AFTERMATH OF SHOUTING MATCH WITH OSHIOMHOLE: Confab: Nyiam resigns Nyiam: Who said so?

...towards a better life for the people VOL. 25: NO. 62002

Aviation Minister, House of Reps committee head 9 for showdown

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TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

Godogodo's deputy, 7 Kasali arrested

AFTERMATH OF SHOUTING MATCH WITH OSHIOMHOLE:

Confab: Nyiam resigns Nyiam: Who said so?

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

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THE DAMATURU ATTACK

ENIN CITY— FOL LOWING his outburst against Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State a member of the the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Conference/Dialogue, Col Tony Nyiam (rtd), was yesterday forced to resign

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Man, 48, connives with lover to kidnap own son •P.6 COLUMNIST:

•P.17

Mr & Mrs

ATTACK—Governor Ibrahim Gaidam of Yobe State, yesterday, inspecting arms recovered from insurgents as well as destroyed buildings and arms in last Thursday's attack in Damaturu. Photos: NAN.

No law to stop aged aircraft from flying — NCAA P.16

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POCKET CARTOON

PILGRIMAGE—From Left: President, Christian Association of Nigeria, Pastor Ayo Oritsejafor; President Goodluck Jonathan; Executive Secretary, NCPC, Mr John Kennedy Opara; presenting Jerusalem Pilgrim Certificate to Gov. Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State in Jerusalem on Sunday.

Confab: Nyiam resigns Nyiam: Who said so?

Continues from page 1 by his colleagues in the Senator FemiOkurounmu-led committee.

Vanguard gathered that members of the panel were embarrassed by Nyiam’s perceived partisanship and had to apologise to Oshiomhole.

However, in a telephone chat with Vanguard last night, Nyiam refused to confirm whether or not he

had quit the job. Asked if he had resigned, Col Nyiam, in a combustive tone asked Vanguard to question the source of the report that he had resigned.

“Who told you that I have resigned? Ask the person who told you to tell you his authority or how he learnt that I have resigned. Thank you!” he said and hung up.

Another member of the

LIFEWORDS

BY PASTOR ITUAH

Build the trust in people you want them to accord you. Trust is a two way door; it goes in either way.

TAKE HEART

BY ELLA RANDLE

Y

OU have everything you need for complete peace and total happiness right now —Wayne W. Dyer Let go of your need to win. Ego loves to divide us up into winners and losers. The pursuit of winning is a sure fire means to avoid conscious contact with the intention. Why? Because automatically, winning is impossible all of the time. Someone out there will be faster, luckier, younger, stronger and smarter and back you go to feeling worthless and insignificant.

You are not your winning or your victories, you may enjoy competing and have fun in a world where winning is everything, but you don’t have to be there in your thoughts. There are no losers in a world where we all share the same energy source.

All you can say on a given day is that you perform at a certain level in comparison to the levels of others on that day. But today is another day, with other competitors and new circumstances to consider. You are still the infinite presence in a body that’s another day or (decade} older. Let go of needing to win by not agreeing that the opposite of winning is losing. That’s ego’s fear. If your body is not performing on a winning fashion on certain day, it simply does not matter when you are not identifying with your ego. Be the observer, noticing and enjoying it all without needing to win a trophy. Be at peace, and match up with the energy of intention.

Ironically, although you hardly notice it, more of those victories will show up in your life as you pursue them less.

committee firther clarified that the committee had to force him to step down in order to redeem the panel’s image. “ The governor, Oshiomhole was our host.

It was unbecoming of a member of a commiitee that was set up to listen to Nigerians to now want to stop Nigerians from talking, no matter what they had to say. We faulted him, he didn’t like it; we told him he embarrassed the committee; he admitted his outburst was wrong and we demanded his resignation.

Authoritative sources told Vanguard that Okurounmu led other members of the panel to apologise to the governor and showed him a copy of Nyiam’s alleged resignation letter.

Oshiomhole reportedly accepted the apology.

This came as suspected thugs disrupted the proceedings of the Committee on national conference in Benin City, when they stopped Governor Oshiomhole and others from making contributions to the ongoing talks.

The disruption came after a member of PAC, Col. Tony Nyiam (rtd) had shouted down the Governor while making his contribution.

The thugs believed to have been imported from neighbouring states heckled the Governor as soon as they realised that his contributions would be different from the expected opinions.

The governor who took the stage to make his contribution after the Isoko

Ethnic group had made its contribution said he objected to spending huge public funds on a wasteful venture, saying, during the tenure of President Olusegun Obasanjo, money was spent on a similar conference and at the end, nothing came out of that conference.

While the governor was still making his speech, Col Nyiam stood up to challenge the governor and shouted him down.

But Oshiomhole who had earlier told the crowd that his views about the conference may not be the views of the people of the state but “my personal views” insisted that he must be allowed to air his views publicly and he continued despite comments from Ijaw groups at the conference.

“I will be surprised if anything changes. Sincerely, I have no business to deceive or mislead anyone. I believe that the outcome of this conference will not be different from that of other conferences we have had in the past.”

But as soon as Governor Oshiomhole made this statement, committee member, Col Nyiam jumped up and shouted at the Governor He was restrained by other members who were taken aback by his action.

Even while the Governor was still making his contribution, Nyiam started screaming at Governor to shut up and sit down.

Thereafter by the PDP thugs who disrupted the whole proceedings and many scampered for safety as a result of the unruliness of the committee member and thugs.

The governor who insisted on concluding his remarks however left the floor when the thugs were getting violent.

However, the Governor had, at a courtesy visit to him in his office by members of the Committee led by Senator Femi Okurounmu, said he had no faith in the whole process.

Oshiomhole said: “All I owe Nigeria now is to speak my mind. It could be error of my head but certainly not of my heart.

As much as I wish you well, I just want to say that I have no faith in this process and I do not think it was necessary at all. I am unable to find any basis to give me some illusion that this exercise will not be different from the others. And I honestly think that in terms of the private sector, when a country keeps debating

how we can live together that cannot be one of the basis on which the outside community will invest in Nigeria. They may well wait until we know how we want to live in Nigeria.”

He lamented that fiftythree years after independence, Nigerians still preferred to look at themselves from their ethnic origin rather than being Nigerians, saying, “for me, I am just a Nigerian.

I do not think that more than one hundred years when we have set aside billions of naira to celebrate centenary celebrating the fact of amalgamation of Northern and Southern Nigeria, and we have lived together as one country for over a hundred years, and we have gone through independence, we have been free for fifty three years and we are coming back to ask the question, how could we be there.

“I think Nigeria needs to address very serious issues.

When I see eminent Nigerians discussing this issue, I am sure they know that Nigeria’s problem is not this politics of sharing which the national dialogue is all about, who is getting what, who has this natural endowment, who should do this or not do this. For me this is the act of perfecting poverty. The real challenge is getting Nigeria back to production.

The real challenge is creating industrial base and this cannot be resolved through conferences. We have moved from parliamentary system in our own wisdom to the presidential system. We have test-run it and it was aborted by the military and it has reincarnated in the present form.”

“Nigeria does need a serious reflection about how to return to those core values that made Nigeria work before. Those healthy competition between the governments, visit the whole question of attitude and unless that changes, I do not see

how any dialogue can work.

I was discussing with somebody last week and he noted that this is the eleventh conference and I ask what ten conferences could not do, how would the eleventh one do it? Why do we think we can continue doing the same thing the same old way and think that this time the outcome would be different?

The Governor said nobody convened a meeting without stating an agenda and asking others to draw up an agenda for the meeting, saying “one would have expected the Federal Government to make an outline and allow Nigerians make additional input, instead of saying there are no no-go areas and giving the impression the exercise will end nowhere, at which point the governor ’s security aides formed a ring around him, just as the arena was getting very rowdy, with shouts of no, yes, the only words that could be discerned. ’Then the issue of fashioning a new political system came up in the past, a lot of money was spent, transporting people all over the whole country and expanding more on related issues but at end, what did we get. To me, this is not meant to work and it will not work. Fconception we know we want to talk but we do not know what we want to talk about.”

Earlier, chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue/Conference, Senator Femi Okurounmu said they were in Benin as part of their tour of the six geo political zones to get their input as regards the content of the agenda, the duration, choice of delegation and legal framework. States of the South-South zone and different ethnic nationalities, including the Ijaw National Council, Urhobo Progress Union, Benin Forum, Ijaws of Gbaramatu, Itsekiri Leaders of Thought, Isoko Development Union, Midwest Consultative Forum and many other groups made presentations.

6—Vanguard , TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

6 die in Imo measles outbreak

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

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WERRI— A recent outbreak of measles in Imo State has reportedly claimed the lives of six children in Ohaji-Egbema, Oguta, Oru West and Oru East local government areas of the state.

The state Immunisation Officer, Ministry of Health, Mr. Adolphus Okoro, warned parents that the six killer diseases affect children under five years if they are not immunised when due.

He said: “To this end, the state Ministry of Health has started training chief mobilisation officers of the National Orientation Agency, NOA, and health education officers in the 27 local government areas of the state.”

According to Okoro, the current exercise is to ensure mass mobilisation of children under five for timely and adequate immunisation.

On what government was doing to stem the tide of measles outbreak, Okoro said government had preserved the vaccines at the newly constructed cold store in Government House, Owerri, against loss of potency.

He appealed to parents and guardians to actively participate in the fight against the six killer diseases by presenting their children and wards for immunisation.

He said: “Parents and guardians are, therefore, advised to take their children and wards to the nearest health facilities, nursery schools, churches, mosques and other outreach centres for immunisation, which commences this Saturday.”

He commended donor agencies for making the vaccines available for immunisation exercises in the state.

Father, girlfriend kidnap 9-yr-old son

BY EVELYN USMAN

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AGOS— A 48-year-old man, yesterday, at the Lagos State command of the Department of State Services, DSS, gave a starling revelation of how he masterminded the kidnap of his nine-year-old son in Badagry area of Lagos.

The suspect, Adeyinka Adebayo, who admitted to have connived with his 28-year-old

girlfriend, Kehinde Alonge, said he committed the act to generate money from his church members.

He added that the supposed ransom was to meet up with his girlfriend’s demand.

Parading the suspect alongside his girlfriend before journalists, the Director, Lagos State Command, DSS, Mr. Victor Achu, explained that Adebayo had on October 3 reported at the

Drama

Kehinde Alonge (left) and Adeyinka Adebayo

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AGOS— A witness, Mr. Olumide Owulade, yesterday, narrated to a Lagos High Court in Igbosere how one Doctor Wilfred Fajemisin sold a plot of land for N11 million to him, after which he sold it

A mild drama, however, unfolded following an argument between Adebayo and his girlfriend over who brought up the kidnap plan.

While Adebayo claimed that Kehinde hatched the plan to get the N200,000 she needed to open a hairdressing saloon, the later interrupted, stating that “he is lying. I was in Ilesha when he called me to come to Lagos that some people owed him money.

“He said the only way to collect the money from them was

Abducted medical doctor fights kidnappers, escapes said: “I was driving to the hos- ‘My escape’

BY FESTUS AHON

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GHELLI— DR. Richard Kofi, who was kidnapped in Ughelli, Delta State, Sunday, escaped from the kidnappers’ den in the early hours of yesterday, after a fight with one of the abductors told to keep an eye on him.

About six gunmen, a source said, intercepted their victim as he was driving into his hospital premises at 7:30p.m., and whisked him away.

The source, who pleaded anonymity, said security operatives were immediately alerted, adding that police, soldiers and men of the Ughelli vigilante group immediately swung into action.

The source said they were still searching for him, when the doctor escaped.

Narrating his ordeal, Dr. Kofi

pital at about 7:30pm, when I noticed a car behind me close to Oharisi Primary School. But I did not take it serious.

“I was approaching the hospital gate, when suddenly the car that was following me intercepted me.

“The four doors opened and the guys came out heavily armed. I am sure they came with two cars because other guys came out from nowhere.

“They quickly forced me into the back seat of my car after ordering me from the driver’s seat and zoomed off. I was blindfolded and taken into the bush.

“Two of the boys were asked to watch me in the bush and I told them ‘I be bad market o! I no get money o!

“As luck would have it, at about 7a.m., one of the boys left, leaving one behind. So I pleaded with him to allow me escape, but he didn’t listen.

Man allegedly sells same plot of land to 3 persons

BY BARTHOLOMEW MADUKWE

command that his son had been kidnapped.

Achu said: “The command swung into action. Preliminary investigations confirmed the kidnap of the boy by one Kehinde Alonge, who demanded a ransom of N350,000 for his release and directed that the money be paid into a UBA account.

“The account was later discovered to be owned by one Taiwo Faloye. After series of tactical planning, the owner of the account and Kehinde were arrested at Ilesha, Osun State, while trying to withdraw the money.”

to two other buyers.

Fajemisin is facing a threecount charge offence bordering on fraud and had pleaded not guilty to the charge.

According to the charge, the offence contravened Sections 1(1) (a) and 1(3) of the Advance Fee Fraud and Other Fraud Related Offences Act

No. 14 of 2006.

The EFCC counsel, Mr A. M Yusuf, asked the court for an adjourned date to enable him produce evidence, to which the defence counsel, Mr. Lanre Lawan, did not object.

The presiding judge, Justice Aishat Opesanwo, adjourned the case to December 11 and 12.

“At a point, I picked up courage and fought him.

“But as I made way to escape after hitting him hard, I did not know he was equipped with a cutlass. He gave me a cut on my head.

“On sighting my blood, I picked a stick close to me and used it on him and he decided to run. I chased him to a point and found my way out of the bush.

“By the time I came out on the road, I saw ‘Welcome to OviriOlomu.’ It was only then I knew where I was.

“That was when security operatives, who were searching for me, came and brought me to the hospital for treatment.”

Confirming the incident, the Area Commander, Ughelli Area Command, Mr. Awosola Awotunde, said: “We have recovered the car in Warri and 10 persons have been arrested in connection with the kidnap.

“The police is carrying out thorough investigation into the matter. I can assure you the culprits will be brought to book.

“We are not leaving any stone unturned in curbing criminal activities in the area.

You know, Christmas is coming and the boys are looking for money.

“We will show them. Ughelli and its environs is not a safe haven for hoodlums.”

for me to come and take his son away, while he pretends that he had been kidnapped.

“I came to Lagos on October 4. I intended going to the school to pick the boy, but Adebayo advised I picked him from the house.

“Since the children knew me, I told the boy to follow me to get something outside and entered the next available vehicle to Ilesha, Osun State. His father even gave me N3,000 for transport.

“When we got to Ilesha, he sent another N3,750 worth of recharge cards for his feeding.

He even called his son on phone daily. He was the one that asked me to demand N350,000.

“However, at the end of the bargain, he said I should accept N200,000. Since I had no bank account, I asked one of my relatives to give me his account details. But we were arrested at the point of withdrawal.”

‘She needed money’

However, Adebayo, a father of two, said: “My girlfriend said she needed money to open her own hair dressing saloon. Since I was not financially buoyant, I decided to raise money by masterminding my son’s kidnap.

“I am a vulcanizer and business had not been booming.

Anyone I approached for money usually declined to assist me.

“To get money from my church members in particular, I had to mastermind my son’s kidnap.

“He spent nine days at my girlfriend’s house. At the end of the day, I was able to raise N450,000 from my church members and friends, who earlier refused to help me.

“I regret my action because my son may never forgive me if he is told. I feel ashamed also because his mother has been down with stroke, though we are no longer married.

“I beg to be forgiven. It was the handiwork of the devil.”

The suspects, according to Ochu, would be charged to court.

32-yr-old man

BY PETER OKUTU

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BAKALIKI— A man identified as Chinweoru Ugbo, 32, was weekend arrested by the Onueke Divisional Police Command, Ebonyi State for allegedly butchering his uncle, Mr. Ogbuleji Nwite, 78, with an axe.

The crime was allegedly committed at Nsokkara Community in Ezza South Local Government Area of the state over claims that the deceased was diabolically manipulating Ugbo's destiny.

The suspect allegedly lured his victim to a lonely farmland

Vanguard , TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013—7

members engaged the team in a shootout. Three of the robbers were killed, while three others were arrested. The others escaped.

“Some items were recovered from them. Efforts are on to arrest other fleeing gang members. The lady amongst them is the most deadly. She was the one shooting at the SARS men.”

Kasali's confession

JOB SEARCH: Unemployed youths at a workshop on entrepreneurship in Bauchi, yesterday. NAN PHOTO.

Police nab Kasali, Godogodo's deputy

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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BEOKUTA— BARELY two months after a robbery kingpin in the South-West, Abiodun Egunjobi, popularly known as Godogodo, was arrested, his deputy, Adegoke Kasali has been arrested.

He confessed to killing no fewer than 27 security operatives, including former Ogun State Chief Vehicles Inspection Officer, Yomi Bamgbose.

Kasali, 32, said to have been terrorising the entire SouthWest, Kwara and Kogi states, was arrested Friday last week by the Special Anti-Robbery Squad, SARS, led by Muhammed Tijani at Obele area of Ogun State, near Cotonou, Benin Republic.

The robbery kingpin was paraded by the police, yesterday, at the headquarters of SARS,

zBlames his activities on devil Magbon Abeokuta, with other members of the robbery gang identified as Kareem Mumuni, a.k.a. Baba Owo and Lawal Waliu, alias Ijoba.

Ogun State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Okoye Ikemefuna, told newsmen that the gang had killed no fewer than 21 policemen since 2011 in the SouthWest states, Kwara and Kogi.

Recovered

He said that a cache of arms and ammunition recovered from the gang include two AK-47 rifles with 100 rounds of live ammunition, a Wealthier P22 pistol with 49 rounds of live ammunition, 55 live cartridges, two cut-to-size double-barrelled guns, assorted charms and two packets of Lexomil tablets.

Okoye also said that the gang’s female member, Kemi Adesanya, popularly called Special, was currently receiving treatment for injuries sustained during the shoot-out with the police team.

According to Okoye, the gang members had confessed to killing Mr. Bamgbose in 2011 and five policemen attached to the Quick Response Squad at Ijemo Agbadu and Mowe-Ibafo, a year ago.

He said: “The gang has killed 11 policemen in Kwara and Lagos states. The gang was also responsible for the death of five policemen when they snatched a bullion van in Imeko in September 2011 as well as the killing of four members of the Ogun State Vigilance Service

butchers uncle over prophesy of manipulation near a neighbouring community in Amagu, under the guise of showing him (the victim) a piece of land he wanted to purchase.

He reportedly inflicted 27 cuts on late Mr. Nwite in the early hours of Saturday, unaware that some people saw him.

Vanguard gathered that the suspect was caught by the villagers at Igweledoha Nsokkara community, when he was packing his luggage to flee the community.

It was also learnt that the suspect, a trader resident at Owerri in Imo State, was said

to have returned home on Friday night with the intention of killing his uncle.

Eyewitnesses’ story

An eyewitness, Nweke Nwankwo, alleged that the act took place in a vegetable farmland.

The witness said: “I was on top of a palm tree harvesting fruits and saw both of them conversing. I never suspected anything because they were relatives.

“But I felt cold to the spine when the boy started brutalising the old man, who recently returned from the hospital af-

ter an eye surgery.”

Another witness, a woman who spoke on condition of anonymity, stated that she was weeding in her farm, some distance from the scene, when she heard a cry.

She said: “I did not know that an abomination was being committed because the loud shout was just once.

“I continued with my job until passers-by, who first sighted the dead body, raised alarm.”

It was learnt that a white Tshirt, which an eyewitness claimed the suspect wore that morning, was brought out from his room with blood stains.

and three filling station attendants at Ifo, last June.

“The suspects were also said to have snatched a Range Rover Sports Utility Vehicle from a popular Fuji musician, Wasiu Alabi Pasuma, last August along the Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway.

Okoye said: “Kasali was injured in a shoot-out with the police. He led the SARS team to the hide-out of the other members of his gang in IjuIshaga area of Lagos State.

“On reaching there, his gang

Kasali told newsmen that he had personally killed no fewer than seven policemen. The notorious robber, who is physically-challenged due to burns he claimed to have sustained in childhood, said he regretted his involvement in crime.

He said: “This is the work of the devil. I cannot fathom why I’m in armed robbery. It’s beyond my comprehension. I’ve lost count of the policemen I’ve killed, but they can’t be less than seven.

“I was also part of the gang that killed the four vigilance service men and three petrol station attendants in Ifo. That day we operated with Godogodo.

“Godogodo was our boss and he hated policemen. We also killed two people at the Baptist Church in Sango-Ota. “I want to advise those still engaged in armed robbery to give up. I’ve been in this job in the past seven years.”

Earlier, the police commissioner also paraded five members of a highway robbery syndicate specialised in waylaying trucks loaded with goods on the expressway.

The arrested suspects include Sola Bamigbade, Abidemi Tajudeen, Kehinde Oguntade, Aliu Hamzat and Joseph Ebenezer.

They were said to have robbed a cable wire dealer of goods worth N25 million last week at Ogere along the LagosIbadan Expressway.

Housewife gets 10 years in jail over housekeeper's death

BY ONOZURE DANIA

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AGSO— An Ikeja High Court, yesterday, sentenced a 27-year-old woman, Chiamaka Nnajiofor, to 10 years imprisonment for her culpability in the death of her housekeeper, Oliver Arakwe.

Justice Lateefat Okunnu convicted Nnajiofor for manslaughter instead of the charge of murder preferred against her. The sentence is to commence from September 22, 2011, when she was first arraigned.

Nnajiofor and her husband, Elochukwu, 41, were charged to court by the Lagos State Director of Public Prosecution, DPP, for murder.

According to the DPP, the couple tortured 14-year-old Arakwe to death on August 17,

2010 at 81, Femi Tella Street, Ago Palace, Okota, a Lagos suburb.

The couple had pleaded not guilty to the charge of murder.

Okunnu ruled: “There is nothing to show that he was part of the flogging his wife instigated that day, and available evidence indicated that he was not in the apartment when it happened.

“The prosecution also failed to prove the charge of murder against Chiamaka beyond reasonable doubts.

“Oliver was a severely malnourished boy and the beating of the boy with a belt would have had a lesser effect on a normal 14-year-old.

“It is on this basis that I find Chiamaka, the first defendant, not guilty of murder. I find her guilty of manslaughter. The second defendant, Elochukwu, is discharged and acquitted.”

8—Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

BY SONI DANIEL, REGIONAL EDITOR, NORTH

A

BUJA—THE eleven opposition governors, yesterday, blasted the Federal Government for disrupting a meeting of seven governors of the Peoples Democratic Party in Abuja on Sunday.

The seven governors, who broke away from the mainstream PDP last August, were about to meet at the Sokoto State Governor’s Lodge in Asokoro when armed policemen stormed the place and drove them away.

They eventually met briefly at the Kano Governor’s Lodge in the same Asokoro District but did not wait to issue a communiqué apparently for fear of being harassed by security agents, who have been on the prowl against them in recent months.

The Progressive Governors’ Forum, yesterday, described the disruption of the governors’ meeting as an affront on the Nigerian constitution and a serious setback to democracy.

A statement by the Director General of the PGF, Mr. Salihu Lukman, and made available to Vanguard, noted with dismay the resort by the Federal Government to the use of its security agents to harass, intimidate and oppress the seven governors and other innocent Nigerians who have issues with the PDP. The PGF noted, “for a government that purports to obey the rule of law, the disruption of a peaceful meeting by the police is not only crude, condemnable and unwarranted, but is also a reflection of government’s growing intolerance and an affront on the democratic rights of Nigerians.

“Particularly disturbing and worthy of note is that if seven governors, all of whom are constitutionally guaranteed immunity from prosecution can be treated in such a brutal manner, what would be the fate of ordinary citizens who seek to exercise their rights to freedom of association?

“It is evident that the Federal Government is unlawfully using the police for its illegal and nefarious activities for the purpose of intimidation aimed at imposing the Bamanga Tukurled Peoples Democratic Party on other party members.

“The Progressive Governors Forum finds it unacceptable that the Nigeria Police has been reduced to partisan agents and attack dogs that only serve a faction of a political party when the level of insecurity in the country is so high.

“It is reckless to take partisan contest to levels of warfare as the Federal Government has done because this would only weaken the capacity of security operatives in responding to real security challenges.

“At a time when every security outfit and resource should be devoted to securing the lives and livelihoods of Nigerians, that the

Opposition govs blast FG over disruption of G7 govs meeting zSay clampdown on nPDP members abuse of constitution Federal Government thinks it expedient to send the number of officers and the kind of equipment it did to harass its perceived political opponents takes governance to a new level of irresponsibility and rascality.

“Clearly, President Jonathan and his advisers have acted in complete violations of the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as amended pursuant to some selfserving political interests.

“The Progressive Governors Forum notes with concern, the role of other public officials in the persecution of perceived opposition figures like Senator Aisha AlHassan, whose events centre, APark Gardens in Abuja, that has been in operation for several years, has been suddenly revoked by the FCTA and slated for demolition.

“This came after the security details attached to Senators Abubakar Bukola Saraki and Danjuma Goje, former Governors of Kwara and Gombe states respectively, were withdrawn as were the security details attached to Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State who now operates without an ADC and a CSO.

“The PGF hereby expresses solidarity with the G7 Governors who have every right to fear for their lives, as well as other Nigerians that might have been victims of

government misuse of the police to intimidate, harass and oppress law abiding citizens.

While calling on Nigerians to rise up against the new wave of assault by the Federal

Government on voices of dissent, the PGF pleaded with the National Assembly to direct the Police to stop further harassment of the nPDP and other perceived opponents of the PDP's administration.

WORKSHOP—From left: Speaker, Oyo State House of Assembly, Monsurat Sunmonu; Speaker, House of Representatives, Aminu Waziri Tambuwal; Deputy Speaker, Emeka Ihedioha, Chairman, Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Sen. Ita Enang during a workshop on legislative practice and procedure organised by National Assembly Committees on Rules and Business in Abuja, yesterday.

...nPDP expands contact, mobilisation c'ttee to include more govs, others zTo explore other options if dialogue with Jonathan fails

BY HENRY UMORU

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BUJA—AS part of plan B for the Abubakar Kawu Baraje-led new Peoples Democratic Party, nPDP, the group yesterday resolved to enlarge its mobilisation and contact committee to include more sitting governors and ex-governors saddled with responsibility of exploring other options available to the group should dialogue with President Jonathan fails to yield any positive result on whether to dump the party for another or remain in the party.

In a communique issued at the end of the meeting of the Barajeled nPDP, the faction boasted that the vision and mission of the party cannot be derailed by what it described as any force or group of people no matter the ploys and plots.

He said, “the committee is expected also to liaise with the new five other PDP governors and other leaders that have indicated interest to join the group and submit report during the next meeting of the caucus that will hold in a week’s time to ascertain how these distinguished new members would be received by the party.”

Though the chairman of the Mobilisation/ Contact Committee was not mentioned by the group,

but Vanguard gathered authoritatively that the committee will be chaired by a very powerful Nigerian from North West who occupies a very sensitive position in the country and belongs to a different arm of government and not the Executive organ of government.

At the end of its caucus meeting which took place at the Kano Governor ’s Lodge, Asokoro, Abuja on Sunday, the group also put in place a Fund/ Finance Committee to raise additional funds for the group, just as it condemned the deployment of policemen to Sokoto State Governor’s Lodge, Asokoro where the Sunday meeting was earlier scheduled to take place before it was later held at the Kano State Governor’ s Lodge.

The communique read, “The meeting attended by the New PDP stakeholders resolved as follows: The meeting congratulated and commended the Alhaji Abukakar Kawu Baraje-led National Working Committee, NWC, of the party for exhibiting quality and purposeful leadership and urged the team not to relent until Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is restored to the right path

of democracy and civilised conduct unlike the draconian style of leadership being exhibited by the Alhaji Bamanga Tukur faction of the party.

“The meeting reviewed the events that preceded the formation of the New PDP which main aim was to stop some of the undemocratic acts and impunity associated with the Tukur leadership of the party.

It took stock of all the efforts by members of the group to assist in putting the PDP back to a democratic path as envisioned and envisaged by the founding fathers of the party and commended members for staying so faithful to the goals, vision and mission of the historical step we took by walking out during the illconceived and flawed August, 2013 Special Convention of PDP. “The meeting enlarged the mobilisation/contact committee to include more sitting governors and ex-governors.

The committee was mandated to explore other options available to the party should the dialogue with President Jonathan fails to yield any positive result for its future political activity as the vision

and mission of the party cannot be derailed by any force or group of people no matter the ploys and plots. The committee is expected also to liaise with the new five other PDP governors and other leaders that have indicated interest to join the group and submit report during the next meeting of the caucus that will hold in a week’s time to ascertain how these distinguished new members would be received by the party.

“The meeting set up a fund/ finance committee mandated to source for extra funds to run the party.

“The meeting reviewed all our court cases so far and counselled the legal team to ensure that our water-tight cases are professionally handled and ensure success in all the cases involving the party henceforth.

“The meeting reviewed all the peace meetings so far held with President Jonathan and the Tukur faction of the party and commended our governors for the maturity they have exhibited in the course of the meetings even though all the issues we raised and presented through the General Olusegun Obasanjo-led Elders Committee to President Jonathan and his people have been bluntly turned down.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013—9

N255m cars: Reps, Aviation Minister head for showdown zShe must appear before House tomorrow — Reps

Jonathan seeks Israel's co-operation to fight terrorism

zNo, I 'll appear on Nov 4 — Stella Oduah

BY BEN AGANDE

BY EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

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A

BUJA—THE House of Representatives and the Minister of Aviation, Princess Stella Oduah are now heading for a showdown over the summons of the House Committee on Aviation requesting the minister to appear before it tomorrow as it commences investigative into an alleged purchase of N255 million bullet proof cars for the Minister by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA. While the minister, who is still in Israel told the committee that she would not be available until November 4 after she must have concluded her national assignment in Israel, the committee insisted that if she fails to appear tomorrow sanctions will be imposed on her The House Committee on Aviation, in a statement by its Clerk, Abubakar Chana directed the minister to appear before it tomorrow and explain her role in the controversial armoured cars.

The minister, in a letter dated October 25, however, told the committee that she would be unavoidably absent tomorrow and that she would create time to appear on November 4 after she must have concluded her national assignment in Israel.

In the letter, which read in part, the minister said, “you will recall my sincere and utmost regret conveyed to you at my inability to personally appear before your committee on Thursday due solely to my on-going official assignment in Israel on behalf of our country.

“The official schedule for the signing of the Bilateral Air Services Agreement, BASA, including the travel logistics from Israel back to Nigeria physically prevent me from arriving in time to appear before you as scheduled in your current invitation."

Also, the Permanent Secretary of the ministry in a letter with reference number PS/FMA/PC/ 2013/Vol.1/70 written on same date pleaded with the committee to allow the minister appear on Nov 4 or 5 in view of her flight schedule.

However, in a counter letter dated October 28 and signed by the committee’s clerk, the Reps insisted that if she fails to appear necessary sanctions would be imposed on her.

The letter titled: Re: Invitation to public hearing and request to submit documents, read in part “I am further directed to inform

NIGERIA SIGNS BASA WITH ISRAEL—From left: Plateau State Governor, Jonah Jang; Minister of Foreign Affairs, Professor Viola Onwuliri and Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, at the signing of Bilateral Air Services Agreement, BASA, with Israel in Jerusalem, yesterday.

you that your inability to appear before the committee has become a serious constraint to the committee as the House of Representatives has mandated the committee to submit its report within one week.

“More so the committee has been utterly gracious for postponing the hearing to Wednesday.

“It is the directive of the House of Representatives that you should appear on the scheduled date of which failure to do so will leave the committee with no option but to enforce the appropriate laws and apply necessary sanctions.”

Meanwhile, the House committee Chairperson in a chat with newsmen said the Minister of Aviation risks being jailed 5 years based on the provision of the Public Procurement Act. She said: “Section 58 (5) of the Public Procurement Act states that ‘Any persons, who, while carrying out his duties as an officer of the Bureau or any procuring entity who contravenes any provision of this Act, commits an offence and is liable to a conviction of cumulative punishment of (a) a term of imprisonment of not less than five calendar years without any option of fines and (b) summary dismissal from government services.

“I did not put this law there, but the will to implement it is key to sanity in this country and check excesses.

“Argument of lease purchase does not hold as long as they are going to pay with public funds and to say that NCAA is within the threshold makes it look like splitting the budget, which is another case

on its own under the Procurement law."

According to the Committee Chairman, the Minister of Aviation, Stella Oduah has issues bordering on procurement with her committee which the minister has ignored more than 12 times.

“Our committee has the responsibility to carry out oversight on BPP and since the core objective of public procurement is to ascertain value for money, we have been having issues with the Ministry of Aviation and agencies under it for sometimes now.

“It might interest you to know that we have issued not less than 12 invitations to the Minister of Aviation but she has not deemed it fit to respond even for once. She has always been giving us one excuse or the other.

“Apart from the fact that there are issues on the rehabilitation of airports around the country over issues of value for money which Nigerians are not getting, if she had taken her time to honour our invitation, maybe she would have been able to avoid this issue of threshold.

“What these heads of agencies don’t realize is that when we send out letters like that, it wasn’t to intimidate or witch-hunt them but to rub minds and enlighten them on the nitty-gritty of the provisions of the Procurement laws.

“If she has been honouring

our invitations, by now a lot of things would have been known to her and she would not be finding herself in this situation.

When we invite these ministers, my advice is that they should not see it as a personal thing but a way of forging a working relationship.

“There is no doubt that she has a case to answer with the BPP Committee”.

She however blamed the Presidency for deliberately weakening the BPP as well as refusing to comply with the Procurement law on the issue of the Bureau’s Board.

“The issue of the constitution of the Board of BPP is embarrassing as it has not been constituted till date. Sometimes we need the cooperation of the Executive. When we go out there, we want people to adhere to the provisions of the law."

RESIDENT Goodluck Jonathan has said that his administration will continue to actively combat terrorism in partnership with all peace-loving countries of the world.

Speaking at a meeting with President Shimon Peres of Israel, President Jonathan said that Nigeria will welcome enhanced cooperation and assistance from Israel for its ongoing efforts to end terrorist attacks and incursions in parts of the country.

According to the President, “Combating the menace of terrorism is a challenge that we must address in partnership with all peace loving countries and peoples of the world.

“I seek the cooperation of your country to confront the security threat from terrorist groups that my country is now facing. There is no doubt that Israel has had decades of experience in combating terrorism.

