How we'll create new states - Dep. Senate Presidennt by Vanguard Media Limited

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Shina Rambo returns ***But now at Oluwole Park BY SAM EYOBOKA

REPENTED former robbery kingpin, who terrorised the South West in the 1990s and now heading a prison ministry, Omokenwa a.k.a. Shina Rambo, is leading a power crusade to rid the Lagos Island of criminals and miscreants who make life unbearable for people in the central business district of the commercial capital of country. A statement by the pastor in charge of the Lagos branch of Word of Life Bible Church, Lagos, Pastor Segun Braimoh, said the Lagos Island Power Crusade with the theme: “Divine Visitation”, is scheduled for August 2-4, 2012 and will hold at the popular Oluwole Park, a reclaimed area of Lagos erstwhile regarded as the centre for forging all kinds of documents. According to Braimoh, Evangelist Shina Rambo, whose real name is Omokenwa, has agreed to share his testimony of conversion at the three-day event and preach the undiluted Word of God with a view to winning the souls of the area boys in Lagos Island for Christ and enthrone a regime of peace in the area. Coincidentally, the main preacher at the crusade is a retired police officer, ASP Udeh Sunday, who at one time was in charge at Robbery Squad in Lagos and there will be two special prayer sessions for Lagos State and businesses in the state. He will be joined by the host, Braimoh, while the TLC Praise Choir will minister. Braimoh confirmed that the Oba of Lagos plans to send delegates from the palace. In a telephone conversation yesterday, the former robbery kingpin, claimed that his father hailed from Abeokuta, Ogun State, while his mother was from Sabongida-Ora, Edo State where he was raised and recruited into criminal activities. Rambo reminded that after terrorising the South west in 1990s, he gave himself up to the police, convicted and was released from prison after serving 11 years at Agodi Prison, Ibadan. According to him, he met the Lord miraculously through a chance encounter in prison with Prophet T.O Obadare and since then his life had not remained the same. In a recent interview, he advised

the Federal Government to tap from the “ wealth of experience of people like us who can decode a lot of knotty issues as regards how to curb the menace of armed robbery. Some of those inside the prison are not supposed to be there. By the time they are out, they become hardened criminals.” He therefore prayed that God will make things work in this country. “If He could locate me from the pit of darkness where I sojourned, and now in Christ, He will deliver the country from bad leaders who make things difficult for the masses”, he added.

Cross River State Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, his wife, Obioma and State of Maryland Secretary of State, Mr. John McDonough, during the signing of a friendship agreement between the two states at the State House Caucus Room, Annapolis, Maryland, USA.

State police: Northern Govs insincere Continued from page 1 Ekweremadu, said it would be by consensus. Ekweremadu also spoke on the controversy surrounding the establishment of state police, faulting the position of northern governors on the issue. According to him, the northerner governors position contradicts the stand of the larger forum of the governors who, through the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Rotimi Amaechi, forwarded their recommendation in favour of state police to the committee. Ekweremadu equally said that

a number of states in the North, through their state governors, had sent memoranda to the committee suggesting state police. He stressed that the new position by the governors was surprising to him. The northern governors, who rose from their meeting in Abuja, on Friday, unanimously kicked against the clamour for the establishment of state police, saying it had become imperative for them to call for the jettisoning of the proposal because the country was not ripe for such. In a communique, signed on behalf of the governors by Chairman of the Northern Governors’ Forum and governor of Niger State, Dr. Babangida

Aliyu, they noted that rather than creating state police, the Constitution must be amended to allow the state governors control Commissioners of Police in their respective states. “The Forum is not in support of creation of state police. It however resolved to prevail on the Federal Government to embark on police reform that will assist the states in control and management of police affairs, and sound philosophy of modern policing by amending the provision of Section 215,” the northern governors declared in the communiqué read by Aliyu after the meeting. But in a reaction to the governors’ position, , yesterday,

Ekweremadu said: “What the northern governors said contradicts the presentation by Governor Chibuike Amechi of Rivers State at Asaba. He made a very strong case for state police, and it also contradicts Prof. Isawa Elaigwu, a northerner, who also presented a keynote address and suggested five years single term. “He is a northerner; so, to me, it is the beauty of democracy. They will have their say but majority will have their way. We will throw it open to all Nigerians to dialogue and discussions will continue. I am sure that by the

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Anglican Archbishop to Jonathan: Corruption, not constitution, should be your priority BY JOSEPH ERUNKE

RCHBISHOP of Anglican Communion, Most Rev Nicholas Okoh, wants President Goodluck Jonathan to strictly tackle corruption which, he noted, had eaten deep into the Nigerian system. This is even as he advised the president to halt the mass demolition of houses in Abuja dominated by low income

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earners, saying going ahead with the demolition will give rise to high rate of corruption as people will strive to illegally enrich themselves to meet up with the challenges confronting them. The bishop, who spoke with newsmen, Friday, in Abuja, was reacting to the on-going attempts to amend the country ’s constitution. He reasoned that corruption was more critical to address at the moment than the constitution. He said government should better focus attention on seeking an end to corruption rather than amendment of the constitution.

Noting that Nigerians were deeply engaged in corrupt practices, Okoh regretted that enforcement of the laws of the land was the greatest challenge the country was facing, adding, “it is not so much problem of constitution but people are dedicated to evil.” He said that corruption endemic was not only among politicians but also people in all sectors. He spoke with journalists at Abuja during the First Session of the Second Synod, with the theme: “Behold obedience is better than sacrifice.”

Commenting on demolition of houses in Abuja, the cleric noted that“no country is only built for the rich” even as he advised the Federal Government to look into accommodation problems in Abuja, saying it was partly responsible for corruption in the civil service. He urged the rich to learn to live together with the poor, saying ‘’government should pay attention to the accommodation of low income civil servants because if the low income civil servant is to pay from his salary he can’t. So it encourages corruption”.

I stabbed my son to end relationship with his father —28- year-old woman BY ABDULSALAM MUHAMMAD

ANO was thrown into shock, yesterday when one Miss Joy Akule of Panshekara Quarters confessed that she stabbed his eleven-yearold boy, born out of wedlock, to end nightmarish relationship with his lover. Akula, an indigene of Katsina Ala Benue State who was paraded by the police in Kano, said her live in lover, Thomas Kitiona, had refused to solemnize their relationship in accordance with their Tiv traditional right, and thus exposed her to ridicule among her kinsmen. “It was not a mistake I stabbed

my child, for I intended to cut the boy into two equal parts and waste him so that, in the end, the relationship with his father that has brought so much shame and ridicule to my life is erased totally”, she said. Joy, who spoke with uncommon courage while opening up to newsmen in Kano on her relationship with his son’s father, was quick to add that she had no regret though happy that the boy in question, Solomon, survived the attack and was due for discharge at Murtala Muhammad Specialist Hospital, Kano yesterday. According to her, she had tried vainly for the past three years to take custody of the boy but was resisted by her lover who she

accused to have failed in offering parental responsibilities. The police in Kano had, penultimate Saturday, at about 0500 hours, arrested Joy for using knife to stab her son in his abdomen revealing his intestine in the process. The Kano police Command disclosed that that the incident occurred at Sabuwar Abuja quarters of the Panshekara outskirt of the municipality, pointing out that the 11 years old boy was rushed to hospital for treatment. The Commissioner of Police disclosed that the “suspect confessed to the commission of the offence and stated that she did it to cut off any relationship with her former husband” .

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Ex-deputy gov ADC shot dead BY SUZAN EDEH

Governor Peter Obi (middle), helped by his Commissioner for Education, Dr. Uju Okeke (left), lifting the Principal of Onitsha High School, Mrs Julie Ofoefuna (on ground), when she “collapsed” out of happiness, after receiving N15 Million from the Governor as part payment for the renovation of their collapsing school .

NKNOWN gunmen, on Friday night, shot dead a police inspector Abdullahi Shehu Itas in front of his residence in Zango area, a suburb of Bauchi metropolis. Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, in Bauchi State, ASP Hassan Mohammed, confirmed the incident, saying Abdullahi was killed after he had observed his Tarawih prayer in the mosque. The PPRO said, “The late Inspector Abdullahi was discussing with four people in front of his house when two people came on motor

Subsidy payment: NUPENG calls off strike BY VICTOR AHIUMAYOUNG

IGERIA Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, has suspended it nationwide strike in solidarity with independent petroleum products marketers over unpaid subsidy claims among others. The suspension was sequel to a decision reached by stakeholders at a meeting convened by the Federal Ministry of Labour and Productivity, and attended by officials of the the Ministry of Finance, Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, Petroleum Products Pricing and Regulatory Agency, PPPRA, Jetties and Petroleum Tank Farm Owners Association, JEPTFON, and NUPEN, in Abuja, on Friday night. NUPENG had on Friday began an indefinite strike over payment of 2012 petroleum subsidy arrears, state of the refineries, labour issues concerning SPDC, bad roads in the country, and restructuring of loans of JEPTFON

members. The communique said, “after noting the concerns expressed by the NUPENG and JEPTFON, government affirmed that the payment of petroleum subsidy for 2012 has commenced. The issuance of Sovereign Debt Notes (SDN) for verified

steps already being taken for the TAM andRehabilitation of the plants and assured the Trade Union that the TAM/ Rehabilitation of the refineries would be done as planned. NNPC will ensure availability of crude to all the refineries”, the communique said.

Oshiomhole’s victory anticipated— Ezeife BY BASHIR ADEFAKA

ORMER governor of Anambra State, C h i e f Chukwuemeka Ezeife, has described the re-election of Governor Adams Oshiomhole as a salute to democracy. The former presidential aspirant said it was unthinkable that a

performing governor like the former President of the Nigeria Labour Congressturned governor would not win a re-election. Ezeife told Sunday Vanguard: “The landslide victory of Oshiomhole in the Edo gubernatorial election is a salute to democracy. Government is established for the welfare of the governed. A

Gific targets young enterpreneurs, retirees

IFIC Printing S o l u t i o n s Limited is holding the 3rd edition of Gific Annual Printware Exhibition (GAPE) from Thursday August 9 to

C/Rivers signs pact with American State ROSS Rivers State Government has signed a friendship agreement with the State of Maryland, United State, US, under its Sister States Program. The program oversees an array of international exchanges, promoting a balance of business, educational and cultural interests, and serves as the conduit for Maryland’s sister state relationships established with states, regions or provinces around the world.

and processed batches will be concluded within two weeks.” NUPENG expressed its dissatisfaction on the state of the refineries in the country and requested to know whether the TAM of the refineries will commence as scheduled. “NNPC gave details of

At a bilateral meeting held at the State House Caucus Room of the State Capital House, Annapolis, Maryland, Governor Liyel Imoke signed for Cross River, while Secretary of State, John McDonough, signed for the State of Maryland. In his remarks at the meeting between delegations of both states, which preceded the signing ceremony, Governor Imoke said Cross River was seeking partnership to get value.

Saturday August 11, 2012. The event, which holds at the Union Bank Sports Club Surulere is, according to a statement from the company, its “social empowerment initiative during which participants are not just introduced to modern printing machines and technology but they also gain firsthand experience of how these machines can be procured, operated, handled and serviced to empower them in becoming business owners in their own right.” Mrs. Ngozi Ukachukwu, MD Gific Printing Solutions Ltd, said “GAPE is an exhibition where we put all our machines in demonstration. It is not just about bringing people together but also an opportunity to see a live demonstration of all the equipment in our showroom. We do trainings, seminars and workshops during the exhibition.”

government which served very well the interest of the governed should be reelected where democracy works. “It detracts from democracy for an effective performing leader not to win re-election. Failure of a leader who performed, as convincingly as Oshiomhole, to win reelection can only be due to rigging, that is, announced result being different from actual, or the ignorance on the part of the voters or immaturity/perverted interest of the electorate which can make them myopic or yield to base s e n t i m e n t s ” .

cycle and approached them. When one of them greeted them and asked them who was Alhaji Abdullahi and he answered in the affirmative, the assailant brought out a gun and shot him dead instantly.” Hassan said the gunmen did not harm anybody, but only targeted the late

inspector. Abdullahi’s corpse, according to him, has been deposited at the Abubakar Tafawa Balewa University Teaching Hospital ATBUTH Bauchi. The deceased was said to be ADC to a former deputy governor during the tenure of former Governor Ahmed Mu’azu.

Navy burns impounded petroleum products worth N100m BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

N the renewed efforts to fight oil bunkering within the eastern water ways, the Nigerian Navy, on Friday, raided two warehouses in Bakassi Local Government Area of Cross River State with over 1000 drums of cooked diesel worth over N100 million allegedly siphoned from the pipeline. One of the warehouses which is within the premises of Mic Akodot Nigeria limited filing station fenced round with zinc and few meters away from the temporary headquarters of Bakassi local government at Ikang incidentally had an army check point in front of it. Speaking after burning the products, the Commanding Officer, NNS Victory of the Nigerian Navy, Commodore Kingdom Itoko, who led the

operation, said the Bakassi environment had become notorious in illegal activities, especially bunkering of petroleum products, sea robbery, armed robbery and other economic sabotage. Itoko said it was a sad situation that some disgruntled elements had engaged in economic sabotage and that having over 1000 drums of AGO in the warehouses portended danger for the economic development of the country, adding that the navy was battle ready to end such illegal activities in compliance with the instructions given to them by the Chief of Defence Staff. He regretted that some people were still indulging in bunkering in the area despite the fact that Governor Liyel Imoke had on May 24, 2012, led a major operation for the arrest and seizure of petroleum products from bunkerers.

From left: Assistant Pastor in charge of Province 1, responsible for Corporate Social Responsibility Project, RCCG, Pastor Samuel Olaniyan; the Special Assistant to the General Overseer on Administration/Personnel, Pastor Funsho Odesola unveiling water for all project at Surelere Lagos, yesterday.

‘Northern Govs insincere’ Continued from page 5 time all the merits of the issue of state police are put forward and when all fears are addressed, maybe they can change their mind on it. No mindset “The same thing with the issue of single term; the argument is still being developed. So, I am sure, the power of persuasion will also help us in determining the way forward. But we are democrats; as members of National Assembly we will only be guided by the opinion of Nigerians on any issue. So, as we said from the beginning, we

don’t have any mindset on the issue. What preponderance of views direct to is what we will do. So if Nigerians say they don’t want any amendment in any area then that is the end of it, we will close shop. If they want in one area, we will deal with that; we are servants of the people and we will appreciate all the opinions but as I said the argument goes on.” ‘New states possible, if ...’ Asked if it would still be possible to create new states before the present administration ends its tenure in 2015, the Deputy Senate President said the desire for new states would be realized if Nigerians are

able to build consensus around it. “If Nigerians agree that there is need for more states and that there are injustices that needed to be addressed in area of state creation, and they believe that the imbalances need to be adjusted in all parts of the country where there is dominance against the other, we must address it. So if Nigerians agree in that regard, I am sure we can build consensus around it and go ahead to create the state. I think it is something we are going to give a trial because there are valid requests there that need to be addressed,” Ekweremadu told Sunday Vanguard.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 7

Horror in Festac Town •How we found headless corpse, human parts in Close B - Residents BY CHARLES KUMOLU

OR residents of Fes tac Town, Lagos, 3rd Avenue appears to be among the popular residential areas, particularly for hosting the Passport Office of Nigeria Immigration Service and a notable relaxation center known as Fatherland. But that was before Thursday, July 26, 2012, given that one event of that day destroyed the innocence of this section of Festac, following the shocking discovery of a headless corpse and human parts in a residence at Close B by men of the Festac Police Division. When Sunday Vanguard arrived the scene shortly after the discovery, thousands of people were seen at the entrance of the Close discussing the incident amid the offensive odour that enveloped the vicinity. An attempt to gain access to the house where the alleged crime happened was not successful, as the residence had been sealed and suspects taken to Festac Police Station. However, it was gathered that, at the centre of

the incident, are two brothers simply identified as Omotola and Toye. According to an eye witness account, the Close had been enveloped by an offensive odour for two weeks, which was traced to the house. Following the development, neigbours had no option than to report the matter to the Environmental Department of Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area,LGA. But the LGA officials suggested that the issue be reported to the police. Another eyewitness, who pleaded anonymity, said: “We had to involve the police because the two boys had always acted unsual. They always pretended to be insane and people wouldn’t associate with them. But what warranted this was that we started perceiving odour and had to involve the police.” The eye witnesses further said, “The house where they reside is a duplex which belonged to their parents but their parents got missing mysteriously sometime ago.” However, when Sunday Vanguard arrived at the

Fed. University Oye unfolds this aspect of education agenda BY GBENGA ARIYIBI Ado Ekiti

S the pioneer stu dents of the Federal University,Oye Ekiti resumed, the management of the institution has vowed that it has zero tolerance for malpractices,even as it pledged to make the citadel of learning a model in Africa. Speaking during the orientation programme organised for the students at the newly constructed site of the university in Oye Ekiti, the Vice Chancellor, Prof Chinedu Nebo, said it was one of the major policies of the university to focus not only on learning but also the character of students. Nebo regretted that many institutions of higher learning in the country had jettisoned C M Y K

and merely focused on the learning and paper qualification only. The Vice Chancellor revealed that it was the policy of the institution that each student, apart from the courses they do, is expected to take a course on entrepreneurial-skill acquisition programme each semester.

police station, sources disclosed that the police were alerted at about 4:30 pm on Thursday and immediately swung into action. “From preliminary investigation, which was based on strong information, we gathered that the occupants of the house in question allegedly engaged in ritual activities. And the neigbours had been perceiving odour for the past two weeks. The neigbours had to report to the Local Government Environmental Department before they were refferred to the police,” the source stated. The source added: “A fair complexioned corpse, which appeared to be that of a female, was recovered, in addition to decomposing human skulls, hands and other parts. Two suspects, Omotola, who is the principal suspect, and Toyin, conducted the search with the police. Another Sheun is presently at large.”

HE newly elected chairman of Nigerian Union of Local Government Employees, Oshimili-North Local Government Chapter of Delta State, Comrade Uche Odinmah, has assured workers of an inclusive leadership. He spoke at AkwukwuIgbo, the local goverm-

Mr Waje Jibunoh, Chris Okeke and Mrs Jibunoh, during Didi Museum formal re-opening to mark its rebuilding and rededication to preserving the historical past as well as acknowledge the role and contributions of the new generation for the future, in Lagos.

Tension in Ogun as Muslims, traditionalists clash BY DAUD OLATUNJI Abeokuta

HERE was palpable tension in Ikenne,Ogun State, yesterday, when the Oro cult imposed a 24-hour restriction of movement in the town in defiance of an order by Ogun State government. The flagrant defiance occurred few hours after some Islamic leaders in the town were attacked by Oro cultists for reporting them to government over the planned restric-

Oshimili North NULGE elects new exco nent headquarters, durBY TOMMY ANADUAKA Ado Ekiti

National chairman of Labour Party, Barr Dan Nwayanwu (l) presenting the party’s flag to Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko (3rd l) as the party’s flagbearer in the forthcoming Ondo governorship election, while his wife, Olukemi, running mate, Alhaji Alli Olanusi, his wife, Alhaja Bejide and the state party chairman, Barr Olu Ogidan watch, at the party’s primary election, in Akure, at the weekend.

ing an address he presented at the swearing in of the first vice chairman and other members of the executive of the NULGE of the council. Odinmah, who pledged his commitment to a cordial working relationship between workers and the political leadership of the local govermnent, stressed the need for all hands to be on deck and ensure effective dispensation of service delivery.

tion of movement. Muslims in the area had petitioned the state government and other stakeholders in the state which led to a peace meeting held on Wednesday at the instance of the state gov-

ernent. At the end of the meeting, government ordered the Oro cult group in Ikenne to restrict their activities of their on-going annual festival to their own section of the town.

It further ordered the deployment of policemen in the town to enforce the order,but, when Sunday Vanguard visited the town yesterday, neither policemen nor any other security operatives were seen.

Ondo 2012: 10,000 ACN, PDP members defect to LP •Mimiko gets party ticket

NDO State Gover nor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko, has ruled out discrimination of any form against latest defectors to the state’s ruling Labour party.. He made the pledge in Idanre yesterday. Over 10, 000 leaders and members of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Idanre Local Government Area of Ondo State defected into the Labour Party. Among the defectors are the former state publicity secretary of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Barr. Gbenga Akinmoyo, Hon. Smart Aribigbola, Mr. Ademeso

Apejo, Mr. Rotimi Akintelure, Mr. Tayo Aribigbola, Mr. Ayodele Raphael and Mr. Tope Aribigbola and Mr. Oluwasiji Adelanke, Chief Yiyo Ekun and Alhaja Onibia of the PDP. They were received into the party by the Deputy Chairman of LP, Chief Dele Akinyele, who led other party and government functionaries. The defectors cited imposition, lack of focus in their former parties and the overwhelming performance of Mimiko in lifting the state from its former backward position to become the cynosure of eyes across Africa as the reason for their action.

Meanwhile, the governor has emerged the Labour Party’s candidate in the October 20 gubernatorial election in the state. He emerged the party’s flagbearer unopposed after his major challenger, Ade Ogunjumelo, stepped down from the race to pave the way for the incumbent governor of the state at the primaries election held in Akure yesterday. The withdrawal from the race via a letter to the party leadership by the only challenger and chartered accountant from Okitipupa local Government Area changed the scenario as he told the gathering that his action was as a result of his fervent belief in party supremacy.

PAGE 8—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012

Life Is A Tragedy For Those Who Feel, And A Comedy For Those Who Think —JEAN DE LA BRUYERE

Edo election day tragedy:

‘My brother ignored death warning and paid dearly for it’

By Simon Ebegbulem Benin City

By Emma Amaize

OR anybody who is a member of Rotary Club, a major national and international service club, with international world headquarters in Evanston, Illinois, USA, the pinnacle is becoming a member of the Arch C Klumph Society. It is a high-status society named after the founder of Rotary International, Arch Klumph, and is exclusively for Rotarians and friends of Rotary whose cumulative contributions towards the uplifting of mankind total or exceed US$250,000 (N37 million). In 1917, Arch C. Klumph, Rotary’s sixth president, proposed to the Rotary International Convention in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, the creation of an “endowment fund for Rotary … for doing good in the world in charitable, educational, and other avenues of community service.” A few months later, the endowment received its first contribution of $26.50 from the Rotary Club of Kansas City, Missouri, USA. Two years later, the Foundation made its first grant of US$500 to the International C M Y K

Late Inspector Isaac Aigbokhaevbo

General of Police, Operation, Force Headquarters Abuja, Marvel Akpoyibo, had paid a condolence visit to the families of the deceased policemen where he assured that the police will ensure that they were compensated. The INEC also assured that the officers will benefit from the insurance policy of the Commission. Governor Adams Oshiomhole, who won reelection at the polls, assured that the state government will ensure that the families of the

“You can start any mean job as a stepping stone to where you want to be. The best skill you need is simply the ability to manage money

deceased officers are not abandoned. According to him, “I want to express my condolence to the family of the policemen and the INEC ad-hoc staff who died when their boat capsized around Ologbo area. My heart goes for the family. The government of Edo State will support the family to ensure that their families will not lack”. Sad enough, Sunday

o I relaxed. But later he changed his mind to go for the election that he was the one leading the other policemen to the election duty. He was arguing with me that he had been entering boat since he served in Lagos and Calabar; so I should not worry. I reluctantly kept quiet. But on the evening of that day, we heard that the boat conveying them to the venue of the election duty capsized. “So we rushed down to Ologbo and it was shocking that he was among the dead. He is the only person taking care of the family. As things are now we don’t even know what to do. I warned him not to go but, again, you cannot blame him as such because he was carrying out his official responsibilities. His death is very shocking to us because our mother is still

How ex-minister Gbagi made it as first African in Rotary Arch-Klumph Society for Crippled Children. The ISCC — created by Rotarian Edgar F. “Daddy” Allen — later grew into the Easter Seals organization. From a humble beginning, it has metamorphosed to a firstrate society today. Members who are top pacesetters of the organization are inducted into the society and have their photographs and statement of support for the Rotary Foundation recorded on a touch screen kiosk that are exhibited in the Arch Klumph gallery in Evanston and at major Rotary events. The members are also invited to special events at annual Rotary International Convention and International Assembly. Since its inception, no man or woman of African descent has joined the celebrated club with about 200 members. However, former Minister of State for Education, entrepre-

nspector Isaac Aigbokhaevbo is one of the police officers that died Edo State on July 14, 2012, the day of the governorship election in the state. Three police officers and an ad-hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), including Aigbokhaevbo, lost their lives when a boat conveying them to a voting center at Ologbo, Ikpoba Okhai Local Government Council capsized. Other officers involved in the accident are Johnson Aghedo and Constable Odudukudu Greg. Sunday Vanguard was reliably informed that the boat driver was drunk and escaped after the boat capsized. It was also gathered that the marine policemen, deployed from Abuja specifically for the election, were helpless when the incident occured because they did not come with their equipment, particularly life jackets. The Deputy Inspector

Vanguard gathered that Aigbokhaevbo, an indigene of Ovia North East Local Government Council of the state, may have been alive today if he had listened to the advice of his younger brother, Mr Ogbemudia Aigbokhaevbo, who warned him not to embark on the trip on the eve of the election. But, as it seems, in order to execute his duties as a police officer, the deceased defied his brother’s advice and embarked on the journey. While describing the death of his brother as devastating, Ogbemudia narrated: “ That very Friday till Saturday, I did not sleep through out the night. And he told me before that day that the election may by bloody that people should be careful. So I now told him not to go to the riverine area unless they gave him a life jacket. He told me not to worry that he would not go, that he was a station guard.

The Rotary Foundation for a variety of reasons. With their help, the Foundation is fulfilling Rotary’s promise of creating a polio-free world zKenneth Gbagi

neur and criminologist, Olorogun Kenneth Gbagi, recently broke the jinx by becoming the first African to reach the pinnacle. Rotary International President, Sakuji Tanaka, was in Nigeria to celebrate with Gbagi before the formal induction in America, later in the year, where a certificate will be presented to him. Arch Klumph

members are people who believe in the work of The Rotary Foundation and have made supporting peace, education, and humanitarian assistance part of their personal mission. They are key supporters of the Foundation, and their involvement is vital to the work of the organization. Arch C. Klumph Society members support The Rotary

alive, the children are all young.” Also lamenting, 22-year-old son of the deceased, Omosigho, said the father would not have died if he had listened to the brother. His words: “My father came back home that Thursday afternoon and he was asking why did I not go to school. I now told him that I was not able to go because I had no money for transport. So he gave me N1,000 before he left for Ologbo. Then on Friday morning, my uncle called him to tell him not to go for the election duty in that riverine area. But he was angry with my uncle asking him if he was the one that had been protecting him in all the places he had served in the police force. So my uncle cut the phone on him. “Then the morning of the election day, my uncle called him again, warning him not to go to the riverine area, that he was not comfortable with that. My dad still repeated what he told my uncle the previous day. He insisted that it was a call to duty and that he will participate in the election as directed by his bosses. That was how my father went for the election. The next day when we waited for some time and nobody heard from him, we were told that the boat conveying them to the area capsized and we found out that my dad was involved in the accident. “We are five in number, our mum is dead. My father is the only one taking care of us. We were even telling him to remarry but he said he did not want any thing that will disturb us from going to school. We want to know the cause of the death of my father. We also want the police and the state government to come to our aid because we are all in school and no body will train us now.”

Foundation for a variety of reasons. With their help, the Foundation is fulfilling Rotary’s promise of creating a polio-free world. Children and families are living healthier lives through the Foundation’s Humanitarian Grants Program. Educational and cultural exchange programs are helping young people build lasting friendships and mutual understanding with their peers around the world. Member support enables tomorrow is leaders to live and study together as Rotary World Peace Fellows and provides them the opportunity to begin building a more peaceful world. Gbagi’s journey to Rotary’s Arch Klump Society started, this year, when the district governor of Rotary International, District 9140, Yinka Babalola, and others, drew his attention to the fact that there was no African in the society. The former chair of the Legal Aid Council of Nigeria took it as a challenge. His acceptance of the challenge is coming with good tidings for the people of Delta State, the political constituency of the former governorship aspirant and Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chieftain.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012 , PAGE 9

CHARGED!

z Mahmud Tukur

z Mamman Nasir Ali

z Adaoha Ugo-Ngadi

SUBSIDY FRAUD INCORPORATED (II)

Circus moves to the courts zEntrapment

of oil firms and evidence against them zArraignment of suspects and growing spectre of conflict of interest Last week, the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, arraigned some directors of some firms allegedly involved in the allegedly wrong collection of claims. This week’s report will show that whereas an investigation into such a monumental fraud was indeed desirable, the Federal Government of Nigeria may have embarked on a fool’s errand in its approach by going through the needless process of instituting committees to, in the words of the redoubtable Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, SAN, fine-tune what the EFCC is doing. “It is complementary to the EFCC report as well as that of the House of Representatives”. As the trial continues, the magnifying spectre of scandals within a scandal is bound to grow.

BY Jide Ajani

rue or false: At trying times like this, could being the son of the incumbent or former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, guarantee a bail concession by the courts – without qualms? For the Attorney-General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Adoke, SAN, his decision to lead the prosecution of alleged subsidy thieves may be no more than an attempt to burnish his image after serial flips and flops on the approach of the Federal Government to the House of Representatives’ report of its investigation into the subsidy management scam. Fresh information made available to Sunday Vanguard last week suggests that the now infamous sting operation involving President Jonathan’s Economic Management Team member, Femi Otedola, of Zenon Oil and Gas, was indeed meant to “sting the House of Representatives.” A very dependable source with deep insights into what went down between C M Y K

Otedola and Hon. Lawan Farouk, Chairman, House Committee on Management of Subsidy Funds, informed Sunday Vanguard that “the reason why it took a while before the bribery scandal broke out is because the outcome was supposed to be used to cage members of the House and stop its leadership from continuing to be irritants on the executive branch”. The source, however, made it clear that the motive was “without prejudice to what may have transpired between Hon. Farouk, as well as some members of the committee and those they were supposed to have probed.” It was because of this agenda that some senior members of the administration made conflicting statements regarding the status of the report of the House investigations. For Adoke, moving from statements suggesting that the House report was a mere report, to one that lacks credibility, one that had been compromised, to one that is now being complemented by another committee, he wants to be the star actor in the prosecution to “dem-

onstrate that government is committed to nailing the subsidy thieves”, a source hinted. There is a whiff of attempted seriousness on the part of the authorities and that would be in the event that sincerity takes a front seat in the case. But if the very first day of proceedings is anything to go by, with an adjournment some three months away and bail granted a few of the alleged thieves, Nigerians should be ready for a long season of anomy. Yet, the total sum of money allegedly illegally obtained by all those arraigned last Wednesday is just in the neighbourhood of N20billion. Those who were docked include Mahmud Tukur, son of Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, the incumbent chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Maman Nasir Ali, son of Ahmadu Ali, former chairman of PDP, and Abdulahi Alao, son of an Ibadan based business man, Alhaji Azeez Alao-Arisekola. The three of them were granted bail but Arisekola-Alao’s son, Abdulahi, will not enjoy his freedom until he is granted bail in his second case before another judge,

z Christian Taylor

Justice Habeeb Abiru. Two others who were also arraigned are Ochonogor Alex and Abdulahi Alao. OIL MARKETERS ENTRAPPED On December 24, 2010, a letter of undertaking was reportedly prepared to be signed by all Oil Marketing and Trading, OM&T, firms. Dubbed Request for a notarized Letter of undertaking on accuracy of petroleum products supply and evacuation records at the depots nationwide, all OM&Ts were compelled to sign the document. The letters of the document as obtained by Sunday Vanguard reads: “That the directors of the company are conscious of the need for accuracy of records on Shore tank discharge figures, supply and distribution data from their Depots and undertakes that any misrepresentation of fact on Shore tank report/documents emanating from their depots with the intent of making falsehood claims from the subsidy fund will render the directors liable for prosecution and such depots be outrightly confiscated by the Federal Government for Auction”. Whereas some OM&Ts resisted – and in some instances some even called their godfathers to prevail – they all were compelled to sign at the end of the day. THE ALMIGHTY CHECKLIST ven before the advent of the ‘no tarized Letter of undertaking’, a number of requirements for every importer had been approved. The requirements are very stringent and, therefore, can only be breached with the connivance of the field operatives along with other government appointed agents. Made up of a long list of 39 conditions and documentation, it reads: PPPRA CHECKLIST FOR IMPORT DOCUMENTS 1.Original PPPRA Import permit 2.Evidence from the Bank showing the

Continues on page 12

N PAGE 10 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012

BY Francis Ottah Agbo

he first time I came across Mrs Diezani Alison- Madueke, the first female to be so appointed Minister of Petroleum in Nigeria, was in 2007 on the Lagos- Ibadan Express way. I was with TheNews magazine at the time and was travelling from Lagos to Akure, Ondo State capital to do a story on the governorship tussle in the election tribunal between Governor Olusegun Mimiko and his predecessor, Dr. Olusegun Agagu. The Madueke that I saw that day cried profusely. As the then Minister of Transport, she had taken time out to do an on-the-spot assessment of major roads in the country and Lagos Ibadan road which had become a death trap was one of her ports of call. She wondered why the ordinary people die like rodents on the road. To me, the tears flowing from her eyes showed her connect with ordinary Nigerians who are common victims of road accidents. This encounter endeared me to this amazon who had carved a niche for herself in the oil and gas sector at home and abroad. Little wonder that she is the first woman ever to lead a Nigeria delegation to Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) to Vienna in Austria in 2010 and the first Nigerian woman to be conferred with an honorary doctorate degree by the Nigeria Defence Academy (NDA) for excelling in a field that is seen as reserved for men. So I was not surprised that President Goodluck Jonathan retained Madueke as Petroleum Minister. And with the recent presentation of a new Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB) to the National Assembly for passage by the executive arm of government, the Bayelsaborn technocrat has added another feather to her cap. It is true that she is not the first to moot the idea of a PIB but Madueke is clearly the architect of this new PIB. She achieved this by rallying round all the stakeholders in the oil and gas industry including the Oil Producing Companies (OICs). The new PIB, is adjudged to be proNigeria because of its rich local content. The Minister must be praised for securing the buyin of the IOCs in the new PIB. It will be recalled that the IOCs had frustrated the passage of the earlier bill in the sixth National Assembly on the grounds that it was insensitive to their interests. They, C M Y K

z Mrs

Diezani Alison- Madueke

for petroleum products in the Nigerian economy, make enough products available by removing artificial scarcity and ultimately remove economic distortions. The Minister ensured that the PIB provides for the setting up of a Petroleum Host Community Fund which compels oil companies to surrender 10 percent of their profits from upstream activities for the development of the oil producing communities as more and more Niger Deltans especially the youths will be gainfully employed. The PIB further protects the environment, terminates oil flaring and makes it punishable by law! The hitherto flared gas will now be exported to developed nations in dire need of the product hence creating another window for the inflow of revenue into the economy and hence signaling the implementation of the gas master plan. The Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) and Petro-

PIB & Alison- Madueke for example, claimed that the old PIB, amongst other things, compelled them to pay mindboggling and unrealistic royalties and taxes to the Federal Government through the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC). So government was in dire need of solution to keep the IOCs in the country and a Diezani had to come to judgement by deploring her sterling leadership qualities and persuasive skills. The Minister quickly addressed the issues of royalties, taxes and licenses in such a manner that the interests of the IOCs are protected in the new PIB. If the National Assembly passes the PIB into law as quickly as possible as prom-

If the National Assembly passes the PIB into law as quickly as possible as promised by Senate President David Mark, the administration of oil and gas sector will be transparent and accountable to the public

ised by Senate President David Mark, the administration of oil and gas sector will be transparent and accountable to the public and the pricing of petroleum products in the downstream sector will be completely deregulated with more indigenous participation. Deregulation will amongst other things create fair market value

leum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) are to be scrapped if the new PIB sails through. They are to be replaced with Petroleum Technical Bureau and the Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency with in-built measures to curb malfeasance and waste. The NNPC is to be unbundled into three companies –

National Oil Company, National Petroleum Assets Management Corporation and National Gas Company. Nigerian investors are to have 30 percent equity in the National Oil Company and 40 percent in the National Gas Company within six years from the date of incorporation. The National Petroleum Assets Management Corporation as a holding company, as provided by the PIB, will operate fully on a commercial swing. Consequently the corporation will have power to (a) enter into contracts and incur obligations; (b) acquire, hold, mortgage, purchase and deal with all types of property; (c) establish and maintain subsidiaries for the discharge of its functions as the Corporation may determine and so on.

imilarly, the sections allow the Downstream Petroleum Regulatory Agency to oversee tariffs to prevent hijack of deregulation by exploitative marketers. A deep study of the crux of the NNPC reform embarked upon by Alison-Madueke is to reposition the corporation in such a way that it is more transparent and profit-oriented so that it could generate more funds for the federation thereby dispelling rumours of NNPC’s insolvency, alleged sharp practices and inefficiency. The reforms will equally make the corporation to be at par with its counterparts in other oil- producing countries like the Petrobras of Brazil, Aramco of Saudi Arabia and Petronas of Malaysia. The implication of this is that NNPC will declare more money for government to develop the country. Nigerians and the National Assembly must rise up in unison to own, fly with the PIB and chart the course of our collective destiny by ensuring that the PIB is expeditiously passed into law. The insinuation in some quarters that the PIB vests too much power in Alison-Madueke should be discarded. The issue at stake is not about her or President Jonathan but about our destiny as a people and institutional reforms of the sector which we all desperately desire. In any case, Alison-Madueke will not be Minister of Petroleum forever, many will still come after her. So Nigerians should not allow the thunder of the minority to cow the ovation of the majority as far as the PIB is concerned. * Agbo, a journalist and public affairs analyst, lives in A b u j a (francisagbo38@yahoo.com, Mobile: 08164572288)

National Dialogue: SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012 , PAGE 11

BY Dele Sobowale “Money! Money! How much sorrow it causes the world”. Leo Tolstoy, , in VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS p 163).

