Peoples Daily Newspaper, Tuesday, June 19, 2012

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

Vol. 8 No. 62 Tuesday, June 19, 2012 Rajab 29, 1433 AH N150. . . putting the people first

>> PAGE 3 >> PAGE 10

Principal suesJigawa

lawmaker overassault

>> PAGE 10

Okada ban:Bicyclestake overJos roads

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Bombs,gunshots

rockDamaturu

I’ll deal withyou, Zamfara

gov tellslawmaker

Christians, Muslimsrescue one another

Kaduna mayhem

Makarfi chides Sambo, Yakowa

Contd on Page 2

NEMA rescuers received Muslims who were accommodated by Christians in their homes.

Bombingsorchestrated todestroy North’seconomy– Northern govs

Contd on Page 2

From Iliya Garba, Minna

The Northern States Governors Forum (NSGF) hasonce again decried the incessant bombings acrossthe North, alleging that most of the ugly

incidents are part of a ploy to destabilize the region bywhittling down its economy and setting its peopleagainst one another.

Chairman of the NSGF and Governor of Niger State,

From Agaju Madugba, Kaduna& Mohammed Kandi, Abuja

As normalcy returns toKaduna and Zariafollowing last Sunday’s

bomb attacks and reprisals that

led to the killing of at least 70people, revelations are beingmade about how residents ofvarious parts of the two cities areresisting exploitation of religionto incite them against oneanother.

These revelations are comingjust as the casualty figure in theSunday’s mayhem has risenmarkedly from 40 to at least 70as at press time yesterday.

Also yesterday, the Kadunastate government relaxed the 24

hour curfew imposed on thecrisis-hit areas of the state to adusk-to-dawn clampdown.However, some irate youths tookadvantage of the reviewedmovement embargo to unleashviolence on residents and

commuters alike aroundBarnawa, resulting in confusionwithin Kaduna metropolis withpeople scampering to safety.

A resident of Wusasa area ofZaria where an ECWA church

CONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSNews 2-11

Editorial 12

Op.Ed 13

Letters 14

Opinion 15

Metro 16-17

Business 19-22

S/Exchange 29

Agriculture 30

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Strange World 35

Digest 36

Politics 37-40

Sports 41-47

Columnist 48

PAGE 2 PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

Contd from Page 1

Bombings orchestrated to destroy North’s economy – Northern govs

Christians, Muslims rescue one anotherContd from Page 1

Dr. Mu’azu Babangida Aliyuyesterday in Minnadeconstructed the bombingphenomenon, saying that theJama’atu Ahlis Sunnah lidDa’awati wal Jihad popularlyknown as Boko Haram is notsolely responsible for the seriesof bomb attacks and killing ofinnocent people in the North.

“Given the level ofsophistication involved in theactivities of the perpetrators ofthe bombings, it is easy toconclude that some oblique

forces are behind the violencein the North and not BokoHaram alone as widelybelieved”, Governor Aliyu saidwhile reacting to the latestattacks on churches in Kadunaand Zaria on Sunday.

According to a pressstatement issued by Chief PressSecretary to Governor Aliyu,Malam Danladi Ndayebo, thetargeting of churches was adiversionary tactic used byperpetrators of the dastardlyacts, knowing full well thatreligion is a very sensitive tool

that could easily be used tocause disaffection in the region.

“If progress must be madesecurity agencies must dealdecisively with all those arrestedin connection with terrorist acts,particularly bombing ofchurches and schools claimed byBoko Haram, to serve asdeterrent to others”, thegovernor said on behalf of theForum.

He further emphasised thatthe rash of explosions currentlyrocking the North may just bepart of a well co-ordinated

attempt to cripple the economyof the region.

He warned that thecontinued existence of Nigeria asan indivisible entity dependslargely on the quick resolutionof the security challengescurrently confronting thenation.

The Forum urged Christiansnot to retaliate, emphasizingthat judgement belongs to Godand prayed God to grant thosewho lost their lives eternal restand their families, thefortitude to bear the loss.

was attacked on Sunday,Hauwa Abbas, narrated to oneof our reporters through SMS onSunday how Muslim andChristian residents of the areahad forged a sense of unity toshield themselves from any formof violence by some misguidedelements in the name of religion.

She however decried that thealleged withdrawal of troops inthe entire city gave a blanketcheque to the hoodlums whowere bent on perpetratingmayhem. “Muslims andChristians at Wusasa, Zaria,formed a group with a Christianheading. The Christians saidthey strongly believe that noMuslim will bomb their church.They questioned the totalwithdrawal of security personneloperating at the area yesterday(Saturday) without replacingthem”, the resident said in thetext message.

But the Army headquartersin Abuja denied withdrawing itsofficers and men from the streetsof Zaria, insisting that the extentof violence planned by thosebehind the bombings in the citywas largely contained by thepresence of troops in the town.

Other cheering news ofinterfaith cooperation camefrom different wards of Kadunacity where in separate instancesChristians and Muslimsharboured fleeing members ofthe opposite faith to shield themfrom attacks and possible deathin the hands of rioters.

Some of these incidentshappened in places like SabonTasha, Tirkaniya and Kudendaareas of the town, investigationsby our Kaduna correspondentsrevealed.

These reports werecorroborated by officials of theNational EmergencyManagement Agency (NEMA),who confirmed that members ofthe two faiths had separatelyrescued people of the oppositefaith from the rioters.

A statement issued byNEMA’s spokesman, Yushau A.Shuaib yesterday said, followingthe bomb explosions thatoccurred in some parts ofKaduna State on Sunday and thesubsequent reprisals security

agents and search and rescueofficers of NEMA received andsafeguarded lives and propertiesof Muslims and Christians whowere vulnerable to attacksduring the violence.

“NEMA’s Search and Rescueteams today (Monday) receivedmembers of the Christianfaithful who took refuge in someMuslim homes just as itevacuated some Muslims thatwere harboured by theirChristian neighbours”, thestatement further stressed.

It further stated that“Normalcy is graduallyreturning to the troubled citiesas distressed people that weremoved to Internally DisplacedPeoples’ Camp (IDPs) have beenreunited with their families.”

Meanwhile, death toll fromSunday’s bombing of churchesand reprisals in Zaria andKaduna rose to well over 70.

When our Correspondentvisited the St. Gerald’s Hospitalyesterday morning, the corpsesof victims littered the entranceof the hospital’s mortuary andthe accident and emergencyward overflowed with survivorsreceiving treatment frominjuries sustained.

The Public Relations Officer,Sunday John Ali, also noted thatdoctors from the InternationalCommittee of the Red Cross whowere deployed from Abuja werein the hospital’s theatreperforming operations on someother survivors.

Ali said that the death tollthere had risen from 10 onSunday to 40 while officials ofthe State EmergencyManagement Agency (SEMA)gave an additional number of 25corpses evacuated from theSabon-Tasha abattoir onMonday afternoon. Ali said thata total of 72 survivors were onadmission at the hospital.

At the Barau Dikko SpecialistHospital, the Matron, Mrs.Hassana Garba, confirmed thedeath of 12 persons there whiletwo injured persons were onadmission there.

From Zaria, SEMA confirmeda total of 18 deaths from the twoseparate bomb attacks at Christthe King Catholic Church, SabonGari, and at the ECWA Good

News Church, Wusasa.Meanwhile, a former Kaduna

state Governor, Senator AhmedMohammed Makarfi, hasdescribed the Kaduna incidentsas “unfortunate” even as hefrowned at the decision of thesuccessive administrations ofArchitect Mohammed NamadiSambo and Yakowa todiscontinue with the StrikeForce bases he established whilehe was governor.

Makarfi told reporters in achat that, “first of all, thebombing that have beenhappening is condemnable. Onecannot rationalize the numberof lives of human beings thathas been eliminated, theproperties destroyed, lack ofpeace created generally that isthreatening the survival ofmajority of citizens.

“All of these are things thatare very sad and I do not thinkany individual will supportunder whatever guise.

“Also, the action andmanner in which the ordinarysouls of individuals wereeliminated are things we shouldcondemn. What happened inthe first instance should notjustify another individual whomay even be running away forhis or her life.

“We should not react byvisiting further violence oninnocent souls. And, if youstudy Kaduna, the reaction

started in areas that wereknown even while I was in officeas a governor.

“Unfortunately, thediscontinuation with all theStrike Force bases that wereestablished, for me has createda vacuum because the essencefor which they were set upthere has been eliminated.

“Before they were set up,there was a study by securityagencies and it was concludedthat they should be set up inthose places, to secure majorhighways, to prevent takingaway the lives of travelers whoin many cases are not even fromKaduna state.

“Somebody will just bepassing by and because therewas a crisis he falls victim onthe highway. Unfortunately,that was discontinued, I thinkit is high time for governmentto bring back those Strike Forcebases, man them well and equipthem well so that negativereactions to any incident can becurtailed in good time,” heurged.

Also yesterday, reports saidthat Muslim youths in Barnawaarea of Kaduna metropolistrooped out in large numbersyesterday afternoon andstarted shooting sporadically atmotorists and passersbyespecially around the Marketarea.

The incident came barelytwo hours after the stategovernment relaxed the 24-hours curfew imposed on thestate.

Eyewitness accounts saidthat the Barnawa youths begantheir protest at about 4pm andstarted attacking people, adevelopment which forcedresidents to flee for cover whilemotorists who were luckyenough had to divert and returnto the Station Market area.

As at press time yesterday nocasualty figures couldbe ascertained from theincident.

Security personnelcomprising mobile police menand soldiers were said to havebeen mobilized to the location atabout 5pm and fired severalgunshots into the air ostensiblyto scare the rampaging youths.

Governor Patrick IbrahimYakowa

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

Undergraduate bags 20 years jail for ‘yahoo-yahoo’

Justice Mohammed L.Shuaibu of the Federal HighCourt, Kaduna, has

sentenced an undergraduate of theUniversity of Ilorin, ImoninaKingsley, 25, to 20 yearsimprisonment.

He was convicted on a four-count charge of impersonation,possession of fraudulent documentsand attempt to obtain money byfalse pretences preferred against

him by the Economic and FinancialCrimes Commission (EFCC).

One of the four count chargesfor which he was sent to jail reads:“That you, Imonina Kingsley “M”on or about 4th April 2008 atIlorin, Kwara state within thejurisdiction of the Federal HighCourt did obtain by false pretencethe sum of $1,000 from one Mr.Christopher De Troy through theuse of a scam letter via your mailbox and committed an offencecontrary to Section 8(a) and

By Lambert Tyem punishable under Section 1(3) ofthe Advance Fee Fraud and otherFraud Related Offences Act 2006”.

Kingsley, who is to spend fiveyears on each of the charges gavehis address as at the time of hisarrest as Rubby Hostel, TipperGarage, Tanke Ilorin, Kwara state.He hails from Ndokwa East localgovernment area of Delta state.

The suspect who was arrestedon April 4, 2008, during a specialoperation code-named, OperationCyber Storm1 at Wave Network

Net Cyber Café located alongPipeline Road, Tanke, Ilorin,Kwara state, used the false identityof a Mr. Thomas Duke, a supposedgay from the United Kingdom withthe email address given to sendfraudulent mails with intent todefraud unsuspecting victims.

In other instances, he alsoclaimed to be one Muyiwa Akanbi,a Beninoise and Mary Jone.

In his confessional statement,Kingsley admitted that he is into the“business” to make money and pay

his fees at the University of Ilorin,Kwara state where he was studyingGeology and Mineral Sciences.

He also confessed that onFebruary 12th, 2008, he sent ane-mail to Luis Barco, attaching aphotograph of an unknown manwhich he downloaded from theinternet and claimed to be a gayby the name Muyiwa Akanbi.

At another time, he mailed amessage and presented himself toone Mr. Andrew Corrigan as a UK-born gay but based in Africa.

Police investigatorsyesterday failed to accessthe alleged $620,000

marked bribe money from theembattled former chairman of theHouse Ad hoc Committee on theManagement of fuel subsidyregime, Farouk Lawan.

The marked money is at thecentre of a controversy in the cash-for-clearance allegation leveledagainst Lawan by Zenon Oil boss,Femi Otedola.

Similarly, three policemen arecurrently in detention over theirunprofessional handling of thedetention of the duo of FaroukLawan and Boniface Emenalo.

The trio – ASP Sani SarkinNoma, CPLs Awal Musa andAlhassan Zakari were said to haveallowed the lawmakers duringtheir period in detention to sleepoutside the cell as well as bath athome and return to the Force CID

By Lambert Tyem

in Area 10 Abuja every morning,when most officers and men wereyet to resume work.

Luck was said to have run outon the policemen when Lawan andEmenalo could not immediatelymake it back to their cells onSaturday morning. Lawan wasgranted conditional bail later thatday.

Lawan, who arrived the ForceHeadquarters around 10 am

yesterday had been given a policebail on Saturday with one of theconditions being that he wouldtender the marked dollar billsbefore the Ali Ahmadu SpecialTaskforce investigating thescandal.

The absence of oil magnate,Otedola was said to have stalled theinvestigation and he has beenslated to appear today and counterdepositions by Lawan.

Police yet to access$620,000 bribery money

…3 cops in detention for ‘conspiracy’

I will dealwith you ifyou do itagain,Yari tellslawmakerFrom Salisu Zakari Maradun,Gusau

Justice E.A. Adebayo of theLagos High Court, Igbosere,yesterday ordered that a

warrant of arrest be issued againstSunday Akinyemi and that oncearrested, Akinyemi should be keptin prison custody until the nextadjourned date.

According to WilsonUwujaren, Ag. Head, Media &

Publicity of the Economic andFinancial Crimes Commission(EFCC), "The order was sequel tothe prosecution counsel, RotimiOyedepo’s disclosure that theaccused person was in Nigeria andthat he was seen at a socialfunction but failed to appear incourt.

"Rotimi said Akinyemi who hasbeen in and out of the country wasreportedly sighted in church by a

By Lambert Tyem surveillance team from thecommission.

Justice Adebajo had sometimesin 2010 ordered that SundayAkinyemi be remanded in prisoncustody until the charge preferredagainst him by the EFCC isdetermined. Akinyemi wasarraigned alongside Olu Osho on a30-count charge of conspiracy tosteal, stealing, forgery andaltering.

The accused persons were saidto have conspired to steal aboutN90 million from TexasConnection Ferries Limited.Akinyemi’s application for bail wasrefused by Justice Adebajo on thegrounds that with the avalancheof evidence brought against himby the EFCC including his jumpingbail in America, he was notconvinced that the accused personwould not jump bail again.

N90m scam: Court issues arrest warrant against suspect

Protest by commercial drivers over dilapidated Iworo-Ajido road, yesterday in Badagry, Lagos state. Photo: NAN

Zamfara state governor,Alhaji AbdulAziz YariAbuabkar, has threatened

to deal with a lawmaker at thelower chamber of NationalAssembly representing Bakura/Maradun Federal constituency,Alhaji Bello MuhammadMatawallen Maradun for daringto insult the former governor of thestate, Alhaji Ahmad Sani.

The lawmaker was alsostrongly warned to desist fromuttering any abusive word againstthe former governor of the state,considered to be the mentor ofevery politician in the state.

Governor Yari, who made thestatement in Gusau, the statecapital, while addressingthousands of party supporters whoconverged at the Gusau airstrip toreceive some members of theopposition PDP who decamped tothe ruling ANPP, told thelawmaker to also conduct himselfdecently it he wants to enjoy hispolitical right with freedom notonly in the state but throughoutthe federation.

Earlier, the lawmaker AlhajiBello made a derogatory statementagainst former governor andserving senator, Alhaji AhmadSani, which provoked theincumbent governor.

The infuriated governorexplained that henceforth the lawmaker should learn how to controlhis nerves otherwise he will neverenjoy peace throughout hispolitical career.

The governor who visiblywent wild while making thestatement, warned that anybodywho dares to insult Senator AlhajiAhmad Sani should prepare forwar with his government adding:“We have respect for SenatorAhmed Sani and we are ready todo everything to protect hisdignity. Anyone who goes contrarywill have his or herself to blame”.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012PAGE 4

FIRS nabs Air Nigeria bossover tax evasionFor failure to remit taxes

totaling N4.868 billion dueFederal Inland Revenue

Service (FIRS), Managing Directorof Air Nigeria, Mr. Kinfe Kayssayhas been nabbed by taxenforcement team of the FIRS.

A statement by FIRS Directorof Communications, EmmanuelObeta, issued yesterday confirmedthe tax enforcement drive was ledby Mr. James Binang, an assistant

director in charge of DebtEnforcement and SpecialProsecution Unit (DESPU) of theService.

The statement said the arrestwas aimed at recovering arrearsof taxes accruing to governmentfrom Withholding Tax (WHT) andValue Added Tax (VAT).

The enforcement was part of abigger move to recover the N170.I billion (N170, 132, 089, 411:46)outstanding taxes owed togovernment by public and private

By Abdulwahab Isa organisations as well as ensure thatall taxpayers are captured in thetax net.

Binang explained that therefusal to deduct and remit taxesas well as failure to file tax returnsamount to criminal offences.

Explanations were also soughtfrom the company about the TaxClearance Certificate (TCC) allegedto have been obtained by AirNigeria despite its tax liabilities—which was a requirement to securetheir expatriate quota.

Kayssay agreed that thecompany actually had taxliabilities to pay but pleaded formore time to settle the liabilitiesand comply with the necessarylegislations as regards filing of taxreturns.

The company lawyer, Mr.Akeem Babatunde, indicated thatthe company did not request forTCC to enable them secureexpatriate quota.

Apart from the tax liabilitiesagainst Air Nigeria, the companyhas also failed to file annual “TaxReturns” in 2011, as when duewhile the one for 2012 was stillpending.

Three suspects wereyesterday arrested overthe abduction of the son of

the Secretary to Delta stategovernment, Comrade OvuozorieMacauley shortly after GovernorUduaghan’s cousin Pa SamuelUduaghan was released by hisabductors.

Mr. Markson Ovuosuorie, 28,who schools abroad, waskidnapped by unknown gunmenin his own village, Owheologbowhere he had travelled to see hisgrandparents.

Sources close to the victim’sfamily disclosed that the victimwas abducted in front of his father’shouse and was forced into a waitingVW Jetta car which zoomed off toan unknown destination.

It was gathered that the SSGwho had travelled abroad formedical treatment had beeninformed of the ugly incident backhome by his family members andpolitical associates.