Nigeria can benefit tremendously from your experience in this area.”

Acknowledging the growing economic relations between Nigeria and Israel, President Jonathan called for greater collaboration between them in other sectors, saying that his administration will also welcome deployment of Israel’s renowned expertise in furtherance of Nigeria’s agenda for national transformation in areas such as healthcare, agriculture, electric power supply and the management of water resources.

10— Vanguard , TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

We won’t witch-hunt opposition — EFCC boss

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

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HAIRMAN OF the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission EFCC, Mr. Ibrahim Larmorde, yesterday, denied that the agency is only meant to pursue those opposed to the government of the day.

Larmorde also urged journalists to exercise its constitutional mandate with a sense of responsibility.

Speaking while declaring open a workshop on Economic Crimes Reporting in Lagos organised for journalists, the EFCC’s boss said there was no truth whatsoever in the notion that it is no more performing.

Lamorde said: ”This is sad,” pointing out that this is not so because corruption threatens all sectors of the economy, the media inclusive.

He noted his commission had continued to beam its searchlight on those found to have committed economic and financial crimes either against the country or other Nigerians.

Larmorde who was represented by the Director of Operations of the agency, Mr. Olaolu Adegbite, urged the media to lend its investgative skills to helping the EFCC to fight corruption rather than allowing itself to be sucked by corrupt people.

Daniel drums support for confab

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ORMER OGUN State Governor, Otunba Gbenga Daniel has called on Nigerians to support the decision of President Goodluck Jonathan to convey the national conference.

Daniel who spoke in Lagos at the public presentation of a book, “Challenges of Development: A compendium of speeches of Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, GNI, former governorship candidate of People Party of Nigeria, PPN, Ogun State, during the 2011 general elections.

The book launch, where many national officers of the Labour Party were represented, also had in attendance Ondo State Commissioner for Environment, Mr. Sola Ebiseni who represented Ondo State Governor Dr Olusegun Mimiko.

Fashola slams FG over SWF, says it's unconstitutional

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI & MONSUR OLOWOOPEJO

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AGOS — GOVERNOR Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, yesterday, denounced the move by the Federal Government to inaugurate the Sovereign Wealth Fund, SWF, stressing that it negates the country’s constitution.

“The 1999 Constitution does not allow us to do what we are doing,” Fashola said.

It will be recalled that, a month ago, President Goodluck Jonathan inaugurated the council of the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA, also known as SWF, where he canvassed for the support of the contributors, to realise the set objective of the fund.

Fashola made the remarks, yesterday, during a courtesy visit by the NSIA management led by the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Mr. Mahey Rasheed, at the Lagos House, Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja.

The governor said that the idea was hampering the contributors, especially the state governments in improving the infrastructure in their states.

According to him: “I have been in discussion with the NSIA Managing Director. I have made the position of our government well known publicly and privately.

"The first thing is to thank you for coming to visit and to present the certificate of the Sovereign Wealth Fund shareholders to us.

I will accept them as a proof to

the fact that our monies are somewhere. But with due respect, I must differ that this is not an initiative I support.

“Some of my colleagues did for reasons best known to them, but I did not. And I made it well-known when the discussion was under way.

"I do not support because I am against saving; I mean I do not disagree because I am against saving. For me, I disagree because there are fundamental constitutional issues. The examples really do not match with our realities and in the examples that you have presented to us, many of them are either monarchies or

emirates.

“We must first cross the constitutional stand on the issue of whether to save or not to save.

What makes the big brother (the Federal Government) better saver than I am? So, in a family where we all inherit some money and then you are the elder brother, you should share the inheritance with all your brothers.

“But you, (the elder brother) take 52 per cent and after taking the 52 per cent, you want to go and put it in a lottery. And you as the elder brother also determine how your younger brother will spend his own

share.

"Who says your lottery will bring return? Why should you take my own share and your share and put them in a lottery?”

Speaking earlier, Rasheed said that the council was not saving to inherit, but to make profit for the country.

According to him: “The difference is that the investment that would be made by the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority is for profit. Like the investment in the construction of roads, power plants and others, we do it on commercial basis and sell the service. And when we get more, we will do more.”

VISIT: Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, receiving shareholders' certificate from Alhaji Mahey Rasheed, Chairman, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA, and Mr. Uche Orji, Managing Director/CEO of the authority, during NSIA management's visit to the Governor, in Lagos House, Alausa, Ikeja. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

Lai Mohammed, CJ want disparity in judiciary removed

BY ONOZURE DANIA

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KEJA — A lawyer and Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, yesterday, called for removal of any disparity in the remuneration of judicial officers.

Mohammed made the call in Lagos in a paper he delivered on 'The Disparity in the Judiciary and the Need for a Review.'

Mohammed delivered the paper at the opening of the 2013 annual convention of the Magistrates’ Association of Nigeria.

“There should be no disparity between magistrates and high court judges. They are both administrators in the temple of justice.

“The disparity has acted as a bottleneck that has impeded on the justice system of the nation,” he said.

Mohammed said that remuneration and appointment of magistrates should be commen-

surate with those of judicial officers in high courts.

“Justice is the centre point of both the magistrate's court and high court; so, 'what is sauce for the goose must be sauce for the gander.'

“Welfare packages of magistrates should be improved on so that they do not succumb to bribery and corruption,” he said.

He said that only four of the 104 magistrates in Lagos State had been appointed to the higher bench in the last 10

years.

In his speech, the Chief Judge of Lagos, Justice Ayotunde Philips, urged magistrates to discharge their duties without fear or prejudice.

“The magistrates in Lagos are the largest in the country; so, I will implore you to write your ruling without fear of appeal.

“Lawyers will always petition against magistrates but discharge your duties without intimidation,” Phillips

said.

She advised magistrates to guard their integrity jealously.

About 250 magistrates attended the convention which will end tomorrow.

According to Phillips, lawyers will always petition against magistrates, so he told them to discharge their duties without intimidation.

She also advised the magistrates to guard their reputation while discharging their duties, stating that their reputation is what will speak for them.

NANS cautions Nigerians over Oduagate

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OLLOWING THE reactions that have trailed the alleged purchase of bulletproof cars by the Aviation Minister, Stella Oduah, the executives of the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, has cautioned Nigerians to stop attacking the Minister, saying they should allow the panel set up by President Goodluck Jonathan to come out with their

findings before taking a stand.

The body said this becomes imperative considering that pro- and anti-Oduah parties have been trading words over the yet to be ascertained act.

The issue, was described by the executives of the body as an overblown issue, which needs not be over-flogged, especially when she (Stella

Oduah) had performed her national assignments creditably.

NANS President, Yinka Gbadebo and the National Secretary, Comrade Daniel Momodu, yesterday, expressed dissatisfaction with the way the general populace and the media have been flogging the matter, stating that some salient issues were left pending.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 —11

OPON IMO AWARD: Osun

APC challenges critics

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

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SOGBO — THE All Progressives Congress, APC, in Osun State has challenged the PDP and other critics of Governor Rauf Aregbesola on the issue of Opon Imo (the elearning computer tablet) to fault the world if they can over the award given the state governor for producing the tablet that has now been identified as among the best four of such e-learning devices in the world.

According to APC in a statement: “If they cannot fault the world on this award, the PDP and ignorant critics of the Opon Imo should have the good sense to acknowledge that they were wrong about their criticisms, and ill-informed about the value and purpose of that e-learning equipment which the World Summit Awards (with the backing of the United Nations) has now proclaimed amongst the best four of such instrument in the world.”

Health crisis looms in Ogun — Health officers

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

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BEOKUTA — THE Environmental Health Officers, EHOs, Registration Council of Nigeria, yesterday, raised an alarm over a looming health crisis in Ogun State unless urgent steps were taken to employ qualified young environmental health officers.

The Registrar of the Council, Mr. Augustine Ebisike stated this in Abeokuta, at a training programme organised for registered environmental officers in Nigeria.

Ebisike, who noted that the common diseases that had ravaged some parts of the country including Ogun, were more of environmental than medical challenge.

He said a state like Ogun without further employment of EHOs and where majority of the existing ones would soon retire, risked health crisis.

'50,000 construction workers lost jobs in 1 yr'

BY VICTOR AHUMA-YOUNG

N

O FEWER than 50,000 workers lost their jobs in the nation’s construction and furniture industry in the last one year, the National Union of Civil Engineering Construction, Furniture and Wood Workers, NUCEFWW,

said, yesterday, in Ibadan, Oyo State.

President of the Union, Mr. Amechi Asugwuni, announced this while addressing members at the opening ceremony of the union’s 11th Education/Industrial Relations conference, with the theme, ‘Organisational Changes and Challenges for Trade Union

Leaders.’

He lamented that the jobs losses were caused by non-payment, delay in payment for certified completed jobs, redundancies, among others.

He said: “We demand that the Federal Government should put in place definite regulatory framework to revive the wood

SESSION: From left, Ekiti State Governor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi; Head of Service, Ekiti State, Mr. Olubunmi Famosaya; Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Yemi Adaramodu, during an interactive session with civil servants of Levels 1-6, in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday.

and furniture industry.

“The regulatory framework should be enacted into law by the government with the political will to implement the framework and accompanying punitive measure for violators.

“As a major stakeholder in the wood and furniture industry, we urge the Federal Government to put in place necessary machinery that will place Nigeria on the same page with the rest of the world by managing our climate so as not to suffer the effects of climate change or global warming.

“Government should also ensure that there is adequate security at our forests and bushes to prevent further deforestation.

“Our position on contract and casual employment is that it is explorative and has the tendency to degrade jobs.

“We are reiterating here today that we will continue to resist casualisation and ensure fair, sufficient compensation and good welfare for all categories of our members through unrestricted legitimate rights to union activities, collective bargaining and other statutory provisions for interactions, engagements and resolution of issues with other social partners entrenched in the industry.

Amosun tasks new aide on Olokola Free Trade Zone

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GUN STATE governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, has sworn-in a new Special Adviser on Special Projects with a charge on him to ensure the full realisation of the Olokola Free Trade Zone,

for the benefit of the state and Nigeria.

The new aide, Mr. Olalekan Onamusi, a chartered accountant is from Ijebu-East Local Government Area of Ogun State.

Osun donates materials to LGs for measles campaign

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SOGBO — THE Osun Government, yesterday, donated health materials for integrated measles campaign to 30 local government councils in the state as part of measures to reduce the spread of measles.

The materials donated include measles vaccines, de-worming drugs and Vitamin C, among others.

Commissioner for Health, Mrs Temitope Ilori, while presenting the materials in Osogbo, said there was the need for improved immunisation activities to save children from child-killer diseases.

“There is the need to visit remote communities to help kick measles out of the state,” she said.

She said 10,000 personnel had been recruited and trained at state and local government levels for the next round of immunisation campaign.

“The flag-off exercise is expected to come up on November 2 and it will end on November 11.

The people need to come out en masse and immunise their children,” she said.

Speaking during the swearing-in ceremony, yesterday, at the Executive Chamber of the Governor ’s Office in Abeokuta, Amosun said the first and major task of the new appointee was to oversee the full operation of the Olokola project.

He said the Olokola Free Trade Zone remained very significant to his administration’s drive for economic development of the state, hence the appointment of somebody with a Special Adviser status to drive the

project.

Speaking after his inauguration, Mr. Onamusi, said his new assignment was a task that must be accomplished, adding that he would be meeting with the stakeholders on the Olokola project in order to achieve the laudable goal of the governor.

It would be recalled that the Amosun administration had committed more funds to the Olokola Free Trade Zone than any previous government in Ogun State.

.... Muslims laud Aregbesola

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

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SOGBO — THE Muslim Community in Osun State has linked the current religious harmony being enjoyed in the state with Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s fair treatment and equal recognition given to all religious groups in the state.

Speaking in Osogbo, yesterday, on activities marking this year’s Hijrah 1435, the state President of the Muslim Community, Sheikh Salahudeen Olayiwola stated that the Muslim had no opposition to the recognition given

to the traditional religion in the state by the state government.

Sheikh Olayiwola who was represented by Alahji Mustapha Olawuyi said the present administration in the state was able to ensure peace and stability because of its fair treatment to all people of various religious pasuations in the state.

While lauding the efforts of the state governor at maintaining the different religious persuasions in the state without fear or favour, Sheikh Olayiwola advised the state

government not to relent in its efforts describing it as a welcome development in the state.

He wondered why some sections of the public condemned Governor Aregbesola for granting Muslims in the state public holiday last year to celebrate Hijra.

His words: “The holy book says, give unto Caeser what is Caesar's and unto God what is of God's, and this is the reason we are not opposed to the government recognising traditional religion and the inclusion of ‘Oduma ifa’ in Opon-Imo.”

C M Y K

12— Vanguard ,

TUESDAY TUESDAY,, OCTOBER 29 , 2013

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013—13

Police confirm arrest of Sylva’s loyalist, Okio

BY SAMUEL OYADONGHA

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ENAGOA—THE Bayelsa State Police Command, yesterday, confirmed the arrest of Tonye Okio, a loyalist of former governor of the state, Timipre Sylva, over alleged seditious publication.

The state Police Command, in a statement by the acting Police Public Relations Officer, Mr Peter Ogboi, said that Tonye Okio’s arrest was part of an investigation into the alleged activities of a syndicate involved in the spread of seditious information in the state.

The Police added that “the suspect, whose other syndicate members are now at large, would be appropriately arraigned in court when investigation is completed.”

However, a group of civil rights activists, led by the former Chief Press Secretary to former Governor Sylva, Mr. Doifie Buokoribo, faulted the claims of alleged sedition against Tonye Okio and demanded his immediate release.

He said the offence of sedition does not exist under the Nigerian law.

“The courts expunged it in the Second Republic following the celebrated case of Arthur Nwankwo versus the State,” he said.

Buokoribo, in a statement in Yenagoa, described the abduc-

tion of Okio and his continued detention as illegal and unfair.

He accused the Bayelsa State governor, Mr Seriake Dickson, of being the mastermind of the action.

He said: “On October 26, about 15 men, including plainclothes Special Investigation Bureau, SIB, officials and others attached to the Police Mobile Force, invaded the Abuja residence of Tonye Okio with three vehicles and forcefully seized him. Thereafter,

they took his iPAD, mobile phones and those of his younger sister.

“After getting their target, Okio was taken to the headquarters of the Abuja Command of the Nigeria Police.

He stayed with his abductors, who claimed they were trying to arrange a flight to take him to Yenagoa via Port Harcourt International Airport.

When the flight arrangement failed, the police decided to take Tonye by road. They left Abuja about 4pm, Saturday,

and arrived Yenagoa about 1pm on Sunday, October 27.

He was taken straight to the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID, of the Nigeria Police, where he is being detained illegally.

“The Police authorities claim that Tonye Okio will be charged for allegedly writing on his Facebook page recently that an unnamed SouthSouth governor was recently caught in the United States with $5 million. Tonye denies the charge.”

CONFAB: Dr. Sani Indabawa, Secretary, Presidential Advisory Committee on National Dialogue restrains Col. Tony Nyiam (rtd), member of the Committee, who lunged at Governor Adams Oshiomhole of Edo State and heckled him from making his presentation to the Committee in Benin City, yesterday. Covering face in shame is Prof Geiorge Obiozor, member of the Committtee.

INSURGENCY: Declare full scale state of emergency in Yobe, Borno, Owie urges Jonathan

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

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ENIN—FORMER Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Rowland Owie, has called on President Goodluck Jonathan and the National Assembly to declare what he described as “full scale state of emergency in Yobe and Borno States,” due to the persistent killings in those areas.

Owie, who said that the country could not continue to condone the killing of innocent Nigerians and persistent violence perpetrated by the Boko Haram sect, added that the killings may persist unless military administrators were posted in both states and total state of emergency enforced in the areas.

He said: “With what is happening now in Yobe and Borno states, it is clear that kid gloves can’t solve the problem in those states. I hereby, call on the President and the National Assembly to declare full scale emergency in Yobe and Borno states and military administrators be appointed there. Enough is enough of C M Y K

bloodletting. When Chief Olusegun Obasanjo acted likewise in Plateau State, heavens did not fall.

“Those perpetrating this evil are only out to destroy and make the nation and the people of those states uncomfortable, which is

bad. We cannot continue to accept violence; we need to take drastic action in these areas, so that this sort of violence does not snowball into something more serious that could envelop the entire country. It is time the country use its military strength to stop the killings.”

Centenary: Bill Gates to partner Nigeria in Agric development

BY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

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ORT HARCOURT—THE Exhibition Committee for next year’s celebration of Nigeria’s Centenary has expressed optimism over American billionaire, Bill Gates’ willingness to participate in the celebrations and support Nigeria’s industrial advancement.

Chairman of the committee, Apostle Rommel Emenike, told Vanguard in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, that his committee had met with Gates, who requested a business case on how his global foundation could support Nigeria’s productive sector, particularly in the area of agriculture.

He said that his committee was contacting great men and corporate giants all over the world to ensure

that as many foreign investors as possible participated in the centenary exhibition and to interact with their local counterparts to build greater partnership aimed at improving industrialisation in Nigeria.

He said: “On the recent discussion with Gates in the United States, we are already perfecting a business case with agriculture as key interest because of its potential to generate huge employments and strengthen food security.

“Our task as the Centenary Exhibition Committee is to focus on the economy. So, there is positive response from efforts being made so far. We are set, most importantly, to showcase Nigeria’s ingenuity and greatness while building partnership with foreign exhibitors and investors.”

FG can’t be trusted, says DELSU ASUU

BY FESTUS AHON

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GHELLI—THE Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, Delta State University, Abraka, chapter, yesterday, said that the Federal Government has demonstrated a high level of insincerity over its claim to have distributed N100 billion to federal and state universities, given that no university, federal or state, had received any money or any cash-backed allocation from government and as such, cannot be trusted to fulfill its recent promise.

ASUU DELSU, in a statement by its Chairman, Dr Emmanuel Mordi, said: “Congress resolved that government’s offer to pay an additional N10 billion, which amounts to 43.50 percent of the total amount of N55.2 billion it owes ASUU members, is totally unacceptable.

“Congress resolved that government’s offer of N200 billion without even a mere mention of N400 billion, which it committed itself to provide in the 2012 Memorandum of Understanding, MoU amounts to another understanding not based on the 2009 Agreement and the MoU of January 2012, and is, therefore, a violation of both the agreement and MoU.”

14— Vanguard , TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

NPC to partner WAIFEM on new economic model

BY UDEME CLEMENT

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AGOS—THE Na tional Planning Commission, NPC, has said it will partner with West African Institute for Financial and Economic Management, WAIFEM, to map out sound econometric models on how the economy operates in making short and long term projections to achieve greater growth.

The director, Macro, NPC, Mr. Tunde Lawal, stated this while addressing participants at the opening of the training workshop on macroeconomic modeling and forecasting for officials of the commission.

He stated that modeling and forecasting are key instruments in economic planning, and policy formulation.

Speaking, the director general of WAIFEM, Professor Akpan Ekpo said: “The importance of econometric modeling and forecasting for policy analysis helps in understanding the operation of the economy."

We're ahead of Ngige in Idemili LG, says Obiano campaign

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WKA—THE Obiano Campaign Organisation, OCO, yesterday, said it has overrun its major opponent in the November 16, governorship election in Anambra State, Dr. Chris Ngige, in Idemili Local Government area of the state, by sweeping his support base.

A statement by the OCO said the gubernatorial dreams of Senator Chris Ngige, "may have evaporated at the first touch with reality as he was shut out by his own people from the activities marking this year’s celebration of the Idemili Day over the weekend at Nkpor while the APGA candidate, Chief Willie Obiano and his campaign train lighted up the event with colour and fanfare.’’

APGA candidate, Chief Obiano’steamledbythenational chairman of the party, Chief Victor Umeh stormed the Nkpor venuewithpompandpageantry and drowned out the noise coming from the opposition candidate, Mr. Ifeanyi Ubah.

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Traders kick against planned closure of Onitsha market for APGA rally zSecurity agents drafted to maintain peace

BY NWABUEZE OKONKWO

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NITSHA—SECURITY men were yesterday drafted to the Onitsha Main Market following attempt by the APGA-led government to close the market for rally by its candidate, Mr. Willie Obiano.

According to sources, the traders were reportedly angered by the fact that the administration which had earlier banned political campaigns in the market tried to force them to close shops to receive its candidate for the November 16, governorship election in the state.

A source said that the confusion which followed the disagreement between APGA officials and the market traders ‘’marred the proposed visit of the APGA candidate in company of Chief Joe-Martins Uzodike, his campaign manager and commissioner for Information, Tourism and Culture at about 9am.’’

It was said that following the unsuccessful attempt to close the market, Obiano and his entourage later prayed with the traders during their morning devotion amid protests by some others who waved brooms, signifying that they would sweep the party out of power during the election. The broom is the official symbol of the APC which candidate is Dr. Chris Ngige.

Ngige’s supporters at the Main Market were later joined by others from Ose Okwodu Market who waved their brooms chanting solidarity songs for Ngige.

Eye witnesses told Vanguard

that not even the arrival of Governor Peter Obi at the scene could deter the protesting traders, as the governor’s entourage was pelted with sachet water bags, prompting a quick retreat to Whitehouse Office of the Onitsha Amalgamated Traders Association, OMATA, where a donation of N1 million was announced by the governor.

Mr. John Okeke who was at the Airport/ Indian line in the market complained that APGA ought not

to have tried to close the market as the government had earlier banned political campaigns in markets in the state.

Also, another trader who spoke on the condition of anonymity told Vanguard, ‘’we received an order by the government saying that we should not do business today, but we felt that it was not okay.

Another trader on home appliances, Mr. Fred Nebedum said in pidgin English, ‘’It is not

by force to support a candidate.

The worst is that he should come and say what he wants to do and others will also come. But it does not mean we will not do business for that.’’

APGA, however, denied the story in a statement last night insisting that traders in major markets across the Onitsha metropolis, including OseOkwodu, Bright Street, Main Market, Fegge and Bridge Head shut their shops to welcome and pledge support for Obiano.

ANNIVERSARY: From left: Group Chief Executive Officer/President, Arik Air, Dr. Michael Arumemi-Ikhide, Mrs. Mary Arumemi, Chairman, Chief Joseph Arumemi and the associate vice president of the Airline, Mr. Ralph Hensche, during Arik Air 7th anniversary thanksgiving service, at St. Agnes Catholic Church, Maryland, Lagos.

Abia demolishes colonial era Umuahia market

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MUAHIA—ABIA State Government has demolished the Umuahia main market that was built at the city centre during the colonial era.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, learnt that the market was built in 1935.

In an effort to decongest the city centre, the state government constructed a new market at Ubani Ibeku, near Umuahia.

Traders were given up to October 19 to relocate to the new market, although a crosssection of the traders complained that the market was not yet ready for business.

The old market was formally closed on October 21, by the market relocation committee, while its demolition commenced last Saturday.

The chairman of the committee, Chief Ebenezer Offor, who was seen supervising the demolition, yesterday, told NAN that "work is in

progress”.

Offor expressed happiness that Governor Theodore Orji had finally ‘’broken the jinx,” saying that previous administrations attempted to remove the market from the city centre without success. ‘’Many prominent Abia indigenes at home and abroad have been sending me text

messages thanking God and the governor for this great achievement,” he said.

He said the area had been cordoned off by men of the state vigilance service to avert loss of lives.

NAN recalls that an unidentified bus driver, who went into the market on Sun-

day to pull out an iron rod during the demolition, lost his life, when the wall of the market collapsed on him.

Meanwhile, scores of traders who were yet to be allotted shops at Ubani Ibeku, still besiege the secretariat of the committee, while trading activities are gradually picking up at the new market.

Lawyer faults Oshiomhole on Edo LG by-election results

BY PROVIDENCE OBUH

B

ENIN—AS reactions con tinued to trail last Tuesday ’s by-election into Esan North East Local Government Area in Edo State, an Abujabased lawyer, JohnBull Adaghe, yesterday, fingered Governor Adams Oshiomhole as having been instrumental to the declaration of the result while collation and counting were still ongoing in the coun-

cil.

According to Adaghe, results were still being collated at about 7pm in Uromi when a candidate was declared winner in Benin by the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission, EDSIEC, saying it was ‘’undemocratic, laughable and a disappointment from Oshiomhole’s government.’’

Adaghe said that the outcome of the council election

which had been cancelled twice in the past was a bad precedent and big blow to democracy in the country.

He said: ’’The onus is now on the judiciary to restore the hope of the common man because it is glaring that the election was still ongoing when the result was declared

by EDSIEC. The question is, which result did EDSIEC use in declaring the APC candidate winner?’’

Vanguard , TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 —15

FG restates commitment to eradicate VVF

BY SUCCESS UZOKWE BUJA—THE Federal Government has declared its commitment towards the eradication of Vesico Vaginal Fistula, VVF, across the country.

The Minister of Women Affairs and Social Development, Hajia Zainab Maina disclosed this, yesterday, at a capacity building workshop on rehabilitation and re-integration of VVF centres held in Abuja.

The minister who was represented by a director of the ministry, Dr. Ijeoma Unaogu further stated that the Federal Government’s goal to sponsor the treatment of at least one third of patients of the disease before the end of the year is part of President Jonathan’s transformation agenda in the health sector.

Maina said: “My ministry has the responsibility of dealing with the social aspect of VVF, being the rehabilitation and re-integration of patients; mobilising support and advocating re-dress of the issues that bring about VVF, while the Federal Ministry of Health deals with the health aspect, being the treatments.

“This administration is not only committed to the treatment of VVF victims but to their wholesome wellness which includes their re-integration into their respective communities as well as being economically empowered.

“Some of the victims do wish they were dead rather than be subjected to stigmatisation, ostracism, outcast status and general dehumanisation resulting from the affliction.

Consequently, many of them become beggars and even destitutes,” she lamented.

According to the minister, VVF is a major public health problem in Nigeria, adding that it has severe socio-economic, psychological and physical impact on women and family as well as developmental processes of the nation.

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LAUNCHING: From left: Mr. Kolawole Olaniyi, MD, Technocool Nig. Ltd, Mr. Mohammed Fouani, MD, Fouani Nig. Ltd, Mr. Olusola Erinle, MD, Pera Beam Ltd and Mr. Deog Jun Kim , MD, LG Electronics West Africa, during the official launch of a new commercial air conditioner in Lagos. Photo: Diran Oshe.

Nigerians top Forbes’ African Person of the Year shortlist L

BY UDUMA KALU

AGOS—NIGERIANS have dominated Forbes Africa Person of the Year shortlist, the US base business website has announced.

In its Forbes Africa page, Forbes announced it had narrowed down its shortlist, dominated by Nigerians, for the 2013 Person of the Year Awards.

The awards will take place in Nairobi, Kenya at the beginning of December this year.

An official voting is also open to the public who can make their selection of the individual they deem most worthy of the Person of the Year title.

The Person of the Year Awards celebrate ‘the individual who, for better or worse, has had the most influence on events of the year gone by’ and Forbes Africa has welcomed the participation of the public in what is fast becoming one of the most momentous and anticipated annual events in Africa.

“Every year, we are excited to decide the Forbes Africa Person of the Year. We want to honour the big hitters of the continent who are making a difference in people’s lives and we hope that in doing so, it will inspire others,” commented Chris Bishop, the managing editor of Forbes Africa magazine.

The shortlist, comprising three Nigerians, one South African and one Zimbabwean, is as follows: *South African mining mag-

nate, Patrice Motsepe, plans on giving away more than half his fortune over the next five years. * Akinwunmi Adesina is Nigeria’s Minister of Agriculture and his vision is to make Nigeria a self-sustaining, food-

producing nation and register 20 million farmers by 2015. * Aliko Dangote is Africa’s richest man and his net worth has significantly increased on the back of his continued business success, allowing him to better the lives of millions. * Strive Masiyiwa is the founder of global telecoms group, Econet Wireless, and

through Capernaum Trust he educates tens of thousands of Zimbabwean orphans. *Jim Ovia established Zenith Bank Group in 1990 – now West Africa’s second largest financial services provider. His focus has turned to helping grow Africa’s budding ‘techpreneurs’.

FG procures more vehicles for border patrols

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BY BEN AGANDE

BUJA—THE Federal Gov ernment has purchased additional vehicles to patrol the porous Nigeria-Niger and Camerounian borders in order to check the activities of terrorists in the area.

This is coming on the heels of the conclusion of work on the demarcation of Nigeria-Niger Republic border by the National Boundary Commission, NBC. Minister of State for Foreign Affairs II, Nurudeen Mohammed, disclosed this to State House Correspondents after a meeting of the NBC chaired by the vice president at the Aguda House in the Presidential Villa.

According to the minister, the latest measure follows similar successful demarcation of NigeriaCameroon border, over which security concerns had also been raised in the past.

He said Nigeria and her neighbours will continue to cooperate in order to minimise security challenges facing them and to minimise the activities of transborder

hoodlums.

He said Nigeria and Cameroon will continue to share intelligence to further check possible terrorist activities and other breaches.

Also speaking, the director general of the National Boundary Commission, Dr Ahmad Mohammed said the NBC was working to get Nigeria’s intercontinental shelf to be extended by 150 nautical miles so as to in-

crease the country’s area of influence in the Gulf of Guinea.

He said the meeting also deliberated on resolving outstanding internal boundary conflicts in the country, including the border dispute between Kogi and Anambra states which escalated when a private firm set up a refinery in the Anambra side of the border, having discovered crude oil in commercial quantity within the region.

Naira advances from 0.1% to N158 per dollar

BY PATRICIA NWOSU, WITH AGENCY REPORT AGOS—THE naira rose for a sixth day against the dollar in the longest streak since July 2011 as oil companies sold the U.S. currency and tighter Central Bank of Nigeria measures introduced this month to curbed foreignexchange demand.

The naira advanced from 0.1 per cent to N158.45 per dollar which is the strongest on a closing basis since June 3,

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that brings its monthly advance to 0.8 per cent, the best since July.

“The retail system has reduced foreign-exchange demand at the inter bank market as banks now buy dollars only on proof of request from their customers,” Tunde Ladipo, Chief Executive Officer of Valuechain Investment Ltd., said by phone.

Access bank analysts, led by Tony Monye, in an e-mailed note said the naira is set to

continue strengthening this week on “increasing foreignexchange inflows from oil companies.”

After Central Bank of Nigeria, the oil companies are the second-biggest source of dollars which offers foreign currency at auctions on Mondays and Wednesdays to maintain exchange-rate stability. The regulator tightened controls of its auctions, replacing a wholesale system with retail sales from October 2.

16—Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

Suntai’s case against Taraba Assembly goes to Appeal Court

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ALINGO—A TARABA High Court, yesterday, referred the case filed by Governor Danbaba Suntai against the Speaker of the state House of Assembly and the legislature to the Court of Appeal for guidance and direction.

In a ruling in Jalingo, the trial judge, Justice Ali Andeyangtu, said the matter required the interpretation and application of Section 190(2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended.

The section deals with transmission of letter and resumption of duty by a governor.

Andeyangtu said that in view of the importance of the case to the people of the state, there was a need to send it to a superior court for a judicial pronouncement that would become a reference point.

The lead counsel to the state House of Assembly, Mr Yusuf Ali, SAN, had earlier filed a motion asking the court to transfer a section of the case that related to the interpretation of the constitution to the Court of Appeal.

He said that transferring the case to the appellate court was pertinent because no previous judicial pronouncement had been made on that section of the constitution in the country.

Ali quoted Section 295(2) of the 1999 Constitution as amended to support his claim.

Mr Alex Izinyon, SAN, counsel to Suntai, argued that the issues involved in the case were based on facts and asked the court to dismiss the motion for reference and determine the case on its merit.

The News Agency of Nigeria, NAN, recalls that Suntai and the legislature on September 30, opted for out of court settlement, which the court granted them time to do.

The out of court settlement has failed, thereby giving room for the continuation of the case.

The case was adjourned pending the decision of the higher court.

No law to stop aged aircraft flying our airspace — NCAA

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU & JOSEPH ERUNKE

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BUJA—AGAINST the backdrop of recent air disasters in the country, the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, yesterday, raised an alarm before the Senate that there are no laws empowering it to stop aged aircraft flying our airspace.

The agency said unless the National Assembly amends the existing law; it would continue to register old aircraft, saying no law stops it from granting operating licenses to aircraft that are above 50 years.

At a public hearing organized by the Senate Committee on Aviation, where all heads of agencies under the Ministry of Aviation appeared to answer questions from the committee on problems in the sector, Director of Aerodrome Services, Mr. Joyce Nkemakolam, who incidentally acted as Director-General after the sack of former Director General, Mr Harold Demuren, also disclosed that of all the nation’s airports, not one had been fully certified..

Nkemakolam, who was asked

by Senator Hope Uzodinma, Chairman of Senate Committee on Aviation to name the airports in the country that were fully certified, simply responded: “Distinguished chairman, no airport in Nigeria has been fully certified.”

Senator Uzodima, while speaking at the occasion, said his committee discovered that the NCAA issued several operational licences to non existing aircraft in the country just as he said it found that the aircraft manufactured over 43 years ago were flying the country’s airspace with registration of other old ones still being carried out by the NCAA.

He tasked the agency to emulate the Nigeria Customs Service which took bold step in banning over-aged vehicles from being imported into the country, saying that incidents of air crash being witnessed in the country was partly due to the problem.

But responding, the DirectorGeneral of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, Capt. Fola Akinkuotu, said that at the moment, there was no law in place to put an end to the usage of old aircraft in the country and appealed to the National Assembly, through the appropriate committees to come up with legislation to that effect.

Senator Hope Uzodinma, lamented the reckless abandon with which the NCAA issued licences and Air Operations Certificates. AOCs, without recourse to, and observance for prescribed and laid down regulations.

He accused the agency of issuing twice the number of certificates since the exit of the former Director-General of NCAA, Dr. Harold Demurem.

Uzodinma said: “The issue of AOC is a serious matter, since after Demuren, the NCAA has issued twice the number of certificates.

“When it comes to the issue of safety, standards and regulations, we cannot compromise.”

According to the Aviation Committee Chairman, one of the operators among six others whose identity he did not disclose, was given license to operate by NCAA under Joyce Nkemakolam, former Acting DG, NCAA, despite the fact that the operator did not own any aircraft.

These operators, Senator Uzodinma noted, were yet to commence operations due to inadequacies of not having any aircraft till date six months after issuance of said licences.

