Fresh crisis brews between Jonathan and Govs

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PAGE 2 — SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 3

Reps resist moves to impeach Tambuwal

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

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LLEGED moves to impeach the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Aminu Tambuwal, by Reps perceived to be loyal to President Goodluck Jonathan may have hit a brick wall.

Sunday Vanguard, at the weekend, gathered that meetings being held by the various interest groups in the House were geared at backing Tambuwal and not to remove him from office.

Members of the House, who spoke to Sunday Vanguard, were unanimous in declaring that it is virtually impossible to impeach the Speaker.

Rep Ahmed Datti, the Deputy Minority Whip, CPC, said, “Impeachment moves or rumours merely exist on newspaper pages, not in the House. ”In the first place, they cannot get one third talkless of two third to get him impeached. “ The Kano Rep went on: “This is not a state assembly like Rivers State where you just impeach people. ”They are just doing whatever they are up to because they know that if they don’t,

executive bills will suffer on the floor of the House. ”It is not feasible for such a thing to happen in the 7th Assembly, it is just a rumour.

Chairman, House Committee on Corruption and Ethics, Hon Abiodun Faleke,APC, who spoke in similar vein, simply said: “They cannot achieve it through normal process, but with the PDP, where 16 is greater than 19 and where five members were used to impeach a governor, anything can happen, but not on the floor of the House.”

Hon Nkem-Abonta, PDP, representing Abia State, who also spoke to Sunday Vanguard, said”, Nobody can impeach Tambuwal and moves to impeach Mr President too are not feasible in the 7th Assembly.

“Tambuwal has not committed any offence to warrant such a move in the first place. ”What we are interested in is how to move Nigeria forward, not impeachment moves that would do no one any good at this moment. ”Tambuwal carries everybody along. He never left anybody behind and he has the rare leadership quality of identifying the 359 members

of this House by his first name and even our various c o n s t i t u e n c i e s . ”We have done very well in this 7th Assembly; nobody can stop that for now and we shall continue to build on that foundation. “ Spokesman for the House, Hon Zakari Mohammed, PDP, representing Baruten/Kaiama Federal Constituency, Kwara State, dismissed impeachment moves against Tambuwal.

His words: “No one is in doubt about Tambuwal’s sterling leadership qualities in this 7th Assembly as you do not need a soothsayer to tell you that he has achieved and piloted the social contract we all signed with Nigerians selflessly. ”No one among the 359 members in this Assembly doubts his leadership prowess. ”All we want is to move this country forward and put smiles on the faces of Nigerians so that democracy can have a human face in this clime. “ House Committee Chairman on Interparliamentary Affairs, Hon Daniel Reyenieju, PDP, had this to say: ”You cannot rule out the current reality on ground over power tussle in the House, but we do not believe it could

degenerate to that level. ”Tambuwal enjoys tremendous support from members generally and impeachment is not the best option for now.

Instead, we should remain united so that we can move this country forward. ”Our number one mission is to see how we can deliver dividends of democracy and make Nigerians feel the effect of it. ”Bills on the floor should be passed irrespective of who

brought it to the House because what should be uppermost in our minds is the stability of this great country.

Sunday Vanguard gathered that in a bid to have a smooth plenary as soon as the House resumed, Tambuwal and other principal officers constituted a seven-man committee to mediate between members of the mainstream PDP and the `New PDP’, also known as nPDP..

Governor Godswill Akpabio of Akwa Ibom State handing over condolence letter to Mr. John Nwodo (Jnr.), during the funeral of his wife, Justice Abigail Nwodo in Ukehe, Nsukka.

PAGE 4 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

• L-r : Chief Taiwo Taiwo, president, Aart of Life, delivering her paper at the 2003 confab of National Association of Clinical Psychologist, held in Lagos on Friday while (l-r) Dr Zachariah of LASUTH, Mrs Ayeni of Unilag and Mr. Amusa of NACP look on.

•Gov Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State (3rd from right) listening to Engr.

Adeleke Olarenwaju (Project Engineer, 1st left) while Rt Hon Victor Ochei , Speaker of the state House of Assembly, and some staff watch during the governor’s appraisal visit to the Assembly Complex.

42 dead, 100 missing in Niger boat mishap

BY WOLE MOSADOMI, with agency reports

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O fewer than 42 people were, on Friday, drowned in a boat mishap on River Niger close to Malili village in Borgu Local Government Area of Niger State.

100 others on board were missing in the mishap which occurred at about 2 pm.

The Public Relation Officer, Niger State Emergency Management Agency, Malam Ibrahim Hussaini, confirmed the incident to NAN in a telephone interview yesterday.

Hassaini said the incident occurred around 2 pm when the traders were returning from Malili village back to Tunga Illo village across the River Niger, after the day’s market.

He said the details were sketchy, but the boat, which had over 150 passengers, capsized midway and drowned 42 people, while 100 others were missing.

The spokesman said that local divers from Malili village had recovered 42

corpses, while efforts were on to rescue possible survivors or the corpses of those drowned.

“At the moment, search and rescue is ongoing on the river”, he said.

“I will make the details of the incident later, but the agency has dispatched its officers to assist the villagers in the rescue efforts.”

Hassaini said the recovered corpses would be given mass burial at the river bank, adding that neighbouring villages had been alerted to look out for floating corpses.

The Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Saidu Ndako, confirmed the boat mishap.

“I received the information late in the night that a boat capsized and 42 persons drowned in the incident, while rescue operation is ongoing”, Ndako stated.

“We believe that the boat was overloaded because its capacity was put at 60 passengers, but over 150 passengers were said to be on board during the incident.

“The debris in the swol-

len river may also have been responsible for the incident”.

The SSG said the government condoled with the family of those who had lost their loved ones, and prayed Allah to grant them the fortitude to bear the loss.

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other Diokpas, they said to avoid a repeat of the Ezesi tragedy, the community leaders were solemnly invoking the sovereign powers of all Ibusa people to “conscientiously request the state government to enforce Section 9 of the White Paper (official document No 2 1995.”

They lamented that since the Obuzor system was introduced, 17 years ago, “insecurity, instability, unhealthy tension have pervaded and engulfed the community

BY JOHN MKOM, Jalingo

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HE tense political atmosphere in Taraba State heightened, last night, following the arrest and detention of Senior Special Assistant to Governor Danbaba Suntai of Taraba by the police.

Sylvanus Giwa was picked up along with his friends by police men around 11pm from the Sanaf Suite opposite Catholic Cathedral, Mile 6, Jalingo.

No reason was given by the police for the arrest,

but sources said Giwa was detained in connection with offensive statements he made against the state’s acting governor, Garba Umar.

He was alleged to have issued a statement castigating Umar for claiming, last week, that he was 100 percent loyal to his boss, Suntai.

The acting governor is alleged to have been uncomfortable with the statement and asked security agents to invite him for explanations.

Although he was taken to the police station on Fri-

day night, he was still being kept at the counter yesterday afternoon while spirited efforts were being made to release him on bail.

The acting governor’s spokesman, Sule Kefas, denied that his boss had any hand in the arrest.

One of the four arrested alongside Giwa was Bar. Hamidu Ali, said to be in the hotel for a religious purpose.

“As I speak to you, the acting governor is not aware of the arrest and did not ask anyone to arrest Giwa,” Kefas said.

Delta Central bye-election postponed, now holds October 12

BY EMMA AMAIZE & FESTUS AHON

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HE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Asaba, postponed to October 12 the bye-election to fill the Delta Central senatorial seat in the National Assembly, earlier scheduled for October 5 due to non-readiness of sensitive election materials.

Delta State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dame Gesila Khan, who broke the news of the postponement to party chairmen, leaders and candidates, at a meeting in INEC office, Asaba, appealed for their understanding.

Ibusa asks Uduaghan to dethrone Obuzor

BY EMMA AMAIZE HE Izu Ani (Traditional Parliament) of Ibusa community in Oshimili North Local Government Area, Delta State, has asked Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan to order the Obuzor of Ibusa, Obi Prof Louis Nwaoboshi, to abdicate his office.

In a letter, entitled, “Removal of Obi (Prof) Louis Chelunor Nwaoboshi as the Obuzor of Ibusa”, addressed to the governor, and signed by the Senior Diokpa of Ibusa and 10

Tension as police detain Suntai’s aide

due to the refusal of the incumbent Obuzor to allow other the arms of governance to perform.”

According to the community leaders, the Ibusa Community Development Union Peace Committee, under the chairmanship of Engr. E.U. Obidi, which submitted its report on April 4, 2010, traced the problem primarily to the non-recognition and relegation of the Senior Diopkpa, non recognition of Izu Ibusa, and interference in traditional matters, among others.

The position became vacant following the death of Senator Pius Ewherido, who won the seat on the platform of the Democratic Peoples Party, DPP. The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Peter Nwaoboshi, who confirmed this, yesterday, said, “Yes, we are aware the bye-election had been postponed, they have just called us for a meeting to inform us, they said it is for reasons beyond their immediate control.

“As a party, we are not opposed to it, we are ready for the election at any time”.

His DPP counterpart, Chief Tony Ezeagwu, asserted, “We are just leaving INEC office from a meeting where they announced that the byeelection has been postponed from October 5 to 12.

“We went with our candidate, we are ready for the election, the Resident Commissioner said the postponement was due to the fact that sensitive materials were not ready, we are just leaving INEC office as you are speaking with me now”.

Labour Party, LP, chair, Mr. Emeka Nkwoala, also said his party was aware of the postponement, adding, “We inquired whether it will not have a breach on the constitutional pe-

riod of 30 days within which the National Assembly conveyed the vacancy to INEC, but INEC’s legal adviser quoted relevant portions of the law to back up the action.”

Some of the candidates jostling for the seat are the former managing director of Niger-Delta Development Commission, NDDC, Chief Emmanuel Aguariavwodo - PDP;

chartered accountant and partner at Horwath Dafinone, Chief Ede Dafinone - DPP; chartered accountant and insurance guru, Olorogun O’Tega Emerhor, All Progressives Congress, APC; and former Secretary of Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, Chief (Barrister) Andrew Osawota.

Delta ‘Igbo-Day’ holds today as court counters Ohaneze

BY EMMA AMAIZE

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HE row between two warring factions of Ohaneze Ndigbo in Delta State over the celebration of Igbo-Day , today, in Warri, has been resolved by a Chief Magistrate Court in Warri, presided over by E.D Odjugo.

The court, on Friday, declined to grant an interlocutory injunction sought by the Deacon Jerry James –led group to stop the Chief C.V.C Okekenta faction from the celebration allegedly “to forestall a breakdown of law and order pending the hearing and determination of the substantive suit” A High Court Judge in Warri, Justice Ikede, had, last week, adjourned hearing to October 2 to enable the James group show cause why he

should not grant the reliefs sought by the Okekenta faction.

The suit and counter suit by the opposing factions followed a letter by the national headquarters of Ohaneze Ndigbo in a letter, dated September 18, addressed to the Delta State Governor, Dr. Emmanuel Uduaghan, signed by the SecretaryGeneral, Dr. Joe Nwaorgu, intimating him of the cancellation of Igbo Day celebrations, scheduled for today in Warri.

Nevertheless Chief Magistrate Odjugo, who heard counsels to the plaintiffs/defendants, on Friday, and perused the motion papers, ruled, ‘Security decision are best left to the Area Commander, Warri, the SSS and other security agencies within Warri metropolis.”

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013 — PAGE 5

Continued from page 1

Fresh crisis brews between Jonathan and govs

funds due to the 36 states, the President risks further isolation from this group of elected public officers.

State governors, according to Sunday Vanguard investigations, are angry with the Federal Government over the nonremittance of their three months’ allocations in full by the Finance Ministry.

Although all the governors in the country are not pleased with this financial situation, only seven of them, who are with the breakaway faction of the ruling People’s Democratic Party, have openly cried out, saying their governments are experiencing financial incapacitation.

However, PDP governors still loyal to Jonathan and the Bamanga Tukur-led faction have opted to “suffer in silence” over the withheld funds, believing that the situation would be addressed with the urgency it deserves.

Sunday Vanguard was made to understand that they have also chosen to tolerate the situation so as not to be seen as disloyal to the President and the party.

A northern governor, whose state has virtually been grounded as a result of inadequate funds to meet the obligations of his administration, confirmed that most “of us are quite upset over the financial distress imposed on us by the Federal Government.”

The governor, who is one of the staunchest supporters of Jonathan and who insisted on speaking in confidence, said: “If urgent steps were not taken by the Presidency to put an end to the emerging financial crisis in the states, more governors would be forced to distance themselves from Aso Rock Villa and the Finance Minister. ”We are afraid that if the current situation, which we believe is artificially created so as to punish some states and their governors is not stopped, many governors would be left with no option than to seek redress. ”It is difficult for the Finance Minister to convince us that after generating N1.05 trillion in July this year, a figure that was well over the projection by government for the month, states could not be paid their full allocations for the month. ”As we speak, we have not been paid for August and September while our people are anxiously looking up to us as governors to give them dividends of democracy through provision of life-changing projects. ”In almost all the states, the salaries and emoluments of civil and public servants have not been

paid while contractors are on edge waiting to do battle with the g o v e r n o r s . ”If we may ask, where has all the money gone since Okonjo-Iweala keeps insisting that the economy is robust and kicking?”.

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Another governor from the South, who narrated the situation in his state to Sunday Vanguard, noted that he would have to stay away from his state for as long as the Federation Allocations were withheld so as not to run into trouble with contractors.

The governor said, “The financial position is so bad that I have to avoid going to my office daily because contractors are waiting for me. I have no genuine excuse to give since they won’t believe that for the past three months we have not been given our full remittances by the centre. ”This is what we have been exposed to by the Federal Government even with increased

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HE Abubakar Bara je-led

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‘New Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP’, yesterday, condemned Friday’s judgment by the Federal High Court, Abuja declaring that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, should delete Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola’s name from its records as PDP’s National Secretary, just as it vowed to appeal the judgment.

Describing the judgment as shocking, the nPDP stressed that it was a miscarriage of justice, adding that Oyinlola, who served as Secretary of the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur-led PDP and the Secretary of nPDP, was never served court processes prior to the judgment by Justice Abdul Kafarati in the suit filed by the Ogun State chapter of PDP against the former governor of Osun State.

The nPDP urged the judiciary not to indulge itself in anything that may tend to give the contrary impression to watchers of democracy and Nigerians.

Also in the nPDP are former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Governors Sule Lamido of Jigawa; Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara; Aliyu Babangida of Niger; Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko of

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L-R; Delta State Deputy Governor, Prof. Amos Utuama; Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan; Mr. Ndudi Elumelu, HRM Emmanuel Sideso, Abe I, Ovie of Uvwie Kingdom, Mrs. Orezi Esievo and Mr. Efe Ofobruku at the commissioning of Enerhen Junction Improvement project, yesterday, in Uvwie. Photo: AKPOKONA OMAFUAIRE. revenue confirmed by the Central Bank of Nigeria accruing to the purse of the g o v e r n m e n t .

”Nigerians should be more vigilant by asking the Finance Minister where our money is being kept. Let them tell

Anti-Oyinlola verdict shocking, a miscarriage of justice — nPDP

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Nigerians what happened to the balance of the N1.05 trillion that accrued to Nigeria after N792billion was shared to states for July. ”We have made the point that it is either they are hiding our money for 2015 elections or they are deliberately manipulating the economy to give Nigerians the impression that all is well when the nation is broke.”

But, last Thursday, the Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Samuel Otorm, insisted that the nation’s economy was very sound and making progress on all fronts.

The minister asked Nigerians to ignore those in the ‘New PDP’, who allege that something is wrong with the economy but carefully avoided saying why monthly allocations had not been remitted in full to states by the Federal Government.

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Sokoto; Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers; Musa Rabiu Kwankwaso of Kano; and Murtala Nyako of A d a m a w a .

The nPDP National Publicity Secretary, Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, in a statement, yesterday, said, “The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) under the leadership of Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje has learnt with shock of yesterday’s judgment by the Federal High Court Abuja presided over by Justice

Abdul Kafarati in the suit filed by the Ogun State chapter of PDP against PDP’s National Secretary, His Excellency, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Governor of Osun State. ”In his judgment, Justice Abdul Kafarati ordered the PDP faction led by Alhaji Bamanga Tukur to swear in a new National Secretary for PDP and went ahead to order the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to delete Prince Oyinlola’s name from its records

as PDP’s National Secretary. ”The Alhaji Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led PDP wishes to condemn this obvious and glaring miscarriage of justice as the judgment was given in spite of the pendency of Prince Oyinlola’s suit over the subject matter at a superior court of competent jurisdiction – the Federal Court of Appeal Abuja. ”We wish to inform Nigerians that Prince Oyinlola was never served any court processes before the judgment was delivered”.

Strike: FG says ASUU is lying

*Varsities senior staff start industrial action tomorrow

BYJOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU & CALEB AYANSINA HE Federal Government has accused the Academic Staff Union of Nigerian Universities (ASUU) of being economical with the truth on lecturers prolonged industrial action in the universities.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Youth and Students Matters, Com. Jude Imagwe, stated that the claim by the union that its action was to restore infrastructural decay in universities was nothing but a lie, noting that ASUU was fighting for allowances.

Imagwe was speaking in Abuja when he received some youth groups, who were on a visit to his office.

His words: “They initially told us that it was about infrastructure, but it is about allowances. N30b has been released for the payment of their accumulated allowances, and N100b earmarked for infrastructural development. It is important for the public to know that government did not say this is all that it will give, but government says go and start the payment with this amount and let us know the amount it will add”.

Meanwhile, Senior Staff Association of Nigerian Universities, SSANU, will tomorrow join ASUU on strike as the union said it has mobilized its members across the country to embark on industrial action over alleged

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stoppage of their salaries for two months.

SSANU, in a letter, dated 27 September, 2013, and addressed to its branch chairmen in all the universities in the country, directed its members to stay away from work from tomorrow until the salaries are fully paid.

The President of SSANU, Comrade Samson Ugwoke, said the strike will be total, while the General Secretary, who signed the letter directing members to stay at home from tomorrow, Comrade Promise Adewusi, said no member should go back to work until a counter directive was given.

Adewusi stated that the union took the decision following its letters to the vice-chancellors in universities, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,

Senator Anyim Pius Anyim, Ministers of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu and Education, Nyesom Wike, as well as the Executive Secretary, National Universities Commission, Prof. Julius Okojie.

In the meantime, the suspended strike by the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP) is to resume on Friday.

The union alleged insincerity and failure of the Federal Government to honour agreement entered with the union.

The union also passed a vote of no confidence on the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), alleging that the board has failed to meet the needs and demands of polytechnic education in the country.

2 feared killed in Abuja blast

BY TUNDE OSHO

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N explosion rocked a village in Abuja on Friday night killing two sisters.

The explosion from a domestic gas cylinder in one Miss Rose property, came at exactly 7.37pm, killing Faith Oche, 31, and Mary Oche, 25, said to be co-tenants to Rose. The explosion, according to eye witnesses, sounded like bomb as it rocked the village to its foundation with people scampering tfor safety.

The explosion left a gory impact on the two victims. The head of one was reportedly blown off while the second had her head shattered. An eyewitness, Mr.

Joseph Mark, a tenant in the house, said Miss Rose, who was cooking in her apartment, found that a fire had entered the nozzle of the cylinder and threw it outside the compound.

According to him, when people saw the cylinder with burning fire, they ran and prepared water and detergent solution and sands which they were throwing at a distance to put out the fire.

Mark said the two sisters, Mary and Faith, put up bravery attempts and approached the cylinder with the aim of throwing in more sand but the cylinder exploded suddenly into their faces.

PAGE 6 —SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

•Wife of the Governor of Ogun State, Mrs. Olufunso Amosun, explaining a point to the residents of Aiyetoro on the need to always maintain a clean environment during the monthly environmental sanitation exercise in Aiyetoro, Ogun State, yesterday.

•From right: Bro. Sylvester Oyewole, Daughter, Sis Dupe Oyewole and Sis Funmi Oyewole singing at the 2013 Juvenile Centenary harvest thanksgiving service of the Wesley Cathedral Olowogbowo, Lagos.

Crisis rocks Methodist Church

•Mbang alleges ‘ecclesiastical fraud of the highest order’ in Prelate-elect’s emergence

BY SAM EYOBOKA

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HE proposed inves titure of a new Prelate for the Methodist Church Nigeria, scheduled for next Sunday, may not hold after all as the process that produced the Prelate-elect has been faulted by the immediate past Prelate of the church, Dr Sunday Mbang, who described the election as an ecclesiastical fraud of the highest order.

Mbang, in a sevenpage document, entitled: ‘Holy Almighty

Everlasting God, save Your church, Methodist Church Nigeria from indiscipline, manipulation and fraud. So help us God’, alluded to several constitutional breaches in the process that led to the September 1 election of the Archbishop of Enugu, Most Rev. Samuel Uche, as the new Prelate as well as seven others as archbishops for the newly created archdioceses.

According to the Prelate-Emeritus, who headed the church for 22 years at a critical period in the church’s history,

what took place during the Emergency Conference and the 44th Special Conference at Ebute Metta, Lagos, can be described as anything but elections going by the dictionary meaning of the word and promptly cautioned those involved in the process to restrain from condemning politicians on election manipulation and rigging.

The erstwhile Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, president and former chairperson of World Methodist Council, Sunday Vanguard can now reveal, stormed out of the Special Conference following alleged to undermine the church’s 2006 Constitution despite attempts by him and a few others to toe the path of righteousness.

Mbang’s bitterness was palpable when he directed our reporter to the document in a telephone conversation, suggesting that the document was self-explanatory when asked to throw more light on his allegations.

According to the document, which was not addressed to nobody in particular, the former

Prelate alleged several constitutional breaches which made him conclude that the election process that produced the prelate-elect and the seven archbishops was not credible.

The Akwa Ibom Stateborn cleric said the process of nomination and screening was incredulously flawed and at variance with the Constitution which provides the Electoral College as the instrument of Conference for making nominations and recommendations for vacant episcopal positions in the church.

According to him, the 2013 Electoral College was presented with the names of 10 candidates for the office of the Prelate.

He argued that after some of the “unwilling and unsolicited candidates from the 10 candidates failed in the unending voting systems, probably the legitimate ones selected by the secret illegal Electoral College were asked to go out. ”But why were they asked to leave the Electoral College rook if screening was a no-go area? Was this part of the

plan of the unconstitutional illegal Electoral College? To this end, no screening was done to establish the suitability and capability of candidates to be elected. This was the case of the blind leading the blind,” he noted. ”The election that took place was an ecclesiastical fraud of the highest order,” he pointed out, asking “Can this church, her leaders and her people have any conscience left to condemn political leaders on election manipulation and rigging?

Can the pot now call the kettle black?”

Mbang also drew attention to what he described as “executive indiscipline”, saying the 2006 Constitution of the church encouraged the use of emergency or extraordinary conference to deal with urgent matters re-

quiring conference attention.

It will be recalled that Archbishop of Enugu, Most Rev. Samuel Uche was said to have defeated his Ibadan counterpart, Most Rev. M.K. Stephen, a man reputed to have very intimidating credentials locally and abroad to effectively lead to the church. Feelers, however, emerged after that Stephen initially polled 65 votes as against Uche’s 63 but lost his advantage during the run off.

Outgoing prelate, His Eminence Sunday Ola Makinde described the elections as a smooth transition and urged Nigerian politicians to borrow a leaf from Nigerian churches not only how to conduct successful polls but also how to work together for the good of the nation.

October 1: Prisoners to showcase talents

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013 edition of Testify Praise Blast (TPB) holds on October 1 to create a platform for inmates of Ibara Prison, Ibara, Abeokuta, Ogun State to showcase their talents through songs, arts and craft.

President of the outreach, Mr. Toba Ogunrinde, said, in a statement, that the 2013 TPB,

which started in 2010 as a youth-oriented music and media ministry with passion for meeting the needs of the less privileged in the society, will also enable the inmates interact with visitors.

He added that it will also feature preaching of the word of God “in an atmosphere of love, praise and worship”.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 7

NEWS EXTRA

Ndigbo and Fashola exemplumBRIEFS

BY KEN UGBECHIE

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N contemporary history, leadership transcends the frontiers of one man ordering people around militarystyle. Leadership is about sacrifice, innovation, vision and ability to recognise that even the best of diamond was first coated with dirt and dust. Great leaders are therefore those who see opportunity in oppression, who turn adversity to advantage and those who see today what others will see tomorrow.

It took a life of risk and sacrifice in a moment of war for Americans to see the strong character of George Washington.

Franklin Delano Roosevelt, confined to a wheel chair at middle age by polio, turned what others may consider an adversity to advantage. He became one of the greatest presidents of the United States, winning election for a record four times even on a wheel chair. He sacrificed his comfort to steer America out of the straits of the Great Depression.

Bring on the architect of modern Singapore, Lee Kuan Yew. Coming through the trauma of Second World War and the emotional bitterness of Japanese occupation and British domination, he sacrificially rallied his troop of young and resolute Singaporeans to birth a new nation with the full dignity of Singapore citizens restored.

It took the conscientious, conscious and selfless exertions of Martin Luther King Jnr and other Black activists for the world to witness a Black American president in the White House over four decades later. It is impossible to wade through the history of nations without finding bright dots and brilliant flashes of good leadership sometimes even in the midst of overly administrative tardiness.

In Europe, America, Asia and other climes, you find such leadership milestones in both the private and public sectors as blue chip chief executives, district heads, mayors, governors and heads of government. These are men and women who through innovations and visionary candour, wrought transformation in their stations.

In Nigeria, we still find bright spots of purposeful leadership sparkling in the horizon like oasis in a famished desert.

You find them as local government chairmen, company executives, lawmakers and sundry public office holders. In this list of change-agents is Babatunde Raji Fashola, the governor of Lagos State who is easily accepted today among all political parties as the bestperforming governor.

Fashola is a real outlier who during his working life in the private sector as a lawyer demonstrated a rare knack for excellence and professional enthusiasm garnished with uncommon humility. These have been the defining character traits of the Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) who when he speaks reminds you that in spite of the culture of poverty of leadership in Nigeria, there are still men and women who have remained untainted by the miasma and putrefaction which embroider the garments of those in power.

Like all great leaders, Fashola

Governor Babatunde Fashola.....Leadership comes with its peculiar burden and responsibility has been consistent in character.

He arrived at Lagos State Government House with a rich tool-kit laden with administrative dexterity, visionary élan and an imbued Jewish spirit complete with chutzpah, candour and unvarnished charisma. As governor of cosmopolitan Lagos, he wormed his way into the hearts of the people. His rich vein of people skills and unfeigned deployment of emotional intelligence stand him out as a puritan from the crowd of political jobbers and leadership jesters who daily crowd the nation’s political space.

He’s a man fated to success and it was no surprise that he emerged victorious in the 2007 gubernatorial election which thrust him into the centre stage of governance in his state. His trajectory from the private sector to the public arena and his seamless adaptation to life in the corridor of power owe so much to his social malleability and political flexibility.

In barely six years as governor of Lagos State, he has demonstrated without any pinch of doubt that good, qualitative leadership is still possible in a country widely perceived as destitute of such virtue. He is to Lagos State what Moses was to the Jews – a man ordained to set the captives free. Thus, guided by the invisible and sturdy hand of Providence, he has navigated Lagos out of the valley of gross darkness to the plains of socioeconomic resurgence. A state once manacled to the tethers of indiscipline and a ready by-word for social disorder has joined the league of the world’s fastest developing cities. He has wrought exceptional transformation in the state even to the admiration and acclamation of his most acerbic critics.

He is the real Renaissance man. In Fashola, you wonder

I do not have a problem with the Igbo and they know that. The largest herds of cattle I received during my father’s burial was from Ndigbo. They are my kindred and my people how a man can be so intelligent yet very humble; in him you see a mix of unassuming demeanour and intellectual opulence. And everywhere he goes, everything he does, he carries these virtues with him.

On Thursday in Lagos, Aka Ikenga, a pan-Igbo think-thank marked its silver jubilee with a public lecture delivered by His Lordship Rt. Rev Matthew Hassan Kukah, the Bishop of Catholic Diocese of Sokoto.

Kukah, an activist who has successfully travelled through the contours of the podium and the pulpit was his vintage self as he engaged the audience with eclectic poignancy. He was blunt and forthright as he tried to unravel the latent dialectics that foreshadow the nation’s collective attempt to overawe the challenges thrown up by Nigeria’s variant of democracy.

Kukah took the audience through the challenges of democracy in Nigeria. He acknowledged the diversities and complexities of the Nigerian nation but argued that such diversity ought not to be a liability but a strength. In his words: “the greatness of any nation lies in its ability to

manage diversity and be accommodating to strangers”.

Kukah’s lecture resonated with the audience as he wondered if the Nigerian problem was just ethnicity, corruption or a function of ‘fundamental error of attribution’. He described Nigeria as a country which progresses in reverse order.

“Nigeria is a great country but it is hurting badly”. Yes, Nigeria hurts. It hurts the majority who feel erroneously profiled as power grabbers; it hurts the minorities who feel emasculated in the political space. It hurts the poor, the girl-child, the rural dwellers and even the urban drifters including the very rich.

Everybody is hurting. The Hausa, Igbo, Yoruba and the multitude of minority entities. But most times, people hurt because they misconstrue what true nationhood is all about; they do not understand where they are coming from and where they are going and most times they hurt because they do not understand who their real enemy is.

A section of Ndigbo has been hurting. They are unhappy with Governor Fashola for ‘deporting’ a handful of their kinsmen from Lagos to the South East. Officials

of Lagos State insist that those affected were not randomly picked from the streets and shipped home. They were men of no tangible means of livelihood who were rehabilitated and made to acquire some skills by the state. It was upon their graduation from vocational training that they were ferried home.

It was on the basis of this ‘hurt’ that Fashola mounted the rostrum after Kukah’s lecture. He prefaced his remarks with these words. “I do not have a problem with the Igbo and they know that.

The largest herds of cattle I received during my father ’s burial was from Ndigbo. They are my kindred and my people”.

“I have come here first to say thank you for the honour done to my family and the memory of my late father.

“I have also come here to make an explanation as to what happened. Some people who clearly do not understand the actions taken and words spoken are those I owe an explanation. I cannot take the Igbo for granted because we have built a relationship based on tolerance, mutual respect, love and trust.

That relationship was built by our ancestors and I put a lot of value in that relationship.

“I offer an unreserved apology if the actions taken had been misunderstood. But I think the basic issue Aka Ikenga must address is why people feel compelled to migrate from one part of the country to the other?

Is it the case that some lack the resources to develop or perhaps some parts are endowed with enormous resources but not adequately managed? How can development be so difficult from the zone that has produced people like Nnamdi Azikiwe, Alex Ekwueme, Ike Nwachukwu, among others? A day like this calls for deep reflection about issues of our loyalties. Are we more Igbo than Nigeria or we are more Nigeria than Igbo?”

A deafening ovation followed Fashola’s remarks not just for his forthrightness, show of courage to say it as it is but for his humility in apologizing to those who read the script wrongly. But the laudation for Fashola should not drown the squealing voice of his posers. Why is development difficult in the South East, South –South and the North? Has anybody ever wondered why Fashola has grown more grey hairs since becoming governor than all the governors in other places put together?

Leadership comes with its peculiar burden and responsibility. Lee Kuan Yew, in his personal account of how he salvaged Singapore from ruins gave insight into how he stayed up late thinking and strategizing; how he held several meetings in a day with diverse groups and people and how he invested his emotions into project Singapore to birth what is today one of the most flourishing nations in the world. The real issue is not for Ndigbo to vilify Fashola but to ask questions of their governors or other governors for that matter why they cannot create oasis of development in their respective states in spite of the abundant resources in such states. · Ugbechie is Editor-in-Chief of Political Economist magazine

PAGE 8—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

APO SHOOTING: FG orders hospital to continue treating victims

BY VICTORIA OJEME

A

UTHORITIES of the General H o s p i t a l , Asokoro have denied stopping the treatment of the victims of Apo, Abuja shooting incident contrary to a directive by the Federal Government.

13 victims of the shooting by security agencies at an uncompleted building located around Apo Legislative Quarters in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) were reportedly brought to the general hospital, out of which one died.

Relatives of one of the victims, as learnt at the weekend, had him transferred to an unidentified hospital in Kubwa, a suburb of the FCT, for better treatment.

When Sunday

Vanguard visited the hospital yesterday, the authorities refused to comment on whether the hospital had discontinued treatment of the victims of the shooting incident.

However a top official, who offered to speak anonymously, said the management had not stopped treating the victims. “ It is a lie. We have not stopped treating

Presidential Media Chat

BY BEN AGANDE

P

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan will this evening host the Presidential Media C h a t .

A statement by the

Kema Chikwe mourns Agagu, says he was a dedicated civil servant — Chikwe

BY HENRY UMORU

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AT I O N A L W o m a n Leader of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP , Chief Kema

Chikwe, yesterday, described the late former governor of Ondo State, Dr. Segu Agagu, as a dedicated civil servant who worked in different sectors of the economy, just as she stressed that, as a nationalist, he dedicated his life to the attainment

and sustenance of democracy in politics.

In a statement, the PDP leader, who noted that Agagu handed over to her as Minister of Aviation, said that he led PDP to a near victory in the 2012 Ondo State governorship election and that in spite of losing the election, his loyalty to PDP remained unquestionable.

“I feel a personal sense of loss and will always cherish my friendship with Sege and his wife”, Chikwe s a i d .

Flood: Ondo seeks FG’s help

BY DAYO JOHNSON

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ORRIED by the hundreds of properties destroyed by a recent flood occasioned by torrential downpour across Ondo State, the state government has cried to the Ecological Department of the Presidency for help.

E n v i r o n m e n t Commissioner Sola Ebiseni made the S O S during an inspection of the havoc wreaked by the rainfall in Ondo town.

Many structures including houses, schools, religious buildings, fences of both private and government buildings were destroyed while other private buildings were equally pulled down by the flood.

Ebiseni said government had at various times made

them. There is a directive from the Federal Government for us to continue with their treatment. And of course what this means is that government will settle their bills”, he said.

“One of the victims was taken away to a private hospital in Kubwa, on the request of his relatives.

Also for the record, 13 victims were brought in with gun shot injuries and one died”.

representations to the Ecological Department of the presidency over the funding of its environmental related p r o j e c t s .

He said the projects that were meant to protect the environment against disasters were capital intensive such that could not be shouldered by the state alone.

According to the Commissioner “There is the need for us to again appeal to the ecological department for assistance and provision of funds towards the realisation of these projects. ” We have been talking to them before now and we won’t stop because our state has not benefited from the fund in a long t i m e .

Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Dr Reuben Aba ti, yesterday, said

Jonathan will, in the course of the programme, answer questions from a panel of journalists on current national issues and events, as well as policies and actions of his administration.

He said members of the public who have questions to ask the President on the programme may send them in via Twitter to @mediachatng1.

Warri, Effurun Rotary clubs get new presidents

BY EMMA AMAIZE

T

HE Rotary Clubs in twin cities of Warri and Effurun in Delta State have installed new Presidents.

They are Rotarian Blackwell Idiahi for Warri and Rotarian Amrakpo Grant Ovie for Effurun.

Rotarian Idiahi at his installation ceremony unveiled the plan by Rotary Club, Warri, to collaborate with Rotary Club, Kombard, Malaysia, to fight the malaria scourge in Warri and environs.

He said much efforts would be channeled on humanitarian services during his tenure, while free marker boards would soon be distributed to schools in Warri to complement government’s efforts in lifting the standard of education in the state.

Also speaking at his investiture ceremony, Rotarian Ovie of Effurun Rotary said, "I am delighted that this day has come to be.

Rotary's activities are exemplified in humanitarian activities geared towards improving life, I shall do my best to improve life and I plead for cooperation of all."

Ex-beauty queen uplifts widows, orphans

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X-BEAUTY queen and philanthropist, Mrs. Nice Esther Alamieyeseigha, has uplifted the spirit of over hundred underprivileged with cash and other aids.

At an occasion rounding off her birthday celebration in Port Harcourt, Mrs. Alamieyesegha, shared wheelchairs for several

physically challenged while widows and orphans got clothing aside cash donations to all the beneficiaries who she hosted in marking another year added to her life.

Earlier, as part of the celebration, the philanthropist, wife to G o d k n o w s Alamieyeseigha, younger brother to former Bayelsa State Governor had

engaged a team of medical experts in providing free medical care to interested public in Port Harcourt.

The celebrant who is Ugo Nwanyi 1 of IPU South Kingdom in Abia State also used the occasion to raise funds in advancing her philanthropy already instituted under a foundation, NiceEsther Rescue Initiative to cater for the needy in the society.

Half page advert up

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 9

C M Y K

PAGE 10 —SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Obong Victor Attah: Father of Akwa Ibom State

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Father of Akwa Ibom State and the “Uncle” of Bayelsa State.

What follows are mostly excerpts from a book, soon to be published on Akwa Ibom and related matters.

Long before the fateful day, for Akwa Ibomites that is, the Attahs had been close family friends of the Babangidas. The close friendship was well-known among the top military brass and their staff. And, it extended to Mrs Coleman, Attah’s mother-in-law. On some of her visits to Nigeria from Barbados, she had been known to sit next to IBB, our future Head of State and playfully pull his ears while saying: “Why did a handsome boy like you get into the army? You want to get yourself killed”? That was how close the families were. It eventually worked to the advantage of all Akwa Ibomites who wanted a state of their own created out of Cross River. IBB survived any attempts to get him killed to become President and to create Akwa Ibom State. It was not an easy task defining where the boundaries of the state should lie for the following reasons, which emerged after the fact.

Akwa Ibom State now shares boundaries with three states -- Cross River, Rivers and Abia States.

Years of being part of the Eastern Region; and later,

Reasons to feel valued- On Independence Anniversary I pointed out to you the stars and all you saw was the tip of my finger- Swahili Proverb

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E are nearing that time of the year again, where we look back collectively as a nation. Nigeria is 53 and if the truth be told as a nation, there is so much more we should be doing at that age; in fact, we are worse off than we were at 10 or 20 than where we are at 53.

I recalled a conversation with a colleague recently when his company reached 18 years milestone. He said to me of the milestone that he expects that his company continues to mature and progress every year. He emphatically told me anything less, means that the company is failing. I wholeheartedly agree with him.

So Nigerians, where are we at 53? What are we doing as a nation to mark a milestone of a failed government, legislature, politics, institutions, people and structures? I made a vow

personally, that the marking of Nigeria is not for me.

That now is not a moment of celebrating our independence especially when we remain dependent on handouts; at a time when we should be self-sufficient, be a power broker in our zone and a pride of place in world politics. We could be the food basket of our zone, a world tourist attraction; a place where its citizens live a life of relative standard.

What do we tell our young ones? That they are the future, when we have not safeguarded their rights to all the basic necessities of life; no adequate drinking water, safe transportation or safe roads, no adequate health care or social care for that matter, lives are two a penny, greed and corruption reigns supreme.

Is this really the preferred present we envisaged for the next generation? So what is the future going to be like for our young people when they have been denied a present, how can they forge ahead with such legacy?

