, to me, is laughable.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 15

Saraki provokes mother of all media wars - 1 “God save me from my friends; I can take care of my enemies.” Anon. “…A man cannot be too careful in his choice of enemies.” Oscar Wilde.

(VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, VBQ, p 48). rofessor of Economics and Noble Laureate, John K. Galbraith, once observed that a man who makes his entrance by breaking down the front door of the house deserves some criticism for excessive violence; but, something also needs to be said about the condition of the door.

Saraki’s emergence as Senate President, against the wishes of the leaders of the All Progressive Congress, APC, is a classic case of a weak door meeting an individual determined to gain entrance – even if it means breaking down the door.

Among the elements contributing to that outcome was the meeting summoned by an unknown convener, drawing away loyal Senators to the

P

International Conference Centre, leaving the “door ” unguarded for the successful assault. Unless the situation changes Saraki has become the Senate President for the 8th National Assembly, NASS. He has also provoked a political and a media war that will last for years – even longer than the life of the 8th NASS. Permit me to leave the political war untouched for now. Only history will tell if Saraki secured a permanent victory.

The media war started almost immediately; and it is still raging and will only escalate in the next four years. Saraki’s emergence, as well as the Speaker of the House of Representatives, had polarized the NASS into several camps; each of which seeks justification for its actions in the increasingly powerful Nigerian media. At the moment, every member belongs to either the old ACN, led by the leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; the original members of the alliance clinging to

Order! Order in the House, these dishonourable fellows "It is not the rich man you should properly call happy, but him who knows how to use with wisdom and the blessings of the gods, to endure hard poverty, and who fears dishonour worse than death, and is not afraid to die for cherished friends or fatherland"- Horace do not find pleasure in the way our honourable men and women conduct their affairs in the House and they would have done well if they had conducted themselves in a manner that is befitting their exalted status and a very handsome pay packet. It is distasteful to see grown men and a few women behave in such atrocious way. Last year, the same disgraceful display of thuggery I wrote about in: THIS HOUSE OF DISREPUTE, NOVEMBER 23, 2014:"those that seek evidence that our highest hallow House in the land have badly behaved, must have seen on TV and read in the newspapers how uncouth and disgraceful

I

they are. Those that still are not convinced, I have nothing more to say to them as they have obviously lost their moral compass. What we saw were grown men behaving like rent a mob and scaling the fence to force their way into the inner sanctum of the House". And again JULY 21, 2013 IN DIRTY, ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS, similarly there was rancor in the River state assembly.

I wrote: "They should hang their heads in shame and accept that what happened on the floor of the assembly was truly despicable, period. If grown men, and I mean, grown men behaved in such thuggish manner, waving the mace and using it as a weapon, what example are they displaying to the young ones. No wonder Nigeria is going to the dogs! On July 9th, Bipi led his rent a mob then attempted to take over the assembly chambers.

Where he proceeded to make himself the speaker of the House in River State, with no assailable majority,

President Buhari as their leader; former PDP members mostly hanging on Saraki and the PDP, which though in opposition is powerful enough to frustrate the APC. It would amount to

aspirations and the hopes of [the people]. If it is anything less, it is merely a conspiracy to seize power.” (November 7, 1956). The APC which emerged in 2013, remains till today a work-inprocess. To call it a party amounts to doing violence to the word “party ”. Its victory was based on only two elements: first, the national need for “change” (ill-defined) and the search for a new leader. Beyond that, nothing else unifies the members of the party.

According to Gandhi, 1869-1948, the great Indian leader, among the things that will ruin any nation are: Politics without principles/Wealth without work (VBQ p 245)

The last person to trust absolutely is a politician; a bunch of them, in my view make up the devil’s workshop

gross understatement to describe the APC as a party divided against itself. It was probably never a party; and is probably still not a party.

US President Dwight Eisenhower, 1890-1969, had made the point that “a political party deserves the approbation of [the people] only as it represents the ideals, the

One looks in vain for the principles which all the members of the APC share in common and which form the basis of their association. Indeed, the manner Saraki had emerged had exposed the absence of shared ideals and aspirations. Given what is known about several members a great deal of wealth had been

they refused to abide by the rules when faced with dissent it was a free for all and fists and blow all round as they engage in battle to beat up some principal officers of the house". And now this. I watched in horror the video clip as our dishonourable men and women, jostle and roughen each other up.

unruly lot. It was commendable how they kept cool while the place was descending into chaos, but they did.

Whoever started the fracas, there was no justification for what appended in the House of Representatives. So when the APC Congress member in the House of Representatives, Nasiru

I have nothing more to say to them as they have obviously lost their moral compass. What we saw were grown men behaving like rent a mob and scaling the fence to force their way into the inner sanctum of the House Some raised chairs and others use their fist as means of communication while some tried but failed to remonstrate with the unruly lot to desist from their behaviour. We have been here before, nothing new unfortunately and with a new government you would have hoped it would.

Only it seems that same old wine has been decanted in new bottles, so no change there then. We have men and women of very over inflated sense of selfimportance and fragile ego, which were not thought good manners, and they would rather use their fist than have a discourse. For those few lawmakers who abstained from the fight, they have a lot to teach the

Sani Zangon Daura, issued a press statement explaining the battle Royale that ensued in the Green Chamber during plenary, I found it lame but nonetheless amusing.

Permit me to share it.

The statement read: "We are here on behalf of our colleagues of the APC House Caucus to explain to you the unfortunate occurrence during today's plenary session. The action that occurred inside the chamber of the House of Representatives was in reaction to the illegal and unconstitutional action taken by Speaker Yakubu Dogara of the House of Representatives, an action in his usual tradition of total disregard to the

acquired without commensurate work to justify them. Granted the PDP is worse, we might have proved Goethe, 1749-1832, right. He proclaimed that “In politics, as on a sick bed, men toss from side to side in the hope of lying more comfortably.” (VBQ p 191). With the exception of the change of President, we now toss about on the bed. Hope for lying more comfortably is not yet guaranteed.

However, one change was totally unexpected.

Hitherto, the APC had appeared like a tightly organized army with a great deal of selfdiscipline. Obviously, the control was made possible as long as there was a common “enemy ” (Jonathan/PDP). The adversary removed, Nigeria’s political allies are behaving like the Allied Forces, (USA, Britain, France and Russia) during World War II. No sooner did Germany, the common enemy, surrender on May 8, 1945, than the Cold War started between the West and Russia.

That prolonged war, which still smolders (e.g the war in Ukraine) had been largely a media and propaganda war. The Nigerian political war just starting will also be fought mostly in the media. Any of the groups which fails to assemble its own media war machine will be at a decided disadvantage.

Mark my words.

Jonathan and the PDP lost the last election because they lacked dedicated media support.

Jonathan’s media

advisers made the costly error of thinking that they alone could persuade Nigerians. Abati, Okupe, Fani-Kayode and Methu thought they were sufficient to win the propaganda war. They made little effort to recruit additional support. No leading media outfit was solidly in their camp – except NTA. By the time they recruited outsiders, the opposition had not only got its own newspaper and magazine going, it had recruited allies everywhere. None of the nine leading Nigerian newspapers (in alphabetical order): DAILY TRUST, G U A R D I A N , LEADERSHIP, NATION, PUNCH, SUN, THIS DAY, TRIBUNE and VANGUARD was totally in support of the ruling party and the former President. Thus when Jonathan made that rash statement, “I don’t give a damn”, he was never allowed to correct himself and that declaration was attached to everything – Boko Haram, Chibok girls, corruption, subsidy, security, jobs etc….

wishes of the majority members of the APC Caucus, the Party itself and the spirit of the Party. We are aware of a letter sent by our Party, APC, dated 23rd June 2015, conveying the approval of the party's principal officers vis a vis the APC House Leader, the APC Chief Whip, the APC Deputy House Leader and the APC Deputy Chief Whip for the House of Representatives. This letter by the Party is in compliance with the expressed wish and mandate of the Majority Members of the APC Caucus in the House of Representatives".

And it went it went on and on to justify the unjustifiable; "This action

by Speaker Yakubu Dogara cannot and will not be allowed to stand as it will set a dangerous precedent in our parliamentary practice as it will give the Speaker the right and authority to appoint, choose, select, dictate or even provide guidance on how Principal Officers emerge or are elected or selected by the Majority and Minority Parties in the House of Representatives.

This action is capable of truncating our democracy.

As for the claim being made that a particular zone should not be allowed to produce more than one Principal Officer, we say this with all sense of decorum, that this claim is absolute rubbish.

Precedence was set in the 6th & 7th Assemblies where

a single zone, the NorthWest, produced two and three Principal Officers, respectively".

And then it got really amusing; "We, the loyal and disciplined majority APC Caucus in the House of Representatives are fully committed in ensuring that our party's and President Muhammadu Buhari's manifesto, agenda and positions prevail despite the efforts and shenanigans of the opposition party(s) and the few disloyal and undisciplined APC party members in the House of Representatives. We are determined in our efforts to utilize all legislative strategies available to us, so as to ensure the compliance with due process and democratic norms and values."

So there you are, the fight was justified then! So the fisticuffs, in his mind were justified? No. I think it is about time to have a mandatory psychological assessment for each and every potential lawmaker in the land then they should all have a month long induction on the etiquette on how the behave as the holder of the high office.

And for any errant lawmaker who contravenes the expected decorum of the house, there should be consequences such sending them for anger management and if they relapse they should be sanctioned and any reaped offence they should be booted out.

SEND OFF PARTY FOR BODE GEORGE

My childhood friend Bode George vowed to go into exile if Buhari won the election. He is still around. Area Boys plan a grand send-off party for Bode at Campus Square.

Donations will be thankfully received.

Signed: Presido Area Boys.

P.S. And he can take Musiliu ‘Koro’ with him; wherever he is going.

PAGE 16—SUNDAY VANGUARD,JUNE 28, 2015

THE INSOLVENT STATES T

he Federal government is running on half its lungs: President Buhari’s inability to constitute a government nearly thirty days after taking his own oath of office is worrisome, and does provide some perverse humour for those whose thinking about Nigeria is often in the breach. It is true that the constitution does not give a time bar for when the president can constitute a federal executive council, but the law is quite clear that there shall be an executive council to make for the full governance of the republic.

Without the executive council in place, appointed and chaired certainly by the president, no government can be said to be running, or functioning, and no financial obligations or policies can be fully entered or catered to by the government. The executive council is a “council” for a reason, and the president, though chief executive of state on whose pleasure any member of the council serves, is not endowed with absolute authority or power. It is an imperative of state governance to put in place this ministerial council as part of the first fundamental obligations of government.

That President Buhari has not been able as at the writing of this column, to announce his ministerial list; and that the

8th Assembly has not even been properly constituted as to demand such a list from the president does say something about an incipient political crisis in Nigeria. I do not wish at this stage to be alarmist, but there is no government in Nigeria. We have an elected president still doing house cleaning, long, long, after the last party. It is not looking good.

There is too much grappling at straws. It just seems like President Buhari is a little too surprised, and a little too startled by the power he now possesses, and with the shocking reality that he no longer is in the position of the critic. This government of the APC is too slow; too full of talk, but no action yet. There is no action because the party seems too fragmented to constitute a common front and govern. No party has yet taken this length of time in supplying a ministerial list to the National Assembly for confirmation. There is talk about empty treasuries and about a national “financial collapse” in the Ahmed Joda document which is now retailed as something of a holy grail.

The Joda document presumably is providing Buhari with a road map through what increasingly seems a murky fiscal and administrative landscape.

There is even greater talk about recovering loot from past governments because the current government is far too broke to govern. “The treasury is virtually empty,” so declared President Buhari, in his meeting last week with state governors who came to talk with him about a federal bail-out of states.

“The next three months” the President said to them, “is going to be tough.” But he was quickly countered also last week by the former Minister of National Planning in the Jonathan administration, Mr. Abubakar Sulaiman, who said that the last government did not leave an “empty treasury” or a whopping debt, as has been claimed by the new President, but to the contrary, left $30 billion in government accounts - former education minister, Obi Ezekwesili, was quick to put a lie to that.

The point of this is not about the veracity of the counter claims, but about what it suggests. Nigeria’s national accounts is in the red, and with but skeletal government in place, Nigeria itself is coding – to use a clinical term. All these are worrying signals.

But the truly dangerous signals are coming from the states. News around us point to a potentially nation-wide collapse of the states, with growing labour crisis

following the inability of these states to meet their basic financial obligations to their workers. Many states went into the elections owing their workers, and the elections are over, and more than 90% of the states are still owing workers, some upwards of four months ofunpaid salaries and arrears.

This is outrageous! Aside from the immorality of owing a labourer his or her due, there is the potential humanitarian crisis that is bound to follow this situation, when government workers who depend on their income are no longer able to put bread on the table for their families,

News around us point to a potentially nationwide collapse of the states, with growing labour crisis following the inability of these states to meet their basic financial obligations to their workers or meet the most basic of their financial obligations, including paying rent, buying schools supplies, paying hospital bills, and doing such quotidian stuff that comes in the way of man. The explosion is going to come and it is going to be loud. It might just be time for voluntary and other civic agencies to organize themselves and stay ready for the longbreadlines that threatens to form, and open the soup kitchens on street corners for the many who are about to lose their jobs.

It is a crisis, and there is no pretending about it. Nigeria has had great opportunities in the last twenty years to prepare itself for this cycle of oil glut and financial drought. What it has done rather well is to waste its chances with government officials living like Ottoman princes. Rochas Okorocha, governor of Imo State, also puts an absurd spin on it. Pressed for comments on Imo’s financial crisis, Anayo Okorocha, who is also chairman of the Association of APC governors said, “it has to do with bad political appointees…we have also been paying ghosts as workers.” Words to that effect.

It is ridiculous. It is an indicator of a badly established government in this age of Information Technology to still talk about “ghost workers.”Imo, like other Nigerian states is bankrupt.

These bankrupt states can no longer meet their constitutional obligations.

These states are bankrupt for two reasons: one, they have been improperly managed and under-invested; two: many of the states are unviable entities and cannot survive on their own. This issue brings to fore once more, the abiding question of the number of states in Nigeria, each with elaborate bureaucracies, and large government-house budgets, and very little purpose, beyond the showand-tell. These states should be allowed to atrophy.

The federal government must not be permitted to bail them out. The 8th National Assembly must block that move. To that end, the federal government must on no account rescue the states, but must allow them to collapse financially and become

extinct. It is about time that we allowed the natural structure of things to formalize, and go towards a six regional federal system, save up on the administrative cost of running the federation, and dismantle the current boundaries of growth that has limited cross regional mobility and development as a result of the creation of these unviable states. Perhaps it is time to conduct a referendum on this, and President Buhari might make this one of the great agenda of his government, and the 8th National Assembly must aid him in that process. What is going on now is but a tip on the iceberg. As the oil economy becomes increasingly unviable, the Nigerian state will increasingly experience economic and political shocks and spins, and we are merely at its onset. Better now to deal with it by collapsing the states for greater viability and efficiency.

Finally, President Buhari said last week that he is committed to recovering Nigeria’s money stolen by the last administration, and has secured, we have been told, the help of the Americans on this score. We say his efforts must not stop with recovering money only from the last administration; he must probe further backwards because Nigeria has been stolen blind since at least 1985. Her current finances make the quick recovery of any stolen funds urgent and imperative. But more urgent and imperative must be the restructuring of the federation into more viable regional governments. Only viable states must be allowed to survive, the rest must find new partnerships. This is the historical imperative.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 17

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Seyi Shay’s old band mate marries Swans e Jonjo Shelvey a’s

T

•Seyi Shay with Jonjo Shelvey and wife

OP Nigerian fem ale art iste Seyi Shay with her former U reunited K based girl band over the w ee they were in atte kend as ndance for the wedding cere mony of the band’s lead singe rD top English footba aisy and ller Jonjo Shelvy, formerly of Liverpool and now of Swan se took place in a sm a which all village in Essex, United Kingdom.

The 2015 MAM As nominee was spotted in a lovely red dress styled

by Iconic Invanity hand be aded new collection with the groom and bride and al so with her old band membe rs. of the guests were Majority pr people with an in ominent flux of Liverpool and Englan d First Division players present on this grand occasi on.

I

MO State-born musician, John Agoha of Music Africa, who participated in the 2006 Star Quest talent hunt programme organised by Nigerian Breweries, is in love and he isn’t ashamed to shout it from the rooftop. In fact the Afro-highlife crooner wouldn’t let the social media a breath of peace as he crams it with the pictures of the girl who has shot

•John Agoha and girlfriend

Olamide st ole ‘Shakiti stole Bobo’ dance fr om me — LT from

By TOFARATI IGE

A

n upcoming singer, Olowu Taiwo aka LT. has said that rapper, Olamide stole the popular ‘Shakiti Bobo’ dance moves from him.

LT made this assertion during an interview with HIP TV, monitored by Vanguard Newspaper. In his words, “After I did my video, a friend of mine told me the dance I did in the video (Yobo dance) was trending on Instagram by Olamide. And my friend told me he had already told someone who is in Olamide’s crew about the dance. I released the audio version of my own song on 22nd April, 2015, and Olamide released his own song on 2nd May. During that time, I was working on my viral video which I released on 6th May. It wasn’t up to 24 hours after that, I saw ‘Shakiti Bobo.’

I was like, what’s going on; why is this happening at this particular time. I’m not here to point fingers that someone stole my dance moves, but I feel it’s not cool for you to do something that you knew about from someone else, and pick it up as your own.”

Meanwhile, when a call was put through to Olamide’s manager, Alex, to react to the story, he hung up the phone, and other attempts to reach him proved abortive.

•LT

F

AST-rising actress, Peggy Onah celebrated her birthday penultimate Friday, June 19th and like many top actresses do these days the Mass Communications graduate of Enugu State University took to the studio for some sizzling photo sessions.

Even though the actress has said that her boobs is her selling point, she is not one to be carried away by them. Even in this photo sessions, Peggy wouldn’t get generous with flashes of her mammary, as many, with her endowment would. I fact, she owned up to Potpourri that the photo shoots were not actually meant to celebrate her birthday but for a company’s advert.

John Agoha flaunts girlfriend, says artistes are not real him with Cupid arrows.

In fairness to Agoha, no one would see the girl without letting out a whistle. She’s beautiful and built along the same line as the Ghanian Matilda ‘Hipsy’ Quaye. In fact my first impression was that it was Matilda, Agoha was getting sucked in with, until my curiosity led me to ask him.

“This girl on our Dp is hot, is she Matilda Hipsy Quaye?”

I asked in my usual mischievous way. “No, she’s my sweetheart, an Igbo girl” he replied me.

When I asked him if the girl is into entertainment as well, the response I got was like a slap on my face. “ No, she’s not and that’s why I went for her” he said with unmistakeable derision in his voice.

“Why?” I asked. “ I don’t like them, boss. She’s a medical student and will soon be out of school. Entertainers are not real. I like this one, she’s not carried away with her beauty or shape”.

Peggy Onah releases smashing photos to mark birthday “I had some pre-photo session meant for some companies adverts and you can’t believe, it was a coincidence that I had it a day before my birthday” she said of the photos which have gone viral on the internet.

Speaking on her birthday, she thanked her friends and fans who showed her love on the day and promised never to disappoint them. “ I got shout-outs from my fans on some radio stations, wishing me happy birthday. I want to thank them all and some of my colleagues who turned up for me. May God continue to lift them higher in their career and bless them.

I had a blast” she quipped.

Peggy

•Peggy and friends having fun

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

PAGE 18— SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

Stephanie Linus, hubby meet Queen of England

A

-list Nollywood actress, director and pro ducer, Stephanie Linus and hubby, Idahosa Linus on Monday had the blissful experience of being the Queen of England’s guests at the Buckingham Palace. The couple attended the Queen’s Young Leaders Awards, a project, Media Executive and CEO of Del-York International Mr. Linus Idahosa has been actively involved with.

You will recall that a few months ago,

Stephanie was promoting this campaign using the hashtag #TheSearchIsOn on her blog and Social Media Platforms while encouraging young Nigerians who are partaking in worthy leadership and charity causes in their communities to register.

Thankfully, four young Nigerian leaders were selected to receive this award. They are Isaiah Owolabi of HACEY Health Initiative; Kelvin Ogholi of UNFIRE; Nkechikwu Azinge of The Sickle Cell Aid Foundation and Oladipupo Ajiroba of The Environ-

Ne-Yo to perform at MTV Africa Music Awards 2015

G

RAMMY Award winning R&B icon, NE-YO, has been announced to perform at the MTV Africa Music Awards 2015.

Performing songs from his sixth studio album ‘Non Fiction’ the singer-songwriter expressed his excitement about his first ever performance in the South African city, “I can’t wait for you to see what I have in store Durban! I hope you’re ready, because I am!”

Since smashing onto the top spot of the Billboard Hot 200 Chart back in 2006 with his sophomore single “So Sick”, NE-YO has spent the last nine years churning out hit after hit, not only as a performer, but as a songwriter for his megastar peers Beyoncé, Rihanna and the late Michael Jackson to name but a few.

Multiple platinum singles, four hit albums and three Grammy Awards later, the hit-maker is ready to share his latest work with the world.

Celebrating the evolution of African musicians by recognising contemporary artistes and trailblazers across a range of music and lifestyle categories, the MTV Africa Music Awards KwaZulu-Natal 2015 will broadcast live across Africa on MTV Base (DStv channel 322), MTV (DStv channel 130) and BET (DStv channel 129) on Saturday July 18, 2015 at 9:00PM. The show will also be transmitted worldwide on partner stations and content platforms including BET International from 18 July. In addition, a special MAMA-themed edition of MTV’s acclaimed World Stage franchise will air globally on MTV channels around the world on August 27, 2015.

mental Advocacy and Management Initiative.

These Nigerians are among 60 inspirational young people aged 18-29 across the Commonwealth who received their awards from Her Majesty the Queen on Monday.

The awards initiated in 2014 by Prince William and Prince Harry is a prestigious ceremony established by The Queen Elizabeth Diamond Jubilee Trust in partnership with Comic Relief and The Royal Commonwealth Society.

Germany-based Nigerian artist, Vivian Timothy, relives her journey from science to arts

A

new talent is unleashed. Vivian Timothy is a Nigerian artist who is based in Germany. Vivian studied bio-chemistry at Bida Polytechnic before relocating to Germany. The brilliant artist, though a lover of art, has never believed she got the talent to do art.

Initially she wanted to become a singer but didn’t venture into it because of so many discouragements.

Vivian never studied art but had always known she had passion for artwork. She gets inspirations for her painting through fantasizing and creating of a vision in her mind in her quiet moment.

Recently at the International Kultur Festival in Germany, she showcased her art work which kept many speechless.

Like any beginner, she was faced with doubts of what to present to any audience and how they would react to her mix colors. Her professionalism makes her work very unique; her style of art tells a story of her life and root. A painting deeply embedded in African root, and speaks with a heavy African accent. A painting enriched with themes of

nature, women, culture and heritage. An original artwork with metamorphic visions rich in sincerity, love and passion; A painting that speaks and interprets messages coded and uncoded.

Different manners, styles, depicting gift of nature , culture and the love for Africa.

Vivian tells the story of how the art in her was unleashed... “One day an old girlfriend came visiting me at home. While we were chatting, she said, `Vivian, guess what I have been doing all these while?. Very curious, I have been painting’ Waoh! like a magic my passion for art woke up. “ We all need moments that force us to wake up“. From that moment I started fantasizing, sketching , researching on works of some popular artists. I realized that Vincent Van Gogh was a self taught artist. I started getting ideas and saw myself expressing my vision into paintings. I was a hard critic of myself.

Being a perfectionist, I wanted something very perfect I could present to my audience. Today , I believe that calling comes when we embrace the pain , not avoid it” she reminisces.

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

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 19 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

Why your children should avoid Davido’s video “Fans Mi”

BY TOFARATI IGE

H

AVE you watched popstar, David Adeleke aka Davido’s latest video, ‘Fans Mi’ featuring American rapper, Meek Mill?

Then you will agree that no child under the age of 18 should see it.

Even though music videos have since been reduced to nothing more than scantily-dressed ladies shaking their butts, and the glorification of drunkenness, Davido’s

video pushes the boundary of decency.

From the first view, one’s eyes are assailed by lots of cash displayed on a table with several types of guns. As if that is not bad enough, nearly naked girls are spotted dancing raunchily in almost every scene of the video.

The story-line of the video is worse. Davido tries to seal a deal with a drug dealer to supply cocaine while the dealer hands him cases of dollars for the transaction.

Davido then goes back to his mansion where he can be seen aided by the brassieres-and-panties flaunting ladies preparing the cocaine. It is not until the end of the video that we get to see that the cocaine Davido delivered to the drug dealer was only semovita (a local Nigerian food).

We must ask though: what is he trying to teach his fans who are largely made up of impressionable youths? That it is okay to engage in the sale of illicit drugs to make money? Or that guns are now suddenly ‘cool’ toys to have?

Filmhouse Cinemas boost expansion plans, signs deal with IMAX Corporation I

MAX Corporation (NYSE:IMAX) and Filmhouse Cinemas, Nigeria’s largest chain of theatres, on Wednesday announced an agreement for an IMAX® theatre to be located in a new construction project in Lagos, the nation’s biggest city with a population of more than 20 million. The deal, announced at CineEurope, marks the firstever IMAX agreement in Nigeria and West Africa. Nigeria now ranks as Africa’s largest economy. The agreement also underscores the Company’s continued expansion in Africa, where in the past year IMAX signed its first-ever deal in Angola and added four new theatres to its network in South Africa.

“Our mission is to establish the best movie-going experience in Nigeria. IMAX will help us realize this goal by delivering an immersible and differentiated experience previously unavailable to Nigerian moviegoers,” said Kene Mkparu, CEO, Filmhouse Cin-

emas. “As we continue our aggressive expansion plans, IMAX will serve as an anchor attraction in our multiplex in Lagos, redefining the premium cinema experience in Nigeria. We are proud to be the first to introduce IMAX in the country and look forward to broadening its reach.”

“We are delighted to join forces with Filmhouse Cinemas to enter Nigeria, which represents a key strategic move for our expansion in Africa. Recent re-

ports project that Nigeria’s entertainment and media revenues will reach an estimated $8.5 billion by 2018 - more than double from 2013,” said Andrew Cripps, President, IMAX EMEA. “As the biggest economy on the continent and a market that is extremely under-screened, we believe that together with Filmhouse we can seize the mutual growth opportunities that exist in Nigeria and bring the world’s most immersive cinematic experience to more audiences across the country.”

Dan Maraya Jos is a legend who will not be forgotten, says Plateau Speaker, others

BY MARIE-THERESE NANLONG

C

ITIZENS have continued to react to the demise of a renowned musician, Dan Maraya Jos who died on Saturday evening in Jos, the Plateau State capital with many of them describing the late musician as “a peace builder.”

Sympathizers who besieged the late musician’s residence at Dr. Dan Maraya Street, off Bauchi Road, Jos, stressed the vacuum created by the musical icon will be difficult to fill.

Among the sympathizers who visited the residence of the deceased, were the Speaker of the Plateau State House of Assembly, Mr. Peter Azi and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state, Mr. Solomon Dalung among others.

The Speaker described the deceased as “a legend whose songs focused on uniting not only the people of Plateau but the entire country irrespective of religion or tribe.

“He preached the message of peace everywhere and we will really miss him. He left legacies in his songs which will not be forgotten. His songs are the will he left for us, Dan Maraya will not be dismissed with a wave of the hand.”

To Dalung, “the late Dan Maraya was a pillar, a bridge builder, a lover of peace and a father to many. The legacy of philanthropy he left behind will not be forgotten.”

It would be recalled that the late Dan Maraya Jos died on Saturday in Jos at the age of 69 leaving behind a wife and an adopted daughter.

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

PAGE 20 , SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015 Onikoyi68@gmail.com

t e s , r e t n u H i y e S , s s e r Act e r u t l u c h c a e b e g n a h to c t n a e g a p i n i k i B s s i with M N

By Juliet Ebirim

ollywood actress, Seyi Hunter, has joined the ranks of entertainment people who are moving into the pageantry business as she is set to launch the maiden edition of Miss Bikini Pageant International in September. The actress who has more than 20 movie credits to her name, got the franchise to organise the pageant from World Bikini Model International.

“I’m currently working on a project ‘Miss Bikini Nigeria International’ coming up in September. I actually just got the franchise from Malta ‘World Bikini Model International’.

Forms are on sale and we intend to start auditions soon. The winner of the pageant will represent Nigeria in Malta. This is the maiden edition in Nigeria and it is a Hunter ’s Media project”, she said.

A Performing Arts, Industrial and Labour Relations graduate from the Olabisi Onabanjo University, Ogun State, Seyi, born of an Igbo father and Akwa-Ibom mother, started out her career in 2011 in the Yoruba sector and has since featured in both Yoruba and English language movies.

The actress who recently released her first movie ‘Indecent Assault’ explained that the pageant is aimed at showcasing the beach culture of wearing bikinis the African way, hence the theme ‘Exploring the beauty of African prints’. “The beauty of this pageant is that we are showcasing the African culture. We want to change the perception of

people about bikinis. Bikinis can be worn tastefully without promoting obscenity. We want to explore how bikinis can be worn to suit our culture. Models will be wearing them the African way. We hope to change the bikini culture to suit our ‘Africaness’.”

Continuing, the actress who has starred in movies like Broken Fixtures, Pain, Many Days-One day, My Club, MM Girls, Insanity, Rukayat, Alenibare, amongst others, emphasized that the pageant is all about doing the foreign bikini culture the African way using African prints. “It’s about injecting the African culture into an European or global culture. The bikini culture is European-born and we are injecting the African culture into it. We are trying to change this foreign culture that we have borrowed, to suit us. We are buying a foreign culture and doing it our way.

We want to promote decency. The bikini culture is the beach culture all over the world, now we are injecting the African culture into it. We are taking away the amoral sides of it and making it look African. We want to change our orientation about bikinis.”

She further stated that the pageant is a way of engaging the youths as there will be lots of consolation prizes. Models have to be between the ages of 18 and 28. The winner of the pageant will represent Nigeria at the 27th edition of the World Bikini Model International scheduled to hold in Malta this year.

We want to promote decency.

The bikini culture is the beach culture all over the world

Korede Bello splashes cash on Twitter N IGERIA’s upcoming act and Mavins Artiste, Korede Bello who recently dropped the video of his smashing hit single ‘Godwin’, took to twitter on Monday, June 22, 2015 to reward fans.

The give away, which started around 10:45pm on the social networking platform, twitter got massive engagement from his fans who are fondly called ‘Bellovers’.

Korede centered the giveaway on his new Godwin video, putting up questions from scenes in the video. It was clear that only those who have watched the video could answer the questions correctly.

At the end of the giveaway, More than 20

fans were rewarded with a total sum of half a Million Naira.

Speaking at the end of the giveaway, Korede Bello tweeted: This is just my own little way of appreciating you guys for the support and love you keep showing me. He further posted a screen shot of #GodwinAlert twitter trend on Instagram with a caption: Twitter was alive! My Followers on twitter just had the #GodwinAlerts experience!

My Lil way of saying THANK YOU to y’all #Bellovers.. but guess what? Instagram and Facebook’s #Godwin Alerts is going to be MEGA! Stay Tuned.

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

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 21

The Of f-and-On R elationship Off-and-On Relationship

BY ONOZURE DANIA

A

relationship has no hope if one partner keeps shutting down and stuffing their feelings inside. Men often don’t come with this skill of being truly open and bringing their deeper feelings to the surface, but if you are going to have a lasting relationship that is in any way fulfilling for you, then you have to stop this pattern of your man

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08091357645 •Victoria, a graduate, needs someone to help her with a job.08039518985 •Kelvin, 18, a student, tall and resides in Lagos, a needs someone to sponsor his b a s k e t b a l l career.09091514871 •Zi, 29, needs a loan to start a business. 08171445243 •Mike, 43, a graduate and resides in Port Harcourt, recently lost his job and accommodation, needs well meaning Nigerians who are benevolent to help him get a job or accommodation, for him and his family.

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•Kanayo, 24, needs a good

female friend, aged 17-21.

07036176626,08115802017 •Joel, from Delta state, needs female friends, aged 15-20, who is loving and

shutting down.He breaks up with you and you feel completely awful- until he contacts you and says he’s been “thinking” about things and wants to talk. You give him another chance, but then days or weeks later, he dumps you again. What’s going on here? Should you get back with him?

Sometimes when things are going well in relationships, your own feelings get in the way. You are scared of

getting hurt, or making a mistake.

You worry that he won’t care for your feelings or ultimately be there foryou.

When he senses your fear, your problem of being vulnerable, your hesitance it pushes him away. The more this happens, the worse you feel and the more you find yourself being offcenter emotionally.

You hurt all over again, that’s why you need to learn

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DISCLAIMER! Dear readers, please note that we neither operate, nor are we an affiliate of any match–making agency in or outside the country. Any reader who transacts business with any one claiming to be our agent does so at his/her own risk. Our mission is only to provide a platform for social networking.