Imminent battle over PIB

From Small Beginnings Start Great Conflicts

he looming and immi nent battle over the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB, is at the end of the day a fight about money. It is about how the oil wealth will be shared from now on. For that reason, it is going to be brutal, and anyone without a tough skin should avoid it. We are in this predicament because we had for too long neglected diversification of our economy; a step which would have reduced our dependence on oil. If about 20% of Nigeria’s GDP or 35% of government revenue was contributed by oil, the PIB would have been only of interest to financial experts, constitutional lawyers and economists. But, it is now everybody’s affair because we have not advanced as a nation since the 1970s when General Gowon (rtd) proclaimed that “Money is not our problem but how to spend it”. Well, General Gowon has lived long enough to experience money becoming our problem and we are now poised to fight over lots of it. Dr Arthur Burns, the US Chairman of the Federal Reserve Bank, under President Nixon, once said that, “If you allow an untenable economic situation to go on for too long, suddenly there are no good options left”. We allowed a mono-product economy to exist for too long and we have no option but to fight over oil money. The new PIB, like the old is already generating its own controversy; even before the National Assembly starts debating it. The old bill suffered a defeat, which people I will call Nigerian Economic Guerilla Fighters, NEGF, went to war to prevent the bill sent by the Executive, to the sixth NASS, from being passed because it represented a rape of Nigerian interests. The Presidency, the Ministry of Petroleum Resources, and the International Oil Companies, IOCs, had conspired to enact a bill which would have sold the Nigerian down the river. The President and the Minster promised the international community that the bill would be passed last year. Despite spending tones of money to promote the bill, it was defeated by the NEGF. The new bill is already undergoing a rigorous check by the same group which has reassembled

Stakeholders and Combatants

PIB is a global issue; the stakeholders include every person in the world who uses petroleum products because Nigeria is one of the largest producers. In addition, the IOCs are all quoted on the international stock exchanges and their shares are held by millions of people round the

, President Goodluck Jonathan

for battle. The Presidency, the Ministry and the IOCs have also lined up their media fighters. One of them had a full length article in one of the national dailies urging the NASS to pass urgently a bill they have not even read; and the “majority” of Nigerians to rise up in support of the bill that they have not seen. The battle is on; and like all conflicts, it will produce its share of villains, heroes and heroines; traitors and mercenaries. The truth is nobody can predict when and how it will end. Certainly, it will not end this year. The document is a long and tedious one and less than a score Nigerians, other than those who partook in preparing it will read the entire piece. In a way, that would mean that most of the arguments advanced will be emotional; but, that is fine. The few who will read will lead the fight on both sides.

We allowed a mono-product economy to exist for too long and we have no option but to fight over oil money. The new PIB, like the old is already generating its own controversy; even before the National Assembly starts debating it

globe. So, directly or indirectly, we are all in this conflict. Specifically, the global investment community is watching with keen interest. The outcome of this battle will ultimately determine the fate of billions of dollars in investment; both here in Nigeria and elsewhere in the world. Nigerian investors are also regarded as part of the global pool of investors and they too are waiting. Everybody in Nigeria is a

stakeholder; at least it is our commonwealth that they are proposing to auction to the preferred bidder (note that there is a distinct difference between a “preferred bidder” and the “highest bidder”; selection of the former is usually fraught with corruption). Federal, State, Local governments are involved; and every Nigerian alive, in one way or another, depends on oil proceeds. But, that does not mean everybody is united. Quite the contrary! The IOCs are sharply focused. Their mission is to grab as much of the cake that is about to be auctioned as possible, ordinary Nigerians are not. That places the citizenry at a disadvantage. But, that does not mean the battle has been lost. Last year ’s conspiracy against the people failed because a few patriotic Nigerians wanted a fair deal for the people. This new version of the PIB is already generating controversy before the NASS touches it. One group of Nigerians we can quickly write off is the staff, present and past, of the IOCs. The Nigerians among them are caught in a loyalty dilemma; as Nigerians they owe the country loyalty. But, as staff of the IOCs they also owe loyalty to their employers whose interests and that of Nigeria are not the same on this issue. We pity them. But, in a conflict, human sentiments are the first to be sacrificed. We also have it on the authority of Wikkileaks that some of their former directors had been spies for the IOCs. We don’t expect their espionage to stop – using Nigerian traitors. But, against the vast sums of money (that evil word again) at their disposal, and the fact that the Executive branch and the Ministry of Petroleum favour them, we have a coalition of Nigerian interests and groups ready to ensure that no matter how long and hard, Nigeria will get a fair deal or there will be no PIB.

The First Salvos

he President, who is al ready having a frosty relationship with the National Assembly, sent the PIB to the legislators on the day they were to start their annual vacation; and it was immediately denounced as an insensitive ploy. Two members pointed out that the bill was promised for May 2012, and it came in July. They locked it up in their offices and proceeded on va-

cation anyway. There it will stay for approximately six weeks and it might not be the first bill to be considered when they resume. That is a bad start for a controversial bill which needs all the friends it can get – at any price. But, civil society groups have already got copies of the bill and oil producing communities, who had been the most vocal adversaries of the IOCs are again leading the attack. Section 166 of the bill is the main focus of attention. It is not the intention in this article to treat piecemeal various parts of the bill. Mention has only been made of this development to buttress the point that, unlike the former PIB, which was a closely guarded secret between the Presidency, the Ministry of Petroleum and the NASS, a lot of people are awake now. This new bill will not be handled in secret; it will be openly argued in every city, town, village and gathering of Nigerians until a fair deal emerges.

A Not Too Modest Proposal

n a matter such as this, touching on the fundamentals of our statehood, it is expected that every public official can be trusted to be totally committed to the national interest defined in this case as ensuring that Nigeria obtains as much money as legitimately possible under the PIB. Neither the President, nor any of the Ministers should be suspected of having conflict of interest. That is not the case with the Minister of Petroleum, who, as former Director of Shell, cannot disregard her years in the company; anymore than I can deny VANGUARD. The fight over this bill will frequently place Nigeria and Shell at opposite sides of the issue. Nigerians should not have to guess which side Mrs. Alison-Madueke is on; and the way to avoid any doubt is for her to be moved from that Ministry – to another one if the President values her services so much. As long as she stays there she will bear the most merciless attack by opponents of several parts of the PIB. This proposal might appear to make her the first victim of the war on PIB; but better be considered a victim than something worse. In this case, two people can decide. The President can move her; or she can ask to be re-assigned or resign. Either way, she must leave the Ministry for a breath of fresh air.

PAGE 12 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012

Arraignment of suspects and growing spectre of conflict of interest Continued from page 9 amount paid on the Transaction and quantity verifiable with Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) 3.Letter of Credit for the Transaction/ Bill of collection (Bill of Exchange) 4.A final Invoice relating to the Transaction 5.Witness page 6.PPPRA approval page 7.Guarantee page 8.Notification of nomination of vessel 9.DPR import permit 10.Marine insurance 11.Form M 12.Proforma invoice 13.Bill of lading – (Mother Vessel) 14.Certificate of origin – (Mother Vessel) 15.Cargo manifest – (Mother Vessel) 16.Ulage Report (port of origin) 17.Certificate of quantity (load port)(Mother Vessel) 18.Certificate of quality (load port)(Mother Vessel) 19.Notice of readiness (load port)(Mother Vessel) 20.Vessel Ulage report on arrival before discharge to shuttle vessel 21.Vessel Ulage report after discharge (ROB) of Mother vessel 22.Vessel’s survey report after loading (mother vessel & shuttle vessels (if any) 23.Vessels survey report before discharge (mother vessel and shuttle vessels (if any) 24.Time log of discharge (statement of fact) 25.Vessel experience factor 26.Tank inspection report 27.Bunker survey report 28.Cargo pumping log 29.Letter of protest (if any) 30.Notice of readiness at discharge port 31.Transfer of Certificate 32.Certificate of quality at discharge port 33.Certificate of quality at discharge port 34.Shore tank report 35.DPR vessel report 36.Nigeria Customs Service clearance 37.Nigeria Navy clearance 38.Letter of Affirmation of discharge from depot of discharge 39. Covering page on company’s letter head showing detail of transaction Now, in a country where systemic failure is second nature, these 39 requirements on their own make the issue of false claims tantamount to the biblical passage of a camel through the eye of the needle.

CONFLICT OF INTEREST BROADENS

he Presidential Committee on Verification and Reconciliation of Fuel Subsidy Payments led by Mr Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede revealed that 21 companies that benefited from subsidy payments were found culpable of fraudulent claims. Aig-Imoukhuede said out of the N422 billion earlier found to have been unaccounted for, N18 billion was actually a duplication while only N403 billion was verified. N21 billion was cleared, leaving N382 billion as the sum in contention, the basis for which the committee recommended that the process of recovery should be made. A total of 116 Oil Marketing and Trading companies (OM&Ts) that participated in the petroleum subsidy scheme in the period under review were invited

zMohammed Adoke

zIbrahim Lamorde for interviews. Six categories of issues, likely fraudulent cases for criminal investigation you have 21 OM&Ts affected. Though Aig-Imuokhuede, in his presentation while briefing State House correspondents last week, made the point clearly, asking if it is “likely that we can recover the sum of N382 billion in a process like this”, just as he pointed out that “it will be naïve to think that we can recover the whole amount. The most important thing is that the State diligently pursues recovery to its logical conclusion. At the end of the day having exhausted all means at its disposal, I think the people of Nigeria will know that justice has been done,” he said. In fact, some are already asking questions whether the arraignment of the sons of a few powerful Nigerians constitutes seriousness. For instance, arraigning Mahmud Tukur, son of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, chairman, Alhaji Bamanga

This argument was further supported with the fact that the auditor whose signature was queried as omitted on the field was the one that approved the final subsidy. The import of this is that Nigerians are being set up for what may turn out to be a show trial”

Tukur, does not in any way speak to seriousness because the case is just about to begin. The senior Tukur was imposed on the PDP by President Goodluck

Jonathan at the party’s national convention on March 24, 2012 – against all odds. How his son is now being arraigned and expected to be convicted is one outcome Nigerians are eagerly waiting for - conviction is what Nigerians are waiting for. Therefore, Nigerians would wonder whether whenever Tukur meets with President Jonathan the talk about the case involving his son would not be on the table, especially as Adoke is insisting that he would personally take charge of the prosecution. More importantly, the allegation of the role of banks in the aspect of capital flight is yet to be tackled. Before the commencement of the probe by the House, sources familiar with the

from February 1, 2009, reads: Freight rate 2009 world scale flat rate of $17.91/MT applies Finance cost 7.07% LIBOR for 30 days plus, 60 days subsidy reimbursement @ 22% Port charges $10.5/MT applies Exchange rate CBN marginal rate + 2% forex charge Traders margin $10/MT Standard deviation As applicable Lightering expenses 5 days @ $28,000/day mother vessel (MV) Shuttle vessel (SV) N2/litre and N2.50/litre for Lagos & Port Harcourt respectively plus 10 day @ $28,000/ day for MV. Products loss 0.3% of C-F Jetty- Thru-put N0.80/litre Sunday Vanguard learnt that “a lot of technical and documentation issues” that were not clear to the chairman of the committee as argued by the Regulator and industry experts were adjudged to be unproven transaction worthy of refund" Similarly, asking the marketers to refund money to government on the basis of regulatory and pricing decisions of stakeholders done in line with the Act of the National Assembly is akin to a Greek gift to government and a subterfuge for failure in any legal attempt to recover such funds. There are also allegations of shoddiness on the part of the committee regarding some major OM&Ts that were cleared of blemish. Mercifully, an official of the PPPRA is being arraigned. But industry experts query why the other field officials from other colluding agencies are not being arraigned along with the PPPRA field operatives such as DPR, Navy, Customs, NPA?

zAig-Imuokhuede operations of the subsidy scheme disclosed to Sunday Vanguard “the need to look very closely at the roles played by banks and the lack of supervision on the part of the Central Bank of Nigeria. And that is why some industry players were quick to frown at the choice of Aig-Imuokhuede. For one of the players, “Aig-Imuokhuede is a super banker and a very thorough individual; nobody is in doubt about that; but when you say as a bank chief executive, who runs a bank that played a major role in facilitating business connected to financing importation of the product in question, Nigerians would definitely raise eyebrows. "It is like the Managing Director of HSBC, being appointed to verify claims of business which were financed by banks generally or asking the board of Barclays Bank to play a leading role in investigating the LIBOR scandal in London which forced the resignation of the Managing Director of Barclays Bank in Britain. Wouldn’t that be laughable and wouldn’t it create a massive dose of conflict of interest?” t one of the meetings held, it was on A the basis of the petition by marketers to relevant government authorities for re-

view of the template to provide for a review of the following cost elements: i Traders margin @ $15/MT ii Exchange rate @ N151.00:$1.00 iii Port charges @ $15/ton iv Finance cost @ $16.70/ton v. Freight rate @ $27.75/ton (As at 22nd January, 2009) Therefore, following the instruction from the Office of the Honourable Minister of Petroleum Resources, that the PPPRA should immediately address the Marketers complaints, a meeting was held on Thursday, January 29, 2009, wherein all the stakeholders were in attendance. A communique was drawn at the end of the meeting seeking to address the complaints of the OM&Ts and immediately forwarded to the Honourable Minister of Petroleum.

The new template which took effect

s it not also possible, for instance, to make public the list of directors of companies and banks that participated in the PSF scheme with a view to actually locating who used what position to get what, where, when and why? That is already known because the objective was to commit fraud. In addition, are those being tried now just the only ones who benefited from the scheme wrongfully? What about the banks and the CBN which allegedly lost oversight control regarding thorough verification of LETTERS OF CREDITS which the banks opened? Interestingly, Sunday Vanguard was made to understand that “at the committee level, information was provided to the Aig imouekede committee that the auditor was only required to sign the witness page of the imported vessel documents submitted for claims and not the shore tank certificate. This argument was further supported with the fact that the auditor whose signature was queried as omitted on the field was the one that approved the final subsidy. The import of this is that Nigerians are being set up for what may turn out to be a show trial”. For the allegations to stick, Sunday Vanguard was told that “one of the very first steps pursuant to making progress is to carry out a thorough forensic investigation into the step by step requirements from the point of the first condition on the checklist, which is the possession of a genuine, Original PPPRA Import permit, to the Covering page on company ’s letter head showing detail of transaction. Again, answer the question: True or false: At trying times like this, could being the son of the substantive or former national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, guarantee for you a bail concession from the courts – without qualms?

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 13

Life Is A Tragedy For Those Who Feel, And A Comedy For Those Who Think —JEAN DE LA BRUYERE

Edo election day tragedy:

‘My brother ignored death warning and paid dearly for it’

By Simon Ebegbulem Benin City

By Emma Amaize

Late Inspector Isaac Aigbokhaevbo

“You can start any mean job as a stepping stone to where you want to be. The best skill you need is simply the ability to manage money

The Rotary Foundation for a variety of reasons. With their help, the Foundation is fulfilling Rotary’s promise of creating a polio-free world zKenneth Gbagi

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 13

‘Nigerians can’t be going to India, US for simple diagnosis’ BY EBELE ONUORAH

ATIONAL President, Association of Pathologists of Nigeria (ASSOPON), Dr Kenneth Iregbu, has called on the Federal Government to reposition clinical laboratories in the country for an efficient and reliable healthcare delivery, adding that quality healthcare won’t be possible without the active involvement of laboratory medicine. Iregbu, making this call during the ASSOPON scientific conference 2012 in Abuja, said: “Nigerians cannot be going to India, America, for simple diagnosis that can be done here. We can’t keep flocking into foreign countries for things as simple as diagnosis because our confidence in the country’s laboratory system is weak.” Meanwhile, the Honourable Minister of Health, Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu, said that gov-

C M Y K

ernment is making frantic efforts to ensure that the laboratories are properly positioned. The minister, who was represented by the Director of Hospital Services, Dr. Ahmadu Banye, said: “Government’s efforts

should be beamed on reequipping laboratories to provide fantastic worldclass medical equipment to ensure that they cope with growing needs as well as training staff to ensure that what is provided is utilised.”

NUC restores Babalola Varsity’s licence NUC that students in the

HE suspended li cence of the Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU) Ikeji Arakeji in Osun State has been restored by the National Universities Commission ( N U C ) . Consequently, the authorities of the university have converted the over 3,600 students affected by the directive of the NUC in its part time programmes to full time. The Vice Chancellor of the university, Prof Sola Fajana, however, told newsmen that the licence suspension came to them as a rude shock. According to him, an agreement had earlier been reached with the

part-time programmes should be allowed to graduate before they are scrapped.

Festac Estate, Rent & Commission Agents Association of Nigeria, ERCAAN, Zonal Chairman, Hon. Wasiu Owolabi Akinwande being presented with the Association’s inauguration banner by the Matron, Chief Mrs. Fagbemi assisted by the Chairman of the occasion, Chief Fred Isoh.

President, N-Delta minister urged to protect Bomadi shores

OMADI Community, Delta State, have appealed to President Goodluck Jonathan and the Minister of Niger Delta Affairs Elder, Godsday Orubebe, to ensure that the multi-billion naira shore protection job approved for Bomadi town is not diverted. In a meeting convened by their traditional ruler, HRH Maxwell B. Mieyebo, the Bomadi people al-

leged moves by interests in the Niger Delta Ministry to divert the project to Ogbobagbene community and vowed to resist same. The community said except the President/Minister acts fast, the General Hospital, Government College, the Bomadi Bridge and other critical infrastructure now close to the shoreline faced collapse/ extinction from rapidly eroding shores.

Chief Bare Etolor, a Bomadi indigene and immediate past Chairman, Delta Ijaw Elders Council, said since the abandonment of the shore protection project by Tomline Construction Company Ltd in the 1990s, the people of Bomadi contended with landslides that eroded shoreline buildings and roads leading to neigbouring communities. Etolor further said: “I am

not against anybody clamouring for fresh projects to his place but Bomadi deserves attention being not only headquarters since 1948 of the defunct Western Ijaw Division spilling to parts of present Bayelsa State but hosts critical infrastructure like the Bridge needing reinforcement by shore protection for the development of the Ijaw nation”.

PAGE 14, SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 15

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debbiemoments@gmail.com

Nigerians, the cookie is crumbling (1) trial, scientific, and globalising historical period the practice of democracy, just as in a totalitarian system, is determined by a handful of people. Therefore, it is not surprising that in Nigeria the most important political, economic, and social decisions are made by tiny minorities. A genuine democratic system founded on a legitimate representative format can be truly described as “government by the people.” That said, it is clear that, no matter the system of government operational

HE naïve belief in certain quarters that Nigeria’s developmental problems would be drastically ameliorated once democratic governance is established has turned into a red-herring because it tends to divert attention from the crisis of values among the ruling elites and cabals in the country. The way I see it, our developmental problems are not so much due to the type of government we operate as to the mediocre quality of men and women who were privileged to lead. After all, a wise compassionate dictatorship is better than the agbata ekee democracy we have been operating since 1999 which is a far cry from Abraham Lincoln’s iconic definition of democracy as “government of the people, by the people, and for the people,” Of course, no country in the world has attained the democratic ideal embedded in Lincoln’s definition. For instance, the people of United States of America, one of the most advanced stable democracies in the world, are still grappling with the problem of creating a just and more egalitarian society. In this connection Thomas R. Dye and Harmon Zeigler correctly observed, in their interesting exposé titled The Irony of Democracy: An Uncommon Introduction to American Politics, that “elites, not the masses govern America.” Evidently, in an indus-

from Britain into a just and equitable nation. A little reflection on the matter would reveal that building a cohesive society on the foundation of multifarious ethnic nationalities is always a work-in-progress. But then, the extent of progress recorded at any given time is crucially determined by the character of the ruling elite. It is one of the intriguing ironies of our country’s political history that neither of the two greatest Nigerian politicians to date, Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief

Most well-informed Nigerians would agree that corruption in high places has reached unprecedented height in the current dispensation of President Goodluck Jonathan

in a given society, a few individuals exercise a great deal of power whereas the bulk of the population exercise comparatively minute power. The survival and sustenance of democracy rests on the shoulders of the elites who must govern wisely and humanely if the citizens are to benefit from the system. Since Nigeria got flag independence in 1960, Nigerians have not made appreciable progress in transforming the colonial amalgam they inherited

Obafemi Awolowo, emerged as Prime Minister or Executive President before they died. Now, despite exaggerated praises heaped on both men by hero worshippers, Azikiwe and Awolowo like all human beings have character weaknesses which might have negatively affect their performance as Prime Minister or President, as the case may be. Yet, it must be acknowledged that the two men had the intelligence, knowledge, gravitas, expe-

Getting what we want knowledge and technology, we cant freeze time, we don't have the luxury of standing still in the perfect moment. Holidays end, honeymoons end, promotions end, parties end and moments pass. ften times glory days O become memories and we are left wondering where the time went. Its so easy to get lost in life's frantic pace and I find that I need to step back from time to time to catch my breath. Who we are inside is what George Bernard Shaw addresses in his quote. An irish friend of mine translates it to mean " we are all miserable Gits without and with; miserable Gits, the lot of us". Normally I would agree but I am concertedly working on not being a miserable Git: trying really hard to prove Shaw wrong that it will not be a tragedy to get all I want. So the million dollar question is how do we re-

tain the exhilaration that comes with success and move on with enthusiasm; how do we prove Shaw wrong? I have a few ideas and they range from being involved in different things so that successes are a lot more frequent or not being too ambitious and addicted to adrenalin that is

HERE are two trag edies in life, one is not getting what you want, the other is actually getting it" George Bernard Shaw. Its a quote that is rife with cynicism and presupposes that no attainment or level of success will ever bring complete happiness or fulfilment. It would be the explanation for billionaires being depressed or those in love having a bitter row. Success is relative; there are many things in which one can strive to be successful. One certain thing is that we must work to attain and maintain success. I think Shaw's position is drawn from the reality that once you attain a level of success, you are now caught in the desperate attempt to maintain and surpass that level. caught in the tragedy of the What next? No condition is permanent, no matter how dire, or how great; nothing stays the same or even static. For all of the advancement in

rience, vision and credibility to provide top quality leadership for Nigerians. Extended periods of shambolic military rule derailed the democratic progression of Nigeria and exacerbated the self-inflicted problems which led to civil war in May, 1967. The problems created by repeated military interventions in Nigeria’s democratic evolution are legion, and to analyse even the most critical ones will elongate this essay intolerably. Suffice it to say, however, that the messianic pretensions of soldiers who seize power forcefully are smokescreens by kakistocratic megalomaniacs to control allocation of the country’s resources for selfserving purposes. In a few lucky places like Singapore and Ghana, dictators propelled their countries into the path of political stability and economic growth by dealing harshly with corruption at the highest levels of governance and business. In Nigeria, military dictators and their civilian cronies worked hand in glove to appropriate the country’s resources among themselves. This explains why military dictators have not been held accountable for their misdeeds by successive civilian governments: it also sheds some light on an intriguing fact about our rendezvous with democratic governance, that is, the deteriorating quality of civilian leadership with the passage of time. Consider, for instance the issue of corruption within the ruling elite: there is no doubt that top political office holders during the tenure of Alhaji Shehu Shagari were more corrupt than politicians of the First Republic. Similarly, Shagari’s government was less corrupt than Chief Olusegun Obasanjo’s. Most

well-informed Nigerians would agree that corruption in high places has reached unprecedented height in the current dispensation of President Goodluck Jonathan. Sycophants who are enjoying now can deceive themselves for as long as they please. The truth remains that, never in the history of civilian administration in Nigeria have principal actors in the three tiers of government been implicated in gargantuan corruption. In my view, President Jonathan has not demonstrated genuine leadership on this all-important issue. Indeed, Jonathan’s arrogant and ill-tempered authoritarian stance on the subject of declaring his assets publicly suggests that he is not prepared to be accountable and transparent to the Nigerian people. Moreover, corruption allegations surrounding the President and his wife, recent eye service appointment of the latter as a permanent secretary in the civil service in his home state, and the perceived feeling that Mr. President lacks decisive action to curtail corruption and indiscipline among his lieutenants – all these and more demonstrate that, probably, the current administration is not really serious about tackling corruption where it matters most, that is, among members of the ruling political and business elites. Consequently, the executive branch of government is swarming with corruption, and President Jonathan cannot, or is unwilling to, do anything about it. But some of the worst cases of corruption Nigerians have witnessed were perpetrated by members of the National Assembly. From 1999 to date, so-called elected rep-

resentatives of our people have manifested an insatiable, devilish, appetite for primitive accumulation. A despicable form of legalised corruption perfected by senators and members of the House of Representatives is the outrageous emoluments they regularly awarded to themselves. The strategic importance of the legislature in a democratic setting cannot be overemphasised: aside from lawmaking, it is empowered to check the excesses of the President and his cabinet. That is what obtains in mature democracies like The United States and Britain. But in our own case things are upside down because lawmakers have converted the business of law making into the sale of favours and privileges. The number and frequency of corruption attributed to federal legislators are enough to make any reasonable person sceptical and genuinely worried about the future of this country and her stinking presidential democracy. Hence it is largely correct to assert that the present House of Representatives is fast becoming the Vatican city of corruption and abuse of legislative powers, to the extent Nigerians regard its threat to impeach President Jonathan for failing to implement the 2012 Appropriation Act as a ploy by members to extort money from the executive. The Senate has remained relatively insulated from reports of corruption. All the same, since a leopard does not lose its spots overnight, I conjecture that a lot of chop and clean mouth might have been going there especially since David Mark became Senate President. TO BE CONCLUDED.

lustre existence with no drive or ambition. My best idea is the one I find works best for me and a few friends who have tried it. Imagine life as this big, multi-flavoured, multilayered and multicoloured cake. If the object is to eat as much of it as possible through the duration of a life time; then wisdom will literarily take the cake. It makes sense to eat the cake little by little.

the Bible, its the foundation of Buddhism, reinforced many times in the Tao te Ching and many other books of spiritual significance. Letting time slip away by not fully immersing ourselves in it is in my view tragic.

meaning. The decision to classify our moments into big and small, to divide our lives into failures and successes is the actual tragedy. life itself is a blessing; and as such no moment is greater or lesser than the other. So getting what we want is a triumph just like wanting what we want... Wanting something says we are alive, we can desire, strive and lean towards greatness. Getting it says the forces align in the physical and the spiritual realms to make it happen.

ife is best in bits, liv L ing it moment by moment so that we don't get

overwhelmed!! I think Shaw's position comes from the emptiness that always come after the big moments. Almost like a balloon coming down from incredible heights to land on the ground deflated, be-

Life is best in bits, living it moment by moment so that we don't get overwhelmed!!

achievement injected. Problem with the first one is that we may just drop dead from exhaustion and have a heart attack brought on by anxiety. The second is hardly any better as there is no joy or glee to be had from a lack

reft of the glory that seemed so fleeting. I would say without doubt that the greatest advice I ever heard was to live in the moment; being mindful. It's not accredited to one person as it's to be found as a staple precept in

haven't always been I successful in living life in moments; if anything I

am absent minded to an alarming degree as my mind wanders anywhere and everywhere. LIke most people I do find that there is an emptiness that comes after big moments but my favourite author, a lady called Katie Byron put forward a question that I ask myself regularly and it takes tragedy out of my moments. In every situation she says everyone should take a step back and ask "what's wrong with the moment?". The truth is that when you leave the past in the past, leave the future and not worry about what hasn't and probably will never happen; ignore other peoples attitudes and opinions, life is not so bad. From a religious perspective; I would venture to say that we become ungrateful and sinful when we lose the joy that comes from answered prayers. Its not deliberate but it is tragic. Its taken me a while to breakdown this quote to a level where I can apply its truth to my life for more

haw was wrong; he S died aged 94, from chronic problems exacer-

bated by injuries he incurred from a fall. He won a nobel prize, an oscar, rejected the money prizes and despised the adulation. He was married to a woman who remained celibate and intimacy came from dalliances with married women. This great mind was tortured; his art came from a place of loneliness and pain. If there was a tragedy in his life, I would venture to say it was wanting the wrong things, a woman that didn't want him, a fortune when he was a socialist, adulation and recognition when he despised applause ...There is no tragedy in great achievement and there are so many, life, love, health, wealth; wanting them is a prayer; to which I say amen...

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE17

Perm Sec, Patience Jonathan, PSPJ “Elect a joker and you get a lot of jokes – including bad missioner. He will spend the rest of his days on earth ones”. Dele Sobowale, May 2011. regretting it. “A leader is best/when people barely know he exists/ Mark my words, Dickson too will curse the day ….worst when they despise him - Lao-tsy, 6th century AD. the thought of appointing Mrs. Jonathan Perm Sec under his administration. RS. Patience Jonathan, PSPJ, has cer tainly made history; even if atrocious NIGERIANS; YOU DESERVE THE INSULT history. And Bayelsa State has also entered – 2 into the Guinness Book of Records – in a way that now “During the campaign our emphasis was more indisputably demonstrates to the world that the Dark on job creation, power, but now what worries us Age is not over in Nigeria. The history of the civil service most is security. This is because you must be alive is as long as the first organisation of human beings under before you will eat food…If you are not safe, you governments; that is over two thousand years ago. Niger- can’t even think of hunger, because a dead person ia, or more specifically Jonathan State (forget Bayelsa the does not need food”. President Jonathan at the 60th Jonathan family now owns the state) will certainly go National Executive Meeting of the PDP. down in history as the first in which someone who has “He [Gerard Ford] cannot chew gum and walk not worked in the civil service for more than 15 years; and straight at the same time”. President Lyndon Johneven then as a low level officer, gets promoted to the son, USA, 1960s. highest rank. Bad joke, you say? Well, Nigerians, “My The last statement by President Johnson, a DemFellow Countrymen” (only God knows how many fools ocrat, was his opinion of Gerard Ford, a Republican, there are among them) asked for it. as someone who could not handle two simple matLast year, before the Presidential election, every effort ters simultaneously – chewing and walking. And, was made to warn all of us of the consequences of voting although Gerard Ford later became President himfor an untested, relatively unknown, inexperienced per- self, Americans soon discovered that he could not son as President. The campaign fell on the usually deaf handle complex issues with which presidents and ears of the majority, who “voted for Jonathan, not for Prime Ministers must deal all the time. PDP”. Is it the wife of the PDP who is now involved in Nigerians deserve the insults contained in the statethis embarrassing comedy? ment President Jonathan made at the PDP meeting; There is overwhelming research evidence to support it is a meeting of the unfit, ruling over the un-educatthe fact that nearly all people, male and female, growing ed and un-committed citizens. up in abject poverty, bordering on destitution, later beLet me explain what Jonathan said, and you will come avaricious. The few, like late Chief M.K.O. Abiola, weep for Nigeria for having a “Gerard Ford” in ofwho also went shoeless as a kid, who turned out to be fice. Because there is insecurity, his government has generous and share the wealth, when given the opportu- given up on jobs, power and food. So, if you have no nity are very few. The vast majority of the rest develop food; tough luck; no power, stop complaining; no into adults, who, like ownerless alley cats, regard every job, you can go to hell. That is the plain message fish within their reach as theirs to be grabbed and con- from the President who does not “give a damn”. sumed. Their sense of propriety has been dulled from Even in war torn Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Sudan etc, no Head of State will dare declare that jobs, power and food are no longer priorities. But, Nigeria’s “Gerard Ford” just did that, with a straight face, and nobody walked out of the meeting. Nigerians deserve the insult.

