Peoples Daily Newspaper, Saturday 24, November, 2012

A Historyof backand forth

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VOL. 2 NO. 17 SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012 AL-MUHARRAM 10 - 11, 1434 AH N150. . . putting the people first

>> Page 34

I N S I D E

Is not worthcelebrating– Dr. Muazu

ABU nowhas e-library

— Prof. Zakari

I startedas a labourer

and retiredas Managing

Directorof ABU

Press— Afegbua

>> Page 34

Kano riot:

>> Page 7

Policearrest 22suspects

Nasarawa:

>> 5

A lawmaker’squest to

boost riceproduction

2013 budget:Perfect forgovernment’stransformationagenda— Abati

Jonathan’s Presidency:

A Historyof backand forth

Pages 12 & 13

Pages 9, 10 & 11

President Jonathan

I sang “Haduwa mai dadi”for my Ex–girlfriend– Muhammad

Kannywood:ABU @ 50

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012PAGE 2

ABU@50

T he history of independentNigeria will not be completewithout the mention of

ancient Katsina and the role itplayed in the independent process.Katsina, in the pre-colonial era wasone of the prominent states in Biladal-Sudan. In the pre-colonial era,Katsina served as an important linkto traders from the Maghribanstates and the East African states.

From 14th century Katsinaserved as an important centre ofscholarship. Apart from KatsinaUlamas which the area attracted,other Ulamas from the northernparts of Nigeria, also visited the areato either search for knowledge oroffer their own contributions tolearning and scholarship. Theprominent pre-colonial KatsinaUlamas are, Wali Dan Masani, WaliDan Marina and Wali Dan Takum.

A prominent scholar fromNorth Africa, Sheikh AbdulkarimAlmaghili was also in Katsinawhere the area benefitedimmensely from his knowledge. Itwas similarly documented that theleader of 1804 jihad, Sheikh Usmanibn Fodio had some of his Ulamas inKatsina.

With the coming of thecolonialists and the introduction ofwestern education in colonialNigeria, the fortune of Katsinachanged. The ascension of thethrone of Katsina leadership byEmir Muhammadu Dikko in 1906saw a radical approach by the emirto embrace the new educationsystem. This however accounted tothe dominance of Katsina people inboth public and private sector ofpost-colonial Nigeria.

Owing to the support of EmirMuhammadu Dikko in 1922British Governor General, HughClifford founded the Katsina College.The college was moved to Kadunaas Kaduna College in 1938, and in1949 it was moved to Zaria asGovernment College and later

Sardauna’s alma materKatsina College

From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua,Katsina

Dan Fodio. Ahmadu Bello receivedhis education first at the SokotoProvincial School, the onlymodern school at the time in theSokoto province. Then, heproceeded to the Katsina Teacher'sTraining College. After spendingfive years at Katsina, he wasappointed by the Sultan tobecome a teacher at the SokotoMiddle School, his former schoolwhich had undergone rapidtransformation. In 1934, he wasmade the district head of Rabbah,four years later, he was promotedand sent to Gusau to become adivisional head. In 1938, he madean unsuccessful bid to become thenew Sultan of Sokoto. Thesuccessful sultan immediatelyconferred upon Sir Ahmadu Bellothe traditional, now honorary,title of Sarduna, alternativelyspelled Sardauna, and elevatedhim to the Sokoto NativeAuthority Council. In 1948, hewas offered a scholarship to studylocal government administrationin England. Ahmadu Bello tookthe scholarship sensing he neededto shore up his knowledge about

the process of governance.After returning from England,

he was nominated to represent theprovince of Sokoto in the regionalHouse of Assembly. As a member ofthe assembly, he was a notablevoice for northern interest andembraced a style of consultationand consensus with the majorrepresentatives of the northernemirates: Kano, Bornu and Sokoto.In the first elections held inNorthern Nigeria in 1952, SirAhmadu Bello won a seat in theNorthern House of Assembly, andbecame a member of the regionalexecutive council as minister ofworks. Bello was successivelyminister of Works, of LocalGovernment, and of CommunityDevelopment in the NorthernRegion of Nigeria.

In 1954, Bello became the firstPremier of Northern Nigeria. Inthe 1959 independence elections,Bello led the NPC to win a pluralityof the parliamentary seats. Bello'sNPC forged an alliance with Dr.Nnamdi Azikiwe's NCNC(National Council of Nigeria andthe Cameroons) to form Nigeria'sfirst indigenous federalgovernment which led toindependence from Britain. Informing the 1960 independencefederal government of theNigeria, Bello as president of theNPC, chose to remain Premier ofNorthern Nigeria and devolvedthe position of Prime Minister ofthe Federation to the deputypresident of the NPC, AbubakarTafawa Balewa.

Bello's greatest legacy was themodernization and unification ofthe diverse people of NorthernNigeria. He was assassinated on 15January 1966 in a coup whichtoppled Nigeria's post-independencegovernment. He was still servingas premier of Northern Nigeria atthe time.

The Ahmadu Bello Universityis named after him. His portraitadorns Nigeria's 200 naira note,and he is survived by threedaughters, one of which died in2008.

named Barewa College Zaria. It isabsolutely clear that one cannottalk of the Independence of Nigeria50 years ago without mention ofthe Katsina College.

It was Katsina college thatshaped the thinking and theintellectualcapacities of the post-independence northern leaders, thepremier of the northern region, SirAhmadu Bello, the Sardauna ofSokoto, the founder of AhmaduBello University, Zaria attendedKatsina College so

also the first prime minister ofNigeria, Sir Abubakar TafawaBalewa and opposition elementssuch as Late NEPU leader, MalamAminu Kano.

Later the school produced thelikes of, the first civilian presidentof Nigeria, Alhaji Shehu Shagari,former head of state, GeneralMuhammadu Buhari, former headof state General Murtala RamatMuhammmad, late Umaru Musa'Yar'adua, former sultan of Sokoto,Alhaji Ibrahim Dasuki, Fomer ChiefJustice Of Nigeria, JusticeMuhammadu Bello, former ChiefJustice, Justice Idris Legbo Kutigi,

former CBN governor and ministerof finance, Alhaji Adamu Ciroma.

Others include, former ministerof transport in the second republic,Alhaji Umaru Dikko, late ABUradical Schorlar Dr. Yusuf BalaUsman, former ABU Vice-Chancellor, Professor AngoAbdullahi, former EFCC ChairmanAIG Nuhu Ribado (rtd), former FCTminister Malam Nasiru El-Rufa'Iamong others.

Therefore the story of thestruggle and success of Nigeria'sindependent will not be completewithout mentioning the role ofKatsina. At a time people wererunning away from westerneducation in the North, Katsinaembraced it and moulded thecharacter of future leaders throughthe Katsina College. All credit goesto Emir Muhammadu Dikko.

Sir Ahmadu Bello, theSardauna of Sokoto.

He was born in Rabbah, SokotoState. The son of a district headand heir to the Sokoto Caliphate,his great-grandfather was SultanBello, the founder of Sokoto andson of the revered Shaykh Usman

Barewa College Zaria

Gen Muhammadu BuhariMal. Aminu Kano

Alh Umaru Dikko Prof Ango Abdullahi

Alhaji Shehu Shagari Sultan Maccido Mal. Adamu Ciroma

Mal. Nasir el-Rufa’iLate Dr Yusuf Bala UsmanJustice Idris Legbo Kutigi

Late Sir Ahmadu Bello

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012 PAGE 3

ABU@50I started as a labourer and retired asManaging Director of ABU Press —AfegbuaFor 75 years old Alhaji Shuaibu Afegbua who hails from Edo state, life itself is theAhmadu Bello University (ABU Zaria), where he started as a foundation staff way back in1962 at the tender age of 17 and rose through the ranks to attain the exalted position ofManaging Director of the ABU Press. He spoke with Agaju Madugba, in Zaria.

I started work with theNigerian College of Arts andScience and Technology in

July 1955. I started as an AssistantTime Keeper. What I actually didwas to mark those who were presentand those who were absent andthose who did overtime and thenumber of hours they did and atthe end of the month I prepared areport which I sent to the TimeKeeper. I was a daily rated staff.They were paying me two Shillingsand six pence daily. Then the fulltime workers were paid twoShillings and nine pence. I was inthe estate department and we builtsome of these structures you still seearound today. The last job we didwas the Vice Chancellor's house. In1955, I got a job in the library as alibrary attendant in ABU, cleaningthe library and putting books onthe shelves. In 1957 there was atrain disaster and the books thatsome students borrowed weredamaged and recovered from thewreckage. They were brought toZaria and returned to the library.The books were sent to theUniversity of Ibadan for binding andwhen they were returned to us, wewere amazed because the bookslooked new in spite of the level ofdamage. Then I asked the Librarian

if he could send me to Ibadan so thatI could learn book binding. That wasin 1959. I went to Ibadan and wastrained for three months and I cameback and started mending books.Then in 1962, I was absorbed intothe university system with juniorstaff number 27 of the ABU. Icontinued with the binding andmending of books until the

University Librarian requested thatI should be given a scholarship fortraining abroad. The library laterbecame the University Press and Ibecame the Deputy ManagingDirector. When it was time for meto retire, I was asked to remain andwas made the substantiveManaging Director. I was there fornine years and I eventually retired

in 1999.How was ABU in those days?ABU was good in those days.

Some of us were living in Sabon-Gari and we did not want to live inSamaru because there was no "life"there, then. It was difficult gettingpeople, workers, to live in Samaru.But all the expatriate staff were inSamaru, they had their quartersand the students had theiraccommodation, it was twostudents to a room, different fromwhat we have now. We really hadgood times in those days. Therewere only two places to work then,either at the railway in Zaria or atthe ABU. The pace like a bush. Thelibrary used to be here (ABU Micro-Finance Bank) from here it movedto the place where we now havethe Post Graduate School. One ofthe students' blocks was used for theadministration office. There was noSenate Building at that time.

So how would you describeABU of today?

ABU today is over-crowded andthe quality has reduced. So, it iscorrect when people say that thequality of students has begun to godown. Now, some students are notready to read. You see anEngineering student and you won'tknow that he is an Engineering

student. Things that students usedto do in those days, they do not dothem again. For example, we havea drama village but they are notdoing anything there nowadays.They cannot stage Shakespeare'splays anymore.

So, is the celebration of ABU@50 worth it?

Yes! I have seen it all, the goodand the bad of the ABU. I started hereas a labourer on daily pay and fromthere I became a permanent staffand rising to the position ofManaging Director of the ABU Press.It is not an achievement for me alone;it is an achievement for everybodywho is ready to work hard. Thereare some people who are not readyto work for advancement. Somepeople have left the ABU, grumblingfor one reason or the other but in mytime, hard-work was appreciated. Igot married here at ABU and all mychildren were born here and some ofthem went through the ABU. I havea daughter who passed through herebut doing her PHD programme inthe United Kingdom now. I havebenefitted so much from the ABUand I congratulate the institutionfor the achievements it hasrecorded over these years. Theschool has produced numerouspeople who held and some are stillholding very high positions ingovernments at all levels. Suchpeople should come and help theABU to enhance its status.

ABU now has e-library —Librarian, Prof.Zakari MohammedThe ABU has for the past

one month beencelebrating its 50th

anniversary. Do you think it isreally worth the while?

Yes, it is worth it. Even if it is achild or even you, you should behappy to be alive and would want tocelebrate the period of yourexistence. Then what about aninstitution that has gone a long wayin educating people and makingthem useful members of the society,in all sectors of the economy. It isworth celebrating. We are not eventalking about the scientificadvancements that have beenrecorded.

What of the library, is itreally functional?

It is functional and we have gonea long way in terms of meeting theneeds of the university community.Apart from the usual purchase ofbooks and journals, we haveadvanced further to the modernelectronic library in terms of the e-services that we provide. If you checkthe website of the ABU, we havegone a long way. There are certainthings that you need that you do

not need to come to the library asyou can link up with us through theinternet. And if you want some e-resources, you do not have to cometo the library. You just link up withthe right website and you get it. Westill have the situation where youcome to the library and pick up somebooks to read but in thecontemporary methods of providinginformation services. A lot of moneyis still being spent for the acquisitionof books and journals but aside that,we go for the contemporarypublications, that is, electronicpublication. Currently, wesubscribe to about 26 data bases ofbooks. The students have access toall these things and it is free. All youneed to do is to log onto the website.But you know that at the beginningof every year, the students pay forwhat is called, library charges andthat is all. No more no less. And youknow the money they pay is far toosmall, compared to what we providefor them. Outsiders too have accessto these services but all you need isto come and register or you writeand tell us what you want to do, thenwe help you out.

It is generally agreed andaccepted that there can be no viableand progressive university withouta viable, standard and progressivelibrary. The vision statement of auniversity library should be worldclass and most preferred centre ofexcellence for the support andprovision of the state of the artinformation environment, systems,resources, services, competentpersonnel and facilities for study,learning and research andadvancement of the universitycommunity and the society at large.Knowing the strategic importanceof a library in a typical universitysetting, the university library wasalready in existence before theinauguration of the ABU on October4, 1962. It was made up of inheritedcollections and buildings of the thenNigerian College of Arts, Science andTechnology. In the 21st century,libraries must shun maintainingthe status quo and evolve from beingmere store houses of books anddocuments to become strategicallypreferred centres of informationresources and services readilyavailable and accessible to customers

regardless of their location and timeof access. In 2007, the ABU library,along with five other universitylibraries in Nigeria finally settled forthe Visionary Technology forlibrary Systems library applicationsoftware, with assistance from theMac Arthur Foundation grant.

There are insinuations that thequality of students that the ABUchurns out have continued todecrease?

This issue of quality is relative butwhen you compare the performance

of our graduates in their respectivefields, you find that they are doingvery well. After all, we go foraccreditation of programmes in otherinstitutions, under the auspices of theNational Universities Commission. Iwon't mention some of theseinstitutions but to be sincere, ABUstudents are doing well. But that doesnot mean that you do not havecertain instances of some who do notmeet up with expectations but I mustsay that majority of them are doingquite well.

Alhaji Shuaibu Afegbua

Prof. Zakari Mohammed

INTERVIEWS


ABU@50

INTERVIEWS

ABU@50 is not worthcelebrating —Dr Mu'azuDr. Sani Mu'azu, 71 is one of the foundation studentsof the ABU at inception in 1962. He later became alecturer in the school before his retirement.

His story

I am one of the first studentsin the department ofBiological Sciences. It was

beautiful in those days when wewere students here. We atechicken on Saturday and reallyhad wonderful period. In myclass, we were only two, not2000, just two of us in the class.In my second year, I was the onlystudent in Botany. In those daysthere was no excuse for anybodynot to do his work. But later I hadcause to teach 2,500 students ina class, in 100 level. I taught2,500 students and the class canonly accommodate perhaps 500students. We had to divide theminto groups and even at that, noclass can take each group at atime. You can compare that towhen we were only two in a class

or when I was the only one in theclass. You can imagine theattention we had. We had one toone attention. Students weredirectly attached to the teachers.But nowadays, there is nothinglike that.

In Medicine then, each studenthad a cadaver to himself if theywanted to dissect human body. Buttoday, one cadaver will be open andyou have some 50 studentssurrounding it. Is that Medicine?That is the problem with numbers. Itdoes not take anybody anywhere.There is no attention. The sameequipment we had when we were sofew is the same equipment beingshared by these thousands of studentstoday. This is a big problem thateverybody should understand, thestandards have nose-dived. Thestandards have become so low.

It is not worth celebrating. I amone of the first students and there isnothing to celebrate. I have been hereand I never left this place for once. Isaw the ABU going up and I saw itgoing down and now I have seen the

ABU down. I am very sad because ofthis development. So, there is nothingreally to celebrate. Those standardsare gone forever; we can never havethem again. There is no way you canhave one Professor to a student.

Dr. Sani Mu'azu

“ In Medicine then,each student had acadaver to himself if

they wanted todissect human body.

But today, onecadaver will be openand you have some

50 studentssurrounding it. Is that

Medicine? That isthe problem with

numbers.

Appraising technology and girl-child education in the North

T o d a y 's girl child will be themother of tomorrow. As amother she can give her child

a sound nursing and capableupbringing. A woman has themaximum impact on the social,economical decisions taken for thebenefit of the family. Education forall, boys and girls, men and womenin the country, and especially in thenorthern part is invariably thelegacy bequeathed by late SirAhmadu Bello because of his firmbelief in the future and developmentof the country.

It is agreed that Nigeria is facingthe challenges of economic, social,political and educationaldevelopment which may have led tothe introduction of various reformsat different levels of the national life.These reforms are expected to bringabout developments in areas of needsthrough the infusion of modernmethods and values. Educationparticularly deserves a major focus.This is because it is believed thateducation is the bedrock of ournational development which ifvigorously pursued, could be used toachieve political, economic and socialcohesion.

The development of any nationrequires the supportive efforts of allits citizens without genderdiscrimination. It becomesimperative at this point to state thatto achieve national development,both male and female members ofthe society need to fully be carriedalong. In recognition of this facttherefore, the World Conference onEducation for All, (EFA) held inGeneva in 1990 stressed the need forgender equity at all levels of

Young females displaying benefit of girl-child educationin technological age, in Kano

By Miriam Humbe with agencyreport

education.The Beijing conference of 1995

and the Millennium DevelopmentGoals (MDGS) of 2005 also stressedthe need for gender equity. In Nigeria,the National Policy on Education(FRN; 2004) also acknowledges theneed to accord equal educationalopportunities to both males andfemales. Gender equity should be amajor characteristic of anyeducational reform programsembarked upon by all tiers ofgovernment starting from the federalgovernment down to the localgovernments where it is estimatedthat over 75 percent of ourpopulations dwell.

This should be aimed ataddressing gender imbalance ineducation especially as girls' access tobasic education, especially in theNorthern states of the country hasremained low, according to UnitedNations International Children'sEmergency Fund (UNICEF) findingsin 2007. UNICEF also availed thatonly 20 percent of women in theNorth West and North East of thecountry are literate and haveattended school while the NorthCentral and North West presents theworst scenarios.

Gender composition ofoccupations in both the formal andinformal sectors, of a country is animportant indicator of the economicopportunities open to women evenas the participatory level ofindividuals in each sector could bedetermined by the enrolment ofmales and females in schools and theirparticipation in certain schoolsubjects and career. The lowenrolment of females in the study ofSciences, Technology andMathematics is however, ratherworrisome. This may tend to have

strong negative implications fornational development.

The importance of girl-childeducation can never beoveremphasised. The benefits ofeducation for a girl-child arenumerous. These include bettermanagement of the homeenvironment, effective use of healthservices, and application of improvedhygiene and nutrition practices,reduced fertility, lower childmortality, longer life expectancy,better child health care, smallerfamilies and better educatedchildren. In addition, United NationsInternational Children's EmergencyFund (UNICEF, 2007) revealed thatgirls' education does not only bringthe immediate benefits ofempowering girls, but is seen as thebest investment in a country'sdevelopment.

Education for the girl-child alsoprovides the opportunity for thedevelopment of essential skills suchas, self confidence, effectiveparticipation in educationalactivities, protection against HIV/AIDS, sexual exploitation and selfreliance among others. Educatingthe girl-child is a powerfulinstrument for development,particularly in developing economieslike Nigeria, where social welfare andeconomic advancement areconstrained by population growthand a weakly developed humanresource base, especially in the areaof science and technology.

The improved awareness of thesignificant role of education hasbrought about increase in schoolenrolment and literacy level amonggirls, particularly in developingcountries, but disparity remains anissue between boys and girls in thestudy of courses in sciences and

technology, and also between menand women in career choice andworkforce.

There is the need therefore to stemthe instances of low enrolment offemales in sciences and technological-related courses at the University levelof education. It is also imperative atthis point to call on relevanteducational institutions to ensure that

females, rather than take the leastresistance by opting for disciplinesdesignated as feminine such as liberalarts, education, nursing and law, donot shy away from courses in Sciences,Engineering, Medicine andMathematics, which had formerlybeen designated as masculine subjectsin this era of global technologicaladvancement.


News

Speed upwork on Minnaeastern bye-pass, Niger govttells contractor

Al-makura facesimpeachmentthreat over crisis

PDP warns Fashola, ACNover LG election cases

From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

The contractor handlingconstruction ofMaitumbi-Maikunkele

Eastern Bye-Pass in BossoLocal Government Area ofNiger state, PacificInvestment Nigeria Ltd, hasbeen asked to adopt measuresthat would ensure scheduledcompletion of work.

The Director GeneralMonitoring and Evaluation,Mallam Iliyasu Dhacko gavethe warning yesterday whenthe officials of theDirectorate on inspection ofproject site visited the site.

Mallam Iliyasu Dhackoimpressed on the need forthe company to speed up itspace of work in line withmobilization received,increase its machinery andwork force and setup a yardsite. He howeveracknowledged the companyfaced a difficult terrain.

He underlined need forPacific Investment Ltd toengage with the localcommunities and put youthsin the area to work as part oftheir corporate socialresponsibility.

The Director General saidit was imperative forcompanies handling bondedprojects to align with thevision of the Chief Servant, toleave Niger state better thanhe met it.

Welcoming the Monitoringteam, the project supervisingengineer, Mohammed Muye,speaking on behalf of theProject Manager, Mister Tian,explained that work washalted during the peak of therains.

He however assured thatefforts would be stepped up toconclude hydraulicstructures and to meet theproject schedule.

Members of the NasarawaState House of Assemblyhave issued a seven-day

ultimatum to Governor TankoAl-makura to end the crisesravaging the state or faceimpeachment. This followed anemergency session at theAssembly complex in Lafia onFriday afternoon.

House Majority Leader,Godiya Akwashiki (PDP,Nasarawa-Eggon-West), readout the day’s order including“House Resolution on SecurityIssues and other SensitiveMatters in the State”, as well asa “Deliberation on the HouseResolution on Security”, andproceeded to read out thewarning for impeachmentprocess. The motion for the one-week warning was seconded fordeliberation, by House MinorityLeader, Adamu Maikatako(CPC, Lafia-Central).

Akwashiki, after theSpeaker, Musa AhmedMohammed (PDP, Nasarawa-Central) declared the emergencysitting open, Akwashiki, read theresolutions of the last sittingwhich had asked Governor Al-

makura to expedite effort atstemming the lingering andviolent crises which haveengulfed much of the southernzone of the state in months now.

The Majority Leader allegedthat the governor failed tocomply with the resolution toquell violence which has sackedcommunities and displacedthousands.

She observed that a situationof complete breakdown of lawand order leading to arson inwhich over 10 persons have beenreportedly killed in Agyaragu –an outskirt of Lafia, the statecapital, smacked of Governor Al-makura’s incompetence tocomply with constitutionalprovisions to protect lives andproperty in the state.

Akwashiki said the Houseresolved that Al-makura begiven seven days from Friday toend the violence in the zone, ormembers will invoke Section188 (1), to impeach him.

Yahaya Ohinoyi Usman(PDP, Umaisha-Ugya) movedthe motion for the adoption of thewarning for impeachmentprocess, and was seconded byPeter Mbucho (PDP, Akwanga-South.

Nigerian investors, bothat home and in theDiasporas have been

enjoined to invest in mineralexploration in the country.

The Minister of Mines and SteelDevelopment, Arc. MusaMuhammed Sada made the callwhile delivering a keynote addressat a stakeholder’s forum in Abujaon Thursday.

Arc. Sada said that if all themineral resources across thecountry are properly explored, itwould go a long way to develop thenation’s economy and also createemployment opportunities for thepopulace.

He enjoined interested foreigninvestors across the globe to comein and invest in the sector,stressing that level play groundhas been provided for whoeverwant to be part of the opportunity.

In a speech, the DirectorGeneral/Chief Executive of theNational Steel Raw MaterialsExploration Agency (NSRMEA),Mr. Alex Abaito Ohikere notedthat the need for government’sintervention in mineralexploration is very necessary asmost local investors are usually notprepared to spend their money onexploration.

Mr. Ohikere reiterated that inas much as mineral exploration isa risky business to venture into,government participation for thepurpose of developing the sector isvery important.

He said that NSRMEA isworking vigorously to ensuringthat the set objectives of the agencyof sourcing locally raw materialsneeded for the nation’s iron & steelindustry are actualized.

Mr. Ohikere stated that by theyear 2015, the nation is expectedto produce annually, 3million tonsof liquid steel, saying that torealize this, 6million tons of ironore and 2.8million tons of cookingcoal will be required.

The Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP) in theSouth-west has

warned the Lagos stategovernor, Mr. BabatundeFashola and his party, theAction Congress of Nigeria(ACN) not to attempt anyunderhand move to subvertthe will of the people as waspronounced by the LocalGovernment ElectionsPetitions Tribunal onThursday when the tribunaldeclared the PDP candidate,Otunba Busari Jawe, was theduly elected chairman ofAgbado/Oke-Odo localcouncil development area.