A member of the committee, Senator Ali Ndume, condemned the action of NCAA over its decision to certify a 43 -year old aircraft, Westlink Airlines, as “air-worthy.”

“In this time and age where aircraft are with high technology, you are approving AOC for an aircraft which is 43 years old. It is an insult to fly Nigerians in an aircraft that is 43 years old. It doesn’t make sense. You have a right to say that anybody who has an aircraft older than 12 years should not come to your office. After all the customs did

theirs,” Ndume fumed.

Earlier, Senator Uzodinma queried the Director-General of NCAA, Captain Fola Akinkuotu, over the agency’s failure to take action on one of the agency’s Principal Operations Inspectors identified as Mr. Agwu.

The said inspector allegedly engaged in fraudulent and sharp practices while being responsible for inspecting Beachcraft, Dana and Associated airlines, both of which subsequently became involved in air crashes.

Responding, Capt. Akinkuotu said the agency was presently conducting an investigation into the matter, adding that “we have interrogated him, and there is an on-going in-house investigation.”

On the alleged procurement of bullet proof cars for the Minister of Aviation, the NCAA Director-General told the committee that the agency did not come before the Senate with information needed since it did not come prepared to respond to the issue of the armoured cars.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 — 17

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HE title of Kingsley Moghalu’s new book, “Emerging Africa,” is puzzling. Rather than being an affirmation of its title, Moghalu’s book begs the question: “Is Africa really emerging?”

Moghalu is suitably skeptical of conventional wisdom. He rejects popular Western thinking in days of old which derided Africa as the Dark Continent; with the cover story of The Economist proclaiming it “The Hopeless Continent.”

He is also emphatically cynical about the new tendency to celebrate Africa’s resurgence prematurely, with the same London Economist seeking atonement for its previous impetuosity with a cover story now declaring Africa: “The Hopeful Continent.”

Not so fast, cautions Moghalu; let us address certain fundamental questions first.

“Is there real economic transformation going on in Africa, or is what we are seeing merely the façade of an Africa that has become a dumping ground for foreign goods and services?” His answer provides ample food for thought: Africa’s “lions” and “cheetahs” may be on the move, but Moghalu insists this will prove to be illusory if the prognosis is that they are to be armed with Blackberry and Android devices produced in Asia and North America.

Kingsley Moghalu's emerging Africa

undue reliance on foreign aid. Yes we can create our own endogenous technology without relying on the pipe-dream of technology transfers. Yes we can renovate, innovate, and modernise by forming a nexus between politics and economics. We can re-energise and mobilise ourselves through an A-team of constructive leadership. We can engage with the international community on our own African terms. We can move beyond reliance on natural resources and extractive industries to science and technology.

But first, there must be a paradigm shift in the African worldview. Moghalu’s position is that Africa has not developed World because Africans have not yet agreed to trade develop. Agreement to develop would Moghalu sees beyond the fig-leaves. He create a paradigm shift in African thinking; does not deny the fact that sub-Saharan a drastic review of Africa’s place and role Africa currently enjoys remarkably more in the world, and where it needs to be. buoyant economic output than most other This would then require the mobilisation areas of the world. He even acknowledges of resources, not only economic, but also that seven of the world’s fastest growing political, in order to achieve that end. Says economies are African. Nevertheless, he Moghalu: “it is the channeling of group insists, the bottom-line remains that Africa energy based on a unity of belief about accounts for a measly 2 percent of world origins and destinations that creates trade and the combined GDP of its 54 transformation.”

Lofty words from a man who admits belief countries is only equal to that of Chicago, in the value of propaganda. He declares: USA. So when Moghalu asks if we are nearing “The fundamental proposition of this book the end of poverty and under-development is that the conscious propagation of ideas, in Africa, the answer is inevitably: “Not values, intent, plans and knowledge is yet!” He laments the fact that the fundamental to the establishment and fundamental questions of why-is the- actualisation of worldviews; and economic world-the-way-it-is, who-are-we–in-it, transformation must be based on a where-are-we-going, and how-do-we-get- worldview if it is to have depth, meaning and sustainability.

Development is Moghalu’s Africa is quintessentially first a state of the African. It is not borrowed. It is not a mind, brought about on the basis copycat. It is not stolen. It is not of a view of the reliant on European blueprints or world and a leftovers. It is endogenously African people’s place in it.” there are yet to be addressed and answered Moghalu maintains foreign aid is not a in Africa. This is what his ambitious book path out of poverty into development. sets out to provide. Its success or failure Certainly, the volume of aid is grossly rests on the extent to which Moghalu insufficient relative to need. But Moghalu brings any degree of clarity to these goes further to argue that foreign aid burning issues. actually militates against growth and Kingsley Moghalu is first and foremost development. Indeed, he maintains the a teacher. He writes as a teacher. Although chief instrument for the underhis book is essentially policy prescriptive, development of the continent is foreign aid. it nevertheless targets the young and This is surely an exaggeration he fails to upcoming African to whom the future substantiate adequately. belongs.

Moghalu’s Africa is He is right that decades and billions of quintessentially African. It is not borrowed. development assistance has failed to It is not a copycat. It is not stolen. It is not produce significant development in reliant on European blueprints or leftovers. recipient countries, but this does not mean It is endogenously African. Here is a man Africa’s underdevelopment must be laid who obviously feels no inferiority complex at the doorstep of foreign aid. The fact to westerners. I believe he has competed that many aid-dependent countries are with them one-on-one and has bested poorer today than they were decades ago them. Therefore, he negotiates an Africa does not mean they would not have been with a worldview of self-confidence and even poorer still without foreign aid. self-belief.

However, Moghalu is right: aid is not a Moghalu’s siren is an African version prerequisite for African development. He of Obama’s “yes we can.” Yes, we can justifies this by reference to extra-African transform our economies within a examples. Emergent China has not relied generation. Yes, we can do it without on foreign aid. Neither has India in recent

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Kingsley Moghalu

times. But what really riles Moghalu is the master-servant relationship that the aid structure creates between Western donors and African recipients and its psychological impediments to self-reliance.

In the same vein, Moghalu is sceptical about the value of foreign investment in Africa. He insists there is no such thing as “transfer of technology.” Nations and firms do not willingly transfer their technological advantages to others. For Moghalu, the real interest of foreign capital is not the recipient country’s development, but profits and raw material extraction. It becomes important therefore to formulate investment policies that ensure that the economic and strategic interests of African countries are adequately served by foreign investment inflows.

Important question Moghalu raises a simple but fundamentally important question: who is responsible for Africa’s future? His answer is without ambiguity: it must be Africa itself.

His caution is that we must not be seduced by all the current talk in the West about globalisation. Yes, Africa is and remains an indelible part of the international community. But Moghalu insists we must negotiate our participation in that community on our own African terms.

For Moghalu, globalisation is easily colonialism in a modern garb. This neocolonialism is infinitely more sophisticated and better disguised. The IMF gospel of structural adjustment and liberalisation simply led to the de-industrialisation of the continent by opening local manufacturers to disadvantaged competition with more sophisticated foreign goods. Premature trade liberalisation also denied poor African countries of income previously derived from tariffs.

In spite of all the song and dance made about globalisation, Moghalu says African countries need to realise that there is actually no “international community.”

While paying lip-service to globalisation, the countries in the international system continue to pursue their national interest with even greater single-mindedness.

Africa must be no different. Moghalu prescribes an endogenous growth model that graduates out of raw materials and the extractive industries into manufactured goods provided first for the protected local market and then the regional market. It is only from there that we can then launch out to engage the lip-synching globalisation world as an economic power in our own right through the exploitation of our comparative advantage.

In the words of Moghalu: “Africa’s path from poverty to wealth goes through one main highway – African countries themselves and endogenous production for internal markets; value added manufacturing and the export of complex, differentiated products to regional markets.”

Cautionary notes Seminal books like this one are written out of office. How Moghalu managed to pull this off is remarkable, even if “Emerging Africa” was edited from the agglomeration of different things he had written over the years. But I am reticent when policy-makers get busy with making policy prescriptions. Who then will implement the prescriptions and when?

In addition, a book about emerging Africa should not be too focused on Nigerian exemplification. Nigeria is not the only country in Africa, even if an important one. Moreover, a book about finding African solutions to African problems should provide critical audit of African institutions such as the African Union. The United Nations and Bretton Woods institutions that fell under severe criticism of Moghalu are already invalidated as institutional frameworks for Africa’s development.

Conclusion: Someone once said in order to get the right answers; you have to ask the right questions. This is what Moghalu achieves in “Emerging Africa.” Some of the questions he asks seem to point to his own personal frustrations and dilemma: “Why have African countries failed to prosper when several of them, like Nigeria, have numerous intellectuals and highachieving professionals?”

High achieving professionals Undoubtedly, Moghalu himself is one of Nigeria’s leading intellectuals and highachieving professionals. Moreover, he is not a bystander. He is now engaged in the highest echelons of government as Nigeria’s Deputy Governor of the Central Bank, no less. So what are we to expect now that intellectuals like Moghalu have decided to return to serve?

The danger here is that, wittingly or unwittingly, Moghalu might end up with some kind of self-indictment. But he seems up to the challenge. Inevitably, he dwells on the salutary changes that have taken place within the Nigerian financial system since Lamido Sanusi took over at the Central Bank. But how far-reaching are those changes? Moreover, how longlasting will they be? As can be expected, Moghalu protects his turf jealously. He says: “Nigeria needs to establish a culture of policy continuity in order to achieve sustainable economic transformation. Too many policy initiatives have short shelf lives.”

Moghalu’s book is a must-read for all those concerned about the pace and trajectory of Africa’s economic transformation. It brings fresh new insights into the nature of the African economic quagmire and provides a beacon light at the end of the tunnel for Africa’s resurgence.

18 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 LOBAL anger swept across the world this G week with revelations of extensive snooping on leaders of major allies of United States

and institutions by the US National Security Agency, (NSA), which claims that its actions were part of the counter terrorism operations.

The presidents of Brazil, Germany, France, Mexico are among the heads of states that have expressed their aversion to the Wiretap scandal by the United States, through its National Security Agency (NSA). This action of snooping on leaders of other countries, individuals and organisations around the world is a worrisome throw-back to the Cold War global environment, where countries engaged in acts of wide-scale espionage inspired by lack of trust and desire to gain advantage over the other in military and economic spheres. Washington used to posture as the champion of freedom, democracy and civil liberties.

When the Cold War ended in the late 1980s, the world anticipated a new world order anchored on freedom, advancement in democracy and civil liberties and development of natural resources for economic prosperity among peoples and nations.

When the Edward Snowden affairs blew open in May 2013 the international community was miffed by the extent the United States has gone in sweeping emails and telephone conversations of individuals, who were suspected to have

Washington's Big Brother diplomacy links with terrorist organisations, but embarrassingly too, by putting its allies and friends under surveillance.

There is no doubt that all nations, especially, the major powers of the world engage in acts of espionage but the golden rule is “don't get caught” but for a country like the US which has often presented itself as the champion of transparency and promoter of civil and individual liberties, the unfolding scandal is not only a breach of trust but a mark of dishonesty in its conduct of diplomacy.

We are tempted to agree with Snowden's argument that the invasive measures adopted by the NSA amounted to gross violations of the privacy of individuals, especially those outside the radar of terrorist networks. Officials of America's NSA may argue that the US should employ whatever method it deems proper to

protect the lives and interests of Americans and their country, the fact remains that their own leaders would feel less secured in this new reign of Big Brother.

The actions of the NSA are clear violations of the sovereign rights of nations and civil liberties of individuals, whose rights to privacy have been breached by some overzealous security operatives in Washington.

It is capable of returning the world into the dark days of the cold war by provoking of cyber war among nations. We feel pained by the fact that US has been at the head of accusation of cybercrimes and cyber invasions against China, now it has become a case of the kettle calling the pot black.

The battle to get Russia to repatriate Mr. Snowden to America to answer to charges is futile exercise because those, who want to approach equity should do so with clean hands.

As a nation Nigeria has remained on the fringes of global events even when we aspire to be among the world great nations. Our approach and attitude to gathering of intelligence within the country and at the sub-regional levels have been abysmal.

As a nation, we must not only take steps to protect our own national interest, but also condemn unethical conducts in the international system which may impact us negatively.

OPINION

BY FATIMA GONI

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WAS one of the sceptics who believed that the last EidKabir celebration or the Sallah Festival would be marked by bloodshed from terrorist attacks instead of the blood of sacrificial lambs. I had thought that rather than the ritual killing of cows and rams for religious sacrifice, human beings might be victims of slaughter from Boko Haram as being witnessed and reported in the media.

There were speculations and alleged announcement by terrorist leaders to attack on Sallah. Some Nigerians, especially those in crises-prone areas, were a bit apprehensive, some even ran away to more peaceful environments. Their apprehension was largely fuelled by bitter experiences of the past where several of them lost friends, relations and valuables to coordinated terrorist attacks.

Surprisingly to the amazement of most of us, our security men have indeed proved cynics wrong that they can actually put trouble-shooters in check. This, they have demonstrated by mounting security surveillance through aerial patrols, check-points and stop and search measures which naturally could be disturbing, but result is now obvious. Gladly, the story became entirely different and heart-warming as no single case of security breach was reported in any part of the country during the Eid El Kabir celebration. This is indeed a welcome development.

The assistance of the famous “Civilian JTF” in ensuring peace in areas dubbed flashpoints was invaluable and unprecedented. The Nigerian youths in those areas have indeed displayed their readiness to contribute to efforts aimed at safeguarding the lives and property of Nigerians. Not to be caught napping, they rather chose to remain alert and vigilant as the Sallah festival approached. Through the massive and sustained efforts of the “Civilian JTF”, security personnel in troubled areas in the North East have continued to record tremendous achievements in their resolve to clampdown on trouble-shooters in the areas.

Insecurity: A Sallah Festival without bloodshed It is interesting to note that Sallah durbars which never held in states across the North East and North West in the past few years took place without witnessing any security breach. This is no doubt an indication that peace is fast returning to the North. The Eid el Kabir celebration was very colourful as various families took out time to unwind at various fun centres in their respective locations. This is made possible by our security men who sacrificed their comfort and pleasure to guarantee the security of the masses.

With the recent security success recorded during the recent Sallah celebration, indications are that our security have not only lived up to expectation, but have displayed their readiness to secure the lives of the people, using everything at their disposal.

It is also gratifying to note that even members of the international community are pleased with the successes so far recorded in the war against insurgency in the country.

Without doubts, Nigeria’s recent election as a non-permanent member of the United Nations Security Council is an indication that we still command enormous respect and recognition in the comity of nations. The world has come to realise that insecurity is a global problem and it is not peculiar to any nation. Individual nations are daily battling to fight one form of security challenge or the other.

R

ecent media reports indicate that constant fire battles from our security men have forced members of the Boko Haram Islamist sect to relocate to neighbouring countries of Cameroun, Chad and Niger. The Nigerian military has indeed made the place inhabitable for these undesirable elements. Though it is not yet uhuru, but we are deeply convinced that we are not far from victory.

Government on the other hand has left no one in doubt as to how it intends to fight insurgency in the country. Like

never before, the current system has continued to accord priority attention to issues of security and welfare of its citizens. The recent massive deployment of military troops to Nasarawa State to halt the activities of the Ombatse cult group, creation of an additional military command with its headquarters in Maiduguri, Borno State and prompt payment of allowances to security men on duty are some of the positive efforts on the part of government to end terrorism in the country. This government has continued to reiterate its avowed commitment towards making Nigeria a safe, secure and progressive country. Without fear of contradiction, the present system has done its best to make Nigeria the envy of other nations, regardless of recurring security distractions which has slowed down the pace of development.

Another significant milestone recorded by the Nigerian security is the capture of kidnap kingpin, Kelvin Oniarah who had operated like the Lord of the Manor in the Niger Delta for a very long time. His eventual capture by men of the Department of State Services marked the end of kidnapping in the region.

As heart-warming as these stories are, our security men must resist the temptation of concluding that the war against insurgency is over. It is not yet over. Though we are not far from the end.

The Nigerian Army’s readiness to recruit no fewer than 9,000 men to scale its anti-terror war is gratifying. It vividly underscores its resolve to improve security situation within the country. As lofty as this plan is, the Army leadership should ensure that its recruitment exercise reflects the federal character principle and should watch against recruiting elements who would become agents of terror groups.

Necessary rules and regulations of the military shouldn’t be compromised. *Ms Goni, a social commentator, wrote from Kano City

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 — 19

O

N Tuesday, October 22, 2013, women numbering hundreds from all over Imo State arrived Owerri in hired buses and hit the streets of the state capital carrying placards with many and varied inscriptions some of which read: ‘Federal Government leave Okorocha alone’, ‘EFCC leavel Okorocha alone, ‘ICPC leave Imo Alone’ and so on.

Journalists from both print and electronic media fell over themselves to get interviews and make stories of the ‘protest’.

My information is that the women were protesting what they regard as “indiscriminate arrests of Imo State government officials by anti-graft agencies”. In a country where everybody, from the market woman to the human rights activist is an apostle of anti-corruption and observance of the rule of law, such a stance by women who ultimately bear the brunt of misappropriation is rather surprising.

Government officials in the state (including the governor) may well be impeccably prudent in the performance of their functions and management of the state’s resources but the anti-graft agencies have the responsibility to monitor their official activities like those of officials of other states to ensure that the resources of the state are not being mindlessly frittered away. I imagine that the same thing is being done in other states and indeed at the national level.

The general perception, especially by informed political watchers is that those women were rented by government to create the erroneous impression that the governor is being witch-hunted by the Federal Government through the anti-graft agencies. One is inclined to believe this reasoning, especially since crowd-renting

seems to be the stock-in-trade of politicians and governments in these parts. If this is true, and I imagine it is, then there may be no end to trickery and deceit in governance.

A government that has no skeletion in its cupboard has no reason to be jittery or to panic when its activities are being investigated. It will indeed keep its doors wide open for the investigators to enter and do their job. So whether or not the investigation is sponsored is immaterial.

That said, the anti-graft agencies should indeed leave Okorocha and his government alone if they discover that government records are straight and the scarce resources of the state are being judiciously husbanded.

E

nough about the women “protesters”.

The next day October 23, Owerri the state capital again came to a stand still.

Reason. Disabled persons in the state took to the streets to protest their ill-treatment by the Okorocha administration. Antithesis.

There was traffic gridlock. Regrettably, the disabled belong to the class of people whom Governor Okorocha has always beat his chest as taking care of their needs. About this same time last year, they also took to the streets for the same reasons. The logical implication is that since then they have either been given inadequate attention or no attention at all.

If the truth must be told (as it ought to), Imo State is currently experiencing a phenomenal economic downturn in the hands of the present administration. Money is not changing hands by way of contracts to Imolites except between and among the privileged few; unemployment level is high and graduate youths are given false hopes of employment which never materialises.

Granted that some effort was made to put up infrastructure by way of roads and buildings but most of the roads opened up

Jonathan and the phantom one-term pact

BY KAYODE OJO

I

T is quite interesting the extent the opposition elements in and outside the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, have decided to go to feed the Nigerian people with a salad of lies about the phantom one-term pact that President Goodluck Jonathan purportedly entered into with governors in the build-up to the party’s presidential primaries ahead of the 2011 general elections.

Governor of Niger State, Muazu Babangida Aliyu, who is one of the rebel governors working in cahoots to oust the national chairman of the party, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur and frustrate the re-election bid of President Goodluck Jonathan, was the first to claim that there was an agreement signed by Jonathan with governors on the party platform that he would serve for only one term as president.

He made so much fuss about it such that he cut an image of a rabble-rouser. Many people had expected Aliyu and his cotravellers in the voyage of upstaging Jonathan’s applecart to deal the fatal blow on the integrity of the President by publishing the purported document that he signed to commit to a single term. Had these governors done so, they would have successfully exposed the underbelly of Jonathan’s presidency.

It would have become a moral burden of sort, which the President would by now be struggling to deal with. But as it has now turned out, there was no such agreement documented anywhere, which bears the signature or imprimatur of the President; the governors have been making confrontational statements full of sounds and fury, but signifying nothing. I had personally expected that they would resort to the document as a joker but now, it is clear that they have lost the momentum; they

C M Y K

have been making much ado for nothing.

If they have any such agreement, I challenge them (as the President has now done) to publish and/or publicise it. The wind has been taken off the sail of their grandstanding; and, in a bid to hoodwink the Nigerian people that there was actually a documented agreement, they decided to deploy the platform of one of their newspapers to raise the false alarm that a South-South governor is hiding Jonathan’s one-term pact document. It was a poorly done job as the story was not only selfcontradictory, but also not difficult to see through as carefully made up to remove the onus of declassifying their phantom agreement far away from them.

Now consider the self-contradiction in the story published in The Nation of Monday, September 23, 2013 at paragraph seven, to wit: “Neither those for Jonathan nor those against him have the one term agreement paper…”. I am not aware that there is any governor who is neutral in the on-going crisis rocking the PDP. Yet, the story went on further thus: “It was learnt that when the agreement was signed, most of the governors were not eager to have a copy.

But this paper was allegedly given to a South-South governor to keep as a reminder to Jonathan that his zone was in custody of the pact.

“It was gathered that since the row over another term broke out, the governor has refused to release the paper. The governor denies being in custody of the paper. The said governor is fully behind the second term project with confidence since the pact is in his care.” The story further quoted a top source thus: “No doubt, there was an agreement but it was not circulated to all the then 23 (?) PDP governors. But a copy was kept with a South-South governor for strategic reasons. When the issue came up recently among some PDP governors no one could produce a copy. I think the Presidency

,

were never started and those started were abandoned. Buildings put up all over the state capital were built without predetermined purposes. This much was reechoed by no less a personality than the Anglican Bishop emeritus of Mbaise Diocese, Rt. Rev, Bright Ogu when he described the Okorocha administration as “a disappointment to the people of Imo State”. Bishop Ogu who reportedly made the comment during the second synod of the diocese of Ikeduru recently, was also quoted in the 247UREPORTS internet news as saying, among other things: “We’re seeing things happening – breaking down people’s buildings, breaking down people’s comfort and traditions; taking people’s land everywhere and building structures that cannot be finished. This cannot be leadership”. According to the report, the bishop also said that the Governor was running the state as a one-man business, accusing him of not carrying the people of the state, including members of the State House of Assembly, along. He also condemned what he called “Governor Okorocha’s policy of stifling the state’s economy by not giving jobs to the youths”.

Bishop Ogu’s assessment of the Okorocha administration seems to be in tandem with

,

BY FRED IKEDIALA

,

Imo: A paradox of protests

Governments must learn to operate in the interest of the people who put them in place; government functionaries must always be open to and frank with the people so as to earn their trust

Jonathan has further worsened the position of the opposition elements when he challenged them during the presidential media chat to show or publish the agreement they claimed he signed

,

was aware of where the pact was kept and that is why it has been confidently denying any pact.”

What a narrative! This has been unconscionably and unscrupulously packaged in an attempt to seek to convince the Nigerian people that there was actually an agreement signed by President Jonathan. By the way, which serious group of people would sign an agreement as important as this in a single copy without a duplicate? This simply shows how seriously they related with the enterprise of extracting, as they have claimed, the agreement by Jonathan to commit himself to a single term in office. This is no doubt one in the series of the oppositions’ gambits at face-saving.

Having realised that they have committed a big gaffe, they have decided to rewrite their original script by trying to put the Jonathan camp on the defensive with this largely unsubstantiated claim contained in the report. If neither supporters nor opponents of Jonathan have the document, who then is The Nation’s governor in PDP from the South-South, who is neutral, who has it?

The good thing is that Jonathan has further worsened the position of the opposition elements when he challenged them during the September 26, 2013 presidential media chat to show or publish the agreement they claimed he signed. He said, for the avoidance of doubts, he did not sign any agreement

the views often expressed by political analysts that a deliberate state of hunger has been created in Imo by the present administration through its superficial and seemingly people-oriented programmes.

Such programmes, they claim, have been deliberately designed to put the people in so much want that they will jump with gratitude, at any handouts given to them during elections, to the government’s advantage.

Some of the women who were cornered during the so-called pro-Okorocha protests did not even know why they were packed in buses and brought to Owerri until they got there. They were simply given some money and told to join the buses to Owerri. If this is true (and it must be since the women themselves said so), then poverty is truly taking its toll on the people and this state of affairs is beginning to be employed by government for the intended purpose. But paradoxically, the purpose was most definitely reasonably thwarted the next day by the disabled protesters who, unlike the women, were obviously not rented by anybody but came out on their own volition to register their disenchantment with a state of affairs which they considered unacceptable.

Governments, whether federal, state or local must learn to operate in the interest of the people who put them in place.

Government functionaries must always be open to and frank with the people so as to earn their trust. Simulated support never gets anywhere and real support comes from genuine policies and programmes that positively touch on the lives of the electorate. It also comes from selflessness and transparency in governance. If the Okorocha government in Imo State is being run in keeping with these leadership ethos, then there is no reason to be afraid of antigraft agencies.

*Mr Ikediala, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Owerri, Imo State

with anyone.

Indeed, this is not the first time the nation would be treated to this kind of political dubiety and theatrics. History has a way of repeating itself. It was ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo who was first challenged in a similar circumstance in the build-up to his re-election in 2003. Some leaders of the North kicked, claiming that he signed an agreement that he would serve for only one term.

In the long run, no one could produce a document that Obasanjo signed to validate the claim that there was agreement by him not to go for a second term in office. There was, however, a salutary intervention by the late Chief Sunday Bolorunduro Awoniyi, the Aro of Mopa, who was one of the Northern leaders who sold Obasanjo’s candidacy to the North. He had reportedly claimed that there was a meeting between some young Northern elements with Obasanjo at Transcorp Hilton Hotel during which they wanted Obasanjo to assure them that the North would be taken care of in the scheme of things under his presidency.

Awoniyi, who had helped to clarify the issue when it became topical, then said he was there in the room at the Transcorp Hilton where the meeting held and that when Obasanjo said he was not going to sign any agreement, he said he (Awoniyi) convinced him to do it as there was nothing bad in doing so. He said he had to tear the hotel’s letterhead (writing) paper on which he made a draft of the said agreement that he (Obasanjo) would not do things that would hurt the interest of the North, after which he (Obasanjo) appended his usual signature: “OO Obasanjo.”

This was Awoniyi’s claim, which was clear enough that Obasanjo did not sign agreement not to run for a second term but made a commitment to carry the North along and not to do anything that would hurt its interest.

·Mr Ojo, a public affairs analyst, wrote from Lagos.

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20— Vanguard ,

TUESDAY TUESDAY,, OCTOBER 29 , 2013

*Carcass of the ill-fated canoe

Niger boat mishap: Mad rush to the grave

BY WOLE MOSADOMI, Minna

D

AYS after, many are yet to come to terms with the recent canoe tragedy in Niger State as the memory of the loss of several lives still rankles.

It was the last canoe stationed at the other end of the River Niger, ready to ferry the last batch of traders to the popular Malale Market on the fateful day. This triggered off a mad rush to be part of the last trip because the implication was that if it was missed, there wouldn’t be another opportunity to get to the market. Certainly, nobody could stop the passengers from embarking on the trip as they were all desperate to be part of the journey which eventually led to the death of many of them.

Everything about the trip was faulty. The canoe was overloaded. None of the passengers used the life Jacket and balloon provided by the state government for those travelling by sea in the state. In totality, the laws associated with the operation and safety of users of the canoes were ignored and this led to the unfortunate incident.

How it happened: The Captain of the canoe, Malam Daudu Abubakar, had been on the job for over 30 years and to him, it was a normal routine for his passengers to board the ferry and be taken to their destination not minding the hazards and other implications. Although he has been on the job for several years, he could not categorically tell the number of passengers his canoe

could take. His major concern was to make money.

Abubakar told Vanguard Metro, VM, that half way into the journey, he heard a loud noise from the canoe and before he knew what was happening, it (canoe ) broke into two. “Since my over 40years on the job, I have never experienced this type of disaster. I just heard a loud noise coming from the canoe and before I knew what was happening, it broke into two. The next thing I saw were passengers drowning.

“Some were swimming while others who were not good swimmers were sinking. I was also sinking but luckily, I swam into safety just because I can swim,” the captain of the canoe explained. VM learnt that the canoe hit some trees naturally buried under the river, but Abubakar attributed the mishap to some strange spirits.

Late rescue While the passengers were sinking, an alarm was raised by people close to the scene. A distress call was sent to the villagers to assist in the rescue operation. Instead of rushing to the scene of the incident, the local swimmers allegedly decided to consult their gods first, apparently to get its approval before embarking on the rescue mission.

These hours of consultations apparently led to the increase in death toll. VM was informed that only the remains of seven victims were immediately recovered.

The corpses of 17 others were recovered later. Uptil the time of going to press, the actual number of those who boarded the canoe and the exact number of casualties have not been ascertained. Unconfirmed sources, however, alleged that no fewer than 70 persons boarded the illfated canoe. The Niger State government, however, said that only 26 people died in the mishap.

The government further explained that their corpses have been recovered. A breakdown of

the casualties, according to the government, shows that 20 were adults, while six were children.

Majority of the victims were said to be women. The deceased included the Ward Head of the village, Garba Makera and a National Parks officer identified as Abubakar Dangamdu.

The remains of the National Park staff has been handed over to the management of agency in New Bussa while others have been given a mass burial in Tungan Walo village close to the

scene of the incident.

Survivors speak: Garba Mohammed, Saidu Ismaila and Abdullahi Mohammed are among the few lucky survivors. To them, their survival is still a mystery.

Speaking with VM in Hausa, Garba Mohammed said he was a trader and had done business in the market for the past 10 years. “I have not experienced or seen this type of disaster in my life. How I managed to survive, I cannot really explain because I am not a good swimmer.

But I thank God that I eventually survived,” he said. Also speaking, Saidu Ismaila explained that immediately he heard the loud noise, he knew that something disastrous had happened. “I managed to swim to safety but how I got to the final destination is what I cannot explain,“ he remarked.

As at the time of going to press Abdullahi Mohammed who said he was with his wife and a male child could not ascertain their whereabouts. “I don’t know whether my wife and child are still alive. We were sitting close to each other in the canoe but when the canoe broke into two, I cannot precisely say which direction the wave of the sea carried them to. For me, I don’t exactly know whether I was rescued by the local swimmers or swam into safety myself. All I can say is that my survival is the act of God, “Mohammed opined.

Meanwhile, the Niger State governor has ordered the release of N13 million to the families of the deceased. Each of them will receive N500,000. Similarly, the Governor has directed the State Ministry of Transportation to strictly enforce the laws that govern water transportation in the state to avoid future calamities.

Terrorism: Police graduate 121 officers to tackle crime

BY UJU MBANUSI

T

HE Anti-Bomb Unit of the Nigerian Police Force recently graduated 121 officers who completed the basic courses that qualified them as Anti-Bomb Technicians and Investigators at the Traffic Training Wing of the Police College Ikeja Lagos.

In a speech delivered at the event, the Inspector General of Police Muhammed Dinko Abubakar, who was represented by the Commissioner of Police Explosive Ordinance Disposal (Anti-Bomb) Command Abdulmajid Ali; stated that the training programme which commenced on May 2, 2013, was borne out of the vision, mission and aspiration to combat headlong, the challenges of terrorism and armed insurgency that plagued the nation. He added that the Police Force will not rest on its oars until it haas trained enough officers to meet the demand that security challenges posed to Nigerians.

The IG further stated that the Command has embarked on a nationwide bomb threats sensitize campaign to designated areas like motor parks, markets, institutions and village squares across the country; in order to fully equip the citizenry

about the knowledge of what constitutes bomb threats and also enable them identify basic IEDs components when ever they come across such with particular attention to gifts and invitation cards received during the yuletide.

Addressing news men at the event, the Commissioner of Police Anti-Bomb Command Abdulmajid Ali said that the training program have been very effective. “We trained them to enhance their IED incident techniques and also to see their response and capabilities to explosive tests, as well as to improve their knowledge on how to counter such problems when called upon”.

Speaking on the challenges the programme is faced with, the CP said: “We have our challenges, I am sure you are aware of the incident at Kaduna where a Police Inspector was killed”.

“The Command was short of man-power that was why the Inspector General of Police authorized that we should recruit more. He gave us the task of recruiting 1000 officers, to cover the nation all over, so far we’v gotten 250, we would continue such trainings. They are Police men already, not that we are recruiting them newly, we intend to go on with such trainings”.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

— 21

NATIONAL DIALOGUE: Manufacturers seek protection for industrial sector

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

require value addition before they can be used by industries.”

“Experts say that the mix of climate, vegetation and geological factors make Nigeria a natural zone for diverse agricultural, mineral and renewable resources. These resources had for a long time not been optimally exploited because of the dominance of petroleum as the main source of national revenue,” he lamented.

He also called for a more integrated programmes from research institutions that will open up more collaboration for product research and development.

He further stated that in addressing

A

s Nigerians prepare for a national dialogue, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, Apapa Branch, has called for an all embracing discourse that will take the plights of manufacturers in the nation into account.

Making the call at the association’s 42nd Annual General Meeting in Lagos, the out-going chairman, Mr. John Aluya, said the discourse should be focused on ways to reduce trade malpractices with a view to giving local manufacturers enough support to develop local capacity.

According to him, “With the planned national dialogue, our political structure should not only be the fulcrum for discussion. The promotion of better and conducive business operating environment should form part of the discourse.

“This is because as an open economy that depends heavily on imports, stability of the polity and the economy is crucial for manufacturers.

With our level of economic development, such discourse must take concrete actions against trade malpractices such as dumping, smuggling, under invoicing among others with a view to give local manufacturers adequate support to develop local capacity.”

Speaking on the theme of the event, ‘Increasing the Utilisation of Local Raw Materials through Product Research to Enhance Competitiveness’, he regretted that despite the fact that Nigeria is a resource-based economy, over 80 percent of its industrial raw material are still imported.

This, according to him, is because of dearth of raw material extraction and processing locally, adding, “Official statistics says most of the locallyproduced raw materials in the country are in unusable state and therefore,

some of the challenges militating against the manufacturing sector in the country, efforts should be made to increase the level of contribution of the manufacturing sector to the GDP through policies and programmes that would aid the completion of investments in core industries such as the proposed Integrated Refinery in Olokola Free Zone, Ondo State, saying that it will provide another source of raw material for petro-chemical based industries.