This lady is not for turning ”When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it—always.”Mahatma Gandhi HE heat is on and it is getting hot ter in the Securities and Exchange Commision. Arunma Oteh, the Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been in the hot seat for only two year into her four year tenure . During that time she has had to ride some choppy waves and it seems there is mutiny in the ranks. Staff in the commission are up in arms that she is back to work and those who have refused to toe the line are been roughed up by the majority. Ms Oteh returned fresh from enforced leave and the knives are once more sharpen for Ms Oteh. Following her return from leave, after independent auditors cleared her over allegations that she misappropriated public funds, the focus has shifted now to her competence to head the commission. She is a Harvard MBA graduate with 16 years’ experience at the African Development Bank. She worked first as a Senior Capital Markets Officer and was promoted in 1997 to Division Manager Investments and Trading Room. In 2001, she became the bank’s Group Treasurer (responsible for fundraising and investments

childhood and everything, within arms length, is up for grabs. Even when they have providentially escaped poverty by acquiring material things, poverty clings to them like a leech. They never know when to stop grabbing. One blockhead of a defender of the President, when carpeted for the N1billion naira budgeted for food at Aso Rock this year, invited me to go and eat there. That shows the quality of thought of some supporters. They cannot understand that the Presidency is an institution imbued with power, prerogatives and symbols. Unfortunately, the fellow failed to read into the admonition the call for the President to exhibit greater restraint. A Chief Executive Officer who is perceived as too greedy sends a powerful message down the line for others to help themselves. Belt-tightening, as a policy, if it is to succeed, must start with the owner of the longest belt. A Yoruba adage tells us that “A ki gbe eran erin s’ori; k’a ma fese wa era nile”; translation: “you shouldn’t be carrying a whole elephant on your head and still be searching for maggots to feast upon”. What on earth could the wife of the President, who has not worked as a civil servant for more than a decade, want with the post of Permanent Secretary? Is she exceptionally competent in any field such that no other citizen of Bayelsa could handle the job? Meanwhile, the unfortunate “good boy” who appointed Mrs. Jonathan, no first lady please, as Perm Sec, has merely demonstrated that Nigeria, as the largest collection of black people on earth, is also home to the largest group of black numskulls. Why anyone will use his own hands to appoint his own BOSS is a mystery which will take a long time to unravel. Certainly, it is clear that while no other Perm Sec or Commissioner (I am sure no Commissioner wants her in his Ministry) can interrupt the governor while talking, he has one who will not hesitate to say, “Hey, you, listen to me”. Having a subordinate you can’t fire when necessary is the beginning of indiscipline in any organization. Dickson has one. In fact, he has an alternate governor on board. The Bayelsa governor should have learnt from the experience of Governor Gbenga Daniel of Ogun State who appointed President Obasanjo’s daughter as Com-

hortly after the President was sworn in last May, a regular reader of Sunday Vanguard asked me if I was not impressed by Jonathan’s humility. In a two part series published on these pages, I replied that humility is not a cardinal attribute of political leaders. Courage, justice, empathy, clear vision, planning, execution and integrity are among at least twenty characteristics distilled by scholars on leadership. Jonathan fails the test in most of them; including language and persuasion. Keeping promises is an integral part of integrity. Jonathan has a bad record of keeping promises and his declaration at the NEC meeting about jobs, power and food, merely confirms what we at Unijankara warned the whole nation about last year. Meanwhile have they stopped eating at Aso Rock because the country is unsafe? You can bet they are eating and Madam has a new job too. “Non sibi sed alis”, (Latin) is the motto of the Methodist Boys High School in Lagos. We took delight in our secondary school days translating it as “There is no spoon said Alice”. But in reality, it means, “Others first; self last” or “Not for ourselves but for others”. That should be the motto of all leaders. Alexander the Great, according to legends, was campaigning in the desert with his troops and they ran out of water except one jug-full. When the great one was brought the water, he asked if there was any more water. They replied “No”. He, there and then, poured the water in the sand and announced, “We will suffer together until we find water for all”. That is why he is great; and the fact that Nigeria lacks such a leader is why no historian will ever write about a great Nigerian leader; only selfish transient holders of power. Perhaps that is why history has been removed from the curriculum; they don’t want the kids to know that they are being badly led. Personally, I am the last to eat in my house because my father was the last to eat when he was alive and he told me his father was the last to eat in his days. I asked him why? And his reply has shaped my perception of leadership till today. “I am the provider; so, if I don’t provide enough nobody else should suffer but me”. And he added, “Remember that, Dele Ojuoto”. Till today, I never hustle for food or anything else when junior ones are around. Nigerians deserve the insults. There will be more before the man returns to Otuoke…

Even when they have providentially escaped poverty by acquiring material things, poverty clings to them like a leech. They never know when to stop grabbing

It is a bit late to question her credentials and experience to head the commission as the very same accusers appointed her to the post in the first place and the same now demanding her resignation

in major international capital markets); in 2006 she became the Vice President for Corporate Management. It is a bit late to question her credentials and experience to head the commission as the very same accusers appointed her to the post in the first place and the same now demanding her resignation. On closer examination, it seems the cordial relationship went sour after Ms Oteh ruffled some feathers and was effective in smoking out the malpractices, corruption that was endemic in the commissions prior to her appointment. This was shortly after she accused some of the committee members of the corruption and surpassing the mandate of hearing and dodged questions put to her. The gauntlet was thrown down sometime about March 15, 2012, when she personally accused the Honourable Herman Hembe, the Chairman of the House Committee of Capital Market, of soliciting for N44 million bribes. Coincidences? I think not. Then the very same Honourable member Herman Hembe, the head of the House Committee, accused her of breaking the rules and compromising her position of overspending N3million on hotel expenses of which N850,000 she spent on food alone. Another revelation was that Ms Arunma Oteh, recruited staff of Access bank, Charles Ughele and Titi Olubiyi, as SEC’s advisers, a move that goes against the regulatory role of the commission over the bank. Ms Oteh returned after been cleared by the

independent auditors of no gross misconduct or fraudulent practices . So why are the workers so aggrieved by her return? They said, they are not but that Ms Oteh’s recall did not follow due process. Really then, Ms Oteh should be allowed to get on with her job, you would think. On the contrary, Secretary General of the SEC Staff Union, John Briggs said that some workers “don’t want her back until due process is followed” and that the letter of recall should have been signed by supervising Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala rather than Secretary to the Government of the Federation ! The market needs confidence to recover and the in-fighting is not conducive to the growth, competition and confidence of investors. Bamidele Aturu,a lawyer and human rights activist, said that Oteh’s position is no longer tenable and it is disquiet that she has been reinstated despite the fact that she was no longer fit to head SEC. Make what you will, but I am sure there are bigger fish to fry and Ms Oteh is far from being perceived as the nation’s public enemy.

Oshiomole: Edo People Have Sponken

dvancement is achievable only through patient, enduring, honest, unremitting, and indefatigable work. we may explain success mainly by one word and that word is WORK! WORK!! WORK!!! WORK!!!! -Frederick Douglass The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has declared the candidate of Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Adams Oshiomhole, as the winner of the July 14th governorship elections in Edo State. The elections were relatively peaceful and hitch -free. The incumbent governor polled a landslide victory in all the state’s 17 local government area with 477,478 votes-73.72 per cent of 647,698 total votes cast-to defeat his closest rival, Charles Airhiarvbere of the People’s Democratic Party(PDP). It was seen as a high turnout, though; NEC confirmed that only 647,698 votes were cast, representing 40 per cent of the total registered voters of 1,651,099 in the state. The governor addressed his supporters at the King’s Square shortly after the result. Oshiomole said that “Edo people from the south to the north to the central have spoken as one. This shows that all efforts of some people to whip up ethnicity failed woefully. Edo elections have shown that merit alone would determine the pattern of voting”. And he continued: “The way the people have voted has made my job easier. I will build on the existing bridges of unity and sustain our developmental agenda,” he promised. Congratulating Oshiomhole on his victory, President Jonathan urged him to receive the fresh mandate as an endorsement of his outstanding performance in his first term and an expression of their desire for a continuation of his focused, purposeful and dynamic leadership and wished him a successful second term in office. The work at hand now is to reunite the people of Edo State, so they work together not along party lines but as one people with common interests that, benefits all and not just some. The people have spoken and they voted with what one hopes, with their conscience. About time the other states take note that a peaceful election is possible and it is achievable.Edo State has led the way fr others to follow.

PAGE 18—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012

Our First Lady is a bundle of talents other first citizens? To take a piece of undeveloped land from a former first lady does not seem a strong point to me when compared to the decision some years ago to cancel the naming of the National Centre for Women Development after Maryam Babangida who initiated and executed the project. erhaps some people P may have developed some sympathy for Turai

after reading the story but I

NE reason why Nigeria’s politi cal system is so rough is because of its winner-takes-all arrangement. The loser of an election in Nigeria is consigned to the sideline of a beggar where he gets nothing. As a result, our politicians do whatever can get them into office and seek to remain there for as long as destiny permits. Once a leader leaves office, he returns to the level of the rest of us and as we hear may never get even a phone call from all the praise singers who hitherto ministered unto him and every member of his extended family. This was what occurred to me as I read the report during the week of a piece of land previously allocated to former first lady, Turai Yar’Adua now reallocated to her successor, Dame Patience Goodluck Jonathan. I really didn’t quite understand why the media gave so much prominence to the story. If it was to draw attention to how badly our former leaders and their spouses are treated, the isolated case can hardly make the point. Who remembers the spouses of all our

the game of power is all about. Turai herself and some associates of her late husband exercised it not too long ago when they were in power. I remember the story of a friend, a distinguished engineer who some years back answered the plea for Nigerians in Diaspora to come home to contribute to national development. He eventually became the Chief Executive of a federal agency. During the Yar’Adua era, he was for no reason suddenly replaced one day by a crony

It is the turn of Dame Jonathan to shine and it is only fair to let her be hence from the latest authentic record, she has an upper hand in the tussle for the land in dispute

didn’t perceive it so because we cannot distance undue influence from both the allocation and reallocation. So the former first lady may get sympathy but the present mother of the nation would get the land bearing in mind that it is not just in a choice area but that it is as large as18, 000 sqm. That is precisely what

of those in the corridors of power. A month later, the former President had cause to discuss his agency and requested for the officer. When told he had left office, a visibly shocked President reportedly learnt from his aides that the removal was allegedly sanctioned by him! Besides this type of story, the two big ladies who

Aba, or the face of degeneracy

C M Y K

the human concourse. The greatest capital available to any city is the human capital – the level of skills available and usable, and the means by which these skills are deployed to make city life both habitable and memorable. This is the exact meaning of civilization. In its most basic meaning, civilization means to create and sustain order out of chaos. The containment of human energy in that singular space – the uber junction of all human experience – is merely the genius of organization. Only those who understand symmetry can create that kind of order. Perhaps here is where we fail; that we bring the asymmetric pattern of country life with its own unique regulations based on the natural cycle into the urban space with a more necessarily artificial and created form of the chronotype; its own form of regulation. The result is our inability to manage chaos, and thus create and sustain order. It’s a clash of cultures. Our cities succumb to the law of thermodynamics. The decay happens rather quickly, perhaps because we have not put in place structures that help to contain and attempt to eliminate the natural effects of decay

through cyclic renewal. That is the challenge of building and sustaining city life in Nigeria. There are no bold renewal programs. Things are left as they always are. Utilities are never upgraded. Public spaces are never designed and redesigned, especially to reflect the genius of human engineering or architectural capital or tradition present in a city. One city –

WO nights ago, I was out in Geneva (Switzerland), hanging out with some old friends at a free musical concert at the gardens by Lake Geneva and in the background of Jet d’eau – one of the more remarkable landmarks of this city of landmarks. We’d taken a short leisurely walk from Rue December 31, and down across Rue de Lac, down to the concert. As it happens, in summer, most self-respecting cities in the world put out free, open-air musical concerts and other cultural events; and the idea is to keep city life vital; to draw from its energy and to make it possible for visitors and would be visitors to see the fun part of a city; to draw them and sell to the idea of the city as a possible place of refuge, of pleasure, and of course of investment. People are always drawn to places of happy memories. They return to spend their money – shopping, eating, loving, visiting art galleries and circulating value. Great cities market their refinements and pleasures, and the great opportunities that await those who come to it. Great cities depend on such visitors for revenue, and often advertise themselves as great epicenters of

are now reportedly at war over a piece of land were in the Villa when the former President was smuggled into the country from a medical trip without the knowledge of the then ‘Acting’ President. They were witnesses too of how the latter was blocked from seeing his Principal. It was a power game which cannot now be a big deal because of the swapping of roles. t is the turn of Dame I Jonathan to shine and it is only fair to let her be

hence from the latest authentic record, she has an upper hand in the tussle for the land in dispute. For a number of reasons, whatever document any previous owner of the land holds-on to is a worthless piece of paper. First, the appropriate authority, the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory is expectedly behind Dame. Second, the technical framework for the determination of land ownership in Abuja- the Abuja Geographic Information System (AGIS), must have by now used its special technology to capture the new owner. No one should get me wrong here. I am not implying that the AGIS machine is the same as the DDC machine of our electoral body. They are not the same. In the case of AGIS, its operatives can edit the information in the system but whatever is captured remains intact until it becomes necessary to manipulate it again. On its own part, halls turned into ghost towns and ghettoes; massive mounds of waste, particularly plastic and the least biodegradable human wastes piled too close to human domestic life. It is a terrible and indescribable sight. It is the result of long years of neglect. Now, for a city of Aba’s importance, that kind of neglect is both short-sighted and criminal. Under military rule, there was a great level of divestment in the city, following sustained economic policies that forced businesses in Aba to move capital and relocate to places like Lagos and Abuja. Aba has not recovered from these moves, but it is also in some very significant ways, a statement

One city – Aba – in South Eastern Nigeria reminds me particularly of the level of decay that no human society should be permitted to live with

Aba – in South Eastern Nigeria reminds me particularly of the level of decay that no human society should be permitted to live with. Pictures of this once thriving city posted recently on on-line forums on the internet were both shocking and unsurprising at the same time: there was no attempt to photoshop Aba. There was a certain rawness to the images, and they hit you on the jugular. Broken and flooded streets; shopping

about the strategic perspective or lack of it of its business leaders who seemed unprepared, and who had very scant economic intelligence to work with in the era of these policies. I do certainly remember listening to Dr. Aboim, a business consultant in Aba in the 1970s and 1980s on the old NTV Channel 6, talking investment and re-investment strategies, but particularly about diversification and the development of more strategic port and

the INEC machine does not need to be operated at all; it has its own temperament and it edits itself at will making it hard to be sure of what information is in the record at any point in time. Consequently, a person’s name captured by the INEC machine can be in the voters’ list today and be out tomorrow. It can also return any day depending on the election and in which State it is holding as we saw in the ‘one man one vote’ free and fair elections in Edo some two weeks ago. That does not happen with AGIS; once a person’s name is captured, the certificate of occupancy (C of O) is his until further notice nfortunately, the lu U crative trade in the C of O business is usually not

serving State Attorney General a few months ago. It is therefore almost fruitless to initiate a court case against a more powerful person especially if the other party is government or its top official or spouse. Happily, the case between the former first lady and the present one is being handled differently because Dame Patience is a bundle of talents. She is powerful but patient hence her powerful side is the one seeking peace in the matter. She is the woman of the moment hence the land in question is to house the framework for peace which the nation urgently needs at the moment. She is conscious of the vagaries of power hence she already has her eyes on the verdict of history. So, before a future first lady grabs the controversial land and even the building, she would have been home bound to hold-on to what no one can take from her- a Secretary that is Permanent. Before then, she has to use her peace initiative to fight our current insecurity. She needs to gather Nigerian mothers especially those in the troubled areas of the country to a continuing retreat where they will be aggressively mobilized to get their children to shun violence. It is a case for reorientation where through dialogue and persuasion, our women will become converts and active apostles of peace. It may work better than the mechanical Joint Task Force.

storage facilities in Aba in those years. But post-military government in Abia state, under the two Orjis – Orji Uzo Kalu and Theodore Orji – has really left Aba reeling. There does not seem to be any strategic vision for the city under these administrations. Aba was conceived as the industrial engine of the East. From a barrack town for demobilized WW2 veterans in 1945, Pius Okigbo, as DO (Development Officer) from 1947-1950, laid out the foundation for Aba’s economic and social development. Anyone who wishes can in fact get a small insight into the evolution of Aba from that book by Harry Gailey, The Road to Aba: A Study of British Administrative Policy in Eastern Nigeria.In fact, Aba is one of the epicenters of the Tri-city conurbation of Port-Harcourt-Aba –Owerri conceived by the Eastern Nigeria government to be the biggest economic and industrial conurbation in Africa. The war ended that momentarily. But it does seem clear that we have an administration and a bureaucracy that has neither institutional memory, nor a whit of strategic capacity. Last week, Ugochukwu Emezue, media aide to governor Orji took umbrage at a statement credited to Mr. Ben Uwajumogu, speaker of the Imo state House of Assembly about his comments on the performance of the Abia governor. He basically asked him to steer clear of Abia issues. Well, if this Uwajumogu is the one I think he is, he is son of the late BO Uwajumogu, a busi-

nessman – of the “Uwajumogu and Sons Ltd” fame, who died quite early. Mr. Uwajumogu literally grew up in current Abia state and has a great stake within it. Besides, the borders between Abia and Imo state is wafer thin. If I sneeze in Owerri, it is bound to reverberate in Aba or Umuahia. As a city, Aba is of great economic and social importance to especially Imo and Abia states. So, it is in fact impossible to ignore whatever happens there. But to be fair, T.A. Orji alone cannot be asked to take responsibility for the state of Aba. True, he has shown a terrible lack of imagination and leadership in transforming Aba, which once stood on the same pedestal as Lagos, because whatever was built in Lagos was built in Aba. But today Aba trails terribly behind. If Aba has to be rebuilt, it would take the genius of organization that is currently under-utilized East of the Niger. It would take the Abia state government, the Aba Municipal authority, the leaders of business and the citizens/tax payers in Aba, to establish what I propose to be the Aba City Redevelopment Commission. It is an urgent task, and the Abia State governor must stop being defensive about his lack of abilities, but must rather seek strategic thinkers from across the East to help rebuild Aba, because truth be told, he inherited a great Igbo city, and is thus merely, a trustee of this transnational city. Aba must be made great again, and all hands must be on deck.

quite elegant. Many people who are deserving of it hardly get it whereas many touts around the land market in Area 11 and the one opposite the Municipal office in Area 10 Garki, Abuja have many for several plots. However, some are fake. To go to court to determine which is genuine tallies with the rule of law but is exceedingly expensive. Apart from our culture of justice for sale which has gained much ground of recent, a court case may last beyond the life time of the plaintiff. Second, there is the fear that anyone can easily be jailed for contempt if the judge has the same disposition as the one in the Federal High Court in Benin that so treated a

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 19

Parents and teenagers' many battles

S a bookworm from the age of four, I was already boring my mother with recurrent reading sessions where she must listen while I read my favorite story book and, by age 13, I was reading detective novels which my father will not hear of. There was a time that I borrowed a few Hardly Chase and hid them away as I had been warned earlier never to read such novels; yet my voracity for them would not let me heed any anti-literary advice. So I had to hide to enjoy my reading until the day my father stumbled on the books in my closet. He grabbed them and ripped them apart. I wanted out as the generational gap had widened. The 21st century was upon my parents as their young became more inquisitive and knowledgeable to their chagrin. Wearing make-up was no-no, and my younger sister made the situation worse as she would spill the beans as soon as I did. Once I had gone to the market and helped myself to some beautiful nail polishes which I silently applied in my room, but the waft of my nail polish was to give me away and all my purchases ended up in the trash can by the evening. I was peeved and wished the snitches would let me be. My teenage battle continued way past my 17th birthday, when the ground rules were updated to “no boys in the house until you are in your 300level in the university” of the consequence of teenage pregnancy which went with a vivid description of a young woman with a pail of concrete on her head sweating it out at a building site with her breasts flung backward so her baby could breast feed. But that rule did not hold water much with me as my young heart did not lie in a platonic relationship brood with the opposite sex which meant acceptance, appreciation, and a breadth of fresh air away from the rules that got even stiffer. That their daughter would not fail, that she will not bring the family’s name to disrepute, and that she would make her parents proud often makes the home unbearable for many teenagers and they just cannot wait to fly out of the nest. Could I have been taken seriously and maturely or attracted leniency back then as I was later to be rated by my folks as one of the easiest teenagers to have been brought up ever? Experts say: One of the most common causes of friction in relationships between teens and their parents is parental reluctance to accept that their little boy or girl is growing up. Parent-

teen relationship will be less difficult, and comes with a big payoff. 1. Get a job and take it seriously since there is nothing like having your own source of income that shows your parents that you’ve reached a slightly more mature part of your life. You don’t have to get a career-track job to accomplish this but, rather, just something that pays you and provides you with some satisfaction. 2. Pushing the boundary of what has been thought of as allowed and not allowed like going for holiday visits to an uncle or grand parents and trips that keep you close to your parents and far away from drugs and alcohol are a good way to show your parents that you’re capable of taking care of yourself. 3. Be friends with a girl or a guy and be forthcoming and relatively open about the relationship with your parents. The newly expressed interest in dating is definitely a feature of adolescence and is an excellent and fun way of getting your parents to realize and accept that you’re a teenager. 4. Sit your parents down for “family talks” whenever you have to since positively taking control every so often demonstrates some maturity on your part. Point out directly that you’re a teen and even make some jokes about other teenagers being stubborn. Your parents would get the message that you want them to be on the same page with you. 5. Become a boarding school student and your parents level of respect for your person would increase to a new high whenever you return on holidays. Parents tend to see their teenager as a grown up when they have left home for a while and the teenager has learnt a few good behaviors and mixed-up with other well cultured kids C M Y K

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SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 29, 2012

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It’s important to work at your love-life all the time!

HE questions most readers of this column ask always make me wonder how many of you out there really know how uninhibited sex could be and how you can acquire sexual expererinces that work for you. Unfortunately, these experiences don’t just happen. You need to work on your self-confidence so that you feel strong enough to ask for what you want in bed. A lot of women find it hard to say: “Can you take it more slowly dear”, because they think it implies criticism. The thing to do is to lavish praise on his skills as a lover and then slip in a suggestion or two about what you really want. For instance, say: “I love the way you touch my breasts, could you carry on a little bit further down the side?” Stop faking orgasms. It is counterproductive because you’re educating him into thinking that what he’s doing is working for you when it isn’t. A satisfactory sexual relationship can become stale because there isn’t any incentive to change things. You need to make a decision to do things slightly different, even though you

men say about their sex lives they’re such liars. Most people have a very average time in bed. There are periods when it’s absolutely pathetic, and times when it’s really quite .good, and the rest of the time it’s just so-so. “Women often find it hard to accept that sex is an intensely egotistical activity. When you’re getting to the point of orgasm, you’re really not thinking about anyone else’s pleasure. Try not to

feel pressurised by erections - he has them all the time. It’s his erection to worry about, not yours.” She also points out that most people settle down far too young. Women, especially tend to over-commit too quickly forgoing the chance to experiment sexually. According to Jane, it’s helpful if women masturbate, because that way they learn how to have an orgasm and many more women could be

multi-orgasmic if they just learned to push on after the ftrst one. Only 30 per cent of women climax through orgasm. Even if you’re married or celibate, it’s important to find erotic pleasure in everyday life. Once a woman is “spoken for” she often feels that she shouldn’t flirt, but there’s a lot of erotic play available in the most fleeting encounters which has nothing at all to do with either infidelity or sexual harassment.

Exercise for strength and elasticity

The spread Eagle Technique: Sit down and spread the feet as wide apart as you can. Keep the trunk very erect and hold as far down the legs as possible. You can stay in this position 5 and 50 seconds. Bring the feet together when you’re done, rest a bit and repeat. Benefits: The Spread Eagle stretches taut the muscles of the inner thighs. Helps burn fat about the hips and corrects a stoopy posture. The Triangle Technique: Stand with the feet wide apart and then turn the trunk to the left and bend the left knee to waist level keep the right knee locked with the foot horizontally placed to the position of the foot. Raise both arms up and clasp the hands together overhead. Stay in the position for about 10 seconds, change sides and repeat. You can go over twice or thrice. Benefits: The Triangle strengthens the thigh muscles and like the Spread Eagle also pro-

motes good posture. Leg and Trunk Raise: Technique: Lying on your back, interlace the fingers of both hands and place them behind the neck. Breathing in, lift both legs and trunk off the floor. N o w breathe normally. Stay in this position for 5 seconds or more. Benefits: This posture firms up the muscles of the abdomen and upper back.

terms of more nourishing food, the body seems to respond to the challenges or demands of an exercise routine much

once read some where that “the more the body does the more it can do, “I would frame the diction a slightly differently by saying “the more often the body does, the better it can do.” When you start an exercise programme the aim should be two-foldto develop strength and attain great suppleness. Though you may not initially have any considerable supply of either, commitment, tenacious commitment for that matter, will soon make it possible for you to possess them. And with strength and suppleness you don’t wear and tear with as much rapidity. The body can take a lot more bashing and yet not break, if we take proper care of it by way of healthy eating, regular exercise and relaxation and, ofcourse, right thinking or a positive disposition. When we make changes for the better in C M Y K

probably don’t want to. “For instance, if you usually stroke him with your right hand,” advises Jane, a sexologist, “try using your left. It feels all wrong at first, but you’ll be stimulating new pathways in the brain, opening new avenues to pleasure.” She continues: ‘There’s this huge misunderstanding about sexual fantasies: talking about them can be very exciting, but you don’t have to act them out. In fact, it doesn’t usually work because fantasies are so subtle and personal, and your partner can never know the exact details of what turns you on. Talking about your fantasies while having conversational sex can be much more raunchy.” You need to give up the idea that sex has to be spontaneous to be any good. Accept that sometimes you’re going to have to plan for it, and that this doesn’t diminish the experience in any way. “Try to build in variety, but check that your partner wants to do the same thing as you,” says Jane.” Just because you get turned on by nibbling his ears, don’t assume he does too. Ignore what

If what goes into the body is healthpromoting then if you top that with regular but moderate exercise, the body responds beautifully

better. When the food is not wholesome enough it has a telling on the body. You become a lot stiffer and you tire rather easily at work and play.

When the diet is natural and is ready for eating in its raw state or with the least cooking time, there is very little toxic waste produced, the system becomes cleaner and lighter. If what goes into the body is health-promoting then if you top that with regular but moderate exercise, the body responds beautifully. Muscles that were once flabby tone-up and become well-defined and joints that were stiff and creaky before become supple. Your new-found fitness will enhance how good you feel inside and that will translate into how well you relate with people and events. Exercise doesn’t only toughen the body, it also improves the mind. For one, it improves concentration (well, yoga exercise does) a veritable tool in all human endeavours. The following are some yoga postures to help you improve your strength and elasticity.

Remember that it is vital to be able to express emotion. You need to kiss, cuddle, shout and cry. Unless you’re able to show what you’re feeling, then how can he possibly know? Men aren’t mind-readers. Self-esteem is also vital. You can’t give love to anyone else until you can feel it yourself. You need to believe that you are respected and valued for who you are, not for what you do. Stop blaming your partner. Assume that he bears you nothing but goodwill. He doesn’t mean to make you unhappy by forgetting birthdays or anniversaries. Start from the position that you both want to make your relationship work. You need to be flexible, tolerant and open - and it also helps if you fancy him! Lastly, don’t forget to take note of any changes in patterns of behaviour. If he suddenly starts to watch television late at night, it could be that he’s avoiding being close and intimate with you in bed. On the other hand, he may simply like late-night television. The important thing is to ask ...

* The Triangle Pose

Yoga classes at 32 Ademola Adetokunbo Victoria Island, Lagos, 9.10am on Saturdays

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Teacher/student relationship - It is abuse, not romance

ALLING in love with an older man is like running before you can walk,” observed Nkechi. She’d attended singlesex private schools all her life. Until in her late teens when she found herself in a university environment awash with different male shapes and sizes and of varying ages. “Until that point, the only men I’d had any daily contact with outside my family circle, were a handful of male teachers – and they were the nononsense type. “The first couple of years were spent drink-

ing in the freedom of living away from my parents and having both male and female friends. I dated a couple of guys but nothing serious happened. Until we had a new head-of-department in my third year. Apart from lecturing, he was supposed to steer us through college by being responsible for students’ welfare. To this day, I don’t know why he singled me out from the others to embarrass me. He made fun of my efforts in class, the clothes I wore and the books I read. This was very strange to someone used to more traditional teaching methods - but I soon realised the other students took no nonsense from him by answering back whenever he robbed them up the wrong way, so I did the same. “One day, he asked me to stay behind when I wanted clarification on one of the topics he was teaching. We were on our own and I decided to ask why he was always picking on me. I was mildly surprised when

he put his arm. around me and asked: ‘Don’t you realise it’s a sign of affection?” It’s probably

obvious to any adult reading this what I should have done. But I was still an impressionable teenager with no real experience of boys. Now this tall, slightly greying man was telling me he loved me. Did I hear warring bells? Of course not! Instead, I tumbled headlong into a crush that was to consume my every waking moment for the next two years. At the start, I didn’t expect my feelings to be reciprocated. He was my HOD who was also married. The shift from subtle flirting to physical contact was a smooth one. It; started six months later when the university was on break. I was alone with him in the office when he kissed me. I was so elated I kissed him back. ‘You understand you can never tell anybody about this?’, he asked. I sa’id I did. I would have done anything for him.

s far as I know, I was caught in what I believed to be a grand romance. I was still a virgin but I didn’t tell him in spite of our heavy necking that would eventually lead to the act. I didn’t want to pin him down to anything or rock the boat with a conversation about what we were doing. So when we finally got down to having sex, it was a let down for me. It happened a few weeks after my 20th birthday. He couldn’t make the party but he wanted to bring me a present. I think we both knew what was about to happen because my parents would be at work and my younger brother was still in school. I had the house all to myself. “He’d made a special effort with his grooming and when he kissed me, he asked huskily where my bedroom was and as if in a trance, I took his

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"

Loneliness

Into my world of light and music,you brought darkness and silence.You put off my candle,I could not

C M Y K

other girls.

don’t want to sound bitter, after all, I should have known better. Now that I’m a mother of three children, I look back at my teenage self and feel sorry for that girl. I can see how vulnerable she was. As for my callous user, I hope that baby his wife was expecting then was a girl. And I hope she gave him sleepless nights as a teenager, staying out all night with her rebellious boyfriend. At least that way, he’d have known she wasn’t being abused by her teacher...”. hand and led him upstairs. We sat awkwardly on the bed, then he took offhis shoes and asked me to lie down next to him. Like I said, the sex was awful, made worse by the fact that my Mum would soon be arriving from work. When she did some 30 minutes later, we were in the living room with some soft drinks between us. She was a bit startled

to find a lecturer in the house. I had no time to process my emotion, but he, on the other hand, launched a charm offensive, assuring her it was no problem to have brought a book I badly needed for a course. “After that first time, which he never knew was my first time, we fell into a pattern of having sex when my parents were out. It was a long holiday and I was very lucky not to fall pregnant because we didn’t use contraception. One day, I asked him if we were having an affair. ‘If that’s what you want to call it,’ he said. I don’t know how I expected it to end as nothing about the future was discussed. The snatched moments we had in his office, his car or my parents’ house weren’t wasted on talking. But I

believed it was love. Well what did I know? He was afterall, my first boyfriend.

“At the end of my studies, he congratulated me on making a second class upper. He wished me all the best of luck and promised to get in touch. Only, things would be a bit hectic for him over the next few months as his wife was heavily pregnant! I remember starring at him, my eyes filled with tears - it was all I could do not to cry.

ow could I make a scene? I’d never even told him how I felt, never staked a claim or admitted how much I loved him. He probably thought it had all been a bit of fun for me too. He had no idea what the last two years had meant to me. “It would be an understatement to say I was heartbroken. I managed to hide my feelings from my parents and friends, staying in my room for most of the time before my Youth Service. I thought about contacting him, but I had no way of doing so - he lost his mobile

see clearly and understand the taste and texture of love.The warmth of your lips on my cheek is now a thing of the past, the touch of your fingers on my skin is now history.It is so unfortunate that you've decided to leave me alone in the dark. Loneliness is now my companion. Edison Ewere, edisonewere@yahoo.com 08077003592, 08121312329

My love

If I could have just one wish, I would wish to wake up everyday to the sound of your breath on my neck, the warmth of your lips on my cheek. Collins Godswill lins2all@yahoo.com 08061124846

phone just before I left and I didn’t have his new number. Of course there was no contact from him. Did I mean nothing to him at all? I’ve never understood what he saw in me or why he did it. I still feel

a pang of loss, probably as things ended so abruptly and he never explained his feelings. I was left hanging for years. I wasn’t interested in boys of my age. They seemed so immature and there wasn’t the same excitement factor. “I didn’t fall in love again until after my Youth Service. I’ve been married now for years, but I still think about my lecturer. I’m not sure you ever forget your first love. I hear he’s done well for himself and is the head of one of these posh secondary schools. Ironically, it’s now his job to sack teachers who abuse the trust of parents who are paying a fortune to send their children there. I’ve often wondered if I was the only one. It would be flattering to think so, but I doubt that was the case. He took the risk with me - it would be naive to think he didn’t try it with

leopard and its spots! (Humour)

A couple return from their honeymoon and it’s obvious to everyone that they ’re not talking to each other. The groom’s best man takes him aside and asks what’s wrong. “Well” replies the man, “when we finished making love on the first night, I got up to go to the bathroom and placed three Nl ,000 notes on the pillow without thinking.” “Oh, I shouldn’t worry about that too much,” says his friend. “I’m sure your wife will get over it soon enough. She can’t expect you to have been saving yourself all these years.” The groom, nods his head gravely and continues: “I don’t know I’ll get over it though. She gave me N500 change.”