The party, which hailedthe tribunal’s judgment, oneof which also nullified theelection in Yaba localcouncil development areaand ordered a rerun,commended the judges for

standing by the truth evenin the face of glaringmanipulations by the ACN.

Zonal publicitysecretary of the PDP, Hon.Kayode Babade, in a releaseissued said: “Except thatGovernor Fashola and hisparty men would want topervert the course ofjustice as they are doing inthe ongoing Ikoyi/Obalende local councildevelopment areachairmanship electionappeal case, there shouldbe no reason for any appealon yesterday’s judgments…

“It is therefore ourwarning to GovernorFashola and his party thatany attempt to use theelection appeal as a meansof perpetuating theircandidates in office as theyhave done on the Ikoyi/Obalende case will beresisted by the people.”

FG callsfor moreinvestmentsin mineralssector

ABU graduates 7,680

The Ahmadu BelloUniversity (ABU), Zaria,yesterday, graduated a

total of 7,680 students duringits special golden jubileeconvocation.

Out of the number, 21obtained first class; 960obtained second class (upperdivision); 4130 had secondclass lower; 22091 obtainedthird class; while 276students obtained passdegrees.

The ceremony attracted anumber of dignitariesincluding the Sultan ofSokoto, Alhaji MuhammadSa’ad Abubakar, who is alsothe Chancellor of ABU.

By Augustine Aminu

From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

The Kano state policecommand has arrested22 suspects in connection

with the ethno-religious crisisthat occurred in Bichi town onThursday.

A statement issued by thecommand and signed thePublic Relations Officer, ASPMagaji Musa Majia, confirmedthat two persons lost their livesto the mayhem while twoothers who sustained life-threatening injuries arerecuperating in an undisclosed

Police arrest 22suspects over Kano riotFrom Edwin Olofu, Kano hospital.

ASP Musa Majia disclosedthat no fewer than sevenchurches were set alight by thevandals while eight shops andone residential building wasburnt down during them a y h e m .

Bichi, a town located alongKm 27 on Kano-Katsina federalhighway erupted into areligious crisis on Thursdayfollowing an allegedmispronunciation of Hausawords interpreted by firstspeakers of the language asblasphemous.

The command saidnormalcy has been restored tothe troubled town; adding thatthe command has intensifiedpatrols to ensure residents goabout their businesses withoutfear of molestation.

The police enjoined Kanocitizens to continue to live inharmony with each otherirrespective of ethno-religiousdifferences.

The command furtherpromised to get to the root ofthe matter and punish anyonefound to have played a role inthe crisis.

By Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia

In his address, the ViceChancellor, Prof. AbdullahiMustapha, urged thegraduands to be morecreative in their quest tobecome independent,warning that the days ofwaiting for white collar jobswere fast fading.

According to Mustapha,“the responsibility of ABU hasbeen changing. Fromproducing trained manpowerfor government, universitiesare now required to producelearned and skillful people forthe open market and self-employment. “So, you must beon your guard. In this kind ofconstrained world, you mustnot despair but deploy yourskill creatively instead…”


NewsMinister says cancerregistration criticalT h e Minister for Health,

Prof. Oyebuchi Chukwu,has said cancer

registration is critical inplanning preventive strategiesfor the fight against cancer in thecountry.

Prof. Chukwu, who wasrepresented by Dr. OmobolanleOlowu, said this while openingthe training on cancerregistration methods at theInstitute of Human Virology inNigeria (IHVN). He noted theneed for strategies to be put inplace to encourage the hospital-

based cancer registries to becomepublic-based cancer registries;adding that the Federal Ministryof Health is planning anationwide cancer burden surveyto provide data on cancer.

According to him, thetraining will equip participantsto carry out this cancer burdensurvey. “The skills you acquirehere will be of immenseassistance in completing thesurvey successfully. I urge all theparticipants to share the visionand goals of the Federal Ministryof Health to collate cancer databy taking advantage of thewealth of experience of resource

persons at the training byacquiring all the necessary skillsthat will help you in thedischarge of your duties in yourvarious cancer registries”, hesaid.

Prof. Chukwu also promised toensure that the gains of thetraining is put to maximum usewhile saying the commonestcancers in Nigeria are breast,cervical, prostate and colorectalcancers. According to him, thereport of the Nigeria NationalSystem of Cancer Registries(NSCR) shows that “breast cancerincidence has increased 100% inthe last decade”.

IHVN Coordinator of theFogarty AIDS InternationalTraining and Research Program(AITRP) and national coordinatorof the NSCR, Dr. Elima JedyAgba,said the training is to improve casefinding and registry methods. “Wehope that with training andsupport, we can upgrade a few ofthe hospital-based cancer registriesto population-based cancerregistries to get better estimates ofthe burden of cancer in Nigeria.

The 21 participants at theone-week training were drawnfrom cancer registries within thecountry and from Gabon, Kenyaand Seychelles.

By Jamila Nuhu Musa

M o r e than 20,000policemen have beendeployed to Benue state

to guarantee security forSaturday’s local government pollsin the state.

Benue State Police CommandPublic Relations Officer, DSPDaniel Ezeala who disclosed this toour reporter yesterday, addedthat the Inspector General of Police,also directed that mobile policemenfrom Nasarawa, Kogi, Plateau,Enugu and Taraba states shouldbe deployed to Benue tocomplement the command inmaintaining law and order duringthe local government election.

The police spokesmanintimated that other securityagents such as the civil defense,immigration, SSS, prisons serviceas well as the military would beused to complement the efforts ofthe police during the election.

Ezeala who urged the electoratenot to panic but to go out toperform their franchise however,warned all political thugs and theirsponsors to steer clear from all thepolling units in the state,maintaining that anyone caughtviolating the law would bearrested and prosecuted.

The Chief Justice of Nigeria(CJN), Maryam AlomaMukhtar, yesterday,

swore-in Justice ZainabBulkachuwa as the new ActingPresident of the Court of Appeal.

The CJN also administered anoath of office on Justice IfeomaJumbo-Ofor, whose inaugurationwas suspended on November 5,2012 on the basis of a petitionalleging contradictions in herstate of origin.

The brief ceremonywitnessed a mild drama, asjournalists who went to cover theceremony as well as other guestswere barred from entering theCJN's chambers, the venue of theoath-taking.

A very senior official of thecourt, who did not identifyhimself, insisted that journalistswould not enter the venue andwhen asked why, he said:"Because we did not invite thepress; it's only NTA that isallowed in".

Meanwhile, JusticeBulkachuwa's inauguration asActing PCA on Friday, brings toan end the tenure of JusticeDalhatu Adamu, whose tenurewas renewed a number of times,having been appointed on August22, 2011, following thesuspension of Justice Isa AyoSalami by the National JudicialCouncil (NJC).

Bulkachuwa's term isexpected to end on or aboutFebruary 24, 2013, by virtue of

H e n c e f o r t h , lecturersand other academicstaff from the Akwa

Ibom State University (AKSU),Obio Akpa, who absconds aftertheir overseas training,sponsored by the university areto be prosecuted.

The measure according to theinstitution’s Vice Chancellor,Prof. Sunday Peters, whilespeaking to journalist in Uyo, isto put an end to the trend wherelecturers rampantly abscondedfrom the university after theirstudies abroad.

To effect the action, the vicechancellor said the universitywill initiate a court action againstthe families of such staff.

The vice chancellor also saidthe university will use othermeans such as going through theembassies of the countries wherethe staff are studying to get themrepatriated. He howevercommended the other lecturersof the university who had comeback after their studies.

He maintained that as a younguniversity approved by the Houseof Assembly in September 2009,it was inappropriate for it to startlosing lecturers.

the express provision of Section238 (5) of the 1999 Constitution,as amended.

A Federal High Court sittingin Abuja, yesterday,slated November 29,

2012 to deliver judgment in a suitinstituted by a non-governmentalorganisation (NGO), Socio-Economic Rights andAccountability Forum (SERAP).

The NGO had approached thecourt under the FundamentalRights (Enforcement Procedure)Rules 2009.

It averred, among other issuesthat, "In 1994, the FederalGovernment set up the PiusOkigbo Panel to investigate theactivities of the Central Bank ofNigeria (CBN) and recommendmeasures for the re-organisationof the bank.

In the course of its assignment,the Okigbo Panel found that the$12.4 billion in the Dedicated andSpecial Accounts had beendepleted to $200 million by June1994."

Although, judgment wasscheduled for yesterday, the trialJudge, Justice Gabriel Kolawoleapologised over failure to do so, ashe said the court's Registry justdrew his attention to a motion filedby the Attorney-General of theFederation, AGF, and Minister ofJustice, Mr. Mohammed Adoke,SAN, challenging the jurisdictionof the court to entertain thematter.

Before adjourning forjudgment, Justice Kolawoleasked counsel to the plaintiff,Mr. Femi Falana (SAN), if hehad been served with the AGF'smotion, and he responded in theaffirmative saying, he has sincefiled and exchanged hisresponse.

Present in court was FelixNwosu and Gerald Nwaneri, bothof whom represented the AGF andCentral Bank of Nigeria, CBN,who are respondents/defendantsin the suit.

A young man Wer Yimaof Tse Yima Agba,Mbangul, Vandeikya

local government area of Benuestate who allegedly attempted toassassinate Governor GabrielSuswam was yesterdayarraigned before a magistratecourt in Makurdi.

Police First InformationReport, in suit no. MCM/101/12,showed that Yima had on the

30th October 2012 dressed in amilitary camouflage and armedwith a locally made pistol, forcedhis way in the direction of thegovernor at the palace of the TerKunav in Vandeikya where thegovernor had gone to pay homagebefore he was arrested by men ofthe Special Anti-Robbery Squad,SARS led by one Sgt Tor Geri.

The prosecuting officer,Inspector Terzungwe Kajo, saidby the act, Mr. Yima is accused ofcriminal trespass, conspiracy,

wearing dress used by publicservants and unlawful possessionof firearms, and attempt tocommit culpable homicide.

He intimated thatinvestigation was still in progressand applied for a date to enablehim conclude investigation.

The trial magistrate, Mrs.Theresa Wergba did not takeany plea for want of jurisdictionand adjourned the case toDecember 7, 2012 for furtherhearing.

P r e s i d e n t GoodluckJonathan is sending anofficial delegation headed

by the President of the Senate,Senator David Mark torepresent the FederalGovernment at the formalconsecration of ArchbishopJohn Onaiyekan as a Cardinalof the Catholic Church by PopeBenedict XVI at the Vaticantoday.

Other members of thedelegation are the Chief of Staffto the President, Chief MikeOghiadomhe, the Minister ofAviation, Princess StellaOduah, the Minister of State(FCT), Oloye OlajumokeAkinjide and the Chaplain of thePresidential Villa Chapel,Venerable ObiomaOnwuzurumba.

It would be recalled thatArchbishop Onaiyekan’selevation to the College of

Cardinals was announced by theVatican on October 24, this year.

President Jonathan has alsomandated members of thedelegation to stopover inHanover, Germany on their wayback to visit Governor DanbabaSuntai of Taraba state who isreceiving treatment there forinjuries sustained in a recentplane crash.

The delegation left Abujayesterday and is due back to thecountry tomorrow.

Mark leads delegation to visit Suntai,attend Onayekan's consecrationBy Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

Alleged Suswam would-be assassin in courtFrom Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

CJN swears-in Bulkachuwa as Ag. AppealCourt President ... also swears-in Jumbo-Ofor

$12.4 oil windfallsuit: Court slatesNov. 29 todeliverjudgment

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

University toprosecutelecturers whoabscond afteroverseastrainingFrom Mike Etim, Uyo

20,000 policeofficersdeployed forBenue pollsFrom Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

Justice ZainabBulkachuwa

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012

Cover

Contd on pages 10&11

no shoes and bags, attended school on bare-foot. All these stories won him sympathyand most of the votes he got were morebecause of sympathy and rigging thananything else during the electioneeringcampaign.

It however became obvious monthsafter Mr. President and Namadi Sambowere sworn in that they were moreinterested in the position than what theywould do with it. Too many policy flip-flops, inconsistencies, disparities betweenhis own comments and that of hisspokesmen have helped to reinforce thebelief in certain quarters that thisadministration thrives on speaking fromboth ends of the mouth.

This belief was no less obvious in thelast Presidential media chat where he tookadvantage of the questions put to him bythe panelists to disagree with himself aswell as his spokespersons on several policyissues.

Mr. President is fast gaining notorietyfor saying something and meaningsomething else and/or for saying it is Atoday, B the next day and neither A norB the day after.

2015/ Zoning policyGoing by the zoning arrangement of

the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), thepresidency is supposed to remain with thenorth up till 2015 just like it was withthe south till 2007. But PresidentJonathan’s stewardship appeared to bethe worst ever foundation possible fordenying the existence of such policy inthe party to pave way for his emergenceas PDP Presidential candidate in 2011.

In addition to that, based on the heatand tension the zoning issue hadgenerated, the President made a clearpublic pronouncement that he wouldbe seeking the mandate of Nigeriansonly once, meaning if he won, whatever

N i g e r i a n s have tolerated for along time, a moribund politicaland economic threshold from one

administration to another despite the factthat they deserve good governance and abetter tomorrow, and this they havecontinued to crave even after PresidentGoodluck Jonathan and Vice PresidentNamadi Sambo came on board.Unfortunately, the hope for a bettertomorrow is dashed again. But the peopleare beginning to hold their leadersaccountable for their wrong doings. Theyhave since risen to the challenge ofdemanding from their leaders’accountability, transparency, the truthand nothing but the truth especially nowthat the country is on the brink ofcollapse.

Dr Goodluck Ebele Jonathan, Nigeria’s

President, and Commander –in-chief ofthe Armed Forces is a man who has livedand thrived on tremendous good luck allthrough his political career. The story ofhis meteoric rise from a ‘spare-tyre’ inBayelsa state to the country’s mostpowerful man is nothing close to hardwork or political savvy.

Aside his stupendous good luck,another attribute the Presidentreportedly possesses in abundance ispatience, perseverance and simplicity.Despite the provocations he suffered in thehands of a so-called cabal when LateYar’adua was ill, he took everything withphilosophical calmness.

At least, these were some of theattributes that endeared him to Nigeriansprior to the 2011 presidential poll whichhe won.

His region ‘lays the golden egg’ butyet to be allowed to govern the country.He grew up in excruciating poverty, had

By Aisha Biola Raji and Nasiru Mu’azuIsa

Jonathan’s Presidency:

N

A historyof backandforth

CoverPEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012PAGE 10

A history of back and forth

Contd on page 11

happens, he would quit power in2015. When he made thispronouncement, there was nosign that he didn’t mean it;neither did he mince words insaying that four years wereenough for any leader includinghimself to make an impact andpave way for others.

In fact, the official spokesmanof the Federal Government,Labaran Maku on a visit to theheadquarters of Peoples MediaLtd, just before the polls said: “Iwas not with the President whenhe made that statement but ifhe has said that, he means everyword of it. Mr. President hasproven himself to be a man ofintegrity and a man of his words.What he seeks is an opportunityto better the lot of Nigeriansthrough quality leadership. Hemeans everything he says.”

While most politicalobservers expect that everytime the question of 2015 comesup, the President will say anemphatic no! as he had promisedbefore the elections, the reversehas been the case so far. It ispublic knowledge that there hasbeen clandestine pressure onhim to seek reelection in 2015and the President’s bodylanguage is suggesting that hemay yet again go back on hiswords.

His official attack dog, DrDoyin Okupe has not missed anyopportunity he has to tell anyonewho cares to listen that his bosswill seek to retain power in 2015.The familiar pattern is for somegroups and associates to first startdrumming it in the ear of

compatriots that the sittingleader is the best thing to everhappen to the country and thecountry will collapse if he doesn’tremain in office. While this isgoing on, the man at the centreof the controversy will neitherstop the praise singers from doingtheir thing nor own up that he isnursing the ambition to succeedhimself. President GoodluckJonathan is following thispattern faithfully.

The first media chat heconducted at the middle of theyear, rather than sayunequivocally that he was notinterested in seeking reelectionin 2015; he said that it was tooearly to talk about that since hewas only about a year old in hisfirst tenure.

The media chat of last weekfurther exposed the inner mindsof the President as far as 2015 isconcerned. The excuses he gavefor not making a definitestatement on 2015 were at best,watery.

“It is too early to ask a sittingPresident if he will contest ornot,” he said.

While putting his argumentin favour of longer single tenureforward, the President said,“four years is a very short timefor a person to make an impact.”

Mr. President is nowindirectly saying that if thestatus quo remains (which ismost likely), he may seekreelection in 2015.

Boko HaramThere is no other

phenomenon that has exposedthe inadequacies of PresidentJonathan than the Boko Haraminsurgency. While it must be

admitted that Mr. President isreally unlucky to be at the helmwhen some people aredetermined to wreck thecountry, the Boko Haram secthas succeeded in its bid to makehim appear clueless.

At the beginning of 2012, thePresident told the world in aSunday church service at theNational Christian Centre,Abuja that he was aware thatthe Boko Haram insurgents hadinfiltrated all branches ofgovernment, military, para-military, police force and eventhe intelligence unit.

Hearing such a weightycomment from the President,hope rose among Nigerians thatthe end of the crisis may be closeafter all. But the President nevermade attempts to name oridentify these Boko Haramelements at his backyard.

It would be recalled also thatMr. President had told Reutersin an interview that hisadministration was ready andwilling to dialogue with thedreaded sect if that would bringan end to the daily killings of

innocent Nigerians.Aside that, a supposed Boko

Haram kingpin said in SaudiArabia few months ago that hisgroup was interested in dialoguewith government based on someconditions. Presidentialspokesman, Dr Reuben Abati alsosaid in well publicized interviewhe granted to State Housecorrespondents that there wasongoing ‘back-channel’dialoguewith the sect on ways to bringingan end to the violence.

On Sunday, August 26, Mr.Abati told State Housecorrespondents that thegovernment was in talks withthe Boko Haram through“backroom channels.”

“When government says it isalready talking to Boko Haram,the form of that dialogue mustbe properly understood.

“The form of the dialogue isthat backroom channels arebeing used to reach across withthe sole objective ofunderstanding what exactly thegrievances of these persons are,”Abati said.

Three months later, on

Monday November 12, Abatiagain confirmed to PunchNewspapers that thegovernment was in talks withthe sect.

“I can confirm to you thattalks are ongoing at thebackground. But the talks arenot the kinds being envisaged byNigerians,” he said.

“The ongoing talk is a backchannel one in which those whoknow members of the group aretalking with them on behalf ofthe government.”

These facts completelynegate the statement Mr.President made at the last mediachat about the impossibility ofdialogue with the group. Now,Nigerians don’t know who ismisinforming them betweenhim and his spokespersons.

“There is no dialogue withBoko Haram because BokoHaram still operates undercover. They wear masks, thereis no face and we don't haveanybody to discuss with,” thePresident said.

Observers have beenwondering since last Sundayhow the President’s statementsthat there were Boko Haramelements in government circlesand its agencies could bereconciled with the recent onethat the terrorists were invisible.How can they be so close to himand yet undetectable? How?

ManitobaCanadian power firm,

Manitoba Hydro Internationalhad his mouth-wateringTransnational Company ofNigeria (TCN) contract

These facts completely negate thestatement Mr. President made at the

last media chat about the impossibilityof dialogue with the group. Now,

Nigerians don’t know who ismisinforming them between him and

his spokespersons.

“

Contd from page 9

Mrs. Diezani Alison-MaduekeMrs Patience JonathanVice President Namadi Sambo

CoverPEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012 PAGE 11

A history of back and forthContd from page 10

The three scenarios suggest onething. It is either there is no synergy

between Mr. President’s imagemakers and the decision makers of

the administration or that theadministration just takes pleasure in

policy flip flops, or both.

“

cancelled by the FederalGovernment some few weeksback. Or that was theinformation the President’sspokesman, Dr Reuben Abatimade available to the public.

On Wednesday, November14, Abati’s statement to themedia on behalf of the Presidentin which he said the presidentcancelled the transmissioncontract given to Manitoba readin part: “Mr. President hascancelled the Manitoba powercontract with immediate effect.”

But fielding questions fromthe panelists during the lastmedia chat, Mr. Presidentdeclared that the firm’s contractwas never cancelled bygovernment.

“Manitoba’s contract has notbeen revoked. There were someissues raised because ofmisunderstanding.” ThePresident added that he haddirected for the pendingprocurement issues to beresolved as soon as possible.

“Manitoba contract has notbeen revoked,” the Presidentsaid, explaining that hisadministration observed thatthe company “did not follow thelaw strictly,” when it got thecontract.

Manitoba Hydro, a Canadianstate-owned firm, emerged thehighest bidder, in April, tomanage Nigeria’s transmissionnetwork, under theTransmission Company ofNigeria, for three years. Thecompany was initially expectedto resume in September.

Instead of resuming, Abatiannounced that the contract hasbeen cancelled. Jonathanhowever, said the contract wasnot cancelled but is beingregularized as due process wasnot fully followed in the award.

First Lady’s illnessThe President also confirmed

that the First Lady, DamePatience Jonathan, was ill andtreated abroad contrary to theclaim by Abati and Dame’sspokesman, Ayo Osinlu that sheonly went abroad to take adeserved rest.

Osinlu told journalists onSeptember 3 that the First Ladywas not sick but travelled out ofthe country to take a “moment’srest.”

“If you look at her itineraryin August, you would bewondering how she was able toaccomplish that. In the course ofthis week, she will be back home.But remember, it all depends onher plans,”

Abati also denied the illnessstory describing it as a rumour.“The (illness story) was a rumourand there is nothing like that,”Abati said.

As if in the mood to discreditall the Presidency’sspokespersons, PresidentJonathan responded to question

on the well being of his wifeduring the media chat thus:“She was ill, she receivedtreatment.”

“When she returned, she hadto further recuperate,” thePresident said while explainingthe First Lady’s absence frompublic glare since her arrival thecountry on October 17.

The three scenarios suggest onething. It is either there is nosynergy between Mr. President’simage makers and the decisionmakers of the administration orthat the administration just takespleasure in policy flip flops, or both.

Presidential Media ChatThat is why the last

Presidential chat was widelyseen to be a charade. Without theintent of discrediting thepanelists, they really let

themselves down on that day.The questions were below parand not punchy enough to reallymake the President sit up.

There were no follow-ups onthe response of the President tothe issues where he eithercontradicted what he had saidin the past or rejected the earlierstatements of his spokespersons.They even ran out of questionseven though there were so manyissues left untouched.

There were no questions putto the President on the fallout ofthe Ribadu committee and howthe Federal Government hasbeen severally accused of beingbehind the theatrics that greetedthe submission of thecommittee’s report.

The fact that the Presidentdidn’t see anything wrong in

Steven Oronsaye and BernardOtti getting juicy appointmentsin the NNPC at the time thecommittee commenced itswork, was questionable.

It was an opportunity for thepanelists to take the President on,

on his reaction to the drama andthe way he has been treating oilthieves in both government andprivate sector with kid gloves aswell as other burning issues dearto the heart of Nigerians, but theybungled it.

Dr Doyin OkupeMr Steven Oronsanye

Mal Nuhu RibaduMr Labaran Maku Mal. Nuhu Ribadu


Cover Interview

2013 budget: Perfect for government’stransformation agenda — Abati

Some pundits havefaulted the 2013budget presented to the

National Assembly, saying itis replete with duplicationsand contradictions, addingthat the whole thing isagainst the spirit ofPresident Jonathan’spromise to cut down cost ofgovernance. How do youreact to this?

I think it is very unfortunatethat something asimportant as the budget is

being politicised. I know that theheadlines are attractive. Whenyou see some of the headlinesyou will know they aresensational, but when yousubject many of the reactions torigorous analysis, what you willfind is just a lot of hot air and nosubstance. This is a budget thathas been submitted by thePresident to the appropriateassembly but people startedcommenting on the budget evenbefore the President even placedit on the table. It is a verystrange thing. It is only inNigeria that people comment soexpertly on things that theyhave not studied, on somethingwhich they have not even takenthe basic effort to understandwhat is involved. If you look atthat budget that the Presidentpresented, there are manyangles and many aspects of it.

International analysts,economists and researchagencies who are dispassionatein this matter have taken thatbudget, analysed it and said it isa balanced budget. They havesaid that it is a budget that seeksto consolidate growth. Theyhave said that it is a budget thatshows discipline and consistencyon the path of the Jonathanadministration. .

If you look at that budget,there are incentives that havebeen given to the manufacturingsector and to the agriculturesector. There are projectionsthere in terms of empowering thewomen, in terms of wealthcreation, in terms of jobcreation, in terms of fiscaldiscipline and in terms ofprotecting the interest of thecountry.