Cross River had resulted in mixed marriages and even dilution of cultures by people belonging to different ethnic groups. However, the three or four ethnic groups which ended up in Akwa Ibom State shared most of the Ibibio dialect –

,

“Have you given up on the creation of your state?” President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, IBB, in a phone call to Obong Victor Attah as he prepared to create two additional states on September 23, 1987. .B. For the major facts presented in this column, about the creation of Akwa Ibom State, I have two living witnesses – Major-General Aliyu Gusau (rtd) and former military President Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida, IBB, GCFR. The state was created, virtually, at the last minute as IBB was going to announce the creation of Katsina State out of Kaduna State. Then, he must have decided that, for balance, there was need to create a southern state.

Then he reached for the phone and called Attah. A new state was created after months of close lobbying by General Akpan and Attah; especially the Attahs.

Akwa Ibom State celebrated its 26th anniversary, last week, without four people who played a major role in its creation – General Akpan, late Mrs Eleanor Coleman, mother of the late First Lady of Akwa Ibom and His Excellency, immediate past governor of Akwa Ibom State, Obong Victor Attah. Irrespective of how his absence occurred, it was a gross oversight because, indeed, Attah was the

drawing of the boundary lines, and Attah’s role in them, the story is best told in the words of General Gusau, in an interview I had with him. Here it is below: “Attah was given an office in the Presidency and he had several copies of the map of Cross Rivers with him.

Attah would mark the boundaries as he thought appropriate and I would take the proposal to IBB who would ask for time to study it. Then it would be returned with some adjustments and suggestions. It went on like that until a final boundary was agreed upon. However, the capital was not decided unti later on. One other person who played a significant role

Attah was not a politician when he undertook the task of creating a state for his people. In 1987, he was a successful practicing Architect and Town Planner

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which are the dominant group in the state. According to facts available to me, the Ibibios, Annangs, Orons and a nearly extinct group, had settled in the area about 1500-1200 B.C. That fact provided the guidelines for determination of the new state. That is not the full history of Akwa Ibom State, but it is sufficient for us to understand that there was no arbitrariness in the decision.

It was based on facts available at the time.

As for the eventual state creation, that is the actual

was General Akpan. But, Attah, almost single-handedly was responsible for the creation of Akwa Ibom State”.

Another insider in the Babangida Presidency, who spoke on conditions of anonymity, said he could not recollect any other instance when a “bloody civilian”, who was not an official of government, was accorded the privilege which Attah enjoyed. “We even thought he was working on a secret project known to IBB, Gusau and Attah until Akwa Ibom State was created sud-

When I initially set to write Outside looking in, I naïvely thought I would have many good new stories to share, showcase what Nigeria has got to offer, find the gem in the rough, people potential so that I for one, wanted to stand up and wave the flag for Nigeria.

There is so much of the negative it seems and I have

frustration and dismay.

About three years ago, I vowed to seek notable Nigerians, who have contributed positively to Nigeria’s history and its people. Last year, I wrote about Ken Saro-Wiwa, the writer, artist, journalist, and television producer, President of the Association of Nigerian Authors. He devoted his later years entirely to the nonviolent struggles of his fellow Ogoni people. He was truly a man of the people.

This year, I am celebrating the author, Buchi Emecheta, born to Igbo parents in Lagos on 21 July 1944.

Dr.Buchi Emecheta is a prolific novelist who has published over 20 books, plays and shorts, including Second-Class Citizen, The Bride price, The Slave Girl and The Joy of Motherhood .“I grew up hearing these stories. Then, when I got married, my mother-in-law told me stories. Her own children would not listen, but I listened”.

She moved to Britain in 1960, where she worked as a librarian and became a student at London University in 1970, reading Sociology. She worked as a community worker in Camden, North London, between 1976 and 1978.

In 1983 she was selected as one of twenty 'Best of Young British Writers' by the Book Marketing Council.

She lectured in the United States throughout 1979 as visiting Professor at a

,

Now is not a moment of celebrating our independence especially when we remain dependent on handouts; at a time when we should be self-sufficient, be a power broker in our zone and a pride of place in world politics

,

read and converse with so many Nigerians-home and abroad about their experiences of the underbelly of daily living in Nigeria, by ordinary Nigerians and it is so grim. Sometimes, I find it difficult getting my head round why this is made to continue unabated. I cannot fathom nor make sense of the current dire situation without feeling a twinge of

denly”.

I am aware of the mutual distrust between Attah and Governor Godswill Akpabio. But, it is reasonable to state that as long as Attah is alive, there should be no anniversary celebration in Akwa Ibom State, and perhaps Bayelsa, without Attah being invited as the Father of the Day. As Agathon, 447-401 B.C had declared, in Aristotle’s NICHOMACHEAN ETHICS, “Even God cannot change past”. For as long as Nigeria shall last; and, for as long as Akwa Ibom remains a State within it, OBONG Victor Attah is the father of the state.

Attah was not a politician when he undertook the task of creating a state for his people. In 1987, he was a successful practicing Architect and Town Planner. But, he heard the lamentations of the people who felt their development was being delayed by remaining within Cross River State; the bulk of the revenue was going to develop Calabar, while Uyo, Ikot Ekpene, Eket, Oron, Abak, Ikot Abasi remained glorified villages.

Like the Biblical Queen Esther, he used his closeness to “the throne” to set his people free. Then he returned to his career.

As FATE would have it, he was elected the governor of the state in 1999 – and he was in for a shock.

“Attah, in 1999, must have felt like General Garibaldi, 1807-1882, the creator of modern Italy from several fiefdoms, who said: “We have created Italy, now we have to create Italians”. In 1999, Akwa Ibom was already twelve years old. Attah discovered that he still had to create “Akwa Ibomites”. (quoted from the book in progress on AKWA IBOM STATE). It is probably fair to say that the task

of creating Akwa Ibomites can still be regarded as “Work In Progress”.

Finally, let me make a prophecy today. If Akpabio does not do it; another governor in the future will definitely build a befitting monument for Attah. My advice to people under these circumstances is “grant gracefully what cannot be denied”. The honour is long overdue. But, there is still one more anniversary before the present government of Akwa Ibom goes into history.

P.S. My first visit to some parts of Akwa Ibom State was in 1975. Traveling by road from Lagos, I was the National Sales Director of a Multi-national with distributors nationwide. One of the biggest was in Calabar. We started early in the morning from Aba, to pass through Ikot Ekpene, Uyo and end in Oron – in time to board the ferry that would carry cars, lorries and passengers across to Calabar. In less than five years, I had entered and exited “Akwa Ibom” from every conceivable point – including water. I was even offered a job as the General Sales Manager of defunct Dr Pepper Bottling Plant at Eket and I was one of those who laboured, in vain, to get the Abacha administration to complete ALSCON at Ikot Abasi.

I have always been fascinated by the people; their history and their cultures.

If I was not born a Yoruba, I would have wished to be an “Akwa Ibomite”.

P.S. The articles on Nigerian Universities will continue but have been shifted to the EDUCATION pages of VANGUARD on Thursdays. Please join me there henceforth. It is in everybody’s interest. Thanks for reading our paper.

number of universities and returned to Nigeria in 1980 as Senior Research Fellow and visiting Professor of English at the University of Calabar.

Buchi Emecheta also wrote several novels for children, including Nowhere to play (1980) and Moonlight Bride (1980).

She published a volume of autobiography, Head above Water, in 1986. Her television play, A Kind of Marriage, was first screened by the BBC in 1976.

Buchi was made an Order of the British Empire (OBE) in 2005.

She played an active role in and was a member of the Home Secretary's Advisory Council on Race in the UK, where she lives.

I remember picking up Second Class Citizen and enthralled and blown away by the first hand depiction of survival against adversities. Every page was like experiencing the struggle and then the eventual joy and triumphs despite every obstacle.

“Then I showed it to my husband and he burned it.

He just burned the book. So I had to start all over again.

I started really writing when I left him. “ She did not shy away from telling it as it is. Not many African women were brave enough to go it alone; she never gave up when she was dissuaded from following her dreams, and her steely determination paved way for many others to fol-

low.

"I believe it is important to speak to your readers in person... to enable people to have a whole picture of me; I have to both write and speak. I view my role as writer and also as oral communicator." - Buchi Emecheta wrotes.

I admired her honest depiction of child slavery, motherhood, female independence, breaking through and gaining her independence by dogged determination to be educated.

This found resonance with the readers; it brought hope and courage. She won world critical acclaim and awards.

“That’s why I say education is important. Get yourself educated and you can emancipate yourself from any kind of slavery. Education is freedom”, she wrotes.

Emecheta was married at the tender age of sixteen and moved to London with her husband. After six years of marriage, they separated.

She took an honours degree in sociology while supporting her five children all by herself.

Her first book, “In the ditch” was published in 1972; it was a short story collection about her experiences as a poor single mother in London. She was a fighter, a survivor that she had in her hand the choice to leave a violent marriage, one that was stifling her life and that of her children.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 11

Government 419 Biometrics

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cially those who may wish to travel outside the country for certain transactions.

The Nigerian Immigration Service is responsible for issuing international passports to anyone. It is however not compulsory to hold a passport but any person who is interested in having one must be prepared to face another set of biometrics arrangement. The same fate awaits all those who are 18years and above and

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HE need to identify every Nigerian citi zen does not call for lengthy explanations. It is therefore in order for the Nigerian Identity Management Commission whose mandate it is to do so to take steps which it considers necessary to meet the mandate.

In this age of technology, the commission would probably have the right to acquire the biometrics of all citizens. Another agency of government- the National Population Commission has the mandate of determining the numerical strength of the Nigerian population. In doing so, the commission would need to have an accurate record of each person who claims to be a Nigerian. As a result, the commission considers it expedient to subject us all to a biometrics exercise.

Thus, the Identity Commission and the Population Commission are two government bodies that have in their records, names, face recognition, fingerprints and other details of all Nigerians very Nigerian is also entitled to possess the international passport espe-

rics in Nigeria has become an industry and like 419, it is now a game everyone is playing.

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he Federal Road Safe ty Commission (FRSC) appears to be the highest bidder now; charging exorbitantly for its own artistic biometrics arrangement. Its fee is so high that the Police which is more statutorily entitled to the loot is up in arms. Luckily

Many people think FRSC should leave security to the police. But are those saying this aware of the numerous new provisions in the amended FRSC law?

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are desirous of being registered as voters in Nigeria.

For this group, the body to surrender biometrics to is the Independent National Electoral Commission. So, with all these bodies capturing the same personal information, though for different purposes, biomet-

for the Police it found a way to claim its right by charging less than half the FRSC fee. Only a few days back, the ample light which Senator Ayo Arise threw on the subject on national television diminished the persuasive outing of the police. He said the police fee of N3, 500

PhD, Department of Philosophy, University of Lagos,

08116759758

Nigerian history and the morbid obsession with national unity (2) ENCE, the Warrant Chiefs appointed by the British and vested with arbitrary powers hitherto unknown in Igboland were thoroughly disliked by the people. It was not surprising that most of them became tyrants who abused their authority with impunity. The use of these unpopular chiefs for taxation led to the Aba women riots of 1929.

Principal targets of the attacks were Warrant Chiefs and the native courts. The policy of separateness that underpinned Britain's colonial policy in Nigeria is evident in the fact that while some concessions were made to Southern Nigeria through the introduction of the Nigerian Council in 1913 and parliamentary democracy from 1923 onwards, the North remained the exclusive province of the governor who administered it by proclamation until 1947. Moreover, Northern and Southern Nigeria implemented different policies on land tenure, and two official languages existed side by side in the country, that is, Hausa and English for the North and South respectively.

The emergence of nationalist movements, which gathered momentum especially in the early 1920s and 1930s, contained seeds that

germinated into bitter ethnic rivalry and suspicion later. For example, because Southern Nigeria was more developed economically than Northern Nigeria and had a sizeable number of Western educated people, the pioneer nationalists were predominantly from the South to the discomfiture of the North.

Also, the ethnic provenance of prominent political parties in the 1950s up to the establishment of military rule on January 15, 1966, meant that the spirit of panNigerian nationalism was yet to blossom among the political class. Aside from the National Council of Nigeria and the Cameroons, which was the first truly national party formed on August 26, 1944, others evolved from socio-cultural groups.

The Action Group (AG), led by Obafemi Awolowo, and the Northern Peoples Congress (NPC) headed by Ahmadu Bello mutated from Egbe Omo Oduduwa and Jamiyya Mutanen Arewa respectively. It must be observed that, with the formation of AG and NPC (whose membership was restricted to Northerners), ethnic nationalism and regional cleavages steadily supplanted centripetal forces for national integration.

Therefore, before the end of

1951, most prominent nationalists concentrated not only in challenging British colonial administration in Nigeria that was, in any case, ready to surrender power at "the right time," but also wasted their valuable energies on power struggles among themselves. For instance, there was bitter disagreement between Northern political leaders and their counterparts from the South with respect to the

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is also too high arguing that INEC used N65 only for the same project. Really? Beyond costs however, there are too many unanswered questions. First, what image does the proliferation of biometrics give to our government? Can the relevant data required by all the bodies not be domiciled in one agency? One school of thought says that since the police is empowered to retrieve data from any other body, it should not have gone into the industry at this point of proliferation.

Another school of thought is angered by the gradual transformation of the FRSC into a security agency which it is not. If so, why is the body dissipating its energy on law enforcement rather than ensuring free movement on our roads?

Anyone who travels on the Lokoja-Okene road would testify that with or without the FRSC, the hilly spot in Okene before the fuel station where southwest bound vehicles turn right is forever jammed. Could it be that the FRSC deliberately allows the hold-up or does the build-up occur when road safety officials are busy with security functions?

Obviously many people think FRSC should leave security to the police. But are those saying this aware of the numerous new provisions in the amended FRSC law?

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hoever is right be tween the Police and the FRSC, there is no denyof their region relative to the South, with negligible representation in the bureaucracy, complete political autarky on that date would be detrimental to the North.

Thus, they wanted independence delayed until the region was "ready" for it. Now, unknown to Nigerians ignorant of our chequered political history, domination of the political architectonic

by Northern Nigeria after independence was a logical consequence of the lopsided political engineering carried out by the British. A glaring example is the Lyttleton constitution of 1954, which provided for one hundred and eighty four elected members of the federal legislature. In the distribution of its membership among the three regions, Northern Nigeria had ninety-four, forty-two each from the Eastern and Western regions, two from Lagos and six from Southern Cam-

Now, unknown to Nigerians ignorant of our chequered political history, domination of the political architectonic by Northern Nigeria after independence was a logical consequence of the lopsided political engineering carried out by the British

timing of independence. Indeed, when in 1953 Anthony Enahoro, an AG member in the House of Representatives moved a motion for independence and suggested 1956, Northerners in the House vehemently opposed the move, on the ground that independence at that date would mean replacement of British colonisers with compatriots from the South.

Northern political leaders were anxious and afraid that given the economic and educational backwardness

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eroons. One of the fears which this kind of arrangement portends for any society, according to one perceptive historian, was identified long ago by a foremost political philosopher, John Stuart Mill, who argued against having a component in a federation that will exert overarching power than the others combined.

According to Mill, such a component, if allowed to exist, will insist on being the master in any joint deliberation. Of course, the minor-

ing the fact that the biometrics issue is another good example of lack of collaboration and cooperation amongst government agencies in Nigeria. The other day, the National Security Adviser himself had to condemn the lack of synergy between and among the security agencies in our clime. Why do Nigerian officials find it hard to share information and strategies when they were not set up to compete against each other? Again, when will Nigeria itself dissuade the replication of statutory functions in the polity? The Oronsaye Panel which was set up to rationalize our unwieldy bureaucracy made the point when it frowned at the setting up of bodies like the FRSC and the anti-corruption agencies to carry out certain police functions without excising such functions from the police.

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ow, let’s return to the biometrics posers.

Not long ago, the new chairman of the National Population Commission was under fire for seeking to flaw previous census exercises in the nation. Will his own team get into the biometrics business like his predecessors or would the team go for biometrics from only those who were not in the previous exercise?

In the past, an international passport was designed to last 5 years and renewable for another 5 years. In these days of biometrics, renewal has been technically canities in Nigeria were also afraid of domination by the majority groups. Consequently, their leaders demanded creation of states to cater for their interests. The Willink Commission of Enquiry looked into the matter, concluded its assignment and submitted its report in 1958 without recommending state creation. By the time subsequent constitution conferences were held, the issue remained unresolved despite heated debates for and against the measure. Perhaps, G. O. Olusanya was correct in claiming that Nigeria lost an opportunity to experiment with subdivision of the country into states, which would have reduced the unequal balance of the three regions and brought down to a manageable level the painful experience that led to the civil war.

It is regrettable that Nigeria entered the era of selfgovernance with a constitution which failed to address satisfactorily the conflicting interests of ethnic nationalities that were yet to forge the kind of national unity required for creating a modern nation-state. With the benefit of hindsight, the viability of independent Nigeria was already compromised through lopsided political calibration of the country by British imperialists in favour Northern Nigeria.

The problem worsened because of cutthroat competition for power by the political elite, formation of political parties on regional or ethnic basis, and blunt refusal of the North to negotiate its hegemonic position relative to the East and West.

Delegates to the 1959 Constitutional Conference held in London were eager to step into the shoes of the departing colonial adminis-

celled because at the end of the first 5 years, every holder must follow the same process of getting a brand new passport. Why should this be so? One citizen imagined that it is the best way to charge new fees. If so, is it not ridiculous to periodically subject the same person to repeated exercises on biometrics?

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t a forum on the Me dia and Elections in Abuja last Thursday, INEC was reported to have said that its plans to distribute permanent voters’ cards to persons registered in 2010 were almost concluded-the same statement we have been hearing all through this year. Why does it take a minimum of 3years to get a “permanent” card from INEC biometrics arrangement when it takes about 3days to get those done at other agencies? Is INEC awaiting a distribution law from the National Assembly or are national identity cards, international passports and drivers’ licenses of inferior quality?

Considering the high fees charged by FRSC, curious Nigerians may begin to speculate on the special source of its own biometrics equipment. May be it is not a matter of equipment but that of design. One analyst imagined last week that perhaps the commission wants vehicle owners who purchase the new plate numbers to appreciate that every purchase comes with a beautiful copy of the map of Nigeria! trators. Which was why, instead of allowing for more time to deal satisfactorily with critical issues such as the concerns of minority ethnic groups in the emergent country, absence of genuine unity between the North and the South, and state creation among others, they hurriedly opted for independence immediately, hoping to reopen all other outstanding issues after independence was granted.

As already noted, the colonial system was responsible for bringing together various ethnic groups that constitute Nigeria. Of course, the economic interest of Britain was the overriding factor that motivated the amalgamation programme of Lord Lugard, although, as the historian, Festus Ade Ajayi correctly remarked, the policy was guided and largely dictated by existing geographical, commercial and cultural connections.

When independence was finally attained on October 1, 1960, a broad section of Nigerians, particularly frontliners in the nationalist movements, were euphoric, because the event ushered a new beginning, a new era that showed good promise. However, the essential tensions which existed right from amalgamation to the very last day of colonial rule in Nigeria resurfaced, this time around without the neutralising effect of the presence of British colonial administrators.

During the First Republic, these tensions began to boil over after the Prime Minister, Tafawa Balewa, of the NPC had formed a coalition government with the NCNC, with AG as the opposition party.

To be continued.

PAGE 12—SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Kofi Awoonor: This Earth My Brother oric or poetic authority. Born in 1935 in Wheta, Ghana, to a Sierra-Leona tailor father and an Ewe mother from near Togo, Kofi Awoonor embodies what we must recognize today as the hybridity of the modern African shaped by the forces of modern migrations and transnationality. He was uncompromisingly a Ghanaian nationalist intellectual shaped by the pan-Africanist movement. It was the Pan-Africanism of Nnamdi Azikiwe and Kwame Nkrumah

By all accounts Kofi Awoonor was one of the most vital poetic voices of the 20th century in Africa whose poetry cut a pathway towards the illumination of the inherent power of the modern African imagination

that nurtured Kofi Awoonor’s early political and intellectual development. He was deeply involved in Ghana’s early postcolonial politics as a propagandist for Nkrumah in his capacity as Head of the famous Ghana Film Corporation which was a lynchpin in the shaping of Ghana’s public imagination in the 1960s in the Nkrumah era in power.

Kofi Awoonor read English at what was then the University College, Legon, now the University of Ghana. It is regrettable that not many Nigerians of the current school age know much about Kofi Awoonor these days with the decline in Humanities education and cultural pro-

Paradise lost A

story is told of a young lady who by all accounts has the world at her feet.She is beautiful, newly graduated, very articulate and sought after. She belongs to a prominent family, a father at the top of his profession and a sister who dines with kings. Her mother died giving birth to her, so she had been raised by her sister and a revolving door of stepmothers. She grew up admiring her beautiful and very glamorous older sibling and lives in her shadow; more than anything she seeks her approval and wants to be just as beautiful and glamorous. At the age of twenty five, she had only spent the four years of higher education away from her sister and had developed strong feelings for a fellow student. The feelings were mutual and perhaps if her life's script had been written by a benevolent fairy they would have lived happily ever after.

Her script however was written by a vain, selfish and insecure society lady bent on recreating her waywardness in her naive protégée!

At the end of her education, on her return home, the young man is summarily dismissed by sister dearest; he had no pedigree, no money and did not fit in. Lacking the strong will to stand up for her self, she goes along with it and is instead groomed to mar-

ry a very rich, very good looking northerner. It made sense, her late mother was from one of the prominent families in the north. As you can guess, it was a large society wedding and she moved into a palatial home and everything should have been fine except for one little thing; intimacy. Apparently the dashing young prince did not get the memo on intimacy between man and wife; he had a preference for a man and man option! So she becomes a bird trapped in a golden cage. He was apparently very nice and generous on all other fronts but he just couldn't touch her. When the situation becomes intolerable she confided in her sister and is shocked to see no surprise. She knew!!

The marriage was a merger, she was the facade of respectability bought for the prince at a very large price. The only advice she gets is to behave and discreetly seek her pleasures in the arms of any other man willing.

Very many years later, levels had changed. She came across that young man she had so loved back in the day and he was very accomplished. He now worked for a multinational concern and lived with his young family in the big apple. He was a key note speaker at an international summit in Lagos. She said she did not really hear his speech; she just looked at him and reminisced;

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in poetry, figures like Kwesi Brew and Frank Kobina Parkes, and the playwright Efua Sutherland.

Kofi Awoonor acts as the bridge with later Ghanaian poets and writers like Ama Ata Aidoo, Ayi Kwei Armah, Kofi Anyidoho, to the more contemporary. He was until last week, Ghana’s living most important writer. Kofi Awoonor was very much part of the Mbari movement too. His important first collection of poems, Rediscovery was published by the Mbari Press, Ibadan in 1964. In the 1960s, Kofi Awoonor’s friendship with the Nigerian poet, Christopher Okigbo, led to fruitful collaborations with Rajat Neogy, in pub-

she allowed her self the luxury of imagining how wonderful life would have been if she had followed her heart and stood up to her sister. She did her best to avoid him seeing her but fate was most cruel; they were staying on the same floor and she ran into him on her way out the next morning. He was genuinely pleased to see her but was in a hurry to catch a flight, so they could only exchange fleeting pleasantries.He showed her pictures of his pregnant wife and their son and

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EORGE Kofi Awoonor-Williams became just Kofi Awoonor. He chose to be piquant and to shed the vestiges, at the same time, of his colonial past. He died last week. He was 78 years. He did not die from age related problems. He was still quite active; mentally alert and vigorous. He was killed in the Nairobi terrorist event staged by Al Shabaab, the Somali equivalent of Boko Haram, which had taken over the Westgate Mall, a high end shopping Mall in Nairobi last week, and massacred mall visitors. By last count, the death toll from the four-day siege and holdout had been officially put at seventy-two people. More are suspected to be crushed under the rubble of the collapsed mall, and therefore unaccounted.

Among the known dead was Kofi Awoonor – poet, diplomat, and distinguished Ghanaian public servant.

Awoonor had gone to Nairobi to attend a literary festival in the Kenyan capital. He had been invited to read his poems, and presumably had taken that final time out, either to shop, or sight-see in Nairobi, and became trapped into the terrorist melee. It is a powerful irony that a most pleasurable outing would end in a turn of unforeseen violence. It would be the kind of irony that could have tickled Kofi Awoonor’s imaginative depth both as a poet as well as a dramatist.

It could as well be that he has lived out his own powerful elegiac irony. By all accounts Kofi Awoonor was one of the most vital poetic voices of the 20th century in Africa whose poetry cut a pathway towards the illumination of the inherent power of the modern African imagination. At the core of his early work was Ewe orality – the proof, as his generation of African modernists sought to give – that African oral forms had the grace and power of rhet-

duction, and the general paucity in contemporary literary scholarship in West Africa particularly, as well indeed as the cultural and political boundaries that have since risen within the African cultural landscape since the earlier flowering of Modern African literature, with its crosscurrents and interpenetrations through the shared discourses of the 1960s and ‘70s.

But any African who went through secondary school from the 1960s to the 1980s would have read the poetry of Kofi Awoonor, particularly the famously anthologized “Song of Sorrow” in Donatus Ibe Nwoga’s or Senanu and Vincents anthologies of Modern African poetry. Awoonor is equally present in the famous Penguin anthology of African poetry edited by Ulli Beier and Gerald Moore. Kofi Awoonor was a central figure of what I have called the “Renascent Africa” movement in African postcolonial modernity that flowered from the late 1950s to the 60s. Ghana’s modern literature begins, some critics claim with Caseley Hayford, Michael DeiAnang, and Ralph Armattoe, and includes

If we all agree that paradise is a joyous state of contentment; then its possible to live it while on earth. The twist of fate is that we never actually realise we are living in paradise till we lose it

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they waved goodbye. I should perhaps tell you she had left her sham of a marriage and was now very single and in my view a tad bitter. The yearning she felt when she described the young man she jilted felt like a fall from paradise.

She honestly believes he was her chance at happiness; her paradise lost!

Presence of mind is a virtue and while God knows I have made my share of serious gaffs; I have always believed that life offers more than one chance at joy, at paradise! The women I describe are not fiction; they are very real. I am not a fan of the older sister anymore but I also used to look up to her. She

lishing Transition the most influential continental literary magazine of that era. Kofi Awoonor was Assistant Editor to Christopher Okigbo who was editor of Transition West Africa. Such transcontinental collaborations seem rare these days in spite of the easier modes of modern communication.

Awoonor’s friendship with Okigbo came to good use too in Okigbo’s last journey to Ghana in 1966 with his friend the poet J.P. Clark in their journey to return Emma Ifeajuna, the leader of the January 1966 coup to Nigeria. Kofi Awoonor was kind to flesh out details of that trip and his part in it to me in 1996 after he had given the CBAAC lecture at the National Theatre in Lagos.

Few Nigerians know that Awoonor was one of the first people Ifeajuna contacted on arriving Ghana after he fled from the ruins of his coup. Awoonor himself fled from Ghana at the collapse, not long after, of Nkrumah’s government. He went to England, studied for the MA, wrote plays for the BBC, and then to the United states where he earned the PhD at State University of New York, where he also taught in its African Studies program. He wrote his allegorical novel, This Earth, My brotherpublished later by Heinemann, and the collections of poems, Ride Me, Memory, an epigram he took from Okigbo, and Night of My Blood, as well as Breast of the earth, one of the most incisive studies of modern African cultural imagination, all while he was in the United States.

He returned to Ghana from his exile, was arrested on coup charges, jailed, released, and remained active in Ghana’s public life, having served as Ambassador to Cuba, Brazil, and his last gig, as Ghana’s envoy to the United Nations. Kofi Awoonor was shot in Nairobi, and the point of this essay is to remind us all that like the sun on rubbles of Dennis Brutus’ own poem, our wordless supplication must be to seek relief from this pain of meaningless violence from terrorists. There is something to learn in the Kenyan terrorist massacres last week: it could happen here; and anyone can be victim, poet or carpenter. The Nigerian authorities must pay attention to the evolving methods of terror and terrorism as Africa has become part of its globalized field. As for Kofi Awoonor: the end has come for the poet, and now he truly awaits the coming of the sun “for the snake-shrouds of homecoming…” It’s a profound loss to African poetry. Ah! This earth, my brother.

travelled at the drop of a heart and knew the rich and famous the world over. International designers sent her private invitations to preview collections and she just seemed to have it all. Just like her sister I also only saw the glamour back then, I didn't probe the facade to discover that she was nothing but a good time girl with zilch education and an unscrupulous desire for money no matter the cost. In her fifties now, she defies time by still being beautiful but her insecurity is a lot more obvious as she still believes money answereth all things. Ironically she is the one married with children while her sister remains single and childless.

If we all agree that paradise is a joyous state of contentment; then its possible to live it while on earth. The twist of fate is that we never actually realise we are living in paradise till we lose it.

I hold the opinion that you cant appreciate the sweet if you don't taste the bitter. That mindset has helped me bounce back from disappointments, heartbreaks and failures. Any situation can be paradise if we have the presence of mind to be grateful and appreciative. In this last week Kenya has seen hell unfold on television; the world has been riveted to television with scenes of carnage and mayhem and I can safely say for those involved, the few minutes before they stepped into West-gate mall was paradise. I believe in 2nd, 3rd and even 100s of chances; thats what makes life paradise.We can start again and who knows? Is anything actually lost if we are meant to have it? A beautiful old lady once told me a truth I hold dear even after many decades. "What God wont give you, no man can give you, and what God will give you no man can take from you! That includes paradise.

SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 13

Untold Story Of Kelvin, The Most Wanted Kidnapper The myth, the exploits, the flattering lifestyle

*Recruited graduate/undergraduate trainees *How he enticed Kokori youths, women with money *A litany of victims

BY EMMA AMAIZE, Regional Editor, South-South

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NTIL he was seized, four days ago, at about 3.00 am, at an undisclosed hotel, in Port-Harcourt, Rivers State, many people, including security officials, only mentioned his name in whispers. He was simply known as Kelvin, the most wanted kidnapper/armed robbery kingpin in Delta State, who hails from Kokori in Ethiope-East Local Government Area.

It was as if the dreaded suspect, described by the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba, as insane and a drug addict, would spiritually manifest if his name was mentioned. Police officers never liked being deployed in search of him, despite his alleged naked exploits because he was believed to possess very powerful charms and also sadistic.

Even soldiers, who had mounted siege for him for months over the alleged killing of some military men, last year, by his gang, before he was finally arrested in Port-Harcourt by a combined team of army Department of State Security, and DSS, operatives, have their own tales.

In fact, his hour of arrest has been given an impervious undertone. A villager told Sunday Vanguard in Warri, “I was told by doctors and nurses that 3:00 am is the time of night when the body is at its lowest ebb, and it seems to be the time that a large percentage of people in hospitals die” A spiritualist, Mr. Johnson Nege, asserted, “In European mythology, 3.00 am is regarded as the witching hour - that is the time when supernatural creatures such as witches, demons and ghosts are thought to be at their most powerful, and black magic at its C M Y K

most effective. This hour is typically midnight, and the term may now be used to refer to midnight, or any late hour.”

Unmasking the masquerade ndeniably, it was only after Kelvin was arrested, September 25, that his full names, Kelvin Prosper Oniarah, came to light from the DSS in Abuja.

For the avoidance of doubt, Police Commissioner Aduba, in an interview exclusively published by Vanguard same day the suspect was arrested in Port Harcourt, officially gave his name for the first time as Kelvin Oniarah.

The police had, shortly after the suspect, who had been on the wanted list, breached security by appearing “live” in Kokori, September 17, and melted into the thin air after issuing a 60-day ultimatum to government, identified him as Kelvin Obruvbe. But Aduba told Sunday Vanguard the suspect’s name is Kelvin Oniarah.

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Like I said, it is a big town, nobody really cared about him, he was regarded as a small boy until all of a sudden we started hearing about him, particularly about his criminal activities

The façade nknown to his kinsmen, who he gave the im pression that he was a freedom fighter and Robinhood of sort, Kelvin, confirmed by Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, who provided logistics for security agencies in the manhunt for him to have cells in no fewer than six states, is alleged to be the most deadly kidnap kingpin in the South-south.

But in Kokori, not many recognized that the diminutive youth, understandably less than 40 years, as such a cold-hearted killer, ferocious armed robber, poisonous kidnapper and terrorist. That is not to say that the elders, women and youths, who shared from his alleged loot whenever he came to his Irevwurie Street abode, did not suspect he is a criminal.

A knowledgeable indigene of the community told Sunday Vanguard in Warri, “Honestly, Kokori is a big community and Kelvin is not known there until less than two years ago when his name became associated with high-profile kidnap and armed robbery cases.

“Like I said, it is a big town, nobody really cared about him, he is a small boy until all of a sudden we started hearing about him, particularly about his criminal activities. People do not even know his father’s name, but his grandfather’s name is Oniarah. He (Kelvin) is not a popular person as such because he has not done anything big for the people.

“Let me say it was just last year when he was declared wanted that he really came to be noted by people in Kokori. The search for him was on when he attacked some warders, conveying suspects, among them members of his gang, to court, killed some warders and rescued his men, some months ago, in

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Continues on page 14

PAGE 14 — SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Continued from page 13 Warri. He managed to escape and security agents flooded Kokori, the police razed his family house.

Sporadic visit “He ran out of town, but he, nevertheless, comes to town irregularly. There was a time it actually looked that he had made so much money from his operations, which nobody had full idea of, and he would come to town and share money to people.”

Blood money he source went on, “His willingness to splash his loot, some times N1,000, N2,000 and N5,000, to children, youth and women, endeared him to the ‘hungry’ villagers. This was in Kokori until penultimate Tuesday when he came in military fatigue with eight of his boys to declare that he had founded a group, Liberation Movement of the Urhobo People, LIMUP, to liberate them.

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Ignorance “They ignorantly believed him. You see, anytime he came to town before, it was in plain clothes, but on that day, he came in military fatigue, indicating that he was ready to fight for the emancipation of the people.

“Anytime Kelvin came to Kokori, he would stay about two days, not more than that. Within the period, he would see the people he wanted to see and, before you know it, he was gone. You see him in Kokori when people were not expecting him and when he told the people this time that he was going to fight government and oil companies that were allegedly oppressing them; they believed a messiah had come.”

“He told them Kokori has not been developed by government and that the same thing went with Urhobo land, it was the truth and they saw with him.

However, I must tell you that it is not true that elderly persons here were supporting Kelvin. It is just that nobody wanted to be dragged into a situation with him and his boys.

Why elders could not speak out “His infamous activities obviously threatened the peace of the community with the incursion of security agents at different times. Even our king, who just received his staff of office and barely three months on the throne, found himself in a quagmire.

“Should he hand over one of his subjects to security agencies and face the backlash at home from his chiefs and people, who will accuse him as a betrayer or damn the consequences. If he supported Kelvin, he was in trouble, if he didn’t support him, he was in trouble, that was his dilemma.”

With so much money he allegedly made from kidnapping, and he reportedly held sway in not less than six states, Delta, Edo, Rivers, Abia, Benue and Oyo, Kelvin turned Kokori to the axis of death for his victims and security agents.

Lifestyle He was said to have lived a deceitful and lavish lifestyle and hibernated frequently in hotels. Money was not essentially his problem, as he was audacious and bold in his operations. It was said that he never collected small ransom and when he negotiated ransom, the negotiator on the other side was left with no other impression than the guy was mean, and the best thing to do was to raise the ransom at all costs.

When Lagos lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, was allegedly abducted by Kelvin and his boys, last month, they told him plainly that they were graduates, who were pushed to the deadly business, condemned by the C M Y K

Untold Story Of Kelvin, The

Almighty God, and that was why Ozekhome, when he came out, said those who kidnapped were unemployed graduates and asked for amnesty for them.

Security agents consider coming to Kokori on any assignment as a deadly mission. Commissioner Aduba alleged, at a time, that most of the motor-cyclists operating in Kokori were on the payroll of Kelvin, who bought the motorcycles for them. He said they normally passed information to him whenever they see security agents or were asked probing questions about the suspected gangster.

It was the intelligence report that led to the banning of commercial motorcycle transportation in Kokori and other parts of Ethiope East, but the bandit was not deterred.

Training school Aduba alleged that the kingpin had a school where he trained kidnappers, both graduates and, undergraduates, and according to a security report, he once boasted to a top security chief on phone that even if he was arrested and killed, his boys would continue with the kidnapping business.

Kelvin’s family home in Kokori, which was destroyed by the police, this year, was said to have served as a recruitment and training centre for kidnappers.

His second-in-command was said to be a mechanical engineering graduate from the South-east, while Kelvin himself is also a graduate.

In an interview before Kelvin was reined in, Aduba revealed, “Kelvin recruits undergraduates, graduates, Okada riders, and he buys motorcycles for them and tutors them. He has so many gangs in the state working for him.

There is a network; this is what I have discovered and we have been finding it difficult to get at him because, in that axis, the moment they see any stranger, they will blow the whistle.

“However, we have been able to bull-

doze to some extent; it was in Kelvin’s house that we picked up the personal assistant to a commissioner in the Delta State Oil Producing Areas Development Commission, DESOPADEC, who was kidnapped. His (Kelvin) parents were there, but you know this arrest by proxy, we do not want to be involved in it.”

The Commission went on: “Kelvin is a dare-devil criminal and is not friendly with anybody - he is a drug addict, insane and cannot be relied upon by anybody. Kelvin and his gang even tried to kidnap his traditional ruler- the Ovie of Agbon clan and the Special Adviser to a civil commissioner, who is from Kokori.”

Kingpin’s parents flee community Kelvin’s parents escaped from the town when the bombardment by security agents, who were looking for their son, became suffocating. Their whereabouts and what advice they gave to their son

what it means to allow the suspect’s boys to reorganize after the arrest of their master.

He told reporters, Thursday evening, in Warri, after a security meeting, that the army had commenced a full-scale operation to flush out associates of Kelvin and other criminals from Kokori.

Intelligence revealed that his boys still holed up in the area may carry out a reprisal attack over his arrest and so, the army were said to be in an “internal operation” to checkmate possible action by the elements loyal to the suspect.

After Kelvin’s arrest, on Wednesday, more soldiers, policemen and other security personnel were deployed in Kokori.

Operational bases A reliable source, however, told Sunday Vanguard, “Kelvin’s operational base is not in Kokori. I do not know where it is, but this is somebody I can tell you hardly stayed in Kokori more than two days and he was off, he, no doubt, had sophisticated gangs, but I think they were scattered over the country. He was only coming to Kokori to show off as a big boy.”

The DSS, in a statement in Abuja through its Deputy Director, Press and Public Relations, Marilyn Ogar, said Kelvin “maintained operational bases and detention camps in Warri and Kokori community in Delta State, Ugbokolo community in Benue State, Benin City in Edo State, and Aba in Abia State.”

His infamous activities obviously threatened the peace of the community with the incursion of security agents at different times could not be ascertained.

Military operation Given the suspect’s very strong network in the South-south, South-east, South-west and North, it would be a costly error to assume that his boast that his boys would continue to be in operation even if he was arrested was empty.

Governor Uduaghan, who found it strange at leaders from Kokori community could not boldly give him information on how to nail Kelvin, even in secret, when he invited them, understands

Lethal exploits Killed ex-deputy governor ccording to the DSS, Kelvin was responsible for the kidnap and killing of Dr. Chudi Nwike, a former Deputy Governor of Anambra State, between 1991- 1993, while in captivity.

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SUND AY SUNDA

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 15

members of Kelvin’s gangs, holed up in their hideaway in Kokori,” Governor Uduaghan gave the hint that the military siege to Kokori might take a long time, as security agents would do what they had to do.