He said that such investment commitments must have intraindustrial linkages for value addition

to enhance the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises through utlisation of abundant local raw materials in the country.

“In creating these inta-industrial linkages, other sub-sectors of the manufacturing sector will look at ways to enhance their backward integration programme with primary production sources yielding positive results.

“This is with a view to increase the percentage utilisation of local raw materials from 48 percent to 55 to 60 percent by year 2015,” he added.

From left: Mr. Mark Loxley, General Manager, Southern Sun Hotel, Ikoyi, Lagos; Mr. Tayo Babalakin, Golf Captain, Ikoyi Club and Mr. Temitayo Buraimoh, Segment Head, Affluent Propositions, Diamond Bank, at the 3rd annual Southern Sun Ikoyi Golf Tournament briefing in Lagos. PHOTO: Akeem Salau.

LCA to brainstorm on alternative dispute resolution 109.35

-0.95

2,711.00

+25.00

19.06

106.39

-0.60

97.64

+0.53

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL DOLLAR STERLING EURO FRANC YEN CFA WAUA RENMINBI RIYAL KRONA SDR

0.09

155.07 250.7947 213.6554 173.0306 1.5921 0.3074 239.2499 25.4864 41.3465 28.6429 240.0484

155.57 251.6034 214.3443 173.5885 1.5972 0.3174 240.0214 25.5691 41.4798 28.7353 240.8224

SELLING 156.07 252.412 215.0332 174.1464 1.6024 0.3274 240.7928 25.6517 41.6131 28.8276 241.5964

CBN Exchange rate as at 27/10/2013

T

he Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA) has concluded plans to deepen awareness on Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) through high level discussions about the effective and efficient management of commercial disputes in West Africa and Nigeria.

The LCA would be holding a conference tagged West Africa Dispute Resolution Conference with the theme ‘Dispute Arising’. The one day conference will hold on 5th November, 2013 at the Eko Convention Centre, Eko Hotel and Suites, Victoria Island.Megha Joshi,Executive Secretary/ Chief Executive Officer,

Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA), who spoke on the conference, said, “The aim of this conference is to boost knowledge about arbitration and mediation options. The sessions have been structured so that participants can benefit from the experience of leading General Counsels and experts in key sectors in dealing with disputes arising, fast and effectively to ensure business progresses without major disruptions”.

Speaking further, she stated that “as a major stakeholder and provider of ADR services in Nigeria and West Africa, the LCA is keen to facilitate a conference that will enlighten attendants of the many benefits of ADR to ease the flow of business.”

Joshi added that the conference will also offer a platform to interact with key players and counterparts from

other parts of the world as well as opportunities to develop business relationships with high profile business leaders doing business in Nigeria and other West Africa countries.

The keynote address will be delivered by Mr. Arnold Ekpe, Director, Sovereign Wealth Fund and former Group CEO of Ecobank Plc under whose leadership the bank became the first truly panAfrican institution.

Speakers at the conference are drawn from within and outside of Nigeria and are reputable business owners and managers, and administrators of Alternative Dispute Resolution centers. They include; Rosalind Kainyah, Vice President, External Affairs, Tullow Oil Plc, London; Christopher Von Krause, Partner, White & Case, Paris, France; Opuiyo Oforiokuma, Managing Di-

rector, ARM Infrastructure, Lagos, Nigeria and Professor Moussa Samb, Director of the Research & Information Centre at the Superior School for Judiciary Training of OHADA, Dakar, Senegal.

Others are Benoit Le Bars, Founding & Managing Partner, Lazareff Le Bars Paris, France; Duncan Bagshaw, Registrar, Mauritius International Arbitration Center , Mauritius; Thiery Gakuba Ngoga, Registrar, Kigali International Arbitration Centre, Kigali, Rwanda; Fedelma Claire Smith, Legal Counsel, Permanent Court of Arbitration, Mauritius; Eyo Ekpo, Commissioner for Marketing, Competition and Rates, Nigerian Electricity R e g u l a t o r y Commission(NERC) Lagos.

22— Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

By BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE

I

told you how I bought Trade Bank’s shares and it closed down in 2005.

Money was refunded to some investors, but mine was not.

Please help me.”

The banking consolidation exercise was concluded in December 31st 2005. As far as most people are concerned, it was successful.

Seventy Five out the 89 banks scaled the hurdle of N25 billion capital base requirement. Trade Bank was one of the fourteen banks that did not make it, and along with others, its operating licence was suspended. Subsequently, its private sector deposits and liabilities were acquired by UBA Plc under the Purchase and Assumption model.

As far as the regulatory authorities- Central Bank of Nigeria, Nigeria Deposit Insurance Corporation and Securities and Exchange Commission- were concerned, that was the end of the story. Trade Bank has become history.

But to many investors, Trade Bank and some of the unsuc-

CBN, SEC where is investors money in Trade Bank?

“

•Arunma Oteh, SEC., DG cessful 14 banks are not yet history, and the consolidation

exercise is yet to be concluded.

This is because, in one way or

the other, their money is still trapped in the banks. This is reflected in the complaint above, which is an example of complaints received in respect of some of these banks.

In a bid to scale the N25 billion capital base hurdle, like most of the 89 banks, Trade Bank did a public offer, which regretably was not successful.

Hence SEC ordered that the proceeds of the unsuccessful offer should be returned to investors. But it is obvious that the apex regulatory body went to sleep thereafter. It did not followup on its directive, hence a lot of investors did not get the money they invested in Trade Bank.

A similar fate befell those who also invested in defunct Allstates Trust Bank. The Bank was in the middle of a public offer when it was declared insolvent by the CBN, and its licence revoked.

But the proceeds of the public offer is yet to be returned to investors.

Top 10 performing stocks O

n the top ten performing stocks last week were Conoil Plc, CAP Plc, UACN Property Development Co. (UPDC) Plc, Forte Oil Plc, Academy Press Plc and Transnational Corporation of Nigeria Plc (Transcorp).

Others were Learn Africa Plc, Ikeja Hotel Plc, R T Briscoe Plc and Berger Paints Plc.

Conoil Plc led the advancers with 40.47 percent or N14.16 per share price increase to close at N49.15 from N34.99 it started the week at.

It was the second highest price gainer in the previous week. The company said it will continue to pursue initiatives that will strengthen its income base in the core segments of its business capitalising on every emerging opportunity in the down-stream petroleum sector. Available financial statement of the comC M Y K

pany for the half year ended 30th June, 2013 showed that revenue rose marginally by 4.5 percent to N79.6billion from N76.2billion in 2012.

Gross profit also rose by 7.7 percent to N8.32 billion from N7.73 billion. The company was also able to reduce its operating expenses by about N436 billion helping to boost operating profit to N3 billion, 52 percent higher than N1.9 billion posted in 2012.

The effect of the reduction of about N18 billion in loans also saved the company about N300 million in finance cost.

Pre-tax profit rose to N1.9 billion, a 199 percent increase over N663 million posted in the same period of 2012. Year-to-date, the stock price has risen by 1,866 percent from year low of N2.50 to the closing price on Friday.

Chemical and Allied Products, CAP, recorded 26.10 percent or N10.14 increase to emerge the second on the top ten gainers list. It started the week at N38.85 and closed at N48.99 per share. Listed on the building materials sector of the NSE, CAP manufactures paints and

N13.78 to the present market price.

coatings, as well as fire extinguishers. CAP became a subsidiary of UAC of Nigeria Plc after the later took over controlling interest in the company as part of a drive to increase its presence in key sectors of the economy. The company recorded 21 percent growth in turnover to N5.23 billion from N4.31 billion in 2012 financial year. The profit before tax rose by 22 percent from N1.36 billion in 2011 to N1.66 billion. Year-to-date, the stock price has risen by 255.52 percent from year low of

A n o t h e r subsidiary of UAC of Nigeria, UPDC, advanced by 13.60 percent or N2.27 to close at N18.96 from N16.69 per share. The company recently undertook Real Estate Investment Trust, REIT, Initial Public Offering where it sought to raise N30 billion. The IPO, which the company said its proceeds would be used to consolidate its activities and unlock more value-generating business in the next few years was 88.9 percent subscribed.

Forte Oil added 13.50 percent or N8.68 to its share price to close at N72.98 from N64.30 per share. It was one of the companies that successfully acquired one of the generating plants in Nigeria in the recent privatisation exercise of the power sector by Bureau of Public Enterprise, where it secured

The most painful thing about this is the gross insensitivity of SEC and CBN to this matter. Now, while the insensitivity of the CBN may be excused, because its job is to protect depositors and not investors, that of SEC is difficult to be excused.

Definitely, the investors money in the unsuccessful offer of Trade Bank and Allstates Trust Bank is either with the CBN, or the banks that acquired their assets (UBA and Ecobank), or the NDIC or in the personal account of somebody. But it is the responsibility of SEC to ensure that this money is released to the rightful owners.

Hence on behalf of these investors, we appeal to SEC to deploy its full power and authority as the apex regulatory body in the capital market to secure this money, and ensure that it is returned to the rightful owners.

By NKIRUKA NNOROM

ownership of 434MW Geregu Power Plant.

Printing/Publishing listed company, Academy Press, added 11.59 percent or N0.24 to close at N2.31 from N2.07.

Academy Press, involved in security printing, had in 2012 announced that it would take advantage of ban on importation of security and sensitive print materials by the Central Bank of Nigeria to upgrade its facilities to full blown security printing outfit.

Available financial statement of the company for the third quarter ended 31st December, 2012, showed that revenue was up by 1.3 percent to N1.54 billion as against N1.52 billion in 2011.

Transcorp advanced by 11.59 percent or N0.19 to close at N1.63 from N1.64; Learn Africa gained 7.27 percent or N0.12 to close at N1.77 from N1.65; Ikeja Hotel added 7.14 percent or N0.05 to its share price to close at N0.75 from N0.70; R T Briscoe went up by 6.06 percent or N0.08 to close at N1.40 from N1.32, while Berger Paints rose by 5.66 percent or N0.45 from N7.95 to N8.40 per share.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 —23

INVESTORS SPEAK

Investors react on 10yr capital market master plan

By HANNAH ISIBOR, MAGBE-

GOR ZINO and PAUL METU

Mr. Boniface:

I

read that too, SEC just keeps on planning and inaugurating.

Tomorrow they’ll tell us they want to become world class market.

Today they are talking about becoming global market when the market is not even thriving, it is unfortunate. Where are they leading us to? Is it for somebody to wait for 10 year plan before the market can be turned around?

We’ve told them that SEC should identify the fundamental issues and address them. What caused the meltdown, it’s a global financial crisis, but our regulators never understood what caused the crash. Let them in-

augurate 20 year master plan, will that help to boost the market? It will not. So let them From Left: Chief Executive Officer, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema keep on inaugurat- presenting a gift to the Group Managing Director/CEO, UAC of Nigeria Plc (UAC), Mr. Larry ing committees, but Ettah during the company’s courtesy visit to the Exchange to commemorate its recent partnership let us see the result with Famous Brands in Lagos. of the committee that they have inaugurated, that’s capital market, though it all depends ket for 10 years. SEC cannot be dothe most important thing. But if the on the committee and what they ing everything; they cannot be evresults are not forthcoming, then that come up with as they carry out their erywhere, so I think it’s a great idea inauguration is just a fruitless exer- duties and their implementation on for them to delegate people to carry the strategies for the growth and out some responsibilities on their cise as far as I’m concerned. behalf. improvement of the capital market.

It will help in boosting confidence Adebayo Okinola: and I am sure the capital market will Chinyere Nwankwo: Let the committee start their work definitely see positive changes as a I think it’s a good idea because the first. Once the work starts, then I can express an opinion on that. They committee has been given the man- result. might make relevant impact on the

date to make plans for capital mar-

COMPLAINTS & INVESTIGATIONS Ecobank is frustrating e-dividend

I filled e-dividend form of First Registrars but was asked to do Bankers Confirmation with my bank, Ecobank. I was charged N3,100 for it, but First Registrars rejected it on the ground that the letter has disclaimer clause. I took it back to Ecobank but was told there is nothing they could do, that the clause is normal (Agada Moses)

Investors Forum

There is nothing normal about the clause. The purpose of Bankers Confirmation letter is to ascertain that the customer is the rightful owner of the account that he/she is submitting for e-dividend. Hence the disclaimer clause defeats this purpose. We strongly advise you to close your account with the bank, and go to another bank.

There are banks that treat customers with more understanding and respect.

Will National Conference affect investment in stock market?

What might be the future of investors in the capital market as the country goes into a discussion or rather convokes a Sovereign National Conference? Should the out come be that the amalgamation act of 1914 be dissolved? Prior to this, what can an investor do to secure his shareholdings if the result of SNC affects the mar-

ket?

(Chrisubakson Emeka)

Investors Forum

The result of the national conference has nothing to do with investment in the stock market. Hence the outcome will not affect their investment.

No communication from Japaul Oil

Please I bought Japaul Oil and Maritime shares in 2005 and since then, I have not gotten my dividend or any other message from the company. I wrote to them with the address I got from Nigeria Stock Exchange twice now, but there was no reply.

What do i do? (Eldred from Benin)

Investors Forum

Please contact the registrar of the company, Sterling Registrars Limited.

It is located at Knight Frank Building (8th Floor) 24 Campbell Street, Lagos.

Preferably you can all. 234-012635607.

No dividend from Berger Paints

I am a shareholder of Berger Paints Nig. Plc. My share certificate number is = 00602108 and account number is 044857. I became their shareholder in 1999 with 4,000 shares of 50k each.

The shares have increased since then.

I have neither received any AGM report nor any share dividend for the past two to three years. Please, help

me find out what the problem is.

(Apochi Isaac Osevwe)

Investors Forum

Contact Meristem Registrars Limited 213, Herbert Macaulay Road, Yaba, Lagos. Tel: 01-2809250-4, 018920491-2.

Email: info@meristemregistrars.com.

Investors Forum

The first thing is to list all the companies you believe your wife bought shares from. Then contact the registrars of each company to confirm from them the shareholding status of your wife. Also confirm who your late wife indicated as her next of kin. If it is you, they should advise you on steps to take to recover her investment.

No communication Which company should from Daar Communica- I invest? tions I want to buy shares, but I don’t I bought shares from Daar Communications Plc sometimes ago. Till now, I have not heard from them. ( Dafe Ukuwrere from Warri )

Investors Forum

Contact First Registrars @ Plot 2 Abebe Village Road, Iganmu or call 08033018295, 08191410456

How do I recover my late wife’s shareholding?

My late wife bought shares with many companies like ‘’Dangote Group,Oceanic Bank, Tantanlizer, First Bank, AIT etc. Her stock broker, who promised to inform me about her investment since three years now has not been found, though I receive some dividend bearing my son’s name(CHUKWU CHIDUBEM SAMSON) but how will I know if the certificate has been sent to her? Or how do I get the certificates since I cannot find her stock broker? (GREGORY CHUKWU Warri)

know which one to buy. Please give me the name of a good coy to buy.

(OGBOLU ANTHONY)

Investors Forum

Sorry, we don’t advise on companies to invest in. You need the services of a licensed stockbroker for such advice.

The list of licensed stockbrokers is available on website of Nigeria Stock Exchange (www.nse.com)

COMPLAINTS AND INVESTIGATIONS Do you have any challenge with your investment in the stock market or with any company (stockbroker, Registrar Company etc), write to vanguardinvestorsforum @gmail.com OR send text to 07043855187. We will INVESTIGATE AND REPLY

24 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCROBER 29, 2013

L-R: Publisher, PowerList magazine, Mr. Michael Eboda; former President of Ghana, Mr. John Kufour; and Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, at the PowerList 2014 Nomination in London .

Oil revenue drops by N189bn

BY MICHAEL EBOH

R

evenue accruable to the Federal Government from crude oil exports dipped by N188.5 billion to N457.2 billion in August 2013, compared to N645.7 billion recorded in July.

According to data obtained from the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, in its Economic Report for August 2013, the amount received by the government from crude oil in August, is the lowest since the

beginning of 2013 and the lowest in a one-year period.

Specifically, crude oil revenue in January 2013 stood at N591.4 billion, rising to N647.6 billion in February, before dropping to N595.3 billion in March.

Thereafter, it was ups and downs, as the figures rose again in April to N613.4 billion; N641 billion in May, dropping again to N559.4 in June, rose again in July to N645.7 billion, before dropping its lowest to N457.2 billion in August.

This contrasts sharply with

earnings of N749.1 billion year-on-year to August 2012, the highest over a 12-month period.

A further look at the CBN Report on the gross revenues in August 2013, revealed that that the Federal Government received N129 billion, from the sales of crude oil and Gas, which dropped by N44.1 billion from N173.1 billion recorded in July.

Revenue accruable to the Federal Government from domestic oil and gas sales stood at N109.3 billion, dropping by N4.5 billion from

N113.8 billion in the preceding month, while Petroleum Profit Tax/Royalties dropped by N140 billion, from N358.6 billion recorded in July to N218.6 billion as at August.

The CBN attributed the decline in crude oil revenue relative to the preceding month to the shortfall in receipts from exports and other oil revenue during the period in review.

IMF, experts’ observations In its World Economic Outlook for October 2013, the International Monetary Fund, IMF, said Nigeria’s economy and those of other countries without sufficient buffers would be negatively affected by a sharp or protracted decline in oil and commodity prices.

The IMF further stated that the decline will likely affect planned or ongoing resource development projects in the country.

Also commenting on the outlook of Nigerian economy for the rest of the year, the Managing Director, Cowry Asset Management Limited, Mr. Johnson Chukwu, warned that Nigeria’s economy growth is under threat, especially in the face of volatile global oil prices and the declining trend in Nigeria’s crude receipts.

Oil production The CBN noted that Nigeria’s crude oil production, including condensates and natural gas liquids, was estimated at an average of 1.88 million barrels per day (mbd) or 58.28 million barrels for the month.

It stated that this was 0.03 mbd or 1.6 per cent higher than the 1.85 mbd or 57.35 million barrels produced in the preceding month.

Oil thef t, ano ther face of tterr err orism theft, another errorism — Alison-Madueke T

he Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs. Diezani Alison-Madueke, has declared that the incidence of oil theft and its global support system represents another face of terrorism.

She argued that the development remained a clog in the wheel of the nation’s high economic growth trajectory.

Alison-Madueke stated this in London recently while delivering the Keynote at the Powerlist 2014, where she was also listed as one of the 25 Africans that are transforming the continent.

In the presentation titled: “The Strengths and

Obligations of the African Diaspora,” the minister explained that the ugly episode of oil theft has continued to thwart efforts on sustained economic growth because the effect of the oil theft scourge reverberates across the entire spectrum of the Nigerian economy.

“The grave phenomenon of oil theft and its global support system represents another face of terrorism counteracting our efforts at sustaining the trajectory of our high-growth economy, the stability of our society, and the enhancement and wellbeing of our people,’’ AlisonMadueke said.

She noted that effort at combating the menace locally is made more complicated because of the international slant to the crime.

“Theft of this magnitude is not only highly technical, but it is also an international-level crime. It is aided and abetted by syndicates outside of Africa who are the patrons and merchant-partners of the oil thieves. This crime against Nigeria must be resisted, as we simultaneously deploy incountry resources to fight this menace,’’ she added.

The minister therefore, called on the global community to advocate strongly against crude oil

theft.

“It perpetuates criminality, defrauds economies and discourages investment. This is a crime that threatens not only Nigeria’s oil and gas sector, but also threatens the security of the Gulf of Guinea, and by extension threatens the global economic order,’’ she argued.

Despite the scourge of crude theft, Alison-Madueke enthused that the Nigerian Oil and Gas industry has been placed on the path of growth and irreversible progress engendered by the transformation footprints of the President Goodluck Jonathan administration.

BRIEF

Chevron clarifies LPG e xpor expor xportt

BY AMAMDI ONYEGBADUE, with Agency Report

C

hevron Nigeria Limited, CNL, has explained that what it exports from its Escravos Gas Plant is mixed Liquefied Petroleum Gas, LPG, popularly called cooking gas.

It however, noted that this mixed blend is not the same LPG used as domestic gas for cooking and other household uses.

“The LPG specification produced by the Escravos Gas Plant is Mixed C3 and C4 and it is different from the LPG products available and used in the domestic market,” it explained.

The clarification became necessary following recent publication of the shipping of LPG to China, in the face of scarcity of cooking gas in the Nigerian market. But it did not give details on the Chinese export.

In an email response to Vanguard , Chevron said: “The NNPC/CNL JV’s Escravos Gas Plant produces mixed LPG and does not segregate C3 and C4 components. Mixed LPG is transported and sold in many international markets around the world including the US, South America, and the Far East.”

The oil major also noted that such exports began under a programme initiated about 17 years ago, saying, “NNPC and Chevron have been successfully marketing LPG production from the Escravos Gas plant since 1997.”

A couple of days back, China was reported to have ordered for some shipments of LPG from Nigeria, expected to be delivered to the country by end of October or early November.

According to traders, the ship carrying the cargo, VLGC Nantes is in the Indian Ocean heading to Wenzhou from Escravos in Nigeria.

The traders noted that Chinese imports from Nigeria are fairly rare with the country only taking imports from Nigeria amounting to 52,225 mt and 45,018MT in June and July respectively.

There were no other imports from Nigeria before that this year according to data from China’s General Administration of Customs.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCROBER 29, 2013 — 25

Experts task FG on gas supply for power

Oil & People •FELIX AYANRUOH

By SEBASTINE OBASI

felix.ayanruohlaw@gmail.com

T

Power Sect or Sector Ref orm TTurns urns R eal eform Real

By FELIX AYANRUOH

I

From left: General Electric (GE) Africa Supply Chain Leader, Mr. Phil Griffith; Executive Secretary, Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), Mr. Ernest Nwakpa; and President/Chief Executive Officer, GE Nigeria, Mr. Lazarus Angbazo, at the GE Supplier Forum held in Abuja. the challenge of gas supply. He therefore urged the Federal Government to parley with gas producers in order to realise the objective of the gas master plan.

“Government should intervene by ensuring adequate gas supply to all power stations and the newly-inaugurated NIPP projects. There is the need for government to sanction all contractors or companies saddled with the responsibility of supplying gas to IPP stations, but failed,” he said.

An energy consultant, Mr Danladi Bako, traced another hurdle against the realisation of stable power supply to ob-

solete transmission and distribution systems.

Bako, who is the Managing Director, Slogen Engineering Limited, said that there should be efficiency in the management of the power sector to achieve relative stability in power supply.

“The commissioning of the two power plants - Omotosho and Geregu power plants with a combined power generation capacity of 934 megawatts is expected to contribute significantly to the improvement of power supply. The issue of gas supply to these plants should be resolved quickly to enable them function optimally,” he said.

Power supply impr oves in Q3 impro — NOI Polls

By AMAMDI ONYEGBADUE

P

ower supply in Nigeria improved in the third quarter of 2013, according to the latest poll result released by NOI Polls Limited.

NOI, in its Power Sector Polls conducted during the period, revealed that 38 percent of Nigerians claim to experience slight improvements in power supply compared to 33 per cent recorded in the second quarter of 2013.

The poll further revealed that the proportion of Nigerians that experienced decline in their power supply reduced by 5points in the third quarter to 42% down from 47% in the second quarter.

Despite the improvements in power supply recorded over the quarter, the poll revealed that about 78 per cent of Nigerians still made use of alternative sources to augment their power supply; marking a 3-point decline from 81 per cent in the second quarter.

The poll was conducted between July and September

2013, and it involved telephone interviews of a random nationwide sample of over 3,000 phone-owning Nigerians aged 18 years and above, representing the six geopolitical zones in the country.

When asked if they were aware of the efforts the Federal Government was making to reform the power sector, an average of 67% of Nigerians said they were aware.

The polling agency, however, noted that the result showed no marked difference with that of the second quarter where 68 per cent said they were aware of government’s effort.

Also 62 per cent of the respondents expressed hope in the ongoing privatisation exercise in the power sector, same as in the second and third quarters.

“However, it is worth noting that the proportion of respondents that were ‘very hopeful’ increased by 7-points from the second quarter (nine per cent) to the third quarter (16 per cent); indicating more buy-in and support for the ongoing

power sector reform and privatisation process,” NOI said.

Continuing, the polling agency said, “In order to highlight the trends in power supply over the third quarter of 2013, respondents were asked the following question: ‘How would you describe power in your area in the past 1 month?’ An evaluation of poll results over the three month period showed there have been no dramatic changes in power supply.

“There was a 3-point increase between July and September in the proportion of respondents that claim power supply has improved a little and a 5point drop in the proportion that claim power supply is very bad and has gone worse.

“Exploring the situation of light across the three months showed that in September there was a balance in the proportion of Nigerians with positive and negative experiences with power supply since an equal percentage (41 per cent each) indicated an improvement and a deterioration of their power supply in that month.”

keep hearing from skeptics and opponents of the power sector reform that the process is a total failure. Maybe they’ve stumbled onto something in their windowless rooms. Maybe the government has finally decided to abandon the process. But in the rough and tumble of the real world, the hallmarks of President Jonathan’s Roadmap to Power Sector Reform have almost been met.

To illustrate the point, consider the establishment of a well-structured regulatory agency, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), and its reconstituted Board; establishment of Nigeria Electricity Liability Management Company Ltd (NELMCO); establishment of the Nigerian Bulk Trading PLC (NBET); and the establishment of the Electricity Management Services to provide ancillary and support services to the Nigerian Electricity Supply Industry.

Also consider the introduction of cost reflective tariffs; establishment of Transmission Company of Ni-

tion at large. Cost reflective tariffs, cut off non-payers, loss of jobs and the perception that only special interest are served are some of the reasons for the resentment.

Furthermore, some see power sector reform as serving oligarchic domestic and foreign interest and profit at the expense of the country. These are not recompense by any gain from the reform because gains such as expanded coverage, improved quality and competitive tariffs are small, disperse and slow, whereas the impact of price hikes and job losses is concentrated, immediate and falls on visible and vocal groups such as labor unions.

Labor related issues remains a challenge – payment of benefits to workers should remain a priority.

It should be noted however, that some elements have used labor

,

he Federal Government has been advised to ensure adequate gas supply to all the power plants to achieve stable power supply across the country.

Energy experts, who spoke exclusively to Vanguard, said that inadequate gas supply posed serious threats to the new National Integrated Power Projects (NIPPs).

The Managing Director, Seacorf Engineering Limited, Mr. Charles Fashola, cited inadequate gas supply to power stations as one of the major challenges facing the power sector.

He also said that the issue of inappropriate commercial pricing had deterred gas producers from investing in the country.

Fashola noted that while the nation was experiencing acute power shortage, some projects are ready but could not come on stream due to inadequate gas supply. He identified projects such as the 500MW Olorunsogo Phase 11, 450MW Sapele, and the 561MW Calabar plants which are ready, but have no gas fuel their operations.

According to him, some other projects which have been commissioned are still facing

… unless Nigeria’s power transmission weakness is not dealt with by 2014, there will be a crisis when the 10 National Integrated Power Plants (NIPPs) come on stream

geria (TNC) and engagement of a management contractor - Manitoba Hydro of Canada; privatization of generation companies (GENCOS); privatization of distribution companies (DISCOS) and establishment of the National Gas Plan.

In the end, however, the reform seemed to be heading to a successful completion.

Recently, the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) stated that, “So far, of the 14 successor companies scheduled for handover, about US$2, 525,824,534 was realized as proceeds. Of this amount, US$1,256,000,000 came from the Distribution Companies (DISCOs), while the Generation Companies (GENCOs) raked in US$1,269,824,534.”

It is imperative to note that President Jonathan is the first president to really use the levers of the Presidency to correct the problems in the power sector. Despite recent successes, Nigeria faces many challenges in sustaining the growth in the sector and improving its development indicators.

Reform challenges Challenges and resentments of power sector reform in emerging economy such as Nigeria is ubiquitous. This can be due to widespread perception that it does not serve the interests of the popula-

,

issues as a form of resistance to reform. Albeit, some of the demands are exact, labor should be wary of whose interest they are representing as there are tendency by some to use them as a road block to the process.

Mr. Atedo Peterside, Chairman National Council on Privatization (NPC), in expressing his thoughts on potential challenges to the reform process, said, “… unless Nigeria’s power transmission weakness is not dealt with by 2014, there will be a crisis when the 10 National Integrated Power Plants (NIPPs) come on stream.”

Another major problem that could hamper regular power supply is inadequate gas to fire the gas thermal stations. Transmission, he said, “is the life-blood of this entire electricity eco-system and it is also potentially the weakest link at present.

I am reliably informed that currently, stranded capacity due to transmission evacuation constraints is in the region of 100 MW. The other weak link is gas supply and gas transportation, as Nigeria is predominantly reliant on gas-fired power plants. While gas supply constraints arising from capacity shortfalls/lags can be foreseen, the impact induces damaging shocks to the health of the entire electricity value chain.”

26 — Vanguard, TUESDAY,OCROBER 29, 2013

VANDALISM: FG tasks consumers on facility protection …Commissions $6 million Transmission Sub-station

By CHRIS OCHAYI

A

BUJA: The Federal Gov ernment has commissioned the $6 million Karu Transmission sub-station with a call on the beneficiaries of the new facility to be vigilante and take necessary steps to ensure the safety of the installation.

The Minister of Power, Prof.

Chinedo Nebo, who made the appeal while commissioning the facilities at Karu, a suburb in Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, said government was worried by the avalanche of vandalism of electricity facilities across the country.

The contract for the new 2X60MVA, 123/33kv transmission sub-station project was awarded to a consortium of Shreem-Jyoti-MBH Power Engineering at the cost of $6.07 million, which was funded from $172 million World Bank‘s grant to Nigeria under the National Energy Development Project, NEDP. The minister told the Karu residents and its environs that the power installations belong to them and therefore, they should protect them from the activities of vandals.

He said that Government is partnering with security agents to effectively check the menace of vandalism, adding that the beneficiaries have a vital role to play in protecting the installations, saying: “Protect what is yours because nobody will come and take it from you.”

Describing the facility as lifechanging, important and significant in more ways than one to the people, the minister noted that, “For the large and highly industrious population of Karu, Mararaba and environs, the epileptic nature of power supply became a familiar but tortuous experience over the years. But change has come.

“With today’s commissioning, the transmission inadequacy in Karu area has been squarely addressed, more so with the upgrading of the overstretched 33KV transmission line all the way from Apo transmission substation to the current 132KV line at the door step to reduce technical losses. Also, the hitherto inadequate 30MVA power transformer capacity has now been upgraded to 120MVA to accommodate the higher load demand forecast in Vision 20:2020.

“This project will certainly act as a catalyst for the development of small and medium scale businesses, promoting industrial growth in these areas, and subsequently impacting positively on the well-be-

ing and overall living standards of individual families,” he said.

Nebo explained further that Karu, Mararaba, Nyanya, Masaka, Jikwoi, Karshi and neighbouring parts of Nasarawa State will now enjoy about 15 to 18 hours quality supply of electricity daily, as against the previously unpredictable supply patterns.

“I wish to announce that, by the grace of God, this new experience of residents of Karu and environs are just a taste of the new life- L-R: Mr. Representative of the Public and Government Affairs Department, style that the transfor- Mobil Producing Nigeria (MPN), Mr. Eric Inalegwu; Arturo Tendero of mation Agenda of Family Care Association; Manager, Public and Government Affairs, MPN, President Goodluck Ms. Susan Eshett; Medical Officer, Otukpo General Hospital; Dr. Jack InEbele Jonathan is alegwu, with his staff, Mr. Elaigwu Owoicho; and Mr. Benjamin Adoga, ushering in, for ur- during MPN’s donation of medical equipment to the hospital, in Otukpo, ban dwellers as well Benue State. as the large population in the rural areas.

“For each rural community, or low capacity, few kilowatts, “Let me seize this opportuthe Ministry of Power will im- solar or wind-powered energynity to intimate you with Govplement micro-off grid wind or efficient lighting systems in two ernment’s plan to stimulate solar powered lighting systems phases, by the end of 2014. development of renewable and “Concrete results are beginto light up homes, community alternative energy for rural ning to manifest from the tirecommon areas or centres and electrification and farm clusters major inlet/outlet roadways into less work of all stakeholders in by exploring these energy communities. This scheme will the electricity industry, especialsources for viability in producprovide access to electricity to ly in the past two years of the ing electricity. the rural areas with distributed Jonathan administration.

FG mandates expatriates to register with COMEG

BY GABRIEL EWEPU

T

HE Federal Government has mandated all expatriates in the mineral and metal sector to register with the Council of Nigeria Mining Engineers and Geoscientists, COMEG, in order to sanitise and enforce best international practise in the sector. This was disclosed by the Minister of Mines and Steel Development, Mr. Mohammed Sada, at the 7th induction ceremony of COMEG in Abuja last week.

He explained that the induction was part of the ministry’s functions to instill professionalism in the extractive industry, while urging COMEG to ensure strict compliance with professional guidelines by all its members and to weed out mediocrity from the industry.

Sada said: “Today marks another achievement of the current board which has been working tirelessly to position COMEG as one of the leading Nigerian professional regulatory bodies.

The induction of 362 and 23 corporate bodies lend credence

to the desire of COMEG to instill professionalism in the extractive industry.

“The recently held training workshops on preparation of feasibility studies; use of computer application; and code of conduct, ethics, legal rights and responsibilities of professional practice in the Nigeria extractive industry amongst others by COMEG shows its efforts in carrying out assigned mandates.

“On our part, at the ministry level, we will continue to provide the enabling environment for COMEG to function properly and discharge its responsibilities as the regulator of professional practice in the extractive industry.

“In this regard, in addition to standing requirement of mandatory registration with COMEG by the mining and geosciences professionals, expatriates coming into the country to work as mining engineers and geoscientists will be made to register with COMEG as expatriate professionals as well as insist that only registered professionals sign communication letters to the ministry.

“I appeal to all stakeholders in both public and private sectors to collaborate with COMEG to ensure that relevant professionals under their watch are registered in order to make their professional practice lawful.”

The minister also congratulated the new inductees and urged them to live up to expectation and to carry out their activities in a professional manner and sustain the standards of practice in the extractive industry according to laid down guidelines and provisions to avoid sanctions.