How would you describethe re-election of OlusegunMimiko for a second term in

In this interview with State House Correspondents, Special Adviser to President Goodluck Jonathan onMedia and Publicity, Dr. Reuben Abati faults critics of the 2013 budget presented recently to theNational Assembly by the President, saying their contentions are borne out of little or no knowledge ofthe content of what was presented to the lawmakers. He also bares his mind on other national issuesbordering on the Presidency and governance. Abdulrahman Abdulraheem reports

the recent governorship pollin Ondo state vis-a-vis theacclaim of the presentadministration to free andfair polls?

The credit for this as I said ina comment that I issuedimmediately after the electionsmust go to PresidentJonathan because in terms ofthe electoral reforms and theachievements, leadership iseverything. People look up to theman at the top and whatPresident Jonathan has shownsince he took charge andpromised to make sure that theelectoral machinery in Nigeriais raised, the level of integrity isdeepened and that ourdemocracy is therebyconsolidated, is to keep to hispromise.

His administrationorganised the April 2011elections adjudged even by thecynics to be very successful. Infact, if you check the latest bookby Professor Chinua Achebetitled ‘There was a country’- Ithink around page 247 or so-there is a specific reference to thesuccess that Nigeria has madewith elections in recent times.And that, I think, is a strongendorsement of the vision andthe achievement of theJonathan administration. Theremay be some challenges here

and there but people agreegenerally that a lot has changed.President Jonathan’s zeal withregards to elections is that everyelection must be free and fair andtransparent. Anywhere he hasbeen to, whether in Kebbi or inSokoto or in Bayelsa or in Edo orin the latest one, Ondo, themessage that he preaches is themessage of one man, one vote,one youth, one vote. And hischarge to the security agenciesis to ensure that on Election Daythe right of the people to choosefreely is protected. This is whatwe have seen played out in Edoand this is what we have seenplayed out in Ondo, whether hispolitical party, the PDP isinvolved or not, it doesn’tmatter. That principled positionis what this administration hasremained committed to. At onelevel, what happened in Ondo isa major achievement for theadministration. It is a cleardemonstration that ourdemocracy is being consolidatedand it is also a clear illustrationof President Jonathan’scommitment to the consolidationof Nigerian democracy and hehas been very consistent in thisrespect.

The President mulled thepossibility of Diasporavoting during his visit toNiger Republic. What is its

significance and importanceto elections in the country’selectoral process?

It was not just in Niger, thesame question also came up inMali. Everywhere that thePresident travels to one thingthat he makes sure he does is tomeet with Nigerians in thatparticular country. No matterhow tight his schedule may be,he will insist on meeting withNigerians to know how they arefeeling, to know if there are anyproblems, to know if they needassistance of the government andevery trip that we have madeabroad, this has been a keyregular feature and I think it issomething good. It is always agood opportunity to keep pacewith people. Also, whenever thePresident meets with Nigeriansabroad, the excitement is greatand people are so happy thattheir President and theircommander in chief has come tovisit them and to identify withthem. We have seen this playedout everywhere; in Germany, inJamaica, in Malawi and mostrecently in Niger and Mali. Butto return to your question, yes,Diaspora voting is somethingthat comes up all the time. Andthe reason is simple. We are inthe age of technology and instantinformation-the digitalisation ofinformation. The distance

between Nigerians in Diasporaand home here is very narrow.You will be surprised that thosepeople abroad are as passionateabout what is going on in Nigeriaas the people inside Nigeria, ifnot more. I mean this is the ageof satellite television. When wewere in Mali, we were watchingAIT.

So, those people abroad areNigerians. They remainNigerians in every sense andthey want to be part of theprocess at home. They want tobe able to vote and they knowthat other countries of the worldhave this absentee ballotingprocess or what you call Diasporavoting. In some of thesecountries, you will be surprisedat the population of Nigerians.In Mali alone, there are close to 5million Nigerians we were told.I don’t know whether the figureis exaggerated but, there is quitea large community of Nigeriansthere. So, Mr. President’s positionand what he tells them is thathe too believes that the people inDiaspora must be involved; theymust be encouraged to vote, maybe, not in every election forreasons of logistics, but at leastin the Presidential and thegubernatorial elections. Theyshould be able to have a say. It isalso a way of connecting themwith home. You know the factthat they are living abroad doesnot rob them of their citizenshiprights and their rights also tochoose who leads their country.

But it is not a decision thatcan be taken by the Executive.So, Mr President then told themthat he has already conveyedthis concern to INEC which is theappropriate body; that INECwhile preparing for the nextelection should try to look at thepossibility, work out themechanism and pursue theprocess of ensuring thatNigerians in Diaspora can alsovote. So, this is the position of thePresident in that regard.

Review and amendmentof the 1999 constitution is on-going at the NationalAssembly, to which also at around table jointlyorganised by your office andthe UNDP with Editors fromnotable mediaorganisations, you spoke

Contd. on page 13

President Goodluck Jonathan

Diaspora voting feasible in 2015 — Abati


Cover Interview

extensively on the proposalon tenure extension whichwas misconstrued byopposition elements. Is thePresident giving up on this?

No, the President has notgiven up on it. The President is acitizen like every other Nigerian.He has a right to make proposals,to express ideas and to provideleadership in line with his ownvision for the country. And thatwas precisely what he did whenhe lent his voice to the issue aboutthe tenure of elected officials. Itwas a principled positionnamely that with the obsessionsthat elections every four yearsgenerate, it is very difficult forpeople who have been elected tofocus properly because the peoplewho are not in government andwho have lost out in the lastelections go out of their way todistract the attention of theperson who is there. Now, forpurposes of stability, he was thensaying is it not possible for usinstead of having two terms tohave just one term for thepresident and governors andalso even extend the number ofyears that National Assemblymembers or legislators generallyspend in parliament. That way,you know people can focus for aperiod of time and he was notdogmatic about it because it isnot the executive that willamend the constitution. It is thejob of the legislators and it is theNigerian people who will saywhat they want or what they donot want at the end of the daybecause the constitution belongsto the people. It is an expressionof the sovereignty of the people.The critics almost hijacked theproposal from us, and theytwisted it, because of their ownmisconceptions and their ownselfish ambitions.

So, at that forum where wehad the opportunity to meetwith Editors and the constitutionwas discussed, I felt that it was avery good opportunity to addresssome of those misconceptions.You will be surprised at the kindof misconceptions among peopleout there, including people whoshould know. Once somethingsounds sensational, it soundsmischievous and manyNigerians are quick to just takethose things in and they will berepeating the wrong notion allover the place, probably out ofthe conviction that if you tell alie all the time, then it willassume the status of a truth.So,that was why I brought that upand it was not only that. In fact,at that seminar somebody waseven saying that when thePresident set up the Belgorecommittee whose task was to lookat previous attempts at politicalconference, constitutionalconference and constitutionalamendment to look at some of thecontentious issues and

harmonise them and offerrecommendations, the Presidentgave the Belgore committee nogo areas which means that thePresident has a personal agenda.And I said excuse me! I issued thepress statement announcing thecomposition and theappointment of the Belgorecommittee and I went onlineimmediately and read out therelevant parts of the pressstatement. I said look what theterms of reference say. What thevery first or second term ofreference says is that in fact the

further consolidation of Nigeriandemocracy. He is not seeking tobenefit from any constitutionalamendment; rather, he isseeking to deepen the democraticprocess in Nigeria, which waswhy he expressed that opinion.And he is not the only personthat holds that opinion. It hasbeen on the table ever since. Andto those who are saying if theconstitution is amended in thatregard, then he will benefit fromit, I said no. Even a bathroomlawyer should know that aparticular piece of legislation

That is the one I’m aware of thata lot of people are saying that thePresident and the variousgovernment agencies respondedpro actively. You know theyshowed a lot of compassion andthat the President going roundthe country to meet with peoplein the various relief camps, totake immediate action, tomobilise NEMA, mobiliseMinistry of Environment and allthe relevant agencies. Thatshows real leadership; that is thepart of it that I know and that Ihave heard. But you said somepeople are also expressing fear.Well, you know a lot of Nigeriansare afraid of everything,including their own shadows butthe truth of the matter is thatgovernment means well.Theintention of the Dangote/Agbakoba led committee thathas been set up on flood relief andrehabilitation is to raise funds.And the funds that will be soraised are to assist the people whohave been affected by that flooddisaster. I mean the Presidentwent round the country touringmany of the affected states. Youcould easily classify some partsof those states as disaster zones.Houses have been submerged,properties have been lost. I meanin one state, one man we weretold was even contemplatingsuicide because he had borrowedmoney ahead of the farmingseason, invested the money inhis farm, and then all of that justgone, submerged. In anothercase, we were told another manhad borrowed money from thebank to do a low cost housingestate. He had just completed thehouses he was about to startselling. The whole of that placebuilt on a flood plain wassubmerged. Who will buy sucha house even after the flood?These are the kinds of stories thatwe have been hearing one afterthe other. You must have alsoheard that in some of the camps,people have been giving birth tobabies. You know, there is awhole lot of angle to it. And whatgovernment is doing is to set upthis committee to raise funds, butmore effectively to involvevarious stakeholders in thisrelief effort because it is notsomething that governmentmust do alone. Governmentimmediately gave N17.6 billionwhich was shared among thevarious affected states, actuallyall the 36 states of the federation.It is just the degree that differsfrom one place to the other. Andthe states were classified fromcategory A to D.But beyond thatthere are steps that need to betaken in the medium term andin the long term. The people thathave been affected after the floodwould have receded; they needto be rehabilitated; they need tobe assisted to get on with theirlives. Those who have sufferedgrievous lose need to be assistedto move on again and they also

need to be re-assured. Now, youcannot take all of that effort andsay it is a sham. That would be awrong thing to say because whatgovernment is trying to do is toshow care. What government istrying to do is to come to therescue of Nigerians in distress.And what the Jonathanadministration has done is tomobilise persons in civil societyto come and help fellowNigerians and I think that is avery good initiative.And on thebasis of that responsiveness fromthe part of government, youmust have read in the papersthat a number of persons too intheir private capacities are outthere helping people and that iswhat this is all about. It is aboutleadership. What PresidentJonathan has shown in theseinstances is leadership- to saythat look, we are one communityand we are one people. Whoeveris in distress we come to therescue of that person or thosepersons or those communities.

The President sufferedcriticism when he travelledfor the UN Earth conferencein Brazil, a few months after,the country was filled withwater? Would the Presidentstill want to respond to thosewho kicked against that tripand how the resolutionadopted at the summitaffects Nigeria?Well, youhave said it; you should help usamplify it. You are referring tothe Earth Summit in Rio deJanerio, Brazil that the Presidentattended. The thing to note isthat Nigeria is part of a globalcommunity and what we areseeing increasingly is that whataffects one country affects theother. And I think most recentlyPresident Jonathan made thispoint in Mali when he said, lookthe security situation in Mali isan international matter. Wehave seen what has happenednow with regards to thisenvironmental challenge, withclimate change, with excess rainfall causing mass flooding andgreat devastation in Nigeria. Ithappens in other countries too.And all of these are very welldocumented. We have also seenthe challenge of terrorism.

We have seen that terrorismis an international issue. Nowwhen there are forums in anypart of the world where theseissues of common interest arebeing discussed, I think it is onlyappropriate and only fitting thatthe President of Nigeria alsotakes part in those discussionsbecause we can learn from othercountries and other people’sexperiences.

We can build enduringpartnerships and whensituations like this occur, theinternational community willalso be enthusiastic to partnerwith us.Look at the NationalRelief Committee on Floodingand Rehabilitation that thePresident set up; internationalagencies are part of it.Development partners aremembers of that committee andthey are willing to supportNigeria and assist Nigerians.

committee should look atcontroversial issues. There is nowhere the term of reference saysthe committee should notconsider certain things but hereyou are telling editors that thePresident said there are certainno go areas. I said the Presidentnever said so. I issued the pressstatement and I went online andI checked one or two newspapers,I said look at this newspaper, thisis what this newspaper reported.This is even a newspaper youwould consider to be anopposition paper. And that iswhy you see that we have to keepexplaining many of thesethings.My own point is that,look, President Jonathan has noselfish agenda. His vision is oneof progress. His vision is one of

cannot have retro-active effectand that is even a bathroomlawyer not to talk of people whoare knowledgeable.

The President’s responseto the unprecedented flooddisaster across the countrywas swift. What isgovernment doing to ensurethat funds raised by theD a n g o t e / A g b a k o b acommittee are notembezzled o diverted?Wellthe thing about this governanceprocess is that whatevergovernment does some peoplewill find something to say. Ithink there is a lot of cynicismout there. Because in yourquestion you said on one handthe efforts that the President hasmade have been applauded.

Dr. Reuben Abati

Contd. from page 12

FeaturePEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012PAGE 14

Forces against polio viruseradication in Kaduna stateW i t h a total of 14

cases of the wildpolio virus in

Kaduna state, indications haveemerged that the area still hasa high rate of non-complianceto the immunizationcampaign a developmentwhich has tended to marefforts at eradicating thecrippling disease.

Due to the intensity of thecampaign worldwide, thedisease has since beeneradicated in virtually allcountries except Pakistan,Afghanistan, Chad andNigeria which alone has a totalof 100 cases out of the 179global figure of wild polio viruscases. Kaduna's figure is thirdposition, after Katsina andKano which have 28 and 21cases respectively.

Speaking at a two-daymeeting with officials of thestate's

Action Committee onImmunization and a non-governmental organization,Journalists Against Polio(JAP), Secretary of thecommittee, Lawal Abubakar,lamented that in spite ofefforts at enlightening parentson the need to immunize theirchildren, a cross section of thepeople still resist.

Even as another round ofthe immunization campaigncontinues today nationwide,according to Abubakar, about16 communities in

Birnin-Gwari localgovernment area of state havebeen labeled "unreachable" fora number of reasons includingthe fear of being attacked byarmed robbers who have sincemade the area their den.

He noted that some otherareas refuse to allowvaccinators access to theirchildren as the communitiescomplain of lack ofgovernment presence asrepresented by the lack ofportable water, access roadsand health facilities amongothers, while some parents alsoclaim that the repeated roundsof immunization may bedetrimental to the health oftheir children.

But as Abubakar putit,"endemic countries requirerepeated doses of polio vaccineto boost immunity, "as henoted that an earlier rumourthat the West introduced thevaccines to reduce thepopulation of Muslims may notbe unconnected with theapparent antagonism againstthe polio campaign fromsections of the community.

Abubakar said,

"communities not reached byvaccinators because ofinsecurity due to fear of attackby armed robbers includewards like Kuyello, Magajin-Gari, Dogon-Dawa and Gayamwith 16 settlements underthem.

If one child is infected withthe virus, it can be transmittedto over 200 children."

"There is need forimmunization against polio aslong as children are beingborn. Vaccination willcontinue even if it is one childbecause it is costlier to keep achild with polio infection thanto prevent it and parents whoare kicking against thisimmunization usually takethe vaccination themselveswhen they go on pilgrimage.So, why do you take what youprevented your child fromtaking?

"Parents must be convincedon the importance ofimmunization, and theyshould be enlightened ondangers of mixing politics withissues of health."

Also speaking, at the flag-off ceremony of the sixth roundof the sub-nationalimmunization plus dayscampaign at Gazara, Makarfilocal government area,Governor Patrick Ibrahim

wild polio virus in the world.Also, states in the north of thecountry are the main sourceof infection within Nigeria,neighbouring countries andindeed the world.

"But it is sad to note that,although Kaduna State waspolio-free for a period of 30consecutive months and wewere closer than we have everbeen in breaking polio

From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

Yakowa explained that theglobal fight against polio wasconceived following thecertification of smallpoxeradication in all the countriesof the world in 1980 addingthat, during the 41st WorldHealth Assembly in 1988, 166member countries adopted aresolution for the worldwideeradication of polio.

According to Yakowa, "thismarked the launch of the globalpolio eradication initiativewhich was spearheaded bynational governments, WorldHealth Organization (WHO),the United Nations Children'sFund (UNICEF) and Rotary"Since the launch of the GlobalPolio Eradication Initiative in1988, the number of poliocases has fallen by over 99 percent and 124 countries werecertified to be polio-free by2 0 1 2 .

"India is the latest countryto be certified polio-free inFebruary 2012. With thisdevelopment, more than eightmillion people who wouldotherwise have beenparalyzed are walking todaybecause they have beenimmunized against polio sincethe initiative began in 1988.

"It is unfortunate to notethat today; Nigeria is the mostentrenched reservoir of the

transmission, unfortunately,we are now experiencing anoutbreak of polio infection.

"If we are to join the rest of theworld in becoming polio-free, weall must allow our children to bevaccinated, and theresponsibility of such task, to agreater extend, rests on theshoulders of our localgovernment chairmen,traditional and religious leaders."

Minister of Health, Prof Onyeabuchi Chukwu

FeaturePEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012 PAGE 15

For a trained economist andlawmaker, Hon. Philip AruwaGyunka, (PDP, Akwanga

south), chairman, House committeeon Finance and Appropriation, at theNasarawa State House of Assembly,the nomination by the federalgovernment to represent Nigeria ona national assignment in the PeoplesRepublic of China, precisely toparticipate in a training that lasted 5months on the cultivation of hybridrice, came as no surprise, consideringhis passion for agriculture.

Describing his experience inChina as being positive, Hon.Gyunka told journalists shortly onarrival, at an event organised in hishonour by the people he representsat the state assembly, saying he hasseen and witnessed what is necessaryto help in our bid to repositionagriculture, particularly as it relatesto the quantity and quality of riceproduction in the country.

The lawmaker explained that outof its desire to share its acquiredexperience in rice production, China,which arguably is the largestproducer of rice in the world today,initiated the training to help boostrice production across Africa, stressingthat while in China, participantsdrawn across Africa, learnt boththeoretical and practical aspects ofhybrid rice production.

The gesture by the Chinesegovernment and the zeal exhibitedby Hon. Gyunka on the need torevive and improve rice productionin the country, particularly inNasarawa state, could not have comeat a better time when it is becomingincreasingly necessary for most statesin the country, particularly thosefrom the north, to diversify theirrevenue base rather than dependingsolely on dwindling federal allocation.

Only recently, the Minister ofagriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina,lamented the dangers of Nigeria'sreliance on imported food, saying thatit was dangerous for the country tospend so much importing food tomeet its people's food needs when itpossesses massive potentials toproduce food commodities.

Reeling out grim statistics of thecolossal importation bill of thecountry, the minister disclosed that,as one of the leading food importers inthe world, Nigeria spent N635 Bn toimport wheat and N356 Bn to importrice in 2010 alone, bringing the totalbill for the importation of these cerealsto N991 Bn for the year underreview.

"This is not fiscally, economicallyor politically sustainable. Nigeria iseating beyond its means. While weall smile as we eat rice every day,Nigerian rice farmers cry as theimports undermine domesticproduction. Our farmers sow in hopebut reap in tears, as cheap foodimports dash their hopes of betterprices or incomes," the ministerlamented.

He stressed that as Nigeriaimports food from the global marketall it is doing is importing inflation.He added that low productivity ofdomestic production systems

Nasarawa: A lawmaker'squest to boost rice production

increases prices of non-tradable foodcrops together, leading to rise in foodprice inflation. "With poor urban andrural household spending 70 to 80per cent of their income on food, life isunbearable for many," he noted.

The Minister explained that thecountry can no longer continue todepend on expensive food imports andthin volatile global markets to meetits food requirements, maintainingthat as the events of the food crisisunfolded, traditional food exportingcountries put bans on food exports."Thus, even if importing countrieshave the resources to finance foodimports, the food may not be there,"he added.

According to him, food securityin Nigeria is now a matter of national

security, stating that the countrymust learn from Asian countries bytapping into all the resources of itsfarmers across the nation and delivera green revolution that will makeNigeria self-sufficient in foodproduction.

"We must turn Nigeria into abread basket - a power house for foodproduction. To do so, we must makea fundamental paradigm shift:Agriculture is a business, not adevelopment programme. It must bestructured, developed, resourced andfinanced as a business," he said.

He pointed out that the days oftreating agriculture as adevelopment project are over,stressing that his ministry willdevelop and transform the sector as

a business that works for smallfarmers, medium and large farmers,that will unlock wealth and allowNigeria to meet its food requirements,while also becoming a major playerin global food markets to helpdiversify income for the nation.

Hon. Gyunka, armed with thetraining and skills acquired duringhis sojourn to China, merely reflectedthe yearning of the minister,stressing that he is not only willing toreplicate the feat he studied in China,but also encourage the use of hybridseeds to boost agriculture.

He observed that even thoughpoor farmers exist in China, they weregenerally successful because ofreformed agricultural policies put inplace by the government to

The need for most states, particularly those from the north to diversify their revenue base away from the overdependence on oil money, has never been more glaring, more so with the ever continuous dwindling of federalallocation, as well as the ever increasing demands by the people for improved standard of living. For most statesin the north, agriculture has been and will continue to be a major revenue earner, as well as a major source ofemployment. In this report, Ali Abare Abubakar, in Lafia, examines how a lawmaker from the State House ofassembly, Hon. Philip Aruwa Gyunka, is set to boost rice production in the state.

Gyunka flanked by Chinese officials at the training school

encourage not only the farmers butscientists who conduct researches toimprove on available seeds.

The lawmaker said he is willingto cooperate with the Nasarawa stategovernment, by making hisknowledge available for farmers inthe state to be able to produce up to7.5 tonnes of rice on a hectare, a farcry from the average 2 tonnescurrently being harvested from ahectare.

Even though Hon. Gyunkaexpressed some initial worry overprevailing political wrangling,making a veiled reference todifference in political leaning fromthat of Governor Umaru Tanko Al-makura, as being capable ofdampening his zeal to impact hisknowledge on farmers in the state,he however called out to the governorto assist him in his quest to furtherboost rice production in the state, notminding that they came from twoopposing parties.

However, and in this respect, thelawmaker may have no cause forworry, for in a recent speech hedelivered on the occasion of the 50thindependence anniversary of thecountry, Governor Al-makura, whileobserving that the state is blessed withvast agricultural potentials with over70 percent of the population engagedin one form of agriculture or the other,stated the necessity of introducing newtechniques towards mechanisation ofagricultural practise.

Al-makura disclosed that hisadministration is exploring avenuesto partner with foreign investors toboost rice production in the state.

Thus, it is only reasonable toassume that if the governor is willingto partner with foreign investors toboost rice production in the state, whatmore of a state lawmaker, a son of thesoil ever so willing to bring hisexperience from China to bear on theproduction of rice across the state?

Gyunka in his nursery Hon. Gyunka in his rice field in China


>> Page 24

The history of Kwara state politics willnot be complete without a chapter ormore about the role Dr Olusola Saraki,

the late Waziri of Ilorin played during hislifetime.

The Second Republic Senate Leader wasknown for his generosity to all and sundry.The Waziri of Ilorin had installed four electedcivilian governors in the state withcountless legislators both in the state and atthe federal level.

With his demise, the big question on thelips of many is can Dr Bukola Saraki stepinto his father's shoes? Would SenatorGbemisola Saraki allow her brother takecharge considering the sharp politicaldivision between them?

Another big question raised by politicalpundits is whether the people of Ilorin wouldallow a son to become another godfatherafter decades of being under the firm grip ofthe father?

Others believe Dr Bukola Saraki does noteven have that quality to carry on the torchbecause he lacks the charisma, patience andleadership qualities to carry everybodyalong.

Alhaji Abdulkarim Olola Kasum, theChairman of Afonja Descendants Union,Ilorin in an interview with journalists saidwith the exit of 'Oloye', Kwara state has noleader. He noted that Dr Olusola Saraki'sdeath marked the end of an era in Kwarapolitics.

"From the cradle to the grave, the strongman of Kwara Politics,Dr Abubakar OlusolaSaraki,was a grassroot politician. He willforever be recommend as a friend of thecommoners and the poor. His exit lastTuesday marked the end of an era inKwara," he noted.

Senator Lawal Shuiad, SecretaryGeneral of Arewa Consultative Forum(ACF)

What next for Kwara after Saraki?Politics

From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

Gov Abdulfatah Ahmed Dr Bukola Saraki Senator Gbemisola Sarakiwho visited Saraki family in Ilorinpersonally told Dr Bukola Saraki to exercisepatience, be humble and stay with themasses.

The Deputy Governor of Kogi state,Arc.Yomi Awoniyi who had known late Sarakisince his childhood days as family doctor andfriend to late Awoniyi worried aboutsustenance of Saraki legacy. He racalled thatthe Waziri of Ilorin didn't downgrade a childor less privilege in the society.

The son of late Awoniyi recalled hisencounter with Baba Oloye as a child andadult saying " he stood by me at the grave ofmy father three years ago and I felt this agreat man that stood beside me. He is indeed,a humble man."

To Delta state governor, EmmanuelUduaghan, who did his youth service inIludun-Oro, a town in Irepodun localgovernment area of Kwara state in 1981,Baba Oloye was a great crowd puller.

