Peoples Daily Newspaper, Thursday 16, May, 2013

www.peoplesdailyng.com

Vol. 10 No. 99 Thursday, May 16, 2013 Rajab 7, 1434 AH N150 . . . putting the people first

Army shutsnation’s borders

3,000 troops arrive BornoShettima urges calmSenators divided

Nasarawa: Body of police commissioner found >> 6

2015:Jonathanfree to run— NLC

Emergency rule

Nigeria needsN335bn to fixpower — FG >>6

150 Nigerianstudents strandedin Russia >>5

Fertiliser pyramid at the official launch of 2013 wet season fertiliser sale to farmers, yesterday at Bungudu local governmentcouncil in Zamfara state. Photo: NAN

President of the NigeriaLabour Congress (NLC),Abdulwaheed Omar, has

declared that President GoodluckJonathan has every right to seekre-election in 2015.

Omar who spoke withnewsmen in Ibadan yesterday saidthat the NLC did not see anythingwrong if Jonathan decides to runfor contest for re-election.

“It is now up to Nigerians, theelectorate, to decide if he hasperformed well to vote for him.

“As far as I am concerned, as aNigerian and the sittingpresident, Jonathan can contestfor the highest position which isthe Presidency.

“It is up to President GoodluckJonathan and the government toensure that we have free and fairand credible elections, credibleand acceptable to the people.

The NLC chief howeverexpressed reservations at thepolitical development in Riversstate describing it as treasonable

Contd on Page 2

From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

In furtherance of President Goodluck Jonathan'sTuesday’s declaration of state of emergency inthree states in the north east and subsequent

directive to deploy troops to the affected states, theNigerian Armed Forces, the Police and other securityagencies have commenced operations to rid the nation’sborder territories of terrorist bases and activities.

By Lawrence Olaoye, Joy Baba, IkechukwuOkaforadi, Abuja and Mustapha Isah Kwaru,Maiduguri

Contd on Page 2

CONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSNews 2-10

Editorial 12

Op.Ed 13

Letters 14

Opinion 15

Metro 16-18

Business 19-22

Stockwatch 23

S/Report 24-25

Earth 26-27

Update 28-29

Feature 30

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PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2013PAGE 2

Army shuts nation’s bordersThis development is aside

massive deployment of troops,armoured tanks, combathelicopters and other militaryhardware into Maiduguri, theBorno state capital whichcontinued yesterday withdivisions of the security forcestaking strategic positions at theareas identified as epicentres of theBoko Haram insurgent group.

Our correspondents reportedthat that the large scale militarydeployment which actuallystarted since Monday, has causedfears and apprehension among theresidents of the town even asGovernor Kashim Shettima in astate-wide radio and televisionbroadcast last night urged citizensto remain calm and pray for God’sintervention in the securitychallenges plaguing the state.

It was gathered that well over3000 troops have been deployedso far to Borno state to completethe efforts of the about 5,000members of the Joint Military TaskForce (JTF) in on ground.

It was also observed that thenewly deployed security forceswho arrived in heavy dutymilitary vehicles and patrol vans,were being stationed temporarilyat the JTF headquarters at thePomponari Ward, fordocumentation and otherformalities.

Army fortifies bordersGiven the reported porous

nature of the nation’s borders, thethe Director of DefenceInformation, Brig-Gen ChrisOlukolade, said in a statementyesterday military operationacross the borders will focus ontracking down criminal elementswithin communities prone toterrorist activities.

The statement also explainedthe operations which will involvemassive deployment of men andresources is aimed at asserting thenation’s territorial integrity andenhancing the security ofconstituted governmentalstructures in all territories withinNigeria’s borders.

According to Olukolade, theoperational plans have briefedparticipating troops appropriatelyon arrests, cordon and search,especially directed atapprehending those who havebeen violating sovereignty ofNigeria through terrorist training,for insurgency and related

activities.The statement noted that the

operation is expected to put an endto insurgent activities in theseparts of the country.

Olukolade assured law abidingcitizens that every effort has beenput in place to ensure safety ofcivilians and non-combatantswhile the operation lasts whileurging them to cooperate withtroops and supply necessaryinformation on criminal andterrorist activities or movement intheir localities as the operation isintended to safeguard the nation’sinterests and citizens in all parts ofthe Federation.

Hunting down Bornoinsurgents begins

However as at yesterday, thesoldiers, backed by over 30armoured tanks and armouredpersonnel carriers were dividedinto four groups and despatched toMarte, Mafa, Gamborou-Ngalaand Bama local government areaswhich are the epicentres of theinsurgency, security sources said.

Beside Bama which is locatedin Borno central zone, all the otherareas are within the northernsenatorial zone of the state.

It was also learnt that anotherset of troop was moved to theSambisa Games Reserve, inDamboa local governmentcouncil, in the southern part of thestate, where the insurgents aresuspected to have set up a base andtraining camp.

Peoples Daily observed that thetroops in over a 100 patrol vehiclesmoved towards Mafa axis, causibgserious traffick jam along thehighway.

The impending crack down onthe insurgents is expected to be thepeak of Federal Government’sdetermination to flush out themilitants as the troops weredirected to extend deadlyoperations deep into the desertwhere the gunmen are suspectedto be hiding, a security source said.

Despite the massivemovements of military personnel,the atmosphere in Maiduguri wasnot as tensed as residents were seengoing about their normal activitiesunhindered.

And contrary earlier fears, thenormal security situationremained unchanged, ourcorrespondent further observed.

Meanwhile, some residents ofthe city who expressed theiropinions on the emergency rule aid

felony.“From what I read yesterday

and today, they are trying towithdraw security agents fromthe state governor and membersof the state House of Assembly.That would amount to treason.“The legislators and the governorwere duly elected by the people.”

According to Omar, theGovernor, Rotimi Amaechi, andthe lawmakers were elected bythe people.

“They are not there at themercy of anybody and the law

Contd from Page 1

that they have been living under“state of emergency” for the lasttwo years, describing the action asnot strange.

“I don’t think there is anydifference between what we wereexperiencing before and what weare seeing now after thedeclaration of state of emergencyas the conditions have always beenthere.

“The checkpoints, therestriction of movement, the fear,so, there is really no difference”, aresident, who gave his namd as AriMadu told our reporter.

Shettima commendsJonathan, urges calm

Also yesterday, Shettima in thebroadcast solicited for moreprayers from entire residents, forthe restoration of peace to the stateeven as he urged them to supportand cooperate with all the securityagencies who are charged with thesole responsibility of tackling theBoko Haram insurgency.

According to the Governor, “inthis trying moment, I urgeeverybody to fervently pray forthe return of peace to our dearBorno state and in all other parts ofNigeria, to pave the way for rapidrecovery and the socio-economictransformation that we sodesperately seek to put in place asa government.”

He commended Jonathan forexercising his constitutionalpowers to proclaim the state ofemergency in the area, as heexplained that the developmentfollowed the spate of killings anddestructions of property whichravaged the state.

As Shettima put it, “it is theconstitutional responsibility of thePresident to take such measuresand it is also the duty of anyresponsible state government tosupport lawful efforts that willguarantee the security of lives andproperty.

“It can never be the wish of anydemocratic government to havethe military directly involved inthe affairs of any federating unitexcept for unfortunate and painfulcauses.

“As the military leaders havesaid in discourses, the armory ofthe Nigerian soldiers is not meantto fight fellow Nigerians, thearmory is meant to protect fellowNigerians.

“I have directed the StateMinistry of Home Affairs,Information and Culture to work

out public safety enlightenmentprogrammes that should beregularly featured on the Bornostate Television and Radio while Iurge our partners and friends inother media organizations residentin the state to help in educatingcitizens on public conducts at thisdifferent time that we facetogether.”

Senators canvassdivergent views

Senators yesterday canvasseddivergent views on theproclamation of emergency rule inthe Borno, Yobe and Adamawastates as Deputy Senate President,Ike Ekweremadu, said that thoughthe measure was a welcomeddevelopment in the interim, thenation needs to find a lastingsolution to its security challenges.

In a statement issued by hisSpecial Adviser on media, UcheAnichukwu, Ekwerenmaduadvocated for reorganization ofNigeria's policing system toguarantee the security of lives andproperty of Nigerians.

According to Ekwerenmadu,“while a state of emergency iswelcome as a first aid in tacklingthe security challenges, my standhas always been that we have toreappraise how we organize ournational security as a federalentity, especially our policingsystem to guarantee the securityof lives and property in every partof the country.”

While expressing hope that thestep would not only help to arrestthe escalating insecurity in theaffected states, he noted that it willalso correct the misgivings aboutemergency rule arising fromprevious unconstitutionalapproaches to implementation ofemergency rule.

In a similar development,Senator Ali Ndume who hails fromBorno state claimed that the Senatedid not know the content of theemergency declaration.

“We hope that this is not goingto be like adding salt to injury andwe hope that it is part of theextraordinary measures thatgovernment has to take in order tobring an end to this problem. hesaid.

"But now, the Commander-in-Chief has taken over direct chargethrough either his representativeor whatever to ensure security inthose places.

“In other words, it is like theArmed Forces taking over from thecivil police that are charged withthe responsibility,” he said.

But Senator Victor Lar, saidthat the President had not doneanything that is sanctioned by theConstitution.

He however said that fromexperience of what happened inPplateau, declaration of state ofemergency rule does not work toeffectively bring about peace.

Lar explained that it does notwork in the sense that during thedeclaration in Plateau, the statekept experiencing insurrections,arguing that the essence of thatdeclaration was for the Presidentto have the platform to channelresources and deploy securityapparatus in a manner that would

provides that they are secureand must be provided withsecurity.

“Nobody has the right towithdraw their security and ifanybody does that, it will amountto the highest crime against thisnation and it means we are nolonger practising democracy.

“It is anarchy and it is onlyduring military government thatsomebody can just decide towithdraw the security of ademocratically elected executivegovernor, which would betreasonable,” he said.

Omar described the politicalheat in the country occasionedby preparations towards 2015polls as normal anywhere in theworld, as, according to him, “asthe general election approaches,the polity will be heated up.

“What we should be on thelookout for is what people will besaying and how they would goabout carrying out theiractivities.

“As long as things go thenormal way, whereby freedom ofexpression and association areguaranteed to everybody.”

2015: Jonathan free to run — NLC

Contd from Page 1

Contd on

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2013 PAGE 3

Remains of the two pilots of Nigerian Air Force who died in a crash in Niger Republic,Squadron Leader Benjamin Ado and Flying Officer Ayuba Layelmeson being lowered intothe grave, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: NAN

State of emergency tosafeguard the nation’ssovereignty, says Tukur

Meanwhile, the PDP NationalChairman, Alhaji BamangaTukur, yesterday explained whyJonathan resolved to declare a stateof emergency in Adamawa state.

Speaking while receiving somejournalists from Kaduna, Tukursaid the consideration of thegovernment was that since Bornoand Adamawa are geographicallycontiguous, it made a lot of sense toengage terrorists within the zonesbroadly in an attempt to break theirnetwork and areas of stronghold.

According to him, both thesouthern Borno and the northernAdamawa share close affinity insocial life, ethnicism, religion,commerce and trade, such that thegovernment needed to create acorridor and a buffer zone forengaging the terrorists in the twoaxis.

Tukur said it was incumbent onthe Federal Government torecourse to a preventive approacheven in the fight against terrorists,a reason he said Adamawa fell inthe list of states of the north to besafely protected if the State ofEmergency should work.

He said: “Mr. President took thelast option of declaring a State ofEmergency because the terroristwere becoming more daring. “Theywere even planning to declare astate of their own and thesehappened because many of usbelieved that the menace ofterrorism has been a problem forthe north alone."

Tukur also called on all thegovernors of the federation tomonitor heir borders so as to guideagainst spill over from the affectedstates as the security agenciesdeployed would flush the insurgentsout. He urged them to join in thewar against insurgents for theemergency declared to workeffectively.

According to him, Borno, Yobeand states would be feeling the heatof the State of Emergency at themoment, all states of the federationmust begin to guard their boarders,as a proactive measure for limitingthe scope and space for operations ofterrorists.

Army shuts nation’s bordersput the situation under control.

“I would not want to bepessimistic but we hope that someof those pitfalls like non-paymentof salary of workers of localgovernments that we experiencedin Plateau State would not bereplicated in the three States.

"Like the non-funding andassistance of States governmentwith the funds for fundingsecurity operations would not berepeated in those other States.", hesaid.

Meanwhile, he expressed hopethat the declaration would bringlasting peace to the affected States,calling on the security operativesto be prepared to rise up to theoperational exigencies that maycrop up in the course of executingthe emergency.

Meanwhile, the official letternotifying the National Assemblyof the decision to declare a state ofemergency in the three states isexpected to be received tomorrowby the lawmakers forconsideration and approval.

Contd from Page 2

Don’t approve emergencyrule, ACN urges NASSThe Action Congress of

Nigeria (ACN) hasdescribed the declaration of

a state of emergency in Adamawa,Borno and Yobe States by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan as lacking inoriginal thinking, and thereforeasked the National Assembly toreject it.

In a statement issued in Abujayesterday by its National PublicitySecretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed,the party said if the use of force wascapable of ending the Boko Haramcrisis, it would have done so a longtime ago.

It said while the President wasright in expressing outrage overthe mindless killings and wanton

destruction by the insurgents, hewas wrong in proposing more of thesame measures that have failed toyield results.

''If the medicine given to apatient has not cured his or herillness, is it not futile to prescribemore of the same medicine for thepatient? If the declaration of a stateof emergency in 15 localgovernment areas in four states in2011 has not curbed the activitiesof the insurgents, why extend suchmeasure to other areas? If the useof force in the affected states havefailed to curtail the activities of theinsurgents, why send in moretroops?

''There is nothing new in thePresident's action. It is more of thesame: deployment of more troops

to the affected states and the use oftougher, scorched-earth tacticsagainst the insurgents. In the firstinstance, this stepped-upmilitarization of the statesamounts to an asymmetric use offorce in an environment where theinsurgents operate within acivilian population, hence it willultimately be counterproductiveas the death toll will continue tomount while the civilianpopulation – who will be caught inthe cross fire - will be alienated.

''Secondly, the President shouldgo ahead and disband thecommittee he recentlyinaugurated and saddled withreaching out to the insurgents,because by opting to flood the stateswith more troops under an ill-advised emergency rule, he hassucceeded in pulling the carpetfrom under the Committee's feet.Who negotiates genuinely with agun to his head?

The committee's job is over, themembers can as well pack up andgo home.

''Thirdly, one hopes thePresident's action is not linked to thepolitics of 2015. With the threestates militarized, there can neitherbe electioneering campaign norvoting there. We had warnedearlier that as 2015 approaches, theJonathan Administration willincreasingly take measures thatwill make it impossible to holdelection in many states.

“The over militarization ofsome states in the north, the planto destabilise the South-west usingslush funds from the so-called oilpipeline protection contract andthe infantile threats from someNiger Delta militants seem to bepart of this plan.

''Fourthly, what happens if andwhen the declaration ofemergency rule fails to stem the

violence, now that the Presidenthas gone for broke and played hislast card?

''In view of the reasons statedabove, we hereby reject thedeclaration of emergency rule inthe three states of Adamawa,Borno and Yobe, and we call on theNational Assembly to also reject itand not allow itself to be used torubber stamp a declaration that islargely cosmetic.

''We reiterate our earlierstatements that the Boko Haramcrisis has its roots in years of badgovernance that have produced anarmy of unemployed,unemployable, disenchanted anddemoralized youths who are nowready hands and willing tools forthose seeking to perpetrate violence.The unprecedented corruptionacross the land, as well as injusticeand extra-judicial killings are alsofuelling this crisis,'' ACN said.

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

The Nigerian policeyesterday said they hadfound six pregnant teenage

girls in a raid on a house andarrested three people suspected ofplanning to sell their babies.

It was the second so-called baby-factory uncovered in a week in thecountry.

“We acted on intelligenceinformation and raided the housein Enugu (city) where we met sixgirls, under 17 and all pregnant,and freed them,” policespokesman Ebere Amaraizu inEnugu state said.

He said two men and a womanbelieved to be operating a childtrafficking ring were arrestedduring the raid on Monday andwere cooperating with police.

Amaraizu said the girls hadbeen “lured into the house with a

Police uncover second‘baby factory’

promise of some money after”delivering a child.

“Investigation will unravel thedetails. We have to know how theycame about the pregnancy andwhere they came from,” he said.

Monday’s raid came five daysafter police in nearby Imo Statefreed 17 pregnant girls and 11small children from a home in thetown of Umuaka.

The girls aged between 14 and17, told police that they had beenimpregnated by a 23-year-oldman who is currently in custody.

The owner of the building is onthe run.

Nigerian police have uncovereda series of alleged baby factories inrecent years, notably in thesoutheastern part of the country,but the intended buyers of thechildren have not been established.

petroleum profit tax.From the sectorial breakdown

of funds available for distributionfor the month under review,revenue from mineral sector stoodat N544.755 billion against theprojected N465.057 billion whilethat of the non-mineral sector wasN76.315 billion againstN158.711 projection in thecurrent budget.

The breakdown also shows thatthe distributable statutoryrevenue for the month was put atN531.332 billion with anargumentation of N92.436 whichbrings the total statutoryallocation to N623.768 billion.

Also distributed is the sum ofN7.617 billion refunded by theNigerian National PetroleumCorporation (NNPC) for themonth.

FG, states, LGs shareN721.505 billion for April

The Federation AccountAllocation Committee(FAAC) yesterday

announced the sharing of a totalsum of N21.505 billion among thefederal, state and localgovernments, as total revenuedistributable for the month of April.

According to a communiquéby the Chairman of the committeeand Minister of State for Finance,Dr.Yerima Lawal Ngama, by thetechnical sub-committee of FAACon the Federation Account, afterits meeting in Abuja, shows thegross revenue of N621.070 billionreceived for the month was higherthan the N 595.708 billionreceived in the previous month byN25.362 billion due to increasedearnings from domestic crude and

By Stanley Onyekwere

PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2013

President Goodluck Jonathan hadcut short his trip to Namibia toaddress the carnage back home

- the police had lost about 100 men inNasarrawa state. Mr president hadleft for South Africa after a four-dayTown Hall meeting that dovetailedinto the World Economic Forum.

Nigeria needs foreign investorsand president Jonathan is touring theworld to bring these investors to aland where not only civilians areunder the lenses of "unknowngunmen", but also the helpless lawenforcement officers left to scoop forthe bodies of their colleagues.

In case President Jonathan dragsin the likes of Donald Trumph or evenCarlos Slim, who safeguards theirinvestment? No sound businessmanwill be willing to inject his funds, nomatter how small, in to a communitywhere basic social amenities - water,power and transport stands belowpoor; insecurity - kidnap, smugglingand sectarian crisis has permeated theterritory.

The idea of Nigerians having aninconsistent president is no morenews; this has been affirmed by manyand even governments from theAmericas. The U.S mission in Nigeriahad to lead the way for anindependent investigation on theBaga genocide before our Presidentthinks otherwise, a regime that wasinitially carried away in mediatingbetween the figures from the RedCross and the Nigerian Army.

In fact, situation was still tensewhen the necessity of a town hallmeeting in South Africa carpeted thelives of hundreds of Nigerians civiliansand law enforcement personnel alike.

Let's take suit and make livessecondary as the FG has made it. Themost worrisome is the inability of thisregime to keep to its words, words noone forced them to pronounce andcommitments that shouldn't be issuesin the first place.

We have lived to understand that"too much of everything is bad",especially in leadership, be it power,politics and the paraphernalia of ademocratic government.

For nascent economies like ours,it is a wise decision to bring in helpinghands - technology and funds, but itis wiser to provide an enablingenvironment to accommodate andsustain potential foreign investmentwhen wheeled in.

Here we have a leader that perfectscampaign to swim in shallow waters,a call in futility and championed bydoctored figures to reflect a growingeconomy, growing economy we don'tfeel, see or touch. This is the growingeconomy being sold to Nigerians indiaspora to appreciate in a bid to lurethem to partake.

Our economy has grown so big thatno fewer than eighty (80) ministers,Governors and CEO's had to carrydown to South Africa for exhibition.Mammoth trips like this have beenheld while Nigerians pose by the tapwaiting results to quench their thirst.

Mr President in 2012 was inCanada as an observer with about200 delegates for the G8 summitwhere half a billion was said to havebeen spent on the mission, he alsograced the UN Conference onsustainable development in Brazilwith a delegation of 116; The UNESCO

First ladies "youth infusion" summitin Maryland USA, World CustomsConference held in Brussels is amongother foreign trips cutting deep intotax payer's money.

The nation expects much from aleader who had in his January speechsaid: "overseas travel by all politicaloffice-holders, including thepresident, should be reduced to thebarest minimum. The size of thedelegation on foreign trips will alsobe reduced". This promise was notmade on your behalf; neither did youmake them at gunpoint. The presentfigure does not translate to "barestminimum" especially with as many as40 aides - personal and social on mostoccasions.

The 2013 budget is to gulp N2.6billion, leaving one to contemplatingif the Presidency is about a globaltour, space missions inclusive. Onlythis volume of contingent justifies

such provision for travel expense fora country with economic deficitsNigeria's level.

It is high time Mr President thinksbig for the betterment of all. His latestjaunt to South Africa was supposed tobe a return visit made by PresidentZuma. Zuma was here just for one daywith an ultra slim team. Surely SouthAfrica has more interest as its stake inNigeria heaps a great deal for thenation, with major brands in Nigerialike Supermarket chain - Shoprite,Telecoms giant MTN and Lagos -Johannesburg route is said to be themain sustainer of South AfricanAirlines.

If the reverse was the case betweenSouth Africa and Nigeria, perhapsPresident Jonathan will simply annexthe South African nation as a colony.

It is not clear who foots the bills ofthe top Chief Executive Officers whomade the train with Mr President but

L-R: Minister of Foreign Affairs, Olugbenga Ashiru, Governor Seriake Dickson, President Goodluck Jonathan, GovernorPeter Obi, Minister of Finance Ngozi Okonjo Iweala, Minister of Power, Chinedu Nebo at the town hall meeting inSouth Africa.

Mr President in 2012 was in Canada as anobserver with about 200 delegates for the G8summit where half a billion was said to have

been spent on the mission, he also graced theUN Conference on sustainable development in

Brazil with a delegation of 116

“

By Abdulkadir Isa

obviously, Duty Travel Allowance andother expenses in foreign trips havebeen “adulterated” with dubiousclaims.

At present, ministers get as muchas N35, 000/day as DTA and the SouthAfrica trip had ministers in attendancefar into double digits; ministers ofFinance, Petroleum resource,Education, trade and investment,Power, Agriculture among otherswere present. Also governors PeterObi of Anambra state and Bayelsacounterpart Seriake Dickson werepresent for the four-day jamboree.Accommodation for these "first classcitizens" and their aides is also anothersuction pipe out of public treasury.

Time to look in the direction ofvisionary leaders is long overdue;ours must act as expected in line withpurpose. If South Africa can host theWorld Economic Forum, what stopsus from vying for the same or similarprograms? Doesn't it pay morebringing the investors to see forthemselves rather than take sheets ofpaper to them?

If Mr President cannot drive us togreater heights, he shouldn't drainpublic purse, the rubble at home hasmade our major policy decisions amatter for foreigners to intrude andthis does not spell a good omen for theprosperity of this nation. The messageis clear and our president needsbinoculars. For now, PresidentJonathans' regime holds an entouragerecord.

Driving foreign investmentwith entou-Large


L-R: Minister of Agriculture, Dr. Akinwumi Adesina; Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Senator Anyim Pius Anyim; andMinister of Works, Mr. Mike Onolememen, during the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye.

Over 150 Nigerianstudents who are on theFederal Government

scholarship in Russia havepractically turned to begging inorder due to lack of payment oftheir allowances.

This revelation was made bythe leader of the Association ofthe Federal GovernmentDoctoral Candidates in Russia,Godwin Ezinkwo, during aninteractive session with theHouse of RepresentativesCommittee on Diaspora Affairs.

He informed the committeethat for six months now, theyhave not been paid theirallowances, a situation that madethem to beg their counterpartsfrom other African countries, forsustenance.

According to him, the studentsalso suffer in terms ofaccommodation because most of

150 Nigerian studentsstranded in Russia

By Umar Muhammad Puma

them are yet to pay for theirhouses, adding that theycurrently face eviction.

“Russia is a very hostilecountry in terms of weather andother things.

“It is very embarrassing anddifficult to cope and Nigerianstudents are now leaving at themercy of other Africanscholarship students like Ghana,Zimbabwe.

“They lend money to us. So,Nigerian students are likebeggars, it is as bad as that and it

is demeaning begging fellowstudents from oother Africancountries.

“We also have to bring up theissue of accommodation. Theagreement in its raw formprovides accommodation forstudents but unfortunately someof the host countries do nothonour this agreement.

“Students are made to pay foraccommodation but they areunable to pay because theirstipends and remittances forabout six months.

“As I speak to you now,students are going to be evictedfrom their hostels because theycannot pay for theaccommodation.

“We have the issue of medicalinsurance because the allowancesfor all these have not beenremitted, students are also goingto be evicted as you cannot stayin somebody’s hostel if you arenot medically certified,” he said.

He further noted that theyhad written several letters to seethe Nigerian Ambassador to

Russia in order to have a one-on-one interaction with him on theirplight, but in vain.

Ezinkwo who stated thatthere are about 150 under-graduate and 10 post-graduatestudents currently studying inRussia on Federal Governmentscholarship said that it was theworst form of scholarship by theNigerian government.

Chairman of the committee,Abike Dabiri-Erewa, whoexpressed dismay at therevelation assured that the Housewould do everything within itspower to unravel the matter inorder to help the students.

“It is shameful that Nigerianstudents that are sent onscholarship to other countrieshave resorted to begging.

“It is really a sadcommentary. You don’t deservethis kind of treatment. We shouldbe ashamed that this ishappening. How can you be goodambassadors if you’re treatedthis way?

“We are going to do our work.“We will meet with the

Ministry of Education and therelevant stakeholders and findout what the real situation is,”she said.

The House ofR e p r e s e n t a t i v e syesterday vowed that it

would ensure that the 2013budget is implemented to theletter.

Chairman of the HouseCommittee on Finance,Abdulmuminu Jibril (PDP,Kano state), gave the assuranceat the opening of a capacitybuilding workshop organized tostrengthen members of thecommittee.

He stressed that it is theresponsibility of the House towork on budgets presented bythe Executive before anyappropriation could be made

adding that the there wereissues in the 2012 budgetwhich they would not allow tobe repeated.

“We want to ensure that thevery right percentage weexpect in terms ofimplementation is achieved for2 0 1 3 .

“We are still looking at thesituation very properly but itis more convenient to drawsome conclusion with theexperience that we had in2012” .

“For 2012, from thebeginning to the end of theyear, of course at the level ofCommittee on Finance, wegave out to the parliament and,

of course the country, theentire collections. “Everyquarter, we bring out thefigures and in actual collectionsand so many instances, targetswere surpassed, that was whyour position at then was thatthere was not any excuse whythe budget shouldn’t have beenimplemented to the fullest.

“For 2013, we are notexpecting anything less andthe budget was presented to theparliament early enough.”

“We are saddled with a lotof responsibilities as year-in-year-out, we have to do thenecessary modifications to theMedium Term ExpenditureFramework.

“We also have to take ourtime to build the revenueframework for the budget,which is the projection ofincome of the entire country.It’s when we finished our ownexercise that appropriationcommittee can now allocateresources,” he said.

Earlier in his openingremarks, the Speaker AminuWaziri Tambuwal, hadexpressed appreciation to thecommittee for its work.

He said that the Housewould always facilitate thework of the committeeconsidering the critical roles itplays in the affairs of theparliament.

Reps vow to monitor 2013 budget implementationBy Umar Muhammad Puma

From Yusha’u Alhassan, Jalingo

Taraba state governmenthas donated six Hiluxvehicles to the Nigerian

Army in Takum and the policeCommand in the state.

Presenting the keys of thevehicles on Tuesday to thecommanding Officer in Takumand the Commissioner of Police,the Acting Governor, AlhajiGarba Umar, commended effortsof the security personnel for theircommitment to the maintenanceof peace of peace in the state.

According to Umar, theadditional vehicles will improvesecurity surveillances and rid thestate of hoodlums andperpetrators of evil acts.

Speaking to newsmen afterthe presentation, theCommanding Officer of the ArmyBarracks, Takum, Lieut-ColonelNsikaka John Edet, thankedgovernment for the gesture.

Also speaking, the stateCommissioner of police JubrilAdeniji said the provision of thevehicles would enhance theefforts of security agencies byresponding promptly to crisessituations.

Adeniji regretted that duringthe recent Wukari crises, thepolice could not reach some of theareas the area because ofinadequate

Tarabadonatesvehicles toArmy, Police


Robbers kill three in Kwara banks raidAbout 20 armed robbers

invaded three commercialbanks in Omu_Aran, head

quarter of Irepodun localgovernment area of Kwara state onTuesday night, killed three peopleand escaped with an unspecifiedamount of money.

It was gathered that the bandits

stormed the town around 6: 30 pmas sporadic gun shots rent the air inan operation that lasted for morethan an hour.

Eye witness accounts said thatthe robbers attacked the policedivision and deflated the tyres of thepolice armoured tank packed outsidethe station.

The armed robbers were said tohave thereafter invaded First Bank

From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin Plc, Union Bank and Ecobank ,allalong Aperan way in the town usinggrenades and dynamite to break thedoors of the the bank's vaults.

An accountant with Union Bankidentified as Gade and a driver werekilled in the course of the robberyattack.

Also a member of a vigilante inthe town identified as Dapo (aliasIgbin) was also gunned down before

L-R: Director, Admin and Human Resources, National Primary Health Care Development Agency (NPHCDA), Hajiya Aishatu LamiAbubakar; Executive Director/Chief Executive Officer of NPHCDA, Dr. Ado Muhammad; Director, Planning Research and Statisticsof NPHCDA, Dr. Abdullahi Mohammed, and Dr. Claribel Abam, during the national stakeholders meeting on PHC review, yesterdayin Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

NigerianeedsN335bnto fixelectricitypower

Minister of Power, Prof.Chinedu Nebo, hasdisclosed that Nigeria

needs not less than N335 billionto have what he descdribed asa "new super national grid,"adding that about 8000engineers are required by thepower sector to revive it.

Nebo disclosed this whilespeaking at a meeting with theSenator Phillip Aduda-ledSenate Committee on Power.

He pointed out that theengineers working in theministry, aside beinginsufficient, are also agedpeople who are physically weakto climb electric poles andcarry out other functions.

According to him, "thecountry's electricity sectorpresently suffers a huge deficitin terms of availability ofengineers.

"The sector needs at least,8,000 engineers to make thesector functional."

Nebo, who lamented thedecay in the sector, saidsomething urgent needed to bedone to save the sector fromimminent total collapse,adding, "what is being donepresently is mere patching."

He cited the example ofUghelli, in Delta state which hesaid was formerly generated400 megawatts but hasdropped to a mere 120megawatts.

"The same neglect ishappening in the humanresources because for 16 years,there has not been a singlehiring of engineers needed tohandle the aging equipment.

"There is a need to beef upthe entire system. Somethingshould be done." Nebo said.

He appealed to the Senate tostrengthen the sector to avoidfurther drops in powerdistribution, adding that whatwas operational now can onlyguarantee 5,500 megawatts.

"If international donoragencies see that reputablecompanies are investing in thepower sector, they would beencouraged to put their moneyin the transmission anddistribution of power", he said.

Senator Aduda assured thatthe Senate would doeverything possible to ensurethat money was available inorder to keep the powertransmission companies alive.

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

the robbers escaped with anunspecified amount of money.

Reacting to the report, theyouths from the town stormed theOmu-Aran police division as well asthe Area Commander office toprotest the robbery invasion.

A police patrol vehicle was alsoset ablaze by the youth while thepolice had to response with tear todisperse the protesters.