BRIEF Italian investors interested in Nigeria’s power

By VICTORIA NJOKU

S

ome Italian firms have an nounced plans to invest in Nigeria’s power sector, saying that they are willing to explore partnership with indigenous Nigerian engineering firms, by General Electric, GE, as part of its local content drive.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Sime Engineering, Mr. Matteo Bertolini, who spoke on behalf of the other companies, expressed surprise at the technical depth of the Nigerian companies they would be partnering with in support of GE facilities in the country.

He added that his company is convinced about the potential of the partnership and would commit resources to ensure that it has rooted tentacles in Nigeria.

One of the GE’s suppliers and Managing Director, Global Ocean Engineers Limited, Mr. Seun Faluyi, applauded the initiative of facilitating partnerships between Nigeria and some foreign counterparts in building adequate capacity.

“It was very inspiring to see a foreign multinational like GE invest tremendous resources to improve the capacity of local companies that will ultimately support GE’s operations in Nigeria,” he added.

The GE Supply Chain Leader for Africa, Mr. Phil Griffith, said in a statement that his visit and the string of supplier fairs are beginning to pay off. According to him, GE remains resolutely committed to working with local companies and enhancing their capabilities to support GE’s operations in Nigeria.

He noted that GE has in the last one year held supplier fairs within and outside the country in search of indigenousNigeriancompaniesand foreign ones that they can partner with. This is aimed at boosting their operational capacity in support of GE’s growing operations in Nigeria like the Calabar plant, which will be GE’s biggest investment in sub SaharanAfrica.

He added that the facility will manufactureandassemblemachineryforNigeria’sPowerandtheOil& Gassectors,addingthatGEbelieves that building local capabilities in all the places where it operates is the right thing to do.

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TUESDAY Vanguard, OCROBER 29, 2013 — 27

BRIEF

Newcross makes new oil disco discovver eryy

N

ewcross Petroleum Limit ed, the Operator of OPL 283 (formerly OML56), and its partner, Rayflosh Petroleum, under a Production Sharing Contract PSC) with the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), has announced the Efe discovery.

According to Mr. Evi Otobo of the Exploration Unit, the Efe discovery is a confirmation of the support by NNPC and Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR) for newly emerging companies willing to actively pursue increasing national hydrocarbon reserves through new exploratory activities.

The Efe field in which the EFE-1ST well is located is in OPL 283 block, which is in the Northern Niger Delta Deponent. EFE-1ST was successfully drilled to a total depth of 14,086ft MD (12,720ft TVD) and encountered sixteen (16) hydrocarbon-bearing sands with gross hydrocarbon thickness of 648ft TVD. Otobo said the EFE-1ST tested a four-way dip closure at the shallow levels gradually becoming fault-dependent hanging wall closures at intermediate to deeper levels. At much deeper levels, the dip directions can change with closures moving to the footwall against south-bounding faults to explore EFE-main shallow, intermediate and deeper plays of the middle-upper Eocene reservoirs.

As a result of encountering 16 hydrocarbon-bearing sands, work is ongoing to determine the size and commerciality of the discovery.

From left: Admiral Superintendent, Naval Dockyard Limited; Rear Admiral James Boer; Senior Vice President, Americas/Africa, PEM Offshores, Mr. Philips Matthew; Royal Norweigian Ambassador to Nigeria, Mr. Rolf Ree; and Counsellor, Royal Norwegian Embassy in Nigeria, Mr. Tor Tanum, at the visit of the Norwegian Ambassador to PEM Offshore and Kongsberg Maritime contract facilities in Lagos on Sunday.

FG orders TCN on Ondo/ Akure feeder line

BY KUNLE KALEJAYE

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he Federal Government has directed the Transmission Company of Nigeria, TCN, to immediately commence the design and procurement of Omotosho/Ondo/ Akure 132KV feeder line When completed, the new feeder lines would relieve the existing Akure 132kv lines and also increase the capacity and availability of electricity spply to Ondo, Ekitipupa, Igbokoda, Akure among other communities in Ondo state.

The Minister of Power, Prof.

Chinedu Nebo, said the project will come on stream and be fully realised within the next 24 months.

Nebo, who disclosed this in Ondo State recently during the

commissioning of Omotosho Phase 2 power plant, said the construction of the 132KV feeder lines is part of government’s plans to develop the rural economy across the country.

He explained that a number of measures will immediately be taken to ensure that the host community and the entire Ondo State benefit optimally from the power that will be generated from the Omotosho plants.

Commenting on the impact of National Independent Power Projects NIPPs, Nebo said power generation in the country has improved tremendously with NIPP power stations playing a significant role in meeting the generation demand by Nigerians.

He stated that the actual cur-

rent generating capacity hovers around 4500 megawatt, with the NIPPs contribution rising daily as more units are synchronised into the national grid.

“Today, NIPP contribution to the national grid stands at 1600MW and it is rising regularly. As efforts are been made on the Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN, now default, to carry out maintenance and over hauling of all unit in the existing power stations under the PHCN successor companies, we are on the road to building a robust power generation profile for the country.

“In other to build capacity to willed this power from the generation stations to the control center and eventually to the distribution companies, your administration has strengthen

the transmission companies in Nigeria through the private sector participation of a Canadian firm, Manitoba Hydro International Company which now have the mandate of not only operating the existing transmission facility but also of imbibing a new transmitting pipe lines in the country,” he said.

The minister added that the successful signing of agreement between the Federal Government and the new owners of the privatised generation and distribution companies are all pointers to the commitment of President Jonathan’s administration to the growth of the power sector.

He stressed that these concrete steps would herald a new horizon in the power sector and would drive darkness far away permanently from Nigeria, adding that the impossible aspect in the power sector has been accomplished by the present administration.

“It was thought to be impossible but you made it possible.

Settling of the labour work force of the PHCN successor companies was thought to be impossible. Your administration has provided the fund whereby we are almost concluding the payment of the packages due to them.

“The success of the NIPP in the Nigeria power sector today has made it imperative to retain the program as a veritable strategy for addressing infrastructure gap in the industry as well as achieving power infrastructure capacity in the country in line with the nation’s dream in becoming one of the top 20 economy in the world by the Year 2020.

“Basically, as the private sector assumes its rightful role as a veritable instrument for prime management and expansion; government will continue its regulatory role to make the power sector market more responsive to the forces of demand and supply.”

Stak eholder or synergy among cont ent regulat or takeholder eholderss call ffor content regulator orss

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takeholders in the oil and gas industry have called on the industry regulators to share intelligence and synergize in order to ensure effective implementation of the Federal Government’s local content policy.

The call was made last week at the maiden Nigerian Content Roundtable with the theme: ‘The significance of quality assurance and standards’, organized by a non-governmental organization, Borderless.

Speaking at the roundtable, the Deputy Director, Standard Organization of Nigeria (SON), Mrs Oluremi Ayeni, noted that specific agencies are

,

BY KUNLE KALEJAYE

For instance, there has been a shift in focus from offshore explorations to deep offshore explorations. There is the need for capacity building and synergy between SON and NCDMB

established to regulate specific sector. She argued that the name of SON is always being mentioned when irregularities were noticed because of the word ‘standards’ in SON’s name.

According to her, “What puts SON on the spotlight is the word ‘standards’. Many Nigerians do not realize that there are specific agencies for spe-

,

cific sectors. We have Department of Petroleum Resources (DPR), for the entire oil and gas sector, while the Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB), strictly regulates implementation and ensures compliance with the local content policy.

“The challenge here is that may be there should be more synergy among the regulators

in areas of sharing information in order to promote the significance of quality assurance and standards in all sectors.

“For instance, there has been a shift in focus from offshore explorations to deep offshore explorations. There is the need for capacity building and synergy between SON and NCDMB.” Ayeni concluded that since training is pivotal to capacity building, SON may begin accreditation of training centers in Nigeria, while training providers should aim at being accredited.

Another discussant Mr. Adeniyi Adekoya, stressed the importance of training, saying, “Oil majors have been bring-

ing universities from abroad to train Nigerians at the entry level in a bid to keep the local content standards.”

The Conveyer of the roundtable and Head, Borderless, Mr. Tunde Kusamotu, said that the motivation behind the roundtable is to identify the hiccups affecting the full implementation of the local content policy and to proffer possible solutions.

The Nigerian Content Act was signed by President Goodluck Jonathan in April 2010, to increase indigenous participation in the oil and gas industry which is predominantly dominated by the International Oil Companies (IOCs).

28— Vanguard ,

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

By Theodore Opara

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All-new Range Rover Sport hits Nigerian showrooms

he all-new Range Rover Sport has gone on sale in Nigeria – just nine months after it was revealed to the world on the streets of New York. Developed alongside the highly-acclaimed Range Rover, the all-new Range Rover Sport now delivers the brand’s best-ever onroad dynamics together with class-leading, genuine Land Rover all-terrain capability. The all-new, technology-packed, Range Rover Sport, presents customers with a more assertive and muscular exterior and a more luxurious interior.

According to Mr. Nigel Clarke, Operations Director Jaguar Land Rover sub-Sahara Africa: “We’re incredibly excited about all-new Range Rover Sport going on sale in Nigeria today – the latest Range Rover Sport is a key product for us and Nigeria remains a very important market within sub-Sahara Africa.”

Design – wise, the dynamic all-new Range Rover Sport has a bold and progressive exterior design that is assertive, powerful and muscular, hinting at the improved driving performance, and positioning the vehicle clearly between the Range Rover and the Range Rover Evoque through a clear, shared design DNA. Land Rover Design Director and Chief Creative Officer, Gerry McGovern, said: “The allnew Range Rover Sport is the ultimate luxury SUV. A all-new Range Rover Sport for a new era. Relevant, sustainable and utterly desirable. Alongside the Range Rover, and the Range Rover Evoque, the all-new Range Rover Sport represents the third distinct product in Land Rover’s product revolution. Firmly establishing it as a powerhouse British brand, with exceptional design at its core.”

The all-new Range Rover Sport has been engineered to deliver dramatically improved onroad driving dynamics, with more connected and agile handling complemented by enhanced ride and refinement.

The lightweight aluminium suspension is fully-independent, with widespaced doublewishbones at the front and an advanced multi-link layout at the rear.Range Rover Sport customers will have a choice of three engines – two supercharged petrol engines (5.0litre 375kW V8 and the new 3.0-litre 250kW V6) and one diesel engine (3.0-litre 215 kW SDV6). Across the range, acceleration times for the 0100km/h dash start at sub-5.5 seconds. All petrol and diesel engines in the all-new Range Rover Sport are paired with the advanced electronically controlled ZF 8HP70 8-speed automatic gearbox. The weight reduction measures on the all-new Range Rover Sport open up the future possibility for the fitment of a smaller, lighter power plant, such as a four cylinder engine. The allnew Range Rover Sport is the first vehicle in its segment to feature an advanced allaluminium body structure, which not only contributes to outstanding agility and driving dynamics, but also delivers significantly reduced weight and enhanced sustainability.

•Range Rover Sport interior

•Range Rover Sport

Engineered in parallel with the highly-acclaimed Range Rover, the new model’s lightweight aluminium body structure employs a combination of pressed panels, plus cast, extruded and rolled aluminium alloy parts, so the strength is concentrated precisely where the loads are greatest. The vehicle’s platform is 39 percent lighter than the previous model’s. The all-new Range Rover Sport provides an interior with distinctive Range Rover Sport design cues, superior detailing and craftsmanship.

A design benchmark in its segment, the all-new Range Rover Sport interior offers a unique blend of style and understated luxury with strong, elegant lines, top quality ma-

terials and an extra dash of sporting character. Strong, architectural forms within the interior have been enhanced by a cleaner, purer surface treatment, beautifully executed with more luxurious softtouch surfaces in key touch points around the cabin.

The sporting ambience of the interior is also reflected in the smaller diameter, thicker steering wheel, vertical gear shifter, higher centre console, configurable mood lighting and more generous seat bolsters. The all-new Range Rover Sports’ Command Driving Position (CDP) combines the supreme sense of confidence and control offered by the Range Rover, with a more sporting seating position sim-

ilar to the Range Rover Evoque.

Interior packaging is optimised to create a more spacious rear cabin with 24mm more knee room, while occupants also benefit from the wider cabin. The all-new Range Rover Sport has been developed as the ultimate ‘no compromise’ vehicle that will fit perfectly into its customers’ lifestyles. It has been engineered to incorporate the latest developments in customer-focused vehicle and safety technologies to enhance comfort, confidence and safety behind the wheel. New or enhanced chassis technologies for the all-new Range Rover Sport include Adaptive Dynamics featuring contin-

uously variable dampers (CVD), and on more powerful models, a dedicated Dynamic mode in the Terrain Response® 2 system for enthusiastic on-road driving.

This system is combined with twin-channel Dynamic Response active lean control, a Dynamic Active Rear Locking Differential, and Torque Vectoring by Braking, which transfers torque to the outside wheels during cornering, reducing understeer. Another unique innovation on the allnew Range Rover Sport is the new Wade Sensing™ feature that provides ‘depth’ information when driving through water, made even more beneficial to the driver now that the all-new Range Rover Sport’s maximum wading depth has increased by 150mm over the previous model to 850mm.

Kevin Flynn, Managing Director Jaguar Land Rover South Africa and sub-Sahara Africa: Africa and Land Rover are synonymous, and the Range Rovers are equally at home right here on the streets of Nigeria. It is designed to be perfectly at home on any surface, on any continent, but we believe Africa is tougher than most places! Nevertheless, we’re totally confident that all-new Range Rover Sport will rapidly assert itself in Nigeria and other sub- Saharan markets in the coming months.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013—29

By Theodore Opara

Young Shall Grow to unveil Chinese Zhongtong luxury bus at Lagos Int’l Trade Fair

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leading road trans port firm, Young Shall Grow Motors Limited, is partnering with a popular Chinese bus manufacturing company, Zhongtong Bus Holding Co. Ltd, to introduce and market the latter’s wideranging models in the Nigerian market.

Already, the experienced luxury bus operator has been putting everything into ensuring a successful entry for Zhongtong into the bus

market, starting with a proposed display of some of the vehicles at the 2013 Lagos International Trade fair, holding at the Tafawa Balewa Square, from Friday, November 1, to Sunday, November 10.

Speaking on the partnership, the Personal Assistant to Young Shall Grow Chairman, Mr Cyril Udoye, and the Public Relations Manager, Mr Bethran Anedu, disclosed that

the duo are working towards making sure that buyers of the vehicles enjoy strong after-sales back-up, including adequate spare parts availability at all times.

Listing some of the bus models to be showcased at the Lagos International Trade Fair, which include the Navigator, Cruise and Sparkling, Mr Anedu assured that the Zhongtong is highly reputed “for its strong, reliable and top quality”.

According to the Public Relations Manager, an initial order of about 30 units of the buses had sold out well ahead of arrival in the country, as some luxury bus transporters who had early knowledge of the coming of the vehicles, placed their orders in advance, while others had shown a lot of interest in the products.

In order to ensure an impressive outing at the Lagos fair, both Young

Shall Grow marketing team and Zhongtong Bus representatives from China, will be on hand to introduce the buses to visitors, and provide answers to technical and after-sales questions that may arise. It was learnt that letters were being sent out to members of the Association of Luxury Bus Owners of Nigeria (ALBON), who are mainly inter-city and intra-city transporters, as well as corporate organizations that might be interested in discovering a new bus brand that is reputed to combine top quality with competitive pricing.

Navigator, one of the models Young Shall Grow will be introducing into the market, is a 59seater double-axle bus designed and built by Zhongtong for tourists and long distance passenger transportation.

Cruise, another popular Zhongtong product, built for tourists and long distance passenger operation will be coming with single axle and 51 seats.

In manufacturing both the Navigator and the Cruise series, the bus maker has taken care of the need for passenger comfort and convenience.

With 33 seats, Sparkling is one of Zhongtong latest products, and is expected to attract a lot of patronage from transporters who want something in between the typical, big luxury coach and a midi bus.

As a joint stock company, Zhongtong Bus Holding Co. Ltd has a long history of manufacturing large- and medium-sized buses for about 40 years, and is one of the first listed companies in the Chinese bus industry. With an annual production capacity of over 10, 000 units of medium- and high-end luxury buses, Zhongtong Bus brand has won the best of awards for companies in the Chinese auto industry, and has consistently been rated among the top 10 in the past few decades.

Hyundai Motor’s brand value enters Global Top 50

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YUNDAI Motor Company, the fastest growing automotive company by brand, saw its brand value surge 20.5 percent from a year earlier to $9 billion, marking its higest-ever ranking of No. 43, according to brand consultancy Interbrand’s 2013 Best 100 Global Brands.

Hyundai, which has been included in the Best 100 Global Brands list for nine consecutive years, entered within top 50 for the first time this year. Since joining the list at No. 84 in 2005, Hyundai has posted steady increases both in brand value and ranking.

Its brand value surged 160 percent, while its ranking went up 41 spots since 2005. In particular, over the past five years, Hyundai Motor’s brand value has increased 96 percent, more than doubling the industry average of 42 percent.

The figure has jumped more than 20 percent each year after the company announced its shift to brand management in 2011, indicating the successful application of ‘Modern Premium’ brand directions.

“The Hyundai brand, which has established a solid position in the global market, continues to strengthen its image with a track record of building C M Y K

vehicles with leading style, design, and performance,” Interbrand said in a statement. “With stylish design, the Hyundai brand has driven success over the past few years. It is also building a loyal fan base through continued refinements to its lineup and ongoing investment on the brand including UEFA, FIFA, and World Rally Championship sponsorships. Breaking the top 50 barrier in 2013, we look forward to Hyundai’s next innovative move” “Hyundai’s significant growth in brand value reflects our enhnaced status in the global market. This was made possible through global brand campaign as well as diverse localized brand activities including sports marketing and CSR,” said Won Hong Cho, Hyundai Motor’s Chief Marketing Officer.

“We will strengthen our efforts to become the most beloved brand by delivering even more value beyond customers’ expectations.

Hyundai announced its shift to brand management at the 2011 North American International Auto Show, unveiling its new brand direction ‘Modern Premium’ and slogan “New Thinking.

New Possibilities.”

30—Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

By Theodore Opara

Abuja Motor Fair: MS and Sons displays Peugeot A

leading auto dis tributing company in the country, MS and Sons Auto Limited, has re-affirmed its commitment to delivering quality automobiles with the recent display of latest Peugeot models at the 15th Abuja Motor Fair.

Group Managing Director of the company, Alhaji Shehu Dauda, ASD Motors, who spoke at Eagle Square, venue of the Motor Fair, stated that MS and Sons has been recharged to deliver latest auto technology through new Peugeot models like the 301, 508, 308, 4008 SUV, Expert Teepee and 3008 crossover The company boss who has many years of auto marketing experience, said M S and Sons, being part of the ASD Group, has garnered a lot of experience over the years to also offer adequate after-sales services to its customers across the country.

Dauda spoke glowingly about the Peugeot 301.

“The 301 is rugged, spa-

cious and affordable.

One thing people should understand about this car is that it is cheaper than most of its competitors, despite its superior technology and higher features.

“While most other cars in this category go for above N4.3m, our product is about N3.5m. We are going to have another entry product which will come with a 1.2 litres engine that will cost less than N3m. You can imagine what the impact will be? We intend to make it affordable. We intend to make all Peugeot lovers we lost to come back to us and to also make them know we are thinking of them.”

Nigerian know that Peugeot has very wide after sales coverage across the country” he said.

The 301 Allure, which is 1.6 engine capacity is the top range while and Active with the same capacity is the middle range. Access which is the lower range has a capacity of 1.2 litre engine, but boast very higher torque when com-

Peugeot 301 pare with competing models from other makers.

According to him “the 301 comes with a range of equipment designed to make your journeys easier. From its comfortable interior to its driver assistance technology and plush

dashboard, the 301 is a perfect blend of style and driving comfort.

Peugeot 301 uses ultrasound sensors installed in the rear bumper to detect nearby people or objects, thereby communicating the distance of the obstacle visually through sound via the screen of the Bluetooth audio system.

Skodaworld targets more market shares with all-new Rapid

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KODA may soon hit a chord with the buying public following the recent introduction of the all new Rapid - a straightforward, spacious, good value B-segment competitor.

An emerging B–segment Rapid sedan is Skoda’s first model, incorporating the automaker’s new design language characterised by crisp lines that help to define clean surfaces. Rapid is available in Nigeria with the 1.6 litre turbocharged engine which delivers 77kw of power. This engine boasts very high fuel efficiency like other Skoda models.

Also imbued with technologically advanced systems, the Rapid according to Skoda is designed to bridge the gap between the Fabia and Octavia, yet offers more space than you’d expect and is uniquely adorned inside to cater for growing demands for budget car with agility of an Asegment car.

Mr. Sanjay Rupani, head of sales and marketing at Skoda World - Stallion Motors Limited said this much at the presentation of the Rapid at a C M Y K

press launch in Lagos.

He said: “Skoda is going places and it wouldn’t be out of place to say the automaker wants to revise its production targets upwards, from a stated goal of 1.8 million cars per year by 2018.”

Also adding that the Rapid is Skoda’s latest model in a roll-out of new products that include the new Octavia and a large SUV that would debut soon, Mr. Rupani said: “It is the Rapid that brings some balance to the lineup, sitting as it does in the gap between the Fabia, that was previously referred to as a conventional super-mini.”

A straightforward, spacious, good value B-seg-

ment sedan, Skoda Rapid will occupy the ‘small family’ ground and soon push the Octavia up into fleet territory, the marketing helmsman envisioned.

He described the Rapid is an average-sized car, of average weight and wears the kind of keen price sticker you’d expect to find on a car that is aimed mainly at private buyers.

“What may well also surprise prospective buyers’ is Skoda’s highvalue brand image, quality of materials used inside yet competitively priced,” Mr. Rupani quipped.

In the creation of each Skoda car, Mr. Rupani

explained: “developers place emphasis on added value, especially in relation to the cost (value for money). In this respect, the Rapid, like other Skoda models, employs a raft of solutions under the motto “Simply Clever,” some of which have never before featured in a similar car.”

Why then should I buy a Skoda Rapid? Mr. Rupani said: “In a market sector where storage space is an important feature, the Rapid enters the fray with good credentials, offering 550 litres of space, expandable to 1, 380litres when the seats are down. This clearly triumph the Golf for instance which offers 380 and 1, 318litres respectively.

Intermotors ‘spoils' Chevy customers at Abuja Motor Show

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ntermotors , a division of CFAO Motors Nigeria Ltd is offering one million naira price reduction on its Chevrolet Captiva at the Abuja Motor Fair. The company is also giving huge discounts to customers who pick their all new Chevrolet Cruze during the fair.

According to the company, Nigerians will see for the first time live, a 2014 CHEVROLET N300 seven-seater mini bus and its cargo van variant.

These will be spiced with gift items and special takeaways that would excite all visitors to the CHEVROLET stand According to Mrs Francesca Fabunmi, Head Intermotors, this year ’s 9th appearance of the Chevrolet brand at the Eagles Square fairground promises to be one to remember for a long time to come. She said, “we have carefully planned our participation in this year’s Abuja Motor Show in such a way that anyone who visits and buys from our pavilion will have reasons to smile more.

With Captiva, our customers will be getting more value for their money’s worth , a 7 seater, all leather 2.4L SUV with a N1m discount!

Part of this special motor show bumper package is the Special price offer of the Chevrolet Cruze, a 1.8L , 17 Inch Alloy wheel curvy glider with multiple safety features and low fuel consumption capacity.

Mrs. Fabunmi says that INTERMOTORS will be presenting the 2013 model of the Cruze during the nine days of automotive display. She says that the exact Special fair price offer will not be let out of the bag and will serve a surprise package; “all I want to say is that it will be mouth-watering. We have placed a million Naira give away on Captiva and it will be interesting to see the expressions of surprise on visitors’ faces when they hear firsthand, the price which Cruze will be offered to them at the Abuja Motor Show. The taste of the pudding is in the eating.”

Asked whether INTERMOTORS wants to generate stiff competition at the Auto Show, she answered “we are not causing any competition. That is not necessary. Our focus is on our loyal customers, lovers of our CHEVROLET, discerning people who know and understand that a good car should give them value in return for their hard-earned money.

Even FMCG companies and intra city mini bus operators will have cause to smile with the N300 , as it provides a total solution to their most basic transportation need. Everybody should watch out for CHEVROLET at the fair. That’s all I can say for now.”

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013—31

Former Rep condemns Ogun road expansion policy

Kwara Gov sacks state exco

BY DEMOLA AKINYEMI

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LORIN—GOVER NOR Abdulfatah Ahmed of Kwara State, has sacked all the members of his State Executive Council, EXCO. Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Alhaji Isiaka Gold made this known in an interview with journalists after the EXCO meeting at Government House.

Gold said that the dissolution was aimed at injecting new blood into the council.

According to him, those sacked included all the commissioners, special advisers, senior special assistants and special assistants.

The SSG then directed those affected to handover the affairs of their ministries to the permanent secretaries and wished them success in their future endeavours.

Northern Christian Elders elect new leaders

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AGOS—A NEW leadership has been elected for the Northern States Christian Elders’ Forum, NOSCEF. The new exco is headed by Olaiya Phillips, with Emmanuel Danjuma as the Secretary.

The forum is a panNorthern Nigeria Christian pressure group aimed at protecting the interest of the Northern Christians who had been suffering attacks and abuse in the region for years.

Phillips had been an unseen hand meeting the needs of Christian community nationwide.

A three-man electoral committee, chaired by the National Secretary of the Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, Rev. Musa Asake, conducted the election for the new exco which has since been inaugurated at the HEKAN Church.

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THANKSGIVING—Bishop of Tinubu, Rt. Rev. Sunday Oluwayemisi Ogunlere; Lay President of Conference, Methodist Church Nigeria, Sir Jimmy Nathaniel Coker; his wife, Lady (Evang.) Kalamama Virginia Coker; Prelate-Emeritus, Dr. Sunday Ola Makinde and Bishop of Evangelism and Discipleship, Methodist Church Nigeria, Rt. Rev. Edoka Amuta during Lady Coker’s 50th Birthday thanksgiving held at the Methodist Church of the Trinity, Tinubu, Lagos on Sunday.

ILLEGA ARRESTS: Borno deputy gov warns civilian JTF M

AIDUGURI— DEPUTY Governor of Borno State, Alhaji Zannah Mustapha, yesterday cautioned members of the local vigilante group popularly called “Civilian JTF” against taking laws into their hands.

Mustapha spoke when he addressed newsmen in Maiduguri on reports of alleged actions of some members of the group.

“The main duty of the civilian JTF is to assist law enforcement agencies in their job of providing security to the society; that is why they, sometimes, join the military at the check points.

“This does not give them a licence to take laws into their hands by harassing or arresting innocent members of the society,” he said.

Mustapha said that it was only law enforcement agencies

that had the power to arrest or detain suspected criminals or Boko Haram militants.

“People should note that it is only law enforcement agents like soldiers or policemen who have the power to arrest or detain suspected criminals like Boko Haram sect members or robbers.

“The idea of the civilian JTF trying to take laws into their hands by acting alone is wrong. This must stop now,”

he said.

The deputy governor said that the state government was concerned about the modus operandi of some members of the vigilante group.

“Government decided to introduce a reorientation course for members of the group to change their perception and instill discipline in them."

AGOS—FOLLOW ING the mass demolition of over a hundred houses and other building complexes along Ojodu-Alagbole-Ijoko Road on Tuesday which the government claimed was to pave way for road expansion, a former member of the House of Representatives, Hon. Kayode Amusan has described the act as barbaric and inhuman.

Amusan, a top notcher in Ogun state Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) spoke to newsmen in Lagos, yesterday and faulted the method with which the Ogun government was going about its transformation programme. He described it as unorthodox and lacking decency and humanity.

“How can a sincere government which has sworn to the oath of protecting the lives and properties of its people now turn around to make them homeless, the affected people are now in anguish and despair as where next they are going to lay their heads” he said.

While advising the government to urgently compensate the owners of property pull down by bulldozers, he also told the Ogun administration to resettle others affected by the exercise by providing shelters for them.

Journalists tasked on data-driven reports

BY SUZAN EDEH

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AUCHI—JOURNAL ISTS in the country have been challenged to use datadriven tools in the discharge of their professional responsibilities.

This was the resolution at a one-day meeting on dissemination of multiple Indicator

Cluster Survey for Data, MICS-4, organized by the United Nations Children Fund, UNICEF, D Field Office for media proffessionals in 10 implementing states at Kaltungo, Gombe State in collaboration with the Bauchi State Television Authority, BATV. The facilitators included

UNICEF’s Communication Officer, Samuel Kaalu and Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, PMF, Specialist, UNICEF Bauchi, Mr Danjuma AlMulstapha.

According to them, the task was for the journalist to transform raw data into stories by extracting hidden information that recipients could act upon.

Shell, PETAN boost innovative technology transfer

BY UBONG NELSON

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AGOS—SHELL Petro leum Development Company of Nigeria Limited (SPDC) and Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) in collaboration with Petroleum Technology Association of Nigeria (PETAN) have taken the lead in championing innovative technology transfer in the oil and gas industry with the establishment of a knowledge sharing framework and portal

to boost Nigerian content development and employment.

Shell and PETAN at the 2013 Global Nigerian- Aberdeen Forum, created joint venture alliances with the Nigerians in Diaspora Organisation (NIDO), United Kingdom chapter and the UK Trade and Investment to realize this objective.

G. M. Nigerian Content Development for Shell, Igo Weli said: “The fallout of the forum is an urgent need to

develop a knowledge sharing framework.

“Already, I am happy to hear that PETAN is ready to link their platform to that. So it is getting bigger. So the first thing we are going to do, is to develop that platform.

We have already started talking to a consultant to develop the platform. When we develop that, we need subject matter experts from among the Nigerians in Diaspora.

"We want volunteers, we are

not going to appoint or steer or pinpoint anybody. We are going to be asking those of you who are interested to volunteer to help us.”

Managing Director, SNEPCo, Chike Onyejekwe, said: “Today’s event marks the beginning of a collaborative knowledge sharing network that will help both PETAN and Nigerian companies here to access technical knowledge and unleash a new level of competence for the Nigerian oil and gas sector.”

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013—32,

WORKSHOP: Dr. Gbadebo Eleshin, Medical Director, Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja; Mr. Dennis Okoro, Director, MTN Foundation; Ms Nonny Ugboma, Exe cutive Secretary, MTN Foundation, and Dr. Kola Akinlemibola, Director, Radio Service General Hospital, Lagos, at the MTN Foundation Medical Suport project stakeholder's workshop, at Lion House Hotel, Dolphin Extension, Ikoyi, Lagos. Photo: Shola Oyelese

PROMO: From left, Lola Akinola, Verification Consultant, Alexander Forbes Consulting; Mrs. Susie Onwuka, Chief Planning & Research Officer, Lagos Office, Consumer Protection Council, and Segun Fayose, Head, Public Relations, MultiChoice Nigeria, during the live draws of MultiChoice Nigeria’s 20th anniversary promo: 'Naija Made,' a SuperSport programme.

CAMPAIGN: Mr. Aderemi Thomas of Lagos State Electricity Board (left), presenting a prize to winner, Mr. Adewale Ayodeji, during the grand finale of the Energy Conservation Month Awareness Campaign, at the Energy Experience Centre, Lagos. Photo: Diran Oshe

'TIME OUT': From left, Dame Abimbola Fashola, First Lady of Lagos State, and founder of Lagos Empowerment and Resource Network, LEARN; Dr. Myles Munroe, Guest Speaker, his wife, Ruth; Princess Serah Adebisi Sosan, former deputy governor of Lagos State, and Dr. Enitan Badru, Special Adviser to Governor Fashola on Youth and Social Development, during 'Time Out With Youth,' organised by LEARN, in Ikeja, Lagos. Photo: Bunmi Azeez

INVESTITURE: From left, Lion Catherine Osin, (Outgoing President), congratulating Lion Ifeanyi Okechukwu (new president 2013/2014) after handing over; Engr. John Ojeh, Chairman of the occasion, and Dr. Ebun Bamgboye, during the investiture of Lion Okechukwu as the 15th president of the International Association of Lions Club, Lagos (Achievers), Lions Club District 404 A I, Nigeria, at Chevron Recreation Centre, Gbagada, Lagos. Photo: Shola Oyelese

VISIT: Lagos Deputy Governor, Mr. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, presenting a souvenir to the Dean, Lagos Business School, LBS, Dr. Enase Okonedo, during a courtesy visit by the LBS management to the Deputy Governor, at her Round House office, Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja

PRESENTATION: From left, Secretary to Kwara State Government, Alhaji Isiaka Gold; Chairman, Kwara State Centenary Book Committee, Professor Shehu Jimoh; Kwara State Governor, Dr. Abdulfatah Ahmed, and a member of the Committee, Imam Safi Jimba, during the formal presentation of the Kwara State Centenary Book to the Governor, at Government House, Ilorin.

PREMIERE: Mr. Chidi Uzomah, Actor; Mrs. Orode Okpu, Founder/Chief Executive Officer, Pink Pearl Foundation; Miss Stephanie Wuson, Actress, and Mr. Norbert Young, Actor, during the premiere of 'Living Funeral,' a film dedicated to cancer patients, at the Wheat Baker Hotel, Ikoyi. Photo: Shola Oyelese

AWARD: Chairman of Island Club, Lagos, Prince Demola Dada (left), presenting award of Grand Commander of the Order of the Peacock, GCOP, to Justice Paul Adebayo Atilade (right), retired president of the National Industrial Court, Lagos, and his brother, Archbishop Magnus Atilade, Chairman, Christian Association of Nigeria, CAN, South-West Chapter, at a ceremony, in Lagos, weekend.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013—33

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34—Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

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Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013—35

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36 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

TrustBond set to meet N5 billion capital base for PMIs *Raises N500 million through special placement

BY KINGSLEY ADEGBOYE

T

Aggrieved tenants duped by the agent on a property

Estate surveyors midwife association to sanitise estate agency practice

BY JUDE NJOKU

A

fter about 20 years of unfulfilled promises to sanitise estate agency which had been hijacked by quacks, the Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, has finally given birth to a new baby – the Association of Estate Agents in Nigeria, AEAN, charged with the responsibility of bringing about best practices in real estate transactions in the country. The new body which would be chaired

by Mr. Chudi Ubosi, was formally inaugurated last week by the Special Adviser to to the Lagos State Governor on Housing, Mr. Jimoh Ajao.

Mr. Ajao who also oversees the Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department, decried the activities of quacks who defraud innocent persons of their money under the guise of providing houses for them.