"Every Friday, when he was around, Iwill see many people migrating to his house.He was a crowd puller. Anytime he was inIlorin, you will see crowd around him."

Recalling his interaction with Saraki fewdays before he died last Wednesday in Lagos,the Chairman, Nigeria Governors’ Forumand Governor of River state, RotimiAmaechi said Dr Saraki told him he wasproud to be a Nigerian and was going to dieas a Nigerian.

Governor Amaechi disclosed this whenhe paid a condolence visit to his Kwara statecounterpart, Dr Abdulfatah Ahmed, addingthat “I can recall the last time I spoke withhim, he admonished that we should doeverything possible to keep the countrytogether as the cost of disintegration is betterimagined than experienced.”

Governor Amaechi noted that the lateSenate Leader sustained the integrity ofpolitics in Nigeria through his passion for

the promotion of the well being of the poor.The Chairman,Nigeria Governors’

Forum(NGF) urged the political class tosustain the legacies of Dr Olusola Saraki bypromoting the welfare of the poor.

To wear his father's big shoes, Dr BukolaSaraki may need to contend with hiscontemporaries in Ilorin, the elites andIslamic clerics who are not happy about histenure in office without fulfilling some ofhis promises.

Again, would some of his father'sassociates who were older than him bow forhim as leader? Would people of Kwara Southand North senatorial districts also bow forhim as new political leader that woulddictate who takes what in Kwara?

To many, the general election in 2015and the position of Sen Gbemisola Sarakiand her camp would decide whether DrBukola Saraki would take over the mantleof political leadership in the state.

Group petitions Oshiomhole, alleges corruption against former commissioner

A group that goes by the name ''Edofor Good Governance'' has askedthe Edo state Governor Comrade

Adams Oshiomhole to intervene on therole former State Commissioner for Health,Dr Mrs. Cordelia Aiwize played in someprogrammes which may ground healthservices in the state.

In a petition signed by its President,Chief Osato Omoigui and addressed to theState governor, the group allegedhighhandedness, abuse of office andembezzlement of public funds when Aiwizewas at the helm of affairs of the healthministry.

The group alleged that "theCommissioner collected bribes fromhealth personnel to give jobs, mismanagedapproved funds to facilitate a state-sponsored free eye test scheme and thesetting up of Opticianry laboratories inthe 3 senatorial districts of the state andspent less than 50 percent of approvedfunds for drugs meant for flood victimsand demanding 10 percent kickback fromcontractors to supply drugs to the staterevolving drugs project".

The group also claimed that recentlythe former commissioner arrogated toherself the role of not only overseeing theemployment of 138 doctors and Nurses

By Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin including 13 consultants, 38 medical/dental personnel, 8 Nurses, 6 Pharmacistsand 6 Laboratory Scientists now in thestate's employment, but ensured thatthose who got the job paid her N100,000for their appointment.

As for those who could not afford theemployment fee, the group said that "theywere denied letters of employment evenafter they passed the relevant screeningand oral interviews and had their namesreplaced by other willing applicants".

It added that "even these workers whowere employed as far back as May 2012are yet to be paid their first salary due tothe attitude of the former commissionerwho only recently approved their salaryvouchers for the head of service'sattention".

In another development the groupalleged that the former commissioner"collected double the amount of N495, 600approved funds meant for the Free EyeProgram from the state coffers in March.

It alleged that after she got the sameamount from the state treasury she askedand got the Health Management Board,HMB, to pay her the same amount for theflagging off of the Free Eye glasses programof the government in March 2012".

In addition the group said that thenCommissioner who "bought the glassframes used for the exercise at N200 each

from roadside vendors later admitted, inher retirement of the approved funds thatshe bought each one for N1,200". It addedthat the event at the Stella ObasanjoHospital Benin City which was chaired byformer Head of State General YakubuGowon, rtd. and was expected to bereplicated across the state, would havebeen a flop though it has now beenabandoned for lack of funds.

The Edo for Good Governance said "theformer commissioner received theN24milion approved in February 2012for the setting up of one Opticianrylaboratory each at the Obasanjo Hospitalin Benin City, the Central Hospital Uromiand Central Hospital Auchi, while workwas yet to start on any of them".

But contacted on the contents of thepetition the ex commissioner denied theallegations and told Peoples Dailyweekend, that she is not in any wayinvolved in the allegations of corruptpractices being peddled by the group.

She said "What I will say to you is thatwe know we have a board that is directlyin charge of the 34 hospitals. The issue ofN100, 000 came to my knowledge and Iwent to the Board to accuse them. I couldnot confirm…A dime I did not collect…Idid not collect money to give peopleemployment".

She also said that she was not aware

that the funds meant for the Free Eyeglasses program of the government hadbeen released adding that she had to givethe organisers of the event her ownmoney, N100,000 when they were almoststranded for lack of funds.

On the Opticianry laboratories she saidthat work had commenced on the erectionof the 3 Opticianry laboratories in thethree senatorial districts in the state forwhich the sum of

N24million was approved in Februarythis year.

Gov Adams Oshiomhole


Pots & PansWith

Hajiya Ramatu Usman DorayiCuisineKeep breakfast simple

Ingredients:1 cup all-purpose flour1 teaspoon sugar1 teaspoon cinnamon2 teaspoon baking powder1 cup whole milk1 tablespoon vegetable oil1 tablespoon water1 teaspoon vanilla extract2 tablespoon butter

Fluffy eggless pancakes

Pancakeswithout Eggs

2 Tbsp. flourPinch of saltDash of nutmeg1 tsp. moist sugar (more to taste)1/2 pint milk1 Tbsp. butter, meltedMix flour, salt, nutmeg, and sugar.Make a smooth batter by very

gradually adding milk.Beat batter fully ten minutes, adding

melted butter.Fry the pancakes in the usual way

(about 10 minutes per cake), and servethem with maple syrup or powderedsugar sprinkled between them.

Also you could make a full batch ofany recipe and then freeze them and allyou would have to do is warm them upin the microwave.

Method:Combine dry ingredients and mix

slightly. Add milk, oil, water, andvanilla. Whisk together until justcombined. Be careful not to over mix -it should still be slightly lumpy. Setaside to rest for a few minutes.

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat until hot. While pan isheating, add butter. As soon as thebutter is melted, add melted butter to

pancake batter.Return pan to stove and stir butter

into batter.When pan is hot, with a measuring

cup or ladle, pour 1/4 cup of batter intothe skillet for each pancake.

Cook until bubbles form on thesurface. Carefully flip pancakes withturner/spatula and cook until goldenbrown.

Banana andvanilla tea cake

U se black bananas. In fact, if theyturn black, put bananas intofreezers to keep for when you're

ready to prepare. Once defrosted theywill be pulp like and mix into cake battermuch more easily giving you a cookedconsistency like mud cake. Sometimesrequires a little extra time in the oven.Don't .

Ready in 1 hour 5 minsSaved by 123 cook(s)Ingredients:Serves: 10-125g butter (at room temperature)-185g caster sugar-1 teaspoon of vanilla extract-2 very ripe bananas (to about 180g

of flesh)-1 egg-1/4 teaspoon bicarb of soda-100ml of milk-180g self-raising flourMethod:Prep: 20 mins | Cook: 45 mins1. Preheat the oven to 180 C / Gas 4.2. Blend butter and caster sugar

until creamy. Add vanilla and keepbeating.

3. Peel very ripe bananas and mashthem with a fork (if defrosted bananasas in the tips above, just squeeze theminto batter and beat). Add them, alongwith the egg, to the butter and mix well.

4. In a small bowl, mix bicarbonateof soda with milk until dissolved, thenadd to the banana mixture. Sift 180g ofself-rising flour and fold, gradually, intothe mixture.

5. Grease a small loaf tin, then pourthe mixture into the tin and bake for 45minutes or so. It's done when a skewerpushed into the middle of the cake comesout dry.

6. Cool a little before turning out ontoa cooling rack. When completely cool,dust the top with a little icing sugar.Keeps for up to a week if kept in a sealedcontainer in the fridge or cool cupboard.

M o r i n g a oleifera or Zogaleleaves, is one of the richestsources of nutrients and

vitamins that our body needs. It is richin calcium, potassium, beta-carotene,Vitamin C, and iron. Moringa can beprepared as a vegetable or included insoups, but mostly just the leaves andfruits are used. Others prefer to drink itas tea.

Here are some simple steps on howto make Moringa tea and Moringapowder.

Step 1 Get Moringa Leaves (Zogale)Gather Moringa leaves, 3 to 4 stalks

will do. It is best to use the mature leavesbecause they dry up fast.

Step 2 Air DryingAir dry the leaves including the

stalks for a day or until the leaves arecrisp. Air drying will make the leavesfall out and then you can separate thestalks after. But some people include thestalk in making tea because of its fibercontent.

Step 3 GrindingGrind the air-dried leaves (with the

stalks if you prefer) for 10-15 seconds.You can use a blender to grind theleaves.

Step 4 StoragePut the ground Moringa in tea bags,

and store in a cool, dry place. Make sure

How to prepare Zogale teanot to leave it in open moist places, so itwill have a long shelf-life.

Step 5 Preparing the teaTo prepare Moringa tea, just add hot

water, lemon and sugar to taste.Tips-Grinding the leaves for a minute or

two will give you Moringa powder,which can be sprinkled on dishes.

-Use a net when air-drying the leavesso they don't scatter.

-Another way of making tea is bysimply boiling 1/2 cup of Moringa leavesin 1 1/2 cup of water. Let it cool anddrink the concoction as tea.


10 easy ways toremain beautiful

Beauty Tips

Make sure your hairstyleis up to par: When your hair isnot cut or just simply not styledproperly, it can have a negativeeffect on your overall look. Be sureto choose a style that complimentsthe shape of your face and issomething that you will be able tokeep up with.

Get plenty of sleep eachnight: There are many reasonswhy it is important to get enoughsleep each night, andmaintaining your beauty is oneof them. When you do not getenough sleep you may developdark circles or bags underneathyour eyes. These flaws can havea negative effect on how your facelooks.

Take care of your skinproperly: This is perhaps one ofthe most important aspects oflooking your best. If you do notcare for your skin it may becomewrinkled or suffer from otherdamage. This damage could beirreparable and you could end upwith bad skin for the rest of yourlife. Always protect your skin fromthe sun and use a moisturizerevery day.

Make sure your nails arealways clean and manicured:You would be surprised by howoften people neglect their nailsthinking that it does not affect the

way they look-this could not befurther from the truth. People dotend to notice your nails so makesure they do not have any dirtunderneath them and have themclipped to a respectable length.

Make sure the makeup you usedoes not bother your skin,especially if your skin is sensitive:Certain makeup can cause skinirritation and even make yourface swollen. If you are unsure ofwhich makeups are safe, stick to abrand that you are used to.

Get rid of any unwantedfacial hair: Nothing is moreunattractive on a woman thanfacial hair. It makes a womanappear to be masculine. It is notalways enough to use tweezers toremove facial hair since it willkeep coming back. Speak withyour doctor about certainmedicated creams that may workor inquire about laser surgery.

Be sure your diet is ahealthy one: Eating a healthydiet is good for your health, and itis also good for your skin. Thevitamins and nutrients in fruitsand vegetables are verybeneficial for your skin. There areeven some vitamins from thesefoods that provide your hair withstrength and shine.

Be sure that you aregetting enough exercise:

Exercise is good for your health,in general. As far as beauty goesthough, it will help keep you inshape, which of course is great foryour overall look. Just be sure totake a shower immediatelyafterward so that you can keepyour skin clean.

Stay away from smokingand if you currently smoketry to quit: Smoking causes alot of harm to your health, andin addition it can cause damageto your skin. It causes skin to ageand increases prematurewrinkles. If you're having troublequitting, speak with yourphysician.

Stay hydrated: Water is oneof the best ways to stay healthy.Also, it is very healthy for keepingskin healthy. Be sure that you aredrinking at least 64 ounces ofwater every day to get the mostbenefits from it.

As mentioned in thebeginning of the article, everyonehas their own ways to getbeautiful and stay that way. But,there are many basic tips thateveryone should follow tomaintain their beauty, all ofwhich you have been providedwith in this article. Use these tipsto look the best you have everlooked. www.beautytips.com

Every person has their own techniques when it comes to their beauty regimen, but there are some basic tips that everyoneneeds to follow in order to get the look they want. The following article is going to provide you with these tips.

LeisurePEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012

WORD SEARCH With Augustine Aminu

Proverbs and wise sayings

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Find the words about Kung Fu Panda, which are listedbelow, in the Kung Fu Panda word search grid. Circle eachletter one by one. Each letter of the Kung Fu Panda wordsearch grid may be used in more than one word.

P E V I F S U O I R U F O C I

S A P A N N O O D L E S H O P

D A S W M O N K E Y H Y O M W

S O I R K W S I N M H E I M S

S F T A I L U N G A A L T A H

E E N R S E N O N S O L D N E

R Y A W G O O R E T S A M D L

G L M E S P H O Z E P V I E P

I N N T H A C E K R V A L R M

T L I E Y R O U F S A P E V E

A C O P A D N A P H V N E A T

B E F N R G O R E I B E I C C

O M E I F M N G P F T H E H D

R A G U O N W E A U R R I I C

O R R O I R R A W N O G A R D

CHINACOMMANDERVACHIRCRANEDRAGONWARRIORFURIOUS FIVEKUNG FUMANTISMASTEROOGWAYMASTER SHIFUMONKEY

Kung Fu Panda Word Search Puzzle

A Real Lagos Child

CARTOON

QUOTES

Whatever u do, be sure of it, learn d form butdo it in own way, don't be afraidI proffer peace; it delights more than rancor anddivisiveness.Don't hang around people who don't value yourvalueLife doesn't always turn out the way it supposesto. It is what it is! It is what you do about it thatmakes the difference.During tension, tell yourself; all is well; you willgain courageIt better to be LATE and live long than to be theLATEA wise man will not judge a book by its cover.Never give your word to somebody you knowlittle or nothing about

PICTURE OF THE DAY

MR. PINGNOODLE SHOPPANDA POSNOW LEOPARDTAI LUNGTEMPLETIGRESSVALLEYVIPERZENG

A farmer does not conclude by the mere look of it that a cornis unripe; he tears it open for examination.

It is little by little that a bird builds its nest.To do one's duty is to eat the prized fruit of honor.A farmer who would not work inside the rain and would not

work under the sun, would have nothing to harvest at the end ofthe farming year.

The heap of yams you will reap depends upon the number ofmounds you have plowed.

It is the work of one's hands that decides what one eats fordinner - for some it is pounded yam, for others it is poundedplantain or nothing.

An ant-hill that is destined to become a giant ant-hill willdefinitely become one, no matter how many times it is destroyedby elephants.

He who is afraid of doing too much always does too little.Sleep and indolence are not cousins of a good harvest.Success is 10% ability, and 90% sweat.

JOKES

Primary two studentsA teacher of primary two students, drew a Nigerian map on

the board and ask the students, who knows what this is? Afterasking, all the class were quiet when MUDI realise they will be allbeaten then he raised his hands and the teacher said clap forhim an she gave him a cane to bit all the students in the class,after MUDI has finished beating them all, she then say MUDI tellthem what it is, MUDI said an-thy this lucks like ( YAM RIDGE).


HHHHHealthy ealthy ealthy ealthy ealthy LLLLLivingivingivingivingiving'Nigeria must fullyembrace herbal medicine'H o w did you get

involved in herbalmedical practice?

In Nigeria, we are alwayssleeping. Our policy on herbalmedicine just got developedabout two three years ago. Theminister has made a statementthat it would be incorporatedinto the normal health systembut up till now it was a merestatement. No circular to thateffect has come out togovernment departments. If wedo that and look inward, ourMillennium Development Goals(MDGs) would become relizabletargets. Oil will becomesecondary if herbal medicine iswell developed in this country.

On the issue of motivation, ifI am not motivated by mycountry or anybody, I willmotivate myself. Thank God theWorld Health Organization(WHO) has identified with myanti malaria drugs. It givesapproval once the drugs havebeen certified fit for humanconsumption. WHO knows thatit is effective and that is why itgave that approval and that iswhy countries like India, chinatook on me.

What do you think are thechallenges facing MDGs inNigeria?

No it is left for you to judgebut there are times I think therehave been major breakthroughsbecause I have been able toregister 3 products. One of suchproduct boosts the immunity ofthe human being beyondhuman imagination. You canimagine somebody with fever,HIV or some sicknesses ofunknown origin that is unableto stand up, he is unable to eat.You know these major illnesses,it starts from the stomach; youare unable to eat.

The HIV patient who hasbeen having HIV for two monthsand his weight down from 70 to40, he is on the stretcher, hecannot walk, he cannot eat, hecannot do anything, they haveto carry him. The day theybought these 3 drugs and gavehim in Makurdi, that same dayhe ate, that same day he got up,that same day everythingworked and he never went back.This is the same patient whocame to berekete radio toannounce himself and that iswhy HIV patients are nowphoning me and coming inperson, you know they usuallyhide. But they are now comingdown because they know thatthey can get solution. So this isthe journey so far.

Are you in collaborationwith the Nigerian instituteof research?

Chief Benjamin Amodu is a director in one of the federalministries who combines that with herbal medical practice. In thisinterview with Augustine Aminu, he argued that Nigerians fromall walks of life must embrace herbal medicine to achieve soundhealth.

Chief Benjamin Amodu

For this entire product youhave seen, I didn't go to quacks.Any time I do my research work,you can see it plenty, this is theresearch centre, the main lab andother things are elsewhere. OnceI centralise here and I am donewith, I send it to Idu, the NationalInstitute of PharmaceuticalResearch Centre which is WHOcentre in Nigeria, it is recognised.They do further test; they subjectmy research to further test. Whenthey give me the result, I take itto NAFDAC for registration. Thatis how I have been able to discover12 cancer recipes which theNigerian media carriedsometime ago.

What joy do you derivefrom seeing your researchhelp people recover fromtheir ailments?

Like I told you, am apharmacist, I have worked in thestate house hospital for over 29years. It is the highest hospitalin the land which is thepresident's hospital where I wasin charge. It was in that place Imet persons like Gen. Babangidaand other top brass militaryofficers. So there is a lot of joybecause as a pharmacist I amtrained to compound and makedrugs and dispense them topatients. Fulfilling that dream is

a dream come true for apharmacist.

How do you combine being acivil servant and pharmacist?

There is no question ofcombination. The first statementI made to you is that I am civilservant, am allowed to farm andI am on my farm. Most of theseproducts are from the food we eatand I cultivate these foods on myfarm, I harvest them, and I alsosell them. I add value as apharmacist and that is the valueyou have seen here and in termsof comparative advantage,Nigeria for having this soil shouldbe a major issue all over the world.As we speak, there is no cure forcancer but we have cured severalcancer patients here.

I have a number of people interms of personnel working withme. Like when federal ministryof health nominated us to go to acancer seminar in Cuba, Icouldn't go. Two of my scientistswent and because of their interestin our product, they gave us oneof their own products which aremade from the scorpion, thesting of the scorpion for thetreatment of cancer. So they sawmy own drugs as good drugs andthey immediately signed anMoU with Nigeria that we shouldbe supplying Cuba and you know

Cuba is number one in cancertreatment in the whole world.

I am grateful for that becausebefore now, the Nigeriangovernment did not recognise us.When they got an invitation thatCuba is doing their firstexhibition for the use of nonchemical in the treatment ofcancer, I think they realise thatwhat I am doing may be the rightdirection, so go there, and I wentand I conquered.

How has it been for you inthose areas where youneeded government support?

The whole world is going tothis direction of herbal medicine.Over 33years ago, there was aproblem and WHO is concernedthat when people are sick, andthe kind of treatment they get,they are worried aboutaffordability, easy access tomedicine, and cost of thosemedicines. Because of that, theywanted to know how the wholeworld gets itself treated. So theyset up a research to go into thecontinents of the world to findout. And from that research,they found out that over 80% ofthe world population depends onthe drugs that are indigenous totheir various locations in theworld. 80%; that is 4 billionpeople.

Based on this, WHO said ifthis is true, every continent inthe world should go back tonature and after a research theywill be subject to little thesis. Oneof the thesis, are these thingsstable, can it be formulated intoa drug. Maybe your ownlocality, they said you shouldput water, you put a plateoutside when it is raining, collectthe dews water, and it will curetuberculosis. If it is effective, Ifit is stable, you can make it intobottle and be giving to people.That is stability test. The secondone is; are these things poisonousfor human consumption, how isthat test done? They will takelike ten basins. If a cup of wateris what will make somebody tobe healed, they will take 1 cup,2 cups, up to ten and will give itto an animal at once, keep it in aroom, lock it and be observing itfor ten days. If it does not die,that means it has passedturgidity test which means itwill not kill. So those are the twothings.

WHO said it that a period hascome that if you are sufferingfrom just throat or knee pain, all

the antibiotics you are takingmay not work, you may die fromthem as little as those things are.So if this warning not enoughwarning that you that are here,in fact the topic you will give toyour various paper, whichgovernment will page you later,should be part of your socialresponsibility to let Nigeriansknow because they arepretending; including the doctorswho are masters of everything,but, they will want to claim inmy area of specialisation whichthey know nothing about. If theworld has gone global on herbalmedicine, who are we in Nigeriato say we don't accept it. WhatWHO has said, all my productshere have undergone it. Solegally, nobody can stand myway. And even if the governmentdoes not listen to me, individualswho have problems will findwhere John Amadu is and theywill come. And this is what ishappening right now.

Why is it that Nigerianshave not accepted herbalmedicine?

If other countries areadopting it and they are goingfar, what is Nigeria waiting for?Are we not ready to promote ourown? So you ask them thosequestions. More importantly, askthe Nigerian medical teamabout our natural resources thatare working, you shouldsensitize them that they shouldnot be pretending over globalissues, and nobody will wait forNigeria. That is the way I wantyou to put it in the press. Ofrecent, I was given theresearcher of the year award inEngland; African researcheryear award. The award waspresented to me by the Presidentof West Indies in London. So whatare we talking about?

WHO said it thata period has

come that if youare suffering

from just throator knee pain, allthe antibioticsyou are takingmay not work,

you may die fromthem as little asthose things are.

“


With Aunty A'isha [email protected] 08082071393.

SHORSHORSHORSHORSHORT STT STT STT STT STORORORORORYYYYYSights and soundsWhy the sun and moon live in the skyWhy cheetah has two

black streaks on its face

HIS AND HERS CORNERHIS AND HERS CORNERHIS AND HERS CORNERHIS AND HERS CORNERHIS AND HERS CORNER

L o n g ago a wicked and lazy hunter was sitting under atree. He was thinking that it was too hot to be botheredwith the arduous task of stalking prey through the

bushes. Below him in the clearing on the grassy veld therewere fat springbok grazing. But this hunter couldn't bebothered, so lazy was he!

He gazed at the herd, wishing that he could have the meatwithout the work, when suddenly he noticed a movement offto the left of the buck. It was a female cheetah seeking food.Keeping downwind of the herd, she moved closer and closer tothem. She singled out a springbok who had foolishly wanderedaway from the rest. Suddenly she gathered her long legs underher and sprang forward. With great speed she came upon thespringbok and brought it down. Startled, the rest of the herdraced away as the cheetah quickly killed her prey.

The hunter watched as the cheetah dragged her prize tosome shade on the edge of the clearing. There three beautifulcheetah cubs were waiting there for her. The lazy hunter wasfilled with envy for the cubs and wished that he could havesuch a good hunter provide for him. Imagine dining ondelicious meat every day without having to do the actualhunting! Then he had a wicked idea. He decided that he wouldsteal one of the cheetah cubs and train it to hunt for him. Hedecided to wait until the mother cheetah went to the waterholelate in the afternoon to make his move. He smiled to himself.

When the sun began to set, the cheetah left her cubsconcealed in a bush and set off to the waterhole. Quickly thehunter grabbed his spear and trotted down to the bushes wherethe cubs were hidden. There he found the three cubs, still tooyoung to be frightened of him or to run away. He first choseone, then decided upon another, and then changed his mindagain. Finally he stole them all, thinking to himself that threecheetahs would undoubtedly be better than one.

When their mother returned half-an-hour later and foundher babies gone, she was broken-hearted. The poor mothercheetah cried and cried until her tears made dark stains downher cheeks. She wept all night and into the next day. Shecried so loudly that she was heard by an old man who came tosee what the noise was all about.

Now this old man was wise and knew the ways of theanimals. When he discovered what the wicked hunter haddone, he became very angry. The lazy hunter was not only athief but he had broken the traditions of the tribe. Everyoneknew that a hunter must use only his own strength and skill.Any other way of hunting was surely a dishonour.

The old man returned to the village and told the elderswhat has happened. The villagers became angry. They foundthe lazy hunter and drove him away from the village. The oldman took the three cheetah cubs back to their grateful mother.But the long weeping of the mother cheetah stained her faceforever. Today the cheetah wears the tearstains on its face asa reminder to the hunters that it is not honourable to hunt inany other way than that which is traditional.