Arrest of juju priest t was the hunt for Kelvin’s associ ates that led to the arrest of the juju priest (Ose Egba) of Kokori, alleged to have prepared protection charms for the suspect and his gang. Police knew about the shrine but for undisclosed spiritual reason refused to destroy it or even arrest the chief priest. The juju priest is, however, only a suspect for now.

Uduaghan said the chief priest and others arrested were being interrogated by security agents. He explained that what was happening was a security issue and was certain that, at the end of the day, “the full story of Kelvin will be known.”

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• Deserted streets after Soldiers storm the area.

Most Wanted Kidnapper The former deputy governor under Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife was kidnapped, March 19, in his hometown and two weeks on, his corpse was found in the middle of the road leading to Alizomor community, near Agbor in Ika South Local Government Area of Delta State.

He was taken to an unknown destination where negotiations for ransom reportedly failed to yield results. His body had a cheque of N30 million hung on its neck with a note, which read: “Your death was as a result of your action. You thought we were joking.”

Abducted Ozekhome, SAN elvin the DSS claimed, master minded the kidnap of Ozekhome on 24 August, 2013, along Auchi–Benin Road, during which four policemen were killed. He is also responsible for the following kidnaps, Judge of the Edo State Judiciary, and a top female official of the Federal Inland Revenue Service, FIRS.

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Kidnapped NYSC, security personnel – he DSS said the suspect was the brain behind the killing of several members of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, members and security agents and also “masterminded various attacks against security personnel, carried out several armed robberies and kidnap operations in Delta, Edo, Rivers and Anambra States.”

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Massacred prison warders in Warri n March, the DSS said he led a bloody operation in Warri, where he hijacked a Prisons vehicle, conveying his men and other awaiting trial inmates, killed three prisons wardens on the spot, snatched two of his gang members and shot dead a top official of the Petroleum Training Institute, PTI, Effurun, near Warri, late Julius Ogungbemi, as he fled after the broad daylight operation.

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Attacked PDP Vice Chairman, Dr. Oru, Hon Elumelu- The DSS alleged Kelvin was the architect of the coordinated attacks on member of the House of Representatives, representing Oshimili/Aniocha constituency, Hon. Ndudi Elumelu, and the National ViceChairman, South-south of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Steve Oru, in Eku and Agbarho areas of Delta State, in February.

Seized Prof Eghgha, killed police escort- Sunday Vanguard learnt the suspect was the person that kidnapped the Commissioner for Higher Education, Delta State, Professor Hope

napped in the last 20 months. Some of the kidnaps were believed to have been masterminded by Kelvin gang. Up till date, a lecturer of Science Education in the Delta State University, Abraka, Dr. Mercy Mokobia, who was abducted from her matrimonial home in Obiaruku, in April, has not been found. It is feared that she might have been killed.

Took SSG’s son hostage - He allegedly abducted Markson Macaulay, 29year-old son of Secretary to State Government, SSG, Delta State, Comrade Ovuozorie Macaulay in 2012.

Operation uncovers Kelvin’s armory, associates he news that Kelvin had been ap prehended still sounded like a miracle to many people in Kokori.

Some of them found it difficult to accept that the suspect, assumed to have been supernaturally fortified to a degree of invincibility, was really taken into custody. Even when soldiers battled the youths, who barricaded a major road in the town after the chief priest, Michael Omonigho, was arrested, on Wednesday, they fought back as if to say they were also invincible.

But if there is something that is unambiguous to the soldiers, who are presently on ‘internal operation’ in the tensed Kokori, it is that whatever is associated with Kelvin and his gang should be smoked out.

A security source said, “It is suspected that Kelvin would have an armory somewhere in Kokori and the talk about him not having his operational base in the community is a diversionary ploy.

Whatever happens, the soldiers have instructions to cordon off the community and they will embark on a houseto-house search soon to smoke out the

Uduaghan said the chief priest and others arrested were being interrogated by security agents Eghagha, and killed his police escort in the process. The commissioner, who was freed after millions of Naira was collected by him as ransom, said at an occasion in Wellington Hotel, Effurun, that it was not an experience he would wish to talk about.

Took Prof Mouhoghare’s wife captive- The wife of the Commissioner for Basic and Secondary Education in the state, Prof. Patrick Muohoghare, was said to have been held by the Kelvin gang and the university don made to cough out millions of Naira to free his spouse.

Abducted many DELSU lecturers- No fewer than 20 lecturers of Delta State University, DELSU, Abraka, were kid-

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6.00 pm -6.00 am command he governor said emphatically that Kokori people who, from security reports, allegedly aided and abetted the kingpin, have questions to answer, pointing out that, in the interim, people should be within their homes within the hours of 6.00 pm to 6.00 am in the community, as soldiers carry out fullscale military operation to fish out criminals. According to him, “Security operatives are in Kokori to fish out the criminals, we are advising that people should be careful in moving around and within Kokori itself, nobody should be out once it is 6.00 pm.”

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Appeal to media He urged the media to reduce sensationalism, which could detract from the real meaning of the operation, saying, “Please, let us not reduce sensationalism....let us not give vent to propaganda that would promote criminals and criminality....you could be the next victim.”

Debunking a report that there was a shoot out between security operatives and members of Kelvin gang at Kokori, he said the security men have been civil enough in handling the affairs while carrying out their actions based on intelligence reports.

“A lot of arrests have been made.

There was no shoot-out between security men and the criminals. They didn’t have the capacity to have a shoot-out with soldiers,” he said.

Uduaghan added, “On their own, many of them (villagers) have moved out of the community. That is why the community is quiet. The community is more of a ghost town but we must find the guns and disarm the criminals.”

Shameful mothers The sharp edge of the governor ’s tongue also fell on Kokori mothers. That for trooping out to dance and pour encomiums on Kelvin when he came to issue a 60-day ultimatum to government, 12 days ago. His words, “It is shameful that mothers who are supposed to be dancing behind their children who are graduating from higher institutions were rather dancing behind their criminal children that are carrying guns and backing illegality. It is a shame”.

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PAGE 16— SUNDASUNDAY

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

NIGERIA @ 53

Green light for national conference?

Jonathan, Mark raise hope

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE, Deputy Political Editor

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EADING elder statesmen and ac tivists, who, for over 20 years, have been clamouring for a National Dialogue to address perennial socio-economic and political problems plaguing the country may no longer wait for too long to realise their quest.

Reason: President Goodluck Jonathan is now favourably disposed to the idea, Sunday Vanguard gathered. And if the tempo of activities is sustained, the conference may be held before the 2015 elections.

The development is coming against the backdrop of series of meetings and interactions between the Presidency and proponents of National Conference in the last few weeks.

On August 29, Professor Ben Nwabueze (SAN) and other leaders of The Patriots visited Jonathan, presented a 13-page memorandum and advised him to ensure that the much-talked about confab holds before the 2015 polls.

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In the 13- page memo, the group noted that Nigeria is a wobbly nation that needs the national conference and a “People’s Constitution” to find her feet.

Said Nwabueze on the issues the group discussed with the President: “Briefly, we talked about the transformation of this country; that the situation in which we have found ourselves today in this country is in dire need of transformation. I t’s entire economy, the entire polity and the entire society would need to be transformed. We believe that the way to achieve that objective is through a National Conference, a National Conference of ethnic nationalities in this country. We have done our own research, we reviewed that we have in this country 389 ethnic nationalities.

“We need to bring these nationalities around a conference table to discuss how we are going to live together as one country in peace, in stability, in security as one country with the aim of achieving national unity but as of today we are not a nation yet, we are a state.”

Jonathan told the elder statesmen that the administration had no objection to Nigerians coming together to discuss how they would continue to live together in peace and unity. He said that there had been constant discussion within government on how to create an acceptable and workable platform for a National Dialogue that will reinforce the ties that bind the country’s many ethnic nationalities and ensure that Nigeria’s immense diversity continues to be a source of strength and greatness. “The limitation we have is that the Constitution appears to have given that responsibility to the National Assembly. I have also been discussing the matter with the leadership of the National Assembly. We want a situation where everyone will key into the process and agree on the way forward,” the President said.

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n this score, some leaders, drawn from all the geo-political zones of the country, stormed Uyo, the Akwa Ibom State capital, between September 2 and 5 and held a National Political Summit. Led by Nwabueze, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, Professor Kimse Okoko, Air Commodore Dan Suleiman (rtd), among others, delegates at the summit restated the need for a nation-

al confab among other resolutions.

They raised a committee of 12 that would visit Jonathan again to present their resolutions.

They insisted that the President has the power to convene the conference.

However, if he felt otherwise, the leaders elected to hammer out an Executive Bill seeking the approval of the National Assembly. They said if the National Assembly refused to pass the bill, they would be incurring the wrath of Nigerians.

Mark flashes the green light

In a move indicative of the National Assembly ’s readiness to support the process, Senate President David Mark, penultimate Tuesday, said that the National Assembly would support the convocation of a conference of Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities to discuss the peculiarities of the Nigerian nation.

In an address to welcome his colleagues on their resumption from the annual recess, Mark said that such a conference should have a few ‘no go’ areas like dismemberment of the federation.

His words: “We live in very precarious times, and in a world increasingly made fluid and toxic by strange ideologies and violent tendencies, all of which presently conspire to question the very idea of the nation state.

“But that is not to say that the nation should, like the proverbial ostrich, continue to bury its head in the sand and refuse to confront the perceived or alleged structural distortions which have bred discontentment and alien

Continues on page 17

SUNDAY

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 17

NIGERIA @ 53

•Jonathan: Appears disposed to the idea

•David Mark: Gave it a buoy in the Senate

•Olusegun Obasanjo: His conference, a disaster

Green light for national conference Jonathan, Mark raise hope Continues from page 16 ation in some quarters. This sense of discontentment and alienation has fueled extremism, apathy and even predictions of catastrophe for our dear nation.

“A conference of Nigeria’s ethnic nationalities, called to foster frank and open discussions of the national question, can certainly find accommodation in the extant provisions of the 1999 Constitution which guarantee freedom of expression, and of association. To that extent, it is welcome.”

Yoruba leaders, Summit Group commend Mark

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ark’s statement elicited com mendations from Yoruba leaders on the aegis of the Yoruba Unity Forum (YUF), Pro National Conference Organisation (PRONACO) and the Nigeria Political Summit Group (NPSG).

Reacting to the surprise nod of Mark to the perennial call for National Conference, YUF Secretary General, Senator Anthony Adefuye, said solutions to the raging insecurity, industrial actions by labour unions and political crises among others lie in national dialogue.

His words: “The crisis pervading very important aspects of our national life should be utmost concern to all patriotic Nigerians because it portends danger and unimaginable consequences for the country if not addressed.

For example, the insecurity in the North, which was originally confined to the North-East has spread to parts of the North-West and North-Central states; our public universities have remained shut for upwards of two months without any planned date to resolve the contentious issues ASUU; the factionalisation in the ruling party, which has its roots in the 2015 elections has become a threat to peace and security in some states and only recently, the Labour unions and the National Assembly are at loggerheads over the proposed removal of national minimum wage from the exclusive legislative list. Solutions to these issues can only be found through a national dialogue.”

In like manner, the spokesperson of PRONACO, who also doubles as head C M Y K

However, the 1999 constitution was replete with many ambiguities and inconsistencies that are threatening the smooth flow of governance of secretariat of the Political Summit Group, Mr. Olawale Okunniyi applauded the latest move of the leadership of the Senate to enable the Nigerian people and ethnic nationalities hold a frank national dialogue.

Okunniyi said that a proposed modality and roadmap for national consultation and dialogue have been prepared by the Nigeria Consensus Group to enable government kick start the process of convening the confab, which he said would be more beneficial to the country if held before 2015 elections.

“With this very cheering support for a national conference coming from the National Assembly, we believe that the final obstacle before the Nigerian presidency has been removed and there will be no more alibi for government not to convene this national family meeting as soon as possible,” he said.

Given the new rapprochement, it is to be seen whether the President would convene the conference and if the confab would go like past exercises.

Past conferences, their aims and shortfalls

Before independence, Nigerian leaders have been locked in series of

constitutional conferences.

In 1958, for instance, 106 Nigerian delegates drawn from the ethnic nationalities attended a conference in London to look at what was then the Nigerian federation. That conference yielded the 1960 Constitution that ushered Nigeria into independence.

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ith the departure of Southern Cameroon from Nigeria and three years into self-rule, the country fashioned another codebook- the 1963 Republican Constitution.

The military intervention of 1966 had the constitution abrogated and the country was ruled by decrees.

However, the military set up a Constituent Assembly in 1977, which produced the 1979 Constitution that returned the country to civil rule. The 1979 Constitution was ratified by the Supreme Military Council, SMC, headed by the then Head of State, General Olusegun Obasanjo.

About four years later, the military overthrew the civilians and took over power again. They also set aside the 1979 constitution and promulgated decrees.

In 1989, the then General Ibrahim Babamasi Babangida-led military government set up a constituent assembly with the intention of returning power to civilians in 1990. The move produced the short-lived 1993 Constitution, which went up in smoke when Babangida postponed the handover date several times even though members of the National Assembly and governors had been elected and were in office.

His annulment of the June 12, 1993 presidential election presumably won by the late business tycoon, Chief M.K.O Abiola, unleashed much tension and violence on the polity. He stepped aside in 1993 after appointing Chief Ernest Shonekan as interim president.

Clamour for SNC

The clamour for a Sovereign National Conference (SNC) gained currency in 1994 following the June 12 misadventure. Proponents picked holes in the unitary system of government and canvassed a restructured polity that would drive socio-economic and political development.

The General Sani Abacha regime,

which snatched power from Shonekan organized a National Constitutional Conference (NCC) in 1994 made of elected and government appointed delegates.

The confab was boycotted by the progressive wing of the South-West led by late Chief Abraham Adesanya, which insisted on the SNC. The conference came up with farreaching decisions like creation of the six geo-political zones and 13 per cent derivation. But it was perceived as exercise meant for Abacha to transmute into a civilian ruler. The proposed constitution was in the works until Abacha died in 1998.

When General Abdulsalami Abubakar took over in 1998, he announced a speedy transition programme that lasted 11 months. He set up a committee led by Justice Niki Tobi to sieve through the volumes of constitutional documents and come up with a grundnorm. The process gave birth to the 1999 Constitution with which civilians reclaimed power in 1999.

However, the 1999 constitution was replete with many ambiguities and inconsistencies that are threatening the smooth flow of governance. Pro-democracy activities among others questioned the preamble, which said: ‘We the people…. arguing that the people of Nigeria never took part in making the constitution. They went on to insist on the SNC. However, the President Olusegun Obasanjo and the National Assembly opposed calls for sovereign national conference, arguing that there could not be two sovereignties in the country.

Nevertheless, Obasanjo, in his second term, organised a National Political Reforms Conference (NPRC) with all the delegates appointed. One of the resolutions of the confab was 18 per cent derivation. However, the decisions of the conference, which the National Assembly was including its constitution amendment exercise, died with Obasanjo’s alleged Third Term agenda.

Under President Jonathan, the 1999 constitution has been amended twice and the National Assembly is on the verge of completing the third amendment yet the challenges facing the country remain intractable.

PAGE 18 — SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

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OULD it be true that the 13,000 teachers, recruited by the Rivers State government and told to assemble at the Liberation Stadium, Port Harcourt, on Wednesday, for their posting letters were to be asked to embark on a protest march against the rumoured second term ambition of President Goodluck Jonathan that day as alleged by the state Police Command? Or was the claim an attempt by the police to smear the image of the state government as speculated in several quarters.

As early as 5am that Wednesday, Amadi (not real name), who graduated with a second class upper degree in bio chemistry from one of the federal universities in the country eight years ago, woke up to dust his pair of faded brown shoes and ash colour stockings, preparing to be among the first to arrive the Liberation Stadium, venue of the distribution of the letters.

Amadi had been teaching in a private school since after his National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, and on a salary of N10,000. So you could imagine his joy when he was listed among the 13,000 newly recruited teachers by the state government and told to come for his posting letter that Wednesday.

Most of the newly recruited teachers just like Amadi were at the stadium as early as 7am for the exercise. The crowd kept growing. Some of them were seen in groups rubbing minds on where they desired to be posted to. Tables had been arranged in the stadium with tags on them showing the local governments that would use them.

Suddenly the atmosphere became chaotic as heavily armed policemen moved into the stadium firing tear gas, and ordering everyone to leave.

The teachers scampered for safety. Those who had not entered the stadium were told by the fierce looking policemen who had already taken over the gates leading to the stadium to go back.

The heavily armed policemen literally took over the ever busy Stadium Road.

About eight patrol vehicles were on a portion of the road.

Why did the police disperse the gathering of teachers?

What on earth could have informed the action of the Rivers State Police Command? At a press briefing convened the following day by the state Police Commissioner, Mr Joseph Mbu, he said those

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RIVERS OF CONTROVERSY

13,000 anti-Jonathan campaigners or new teachers? * They were hired to disrupt the peace — Police * State govt: No correlation between getting employment letters and the President

I think that this is unacceptable and Rivers people need to fight and ensure that this reign of impunity must stop. It is clear that CP Mbu has an agenda to destroy Rivers State and Rivers people have to ensure that does not happen who assembled at the stadium were youths hired by the state government to disrupt the peace. According to him, the state government had recruited them to carry out a protest against the government of President Goodluck Jonathan. Mbu added that the motive was the reason the police were not invited to provide security.

The police boss displayed five placards allegedly recovered from the gathering.

They looked mutilated with inscriptions such as “Amaechi for Vice President 2015'; ‘North for President, Amaechi for VP’, ‘It is time for the North.’

“The truth is that the government of the state is trying to keep the police perpetually at work distracting us. Those newly employed teachers in quote were hired youths. They were hired to

carry placards and protest against the President of the country. I am here to show you the placards. They were called to go there. Nobody invited the police. My informant called me that they were not called to be given letters but were given cardboards to protest against Jonathan.

They tore these things into pieces (holding the alleged placards), we put them together. As a Commissioner of Police whose ears are on the ground, I will always abort such gatherings”, he said.

According to him, contrary to the claim by the state government that those at the stadium were 13,000, there were actually 18,000 youths.

Many persons expressed concern at how the police arrived at its figure of 18,000 when its men merely came into the stadium to disperse a

gathering that was still building up. Was it just a figure thrown up to give flesh to their claim that the youths were hired to disrupt peace?

Mbu said he recently stopped the Pirates Confraternity, National Association of Sea Dogs from holding a programme in Rivers State because of the tensed security situation, stressing that he also denied students Senate body approval for a meeting at the state University of Science and Technology for fear that it was part of a ploy to use the students to forment trouble.

Meantime, the state government has lashed at the police for aborting a gathering of ‘newly recruited teachers’, describing it as another act of impunity.

The state Commissioner for Information, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, who wondered why the police dispersed the gathering, said it was clear that some forces opposed to development in the state were at work.

“Virtually, this is the impunity we have been saying about in Rivers State. And, it is clear to Rivers people that this is the action of retrogressive forces who are totally against development, because, it is the first time any

govt, whether state or federal, is employing 13,000 teachers at once,” Semenitari said. ‘’ And I think that people are afraid and worried that the people will actually see that work is going on. ‘’ Otherwise, tell me why people want to cut short people’s smile.

These are people who have been unemployed. Nigeria is crying about unemployment, education system is in a mess, and a government. employs 13,00 teachers, trains them and wants to feed them into the system, and somebody chooses to treat this with levity and to tear gas the teachers and gives a very stupid excuse ,saying that the teachers were there to protest against President Jonathan. ‘’ What is the correlation between getting their employment letters and President Jonathan? Why do people continually want to drag President Jonathan’s name into everything? Is there something they are telling Rivers people that we don’t know? ‘’ I think that this is unacceptable and Rivers people need to fight and ensure that this reign of impunity must stop. It is clear that CP Mbu has an agenda to destroy Rivers State and Rivers people have to ensure that does not happen.”

Also, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Mr Tony Okocha, in a statement, said the government would not bandy words with the state Police Command, saying that the police had come to be known over time in the state as an institution that thrives on lies.

Okocha maintained that the youths at the Liberation Stadium were the newly employed teachers who were to be given their posting letters.

Some of the teachers who spoke to Sunday Vanguard anonymously believed they were to be given their posting letters. They said they had completed a training program which was a pre-condition for their final posting.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 19

bringinging incubators which we will distribute to hospitals in Lagos and Ogun states. We’re actually working with two districts in Australia for the supply of medical equipment. In the area of water and sanitation, we’re beginning with ten schools and by the end of the year, we shall add 12 more schools. So, this year, as a district, we’re hoping to sink 25 bore-holes and toilets facilities in 25 schools. We’re also looking at 40 water and sanitation projects from the various clubs in our districts. We also intend to embark on a disease prevention and control project in collaboration with a Rotary group called Rotarians for Family Health and AIDS Prevention. Also, we have approved grants for clubs to do educational, micro-credits and other economic development projects.

•Olugbemiga Olowu

Stay away from Rotary if your motive is to make money wu, Governor, Rotary District 9110 — Olugbemiga Olo Olowu,

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seasoned economist, Olugbemiga Olowu is the Rotarian overseeing Rotary clubs all-over Lagos and Ogun states, otherwise known as District 9110. Born in 1949 into the Abeokuta family of Obatolu Olowu of the Ile-Alafin of Owu Kingdom, he is a Rotarian with 30 years experience! Also a multifaceted entrepreneur, Olugbemiga worked with the Mandilas Group for 15 years before co-founding a pharmaceutical business, Lutayo Pharmaceutical Limited, and later, Lutay Nigeria Limited, a joint financial and procurement services company. Seven Prints Limited, a monogramming and printing establishment, is also one of his innovations.

In this interview, Olugbemiga debunks the claim that Rotary is a moneymaking venture and also explains why there are few Rotary clubs in Ogun State.

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

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ervice organisations have become synonymous with money-making; are you sure you didn't forsake your chains of businesses to occupy this position because of cupidity?

It’s unfortunate that people think that way! However, I must admit that it’s some other NGOs that have made society to begin to think that way. That is the opposite of what Rotary is, believes in and does.

Rotarians offer humanitarian services free of cost and free of any benefit; we do not make money from Rotary. The motto of Rotary is, Service above self, and what we’re expected to give as Rotarians are C M Y K

three: our time, money and talents.

These, Rotarians all-over the world, give joyously. All we’re seen doing in communities are products of our contributions and the Rotary Foundation; we seek funds only from those who have believed in us over the years. We do not use money for ourselves! In fact, Rotarians are not expected to benefit from any project we do in communities. We give scholarships to others without our children benefiting! Rotary, is actually the largest private giver of scholarships on earth, and no Rotarian family is permitted to benefit from those scholarships! Our motto is service above selves, and we mean it! That’s why we do not go begging for funds like most NGOs

do. As a matter of fact. The benefits of being a Rotarian are enough for us because the Almighty blesses us Himself, in a lot of ways; we do not have to look for crooked ways of making money.

From the months you’ve spent in office as a governor, how can you prove that Rotarians are indeed truly serving above self?

Since July 1st this year that I assumed office, our clubs have done so much. The Rotary Club of Agege has done a lot in the area of vocation skills empowerment, the Rotary Club of Gbagada has sunk a borehole and donated an incubator to the Shomolu General Hospital, the Rotary Club of Lagos Palmgroove Estate is presently running an eyescreening camp where it hopes to attend to a minimum of 1000 persons. Surgeries for eye cataracts will also be carried out where necessary. I’ve also commissioned community vocational training programmes by different clubs and some clubs have donated books to schools. The main programme for the district this year is maternal and child health and we have identified three government-owned maternity centres to fully-equip. We are

As one overseeing Rotary clubs in Lagos and Ogun states, have you noticed Rotary has a very weak presence in Ogun?

We’re trying to increase the number of Rotary clubs in Ogun State, but one should realise that clubs start with the willingness of people to come together to form a club. It is the reaction of people to what they see round them and forming a desire towards addressing those issues. The response towards starting Rotary clubs in Ogun has not been as impressive as it is in Lagos.

Presently, we have 67 clubs in Lagos and 15 in Ogun.

Over the years, there have been special efforts by

Rotarians offer humanitarian services free of cost and free of any benefit; we do not make money from Rotary. Our motto is service above selves, and we mean it! district governors and membership taskforces to establish more clubs in Ogun State, and we’re also working towards that this year.

Already, there are three clubs in the making in Ogun, but we’ll try and see if more clubs can be formed.

PAGE 20 — SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Email: woman.vista@yahoo.co.uk

View-Point

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Relationship: OLD vs NEW values

Helen Ovbiagele

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HIS club of young graduates and professionals of both sexes came together to form a group with the singular aim of using talks to help young people make the right choices, and hopefully, have a better life. They hold their ‘enlightening’ talks on different subjects, every three months in a small school hall, and they graciously invite their parents, friends and relatives to come listen to them.

I attended one of their talks recently, courtesy of the mother of one of their members, and the topic was ‘Why You Should Live Together Before You Marry!’

When she showed me the letter of invitation, I was startled.

“What sort of topic is this? It seems this group of young people have concluded that it’s best for dating couples to live together before getting married. This is against everything a good moral upbringing stands for. Your son belongs to this sort of club? You and your husband allow him?”

“Not a son; a daughter, Helen.

Our last-born, who’s 24, is a member of this club. I’ve attended two of their talks, and I was impressed. They take it in turns to give talks on etiquette, choices of career, how to prepare for a job interview, Assertiveness, how to build up your savings, health conditions, etc.

However, I don’t understand why they brought out this subject, and in the way they couched the title. As if living together before marriage is the right thing to do.”

“What did your daughter say about it? Is this her view too?

Would you allow a child of yours to do that?”

“Of course not! Male or female; there should be no experiment of marital life before tying the knot. She still lives at home under parental control, so, I doubt if she would have the courage to ask to do that, even if she believes in it. Anyway, come hear what they have to say.

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Exactly, no matter how you package the concept of living together before marriage, it cannot be right for the society.

We shouldn't ape the permissiveness and decadance of the western world. The old values of strict moral values...are still the best...

My husband who’s attended one of their talks and had been impressed, has said that he doesn’t believe in the title, and as such, he wouldn’t be attending. Come and keep me company, if for nothing else.”

“Are older people allowed to give their opinion?”

At the meeting E were welcomed courteously into the venue, and just before the talk began, their chairperson stood up to appreciate the presence of parents and other older people there, including some religious leaders, saying that they would be quite grateful if we heard them out objectively, without judging their stand..

There were four members, two of each sex, to explain the group’s stand.

“Our elders, ladies and gentlemen,” began a female speaker, “ we must acknowledge the fact that there are more broken homes in the world today, than homes that are intact. As a result of this, we have maladjusted young persons all over the place.

Single parenthood can’t be helped when it’s caused by the death of a spouse, but when parents are living apart because of the now popularly preferred reason; ‘irreconcilable differences’, a child becomes distressed and traumatized, as he’s torn apart emotionally between father and mother.

This of course leads to all sorts of social problems.”

“So,”continued a male speaker, “our members came together to debate the reasons for more and more homes being fractured, and

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concluded that it’s because the couples had not really known each other well because they had been living apart. You can be together for many years, dating, but not really know the other person.

When we’re dating, we’re normally on our best behaviour, in order to impress the other person. Your house is spotless when he/she visits, and you strive to make the right impression in all areas of life, and convince the person you’re dating that you’re the right person for him/her. ” “But after the wedding, sometimes even on the wedding night,” continued another speaker, “ you begin to see another side of your partner that you never knew existed. Supposedly little things like bad hygiene, heavy snoring, untidiness, flashes of irresponsibility, disloyalty, etc., begin to surface.

You’re highly disappointed, and you begin to wonder how you’re going to stand all that for the rest of your life. The union could begin to head for the rocks straightaway. Our daddies and mummies are more tolerant and long-suffering; so, they persevered and stayed. But subsequent generations have not been that patient hence the rising increase in broken homes.

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UR generation want a good deal here and now.

In marriage, it’s best to know how compatible you both will be in many ways, before you take those vows. You can’t accurately assess the other person without living

together. When you live together, there’s no way that a deception can be sustained for long. The guards are bound to slip sometime, and you get the real picture. It’s then left to you what to do. To stay, or to beat it fast.”

“I know that what some of us young people here, and certainly our elders would be asking is the issue of abstinence from intimacy before marriage, which has become the popular belief of today. All I can say is that that is left to the individual couple, because whether you live together or not, intimacy can still take place. Living together makes is more possible, but that’s where will power can come into play,” continued the fourth speaker.

Justifying new values “Waiting until marriage before living together is oldfashioned and out-dated in this present dispensation.

Parents should know that due to accommodation problems in higher institutions of learning, boys and girls pair up in off-campus accommodation. Some of such couples go on to marry and have a blissful union because they ’ve had time to study each other well. In the western world, most couples live together/are living together before marriage, even big names. Prince William and Kate Middleton did it; Princess Zara Phillips and Tindall, Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie, Jennifer Aniston and Justin Theroux, etc . If it doesn’t work out, then you can leave without going through the messiness and upheaval of a divorce.”

There was silence then an applause after the four completed the talk.

Upholding old values The audience was then asked to speak. You can guess what happened. The clergy people present spoke through one person, condemning the whole concept, and saying that it was ungodly and an abuse of the institution of marriage. A parent stood up to say that if this is the sort of thing the club concocts, they should disband as they were going to infect the society with bad moral values, and breed a promiscuous generation.

Exactly, no matter how you package the concept of living together before marriage, it cannot be right for the society.

We shouldn’t ape the permissiveness and decadence of the western world. The old values of strict moral values which we’re struggling to uphold here, are still the best for the institution of marriage.

Living together before marriage is not going to ensure a happier and a more long-lasting union. It is the individual attitude in the union that would determine the way it goes. The concept may not affect the man much, but think of a situation where a girl would have lived with several boyfriends. Those number of times would be counted as marriage for her, and she may end up like a much kicked around football which nobody wants; even if her moral values are better than those of the girl who had stayed with the parents all along. Hypocrisy? Maybe.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 21

Email: woman.vista@yahoo.co.uk

(07036819426)

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HE desire to expand her circle of influence as an educational psychologist and guidance counsellor drew her into the world of Moral Re-Armament/Initiative of Change- MRA/IoC which is a worldwide movement initiated by famous Frank Buchman in 1938 as a successor to the Oxford Group. The movement maintains that the practice of high morality in public and private life is the key to world betterment.

Thirteen years down the line, Mrs.Benedicta Opara has become an international council member of the movement. Also the National Coordinator for Creators of Peace which is an offshoot of MRA/IoC and the National Financial Secretary, MRA/IoC, Nigeria, Benedicta is presently a Deputy Director of Education in the Lagos State Civil Service. Vista Woman had a chat with her during a recent 4-day peace circle training organised in Lagos by the Creators of Peace with facilitators from South-Africa.

Mothers no longer close to family unit — Benedicta, Coordinator, Creators of Peace

*Benedicta

W

HAT’S the idea behind the Creators of Peace? This initiative, Creators of Peace, is an offshoot of Moral ReArmament. It’s actually exclusively for women and it is designed to address both inter and intra personal war. Women are powerful change agents in every society and except they are in the right frame of mind and have enough energy within, they may not be able to fulfill this role. Despite the instabilities in different parts of the world today, it is important for women to understand ways of building inner peace because as role models, they must be embodiments of peace and must be able to solve issues peacefully and lovingly. Total peace does not exist anywhere, so, the idea is to learn to develop inner peace in the midst of challenges.

How significant is this initiative to Nigeria as a nation?

We all know the turmoil that has threatened our nation in recent times.

Thank God the days of militancy are over in the

,,

BY JOSEPHINE IGBINOVIA

Women are powerful change agents in every society and except they are in the right frame of mind, they may not be able to fulfil this role. Despite the instabilities in different parts iof the world today, it is important for women to....be embodiments of peace

South-South region, anyway. Our existence is however now threatened by the North! Being women, this circle of peace agents now being trained by the Moral ReArmament, would be able to influence various spheres- political, economic, to mention but a few, by talking to their husbands who are in power. Women in government too would be able to evoke changes when taught to maintain inner peace in the midst of crisis. This initiative is not dependent on academic qualification, so, market and also rural women are also part of the initiative.

Looking at events in the country, would you say Nigerian women are playing their roles as

change agents and role models?

I’m sorry to say that mothers are no longer close to the family unit like we had in the past. I however blame this on society because most women are now breadwinners in their homes! This is a global phenomenon and not one that is peculiar to Nigeria. Although, I want to emphasise that the major problem with us in Nigeria is the fact that we put so much emphasis on wealth acquisition rather than on giving training to children. Every mother is duty-bound to train every child brought into this world by her! We must lay good foundation for our children and be there to

guide them in the right path even as they grow. When we also learn to live as role models, these children would be able to imbibe good values by simply emulating us. But in a situation where we are scarcely there, who do we expect them to learn from?

Being an educationist, how did you venture into this line of voluntary service?I encountered Moral Re-Armament at an entrepreneurship gathering organised by a group of women in the year 2000.

The initiative actually caught my fancy because of its emphasis on moral standard. It operates on four standards which include absolute honesty, absolute purity, absolute unselfishness and absolute love. Every member is taught to live by these

standards. I actually studied Educational Psychology(Guidance Counselling) at the University of Port-Harcourt.

So, as an educational psychologist, I basically work with children. My job involves helping people overcome character challenges and issues that disrupt their education and way of life. So, joining the Moral Re-Armament movement helps me serve as a better counsellor.

As a counsellor and advocate of peace, what’s your advice to every Nigerian as to how we could all restore peace?

Be the change you wish to see in the world. Be the light because the candle that lights another loses nothing.

Let us light up the world by starting with ourselves.

A group session at the Ciccle of Peace workshop.

PAGE 22 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

She cast a spell on my love life Dear Rebecca

I

’M a 30—year-old youth corper. I dis covered some shortcomings in my fiancee who is 23 years old, so, I broke up our six years old love relationship which produced a four-year- old girl, two years ago. Since we separated, I have fallen in love with eight ladies. 1 believe in premarital sex using the condom, but none of these ladies allowed me to have Sex with them except just fondling their bodies. This is really disturbing me. I think my ex-fiancee has cast a spell on me so that I can’t have sex with other ladies. She is begging to come back but I don’t love her anymore. She is a liar. I reported her bad behavior to her parents several times but she refused to change. I used to confide in her but she was never open with me. I can’t marry a lady I don’t trust. She is very unserious with her education despite my encouragement and assistance.

She finds it difficult to concentrate on her studies.

I reluctantly wrote her S. S. C. E for her, and she used the results to gain admission into a College of Education. Aunty, I see her face in my dreams whenever I’m spiritually attacked. Two years ago, an unseen force was pressing me down while I was sleeping with her. I almost broke off the relationship but I forgave her after five months.

Lastly, she has been unfaithful. Three of my relations, at different times caught her with a particular man she was dating secretly. I investigated the allegation and confronted her, but she denied it all. I even warned her to stop washing the man’s clothes and going on errands for him, which she promised to comply with. Rebecca, this is a lady whose parents I approached for her hand in marriage immediately she got pregnant for me. I was planning to marry her as soon as I can settle down.

When I went home last year, she had travelled to the man’s town without my consent. She lied that she went to collect some money from her uncle whom I’ve never heard of all these years. Her parents were confounded by her actions.

My family supported my leaving her. Since we separated, witches and wizards no longer attack me in my sleep, and my finances and my physical appearance have improved.

Dan

REPL Y REPLY

I

must say you are a can did and frank young man. I know that you wrote in anonymously and no-one would know who sent in this problem, but it takes courage to reveal that you committed the criminal act

of writing examination papers for another person.

Maybe you don’t know it’s a serious offense, or, perhaps, because the practice is widespread in Nigeria, you think it’s okay. It isn’t at all.

An examination is an assessment of our intellectual capability; whether we are fit for a particular training or not. I know that results are not always accurate, there’s foul play, and an element of luck, but I think we should allow people to go through examinations themselves.

That girl may not be fit to train as a teacher in a College of Education, and left on her own, she may not be able to cope with her course of study. Since you cannot go sit for exams there for her, she would have to cheat, bribe, or perhaps sleep with lecturers in order to pass her papers and graduate. An unqualified teacher is then. unleashed on our children in schools. Any wonder that our educational standard continues to fall ? Please don’t help people that way again; instead, encourage them to take their studies seriously, and/or get them a coach. Pray for them too.

Now to the actual problem.

This girl is now 23 and you courted for six years. That means she was only about 18 when she had your daughter, and at a time when she was not expecting motherhood. You did the honorable thing in going to ask her parents for her hand in marriage when she became pregnant for you, but it was a rash decision since you had not really studied her well enough to know if she was the sort of girl you wanted for a wife.

Maybe you did if for peace in the families. You and your people should have told her people that while you accepted responsibility for the pregnancy and would look after the child when born, you would want to know the girl well before deciding anything further in the relationship. There’s no mention of love in your letter so, I suppose you expected that it is not really relevant in a marriage. It is. We expect our marriage to last a lifetime and bring us joy and happiness, so, it is important to go into it with a carefully. chosen partner, lots of prayer; and a determination on both sides to make the union work.

In your case, this girl has not shown that she can become part of you, even though she wants to marry the father of her child; maybe to obey her parents, or for respectability and security.

She may not have found you her ideal man, hence her secret relationship with the other man who she’s obviously fond of You may not like this fact, but you have to accept it and be determined to leave her alone for good. If you have a mother who can cope with raising your daughter, get her to do so. If she has to live with the girl’s people, make sure you bear

the financial responsibility and get her to come spend the weekends or holidays where you live. Now, to your dreams about this girl. Noone can accurately say how we come about the dreams we have when we sleep.

Sometimes they have to do with current happenings in our lives; sometimes with unrelated issues. Some dreams we enjoy; some we find terrifying and worry-

ing. I wouldn’t suggest trying to interpret dreams, but rather, take them to God in prayer. Ask Him to remove whatever obstacles or problems that are threatening to come into your life. Fast and pray meaningfully, if possible. You can also get your religious leaders to pray for you. Sit quietly and review your life, resolving to change whatever your conscience tells you need changing,for

a happier life. All these are more helpful than allowing suspicions-of witchcraft and spells to dominate your thoughts. When you place yourself under the Spirit of God, you will refuse to give power to contrary spirits.

Your girl’s bad behavior may have triggered off the frightening dreams don’t think she has cast a spell on you so that girls will refuse you sex. What is happening is

that many girls are trying to say ‘no’ to premarital sex, to respect their bodies, avoid unwanted pregnancy and likely abortion, and also venereal diseases. They are scared of AIDS. Sex is full of risks and no longer the ‘fun’ our people used to think it is. You may want to heed this. The condom is not! 00% safe against unwanted pregnancy and STDs, as it can burst or slip off during intercourse.

There’s no spell on you. After-all, you still feel like having sex, can achieve erection, and girls do allow you to lie down with them and fondle their bodies.

Maybe God wants you to have a re-think about premarital sex. Maybe He feels you’ve had enough sexual adventure. I must commend you for not asking that girl to have an abortion. Male or female, we don’t know how many children we are destined to have, so, if we couldn’t prevent a child being conceived, we should allow the pregnancy to stay.

Some men cause their girls to have abortion only to find later when they marry that babies just won’t come. Godforbid.

This older man took advantage of me!

Dear Rebecca

I

’M a young girl of 18, in love with a 40-year-old man.