In his reaction, the Kwara StatePolice Command through the PolicePublic Relation Officer (PPRO) DSPOlufemi Fabode, said that "theKwara State Police Commandregrets to that some hoodlums orarmed robber gang attacked the abranch of First Bank, Union Bankand Eco-Bank of at Omu Aran townand made away with an undisclosedamount of money.

"The police in Omu Aranengaged the armed robbers in gunbattle and the robbers threwexplosives to the mobile patrol vehiclewhile on the mission to stop them.

"One of the mobile patrol vehicleswas set ablaze, two of the banksofficials and a vigilante man werekilled by the armed robbers," thePPRO said.

Nigeria, Cuba committed to bilateral commission

Nigeria and Republic of Cubahave agreed to strengthentheir bilateral relationships,

including exchange programmes onhealth, education , sports and culture,to improve the standard of living oftheir citizens.

Similarly, the parliaments of bothnations will exchange programmes onlegislations in order to make commonlaws that to facilitate the bilateralrelations.

Senate President, David Mark, andthe Cuban Ambassador to Nigeria,Hugo Ramos Milanes, who arrived at

the agreement in a parley in Abuja,pledged to work towards strengtheningthe bilateral relations between the twocountries in a manner that would beeconomically and socially beneficial totheir countries.

In his speech, Mark recalled thatNigeria and Cuba have a lot of socio-cultural affinity that should beharnessed for the benefit of both nations.

He noted the exploits and excellenceof Cuba in the fields of medicine, healthand education, requesting forcontribution to make Nigeria a centreof excellence.

Mark promised that Nigeria wouldin turn assist Cuba in areas where she

has comparative advantage, especiallyin areas of football and other sports.

Earlier, the Cuban Ambassadorsaid he was in Nigeria to seek waysand means of improving andstrengthening existing bilateralrelations between the two countries,in a manner that will yield mutualbenefits to the citizens.

He disclosed that at the moment,about 2000 Nigerians are in the Cubanuniversities, pointing out that about500 of them are studying medicine.

While promising to help Nigeriaimprove on health and education,Milanes requested Nigeria to help Cubaimprove on soccer.

Nasarawa killings: Body ofPolice Commissioner foundBy Lambert Tyem

The search and rescueoperation team deployedto Alakyo forest, scene of the

recent massacre of policemen bythe Ombatse militia group inNasarawa state yesterdayrecovered the body of AssistantCommissioner of Police (ACP)Mohammed Momoh who led theill-fated security Competent policesources said that Momoh'smutilated corpse was recoveredalongside other bodies of slain

policemen security men and weretaken to hospital in Lafia.

Reports also indicatedyesterday that the earlier casualtyfigures which the police gave maynot be accurate as Peoples Dailyfindings revealed that all the 61anti-riot policemen from theMobile Police Squadron N0. 38 inAkwanga could not be accountedfor.

The Police and the StateSecurity Service had put thenumber of dead or missing securitypersonnel at 56 comprising 46

policemen and 10 SSS operativesbut sources at the Akwanga MobliePolice Base said that none of theant-riot policemen mobilized forthe operation survived the attackby the militia group.

According to one of thesources, "apart from the 61MOPOL officers who weredeployed from Akwanga, none ofwhom survived the Ombatseattack, others were also mobilizedfrom the MOPOL sub-base in Lafiaincluding men of the state CIDwho are still missing."

It was gathered also that theofficer in charge of the Base hadbeen summoned to the ForceHeadquarters by the Inspector-General of Police (IGP),Mohammed Abubakar.

The Police authorities werealso said to have launched aninvestigation into allegationsthat the Nasarawa stategovernment paid a huge sum ofmoney to the state PoliceCommand to checkmate themilitia group.



L-R: Minister of Youth Development, Alhaji Inuwa Abdulkadir, Sokoto state governor, Alhaji Aliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, and Director-General, NYSC, Brigadier-GeneralNnamdi Okorie-Affiah, during the 2013 NYSC management conference, yesterday in Sokoto. Photo: NAN

Cross River state Governor, Senator Liyel Imoke, briefing journalists after his meetingwith President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja.

Photo: Joe Oroye

SURE-P Committee on public works inspects the rehabilitation of Abuja-Kaduna road,on Tuesday. Photo: NAN

L-R: Minister of State for Finance, Dr. Yarima Ngama, Minister of Information, Mr. LabaranMaku, and Minister of Water Resources, Mrs. Sarah Ochekpe, jointly briefing journalistsafter the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting, yesterday at the State House, inAbuja. Photo: Joe Oroye

L-R: Lagos state Commissioner for Physical Planning, Mr Toyin Ayinde, ManagingDirector, Adeniyi Coker consultant limited, Mr Fred Coker, Design Director, Str-Edge,Dubai, Ivar Krasinski, and lecturer, School of Built Environment, Heriot-Watt University,UK, Mr Kofi Karley, during the 2013 architects forum, yesterday in Lagos . Photo: NAN


The House ofR e p r e s e n t a t i v e syesterday mandated its

committees on justice andJudiciary to investigate theactivities of the NigerianCopyright Commission (NCC) in

order to ascertain the allegedmanipulation of the musicalindustry by the commission.

The House also resolved toengage the Musical CopyrightSociety of Nigeria (MCSN),Copyright Society of Nigeria(COSON) and other stakeholders

to address the issue of perceivedmonopoly in the CollectingSociety Business in the country.

A motion read by GodwinElumelu (PDP, Delta state) saidthere was need to investigatethe activities of the NCRC basedon the finding that the countryis losing over N100 billionannually by “this unnecessaryinstitutional bottleneck createdby the Director General andmanagement of NCRC to the

Reps to probe the activities of NCCBy Umar Muhammad Puma

NARTO threatens strike over alleged N9.2 billion deductions by FIRS Gas on why it decided to carry outthe action.

According to him, the sumrepresent the excess of five percent withholding tax wrongfullydeducted by Major Oil Marketersfrom its members’ bills submittedfor payment and paid to FIRSfrom May, 2005 to May, 2012.

Bataiya explained that N2.7has been processed and approvedbut awaiting payment by FIRSwhile N2.8 billion and N3.7billion are at different stages ofprocessing.

In response to the demand oftanker driver, Bataiyeemphasized that theimplementation of the agreementreached between the two partieswill be contingent upon therefund of the sum of N9.2 billionby FIRS.

On the execution of the

agreement, he said that, “we hademphasized that theimplementation of theagreement will be contingentupon receipt, by members of theassociation involved in thetransportation of petroleumproducts refund, from theFederal Inland RevenueServices”.

He affirmed that FIRS hascontinued to hold onto the moneydue them without satisfactoryexplanation since 2012 in spiteof the fact that some of itsmembers have met theconditions set by FIRS to enablethem to get the said refund.

Bataiya said, “the situationhas adversely affected theexpected income of our membersthereby making it difficult for usto meet our obligation ascontained on the agreement.”

detriment of the economicgrowth of the country.”

According to him, NCC wasestablished to regulate thecopyright industry andCollecting Society Business butdenies the application by theMusical Copyright Society ofNigeria for licence to operate as aCollecting Society.

As he put it, “there isagitation and restiveness bymembers of MCSN on the

perceived reckless attitude of theDG and officials of the NCC and abreakdown of law and ordercapable of affecting the economyand preservation of law andorder in the country is loomingin the music industry unlesscertain proactive steps are takento arrest the ugly situation.”

The committees ware givingthree weeks to submit a report tothe House for further legislativeinput.

From Suleiman Idris, Lagos

The National Associationof Road Transport Owners(NARTO) as re-affirmed

its resolve to proceed on itsproposed strike action overalleged illegal deductions by theFederal Inland Revenue Service(FIRS).

The union said yesterday inLagos that failure of FIRS torefund N9.2 billion to the cofferof the NARTO would force itdirect its tanker drivers to downtools.

The NARTO NationalPresident, Alhaji Kassim IbrahimBataiya, told reporters that PTDhad issued a 14 days ultimatumon the 9th of May to theleadership of the association byPTD branch of the NationalUnion of Petroleum and Natural

The Minister of Works, MikeOnolememen, has assuredthe Council for the

Regulation of Engineering inNigeria (COREN) of continuedFederal Government support intheir regulatory role but urgedthe body should look foralternative means of funding itsprojects.

Onolememen said this whilereacting to the request of thePresident of COREN, Kashim Aliand the Council members ofCOREN for budgetaryallocations to complete the on-going work on their zonal officesin Enugu, Makurdi and Warriand to commence work on itsproposed permanent siteallocated to it by the FederalCapital Territory.

The COREN team who wereon a courtesy visit on theMinister said the proposed landfor the permanent site which hasbeen fenced is intended to be

developed as COREN House, atan initial construction cost ofN1.5 billion.

Responding, the Minister saidthat, “government will supportyou to move forward but we willsuggest that COREN begins tolook at other areas for fundingfor sustenance.”

The COREN President hadrequested the Minister to ensurethat the next budget of theministry should allocateadditional funds for EngineeringRegulatory Monitoring (ERM)teams programmes.

According to him, “it istherefore my appeal to thehonourable Minister to considermaking a case to government onthe need to support COREN in itsdrive to rid COREN of quackeryand charlatans out of theengineering profession.

“To start with, I wish tohumbly request that the nextbudget of the ministry shouldallocate additional funds forERM.”

Minister charges COREN on fundingBy Miriam Humbe


Katsina establishes Information Technology institute

L-R: Representative of Minister of Women Affairs, Dr. Ijeoma Unaogu, U.K International Development Minister, Ms. Lynne Featherstone,Secretary General, Women's Rights Advancement and Protection Alternative (WRAPA), Mrs. Sa'adatu Mahdi, and Director, Centre forAfrican Leadership, Dr. Otive Igbuzor, during the media briefing on inequalities on the lives of girls and women in Nigeria, yesterday inAbuja. Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

The Deputy Governor,Alhaji Abdullahi GarbaFaskari, disclosed this on

Tuesday during the graduationof 110 students of the stateyouth craft village.

According to him, the sum ofover N900 million was spent forthe first phase of the ICT projectwhile N 500 million has beenapproved for the second phase.

According to him, whencompleted, the institute will helpto equip the youth with the

modern ICT skills.He also noted that

government has signed an MoUwith the National Board forTechnology Education (NBTE)for the establishment of atechnology incubation centre inthe state where the youth will be

Briefly

Jonathanapproves

appointment ofnew NIC judges

President Goodluck Jonathanhas approved theappointment of 12 ne judges

for the National Industrial Court(NIC).

The approval is sequel to therecommendation of NationalJudicial Council (NJC) headed bythe Chief Justice of Nigeria (CJN),Justice Aloma Mariam Mukhtar.

A statement by the ActingDirector, Information of the NJC,Mr. Soji Oye, said the Judges willbe sworn-in by the CJN andChairman of the NJC on May 22May, 2013.

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

From Lawal Sa'idu Funtua,Katsina

2012 flood: Plateau victims demand FG relief materials

Plateau flood victimsdemand relief materials,cash Victims of the 2012

flood disaster in Jos North localgovernment area of Plateaustate on Wednesday demandedthe payment of the reliefassistance granted by theFederal Government to cushiontheir hardship.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) recalls that the FederalGovernment had released N500million to the Plateau stategovernment to distribute to thevictims of the disaster.

However, a spokesman of thevictims, Malam AbdulhamidHussaini, told NAN in Jos that

they were yet to be given theassistance.

Hussaini said the delay indistributing the aid wasagitating the affected personsand had become a source ofspeculation among residents.

"We (victims) are yet toreceive a kobo or measure ofgrain from the PlateauGovernment that collected theassistance on our behalf,'' he said.

He said that the victims hadbeen turned to destitute afterthey were displaced by the floodin 2012.

"We are now living fromhand to mouth as all ourbelongings and our businesscapital as petty traders werewashed away by the floods.

"We are begging the stategovernment to come to ourrescue by distributing thegrains and the financialassistance from the FederalGovernment.

"So far we have not collectedany assistance from anygovernment agency but wehave been hearing ourcolleagues in other statescollecting the FederalGovernment financial and foodstuff assistance."

Hussaini, who lost sixchildren during the floods,lamented that the victims hadbeen struggling to "keep bodyand soul moving"' since then.

He said out of about 1,000victims affected by the flood,

Jigawa state said it hasconstructed 135 basichealth centers in

collaboration with the office ofthe Millenium DevelopmentGoals (MDGs) projects in thelast six years of theadministration.

The Commissioner forHealth, Dr Tafida Abubakar,made this known at a RadioJigawa special programmarking the sixthanniversary celebration of theof the Governor Sule Lamidoadministration.

He explained that the statecurrently has 7,000 healthworkers compared to the2,000 inherited from theprevious administration inthe state.

According to him, Dr 2.5million treated mosquito netswere distributed to the publicfree during the period underreview.From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse

Jigawaconstructs 135health centres

Kogi is investors'haven, says

Wada

Kogi state Governor, CaptIdris Wada, has urgedbusinessmen to invest in the

state, describing the area as investors'haven.

Wada at a press briefing at thegovernment House after a trip toSouth Africa on business missionstated that the agriculturaldevelopment of the government hasattracted sections of the internationalcommunity.

He explained that he travelled onthe invitation of that country'sMinistry of Agriculture which hasidentified with Kogi's efforts inagricultural revolution.

He said that the state was readyto provide conducive atmospheredevoid of insecurity and otherappendages that could hinderinvestment in the state, forprospective investors.

From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

By Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin very few of them were nowliving in decent accommodationwith their families.

The spokesman said that thevictims were ready to relocatewhen the government providedalternative plots for them.

Hussaini said some of thevictims were compelled to buildhouses on waterways andcurrently lacked the financialcapacity to purchase plots insafer places.

Reacting to the demands, theExecutive Secretary of PlateauEmergency Relief Agency(PLSEMA), Alhaji AlhassanBarde, said government wascomputing the number ofvictims before the funds wouldbe released to them.

Barde said government hadevacuated the food stuff to localgovernment areas fordistribution to victims and haddirected the affected councils todistribute same to the victims.

He said the agency was notaware that the Jos North LocalGovernment victims were yet tobenefit from the aid.

The scribe said that the fundswould be distributed to thevictims after a comprehensivecensus of all the beneficiaries andgovernment buildings that weredestroyed.

He appealed to them to bepatient as the government wasworking to release the fundswithout further delay. (NAN)

CBN trains staff on banking practices

The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) in partnership withthe International Finance

Corporation (IFC) has flaggedoff an exercise to ensurecompliance with sustainablebanking practices in theNigerian financial sector.

To achieve the objective, theapex bank yesterday onTuesday in Abuja organized thefirst series capacity buildingworkshop for its staff.

Special Adviser to the CBNGovernor on sustainablebanking, Dr. Aisha

Mohammed, said the workshopwas necessary to enable staffdevelop adequate capacity insustainable banking principlesto assist in driving the newglobal innovation in the bankingsector.

According to her, "this is theprovision of training to CBN staffon Environment and Social(E&S) risk management andsustainable financeopportunities to enhancecapacity to support andsupervise banks in theimplementation of the Nigeriansustainable banking principles,"

she said.She said sustainable

banking principles wouldensure that banking operationis seen from a lager perspectivewhere banking management isnot just driven by profitmotives for the shareholdersbut other stakeholders shouldalso be put into consideration.

According to her, "the newglobal banking trend is not justfor shareholders to enjoy profitbut that all the stakeholdersshould be put intoconsideration in businessactivities for operations tosurvive."

By Abdulwahab Isa

trained on small-scale enterprises.Earlier the Special Adviser to

the Governor on Science andTechnology, Alhaji SuliemanNuhu Kuki, said that over 2000students were being admitted intothe youth craft village annually.


Avoid some emotional decisions with your finances

"Waste your money and you'reonly out of money, but wasteyour time and you've lost a partof your life."- Michael Leboeuf

Take steps to change your negative financial habits

Share your Money Tip: do you have a business/money idea, and you want to share it with our dear readers? Then, send it to: [email protected] or (text it to 08091904890)

Quote

For example, some solutions tothe not packing a lunch problemcould be:

Go grocery shopping everySunday with a list.

Pack your lunch in theevening as a part of your kitchenclean up duties.

Keep fresh and ready to golunch choices at eye level inyour fridge and pantry.

Start putting your keys inyour lunchbox so that you won'tleave home without it.

For my problem withmaking phone calls, here aresome solutions I've come up withand why they work for me.

Get everything ready thenight before (old bills, checkbook,and health insurance card -whatever information I'll need tomake the call as efficient aspossible). Keep a pad of paper andpen along with my laptop onhand as I make the call. Breakingthe task up like this makes itseem less intimidating. Havingthings ready to go first thing inthe morning eliminates a reasonfor procrastinating. It also

Raise your hand if you knowyou could be doingsomething to save a nice

bit of cash each week but forsome reason or another you justdon't. Maybe you have a hardtime getting your act togetherto pack a lunch each week orsomehow you never find the timeto look for a cheaper autoinsurance plan. Don't beembarrassed if this is true foryou, as almost everyone I knowhas these little, seemingly easythings that somehow just don'twind up happening. If you'd liketo conquer one of these items onyour list, try my three stepmethod for making a change inyour habits.

Step One: Figure out what isholding you back.

Pure laziness is not a detailedenough answer. You can almostalways find a good solution to aproblem if you have enoughinformation to work with. Sotake some time and give yourselfa thorough question and answersession to get to the bottom ofthings. Note: be friendly andkind to yourself when askingquestions, don't go bad cop onyourself. It's not reallyproductive.

For example, if you somehownever make the time to pack alunch, think about all thereasons for not packing a lunchover the past week:

Ran out of bread.Ran out of time.Nothing seemed appealing.Just plain forgot.Or if you continually put off

phone calls (my personalAchilles heel), your reasonsmight look like this:

Wanted to make sure I hadeverything at hand before Icalled.

Forgot until it was too late tomake the call.

Wanted to wait until a timewhen I was sure I wouldn't bedisturbed.

Figured the lines would beway too busy on a Monday.

Personal finance conceptsare generallystraightforward and

simple, but some people strugglewith building a solid financialfoundation when emotions getinvolved. Here are four wayspeople often act emotionallyinstead of logically that youshould watch out for.Changing banks becauseeveryone else is

The "it" thing to do these daysseems to be changing your bank,but make sure that you arethinking things through beforeyou act. Are you really payinganything for your account? Youmay not think that the banksare treating their customersfairly, but if you look at yourstatement and you never incurany fees, don't blindly go to acredit union and say "sign meup".

There are lots of reasons tojump ship, but make sure youknow exactly how such a moveis going to affect you.Buying stocks when they'rehigh and selling whenthey're low

mortgage payment is comingout of money they could use forother things. Is that extrabedroom that you never useworth not being able to take anice vacation with your familya few times a year?Keeping up with the Joneses

When a few of your neighborschange their cars, your caralways seems a bit older. Whena bunch of your friends shop fornew clothes, it's seems naturalthat you would get somethingtoo. If all your friends get a drinkduring dinner, it's much morelikely that you will justautomatically think ofsomething to order.

There are lots moreexamples. I highly encourageyou to list your expenses toremind yourself how you end upspending emotionally, so youwon't repeat the same mistakesagain.

Figured Friday was too latein the week to call and Mondaywould be better.

My weird anxiety overmaking phone calls flared up.

Typing it out made merealize that some of my reasonsfor avoiding phones calls sounda bit ridiculous but I'm willingto share them because youprobably have some rather sillyreasons for not doing things too.I also want you to know that it'snot that big of a deal, as we allhave our little quirks and weakspots. The thing is, unless youknow the reasons you aren'tdoing things, no matter howsilly they seem, you won't beable to make a workable plan tofix things.

Step Two: Make a plan tosolve the problems that arekeeping you from doing whatyou want to do.

Chances are good that onceyou understand and articulatethe reasons that you are nottaking action, you'll be able tocome up with one or moreworkable solutions right away.

MONEY TIP

One of the first majorpurchases that mostpeople make is a car.

Interestingly enough, it is oftenconsidered one of the worstinvestments you can make,because, unlike other assets, carsalmost always depreciate invalue.

The first thing you need todetermine what you need the carfor? Are you more concerned witha reliable mode of transportation,or something that will make astatement? Is it just for going towork or school, or for hauling thekids to soccer and footballpractices? Is it for regular longtrips, do you need to carry largeitems when shopping, or is it justfor the occasional weekend trip?

Once you've identified theright car, think about whetheryou really need a new car or if aused car will still serve yourpurposes. Most cars depreciate20% to 30% as soon as they aredriven off the lot, so getting a oneyear old car gives you almost thesame vehicle at a significantreduction in price. In fact, manymajor auto dealerships offercertified programs for their usedcars which guarantee an accidentfree, regularly serviced vehiclethat is tuned up with a completewarrantee. This gives you almostall the benefits without the fullprice tag. Of course, you canalways look for used vehicles thatfit almost any price range, so ifyou budget is tight, you may needto be flexible on specifics like model,color, and features, andconcentrate more on the targetprice range.

This is true even when weinvest in index funds. Mostpeople can't wait to deposit theirmoney into their investmentaccounts when the market isdoing well and dread the sameprocess when market conditionsseem tough. If you want toincrease your return, why notput a bit more into the marketon a down day and less when it'son an up day? Small differenceslike this may seem meaninglessbut will add up overtime.Staying in a bigger housethan you need

During the housing bubblewhen home prices went uppractically every day, manyfamilies decided to move intobigger and more expensivehomes even if renting wouldhave been the better choice.Whether they can or cannotafford the mortgage doesn'tchange the fact that the extra

makes me feel more confidentthat I'll come across as preparedand pulled together, which isimportant to me.

Make calls first thing in themorning on the day I've decidedto do them. This might not be theschedule that efficiency expertswould recommend, but assomebody who is resistant tomaking phones calls, I've foundthat if I don't do them first thingin the morning, I'll let it slip mymind until after business hours.

Do my best to schedule callsfor when I know I'll be homealone. Again, do them first thingso that I don't talk myself intoputting it off because "the kids willbe home soon" or some otherreason. Give myself a pep talkthat if the person on the other endof the phone thinks I'm a loserbecause I don't have a butler tolet the air conditioner repairmanin, well, that's their problem.

Plan to do something fun afterI get the phone calls done toreward myself for biting thebullet and getting things done. Iwas resistant to this at first,because it seems like grown folksshouldn't have to be rewarded fordoing grown-up things. Then Idecided that if it works, why not?I now usually plan on runningfun, outside the house errandsafter I do my dreaded phone calls.

Step Three: Make the time tomake this happen

Until your new habits are wellestablished, it's going to take aconscious effort on your part tomake sure that you schedule thetime you'll need to make thingshappen. Even if it sounds silly towrite "Saturday 4 pm: make agrocery list. Sunday 10 am go tothe grocery store" on yourcalendar, do it. In fact, it's a goodidea to write down a list of all ofthe things you need to do eachday or week to accomplish yourgoals and cross them off as theyare finished. This not only servesas a helpful reminder, it's also agood way to measure yourprogress.


Jonathan's South AfricanParliament address

President Goodluck Jonathan'saddress to a joint sitting of the SouthAfrican parliament on May 7, the

first by a Nigerian leader, was the bestspeech he had given since his presidency,whether at home or abroad. Not therumbling, disjointed and staccato deliverywe have become used to at home. It was aconfident, self-assured and sure-footedpresident Nigerians were seeing for thefirst time since, perhaps the days of latePrime Minister Abubakar Tafawa Balewa,appropriately eulogized internationally asthe "golden voice of Africa".

The State Visit by the Nigerian leadercame in the wake of a chill in Nigeria-South Africa relations and few weeks afterSouth African President, Mr. Jacob Zuma,flew into Abuja on a one-day fence-mending trip. Of late, the two countries,may-be something to be expected, havebeen enmeshed in continental rivalry. Oneinstance was when the two nations foundthemselves taking different positions onthe Nato-funded over throw of theGaddafi regime in Libya, Nigeria backingso called regime change and South Africarefusing t go along. The continental body,the African Union, declared no officialposition, effectively backing South Africa.As it turned out, Nigeria found itselfstanding alone, its tail between its legs, as itwere. At the last AU Heads of StateSummit at Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, SouthAfrica beat Nigeria to the Chair of the ofthe AU Commission, once again rubbingour nose in the mud. To be sure, noNigerian was a candidate for the post butwe supported then outgoing head, Mr.Jean Ping of Gabon.

The spat between the two nations cameto head last year when some Nigeriansvisiting South Africa were turned back atthe Johannesburg international Airportby immigration officials on the grounds

“No wonder, Jonathan's SouthAfrica visit, at the invitation

President Zuma, was awaitedwith a mixture of apprehension

and expectations

that their yellow fever inoculation cardswere not genuine. Back at home, reactionsto that backhanded treatment werepredictable. Nigerian lawmakers called fora retaliatory action, particularly targetingSouth African businesses in banking andtelecommunications in Nigeria. However, aSouth African apology coming in the neck oftime saved the day.

No wonder, Jonathan's South Africavisit, at the invitation President Zuma, wasawaited with a mixture of apprehension and

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expectations. Apprehension because it wasnot known what message the Nigerianleader was bringing along and expectationsbecause the South Africans expected a thawin relations between their country andNigeria after Zuma's peace mission toAbuja. As it turned out, President Jonathandid bits of both.

President Jonathan began his address byappreciating the "hospitality" of his hostsand their struggle for freedom from whitesettler or apartheid rule. Then he carefullyreminded them that their independence in1994 would not have been possible withoutsupport from some African countries,particularly Nigeria. He spoke of thecommitment of the Nigerian government

and people to the liberation struggle inSouthern Africa, South Africa inparticular. A commitment that placedNigeria in the league of "frontline state"though geographically it is not.

He said: "Suffice it to say thatthroughout the long-drawn, anti-apartheid struggle, although we were notgeographically contiguous, Nigeria was,nevertheless, considered a Frontline State,by the sheer fact of our commitment to thejust struggle for freedom in SouthernAfrica. It is important to recall that thiswas a cause every Nigerian was committedto, not just those in government, but thepeople themselves. It was for this reasonthe Southern African Relief Fund (SARF)was created.

"This was funded with deductions fromthe salary of every Nigerian worker,irrespective of rank, both in the public andprivate sectors as well as donations fromordinary Nigerians in all walks of life,including students. This fund was placedat the disposal of the liberation struggle."

The president gave this reminder ofNigeria's decisive role in achieving blackmajority rule in South Africa withoutrubbing it in, without being patronizing.For instance, he did not mention Nigeria'sacquisition (nationalization) of BritishPetroleum (BP) in 1976, an action thatforced the hands of British government tosupport an oil embargo against thenapartheid South Africa. All the same, hismessage was not lost on his Pretoriaaudience: South Africa cannot continue toignore Nigeria as if it does not owe it a debtof gratitude. And tat means that SouthAfrica cannot afford to contradict Nigeriaat every point and maltreat Nigerians whoare doing clean business in that country.

All said, it was a successful state visit forthe President and a huge diplomaticvictory for Nigeria.


I decided not to utter a wordon the debate about Kanobeing the best state in

Nigeria that is fiscallyresponsible and the mostdisciplined when it comes tobudget implementation. I amcomfortably convinced thatalmost all the chips are downnow. Arguments are exhorted.And unsubstantialcondemnations of the position ofTransparency in Nigeria in theBudget Discipline PerceptionIndex, that places Kano above sealevel, had since been provedillogical and immaterial.

Let me start by referring myreaders to some of the thingsTransparency in Nigeria put astheir yardstick for measuring theperformances of the 36 states ofthe federation. They said in theirreport that, the report was aproduct of serious and academicscrutiny carried out by somereputable and independentbodies. Just to tell you that it wasnot an arranged to favour aparticular political entity. Andthe areas that were addressedincluded, among other things, anemboldened effort for genuinepolitical will to deal with leakagesat the level of budgetimplementation. Whichnaturally makes public servantsto be more committed to theirofficial assignment. Under thiscome other lingering questionsthat interrogate the essentialfoundations of budget as a processand as an institution werebrought to the limelight.

When one critically examinesthe index given by TIN he wouldcome to understand that thereport was not just doctored by

Kwankwaso and budget discipline debateTIN as an NGO, neither was itinfluenced by the power-that-be.It was an assessment carried outby different reputable andindependent bodies. One couldask, or rather can go to Kanostate and ask, is it true that theleakages that were the order ofthe day during the era of theprevious regime are stopped? Goand ask issues like “Overheadsgiven to Ministries, Departmentsand Agencies.” Overheads thatwere unnecessarily spent wereseriously slashed down in allMDAs. And more productivity isrecorded with the less overheadat disposal. What then is dueprocess, if not this?

His Excelllency, GovernorRabi’u Musa Kwankwaso startedwith the expenses at theGovernment House. He slasheddown all the unnecessaryspending at the GovernmentHouse. The financial sitting-upstarted with his office. And publicservants are more committed totheir work now than before.Their focus and understanding ofpublic service delivery areredefined. You can go andconduct a personal research foryour perusal. In fact I do not haveany doubt that, the lingeringquestions that interrogate thevery essential foundations ofbudget are adequately addressedby the People’s Governor,Engineer Rabi’u MusaKwankwaso.

I therefore challenge anybodyto please go to Kano and see whatis meant by physicalinfrastructure. So also whatpolitical will means in theadministration of a state.Kwankwaso’s political ideology,Kwankwasiyya, is indeed anembodiment of due process,

probity and accountability. It ishis political philosophy thatmakes it a matter of unflinchingnecessity for the stategovernment to public theoutcome of the weekly stateExecutive Council meetings inmajor newspapers of thecountry, on weekly basis. Nostate! And I repeat, no state inNigeria does that!Kwankwasiyya ideologue meansopenness and transparency.

If you look at the main areasthe Perception Index assesses thestate, you will begin to see reasonand wisdom in the entire process.What are really involved in it?Other areas of concern for thePerception Index aregovernment expenditures ofhuman capital, youth andwomen responsive budgeting,the focus of a state budget tosectoral targets of SEEDS (StateEconomic Empowerment andDevelopment Strategies) and theperformance of state in theinternally generated revenue,that is a comprehensive revenueprofile. Any one of these areas onedecides to look deeply into, willcome to believe that Kano stategovernment deserves more thatwhat Transparency in Nigeriafinds out. Before the coming ofRabi’u Musa Kwankwaso in May29, 2011, the internallygenerated revenue was betweenN300 million to N400 millionper month. When he came in itrose to N1.7 billion to N1.8 billionmonthly. What an interestingtransparent process beingfollowed?

On the issue of urban renewaland housing, one could imaginethe successes so far recorded bythe leader of Kwankwasiyya inareas of housing policy and urban

renewal. Apart from theestablishment of three moderncities Kwankwasiyya, Amanaand Bandirawo cities, Kwankwasoadministration was able to startthe construction of flyovers withinthe city centre, just to ease trafficcongestion of the metropolitanKano. The project is still ongoing.Whoever cares to fully get what Iam saying should please pay avisit to Kano. You do not need toask anybody, just go and see byyourself. Saying, they say, isbelieving.

The thing goes beyond that,Transparency in Nigeria assuresthat the basic and mostfundamental reasons why Kanotakes the lead are, among otherthings the effort being put by thestate government to send 501graduates to 14 countries of theworld to further their educationat the second degree level,sponsoring of 100 students to goand read Medicine abroad,another 100 students to go andread Pharmacy abroad and 100students for a training in pilotingand aeronautics engineering inJordan. More than 200 studentswere sponsored to read differentfields in different Nigerianuniversities. This alone takesgood care of youthempowerment.

More than 20 craft schoolswere also established byKwankwaso administration. Andmore than 3000 youth weretrained in different crafts for themto earn good livelihood. What ismost important is the way statebudget is formulated, as testifiesby the TIN Perception IndexReport that, “State Budgetingprocess is people-oriented. Thesystem of the state budget isparticipatory, where you have all

By Umar Farouq Tafida sections of the society largelycontributing to the budgetconception process. It is in thisrespect that some of the localgovernment officials areessentially copying fromgovernor Kwankwaso in makingtheir budget largelyparticipatory.”