M a n y years ago, the sunand water were greatfriends, and they both

lived on the earth together. The sunvery often used to visit the water,but the water never returned thevisits.

At last the sun asked the waterwhy he never visited. The waterreplied that the sun's house was notbig enough, and that if he came withall his people, he would drive the sunout of his home.

The water then said, "If you wantme to visit you, you will have to builda very large house. But I warn youthat it will have to be very large, asmy people are numerous and takeup a lot of room".

The sun promised to build a verylarge house, and soon afterwards, hereturned home to his wife, the moon,who greeted him with a broad smile.

The sun told the moon what hehad promised the water, and thenext day, they began building alarge house to entertain the waterand all his people.

When it was completed, the sunasked the water to come and visithim.

When the water arrived, one of hispeople called out to the sun, and asked

him whether it would be safe for thewater to enter, and the sun answered,"Yes, tell my friend to come in."

The water began to flow in,followed by the fish and all the otherwater animals.

Very soon, the water was knee-deep in the house, so he asked the sunif it was still safe, and the sun againsaid, "Yes," so more of them came in.

When the water was at the levelof a man's head, the water said to thesun, "Do you want more of my peopleto come?"

Not knowing any better, the sun

and the moon both said, "Yes," Moreand more of the water's people camein, until the sun and the moon hadto sit on top of the roof.

The water once again asked thesun if it was still okay to keep comingin. The sun and moon answered yes,so more and more of the water'speople came in.

The water soon overflowed thetop of the roof, and the sun and themoon were forced to go up into thesky.

...and they have been there eversince.

The lion's whisker

PAGE 22 PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012

How to make your own lip gloss this Harmattan season, (parental supervision needed)

With Aunty A'isha [email protected] 08082071393.

ACTIVITIESACTIVITIESACTIVITIESACTIVITIESACTIVITIESName and paint the object below in colours ofyour choice, what is it used for and where canyou find it? Show your work to your teacher orparents for correction. Cheer!

CREACREACREACREACREATIVITYTIVITYTIVITYTIVITYTIVITY

AFRICAN AFRICAN AFRICAN AFRICAN AFRICAN TTTTTALESALESALESALESALES MODEL OF THE WEEKMODEL OF THE WEEKMODEL OF THE WEEKMODEL OF THE WEEKMODEL OF THE WEEK

Rawdiyyat Ummie AdamsO n c e upon a time, therelived a young husbandand wife in a small

village in Africa. The husbandhad not been happy with hismarriage; he began to come homelate from working in the fields.His wife thought he was the mostwonderful man but she wasunhappy now because of hisbehavior.

One day, she went to the oldestman in her village, the villageelder was sad to hear hermarriage was not a happy one.He had married them only twoyears before.

"Of course I will end yourmarriage if that is what youwant," he told the young wife,after listening patiently for awhile. "You will be free to marryagain but is that really what youwant?"

"I want my husband to bekind," she said. "Now we are bothmiserable."

"I think I can help you," theelder said slowly. "I can prepare asecret potion that will changeyour husband into a loving man."

"Prepare this magic potion atonce!" the young wife cried outexcitedly.

"I could make it," he said sadly."But I am missing an importantingredient. I am too old to get thisingredient for you. You mustbring it to me."

"What do you need?" theyoung wife asked eagerly. "I'llbring it today."

"I need a single whisker takenfrom a living lion to make thepotion work."

Her eyes widened in alarm.She bit her bottom lip. Shestraightened her shoulders. "I'llget it for you," she nodded.

The next morning, the youngwife carried a huge piece of rawmeat down to the river wherelions sometimes came to drink.She hid behind a tree and waited.After waiting many hours, a lionambled down to the river to havea drink. He sniffed at the rawmeat.

In three bites, the meat wasgone. He raised his mighty head.He knew she was there. Theyoung wife held her breath. The

mighty lion moved slowly backinto the forest and disappeared.

The next day, the young wifecame again. This time, the lionappeared quite quickly. Thiscontinued for many days. Daysbecame weeks. Each day, thewoman crept from her hidingplace behind the tree, movingcloser and closer to the lion.

At the end of four weeks, shemoved quietly next to the lion andsat silently while he ate. Her handshaking, she reached slowly outand pulled a whisker from hischin. Holding her prize firmly inone hand, she sat frozen until thelion had disappeared back into theforest.

She ran to the elder, wavingher whisker. "I have it," sheshouted. "I have it!"

The elder was in awe whenhe heard her story. "You do notneed magic to change yourhusband back into the loving manhe once was. You are braveenough to pull a whisker from thechin of a living lion. It tookcleverness and bravery to do whatyou have done. Can you not usethat same patience and couragewith your husband?

"But the potion," the youngwife said eagerly. "Would that notwork as well?"

"Perhaps," the elder told her."But it would not last. Trust me,my child. Show your husbandeach day that you love him. Sharehis problems. Make him feelwelcome. Make him feel wantedand needed. Give him time tochange and see what happens."

The young wife went homeand followed the elder's advice.Slowly, her husband began toreturn from the fields with theother men of the village. He beganto look glad to see her. Within ayear, their life was a happy one.

D o you know what it islike to make your own lipgloss? It is very easy. This

dry season, you will need to applygloss on your lips in order to keepfrom drying and peeling. Here aresteps to making your own naturallip gloss.

What you need:-Beeswax (a bar is best)-Flavoring and/or scent like

drink flavoring. (You can also usehoney for flavor and color. Justmelt the honey with the Vaseline.)

-Coloring (pinch a bit fromlipstick or use food coloring)

-Any additives you might like(coconut oil, honey spread,lavender)

-Small containers (old lip glosscontainers or you can buy plastictubes at the drug store)

-OilWhat to do:

Tips-Flavorings: You can purchaseflavouring and scents for lip glossfrom any good craft store; beeswaxcan also be purchased at the craftstore or a health food store. At thegrocery store you can pick up thesunflower oil and flavorings suchas mint extract.-Containers: You can usuallyfind some nice tins or pots at craftstores; you can sometimes findtwist-up 'lipstick-like' containers.

Assemble the ingredients

Place a quarter cup of thepetroleum jelly or Vaselinein a pot

Stir the mixture of flavor andoil as it slowly melts together.

Put the mixture in themicrowave for about 20seconds. Remove from heatonce the flavor and oil havemelted together. Put it in thefridge for an hour or 10 minutes

Pour it into a container ifyou are planning onkeeping it.

Let the mixture cool in yourdesired container.

Enjoy your soft, naturallips!


KannywoodI sang “Haduwa mai dadi” formy ex- girlfriend - MuhammadMuhammad Anas Abubakar is a young upcoming musician that is trying to create a niche for himself in theKannywood industry. He has released a couple of songs that have created cult following for him. In this interviewwith Nasiru Mu’azu Isa, he shares the challenges of being an unknown voice in a very competitive market.

How long have you been singingand what motivated you?

I have been singing for the past fiveyears. I actually wanted to becomean actor but as that did not work out

and I had the talent for singing so I optedto become a singer. It is also easier toproduce songs, unlike a movie, withlittle money you can produce an album,while a movie requires a lot more moneyto produce.

Which songs have you producedso far?

I have produced a number of songsso far. The popular ones among theminclude “Anas Dawo”, “Haduwa maiDadi” and “Gadar Zare”. “Gadar Zare”was my entry into a recently held musiccompetition.

So did you win the completion?No, I didn’t, but a lot of people felt I

should have been among the runnersup. Even the person who won thecompetition acknowledged that my songwas among the best.

How old are you now?I’m 22yrs old.I presume you still live with

your parents, how did they receivethe news of you becoming amusician?

Initially I had no problems, then mymother called me and told me she doesnot want me singing, so I tried to makeher understand and also a couple of myrelatives got involved on my behalfasking her not to worry and allow me togo ahead with singing. Eventually shegave her blessing.

What genre of songs do you do?I do every type, some for events like

weddings and also a lot of romanticsongs and a bit of hip hop.

Why do you guys do a lot ofromantic songs like “Haduwa maiDadi” which I presume is a lovesong, and don’t explore the othergenres like R&B and such?

Well the thing is love is a universalaffair and without love this world willbe a difficult place. And let’s not forget,a lot of people encourage we love eachother, so you see in everything we dolove is very important. And also we allare products of love.

How do you get the stories inyour song, like “Haduwa mai Dadi”,where did you get the story from?

Well some are people’s stories andsome are stories of what has happenedto us as individuals. “Haduwa maiDadi” is a personal story that happenedto me. It happened while I was insecondary school, I was in love with agirl but it eventually ended.

Do you have a girlfriend now?I don’t have one now. When i sang

“Haduwa mai Dadi” I was still veryyoung and my parents kicked againstit. They wanted me to go to school, sowhen the relationship ended i just forgotabout relationships. Moreover she hasmoved on and is now married and i havean admission to University.

Did she know you wrote the songfor her?

Of course, her whole family knowsand she was very excited and happyabout it. And you know a song can makepeople know you and that is what mostpoliticians use to sell themselves. Aslong as that song is played it will alwaysbe associated with you. a song will alsoreach places that you never imagined,example is a song i did for a movie andfive days after its release, people inLondon where calling to ask about thesong, that is power of music.

How do you cope with your fansespecially the female fans?

It’s not easy and sometimes it’s quiteannoying, but it does not mean that Iam rude or inaccessible to my fans.Some fans are quite demanding,wanting to meet you and some want tohang out. The most difficult fans arethose who call to ask for another actor.It is quite annoying to receive a callabout somebody else.

Do you make any money fromyour music?

Yes I do, but the idea of going intomusic to make money is not the rightmindset. Patience is a much neededvirtue in the industry, before you start

making any money you need to beknown. So patience is the watch wordfor us.

Why is it that you don’tcollaborate with other artist fromthe south?

There are a few collaborationsespecially between our Englishmusicians and us, specifically Englishartist in Kaduna. It is also very difficultto get some of the southern artist tocollaborate with.

Why is it that our musicians inthe north don’t do album launches?

It is a difficult affair and most of usdon’t have what it takes to do an albumlaunch. An album launch is not justabout the album, it is also about raisingfunds through the album launch. Oneof the challenges is most of us are notwell established to be able to bring inthe right kind of crowd for an albumlaunch. In the south it is easy to getsomeone who would be willing to sponsoryour album launch; in most cases theestablished ones help those who arecoming up to launch their albums.

So why is it that, the establishedmusicians are not helping youngartist like you?

Well for some it is selfishness and

envy. Some are scared some of us arebetter talented than them as such theywould not want to help anybodyoutshine them but there are those thatjust don’t have the time.

How do you think such aproblem can be solved?

The solution is people have to stopbeing selfish. They should alwaysconsider that no matter what happensand how big an artist becomes, theywould always be beholden to you forgiving them that opportunity to comeand they will never forget that.Established artists should be bold andcourageous enough to bring up newtalents.

What is the biggest challengeyou face as an upcoming artist inthe North?

The major challenge is alwaysfunding, nobody is willing to help ayoung upcoming artist. If you have nomoney then the chances of you failingis quite high.

How do you distribute yourmusic?

There are two ways to do it. Eitheryou sell the rights to a marketer whowill now pay you off and decide howmany copies he wants to make and youhave no share in the proceeds of thatsale or you sell it to the marketers at adiscount and you will be the one to makecopies available to the marketer. Themarketer will now add something to theprice you gave him and then sell to thepublic.

Do you own the studio where youdo your work?

Not all of us have studios. Some of ushave to book and pay for studio time,while some own their studios.

Do you face any problems withthese marketers?

That is where the biggest problemis. Some marketers will sell your workbut to give you your money becomes amajor issue.

Why won’t you organizeyourselves so that you candistribute your own work withoutthe hassles of these marketers?

We are currently doing that but it isnot easy, some of the establishmusicians are distributing their ownworks. Another solution to the problemis if your album is popular you don’t giveit to the distributors until they pay youyour money.

Among the established voices,which would you want tocollaborate with?

I’d love to collaborate with all ofthem but most especially Adam Zangoand Zuwaira Ismail.

What is your advice to youngpeople thinking of join theindustry?

I want to advice them to be diligentand hardworking. They should not begreedy and selfish because as long as youare selfish then success might be a hardthing to come by.

Muhammad Anas Abubakar


NollywoodOmotola,Genevievetake fight toFABawards for‘Most StylishActress’crown

Again, two of Nollywood’sbiggest elephants;Omotola Jalade Ekeinde

and Genevieve Nnaji inconjunction with theirrespective fans have been putat logger-heads with each otheras the two make-believeheavyweights slug it out at theFAB awards holding inDecember 2012 in Lagos.

Omosexy, as Omotola isfondly called by her fans, andGenny, as Genevieve is alsofondly called by her fans, havebeen nominated alongside RitaDominic, Nse Ikpe Etim andBeverly Naya for the MostStylish Actress category of theawards.

The awards ceremony holdson Sunday, December 2, 2012at Landmark Village, VictoriaIsland Lagos. The winner wouldbe determined by online votes,which might be as a result ofthe muscles flexed by their fansin determining who wins theaward category. The awardsdebuted in 2010.

Now that the elephantsfight, who suffer(s)? Let’s waittill December 2 to getanswer(s).

Omotola

Genevieve

Show promoter threatens Naeto Cwith EFCC over alleged fraudA show promoter, Fine Boy

Swag (FBS)Entertainment, has

threatened to drag popularNigerian rapper and son ofNigeria’s ex-Aviation Minister,Kema Chikwe, Naeto C, to theEconomic and Financial CrimesCommission (EFCC) over whatit termed an alleged ‘fraudulentobtainment of money under falsepretence’ from the company byNaeto C.

According to a press releaseFBS Entertainment through itsrepresentative, MuhammadNura, it claimed that Naeto Cfailed to honour his side of anagreement to perform in one ofits shows the company hadcontracted the rapper to performat in July 2012 after making aninitial payment of N400,000 ofthe N600,000 agreed as thetotal payment.

The statement reads, “13TH NOVEMBER, 2012ATTENTION: ALL MEDIAHOUSESREPORT OF FRAUDULENTOBTAINMENT OF MONEY BYMR NAETO CHIKWE

We write to report the case ofobtainment by false pretencecommitted against ourenterprise Fine Boy SwagEntertainment (herein referredto as “Our Company”) by Mr.NAETO CHIKWE. (A musicianby profession who is popularlyknown as “NAETO C” also hereinreferred to as “NAETO C”.)

“We would like to state thatwe had discussions with NAETOC over a contract to perform atthe show which was scheduledto hold at Cubicle Arena,Maitama Garden, Maitama on18th of July 2012 by 5:00pm inAbuja, Federal Republic ofNigeria and he agreed to performat the show.

“Our agreement is detailed ina one page contract agreementdated 14th July, 2012 andsigned by NAETO C and ourenterprise. A copy of saidcontract is hereby attached.

“Consequently, and asagreed upon discussions withNAETO C, Our Company paid adeposit in the sum of fourhundred thousand Naira(N400, 000.00) in to NAETO C’sGuaranty Trust Bank (GTB)Account with the account detailsas follows Account Name: NaetoChikwe. Acct Number:0115788951. A copy of the GTBpayment teller is herebyattached.

“NAETO C defaulted inperforming as agreed in thecontract signed, and also failedto pay back the money paid inrespect of the contract fourhundred thousand Naira(N400,000.00) being thedeposit paid in respect of thecontract.

His actions as stated aboveapart from being a breach havealso constituted an obtainment

by false pretence whichconstitutes an offence under thelaws of the Federal Republic ofNigeria.

“We hereby write to informthe general public of theactivities constituting abetrayal of trust and seriouscriminal offence which shouldbe accorded attention by allconcerned.

“NAETO C’s actions havemade Our Company to sufferdamages, which among othersinclude loss of good image,business goodwill andwithdrawal of contract deals byclients as many clients now seeOur Client as being unreliable.

“Our discussions withNAETO C to recover the amountpaid have been fruitless andhave been met with insults. Wehave written to EFCC to ensurethat justice is done in respect ofthis matter and also to ensurethat NAETO C is brought to bookto curb the crime rate in Nigeria

“We will be available for

further consultations in respectof this matter as the claims arenot in any way frivolous.

Yours faithfully,Muhammad Nura

FOR: FINE BOY SWAGENTERTAINMENT”

However, a representative ofNaeto has reacted to theallegation. According to astatement released by Naeto C’srepresentative, the rapperfulfilled his side of the bargainbut claimed that the showpromoter defaulted in paying upthe balance of Naeto C’s fee.

He then claimed to sue thecompany for defamation andforgery because the statementclaimed the signature shown inthe contract does not belong toNaeto C. The statement reads,“With reference to the newsmaking the rounds onentertainment blog portals andsocial media platforms about ourclient Naeto C defrauding a showpromoter of certain amount ofmoney, we would like to clear

the air and set the recordsstraight.

“For the purpose of clarityand details, we will enumerateall the facts of the affair below.

Naeto C actually made thetrip to Abuja to fulfill his end ofthe agreement subject toreceiving full payment for thesaid event a day before or on thedate of the engagement. Whenit became apparent on the dayof the show that the promoterswere not forthcoming with thebalance, our client declined tograce the show with his presenceespecially as he had held up hisend of the bargain regardless ofthe fact that the show was threedays to his wedding.

“Most significantly, thesignature on the agreementdocument is not that of our clientand this act of forgery is not onlydistasteful, but criminal.

“At this juncture, it shouldbe stated for the benefit of thosethat are new to theentertainment business that ‘a

show promoter is liable to forfeitany money deposited to book anartiste for a particular date if thepromoter fails to completepayment before the stipulatedtime for the performance and theartiste is permitted to walk awayfrom the arrangement’.

“This is standard practice inentertainment all over the worldbecause artiste will decline allother approaches by prospectiveclients once a party makes acommitment by way of an initialdeposit.

Boom in Nollywood to boostGDP growth rate in Africa –Report

A report released in London,yesterday, by EuromonitorInternational and ReedExhibitions Limited, organizersof the World Travel Market(WTM), has predicated a GrossDomestic Product (GDP) growthin Africa, as a result of the boomin the local film industry dubbed‘Nollywood’. The GDP growthfigure for the African region wascontained in a report, titled:

“WTM Global Trends Report2012’.

The report explained thatNigeria’s massive film industry,‘Nollywood’, is a rising star inAfrica’s tourism industry, justas it declared it the world’ssecond largest film industry involume terms, after India’sBollywood and ahead ofHollywood in the US, with morethan 2,000 films producedannually. Specifically, thereport predicated GDP growth inAfrica to be at 5.2 percent in2012 and 2013, while trips/arrivals will rise to 4.5 percentin 2012 and 4.6 percent in2013, adding that intra-regionaltravels is crucial for the AfricanTourism industry, due to strongbusiness, linguistic and culturallinks between many countries.

Besides, the report indicatedthat Nollywood films are popularin many African countriesbecause their huge popularityattracts domestic and regionalAfrican tourists to Nigeria,

visiting film locations. Also, thereport noted that the popularityof Nollywood would be a majorgrowth driver with the leisuresector attracting film fans andbusiness travel boosted by thegrowing economic importance ofthe film industry.

“Arrivals to Nigeria are setto rise three percent annually,over 2012-2016, mainly thanksto intra-regional tourism fuelledby growing African economies.It means Africa is poised forcontinued strong growtharrivals, incoming touristreceipts, air and hotel valuessales in 2013,the report said.”

Reacting to the report, theDirector General of theNigerian TourismDevelopment Corporation, Mr.Segun Runsewe, said thereports showed that PresidentGoodluck Jonathan’stransformation agenda,especially in the travel andtourism sector is makingimpact on the country’s imageglobally.

Naeto Chikwe


Re: Sovereign wealth fundPeoples Daily Weekend welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text messagesand ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written contributions should be concise. Wordlimits: Letters - 150 words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and

a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed to:The Editor,

Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza,35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja.Email: [email protected]

WRITE TO US

Score card of River Niger dredging project

OUR MISSIONOUR MISSIONOUR MISSIONOUR MISSIONOUR MISSION OUR PEOPLEOUR PEOPLEOUR PEOPLEOUR PEOPLEOUR PEOPLECHAIRMAN

MALAM WADA MAIDA, OON, FNGE

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

ALI M. ALI

MANAGER, ADMINISTRATION

HASSAN HAMMANYAJI

EDITOR, DAILY

ABDULAZEEZ ABDULLAHI

ACTING EDITOR, WEEKEND

JAMILA NUHU MUSA

HEAD, ADVERT/MARKETING

HUSSAINI ABDULRAHMAN, CNA

“To be the marketplace of ideas and theleading player in the

industry by putting thepeople first, upholdingthe truth, maintaining

the highestprofessional andethical standards

while delivering valueto our stakeholders”

“To be a reputable,profitable,

innovative andtechnologically

reliant mediacompany offering

world classservices and

products”

OUR VISIONOUR VISIONOUR VISIONOUR VISIONOUR VISION

DIRECTOR/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEFRUFA’I IBRAHIM

HEAD, LAGOS BUREAU

ADESOJI OYINLOLA

The dredging of lower River Niger withthe main objective of achieving anall year round navigation of the

dredged channels from Warri in DeltaState to Baro in Niger State, shows theFederal Government’s commitment inimproving Inland water transportationin the country.

Historically, the idea of dredging thelower River Niger was mooted in the late1950’s when the colonial administrationwas busy with the preparation of thecountry’s independence and as such couldnot take any concrete step in thatdirection. Since independence, successiveadministrations had only paid lip serviceto this worthwhile project until latePresident Umaru Musa Yar’Aduaemerged on the scene as Nigeria’sPresident, took the bull by the horn andapproved contract for the dredging, aproject his successor-in-office, PresidentGoodluck Jonathan in the patriotic spiritof policy stability has intensified as part ofhis transformation agenda in thetransport sector.

The first score card is that the presentadministration has been able to undertakethis laudable project previousadministrations were unable to do inNigeria’s post-independence over 50 yearsof existence. Therefore the initiators,managers and partakers of thisdevelopment project could be tagged asrecord breakers and history makers.

Hitherto, the waterways that arecurrently dredged had served as strongand viable route of water transportationin the country. During the colonial times,mails were sent to Onitsha from Lokojathrough River Niger waterways by thecolonial authorities; the Royal Niger

Company and its French counterparts usedthe Rivers Niger and Benue as routes tomove raw materials from the hinterlandand exports from Northern Cameroun forindustries in Europe and Northern America.

It was in realization of the advantages ofin-land water transportation that theFederal Government signed a 34.8billionnaira contract for the dredging of lowerRiver Niger on 1st December, 2008 whichwas later reviewed upwards when theFederal Executive Council on 2nd November,2011 approved additional 8.5billion nairadue to confirmed fluctuations in the pricesof labour, diesel etc and constant siltation ofthe River channels thereby putting theentire project cost at 43.3billion naira. Theproject was flagged off on 10th September2009; the entire project has a 3-yearcompletion plan, which means that thedredging and maintenance works aresupposed to be completed in 2012.

The dredging of lower River Nigercontract from Warri in Delta State to Baroin Niger State which covers an estimated572km in eight states namely; Kogi, Niger,Edo, Delta, Anambra, Imo, Rivers andBayelsa is divided into five (5) Lots withseveral bifurcations has the followingcontract scope-capital dredging works,

maintenance dredging works, Rivertraining works (installation of navigationalaids) and community development works.

The cheering news from this project isthat the dredging project has beensuccessfully completed in June 2011 andmaintenance dredging startedimmediately and as at today, a reasonableportion of the maintenance dredging hasbeing completed. In addition, navigationalaids have been installed in the dredgedchannels while BUOYS to signify safety andsensitive zones and to mark the dredgedchannels have been installed and laid in allthe 5 Lots of the project.

The positive result of this successfuldredging is that all the routes from Baro inNiger State to Warri in Delta State is nowopen and accessible for vessels to moveproducts and goods through these dredgedchannels to different parts of the country.Two strong testimonies of this statement canbe advanced. In August 2011, NINON, aMarine Transport Company moved 300tonnes of tiles equivalent to 15-20 trailerloads of tiles from Lokoja through thedredged lower River Niger channels toOnitsha. That was the first of its kind inNigeria for over three decades. Not long ago,the contractor handling Lot 5 of the project

from the Jamata to Baro, William LloydsTech Company moved its big vessels fromPort Harcourt to Baro, which it wasunable to do prior to the dredging.

With the successful dredging of thelower River Niger, windows of numerousinvestment opportunities are nowavailable on the Nations waterways. AsNigerian Inland Waterways Agency(NIWA), intensifies efforts in marketingthese opportunities to investors in Nigeriaand abroad, it will be necessary for themto patronize this laudable project to avoidthe siltation of the dredged channelswhere sands fill and block the channels ifthey are not used. The Managing Directorof NIWA, Arc. Aminu Yar’Adua hasassured that many investors haveindicated interests to patronize thedredged channels.