Buttressing the allegation, Mr. Ajao explained that although Lagos State has not formally launched its housing project, HOMS, fraudsters are already selling the forms and duping unsuspecting house seekers. He disclosed that his department had received over 600 cases of people defrauded by quack estate agents.

In one of such cases, an agent allegedly duped about 200 people on a property that didn’t have more than eight flats.

Ajao berated estate surveyors and valuers for allowing such quacks

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to take over their statutory functions.

According to him, the Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department has registered six estate agency associations and would be prepared to register more, so as to bring them under close scrutiny. Said he: “The Lagos State Real Estate Transaction Department was set up to ensure transparency, accountability and inspire confidence in the real estate industry”.

Also speaking at the inauguration, NIESV President, Mr Emeka Eleh commended the Lagos state government for setting the pace through the setting up the legal framework for the regulation of estate agency practice. He agreed that setting up the new body was long overdue because “housing is a very strategic hub of every nation’s economy and those saddled with the responsibility of managing the industry must practice it with the highest standard of professional ethics”.

“What we are doing here today has been long in coming because we have always believed that estate agency practice must be regulated. NIESV is interested in ensuring that in closing real estate deals, people must have the same confidence in the estate agent as they now have in members of NIESV”, Eleh remarked.

The NIESV president disclosed that those to be registered by the new body must possess the minimum qualification set by the professional body and must be known. They must also be ready to conform to international standards and best practices as obtained in other

civilized countries. Such entrants would also undergo routine training and submit themselves to a disciplinary process that will ensure that consumers’ rights are well protected.

The Chairman of the Interim Board of AEAN, Mr. Chudi Ubosi regretted that real estate is now marketed in traffic jams in Lagos by persons who don’t have a known address. H noted that AEAN has been midwife by the National Council of the Nigeria Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers at a time Nigerians have become more conscious of their rights to good services.

“Nigerians are demanding more value for their money and if we must satisfy them in the real estate industry, there must be a strict compliance with the codes of ethics of the profession but unfortunately, we have observed that over the years, the practice of estate agency has been infiltrated by persons not qualified to be in the profession”, he lamented. According to him, both landlords and tenants are losing money to these dubious estate agents while professionals are painted black. “The reputation of estate agents is now worse that that of second hand dress sellers, “ he lamented.

The Standards Organisation of Nigeria SON Director-General, Mr. Joseph Odumodu, who was the special guest of honour at the event, was represented by one of his Special Assistants, Mrs. Cynthia Ifeagwu.

he Federal Government has been lauded for establishing the Mortgage Refinance Company of Nigeria. A primary mortgage operator, Mr. Etigwe Uwa who made the commendation, explained that the new outfit will boost the activities of primary mortgage institutions, PMIs, in the country.

Mr. Uwa who is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, SAN, spoke last week in Lagos at the completion board meeting and special placement of 500,000,000 ordinary shares of TrustBond Mortgage Bank Plc. Uwa who is the Chairman of the PMI declared: “With the laudable policy of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN and the Federal Ministry of Finance as regards the establishment of Mortgage Refinance Company of Nigeria, we are set for robust mortgage refinance business in Nigeria which will address the 17 million housing units shortfall in Nigeria. Once these reform processes are concluded, they will strengthen the PMIs which will now be in a position to lend more money to those who want to finance their housing projects, and those who want to refinance their homes can do so and still have money to invest in more productive sectors of the economy. I believe that the policy coupled with what the Federal Ministry of Finance is doing, will lead to more robust PMIs in the country”.

Explaining the reason for the special placement of 500,000,000 ordinary shares at one Naira each, the TrustBond boss said it was to meet the CBN’s new regulatory requirement for PMIs in Nigeria. According to him, the CBN has increased the capital base of PMIs who want to do business at national level to five billion Naira while those who want remain in business at state level are required to increase their capital base to N2.5 billion.

Uwa who claimed that the PMI is the second most capitalised in the country with N4.7 billion capital base, added that TrustBond decided not to go for a right issue or public offer at this stage in view of the fact that a core investor recently acquired the shares of Access Bank in the mortgage bank.

“We decided that it will be faster for the core investor to raise five million Naira which will take us to over five billion Naira. Thereafter, we intend to do a right issue of about a billion Naira. The whole idea of this special placement is for the core investor to provide fund to enable us cross the hurdle of raising five billion Naira which I can tell you today that we have crossed that hurdle.

With the December 1 2013 deadline given by CBN for PMIs to meet the capital base target, Uwa foresees some PMIs going to mergers.

“I personally believe that some mergers will take place among some PMIs because I know that a couple of PMIs have already started talking to one another. And I know that if some of the PMIs have not already met the new capital base requirement, they have almost met it. You know we now have two-tiers of PMIs. We have at national level and at state level.

“In our own case, we have already met it. As at the last audited account of our mortgage bank, we were just N300 million short to meet the new capital base requirement. By what we are doing now, by raising N500 million, we are clearly in shape,” he said.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 —37

LSPWC shifts focus to maintenance of feeder roads

BY KINGSLEY ADEGBOYE

H

enceforth, the Lagos State Public Works Corporation, LSPWC will concentrate on the rehabilitation of feeder roads which are primarily the responsibility of local government councils. The Chairman of the Corporation, Mr. Gbenga Akintola, an engineer, who claimed to have met the target of ridding Lagos of potholes, told Vanguard Homes & Property that the agency is now poised to work on feeder or trunck ‘C’ roads which are owned by local government roads.

Akintola claimed that the public works corporation has

carried out repair or maintenance works on 2,300 roads in Lagos state since his assumption of office in 2010. said t.

Explaining that the corporation has met its target of ridding Lagos of potholes, he nonetheless assured that LSPWC will swiftly respond to any bad spot on state roads reported to it by residents.

He disclosed that altogether, there are 9,100 roads in Lagos State. A further breakdown shows that 25 are trunk A roads which implies that they belong to the federal government, about 554 are State roads while the rest belong to the local govbernments in the state.

Reviewing the performance

• Mr. Gbenga Akintola

of the corporation further, he said: “In terms of state roads, I will say we have achieved our target of making Lagos

Bi-Courtney may remobilise contractors to complete MM2 hotel project

BY JUDE NJOKU

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essrs Bi-Courtney Av i a t i o n S e r v i c e s Limited, BASL, may soon resume work on construction of its multimillion Naira Hotel and Conference Centre projects at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Te r m i n a l Tw o , M M A 2 , Ikeja, Lagos.

The twin projects are parts of the infrastructure designed to make MMA2 a complete traveller ’s delight. Others in the total package are a multi-storey car park and the terminal building.

The seven-storey hotel and the conference centre, according to Bi-Courtney, C M Y K

are products of a lease agreement it entered into with the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN. The four-star hotel has 275 rooms while the conference centre has a sitting capacity of 1,200 persons. The two projects which sit directly opposite MMA2,.would be completed with state-ofthe-art facilities.

Va n g u a rd Homes & Property leant that the hotel is linked with MMA2 multi-storey car park which has a capacity for 800 cars at once, with an overhead bridge.

Messrs Stabilini Visinoni, the contractor handling the projects is expected to remobilise to complete the

two projects.

It would be recalled that the two projects became a subject of litigation between Bi-Coutney and the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria, FAAN, the lessor of the land in which they are sited. But a recent ruling by a Federal High Court has barred the agency from tampering with the project and the lease agreement in any form whatsoever.

Bi-Courtney is said to have entered into a 40 years lease agreement over the land on February 2, 2007.

But, while the projects were ongoing, a dispute arose over the lease agreement, prompting Bi-Courtney to head to court.

roads pothole-free. However, in terms of Lagos roads network, we have not achieved our target. So, to anwser your question, yes we have achieved our target of making the state roads pothole-free. But potholes will always come, and it happens everywhere all over the world. However, our strategy is such that we have the capacity to fix potholes that come up on roads once they are reported to us.

“Apart from fixing state roads, we have also done federal roads which ought to be done by FERMA or Federal Ministry of Works.

We have equally done local government roads in the state in addition to our primary function which is to maintain state roads. For instance, the total number of roads done last year was 705.

Out of this, 300 were state roads while the remaining 405 were federal and local government roads”, LSPWC boss noted.

As part of efforts to meet a higher target, Akintola stated that the corporation has built two new asphalt plants in Badagry and Imota, near Ikorodu. He explained that the plant at Imota, which is nearing completion, has a capacity of 120 tonnes per hour and is expected to cater for the rehabilitation of 404 roads.

The Badagry asphalt plant which is expected to cater for about 400 roads has commenced operation. He pointed out that the asphalt plant is located in Badagry to specifically address the needs of roads in the area.

Mr. Akintola added that the plants which are expected to produced 300 million tonnes of asphalt annually, will be enough to fix the roads.

“Again, we are not just fixing potholes, we mix our asphalt with a water-repellant material to ensure that the repairs last long. You know Lagos is a coastal state which makes the roads vulnerable to water incursions. This material strengthens the asphalt and prevents water from damaging the roads easily”, he said.

He appealed to Lagos residents to assist the agency to achieve pothole-free roads in the state by refraining from doing things that will cause the roads to go bad all the time. These include spilling of petroleum products on roads, unauthorised digging and plying of prohibited roads by heavy trucks.

Tejuosho Market Phase 2 to be ready in Dec

— Developers

BY PRINCEWILL EKWUJURU

T

e j u o s h o Pr o p e r t y Development C o m p a n y, T P D C , developers of Phase 2 of the new Tejuosho ultra-modern market, has unveiled plans to complete the project by December this year. The company has also assured the financiers of the project, Messrs Zenith Bank of Nigeria Plc of the security of its investment.

TPDC’s Head, Sales and Marketing, Comfort Oluwadairo also assured prospective and existing customers that the property is not being contested in any court of law in Nigeria.

According to her, “The phase 2 of the new Tejuosho ultra-modern Market is not involved in any court proceedings or litigation whatsoever that may slow it down or adversely affect shop owners. As you can see, we are putting finishing touches to the property and work is progressing at a steady p a c e . We a r e a w h o l l y independent real estate development company and our agreement with the government is clear: develop this property as a market. That is precisely our focus.

“TPDC and the building contractors are not involved in any form of litigation with any individual or organisation, as the project is bound to be completed by the end of 2013,” she added.

Oluwadairo said her company does not have a relationship with the developers of Phase1of the project.

“This project is exclusively financed by Zenith bank, a relationship we are very proud of. Even as prices of building materials, fuel, and labour went up, Zenith bank provided more financing so that the project would progress. It has been a wonderful partnership,” she said.

38 —Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola (2nd right), being conducted round the ongoing construction of 240-Units Shogunro Housing Estate I & II, under the Lagos Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme, Lagos HOMS, at Ogba, by the Managing Director, Lagos State Property Development Corporation, LSDPC, Mr. Abiodun Oki (right), during an inspection tour by the Governor to Shogunro Housing Estate Ogba on Tuesday, October 22. With him is the Special Adviser on Housing Mr. Jimoh Ajao (middle), and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry, Mr. Tunji Odunlami (3rd left).

Fashola inspects 240-unit Ogba Lagos HOMS

By KINGSLEY ADEGBOYE

L

AGOS State Governor, Babatunde Fashola, last week, inspected the on-going work at the Home Ownership Mortgage Scheme, HOM, estate at Sogunro I & II in Ogba, asserting that the buildings represent the type of houses that the state wants to build for her citizens. He also inspected the drainage channelisation and road construction on Wempco Road.

The Governor told newsmen after being conducted round by the Managing Director of the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation, LSDPC Mr Abiodun Oki that he is satisfied with the quality of the houses. He urged the contractors to expedite action in order to ensure timely delivery.

“So far, so good, the quality is good and this is the type of housing that we want to build for our people that will be safe and secure against wind, against rain, against sunshine and houses that won’t collapse”, Oki said. The Governor who also spoke on the level of work at the Sogunro site said the construction work should have been completed by now, and appealed to the contractor to mobilise their men and resources to site.

“This is the time for nation building; everybody including the contractor is a leader now. We have work to do and therefore we cannot afford to lie at ease.

If it requires us to come here on Sunday, if it requires us to come here at night, so

must it be. The Chinese don’t observe Sunday and they are already ahead of us and so if we really want to catch up, we just have to change the game”, he said.

All hands, the governor said, must be on deck and necessary sacrifices should be made to ensure deadlines are met.

The governor called for concerted efforts to ensure that construction work is concluded on the Sogunro site so that work can move on to other sites that are waiting to be started. Said he: “ The longer we stay here, the more difficult it would be because we are not going to award projects now to contractors who have not finished work on their sites. Our focus is on finishing projects, and that constraints what we can start, so if contractors don’t finish, they don’t start new work”.

The Governor had earlier inspected ongoing Channelization work on Wempco Road and was received by officials of the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority, LAMATA led by the Managing Director, Dr Dayo Mobereola.

The extensive channelization work will help deflood Ogba environs and discharge to the Omole gorge. With almost 70 percent work already done on the channelization measuring 9.3 metres in depth, the project will serve as a concrete solution to deflood areas like Iju, AgegePen Cinema and Mobil areas in Ogba.

Going alongside the channelization is the Wempco road construction which would have separate bicycle lanes and walkways.

Consortium of engineering firms to maintain LMDGP water schemes

By JUDE NJOKU HE Metropolitan Development and Governance Project, LMDGP, has engaged a consortium of engineering firms to enhance quality performance and sustainability of the borehole schemes installed by the Project in some blighted areas in Lagos. The consortium is saddled with the responsibility of supervising, rehabilitating and repairing all the bore holes drilled in the affected communities.

The firms which have the pedigree of per-

T

formance and experience in similar environments, were selected based on their technical and financial capabilities. Vanguard Homes & Property gleaned these facts from the report of a meeting LMDGP chieftains held with stakeholders.

The boreholes are located in the slummy communities of Badia, Amukoko, Agege, Orile- Agege, Itire-Ijeshatedo, Bariga, Ilaje, Ajegunle, Iwaya and Makoko. Others were installed in the palaces of traditional rulers and primary schools in the nine slums.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013—39

In defence of truth and justice (3) This is the concluding instalment of this disourse. The second part was published yesterday

BY ABIODUN OSOFISAN

I

T is on record that throughout the four years, Dr. Babalakin never collected a dime as sitting allowance or any other allowance or remuneration from the Nigerian universities. He used his own resources to achieve this objective. In the University of Maiduguri where he was Pro-Chancellor, he transformed the university completely.

About 50 projects were commenced and completed during his tenure. The NEEDS Assessment Committee concluded that the University of Maiduguri had no single abandoned project. Though he chairs two construction companies, he overhauled the University of Maiduguri without getting his companies involved in any manner with any contract in Maiduguri. He even built a 66-bed hotel for University of Maiduguri in Abuja. In his view, universities must create investments that will place them in a position to

•Wale Babalakin

support Government expenditure in the universities.

It is interesting to note that the land on which the hotel was built in Abuja was allocated to the University in 1988. It took a Pro-Chancellor appointed in 2009 to courageously embark on the project and commission it during his tenure. I cannot do better than reproduce the letter of appreciation written by the University to him: “I write on behalf of the university management, staff,

students and the entire university community to express our profound and s i n c e r e appreciation to you for your i m m e n s e contributions to the growth and development of the university.

Throughout your tenure of appointment as Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the University Governing Council, you have demonstrated high sense of responsibility and commitment to duty, which exalted the university to its present enviable position of ranking amongst the top 10 universities in Nigeria.

The university was adjudged as the only university in Nigeria that does not have any abandoned project when the National Universities

Commission Quality Assurance Assessment was conducted.

“You have always stood by our side during our most difficult and trying periods proffering solutions to our problems. You ensured a cordial and harmonious working relationship enjoyed by all key players in the system which culminated in the

,

BABALAKIN AND EFCC:

wishing you all the best and Allah’s guidance and protection, please accept our congratulations for leaving the University better than you met it.”

This is the man we are seeking to disgrace and embarrass. I have no doubt whatsoever that their evil

What do we gain by humiliating those who have the capacity to assist us in propelling our nation to the next level? I have no doubt, whatsoever that the evil machinations against this gentleman will fail

achievements recorded.

“Your benevolence and philanthropic gestures have so far placed you on record as the only Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of Council who has lavishly donated both in cash and kind to the University, and who had never collected a dime from the University as sitting or travelling allowance. This is rare commitment to Public Service. We are short of words to express our gratitude.

Perhaps that could be done in assuring you that the policies put in place shall be sustained and improved upon. While

,

machinations will not succeed.

Why do we have an inbuilt mechanism for destroying our best minds? Why do we find it difficult to adopt and implement laws and procedures like other parts of the world? What do we gain by humiliating those who have the capacity to assist us in propelling our nation to the next level? I have no doubt, whatsoever that the evil machinations against this gentleman will fail.

•Abiodun Osofisan is a USbased Lawyer

40—Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

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Vanguard Vanguard,,

TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

— 41

YOUR LUCK TODAY

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139 TAURUS: Mercury will start to go on backward motion soonest, therefore you will need to re-examine both your personal ideas and advice given to you by other people. Be family minded.

GEMINI: Avoided you don’t allow others to mislead you, things will not go wrong. The more willing you are to take the initiative the better for you. Take your love life more seriously.

CANCER: Although you will need to be as secretive as you can, your success will attract others’ attention to you to the betterment of your cause. Be ambitious.

LEO: People who more influential than you will be willing to support your cause but you will need to make the necessary move. The more self assertive you are the better.

VIRGO: Challenges of yesterday will today bring you good opportunities along your career/business lines to the betterment of your finances seek supporters of powerful ones.

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

Never be less

By Richard Eromosele

M

AN has only one enemy in his life. I guess you want to know who that enemy is? Supposing I ask you to tell me who your enemy is, who would you point your finger to? I am pretty sure your next door neigh-

bour will be your target.

Supposing I tell you, your answer is far from the truth, what will be your reaction? The truth is that you are your own worst enemy. Even if the whole world is

against you, If you don’t surrender to them, you will maintain your greatness and dignity even in death.

Only two things can happen to a man in life — he is either

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye”

greater or lesser, bigger or smaller, in peace or in pieces, but if he keeps the good fight, remain loyal to his cause, he will never be diminished. Truly, he will be counted among the great.

Think about it!

By Lanre Kehinde

LIBRA: Think of the best way to improve on your working pattern in order to enhance your career prospects if you listen to your creative self, things will work out fine for you. Be more loving.

SCORPIO: Success is boldly printed on your cards today. Think of both immediate and far future while you are savouring goodies offered you but mother nature.

SAGITTARIUS: You should not have it tough while trying to win the needed supports of others. Take good advice from some of your friends who are creatively gifted.

CAPRICORN: Your creativity ...... is enhanced today and if you demonstrating this within your working arena, you’ll earn success and consolidate on your recent progress.

AQUARIUS: As mercury prepares to go on backward motion it is important you don’t take things for granted.

Watch carefully what you agree to do.

KAPTAIN AFRIKA

in

“Princess Shii’

By Andy Akman

PISCES: Better than yesterday. Others will be willing to give you the needed co-operation both at home and within your working arena. This is a good day for lovers.

ARIES: Those of you who are more enterprising will have much to show for your efforts. The more cooperative you. Don’t neglect love.

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLING Send yyour our dat th ttoo the As tr ological datee and place of bir birth Astr trological Counselling, PP.M.B .M.B 1100 00 7, Apapa, Lagos 007,

What does future have for me?

Dear Joshua, I don’t want you to publish my data. However, I want to know how the planets lined up when I was born.

And which day of the week was I born, would I record success in life ? When would my success come?

Chris, Lagos.

Dear Chris, You were born on a Jupiter ruled day - Thursday. You’ll succeeded earlier than you think.

Your Horoscope Data DAY OF BIRTH: THURSDAY SUN SIGN = PISCES: SUN IN 25TH DEGREE OF PISCES MOON SIGN: PISCES: MOON IN 21ST DEGREE OF PISCES MERCURY IN 28TH DEGREE OF AQUARIUS VENUS IN 28TH DEGREE OF ARIES MARS IN 7TH DEGREE OF CANCER JUPITER IN ZERO DEGREE OF AQUARIUS SATURN IN 27TH DEGREE OF CAPRICORN URANUS IN 22ND DEGREE OF LEO NEPTUNE IN 11TH DECREE OF SCORPIO PLUTO IN 6TH DEGREE OF VIRGO NORTH NODE IN 6TH DEGREE OF PISCES CARDINAL AND MUTABLE STAR SIGN HOSTED THREE PLANETS EACH, FIXED AND WATER FOUR EACH, FIRE EARTH AND AIR HOSTED TWO EACH. PUSHFUL INFLUENCE = 40% NON-PUSHFUL INFLUENCE = 60% HIGHLY HIGHLIGHTED STAR SIGN = AQUARIUS FINAL DISPOSITOR = SATURN ANALYSIS OF THE HOROSCOPE DATA Saturn as the final dispositor-the most influential planet at home when you were born, pointed to you as an ambitious person who must have a well developed career. You are a disciplined person with higher degree of leadership quality in yourself. Although, you can be emotional, you are stable and reliable. Less than 50 per cent of push-full influence in you is an indication of your being an amiable person. Both your natal sun/moon in Pisces and Aquarius are indications of characteristic of star signs are highly pronounced in your inner-self Having your hands on public pulse will always bring you unexpected success and fulfilment.

VIRGINIA

HOME & ABROAD

dadadekola@yahoo.com

By Lawrence Akapa

42—Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

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43—Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

FUTO donates 200,000 volumes of books to schools in Imo

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

O

WERRI—THE man agement of the Federal University of Technology, Owerri, FUTO, has donated more than 200,000 volumes of textbooks to secondary schools in different parts of Imo State.

The books, which cut across diverse subjects with contemporary titles, were handed over to principals of secondary schools or their representatives by the Vice-Chancellor, VC, Professor Chigozie Asiabaka.

Addressing heads of the benefiting schools, Asiabaka explained that the donation was informed by the university management’s desire to critically improve the standard of learning and teaching in secondary schools in the state.

He, however, regretted over what he described as, “the dearth of well written textbooks for secondary schools, especially in the sciences.”

Cleric tasks Okorocha on anti-peoples law

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

O

W E R R I— IMO State Governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha and members of the state House of Assembly have been urged to take another hard look at the Law Number 7 of 2007, with a view to expunging antipeople sections in it.

The Bishop of Egbu Anglican Diocese, Rt. Rev. Geoffrey Okorafor, made the appeal in an interview with Vanguard in Owerri, on his return from Nairobi, Kenya, where he attended Global Anglican Future Conference, GAFCON, said the law was similar to the recently abrogated Abortion Law which generated a lot of controversy in the state.

He said: “While thanking the governor for initiating the eventual repealing of the infamous Abortion Law number 12 of 2012, I would, however, like to advice the government to equally take another look at this law, which on the face value, preaches equality of the sexes, but the contrary is the case.”

N-Assembly approved NCAA’s budget to purchase 2 armoured cars, group insists L

AGOS—A group, Con cerned Independent Aviation Observers, CIAO, has said that there was budgetary allocation for the purchase of two armoured vehicles by the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, NCAA, which was approved by the National Assembly.

According to the group, the purchase of the controversial cars, which is now a subject of the administrative panel of enquiry by the Federal Government, followed due process as it was captured in the 2013 Capital Expenditure budget of the NCAA approved by the National Assembly.

The group said the Chairman, Senate Committee on Aviation, Senator Hope Uzodima, and his counterpart in the House of Representatives, Hon. Nkiruka Onyejeocha, signed the NCAA’s capital expenditure, which contained the request for the operational vehicles.

The national coordinator of the CIAO, Dr. Michael Aburime, in a statement explained that the National Assembly approved the purchase of 25 operational vehicles for N240,000,000, out of which the controversial armoured cars are only two.

Aburime said the armoured cars are not for the Aviation Minister, but for the “operational and safety/ security needs of NCAA, especially for hosting international regulatory aviation officers on official visits to Nigeria.”

He also said that due to paucity

of funds, the NCAA did not engage in outright purchase of the vehicles like other government agencies but adopted lease financing to procure 52 vehicles.

His words: “The lease financing in the NCAA was financed by First Bank Plc at monthly payment of N23,249,181. For the 2013 expenditure, about N116,245,905 would be paid. From the brief detail above, it becomes obvious that the NCAA did not actually pay such bogus amount of money as alleged

and bandied about in public discourse by uninformed people.

“In fact, the transaction NCAA entered into is N123,754,095 less than the approved amount, as contained in ‘NCAA Capital Expenditure for 2013.”

He argued that rather than being vilified, the NCAA should be commended for demonstrating understanding of project financing and management.

“It is standard practice for public agencies like NCAA to pur-

chase operational and administrative vehicles. So, what the NCAA did is not something exceptional. All public agencies do purchase operational vehicles and NCAA has only done the statutory thing by following due process in getting the National Assembly approval and making the process transparent by spreading the payments over time through lease financing.”

VISIT: Mr. Chidi Nkwonta, Lagos Sector Commander, Federal Road Safety Commission, FRSC (left) and Mr. Kufre Ekanem, Corporate Affairs Adviser, Nigerian Breweries Plc., during the Sector Commander's visit to the company in Lagos.

S-East NUJ declares 3 days mourning for late The Sun newspaper reporter

BY CHINENYEH OZOR

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SUKKA—THE SouthEast zone of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, has declared a three-day mourning period for the Chairman of the Nsukka Federated Correspondents’ Chapel of the union, Elder Kassidy Uchendu, 68.

Until his demise on Thursday October 24, 2013, Uchendu was the Correspondent of The Sun Newspapers in Nsukka.

Speaking at the residence of the late journalist in Odenigbo Nsukka, the National Vice President of NUJ, in the zone, Mr. Chris Isiguzo, said that Uchendu’s death was a huge loss to the journalism profession.

Isiguzo, who led other members of the union, including the Enugu State interim Chairman, James Oparaekeocha, on a condolence visit to the deceased’s family at Odenigbo, Nsukka, described Uchendu as “an embodiment of humility and hard work.”

According to him, late Uchendu stood out as a model

for upcoming journalists. ”This is a man that devoted all his life to the service of the society. He was actively involved in the union activities, having served as the vice chairman of the Lagos State Correspondents’ Chapel as well as Chairman of Nsukka Corre-

spondents’ Chapel, a position he was holding until his death. ”So, we are with you in this period of grief, all the journalists are mourning. The Enugu Council of the NUJ has earlier declared a 3-day mourning period for him starting

from yesterday till tomorrow.

We have extended it to the South-East because Uchendu served this union beyond this part of the country.”

Isiguzo assured the family of the union’s support during and after the funeral period.

Ndi Anambra to honour Obi, Fashola, others

BY AMAKAABAYOMI

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AGOS—ASSOCIATION of Anambra State Development Unions, AASDU, Lagos State chapter, has disclosed plans to honour Governors Peter Obi and Babatunde Fashola of Amanbra and Lagos states respectively at this year’s edition of its annual lecture and awards.

According to the chairman, organising committee of the event, Mr. Metu Ejike, no fewer than 177 autonomous communities in Anambra State whose indigenes are resident in Lagos would partake in the event which holds on

Saturday, November 2, at Rockview Hotels, Parkview, Apapa, Lagos.

Metu said: “The essence of the event is to recreate the value system in Anambra State and also let our people who have distinguished themselves in their various fields that we see and appreciate what they are doing.”

Governor Peter Obi and former Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Chief Arthur Mbanefo would grace the occasion which would be chaired by the MD/Editor-In-Chief, Sun Publishing Limited, Chief Tony Onyima, while Governor Fashola

would be the special guest of honour of the 2013 Anambra Cultural Day celebration on November 9, at the National Stadium, Surulere, Lagos.

Invited dignities include the Igwe of Amichi, His Royal Highness, Alphonsus Ofobike Ume-Ezeoke, Chief Emma Anyadike, First Lady of Adamawa State, Dr. Halima Njideka Nyako, the Igwe of Ichida, His Royal Highness, Charles Ezeudeogu, Chairman of Chisco Group, Chief Dr. Chidi Anyaegbu, among others.

44—Vanguard , TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

NAT'L CONFAB: Resource control tops Ogbemudia-led Midwest Forum's agenda

Okpe monarch inaugurates c'ttee on warring communities

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

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ENIN— THE Midwest Consultative Forum, led by former governor of old Bendel State, Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, yesterday, submitted its position paper to members of the national conference committee in Benin, Edo State, saying that resource control was top on its agenda.

On the composition of the conference, the forum suggested that a delegate should be picked from each of the 389 ethnic groups in the country, adding that participants at the conference should not exceed 460 delegates.

The forum said: “There should be no imposition of delegates by governments. Ethnic groups should be allowed to appoint their representatives themselves. The conference should not last longer than six months.”

The forum’s meeting at the residence of Dr. Ogbemudia in Benin was attended by Itsekiri leader, Chief J. Ayomike, Chief Benjamin Elue (Anioma), Chief Usige (Isoko), Chief Joseph Arogundade (Afemai), Dr. Emaifo (Esan), while Chief Chris Ogienwonyi and Chief Solomon Ogbewe represented the Bini.

The group stressed the need

BY EMMA AMAZIE

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APELE— THE Orodje of Okpe Kingdom in Delta State, His Royal Majesty, Orhue I, has inaugurated a Constitution Drafting Committee to, within three months, present an acceptable constitution to bring the communities and villages in Amukpe District, Sapele Local Government Area of the state under one umbrella.

The monarch, who addressed chiefs, elders and other subjects at Amukpe town hall in Sapele said that things had so deteriorated that some towns and villages under his domain had become autonomous, and were even controlling their resources.

He cited one of such independent communities as Ovwore, comprising seven towns, including Okirigwre, Ajekimoni, Okuovwori, which had agreed to become autonomous.

The Orodje, however, directed that there should be a single district under one umbrella to effectively administer the communities.

Members of the committee headed by Mr. A. Okotie, were drawn from each of the towns that make up Amukpe District.

for President Goodluck Jonathan to send a bill to the National Assembly that will give the conference legal backing, just as it said that the resolutions of the conference should be subjected to a referendum.

On the issues it outlined to be discussed at the conference, the forum pointed out that it want the country to adopt part-time parliamentary system, creation of additional two regions, which include the creation of a Midwest region out of the present South-South

and the second one from the Middle Belt, making it eight regions in the country.

The forum also wants the Federal Government to continue to be in control of “defence, currency, customs and foreign affairs, while the states should be allowed to control their resources and take charge of many other ministries currently under the Federal Government.

It said: “We are also going to discuss fiscal federalism because it is our believe that revenue formula should be

‘Jonathan main target of attack on Oduah'

N

ATIONAL President of Niger Delta Good Governance Forum, Lt.-Col. Satchie Etoromi (rtd), yesterday, said that President Goodluck Jonathan was the main target of those attacking the Aviation Minister, Princess Stella Oduah, over the controversial N255 million bullet proof cars, ahead of the 2015 general elections.

He urged the President to ignore calls for the removal of the minister over the controversy, adding what she did was legal.

Speaking in Warri, Delta State,

Etoromi said: “You know very well that the Aviation Minister is behind the effective Neighbour-to-Neighbour.

“Now that the 2015 general elections are around the corner, some unpatriotic elements in the country are trying to rubbish the hardworking minister, who has upgraded our airports to international standard.

“President Jonathan should know that he is the main target of those raising issue over the purchase of the operational vehicles.

“They want to rubbish the

Ex-militant leader faults threat to oil installations

BY FESTUS AHON

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GHELLI— CHAIRMAN, Delta State chapter of Phase II of the Amnesty Programme, ‘General’ Kingsley Muturu, yesterday, has expressed disappointment over threats by ex-militants of Urhobo extraction to attack oil installation in Urhobo waterways.

The ex-militants, under the aegis of Coalition of Urhobo ExMilitants Agitators, CUEA, had issued a 14-day ultimatum to the Federal Government to release their share of amnesty programme or face attack on oil installations in the area.

Muturu advised CUEA to take the issue to the Federal Government, adding that the Chairman of the amnesty

programme, Mr. Kingsley Muku, had nothing to do with the allocation of slots.

He advised the Federal Government to revisit the allocation of slots in the Phase III of the amnesty programme, adding that the total number of slots approved by the Federal Government were inadequate, hence the series of protests.

Aviation Minister to get at the President and I want to appeal to the President to ignore these calls for her removal. President Jonathan should not sack her.

“What those calling for her removal are doing is against national interest. No law was breached as a result of the purchase of the cars. Her action was borne out of her passion for the Aviation Ministry. Her good measure should not be condemned. Those attacking her have hidden agenda.

“What they are doing is wrong. They should not destroy the reputation that Nigeria has gained in the international world. The Nigeria airspace is one of the safest airspace in the world, according to Nigerian Airspace Management Agency, NAMA. “If regulations are there and people are not complying and the effects are now showing, it is not the minister’s fault. Is it the minister that flies these planes? The regulations that are there have helped to develop the air space and they are better.”

By Bartholomew Madukwe

PEOPLE SPEAK

08102479985

reviewed to be based on revenue generation not revenue allocation, so that you can keep a substantial part of whatever you generate from your region and contribute to the central government.”

Other issues are “autonomy for local governments, abolition of federal character, twoparty system, legal reform, devolution of power, secularism of the Nigerian state, neutrality of the civil service, judicial restructuring, removal of immunity, scientific and accurate census, and electoral reform.”

(nwamad@yahoo.com)

On Nigeria in UN Security Council

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T is an opportunity for Nigeria to demonstrate leadership on issues around global governance, human rights and other matters in the world.

Such position of leadership would enable the Nigerian government handle issue of security at home, too.— Mrs Megan Chapman, Lawyer.

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T is long overdue because of the roles Nigeria plays in ensuring peace in Africa. Like the Nigeria soldiers in ECOMOG and the resources that we keep sending to troubled regions. This means that Nigeria has a stake in security situations in Africa.— Mr. Suberu Francis, Journalist.

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IGERIA and its people are influential parts of the continent of Africa. We are the biggest community of black people on earth. Our issues, our success and so on play a part on the world stage. With these, I submit that it is a right step.— Mrs Nora Okoroafor, Lawyer.

N

IGERIA has been very active in the area of security in Africa.

We deserve the position.

Some persons may argue that there are security issues in the country that are yet to be tackled. I believe that there is something that the UN saw in Nigeria.— Mr. Tunde Ajala, Businessman.