My argument goes like this,which of the above indices orparameters is not there in Kano?Can someone help me find a wayof faulting the abovedevelopmental activities byKwankwasiyya regime? Thosesent to further their studies werethey not from Kano? And werethey not sent by Kwankwasoadministration? Or can someonecome and claim that the moneyused to send them was not fromthe treasury of Kano state? Ithink even Transparency inNigeria forgot to include otherdevelopmental projects executedby Kwankwaso.

So whether TransparencyInternational accepts to have anaffiliate in Nigeria or not, the factremains that the process andprocedures followed byTransparency in Nigeria inarriving at the selection of Kanoas the best in terms of fiscalresponsibility and budgetdiscipline, are genuine, open andtransparent. Everything is saidin the comprehensive report ofTIN. With Transparency inNigeria or withoutTransparency in Nigeria,Nigerians are capable of ratingthe performance of their publicfigures and public institutions.And indeed including theperformance of our states.

Tafida is an Abuja basedfinancial analyst

A state of confusionState of Emergency orEmergency in a state?When an emergency isn't

really an emergency.President Jonathan declared

a “State of Emergency” in Yobe,Borno and Adamawa statesrespectively, good! However hisdeclaration doesn't affect thepolitical appointees in theaffected states. Some expected asituation where the executive issuspended and the militaryassumes command in theinterim- as it is assumed 'force' isthe best strategy to quell theinsurgents for good. But thePresident has chosen anapproach which many are keento see its implementation, due toits perceived duality of powers.

State of Emergencyexplained:

"A state of emergency is agovernmental declarationwhich usually suspends a fewnormal functions of theexecutive, legislative andjudicial powers, alert citizens tochange their normalbehaviours, or ordergovernment agencies toimplement emergencypreparedness plans. It can alsobe used as a rationale forsuspending rights and freedoms,even if guaranteed under the

constitution. Such declarationsusually come during a time ofnatural or man made disaster,during periods of civil unrest, orfollowing a declaration of war orsituation of international orinternal armed conflict."

To some of the President'scritics the “State of Emergency”is a contradiction in terms, theyare accused of never seeinganything good in whatever hedoes. To his supporters however,the declaration is long overdue,

as they will defend anything hedoes- including special pardonsand his “I don't give a damn”attitude.

Interestingly this isn't thefirst time Jonathan woulddeclare a “State of Emergency”,in Yobe and Borno especially.

A State of Emergency wasdeclared on 31 December 2011,in the North-Eastern (Yobe andBorno States) and North-Central(Plateau and Niger State) regionsof the country.

Basically, another “State ofEmergency” has been declaredin the 'States' of Emergency.Evidently nothing was achievedby the previous declaration andwe wonder what effect this latestdeclaration, however special,would have on the affected areas.

I wonder how the “amnesty”initiative fits into this bedlam.

An awkward developmentoccurred while one of the accusedBoko Haram members, KabiruSokoto appeared in courtrecently, according to his lawyer“Our client has confided in usthat he never met with theAmnesty Committee. Even onthe said date of the purportedmeeting, Kabiru Sokoto wasbefore Justice Ademola Adeniyi.”

With this contradictoryrevelation, many are beginningto question the dynamics andauthenticity of this amnestyprogramme.

As expected, some prominentfigures are questioning therationale behind this declarationand wonder why Nassarawa andBayelsa States weren't includingon the declaration list-considering a significant numberof police officers have been

murdered by militia in thosestates.

Nigeria is probably at its mostfragile ebb and whateverdecisions the President takesaffects lives. To those in theaffected regions, the hardshipcontinues. Overtime numerouslives have been lost: the police,the JTF and civilians, they areall Nigerians, so from thatperspective, we are killingourselves.

The President is meant to bethe Commander-in-Chief of theFederal Republic of Nigeria and isresponsible for security of thenation. President Jonathanhasn't really impressed majorityof the citizenry on security, wefervently hope he can get a gripon the nations securitychallenges.

Some may applaud this moveas firm and decisive, as somewould dismiss it as politicalrhetoric and strategising towardsthe next elections. Whatever it is,we want a stop to the wasting ofinnocent lives and our richlydiverse human resources.

As the confusion on the Stateof Emergency continues, we hopewe aren't left more confused thanwe were about the state of affairs,before the declaration: a State ofConfusion!

[email protected]

“Basically, another “State ofEmergency” has been declared in the

'States' of Emergency. Evidently nothingwas achieved by the previous

declaration and we wonder what effectthis latest declaration, however special,

would have on the affected areas.

By M.B.O Owolowo


President Goodluck EbeleJonathan has just boughtanother dummy called

state of emergency from hissecurity chiefs.

He thinks it will work. I thinkit will not.

Jonathan’s state ofemergency is different from thatof Obasanjo. Unlike underObasanjo, this one keeps theoffices and privileges of politicaloffice holders intact in the stateswhere it will operate. The onlydifference is that the security ofthe state will be vested in thehands of the military and someconstitutional rights of citizens oftheir citizens will be suspended.This is the interpretation I justheard from Yahaya Mahmud,SAN, on the BBC.

If these are the onlydifferences, it will be difficult tosee how they will afford themilitary victory over BokoHaram.

The military has enjoyed fullaccess and support of thegovernments in the affectedstates, effectively subordinatingthe governors at every givenpoint. Governors had no say inanything, if I can remembervery well, except in standingstraight to be milked by thekhaki boys for logistics, providing

relief to victimsand appealingto them toacceptviolations oftheir rights ingood faith, afate from God ora nationalsacrifice.

Themilitary alsoenjoyed the fullprivileges ofusing force –many timesexcessive – onany citizenthey withouthindrancefrom the state governments inthe past two years. No father hasever taken the JTF to court, tomy knowledge, over the arrestof his son who was detainedwithout charge at GiwaBarracks – the Nigerian versionof Guantanamo. The son thatmay not have anything to dowith Boko Haram. Nobody hastaken them to the InternationalCriminal Court in spite of thewar crimes that have beendocumented by local andinternational human rightsgroups: the extrajudicial killingsof suspected members of BokoHaram and civilians, thedetentions without trial, thetortures of detainees, the

The futility of emergencyBy Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde

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burning of neighbourhoods andsections of towns, the allegedrapes, arson, the ransacking ofhomes, etc.

And I doubt very much if thepolice, from the Inspector-General of Police to hisCommissioners in the states,have constituted any obstacle tothe operation of the JTF. Instead,the police have wisely remainedpegged in their paramilitarypositions in the JTF structureand operations.

Finally, a quarter of ourbudget goes to security, thelargest portion of it obviously toJTF operations. Most Nigeriansbelieve that if any governmentagency should complain of

underfunding,it must not beany of the JTFs.They get moneyfrom the federalgovernmentabove, from thestategovernmentsbelow and fromsideways whenwe citizensmake themistake offalling, or areforcefullydragged, intotheir net. Anidea evenoccurred to me

that one of the best outlets for myCountry Yoghurt would bemilitary and police barracks. Iwill soon be there collecting myown share of the booty before thepoliticians start their campaignsin 2014 – if Boko Haram willapprove them permits!

So what exactly has hinderedthe military so much that theyneeded to compel Mr. President togive them a state of emergencyto operate under?

The state of emergency is alsofutile from the records so far. Twodays ago, a senator from BornoState revealed that 23 to 24 ofthe 27 local governments in thestate are under the effectivecontrol of Boko Haram. If despite

the resources, the personnel, theGiwas, Bagas, Maiduguris andDamaturus, government has lost87% of the territory in Borno toBoko Haram, I wonder whatadditional powers to the militarywould achieve.

A significant shift thoughwould be the mass deployment ofsoldiers to the affected areas.With the sophistication of BokoHaram, our sons in the militarywill just be turned into cheaptargets. There will be so many ofthem to aim at easily, more todestroy in a spot.

I am at loss here –completely. What has the state ofemergency achieved when it wasdeclared under this regime insome local governmentsincluding those now under BokoHaram occupation?

I would like to conclude thisarticle by stating a woefulstatistics on the incapacity ofsuccessive governments to solveour national problems:Government in Nigeria has notbeen able to solve a singleproblem in various areas ofgovernance and the economy, tomy knowledge, in the past 28years. A problem at thebeginning of a regime willremain there until it ends –accompanied by many newsones. And so our wahalacontinued to pile up.

I need to be convinced howdeclaration of the state ofemergency could make BokoHaram an exception.

Aliyu Tilde is reachable viaLinkedIn

Terrorism alwayscomplicates diplomaticrelations. Since the Boston

Marathon bombing, thesuspected handiwork of twobrothers of Chechen background,Russian and American securityofficials have focused on a blamegame.

Could better cooperationbetween the FBI and the FSB(successor to the KGB) haveaverted this bombing? Whichcountry is responsible for thecarnage? The United States,which Russia warned in 2011about Tamerlan Tsarnaev, theolder brother who was killed inthe police shootout a few daysafter the bombing? Or Moscow,which gave Washington scantevidence to pursue in that query?

During the Cold War, theSoviet Union and the UnitedStates regarded each other with amixture of suspicion andcontempt. This continuing legacymay be the reason for the twointelligence services’ failure tocommunicate here.

The Americans, convinced theother side was withholdinginformation, appear to havemistrusted the inexact Russiandata. So the FBI may havedecided to do the bare minimum.Even Boston’s police departmentwas reportedly not informed ofwhat we now read was a cursoryinvestigation by the FBI of theelder Tsarnaev in 2011.

Washington and Moscow’shistoric political disagreementsmay have helped lead to thetragedy at the Boston Marathon,where three people were killed

and hundreds more injured. Thesurviving younger Tsarnaev,Dzhokhar, now faces charges ofusing a weapon of massdestruction and a potential deathsentence.

One key reason Washingtondoes not trust Moscow is VladimirPutin. Washington views theRussian president, a former KGBcolonel, as notoriouslyuntrustworthy. For decades, U.S.-Russian relations have resembleda swinging pendulum – withPutin now considered as dishonestand manipulative as BorisYeltsin, his anti-communistpredecessor, was viewed as big-hearted and forthright, if chaoticin his capitalist aspirations.

Following the Soviet Union’scollapse in 1991, the United Statesand Yeltsin’s Russia bonded as(sometimes uneasy) allies overissues ranging from the Balkanwars to creating a capitalistsystem in Russia. The West eventreaded lightly in dealing withthe “first” Chechen war – whenYeltsin in 1994 ordered theinvasion of Chechnya, a Russianrepublic vying for independence,to bring his democratic revolutionthere at the barrel of a gun. ForWashington, Yeltsin’s intent tospread democracy was moreimportant than any localizeddomestic brutality.

But when Putin waged hisown Chechen war in 1999, theinternational outcry wasoverwhelming. That war, likeYeltsin’s, flouted humanitarianconventions. But this fight wasvery different – Chechnyabecame a scene of economic andpolitical anarchy, with Islamistwarlords seeking to create acaliphate across the North

Caucasus. And no country wantsa fundamentalist state within itsborders.

This message from theRussians was particularly usefulfor Washington following theattacks of September 11, 2001.

But Putin’s human rightsrecord – show trials against the oiltycoons, journalists killed andprotesters prosecuted – trumpedany defense offered for his actionsin Chechnya. Though there was aclear shared security concern,suspicion against Putindominated.

Washington treatedChechnya as a uniquely Russianaffair – an oppressed ethnicityfighting for independence from itsimperial master. Initially, theUnited States had accepted aRussian offer for cooperationfollowing the invasion ofAfghanistan, but by the mid-2000s then-Vice President DickCheney brought relations back totheir default Cold War position ofmutual recrimination. Hedenounced Putin’s Russia, sayingit “unfairly and improperlyrestricted the rights of herpeople.”

Putin, feeling betrayed,responded with vehement anti-Americanism. He equatedPresident George W. Bush’spromotion of democracy in theMiddle East as a new form ofcolonialism.

In 2009, President BarackObama attempted his famous“reset” with Russia, but there waslittle positive outcome. In 2010another scandal erupted –Washington uncovered 12Russian sleeper spies, planted bythe Russian FSB a decade earlier.The Cold War cloak-and-dagger

games were back, dimming thechances of any Moscow securitydemands being taken seriously.

It was close to the discovery ofthe spy debacle that the FSB sentits request to the FBI aboutinvestigating TamerlanTsarnaev. That inquiry wentunanswered – at least accordingto the North Caucasus chapter ofthe Russian Center for CombatingExtremism.

In the FBI’s version, Tsarnaevwas investigated as a suspectlinked to terrorism. But with notangible connections found, andthe FSB offering no additionalinformation, his case expired.

That’s where being onspeaking terms could have madea difference between life anddeath. Americans didn’t want tolisten, and Russians failed toexplain that they, too, had littleinformation to go on.

First, Moscow reportedly onlyuncovered Tamerlan’s Internetexchanges with a few Islamicradicals from the lawlessmountain woods in the Caucasus.His 2012 trip to Dagestan, wherefor six months he tried to join theinsurgents, has yet to be fullyanalyzed.

Jihad by Facebook isn’t howthe game is played in theCaucasus. When Tsarnaev’s twocontacts – Mahmoud MansurNidal, a Dagestani jihadist, andWilliam Plotnikov, a Russianemigrant to Canada turnedIslamic militant – were killed lastyear in military raids, Tsarnaevreturned to the United States.

Today, Moscow andWashington both claim that theirlack of cooperation was a legalmisunderstanding. In the UnitedStates, for the most part, this lack

By Nina Khrushcheva of hard evidence means no case.Though it seems strange that theFBI would not have recognizedthat the Russian warning, andTsarnaev’s visit to Russia, mightconstitute a case for keeping aneye on him.

For the Russians, who haveoften been lax where legality isconcerned, any connection to theCaucasus insurgency was a solidsource for real watchfulness.

But legal or not, had similarinformation come from, say,Pakistan, which is playing adouble game of both supportingand suppressing jihadists, the FBImay well have reacted fardifferently.

“Pakistani terrorists” nowcapture the Americanimagination and warrantexhaustive investigations,accounting for some successfulpreventions – like the Pakistani-American who failed to blow upNew York’s Times Square.

The big question for theUnited States, now confrontedwith Islamic fundamentalismamong its own citizens andresidents, is: Can Washingtonafford to remain focused onPutin’s KGB past and the ColdWar legacy?

Russia and the United Statesmay not be able to manage an all-encompassing reset, but twoprofessional secret services oughtto be able to find a way to sharereliable information.

After all, when Cold War rulesstill applied, Americans warnedSoviet leader Mikhail Gorbachevwhen their embassy in Moscowuncovered Communist hard-liners plotting a coup in 1991.

Culled from reuters.com

Terrorism, Putin and the Cold War legacy


Why US can’t afford to let Syria situation slideAfter two years of brutal

civil war in Syria thereis growing support in

Washington for the US takingsome action.

The question of what to doabout Syria's civil war hasrumbled away in this city'sforeign policy establishment forthe past two years, withoutreaching any sort of conclusionor touching off militaryintervention, but in recentweeks the ground has beenshifting.

Whereas for much of lastyear it was a couple ofvenerable Republicans on theSenate Committee on ArmedServices, John McCain andLindsey Graham, who arguedthe US could not afford to let thesituation in that war-torncountry slide, there are nowsigns that a broader swathe ofopinion is adopting thesearguments.

Does this matter whenPresident Barack Obama seemsset against getting involvedmilitarily, reflecting the public

opinion of a war-wearyAmerica?

It seems that it does, withWhite House briefingsuggesting Mr Obama'sadministration is now activelylooking at sending weapons tothe anti-Assad opposition andindeed taking further action iflarge scale use of chemicalweapons emerges.

There have been a numberof way points in this change.

There was a significantmoment last year when thepresident's defence secretaryand CIA director revealed theyhad both been over-ruled bytheir boss on the question ofarming the opposition.

More importantly events onthe ground such as the reporteduse of chemical weapons havestirred the debate and createdan expectation of action afterPresident Obama's talk of "redlines" for the Assad regime.

It appears it is only theprospect of possible peace talksin Geneva that have stalled themove towards more direct USinvolvement.

Yet this may simply be

buying a reluctant president alittle more time to considerunattractive options since atMonday's press conference withDavid Cameron he showed littlefaith the diplomatic trackwould produce something.

In the Senate now othervoices, including seniorDemocrats, are driving themove towards greater action.

Last week Senator RobertMenendez, chairman of theForeign Relations Committee,launched a bill to arm theopposition.

Senators Bob Casey (aDemocrat) and Marco Rubio (arising Republican star tipped forthe 2016 presidential race)have put forward another,which would mandate theadministration to go further,planning to secure Syria's stocksof chemical and biologicalweapons.

How do these leadinglawmakers justify this stancegiven the experience of Iraq andthe marked reluctance of theUS public to get more deeplyinvolved?

"We can't just delegate this

By Mark Urban to others", Sen Casey told me,"we have to have more of animpact on the outcome".

He believes it is a vital USinterest to check Iran andHezbollah (President Assad'sallies) in Syria, that the hugerefugee flows generated by theconflict are destabilising theregion, and America mustinsure it empowers themoderate Syrian opposition.

Most of these senior people onCapitol Hill who now speak ofthe need for intervention stillhold sacrosanct the principlethat there should be no US"boots on the ground".

Yet now that he is gainingbroader support for his quest toarm the opposition Sen McCainis urging his colleagues toconsider that under certaincircumstances, such as awidespread use of chemicalweapons, the US and its alliesmust be ready to send in troops.

"We cannot do this on ourown," Mr McCain told us,suggesting that in thenightmare scenario in whichnerve gas bombs were fallinginto the hands of militant

groups, a multi-nationalcoalition would have to enterSyria to secure them.

Others, such as Sen Casey,disagree about sending inground troops, arguing thateven under thesecircumstances, the US wouldhave to limit itself to airstrikeswhile indirectly helping theSyrian opposition to secure thestockpiles.

So the attempts to halt theconflict by peace talks couldhardly be more urgent.

But there are signs that thewest's allies in the Syrianopposition could be as reluctantto sit down with PresidentAssad's representatives as theyhave in the past.

Could a sense that theground is shifting inWashington be emboldeningthem to carry on their militarystruggle?

For a president who hasuntil now been deeplyreluctant to fuel the conflict,that could be a bitter irony.

Mark Urban is withNewsNight of London

That the incumbent FederalCapital TerritoryAdministration under the

ministerial superintendence ofSenator Bala Mohammed ispoised to right the obviouswrongs as epitomized ininfrastructural deficit in thenation's capital is certainly not indoubt. And that he has devised areliable strategy tagged LandSwap policy to achieve this nobleobjective is equally incontestable.What is however a subject ofdoubt is the necessity orotherwise of pockets of protestsagainst the policy by some fewnatives.

The angst of the natives,which is largely borne out ofignorance of the cardinalobjectives of Land Swap policy, isequally predicated on theunfounded fear that it willdispossess them of their ancestralland without getting anything inform of adequate compensation.From all intents and purposes,this is far from the truth.

In an effort shed light on thepolicy, especially the interest ofresidents, particularly theoriginal inhabitants, a specialtown hall meeting was held onFriday, the 26th of April 2013 atthe international ConferenceCentre, Abuja, where theMinister painstakingly explainedin clear terms what he has instock for the natives.

At this juncture, it isnecessary to emphasise, at leastfor purpose of clarity that citingcapital cities of nations all overthe world has its inherentadvantages and disadvantages.It involves making of sacrifices onboth the part of government andindigenes; in a nutshell, quid proquo, meaning giving insomething in exchange foranother thing. In this case theindigenes ceding their land to thegovernment for infrastructuraldevelopment, while they arehandsomely compensated.

It would be recalled thatwhen the regime of late General

Murtala Mohammed mutedtheir idea of relocating thenation's federal capital fromLagos, it set up a panel headedby late Justice Akinola Agudaand vested it with theresponsibilities of planning,designing and developing theFCT. Through theinstrumentality of Decree No. 6,the panel was vested with theownership, control andgovernance of the territory.

In the process of identifying asuitable place that can serve asthe capital of the country, severalcities, towns and locations such asKaduna, Lokoja, Auchi, Lafia,Kafanchan, Okene, Osara,Makurdi, Agena, Agege etc wereconsidered. But throughpainstaking efforts based onseveral factors, the presentlocation of FCT, which was avirgin land was chosen. Tofurther underscore its virginity,it had to borrow the name Abujawhich was the former name of theplace presently known as Suleja.

The point must beemphasised that Nigeria is notthe only country in the worldthat has had to relocate itscapital city from one location toanother. Other countries thathad done so include Brazil whichmoved its capital from Rio deJaneiro to Brasilia; Malawiwhich relocated its capital fromZomba to Lilongwe; Cote D'Ivoirefrom Abidjan to Yamoussoukro;Australia from Sydney toCanberra and Tanzania fromDar-es-salam to Dodoma.

It is no longer secret that thehuge influx of Nigerians intoAbuja has overstretched itsfacilities almost to breakingpoint. Successiveadministrations in the FCT haveexpended billions of naira tryingto provide infrastructuralfacilities with negligible success.The incontrovertible fact is thatthe most revolutionary of allthose efforts in providingfacilities for Abuja isencapsulated in the present landswap programme of SenatorBala Mohammed-led

administration.What made the policy

unique is that in opening updistricts under the Land Swapprogramme, for the first time inthe history of the FCT, thenative settlements are beinggiven opportunity as activestakeholders in deciding thenature and model ofresettlement and compensationpolicies to be adopted bygovernment to address theirconcerns. With thisunprecedented package, a silverlining on the horizon seemscertain for the originalinhabitants of FCT whovirtually had a raw deal in thehands of officials since thefounding of Abuja 37 years ago.

Judging from pastexperiences, the option ofresettlement and compensationhas failed woefully to meet theexpectations of criticalstakeholders in the FCT project.In the first instance, theresettlement programme hassuffered series of setbacksbecause it created a cyclicproblem whereby people areresettled today, only to sell thehouses or plots of land and moveto another location, awaitinganother round of resettlement, adevelopment that could makeresettlement and relocation anunending one. It is against thebackdrop of this pitfall that thegovernment opted forintegration policy which againcould not work due largely tofunding constraints. Recentestimates put the cost ofresettling and integrating thenatives at over a mind-numbing sum of N150 billion, astaggering amount that isunaffordable, even to the mostprudent of administrations.

It is pertinent to allay thefears of the natives that for thefirst time in several decades sincethe creation of Abuja, a visionaryMinister in person of SenatorBala Abdulkadir Mohammed hasdevised a wonderful strategy inconjunction some developmentpartners, whereby the issue of

integration or resettlement ofnatives is to be incorporated intoland deals sealed with theseinvestors under the land swappolicy.

Under this highly innovativeprogramme, credible investorsin infrastructure, includingmultinational companies havenow accepted to deploy millionsof naira into integrating thenatives through severalmechanisms, such asintegration, relocation andcompensation all within theapproved framework, hinged onbest international practices.

As far as the land swap policyis concerned, SenatorMohammed means well for theAbuja natives. So it isuncharitable for anybody toaccuse the minister of using thepolicy as an instrument tounjustly dispossess the native oftheir lands withoutcompensation. It is also trite toassert that the citing of Nigeria'scapital city in Abuja hasbenefited the indigenes in moreways than one. Today, all themembers of National Assemblyrepresenting FCT and all AreaCouncil Chairmen are indigenes,while the territory is beingadministered more or less like astate with its budget beingprepared by the NASS.

It is equally instructive tonote that under the innovativeland swap programme, Abujanative communities that maydirectly be affected in theimplementation of theprogramme are 17 in numberwith some few Fulanisettlements. These communitiesare Azhata, Ketti, Dagaja,Anaknayita, Gofe, Kowyizihi,Burun, Takalafiya, Takushara1, Takushara 2, Maraba 2,Sabon Burun, Maraba 1,Anguwan Mamuda, Waru,Yiyimuttu and Burum Gbayi.

While some of the affectedcommunities have expressedfear over the implementation ofthe Land Swap project, the FCTAdministration is workingassiduously to allay such fears,

maintaining that any massiveinfrastructure development inthe FCT must, as of necessity,holistically take intoconsideration resettlement andcompensation issues if it is tosucceed.

At the recent Town HallMeeting, the Minister assuredthat any resettlement orcompensation policy would takeinto consideration the concernsof all critical stakeholders,including the livelihood andsocio-economic activities of theoriginal inhabitants; FCTdevelopmental needs;commercial interest of theinvestors as well as the humanrights concerns of theInternational community.

It is also noteworthy that theaffected native communities areto be given all options to enablethem take good decisions on thetype of resettlement plan thatwill be convenient for them, justas the minister has assured theaffected natives thatnotwithstanding the policyagreed to by the stakeholders, asa responsible Administration,the FCTA shall intervene wherenecessary to ensure that theyare treated fairly and justly.

In summary, the minister ina charter of promises he unfoldedrecently said that the land swappolicy will ensure that thesharing formula does not excludethe communities; that thecompensation policy is adequateand will meet reasonableexpectations of all relevantstakeholders including thecommunities, investors, FCTAand the internationalcommunity; enhanceemployment opportunities forthe youth of the affectedcommunities; and that theauthority shall always exhibitutmost transparency in itsdealings with the communities.With this laudable objective, theminister needs the support of alland sundry, especially thenatives in order to successfullyexecute it.

Ochela, a journalist andpublic affairs analyst, sentin this piece from Wuse,Abuja.

By Rogers Edor Ochela

Abuja natives and gains of ‘Land Swap’


Fund Raising andCommunication Officerwith SOS Children

Village, Gwagwalada, MrsGladys Omopariwa, yesterdaycalled for budgetary provisionfor orphans and vulnerablegroups to strengthen care forthe less privileged.

Villagers demand budgetaryprovision for orphans, vulnerable

Omopariwa stated this inGwagwalada during a visit toGwagwalada Area Council bystaff and children of the villagein commemoration of 2013International day of families.

She said budgetaryprovision for the less privilegedin the country would no doubtstrengthen the efforts of NGOsand other stakeholders in thecare for orphans and

College ofEducationholds annualconference

College of Education AcademicStaff Union (COEASU), Zubachapter in Gwagwlada Area

Council of the FCT, has Organisedits first Annual NationalConference for the Stakeholders ineducation sector in the country.

The National conference whichentitled “Education and thechallenges of insecurity in Nigeria”was attended by the stakeholders ineducation sector within and outsidethe FCT.

Speaking at the occasion, theprovost of the College, Prof. TijjaniIsma’il, urged government to givepriority attention to education sectorin the country.

According to him, educationcreates a secure society, whileadequate security ensures aconvenient learning environment.

He further called ongovernment to give the necessarysupport to the teachers to carry outwork effectively.

Isma’il assured the conferencethat his administration wouldcontinue to provide the neededamenities in the College.

Presenting a paper tagged“Education in the face of Insecurities:Challenges and the Way Forward”,Prof. (Mrs) Okwudisu, urgedgovernment to inject enoughmoney into the education sector toenhance quality education.

She also called on governmentto provide infrastructural facilitiesin schools, pointing out that so manyschools in Nigeria were facing by theproblem of facilities due to bombblast.

She appealed to the federalMinistry of Education to provide astandard curriculum contentwhich would be acceptable in theeducational institutions in thecountry.

She then pleaded with thegovernment to focus on thedevelopment of health andagricultural sectors in order togenerate employments forNigerians in the labour market.

While commenting on thesecurity situation of the country,Okwudisu called on the Federal andstate governments to provide goodgovernance so as to put an end toinsecurity faced by the citizens ofNigerians at the present time.

On his part, the chairman ofCOEASU Zuba Chapter, Dr. AhmedLawal Baza, said that the conferencewas organized to enable theacademia to display their talentsthrough the presentation of papersto update the knowledge of theparticipants.

He further asked thegovernment to give incentives toteachers to boost their morale atwork.

Baza used the occasion tocommend the FCT minister,Senator Bala Mohammed forPursuing the law establishing theFCT College of Education at theNational Assembly.

Experts say dizziness, cold are signs of anaemia

Some medical experts havesaid feelings of dizziness,constant cold and

headaches were signs of irondeficiency anaemia.

They spoke in separateinterviews with the NewsAgency of Nigeria (NAN) inAbuja that these signs, if notproperly treated could haveserious health consequences.

A Gynaecologist, Dr FredAchem, said that irondeficiency anaemia couldalso cause low oxygen levels invital organs like the heart.

Achem said iron deficiencyanaemia, was a common typeof anaemia, which occurredwhen there was shortage of ironin the body.

He said, “Iron deficiencyanaemia occurs when thereisn’t enough iron in the body,it causes a lower than normalamount of red blood cells in thebody.

“Red blood cells are the cellsthat transport oxygenthroughout the body.

“Iron deficiency anaemiagradually starves the body ofthe oxygen it needs, leading to

symptoms like shortness ofbreath, paleness, headaches,heart palpitations andfatigue.”

Achem said that theimmune system was dependenton iron for its efficientfunctioning.

He said a lot of people wereignorant of the importance ofiron to the body, adding that itwent beyond providing oxygento the body.

The gynaecologist saiddeficiency in iron could alsoweaken the body’s immunesystem, especially in childhoodand pregnancy.

“Iron deficiency can domuch more harm than merelycausing anaemia.

“It can have effects likeweakening your resistance toinfection as well as damagingyour ability to think,” he said.

Achem added that the bestway to prevent iron deficiencywas to be informed on the bestsources of iron.

“Some good sources of ironinclude: red beans, meat, fish,nuts, soybeans, cereals,potatoes, spinach and other

dark green leafy vegetables.“Also, Vitamin C helps the

body to absorb iron. Goodsources of Vitamin C arevegetables and fruits,especially citrus fruits likeoranges, grapefruits andtangerines,” the gynaecologistsaid.

He said that some foods andmedicines like tea and coffee,calcium, antacid could make itharder for the body to absorbiron.

A nutritionist, HajiyaJummai Hassan, said that therewere many conditions that couldlead to iron deficiency in thebody.

“Iron deficiency anaemia isthe most common nutritionaldisorder in the world.

“This type of anaemia can beaggravated by pregnancy,heavy menstrual flow, internalbleeding, gastric and pepticulcer, inflammatory boweldisease, malaria andhaemorrhoids,” Hassan said.

She said that iron deficiencyanaemia could be corrected withiron supplements like VitaminB12 and folic acid. (NAN)

By Adeola Tukuru

Abuja Environmental Protection Board (AEPB) workers cleaning a major road yesterday atCentral Area, in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

The FCT School of Nursingand Midwifery,Gwagwalada, recently

held their sixth annual culturalcarnival in Abuja.

The Acting Director, NursingServices of the FCT Health andHuman Services Secretariat, MsOnukwue Onyinye, said aftermuch academic work, thestudents decided to organize theevent to showcase the differentcultures of Nigeria in order tounwind.

She said in the last two FinalQualifying Examination (FQEs)organized by the Nursing andMidwifery Council of Nigeria,both schools scored 100 percentrespectively, which makes theFCT School of Nursing one of thefew not sitting for the May 2013FQE that is meant to be a re-sitfor candidates.

According to her, students ofthe school also performedcreditably well in the FQE in2010. “The FCT School ofNursing had 18 credits with oneof the students having over-allcredits in the three papers,which was the best result in thecountry for that year,” she said.

She commended theSecretary of the FCT Humanand Health Service Secretariat,Dr Ademola Onakomaiya as wellas the FCT Minister, Senator BalaMohammed, for providing aphotocopying machine in theschools to ease the stress/cost ofphotocopying materials outsidethe schools premises and forcoming up with a policy itabsorb the best five graduatingstudents into the FCT civilservice as well as paying for theschools DSTV subscription fortwo years to keep them abreastwith happenings all over theworld.

Responding, the FCT HealthSecretary, Dr Onakomaiya,describe the schools as placesknown for excellent in bothcharacter and learning.

He said there was need forevents like the cultural carnivalonce in a while for students topromote their cultures andexhibit how this can enhancelearning.

Nursing schoolholds culturalcarnival

By Adeola Tukuru vulnerable groups.Omopariwa said the

International Day of Familieswas set aside by the UnitedNations to commemorate theessence of families globally.