To guarantee the safety and securityof the waterway channels, theHonourable Minister of Transport,Senator Idris A. Umar has commissionedthe newly acquired twelve security boatsfitted with GPS and Echo Sounder todetermine the depth of water level and todetect movement of vessels around thevicinity within a range of 12 nauticalmiles and to be manned by NIWA’s strongMarine Police Command. A radiocommunication is being put in place bybuilding towers on the River for easyinformation during any emergency.

A Naval base has been establishedat Lokoja while plans for theestablishment of custom formations inall the ports are under-way as pre-requisites for full in-land water waysnavigation.

I was misquoted on Boko Haram — Maj-Gen. Lawrence Onoja (rtd)

It has come to my notice that I am beingaccused by some sections of theNigerian media of backing the Boko

Haram sect in its fight against theNigerian State. I granted interview tosome sections of the press in Minnarecently, when the Arewa ConsultativeForum(ACF), which am an activemember visited Governor BabangidaAliyu to submit its “Road Map For Peace,Unity and Development in NorthernNigeria”

When questioned on my view aboutthe Boko Haram sect and the Nigerian

State, I told the Press that if Boko Haramsect had targeted elections riggers, fakeballot papers thumb printers, stuffers,snatchers and corrupt government officials,instead of Churches and Mosques, that areplaces of worship, then the fight would havemade some sense. I quickly pointed out thatviolence in any form cannot solve ourproblem; rather dialogue on a roundble isthe most civilized way to resolve disputes. Isupported the renewed peace plan bygovernment and the sect to bring peace toNigeria again.

Having acquired a Ph.D in International

Law and Diplomacy, it was wrong of anysensible Nigeria to allege that I aspire to be amember of a group that wasting innocentlives of Nigerians. At no time did I say I wantto be a member of Boko Haram.

It is my candid view as I told the press inMinna that this security challenge inNigeria is not peculiar to our nation alone.It is my position that through informationgathering, dialogue or war could be used bygovernment to quell such uprising. I feelstrongly sad that this spate of violence hascrippled the Northern Economy andpainted the North as trouble makers. It is

unacceptable and must be addressedsquarely for peace to reign in Nigeria.

As an active member of the A.C.F, Ihave always supported and willcontinue to untiring efforts of Mr.President’s peace efforts and I wish tourge all Nigerians to demonstratecommitment to the TransformationAgenda of the present government. Isuspect that some political mischiefmakers are out to smear my name forcheap publicity.

I rest my case with the Nigeria people.- Maj. Gen. Lawrence A. Onoja (rtd) Ph.D

By Innocent Ebirim

Innocent Ebirim, is the MediaAssistant to Hon Minister ofTransport, AbujaE-mail: [email protected],


The EntrepreneurYa’n lemo market can be a sourceof revenue for Kano, says Na AlhajiNa’ibawa Ya’n Lemo, the popular orange market in Kano state was a bee hive of activities when PeoplesDaily Weekend visited the place, which caters for over 10,000 people daily. Our reporter, MustapherAdamu spoke with acting chairman of the market union, Alhaji Muhammadu na Alhaji.

A fruit market in Spain

Contrary to the perceptionthat Na’ibawa ya’n lemois solely an orange selling

market, it was discovered thatother fruits like banana, coconut,pineapple, pawpaw, watermelonetc. were being off loaded fromtrucks from other parts of thecountry. Acting chairman of themarket union, Muhammadu naAlhaji gave an insight into howthe market came into being.

The market was relocated fromKofar Nassarawa to Na’ibawaabout 25 years ago, whileleadership of the union is similarto the democratic system ofgovernment. “We elect our leadersthe way government does itsofficials”. The market is quitelarge in size and undertakesvarious activities includingloading and offloading of sacks thatcontain fruits in their hundreds.

Alhaji Muhammadu said theorange is brought from Benue,Osun and Oyo states to Kano.Different colours of sacks used topackage the fruits help traders todifferentiate from what part of thecountry they came from. Forinstance, the orange brought fromBenue State is packed in white-leather sacks while those fromOsun and Oyo are contained inbrown colour cotton sacks.

The Acting Chairman also saidthe oranges can last for a period of10 days before they begin to decaydue to lack of storage facilitieswhile banana lasts for shorter timelike 2 days but coconut can stayfor days.

Fruit business in the market isvirtually seasonal.”Our businessis seasonal because fruits areseasonal. The market becomesbusier and sells more when the

fruits are in season. This is the timewhen prices of fruits becomelower.” He said.

“A sack of orange is presentlyN3,300 but when the seasonpasses and it becomes scarce, theprice may go up to N10,000 persack”

It would seem however thatfruit business in the Naibawa Ya’nlemo flourishes most of the timeconsidering the high demand ondaily basis.

“Even though sales areseasonal like the fruits, business inthe market flourishes and we arealways busy, about 10,000 peoplepatronize this market daily.”” Hesaid.

The chairman, market union,Mohammadu explained thatapart from major dealers who sellfruits in large quantities to targetcustomers, there are marketoperators who sell the fruits insmall quantities to ordinarypeople on demand.

Mallam Yahaya, a majordealer in the market, told ourreporter that he sells oranges onlyin large quantities to dealers thatalso sell out to vendors.

Women are not left behind inthe market operation. Like men,women engage in selling thefruits, especially oranges, in largeand small quantities.

Mrs. Patricia told our reporterthat she has been selling orangesfor about 10 years in the market.”Ihave been selling orange for longyou can see them in small baskets,that’s how I have been selling myown oranges for about 10 yearsnow.”

Patricia said she buys theorange from her regularcustomer, who sometimes agreesto sell to her on credit. She also saidshe enjoys the business and isgrateful to God for it because it isthe only way she fends for herfamily.”

I thank God for providing this

“I call on the state governmentto intervene by investing in themarket as we have observed its

business for me becauseit is the only source ofmoney I have tosupport my family.Sometimes the marketis good while sometimesit is bad and that is life.”

Authority in themarket has attributedthe current securitychallenges in thenation, especiallyNorthern Nigeria asthe major problembedeviling the marketactivities.

The actingchairman then calledon the stateGovernment to investmoney in the marketfor employmentopportunity to theyouths.

commitment to boostingagricultural development in thestate.”

Acting Chairman, Alh Muhammadu na Alhaji

Pinapple

Coconut

Orange


Interview'Jonathan cancontest again in 2015'Hon. Solomon Bamola Gowin is an activist and strong apostle of youth empowerment. A member of NationalYouth Council of Nigeria (NYCN), he coordinates several other initiatives involved in youth programmes. He contestedthe position of the National Youth Leader of the PDP in the last convention but lost to Alhaji Garuba Chiza. In thisinterview with Abdulrahman Abdulraheem, he explained his passion for youth advocacy and argued that PresidentGoodluck Jonathan can legally seek reelection in 2015 if he so desires.

You have made youth-based programmesand initiatives your

pastime. What could beresponsible for this?

I think that has to do with mybackground. You know some areborn with silver spoon but some ofus come from very poorbackgrounds. So when people likeus get a small opportunity to assistthe less privileged, we jump at itnot because we don't have anythingbetter doing, and of course what canbe better than helping your fellowman? It's because we know what itmeans to lack basic things.

And like I have said earlier,youths are the engine room of anycountry. And like any car ownerknows an engine needs special careif you want your car to last long,the same thing with the Nigerianyouths. They need to be speciallytaken care of because they are thefuture of this nation. The youthsare also very vulnerable because ofthe exuberance in everything theydo.

Look at the case of the presentinsecurity in the nation; it is theyouths who are behind it becausethey are easily led astray. I havefound out long ago that unless theyouths are adequately empoweredwe will continue to have problems.This is why at every opportunity Iget I make empowering the youthsa priority.

We have to make the youthshave confidence in themselves andtheir abilities. Despite the fact thatour party is trying, there is alwaysroom for improvement. And Ibelieve that no amount ofinvestment in the youth is wasted,the nation will definitely be thebetter for it at the end of the day.

Former PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo recentlyaccused President Jonathan ofnot nipping the securitychallenges in the bud earlyenough. What do you think?

Nobody knew it woulddegenerate to this level, but thenevery problem has its own peculiarsolution and we cannot compare theinsurgency in Odi to the violencein the North.

No matter how we look at it, theviolence in the North does not onlyhave a garb of religion, it also has apolitical undertone, an averagenortherner that we know before ispassionate and friendly. Youremember in those days when yougo to the market to buy somethingfrom a northerner, you know he is

going to add more for you (whichwe call jara). So if we must tackle iteffectively we must be careful. Thereligious leaders must be calledupon. Traditional rulers and eventhe politicians and youthsthemselves will not be left out. Itwould be a kind of large familydiscussion.

Then again, the Nigeria DrugLaw Enforcement Agency(NDLEA) has to sit up. I stronglybelieve that no sane human beingwill just take a gun and start killingpeople anyhow without beingunder the influence of drugs oralcohol. And the immigration alsomust sit up to check the influx offoreigners into our country.

Also, the youths must beempowered. There is no shortcut toit, we must empower these youthbecause Nigerian youth are veryresourceful and it is a commonsaying that an idle hand is the devil'sworkshop. A youth is morevulnerable when he/she can'tsustain himself or herself. Inempowering the youths,government should also continueto improve the power sector as theyare already doing.

You see, I believe Nigerians needstable power supply for survival.The people can go into differentvocations if there is stable powersupply. Nigerian youths are veryentrepreneurial and innovative;when there is stable power they

may not even disturb governmentagain.

Are you convinced thatyour party, the PDP has a goodenough programme for theyouths?

I think the national youthleader of the party is in the bestposition to answer that question butI can assure you that PDP has muchin stock for the youths of this nation,regardless of your political leanings.Take for an example the Youwinprogramme. It is not just for PDPyouths but every youth in Nigeria.

Also, personally I have my ownprogramme for the youths,wherein they will go to Israel toacquire knowledge on mechanizedagricultural and they come backto impact their communities. Theprogramme which is inpartnership with Israeli embassyand some interested stategovernment has been christenedYouths 2 farm project.

We are sending some youths toIsrael to learn the full mechanizedagricultural skills to be used inNigeria after completion to createagricultural mini-mega village intheir communities and we can saythis project is being stronglysupported by the presidency andthe PDP family. So, you can seethere is much for the youths to gainin this administration.

Do you think the presentleadership of the PDP is

threatened by the talk ofmerger between someopposition parties especiallywith rumours going round thatPresident Jonathan may beeyeing the seat again in 2015?

So far, Mr. President has notmentioned whether he will contestor not. One thing I want you to knowis PDP is not a one man affair, it is acollective responsibility of allmembers of the family and there isno one that is above the law, thereis no one above the party, the partyis supreme.

Yes, people might say thepresident is slow and all that,even Obama had it tough in theUS but at the end the people stillreelected him in a free and fairelection because they see him asa man of peace. That thePresident has been conductingfree and fair elections in thecountry is an indication that hemeans well for Nigerians andNigeria. If he decides to go for asecond time and the party allowshim, what is left for us asmembers of the PDP family is tosupport him with all our mightto win.

And do you think he standsany chance of winning,considering the fact that notmany Nigerians are satisfiedwith his government so far?

You see people seem to see Mr.President as slow because he has not

Hon. Solomon Bamola Gowin

been taking drastic steps andsolutions. A drastic problem does notrequire a drastic solution because itis the people that will suffer for it atthe end of the day and I think this isthe thinking of Mr. President.

Like it is said slow and steadywins the race. It is said that he whofights fire with fire usually ends upwith ashes on his hands so; that thePresident is not taking drasticdecisions should not be enough tocrucify him as slow.

We have had leaders who willnever listen to advice in thiscountry. But he does.

Do you think PresidentJonathan can take the oath ofoffice thrice?

From my calculations, he hastaken the oath of office only once.The first one you refer to is tocomplete the tenure of the latePresident. What we should ask ishow many times has he sought thepeople's mandate to be Presidentand you will realize it is just once.So he still has one more time to seekthe people's mandate, if he so desires.

What is your advice to theyouths of this generation?

Work hard. Maybe it is becausewe say it is a computer age or jetage, most youths are very lazy.They do not want to work hard toget things done any longer.

Also, the youths should beconscious of how they spend theirtime. You see, watching violentfilms and all that breeds a violentcharacter. You just see themunconsciously manifest these traitsthat can ruin their future.

But above all we must empowerthese youths. Like the mini megaagricultural village we are tryingto build, it is not just to empowerthe youths but also to curb theexodus from the rural to the urbanby providing every amenities in themini mega agricultural village.

What we have in mind is to usethis promised project as an avenueto discover talents, there will berecreation centers in these villageswhere talents will be discovered andpolished.

I want to thank PresidentJonathan and Alhaji BamangaTukur for supporting this projectand creating the rightenvironment for our youths togrow.

I also want to thank thegovernors of Kogi, Kwara, Niger,Benue, Enugu, Kano, Edo, Lagos,Imo and Ondo for taking youthempowerment programmesserious in their various domains.

InterviewPEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012 PAGE 39

Government alone cannot handlerefugee crises —FORD PresidentI s your organisation the

Nigerian subsidiary ofthe Ford Group? Or are

you affiliated to it?Yes, we are FORD, but no, we

are not the American Ford.Theirs named after Henry Ford,the American industrialist, whois best remembered for hispioneering work in the auto-industry. Our FORD is all Caps.Meaning: it is an acronym, andstands for: Friends Of Refugeesand Displaced Persons. It is alsoknown as The FORD Initiative.While Ford Group is largely abusiness concern, we are a not-for-profit organisation, a Non-Governmental Organisation(NGO), concerned withalleviating the suffering ofrefugees and InternallyDisplaced Persons (IDPs) inNigeria.

Thus, the mission of 'TheFORD Initiative' is caring for thedisplaced persons in Nigeriairrespective of the tribe, colour,religion, gender, age, nationalityor race. But while Nigeria is ourimmediate concern, we arelooking beyond our borders asnatural disasters are now globalphenomena, and can occuranywhere, leaving needyvictims in their wake. So we areNigerian in focus, but global inoutlook.

Are you just making yourdebut now or have you beenoperating before?

We have been in existence fora couple of years, so we are notjust making an appearance ordebut as you put it. Refugees orinternally displaced people didnot start with the recent nation-wide floods. Before the floods, wehad man-made disasters likecommunal clashes, religiousupheavals, bomb blasts,environmental degradation fromoil spills etc etc, so the floods onlycompounded it.

With bomb blasts andfloods everywhere now, yourorganisation must be verybusy.

Yes, we are. It is just that weare more busy now. You know,before now, people have beendisplaced, off and on, in Benuestate, in Ebonyi state, in CrossRiver state etc. And suchdisplacements, irrespective oftheir causes, leave the victimswith significant, and often times,life-threatening results - both inthe immediate aftermath of thedisplacement and also in the longterm. Victims will normallyrequire urgent help to meethumanitarian, psycho-social,material and healthcare needs.And although government'sefforts are always there, they arenot always enough or timely orfar-reaching: what withbureaucracy, corruption and all.

That is where NGOs like the FORDInitiative comes in.

The FORD Initiative,succinctly put, is focused on the:Provision of humanitarian caresupport in forms of materialneeds; Provision of psychosocialcare support; Provision ofhealthcare support; Provision ofrehabilitation support in the longterm and the Provision of re-integration support. Others are:the Provision of habitat supportin the short term as well as theProvision of educational supportin the short term.

Your NGO seems to beconcentrating its efforts inhelping disaster victims. Infuture, do you plan toventure into the preventingside of disaster management,especially, man-madedisasters like communalclashes, religious upheavals?

Yes. FORD promotes ideas,products and solutions that willminimize societal tendenciestowards conflicts, andsimultaneously encouragespeaceful co-habitation amongstindividuals and peoples of diversereligious, political and socialbackground.

Also, we promote ideas and

services that will discourage theproduction of refugees andinternally displaced personsusing the strategies of publicenlightenment, awarenesscreation, dialogue, peace andconflict resolution. So we are intothe mitigation of humandisasters that produce refugeesand internally displaced people,but while we cannot always besuccessful in stopping themaltogether, we passionatelypursue alleviating the uglyconsequences. So we are intoadvocacy, Peace and conflictresolution strategies,engagement with policy makerson good governance anddemocratic values, operationalresearch into health relatedproblems of refugees anddisplaced people plus publicenlightenment on tolerance andsocial harmony among peoples ofvarious backgrounds.

NGOs are mushroomingeverywhere, some with overtpecuniary motives. Some arenot even NGOs but NGIs ieN o n - G o v e r n m e n t a lIndividual. So whatseparates your NGO from theothers?

We are quite aware that Non-

Governmental Organizations(NGOs) are coming under abusethese days. They are sometimesformed and used by someindividuals as platforms to accessfunds, sometimes from foreignbodies, apparently for socialcauses, but convert same topersonal use. The FORD Initiativeis, however, different. Membersare not out to enrich themselvesor to take advantage of otherpeople's misfortune or tragedies.Besides our social conscience, ourBoard of Trustees is composed ofmembers of the society withimpeccable integrity, proventrack records and selfless serviceto the society - be it in the health,education or the social services.These board members are:Messrs. Simon Imobo-Tswam, aMedia Practitioner/Secretary;Bolaji Akinyemi, a reverendgentleman and renowned schoolAdministrator in the Lagos Area;Pharmacist Gabriel Assa, anotable entrepreneur;Emmanuel Ayalogu, TheaterP r a c t i t i o n e r - c u m - m o v i eproducer; Pastor JohnsonUsiagwu, and Ayodeji OlubunmiOjo, another renownededucationist.

Furthermore, as the chiefvisioner/promoter of FORD, evenbefore the formal registration ofthe organization early this year,I have for about a decade, beeninvolved in volunteerhumanitarian and healthcareactivities to people in needincluding refugees. I have onmany occasions in the past, in thename of the organization, single-handedly promoted and fundedhumanitarian activities andvisited refugees and displacedpeople's camps across thecountry.

Needless to say,

transparency, accountabilityand ethical financial standardsas enshrined constitution governall fund-related matters of theorganization. Board decisions aretaken based on standardcorporate governance, andmembership is open to membersof the public who identify withour goal and core values.

How do you fund youractivities?

Well, you know that we are anot-for-profit organization.Therefore, aside from what weare providing by ourselves, wealso relying on the generousdonations, either in kind or cash,from well-to-do and public-spirited individuals as well ascorporate bodies andorganizations to substantiallyfund and power our NGO'sactivities.

At the moment, the activitiesof the organization areconstrained by inadequate funds;being that our interventions likethose at the United Nationsfunded Refugee camp in Oru,Ijebu Ode, (Ogun State) are beingfunded through personal effortsand resources of members,particularly the chief visioner/President/Executive Director.However, with our vision and theworsening humanitarian crisesacross the country, no thanks tofloods, bombs and communal-cum-sectarian upheavals, wecannot comfortably continue tofund our activities alone if wehope to realise our objectives andachieve any appreciativemeasure of success in the longrun. We need both local andinternational assistance fromother NGOs, governmental andinternational developmentagencies, philanthropists andpublic spirited individuals.

Dr. Aina Olufemi Odusola is the President/Executive Director of Friends Of Refugees andDisplaced Persons (FORD) aka the FORD Initiative, a Lagos-based Non-GovernmentalOrganization (NGO) dedicated to giving care/succour to Refugees and Internally Displaced Persons(IDPs). In an interview with Augustine Aminu, the Clinician/Public Health Practitioner spoke onthe work/vision of his NGO, and why NGOs like FORD have stepped in to help complementgovernment's efforts in succouring victims of floods, sectarian clashes and other disasters.Excerpts:

Dr. Aina Olufemi Odusola

Also, we promote ideas andservices that will discourage the

production of refugees andinternally displaced personsusing the strategies of public

enlightenment

“


MediaI courted my wife on GSMfor six weeks before we met-Muhammad Kudu AbubakarMohammed Kudu Abubakar is one NTA’s brightest stars. The Head ofPolitical Desk, Abubakar spoke with our reporter Miriam Humbe in anencounter at the NTA headquarters Abuja, on his growing up days and passionfor journalism, a profession he fell in love with from childhood. He opened awindow into his love life saying he courted his wife on the GSM. Enjoy...

Muhammad Kudu Abubakar

How was your growing up like?

My growing up was very interesting. I was bornin Kaduna but when I was two or three yearsold, my parents thought I should grow up with

my uncle who was working in Sokoto, so I ended upgrowing up there. I went to primary school andsecondary schools in Sokoto then I went to SBS Zariafor my A Levels. After the A Levels, I unfortunatelylost my dad and could not continue my universityeducation immediately so I started work. Whileworking, I pursued my first and second degrees andnow I have double Masters degrees, so to God be theglory. But Sokoto was a very interestingenvironment. It is a place where talking aboutAlmajaris, those days while in primary school, wealso attended Quranic School with them. The thingsthey did such as going to farm for the Islamic teacher,I did all of that. Sokoto has a lot of donkeys and youfind them even in the bush, not owned by anybody.As children, we could just go and climb one. Iremember one day when I climbed one naughty one.It just started running helter skelter with me and bythe time it flung me off, I hit my head on the ground.I cannot forget that. I thank God that we mixed verywell in those days because I remember we went toschool with different kinds of people from differentbackgrounds and tribes. In my class then, I schooledwith the children of Shehu Shagari. But now, thistype of mixing up does not happen. And that is whythe society is finding it difficult to have harmony andcohesion. We have to go back to the past.

While growing up, was there a time you were

punished for doing something naughty?There were several instances. I was good in my

academics but also very heady as a child. I rememberthis particular episode where my uncle’s wife said, ‘ifyou don’t wash these plates, you are not going to eattonight’. As a child of six or eight years, if I backed achild, you’ll think am a lady. I knew how to changethe nappies and prepare the baby’s food in a feedingbottle. One day, my uncle’s wife said she would notgive me food because of the pile of plates I failed towash. It was time to go and play football with friendsso I left and abandoned the chore but I was spanked forit. There are several others that I can’t remember butthis one, I can’t forget it. Of course, the next day, I wasnot allowed to go out.

What informed your decision to go intojournalism?

It is the same upbringing with my uncle that mademe like journalism. This is how it happened. I was inTuraki primary school in Sokoto. There was this olderbrother of my friend who was my classmate also. Myfriend’s name is Audu but his older brother’s name isMohammed Kolo. Kolo gave us a letter to go and post.The address on the letter was London School ofJournalism, Fleet Street, London. It was a veryinteresting envelope. We posted it but that nameLondon School of Journalism became embedded in myhead. I began to think about what I will do to qualifyme to read this kind of course. When we came back, Iasked him what it entailed to read Journalism and hesaid it is a course that enables you to work in anynewspaper, radio or television. The interest developed

from there. Before then, I was very intrigued by theradio. As a child, I used to open the back of the radio tosee if possible, who was talking inside. That interestcoupled with the experience of the journalism schoolbecame embedded in my psyche. The third reason isthat my uncle liked newspapers a lot, particularly,the New Nigerian. He would send me to buy the day’snewspaper for him and after reading, he would throwit at me that I should also read. Sometimes I wouldread loudly as if I was a news caster and you can seethat today, I am one. In the secondary school, I was ascience student so I made sure I did not pursue sciencefor a degree. After A Levels in SBS at ABU Zaria, I didChemistry- Biology- Geography as my combinationbut I abandoned them to read Mass Communicationat University of Lagos to pursue my interest. Afterthat, I read political science as a degree; I have aMasters in International Relations and anotherMasters in Sociology. All of these courses go to furtherconsolidate and solidify my position as a journalist,newscaster and current affairs person. You can seethat my not pursuing a science degree was providencebecause if I had done that, I probably would have foundmyself in another profession and I would still bethinking of my earlier interest. But here I am today,pursuing my dream as a newscaster and reporter.

For how long have you been covering theSenate?

I have been covering the senate since the inceptionof democracy in 1999. I was there with my colleagueslike Mark Amarere of AIT. But I left the NationalAssembly in 2002 and went on secondment as head ofcommunications, NEPAD, Nigeria. I came back fromsecondment in 2004 to NTA. In NTA, I was made headof political desk up to 2007. The authorities sent meback to the National Assembly again so I have beenthere since 2007 to date. Between 2007 to date,another portfolio has been added to me. I also head theentire National Assembly desk and the political deskfor NTA.

What are the peculiarities of covering thesenate?

There are a lot in the sense that the NationalAssembly is a theatre for elected politicians. In thecase of the senate, you have 109 of them. In the caseof the House of Representatives, there are 360 of them.So it’s a lot of challenge meeting people of differentbackgrounds, different mannerisms, and experiencesall in one place talking of one thing and somebody likeme reporting for NTA. To make sense of what 109 peoplesay in two minutes for the Network News is a hugechallenge. It is both a challenge and a difficult thing tosatisfy all of them. So the peculiarity there is that first,you cannot satisfy everybody there and secondly, it is abig challenge having to make sense out of what 109people said from 10 am to about 2 pm. I try to get thenews in what they did. So it is a daily challenge and it isjust the grace of God and the experience one has gatheredthat one is able to make sense out of the cacophony ofvoices that one hears every day in the chamber.