We started dating two years ago.

He deflowered me and got me pregnant. I wanted an abortion but he didn’t. I pleaded with him and he accepted we go for it. Unknown to me, he was just leading me on until seventh month when my mum found out I was pregnant, and we went for an induction. I lost my baby and have also lost my virginity which was a painful experience because it wasn’t really with my consent. It was a date rape. After the rape, he cried and begged for forgiveness. I forgave him but told him it was over between us. He kept telling me he loved me until I found out that I was pregnant. I was too naive at my age because he said I shouldn’t tell anyone and I didn’t, trusting him. The problem now is that he wants me back after all the painful experiences.

Presently, I’m seeking admission into the university. I think I still love him but the age difference and his status are not good enough for me.

Aunty, why do I still

feel this way about him if I know he isn’t right for me? Is it truly love ?

Please, I need answers to these questions. My life is becoming a nightmare.

My painful experiences haunt me.

My mum says he has charmed me that is why I’m still attracted to him.

I can’t get him out of my mind. I want to stop loving him.

Confused girl

REPL Y REPLY

Y

OU sound an in telligent girl who can express herself well. Also, it seems you come from an enlightened background.

Perhaps so enlightened that your mother does not see the need to go warn that 40 year-old man to keep off her 18-year-old daughter who is young enough to be the man’s daughter. Could it be that she felt it was best to keep the matter a secret?

One would not blame her for this because it takes two to tango.

Whether he forced sex on you or not, you were the one who put yourself in a situation which made it happen. In the first place, you shouldn’t have gone out with a forty-year-old man, let alone allow him to lead

you to where sex could take place. You did not go to the place naked, so how come that he was able to take off your underwear and gain access? Couldn’t you have struggled and threatened to scream down the place if he didn’t leave you alone? Deflowering a girl is not all that easy as the pain she experiences hinders progress.

For yours to lead to pregnancy means there wasn’t any resistance.

After all, you didn’t say that he put a gun to your head and told you to cooperate. There is no need crying over split milk, but I am analyzing the matter this way in order to make you feel bad enough never to allow such a thing to happen to you. You got off lightly in that you only got pregnant and lost the baby.

What if you had contracted a venereal disease or even the HIV virus? If some venereal diseases are not welltreated, they could prevent a woman from ever getting pregnant. Sex is good, but it should be had in a committed and responsible relationship like marriage. That is how God ordained it.

Now, try and put the past behind you. First and foremost, you must stop all contact with that man immediately. Maybe he is not a bad man, but he is not good for you. A man who tells a pregnant I8-year-old girl not to tell anyone of her condition is dangerous. He didn’t offer to marry you, but now that you lost the baby and are free to be used again by him, he is asking you to return to him.

Make friends with boys and girls who are focused about the future.

Join a study group. Keep yourself busy with hobbies that you enjoy. Always let your parents know who your friends are and also your movement. Thus they can advise about your friends, and know where you are, at least now that you’re still living at home. Male friends who are known to your parents would hardly dare do you harm, because they would be afraid of your parents’ reaction.

When they take you out with your parents’ knowledge, they would do their best to treat you decently and feel responsible for your safety.

•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

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 23

Were they set up by their sick friends?

A

FTER over ten years of mar riage, Laitan found herself wondering where the spark had gone. “Most evenings, we just had quiet dinners after our only son had gone to bed,” she said “One particular evening, as my husband, Sanjo and I sat eating dinner with a bottle of very nice wine I got from a friend for my birthday, I felt so sad inside. Once, the setting would have been a prelude to hours oflovemaking. But now, though we loved each other, we barely had sex and this often made me feel insecure. Didn’t he fancy me any more? Or could he be getting it somewhere else?

“I was far in thought when there was an urgent knock at the door. It was Sanjo’s best friend since their secondary school days. Donald had just had a blazing row with his wife Kenke, and was really upset . I gave him some leftovers and wine and he soon calmed down. Only as we chatted, I realised Donald kept staring at my cleavage and flashing flirty smiles at me. Strangely, instead of getting angry, I felt incredibly turned on. At least someone really fancied me! So, I

found myself bending over to clear the table, flashing my cleavage at him. ., “Sanjo didn’t say a thing but after Donald left to make up with his wife, I felt so silly. He’d obviously noticed me flirting back at him. What would he think? The next week, we were invited to their house to view the new extensions they’d just completed on their house. Over dinner, the two men got blind drunk, while Kenke and I chatted over yet more wine. We spent half the night discussing what sort of decor would suit the extension. To my embarrassment, Sanjo was even more paralytic than

usual and was in a drunken slump on the sofa. Donald was still going on about what decor he really preferred and asked me to come and have a look and give my opinion. I told him I didn’t want to leave my husband in the state he was but Kenke offered to give him some Alka Seltza and sit with him so he wouldn’t throw up, urging me to go and see the extension. So I followed Donald upstairs.

“He gave suggestive, lingering smiles as I admired the tiles and windows. Despite myself, I tingled again. His sexy after-shave was really heady! His wife called

up the stairs that she was nipping to her mother’s not that far away to bring back their son. She said Sanjo had taken the Alka Seltza and was asleep on the sofa. She laughed we should check he didn’t throw up all over the place. ‘Ok!’ Donald shouted , grinning lecherously. He then locked the door and started kissing me wildly. I couldn’t stop myself - it was ages since I had sex. Before I knew it, we were having drunken sex on the rug.

It was amazing! But when it was over, I felt guilt. What the hell had I done? I loved my husband and he didn’t deserve this betrayal.

“All of a sudden , I heard groans from their spare bedroom. Was that Sanjo being sick or had Kenke come back with their son? I quickly unlocked the door and rushed through. I froze in horror. Sanjo and Kenke were on the bed, drunk out of their sculls and having their own drunken sex! They were oblivious as I stared then rushed downstairs in tears. Donald tried to soothe me but I was furious. What the hell was going on?! Was this all a set-up and was my husband part of it? ‘He’s not’ Donald assured me. `Kenke and I had often fantasised about wife swapping and we knew you would be part of it consciously ... ‘ So they’d decided to get us slushed and seduced us separately.,’ “I was furious with all of them – but I was in the wrong too. Suddenly, Kenke appeared. She didn’t realise I knew what she’d just done and started `innocently’ going on about how her son was fast asleep at her mum’s and she would pick him up the next day.

‘Sanjo was so drunk,’ she said, ‘that I had to put him up in the spare room.’

‘Oh really?’ I thought silently, ‘After you’ve

bonked him senseless.’

I was too furious to argue. I just grabbed my things and left. Back home, it all got to me what I’d done, how Sanjo had cheated on me. How we’d both been betrayed by our friends. Only deep down I knew Sanjo hadn’t purposely cheated on me.

He’d been so drunk, had barely known where he was. He might not even remember anything when he woke up. If he didn’t say anything, I reasoned, I wouldn’t have to confess to anything either.

“He was brought back early the next day. ‘Sorry I got so drunk last night,’ he said wincing from a hang -over. I was anxious. Was he aware of all that happened last night or had he forgotten? I couldn’t bear to ask him.

It just seemed safer never to mention what happened. Now, over six months on, Sanjo’s never mentioned that evening either. But since then, he’d found reasons not to visit Donald and Kenke - and the passion is back in our bedroom! So in my heart I’m sure we both know exactly what happened that night. We’re just happier never admitting it...”

08052201867(Text Only)

Suryanamaskar: Some variations of sunbathing and limbering

W

E go to sleep at night to rest and renew our bodies. But this renewal comes with a certain measure of stiffness upon waking in the morning.

As the morning wears on we tend to feel less inflexible. The first few movements ensure the loosening up of the body.

To get around this stiffness that we all feel in the morning the yogis devised the Suryanamaskar which is a sort of choreography involving not just the feet but the whole body.

The Suryanamaskar is the exercise said to be practised every morning

by Narayan Chandhary the 145 year ol man whose story appeared in the Weekend Vanguard.

This circuit of bending and stretching not only C M Y K

ensures that you get the utmost limbering, it is also great in helping to tone up the endocrine system.

Dr. Leo Rebello in his book, Nature Cure and Yoga therapy states that Suryanamaskar alone with the shoulder stand.

Sarvagasana in Sanskrit, “are specific in the treatment of leprosy, coupled with food rich in sulphur (like raw cabbage and

cauliflower) and fresh milk diet to tone up the endocrine system”.

This is an example of how potent, how beneficial this ancient routine can be.

All would-be practitioners of this exercise must

be mindful of when the breath can be taken in when it should be taken out and lastly when the out breath must be retained.

I – Inhalation, E-Exhalation. E and H – Exhale and hold breath.

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

P AGE 24— SUND AY Vanguard , SEPTEMBER 29 , 2013 SUNDA

bunmsof@yahoo.co.uk

08056180152,

SMS only

Is your marriage about to be hit by hurricane infidelity?

A

S many friends in a female group get married, the few left start fretting if they’re not going to be left permanently on gthe shelf. Years later, a couple of marriages in the group are likely to hit the skids and the rest of it starts getting jittery - case of ten green bottle?” Beverly, a mother of three adorable kids has been married 11 years. A few weeks ago, a friend of hers dropped by with the news that another friend had just been separated from her husband - divorce was on the cards.

“The news was really depressing, I tell you,” said Bev. “The couple in question, Grace and Melvil, got married around the time we did. They were a sort of role model of the “group, the ones you invited to the house when you just felt like hanging out, the ones who gladly ran errands for you, the ones you called when you needed a leg-up. They had been together since their university days and had been married 12 years.

Although their relationship had issues - Melvil is a football fanatic, she loves going to A - list parties - it seemed like a given that their till-death vows would stick. However, early last year, Grace had hit a rough patch emotionally. She lost her parents in quick successions and had an uphill task hanging on to a job in the office where massive retrenchment was a threat.

“We knew Mel had lost a lot of patience over his wife’s malaise - but we didn’t suspect how bad it was until he confirmed his affair to his wife and the fact he’d found solace - and red-hot sex - in the arms of a hot dance teacher, whom whom he now referred to as his ‘soul mate’! It’s one thing to read about the cheating scandals of all these celebrities in various soft-sell magazines, but it’s

easy to reassure yourself you won’t be part of that group - your partner is not a movie star or a socialite and, as a result, he does not have adoring women flashing their obscene boobs at him every time he steps outside the door. Yet, almost on a daily basis, you witness the devastation of what is now termed Hurricane Infidelity.

“After my friend left, I became a bit insecured about my marriage. One night, when Timi, my husband, was fast asleep, I pinched his mobile, crept to the kitchen and started scrolling through his recent text messages like some possessed psycho. I skipped through the usual notes from work contacts and friends until I saw one from Kate. Who the hell was she?, ‘What happened to you yesterday,’ it read and my heart kicked into a gallop.

‘You were terribly missed.

Same time today?’ I was livid. I charged up the stairs to confront my sleeping husband - the cheat!

Only, I made a complete fool of myself. The text was from an old female colleague whom we all know to be always lovey-dovey with everyone. She was merely raving about a restaurant they’d all discovered to be exceptionally good.

“But would that tiny episode assure me of my husband’s fidelity. No way! I mean, if a regular guy like Melvil - someone I thought I knew and understood, who seemed reasonably happy with Grace his wife - could go ga-ga over a dance teacher, what’s to stop my husband doing the same?

Some few weeks after this incident, we were at a swanky party when I looked across the room and noticed that Timi was engaged in an animated conversation with a woman I’d never met.

She was young, pretty and flirty, with dangerous

Y

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"

Sentimentally…

As I write this, the feelings that surge through me are that of euphoria and nostalgia; Do I really have

curves and perfectly groomed hair extensions. Instead of walking up and saying hello, as I would have up to a few months before, I left the room.

I thought I would give him a few minutes and he would come looking for me. Ten minutes passed. Fifteen. My withdrawal tactics clearly wasn’t-working, so I charged back to the room. Timi was still engrossed with Ms 38 D more-bouce-to-the-ounce.

Could this be an old colleague too? Heck no! When I finally grabbed Timi’s hand and introduced myself to the woman, she looked embarrassed. In a huff, I dragged him off her, telling him I was ready to go.

“As soon as we were in the car, Timi claimed he was really grateful to me for dragging him away from the woman. ‘I don’t remember her name, but she wouldn’t leave me alone,” he said. I didn’t buy his story and I told him so-loudly, with accusations and profanity. We barely spoke for two days and when we did, we were polite, careful and detached. I knew I had

really offended him. I knew I should be trying to mend things but the more I witnessed Bev’s agony and Mel’s ‘liberation’, the more freaked out I got.

“I read articles on how to tell if your man is cheating, then checked his behaviour for clues.

Has he become more fastidious in his grooming?

More protective of his phone? Changed his work hours? Become more solicitous. One night, he called he would be working late. Humph! My chance to catch the rat!

He would be too tired for sex if he’d had one already. So, when I later pounced on him in the bedroom and he eagerly rose to the occasion, I felt really bad. Why did I doubt his love and dedication to this lovely family we’ve both worked hard for over the years. As my husband drifted off to sleep, I felt reassured that whatever happens in future longevity might not

you as friends? Do you girls really care for me? Amaka, you are black and beautiful; bold and bountiful. You walk with grace and elegance, bouncing with joy…cute. Maureen, you are sweet and tender, so caring and passionate. You smile radiates and your laughter illuminates, just you. If only people will see the joy of being with you girls, the understanding and commitment we all share. You are simply irresistibly awesome. I adore you. Thanks for coming into my life.

Stan Opio opiobaba@gmail.com 08158630778, 07035709315

True love

True Love is like sunshine,it brings glow to it's be-

compete with excitement but new is the one thing Timi and I can never be to each other.

Why Women Wor ry More ...

On the average, we spend five years of our life worrying. That’s one hour and 46 minutes every day! But what is it that keeps us tossing and turning in our beds all night? A recent survey by advice website? Really Worried. com found that men and women worry about different things.

Women spend more time fretting over money and their partner cheating, while men worry more about sex. But youngsters worry most of all.

The research revealed that teenagers are more likely to spend time fretting than their parents or grandparents. One in ten 16-19 year-olds admitted to worrying for up to 12 hours a day. Surprisingly, they say they are more concerned about getting on the property ladder than about body image or sex. Whatever you

fret about, it can affect your well-being. Over half of those who took part in the survey said worry caused them sleepless nights. Many people said that worrying about things made them smoke and drink more. Really Worried. com founder, Richard Rubin, is a chronic worrier. That’s one of the reasons he set up the website.

He says: “A problem shared is a problem halved.

Really Worried. com allows people to share their nuggets of wisdom with one another.” But what is it that makes some of us fret more than others? According to the British health service provider, BUPA, some psychologists think excessive worrying is ,linked to personality type. Others think it can be traced back to negative Childhood experiences. And, serious anxiety disorders can be the result of chemical imbalances in the brain. Dr. Gillian Butler is a clinical psychologist who has written about worrying. She says she isn’t surprised that young people fret the most. “The essence of worry is ‘ what if?’ You worry less if you’re certain about things. When you’re young, there are lots of uncertainties - so that adds up to a lot of worries.”

How can we learn to worry less? Break a problem into a list of parts, sequenced in order of priority. Work out a solution for each stage and plan a reward for achieving each goal. Borrow relaxation self-help books or tapes.

Make time for regular exercise. Avoid a high caffeine and alcohol intake as both can increase anxiety and worsen worrying. Dr. Butler adds: “Becoming confident is a way of getting rid of worry. Another is by using curiosity rather than catastrophe. For example, you should think: “I wonder if I will find the man of my dreams rather than: I’m never going to find the man of my dream.”

holders face. And a warm feeling all over their body.

It awakens souls and opens eyes.

And when its over, it leaves billions of small memories called stars to remind the world that it still exists.

Chris Onunaku dekris4real@gmail.com 08032988826/08184844015.

Lasting love

In you I have found an ever lasting,ever fresh, ever green and unshakeable love that will never cease or fade. And if i am to live a million years my love for you will always intoxicates me and drives me into unimaginable lengths of happiness.

Akachukwu Ferdinand. aka5forever85@gmail.com 08063819314

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 25

By BENJAMIN NJOKU njokujamin@yahoo.com

My wife’s family rejected me, forced me to change church — Igwe Gabosky Popularly known as Igwe Gabosky, Gabriel Onyiyechi Okoye is on the frontline in the Nigerian home video industry. He produced some of the earliest movies such as Nneka the Pretty Serpent, Tycoon, Beyond the Vow, Picadilly and Wedlock of Blood that helped to build the brand that is today known as Nollywood. 21 years ago, he got married to Ms Anne Iphie Okoye. The marriage is blessed with three girls and one boy. The bandana loving movie producer turned business tycoon shares the secrets of his marriage ....

How I was forced to get married

I got married in 1992, when I was under 30 years. I made my money very early in life, and, as a matter of fact, I had a lot of women around me. As a young, wealthy and handsome man, I was the desire of every woman. And the way they were flocking around me then, I wouldn’t have lasted for ten years. So, in order to stay away from their troubles, I decided to get married and begin to build my own home.

Unfortunately, my wife was not one of those girls that were hustling and fighting in my house. But, as far as I was concerned, I was through with them. I needed to settle down with a neutral person. As a young man, I was living in a duplex of seven rooms, and my affluence was enough attraction for these girls.

In search of a wife

One of my friends, Mr Gogonus Chidieme, came to my house with his girl friend who was so beautiful. In the process, I was moved to whisper to her ears

steady in marriage. And that was not the kind of home I wanted to associate myself with. As a result, I settled for my wife. Initially, the family did not want me because they thought I was a rough guy while on campus.

Even with my wealth, they didn’t accept me.

But I was not discouraged; in fact, I was challenged because nothing good comes easily.

On a second thought, I was impressed because if they had agreed easily to give out their daughter in marriage to me, I wouldn’t have continued with the marriage plans. I love the way I was challenged by my wife’s parents. But before they

,

But before they accepted me, they insisted I must become an Anglican even though I was attending Catholic Church. In the name of love, I had to do their bidding

that if I had the privilege to befriend a beautiful damsel like her, I wouldn’t hesitate to marry her. I later pleaded with her to introduce me to any of her girl friends who was as beautiful as she was. She invited me to the University of Nigeria, Nsukka, and, fortunately, I graduated from UNN. So, I stormed UNN and she introduced me to two beautiful ladies.

My first consideration was to look at their parental background before making my choice. Even though both ladies had all that I wanted in a woman, I needed to be careful and avoid regrets thereafter. I wanted to marry a girl whose parents are not divorced or dead. Unfortunately, one of the girls, her mother had not been

,

accepted me, they insisted I must become an Anglican even though I was attending Catholic Church. In the name of love, I had to do their bidding. But to their surprise, immediately after our traditional marriage, I returned to the Catholic Church. When they complained, I stood my ground and refused to be pushed around.

Yes, I saw my wife and fell in love with her. She had everything I wanted in a woman.

She grew up within the university environment.

Why marriage is thriving

Interestingly, you wouldn’t believe this, but it’s the truth. I don’t have secret, all the girls I dated while I was a bachelor, I made sure I introduced them to my wife. That’s one of the

men kept me at the gate but allowed my wife to go inside the banking hall as one of their biggest customers. She threatened to close the account if they refused to allow me to let me in because I am the owner of the account and not she as they perceived. At that point, they all rushed out to apologise to me. But the point I want to make is that she is a signatory to all my bank accounts.

Unlike some men who wouldn’t want to do such thing, I’m at peace running a joint account with my wife. I made it clear to her that I must be in the know concerning any transaction she wants to carry out in the bank.

Openness begets openness.

They say, if you must go to equity, you must come with clean hands. There is no way you can keep secrets and expect your wife to be open to you. That’s how we have been able to sustain our marriage. We have been into this journey for 21 years now.

Our last child is about 11 years, and we have four children.

Proposing

reasons my marriage is thriving. I don’t go to banks, it’s my wife that handles all my banking transactions. Something happened when I went to one bank during the closing hours sometime ago to withdraw some money because I was travelling that night. I went with my wife, but the security

I was the Igwe of the University of Nigeria, Nsukka when I graduated. And when I came visiting, the shouts of Igwe filled the air. I had a flashy sports car, and I was in money because I was practically living abroad.

So, when she saw me, she immediately fell in love with me.

She wanted us to be friends, but unknown to her that I was coming to marry her. To gain entrance into their house to meet her for the first time, her close friend who brought me to Nsukka had to lie to my wife’s parents that I was her own boyfriend. She had no reservation whatsoever, rather it was her

parents who did. This was because they knew me way back as a rough guy on campus during my undergraduate days.

She was about 19 years when we met, while I was approaching 30 years.

21 years after

The journey has been very smooth. Why I said so is because we have been partners in progress. She ‘s my secretary and I have been working with her since we got married.

I don’t have any problem with my wife . She has respect, understanding and she’s accommodating. It is like what you put in is what you get.

What I give to her is what she gives to me in return. As a husband, if you give your wife violence, all the time, she will return the violence to you. It’s not as if husband and wife don’t quarrel, but in the cause of your quarrel, if you utter unprintable things to her, those unprintable words would be the things she would be remembering at all time.

But if you don’t mean it, don’t say it. This is because, most marriages that crashed today did not crash the very day they crashed, rather they had crashed many times before the last straw that broke the camel’s back. To me, we are compatible in marriage. She knows my movement and she’s part of my movement. I don’t go out without letting her know where I am going to. We are too close to each other.

Like I said earlier, there is no marriage that has a formula, you have to develop your own formula.

I developed mine and it’s working. And the formula is that we keep close at ever point in time. I shop for my wife and even cook for the family at weekends. I will go to the market to buy foodstuff and, later, enter the kitchen to cook for the family. Nothing is more important to me than my wife and my children.

His love for white things attracted me to him — Wife How I met him

I met him through a mutual friend who was like a big sister to me. Then, I thought he was his boy friend, but, later, she disclosed to me that he wanted to marry me. At the end of the day, it worked out.

Attraction

I liked his love for ‘ white colour’ which stands for purity.

The day I met him, he was in white trainers, white shirt with white suspender to match. It was marvelous. I don’t look at him as my husband, I see him as my boy friend and I am his girl friend. And that’s the way it has been from the beginning. God has been the stronghold of our marriage.

Regrets

Not at all. If there is reincarnation,I will marry him again.

No girl will get him except me and no man will win my hand in marriage except him.

PAGE 26 — SUNDAY

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

A SUR VIV OR’S GRIPPING ST OR Y! SURVIV VIVOR’S STOR ORY!

It was tough battling cancer — Julia Oyefunke •Speaks on her campaign against the disease

J

ulia Oyefunke Fortune, author of ‘Chronicle of a Cancer Survivor’ and a volunter for cancer and legislative ambassador for the American Cancer Society, tells the story of her battle with cancer and her campaign against the disease.

December 13, 2007 is a day I would live to remember. It was the day I was diagnosed with breast cancer. The revelation was like a thunderbolt. Although the sun was shining, its glare was not enough to illuminate the darkness that enveloped my world. I was shaken to the marrow.

Confusion, denial, anger, fear, all set in. I wondered if it was all a bad dream, a terrible nightmare. My mind was in turmoil. I was in a daze. It was scary, it was real, and it was ugly.

Although just a preliminary examination, there was a glimmer of hope that a confirmatory test would overturn the initial outcome, but, deep down in my heart, I knew my life would never be the same again.

I didn’t pretend to be too naïve not to admit, at least to myself, that my journey into the terrifying world of cancer had begun.

A second mammogram only confirmed my worst nightmare. My journey into the cold, dark world of cancer had indeed begun.

But I had a resolve: It wasn’t going to be a oneway journey. I would return.

From then: it was from one referral to another, from one oncologist to another, and from one evaluation to another.

A personal disease

Cancer was no newcomer to me. As an experienced entrepreneur, I already knew of one associate or distant relative who had succumbed.

Many friends and acquaintances had battled the disorder, so, in more ways than one, I was wise to the warnings. I knew about breast cancer long before it knew me.

Before my diagnosis, I had done my research. I visited websites and learned all the essential step-by-step

information on performing self-examinations. I kept on top of the cancer statistics, mentally noticing researchers estimated a 3.5 percent increase in breast cancer cases alone.

I kept track of survivor rates and knew that no less than 2.4 million women supposedly won the fight against cancer every year.

Regularly and religiously, I did all the right things, performed the breast selfexaminations and always looking for signs of a tumour and was almost paranoid.

But as a survivor, I never lost hope.

I know how alone cancer makes you feel. Even if you have a world of supporters, cancer is still a very personal disease; it takes hold of your soul and can make or break you. That choice is yours and yours alone to make, but no matter how bad the situation may seem, no matter how hopeless you may feel, there is always something you can do about it, even if it is as simple as learning to be at peace with your fate.

Road to recovery

My road to recovery didn’t start too well, but I fought gallantly and won. There were diagnostic drugs to take. I asked myself that if I used all those drugs, of what benefit would they be to me?

Will it benefit by 10 percent, 15, 20 or 80 percent? Will the cancer come back? Will it spread? More questions than answers.

I knew there were tools that can detect cancer but doctors in Nigeria are not using them. The typical treatment is radiation and chemotherapy. These are terrible; they are brother and sister and are killers. I deviated from radiation and chemotherapy because my body was already exhibiting the symptoms and side effects of using them, even without using them, so what would have happened if I now took them? I would have gone real fast. The hospitals here (Nigeria) don’t really test the people as thoroughly as required. I checked myself for vitamin D deficiency, my bones were weak, my joints were weak and the side effects of

•Julia Oyefunke chemotherapy would have attacked the bones.

Role of faith

Cancer visited me uninvited, so I had to figure out a way to deal with it. My faith played a major role. From Day 1, I said, ‘Lord, you know I have four children, Adeyinka, who turned 31 this year, Adeola, 26, Adedoyin, 25, and Adebola, 18’. I said, ‘Lord, just hear my prayer. I’m asking for just three things, that is when I will know I will live long. First thing is You will let me see my grandchild, give me that privilege’. That has been granted. My grand child is three years old.

Then I said, ‘Lord, You will let me witness and participate in the white coat ceremony of Adeola’, who went to medical school last year. I was a proud mother at the ceremony. Third, I said, ‘Lord, you will allow me visit the country I come from. I owe that country something’.

I said, ‘God use me as an instrument to remove the covering on my people’s eyes about this disease. I want to make an impact in Nigeria’.

Diet war

I want to plant anti-cancer foods, to let people know what they should eat. I’m

teaching people to grow these foods even in their houses. I want to win them away from the cancer causing foods that they are ingesting now. Nigerians are copying American diets and that is why cancer is increasing. Cancer does not like sodium which is salt.

Cancer does not like sugar, and all these pasta and snacks we eat turn to sugar.

So there is need for the education about what to do.

I have done studies to know that when you change your

there, pay for everything, take the chemotherapy and die.

Advocate of cure

But for me it is more of being an advocate to force the government to do the right thing, which is to improve the infrastructure, spend money on research, and embrace, alternative medicine. Instead of condemning, let us embrace them. Cancer has been around for centuries yet there is no cure. Where is

I didn’t pretend to be too naïve not to admit, at least to myself, that my journey into the terrifying world of cancer had begun. A second mammogram only confirmed my worst nightmare. My journey into the cold, dark world of cancer had indeed begun diet, cancer can regress.

Doctors know what to do, but do not do it, except for a very few. When Nigerians go down with cancer, they run to America, yet there are 7.5 million misdiagnoses due to medical errors in the US alone every year. Yet we rush

the cure going to come from anyway?

Cancer is complex. Two people can have the same type of cancer but react to it differently. For some people, cancer is ready to kill them. But for others, it’s a call to action for survival.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, 27

The axilla and the breast are related. I call them first cousins. If something happens to the breast, most of the time it will stretch to the armpit near it, and what happens to the breast may come from the armpit because they are so related.

It is called the lymphatic drainage system. The upper part of the breast drains into the system. If a doctor examines your breast for whatever reason, the doctor must also look into the armpit to see if there is anything there. The doctor must check the lymph nodes.

Men too, have breast cancer Several years ago, former

creatures came before us.

The bodies of extinct animals that were dug up centuries later showed that the animals had cancer in their lifetime. Traces of cancer metastasis have been found in the bones of prehistoric animals. What I’m trying to say is that cancer has been with us for long and will continue to be with us. We do not know the reason for this, and we do not know the cause. Cancer is genetic. It arises from the stem cells, that is, what makes us up. When I’m asked what causes cancer, I just say GOK (God Only Knows), but there are etiological causes that can increase the chances, and if you have these factors, you

Here in LUTH, we see an average of 15-20 cases daily and up to 75 percent of the cases are presented very late - stages III and IV. Of the new cases, nine will be breast cancer in women President Olusegun Obasanjo was at LUTH to commission the cancer screening machine. He was shocked when I showed him the picture of a male patient with cancer of the breast. He asked if men too suffer breast cancer and I said yes. Males also have breast cancer because males have breasts. He was so sober and serious that day. So men too need to be palpating their breasts.

Occasionally, when breast cancer spreads to the axilla, it blocks the lymphatic drainage system. When the fluid is blocked, it cannot go back, hence the swollen arm, cause of the blockage.

We advise patients to alleviate that part as often as

There is no magic for late presentation of cancer — Head of Oncology and Radiology, LUTH,

Professor Aderemi Ajekigbe

P

rofessor Aderemi Ajekigbe, Head of Oncology and Radiology, Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, in this interview with Sola Ogundipe, Health Editor, says late stage cancer has no cure. Ajekigbe adds that it is erroneous to think only females are susceptible to breast cancer.

Men too, according to him, are prone to the cancer of the breast.

P

otential epidemic

Cancer is currently ravaging the country. There is nobody who doesn’t know somebody who has either died from cancer or is suffering from cancer.

Cancer is assuming epidemic proportions in Nigeria. Currently, there are not less than two million people suffering from cancer and not less than 100,000 new cases every year. Of the 100,000 new cases, only few have access to treatment because there are just three functional cancer centres and treatment is very expensive.

Late presentation

Here in LUTH, we see an average of 15-20 cases daily and up to 75 percent of the cases are presented very late - stages III and IV. Of the new cases, nine will be breast cancer in women.

Breast cancer is still the

leading cancer in Nigeria.

Cancer may be a very bad disease, but it is curable if the patient presents early.

Where these patients normally first go to is what we do not understand, and this is what we often tell our churches and mosques not to continue deceiving the people that they can do this or do that about the condition. If the patient goes to hospital, the church can pray for them, but keeping a suspected cancer for 15 months before going to hospital may be disastrous.

We need people to help educate the churches. If you come late, it may be disastrous. Late stage cancer has no cure, what we do is to manage the condition to reduce the complications.

There is no magic for latestage cancer, only palliative care. This is a warning to others. The earlier the better, examine your body and if you find anything

are more at risk.

Know your risk

There are also genetic factors. There are controllable and uncontrollable causes. There are social factors too, such as smoking, alcoholism, promiscuity, diet and certain socio-economic issues.

Lifestyle factors are controllable. You can choose not to smoke or to engage in sedentary lifestyle. But you can not choose your parents.

We did not ask to be born.

We were born of two persons whose coded messages are unfolding as we are ageing.

There are genetic factors and environmental factors. If your mother and blood sisters have cancer of the breast, your chances of developing breast cancer are higher than those of colleagues whose mothers do not have the disease.

Early diagnosis is key

•A canser surgery in operation wrong, give a shout. Then people will come to your assistance.

Breast cancer

Breast cancer often starts from the axilla in the armpit.

possible.

Causes of cancer

Cancer has been in existence before creation, and we know man is the last creature of God. Other

There are women in the UK and Europe that are now removing their breasts prophylactically, because they have done tests which show that they also carry the cancer gene. If five ladies are born at the same time, it is on record that those who start their menses early have a higher chance of developing cancer of the breast. The situation is beyond the woman.

However, the message here is that of early diagnosis.

When caught early, breast and cervical cancers are easily treatable and the treatment would not be too expensive. Also the chances of survival are higher and there wouldn’t be a need to go abroad. Through screenings and early treatment, cancer is not likely to progress. But we need more facilities.

PAGE 28 —SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

INTRIGUING EXPERIENCES

The Oba of Benin with some of his chiefs

RARE ENCOUNTER WITH OMO N’OBA N’EDO UKU AKPOLOKPOLO EREDIAUWA

My ties with Buhari, Oba of Lagos, Obi of Onitsha *Monarch is a living legend – Benin Chief

Y

ou don’t just barge into the palace of Omo N’oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokpolo Erediauwa, the 38th Oba of Benin, to see the monarch. The Oba of Benin is unarguably one of Nigeria’s most reverred royal fathers. He superintends over a famous Kingdom-Benin Kingdom. Seeing the Omo N’oba is naturally on appointment – and this may take time. Thus, when a couple of weeks ago the idea of an interview with the reverred monarch was mooted, it became incumbent on us to write a letter to seek an appointment. Then a date was picked for the interview with the Omo N’oba. Waiting for the monarch for the interview on the appointed day was understandable given his very tight schedule.

The Sunday Vanguard team, including Mr Gabriel Enogholase and Barnabas Uzodike, waited for over five hours before they were called into the inner chambers where the Omo N’oba sat with his chiefs. The interview went thus: A palace chief: Who is the leader of your team? Greet the Oba and introduce yourself and the other members. (We were then taught how to say Oba Tokpee, while raising our crossed arms in reverence). His Majesty then asked that the questions be read out for his answers as contained in the questionnaire already sent to the palace.

BY EMEKA MAMAH

T

HE Omo N’oba ascended the throne on March 23, 1979 or about 34 years ago. Is it possible for His Highness to tell us how he has been able

to maintain peace in his kingdom, as there has not been any major upheaval since his reign? What are the secrets behind his success in this regard?

I am sorry; I cannot go into all that.

The Omo N’oba rose to the

pinnacle of his career (Permanent Secretary) in the Federal Civil Service before ascending the throne. Can His Royal Majesty tell us how growing up was like, his peers, the places he worked in around the country including Aba, Enugu and Jos

either as Divisional Officer or Resident officer. How was it like then?

About myself . Go and read b i o g r a p h y .

You worked as a Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Petroleum Resources at a time then Col Muhammadu

Buhari was Minister during Gen. Olusegun Obasanjo’s regime as military Head of State. During that period, the Federal Government built the four oil refineries that we have

Continues on page 29

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 29

INTRIGUING EXPERIENCES

Cross section of Oba Chiefs

Monarch is a living legend – Benin Chief Continued from page 28 today. What was your relationship with Buhari then. And what magic did you people use to achieve such a feat in a record time?

My relationship with Buhari was cordial.

Experts constructed the refineries for the country.

Can you tell us what it was to work in the civil service then? These days, officers below the rank of Assistant Director steal millions. Did you witness such incidents during your own time?

I am sorry I cannot tell you that. I don’t know; I am not in the civil service now, how will I know?

What is slowing down the growth of the country politically and economically?

I am sorry I don’t know What is the relationship between the Benin Kingdom and the people of Lagos and Onitsha?

Direct your question to one of my chiefs to answer. Who told you that the Oba of Benin appoints the Obi of Onitsha and the Oba of Lagos? We don’t appoint them. When they have ascended their thrones, they come to greet us and pay respect to us. That is all. One of the chiefs, Chief Eduwu Ekhator, Obasogie of Benin, then said: They have their central home in Benin, but their appointments is done by their people).

What is your advice to Nigerians on the need for hardwork?

Direct it to my chiefs to answer.

Then, Chief Eduwu Ekhator, speaking for the Oba, said: The Oba of Benin is a living legend. His wisdom is renewed everyday. He has always propagated peace among his people.

You can see that as you entered here that there is no gold or diamond on

That alone is a symbol of discipline to his subjects; it is also a symbol of peace. In his own way of life, simplicity is the hall mark. He is never influenced by earthly wealth or enjoyment.

He preaches that gospel to Nigerians the floor. He is resolute at all times.

That alone is a symbol of discipline to his subjects; it is also a symbol of peace. In his own way of life, simplicity is the hall mark. He is never influenced by earthly wealth or enjoyment. He preaches that gospel to Nigerians. The Oba of Benin,Omo N’Oba N’Edo Uku Akpolokplolo is a leader with charming personality and background. Oba Erediauwa is the mature fruit of the seed his grandfather, Eweka II, planted and nurtured by his father, Akenzua II”.

Chief Ekhator then demanded that Sunday Vanguard must submit the interview, after transcription, for the palace to vet before publication.

The six-footer Oba was born in 1923.

He attended King’s College, Lagos, graduated with a B.A. (Tripos) in Law at King’s College, Cambridge, England. Before his ascension to the

Another cross section of chiefs throne, he served in several top federal (national) public service positions in different parts of Nigeria such as Lagos, Enugu, and Ahoada.

During the Nigerian- Biafran civil war, the Oba, in his capacity as Permanent Secretar y (Political), participated in the “Aburi” talks which were aimed at resolving the crisis.

While he was Crown Prince and Edaiken, he gained administrative experience by working in the local g o v e r n m e n t .

The Oba of Benin, Oba Erediauwa, like his father, Oba Akenzua II, and his grandfather, Oba Eweka II, ascended the throne of the Benin Kingdom in the throes of impending and profound political changes and reorientation in Nigeria.. As Crown-

Prince, he was Prince Solomon Aisiokhuoba Igbinoghodua Akenzua.

But he was crowned as Oba Erediauwa. It was as part of the rites of ascendancy to the revered Benin throne that he got the title “Erediauwa,” interpreted to symbolically mean, “One who has come to put the house or society in o r d e r . ” The Omo N’Oba is seen as a quintessential icon of royalty and s p l e n d o u r .

He modernized the palace courtyard and created many Enigie (chiefs) to help administer various parts of the kingdom and the ancient Benin Empire, one of Africa oldest kingdoms.

PAGE 30—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29 29, 2013

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29 29, 2013—PAGE 31

PAGE 32—SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

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

Resumptiion of rail transportation in the country, a reality!

Dear Sir,

M

Y joy knew no bound when I listened to Ray power Radio 6.00pm news recently and heard that the Port Harcourt\ Maiduguri rail lines would become functional by December this year. In other words, the usual beehives of activities that is characteristic of railway stations would resume in all the stations along the Port Harcourt \ Maiduguri axis by the end of this year. This revelation can succinctly be interpreted and highly appreciated by only those who lived before the civil war in the country and who are very much used to rail system.

They would be in a better position to understand the great turn-around this life enhancing phenomenon would impact on the economy in particular and on the lives of the masses in general.

Kudos to the ruling government under the able leadership of Dr Goodluck Jonathan for their frantic effort in making sure the quintessential trio, constant fuel supply, steady power supply and functional rail transportation which is pivotal in taking the country to the promise land is now in the offing.

In fact, the joy of many Nigerians, especially the flotsam and jetsam in the society would know no bound if rail transportation regains its lost glory in the country. This is because, food, the most essential basic need of man would become easily affordable as a result of fall in their prices. Low income earners would be able to own houses as prices of cement and other

building materials would fall.

In the meantime, the usual long queue that was characteristic of our filling stations has fizzled out as motorists fuel their vehicles at will.

From the look of things owners of power generating plants would soon start to

dispose them as epileptic power supply is gradually fading away.

However, my humble advice to Mr. President is that he should ignore the present political turbulence rocking the country and stick to his guns in his endeavour to return smiles on the

faces of the downtrodden, for if this age-long dream comes true, posterity would always remember him.