Mrs Amina Solomon, Headof Personnel Management,Gwagwalada Area Councilwho received the children onbehalf of the councilcommended the staff of the

village for the care for thechildren.

She pledged thecommitment of the council tocontinue to offer necessarysupport to the village to ensurethat the children wereadequately cared for.

Solomon therefore called onthe children of the village tobe obedient and dedicated totheir academics.

By Usman Shuaibu


Proprietor enjoins Muslims, Christians to live in unityBy Usman Shuaibu

School children having fun at a park, recently in Asokoro, Abuja. Photo: NAN

Bala warns against politicizationon Land Swap ProgrammeThe FCT Administration

has warned against thepoliticization of the FCT

Land Swap programmebecause infrastructure mustbe provided in the entire 250square kilometers of theFederal Capital City as well asthe 8,000 square kilometersthat comprise the FederalCapital Territory through anaffordable means.

Senator Bala Mohammedgave this warning while

inaugurating the 30 memberMinisterial Committee on theImplementation of Land SwapProgramme and ResettlementMatters in Abuja.

Senator Mohammed alsocautioned those who may wishto hijack the genuine concernsof the people to cause confusionto desist from such acts.

His words: “Let me use thisopportunity however, to servea word of caution to those thatmay wish to hijack the genuineconcerns of the people to causeconfusion”.

According to him, “we, as

an Administration prefer theway of dialogue and civilapproach to all mattersaffecting the citizens of theFCT. We cannot however,abdicate our responsibility formaintenance of peace,wherever there is a threat tolaw and order”.

The Minister remarked thatthis inauguration is a follow upto the promise made during theSpecial Town Hall Meetingconvened last month to discussmatters affecting the FCT LandSwap Programme.

He reiterated that the

By Adeola Tukuru

Nigeria topartner withSingaporeon bilateralties

Nigeria is poised todeepen its economicand bilateral tie with

the Republic of Singapore asboth countries are on a mutualtalk that would allow themleverage on areas such ascapacity building andexploring infrastructuraldevelopment possibilitiesbetween both countries.

The Singaporean Ministerof Foreign Affairs MasagosZulkifli at a state visit to theMinister of the Federal CapitalTerritory, FCT BalaMohammed said the visit wasnecessitated by the need toexplore possibilities ofdeepening the bilateralexpansion that both countrieshad build overtime.

The envoy also disclosedthat the Nigerian Ambassadorto Singapore Nonye- RajisOkpara who was also presentat the meeting has been takingthe lead in selling variousinvestment options in theNigeria to him, adding thatthis had necessitated his visitto the country to get first-handinformation on those areas.

“Most people in Singaporeare not properly informedabout issues in Africa. TheNigerian Ambassador toSingapore has been briefingme on the investment optionsin the country, and that is thefactor that had propelled thisvisit. Am impressed with whatI have seen so far and wouldtalk deeper with relevantauthorities on area ofcollaboration”

Also, the Envoy saidSingaporean high commissionto Nigeria explained that theHigh commission in t hecountry has moved a stepfurther in establishing aCapacity and skill acquisitioncentre in Nigeria to assist inempowering the youths andabsorbing them in variousfields of their choice.

Responding, the FCTMinister said the outcome ofthe visit would be fast-trackedas the territory is prepared tosign Memorandum ofunderstanding with thevisitors in areas of capacitybuilding of the administrativestaff of the Territory andstandard practice in themanagement of the Territory.

In addition, the Ministersaid the transformationalpolicies of the presentadministration would exploreall the available options withregard to human capitaldevelopment, adding that theFCT administration wouldpartner the country in variousareas such training and re-training of its staff as well asother areas.

By Adeola Tukuru

meeting was designed toprovide a forum for allstakeholders to make input intothe Land Swap Programme aswell as to listen to the concernsof the various communitiesthat would be affected by theproject among others.

Senator Mohammedrecalled that the deliberationat the meeting was conductedin a free and fair atmosphere;adding that the occasionprovided a unique opportunityfor the Administration to listenkeenly to the submissions madeby various stakeholders.

The Proprietor of Al-zikiruMubarak Li- IslammiyatKwankwashe in Suleja

Local Government Area inNiger State, MallamMohammed Hamid Ibrahim,has called on Muslims andChristians alike to pray forunity of the country at theirvarious places of worship.

Ibrahim, who made the callin an interview with PeoplesDaily during the celebration ofEid-el- Maulud (birth ofProphet Muhammed) inKwankwashe, also urged theMuslims and Christians topray for Nigeria to overcome

the prevailing securitychallenges in the nation.

He said that as a Islamicscholar he would to propagatethe religion of Islam among theMuslims in the area.

He charged Muslims ongood behavior and harmoniousrelationship with neighbourswherever they live and urgedthem to emulate the life styleof Prophet Mohammed all thetimes.

The Islamic scholar saidthat his leadership wouldcontinue to organize Islamicceremonies to update theknowledge of the people ofkwankwashe and suleja onwestern education.

Ibrahim called on youthsto obey the rules andregulations guiding thereligion of Islam, whileadvising parents to send theirchildren to school to acquirewestern education.

Presenting a paperentitled “Destiny” SheikhMusa Yaro advised bothMuslims and Christians to becontented with whatever theyh a v e .

He urged Muslims allover the country to devotetheir time to worship God,saying one with God is themajority.

He said, Muslims andChristians are one people

united by a common destiny,therefore, we must set aside allour differences and worktogether to understand eachother as one people.

Yaro, however, advisedIslamic scholars to do thingsaccordance with the fear of Godand warned them againstacquiring worldly things insteadof serving God.

Also, a guest lecturer,Sheikh Abdul Maleek Badamasywho presented a paper tagged“Good morals behavior in Islam”said that the essence of religionwas to make adherents of suchfaith better followers in theirliving standard, behavior, deedsand utterances.


Businessman, 35, remandedover alleged rape of house maid

girl living with the Nnamanis,was raped by her employer onMay 29.

He added that “on May 29, theaccused knocked at the victim’sdoor and asked for his phonebattery.

“When she opened the door,the accused forcefully entered theroom and had carnal knowledgeof her.’’

The prosecutor said that theaccused agreed duringinvestigation that he entered the

An Upper Area Court inMararaba, NasarawaState on Monday,

remanded a 35-year-old businessman, Oyemachi Nnamani, ofUpper Uke, Nasarawa State inprison for alleged rape.

The prosecutor, Jospeh Ahwa,told the court that the matter wasreported by the victim’s sister, thePatience Agbo, at Uke PoliceStation on May 7.

Ahwa said that the victim(name withheld), a 14-year-old

INSIDE FCTCOURTS

victim‘s room but denied havingcarnal knowledge of her.

He noted that the offencecontravened the provisions of thePenal Code.

However, the accused pleadednot guilty to the charge.

The accused counsel, GabrielOkpara, prayed the court to granthis client bail but the prosecutorobjected, saying the matter wasstill being investigated.

He said that the allegationagainst the accused was not a

bailable offence and that thevictim was undergoingtreatment.

He urged the court to use itspower under Section 183 of theCriminal Procedure Code toremand the accused to enable thepolice to conclude investigations.

Presiding judgeVincent Gwahemba, granted theprayers as he ordered that theaccused be remanded in prisonand adjourned the case to June 10for further mention. (NAN)

An over loaded ‘okada’ making brisk business along Mararaba/Nyanya road. Photo Mahmud Isa

The police yesterdayarraigned a propertyagent, Ike Megafu, of

Gwarimpa Estate, in an Upper AreaCourt in Gudu, Abuja, for allegedbreach of trust.

The police prosecutor, ASP DanielAgada, told the court that five personscomplained against Megafu ondifferent dates at the Kaura MarketPolice Station, Abuja.

Agada said the first complainant,Yisa Braimoh, of Prince and PrincessEstate, Abuja, lodged his complainton Feb. 25.

He said Braimoh entrusted hisshop number WA2, located at KauraModern Market to the accused to rentout for N1 million and he did butconverted the money to his ownpersonal use.

Agada said the secondcomplainant, Peter Dada of theFederal Ministry of Works, Abuja,reported the accused on Feb. 14.

“The accused rented out Dada’sshop number AG210 at KauraModern Market in April 2012 for N250,000 without his consent andconverted the money to his personaluse.’’

The prosecutor added that thethird complainant, EzeaniIzuchukwu, of Lugbe, Abuja, reportedthat the accused rented out his shopnumber HG69 for N200,000 andconverted same to his personal use.

“The fourth and fifthcomplainants, Florence Otuu andMichael Ngwu, reported the accusedon Feb. 23.

“The accused let out Otuu’s shopnumber BOS214 situated at KauraModern Market for N100,000 anddishonestly converted same to hispersonal use.

“Similarly, the accused leasedout Ngwu’s shop number BOS213also at Kaura Modern Market, forN340,000 but appropriated sameamount,’’ Agada said.

The prosecutor said the offencecontravened the provision of Section312 of the Penal code.

Section 312 says whoevercommits criminal breach of trustshall be punished with imprisonmentfor a term which may extend to sevenyears or with fine or with both.’’

The presiding judge, AdamuWakili, granted the accused bail inthe sum of N1 million, and adjournedthe case to June 3 for further hearing.(NAN)

Property agentdocked overalleged dupingof five persons

An Abuja Area Court onTuesday fixed June 3 forruling in a case of alleged

adultery, physical assault andthreat to life, involving acouple, Ramatu Okpanachi andAbubakar Okpanachi.

The judge, Mr HarunaMasanawa, fixed the new date afterhearing the fresh submission of theparties in the matter.

The parties had requested thecourt to give them time to settletheir differences.

Masanawa gave the couple thegrace period to enable them go backhome and settle their differencesand report back on the adjourneddate with a report on which thecourt could give a ruling.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the couple whoreside at Queen Amina Street inKubwa, Abuja, had been marriedfor five years and have a three-year-old daughter.

The petitioner, Ramatu, in herstatement of claim, alleged that her

husband, being a drunkard, wasthreatening her life, maltreatingher, assaulting her physically andkeeping late nights.

She, therefore, prayed the courtto dissolve the marriage forthwith.

However, the respondent,Abubakar, in hissubmission, denied his wife’sallegations, saying that the bone ofcontention between them was thathis wife was adulterous.

Abubakar said that even thepaternity of their daughter was

“suspect.’’He said he would have to carry

out a paternity test on the child toconfirm if she was his biologicalchild.

“My Lord, I have my doubtsabout the paternity of our three-year-old daughter.

“I want to carry out a DNA testto ascertain if she is mine.

“My house help once caughtmy wife in the act on ourmatrimonial bed,’’ Abubakar said.(NAN)

Pastor docked over breach of trust, gets bail

A Karu Senior MagistratesCourt on Mondayremanded a mother of two

in prison for allegedly refusing topay for clothes worth N108,000which she bought on credit.

Ifeoma Mark, 32, of Nyanya,Abuja, is facing a two-countcharge of criminal breach of trustand cheating brought against herby the police.

She, however, denied the

charges.Senior Magistrate Anna Akobi

ordered the accused to beremanded in prison until June 17when she would rule on her oralapplication for bail.

The prosecutor, Cpl. SilasNanpan, objected to the bailapplication on the ground that theaccused would jump bail.

“She had jumped policeadministrative bail twice since

May 2012 when she was arrested.“If granted bail, there is the

probability that she would stillabscond as she has no traceableaddress.’’

According to the prosecutor,one Victoria Eleojo of GwarinpaEstate, Abuja, reported at thepolice station that she supplied theaccused person with Senegaleseclothes worth N108,000 oncredit.

He said the supply was done inMay 2012 based on trust and theaccused promised to pay afterselling the clothes.

“The accused refused to keepto the terms of the agreement andconverted the said money to herpersonal use.

“The accused made part-payment of N31,500, leaving abalance of N55,500 which sheintentionally refused to pay.’’

3 men jailed 2 months for iron rods theft The offence, according toprosecutor, is punishable undersections 312 and 322 of the PenalCode.

Section 312 says whoevercommits criminal breach of trustshall be punished withimprisonment for a term whichmay extend to seven years or withfine or both.

Section 322 says whoevercheats shall be punished withimprisonment for a term whichmay extend to three years or withfine or both. (NAN)


Management Tip of the DayGo after high-quality revenue

INSIDE

An uncompromising focus on growth can take companies in the wrongdirection. Take Groupon. Oncelauded as the "fastest-growingcompany ever," its stock price hasfallen about 80% since thecompany went public in 2011.The key is to find quality,sustainable revenue. Here's whatthat looks like:

‘Why UK rejectsNigerian foods at

borders’

- Pg 20BBBBBUSINESSUSINESSUSINESSUSINESSUSINESSEmail: [email protected] Mob: 08033644990

It's predictable. It's alwayseasier to forecast if you can beconfident that 90% of last year'scustomers and dollars will be backthis year. The money should comefrom returning clients willing tospend the same amount.

It's profitable. A benchmark fora good margin varies by sectors,but quality revenue tends to behigher-margin. Aim for gross

margins of at least 70%.It's diverse. While early-stage

companies may often have acouple of customers that make upa large portion of revenue, overtime you want to build a diversebase. None of your top five clientsshould make up more than 15%of revenue.Source: Harvard BusinessReview

Nigeria’s crude output drops to 1.73mbpd in April

Nigeria’s crude oilproduction last monthwas 1.734 million

barrels per day (mbpd)compared to 1.746 million (bpd)in March.

According to theOrganisation of PetroleumExporting Countries (OPEC) inits May report released lastFriday, oil output for the firstquarter of this year was around1.82mbpd.

Nigeria, Africa’s top oilproducer, has faced periodicproduction challenges in the pastfew years. Last year, productionfell from 2.032mbpd in the thirdquarter to 1.891mbpd in thefourth quarter occasioned bymassive floods and oil theft, withan average of about 2.45mbpdfor that year.

Production levels fromJanuary to April were far belowgovernment’s forecast of 2.53million bpd for the year. InJanuary and February, outputswere 1.994mbpd and1.722mbpd, respectively,according to data from OPEC.

The report also revealed thatseveral of the oil exportingcountries in sub-Saharan Africa(including Angola, Cameroon,Chad, Equatorial and Ghana)will benefit from risinghydrocarbon output as newmining production in severalcountries will also be a positivefactor for manufacturing.

The resurgence in Africa’sfortunes, and the uptick in itsvital oil, gas and mining sectors,the report said, has been linkedto factors such as the rapidgrowth of China and other Asianeconomies.

Oil supply from Africa isforecast to increase by70,000bpd to average2.38mbpd in 2013, representingan upward revision of

DPR bans importation of cookinggas from Niger RepublicBy Etuka Sunday

By Etuka Sunday

Apparently concernedabout the impact onsafety, the Department of

Petroleum Resources (DPR) hasbanned the importation of highpressure Propane-ladenLiquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG),otherwise known as cooking gas,from Niger Republic, throughthe land borders.

It was gathered that theintervention of the apexregulator followed concernraised by the LPG marketers thatconsumers faced imminentdanger as off-specificationproduct was being imported fromNiger Republic to flood theNigerian market.

This product, it was learnt,

had higher proportion of highlyexplosive Propane than the LPGthat is sourced from the NigeriaLiquefied Natural Gas (NLNG)Limited and the refineries,which consists mostly of lowpressure Butane.

It was also gathered that theLPG imported from NigerRepublic is cheaper than the onessourced from the refineries andthe Nigeria LNG Limited.

The Nigerian LPG marketershad warned its members not topatronise the LPG from Nigerbecause of the imminent dangerit posed to users.

They stated that the PropaneLPG would explode in the normalcylinders designed for ButaneLPG because of its high pressure

and accused the DPR of issuingimport licenses to somemarketers to import thedangerous product withoutconsidering its impact on safety.

The National President of theLiquefied Petroleum Gas RepsAssociation of Nigeria, Mr. OduGbolahan said that the DPR hadwithdrawn the approval givenfor the importation of thecontroversial LPG.

The LPG imported throughthe landed border howeverhelped to crash the price in thelocal market because the onesfrom that axis were very cheap.But the marketers who protestedthe importation of the productsaid they were concerned withthe welfare of the people and theimpact on the environment.

The immediate pastPresident of the NationalAssociation of LiquefiedPetroleum Gas MarketersAssociation of Nigeria(NALPGMA), Mr. MouruffAdesina Onabule had allegedthat some marketers used thecheap LPG from Niger Republicto ‘blend’ the more-expensiveones from Nigeria to make hugeprofit, without minding thethreat to safety.

Onabule warned members ofNALPGMA to shun the LPGimported through Niger axis.

R-L: Kano state Governor, Engr. Rabi'u Musa Kwankwaso, and former Managing Director of PeugeotAutomobiles Nigeria, PAN, Kaduna, Mr. Philippe Beudet of PSA Group of France, their discussion regardingsupport for technical education in Kano especially in view of the establishment of 44 new technicalschools by the Kwankwaso administration.

15,000bpd from the previousmonthly oil market report(MOMR).

The revision came fromSouth Sudan, Sudan and Ghana,

while the supply outlook forGabon experienced a downwardrevision and the other producersforecast remains steady from amonth earlier, the report said.

Nigeria’s slowimplementation ofstructural economic

reforms is limiting its chancesof a credit-rating upgrade,Moody’s Investors Service said.

While economic growth inAfrica’s biggest crude produceris “resilient,” any chance of anupdate from its Ba3 rating,three levels below investmentgrade, is hindered bycorruption, weak institutionsand its vulnerability to oilprice drops, Edward Al-Hussainy and DietmarHornung, credit analysts atMoody’s said yesterday.

Nigeria’s economyexpanded an estimated 6.6percent in the first quarter ofthe year, compared with 6.9percent in the previous threemonths, the central bank saidlast week, citing figures fromthe West African nation’sstatistics bureau. Oilcontributes as much as 70percent of the government’sfiscal revenue, leaving itsensitive to a downturn inglobal prices, Moody’s said.

“Momentum for addressingchallenging structuralreforms has slowed,” Al-Hussainy and Hornung said.“Most critically, legislation torevise the fiscal regime in thepetroleum industry and toderegulate the downstream oiland gas sector has stalled,holding up significant foreigninvestment while the sector’sproductivity declines.”

The government lost about$1 billion last month becauseof missed oil productiontargets, Finance MinisterNgozi Okonjo-Iweala said lastweek in an interview in Cape

Town.Production fell to 1.81

million barrels a day in March,the lowest level sinceSeptember 2009, according todata compiled by Bloomberg.Output averaged 2.2 millionbarrels a day in the firstquarter, according to figuresreleased by the NNPC on April17. That compares with aproduction forecast of 2.53million barrels a day used inthis year’s budget. The loss wasdue to crude theft and pipelinesabotage, according to NNPC.

“This violence has thepotential to stall foreigninvestment and is increasinglya fiscal drag on spending bystate and local governments,”said Moody’s.

While Nigeria isn’t “at atipping point,” it said,“political risks are amplifiedby the combination of risingpoverty and inequality,political dis-empowerment,entrenched religious andethnic tensions, andextraordinary levels ofcorruption.”

(Source: Bloomberg News)

Nigeria’s slow reformprogress limiting creditrating, says Moody’s


COMPANYNEWS

EquipmentLeasingAssociation

To build capacity byequipping companies andother organisations with

essential tools and techniquesthat would lead to significantcost savings and operationalefficiency, the EquipmentLeasing Association of Nigeria(ELAN) recently held a fleetmanagement conference.

The three-day conference,which also provided a platformfor business networking wasorganised with firmdetermination to buildcapacity in emerging marketsfor ELAN members and fleetpractitioners.

The conference with thetheme “The Role of FleetManagement in achievingoperational efficiency inNigeria” was supported byVolvo/ATC Nigeria, and held atLagos Sheraton Hotel, Ikejarecently.

MantracNigeriaLimitedMantrac Nigeria

Limited, dealer incaterpillar and

generators is partneringStanbic IBTC Bank byproviding a wide range offinancial alternatives forcustomers on equipmentpurchasing.

The collaboration willavail Mantrac customers toaccess broad range offinancial structures, flexiblepayment options atcompetitive rates in thebank.

Managing DirectorMantrac Nigeria, EdmundMartin-Lawson, whodisclosed this at thecompany’s power systemcustomer seminar inIbadan, said the move bycompany serves as anadditional purchasingsolution to meet customers’needs.

LCCI

The Lagos Chamber ofCommerce andIndustry (LCCI) on

Tuesday unveiled theprospectus for the 2013Lagos International TradeFair scheduled to begin onNovember 1.

The president of LCCI,Goodie Ibru, said that thefair, which would end onNovember 10, would takeplace at the Tafawa BalewaSquare, Lagos.

Ibru promised that thefair would be far better thanthat of 2012.

The Nigerian ExportPromotion Council(NEPC) Executive

Director, Dr. David Adulugba,said that Nigerian exporters losemillions of dollars annually dueto rejection and destruction oftraditional food exports at theUK Border Agency.

As the Head, Imports andOfficial Controls Unit, FoodStandards Agency, UK, MichaelGlavin, attributed the rejectionand destruction of Nigerian foodexport at the border to non-compliance with the rules.

Speaking at the exhibitionand workshop on ‘Export ofNigerian Food Produce to theUnited Kingdom, UK’ organisedby Council, Adulugbalamented that most exportersdo not engage in formaltrading.

‘Why UK rejects Nigerian foods at borders’Stories by Ayodele Samuel,Lagos

”We have been telling theexporters to formalise theirtrade and register with NEPC.They have to fill the necessaryforms and follow procedures toavoid the problems”, he said.

The executive directorexplained that that was whythe agency brought in the teamof experts from the UK BorderAgency to give the necessaryadvice to help them in theirtransactions. “What we areasking the British is verysimple: Just allow our goods intoyour country for sale. We do notwant to send our goods there andbe destroyed at the border andat our expense. We havereceived numerous complaints;The question is: why doGhanaians have their goods sailthrough the UK border andNigerians’ don’t? What are wedoing wrong, what are we not

doing right? We want to put thisthing straight away. That iswhy we brought the expertshere to discuss with you”, hesaid.

Glavin said that there werestandards to be met beforeproducts were allowed intoEuropean countries. Glavin,who led the UK delegation toNigeria, said the products wereeither rejected or destroyedwhen the standards were notmet. He said that the team wasin Nigeria to assist the country’sexporters of food produce to theUK on what to do to avoidhaving their productsintercepted.

The Minister of Industry,Trade and Investment, Dr.Olusegun Aganga, representedby the Permanent Secretary,Alh. Dauda Shu’aib Kigbu, hadearlier expressed concern over

…NEPC boss seeks formal tradingthe losses incurred by Nigerianexporters due to non-compliance with the conditionsand guidelines governing suchexportation.

Aganga said thatgovernment would doeverything possible to addressthe challenges of exportingtraditional food produce to theEU and UK.

He noted that UK hasremained Nigeria’s top fiveadditional non-oil exportdestinations for food produce,and advised exporters to updatethemselves and adhere to newguidelines for exporting foodproduce to Europe.

L-R: Founder/Vicew and Chairman Nisa Premier Hospital, Dr. Ibrahim Wada, Nigeria High Commissionerto Canada, Ambassador Ojo Maduekwe, and Hon. Mao Ohuabunwa, during a three-day Nigeria-Canadainvestment conference, recently at the Fairmont Roya Hotel, in Toronto, Canada.

All eyes are set on Alh.Bature Umar Masari as heassumed office as the

Director-General and ChiefExecutive of Small and MediumEnterprises DevelopmentAgency of Nigeria (SMEDAN),following his appointment by theFederal Government.

Although Masari has pledgedto partner all stakeholders inenhancing small and mediumscale enterprises (SMEs) output,more would be demanded fromhim. Stakeholders and membersof the organized private sectorsare expecting major SMEsbreakthrough to be imitated bythe agency, Masari pledged toconsolidate on the federalgovernment and private sectorinitiatives earlier started forincreased job creation throughthe development of SMEs across

All eyes on new SMEDAN DG , Bature Masari

The Federal Governmentsaid it is set to review theconcession agreement of

the Lagos International TradeFair Complex (LITFC) to AulicNigeria Limited, which it saidwas one of the majorrecommendations of the NationalCouncil of Privatisation (NCP).

Minister of State for Industry,Trade and Investment, Dr.Samuel Ortom, dropped thehint at a meeting with the NCPImplementation Committeeand the LITFC stakeholders toresolve the protracted disputeover the concessioning in hisoffice in Abuja.

Ortom, promised that alltheir recommendations on theLITFC concession would beimplemented.

According to him,government had identifiedinfrastructure and power,among other challenges, andpromised that these would befixed to enhanced businessactivities in the complex and thecountry in general.

“We are also going toundertake a facility andfinancial audit and verificationof your own portion of thecomplex to ascertain who theoperators are and their status.At the end, we will eventuallyfind a Special Purpose Vehicleor concessionaire that willmanage its own area of thecomplex”, he said.

Ortom pledged thecommitment of the committeetoward amicable resolution ofthe dispute to pave way for thedevelopment of the complex tointernational standard, urgingthe stakeholders to quicklycorrect the committee wherethey thought it was goingwrong.

The minister, who said theFederal Government was nothappy at the present state ofLITFC, assured that itsinfrastructure would upgradedto international standards inorder to boost the trade andeconomic development of thecountry.

FG to reviewconcession ofLagos Trade FairComplex

the country.He explained that more efforts

will be worked on in conformitywith government policies formaximum collaboration desiredto develop strategies that wouldensure that problems associatedwith productivity potential ofSMEs were addressed.

According to him, SMEs havethe potentials for job creationand could contribute greatly tothe Gross Domestic Product(GDP) of a nation, while heacknowledged that some SMEsfaced constraints by severalchallenges that limited theirimpact on Nigeria’s economicdevelopment.

He said SMEDAN was saddledwith the responsibility ofdeveloping and promoting micro,small and medium enterprises(MSMEs) in Nigeria, stressing

that it had the compelling role ofbuilding synergies to tacklechallenges bedeviling the sector.

“My previous job in Katsinawas on job and wealth-creationalong with poverty reductionamong people, so the present jobwould be a continuation of what Ihad been doing but now to alarger Nigeria”.

The new DG served as KafurLG Chairman and immediateSpecial Adviser to GovernorIbrahim Shema of Katsina stateon Poverty Alleviation,described SMEs as the engine forgrowth of the economy.

Masari, 51, hails from Masariin Kafur Local Government ofKatsina state. He is an alumnusof two prestigious Institutions -Bayero University (BUK), Kanoand Ahmadu Bello University(ABU), Zaria.


Doing business in Nigeria andRwanda; a comparative analysis

It takes a very patient manto do business in Nigeria. There'sso much to contend with;competition, electricitychallenges, the environment,getting enough capital, amongothers.

But one thing that is certainwhich couldn't be a problem ishaving the market. With apopulation of over 160 millionpeople, you can be rest assuredthat you have the market foryour business and I mean anykind of business in Nigeria.

However, the questionremains: is Nigeria a business-friendly destination? Is it a placewhere Small and MediumEnterprises (SMEs) thrive well?

Indeed, many families inNigeria survive on smallbusinesses. It may not pay all thebills but it helps provide theirbasic needs.

Having spent some weeks inRwanda of recent, I sought toexplore the investment climateand the opportunities for smalland medium businesses incomparison to Nigeria.

My first observation was thatno stall in the markets I visitedand business places in Kigali theRwandan capital and otherprovinces I visited hadminiature generators makingloud noises all over the market,in a frantic bid to supply powerto their shops or business outlets.

Of course this is not the casein Nigeria. Not only is electricitya huge challenge, access tocapital has remained animpediment to starting abusiness.

A Senegalese textile designerbased in Abuja, Mukhtar Bambaonce told me if electricity wassteady, he could design tenclothes per day compared to thefive he produces daily.

"Running a business ongenerator is not easy; you haveto fuel it, and the shop rent ishigh, so these things determineour prices," he said.

This of course is graduallybecoming the anthem of mostsmall entrepreneurs in Nigeria.So, the question is: "What are thepossibilities of starting a businessin Nigeria and running itsuccessfully"?

Let me however pause toexamine how Rwanda is gettingit right and attracting investorsto the country aimed at re-building itself after a genocidethat grounded the economy justa couple of years ago.

After the 1994 genocide, inthe year 2000, Rwanda had aGDP of 290 dollars, a 64 percentpoverty rate with lifeexpectancy at 49 years.

However, the country, underthe leadership of Paul Kagame,has developed home-grownsolutions in order to rebuild itseconomy.

Among them are, building onagriculture, and enhancingservice delivery and tourism,with opportunities for Rwandeseploughing into these sectorsfrom district to Federal level.

Everybody is a player in theRwandan economy. Of course,for a country starting from 290dollars Gross Domestic Product(FDP), everyone has a role to

play.The 2013World Bank and

IFC report on the global rankingson the ease of doing businessshows that Nigeria ranks 131 outof 185 countries with no reformson doing business since 2012.

Rwanda, on the other hand,ranks 52nd, and have held two"doing business" reforms since2012. Singapore ranks first,followed by Hong Kong and NewZealand. Central AfricanRepublic ranks 185th.

The East African country isalso ranked 8th easiest place tostart a business and accesscredit.

How is this achievementpossible with a population ofabout eleven million people?What lessons are there to learnfrom Rwanda?

Not only has the Rwandangovernment displayed zero-tolerance to corruption; it hasalso come up with policies thatallows for easy start of business,with less bureaucracy and moreopenness.

Vivian Kayitesi, Head of theInvestment Promotion andImplementation Department ofthe Rwanda Development Boardsays the political will to drivebusiness growth is the reason forthis achievement.

"It has taken a lot of buy-infrom key government officials;there's high-level political buy-in, the parliament has been keyin ensuring that reforms aredone quickly, we also assess if thereforms are having an impact.

"You can register yourbusiness on-line in the comfortof your home, even in Lagos; ifyou do it on-line it's free, and ifyou come to the RwandaDevelopment Board, you justhave to pay 15000Frw(Rwandan Francs) which is lessthan 30 US dollars (or N4,800), and a copy of your IDcard, you fill out a form and insix hours you come back foryour license," Kayitesiexplains.

Many entrepreneurs inNigeria have posited that

drastic measures to boostelectricity must be taken ifNigeria must attain its rightfulplace as the giant of Africa."Four thousand mega watts isnothing to go by," they opine.

Also, commercial banksshould ease their lendingpolicies in order to favour softloans for especially micro,small and mediumentrepreneurs.

The banks however are saidto favour large businessescompared to small ones. Thismay not be surprising as theytoo are profit-oriented.

"Mrs. Justina Ajonye, apoultry farmer in Auta Ba laifi,Nasarawa state once said to me,"I have tried some banks forloans to assist me in my farm,but they'll say you have toprovide collateral; as long asyou are starting on a smalllevel, they don't believe in you.

"They either want to comeand see your farm, or theyhave grades of farms that theywant to support; they ask mequestions like how are they sureI even own a farm and they arealways assisting those that arealready established, but let themcome to our small farms and seewhat we are doing," shelamented.

Meanwhile, the erstwhileDirector-General of the Smalland Medium EnterprisesDevelopment Agency of Nigeria(SMEDAN), Alh. Umar Nadadahas said funding smallbusinesses requires extra effortsfrom governments, privatesector especially microfinancebanks and developmentpartners.

"There's usually moreproblem with funding micro-businesses, whose maximumfund rate is five million Naira;this is because they constituteup to 90 percent of the business

From Hauwa Anaja, Abuja

brackets of micro, small,medium and large-scaleentrepreneurship. "Butrecently, the doors ofopportunities have begun toopen for micro and smallbusinesses," he said.

With regards to micro-credit, the MicrofinanceTransparency report onRwanda in 2012 shows thatprior to the genocide of 1994,the micro-finance sector hadexperienced slow growth, butthat after the genocide, a lot ofdonor funds were directed torelief oriented micro-financeinitiatives. The Rwandangovernment also provided creditlines and grants to the sector.

"In 2008, there were a totalof 125 micro-financeinstitutions concentrated insemi-urban areas to thedetriment of financialinstitutions in rural areas."