When contacted on the issue thePolice Public Relations Officer, DSPCharles Muka confirmed theincident, adding that the policewas on top of the situation as threemen have been arrested inconnection with the kidnap.

3 arrested overkidnap of DeltaSSG’s sonFrom Osaigbovo Ighuobaro, Benin

Kano HighCourtcondemns2 to deathby hangingFrom Edwin Olofu, Kano

The Convener of Save NigeriaGroup and Congress forProgressive Change (CPC)

vice-presidential candidate in the2011 elections, Pastor TundeBakare, has said “PresidentJonathan is on a mission tobankrupt and balkanise Nigeria.”

Bakare stated this at a newsconference in Lagos whilecommenting on the briberyscandal involving Hon. Farouk

Lawan and Mr. Femi Otedola.Bakare insisted that the

scandal was a deliberate ploy bythe government to divert people’sattention from the N3 trillionspent by the Jonathanadministration withoutappropriation. Hence, he urgedNigerians not to allow the briberyallegation to take their focus fromthe real issue of Jonathan’s illegalspending.

“President Jonathan is dancingto the drumbeat of destiny,” hesaid. “His destiny is to bankrupt

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagoswith agency report

Nigeria. He has the full support ofcorporate cowboys and oilvultures. It is clear that Nigeria isa nation under divine judgment.We need cleansing in this land andif we do not stand up now to do whatwe ought to do, there might not be2015 for Nigerians.”

Bakare also said that the duo ofFemi Otedola and Farouk Lawanare culpable in the $620, 000bribery scandal.

“Where did they get themoney from? Did the moneycome from government? These

are oil vultures. What is thefoundation of his riches; is it notcorruption? Has Nigeria not beencelebrating corrupt fellows?Corruption in Nigeria is nowendemic.

“In a decent society, bothOtedola and Lawan and all thepeople involved would be behindbars by now. Unfortunately,Lawan’s greed and naivety got himinto a terrible mess. He had theopportunity of being a hero; heended up a villain because ofnaivety and greed.”

Jonathan’s destiny is to bankrupt Nigeria – Bakare

The Coroner of AlimoshoDistrict in Lagos, MagistrateOyetade Alexander

Komolafe, yesterday, started aninquest into what led to the June3, 2012 Dana plane crash at Iju-Ishaga, in which over 153 peoplelost their lives.

The inquest was ordered lastThursday by the Coroner-judge ofLagos State, Justice LateefahOkunnu.

The order was sequel to arequest made by the Falana andFalana Chambers.

At the inaugural sitting, Mrs.Funmi Falana while addressingthe court said the chambers of ofOlisa Agabkoba was also interestedin the matter.

Both Mr. Komolafe and Mrs.Falana agreed between themselveswhat persons and agencies shouldbe invited by the court.

The coroner then adjourned tillJuly 12 for the parties to be servedand to enable the chambers of OlisaAgbakoba to prepare for the inquest.

From Francis Iwuchukwu, Lagos

Dana crash: Coroner’s inquestbegins

Pandemonium grippedDamaturu, the Yobe statecapital, yesterday as

explosions and gunshots, whichbegan at the Sabon Pegi area of thecity caused fear and anxietyamong many residents.

Explosions and sporadicgunshots rent the air andcontinued as witnessing expressedfear that the attackers wereadvancing towards the Yobe stateGovernment House.

A witness who declinedidentification, said operatives of theJoint Taskforce (JTF), appeared tohave been overwhelmed by theattackers, suspected to be membersof the extremist Boko Haram sect.

Our source within the statecapital who stated that gunshotsbegan since 5 pm yesterday, stated:Damaturu is under serious fire andcasualties may be unbearably high.Areas around Gwange, Pompomaridemarcated by Gashua-Maiduguriroad and between Gashua-Maiduguri bypass have been underattack and counter military attackfor hours now.

From Godswill Uche, Damaturu

Fear as explosions, gunfire gripDamaturu

L-R: Governor ofCentral Bank ofNigeria (CBN),Malam SanusiLamido Sanusi, hisdeputies, Mrs.Sarah Alade, andMr. Tunde Lemo,during a publichearing on theexpenditure ofpublic funds byCBN withoutapproval, organisedby the HouseCommittee onBanking andCurrency,yesterday at theNational Assembly,in Abuja.Photo: Mahmud Isa

A High Court sitting in Kanohas sentenced two men todeath by hanging having

been found guilty of armedrobbery.

Delivering the judgmentyesterday in Kano, the presidingjudge, Ahmed Tijjani Badamasi,averred that the prosecutioncounsel has proved the case ofarmed robbery beyond reasonabledoubt against the duo of ShehuMohammed (alias Baban Rasha)and Nura Bello and sentencedthem to death by hanging.

Badamasi added that theywere charged with the case ofarmed robbery and conspiracy,contrary to section 1 sub-section 2aof robbery fire arms specialprovision of the Laws of theFederation of Nigeria 2004.

The convicted Mohammedand Bello were said to hadentered the residence of Prof.Ibrahim Ayagi on the 12November, 2005 tied his handsdown and inflicted on him somebodily injury that made himunconscious for a while.

Mohammed and Bello weresaid to have carted away the sumof N500,000 and jewelries valuedat N900,000 at the time of therobbery but were later arrestedand were charged to court by thepolice.


Army denies withdrawingcheck points from ZariaThe Nigerian army has

denied allegations thatcheck points were removed

from the streets of Zaria and itsofficers withdrawn on Saturday,prior to the deadly attack onchurches on Sunday.

Reacting to the allegation in atelephone conversation, theDirector, Army Public Relations(DAPR), Brigadier General BolaKoleoso, said it was false and therumours are being spread bymischief makers who were notcomfortable with the presence ofarmy officers on the streets of

By Joy Baba Zaria.Koleoso said check points or

soldiers have never beingwithdrawn from the streets at anypoint, adding that it s the presenceof the military that was able tocurtail and stabilise the situationin the affected areas. “Peoplespreading such false information

The Independent HajjReporters (IHR), has calledon the National Hajj

Commission of Nigeria NAHCON,to ensure that faulty and oldaircrafts are not allowed to air liftNigerian pilgrims to Saudi Arabiathis year.

The disclosure was maderecently by the non-governmental

organisation in a statement signedby its national secretary, IbrahimMuhammad and publicitysecretary Abubakar Mahmoudwho said that the lives of 95, 000Nigerian pilgrims are tooimportant to be toyed with by theprofits-only air carriers.

The statement said that “inview of the recent Dana planecrash in Lagos that killed 153passengers on board and dozens of

By Muhammad Nasir others on ground, we are callingon NAHCON, which is theregulatory agency for hajjoperations in Nigeria, to as a matterof national interest and urgency,ensure that only airlines that meetall the international standards ofaviation safety are allowed to airliftNigerian pilgrims to the holy landthis year.”

Mohammed also urgedNAHCON to ensure that all

IHR to NAHCON: Stop faulty aircraft from lifting pilgrims

are those who felt the presence ofthe soldiers were disturbing theirnefarious acts and intents”.

“If they cannot praise us, theyshould not lie against us’ he said.He challenge whoever is spreadingthe rumour to come out openly andstate the particular place he/shenoticed checkpoints were removed

airlines interested in the airlift ofthe pilgrims are thoroughlyscrutinised with a view toestablish the airworthiness oftheir aircrafts as well as ensuringthat they have the professionaland technical expertise to handlethe exercise.

Muhammad reiterated thatthe recent Dana plane crash is aneye opener to Nigerians, whichindicates that all is not well with

the aviation industry. “We havehad situations in the past wherebyfirms with old and rickety aircraftsare allowed to handle the airlifts ofour pilgrims. This is verydangerous and we are calling onthe relevant authorities,particularly NAHCON to ensurethat international best practice isstrictly adhered to in selecting theair carriers that will convey ourpilgrims, he cautioned.

Bauchi state governmenthas concluded its plan tosend 25 engineers for

overseas training under theauspices of the Ministry for Localgovernment in its drive to ensureservice delivery to the grassroots.

The state Commissioner forMinistry for Local GovernmentAffairs, Alhaji Abubakar AhmedFaggo, disclosed this while

briefing newsmen on theactivities of the ministry in thelast one year.

According to him, the ministryhas completed arrangement topay for the training of theengineers who were drawn fromall the 20 local government areasof the state.

Faggo explained that theministry in accordance with thedemands of the local governmentcouncils has provided and

From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi distributed assorted test andexercise books worth millions ofnaira to the 20 local governments.

The gesture, he noted, has gonea long way in assisting pupils andstudents in their various schools,Saying, " the ministry had alsopaid up to date the statutorycontributions to the localgovernment service commissionfor the purpose of capacity buildingfor the local government councilsstaff”.

Bauchi govt to send 25 engineers for overseas training

Senate President David Markhas reiterated his call for themasterminds of recent bomb

attacks in the country to stop thekillings in the interest of the nation.

Mark, who visited PresidentGoodluck Jonathan at the StateHouse yesterday, told State Housecorrespondents that he hadcondemned Sunday’s attacks onchurches and the reprisals, adding

that “vengeance is not ours, wemust leave vengeance to God.”

The Senate President whodescribed his presence at thePresidential Villa as “normal visit,”said, “we will continue to appeal tothe people who are behind it toreason and put this off because it isnot in the interest of this country.”

Contrary to speculations thatthe relationship between theExecutive and the Parliament arenot cordial, Mark insisted that thetwo organs still enjoyed goodrelationship.

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

Bombings: Mark calls forceasefire

President GoodluckJonathan will depart Abujatoday to attend the United

Nations’ Earth Summit, RIO+20,opening in Brazil tomorrow.

President Jonathan willparticipate in the summit’s fourplenary meetings at RiocentroPlenary Hall tomorrow andThursday, as well as attend areception to be hosted by theBrazilian President for Heads of

State and Government at thesummit.

The President will use theopportunity of the summit todeclare open the Nigerian/BrazilRIO+20 Business Forum, and alsohold talks with selected Brazilianbusinessmen and captains ofindustry.

While in Rio De Janeiro, thePresident will meet withrepresentatives of the NigerianCommunity resident in Brazil,and return to Nigeria on Friday.

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

Jonathan to attend UN earth summit

Unknown gunmen shot twopersons to death atJakadaferi quarters in

Gombe metropolis on Sundaynight around 8: pm.

The Gombe state PoliceCommand Public RelationsOfficer, DSP Fwaje Atajiri,confirmed the incident tojournalists in Gombe.

He said that the two personskilled by the gunmen are MalamBello Farouk, 25, and MoshoodHassan 18, adding that no, arresthas been made but investigation

is still ongoing.Speaking to newsmen, Malam

Sani Mohammed nephew of one ofthe deceased, said the gunmencame around 8pm while thedeceased were preparing to go forprayers.

He said the gunmen whoperpetrated the act were two innumber, the one who was holdingan AK 47 called one of thedeceased, Bello Farouk with hiscell phone, when he came out tosee who was calling him, he wasgunned down; the second victimMoshood Hassan was killed by astray bullet.

From Auwal Ahmad, Gombe

Gunmen kill 2 in Gombe R-L: Vice- President Mohammed Namadi Sambo, with Special Adviser to the President on Researchand Documentation, Dr. Oronto Douglas, after an official meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan,yesterday at the State House, in Abuja. Photo: Joe Oroye

from the streets of Zaria.“The DAPR further said that

“We are all Nigerians and whateveryone should be workingtowards is the peace and unity ofthe Nation not try to make mattersworse by spreading falseinformation in a situation likethis”.


L-R: Representative of Kogi state Governor, Air Commodore Johnson Onekutu (rtd), Director Planning,Small and Medium Scale Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr. Monday Ewans, and DirectorGeneral of SMEDAN, Malam Umar Nadada, during the opening of the third D-8 SEMS working groupconference, yesterday in Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-owo

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

ASUU, S/West universities to stopJonathan’s renaming of UNILAG

Farouk Lawan saga: Prosecutethose indicted, says group

Following the allegedbribery scandal involvingthe chairman of the House

Representatives Adhoccommittee on fuel subsidy probe,Hon Farouk Lawan and thechairman of Zenon Oil and GasCompany, Mr. Femi Otedola, a

By Adeola Tukuru non partisan network group, N-Katalyst has called on the FederalGovernment to ensure all theindicted individuals areprosecuted and adequatelypunished.

The spokesperson of thegroup, Dr. Hussaini Abdu toldnewsmen yesterday that bothgovernment officials and

was attended by the newly electednational treasurer of the union andformer chairman of the Universityof Ibadan chapter, Dr. AdemolaAremu, lamented the loss of thesense of history by the country'sleadership, saying the cost ofchanging the name of UNILAG ismuch weightier than renaming astructure like the Eagle Square inAbuja or even the Presidential Villawhere he said there would havebeen no need for any effect on anycertificate.

"So if the president in hisarbitrariness feels it is now time torecognise and honour late Abiolaas an icon of democracy, he mustfirst be regarded as a formerpresident and any of theinstitutions now seen to be symbolsof democracy such as the NationalAssembly or the Eagle Squareshould be named after him and nota 50-year-old institution likeUNILAG," Aremu said.

The national office of theAcademic Staff Union ofUniversities (ASUU) and its

leadership in Southwest yesterdayvowed to mobilise against thepassage of the bill sent to theNational Assembly by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan for the changeof the name of the University ofLagos to Moshood AbiolaUniversity.

ASUU at a press conference heldin UNILAG, restated itscommitment to join forces with theuniversity's Senate, alumniassociation, students and membersof the public to kick against what ittermed the unjust and"unreasonable" position byPresident Jonathan. They said allavailable means shall beexhausted to make the Presidentrevert the decision.

The press conference which

companies named in the allegedscam have to be made to face themusic if government's anticorruption battle must be takenseriously.

He pointed out that Nigerianshad suffered too much on theissue of fuel subsidy and lamentedthe high level of corruption goingon in government quarters.

The Minister of Information,Mr. Labaran Maku, hasdescribed Nigerian media

as a divided one.The minister said this

yesterday in Abuja at a summiton the Freedom of InformationAct with the theme: 'Ensuringthe Effective Implementation of

By A'isha Biola Raji the FoI Act' organised by MediaRights Agenda in collaborationwith Pact Advance.

He said the problem in Nigeriais created by diverse cultural,ethnic and religious differencesamongst the people, of which themedia has also been part of.

For freedom of information tothrive, Maku said the usersparticularly the media have to

be disciplined, tolerant andpatient.

The chairman of the summit,Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese,Bishop Mathew Hassan Kuka saidthe FoI was in the interest ofgovernment.

"It is the only waygovernment can overcomecynicism from the public," hesaid.

Nigerian media divided along ethnic lines- Maku

The Kogi state governmenthas reduced the cost of treatingpregnant women and childrenunder the age of five in all publichealth institutions across thestate.

Capt Idris Wada (rtd) gavethe hint at the flag off of the 2012maternal, newborn and childhealth week at Ugwolawo, Ofulocal government area of thestate.

Capt Wada who wasrepresented by his deputy, ArcYomi Awoniyi, promisedgovernment attention at makingreproduction and child birthsafer through the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs) in thestate.

The governor disclosed thathis administration is also

From Sam Egwu, Lokojacommitted to meeting criticalareas of nutrition, reducingcommunicable diseases, access toessential drugs, safer water andimproved sanitation that willimprove women's access to

education and empowerment. Similarly the Governor

called on experts to develop anddeliver solutions that will addressthe causes of deaths duringpregnancy and childbirth.

Kogi govt reduces medical feesfor pregnant women, infants

From Bala Nasir, Kano

The heavy security mountedin Kano following the bombattacks on some churches in

Kaduna and Zaria, has beenrelaxed with many of the newcheck points removed.

There were growing fears thatthe Sunday incident in Kadunacould spark fresh violence in theold city, if security measureswere not be taken.

But the gradual withdrawalof police from Kano streets

Heavy security relaxed in Kanoyesterday as the day progressedmade it possible for people to goabout their normal businesses.

Speaking to ourcorrespondent on the matter, thedeputy Police Public RelationsOfficer of the Kano stateCommand, ASP Magaji MusaMajia said the heavy presence ofpolice in Kano last Sunday hadnothing to do with Kadunaincidents.

He insisted that thedevelopment was a routinesecurity measure.

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

Adoke solicits ICC’s supportagainst terrorism

recently been grappling with thechallenges occasioned by piracy inthe Gulf of Guinea and terrorism inthe northern parts of the country,we therefore hope to benefit fromincisive analysis to effectivelycombat international crime," hesaid.

According to Adoke, despite thelarge number of African stateparties to the Rome status of theInternational Criminal Court(ICC) the relationship between theICC and AU has been lesssatisfactory.

"We must therefore continue torender support to one another andtake advantage of our unique skillsand competencies to enhance thewell being of our people," he added.

The Attorney-General of theFederation and Minister ofJustice, Mr. Muhammed

Bello Adoke, has called forcollaborative support of theInternational Criminal Court (ICC)and the African Union (AU) againstterrorism and piracy on the Gulf ofGuinea.

Adoke who made the callyesterday in Abuja while declaringopen the 51st session of the Asian-Africa Legal ConsultativeOrganisation (AALGO), said therewas need for the ICC to engageAfrica constructively in the globaleffort against impunity.

"As you are aware, Nigeria has

From Nankpah Bwakan, Jos

Ochekpe urges okada ridersto cooperate with govt

noted that the state government isnot unaware of the socio-economicchallenges the people go throughbut that the ban has becomenecessary as it would curtail theincessant destruction of lives andproperties.

Ochekpe said the government'sdecision to ban okada was meant totackle security challenges.

She appealed to Nigerian youthsto be calm and not to take the lawsinto their hands but to always allowgovernment and the securityagents to take control of anyincident of uprising.

The Minister for WaterResources, Mrs. SarahOchekpe yesterday appealed

to everyone aggrieved by thegovernment's decision to ban theoperations of commercialmotorcycles otherwise known asokada, in Jos, the Plateau statecapital to partner with the stategovernment in order to resolve theissues in the best ways possible.

The minister in a pressstatement signed by her SpecialAssistant, Ms Christiana Nyam,

By Mohammed Kandi

Nupe Foundation to launch history bookof the country.

Speaking on behalf the BoT,publicity chairman of thefoundation, Engr. Yabagi Sanni,noted that celebrating the daywas part of the emirate's effortsto revamp cultural activities inthe emirate to preserve it forposterity.

He said the event was anopportunity to exhibit the richcultural influence among thepeople in the emirate from theMasaga brass makers to varioustraditional music groups.