Birds of the same feather? (Humour)

A woman goes to a dating agency saying. she doesn’t care about looks, money or back ground. All she wants is a decent, honourable man. Later that day, a man comes in and tells them the only thing he is seeking in a woman is intelligence. The agency matches them together at once. They have one thing in common - they ’re both compulsive liars!

The rich loving the poor?

They are all over the places... Everywhere. Big and small,tall and short,sharp and dull. And I am here,all alone,as usual. All the ladies of these days want, is money. Can the poor ever love? Can a rich girl love a poor guy in Nigeria(not home movies)? And they probably think all poor guys are opportunists. . . What a life! Flaunt wealth,they fall like prey. Show u aint rich,they run like deers. They all like 'already made men' ...I wonder if any girl would ever stay and help a guy excel. I think I'm gonna hold on,waiting to see how a rich girl would love a poor guy like me,cuz' We are many. Stan Stan stanfeelings@gmail.com 07035709315 08182459176

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M A I L B A G

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

Subsidy probe: Now that the bubble has burst Dear Sir,

INCE the ‘secret deal’ between billionaire businessman, Femi Otedola and members of the ad-hoc committee on oil subsidy probe, especially its chairman, Hon. Farouk Lawan, became a public discourse, my mind has not been at rest. I’m particularly touched because the scandal or allegation, in a way, had vindicated millions of Nigerians, who have always maintained that no arm of government or individual at the helm of affairs at both private and public sectors can be exonerated from

the stigma of corruption, which has entered our system like cankerworms. However, if there is anything that spurred me to write this piece, it was the article I first wrote on the subject matter titled; ‘Where are the cabals?’ when I drew the attention of the public to the behind the scene drama going on over the probe. Imbued with a clear understanding of the Nigerian system, I had dismissed the whole exercise and predicted with confidence that the report of the probe would either be doctored or dumped into the dustbin of history like others before it.

Among other observations, I made it known in the said write-up that I was aware that the big players, who had money to throw around had started lobbying the who is who in President Jonathan administration, including members of the National Assembly, to make sure their names didn’t appear in the report. While this was going on, people, who had strong hope that Nigeria would one day get it right and probably saw the probe as one of the ways through which the administration would show to the world that it was serious about

Jonathan, please heed Evah’s advice on Urhobo Dear Sir,

INDLY permit me to use your national newspaper to support the call by the Niger Delta activist and Ijaw Monitoring Group leader, Joseph Evah to President Goodluck Jonathan that he should as a matter priority give the Urhobo, the fifth largest ethnic nationality in Nigeria, a position in his administration. It should be remembered that apart from the late Senator Fred Brume and a few others, Evah rose to defend the ownership of the former Oceanic Bank when he was not comfortable with the style of the take over of the bank while some prominent Urhobo indigenes kept sealed lips and searched for excuses to nail the Urhobo woman. Today, President Goodluck Jonathan who the Urhobo, the largest ethnic nationality in Delta State gave more than 50% of Delta State vote seemed bent on rubbishing the Urhobo mandate. Once again, inimitable and courageous Evah has risen to the challenge again while Urhobo generals, professors, human rights

lawyers, public affairs commentator, traditional rulers, students and women keep quiet while the present administration carries out one of the worst marginalisation of the Urhobo ethnic nationality. There is no doubt that when it comes to industry, commerce, academics, law etc. despite their minority appellation,

Urhobo can stand shoulder to shoulder with any of the ethnic majority in Nigeria. We wish to commend Joseph Evah for his concern over the marginalisation of the Urhobo. Sam Anagbo Temienor writes in from Jesse Town, Delta State, 08035182376

My advice to Federal Government Dear Sir,

FTER considering many of the crises bedeviling Nigeria of recent, like – threats to security, social injustice, youth unemployment, and political crises, massive and open corruption from the leaders, bombings, political killings, bad leadership, unrighteousness, shamelessness of the leaders among others, I advise President Goodluck Jonathan led Federal Government to be pr oactive now in taking actions against what could threaten the unity and divisibility of Nigerian nation.

Nigerians should ensure total commitment to the oneness of the nation, and those aggrieved should bury their differences for Nigeria to move forward.The unity of the nation should not be compromised or negotiated, as Nigeria has gone too far, for us to break now. The Federal Government should address all socio-economic, political and religious pending matters in the nation’s political set-up, so as to douse the tension in the country.

Prophet Oladipupo FunmiladeJoel, General Overseer, TWOREM Int’l, Lagos, 08057741511.

fighting against corruption, didn’t see any sense in the alarm. One of such people who reacted to what I published like many optimists had cited the pedigree of some of the members of the committee, as his major reason why he was sure the composition would do wonders. As a result of this, he discarded my opinion as a pessimist and armchair analyst, who probably

didn’t like the face of the administration. But with the revelation that his cherished Hon. Farouk Lawal collected $620,000 as bribe, the writer and others in his class, who believed the probe would bring positive report must have known better by now. Much as the outcome of the whole exercise bothers me, my major problem is whether the new twist would frustrate the good intention the house had in mind before embarking on the probe. Also, as is being rumoured in some quarters, does it mean that the big players in the oil and gas industry –the so called cabals, had actually settled their way out? Whichever way, major actors in this new drama, have again opened Nigeria to ridicule before the international communities. And for the upcomin g companies,

whose names have suddenly jumped

to the prominent positions in the report, the report will go down into record as a major onslaught against entrepreneurship spirit of investors. I conclude this way because there is no sign of fairness in the way the small oil concerns were treated, compared to the unnecessary respect being accorded the giants of the industry. However, Nigerians and indeed, the international community are watching to see what would be the outcome of this and the effort the Jonathan administration will make to ensure justice.

Ayodeji, a member of Never Again Group (NAG) writes in from Lagos, raheem.ayodeji@yahoo.com

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 23

So lonely at heart! Dear Rebecca

AM a seventeen year old, emotion ally lonely boy just out of secondary school. Most times I don’t have anyone to think of or relate to, tenderly. I believe my loneliness can be solved if I find myself a girl friend my age who would be nice and friendly. I do have male friends,but that doesn’t solve the problem. My parents cannot. What do I do, please? Freddie, Ogun State. REPL Y REPLY

AVING lots of relatives or friends around one to talk to and interact with, cannot cure a deep feeling of aloneness that some people have, particularly those who long to be loved. Sometimes, it is just caring people around one that one needs. People who are interested in us and in everything about us, not just in our studies or the help we can render in the home, like parents and relatives tend to be. We want a listening ear that we can tell our dreams and hopes and aspirations, and get sympathy or support. Or for those people to be there just for us. This makes us feel loved and wanted and it melts that feeling of loneliness. On the other hand, it could be a need to be romantically involved with a member of the opposite sex that makes us feel lonely. Young people have their dreams of romantic love. Someone to think of romantically, talk to, and perhaps touch. This is all very normal in any human being . What makes the difference is the way we react to this need or feeling. Some people go out to make friends with other people and interact with them, chatting, paying visits, exchanging books, clean dvds, etc. or join a society in their religious organization and render service to the poor and needy. They keep themselves busy mixing with others in a useful way, not not just sticking to their studies or jobs. This brings satisfaction as you give and take in relationships. There are others however, who prefer to stay in their shell, expecting other people to come draw them out in friendship and do all the loving. This later group are those who feel acute loneliness in their hearts even in the midst of a crowd. So, I advise you to reach out and make friends with responsible boys and girls. Join

youth clubs in your area or in your religious organization, so that you can mix with other people and render help to the less privileged. At the same time keep your education in view. When we are busy thinking of ways of helping other people or, serving in any way, we won’t have the time to feel lonely. We feel useful and needed and happy. As you mature, casual relationship with girls can blossom into a romantic one with the girl of your choice, and you will be on your way to emotional maturity.

After the act, he doubts my innocence! Dear Rebecca I AM 22 years,same age as my boyfriend. Because I was a virgin, it took eight months into our relationship before I allowed sex as he was complaining that he had been patient enough, and other men would have insisted on sex earlier. Unfortunately, I did not bleed as expected after the act, probably because he used a condom. He was very unhappy and asked me to tell him the truth. I am equally unhappy too because he is the first for me. What could have been responsible for this ? I am very worried. Bridget Abuja.

REPL Y REPLY

HIS may sound old fashioned, but you shouldn’t have allowed your boyfriend sex, and held on to your virginity, self-respect and peace of mind. You did not say what you both do, but at his age I doubt if he is ready to marry you and settle down now. Most people do not place high value on what they get cheap. You do not have to give your body to a boy to prove that you love him, or to make him marry you, or to be faithful to you forever. It is good for girls to keep saying ‘no’ until they get married. Instead of this man being grateful that you allowed him to use your body to relieve his sexual tension, he’s insulting you by accusing you of deceiving him, telling him you’re a virgin whereas you were not! One would have understood his feelings if he were your

husband, and you had told him that you were a virgin. We believe firmly at Dear Rebecca that a girl should give out her body only when she’s legally married to a man, and not before, for any reason. The truth is that even though it’s advisable for a girl to save her body for when she gets married, being a virgin when a she marries is not what makes a good and faithful wife, or, ensures that a marriage is peaceful, blissful and fruitful. Some girls who’ve been street girls and are reformed, do marry and make very good, faithful and devoted wives and mothers. Women who are widows or divorcees are obviously no longer virgins; but men do love them and their habits and character enough to marry them, and they go on to make good wives and mothers. So, even though remaining a virgin is very desirable, a man who really loves you would not hold that against you. He would go ahead to marry you. A gentleman would never ask his girl if she’s a virgin. It’s the girl who may tell him she is, if he asks for sex. Be wise now, and leave off having sex until your wedding night. However, if there had been a show of blood when you had sex with that boy, it would have shown on the condom. A girl is de-flowered when something penetrates her vagina and breaks the thin film of flesh stretched across right up in there. Now, the thickness of this film of flesh varies from girl to girl. In some girls, it

is thick, says an expert. This can frustrate a husband on their wedding night, especially when the bride tenses up and is not relaxed. Some girls have been reduced to painful tears as a result of ‘no show’ on that wedding night. The situation could ruin their enjoyment of intimacy forever even when she had been de-flowered. In

other girls, the film of flesh is so thin that any strenuous exercises like jogging, climbing and the use of tampon for menstruation, can make it break easily. You may not know at all , particularly if it happens during your period and the blood mixes with the usual flow. Also, penetration is supposed to be painful

for a girl that first time, whether there is a show of blood or not, but here again, when a girl can relax her pelvis, she may not experience pain. In all, trust is the keynote in any relationship Most important for your life now, is what you’re doing about a future career, going for further studies, learning a vocation, etc.

I can't control myself! Dear Rebecca

AM a 6.3 feet tall 15 year old boy. I am not handsome and I can’t say if I am intelligent or not, as my position in class hovers between the first and third positions. My problem is that I spend most of my time thinking about having sex with girls. I thank God that I have never had sex with any girl, but I do fondle girls, even my own sister. I don’t know how to control myself. Though I have stopped fondling my sister, the case is not so with other girls. I don’t know whether a curse has been placed on me. In my family, I am the tallest. In school, the friends I thought could influence me for good are having bad impact on me. That is making me grow from bad to worse. I am so ashamed of my height and I don’t know what to do. I am the tallest in my class. Please advise me before I commit suicide. N. Lagos.

REPL Y REPLY

understand how you feel about your height at your age, but I as-

sure you that you are very lucky, and many people would rather be too tall than too short. Think of all the advantages of a tall person e.g you can reach things high up, whereas other people have to stand on chairs; you can see above other people’s heads at functions. Tall people are much sought after for a career in basket ball and very tall people like Hakeem Olajuwon, Micheal Jordan and Magic Johnson have made lots of money from it. I know there are inconveniences like having to take a large size in most things which is not easy to come by; and then those silly jokes made by flippant people, which can make one terribly self-conscious and embarrassed! You have to learn right now to be grateful to God for the body He has given you. It is for a purpose. Ask Him how you can use your height to glorify Him. Now, God has created in us the feeling for sex, and it is not a sin to want sex. It is what we do about the feeling which can be sinful. Whatever our religion, our body is the temple of God and it should not be defiled

in any way. There are clear rules about sex. It is to make babies in a recognized and approved relationship like marriage. It is also to strengthen affection in a marriage. Strictly speaking, anything done outside this is a sin. A young man will normally be curious about sex and would want to experiment, especially as most young men usually gather together to talk about their sexual adventures- real or imagined. Many of these stories are not true; just jazz talk to impress the hearers. Pornographic pictures, books and films also make people want to experiment. The sensible thing to do is to decide firmly that having sex now will not benefit you, and you will wait until you are more mature emotionally and know more about your body, sex, contraceptives and venereal diseases. Also, your education and career take priority in your life now, so that you can be somebody in future. If you direct your energy towards your studies and hobbies like jogging, sports, and are very active, you will think less of girls and sex. Ask God to help you stop.

•All letters for publication on this page should be sent to: Dear Rebecca, Vanguard Media Ltd, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B 1007, Apapa, Lagos, Nigeria. E-mail: dearrebecca2@yahoo.com

PAGE 24—SUNDAY VANGUARD,JULY 29, 2012

Re: Free import duties on machinery O

C M Y K

NE of the most distressing things in life is the state of be ing unemployed, and not being in a position to have a means of livelihood. We may well accuse the present generation of being lazy, laid-back, and wanting a life of luxury without their having to lift a finger to work, but at the same time, we should ask ourselves what we’re doing to empower the ones who are disadvantaged. With the high rate of unemployment, more and more people are becoming selfemployed. When these are established, then they become employers of labour themselves in a small way. This move will certainly help to reduce the unemployment queue. A people-friendly government would not just run vocational courses for young people, and perhaps equip them with the materials with which to set up on completion of their courses, but would ensure that things are put in place which would ensure success in their work, and bring success to their lives. Whenever a government runs vocational courses for young people, widows and the needy, there is a lot of publicity about it to show how caring and responsible that government is. This is of course not without self-interest, as the motive is usually so that the political party of that government can be voted back into power, come the next elections. But re-visit the beneficiaries of that programme several years later, and you would hear sad stories of how they couldn’t run the business any more because the machinery had broken down, and no money to replace them; poor electricity supply and no money to buy a generator; grounded vehicles and high costs of spare parts, etc. Soon, some of these people are back on the streets, looking for work. “Auntie Helen, surely the government knows that they charge high import duties on machinery and other materials needed for manufacturing in this country. And they know that this is the basic reason why many industries are folding up, and throwing people out of jobs. The truth of the matter is that our rulers just don’t care about the implications of their policies on those they rule. They are not concerned about how tough life has become for the common man. Only God can deliver this country. - John, Lagos.” “Madam, it isn’t just import duties that is responsible for industries closing down. What about the dismal electricity supply? And to think that in spite of this, the tarrifs have been raised! For what purpose? Our rulers are cushioned off against all austerity measures, so, what do they care about how the citizens are coping with life? Their main concern now seems to be how to get more of our money into their greedy pockets before their term runs out. Meanwhile there other greedy politicians waiting in the wings to step into their shoes, so that the vicious circle can continue. Only an uprising can stop this. - A concerned Nigerian.” “Mrs. Ovbiagele, all over the country are discarded buildings and machinery which were once factories bustling with activities and providing employment for Nigerians. Come to Benin City where I live, and go along Sapele Road, New Benin/Lagos Road, East Circular, etc., and you would find disused factories which have since shut down. The premises are overgrown with weeds, and are now home to reptiles and small animals. What about Benin/Abuja Road? Same thing. I’m sure this is a common sight all over the country. Go and ask the owners what happened and they would tell you that they couldn’t afford

View-Point

Helen Ovbiagele Woman Editor

“If much-needed machinery is imported cheaply into the country, and there’s a steady supply of electricity, not only would dead industries be revived, a few new ones would spring up. At the moment, we import some very ridiculous things, simply because the local industries were not aided to survive by the government. Think of candles, matches, condiments, rubber footwear, raincoats and umbrellas, lamps, torches, tyres, and some petty vehicle spare parts, etc. For goodness’ sake, these are things that we can produce here, if the machinery is affordable and there’s good and steady power supply. We can then import those items which are still too complicated for us to make. Tito, Aba.” “Does the government realize that by importing virtually every-

thing, and stifling the local industries with high import duties, they’re helping the economy of other nations, keeping their citizens employed, while depriving Nigerians of a means of livelihood? Where’s the sense in this? It’s not as if we don’t have highly qualified experts who can, or who should advise the government on its policies. If we help local industries to stay strong, and encourage them to produce high qualify goods, unemployment figure would fall, and our children will be able to walk into ready jobs right from the universities, like it used to be in the good old days. It’s crazy to make policies which kill industries and throw people out of jobs, and then turn round to scream that there’s a rise in violence and criminal activities, and moral decadence in the land. We should get our priorities right. Thanks, A, Amis, Lagos.”

If much-needed machinery is imported cheaply into the country, and there’s a steady supply of electricity, not only would dead industries be revived, a few new ones would spring up the high costs of replacing the obsolete machinery, and the generators. It’s a crying shame that an oil and gas producing country like ours has a history of poor electricity supply. If you set up an industry, relying on power supply from the government, that business is doomed from the start. You just have to have generators. This means that you have to pass on the high cost of diesel and generator maintenance, to the consumers. At the end of the day, locally produced things cost much more than those imported from countries in Asia. It’s natural that our people would go for the cheaper products. If you can no longer sell your products, you would shut down and send your employees away. I’m sure our rulers know what to do to improve our economy and bring unemployment down. Thanks, ma. - Nathaniel, Edo State.” “Madam, thank you for that your piece on free import duties on machinery. If the government will accept M.A.N’s suggestion, local industries will pick up again, and that will reduce the number of the unemployed in the country. This will in turn reduce the number of criminal activities, unemployment-related suicides, and also violence in the land. Ma, do you know that some men who have lost their jobs due to retrenchment/industries folding up, could become violent in the home, in their frustration/shame at staying home while their neighbours are at work, and having to live on handouts from friends and relatives? It’s not as if there’s social security benefits for them to fall back on during the period of unemployment. The government should think hard before doing things that will further drive citizens into despair. An umployed middle-aged Nigerian. Abuja.”

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SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 25

Pirates or extra-judicial killings victims? The purported picture of the youths before the killings

Bitter celebration

T was celebration galore for the Joint Task Force (JTF) in Niger-Delta, codenamed Operation Pulo Shield, when its troops, June 23, accosted some purported sea pirates in the creek of Bayelsa State and shot dead six of them in a supposed gun battle, while the seventh suspect, who escaped with bullet wounds, later died. One of the suspects, Tony Ebipa, a speedboat driver, was married with two wives and two children. In fact, one of his wives was pregnant at the time he was killed, last month. Another victim, Timi Esemogha, a bricklayer, was married to one wife with one child. Media Coordinator of JTF, Lt. Col Onyema Nwachukwu, told reporters: “About 5.00 pm on June 23, troops of JTF Operation Pulo Shield, at Agge, while on patrol along River Ramos, encountered a gang of seven suspected pirates. On sighting our troops, the pirates opened fire and our patrol troops immediately returned fire. “Six pirates were killed in the encounter while one escaped into the river with gunshot wounds”. He added that items recovered included one 200-horse power speedboat, two single barrel guns, seven mobile phones, two hack saw blades, four wraps of substance suspected to be Indian hemp and four torch lights. Few days, however, human rights activists and families of the purported suspects raised dust over the killings, alleging extra-judicial murder. They claimed there was C M Y K

Controversy over N-Delta killings zVictims were pirates, they opened fire on us — JTF zSoldiers arrested, killed them — Activists, families no exchange of gunfire between the youths (suspects) and soldiers who arrested them before they were murdered.

Charge against the JTF

The activists: National president of the Ijaw People Development Initiative, IPDI, Mr. Ozobo Austin; Mallam Yusuf Eregbene; and Omemiroro Ogedegbe, have called on the Chief of the Army Staff to probe the extra-judicial murder of the six Niger-Delta youths”.

By Emma Amaize Regional Editor, South-South

tured and arrested. It, however, noted with dismay that the youths (suspects) were eliminated by operatives of the JTF, who alleged that the youths, later labeled as sea pirates, engaged them in a shootout.

No shootout with JTF

Given the above backdrops, the activists made four submissions: First, “That there was never a shootout between the alleged youths and operatives of the Joint Task Force”. Sec-

This report is barbaric and uncalled for, and they should have respect for humanity and mankind and desist from further unlawful killing of this kind

In a petition, dated July 1, addressed to the Chief of the Army Staff, by the legal adviser to IPDI, Ogedegbe, the group said the seven NigerDelta youths were confronted, June 23, by operatives of JTF in Bayelsa State, duly cap-

ondly, “That the information released by the JTF as published in national newspapers is entirely false and calculated to rationalize a clear sense of sheer murder.” Thirdly, “That it was after the successful arrest of the six youths by

the operatives of the JTF that they were eliminated in a manner that smacked of sheer murder.”

Seized before extermination

And fourthly, “That the photographs and witness evidences clearly support our claims that the youths were duly captured and arrested only to have been eliminated in cold blood , an act they (JTF)) are not authorized by any law in force in Nigeria to so do”. “The activists added: “The above situation demands your intervention and investigation so as to initiate a court marshal process as required for the officers involved to answer for their act of sheer murder. “In the light of the above, we shall be compelled to have recourse to the law court without further notice on you if you do not initiate the process of unraveling the officers involved in this act of extra-judicial murder within seven days of your receipt of this letter as to leave this murderous tendencies un-corrected will not augur well for the region.”

Photographic evidence

IPDI national president, Ozobo, maintained, in an interview with Sunday Van-

guard, that the deceased persons were returning from a burial ceremony when they were confronted and arrested on the waterways by the JTF soldiers, who took them to Agge community, but later shot them dead after telling villagers that they were taking them to Warri. He showed photographs of the suspects, taken by villagers at Agge community after they were arrested by soldiers. According to him, “As I Investigated the circumstances surrounding the death of the innocent law abiding citizens of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, I was told by a community source that the JTF intercepted them when they were returning from a burial ceremony. They were accused of stealing, sea piracy and militancy. They were subjected to all kinds of human indignity and, immediately, their hands were tied. They were subsequently brought to Agge community in Bayelsa State, where eye witnesses with sophisticated phones photographed them unknown to the soldiers”.

Murdered in cold blood

Ozobo went on: “After that, the Joint Task Force took them away, deceiving the villagers and sympathizers that they were taking them to Warri for imprisonment, and, unfortunately, cut the lives of the law abiding citizens by shooting them on their way to Warri. “The Joint Task force allegedly reported that they were killed in gun dual or a shootout. This report is barbaric and uncalled for, and they should have respect for humanity and mankind and desist from further unlawful killing of this kind. “I condemn this senseless killing because they were not arrested on gun point, neither killed in a shootout, as I was told no weapon was found in their boat when they were accosted by the Pulo Shield”.

JTF’s counter claim

Nevertheless, Nwachukwu, the JTF spokesman, who was emailed the photograph by Sunday Vanguard, said, “The picture seems to depict a parade of six and not seven”. He maintained the suspects opened fire on the troops, saying, “Single barrel guns, three hard saws, seven mobile phones and 200 horsepower boat were recovered from them… It is common knowledge that pirates usually use high -powered boats as the exhibit recovered from the pirates because of their sea-goContinues on page

PAGE 26—SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 29, 2012

Country News

Double jeopardy for Ursula! *Battles kidney failure, uterine fibroid

MAGINE a life of uncertainty. Imagine a death sentence hang ing over your head. Imagine knowing that help is next door but you cannot access it simply because you don’t have the means? These aptly explain the predicament of 27 – year- old Ursula Nwachukwu, who is battling with a potentially fatal disorder described as End Stage Kidney Failure in medical parlance. Ursula’s two kidneys have packed up. Her condition is compounded by uterine fibroid - another life-threatening ailment. A first glance gives the false impression that she is in the last trimester of pregnancy. Alas! She is not. She is in double jeopardy. Both conditions are usually a one-way ticket to death if not urgently addressed. She bloats up in size day by day, but, deadly as her condition is, doctors are hopeful that there is a reprieve. With N2.7 million, Ursula will be on her feet again. Before now, the young woman was full of expectations. A graduate of accountancy from University of Lagos, UNILAG, she was diagnosed with

By Chioma Obinna

A first glance gives the false impression that she is in the last trimester of pregnancy. Alas! She is not. She is in double jeopardy. Both conditions are usually a one-way ticket to death if not urgently addressed

chronic kidney disease in January 2011, while awaiting her call-up for the National Youth Corps (NYSC). More pathetic is the fact that she was unable to make it to the NYSC camp. Ill health denied her that pleasure. For Ursula and her guardian, Theodore Akojuru, life has not been easy since her diagnosis. Her life has been full of pain and anguish. Akojuri, Ursula’s brother in-law, noted that since the diagnosis, she has been in and out of hospital seeking cure. The illness has taken her to Imo State where she undergoes dialysis twice/thrice weekly at Urlu Specialist Hospital. Information has it that her renal transplant would be done locally at the Specialist Hospital. The hospital was recently upgraded and equipped with modern facilities by Governor Rochas Okorocha. Akojuri is confident his in-law can be well attended to at the hospital, but is worried the chronic level of poverty in the land is

denying millions of people from accessing quality and affordable treatment. “Of late, she became very ill, we have been taking her from hospital to hospital. In January last year, after series of tests, she was discovered to have kidney failure. So she started dialysis. At first, my family and my wife’s family picked the bill, while we made plans to get the bulk money for her operation. But when the burden became unbearable, we started looking for funds from individuals and organizations. Medical examinations carried out by a consultant radiologist, Dr. C. U Ibekwe, indicated that Ursula’s two kidneys show grade three renal disease and

that there is free intraperitoneal fluid. It also indicated CRF with different kidney sizes, renal artery stenosis and urine fibroid. Continuing, Akojuri recalled his experience with an Imo Foundation allegedly set up by Governor Rochas Okorocha to cater for the needs of the less privileged. He said: “In our search for help, we took her to Imo Foundation. When we got there, she was number 30 on the list of people seeking help for kidney transplant. There, things are done the normal way and people are attended on first come, first served basis. We know that is how it should be, but because she is in a critical condition, we cannot let her wait her turn. “This is a matter of life and death. This is why we decided to come to talk to the media. We want Nigerians at home and abroad to come to Ursula’s aid. She is to undergo two surgeries and we need help from everyone in any way possible to carry out these operations on her. “Help us please. We don’t want anything to happen to Ursula. So, we are calling on individuals and all health foundations to come to our aid. We gathered that the MTN Foundation has been doing a lot in this regard, and we are reaching out to the company for assistance.” If you are touched by Ursula’s story please send your donations to Mr. Theodore Akojuri, Diamond Acct. no. 002 605 4857 or call him on 08120094947

Pirates opened fire on us — JTF Continued frompage

and met some people in government to find a way out to get him released, it was then they told me that he had already been killed,” she said.

ing capability”.

‘Notorious pirates’

According to him, “These notorious pirates had been carrying out attacks on innocent users of the Agge River waterway until they ran out of luck. They were seven and not six. One of them escaped with gunshot wounds. “What were they doing with hard saws and weapons if they were actually coming from a funeral”.

Families disagree

Mrs. Oyatede Ebipa, a trader from Orugbene in Burutu, Delta State, who identified herself as the mother of Tony Ebipa, one of the victims, a speedboat driver, told Sunday Vanguard, “I was at home on June 23 when a message came to me that my son was arrested by the army and they brought a photograph to show me. “Since then, I have been looking for my son, I don’t know his whereabouts”. Mrs. Ebipa lives in Patani.

My son not a sea pirate

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‘JTF lied’

Bereaved mothers: Mrs. Oyatede Ebipa ( right) and Mrs. Oyakebisemo Esemogha

– Mrs Ebipa

She said her son resided in Warri Corner, Warri and debunked the claim that he was a sea pirate. Mrs. Ebipa also said it was not true that her son was an ex-militant.

Visit to JTF, Yenagoa

She said that when she was told that Tony was arrested by the JTF, she went to the office of the task force in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, but was told by soldiers at the gate that there was no such person in their custody and that she should not come back to the place.

Timi was a bricklayerMrs. Esemogha

Mrs. Oyakebisemo Esemogha, mother of Timi, who was also shot dead, denied that her son was a sea pirate, saying he was a bricklayer and sand supplier. She confirmed that her son was shot dead by soldiers on July 28, five days after the incident. “I was invited by my family elders and when I came down to meet them in Warri, I was told that my son was arrested and they showed me the picture of his arrest with other boys. After I was told, I went

Mrs. Esemogha said the soldiers claimed that her son was a sea pirate, but the information she got from villagers at Agge, where they were taken to after they were arrested by the soldiers, was different from the story that they opened fire on soldiers. She insisted that the people of Agge community confirmed that all the suspects were first arrested and brought by the soldiers to the community before they were taken away and killed. Both mothers said they were not aware of the story that some sea pirates robbed some persons on the day their sons were killed by soldiers.

Findings

Investigation by Sunday Vanguard showed that the suspects were actually arrested by soldiers and shot dead afterwards. Unknown to the soldiers, however, some of the

villagers had taken photographs of the suspects when they were brought to Agge. But, it could not be ruled out that they were ex-militants linked them to membership of the Movement for the Survival of Niger-Delta Disarmed Youth, MOSONDY, led by Seiyifa Gbereke, alias “General” Cairo, who was arrested by the JTF, recently, in Yenagoa. The group was responsible for the series of bombings on oil pipelines belonging to Shell Nigeria Production Company, SNPECo, and Agip in Delta and Bayelsa states in recent months, but they did not open fire on soldiers, as alleged by the task force, and, according to the laws of the country, a suspect is regarded as innocent until proven guilty. Sunday Vanguard, nevertheless, gathered that a number of soldiers were jittery over the matter, as some persons in authority who knew the truth had vowed that those involved would be made to face the music if the matter went beyond their expectation.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 27

Country News

Lack of trust goes deadly

Woman to court:

What kind of man would strip his wife naked in public? Stories by Adeola Adenuga away in Abeokuta to report the mari- the husband was always stripping

28-year-old woman, Mrs. Rachel Raheem, told an Agege customary court that her husband, Mr. Aliu Raheem, beat her constantly and once stripped her naked in the public. The husband denied the allegations.Rachel, who lives at 84, Egbabo Street Agege, said her husband was fond of bringing home other women and had sex with them in her presence. According to her, confronting him on his behaviour always led to him beating the hell out of her. She informed the court that her husband would not give her more than #500 as feeding allowance, but would increase the money to #700 whenever he wanted to have sex with her. The wife claimed that they had lived as husband and wife for 11 years despite the fact that no formal marriage was contracted and no bride price was paid. “To my surprise, he got married to another lady secretly, and the lady delivered a baby shortly after l gave birth to my second child”. Rachel alleged that her husband became something else after the second wife moved in. Once, she claimed, he descended heavily on her to the extent that she had to deliver a baby through Caesarian operation.She informed the court that her husband threw her belongings out of the matrimonial home, while she was

tal problems to her mother-in-law. The estranged wife said she regretted marrying Aliu, because “he was a very difficult person”. Speaking in the same vein, Chief Oloyede lsaac, who claimed to be Rachel`s father’s childhood friend, testified that Aliu was wicked, adding that he always beat the wife. Oloyede informed the court that he was the one that encouraged Rachel to institute the divorce case when he could no longer tolerate the way

his wife naked in pubic. In his defence, Aliu said his wife lacked care for him and the children. The husband added that Rachel always returned from the market late in the night and that the situation made it difficult for him and the children to eat. He denied beating the wife, but admitted to slapping her when they had misunderstanding sometime ago.The court president, Mr. Emmanuel Shokunle, adjourned the case till August 7 for further hearing.

Host community gets best two students’ scholarships By Favour Nnabugwu

n line with the popular proverb that says it takes a village to raise a child, a combination of British, American and Nigerian curriculum school, Mervyn Academy, has commenced plans to award scholarships to best two students from each of the schools within its host community. The school, which occupies 4.25 hectares of land in Sabon-Lugbe, is determined to impact on its host community by granting scholarships to best two students from within that community.Senior Principal of the school, Dr Gabriel Onyekuru, in Abuja, said the school would meet with heads of communities and schools about picking two best students from each of the schools within the host

community. He said in addition to the vital role that parents and family members play in a child’s education, the broader community too has a responsibility to assure highquality education for students. With full commencement in September, the school has five noncognitive approaches to learning such as academic behavior, mindset, perseverance, learning and strategies, and social skills. Onyekuru made this known while unfolding the plans of the school to take students beyond the traditional method of teaching by imbibing the culture of physical, psychological and social approach to learning with all the learning equipment of touch, feel and think.

From left: Mrs Adebimpe Akinsola, member, Lagos State House of Assembly Ikorodu constituency, Deaconess Folasade Oyeniyi, the new chairman, YWCA, Lagos branch and Mrs Adefunmilayo Tejuosho, Lagos State House of Assembly, during the investiture of the new chairman and members of the executive recently.

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‘ I almost died of ‘Magun’ planted on me by my husband’ A

34-year-old nurse, Mrs. Taiwo Akinode, has dragged her husband, Mr. Toyin Akinode, before an Oshodi customary court for allegedly planting ‘magun’ on her over lack of trust. The woman, who claimed that her husband was an “ lfa” worshipper, informed the court Taiwo that thought she was promiscuous, and whenever her mother tried to intervene in their disagreement, he would want to beat her up. “When my husband planted ‘magun’ on me just because he didn`t trust me, l almost lost my life before my relations came to the rescue, and it was later discovered that he was the culprit.” The estranged wife however noted that her marriage with Akinode was a result of a prophesy she received from her pastor in confirmation of her rightful husband. Taiwo alleged that her husband was fetish, and that what informed her decision to sue him for divorce was that he always threatened to kill her. She urged the court to dissolve the marriage, because she cannot cope with his trouble anymore. The 37-year-old mechanic (Toyin) did not deny the allegations. He pointed out that his wife was aware that he was an “lfa” worshipper before they got married five years ago.The husband added that he was fed up with the marriage and that the court should proceed with the dissolution. He promised to pay #4,000 monthly for the maintenance of the children and would also prefer to visit them at school in order to avoid any trouble with Taiwo.