Just like Nigerian banks thathesitate to offer loans to microand small businesses, Rwandasaw a situation where clientsrefused to pay up loans andcaused the dearth of manymicro-finance institutions.

However, to address this, thereport recommends theestablishment of savings andcredit cooperatives andeffective legal framework toguide their existence.

It is believed that with theright facilities and framework,entrepreneurs' worstnightmares in Nigeria andindeed Africa, would graduallybecome a thing of the past, andthe continent would be able tocompete with other developednations of the world.

Not only would this helpcreate jobs for the ever-growingwork force, more opportunitiesfor investments and localmanufacturing would beprovided.

View of a tea plantation in Rwanda

You can register your business on-linein the comfort of your home, even in

Lagos; if you do it on-line it's free, andif you come to the Rwanda Develop-

ment Board, you just have to pay15000Frw (Rwandan Francs) which isless than 30 US dollars (or N4, 800),

and a copy of your ID card, you fill outa form and in six hours you come back

for your license," Kayitesi explains.

“


FRC urged to set modalities in favour of SMEsThe Group Managing

Director, CourtevilleBusiness Solution Plc., Mr.

Adebola Akindele has called onthe Financial Reporting Councilto put in place modalities thatwill ensure optimal participationof Small and Medium ScaleEnterprises (SMEs) in theactivities of the council.

Akindele however, describedthe attitude of the Council to thisclass of business in the countryas being discouraging.

Speaking while addressingthe stock brokers during thecompany's 'Facts Behind-the-Figures' at the Nigeria StockExchange (NSE) on Tuesday, inLagos, Akindele noted that toensure optimal participation ofthe SMSE in the activities of thecouncil, a lot of issues need to beaddressed and modalities put inplace.

He noted that effort madeCourteville, over a long time, toget registered with the FRC, both

on-line and manually provedabortive, adding that thecouncil is not doing anything toremedy the situation.

He described the hugechallenges encountered on adaily basis by companies inNigeria and beyond, in thecourse of their businessendeavour as a veritable andhuge potential available for thecompany.

According to him, it is notonly in Nigeria that thesechallenges are experienced,adding that Courteville has noother work than looking at thesechallenges and developingsolutions to them.

He opined that Courteville,the first IT company to be quotedon the NSE and equally first tobe ISO certified, has enjoyedbeing a member of the NSE; astatus, he said, has gained it anunquestionable local and globalintegrity.

He noted that company, eversince it became a quotedcompany in 2009, has never

failed to maintain profitabilityin all its bottom line and isequally known for consistency individend payment.

On the company'sperformance indices, he notedthat the firm's unaudited reportthe first quarter of 2013 recorded

a turnover of N113million, a 33percent increase when comparedwith N233.5 million written in2012, while Profit before Tax, hesaid, grew to N112.2 million, re-ordering a 77 percent surgeagainst N63.3 million written inthe period of 2012.

Profit after tax equally rosesignificantly, by 63.2 percentfrom N53.2 million recorded in2012 to N86.8 million achievedin 2013, while Shareholders'Fund, which stood at N2.8bnbillion in 2012 rose N2.9bn in2013.

Leading South Africanlender, Stanbic Bank haspartnered with the

Government of Rwanda in theissue of its debut $400-million,10-year Eurobond, assisting thecountry to become the latest sub-Saharan country to obtainfunding from internationalcapital markets - a first not onlyfor Rwanda, but also for EastAfrica.

Stanbic Bank Regional Headof Investment Banking, AnneAliker said the lender providedadvice on financial,documentation and legal aspectsof the transaction to the

Government of Rwanda, forwhich it also acts as a ratingsadviser.

The funds from the bond issueare intended for the constructionof an international conventioncentre and to finance capitalexpenditure requirements forRwandair, the national airlinecarrier, Ventures Africa reports.

According to Aliker, the bondissue underscores the increasingstature of Africa as an investmentdestination.

Interest in the issue of the dealcould be gauged by the fact thattotal bids of $3.5 billion, about 7.5times the issue size, were received

for the bond that will be due in2023.

The bond was priced at 6.875percent for the ten-year periodand commenced trading at 6.625percent.

Stanbic Bank's Head ofInvestment Banking Coveragefor Rwanda, Patrick Mweheiresaid: "The capital raised will go along way in boosting Rwanda'sprofile to International investors.

According to the World Bank,Rwanda is globally ranked 52 onits measure on the ease of doingbusiness, the highest in sub-Saharan Africa after SouthAfrica."

Stanbic Bank partnersRwanda on $400m Eurobond

From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

Phone Halo unveils ButtonTrackR to protect smartphonesand valuables via Bluetooth

Phone Halo has launched anIndiegogo campaign onTuesday to develop and

fund Button TrackR, a new wayto find lost and misplaced itemsusing your iOS or Androiddevice.

The company launched asimilar project called WalletTrackR in November last year,which alerted users via aBluetooth connection whenevertheir wallet and iPhone wereseparated. A custom tune wouldplay to alert the user of theproblem and also save therelevant geo-location data incase they missed it and movedon.

The only problem was thatthe technology was focused on asingle device and mostconsumers have more than oneobject that they would consider'valuable' when they leave thehouse.

Phone Halo has returnedwith an updated version todaycalled Button TrackR. It's tiny,about the size of a button in fact(surprise, surprise) and can fitinto just about any nook orcranny. The app can now trackup to 10 of these little gadgets atany one time and has also beenupdated to include a bunch of

new features, such as crowdsourced tracking.

It's pretty clever. If anotheruser is in the vicinity of a lostitem, a push notification will besent to the relevant owner withupdated GPS coordinates. Ithappens automatically and isdesigned to speed up the processof finding lost items - especiallyif they happen to be stolen inpublic and the person responsiblemoves on.

As before, users can setup analert so that their phone will ringwhenever they leave adesignated area without aButton TrackR. The process alsoworks the other way, however,so users can tap the tracker andforce their smartphone to ring,notifying them of its location -even when it is set to silent.

The only obvious issue seemsto be attaching the blighters toall of your most previous goods.The Button TrackR comes withdouble-sided tape, which is finefor hardy objects such as amountain bike or moped. Weexpect users will be a littlereluctant to tape the tracker tomore luxurious items though,such as a digital camera orexpensive watch.(Source: thenextweb.com)

Prime Minister of Mali, Mr. Diango Cissoko with Chairman of the Islamic Development Bank (IfDB) Group,Dr. Ahmad Mohamed Ali in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia

Mali needs urgent support foreconomic development -Mali PM

The Republic of Mali is in needof urgent support foreconomic development

more than any time in history,according to the Prime Ministerof the country, Mr. DiangoCissoko.

The Prime Minister wasspeaking at the Headquarters ofthe Islamic Development Bank(IfDB) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabiaduring a one-day visit, ahead ofthe International Conference onMali scheduled to take place on15th May in Brussels. Mr. Cissokodrew attention to the currentpolitical crises in Mali, whichaccording to him, calls for strongeconomic intervention frominternational developmentpartners.

The Prime Minister stated

that "institutions like the IfDB andall development partners shouldcome together to support Mali"."Only when we are supported byour partners that we will be ableto revive the economy of thecountry, so that Mali will becomethe country we knew", he added.

In his welcome address, theChairman of the IFDB Group, Dr.Ahmad Mohamed Ali stated thathis institution supports laudableefforts that will restore harmonyamong the Malian society. "TheIFDB will actively participate inthe Brussels meeting andcooperate with your country andother institutions for the socio-economic development of Mali",President Ali pledged.

Since its inception in 1975, theIFDB Group has approved $782

million for development projectsin Mali, and has initiated aMember Country PartnershipStrategy (MCPS) aimed at Mali'seconomic development andregional integration. The MCPSis IFDB 's economic plan for itsmember countries aimed atsupporting the government andthe private sector, as well aspromoting regional integration.

The Islamic DevelopmentBank is a multilateralDevelopment Bank established in1975 to promote socio-economicdevelopment among member/non- member countries. The 56countries of the Organization forIslamic Cooperation (OIC)constitute the membership of theBank. The Republic of Mali is oneof the members of the Bank.

PAGE 25PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2013

A community, a‘corper’ and apatriotic mission….

Karshi, one of the thicklyi n h a b i t e dcommunities of the

nation’s capital city, was injubilant mood last weekprovided free medical carewas provided by a CorpsMember serving under theplatform of HIV/AIDSMedicalCommunity DevelopmentService (CDS) group, as partof his personal project andservice to the fatherland.

The World HealthOrganisation (WHO)’sdefinition of healthy living isnot an absence of diseases.This formed the basis for Mr.Aaron Ameh’s contributionto the community. Agraduate of Bio-Chemistry/Lab Science from FederalPolytechnic, Bauchi servingin Abuja with MangrovetectClinic, he believes in thepower of saving lives throughcampaigns and awarenesscreation on HIV/AIDS,general personal hygiene andhealthy living.

As a community made upof mainly women andchildren with aspiration justlike any other communitiesin Nigeria, they have beenliving on hope that one daytheir affairs would be madebetter through either thegovernment, Non-Governmental Organisations(NGOs) or an individual whohas the love of thecommunity at heart.

Not just that; they areslum dwellers living in poorsanitary conditions therebysusceptible to many diseasessuch as malaria and typhoidbut lack the basic necessitiesof life. Gbagi and Hausa arethe two commonly spokenlanguages in thecommunity. The standard ofliving is low. They oftenbattle with fever outbreakjust like their in any othercommunities.

The level of sensitizationabout their personal health

and other positive life issuesis low. However with hismeager resources, everyhousehold was touched,including children at theKarshi Junior SecondarySchool (JSS), since they werenot only sensitized andtreated medically but werealso given drugs, books andinsecticidal treated bed netsto prevent the increasingwave of malaria in thecommunity.

Speaking recently, Mr.Aaron Ameh said that theproject, “child health andmaternal mortality” wasnecessitated by the death ofhis mother whom he said diedbecause of negligence on thepart of medical personnelwhen he was a child, back inBenue State. According tohim, the child health andmaternal mortality

Living up to the admonition of the legendry former President of the UnitedStates, Mr. John Kennedy, that we should think of what we can do for ourcountry and not what our country would do for us, a youth ‘Corper’ dazzlesa community in the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, with some remarkableprojects. Etuka Sunday who was at the event, reports Aaron Ameh’spatriotic gesture to the Karshi community

campaign was not thatpronounced like today hencethe death of his mother,therefore he vowed to take thecampaign to every householdwherever he finds himself.

As a follow up to thatdream, he joined HIV/AIDSMedical CommunityDevelopment Service (CDS)in the NYSC camp to enablehim realize his dream. And asGod will have it, he was postedto Mangrovetect Clinic wherehe is currently carrying outhis charity work. He has adream that is far becoming areality.

The project was a productof long struggles andchallenges. Mr. Aaronsaid”the journey in terms ofthe project was not aninteresting one, but I made upmy mind to accept whateverchallenges that might come

my way in the course ofcarrying out this project. Sono matter the challenges Icount it all joy.

“At a point I decided to quitbut I saw it as a defeat on myside.What might have been abarrier to the project wasfinance but later I found outthat finance was not going tobe a problem but my inabilityto finish what I have started.I met one or two persons whoencouraged me to continue. Itold myself from camp that Iwould embark on a project,not because of what NYSCwould give me but how Iwould impact the lives ofpeople in the community.Igot to a point and my friendswere discouraging me but Itold them I was not going tostop since I had gone far in it.

“I thank MangrovetechClinic, Excellent and Friends

Management Consult Limitedin conjunction with Centrefor Family Health Initiative,NYSC Body, especially HIV/AIDS (Pet CDS) Group fortheir contributions to thesuccess of the project in KarshiCommunity. God will blessthem,” he said.

On her part, his trainerLucy Agba said, “am ad e v e l o p m e n t a lcommunicator, I buildcapacity on public health,talk about social living, ethics

and morals, a writer and apublisher. This is a programmeby one of my trainees in camp,I trained him in the secondbatch, batch B last year onHIV/AIDS in the camp. He issupposed to come into thecommunity and mentor theyoung ones, give theminformation on reproductivehealth, HIV/AIDS preventionand healthy living which hehas done, and he is going tostep further from his mandateto leave an indelible mark in

Karshi community and amproud of him.

“People should payresponsible attention to theway their children grow,how they themselves grow,and we can’t live our livescareless any more, ourhealth is very important;we must pay attention to ourhealth and make sure welive right and it is a collectiveresponsibility.

“Pet project has been onfor ten years now, for

sustainability, we will call onthe NYSC body andgovernment to help sustainedthe project. However Aaronon his own if he has the passioncan continue, not only him,everybody must be involvedat individual capacity,” shesaid.

Also speaking, the DistrictHead, Alh. Amed Doka whorepresented the Chief ofKarshi expressed joy for thegesture and prays God to blesshim richly. He added that

“for a young man withnothing or little resources tocarryout project as big as thisshows his level ofcommitment to charity workand saving lives. He thereforepromised to ensure that thematerials donated areequitably distributed to theresidents of the community.

In like manner, thePrincipal of Junior SecondarySchool, Karshi, ImhangbeIsekhilu God’s power said, “Itis the right information weneeded to reach to thestudent. Actually, thestudents are bright but theyneed this kind of informationto know that they are thefuture leaders of tomorrow, sothat they don’t play aroundwith they lives. They shouldresist every pressure thatwould derail them from theright track.We will soon beorganizing a career day incontinuation of this project,so he will also be involved totalk to them again throughdrama or otherpresentations.

“Government should nottie NYSC body to office workalone; this communitydevelopment project shouldbe encouraged and financed,because at this level as a corpsmember, you wouldn’t knowbecause of the zeal, you willuse the little stipend orallowance (allawi) to financethe project, it is not easy,even we the teachers, it verydifficult given out money tofinance this kind of project.Also everything should bebudgeted for,” he said.

One of the beneficiaries ofthe gesture, Abubarkalari, a

mother of four (4) said, “Ireally appreciate it, theproject is apt, you know thisperiod is a rainy season andtime of mosquitos, thereforeI thank the initiator of theproject and God will blesshim. When somebodyinitiates, government shouldsupport it in terms of adviceand finance, even NGOs too,”she said.

Aaron said, “The HIV/AIDS Medical CDS group isdedicated to spreading theawareness of HIV/AIDS,Malaria, Polio, Sexual andReproductive Health andother related diseases toyoung children in Secondaryschools all over Abuja. Wehave achieved immeasurablesuccess and have recordedseveral milestones in ourAnti-AIDS campaigns so far.

“The next phase of theproject which I intend tocarry out after my service

year will be in Dobi village inGwagwalada and Rimbavillage in Abaji area council,and so I will needstakeholders in the publichealth sector and politiciansfor support in any way theycan to see how we can supportthe underprivileged in oursociety. But all this can’t bepossible without finance,” heconcluded.

Just like Aaron, all corpsmembers must see theirservice year as a year thatshould be dedicated to theservice of humanity and nota year to enrich themselvesor be used to gallivant thecity in search of greenerpastures, according to one ofthe elders. They must learnto use the little or meagerresources at their disposal toaffect lives in their places ofprimary assignmentsbecause every little thingcounts.

“All corps members must see their serviceyear as a year that should be dedicated tothe service of humanity and not a year toenrich themselves or be used to gallivant

the city in search of greener pastures,according to one of the elders. They mustlearn to use the little or meager resources

at their disposal to affect lives in theirplaces of primary assignments because

every little thing counts

Beneficiaries of free medical treatment and insecticidal-of treated bed nets. Karshi District Head, Alhaji Ahmed Doka (2nd left) and Aaron Ameh (3rd left)

L-R: Karshi NYSC zonal inspector, Mrs Suliaman, Mr. Aaron Ameh and the District Head, AlhajiAhmed Doka A cross section of students of JSS, Karshi


Rainy Season: State Govts. adopt measures to avert floodAs this year's rainy season

begins, state governmentshave taken measures to avert

flood and its subsequent disasters.This followed NIMET's alert of

possible flood this year and warning tostate governments to adopt necessarymeasures to control the situation.

It also warned farmers to avoidfarming activities at river banks,while people should not build on waterlogged areas.

President Goodluck Jonathan hadreleased of N17.6 billion as directfinancial assistance to the affectedstates and some Federal Governmentagencies responsible for disastermanagement. He also announced theconstitution of a National Committeeon Flood Relief and Rehabilitation toassist the Federal Government raisefunds to mitigate the pains and ensureeffective post-impact of rehabilitationof victims.

Following this development, theaffected state governmentsconstituted committees assigned toassess and distribute relief materialsto the affected persons.

The committees, in most of thestates, have completed theirassignments, although some of thevictims had complained of either beingleft aside or that the assistance wasinsignificant compared to their losses.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports the victims in Delta statehad released N237.7 million from theN500 million released to it by theFederal Government.

Justice Francis Tabai (Rtd), theChairman, Delta Committee onManagement of the FederalGovernment N500 million Grant toVictims of Flood Disaster and Post-FloodRehabilitation, said this in Asaba.

He said the committee haddistributed farm inputs including 50,000 cassava stems and plantainsuckers in the 14 local governmentareas in the state.

Tabai said the committee wouldrenovate schools and give grants tochurches affected by the flood.

Reports from Dutse indicated thatthe Jigawa Government hasdisbursement N484 million to people,whose houses were destroyed duringthe disaster in parts of the state.

The Chairman of the State FloodDisaster Management Committee,Alhaji Abdulkadir Jinjiri, said themoney was distributed to 71,414victims in the 16 affected localgovernment areas.

He said that more than 97,000rooms were destroyed in the disaster,adding that the gesture would enablethe victims re-build their houses.

Similarly, N5, 000 would be givento families, who lost a room while thosewho lost more than a room wouldreceive N10, 000 each.

Jinjiri said the state governmenthad also spent more than N40 millionon the purchase food items,consumables and other reliefmaterials for the victims.

He said the state government hadalso earmarked N172 million for theprovision fertiliser and 2,000 tubewells to farmers, whose farmlandswere destroyed.

In Katsina, 10,536 victims of thedisaster from 18 local governmentareas have received N130 million fromthe N300 million FederalGovernment relief funds as assistance.

The chairman of the statecommittee on distribution of the relieffunds, Alhaji Abubakar Yusuf, said themoney was distributed to the victimsto enable them address some of theirproblems.

He said the remaining N170million would be used for theconstruction of drainages, culvertsand other projects in the affected localgovernment areas to preventreoccurrence of flood this year.

Reports from Kaduna State saidthat the State Emagency

Management Agency (NEMA) hascommenced the second round of thedistribution of relief materials to thevictims

The Executive Secretary of theAgency, Mr Ishaku Makama, said thatthe victims would receive buildingmaterials to repair their houses, inaddition to food items worth N100million, which was ditruibuted to5,694 persons.

The materials distributed include3,365 bags of rice, 900 bags of beans,13,454 bags of maize, 9,140 bags ofguinea corn, 600 bags of salt, 1,100bags of sugar, mattresses, shoes,wrappers, and palm oil, amongothers.

NAN reports that the money waspart of the N400 million given to thestate by the Federal Government.

The state government had saidthat the balance of N300 million wouldbe used to procure building materialsand as capital to the victims to restarttheir businesses.

Although N400 million wasreleased to Bauchi State from theintervention fund, , the stategovernment has yet to commencedistribution of the money.

This followed some discrepanciesdiscovered by the committee set upby the state government to handlethe issue.

The spokesman of the committee,Alhaji Inuwa Bello, however, said thata technical committee set up to resolvethe discrepancies had submitted itsreport to the state government.

However, the State EmergencyManagement Agency (OSEMA) inOsun, said the state government hadreceived N250 million from theFederal Government as the state'sgrant to control future flood in thestate.

The General Manager of theAgency, Mr Oyetunde Oyesiji, said themoney was committed to ecologicalcontrol programme as there was noflood disaster in the state.

In Plateau, the State EmergencyManagement Agency (SEMA) said theN500 million intervention fundreceived from the FederalGovernment has yet to be disbursed.

The Executive Secretary of theAgency, Mr Alhassan Barde, told NANthat the delay was caused by thefailure to arrive at an acceptableformula of sharing of the money.

"Looking at the ravaging effect ofthe 2012 flood and indeed the colossallosses suffered by people, we are notsaying that N500 million is a smallmoney, but it is not enough when youwant to commit the money.

"If you remember,infrastructures, structures, bridges,farmlands, culverts and roads weredestroyed, while dams were also

submerged."These are things that we need to

build back to ensure that thecommunities benefiting from theintervention did not suffer againwhen the next raining season comes.

"And we need to put all thesethings into consideration in arrivingat a method for the disbursement sothat there would be no rancour whenthe money is shared according to theneeds,'' he said.

In Kwara, the state governmentsaid it distributed relief materialsworth N385 million to 12, 735victims in the state.

The Special Adviser onEmergency and Relief Services to theGovernor, Alhaji Musa Abdullahi,said the state government hadreceived N300 million from theintervention fund.

He said the state government alsodonated N85 million to the affectedpersons.

Some of the materials distributedto the victims in the affected localgovernment areas were printed wax,bags of cement, bags of rice, Blanketsand roofing materials.

Others were fishing nets, plasticmaterials, groundnut oil, mattresses,roofing sheets and other assortedmaterials.

Some of the Victims, Alhaji AliyuNurudeen, Alhaji Kola Kpatako andShehu Makama, who spoke withNAN, expressed satisfaction with theassistance.

Kpatako urged the Federal andState Governments to provideprototype Housing units in flood proneareas to enable the affected peoplemove away from the river banks.

In Birnin Kebbi, the victims alsoreceived the assistance to repair theirdilapidated buildings.

Alhaji Umar Abdullahi, thechairman of the committee handlingthe distribution of the materials, saidthe committee had completed workin rehabilitating the victims.

The chairman of Birnin Kebbilocal government area, Alhaji MusaDan Illelah, said he was not aware ofany complaints over the assistance tothe victims.

A victim, Mallam GarbaMuhammad, said he receivedbuilding materials, including foodstuff, bedings, clothes and N135, 000to enable him rebuild his house atTsohon Gari.

However, victims of the disastersin Ebonyi are yet to receive any formof assistance.

The Executive Secretary, EbonyiState Emergency ManagementAgency (SEMA), Umunna Igboke ,said that the state government hadset up a committee to disburse theintervention fund.

According to him, 200 million hasbeen released by government toaugment the N300 million earlierreleased by the Federal Government.

Igboke said apart from the financialassistance, the victims would get bagsof rice, beans, garri, vegetable andpalm oil, sugar, blankets, bath towels,wax prints, plastic buckets, amongothers.

From Imo, reports indicated thatthe state government has distributedN75 million to the victims in Ogutaand Ohaji/Egbema local governmentAreas of the state.

The amount was part of the N400million intervention provided by theFederal Government to cushion theeffect of the disaster.

Distributing cheques to the victimsin Owerri, Gov. Rochas Okorocha, saidthe victims were categorised into fourgroups.

"Category "A" received N5 millioneach, those in category "B" got N3 millioneach, while categories "C" and "D"received N2 million and N1 million,respectively."

In Kano State, the government saidit had distributed relief materials worthover N400 million to victims of the flooddisaster.

The commissioner for SpecialDuties, Gen Idris Dambazau (Rtd), saidthe materials were distributed to eachof the victims with some amount ofmoney in 34 local government areasthat were affected by the disaster.

He explained that the money usedin purchasing the items was part of theN400 million the Federal Governmentdonated to the state to assist the floodvictims.

Similarly in Zamfara, the stategovernment said it had spent over N180million to assist the flood victims acrossthe state.

The Executive Secretary, ZamfaraState Emergency Management Agency(ZEMA), Alhaji Atiku Maradun, said theagency distributed cash assistance to thevictims ranging from N50, 000 toN400, 000, depending on the damagesand losses.

Maradun said the agency had takencare of over 1500 flood victims acrossthe 14 local government areas in thestate.

And in Anambra, the governmentsaid it had completed disbursement ofthe second phase of flood disaster reliefamounting to N528 million to the 55communities that were ravaged byflood in 2012.

The Secretary to the StateGovernment, and Chairman of theRelief Management Committee, MrOseloka Obaze, made the disclosure tothe News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) inAwka.

He said that more than 200 tonnes

of food items, made up of garri, sorghumand maize, were also distributed to thevictims of the flood disaster in the eightaffected council areas of the state.

"The timing of delivery of the fundsand materials has been done to fill thegap of unmet needs in the foodproduction sector," Obaze said.

On its part, the Borno StateGovernment said it had constructed750 brick houses for the resettlement ofthe 2012 flood victims in Damasak,headquarters of Mobar LocalGovernment Council (LG).

Mallam Modu Bukar, an official ofthe state emergency relief agency, toldthe News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) inMaiduguri. Bukar said the houses werefinanced completely by the stategovernment.

He, however, said that NationalEmergency Management Agency(NEMA) also provided some reliefmaterials to the victims.

Bukar said that the state was yet toaccess the N250 million promised bythe FederalGovernment to rehabilitatethe victims.

"We are still awaiting the N250million donations promised by theFederal Government last year," he said.

Similarly, the Flood victims in Benueare yet to receive their share of the N500million donated by the FederalGovernment to the state to cushion theeffects of the disaster.

NAN recalls that the formerchairman of the committee set by thestate government to oversee thedisbursement of the funds, Mr.Theophilus Adzaagee, had attributedthe delay in resettling victims to to lackof comprehensive data on the affectedpeople needed for the effectiverehabilitation.

However, a member of the ReliefDistribution Committee, Mr AdikpoAgbatse, said the exercise hadcommenced with the distribution ofmaterials to victims.

But another member of thecommittee, Mr Chris Atsaka, said thecommittee had not started thedisbursement of funds to victims.

He said the committee hadcommenced the distribution of reliefmaterials but stopped when one of theprimary schools where the materialswere kept was razed down by fire.

But a top government official, whopleaded anonymity, told NAN that theBenue State Government had nomoney to resettle victims.

NAN reports that most victims hadreturned to their homes in November2012 without credible alternatives.

Some of the victims complained thatapart from the N2,000 they were givenas transport fares at the close of camps,``no additional kobo has been given tous.''

Mercy Tor, a mother of two, said: "Ihave not been giving any money sincethe closure of the camps."

She said the "rehabilitation"promised by government was yet toreach the victims even though thefunds had already been released by thePresident.

"We want to move on with our lives,people who are not affected do notunderstand what we are passingthrough now, "Tor said.

In Gombe State, some of the 70households affected by the 2012 flooddisaster in Wuro Dulo area of Lawantivillage in Akko Local Government ofGombe state, have appealed to the stategovernment to resettle them as therainy season approaches.

The victims made the appeal whilespeaking to the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in the area. They said when theincident happened, the stategovernment immediately providedsome relief items such as food and clothingand promised to resettle them but hadyet to do so.

(NAN)

When flood upset free vehicular movement along Abuja-Lokoja high way in 2012


Musa is a farmer of over20 years in a villagein the Federal Capital

Territory (FCT), and hisfarming has always beenmainly in millets and maze.Two years ago, he discoveredhe hardly could break even.His harvest that year was theworst in a decade.

He complained to hisfriend who advised him to tryhis hands in fuel-woodextraction for charcoalharvesting. Soon hediscovered that what he couldnot make in two years, hemade in charcoal businesswithin 6 months.

Today, Musa has turnedthe forest to a killing field inthe already deforestedforests. The forest is at hismercy like others before him.

Musa is not alone in thebusiness of fuel-woodextraction for charcoal. Thereare hundreds of Musas whohas turned the forest to a sortof holocaust, bringing downany standing tree in sight.

If per chance you aretraveling through Okene-Lokoja-Abuja road, you willsee heaps and heaps bags ofcharcoal, for major towns andcities across the length andbreadth of the country.

Without affordablealternative source of energy,the rural poor and the low-income earners invest morein axes, machetes and otherimplements that can sustaina renewed and intensifiedonslaught on the forests. Thehike in kerosene price cumscarcity has further put theforests at the mercy of therural populace, whichconstitute more than 70percent, as this alternativeenergy source is no longerwithin their reach.

The demand for fuel-woodhas been on the steadyincrease by the increasingpopulation despite theexisting Felling of Trees(Control) Laws in the variousstates of the federation.

As all of us may be aware,the causes of environmentaldegradation can both benatural and man-made, whichincludes over-exploitation ofour natural resources, such asfuel-wood extraction used forcharcoal, are no doubt on theincrease.

You may want to ask, whathappened to coal briquettes,the alternative to firewoodand kerosene for whichformer President OlusegunObasanjo gave N100m in2001.

It could be recalled thatthe Nigerian CoalCorporation, themanufacturers of thebriquettes and itsaccompanying stove floodedthe FCT with briquettes in2001.

Fuel-wood charcoal harvesting as anti-environmentThe briquettes were sold

for N160 per carton of 12cubes of briquettes, while thestove was sold for N460. Thelarge family stove size wassold for N1, 600.

The smokeless coalbriquettes were launchedwith fanfare in Enugu early in2001 by the then Minister ofSolid Minerals Godwin KanuAgabi and former minister ofstate for environment Dr.Ime Okopido.

Former PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo had thatyear approved N100m forthe coal briquettes programas an alternative to the use offirewood in order to stave offthe degradation of the forestsand to protect theenvironment.

The briquettes wereexpected to come as a reliefto millions of householdswho previously depended onscarce and expensivekerosene and cooking gas.

Again, what has happenedto the Federal Ministry ofEnvironment ForestryScheme meant for eachecological zone in thecountry? The programdevelopment was supposedto be an all participatory one,having adopted a bottom upapproach in the design andevolution. It was to be anevolution of holistic andproactive strategies tocombat the myriad ofenvironmental problemsconfronting the country.

Noting with seriousconcern, the rate of desertencroachment in the semi-arid north and the menace ofsoil erosion, land degradationand deforestationthroughout the country, re-affirmed the urgent need toembark on an aggressiveenvironmental rehabilitationprogram to combat thedegradation processes.

It should be noted thatbefore the advent ofObassanjo administration,there was the National TreePlanting Campaign, an annualevent, as a strategy devisedto sensitize the people andengender public awarenesson the need for forestconservation, and an impacttree-planting culture in the

By Ibrahim Kabiru Sule

hike in price of keroseneamounted to doublestandards for a governmentthat promised to fightdeforestation with all theweapons at its disposal.

It was reported across thecountry that the recentscarcity of kerosene hasfurther put the forests at themercy of the rural populace,as this alternative energysource is no longer withintheir reach.

The pressure on forestresources has persistentlypushed the rural populace tomarginal land with anattending plethora ofecological problems. Thismirrors the gross imbalancebetween available naturalresources, usually finite andnon-renewable andpopulation that grows by asmuch as 5 percent annually.

The United NationsSudano-Sahelian Office(UNISO) has identified forestdepletion as the major agentof desertification in Nigeria.

It has been estimated thatnearly three quarters ofKano city's yearly firewoodrequirement, which is about75,000 tones are brought inby donkeys within a radiusof 20kim.

The consequence ofhuman dependence on woodfor fuel and construction isestimate at about 350,000ha of land is under the threatof deforestation annually,while the annual rate ofreforestation is put at about30,00ha. The problem is ofdisastrous dimension to theenvironment and the people.

The well-knownrelationship betweenpoverty and environmentaldegradation obtains aspoverty generatesenvironmental degradation(Desertification), which inturn accentuates poverty. Itis true that the severity ofany ecological disaster isdependent on thevulnerability of the peopleso affected. The problemreally is that with eachpassing day, the poverty-stricken and theenvironment become worsefor wear.

ENVIRENVIRENVIRENVIRENVIRONMENTONMENTONMENTONMENTONMENTWWWWWAAAAATTTTTCHCHCHCHCH

By Ambrose InusaSule, mnes

[email protected] (sms only)

citizenry, in view of the rolesof forest and tree planting inour environment and ingeneral well being of ourpeople.

This concept helped in theplanting of trees for variousend uses under the variousforestation programs that boththe Federal and Stategovernments embark uponannually. Today, the National

Tree Planting Campaign hasremained a hollow ritual.

As all of us may be aware,the causes of environmentaldegradation can both benatural and man-made.Which includes overexploitation of our naturalresources such as fuel-woodextraction, are no doubt onthe increase.