Please take us into your personal life. Howdid you meet your wife?

Oh it’s a very interesting one. I owe a lot to God andto the GSM. I did not get to meet my wife immediatelywe started talking. I first saw her through her picturewith her friend. I liked the beautiful face I saw andasked and was told she was a nice lady and all that. Ireceived her phone number in Minna and returned toAbuja. Her friend must have told her she had givenher phone number to someone who would call heranytime. I waited until I finished the day’s job beforeplacing the call at about 11 pm. She responded and wegot talking. Her voice was as lovely as her person whenwe finally met about six weeks later when I went toMinna. We started talking about marriage some sixmonths later.

What do you do with your spare time?Working in NTA is almost a 24 hour job. What I do

mostly is jog every morning and walk brisk walk.Sometimes when I have the time, I go to the gym. I likereading, music and travelling when I have the time.

What is your favourite meal?My favourite meal is any food with lots of vegetables.

As a Nupe man, I like gbegiri soup [beans soup]. InNupeland, when there is a major celebration, it is whatis served. But instead of taking it with amala like theYorubas, we take it with tuwon shinkafa or poundedyam. My wife cooks it for me every time. It’s one of myfavourite meals.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012

WeekendPAGE 41

President Goodluck Jonathan has again urgedthe Super Eagles to win next year’s Africa Cupof Nations in South Africa.

The director general of the National SportsCommission (NSC) Dr Patrick Ekeji dropped thismessage in Abuja at the 2012 FCT SWAN gala andaward night.

He said Mr President has asked the NigeriaFootball Federation (NFF) to return home with thecup, the country won last 1994 in Tunisia.

“The President is not concerned on how the NFFintend to do this, but it must be done, “he said.

The Eagles have won the Nations Cup twice, in1980 and 1994.

Ekeji has also disclosed that the proposed 1.4billion Naira (about $9 million) budget for theAFCON will soon be approved to ensure a hitch-freepreparation for the tournament. He also revealed thatMr President has approved the funds needed forAFCON to enable the NFF prepare the team.

The SWAN gala and award night was the climaxof a week of activities to mark the 2012 FCT SWANweek.

The night saw Godfrey Ali Gaya, Governor LyleImoke and NFF President Aminu Maigari bagdistinguished merit awards.

PrPrPrPrPresident uresident uresident uresident uresident urgggggesesesesesEaEaEaEaEagggggles to winles to winles to winles to winles to winAFCONAFCONAFCONAFCONAFCON

By Albert Akota

Members of the domestic league Eagles in training

Arafat Aliu of 96.9 Coolfm was voted the bestJournalist Radio, Salihu Ibrahim of AIT pocketed theTelevision award, while David Ngogua of Daily Trustwent home with the Best Print Journalist award for2012.

Jossy wants the best for FalconsFormer Super Falcons’ manager, Joseph Ladipo also

known as Jossy Lad has advised the Nigeria FootballFederation (NFF), to look beyond the side technical

crew for Kadiri Ikhana’s replacement.Ikhana departed after he guided the beaten title

holders to their worst performance at the AfricanWomen’s Championship in Equatorial Guinea.

The other crew namely former Nigerian player, RitaNwadike, Charity Enwerem, Bala Mohammed and JustinMadugu have remained silent after the team’s poor outing.

Ladipo said the coaching pedigree of the quartet is indoubt to fit into the shoes of Ikhana.

“I don’t know the coaching pedigree of other Falcons’technical crew. I don’t even know the criteria that fetchedthem the job in the first instance.

“I know Rita Nwadike in her long playing days asdedicated, thorough and disciplined but I’ve not seen heras a coach. I think she just started.

“Maybe the NFF knows more about them than us butI think the task of rebuilding the team is demanding thanany of them can cope with or handle.

“The Falcons’ job is delicate and must be placed in atested and competent hand, an experienced hand, whichhas a template to restore the team to its past glories,” hesaid. The former 3SC board chairman will not join thediscourse over the suitable gender for the senior nationalwomen’s side.

“Male or female coach can handle the team, I’m notaware of any separate coaching laws for either of thesexes. It’s the same except the gender of players thatdiffers.

“In Europe where the gender sensitivity is high theirwomen coaches are more advanced than ours. I don’tknow how many competent women coaches we have inNigeria.

“Of course, Eucharia Uche has proven herself in pastassignments, I think the bottom line is to give the job tomale or female who is competent and able to deliver thegoods,” he said.

Lad was in charge of the Falcons when they first lostthe AWC crown in 2008 in the semifinals to hosts andeventual winners, Equatorial Guinea.

Abutu, Osagie setto join Sharks

Jonah Abutu and Monday Osagie are close tojoining Nigeria Premier League (NPL) side,Sharks for the 2012-13 seasons.

Both players travelled with the Blue Angels’contingent to the city of Calabar, where the teamis expected to hold pre-season camping before thenew term gets underway.

Sharks’ secretary, Cyril Wite, confirmed thepresence of both players in the team tosupersport.com but revealed that no contract hasbeen agreed yet with Abutu and Osagie.

“You know the NPL has not cleared this yet sowe can’t say they have signed for us. But they arepart of our team that just arrived in Calabar forcamping.

“No deal yet in place for either player as this isstill subject to approval,” said Wite.

Osagie is touted as a direct replacement forSenegalese centre-back, Ousmane Pape Sane.

On the other hand, Abutu who featured for rivalPremier League club, Lobi Stars, last seasonshould fill in the vacant central midfield role leftby Kola Anubi who joined Warri Wolves in thisoff-season.

Abutu and Osagie


Olympic 100m bottlethrow: Ashley faces trialA man accused of throwing a bottle at the start of the men’s

Olympic 100m final will stand trial next year.Ashley Gill-Webb, of South Milford, North Yorkshire, was

arrested after the incident in the London Olympic Stadium inAugust.

He has pleaded not guilty to two public order offences.District Judge Jacqueline Comyns, at Thames Magistrates’

Court, granted him conditional bail. He is due to appear for trialon 3 January.

The court heard he had been receiving psychiatric treatmentat Bootham Park Hospital in York after being sectioned under theMental Health Act, but was released on 7 September.

At a hearing on 6 August, he denied using threatening wordsor behaviour with intent to cause harassment, alarm or distressunder Section 4A of the Public Order Act.

Mr Gill-Webb has now also pleaded not guilty to usingthreatening, abusive or insulting words or behaviour or disorderlybehaviour within the hearing or sight of a person likely to becaused harassment, alarm or distress, under Section 5 of the PublicOrder Act.

Donald leads World Tour Championship in DubaiLuke Donald shot an impressive

seven-under-par round of 65 totake a one-stroke lead after the first

day of the World Tour Championship inDubai.

The 34-year-old, who moved up toworld number two after winning inJapan last week, had seven birdies andno bogeys.

World number one Rory McIlroy,

Ashes 2013-14: Gabbawill host opening Testof Australia series

The Gabba in Brisbane will onceagain host the first Test of theAshes winter series in 2013-14.

The opening game of the five-matchseries - the second part of the first back-to-back Ashes since the 1970s - will takeplace on 21 November.

England had been due to head downunder a year later, but the event wasbrought forward to avoid a clash withthe 2015 World Cup in Australia andNew Zealand.

The second Test will take place inthe Adelaide Oval from 5 December,while the Waca in Perth hosts the thirdmatch from 13 December.

The MCG in Melbourne will be thevenue for the fourth Test beginning onBoxing Day and the series will concludeat the SCG in Sydney from 3 January2 0 1 5 .

The schedule matches that of the2006-07 series which Australia won 5-0.

As well as the Test series, Englandwill play warm-up matches againstWestern Australia, Australia A, NewSouth Wales and a Chairman’s XI.

The series will be followed by fiveone-day internationals and threeTwenty20 internationals between thetwo countries, dates of which are to beconfirmed.

Puerto Rican former boxer Hector“Macho” Camacho is clinicallybrain dead after being shot in the

head on Tuesday, doctors say.He was in a deep coma and

unresponsive, the director of thehospital treating him, Dr ErnestoTorres, told reporters.

who missed the cut in Hong Kong lastweek, had five birdies on the back nineand is one of three players sharingsecond.

The final event of the Europeanseason, at the Greg Norman-designedEarth Course on the Jumeirah GolfEstates, is limited to the top 60 money-winners on the circuit this year, butonly 56 were able to start.

He faces the prospect of hunting downLuke Donald and the top two in the worldfighting out the closing tournamentwould provide a fitting finale to anexcellent year for European golf.

Half of the victorious Ryder Cup teamare within three strokes of the lead andthis has the makings of a thrillingtournament.

Camacho declare ‘brain dead’ after shooting

Relatives are expected to decidewhether to remove the three-timeworld champion from life support.

Camacho suffered a heart attackafter being wounded in a drive-byshooting outside the capital, San Juan.

The bullet “damaged three arteriesthat run through the neck and as aresult blood is not flowing well” toCamacho’s brain, he added.

Camacho, 50, was sitting in a caroutside a bar on Tuesday with a friendwhen it was fired on.

His friend, Adrian Mojica Moreno,was killed in the attack. Police say theydo not know of any motives for theshooting.

Camacho fought some of the great

names of boxing - Oscar de la Hoya,Sugar Ray Leonard and Felix Trinidad.

But in recent years he was convictedof burglary, found in possession ofdrugs and the subject of domesticabuse complaints from his former wife.

He continued to box, losing a fightto Saul Duran in May 2010, and hadbeen discussing another bout nextyear.


Chelsea coach looks toget win over Manchester City

WEEKEND FIXTURESBarclays Premier LeagueSunderland v West BromEverton v NorwichMan Utd v QPRStoke v FulhamWigan v ReadingAston Villa v ArsenalSundaySwansea v LiverpoolSouthampton v NewcastleChelsea v Man CityTottenham v West Ham

French Ligue 1PSG v TroyesAS Nancy v AC AjaccioSochaux v NiceBastia v LorientReims v BrestRennes v Evian TGSundayMontpellier v BordeauxToulouse v LyonMarseille v Lille

German BundesligaBayern Munich vHannover 96Schalke 04 v EintrachtWolfsburg v WerderBremenMainz v BorussiaDortmundGreuther Furth vNurnberg SundaySC Freiburg v VfBStuttgartTSG Hoffenheim v BayerLeverkusenAugsburg v BorussiaM'gladbach

Italy Serie APalermo v CataniaSundayAtalanta v GenoaChievo v SienaPescara v RomaSampdoria v BolognaTorino v FiorentinaAC Milan v Juventus

Spanish Primera LigaRayo Vallecano v MallorcaValladolid v GranadaMalaga v ValenciaReal Betis v Real MadridSundayEspanyol v GetafeAthletic Bilbao v DeportivoAtletico Madrid v SevillaLevante v Barcelona

SundayCAF Confederation CupAC Leopards v Djoliba

Pos Team P W D L GF GA GD Pts1 Man City 12 8 4 0 25 10 15 282 Man Utd 12 9 0 3 29 17 12 273 Chelsea 12 7 3 2 24 13 11 244 West Brom 12 7 2 3 19 13 6 235 Everton 12 5 5 2 22 16 6 206 Arsenal 12 5 4 3 23 13 10 197 West Ham 12 5 4 3 15 12 3 198 Tottenham 12 5 2 5 20 21 -1 179 Fulham 12 4 4 4 25 22 3 1610 Swansea 12 4 4 4 18 16 2 1611 Liverpool 12 3 6 3 17 16 1 1512 Newcastle 12 3 5 4 13 17 -4 1413 Norwich 12 3 5 4 9 18 -9 1414 Stoke 12 2 7 3 10 11 -1 1315 Sunderland 11 2 6 3 10 12 -2 1216 Wigan 12 3 2 7 12 21 -9 1117 Reading 11 1 6 4 14 19 -5 918 Aston Villa 12 2 3 7 10 22 -12 919 Southampton 12 2 2 8 18 30 -12 820 QPR 12 0 4 8 9 23 -14 4

Messi nears Mueller goals recordSuperstar Lionel Messi, having

taken his 2012 goals tally to80 in midweek, can close in

on German great Gerd Mueller’sall-time record of 85 in a calendaryear tomorrow.

The Argentinian had alreadysurpassed Pele’s total of 75 goals in1958 and a double at SpartakMoscow on Tuesday, whenBarcelona secured their spot in theChampions League last 16,further boosted his hopes.

With his La Liga-leading sidetravelling to Levante tomorrow,Messi now has eight matches leftbefore the Christmas break inwhich to break Mueller’s record of85 goals in 1972.

Levante will be difficult place

to go for Barca as Real Madrid canvouch after scraping a late 2-1 winthere two weekends ago.

A 2-0 win at Deportivo LaCoruna last weekend saw Levantemove into a Champions Leagueposition in fourth, and in ObafemiMartins they have pace that Barcawill be wary of.

The Nigerian ex-Newcastleand Inter Milan striker has hit fivegoals in eight league games thisseason since his summer movefrom Rubin Kazan.

Second-placed Atletico Madridentertain Sevilla just before Barcaplay, knowing that a win will pilepressure on Messi and histeammates.

There are three points between

the two sides who have both maderecord-breaking starts to theseason.

Barca have dropped only twopoints to date in the 2-2 draw withReal Madrid, while Atletico havelet just five slip.

Atletico have won every homegame but Sevilla arrive in thecapital full of confidence after the5-1 thrashing handed to theirlocal rivals Betis last Sunday.

Meanwhile, chasing hard inthird position, eight points behindBarca, are Real Madrid who go toReal Betis on Saturday on the backof five straight league wins andChampions League qualificationachieved with Wednesday’s 1-1draw at Manchester City.

Rafael Benitez can boost hisstanding among theChelsea fans skeptical about

his appointment as interimmanager by masterminding avictory over unbeaten leadersManchester City in the Premier

League tomorrow.After nearly two years out of

management, Benitez wasbrought in Wednesday to replacethe fired Roberto Di Matteo with

Chelsea’s league challengefaltering and a successful defenseof its Champions League titlelooking unlikely.

A lot has changed since Benitez

last worked in the Premier League- the final game of his six-year stintat Liverpool was in May 2010 -and that includes the emergenceof big-spending City as a force.

After winning the title lastseason, City have climbed back tothe top of the standings and arefour points ahead of third-placeChelsea going into the match atStamford Bridge.

Manchester United, who aretoppled by City after a surprise 1-0 loss at Norwich on Saturday, hostlast-place Queens Park Rangers. Ahome victory could be the finalstraw for fired QPR manager MarkHughes - a former United player.

City’s first loss of last seasoncame at Chelsea, and if theEuropean champions can repeatthose exploits 11 months ago,Benitez would go a long way toconvincing those supporters whodoubt whether his hiring until theend of the season is an upgradefrom Di Matteo.

Argentina striker SergioAguero has scored in each of hispast four matches after a low-keystart to the campaign, while CarlosTevez has netted six times already

Chelsea have suggested theywill not be offering anapology to referee Mark

Clattenburg after he wascleared of using racistlanguage towards John ObiMikel.

Clattenburg will return toaction as fourth official forSpurs versus West Ham onSunday and will then refereeSouthampton v Norwich onWednesday.

Both Clattenburg andProfessional Referees’ Unionspokesman Alan Leightonhave criticised Chelsea’sdecision to go public with theircomplaint, with the clubbriefing the press room littleover an hour after the gameagainst Manchester United onOctober 28.

Chelsea’s decision to go tothe press created a media stormand left Clattenburg’sreputation in tatters, eventhough he has now been toldthere is no case to answer afterthere was found to be noevidence to back up Ramires’claims.

However, when asked ifChelsea would be offering theofficial a full apology, Chelseaspokesman Steve Adkins said:

“We are pleased that the FArecognise the claim lodged byRamires was done in good faith.

No apology forClattenburg racistabuse on Mikel

in the league, looking a differentplayer to the one that spent mostof last season on strike.

Liverpool manager BrendanRodgers makes his first return toSwansea since leaving the Welshclub for Anfield in the offseason.Southampton host Newcastle andTottenham are at home to WestHam.

Hughes sacked asQueens ParkRangers manager

QPR have sacked manager MarkHughes with the club bottom

of the Premier League after 10months in charge.

Mark Bowen and EddieNiedzwiecki will take charge for thematch away to Manchester Unitedtoday. The club said that it wouldmake “a further announcement indue course” with formerTottenham boss Harry Redknappfavourite to take charge at LoftusRoad. Hughes’s final match incharge was a convincing homedefeat by fellow strugglersSouthampton. The Hoops’ onlymanaged to preserve the PremierLeague status on the final day oflast season and, despiteimplementing a massive overhaulof his squad during the summer,Hughes’ team have continued tostruggle.

The Spaniard was unveiled to the world for the first time - follow hismaster plan to stay at Stamford Bridge longer than six months...


P.I.C.T.O.R.I.A.L

Chelsea have suggested they will not be offering an apology to Mark Clattenburgafter he was cleared of using racist language towards John Obi Mikel

Brendan Rodgers believes Liverpool’s defensive frailties were again exposed asthe Reds twice surrendered the lead to Young Boys. Elsewhere, Newcastle progressas Spurs stumbled

FIFA previews the AFF Suzuki Cup which commences thisweekend with the biannual south-east Asian tournament typicallypromising large fervent crowds and high tempo football.

India'sChetesh-warPujaraagaindefiesEnglandwith anelegantcenturyon dayone ofthesecondTest inMumbai.

Dan Carter suffers aleg "twinge" intraining and couldbe a doubt for New


Javelin: A speed builder

D u r i n g the era between theMycenaean times and the RomanEmpire, the javelin was a

commonly used offensive weapon. Beinglighter than the spear, the javelin would bethrown rather than thrust and thus allowedlong distance attacks against one's enemy.Athletes, however, used javelins that weremuch lighter than military ones because theidea of the event was to demonstratedistance rather than penetration. The onemajor difference between the javelin of theancient games and the javelin of moremodern times is a leather thong, called anankyle that was wound around the middleof the shaft. Athletes would hold the javelinby the thong and when the javelin releasedthis thong unwound giving the javelin aspiraled flight.

Unlike other throwing events, javelinallows the competitor to build speed over aconsiderable distance. In addition to the coreand upper body strength necessary to deliverthe implement, javelin throwers benefit fromthe agility and athleticism typicallyassociated with running and jumping events.Thus, the athletes share more physicalcharacteristics with sprinters than withother, heavier throwing athletes.

Traditional free-weight training is oftenused by javelin throwers. Metal-rodexercises and resistance band exercises canbe used to train a similar action to the javelinthrow to increase power and intensity.Without proper strength and flexibility,throwers can become extremely injuryprone, especially in the shoulder and elbow.Core stability can help in the transferenceof physical power and force from the groundthrough the body to the javelin. Stretchingand sprint training are used to enhance thespeed of the athlete at the point of release,and subsequently, the speed of the javelin.At release, a javelin can reach speedsapproaching 113 km/h (70 mph).

Rules for Throwing a JavelinThe javelin throw is one of four throwing

field events. The javelin is a spearlikeinstrument that is thrown by the athlete intoa designated space known as the throwingsector. Originally used by hunters as a wayof procuring food, the javelin throw hasexisted as a competitive sport since the daysof the ancient Greeks. Both men and womenworldwide compete in the javelin throw.

EquipmentThe javelin is made of three parts: the

head, the shaft and the grip. The shaft andhead are made of metal. The shaft may be ofsolid or hollow construction and must besmooth throughout. The head comes to asharp point and may be reinforced. The gripmust cover the center of gravity of thejavelin. The grip must be universal inthickness and be no more than 8 mm thickerthan the diameter of the javelin. The javelintapers from the grip to the tip and tail. Menuse javelins weighing 800 g while womenuse javelins weighing 600 g. The overalllength of the javelin varies, with womenusing a javelin that is 2.2 m to 2.3 m longand men using a javelin that is 2.6 m to 2.7m. The javelin may not have any movingparts.

Legal ThrowThe javelin must be held by the grip and

thrown over the shoulder or upper part ofthe arm. In the javelin throw, athletes runup the runway before rotating their hips ahalf turn and making the final powerful steps

By Augustine Aminu with additionalinformation from Wikipedia

to hurl the javelin forward into the sector.The release must be from behind the arc,which is the curved line that separates therunway from the sector. The javelin mustland headfirst within the sector. The throwermust not allow his body to rotate through afull turn during the approach. Furthermore,the athlete should not turn his back to thethrowing sector until after the release of thejavelin. Unorthodox throwing styles are notpermitted.

Throwing AidsTaping of the hands and fingers is not

allowed other than to protect an injury.Athletes may use chalk to assist in the gripof the javelin. A support belt is alsopermissible.

Foul ThrowAn attempt may be classified as a foul

throw if a legal throw is not used or if theathlete touches the arc, also known as thefoul line; run-up lines, which outline therunway; or the area outside the foul line orrun-up lines before the release of the javelin.A throw is considered a foul if the athletedoes not hold the javelin by the grip or if the

javelin does not meet regulations. If theathlete crosses the foul line or leaves therunway before the javelin hits the ground, itis considered a foul throw. If the javelin landson or outside of the sector lines, the throw isclassified as a foul.

MeasuringA judge inside the sector determines

the nearest point of first contact of thejavelin. The throw is then measured fromthis point to the inside edge of the arc.Measurements are made immediately aftereach throw.

D


FocusI plan to build cleft and facial surgerycentre in Nasarawa, says Sen. AdamuRecently, former governor of Nasarawa state, now senator representing Nasarawa West at theNational Assembly, Alhaji Abdullahi Adamu, sponsored a free cleft and facial deformity surgeryfor about 60 less privileged members of the society at the Federal Medical Centre (FMC) Keffi. In thisreport, Ali Abare Abubakar in Lafia, examines how the lawmaker is reaching into the depth of hishuman compassion, to give back to the society, by bringing succour to victims of facial deformity.

Sen. Adamu, Dr. Yahaya Ubam, Head, clinical services and Dr. Bello putting heads together at thefunction.Sen. Adamu, Dr. Yahaya Ubam, Head, clinical services and Dr. Bello putting heads together atthe function.

The crowd that gatheredpenultimate Friday at thewaiting hall of the ante

natal clinic at the Federal MedicalCentre, Keffi, generally exuded anair of festivity much rather unlikethat to be expected in such afacility, where mostly the afflictedconverge to seek succour fromvarious forms of ailment troublingthem.

Mothers cuddling their babies,young men suppressing theirdiscomfiture and deformity buthigh on expectancy, huddled onthe wooden benches, peering asthey await the entrance ofdignitaries, which includedamong them no less a person than,Sen. Abdullahi Adamu, formergovernor of Nasarawa state, whoin his characteristic manner, isreaching out to them in a waythat will not only transform theirlives but allow them live a normalexistence.

The occasion was the formalopening ceremony of a free cleftand facial deformity surgeryprogramme, ran by a non-governmental organisation, theCleft Care Foundation (CCF) andamong the waiting crowd areabout 60 afflicted persons, men,women, and children, with 22 ofthem having already benefitedfrom the free surgery.

The CCF, according to Dr.Seidu Adebayo Bello, director andconsultant maxillofacial surgeon,was conceived to serve as a

platform to actualise the dream ofservice to humanity. That it is aninitiative borne out of the believethat Nigerian professionals shouldwake up and stop depending onforeigners to take care of the lessprivileged in the society. Addingthat the foundation has in its folda conglomerate of FCT basedvolunteer professionals capable ofconducting surgeries on childrenand adults that are afflicted withfacial clefts.

In a speech he delivered at theoccasion, Dr. Bello, described cleftlip and palate (CLP), a conditionaffecting most of the people whoturned up at the event, “as thecommonest congenitaldeformities of the craniofacialregion”, which he said is acondition that affects everypopulation of the world, stressingthat it affects 1 in every 700children all over the world, withthe deformity said to be occurringas a result of disturbances of growthbetween 5 to 12 weeksintrauterine life of a foetus, whichcould be due to genetic orenvironmental factors, includingradiation, malnutrition, drugs,alcohol, etc.

While listing forms of the facialdeformity to include; NOMA,which occurs as a result ofchildhood mouth disease that isoccasioned by under nutrition,various facial tumours and TMJankylosis (locked jaw), which heidentified as major source of social

members of the foundation firstcontacted him, seeking for him tojoin them in their quest to bringsuccour to the less privilegedmembers of the society afflicted byCLP, in spite of his initialreservation, “the human being inme, got the better part of me and Isaw the need to give back to thesociety through the sponsorship ofthis programme.”