Nkemakolam Gabriel Port Harcourt 0 8 0 7 2 2 5 7 3 6 0 gabchiz56@yahoo.com

Perspectives from the Stowaway Boy Dear Sir,

The thirteen years old boy, Daniel Oikhena, who hid in the wheel compactment of Arik Air aircraft from Benin to Lagos has kept many people like me wondering how he managed to survive. It was gathered that from 1947 to September 2012, there was a record of 96 stowaway attempts worldwide in wheel wells of 85 separate flights, resulting in 73 deaths (Vanguard Newspaper, 1Sept.2013).

The young boy who was in a private school according to his mother was transferred to public school when his mother could no longer afford to pay the high school fees of her son. The mother and the father equally had a broken marriage (relationship).

Why did Daniel want to leave the shores of this ‘great’ country? Who told him that USA is a land flowing with milk and honey? Who told him that hiding in a wheel of an aeroplane is safe? All these did not bother the lad; to him getting out of this part of the world is what matters most.

At thirteen, Master Daniel has come to realize that his education is not guaranteed in a country where ASUU strike is a reccurring decimal. Where over one million students in public universities are being kept at home for over 70 days and still counting as a result of FG/ASUU face-off.

He wants to leave to a ‘dream USA’ he sees in movies. Where things are done the way it should be. Where education is accorded high priority, where students enter into the higher institution with their date of graduation in their personal diaries.

A country where issues concerning the electorates are the problems of the elected.

Not where the elected concerns themselves with who is the chairman of their party and who gets what at whose expense come 2015. Where a political party issues turns out to be national issues. Where citizens are not free to live in any part of the country without fear of being deported because government see them as destitute who are not suppose to be living in cities or urban areas.

Where adults enter into marriage (relationship) without toiling with the future of the children God gave them.

Where adults take homeless children to welfare centre and not sell them.

He wants to go to a state where security issues are taken serious. And not where our airport security were ‘active on duty ’ and Mr. Daniel sneaked into the airport unnoticed.

We thank God for sparing the life of Daniel but looking at what motivated the boy to engage in that brave act should be of serious concern to all and sundry. If the future of the boy and Nigerian youths is not guaranteed in their country, their quest to travel outside the country will increase and in most cases, most of them get duped, and in extreme cases die travelling through dangerous and illegal routes.

The stowaway boy has a message. If our leaders have ear let them hear.

Odum Chigozie Jude Postgraduate Student Department of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Calabar, Calabar.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 33

With $50bn debt, $1bn crude oil stolen monthly, our economy is in for a rough time – Onovo *‘Petrol can come down to N38.50 if ...’

BY CHINWEOKE AKOMA Chief Martins Onovo is not only a former presidential candidate of Action Alliance in the 2011 polls, he is also a petroleum engineer. Widely travelled, he obtained his first degree in petroleum engineering from University of Ibadan and second degree at University of Houston, Texas, United States.

In this interview, Onovo faults the Federal Government on fuel subsidy claims, maintaining petrol can sell at N38.50k per litre . Excerpts: S an oil expert, can you say the country’s petroleum sector is on the right track following the partial removal of the subsidy on petrol by government?

It is intellectually contradictory to have a government policy that does not have significant benefit and creates challenges that you also have to use other policies to address. The matter of fuel subsidy is very unfortunate because in the entire OPEC, it is only Nigeria that has accepted the importation of petroleum products. All over OPEC, there is refining for domestic use while they export crude oil and, if you look at the economic value chain, you find that the downstream sector accounts for over 50 percent of the value of that chain.. So, if you are not refining, which alone accounts for about 50 percent of the value chain, you are losing so much and then you are going to suffer the consequences. For a country like Nigeria, we are suffering the consequences in terms of inflation because fuel is critical to the cost of energy, transportation and industrial production. So, once you have an increment in the price of fuel, it would necessarily cause general inflation and that would undermine the value of salaries because it undermines the purchasing power of the currency. So, that results in devaluation, macro-economic instability, unemployment, industrial crisis and ultimately a reduction of GDP. Government has been banding about 7 percent GDP increase; the so-called 7 percent has nothing to do with effective government policy as it is dictated by international oil price. So, it is not that government has managed any sector of the economy effectively to engender growth in productivity. What they had

A

Chief Martins Onovo....We must get a leadership that is patriotic

It is intellectually contradictory to have a government policy that does not have significant benefit and creates challenges that you also have to use other policies to address

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is international oil price giving increased revenue to Nigeria and that ultimately subverted the GDP and ,consequent upon that, it is an appropriate policy and, even if we do not understand the economy, then we should learn from our fellow members of OPEC. We would find out that no one else is doing this. However, if you create enough refining for the capacity of our production, we would refine all our crude locally, give more people employment and sell refined products instead of selling raw crude. The effect on the economy would be astronomical. Unfortunately, because of the quality of the

political leadership which we cannot avoid, we are in this situation where we waste so much, we pay for transportation, marketing and overhead cost, insurance, port taxes, brokerage charges exporting crude and pay all that again bringing in refined product. So, it is a wasteful and unreasonable government policy.

What do you think would have been the alternative?

The cost of domestic product is about N38.50 according to our study. If you look at the study of Prof . Tam David West, a former Petroleum Minister, it is about N31.50 and the study of Prof. Agba, a former

Head of Department of Petroleum Engineering, University of Ibadan, says it is N33.50. So, everybody is within the thirty-something Naira window. Imagine that government refines domestically and sells at N38.50, that would have a very positive impact on the economy, increase the value of the Naira, generate employment and reduce social tensions such as crimes and irritability issues that are associated with unemployment and poverty. So, the benefits are countless when you do what is right and the demerits are also countless when you do what is wrong because what happens is that each action triggers several consequences and this is the direction we expect the country to have gone. But, unfortunately corruption and ineffective leadership have put us in this situation. We also have the consideration that even though that it has been confirmed by the National Assembly, the EFCC, and Aig-Imokhuede Commission that there was a huge scam of over N2-3 trillion on subsidy in 2011, we have seen that the same government that has confirmed the scam has not pursued the suspects to the full extent of the law and what that suggests is political collaboration. This has actually been publicly alleged by people like General Ishola Williams, a key member of Transparency International.

It was publicly alleged that the money was used for election and that the political leaders are the principal beneficiaries of the fraud. So, you see the institutionalized dis-functionality of a rogue cop where the political leadership that is supposed to lead the fight against corruption is the one that promotes and benefits from it. That is the sorry story of subsidy in Nigeria.

Where do we go from here?

Very simple, but I do not see our current leadership as having the capacity to develop, pursue and deliver the right policies. Therefore we must get a leadership that is patriotic and confident to pursue these patriotic goals because a good tree bears good fruit. We have installed refining capacity of 445,000 barrels per day. The first step is to try to restore that and the second step is to try to increase that. To achieve these, you expand some of the refineries, remove bottlenecks and build more refineries. If you restore the entire 445,000 barrel per day refining capacity, you would get over 40 million litres

of PMS per day and our consumption is less than 40 million litres. So, with the existing capacity, you can stop importation, but those in government do not know that because they are not interested in productive work.

Government is only interested in politics to the point that national security has been politicized and that is why we are having the problem of insecurity in Nigeria. So, constitutionally, we know what to do; politically, the direction needs to be set and the current political leadership is incapable of setting that direction.

Experts have predicted that the country might run out of oil in 40 years time. Is it not time to look at the issue of gas flare?

We have been looking at that for the past 40 years, but it is the same competence we are talking about. We keep shifting plans to end gas flaring in the country. How can you achieve the target when the political leadership is deceitful and professional leadership incompetent because they are politically appointed and corruption prevails where regularity officers are easily compromised? Well, thank goodness it is not zero, but we have not done so well for the next season. However, what we are still flaring is very significant and I have a greater fear. In 2012, President Obama of the United States said that oil is the fuel of the past; that is a major statement and if you had a competent leadership, national policy would have taken note of it, fully understood it and adjusted.

Right now, the quantity of Nigerian crude purchased by America has been on the decline which is a physical confirmation of the Obama statement . This is a country that gets over 80 percent of its internal revenue from oil and, therefore, the collapse of oil is the collapse of the Nigerian economy. Therefore, an oil glut would be a major economic tragedy for Nigeria because our economy is not diversified . Many have said the discovery of oil is a curse to Nigeria, but it is not so, rather poor leadership is a great curse that has befallen Nigeria. It is very clear from Achebe’s statement. There is nothing called oil curse. All the members of OPEC have a

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PAGE 34—SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Economic sabotage: NCS arrests 11 suspects .Steps up security surveillance at nation’s port

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N line with the policy of the Federal Government to secure the economic environment for greater productivity and influx of Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs), the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Tincan Island Command, has arrested 11 suspects for smuggling band items into the country through the nation’s port.

In the same vein, the Command has stepped up security surveillance at the port to check the activities of agents and importers doing business there, to ensure that offensive goods are not smuggled into the country through the nation’s port.

The Customs Area Controller (CAC) of Tincan Island Command, Comptroller Zakari Jubrin, disclosed this in a chat with Sunday Vanguard, during a visit to the port, stressing that bringing contra-band goods into the country through the back door constitutes serious economic sabotage to government policies on industrial development.

He added, “Aside from antismuggling campaign, we are sustaining our unprecedented revenue profile since my assumption of duty as the CAC of the Command. For instance, our revenue collection between January and August 2013 shows a huge sum of N151.2billion, which is the highest so far at Tincan Command. In January this year alone, we recorded N16.3billion, as against N14.5billion realised the same period in 2012. Others include N16.2billion in Februar y, N17.5billion in March, N19.1billion in April, N19.9billion in May, N17.6billion in June, N20.4billion in July and N23.6billion in August this year. The cumulative revenue is N151.2billion as against N139.4billion collected in the same period in 2012. The total revenue difference is N11.6billion.”

He went on, “Seizures returns for the period under review shows a total of 159 seizures with the Duty Paid Value (DPV) of N481.3million. These include 40footer containers 92, 20foot-

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BY UDEME CLEMENT

Comptroller Zakari Jubrin er containers 47, unpacked vehicles 3 and other items 17.

The impounded goods include tissue paper, furniture, vegetable oil, soft drinks, used clothes, generators, used tyres, lace materials, automotive batteries, expired frozen products, used shoes, television sets, printed wax, cartons of whiskey, bales of second hand clothes and bags of basmati rice among many others.”

On auction of seized items to the public, the CAC warned members of the public not to

I am appealing to members of the public not to patronise individuals with auction papers at the Port because they are fake.

I want to state categorically that there is nothing like autioning of goods at any Customs Command

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patronise people calling for auctioning of goods at the Command, as they are out to defraud unsuspecting members of the public. “I am appealing to members of the public not to patronise individuals calling for auction at the Command because they are fake. I want to state categorically that there is nothing like that at any Customs Command. Auction papers are given from the Customs head quarter in Abuja, through the directives of the Comptroller

General, after due process of condemnation of seized items must have been carried out by the appropriate authority.”

Responding to question on the measures put in place by the Command to check activities of street traders and hawkers at the port in view of the security challenge in the country, he said, “That is the challenge we are facing at present, but we are using our Task-force team to monitor and ensure that appropriate security standard is maintained within the Command. We would not hesitate to arrest and prosecute anyone caught smuggling band items into the countr y. For instance, looking at Nigeria’s economy at 53 years of independence, it is clear that Customs reform through the initiative of the Comptroller General, Dikko Inde, has contributed greatly to national development in terms of revenue generation, anti-smuggling campaign, capacity building and other areas of economic growth and development. The reform has also repositioned the economy for greater productivity.”

‘Our economy is in for a rough time’ relatively high standard of living. So, the curse in Nigeria is leadership corruption. How can you say that a respectable and highly paid employment is a curse to you? Why should oil be a curse to the country when it is the source of high revenue?

My idea is that if the Obama statement means what we think it means, our oil could become valueless because what the statement suggests is commercial viability of alter native energy. Don’t forget that there are many alternative sources of energy, but it is the commercial competitiveness of oil that gives it the advantage. So, if tomorrow Americans find a commercially superior alternative, it is natural the demand for oil would decline . If the demand declines, the cost would go down. In 1984, an average crude oil price was $14.95k and Nigeria and the entire OPEC quota was 1.2 million barrel. Today, the international production is over 2.7 million and is is over $100. per bar rels. We are making about twenty times more revenue yet our economy is worse off. The only way we can explain it is uncontrolled corruption. How can you make 20 times more revenue and become poorer; that is the tragedy of the

Nigerian situation. We had so much revenue and we are thinking poor. What if we had so little?

Crude oil theft has also led to the loss of huge revenue to the country. How can this be checked?

Figures from the Federal Ministry of Finance on what the country loses to crude oil theft show it is 350,000 barrels per day. If you translate that to Dollars at $100 per barrel, you are going to have a billion dollars per month, that is N160 billion every month.

Nigeria under President Jonathan recently borrowed a billion dollar from China.

That is the money the country can earn in one month if it had checked crude oil theft, but that is what we have gone to borrow shamelessly and national debt has been rising since this government came into power . Right now, the total national debt, both domestic and external, is about $50 billion dollars. So, this generation and the yet unborn would pay for that.

Therefore, crude oil theft is a reflection of the collapse of national security and it has been predicted that Nigeria would end up where it is today. Today we are battling insecurity, corruption, uneducated people who are poor and hopeless and in our prediction we knew that, naturally, this is going to be

the outcome. We didn’t know this is going to be Boko Haram, but let me tell you, the strongest instinct in a man is survival and, when the political leadership loses moral authority it has lost all authority and the political leadership in Nigeria has no moral authority. It is easy to say Boko Haram is the problem; it is misleading and Nigerians are deliberately

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Continued from page 33

If you know the modus operandi of crude oil theft, you would know that it is impossible to conduct oil theft without law enforcement collaboration

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misleading themselves because, in the South-east, kidnapping, robbery, stealing and assault are very prevalent. So, crimes are very prevalent all over the country and not only in the North east and these are the natural consequences of the sociopolitical depravity of the

current political leadership as you cannot do the wrong thing and get the right answer. Why would there be crude oil theft if law enforcement and value system have not collapsed .

So, when the political leadership has destroyed public morality by deliberately corrupting the people and making them lose their values, then they would either participate in the crime or not report it. That is what is happening today because armed robbers, political thugs, oil bunkers and kidnappers in our midst are known, but there are cases where you would find out that these crimes are organised and that the law enforcement community is involved . If you know the modus operandi of crude oil theft, you would know that it is impossible to conduct oil theft without law enforcement collaboration.

The cost of pollution is even more than the money we are losing and nobody is talking about it because of our materialistic perspective. The Niger- Delta ecosystem is being destroyed. These oil thieves are polluting perpetually because they are not professionals and are not using any professional standard. They are using artisan plumbing techniques to compromise the lines and the line is now linking into the wet land, water, farmlands

and polluting the entire environment. We are yet to explain how the MT. African Pride which, when it was arrested was put in the custody of Nigerian Navy and later disappeared from the custody of Nigerian Navy, an elite navy by any standard.

How do we explain that? This is comical and that is to show you the high level of the law enforcement agents in this illicit trade. Go and look at the officers serving at the Joint Task Force, they are richer than their superiors. Their wives have become jewelry traders in Dubai and it is unfortunate that government appears incapable of doing anything productive in any sector of the economy There is crises in all the sectors to the extent that one of the four lawmakers that wanted to impeach the Rivers State Speaker was flown abroad for medical treatment apparently with public money and these are the people who tell you that they have improved the health sector. If that is true, Patient Jonathan should go to the National Hospital instead of Germany.

Mandela received treatment in a SouthAfrican hospital . Atta Mills, the Ghanian president, died in a Ghanian hospital. So, the deceit of the government has become obvious and we can’t get it right until we get the leadership right.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 35

PAGE 36—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Functional creativity & advertising B

Y way of a reminder we bring to the fore of all discourse, an aspect of our broad objective which is the encouragement and celebration of EXCELLENCE. MC&A Digest identifies with the immediate consequence of inadequacy of human resources on wealth creation.

The qualities of human resource on one part, and the extent of other resource application on the other, determine the success of any business or brand.

As we set to highlight the principles and ethics of professional brands management, we must view individual contributions to brands’ successes, also to evaluate corporate investments in brand development which

pressure on the process and resources of service delivery.

Therefore, brands within this industry are largely exposed to compromise related risks, by reason of their heavy dependence on people resource.

To the extent that the individual brands are so heavily dependent on PEOPLE, therefore, we are given to acknowledging and celebrating individual excellence in commitment to professionalism and ethical conducts. The difference between any two brands in the hotel & luxury apartments market, for instance, could be just customer relations management; it is that simple and important. Our position at MC&A DIGEST, therefore, is celebration of excellence.

And so, our INSURANCE INDUSTRY! The market characteristics are quite critical and demanding of professionals and corporate players. As a market of intangibles and delayed benefits, Insurance service offering is 90% dependent upon trust. Trust as a unique selling point, is empty if put to stand alone.

More and more, therefore, managing insurance brand is dependent upon THE PERSON. Two weeks back, the MC&A DIGEST editorial board decided to take a critical look at the insurance industry in Nigeria, for strategic reasons.

Primarily, we considered it worth-while to re-visit the challenges facing the industry, and to carefully articulate the compelling obstacles against insurance market penetration. We noted that while the market is

expanding, offer engagement potentials are shrinking.

Across the various market segments, the only aspects with recorded patronage are insurable risks compelled by law. So, the vehicle insurance policy (trust the 3 rd party option to lead market patronage), Bond insurance, health insurance (limited legal enforcement), and the likes.

Meanwhile, INSURANCE “… the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another in exchange

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meet globally accepted standards.

The opposite side is the compromising of principles, which is becoming prevalent.

It seems ‘cheaper and more rewarding’ to short-circuit established rules and patterns. To the extent such practices, post instant gains; the obvious long term consequences which have negative impact on brands are discarded at such critical decisions points.

Demonstrably, individuals and corporate persons invest is in systems with the sole aim to undermine ethics and excellence.

Fake drugs: fake and adulterated drugs are product s of COMPROMISED pattern and product formulation. For want of ample gains and inappropriate returns, persons and corporate bodies deliberately engage in undermining established rules, at the expense of public health and well-being. The depth of compromise and indulgence among perpetrators in the pharmaceutical industry can only be related in to the extent of loss of lives and other health hazard we all suffer.

To the culprits, however, they see instant gains. The consequences of their actions are lost on them. What matters is the profit or returns on their investment. The interesting thing with deliberate system compromise is that it attracts almost same size of investment to adhere with established system and principles. Add to that is the fact that the gains of adherence are more enduring and rewarding – though comparatively slower.

Hospitality: characteristic of intangible benefits, brands value manifestation in hospitality market is not instantly manifested. Hugely, value propositions are scarcely rational. The emotional nature of the industry ’s value essence exerts immense

Going by data from the National Insurance Commission, the contribution of Insurance to our economic growth (Yr. 2012) is as follows: . Total Net Premium N185BN . Total Gross Premium N234BN . Total Growth Projection - (%)+16.7 The prospects are getting all the more interesting - with time, extent of insurance

The emotional nature of the industry’s value essence exerts immense pressure on the process and resources of service delivery.

Therefore, brands within this industry are largely exposed to compromise related risks, by reason of their heavy dependence on people resource

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for payment of a small fraction of the value of the risk called premium. It is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss” should be fundamental in the list of needs, for our everyday living.

Interestingly, the optimism among practitioners is very high, in the face of seemingly insurmountable challenges. In the last three weeks, key financial market managers and business drivers, have taken turn to point out the strategic importance of INSURANCE as the anchor for our national economic development and growth, moving forward.

service engagement and value appreciation will be penetrative enough to support meaningful growth for our economy.

However, we are mostassured of the growth prospect for the insurance industry, by reason of depth of professionalism, dedication and commitment among certain practitioners who are presently at business leadership positions; people who have doggedly driven insurance brands over the years, with total commitment to global standard professionalism, upholding the fundamental professional ethics, strictly guided by

customer satisfaction-driven marketing decisions and have amply demonstrated functional creativity in strategic planning.

MC&A DIGEST team had a chance encounter with LAWAL MIJINYAWA presently the Executive Director (OPERATIONS), Unity Kapital Assurance Plc. LAWAL MIJINYAWA’s depth of professionalism is impressive. He does not see the failings in insurance performance. He sees Total (Consumer) Clients’ Satisfaction - TCCS. As far as Lawal is concerned, the market will grow, so long as insurance service delivers on the critical value touch-points. His common mantra is: settle claims and the client will drive your business. That aligns with our focus on consumer satisfaction. Brands will enjoy sustained growth so long as they identify market needs/ expectations and deliver at the critical value touch-points; some will call it the principle of LOVE-MARKS: where the satisfaction and continuous satisfaction of the target market is basic and fundamental to the management of any given brand.

We at MC&A DIGEST have chosen to celebrate LAWAL MIJINYAWA, for his professionalism, depth of commitment to the uncommon value of working to satisfy his clients at all times, and his resolute conviction. As far as he is concerned insurance is a success factor in Nigeria as a profession, an investment opportunity and economic growth driver.

His involvement is driven by passion and his commitment is total.

LAWAL is an Associate Member, Chattered Insurance Institute of Nigeria.

We present LAWAL MIJINYAWA as our icon for PROFESSIONALISM in Insurance brand management, as we celebrate persons who have invested themselves for the good of all, making their own contributions from their small corner.

Mr. MIJINYAWA is a thorough bred professional with experiences spanning over two decades traversing Life and Non-life (General) Insurance businesses in Nigeria.

We are set to roll out on our special project on the Insurance industry in Nigeria, looking at its prospect and role as economic growth driver, in the emerging economic order.

We shall continually celebrate those human resources that are not given to compromises.

SUNDAY

Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 37

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BOMB BLAST AMPUTEE’S SURGERY TURNS SOUR

Horror in S/Africa, hell in Nigeria *‘Abandoned by my doctor, I became a beggar in a foreign land’ >

By VICTORIA OJEME

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IKE every boy of his age, Agbor Gabriel Obe had dreams in the year that was about to be ushered in, in a matter of hours, but the dreams were cut short. That was on December 31, 2010, when a bomb detonated inside Abacha Barracks, Abuja.

From a 15-year old, with the world literally at his feet, Agbor, who lost one of his legs, began what can rightly be described as a journey to hell.

Through no fault of his, Agbor, who returned from South Africa for additional medical treatment, told Sunday Vanguard of his harrowing experience in the hands of government officials and now feels abandoned to his fate, even when his treatment regime is still far from being being conpleted.

Agbor tells his story, “My name is Agbor Gabriel Obe. I am from Benue State “On 31 December, 2010, my senior brother sent me on errand to Abacha Barracks. As I was about to deliver the message, the thing (bomb) happened. I was taken to Asokoro General Hospital” Agbor said he lost consciousness immediately after the blast, only to find himself in hospital with a shattered leg. After four months and two weeks, in hospital, and with the affected leg amputated, Agbor joined the list of victims recommended for further treatment abroad.

On October 30, 2011, ten months after the blast, Agbor was flown to South Africa in the company of one doctor at Asokoro General Hospital.

But Agbor, who came back with prosthesis on his right leg, said he was flown to South Africa for treatment and surgery to install the prosthesis without financial allowance for sundry needs, including feeding.

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ccording to him, he literally became a beggar to avoid starvation, while undergoing treatment.

“We were told that we would be given allowance to take care of feeding and other sundry needs, but the doctor who accompanied us did not give me any allowance; so I had to resort to begging in South C M Y K

* Agbor ... Prosthesis has developed problems

me to find my way home. With no money on me, I had to start begging again to get out of the airport and find my way home”.

Agbor ’s new concern that prompted him to cry out, he told Sunday Vanguard, is that the prosthesis or artificial leg that was made for him while in South Africa has since developed problems and his efforts to get further medical help yielded no result.

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•Agbor Gabriel Obe ... I was dumped in Abuja airport after ordeal abroad

We were told that we would be given allowance to take care of feeding and other sundry needs, but the doctor who accompanied us did not give me any allowance; so I had to resort to begging in South Africa,while in hospital, to be able to feed Africa , while in hospital, to be able to feed”, the amputee lamented.

“That was how I came in contact with a kind- hearted Nigerian army officer, who gave me some money to take care of my feeding”.

After two months and two weeks,

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*Agbor... Seeks help he returned to Nigeria on December 1, 2011, alleging that the doctor dumped him at the Abuja airport, with no relative or any arrangement for that matter to take him from the airport to his home.

“I returned to Nigeria in the company of Dr Ahmed, but he dumped me at the airport, telling

e said, “The artificial leg is now torn and rubs against my bone, when I walk with it. It is very painful when that happens. I spoke to Dr Ahmed his colleague, and Dr Ejembi, a Benue man, but, they said ‘ you should even thank God that they gave you the artificial leg instead of complaining’. I told them that the artificial leg has problems. My bone is rubbing against the pros the sis.

“I reminded them of what the South African hospital authorities said; that I should change the artificial leg, every two years. Even if they didn’t give me the artificial leg, I don’t care because, right now, I am feeling serious pains and I would like treatment that can stop the pains”.

Agbor alleged further that when he went back to Asokoro General Hospital for treatment to ease the pains on his amputated leg, the hospital demanded money from him. “I went there for treatment, they told me to pay money and I told them that I didn’t have money; they didn’t treat me”.

The lad, with tearful eyes, appealed to government to intervene, so that, at 18 years, he could still make something out of his life, even though his aspiration has been altered from its original course by the bomb blast.

PAGE 38— SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

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EDO STATE

Much ado about new Teaching Hospital

government White Paper or budget where the state government plans to relocate the College of Medicine in Ambrose Alli University, AAU, from Ekpoma to Iyamoh. The statement continued: “They (elders) even demonstrated ignorance on the allegation that the students

By SIMON EBEGBULEM, Benin-City

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ontroversy is trailing the alarm raised by Esan elders, who accused Governor Adams Oshiomhole of of Edo State, of alleged plan to relocate the Ambrose Alli University College of Medicine to Iyamoh, his home town in Edo North. The elders believe that the alleged plan was geared towards depriving Esan Central the opportunity to host the College. But the Esan Unity Forum, a group from the same Esanland, faulted the elders’ position.

The Forum, in a statement by Mr. Ehimen Okojie, its Coordinator, described the elders’ claim that Oshiomhole intends to move the College to Edo North as malicious, and an attempt to rubbish the image

•Gov. Adams Oshiomhole of the governor. “So we condemn the write-up in its totality especially as the story did not reflect the collective position of Esan people. Esan Unity Forum believes that the position was masterminded by somebody who has issues with the management of the Ambrose Alli University and today he is seeking for relevance by using the name of Esan Elders Forum”, it said.

It challenged the elders to provide a

population has reduced from 65,000 when the present administration took over in 2008 to 25,000. It is equally important to note that the issue of relocation and students population referred to were out of mischief.

Oshiomhole procured and installed teaching and research equipment for the College of Medicine. Oshiomhole has worked tirelessly to ensure that National Universities Commission, NUC, and professional bodies accredit the College of Medicine, since

2008. Oshiomhole has witnessed the successful swearing in/oath taking ceremony of the sixth and seventh sets of qualified medical doctors of 2010/2011 and 2011/2012 academic sessions. The governor has ensured the recognition of Ambrose Alli University College of Medicine by the Medical Board of California, USA. It is under Oshiomhole’s administration that College of Medicine got full accreditation from NUC. So rather for people to show appreciation for what the governor has done to uplift the College, people are bringing in ethnic connotation to it”.

The group believed Esan elders would not have made such comments because they have been supportive of the governor and they are aware that Oshiomhole, being their inlaw, will not take any action to deprive the Esans of their rights.

“So we believe that the comment was cooked up by the opposition in the state with a view to instigate Esan people against the governor”.

However, when one takes a critical look at the siting of institutions in Edo, though people may have their diverse views about the Esan elders fear about relocating the College of Medicine, it is reminding the governor that he needs to site an institution in his Edo North before leaving office, maybe a teaching hospital to bring health care close to his people. When Lucky Igbinedion was governor, he relocated the NYSC Camp from Abudu to his home town, Okada, and built the Institute of Technology, Usen. So, in Edo South, apart from the University of Benin and the University of Benin Teaching

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When Yoruba monarchs, others stormed Europe

BY DAPO AKINREFON

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he Oodua Progressive Union (OPU), set up to offer Yoruba people in the Diaspora a platform to promote the cultural heritage of the Yoruba race and unity, stormed the United Kingdom and other major European nations recently. Expectedly, the launch availed Yoruba resident in the UK, Holland, France and Germany the opportunity to showcase the rich cultural heritage of the Yoruba people.

The setting was the largest gathering of Yoruba sons and daughters across the United Kingdom in recent time.

For weeks before the final day, words went round that the Yoruba were finally getting their own organization to represent their interest, culturally and socially across Europe.

And so, it was with pomp and pageantry that the Oodua Progressive Union (OPU) was launched in the UK on Saturday September 7, 2013, the first leg of an epoch-making event that was to hold later across EuropeHolland, France and Germany.

Once again, the Yoruba were finding their voice, which for a long time seemed lost in the jungle. The launch C M Y K

•Otunba Gani Adams was part of efforts to provide a unifying platform for Yoruba in the Diaspora to forge a common and uphold their cultural heritage.

Starting with the UK, the OPU fever soon spread to Holland, then France and Germany. At each stop, the OPU announced its presence with loud ovations, as Yoruba sons and daughters joined hands to forge a common front.

Expectedly, the rich cultural heritage

of the Yoruba race was on display as people turned out in well-ironed traditional attires, laced with rich beads. The venue, Unit 9-14, Nice Business Park, Sylan Grove, London, was literally turned into a Yoruba town, at least for the programme lasted. Seeing the huge turn-out of the children of Oduduwa and the bright, colourful attires on display, one of the dignitaries simply blurted out loud to himself: “If you are not here today, then you’re not Yoruba.”

And for good reason, he was right. At the head of the high profile of dignitaries from Nigeria was the Convener of OPU, Otunba Gani Adams, who also doubles as the Chief Promoter of Olokun Festival Foundation and The National Coordinator of OPC. With him were several first class monarchs from across Yoruba land.

They include Oba Kolawole Aremu Sowemimo, Olu of Owode-Egba; Oba Mukaila Salako; Oba Michael Ayinde Oderinde, Olu of Sawonjo; Oba E. Olanuloye, Olu of Igbogila; Oba Mukaila Salako, Adokun of Iganokoto; Oba Patrick Fasinu, Olowo of Owo and Oba Adeogun Ogunbona, Alagbore of Igbore.

Other dignitaries include Arc. Mobolaji Falase, President, Yoruba Council of Elders, Europe and USA and Councillor Adedamola Aminu, Deputy Mayor of Lambert Council, Dr Dapo Williams, Mr kayode Ogundamisi,

Captain Olatokunbo Adeshina, Prince Adedapo Adesanmi, Chief Yinka Quadri and Alhaji Musiliu Akinsaya among several others.

In his keynote address, the convener of the group, Otunba Gani Adams, said he was particularly happy to witness the launch of the OPU in the UK. While urging Yoruba living in the UK to see themselves as one big family, he reminded them of the importance of upholding the good name of their progenitor, Oduduwa, at all times.

Otunba Adams said: “I am particularly happy today because God, in His infinite mercy, has made it possible for all of us to be part of history today.

Many people would have loved to witness this epoch-making event. But they are not able to do so due to one reason or the other. So for us gathered here, the formal launching of Oodua Progressive Union (OPU) in the UK is indeed a unique opportunity.

“The formation of the OPU is significant in two ways: First, it will serve as a platform for all Yoruba sons and daughters in the UK to contribute their own quotas to the development of our fatherland. In others words, from today, the Yoruba people all over the world will hope to tap from the abundance human resources available in all of you, hoping that you would

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SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 39

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Nasarawa conflicts take toll on new born babies, women

BY ABEL DANIEL

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ASARAWA used to be one of the most peaceful states in Nigeria where people from various tribes lived together, inter-married, and shared common beliefs and customs.

However, recent events have proved that the state has sadly joined the league of states with records of communal violence.

Apart from the persistent clashes between farmers and Fulani herdsmen in the Southern Senatorial District of the state resulting in the destruction of lives and properties worth billions of naira, Nasarawa has recorded ethnic clashes involving Assakio, Obi and Odobu communities in Lafia local government area.

The September Assakio crisis, no doubt, threw citizens of the state into confusion and, of course, it was a rude shock when the Eggon ethnic group and their Alago counterparts who have lived together for years woke up one day in September and began destroying lives and properties. The situation has inevitably left thousands displaced who found refuge in camps across Nasarawa.

The condition of the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in some of the camps visited by our correspondent is deplorable. Mostly women and children, they suffer untold hardship due to the poor health condition, lack

•One of the buildings razed. of food and sleeping arrangement and no medical attention. There is also the fear of possible attack by assailants as there is no security.

Some of the IDPS at Agyaragu and Kadarko camps in Jenkwe development area claimed to have been there for the past two years. One of them, Mrs. Paulina Adanyi, said she had been in the Agyaragu camp for two years as a result of the fight between Fulanis and Aghatus in Ekye develop-

ment area in the state in 2012.

Mrs. Adanyi, in her mid 60s, expressed bitterness over the ethnic conflicts that continue to ravage the state. “I don’t know why Nasarawa State has turned to killing fields where blood is shed on daily basis and houses destroyed leaving many homeless”, she lamented.

According to her, government has never done anything to cater for the displaced people until Governor

Almakura, on his visit to the IDPs in the camps following recent conflicts, gave them some relief materials. She called on government to look into the plight of the displaced people and give them with adequate attention.

Jijah Moses, a victim of one of the recent conflicts, told Sunday Vanguard in the Kadarko camp that he had nothing anymore as all his belongings were burnt alongside his family house in Keana during the conflict. “This dress you see on me is all I have”, he said. He pleaded with well-meaning Nigerians and international organizations to come to their aid because the state government alone cannot handle the situation.

Hon. Kwatse Nicolas said seven women had child delivery in the Agyaragu camp under poor medical care.

As peace is beginning to return to some of the troubled places, Almakura has ordered that the displaced people in Namu, Quan Pan local government area of Plateau State be evacuated back to their homes. On Wednesday, the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (NASEMA) evacuated over 100 refugees who are mainly youths and men from Namu to Asakio. They are presently being camped at the local government secretariat as there are no houses for them.

Much ado about new Teaching Hospital Continued from page 38

Hospital, you have two other tertiary institutions, the College of Education, Ekiadolor and the Institute of Technology, Usen. Though UBTH is a federal institution, it takes care of the health needs of the people from the South.

In Edo Central, the late Ambrose Alli sited Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma, where he comes from. And when one talks about other institutions in Edo Central, you have the College of Education, Igueben and the Federal Government owned Irrua Specialist Hospital. But in Edo North where Oshiomhole hails from, the only institution there is the Auchi Federal Polytechnic but no health institution. It was as a result of this seeming marginalization of the people of Edo North in terms of siting institutions in the three senatorial district that Sunday Vanguard recalled that during the first tenure of the Oshiomhole administration, elders from that senatorial district lamented the lack of health institutions in their domain and appealed to the governor to give them a teaching hospital. Oshiomhole assured that he would look at the issue critically and do what is in the best interest of the people of the state.

Perhaps, this could be the time for the governor to act because he is in the last lap of his administration.

The Special Adviser to the Governor on Media and Public Affairs, Prince Kassim Afegbua, who spoke on the situation, said: “Yes, it is true that the Comrade Governor has plan to build a state of the art teaching hospital for the Ambrose Alli University, to be located in Edo North. I think it is only

appropriate because from what we have seen in terms of responses to health needs, Edo North lacks any credible health institution that can truly serve their needs”. When asked if the people of Edo Central would not misrepresent the plan, Afegbua cautioned against people playing

politics with developmental efforts of the Comrade Governor. His words: “You must help us inform the people that the Oshiomhole administration is one that has been able to carry out reforms in an equitable manner. He does not play politics with development; he is more concerned with the

yearnings of the people across the state. It is only natural for the government to provide for the people of Edo North a teaching hospital that will serve both academic needs of the students and health needs of the people”.

When Yoruba monarchs, others stormed Europe Continued from page 38 collectively rise in defence of any member who faces injustice or needs assistance of any form.

“Secondly, the union is coming at a time when major events all over the world point to dangerous directions that demand you to clearly identity with your root to be able to survive the potential dangers. Don’t forget that racism is still with us as it was in those days of our forefathers and slave trade.

“Tribalism has continued to assume an alarming dimension in the modern world. And in recent time, religious bigotry seems to have joined the axis.

“It was here in the UK that our illustrious son, the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, along other sons of Oodua, formed the Egbe omo Oodua in 1945.

You will recollect that it was that same group that formed the base of the political party that would later rescue the Yoruba and established us as the most enlightened and advanced race in Nigeria.

“Today, once more we are taking another giant step towards the further emancipation of our people with the launching of OPU. With this group, we are offering all sons and daughters

of Oodua in the UK a platform to contribute their quota to the development of our fatherland.”

The highly-inspiring speech set the pace for what was to follow, and making the night one that would not be forgotten in a long time by the Yoruba community in the UK. And the comperes for the night, the duo of Alariwo and Abike Ade, sure know how to wow the large crowd with ribcracking jokes, delivered in rich Yoruba language.

In his speech, the Deputy Mayor of Lambeth Council, London, Mr Adedamola Aminu, tasked Yoruba on the need to unite and form a strong force. Following in his tracks, Dr. Dapo Williams, who spoke on the topic: ‘Yoruba Nation in the 21st century: Our relevance in the socio-political development of Nigeria’, demanded a more robust and focused participation

by Yoruba in the politics of the nation.

In his welcome address, OPU Coordinator, UK Chapter, Otunba Wale Harrison, was full of praise of the convener of the group, Otunba Gani Adams, for having the foresight for the formation of the OPU. The night had all the flavors you can

ever get at such gathering by Yoruba sons and daughters. On hand to bring out the flavor were the duo of afro-juju music maestro, Sir Shina Peters, and Fuji act, Alhaji Wasiu Alabi Pasuma.

From the UK, the OPU train moved to Holland on Saturday September 14, when that country’s chapter was launched.

Welcoming the guests, the Coordinator, OPU, Holland Chapter, Akogun Banji Ojo, said the group is putting plans together to establish a befitting Heritage House in Amsterdam. He promised that the OPU will ensure that the rich and enviable culture and history of the Yoruba is not relegated to the background.

In her address, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Holland, Ambassador Nimota Akanbi, the Special guest of honour at the event, called on Nigerians resident in the Netherlands to stay away from crime and protect the good image of Nigeria in whatever they do.

The Royal Father of the day, HRM Oba Yisa Olanipekun, Zaki of Arigidi Akoko, Ondo State, while praying for the success of Yoruba in the Diaspora, urged OPU members to always ‘remember the son of whom you are’.

C M Y K

PAGE 40—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29 29, 2013 chimeena@yahoo.com 08056180157

By JAPHET ALAKAM LECTURE

ing unique?

Well, first of all, the collection has been a long time coming. The poems there had undergone a lot of chiselling and general polishing over the years.

I relish the beauty of cultures and ways of Ibibio people — Iquo

M

BY PRISCA SAM-DURU INTERVIEW

I

QUO Diana Eke is a Writer, Performance poet and Actress who renders her words to the accompaniment of folklore, typically embellished with instruments such as drums, flute and / or strings.