My man slept with our daughter – Housewife A

housewife, Mrs. Janet Unwah, told an Orile Agege Customary Court that her husband, Mr. Augustine Unwah abandoned home after he had sex with their first daughter who was in her tender age. The mother of five, who claimed to have caught her husband pants down, informed the court that Augustine was a drunkard and that whenever he was drunk, he would beat her mercilessly at the slightest provocation. Janet said that the husband ran away from home initially only to come back to beg her for forgiveness. She added that they no longer lived as husband and wife, and that he had stopped giving her money for the upkeep of the children. She therefore urged the court to dissolve the marriage and grant her custody of the children. Though Augustine admitted to being a drunkard, he quickly said Janet was a beer drinker too. He claimed that he did everything to provide food for his children, but his wife didn‘t appreciate it. The 47-year-old man therefore pleaded that the court should not dissolve the marriage, because he was ready to save his marriage. Meanwhile, the court president, Mr. J. O. Adewusi, adjourned the case for further hearing.

28 —SUNDAY, Vanguard, JULY 29, 2012

With Ayo Onikoyi

08033286159

Dr a’s jolly bir thda Dr.. Basirat Giw Giwa’s birthda thdayy celebration

hen the popular doc tor and philanthro pist, Basirat Giwa of Anthony Village clocked 60 three weeks ago,her friends and family were invited to the prestigious Oriental Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos for jolly good evening of fun and merriment. While good music charged the air, friends and family get together in a friendly, merry-goround mood, clicking glasses of wine in a toast to the celebrant to wish her many more years, thus, giving her a gift of memories to linger for long. See photos by Lamidi Bamidele

Celebrant, Dr. Basirat Giwa flanked by daughter, Omoniyi (l) and husband, Engr. Blast Giwa (r)

From right: Dr. Toks Dabiri, Mrs Balogun, Chief (Mrs) Iyamide Gafar, Mrs Ronke Gbenleand Basirat Giwa, celebrant.

From right: Gyorgyi Akinyooye, Grace Giwa, Basirat Giwa and Rose Obazee

From right; Mr Lanre Akintilo, Otunba Sola Adenuga-Taiwo, Miss Akaoma Onyemelukwe, Engr. Blast Giwa, Chief Tunde Gafar, Basirat Giwa, celebrant, Mr Ayo Aremu, Mrs Bunmi Aremu, Arc. Debo Aina and Lydia Collingwoode Williams

From right: Mrs Ronke Gbenle, Rose Obazee, Wunmi Ruwase and Oyin Bakinson

Wedding bell ffor or FFolak olak e and Abdulaziz olake

he families of late Joel Okundayo Erosoyin of Ijagba, Ondo state and that of Alhaji (Chief) Yakubu Buraimoh Ainwenlimiobor of Jagbe, Edo state became one when their children; Abiodun Folake and Alhaji Abduaziz Okumagbe Braimoh were joined together in a traditional marriage on July 7th at Sapele, Delta state.

Members of OmugeIwere Society, Lagos Branch with the couple, Alhaji Abdulaziz and Abiodun Folake

The couple; Alhaji and MrsAbduaziz Okumagbe Braimoh

SUNDAY, Vanguard, JULY 29, 2012 —29

Fanfare as Ajimobi’s mo ther is laid tto o rest mother With Ayo Onikoyi

08033286159

Valedict or or fformer ormer CJN aledictor oryy session ffor

t was encomium galore at the valedictory session held for the immediate past Chief Justice of Nigeria CJN, Justice Dahiru Musdapher , who retired from the bench of the Supreme Court at the mandatory age of 70 years th on Friday July 13 . Friends, colleagues and even mother of the former CJN were in attendance to be part of the glorious departure. Photos by Abayomi Adesida

Immediate Past Chief Justice of Nigeria, Justice Dahiru Musdapher being closely followed by other Supreme Court Justices shortly after a special valedictory session

emains of Alhaja Sikirat Abeje Ajimobi, mother of Oyo State governor, Abiola Ajimobi, were on Thursday committed to mother earth at her husband’s home in Apata Area of Ibadan.The burial was held amidst eulogies for the late Madam Ajimobi by presiding clerics and other dignitaries at the occasion. Notable amongst those present were Babatunde Fashola (Lagos), former Governors Lam Adesina, Bola Tinubu, Omololu Olunloyo and others

From left; Chief Moses Alake Adeyemo, Deputy Governor, Oyo state, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state and his wife, Florence with Hon. Monsurat Sunmonu, Speaker, Oyo state.

Graduation

awrence Akpeki Binitie was joined by his par ents, Chief and Dr (Mrs) Jones Binitie in the United Kingdom during his graduation from the University of York, U.K. with a First Class honours in mathematics and economics.

Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu flanked by Justice Dahiru Musdapher and the in-coming CJN, Justice Aloma Mukhtar

Mother of the former CJN, Mama Musdapher and family members arriving for the valedictory session

From left; Aremo Olusegun Osoba, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo state and Justice Badejo Adeniji, CJ, Oyo state

From left: Flt. Engr. Chief Jones E. Binitie, the Abootu of Uvwie Kingdom, Mr Lawrence Akpeki Binitie and Dr (Mrs) Agatha Binitie

From left; Mrs Tola Oyeniran, Alhaja Mutiat Ladoja and Brig. Gen. Raji Rasaki.

Mimik o’s declar ation holds Ak ure ssttands till Mimiko’s declaration Akure andstill

overnor Olusegun Mimiko took his time in declaring his intention to go for second term in office and when he did on Wednesday there was some sense of style and panache to it. Not only did the governor get several eminent Nigerians involved to see how far he has fared he also carried the people along just as well. Photos by Joe Akintola, Photo Editor

Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko while declaring his intent to run for 2nd term

Ondo State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mimiko exchanging pleasantries with former Presidential Aspirant, Chief Olu Falae

Mrs. Olukemi Mimiko with former ACN Governorship Aspirant, Dr Olu Agunloye

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PAGE 32, SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012

Media Deployment in Times of Crises P

e are tempted to skip our original work plan in laying out this article at this point, as the power and influence of the media at times like this flash through our minds. We noted the enormous influence of media at times like this. But because that is not the focus of our presentation at this time, we shall keep with our original plan. We are today, considering the importance of media in the entire process of marketing communication, advertising and brand building, with special attention on the strategic imperatives for a scientific, professional and effective media engagement. Add to that is the very important issue of cost efficiency. Every campaign planning involves the tripod of creative, media and background brand and market analysis. It is only when all three aspects of the planning process aligns with the client's

When we started out in the practice one of the theoretic calculation we were made to know is the formula for determining the percentage of waste in every campaign budget (of course media budget is the focus). So, from start, a portion of advertising budget is taken as wasted. Till today, practitioners are still working on identifying that safe waste margin, with the objective of cutting down that percent of wastage to the barest minimum (as a proof of professionalism).

brief that a presentation is set to go (we have just compressed so much in this loose reference). Functionally, media engagement is that aspect of campaign planning and development process concerned with determining the right media engagement strategy for effective and cost efficient delivery of prepared brand message to the identified target audience. Media contribution is so critical

ERMIT me to quickly establish the focus of this article, to the extent that we are drawing attention to some strategic imperatives that should be considered in the business and practice of media planning and deployment in the process of campaign planning and execution. We also like to be quick to establish the fact that in campaign planning and execution, media engagement is a key element for successful implementation. To the extent that the gamut of media vehicle options remains the only way of connecting brands with set target audience, and also to enable brand-consumer relationship, media is the most important of the component in campaign planning and execution. Let us digress a bit by aligning with the mood of the nation at the moment. Nigerians are presently largely divided between the pro and anti camps on the issue of petroleum subsidy removal. Each side of the divide is holding fast to beliefs and hypothesis based on past experiences, failed expectation, love for the country and the need to survive. To the families of all who unfortunately lost their lives in the protest we send our condolences, and pray that the souls of the departed rest in peace. It has been an unfortunate development no one can be said to be happy about. We at MC&A DIGEST join all well-meaning citizens of this great country in praying for calm, peaceful and progressive nation.

planning and buying; it involves so much that cannot be successfully introduced in two editions of this column. However, we shall point out those noted flaws in media handling in this market that bother on costly compromises and carelessness. Specifically, media buying and engagement assumes so much wastage at the buyer's cost owing to some level of inappropriate local practice, amongst us. For the purpose

Till today, practitioners are still working on identifying that safe waste margin, with the objective of cutting down that percent of wastage to the barest minimum

in the entire process, it is the one contribution most easily given to monitoring in terms of efficiency and impact. To the Client, in so far as a particular media vehicle (or a mix of complementary vehicles) are identified and employed, the success or otherwise of such choice is easily captured in terms of reach and penetration, in line with agreed media plan. Media monitoring and effectiveness check is open to easy assessment by both Client and Agency. Let us state at this point, with every sense of responsibility, that all we have stated concerning media planning and buying above is only a scratch on the surface of the practice of media

of this article, media covers every such medium used for disseminating advertising messages from source to target audience (known and unknown). They include conventional and unconventional media options. We also appreciate the impact of digital media in our local market. Broadly, we shall do a blanket reference for reason of this article.

s a rule, successful media engagement is measured in terms of efficiency in cost and reach. Media objective is basically effective connect. Every media spend that is not likely to effectively connect with the target audience at the best rate constitutes wastage.

o from the days of traditional advertising agency setting when every aspect of the process come integrated in one-stop shop to these days of media independence, media tracking and media monitoring services, the goal remain competitive advantage on the basis of campaign budget waste management. Today, we find clients - mostly the socalled multinationals go all the way to engage these fragmented parts of a whole, for the simple purpose of cost or waste management. The media independent will be engaged to buy media, the media tracker or monitor will in turn be commissioned to spy on the media independent and in turn advise the same client on whether the buying agency did its job well! It all look so funny to me, I wonder what the going round in circles is all about. Our position remains that the present day practice only complicates a simple process and adds to over all cost, as against the reasons for the change. This again, we shall treat in another forum sometime in the future. However, as mentioned above, whatever system is introduced today and in the future, the objective remain the same: EFFICIENCY in cost and deployment. In all, it has come to our notice that the ever critical level of sophistication in today's media planning, buying and monitoring has not paid sufficient attention to budget wastage reduction, with specific attention on media cost management at those times when the target shots out the media. As an indication of true sophistication, Google TV just announced a new media cost arrangement whereby through its AdSense program, advertisers on Google do not have to pay for any advert spot unless such ad is actually consumed by a viewer. This has turned out a unique selling point of very high value in Google's effort

towards achieving a high degree of measurability in the area of effectiveness. Yes, one can argue that such efforts are more easily meaningful for cable TV with sophisticated technological backing, which is lacking in our local environment, but we are saying that with the efforts put into media budget monitoring in recent times, we should be showing specific gains in media budget waste management in quantifiable terms, instead of the cosmetic demonstration that adds up to nothing we have today. So, in specific terms, how do our media planners and buyers shield advertisers in this market from advertising budget wastages during crises period, such as the period of public demonstration against fuel subsidy removal; when target audience across every segment of the market did not pay attention to advert messages? We deliberately carried out a study of advert message relevance and media vehicles effectiveness check (during crises period) within the first week of the recent demonstration against petroleum subsidy removal.

indings show approximately a 100% negative relevance on both considerations. Except for the newspaper adverts that forced less than 5% attention as a result of proximity of visual attraction, all other media options were discarded by agitating populace. Selective perception was 80 90% discriminatory of media contents not directly related with the crises. Yet, so many adverts ran during same period on all media; who was paying for those wastages? Advertisers must begin to make logical demands on practitioners in media planning, buying and management because so much is given to wastage in today's practice in the face of growing sophistication in techniques and technology. Add to that is the fact that copying media engagement trends in foreign markets without recourse to the peculiarities of our local environment amounts to bigger wastage of media budget. The practice of fragmenting media management process into planning, buying and monitoring amounts to naught in the face of non-availability of reliable data bank, poor communication technology and very low level digital appreciation. Perhaps we should try the old school once again.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 33

Government should increase budgetary allocation to education —Eugenia George Mrs Eugenia Olubusola George, is an educationist who based in Atlanta Georgia. She is the president and founder of Higher Height Solutions, a consulting company, as well as the president, Nigerian Women Association of Georgia. Georgia who believes her mission on earth is to serve humanity, is also a member of the Eko Club International. In this interview, she bares her mind on some prevailing issues surrounding education in Nigeria, and also calls on the Nigerian government to wake up from their slumber and find lasting solution to the nation’s educational sector. Excerpts. BY EBUN SESSOU

HAT is the vision of the Ni gerian Women Association of Georgia? The vision of the organisation is to empower women, children and youth and to foster the Nigerian culture in the United State, especially Atlanta Georgia. How long have you been in the United States? Thirteen years. We went to the United States in 1979. How did the association begin? It was founded in 2000 by Mrs.Dayo Keshi whose husband was the Consular General of Atlantic Georgia at that time. She felt it was necessary to bring women together and that was how the association started. She started with very few people, and today, it has grown. What has the organisation been able to do in terms of service to humanity? We have rendered medical assistance by providing and supplying drugs to eleven states in Nigeria, including Abia, Osun and Rivers States amongst others. The fact that the organisation has been in existence for 10 years, shows how committed we are in the service to humanity. This organisation has been consistent and unwavering in its mission statement. Our strength lies in our ability to be consistent and focus on the mission. We have given scholarships to over 350 women in Nigerian universities and are supporting ten orphanages as well. We also grant voluntary donations to some smaller nonprofit organisations with similar mission, including the Sickle Cell Foundation, Georgia. We are promoting the Nigerian culture through the National Black-Art Festival which is an a n n u a l event. It is an avenue for people to see what goes on all over the world between the African and American culture. The programme was initiated during my administration and we are hoping that it continues. It serves as avenue for Nigerians to promote tourism. Nigeria is rich and tourism is a

resource that could boost its wealth. What has the group been able to achieve in the past eleven years? We have been able to promote Nigerian culture. We have been able to have school out-reach programmes on culture and norms. We have given scholarships to over 350 women in Nigerian universities like I earlier mentioned and the reason for that is that, we feel that we should empower women- which is the watchword for our organisation. Women are always marginalised and we want to bridge the gap. We believe we should educate women who would then educate the nation. We also believe that they are leaders of tomorrow and so, it is important that they are educated. They are trained on leadership roles in the community. We work in collaboration with Eko Club International for the medical mission in Lagos State. How would you evaluate your success in the area of sponsoring women through school? We have witnessed a lot of them. Some of them went back to school, some have graduated, some are in positions of authority and they have been reciprocating the same. We believe that the Nigerian government has a challenge and that is on education. Nigerian educational system needs improvement and it is the duty of everybody to ensure that education gets to the grassroots. Besides that, the learning condition and teachers’ salary need to be improved upon. Teachers are leaders in t h e

Teachers’ welfare should be given priority by government to avoid unnecessary strikes in our educational sector, while more qualified teachers should be employed to curb the present shortage of teachers in our schools

community because they impact the lives of our children. They hold an important role in our community which shouldn’t be overlooked. In the United States, teachers are highly respected but I

Mrs Eugenia Olubusola George ...Schools should respect and restore discipline to bring back the lost glory of educational standard. don’t know about Nigeria. All I can say is that, if you are an educator, people believe that your influence is great and so, if you are able to touch lives then you begin to understand the future of Nigeria through a teacher. We always say that parents are the first teachers but it is important that we appreciate the role of a teacher. Therefore, a wholesome education is very important because some people are educated illiterate because it is not only the book knowledge that matters, it includes the ability to work along with others. And that is why we are canvassing on cooperative learning group. It is possible for a teacher to influence his or her student negatively. If she wants to inspire you to action, she has all what it takes to do that. Educators are very powerful and they hold the key to the children. So, if they are not well paid, they might not give their best. But if you put lots of money into education, then you will begin to enjoy and one begins to look at Nigeria as great country through the influence of the teacher. Parents should be curious about what children are exposed to in the classrooms. Every teacher must be able to teach outside the curriculum. Until Nigerians invest in education, we will continue to have the same result. When the minds of the children are engaged with positive education measures, you begin to see the impact in the lives of the country. Teachers play an important role in the building of the nation. Fallen educational standards, way forward

Schools should respect and restore discipline to bring back the lost glory of our educational standard. Performance should be regarded and respected more than just paper qualification. Equally, education should not be politicized for whatever reason. Policy makers should be mindful of policies that affect education. Teachers should be involved in examination activities and examination bodies should always publish examination reports and distribute them to various schools for them to hold school workshop for training of subject teachers, on their areas of weaknesses observed in the students’ scripts, with regards to following the marking scheme. More schools should be built to increase accessibility. Cognitive, affective and psycho-motor domain should be used for assessment of students. Teachers’ welfare should be given priority by government to avoid unnecessary strikes in our educational sector, while more qualified teachers should be employed to curb the present shortage of teachers in our schools. Our civilian government should prove to the people that they are better than the military. Teachers should be trained so that they can meet up with new challenges. Educational facilities should be upgraded to modern standards, while teaching facilities should be adequately provided. Corruption should be eliminated to the barest minimum by all stakeholders, while government should increase its budgetary allocations to education to improve the standard of education in Nigeria.

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Huge forex coming from rice exportation – Prof. Marley BY WOLE MOSADOMI Professor Paul S. Marley, the Managing Director, Niger River Basin Development Authority, has, in the past two years, been at the helms of affairs in the Authority, striving to key into the transformational agenda of President Goodluck Jonathan in the agriculture sector. In this interview, he speaks on the aggressive steps being taken by government in the sector especially on rice production.

ow are you going about H actualizing the mandate since agriculture is top on the

agenda of the present administration, particularly irrigation farming? The difference in the mandate we have with the mandate that was there before in agricultural production is that, this time around, we are not to delve direct into agricultural production. The first generation River Basins were into agricultural production including opening up of farms, poultries and they were doing it directly. What we are now to do, in our own case, is to go into providing logistics for our farmers to do the direct production. So, we open up irrigation schemes. Like, right now in this River Basin, what we

Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, Minister of Water Resources have done is to identify all our old existing irrigation schemes abandoned due to this policy reversals and this identification includes all our catchment areas which are Niger , Kaduna and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). ow many of these H irrigation schemes do you have in your territory? In Niger alone, we have about 16 irrigation schemes. Many of them are medium to small scale irrigation schemes i.e. 100 hectares to about 250 hectares. Only two are into about 300 hectares. In Gidan Kawo, Niger State, it has a potential for about

OU took over the mantle of leadership of this Authority about two years ago. Were you satisfied with what you met on ground? What I met on ground was not satisfactory. The River Basin, at that time, had suffered a lot based on policy changes i.e policy reversals. At one point, the River Basins participated very well in agricultural development in the country. At a point, they were asked to hands off agricultural production. There were many changes in policy to the extent that at the time we came in, not only particular to this River Basin but all River Basins have suffered in policy changes in such a way that their roles in agricultural development and food security had suffered a lot, so what we met on ground was not satisfactory. Was it in terms of funding or responsibilities? In terms of funding and responsibilities, funding no doubt follows responsibility. If a responsibility is given to you, definitely funding for it will be provided. But here, we had a situation that responsibilities were not there. River Basins had been reduced to just provision of water through dams, boreholes provision, etc. Are you now saying that with the present administration, you have got back your mandate? Yes. This is one of the key things that happened with the reorientation of the River Basins last year. With the Transformation Agenda of the Goodluck Jonathan administration, one of the clear responsibilities we were given is to play a role in agricultural development and that entails playing a key role in the food security situation of this country. In other words, we have now been given the impetus to go back into agricultural development.

Professor Paul Marley This shows the painful act of lack of agricultural development in this country because we have the land, human resources and they are lying waste. ut we have been hearing B that from the past administrations and things are yet to change for the better. They knew all these things; what do you think we should do to actualize this dream of producing rice? We need the political will and orientation. The policy makers need to know that we need to have that political will and this is a goal and we need to achieve it.

We have the capacity to produce and export rice. In fact, the Asian countries that we import rice from had been importing rice from Nigeria

800 hectares and we are only doing 400 hectares but we have recently expanded it to 600 hectares and then we have the Swashi Irrigation Dam which is very old and it has the potential for abou t2,900 hectares but it is not in use as at now. What of in Kaduna? Most of the schemes we have in Kaduna have been taken over by the state government. We just have the Igabi Irrigation Scheme that is functional now. However, we are developing a new one in the area which, when completed, will give us about 250 hectares. In the FCT, we have the Gada Biu Irrigation Scheme coming up. It will cover about 40 hectares of irrigation infrastructure from the scratch and we also hope to get an adjacent 100 hectares to add to this so as to upgrade it to about 150 hectares. Apart from your own territory, with the renewed mandate for River Basins across the country, do you think we are getting close to the stoppage of importation of food especially rice into the country? Yes. We have the capacity to produce and export rice. In fact, the Asian countries that we import rice from had been importing rice from Nigeria .

And to the implementers, we need to realize that this is a policy and we should implement it accordingly with appropriate funding. The third group of people are the Nigerians themselves who are the farmers who need to be encouraged. One of the problems is that many of the farmers will produce and don’t get the market to sell and these people are living from produce to mouth. If they produce and unable to get market, it is a problem. Today, when Nigerians go to the market to buy rice and when you introduce them to local rice, they shy away as if it is poison. Everybody wants imported rice even in the rural areas where they plant rice. It shows that we need to be re-orientated because even the taste of the local people has changed. What impact will the ban on importation of rice have on our local produce? This ban is a very good way forward. But can we maintain this due to frequent policy changes of government. We can maintain it if we stop importation and raise our production. Once you raise importation and there are markets available, that is all. We

still need to march this bold step with the establishment of rice mills because what the local rice needs is the rice mills to separate the rice from stones. It is the same rice we are spending billions of naira on and ours is even better because here, it is fresh because within the one year circle, we would have consumed the rice. Some of the rice we import has stayed in stores for more than four years and must has lost its nutritional value. So I think it is a very good policy because that will ginger us to producing our own rice locally but I pray that our entrepreneurs will open more rice mills. s there any incentive for the I farmers to boost their production in order to meet up

the anticipated situation? Subsidized fertilizers, free seeds and other incentives are good measures for the farmers. At othe River Basin level, we give them imputs at very subsidized rates, sell our fertilizers at subsidized rates and sell our water pumps for irrigation at subsidized rates to boost their production. Recently, we increased our tractor hiring at subsidized rates too. Another mandate of River Basins is the provision of potable water to the people. It is however sad that the Kagara Dam started over 30 years ago is far from being completed. What is the real problem and any hope on this? The Kagara Dam has become jinxed if I may put it that way. It is sad for it to remain uncompleted. After all, it is not the biggest Dam being built in this country and so there is no reason why it should not be completed. The project has suffered from contractual problems. So many contractors have been engaged but have abandoned site based on fractures on contractual terms. The project is supposed to be a dam of about I million gallons per day water treatment plant. You know that a dam designed over 30 years ago must have become obsolete and so our main focus now is that the section of the dam be completed and we need about N8b to get it done. he River Basin does not have such money. What we T have managed to do is to transfer the project to our mother ministry but the budget for this year again does not capture the project and this is why the contractor has not moved to site. This new intention does not in any way include the 1-million gallon water treatment plant because

the design and equipment must have been obsolete but if the state government wants to partner as part of our discussion with the state government in Abuja some weeks ago, they can come in and demand for their refund later. One of the major problems we have in this country is lack of provision of potable water for the populace. What are the problems militating against water production with all the rivers, streams e.t.c in this country? It is not that we cannot produce water; we can, but many of the water infrastructure require operation maintenance and, in many cases, community participation in the maintenance of these projects is nil. Once these infrastructure break down, you find a situation where everybody deserts such projects. For example, most people in our small communities and even in big towns pass by any broken down hand pump as if nothing has happened and such a borehole serving them remains like that for years. If we can improve on our maintenance culture and if communities can also wake up to their responsibilities, then we will go a long way in reducing scarcity of water in this country. What are some of the projects you can point to as your modest achievements since you took over about two years ago? We have so far completed the Ageie – Lapai Dam and the office complex of the project and awaiting commissioning. Also, we have expanded the Tungan Kawo Dam from 400 to 600 hectares, increased the tractor hiring scheme from about four tractors in the past to about 32 tractors now spread all over our project offices here in Niger, Kaduna and FCT. We have also completed about 12 minor irrigation schemes in Kaduna State as source of water and irrigation channels provider. We have also established a fishery section and have a functional poultry all opened to the public to patronize. Above all, we have sponsored many of our staff to in-house and even outside the countries for courses which for many years had been stopped. All these steps are taken at our own level here to actualize the dream of the present administration of President Goodluck Jonathan towards resuscitating the agricultural sector and thereby boosting food production for both our consumption and even for export which the country is aiming at achieving in the nearest future.

Woman of the Year award

HE Group Managing Director, Omatek Ventures Plc, Engineer Florence Seriki, has won the Woman of the Year Award, at the 7th Annual African Icons of Our Generation Awards 2012, organised by Accolades International in collaboration with International Institute of Comparative Leadership for

Africa and Blacks in Diaspora, a pan African development organisation. Seriki received the award at the event held in Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja, among other recipients selected from across the country for outstanding leadership qualities.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 35

The limits of arbitrary bank charges STORIES BY UDEME CLEMENT

HE revision of charges in the banking sector by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to many entrepreneurs doing business in Nigeria, is a welcome development. The charges revision was sequel to the complaints from depositors about what they described as arbitrary charges on banking services. In that capacity, the apex bank has issued a draft of the Revised Guide to Bank Charges benchmarking lending rates to Monetary Policy Rate (MPR) for maximum of 8 per cent across board, which translates to 20 per cent at present. The target is to align the tariff regime with the present economic challenges in the country. The initiative by the monetary authority would, according to some industrialists, pave the way for standard application of charges on different types of banking products and services to stimulate growth of the real sector of the economy. Also, the CBN has set up a consumer protection unit to enable consumers lodge complaints, stressing that banks are charged to refund customers when they over charge them for services and products. Beyond that, the subcommittee of the Bankers Committee on ethics is investigating issues of excessive bank charges and any commercial bank found contravening the law must be sanctioned accordingly. The circular issued by CBN explained that the bank is currently reviewing the extant guide to bank charges that had been in use since January 2004. The circular stated, “The review is intended to align the tariff regime in the banking industry with present economic realities. The exercise will enhance development of a minimum disclosure for banks to disclose to all customers prior to the consummation of every credit transaction. “A glossary of terms has also been developed to provide clear definition of technical terms used in the guide to reduce misrepresentation or any form of ambiguity. The overarching goal of the review is to produce a guide that is collectively owned by all the stakeholders in the banking industry with the concomitant feature, which will accommodate the freedom of operators to charge competitive prices, while protecting consumers from arbitrary charges.” In the same vein, Sunday Business learnt that bankers recently agreed to cut down operating expenses by 30 per cent in order to make funds accessible to borrowers at a lower cost. As such, the epayment initiative involves a transformation of the payment system aims at allowing banks to cut cost through moving the economy to payments through electronic channels.” The communiqué released by Monetary Policy Committee of

CBN recently explained that the average maximum lending rate rose from 23.21 per cent in March to 23.31 per cent in April 2012, while the consolidated deposit rate rose from 3.79 per cent to 3.93 per cent in the same period. The spread between the average maximum lending rate and the consolidated deposit rate narrowed further from19.42 per cent in March to 19.38 per cent in April this year. Thus, to uphold its regulatory framework, CBN is mandating all banks to pay three per cent as minimum interest rate on savings accounts per annum and 0.5 per cent as interest on current account to encourage savings by the public. The revised guide cancelled N500 charge for reactivation of accounts and reduced COT from N5 per mille to a maximum of N3 per mille, while SMS alerts are fixed at N5 per SMS. CBN warned that transactions with Automated Teller Machines (ATM) within the same bank must not attract bank charges, but N100 should be charged for ATM transaction from one bank to another. Some of the banks monitored in Lagos included United Bank for Africa (UBA) branches at Medical road Ikeja and Ojodu Berger, First banks branches at Ogba, Ikeja and Victoria Island, Keystone bank branches at Adeola Odeku, Ajose, Awolowo road, Ogba and Omola. Others include Diamond bank, Zenith, GTBank and Eco banks at Ojodu Berger. Some of the staff who spoke with our correspondent said they are working in line with the directives from the monetary authority to ensure transparency in the system, even as they complained of erratic power supply as the major infrastructure challenge facing the industry. A manager with UBA, Ojodu branch said, “We encourage savings by reviewing charges associated with ATM cards to reduce the cost of transactions, especially for Verve Debit card customers. So, instead of the monthly charge of N100, which is a flat fee charged to all ATM card holders, we introduced payas-you-go charge system to encourage the uses of alternate channels to support the CBN’s policy on cashless economy. This implies that in a whole month, if a customer does not withdraw cash at the ATM but uses Point of Sales (PoS) terminals and Internet to make payments, he will not be charged the N100 flat fee. He continued, “Also, if you do not use the ATM to do cash transaction you do not have to pay. On the other hand, if you use ATM more than 10 times in a

If you do not use the ATM to do cash transaction you do not have to pay. On the other hand, if you use ATM more than 10 times in a month, you will not be charged more than the monthly cap of N100

month, you will not be charged more than the monthly cap of N100. The pay-as-you-go type of charge is only applicable with the bank’s local Verve Debit card, though UBA has kept open the option of Visa and MasterCard single currency cards that still attract N100 per month fee with unlimited ATM access. Therefore, our customers are free to choose the N100 monthly or Pay-as-you-

go option” Aside from the draft guide on bank charges, the CBN disclosed that 88,622 Point of Sales Terminal (POS) had been made available for effective implementation of cashless economy in Lagos . The Assistant Director, Banking Supervision, Mr Marcus Zakaria, said this while briefing journalists on the outcome of the Bankers Committee meeting in Abuja, explaining that 6,000 POS were made available in January. He said, “Now we have about 88,622 POS and we have registered over 151 merchants. All mobile payment operators are now fully integrated with the Nigeria Interbank Settlement System (NIBSS), and 21 banks are currently registered on NIBSS Inter-bank Payment (NIP). Also, banks are collaborating to come up with alternative channel of delivery on mobile banking, Internet banking, and electronic fund transfer. By the end of the year, we would have attained at least a 150,000 POS in Lagos alone. The Cashless Policy in Lagos started in January as a pilot scheme. The bank is expected to roll out the operations nationwide in 2013.” High lending rate is not good for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs): An operators of medium enterprise

in Lagos, Mr. Silas Igwe: The Commercial banks have raised lending rate thereby making credit to the real sector difficult.With the latest development in the banking sector, SME operators would not have easy access to credit facilities to run their businesses. This is because banks would give entrepreneurs very stringent conditions for granting loans. The apex bank should ensure that the new arrangement favours entrepreneurs especially in the area of start-ups. Government should provide needed infrastructure to make the financial industry function effectively: Mr. Joel Ekom, operator of Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) in Lagos- The reality is that banks are providing power to carry out their operations. At the end of the day, they transfer the cost to depositors. So, government should provide infrastructure and enabling environment for banks to thrive. The banks are doing well. For instance, eight Nigerian banks made the list as 25 top African banks. These banks are Zenith, First Bank of Nigeria plc, Guaranty Trust Bank plc, Access Bank plc, United Bank for Africa plc, Fidelity Bank plc, First City Monument Bank plc, and Skye Bank plc

Stakeholders parley on domestic gas

HE Nigerian Gas Association (NGA) has concluded arrangements to bring together oil and gas industry professionals, corporate executives, investors and policy makers at its business forum for mid-year 2012 and 13th Annual General Meeting (AGM) to deliberate on the challenges of domestic gas supply and issues in the oil and gas sector of the economy. The Managing Director, Nigeria Independent Petroleum Company (NIPCO PLC), Mr. Venkataraman Venkatapathy, will be the guest speaker; he will speak on the topic, ‘Domestic Cooking Gas (LPG) Supply and Utilisation: Challenges and Opportunities’, at the programme slated for July 30, at Eko Hotel and Suites, Lagos . According to the publicity secretary of the association, Engineer Johnson Duru, the past two years of the Ibeneche Presidency of NGA has focused on enhancing capacity and quality in Nigeria ’s gas sector. “This edition of its business forum will involve government, International and National Oil companies and public organisations across gas value chain to enable members embrace and promote the economic and social development of the sector. NGA is the largest individual membership organisation serving practically every type of professional operating in the gas segments and value

chains of the Nigerian oil and gas industry. The association provides a ational forum for

exchange of ideas and technology to meet the natural gas sector needs”, he stressed.

From left: Mrs Omobola Johnson, Minister of Communication Technology; Mr. Stanley Jegede, Chief Executive, Phase Telecom Limited, and Mr Olusanjo Shodimu, Director Accenture Telecom, during the Nigeria Broadband Forum organised by Nigeria Communications Commission, in Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi.

From left: Lagos State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Tunji Bello; Permanent Secretary, Office of Drainage Services, Engr Muyideen Akinsanya,and Director of Drainage Construction, Mr. Dayo Erinle during the inspection of the new drainage alignment to de-flood Oshodi-Agege Motor road by the Ministry of Environment. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi C M Y K

PAGE 36—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012

POWER SHOW

Two "First Ladies" and the entanglement of two Ministers zThe

tango between Turai and Patience over land

BY Ikechukwu Nnochiri

zTurai Yar’Adua and Patience

sition. Despite the fact that formal budgetary provisions are not made for the office, however, they are very generously funded with public funds. More so, the various first ladies are allocated a retinue of aides who are paid from public funds. These are beside their pet projects which are equally funded by the government. Reminiscent of the Babangida era when the “First Lady” introduced the Better Life for

hough the African First Ladies’ Summit have come and gone, however, the sordid fact remains that even the convergence of wives of all the Presidents of the world may not be enough to mend the frosty relationship currently existing between two “First Ladies” Nigeria has seen in recent times. Remarkably, despite that the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999, as amended, which is our grand norm, does not recognize the existence of anything like the office of the “First Lady”, yet, wives of past and present leaders of Nigeria never cease to parade themselves as primusinter-pares among other women in the country. Most of them had at different occasions, expended jaw dropping sums of money on supposed national cum international events, with some of them initiating schemes that often elapse into oblivion once the administration of their husband ends. Little wonder why a committee headed by a former Chief Justice of Nigeria, CJN, Justice Alfa Belgore, in a report it recently submitted to President Goodluck Jonathan, recommended the immediate scrapping of “Office of the First Lady” According to Belgore, “the Committee noted the response from the State House on the Office of the First Lady and recommends that since the office does not operate under any legal framework, that the operation and funding (both in kind and cash) of such offices at all levels of government should be discouraged and abolished forthwith.” With today's ruling parties acrioss board, that is wishful thinking From a mere status in the First and Second Republics, the “First Lady” phenomenon has metamorphosed into a power broking one. It particularly became part of the polity in 1986 through the wife of the then military head of state, Gen. Ibrahim Babangida, late Mariam. Since then, wives of subsequent leaders, military or civilian and even wives of Governors, have continued to glamorize the po-

tem, AGIS. Sequel to the suit, the court, presided by Justice Peter Affen, issued an order restraining the defendants from carrying out further activities at the site. Meantime, while the order of the court was still subsisting, the defendants, in defiance, probably acting on the basis of an “order from above”, commenced construction work on the land situated beside Nanet Suites in Abuja. The action prompted counsel to WAYE, Innocent Lagi, to quickly initiate contempt proceedings against the respective defendants.