The Board of Trustees ofNupe Foundation hasannounced as part of events

billed for its annual festival, the4th Nupe Day, the launching of abook titled: "The History of TheEmirate of Bida - To 1899 AD.

The book launch which comesup on Saturday 23rd June, 2012,at the Ibrahim BadamasiBabangida University Lapai,Niger state, will withnesspersonalities from different parts


Students attack traffic official for apprehending staffAgriculture (FUNNAB), Abeokutafor arresting a management staffof the school over traffic offence.

The unruly attitude of thestudents also took them to the unitoffice of the command located inthe area where they vandalisedthe office.

Our correspondent learnt thatthe top management staff of the

institution was alleged to havedriven against traffic in his Toyotacar registration number FG 199B50 on his way to school when hewas flagged down but attemptedto run away.

He was apprehended and hisnumber plates seized. Few minutesafter the seizure, some studentsarrived at the scene and descended

on the traffic official found at thescene.

The students allegedly led bytheir leader identified as Obamaalso went to the agency unit officein Obantoko where theyvandalised the office and forcefullytook away the seized numberplates.

The brutalised traffic official

was receiving treatment atOlukoye Ransome-Kuti MemorialHospital as at the time of thisreport.

When contacted, the unitcommander of the agency,Commander Abiola DavidOlufemi confirmed the incidentadding that the case had beenreported to the police.

L-R: Oyo state governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi, Nigerian Ambassador to Kenya, Mr. Akin Oyateru, and deputy governor, Chief MosesAdeyemo, during the ambassador's visit to the governor, yesterday in Ibadan. Photo: NAN

Dankwambo warns fertiliser distributioncommittee against diversion

From Dimeji Kayode-Adedeji,Abeokuta

An official of TrafficCompliance andEnforcement Corps

(TRACE), Ogun state, OlumideOdusanya, was yesterdaymercilessly beaten by students ofthe Federal University of

From Auwal Ahmad, Gombe

Governor Ibrahim HassanDankwambo of Gombestate has warned the state

fertiliser distribution committeeagainst diversion of thecommodity.

The governor who gave thewarning while speaking at theflag off of this year’s fertiliser saleand distribution in Deba town,

said that nobody will be spared iffound wanting.

Dankwambo said that inorder to ensure equal fertiliserdistribution, he directed theMinistry of Agriculture todistribute it up to polling units aspart of effort to deliver it todoorstep of farmers.

He added that each pollingunit would have 100 bags tosupport the e-wallet system of

distribution by the GrowthEnhancement Support Schemeprogramme.

According to him, “we believethat the provision of adequatefacilities appropriate inputsextension services and incentivewould greatly improve the levelof agricultural production andwell being of our citizens”.

“We also have plans to createan enabling environment for the

establishment of agro-basedindustries to mop up products likegrains, fruits and vegetables. Wehope that these efforts will redressunemployment, ensure foodsecurity and wealth creation”,Dankwambo said.

Fertiliser would be sold at ahighly subsidised rate of N2, 700.per 50kg, bag of all brands (NPKand urea) for the 2012 croppingseason he said.

Shagari farmers lament poor yieldsFarmers in Shagari local

government area ofSokoto state have

lamented the lack of water forall year farming due to theuncultivated irrigation projectin the area.

They made their complaintsknown in an interview with theNews Agency of Nigeria (NAN)yesterday in Sokoto.

NAN recalls that theShagari Irrigation Project,situated in Shagari localgovernment area, wasconceived for the realisation ofthe full potential of the ShagariDam, commissioned in 2006.

The project, which had beenstalled for lack of funds, oughtto utilise water from thecompleted Shagari Dam forirrigation of about 220 hectaresof farm land.

The farmers noted that theirrigation project, if functional,would have increased farming

activities, alleviated povertyand improved the livingstandards of the communitiesin the area.

They said the N847 millioncontract had outstandingphases of work which includedthe procurement of ductile ironpipes to connect the reservoirsto the intake structures.

NAN reports that these pipesare to act as a link between thedam and reservoir to transferwater to the canals for farmers’utilisation.

Also, the construction of tubewells, procurement of two waterpumps and construction ofservice centres which cost N380million, had hindered theinstallation of the irrigationproject for the benefit offarmers.

The farmers noted that iffully completed, the projectwould enable the production ofabout 1,540 tonnes of rice and

3,300 tonnes of assortedvegetables annually whileabout 2,640 jobs would becreated.

Malam Mohammed Shagarisaid it was difficult to cultivatethe land without water.

“There would be bountifulharvest if the facility iscompleted on time”, he said.

“We do not have enoughwater in some place during dryseason for our crops; when thisirrigation is completed, we aresure of getting enough water forgood harvest.

“It will benefit a lot of farmersbecause almost all the people inthis area are farmers.

Malam Bashir Mohammed, afarmer who said rice, tomatoes,peeper, wheat, maize and watermelon, were some of the cropscultivated in the area, addedthat capacity building on howto manage the effects of birds onthe farms was needed. (NAN)

Consolation came the way ofAbdulrahman AbbaJimeta, the only

commissioner nominee rejectedby the Adamawa state House ofAssembly with his appointmentas chief of staff of Adamawa stateGovernment House.

A statement signed bySecretary to the StateGovernment Mr. Kobis AriThimnu made available to PeoplesDaily said the appointment takesimmediate effect.

Jimeta who was the onlynominee rejected out of the 27names sent by Governor MurtalaNyako is the immediate pastinformation commissioner. Itmay be recalled that the stateAssembly under the leadership ofSpeaker Ahmadu Fintri screenedthe nominees submitted by theexecutive last week; while it wasa smooth ride for most nominees,Jimeta was not asked any questionbut was told to submit hiscurriculum vitae and leave theassembly complex.

Jimeta’s offence was incisiveand derogatory comments on thestate assembly during a crisis thatfollowed the change of leadershipwhich culminated in closure of theassembly complex for 52 days.

RejectedcommissionernomineebecomesNyako’s chiefof staffFrom Blessing Tunoh, Yola

The Director General of theNigerian TourismD e v e l o p m e n t

Corporation, Otunba OlusegunRunsewe has applaudedPresident Goodluck Jonathanand members of the FederalExecutive Council for theintroduction of the new visaregime.

In a statement issued inAbuja, Otunba Runsewe saidthe introduction of new visaregime was a bold step that waslong awaited as it would openthe floodgate for inboundtourists who are desirous ofvisiting Nigeria.

The NTDC boss said thetourism sub-sector of theeconomy received the newswith great joy and a sigh ofrelief as the country would

NTDC boss commends Jonathan,FEC on new visa regimeBy Miriam Humbe derive huge benefits from the

international tourist trafficparticularly from Asia, Europeand the Americas.

“Our job has been madeeasier now as the old visaregime was seen as a greatobstacle for potential tourists toNigeria, as we always receivecomplaints each time we travelabroad on official engagementsby foreigners about theirinability to secure visas”,Otunba Runsewe stated.

According to the new visaregime, some visitors wouldobtain their visas at the pointof entry especially theinternational airports whilesome of them would be issuedvisas for short stay, long termof up to 10 years, temporarystay, permanent residence,investment and skill transfervisa.


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L-R: Secretary-General, Asian-African Legal ConsultativeOrganisation(AALCO), Professor RahmatMohammad, Minister of Justice, Mr.Mohammed Bello Adoke, andMinister of Justice of Sri Lanka, Mr.Rauff Hakeem, during the 51stannual session of aaalco, yesterdayin Abuja. Photo: NAN

2Yobe state governor, Malam IbrahimGaidam (right), waving to people,during the swear-in of newlyappointed permanent secretaries,yesterday at Government House, inDamaturu.

1Bad state of Oshodi-Apapa expressway at Cele bus-stop, yesterday inLagos. Photo: NAN

L-R: Sokoto state governor, AlhajiAliyu Magatakarda Wamakko, andMinister of State for Agriculture,Alhaji Bukar Tijani, during thelaunching of the sale of fertiliser tofarmers, yesterday in Bodinga,Sokoto state. Photo: NAN


The management of DanaAir has restated that theprimary focus of the airline

is to provide support andassistance to the families of thoseaffected by the tragic accident ofSunday, June 3, 2012.

In the same vein, the airlineis committed to providing fullassistance to the AccidentInvestigation Bureau (AIB), in

determining the cause of theunfortunate accident.

“At this time, all of the seniormanagement team of Dana Airis focused on providing assistanceto the families of the departed andalso full cooperation to theauthorities carrying out theinvestigation as the cause of theaccident is yet unknown.Investigations are still on-goingand it will not be right for anyoneto speculate until the reports

have been submitted”, saidJacky Hathiramani, ChiefExecutive Officer of the airline.

Dana Air, on Thursday, madefresh efforts to support familieswith their insurance claims. In astatement issued by the airline,the company called on relativesof the deceased, some of whomthey have had difficultiesreaching out to, to come forwardwith details of the next-of-kin forinsurance purposes.

Dana Air re-affirms supportfor families of deceased,AIB investigatorsFrom Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

L-R: Executive Director, Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD), Dr. Jibrin Ibrahim, ExecutiveDirector, Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Malam Auwal Musa Rafsanjani, andExecutive Director, Centre for Information Technology and Development (CITAD), Malam Yunusa Ya'u,during a press conference on high level of corruption by political office holders, yesterday in Abuja.

Photo: Mahmud Isa

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

Lagos, UNIDO partneron renewable energy

delivering the much neededdividends of democracy.

The collaborative effort isexpected to seek inspiration fromvarious strategies and decisionspromoting sustainabledevelopment including thoseemanating from majorinternational developmentconferences on sustainableenergy.

Additional areas ofcooperation as contained in thememorandum include tradecapacity building, promotion ofenergy access for productive usein a sustainable manner,promotion and development ofenvironmental friendlyindustrial strategies, energyconservation, energy efficiencyinitiative and energy systemspolicy planning anddevelopment.

The Lagos stategovernment has signed aMemorandum of

Understanding with the UnitedNations Industrial DevelopmentOrganisation (UNIDO) tocollaborate and maintain close andcontinuing working relationshipin all aspects of industrialdevelopment beneficial to Lagosstate, particularly in thepromotion of renewable energyfor productive use.

Signing the memorandum inhis office at Alausa, Ikeja on behalfof the state government, theCommissioner for Energy andMineral Resources, EngineerTaofiq Ajibade Tijani, lauded thecollaborative initiative with theinternational organisation,noting that it will assist in

Fourth Wole Soyinka medialecture to focus on security

allow for a robust andintellectually stimulatingsession whose recommendationswill thereafter be published andforwarded to key stakeholders.

Haruna, revealed that thelecture series is designed toperiodically examine topicalissues that impact on perceivedperformance of the media, on thehealth of the country, and itsdemocracy.

He said that the choice of thisyear’s theme was to put asearchlight on the critical issueof insecurity in the countrytoday, especially with theinsurgency of terrorist groups,and the dilemma the media facesin prosecuting its democraticobligations under delicateconditions that strainprofessionalism, andaccountability against othervalues like patriotism.

Attendance of the lectureprogramme according to thestatement is open to all membersof the public.

The Wole Soyinka Centrefor InvestigativeJournalism will host its

fourth media lecture series onFriday 13 July, 2012, at theNECA Building, AlausaSecretariat Lagos by 10:00am,to discuss on Nigeria’s securitychallenges.

This was contained in astatement issued yesterday bythe Coordinator of the Centre,Motunrayo Alaka.

The release stated that theprogramme themed ‘Media andCivil Liberties When the Cloudsof Fear Gather’, will feature theChief Executive of the CitizensCommunication Limited and arespected political analyst,Mohammed Haruna, as the keyspeaker at the event which wouldalso field representatives of thesecurity agencies, media,academia and civil societyorganisations as discussants, to

By Tobias Lengnan Dapam &,Ayodele Samuel

FG has no plan to repeal LandUse Act, Prof. Adeniyi

The chairman, PresidentialTechnical Committee onLand Reforms, Prof. Peter

Adeniyi, has assured criticalstakeholders in landadministration in the countrythat the Federal Governmenthas no plan to repel the LandUse Act.

Adeneyi who was speakingto newsmen in Kano yesterday,explained that the essence ofthe Presidential Committee isabout identifying andremoving bottlenecks that areembedded in the current landtitling, registration procedureand process within the existingland delivery system.

The former Vice-chancellorof Federal University ofTechnology, Akure, stressedthat land reform is critical tothe attainment of nationaltransformation, pointing outthat the essence is strengthentheir capacities for efficientadministrations.

“It is important at this pointto state categorically that the

land reform programme of theFederal Government is notintended the repeal the LandUse Act or usurp the powers ofthe state governors and localgovernment chairmen in landadministration or denyindividuals or communities theright to their land”, Prof.

From Edwin Olofu, Kano

Adeniyi maintained.He revealed that the body

is currently implementing apilot scheme that involvessystematic identification andregistrations of titles rights.

Adeniyi further disclosedthat Kano and Ondo have beenselected for the pilot project,adding that Ungogo and Faggelocal government areas of Kanohave been selected for the pilotscheme.

NAFDAC DG attributes high rate ofcancer to poor consumption of food

policies to ensure that foodconsumed by Nigerians arewholesome, intimating that theyhave created a food as well asveterinary directorate to ensurethe hygiene of food and animalseaten by Nigerians.

Vice-Chancellor of theUniversity, Prof. DanielVershima Uza, urged NAFDAC tocollaborate with the Institute ofFood Security and the universityin establishing a world classlaboratory for quality control ofits products, ensure properanalysis of agro-chemicals andfertilisers used for cropproduction in Nigeria andtraining of farmers/groups tocomply with good agriculturalpractices, consult with theinstitution on water and foodquality analysis and food valuechain in the agriculturalTransformation Agenda (ATA),of FG.

The Director-General,National Agency forFood, Drug and

Administration Control,NAFDAC Dr. Paul Orhii, hasattributed the high rate of cancerin the country to the poor intakeof food by Nigerians.

Dr. Orhii who made thiscontention yesterday in Makurdiwhile addressing the senate of theUniversity of Agriculture duringan assessment visit on cassavaproduction by the UniversityInstitute of Food Security,disclosed that over 350, 000 casesof cancer have been reported inthe country this year.

He also noted that there is highcase of kidney and lung problemsassociated with bad foodconsumption by Nigerians.

The NAFDAC DG said theagency is making appropriate

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

NDDC begins constructionof Umuikukor-Ariaria road

The Niger DeltaD e v e l o p m e n tCommission (NDDC), has

commenced the construction ofthe 8.1 kilometre Umuikukor/Ariaria road which will link UkwaWest local government area to thecommercial city of Aba in Abiastate.

A statement in Port Harcourtyesterday, quoted Dr. ChristianOboh, the Managing Director of thecommission as saying that the roadwill improve commercial activitiesin the area.

It said Oboh, represented by a

member of the NDDC board Mr.Aloysius Nwagboso, said duringthe handover of the site in UkwaWest that the project wouldalleviate the problems commutersencounter on the road.

The statement assured that theNDDC would not compromise onstandard in the execution of theproject.

“We were meticulous inselecting process of the contractorand thus confident that we will notbe disappointed,” the managingdirector was quoted as saying.(NAN)


School principal sues Jigawalawmaker over assaultThe member representing

Gagarawa constituency inthe Jigawa state House of

Assembly, Honourable NasiruMohammed Sparrow, has beendragged before a magistrate’scourt in Dutse for allegedlyassaulting a married woman.

The lawmaker who is also theChairman, House Committee onEducation, Science andTechnology, has been arrested by

the police and taken toMagistrate’s Court 1 in Dutse, thestate capital on two countcharges.

Hajiya Zainab Umar who isthe principal of ModelInternational Secondary Schoolhad earlier reported the memberto the state police commandaccusing him of assaulting herverbally and threatening toharm her because of adisciplinary action taken againsthis son, who is a student in the

From Ahmed Abubakar, Dutse school.Sparrow has therefore been

accused of intentional insult, intentto provoke the breach of peace andcriminal intimidation thatcontravene sections 336 and 339of the Penal Code.

The accused was in the courtwith his counsel where theprosecution counsel mentioned thecase and the court read the chargesagainst him, but pleaded not guiltyto all the charges.

The defending counsel,

Barrister Danladi Musa thereforepleaded with court to grant hisclient bail wherein the prosecutioncounsel did not object. Thepresiding judge adjourned the casetill 9th July 2012 for continuationof hearing.

The Magistrate, MustaphaDatti Sa'ad, granted the accusedbail in the sum N100,000 and asurety in the capacity of eitherthe clerk of the House, anymember or any civil servant ongrade level 14.

From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

Airtel, one of the telecom-munications servicecompanies in the country,

has collaborated with Ecobank tolaunch a product – Airtel Moneyin the Republic of Chad.

The launch of the new servicewas held at the Kempinski Hotel inthe Chadian capital Ndjamena, inthe presence of various dignitaries,notably Prime MinisterEmmanuel Nadingar,Telecommunications Minister,

relatives, pay essential bills suchas electricity and water, tuitionfees, bookings and even buyfoodstuff without having to carrycash. The phone essentiallybecomes an electronic wallet,” hesaid.

He assured of very simple andcompletely secure transactions inas much as all the customer has avalid identification document, fillsout a registration form, a mobilephone and a personal passwordwhenever they want to completea transaction.

Mr. Gbane reiterated that

By Morufat Ojulari,with agency report

Alingue Jean Bawoyeu andmembers of the diplomatic corpsin Chad.

As the first mobile commerceproduct in the country, thecollaboration between the duo willhelp customers of this mobilenetwork carry out financialtransactions, make utilitypayment on their mobile phonesand enhance the delivery offinancial services at affordable cost.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr.Salia Gbane, CEO of Airtel Chad,said: “This service allowscustomers to send money to their

Bauchi state governmenthas dispelled insinuationsmaking the rounds in other

parts of the country that Bauchi isnot safe for tourism, saying thisnegative tendency has adverselyeffected tourism promotion in thestate.

The Commissioner forMinistry of Culture and Tourism,Alhaji Salihu Ibrahim Haliluattributed the negative tendenciesof the people to insecuritychallenges rocking some parts ofthe country, assuring that Bauchiis safe for any type of business tothrive.

Halilu who was speaking on thestate ministerial press briefingplatform, however noted thatBauchi is not the only stateexperiencing insecurity challenges,hence people should desist fromblowing the situation out ofproportion.

He observed that otherneighbouring states view Bauchi asa state that is characterised byviolence, saying the situation is notas terrible as people are painting it.