Also note that neither Vanguard, nor Yetunde Arebi will be liable for any error in the publication of requests which may result in any form of embarrassment to any member of the public. We therefore request that text must be sent through at least one of the numbers for contact. This notice is necessary to enable us serve you better in our refreshingly different style. You can send your requests to 33055. For enquiries, text or call 08026651636

how to handle these emotions so you aren’t the one who gets in the way of your relationship. You thought things were going well, but now he seems to want to spend more time away from you than with you. He calls less and is busier at work and with friends, there’s a right way to handle this so that you are brought closer together and he feels compelled to make you a top priority. You need to master how to do this so you don’t unintentionally scare him away. You have something on your mind that you want to talk to your man about. It’s important, it’s

serious, and it’s driving you crazy because you’re not sure whether or not you can share your feelings without scaring himaway.

There are two critical pieces to this moment, how you share it so you get the best response, and how you use this opportunity to make sure he is capable of listening to your true feelings and receiving them in a mature way. How do you get him back? You can’t get him out of your mind and heart, and you want to know how to get him back. But you aren’t sure what to say or how to win his heart all over again.

erotic and hot affair.

0 9 0 9 0 8 5 1 7 4 8 •Samuel, 32, a graduate, tall, handsome and resides in Lagos, needs a mature lady for a discreet relationship.

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0 8 0 2 7 3 6 1 6 2 7 •Joseph, 42, , employed and from Delta state, but resides in Benin City, needs a beautiful, sexy and God fearing lady, for marriage 08077233872, 0 8 1 4 1 9 1 4 7 4 0 •Nnamdi, 35, from Anambra state, needs a God fearing igbo lady for marriage.

08025423392 •Paddy,40, employed, from Imo state, needs an employed lady, who is ready for marriage.

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PAGE 22— SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

HELP! THE GIANT OF AFRICA IS IN A COMA

N

igeria is a very unique country.

So also are the citizens. They are regarded, all over the world, as very special. If you are a Nigerian and in doubt of the last sentence, I implore that on your next holiday, pick up your green passport and make Indonesia or China your choice destination. The "royal"'treatment you will receive will convince you that you are from a very UNIQUE country.

No thanks to the Nigerians who have been able to convince the world we are good at hiding illegal stuffs in the cavities of our bodies.

Aside this, Nigeria in recent years has become a source of real concern for the international community. This is not borne out of hatred for the citizens or the country, but the way the leaders run the "estate" called Nigeria. As a result of this, they view Nigeria as a typical example of how a country should not "progress".

A country once regarded as the Giant of Africa is on her knees begging for survival. A giant that should have everything going for it, but has nothing working because its leaders' agenda run cross purposes with the "ingredients" that can make it great.

In the recent past, Nigeria was once the toast of the world. It was an emerging power from the sub sahara of Africa and a leading light in the continent.

Unfortunately, the leaders that were meant to make the light glow are the ones that are bent on putting it out. The supposed leading light has been dimmed by corruption, mismanagement, ethnicity, terrorism and unpatriotic acts, among many.

The world look on in dismay as the fortunes of the country are decimated by those who are supposed to protect them. The world leaders shake their heads in pity as the Nigerian leaders who should guard the honour of the country are daily "raping" her with reckless abandon. They marvel at the fact that the greatest enemies of the country are not external forces, but the people entrusted to defend her dignity.

They are in shock of what had become of a country of hope. They offer sympathies to the people when all they see on their faces are despair, hunger and sadness. The community of leaders think they are helpless and can only do little to wake up the sleeping giant. Apart from the fact that they know Nigeria is a country with a lot of potentials, they always factor mismanagement and lack of transparency as reasons for staying aloof.

They look into a vast land

blessed with natural, mineral and human resources and shrug their shoulders at what had become the fortunes of the people.

They can not reconcile the fact that despite these resources, the common men cannot afford three square meals, access good healthcare and basic amenities.

They see the queue for fuel everyday, everywhere in the country and they cannot put this side by side with the fact that Nigeria is an oil producing country.

Seeing all these, they salute the resilience of Nigerians, for keeping on appearances despite their situations. They know some shining stars had emerged from the country, leading their peers in chosen professions. These Nigerians are dotted all over the places and are making names outside the shores of the country. They ask why can't these "geniuses" come back home and change the system. But little do they know that while these eminent Nigerians are making their individual marks in their fields, the leaders are struggling with each other on who is to deliver the final blow that will incapacitate

Nigeria, the most populated black country in the world, with over 150 million individuals, is struggling because it lacks visionary leaders who can take her out of the woods

the country. This is what frustrates the Diasporan.

While the world looks on in pity, Nigeria's fore fathers who fought with their blood, sweat and tears for a better tomorrow are turning in their graves. They are asking themselves what happened to their dream of a viable, strong and united country?They are crying and asking when did the wheel of progress go off Nigeria's cart. They hurt because the modern age leaders carry on without a both-

er of what happens to “the labours of our heroes past”.

Unfortunately, they are “feasting” on the labours of the heroes past. They have turned the dreams of the forefathers into nightmare.

The fate of Nigeria has been on the downward slope for many years now, and it seems all the supposed leaders have in common is totally in contrast to the dreams of the forefathers. They mouth the national pledge “to serve Nigeria with all” their strengths and “to defend her unity and uphold her honour and glory”, yet they do otherwise.

Nigeria, the most populated black country in the world, with over 150 million individuals, is struggling because it lacks visionary leaders who can take her out of the woods.

The present crop of leaders are more concerned with what loot they can get out of the system than making genuine contributions to the governance of the country. They have sound bites that will melt the electorates at the knees without an idea of how to take them to the "laboratories" for actualisation.

These "chop I chop" leaders would do anything, including punching, kicking and killing to get their selfish ambitions realised.

They have no moral fibre in them that can “tune” them to do things that will improve the lots of the masses.

Many times, we wonder who a leader is in the Nigerian context. There are many leaders but none fits the bill of a national leader. Experience has shown that being the President or Head of State of Nigeria do not confer the title of leader on the occupier of the post. This is understandable as the occupier's loyalty is first to the ethnic region he is from and secondly to the country.

We can therefore understand the desperation in the jostling for the elective national positions, especially the Executive arm. Nigerians would be deceiving themselves if they continue to deny the fact that ethnicity and regionalism are still high on the political currency in Nigeria. The country needs a leader who can detach himself from regional politics and become a leader of a country, rather than allow ethnicity rule his head.

I wrote in this column some time ago that what the country needs was not the chant of change, but the re-orientation of the individual. A 're-tuning' of individuals from the family unit to the national level.

Without a re-programming of systems, a Nigerian politician will still be “ wired” to think that elective office is nothing but an avenue to enrich himself and family.

As long as the individual politician is not taken through a “deliverance” programme, Nigeria will continue to travel in circles, without any hope of success in governance.

When the individual politician, aspiring to be a councillor or a Senator, is injected with a dose of civility and the desire to serve propels him more than the monetary gains, the country will progress.

Why the delay?

T

oday, we are discussing issues relating to the cause of the delay. .

Let me reiterate that while this column is not about medical science, it is not in any way dismissive of medical science.

A combination of both is necessary for the breakthrough to be received.

Medical science suggests a number of reasons for infertility these include, low sperm count, blocked fallopian tubes, hormonal disorder, secondary infertility; as a result of previous abortions etc.

However, some women married as virgins yet they have delays in bearing children.

Doctors have reasons for this which may include any of the above stated. To the lay man however, this is not understandable especially where the couple have had several tests, and there is no low sperm count, no hormonal disorder etc.

For those who are quick to believe that previous abortions are the sole reason for the delay, the question is why and how do commercial sex workers who have had several abortions still have children?

Irrespective of what we are told, it is important to consider the Spiritual.

One has come across several couple who have spent so much on IVF and it has always failed. Some even went abroad yet it failed.

The truth is believe it or not irrespective of what one is told medically, it will always fail because no attention has been paid to the Spiritual.

How to consider the Spiritual The first thing to do is to pay attention to your dreams. Dreams are crucial in addressing the Spiritual .

Experienced men of God whose focus is in this area say a woman who sees red objects in her dreams anytime she takes in, could lose that pregnancy or have a miscarriage.

The good news is that Exodus 23 vs 26 provides the answer.

If you are walking in faith, then you must keep fear away.

I like to share with

The first thing to do is to pay attention to your dreams.

Dreams are crucial in addressing the Spiritual .

Experienced men of God whose focus is in this area say a woman who sees red objects in her dreams anytime she takes in, could lose that pregnancy or have a miscarriage readers two testimonies.

A couple came from the United States of America to Laughter Foundation after series of failed IVF. Actually, by the time they were invited to Nigeria, they were on the waiting list for a donor egg.

Somehow, they had the opportunity of meeting the General Overseer in person, they were prayed for and told that for all they had gone through, the Lord will soon make them laugh.

Shortly after, the woman became pregnant naturally.

By the time, they were called from the US that the donor egg was ready, they simply told the doctor, “ Thanks, we don’t need it anymore”.

She gave birth to a set of twins.

Now, let me say that getting your partner to focus on the Spiritual isn’t always that easy.

For women, it is easier for men, it’s a bit difficult.

The way to go about it is not to pick up a quarrel with your husband. Not at all.

The duty of the woman is to continue to pray for the husband’s change of heart rather than make forceful attempts to get him fellowship with you There is also the case of another lady who lives abroad, for her anytime she takes in, some people appear to her in her dream, placing their hands on her tummy and then she loses the pregnancy.

These is a clear case of an attack.

Pick no

quarrel with anyone.

Recently, a woman in the United States of America gave birth to baby within hours of her arrival in the hospital.

No scan had seen that baby. She didn’t even realize she was pregnant, she only complained of a back ache and low and behold when she got to the hospital, the doctors saw a baby coming and she gave birth to a baby girl.

About three of these cases were reported on the internet with photographs in 2014.

It is clear that for these women, their menstrual period never ceased. They never confirmed pregnancy yet they had children.

Here in Nigeria, I once met a woman with a protruding belly of about six months pregnancy. She had just met a doctor who carried out a scan on her, and the doctors report was that he could not see any baby.

The woman said, the doctor was incompetent but that was the beginning of her challenge. She went from one doctor to the other and the result was the same.

Clearly, her problem was Spiritual.

With the mercy of God, she gave birth to the baby after a long period well beyond nine months.

Don’t allow anyone to write you off.

The one who did not create you, cannot write you off.

As we pay attention to the Spiritual, we must also pay attention to the Physical.

Are you eating the right food?

Check it out yourself.

Its on the internet.

Identity fruits that boost fertility eg. Cucumber , Brocholi etc.

Also identify those that may limit your chances.

Remaining focused cannot be over emphasized.

Walk in faith. Don’t be too busy to shun prayers and fasting when necessary.

The time of waiting is the time for couples to stick together not drift apart. The truth is God is still in the business of miracles.

According to a popular man of God in RCCG, “ Your mockers will soon bow to your maker”.

… Send your letters to joyfulhomes2015@gmail.com

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 23

What drives a seemingly sane woman into the arms of a bad boy?

A

s you readers must have realised, there are days when even the most hardened socialite doesn’t feel like mingling – no matter how exciting their diary is. I wasn’t really in the party mood a few days ago when I attended a ‘ what the heck am I doing here’ party where guests looked so bored the atmosphere felt as if it was a wake. Making an excuse to be back again in a few minutes – which nobody believed, I happily took myself off to another get-together a friend, Juwon was having for her birthday.

The bash was well on its way when I got in, but was surprised not to find her beau of about six years, playing the host. The man virtually puled the strings of Juwon’s life like a puppet.

She called him her addiction and her heartbreaker. A sprawling macho, they had split up and got back together so many times I’d lost count.

“Where is Kaka?” I asked Juwon, as soon as I could get her alone. “We’re finished for good this time”, she hissed. Thank God for that, I breathed silently, I’d never liked him and thought it was about time Juwon, a divorced mother of two,

found herself a nice gentleman instead of the controlling freak she just got rid of.

Later, gyrating to a snazzy number on the dance floor, Yinka, a friend who’s had the hots for Juwon for years danced up to me and pleaded with me to influence her to go out with him. Yinka might be a bit of a nerd, but he is a gentleman and he would definitely treat Juwon right. She was appalled when I phoned her the next day to fix a date for both of them. “Are you insane?

What would I have in common with him?”, she wanted to know. “You wouldn’t know until you go out with him”, I reasoned.

“The guy wants to take you out for goodness sake, not rape you!” `Is he capable of raping anyone?’, she sneered. In the end, she decided to have dinner with him.

She was slightly impressed after they both went out some days later.

“A long time I went out with a gentleman”, she told me.

“He splashed out on a meal at one of those posh night-clubs on Victoria Island and even held doors open for me. When we got home, he pecked me on the cheek and asked when he

would see me again. My goodness, do men like that still exist? Maybe I could get used to him and his oyinbo ways!” I was pleased with myself for, who knows, Juwon’s love life might just change for the better with Yinka. And he was really excited and grateful that I pulled things off for him.

When next I saw Juwon, she didn’t quite share my enthusiasm. “Kaka is back”, she announced flatly.

“Back from where?” I asked foolishly. “Well, we’re back together”. She snapped.

“Let’s face it, that Yinka friend of yours is a wimp.

Inspite of my resolve to get rid of Kaka, the minute he

forced himself into my flat and we kissed, my resolve simply melted. When we eventually made love, I felt alive. His kisses were so passionate compared to Yinka’s. Whenever I got out with Yinka, all he does is discuss business and politics. Whenever I’m with him, my brain just disengages. I imagine myself having fun with Kaka and there are no guesses as to who I’d rather be with.

“To make Kaka jealous, I told him I was now in a relationship with Yinka and he nearly fell off the chair laughing. “You can do better than that surely”, he sneered. “If you must

replace me, find someone more challenging and I promise you, I’d leave you alone!’ After he left, I thought of phoning Yinka to forget all about me, but I had a date with him that evening and I intended to let him know then. He was so nice, and glad to see me that I ended up telling him that I didn’t want to rush into another relationship having just gotten out of a bad one.

He accepted this and said we should take things real slow!” I was a bit confused.

“So what have you really decided to do?”, I asked her.

“To live a bit of a double life”, she answered cheekily.

“And why not? I keep Kaka for sex and Yinka to make him happy and as a reserve for when Kaka misbehaves.

Kaka is a very sexy lover but a bad boy – keeping Yinka will be proof that I can attract men who are not louts!” I didn’t know what to make of the scheming barracuda Juwon has suddenly turned into. To think I was feeling sorry for her enough to encourage her relationship with Yinka!

She obviously knows what she wants and let’s face it, who wouldn’t prefer a good romp in a hay to a bore who kisses the back of your hand and opens door for you?

Yinka was full of how

wonderful, Juwon was when next I saw him, I wish I had the nerve to tell him to cast his net somewhere else. I did warn him though that after Juwon’s experience with Kaka, she might not be ready to commit to another man.

He told me not to worry, that they now got on like a house on fire. And what about sex? “Oh, we’ve had that – only once. And it was ok”, he assured me. “It will get better with time”.

Juwon wasn’t so enthusiastic when I mentioned it. “I felt like a cheat sleeping with him”.

She admitted. “I had to pretend it was Kaka to get any semblance of satisfaction. I now know how prostitutes feel! I tell you I wouldn’t do it again no mater how high you sell him to me, it’s just not worth it”. My good friend Lillian couldn’t quite believe my involvement with Yinka and Juwon.

After burning my fingers with a few matchmakings she thought I would have learnt my lesson. But I protested this had nothing to do with match-making, I merely introduced the two and it was up to them whether or not they liked each other.

level with the toes pointing forward, keep the left knee slanted with the knee locked. Keep the hands at shoulder level and the trunk erect.

Count to 10 and repeat changing legs.

Firming up flabby thighs Taut Abdominals: The leg raise ECHNIQUE: Sit on the floor with the legs outstretched in front of you, place the hands just behind waist level and a little away from the body.

Inhale and raise both legs up diagonally, form-

T

ing a ‘V’ with the trunk.

Once you are in the posture breathe normally.

Retain the position for five to seven seconds,

rest and repeat a few more times.

The Triangle: Firm

Thighs and Butt Technique: Standing with the feet apart, bend the right knee to waist

Front to Back Splits Technique: Standing up straight, turn the trunk to the left and begin spreading out the legs as you lower down the body. As you get closer to the floor invert the left foot and keep the right heel down.

You may keep the hands on the floor so you can hold your body up a bit if the stretching effect gets too uncomfortable.

As usual, regular practice makes the pose easier and easier.

Yoga Classes STARTED Physical Therapy Centre @ 32 Adetokumbo Ademola, Victoria Island Lagos.

9.00am — 10.00am on Saturdays

* The Leg Raise C M Y K

*The Warrior Pose

P AGE 24 — SUND AY Vanguard , JUNE 28 , 2015 SUNDA

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk 08056180152, SMS only

Do you know who your children are sharing their mobile ‘sexting’ with?

M

atilda, in her early 40s, is the principal of a high-brow private secondary school and her teeth are really on edge because of what she sees as a dangerous increase in ‘sexting’ among teenagers. According to her, “Curiosity about the sexual organs starts well before children know what their ‘bits’ are actually for, and the whispered exchange, ‘ you show me yours and I’ll show you mine’ was always a secret rite of passage for kids. So, there’s nothing new about kids being fascinated by sex; sexual inquisitiveness is a natural part of growing up. But today, sadly, the innocence has been stripped away and it’s become something base and far more sinister.

“For when children start `showing’ each other their private parts on mobile phones, footage that these friends then share with other friends, what does it become but home-made porn? What’s more, if those videos are then used to blackmail and bully, isn’t that effectively criminal behaviour? A lot of principals are now deeply concerned with an increase in sexual bullying and `sexting’ on smart phones. They alleged girls as young as 13 are taking part in home-porn movies, while there had been an increase in complaints by girls who are victims of sexual violence. They are `persuaded’ by boys to `sext’ (send an explicit text including nudity) and then to take part in sex acts that are secretly filmed and shared.

“Do the girls want them shared? Of course not.

This increasingly common behaviour is a course of terrible distress

Y

and can lead to depression and suicide.

A few days ago, a girl stabbed her three-yearold son to death because he was a product of an incestuous act with father!

“It’s been alleged that the increased sexualisation of society is fuelled by internet pornography and is the likely cause of these appalling increase”.

There’s no doubt that online pornography is a significant factor behind those shocking school statistics, and the weapon of choice is the mobile phone. What modern child can possibly retain the old, natural curiosity about sex in this era of explicit pornography on-tap? It was always a process of discovery, but what is left for the children to find out, when some have viewed online porn by the age of ten?

“Playing `mummies and daddies` is a billion miles away from watching women crying and gagging as they are g a n g - r a p e d .

Increasingly, online pornography at one click

OUR column to express your loving thoughts in words to your sweetheart. Don’t be shy. Let it flow and let him or her know how dearly you feel.

Write now in not more than 75 words to: The Editor, Sunday Vanguard, P.M.B. 1007, Apapa, Lagos. E.mail: sunlovenotes@yahoo.com Please mark your envelope: “LOVE NOTES"

is violent, even brutal.

This stuff is vile, ugly and degrading. The question is, don’t we need to ask what parents are doing about it? After all, who is putting the phones – the main tool that enables this to happen – into young hands? It may seem incredible that any sensible parent would buy a ten-year-old an expensive smart-phone, yet they do. Lots of them.

Parents who spend money on smart-phones (saying the games are educational) insist they restrict their use. But how? Children are so media-savvy it must be impossible to know what sites they’re accessing.

“My advise is not to indulge them. Porn aside, child psychologists are worried about the effect of `screen-time’ – televisions, computers and phones – because of its negative effect on developing brains and the way it impacts on a child’s ability to socialise and think. Children use their phones to get online and insist that this is the device they

would miss the most if it were taken away from them. Might this have something to do with the fact that the smart-phone is the most difficult for parents to police? If your ten-year-old is at a friend’s or your 12-yearold in the football field with mates – who knows what they are watching online. Or what pictures they are taking themselves?

“If government is sluggish and opinionformers are wilfully blind to the evils of porn, then it’s time for parents and teachers to mobilise to fight `raunchy culture’ which treats women as sexual objects and encourage children to mimic the worst behaviour. For a start, I have no idea why any child should need to have mobile phone (smart or not) while in school. All phones should be handed in at morning registration and collected at the end of the day.

Children have no business texting, let alone accessing the internet privately in school hours.

“I believe parents need

to read some of these shocking school statistics and accept some responsibility for the way their children behave.

Don’t give your children a smart-phone because they say their friends have them. They must learn to say `No’. And that way help the next generation understand that real women are strong and know how to say `No’ too”.

Why plain girls fare better at job interviews A beautiful woman can use her looks for many things – but getting a job, it seems, is not one of them. Including a photo with a job application is less likely to lead to an interview for a pretty woman than it is for a plain Jane – or someone who sends no picture at all, research suggests. In contrast, a handsome man boosts his chances of getting to the next stage of the selection process if he includes a photo.

The researchers say it is likely that women who already work in the company are jealous of beautiful rivals moving on to their territory. The Canadian and Israeli researchers submitted pairs of CVs to more than 2,500 jobs advertised over an 18month period. The CVs contained fictional personal details, were designed to make the candidates sound appealing and included god qualifications and work experience. One CV from each pair contained a photo someone judged to be attractive or plain – with research showing that the attractive ‘candidates’ were ‘unmistakably better looking’ than the plain ones.

Previous studies have found evidence of a ‘beautiful premium’, with

good-looking people judged to be brainier and more trustworthy. They also tend to hold more prestigious jobs and be paid more. In this study, for the female ‘candidates’ the CVs without pictures were most likely to lead to an interview. The applications with photos or plain women were the next most successful, but the beautiful women fared worst. The findings could not be explained by the jobs, qualifications or amount of public-facing work involved. Researcher Bradley Ruffle, of Wilfrid Laurier University in Ontario, Canada, believes good-looking women are being penalised for their beauty. And with his research showing that most of those doing the recruits were young, single females, he thinks jealousy is to blame.

He said: ‘Females in charge of hiring may well be jealous of prospective female employees who are attractive and compete with them for mates, or at least for the attention of male-coworkers.’ He said it is also possible that attractive women are seen as ‘social magnets’ who lower productivity. Or, he suggested, men may be deterred from hiring them over fear of a backlash from their spouses. When it came to the chaps, CVs that included pictures of someone males were the most successful, while CVs without a photo did next best and plain males fared worst.

Dr. Ruffle said: ‘A plain male needs to send over twice as many CVs as an attractive male for an equal chance at a callback#’. He said that recruitment agencies, in particular, may be relying on phones to choose between identically qualified candidates. Keen to make a good impression with the company using them, the y may avoid putting forward unattractive applicants.

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 25

08116759757

My husband, amid ‘spiritual work’, went missing mysteriously, wife cries out •Medicine man arrested

Emmanuel Agu...left home since February

By EVELYN USMAN

A

s she walked into the Lagos State Criminal Investigation Department , SCID, Yaba, alongside several other visitors who had come for various reasons ranging from effecting the release of their detained relatives to submitting petitions , it was obvious that all was not well with Mrs Evelyn Agu. What drew the attention of this reporter was her exclamation of, “ eh, not again!, after a man, later discovered to be her relation shook his head, apparently in response to a question she asked. Using her left hand to move a black nylon in order to create a space, she sat on the bare floor folding her arms and shaking her head intermittently .

The mother of three state of confusion was soon found to have been caused by the mysterious disappearance of her husband, Emmanuel Agu , since February , 2015.

Agu, a native of Orlu, Imo State, reportedly drove his Honda Odyssey vehicle with Lagos number plate GZ 143 EKY, from his Oko -Ado, in Sango Tedo area of Ajah, Lagos residence, with a cock in his hand.

Destination was said to be the home of a herbalist, at Abijo, Ibeju-Lekki.

Time was 8pm. Since then, he has neither been seen nor any word heard from him. Efforts to reach him on his mobile telephone proved abortive as it was switched off. His car has not been found either.

‘Meeting with herbalist’ Explaining how her husband met the herbalist, a national of Benin Republic identified as Kehinde C M Y K

Balogun , 35-year-old Mrs Agu said: “ On January 28, 2015, my husband took his car to the mechanic for repairs at about 12.30pm.

He came back with a man he introduced to me as Mr Kehinde Balogun. They went inside, discussed and he drove Balogun back to his house.

My husband returned with a five-litre keg of agbo(concoction ).

He disclosed that the discussion he had with Balogun was how he (husband) could secure a job, adding that Balogun was a herbalist. He said Balogun requested for N12,000 which would be used to buy a goat and things needed to carry out some ‘spiritual work’ that would enable him get a job. In addition, he said Balogun requested for N3,000 transport fare. “ Next day (January 29), my husband left home to give Balogun the money . But when he came back, he said he did not give him everything as he used part of the money to buy fuel and that Balogun could not buy the goat because it was already late to start the ‘spiritual work’.

“Three days later (February 1) , Balogun called my husband on phone, informing him that he won’t be able to come that day because he

did not finish his masquerade activities on time. He promised to come the following day which was Monday”.

“The distraught wife went on: “A about 8pm on Monday, February 2, 2015, my husband and I were in my shop when his phone rang. The caller was Balogn. I overheard him asking Balogun if he should come with the cock . When he hung up, he went inside, brought a cock , put it inside a black and white striped nylon and informed me he was going to Balogun’s place.

“Moments later, he called me on phone to say we should hasten up and close for the day

When he hung up, he went inside, brought a cock , put it inside a black and white striped nylon and informed me he was going to Balogun’s place

, that he was on his way back spiritual work . When he took home with a keg of kerosene me to his place, he showed me two calabashes with cowries , a he bought”. white handkerchief and liqiud substance suspected to be gin.

Apprehension sets in But she waited endlessly for He told me it was prepared for her husband to show up. him by a herbalist .

“He is diabetic and the money Apprehension set in after efforts to reach the husband on he paid was for preparation of the phone to find out the cause a concoction to cure it. He is still of the delay proved abortive, as owing me N6,000. When he his phone was switched off. called to ask if he should come The clock t i c ked away, over to my place, I told him to signifying the dawn of another come with my balance and the day without the usual hooting keg with which I prepared the of his horn to announce his concoction but he said he did not have money . arrival. “ I was so shocked when his The next day, the wife contacted one Kingsley whom wife later called to say she she said i n t r o d u c e d h e r wanted to speak with her husband to the ‘herbalist’ in husband. Since I do not order to get the latter ’s understand English language telephone number. But the very well because I am from response she got from him Cotonou, I gave the phone to (herbalist) heightened her my wife . My wife explained to her that I don’t admit people already tensed mood.

Continuing, she said : “ in the house because she can Balogun told me he did not not be attending to ailing understand what I was saying persons .

“That is how I found myself and switched off his phone. I called Kingsley to inform him here. I am not into divination. I about the development and only prepare concoction for begged him to either take me to ailments. Some of my friends Balogun’s place or described it who have looked into the to me. I went there on my own spiritual realm said the missing on February 3, 2015 and he man is alive and well. Some insisted he did not see my even said he fled with people’s husband. He also denied money. Since I started this work, calling my husband the previous I have never been involved in matters like this”. day . “ I became suspicious and at the same time afraid for my husband’s life . I reported the matter at Ajah Police Division and requested that my husband’s call log be cross•Laud Amaechi, Sylva checked from the network provider. When it was checked, we discovered that Balogun was ORMER militant leaders the last caller and the time of under the auspices of his call read 8.40pm. Till New Niger Delta date, I have not seen my Forum,NNDF, have called for husband nor his light brown total support for President MuHonda Odyssey he drove in”. hammadu Buhari’s aspiration to Balogun was arrested by bring the needed dividends of policemen at Ajah but was later democracy and rapid developreleased. Determined to find ment to the region.

The group also commended her husband with the help of the police, Mrs Agu went to the former Governor Chibuike SCID, where detectives at D14 Amaechi of Rivers State, Hon. apprehended the ‘herbalist’ former governor of Bayelsa again. So far , detectives were State, Chief Timipre Sylva and said to have searched Commander Bibi Oduku for supmortuaries, hospitals and porting the group during the police stations in Lagos State April 28 presidential election.

The group in a statement by without luck.

However preliminary its National President, Ujobolo investigation according to Larry, National Secretary, George Ochonoghor, National police sources, revealed that Balogun might not be a Coordinator, Sunny Ujobolo, State Chairman, Omonigherbalist afterall, as the Delta ho Jessa and the National leadAssociation of Traditional er, Mr. Kingsley Jessa, said the Medicine Practitioners commendation became necesreportedly denied him as its sary due to the role they played member. Detectives also during their participation in allegedly discovered that the presidential election. certificate of association he The NNDF who gave the comhung in his room was forged. mendation in Effurun, Uvwie loIn this interview with Sunday cal government area of Delta Vanguard , the 36 year- old State, while pledging their unsuspect, married to a Nigerian, flinching loyalty to the leadermaintained that he knew ship of Commander Oduku as the nothing about missing Agu. He head of the ex-militants in the admitted to have collected Niger-Delta region, said Oduku’s N6,000 from him but clarified security network guided them that it was not meant for goat during the election despite as claimed by the complainant. threats and intimidations from Balogun said : “ I met the man various quarters. through a man who came for

Ex-militants rally support for Buhari

F

PAGE 26—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015

•Ondo shuttle. (Inset) Front row: Gov Mimiko chatting with students; Second row: The gov’s wife with pupils

Three years of 'farewell to poverty content of June 12'

By Dayo Johnson, Akure

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HEN the free school shuttle

scheme for pupils and students in public primary and secondary schools kicked off three years ago in Ondo State, many people expressed reservations about the sustainability of the programme. Some people lauded the programme while pessimists argued it was politically motivated to garner votes from parents of school children for the second term ambition of Governor Olusegun Mimiko. The critics were quick to write off the scheme believing that, with time, government will buckle under the financial weight. But, today, the success of the scheme has proved the pessimists wrong because, from the initial 30 buses it started with, it has increased to 90. However, many parents applauded the gesture being the first in the history of the“state just as enrollment in public schools hit the roof.

The Permanent Secretary in the state Education Ministry, Steve Awosika, confirmed the increment in students enrollment since the introduction of the scheme. Awosika explained that in the first year of the shuttle scheme, 2012, the enrollment increased from 211,000 to 223,000 in 2013 and, in 2014, 241,000 while it recorded 250,000 in 2015. Drums were rolled out to mark the third anniversary of the programme which also coinceded with the anniversary of the annuled June 12,1993 presidential election. It was found that the free shuttle for uniformed students

and pupils to and from school has ensured punctuality. The beneficiaries catch the buses to school in groups. On the day of the anniversary, the beneficiaries, across the state, dropped their bags and books to participate in the celebration held at Adegbemile House, Ondo State Cultural Centre, Akure. The buses lined the road from the Cultural Centre to the First Bank area of the state capital.

Mimiko, his wife, Olukemi, Information Commissioner, Kayode Akinmade, and others members of the State Executive Council joined the students to ride in the buses round the state capital.

The governor stood by the door to invite the students who lined up to enter the buses. Akure stood still as the buses snaked through the major streets with students waving flags and singing choruses to appreciate God and the governor. Speaking before the bus ride round the“state capital, the governor revealed that the idea of providing free shuttle buses for students across the state was from his wife, Olukemi. Mimiko said that what the administration is being commended for within and outside the state was " actually the idea of my darling wife, Olukemi Mimiko”. He said the free buses are operating in 14 of the 18 local government areas of Ondo State with an assurance that the four other council areas would enjoy the facility before the end of this year. For the people in the riverine areas, Mimiko assured that free boat shuttle service would be provided for them.

He said that, as planned by his administration to sustain and institutionalize the programme, a bill has been forwarded to the state House of assembly for legal backing. " Our administration is determined and encouraged to sustain the free shuttle scheme. We are also“determined to sustain it's funding despite the lean resources available,”he vowed. The governor went on: “We shall never allow the efforts of heroes of democracy, whether dead or alive, to be in vain. We shall continue to give

According to him, the scheme focuses more on the 'farewell to poverty content of June 12’

governance content to June 12, we shall continue to honour these patriots not just in rhetoric but by seeking to actualize the noble values of good governance and democracy which many of them died for.”He added that his administration will consolidate on its programmes targeted at improving the livelihood of the people of the state. The guest lecturer, Publicity Secretary of Afenifere, Yinka Odumakin, lauded the governor for the shuttle programme. According to him, the scheme focuses more on the 'farewell to poverty content of June 12'. Also, a former governor of the old Western State, Gen. Adeyinka Adebayo, who was present at the anniversary, said the beneficiaries of the scheme would forever be grateful to Mimiko.

Adebayo said the programme is remarkable because the beneficiaries cut across parents of the poor and the rich. The state Commissioner for Transport, Nicholas Tofowomo, said the scheme has been programmed to outlive the present administration.

Sunday Vanguard spoke with some of the shuttle scheme beneficiaries who lauded the Mimiko government. A student of Fiwasaye Girls Secondary School, Miss Adenike Adedeji, said since the free shuttle started, she had not missed boarding it daily. According to her, the scheme has taken off the burden of transport fares from her parents who are civil servants. Another student from Oyemekun Grammar School, Emeka Ifejika, said the fear of missing the free bus has helped him to wake up early everyday. Ifejika said that the free shuttle has encouraged his two brothers to enroll in public school.

The Head of the Guidance and Counselling Unit of Fiwasaiye Girls Grammar School, C.R. Eniola, said the shuttle has made teaching easier for teachers, adding that it avails them the opportunity of making students attend the first period in class. Eniola said the scheme is laudable and a way of making the stakeholders in the state's education sector enjoy the dividends of democracy.

at ow tructure ssttat ONUESOKE TTO O DEL DELTTANS: Cooper Cooperat atee with Ok Okow owaa ttoo res restructure atee econom economyy

BY EPHRAIM OSEJI

E

nvironmentalist and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Chief Sunny Onuesoke, has appealed to the people of Delta State to put aside their differences and cooperate with Governor Ifeanyi Okowa on his task of restructuring the economy of the state.