While expressing his gratitudeto God for being part of theprogramme, he acknowledgedthat several persons in the stateand particularly in hisconstituency, Nasarawa west,have been afflicted by facialdeformity and that he is willing tofoot the bill for CCF to come to Keffiand carry out the operation, evenas he lamented the lack of aconducive environment toactualize the programme.

He said he took it upon himselfas a duty to make sure that all thatis necessary to see to theactualisation of the ideals of thefoundation is put in place, bankingon the cordial relationship heenjoys with the management ofthe FMC Keffi, who are willing tocollaborate by facilitating for thefoundation to use facilities at thecentre to carry out the surgery.

Sen. Adamu stated that hedirected the director of thefoundation to contact the chiefmedical director of the FMC andthat if he is willing to provide thefacility, “Iam will to provide thefinance”, so that the programmeshould take place in Keffi.

As a humanitarian gesture, theformer governor emphasised,even though the programme isbeginning in Keffi, and if turns outto be a success, “I said to them, youcan extend it to Lafia andAkwanga”, stressing thateverything in life has a beginning,a starting point and that Keffi isonly the starting point before thefoundation will spread its work to

other parts of the state, to bringsuccour to people affected by facialdeformity.

To crown it all, whileexpressing gratitude for theturnout of beneficiaries, as well asmanagement of the hospital forallowing the use of the facility,Sen. Adamu turned to face theCMD of the medical centre, Dr.Gyang, who sat beside him at thehigh table and said, “God sparingme and if the FMC can provide aspace, Iam willing to build a cleftand facial deformity surgerycentre, so that my people cancontinue to enjoy the facility.”

To the beneficiaries, he had aword for them, urging them notto be ashamed of their conditionbut come out to take advantage ofthe free surgery and to abide bywhat medical advice they will getfrom doctors working for thefoundation.

Sen. Adamu traced theprevalence of CLP among thepeople to “illiteracy andtraditional practice and beliefs,which he said, has furthercompounded problems that are notso difficult to handle, with victimsso ashamed they fail to come outto the public for treatment.

He appealed to the elites toextend the appropriate medicaladvocacy to make the peopleunderstand that such deformitiesare curable, with improvedtraining and facilities at medicalcentres across the country, urgingthem to volunteer, as a matter ofduty to humanity, to serve aspointers and guides, to those whomay be afflicted by facialdeformity and showing themthese are maladies that can behandled.

Earlier on, in a bid to showappreciation for his kind gesture,Dr. Bello of the CCF, designatedSen. Adamu as the Cleft CareAmbassador, for coming in toalleviate the plight of the people.

In a vote of thanks, Dr. YahayaUbam, head, clinical services atthe FMC, expressed gratitude tothe former governor for reachingout to help the less privileged inthe society, by making it possiblefor the CCF to carry out cleft andfacial surgery, while expressingthe willingness of the hospital tocollaborate with the lawmaker tosee that a centre for cleft and facialsurgery is established in Keffi.

Some of the beneficiaries, whocould not wait to show theirgratitude, took turn to hail Sen.Adamu for his gesture. Mrs. RitaEze, a mother and resident ofMararaba, who came to the centrecuddling her four year olddaughter, thanked the lawmakerfor making it possible for herdaughter to live a normal life,having benefited from the freesurgery.

dislocation in the society, Dr. Bellolisted the objectives of CCF as; tosensitize the populace on thescourge of CLP as well as other facialdeformities; to assist thepredominantly poor victims in therepair of clefts; promotingresearch in CLP and establishinga facial deformity hospital toprovide free care for the poor.

Thus, the expectant crowdgathered at the ante natal clinic,who mostly have been affected byone form of facial deformity or theother, awaited in unabated joy, formembers of the foundation to givethem succour through conductingfree cleft and facial deformitysurgery, made possible by Sen.Adamu, who, out of compassion forthe plight of the victims, decidedto sponsor the entire exercise, withabout 60 patients expected tobenefit.

In an address at the function,Sen. Adamu recounted that when

One of the beneficiaries

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25 NOVEMBER, 2012 PAGE 47

From the PulpitHow old are you? (II)I started this message last week

using Gen 47:7-10 as my maintext. Today, I want to bring you

the concluding part. In the first part, Ibegan to talk about what Jacob meantwhen he said in that Scripture that thedays of the years of his pilgrimage were"one hundred and thirty years; few…and they have not attained to the daysof the years of the life of my fathers inthe days of their pilgrimage."

Evil daysJacob also said something else

about his days on earth. "The days ofthe years of my pilgrimage are onehundred and thirty years; few and evilhave been the days of the years of mylife, and they have not attained to thedays of the years of the life of my fathersin the days of their pilgrimage.'" (Gen47:9 NKJV) In addition to describingthe days of his pilgrimage on earth asfew compared to those of his fathers,Jacob also described the days of hisyears as evil. Part of the prayer of Jesusin the Lord's Prayer is deliverance fromevil. (Matt 6:13 Luke 11:4)

How evil were the days of his life?Jacob must have reflected on hisjourney in life and the challenges hehad faced before coming to Egypt.Jacob was the man who ran away frombeing killed by his brother afterdefrauding him to collect his father'sblessing. (Gen 27:41-46, 28:1-5)

Jacob was the man who served for14 years just to marry a wife, Rachael,who many years later died at childbirth. (Gen 29:15-30, Gen 35:16-19)Jacob was the man who served adubious uncle and father -in-law,

GREENGREENGREENGREENGREENPPPPPASTURESASTURESASTURESASTURESASTURESBy Pastor T.O. Banso

[email protected]: 08033113523

Laban, who reduced his salary tentimes and he would have left Labanempty handed but for God's mercy.(Gen 31:7-9, 13)

Jacob was the man who mourneda supposedly dead son for over 13 years.(Gen 37:30-35, 42:36-38) The evil andsorrow of life could have made Jacoblook older than his true age when hestood before Pharaoh. The Bible doesnot tell us why pharaoh askedsomebody he was seeing for the firsttime, "How old are you?" Could it bethat he looked aged, haggard? Probablythat's why Jacob had to explain thathe was not as old as his father. Couldthat be the reason?

But truly troubles of life, grief, trials,or the vicissitudes of life can make onelook older than one's age if one doesn'thave a positive attitude towards thechallenges of life. You should agegracefully and not awkwardly. I believeMoses aged gracefully. Deut 34:7 says,"Moses was one hundred and twentyyears old when he died. His eyes werenot dim nor his natural vigordiminished." (NKJV)

Troubles are part of humanexistence. (Job 14:1) The psalmist criedin Ps 25:17 "The troubles of my heartare enlarged. Oh bring thou me out ofmy distress." (ASV) Life is full of troublesbut God is able to deliver you if we putyour trust in Him. Job 5:19 says, "Heshall deliver you in six troubles, yes, inseven no evil shall touch you." (NKJV)

Are you looking older or younger?How old are you? Are you looking

older than your real age or younger?Don't let the troubles of life age you.

Don't let them weigh you down therebyaffecting your health negatively. Ps34:19-20 says, "The righteous facemany troubles, but the LORD rescuesthem from each and every one. For theLORD protects them from harm - notone of their bones will be broken!"(NLT) Have faith in God. Cast yourburden upon Him for He cares for you.(1 Peter 5:7) Don't be a worrier! Takeall your burdens to the Lord in prayer."Always be full of joy in the Lord. I sayit again - rejoice! Let everyone see thatyou are considerate in all you do.Remember, the Lord is coming soon.Don't worry about anything; instead,pray about everything. Tell God whatyou need, and thank him for all he hasdone. If you do this, you will experienceGod's peace, which is far morewonderful than the human mind canunderstand. His peace will guard yourhearts and minds as you live in ChristJesus." (Phil 4:4-7 NLT) Worry can'tchange anything; it will only impactnegatively on your health. Jesus said,"Can all your worries add a singlemoment to your life? Of course not!And if worry can't do little things likethat, what's the use of worrying overbigger things?" (Luke 12:25-26 NLT)

Prov 12:25 says, "Worry weighs aperson down; an encouraging wordcheers a person up." (NLT) Don't letworry over the challenges of life weighyou down. Child of God, disallow thesuffering you go through from takingits toll on your health. "But even if yousuffer for doing what is right, God willreward you for it. So don't be afraid anddon't worry. Instead, you must worship

Christ as Lord of your life. And if youare asked about your Christian hope,always be ready to explain it." (1 Peter3:14-15 NLT)

If you're going to age gracefully, youmust also not abuse your body eatingfood that don't do your body good. Avoidso called beauty treatment thateventually destroys your body. Avoidalcohol. Avoid smoking. It is surprisingthat despite the de-marketing of tobaccoconsumption via the advertisement thatthe Ministry health warns that thosewho smoke cigarette are liable to dieyoung, many have chosen to die youngby their continued smoking of cigarette.Avoid eating what can reduce yourhealth and eventually abbreviate yourlife; don't abuse your body. "Do you notknow that you are the temple of Godand that the Spirit of God dwells in you?If anyone defiles the temple of God, Godwill destroy him. For the temple of Godis holy, which temple you are." (1 Cor3:16-17NKJV) How old are you?

TAKE ACTION!If you are not born again, I urge you

to take the following steps:*Admityou're a sinner and you can't saveyourself and repent of your sins.*Confess Jesus as your Lord andSaviour. *Renounce your past way of

life - your relationship with the deviland his works. *Invite Jesus into yourlife. *As a mark of seriousness tomature in the faith, start to attend aBible-believing, Bible-teaching church.There you will be taught how to growin the Kingdom of God.

Kindly say this prayer now: "0Lord God, I come unto youtoday. I know I am a sinner andI cannot save myself. I believethat Jesus is the Son of God whodied on the cross to save me andresurrected the third day. Iconfess Jesus as my Lord andSaviour and surrender my lifeto him today. I invite Jesus intomy heart today. By this prayer,I know I am saved. Thank youJesus for saving me and makingme a child of God"

I believe you have said this prayerfrom your heart. Congratulations! Youwill need to join a Bible believing, Bibleteaching church in your area where youwill be taught how to live your new lifein Christ Jesus. I pray that you flourishlike the palm tree and grow like thecedar of Lebanon. May the Lord makeyou a Cedar Christian. May you growinto Christ in all things becoming allGod wants you to be.

FFFFFAITHAITHAITHAITHAITHDISCOURSEDISCOURSEDISCOURSEDISCOURSEDISCOURSE

WITH

Pastor W. F. Kumuyi

Nehemiah 3:1-32

N e h e m i a h was a wise,intelligent, diligent anddetermined believer who

laboured in prayer and building for therestoration of lost glory. Thus, to achievehis goal, he recognised the need to labourand partner with the wise, hardworking,faithful, courageous, noble, zealous,passionate, single-minded andpurposeful people. We must watch thekind of company we keep. When we liveand relate with champions and nobles,our thoughts, ideas and thinking willbecome noble. But those who enjoywalking with lazy, indolent, ignorant,unfaithful, careless, carefree and scornerswho are resistant to God’s word cannotbe committed to getting His work done.

Through commitment, Nehemiahand his brethren repaired the gates andbuilt the walls of Jerusalem. There is stilla gate for us to repair today. This gaterefers to the church and the congregationof God’s people. The house of God is thegate of heaven, a place where believersare prepared for heaven. It is necessaryfor us to take a cue from Nehemiah andstart building our gates today. In buildingthe gates of salvation, repentance,righteousness and life eternal, we mustlearn from their cooperation,coordination and concentration untilthey finished the task. It is only people ofpraise, power and purity that can buildfor God’s glory. Nehemiah and hisbrethren repaired those gates andrestored them to their original state,security, height, beauty and glory. Theyalso fortified the walls. We need to riseand build our personal lives, faith, family,church and ministry the Lord has givenus.

1. GOD-GIVEN RESPONSIBILITY

DEMANDING THE SAINT’SCONSECRATION

Nehemiah 3:1-6,8,9,12; Jeremiah45:5; John 3:30; Philippians 3:13;Nehemiah 2:20; 4:19-23.

Nehemiah had a great responsibilitywhich he concentrated on. He dividedJerusalem into two for easy completionof the work. The people did not questionhis action because they believed he wasled by God and did everything for theirinterest. Believers should avoid arguingon non-essentials and concentrate on thework the Lord has given them to do.There are seven lessons we need to learnfrom Nehemiah: (1) Devotion to theLord. Nehemiah recognised that hisdevotion was to God, not to any man orhimself. He knew his calling was fromthe Lord. Hence, he gave the workadequate concentration to get it done. Weshould be devoted to building the gate ofministry, righteousness and purity.Devotion to the Lord entails that we doeverything to His glory. (2) Decision anddirectives by Leadership. The portion foreach worker was assigned, recorded andsupervised by Nehemiah and leadersdelegated by him. Each section was builtaccording to the same standard andspecification to meet the expectation of aperfect piece. Nehemiah had the wholepicture of the work in his mind. There isa global picture of God’s work. Leadersshould help believers who are engagedin different sections to bring the work toglobal perfection and limit. We shouldgive the leadership the liberty andfreedom to give direction and takedecision. (3) Division of Labour. Thepriests, Levites, rulers, merchants,tradesmen, families all took their sharein this glorious work. Selfishness hasmade some believers to be too over-protective. They don’t want anybody to

interfere with their area of work in theministry. This kind of attitude isdetrimental to getting the task of the greatcommission done. We should beconcerned about the eternal destiny ofsinners and collectively carry the messageof hope to them. Division of labour withthe spirit of unity helped Nehemiah andhis brethren to get the task done.Everyone was happy when the differentsections were making progress in thework. There was no rivalry or disputeamong people working in the differentsections.

(4) Dedication to their Lot.Concentration is an important principlein Christian work. The greatest resultswere achieved because God’s peoplecontinued to expend all their energytowards the divinely assigned work. Itis of greater consequence to do one thingwell than to do many thingsindifferently. A man of one Book, onegoal, one ministry and one pursuit willsucceed. (5) Demonstration of Loyalty.No man is omnipresent. AlthoughNehemiah was not everywhere at thesame time, through loyalty from thepeople they were able to face theirenemies squarely. Through loyalty,they expressed their purpose to buildthe wall and they proceeded

immediately to carry out the resolutionto build the fallen capital to restore thelost glory. (6) Discernment by theLeadership. There was discernment onthe part of the leadership to enlist thosewho had the mind to work. AlthoughNehemiah was new in town, he wasable to recognize those with contraryspirit. We must have Nehemiah’s kindof discernment so that we don’t committhe work of God in the hands of peoplewith contrary spirit. The labour of thehand is not acceptable when notaccompanied with the circumcision ofthe heart. To take part in God’s work,our hearts must be circumcised. (7)Devotion of the Leader. As a leader,Nehemiah was dedicated and devotedto the work. He did not abdicate hisoffice or responsibility: he wasconstantly available until the work wascompleted. He was an exemplaryleader who laboured with the people.

2. GLORIOUS RESTORATIONTHROUGH SUSTAINEDCONCENTRATION

Nehemiah 3:16-32; Judges 8:4;Acts 14:21,22; 26:19-22; Revelation2:25,26.

Nehemiah and his people had amind to work. And through sustainedconcentration, they were able to finish it.

When the work of God is divided for usto be able to finish it within a specifiedperiod, we don’t need to argue assanctified people. Sanctified people areselfless: they do not engage in carnalcomparison or judgmental spirit. LikeNehemiah and his people, we must makeourselves available and continue with thework of God until it is finished. This isnot the time for relaxation and recess indoing God’s work. Leaving the workundone is dangerous. We must rejectevery form of tiredness, fearfulness,discouragement, disappointment,pressure, conflict, pain or pleasure andcontinue with the work. The Lord expectsus to continue with His work till Hecomes.

3. GREAT REVELATION FOROUR SOLEMN CONSIDERATION

Nehemiah 3:1; 13:4-9; Jude 1:3.Christ’s warning that the first shall

be last and the last shall be first calls forsolemn consideration. The departure ofEliashib, the priest, from the faith andgoing into alliance with Tobiah towardsthe end of his life and ministry shouldbe given a serious thought by everybeliever. He used his privilege as onehaving the oversight of the chamber ofthe house of God to make a place for theenemy in God’s house. As believers, weshould be watchful so that we will notabandon Christ and His word, and teamup with the anti-christs and falseprophets in the latter part of our livesand ministry.

It is dangerous when believerscompromise or shift ground to suit theirselfish interest. We must not enlist peoplewith contrary spirit into God’s work. Wemust uphold the same standard ofteaching and preach the same message ofsalvation to sinners.

Commitment to the restoration of lost glory

The Almajiri (I)SATURDAY 24 — SUNDAY 25, NOVEMBER, 2012

BIG PUNCHBIG PUNCHBIG PUNCHBIG PUNCHBIG PUNCH

'Remain conscious of God andHe will teach you.' (Quran 2:282)

In continuation of ourdiscourse of peacefulcoexistence and religious

harmony in Nigeria we sense theneed to focus our attentionmostly on Northern Nigeria.This region is at least threequarters of Nigeria, in size, inweight, in prestige, in values, inhistory, in potentiality. Yet it isthe most dysfunctional part ofNigeria - non performing,derelict, in disarray. The reasonis obvious: absence of educationand prevalence of ignorance.The most 'iconic' image ofNorthern Nigeria is the Almajiriand it is from here we start ourdiscourse. Who is an Almajiri?One of them is Abu Ali al HusseinIbn Sina.

Born in 980, Ibn Sina, knownin Europe as Avicenna, starts hiseducation with theQuran,which he commits tomemory at the age of ten. Assuch he most eminently qualifiesas Almajiri. So devoted is he thattowards the end of his life, hewould recite the whole of theQuran once every three days. At13 he starts learning medicine,at 16 he begins treating patients,one of whom is his Head of State,the Samanid Caliph, Nuh ibnMansur, by curing him of adangerous ailment. He turnsdown the royal offer of a job inthe palace which would havemeant an unlimited access to theseat of power as well as ampleprivilege, wealth, influence.After consuming almost theentire content of the RoyalLibrary, he leaves. His supremegoal at this tender age is toadvance his knowledge. Afterall, he is an almajiri parexcellence: 'How,' as MichaelMorgan beautifully puts it, 'heloved being at large in the racksand racks of manuscripts, withthe soft rustle of pages, the smellof leather and paper and ink, allthat knowledge, all thatpossibility.' Had he succumbedto the invitation of the ruler, hewould have spent his whole lifein the State House, enjoying thelucre of office, teaching adoringstudents, treating the mightyand the wealthy, enjoying allthe fun of being at the corridorof power: 'he could have put inthe required time in court,' toquote Morgan, 'laughing at theEmir's awful jokes, guzzling hiswonderful free wine, winking

“To make sure that the bill sails through, I discussedwith President Umaru Yar’adua the difference betweenthe bill and what the Constitutin says and he was exitedand looked forward to being the first President to presentthe State of the Nation Address”– Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu accusingPresident Jonathan of killing the State of the Nationaddress bill since the death of his predecessor

WEEKENDWEEKENDWEEKENDWEEKENDWEEKENDIbraheem Sulaiman

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Pathfinders, adds that Ibn Sinateaches the world many 'aspectsof modern medical textbook inthe way it describes causes, typesand forms of all kinds offractures, along with methods oftreatment' aside from the factthat he is indeed the firstphysician 'to advocate what wenow know as delayedsplintage..a respected idea inmedicine today...and also how todeal with a fracture to the firstmetacarpal bone, which moderntextbooks describe as 'Bennett'sfracture' after the man whosupposedly "discovered" it in1882, nearly nine centuriesafter Ibn Sina's description.'

Above all, however, Ibn Sinais remarkably prescient,sometimes ahead of his time byalmost a thousand years,'uncannily right about somethings, still valid in the 21stcentury,' as Morgan observes.One example is his idea ofphysical exercise, which hedescribes as the instrument oflife for the human body, so muchso that with regular exercisemany diseases would be avoided.Wikipedia quotes what Ibn Sinasays in his Canon: 'The value ofexercise includes the following

(1) it hardens the organs andrenders them fit for theirfunctions (2) it results in a betterabsorption of food, aidsassimilation, and, by increasingthe innate heat, improvesnutrition (3) it clears the poresof the skin (4) it removes effetesubstances through the lungs (5)it strengthens the physique.Vigorous exercise invigoratesthe muscular and nervoussystem.' On the whole, Ibn Sinawrites: 'Exercise is that agentwhich most surely prevents theaccumulation of food in thebody, and prevents plethora. Itrenews and revives the innateheat, and imparts the necessarylightness to the body, for itcauses the subtle heat to beincreased and daily disperseswhatever effete substances haveaccumulated. Exercise keeps thejoints and ligaments firm, so asto be always ready for service,and also free from injury. Toforsake exercise would oftenincur the risk of "hectic", becausethe instinctive drives of themembers [of the body] areimpaired, inasmuch as thedeprivation of movementprevents the access to them ofthe innate breath.' Ibn Sina

the parade of female dancers andentertainers, regularlychecking on the Emir's state ofhealth, helping him with hishangovers, his depression, hisoccasional bouts of venerealdisease contracted from animproper liaison.' No, the youngman has a more sublimeambition, he desires to fuse thedivine, the Quran - alreadyengraved in his heart,stimulating and energizing thebrain, elevating and ennoblingthe heart - perfectly with thehuman, that masterpiece calledintellect. What eventuallyemerges as Ibn Sina is theproduct of that fusion.

At the time of his death in1037 as he approached the ageof 58, Ibn Sina has written about450 treatises, of which 240 havesurvived. Of these, 40 are onmedicine and pharmacology,150 on philosophy, and the restshared between astronomy,alchemy, geology, mineralogy,theology, metaphysics,psychology, logic, physics,mathematics, music and poetry.George Sarton, in The History ofScience, rates Ibn Sina as 'themost famous scientist of Islam,and one of the most famous of allraces, places and times.' For athousand years, Sarton addsfurther, 'he has retained hisoriginal renown as one of thegreatest thinkers and medicalscholars in history.'

Michael Morgan, in LostHistory: The Legacy of MuslimScientists, Thinkers and Artists,has given a gist of Ibn Sina'sphenomenal gifts to the world inthe field of medicine. Foremostis that he gives medicine aformal structure for the firsttime, while his genius lies in thefact that he transforms thehuman body into somethingthat can be understood - like anyother physical phenomenon - interms of casual chains of eventsthat lead to various states ofhealth, illness, and disease. Hegives to the world more than700 drugs, discoverstuberculosis as an infectiousdisease, describes in greaterdetail the anatomy of the humaneye. He teaches the world aboutmeningitis, about the causes ofrabies, breast cancer, tumors,about toxins and their antidotes,germs and viruses, and aboutnumerous physical andbiological conditions, such asulcers, kidney disease, facialparalysis. Jim Al-Khalili, in

insists on good and healthy diet.'The meal,' he writes, 'shouldinclude: (1) meat especially kidof goats; veal, and year-oldlambs [this means white meatin today`s terms] (2) wheat,which is cleaned of extraneousmatter and gathered during ahealthy harvest without everbeing exposed to injuriousinfluences (3) sweets (fruits) ofappropriate temperament.'Wikipedia concludes: 'From theabove reading, it is clear that IbnSina gave advice in his bookwhich is still the same advicemedical doctors give to theirpatients. Daily PhysicalExercise; and to defeat diseasessuch as type 2 diabetes, highblood pressure, the prescriptionof a diet which contains highamounts of Whole Grains andlittle to no amounts of RefinedCarbohydrates.'

In his practice of medicine IbnSina seeks to bring mind and bodytogether, operating, according toMorgan 'from the essentiallyMuslim belief that it is morenatural for humans to be healthythan unhealthy and that diseaseis the result of some disturbanceof the natural state.' He thereforeadvances the principle that evenunhealthy ideas, emotions, andstate of mind can also affect thebody. Ibn Sina's greatest and mostenduring work on medicine is his14 volume medical encyclopedia,Al Qanoon Fil Tibb, or Canon ofMedicine. George Sartondescribes the work as: 'Animmense encyclopedia ofmedicine. It contains some of themost illuminating thoughtspertaining to distinction ofmediastinitis from pleurisy;contagious nature of phthisis;distribution of diseases by waterand soil; careful description of skintroubles; of sexual diseases andperversions; of nervous ailments.'Dr. William Osler, calls it "amedical bible for a longer timethan any other work', while in theeyes of Arnold C. Klebs Canon ofMedicine is 'one of the mostsignificant intellectualphenomena of all times.' It was thestandard medical text in Europeand Muslim world for about sevenhundred years - 'an extraordinaryshelf life,' observes Jim Al-Khalili'for an academic text, particularlyas it also supplanted the writingsof Gelen and Hippocrates, the twogiants of Greek medicine.'

This Almajiri is universallyacclaimed as PrincepsMedicorum, Prince of Physicians.

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Peoples Daily Newspaper, Saturday 24, November, 2012

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Transcript of Peoples Daily Newspaper, Saturday 24, November, 2012