Halilu remarked: “Althoughwe cannot overrule the fact thatonce in a while there are insecurityproblems in Bauchi as was alsoexperienced in other states, thestate government is trying all itsbest to ensure the security of livesand property and putting an endto a challenge of this nature cannotbe achieved overnight”.

The commissioner explainedthat despite the negative reportsabout the state, people are goingabout their normal activities whileefforts are being geared to findingsolutions to the insecurity problemsfacing the country generally.

Alhaji Halilu assured that theFederal Government, securityagencies, stakeholders andpolitical leaders in the country aretaking positive step to address theinsecurity challenges.

He urged journalists to ensurethat they project the positive imageof the state to the outside world, sayingthat they have the power to changethe negative perception people haveconcerning Bauchi state.

Bauchi govtsays state safefor tourism

The Tai Solarin University ofEducation (TASUED), Ijebu-Ode, Ogun state, yesterday

said it expelled six students andrusticated 20 others forexamination malpractice.

Prof. Segun Awonusi, theinstitution’s Vice-Chancellor,disclosed this in an interviewwith the News Agency ofNigeria (NAN) in Ijebu-Ode,Ogun.

He said the disciplinary actionwas taken against the studentsafter they were found guilty of theoffence by the Senate of theuniversity.

Awonusi said that theinstitution had zero tolerance for

examination malpractice andcultism, adding that it would notcompromise its stand on it.

“Once you are caught, you areon your own because that is theway we can instill discipline in ourstudents, who we believe, will takeover from us tomorrow.”

On the issue of cultism, the vice-chancellor said the institution hadstarted building hostels to curtailthe menace.

He said: “Research hasconfirmed that cultism thrivesmore in non-residentialinstitutions than in the residentialones, hence the building of hostels.

He, however, urged thestudents to desist from all acts ofsocial vices capable of jeopardisingtheir future. (NAN)

Exam malpractice: Tai SolarinUniversity expels 6, rusticates20 students

Airtel partners Ecobank for easy services in ChadAirtel Money will be available inall areas covered by the networkand therefore encouraged theChadian population to enjoy theservice, which will connectcommunities and businesses acrossthe country.

Okada ban: Bicycles take over Jos roads

Bicycles, usually very rareon Jos roads, have surfacedon major highways due to

the recent ban on the use ofcommercial motorcycles in the city.

News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)reports that the bicycles, indifferent shapes and sizes, nowcompete for space along manyhighways in the metropolis asresidents move about conveyingrelations and friends.

NAN reports that before nowthe bicycles were only being used

mostly by school children, farmersand junior level workers.

A visit to the Ahmadu BelloWay and Terminus in central Joswhere the bicycles are being soldhave also revealed a rise in theircost.

A used bicycle in the areawhich usually sold for betweenN9,000 and N10,000 has nowrisen to between N13,000 andN14,000, depending on themanufacturing company.

At Nasarawa Gwom and

Katako, however, a new bicyclewent for N13,000 as against theold price of N10,000.

Mr. Jerry Gwani, a carpenter,told NAN that he abandoned hisbicycle three years ago when hebought a motorcycle.

“I stopped using my bicyclewhen I bought a motorcycle, butwith the ban, I have returned to itsince it is not banned.

“Usually it is the children thatuse it to run errands but I am backto it now”, he said. (NAN)

R-L: Acting Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Mohammed Dahiru Abubakar, with Abia state Governor, Chief Theodore Orji, test drivingone of the 30 operational vehicles donated to the Abia state Police Command by the state government, yesterday in Umuahia.

PEOPLES DAILY, TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012 PAGE 11

Otedola should alsoface trial, says activistLagos based lawyer and

human rights activist,Chief Gabriel Giwa-Amu

has said that it is not only theformer chairman of the House ofRepresentatives AdhocCommittee on fuel subsidy,Alhaji Farouk Lawan, who wasalleged to have received$3million bribe frombusinessman, Mr. Femi Otedolathat should be tried, but thatOtedola who offered him the bribe

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos should also face trial.He disclosed this in Lagos while

reacting to the bribery scandalinvolving Farouk Lawan andChairman of Zenon Petroleumand Gas Limited, Mr. FemiOtedola.

According to him, "it isunfortunate that Faroukinvolved himself in this mess, butit is not only him that hascommitted an offence, the givertoo should be punished.

Giwa-Amu went on: "Theunfortunate thing is that very

soon, the duo would be honouredas national heroes because thatis what the presentadministration headed byPresident Goodluck Jonathanknows how to do. He gives honourto those that do not deserve it."

The lawyer affirmed that thewhole National Assembly is acitadel of fraud and corruption.

"I and the majority ofNigerians saw Farouk Lawan asan intelligent fellow, but nowthat he has dented his image, thewhole of the National Assembly

is a citadel of fraud andcorruption".

Giwa-Amu also disagreedthat the bribery scandal is meantto cover up the fuel subsidyreport, adding that Farouk andFemi have admitted that somemoney exchanged hands in formof bribery.

He advised Nigerians to standup for their rights by occupyingthe streets in a peaceful protest tocommunicate theircondemnation of the corruptattitude of the leaders.

Network for Talent Discovery(NETAD), has said the roleof young people in nation

building cannot be over-emphasised, thereby necessitatingyouths to be prepared for challengestowards strengthening theirleadership skills.

NETAD, an organisationcommitted to talent discovery anddevelopment and fosteringpatriotism among teenagers andyouths in the African continent, isorganising a Young and EmergingLeaders Summit meant to engageyoung people in deliberationstowards exploring strategies andconcepts through participation, andfostering active youth participationin decision making processes.

A release signed by theCoordinator of the organisation,Aanu Damola Morenikeji, said thesummit, which has the theme'Building Tomorrow Today' isscheduled to hold on Thursday, 21stJune, 2012 at the Aduke Maina Hallof Federal College of Education,Abeokuta, Ogun state, commencingat 10am prompt.

The keynote address titled 'YouthParticipation in QualitativeGovernance; Mirage or Reality' willbe delivered by Mrs. OlufunshoAmosun, the wife of Ogun stategovernor.

NGO advocatesyouthinvolvement innation buildingFrom Ojebola Matthew, Lagos

Politicians and civil societygroups from Delta andBayelsa states have faulted the

military invasion of oil producingcommunities in the Niger Delta regionover alleged cases of illegal bunkeringand operations of illegal refineries,asking the Federal Government toreview its military strategy and legalisethe operations of local refineries in theregion.

This was disclosed, in the weekendby the Ijaw People DevelopmentInitiative (IPEDI), that the activities ofthe operators of the illegal refineries isdisturbing and creating graveenvironmental hazards along thewaters and creeks of the region.

The group, in a statement signedby its president, Comrade AustinOzobo, said in spite of the militaryaction against illegal bunkering alongthe waters and creeks of the NigerDelta, there have been rapid increasesof illegal oil bunkering and illegalrefineries in the Niger-Delta region.

The group also noted that therecognition of the refinery will createmore jobs and at same time reducethe exorbitant price of petrolproducts in the country.

The oil bunkering, and localrefineries operation should belicensed by the FederalGovernment, in such a way that thebunkerers and the local refineriesoperators will pay tax to their stategovernments, they enthused.

Activists faultmilitary invasionof communitiesin Delta, BayelsaBy Muhammad Nasir

At least, 127 passengers arethe first batch of Africanmigrants deported by the

Israel government, as part of theJewish country's recentcampaign to combat illegalimmigrants.

Each adult in the group wasgiven 1,300 US dollars whilechildren get 500 US dollars each.

"All those who boarded theflight back to South Sudan did sovoluntarily", Amnon Ben-Ami,the director of the Population,Immigration and BordersAuthority (PIBA) said.

Some 300 South Sudanesenationals, detained in citiesacross Israel over the past weekand currently held in special

facilities, will board anotherflight scheduled to depart nextMonday, Ben-Ami said.

Interior Minister Eli Yishai,who initiated "Operation GoingBack Home", came to meet themigrants at the airport.

The deportation of the firstgroup of migrants came after theJerusalem District Court last

Israel deports 1st planeload of African migrants

The Federal Government hasreiterated its commitmentto the promotion of peace

and national development aswell as the care for the family asa whole.

This was disclosed by theVice President, ArchitectMuhammad Namadi Sambo ata national seminar organised bythe Jama'atu Izalatil Bid'ahWa'iqamatis-Sunnah (JIBWIS)at the conference hall of theNational Mosque, Abuja.

Sambo said the FederalGovernment has designed aprogramme that will address theissue of poverty and familyrelated issues, adding that it is notonly documented but it is beingimplemented effectively.

He maintained thatgovernment is working round theclock to ensure the safety of livesand property of the citizens.

Agriculture, he said, wasanother concern where theconcept of agriculture as aprogramme has been changed toagriculture as a business, addingthat it will address the problemof agriculture such as irrigationand mechanisation foragricultural transformation.

Speaking on povertyalleviation, he said the FederalGovernment has established aprogramme called "YOU WIN",SURE and otherentrepreneurship programmesthat will provide jobs for theteeming Nigerian youth andwomen in an attempt to arrestpoverty in the country.

On electricity generation, henoted that the FederalGovernment has constructed 10new power plants across thecountry.

Also speaking, Prof. AuwaluYadudu of Bayero University,Kano, maintained that there isneed for Muslim leaders to bededicated by being truthful andsteadfast to eradicate corruptionin Nigeria which will eventuallylead to development.

Former governor of Zamfarastate, Senator Ahmad SaniYarima, said there is need forNigeria to have a president thatwill allow the Muslims to practiceShari'ah, as well as the Christiansto practice their faith accordingto their religious teachings; thiswill also create peace anddevelopment in Nigeria.

FG assures of support for peace, national development

L-R: Director, Centrefor Information Study,University of Lagos,Professor CharlesUwadia, Vice-Chancellor, FederalUniversity ofTechnology, Akure,Prossor BiyiDaramola, chairman,Sunshine Oil Limited,Chief Rotimi Obeisun,and president, StCharles GrammarSchool Old BoysAssociation, AlhajiMusa Ajao , during aluncheon in honour ofthe new Vice-Chancellor, FederalUniversity ofTechnology Akure, onSunday in Ibadan.

Photo: NAN

week heeded the state's requestto suspend the "ollectiveprotection" status granted to theSouth Sudanese migrants in thecountry.

The court's ruling said theycould safely return home sinceSouth Sudan has become anindependent country.

On Sunday, Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu said Israelwas committed to preserving thedignity of the repatriated Africanmigrants, telling his cabinet thatimmigration authorities wereworking to limit and eventuallyend the flood of asylum seekersthat have poured across thecountry's border with Egypt overthe past three years.

Officials welcomed Monday'sdeportation, but noted that over2,500 South Sudanese and morethan 50,000 infiltrators from anumber of African nations stillreside in the country.

Local organisations aiding themigrants decried thedeportation, saying themigrants' were not given theopportunity to apply for refugeestatus.

The deportation raised mixedreaction as some migrant werehappy while others were not.(NAN)

By Muhammad Nasir


The massacre in ZamfaraOn Monday last week, the

nation woke to thechilling news of the cold

blood massacre of 23 innocentvillagers by a gang of armedbandits in a suspected reprisal onDan Gulbi, Sabuwar Kasuwa, Biyaand Guru villages of Dansadauemirate in Maru local governmentof Zamfara state.

In what is by now becoming alltoo familiar, although the attackwas carried out by an unwieldy 80people armed with Ak-47 rifles andriding on motorbikes in anoperation that lasted for threehours, security officials did notshow up at the material time. Thepolice only showed up to evacuatecorpses and the injured to hospitalhours after the bandits have fledfrom the scene.

In January, heavily armedbandits ambushed and killed 15local traders returning from amarket in neighbouring Katsinastate and burnt their bodies alongwith the truck they were travellingin near the town of Birnin-Magajiin Zamfara state.

And in October last year,robbers, armed with assortedweapons, including AK-47 rifles,attacked Lingyado village inZamfara state, killing 19 people insuspected reprisals over thekilling of fellow gang members bylocal vigilantes with the aid ofvillagers.

In May, gunmen armed withexplosives killed at least 34 people

“It is our belief thatgoing after these

bandits should not beas problematic aschasing the more

elusive Boko Haramsect, whose precise

whereabouts is only asubject of guess work

when they attacked and burned tothe ground the Potiskum cattlemarket in Yobe state in anoperation that lasted upwards offive hours without the presence ofsecurity personnel.

During last Monday's incident,the bandits were said to have gonein a systematic manner from door-

to-door shooting villagers, and insome cases, slitting their throatswith knives. Many people were alsowounded, some graviously.

As usual, the refrain from thesecurity agencies is that the villagesare too remote to be accessed ingood time.

"Because of the remoteness of thearea, police could not deploy ingood time and the attackers fledbefore police teams could reach the

area," an unnamed police sourceclaimed.

This sounds more like an excusethan a reason, because it is not asif the whereabouts of the banditsis unknown. The deadly outlawsare said to have made a part of theremote forest located at theconfluence of Kaduna, Katsinaand Zamfara states as theirhideout. It is said that the outlaws'clandestine settlement, at an areabetween Birnin Gwari in Kaduna,Batsari/Faskari in Katsina andMaru in Zamfara, has evenattracted unscrupulousentrepreneurs like beer sellersand their ilk, who regularlyundertake nocturnal visitsthereto.

We believe that there is no areain the North that is too remote tobe out of the reach of a highlymotivated security force,especially one that has the benefitof a fleet of helicopters, whichcould be deployed for aerial patrolto smoke the outlaws out.

It is our belief that going afterthese bandits should not be asproblematic as chasing the moreelusive Boko Haram sect, whoseprecise whereabouts is only asubject of guess work.

If however, the police areincapable of containing theseoutlaws, let them say so, so thatthe military could be given the nodto do the job. Enough of thisunnecessary loss of valuablehuman lives, please.

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EDITEDITEDITEDITEDITORIALORIALORIALORIALORIAL


Chief Femi Fani-Kayode,former aviation ministerunder President Olusegun

Obansanjo, is a truly funny man,as his name would suggest.Funny to the extent that hethinks himself a reformer, onewho did all that was humanlypossible to rehabilitate Nigeria’saviation industry as part of thegreat project of re-brandingNigeria. In a recent interviewwith Sunday Vanguard , he wasasked, among other questions,why air crash reports are neverreleased in Nigeria.

In answer, Fani-Kayodeclaimed to have developed ablueprint for re-inventing theaviation sector. Then helamented that his successorsfailed to follow his blueprintwhich would have forestalledfuture air disasters. He expressedoutrage that since the tragicDana aircrash of June 3, nobodyhas resigned or been fired fordereliction of duty. Which is allgood talk, only that Fani-Kayodewas merely posturing, telling talltales of his heroic achievementsas aviation minister all in a bidto deflect blame from himself asthe aviation ministry andregulatory agencies come underintense scrutiny in the wake ofthe latest air disaster.

But do you don’t have to take

my word for it—hear the rest ofhis fabrications. On the questionof the working relationshipbetween the NationalTransportation and Safety Boardof the United States and theNigerian aviation authorities,here is what Fani-Kayode had tosay (it is worth quoting atlength): “Its (the NTSB’s) reportsare always factual and accurateand as Minister I relied far moreon its reports about whathappened in some of the crashesthat took place the year before Igot there than on the reports filedby my own Ministry.” As hisinterviewer rightly noted, thatis a damning “indictment,” butgiven a chance to explain, Fani-Kayode began his self-exoneration: “The things that Idiscovered are best left unsaid fornow but rest assured that I wroteto the President and told him thetruth and asked him to dosomething about it at that time.For example the NTSB report onthe Bellview crash said somevery interesting and disturbingthings about what actuallybrought that plane down. It hadnothing to do with any failing onthe part of Bellview airline butthere was definitely anotherfactor which I will not go intohere. The American FBI also dida preliminary report in whichthey confirmed that finding andrecommended a criminal

investigation into the matterbecause it was clear that therewas more to that crash than metthe eye. By way of contrast thereports filed by our own securityagencies and the Ministry ofAviation under my predecessorin office omitted all this andcontradicted it. There were alsoissues raised about the ADC andthe Sosolisso crash that were keptfrom the public and I dideverything in my power as

in that crash. I wrote to PresidentObasanjo expressing my deepestconcerns about these matters,including the shabby conduct ofthe investigation of the Bellviewcrash and one or two others andin fairness to him he approved myrecommendations on the one onSossolisso. Sadly though a fewunscrupulous civil servants, whohad much to lose if that publichearing ever went ahead andwho really hated my guts

FFFFFani-Kani-Kani-Kani-Kani-Kaaaaayyyyyode’ode’ode’ode’ode’s funns funns funns funns funny attempt to deny attempt to deny attempt to deny attempt to deny attempt to deny responsibility responsibility responsibility responsibility responsibilityyyyyfor the trfor the trfor the trfor the trfor the tragedy of our aagedy of our aagedy of our aagedy of our aagedy of our aviation industryviation industryviation industryviation industryviation industryBy Willy Oghinan confessional statement of

commission and concealment ofcrimes against humanity by aformer minister who, by his ownaccount, was given a presidentialorder to clear the rot—“evil,” hecalls it, as he is given toevangelical language—in theaviation sector that has turnedour skies to the most dangerous inthe world for air travellers,causing planes to fall down likerotten oranges. Again, by his ownaccount, he did actually discoverevil in the aviation industry, onlythat he could do nothing toeradicate it as a “fewunscrupulous civil servants”benefited from it. What abuffoonish and moronic admissionof guilt! Fani-Kayode is clearlyhoping to be absolved of blame forthe unmitigated tragedy andgrief that he and others who haverun and continue to run theaviation sector deserve, but heought to be told to go and hide hishead in shame.

Let us examine Fani-Kayode’spreposterous claims. The head ofstate and commander-in-chief ofthe armed forces charges ordershim to track down the peoplewhose evil machination plagueour aviation industry. AsMinister, Fani-Kayode wasanswerable only to the president.Yet, just when Fani-Kayode was

Air crashes in Nigeria are likecoming of age ceremonies,where the attendees air

their closets, stride their wares, getimmolated and conclude thelessons of the day by wrapping upand behaving like it neverhappened. After the Dana disasterthat has claimed the lives of scoresof our fellow citizens, if historywere to repeat itself we canguarantee nothing will come of it.Relatives will wail, governmentwill make empty promises and wethe citizens will forget!