Onuesoke’s appeal came following the claim that Delta economy had nose dived with a debt running

into billions of naira.

Speaking to newsmen in Warri on Okowa’s revelation about the economy, Onuesoke noted that the governor’s statement was a show of transparency and, as such, he deserve, commendation for not keeping the people of the state in the dark as to the reality, adding that now that the true state of the economy has been revealed, it’s good that all hands should be on deck for the restructuring.

On the way forward, Onuesoke advised that Deltans, particularly the lawmakers and political office holders, should cooperate with the governor on how to restore the economy of the state .

“This is not the time to trade blames as the deed has been done, but is the time for action to correct anomalies” he noted.

He maintained that they should be prepared to make sacrifices for the restructuring of the economy of the state.

•Onuesoke

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 27

BY BEN AGANDE, ABUJA

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HE rivalry between the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Army came to a head on Thursday when the aidede-camp to President Muhammadu Buhari, an army officer, Lt Colonel Lawal Abubakar, through a memo, disengaged the DSS from providing close body protection for the president as they have always done for many years. It was the climax of the distrust of the DSS operatives by the president’s team since he won the election of March 28.

In the memo, seen by Sunday Vanguard, the ADC claimed that ‘recent events’ which he did not name necessitated the change he was effecting in the security architecture of the Villa especially as it concerns the close body protection of the president.

The ADC memo addressed to the chief security officer to the president,said: ‘’Sequel to directives, I am to inform you, with immediate effect, the authorization of the redeployment of some DSS personnel from some duty beats/locations. Personnel of the armed forces of Nigeria and the Nigeria Police who were trained as presidential body guards (PBGs) are to provide close/immediate protection for Mr. President henceforth.

“However, the personnel of the DSS, in conjunction with other security forces, are to man other duties, beats/locations located within the immediate outer perimeter of the Presidential Villa”.

The ADC went ahead to list some of the beats/locations that are off limit to the men of the DSS which effectively mean that the personnel of the DSS would effectively be about two kilometers away from the precincts of the Presidential Villa.

The memo by the ADC to the CSO was the culmination of several weeks of suspicion of the DSS, especially in the run up to the presidential election.

It would be recalled that prior to the election, the spokesperson of the DSS, Marilyn Ogar, revealed that in carrying out its operations, the service raided a building which was being used as a centre by agents suspected to be working for the APC to clone the Permanent Voter Card of the Independent National Electoral Commission. Several of such operation, which saw the APC receiving the short end of the stick, created the impression that the DSS had removed its toga of neutrality and was working in the interest of the Peoples Democratic Party whose candidate, Goodluck Jonathan, was the sitting president.

With the emergence of Buhari

WHO PROTECTS THE PRESIDENT?

Controversy as DSS leaves Presidential Villa as president, it was learnt that some persons in his inner circle plotted the idea that since the DSS appeared to have been partisan in favour of the Jonathan (which they interpreted to mean the PDP), the DSS would be stripped of its constitutional role of providing close body security for the president and his family.

In order to ensure that there was no vacuum, it was gathered that a retired senior security personnel, who worked closely with the Buhari campaign team, wrote to the heads of some security agencies, including the DSS, to nominate a certain number of their personnel for training in close body protection in Jaji, Kaduna State. It could not be ascertained whether heads of other security agencies complied with the directive, but it was learnt that the DSS, which had already trained a new set of operatives to take over from the personnel that provided security for Jonathan, did not honour the request from the aide, who, they argued, was not known to the service because he had no appointment in government as at then.

As it is customary, all the nation’s security agencies deployed some of their men and equipment to provide maximum security for the President as soon as he emerged as president-elect.

While there was little or no friction between the private security guards of the then president-elect and members of the Nigeria Police and the army, for instance, the personnel of the DSS were

viewed with suspicion. The disdain came to a head at a mosque when an attempt by the DSS operatives to restrict access of the private security guards of the president-elect almost resulted in a fisticuff but for the timely intervention of some senior aides.

Few weeks after the mosque incident, personnel of the Nigerian Army, without coordination with the security operatives on ground in the Presidential Villa, were drafted to join the presidential body guard to understudy how to protect the president. Later, when the new crop of body guards, who had been trained for over three months to take

With the emergence of Buhari as president, it was learnt that some persons in his inner circle plotted the idea that since the DSS appeared to have been partisan in favour of the Jonathan (which they interpreted to mean the PDP), the DSS would be stripped of its constitutional role of providing close body security for the president and his family

over from those that served under Jonathan, resumed at the Presidential Villa, they were turned back, allegedly on the order of the ADC to the president. A day before the memo officially warning the DSS operatives to stay away from the Presidential Villa, it was learnt that the ADC went to all the beats manned by the PBGs and drove them away.

According to Sunday Vanguard’s findings, apart from being constitutionally empowered to provide close body protection for the president, the vice president, the governors and their deputies, the president of the senate, the speaker of the House of Representatives and their families, the DSS is the only security organization that has the competence to provide protection for the VIPs. That is why when there are visiting heads of state, the department provides not only the security details but also, support staff. To underscore the fact that even the army and the police lack the capacity to train personnel for close body protection, they frequently sends their personnel to the DSS for training as body guards.

Warning about the dangers about personalizing the protection of the president and his family, a security consultant in Abuja who retired from the DSS as Director after serving for 35 years, Mike Ejiofor said personal interests and score settling should not be a yardstick for determining which agency protects the president.

“I don’t believe the story that the DSS has been withdrawn from protecting the president

because his security should not be toyed with. If the president is intent on changing the security architecture, a policy formulation should be made.

He should come up with a working document streamlining the different functions of the various agencies. Statutorily and constitutionally, the state security service is charged with the protection of the president, the vice president, the senate president, the governors, and the deputy governor, speaker of

the House of Representatives and state house of Assembly and their families”, he stated.

“The president’s security should not be toyed with. I believe that what is going on now is people who are trying to

settle personal scores. Instead of looking at national security, they want to settle personal score and in the process compromise national security and the security of the president. What I am saying is that I don’t believe it, but if it is true, it’s rather unfortunate because those military that are being drafted are not trained in body guard protection. The DSS are trained for VIP protection and the president falls under VIP”.

According to a Nigerian Army Intelligence officer in the Villa who spoke with Sunday vanguard on the matter, even if there was a need for a change of security personnel around the Villa and especially around the president, the situation could have been better handled than it was done because of the wider security implication both

Continues on Page 28

PAGE 28 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

The implication of toying with Mr. President’s security – Ejiofor, ex-DSS Director

By Ben Agande, Abuja

In this interview, a security consultant and former Director of the Department of Security Service, Mike Ejiofor, speaks on the implication of the withdrawal of the DSS personnel from protecting the president.

W

HAT do you think is the implication of the withdrawal of the DSS from the Villa?

First of all, I don’t believe the story that the DSS has been withdrawn from protecting the president because his security should not be toyed with. If the president is intent on changing the security architecture, a policy formulation should be made. He should come up with a working document streamlining the different functions of the various agencies. Statutorily and constitutionally, the Department of Security Service is charged with the protection of the president, the vice president, the Senate president, the governors, deputy governors, speaker of the House of Representatives and state lawmakers and their families.

The president’s security should not be toyed with. I believe that what is going on now is people who are trying to settle personal scores.

Instead of looking at national security, they want to settle personal scores and, in the process, compromise national security and the security of the president. I don’t believe it, but if it is true, it’s rather unfortunate because the military personnel being drafted are not trained in body guard protection.

The DSS men are trained for VIP protection and the president falls under VIP. Let us go down memory lane. How was the National Security Organisation formed? It was established in 1976 after the assassination of General Murtala Muhammed specifically to protect the president and maintain internal security. The NSO continued until 1986 when General Ibrahim Babangida over threw the government of Muhammadu Buhari and clamped down on the NSO because the NSO frustrated various efforts to over throw the government.

The president himself can attest to the loyalty and the defense of his government by the NSO. It so provoked Babangida that when he assumed office, he said he was going to overhaul the NSO, which led to the split of the then NSO into three bodies: the National Intelligence Agency, charged with external intelligence, the State Security Service, charged with internal security, and the Defence Intelligence Agency, which is purely a military affair. I don’t want to believe that Mr President gave that

directive but silence disturbs.

Government should come out to clarify the issues because the life of the president is being toyed with by people who are pursuing personal interest.

The argument is that the DSS was manifestly partisan in the run up to the election and, as such, their loyalty to the new administration cannot be guaranteed.

That argument is neither here nor there. Don’t forget that the SSS personnel are Nigerians. There are many people who have sympathy for the APC in the DSSS. There are people who also have sympathy for the PDP. There are laid down procedures for doing things. If government institutes an investigation and discovers that perhaps the leadership of the DSSS compromised in loyalty to the nation, then appropriate actions should be taken.

In 1999 when Obasanjo came in, he clamped down on the DSSS, accused it of various offences and set up the Oputa panel. Eventually the DSSS was not indicted. So if you are from afar, there are all kinds of allegations people make, but they should be subjected to investigation.

What I am saying is that we should not compromise our security architecture on the altar of personal interest. People out there to serve their personal interest are the problem. What ever happened amounts to what the APC said they were coming to fight: impunity. Also recall the directive given even before the president was sworn-in barring AIT from covering the president but it was reversed because the president said he was not aware of it.

Do you think the army has the capacity to provide close body guard protection for the president?

It is a laughable question because,

•Ejiofor on one hand, the president is directing that the military check points be withdrawn to perform their military duty. How can you now entrust the life of the president to the military when there are people who are statutorily charged with the responsibility? Whether the ADC was given the directive, he doesn’t have the authority and capacity and I stand to be challenged. It cannot come from the ADC. If government has been constituted, such matter should either come from the NSA or the Secretary to the Government of

the Federation.

What do you think is the way forward?

In the present circumstance, government has to issue a statement because the statement from the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity did not deny or confirm that the DSSS has been asked to leave the Villa. There must be a specific statement on whether they have been withdrawn or not. As we speak, we don’t know the true position and it is very dangerous to the security of the president.

WHO PROTECTS THE PRESIDENT?

Controversy as DSS leaves Presidential Villa Continued from Page 27

How can you now entrust the life of the president to the military when there are people who are statutorily charged with the responsibility? Whether the ADC was given the directive, he doesn’t have the authority and capacity and I stand to be challenged

for the president and the country.

The officer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitive nature of the matter, noted,”There is a system in place where all the security agencies in the Villa have their defined roles and responsibilities. Even within the army, there are different corps in the Villa and their roles are defined.

Statutorily, we have come to know that the role of close body protection is the role of the DSS. Apart from their personnel who are trained both within and outside the country for the role, there are sensitive equipments that they are the only people who have the competence to handle them.

Withdrawing them whimsically as it was reported to have been done is not only

tardy but exposes the country to ridicule.

I am sure that at the end of the day, reason will prevail and the emotional decisions that seem to have been made in the last few days would be reversed”.

It was gathered that the National Security Adviser, who coordinates security matters for the president, has waded in to resolve the crisis. As a man who professes that his administration would be guided by the rule of law, it speaks well of Buhari to abide by the provisions of not just the law but also conventions. And such weighty decision on who provides close body security for the president and his family cannot be taken on the basis of emotions or ego but on sound judgment, what the law provides and convention.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, Page 29

All letters bearing writers' names and full addresses should be typed and forwarded to: The Editor, Sunday Vanguard, Kirikiri Canal, P. M. B. 1007, Apapa, Lagos. E-mail: sunvanguardmail@yahoo.com

Financial bail out: To be or not to be?

Dear Sir,

A

rguments have been raging in the media, particularly newspapers whether the federal government should come to the aid of the financially distressed states or not. It is obvious that majority of the state of the federation are in financial mess, many, at least, three quarter of the states are owing arrears of workers’ salaries up to five or more months. How these states found themselves in this quagmire is a conjecture because it is clear that the federal government does not owe the states their statutory allocations. This was emphasized by the former minister of finance, Okonjo Iweala and confirmed

by President Muhammadu Buhari.

Many commentators had queried the constitutionality of the bail out, while some have blamed the governors for misapplication, misappropriation of funds amongst other misdemeanor. This class is against the bail out for the state. Nonetheless, my focus is on the effects of the financial distress, particularly, non-payment of workers’ salaries on Nigerians and the way forward.

Non-payment of workers’ salary had thrown the economy off balance, particularly in many civil service states nationwide. It is a known fact that the money in circulation is determined majorly by prompt payment of workers’ salary. Invariably, non-payment of workers’ salary at the moment has led to less money in circulation, with concomitant low purchasing power, and reduction in sales and services. SecondC M Y K

ly, it has brought untold hardship on workers and their dependants. In many states, churches, mosques, NGOs, and individual have been contributing food items, clothing materials, household items for distribution to the workers as if they are refugees.

There is no doubt that the nation will bear the brunt of non-payment of workers’ salary. This is because where the workforce is not taken good care of, it will not work to the maximum capacity and that will have adverse effect on nation’s growth. Incessant strikes in hospitals have had unpleasant effects on health delivery. In actual fact, it can subject the nation to ridicule in view of the fast resources at her disposal.

The fact is that cash crunch in the states is affecting citizenry adversely and the earlier the federal government comes in the better. Nigerians are resilient people and our governments have been taken good advantage of this fact.

Nonetheless, they are implored not to take their luck too far. President Muhammadu Buhari has a great role to play in this matter.

Nigerians bought his change mantra because they were fed up with inept leadership sustained by deceit. That was why he was voted into power after years of toiling, irrespective of campaign of calumny and hate campaign embarked upon by the former regime and its supporters.

They have handed over their destinies unto his hands in the next four years. Therefore, how the nation got to this mess is immaterial at the moment.

It was evident that the nation’s economy had been grounded by the immedi-

ate past administration irrespective of the deceit of Nigeria being the largest economy in Africa. That was why change was imminent and this we have gotten. Consequently, what is imperative is the amelioration of the effects of the hard times on Nigerians.

This is the only way to show that the change is real. My position is that the federal government should bail out the state and this should not be grants. An arrangement should be made with commercial banks to lend the states money with federal govern-

ment as guarantor. The states should find means of paying back the loans after getting out of this mess.

As Yoruba say, we should chase away a fox before reprimanding the hen. This is the context in which I will like PMB to look into the issue of bailout. Federal

government should bail the states while the probe of the financial activities of the three tiers of government should go on parripassu to unravel how we got into this mess and stop the reoccurrence.

Adewuyi Adegbite Apake, Ogbomoso.

Why Osinbajo is into politics Dear Sir,

T

here are two ex treme views about the relationship between the State and Religion. At the one extreme is the school of thought that holds that the State, that is Politics, should be separated from Religion while at the other extreme is the school of thought which holds that the two should interrelate. While the former sees the State (Politics) as an institution which symbolizes worldly defilement and which is capable of defiling all that come into contact with it, the later reasons that close relationship between the two would bring more sanity. In other words, the closer the State and Religion, the cleaner and less corrupt the State and its institutions would be.

Though this writer does not intend to join in this rather open-ended debate, the fact that a renowned cleric and leading member of one of Africa’s largest Pentecostal Assemblies, the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, was recently sworn in as Vice President of Nigeria, has at once made it pertinent that this State-Religion relationship be further interrogated. The age-old fear that has dogged the reli-

gious sphere is that of contamination. The popular belief was that a religious leader going into politics would most certainly be ensnared and made to lose his calling. But, as it were, this fear has been proved to be both spurious and unfounded. The truth is that both the religious leader and his followers and members of the secular State are affected by the policies and programmes of the State. They go to the same market, they use the same roads and other public utilities together. When bad leaders are elected into government, no segment of the society is shielded from the consequences hence the need for the two segments to interact and interrelate for the good of the society.

One of the greatest failures of the Church as recorded in the Medieval Age had to do with the misleading notion that the Church was an Island, a separatist society that should not have anything to do with the secular world. So the Roman Catholic Church (then the only religious denomination) devised an artificial doctrine called “Separation”.

They built Monasteries where such authorities could be effected. But as the writings of Martin Luther and John Wycliffe revealed after the revolt

against Catholicism, some of humanity ’s appalling crimes and sins were committed right inside the monasteries and in the ruling circles of the Papacy.

Besides, those who question the likes of Professor Osinbajo appear not to understand the import of the prayer of our Lord Jesus Christ in the gospel of John 17: 15 where Jesus says He is aware of the evils surrounding the Christian as he goes about his daily activities. Therefore Christ pleads with God not to take us away via death which the evil is plotting against us but rather allow us to operate both our secular and spiritual affairs. Above all He should keep us from evil thereof. This must have influenced the decision of the cleric to go into politics.

Another point that may have influenced that decision was that little could be achieved in the effort to build a sane Nigerian society if the good hands stay away or sit on the fence; just like what happened during the dark days of Abacha when Bola Ige enunciated the siddon look philosophy which had such mass following in the Southwest and the progressives camp.

It was so effective that it resulted in apathy during the election days. Nigerians

simply stayed away.

The truth is that it has not done our country any good that religious men and women have removed themselves from the governance of the country. Rather it has left the coast clear for all manner of people to come into the leadership of the country only to loot our common wealth and use that to oppress us. The Bible has sufficient record of how God himself not only approved but also installed the first king of Israel by His prophet Samuel and all other rulers of Israel before the dispersion. How could it be sinful when God approved it for Joseph who became the Prime Minister of Egypt? So rather than vilify Professor Osinbajo for making this bold foray into the murky waters of Nigerian politics, he should be commended for his courage to take that step. The truth is that he brings with him transparency, forthrightness and purity into the governance of Nigeria and into the secular world. Let other Christians follow suit if we must sanitize our polity and save the nation from vices that have bedeviled her since independence. Let our Change be total.

Charles Afe Ikhaghe, a public affairs analyst, lives In Lagos

PAGE 30—SUNDAY, Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

Delta Dep. Speak er Speaker holds thanksgiving

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L-R: Gov. Ifeanyi Okowa of Delta State, Mrs Ogechi Osanebi, Baby Jeffery Osanebi and Hon. Friday Osanebi, Deputy Speaker, Delta House of Assembly.

eputy Speaker of the Delta State House of Assembly, Hon. Friday Osanebi, in Asaba on Sunday, said he joined politics in order to serve God and humanity.

Osanebi said this at his thanksgiving service at the Believer ’s Love World (AKA Christ Embassy), Asaba to appreciate God on his electoral victories.

He added that through the prayers of his people, God saw him through the first four years and ascribed his achievements to God’s grace.

He said “I joined politics to serve not only humanity but to serve God; I chose to be a team player in order to carry the members along and I call each of the members my boss.

Michael Edo-Ogie celebrat es 70 celebrates

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hief Michael Edo-Ogie recently celebrated his 70th birthday in Benin-City, Edo State.

Major highlight of the event was the dedication service of a new chapel by the celebrant, called New Life Chapel of the Trinity.

The show-stopping event took place on April 19, 2015

Chief Micnael Edo-ogie and wife, Chief (Mrs) Stella Ogie, with children and grandchildren, Nosa, Eghe, Osaraghe, Isi, Iyore and Mrs Tonia Ogie.

Mr and Mrs Abiodu Anolu and members of Fortune Social Club, Lagos,

Mr Nosa Frank Ogie, JP, and Chief (Mrs) Stella Ogie.

Cross section of well wishers, with Gov. Okowa, Friday Osanebi and the TEH congregation.

R-L: Senator Peter Osanebi and wife, with the family, Gov. Okowa and guests.

Madam Vict oria Anolu Victoria laid tto o rest

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Mr and Mrs Abiodu Anolu (m) and members of Fortune Social Club, Lagos.

he children of Late Mrs Victoria Anolu (nee Edebor) and relatives as well as the townspeople virtually brought the quiet Ujeme town, Ekpoma, Edo State down to its knee when they rolled out drums for her final burial ceremony. There was much to eat and drink and even take away.

R-L: Mr Ogbeide Anolu, Mr Friday Anolu, Mr Abiodu Anolu, Mr Gabriel Anolu Ehis, Mrs Martina Akpomu, Ms Maria Anolu, and sister C M Y K

Chief Michael Edo-ogie, wih son, Mr Nosa Frank Ogie, JP,

Sir G.O. Igbinedion and wife, Lady Cherry Igbinedion

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 31

Er okwu bags Onitsha cchief hief taincy title Erokwu hieftaincy

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Chief and Chief (Mrs) Akunwafor Erokwu flanked by members of Obi of Onitsha cabinet.

L-R:Chief Gordon Bozimo (OFR), Chairman NYSC National Governing Board, Mrs Chinwe Ojukwu and Mr. Eddy Megwa.

hief Akunwafor Obiora Erokwu has been honoured with the chieftaincy title of Ojiudo-Enema of Onitsha by the Obi of Onitsha. Chief Erokwu becomes a member of the Council of Chiefs of the Obi of Onitsha after satisfying all the rites prescribed for the exalted position recently in Onitsha.

After the installation guests were treated to a deluxe reception at the Erokwu’s compound, Isiokwe village Inland town, Onitsha. Photos

by Nath Onajake

L-R: Pamela Arigbe, Miss Uju Erokwu, Chief Chike Erokwu, son and Chief (Mrs) Obiageli Erokwu

Chief and Chief (Mrs) Akunwafor Erokwu.

R-L: Chief Nwachi Jideofor Sokei and Mrs Pamela Arigbe

Italian National Da ed in Lagos Dayy celebrat celebrated

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he Italian National Day was celebrated recently at the Consulate General of Italy, Victoria Island, Lagos. Many friends of the country including Nigerians, as well as top guns of the consulate graced the occasion. Photos by Akeem Salau

L-R: Alba Gianegrrari, Mrs Monsurat Abdullateef;Andrea Pompermaier,Consul General of Italy and Abdullateef Soliu

L-R;Mrs Hemrietta Onyiuke-Azih, music teacher of Italian school and Mrs Angela Alamah C M Y K

L-R;Fossim Guseppe;Artando Nebolini with Alesandro Tissino,Head of Visa Section,Consulate General of Italy and Alessandro Wanfredi.

L-R;Barrister Kwesi Obaseki, Mr Akin Brathwaite and Mr Toyin Pinheiro (SAN).

L-R;Onah Nwachukwu, Editor, Hello Nigeria Magazine;Benny Uche,US Embassy;Mr Victor Gotevbe,Admin & HR Manager, Vanguard, with Aurelie Florian,US Embassy and Tamika Jeffries, US Embassy.

L-R;Mr Limited Angelo Nigeria

Walter Sinisi of Saima Nigeria with Mr Moreno Conti and Mr Zerah, Executive Director,Saima Limited..

PAGE 32—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015

BOKO HARAM’S WINNING STRATEGY (2)

BY JIDE AJANI

A

fter two weeks of intense investigation, Sunday Vanguard presents exclusive details of the dirty war going on between the Nigerian military, members of the Jama’atu Ahliss-Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad (Western education is evil), otherwise known as Boko Haram, some influential Nigerians who appear to have lent support to the terrorists on the one hand, and some officers and men of the Nigerian military who are aiding the operations of the terrorists in this war, as well as the sometimes naïve yet complicit contradictory disposition of Europe and America, which have both wittingly and unwittingly allowed the terrorists to gain ground and have become somewhat difficult to defeat. Whereas the military is engaged in a battle on the warfront, the political and psychological component of the engagement appears to be currying sympathy for these mindless killers because of those who seem to share their ideological slant and who once (and have again) found their way to the corridors of power in a polity of clashing sociopolitical and religious interests. This is the story of how experienced and war-tested officers are led to their death because of the contradictory, compromising and deadly activities of fifth columnists in the military and in government.

And beyond Amnesty International’s (AI) indictment of some top military commanders in Nigeria, former Commander-inChief, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, may be dragged before the International Criminal Court (ICC) for crimes against humanity. The details are revealing.

LAST WEK ast week, we told the sad story of the death of a Colonel of the Nigerian Army as well as the gruesome killing of Major Timothy Fambiya who, while attempting to capture Abubakar Shekau, leader of Jama’atu Ahliss-Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad (Western education is evil), otherwise known as Boko Haram, was shot in the head from behind. We also narrated how an insider leak led to the ambushing of troops on a mission to attack Boko Haram fighters in

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Michika, Borno State – Lt. Col .Adeboye Obasanjo, son of former President Olusegun Obasanjo, almost lost his life in that ambush as he was shot in the leg. In addition, we highlighted the activities of fifth columnists whose agenda is to ensure that the terrorists defeat the military; the report by Amnesty International indicting very senior military officers and its human rights implication on perception and the war against the terrorists; the expected role of the National Human Rights Commission, NHRC,

Inside Nigeria’s dirty war on terror •Europe and America flooded with edited video footages of war •The campaign against the Nigerian state •Idris Derby of Chad: Enemy at the border •ICC and Goodluck Jonathan as C-in-C •The West encourages terrorists’ spread •How to defeat Islamist group and how it has assisted the military in shaping a policy of humaneness even as it battles the terrorists was also brought to the fore.

Some Nigerians who argued that the group be designated a Foreign Terror Organisation, FTO, rather than receive support from home, got a shocker. The Nigerian government - their government forcefully moved against the idea

HOW THE WEST ENCOURAGED BOKO HARAM It was one of those hypocritical engagements.

In the early part of 2012, Nigeria’s battle against terrorism was, at best, shambolic and disgusting to say the least. It was as if there was no government in place and the mere fact that the terror group was beginning to dare more, bomb more and kill more, became a matter of concern at international fora.

Some Nigerians who argued that the group be

designated a Foreign Terror Organisation, FTO, rather than receive support from home, got a shocker. The Nigerian government - their government - forcefully moved against the idea.

That was where mud was thrown in.

It is not yet established where the spurious document emanated from.

What was clear, however, was the end to which the document was meant to be put!

Some 25 scholars, from reputable academic institutions in the United States of America, USA, wrote a passionate letter, insisting that an FTO status

Continues on page 33

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 33

Inside Nigeria’s dirty war on terror Continued from page 32 for Boko Haram should never be contemplated. It is still debatable whose interests were being served and who may have funded such an exercise.

But with the very vociferous, sometimes embarrassing position of Nigeria’s government at that time, divorcing it of culpability would be very difficult.

And whereas they claimed to be concerned for Nigeria and Nigerians in the event that the FTO designation is hung on Boko Haram, the time wasted while this lasted is partly responsible for the growth, spread and audacity of members of Jama’atu Ahliss-Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad.

Worse still, a certain Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, who took a more than official interest in Nigeria, appeared on the same wave length with the academics. His logic, that poverty was the reason for the rise of Boko Haram, a comment described as an insult to poor people all over the world, showed his poor understanding of the ideology that drove and is driving the terrorists. He suffers culpability.

Had the insurgents been dealt with in the manner of their activities as a terror group, perhaps the token successes recorded in recent times against it could have long added up to foil and stop the group’s advances.

THE PROPAGANDA THAT DECEIVED THE WEST Investigations by Sunday Vanguard since it first published the letter in 2012 – and specifically in the last three weeks – suggest that some powerful northern influence pedlars may have been sponsors of the letter.

In fact, last week, Sunday Vanguard was made to understand that some leaders of the North were sponsored to embark on a voyage of propaganda to Europe and America.

The brief was to canvass the position that the war against members of Jama’atu Ahliss-Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad was indeed a campaign of genocide against the people of the North.

Armed with some video footage taken by military officers who believe in the ideology of Boko Haram and who were described by a C M Y K

•Troops deployed against Boko Haram security source as ‘conscientious objectors’, the propagandists made some inroads.

Whereas in truth and indeed the Nigerian military ought to be accountable to the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Nigerian people; and whereas it needed to conduct its war on terror with a human face so as not to engender unbearable degrees of collateral damage; some of the footage shown in Europe and America – apart from a few reckless extra-judicial killings – were scenes of real-life combat between the military and Boko Haram members dressed in civilian clothes.

The most interesting aspects of the footage were the ones that depicted the Nigerian military as killing innocent civilians whereas, indeed, like ISIS members dressed in civilian clothes, those who were being engaged were terrorists.

To make the propaganda engagement more believable, a retired, very senior army officer of northern extraction, was recruited for the job. How much he collected for the campaign could not be ascertained but a military source insisted that “the retired general didn’t have to be paid because he is one of those who still believe in the anachronistic idea of a “northern domination and an Islamic state”.

DOING BOKO HARAM’S DIRTY JOB Making recklessly

The most interesting aspects of the footage were the ones that depicted the Nigerian military as killing innocent civilians whereas, indeed, like ISIS members dressed in civilian clothes, those who were being engaged were terrorists

unrealistic assumptions about members of the Jama’atu Ahliss-Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad, some self-styled experts on Nigeria sought to convince the American government on why it should not support the fight against the terrorists.

And, therefore, when on May 21, 2012, a three-page

•Army tanks at the war front letter surfaced at the State Department in the US, the sympathizers of Boko Haram were on their way to buying time for the terrorists The three-page letter was sent to the then Secretary of State, Hillary Rodham Clinton, on May 21, 2012.

Received at her State Department, 2201 C Street, NW, Washington, DC 20520, the letter read: “Dear Secretary Clinton: “As scholars with a special interest in Nigeria and broad expertise on African politics, we are writing to urge that you not designate Boko Haram a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO). We are acutely aware of the horrific violence perpetrated by Boko Haram, including attacks on both Muslims and Christians in Nigeria, whether government officials or

civilian targets. We share your concerns about the impact of extremist violence on Nigeria’s democratic progress and security in general.

“However an FTO designation would internationalize Boko Haram, legitimize abuses by Nigeria’s security services, limit the State Department’s latitude in shaping a long term strategy, and undermine the U.S. Government’s ability to receive effective independent analysis from the region.

“An FTO designation would internationalize Boko Haram’s standing and enhance its status among radical organizations elsewhere. Boko Haram’s recent tactics, including the

Continues on page 34

PAGE 34—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015

Continued from page 33 use of suicide bombers and improvised explosive devices, raise questions about their foreign links.

The network’s focus has been overwhelmingly domestic, despite an August 2011 attack on the United Nations office in Abuja.

Rhetorically, some of Boko Haram’s critique of northern underdevelopment and elite corruption is within the realm of mainstream political discourse. But there are clear indications that their tactics and targets have turned most Nigerians against them, including local populations in the north.

“An FTO designation would potentially shift the organization’s posture towards the US and validate the more radical factions’ analysis of outsider influence in Nigeria. It would also undermine the Nigerian government’s ability to address the problem through law enforcement and thereby improve rule of law.

“An FTO designation would give disproportionate attention to counterterrorism in our bilateral relations, and increase the risk that the US becomes linked – whether in reality or perception – to abuses by the security services. An FTO designation would effectively endorse excessive use of force at a time when the rule of law in Nigeria hangs in the balance. There is already evidence that abuses by Nigeria’s security services have facilitated radical recruitment. This was made unequivocally clear in 2009 following the extrajudicial murder of Mohammed Yusuf, which was broadcast across the internet. That incident was immediately followed by Boko Haram’s radicalization, splintering, and increased propensity for

•Former President Goodluck Jonathan

Inside Nigeria’s dirty war on terror large scale violence.

Moreover, the routine use of the military for domestic law enforcement is a cause for alarm in a country with a deep history of military rule, and where formal declarations of states of emergency have historically led to broader political instability.

“In publicizing this letter, it is also our hope that the Department of Defense and other concerned agencies will reaffirm the limitations of their roles: informing or implementing policy rather than making it. Accurately understanding and properly addressing the issue of Boko

•Nigerian soldiers...no retreat for terrorists

Haram will require a diplomatic, developmental, and demilitarized framework. The State Department and its civilian developmental partners must be in the lead.

“The FTO list system has its origins in Executive Order 12947 in 1995, which was designed to prohibit transactions with organizations that interfere in the Middle East peace process. Congressional legislation the following year codified a process for making such decisions under the Effective Death Penalty and Anti-Terrorism Act. Once the State

Department makes an FTO designation and that entity is added to the Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list managed by the Treasury Department, it is illegal for U.S. citizens to have any

Should Boko Haram be designated an FTO through this regime, it would be illegal for nongovernmental organizations to interact with members of Boko Haram – even if the purpose of such contact was to persuade them to renounce violence

interactions with that entity unless they apply for a license. At least 1.1 million individuals and entities are also on secret lists, according to an audit by the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Inspector General. Lack of information about the criteria for being listed makes it impossible to be removed and encourages selective enforcement.

“This cumbersome and arbitrary process has made it impossible for some humanitarian organizations to operate in the neediest areas of Africa. If economic development is to play a role in alleviating tensions in northern Nigeria, we should not hamper access by USAID or private NGOs in providing aid and assistance in the region.

“Should Boko Haram be designated an FTO through this regime, it would be illegal for non-governmental organizations to interact with members of Boko Haram – even if the purpose of such contact was to persuade them to renounce violence. The US Supreme Court upheld these restrictions in 2010, declaring that such contact would constitute providing “material support” to terrorist groups.

Commenting on the threat this poses to the Carter Center, former U.S. President Jimmy Carter said this legal restriction “threatens our work and the work of many other peacemaking organizations that must interact directly with groups that have engaged in violence.” It would therefore be illegal for third party intermediaries to play a role in some future peace process or in the confidence building measures required to get there.