An indegene of Uyo, Iquo who studied human resource management in the Lagos State University, has over the years, worked as a journalist, administrator and scriptwriter.

She believes strongly in a continuous struggle for the betterment of her generation and nation, thus her work explores pain, social consciousness, passion, womanhood and indeed the trials of the griots of this age.

The writer whose maiden collection of poems; Symphony of Becoming which was published early this year was among the 11 books on the initial shortlist for the 2013 Nigeria Prize for Literature, in this interview which was conducted before the announcement of the final shortlist of three, has interesting narrative about her works and the Prize.

Excerpts: Congrats for making the initial shortlist. How do you feel?

I feel elated and extremely honoured that my first collection of poems made it to the NLNG initial shortlist. I really didn’t see it coming.

Were you surprised that you made the list?

Oh yes, I was surprised. Especially given the calibre of writers that are on the initial shortlist. I really did not write the book with the prize in mind, so that kind of added to my surprise.

But having been long listed, I feel a sense of responsibility; to live up to and even exceed the quality of craft that I come up with from now on.

Y

ou are perhaps the youngest amongst the contenders, both interms of age and experience, do you think you stand a chance to win the coveted prize?

Without sounding immodest, I think that at this point in time anything could happen. I am certain it was not pity or sentiments that

•Iquo Diana Eke informed the selection of 11 of us from the over two hundred entries they sieved through; the judges obviously know what quality of work they were looking out for.

I have no doubts that given the ex-

perience and skill they all possess, they will do the eventual shortlist and select the winner with the utmost professionalism- age notwithstanding.

What makes Symphony of Becom-

y work explores a large range of themes, from social consciousness to passion, to trials of womanhood etc. in many ways it is a coming of age collection; so to speak.

Having waited so long, there was just no other way to go than to publish the collection- the symphony of my becoming…

There seems to be much elements of love for your root or tradition, what informed the idea?

I am very proud of my roots and I relish the beauty of the cultures and ways of the Ibibio people. As a performance poet, I have been moved to use folklore and the dance of my people to bring my poetry alive on the stage.

It’s something I still intend to research. This love is informed by my belief that you cannot know who you truly are without a good understanding of your roots, even if one does not accept the entirety of such traditions as right for the times we live in.

Other published works?

Symphony of Becoming is my first published work. Although I have been published in newspapers, reviews and other Anthologies What impact has the initial shortlist made on your career?

Well, of course there is the recognition that comes with it. But I feel that the greatest impact for me is the realisation that I stand in higher responsibility.

The responsibility (and I daresay pressure) to ensure that one lives up to or exceeds the quality of craft that made the long list.

FG to establish Nigerian Air Force Museum

By CALEB AYANSINA

BY CALEB ANYANSINA CULTURE

T

HE Minister of Tourism Culture and National Ori entation, Chief Edem Duke had disclosed plans by the Federal Government to establish the Nigerian Air Force Museum.

The Museum is to be built through partnership between the Nigerian Air Force and the Ministry Of Tourism, Culture and National Orientation.

Chief Duke disclosed this in Abuja during a meeting with the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Bade to discuss the mechanism to be employed in the project.

Duke said that the Air Force Museum would aid the Federal Government and the Nigerian Air force to preserve equipment used by the Force which would act as a learning field for Nigerian students.

“The project will promote the desire for Nigerians to enlist in the service and promote our image as a country to the rest of the world,” he said.

The minister said that the Ministry through the National Commission for Museums and Monument (NCMM) would incorporate private sector to actualise the establishment of the Air Force Museum, which

would be a world class museum.

According to him, “I am irrevocably committed to realize this vision; military in Nigeria has a very rich history, right from pre-colonial, to colonial, to independence and even to the present day peace keeping mission.”

The minister called on the other services to emulate Air Force, while urging President Goodluck Jonathan to see the project as part of his legacy, thereby lending his support to it.

Earlier, the Chief of Air Staff, Air Marshal Alex Badeh said that his visits to other countries Air Force museum motivated the Nigerian Air Force to establish its own.

He explained that the service had since 1980s been striving to have a world class museum but the effort was aborted, before it was revisited in 2010, adding that the service was to site the project in its permanent site along Airport express way in Abuja.

In another development, Chief Duke has called on the Government of Kebbi State to involve strategic local and international partners to ensure that the 2014 Argungu Fishing Festival is a success.

Duke in a meeting with the Deputy Governor of the State, Alhaji Mohammed Aliyu in Abuja, urged him to immediately raise a committee that would organise the festival comes February 2014.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29 29, 2013, PAGE 41

Exploring the artistic life of the Dudus

Patriotic call to future leaders

BY JAPHET ALAKAM

BY PRISCA SAM-DURU

VISUAL

REVIEW

I

A

*Blessing Untold, one of the works by Emma Dudu

really reflect some of the things he sees in his environment. His colorful light palette strokes give you that serene and peaceful inner feeling, for example the Pipe series which depicts a man enjoying his pipe and another, the man and his wife enjoying the pipe. Here he says it was touched by the addiction to pipe smoking by the old man and his wife.

Another work, The shattered dream, a learned man engrossed with his learning seated beside heaps of papers

,

T was another gathering of art patrons, dealers, promoters, scholars and others as the first major joint exhibition of paintings by two brothers, Emmanuel and Stanley Dudu was declared open at Alexis Gallery, Victoria Island, Lagos. The exhibition is coming on the heels of the successes recorded by the two multi talented brothers in their different artistic life tagged Meet the Dudus, an exhibition of recent works of art. It featured some of the recent creative works by the two award winning artists.

Ordinarily it is not often that you meet two brothers in the same profession that is why the ongoing exhibition by two brothers is a delight to many art lovers especially people who have been following their works. The exhibition which opened on the 21st of September and ended on 28 offered the artists the opportunity to exhibit their works side by side. On display were about 45 works of paintings and drawings in various media that address some of the fundamental issues in the society.

While Emmanuel Dudu, a painter and mixed media artist whose work comments on daily life and routine aspects of traditional and contemporary society in Nigeria presented about 16 stunning paintings, Stanley on his part featured about 25 drawings in monochrome.

Some of the works by the older Dudu include: Blessings untold 1&2; Royalty Practice; Research Methodology; Pipe Dream; Sunshine on the plateau;My Jedi Customer and others . While the younger Dudu features works like Idle Morning; Trade and Maternity; The Socialite; Fulani Women Convergence; The Octogenarian; Sisters Act etc.

Viewers had a field day going through the body of works that addressed one issue or the other. For Emmanuel Dudu who stated that he is inspired more by his immediate environment and culture, some of his works

*Women Convergence, one of the works by Stanley Dudu

A look at the works shows his figurative expressions which exude love and life

with his pipe and a bottle of local gin by his side, depicting what too much knowledge can cause to one For Stanley who was somehow inspired by the exploits of his elder brother Emma, a look at the works shows his figurative expressions which exude love and life. His charcoal and pastel works are an absolute delight with a lot of meaning and depth. According to him, “Intimate private lives of women and children in southern interiors have always provided the source of subject material for my art.”

Dexterously, Stanley renders his narrative portrayals chiefly in charcoals,

,

pastels, oils and acrylics, and employs his inept use of chiaroscuro, lines, and sparing use of colours as an elemental instrument of style in capturing the very essence “ inspiring fleeting moments”.

By virtue of his impressionistic manner of rendition in gray scales, his works have found him recognition as they were considered unique and refreshing at a time when coloured paintings became too rampart.

The exhibition is proudly supported by Alexis gallery, Veuve Chicquot, arra Vineyard, The Homestores, Chocolate Royal, Cool-FM, Wazobia FM and Nigeria Info.

Anambra Creativity Festival to hold in Awka

A

nambra State government in partnership with Nigerian Book Foundation(NBF) will hold the maiden edition of Anambra Creativity Festival at Women Development Centre Awka.

The creative event which will have Dr. Peter Obi, the executive governor of Anambra State as Guest of Honour is scheduled to take place on Tuesday 15 and Wednesday 16, October 2013.

According to the NBF President/festival C M Y K

chief host/organiser, Eze Prof. Chukwuemeka Ike, day 1 will feature symposium, identifying strategies for promoting literary creativity in Anambra, several notable change agents and 20 star Anambra writers will participate in the event to be chaired by Prof.

Ben Nwabueze. Day 2- Children Assembly, that will afford Anambra writers the opportunity to interact with primary, secondary, tertiary and general public in series of activities. Guest of honour will be Mrs Margaret Obi, First Lady of Anambra State

s Nigerian youths daily find themselves caught up in the mess created by Bad leadership which has resulted in a dramatic upturn of individuals getting involved in societal vices, it is highly encouraging to still find some young Nigerians who are not just battling to stay afloat but also, making concerted efforts to impact positively on others.

Art Delight: The Classic Collection a compilation of interesting poems, plays, short stories as well as other inspiring articles, is one of such contributions aimed at helping young Nigerians live their lives in the prevailing circumstances without getting involved in any social vices.

The 68 pages book written

by Julie Agnes Omeike, a young creative writer who has a keen interest in helping to reshape the moral standards of the African society through her art works, is clearly dedicated to patriotic Nigerians and the younger generation.

The graduate of English Arts and Mass Communications from Bayero University Kano who is also currently anchoring Christabel Communications where she builds brands with companies, institutions on diverse skills of business trends, in this book, shares very inspiring and life changing stories in the narratives documented in the book.

total of 10 articles; Is infidelity in marriage a resolute to fathom?, The ideal time to say I do, Internet Addiction, Uncover Fame and Fortune, etc, which have been previously published in the print media . Each article, has a strong message for everyone especially the youths.

Most interesting and hilarious is a short narrative which goes with the title, Tamia’s Story: The Peculiar diary of an everyday teenager’s tale. Tamia’s tale is as hilarious as it is educating and is a must read for every parent and of course, youths because it lays bare, some of the secrets of the lives of teenagers which if not checked, could lead to a blur future.

T

he author, with her experiences gathered through participation in Seminars, business schools and international conferences, in addition to her current involvement in aiding less privileged children in orphanages and schools, has through the book, succeeded in putting together life changing materials for the cream of the society.

Except for recurring spelling and grammatical errors Art Delight: The Classic Collection is a worthy contribution from Julie and the youths who are the target, will find the works impactful.

T

he book begins with a poem titled, Life’s little lessons which is followed by Gele, Omode, Moonlight Tale, The Guitar and four other poems. The musings are creatively spiced with colourful picture illustrations which aid the understanding of the reader.

In pages 12-15, is a play titled, Nigeria’s Clarion Call for Unity, which is documented for the purpose Art Delight:The Classic Colof encouraging people to lection; Julie Agnes Omeike; imbibe the spirit of Christabel Communications, patriotism.

Lagos;2013; PP. 68 The play is followed by a

Achalla yam Festival begins

T

his year edition of New Yam Festival cerebrated by king and people of Achalla Kingdom, Anambra State has taken off. This was disclosed by the Uthopo Na Eze and Paramount Ruler of Achalla Kingdom, Igwe Ezeoba Alex Nwokedi.

The event, which started with masquerading and other cultural activities, is held annually to foster peace and unity among people of the community as well as showcase the trado-cultural heritage and values of the eastern Nigerian community, would come with a difference this year.

The weeklong event will climax

into the formal declaration next week Thursday, October 3, 2013 by the monarch, signposting that the people of Achalla and the eight villages under the traditional jurisdiction of the monarch will henceforth be free to eat yam.

The monarch said, “Achalla is the largest farm community in the east, which migrated from Igala and is the capital of Awka North, a Local Government Area in Anambra State, Nigeria. It comprises eight villages: Umudiani, Amukabia, Odawa, Umuogbe, Umunagu, Umuezede, Udezu and Amadim,” he said.

PAGE 42—SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

2015 PRESIDENCY:

Why the Igbo must speak with one voice – Akabueze

‘Says Ifeanyi Ubah is the man to beat in Anambra election’

Chief Sunday Akabueze is an activist, a business man and a financier of Labour Party. He bares his mind on why the Igbo must speak with one voice as the 2015 general elections draw nearer. He also explains why Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah, his party’s candidate, is the man to beat at the November 16 elections in Anambra State .

2015 general elections are two years away. As an Igbo man, a politician and a business man, what do you think your people must do to be a force to be reckoned with in the presidential election?

The Igbo man is crucial to the unity and politics of Nigeria. Anybody who thinks otherwise is not telling himself the truth. Igbo is a solid entity with one language, culture, like the head of the broom that no one can break.

If you pick a stick of broom you easily break it, but when you pick the head of the tied broom, you cannot break it and that is the Igbo. In Nigerian politics and its unity, we must speak with one voice and get what we want. It is not going to be like the other elections in Nigeria when the Igbo could not speak with one voice. This time, we must know where we are going and the south-easterners must be carried along come 2015 presidential election.

Why do you think Ifeanyi Ubah is the man to govern Anambra State?

Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah has been a candidate of a political party seeking to rule Anambra State. What I mean is that he is a born leader. It started in his days in secondary school, up to the time he floated his company, Capital Oil and Gas, which has given birth to so many other companies. He is not into the governorship race of Anambra to test his popularity. If popularity is anything to go by, he is already popular in Lagos, Anambra and in the oil and gas sector. He is well known.

So his decision to go into the governorship race is borne out of his desire to fix the infrastructural decay in the state.

These colonial masters did some of the roads in Anambra State you are seeing today. A few others were done by Dr.

One of the things Ifeanyi Ubah’s administration will do to lift the state is to encourage graduate farmers. His administration will encourage commercial farming in the state and by so doing, Agricultural will boom and flourish and contribute heavily towards the economic development of the state.

Do you think it will be easy for him to actualize this dream in Labour Party, as it is believed the party is not that popular in the State?

If you come to Anambra State today, the only political party that is well organised and peaceful is the Labour Party. Before Ifeanyi Ubah decided to pitch his tent with the party, he must have thoroughly conducted a research.

It is only in Labour Party that you have not seen an aspirant going to court against his party to complain of one thing or the other. Look at other parties in the state. They are fighting themselves. So tell me how these parties are expecting to do well at the polls when they are fighting internal war instead of going out to canvass for votes? While they are at their internal war,

Chief Sunday Akabueze Chris Ngige when he was governor; modern infrastructure is lacking in Anambra State and this is the state that produced people like Dr. Nnamdi Azikiwe, Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu and so many others. The question is why this state should remain in this state of decay? That is the question we are asking and, by the grace of God, Ubah and Labour Party are on course to answer that question and I am believing God that they will answer it very well and properly too.

When Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife was the governor, he made a call through his thinkhome programme for Anambrarians outside to come home and invest. Unfortunately, the indices for development were not there for investors. The environment was not even conducive for investment.

There is no how you can run industries without electricity; that is why most of the industries brought to the state then is either dead or comatose.

Now, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah is going to make such think-home

If popularity is anything to go by, he is already popular in Lagos, Anambra and in the oil and gas sector.

He is well known. So his decision to go into the governorship race is borne out of his desire to fix the infrastructural decay in the state call and he is going to make the state conducive and business friendly for investors. He has set up so many committees that are making research in many sectors of the economy such as agriculture, Anambra State suppose to be the food basket of the nation. The state has vast land so rich for agriculture but these areas are so neglected. There is no access road to those places.

Ifeanyi Ubah is busy touring all the nooks and crannies of the state selling himself and his party’s manifesto.

How do you describe Ubah’s emergence as LP candidate?

His emergence as the LP candidate will boost Labour Party’s chances at the polls come November 16. Labour Party is lucky to have Ifeanyi

Ubah as its candidate. His potentials are what the party needs to cruise to victory in the election. Ifeanyi Ubah is a very successful business man. He is made already; a fulfilled man who is being driven by the passion to serve.

So, when you talk of a political party with a credible candidate in this election, it is the Labour Party. And when you talk of a candidate flying the flag of the most peaceful and organized political party in this election, it is Dr. Patrick Ifeanyi Ubah. So I will describe his emergence as the Labour Party candidate as a victory for Labour Party, Ndi Nnewi, Ndi Anambra and victory for democracy in Nigeria generally. He is the man Anambra people has been waiting for. Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah is the eagle and he has landed.

I am using this fora to call on all Ndi Anambra, men, women and the youths to come out enmasse and vote him so that he will truly reposition Anambra as he has promised.

There is this agitation for power shift to Anambra North. Don’t you think that arrangement might affect him and LP in the election?

There is nothing that can affect his chances in this election except God decides otherwise. There is no manmade factor that can affect his chances. He has said this over and over again. Moreover there has never been a time in the history of Anambra State when there was zoning arrangement. No one has said, ‘Anambra North, this is your turn or Anambra South or Central, it is your turn or wait for your own turn’. So, if such arrangement is to be introduced, the three zones that make up Anambra should come together and agree. It’s not about somebody deciding where the governorship slot should go. All Progressive Grand Alliance has decided to zone its own ticket to Anambra North. Does that mean other political parties will do same? No. Who is his godfather?

As far as I am concerned, Dr. Ifeanyi Ubah doesn’t have a godfather. Some people asked this question before and his response is that they don’t know what they are talking about, because he is a godfather of his own. Infact, Ifeanyi Ubah wants to be a godfather to other candidates. What will a godfather do for him in this regard. Is it to give him money or what? By the grace of God, he has enough resources to execute his campaign to a logical conclusion. If any godfather comes in as you are speculating, he will not be able to serve the people and change their lives and he believes that is what governance is all about.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 22, 2013, PAGE 43

PDP Crisis: Between VP Sambo’s loyalists and the opposition in Kaduna

BY LUKA BINNIYAT

T

HE eerie calm in the security and sociopolitical space of Kaduna State, on Monday, burst into cataclysmic political excitement never seen since the death of its former governor, Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa, and the swearing-in of his deputy, Alh. Mukhtar Ramalan Yero, last December, to succeed him.

Three closely linked events took place. And they may well set the agenda that would profoundly determine the fortunes or otherwise of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, in the state and that of the characters that ride on it.

First, like bad dream turn real, Vice President Namadi Sambo, whose outings in the last three polls in the state showed that he could not win even his own street and ward, woke up to find that the party had developed a very bitter faction that announced its loyalty to the Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led “New” PDP’. This would make his political relevance both in the state, the North-west and, by extension, the entire North come to question when viewed from the fact that out of the seven “ rebel” governors of the ruling party, six are from the North, with four from the North-west. And now his own state had joined the fray, with him seemingly looking helpless.

The woes of the Vice President in a series of events, last week, started with the press statement

by Alhaji Audi Yaro Makama Kaduna State PDP Chairman (2001-2007) and Gideon Yakubu Morik, member, Kaduna State House of Assembly (1999-2007) and Chairman, Jema’a Local Government Council Area of Kaduna State (2007 – 2010).

The statement, supported by Ambassador Sule Buba (a

Namadi Sambo former Kaduna State PDP Chair, 2007 – 2011), Hon. Isaac Bodams, Hajia Aisah Mairago, among other PDP bigwigs in the state, read in part: “In the last few weeks, a political tsunami was unleashed on the nation with the emergence of a new leadership to pilot the affairs of our great party, the People’s Democratic Party(PDP).

“The decision of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and seven governors elected on the platform of the party, is not only worthy of commendation but worthy of emulation. . .

“The revolutionary decision to sack the erstwhile leadership under Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and replace it with the current one led by Alhaji Kawu Baraje needs to be replicated in all states chapters of the party, especially Kaduna state where the support base of the party has been shrinking since 2007 when Arc Namadi Sambo became governor and decided to rubbish the party and its supporters to no end.

“The PDP in Kaduna State therefore proudly and wholeheartedly identifies with the new leadership of the party, under Alhaji Kawu Baraje and follows in the footsteps of its sister chapters of Adamawa, Jigawa and Taraba States in setting up new leadership to give

Late Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa

Mukhtar Ramalan Yero

First, like a bad dream turn real, Vice President Namadi Sambo, whose outings in the last three polls in the state showed that he could not win even his own street and ward, woke up to find that the party had developed a very bitter faction our party a new lease of life.

“We are also reassuring our teeming supporters that they truly own the party and not impostors with little or no inkling about PDP’s founding ideals and people who don’t have the passion for the party ’s interest and growth.

“Fundamentally, this decision has been taken after deep reflections on happenings in Kaduna State since the elevation of Architect Namadi Sambo as Vice President. “ It is instructive that since his elevation, the fortunes and prestige of the party in the state has been declining rather than improving, because he has been incapable of rallying the people under its umbrella.

“Although this is hardly surprising since he lacks the political wherewithal and the

requisite structure to preside over the politics of the state, but it was expected that he would come to terms with his inadequacies and enlist the support of established political actors. “ This expectation has been a forlorn hope because the Vice President has surrounded himself with political paperweights. These hangers on drive Sambo’s vehicle of political exclusionism by hunting for enemies even where they don’t exist.

“All efforts by concerned party members and elders to make him see reason, as well as draw the attention of the sacked party leadership were in vain.

“We are therefore, once again affirming our loyalty to the new leadership of PDP under Alhaji Kawu Baraje”. The statement

Executive-legislative relations: No more Joy

BY EMMANUELAZIKEN The enthronement of a Senate President and a Speaker of the House of Representatives without the input of the president in 2011 meant that the National Assembly and th presidency were bound to work at cross purposes. However, in her two years as the presidential contact person in the National Assembly, Senator Joy Emodi succeeded in weaving an unusual détente. So it was surprising when the woman that won hearts as the Joy of the Senate was unceremoniously removed.

I

T is one office that has tested the wits of its occupiers since the advent of the Fourth Republic. But none of the two men and two women who have occupied the office of Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters

Joy Emodi since 1999 brought the kind of dexterity and success that Mrs. Joy Emodi employed in her duties. In her two years on the job it is on record that no government bill was thrown out by any of the two branches of the National Assembly despite

the loud muttering that regularly shadowed the relationships between the two arms of government.

Previous occupiers of that office in the Fourth Republic were Ambassador Aminu Wali, 1999 to 2003; Senator Florence ItaGiwa, 2003 to 2007 and Senator Mohammed Abba Aji, 2007 to 2011. Wali was largely reserved and left his immediate assistants, Alhaji Kashim Imam and Dr. Esther Uduehi, who were respectively presidential liaison officers to the Senate and the House of Representatives, to do the job for him. Both were soon engulfed in the intrigues that regularly shadowed relations between the Chief Olusegun Obasanjo presidency and the National Assembly of that era.

Third term controversy The House of Representatives under Speaker Ghali Na’aba

passed a resolution banning Mrs. Uduehi from entering the vicinity of the National Assembly.

Ita-Giwa who followed in the second term was successful to the extent that when she took over the job in 2003, that Obasanjo had already moulded the National Assembly in his image as the leadership that came in was literally handpicked by him.

However, Ita-Giwa’s tenure was marred by the third term controversy. Alhaji Abba-Aji, who followed, was on his part swallowed up in the intrigues that shadowed the sickness of President Umaru Musa Yar ’Adua. The appointment of Mrs. Emodi following the inauguration of President Goodluck Jonathan in May 2011 was seen as a calculated attempt by the new administration to forge a

was wildly celebrated by the ‘New PDP’ supporters and the opposition in the state.

Meanwhile, the leadership of the mainstream PDP repudiated the statement.

A statement by the Public Relations Officer of the Kaduna PDP,. Ibahim Mansur, reads:: “It has come to our notice that a group of self serving and out of favour politicians masquerading as members of our great Party, PDP in Kaduna State have resorted to seeking cheap relevance by declaring loyalty to the illegal and outlawed faction of the party led

by Alhaji Kawu Baraje and his co travelers.

“The group of political opportunists led by a former chairman of the PDP in Kaduna State, Alhaji Audi Yaro Makama and a former member of the State House of Assembly, Yakubu Gideon Morik, is completely on the derailed path as the Kaduna State Chapter of the PDP remains solidly behind the leadership of our National Chairman, Alhaji (Dr) Bamanga Tukur.

“There is only one PDP, which is the one led by Bamanga Tukur, this much has been determined by a court of competent jurisdiction.

“The claim by the so called group is false and totally criminal, as the party is intact and united under the able leadership of Dr A G Haruna”, reads the statement.

Many watchers of the party in the state were, in the least, surprised about the altercation..

According to a top PDP member in Kaduna State, who was deep in the 2011 gubernatorial election: “The actions of the Namadi Sambo have been very strange politically. He does not seem bothered about his little political capital that has been almost depleted through his naïve handling of issues. He chooses only his friends and that of his wife into both state and federal appointments.

He has personally attracted no meaningful federal projects here.

He is detached from the electorate and is aloof to the media in the state. And I see Yero, his god-son, doing the same. We that form the base of the party have suddenly become observers, with our supporters also going awry.” constructive linkage with the National Assembly. It couldn’t have been otherwise.

The administration, nay, the ruling PDP had been dusted in June 2011 when the party ’s choice for Speaker of the House of Representatives Mrs. Mulikat Akande was defeated by Barrister Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.

The emergence of Tambuwal despite the almost high handed campaign of the party against him at that time easily indicated acrimony ahead in the relationship between the two arms of government.

In the Senate, Senator David Mark also easily returned to office without the support of the presidency. So with the two houses of the National Assembly in the control of self-made men, it was easy to predict that the legislative agenda of the administration would be measured with great scrutiny.

Continues on page 46

PAGE 44—SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

ANAMBRA 2013 PDP crisis distorting permutations

Chris Ubah

Ifeanyi Ubah

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

I

F the on –going crisis in the An ambra State branch of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, over who should be its flag bearer for the November 16 election is not resolved in the next few weeks, the party would have made itself a less contender in the impending governorship race. For now, supporters of the party in Anambra State are confused and it is therefore not surprising that many of them have become willing tools for swelling campaign rally grounds of other political parties. A typical example was the flag off of the LP governorship campaign in Onitsha on Thursday where many former members of PDP were seen adorned in Ifeanyi Ubah’s uniforms and caps and directing affairs.

While the other major party contenders namely, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, All Progressives Congress, APC, and Labour Party, LP, are seriously mobilizing for the election with their candidates making great inroads in the state, supporters of PDP are behaving like the sheep without the shepherd. Many of them say they have become more confused with the unfolding scenario, especially with two candidates – Tony Nwoye and Senator Andy Uba – laying claim to the ticket of the party.

The latest in the PDP drama is that a Federal High Court sitting in Port Harcourt, Rivers State on Thursday declared that Senator Andy Uba remains the PDP candidate for the November 16 election and that his crony, Chief Ejike Oguebego should remain the state chairman of the party.

The court ordered the Prince Ken Emeakayi-led PDP in Anambra State to maintain the status quo, pending the final decision of the court. In the ruling handed by Justice H.A Nganjiwa, the court also directed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to identify with the Oguebego group that produced Uba as the authentic governorship candidate of the PDP. Permutations After the primaries of the various political parties, the picture was that Tony Nwoye from Anambra North senatorial zone emerged for PDP in the primary supervised by the national leadership of the party, Willy Obiano also from Anambra North emerged for APGA, while Senator Chris Ngige from Anambra Central and Chief Ifeanyi Ubah from Anambra South emerged for APC and LP respectively.

Senator Andy Uba, another contend-

Chris Ngige

er for the PDP ticket is also from Anambra South.

When the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur leadership of PDP declared Nwoye as the party’s flag bearer, the fear in the camp of Willy Obiano of APGA was that unless the people of Anambra North were persuaded to dump the PDP candidate on election day, votes from the area are likely to be shared between PDP and APGA, thereby giving Ngige and Ifeanyi Ubah some kind of advantage as they are the major candidates in the other two senatorial zones. However, if PDP dumps Nwoye and gives the ticket to Senator Uba, the people of Anambra North would heave a sigh of relief that their block votes would go to their own son, Obiano.

On the other hand, if eventually Uba gets the ticket for PDP, the worry would shift to Anambra South as himself (Uba) and LP’s Ubah are likely to share the votes from the area. Uba is from the Aguata section of the senatorial zone, while Ubah is from Nnewi section of the same zone. While it would seem that Senator Ngige is in the world of his own in his Anambra

Tony Nwoye House of Assembly. For instance, Dr. Chinwoke Mbadinuju who governed the state from 1999 -2003 had his deputy from Anambra North and when Ngige mounted the saddle in 2003, he chose his deputy from Anambra South in the person of Dr. Okey Udeh, with the speaker of the House of Assembly coming from Anambra North.

When Mr. Peter Obi, who is from Anambra Central recovered his mandate after three years in court, he worked with Dame Virgy Etiaba who is from Anambra South and for his second term, he chose Mr. Emeka Sibeudu also from Anambra South, while the speaker of the House of Assembly, Mrs. Chinwe Nwaebili, is from Anambra North. Dr. Andy Uba, who governed for 17 days in 2007 before the Supreme Court stopped him, also chose his deputy from Anambra North. This is why the people of Anambra North see 2013 election as their best opportunity to produce the governor of the state for the first time since the creation of Anambra State.

Before the primaries of the political

Perhaps one of the greatest issues that would determine the outcome of the election is the political party cohesion. Apart from LP, the other three parties – PDP, APGA and APC have some issues to sort out before the election Central, the truth is that he has Governor Peter Obi to contend with in the zone. From all indications, Obi is not just waiting to hand over to anybody that would emerge winner after the November 16 election, but he wants to make sure that he hands over to a trusted person who would not rock the boat after his eight years of picking the bits and pieces of what was left of Anambra State after the unfortunate years between 1999 and 2006 when intra party crisis in PDP led to the destruction of lives and government property worth millions of naira.

Indeed, were it not for Obi’s clamour that power should shift to Anambra North after his tenure and going further to ensure that somebody from the zone picked the ticket of his party, the situation would have remained as it had always been in the previous elections where the best Anambra North usually got was either the deputy governor, or the speaker of the

parties, stakeholders from Anambra North held several meetings warning their people not to accept to be campaign coordinators or deputies for candidates from South and Central and so far, it had been obeyed. For instance, it was gathered that Ifeanyi Ubah desperately wanted to choose his deputy from Anambra North, but because those approached for the position declined, he settled for Dr. Emeka Eze from Ukpo, Dunukofia in Anambra Central. There are also indications that Ngige will choose his deputy from Anambra South as he did during his first outing in 2003. Willy Obiano of APGA has already chosen Dr. Emeka Okeke from Enugwu Ukwu in Anambra Central as his running mate. With these running mates coming from Anambra Central, the implication is that the area would be up for grabs by the various political parties contesting the election and this may not be good for Ngige who is from

the area.

Perhaps one of the greatest issues that would determine the outcome of the election is the political party cohesion. Apart from LP, the other three parties – PDP, APGA and APC have some issues to sort out before the election. Like in the previous elections, the signs are there that aggrieved members of political parties may work against their parties.

Take PDP for instance, if Senator Uba finally gets the ticket, it is not likely that the national leadership and the Kenneth Emeakayi –led group of the party would stick out their neck to support him. This is because while most of the erstwhile governorship aspirants were together and obeying the guidelines stipulated by the party for the conduct of the primaries, Senator Uba and his family members, with Chris Uba as the arrow head, stayed away and held its primary with the senator as the only contestant. It was felt initially that the Uba family was wasting its time, but when the tunes from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, began to sound in their favour, it became clear that the family was not acting in isolation. The climax was the recent ruling of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt making Uba the authentic candidate of the party for the election. If all the former governorship aspirants in the state refuse to work with Uba, he may not find things easy.

Observers believe that for Uba to win the election, he must work with the Emeakayi group who controls the grass root of the party as could be seen in his recent outing before the controversial governorship primaries of the party. For instance, the group has all the ward and local government officials, as well as all the candidates for the postponed local government election. What happened in 2010 when the party forced the former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, Professor Charles Soludo on the state as the PDP candidate is still fresh in people’s minds and a repeat of such would be a mistake too many for PDP. Already, most of the people who were with Chief Chris Uba in his hey days as the political godfather in the state have abandoned him for other political parties. One of them, Dr. Emeka Eze, is presently the running mate of Chief Ifeanyi Ubah, while many others are mobilizing for the LP candidate. One of them wondered recently how Chris Uba would achieve his objective in the November election since those of them who were actually doing the abracadabra during the past elections have deserted the family.

For APGA, the wounds inflicted in the party during the leadership crisis between the national chairman, Chief Victor Umeh and Chief Maxi Okwu have not been properly healed. Okwu is still feeling left out and that was why he flew a kite recently by saying that his group had nominated one of those screened out by the party, Dr. Chike Obidigbo, as his candidate for the election. No further action has however been taken either by him or his candidate since he made the nomination in Awka a fortnight ago, fueling speculation that he may have decided to bury the hatchet. However, some of the some who were in either sides of the divide during the crisis became victims of the resolution of the crisis and some of them finally decided to decamp to other political parties.

Also, some of those who lost at the party primaries simply vamoosed and have not been responding to the overtures being made to them by Chief Willy Obiano who won the ticket.

Unless something is done urgently, the subdued acrimony may cost the party some votes in some parts of the state.

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 45

Some people may leave APC for PDP – Senator Kaka • ‘Awolowo saw tomorrow’ • Proffers solution to the open crisis

BY ISHOLA BALOGUN AND BASHIR ADEFAKA

Senator Adegbenga Kaka, representing Ogun East Senatorial District, in this interview, speaks on the rancour and what he describes as injustice in Ogun State chapter of All Progressive Congress (APC). The former Deputy Governor maintains that things are falling apart among the stakeholders.“What is happening in Ogun State requires tact and patience, otherwise, we will be throwing away the baby with the bath water.” Excerpts: RE you not bothered about the crises here and there. The National Assembly is also not unaffected. Why do we have to heat up the polity because of self-interest?

Like it is happening at the national level, different elements want to come together under the same umbrella, which is what we are envisaging; that people will now have something similar to June 12. So, people should not be surprised if the best in the PDP are coming together with the best in APC. They should also not be surprised if the so-called powerful people in the APC join their reactionary brothers and sisters in the ‘Old PDP’ so that, at the end of the day, we would have a progressive government; not only in Ogun State but in Nigeria as a whole.

The message is that people should not despair because when God wants to do something, He does it without looking back.

Even as people are talking about breaking up of Nigeria, I believe Nigeria will never break. This is because the God that makes the seed to rot before germinating who is presently making the country to pass through this rot will salvage this country.

Nigeria is going to be salvaged and the people are going to be better off at the end of the day.

All the people need to do is to show resilience, be alert and say no to those who want to purchase them, say no to those who want to wreck this nation, to those who are stealing our oil and plundering the treasury. I am sure the time is around the corner and the divine intervention has come. I envisaged it as early as last year and I know that the process is likely to be completed by 2014.

Even in your state, stakeholders seem not to agree with some policies and programmes of the governor.

What is really happening?

Well, you know the vulture is a patient bird; as a scavenger, it will wait for all manners of animals to jump up and down until they drop dead, and you find the vulture coming to feast on them. What is happening in Ogun requires tact and patience, otherwise we will be throwing away the baby with the bath water. We just have a new party, we are supposed to open our doors to all those who are progressively inclined, but unfortunately, some people are

A

Senator Adegbenga Kaka.... I cannot score myself, the people that gave the mandate to us should be able to asses us individually and collectively. scaring them away, they take the party as a personal property. So, all we need do is to strategise and come out with bold steps indicative of the fact that this new party does not belong to any individual, whether you are Governor, a Senator or President. The new platform is for every body. So, if we are all co-founders, nobody should arrogate the ownership to himself. Whoever is not pleased will have to leave the party for us.

There are conjectures that Governor Amosun did not get the full support of the party on the election, that he won based on his popularity. Do you share that view?

It is a blatant lie. It is ludicrous for anybody to say he solely won the election. I want to acknowledge that it wasn’t the ACN that won the election, it was the people of Ogun that voted out the government of PDP they were disenchanted with. We were fortunate because we were the only credible alternative to the PDP and they gave their mandate to us. It is on record that the ACN won the election (now APC) in the state. The Governor cannot rightly lay claim to victory. So, for anybody to say that it was not ACN that won the election, that is wrong. The person should test his popularity, and let the people of Ogun State say that it was the individual they voted for and not the party.

Clearly, the party was the credible alternative to the PDP in the state and the people embraced it. I would not tell anybody that I won the election, but it was the goodwill people saw in our party that got the entire mandate we’re enjoying today. And if the governor wants to say that he won it alone, we can as well ask

why we had nearly 100 per cent in the National Assembly elections, lost nine in the House of Assembly poll – six to PDP and three to PPN He should know better and stop creating crisis.

People’s silent does not mean consent.

What is your assessment of governance both at the federal and state levels?

There are certain things that I consider not charitable. I cannot score myself, the people that gave the mandate to us should be able to asses us individually and collectively. Their verdict, whether we acknowledge it or

being is little. We can test it by looking at someone in prison. We will discover that his minimum requirement will be where to lay his head and probably a hand towel to wipe his face, and again, another shirt to wear if the one gets spoilt or dirty. It is greed that makes people to amass wealth not minding whether we need it or not. So, there are some gigantic projects that people may not need, they will be pleased if you satisfy their basic needs. So, it is important to give the people what they need and not what we think they need.

You mean some of the

Nigeria is going to be salvaged and the people are going to be better off at the end of the day. All the people need to do is to show resilience, be alert and say no to those who want to purchase them; say no to those who want to wreck this nation not, will form the basis of their decision in 2015. That is the period of accountability where whatever we are able to do will speak for us. If I say anything now, people will say it is because I am a stalwart of the party and if I say otherwise, people will say I am too critical of the party. So, the people are in the best position to tell us how we have fared.

It appears that the government is busy doing one thing or the other but there is the agitation that dividends of democracy are still far away from the people.

How do you reconcile that?

We should be able to strike a balance between what we think is good for the people and what the people really need. In life, the basic requirement of any human

projects going on in the state are misplaced priority?

Well, if you call it so, that is your definition and probably that of the electorate.

Do you think government has met the party’s vision for the people of the state?

It could be better. What the people really need must come to them. You may want to give me a car but my priority may be a pair of shoes. So, if you give me that car, I may not appreciate it.

We have seen somebody who distributed hundreds of cars because he wanted to win election and he did not win. The people’s basic needs are water, job creation and shelter. If all these are done, then you need to create wealth especially in the

rural areas where the main occupation is farming and establish industries. Industries and farming generate employment for the people. It is only when you create wealth that you can now start talking about comfort. You provide primary healthcare and guide them on nutrition because if you are well fed, you are not likely to fall sick.

That is why I have a mobile clinic as part of my constituency project. I also try to support agriculture and education and provide interest free revolving loan to those who are in need of it to trade. But if I give them aircraft, they will not appreciate it.

We heard that appointments are lopsided. What is your party doing to redress it?

If we are equal stakeholders and the motto of our party is, ‘Justice, Peace and Unity’, to attain peace and unity, there must be justice. So, if there is no justice, there must be a redress.

We are all equal stakeholders in the Ogun State project. We need to make amends in order to attain peace. If what we are saying is anything to go by, then we don’t have peace in Ogun State and if we don’t have peace, it is because we have injustice and the solution is to redress the injustice.

What are the steps the party is taking for a redress?

ACN, ANPP and CPC have been replaced by APC. So, we start on a clean slate by registering new members and, by the time that is done, we will now organise a congress in a very democratic manner from the polling unit to wards and to the state. That will give us the platform upon which justice will reign.

Is there no party mechanism you could explore in order to achieve peace?

Justice is the most important thing. Let everybody go to the congress. If my opponent defeats me at the congress, I will congratulate him and we move ahead as a team. The constitution is clear and whoever refuses to abide by it has the option of checking out.