Aircraft disasters arepreventable, and should nothappen. Unlike road, the air is notcongested and is often plied byprofessionals with thousands ofhours logged in training. Beforeaircraft take to the air for one totwo hour trips, they are normallysubjected to rigorous checks thatdeclare them air worthy. Undernormal circumstances, only a rareincident of once in hundred-yearweather condition should even becapable of disrupting normal takeoff and landing of aircrafts; but notin an air of error: the type thatwhiffs the aviation corridors ofNigeria.

There three relative factors inplay when aircraft accidentsbecome common in any clime;these are the prevention, thereaction and the deterrence factorsin place in such environment.

Speaking about prevention,the reasons why the Dana aircrash occurred may not be selfevident directly at the momentbut the chain of incidents that led

to it are clear. First is the averageage of aircrafts in the Nigerianairspace. A recent list compiled bya blogger, revealed up to 40 yearsold planes (Kabo Airlines) arebeing flown in Nigeria! Mostairlines have tokunboh airplanesflying upwards of twenty yearsand coming with the risk ofmechanical failures.

This situation is directly linkedto an inept regulatory system thatallows these airlines to purchaseand utilize these planes (with theNCAA director now rationalizingthe 22 years old age limit foraircrafts flying our space,commercially). Wheregovernment regulation has failed,it is time for the market to putcompanies flying old aircrafts outof business, and this is why the listnow circulating is very important.Beyond regulation though is thecapital adequacy and competitionissues confronted by the airlineindustry.

Indeed, the liberalization of thefledgling sector in retrospect is nowlooking like a terrible error. Evenin better developed climes, theairline industry was heavilyregulated like a utility untilrecently when their financial andmanufacturing sector couldhandle the heavy capitalizationrequired for efficient operators. Itwill be worthwhile for our economicplanners and legislators to seriouslyconsider reorganizing theindustry, with limited licenses andcompetition alongside regulatedairfares that ensure predictablereturns to operators and robustfunding mechanism to meet theirneeds. Our economy is not ripe for

unlimited competition, cut throatairline ticket prices and bare bonemarket driven airline industry!We must learn to crawl before wewalk; not all theories on paperwork out as planned upon practice.

Also, the Central Bank ofNigeria working with theMinistry of Aviation shouldimmediately commence creditguarantee scheme to financepurchase of new aircrafts by thefew operators left under thisheavily regulated regime. Arigorous operator guideline thatemphasizes rigorous safety recordand technical prequalification,robust financial wherewithal ofsponsors and open bids for thelimited licenses will ensure onlyfour to six operators that arehealthy emerge at the end of suchrestructuring. It will also ensurethe sponsors’ collateral can belinked by the CBN to such aircraftpurchase guarantee scheme toensure Nigeria airlines can ordertens of new aircrafts much liketheir South East Asiancounterparts to service an evergrowing (but more organized)domestic market.

Indeed, a better organizedaviation industry also requiresbrand new airports removed fromthe madness of urbanization thatmade the Black Sunday incidenta much greater tragedy. What inheaven’s sake is an airport doingin such densely populated arealike Ikeja? Aircrafts should not fallon people’s homes! Thegovernment of Nigeria and Lagosstate seriously start doingsomething about moving theairport to much saner location

removed from the heart of Lagos.The airport is old; it is an eyesoreand should be decommissioned asnew ones are built at strategiclocations away from the mess.The thousands of jobs created bysuch effort will more than pay offfor the investment, disregardingthe need, safety of travelers andimage change such project willbring to Nigeria.

Speaking about response, theemergency response on Sundayleft much to be desired and thishas been the case from timeimmemorial. The lack offirefighters and first aid at the siteof the incident probably killedmore people than should haveactually died. Tales now aboundof at least one person walking outconscious in the first twentyminutes when that aircraft did notexplode. What if we hadfirefighters in everyneighborhood? What will it costthe government of GoodluckJonathan to build 2000 firestations across Nigeria as clearevidence of democratic dividends?What will it cost the opposition tobegin a mass movement for suchdemand much like the fuelsubsidy protests and not yield tillwe ensure no other Dana Airtragedy occurs again, withoutwell trained fire fighters in place?

Beyond prevention andresponse however we have thedeterrence factor that couldensure the human dimensions tothe Dana Air crash neveroccurred. When the accidentreport is released, we are sure tofind cases of technical andmanagement malfeasance.

Cutting corners on aircraftmaintenance, insisting clearmechanical warnings of failure beignored, taking to the air whenthe aircraft clearly had givensigns of giving away will be fewamongst many. It is importantthat the usual condemnation giveway to prosecution this timearound. Cases of murder,manslaughter – voluntary orinvoluntary must be broughtagainst anyone involved.

This will ensure that next,where the choice is between losingyour job and going to jail for life,the staff of airline operators inNigeria would have learned thelessons of this air crash incidenceand err on the side of being awhistleblower. Whistleblowerfunds should also be explored, toenable folks working inside thisairlines give early warning signsto regulators about themanagement errors that bringsthis tragedy at regular intervalson our nation.

Last but not the least; thegovernment must be commendedfor immediately withdrawing thelicense of Dana Airlines. That isgood enough deterrence for otherairline operators; fly a plane thatcrash at the risk of being put out ofbusiness completely andimmediately. We must go furtherthough than these knee jerkreactions though, and ensurecomplete investigation andappropriate actions to preventfurther loss of lives in our airlineindustry.

God bless Nigeria and comfortthe families of those whose liveswere lost.

An air of error: Prevention, response & deterrenceBy Mike Gbemi

Minister to have a public hearingon the matter and from thereopen a criminal investigation.You will recall that 60 childrenand many adults, including adear friend and sister, PastorBimbo Odukoya, lost their lives

conspired against me and thePresident and frustrated it.Consequently we never had thatpublic hearing and after we leftpower in 2007 the agitation anddesire for it petered out.”

There we have it—a

“Fani-Kayode has thus confessed to aheinous crime. We may never know the trueextent of the crimes in the aviation sector

that he and his predecessors as wellsuccessors are hiding from us; crimes thatprompted America’s transport safety boardto recommend criminal investigation. Afterall, a plot hatched in hell can’t have angels

as witnesses

Continued on page 15


Between Governor Peter Obi andel-Rufai: Who is insulting Nd’Igbo?

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Recently, Mallam Nasiri ElRufai published an essayin which he analysed the

budget of the government ofAnambra state under GovernorPeter Obi. In the said article, ElRufai objectively studied thebudget, made someobservations; somecomplimentary and some, mostbrilliantly, uncomplementary.Most importantly, El Rufailamented that for some timenow, Anambra state which ishome to the most enterprisingIgbo men and women haverelapsed into an uninspiringrural state. He shared hisreasons.

Not so surprisingly, MrPeter Obi and his yes Sayerschoose to rubbish the goodintentions of El Rufai. TheGovernor personally exhibitedthe worst type of clannishworldview by proclaiming withso much distaste that El Rufiaby judging his budgetobjectively has insulted Nd’Igbo.This is rather too sad comingfrom the Governor of Anambrastate.

Also, some of the media aidesto Governor Obi rushed to townwith the wicked insinuation thatsince El Rufia demolished manyILLEGAL structures owned byIgbo entrepreneurs during histime as the Minister of FCT, heshould not be seen to be speakinga b o u ta n y t h i n gNd’Igbo. Boththe Governorand hiso t i m k p u st h e r e f o r el a b e l l e dMallam NasirEl Rufai ahater of Igbos.

W e l l ,nothing elsecould be morei m m o r a l ,petty andu n e t h i c a lt h a nattempting torubbish a man for daring to holda different opinion. I read thisarticle over and over again and Iam still searching for that placein it where El Rufai insulted meas an Igbo person. Many others,including the brilliant and

sagacious Hon Chukwudi Ofodile(Awollo Awka) have come out todeny that they felt insulted byEl Rufai’s submission.

Citing many erudite scholarsand business moguls of Anambraorigin, El Rufai observed that thebudget under discussion did not

make adequate provision for theimprovement of education in thestate. He rightly reasoned thatpublic schools in Anambra statewill continue to decay if thegovernment continues toallocate meager funds to the

The local and global franchisingof 419 Nigerian churches

By Lawrence Chinedu Nwobu

By Jon Chikadibie Okafo education sector. I agree withthis mind frame.

All over the state, publicschool buildings have collapsed.A recent documentary aired bySilverbird TV, Awka buttressedthis situation most perfectly.Pupils study under very wicked

c o n d i t i o n s ;r o o f l e s sc l a s s r o o m s ,w i n d o w l e s sbuildings, lack oftoilet facilities,no electricity topower thec o m p u t e r sdonated by thes t a t eg o v e r n m e n t ,lack of teachersetc. Thecondition of allthe schools inthe Awkametropolis willmake a stone to

weep! Boys’ High School,Amawbia and Kenneth DikeMemorial Secondary/PrimarySchool, Awka appear to be theworst hit.

While innocent and haplesschildren of Anambra state

public schools continue to huddletogether on bare floors in roofless“classrooms”, the government ofMr Peter Obi has the cheek toinsult a man for daring to saythe truth. Shylock privateschools are the ones providingwhat could be likened to decenteducation in Anambra, whilethe state government strutsabout with cheap lies, obscenepropaganda and ugly billboardsproclaiming that Governor Obihas “rebuilt all the schools in thestate”.

Furthermore, Mr El Rufaimoaned passionately that thesecurity situation in Anambrastate is responsible for the lack ofhome-bound investments bymany wealthy individuals fromthe state. He cited the spate ofkidnapping and armed robberyin the state.

Well, the government ofAnambra state under Peter Obifelt insulted by this candidobservation. In reaction, El Rufaicontinues to be labelled analarmist by this samegovernment. His crime remainsthat he said it the way it is.Kidnappers and dare-devil/dare-

To say that Nigeria is a 419republic would be anu n d e r s t a t e m e n t .

Practically everywhere you lookthere is a scam. Whether in thegovernment, the private sectorand nowadays even in the oncehallowed churches, there is anongoing scam every second of theday. In the last few weeks alone,we have been regaled with apension scam, the oil subsidyscam and the Farouk Lawanscam. To make matters worse,scamming has progressed to thetrillion naira era. But of all theseheinous scams, the most sinisterthat should bother every rightthinking person is the descent ofthe church and other religiousorganisations into barefacedfraud. Scamming people in thename of God is the most vile,unconscionable and despicablecrime that can ever becommitted and serves as apointer that the larger Nigeriansociety is fast becoming thebiblical “Sodom and Gomorrah”which ended up in totaldestruction.

Nigeria has more churchesthan any other country on theplanet. In practically everystreet there is a church. Theysing, they preach and, mostimportantly, they extort theirchurch members who paygenerously in the hope of gettinga better life. The first sign of thefraudulent nature of Nigeria’schurches is the corruption,deceit, greed, lack of charity,lack of humility, hatred, bigotryand vices that pervade a societyin which you can find a churchin every street. Because thechurches exist only for thepurpose of extortion, none of the

values of honesty, love, charityor modesty ordinarily associatedwith the church can be found inthe larger society.

In other parts of the world,churches preach and practicelove, charity and other generalvalues which are immediatelynoticeable in those societies fromthe leadership to the commonman. Churches also engage inextensive charity not onlylocally but internationally,using some of the donations theyget from church members tofeed the poor, build free orsubsidised hospitals and schoolsfor the under-privileged, buildfeeding centres, hostels andhouses for the poor and homeless,provide quick relief for disastervictims, give grants to studentsamongst others. Indeed, thechurch historically started thepayment of social welfarebenefits to the poor andunemployed in the UnitedKingdom sometime in the 19thcentury before the governmenttook over that function in lateryears. In other climes, churchesalso act as social critics,criticising the government andfighting for social justice. It is onrecord that the church led thestruggle for the abolition of theslave trade; they also led the civilrights movement in Americaand campaigned vigorously forthe cancellation of the debt ofpoor countries amongst others.

Nigerian churches areexactly the opposite of churches

elsewhere. In Nigeria, churchesbecome or aspire to becomemegabucks 419 businesses. Thepastors are millionaires-billionaires and many of themride on private jets, all from themoney duped from vulnerablecitizens. Some pastors even havemore fleets of jets than thepresidency. They build the mostexpensive schools and hospitalsand run them as elitist businessinstitutions that most of theirchurch members cannot afford.They build housing estates for thesuper-rich. They wine, dine andcollect contracts frommonumentally corrupt, evil,wicked, unconscionable,sadistic, psychopathic andsatanic Nigerian leaders whopreside over the pauperization,oppression, dehumanization andgenocide of their own citizens.

Unlike churches elsewhere

that used social criticisms to freetheir suffering masses and bringchange in their respectivenations, Nigerian churches arein bed with the very destroyersof the nation. They nevercriticise nor stand in oppositionto the government, rather theyplay along and partake in thecorruption that has crippled thenation and impoverished themasses. In spite of Nigeriarecording the highest levels ofpoverty in the world and in spiteof the billions the churchesmake, they provide neithercharity nor aid to the poormasses. They build neitherhospitals nor schools for the poor.Like every fraud, the ultimateaim of these churches is not tohelp the poor, propagate love andcharity, nor to practice whatthey preach but to use deceit todupe the hapless citizenry and

profit themselves at the expenseof the poor masses and wretchedof the earth. Once they make themoney, true to type they join theoppressors, wearing the mostexpensive robes, suits andjewellery, flaunting flashy cars,flying private jets when even thePope owns no jet and living invast opulent mansions reeking ofluxury while their churchmembers and the larger societythrong the streets in abjectpoverty.

The 419 Pentecostal churchbusinesses have now become soprofitable that it has become afranchise locally and globally. Allkinds of shady characters aregiven licenses to operate andextort the gullible public and payremittances to the head office.Across every street in Nigeria andacross the world, in the UK, USA,CANADA, Ireland amongstothers, these franchises arepopping up increasingly, mannedby fraudsters. They engage in theusual hullabaloo and make ahandsome living from theproceeds of the scam while payingremittances to the head office. Itis now time to callout thesefraudulent churches and servethem notice. Thankfully, theawareness is growing. It is eitherthey reform and practice religionthe way it should be practiced orface attacks and be run out oftown!Lawrence Chinedu Nwobucan be reached at Email:[email protected]

“Nigeria has more churches than anyother country on the planet. In

practically every street there is achurch. They sing, they preach and,most importantly, they extort their

church members who pay generouslyin the hope of getting a better life

Continued on page 15


Fani-Kayode’s funny attempt...Continued from page 13

police armed robbers havedriven away many investorsand would-be industrialists fromthe state.

The government of Anambrastate should be reminded thatgone are the days when it waspermissible for the governmentto lie about unverifiable“achievements”; those were dayswhen information disseminationwas still archaic and slow. To theglory of God and science, thosedays are gone for good.

The three major towns (theyare not cities) of Awka, Onitshaand Nnewi have suffered somuch neglect under Obi as the

skipper-for the six years he hasbeen in office. Awka remains arural state capital; the onlynotable development in this townremains the cluster of hotels, beerparlour/isi ewu joints (let noclown tell me about CBN, MrBiggs, and Federal High Court).Can anyone tell me of any notablelandmark in Awka, the capital ofAnambra state, Onitsha, thecommercial hub of our state andin Nnewi, our centre of home-grown technology?

It is really absurd thethought-process of some of our“leaders”. I feel a great sense ofembarrassment, shock andwonderment at the logic of the

Governor of Anambra state; theGovernor is talking of“encouraging ndi Anambra tocome and invest at home” whilebuilding the biggest shoppingmall in Abuja. Would the heavenscollapse if the shopping mall,situated opposite the FederalMinistry of Transport, BusinessDistrict Abuja, was built inAwka?

Anyway, a man’s truecharacter and worth should bejudged by the way he responds tocriticisms. A man who expects tobe courted only by court-jesters,hungry charlatans and favour-seekers without any moralityshould be reminded that in a

democracy, human beings havethe right to question those inauthority. This is why majorityof ndi Anambra are whiningloudly that Mr Peter hasremained an unpleasantsurprise to them.

For a man that enjoyed somuch goodwill at the onset(many thanks to the CatholicChurch) to suddenly be at thereceiving end of scorn, apathyand ridicule, speaks volumes. Itis only Governor Peter Obi thatcontinues to see his“achievements” while the restof the state waits patiently forhis tenure to end, determinedthat “never again will we allow

our state to be governed by afellow who stuffs his pockets, liesto us and continues to bore uswith so much saved money inthe bank which translates to zerodevelopment”.

So, who is insulting Nd’Igbobetween Mallam Nasir El Rufa,iwho made beautifulcontributions about how ourstate could be made better andGovernor Peter Obi whotrivialises serious issues byresorting to stoking the nastyembers of ethnicity, bigotry andimmoral politics?Jon Chikadibie Okafo isreachable [email protected]

Continued from page 14

Between Gov Peter Obi and el-Rufai...

One is not only worriedabout the insecuritysituation in the country,

but more worried of thedimensions the situation is beinghandled by different ethno-religious groups. On Tuesday,June 12, 2012, the SunNewspaper carried a seriouswarning story from the SouthEast Zonal wing of the ChristianAssociation of Nigeria (CAN). Inthat story, Christians in theSoutheast have threatened toattack mosques and palaces ofIslamic leaders in the South Eastin retaliation of incessantbombings on Christians andchurches in the north by BokoHaram.

It is clear that the Christianshave resolved to show solidarityto their brethren in the north whoare under attacks by BokoHaram, by nursing the idea ofreprisal attacks on Igbo Muslimsand their worship places. A wordis enough for the wise.

CAN Chairman and Bishop ofEnugu Anglican Communion,Rt. Rev. Emmanuel Chukwuma,in the report warned thatChristian leaders might beginretaliation on the mosques andalso emir palaces of northernMuslims in the South East, evenwhile lamenting that attacks onChristians in the north everySunday has become a weeklyritual.

Part of his words: “We cannotfold our arms and allow ourchurches and worshippers to bemaimed for no just cause. Thisact of bombing by this BokoHaram is capable of causinganother civil war because theBiafran war was not as severe asthis and there was war againstBiafra. We are, therefore,warning that this is capable ofcausing another civil war and weare ready for it. For me as theSoutheast CAN chairman, I’m

ready to lead people withOgbunigwe (the Biafran bombused during the civil war); thisOgbunigwe will be more severethan the Boko Haram bombs. Andwe want to warn them that theyknow that they are buildingmosques in the south and haveMoslem communities in thesouth which we have beensparing, but if they don’t stop, weshall begin retaliation and thatwill be the beginning of anothercivil war in Nigeria.”