“Less attention has been brought to the damage that this system does to academic inquiry more generally. An FTO designation would prevent independent scholarly inquiry about Boko Haram, and increase suspicion in the future about researchers with no governmental ties. Public policy benefits from dialogue with public scholars, and an FTO designation would effectively criminalize broad categories of research.

“During a visit to Nigeria in February, former president Bill Clinton commented on the security crisis there by concluding that “it is almost impossible to cure a problem based on violence with violence.” A

Continues on page 35 C M Y K

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 35

Inside Nigeria’s dirty war on terror Continued from page 34 lasting solution to Boko Haram will require robust political and developmental components initiated by the Nigerian government and broadly endorsed by the Nigerian people through democratic processes that enhance the rule of law. We believe that an FTO designation for Boko Haram would limit American policy options to those least likely to work, and would undermine the domestic political conditions necessary in Nigeria for an enduring solution.

“We thank you for taking our views into consideration.

Our affiliations are listed for identification purposes only and do not constitute an institutional endorsement”.

The letter was endorsed by the following: A. Carl LeVan, Peter M. Lewis; American University Johns Hopkins University; Jean Herskovits, Daniel J. Smith; Purchase Brown University; Adrienne LeBas, R. Kiki Edozie American University Michigan State University; Brandon Kendhammer, Susan Shepler, Ohio University American University; John Campbell, David Dwyer Council on Foreign Relations Michigan State University; Paul Lubeck, Pearl Robinson, University of California – Santa Cruz Tufts University; Darren Kew, Clarence Lusane, University of Massachusetts – Boston American University; Laura Thaut, Nicolas van de Walle; University of Minnesota – Minneapolis Cornell University; Judith Byfield, Susan M. O’Brien, Cornell University University of Florida; John Paden/Deborah Brautigam, George Mason University/Johns Hopkins University; Michael Watts, University of California – Berkeley Additional names added since May 21 2012: David Laitin, David Wiley,

•Tank to fight Islamist C M Y K

•Nigerian Airforce helicopters set for aerial bombardment Stanford University Michigan State University; Shobana Shankar, Sandra T. Barnes, Georgetown University, University of Pennsylvania cc: Johnnie Carson, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs The Carson referred to and who was copied this supposed expert view, which sought to blackmail the American government, was the same diplomat who said Boko Haram is a child of circumstance occasioned by the poverty in northern Nigeria.

So, Tuesday, July 10, 2012, before the House of Representatives in the United States, some Nigerians, who saw and knew the agenda of the terrorists, gave evidence and warned of the consequences of allowing Boko Haram the breather the likes of Carson were advocating.

It is that same type of jaundiced position that AI has bought that informed its presentation about abuses which were already being checked and addressed by the military.

Today, the world knows better, especially in the face of the bestialities committed

by the terrorists.

To be fair, the NHRC had to step in at some point to assist the military create a revised policy of engagement because of the growing collateral damage arising from the war on terror. That the military itself submitted to the new dictate symbolizes its readiness to quarantine the civilian population from the ravaging war.

DISTURBING CATCH-22 SCENARIO – THE CASE OF ELDER CITIZEN MONGUNU There is a twist and irony in today’s war.

The nature and bestiality of

Nigerians, who saw and knew the agenda of the terrorists, gave evidence and warned of the consequences of allowing Boko Haram the breather the likes of Carson were advocating

Boko Haram members is in no measure comparable to the activities of the Niger Delta militants who created economic sabotage in the early part of this century before the late President Umaru Yar’Adua brokered amnesty. Prominent Nigerians from all geopolitical zones of the country called for the use of the military.

Interestingly, when the military launched its first wave of operations in the three states of Adamawa, Borno and Yobe, some leaders of the states, rather than encouraged the military, acted in ways that tended to pitch the troops against the civilian population and, thereby, allowed the terrorists to continue their carnage. In fact, during a presidential visit to Borno State by former President Goodluck Jonathan, the major demand of the elders of Borno was the withdrawal of the military, to which the then president inappropriately demanded an alternative – no one provided any.

Unfortunately, elder statesman Shetima AliMongunu, an octogenarian and a leading light in not just Borno State but also the North, became a victim of the terrorists. After spending days in captivity and contrary to the claim made at that time by the state government, Sunday Vanguard was told, last week, that N20million was paid to Boko Haram to secure his release. Ironically, since then, the military that Mongunu had insisted must

be withdrawn from Borno State has been providing him with security. He hardly ventures out – not because of old age but because of the traumatic experience in captivity.

Worse still, Sunday Vanguard was informed that the reason the group always found solace in Chad, Cameroun and Niger republic is because some very senior government officials, perhaps the ones referred to by former President Jonathan who were members of the Jama’atu Ahliss-Sunnah Lidda’awati Wal Jihad hiding in his government, found a very lucrative means of claiming to engage the terrorists while siphoning millions of dollars.

It is alleged that some heads of state were regularly visiting Aso Rock Presidential Villa to collect money.

Military sources alleged that most of the heroic stories about Chadian military were almost always primed to get compensation from the Nigerian government.

Even the ceasefire hoax during the Jonathan administration was alleged to have been orchestrated from Aso Rock by very senior Presidency officials, said to be working with Idris Derby of Chad Republic. The Chadian military that stormed Gamboru Ngala, military sources alleged, were on a looting spree until they were stopped from proceeding. And when they proposed to move southwards to Dikwa, the Nigerian military repelled them because their agenda was far from fighting the terrorists. With friends like Chad, Nigeria certainly do not need an enemy.

The latest AI report, Sunday Vanguard was told, is part of a grand agenda to ensure that the very senior military leaders who did their best to halt the advance of Boko Haram are dealt with. Meanwhile, their Commander-in-Chief, Jonathan, may be indicted in the final analysis.

And whereas those who may have committed acts that are inhuman while claiming to be fighting the terrorists must be brought to book.

However, threatening officers and hanging the sword of international criminal justice regime on them would not yield any meaningful advancement in the fight against terror.

PAGE 36— SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

The number of days a victim spent in the custody of the kidnappers depended on the ability of his/her family to negotiate the ransom

HIGH PROFILE KIDNAPPINGS

Ondo in frantic search for VC after mystery abduction •Captors chained, blindfolded us for two weeks—Regent, PDP leader’s wife •Queen found dead after ransom paid

BY DAYO JOHNSON, AKURE

F

ear has gripped eminent personalities in Ondo State following the ‘relocation’ of kidnappers to

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the state.

The manner at which high calibre people have been kidnapped in the state in the last one month showed that some youths engaged in kidnapping to make quick money.

No fewer than four persons

have lately been abducted and, for fear of being a victim, the streets, especially in Akure, the state capital, are now deserted as early as 6pm.

Security operatives across the state appear to have been caught napping.

While the families of those kidnapped pay through their noses, the kidnappers smile to the bank with ransom paid.

Aside the kidnapping of the regent of the university town of Akungba Akoka, Princess Oluwatoyin

Omosowon, on whom no dime was paid as ransom because of the state government and security operatives involvement, the release of every other victim was said to have preceded ransom payment after spending weeks in kidnappers den.

The number of days a victim spent in the custody of the kidnappers depended on the ability of his/her family to negotiate the ransom .

Of the four eminent persons abducted in the state, three have been released. One was found dead.

A business woman and wife of a chieftain of the PDP in Ondo, Mrs Titilayo Akingbesote, was held captive for two weeks by kidnappers who went to the family’s house at about 830pm on a Wednesday under the pretext that they wanted to transact business with her.

Despite reporting the matter to security operatives, the husband was alleged to have coughed out some good money which was dropped for the kidnappers at a burial ground in Uso area of the state.

Interestingly, some policemen were on patrol at the Uso junction around 2am where the kidnappers asked the family of the business woman to drop the ransom.

Mrs Akingbesote, however,

Continues on page 37

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 37

‘Captors chained, blindfolded us for two weeks’

Ondo Police Commissioner Isaac Eke...Kidnappings worisome Continued from page 36 breathed the air of freedom about an hour after the ransom had been dropped and the kidnappers confirmed that it was complete.

Narrating her ordeal, the wife of the PDP chieftain from Idanre said she was blind folded for the two weeks but only heard the voices of her captors.

Akingbesote said three other persons were held captive by the kidnappers, adding that their captors did shift duties. “ I only took water. I refused to eat the food they me. I prayed and fast asking God to touch their hearts and let me go,”she stated.

Sunday Vanguard learnt that the kidnappers established contact with the husband four days after she had been abducted and negotiation commenced.

The inability of the PDP big wig to meet the abductors’ demand, it was gathered, led to her staying that long in custody.

A family source hinted that the kidnappers let her go when they found that the husband could not meet “all their demands”.

Few days after Mrs Akingbesote was released, the Akungba-Akoko regent, Omosowon, and some of her aides were kidnapped along Ose- Owo expressway on their way from a public function in Akure.

The regent was held for two weeks because her kidnappers refused to reduce the N20m ransom they requested from her

family and her community.

The intervention of the state government and security operatives, from within and outside the state, later paid off as the kidnappers den was invaded.

Omosowon, narrating her in the hands of her captors, said she was chained, blindfolded for two weeks under a cocoa tree.

She has since returned home but still visits the Trauma Centre in Ondo town for treatment following the injuries inflicted on her head by her abductors.

Her two weeks experience left a sour taste in her mouth and memories to last her entire life time.

Consequently, she declared she was tired of the throne and ready to abdicate for a traditional ruler, asking AkungbaAkoko kingmakers to expedite action on the process to fill the stool of the Alale which has been vacant for 10 years.

Three other persons earlier kidnapped equally breathed the air of freedom as detectives stormed the kidnappers hideout at Arimagija in the thick forest in Ose council area of the state.

They include an NYSC member, Azuibike Ijeoma; an Indian, Alex John Thekinathy; and his orderly, Obute Sunday. The regent’s driver, Aliu Abdujelili, was also freed.

Last week, the Executive Secretary of the Cocoa Association of Nigeria (CAN), Michael Adewunmi, was abducted on his way to

A police source hinted that the kidnapping is a mystery as his captors walked into his house and picked him without the knowledge of his wife

the office.

He was later released after his family allegedly paid ransom. He spent only 48hours in captivity.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that the CAN boss, in attempt to escape from his captors, sustained injuries.

Adewunmi, who declined to speak on his encounter with the kidnappers, only said that the 48hours experience in the custody of the abductors was “horrible and would linger in his memory for the rest of his life” .

A thanksgiving has been organized by his family to appreciate God for saving him.

Meanwhile, the queen of Oba LuMure Ayelomi of Ayeka in Okitipupa area of the state, Olori Dupe, was found dead after she was kidnapped ten days after, even when her abductors had collected N2m.

The kidnappers had requested for N30m from the traditional ruler who pleaded that they should consider the harsh economic realities in the country.

The queen’s corpse was dumped at the outskirts of Ode Aye along Ore Road.

Mystery kidnapping The abduction of a former Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology, Akure (FUTA),

Prof. Albert Ilemobade, is the latest in string of abductions to hit Ondo State.

A police source hinted that the kidnapping is a mystery as his captors walked into his house and picked him without the knowledge of his wife.

He was kidnapped alongside his security guard whose identity was unknown.

The septuagenarian professor was said to be inside his study when the kidnappers and security guard walked in and he was whisked away.

The wife was said to be inside the house when the abductors came calling but left her and went straight for their target.

It was learnt that the kidnappers locked the gate from outside and escaped.

The VC’s cheque books and ATM cards, according to the wife, were also missing.

It was gathered that the house maid, who saw her master being taken away, informed the professor ’s wife who made distress calls to friends and their children.

Early callers to the family house had to cut the padlock used by the kidnappers to lock the gates from outside before they could gain access.

Ondo State Police Commissioner Isaac Eke, speaking with Sunday Vanguard on the spate of kidnapping in the state, confessed that “ it is worrisome.” “ The issue of kidnapping is a serious challenge. It is a spill over of the kidnapping in Ekiti State. We are however not folding our

hands. I have had meetings with many community leaders, Okada riders and other groups since the incident of kidnapping started,”Eke added. “ All we need from them is vital information, the police cannot be everywhere. “ The issue of Prof Ilemobade, he was kidnapped in his residence in the GRA. They went to the house and picked him while the wife slept.

“From the report we got, the wife did not know that the husband had been abducted. It became clear around 11am when some family members came to see the professor only to find out that the gate was padlocked from outside which was very unusual.

“It was when the people got there that she knew and the people had to go to the police station to report that the professor was missing “ They did not find the husband and the gate man.

Four vehicles have been removed from the garage of the professor. This was the narration from the wife and it later dawned on them that this might be a case of kidnapping .

“We have started investigation. We are working on some theories now that we cannot reveal.

“We are doing something about these cases of kidnapping and, with time, we will get there.

“On the kidnapping of the regent, we thank God she has been rescued and some of the kidnappers have been arrested . We are interrogating the suspects and they are giving useful information on the workings if the gang”.

Adewunmi...had horrible experience C M Y K

PAGE 38 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015

adoptive countries. Let us create the right environment here in Nigeria so that capable women (and men) don’t have to leave the shores of their country to find a place where their intellectual talents can be maximised and appreciated.

By Olubunmi Aboderin

T

HERE is a lot of talk about “inclusive capitalism” and “inclusive growth” these days. That’s all well and good but in addition to these, what we need is an “inclusive government”:. A government that includes capable, honest citizens based on merit irrespective of gender.

There is a positive correlation between gender equality and economic growth.

Countries that do not treat women as second class citizens are more likely to prosper in a sustainable manner, and this is true regardless of the prevailing ideology or religion of that region.

Rwanda and Dubai are two classic examples. Both places rank high in comparative regional gender equality surveys and both have experienced an upward trend in economic prowess and social development over the last 10 years and 40 years respectively. In the book, Flashes of Thought, the ruler of Dubai, Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, says of his government: “Our job is to provide an environment that unlocks women’s potential–one that protects their dignity and femininity, helps them create the necessary balance in their lives, and values their talents and potential. Given this environment, I am confident that women will perform nothing short of miracles.” To that end, 70 per cent of university graduates in Dubai are women. Eight five per cent of the ruler’s personal team are women, 65 per cent of government employees are women and 30 per cent of the leadership positions are held by women.

Closer to home, let’s look at Rwanda. Since the genocide

t s e st t te a e r g ’s ia r e ig N e c r rc u o s e r l a r ra u t a n ended over 10 years ago, women have generally made up more than 50 per cent of their parliamentarians.

Currently, approximately 63 per cent of their members of parliament are female. During that time, Rwanda has experienced year-on-year GDP growth. Their GDP per capita, their Gross National Income per capita, their Agricultural Production Rate and Food Production Rate have increased steadily over those years. Is this a coincidence? I think not. I once heard someone say that women are the greatest causalities of war and he might be right. This being the case, by putting capable women in leadership positions, we have a government that is less likely to make decisions that would lead to civil unrest or war.

Prosperity fosters in times of peace. The absence of confusion and an orderly society foster progress. Thus one could probably argue that the more women we have in leadership positions, the more likely we are to have an orderly and prosperous country.

National benefits In her essay, The Economics of Exclusion, University of Oxford Business Professor, Linda Scott, illustrates in monetary terms the national benefits of adequately including women in leadership and the hidden, indirect costs of excluding them: “Taking

account of the benefits of including women should encompass not just the growth possibilities, but the bigger economic impact lies in avoiding the costs associated with exclusion, such as...hunger, violence and disease.”

In some of her other works, Scott compares the Women’s Economic Opportunity data compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit and the

It should be a priority of the new administration headed by President Muhammadu Buhari, to uphold our National Gender Policy

National Competitiveness Index created by the World Economic Forum.

Her findings show that “a country making concerted efforts to protect, support, educate, and place its women would be making similar decisions across the board to maximise its other resources.”

There are examples of gifted leaders all over the world who happen to be female, such as Valerie Amos, Michaelle Jean, Ursula Burns and Condoleezza Rice. We also have our fair share of such assets here in Nigeria and in deciding who should form part of the leadership team that moves this country forward, let those who are gifted with skill, scruples, stamina and a solid track record prevail.

Right environment Overlooking women for positions in leadership would be akin to a self-inflicted, gender-based, brain drain.

Speaking of a brain drain, Valerie Amos is originally from Guyana and Michaelle Jean was born in Haiti. Both women are doing wonders on behalf of their adoptive countries, the United Kingdom and Canada respectively. If the right environment had existed in their countries of birth, they probably would not have left and perhaps they’d be doing these wonders as emissaries of their birth countries rather than as representatives of their

Who or what is a leader?

It is said that a leader is someone who improves the lives of those around him or her. People like Adepeju Jaiyeoba, the lawyer working to reduce infant and maternal mortality rates by providing kits to pregnant women in rural areas, or Mosunmola Umoru, the female farmer who empowers other farmers by helping them find a viable market for their produce.

Similarly, it is said that a leader is anyone who can serve people and make them happy. For example, Enitan Kuku who discovers Nigerian fine artists and helps them sell their artwork in the international market, or Fisayo Olowu who runs a designated learning place for children under the age of 10 living in an impoverished shanty town, or Yewande Olofinro who goes to hospital wards to help those who can’t pay their medical bills.

Positive change I also read somewhere that a leader is someone capable of creating positive change, whether at a micro level within his or her family or at a macro level serving the entire nation. People such as Ijeoma Idika-Chima, a young lady who galvanises other young people to vote, or Amina Ahmed who despite incredible odds is possibly one of Nigeria’s youngest female magistrates, or Temitayo Etomi, a manager in the Lagos State civil service, doing notable work in her state government.

It should be a priority of the new administration headed

by President Muhammadu Buhari, to uphold our National Gender Policy. Let us “provide an enabling environment for women to achieve their highest potential.” That environment would be one that protects them from violence, one that does not force them to compromise their principles and one that includes them on the basis of competence.

The positive change that we would like to see from the new administration is the significant inclusion of clever, capable, conscientious and compassionate women in the leadership. Let us realise the benefits inherent in our greatest natural resource. We can create an environment that enables women to succeed or sets them up to fail. By choosing the former, the whole nation, male and female, young and old, will also move forward.

*Ms Aboderin is a member of the Institute of Directors.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 39

The quest for a child

BY PATRICK DELE COLE

L

OOKING for a child has been a most harrowing challenge for a great number of men and women. The Bible tells the agonizing story of a woman who continuously wailed as she sought a child.

God took pity on Hannah and gave her a child after the intervention of Prophet Eli. She became the mother of Samuel, a giant in the history of Jews.

Henry the VIII of England, in his search for a male heir, beheaded six queens, yet he died without a son and was succeeded by Queen Elizabeth the 1st. In the end, Henry VIII took England out of the Roman Catholic Church and established the Anglican Church in what became known as the English Reformation.

Single professional women have had no bar to their adoption of children. They may have done so in cases where child birth was difficult; when, however, adoption has occurred, sometimes successful pregnancies ensued. So far, there has been no stigma involved in adopted children; if there is, the evidence is small, although I can imagine needling comments of the kind of women that Mama Gee portrays in Nollywood. In some societies, women marry younger girls for their husbands for all sorts of reasons. Our upper and middle class women almost invariably have children, who, in every other way except legally, had been adopted. It is not always a happy experience but then which marriage is always a happy experience? There is the occasional friction when the woman dies without a will because her relatives may make claims or fight to take all the material possessions of the dead, thereby cutting the adopted child out of his lawful inheritance. My mother, on the other hand, had several adopted children, who remain my siblings till date.

Duruyani and Hannaniya were married for 20 years and, just like any other couple, they tried to have children. However, unlike others, it took them several years to conceive and, despite the challenge with conception and their expectations, all the pregnancies unfortunately ended in miscarriages. This was a very grieving deal for them because the babies would grow to about 5 or 6 months in the womb and then a miscarriage would occur, and some of these miscarriages were for multiple babies.

The enlightened couple

utilized their globe-trotting exposure to seek medical solution overseas, all to no avail.

Miracle Eventually, as time progressed, Durayani became ill and was diagnosed with various kinds of ailments. She developed a type of cough the doctors could not understand and, on the film, some dark spots were seen in her chest region and lungs. Being devoted Christians, they sought medical solution to the challenge yet committed it to the Lord as they expected some miracle. Eventually the Lord took this strange ailment away from her.

One day, while they dined at a Chinese restaurant in Abuja, Durayani began to bleed. She knew what was happening. Her husband, a microbiologist and specialist neurophysician, rushed her to three different hospitals.

Unfortunately, in each hospital, the senior doctors had all gone home. After the third stop, he rushed her to the National Hospital where he found out again that all the senior doctors had also closed for the day. At this point, he chose to go against the ethics of his profession that advise against a man performing surgery on his spouse. With junior doctors around with the few junior doctors on duty, they quickly set up the theatre and began the surgery to take out the blood clot that was about to snuff life out of his beloved wife. Then an experienced doctor came around for an entirely different reason, and heard of the situation and ran to take over the surgery.

Doctor’s report versus God’s report On another day, she fell ill and, in the course of seeking solution in South Africa, they were told that the blood result was bad news: cancer. They were shaken and took the challenge once more to the Lord in prayers. They rejected the doctor’s report and held unto the Lord’s report.

They sought medical solution in the U.K afterwards and the doctors became puzzled and asked, “Who said she had a blood disease, a rare form of blood cancer?” To the glory of God, the results of the latter test showed there was no trace of the cancer. Did a miracle take place? They rejoiced and praised the Lord.

Soon after this great news, they got a call from the South African doctors stating that there was a mix up with her tests. They investigated further and confirmed that she did not have any form of cancer in her system. Having gone through so much and having wailed on the Lord in the secret place of the Lord, they remained sober and

In some societies, women marry younger girls for their husbands for all sorts of reasons.

Our upper and middle class women almost invariably have children, who, in every other way except legally, had been adopted

thankful, once more, for sparing her life.

Surrogacy After a while, they tried to have children again but to no avail; miscarriages continued.

Eventually they figured that since her womb could not keep the pregnancies, they would consider the option of surrogacy. Their Harley Street doctor, one of the first doctors in the world to successfully deliver in vitro (IVF) babies, had been very sympathetic to their cause and, after series of failed IVF, suggested surrogacy to them. They began the procedures and, as eggs could be stored for years, they decided to store the excess eggs while they sought for a surrogate mother to carry their child. Unfortunately, the surrogacy laws in Britain were so strict that it would have been impossible to find a

mother to carry the child. The doctor, who was natively Greek, suggested that they find a surrogate in Greece.

They embraced the idea but it was soon forgotten because there was a serious problem with the transportation of the eggs out of the region. When that failed, they tried to transport the eggs to Nigeria but the results were the same as that of Greece. It seemed like they would never be able to have their own children, so they opted for adoption. They adopted a little boy, now 6 years old, and later a girl, now aged 4. Duruyani’s body had gone through so much strain over these years and age was not on her side as she was classified as High Risk Pregnancy if she took in.

On two occasions, she had been diagnosed with cancer, and later lymphoma; she had suffered hemorrhage, strange cough which left dark patches on her lungs; she had suffered emotional, physical and psychological trauma. She had also been on bed rest all through these pregnancies that resulted in miscarriages. Yet the good Lord delivered her from the cold hands of death. Her husband, Hannaniya, a rare Igbira man from Kogi State, remained a most loving husband to her, an Igbomina from Kwara State, and kept all their travails away from family and friends. They loved and doted on their two adopted children and once more wondered if it was necessary to have their own biological children.

Appointed time

The Lord understood the desires of their heart and decided to seal their faith with a remarkable gift to them in 2014. They got a call from their doctor in Harley Street

that the law had lifted the storage limit of the human eggs/embryo which negated the earlier law of five years.

Perhaps because they were silently thinking once more of their unborn children, they became expectant. Her eggs were still available and decided to try once more.

This time they asked for the frozen eggs to be sent to Nigeria and this became the appointed time for them for they were able to transport the eggs and implant them in Lagos.

29 weeks after the implantation of the embryo, Hannaniya, while at work, got a call from the surgeon that his twin baby girls had been delivered weighing 0.9kg and 1kg respectively. He could not believe his ears and questioned the time and date of delivery to which the surgeon responded that it was either they were saved at that point in time or they were lost like all the others gone.

Delivered alive Hannaniya, knowing what everybody in this country and beyond knew, which was that the babies had a slim chance of survival in a country like Nigeria, did not get excited.

He did not worry either but chose as usual to leave this one more challenge to God. For the first time, their babies had been delivered alive; so it was clear that the Lord had given them the miracle of an identical twin birth, but with incessant power outages and

the inadequate medical care, especially for neonates in the incubators, what would be the fate of these little ones? As usual and with wisdom, he chose to keep the news away from family and friends for he did not want to get excited over his preterm babies. They willingly submitted the case to the Lord and waited for time to celebrate if it was the will of God for them. As God gave his approval, both babies survived and were christened Grace and Esther on Sunday, March 22, 2015.

The other two children who had been adopted were also christened on the same day.

There was a lovely celebration of the two babies and their older adopted siblings afterwards at the beautiful event organized by the family in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja. Their phenomenal testimony was shared by the husband himself and all those present were amazed. Their parents, siblings, relations, friends and well-wishers were speechless and moved to tears of joy for the grace of God on their beloved children.

There are great lessons to learn from the power of prayers and the power in sealed lips for they did not give room to any interference or sympathy from family and friends.

Research for the story was done by Ugonna Ezeanya and Chinwe Ezeanya and I am privileged to bring you the wonderful saga.

P AGE 40—SUND AY PA 40—SUNDA

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

ATTAHIRU JEGA’S REPLACEMENT

The pressure on Buhari

•Prof. Attahiru Jega

Without prejudice to whatever willful inadequacies of every mortal, Attahiru Jega, a professor and out-going National Chairman of Nigeria’s election management body, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, deserves to be commended. As he exits that office, there is going to be a fierce battle to fill the slot. And were President Muhammadu Buhari be committed to sustaining the transformative underpinning of Jega’s tenure, he would not need to look beyond the suggestions contained in this piece. More importantly, Mr. President would need to divorce himself of any shade of nepotic and prebendal inclinations in appointing a replacement for Jega so that he, too, would keep faith with the need to build on what Jega started.

BY JIDE AJANI

T

HERE are moves being made in some quarters by some prominent Emirs to compel President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint another northerner to fill the position of the National Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. Sunday Vanguard learnt that as the battle rages, Mr. President has come under considerable pressure by some traditional rulers from the North directly and, in some instances, using proxies to make a case for one of the National Commissioners.

Interestingly, the Commissioner is also from the North West geo-political zone like out-going Attahiru Jega.

And in what appears to be a direct unintended though predictable consequence of appointing retired civil servants and old men and women into the Commis-

sion, a 75-year old national commissioner (name withheld) was rushed to the Intensive care Unit, ITU, of an You, Akwa Ibom hospital recently while the Commission was having a retreat in that state.

Sunday Vanguard was made to understand that even while in a state of coma, he was flown in an air ambulance to an Abuja-hospital.

He is still in a coma.

The impending exit of the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Professor Jega, and his peers of national and state Electoral Commissioners brings to a potential an expected finale a remarkable period in the history of the Commission. They are the first crop of electoral Commissioners to midwife the affairs of the Commission after the significant reforms enacted from the recommendations of the Mohammed Lawal Uwais Committee on Electoral Reforms.

Professor Jega and the Commission he

President Jonathan acted statesmanly and in the national interest and set an unprecedented record of appointing Prof.

Jega, from the NorthWest, the first northerner since independence, to the position of the Chairman of INEC

led conducted two elections, considered largely credible and acceptable globally.

Both elections were principally between two main candidates, former President Goodluck Jonathan and incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari, both men won one out of both contests, making any claims of bias to either difficult to sustain.

The Commission, under Jega, can therefore be said to have creditably acquitted itself in terms of the independence which the reforms were meant to attain and sustain, but maintaining the relative credibility that the current peer of Commissioners have engendered under the leadership of Jega will require a new INEC Chairman with remarkable and exceptional qualities.

Such qualities must be the focus of the incumbent president as he adds this task to the list of appointments on his to-do

Continues on page 41

SUND AY SUNDA

The pressure on Buhari Continued from page 40 list. The very important role played by the Commission in consolidating democracy in Nigeria, therefore, impels a closer examination of the qualities of Professor Jega’s potential successor.

Yet, consider: Protest letter Among those who appear to be in the running for the office are some national officers who, rather than make genuine contributions to meetings, would simply cow-tow and flow with the tide.

Because of the nature of the nominations to the Commission – some state governors actually nominated most of the commissioners – it is very important that President Buhari remains mindful of the need to allow merit take precedence over relationship and patronage.

The Commissioner, being pushed by the Emirs, once worked with PMB when he was the Chair of Petroleum (Special) Trust Fund, PTF. As a Commissioner in INEC, the individual had been reported severally in the newspapers of a breach of oath of impartiality in respect of a political party.

During the 2011 presidential election, specifically, the individual was reported to have encouraged a protest letter from a campaign organisation to INEC during collation of the results with a view to stopping the exercise.

Even at that time, the out-going Chairman stopped collation and set up a committee to carry out investigation relating to the contents of the petition.

This development, Sunday Vanguard gathered, unknown to most Nigerians, almost returned the country to the June 12 debacle.

It was the protest of other National Commissioners, one of whom confirmed the story to Sunday Vanguard, that averted another annulment as report had it that a court injunction was already being procured to stop further collation. This was in 2011.

In the build up to the 2015 elections, the Commissioner featured prominently with a few others, also from the North, who pushed for the implementation of the criminally lopsided 30,000 polling units’ allocation that put the whole of southern Nigeria almost at par with North-West Zone where the said Commissioner hails from – such an individual is not fit to become INEC Chairman.

Appointing such an individual would engender loss or erosion of public confidence, a clear reversal of public trust in an umpire that needs to work harder to gain more public trust.

National; interest This is even more imperative because the 2015 presidential election, free and fair as it appeared, suffered some discounts which Nigerians were willing to overlook.

Apart from having worked with PMB, the president is perceived as an uncle, from the same North-West, which boils down to the Nigerian problem of nepotism – that is if the individual is appointed.

This all important decision of PMB would show whether he is a statesman or a regional champion.

President Jonathan acted statesmanly and in the national interest and set an unprecedented record of appointing Prof. Jega, from the North-West, the first northerner since independence, to the position of the Chairman of INEC. His appointment was made despite the fact that northerners, mainly from the North-West, opposed President Jonathan from assuming the office of the president even in acting capacity and equally opposed him in the 2011 elections by not voting for him.

The appointment of Prof.

Jega by Jonathan was based on merit devoid of ethno-religious or political considerations and party interest as most members of PDP were opposed to the decision.

But Jonathan placed the national interest of credible elections above his party interest. Would PMB fall below the standard set by Jonathan by putting his regional, APC and his personal political interest above that of the nation in the choice he would make of who succeeds Jega in the light of the disturbing reports?

As Professor Jega and several national Commissioners bow out of INEC next

Continues on page 42

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 41

INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION EFFECTIVE DATES OF APPOINTMENT OF RESIDENT ELECTORAL COMMISSIONERS

S/No Name of REC

State of Origin

Date of Appointment

Expiration Date

1.

2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

Bauchi Sokoto Niger Kebbi Delta Ebonyi Katsina Oyo Kano Adamawa Kogi Yobe Osun Lagos Abia Zamfara Kaduna Enugu FCT Benue Ogun Plateau Jigawa Taraba Imo Cross River Anambra Ondo Bayelsa Nasarawa Ekiti Edo Borno Kwara Rivers Gombe Akwa Ibom

9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 9th June, 2010 29th July, 2010 3rd Nov. 2010 16th Dec, 2010 16th Dec, 2010 16th Dec, 2010 20th Oct, 2011 20th Oct, 2011 20th Oct, 2011 20th Oct, 2011 20th Oct, 2011 20th Oct, 2011 20th Oct, 2011 20th Oct, 2011 16th Feb, 2012 16th Feb, 2012 16th Feb, 2012 16th Feb, 2012 16th Feb, 2012 25th July, 2012 25th July, 2012 25th July, 2012

9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 9th June, 2015 29th July, 2015 3rd Nov. 2015 16th Dec, 2015 16th Dec, 2015 16th Dec, 2015 20th Oct, 2016 20th Oct, 2016 20th Oct, 2016 20th Oct, 2016 20th Oct, 2016 20th Oct, 2016 20th Oct, 2016 20th Oct, 2016 16th Feb, 2017 16th Feb, 2017 16th Feb, 2017 16th Feb, 2017 16th Feb, 2017 25th July, 2017 25th July, 2017 25th July, 2017

Ahmed Makama Haliru A. Bambawel Abdullahi Umar Danyaya Abubakar U. G. Wara Mr. Mike Igini Prof. Salina Omagha Oko Hussaini Ahmed Mahuta Dr. A. L. Ogunmola Alh. Ibrahim Zarewa Prof. Tukur Sa’ad Dr. Emmanuel Onucheyo Kassim Gana Gadam Mr. Timothy Ibitoye Amb. (Dr.) Rufus Akeju Prof. C. E. Onukeogu Ibrahim Bagobiri Marafa Sadiq Abubakar Musa Engr. Edwin O Nwataral Hussaini Halilu Pal Dr. Kwanga Godwin M. Mr. Akinyemi Orebiyi Istitanus D. Ishaku Minkaila Abdullahi Mr. Samuel Madaki Dr. Lawrence Azubuike Dr. Ogbudu Gabriel A. Sylvester Okey Ezeani Sam O. Olumekun Mrs. Gesila Khan Prof. Jacob S. Jatau Segun Agbaje Barr. Austine Okojie Baba Abba Yusuf Nasir Ayilara Baritor Lenusikpung. K. Mr. Habu Zarma Hinna Ikoiwak Aniedi Abasi

INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION EFFECTIVE DATES OF APPOINTMENT OF HON. NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSIONERS S/No Name of National Commissioner

State of Origin

Zone

Date of Appointment

Date of Expiration

1 2.