Jonathan in such high places. More disheartening is the entanglement of two serving Ministers in this uncanny ruckus that has exposed the country to public ridicule and opprobrium. The two “First Ladies” had plunged into cold war after the Certificate of Occupancy for a parcel of land originally allocated to a Non-Governmental Organization, NGO, “The Registered Trustee of Women and Youth Empowerment Foundation, WYEF”, a pet project ini-

The Belgore committee had recommended that funding for the office öf the First Lady at all levels of government (both in kind and cash) should be discouraged and abolished forthwith. With today's ruling parties acrioss board, that is wishful thinking

Rural Women programme, it has become a tradition for spouses of successive Presidents and Governors, to introduce one form of pet project or another, which critics said served as conduit pipes for the siphoning of public fund since such programs make little or no impact on the lives of the average Nigerian woman. Aside the perceived successive white elephant projects embarked by the “First Ladies”, the current tussle between Patience Jonathan and Turai Yar’Adua over a juicy plot of land in the heart of Abuja, has further introduced a new dimension to the insidious folly

tiated by Turai, was revoked by the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Senator Bala Mohammed, and re-awarded to Patience for the construction of a Secretariat of the “First Ladies Peace Mission.” It was gathered that the Registered Trustees of WYEF had applied and was granted an allocation of plot 1347 located at the Cadastral Zone A00, Abuja, after paying the sum of N184.529, 438 as statutory Right of Occupancy and was duly issued with the C of O by the FCT Minister. Under the terms of grant, Turai’s NGO was given three years to develop the property

based on approved building plans. After the payments of the various levies, WYEF reportedly paid additional sum of N76, 936,210.00 as building plan fees after which the grant and approval of the building plans were made and given to it in line with the Abuja master plan. Meanwhile, shortly after Turai’s NGO engaged a building company, Al-Cooks Nigeria Limited to develop the property for the sum of N13, 516,013,797.58, the FCT Administration led by Bala Mohammed, on November 1, 2011, asked it to pay additional bill of N18, 529,438, which was also paid.—Where are these monies coming from? WYEF decried that after the various payments were made, the FCT Minister, without reason, issued it with a notice of revocation of the said property, which Turai had already earmarked for the building of a “Training/ Vocational Center.” The said letter of revocation was allegedly backdated with effect from October 27, 2011. Afraid that Patience, being the incumbent “First Lady”, may arm-twist her with the machineries of government currently at her disposal, Turai, quickly ran to court to seek redress. Joined as defendants in the suit marked FCT/HC/CV/ 2591/2010, filed before an Abuja High Court sitting at Bwari, were the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Mohammed Bello Adoke, the FCT Minister, and the Abuja Geographic Information Sys-

evertheless, before hear ing could commence on the contempt charge, the AGF, quickly approached the court, urging it to discontinue the matter with a view to allowing the warring parties to explore the possibilities of an out-ofcourt settlement of the land dispute. The AGF made the plea after his bid to persuade the presiding judge to vacate the restraining order he earlier issued in favour of Turai, failed. Counsel to the AGF, Mr Baba Sa’idu, told the court that his client had already reached out to the aggrieved party for an amicable settlement of the dispute. Adducing reasons why the case should be abandoned, Adoke contended that “the previous allocations were duly revoked and a fresh allocation made out to the African Peace Mission in overriding interest.” Emphasizing that Patience had already concluded plans to use the plot for her own program, the AGF, said: “The invitations to the members of the African Union’s First Ladies Peace Mission had already gone out and it would be most humiliating for Nigeria in the diplomatic circle to make an about-turn at this time, given, the time constraint to effect any other changes in venue.” Though Justice Affen subsequently adjourned the case till September 24 to receive the report of settlement between the parties, however, it is obvious that the relationship between the two “First Ladies” may never remain cordial owing to their eerie quest for state properties. Meantime, the Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, has described the African First Ladies’ summit which took place on the disputed piece of land, as “another frittering of scarce resources.” A press release that was issued by the National Publicity Secretary of the party, Rotimi Fashakin, on Wednesday read: “The CPC has noted, with utter disgust, the hosting of the African First Ladies under the aegis of the African First Ladies for Peace Mission (AFLPM), which is billed to take place between July 24 and July 27, 2012. Nigeria’s First Lady, Dame Patience GoodluckJonathan is hosting the fiesta.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 37

Credibility, performance, determining factors for 2015 polls —Presidential Adviser BY Joseph Erunke

Illiteracy: Corps members take campaign to royal fathers zSue

for development of public libraries

BY Chris Ochayi

etermined to advance the reading culture in children at the basic school level, a group of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members serving in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, has commenced a campaign aimed at curbing illiteracy amongst children. The Corps members, under the aegis of Campaign for Eradication of Illiteracy and Ignorance, CEII, took the crusade to the School for the Blind, Jabin and orphanage schools in the five area councils in the FCT. What makes this voluntary assignment very unique was the visits to the palaces of paramount rulers in the five area councils in the territory HRH Alh. (Dr.) Usman Nga Kupi the Sa’peyi of Garki, HRH Alh. Haruna T. Jabin the Gomo of Kuje, HRH Alh. Mohammed Magaji the Aguma of Gwagwalada and the Sarki of Bwari. The NYSC members also went to the secretariats of Kwali, Gwagwalada and Bwari Area Councils where they were received by top management of the various councils that included Mr. Usman Maimato, Alh. Usman

Corp member Yahaya, and Hon. Metawale Bala. The campaign was initiated by Miss Obi Henrietta Blessing, an NYSC member serving with National Library of Nigeria, Abuja. Obi, a graduate of Library and Information Department, Delta State University, Abraka, who is also the leader of the group, told Abuja Bulletin that the campaign was taken to the doorsteps of the royal fathers “since we cannot be going from door to door to campaign to our parents because parents have a big role to play in the reading habit of Nigeria youths.” According to her, “ we are National Youth Service Corps,

NYSC, Batch 2011B members posted to FCT Abuja, united by a common vision of learning to improve the quality of human lives and nation building, through applicable education. “This initiative stemmed up from the Mr. President Call to “Bring Back the Book” and the massive failure of students nationally in West African Examination Council, WAEC, and National Examination Council, NECO, the organized examination bodies”. She said that the reading habits of Nigerians generally and adolescents in particular should be a matter of great interest to educators.

Drivers disrupt FCTA sensitization meeting BY Favour Nnabugwu

he proposed restriction of mini-buses, popularly known as ‘Araba’, to feeder routes by the Federal Capital Territory Administration suffered a major set back last week as officials of Branch 1 of the Wuse Zone 5 National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, vehemently kicked against the policy. The FCT Administration has concluded plans to restrict the mini-buses to feeder routes by the 1st of August, 2012, as one of the measures to ease flow of traffic within the city center. To this end, officials of Transport Secretariat of the FCT Administration embarked on a sensitization campaign on the new transport routes policy.

In his presentation, the Secretary of the Transport Secretariat, Engr. Jonathan Ivoke, who was represented by the Chief Transport Officer, Alebiosu, told the operators that the new policy was designed to ease traffic congestion in the city center, stressing that the administration had put necessary measures in place in ensuring that their operations are not hindered by any law enforcement agencies. The sensitization campaign, delivered in three major languages, namely, Hausa, Yoruba and Ibo, was interrupted midway by the angry NURTW drivers who felt the administration was out to deny them of their source of livelihood, vowing to resist the FCTA’s plot to send them out of the city. Specifically, the proposed ban is targeted at 12-18 capac-

Senator Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed

ity passenger buses from plying the major entry routes in the FCT and restricted them to feeder routes in the satellite towns and the districts.

he re-election of Gover nor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State in the penultimate Saturday governorship election will further spur the electorate to elect people based not only on credibility but performance. Non-performing elected representatives, especially governors seeking re-election, will have it tough realizing their aspirations”. Special Adviser to the President on Technical Matters, Nze Akachukwu Nwankpo, who made the observation, tasked ambitious governors to consider the outcome of the Edo poll and brace up with a view to meeting the expectations of their people. He particularly urged them to see the non-interference of President Goodluck Jonathan in determining who ‘ wears the crown in any election’ as a wake up call for them to perform creditably while in office, since, according to him, their fate remained in the hands of the electorate. Speaking in Abuja, Nze Nwankpo insisted that the outcome of the Edo poll should be a lesson for sitting governors who may not measure up in performance but

who will merely think that the pendulum will swing in their favour based on incumbency. The presidential adviser said the outcome of the poll was an indication that President Jonathan did not mince words in his earlier promise that elections in the country must be on one man one vote basis just as he called on Nigerians to applaud President Jonathan for what he described as “keeping to his promise of one man, one vote. “President Jonathan’s firm promise of free and fare elections in the country should be a lesson for governors to perform as the era of using incumbency factor to remain in power is over”, he stated. He said the exercise which was not only hitch-free but saw the re-election of Governor Adams Oshiomhole was a pointer to the fact that Nigeria had come of age in the conduct of election. The presidential aide said the result of the poll showed that the electorate has become conscious of who delivers in governance rather than merely following a political party. The development, according to him, had strengthened his party, the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, which came second at the poll to face future election challenges.

FCT 1st Lady’s Foundation empowers 300 …As Dame Jonathan lauds feat BY Favour Nnabugwu

ver 300 men and wom en were empowered with skills, relevant equipment and take-off grants by the Al-Muhibbah Foundation, a brain child of the FCT Minister’s wife, Hajia Aisha Bala Mohammed, even as Dame Patience Jonathan commended the feat as one of the best ways to achieving Millennium Development (MDGs) in the country. Dame Jonathan at the twoyear anniversary of the Foundation, held in Abuja penultimate Saturday, said empowering the nation’s youth, women and men is key to achieving MDGs. She said, “Empowering the youth is sacred as joblessness can lead to any type of social vice which may be a threat to the security of the country”. She lauded Aisha Mohammed for following her footsteps, saying her organisation had trained and also empowered over 4,000 women, including taking care of children with heart condition and also paying for their treatment outside the country. As part of the activities marking two years of her foundation, the FCT Minister’s wife distributed empow-

erment materials to over 300 beneficiaries drawn from the six area councils of the FCT. Aamong other empowerment equipment distributed to the beneficiaries were: 63 tailoring machines, 52 refrigerators, 52 generators, 50 catering equipment, 39 grinding machines, 15 hand driers, 7 computers, and take off grants for 83 beneficiaries. She said: “The gesture is meant to equip the beneficiaries who have acquired private skills through this foundation but lack the adequate capital to commence operation”. The first lady maintained that “empowering the youth is sacred as joblessness could lead to any type of social vices which may be a threat to the security of the country.” She said that the foundation has also commenced work to rehabilitate, beautify and modernise the existing Christian and Muslim cemeteries in Garki. According to her, she has been encouraged by the empowerment initiative of the First lady, Patience Jonathan. Mohammed said: “Today, across the nation, most cemeteries and burial grounds are in deplorable conditions, they have been turned into refuse dump sites due to indiscriminate solid waste disposal.

PAGE 38 â&#x20AC;&#x201D; SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 29, 2012

IMPEACHMENT SAGA

The many sins of President Jonathan, by Reps BY OKEY NDIRIBE & EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

he impeachment threat issued against President Goodluck Jonathan penultimate Thursday is for real. Contrary to the perception in some quarters that it was a mere saber-rattling strategy to arm-twist the executive arm of government into succumbing to both the written and unwritten demands of the law-makers, there is a real possibility that the law-makers could go the whole hog to initiate impeachment proceedings against the President. Watchers of goings-on at the National Assembly have observed that unlike in the past when the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, had overwhelming majority in the House, things have changed as the opposition membership in the House is now 158 - more than enough to initiate real impeachment proceedings. The ACN has 66 members, CPC 35, ANPP 25 while the rest is made up of smaller parties. Observers of the House have pointed out that if the House penultimate Thursday large members in the opposi- when the impeachment motion tion parties in the House join was presented. There were forces with rebellious members signals earlier that the day's of the ruling party they could proceedings were going to be go far with the move to remove different. The first ominous the President from office. sign was when the usual reA member of the House who, sumption time of 11am was on condition of anonymity, shifted backward to 10am. confirmed that the number of Principal Officers of the opposition law-makers in the House were seen as early as House could pose a serious 9.30am already waiting at the threat to the President, insisted Speaker's office. that if they decide to move It became apparent that against him. something was fishy as Hon The impeachment motion Aminu Tambuwal stepped into was actually tabled by Hon. the Complex; the body lanFemi Gbajabiamilla, the Mi- guage of most legislators nority Leader and leader of changed as some even the opposition in the House. showed copies of their motions Another member who also prepared to move for the imspoke in confidence said that peachment of Mr. President. apart from the threat posed by Three members from the core the opposition, many members north had approached a colof the PDP in the House are league to lobby for his coopalso dissatisfied with the man- eration to ensure that the ner the President had handled day's session was completely bills and resolutions passed by different as they could no the House. longer tolerate the style of the Indeed, the stage was set at President and his poor implethe plenary session of the mentation of the 2012 Appro-

zPresident Goodluck Jonathan

Are we going to eat him if he comes to let us know his challenges; we might find a way out of the woods for the country" he said. The high level of insecurity in the country was the major reason that led to the invitation of President Jonathan by the House

C M Y K

priation Act. A source in the House said that "in a bid not to get any PDP member roped into the issue, the opposition had to be used to table the matter on the floor of the House. To give a bite to the planned impeachment threat, the session started with a motion sponsored by Sam Tsokwa, Chairman, House Committee on Rules and Business tagged "non-implementation of 2012 Budget" which was supported by other members of his committee. Various committee chairmen including those on Appropriation - Hon John Enoh - and Jibril Abdulmumin - Finance - took turns to x-ray the performance of the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies, MDAs, and scored them below average except for Ministry of Niger Delta Committee headed by Hon. Warman Ogoriba. He said the Niger Delta Ministry and NDDC had performed well.

JONATHAN's REFUSAL TO HONOUR HOUSE INVITATION Many members feel that Mr. President has so far violated the rule of mutual respect. Some members who spoke to the Sunday Vanguard in confidence said, "Mr. President should understand that there are three arms of government that must work hand in hand to achieve results. If he had accepted our olive branch by appearing before us, we could talk as friends or agree to disagree but at the end of the day we would still remain friends. "Instead the man chose to be arrogant; our meeting with him would have led to far reaching decisions that could have reformed most sectors.â&#x20AC;? Continuing, he said "The President had invited us twice to Aso Rock and we humbly obeyed him. Why is he avoiding us when we are not cannibals?

re we going to eat him if he comes to let us know his challenges; we might find a way out of the woods for the country" he said. The high level of insecurity in the country was the major reason that led to the invitation of President Jonathan by the House. At a plenary session held last month the lawmakers had summoned the President and his security chiefs over their inability to contain the security chal-

lenges in the country. The decision of the House followed the overwhelming adoption of an amendment to a motion moved by Yakubu Barde (PDP, Kaduna) by the Minority Leader, Femi Gbajabiamila (ACN, Lagos) who regretted that deliberations on the floor had to shift to the spate of insecurity in the country. Barde, in his submission described as unfortunate, the loss of lives and destruction of property that followed the Sunday, 17th June, attacks in Zaria, Kaduna State, and the subsequent reprisal attacks. He said the peaceful coexistence in the State was greatly affected. Barde said: "Kaduna has always been known to be peaceful but these unfortunate attacks are driving fear into the minds of the people. Now, some people will say the attacks were not religiously inclined but my people are now afraid of going to their places of worship. "Not only that, businesses are now badly affected in the region and which investor would want to go to that area to invest? In other words, poverty is being perpetuated in that region. "To me, the question is no longer when would the next bomb blast go off or when would the next attack be launched and where but for

Continues on page 39

SUNDAY

Vanguard, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 39

The many sins of President Jonathan, by Reps Continued from page 38 how long are we going to live with this?" Benjamin Aboho (PDP, Benue) in his contribution regretted that President Jonathan has not been unable to tackle the security situation thrown up by the Boko Haram insurgency since it assumed a more dangerous dimension about two years ago. Several members had condemned the President's decision to travel while Kaduna State was burning. "Does that mean that the climate change conference was more important to the President than the lives and property of Nigerians?" a member had asked. While contributing to another motion on insecurity in Zamfara State, Jumoke Okoya-Thomas blasted President Jonathan for his insensitivity by traveling out at time the when the country is boiling. "I think the time has come for the House to summon the President and give him a matching order on steps to take in addressing the question of insecurity in this country. To whom much is given, much is expected," she said.

Several members also claim that they had lost count of the number of resolutions sent to the Executive arm of Government without getting any reasonable response. The snail pace of doing things in this present dispensation is considered by members as one of the major sins of Mr. President.

to religion and peaceful assembly. "The current situation has also infringed on the rights of Nigerians to free movement and rights to life. How do we relate with a situation whereby for five hours, state security agencies could not contain this attack”? No deadline was given to the president yet no response came from the presidency.

SHODDY TREATMENT OF THE GREEN CHAMBER The Reps also hate a situation whereby they are relegated to the background by the Presidency. A recent development was cited when the Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB was sent to the National Assembly. The presidency sent 200 copies to the Senate that has 109 members and sent only three copies to the Green Chamber that has 360. The Reps again complained bitterly over this development telling whoever cared to listen that it took the executive arm over one year to work on the draft that Nigerians should not expect a speedy treatment of the PIB.

NON-IMPLEMENTATION OF HOUSE RESOLUTIONS

THE ROLE OF SENATE PRESIDENT

zHouse of Reps members Gbajabiamila, in his contribution, regretted that President Jonathan had abandoned the last line of the oath of office he took on assumption of duty where he swore to protect the lives and property of Nigerians. "Rather the President felt that traveling overseas for some climate change confab not minding the fact that the insecurity situation in this country right now is infringing on the rights of Nigerians

It was reliably gathered that immediately after the Thursday impeachment threat, the President had summoned the Speaker. The Senate President, Senator David Mark, was said to have told the President that the issues raised by the House were germane and needed immediate attention. In turn, the President was said to have admitted that he was having difficulties with the manner things were being done. WHY REPS CHOSE THEIR LAST SITTING TO THREATEN JONATHAN Most Reps agreed that the long break will give the presidency enough space to have a fresh breath of air. The seven week period that the Reps will be away will allow the president address their demands before resumption of the House. House Leader, Hon Mulikat Adeola-Akande, said it all on the floor of the House when she said "the presidency by September must have disbursed funds to all the MDAs so there is no cause for alarm at all".

Impeachment: Should Jonathan go?

The House of Representatives has threatened to commence impeachment proceedings against President Goodluck Jonathan for failing to implement the budget as passed. Is this what they should be talking about at this period of instability in the country? By Alaine Elizabeth, Sandra Udeh & Oluwasayo Hamza

z Mrs. Chikezie Joy

zMrs. Nwachukwu

C M Y K

r Mike Agboola: I won't say they should not focus on that, they are free to overview all aspects of the nation's problems. I believe the problem now is that the House of Representatives is threatening to impeach the president because he has not implemented the budget 100 percent which is quite impossible because there is no place in the world where a budget is implemented 100 percent. It is quite different when they say he has not gone far in implementing the budget, they are just trying to create problems.My perspective is that they are fighting for their own pockets because the more the project is implemented, the more goes into their pockets as they are still the people to handle the contracts. I think they are being quite dodgy and are not truthful to themselves. Impeaching the president will only cause more trouble as the people from the south-south will want to retaliate thereby bringing more crisis to the nation. Mrs Joy Chikezie: The threat by the House of Representatives to impeach President Jonathan is not an issue that should be given much attention now. The lawmakers should concentrate on the challenges facing the country. Poverty and insecurity are the major

issues that should be focused on rather than impeaching Jonathan which I believe will bring more crisis to the country. The House of Representatives should go back to the drawing table and consider what is good for the masses. They should do things according to the expectations of the masses rather than for their own selfish reasons.

Ms. Erica Udeh- The House of Representatives is saying they want to impeach the president because of his failure to implement the budget, are they sure that is their main reason? It is not as if President Jonathan is not doing anything, he is trying to enhance security in the country due to the Boko Haram insurgency. I really think that instead of trying to imMr Akintunde Oyetunde: The impeach- peach the president, they should be helpment threat by the House of Representa- ing him to solve the insecurity problem tives is just a way to get back at the presi- in the country. dent due to the fuel subsidy probe, but as Kingsley Chiokolo: If the House of an average Nigerian in all ramifications Representatives is trying to impeach the considering all the sectors of the economy, the real growth of the nation ought to be president, they shouldn’t only do it for measured. The president I believe is not lack of budget implementation but also performing at all but I don't think im- for his inability to put an end to all these peaching him will bring any feasible and bombings in the country; now, people are dynamic leadership to the country as the scared to go to church in the north besame party that has produced three presi- cause of Boko Haram. The economy is dents will still produce another president. bad, there are still no job opportunities and he did promise to provide more job I say their exercise is in futility. opportunities when he assumed office. I Mrs. Ijeoma Nwachukwu: No, I don’t can't see any good thing he has done. He think this is what the House of Represen- really needs to leave and when he leaves tatives should be talking about now. the person that takes over should do someAmidst all the crises in the country, it is thing to address all these challenges. the budget issue they are focusing on. Mrs. Nike Durojaiye- I support the imThere are issues like kidnapping in the peachment move because the man is a south, bombings and killings in the north, so why is their number one priority the poor performing head of state. He has president and his failure to implement the not lived up to our expectation as presibudget? Why aren’t they trying to end all dent. He is supposed to have addressed many of the challenges facing he counthese crises? try since he came into office, but he has

zMrs. Durojaiye

z Chiokolo

Hon. Peterside: Why we are complementing Rivers, N-Delta masterplans

on. Dakuku Peterside, member House of Repre sentatives and chairman of the House Commttee on Petroeum Resources (Downstream) speaks, in this interview, on the forthcoming Angodi-Opobo-Nkoro Economic Zone Development Summit, 2012 What is Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro Development Summit all about? On 21 December, 2011, I convened a constituency stakeholders meeting attended by virtually all the key stakeholders of Andoni, Opobo/Nkoro area of Rivers State. In that meeting, we identified the fact that we have a lot of untapped potentials in our area and agreed on the need to bring the potentials to the fore and mainstream it to our development programme. That in summary is the origin of Andoni, Opobo, Nkoro Development Summit. The proposed summit is about showcasing the economic potentials of the area and presenting to development partners a forward looking roadmap for the infrastructural and social development of this unique area in the Niger Delta. You have a Rivers State stra-

tegic development plan in place as well as Niger Delta masterplan. Why Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro development plan? The proposed Andoni-OpoboNkoro development plan complements the Rivers State and Niger Delta masterplans. Niger Delta masterplan and Rivers State strategic development plan, are broad strategic plans. Andoni-OpoboNkoro development plan which is one of the products expected from the forthcoming summit, will serve the purpose of a strategic partial development plan, providing necessary details and peculiar local perspective. It is expected that this AON masterplan will partially feed the state and regional masterplan as well as operationalise it. We recognize the central role collaboration and partnership plays in sustainable development. Thus, we will work closely with Rivers State Government and NDDC. What is the vision driving this summit considering the fact that very often we mix politics and development? This has nothing to do with politics. It is a community-driv-

en initiative anchored by the people themselves. All stakeholders of different persuasions are involved. The vision is to see AndoniOpobo-Nkoro area become the hub of tourism, oil and gas, agriculture and generally economic activities in the Niger Delta. If we can develop a community model that works, then we can encourage other communities to replicate our model. This way, we will all not fold our hands and wait for government to drive development in our communities. Communities have a role to play in development. Governmentcommunity relationship in the AON document must be complementary. This has nothing to do with politics. It is a communitydriven initiative anchored by the people themselves. All stakeholders of different persuasions are involved. The vision is to see AndoniOpobo-Nkoro area become the hub of tourism, oil and gas, agriculture and generally economic activities in the Niger Delta. If we can develop a community model that works, then

we can encourage other communities to replicate our model. This way, we will all not fold our hands and wait for government to drive development in our communities. Communities have a role to play in development. Government-community relationship in the AON document must be complementary. What led to the conceptualization of the summit? There are several reasons that led to the conceptualization of the summit but four are key. First, the communities of Andoni, Opobo and Nkoro, despite the fact of our natural endowments are perceived to be disadvantaged, difficult to develop and inaccessible, we needed to prove that that perception does not reflect the reality on ground. Second, the example of Calgary and Ontario in Canada is instructive but the difference is that by Nigerian laws we cannot exist as a separate legal entity but we can drive development at our own pace. Third, we are inspired by the example of Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State. Here is a man who approaches his development agenda as if the rest

Hon. Peterside of the country does not exist. He has not allowed the laidback nature of other parts of the country pull him backwards. Fourth, our area has several advantages we have not leveraged â&#x20AC;&#x201C; perculiar geographical location by the Atlantic Ocean, abundant oil and gas resource that have not been explored, qualitative manpower that cannot easily be found in any other part of the Niger Delta, peace loving people, abundant tourism potentials and most importantly, a dynamic spirit. Nobody is talking about these advantages, potentials and opportunities. Finally the need to develop a masterplan, one of the several outcomes expected from the summit, that will serve as foundation for dialogue with Government and development partners on the economic direction Andoni-Opobo-Nkoro wants to go.

PAGE 44 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012

Morris Cerullo prays for Nigeria, Kenya BOKO HARAM:

*Dr. Morris Cerullo BY SAM EYOBOKA

ORRIED by the spate of v i o l e n t attacks on Christians in parts of Nigeria and Kenya, 81-year old American evangelist, Dr. Morris Cerullo has called on Christians across the globe to pray for a cessation of sectarian crises in the two African countries. In his daily despatch to millions of his students and associates across the world, the American-Jew whose life has been dedicated to fulfilling the call of God to take the Gospel of Jesus Christ to every living creature, lamented the sectarian killings in the two African nations. God has used Dr. Cerullo to pioneer overseas ministries and open many countries that have been considered closed to the Gospel. Recently, he was in Kenya from where he made the appeal titled; "Pray for Nigeria and Kenya Now!" reads: "Fifty Christians were burned alive in their C M Y K

pastor’s home as they fled for refuge from a terrorist attack by the Islamic extremist group, Boko Haram. We must pray for Nigeria and Kenya now! "Boko Haram is a violent jihadist terrorist organization based in northeast Nigeria that seeks to establish Sharia law in the country. Some analysts also believe this organization is attacking Christians in the North so that it can press for the separation of the Muslimmajority North from the

Christian-majority South. This group is known for attacking Christians and bomb-ing churches. "According to the Christian Post, terrorist organization Boko Haram, which has been waging war on Christians and attacking churches in Nigeria for months, has come out with a statement making it clear that its goal is to eliminate follow-ers of Christ from the region and establish an Islamic state. "A spokesman for the

Murdock for Agape confab

ENOWNED preacher, Dr. Mike Murdock, will be the guest speaker at the annual con vention of the Agape Christian Ministries, Akure, Ondo State. The theme of the convention, which holds from August 6-12, is The Incredible God. It holds by 9.00 am and 5.00 pm daily at Possibility Ground, 1, Agape Avenue, Ilesa Road, Akure. A statement by the church general overseer, Bishop Felix Adejumo, stated that the event will offer a platform for the transformation of participants in all spheres of life. Other ministers include co-host, Rev (Mrs.) Funke Adejumo, Apostle Lawrence Achudume, inspirational singer, Sola Allison and Possibility voices.

group, Abul Qaqa, is said to have told reporters over the phone: "The Nigerian state and Christians are our enemies and we will be launching attacks on the Nigerian state and its security apparatus as well as churches until we achieve our goal of establishing an Islamic state in place of the secular state. We are responsible for the suicide attack on a church in Jos and also another attack on another church in Biu. "Recently, dozens of people were killed, at least 58 people, including two Nigerian lawmakers. A Nigerian pastor is blaming the government, saying the weak government is allowing Christians to be shot at every Sunday. "Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor, one of my spiritual sons and president of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, called on the Foreign Affairs Committee of the U.S. House of Representatives to officially declare Boko Haram a terrorist organization that the international community needs to battle against. “This would be the equivalent of designating Bin Laden as a ter-

rorist, but failing to designate al-Qaida as a terrorist organization,” Ayo noted in response to only select members of Boko Haram being recognized as terrorists," he stated. Continuing, Dr. Cerullo said: "In Kenya, deadly church attacks have also been aimed at Christians. Recently, however, both Christians and Muslims vowed to keep peace amid arrests in those deadly church attacks. "Beloved, these attacks against our people in the Kingdom of God, will not deter us from the spreading of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Our eyes are not upon the Boko Haram. Our eyes are not upon the politicians. Our eyes are not upon the government. Our eyes are upon Jesus Christ! Declare with me: 'Nigeria, Kenya and all of Africa shall be saved!' "In Nairobi, Kenya, despite the many dangers lurking in this terroristladen country, with citizens being killed and injured in a suspected grenade attack on a local church, I stayed firm in my schedule ministering in that nation’s capital. "Despite the church

bombings in Kenya, I prophesied that within the next 12 months, there would be such an outpouring of God’s wheat, His provision, upon the people of God there. I further prophesied that they may have seen moderate rain there in Kenya, but that they were about to see rain motivated by the hand of God ---not by some big-shot preacher, not by some television personality, but the hand of God was about to move! Beloved, God is using the African people. He has scattered them all through Europe. I want to tell you as a prophet of God, If it wasn’t for the African people in Europe, there would be no revival! Beloved, you and I need each other. We need the African people and they need us. Would you please pray for them? Pray that peace will prevail in that region. Pray that the Church will arise, press in, and take that territory for the Kingdom of God. Pray that the Boko Haram will turn to Jesus Christ, and that they will be a tool for peace, and not a tool for war. Why? So that God gets the glory!

Assemblies of God opens another shop

S part of its operation kingdom expansion, The Assemblies of God Church, Badagry District Sunday inaugurated another house of worship at Akesan, reports OLAYINKA LATONA. Delivering his inaugural message, Badagry District superintendent, Rev. Henry Ogbonnaya commended the efforts of Rev. Henry Sampson and his wife who had gone the extra mile to propagate the gospel. The district superintendent advised ministers to allow their wives utilize their God-given talents in spreading the word of God, adding that women are a great support to the ministry of Jesus Christ. In his words: “Women should not be neglected in ministerial work because they have lots of virtues and talents embedded in them which will be of

great importance to the Church of God.” On his part, the host pastor, Rev. Sampson revealed that the church started last year in the line with the vision of the church to propagate the word of God. Condemning the spate of violence in the northern states, Rev. Sampson said: “Violence is unnecessary! It is happening because the human heart is wicked. Therefore, Nigerians should continue to pray that God should help us to arr-est the situation because human effort will fail.” Commandant-General of Chaplain Fellowship of Nigeria, Bishop Ayodele Afilaka also used the occasion to announce the matriculation, commissioning and promotion of Rev. Ogbonnaya. Afilaka advised Rev. Ogbonnaya to rise up to the challenge ahead and strive to excell.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012--- PAGE 45

THE D YNAMICS OF THE DYNAMICS KINGDOM OF GOD (2)

F man establishes a university and says the first 100 pupils in the exam would be admitted, then know that in God’s university it is the last 100 that would be admitted. Or if in man’s Olympic Games, the gold medal goes to the person who comes first; then be sure that in God’s Olympics, the gold medal would be given to the person who comes last. Jesus says in the kingdom of God: “the last will be first, and the first last.” (Matthew 20:16). God violates deliberately every human yardstick and criterion. Thus, Solomon observes that: “the race is not to the swift, nor the battle to the strong, nor bread to the wise, nor riches to men of understanding, nor favour to men of skill.” (Ecclesiastes 9:11). The kingdom of God is the antithesis of the kingdoms of men. Therefore, the Lord kills before he makes alive; he brings down to the grave before he brings up. The Lord makes poor before he makes rich; he brings low before he lifts up. (1 Samuel 2:6-7). Jesus’ Sermon on the Mount turns every blessing on its head. It is the poor (not the rich) who are enriched by the inheritance of a kingdom far more glorious than all the thrones of the earth. It is the meek (not the assertive and aggressive) that end up inheriting the earth. It is those who hunger and thirst after righteousness (not those who acquire wealth) who are fulfilled. God works out salvation through contradictions, bringing about a reversal of fortunes. He promises that, at the end of the age: “All the trees of the field shall know that I, the LORD, have brought down the high tree and exalted the low tree, dried up the green tree and made the dry tree flourish.” (Ezekiel 17: 24).

Blessings of poverty I sat in the High Court in Port Harcourt and C M Y K

God is the God of the poor: he is not the God of the rich watched the proceedings with mild amusement. A middle-aged man, very simply dressed, took the stand. He was probably a poor farmer. Nevertheless, he was suing the multinational oil company, Shell Petroleum. He claimed Shell dug a trench in his village and failed to fill it back. His young son fell into it and died. He was suing Shell for compensation. Instead of just paying him, Shell hired a highfalutin lawyer to defend its case. I asked myself: “How can this man possibly win against almighty Shell? If necessary, Shell could buy the judge and buy the case.” Then the Lord spoke to me. “Femi,” he said, “Shell has a lot of resources. But I am on the side of the weak.”

od is the God of the poor: he is not the God of the rich. He is the God of the servant: he is not the God of the master. He is the God of the forsaken wife: he is not the God of the bossy husband. He is the God of the sick: he is not the God of the healthy. He is the God of the disadvantaged: he is not the God of the privileged. He is always on the side of the least as opposed to the greatest. Jesus says: “Whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers of mine, you did for me.” (Matthew 25:40). The angel greeted Gideon by informing him the Lord is on his side. Gideon does not believe. “How can the Lord be on my side when all these bad things are happening to me?” But the Lord is on Gideon’s side precisely because bad things are happening to him. If Gideon had won the lottery, he would have assumed the Lord was on his side. But

God is not the God of the fortunate: he is the God of the unfortunate. God is always on the side of those with reproaches in this life. Accordingly, Jesus says: “He who loves his life will lose it, and he who hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life.” (John 12:25).