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IGERIA is important among the committee of nations. So it is long overdue and a right step in the right direction.

Coming at this time, it is a welcome development.

We should applaud the initiative and work towards being re-appointed.— Mr. Endurance Uhumuavbi, Lawyer.

I

have mixed feelings.

This position brings enormous responsibility.

It must have led to the recent recruitment of 9,000 soldiers for peace keeping missions. Meanwhile, back at home, the Boko Haram issue, kidnapping and robbery are staring at us.— Miss Nwanda Oluka, Lawyer.

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013—45

Group warns against frivolous petitions

Rights group warns police against extrajudicial killing of robbery suspects

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group, Niger Delta Elite Action Forum, NDEAF, yesterday, warned members of the Niger Delta Alliance, NDA, against writing frivolous petitions against Mr. Bassey Abia, following his rumoured appointment as the Managing Director of Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, by President Goodluck Jonathan.

It will be recalled that the group had in a national daily, said it had forwarded a petition to President Jonathan, boasting that its member would resist Abia’s appointment with an open protest and make it impossible for him to assume the headship of the commission, alleging that he was part of the past leadership that mismanaged the agency.

NDEAF in a statement by Mr Joshua Okoh, President, described the petition as unfounded and uncalled for at this time that the Niger Delta needs development.

He said: “We are sure that members of NDA were sponsored by political jobbers to write the petition against Mr. Abia, because the decision of Mr. President to appoint him was one of the best things to ever happen to the commission."

Community oldest man clarifies leadership mix-up

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HE oldest man of the Ugborhen community, Pa David Ikprukpru, has said that Mr Henry Eyarefe remains the Chairman of Ugborhen community and that his tenure will end on February 14, 2014 He advised the opposition claiming to have constituted a new executive council to join hands with Eyarefe-led executive to bring more development to the community.

Breaking his silence over the matter, the community chairman, Eyarefe said he was not part of the case instituted against the community by Mr Sunday Jemijaiye.

Eyarefe said “I have not received any court order asking me to vacate my seat as the Chairman of the community."

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BY EMMA AMAIZE

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CAMPAIGN—From left: MD, Pernod Ricard Nigeria, Olivier Fages; National Sales and Marketing Manager, Maria Martinez; and Brand Manager, Absolut Vodka, Akintayo Akinseloyin, at the Transform Today campaign launch at Victoria Island, Lagos, weekend.

Confab 'll strengthen unity, democracy, says Delta SSG

BY FESTUS AHON

U

GHELLI—SECRETARY to the Delta State Government, Mr Ovuozorie Macaulay, has said the proposed national conference would further strengthen the unity and democracy in the country.

Speaking at a public lecture to mark his 53rd birthday organised by the Isoko Grassroots Movement, in Opute, Ozoro, Isoko North Local Government Area of the state, Macaulay urged Nigerians to shun bitterness and selfish interest.

Noting that the interest of the state should be uppermost in the

hearts of all Deltans, he said; “we must speak with one voice as a state and we must also speak with one voice as ethnic groups at the proposed conference. We will go nowhere when we speak with different voices as a tribe and as a state.”

He urged all the ethnic groups in the state to live in harmony with one another, adding that the strength of the state lies in the unity of all the various ethnic that make up the state.

Speaking further, he said all parts of the state were being

developed and warned contractors in the state to ensure that jobs awarded to them were executed to specification and delivered on schedule.

Earlier in his address, National Chairman of IGM, Mr Sunday Elueni, said that Macaulay has been a pillar of support to the group and the Isoko nation.

He said: “Your persistent zeal, wisdom and selfless service to IGM and the Isoko nation at large has continued to be a source of inspiration and worthy of emulation by all and sundry.”

Family denies rumoured death of Akhigbe

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

B

ENIN CITY—THE family of the former Chief of General Staff, Admiral Mike Akhigbe, yesterday, described as untrue, an online report that the former number two man died in a London hospital.

Elder brother of the Admiral, Chief Joseph Akhigbe, said that the news about his death was shocking to the family because "it is not true and it is really embarrassing to us.

“My brother is stabilising in an American hospital and not even London as erroneously reported. As I speak to you now, the report in my opinion is pure speculation, the paper said he died in a London hospital but my brother is in an American hospital and he is stable.

"The wife, son-in-law and his daughter are with him. My immediate younger brother in Abuja, who spoke to the wife in America confirmed to family members that Admiral is stabilising; the news of death is totally untrue.”

Also, younger brother of the Admiral, Mr Aselenmen Akhigbe, said that the report was untrue. He said “I spoke with him this early morning yesterday at 5am that is why we are surprised with such an erroneous report. It is not good

for people to report the death of persons when such is not the case.”

Vanguard learnt that Admiral Akhigbe, who had been outside the country since last year due to ill health, is recuperating in an American hospital.

ARRI—FORUM for Justice and Human Rights Defence, FJHD, Delta State, has called on the police in the state not to kill Stanley Ogun and other armed robbery suspects arrested on October 23 in Warri, but to arraign them in court after investigation, if there is any case against them.

National Coordinator of FJHD, Oghenejabor Ikimi, in Warri, recalled that there was a robbery incident on October 23 at Abala Street, Warri, and when the chaos had subsided, policemen from Enerhen Police Division, rounded up Stanley Ogu, when the commercial bus he boarded was stopped for a routine check.

He said “Stanley, Andrew and others picked up at random were taken away in handcuff. At the Nigeria Police Station, Enerhen, while the Investigating Police Officer, IPO, was taking the statements of the above suspects, the said IPO received a call to the hearing of the said suspects to the effect that the suspects be brought to the Area Command Office in Warri for execution same day.

“The said suspects managed to alert their relatives, who in-turn briefed us, hence this petition. We state in the light of the above that the act of the police is tantamount to reckless abuse of executive powers and we warn that the said suspects should not be extra judicially executed as same amounts to jungle justice, since the suspects in accordance with Section 36(5) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) are innocent until proved guilty in the law court."

South-South students honour Maritime Academy rector

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HE National Association of South South Students Assembly, weekend, presented the most outstanding Rector recognition award to Joshua Okpo, Rector, Maritime Academy of Nigeria, Oron, Akwa lbom State.

According to Martins Abebe, President of the association, “after a meticulous survey of all the institutions in the oil producing states, it was

discovered that the rector of the Maritime Academy of Nigeria is a dogged advocate of peace, quality education, committed administrator and patriotic considering how he repositioned the Maritime Academy of Nigeria within two years and placed the 34 years Nigeria’s premier maritime institution in the world map.

“This development has made more youths to be

aware of the institution and has made the President of World Maritime University and the Secretary General of International Maritime Organisation to visit the institution to see things for themselves alongside other stakeholders.”

He added that Okpo’s contribution to the academy was a contribution to education and human capacity development, which he noted was needed in any society that desire to attain greatness.

46—Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

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PDP youths fear Abuja has traded off Anambra

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU

A Coalition of youths, Nigeria Youth Leaders Assembly, NYLA, has said that the Anambra State governorship election will serve as a litmus test for President Goodluck Jonathan’s ambition in 2015.

The youth group said that if nothing was urgently done to salvage the situation, it would

affect the chances of President Goodluck Jonathan winning overwhelmingly in Anambra State in the 2015 general elections.

The NYLA, statement was signed by its national leader, Comrade Onyeka Chilota.

Meanwhile, a chieftain of the PDP in Anambra State, Chief Edward Ikemako has accused a number of

presidency officials of conspiring together to sacrifice the state to APGA or APC. Chief Ikemako argued that the runour going on in Anambra State that certain persons in the presidency have allegedly concluded with Governor Peter Obi to allow APGA produce the next governor of the State might

after all be true.

“If not why has the President not deemed it fit to personally intervene? This is his party and Mr. President should be concerned with what the party faithful in the state are going through; anxiety and desperation and fear that they don’t want to lose the state again to any other party in the state.

•Nwoye

Obiano promises 35% affirmative action for women terms of laying the foundation for economic development through projects in education, health, roads, infrastructure, tourism, security, etc, which are economic enablers.

We are coming to build on this foundation to launch Anambra into industrialization through four

STORIES BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE

IF elected, Chief Willie Obiano of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) has promised to ensure that women constitute at least 35 per cent of all his appointments.

In an interview with reporters shortly after attending the sensitisation workshop for political parties and stakeholders in Awka, Obiano also promised to establish more vocational and skills acquisition centres in the state.

He insisted that he has a bright chance of winning the election because of his pedigree and that of his running mate, Dr Nkem Okeke, which he claimed were light years ahead of those of his opponents.

“It is very clear we are going to win. The pedigree of my candidacy is giving me

pillars-Agriculture; oil and gas; industrialization; and trade and commerce.

He said he would pursue 4Cs policy of continuing and completing the ‘enablers’ Governor Obi had started, and commencing and commissioning his own projects.

Through the projects, Obiano said his government would generate quantum of jobs for Anambra youth, boost internally generated revenue and use his network of contacts to get foreign funds to accomplish his development of the state.

Ndubuisi, DPP candidate, flags off campaign Thursday •Obiano: confidence compared to my co-contestants...Based on my rich academic and career background, the electorate have seen the difference.

Some of my opponents have NECO, which is not what Anambra people need.”

Asked his plan for Anambra, Obiano outlined his “Anambra wheel of Development” blueprint, saying: Governor Peter Obi has done well in

THE Democratic Peoples Party (DPP) Governorship Candidate, Barrister Chijioke Ndubuisi, will flag off his campaign on Thursday.

In a joint statement by his Campaign Group Chairman, Charles Igboeli and Secretary, Ezeokeke Godwin, the DPP flag-bearer said he would unveil his blueprint on how to develop Anambra and radically bring about positive change in the lives of Anambra people at the event.

The statement read in part: “The DPP government would

•Ndubuisi change the face of Anambra State and greatly revive values and ethos of hardwork,

economic upliftment of which Anambra people are known.

We shall work tirelessly to rescue Anambra State from the hands of mediocre, misguided money-bags and cabals that have held sway on the lives of our people.

“We have watched for sometime how desperado, political jobbers, mercantile politicians and Machiavellian utopians bestride the corridors of power in Anambra.

The time for it to end has come. Enough is enough.”

The governor Anambra needs — Okonkwo LOOKING at preparations for the the Anambra November 16 polls, claims and counterclaims of flag-bearers, Leader of Nzuko Imeobi of Idemili North and South Local councils, High Chief Obiora Okonkwo, has urged Anambra people to go for a creative governor who will develop the state.

He said: “Our immediate concern is to raise the bar and believe that what is good for us is good for Anambra people. Therefore, we will be expecting a governor who will develop the state creatively; a governor the people can hold accountable and who will be accountable to them. We in Imeobi have our requirements, in our Charter, of who should be governor. It is quite elaborate and we will advertise it before we finally endorse a candidate.

“But in summary, we expect someone with competence to manage the diversity in our C M Y K

state; someone who will bring inclusive leadership and give everyone a sense of belonging. We want to see a leader who recognizes and appreciates the most important resource available to Anambra, and that is the people of the state, dedicated and resourceful people spread all over the world and also in various endeavors at home. We want to see a governor who will tap into this resource base and make it part of government. We want a governor who will bring the people who have ran away from the state because of low economic activities. When this is done, Anambra will be a point of reference, a model for the whole of the South East. The economy of the nation was built on regionalism and the challenge now is how any governor will factor it in developing a viable state economy.

Disclosing that the Nzuko Imeobi, a socio-cultural union between Idemili North and South in Anambra State, arose from the need to strengthen communal peace, unity and equity through mobilization of their indigenes at home and in the Diaspora, also said that fairness and equity should determine who succeeds Governor Peter Obi. Asked his position on the agitation for Anambra North

to produce the next governor, Okonkwo, who is also the Political and Economic adviser to the Archbishop of Onitsha, said: “Fairness and equity are part of the objectives of Imeobi agenda.

We agreed that fairness can be further advanced in the manner we approach the issue of zoning or rotation of power. But we also agreed that zoning, obviously, is better realized when all the parties

involved come together to talk about it and work out the modalities.

“The zoning that I think will be effective and which most people will accept is the zoning where it is agreed on when each section will benefit from the power sharing charter rather than relying on the benevolence of anyone or the dynamics of prevailing circumstances.

Debate: Running mates square up today THE 23 deputy governorship candidates will today square up in a televised debate on what they, in conjunction with their governorship flagbearers, will do for Anambra State, if elected. The debate will hold at the Women Development Centre, Awka.

The governorship candidates will take their turn on Thursday and the final gubernatorial debate will take

place on November 1, according to Aremo Taiwo Alimi, chairman, Nigeria Election Debate Group (NEDG).

Noting that the debates will enable the Anambra electorate to assess the candidates and make informed choices at the polls, Alimi said the result of an opinion the NEDG conducted early this month on whether or not Anambra

citizens want to listen to live TV and radio gubernatorial debates is out.

According to him, 3000 citizens in each local council of the state were polled and an average of 92 per cent registered voters expressed their readiness to watch or listen to the debates.

Only eight per cent said no because they do not have radio and television sets.

VANGUARD, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013—53

Edo Council polls: A final showdown COMRADE Adams Oshiomhole’s activism on ground in the form of rehabilitation of abandoned infrastructure and have been lauded even by the blind in Edo State. However, the way and manner the governor’s party won last Tuesday’s council polls in Chief Tony Anenih's backyard raises issues of the sacredness of democracy in the state.

I

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

T was envisaged to be the final battle between the two leading political figures from the Heartbeat State. In the first phase of the battle last April when the local government elections were conducted across the state, it turned into a stalemate in Esan North East local government area, the home base of Chief Tony Anenih, the chairman of the Board of Trustees of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP. Anenih is also revered as a national leader of the party who has been dubbed Mr. Fix It on account of his capacity to resolve problems of the party.

In the April elections, the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN one of the legacy parties in the new All Progressives Congress, APC swept the polls in the 17 local government areas where the polls were acclaimed to have been conducted.

The sweeping victory of the ACN in the election was not totally surprising given what many across the state have praised as the impressive performance of the Comrade Governor in the provision of infrastructure. Roads that have for decades been abandoned have under the Oshiomhole administration been reconstructed. New roads have also surfaced across the state as part of Oshiomhole’s administration’s efforts in reaching the rural areas.

•Orbih: I have details of the genuine results primaries, the party went for what many believed to be its best material, Mr. Joe Yakubu, a former council chairman who was first elected during the Osehreinmen Osunbor administration but whose tenure was cut short by the court decision to install Oshiomhole as governor. Yakubu and the other 17 council chairmen elected during Osunbor’s regime were sacked at the advent of the Oshiomhole administration in 2008.

Just like Oshiomhole in last year’s gubernatorial election, Yakubu sought re-election with a record of performance garnered

,

The APC’s confidence arose from the fact that having defeated the PDP in the last general and gubernatorial elections in that area, that there was no way that it would not win the council elections

In Anenih’s Esan North East council, the Oshiomhole train, however, met a stiff resistance.

Eventually, the election was declared inconclusive after the returning officer for the area failed to declare the results.

Based on the general performance of the PDP in previous statewide and council offices, the party was not given a chance in the April council polls.

However, in Esan Northeast, the home base of Anenih, the PDP apparently behaved out of context with its reputation.

Not only did the party allow

,

during his brief stint as local government chairman when a number of feeder roads, council buildings and other projects came to life through his efforts.

His opponent, Sam Oboh was a former member of the PDP who crossed over to the ACN and initially tried and failed to enter the State House of Assembly.

Following the inconclusive election of April, the Edo State Independent Electoral Commission, EDSIEC fixed the bye-election for last Tuesday. The approach to the bye-election was as characteristic with Edo politics

•Oshiomhole: Accused PDP of importing security men

marked with intrigues and controversy. It was not surprising given the heavy interests involved. Besides Anenih, it is also the base of the Minister of Works, Arc. Mike Onolememen, one of the several political godsons of Anenih from the region.

At the end of the voting last Tuesday, both sides expressed confidence. The APC’s confidence arose from the fact that having defeated the PDP in the last general and gubernatorial elections in that area, that there was no way that it would not win the council elections.

“Just in 2012, ACN, now APC ,won Esan North East Local Government in the gubernatorial election and that was an election conducted by federal INEC, the same people that voted for us in that election and many more people that joined us again voted for us in this last election,” APC interim state chairman, Thomas Okosun said.

The confidence of the PDP it was claimed was based on what party officials described as their tracking of the votes at the wards and returns from agents which they claimed were in favour of the party. The result and the declaration of the result was no less controversial. The returning officer for the election did not declare the result in the local government as was expected.

Rather, the result was declared in the state capital by EDSIEC chairman, who declared the APC

candidate, Oboh as the winner with 12,672 as against the 3,314 votes polled by PDP’s Yakubu.

The fiery state chairman of the PDP, Chief Dan Orbih was quick to counter the results giving detailed ward by ward results as collated after the election saying that the PDP polled 11,332 votes to the 6,248 votes scored by the APC. In the statement entitled “How PDP won the chairmanship and councillorship election in Esan North-East Local Government”, Orbih said: “The Local Government Returning Officer absconded from Uromi without announcing the collated chairmanship result only for EDSIEC chairman, Mr Solomon Ogoh to announce a doctored result in Benin in favour of All Progressive Congress, APC, candidate while collation was still going on in Uromi. We challenge the APC to contradict these figures.”

Responding, the interim state chairman of the APC, Mr. Thomas Okosun said: “We read in the papers that PDP said they were rejecting the results of the election and Orbih was saying that the authentic result sheets were with the Police, SSS and Civil Defence, without saying that the result sheets were with the EDSIEC staff who are the authentic umpire for the election.” APC chieftains including Governor Oshiomhole were also quick to throw back allegations of rigging leveled

against their party by accusing the PDP of using federal advantage to flood the area with security personnel. APC officials gave graphic presentations of how PDP officials allegedly connived with policemen mostly from outside the state to harass electoral officials and APC supporters.

Works Minister, Onolememen who was present for the election was particularly accused by the APC officials of having influenced the presence of the policemen.

It was an allegation that brought out the ire of the minister who responding through his Chief Press Secretary, Tony Ikpasaja accused the Edo governor of bending the rules of electoral conduct to achieve a predetermined objective. He said: “Governor Oshiomhole may be crafty in his game of fooling Nigerians all the time with his rhetoric, but it is time the Nigerian public, especially the media, began to beam searchlight on this personality and hold him accountable all the way, as he poses serious risk to our nascent democracy in his pronouncements and acts.”

Executive lawlessness “Executive lawlessness of the kind being displayed by Governor Oshiomhole should never be tolerated in Nigeria if the current democracy is to endure. Those who exercise executive powers on behalf of the people should never use those powers to disenfranchise the same people in a mere local election, just because it did not go their way.” ‘the onus is now on the judiciary to restore the hope of the common man because it is glaring that the election was still on going when the result was being declared by EDSIEC, so the question is, which result did the state government use declaring the APC candidate?’

‘For Governor Oshiomhole to cancel an election that was fair and proven to be one of the best so far shows his level of incivility.

He needs to wake up from his slumber and be told the truth that no one is above the laws of the land.’

Abuja based lawyer JohnBull Adaghe speaking against the background of allegations that the EDSIEC did not give the breakdown on how it arrived on the results declared expressed his disappointment saying: ‘the onus is now on the judiciary to restore the hope of the common man because it is glaring that the election was still on going when the result was being declared by EDSIEC, so the question is, which result did the state government use declaring the APC candidate?”

54—Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

FG pays severance packages to 40,093 PHCN workers

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

A

BUJA—TO ensure a hitch-free handing over of power installations to the respective buyers, the Federal Government said it has paid 40,093 workers of the former Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN. Minister of Power, Professor Chinedo Nebo, who disclosed this yesterday while receiving the Donor Coordinating Group, led by the UNIDO Representative, Dr. Patrick Kormawa, that paid him a working in Abuja, said additional 5,000 cases needed to be revalidated.

The minister who said the government had achieved 90 per cent success in the payment of the workers’ severance packages, added, that the intention of government is to ensure that there will be no further delay in the proposed formal physical handover of power assets to private owners.

Nebo described as critical the advice and support provided to all the arms of the power sector – regulatory, policy, executive, and technical, among others, to en-

sure a seamless privatization exercise. The minister said that government cannot fold its arm and watch unpatriotic individuals derail the process in transition, but would rather do all within its power to ensure that the objective of

privatization is sustained.

Nebo who commended the contributions of donor agencies in the on-going privatization of the sector, said that the exercise would have experienced more hiccups, but for the expertise, foresight

and doggedness of these partners. While calling for more collaboration from the international partners, the minister said their assistance in ensuring access to cheap fund for expansion of their capacities is urgently required.

Earlier, the UNIDO Representative, Dr. Patrick Kormawa, said that the group which has the Minster of Power, Prof. Chinedu Nebo as its chairman, is focused on providing support for the sector.

While throwing more light on activities of the group, he stated that it is a platform for government and the donor groups to share knowledge, expertise and information on happenings in the power sector.

Nigerian bouncer in UK bags 7 years for rape

A

NIGHT CLUB bouncer who was twice spared from being deported from Britain back to Nigeria has been jailed for raping a woman in her own home - months after judges allowed him to stay in the country.

Idreez Popoola, 34, should have been deported in 2006 after his temporary UK visa expired but he was allowed to continue living and working in Britain. In December 2011 he was arrested and was told he would have to return to his native Nigeria but he successfully appealed the ruling.

Judges granted the nightclub bouncer temporary leave to stay in January 2012 because he had a wife and child. Then, 11 months later on December 29 last year, he attacked and raped a woman

in her own home.

Campaigners, yesterday, said the shocking case showed the need for an overhaul of immigration policy to keep dangerous criminals out of Britain. Popoola was jailed for seven years at Northampton Crown Court on October 18 after

he was found guilty of rape following a four day trial last month.

Sentencing, Judge Lynn Tayton told him: ‘It was a serious aggravating factor that the rape took place in the victim’s own home as this was an abuse of the trust placed in you by the victim and

has undermined her feelings of safety in her own space.’ He was also ordered to sign the Sex Offenders’ Register for life. Judge Tayton also told him he would be automatically deported back to Nigeria on his release from prison.

Cleric advocates privatisation of education sector

T

HE General Overseer of Thunder World Outreach Ministries Inc., Dr Andrew Wilson has urged the Federal Government to privatise the education sector and free itself from the huge responsibilities required to transform the sector.

Wilson who spoke during an interaction with newsmen in Lagos, argued that apart from freeing itself from the enormous re-

sponsibilities involved in running schools, privatisation would eliminate corruption and inject efficiency into the running of the school system, especially at the tertiary level where teachers, under the aegis of the Academic Staff Union of Universities, ASUU, have been on strike since July this year.

The cleric who said his love for education prompted him to vol-

unteer as President Goodluck Jonathan’s special adviser on education, noted that privatising tertiary education as suggested by former head of state, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, would also eliminate ceaseless extortion of students in the form of compulsory lecture notes (hand-outs) by lecturers; female harassment; exam malpractice and check the menace of cultism in schools.

Vanguard, TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2013 — 55

BRIEFS

Abyei's referendum enters second day

SPYGATE: NSA admits snooping on world leaders

T

HE United States National Security Agency has admitted that it intercepted private communications of some 35 world leaders, even as Spain summoned the American Ambassador to the Iberian nation to appear and provide more information on bugging of over 60 million Spaniards.

NSA officials say an internal review revealed the existence of the international spying operation in the National Security Agency, the Wall Street Journal reports. It is the first public acknowledgment of intercepting telephone communication of world leaders by the U.S. Government.

The revelation is coming as US lawmakers began hearing on the massive spying activi-

ties of the NSA which was blown open by former IT Consultant Mr. Edward Snowden.

The Senate and the House have began debating how to change the National Security Agency ’s vast spying programme.

There has been outrage both in the US and abroad after details of the country ’s surveillance system were leaked by former security contractor, Edward Snowden. Some senior officials say the NSA’s programmes must stay intact in order to keep the US safe.

But a growing number of politicians believe they should be restricted, mainly because they are a violating the privacy rights of many citizens. In fact, European politicians have expressed outrage over

revelations of U.S. surveillance on German Chancellor Angela Merkel’s private mobile phone and mining of data in France.

The Spanish government summoned the U.S. ambassador on Monday to respond to allegations that the NSA intercepted more than 60 million calls in Spain.

The calls were intercepted in December and January, according to

T

Rebekah Brooks The defendants face charges ranging from illegally hacking the mobile phone voicemails of 600 people including a murdered schoolgirl and celebrities such as Paul McCartney and

Jude Law, plus bribing public officials for stories and hiding evidence.

The trial was originally scheduled to last four months, but due to its complexity it could now run for six months.

UN plans emergency session on DR Congo

T

HE UN Security Council is set to hold an emergency meeting on a new surge in fighting in eastern DR Congo amid reports of the killing of a peacekeeper and the discovery of two mass graves.

MONUSCO, the UN mission in eastern Congo, said a Tanzanian officer had been killed in Kiwanja, where peacekeepers joined the Congolese army to drive out M23 rebels on the third day of clashes since a fresh flare-up in violence on Friday.

The circumstances of the soldier’s death were unclear, said MONUSCO, as a provincial governor alleged that mass graves had been discovered in the town.

Julien Paluku, the

governor of North Kivu province, whose capital Goma has been a flashpoint in the conflict between Congolese troops and M23, called for “an international investigation”.

Israel strikes north Gaza after rocket fire

T

HE Israeli air force raided the northern Gaza Strip yesterday, just hours after militants there fired rockets at the Jewish state, witnesses and the army said.

ESIDENTS of the oil-rich Abyei region claimed by both Sudan and South Sudan have continued to cast their ballots in an unofficial referendum to decide which country they belong to.

The voting began on Sunday with neither Sudan nor South Sudan endorsing it, and only one of two tribes that inhabit the disputed district, the Ngok Dinka,

Angela Merkel

Trial of Murdoch’s former editor begins HE first trial from the phone-hacking scandal that sank Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World has opened with his aide Rebekah Brooks and Andy Coulson, UK prime minister’s former media chief, in the dock.

They are among eight defendants facing a jury for the first time over the scandal two years ago that rocked the British newspaper industry.

Brooks, 45, arrived at the Old Bailey court in London accompanied by her husband Charlie, a racehorse trainer, who is also on trial. Coulson, also 45, arrived with his legal team.

R

It was the first air strike on Gaza in more than two months and took place as Israel pushed forward with plans to release a new batch of veteran Palestinian prisoners.

documents leaked by former NSA contractor Edward Snowden, Guardian journalist Glenn Greenwald wrote in El Mundo newspaper.

Le Monde newspaper in France reported on Oct. 21 that the leaked documents showed the NSA scooped up 70.3 million recordings of French phone data over a 30-day period in December and January.

The NSA on Sunday denied German media reports that U.S. President Barack Obama was told in 2010 that Merkel’s mobile phone was being monitored.

German weekly Bild am Sonntag had reported that NSA chief General Keith Alexander had at the time notified Obama of the phone monitoring.

Germany summoned the U.S. ambassador last week after Der Spiegel magazine reported that Merkel’s private mobile was monitored from 2002.

took part.

The Arab Misseriya, who have close ties with Sudan, boycotted saying they would not recognise the result, expected on October 31.

The region is home to the settled Ngok Dinka, closely, connected to South Sudan, as well the semi-nomadic Arab Misseriya, who traditionally move back and forth from Sudan grazing their cattle.

Syria: Peace envoy arrives Damascus

U

N-ARAB League envoy Lakhdar Brahimi arrived in Damascus yesterday to seek support for a Syria peace conference, as Russia slammed rebels for threatening those planning to attend the so-called Geneva II talks.

Lebanese airport sources said Brahimi flew in to Beirut from

Tehran and was to travel overland to Damascus the same day, making his first visit to Syria since last December.

At that time, Brahimi called for “real change” in Syria, and for all powers to be handed over to a transitional government. Official media in Damascus responded by branding him as biased.

Argentine president suffers electoral set back

A

the Senate. With 72 percent of ballot boxes counted, the government said the opposition was ahead throughout the country.

“Although the Victory Front Party remains the largest single party in the country and it retains its majority in both houses of congress, it no longer will have free reign to pass legislation the way it had been doing for several years now,”

Hurricane ravages UK, Netherlands

RGENTINA’s ailing president has suffered a blow in midterm elections, losing her majority in Congress and ending chances of a constitutional change to allow her a third term.

The defeat in Sunday’s elections will probably set off a contest to succeed Cristina Fernandez Kirchner in 2015. Voters chose half of the lower house of Congress and a third of

A

Michael Jackson’s doctor, Murray regains freedom

strong storm has b a t t e r e d Britain and the Netherlands, killing three people, cutting power and forcing hundreds of plane and train cancellations as it moved on across mainland Europe.

Winds of up to 160km per hour lashed southern England and Wales on Monday, disrupting the travel plans of millions of commuters - the worst storm recorded in Britain in a decade.

A 17-year-old girl was killed when a tree fell onto her home while she slept in the county of Kent, southeast of London, while a man in his 50s was killed when a tree crushed his car in the town of Watford, just

C

ONRAD Murray, the former doctor convicted of causing Michael Jackson’s death, has been released from jail.

The former cardiologist served less than two years of a four-year sentence after being convicted in November 2011 of involuntary manslaughter.

Jail records confirmed Murray’s release and the sheriff’s office said he left a Los Angeles jail at 12:01 on Monday.

Jackson died on 25 June 2009 after receiving a lethal dose of the anaesthetic propofol from Murray.

The singer had been out

Conrad Murray of the public eye for several years but was preparing for a series of comeback performances at the O2 arena in London and Murray was serving as his personal physician.

Murray, 60, had been sentenced to serve four years behind bars, but a change in California law allowed his jail term to be significantly reduced.

Licence revoked.

56 — Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

Lagos residents registration in s •Only 178, 636 of estimated 21m residents captured so far •Number of centres jerked up from 57 to 199

opened

BY MONSURU OLOWOOPEJO

Residents appeal

S

Reliable data base This came two years after the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency Bill was passed and signed into law on June 27 2011, with the mandate to create a reliable database of all residents of Lagos State.

Speaking to Vanguard, the General Manager of LASRRA, Ms. Yinka Fashola, at a sensitization forum on the exercise held at the City Hall, Lagos Island, recently, said that the agency recruited about 1,000 trained personnel for exercise.

The agency commenced operation in secretariats of the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs in the state.

A government official said that the data collected and collated by the agency would provide for a reliable method of authenticating and identifying residents. Those registered will be given residency card.

Ms. Fashola, at the interactive session also added that the agency would jerk up the number of registration centres,

,

INCE the commencement of the registration of residents across the state over one month ago, only 178, 636 residents have been captured in the exercise.

This statistics was revealed by the agency on its official website at the weekend., The registration gives residents the opportunity to be included in the state’s database.

Said the state government on its website: “Society has become more mobile and the information held electronically about persons and services by government agencies and other bodies have substantially increased. There is a growing need to integrate the residents of Lagos State into e_government initiatives to enable the services provided by government to be fully utilised and also provide an accurate picture for government policy and planning.”

Worried by lack of accurate and reliable data base for the residents of Lagos, Governor Babatunde Fashola on September 19 launched the Lagos State Residents Registration Agency, LASRRA and the registration exercise.

Temorary resident card

Residents attributed the low turnout at various centres to inadequate sensitization, saying, there is need for the state government to further enlighten Lagosians on the importance of the exercise

from 57 to 199 to bring the exercise closer to the residents.

The new centres will include

,

youths and skills acquisition centres.

According to sources, the 199

centres established by LASRRA, were distributed among the five divisions of the state_Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos Island and Epe with the acronym IBILE. A breakdown of the centres showed that Ikeja has 78 centres, Badagry, 25; Ikorodu, 24; Lagos Island,40 and Epe, 24.

She added of the 199 centres, 160 are already functioning at full capacity while 39 will soon be

When Vanguard visited some of the registration points, residents attributed the low turnout at various centres to inadequate sensitization, saying, there is need for the state government to further enlighten Lagosians on the importance of the exercise.

The residents who spoke to Vanguard added that there is need for the agency to commence Saturday and Sunday registration, to allow civil servants participate in the exercise.

Mr. Muhammed Gambo, who spoke at one of the centres at Ojo Local Government Secretariat, Ojo, said “there is need for the agency to sensitize the public more on why they should register because people are not yet convinced that the exercise is meant to assist the government in planning instead of tax purposes.”

Mr. Micheal Okechukwu, a spare parts dealer, said: “The

IDIMU-EJIGBO ROAD:

Residents want contract revoked •Why work is slow — Contractor

BY OLASUNKANMI AKONI

O

VER the years, the Ejigbo-Idimu Road, which serves as major link to LASU_Iba Road; Ejigbo; NNPC Road to Airport; Okota-OshodiApapa; Ejigbo-Ikotun Road and other adjoining roads, have been left to deteriorate, leading to total collapse with vehicular and human movements almost impossible.

Some concerned residents, after endless wait to see the contractor return to work, went to the council management to lodge complaints but were told to be patient as the contractor, Palmyra Construction Ltd, was still much on site.

When Vanguard visited the area, residents were full of indignation against the state government One of the residents, Mr. Aliyu Omololu, was unimpressed with the level of work done so far, saying the job had exceeded its duration period of one year. “We are really suffering here, government has long neglected this area and we are also tax-paying community.

We cannot drive our vehicles because of the bad road even commercial buses have abandoned the road, sometimes

we have to trek long distances to get to our homes.

“For about five months, nothing was done on the road, the contractor was nowhere to be found, they just abandoned the project to the detriment of residents and road users.

“Few commercial motorcyclists, “Okada Riders”, that manage to ply the road hike their fares because of the bad road. We have been on this for the past two years even before the contractor got to site.”

Rehabilitation project Alhaja, Alimotu Akionola, a trader, living at Nino Street, off Idimu_Ejigbo Road, claimed that she had to relocate her shop elsewhere as customers were no longer coming due to the bad road even as she blamed the contractor for inability to get the job done on time.

According to her: “We use this opportunity to call on the governor to extend the Idimu-Ejigbo road rehabilitation project to cover from Ejigbo Bus Stop to Idimu Bus stop beyond the current contract which stops at Dorcas

Bustop. The contract should be re_awarded to a more competent, reputable construction company which can deliver on schedule because the current contractor is incapable.”

Gabriel Akpan, an okada rider, who spoke in “pidgin” English, lamented: “This is the worst road in Lagos. No one knows if the contractor will ever finish this job.