3.

4.

5.

6.

7.

8.

9.

10.

11.

12.

13.

Kebbi Adamawa Rivers Osun Abia Delta Yobe Kwara Jigawa Nasarawa Sokoto Ebonyi Oyo

North West North East South South South West South East South South North East North Central North West North Central North East South East South West

30th June, 2010 30th June, 2010 30th June, 2010 30th June, 2010 30th June, 2010 30th June, 2010 30th June, 2010 21st July, 2010 21st July, 2010 11th Aug. 2010 11th Aug. 2010 20th Oct. 2011 9th Dec. 2014

30th June, 2015 30th June, 2015 30th June, 2015 30th June, 2015 30th June, 2015 30th June, 2015 30th June, 2015 21st July, 2015 21st July, 2015 11th Aug. 2015 11th Aug. 2015 20th Oct. 2016 9th Dec. 2019

Prof. Attahiru M. Jega, OFR Col. M. K. Hammanga (Rtd) Dr. Ishmael Jikiri Igbani Prof. Lai Olurode Dame Gladdys Nne Nwafor Mrs. Thelma Amata Iremiren Engr. (Dr.) Nuru A. Yakubu, OON Dr. Abdulkadir S. Oniyangi, OFR Mrs. Amina Bala Zakar Dr. Chris O. Iyimoga Amb. (Dr. ) Mohammad Ahmad Wali Amb. Lawrence Nwuruku Prof. Akinola M. Salau

P AGE 42 — SUND AY PA SUNDA

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

The pressure on Buhari Continued from page 41 week, with many Nigerians expressing concern that the higher benchmark they are leaving behind, regarding the conduct and credibility of elections may fall drastically. This fear was heightened during the week as the ruling All Peoples Congress (APC) and its members displayed undisguised desperation for political offices at the National Assembly. With such unresolvable tendency to win at all cost and disregard for any form of conciliation, many fear that the days of “do or die” elections may be upon the country again come 2019.

To assuage the fears of Nigerians that the electoral ambiance will be conducive for both ruling and opposition parties, to contest and win elections fairly and acceptably, heightened curiosity and anxiety now pervades the expectations of Nigerians on the caliber of people who will succeed the outgoing election commissioners. Appointing people with questionable competency, integrity and credibility, will do untold and foreseeable damage to the election integrity which the Jega team have toiled to build since 2011, and which Nigerians now come to expect to get better.

The anxiety that attends the exit of Jega and this crop of commissioners is worsened by the fact that, by next week when Jega and most of the team at national and state levels would have gone, will leave the Commission under the leadership of two National Commissioners, both of whom were appointed under controversial conditions. One of them was accused of partisanship, because he had been an obvious beneficiary of the former ruling Party the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), as a former ambassador and the other recently appointed retired vc just before the election regarded as too old for the strain of leading such a dynamic organization. Hence, insiders within the Commission question how these men can meet the often high pressure tasks that is often required of the Commission’s leadership given these limitations. These issues of doubt were raised against the background that one of the national Commissioners that will be left is too old, and is described by insiders as “narcoleptic” meaning that it is not uncommon to find him asleep even in public engagements, in full glare of media Kleiglights which has prompted hurriedly arranged “public relation positioning” of the Commissioner in some public engagements to avoid such embarrassing incidents. Given the current atmosphere of political uncertainty that is creeping into the party structures at national level, it is believed that the 2019 electoral firmament may present new formations and possible party restructuring, in the light of postelection developments, hence it is expected that much more consideration will be given to the abilities of those who will man the Commission further down the road, to ensure that they will be people that are widely accepted by the Nigerian public as independent and competent, but that can be trusted by all stakeholders not to be unduly unctuous to political interests.

Given this scenario, many have set their sights back to a short-list of people who have been described as independent, competent but not politically unpredictable.

Who are the men and women that will fit this description and meet the expectations of Nigerians? Answers to these questions are now more germane as Nigerians are currently beginning to doubt the sincerity of the ruling party to institute credible changes to national institutions. Hence, Nigerians are eagerly waiting to see how these appointees will emerge.

•President Buhari Maintaining the autonomy of the Commission means that a significant quality of Professor Jega’s successor will be the ability to be assertive of the Commission’s independence, which, therefore, requires an individual who will not return the Commission to the era when it was the smarmy appendage of the executive.

In addition to such flare for independent thinking, sustaining the current momentum in INEC will require someone with requisite knowledge, strength of character, integrity, untainted by electoral scandals, vibrant and energetic enough to meet the physical strain the office requires, and can demonstrate courage to take tough decisions without being needlessly emotive.

In addition, the individual should have a good working knowledge and understanding of the electoral system and should be able to command public confidence across all strata of the Nigerian society, particularly amongst political stakeholders, the electorate, the civil society, professional groups, development agencies, academics and other principal actors in the electoral process.

Such qualities, particularly the quality of having a very good working knowledge of the electoral system and the reforms that have allowed the Commission to attain its current credibility, are not widely common outside the Commission, a chief reason many observers are looking more internally than externally for

These issues of doubt were raised against the background that one of the national Commissioners that will be left is too old, and is described by insiders as “narcoleptic” meaning that it is not uncommon to find him asleep even in public engagements, in full glare of media Kleiglights

possible successors of Professor Jega.

However, while there are many in the Commission who have participated in the implementation of the reforms, the allegations that bedevil the conducts of many Commissioners during the period narrow any potential internal successors to only a handful of untainted and credible Commissioners who distinguished themselves in INEC throughout their assignments. This is an important consideration given the avowed commitment of the current government to meritorious public service and its anti-corruption posture.

With the contemplation of such qualities dominating the discourse on the future of INEC and its potential leadership in the near future, many observers are keen to find out if President Buhari would foot-drag on constituting a new INEC Board given that, on or before the end of June 2015, INEC would be left with just two National Commissioners, one of whom was appointed just few weeks to the general elections and whom insiders say has not spoken a word in any meeting held so far and hardly expresses his opinion despite being a former Vice-Chancellor . The other one, albeit relatively longer in the system and also a one-time INEC Commissioner, and hence could be in acting capacity, has been described as “a former card carrying member of a party”, whose appointment was protested against for being a party-nominated minister under the Obasanjo regime, as well as also having been an Ambassador to Mexico as a potential party patronage before his controversial appointment as an INEC Commissioner?

Given this background, therefore, not a few people are pondering if President Buhari will exhibit the kind of states manly disposition of former President Jonathan who pressed the case for credible elections and who, despite the pressure from his party and the concern for electoral victory, appointed a northerner, considered by many as a leftist, and an activist professor to be the Chairman of INEC. Hence, those who ponder such question also wonder if the next Chairman of INEC will be appointed from outside or from within the current crop of Commissioners? Also, such speculations lead to questions on what the advantages and disadvantages of appointing from outside or from amongst the current Commissioners would be, having regard to innovations like the Card Readers and a whole regime of innovations like customized ballot papers introduced by the outgoing Jega-led team that would obviously need consolidation?

If, however, as suggested in several quarters that, appointing a new Chairman from amongst the current set of Commissioners is best for the sake of continuing, perfecting and consolidating various innovations introduced by the Commission, and which have renewed public confidence in the electoral process, then the search will have to be narrowed down to a very credible few Commissioners in the system who have distinguished themselves.

Such a search must, therefore, have behind it, those pristine qualities that have already been discussed and the acceptability of all stakeholders across party lines as the chief criteria.

That search should have started yesterday.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 43

My vision for honest leadership and responsible government,

By Gov. Okowa

SHEDDING LIGHT My mission today is principally to shed more light on our vision for Delta State predicated upon honest leadership and a responsible government. We have come into office at a very difficult and turbulent period in the history of our country. The spectre of broken promises and the profligate lifestyle of some of those entrusted with leadership have combined to erode public trust and confidence in government, and our people are beginning to lose hope.

Our first responsibility as a Government is to rekindle that hope, and give our people the power to dream again. Our people are longing for good leadership; they want to see true role models. Indeed, they want more than a simple change of guard followed by cosmetic reforms. This is the first crucial test we face as a government.

The starting point for us as elected leaders is to lead by example. It is a fact of life that people buy into the leader before they buy into the vision.

The followers will always do what they see the leader do, not what he says. So in our demands, attitudes and lifestyle choices, we must display the sacrifice, simplicity and discipline expected of every citizen in our current economic predicament.

STATE OF ECONOMY Now let me touch a bit on the state of our economy. Upon my assumption of office, I was formally briefed by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance and the AccountantGeneral of the State on Tuesday June 2nd on the state of our finances. The highlight of that briefing is that the revenue receipts from Federation Accounts Allocation Committee (FAAC) has dipped significantly,

dropping to just N8.03 billion in April,(as received in May 2015), from a high of overN20billion in previous years.

Currently the State is grappling with a Revenue Bond and indebtedness to commercial banks totaling N98.62 billion (Principal sum), while outstanding contractual obligations is N538, 601,962,421.50. In 2011, the State Government took a N50 billion facility from the bond market, with a repayment period of seven years in 84 installments at N1.098 billion each month. This facility will terminate in September 2018 with 40 more installments (totalingN43.92 billion) to pay with effect from June 2015.

In November 2014, Delta State also acted as guarantor to some select contractors supported by the issuance of an Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) of N2.23 billion monthly, for which the contractors received the total sum of N40 billion. The State now having paid four installments, has 20 more monthly installments totaling N44.60 billion (including interest payments) extending through year 2017 to pay. We also have a N19 billion and another N715 million overdraft facility outstanding with Zenith Bank Plc. Some other smaller loan and overdraft facilities totaling about N2 billion with other banks have to be paid.

As it stands today, a total monthly deduction of N4.60 billion will be made from our FAAC receipts with effect from this June through to March 2017, and thereafter N1.098 billion monthly until September 2018. This leaves us with a balance of N3.4billion assuming the FAAC allocation stays at N8.03 billion.

Currently, the receipts from Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) is about N2.0 billion

•Governor Ifeanyi Okowa (right) and Monday Igbuya, Speaker, Delta House of Assembly

monthly, after deducting cost of collection.

IMPLICATIONS The implication of the above scenario is that the fund available to run the State is N5.40 billion monthly in the next two years, except there is a significant rise in oil receipts and therefore FAAC earnings, as well as our IGR. Unfortunately, the available fund of N5.4b is insufficient to offset our monthly wage bill, let alone fund overhead costs or for government to embark on capital projects. The State workforce as at May 28, 2015 stood at over 60,000 persons with a monthly personnel cost of N7,437,940,015.38 inclusive of the N678m State Government’s support to Local Government Councils for the payment of primary school teachers’ salaries.

The 2015 budget of N409 billion as passed is no longer realistic in the wake of current realities, which clearly show that our expected revenue is now far below what was projected. This budget, therefore, has to be reviewed. It is obvious from available statistics that the State will run a monthly deficit of about N2 billion, and would need to borrow to pay salaries of its workers, and finance the running cost of government.

This is the dilemma that we face as we strive to deliver on our campaign promise of prosperity for all Deltans.

LET US THINK AND PLAN TOGETHER AND TIGHTEN OUR BELT I have gone into this much detail regarding the state of our finances to put the Legislature on the same page with the Executive, so that we can think together, plan together, and tighten our belts going forward. The severity of this crisis and our response to it will shape the future of our

I have gone into this much detail regarding the state of our finances to put the Legislature on the same page with the Executive, so that we can think together, plan together, and tighten our belts going forward

beloved Delta State. I am told that when written in Chinese the word “crisis” is composed of two characters — one represents danger and the other represents opportunity. I see more opportunities in our current economic predicament than the threats it poses. Times of prosperity can easily breed complacency, dull our sensitivity and foster an indulgent lifestyle steeped in corruption. But because necessity is said to be the mother of invention, periods of adversity often task our creative abilities, engender discipline, and imbue us with the capacity to pull together as a family.

We must muster the resolve and political will to boldly –

and decisively - confront the challenges that we face, right the ship of our State and lay a solid foundation of prosperity both now and for future generation of Deltans. It won’t be easy. It is not supposed to be easy. But there is no gain without pain, no prize without a price. A good place to start is for us to reject the old ways of doing business. First, beginning with me and this honourable House, we must be ready to make the necessary sacrifices to reduce the cost of governance. Secondly, the endless turf battles and approach to legislative action would need to give way to civility and respect for each arm of government. Thirdly, the House must make laws that protect and promote the interest of the State and our people. Fourthly, we must act with the sense of urgency that our current situation demands, and navigate the ship of state aright.

RESTRUCTURING OF FACILITIES I have already directed the Ministry of Finance and the Accountant-General to restructure the Irrevocable Standing Payment Order (ISPO) on contractors’ guarantee and overdraft facility over a period of 42 months as a first step to reduce our monthly exposure. We are frantically working at putting the necessary machinery in place to boost our IGR, and steps will be urgently taken to plug the loopholes in our revenue collection process. In our land resource management, action will be taken to re-certify Certificates of Occupancy (C of O) beginning with our urban settlements, while MDAs will be made more accountable in the generation of revenue.

Without doubt, much

Continues on page 44

PAGE 44—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015

My vision for honest leadership and responsible government, by Gov. Okowa Continued from page 43 progress has been made in infrastructural development of the State by preceding PDP Governments and it is our intention to further enhance the infrastructural facilities. As we prioritise the completion of ongoing projects, there is the need to engage on our urban-renewal plan in order to make our cities more habitable and environmentally friendly. The Asaba Airport, recently downgraded, requires urgent attention, and many on-going road projects including the Trans Warri – Ode Itsekiri Road need to be funded, while the menace of flooding in some of our key urban settlements such as Asaba and Warri need to be addressed as a matter of exigency.

SECURITY In the area of security, we certainly need to commend the efforts at containing youth restiveness and militancy which nearly ground our economy to a halt in the wake of our nascent democracy. It does appear, however, that we are now courting the more invidious phenomenon of kidnapping, cultism, sea piracy and crude oil theft with its attendant environmental challenges. We are also faced with intractable inter/intra communal land disputes, conflicts between oil companies and their host communities, post-amnesty agitations as well as clashes between Fulani herdsmen and local farmers. All these constitute serious security issues which we are obligated to tackle headlong.

Security is a very weighty subject and, deliberately, it is one of the great objectives of our government that need to be funded.

As part of the efforts at ensuring the security of life and property, successive governments have sought meaningful engagement of the youth and the unemployed through investments in agriculture and wealth creation. The engagements have come in the form of microcredit schemes and youth empowerment programmes.

Unfortunately, most of these programmes have not created the desired effect as countless number of our people are still without meaningful employment. As I stated in my inaugural address, our goal is to “…to enthrone a legacy of wealth and prosperity for all our people and communities. We are committed to the building and consolidation of a State in which there shall be more employment opportunities, a flourishing agriculture and agribusiness sector….” Agriculture and creation of wealth will therefore receive significant attention of this administration.

In the effort to drive social development in the State, I should commend the efforts of previous governments for the tremendous progress made especially in sports, and youth and women development programmes. To consolidate these efforts, we will provide further impetus for social development through effective management of information with regard to the rich cultural heritage and huge tourism potentials of the state. It is our firm conviction that if our tourism potentials are harnessed fully, the frequent recourse to government jobs will be drastically reduced.

HUMAN DEVELOPMENT The State’s Human Development policies have over the years focused on the achievement of the Education and Health related Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) which include:

•Governor Ifeanyi Okowa i.

Achieving Universal Primary Education (Goal 2); ii.

Reducing Child Mortality (Goal 4); iii.

Improving Maternal Health (Goal 5); and iv.

Combating HIV/AIDS, Malaria and other diseases (Goal 6).

These goals culminated in the free education at the primary and secondary levels of education in addition to bursary and scholarship programmes. Government also provided free rural health scheme, free under-5 and maternal health programmes, free ambulance service and subsidised dialysis. These efforts are commendable. However, lack of learning and instructional materials as well as neglect of technical education have created a gap between government investment in education and the output. As a matter of fact, our educational system needs serious reawakening and overhaul.

Although the health sector has performed well, the free health programme has limited coverage and

Beginning with me and this honourable House, we must be ready to make the necessary sacrifices to reduce the cost of governance….

The road ahead demands a new spirit of sacrifice and perseverance and, on our part, a willingness to run an open, honest government

with the current economic realities, the policy needs to be tampered with and replaced with a comprehensive health scheme through a Universal Health Coverage Scheme that encourages our people to embrace a health insurance policy with sustainable outcomes. The situation with the education sector informed the newly enacted law on Technical and Vocational Education in my first week in office as Governor of Delta State. The Bill on Comprehensive Health Coverage for Deltans has just been forwarded to this House through Mr. Speaker.

ROLE OF THE LEGISLATURE As Honourable Members of the House, the Constitution requires you to make laws for the peace, order, and good governance of the State. My charge to you today and to all Deltans, is to do right at all times and in all situations. Our primary focus as lawmakers should be the collective well-being of our people and the economic development of the State.

This is the trust that our people have reposed in us as elected representatives, and I am confident that this Assembly will do us proud.

The legislative arm of government will carry out its responsibility creditably well when it partners with the Executive and Judiciary. As the head of the Executive, I offer you my hands of brotherhood, fellowship, and partnership in the service of the people of Delta State. As someone with experience as a former member of the Nigerian Senate, I believe that I am sufficiently acquainted with legislative duties and procedures to lead by example in forging cordial relations between our two arms of government. With your understanding, I promise that the relationship between the Executive and Legislature in Delta State will be a model worthy of emulation throughout the nation.

For the Executive and Legislature to work together effectively in the promotion of the well-being of the people of the State, we should share the same goals, appreciate the challenges involved in meeting those goals, and agree on the mechanisms to be adopted in the pursuit of the goals we have set for ourselves as a people, a government, and a State.

AREAS OF CONCERN I shall now expatiate on some issues that are of great concern to me, to members of this chamber, and to the general public. Shortly after I was sworn in, I caused to be issued the suspension of: i.Recruitments by the Civil Service Commission made after 31st December, 2013 to date; ii.Payment of 20% Cost of Collection (CoC) of Internally Generated Revenue (IGR); iii.Consultancy contracts entered into by the Board of Internal Revenue and approvals for iv. deductions of IGR Collections by MDAs pending their review; v.All contract approvals or commitments entered into for and on behalf of the State Government from 1st April, 2015 or any contract tied to the 2015 budget; Also, within the first week of taking oath of office, two bills were sponsored by this administration to the immediate past Assembly viz: i.Technical and Vocational Education Board Bill, 2015; and ii.Delta State Capital Territory Development Agency Bill, 2015.

The two bills were expeditiously passed, for which I must thank the Members. As you begin the process of legislation and your journey in the 6th Assembly, many more Executive Bills that will impact greatly on the lives of

our people will be sponsored. We count on your support.

I am mindful of the controversy that the suspension of the civil service recruitment has generated. Nothing is more difficult, more agonizing, and more painful than for a Government to take this unpleasant action. But we came to this inescapable decision because the entire recruitment exercise was riddled with fraud and corruption as it violated established Civil Service Rules and Regulations. More so, it was not logical that a State struggling to meet its payroll obligation should employ more persons. The immediate past administration underscored the failure of the recruitment process when it suspended the chairman and members of the Board of the State Civil Service Commission. In essence, if the process was faulty as they found out, the end result (the recruitment) could not have been otherwise.

I did say in my inaugural address that we should be ready to make hard choices and take tough decisions that are imperative for our economic recovery and well-being. While I sympathise with those affected, you have my highest assurances that in the long term this decision is for the benefit of everybody. Sometimes things have to get worse before they can get better. I, therefore, urge honourable members of this House to explain to their constituents who were affected by the suspension order to be patient and understand that we do not mean them any harm. We just want to ensure that the right thing is done.

FOR AN ENDURING PARTNERSHIP Finally, I seek the partnership of this House to join me in doing whatever is necessary to bring us out of the woods and deliver prosperity to all Deltans.

The road ahead demands a new spirit of sacrifice and perseverance and, on our part, a willingness to run an open, honest government. It is true that the times are hard, but in the words of the Scripture, if you fail in the day of adversity then your strength is small. We must, therefore, stay strong, confident, and courageous. There is need for greater commitment, efficiency, and accountability in service delivery on the part of all, not least of which is the Civil Service, the Government’s main vehicle for policy implementation. In measuring outcomes, we must ensure that workers provide value for salaries earned and there must be zero tolerance for the “ghost-worker” syndrome.

Mr. Speaker, honourable Members. I want to assure you of one thing; we shall overcome. And to achieve that, we must see our calling at this point in time as an invitation to write a new chapter in the history of our State and make our mark on the sands of time. We must rise to the occasion and prove to our people that we are ready - and able - to do the job we were sent here to do. The focus of responsible leadership is not always about the next election; it is about the next generation.

We would have written our names in gold if in the next four years Delta State can boast of a functioning public school system that ensures that the children of the poor are provided quality education, accessible and affordable primary and secondary healthcare system, a flourishing agricultural and agribusiness sector, and the proliferation of Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises (that ensure our teeming youth population is productively engaged), well planned and environmentally friendly cities, and integrated rural development. These are our promises to Deltans, and by God’s grace and guidance, we shall make them good.

• Being address by Governor Ifeanyi Okowa to members of Delta State House of Assembly

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 45

•Fracas in the House

Majority dispute sparks show of shame in Benue House

BY PETER DURU, MAKURDI

T

he show of shame that played out, last Tuesday, at Benue State House of Assembly has continued to generate negative reactions.

Though many factors may have been responsible for the brawl between the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, and the All Progressives Congress, APC, lawmakers, the situation is certainly be a major test case for the judiciary in the state.

The show of shame became evident shortly before the inauguration of the 8th Assembly.

Few days to the proclamation of the House by Governor Samuel Ortom, it was gathered that the 15 PDP lawmakers of the 30 members of the Assembly had converged in Otukpo to perfect a plan to enthrone one of their own as Speaker.

The lawmakers were short of taking oaths in order to ensure that none of them deviated from the plot.

According to one of the lawmakers, who spoke anonymously, “ while in Otukpo, we all agreed that Hon. Domnic Ucha was to be elected as Speaker because we had the numerical strength to execute the plan, considering that the only Labour Party, LP, member of the House is more or less considered as one of us in view of the manner he emerged”.

C M Y K

He went on: “Perhaps, one of our greatest undoing was the fact that we underrated or maybe took the APC for granted.

“We never imagined that they could infiltrate our ranks given the manner we all went about our plans before the inauguration.

“Honestly, we thought we had formed a fort that was impregnable but three of us sold out and we were left bewildered.”

The PDP lawmaker recounted what happened on the floor of the House on the day of the inauguration which gave them a clue as to what may play out in the days ahead.

“Before we got into the chamber, we had agreed that we will all sit together but to our greatest surprise three of our members chose to sit away from the rest of us, and, from that moment, we knew something had gone wrong.

“Though I must state clearly that the issue of deep rooted suspicion and distrust among our members also contributed in no small measure to our undoing.

“At a point, no one was sure of anyone any more and the rumour was that some of us might have been influenced to sell out to the APC, though we still went ahead with our plans.

“When the process of election began, Hon. Inyana Jato of the PDP, representing Katdina/Ala West,

The lawmakers were short of taking oaths in order to ensure that none of them deviated from the plot.

nominated Hon. Domnic Ucha for the position of Speaker while Hon. Terkimbir Ikyange, of the APC, representing Ushongo state constituency, was nominated by Hon. Daniel Abagu also of APC, from Ukum state constituency.

“Shortly after the nominations, members went into voting proper, which was done through secret balloting.

“At the end of the processing, which was presided over by the Clerk of the House, Hon. Terkimbir Ikyange polled 17 votes to emerge the Speaker while Dominic Ucha garnered 13 votes.

“The position of Deputy Speaker went to Hon. James Ejembi of the PDP representing Okpokwu state constituency and from that point we foresaw crisis.”

True to the words of the beleaguered lawmaker, the House has since then been bedeviled by crisis.

It all started after a week break, the House resumed sitting and was confronted by a letter from Hon. Nick Eworo, representing Obi state constituency, which was read on the floor by the Speaker, Ikyange.

Before then, the APC-led government in the state had made a deft move by appointing Mr. Iwanta Continues on page 48

P AGE 46— SUND AY PA SUNDA

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

•The corps member, Omogu Happiness, with village children

Saving dying pregnant women, children in Abuja -a corps member's humanitarian story

BY GABRIEL EWEPU

T

he Bible says God uses little things to confound the mighty and also the despised things to amaze the wise.

This was the story of a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member, Miss Omogu Happiness, posted to Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, under Batch ‘B’ 2014, and her primary assignment at Nnamdi Azikwe International Airport, Abuja.

This biochemistry graduate of Federal University of Technology, Minna, Niger State, with some humanitarian workers on a visit to some communities in the remote part of Kuje Area Council of Abuja, stumbled on a village called Tukuba.

Moved about the health needs of the 150 inhabitants, Happiness narrated that there was no health centre provided for the people of Tukuba. They had only a primary school block which was dilapidated.

Happiness said: “I am not a corps member serving in Tukuba and there are no corps members there serving. I only stumbled on the

village when I went with the Nigerian Christian Corpers’ Fellowship, NCCF, to some villages in the remote parts of Kuje Area Council for evangelism.

“During the interactive session, the 150 people living in the village demanded from us medical services because they did not have any medical facility there.

“When I got home, I still had the picture of the village and their cry for medical attention was reechoing in my ears. These people, particularly pregnant women and children, were dying due to nonavailability of any sort of medical presence.

“And to compound the problem, they do not have motorable road to the local government headquarters, and also no electricity and potable water. With all these challenges, I took it upon myself and depended on God to embark on a four-bedroom healthcare facility, including reception hall, office, toilet and bathroom. It was approved by the NYSC Coordinator for FCT on December 12, 2014, after I

These people, particularly pregnant women and children, were dying due to nonavailability of any sort of medical presence

presented the plan.

“Before I started the project, I wrote to the Chairman of Kuje Area Council on what I was about to do in Tukuba village, which, after handing over to the council, they would employ people to operate. Also, the FCT administration is aware of this project.”

According to the young Nigerian, who hails from Okene Local Government Area of Kogi State, she did not hesitate to approach the villagers for a piece of land to actualise her dream of bringing succour to them and adjoining 15 communities.

The villagers donated 200 square metres of land for the construction of the facility.

“I started the project in December 2014. Today, I have roofed and plastered it. I have spent N1.9 million on the project and it is 70 percent completed since. The project cost is N4 million and this includes the furnishing, fittings, lighting and equipping of the facility. The completion date is end of June 2015.”

On the funding of the project, Happiness said her passion for life made her to write some organisations after she laid the foundation, saying the help she took it to almost window level.

“It was not easy raising funds for this project, but what kept me going was the concern for the people of Tukuba because they have suffered over the years, and have continued to experience avoidable deaths and diseases.

“Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) and Nigerian Meteorological Authority (NIMET) responded and assisted me to continue with the project to the level the facility is now,” she stated.

The village chief, Seriki Emmanuel Gado, appreciated the efforts of the NYSC member.

“I and my people of Tukuba village are most grateful for this gesture from this young corps member,”Gado stated.

“We have lost our wives and sisters to cases related to childbirth and our children have been dying as a result of the lack of medical facility such as this she is constructing for us.”

Meanwhile, Executive Director, Refocusing Nigerian Talents Organisation, RENITO, Abanka Musa, has lauded the boldness and passion of Happiness to embark on the project.

“I was touched when we heard about this young lady ’s (Happiness) project because she came to my office for financial assistance. I got to know that she was putting up a project for a community she does not come from.

“We eventually got to the community where the project was ongoing and we were amazed because even elected officials could not execute it,” Musa added.

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 47

FIRST WEEK IN OFFICE:

Buhari sets tone for administration

BY BEN. AGANDE, ABUJA

T

hree weeks after his swearing-in, President Muhammadu Buhari formally resumed at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa on Monday. It was a move that many Nigerians had waited for with bated breath as many had expected that it would mark the very moment Buhari would announce key appointments, including ministerial nominees.

While some of these expectations, especially the appointments of key officials like the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Chief of Staff and even the National Security Adviser have not been met. Buhari’s first week in office remains memorable, not so much in the progress made in the art of governance, but because of some of the profound pronouncements and far reaching disclosures made by him. It was a week that invariably gave inkling into how the Buhari presidency may turn out.

During his time as military head of state, Buhari’s jailing of two journalists, Nduka Irabor and Tunde Thompson, through the controversial Decree 2, gave him out as a hater of journalists and journalism. Despite his strident defense of his action that it was consistent with that era and that he has indeed changed, the image has continued to follow him like a shadow.

And it was one of the themes of the campaign against him by the Peoples Democratic Party ahead of the presidential poll. It is also one aspect of his interface with the public during his tenure as president that would be subjected to the most scrutiny.

On his first day in office, on Monday, one of his first responsibilities was a meeting with members of the State House Press Corps. The significance of this meeting lies not in the fact that Buhari met with members of the Press Corps but that in the last 16 years since the return to democratic rule, journalists covering the Villa have remained the most despised of the professionals that work in the seat of

It was a week that invariably gave inkling into how the Buhari presidency may turn out power. In a bid to show his disdain for journalists, President Obasanjo in one of his meetings with some young students from across the country openly told them, right there in the presence of journalists covering the meeting, that they should aspire to be any thing in life but not journalists! Yaradua’s tenure was hampered by ill health for any fair assessment of his feelings for journalists. But even during President Jonathan’s administration, his disdain for journalists was so manifest that he did not even know the names of the Nigerian Television Authority crew who flew with him on the same aircraft to every where he went to.

It was indeed a soothing relief for most members of the media when Buhari, who has been branded as a media hater over an incident that happened over 30 years ago, to choose journalists as one of the groups of people to meet with on his first day in office at the Presidential Villa. For the president, there was no greater opportunity to paint the true picture of what he inherited from the last administration than his meeting with

the State House Press Corps.

In a tone that underscores his frustration with the huge expectation from Nigerians, Buhari decried the pressure already being brought to bear on his government especially with the traditional assessment of 100 days in office. While admitting that the expectation is huge, he equally gave inkling that the rot he has inherited is equally daunting. ‘’This culture of 100 days in office is bringing so much pressure with the treasury virtually empty, with debts in millions of dollars; with state workers and even federal workers not paid their salaries is such a disgrace for Nigeria. I think Nigeria should be in a position to even pay its workers, this bad management that we find ourselves in, we really need your help to protect us from people before they march on us”, the president

stated to Buhari, therefore, the meeting with members of the State House Press Corps was so much for him to work on his image as a hater of the media as it was an opportunity for the media to explain his predicament to the Nigerian people that their expectation may not be met as soon as they had hoped.

Before he met with the press corps, Buhari’s first assignment on that Monday was a meeting with the Service Chiefs. It would be recalled that throughout his campaign for the

presidency, he anchored his candidacy on his firm resolve to fight corruption, check the pervasive insecurity in the country, especially the fight against Boko Haram insurgency, and revive the economy through frugal fiscal management.

As a demonstration of his resolve to firmly fight the Boko Haram insurgency, the president embarked on a visit to Chad and Niger shortly after he was sworn in to strengthen military cooperation between Nigeria and the two countries in the fight against insurgency.

And to demonstrate this absolute commitment to a military victory over

Boko Haram, Buhari, who had pledged to make more men and equipment available to prosecute the war against terror in the north eastern part of the country, ordered that all non-essential military check points nationwide should be dismantled so that personnel who man these check points would be made available to the area where they are most needed.

According to the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Defence, Aliyu Ismaila, the meeting between the Service Chiefs and the president was to give them the opportunity to brief Buhari on the implementation of recent decisions reached on the fight against insurgency.

But while the issue of insecurity in the North-East remains a major source of concern, the dwindling economy as a result of the fall in global oil price which has made it impossible for some state governments and even some Federal Government agencies to pay workers salary is one issue that played prominently in the first one week of Buhari at the Presidential Villa. And to jointly confront the challenge, Buhari, in his maiden meeting with the governors of the 36 states of the federation, pointedly told them that the era of impunity which led the country to its sorry state was over.

According to the president, with his determination and the promises by leaders of the world powers to cooperate with him in the recovery of Nigeria’s stolen nation’s wealth and stashed abroad, there was no hiding place for those who stole from the nation’s commonwealth.

Though the first one week of Buhari in the Presidential Villa provided some bright moments that gave insight into his mind set the week was not without

its down side. It was a week that saw the governors elected on the platform of the All Progressive Congress mount subtle pressure on him to rescind his decision not to interfere in the burgeoning crisis in the two arms of the National Assembly. While the leadership of the All Progressives Congress had its preferred candidates for the positions of Speaker of the House of Representatives, President of the Senate and other principal offices of the National Assembly, some APC lawmakers openly defied the party.

For a man who has consistently said he would not interfere in the affairs of the National Assembly, Buhari maintained this stand even when it appeared that the defiant APC lawmakers was exerting pressure on the cohesion of the party. His stand may have hurt some leaders of the party. But it was a refreshing reassurance to many Nigerians that, perhaps, in a country where leaders’ consistency in what they stand for is in short supply, they have found a leader who would rather stand by his word in order to maintain his credibility rather than make a volte face to satisfy narrow political interests.