Continuing, “We in thesouthern part of Nigeria,particularly Southeast, haveseen civil war and I have said thisso many times, we are not afraidof war anymore; and we areready, therefore, to go to war todefend our Christian brethrens inthe north and we are sayingenough is enough because it isobvious now that Boko Haram isout to deal with Christians andChristians will not keep quietanymore.”

I have maintained, like manypatriots, that Nigeria is a secularstate with Islam and Christianitymerely dominating the religioussphere of the country. Otherminority religious groupsincluding free thinkers are inexistence in Nigeria. So, it isdefinitely a wishful thinking thatthreats, killings and bombings byany tiny group can break upNigeria. Religious freedom,freedom of association anddemocratic liberties areenshrined in the nation’sconstitution. The task on all ourshoulders as Nigerians is to

continue to assist the Federal andState governments to change ourcollective fortunes to the better ina peaceful and development-driven environment.

But to be frank, since the BokoHaram insurgency began, manyNigerians and internationalobservers have expresseddifferent views over it. Some haveviewed it as a western design todestroy Nigeria. Some say thegroup emerged as a result ofpoverty and prolonged years ofunderdevelopment in the north.A group believes that BokoHaram is a product of thenorthern political establishmentset it up to fight PresidentGoodluck Jonathan who is aChristian from the south. Afourth group says that BokoHaram started as a tool for thepolitical establishment in theNortheast that was laterabandoned as the militants of theNiger Delta.

Another group eveninterweaves Boko Haram into aperceived religious string ofbigotry, extremism andintolerance in the north and linkthe group to al-Qaeda. There arethose who claim that BokoHaram’s anger was sparked bythe extra-judicial killing of itsmembers and especially itsleader in 2009. A group alsobelieves that Boko Haram startedas a non-violent Islamic groupwhose aims were for an Islamicstate and properimplementation of Sharia, whichthey peacefully preached andpropagated only in their mosques

and schools.However, it is pertinent to

appeal to our Christian patriotsand organizations to restrainfrom inflammatory and incisivecomments and warnings overthis menace that has brought nogood to any religion or ethnicgroup in Nigeria. Last time, itwas CAN president issuing a lastwarning to the federalgovernment. Now it is fromSouth East CAN chairman whohas explicitly identified histargets.

They should continue toassist the federal government infinding unbiased lastingsolutions to the Boko Harammenace. They can work hand inhand with their counterpartIslamic groups like NigerianSupreme Council for IslamicAffairs (NSCIA) and Jama’atuNasril-Islam (JNI), amongothers which have profferedsolutions to the peacefulcoexistence between Muslimsand Christians in Nigeria.

In his reaction to BokoHaram, the Secretary Generalof NSCIA, Dr. AbdullateefAdegbite believes that corruptionfuels rebellion, so governmentshould be more combative in itswar against corruption withoutsparing any political office holderor corrupt citizen.

Reacting to the attacks onchurches, the Secretary Generalof JNI, Dr. Khalid AbubakarAliyu frowned at the act whichhe condemned as sordid anddastardly, and called on thePlateau State Government to live

above board and to forestall anyreprisal attacks on innocentcitizens.

Recently, The MuslimCongress (TMC) in a paper toOdua Muslim-Christian YouthDialogue Group (OMC-YDG),through its Amir LuqmanAbdurraheem, called onNigerians and especially theMuslims to distance themselvesfrom proponents of war and torefrain from violence. He enlistedthe Muslim Ummah, Christiancommunities, civil societies andethnic militia to embrace peacedecorum in their comments andutterances at this critical periodof the nation’s life.

He corroborated the commonview that the bombings inNigeria today is fuelled bypoverty, unemployment, badgovernance, moral and economiccorruption, frustration andpolitical maneuvering of selfishelites, not Islam or Christianity.

One suggestion that couldend this is the screening ofworshippers as done for Muslimsat their national worship placesby even non-Muslim securitypersonnel. Also, the governmentshould muster the political willto expose, rebuke and prosecuteany Nigerian identified to havea hand in these inhumanactivities under whatevername.Muhammad Ajah is a writer,author, advocate ofhumanity and goodgovernance based in [email protected]

South East CAN threatsover Boko Haram

By Muhammad Ajah

on the brink of exposing the evil-doers, “a few unscrupulous civilservants” thwarted him and, byimplication, the president aswell. Mark his words: “a fewunscrupoulous civil servants.”Who are these civil servantsmore powerful than a ministerand the president? The answer issimple: none other the ministerhimself and the president

Fani-Kayode has thus

confessed to a heinous crime. Wemay never know the true extentof the crimes in the aviationsector that he and hispredecessors as well successorsare hiding from us; crimes thatprompted America’s transportsafety board to recommendcriminal investigation. After all,

a plot hatched in hell can’t haveangels as witnesses. It may bethat those few unscrupulous butall-powerful civil servants havea lot to gain by plucking planesfrom our skies at will—perhaps sothat they might enrichthemselves through insurancepay-outs. But one thing is certain:

the evil that Fani-Kayode sawwhen he was minister continuestill today. Yet in choosing toconceal the criminal acts of a fewunscrupulous civil servants,thereby leaving them to stalkour skies and cause usimmeasurable grief every sooften, Fani-Kayode has the blood

of the victims of all the air crashessince he was minister in his ownhands. This is the trueinterpretation of the testimonyof he has given with his ownmouth. His so-called blueprint forre-inventing our aviationindustry is nothing more than asham and a recipe for disaster.


The Gwagwalada PoliceArea Commandyesterday arraigned a 30-

year-old pastor, Joseph Nnaemekafor allegedly enticing a marriedwoman, Mrs Ngozi Orji.

Nnameka, a pastor with ChristOur Banner Ministries,Gwagwalada and oneOrji werearraigned before an Upper AreaCourt in Gwagwalada on a threecount charge of conspiracy, theft

A Federal High Court atApo in Abuja hasgranted an interlocutory

injunction to KpadumaCommunity, retraining theFederal Capital DevelopmentAuthority (FCDA), fromdemolishing residence andfarmlands of indigenes of thecommunity, pending thedetermination of the matter in

court.Counsel to Kpaduma

Community, Barr. Nughu Mila, told newsmen after acquiringthe interlocutory injunction,that the injunction will put a stopto the endless threat of demolitionin the community, saying thathe appreciated the fact thatwhen he moved a motion for aninterlocutory injunction thepresiding Judge, Justice A. B.Mohammed granted the

community without objection.“So, in view of the imminent

threats of demolishing the housesand destroying the farmlands ofthe indigenes of Kpadumacommunity, we argued beforethe Judge that there may bedanger, if he does not issue aninterlocutory injunctionretraining the defendants fromtaking contrary actions againstthe indigenes of the communitypending the determination of the

Court orders FCDA to haltdemolition exercise in Kpaduma

case in court.“What I suspect, is that I do

not think the FCT Minister, Sen.Bala Mohammed is aware of whatis going on. If he is aware, heshould know that this people arenot against the development ofFCT, and they are not againstresettlement, but rather they areasking for the proper thing to bedone, that they should beproperly resettled, rather thanjust forcing them out of their

By Adeola Tukuru homeland, while non-indigenesenter to build in their houses intheir land, while they are stillliving there,” he said.

Continuing, he added: “Butthank God that FCDA has agreedto settle with Kpadumacommunity on proper ways ofnegotiation, because the federalgovernment has to decided if theywill be resettled andcompensated, but if they fail todo that, the case will continue incourt and the court will then bethe last option to decided if theindigenes should be resettled andcompensated,” he said.

Councillor representingGarki Ward in Abuja MunicipalArea Council(AMAC), Hon. BalaIya, who is one of the plaintiff, commended the judiciary fordefending their course and calledon the Federal Government, theFCT Minister, Sen. BalaMohammed and the members ofthe National Assembly to quicklyact on what he described asinjustice against the communitybefore it gets out of hands.

The case was adjourn to July 21, 2012 for further hearing.

and enticement.The Police Prosecutor, Inspector

Modupe Musa told the court thatthe duo were arraigned followingcomplaint lodged at the policestation in Gwagwalada by thewoman’s husband, Mr Joel Aluku.

The prosecution said Alukuhad in 2008 stopped Nnaemekafrom coming to his house to offerprayers to his wife.

He added that in April 2009,

Pastor in court for enticing married womanthe pastor conspired to cart awayAluku’s property worth N3.2million from the house to unknowndestination.

According to the prosecutor,the accused perpetrated the actwhen Aluku travelled to Enuguand that the case had been beforethe police since 2008.

The accused pleaded not guiltyto the charge and prayed the courtto grant them bail through their

The Business Unit of thePower Holding Company ofNigeria (PHCN) in

Gwagwalada has assuredadequate free prepaid metres forevery consumers in the unit.

The Manager of theGwagwalada Business Unit, MrAminu Bello in aninterview,explained that thesupply and installation of

prepared metre for consumers inthe unit were free had cautionedagainst any form of payment forthe services.

He had expresseddissatisfaction over complaintsof extortion of consumers by thecontractors handling the projectadding that the project wasWorld Bank sponsored.

“I have said it time withoutnumber that the project whichentails free supply and

PHCN vows to install adequate free prepaid metresinstallation of prepaid metres inthe unit is World Banksponsored.

“It is being run by a specialunit in PHCN, ProjectMonitoring Unit (PMU) and thetruth about the project is thatthe people installing the prepaidmeters are contractors and notPHCN staff.

“I encourage consumers notto panic about getting the metresbecause such panic could result

to offering money to a contractorwho will be paid at the end of theproject," he said.

He said informationavailable to the unit from PMUshowed that more metres werestill expected in the unit sayingthat there was no need for panic.

Bello also cautioned PHCNstaff especially marketersagainst any form of connivalwith contractors to extort orintimidate consumers.

Man, 33, caughtwith stolencheque leaf

The Police has arraignedone Akataka Martins,33, of number 23,

Shogunle, Surulere, Lagos,before an Abuja ChiefMagistrate’s Court for being inpossession of stolen cheque leaf.

Police Prosecutor,Abdullahi Adamu, told thecourt that one OlumideFadogun of Ecobank PLC, WuseZone 4, reported the case atWuse Police Station, Abuja, onJune 8, 2012.

Adamu said the accusedwent to Ecobank with stolencheque leaf number00000129 dated June 6,2012, with the intention towithdraw N2.5 millionwritten on it.

The prosecutor said thatthe accused was caught whiletrying to withdraw themoney.

The accused pleaded notguilty and the ChiefMagistrate, AzubuikeOkeagwu, granted him bail inthe sum of N500, 000 with twosureties in like sum.

Okeagwu said the suretiesmust be responsible Nigeriansand resident within thejurisdiction of the court.

He adjourned the case toJuly 9, 2012 for hearing.(NAN)

A middle aged woman grinding grains to make ends meet, yesterday in Utako village, Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

counsel, Mr Edet Ibok.The presiding Judge, Alhaji

Babangida Hassan admitted theaccused to bail in the sum ofN500,000 with a surety in likesum.

Hassan said the surety must bea civil servant on Grade Level 7and residing within thejurisdiction of the court.

He adjourned the case till July25, 2012 for hearing. (NAN)

By Adeola Tukuru


Residents bemoanconstant robbery attacks

There was pandemonium atPipeline Extension inKubwa, in the early hours

of Saturday, when armedrobbers invaded the area, shottwo security men before cartingaway unspecified sum of moneyand other valuables.

An eye witness, Mrs BlessingJames, who wAas also a victimof the attack, told Peoples Dailythat about 1.00am on Saturdaymorning, she heard a loud bang and when she peeped throughthe window, behold 10 youngmen were attempting to removethe burglary of her landlord.

Continuing, she said that therobbers eventually, succeededin removing the burglary proofand forced their way into thelandlord’s house.

“We could hear the robbersordering the landlord to bringout money, or they will kill himand he gave them the moneyand valuables he had,” she said.

According to her, after this,the robbers started going fromhouses to houses until they gotto her own house.

Another victim popularly

her jewelleries.“They took my husbands’

laptop, hard disks and money,they said if he doesn’t

bring out all the money hehad , that they will kill him, sowe all started pleading withthem until they left and wentto our neighbours house. Theyalso took away my jewelleries,money and properties which weall can’t estimate”, sheexplained.

Our reporter gathered thatit took the bold move by twosecurity men in the area, whodared the robbers, to stop theoperation which lasted foralmost an hour.

The security men were saidto have confronted the robbers,who one of them in the arm andanother on the head beforefleeing the area.

Many residents in the areacondemned the constant

robbery incidence in the area,calling on the FCT police andother agencies to intervene insecuring their lives andproperty.

Peoples Daily gathered thatthis latest robbery incidentcame barely a week after arobbery gang went on arampage in the area, terrorisingresidents.

When contacted on the issue,the Commissioner of Police, FCTCommand, Mr AdenreleShinaba said his priority is toensure that crime rates in theFederal Capital Territory (FCT)is reduced to the lowest level.

He said that he has deployedhis men to the FCT and suburbsto protect lives and property,adding that emergencynumbers have been given toresidents who are facing anyform of distress to reach thepolice in the area.

C •••As robbers shoot two in Kubwa, cart away cash, propertyA 26-year-old Kitchen

Assistant working withan eatery, Calabar

Kitchen in Garki, Abuja has appeared before an Upper AreaCourt at Karu, FCT, chargedwith stealing some food items.

The Police Prosecutor, MrMohammed Garuba, told thecourt that one Luke Shaibu of thesame address with the accused,James Ogar, reported the caseto the police on June 14, 2012.

Garuba said that the accusedwas caught with a bagcontaining five measures of rice,25 onions, five stock fish heads,a packet of maggi and somewraps of Fofo valued at N4, 150,which he was trying to takeaway.

According to the prosecutor,the offence contravenes Section289 of the Penal Code.

The accused, however,pleaded not guilty to the charge.

The Judge, Umar Kagarko,granted him bail in the sum ofN20,000 with one surety in likesum and adjourned the case toAugust 15, 2012 for hearing.(NAN)

Kitchen Assistantaccused of stealingfood items

A non- governmentalorganization (NGO), Gathering of the Eagles

Ministry (GEM), which focuses on promoting the wellbeing ofwidows in Nigeria, hasannounced a three day programaimed at empowering windows inNigeria.

The programme slated forThursday, 21st to 23rd of June,at Apo in Abuja, will featureentrepreneurship andempowerment summit andexpert on entrepreneurship isbilled to speak on theme: “Moneyat your finger tips”.

Speaking in Abuja over theweekend, at an occasion toannounce the programme GEMPresident Ishola FolushoEmmanuel said the lecture isgeared towards motivatingwidows to make use of theknowledge they have acquired toearn a living for themselves so thattheir misery did not hinder theirskills.

He said on day two which isFriday, there shall be a medicalteam raised to tackle manymedical challenges confrontingwidows and the less privileges ofthe society.

Folusho urged well-meaningNigerians to support widows byshowing love, support and careand urge government tocollaborate with GEM to uplift theplight of the widows in thesociety.

The GEM President lamentedtravails widows go throughespecially in getting the benefitsof their deceased husband.

NGO holdsentrepreneurshipworkshop to markWidows DayBy Omotosho Dare

Smallholder farmers inthe Federal CapitalTerritory (FCT) are to

enjoy 50 per cent subsidy onfertilizers and improved seedsof maize and rice, the Ministerof State for the Federal CapitalTerritory, Oloye OlajumokeAkinjide has disclosed.

Akinjide, made this knownat the flag-off of 2012subsidized input distributionexercise under the GrowthEnhancement SupportScheme (GESS) inGwagwalada Area Council.

She explained that this is akey initiative under theAgricultural TransformationAgenda (ATA) aimed atrevamping the agriculturesector, ensuring food security,

diversifying the economy,and enhancing foreignexchange earnings.

She said the support of theFederal Government and theFCTA to smallholder farmersin the agriculture valuechain would be driven by theprivate sector.

“Good quality agro-inputs

wil l be made avai lablethrough the certified privateagro-dealers . The era ofdiversion of subsidizedfertilizers by middlemen hasgone for good. All the needsof our farmers are beingaddressed through thevalue-chain approach in theATA of President Goodluck

Jonathan“The ult imate goal is to

ensure that agriculture ispract iced as lucrat ivecommercial enterprise thatis not only sustainable butalso attractive to our youthsand jobless men and womenroaming the street ,” shenoted.

Farmers get 50% subsidy on fertilizers, implementsBy Josephine Ella

An Upper Area Court inGwagwalada has orderedthat an 18-year-old

scavenger, Usman Suleiman, beremanded in custody for theft ofair-conditioner fitting materialsvalued at N500,000.

Suleiman was accused oftrespassing into the premises ofthe Gwagwalada Ultra ModernTown Hall, which is under

construction to steal thematerials.

The Police Prosecutor,Modupe Musa, told the courtthat the incident happened onJune 13, 2012 and wasreported to the Police AreaCommand, Gwagwalada, FCTby Mr Tony Chikelu, the SiteEngineer.

The accused pleaded guilty

to the charges of trespass andtheft brought against him bythe police.

He, however, added that thevalue of the materials was lessthan the N500,000 as claimed.

The Judge, Alhaji BabangidaHassan, therefore, ordered thatthe accused be remanded incustody, and adjourned the casetill July 25, 2012 for hearing.

Scavenger held over theft of air-conditioner

A house burgled by armed robbers in Kubwa, Abuja

called Mummy Favour, saidthat the robbers used an Iron rodto break into their house andstarted demanding money and

One of the victims of the robbery incident popularly called Mummyfavour. Photo: Adeola Tukuru


You can't cheat nature. Two wheelbarrow pushers taking nap, at Garki Market, in Abuja.

Two Almajiri children playing, at Dei-Dei, in Abuja.

Young men selling wears, along a major road in Utako, Abuja.

Two taxi drivers with torn clothes after settling their difference with fist, at the weekend in Garki, Abuja.A young man pushing truck to eke out a living, at the weekend in Mabushi, Abuja.

Photos: Mahmud Isa and Justin Imo-owo


Management Tip of the DayWhen you don’t know what to do, act

immediately.Start by identifying what

you want. Then take a smartstep toward that goal as quicklyas you can, using what youknow, who you know, and anyother information that’savailable.