The scarcity and frequent

Don tasks universities on Earth Science research development

The Nigerian universitieshave been challenged toraise to the occasion of

averting the glaringdestruction of the planetthrough the promotion ofrigorous researches in the fieldof earth science and other inter-disciplinary approach.

At a lecturer in the ObafemiAwolowo University, Ile-Ife, aLecturer at the University,

Olusegun Ekanade made thisplea while presenting his papertitled "Nigerian Universities andEarth Science Development"during a workshop organised bythe Association of African Womenin Geosciences in Nigeria,recently.

Ekanade noted that "on a dayto day basis, there is always oneform of new scientific discovery,new science knowledge, newscience technology and the list isunending", as a result of which

the universities in Nigeria oughtto take advantage of.

The university lecturer, whois from the department ofGeography, furthermore drewattention to the constant changeand evolving of nature itself,which however called for theadaptation of such changes,through research.

He therefore underscored theopportunities that abound in theearth science especially inenvironmental industries,

government agencies and aboveall, "one of the greatest employersof labour of earth scientists arethe oil and gas industry and theirservicing companies."

The workshop had anenvironmental geologist,Professor Mayen Adiuku Brownfrom university of Jos as theChairman of the occasion, andother participants who hadproceeded on a field trip for bettercomprehension of thepresentation.


The craving of Nigerian youthsto acquire paper qualificationat all costs became a focus of

public discourse during the recentlyconcluded orientation programmeof the National Youth Service Corps(NYSC).

It was learnt that some desperateyouths paid various sums of moneyto be awarded degrees byunaccredited educationalinstitutions.

Sixty-two of the ``graduates''were arrested at a fake NYSCorientation camp in Nasarawa State.

When quizzed, they confessedthat they paid some money toacquire degree certificates so as toenable them to participate in theNYSC scheme and subsequentlysecure employment.

``We paid between N120,000and N200,000 to be admitted intothe camp,'' one of the fake graduatessaid.

They said that after acquiring thedegree certificates, they also neededNYSC discharge certificates tocomplete the circle, as NYSCcertificate was a prerequisite foremployment.

Stakeholders and experts haveblamed the growing obsession forpaper qualification on the type ofeducation that was bequeathed toNigeria by the British colonialists.

They also attributed the highunemployment rate in the countryto the preference for the acquisitionof certificates instead of skills.

Mr Edmund Onwuliri, the

Assistant Director, Information andPublic Relations, NationalDirectorate of Employment (NDE),said that one of the problems facingthe country was the erroneousemphasis placed on papercertificates.

`Èverybody believes that youcan only be productive when youhave gone to school, but then whatis education? Education is what armsyou with the right language to giveexpression to your natural talents,''he said.

Mr Bayo Omoboriowo, a graduateof chemistry from the University ofLagos, urged the people to desistfrom undue obsession withcertificates.

`À certificate is a documentwhich simply certifies thecompletion of a course. It placespower in your hands to enable youto access what the certificate has thetendency to offer,'' saidOmoboriowo, who is now a

professional photographer,He stressed that the acquisition of

certificates should not be a do-or-dieaffair, adding that a person could stillmake it in life without necessarilypossessing a certificate.

Omoboriowo said that hedeveloped an interest inphotography at a very tender age,adding that he later decided to adoptphotography as a profession eventhough he studied chemistry in theuniversity.

He conceded that his educationhad somewhat helped him to harnesshis latent potential.

``Young people don't have toworship certificates; all they need todo is to ensure that they get enoughknowledge to make them relevant inthis time and age.

``Your skill and talent wouldalways make a way for you. In a casewhere the acquisition of a certificateseems to be problematic, then skills'acquisition might be a way out.

`Ìt is observed that many peoplewho are not so good in regular schoolwork could be very good in technicaleducation; so, there should beprovision for technical education andhuman development in our schemeof things,'' he said.

Mr Samson Agboko, a civilservant, urged parents to refrain fromforcing their children to studyparticular courses.

He said that although parentsought to guide their children inmaking career choices, their coursesof study should be determined bytheir individual ability.

Nevertheless, Onwuliri said thatefforts to address the high level ofunemployment in the countryrequired a shift of emphasis towardskills' acquisition and technicaleducation.

``The fact that you have auniversity degree does not guaranteethat you are going to get a good jobor live well. All the same, anyone whoknows how to apply his hands to workin a pragmatic way will live better.

``White-collar jobs are in shortsupply nowadays and the economyis struggling.

`Ìt is only when the economy isvibrant that you begin to see moreroom being created to absorb thelabour force but if the economy iswobbly, what do you expect?'' heasked.

Onwuliri noted that most of theartisans who engaged in house-finishing tasks like tiling, Plaster ofParis (POP) fittings, among others,were from neighbouring countrieslike Togo and Republic of Benin.

He stressed that the foreignerswere usually preferred to theirNigerian counterparts because theywere very competent andresourceful.

``We have been advocating theincorporation of entrepreneurshipdevelopment into the curriculum atall levels of education, particularly insecondary and post-secondaryinstitutions. That is a veritable wayof promoting skills' acquisition.

``We are also encouraginggraduates to learn skills aftergraduation and that is why the NDE isestablishing skill-acquisition centresall over the country.

``We have up to 80 differenttrades that we offer training on andso we counsel you first and after thecounseling, you select what you wantand you will be trained in that area.

``NDE has offices in all the statesof the federation and the FCT, so youare free to walk into any of the officesto make enquiries,'' Onwuliri added.

All the same, analysts insist thatthe government and otherstakeholders should play greaterroles in efforts to check theperceptible mania for papercertificates.

They argue that measures shouldbe put in place to enable the youth toharness their latent potential andcheck the endless search for white-collar jobs.Source: NAN

Minister of Education, Prof. Ruqayyatu Rufa’i

“Everybody believes that you can only beproductive when you have gone to

school, but then what is education? Edu-cation is what arms you with the right lan-guage to give expression to your natural

talents

Between skills' acquisition and paper certificates

Demolished at Maraba Market

By Folasade Folarin


The logic of democracy

From a political point ofview people still believe innostalgic and dangerous

ideas like "objectivity" "reality","truth" and "values" as aprecondition for democracy.But believers in absolutesforget a crucial lesson borneout of the historic recordnamely, that the tide ofsecularisation is irreversibleand remains inextricablybound-up in the humancondition. This realitynecessarily checks andharnesses the search forfanatical, absolute truth-claims that, we maintain, arecontrary to the very nature ofdemocracy.

Indeed the demanddemocracy place on us istherefore a commitment tomaximising critical, opendialogue whilst maintaining aminimal peaceable solidarityamong different social andpolitical actors. We thussubmit the need to dispensewith arrogant notions of truthopting instead for moretemperate and humblephilosophical programmes,ones that, for example helpnurture a larger more volatilediscourse of humanflourishing.

It is worth brieflyexamining the logic thatappeals to claims that areabsolute and beyond the reachof history. From the birth ofreligion and early philosophythe ever-changing naturalworld was interpreted asthreatening, chaotic andunpredictable. This furtherresulted in a neurosis, whichwas only cured, it was thought,when the threatening materialworld of change was a result ofa more fundamentalunchanging, immaterial idea,or a God.

By appealing to absolutemoral foundations, or a God, orTruth, any disagreement couldbe resolved so long as everyoneagreed with the final appealpronounced by the ruling class.And if there was disagreement,the rulers in power, likepolitical or religiousauthorities, could be justified inexacting violence against adissenter.

The danger in thismetaphysical universe wasthat only the King or Pope (orthe philosopher-king) coulddiscern what the true will ofGod (or Reason) was on earthwithout question or criticism.In this way, an eternal,unchecked idea was givenmoral justification beyond thereach of democratic discourse.Consequently, unjust politicalregimes could get away withimplementing their power in

the name of the Almighty or anidea.

It is little wonder that oneminor tradition in Greekphilosophy, the Platoniclegacy, was quickly adaptedinto the Greek and later RomanEmpire, as Peter Sloterdijk hasrecently argued. This legacycould then easily be transferredinto the hegemony ofChristianity in the form of theRoman Catholic Empire, whichneutralised many otherdivergent Christian, religious,pagan and philosophicaltraditions in order to alight asan absolute authority bothreligious and political. This setthe stage for the spread of theIslamic Empire in the 7thcentury.

By contrast, we submit thathistory and not religion (orunchecked Reason) must betaken seriously as opposed toidealising absolutes, which, inpolitical theologies, only serveas flimsy veils behind whichviolent and inflexible premisesinvariably lurk. It is difficultnot to interpret mainstreamreligious ideology and itshistorical reality as employingappeals to almighty God as ameans to dominate thecultural, political, moral andeven economic discourse.

By contrast, when, forexample, Churchill said thatdemocracy is the worst form ofgovernment excluding allothers, what he meant wasthat you cannot find a bettersystem if you take historyseriously. This is a pragmaticand hermeneutical approach,which entails a modest stylecommitted to anexperimentation andperpetual improvement oninevitable shortcomings.

Physicist Stephen Hawking recently said that philosophers have not kept up with science and theirart is dead [EPA]

P o s t - m e t a p h y s i c a lphilosophy has never claimedinerrancy; indeed it knows thetools it provides in good faithare nevertheless fragile,incomplete and above allcontingent unlike extreme andhistorically unsustainableversion of scripture that allowsno room for error and all theroom for "justified violence". Forthis reason we agree withStephen Hawking, whorecently pronounced the deathof philosophy.

The philosophy that is deadis, of course, the one thatappeals to absolutes, that is,metaphysical philosophy. Andwith Hawking we join sideswith SlavojZizek and the lateAmerican philosopher,Richard Rorty, by claimingthat the duty of philosophy is amodest task.

"I think philosophy is a verymodest discipline," says, Zizek.Philosophy does not solveproblems, "the duty ofphilosophy is to show how whatwe experience as a problem is afalse problem". Philosophersdeal less with absolute truth

claims, like Hawking thinks,and operate more like Rortysays, "when it comes to politicaldeliberation, philosophy is agood servant but a bad master".

In this modest sense,philosophy is useful informulating newinterpretations of socialphenomena, but neither is itindispensable. What isdistinctive about thehermeneutic (the philosophy ofinterpretation) approach is thatit gives priority to relationsbetween knowledge and sociallife, that is, to the concerns thatarise as the inevitable result ofone's own existence: mortality,freedom, meaning and death.

A democratic society maydevelop itself only bygenerating culture not as anabstract body of superiorknowledge but as a complexdialogue that must never cometo rest. In fact, democracy mustbecome a lived philosophy,which it can only do by refusingabsolute truth and its attachedtotalitarian regimes. The onlyhope of a democratic politics isto form citizens who articulate

ANALYSIStheir own practical needs,freely and unencumbered bythe pressures of simplistic andlazy metaphysical systems.

The political message ofphilosophy after the end ofmodernity is that there isnothing outside our human andnatural community.Philosophers must understandproblems as rooted in society.The danger is that philosophersbecome alienated fromcommunities - as has happenedto so many analyticalphilosophers. We thereforesubmit that philosophy mustsubordinate itself to thepolitical demands ofdemocracy.

Rorty, together with Hans-Georg Gadamer, GianniVattimo, Zizek and many otherphilosophers, understandhermeneutics as possessing thispossibility because it does notpresuppose an absolute thatdissolves differences.Hermeneutical philosophy ishumbled by the hope thatagreement will never be lost aslong as the conversation lasts.And so the hope thatcharacterises hermeneutics asthe philosophy ofpostmodernity depends onprivileging human historicalnarratives as opposed toabstract theories of reality. Themoral justification of a politicalinstitution cannot thus befound through a philosophicalexplanation alone but also inthose historical narratives thatallow the conversation andeven disagreement to continueunfolding.

The point is toretrospectively interprethistory as a continuation ofevents that arrives atconclusions needed for thebetterment of society; that is,only by interpreting can weverify whether we are notsimply regurgitating outdatedphantoms that continue toreproduce unjust symptomsand forms of repressions. Forexample, when the Americanpresident, George Bush tried toconstruct a case for going towar in the Middle-East, he didthis by appealing to God's willand used the Bible as evidenceto justify his theocratic agenda.

This way of appealing toabsolutes should therefore beinterpreted as giving up ondialogue and democracy in apanic moment to push a ruler'sown agenda in the name of thereligion. Democracy continuesto be difficult work, whichnever arrives at a restingplace, but is always underrevision, refinement andrevaluation. In this respect,democracy is not an ideal -rather it is a process ofemploying tools of a modesthermeneutical philosophy. Insum, democracy reminds usthat we need each other for ourvery survival.

Source: Al Jazeera

By Creston Davis andSantiago Zabala

This way of appealing to absolutesshould therefore be interpreted as givingup on dialogue and democracy in a panicmoment to push a ruler's own agenda in

the name of the religion. Democracycontinues to be difficult work, which never

arrives at a resting place

“


Education: UK to support800,000 Northern childrenThe UK government is to

help 800,000 childrenreceive an education in

Northern Nigeria by 2015, outof which 600,000 will be girls.

In a statement by RobFitzpatrick, Head of Press &Public Affairs Section BritishHigh Commission after aprogramme launch in Kano, hesaid "The teacher supportprogramme will cover all 5,335public primary schools in thestate and is being funded by theUK and Kano stategovernment".

British GovernmentMinister for InternationalDevelopment, Lynne

British Government Minister forInternational Development,Lynne Featherstone.

EU to pledge 520m euros for Mali reconstruction

31 killed asarmy, rebelsclash inCongo

At least 31 people werekilled in violent clashesafter Mai Mai rebels

attacked army positions inDemocratic Republic of Congo'seastern town of Beni, amilitary spokesman said onWednesday.

Gunmen launched theattack early on Wednesday atan army recruitment centernear the North Kivu provincialtown before being repelled aftermore than two hours offighting, Colonel OlivierHamuli told Reuters.

"The provisional death tollis 23 Mai Mai, 5 recruits and 3FARDC soldiers, including asenior officer," Hamuli said.Mai Mai is the generic namegiven to a multitude of localarmed groups that roameastern Congo.

Featherstone had visited Kanoto understand developmentchallenges in Northern Nigeriaand to review progress ondevelopment projects supportedby the UK Department forInternational Development.

Attending the launch of thenew Kano Development Planwith His Excellency DrAbdullahi Umar Ganduje,Deputy Governor of Kano State,Minister Featherstonecommented: "The UKDepartment for InternationalDevelopment has been workingwith the Government andpeople of Kano State for over 10years. I am delighted to bepresent at the launch these newproducts of this excellent

Namibian Prime MinisterHageGeingob said onWednesday that

President HifikepunyePohambawould soon declare a state ofemergency because of the severedrought gripping the country.

The state of emergency,whose date Geingob could notdivulge, would be the secondduring President Pohamba'stenure since 2011, when severefloods swamped the northern andnortheastern parts of the country.

Geingob made the remarks inthe capital Windhoek at aComprehensive Drought Reliefmeeting attended by regionalgovernors to discussed short,medium and long-term strategiesto alleviate the effects of droughtin the country.

An assessment carried out bythe Prime Minister's Office lastmonth established that more than400,000 people are affected bydrought in the Oshana, Omusati,Ohangwena and Caprivi regions,where many schools have closeddown.

On Monday, the Disaster RiskManagement Committee (DRMC)chairperson, FransKapofi, who isalso the presidential affairsminister, told the media that thecabinet had set aside 200 millionNamibian dollars (217,000 U.S.dollars) for drought relief.

Wednesday's meeting soughtto work out ways of how thegovernment can tackle foodinsecurity situation, waterscarcity and poor grazing in allthe 13 regions of the country.

Geingob called for coordinatedefforts involving central, local andregional government, as well asother key stakeholders who havea role to play such as churches,demanding that the governorsshould understand the purpose ofthe drought relief.

He also emphasized that noNamibian should feel left out inthe process of distributing droughtrelief.

Namibia mullsstate ofemergency tofight drought

principal actors in thistransition are the Maliansthemselves and theirgovernment."

He said the EU welcomed theTransition Roadmap, aimed atestablishing a full return todemocracy and stability in thecountry, and the Plan for theSustainable Recovery of Mali,which Malian officials willpresent at the conference onWednesday.

Officials say 103international delegations,including 10 heads of state andgovernment, will attend themeeting, which was organisedby Mr Barroso, Mr Traore andFrench President FrancoisHollande.

Since the French-ledmilitary intervention at thestart of the year, the Islamist

north, and stimulating theeconomy.

After meeting the EuropeanCommission chief in Brussels onTuesday, Mali's interimPresident DioncoundaTraoresaid he hoped about 2bn euroswould be raised at the donors'conference.

"I think that's a good start,"he told a news conference."Tomorrow or the day aftertomorrow, in a week or in amonth, it is clear that theinternational community, theEuropean Union, will inject a lotmore than that."

Mr Barroso said the aid wouldbenefit Europe as well as Africa.

"The support of theinternational community isessential to establish a Mali thatis stable, democratic andprosperous," he added. "But the

partnership"."The Kano Development Plan

is the state's first developmentplan. We believe this is a vitalstep in improving planning,budgeting and ultimatelydelivery of the services whichaffect everyone's lives" MrFeatherstone added.

Kano state is introducing arobust plan to help boost ForeignDirect Investment (FDI) in thestate with a multi-prongedapproach including an InvestorHandbook which will givedomestic and internationalinvestors the information theyneed to invest and create jobs inKano and the Teacher supportprogramme for numeracy andliteracy which will help

teachers deliver the standard ofeducation that the children ofKano deserve among others.

rebels have been pushed backfrom the main urban centres ofnorthern Mali. However, somefighters have retreated tohideouts in the mountains anddesert, from where they launchisolated attacks.

Tens of thousands of refugeesalso remain in neighbouringBurkina Faso, Mauritania andNiger.

France nevertheless beganwithdrawing the first of its 4,500troops in the country last month.It hopes to have only 1,000remaining by the end of theyear.

They are due to workalongside peacekeepers from theUnited Nations'Multidimensional IntegratedStabilisation Mission in Mali(Minusma).

The European Union willpledge 520m euros(£442m; $673m) to help

rebuild Mali, at a conference ofinternational donors in Brussels.

European CommissionPresident Jose Manuel Barrososaid the money would help theWest African state become"stable, democratic andprosperous".

The conference is the firstsince France sent troops to oustIslamist rebels from northernMali in January.

Mali's government has a4.3bn-euro plan for "a totalrelaunch of the country".

It includes rebuildinggovernment institutions and themilitary, repairing damagedinfrastructure, organisingpresidential elections, holdingdialogue with rebel groups in thePrime Minister HageGeingob

By Abdulkadir Isa

L-R: Deputy Head of Mission, South Sudan Embassy, Ambassador David Choat, former Head ofState, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, Counselor, South Sudan Embassy, Mayor Angong Pan-ther, and South Sudan Ambassador to Nigeria, Ambassador Parmena Riak, during former Headof State's visit to South Sudan Embassy, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-Owo


Exposure to traffic fumescan set children on theroad to diabetes, a study has

shown.Living near a busy road and

increased levels of pollution from carsand lorries significantly raised therisk of insulin resistance in ten-year-olds, scientists found.

The condition, which reduces thebody's ability to control blood sugarwith the hormone insulin, is arecognised precursor of Type 2diabetes.

Researchers in Germany lookedat the effect of two kinds of trafficpollution on 397 children.

Blood tests were taken andmeasurements made of pollutionemissions in areas where the childrenlived.

For every defined step-rise inlevels of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) andsooty particulate matter (PM) fromdiesel exhausts, the risk of insulinresistance increased by 17 per centand 19 per cent respectively.

The risk also rose by 7 per centevery 500 yards closer to a majorroad a child lived.

Study leader Dr JoachimHeinrich, from the GermanResearch Centre for EnvironmentalHealth in Neuherberg, said: 'To ourknowledge, this is the first prospectivestudy that investigated therelationship of long-term traffic-related air pollution and insulinresistance in children.

'Insulin resistance levels tendedto increase with increasing airpollution exposure, and thisobservation remained robust afteradjustment for several factors,including socio-economic status, BMI

By Daily Mail Reporter

Women's handbags contain morebacteria than the average toilet

The study found that one in five handbag handles is home to enough bacteria to pose a risk tohuman health

Women's handbags arecontaminated withmore bacteria than

the average toilet, a new studyhas revealed.

Tests showed that one infive handbag handles is hometo sufficient bacteria to pose arisk to human health.

The research also revealedthat the dirtiest item in theaverage handbag is handcream - bottles of hand creamwere found to carry morebacteria than the averagetoilet seat.

Lipstick and mascarapackets were found to be littlebetter.

The tests, carried out byInitial Washroom Hygiene,also revealed that leatherhandbags are the mostbacteria-riddled as the spongytexture provides the perfectconditions for bacteria to growand spread.

The researchers suggestthat women should regularlyclean their hands and bagswith antibacterial wipes or gelto prevent cross-contamination.

Why living near a busy road could be dangerous for your child's health

The risk of insulin resistance in children rose by 7 per cent every 500yards closer to a major road a child lived

By Emma Innes

Peter Barratt, TechnicalManager at Initial Hygiene,said: 'Handbags come intoregular contact with our handsand a variety of surfaces, so

the risk of transferringdifferent germs onto them isvery high, especially as bagsare rarely cleaned.

'Once these germs are on the

bags, they can easily betransferred via hands ontoother surfaces.

'Regular hand sanitisationis essential to prevent the

presence of bacteria in the firstplace and thorough cleaning ofbags is recommended toprevent the build-up ofcontamination.'

The research comes afteranother study revealed thatworkplace kitchens aredangerously dirty, to the pointthat they could cause illness.

The study, also carried outby Initial Washroom Hygeine,revealed that half of surfacesin workplace kitchens arecontaminated by dangerouslyhigh levels of coliforms - thebacteria present in faeceswhich can lead to outbreaks ofgastrointestinal disease.

It also showed that morethan a quarter of drainingboards were found to have fourtimes the safe level ofcoliforms.

The research also revealedthat the handles of sharedfridge-freezers were bacteria-rife, with a third carrying highlevels of coliforms, whilst 30per cent of shared microwaveswere also shown to becontaminated around thehandles and buttons.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

(body mass index, a measurementrelating height and weight), andpassive smoking.'

The findings appear in the latestedition of the journal Diabetologia.

The researchers are continuingto study the children, whose progresswill be monitored for 15 years.

They want to see how thechildren fare as they grow older and

Previous research has linked airpollution, especially sootyparticulates, with heart disease andpremature death.

However, studies looking atassociations between long-termexposure to traffic pollution and Type2 diabetes in adults have beeninconclusive.

'Oxidative stress caused byexposure to air pollutants may.. playa role in the development of insulinresistance,' Dr Heinrich said.

'In addition, some studies havereported that short-term and long-term increases in particulate matterand nitrogen dioxide exposure leadto elevated inflammatorybiomarkers, another potentialmechanism for insulin resistance.'

become adults. Individuals who stayin the area where they grew up andthose who move will also becompared.

'Moving from a pollutedneighbourhood to a clean area andvice versa would allow us to explorethe persistence of the effect relatedto exposure and to evaluate theimpact of exposure to increased airpollution concentration later in life,'Dr Heinrich added.

'Whether the air pollution-related increased risk for insulinresistance in school-age has anyclinical significance is an openquestion so far.

'However, the results of thisstudy support the notion that thedevelopment of diabetes in adults

might have its origin in early lifeincluding environmentalexposures.'

Environmental health expertProfessor Frank Kelly, from King'sCollege London, pointed out thatchildren were especially vulnerableto air pollution.

'They have a larger lung-to-bodyvolume ratio, their airwayepithelium is more permeable to airpollutants, and the lung defencemechanisms against particulatematter pollution and gaseouspollution are not fully evolved,' hesaid.

'Breathing the same pollutantconcentrations, children mayhave a two to four-fold higher dosereaching the lung compared withadults.'

He added that traffic pollutionstudies had largely focused onparticulate matter andoverlooked the effects of nitrogendioxide.

'It is of interest that this newstudy demonstrates that both PM

and NO2 are linked to increased riskof insulin resistance in children,' saidProf Kelly.

'This finding is especially relevantfor cities in the UK such as Londonwhich regularly exceeds current EU(European Union) limit values forNO2.

'Only last week the SupremeCourt ruled that the UKGovernment was not doing enoughto minimising NO2 pollution andprotecting the health of its citizens.'

The possible link with oxidativestress highlighted the importanceof childhood diet, he added.

'This is a timely reminder forGovernment that as well asimproving air quality in our citesthey need to ensure children haveaccess to quality school meals whichinclude fresh fruit and vegetables toensure our children have good supplyof antioxidants which will helpprotect them from the worst effects oftraffic pollution,' said Prof Kelly.

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

Both levels of nitrogendioxide and sooty particlematter have been linked toincreased risk of insulinresistance in children


water.The Bill which seeks to repeal

the Pension Reform Act, 2004[PRA 04] and to re-enact the 2013[PR13], to continue to govern andregulate the administration of theuniform contributory pensionscheme for both the public andprivate sectors in Nigeria.

The lawmaker said “I willenjoin Nigerians, House and theSenate to support the Bill; it is agood Bill, it is an executive Bill.Not quite long, the House andsenate passed a joint resolution onthe corruption that is going on inthe pension industry”.

He explained that the Bill seeksfor increase regulatory authorityand greater efficiency of theNational Pension Commission

Deputy Chairman, Houseof Representativescommittee on Pension,

Rep Samson Okwu, has appealedto his colleagues to support hisefforts at reforming the nation’spension through the bill for an actto repeal the Pension Reformwhich the House stood downyesterday.

Speaking after the plenaryyesterday, the deputy chairmanalleged that some individuals inthe society who did not want theamendment confused membersinto working against the Billcautioning the House not to throwaway the baby with the bath-

Rep canvasses supportfor pension reformBy Lawrence Olaoye towards greater oversight on, and

repositioning of the pensionTransition Administrationdepartments so as to curb theendemic corruption that hasravaged such departments inrecent times.

He said that the major thrustof the new Bill, among others, isto establish a uniform set of rules,regulations and standards for theadministration and payment ofretirement benefits for the publicservice of both the federalgovernment, state governments,the FCT service, the localgovernment councils and theprivate sector, which is animprovement on the old act.

Okwu noted that this uniformstandard is in line with

international best practices ofwhich Nigeria also is a majorglobal player. He added thatrecently it took a very crucial jointresolution in putting an end to anera of impunity in the civil servicepension of the Head of Service andin other instances of widespreadcorruption in the various pensiondepartment.

The lawmaker stated that theBill is a positive response by theexcutive to re-overhaul thepension system by bringing in aparadigm shift into the apexregulatory agency of the pensionindustry by increasing itsstatutory mandate for greatersupervision of all the pensiondepartments and other connectedmatters.

The Federal Government istaking firm actions toensure a thorough

investigation and accountabilityover the alleged human rightabuses in the town of Baga, inBorno state.

“The actions will beaccomplished swiftly andeffectively,” NigerianAmbassador to U.S. AdebowaleAdefuye has said.

Prof. Adebowale Adefuyestated this in his reaction to aneditorial published by a U.S.Newspaper, the Washington Postwith the title “Tactics under firein fight against Nigerian terrorist

FG takes human rights seriously in Nigeria – Adefuyegroup”. ’

Published on May 8, thenewspaper’s editorial focused onthe recent confrontation betweenBoko Haram militants andgovernment forces in Baga, Itstated that there were severalreasons why the incident shouldbe taken seriously by the Obamaadministration and othergovernments.

Such abuses should matter inWashington because the U.S. isproviding assistance to theNigerian army, includingtraining and helping withcommunications and transport.

It, however, noted that under

U.S. law, aid cannot be providedto forces that are known to havecommitted human rights abuses,stressing that more broadly, theU. S had a strong interest inpreventing practises thatthemselves foster extremism.

The North AmericaCorrespondent of the NewsAgency of Nigeria (NAN) reportsthat the Nigerianambassador’s reaction was alsopublished by the newspaper onMay 13.

Adefuye said that PresidentGoodluck Jonathan immediatelyinstituted a full investigationupon learning of the incident in

which Nigerian security forcesand troops from Cameroon, Chadand Niger were called on to repel aBoko Haram assault in the borderregion.

“He also welcomed plans byNigeria’s National Human RightsCommission to pursue its ownindependent inquiry.

“The destruction and loss of lifein Baga are tragic and regrettable,but judgment should be reserveduntil further details emerge andinvestigations are completed,’’Adefuye stressed.

The envoy stated that the postcorrectly asserts that Boko Haram“is a serious threat “.

“Our government inpartnership with the U.S. andothers are responding with arange of initiatives that seek tostrengthen communities andisolate extremists.

“This effort is taking placewithin the boundaries of Nigerianlaw and in accordance with thehuman rights principlesenshrined in our constitution,’’Adefuye added.

He, however, noted thatwhere any misconduct wasestablished in Baga or elsewherethe federal government wouldnot hesitate to bring thoseresponsible to justice. (NAN)

United Progressive Party(UPP) has said thatNigerian unity

supersedes partisan politics,commending President GoodluckJonathan for his decision todeclare a state of emergency introubled states of Yobe, Borno,and Adamawa.

In a statement issuedyesterday by the NationalPublicity Secretary of the party,Ogbuehi Dike, the party saidthat partisan and oppositionpolitics should not be givenpriority over national security.

UPP therefore saidemergency rule in these crisisstates is essential to safeguardthe lives and property ofinnocent Nigerians who arebeing killed daily by Boko Haraminsurgents, arguing that noresponsible government willallow the massacre of thecitizenry or occupation of anypart of the country byinsurgents.

“UPP affirms this firm,decisive and proactive action ofPresident Jonathan as securityand welfare of the people is theprimary purpose of governmentas stipulated in section 14 (2) bof the constitution of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria 1999 asamended.”, the party said.

It also called on Nigerians,irrespective of tribal, political orreligious affiliation, to cooperatewith security agents in carryingout their constitutional mandateof protecting lives and propertyof the populace, urgingNigerians to pray fervently forthe country in this trying time.

However, it reiterated itsposition that the FederalGovernment should not shyaway from friendly nations thathave acquired adequatetechnology to combat terrorismto help Nigeria in quelling theinsurgency in some parts of thecountry.

Emergency rule:UPP says nationalunity supersedespartisan politicsBy Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Eruwa (left), receiving documents from President, FederalGovernment doctoral candidates in Russia, Mr Godwin Ezinkwo (middle), during a meeting with the committee, yesterday inAbuja. With them is Hon. Aminu Shagari (right). Photo: NAN


Since the presentadministration of CaptIdris Wada and Arc Yomi

Awoniyi came to power onJanuary 27, 2012, a lot ofwater has passed under thebridge. So much hashappened that it has becometoo difficult to know whichdirection the state ship isfacing in view of thedivergent opinions towardsthe administration. In somecases, the expectation of thepeople reached fever levelswaiting to see the rapid socio-economic development in astate which habours 26 out29 of the nation’s mineralresources.

The most spectacularachievement in all thesemonths since Wada took overthe reign of power in theConfluence state, closewatchers of Kogi stategovernment since its creationin 1991, agree, is in the areaof security which still has wonthe admiration of people bothwithin and outside the state.Before now, Sunday Ejembiobserved that it was difficultfor individuals to move freelywithin the urban and evenrural centres of thecommunity and human lifeamounted to little or nothing,especially, among the “boys”in the society.

People say the governorwould be given kudos for thatgiant and decisive steps inensuring safety of life andproperty as no meaningfuldevelopment can take placein the atmosphere ofinsecurity.

However, in the last 13months, critics are of theopinion that there was littleor no physical projects thatcould be credited to the Wada’sadministration. Thisaccording to hem could be asa result of the heavy debtburden bequeathed to hisadministration by hispredecessor.

Those in this school ofthoughts argued that Wadacannot move against hisforbear following thecircumstances throughwhich he came into power. Tocontinue to enjoy the supportof his political mentor, hisadministration must pay allthe debts he inherited.