The last one week may have witnessed much motion without any substantial movement especially the key decisions that many Nigerians expected of the president still outstanding. But as he enters his second week in the Presidential Villa and his fourth week in the saddle as president, Buhari may no longer continue to enjoy the patience and understanding that many Nigerians have shown towards him if key decisions, especially in the appointment of members of his cabinet and other principal officers are not taken soon.

PAGE 48—SUND AY 48—SUNDA

Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

Continued from page 45 Adaikwu as the new Head of Service of the state.

His appointment was the tonic the minority Igede tribe in Benue South zone needed to strengthen their faith in the APC and the Ortom administration and, by so doing, further inspired their representatives in the House to dance to the tune of the APC which was determined to undo the PDP politically in order to take full charge of the mechanics of control.

Eworo had allleged in the letter that he was defecting from the PDP to the APC because the leadership of the party at the local government level had expelled him, maintaining that he decided to defect to the ruling APC in order to secure a platform in the House.

Though his claim had been debunked by the PDP which accused him of forging the expulsion letter to suit the whims of the APC. Following the claims, counter claims and accusations, the Speaker adjourned the sitting of the House to June 23 to enable the House enough time to elect other principal officers of the Assembly.

On that basis, the PDP also headed for the court to seek an interpretation of the development in accordance with the provisions of Section 109 of the Constitution.

However, at the resumed sitting last Tuesday, the Hosue went into

Majority dispute sparks show of shame in Benue House plenary and the issue of the defection of Eworo from the PDP to the APC took centre stage.

At the sitting, Iaana Jato of the PDP, representing Katsina-Ala East, raised a motion questioning the constitutionality of the defection of Eworo which he premised on Section 109 of the Constitution, but which, according to him, stated clearly that once a legislator defects to another party, he automatically loses his seat.

He insisted that Eworo was still a member of the PDP, noting that the PDP had challenged his defection in court, adding that his party had written the House accordingly.

His observation was overruled by the Speaker, who also went ahead to read a letter from the APC wherein Mr. Benjamin Adanyi, member representing Makurdi North, was selected as the Majority Leader.

In the said letter, the party also selected Eworo as the Deputy Majority Leader while Mr. Titus Uba was selected as the Majority Whip.

The announcement of the principal officers by the APC sparked off a shouting match

The announcement of the principal officers by the APC sparked off a shouting match between the APC and PDP lawmakers which degenerated into a physical combat between Adanyi and Martin Aza of PDP, both Makurdi representatives between the APC and PDP lawmakers which degenerated into a physical combat between Adanyi and Martin Aza of PDP, both Makurdi representatives.

It was learned that the free-for-all erupted because the PDP lawmakers insisted that, being 15 members in the House, including Eworo who claimed that he joined APC last

week, they were in majority.

In his ruling later, the Speaker said that the explanation of the PDP did not convince him to act in the contrary.

He, therefore, said that the selection of the principal officers would be sustained and he asked the PDP to go to court to seek an interpretation of the Constitution on the matter.

In his reaction to the ugly development, Eworo, who accepted that he was in the eye of the storm, insisted that he had defected to the APC and urged his former party to seek a judicial interpretation of the matter.

Also reacting, Hon. Bem Ngutyo, a former Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, Benue State Council, and APC member, representing Tarka constituency, said, “What is happening is democracy at play.

“I believe that at the end of the day, the issues would be resolved amicably and members would work together as one united House in the interest of the generality of our people.”

Waziri, ex-EFCC boss, urges support for Buhari

BY YINKA AJAYI

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ormer Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Dr (Mrs) Farida Waziri, has described President Muhammadu Buhari as a man of destiny who must be supported by all Nigerians irrespective of their religious, ethnic and political affiliations.

Waziri, the founder and principal partner of

Brookfield Chambers, a firm of legal practitioners based in Abuja, stated this, yesterday, in Uga-Mbagwa, Oshongo local government area of Benue state while fielding questions from journalists after the commissioning of her community’s worship centre.

“My response to your question will be that, I believe in President Buhari because he is believable and he has remained con-

stant like the morning star since I know him and beyond that I’m sure that he is a man of destiny, a resolute, sincere and committed leader who says what he means and does what he preaches,” she said.

“In the history of Nigeria, he is today the only leader who has contested the presidential election for four consecutive times and on the fourth time made history by defeating a sitting president. Remember he almost

paid the ultimate price when his convoy was targeted in Kaduna before the election? Some other persons would have chickened out and even flee the country but he remained resolute and committed to the course he believed in.

“That I can tell you, is the kind of gut the nation needs at this critical time especially to fight corruption which is one of our greatest challenges today.”

When asked why she was

not visible during and after the recent general elections, Waziri said she has been out of the country attending to some pressing issues. She expressed happiness that President Buhari won the presidential election against all odds.

She said the time has come for Nigerians to come together and salvage the country irrespective of their differences. “We have no other country other than Nigeria, this is why I plead with everyone I meet to please support the Buhari administration because that is the only sure way we can make Nigeria a better place not only for ourselves but for generations coming behind us”, she stated.

The former EFCC boss

noted that an indication that a lot of things will change for good under the Buhari government is the number of positive changes that are already being witnessed by Nigerians within the first three weeks of the new regime.

“When the right leadership is provided and in place, a lot of things will naturally fall in place.

That answers the question being asked by Nigerians at the moment: how come we’re now told that our refineries will start working?

That’s enough to convince us that a lot of good things will come in place under the Buhari government as long as we are ready to play our role as patriotic citizens”, she added.

Media consultant commends traditional ruler

By Tommy Anaduaka

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HE traditional rul er of Onicha-Ugbo and head of Ezechime clan in Aniocha-North Local Government Area of Delta State, His Royal Majesty, Agbogidi Victor Chukwumalieze 1, and his council of chiefs have been commended for their resolve to confer the title of Isama on one of the illustrious sons of the community, Chief Michael Onuwa Diji.

The National Publicity Secretary of Onicha-Ugbo Patriotic Union (OPU), the apex body of all indigenes of the community at home

and in diaspora, Mr. Emma Fejokwu, made the commendation on behalf of the union.

Fejokwu described the election of Diji as the Isama was as a decision taken in the right direction, adding that with the nominee occupying the Isama position, he will use his interest in the economic growth of the town to join hands with the traditional ruler, other well-meaning individuals and the union to take Onicha-Ugbo town to an enviable height.

The town is wearing a new look in preparation for the conferment of the Isama-elect Diji slated to take place in July.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 49

How we recovered Ogun from bank robbers •’I led operation to rescue 97-yr-old from — Ntomchukwu, CP kidnappers’ Aside the chaos associated with Lagos State in both crime and social enviroment, Ogun State is, no doubt, a close ally. In fact, Ogun seems to be an off shoot of Lagos as it parades an uneviable array of what makes the State of Excellence, Lagos, tick. That accounts for the exceptional care police authorities in Abuja take in choosing who comes to Ogun.

Since assumption of duties, Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Valentine Ntomchukwu, has proved to be equal to the task of securing lives and property . He has introduced a seemingly scientific and tecknological scheme that is yielding dividends in fighting crime. In this interview with our Crime Editor, Emma Nnadozie, the CP bares his mind on his accomplishments and the challenges ahead.

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HAT has it been like, policing Ogun State?

It has been challenging in the sense that new crimes occur, especially kidnapping and cult related cases because Ogun has the highest number of higher institutions in the country. We have so many universities and polytechnics and the state is close to Lagos. So, it is bound to see a lot of issues involving kidnapping and cultism. It has been quite challenging and we are responding to it.

In specific terms, tell us how you are responding to some of these challenges.

We have in place scientific anticrime control strategies in the sense that we rely on intelligence- based policing to gather information. We use the intelligence to identify leaders, kingpins in cultism and kidnapping. Those we can not identify, we raid flash points and black spots. When we arrest them, we subject them to serious profiling.

We have been able to get some of them in the black spots. This is because we have been able to pin them to specific crimes and kidnapping we burst in the past.

We also have a crime data of areas that we burst in the past. I have a data bank where we store information that we got for the past six months. When we get these people, we work with what we have on ground and, in most cases, we have been able to link them and charge them for such offences. If we don’t, it will be difficult to prove in court and so, these measures have helped us to establish the link between the individuals and the offences that have been committed and the judiciary has been happy.

The DPP knows how useful our investigations are. In Ogun, we ensure that evidence is meticulously gathered and investigations properly carried out to establish perpetrators of crimes before they are arraigned in court.

What are the impediments to carrying out these assignments?

We have manpower and logistic problems in terms of funding the operations because for you to gather information and carry out intelligence operation, you need money. To keep officers at these various locations over a period of time as undercover or decoy operatives requires funding.

However, the Inspector -General of Police is providing vehicles for us. He even provided fuel for safer highways and other operations which we now undertake. So, we have some relief. But even at that, we still have manpower and funding contraints.

How were you able to boost the morale of your men to achieve all these?

I explained to them that this is the era of change, that if we can do better, it will enhance the ability of the Inspector- General of Police to intervene for us to have a holistic welfare package and that, if we can deliver positively, it will put him on the ground to bargain for the welfare of the force. So, the officers have decided to show the Inspector

-General of Police that we can perform so that he can be proud of us and ask for better welfare for us.

That is their motivation and they are hoping that there will be change and this change will impact on their welfare as promised by the Inspector -General of Police.

How were you able to streamline your strategies in fighting crime and what has been the effect ?

You must know the crime pattern.

Generally, Ogun, being a gateway state, has a crime pattern. It is mostly a form of crime we call ‘trans-national border banditry’ because we have international borders through so many path ways.

You find a situation where you have bandits coming from Benin Republic, Niger Republic, Togo with the aim of infiltrating the country using the umbrella of ECOWAS. They now evade immigration processes because of ECOWAS protocol which covers them to come in without passing through serious visa screening. They come in from the border, and as they come in, most of them are artisans. Where they cannot find jobs, they will be involved in armed robbery and some of them will team up with Nigerians, mostly from other states.

Definitely they have an insider who is always their pointer, feeding them with information, in case of kidnapping, because, from our analysis, there is hardly any situation where somebody will come from a neighbouring state, if it is within Nigeria or from across the border, without somebody pointing at the person who must have value.

Because it is not all persons that are being kidnapped, it is somebody who has value, someone whose close relatives are well to do. And then, maybe the domestic staff who have been interacting with him will know that if that kind of person is taken away, they will readily pay ransom. So, they give out this information to these intinerant criminals who are looking for greener pastures and they will come in and operate and, while you are looking for them, they are long gone.

That is the kind of criminals that you see here in Ogun.

And Ijebu-Ode area, in particular, is porous. It is centrally located, bound by Ondo, Oyo and part of Osun. These states have boundries with Ijebu-Ode. Even the old road that pass through Ijebu-Ode,Osun, Ondo and goes to the East is still motorable. That location makes it easier for robbers to look at IjebuOde as an area where they can operate and escape. But we have in place proactive strategy to deal with such robbers. And that is why we are harvesting them now as you can see; over 30 arrests, and at least those caught in action are up to five who confessed and we rescued the victims. We arrested about 15 of them through careful evidence and intelligence gathering. They have confessed being kidnappers. We have also rescued their victims some of whom are Chinese and Pakistanis.

Generally speaking, most of them are expatriates and only few others are Nigerians.

•Cp Val Ntomchukwu of Ogun State.

Because of the policy of indegenisation and foregn direct investment, you find a lot of Chinese. Like I said, Ogun has the highest number of tertiary institutions and the largest number of industries in Nigeria.

We have what we call industrial free zone clusters in Agbara and Sagamu areas. The strategic location of the state attract foreigners and also those who want to take advantage to commit crime. We have been doing all these, and our strategy have been yelding results as you can see. The state is becoming friendlier, more conducive for industralization because the crime rate here has drastically reduced.

So how is the government recipocating these efforts?

The government bought so many APCs before my arrival. Most of the APCs we are using were hired because APCs are very costly. They are not items you can pick on the shelf. They are customised for police use. The state government is security concious. When I came, I had to consolidate, take it further and that is why, today, we are recieving accolades in terms of

We have in place scientific anticrime control strategies in the sense that we rely on intelligencebased policing to gather information

crime fighting.

Talking about synergy with other security agencies, how has it been?

It is not easy to police the border without synergy. As the gateway state, we now have the marine police. We also need help from the navy. Ogun has riverine areas and the mnavy has what you call the Foward Operation Base where their men are normaly deployed to perform internal security operations. We are in constant touch with their commanders. Apart from that, on my arrival, the first visit I did outside the state capital was to the Idiroko border. The Customs Area Commander organised other security agencies and we held a closed- door meeting where we reviewed strategies to stem crime.

Since then, we have been in constant touch and they have been providing us with useful information about suspicious persons. Synorgy with other agency has helped to disseminate information and deal with criminals, pro-actively.

The elections are over. What are you doing to mop up arms in the hands of hoodlums?

We have this strategy of raiding suspected criminal hideouts. That is the easiest way to catch criminals either when they are planning or are about to strike. So, mopping up arms has always been in the front bunner of our strategy in this Command.

How have you been able to checkmate the excess of your men generally?

Like I said, we have an Inspector General of Police who is from the intelligence background, and when you have an IG that operates from a point of information, you now know that he has a clear knowledge of what he wants. That is why you find today, that the police have a platform online www.stopthebribe.net. This particular platfrom is for dissemination of information and the information is digital and in real time. So, if an officer is

misbehaving, the police have opened its doors to public scrutiny through this platform. All our misconduct and all the misconduct of our men, whether in the offices or on the field, we get the information on real time, and we react accordingly. So far, with this, we have been able to instill discipline in our people. They are aware that our shoulders are being watched and so we have been able to beat our people into line.

The impression one is getting is that you have been personally engaged in crime bursting. Can you give us a typical operation you have led, like robbery or kidnap?

There was a 97-year-old man that was kidnapped on June 12, 2015, and taken somewhere along IjebuOde- Benin expressway. All our tracking devices and coordinates pointed towards that area and the area was not planned. So, what the tracker or the coordinates revealed was the entire forest but did not reveal the landmarks, street or houses. That made it more challenging. But because of the man’s age, I was particularly concerned and so, I combined physical and spirtual efforts. As a believer, we had to subject ourselves to prayers because you know the spirit controls the physical and we needed spiritual intervention. I led the prayer, I led the fasting, I led operations. Starting from 3am when we received information that the kidnappers were demanding ransom and wanted to collect it, we went into action. The relatives of the victim were willing to pay the ransom. That is why I am sending this message, because those who are always not trusting the police will end up helping this crime to flourish. So, after speaking with the victim’s family, I invited them to my office. I told that they needed to cooperate with us, that God was on our side and that if these young boys, because of money will kidnap an old man of 97, that this is a test case. I personally followed the matter, personally led it till the man was rescued.

By the time you leave Ogun State Police Command, what would you want to be remembered for?

On my arrival in the state, the entire east senatorial zone, banks were not working because of the fear of armed robbers. For five months, banks were closed. On my arrival on February 19, I left Abeokuta for Ijebu-Ode, held meetings with them and we were able to deploy APCs and vehicles.

The banks opened and, up till today, they are working. I want to be remembered as somebody who came, saw people living in palpable fear, to the point that all banks were closed, starting from Babcock University community, down to ijebu-Ode, and I was able to engender confidence in the banks. When the banks were closed, it affected business as well as the workers who could not go to work.

I want to be remembered as a man who came, saw it and brought sanity, restored law and order and, banks opened till today.

PAGE 50—SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 51

C M Y K

PAGE 52—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015

Subsidy without conditions is unacceptable

BY DELE SOBOWALE

for bail-out were operated like George Orwell’s ANIMAL FARM in which “all animals are equal, but some are more equal than others”.

Even while workers and contractors were not paid for months, the Governors, Deputy Governors.

Commissioners and state legislators were paid, and Offices of First Ladies were fully funded. Dwindling revenue allocation from Abuja was not allowed to get in the way of the slave masters. They, in fact collected an increasing percentage of the little that came in.

“As at May 15, 2015, only $2.79bn was left in the ECA [Excess Crude Account]” – PUNCH, June 24, 2015, p 2.

ECA: THE ROGUE ACCOUNT FINALLY EXHAUSTED he Excess Crude Account, ECA, an illegal account created by President Obasanjo during his second term on advice from the Federal Minister of Finance, at the time, Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, was a rogue account which served the instinct for impunity by all the governors of Nigeria, irrespective of the political party to which they belong.

Those of us who questioned the transactions undertaken under the fraudulent scheme were labeled either as ignorant noise makers or enemies of progress. The National Assembly, NASS, overwhelmingly dominated

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by the Peoples’ Democratic (?) Party, PDP, ignored what was a clear violation of the 1999 Constitution of Nigeria by allowing revenue which should have been paid into the federation account to be shunted into the rogue account called ECA. Surprisingly, even the members of the NASS, the Governors of States, as well as the Chairmen of Local Governments, elected on the platforms of other political parties went along with the fraudulent scheme. ECA allowed the States to deceive themselves that all was well two years ago when actual revenue from crude oil started falling drastically.

Remedial measures which should have been undertaken then were ignored. Now, everybody, including the Federal Government, is in deep trouble.

RMAFC – THE PRODIGAL COMMISSION They not only allowed that, they also connived to foist on Nigerians the obscene remuneration packages which the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission, RMAFC, proposed for elected officials and their appointed officials.

No limit was placed on the number of official appointees which the President or a State Governor could appoint. And there was no specific prohibition on Governors from establishing the bogus Office of First Lady and allocating public funds to that office.

In short, the RMAFC, certainly managed by the C M Y K

APC governors on bail out mission to President Buhari most prodigal sons that Nigeria has brought up, provided the cover-up for elected officials from President to Governors to Local Government Chairpersons to rob their political domains as much as their conscience, or lack of it, will allow.

LEGISLATORS OR “LEGISLOOTERS” If you ever met a legislator who served in the NASS or the State House of Assembly, SHA, from 1999 till now, you are most probably looking at a person who, irrespective of political party, had collaborated in the looting of the public purse. In a democracy, the legislators possess the power of the public purse. Since 1999, all the lawmakers did was to surrender the purse to the President or Governor who proceeds to dole out whatever he/she wants to without the restraint which democratic governance requires. I challenge any Senator, Honourable Member of the Federal House, Speaker and member of the State House of Assembly, who had done two things to speak out. First, if he had challenged the stupendous emoluments they were all collecting.

Second, if he had challenged the President or Governor to provide full disclosure of the revenue and expenditures of the government.

It is difficult to see how the legislature of a state could have been carrying out their constitutional duties when a governor assigns twenty-two cars to his wives, another creates four offices

for First Ladies and the governor operates air aircraft. The bail-out they are asking for generally arose from the delirium of power which the people allowed their governors to enjoy.

It is difficult to see how the legislature of a state could have been carrying out their constitutional duties when a governor assigns twenty-two cars to his wives, another creates four offices for First Ladies and the governor operates air aircraft. The bailout they are asking for generally arose from the delirium of power which the people allowed their governors to enjoy

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN SIX AND HALF DOZEN If the truth must be told,

there is no demonstrable difference between all the political parties in the way they have managed public finance. Even the so-called “Progressive” states have suffered from a deficit of checks and balances. Every new programme a governor embarks upon is described as “innovative” and anybody who challenges its validity is considered an enemy of the people. One of the states now owing its public servants more than half a dozen months initiated several “innovative” programmes. Even now, as many of those projects have been grounded, his supporters, mostly economic illiterates, still expect civil servants to be grateful for projects which might soon be abandoned without ever delivering the benefits promised when launched.

Nothing is more foolish than to think that any illconsidered change, merely because it is instigated by a President or Governor, is “innovation”. True innovation must not only alter the social and economic landscape, it must endure and be sustainable.

STATES AND ANIMAL FARM All the states now begging

THE REQUEST FOR BAIL OUT AND THE CONDITIONS A sitting judge in Osun State has proposed that the state’s House of Assembly should proceed to impeach the Governor for failing in one of his principal constitutional duties. That might appear extremely harsh at the moment. In reality, if the Governor must go, then the entire House of Assembly must go with him on account of gross negligence of duty. They failed to monitor the state’s financial situation as required of them until the crisis deepened and a bailout becomes almost inevitable.

We can try a more gradual approach by looking beyond our shores. At the moment countries of the Eurozone are considering a bail-out for Greece. The International Monetary Fund, IMF, had been drawn in to look at the situation in Greece and advise on conditions to be imposed for granting the bail-out. We don’t need the IMF to help us. There are enough economists and financial experts in Nigeria who can conduct an audit of each state asking for bail-out to determine how they derailed.

The purpose of the audit is to impose conditions appropriate to each situation instead of making a blanket decision which might not be suitable for any of them.

In the end, each state will lose part of its autonomy to the person assigned to monitor its financial transactions. And, if Offices of First Ladies have to be closed and Governors fleet of cars reduced, so be it.

They can’t have their cakes and eat it. The laws of economics don’t respect anybody; least of all Nigerian governors.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 53

‘How Buhari can save the oil Industry’

BY DILI NWABUEZE

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omestic petrol production deficit has always been balanced with importation. However, the proportion of the imports has risen in the past few years to a high of about 80 percent or more of national domestic consumption, and this trend may continue considering the claim by energy officials that “there is no alternative to fuel importation”. Besides petrol, some other finished petroleum products particularly jet fuels, domestic kerosene and diesel are also imported. For many years, enormous foreign exchange has been spent perhaps unnecessarily in the name of finished white hydrocarbon importation thus putting avoidable pressure on the Naira.

Realising these products to meet and even surpass our domestic consumption through appropriate options and technologies that are not only economically favourable but also strategic in good energy management, and minimizing the huge financial mismanagement occasioned by the massive and ‘lucrative’ fuel importation is the thrust of this paper.

Refining Policy for National

Economic Needs Nigeria like most developing economies exhibits a peculiar trend in the comparatively higher demand of petrol, kerosene and gas oils against fuel oils.

Moreover, the declining global market for heavy fuel oils as a result of oil substitution by coal and other energy resources coupled with the relatively low and unattractive price value of heavy fuel oils, paves way for what in the future may ultimately be the all premium distillate product refining operation.

In pursuit of Premium Distillate Intensive Refinery configuration, it is important to note that the bulk of crude oils produced in Nigeria are indeed light to super light oils which constitute about 65% of the country ’s total production with sulphur content of < 0.15% by weight. To be specific, Nigerian crude oils with API gravity greater than 45° which are the prime choice refinery feedstock for higher yields of major grade products are virtually sulfur free.

Therefore, one would expect that the choicest of Nigeria’s oil production should naturally be reserved and utilised by the owner of the resources. Unfortunately the reverse is the case. It is only in Nigeria that we forgo the best part of our oil production for the

value.

Instead, what we have presently is a refinery structure that imports more than 80 percent of the more expensive products (petrol, kerosene and diesel) and exports the less fancied and very low economic value fuel oils.

President Buhari benefit of the people and national economic growth at no advantage and for no logical reasons .

Maximum Premium Distillate Production and Refinery Crude Selection Premium Distillate production maximization would have been achieved by adopting refinery configuration and administration that would have gone beyond minimizing import deficits but actually maximizing export surpluses of products of comparatively higher economic

Fuel Scarcity: Fuel scarcity in Nigeria is deplorable and has been persistent due to strange factors that can be grouped broadly into two – greed and ignorance. It is confounding that a country like Nigeria that is in the midst of plenty sources of motor fuels seem not to know how best to exploit the array of options at its disposal In this regard, the following relevant questions remain unanswered over the years: Why should Nigeria permit the export of Natural Gasoline produced in the various gas plants operating in the country instead of harvesting and utilizing such high value liquids as motor fuels blending stock?

•When will Nigeria commercialized LPG (propane and butanes) as motor fuel?

•Why must Nigeria not see wisdom in stopping the export of condensates/volatile oils and reserving this special resource as

refinery feedstock for simple Hydroskimming refinery configuration not exceeding NCI-3?

This should be a reasonable thing to do because the capital and operating costs of a simple Hydroskimming refinery is much lower than those fitted with deoiling processes like catalytic cracking and coking, which are featured in the configuration of Kaduna, Warri and new Port Harcourt refineries.

Fuel Availability What should be done? Isolate Condensate as feedstock for Local Refining Isolate this special oil (condensate and volatile oil) from the bulk export crude and reserve it for domestic refining.

Make no mistake about it, condensate or volatile oil is the dream of every refiner.

Exploit NGL as Motor Fuel Liquefied Petroleum Gas. Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG) is already established as motor fuel.

Deregulation: Deregulation will reduce the high incidence of product pipeline vandalisation and corruption. This will in turn eliminate the need for product pipeline surveillance, which is an avenue for wasting huge sums of money.

Nwabueze is an Engineer with oil and gas firm in Port Harcourt

Assets management vital for sustainable growth- Prof. Omotor STORIES By Udeme Clement

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n a bid to enhance e n t r e p r e n e u r i a l development and wealth creation, workers within Nigeria and the entire West African subregion have been advised to embrace the modern techniques of effective assets management in order to promote sustainable growth.

The Advisor, Business Development Unit (BDU), West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, Prof. Douglason Omotor, said this while addressing participants from the sub-region, on the course on assets management and overcoming common problems in retirement, organised by BDU of the Institute, in Lagos.

According to him, having personal investment portfolio without management skills certainly retards growth, such that investments portfolio may grow but not proportionate to its potentials. “It behoves therefore that officers need appropriate capacity building programmes to fine tune their skills in order to deepen expectations and rewards. Given the right discipline and appropriate aura, it is expected that appropriate training must constitute the platform for which retirement assets should grow during the retirement era”, he said.

He went on, “The course covers the importance of giving attention to prudent assets management, understanding the fundamental factors of investment environment, stock and shares, institutions, stock exchange, stock brokers, budget setting, performing risk analysis and developing portfolio risk response, the challenges of retirements, public respect, loneliness, finance and investment income, social and psychological challenges,

physical and mental inactivity and other challenges like mental slide and effective management of mental slide.”

He added, “The objectives of the training include putting into use the modern skills required to manage personal assets and

retirement investments, identifying and taking advantage of opportunities in the economy, appreciating the art of how to juggle investments to cut losses and efficient management of time. Others include appropriate methods needed to handle

idleness as well as community development, awareness of retirees’ world and the public perception, understanding the destructive nature of inactivity and it effects in order to make necessary adjustment”.

Responding to question on the

activities of BDU of the Institute, he said, “The BDU which jointly anchored the training was established in 2012, as a direct response to private and public sectors growing demand driven initiatives, renaissance in West Africa and beyond”.

Let CBN expand ban on forex to rice importers- Manufacturer

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he operators of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), under Toiletries and Cosmetics (T&C) group of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), have expressed support for the move by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to stop the sale of forex to importers of rice, in order to curtail excessive importation of goods that can be manufactured locally in the country.

In a chat with Sunday Vanguard in Lagos, the Chairman of the group, Mr. Ikpong Umoh, said that the initiative by the CBN was a step in the right direction to boost productivity of local manufacturing industries, but such restriction must be extended to importers of all goods that can be produced locally in Nigeria.

“To achieve this, the apex bank must block all leakages because some people get foreign exchange directly from Bureau De Change (BDC), therefore CBN must stop funding BDC as well. Also, the activities of smugglers who bring it rice through the borders must be checked”, he said.

He stressed, “The new administration should work hard to ensure parity in exchange rate for Naira to exchange N1 to $1.

Government must not lose sight of the fact that the strength of Naira depends on industrial productivity. We must build our productive capacity to support the Naira”.

On the move by new government to remove subsidy on refined petroleum products, he said, “Government should as a matter of urgency revamp the refineries and build new ones. In each local government, people must be given licences to set up modular refineries to refine products.

For instance, University of Lagos, University of Calabar ,Uyo and other institutions can be allowed to set up petrol-chemical refining plants in their locality” Giving more insight into how a modular refinery works, he said, , “Such a plant can refine 10.000 litres of crude oil pay day.

The plant can be set up in a small place. Government should look at those plants they call illegal refineries in the Niger Delta region and modernise them for people to refine products locally.

The President should also look at the process of power privatisation to follow it up.

In UK, America and other advanced countries, local government is actively involved in power generation.

“The new government should liberalise power sector. Every State in Nigeria must exist on its own. Any State that cannot survive on its own must be merged, because money from the centre is drying up slowly. Oil price has collapsed. China that used to consume our crude oil, purchasing foreign oil assets worth $104.1 billion between 2009 and 2013 is not buying oil

Sun Biz — 19-06-2015

like that again. In 2014, China bought $2.8 billion worth of oil, a sharp departure from the past.

This implies that money from the Federal will further reduce.

Above all, we need credible data for proper planning, because from the look of things we are more than 170million people in Nigeria”.

Bankers meet bloggers in Novel Conference

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s part of efforts to foster a more harmonious working relationship between bloggers and social media influencers; and corporate affairs managers of banks, the first bankers/ bloggers conference would hold Thursday, July 16th at the Protea Hotel, GRA, Ikeja.

The theme of the conference is; ‘What Do Bloggers Really Want: The PR Perspective’. Foremost PR practitioner and C.E.O of TPT International, Mr. Tokunbo Modupe, is the Lead Speaker while author, poet, PR practitioner and online publisher, Toni Kan, is CoSpeaker. Multiple awards-winning journalist and renowned social media influencer, Tolu Ogunlesi, is the moderator of the event.

Conceived by Ultimate Communications, the parent body of the Best of Nollywood Awards, Naijahottestgist.com and bestofnollywood.tv, the conference, according to the project coordinator, Adeola Olonilua, aims to create a platform for communication managers to engage, interact and network with foremost bloggers in a convivial atmosphere.

Olonilua said further, “You will

agree with me that over the last few years, the evolution of social media has altered the style of communication radically. For many communication managers of banks, the anonymity of social media promoters or overlords and bloggers as it were, is a major stumbling block while many bloggers, especially, believe that communication managers are aloof and indifferent to their trade, an assumption that creates several avoidable crises between both parties.”

•Adeola Olonilua

PAGE 54—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015

Tanzania Digital migration: Lessons for Nigeria

Another look at Tanzania’s Digital Migration

BY DAMILARE AFUWAPE

T

anzania has generated plenty of buzz in the African television industry-and rightly so. For starting its digital migration process in December 2012 and completing it on 30 April 2015, the East African country succeeded where other countries, including Nigeria, failed.

Back in 2006, the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), the UN’s leading agency for Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), set 2015 as the deadline for member countries to switchover from analogue television broadcast to the digital platform.

That deadline expired on 17 June, unmet by many African countries.

Tanzania, however, succeeded.

Digitisation, the latest direction in broadcasting, entails the digitalisation of signal source, broadcasting system, transmission and terminal products. Among its benefits are the freeing up more communication spectrum space for other uses, considerably better audio-visual quality and creation of job opportunities arising from the vast spectrum space yielded.

Tanzania, with some justification, should be jubilant over its success.

In Beijing, China, venue of the 5th edition of the annual StarTimes-organised African Digital TV Development Seminar, Pang XinXing , President of StarTimes, Tanzania’s digital Migration partners, basked in the euphoria of Tanzania’s success and recommended its model to Nigeria.

“Nigeria can leverage on the support that StarTimes provides for Africa.

StarTimes is aimed at ensuring that every household in Nigeria can access digital TV, afford digital TV, watch digital TV and enjoy digital TV,” he said.

Tanzania’s Minister of Information, Culture, Youth and Sports, Dr. Fenella Mukangara, also gushed.

“We merged with StarTimes so it was very possible to have a company which was dedicated specifically for that purpose and funding obtained through StarTimes and they managed to sort everything out. Otherwise, it was not a very easy task,” she said.

Tanzanians are reported to have purchased an estimated one million STBs, the device needed to access digital signals.

However, Tanzanians’ joy at digital migration may evaporate within a few years when they discover that they have to do it all over again, including purchasing new set-top boxes. The country migrated on T1 network, a first generation technology.

This implies that the country

The essence of digital migration is to free up spectrum currently used for television for use in other areas particularly for mobile telephone networks like GSM may, again, need to migrate to T2 network, a product of second generation technology which is considerably more spectrum efficient, the main reason for digital migration in the first place.

As it is, Tanzania and other countries which migrate on T1 technology will not maximize the dividends of digitisation. The essence of digital migration is to free up spectrum currently used for television for use in other areas particularly for mobile telephone networks like GSM. With T1 technology however, only minimal spectrum is freed up unlike T 2, which uses much less spectrum for television and frees more spectrum for government to sell to telephone and internet operators.

Migration a la Tanzania

Sun Biz — 19-06-2015

will also certainly come at a cost to those who have acquired T1 set-top boxes, which is outmoded.

StarTimes angered the Kenyan and Ugandan public with its continued importation of T1 decoders.

Three years ago, the Ugandan Consumers’ Protection Awareness Association called the attention of the country’s authorities to the fact that the Chinese company, in flagrant indifference to the country’s goal of digital migration, kept importing T1 decoders and accused StarTimes of turning the country into a dump for decoders no longer needed in China. Same thing happened in Nigeria where despite the Nigeria Broadcasting Commission’s directive, StarTimes initially deployed T1 boxes before it was pressured into changing to change to T2. As I write, many Startimes subscribers in Nigeria are still using old T1 boxes.