After you act, ask: Did those

actions get you closer to yourgoal? Do you need additionalresources to draw even closer? Doyou still want to obtain yourobjective? Pay close attention andyou’ll learn something. Then it’stime to act again.Source: Harvard BusinessReview

INSIDE

Most people prepare for thefuture by predictingwhat will happen and

then acting accordingly. But whatdo you do when the unexpectedhappens — you get laid off, yourproject is killed, a new competitorupends your industry? In the faceof uncertainty, you need to act

BUYING SELLING

CFA 0.2784 0.2984• 195.4993 196.7614£ 242.3875 243.9523RIYAL 41.3001 41.5667$ 154.9 155.9

CBN 18th June, 2012EXCHANGE RATES

PARALLEL RATES BUYING SELLING

• 210 212£ 250 252RIYAL 40 42$ 156 158

Shell delivers10GWh electricityinto national grid

- Pg 20

Email: [email protected] Mob: 08033644990

BBBBBUSINESSUSINESSUSINESSUSINESSUSINESS

Dangote challenged the suit andfiled appeals which were upheldby the Appeal Court presidedover by Justice HelenOgunwumiju last Friday.

Reacting to the judgement,Dangote said that he was veryhappy with the ruling, as it hadvindicated his position all alongthat he should not have beenremoved as president of thestock exchange’s council.

He said his first priority

Chairman, Dangote Groupof companies, AlhajiAliko Dangote, will from

today take over as the Presidentof the Nigerian Stock Exchange(NSE), following the ruling ofthe Court of Appeal in Lagos lastFriday upholding his threeappeals against cases that led tothe nullification of his electionas president of the exchange.

Dangote was elected the17th president of the NSE inAugust 2009 based on aunanimous acclamation by thecouncil members immediatelyafter the conclusion of its 48thannual general meeting(AGM).

However, Dangote’s electionwas nullified by the FederalHigh Court in Lagos in March2010 following the applicationmade to the court by someshareholders of AfricanPetroleum Plc (now Forte OilPlc), who had sued him, NovaFinance and Securities Limited, NSE and others, over allegedmanipulation of AP shares. But

be meeting the SEC appointeeson the council of the stockexchange on Tuesday (today)and taking over that day,” hesaid.

Dangote added that a newcouncil for the stock exchangewith him as its president wouldbe reconstituted next week andthat the slots allotted tostockbroker members on thecouncil would be increased fromfour to six.

would be to continue with thereforms started by the presentNSE director-general, OscarOnyema, improve governanceand transparency, and restoreconfidence in the market.

“You know the Securitiesand Exchange Commission(SEC) had been running theNSE like it was an agency ofgovernment. But the stockexchange is a private exchangelimited by guaranty. So, I will

With the reinstatement ofDangote, he will take over fromMallam Ballama Manu, whohas been the interim presidentof the council since August 5,2010 when SEC intervened inthe running of exchange.

Prior to his election in 2009,Dangote was the council’s firstvice-president. He joined thecouncil in February 2008, asthe chairman, Kaduna/Kano/Yola Zonal Council.

Aliko Dangote returns as NSE PresidentNigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) Headquarters

Construction of Dangote’s$115 million (aboutN17.94bn) new plant in

the Cameroonian economichub of Douala has restartedafter land dispute was resolved,local officials said on Monday.

Work on the 1.5 milliontonnes-a-year plant began lastSeptember and was due to last18 months. But it was haltedearlier this year after theethnic Sawa people filed an

injunction against the project,complaining it violated theirsacred site on the banks of theWouri River.

Cameroon okays N17.94bn Dangote plant“Following instructions

from the Presidency of theRepublic, work has resumed atthe Dangote cement factory,”

the governor of the LittoralRegion under which Doualafalls, Joseph Beti Assomo toldlocal state radio. (Reuters)

CBN to issue N100bn treasury billsThe Central Bank of

Nigeria (CBN)yesterday said itplans

to raise 100.62 billion naira

($616.60 million)worth of 91-day and 182-day Treasurybills at its regular bi-monthlydebt auction on Wednesday,.

The bank said it will issue37.49 billion naira in 91-daypaper and 63.13 billion worthin 182-day bills onWednesday.

The CBN issues treasurybills regularly to reducemoney supply, curb inflationand help lenders managetheir liquidity.

Yields on the short-datedNigeria’s debt havecontinued to rise in the lastthree auction sessions due toconcerns on rising inflationand the exiting of offshoreinvestors from the local debtmarket. (Reuters)

PEOPLES DAILY,TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

Shoprite opensin Abuja

In continuance of its aim toenhance its presence inNigeria, Shoprite, the

leading supermarket in Africa,has concluded plans to open ashopping mall at the federalcapital territory, Abuja onJune 21, 2012.

C & I Leasingto acquireadditional 28%of LeasafricGhana

C & I Leasing plc hassigned an agreementwith Auroes West Africa

Fund to purchase additional28 percent of LeasafricGhana.

Arco’s sustainedcost reductionprogramme liftsearnings

Arco PetrochemicalEngineering Companyannounced that it

recorded a profit after tax ofN397 million in the 2011financial year, compared toN279.67 million for the yearended 31st December 2010;indicating an increase of 42per cent, the boardchairman, Joseph Akpieyisaid at the weekend.

Quadrant winsAfricanconsultancyaward in Brussels

The Quadrant Company(TQC) emerged as one ofthe winners of the 2012

Superior Achievement inBranding and Reputation(SABRE) awards, in Brussels,Germany.

Exchangerecords N81billiontransactions inone week

Last week, transactions inthe equities marketended on a positive note

but inched down for two daysfollowing profit taking byinvestors.

U.S. set to extendstrategic provisionfor AGOA

The United States ofAmerica (USA) hasconcluded plans to

extend the Third-CountryFabric (TCF) under the AfricaGrowth Opportunity Act(AGOA), which is set to expirein September 2012.

COMPANYNEWS

The House of RepresentativesCommittee on Petroleum,Downstream, has advised

the Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation (NNPC),to shut down the Warri Refiningand Petrochemical Company(WRPC), due to the dangerousemission of carbon black soot onthe environment.

The Chairman, HouseCommittee on Petroleum,Downstream, Hon. DakukuPeterside made the call in astatement after a meeting withstakeholders over the lingeringcrisis between the refinery and

the Ekpan community.The call followed a petition

written to the committee,entitled, “A Save Our SoulAppeal” written by Ajomata/Awhakpor Landlords Associationof Ekpan, dated May 24. In thepetition to the committee wereurged to sanction NNPC over thelife-threatening carbon blacksoot being emitted into theirenvironment.

According to the landlords,“This appeal was necessitated bythe reckless emissions ofdangerous carbon black soot/chemicals into our environmenton a daily basis without due careand keeping to international best

Pollution - Reps advises shutting of Warri RefineryBy Muhammad Nasir practices.

“Our continuous appeals inwriting and physical visitationto the management of the saidcompany and their supervisingMinistry of Petroleum over theyears have been ignored, as theyhave never replied any of ourletters nor stopped the life-threatening nuisance that theiremissions have become.”

The landlords alleged thatwhenever the carbon black sootis released, within a fewminutes, all persons, water, air,land, clothes and even pets anddomestic animals in theAjomata/Awhakpor area wouldbe soaked in carbon black soot.

According to them, peoplecould hardly stay outside theirhomes for 10 minutes withoutgetting their clothes soaked withcarbon black soot.

They also claimed theirchildren were the most affectedas they are always in and out ofhospital for sundry ailmentssuch as respiratory infections,heart diseases and asthmaattacks.

They recalled that in 2006,fishes in the pond of one Sir ElijahAtomatofa all died from pollutionfrom the carbon black soot, addingthat many of the indigenes wereforced to relocate from thelocality thereafter.

After a comprehensivemeeting with all the relevantstakeholders which included thepeople of Ajomata/Awhakporcommunity; NNPC; theDepartment of PetroleumResources, DPR; Ministry of theEnvironment; NationalEnvironmental Standards andRegulatory Enforcement Agency,NESREA; the EnvironmentalRights Action, ERA, and thecommittee leaders, thelawmakers called for thesuspension of operations at theplant.

Speaking on behalf ofmembers, Peterside, called on theNNPC to shut down the plant as amatter of urgency. According tohim, WRPC will further beendangering human life if itcontinues any form of production.

Peterside also condemned theobvious lack of cooperationamong government agencies,which played out in the course ofthe meeting, and warned thatnobody including NNPC is abovethe law.

L-R: Chairman, Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi, Commissioner,Market Competition and Rates, Mr. Eyo Ekpo, and General Manager, Government and ConsumerAffairs, Dr. Anthony Akah, during a media briefing on new electricity tariff regime, yesterday inAbuja. Photo: Justin Imo-owo

Shell PetroleumDevelopment Company(SPDC) at the weekend said

it’s Afam VI Combined CyclePower Plant in Rivers Statedelivered some 10 gigawatthours (GWh) of electricity intothe national grid in May thisyear.

Shell’s Corporate AffairsManager of the multinational oil

company, Tony Okonedo, said ina statement that the plant hascontributed to providing fouryears worth of 24-hour powersupply to about 760,000residential consumers or 63,000medium-sized commercialenterprises.

The Afam V1 power plant wasbuilt by Shell Petroleum LtdJoint Venture and achieved firstpower in August 2008 aboutthree years after the contract was

Shell delivers 10GWh electricity into national gridBy Muhammad Nasir awarded.

Managing Director of thecompany, Mr. Mutiu Sunmonu,said the Afam V1 power plantwas an evidence of Shell’s strongsupport for the FederalGovernment’s power agenda.“Since 2008, the plant hascontinued to impact positivelyon power generation in thecountry and we’re lookingforward to more years ofsustained performance.”

Solar power generation project on the wayBy Muhammad Sada

IFC Infra Ventures, a memberof the World Bank Group, andScatec Solar, a Norwegian

company specialiSing inphotovoltaic solar systems, havesigned an agreement to developsolar power projects that willsupply renewable energy toaddress electricity needs in partsof West and Central Africa.

IFC Infra Ventures, the GlobalInfrastructure ProjectDevelopment Fund, and ScatecSolar will develop, design,finance, construct and operatesolar photovoltaic plantsgenerating at least 10 megawattsof power. They plan to build aportfolio of projects in Benin,Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Niger,

and Togo.This is the first time a

multilateral financial institutionis partnering with a privatecompany to develop solar powerenergy in Sub-Saharan Africa.The agreement will enable IFCInfra Ventures and Scatec Solarto collaborate and benefit fromeach other’s expertise, leveragingthe world-class technicalexpertise of Scatec Solar and thelocal knowledge, networks, andfunding capacity of the WorldBank Group.

Raymond Carlsen, ChiefExecutive Officer of Scatec Solar,said, “Joining forces with IFCInfra Ventures allows us tocombine Scatec Solar’s know-howin photovoltaic development,installation and operations with

IFC’s expertise in financing andworking with governments in aregion where limited supply ofelectricity is one of the majorchallenges for growth. We believethat this partnership will be ofgreat value to the countries wework in by reducing the timerequired from projectdevelopment to powergeneration.”

IFC’s Director forInfrastructure in Africa and LatinAmerica, Bernie Sheahan said,“Solar power generation hasgreat potential, but has hadlimited traction in Africa becauseof the lack of technical expertiseand funding. Scatec Solar bringssolid know-how in solar energyand a strong commitment toAfrica that make it an ideal

Located at Okoloma village inOyigbo Local Government Area,the plant has an installedcapacity of 650MW and consistsof three gas turbines each ratedat 150MW, and 1 steam turbinerated at 200MW.

The gas turbines were fullycommissioned in July 2009,while the steam turbine came onstream in December 2010. Theplant receives gas from SPDC’sgas plant also at Okoloma.

partner for IFC to stimulateprivate sector investments inrenewable energy.”

Africa has the fastest economicgrowth of any region, globally,with a rapidly increasing demandfor electrical power. However, thelack of infrastructure in manyareas has left people with fewalternatives to relativelyexpensive and environmentallyunfriendly diesel- and oil-basedgeneration.

Given the favorableconditions, solar power isconsidered a better alternative tothermal generation in Africa.Furthermore, solar power is well-suited to rural electrification as itcan be installed quickly, withoutrequiring transmission lines todeliver it to consumers.


Greece results bringrelief but no remedy

Athens, Greece - Theconservative victory inGreece's June 17

elections is a signal that thecountry still wants to remainwithin the eurozone and onnegotiating terms with itsEuropean partners. NewDemocracy leader AntonisSamaras called for "agovernment of nationalsalvation" and said, "the Greekpeople have today voted forGreece's European course andits remaining within the euro".

The 50-seat bonus inparliament that goes to the topparty also helps NewDemocracy in practical terms.It could, in theory, form astrong Europeanist coalitionwith the other parties thatsupport upholding Greece's loanagreements, the socialist Pasokand the moderate DemocraticLeft. Together they could wielda formidable 179 seats in the300-seat legislature,effectively a two-thirdsmajority.

This is a far cry from theMay election, when Samarasand socialist Pasok leaderEvangelos Venizelos wereunable to make the 151-seatminimum.The impossibility offorming a coalition acrossideological lines led to Sunday'srematch.

Powerful SyrizaBut the fresh-election has

also created a powerful newanti-bailout opposition in theradical left Syriza, which took

27 per cent of the vote andcame just three points behindNew Democracy. Its leader,Alexis Tsipras, has rejectedcalls for a grand coalition."From our position as aresponsible and activeopposition, we shall demandthat the government make fulluse [of our interventions] forthe benefit of the Greek people,"he said.

Syriza has done extremelywell in the past two elections.It multiplied its share of thepopular vote by a factor of sixand turned its 13 seats into 71.These are historicachievements for the far left,whose combined share of thevote in the past four decadeshas never risen above 13 percent. Tsipras will likely nowoccupy the anti-austeritypulpit Samaras once did whenPasok was in power. He vowsthat, unlike Samaras, he willstick to the guns of oppositionto what he calls an "unholyalliance of the forces of thepast", a reference to the socialistand conservative parties.

His promise should be takenseriously. The 17 per cent of thevote that Syriza received in theMay election was enough tofreeze a privatisationprogramme Greece's Europeancreditors view as a majorcomponent of its bailoutobligations. Privatisationpromises to be a majorbattleground for anotherreason. Much of the supportthat has rallied behind Syrizaconsists of public-sector unionsthat used to champion Pasok.Privatisation amounts tolayoffs and lower pensions andbenefits, which they aredetermined to fight. Theirarguments are material.Syriza provides an economictheory to complement them -that Greece's state enterprisesare not monopolies, but requireinvestment to compete in whatare open markets. To sell themis to display a singular lack ofnational pride.

One ascribes to thesearguments, the alliancebetween Syriza and the unionsmeans that Syriza controls the

ANALYSISstreet, even if New Democracymanages to control parliament.The power of this should not beunderestimated. It was weeksof protest marches inSyntagma Square thatbrought the government ofGeorge Papandreou to its kneesin 2011, and, after four yearsof recession, Greece will faceperhaps its most difficultwinter yet.

The fact that manyhouseholds are now visiblystruggling to feed and heatthemselves highlights anotherarea where Syriza can seriouslyerode the government - taxes.The socialists followedEuropean instructions to raiseconsumer taxes, which punishthe poor most. Heating oil andgas, which are heavily taxed,are now beyond the reach of somany that many apartmentbuildings run minimal centralheating. This means that thosewho are struggling build uparrears of hundreds or eventhousands of euros. They facesimilar problems keeping otherutilities running, and many

Greece's centre-right New Democracy party won the largest share of the vote in elections on June 17 [AFP]

have only managed to do so bynegotiating a paymentschedule of arrears they knowthey cannot keep to.

Battle over budgetAs if these problems were

not enough, the governmentwill face a major battle passingits 2013 budget in October.Unless Greece's creditors offera major extension of one or twoyears, Greece has to cut publicspending by an estimated 11bneuros ($13.91bn) next yearand the year after. Most of thosecuts come from healthcare,already struggling to cope withmore than 1bn euros ($1.27bn)in cuts this year, and the publicpayroll, which includes stateenterprises.

New Democracy's strategyis to shift emphasis to growth.According to its economic plan,every percentage point of GDPcreates 45,000 jobs. That inturn bolsters state revenues,making everyone happy. Butit would take a very competentgovernment underpinned by avery efficient state to begin toreverse a projected five per centdrop in GDP this year, whilestaying on track to eliminatethe deficit in 2014. Can NewDemocracy manage as wellunder the circumstances?

Syriza has softened itsposition to accept the bailoutloan in recognition of the factthat Greece simply has noalternative source of cheapfinance other than theEuropean Union. That is asignificant retreat from its May6 position, which was to look foralternative sources offinancing in Russia and China,altering Greece's orientationand loyalties. This is perhapsthe biggest point in NewDemocracy's favour. Just asSyriza holds the nuisancevalue of a Greek exit from therest of Europe, New Democracycan wield the financialpipeline from Brussels asleverage over Syriza.

First, though, NewDemocracy has to form agovernment. It must convincePasok to abandon its insistenceon a government of nationalconsensus, which wouldinclude Syriza, and join itsgovernment of nationalsalvation. Second, it mustconvince the Democratic Left,a Syriza breakaway, that it willnot be politically diminishedby joining a pro-bailoutgovernment without draggingthe mother party along. IfSamaras manages this over thenext three days, he will haveformed the broadest coalitionthat can be hoped for, andachieved a strategic first blowfor political stability.

Source: Aljazeera

“His promise should be taken seriously. The 17 percent of the vote that Syriza received in the Mayelection was enough to freeze a privatisation

programme Greece's European creditors view as amajor component of its bailout obligations.


Egypt Islamists claim presidencyas army tightens gripAn election committee

source told Reuters thatIslamist Mohamed Morsy, a

U.S.-educated engineer, wascomfortably ahead of former airforce general Ahmed Shafik withmost of the votes tallied. But thecount, which would make him thefirst civilian leader in 60 years, hadyet to be officially finalised.

In any event, however, the newpresident will be subordinate forsome time at least to the militarycouncil which last year pushedfellow officer Mubarak aside toappease street protests.

In the latest twist on Egypt'stortuous path from revolution todemocracy, the Supreme Councilof the Armed Forces (SCAF) issueda decree as two days of voting endedon Sunday which set strict limitson the powers of head of state. Onthe eve of the election, it had alreadydissolved the Islamist-ledparliament.

Liberal and Islamist opponentsdenounced a "military coup".

"Military Transfers Power, toMilitary," ran the ironic headlinein independent newspaper al-Masry al-Youm.

The Brotherhood, however,expressed its joy and defiance on the

Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood said on Monday its candidate won the country's first free presidentialelection, but a sweeping legal manoeuvre overnight by Cairo's military rulers made clear the gener-als planned to keep control for now.