According to Shaibu Ujah,a seasoned politician, for CaptWada to succeed, havingmapped out his plans ofaction, the sycophantsaround him and hisgovernment must be shownthe way out. He furthermaintained that until Wadasteps out to see whether theadvisers were advising himwell or are merely telling him

soothing words about thefeelings of the people outside,he may not know the trueposition of his government inthe reckoning of the people.Ujah however disclosed thatthe people of the state arehungry and do not knowwhere to take theircomplaints to. So, hecounseled Wada to takeurgent steps to address thepoverty in the land before itbecomes too late.

An analyst of currentaffairs based in Lokoja since2003, Chief ChineduEmenike, stressed that Kogicould only experiencedevelopment if the people ofthe state join hands togetherto work with whoever wins asgovernor. This, according tohim, is a state where 23persons would get up tocontest for governorship,which naturally, only oneperson could win. When theyfail, he said, the next thingthey do is to start thinking ofhow to frustrate the winner.“Until we learn how to followafter losing, there can’t beproper development and thathas held Kogi down all thiswhile; making things difficultto work. Till we show rightattitude to the government,there would be retardation intransformation agenda,” hesubmitted.

Those who spoke to PeoplesDaily were of the opinion thatthe governor has to be a littlebit decisive if he is to makeany impact and leave markson the sand of history as agovernor of Kogi state. They

Wada and challenges of development in Kogi

observe that all these motionswithout movement in hisadministration must bechecked. The first area theypointed at was the issue oftownship road in the capitalcity, Lokoja whererehabilitation by State RoadMaintenance Agency, SRMA,has failed to make any impactafter substantial fund wasalleged to have been approvedand released. According tothem, using shovels,wheelbarrows and tricyclesfor intra-city road repairsmake mockery of the wholeexercise.

Some of the peopleinterviewed on theperformance of the governorso far were unanimous inpeople’s missions that peoplepassing through the state toand from Abuja had suggestedthat Wada should haveemployed the services ofgenuine and qualifiedcontractors with capacities to

deliver quality roads insteadof engaging quacks who wouldbe carrying out remedialworks on the township roadson weekly basis. They havealso suggested that streetlights, which are beingdressed on daily basis shouldhave been powered by solarenergy.

Another political observerin the state, Joseph Ode, hassaid the performance of thegovernor could not bedivorced from the quality ofthe people in his cabinet. Heargued that most of those inWada’s team are mismatch.He said they are people whohave failed in their differentfields of endeavour; peoplewho have no polit icalpedigree, with l i tt le or noclout to win supports andsympathy for Wada’sgovernment, even in theirhome wards.

According to him, al l appointees in Wada’s

From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

government are self madepoliticians who do not knowhow Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP was groomed towhat it is today, and it maysound ridiculous that thefounding fathers of the partyare sidelined for new comerswho would rubbish theparty. He said “After thedemise of others, where arepeople l ike John Odawn,Prince Sola Akemode, AlhajiIbrahim Lico Ocheje, AirCommodore Ray Emaiku(rtd), Senator TundeOgbeha, Arc Gabriel Aduku,just to mention a few. Theseare the people who makethings work. Those behindthe success of PDP and thosethe party may need anyday,come rain come shine.”

Considering the realitieson ground, watchers havesaid Wada needs urgentmeasures to put smiles on thefaces of the electoratesthrough the delivery ofdividends of democracy.They pointed out that thestate capital , Lokoja, issuffering from seriousneglect. “Where there areiron drums as distbin, thestate cannot be said to bedeveloping and wheredarkness fal ls al l over thestate capital when the sunsets, there is need to questionthe competence of thegovernment,” theysubmitted.

To Udu Abu, even thesecurity adviser to thegovernor seems to have lostfocus. He noted that there isinsecurity around theGovernment House.Commercial vehicles haveturned Government Houseinto motor parks, stoppingand picking passengers atwil l without regard to itssecurity implications.

For the government toachieve its set goals, criticsare unanimous in theirbelief that Wada shouldpriorit ise his agenda anddeliver on his promises forthe electorates to see. Thehues and cries oftransformation agenda thatis faceless wil l not takeanybody anywhere, crit icsaver. They are also of theopinion that the governorshould form a functional monitoring team to see thatthe programmes of actionmapped out have humanface. The education sector,hey counseled, should bepoliced by well informed,radical technocrats. Theyalso encourage he governornot fail to sack whoever isfound wanting, especiallythose who have constitutedthemselves into a cog in hestate wheels of progress. Thisaccording to them is becauseKogi is in a hurry to developand no one can thwart theefforts.

Governor Idris Wada

“All appointees in Wada’sgovernment are self made politicians

who do not know how PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP was groomedto what it is today, and it may sound

ridiculous that the founding fathers ofthe party are sidelined for new

comers who would rubbish the party

ANALYSIS


Oyo governor assures of job creation through PPP

Governor Abiola Ajimobiof Oyo State has saidthat his administration

would continue to partner withthe private sector in order tocreate an avenue for job creationfor the unemployed youths inthe state.

He made the disclosureyesterday while formallyinaugurating the facility ofSpanco Group at the OldKingsway Building, Dugbe,Ibadan.

The governor further

disclosed that governmentwould soon institute an e-governance system andoutsource some services in orderto create a sypport system thatwould improve information-sharing across various areas forthe citizens of the state.

Also, through a partnershipbetween government and theSpanco Group, he said that hisadministration would roll-out aGovernment to Citizen (G2C)Help Line which would establishan information link betweengovernment and citizens.

This, Ajimobi said, would


Ladojaseekingundeservedheroism -Oyo ACN

R-L: SenatePresidentDavid Mark,in a chatwith CubanAmbassadorto Nigeria,AmbassadorHugo ReneRamos,during theenvoy's visitto SenatePresident,on Tuesdayat theNationalAssembly,Abuja.Photo:MahmaudIsa

Emergency: Don’t trample upon people’s rights, lawyer warns soldiersBy Lawrence Olaoye with agency reports

A prominent Lagos basedlawyer and human righsactivists, Bamidele

Aturu,yesterday warnedsoldiers deployed to the troubledstates currentlyunder emergency to be carefulin handling the situation so asnot to trample on the rights ofthe ordinary citizens.

The lawyer gave thewarning on the heels of thestate of emergency declared byPresident Goodluck Jonathanin the states of Adamawa,Borno and Yobe states.

Other prominent lawyerswho commented on thedeclaration of the state ofemergency in the troublestates commended thePresident for taking the rightdecision on the matter.

The lawyers, however, toldNews Agency of Nigeria (NAN)that the Federal Government

should also tackle poverty andunemployment to end theinsecurity.

Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN) saidthat the declaration of a stateemergency was a welcomedevelopment.

Sagay said: “The situationin those states was gettingtotally out of hand because wewere beginning to have anarmy of occupation made up ofterrorists who were virtuallyin control of those states.

“The danger is that they areAl-Qaeda supporters and thereal Al-Qaeda could havearrived and put these areasunder its control and the restof the country would be indanger.”

He praised Jonathan forretaining the democraticallyelected governments in thestates as stipulated by theConstitution.

“The president has no powerto sack the governments of

these states. Section 305 has nosuch provision.

“On the contrary, Section11, Paragraphs 4 and 5specifically states that the officeof the governor and the statehouses of assembly are not tobe affected by declaration ofstate of emergency,” Sagaysaid.

Mr. Onyekachi Ubani,Chairman, Nigerian BarAssociation (NBA), Ikejabranch, told NAN that thegovernment should strive toearn the trust of the people inorder to tackle the insurgency.

“Finally, the president hastaken steps to stop the violencein the states where we havewitnessed senseless andwanton destructions of livesand property by some sects,” hesaid.

He, however, said that meredeclaration of a state ofemergency would not put anend to the violence in the states,

urging that the governmentshould address somefundamental issues.

“There is an urgent need forus to meet and discuss our unityas a nation and how we canmake progress,” Ubani said.

In a statement he madeavailable to NAN, Mr FestusKeyamo also hailed thedevelopment.

Keyamo said: “Thebloodletting in these states leftthe president with no otheroption but this extraordinarystep.

“This step must beappreciated in the light of therefusal of the insurgents to evendialogue with the FederalGovernment.

“The primary duty of anygovernment is to protect livesand property.

“It is only right thatgovernment should dig deep tofind a lasting solution to thisceaseless carnage.”

cover various initiatives by thestate like Health Helpline andMedical Care, HealthEmergency and Hospital/Ambulance Management,Agriculture Helpline, LandRegistry, Women in Distress andPolice Helpline aside any othernew initiatives and programmesthat would be introducing in thefuture.

“All over the world, the trendnow is for organizations to fan-out the execution of key aspectsof their responsibilities toprofessionals and experiencedsolution-providers.

“This is the reason for ourgovernment’s synergy withSpanco Group, an organizationwhich possesses business spreadacross System Integration,Power, TechnologyInfrastructure, e-Governanceand Business ProcessOutsourcing as well as state-of-the-art infrastructure,including skilled work force,’’ hesaid.

The governor said that thestate possessed a fertile groundfor any investor wishing to takeoptimal advantage of its God-endowed possibilities.

The Action Congress ofNigeria (ACN), Oyo Statechapter, has upbraided the

Senator Rashidi Ladoja-ledAccord Party for what it calledits “puerile and sensationalbandying of fake state earnings”in its usual quest to earn anundeserved heroism among thepeople.

It made this known whilereacting to a release issued by theAccord Party’s Director ofPublicity, Mr. Dotun Oyelade,alleging that the stategovernment had collected N78billion in the last one year andhad failed to cater for the needs ofteachers.

The party accused Ladoja’sAP of being “a nest of liars” as thestate government had alreadypaid the 27.5 EnhancedTeachers’ Salary, as well payingthe minimum wage of N18,000to the least paid worker in thestate for over a year now “Weunderstand Ladoja’s beef. Hischeap mantra of being the onlygovernor who catered for theinterest of teachers while in officehas been effectively puncturedby Ajimobi’s unrivalled impactsin the lives of teachers and thestate workforce. He and his partyneeded to mourn their departurefrom the hearts of the workforceand replacement with Ajimobiwho has touched the lives of thestate workforce in the last twoyears through training andretraining, as well as taking careof their welfare,” the ACN said.

The party added that whilethe state’s earnings in the lasttwo years were a far cry from the“fake figures” being bandied bythe Accord Party, the party-ledgovernment had used itsfinancial engineering skills toconstruct so many roads that areunprecedented in the history ofOyo State.

On the chieftaincy title ofAare Atunluse of Ibadanlandbeing conferred on Ajimobi bythe Olubadan of Ibadan, the ACNsaid Ladoja and his party should hide their faces in shame.

“After trying unsuccessfullyto cause disaffection betweenAjimobi and his father, theOlubadan, by whippingsentiments on the Oyo StateTraditional Council, Ladoja wenta step further by attacking theurban renewal effort of thegovernment that has attractedpositive comments from all andsundry.

The bestowal of this title onAjimobi is the Olubadan’s ownway of telling the formergovernor to shut up. We are notsurprised that Ladoja cannotbear the shame and has chosenthe week of the chieftaincyconferment to run away toLondon,” it said.



APGA crisis: 18 NWC members dump UmehL-R: Chairman, House Committee on Finance, Hon. Abdulmumini Jibrin, Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and vice-chairman of the committee,Hon. Yomi Ogunnusi, during a workshop on the functions of House Committee on Finance, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: NAN

The last seems not to havebeen heard in the crisisrocking the All

Progressives Grant Alliance(APGA), as eighteen out of the25 members of the party'sNational Working Committee(NWC) yesterday dumped itsNational Chairman, VictorUmeh.

In a communique read bythe National PublicitySecretary of the party,Barnard Akomas, the NWCmembers said they havedecided to desociatethemselves from thepurported recognition ofUmeh as the chairman of theparty by the IndependentNational ElectoralCommission (INEC).

According to thecommunique, the NWCmembers said "We, eighteenmembers of the NWC out of

twenty seven who servedwith Chief Sir Victor Umehhave dissociated ourselvesfrom INEC's recognition ofUmeh".

They explained that theyhad since March 23rd, passeda vote of no confidence onUmeh's leadership,reiterating that theirrejection of it is based on hisdraconian style of leadership.

They also re-affirmed theirparticipation and stand on theNational Convention held atAwka, on the 18th of April,calling on INEC to continue toremain firm and defend itsdecision to monitor the APGAConvention held at Awka.

On the letter of recognitionwritten to Umeh by INEC, thecommunique explained thatINEC has explained that suchrecognition ends immediatelyit receives further directivefrom the court.

They further explained

that the relief granted Umehby the Appeal Court is for stayof execution from paradinghimself as the Chairman ofthe party as was ordered byHigh Court in Enugu,emphasising that the courtnever, at any time, upturnedthe substantive judgementwhich was that theconvention that broughtUmeh was not properly done.

"NWC notes further thatthere are multiplicity of suitspending before the various

High Courts filed by VictorUmeh or his surrogates.Victor Umeh in other instancehas applied to be joined as aparty or as the authenticrepresentative of APGA.

"We note particularly SuitNo. FHC/AWK/CS/88/2013by Charles Nwazojie forhimself and others and INECand 5 others before theFederal High Court Awka inwhich INEC is the 1stdefendant. We view thecurrent INEC statement as

Tukur gets new aides

National Chairman of theruling People'sDemocratic Party (PDP),

Alhaji Bamanga Tukur, hasappointed three new aides inreplacement of those he sackedrecently.

Tukur in a letter to theNational Working Committee,NWC, signed by the NationalDirector of Administration,Gurama Bawa, requested theCommittee to give the aides

possible assistance andcooperation in the discharge oftheir duties.

The new appointees includea former Senator andgovernorship aspirant of theparty in Sokoto State, AbubakarGada, who will serve as thePolitical Adviser to the nationalchairman.

Others are George Korgbafrom Benue state who is the newPrincipal Secretary while A. Y.Ahmad retains his posts as theSpecial Assistant, Special Duties


By Lawrence Olaoye

preemptive and prejudicial tothe Federal High Court case atAwka in which INEC is a 1stDefendant.", thecommunique read in part.

Meanwhile, the NWC of theparty has endorsed theresolution of the South Southand South East governorsafter a meeting held in Asaba,Delta state, reiterating theirsupport for governor Peter Obiof Anambra state in hisdevelopment efforts in thestate.

Critics ignorant of myachievements – AmosunGov. Ibikunle Amosun

of Ogun says many ofhis critics are ignorant

about his administration'sachievements.

Amosun spoke in Ilara,Imeko-Afon Local GovernmentArea of the state while inspectingthe extent of work done on the107 kilometre Ilara-Ijoun-OjaOdan-Ilase road project.

"Those criticising us for doingthese roads are either ignorantof what we are doing or they areconfused by the level of servicedelivery we are giving to thepeople.

"But we won't be deterred andwe will remain focused on doingwhat the good people of Ogunstate voted us to do,'' he said.

Amosun, who expresseddelight at the level of work doneso far during the first phase, saidthe road project was the longest

embarked upon by hisadministration.

"I laugh when I hear somepeople say all the road projectsare being concentrated in OgunCentral. I laugh because I seethey are ignorant of what isgoing on.

"This road is 107 kilometresand it is the longest of all theroads we are presentlyconstructing; it cuts across thefour local governments in OgunWest.

"It links Yewa North, YewaSouth, Ipokia and of courseImeko-Afon, It is only Ado-Odo/Ota that it didn't touch and weare treating that localgovernment specially.

"Why we are doing it is toensure that this area (OgunWest), being the food basket ofthe state, is opened up toachieve its full potential.

"When this road iscompleted, our farmers won'thave problems bringing outtheir farm produce again,'' hesaid.

The governor, who hadearlier inspected the 7.4 kmOke-Oyinbo/Idagba road, saidthat the six-lane Lafenwa-Ayetoro project was underway.

Mr. Hakan Dal, the ProjectManager of PW Nigeria Limited,commended the governor forproviding necessary support toensure the timely completion ofthe projects.

He also praised the people ofthe town for being cooperativeand supportive of theconstruction effort.

Dal expressed optimism thatthe project, which commencedin November 2012, would becompleted by May 2015.(NAN)


Only 14 Flying Eagles in Germanyas confusion mars preparationsFlying Eagles' preparations

for the FIFA U-20 WorldCup may have taken a turn

for the worse with the latest beingthat only 14 players are in the team'sGermany camp, barely 24 hours toFIFA's deadline for the submission ofthe final list.

Firstly, Coach John Obuh hadsubmitted a provisional list of 30players just before jetted out toGermany for a refresher course.Subsequently, the Nigeria FootballFederation (NFF) procuredtravelling documents for thatnumber even as they home-basedplayers reported to their Nnewicamp.

There came the first hiccup asthe Anambra state governmentwhich initially spurned sponsoringthe camping suddenly saw politicalconnotation in Chief Ifeanyi Ubah'slifeline for the team.

Consequently, the Peter Obi'sgovernment confronted theleadership of the NFF, a developmentthat led to delay in thecommencement of the camping.

The next hiccups ensued whenthe coach returned from Germanyafter two weeks course.

The coach opted to drop eight

The new batch of players werecalled up and accommodated in ahotel in Abuja but the footballfederation has been unable to securethe needed travelling documentsfor them to travel to Germany.

Further, the NFF withoutconsulting with and obtainingthe coach decided to drop fiveplayers, this sparked offmisunderstanding betweenthe football federation andObuh with the later insistingthat those players must bereturned.

The NFF, according dependablesource, dismissed Obuh's positionand bluntly ordered him to workwith what has been decided for me.That includes that only four of the

Keshi picks 8 home-based Eagles,19 others for Mexico clash

Premier League and two from thePortuguese Liga. Chelsea duo ofJohn Obi Mikel, and Victor Moseswere also given the nod for the trip.

Both Mexico and Nigeria will usethe friendly match to shape up fortheir next month's 2014 World Cupqualifiers. For Nigeria, Kenya andNamibia are their opponents onJune 5 and 12 respectively.

Mexico and Nigeria have metthree times with a 1-0-2 record infavor of Mexico. The two teams lastmet in October of 2007 in aninternational friendly, with thematch ending in a 2-2 tie at theEstadio Olimpico Benito Juarez in

Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua.NIGERIA ROSTER:Goalkeepers:Chigozie Agbim

(Warri Wolves/NGA), Austin Ejide(Hapoel/ISR), Vincent Enyeama(Maccabi Tel Aviv/ISR)

Defenders: Azubuike Egwuekwe(Warri Wolves/NGA), Efe Ambrose(Celtic/SCO), Elderson Echiéjilé(Sporting de Braga/POR), KennethOmeruo (ADO Den Haag/NED),Godfrey Oboabona (SunshineStars/NGA), Solomon Kwambe(Sunshine Stars/NGA), FrancisBenjamin (Heartland F.C./NGA),Odunlami Kunle (Sunshine Stars FC/NGA)

Midfielders:John Mikel Obi(Chelsea/ENG), Victor Moses (Chelsea/ENG), Ogenyi Onazi (Lazio/ITA), JohnOgu (Academia de Coimbra/POR),Obinna Nwachukwu (Heartland/NGA), Sunday Mba (Enugu Rangers/NGA), Michael Babatunde (KryvbasKryvyi/UKR), Reuben Gabriel(Kilmarnock/SCO)

Forwards: Joseph Akpala (SVWerder Bremen/GER), Brown Ideye(FC Dynamo Kyiv/UKR), AnthonyUjah (FC Koln/GER), NnamdiOduamadi (Varese/ITA), Kalu Uche(Kas?mpa?a Spor Kulübü /TUR),Gambo Muhammad (Kano PillarsF.C./NGA)

Stories by Patrick Andrew

… Team draw Brazil, Portugal in Toulon tourney

John Obuh, Flying Eagles coach, Aminu Maigari, NFF President

Niger govt extolsGolden Eaglets'Ali-Baba

Saliu Ali-Baba, the GoldenEaglets' midfielder at the2013 CAN U-17

Championship in Morocco,received praises from Niger Stategovernment in Minna yesterday.

While being decorated withthe silver medal the Eaglets wonin Morocco, the Commissioner forSports Development, Mr. DanShashare, said Saliu is a goodambassador of the state and urgedother youth to imitate him.

"I'm happy to be commendedin the presence of staff of thecouncil. This recognition isimportant and it would alsomotivate me to continue to do mybest," said Ali-Baba.

Ms Dounia Lahrech, the Mediaofficer of Federation RoyaleMarocaine de Football, whopresented the player before thecommissioner said, "Your boy (Ali-Baba) is smart. He spoke withmaturity and I'm very impressedabout how he answered thequestions."

Meanwhile, Ali-Baba alongwith other athletes that recentlywon laurels for the state wouldsoon be formally hosted by theChief Servant Mu'azu BabangidaAliyu, the Executive Governor ofNiger State where he wouldexpectedly announce packages.

The Flying Eagles have beendrawn against Brazil and2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup

rivals, Portugal, in this year's ToulonInternational Tournament whichkicks off on May 28.

Samm Audu, the team's MediaOfficer, said in a statement yesterdayfrom Germany where the team arepresently camping, that the FlyingEagles are in Group B of the 10-team

tournament.``The Flying Eagles will on May

29 meet defending champions Mexicowhom they lost 1-4 to in anotherinvitational tournament in Panamapreparatory to the 2011 World Cupin Colombia.

``On June 2 they will meetBelgium, and on June 4 they will thengo on to face world champions Brazilwho incidentally failed to qualify for

the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Turkey.Their final group game is againstPortugal on June 6,'' he said.

The Flying Eagles will open their2013 FIFA U-20 World Cup campaignon June 21 in Kayseri against thePortuguese.

Audu said the Flying Eagles heldPortugal to a goalless draw in Lisbonin 2011, before losing to the same team2-0 in a pre-World Cup tournament

Super Eagles' Head Coach,Stephen Keshi, has includedeight domestic league players in

the 25-man squad for the internationalfriendly duel against Mexico May 31at Reliant Stadium in Houston, USA.

Top among them are AFCONheroes Sunday Mba and GodfreyOboabana, others are ChigozieAgbim, Solomon Kwambe, FrancisBenjamin and new kid on the blockOdunlami Kunle as well asAzubuike Egwuekwe and GamboMohammed.

Keshi called up two GermanBundesliga players, two from SerieA in Italy, two from the Scottish

nine players he called are acceptableto the NFF and that those five theyhave dropped without consultinghim would remained excludedfrom the team.

However, playing down on thedisturbing development, NFFGeneral Secretary, MusaAmadu, told Journalists in Abujathat the federation has notrelented in its efforts to securevisas for the players stranded inNigeria.

"We are on course. The bulk ofthe plays are already in Germanyand they wil be joined this weekendby the rest of the team" statedAmadu without addressing otherteething issues.

in Panama.``Portugal later went on to reach

the World Cup final, where they lostto Brazil,'' Audu said in the statement.

Group A of the Toulon tournamenthas the U.S., Colombia, Congo DR,France and South Korea.

Winners of both groups will slug itout in the final on June 8, with therunners-up to battle for the third-placemedal.

players from the provisional list, andsubstituted them with nine others.

But the NFF had already procuredvisas for them,

Godfrey Oboabana Sunday Mba Gambo Mohammed


Ebewele slams fraudulentsports federations’ elections

of the outcome of the voting.He noted that the NSC preferred

to work with mediocrities rather thangenuine stakeholders.

`Ì want the world to hear this;Falilat Ogunkoya participated in theSouth West election and lost to ProfMakanju, how did she get back to theboard, somebody that lost in theSouth West?

``This is part of the Nigerianmanipulation that we are talkingabout which has made us not to makeprogress, yet we are in a country thatis talking about transformation.

``You can see rottenness andfraud; you can see corruption veryvisibly; Falilat contested in thezone and got only one vote, nowshe is back,'' Ebewele said.

The former Commissioner ofSports in Edo, however,expressed happiness with theemergence of Solomon Ogba asPresident of the AthleticsFederation of Nigeria (AFN).

He added that it would havebeen incredible to hear thatOgba lost the election to thosewho had nothing to offer toathletics.

He urged the NSC to alwaysshop for professionals to managesports in the country, addingthat it was only a professionalthat could change themisdemeanours in sports.

he said.Igali added that the sport also had

an advantage of remaining becauseof the pedigree of wrestling at theOlympic Games.

`Àt the 2012 Olympics, we had

Igali to resist IOC's wrestling exclusion from 2020 OlympicsThe newly elected-handler of the

NWF noted that therecommendation was based onpolitics and not merit.

``When you look at the statistics,wrestling has a high followership of

Brown Ebewele, Bolaji Abdullahi, Sports Minister

around 21 million, as at the lastOlympics.

`Ànd there were at least ninesports that fell below that standard.So, it is obvious that it was purepolitics that was involved in tryingto oust wrestling,'' Igali said.

Dauda calls for corporation, harmony among HFN membersstarted during his first tenure.

" I am happy, the members havereposed their confidence on me. I willuse the opportunity to re-dedicatemyself to complete all the grassrootsprogrammes and I hope others in theboard will collaborate with me toaccomplish our collective mission.

` It is my intention to sustain theglory of handball which is graduallybeing restored. So, I see my return asan opportunity to ensure that what

was started in the first tenure iscompleted,'' he said.

Dauda, who applauded theNational Sports Commission (NSC)for the peaceful conduct of theelection, expressed delight at theelectoral board for ensuring a free andfair election.

He assured that handballerswould be busy throughout the yearand lauded the National SportsCommission (NSC) for conducting a

fre and fair election.Meanwhile, re-elected technical

director of the federation, MusaHamza, who described the electionas tough, said it was their goodperformance in the first term thatsaw them through.

Hamza, who defeated Mark Jacob3-4 at the North West zonal election,said that he was ready to work withanyone that was willing to contributeto the growth of handball.

President, HandballFederation of Nigeria(HFN),Yusuf Dauda, who was re-

elected after a thorny elections right fromthe zone, has appealed to members of thenewly-elected board of the federation to unityand work harmoniously in the interest ofthe game.

Dauda, who expressed delight with hisvictory at the polls, vowed to re-jig hisgrassroots programmes and ensure that hecompletes whatever programme he had

By Patrick Andrew withagency report

Former Commissioner forSports in Edo, Mr BrownEbewele, has taken a swipe at

Tuesday's elections into the boards ofsports federations.

Describing the exercise as"fraudulent" Ebewele said theprocesses leading to the elections andthe conduct of the exercise itself wereanything but transparent as theNational Sports Commission (NSC)would want people to believe.

Ebewele, who said he was a victimof the substitution of stakeholders'names, frowned at his exclusion fromthe Athletics federation election.

The former athlete, who is fondlycalled ``Juju Man,'' said the intriguesthat threw up some members of theboard at the just-concluded SportsFederations elections, were ridiculousand makes the exercise questionable.

He said that the manipulation ofthe election, especially the removalof his name and others from the list ofstakeholders, was enough grounds forhim to fight the Commission.

`Òf course, you can see hownames were removed and replaced.Surprisingly, somebody from theNSC told us that the guidelinesreleased for the election were not fromthe commission.

`Ì was elected by the Track and

Field Athletes of Nigeria in Shagamu,during the Golden Leaguecompetition, as their representative.

`Ìt was upon reaching Abujathat they told me that my name hadbeen removed; is that not enough for

me to start protesting; is that notenough for me to start slappingpeople?

``So, you just minimise yourexcesses: How can I travel all the wayfrom Benin City only to be told that

my name is no more in the list? If ithappens to you, will you take that?''Ebewele queried.

He pointed out that the NSC hadfailed to choose professionals for thevarious board elections, irrespective

Daniel Igali, in action for Canada during the Athens Games

Daniel Igali, the newly-elected President of theNigeria Wrestling

Federation (NWF), on Wednesdayre-assured the wrestling family thathe would struggle to stop theelimination of wrestling from theOlympic Games.

Igali spoke against the backdropof the recommendation of theExecutive Committee of theInternational Olympic Committee(IOC) to eliminate wrestling from theOlympic programme.

The IOC said that the ratificationof the proposal would be consideredduring the 125th IOC Session to beheld in September in Buenos Aires,Argentina.

He told newsmen in Abuja thathe would be representing Africa inmaking presentations to convincethe IOC executive Committee toretain wrestling on the Olympicprogramme.

``Wrestling should not be

eliminated from the Games becausethere are 202 National Federationsaffiliated to the InternationalWrestling Federation (IWF) who arein the struggle to retain the sport.

``The sport is natural to man.IWF has set up a 5-man committeeto be made up of three men and twowomen from around the world tomake a strong case for the retentionof the sport.

``We will be meeting the IOC inSt Petersburg, Russia on May 24 andI will be presenting a paper to thateffect.

`Àlthough, the principaldecisions will be held on Sept. 9 inBuenos Aires, where I will alsopresent another paper to try toconvince the IOC to rescind thedecision.

`` We are hopeful they willrescind the decision because of theinitial discussions we have beenhaving with individual IOCmembers from various countries,''

71 countries thatparticipated andapart from athleticswhich had about 30different disciplines,wrestling is the mostdiverse in nature interms of medals to becompeted for.

`Àlso, 29countries wonmedals at the lastLondon 2012Games. You can'tbeat that. To now sayyou want toeliminate one of theforemost sports in theOlympics, it shouldnot happen,'' he said.

Dauda


Kaka, Ronaldinhoout of Brazil squad

Gotze may return for UCL final

Ronaldinho

Mario Gotze could returnto the BorussiaDortmund team just in

time for the Champions Leaguefinal against his future club,coach Jurgen Klopp told aninternational press conferenceyesterday.

Speaking to the pressyesterday, during a media openday, Klopp confirmed that, sofar, everything had worked outaccording to plan during Gotze'srehabilitation after sustaininga thigh tear during the semi-final victory against RealMadrid.

Germany midfielder Gotze iscurrently getting in shape forthe Wembley showdown inMunich, away from the TVcameras in Dortmund, Munich

paper tz revealed onWednesday.

With one of the majorquestions prior to theChampions League finalanswered, Klopp also confirmedthat the Robert Lewandowskisituation will not be solvedbefore the Wembley final.

The striker is the subject ofinterest from Bayern andManchester United and lookslikely to follow Gotze out of thedoor at Dortmund thissummer.

The Dortmund boss, whoserise to fame is one of the moresurprising stories in Europeanfootball this year, believed thaton their day Dortmund werecapable of beating every teamin the world.

The Lazio striker believesforwards in England havemore tactical freedom than

in Italy, making it easier to scoregoals

Laziostriker Louis Saha says hehas found it harder to score goalsin Serie A than the Premier Leaguefollowing his January switch fromSunderland.

The Frenchman enjoyed a longcareer in England, turning out forNewcastle, Fulham, ManchesterUnited, Everton, Tottenham andthe Black Cats before moving toItaly this season.

"I have been used to the Englishleague which is a bit more openwith more free roles for everyplayer on the pitch but the mainthing is the freedom of the players.

"In England you may have afew possibilities to be one-on-onewith a few more chances to scoregoals. Italian football did changeand technically it is veryimpressive and sharp with manysmall players who have technicalabilities.

Lazio currently sit seventh inSerie A as they prepare for their toCagliari on May 19, their last gameof the season.

Italian leagueharderthan EPL,says Saha

Ronaldinho and Kaka wereboth left out of theBrazil's squad for the

Confederations Cup, named byCoach Luiz Felipe Scolari.

Scolari had been expected toinclude at least one of the

experienced pair in his squadfor the competition whichBrazil hosts in June.

Chelsea midfielder Ramireswas surprise exclusion. Brazilhas played five matches underScolari, with one win, three

draws and one defeat."We could lose out in terms

of experience but we will makeup for that with theenthusiasm which the youngplayers bring," Scolari told anews conference.

Mario Gotze

The Premier League hasconfirmed there will be athird-place play-off

match between Chelsea andArsenal if the pair ends theseason with identical records.

If Chelsea draw 0-0 on thefinal day of the season andArsenal win 2-1, they will belevel on points, goal differenceand goals scored.

The play-off winner would

Chelsea, Arsenal mayplay-off EPL third position

automatically reach theChampions League groupstage.