With StarTimes President’s offer to help Nigeria, using the model it used in Tanzania, Nigeria may be the next destination of outmoded technology dressed up in the garb of a modern one. In the event of this, Nigerians may end up paying twice for set-up boxes and fattening the bank accounts of Chinese manufacturers. StarTimes, which already has a partnership with the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) via the NTA/ StarTV Network that began

in 2010, appears to be in a position to do as it wishes.

The Digital Implementation Team established by the Federal Government has recommended NTA as the country’s signal distributor when the digitisation process is eventually completed.

This will make NTA the custodian of all distribution frequencies in the country. If NTA is ratified as the signal distributor, the implication is that all operators will depend on the National Broadcasting Commission for licensing and the NTA for frequencies. This, in turn, would mean that StarTimes’ partnership with NTA (the latter has no technical role in the migration process) has effectively handed over a matter as sensitive as broadcasting to a foreign a company. And with NTA as sole public signal distributor, it will have unrestrained control over operators.

The NTA is the junior partner in its partnership with StarTimes. While the terms of the partnership agreement allow the parties involved to provide partpay-TV and part Free-to-Air (FTA) services, NTA/ StarTimes only provides pay-TV services. At the expiry of subscription, a subscriber has no access to FTA channels, a clear breach of the agreement.

Afuwape, an engineer, lives in Abeokuta

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 55

Removal of Military checkpoints is good omen

T

he military is an institution to be jealously guarded by any nation because no contribution by any other group can equal the role of its members who are ready to pay the supreme sacrifice so that ordinary citizens can remain alive. Besides, our military is a societal institution run with public funds which can therefore not be an island unto itself.

As a result, its activities must be a matter of concern to the entire society for whose sake it exists. Thus, the argument that we lay men have no business getting involved in military matters is simplistic.

Consequently, to any patriot who genuinely appreciates the role of the Nigerian Military in national development, the decision of President Muhammadu Buhari (PMB) to order the removal of military check points across the nation, is a welcome development.

When added to the earlier decision to relocate the

Military High Command from Abuja to Maiduguri, no one is left in doubt that Buhari is set to

The supposed checking points did not only become too many, the time spent at each point was excessive professionalize our military. As a public analyst who has harped on the issue in the last four years, I salute the President for his wisdom and courage, because the inability of his predecessor to so act was part of his undoing. I earnestly hope that the military would be positively disposed to the new posture by taking advantage of it to shore up its sagging image.

Otherwise, how can one imagine the Nigerian military known over the world for its excellent performance at peace

PhD,Depar tment of Philosophy, University of Lagos 08116759758 opuruiche2000@yahoo.com

How Ndigbo underdeveloped Igboland

I

n our discussion last Sunday, I made the point, which was almost distorted by editorial pusillanimity, that ideally, in order to render justice to Ndigbo Nigerian leaders who participated in genocide against them during the civil war should be prosecuted at the International Court of Justice. But I also argued that given the very low level of political maturity and moral consciousness in the country presently, that would never happen. Now, the major motivation for the two-part series entitled "Ndigbo and the burden of history" is to draw attention to how members of the ruling elite dominated by Northerners had, especially from 1966 to 1999, contributed to the underdevelopment of Igboland. The civil war provided haters of Ndigbo within Gen. Yakubu Gowon's cabinet and the Nigerian army to execute their genocidal intentions against Igbo people. And even afterwards, the same misanthropes insisted on maximum punishment for the former Eastern region.

Accordingly, the Gowon administration adopted a banking policy that nullified any bank account operated during the war by the Biafrans.

Each Igbo depositor of the Nigerian currency could only access a flat sum of twenty pounds, irrespective of the deposit. In addition, the military government

keeping operations being unable to deal with insecurity in its nation?

Now that those who were

promulgated the Enterprises Promotion Decree of 1974, or Indigenisation Decree, ostensibly to compel foreign holders of majority shares of companies operating in Nigeria to hand over a larger percentage of stocks, bonds and shares to indigenous Nigerian business interests.

But the real targets of that decree were the war-weary Biafrans already impoverished by the conflict, the wicked banking policy mentioned earlier, and ban on importation of second-hand clothes (okirika) and stockfish. Of course, the Igbo in general did not have the financial wherewithal to benefit from the Indigenisation Decree.

Moreover, most of the jobs and positions in virtually all the sectors of the economy previously occupied by Easterners were taken over by those from other parts of the country. In my opinion, scars of the civil war and its aftermath are still visible in Igboland. For instance, as I have stated severally in this column, of the six geopolitical zones in the country, theSouth East has the least number of developmental projects from the federal government. It is very likely that marginalisation of Igboland would continue under President Muhammadu Buhari's government, because his party, the All Progressives Congress, is dominated by political shylocks who would

persuaded to use the military to play politics are out of government, the good old days of our gallant forces are back.

For a number of reasons, analysts who imagine that the environment was not ripe enough for the withdrawal of military check points are wrong. To assume that as soon as the roads are free of check points, criminals would have a free time presupposes that the check points were designed to stop criminals from operating which is not the

want to exact revenge from the South East for voting massively for former President Goodluck Jonathan.

It is patently false to lay all the blame for the underdevelopment of Igboland on Igbophobic Nigerians from other ethnic groups. The desperate situation there has been worsened by the blizzard of incompetent leadership in different Igbo speaking states.

Specifically, with very few exceptions, top political office holders in the states that comprise the defunct Eastern Region have been grossly incompetent, selfish and corrupt.

From the administration of Ukpabi Asika to the present governments of the five South Eastern states, financial rascality, nepotism, indiscipline, corruption, and petty jealousies and visionlessness have remained leitmotifs in Igboland.

Governors, commissioners, top civil servants, highly placed judicial officers, traditional rulers and members of the clergy have sacrificed core values of truthfulness, hard work, honesty, integrity, regard for good name, humility and brotherly love embedded in Igbo culture in the pursuit of power and wealth. How many governors in Igboland, both past and present, can give satisfactory account of how they spent the monies that accrued to their respective states during their tenure?

Why is it that governors, federal and state legislators and other top political office holders become stupendously rich after leaving office? In large parts of Igboland, the roads, health facilities, educational institutions, etc have deteriorated despite the revenue accruing to both the states and local governments.

case. After all, the public was never told how many times insurgents were apprehended at the checking points leaving us to assume that what the device achieved was to create traffic jams for hours thereby making the nation to lose man hours. In Abuja, the check points made commuters particularly civil servants to arrive late at their duty posts every day.

Second, the check points were erected at fixed locations making it easy for anyone wishing to avoid them to negotiate a different route to his destination. What this suggests is that there was no room for surprise checks; rather the military sentenced itself to a routinized unintelligent assignment. Third, anyone was hardly checked as the soldiers merely waved the go-ahead sign to all.

Indeed, the hope of commuters about two hundred vehicles away from a supposed checking point, that some earnest efforts were being made to apprehend criminals and their weapons were often dashed as they found no such thing at the end of the queue. This tended to confirm that the policy was merely designed to slow down traffic like a sadist design to inflict pain on Nigerians who were lucky not to be in the war zone. In any case who says, check points fall into current global practices in antiterrorism devices?

Again, the supposed checking points did not

only become too many, the time spent at each point was excessive. On one occasion, it took this writer not less than than10 hours to travel from Asaba to Abuja with a checkpoint between Asaba and Agbor, another one between Agbor and Uromi, another before Auchi, then two in Okene, one before the Lokoja Bridge, another at Abaji, then one after Giri junction before the last one immediately after the Airport junction in Abuja.

We could not have had as many during the civil war.

To make matters worse, military convoys and siren piloted vehicles usually drove off along the curves and sometimes against traffic to avoid the discomfort of long queues, thereby diminishing the credibility of the institution of those managing the policy. To argue that military convoys can be trusted and need not be checked makes it hard to explain the several times when impostors used military uniforms etc to cause havoc and insecurity.

Well, I never saw the military collecting toll at any location, but I believed they were doing so because, a former military governor Col, Abubakar Dangiwa Umar publicly confirmed that a service-wide revolt could result from several unwholesome issues apart of which he called “the deployment of soldiers to purely police duty like checkpoints at which they are seen soliciting and receiving bribe”. I then assumed that former

Military President Ibrahim Babangida had that in mind when he opposed the policy with the argument that the assignment could compromise the military.

The Presidential order for the military to quit checkpoints and the decision that its high command should relocate to the war zone has no doubt brought the war against insurgency to the front burner. Bearing in mind the information that government has since 2011 allocated huge annual budgets of about N921 billion to security, it is time for the nation to be rid of terrorism.

Somewhere along the line however, Major- General Abdullah Muraina, the Nigerian Army Chief of Accounts and Budget raised an alarm that “the Nigeria Army was enmeshed in the bureaucratic bottleneck for funding approvals for military operations”.

Could it be that a substantial part was being diverted to election duties?

The question is valid in view of the allegation by the All Progressive Congress that during the Osun State Governorship election, the military deployed only 30,000 men to fight Boko Haram while 75,000 of its operatives were deployed to secure the election. Apart from the fact that the allegation was not refuted, there is doubt if anyone disbelieved it. Now that the military is being positioned to use its budget appropriately, we wish that institution the best of luck

People of Imo still remember with nostalgia late Chief Sam Mbakwe for his laudable achievements in the old Imo state, which should have been emulated and improved upon by governors that came afterwards. It is deplorable that many prominent Igbo sons and daughters who could have deployed their influence to attract developmental projects from the federal government to their respective states merely use their positions to enrich

blunder when he sacked employees from other Igbo speaking states in a misguided attempt to ameliorate the unemployment problem there. Although he later reversed the decision, his irrational action demonstrates that sometimes Ndigbo are their own worst enemies.

The Igbo not only fight themselves in Igboland; some of them for selfish reasons exhibit excessive competitiveness in other parts of the federation. In the North and South West, there are incidents of unhealthy rivalry between Igbo individuals and groups, each trying to outdo one another using Machiavellian tactics, generating unnecessary animosity in the process.

Certainly, within reasonable limits, ambitiousness and competitiveness are psychological triggers for selfdiscovery, self-actualisation, and societal progress. But in the long run, it is better for Ndigbo wherever they might be to work together in solidarity for the benefit of one another. It is betrayal of the highest order that prominent sons and daughters of Igboland create sociocultural and political associations purportedly to promote collective Igbo interests, whereas the real intent is to use such bodies for getting favours from government. Some of them even collect mobilisation fees from government without executing the contracts meant for their states.

More than anything else, there is urgent need for moral and ideological reorientation in Igboland. Well-placed Ndigbo should see themselves as role models for the young ones to emulate. Right now, the lifestyles of many Igbo VIPs tend to promote excessive preoccupation with primitive accumulation and hollow

ostentation. Now, the average Nigerian generally believes that Ndigbo love money too much, more than members of other ethnic groups. There is a pernicious cliché that if a purportedly dead Igbomanfails to rise up at the clanging of coins near his ears then he is truly dead. The fact of the matter is that different people have different levels of pecuniary attachment, irrespective of their ethnic origins. The Hausa-Fulani, the Yoruba, the Nupe, the Isokoand so on want to be as financially comfortable as much as the Igbo. Remember, Ndigbo, because of hardships of the war and the need to survive extremely daunting post-war challenges, had to struggle harder than other Nigerians just to survive. Even before the civil, their gregarious can-do-it attitude compelled them to leave their homeland in search of livelihood nationwide. And because jealous Igbophobic Nigerians unnecessarily concerned by the relative successes of Ndigbo in their midst, misinterpreted the single-minded determination of the latter by creating the myth of excessive money mindedness referred to earlier.

I submit that Igbo political office holders who steal funds meant for the development of Igboland are a complete disgrace and should be treated as enemies of the people. For Ndigbo to occupy their rightful place as primus inter pares within the Nigerian federation, they must begin to live according to the moral principles encapsulated in the concept of ezigbo aha kariri ego(good name is superior to money).

Prominent Igbo indigenes, wherever they might be, must set aside their ephemeral egoistic interests and work for the good of Igboland as a whole.

The Igbo not only fight themselves in Igboland; some of them for selfish reasons exhibit excessive competitiveness in other parts of the federation

themselves.

Another cause for concern is absurd and pernicious discrimination within each South Eastern state and between the five states as well.

For example, in the civil service and educational institutions up to the university level, people from different parts of the same state discriminate and fight among themselves.

Sometimes, an application for employment or promotion is rejected because the person is from Imo state rather than Enugu state, and vice versa.

Former governor of Abia state, Theodore Orji, committed a very serious

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 57

BY SAM EYOBOKA

T

UESDAY, June 16, 2015, was another opportunity for the National President of Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor to celebrate womanhood as his Ekitiborn wife, woman of many parts and mother of three, Pastor Helen Oritsejafor, fondly called Mama Helen marked her birthday with pomp and pageantry.

The ceremony kicked off at the premises of Delta Broadcasting Service along the Effurun-NPA Expressway, Warri with a novelty football match played in her honour with the couple spotting light gray jeans trouser and skirt with white teeshirts. Before the kick-off by the celebrant, elegant Tessy Buluks musicianly presented the first orchid of the day with the rendition of some soulful songs to put everyone in the celebration mood.

The match featuring hosts, Delta Broadcasting Service, DBS, and the Word of Life Bible Chirch-owned African Broadcasting Network, ABN, a satellite-based gospel television station, ended goalless making the two teams to share the price money of N100,000.

The two-dimensional birthday batch which also marked the 6th anniversary of ABN, attended by chairman of Uvwie Local Government Council, Hon. Henry Baro, General Manager, DBS, Mr. Tunde Omonade, several management staff of DBS and a huge number of the Word of Life Bible Church family, was packaged by the women fellowship of the church better known as Daughters of Sarah Fellowship with assistance from other groups in the church.

In a brief charge, the CAN president, began by extolling the virtues of women, saying he who finds a wife attracts favour to his home. Turning to his wife he said: “I celebrate you.

May God bless you. I am so excited.

I thank God for your life. ABN is six also. So it’s a double honour. You are the actualiser of ABN and so your celebration with ABN is quite appropriate. Congratulations to you

More orchids for Mama ....Husband plans world Oritsejafor class football club

•Pastor (Mrs.) HELEN Oritsejafor (c) fondly called Mama Helen by her numerous admirers surrounded by husband and CAN National President, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor and other members of the church cutting her birthday cake at the DBS premises and ABN.” Turning to the large crowd at the premises, the cleric prayed: “As you celebrate with Mama and ABN, may God give you many reasons to celebrate in your life. I bless you in the name of God the father, the son and the Holy Spirit in Jesus name, Amen.”

Oritsejafor also used the occasion to commend the untiring efforts of the General Manager of DBS, Mr. Omonade who he had known for many years, stressing; “I am always excited to see a young man that God took from the scratch and gradually risen to a great height today. I celebrate you as well because you understand what this organization is all about and you have the capacity to take it to the next level.”

He immediately pledged to

collaborate with the DBS in many more areas, saying “let’s think of more projects we can do together for the good of humanity. I think that will be a wonderful thing.”

Oritsejafor, who has been fraternising with fellow Niger Deltan and former Super Eagles defender, Pastor Taribo West and others, also publicly pledged to encourage football by developing a world class football team in the area in the nearest future.

“I have some things in mind and if you give me some time, you will begin to see the evidence of what I’m talking about. You will see it very soon. I was saying in church on Sunday that the Word of Life football team must improve because we intend to take it to another level and find ways development them to an

tues of Serr Serraa Club ols vir virtues Pries extols Priestt ext

BY SAM EYOBOKA

S

ERRA Club of Maryland in Lagos has again been commended for its continued support for priests and religious vocations within and outside the Catholic Archdiocese of Lagos.

The commendation was made penultimate Sunday by Rev. Father Chigozie Marykemdi Nwigwe of Holy Spirit parish, Nnewi, Anambra State in his keynote address at the annual dinner with Priests and Religious at St Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos.

He thanked God for the initiators of Serra Club International in Washington, US in February 1935 which, he claimed, is committed to the overall development of the priests and the religious in the Catholic Church Serra Club, a global lay apostolate for vocations in the Catholic Church which was introduced to Nigeria in 1989 by Archbidhop Emeritus of Lagos, Anthony Cardinal Okogie, with a mandate to advance the cause of Catholicism through lasting friendships among Catholics and continuing education in their Catholic faith.

Speaking on "I am the Good Shepherd, a Good Shepherd lays down His life for His sheep", Nwigwe urged priests and the religious to emulate the sterling examples of Jesus Christ who epitomizes the qualities of a good

L - R: Very Rev. Msgr Francis Ogunmmogede, Rev Fr Nwigwe Chigozie Marykemdi of the Holy Spirit Parish, Nnewi, Dr Fabian Ajogwu SAN of the Lagos Business School and his wife, Dr Ona Ehomu, a security expert, Rev Sr Assumpta Mordi of the OLA Sisters Convent, Rev Fr Anthony Fadairo, Parish Priest of St Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland and Rev Fr Augustine Ikuomola, Chaplain, Serra Club of Maryland, during the club’s 2015 Dinner with Priests and Religious held in Lagos. shepherd by equipping themselves for the task of feeding the sheep under their care.

"We must tend to give direction to this generation. As a shepherd, we must not allow our sheep to roam and feed wherever they pleased unguided, we must not allow anything else other than the purity of God's word to be taught in the church," he said noting that modern day feeding methods have caused diseases in sheep and "in a sense this illustrates the sad fact that some ministers offer their flock secular diet and desert the word of God proper."

Soliciting for financial assistance to enable the club achieve its laudable objectives, its president, Mrs. Rose Nzenwa

said the club didn't come to Nigeria early enough and when it did it didn't generate the interest needed for expansion.

"We have about three districts now in Nigeria and we want to go to other parts of the country beginning with Awka and Ahiara dioceses in the South East for the fourth district," adding that the greatest challenge they have is the dearth of strong, quality and committed members.

She desires to see club established in all parts of the country, noting that a Nigerian has been voted the Vice President of the Serra Club International in recognition of the country's standing in the church universal.

international standard where they can play football anywhere in the world.

“Life actually is like a football game. In the football game of life, the moment you are born, you automatically join the team. Unlike the one we watched, participants in the football of life cannot decide to play or not because you begin playing the day you are born into the world. If you deceive yourself and think that you are a spectator, then you have missed it. “God is taking record of what you are doing or not doing. It is part of the game of life.

My prayer for you is that you will understand that on your own, you can’t play this game well. You need help from someone who had already played the game and won. His name is Jesus. If you don’t get this extra help, life will dribble you and score too many goals against you because at the end of the game, it’s not going to be a laughing matter,” he stated.

According to him, the day he decided for Christ, almost 50 years ago, “there were people who took the same decision with me; there were those who laughed at me and others who watched me. What I didn’t know then was that I was entering into another phase of the football match of life. When the altar call was made, I stepped out and most of my friends began to laugh. In fact, one of them challenged me, saying something must be wrong with me. But I went forward.”

Several members of the radio confraternity as well as others from the Edjeba area of town, came out to respond to the altar call and he prayed for them, urging them to continue their football game of life

It's God's time at Lord's Chosen

THE Lord’s Chosen Charismatic Revival Ministries has concluded plans to host a two-day power packed programme entitled, "…IT IS GOD’S TIME,"onSaturdayandSundayatThe ChosenRevivalGround,AlongOshodiApapaExpressway,Ijesha,Lagos.Time: 8am daily. General Overseer, Pastor Lazarus Muoka who will preside at the meeting is calling on everybody irrespective of religious partiality to avail themselves of the opportunity to meet with the God of all solution, the God of Chosen that makes all things possible.

"God has chosen the two days to divinely intervene in the circumstances of people and provide solution to as many as will come and present their needs.Hehasassuredthatwhatnoman can do, God is coming to do it at the programme and problems that have defied solution will receive solution," a statement signed by the church PRO, Pastor Chidi Louis stated.

ANOINTING SERVICE

PRESIDENT of God-Will-Do-It Ministries, Ibadan, Dr. Gomba Fortune Oyor will on Wednesday host a special interdenominational service of prophetic impartations, declarations and revelations at Eko FM (Upper Suite) Radio Lagos/LTV Complex, Agidingbi, Ikeja, Lagos tagged “Deliverance & Special Anointing Service with Dr. G.F. Oyor ” at 5:30 a.m. to 8:00 a.m. (first session) and 5:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. (second session).

on a sound and sure foundation by identifying a bible-believing Church to concretize their new resolve. In his submission, DBS boss, Mr. Omonade commended the CAN president for giving the Christian community a voice, noting that when it was “time to speak on behalf of Christians, Papa Ayo has spoken and has touched lives in different parts of the country.” According to him, behind every successful man there is a woman and that is why the entire management of DBS had come out to celebrate the birthday of Mama Helen who, he said, had been a veritable pillar of support to the loving CAN president.

Similarly, the boss of Uvwie Local Government, Hon. Baro expressed gratitude for the organizers who invited him to the occasion, stating that residents and non-residents of Warri have noted the unequal philanthropist spirit of the couple in focus.

Earlier, the director of ABN, Pastor Ejiro Akpahwe described the facilitator of ABN, Mama Helen Oritsejafor as a mother, teacher, a friend, a priceless jewel and a Deborah of this generation.

According to him, ABN has been specifically positioned to serve as the strongest voice for the gospel from Africa and serve as a credible platform providing awesome opportunities to Christian ministries in Africa, part of Asia and Europe.

Responding to the encomiums, the celebrant greeted all the speakers and all those who took time off their busy schedules to honour her, saying she owes all gratitude to her husband who she described as the indefatigable Lion of Africa.

She also paid glowing tributes to her sister-in-law and the Iyeloma Ede of Warri Kingdom, Chief Yemi Oritsejafor who had made her stay in the Oil City most rewarding.

In continuation of the ceremony, the congregation then moved from the Edjeba home of DBS to the Warri GRA home of the CAN president where people were treated to sumptuous meals as pastors and their wives danced to light music.

Amnesty programme: Exmilitants advise Buhari

E

x-militant generals in the Niger-Delta re gion under the aegis of Peace Restoration Movement, has called on President Muhammadu Buhari to appoint only transparent and credible person to head the amnesty programme The group also urged Mr. President to make a wide consultation with former militant leaders in the region in order not make similar mistakes made by the immediate past administration of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The group in a meeting convened by Chief Opuye and Small Governor in Warri South local government area of Delta State gave this advice while applauding Commander Bibi Oduku’s contribution towards President Buhari’s victory in the recent presidential election.

The group explained that Commander Oduku’s role during presidential election in the area of security despite threats and intimidation from the opposition was worthy of note.

Page 58 — SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

VIEWPOINT

By Soni Daniel, Regional Editor, North

TRIBUTE IN BRIEF

A peace maker at close quarters

W

HEN she started with a sin gle step of looking for victims of the Jos crisis and giving succour to those she could afford to cater for, not many took her seriously.

In fact, in the heat of the killing and maiming of women, men and children by heartless men in Plateau State, Esther Ibanga, a woman, who voluntarily relinquished her highpaying job at the Central Bank of Nigeria, made it a point of duty to move from point to point rendering help to victims of the wanton mayhem in the state. Apparently to stand on a more corporate platform in rendering help on a sustained basis to the needy, Mrs. Ibanga immediately set up a Non-Governmental Organisation, known as Women Without Walls Initiative, WOWWI, in 2010, which focused its attention on providing advocacy, relief for internally displaced families, training of women in peace building initiatives/ activities, dialogues, developmental projects in forgotten communities,

VIEWPOINT

By Goodluck Edafe

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF

Cleaning the mind for a greater nation

F

IRST Saturday of every new month is environmental sanitation in Delta State. The dates are not the same for all the states.

On that day, citizens are encouraged and sometimes forced out of their homes to clean up their environment. Government intention is been to promote a clean healthy environment for the people. On account of this, Chief Olori Magege was sometime appointed Chairman, Delta State Waste Management Board. On assumption of office, Magege’s initial responds to work fuelled by the usual excitement that comes with new appointments put him in the eye of the storm. But then, I said it aloud that Magege’s control of rakes, shovels and wheelbarrows cannot make Delta State clean.

Today, wastes are still in every unwanted area in our state. It is so

Esther Ibanga: Garlands for a caregiver women and youth empowerment.

Through the WoWWI platform, she has made tremendous progress towards restoring the elusive peace between the Christian and Moslem communities in Plateau State. She has also used the same platform effectively in reaching out to women both nationally and internationally and empower them to fight for and advance the cause of women-folk, youth and children, irrespective of ethnic, religious or political affiliation.

She did not stop there since it appeared as if the more effort she was putting in to restore peace to the warring communities, the more the malevolent elements stepped up their acts in order to inflict more injuries to the people. In February 2010 she led a peaceful protest march in response to the Dogon-Nahawa ethno-religious crisis that shook Plateau State like a volcanic eruption. In that protest, Mrs. Ibanga led more than 100, 000 Christian women to express their anger against the destruction of lives and property by unknown persons under the guise of ethnic and

religious differences. She did neither fear for her lives nor those of the women she mobilised for the protest, which lasted for many days.

These women, decked in black attires to drive home their grievances, marched the streets of Jos to the Government House, expressing their grief over the wanton loss of human lives especially that of women and children.

The protest brought women to the forefront of the call for peace and to put an end to violence in Plateau State. In response to the protest march embarked upon by the Christian women in March 2010, the Muslim women, led by Hajiya Khadijat Hawaja, now WOWWI’s Financial Secretary, held their own peaceful protest demanding that the killings in Jos be stopped as they too had lost children and husbands to the violent killings.

It was on that premise that Pastor Esther Ibanga decided to reach out to the Muslim women, pleading with them to come together in the fight to eradicate ethno-religious violence. “For the sake of peace it is

The Better Sanitation because we do not know about the kind of sanitation that society needs to be clean. The hypocrisy of environmental sanitation did not start in Delta State nay Nigeria. The Jews, kinsmen of Jesus had a tendency for cleaning the outside of the cup. For them, once the outside of the cup is made clean and shinning, the inner condition of it whether dirty and smelling it becomes immaterial. Jesus found their attitude very reckless, hypocritical and unprogressive. He emphasized the importance of inner environment over the outward environment. “First clean the inside of the cup and then the outside also will be clean” He says.

The cleanliness of the inside is the cleanliness of the outside.

In several instances, the waste that we removed from gutters on environmental sanitation day eventually returned back into the gutters. This is so because there is no genuine commitment to having a clean environment. Usually, there

are no evacuation vehicles to do the needful after the exercise. Monies budgeted every year for the purchases and maintenance of sanitation vehicles and other equipments to ensure an efficient sanitary system end up in the pockets of government officials with dirty mind environment. A dirty mind environment cannot produce a clean outward environment. That much Jesus told the Jews. How much of environmental sanity can a people who do not feel a sense of love, justice, mercy and fear of God achieve with a monthly environmental sanitation? In a state rattled by political fraudsters – election riggers, public fund looters, uncultured men and women are managers of state, how much of environmental sanity can it achieve? What great difference can every month gutter sanitation achieve when our minds are crazingly greedy, wicked, corrupt, depraved and largely immoral?

In a nation where even traditional rulers are no longer trustworthy

important to build a community of women with one purpose and work for the overall wellbeing of the people notwithstanding their religious and tribal affiliations,” she told the women in every gathering.

In order to fulfill its vision of “developing a non-violent and all inclusive approach to conflict resolution and peace building in Nigeria, through women who are natural agents of change”, Women without Walls Initiative has over the years undertaken series of activities to achieve her goals. These activities include conferences (both locally and internationally), economic empowerment program for women, police-community dialogue, campaigns against electoral violence, rallies, etc. In February 2010 she led a peaceful protest march, in response to the Dogon Nahawa ethno-religious crisis that took place in Plateau State Nigeria. Pastor Esther Ibanga led 100, 000 Christian women in that protest. These women marched the streets of Jos to the Government house dressed in black, expressing their grief over the wan-

when it comes to money, where commanders of political thugs that have murdered peace in several communities could climb church alters to give hypocritical thanksgiving, how much of the environment can we actually clean on every first Saturday of the month? We believe in cleaning the outside of the cup without bothering about the inner condition of it.

We prefer the condemned ways of the 1st Century Jews – their hypocrisy and ridiculous approach to life. Nigeria produces gas in quantities but could not produce electricity for its domestic and industrial use. Nigeria produces and exports crude oil but could not produce fuel – a by-product of crude oil for its local consumption. Intermittently, Nigerians struggle and fight at filling stations over fuel purchases whereas countries it supplied crude oil have fuel in excess. Our experience is decay in our inner environment. We shout halleluyah in churches yet we are brood of vipers. We win church awards and titles but never love God and our people. “Bin your waste”, Keep Delta State clean”

ton loss of human lives especially that of women and children. The protest brought women to the forefront of the call for peace and to put an end to violence in Plateau State.

In response to the protest march done by the Christian women, in March 2010, the Muslim women, led by Hajiya Khadijat Hawaja, now WOWWI’s Financial Secretary, held their own peaceful protest demanding that the killings in Jos be stopped as they too had lost children and husbands to the violent killings. It was on this premise that Pastor Esther Ibanga decided to reach out to the Muslim women enjoining them to come together as one body in the fight for the cause against ethno-religious violence. For the sake of peace it was important to build a community of women with one purpose, which is to advocate for and influence the peaceful co-existence of people among the Christian and Moslem communities.

Married to a renowned public health exponent, Dr. Iko Ibanga, who is the founder and Executive Director of Pro-Health International (PHI), Esther Ibanga can be described as one who has taken a cue from her husband in reaching the poor and the needy. some of our environmental sanitation slogans read. The cleanliness that comes only from binning of our waste is definitely not the type that makes a nation great. It is a misplacement of priority to focus on outward environmental sanitation when our mind environment which is the core of development is rotten and grossly unedifying. It is good that we brush our mouth, wash our clothes and make our homes and environment clean but while we do all this, we must appreciate the better sanitation – the renewal of our mind in order to be complete in and out. Our country is an irony – very rich yet very poor. It is so because we lack the riches of the mind, which is the greatest asset of any nation. Once the minds of a people are developed, to rightly think out the essentials and inessentials of life, then their nation can greatly develop. There is a better sanitation.

It is the sanitation of the mind for a greater nation.

•Edafe is a public affairs analyst / journalist is based in Jesse, Delta State

Oladejo Fajobi, ‘Total Accountant, Accidental Educationist’, at 60 VIEWPOINT

By Omobolanle Akinola

TRIBUTE IN BRIEF

Celebrating a role model on his birthday

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R Anthony Oladejo Fajobi is so many things rolled into one. But the one that stands him out is that he is an accomplished accountant. He not only rose to the pinnacle of the accounting profession to become a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN), FCA, by dint of hard work, he made his mark at Total Nigeria where he retired managing risk control.

Employed by the oil giant in the 80s as an accountant, Fajobi was also Total Nigeria Regional Manager. In other words, Fajobi was not only a Total Nigeria top member of staff, he is also a ‘total accountant’. By ‘total accountant’, I

•Mr. Anthony Oladejo Fajobi mean an accountant who is well grounded in the professional and knows his onion. He doesn’t joke with money; the account must be balanced.

The other attribute that places Fajobi above his peers is his passion for children. He believes the future of the nation lies in the development of the children in the

total sense of the word, and hence no efforts should be spared in joining hands to educate children.

Notwithstanding that education is not his calling, this mindset drove this rare accountant and his wife Oluwatoyin Fajobi – to establish The King’s Kid School and King’s Anchor College in Abaranje-Ikotun, Lagos, unarguably one of the best schools in Lagos, nay Nigeria. Let me equally mention that his wife – Oluwatoyin-is also not a professional in the education sector. She retired as a top nursing staffer at the Lagos University Teaching Hospital (LUTH). This marks the couple out as ‘accidental educationists’. And one intriguing thing about the Fajobi couple is that they run their schools far better than many educationists who ended up establishing schools.

With no expenses spared, the schools boast of structures com-

pared with the best across the country. The institutions are well equipped. Qualified staff is a priority. It is no wonder then that the schools are the toast of parents, far and near. Fajobi is a disciplinarian. No doubt about that. He is a stickler for discipline. If you are the type that is Machiavellian, that is, you believe that the end justifies the means; in essence, you like cutting corners to achieve an end, you are unlikely to be friends with him. His adherence to rules and regulations is legendary. And the reason is not far-fetched: We need integrity and adherence to rule and regulations to develop ourselves and the nation.

Yet, Fajobi is full of the milk of human kindness. God has truly blessed him. And he is using the blessing to positively affect the world – especially his family, the staff and children of the King’s Kid School and King’s Anchor College. Even

those who hardly know Fajobi, but meet him by chance for help have testimonies to tell about his large heart. I feel proud to add this attribute – Daddy Fajobi, as we fondly call him, is a rare benefactor. Words are not enough to express how much I have benefited from his generosity as his staffer. Ditto for most of his staff. He is a role model, a motivator, a father, a philanthropist, a gogetter and God-fearing.

As Daddy Fajobi turned 60 on May 16, may the good Lord bless him with longevity, good health and more prosperity. A thanksgiving service and lunch to mark the birthday hold on July 18, 2015, at the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Israel Assembly (behind MKO Abiola Gardens), Jobi-Fele Way, Alausa, Ikeja, and the Events Centre (Bolajoko Hall), Plot 1, Block B, Hakeem Balogun Street, off Agidingbi Road (opposite African Shrine), Ikeja, Lagos.