Since we were barred from the main roads, the inner streets where we operate now are in bad state, so what do they want the masses like us do for a living?”

We are working – Contractor When Vanguard visited the road site, Mr. Tunde Alao, the site engineer, explained that the project had not been abandoned as claimed by the residents, adding that the drainage construction had reached 80 percent completion.

“As you can see for yourself, we are right on site doing our job. Workers are fully

Vanguard, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

— 57

slow start

How to register

There are two (2) modes of registration: Online and direct Online:- Here applicants register via the internet. A unique reference number is generated online, which the applicants take to their nearest registration point or office for their biometric information to be captured.

Direct Registration:- At a registration point, the applicants’ data is entered manually by the registration officer directly into the registration data bank and their biometric information is captured.

For both modes of registration, when the individual’s biometric data is captured at the Registration Station, a temporary Registration Card is issued the applicant. This will be valid for 12 months from the date of issuance. It serves as proof of registration and must be presented when the permanent residency card is to be collected.

Applicants can register anywhere across the state, not necessarily where they live or work, but must pick up their printed residency cards from the registration office located within the LGA/LCDA of their place of residence.

Registration is not complete until the biometric data of the applicant has been collected at the point of registration.

Egbe- Idimu Road mobolised but some major challenges have slowed down our work as earlier scheduled.”

According to him, the scheduled duration of the project was 54 weeks starting from last year August, but was altered due to some unforeseen factors at the initial planning stage.

“Some of the challenges that slowed down the project are: depth of the drainage, weather condition, unwholesome habit of residents, as well as encroachment of water channels.

“It looks as if we are slow, but engineering is about procedure, we need to follow the process to the letter. If we follow the job metre by metre as it is on paper, the drainage will not flow well since buildings in the area are below the initial road level. We had to go back to the drawing board to arrive at a depth to take the large volume of water in the area because whenever there is run off in the streets it comes to Idimu road. All of these were not in the initial framework”

.... The toll plaza

LEKKI-EPE EXPRESSWAY CONCESSION RIGHT-BUY-BACK:

Opposition condemns deal

BY MUSILIU OBANIKORO

T

HE Lekki-Epe express road concession project may yet to have its fair share of accolades as well as disapproval.

The recently announced plan to re-acquire the concession rights on the project by Lagos State Government opens up a new vista of debate on the continuing controversies over the project. The buy-out which has already passed legislative approval and perhaps conceded to by the other parties suggests the failure of the much ailed project among the bourgeoisies.

It has remained difficult for the common man, particularly those that are directly affected by the additional tax on their hard earned income, to understand the project as structured.

The reasons why the Lagos State Government decided to buy out the private parties in the concession include; the request by the Lekki-Epe Concession Company (LCC), the concession company, to raise the tolling rate on the first toll plaza by 20% from a minimum of N120 to N166 for a car at the minimum; to commence toll collection at the second toll plaza - 10km from the first- at the new rate; and insisting that toll must commence at the second toll plaza to be able to raise funds for further construction, despite the obvious public opposition to such.

According to LCC, the costs of construction have risen as a result of rising interest rate. There are also unconfirmed reports that the concessionaires wanted to increase the number of toll points to four from three in the concession agreement. The government perhaps thought it wise to step in early and rescue an already bad situation.

The concession right on the road is to be bought at an estimated sum of N25.3 billion.

N15 billion would be expended for the buyback of the right; N6.8 billion to service existing debt obligations and N3.5 billion for third-party liability.

This is after an estimated N35 billion has been expended to construct only 30% of a road, five years into commencement in 2008. The estimated total cost of construction of the entire road at financial close in 2008 was N55 billion with an estimated construction time of four years.

At the end of the buyback, the LCC would become a quasiprivate investment company fully owned by the state government and would continue to manage the concession.

In addition to the obvious failure of the project with the attendant implications for public private partnership projects in Nigeria, the decision leaves a number of questions unanswered. The first is, what is the government paying for as asset, when it buys back the

financial commitment from the investors and financiers made up of seven lenders and three equity providers. N11 billion was immediately drawn down. Lagos State Government committed to N5 billion mezzanine loans over a 20-year period in addition to providing a N6.5 billion abridged works guarantees as enablers to other financiers. The tenor of the debt portion of the funding ranges between 12-15 years with a combination of fixed and floating interest rate terms. 30 per cent of the senior debts are at fixed rate while the remaining 60 per cent are at floating rate.

Five years into the project, which was scheduled to be completed in four years, only about 15km of the 49.4km road has been completed. Two toll gates have been erected 10km

,

How much of the tax payers’ money would be further expended to complete the road and at what costs in toll fees to the people?

,

agency needs to strengthen its publicity by embarking on road shows and other means of creating awareness for the exercise. This I believe will adequately sensitise the public on the importance of the data collection.”

Another resident, Mrs. Monsurat Akanbi, urged the agency to commence Sunday registration, to allow many people to participate and assist in quick capturing of the entire residents of the state.

According to Akanbi, “Weekend registration will also avail staff members of companies to register without disrupting their official duties.”

concession right from the private partners and what liabilities will it inherit? The second is how much of the tax payers’ money would be further expended to complete the road and at what costs in toll fees to the people?

Finally how much has been generated in actual revenue from toll collection thus far and how was it shared between the parties?

The answers to these questions should show whether Lagosians are better off with the decision of their government to reacquire this concession right or whether the government has acted on its own interest and its patrons.

In 2008, when the project was brought back to life after a twoyear lull, the total costs of the project for which fund was raised was estimated at $460 million (N55 billion at 2009 exchange rate of N118/$1). Funding for the project was principally through a combination of debt and equity, obtained locally and overseas. At financial close, US370 million (N43.6 billion) was gotten in

apart with collection being made in one since January 2012.

Although no statistics is available yet on the number of vehicles plying the uncompleted LekkiEpe Expressway and the figure for users of the toll plaza, over one million vehicles are believed to ply Lagos roads every day with about half of that number commuting between the Lagos Mainland and Lagos Island on a daily basis.

Lagosians, especially those living in and commuting through the Lekki-Epe corridor were practically forced, in a military style, into paying toll on the uncompleted road and are about to start paying twice, 10km apart within 15km of the road.

Lagosians are yet to come to term with the realisation that there would be about 4 toll points, where road users would have to part with an average of N150 per toll, on a 49.4km road at the completion of the project.

•Musiliu Obanikoro was the Lagos State PDP governorship candidate in 2007.

58—

Vanguard, TUESD AY, OCTOBER 29, 2013 TUESDA

How syndicate lures patients to purchase kidneys illegally

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

A

SYNDICATE that specialises in organising the illegal sale and purchase of donor kidneys in India to patients of end-stage kidney diseases and end-stage renal failure, is currently operating in Nigeria.

The sale and purchase of human kidneys is being carried out in violation of the Indian Transplantation of Human Organs Act, 1994.

The syndicate which is made up of medical doctors and other hospital personnel, takes advantage of the high demand for donor kidneys and the relatively low acceptance of voluntary organ donation in developing countries, particularly Nigeria, to continue the illegal

practice of commercial kidney exchange.

The mode of operation of the syndicate, Good Health Weekly, gathered, begins with touts who scout for and recruit commercial kidney “donors” in India in readiness for potential recipients in Nigeria.

After being certified fit enough to give a kidney, these “donors” who are actually indigent persons, are paid an agreed sum to pose as a relative of a kidney recipient.

Another set of touts operates in Nigeria, scouting for patients of end-stage kidney disease that are in desperate need of donor kidneys.

Advertisement “What they do is advertise online as consultants to kidney transplant hospitals

in Mumbai, New Delhi and other big Indian cities,” noted a 45-year-old woman diagnosed witth end stage kidney disease in May this year.

“When I was diagnosed, I had two immediate worries. Apart from the high cost of the surgery, the follow-up tests and medications estimated at about N4 million, I had no idea how or where to get a compatible donor kidney,” said the woman who had been undergoing series of haemodialysis sessions for before her kidneys failed completely and doctors prescribed a kidney transplant as solution to the endless dialysis sessions.

But while there was at least a chance she could raise a substantial part of the required sum, her chances of getting a compatible kidney were remote as no

• WALK FOR LIFE: Minister for Health, Professor Onyebuchi Chukwu (centre) during the 5-kilometre walk organised by the Institute Of Directors, IOD, as part of efforts to promote regularexercise as a healthy lifestlye routine among busy executives. Flanking the Minister are Dr. Ebun Sonaiya, Chairman Health Committee, IOD (2nd left); Dr. Anthony Udofia Usoro, Director, NCDs/Board member, Nnamdi Azikiwe Teaching Hospital, Nnewi, Anambra State (left); Chief Ajibola Ogunsola (2nd right) and Dr. Genevieve Ndukwu, Special Assistant to the Minister on Disease Prevention, Surveillance & Control. PHOTO by Sola Ogundipe.

Sudden death:

NMA calls for National check-up day

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

D

ISTURBED by the rising cases of sudden death in Nigeria, particularly amongst the productive male and female age-groups, the Nigerian Medical Association has called on Federal Government to set up a free national check-up day in the country.

NMA National President, who gave the indication weekend in Abuja, said the intensified the campaign for healthy living and regular health check-up were as progressive strategies for addressing the ugly trend.

“On behalf of the NMA, I wish to restate our call on the executive and legislative arms of Government at local,

state and federal government levels to create a separate day, at least sixmonthly or once a year dedicated to free health check-up by Nigerian citizens under their jurisdiction.

Theme of the 2013 Physicians’ week is: “Federalism and Nigeria’s Healthcare system - An appraisal of the Primary and Secondary healthcare systems”.

Enebulele, who alluded to the Association’s upcoming Physicians’ week as well as the on-going NMA campaign for better health said the subtheme tagged: “Demystifying Sudden death in Nigeria- Developing legislation for regular health check-up in Ni-

geria” was deliberately chosen.

“The sub-theme was chosen because of strong conviction that the poor health seeking behaviour, particularly the poor attitude to health check-ups, of a large majority of Nigerians is a significant contributor to the terrifying increase in cases of sudden death in Nigeria, and that something needs to be done urgently to arrest the trend.

A recent survey carried out by the NMA showed that most primary and secondary healthcare systems are deficient in health human resource, lack basic healthcare facilities and services, as well as adequate funding and essential drugs.

member of her immediate and/or extended family was willing to donate voluntarily.

Experience Relating her experience, the patient recalled how in her search for the elusive donor kidney, she was introduced to someone who linked her with an agency that arranges medical trips to India for various organ-replacement/repair surgeries such as for renal, cardiac, oncological problems.

“They made all the arrangements and connected me with the hospital in India, and even assisted in hotel reservations, processing of visas and other travel papers. When I indicated that I had no donor kidney, they told me I could purchase one in India for N1.5 million.

“All payments had to be in advance. The surgery was to be carried out one week after my arrival in the hospital in Bangalore.”

It was like a dream come true until a few days to her departure when her neigbour’s daughter, who had lived in India, was home on a visit and during conversation, there was a mention of the intended trip. It was the visitor who first raised pointed out the existence of an illegal kidney black market which caters to the kidney buyers from around the world. According to her, it was illegal to buy or sell kidneys in India, with a warning that even if the patient succeeded in leaving Nigeria without a donor accompanying me, she might likely have problems with the Indian immigration who would suspect she was in the country to buy a kidney, in violationof the law.

Reaction In a reaction to the development, Dr. Vijaya Rajakumania, Senior Consultant Surgeon, Kidney Transplantation, Vascular Access and Laparoscopic Surgery, Apollo Transplant Institute, New Delhi, India, acknowleged that shopping for kidneys in India used to be a common trade.

“Donating a kidney isn't particularly risky to health, and combined with the biting poverty and absence of legislation, the poor could afford to sell off a kidney.”

Rajakumania, who transplants an average of 30 - 40 kidneys every month,

Continues on Page 59

• Dr Vijaya Rajakumani.

Vanguard, TUESD AY, OCTOBER 28, 2013 —59 TUESDA

Kidney syndicate

Uchenna seeks N2.3m lift from the wheelchair

BY RACHEAL OLAYIWOLA & MODINAT AMUSA

U

NTIL a freak road traffic accident confined her to the wheelchair in October 2011, Uchenna Caroline Ikpe was a vibrant young woman with the world at her feet.

Since that incident, her life has been eclipsed by the dark shadow. A native of Ukana in Udi Local Government Area of Enugu State, Uchenna, is daughter of a petty trader mother and taxi driver father A student of Economics at the Institute of Management and Technology, IMT, Enugu, Uche the fourth child in a family of nine,had traveled to Lagos to visit an aunt who put to bed.

“On getting to Lagos I board a vehicle for my destination in Surulere.

That was when the accident happened.

Another vehicle hit the vehicle I was in at the back where I was seated and immediately I lost consciousness. I woke up few days later and discovered I was

paralysed. I was rushed to hospital where I was referred to the Lagos University Teaching Hospital, LUTH, where I was on admission for 11 months.”

Tests and examinations showed the accident caused unusual shock to her spinal cord. “It also affected her limbs such that I could not walk or lift myself again. I felt pains all over my body. I have stopped school. I just stay indoors all day,” Uchenna lamented.

Doctors have repeatedly adviced her to go to India for corrective surgery, but where is the money?

“We do not have any money again because we have spent all we have on this issue My family has committed over N1.7 million and now we cannot pay our house rent.”

Medical evaluation by Forts Escorts Heart Institute and Research Centre, New Delhi, India, says Uche requires surgery at the cost of N2.3millionCurrently Uche and her family are squatters witha friend of her aunt.

Uche’s father, Mathias

Continues from page 58

• Uchenna Ikpe Ikpe, in an appeal to Nigerians at home and abroad to help rescue his daughter. “Please help my daughter. Things have not been easy for me as head of the family. I am a taxi driver I have spent all my money on Uche. Yet she is in pain.

Uchenna’s elder sister, Chizoba, is at her beck and call 24/7 to the extent she cannot go to her own workplace again. “I take care of her. She has feeling in her spine but cannot walk and requires

assistance always.”

“We can hardly feed, where on earth can we get N2.3million? I am appealing on behalf of my sister to wellmeaning Nigerians and the Governor of Enugu State Sullivan Chime to please help my dear sister. To help Uche fulfill her dreams to walk again, please send donations through Ikpe Uche, Keystone Bank, 6001614158. You can call 080677753682 or further details.

observed that once upon a time, when commercial kidney trade was legal, so many persons sold off one of their kidneys to make money. “But it later got to a stage when there were large numbers of people with one kidney around the country and government was compelled to outlaw the practice. Today, there are some other countries where you can buy kidneys from the shelf, but not from India.”

Stages Rajakumania observed that the kidney goes through five stages before it ends up in the end stage disease.

“When it reaches this stage, the patient may require either a dialysis or transplant. So depending on the age of the patient, and if there is a donor available, they can now become candidates for a transplant.

“In the pediatric group, it is either that they are born with certain abnormalities like hyperplastic kidneys where the kidneys are not properly formed, or ballistics kidney disease, and a birth abnormality. These are things which could have been corrected and prevented after birth, but if they are not picked up, we then have persons at 10, 12 years of age with renal failure.

Patients from Nigeria, Rajakumania noted, are usually very sick and on wheelchairs when they arrive. “So what we do first is to stabilize them on haemodialysis. With good quality haemodialysis, they start improving. So, we dialyse them, make them fit to go through a transplant, they can get their family donor, we evaluate them and then we proceed with the transplant. On the average, it costs $12,000 - $14,000 (N1.92 millon - N2.24 million).

Precaution “I will tell everybody that at the time they reach 20 years of age, they should have an annual health check.

Women during pregnancies go through health checks and at least that is the reason why renal failures are less prominent in women.

Also, four to five kilometers a day of walking and dieting is important. Take note that tress contributes to health failure but exercise is the best de-stressor because there are a lot of endorphins which get released and improve the mood. Endorphins released take care of stress. You can do whatever suits you such as playing music, dancing, playing instruments.”

COMMON SEXUAL PROBLEMS AND THEIR NOVELTY BASED SOLUTIONS (ADVERTORIAL)

H

ELLO Uche, I have observed how you help people and I feel that maybe you can help me too.

I am a cheater and I cannot resist women. I am married to a beautiful woman and she is generous in bed.

But this has not stopped me from cheating on her. I try and sometimes I succeed in controlling myself. But sometimes, I get weak and succumb to temptation. My wife knows about this and is threatening a divorce. I need your help – Stanley Dear Stanley, rarely do I come across men who admit to cheating and want to change. So it is good that you are making an effort. Let me begin by saying that the desire to cheat is hard wired into a man’s system, and this includes women too. But men cheat more often because they have higher levels of testosterone in their bodies.

So the average person struggles with this same temptation but what separates habitual cheaters from others is that habitual cheaters have very little self-control.

Some blame it on a lack of a strong spiritual foundation but I have seen many religious men struggle with this same problem as well. Of course religion can help because cheating is a moral issue but I think you need more than that.

You need to approach this problem from every angle. I recommend speaking to a guidance counsellor who can put you on a recovery programme designed to reshape your behaviour towards women and enable you have greater control over your natural impulses. There is no magic formula for combatting this. Cheating is a problem you will have to deal with on a day to day basis because habitual cheating is a form of addiction. And as you may know, addiction is a long term battle that is never completely won because there is always temptation around the corner – Uche My wife and I went on a marriage retreat to revitalise our romance and we ended up watching an adult movie together which we really enjoyed, surprisingly. My wife has never showed interest in adult films. Anyway, we will like more of such films especially the ones produced by digital playground starring Jesse Jane. Thanks

– JT Dear JT, if you like Jesse Jane films, then you will enjoy Fly Girls, Cheerleaders, Nurses and Teachers – Uche I have started using Exploding Thunder Supplement.

It helps me perform well and my penis is stronger for penetration. But I still don’t last long. I need something for quick ejaculation – Isiaka Isiaka Exploding thunder is for hard erections and staying power. For your premature ejaculation, what you need is Shane Diesel’s Stay Strong Prolong Cream. It is new and it is good too – Uche I need a cheap but good G Spot vibrator. I read that G spot vibrators give the best orgasms – Magret Yes G Spot vibrators give squirting orgasms because they are effective in massaging the internal spongy tissue known as the G spot. Get the Butterfly G Spot Vibrator or the Erotic Ridged Rabbit vibrator. Be sure to get the Spot on G Spot Arousal Gel as well for faster results – Uche I will like to order Plump Enlargement Cream. Does it give erections too? Chidi Chidi Plump Enlargement Cream is an instant penis enlarger. It arouses a bit but if you really want a strong erection enhancer, combine your Plump enlargement cream with Exploding Thunder or Xzen Gold supplement.– Uche I am interested in body adornments for kinky play.

Do you have such – Susan For kinky play we have Furry Hand Cuffs, Festiva Exotic Masks, Doggie Hood and Leash, Doggie Style Harness, Strap- Ons and Japanese Silk Ropes - Uche That’s it for today. The names of the people featured here have been changed for their privacy. Adults in need of these treatments/novelties can call 07086754515 or 08051924159 or any other number here to order or they can order online at www.zeevirtualmedia.com. Zee Virtual Media delivers to you wherever you are in Nigeria.

For enquiries, send your emails to custserv@zeevirtualmedia.com - Uche Edochie, MD, Zee Virtual Media.

60 —

Vanguard,TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2013

120 golfers for Southern Sun Golf Day

BY JACOB AJOM

T

HE best of Nigeria amateur golfers will converge on Ikoyi Club 1928 golf course on November 9 as over 100 golfers will be contesting for honours in this year’s Southern Sun Ikoyi Golf Day tournament. Although it is a tournament for amateur golfers organisers said the contest will be keen while plenty of fun and exciting moments have been promised.

In a pre-event media briefing in Lagos Monday, General Manager of the Southern Sun Hotel Ikoyi, Mark Loxley said, “there is a lot to play for as the

star prize is a fortuna car which has been set aside for the hole-in-one winner, courtesy Mandilas Motors which is one of our sponsors.. There is a lot more fun and more prizes.” He disclosed that Nigeria’s foremost comedian Ali Baba will be on hand to entertain the numerous golfers and guests that will attend the post match prize presentation ceremony.

He also disclosed that the foursome method, adopted last year has been retained for this years edition The foursome method is not dependent on individual scores. “It depend on team work,” he

explained.

Golf Captain, Ikoyi Club 1938 Architect Tayo Babalakin disclosed that the golf course was in great shape while the golfers who will take part in the competition have been training hard for the event.

“The level of competition will be higher than what we witnessed last year,” he said, promising that everything has been put in place to ensure a hitch-free event,” he said.

Temitayo Buraimoh who represented Diamond Bank, Anton Marais of Stanbic IBTC and a host of other co-sponsors also graced the event.

Dubai note by John Egbokhan

Less work for locals, more work for migrants

A

GOOD country is known by the value it attaches to its citizens.

In Nigeria, citizens are treated shabbily by bad leaders. Ours is a country where locals are regarded lowly. We are commoners in our country. No wonder, foreigners, even Indians and Chinese, have now taken over in our dear Lagos. I pity us.

Our attitude towards ourselves has made foreigners in our country to feel as if they own the land. They thrive while we rile in poverty. I know what I am saying because I live in Lagos. In fact, I was born in Yaba and have stayed in the city all my life. And having come to the United Arab Emirates, venue of the ongoing FIFA U-17 World Cup, I have come

to realize the more that our leaders don’t value the citizens.

I stayed for two days in Al Ain City, where Nigeria played their first two matches. Everywhere I went with my colleagues, the people we saw working were foreigners from India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Egypt, Oman, Kenya, Morocco, Algeria, Sudan, Philippines and even Nigeria.

From taxi drivers to mall workers and to hotel attendants, supervisors and name any menial work here, you will see that they are driven by foreigners, who are happy with their pay packets. But they are made to work hard for their pay. They work six days of the week, earning about 3000AED to 6000AED a month.

The locals here, referred to as Emiritians, clad in their white kandora attire live like princes and princesses. They are a pampered bunch. But you cannot blame them for feeling this way given that their economy is thriving and they have good leaders. I was reliably informed by many workers here that the locals, who work in government offices, earn from 20, 000 AED to as much as 200, 000. A diran is N45. And the catch is that they work for about three to four days and still make so much. No wonder they stay in their country, while others throng here to work for them. This is the Emiritian life. A princely life, with no hassles but so much money.

Dancing water, tallest building and 419 in Dubai

400Metres Boys Heat 11 at the 3rd Falilat Ogunkoya National 400MTS Meet held at Otunba Dipo Dina Stadium,Ijebu-Ode OgunState. Tobi Odukoya came 1st , Adeyemi Owolabi (2nd) in Green and Igboroji Oduntan (Blue) from Ogun placed 3rd. First City Monument Bank Plc sponsored the event . Photo: AKEEM SALAU

Obudu defending champions confirm Nov 23 race edition of the race in 2005. ed that the Obudu moun-

O

BUDU interna tional race defending men and women champions Abebe Dinkesa and Etenesh Dironeda have confirmed their participation in the 9th edition of the race which holds on the 23rd on November at the Obudu Ranch Resort in Obudu,Cross River state.

Dinkesa,an Ethiopian who set a then race course record of 41:45mins when he won his first Obudu title in 2008 and became a two-time winner in 2010 before completing an unprecedented treble last year is desirous of making history as the first man to win the men’s title four times since the inuagural

‘Abebe has confirmed that he will be coming to defend his title on November 23 at the Obudu Ranch Resort where His Excellency,the executive governor of Cross River state,Senator Liyel Imoke is expected to flag off the race,’’reveals Patrick Ugbe,the Cross River state Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development who is also the media chief for the race.

Ugbe revealed further that Dinkesa’s compatriot,Dironeda,the defendimg women’s champion has also confirmed she would be at the Obudu Ranch next month.

‘We are really delight-

tain race has continued to attract the best mountain runners in the world.With the huge support we are getting from His Excellency,Cross Riverians in particular and Nigerians in general should be rest assured the local organising committee for the race headed by Sir William Archibong will organise another top class event .The governor has charged us (LOC) to ensure the organisation of this year’s race receives another positive commendation from the president of World Mountain Runn i n g Association,WMRA,Bruno Gozzellino who will be present at the Ranch.

through with us, he did not give us any free gifts but collected our details and told us that he would give us our gifts when we meet at a pre-arranged place.

As we made our way to see what we came here for, we were shocked to see

only to hear from some Nigerian business women, how a fellow Nigerian was defrauded by these same natives we saw at the mall.

She said we should be wary of persons inviting us for tour and free gifts offer, stating that once they get

,

S

ATURDAY was our day to see Dubai, the city with so many wonders. In company of Anietie Iyoho, Harry Awoso, Tunde and our tour guide, we went round the city to see tourist attractions of this great place.

Awoso, specifically told our Nigerian guide that he wanted to see the dancing water, tallest building, and seven star hotel in Bojarab.

Our guide, a warm and affable person, took us round these great places and we were left speechless. As we made our way to the Dubai Mall to see the tallest building and dancing water, we were accosted by some natives who promised us free gifts if we would just spare them two minutes.

Our guide said we should rebuff them but as true Nigerians, we were lured with the free gifts gist. As they chatted us up, our guide called me aside, warning me that those guys were not good.

He said that we would miss the dancing water show and I duly informed my people but they would not bulge. When he was

As we made our way to the Dubai Mall to see the tallest building and dancing water, we were accosted by some natives who promised us free gifts if we would just spare them two minutes.

,

that the dancing water show was over, leaving all of us angry and furious that the natives had wasted our time for nothing. Seeing our situation, our guide inquired on when next the dancing water show would come up and was told in the next 30 minutes. We were happy again and when the show started, we were mesmerized, wondering how water can be dancing for close to 10 minutes.

We returned to our hotel on top of the tallest building in the world and woke up in the morning and went for our breakfast

your card details, they will empty your account.

She added that they were going to call us and truly they bombarded our phones with call s that they were ready to come and pick us and at a point, I had to take the phone from Anietie and told the woman that we were getting ready to return to Lagos but she retorted that we were not serious people, stating that they wanted to give us free gifts but I told her that there was no free gift in this Dubai, that I have been staying for some days now.

Vanguard, TUESDAY OCTOBER 29, 2013 — 61

Eaglets Vs Iran:

No more silly mistakes — Garba warns Eaglets G

OLDEN Eaglets battle Iran in a round of 16 match today at the Kalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain City with Coach Manu Garba warning his boys that they cannot afford to make silly mistakes or else they would be on the flight back to Nigeria.

The Nigerians are favourites to progress to the quarterfinal but after showing some lapses in the defence, they have come under some stinging criticisms here and speaking yesterday at the pre-match conference, Garba said that at this stage of the tournament, caution is the

word for his team.

“This is the most important and difficult part of the tournament.

Any silly mistakes then we are out and homebound, which is not what we want. I have told my boys that they must avoid silly mistakes and I see that they are focused and ready to give their best, which must be a win against Iran.

“We have won this title three times on Asian continent and now we are back in Asia and I believe in destiny and that what will be will be and God willing, we will be in the next round and from there, go on to win the title.

Eaglets Continues from B/P Stadium in Al Ain. The match which would kick-off at 8:00 pm local time (5:00pm in Nigeria), according to Manu, offers the Nigerian youngsters the chance to continue with their excellent form in the competition.

“We would ensure that we win this game within the allotted time and we are looking at the possibility of not allowing the game to be dragged unto a penalty shootout,” said Manu who further reinforced his stand at the official Press Conference. “Yes, I agree that Iran has been making progress since they started but they won’t progress (beyond the second round) at the expense of Nigeria on Tuesday.

They will go the way of Iraq”.

Though sounding very optimistic that the match would be won by his glory-seeking side within the regulation time , Manu and his assistants were not taking chances as they drilled and perfected penalty kicks with the players at their last training

session. It would be recalled that a penalty kick cost the team dear at the CAN Under-17 final when they lost 5-4 to Cote d’Ivoire after a pulsating 1-1 draw.

“Against Iran, there won’t be any margin for errors and we want you to pay proper attention to everything we have done and would do for this match, “Manu further told the players.

At the Press Conference proper, Manu said he was not under any pressure rather he has the belief that destiny already had something in store for Nigeria to win yet her fourth title on an Asian soil.

He said: “All Nigeria’s previous victories in 1985; 1993 and 2007 were all in Asia and we are here again in Asia in 2013 and I think history favours us to win this trophy.

“But we are not talking about winning the trophy now, rather we are talking about Iran and Insha Allah( by the grace of Allah), we shall win our match against Iran,” he noted before going for a photo-shoot with Iran’s counterpart, Coach Ali Doustimehr.

Brazil ref for Nigeria vs Iran tie H EBER Roberto Lopes, an elite referee in the South American Confederation (CONMEBOL) and a Brazil 2014 World Cup designated official, has been picked by FIFA as the centre referee when Nigeria and Iran battle for a quarter final tickets on today at the Khalifa Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain. Lopes, a banker became a professional referee in 1995 and

received the FIFA badge in 2002. Vastly experienced having officiated in four Brazilian Cup Finals and several local and international matches.

He was at the 2003 FIFA Under-17 World Cup in Finland and was named as Brazil Referee of the Year in 2009.

To assist Lopes are his two compatriots, Allesandro Rocha and Marcelo Van Grasse who would serve as first and second assistants.

“I am using psychological warfare on any team. The odds favour Nigeria to win the tournament here and we need elements of luck to go through against Iran”, added Garba, who assisted late Coach Yemi Tella to win the title in the 2007 edition held in South Korea.

He also commended goalkeeper Dele Alampasu for keeping a clean-sheet in their 5-0 whipping of Iraq, adding that he expects him to replicate such a form against Iran today.

“He made schoolboy errors against Sweden but the goalkeeper ’s trainer, Emeka Amadi worked on him and he gave a very good account of himself in the last match and we expect him to be equally impressive against Iran”, said Garba.

Jordan

Continues from B/P Brazil against world champions Spain.

Yesterday ’s friendly match was the first international football meeting between Nigeria and Jordan at any level.

A questionable penalty kick awarded in the dying stages of the first half and well converted

by Jordan’s skipper Hartem Aqel separated the two sides after 90 minutes as the Nigerian team despite enjoying appreciable ball possessions failed to

translate their dominance into goals.

The Jordan friendly is the first in a long list of international games that the Nigeria Football Federation is putting together for the home boys ahead of their campaign at the Africa Nations Championships in South Africa in January 2014.

Jordan on their part were using Monday ’s friendly to prepare for their 2014 FIFA World Cup play-off fixture against Uruguay.

Iraq's Mustafa Mohammed vies with Nigeria's Chidiebere Nwakali in their FIFA U-17 World Cup group match, Nigeria won 5-0

Iran Continues from B/P midfield.

“Nigeria are a very good team and have proved that they are one of the best here.

They want to win but we want to show that we would not lose easily. We will play a good game and be strong on the day. We know Nigeria’s style of play, that they like to make

use of the midfield, with some quick passes.

“We know that for us to be competitive, we have to shut them out and that is the plan that we are going to work on and hope to achieve.

W e must shut them out and make them not to score”, added Ezatolahi.

C M Y K

62— Vanguard ,

TUESDAY TUESDAY,, OCTOBER 29 , 2013

C M Y K

Vanguard , TUESDAY TUESDAY,, OCTOBER 29 , 2013 —63

VANGUARD, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 29, 2013

Jordan shock Eagles 1-0

T

HE home based Super Eagles squad were defeated 10 yesterday by Jordan in an international friendly which took place at the Amman International Stadium.

The defeat ended Keshi’s four match

Iran ‘ll fall like Iraq — Eaglets •Practice penalties

unbeaten run having enjoyed straight wins over South Africa, Malawi, Burkina Faso and Ethiopia with the last defeat being far back in June at the Confederations Cup in

Continues on Page 61

U-17 W/Cup: Today’s Matches Uruguay

v

Slovakia

2 p.m.

Morocco

v

Cote d'Ivoire

2 p.m.

Argentina

v

Tunisia

5 p.m.

Nigeria

v

Iran

5 p,m.

FIFA U-17 RESULTS

Italy

0

Mexico

2

Japan

1

Sweden

2

GOAL MACHINE — Iheanacho

Kick-off: 5 p.m.

C

OACH Manu Garba (MFR) said he already has a winning strategy in place to dismantle Iran in today ’s 2013 U-17 FIFA World Cup second round match at the Khalifa Bin Zayed Continues on Page 61

We ‘ll shut out Eaglets — Iran A

S Nigerian con front Iran today at the Kalifa Bin Zayed Sta-

dium, midfielder Saeid Ezatolahi has said that the Iranians would not

allow the Golden Eaglets to run the rule in the Continues on Page 61

QUICK CROSSWORD

Sudoku TODAY'S

PUZZLE

YESTER DAY'S YESTERDAY'S

ANSWERS

ACROSS 1 Bitter (4) 4 Weep (3) 6 Imprison (4) 9 Every (3) 10 Roomy (8) 11 Tidy (4) 14 Overact (3) 16 Lustre (6) 19 Passage (8) 21 Weary (5) 23 Disaster (8) 24 New (5) 27 Ballad (3) 31 Rage (4) 33 Moving (8) 34 Can (3) 35 Yield (4) 36 Expire (3) 37 Robe (4)

DOWN 2 Manage (4) 3 Clip (4) 4 Occasional (8) 5 Occupied (4) 6 Waterway (5) 7 Beer (3) 8 Tumbler (5) 12 Mock (5) 13 Degree (5) 14 Strike (3) 15 Ethic (5) 17 Eye-socket (5) 18 Corsets (5) 20 Relation (8) 22 24 hours (3) 25 Way (5) 26 View (5) 28 Rushed (4) 29 Drawback (4) 30 Nibble (4) 32 Central (3)

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS ACROSS: 1. Absorb 5, Queasy, 8, Language 9, Claw 10, Sly 12, Chalk 15, Hew 17, Air 18, Nee 19, Tic 20, Elude 21, Axe 22, Has 23, Aid 24, Dot 26, Trend 29, Yet 33, Fete 34, Unburden 35, Decked 36, Enmity.

DOWN: 2, Brawl 3, Orgy 4, Brash 5, Quell 6, Each 7, Suave 10, Sited 11, Yacht 12, crest 13, Amuse 14, Knead 15, Heady 16, Wrest 25, Obese 27, Round 28, Noble 30, Eject 31, Weak 32, Trim.

How to Play Sudoku

P

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

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

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

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