Chelsea, who are currentlythird and two points ahead ofArsenal, host Everton atStamford Bridge on Sunday,while the Gunners travel toNewcastle.

The teams who finish inthe top three of the PremierLeague automatically qualify

for next season's ChampionsLeague group stage. Thefourth-placed club enters thecompetition's third qualifyinground.

The Blues are playing twoend-of-season matches againstManchester City in St Louis andNew York, while England alsohas friendlies on 29 May and 2June against Republic ofIreland and Brazil.

Mark van Bommelfinished the final gameof his playing career on

the sidelines as he was sent off 19minutes from time following atrademark crunching tackle.

The 36-year-old formerNetherlands midfielder announcedhis retirement on Sunday after hehad been dismissed playing for PSVEindhoven in the 3-1 league defeatby FC Twente.

He won 79 Dutch caps, and alsoplayed for Barcelona and AC Milan.

The midfield enforcer won eightleague titles in four differentcountries while with PSV,Barcelona, Bayern Munich and ACMilan from 2000 to 2011.

Van Bommel also captained theNetherlands team during a 12-year-long international career inwhich he gained notorietyalongside fellow tough tacklingdefensive midfielder Nigel de Jongat the 2010 World Cup.

Bommel endsplaying careerwith red card

Mark van Bommel

Bayern Munich has dismissedreports Manchester Unitedforward Wayne Rooney is a

summer transfer target for theUefa Champions League finalists.

Last week, the 27-year-old putin a transfer request to leave OldTrafford, but he is apparently noton the German champions' radar.

"I can answer that we havegreat respect for Wayne Rooney,but there has been no contact withhim. There is no contact and he'snot on the agenda. No, no.Absolutely not.

Bayern have also ruled out anyinterest in 21-year-old Brazil starand rumoured Barcelona targetNeymar.

Ex-Barcelona coach PepGuardiola already faces anembarrassment of riches when hetakes charge next month and mustdecide who will start in Bayern'sstar-studded attack with a host oftop talent vying for places.

Guardiola will inherit a squadalready boasting the likes of ArjenRobben, Franck Ribery, ThomasMuller and Toni Kroos, while MarioGotze arrives from BorussiaDortmund at the end of the season.

Bayern dismissRooney reports

Rooney

Manchester City's dismalperformance in theChampions League is set to

cost them dear in the draw for nextseason's group stage.

City could face a difficult draw forthe third season running withBarcelona or Bayern Munich from potone and Juventus, AC Milan or ParisSaint-Germain from pot two beingpossible opponents.

City's score of 10.228 this seasonranks them 45th and is lower than thatachieved by Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk,Metalist Kharkiv and Genk.

UEFA rankings are based on a five-year period, and in 12 months' timeCity will lose their score of 20.000 from2008-09 when they lost to Hamburgin the quarter-finals of the UEFA Cup.

Of the 21 teams ranked higherthan City, 14 are guaranteed a placein the Champions League next season.Of the other seven clubs, five can stillqualify and four are currently in aChampions League place.

Barcelona, Bayern Munich, ReadMadrid, Chelsea, Manchester Unitedand FC Porto will be top seeds in thedraw, joined by Arsenal if they qualifyand Benfica. If Arsenal fail to qualifythen either Valencia (if qualified) orAtletico Madrid will move into the toppot.

Manchester Cityface anothertough draw


The Athletics Federation ofNigeria (AFN) has shiftedof its Golden League third

leg that was originallyscheduled for Ilorin, to theUniversity of Port Harcourt(UNIPORT).

This was disclosed yesterdayby the federation's technicaldirector, Navy CommodoreOmatseye Nesiama, whohowever confirmed that theinitial date for the league May18 still remains.

Nesiama said that theshifting this was to allow theAfrican Junior Championshipathletes in camp at UNIPORTto participate in the league.

``The league will now holdin Port Harcourt and no longerin Ilorin because we want togive opportunity to qualifiedathletes at the UNIPORT campto participate.

``We also have to considerthe athletes in camp andbesides, it will also contributeto their training,'' he said.

He also said that anyathlete caught with theperformance enhancingsubstance at the league wouldbe sanctioned.

According to him, the AFNwas determined to get it right

AFN shifts 3rd Golden Leagueto PH for junior athletes

Heartlandbreak 4 yrsaway jinx,beat 3SCFederation Cup champions,

Heartland finallybrought to an end their

more than four-year wait for afirst away win in the NigeriaProfessional Football League(NPFL) yesterday.

Heartland stunned 3SC 2-0at the Lekan Salami Stadiumin Ibadan to end about 1,529days jinx for a maiden awaywin the Nigeria top flightleague.

The last time Heartlandwon on the road in the leaguewas on March 7, 2009 atEnugu Rangers. They won 3-1on that occasion. Heartlandpetite winger, Jolly Osas,netted just three minutes of thekick off.

3SC then huffed and puffedbut the Cup holders put thechink in their armour throughan insurance goal from EbereOdiche with just 20 minutesleft to play.

Heartland are now secondon the log with 20 points, twobehind table-toppers, KanoPillars.

Kano Pillars kept their spotat the summit of the standingswith a 3-1 win over NembeCity.

Rabiu Ali, Nasiru Ali andBuhari Musa were among thegoals in Kano as the championsmoved two points clear at thetop.

In the early kickoff of theday, Reuben Ogbonna strucklate from a direct free kick togive El-Kanemi Warriors a 1-0win over Sunshine Stars, whohad Henry Osita sent off.

ABS and Sharks fired blanksin Ilorin in spite of the latterbeing reduced to 10 men whenformer Nigeria under-20defender, Adeyinka Adedeji,was sent off by centre referee,Sani Mohammed, for a secondbookable offence.

Liberia striker, John Kollie,scored his second goal of theseason as Lobi Stars held on fora 1-0 win over Warri Wolves.

Goals in each half at theLiberation Stadium in PortHarcourt from Fred Okwaraand Derek Amadi gaveDolphins the full points overKaduna United.

Bishop Onyeudo is now jointleading scorer with Isah Akoron seven goals apiece after henetted from the spot in GombeUnited's lone goal win overKwara United.

Enugu Rangers could nothold out for a point in Uyo asthey conceded in the 80thminute to Sharafa Usman'sstrike for Akwa United.

Today, Bayelsa United playhosts to Nasarawa United ingame which could see any of thetwo sides go third on the log.

Two-time Africanchampions, Enyimba, go upagainst Wikki Tourists inBauchi to round off Week 12games.

Nigeria relay quartet that won the African Junior Championship

and ensure that athletesachieved their best withoutenhancing substances.

The director, however,advised athletes participating atthe league to strictly abide bythe AFN code of conduct.

Nesiama said that the AFN

gave the advice as a result of theboycott that occurred at thesecond leg of the league whichfailed to hold at Benin in April.

``The participating states,clubs and athletes are advised toabide by the AFN Code of Conductas well as compete fairly in

trying to achieve desiredperformance,'' he said.

The league's second leg inBenin was abandoned due to theunruly behaviour by someathletes who protested to AFNthat the standard for the leaguewas too high.

The newly electedpresident of the NigeriaWrestle Federation

(NWF), Chibudum Nwuche,has promised to use sports tobuild good character, disciplineand open up job opportunitiesfor Nigeria youth.

He said the federation hasmapped out strategy toempower the youth through

Nwuche promises build character,disciplined weightliftersBy Albert Akota

Lee Purdy, a replacementfor Kell Brook, willchallenge IBF

welterweight champion DevonAlexander in Atlantic City onSaturday night.

Alexander, who is fromSaint Louis in Missouri, is set tomake the first defence of his beltwhen he meets the 25-year-oldPurdy, a former British andcurrent IBF internationalchampion, at the BoardwalkHall.

Purdy, from Colchester inEngland, has taken the placeof Brook, who is rated No 1 bythe IBF but has foot and ankleproblems.

Purdy won three fights lastyear to push his record to 20victories, including 13

knockouts, three defeats and adraw. He beat Adnar Amar(25-1), Chris Johnson (16-3)and Gunersindo LucasCarrasco (16-0).

In March this year hestopped veteran Cosme Rivera(35-15-3) in the ninth rounddespite having problems tomake the weight.

Alexander, a 26-year-oldsouthpaw, won the vacantWBC junior welterweight titlein August 2009 when hestopped Junior Witter in theninth round. He also won theIBF belt by stopping JuanUrango in the eighth round.

He retained both titlesagainst Andriy Kotelnik butthen lost them to TimothyBradley in January 2011. In

October last year he moved upto welterweight and outpointedveteran Randall Bailey to takeover the IBF welterweight title.

The American could wellbeat fourth-ranked Purdyinside the distance.

On the undercard, WBCinterim light-welterweightchampion Lucas Matthyssefaces IBF light-welterweightchampion Lamont Peterson ina non-title ten-rounder at amaximum weight of 63.95 kg.

Matthysse, 30, is fromArgentina and Peterson, 29,from the United States.

Matthysse has anoutstanding knockout record.He has won 31 of his 33 fightsinside the distance and has lostonly twice, both times on split

Purdy takes long shot at IBF titledecisions, against Zab Judahand Devon Alexander.

Peterson's record stands at31-1, with 16 shortcut wins.His only loss was in December2009 Timothy Bradley beathim on points. It could be anentertaining fight; one for theconnoisseurs.

wrestle as well as organizingand engaging in sportingactivities both local andinternational for the interest ofthe country.

"We will not leave any stoneunturned because my board iscomprises of array professionalwho have interest of the game atheart, we are set to develop thegame of wrestle in Nigeriabeyond expectations.

"We will do everything to

create competitions where theyoung one at the grassrootswhich are our major priority canshowcase their talents.

"We will go as far as primary,secondary and tertiaryinstitutions where the raw talentcan be found for futurecompetitions, "he said.

Nwuche however promised tocarry it members along in all thefederation activities to avoidprogression in wrong direction. Lee Purdy


2] Mario Gotze could return to the Borussia Dortmund team just in time for theChampions League final against his future club, coach JurgenKlopp told aninternational press conference on Wednesday

3] Andy Murray endured a miserable 26th birthday as he retired from his ItalianOpen second-round tie against Marcel Granollers with a hip injury

4] Captain Alastair Cook says his England side need to be at their best to beat NewZealand after drawing their three-Test series 0-0 earlier this year

5] Scotland centre Joe Ansbro has been forced to retire from rugby following theneck break he suffered last summer.

6] Olympic bantamweight gold medallist Luke Campbell will make his professionaldebut at Hull KR's MS3 Craven Park on 13 July.

pictorial

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ivanovic being mobbed by mata andOScar after his back-breaking goal atthe death against Benfice to giveChelsea the Europa Cup trophy

David Haye

David Haye haswithdrawn from his fightagainst Manuel Charr after

hurting his left hand in training.The former WBA heavyweight

champion was scheduled to fightCharr in Manchester on June 29.

Haye announced hiswithdrawal in London on Tuesday,two days after suffering the injury.He said the hand would need at least

Injury KOs Haye's in return against Charr

PAGE 46 PEOPLES DAILY, THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2013

four weeks of rest.The controversial British

fighter announced recently that hewould fight the Lebanon-bornGerman, who also has Syrianheritage, in his comeback bout.

Haye has fought only once sincelosing his WBA title to WladimirKlitschko in July 2011. He knockedout Dereck Chisora in July last year.

Charr twice challenged Haye to

Cricket stakeholders saySagoe's removal no big deal

former president,``because hisprogrammes assisted the growthof cricket a lot.''

`Ì believe what he(Onyedima) needs to do is tocontinue with Sagoe'sprogrammes on ground becauseso far, it has been working for thegrowth of the sport.

`Ì believe with only Sagoeout of the board, Onyedima willget the support he needs fromother members," he said.

The vice president said thatthe new board's first assignmentwas to further prepare the U-19cricketers in camp, ahead of theWorld Cricket Cup qualifiers inUganda, later in the month.

Coach Tonye Timimadi, saidthat Onyedima performedcreditably well at the AbujaCricket Club, saying he hoped hewould transfer the spirit to theNCF.

Timimadi added thatalthough, Onyedima has notrecently held a national position,it does not mean that he was notcapable of running the

federation.``He achieved a lot as the

Chairman, Abuja Cricket Cluband with that, I believe that hewill be able to do same at the NCF,"he said.

Seyi Sonde, the national U-19male coach, advised the newly-elected president to cooperate

Plateau Rocks coach laments poor funding

a fight after both lost "world" titlebouts to one of the Klitschko brothersover the past 18 months.

Haye he won 26 and lost two ofhis professional bouts. Charr has arecord of 23 wins and one defeat.

The 28-year-old Haye's returnwould have been televised live andpromoted as part of a newrelationship between Adam Boothof Hayemaker and Eddie Hearn of

Matchroom Sport.Haye was looking for another

shot at one of the UkrainianKlitschko brothers and believed avictory over Charr would have puthim back in line for a title fight.

WBA, IBF and WBO championWladimir beat Haye on points inJuly 2011. His older brother Vitali,the WBC champion, stopped Charrin September last year.

Cricket stakeholders inLagos yesterday expressedoptimism that the removal

of Kwesi Sagoe as President of theNigeria Cricket Federation(NCF), would not affect thegrowth of the game.

A new president, EmekaOnyedima, the Chairman,Abuja Cricket Club, on Tuesdaydefeated former president Sagoeat the sports federations'elections conducted in Abuja.

The respondents believedthat sports administration wasnot necessarily who headed aboard, but the interest thepresident and other boardmembers had for thedevelopment of the sport theyadminister.

Soki Dakoru, NCF's returnedVice President, said that theremoval of Sagoenotwithstanding, the incomingboard would improve on thegrowth witnessed under Sagoe.

Dakoru, however, advisedOnyedima to continue with thelaudable programmes of the

with the former president andseek advice from him for the sportto grow further.

The national U-19 malecricket team is currently in campat the Tafawa Balewa Square(TBS) cricket oval, ahead of theWorld Cricket Cup qualifiers fromMay 25 to May 29.

Handball willregain itspast glory,says Balogun

Alex Guwan, Chief Coachof Plateau Rocks, a femalebasketball team,

yesterday decried the currentstate of neglect being experiencedby the team because of poorfunding by the Plateaugovernment.

Guwan said in Jos that theteam had been surviving on thegoodwill of some well-meaningindividuals in the state.

He added that the rough spellbeing experienced by the club hadnot in any way deterred it fromperforming well in the ongoingseason.

``We have qualified for the

final phase of the Zenith Bankfemale basketball tournament,slated for June in Lagos, after weemerged in the last eight inAsaba.

`Ì don't know how we wouldhave made it this far, if not forpeople who have interest in thegame. I remember when we weregoing for the other two phases inAbuja and Asaba, we had tosource for money fromindividuals.

``We are using this mediumto appeal to the state governmentto release money to the team, tohelp us to participate well in thetournament,'' he said.

The Chief Coach further saidthat the team had been given aone-week break for the players torest after the strenuouscompetition.

`Ì am so impressed with theteam and we thank God we didn'thave any serious case of injuryduring the tournament. We willput our heads together to see thatwe have a stronger team for thefinals,'' the coach added.

He called on supporters ofPlateau Rocks to continue tothrow their weight behind theteam at all times, as it strived forhonours in the country'sbasketball circuit.

Tayo Balogun, a member ofthe recently-elected boardof the Handball Federation of

Nigeria (HFN), has assured that thenew board would restore the sport toits former level.

Balogun, a stakeholder on thefederation's board, said afterTuesday's elections that the sport hadlost its glory from what it used to bein past years.

`Ì can recall very well that 12years ago, the country's handballplayers were the first in Africa andwere almost emerging on theinternational circuit.

`Ònly for the tempo at whichthey were moving to drop and atthe moment, they are 7th in Africa,which only means they havedropped drastically,'' Balogun said.

The veteran journalist recalledthat when he was the ViceChairman of the Lagos State SportsCouncil about three years ago, henoticed that the fortunes of handballhad nose-dived in the country.

He said that it was since then thathe developed interest in the gameand was determined to make thesport grow, the reason he was nowon the board of the federation.

``With the crop of new membersnow on the board of the federation, Ican assure you that the sport willexperience a barrage of competitionsand adequate publicity.

``Now that we have memberswho are knowledgeable and with avast record of the game, the athletes,coaches and officiating officials willbe busy throughout the year.

``The vision is to turn the sportaround for good and that will startfrom the grassroots,'' he added.

Balogun also promised handballlovers within and outside thecountry that in the next two years,the game would be one of the mostpopular sports in the country, witha wide coverage.

``Reviving a sport and makingit popular involves discoveringtalents from the grassroots becausethat is the most paramount thing.

` In the next two years, handballwill be a sport to reckon with, bothwithin and outside the country.

``The game will be rubbingshoulders with other sports withinthe country and on theinternational scene,'' he added.

Elections into the various boardsof the sports federations were heldon Tuesday in Abuja.

Manuel Charr


The futility of emergencyThe President, Goodluck

Ebele Jonathan, has justbought another dummy.

He thinks it will work. I thinkit will not.

Jonathan's state ofemergency is different fromthat of Obasanjo. Unlike underObasanjo, this one keeps theoffices and privileges of politicaloffice holders intact in thestates where it will operate.The only difference is that thesecurity of the state will bevested in the hands of themilitary and someconstitutional rights of citizensof their citizens will besuspended. This is theinterpretation I just heardfrom Yahaya Mahmud, SAN,on the BBC.

If these are the onlydifferences, it will be difficultto see how they will afford themilitary victory over BokoHaram.

The military has enjoyedfull access and support of thegovernments in the affectedstates, effectivelysubordinating the governors atevery given point. Governorshad no say in anything, if I canremember very well, except inproviding relief to victims andappealing to them to accepteverything in good faith, a fatefrom God or a national sacrifice.

The military also enjoyedthe full privileges of using force- many times excessive - on any

would be the mass deploymentof soldiers to the affected areas.With the sophistication of BokoHaram, our sons in themilitary will just be turnedinto cheap targets. There willbe so many of them to aim ateasily, more to destroy in aspot.

I am at loss here -completely. What has the stateof emergency achieved whenit was declared under thisregime in some localgovernments including thosenow under Boko Haramoccupation?

I would like to conclude thisarticle by stating a woefulstatistics on the incapacity ofsuccessive governments tosolve our national problems:Government in Nigeria hasnot been able to solve a singleproblem in various areas ofgovernance and the economy, tomy knowledge, in the past 28years. A problem at thebeginning of a regime will remainthere until it ends - accompaniedby many news ones. And so ourwahala continued to pile up.

I need to be convinced howdeclaration of the state ofemergency could make BokoHaram an exception.

I do not have the monopoly ofwisdom though. The militarymay know many things I donot know. I sincerely hope itworks..

Dr. Tilde is a renownedcolumnist based in Jos

Boosting animal protein production in NigeriaLivestock experts noted at a

recent conference in Josthat Nigeria could not meet

its animal protein needs in spite ofabundant animal protein sourcesin the country.

The level of milk production iseven very disturbing as thecountry consumes N155 millionworth of imported milk daily.

The experts described thesituation as serious and urged thegovernment to redress the trend.

Dr Joseph Nyager, Director,Livestock Department, FederalMinistry of Agriculture, saidgovernment was putting policiesin place to boost animal proteinproduction in the country.

``What we are doing is to focuson the development of six priorityvalue chains of meat from cow, pig,sheep, goats, poultry and dairy.

``Critical livestock inputs arealso being provided to farmers at adiscounted rate in order to improveproduction and productivity oftheir livestock.''

Nyager also said that theministry was collaborating withthe private sector to strengthenthe National Animal ProductionResearch Institute (NAPRI), tofacilitate the provision of day-oldchicks at a cheaper price.

For the dairy sector, Nyagersaid that the ministry was

collaborating with West AfricanMilk Company (WAMCO) toestablish additional milk collectioncentres in Oyo and the FCT.

``We believe that these stepswill reposition the beef industry toprocess and provide wholesomemeat and milk products ataffordable prices to Nigerians andfor export,'' he said.

Dr. Godwin Oyediji, theRegistrar, Nigerian Institute ofAnimal Science, observed thatNigeria imports `` one milliondollars worth of milk for localconsumption daily.

``The current parlous state ofour production structure, whichis in the hands of nomads, isunsuitable; we sink so muchmoney to import this product thatwe can produce locally if we caneffectively harness our livestockpotential.

``There is no doubt that thenation's 170 million people offer aready market for farmers andinvestors; so we must explore thedairy and meat production as aviable business,'' he said.

The inability of the country tosatisfy its animal protein needslocally has been blamed onreliance on traditional methods ofdairy production.

Prof. Francis Ahamefule of theDepartment of Animal Science,Federal University of Agriculture,Makurdi said the country must

step up efforts to discourage thetraditional production methods.

``Nigeria must de-emphasisethe traditional production systemand embrace intensive livestockproduction with emphasis on meatand milk production.

``Specifically, conscious effortshould be made to settle thenomadic pastorals whopredominantly are in control ofmore than 90 per cent of Nigeria'scattle.

``Settling them would createpositive awareness towardaccepting best practices in animalagriculture.

``This hopefully wouldenhance milk and meatproduction and fast-track Nigeria'sagricultural transformationagenda,'' he said.

Ahamefule said that Nigeriansmust not see livestock productionas ``strictly a Fulani affair'' as it isa lucrative business venture thatanyone could engage in.

``There will be a massive turn-around if Nigeria's 23 millioncattle, 24 million sheep and 40million goat potential are properlyharnessed through massiveinvestment in the sector,'' he said.

Ahamefule explained thatcattle accounted for 50 per cent ofthe nation's meat supply, whilesheep and goats accounted for 20and five per cent respectively.

``Cattle also provide 90 per

cent of the total annual milkoutput, while sheep and goatsaccount for less than 10 per cent,''he further said.

He noted that the nation couldnot meet its protein needs becausethe livestock sector is completelytied to herding by the Fulaninomads.

He also said that the nomadshad continued to view cattlerearing as simply an inheritedtradition of their great grand-fathers.

``This traditional productionsystem and beliefs needrestructuring if we are to meet ourprotein needs,'' the university donadvised.

Prof. Isaac Butswat, a fellow ofthe Nigerian Institute of AnimalScience, decried the lowproductivity of Nigerian cattle,stressing that the breed need to beimproved upon in order to achievehigher productivity.

``What the animal produces inthe form of milk and meat is afunction of many factors such asthe type of breed, climate,nutrition, health and othermanagement practices.

``If such factors are notproperly improved, especially thebreed of cattle, the consequence isthat output in terms of milk andmeat will remain low.

``Our aspirations are toimprove the average local cattle

By Filibus Yatai

By Dr. Aliyu U. Tilde citizen they without hindrancefrom the state governments inthe past two years. No fatherhas ever taken the JTF to court,to myknowledge,over thearrest ofhis son whow a sd e t a i n e dw i t h o u tcharge atG i w aBarracks -t h eN i g e r i a nversion ofGuantanamo.The sonthat maynot havea n y t h i n gto do withB o k oH a r a m .N o b o d yhas takenthem to theInternationalC r i m i n a lCourt inspite of thec r i m e sthat haveb e e ndocumentedby locala n dinternationalhuman rights groups.

And I doubt very much ifthe police, from the Inspector-General of Police to his

weight to 350 kg from the current250 kg, attain an annual beefproduction of 650,000 tonnes,generate dairy milk production to1.9 million tonnes, and to doublepoultry production by 2016.

``We cannot achieve thesegoals if farmers continue using ourlocal breed.

``There is, therefore, the needto encourage livestock farmersto embrace biotechnologytechniques to improve thebreed of their cattle throughartificial insemination foroptimal productivity.

``The technique is easilyaccessible in animal researchinstitutes; many farmershave tried it and boostedproductivity, both in meatand milk production,'' he said.

Butswat advised livestockfarmers to liaise with researchinstitutes like the NationalAnimal Production ResearchInstitute, Shika, KadunaState and the NationalVeterinary ResearchInstitute, Vom, for advice andtechnical services.

With the incentives put in placeby the government,entrepreneurs should invest in thelivestock sector as it is not only agold mine but could also createemployment opportunities.

Source: NAN

Commissioners in the states,have constituted any obstacleto the operation of the JTF.Instead, the police have wisely

remained pegged in theirparamilitary positions in theJTF structure and operations.

So what exactly has

hindered the military so muchthat they needed to compel Mr.President to give them a stateof emergency to operate under?

T h estate ofemergencyis also futilefrom therecords sofar. Twodays ago, as e n a t o rfrom BornoS t a t er e v e a l e dthat 23 to24 of the 27l o c a lgovernmentsin the stateare undert h ee f f e c t i v econtrol ofB o k oHaram. Ifdespite ther e s o u r c e s ,t h epersonnel ,the Giwas,B a g a s ,Maidugurisa n dDamaturus,governmenthas lost87% of theterritory in

Borno to Boko Haram, I wonderwhat additional powers to themilitary would achieve.

A significant shift though

President, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan

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Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza, Utako,Abuja. Kano office: Plot 3, Zaria Road, Opposite Kano State House of Assembly. Lagos Office: No.8Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos. Tel: +234 814 292 9046. Cell: +234 082 443 2099; 803 7007 759.e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] ISSN: 2141– 6141

THURSDAY, MAY 16, 2013

QQQQQUOUOUOUOUOTTTTTABLE QABLE QABLE QABLE QABLE QUOUOUOUOUOTETETETETEThe huge debt that we owe the heroes of our

history is not to be complacent with the freedomof our people and democracy that we have

established. — President Goodluck Jonathan on a state

visit to South Africa, May 8, 2013

Chelsea became the firstside to hold the ChampionsLeague and Europa League

titles simultaneously asBranislav Ivanovic's stoppage-time header earned victory overBenfica in Amsterdam.

Fernando Torres' sixth goalin six Europa League games gavethe 2012 Champions Leaguewinners a lead that wascancelled out by a penalty fromOscar Cardozo, awarded forhandball against CesarAzpilicueta.

Frank Lampard hit the barin the 88th minute before thewinner came from the mostunlikely source as defenderIvanovic, who missed last May'sChampions League win throughsuspension, headed in a cornerin the first minute of stoppagetime.

For ten days, Chelsea will beholders of both Europe's clubtrophies after inflicting Benfica'sseventh successive defeat inEuropean finals. The Portugueseside's 51-year wait for glory goeson.

Much derided interim bossRafael Benitez has now deliveredsilverware to make Chelsea thefourth side - after Juventus,Ajax and Bayern Munich - to winall UEFA's top competitions.

The Londoners won the CupWinners' Cup in 1970-71 and1997-98 and the ChampionsLeague last season. ThatChampions League success cameunder an interim coachfollowing a sacking earlier in thecampaign, and history hasrepeated itself in Amsterdam.

It brings Chelsea a trophyat the eighth attempt thisseason and with a ChampionsLeague return all-but assuredahead of Sunday's 69th andfinal game of the season at hometo Everton, Benitez has fulfilledhis brief since succeedingRoberto Di Matteo as boss inNovember.

His successor could be JoseMourinho, who led Porto tosuccessive European titles beforejoining Chelsea in 2004.

It was never going to bestraightforward againstMourinho's compatriots, a sideChelsea met for the first time lastyear en route to Munich.

The task was tougher stillwhen Eden Hazard was ruled outwith a hamstring injury andcaptain John Terry, who missedthe 2012 Champions Leaguefinal through suspension,suffered further final heartachedue to an ankle injury.

www.peoplesdailyng.com

. . . putting the people first

Chelsea beatBenfica at thedeath to makehistory

Army should play byrules of engagement

The speech by His Excellency,the Executive Governor of Bornostate, Alhaji Kashim Shettima,yesterday on the proclamation ofstate of emergency in the state byPresident Goodluck EbeleJonathan, on Tuesday.

Dear fellow citizens, Iaddress you today withheavy heart and grief. I

join you in mourning yourfamilies, friends and other lovedones who may have lost theirlives to the security challengesthat we face in Borno State; Icommiserate with you for theinjuries, you or your loved onesmay have suffered and for theproperties you may have lost aswe are confronted with anightmare that has haunted usfor far too long.

I am usually thrown ontoemotional torture any time a lifeis lost in Borno especially byman-made brutality because asyour Governor, I am underobligation, constitutional andmoral, to ensure your safety. Asyour leader, I consider myself afather to all orphans, a brotherand friend to everyone of you, ason to every parent and amember of every family inBorno State regardless ofreligion, tribe and geo-politicalaffiliation. I share in yourmoments of despair more thanyou can ever imagine becauseregardless of the intrinsic worthof any programme and projectsput in place by any government,however laudable, a citizen hasto be alive or safe to enjoy thebenefits of such programme orproject. Therefore, the mostimportant role of any responsiblegovernment is the security oflives and properties.

Fellow citizens, as you maybe aware, the President,Commander in Chief of theArmed Forces of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria, Dr GoodluckEbele Jonathan has in exerciseof his constitutional powers,declared a State of Emergencyin our dear State, following thespate of killings and destructionsof properties, that have pervadedus. It is the constitutionalresponsibility of the President totake such measures. It is also theduty of any responsible State

we should obediently respect thelives of fellow creatures. Let usbe our brothers’ keepers, hold ourarms in the true Borno spiritthat we were hitherto known for,so that we rise together as onepeople with shared passion forour collective progress.

We are facing a trying timethat I believe without blindoptimism, that we will overcomein no distant time Bi’iznillah.

A period of state ofemergency is that which comeswith rules that are differentfrom those that guide our dayto day lives. We must therefore,take personal steps as citizens,to avoid being caught by thestrange rules. I have directedthe State Ministry of HomeAffairs, Information and Cultureto work out public safetyenlightenment programmesthat should be regularly featuredon the Borno State Televisionand Radio while I urge ourpartners and friends in othermedia organizations resident inthe State to help in educating

government, to support lawfulefforts that would guarantee thesecurity of lives and properties.It can never be the wish of anyguarded democraticgovernment to have themilitary directly involved in theaffairs of any federating unitexcept for unfortunate andpainful causes. As the militaryleaders have said in discourses,the armory of the Nigeriansoldiers is not meant to fightfellow Nigerians, the armory ismeant to protect fellowNigerians.

A human life is sacred, moreso, the life of every goodNigerian, no matter whose’ it is;and we all have moral, spiritualand social obligations to preserveand respect the lives of oneanother as we would want oursto be so preserved and respected.Allah has said emphatically inthe Holy Quran that he hasdignified every human being,He has placed high premium onthe sacredness of human livesand as His dignified creatures;

citizens on public conducts atthis different time that we facetogether.

Let me use this opportunityto importantly urge themilitary who are fellowNigerians like all of us, to abideby the directive of Mr President,in operating under the rules ofengagement so that innocentlives and their properties arejealously preserved andprotected.

As time passes, we shall as aGovernment, remain focused inour abiding fate andcommitment to improve thewelfare of all citizens throughquality governance.

I will seize this opportunityfor the umpteenth time, to callon our brothers in the Jama’atuahliss Sunnah lil Da’awatu walJihad to embrace dialogue sothat we can solve this problemon the table through collectivebargaining, offers andcompromises. I am glad to notethat the Presidential Committeeon Dialogue and PeacefulResolution, is still working roundthe clock as also emphasized bythe President. I believe like Ihave always said since 2011,that by the end of the day,dialogue will be the last andsustainable resort. Let usembrace the spirit of live andlet’s live.

May I also add at the risk ofsounding repetitive, that thebest way to fight crime is toprovide jobs through integratedagriculture and otherindustrial growth. We are veryconscious of the fact that thereis mass poverty andunemployment and as youmay have confirmed from ourongoing programmes across theState, we are creating jobs andwe will continue to do.

I urge you to fervently prayfor the return of peace in ourdear Borno State and in all otherparts of Nigeria, to pave the wayfor rapid recovery and the socio-economic transformation thatwe so desperately seek to put inplace as a Government.

I thank you so much for yoursupport and wish every one ofyou, Allah’s guidance andprotection.

Long live Borno state!

Borno state Governor, Alhaji Kashim Shettima

Kashim Shettima

GUEST COLUMNIST

Peoples Daily Newspaper, Thursday 16, May, 2013

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