•Akinola lives in Lagos.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015,

VIEWPOINT

By Ovie Orode

VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The downside of a governor

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HE political leader cannot accomplish set goals without the aggregated consent of the people he is leading. His idiosyncrasies must be capped in other for him to precisely articulate what is in the supreme interest of the citizens. Unfortunately for the good people of Rivers State, Gov. Nyesom Wike has failed them in this regard. He has disparaged everything that thrived humanity in the state and in the process broke the hearts of the people despite being in office for just three weeks. This has totally reversed his “star power” to “star nuisance” irrespective of what his court jesters are telling him. A few examples will suffice: The first calamitous action of the governor was his exhibition of high political libido in handling the Rivers State Waste Management Agency. His arbitrariness has converted Port Harcourt into the hub of filth in the country with huge health implications on the residents. The state is almost at the verge of cholera epidemic. This could have been avoided had he listened to the voice of reason and allowed the functional existing sys-

Nyesom Wike: A Bull in a China Shop? tem to remain. Retooling an administrative setup of an agency is not same as pulling it down. Nyesom and his team failed this test.

He undertook the following actions that reversed the gains of the past: Termination of the contracts of service providers even when they are owed. Persuasive disciplinary measures should have been applied to ensure performance in line with their meeting with Nyesom.

Abandonment of established

The second is the trending “car snatching” movie premiering in different parts of the state capital

technical structures; some staff, especially the adhoc cadre that got in service and on the job training were ignored due to political differences.

Inefficient use of standby service providers;inefficient use of Quick Intervention Unit of the agency; collapse of instituted covert and overt monitoring and supervisory team;collapse of 24hrs service provider ’s customer care unit and command center; collapse of Quick Response enforcement Unit.

The apparent recklessness in the management of the waste disposal agency was fuelled by the spirit of vendetta and calumny the governor continuously exhibited against former Gov. Amaechi. It was a judgmental failure on his part and innocent masses are suffering the consequences. For how long are we going to continue doing things in this manner?

The second is the trending “car snatching” movie premiering in different parts of the state capital.

It is discomforting to note that Nyesom did not imbibe the positive transition regime of President Muhammadu Buhari. Is he pretending to be ignorant of the fact that public servants are allowed to go home with their official cars if

they were deprived of car allowances while in service? Another aspect of this unfortunate situation is the role of the Police in this aberration. It is obvious that the Rivers State Police Command is still living in the past. It allowed itself to be deployed to enforce illegality.

The sight of the Police aiding and abating illegality reminded Nigerians of the travails of Amaechi during the presidency of Dr. Goodluck Jonathan. The change President Buhari is entrenching must not elude Rivers state.

The third leg of the early Wike “volcano” is the termination of duty tours of heads and other appointed professionals working government institutions. While the governor reserves the right to work with a team he can trust, it is incumbent on him to ensure that such exercise is not laden with confusion, witch hunting and vindictiveness. Institutional memory is critical in the effective running of any government agency. His approach will stall proper debriefing of terminated appointees. It is difficult for any discerning mind to really understand what the bravado terminations are meant to achieve. It is of utmost importance for team Wike to divest itself of the pre and

Fashola @ 52: Re-visiting the momentous years VIEWPOINT

By Hakeem Bello

TRIBUTE IN BRIEF A former governor on his birthday

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ODAY Babatunde Raji Fas hola, SAN turns fifty–two. It is his first birthday outside office as the Governor of Lagos State. Having really never been a loud person when it comes to celebrations , a thanksgiving prayer and his sustained private engagement with the less privileged would predictably be all to expect. However, being freshly out of office, the occasion offers an opportunity to conduct a rapid overview of the momentous Fashola years in the service of the good people of Lagos.

Receiving the endorsement and backing of the symbol of the struggle to sustain the ethos of true federalism and then out-going Governor of Lagos, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu whom he had served loyally as Chief of Staff, Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN, ran a most stimulating campaign. He was an underdog as an Action Congress governorship candidate in Lagos State in 2007, but Fashola started proving skeptics wrong almost as soon as he had been sworn in on May 29, 2007 as he started building on the foundation laid by Asiwaju Tinubu .

Of all the programmes he enumerated then, Babatunde Fashola ,SAN stressed his determination to change the attitude and orientation of the people of Lagos State towards rules and regulations and the enforcement of law and order. Fashola made it clear in his inauguration speech that for him to record any achievement during his tenure of office, it would be necessary to establish an administration that would be unmistakably committed to law and order. The areas in which Lagosians need re-orientation as he laid it down then would include sanitation habit, driving, property

development, attitude to tax payment, and also to trading. He also made it clear that it would be impossible to realise a commitment to law and order without an effective agency forlaw enforcement and a highly motivated system of justice delivery.

In the absence of state police, Fashola knew that he would have to continue to work with the federal government-controlled Police Command. He therefore rallied the private sector and other critical stakeholders through the Lagos State Security Trust Fund to galvanize much needed resources that facilitated the re-invigoration of the Rapid Response Squad with sorely needed modern equipment for crime fighting from guns and ammunition to Armoured Personnel Carrier, Patrol vehicles, boats and even helicopters . The Emergency Toll Free lines 767 and 112 as well as the Command and Control Centre were also established.

He also caused the Lagos State Traffic Management Agency (LASTMA) to recruit and train additional staff , procured more equipment for them and went ahead to facilitate the establishment of the Lagos State Special Traffic Mayors through which he consciously encouraged a policy of community involvement in traffic control and management. As I have earlier stated, Fashola was aware as well of the importance of a transparent system of justice dispensation. To ensure that the process of disposing cases brought before it is fast and fair, the administration approved a new welfare package for the judicial personnel, built and commissioned new court rooms and equipped them with modern facilities, and put in place a panel to review the procedural rules.

One major factor responsible for the high level of success was the power of the former governor’s personal example. Fashola repeatedly stressed it to all his officials, commissioners and aides that he

•Mr.Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN

who makes the law ought not to be seen breaking . Fashola was the first governor of Lagos State to reject the use of siren. As he argued, only ambulances, Fire Brigade vehicles and men and women of the Police Force who were on emergency mission need them. He also often insisted that at no time should any of the drivers in his convoy conduct himself in any way that could engender panic or fright in other road users. Fashola made punctuality at State Executive Council meetings mandatory for himself and other members. He wanted the people of Lagos State to imbibe the habit of voluntary compliance with the law and he made himself the epitome of what he preached. Almost from his very first day in office, Fashola working with his team strove to change people’s attitude towards the payment of tax.

In a speech delivered at a stakeholders forum on taxation in December 2007, he made clear his belief that the purpose of any government, “indeed its most legitimate reason for being there, is to secure the greatest good for the greatest number,” and he noted the readiness of his administration to take on the challenge and indeed “make a difference.” Having admitted this however, Fashola was quick to add that an administration can only ful-

fill this obligation only if it has the means. Public goods and services, as he went on to say, can only be procured with money or such other valuable means. Because such means are often scarce, governments all over the ages have always relied on money generated through tax to fund its activities and also carry out its duties towards the citizens. “Were it not for taxes,”Governor Fashola says, “there would be no governments, no law and order, no security and no public facilities.

But while regarding tax evasion as a crime, Fashola’s oft underscored position was that it should be possible to make people and corporate organizations take tax payment as an obligation and a duty; and in such a way that they will voluntarily comply with the regulations governing taxation. To this end, he regularly hosted what was termed the Stakeholders’ Forum on Taxation. Indeed, certain that the citizens would play their role in the social contract, the administration was able to conceive and initiate major infrastructural projects making use of long term facilities which the flow of taxes would not have made possible. Another major area in which the Governor exerted himself and his team to effect a re-orientation in Lagosians’ attitude was the environment.

By way of practical measures, the Fashola administration caused Dino bins which people could use for waste disposal to be placed at thousands of locations in the state. Additional waste collection trucks were also bought and handed over to the Lagos State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA) by way of enhancing its capacity to respond to waste disposal needs of the state while PSP operators also received support towards obtaining loans from Banks to buy new trucks. In order to inculcate healthy sanitary habit in young minds, Environmental Advocacy Programmes were launched in

Page 59

immediate post election mood and concentrate on availing the people the dividend of democracy it promised them. The administration of Rt. Hon. Chibuike Amaechi has done its part and it is for posterity to judge.

The challenge before Wike is to better Amaechi in the delivery of dividends of democracy to the people of Rivers. He will neither be judged by the number of insults he heaped on his predecessor nor by the number of cars confiscated from the appointees of the Amaechi era. Rather, the people will watch and see whether he bettered the first class schools he inherited.

They will assess him based on his ability to complete the Trans Woji infrastructural project and other important developmental projects started by the Amaechi administration. The choice is for Nyesom Wike to make: Will he transform fully into a “Bull in a China Shop” or tread the path of peace, unity and cool headedness that engenders development? Those prompting him to thrive on uncontrollable whims may not be there when the epitaph of his administration as governor of Rivers will be written. They will simply walk away with their briefcases and anchor on another political journeyman.

•Orode is based in Warri, Delta State. secondary schools. Beyond educating pupils on how to dispose waste, as well as where, and where not, to urinate or defecate, several of these schools were provided with toilet facilities and waste disposal bins. Hand washing in schools which proved critical to containing the Ebola infection started way back in 2008 in Lagos State schools.

Babatunde Raji Fashola was also concerned about the reality of incessant flooding in the state. While conceding that this reality has to do largely with the fact that Lagos naturally is a low land, the former governor would be quick to add that the situation has been “compounded by widespread acts of citizens’ non- compliance, including dumping of refuse in canals or construction of illegal structures across drainage channels.” As usual, Fashola’s initial reaction was practical. He approved along with his team that drainage channels be constructed in areas of the state that are prone to incessant flooding. Old ones were also to be dredged and cleared regularly. During his tenure as governor , Fashola recorded legions of achievements in several areas including provision of affordable housing for the people through the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme (Lagos HOMS) , construction of roads, the daring commencement of the Lagos Light Rail Project , development of public transportation system and the waterways, the waging of war against crime, etc.

Has the administration solved all the problem ? No, it’s not possible as no government can solve all the problem. This, in my view is normal; and Governor Fashola himself realizes very well that he is not infallible and he would be the first to acknowledge that having to take decisions for 18 hours daily for eight years was not a tea party. I think what is left for me is to congratulate my boss , Babatunde Fashola, SAN on his birthday. Many happy returns of the day.

•BELLO is Special Adviser on Media to former Governor Babatunde Fashola, SAN .

PAGE 60—SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

Rectify cultural policy,visual artists tells Buhari

BY CHRIS ONUOHA VISUAL

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takeholders and professionals in art sector have tasked the new administration of President Muhammadu Buhari to draw up a viable road map that will boost art industry in Nigeria.

Taking a clue from the developed countries of the world, the stakeholders who spoke on the significant role art and culture has played in repositioning other countries’ economy questioned why government is still myopic in tapping the golden resources this sector possessed. In their views, adequate attention and speedy measures should be taken by any serious government to address the anomaly hindering growth of art and culture practice in Nigeria.

Those who spoke were Bruce Onabrakpheya, Alhaji Adbulaziz Ude, El-Anatsui and others in Lagos.

In the words of Prof. Bruce Onabrakpeya, “First thing this new administration should do is to rectify cultural policy so that things inside it can be

By JAPHET ALAKAM REVIEW

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agos state, the commercial nerve centre of Nigeria has become a reference point to other states because of the transformation that changed the face of the state. This can be attributed to the policies of the former governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola, who defied all odds to make sure that the state wears a new look. For a man, who many knew little about before his ascendency to the position of Lagos State governor, the task of changing Lagos was difficult, but he was bent on making a difference and after 8 years in office, the testimonies are there, no wonder people now talk about the old and new Lagos.

For a man who do not believe in the usual self-glorification of public office holders while still serving, even as accolades have continued to pour in for former action governor. There is the need to set on permanent record of some of his achievements in book forms and this Mr. Hakeem Bello, his top media aid, having been on his side since he became the governor, first as Senior Special Assistant (media) and later as Special Assistant (media) came out with three books, In Bold Print, which captures Fashola’s thoughts, a historical record chronicling his speeches and The Lagos Blow Down, co-authored with Dapo Adeniyi, of the first controlled demolition of a building in the country.

According to the author, “my

operational and artists can benefit from it. After that, government should spend money and build a viable National Gallery, I mean big gallery that can display our works. With that in place, tourists can come and see what we are doing.”

He also asked government to try to extend the assistance given to educational institutions to the informal education sectors like establishing workshops, art villages so that people who do not have opportunity to enter into universities or colleges will be able to benefit from it.

Beyond that, “art like any other sector requires funding and development. These will

Government should encourage all the state governors and administrators at all levels to patronize local artists and display their works in offices

•Prof Bruce Onobrakpeya make it grow and prepare it, not only for Nigerians alone but for the outsiders to come and enjoy.

Then it will become a money spinner for Nigeria and would also help make art relevant in the country.”

Alhaji Abudulaziz Ude, a great art patron and collector in his own comment bemoans indifference on the side of government. He said, “I think the more physical thing noticed is that Nigerian contemporary art pieces are not visibly displayed in government houses.

Government should encourage

B

•General Buhari all the State governors and administrators at different levels to patronize local artists and display their works in their offices. That should be a major step forward and a way of encouraging them by acquiring their works, will help them grow and become relevant to the society.”

Prof. El-Anatsui laments on the lack of adequate infrastructure to aid visual ideas in the country. He said, “I think one of the things

The Great Leap, chronicling Fashola speeches purpose for bringing together a selection of Babatunde Raji Fashola’s speeches, delivered during his tenure is to document some of the reforms he has pursued and record some of his achievements as Governor of Lagos State.

Fashola ranks, undoubtedly, among the most successful individuals to have held the governorship position in Lagos State and after he became Governor, he has made positive changes in the State. He is a reformer and his achievements are monumental.”

The Great Leap,a 289 page book published by CLRN publishing under Q books is a careful selection of some of the speeches delivered by the governor, revealing him as a highly organised, systematic and well-focused man. The book is divided into ten uneven parts. Filled with information that is beneficial to every citizen for the

Fashola ranks, undoubtly, among the most successful individuals to have held the governorship position in Lagos State

he started after graduation from law school, the challenges and lessons to when he became the governor. Part two contains two speeches delivered on the days he was sworn in as Governor of Lagos State in 2007 and 2011, respectively. The first expounds on his promises for Lagos State, and after a successful first tenure, the second recollects his achievements and plans to create more impactful programmes in the State.

The Great Leap, Hakeem Bello, CLRN publishing under Q books, Lagos, 2014, PP 289 purpose of enlightenment, education or research,the speeches reflect his personal convictions and vision for the development of Lagos State and the people. Areas covered in the speeches deal with existing challenges and the Lagos State’s proffered solutions from the state’s history and constitutional makeup, the imploding population, private sector involvement in governance, improved infrastructure, state police, economic status of Lagos State, education, health, security, housing, transportation, job creation and environment, among others.

It begins with an inspiring narrative of his humble beginnings and his venture into politics subtitled, “A Governor, his Story ”. Here the author presents Fashola’s account of how

we are still lacking in this country is facilities or infrastructure. There are ideas in the country but we need the facilities for such ideas to gain root or visibility. You know art work is not something that is in the mind of the artist, but it’s something that should gain visibility when it is actualized, and in that regard, I mean things like national galleries or such facilities that will give Nigerian artists opportunity like other artists in the world. esides, it could even be like organizing biennial events or maybe, a 5 year event that would focus on art and help to enhance the understanding of art. If you look at the Dakar biennial in Senegal, it is a big example. It’s been running for so many years now in a country so poorer than Nigeria because it has a visionary President. He started it and has been able to sustain it.

Every two years, art

Part three, titled “Setting Agenda”, comprises speeches on reforms, where he touches on development issues in the State with stakeholders, while part four deals with implemented projects and programmes. art five contains a speech titled “Dear Children of Lagos State”, which shows the commitment of the Governor to the holistic growth of children, while part six focused on gender, in memory of the former Vice Chancellor of Lagos State University, Professor Jadesola Akande, which propounds on the rights, equality and opportunities for both the male and female gender in politics, professions an d society. Next is the

P

mega city status of Lagos which contains speeches that reveal Fashola’s vision to transform the landscape of Lagos.

Part eight is sub-titled “Milestones.” The speeches here are selected samples

enthusiasts and collectors gather in Senegal. Almost all the people who go to Venice come to Senegal to have idea of what is happening on the continent of Africa. It is a platform for young artists who want to strive and excel.”

from addresses given at landmark and/or dedicated events such as the second anniversary of his administration, an address to commemorate one thousand days in office and others. In Part nine, his speech is focused on Culture, delivered during the Adamu Orisha festival in 2011, otherwise known as Eyo, Adamu Orisha, the prime festival of the people of Lagos State and the Governor reveals his commitment to the revitalization of the indigenous heritage of the people of the state.

The final part, part ten, is titled “View Point” contain some sample speeches containing the Governor ’s views on national and sociopolitical issues. They include speech delivered at the public hearing on the amendment of the constitution organised by the Lagos State House of Assembly, his perspective on the concept of democracy delivered during the fiftieth birthday of Timipriye Sylva, the former Governor of Bayelsa State, the governor address on the controversy that arose from the late Chinua Achebe’s memoir, There was a Country: a Personal History of Biafra.

As Fashola turns 52 today, Sunday, these books will go a long way in explaining the man and his politics, even at a limited level, while fans of his political orientation continues to wait for his biography or autobiography, and his next political move, which they hope will be outside the insidious political influence of Ahmed Tinubu, who many felt was overbearing all through Fashola’s two terms.

S UNDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, JUNE 28 , 2015 PAGE – 61

Copa America: Argentina was lucky, says Messi L

IONEL Messi felt Argentina gave their best performance of the Copa America against Colombia but admitted there was luck involved as they advanced on penalties.

Argentina played out a goalless 90 minutes in their quarterfinal with Colombia as they failed to break the deadlock against goalkeeper David Ospina.

The Albiceleste eventually emerged as 5-4 victors penalties as Carlos Tevez netted the decisive spot kick, and Barcelona star Messi was encouraged by the football they played to reach the semifinals.

“We played our best match of the Copa America,” Messi told TVP.

“We created a lot of c h a n c e s . . .

Unfortunately we weren’t able to get a goal and we were eventually lucky to win on penalties.”

Messi admits he is finding it difficult to score a goal for the national team after failing again against Colombia.

“It’s incredible how difficult it is to score a goal for the national team,” he said.

Toure targets more exploits at City Y AYA Toure has restated his desire to stay at Manchester City in order to pay back the faith shown in him from the Etihad Stadium faithful by becoming a club legend.

Coutinho counts on Firmino to succeed at Liverpool P

HILIPPE Coutinho is confident that Brazil team-mate Roberto Firmino has all the attributes to succeed in the Premier League and is itching to link up with him at Liverpool.

Firmino completed his move to Anfield from Hoffenheim earlier this week in a deal that is reported to eventually be worth £29million.

With Liverpool having forked out such a hefty fee, the pressure will be on to produce from the off and Coutinho - who is currently on Copa America duty with Firmino - has no doubt

that the forward will thrive.

“He is strong physically, he is fast, agile, very skilful on the ball and he scores a lot of goals - he is a great forward. I am sure he will be of great help to us next season,” he told Liverpool’s official website.

“After hearing the news, I said to him ‘welcome to Liverpool’ and I have told him that he will be coming into a club that is like a family - I made sure to tell him that. “I have also wished him a great and very successful first season at Liverpool.”

Firm Decision... Roberto Firmino C M Y K

Twist and Turns... Lionel Messi weaving his way past Colombia’s Alexander Mejía (15) and Teófilo Gutiérrez (19) during their game.

Former City boss Roberto Mancini has talked openly about his desire to be reunited with the powerhouse midfielder at current club Inter.

Mancini claims that Toure has spent “six months telling me that he wanted to come to Milan”, but the Ivory Coast star insists he is committed to City, where he has won the Premier League twice and the FA Cup and League Cup once.

Talking about the backing he has received from City supporters over his five

Ronaldo urges Ramos to remain at Real

C City Pledge... Yaya Toure years at the club, Toure told the Manchester Evening News: “It is very, very

important as a person and as a football player as well when you see people are following you.

FIFA WWC: Germany, USA set for ERMANY and the grinding battle GUnited States, the top

Total Contest... Germany ’s Celia Sasic (13) moves the ball past French woman Louisa Necib (14) during the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup quarter final match at Olympic Stadium in Montreal, Quebec, Canada.

two teams in the FIFA rankings, have set up a semi-final clash in the Women’s World Cup by beating France and China respectively.

Top-ranked Germany, winners in 2003 and 2007, won a dramatic penalty shoot-out 5-4 to break French hearts after the tie ended 1-1 after 120 minutes in Montreal.

And the second-ranked Americans, champions in 1991 and 1999, overpowered China on front of a crowd of just over 24,000 in Ottawa’s Lansdowne Stadium 1-0 thanks to a second half goal from captain Carli Lloyd..

“We just kept our foot down on the pedal and that was just what we needed “It’s what we needed and we’re going to be flying in the next game,” said Lloyd.

RISTIANO Ronaldo has reportedly paused his holiday in an attempt to try and persuade Sergio Ramos to stay at Real Madrid.

Spanish publication AS report the Los Blancos superstar called Ramos while he was holidaying in Miami, Florida, to urge him not to leave for Manchester United.

A contract wrangle for the Spanish defender at the Bernabeu has led to speculation he could move to Old Trafford, with Real apparently putting a £65million price tag on their centreback.

United have already had a £35million bid rejected, but are expected to return with an improved offer as they look to tighten their defence ahead of next season.

The Red Devils have struggled to replace Rio Ferdinand and Nemanja Vidic in the heart of their rearguard, regularly calling upon youngsters Tyler Blackett and Paddy McNair last term.

If Ramos does move to United, it could be part of a deal which sees David De Gea go in the other direction, with Real still keen to take the goalkeeper back to the Spanish capital.

PAGE 62 – S UNDAY Vanguard Vanguard,, JUNE 28 , 2015

Olympic qualifier: Siasia welcomes Port-Harcourt venue N

ATIONAL Under23 team coach, Samson Siasia revealed that the choice of Port Harcourt by the Nigeria Football Federation for the home game of next month’s African U-23 Championship first leg qualifying match against Congo was a welcomed development.

“Port Harcourt is home for me.

“And I want to assure Nigerians that my boys will find the place to be home as well. I am appealing to the people of Port Harcourt and indeed the adjoining towns and States to come out en masse to support the Dream Team against Congo, so that we can win well and render the return leg a mere formality,”said Siasia.

He said that before the NFF took the decision, he had already made plans to move to Port Harcourt.

“As far as we are concerned, the choice of Port-Harcourt by the NFF is a commendable one.

We are working on a plan to see that we move over to the Garden City in good time before the game so as to get used to the pitch well ahead and also get used to the people of the city.”

Tottenham’s Musa Yahaya and Granada striker Isaac Promise were all left to play mini roles in Nigeria’s campaign as against the expectations of the fans who had expected these pros would take up major roles in the squad.

“That was not what we expected considering what the team has achieved all through the year but at this point, it is very difficult to analyse what the situation is,” Ugbade said.

“The error we made was bringing the foreign-based players into the team and not having enough time to work with them. It really af-

•As Queen’s College, Yaba annex the women’s trophy

By Jacob Ajom

Victorious St Gregory’s Colege football team on the podium

St Gregory’s College Obalende won the bragging rights with a 3-1 win over St Finbar ’s College, Akoka Friday as the Gregorians carted home the giant GTBank Masters Cup trophy for the first time, at the expense of their eternal rivals at the Onikan Stadium, Lagos.

The match which was preceded by the women’s final between Queen’s College, Yaba and the Ansar Ud-Deen Girls College, Itire lived up to its billing as the fans were treated to the best of college football.

The encounter which attracted capacity crowd that included some old boys of both colleges was

AFN golden league: Imhoaperamhe, Oduduru in sprint rivalry Oduduru, was out to take Speaking after the meet also the women 400m was

By Ben Efe

A

THLETICS Federa tion of Nigeria yesterday concluded the second in the series of the AFN golden league in Abuja, where Nicholas Imhoaperamhe and Divine Oduduru continued with their battle for supremacy in the men’s sprint.

his pound of flesh, after he was beaten to the second place by Imhoaperamhe in the first leg of the golden league in Onitsha. But the former National Sports festival champion, held his ground and finished in 10.36 seconds, while Oduduru clocked 10. 38, seconds. However, Oduduru the reigning African junior champion, had his way in the 200m finishing at 20.84.

AFN technical director, Omatseye Nesiama noted that the athletes made remarkable improvements in their performances.

“More athletes are making it into the prize money winning zone. We have had remarkable performances today(Saturday).

“For the first time in a long while, we had three women doing 13 seconds and

Foreign pros killed our dream — Ugbade Continued from back page

St Greg’s snatch 2015 GTBank Masters Cup

fected the team psychologically and it became very difficult to come out of it till we crashed out of the competition against Germany.

“For almost one year and a half, we had not worked together. The fitness level and tactical approach in U20 were totally different from what was obtainable at U17.”

The former Super Eagles player also explained why his team lost to Brazil and Germany in the championship.

“At the U17 level, it was training to compete while at the U20 level it was high performance.

This affected our psyche.

In our first game against Brazil, we were sup-

posed to win because we created a lot of chances,” he continued.

“In terms of playing, there was limited techni-

Blatter Continued from back page with the 79-year-old fuelling such talk himself when he stated on Friday: “I have not resigned, rather I am offering my mandate at an extraordinary congress.”

It now appears, though, that Blatter will walk away when elections take place at FIFA’s Extraordinary Congress, which is expected to take

cal ability on the part of individual players when compared with the South Americans, this really affected the team.

place in early 2016.

“I am not a candidate, but the elected president,” Blatter said in an interview with Swiss newspaper Walliser Bote, published on Saturday.

“I want to hand over FIFA in good condition.”

He also revealed that a weight of pressure had been lifted by his decision to stand down, before insisting that he will seek to pass on a strong organisation to his successor.

very encouraging,” he said.

The third leg of the meet will hold in Akure in another two weeks time. It was previously scheduled for Ilorin.

Tottenham enter race to sign Victor Moses

S

UPER Eagles and Chelsea forward, Victor Moses could remain in London, with reports linking him with a summer move to Tottenham Hotspur.

The Mirror has claimed that Spurs have turned their attention to Moses, having missed out on the signature of Southampton’s Jay Rodriguez and Monaco youngster Anthony Martial, who have both signed new deal with their respective teams.

And it is being suggested that the Nigeria international is not keen to return to Stoke City as the prospect of playing in the Europa League with the White Hart Lane outfit is a more interesting option.

Victor Moses, who in August 2012 signed a five - year contract with Chelsea, has has been farmed out on loan to Liverpool and Stoke City in the last two seasons.

the climax of a month-long GTBank sponsored Masters Cup tournament, organised by the Lagos First Generation Heritage Colleges Association.

The women’s final was equally entertaining, in terms of goals as the first forty-five minutes of that encounter produced four goals – two apiece at the break.

The more enterprising Queens College girls rose to the occasion in the second half to nail their opponents with a third goal to win the trophy for the third time running.

The men’s final was more dramatic as the two teams looked evenly matched at the commencement of hostilities. But St Finbar’s were the more aggressive as their sense of urgency soon resulted in a goal off the boots of Ayoka Kingsley.

The early goal seemed to have unsettled St Greg’s boys.

However, that did not last for long as the Obalende giants soon settled for business, dictating the pace to the rapturous chants of their noisy fans on the stands.

Not long afterwards, Otetah Emmanuel drew level. The first half ended 1-1.

On resumption, St Greg’s dominance continued as Adegbamigbe Toyosi doubled the scores mid way into the second stanza.

Just as St Finbar’s were trying hard to equalise, man of the match, David Obi scored the third goal to seal victory for the more illustrious St Greg’s.

The winners in both categories were rewarded with N750,000, a trophy and medals, the runnersup and third placed teams also got medals and cash prizes of N500,000.00 and N350,000.00 respectively.

Meanwhile, President of St Gregory’s College Old Boys Association, Dr. John Abebe has announced undisclosed monetary incentives and scholarship award for all members of the school football team that won the Masters Cup. He also extended the monetary incentive to the coaches. “They have done well and should be encouraged to do more,”said an appreciative Abebe.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JUNE 28, 2015, PAGE 63

C M Y K

SUNDAY Vanguard, JUNE 28, 2015

Foreign pros killed our dream — Ugbade F

LYING Eagles as sistant coach, Nduka Ugbade, has admitted that the nation’s U-20 team failed at the FIFA U-20 world cup in New Zealand due to the inclu-

sion of the foreign based players included in the team.

Nigeria crashed out of the tournament in the round of 16 following

their 0-1 defeat to Germany in Christchurch.

Manchester City prodigy Kelechi Iheanacho, Continues on page 62

Return Eagles to Lagos — Oliseh F

ORMER Nigeria international Sunday Oliseh has clamoured for the Super Eagles’ return to the National Stadium, Lagos for their international matches.

In the space of 12 months, the former African champions have played in several stadia in the country where they have recorded contrasting results.

According to the former Borrusia Dortmund star, the surest bet for the country to remain invincible at home is by bring them back to their former fortress in Lagos.

“It’s a lot easier now to play for Nigeria and I guess that is one of the reasons we are not doing so well now. In those days, you go to the National Stadium, Lagos in front 100, 000 fans,” Oliseh said. “After 20 minutes, you have not scored, the fans go crazy and your family lives in Lagos; that is pressure. When you go to the Africa Cup of Nations or the World Cup and you know that second is not enough; that is pressure. When you have to play and the future of your family is at stake; that is pressure.

“I’m overtly telling them that if we want to go back to the top; we need to bring the Super Eagles back to Lagos “If England have an important match to play, they play you at Wembley because that is where they have the greatest number of fans and that is where it becomes emotional for the players.”

S

EPP Blatter has de scribed his decision to step down as FIFA president as “liberating” and says he is not a candidate to remain as head of football’s world governing body.

Last month, Blatter won a fifth term as FIFA chief before resigning the role four days later, amid the scandal that saw nine past and present FIFA officials indicted on charges of racketeering conspiracy and corruption.

There has since been speculation that Blatter could be tempted to seek a sixth term in office, Continues on page 62

CELEBRATION ... Super Eagles players celebrate their AFCON title in 2013

Wimbledon 2015: Who can stop Djokovic?

•Williams on the verge of history

T

OP seeds Serena Williams and Novak Djokovic will tomorrow launch their journey toward another Wimbledon title. Djokovic is looking to defend his title after he captured his second championship at the All England Club in 2014.

After winning the Australian Open, Djokovic stumbled in the finals against Stan Wawrinka at the French Open. Can

• Murray

•Djokovic he right the ship for the year’s third Grand Slam event? If his performance

CROSS WORD PUZZLE ACROSS 1.Nobel-winning Archbishop (7-4) 5.Sailor (3) 7.Consumed (5) 8.Domesticates (5) 9.Ovum (3) 10.Electricity counting gadgets (6) 13.Highlander (4) 15.Poem (3) 17.One that contests (9) 20.Nigerian tribe (5) 22.Cereal (5) 24.Demoted (9) 27.Pig’s pen (3) 29.No one (4) 30.Sulks (6) 33.Away (3) 35.Presses (5) 36.Till (5) 37. Swine (3) 38. “The Man Who Saw Tomorrow” (11)

Blatter says leaving FIFA is ‘liberating’

DOWN 1.Sleeping vision (5) 2.Possessor (5) 3.Tax (4) 4.Depressing (9) 5.Argentinian dance (5) 6.Wash lightly (5) 11.Greek letter (3) 12.Distress call (1-1-1) 14.English boy’s name (5) 16.Obstacle (3) 17.Bovine animal (3) 18.Mindfulness (9) 19.Alarm (5) 21.Help (3) 23.Village house (3) 25.Gnome (3) 26.Vast age (3) 27.Condescend (5) 28.Youthful (5) 31.Circular (5) 32.Trades (5) 34.Old Russian King (4)

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at Wimbledon warm-up event, The Boodles, is any indication, the answer is: no.

Djokovic was upset by 18-year-old Alexander Zverev 6-4, 6-3 in straight sets.

Djokovic told the Daily Mail: “Wimbledon is the one we all 4 5 6 dream of winning.” His latest outings have been more like nightmares, but it’ll be interesting to see if he can regain his form from ear9 lier in the year to win again in 15 16 London.

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• Serena

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Clash of the heavyweights at Rojenny

F

C Ifeanyi Ubah coach Willy Udube insists his players will not not get carried away after their comprehensive win against El Kanemi Warriors.

The Ubah charges did not dwell on the 4-1 win too much as they quickly refocused for today ’s Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) match against the secondplaced Wikki Tourists at the Rojenny Stadium in Oba. The third-placed Ubah will be looking to increase their tally of 23 points, while the Tourists (24 points) could go top of the table with a win.

“The trend in the Nigerian league is that whenever a team goes away to get a win same team is bound to lose the next home match,” Udube said.

NPFL :TODAY’S MATCHES Giwa FC Ifeanyi Ubah Sharks Enyimba Bayelsa Lobi Stars |Akwa Utd Rangers Kano Pillars

v v v v v v v v v

Ël-Kanemi Wikki Tourists Heartland Nasarawa Kwara Utd Äbia Worriors Worri Wolves Sunshine Dolphins

4m 4pm 4pm 4pm 4pm 4pm 4pm 4pm 4pm

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