We heard that you were attacked by gunmen. How did it happen?

I really don’t want to discuss that. I don’t want to be a victim of another attack. If I should open up, it may ginger the police to do what is right and, as a result, they may think of another attack. Apart from the petition I wrote when the police came to my farm, I have not made any public statement on that.

At 61, I am old enough to know that it is not every clothing you spread out in the sun. Again, as a team player, I have to strive to correct things and not to add fuel to the raging fire. I know I am not harbouring any ill-feelings against anybody and if anybody does, I will leave that to Almighty God. What is the way forward and message to the people?

All Progressive Congress, APC, is out to fulfill the prophesy of Papa Obafemi Awolowo as enunciated in his powerful speech in 1983, part of which was the thesis and anti-thesis principles which he called the dialectic principle whereby he envisaged all the progressive tendencies to rescue Nigeria.

We are at that stage right now.

You could see the turmoil going on not only in Ogun State, but also in Nigeria as a whole. And that is prompting the progressive tendencies to come together in order to fight the reactionary elements. We are envisaging a credible alternative similar to Hope’93.

PAGE 46—SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

BY JONBOSCO AGBAKWURU

T

HE killing of about nine persons in an uncompleted building be hind the Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, on Friday, September 20, has since become a controversial issue.

Even as some people have commended the operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS, who, alongside the army, were responsible for the killing for acting on time to avert catastrophe as the DSS claimed that the victims were members of Boko Haram, many others, including human right activists, allege that the circumstance of the killings was suspect.

The Abuja traders association has vowed to drag the security service to court as it claims that those killed were its members and ‘innocent’ citizens. The leadership of operators of tricycle popularly known as ‘KEKE NAPEP’ which the victims were said to belong also debunked the security claims that they were members of Boko Haram.

To the fiery President of Civil Rights Congress, Shehu Sani, the action of the DSS was extra-judicial killing while the Nigerian Consultative Youth Assembly described the way in which the victims were murdered as unprofessional.

With these angry reactions from the public, the stage was set for the Senate, last Tuesday, to take a look at what happened.

To commence deliberation on the matter, the representative of Zamfara North in the Senate, Senator Sahabi Ya’au, in a motion on point of order, alleged that security forces on the said date killed ‘innocent’ people that they were supposed to protect.

Ya’au of All Progressive Congress, APC, in the motion, noted with dismay the shooting that occurred in the uncompleted building on Soji Aderemi Close, Bamanga Tukur Street of the Apo Legislative Quarters, Abuja.

He noted that majority of the dead victims and about 16 persons that sustained various degrees of serious injuries were indigenes of Zamfara, Katsina and Kano states, adding that though the DSS claimed that the victims were members of Boko Haram, it (DSS) also claimed that the operatives of the Service were attacked by sympathizers of the sect when they went to exhume weapons buried in the uncompleted building.

He noted: “Survivors and eye witnesses claimed that the Keke NAPEP oper-

Apo killings reverberate in the Senate

Apo Legislative Quarters killings ators and other artisans were only squatters in the property who pay N200 daily to enable them sleep in the uncompleted building and had been instructed to vacate the property by the owner.

“Note that the eye witness further claimed that the mid-night operation went horribly wrong when eight of the squatters were shot dead by the combined teams of DSS operatives and the army in an orgy of unrestrained shootings.”

The senator said that it was believed that the accounts as were expressed and the claims had raised serious issues of human rights and the use of Nigerian’s security services to settle personal scores and therefore needed to be further investigated by an independent body to unearth the circumstances and facts behind the killings.

He called for the Senate condemnation of the DSS action, and to mandate its Committees on Judiciary, Human Rights and Legal Matters, National Security and Intelligence, Defence and Army and Police Affairs to investigate the circumstances that led to the killings.

To Senator Claver Ikisikpo, PDP Bayelsa East, most of the lawmakers living around the area where the incident took place did not sleep on the night it happened and were scared. He noted that the Constitution says that everybody has the right to live and that what-

ever might have been the reason the victims were killed by soldiers or the DSS, it was uncalled for.

He pointed out that there is a law in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, that nobody should live in an uncompleted building for more than two years, stressing that if the law was adhered to strictly, perhaps the incident would not have happened.

The Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, however, had a different position. He said that it was a sensitive matter which involved human lives and that it was not fair to go deep into it at the floor of the Senate immediately as a result of the tensed political climate of the country and suggested that deliberations on the matter should be suspended and be referred to the appropriate Committees.

Also contributing, Senator Sadiq Yar’Adua, APC, Katsina, said that, over time, the nation’s laws were being violated by those assigned to protect the people and that, while the Senate opposed terrorism, nobody was given the license to kill innocent people because he was waging war against terrorism.

“If we do not take action on this, one day some of our enemies will tell the police or the DSS that there are terrorists in this chamber. We have the law against terrorism, but nobody has been prosecuted and brought to book. It is time for us to tell our security officials, we give them support but enough is

enough.”

Senator Nkechi Nworgu, Abia Central said it would be hasty to condemn the action of the security agents without carrying out in-depth investigations.

The senator representing Borno South, Ali Ndume, PDP, noted that Abuja was no longer safe with the development and described the incident as unfortunate and sensitive as it bordered on national security.

Senator Mohammed Saleh, Kaduna Central, said he was worried about the way security agents have been carrying out their duties. He said a lot of money is being voted for security agencies not only in the provision of weapon but also for training of officers.

He said operatives of DSS should be made up of undercover agents working secretly, regretting that what the nation now has is operatives that openly carry arms. He advised that the DSS should revert to their constitutional role of covert operations.

Senate Leader, Senator Victor NdomaEgba, SAN, Cross River Central, cautioned senators over their positions on the issue as he stated that it was a difficult time for the country and the global community as there were threats of attack to be carried out before the Apo incident and the attack of a mall in Kenya as well as the one in Pakistan.

Ndoma-Egba advised his colleagues not to draw conclusion on the matter yet pending the outcome of investigation as drawing conclusion could prejudice its outcome and supported the suggestion that it should be subjected to investigation.

The Senate mandated its Committees on National Security and Intelligence, legal Matters, Judiciary and Human Rights to investigate the killings.

While referring the motion to the appropriate Committees, Senate President, Senator David Mark, said the relevant committees should unravel what led to the killings adding that there were three issues already playing up that needed to be investigated.

The Committees were mandated to investigate and report within two weeks whether what happened was an act of terrorism as alleged by the security agencies and whether it was extra-judicial killings and the reason behind the incident.

Executive-legislative relations: No more Joy Continued from page 43 It was against that expectation that Senator Emodi was appointed to help manage the relationship between the two arms as the Special Adviser to the president.

Mrs. Emodi had been highly recommended by her pedigree in the Senate between 2005 and 2010 where she earned the sobriquet, “Joy of the Senate” on account of the grace she brought to her duties and demeanour.

Senator Emodi was nevertheless faced with serious challenges in the performance of her duties especially the seeming reluctance of the president to give heed to resolutions and bills passed by the National Assembly. Their seething anger nonetheless, the members and senators almost always capitulated to the entreaties of Mrs. Emodi. Her persuasive abilities could not have been further confirmed than by the passage of the 2013 budget of the Federal Government in December, 2012.

It was the first time since the advent of the Fourth Republic that the Federal Government budget was passed before the end of the preceding year.

That legislative feat was despite the complaints by the legislators of the administration’s failure to implement the 2012 budget. House spokesman, Rep. Zakari Mohammed, who despite his sometimes very caustic tone, described Emodi as a very good politician, who brought a lot of experience to her job. “She is quite experienced and in the course of my own experience as a legislator she was one person I had a lot of respect for and of course, she would have added much more value to our democracy,” Mohammed told Sunday Vanguard over the telephone.

A legislator speaking on the basis of anonymity said: “She treated many of us especially in the House as a mother and for me any time I wanted to raise my voice on issues, the image of her pleas almost always had an effect on me,” one of the most vocal members of the House told Sunday Vanguard at the weekend.

It was as such not surprising that at the end of the second legislative year, the House passed a resolution recognising her as “The Joy of the Villa and the Joy of the National Assembly.”

Even before going on its last vacation, the House of Represen-

tatives adjourned plenary for one day to enable members fully attend an international seminar organised by her office on fostering good relations between the executive and legislative arms. So, given the positive dimensions to Senator Emodi’s brief many were as such sur-

Her persuasive abilities could not have been further confirmed than by the passage of the 2013 budget of the Federal Government in December, 2012 prised when the presidency announced the termination of her appointment.The development, according to many sources, was not unconnected with the increasing hold of hardliners over the presidency. Mrs. Emodi, by many accounts, had faulted the deployment of an alternative

structure outside the recognised leadership in the two chambers.

“Emodi’s argument was that it was of no use forming groups to support the president in the two chambers because in her view Mark and Tambuwal were not directly against the president and even at that, it was her argument that any alternative group formed would be ineffectual in pressing through the legislative agenda of the president,” sources disclosed.

The hardliners it was alleged had taken to forming groups purposely to mobilise for the impeachment of Speaker Tambuwal who they believed to be a potential threat to the president’s re-election prospects in 2015. It was in the process of doing that that some of the hardliners reportedly mobilised funds to the tune of $25,000 given to each of the lawmakers supportive of their agenda.

Though many of the legislators took the money, it is instructive that last Wednesday and Thursday that motions and bills supportive of the president were either thrown out or withdrawn at the threshold of defeat, a development that supported Emodi’s argument of the ineffectiveness of their tactics.

Commenting on the developments in an interview with Vanguard, Mrs. Emodi said: “They said I had a shouting match with Diezani and that was not true. I have never fought with her. I have heard all kinds of things since last Friday but you must realise that National Assembly members are my colleagues. I used to be one of them.

I was there as a member of the House and a senator. I was relating with them through dialogue and diplomacy. You don’t achieve anything by fighting.”

Her calm nonetheless, the Kawu Baraje led faction of the PDP saw her removal as another faux pas of the Jonathan administration. “We learnt Senator Joy Emodi was sacked as Special Adviser to the President on National Assembly Matters because of her candid advice that inducing members of the National Assembly financially to impeach their principal officers would be counter-productive. If this is true, we hereby demand her immediate reinstatement.”

“For Senator Emordi to be bold enough to tell Mr. President the implication of such a corrupt inducement of the lawmakers should earn her commendation rather than a sack.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 47

Buhari’s marathon race VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The hurdles before General Muhammadu Buhari’s presidential aspiration

O

F the five ex-Heads of State, namely, Generals Yakubu Gowon, IbrahimBabangida, Muhammadu Buhari, Sani Abacha and Olusegun Obasanjo, who attempted to return as civilian president, only succeeded.

Even in his own case, he had to be drafted against his wish by the powerful northern elite, to come and rescue a divided nation that was gravitating within the orbit of another civil war.

Obasanjo initially resisted this lofty offer by asking: “How many presidents do you want to make of me?”

Well, history has answered that question - Three! His fellow Generals weren’t so lucky.

Abacha’s transmutation agenda was truncated by sudden death.

Gowon and Babangida couldn’t scale through their parties primaries, while Buhari, the subject of this write-up, did get his party ’s ticket, but failed in all his three attempts.

Buhari’s image makers project him as the “Mr. Clean” of Nigerian politics, but the truth is that there are many other Nigerians who served this country without penny pinching. One is not disputing the General’s moral credentials; he cannot run on that alone because such qualities are not exclusive to him. Many aspirants have solid reputations in that regard.

Many of his critics dismiss what is perceived as this “holier-than–thou–attitude associated with him”. While he is respected by

VIEWPOINT

BY PRINCE AMOS UYO VIEWPOINT IN BRIEF The need for a generally acceptable successor to Governor Uduaghan

T

HE looming image of 2015 in Delta State constitutes a political albatross that is raising many questions which require answers and timely resolutions. It is indeed to the credit of the Uduaghan administration that the state has not presented another political hotbed akin to what is happening in Rivers State and some other sections of the country. Delta has, in very practical terms, demonstrated to the wider Nigerian state that peaceful co-existence is an attainable possibility even in a multi-ethnic, multilingual and culturally heterogeneous socio-political setting.

As subdued and subterraneous as the contest for Delta 2015 governorship race has appeared to be, there has been a whole lot of repositioning especially within the ranks of the newly registered All Progressive Congress, APC . This newly registered amalgam of key opposition parties is beginning to present some prospects both to the initial party faithful and other political wayfarers who are mulling the possibility of a ‘Plan B’ party ticket. Call it politics of ‘Plan B’ aspirations and projection and you may just be right.

Buhari opened himself to enemy attack when he threatened, in the aftermath of the last hugely flawed election, that the nation may be ungovernable

,

irredentist and Islamic fundamentalist.

They also point to his record as a Head of State who picked another Muslim, the late Gen. Tunde Idiagbon, as his deputy. And some of his draconian laws blight his democratic credentials.

What hinders us sometimes is in us.

Buhari himself mismanaged his huge social and political capital. He may have a good record as a former Military Governor and Minister of Petroleum Resources. But all of this may count for little unless he presents a realistic blueprint to get this country out of the ditch.

His political capital was squandered by his indiscretion and ill-advised statements. The General is on record to have mocked democracy at one time; his draconian laws abridged the fundamental human rights of citizens, and,whilst in power as military Head of State, he failed to set an agenda for

,

BY CHRIS OKOTIE

some people for his strong religious values and moral rectitude, Buhari ironically suffers from his identification with these noble traits because of his uncomplicated favour for his Muslim faith.

That is why his political enemies have projected him as a Hausa-Fulani

,

VIEWPOINT

The intensity of the unfolding political projections and consultations are however reverberating from the camps and caucuses of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP

,

The intensity of the unfolding political projections and consultations are however reverberating from the camps and caucuses of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. Within the PDP, there is a growing tribe of governorship possibilities which include a former Commissioner for Economic Planning, Chief Clement Ofuani, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, Speaker of the House of Assembly, Victor Ochei, a one-time acting governor, Prince Sam Obi, Chief of Staff, Government House, Dr Festus Okubor, Prof Sylvester Monye, Dr Ngozi Olojeme and Godswill Obielum.

The list is growing by the day but to those who have been following Delta politics, the list can be safely divided between true contenders and proven pretenders. A subcategorisation also reveal aspirants who are driven by ambition but understand too

a return of power to civilians. However, having become a “born again” democrat, many are still not comfortable with him as a would-be President.

Buhari opened himself to enemy attack when he threatened, in the aftermath of the last hugely flawed election, that the nation may be ungovernable.

Regardless of whether he instigated the mayhem that followed that election or not, critics laid the blame on his doorstep.The lean, ascetic General may have good qualities and leadership experience under his belt, but his image problem is standing between him and Aso Rock where a ruthless cabal feared that if candidate Buhari wins the Presidency, they may not find life easy.

With his success in teaming up with the ACN, ANPP and DPP in setting up the APC, he still has many rivers to cross before his supporters can shout hurray!

It is not enough to be “Mr. Clean” or a disciplinarian; good and imperative as these moral assets are, they, by themselves,` can’t win elections, otherwise respected religious leaders should be the ones ruling most nations. You must win election first before you can govern, using those inherent leadership qualities to drive your agenda.

Like someone said: Awolowo knew how to rule, but he wasn’t just able to put an election wining strategy together with all his cerebral qualities and administrative savvy which made his premiership of the defunct Western Region a reference point till date.

Then, a most crucial point that seems to be lost on pro - Buhari elements.

There’s a world of difference between ruling as a military Head of State with combined executive and legislative powers in your grip, and as civilian president with only executive powers that are checkmated by an independent legislature. Buhari’s main selling point is his

anti-corruption image; he’d find that under a wholly corrupt, dysfunctional polity, one man may not be able to do much.

Moreover, there are serious structural problems in our federation, in our outdated legal system; our fiscal management and political culture that must be dealt with to engender good governance.

Again, how effective will a man in his ‘70s be in power when confronted by the stark reality of a failing state? The General certainly is in the last lap of his political career and having openly announced his decision never to run for President again after the 2011 elections, he’d suffer some moral deficit if his nomination tears the APC apart, as younger aspirants would blame him for failing to stand by his word. Besides, if he can reverse himself on an issue as crucial as this, how is he different from PDP leaders who say one thing and do another?

Moreover, anyone seeking a pan-Nigerian mandate will have to act fast to fix all the fault lines, to be able to make the difference as a President of the republic. Perhaps, Buhari may need to consult his former boss; Obasanjo who has already become what the tall, APC leader is trying to become - a former military ruler and civilian President, notwithstanding the cold fact that they are in opposing camps. Why? Experience is the best teacher, and OBJ has it aplenty.

Finally, Buhari’s legendary rigidity is another major liability.

He continues to inspire fear rather than love.

Machiavelli might have said, “it is better to be feared than loved.” That may have been true in the middle ages but not in this interest age when image is appreciated more than substance. Otherwise what would President Jonathan be doing in Aso Rock?

Not running would have enhanced the integrity of the merger of APC that Buhari and others midwife. But nobody can deny him the right to contest if so he desires. *Okotie, a former presidential candidate of FRESH Party, is the pastor of Household of God.

2015: Before they sell Delta little the onerous demands of the office they are aspiring to occupy.

As would be expected, every aspirant has got hia inner motivations. It is however important to know the extent to which the motivations align with the goal of sustainable development of the state.

There is a critical principle of democracy that should be restored in our steadily evolving democracy. This has got to do with the personal integrity and culture of credibility of aspirants to political offices.

Credibility in our corridors of power will no doubt lead to a politically desirable state of trust between the leaders and the bulk of the followers.

It is critically on this score that Deltans across the three senatorial zones are enthused by the continuous linkage of Ofuani to the 2015 governorship race.

Ofuani, a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, boasts some three decades of unblemished record in both the public and the organised private sector.

As Commissioner for Economic Planning in Delta State, he raised service delivery benchmark to a height yet to be equalled in the state’s economic management and resource allocation mechanism. Though between serving as Commissioner and now, Ofuani has served in the Presidency as Senior Special

Assistant on Policy, he is still largely believed to be very much at home with the economic terrain of the state desperately in search of diversification module for sustainable development. Like the biblical Joseph, Ofuani is reputed to have a provable gift of dreaming dreams. Beyond the gift of dreams however, he is endowed with an innate quality for dream interpretation and implementation to avert adversity. This innate quality has been sharpened by years of disciplined application and prudent management of usually scarce resources in line with priorities.

Ofuani, who also served, briefly, as the Economic Adviser to Governor Emmanuel Uduaghan, has garnered farreaching experience on how to diversify the resource and revenue base of the state.

With a shored up IGR it becomes a lot easier to fund the infrastructure revamping programme that is currently on going in the state.

It is also important at this stage that the political parties direct their searchlight on the emergence of candidates who can be widely considered as generally acceptable across the three senatorial zones. *Uyo lives in Asaba. He can be reached via: 08063927123 amos4me@yahoo.co.uk

PAGE 48—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013 sameyoboka@yahoo.com

08023145567 (sms only)

Okonkwo tasks colleagues on corruption Cleric urges politicians to eradicate corruption

By SAM EYOBOKA

W

ORRIED by the growing adverse effect of corruption in different sectors of the nation's economy, Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission, TREM, Dr. Mike OKONKWO Sunday challenged the Church to go beyond clapping hands and shouting Hallelujah to fight the menace frontally.

Speaking at the 10th edition of the church's annual leadership empowerment programme, Breeding Leaders for Empowerment and National Transformation, BLENT, the bishop said the world out there is expecting the Church to take the gauntlet and tackle corruption, stressing "Creation is waiting for us to manifest and this is our time.

"I agree that the Church has to be sincere and not only speak against corruption but fight it. The fault does not just fall at the doorsteps of politicians, but also on the Church.

Everyone of us must take a stand for a positive change in the country," he enjoined.

Turning to the masses of the country, he said they must hold politicians accountable, adding "we are being abused every day and yet we are not demanding for the dividends of democracy. The only attempt to demand for it when people poured out into the streets against subsidy removal, some of us were compromised and the protest soon fizzled out," Okonkwo explained.

In his welcome address at the programme that addressed the manufacturing sector entitled; "Nigeria: From a comsumption to a production

D

*Members of the Class of Eight join hands to cut their 30th priestly ordination anniversary cake at a recent reception held in their honour. (L-R) Rev. Fr. Michael Akintolu, Rev. Fr. Peter Oke, Rev. Fr. Alphonsus Aina, Archbishop Alfred Martins, Msgr. Edmund Akpala, Msgr.

Christopher Ajala and Msgr. Jerome Oduntan. oriented economy", Okonkwo also challenged the National Assembly as well as the 36 state assemblies to refocus their attention towards the manufacturing sector which is supposed to drive the nation's economy as other nations of the world.

"I feel the our law makers are not sincere about the manufacturing sector in the country because any nation desires growth and development must take the manufacturing sector seriously," he opined, adding that the nation's law makers cry daily about growing unemployment.

"How can the army of graduates be employed when manufacturing companies are relocating in drove to other

nations of West Africa. I believe Nigerians are a very resilience people who can do anything to survive, if the right conditions are available; but where is the power? Our borders are porous and we import virtually everything including tooth picks.

"I heard the other day that our West African neighour, Ghana with a population of 25.37 million, generates over 12,000 mega watts while Nigeria with a population of over 160 million can barely generate 4,000 mega watts", he laments, adding that it is not enough to pass laws by a bunch of people who have allocated a salary above that of the American president's.

He said that was the reason

why he accused the lawmakers of insincerity, noting that the nation's problem is not the absence of human resources, but that of the lack of enabling environment, warning "we are sitting on a keg of gun power as we shun out out thousands of graduates yearly without being engaged."

According to Bishop Okonkwo, a nation were over 100,000 barrels of oil stolen daily makes one to ask: "are there no security operatives in the country? Enough is enough. Nigeria will change.

Those who should go to prison, will go to prison; those who should go on exile, should go while those who deserve death must die for Nigeria to improve," he cursed.

Peace committee set up for CAC re-unification

By OLA AJAYI, Ibadan

A

23-YEAR old feud that has left the Christ Apostolic Church, CAC, in disarray with two factions, the Supreme Council and General Executive over ownership of the church may soon come to an end as the former extended an olive branch to its opponent for the resolution of the crisis.

The gesture was extended at the opening session of the annual pastors' conference of the church held at Ile-Aanu, Alasepe Prayer Ground, Ikire in Osun State.

It has been a ding-dong affair between the two factions for over two decades with several litigations pending in several courts in different states of the federation.

Addressing hundreds of its pastors at the conference, the Supreme Council led by Pastor Gabriel Lagunju, maintained that it had always been of the view that the misunderstanding could be resolved amicably.

Already, the church has set up a 20-man peace committee that would meet the other faction to discuss modality that would bring

back the elusive peace to the church, adding; "we, in the Supreme Council are eager to see the actualization of sincere peace and unity in our dear mission so that we can witness the end-time revival from our church as promised by God".

Church leaders recalled how Christian leaders such as Pastor Enoch Adeboye, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, governors, kings and soldiers had unsuccessfully intervened.

To them, the escalation of the crisis had some spiritual undertone and they believe if they come together, the

problem would be surmounted through prayers.

On the lingering face-off between the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU and the Federal Government, the clerics urged government to reconsider its stance on the issue because many students are suffering at home due to the strike.

At the well-attended conference, names of 17 leaders of the church who died in the last one year were announced; including Apostle Timothy Obadare, Pastor J. Ogunlade, president of the mission and many others.

ISTRICT Overseer of Foursquare Gos pel Church Nigeria, Ifako Detrict, Rev. Paul Oyekan Fadayini has urged Nigerian politicians to eradicate corruption from every sphere of the nation and propel restore its past glory.

Addressing newsmen preparatory to the church's annual district convocation which began last Thursday and will be rounded off today, the cleric maintained that "at this point in the political and economic history of Nigeria, we see a pressing need for Nigerian, particularly our country's political and economic leaders, to remove their soul gaze and ambition from the dazzling but corrupt glory of mundane power and riches that are causing ruins to the nation."

According to him, Nigeria is one of the countries of the world where politicians are desperate for power, or extremely desperate to grab power.

"Apart from this," he said "the nation today groans under the heavy load of cost of governance. The national recurrent expenditure is crippling investment in capital and developmental projects. As the developed nations are progressing fast in technology while Nigeria is diving deeper into technology and economic depression."

Fadarini accused political leaders of not demonstrating that they are ready to square up with the challenges posed by the globalisation phonomenon, tasking the political class to rise up to these challenges, and move Nigeria forward politically, economically and technologically.

Addressing security challenges in the country, the cleric said recent Boko Haram insurgence, communal clashes and other security challenges are indicative of national unrest.

"When will all these troubles end? When will our national leaders face the real business of good governance and national development that can give Nigeria a vantage position in the country in the comity of nations?

The convocation is expected to feature free community and health services and training activities.

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 49

A

S I was driving on a bridge in Lagos, I asked God a question. When I looked up, I saw the answer boldly written on a billboard. I was so flabbergasted; I started debating with myself if what I saw was a vision.

Therefore, I went back.

When I got to the same spot, I saw the bill-board again. It had always been there, with its words as dead letters.

But God gave life to those dead letters and used them to answer my question. Nevertheless, the same words remained as dead letters to others. That is the power of God. So let me give you the first challenge. Ask God a question. Then spend the rest of the day waiting expectantly for him to answer you. Habakkuk says: “I will climb my watchtower now and wait to see what answer God will give.” (Habakkuk 2:1). Once we ask God a question, we must take nothing for granted.

We must be expectant; always on the look-out for God. I have never asked God a question that he did not answer.

No coincidences Why was it that the exact time I asked my question was the exact time I drove near that billboard, enabling God to answer my question with it? Am I the one who asked the question or did God make me ask the question so he could answer it like that?

Let me tell you what I have discovered from my walk with God, knowing

GOD IS TALKING TO YOU (2) of course that there is nothing definitive about my position. I am only a God-seeker, just like you. I am the one who asked the question. The question had been lodged in my heart for some time. But God determined the time I asked it so as to answer the way he did. Solomon says: “The preparations of the heart belong to man, but the answer of the tongue is from the LORD.” (Proverbs 16:1).

Remember this also: “The earth is the Lord’s and everything in it, the world, and all who live in it.” (Psalm 24:1).

Therefore, God can use anything to talk to us. He once spoke to Nebuchadnezzar by writing on a wall. He can also use the voice of anybody to talk to us. He even used an ass to talk to Balaam. He once talked to me through my own lips.

When he does, you will know it is him. Jesus says: “My sheep hear my voice and I know them, and they follow me.”

(John 10:27). “They will by no means follow a stranger, but will flee from him, for they do not know the voice of strangers.” (John 10:5).

Have you ever had a dream of being some-

Those who want to hear from God hear what they don’t want to hear. where you had never been before and yet you knew where you were?

So it is when God speaks. The very knowledge that the person speaking to us is God comes from God himself, although the devil will do everything possible to steal that knowledge with doubts. Don’t worry; Jesus promises that we shall all be taught by God himself.” (John 6:45).

The risk factor The eagle carefully builds a nest where it keeps its baby eaglets. It brings them food and nurtures them. But then suddenly, it tears up the nest, carries the eaglets on its wings, flies high into the sky and drops them. What if they fall down and die? The eagle itself is their defence.

As the eaglets scramble and flounder, trying to use their wings, the eagle swops under them, spreads its wings and catches them. It does this repeatedly, until the

eaglets learn to use their wings and fly.

So it is with us. It does not matter if we flounder and make mistakes. God himself is our defence; he will uphold us with his right hand of righteousness. Indeed, there are initial risks in wanting to hear from God. However, they are risks we must be prepared to take. Let me say this categorically. The man or woman who wants to hear from God is bound to be deceived at first.

The devil will enter into the detail. Don’t worry about this. Greater is the Holy Spirit that is with us than the demons in the world. (I John 4:4).

God allows those who want to hear from him to be deceived in order to see if we will give up on him. He wants to know how determined we are.

Don’t give up because you made a mistake or were embarrassed. Just wait and see how God, who sees your heart and knows your motives, will turn the mistake or embarrassment around. In

fact, we need to make mistakes early in order to learn from them. God uses the devil to bring us into a better appreciation of God. Rebecca Brown walks with God. But one day, she was deceived. It was such a major deception that she cried out to God that such a thing should never happen to her again. But the Lord warned her that if she did not want it to happen again, then she cannot be his child. The only guarantee God would give Rebecca is that if it ever happened again, she can always rely on him to deliver her. “Are the consolations of God too small for you?” (Job 15:11).

No vainglory There is nothing glamorous about hearing from God. It is not going to make us into superstars. Those who want to be superstars don’t hear from God: they only hear from men.

Those who want to hear from God hear what they don’t want to hear.

Since we want to hear from God, we should not expect him to tell us who is going to be the next president of Nigeria, so

we can proclaim it on the pages of Vanguard and be acclaimed as prophets. We should not expect him to tell us which shares to invest in so we can become billionaires.

We should expect him to reveal our sins to us. We should expect him to lead us to himself along the path of righteousness. God’s word is not for self-aggrandisement.

It is a lamp to our feet and a guide to our path.

(Psalm 119:105).

The Bible The Bible is the most important book ever written and compiled by men. It is written mostly by the inspiration of God and it tells us what God said to some men of old.

The Bible is one of the key means by which God speaks to us today. He does this by giving life to its dead letters, even as he gave life to the dead words on the billboard to me.

As you read the Bible, God occasionally lifts up a scripture that hits you in the face. That scripture becomes God’s word for you. It will convey a specific message addressed precisely from God to you. Therefore, if you want God to speak to you, make a point of reading your Bible regularly.

But don’t just open the Bible and say whatever you see there and then is God’s word to you.

God’s word must originate from God himself.

You cannot be the determinant. Leave everything to God.

To be Continued.

ABORTION: Catholic Archbishop cautions Nigerians to be at alert

By Chinweoke Akoma, Prisca Sam-Duru and Josephine Igbinovia CATHOLIC Archbishop of Lagos, Most Rev. Adewale Martins, has commended the efforts of Nigerians who have been at the forefront of battle to ensure that abortion remains illegal in Nigeria.

Martins, in a message at the 2013 Mass of Reparation for sins against human life, described abortion as a grave moral evil and urged parents and teachers to communicate to them the gravity of terminating a human life and the irreparable harm done to the innocent who is put to death through abortion.

He lauded the country ’s leaders and civil society who have withstood the mounting pressure to legalize abortion, noting “our country’s laws recognize the right of the unborn to live and be born.”

Also speaking, the Metropolitan Grand Knight, Knights of St. Mulumba, Sir Patrick Ikemefuna, revealed

that, of all anti-life issues, abortion is the greatest sin, pointing out that human life is sacred and that the Church has always maintained that life starts at conception .

According to him, in line with this year’s theme: ‘Professing our faith through the defence of human life’, the Catholic Church is totally against abortion from the beginning and has not changed on its stand and other issues that are anti-life.

Similarly, the keynote speaker, Rev. Fr. James Olubiyi, noted that the Old Testament attested to the value of human life in its earliest form. “Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you and before you were born, I consecrated you”. He emphasized that choosing to live chastely is a sign of faith in God’s Word and in the teaching of the Church, adding that only chaste living can permanently reduce the rising number of abortions and foster respect for the human dignity of all men, women, children and the

unborn.

In another development, the Holy Cross Cathedral, Lagos, held a thanksgiving Mass in honour of National Association of Catholic Lawyers, for the commencement of their annual legal year.

In his sermon, the cathedral's administrator, Rev. Monsignor Paschal Nwanzeapu lamented that Nigeria is seriously sick and gradually walking along the path of disintegration, a situation he said, has turned her into a land of failures and evil.

Msgnr Nwanzeapu who enjoined lawyers to use their offices to contribute positively to salvage the nation, regretted that “governance, civil service, education sector, judiciary, economy, family institutions as well as religious organisations have all failed because the values of the people have completely decayed.”

The reverend decried the level of “disrespect for human life, Boko Haram insurgency which has claimed so many

lives, increase in the rate of kidnapping, and the worse of them all, massive corruption which has bedeviled the nation;” stressing that it is more saddening that Nigerians are becoming comfortable with the situation.

“There is deep-seated self centredness, greed and tribalism in the society and the Church which is a shame and very unfortunate because it has made it absolutely difficult for the Church to rise up with one voice and fight bad leadership,” he said.

His words: “Nigeria has become a dumping ground and our children have been lured into homosexuality due to poverty. I sympathise with Nigerians because very soon if not checked, foreign nations controlling us will graduate from forcing same sex marriage on the people. Nigerians must wake up and fight evil.”

Meanwhile, the Catholic Church of Ascension, Lagos, has rolled out activities for the celebration of its ninth annual

harvest in November. Tagged Harvest of Divine Mercy, the pre-harvest activities which took-off with a health talk preceded by a walk that almost brought the Lagos Airport environ to a halt, also include a forthcoming novelty football match between the men and women parishioners of the church and a dinner party.

Publicity chairperson, Harvest Planning Committee, Mrs. Marcella Iyitor, who said the edition was unique because it was being driven by the church’s Catholic Women Organisation, CWO, disclosed that the idea behind the fusion of funfair was to add fun to the Catholic faith which was already losing out on young adults because of growing preference for enlivened worship places.

Endorsing the introduction of sporting activities into the harvest, resident priest, Fr. Mike Etegene, said that it would let people understand they could serve God and still live a healthy and happy life.

PAGE 50—SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER, 29, 2013

H

Love

People no longer believe in the idea of soul mates, or love at first sight. They are beginning to believe that a very few times in your life if you were lucky, you might meet someone who was exactly right for you.

Not because he was perfect, or because you were, but because your combined flaws were arranged in a way that allowed two separate beings to hinge together. Cheers! i,

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08182020581, 08157444397 •Julius, 26, decent and cute, needs matured male friends.

08171460184 •Patrickson, 25, tall and slim needs a female friend from Anambra.08055846088 •Chuks, 26, from Imo state but reside in Onitsha, single, honest and God fearing needs a good and caring female friend08067347878, 08038609074

Lovers Searching Female

•Nkiru, 35, employed and resides in Abuja, needs a man for a relationship, that would lead to marriage, aged 40-45, who is born again, hardworking and from Ibo or Delat Ibo, for marriage.

08166131427 •Ella, needs a guy, aged 32, who is financially stable, for a relationship.08130180438 •Tamar, fair in complexion and busty, from Delta state, needs a God fearing man, for a relationship, that can lead to marriage.08067091516 •P r i n c e s s , 2 8 , a n undergraduate and a business lady, tall, fair in complexion, pretty and Godly, needs a loving, caring and generous man, for a serious relationship, aged 40-60.

08105258540 •Bisi, 25, fair in complexion, average height and a graduate, needs a loving man, aged 40 and above.

07066589543 •Chioma, busty, homely, fun loving and God fearing, needs an educated, employed, loving, caring, God fearing and good looking

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08038480426 •Beauty, 28, needs a serious, God fearing and hard working man, aged 35-40, who is ready to settle down in six months time, for a relationship. 08054857674 •Kate, 50, a divorcee and single mother of three, born again Christian, needs an honest born again Christian and self employed or businessman for marriage.

07082877674 •Favour, tall, sexy and busty, needs a man for a relationship. 08144464087

•Claire, 19, average height,

intelligent, busty and beautiful, needs a responsible wealthy & rich man to sponsor her education for a serious relationship that can lead to marriage. 08168044402 •Joy, 25, dark in complexion and from Delta state, needs a God fearing man, aged 28-30, for a serious relationship.

08063843811 •Chidimma, 24, needs a loving and caring guy, for serious relationship.08061132850 •Sandra, 27, tall, plumpy, pretty, with a nice voice and a single mother of one, hard working and resides in Abuja, needs a man that can love her for real.08137211459 •Ruby, 34, employed, plumpy, busty, blood group AA, from Delta state, needs a mature and serious minded man, aged 35-40, who is caring, educated, a Christian, employed, financially ok and ready to settle down.08102621584 •Adeze, 24, needs a loving and caring guy, for a serious relationship.08061132850 • Blessing, 22, fair in complexion, beautiful and loving, needs someone, who will be there for her.

08100763425 •Peace, a graduate, needs a peaceful, comfortable, God fearing and responsible man, aged 34-38, who is ready to settle down.08182100488

Searching Male

•A guy, tall and good looking,

needs a tall, beautiful and Christian lady, for an intimate relationship, aged 20-29, who is a graduate and humble.

07087779682 •Eddy, 27, a graduate and resides in Benin, needs a lady,

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

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

aged 30-50, for a serious relationship.07064914566 •Frank, 30, needs a lady, aged 35-50, for a romantic relationship. 08171304021, 08032751507 •Moses, needs a lady, aged 35, for marriage.08034475181 •Chinedu, 24, 5.2 fit tall and fair in complexion, needs a beautiful, caring and God fearing lady, aged 18-25.

08026869038 •Dan, 53, needs a God fearing lady, in either Delta or Bayelsa state, for marriage, aged 3545. 08011715885 •Clint, 27, nice and resides in Enugu, needs a comfortable and caring woman, for mutual relationship.08067126514 •Yemi, 39, honest, chocolate in complexion, slim, tall, handsome, strong,, caring and a graduate, needs a busty, fat lady with big bum and hips, aged 21-55as lover.

08139307506 •Franck, 35, nice and humble, from Edo state, needs a fat lady, for a serious relationship.

08075214680 • Babalola, 36, needs a religious single Muslim girl, aged 30, for marriage.

08087074640 08138856900, 08170141833 •Chris, 30, resides in OnitshaAnambra state, needs a lady, aged 29-40, for a serious relationship, that will lead to marriage.08167224960 •Emmanuel, 21, from Abia state, needs a lady, for a relationship. 08137187712 •Orode, 33, employed and from Delta state, needs a decent girl, for a relationship that will lead to marriege.

08130521432 •A guy, needs a pretty and God fearing lady, for marriage.

08106365336 •A guy, needs a pretty, sexy, educated and loving lady, for a relationship.07080099206 • Sam, 35 and employed, needs a God fearing lady for a wife. 08038371324 •Obinna, 32, from Abia state, needs a God fearing lady for marriage.08065221928, BB Pin. 322985AA. • Kelly, 35, employed and resides in Lagos, needs a decent and God fearing lady for a wife.08034594897, 08053954267, 08038371324 •Goodluck, music artist, needs a girl, aged 20-30, who is very good in singing and dancing.

08107667407 •Jack, 25, 5ft tall, dark in complexion and from Warri, needs a girl, aged 20-23, for a relationship, that would lead to marriage.08063727058 •Collins, needs a lady, aged 22, for a relationship.

08137766420 •A guy 33, from Delta state, needs an educated and employed lady, to settle down with. 08063796619 •Williams, employed and from Delta state, needs a very humble lady, aged 28, for a serious relationship, that can lead to marriage.08101282703 • Ben, 24, 5ft tall, fair in complexion, and resides in Warri, needs a caring lady aged 23 -27, who can assist him financially and morally.

08066280253,08182644708 •Tosin, 47, employed, needs an employed lady, aged 40, for a serious relationship.

08139272038 •Mario, 27, needs a lady, aged 20-24, for a serious relationship. 08062887430 • Moses ,56, well to do financially and from Delta

state, needs a lady, who is beautiful, busty, tall, fair or dark in complexion, aged 3042, who is employed and has either one or two kids and ready to settle down 08183871060, 08034642457 •Ejiro, 28, dark in complexion and resides in Ughelli Delta state, needs a lovely, caring and financially ok, lady, for a serious relationship.