Strength in weakness

n the battle against the Midianites, God secured victory for Gideon’s army by reducing the soldiers from 32,000 to only 300. Thereby, he unveiled the heavenly principle that it is not by strength that one prevails. (1 Samuel 2:9). “This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by My Spirit,’ says the LORD of hosts.’” (Zechariah 4: 6). On Mount Carmel, when Elijah wanted God to answer him by fire, he told his lieutenants to pour water on his sacrifice until it was completely drenched. Elijah understood that the more impossible the odds, the greater the power of God to overcome them. Therefore, in order to secure the full commitment of God to his cause, Elijah made sure he was particularly disadvantaged by loading the dice against himself.

he Israelites were slaves in Egypt, and yet their God (not the god of the Egyptians) was the Lord. The man is only your driver but remember God is on his side. All she does is cook for you and clean after you, but be careful; God is on her side. He is a weather-beaten Lazarus begging at your gate, but beware; God is on his side.

Therefore, a believer should never support the strong. Don’t give to the rich. (Proverbs 22: 16). Don’t pray for the well-heeled. Throw parties for beggars and vagrants. (Luke 14:12-14). And if you are broke, don’t ask a rich man to pray for you or with you. You might just be trying to get assistance from him by witchcraft. Look for a man who is dirt poor and ask him to join faith with you. God’s strength is made perfect in weakness.

Dying to self How do we gain victory over poverty? We don’t do so by coming into riches. We do so by making poverty inconsequential. If a man comes into great wealth, he does not overcome poverty. He simply becomes rich. And if he becomes rich, he can just as easily become poor again. But when a man overcomes poverty, he can never be poor again. When he overcomes poverty, he does not have to be rich. It means poverty no longer has an adverse effect on him. He can be as poor as a church-rat, and yet be as happy as a king. Jesus says: “These things I have spoken to you, that in Me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33).

he Lord told me a story. A man travelling from Jerusalem to Jericho was attacked by armed robbers. They stripped him of his belongings and beat him black and blue. They beat him until he slumped and died. Then the Lord asked me a question. He said, "Femi, what happened after the man died?” I did not know the answer so I asked the Holy Spirit. He said: “They stopped beating him.” Then the Lord said to me: “Femi, if they are still beating you, it is because you are not dead yet. Once you are dead, the beating will stop.”

General Secretary/CEO of The Bible Society of Nigeria, Rev. Fred Odutola [r] presenting a copy of Yoruba Study Bible to the Minister-in-Charge of Union Baptist Church, Agege, Lagos during the 60 years anniversary of the church.

Osu urges Govt to fix Lagos-Ibadan Road

ATHOLIC Archdiocesan director of Social Communications of Lagos, Very Rev. Msgr. Gabriel Osu has decried the worsening state of the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway, saying its continuous neglect is a sign of government’s insensitivity to the protection of the lives of its citizens. In an apparent reaction to a recent accident along the expressway which led to the loss of several lives, the cleric wondered why the Federal Government has, over the years, failed to respond to the clarion call for the urgently rehabilitation of the bad portions of, arguably, the busiest road in the country. “That road which is the major one that links Lagos to other parts of the country is gradually becoming a source of national embarrassment. I don’t know why the government is playing politics about its rehabilitation. If the company handling the project is incapable of doing so, why can’t the Ministry of Works award the contract to a more capable firm? “I even learnt the Ogun State government once indicated willingness to assist in its repairs but were rebuffed. Every day, innocent travelers are killed on that road through avoidable road mishaps and tanker fire explosions. Look at what happened recently at Okogbe in Rivers State. That too could have been avoided if the road was in a good condition,” Osu added. According to him, the Ministry of Works must do something urgently to fix our deplorable federal roads to avoid further loss of lives. Osu also bemoaned the very unwholesome presence of fuel tankers and haulage vehicles plying that major road, saying they have continued to constitute a nuisance to other road users, particularly as many of the accidents recorded have been attributed to the recklessness of drivers.

Apostolic Faith prays for Nigeria

HE West and Central African District of The Apostolic Faith Church has concluded plans to hold her annual three weeks camp meeting at the church camp ground in Atan-Agbara Road in Igbesa, Ogun State, reports OLAYINKA LATONA. The District Superintendent, Rev. Adebayo Adeniran, disclosed that the event will start on Sunday through August 26, 2012 with a theme: “The Goodness and Glory of Godliness.” The camp meeting, Rev. Adeniran said, will provide an avenue for church members to reflect on God’s Word and

pray for the change and transformation of the country. The DS said that the convention will witness the manifestation of God’s power in a greater dimension. In his words: “During the convention we shall commit ourselves to praying down the power of God upon this nation for godliness and the fear of God to reign in the country.” The meeting will also have a special programme for the youths which, according to the organizers, will develop and empower the youth to face challenges of life plus music concert by the Apostolic Faith Choir and Orchestra.

PAGE 46—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012

Time to Unbundle Nigeria BY SENATOR MAGNUS ABE

HEN an organi sation becomes unwieldy, inefficient, corrupt, wasteful and incapable of delivering on its mandate or bringing value to its stakeholders, one of the accepted solutions is to unbundle it. That would mean the creation of smaller, more efficient organizations with greater efficiencies of scale. It would also imply specializations in the different organizations so that one mammoth entity is not saddled with the responsibility of doing everything. In Nigeria, we are already applying the unbundling principle to some of our public corporations: the Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) is being unbundled, the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) is facing the same fate in the Petroleum Industry Bill (PIB). However, the entity that is most in need of unbundling is the Nigerian Federation. It is more unwieldy than NNPC, more inefficient than PHCN and more corrupt than both put together. The Nigerian federation is not working and cannot work in its present form because we have a sharing federation. A lorry cannot fly, for the simple reason that it is not designed to fly. In the same vein the Nigeria federation cannot succeed as a productive nation because it is not designed to produce. Nigeria needs to be unbundled to create

a productive federation where all parts can produce and contribute not equally but in equal strength. The argument has been made that the present structure of Nigeria was necessary to curb the strength of the regions, and ensure the stability of the country. The result has been an overkill. We now have states that are clearly incapable of meeting even the elementary requirements of organised modern government, and not to mention preparing its citizens to compete in the global economy. Every federation succeeds on the strength of its federating units, to create a federa-

VIEWPOINT

a sharing structure Nigeria has actually performed well. Nigeria has 36 states and a federal capital territory, 774 local government areas, hundreds of useless federal and state ministries, agencies, committees, parastatals, commissions etc. spread across the land. All these bodies are in a fierce competition to draw resources from one source. The nature of this competition is responsible for the rot that is Nigeria, it promotes deceit, that is why we lie about everything from our census to school enrolment figures. It promotes disunity; that is why our country cannot be united. In other to justify their

The future of Nigeria as a united country is meaningless and unachievable except it guarantees the safety, security and prosperity of its people

tion where the federating states have no capacity, authority or freedom to deliver is a tragedy. We must never make the mistake of thinking that Nigeria is more important than its citizens; the future of Nigeria as a united country is meaningless and unachievable except it guarantees the safety, security and prosperity of its people. The problem is that the federation in its present structure is designed as a sharing unit. Every action and evaluation in the federation is guided by the philosophy of sharing. As

share or demand for a greater share, politicians and other leaders are compelled to exploit differences between peoples to demand for an increase in the allocation of resources or positions. All offices are calculated in the sharing arrangement, and must be used to the advantage of whatever interest was able to capture them. “Juicy ’ offices are regarded as another legitimate way of sharing the national cake. Nobody can be successfully punished for corruption in this sharing structure because the idea of eradicating corruption

is a parody in a sharing federation. People are appointed primarily to “take”, “collect”, or “settle” themselves, and “carry along’ their people, or interest group. Corruption in office begins from the day of appointment, when the villagers abandon their farms to celebrate their good fortune. The most important tool in the fight against corruption is the disapproval and opprobrium of the society and your peers. We will never get that in our sharing federation because every means that you employ in getting something out of the system will meet the approval of your community and your peers who are similarly engaged, in an equally desperate quest for any advantage in getting a share of the national cake. The sad reality of our situation is that the population has clearly overtaken the entirety of available resources, and everything is now stretched to breaking point. This is the end of the road. Everything that can be shared has been zoned and shared. With nothing left to share, and the vast majority of our population still mired in hunger, poverty, illiteracy or halfbaked education, unemployment, and anger, our natural reaction is to believe that the reason for this is because there are corrupt leaders in charge who are not sharing things equitably enough, or that if we have our own state or local government, we will be able to get our share. The sad truth is that the poverty index in Nigeria in 1974, when we had 12

states was less than 40 percent, today with 36 states poverty is up by more than 70 percent. More unproductive states may deliver a few more dual carriage ways, loads of government houses, commissioners quarters, federal secretariats and other ill maintained structures of government presence but it has clearly not delivered on the promise of a better life and greater opportunities for the broad majority of our citizens. Solution? Let us unbundle Nigeria, let us restructure the country to create more efficient units in the states with true freedom and the resources to mobilise their people and plan for the future. We will then have a federal government that will be smaller, more efficient and more effective in its more limited functions as a regulator and enforcer. Taking more resources to the states creates an immediate advantage. Contrary to the fears being expressed in non- oil producing states, unbundling will not affect current revenue profiles, on the contrary, all states will get more from our oil revenues because along with the transfer of several federal functions to states will also come a massive reduction in the federal share. But more important than money, is that the state will actually be given freedom to plan. If you then choose to lie about your population, it will be your choice, if you prefer to have a hundred local governments it will be your choice, if you elect to pay what the federal government pays its civil servants it will be your choice. States can actually determine their own priorities, compete, learn and cooperate with one another. States should run their own criminal justice system, build and operate their own prisons, airports etc. States should determine their own system of local government admin-

istration, accredit and brand their own education, health, and legal systems, and also license their own practitioners. The federal government will remain the guarantor of our common freedoms ensuring that no state is allowed to discriminate against any Nigerian within the republic. Maintaining our common defence, providing a more effective federal police that is respected as an unbiased umpire in disputes between states and within states as it affects the fundamental rights of citizens under the federal constitution. In such a federation, states will get oil revenue, but they will realise that they either utilize every kobo prudently and productively or they will be left behind. In this race no one will stand still once the starting short is fired. This competition and freedom will convert our sharing federation into a productive federation that will bring out all the hidden strengths and advantages in every part and every individual. It will unleash the full energy of our sleeping giant. The greatest argument against giving power to the states is that it will make the governors too powerful. The governors already have power, what this change will do will be to give them real responsibility, and transfer to them the actual burden of governance. It will humble the governors. The size of your allocation will cease to count and the number of your civil servants will cease to matter. What will count is the quality of life under your watch. To crown it, let us give every chief executive one single term of five years. Do your best or do your worst and step aside so that Nigeria can keep moving. I rest my c a s e . • Senator Magnus Abe represents the Rivers South East Senatorial District in the National Assembly.

of poverty instead of the other way round. Anyhow, the poverty quotient of Northern Nigeria is not any different from that of most parts of our federation just that the Boko Haram has created its stronghold there because of an ancient strain of Islamism that was revived by the global quest.

gerian citizens have been exposed to life in the Gulf states and the political arm of terrorism is showcasing the modern development in the emirates as proof positive that Nigerians do not need a cumbersome democracy to enjoy the fruits of modern living. The ease of visa procurements to the emirates compared to the western nations means more and more Africans are being influenced towards an alternative form of governance. Now that Nigerians have finally come to the place where we know that no one can build a lasting structure on shaky foundations, it would be tragic if our democratic republic went under because we did not face the Islamist threat for what it is. The domino effect in Africa would be something else and the globe would not want to see what an Arab-Africanized continent will be in the hand of fundamentalists. * Thompson, a Conflict Resolution & Anti-Terrorism Expert, lives in Lagos.

Boko Haram: The American Option BY LADI THOMPSON

VERY right think ing Nigerian would welcome the broad suggestion made by the United States Ambassador, Mr. Terence Maculley, to the Federal Government. In the course of an address delivered at the Distinguished Public Lecture at the 50th anniversary of the University of Lagos, the Ambassador campaigned for a change of tactics in the local fight against terrorism. Reaching into his nation’s experience, he cautioned against the heavy handed approach and went on to suggest that community policing was one of the directions to go. The envoy was quoted to have drawn a parallel between New York in the 1980s and northern Nigeria of the modern day. While Nigerians must appreciate his genuine concerns, we must however

make available the African opinion about his surmising. He, however, was a different person altogether on the sports field. African nations in many ways are subconsciously handled like that on the global stage. The envoy started out by inadvertently admitting the existence of a terrorism problem in the nation but goes on in the next breath to compare the experience of an American city with that of a sovereign nation! Knowing fully that the resurgent terror problem is a documented global affair, his historical foray into the New York experience and the ideology based war that is being conducted on Nigerian soil leaves one in a daze.

oth global and local B patterns clearly show that the ideological war takes advantage of negative economic climes as well as government lapses. If the Nigerian opinion counts for anything, we would rather have the US

backing for solutions that de-emphasize the lines of division between northern and southern Nigeria. If we want to pursue solutions that will not create greater problems, it is our patriotic duty to announce to our allies that this colonial

VIEWPOINT

tween the Arabic bent of northern Nigeria and the colonial interests of Britain was the reason for the indirect rule policy. We were joined together at the hip but kept apart by the social engineering skills of our colonizers and there

If the Nigerian opinion counts for anything, we would rather have the US backing for solutions that de-emphasize the lines of division between northern and southern Nigeria

North-South demarcation has been the root of many national problems. More than anything, the unskillful suturing of the Northern and Southern Protectorates of 1914 promoted the Boko Haram policy that created the imbalance in industrialization and development. It is undeniable that the cultural clash be-

will never be any real progress until an exercise in consensus building is undertaken. oreover, the African M world has learnt to bear hardship and poverty with dignity and it would tantamount to a slap in the face for anyone to insist that terrorism is a product

etters of El Kane T mi, an Islamic scholar, to the Sokoto Caliphate he l

in the early 1800s will lay all doubt to rest. The terrorism that sponsors bloodshed by waging war against non-Muslims and fellow Muslims alike is not a new phenomenon in Nigeria. Ideological corrosions thrive on full stomachs as well as empty ones! The failed terror attack undertaken by the scion of the wealthy Mutallab family of northern Nigeria was no fluke and there are millions of such boys waiting in the wings to be recruited but for want of means. Finally, the US has to be made aware that many Ni-

Contribution of not more than 1,200 words should be sent to sundayvanguard@yahoo.com C M Y K

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 47

TRIBUTES A tribute to Alhaji Ibrahim Damcida: Victor Ovie Whiskey: 1924-2012 The days of innocence The old house BY FESTUS AHON

Late Alhaji Ibrahim Damcida asked to see whoever was in charge. As soon as I introduced myself as a university lecturer, incredulity turned to respect. I was again shown into the office of the customs supervisor, to whom I explained my mission. He asked me for my agent and I told him that I had none. Again, raised eyebrows as he called him an officer and

first met Alhaji Dam cida in 1970 under circumstances that determined my views of him and of that period. I returned to Nigeria in August 1970 to take up a lectureship appointment at the University of Ibadan. I had shipped my meager belongings from New York, USA about two months earlier. The goods arrived at the Apapa ports in late 1970 and because it included a car, I needed an import license which was imposed during the civil war period. The license could only be signed by the Permanent Secretary, Federal Ministry of Trade. I went off to the Ministry, early in the morning and asked to see the Permanent Secretary whom I had never met before and who was not aware of my existence. No being stopped at the gate, and no money changing hands with the gateman. I was ushered into the office of his secretary, who, upon hearing I was a lecturer at the University of Ibadan (may its name remain for ever), asked me to take a seat in her own office. Nothing about being sent back to the visitors’ room. This was a leap of faith on her part because not only was I just 28 years old, I looked several years younger and I was wearing just jeans and a shirt. The first day I reported for duty at the university, the departmental secretary mistook me for a student who had come to register. I waited for the Permanent Secretary to come. He soon walked him and responded to “good morning, sir ” from all in the office. His secretary immediately went in to see him. A second later, the door flew open and I was ushered into his office. After pleasantries and an apology for being get waiting (I had no previous appointment), he asked what he could do for me. I explained that I needed an import license for my car as I had just returned to the country. He exclaimed “is that all?”. I said “ yes sir”. He immediately called in his secretary and within ten minutes, the license was in my hands. The Permanent Secretary who was Alhaji Ibrahim Damcida, asked if I wanted anything else and upon receiving a negative response, got up, shook my hand and gave me his telephone number, adding, that if I needed any further help, I should telephone him. I got this exceptional treatment because of my status as a university lecturer (not a Professor) and because the civil service was very civil. No expectation of gratification from Permanent Secretary, his secretary, his messenger or the gateman. This was not the end of the story. Armed with the license, I headed for the Apapa ports with the shipping documents. I went to the customs office and

At the time of the Damcidas, education was valued and teachers to whom children, whether of the elite or not, were entrusted commanded enormous respect

asked her to assist me, adding that he is a university of Ibadan lecturer. She filled the forms for me and took me to the officer in charge of car vehicles. My car was a 1969 (8 or 12) cylinder Pontiac Firebird and I declared the exact value upon which the officer asked me if it was a lorry or not.

he officer called UTC or UAC and asked for the price. He was told that they had never heard of that model, hence they had no price to offer. He left his desk to inspect the car. It was an exceptionally beautiful car with a bonnet that was bigger than the rest of the car because of the engine capacity. It was in a metallic mustard green colour. He said nothing, went back to his desk and slashed the prize by 50% not because I offered him anything but because he did not believe a car, a two door car could be bought for the prize I declared. The female customs officer skipped her lunch to pilot my documents through all the departments to the payments office and saw to it that the car was released that same day. Nobody asked me for gratification and none was given. All of these civil treatment was because I was a university lecturer. Fifteen years later, I was appointed the Minister for External Affairs and I met this same female customs officer who had transferred her service to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. On the first opportunity I had to recommend officers to be appointed Ambassadors to President Ibrahim Babaginda, I included her name and the President approved. My special treatment as

was the most valuable. He asked me what I did for a living. I said “I am an Assistant Professor, Sir ”. He scratched his head, slapped me on the back and then said “the name is Jack” in response to my calling him “Sir ”. Then he called out to one of his men “Mike, make sure these goods get to Africa.” I said “thank you, Sir.” He bellowed, “Professor, the name is Jack.” I don’t know whether things have changed in the United States or not. But in Nigeria, it seems that that was a civilization ago. At the time of the Damcidas, education was valued and teachers to whom children, whether of the elite or not, were entrusted commanded enormous respect. The Mafia boss at the New York docks who would have fed me to a shark without battling an eyelid, if ordered to, went out of his way to be civil once he knew I was a university teacher. Now, at least in Nigeria, nothing matters anymore. Everything has become a matter of cash. Even though my experience with Federal officials continue to be exemplary, I wish I could say the same thing with my experience with state officials unless those state officials happen to have been one’s students at the university. This is not the place to recount these experiences or recount the experiences of other university lecturers that I am aware off. Maybe on another occasion. This is a tribute and a salute to the late Alhaji Ibrahim Damcida. May your kind return. Professor A. Bolaji Akinyemi, CFR, is a former Minister of External Affairs.

used to be in the front here, a small one; so we knocked it down and we built this about four or five years ago, a simple modest house. He lived in the house he built for his mother after he left FEDECO. His discipline as a

TRIBUTE IN BRIEF The life and times of the Chairman of defunct FEDECO. “And as it is appointed for man to die once, but after this the judgment ” Hebrews 9:27. HOCK filled the air on Wednes day, 18 July, 2012, when the news of the death of the Chairman of the defunct Federal Electoral Commission, FEDECO, Justice Victor Erereko OvieWhiskey (rtd), filtered in. Not much was heard of Ovie-Whiskey, who conducted the second election of the second republic that saw the emergence of Alhaji Shehu Shagari for a second term in office in 1983 as president, after General Muhammadu Buhari toppled the then civilian government on December 31. The man, who many looked up to as a role model, moved to his mother’s town, IkweghuAgbarho in Ughelli North Local Government Area of Delta State after his mandate at FEDECO ended, where he lived until he answered the natural call of death. The deceased, according to his only son, Mr Anthony Ovie-Whiskey, went into farming in the community. And until his death, not many people knew that he was paternally from Ohore in Uvwie Local Government Area of Delta State. Despite his education and exposure, the former FEDECO boss scarcely made public appearance (s) or was hardly seen going out to visit friends hence much was not heard of him after he moved into the house he built for his mother in Ikweghu-Agbarho, until his children took the challenge to build him a modest house after demolishing the mother’s about five years ago. Aged 88 and survived by one wife, Juliana, and nine children, OvieWhiskey gave up the ghost after being in a state of semi-consciousness for two weeks at the Ekoto Clinic, Agbarho. The late jurist was appointed magistrate in 1960 in the old Western Region. He was later appointed Acting Commissioner (Customary Court), Chief Registrar of the High Court in the old Mid-Western Region, Director of Public Prosecution, and, in 1967, appointed judge.

Late Justice Victor Erereko OvieWhiskey judge would not allow Earlier in his life, pre- him to consider bribery cisely between 1949 and and corruption. It is a 1952, before going to different country that we study law in London, have now.” On the impression in where he bagged his law degree in 1954, he many quarters that FEtaught at Niger College, DECO took so much Western Boys High from the man and that he School, Benin City and was not the same again, he said: “It was not that Hussey College, Warri. Since he passed on, he wasn’t the same. He sympathizers have been was the same. He was trooping into his Ikwe- thrown into sudden reghu-Agbarho residence tirement. Being a hard

BY PROF. A. BOLAJI AKINYEMI

a scholar actually started way back in the United States when I drove up to the New York Ports Authority docks to ship my goods. Everyone at that time knew that the Mafia controlled the docks. Imagine their consternation when I just drove up with the car loaded with my books packed into cartoons. I was asked for my shipping agent and upon being told I had none, I was told to follow them to the “boss”, a huge mountain of a man with arms as big as the trunk of an elephant and stomach as big as …… He took one look at me and asked where my goods were destined. I replied “Lagos, Africa, Sir.” He asked me what was the most valuable goods I was shipping, and I replied “my books, Sir ”. He looked up in surprise because he expected me to say the car

He lived in the house he built for his mother after he left FEDECO. His discipline as a judge would not allow him to consider bribery and corruption. It is a different country that we have now

to console the family and to sign the condolence register. His son, Anthony, who spoke to our correspondent, when he visited the country home of the Ovie-Whiskeys, on Thursday, had this to say: “My father was ill for about two weeks. He had stroke and he was semi conscious for two weeks before he passed on. He was a hard working judge; he was upright, very strict as a father. He tried his best to conduct a free and fair election to the best of his ability in 1983 as FEDECO chairman. “He was a good father, a good Christian, he brought us up in a Christian way; he didn’t have many friends. As a judge, he was very close to his family, he was a very private person and did his work as a judge, then FEDECO came and that made him more exposed to the world but even at that he was still a very private person. “He was a soldier of God. He was a Knight of St. Mulumba, St. Christopher and St. George. He was very serious about his Christian faith and he brought us up to know God and serve Him as proper Catholics. “This house you see was built by the children.

working man, all of a sudden, there was no work. He could not go back to the judiciary because, as a judge, you are not allowed to combine judiciary with private practice, so he could not go back to private practice. All of a sudden, at 60 years, he did not have anything to do other than to go to his farm and he was not much of a sports man in his older days. So maybe he was too idle, he had too much free time. “In the last couple of years, the judiciary and the Delta State government were very supportive. Delta State government did its bit; it supported him in his old age. His pension was paid by the NJC. The state government paid him pension too and also gave him money for his medical upkeep. We are grateful to the state g o v e r n m e n t . ” Asked about the mother, Anthony said: “Oh my mother! She saw him (husband) ill for the last two weeks and obviously she knew his time was up. She is comforted by the fact that he lived a very good life and lived to a ripe old age. The last of us is 42; so we are all adults. She is 78.”

C M Y K

PAGE 48 — SUNDAY VANGUARD , JULY 29, 2012

chimeena@yahoo.com

Jess Castellote in Nigeria's artscape and contemporary artists."

BY MCPHILIPS NWACHUKWU

INTERACTION

HEN Spanish born Jess Castellote came to Nigeria in 1994, he did not have in mind that his services to a non governmental organisation committed to the construction of private residences at the University of Ibadan would change course with time to the fields of education, art and culture. Castellote's stay at Ibadan was pleasant and helped in many ways to open his eyes to the beauty and endowment of his new environment. " Through my stay in the campus, I learnt a lot and it ignited my interest in people and helped me to interact with the teachers and students more meaningfully. " He said. Trained as an architect, Castellote on completion of his assignment at the campus of the University of Ibadan, opted to stay back in Nigeria and took up part time job with the university. "I was asked if I wanted to go back or stay to help, I opted to stay. I stayed back and worked part time with a furniture construction company until when I left for Lagos." The relocation to the metropolitan city of Lagos took Castellote back to what apparently combined the demands of architecture and project design. It is in Lagos that he founded, along with an Italian colleague, Maurizio Fattarelli, Laborda Associate, a consultancy firm that specialises in architecture, management and engineering. While doing all of these, Castellote's interest in the art was not dead. And like he confesses," It is not an interest that happened suddenly. It is a process, an interest of every single person to learn and discover something about his environment.

can't remember what it was that was the first thing that I saw that interested me about Nigerian art. May be it was a day I went to the shop or museum and I saw a painting that was of interest to me. I must say that my interest in the art is part of a broader interest in what is good since I come from a background where the visual and other physical aspects come very readily to be appreciated." With an interest in art spanning over a long period of time both in Nigeria and Europe, how would Castellote assess the state of Nigerian art? Not sounding prescriptive, he is quick in pointing out that there are a lot of things to be done to help project Nigeria's art to global status. According to him, " proper documentation is as important as having professional critics and curators in the same way that one needs the support of business side of dealers." "Nigeria, Castellote, argues is immensely blessed and richly endowed with deep historical tradition that surpasses that of any other countries in

Jess Castellote West Africa. You have a great tradition: the Ife arts, Igbo Ukwu, Benin and Nok among other great artistic traditions. All that are needed is to structure and have proper documen-

tation of these periods and well informed critics and scholars , who can study and develop the link between the past and the present and where they converge in the work of modern

ecause of the paucity of schol arly and documentary institutions in Nigerian , Castellote became part of the initiative between Pan African University, Lagos and an art brokeage company, Art Exchange in establishing the first of its kind virtual gallery in Nigeria,a platform through which works of modern and contemporary Nigerian artists are showcased online for the benefit of researchers and collectors. On his own and as further expression of love for Nigeria's art, Castellote embarked on a very ambitious artistic research, which resulted in the publication of a voluminous compilation titled; Contemporary Nigerian Art in Lagos Private Collection: New Trees in Old Forest. The work , which was presented to the public in Lagos last year, took over two and half years and captures over 400 images of works of artists located in several private collections in Lagos.

To My Siblings ...essential guide for youths BY JAPHET ALAKAM

BOOK PRESENT ATION PRESENTA

N the face of daunt ing problems of graduate unemployment ravaging the country now, a new book that seemingly has solutions to youths unemployment was last week presented to the public. The book, ...to my Siblings, who want to succeed, a framework for a highly successful and principled life after basic education is written by Dayo Akinola, an engineer. The presentation which was attended by eminent Nigerians including friends, colleagues and well wishers of the author afforded another opportunity to reflect on the author’s contributions to the development of the nation. It was celebration and tributes galore as many of the speakers commended the author for coming out with the book at this time.

From right. Ambrose Akinniyi, the chief launcher, Dayo Akinola, the author and wife, Feyisola present the book to the public

The book is certainly a document that highlights the basic orientation required by the youths that will eventually lead them to fulfilling their dreams after graduation from schools. In his remarks, the Chairman of the occasion, Dayo Ogunniyi who was represented by Adesina Okeowo commended the author for providing the youths with the needed manual that can enable them acquire the necessary skills and competences that would make them self made men and women. “For a middle aged man to talk to his siblings in such an authoritative

manner speaks volumes. First, it shows that he has a stable mind and it is that mind that has propelled him to give the necessary advice to his siblings which if adhered to will change their lives for good.” He said. In his part, the chief launcher at the occasion, Ambrose Akinniyi commended the author whom he described as ‘’a man of integrity” for the book which he described as a master piece. Continuing, he stated that the youths need to be re directed and directed very early in life and however advised them to do away with procrastination

and face the future squarely. In his review, Odion Odibor said that the 146 pages, six chapters book is a portable publication that contains some answers to the basic questions that people ask in life.

ccording to him, it is a book that is directed at the young person starting out in life and an attempt at behavior modification to encompass the good values of life. Another highlight of the event also featured the cutting of the birthday cake by the celebrant with his well wishers.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 49 chimeena@yahoo.com

The Ancient in Modern African Design of Akudinobi BY UZOR MAXIM UZOATU DESIGN

ACIAL scarification, known as Igbu-ichi in parts of Igboland, is making a return from ancestry into the designs of Tony George Chidi Akudinobi. A visual thinker and quintessential poet of furniture-cuminterior design in the African mode, Akudinobi is the acclaimed Convener of the African Design Roundtable who holds pride of place for representing Nigeria at the 29th India International Trade Fair (Pragati Maidan) New Delhi. He equally represented Nigeria in The World Expo at the Global Village, Dubai. He is highly respected in official circles, being selected and sponsored by The Nigerian Export Promotions Council. For Tony Akudinobi, exquisite beauty can be discerned as an object shining in interactive light, escalating in design by losing physicality to be beautiful. His vision and structured path could be seen in fusing nature with fantasy to reach beyond boundaries of design and aesthetic presence. He ardently believes that there are sacred principles and definitions littering the scorched highways of the African expression called Art. According to Akudinobi, “In this Art we find patterns, motifs and recorded principles of ways of life and living which may be man’s salvation. That is why I raised Ethnika as a contemporary discourse of the past, defined in the present, to be called African Urban Classics, just shouting out when the village goes to town.” The designing of furniture, for instance, thus evinces character. By characterizing, the design through structured aesthetic presence shines light onto self to define space or spaces in dialogue. Every design finds itself in dialogue with the owner and the maker, but asserting in its presence a light that dims, flickers or shines on its path to eventual physical destruction, but lives forever in the dialogues evoked. “In man’s rhythm and lyrics, he works up an interface that releases energy to build culture and lifestyles that capture his design essence,” Akudinobbi asserts, leaning on his masterwork known as Okpoka. “We bend and mould that energy to design as a channel of manifestation of the creative essence. Some call it inspiration but it goes with perspiration to manifest duly as a great design.”

e forges ahead thusly: “The in completeness of design is like life in which every breath stretches the journey. Deep within every man’s definition a veil is lifted so that his inner light shines in dialogue with the thing he finds beautiful.” The grist of Akudinobi’s art is allencompassing - intervolving Africa, life in general and the Holy Spirit. His words: “We have come with booties and bounties picking up crushed petals on our path to find our place in our sun. Design application for me is a matter of mind control over the medium, and the right attitude of conquest opens the medium (material) like the brain of a child, and the necessary variables come to play: Love, Discipline, Freedom and Authority etc. It is then you work up a mix that creates for you. As it grows in dimension and direction it will live in constant dialogue with contentions of sound, sight, and silence to find its place in the realms of existence, both physical and otherwise. Retention of images becomes a back-

Okpoka, Akudinobi's masterwork

ground or backdrop on the canvas of reality which holds dreams, fantasy, accidents, living and ultimately being as a part of the greater canvas of the Creator or, some say, Nature.” As CEO of Hammerhead Integrated Ltd which operates out of Aba and Port Harcourt, Akudinobi sees designs as creative manipulations of life. He intones: “The direction and dimension of designs are like inputs in the brain of a child which forms in learning and perception but grows with the courage of application in quest and conquest. One of the greatest design assets is courage to go beyond borders and

His vision and structured path could be seen in fusing nature with fantasy to reach beyond boundaries of design and aesthetic presence

push for new boundaries, for in this the unforeseen becomes a friend in the new dialogue before a definition. Your inner lights shine beyond your eyes, and the learning trapped in the seat of the mind unfolds like a lotus before your emotional centre as the heart screams ‘wow’ for all to see and delight in. The dynamic nature of the design is captured extensively in urbanization when a village square transforms to a city centre and a can of Coca-Cola or a bottle of Schnapps gets half-buried in a shrine to add a new definition to worship; that which man brings to the gods. In urbanization,

man’s internal and external definitions fuse in a continuing mix to create frontiers which will be broken down tomorrow.” On his part, Chike Amene believes that Akudinobi can conquer the world with his works only if he deigns to move ahead: “You have done wonders with your raw natural talent; no University in this world will teach you these...but you have not moved. You are like the great Greek legend called Atlas that supports his work on his shoulders and stands in a spot for eternity; no matter the weight you carry or the talents latent in you, if you don’t move, you have done nothing.”

hrowing more light on the Hammerhead phenomenon, the notable film scholar and sibling of the Hammerhead founder, Dr. Jude Akudinobi, of the University of California, Santa Barbara, who has followed its germinal spark and assured mutations, over the years, has this to say: “In lots of ways, Hammerhead Furniture, draws from the dynamic transformations within contemporary Africa to project kaleidoscopic expressions of African modernities. Their sparkly conceptual spirit gives renewed life to indigenous art forms, inviting contemplation of the relationship between form and functionality, art and design, and crucially, cultural identities and living spaces. In essence, Hammerhead Furniture goes beyond the utilitarian, to give new shapes and meanings to the comforts of home.”