08160119464, 08057873705 •Aaron, 22, 5.6 ft tall, athletic in nature and a student, needs a wealthy and financially ok lady, who will take good care of him, for a serious relationship.07060553775 •Kc, a student, handsome, God fearing and from Delta state, needs a caring, understanding and God fearing girl, aged 20-22, for a date. 07068387627 •Emery, 33, employed and resides in Edo state, needs a honest lady, aged 22-26, for a serious relationship.

07035759446 •A guy, 28, resides in Benin, needs a girl, aged 20-25, for a relationship. 08071448087, 08124698797 •Sam. 33, resides in Delta state, needs a God fearing, intelligent, tall and beautiful lady, who is employed for a wife.08036251884 •Efe, 24, resides in Edo state, needs a God fearing and caring girl, aged 21-20 07062043024, 08132365765, 07062043024 •Kelly, 28 from Warri, needs a woman, aged 32-38, for a relationship.08134059422 •Jaybee, 46, resides in Lagos, needs a financially ok, good looking and sexy lady, aged 25-60 for an affair.

07040535715 •Ken, 35, from Ebonyi state a graduate, employed form Eboyin state, but resides in Lagos, needs a romantic and rich lady for marriage.

08030575709 • A guy, 25, tall,dark in complexion, handsome and needs a woman that he can call his. 08103601288 • Dickson, 32, tall and chocolate in complexion, from Delta state, needs an Itsekiri lady, aged 24-28, who is financially buoyant for a serious relationship.

07060822957 • Jenije, 33, needs an employed single lady, for a serious relationship that could lead to marriage.07038131482 •Sunny, resides in Owerri Imo state, needs an employed lady, aged 25-30, for marriage.

07055065220 Sugar Cares Searching Female •Nancy, 21, needs a sugar dad-

dy, for a discrete affair.

08166245147

Searching Male

•Emeka, based in Lagos needs

a sexually starved sugar mummy in Lagos.07014332822 Bola, 28, form Ijebu-ode, needs a financially stable sugar mummy, in or outside Ogun state. 07038883182 •Lucky, 35, handsome and from Benin City, needs a sugar mummy, who is rich.

08069714964 •Dani, 28, tall, good looking and resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy. 08185424886 •Gab, 28, resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy, aged 40-50. 08104463281 •Ken, 27, a student, handsome, tall and dark in complexion,

SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013,PAGE 51

needs a sugar mummy, for a serious relationship, aged 30-50. 08067701226, 07054769036 •Matte, 21, resides in Lagos, needs a rich sugar mummy that can take good care of him.

0 8 1 7 8 4 6 4 9 0 2 , 08161606779 •Joe, 28, resides in Lagos, needs a nice sugar mummy that will take care of him. 08082124198 •Chris, 27, tall, with a nice body shape, needs an active ,rich and mature sugar mummy, that can take care of him, for a romantic relationship.

08102113074 •Ola, 30, resides in Delta state, needs a romantic and sexy sugar mummy, who can help him start a business.08109541388 • Greg, needs a sugar mummy, from Edo state, that can take care of him financially, who can take care of him. 08076366428 •Wilson, handsome and resides in Benin City, needs a sugar mummy.

08130989891 •A guy, 28, needs a sugar mummy, aged 30-38, who resides in Edo or Delta s t a t e .

08036986774 •Matte, 21, resides in Lagos state, needs a rich sugar mummy.

08178464902 .•Ibrahim, 29, resides in Delta state, needs a sugar mummy,that can help him to travel out. 08188667922 •Raymond, 27, cute, from Edo state, needs a sugar mummy, for a relationship. 08054086941, 08160708169 •Ani, 23, needs a loyal and trustworthy, sugar mummy, for a relationship. 08168612339 •Christian, handsome, fair in complexion, an undergraduate and resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy, aged 3540.08104818978 •Lan 30, 5.6ft tall, dark in complexion and resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy. 08054031003 • Mike, needs a sugar mummy.08032242298, 07031307469 •Charley, 32, an undergraduate, needs a beautiful and nice sugar mummy, aged 44, for a relationship. 08131882449 •Valentine, 26, a graduate and resides in Delta state, trust worthy, energetic and romantic, needs a well to do sugar mummy. 07064547642 • Leo, needs a sugar mummy, who will take care of him. 08070864312 • Christian, 23, cool, friendly and resides in Warri, needs a sugar mummy, aged 30-35..

07068897050 • Yusuf, needs a sugar mummy.07037733369 •Sanchez, 28, from Delta state, needs a good looking sugar mummy, who will love and take good care of him. 08164924556

•Israel, tall, handsome and dark in complexion, needs a nice, rich, sexy and romantic sugar mummy.08162704979 •Ike, tall and chocolate in complexion, needs a rich sugar mummy.

08031903750 •Olu, 29, resides in Lagos, needs a rich sugar mummy, who is busty and romantic, for relation-

07059105401 •Kelvin, 23, from Delta state, needs a caring sugar mummy, aged 3040.07068387627 •Ese, 22, dark in complexion, from Delta state, needs a nice and caring sugar mummy, aged 3065. 08168759677 • Atete, needs a sugar mummy, who can help him to finance his educa-

ship.08121528414, 07052392808 •Armstrong, tall, handsome and dark in complexion, needs a sugar mummy, aged 30 and above. 08134814853 •Timothy, 25, cool, nice and resides in Delta state, needs a sugar mummy.08182391103, 07054003132 •Jd, 27, needs a sugar mummy. 08031876557 •Gentle, 25, graduate and resides in Enugu, needs a rich, caring, understanding and influential sugar mummy, for intimacy. 08087560628, 07033029082 • Dave, an athlete, healthy, strong and romantic, needs a caring sugar mummy, aged 40 and above. 08025426421 • Oghenekevwe, 33, needs a sugar mummy, who is financially ok and resides in Delta state.07064860322 •Gbolahan, 21, a student, needs a rich, clean, pretty, sexy, cute and hot sugar mummy, aged30-47.

0 8 0 8 5 7 6 4 3 5 1 , 08140361804 • Emma, 23, needs a good, caring, beautiful, fat and sexy sugar mummy, from Anambra state, aged 35-45. 08169702472 •Leonard, 35, from Benin City, needs a sugar mummy, for a serious relationship, aged 30-50.

08127009216 • Larry, good looking, needs a romantic sugar mummy, who can take care of him. 08068534659, 08058187203 •Akindele, needs a matured sugar mummy, aged60-70. 08181592179, 08052226713 •Ikenna, 32, a trader and resides in Lagos, needs a wealthy and sexy sugar mummy, for a relationship. 08175516441 •Lanre, needs a sexy and caring sugar mummy, for a serious relationship, aged 35-42. 08066067082 •Travis, 25, from Delta state, needs sugar mummy, for a relationship.

0 8 0 3 5 3 0 5 9 4 7

tion. 08160349802 •Kelly, 26, fair in complexion, tall, sexy and intelligent, needs a rich sugar mummy, aged 3550, for serious affair.

08184139669 •Nelson, 25, from Delta state, needs a sugar mummy, that is caring lovely and can take good care of him. 08036077350 •Chris, 30, needs a rich sugar mummy, aged 38 45, who is beautiful, for a r e l a t i o n s h i p .

0 8 0 9 8 7 2 3 0 7 2 , 08035489879.

• Matte, 21, average height, good looking and resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy, who will take care of him.08161606779, 08178464902 •Tony, 25, a graduate, employed and from Delta state, needs a sugar mummy, aged 3540.08037233969 •Tony, 27, tall, dark in complexion needs fair or chocolate sugar mummy who can take care of him aged 30 .60 for a relationship07034193718 •Chukwunonso, 28, tall, dark in complexion and from Delta state, needs a rich sugar mummy, aged 39- 48. 08185261864, 07034397370.

•Charles, 23, fair in complexion, handsome, tall and from Delta state, needs a wealthy sugar mummy.08140134864, 08161905258 •Liz, from Delta state, needs a sugar mummy, for a serious relationship.

07089737534 •Uche, 35, tall and chocolate in complexion, needs a sugar mummy.

08024778575 •Desmond, 38, tall, dark in complexion and resides in Lagos, needs a slim, tall, sexy and beautiful sugar mummy, for an affair.070865252140 •Edwin, 18, a student, resides in Delta state, needs a sugar mummy, who will take good care of him.08184573334 •Julius, 25, needs a sugar mummy, who can take

good care of him.

0 8 1 8 8 8 7 9 8 7 6 , 08078289668 •John, 23, handsome and a student, in Asaba, needs a rich sugar mummy, for a romantic relationship, aged 40 and above.08163962449 •A guy, 29, employed, needs a sugar mummy in Enugu, for a romantic relationship. 08104312153 •A guy, 23, needs a sugar mummy, for a serious relationship. 07089737534 •Jerry, 26, resides in Edo state, needs a caring and loving sugar mummy, who will take good care of him and his education.08055896255, 07033112845 •JJ, 28, tall, dark in complexion, hairy, attractive and a graduate from Delta state, needs a caring, mature and active sugar mummy, aged 33-45, for a relationship.

08038793173 •Goodness, 26, tall and dark in complexion, from Delta state, needs a tall, sexy and pretty sugar mummy, who is single, aged 35-45.08087547715 •Kevin, 25, a student, form Imo state, needs a sugar mummy.

07034411726.

•Kenneth, 30, tall, handsome, fair in complexion, intelligent and resides in Abuja, needs a caring sugar mummy, who is loving and romantic, aged 30-50, who will take good care of him.

08159770472 •Precious, 25, from Warri, needs a caring and lovely sugar mummy.

08130261102 •Boby, 22, a student, from Imo state, needs a sugar mummy. 07061090000 •Peter, romantic and loving, from Delta state, needs a sugar mummy, aged 39-59.

07025909557.

•Cruise, 23, 5.8ft, tall, handsome, caring and resides in Abuja, needs a rich sugar mummy.

07066334671 •John, resides in Abuja, needs a hot and sexy sugar mummy, that can take of him.

08168782601 •John, from Delta state, needs a sexy and hot sugar mummy, aged 2459 for a serious rielationship.08168782601.

•Ghenemaro, from Delta state, needs a sugar mummy, who is rich and resides in Asaba.

08100680766.

•Philip, 28, resides in Abuja, needs a sugar mummy for a relationship.07038100309 •Uyi, 29, needs a sugar mummy.08106365336 •Shadrack, 32, from Edo state, needs a sugar mummy, who will take care of him financially.

07067140396 •Felix, 37, resides in Delta state, needs a sugar mummy.07034269138

•Ik, from Enugu, needs a sexy and caring sugar mummy, aged 30 and above. 08130007588.

•Afam, employed and resides in Edo state, needs a sugar mummy, for financial assistance.

08053627409 •Chuks, 23, needs a beautiful and sexy sugar mummy, from Edo state, aged 30-50. 08065186134 •Oliver, from Delta state, needs a sugar mummy, aged 40 and above.

08168864700 •Anthony, 28, tall and cute from Akwa-Ibom state, but resides in Ibadan, needs a rich sugar mummy, aged 35-40, for serious relationship.08033294558 •Johnson, 23, handsome, romantic and a student, in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy, aged 4055.07053971535.

•Onos, 25, handsome, dark in complexion and resides in Warri, needs a sugar mummy.

07035471088 •Paul, 22, good looking, needs a sugar mummy.08035269603 •Lester, 26, 5.6ft tall, from Delta state, needs a sexy, beautiful, energetic and romantic, sugar mummy, aged.30-55. 07068936763 •Victor, 21, needs a caring sugar mummy, aged25-40 for serious affair. 08032211405 •Joe, 28, resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy, aged 35-45. 08082124198 •A guy, needs a sexy sugar mummy, who resides in either Lagos, Abuja, P.H or Warri, aged 40-50.

08106246877 •Taiwo, 40, needs a very fat and rich sugar mumm y. 0 7 0 5 8 8 0 1 3 2 2 , 08033671255 •Kelvin, 20, needs a sugar mummy in Ph. 07080753684 •Fred, 30, resides in Delta state, needs a sexy sugar mummy, for a serious relationship.

08157487880 •Kenny, fair in complexion and handsome, needs a rich sugar mummy.07035767013 •Emmy, 25, needs a sugar mummy, aged 30-45, in Warri.08115954901 •George, from PH, needs an understanding sugar mummy. 07055594521, 08102980122 •Emma, 23, fair in complexion, needs a romantic, fat, sexy and beautiful sugar mummy, aged 30-40, from Anambra, for a relationship.

08169702472 •Victor, 28, tall, sexy, resides in Enugu, needs a matured sugar mummy, who is wealthy, for romantic affair.081342416 •Stanley, 43, employed, from Edo state, but resides in P H, needs a comfortable sugar mummy, aged 40- 45, that can help, for a good relationship.08056724341, 080345624341 •Justice, needs a sugar mummy, aged 35-55, who resides in Lagos.08158798656, 08064479252 •A guy, needs a nice sugar mummy.07035167650

•Austine, from Anambra state, needs a sugar mummy.07066773061 •Ayi, 26, from Cross River, but resides in Abuja, needs a rich sugar mummy, in Abuja, aged 30-35.

08159116457 •Eric,.21,from Edo state, needs a sexy sugar mummy, aged 30-60 .08148440186, 07010657683 • Kay, needs a sugar mummy in Lagos.

08023879346 •Papa, 30, needs a sugar mummy.08058119785 •Maxwell, 27, needs a sugar mummy, aged 35– 50. 08163370890 •Valentine, 27, handsome and romantic, needs a caring, loving and sexy sugar mummy.

08168495789 •Steve, 27, resides in Lagos, needs a nice, caring and fun loving sugar mummy. 08067302323 •A guy, 25, tall handsome and from Delta state, needs a caring and sexy sugar mummy.

07055414491 •Courage, 25, a students and resides in Delta state, needs a beautiful sugar mummy, who resides in Delta state, aged 3545.08063896072 • Jeff, 18, handsome, needs a rich sugar mummy, who can take care of his needs. 08184475003 •ND, 18, from Imo state, needs a good and caring sugar mummy, aged 3545 08176380863 •Mike, 20,.dark in complexion, handsome and resides in PH, needs a sugar mummy for serious relationship. 08161854273 •Desmond, 33, handsome and resides in Delta state, needs a buoyant sugar mummy. 08053030999 •Simon, 36, handsome, fair in complexion, from Ogun State, needs a sugar mummy, aged 40-45 that can take care of him financially. 08050503237 •Peter, 30, needs a sugar mummy, aged 35-55.

08036974583 •Jose, 35, from Edo state, needs a busty, sugar mummy, from Edo state that is caring and ready to support him financially. 08055695969 •Robert, a student needs a sugar mummy that can take care of him.

08032152233 •Oliver, from Delta state, needs a sugar mummy, aged 40 and above for an affair. 08168864700 •Anthony, 28, tall and cute, from Akwa-Ibom state, but resides in Ibadan, needs a rich sugar mummy, aged 3540, for a serious relationship.08033294558 •Johnson, 23, a student, handsome and resides in Lagos, needs a sugar mummy, aged 40-55.

07053971535 • Onos, 25, dark in complexion, handsome and resides in Warri, needs a sugar mummy.

07035471088 •Paul, 22, good looking and from Edo state, needs a sugar mummy who is caring.

08035269603

PAGE 52 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Don’t write United off yet — Moyes D

AVID Moyes insists Manchester United should be judged on how they “move on” after their worst start for 24 years.

Goals from Morgan Amalfitano and Saido Berahino for West Brom either side of a Wayne Rooney free-kick kept United on seven points, the same tally they had after six games of the 1989-90 season.

Manchester United have become only the second top-flight English champions - after Blackburn in 1995-96 - to begin the following season with three (or more) defeats in their opening six matches since Leeds did so in the 197475 season.

“You’re always going to have bad results in football, it is how you deal with them,” the Old Trafford boss said.

“We will move on and look forward to the next one.

There are lots of games here and you get ready for the next one.

“I’m concerned after the game but only because we didn’t play well. We can put it right.”

Moyes, whose side have won just two Premier League games since he replaced the retired Sir Alex Ferguson in the summer, bemoaned the champions’ below-par performance. “We did not defend well at all but we did not attack well,” the former Everton manager told BBC Sport. “We had a lot of the ball in the first half but didn’t make the most of it.”

S

TEVE Clarke has re vealed he sought the advice of Manchester United boss David Moyes before he made a move for Victor Anichebe.

Moyes managed Anichebe at Everton before his own move to Old Trafford.

Clarke was impressed by what he heard when he spoke to his counterpart.

“I spoke to David, just to ask him one or two things – not just about Victor, but other players too,” said Clarke.

“It was two or three weeks before the window closed but we spoke about a number of players, including Victor.

“He spoke very well about Victor and other players.

“Normally when you’re

T

HE national wom en’s basketball team yesterday dusted themselves from the quater-final loss to Mozambique to decision Cote d’Ivoire 62-53 in a classification match and will meet another west African foe, Mali today to decide who comes fifth in the 2013 Afrobasket in Maputo, Mozambique.

Playing in the same Group B earlier, Mali beat the Nigerian side 78-45 but after the five star performance against host Mozambique Friday, the Scott Nnaji-tutored side are set to stop the Malians today and remain the fifth best in Africa after winning the competitions thrice in the past.

Meanwhile the Pavilghaio do MAXAQUENE, venue of the competition erupted with wild jubilation from the home fans for the second time in two days as Mozam-

after a player you try to speak to people who have worked with that player before.

“I made calls about Amalfitano at Marseille, because I knew people who had worked with Morgan.

“I made calls about Stephane (Sessegnon) – it’s what we do as managers.

“Victor was a player I wanted. I felt his attributes would complement the players we had at the club.”

Clarke said that he felt for Moyes who is coming under increasing pressure to perform at United.

“I’m sure David is feeling the pressure of a big club, even after 11 years at Everton. United is not only a football club but also an institution.

Imoke charges Eaglets to conquer the world

S

HIGHER GROUND...West Bromwich Albion’s Nigerian forward Victor Anichebe (L) vies with Manchester United’s Dutch defender Alexander Büttner during the English Premier League football match between Manchester United and West Bromwich Albion at Old Trafford. West Brom won 2-1

Afrobasket: Nigeria battle Mali for 5th place

BY PATRICK OMORODION

Moyes recommended Anichebe for Brom, coach reveals

•As Mozambique cruise into final bique stopped Cameroon from advancing to set up a final with the winner of the second semi final between Angola and Senegal still bein decid-

ed as at press time last night.

The Cameroonians ran away with a 14-point lead in the first quarter at 23-9 but Mozambique

fought back to win the second, third and fourth quarters at 15-14, 13-8 and 22-12 to respectively to pickthe final ticket at 61-57.

Mayweather, Khan to clash in May

A

MIR Khan (28-3, 19 KOs) has emerged as the front runner to face, Floyd Mayweather on the May 3 2014. The venue is unlikely to be in the UK, mainly because of tax reasons, so expect it to take place at the MGM Grand, Las Vegas, Nevada, USA. Khan had been in negotiations for a clash with IBF welterweight champion, Devon Alexander. It seems that the Bolton fighter has pulled out and instead Alexander is being lined-up to fight veteran Zab Judah, in a possible doubler header, at the Barclays Centre, Brooklyn, New York, along with Paulie Malignaggi vs

Shawn Porter.

Amir last fought against Julio Diaz in April 2013, but it is believed that he won’t fight again this year and is intent on concentrating on the Mayweather clash, which is undoubtedly the biggest fight of his career both in terms of the level of opposition and the pay cheque.

Mayweather’s last fight was at 152lbs against Saul Alvarez, though the potential Khan clash will be at 147lbs with Floyd’s WBC welterweight belt on the line.

Many believe that Khan has the tools and speed to cause Floyd problems but also that his chin will let him down. What odds

on the infamous ‘Checkhook’ taking care of another Brit?, just as it did to Ricky Hatton back in August 2007.

The champion is undefeated in 45 fights, and there won’t be too many backing the Brit to become the first to defeat him.

There will be criticism that Khan is ducking out of the Alexander clash, a fight that seemed a genuine 50-50, and playing it safe in-order to cash-in on the Mayweather fight.

You can’t blame the Bolton fighter for wanting the Mayweather clash, but you do have to wonder about the lack of confidence being shown by his handlers.

ENATOR Liyel Imoke (CON), Governor of Cross River State, has in a valedictory speech told the Golden Eaglets to go and conquer the rest of the world at the 2013 FIFA Under-17 World Cup to be held in the UAE between October 17 and November 8.

Speaking on behalf of the governor at the practice pitch of U.J Esuene Stadium on Saturday, Patrick Ugbe, the State’s Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development in company of the Deputy Chief of Staff to Gov. Imoke, Mr. Jude Ngaji said the Golden Eaglets have nothing to be afraid of against other contenders. “ I bring special greetings to you from His Excellency, Governor Imoke and we are all happy that you have had a pleasant stay with us here ,” Ugbe said after watching the team’s final training session in Calabar ahead of their departure to their pre-World Cup camp in Dubai.

“The message from His

•Ugbade... Eaglets’ assistant coach

Excellency is that you should go and bring the trophy as he would be happy to receive you afterwards.”

Ugbe further reminded the players about previous exploits of Nigeria at the Under-17 World Cup having emerged champions thrice in 1985, 1993 and 2007 as well as being silver medallist in 1987, 2001 and 2009.

“The first edition of this tournament was won by Nigeria and you are lucky to have in the technical crew, Nduka Ugbade who was the captain of that historic team in 1985, so go and conquer the world in Dubai,” he noted. “ You don’t have to be scared of any team rather they should be scared of Nigeria given our strong pedigree at this level and as you go to the World Cup as a world leader in this category. “ He further admonished the players to follow the instructions of their coaches even as he prayed that God should bless all the efforts of the team with resounding success.

He added: “Always remember all that you have been taught by the coaches and don’t forget that matches are not won or lost until the end of the final whistle by referee.

“We wish you good luck and do know that we would be supporting you all the way as some of us would be at the World Cup by the grace of God to support you.”

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SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013 — PAGE 53

Nigeria needs good goalkeepers, says NFF N

IGERIA Football Federa tion is planning a massive grassroots goal-keeping talent hunt.

Emmanuel Ikpeme, the Director (Technical) at the NFF, disclosed this in Abuja in an interview with NAN at the end of a six-day FIFA Member Association (MA) Goal-keeping Course.

According to Ikpeme, the aim is to put into use the lessons learnt from the programme.

“You will agree with me that Nigeria is lacking in the goalkeeping department, in spite of the talents we have.

“We have not gotten good goalkeepers for the national teams; we have just been struggling,” he said.

Ikpeme, however, noted that with the introduction of the “goalkeeping talent hunt,” the country would have a reservoir for goalkeepers who would be called up any time, for national assignments,” Ikpeme said.

Ike Shorunmu, Super Eagles Goalkeeper Trainer, who participated in the course, said the idea would go a long way in re-positioning goal-keeping in Nigeria.

“It has impacted positively on

T

he Nigerian football scene was in real mess after the 2010 World Cup. The NFF led

by Sani Lulu Abdullahi was enveloped in scandals and the football fraternity had no option but to kick out the Lululed Board. However, one of Lulu’s lieutenants, Alhaji Aminu Maigari took over the mantle..

The Board launched an attack on the leadership of the Nigeria Premier League and got its chairman, Davidson Owumi who was Vice President of the NFF impeached and his place taken by one of their loyalists, Rumson Victor Baribote.

However, along the line, Baribote also fell out with the Board and his removal was also plotted. But the Bayelsaborn administrator would not not let and so the league almost ran under with no sponsor agreeing to come near it.

When debonair sports minister and chairman, National Sports Commission, NSC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi took over mantle of leadership, he sought ways to rconcile all the warring parties for the good of football in the country.

He put heads with the NFF

our lives and we will have to transfer it to the young ones who are the future of goal-keeping in the country.

“You can see that the trend of football now throughout the whole world is different from our own time; things are changing.

“We have learnt a lot in the course of this programme and I hope that my colleagues will take it to the grassroots and also transfer it to their goalkeepers,” Sho-

runmu said. NAN reports that certificates were issued to the 30 goal-keeping coaches who took part in the programme.

David Ngodigha, Suleiman Shuaibu, Francis Fregene and Mike Ekpeyong, are among the former national team goalkeeper trainers that participated in the course. Other 20 goalkeeper trainers from the domestic league also took part in the course.

ANO Pillars have an nounced they will appeal against a decision to award title rivals Enyimba their abandoned Week 31 match.

On Thursday, the organising and disciplinary committee (O&D) of the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) awarded Enyimba three points and three goals after their away match at Kano Pillars was abandoned after crowd trouble.

NFF O&D also banished Kano Pillars to Lokoja for the remainder of the season and they will also pay a fine of two million naira.

Pillars appeal NFF points decision Media officer of Pillars, Idris Malikawa, told MTNFootball.com they will appeal the decision.

“We have received the NFF O&D verdict. It is obvious we are going to appeal the verdict because it was very harsh on us.

And we believe the appeal committee will give us justice,” Malikawa said.

Nigerian refs abandon league boycott plan

•Nigerians referees line-out before a match.

Aminu Maigari versus Nduka Irabor leadership and together they agreed to bring somebody who is independent minded and can reach out to the corporate world to help lift the league that had run without a sponsor for over two seasons.

That was how Honourable Nduka Irabor, a man of many parts was dragged in to help salvage the comatose league.

However, before he accepted, he asked to be given free hand to run the league and reposition it for the corporate world to be interested in doing business with the Board.

Yours sincerely commended his choice at the time but asked whether he would be allowed the freedom he deserves to truly work. It did not take long for answers to be provided as Irabor and his team were atacked by ‘club owners’ for attempting to take food out of their mouth.

Irabor wanted them to run the clubs as truly professional

K

sides. He wanted them to deposit a certain sum of money with the league Board from which players and coaches could be paid in case the clubs fail to pay them their salaries.

Irabor was again accused of taking over the league when he registered it as limited liability company. It took a truce meeting for the so-called owners who are nothing but managers holding the clubs in trust for state government who truly own and run them to back down.

The League Management Company, LMC has also gone ahead to secure sponsorship for the league with the clubs pocketing about N10 million each, a departure from what had obtained in the previuos two seasons. The LMC has negotiated a mouth-watering television rights contract which will make the clubs richer once the contract begins

N

igeria Referees Association has jettisoned a planned strike meant to protest incessant harassment by fans and officials of Nigeria premier league clubs.

The men in black had threatened to down their whistles starting from today’s matches if the League Management Company fails to address issues concerning the safety of its members. However NRA chairman, Ahmed Maude informed that his members will

take to the field having been assured by the LMC “There was an issue no doubt, but we have resolved it. We will officiate the league till the last game,” Maude declared.

He stated that this season, referees have been fair with their officiating.

“I must say kudos to my referees for doing wonderfully well this season, as you can see on the league table, no team is sure of winning the league or escaping relegation. That is why we told LMC our mind.”

to run.

Despite all these, the LMC felt that certain things are still not right with the league.

Issues like hooliganism at league venues which has caused some matches to either be replayed or forced to be decided in the boardroom became a thing of concern.

As a way to stem this tide to make the league much more acceptable to the corporate world, the LMC declared a state of emergency in the league, a decision the clubs did not quarrel with but the NFF president, Alhaji Maigari coountered it by declaring that there was no emergency in the league.

It seems everybody knows that all is not yet well with the Nigerian league except Maigari. So what is the LMC under Irabor going to do now that the NFF appears to want to scuttle its plan to truly reposition the Nigerian league for it to be attractive to the corporate world? Sidon look as the late Bola Ige would say.?

Gaiya is supposed to be a lawmaker who should be making laws to improve sports in the country but is turning himself into an executive who should be implementing policies.

I know the bill to abrogate Decree 101 which has tied football administration to to the whims and caprices of the government is with the National Assembly but Gaiya and his colleagues have done very little on this till date.

Gaiya is always talking when it concerns football because House Committee members must be part of government delegations to competitions.

His voice has never been heard when it concerns other sports like happened to basketball and cricket who went to competitions like orphans when they actually carried the national flag at those competitions.

Gaiya and his colleagues should be preaching to government to hands off fotball and allow it run professionally and profitably or otherwise fund other sports properly like it is doing for football now.

I’ll end this piece by thanking former Falcons coach, Godwin Izilein for adding his voice to shenanigans of the NFF and the rumoured plot to oust Stephen Keshi. He believes Keshi would continue to succeed and his detractors put to shame permanently. I say Amen to it.

Jamboree visit again Last Friday, the chairman House Committee on Sports, Godfrey Gaiya led a team to the National Stadium in Lagos on an on-the-spot assessment of the now abadoned national edifice that has been turned into an event centre That was shortly after he accused the National Sports Commission, NSC of spending so much to regrass the Abuja National Stadium.

PAGE 54 — SUNDAY VANGUARD, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

Warring Mourinho, AVB are Sir Bobby’s boys I

MRI scan fails true U-17 player born in the US A

buchi Obinwa’s father says his son is still open to the idea of playing for Nigeria in the future despite controversially failing an MRI scan that ruled him out of playing for their under-17 team.

Despite having all the relevant documentation from the USA to prove his age he failed an MRI age-test scan when he tried out with the Nigerian under-17 side in July, Through his parents Obinwa is still eligible for the Super Eagles, having only represented the USA junior teams and not at full international level yet.

“I think he would like to stay loyal to the US as he’s played in every age group for them,” the defender’s father Nnanna Obinwa told BBC Sport.

“The Nigerian experience is probably one of many that he will have in his chosen profession. We learn from it, remedy what we can and move on.

“Like every adult, he will have to make the decision on where to play when the time comes. I can tell you the United States Soccer Federation (USSF) has been very good for him and to him.

“But he would never close any doors and there is no decision to make yet.

“For now USSF likes him and he loves the experience here.

As a young man, what else can one expect. The USSF appreciates him and we appreciate them and what they do for youth development.”

Obinwa an imposing sixfooter, who can play either in defence or as a holding midfielder, for Chicago Magic PSG based in Florida, has now put the MRI disappointment behind after being named in the USA’s under-18 national team announced by head coach Javier Perez.

“The result of the MRI was of deep concern to us and of course, the cost incurred was substantial,” Nnanna Obinwa said.

“Altogether, it was a good and different experience for Abuchi, he learnt a lot.

Nigeria plays a different style of football. Coach Nduka Ugbade was phenomenal and worked well with the boys.

“The goal was to start now to embrace his heritage so when he is older, it will be easier for him to identify with and give back to his father ’s

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land.

“I would have loved a different and fuller experience but that is just my wish. We will take what he got out of it. It can only make him stronger.”

Spanish giants Real Madrid are just some of t h e glamorous c l u b s attracted by the creative defender cum midfielder ’s potential after spending a week in July at their academy in Spain.

“Coming back to the US and being selected to the US U-18 side made any hint of an unpleasant experience go away.” his father explained.

“Visits to France and Spain were very inspirational. They gave him a first hand experience of professional life.

He watched the senior teams train and play, played with his peers and trained under some of the best coaches in youth football.

“He was selected to start on the PSG team against the French U-17 team. It truly enhanced his resolve in his quest to become a professional footballer.”

With talented older brother N a t h a n O b i n w a forging a career in American football with Colgate University, their proud father insists the children have a right to live their dreams.

“I grew up in the era of academics first and zero emphasis on sports but I have grown to realize that we are all different beings with differing goals and aspirations,” he said.

“We encourage excellence in all aspects of life, especially education, very important. So we advise them to put education first, but we support them with everything we have to pursue their life’s dream.

“I have to put my own goals

*Obinwa

on hold to make sure they attain theirs.

Sometimes, that is what we have to do as parents to provide the best opportunities for our children.

The Nigeria Football Federation have not ruled out Obinwa playing for the Super Eagles in the future either.

“It is important to note that the MRI scan is not foolproof,” NFF board member Chris Green told BBC Sport “We can only wish the young man all the best in his career and who knows he could end up representing Nigeria in the future.”

T is a remarkable story that gives hope to all young and aspiring football coaches. A 17year-old Andre Villas-Boas, a fanatical Porto fan, discovered he was living in the same apartment block as the new Porto manager Bobby Robson. The former England and PSV Eindhoven manager had parted company with city rivals Sporting Lisbon, and he was just beginning his spell with Porto when the young VillasBoas recognised something not quite right in the Dragoes line-up.

Villas-Boas wrote to Robson, informing him of his concerns about the first-team selections – most notably that forward Domingos Paciencia should have been in the starting XI. Robson, a fatherly figure to so many in football, wrote back – asking for the young man to provide analytical and statistical evidence to support his argument. The aspiring journalist did so, and Robson was so impressed that he organised to take Villas-Boas to a training session with Porto and the rest, as they say, is history.

“When I approached Sir Bobby it was as a fan, because I was asking questions about the team,” Villas-Boas said in an interview with TheFA.com. “I was just 17 and he didn’t take it as an insult. He opened the door completely; he told me everything had an explanation. These are memories I cherish a lot.”

Villas-Boas on the move Robson offered the Portuguese a trainee position in the team’s coaching staff and was sent to England and Scotland to complete FA coaching badges. In most cases he was the youngest member of the class. Following experience at Robson’s former club Ipswich Town, Villas-Boas became manager of the British Virgin Islands’ national side at the tender age of 21.

After 18 months in the Caribbean, Villas-Boas returned to his native Portugal after being offered a role with the U-19 side at

Porto by then-manager Jose Mourinho.

Mourinho’s relationship with Robson started at a similar time to Villas-Boas’. The current Chelsea manager had been Robson’s interpreter during the English manager’s ill-fated spell at Sporting Lisbon and had followed him north when he moved to Porto. Successful years followed, winning two consecutive Primeira Liga titles and a Portuguese Cup. Mourinho worked alongside Robson as his interpreter, also discussing tactics and planning training sessions. While Robson had taken Villas-Boas under his wing and sent him to his homeland to learn the trade, he was exchanging ideas with Mourinho in Portugal.

The duo moved to Barcelona, leaving Villas-Boas behind in Portugal, and Mourinho began taking on more coaching responsibilities. In fact, the Portuguese’s stature grew so much during his time with Robson at the Camp Nou that, upon Robson’s departure in 1997, Mourinho was persuaded to stay as assistant to new coach Louis Van Gaal.

Robson comes back for M o u r i n h o Robson first returned to PSV Eindhoven and then, in his final managerial role, took over his boyhood club Newcastle United in 1999. Even then, his admiration for his Portuguese protégé Mourinho remained. He offered the current Chelsea manager the role as his assistant on Tyneside and, knowing that Mourinho had aspirations to manage himself, promised his former interpreter that he would have the St James’ Park hotseat within two years.

“Since Bobby suspected I wouldn’t accept [the assistant role], he told me it would only be for a year, two tops, and that at the end of that time I would be head coach and he club manager,” Mourinho said of Robson’s Newcastle offer. “But he had forgotten that I had worked with him for many years and so I knew him well. It is unthinkable to picture him watching from the stands. I didn’t take him up on his offer, knowing sooner or later, my time would come.”

Mourinho’s time did come, first at Benfica and then at Uniao de Leirira before being hand-picked to return to Porto, where he hired Villas-Boas first as the U-19 coach and then as scout.

Villas-Boas would report to Mourinho with detailed dossiers on the club’s next opposition, a role he continued when the pair moved to Chelsea in 2004.

•Villas-Boas

•Mourinho

SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013, PAGE 55

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SUNDAY Vanguard, SEPTEMBER 29, 2013

West Br om shoc k Man Utd at Brom shock Old TTraf raf raffford S

AIDO Berahino’s low strike earned West Brom their first win over Manchester United at Old Trafford since 1978.

Morgan Amalfitano’s composed chip over David De Gea put West Brom in front after the break before Wayne Rooney’s free-kick brought United level.

Berahino then got his first Premier League goal, with Marouane Fellaini’s late effort ruled out for offside.

The defeat for United ensured their worst start to a league campaign after six games since 1989-90.

Less than a week on from their 4-1

hammering at the hands of Manchester City, United were desperate for three points and West Brom appeared to offer the perfect fixture with the Baggies without a win over United since 1984 and none at Old Trafford since December 1978.

But they were to be outdone by Steve Clarke’s side who ensured United remain on seven points after six games, the same tally they had collected 24 years ago in the old Division One. The hosts created a few early chances despite a laboured start with West Brom goalkeeper Boaz Myhill making a comfortable save from a Rooney header.

Witches didn’t make me chop down stadium trees — Oreweme

By BEN EFE

T

he National Stadium Surulere, Lagos is fast losing its ‘eco-beauty’ as the trees that once made the complex a greenery spectacle are being chopped down and sold for firewood.

During the week the almond trees near the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria and Nigeria Olympic Committee secretariats were hacked down by chainsaw wielding workmen who after cutting the tree piled them in bundles for onward delivery to firewood vendors. This is not the first time the trees at the stadium will suffer such environmental condition. It was gathered that the National Sports Commission Liaison officer, Mrs. Tayo Oreweme ordered the ‘assault’ on the trees on the suspicion that they were meeting places for witches and wizards.

However, she explained yesterday that there was no RESULTS spiritual bend to the axing of Tottenham 1 Chelsea the trees. Rather according to Aston villa 3 Man City her, she was only obeying Fulham 1 Cardiff City directives from superiors at Man Utd 1 West Brom the top.

Hull City 1 West Ham “We are chopping down the S’hampton 2 Crystal trees because they are Swansea 1 Arsenal blocking the view of the CCTV cameras installed at HACKING AWAY... One of the trees being sliced by a hired hand at the National Stadium in Lagos. the stadium. The engineers have told us to cut them so that the CCTV will get CROSS WORD PUZZLE a clearer view of the area of surveillance. I did not do on my own volition, but just obeying directives. ACROSS DOWN “Other trees that did not obstruct the path of the 1.Taraba capital (7) 1. Incarcerates (50 CCTV were cut down because they are threatening 4.Exchanges (5) 2. Nothing (3) 6.Crest (5) to to pull down the walls of the fencing.

3. Command (5) “If you go around the stadium you will see that 7.Speared (7) 4.Cut (5) 9.Fashion (5) other trees not standing in the way were not 5. Vapour (5) 10.Weird (5) touched.

8. Dog (3) 11.Donor (5) “I am not adverse to making the stadium beautiful. 13.Domain (5) 12. Nigerian state (6) You will recall that when I first came I cut down 17.Crestfallen (3) 14. Ovum (3) some of the trees. This was because they were 19.Face (8) 15. Connected (6) overgrown, but they are now fully regrown and 20. Pianos (6) 16. Cooked (6) giving the stadium a level of beauty,” said the NSC 21. Much (6) 17.Glare (5) 23. Stayed (8) official.

18. Ill-fated (6) 24.Frozen water (3) But a closer look at the CCTV device revealed 25.Snake (5) 22. Maiden name (3) that it was not in working order. It was as good as 27.Own up (5) 25. Revise accounts (5) dead, but according to Oreweme, the Cameras will 30. Arise (5) 26. Staggers (5) be fully operational in no distant time and they will 31.Evade (6) 27.Old fable writer (5) be commissioned by President Goodluck Jonathan. 32.Dotted (7) 28.Child (3) 34. Lariat (5) Some of the trees were planted in 1973 when the 35.Moves like a horse (5) 29. Gave in (5) Stadium was commissioned for use by former Head 36. Sowed (7) 33. Benin chieftain (3) of State General Yakubu Gowon.

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