From Green House School ...comes Ipi Ntombi dance step

HE Agip Hall of the Muson cen tre shook to its foundation re cently with the spectacular performance of IPI NTOMBI, South Africa’s popular dance drama by students of Greenwood House, Ikoyi. Though stated for 5.30pm, parents, arts and culture enthusiasts filled the hall before the scheduled time. The stage was beautifully draped with cultural artifacts and with attractive klieg lights, which were switched on and off intermittently. It was one electrifying evening as parents and enthusiastic audience defied earlier rains in the day to watch the pupils showcase their unique endowments. The performance was one show that would make even the National Cultural troupe go green with envy. The coordination was superb while even as the pupils costumes portrayed rich African traditional culture and heritage. When IPI NTOMBI was first performed in South Africa, it was called “the warrior”. The dance presentation due to its popularity and historical contextualisation of the South African heroic and indomitable spirit was able to tour Africa, Europe and America.

s a dance concept, it consists of both the African and European style of songs and dances. When it was first performed in 1979, it had a cast of 50 talented dancers and singers. The dance drama tells the love story of a young man in love with a village girl, and it happens that the young man, unfortunately would have to leave her to work in the mines in the city. Traditionally, the departure of the

A scene from the dance drama younger man from the the country side to the city would necessitate a ceremony morphed with cultural charger. It is this ritual ceremony that over time has transformed to different dance styles ranging from break dance, then to South Africa rock and roll to gospel. The presentation therefore by Greenwood House pupils was an adaptation of IPI NTOMBI which portrays the young man as torn between his village root and the temptation of city life. The performance had a delightful beginning with a typical village scene with rhythmic tunes accompanying the mood of the cultural presentation. The presentation also explores the city life of South Africa which is quite different from that of the village. The pupils are all dressed in city attires and

the popular Haya track was sung at the scene. The song evokes emotions and excitement among the audience as it is beautifully rend e r e d . During the performance,the cast displayed beautiful dance steps and cultural attires that depict the mood of the presentation. Both the singers and dancers as well a s wanukidancers added glamour to the event with their dance steps to the admiration of the audience.

he choir scene where the young man and the lady were joined together aroused the interest of the audience in a compelling way. Speaking at the occasion, the principal of Greenwood House School, Mrs M.I Durand told the parents of the school pupils that the school “ aims at developing well rounded students who will contribute meaningfully to the development of society.” According to her, the occasion is one veritable platform to help parents appreciate the efforts of the School in the effort of moulding their children to becoming better citizens. C M Y K

PAGE 50—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012

Edo guber race: PDP wrestled with Invincible Forces —Esogban of Benin BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

OU predicted before the election that the oracle had already given Oshiomhole victory and that those doubting the oracle will see the result on July 14, which is past now. How do you feel today? Well, the oracle has dealt with those who doubted it in the sense that, I said that day at the palace that the oracle had spoken. Success prayers had been offered on behfla of Oshiomhole. And I did say the result of that contest will make doubting Thomases wiser. I believe that those who doubted what I said are wiser now. They have seen the result. And I did say that the PDP candidate in the election, Gen. Charles Airhiavbere, if he could win any of the wards in Benin Local Government, I will stop participating in any form of politics. I did say so because I knew he will not win in any one of the wards, but then I did not want to get the whole thing to involve the entire state. I feel fulfilled today not because the prophecy has come through, I knew it will come through, but why I am so fulfilled is that those who had held the state hostage since 1999 were swept even from their own back yard. They fell and each of them started kissing the ground in his village square to the admiration of the masses they had cheated for years. That is what pleased me most. On whether the oracle will speak the truth or not, I who interpreted what the oracle said had no doubt about it. I relayed what the oracle had said, not that I am the oracle my self. So I knew it will come to pass, I knew that they will be crushed but the level, the magnitude of the defeat I never expected to be so. I call it Hurricane Oshobaba. The hurricane swept away these people and brought peace to the state. You can see that the weather has been lovely and quiet. One could see the hands of God in the whole affair. And as a matter of fact, the PDP wrestled with the forces of God, they did not know they were wrestling with the forces of God and that was why the result was very devastating to them. The PDP wrestled with the invincible forces of God. But there is this belief that the Edo election was peaceful due to the concentration of security agents in the state. So do you prefer a staggered election? Staggered election, yes, there is no way we can run away from C M Y K

staggered election due to court pronouncements as we have experienced in recent years. So, as far as that level is concerned, we will continue to experience staggered election. But what really matters is what the leaders at the top are saying. Do you know that this election in Edo State was fair, transparent and violencefree due to the stance of President Goodluck Jonathan. If he had acted the script written for him by his party leaders, there would have been bloodshed in the state. The state would have still been burning by now. But the man said no to them and he opted for free, fair and transparent election, one man one vote. That is what has saved the situation here. After all, all the heavy ammunitions they brought from Abuja were not used because the election was free and fair. And, more importantly, the voters in Edo State were bent in telling the PDP ‘enough is enough’. The people behave well, even if anybody offended you that day, you won’t retaliate because they knew what they wanted, they wanted their votes to count and that was why they voted massively for the person they preferred.

t is not common and I have not seen it in all my political life, at least over sixty years now, where a candidate in a gubernatorial election wins all the local governments in Edo State or when we were in the Midwest Region or Bendel State. And Jonathan was instrumental to the success of the election because I don’t think he acted on the script written for him by his party leaders. He had his own mind and he took his own action and that was why we had a free and fair election. If such a situation is replicated in subsequent elections, then the elections will be free and fair and the popular candidate will always emerge and not the type of leaders we used to have. Before now, the votes didn’t count. That is why I announced in 2003 that I was quitting partisan politics because there was no need for it, the ballot box was no longer relevant. So on this exercise that has just ended in Edo, I want to thank President Goodluck Jonathan and the Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo, the Oba of Benin, for his consistent plea to the people to maintain the peace. I think the result of the election was a very good

Chief David Edebiri

The Esogban of Benin Kingdom, Chief David Edebiri, is the Chairman of the Benin Forum, the apex socio-cultural organization in Benin Kingdom, which speaks on behalf of the Benin Monarch, Omo N’Oba Uku Akpolokpolo, Oba Erediauwa, and the Binis both in Nigeria and the Diaspora. Prior to the Edo State July 14 gubernatorial election, the Esogban declared that the gods had endorsed Governor Adams Oshiomhole and that whoever “wants to doubt the oracle should wait for July 14”. He then went on to predict that the candidate of the PDP in the poll, Gen.Charles Airhiavbere, will not win any ward in the seven local government councils in Edo South. Hispredictions did not only come true, but it was also extended to the other two senatorial districts. In this interview, Edebiri speaks on the outcome of the Edo election and other national issues. Excerpts:

believed in them; so whenever they talked, the people believed them. For example, Sir Ahmadu Bello, the Sardauna of Sokoto, was the single voice from the North. Whatever he pronounced was taken as law because the people had confidence in him. His Northernization policy was aimed at bringing the Northern people at par with their Southern counterparts. He was always thinking about his people not himself or his family. And the people loved him for that. But, today, we no longer have such leaders. Those were people whose love for the masses, whose

There is a general disaffection in the country arising from the leadership of those ruling Nigeria today

omen for this state and for Nigeria. All other states of the federation that will run election should come and learn from what has happened here. You played politics with the late Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe and Chief Obafemi Awolowo among others, but those days we didn’t experience this prevailing type of insecurity. What do you think is the problem now? The leaders we had then were transparent. They were patriotic, they were selfless, the people

charisma was so infectious that wherever they went, the masses followed like they follow Oshiomhole in Edo now. So if what is happening in Edo can be replicated in more than two thirds of the states of the federation, this country will be better of. And the question of Boko Haram or suicide bombing will abate naturally. Nigeria drifting towards anarchy It is not the president alone, I think there is a revolt against the establishment, against those rul-

ing Nigeria today. And the answer to the problem to me, is to do away with the present political party at the helm of affairs, that is the PDP. There is a general disaffection in the country arising from the leadership of those ruling Nigeria today. Since 1999 when the PDP tool over the affairs of the country, there has been no peace. We have moved from one trouble to the other. As a matter of fact, we made no progress, we have taken one step forward, two steps backward. In a civilized country, the best thing is to vote out those who are in power now. It will appear that the common Nigerians do not want them any more. You will find that since 1999 many things crept into the politics of this country such as bombing, kidnapping, suicide bombings. We have never experienced such things in this country before and if anyone told me some years back that there will be suicide bombings in Nigeria, you will say it will never happen. So it appears that the people are so disenchanted with the whole situation and the best way is to vote the PDP out of power so that other crop of leaders could emerge to take the leadership of this country. I feel that is one thing we must try if we want this Boko Haram issue to abate. Because it appears that the northern emirs and other northern leaders have no answer to the problem. And for President Jonathan, he appears to be confused, he has no answer to the situation. Every time there is bombing, he tells us they are on top of the situation and the next day another one will happen. So my recommendation is that the PDP should give way and allow other crop of leaders to emerge.

Yobe is not all about terrorism By BALA AJIYA

N Nigeria, the bane of development is insensitive and inexperienced leadership. This has plagued the system for the greater part of the country’s 50 years of existence. Indeed, the case is worse in the federating units of the nation called states, where no visible strategy is designed to elevate the people from the dungeon of poverty and under development. In the midst of this sociopolitical quagmire, one man stands out in his effort to lay a new foundation for development in his state. This is seen in the visible leadership of Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State. Gaidam, since assumption of office, has seen leadership as one privilege to serve through infrastructural transformation, human capacity development and empowerment of the citizenry. He has not just done these things because he needed to do them as a leader, but also because as a man in covenant with his people, the governor has had to put sustainable and enduring structures for posterity to judge. He has created transitional procedure for the future generation via his quality infrastructure in the educational sector. Though his state struggles under lean resources to carry out his dream, Gaidam has attempted to reduce the effect of this financial inadequacy by the quality of projects and programs

Governor Ibrahim Gaidam on ground. It is the end product of his administration that would always convince even the opposition that, yes, the state had never had it better. It will also be a lesson in leadership for everyone, that to serve is more rewarding than to rule. When Gaidam became the governor after the demise of the late Governor Mamman B. Ali, he quickly swung into action by completing all the projects initiated by his predecessor to the astonishment of the people and, when he won a landslide victory at the 2011 gubernatorial polls, thus stepping into office with a swagger stick, the clime abruptly turns into a moment of contentment as a sense of maturity and sincerity of purpose that will change the state’s political temperament was evident. Gaidam, a retired civil servant who served his country and state

for over 30 years before he retired as a permanent secretary, had wanted to be a senator, as he contested the ANPP primaries for the Yobe East Senatorial District seat during a bye election which followed the death of Senator Usman Adamu Usman. Gaidam gallantly fought but lost the primaries. Then he became the deputy governor and then governor. In three years, Gaidam has touched all facets of the economy of Yobe State. Over 1,000 housing units have been completed. Roads have been constructed across the 27 local government areas, while thousands of boreholes have been drilled across the state. In line with the global efforts at developing alternative energy to meet the needs of the people, solar energy lights have been installed at all housing estates and on the streets in Damaturu, the state capital. Gaidam was able to do all these despite the security challenge in the state. Recently, after the unfortunate incident that occurred in Potiskum cattle market where over 100 people were killed, the governor immediately visited the town where he commiserated with the families of the victims, and the hospitals to know the conditions of the injured people where he donated money to offset their medical bills. He later donated the sum of N50 million to the cattle sellers.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012, PAGE 51

C M Y K

PAGE 52—SUNDAY VANGUARD, JULY 29, 2012

Spirit of love

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SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 29 , 2012 — 53

A message to Nigerian leaders

Continues from BP

Aruna lightens Tennis with ferocious shots

UADRI Aruna brought back joy to Team Nigeria yesterday when he beat Spanish former World Champion Machado to move ahead in the Table Tennis event of the London 2012 Olympics. Aruna whipped the Spanish guy adding pain upon pain with ferocious strokes that saw the packed hall respond with sporadic applauses.Testingthewaters in the first set, the Nigerian lost 6-11 but bounced back to reckoning to claim the second set 11-6. The third set also went to Machado before Aruna brought out the killer instinct in his game. Cheered on by Funke Oshonaike, Segun Toriola,

osu Joseph will never cease thanking coach Joe Erico. It was Erico who helped him actualise his goal keeping dreams, when he almost gave up in face of difficulties. Though, his career was short lived, Dosu’s goalkeeping prowess contributed immensely to Nigeria’s gold win at the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta, USA. It was after his triumphant return from Atlanta that his career came to end. The former Nigeria’s international was involved in a car accident, which left the promising goalkeeper, to be consigned to a wheel chair for many years. But today Joseph is back on his feet, though on clutches and currently managing Westlo Football Academy in Nigeria. In this interview, with Vanguard Grass to Grace he spoke on his pains and victory and how he was able to overcome. Excerpts:

n the beginning with football I’m the 3rd child in a family of six, four boys and two girls. So far, football has been the family business especially in the aspect of goal keeping. My elder Brother David Dosu started it with Racca Rovers in Kano. Currently, my three brothers are into football C M Y K

Tennis Federation President Abdulwahab Omotoshe, Aruna became the fans’ favourite with his measured ground strokes and his backhand chops that caught Machado napping.

Irish boxer Continues from BP points. Muideen who looked a shadow of himself could not deliver the sucker punches that had become his hallmark. On many occasions, he ran into trouble and could not waive off the jabs from which his opponent gained points. But he managed to last the distance and lost miserably 15 -6. (goal keeping). I started playing football within the neighbourhood, later I played for Niger-dock Football Club in Ikeja divisional football league. There, I played for two years which we dominated and won the Challenge Cup twice. After, I left for Julius Berger Feeders team and later went to Highlanders of Jos, my stay in Jos was short lived as I returned to Julius Berger before I travelled to Italy and signed with Serie A c l u b Reggiana and in between then, I was invited to the national Under-23 team, which won the Olympics Gold Medal in football in 1996.

y journey to stardom I want to say that coach Joe Erico is my mentor any day, having helped me actualised my dream as a goalkeeper even though it was short lived. Meeting Raymond King and Eta Egbe, two experienced goal keepers in the country, at the trials of Julius Berger were the biggest challenge I had in my career. Seeing them, I was frightened

Music, movie and sports stand out in entertainment. Britain has had them from ages till date. They played these out prominently in their fabulous opening ceremony. And they did it with style, showing how industrious and humurous they could be. A village setting had farms, houses and play grounds. In that community, everybody lived in peace. The animals grew well, the youth played games like Rugby, badminton and soccer and the rich moved in chariots and the people did well in their farms. The opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympics captured this setting from the beginning and moved on to touch every generation from those ancient times to now. And in doing this they featured some scenes and the people who have been part of their history in a showpiece of creativity culminating in a great display of art and entertainment. In a way, it was a powerful message that Nigerian leaders should must note. About five governors from Nigeria were here to watch the opening ceremony. And it is hoped that they got themessage when, in lighting the cauldrom, seven great Olympians nominated seven youths to do that. The

message is about prepararing the youth and handing over to a new generation. The youth, they say, are the leaders of tomorrow. And if you don’t build legacies, prepare the youth to take over and continue building legacies, you are destroying your future. It was the biggest message of the opening ceremony and it appeared pertinent to Nigeria. Yes, Britain did it their own way. From the way the Olympic Torch travelled to many communities, Britain brought the Olympics to every home in Britain. It had, in the UK alone, travelled eight thousand miles and carried by eight thousand bearers and 14 million were part of this in these communities aside millions who saw the journeys of the torch on television. Yes, Britain did it their own way. They introduced movie scenes into their show and the Queen even played an interesting role from the palace where James Bond went to pick her for the games to their “flight in the helicopter” to her arrival at the stadium where Jack Rougge, the IOC President received her. They started the movie scenes that were to manifest more in the fullness of the show when Bean showed the commedian in him as he

tried to play a leading role in a symphony performance but dozed off and dreamt about himself cheating to win a country race and waking up to the end of the music show. It was funny. The night illustrated Britons as industrialists and played out aspects of the Industrial Revolution. It also paid tribute to health sector as one of the greatest achievments of Great Britain. Nurses rolled beds with patients into the arena. It was an act that also showed the power of rock n roll music. When music blarred even the kids who were on the beds probably as patients stood to dance and when the music died down they lay “sick” on the beds again. Awesome. Tributes were also paid to British TV and cinema, icons like Harry Porter and muuuusiiic(reporter ’s coinage) was at the center of it all. It made everybody in the stadium feel great and worm. Billions watching all over the world also had a share of the music that rocked the world. Pop songs were it. Push the Botton by Sugarbabes, Going Underground by the Jam and Wonderful. Then there was Generation by the WHO, Satisfaction by the Rolling Stones, She Loves You by the Beatles, My Boy Lollipop by Millie. These songs got people rocking on the stands but the

My Pains, my victory •Dosu

’

— Dosu

I believe the little time I was able to play, I was able to write my name not in Bronze, nor Silver but in Gold

because I know they were better experienced than me. I almost quit, but with intervention of coach Erico who gave me courage to compete with the two best helped me and at the end I came out successful. In 1996, I helped Julius Berger win the Nigerian FA Cup in November 1996.

ough Moment I want to use this medium to tell people

’

that whenever anything happens, it is important we get the truth before jumping into conclusion. What happened was that just after we played against Kenya that day in a World Cup qualifier at the National Stadium in Lagos, for a game we won 3-0, I felt I should see my family for it was long I saw them. I was driving to see them along

Ikorodu Road at about 8 p.m. I did not know how it happened, all I know was that the vehicle veered off the road, and I was seriously injured. I give God the glory that I am alive today despite been on clutches.

ause of my accident Like I said earlier on, I still cannot fathom how it happened, but it is saddening to hear a lot of things that were said and written about me on the cause of my accident. Was Dosu drunk? What was he doing? Anybody that wants to know the truth of the whole thing should go to Eko Hospital. They should go and ask the matron that treated me

blast was to come when Paul McCarteny of the Beatles fame took to the floor to play Hey Jude. Athletes danced, fans did and the VIPs couldn’t help been carried on. This reporter, a fan of pop and rock and roll music, joined thousands who jived on. McCarteny jammed everybody up with Hey Jude, compelled all to join the chorus and be part of the show. Great. It was sensational. It was past midnight but the stadium wished it continued. Poor spectators. There’s and end to every time. And the time of 2012 London Olympics opening ceremony was to end with McCartney. “When McCarteny took on us and played Hey Jude, I knew it was the blast that would end it all. It was a thriller,” said Mitchell Obi, our ace sports commentator. “It was sensational, it has made people proud to feel British,” said Ade Animasaun, a columnist with Vanguard Newspaper. McCarteny thawed souls as they left the Olympic Stadium hoping to see him again in the closing ceremony on August 12. Britain has done the opening of the Olympic Games their own way. It was a combination of history, culture, art and entertainment. It was a unique way that they should all be proud of. And now the Olympics are on.

that day because when I was taken to the hospital the first thing she asked me was whether I was drunk. The doctors went on to smell my mouth, and found that I had not taken anything. I was alert throughout, because I answered all the questions they put to me. I told them I neither drank nor smoked. I had an accident, and the thing just came naturally.

vercoming my trauma It wasn’t my making but God. I have always had this philosophy, never to give up. esson learned I learned never to give up in any situation no matter how hard it seemed.

est Moments There are two most interesting moment of my life, first, when I was born and secondly, the day I climbed the podium to receive the gold medal in Atlanta 1996.

y advice Life is all about challenges and whatever situation you may find yourself today you have to be determine, discipline dedicated and also be prayerful.

54— SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 29 , 2012

Federer in narrow escape F

OURTH-time Olym pian Roger Federer overcame a jittery patch to win his opening match at the London Games, beating Alejan-

dro Falla of Colombia 63, 5-7, 6-3. Federer seeks his first singles medal, although he and Swiss teammate Stanislas Wawrinka did

win the gold in doubles in 2008. Back on his favorite stage Saturday, the topranked Federer was a point from victory in the

second set, then lost three of his next four service games. But Federer was in fine form at the finish on the same Centre Court where he won Wimbledon for a recordtying seventh time less than three weeks earlier.

SLIDE ... Serena Williams of the US falls to the ground during her women's singles match against Serbia's Jelena Jankovic in London yesterday. Serena won 6-3, 6-1.PHOTOS: AFP

Obama watches as Serena qualifies W

IMBLEDON champion Serena Williams breezed through her first round match against Serbia’s Jelena Jankovic on the opening day of the Olympic tennis on Saturday with U.S. first lady Michelle Obama cheering her on. Obama watched from the players’ box along with Williams’ sister Venus as

the fourth seed took just 61 minutes to see off former world number one Jankovic 6-3 6-1. ”It was great seeing Michelle there. It just made me want to play better and I felt even better. We’re here for our country and to play well. I loved her dress, which is always nice. She is always looking good,”

Williams said after the match. With the usual Wimbledon requirement for players to wear white not in place for the

Olympics, Williams herself took to the court in a red, white and navy blue dress with a red headband, while Jankovic also wore red.

Ocheho handball tourney starts top prize as from today. Brazil pips New Zealand in The other states that

LL is now set for the first edition of the Sam Ocheho Invitational Handball Championship, which begins today at the sports Hall of the Rowe Park, Yaba. The Lagos State handball coach, Anthony Idolor said that the h a n d b a l l association was ready to host a befitting event. Already, the states invited for the event have arrived with their male and female teams and will be slugging it out for the

will join the host are Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Delt a , Ekiti, Ondo and Kogi with the organisers describing the tournament as a “mini handball festival.” Idolor assured all the participating teams and fans of a standard championship adding that he was ready to lift both trophies with his team. He said: “We are ready for the championship and I am hoping to win with my teams.

women soccer

RISTIANE scored an 86th-mintute goal Saturday to give Brazil a 1-0 win over New Zealand in Olympic women’s soccer. Cristiane sent a high shot that just barely made it into the net as the New Zealand de-

HINA claimed the first Olympic gold of the London 2012 Games on Saturday, with a victory for 23-year-old Siling Yi in the women’s 10meter air rifle shooting, as the first official day of

the Summer Games got going. “I’m very excited and happy,” she said, quoted by the official Games website. The world’s No. 1, who started shooting at age 13,

We are underdogs against Tunisia – D’Tigers coach

OACH of the na tional basketball team Ayo Bakare has refused to acknowledge the fact that the Nigerian team at the London Games have more heroics than Tunisia. Nigeria will play Tunisia at 9am today in the first jump ball for the men’s event and Bakare insists that D’Tigers are the underdogs. Bakare who spoke after his team defeated an allstar selected side 69-66, said the Tunisians are seeded higher as African champions and that fact must be respected. He said, “Even if we had beaten the whole world in Venezuela to qualify, the fact remains

Basketball: U.S. Women beat Croatia

HE United States Women’s Basketball Team continued their winning streak after beating Croatia yester-

China wins Olympics first gold •Weightlifter fails dope test

fense scrambled to stop it. The win leaves Brazil with six points from two matches in Group E. New Zealand has zero points after its second consecutive 1-0 loss. Brazil is trying to win its first major trophy in women’s soccer.

BACK HAND ... Quadri Aruna of Nigeria returns a shot to Carlos Machado of Spain during a table tennis men's single match in London.

said there had been “a lot of pressure” on her to perform. Meanwhile, rival American swimmers Michael Phelps and Ryan Lochte are set to go head-to-head in a battle that will be a highlight of the day.

day. Team USA entered London with a 33-game Olympics winning streak, and beat Croatia 81-56. Locals may recognize a few faces on the team, including Seimone Augustus, Swin Cash, Tamika Catchings, Sylvia Fowles, Maya Moore, Candace Parker and Lindsay Whalen. Tina Charles scored 14 points and Angel McCoughtry added 13 to lead the U.S. wom-

en’s basketball team to a sloppy 81-56 victory over Croatia on Saturday in their Olympic opener. Coach Geno Auriemma had said he was hoping that the Americans could play a style of basketball that would be entertaining and help grow the game internationally. That didn’t happen Saturday as the U.S. struggled for the first three quarters before pulling away to win their 34th consecutive Olympic contest.

we got through after a second chance. Is that what you people call resit in exams? On Sunday (today), the Tunisians will be introduced as African champions and that is key. We are also from Africa and so if they are champions, what adjective will go for us that will be stronger than champions or gold medalists in any competition? “That is why I insist that we are the underdogs when we are placed side by side because we were also in that competition that gave them the title.” At Madagascar 2011, where the African Championship held, Nigeria and Tunisia could not play directly against each other as Nigeria lost to Angola in the semi-finals while Tunisia defeated Cameroon to produce a final duel between Angola and Tunisia. The last time they met each other at Morocco 2003, Nigeria defeated them in the classification match to finish fifth. But despite the status of the North Africans as African champions, the international basketball community rate Nigeria above them based on their overall records and the exposure of players both sides parade.

SUNDAY Vanguard, JULY 29, 2012 — 55

Reward system for deserving athletes

Toriola disappoints as Nigerian T women bite the dust S

EGUN Toriola compound ed the woes of Table Tennis last night when against all expectations he lost 4-1 to Swedish Persson Jorgen in his second outing of the London 2012 Table Tennis event. With so much experience that saw him as the oldest Team Nigerian athlete with six appearances in the Olympics, Toriola allowed his much younger opponent to flog him 4-1. He joined the casualty list of Edem Offiong and Funke Oshonaike who kissed bye to London Olympics earlier. Meanwhile, the desire of the Nigerian women to make an impact in the on-going Table Tennis event of the London Olympics was crushed at the Excel-North Arena when they were bundled out of the Women Singles event. Funke Oshonaike, the remaining light of the Women crumbled after giving Nigerians so much hope in her sparkling start to the Table Tennis event. ‘’I feel so much pain losing out here”, Funke offered. Funke and Edem Offiong are

the women flag-bearers, but have thus lost out of the Games. London 2012 is Funke

Oshonaike’s 5th Olympic appearance but the fairytale has ended for her.

•Toriola

Queen, Bond, Team Nigeria in spectacular Opening Ceremony delighted both in the stadium and

HE Queen made her mov ie acting debut as she joined James Bond in the spectacular Olympic Games opening ceremony. In a scene filmed in advance and screened for the first time, Bond actor Daniel Craig arrives at Buckingham Palace in a dinner jacket, striding past the corgis towards the royal study. “Good evening Mr Bond,” says the Queen, before they leave together, apparently heading towards the Olympic Stadium in a helicopter. Back in real time, to peals of laughter and delight from the crowd, “the Queen” followed by “Bond”, parachuted from a helicopter towards the arena. Seconds later the real Queen and Prince Philip received a standing ovation as they arrived. Earlier Tour de France hero Bradley Wiggins rang the giant bell which marked the start of the opening ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games. Wearing a yellow jersey Wiggins, who less than a week ago became the first British man to win the Tour, was greeted with cheers at the Olympic Park. It was the dramatic start of a breathtaking ceremony capturing the best of Britain, by turn mov-

ing and funny. Some details of the Bond stunt had emerged in advance of the £27 million opening ceremony - the brainchild of Slumdog Millionaire director Danny Boyle. But the Queen’s role - played to perfection - still left the audience awe-struck and

around the world. “The Queen made herself more accessible than ever before,” Boyle said earlier. Boltic Sinivie, Nigeria’s flagbearer, joined athletes from the 204 competing Olympic nations as they smiled and waved during their moment in the spotlight.

Team Canada bomb Igali with 7 Olympic bags

EAM Canada are still savouring the Olympic gold medal won by Nigerian Daniel Igali at the 2000 Sydney Olympics in Australia. Twelve years after, the Canadians are in no hurry to forget the feat of the Nigerian. Igali won a gold medal in the Men’s 69kg freestyle wrestling. Currently, Igali is the coach of Nigerian Wrestling at the on-going London 2012 Games. At the Olympic Village here in London, the Canadians have not stopped paying pilgrimage to the honourable member of the Bayelsan House of Assembly.

They brought seven bags of assorted sportswear to the Mighty Igali, the same kits that were shared to each of their Olympic contingent. ‘’I was surprised but humbled when they bombarded me with 7 bags.’ They are always organised and united in whatever they do”, Igali said. Igali is a bride at the Games with many countries applying for him to tutor their Wrestling team apparently to give them a touch of golden class. ‘ ’The Nigerian team are in good shape but they are more suited for the next Olympics than this”, Igali confessed.

HE London Olympics is two days old and the scramble for medals has started in earnest for Team Nigeria in Basketball, Weightlifting, Table Tennis and Boxing out of the eight sports which the National Sports Commission (NSC)/Ministry of Sports registered the over 160 athletes carrying the country’s flag. On July 4 the NSC did the official hand-over ceremony of Team Nigeria to the Nigeria Olympic Committee, NOC whose responsibility it is to take the Nigerian contingent to the Games as, traditionally, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which owns the Games, deals only with countries through their respective Olympic Committees. Because of this responsibility which the IOC recognises, each country’s Olympic body usually gets grants from the IOC to support the preparation of their athletes, as the IOC expects them to be independent of government of their countries. In Nigeria the NOC over the years relies on the government totally for the welfare, preparation and participation of athletes for major events like the Olympic Games and the All Africa Games. Because of the NOC’s parasitic nature, past government officials always almost wanted to dictate who occupies the office of the NOC president and secretary general, which most times results into rancour and flexing of muscles between the sports ministry and the NOC. ThingS have however changed with the elevation of Chief Patrick Ekeji as the Director-General of the NSC. The NSC and the NOC have thus been working harmoniously for the interest of the athletes. One area which remains not properly settled however, is the issue of proper reward for our deserving athletes at major competitions. The NOC which is supposed to be in the fore front on this issue, takes the back seat after every competition, leaving the government to decide what it should do most times. No wonder former president, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo introduced his unpopular presidential handshake which kind of demoralised athletes instead of serving to boost their morale as well as encourage upcoming ones. The outcry from the athletes and Nigerians in general however, caused the Obasanjo regime to reverse the decision. The present NOC led by Engineer Sani M. Ndanusa may have taken a big step towards correcting the anomaly of improper reward for athletes as it brokered a partnership with Promasidor, makers of the Cowbell milk, which has promised a financial reward for athletes who win medals at the on-going London Olympics. It promised to give N1.5 million to any athlete who wins a gold medal while silver and bronze medalists are to get N1,000,000 and N500,000 respectively. This is a remarkable feat but the NOC should go one more step, that is by ensuring that it is institutionalised so that any other Board or government that comes must know what is due to the athletes. As a result, it should ensure that money meant for this exercise is raised from various avenues and not just one organisation which may decide to withdraw anytime it deems fit. The NOC should have a pool of sponsors from which it can raise funds to augment the grants it gets from the government through the NSC as well as the IOC. This way athletes representing the country would know ab initio the reward they will get when they win laurels for the country and it will serve as a morale booster for them to always want to excel. The United States’ Olympic Committee (USOC) does same for her athletes with US$25,000, US$15,000 and US$10,000 as rewards to gold, silver and bronze medal winners respectively. It is in black and white and athletes don’t start guessing or waiting endlessly for their government to decide what they will get or when they will get it. Apart from what the USOC doles out to winners, individual federations also arrange for rewards for their athletes. An example is the wrestling federation, which through external backers, has earmarked US $250,000 for her gold medalists. Silver medalists are also expected get US$50,000, same for bronze medal winners. Malaysia has never won an Olympic gold medal and an individual, a gold mine owner in Kuala Lumpur is reported to have taken it upon himself to motivate the country’s athletes at the London Olympics with a promise of a solid gold bar valued at US$600,000 to any athlete who wins gold for the country. What other motivation could be greater than that. The Ndanusa-led NOC should emulate this gesture by wooing corporate organisations and wealthy individuals to support it in motivating Nigerian athletes to excel because they have the potential to be world beaters if there is a level playing ground. The recent award of the gold medal to Nigeria’s Sunday Badaled 4x400 relay quartet at the Sydney 2000 Olympics by the IOC shows that Nigeria has a reservoir of talents but factors such as cheating by other countries and our own administrative ineptitude have contributed in robbing them of glory in the past.

SUNDAY Vanguard, July 29, 2012

Opening Ceremony: A message to Nigerian leaders those who appreciate their things in entertainment. BY ONOCHIE ANIBEZE in London

ritain could lay claim as part of the originators of the three major

And with a classic touch of history they told the world so in an Olympic opening ceremony that will live long in the memories of all especially

PUNCH......Darren O’Neill (R) of Ireland shoots a straight right against Muideen Akanji of Nigeria on July 28. O’Neill won the fight. PHOTOS: AFP

contributions to humanity.

Continues on Page 53

Irish boxer punishes Muideen

IGERIA’s Muideen Akanji looked pitiable right from the moment he stepped into the boxing ring. His movement on the canvass was suspect and so were his punches. And when the bell tolled, Irish man O’Neill Darren showed more vim and vitality with sharper reflexes that scored Continues on Page 53

We are underdogs against Tunisia —D’Tigers coach P.54 Medals Table Country China Italy USA Brazil South Korea Kazakhstan Russia Australia Japan Colombia Poland Romania Netherland Belgium Hungary Norway North Korea Serbia Uzbekistan

Gold 4 2 1 1 1 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0

Silver 0 2 2 1 1 0 0 0 2 2 1 1 1 0 0 0 0 0 0

Bronze 2 1 2 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 0 0 0 1 1 1 1 1 1

Total 6 5 5 3 3 1 1 1 3 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1 1

NIGERIA FOR SHOW......Team Nigeria contingent during the opening ceremony parade on July 27.

FIRST GOLD MEDALIST.....China’s Yi Siling

China wins Olympics first gold Toriola disappoints as Nigerian women bite the dust — P.55 RETURN....Olufunke Oshonaike of Nigeria during her match against Tan Wenling of Italy on July 28.

•Weightlifter fails dope test — P.54 DOWN ACROSS 1. W. African country (5) 11. Classified (6) 2. Run off with lover (5) 3. Nigerian state (6) 4. Plateau state people (5) 6. Lagos masquerade (3) 5. Within (6) 8. Spannish for ‘friend’ (5) 6. Rub off (5) 9. Ways (5) 7. Nigerian tourist resort (5) 10. Fishermen (7) 11. West African town (5) 12. Spoilt (7) 13. Yes (3) 14. Big bird (3) 15. Niger town (5) 16. Chemical element (6) 17. Snooze (3) 18. Spy (5) 18. Hatchet (3) 20. Adjoin (5) 19. Female relative (5) 21. Pry (5) 23. Speech maker (6) 22. Surpass (6) 24. Old Russian Kings (5) 24. Faucet (3) 25. Asks God (5) 26. Invalidates (7) 27. Monarchs (5) 28. Esteem (7) 29. Glimmer (5) 31. Coach (5) 30. Have faith in (5) 32. Yoruba people (5) 33. Message in a bottle (1-1-1) 34. Oppose (6) 35. Hate (6)

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