Sudan policedispersestudent protestwith teargas

Such protests are rare inSudan but anger has beenrising over high food prices

and government plans to cutfuel subsidies to plug a ballooningdeficit - a move that would hitthe poor. Inflation is running at30 percent.

Around 200 students stageda protest at noon outside themain university campus in thecentre of the capital shouting"The people want lower prices"and "The people want tooverthrow the regime,"witnesses said.

Riot police fired tear gas andused batons when the crowdtried to spread out on the mainstreet outside the campus, theysaid. Some students threw stonesat the police.

The police were notimmediately available tocomment.

streets and may challenge movesby the generals that cast doubt ontheir pledge to hand over to civilian

rule by July 1 - a promise supportedby Egypt's U.S. and European allies,despite their deep misgivings about

the rise of political Islam in the wakeof the Arab Spring uprisings acrossthe Middle East.

How MTN allegedlybribed its way into IranFor a South African

t e l e c o m m u n i c a t i o n scompany, it represented a

unique chance to seize what itschief executive called "one of themost significant 'virgin' mobileopportunities in the world."

But the location, he added ina memo marked "StrictlyConfidential," was "no normalcountry."

The country was Iran. Thecompany, MTN Group, waswidely seen as a post-apartheidsuccess story. Now, seven yearsafter MTN and its localpartners won a lucrativelicence to launch a new Iranianmobile-phone carrier, the dealis swirling in controversy andraising embarrassing questions

for South Africa at a time whenthe Western world is trying tocontain Iran's nuclearambitions.

Turkcell, an Istanbul-basedrival, in March filed a federallawsuit in Washington allegingMTN bribed its way into Iranand stole the licence fromunder it. It is seeking at least$4.2 billion in damages. Anelite South African police unitcalled the Hawks isinvestigating. MTN has deniedthe allegations and calledTurkcell's demands"extortionate."

MTN has appointed aprominent judge in London toconduct an internal probe of theallegations surrounding what

has become one of its mostvaluable holdings. In 2011, MTNgenerated $1.3 billion, or 9percent of its annual revenue,from its Iran venture, thecompany reported.

The core of the Turkcell caseis the sworn testimony of ChrisKilowan, a former MTNexecutive who guided thecompany's bid to win the Iranianlicence and has emerged as thekey witness. He has turned overto Turkcell's attorneys some7,000 pages of internal MTNdocuments related to "ProjectSnooker" - MTN's code name forits effort, named after a billiardgame popular in Britain. "Wesaid we are going to snookerTurkcell," Kilowan testified.

MTN, now Africa's largestmobile phone carrier, has calledKilowan "a disgruntled formeremployee" and has termed hisallegations "outlandish."

During three days of sworntestimony in Washington thatconcluded May 2, Kilowanpresented an extraordinary taleof a multinational company sointent on winning a contract, itwas willing to help Tehranobtain military hardware, swaySouth Africa's votes before theUnited Nations' InternationalAtomic Energy Agency and paybribes, sometimes in the guise ofconsulting fees. MTN has yet togive evidence in the case, whichis continuing and may go on foryears.

Campaigningfor landmarkLibya electionkicks off

Campaigning for Libya'sfirst national election in ageneration will kick off

yesterday ahead of July 7 pollsto choose an national assemblywhich will re-draw theautocratic system of rule put inplace by ousted leaderMuammar Gaddafi.

In a statement on its website,Libya's electoral commission saidcandidates will have 18 days tocampaign, from June 18 untilJuly 5, with 2,501 independentsand 1,206 political associationcandidates eligible to stand.

Candidates are being fieldedfrom 142 political associations,said the commission, in polls dueto be held 18 days later thanoriginally planned because of thelogistical challenges in a countrystill recovering from last year'srevolt.

ECOWAS has Mali force troop pledge, still lacks backingWest African military

chiefs have securedtroop commitments

from three nations for theirplanned Mali interventionforce, despite the mission stilllacking an invitation fromauthorities in Bamako andbacking from the UnitedNations.

Nigeria, Niger and Senegalwill provide the core of a 3,270-strong force whose missionwould initially be bolsteringMali's fragmented army andstabilising politicalinstitutions, and then tacklingthe rebel-held north if talks

fail, officials said after militarychiefs met in Ivory Coast.

Mali plunged into crisis aftera March coup ousted thepresident. Separatist andIslamist rebels took advantageof the instability to seize thenorthern two-thirds of thecountry, creating a void thatregional countries say anoutside force may have to fill.

African leaders havewarned of an "AfricanAfghanistan" due to thepresence of al Qaeda cells andforeign fighters but U.N.Security Council diplomats saythe council is not yet ready to

agree the African Union'srequest to back militaryintervention.

Weeks after West Africanregional bloc ECOWAS said thestandby force was ready,General Soumaila Bakayoko,head of Ivory Coast's army, saidsome officers would travel toMali to work out more detailedplanning in the coming days.

"The hope is that we will bewelcomed as brothers in arms,"he said late on Saturday,underscoring potentialproblems with Mali's military,which wants outside help tofight rebels but has reacted

angrily to ECOWAS criticismand sanctions impoased afterits power grab.

Diplomats say the U.N.'sreticence to swiftly back theforce is due to the lack of a clearplan to tackle the crises in boththe capital and the north.

Mali's interim president hasnot returned since seekingmedical treatment in Parisafter he was beaten up by a mobthat broke into his office. Aftersecurity forces failed to precentthe attack, some diplomats sayPresident Dioncounda Traore isreluctant to return until aregional force is in place.

Sudanese riot police on Sundayused tear gas and batons to dis-perse a student protest inKhartoum against the govern-ment and high prices, witnessessaid.


Senior Yemeni soldier killed in suicide blastThe commander of Yemen's

southern military regionhas been killed in a suicide

attack in the port city of Aden,medics and officials say.

General Salem Ali Qatan waskilled near his home in theMansoura neighbourhood of Adenon Monday, a medical official told

Qatan's killing comes as al-Qaeda's Yemen arm flees from its last bastion in Shabwa province[AFP]

the AFP news agency on conditionof anonymity.

"Four others were wounded inthe suicide attack," the medic said.

The medic said the attacker"handed Qatan a paper, shook hishand and then detonated himself"as the general was

walking to his office.

Witnesses said the bomber waswearing an explosives belt.

As the chief militarycommander in south Yemen,Qatan had led a month-longoffensive against al-Qaeda,forcing the armed group towithdraw from several towns andvillages in the Abyan and Shabwa

provinces which they hadcontrolled since last year.

The latest attack came as al-Qaeda fled from their last bastionin the town of Azzan in Shabwa.

Since last week, al-Qaeda haswithdrawn from three otherstrongholds in Abyan, includingthe capital Zinjibar, and the

towns of Jaar and Shuqra.Qatan was appointed in March

just days after newly electedPresident Abdrabuh Mansur Haditook office and pledged to destroyal-Qaeda in the ArabianPeninsula, the name given to thearmed group's local Yemenbranch.

Iran's chief negotiator Saeed Jalili said Iran's right to enrich uranium should be 'recognised andrespected' [Reuters]

Irannucleartalksresume inMoscowThe latest round of talks

between Iran and worldpowers over Tehran's

controversial nuclearprogramme are under way inMoscow.

The two-day meeting,which began on Monday,follows a bruising May sessionin Baghdad during which Irannearly walked out ofnegotiations aimed ultimatelyat keeping it from joining theexclusive club of nations withatomic weapons.

In Moscow, the six powers -United States, Russia, China,France, Britain and Germany- are again expected to pushTehran to address their mostpressing concern, itsenrichment of uranium to 20percent fissile purity.

The consequences of failurecould be devastating, amidfears that Israel could bombIran if no diplomatic solution isfound, intensifying regionaltensions and pushing oil priceshigher.

But after two rounds ofnegotiations in as manymonths, the sides are hardlyany closer to reaching anagreement than beforediplomacy resumed in Aprilfollowing a 15-month hiatus.

"We are very muchdetermined to pursue thisprocess as long there ismomentum to pursue, and aslong as there is commitment(from Iran) to pursue thenuclear issue in substance," asenior European Uniondiplomat said.

Experts and diplomats saychances of a breakthrough inMoscow that could end thedecade-long standoff are slim.

The six powers, led by EUforeign policy chief CatherineAshton, hope at least to winassurances that Tehran iswilling to discuss concretesolutions, opening the way tofurther meetings.

"Ashton is willing to stay inMoscow as long as it takes," thediplomat said. "But there is atime limit also ... We will haveto say 'no' to talks for talks'sake."

Pro-bailout party set to lead Greek coalition

Political parties supportingGreece's internationalbailout have begun work

towards forging a government afteran election victory over leftistsstaved off the prospect of the debt-laden country leaving the euro andbrought relief to global markets.

Greek President CarolosPapoulias on Monday formallyinstructed Antonis Samaras, theleader of the conservative NewDemocracy party, to set aboutforming a coalition after its firstplace finish in Sunday's elections.

"There is a categoricalimperative to form thegovernment," said Papoulias. "Thecountry cannot remainungoverned for even an hour."

"There is no time to waste,"Samaras earlier told reporters in

Athens as jubilant, chantingsupporters waved blue party flags."A national salvation governmentmust bring economic growth andreassure Greeks the worst is over."

With 99 per cent of ballotscounted, New Democracy had won29.7 per cent of the vote, ahead ofSyriza on 27 per cent, though itneeds the backing of the SocialistPASOK, for decades Greece's largestparty, to form a government.

A 50-seat bonus given to theparty which comes first would giveNew Democracy and PASOK 162seats in the 300-seat parliament,in an alliance broadly committedto the 130-billion-euros ($164bn)bailout.

Relegated to third place in anearlier, inconclusive May 6election, PASOK has called for a

broad coalition including Syriza,but says the most important goal isto form a government and put anend to political uncertainty.

PASOK officials told the Reutersnews agency that party leaderswould meet on Monday to decidewhether to support Samaras byparticipating fully in government,or by voting with the coalition inparliament.

The new government mightreceive a helping hand from itseurozone peers with Germany'sforeign minister suggesting Athensmight get more time to implementthe cuts demanded of it.

But most economists say eventhat would leave Greece, into a fifthyear of deep recession, facing aprogramme it cannot hope todeliver on.

TaikonautsreachChinesespacestationA Chinese spacecraft has

carried out a manneddocking with an

experimental space module,the latest milestone in thecountry's ambitious effort tobuild a space station.

The Shenzhou-9 and itsthree-person crew, whichincludes China's first woman inspace, linked with theTiangong-1 module on Mondayin a manoeuvre carried live bystate television.

Two of the taikonauts thensuccessfully entered themodule; the first time Chinahas been able to transfer crewbetween two orbiting craft.

During the 13-day mission,the taikonauts will work andsleep aboard Tiangong-1, a trialmodule that includes anexercise bike and a videotelephone booth, according tomedia.

Rendezvous and dockingexercises between the twovessels are an importanthurdle in China's efforts toacquire the technological andlogistical skills to run a fullspace lab that can housetaikonauts for long periods oftime.

China is still far fromcatching up with theestablished space superpowers:the United States and Russia.The Tiangong-1 is a trialmodule, not the building blockof a space station.

But the docking mission isthe latest show of China'sgrowing prowess in space andcomes while budget restraintsand shifting priorities have heldback US manned space launches.

The United States will not testa new rocket to take people intospace until 2017, and Russiahas said manned missions areno longer a priority.

But NASA has beguninvesting in US firms toprovide commercialspaceflight services and isspending about $3 billion ayear on a new rocket andcapsule to send astronauts tothe moon, asteroids andeventually to Mars.

China plans an unmannedmoon landing and deploymentof a moon rover. Scientistshave raised the possibility ofsending a man to the moon,but not before 2020.


Rights chief cites Syriawar crimes concernsThe United Nations'

human rights chief hassaid that government

shelling of Syrian cities mayamount to war crimes andshould cease immediately.

Navi Pillay, the UN HighCommissioner for HumanRights, addressed the HumanRights Council on Monday asreports emerged of plans forRussia to send warships to theSyrian port of Tartus, the siteof a Russian naval base.

"The government of Syriashould immediately cease theuse of heavy armaments andshelling of populated areas, as

Gunmen ‘still loose in Israel’ after ambush

such actions amount to crimesagainst humanity andpossible war crimes," NaviPillay told a meeting of theHuman Rights Council onMonday.

Pillay said those responsiblefor attacks on UN observers inSyria should be brought tojustice after the organisation'smission to the country wassuspended last week due towhat it called anintensification of violence.

A UN convoy trying toreach Al-Haffe town last weekcame under fire and was forcedto turn back by a stone-

throwing crowd."We must make our utmost

possible efforts to ensureaccountability for allperpetrators, including thosewho have attacked UNobservers in Syria," Pillaysaid.

Russia's Interfax newsagency said on Monday thattwo Russian navy ships wouldsail to Tartus to protect Russiancitizens and its base there,quoting an unidentifiedRussian navy official, but didnot give a precise date.

The official said the shipswould carry an unspecified

Activists reported renewed shelling on several neighbourhoods in the central city of Homs [AFP]

Israel has launched a searchfor up to four gunmen whocrossed the Egyptian

border and staged a deadlyambush, killing one Israeli andsparking a firefight which lefttwo "militants" dead, theIsraeli military said.

Monday's incident occurredaround 6am local time (03:00GMT) when a group of up to sixgunmen opened fire on aconvoy of vehicles carryingIsraeli construction workers toa site where they are buildingpart of the vast border fence,the army said.

"Fire was opened at Israeliworkers during routineconstruction work on thesecurity fence between Israeland Egypt," a spokeswomanfor the army said, indicatingtroops had returned fire killingtwo of the gunmen.

Another Israeli officialconfirmed an Israeli civilianconstruction worker was alsokilled in the ambush.

The remaining three or

Military official says up to four of a group of armed men are stillloose inside southern Israel [Reuters]

four gunmen fled the scene,with troops sealing off the areaand launching a massivemanhunt to find them, thearmy said.

number of marines to protectRussians in Syria and evacuatematerials from Tartus,Russia's only naval baseoutside the former SovietUnion, if necessary.

Russian President VladimirPutin is due to meet BarackObama, his US counterpart ata G20 summit to discussdifferences over what to doabout the bloody conflict.

Russia has shielded Syria'sregime from internationalsanctions over its crackdownon protests as well ascontinuing to provide it witharms.

DeadlyblasttargetsAfghanpoliceA suicide bomber has

detonated his explosivesin eastern Afghanistan,

killing four police officers andfive civilians.

Witnesses told Al Jazeerathat local police appeared to bethe target of Monday's attackin eastern Kapisa province,where the majority of France's3,500 troops in Afghanistanare stationed.

The explosion in Tagab, atroubled district of Kapisa,killed the local policecommander, his son, and twoof his guards, provincialgovernor Mehrabuddin Safitold the AFP news agency.

Seventeen civilians wereinjured in the blast in thetown's main bazaar, thegovernor said.

Most of the wounded wereAfghan civilians visiting thetown for the weekly marketday.

Homayoun Rashidi, a localpolice spokesman, said thebombing targeted a groupcommander in the force knownas the Afghan Local Police,which forms part of the Afghangovernment's security forcesbut does not come under thenational police set-up.

Monday's blast is the secondin as many weeks in Kapisaprovince.

Four French troops and twoof their Afghan interpreterswere killed in a suicide bombattack last weekend, which wasclaimed by the Taliban.

That attack led FrenchPresident Francois Hollande tocall for the withdrawal ofFrench troops from the CentralAsian nation starting fromJuly .

"Three or maybe fourterrorists are still inside Israeliterritory and we are currentlytrying to find them," thespokeswoman told the AFPnews agency, indicating thatthe army had declared thearea a closed military zone.

Local residents wereordered to stay inside theirhomes which lie severalkilometres from the border andvery close to the site of theambush, officials said.

The site of the ambush liesabout 30km from thesouthernmost point of the GazaStrip.

General Yoav Mordechai,the army's official spokesmansaid a "group of terrorists" hadinfiltrated Israeli territoryalong the border and staged anambush for the convoy.

"These terrorists opened fire

and used explosive devices andalso apparently used anti-tankmissiles against vehicleswhich were transportingworkers who were building thesecurity fence along theborder," he told Israel's armyradio.

"Soldiers then arrived atthe scene and opened fire."

"All the sector where theincident took place has beenclosed and we are carrying outsearches to ensure there are nomore terrorists in Israeliterritory," he said.

The border incidentoccurred 48 hours after tworockets were fired from Sinaiinto southern Israel, hittingclose to the Negev desert townof Mitzpe Ramon and nearOvda, which lies some 40kmnorth of Eilat, causing nodamage or casualties.

a ferocious bull. Whoever standsin its way is violently bullied andconsigned to the trash bin ofhistory. But Lawan, the oncewell respected ‘Mr Integrity’, hashimself and his greed to blamefor all this. In present-dayNigeria politicians have theeasiest access to free money.Compared to the electorate, theordinary people that defied allodds to vote them in they(politicians) live in a differentworld and, therefore, don’t carea hoot whether the people arehungry and dying or theysurvive. They don’t carewhether hospitals are certifiedmortuaries and roads are deathtraps. They care not one bitwhether there is electricity orpeople generate their own powerby means of generators oozingout excessive pollutants that putgenerations at risk of lung

Contd. from Back Page

On the eve of his suspensionover his failure to properlyhandle the ethno-religious crisisin his state, especially hislukewarm to the YelwanShendam ethnic cleansing,Joshua Dariye had reportedlybeen advised by a Senator thathe could get the president torescind his position if he (Dariye)paid him (the Senator) a certainfee. On the night before thespeech in which PresidentObasanjo announced Dariye’ssuspension from office, I was told,the embattled governor ferriedunspecified amount of money toAbuja, which was delivered tothe Senator. But to Dariye’sutter disbelief the presidentsuspended him from officedespite paying the fee theSenator demanded. Althoughthe former governor has sincetaken back his pound of flesh thematter was never given the sortof publicity it deserved. Severalof such brazen extortions gounreported not because they arenot important or the victimsdon’t matter but because suchhappenings are regarded asbusiness as usual. This explainswhy, even though one finds itdifficult to believe FemiOtedola’s story of “stingoperation” to rope in thosepressuring him to pay up and bescreened out of the black list, oneis also very hesitant to trustFarouk Lawan’s side of the story.

Farouk Lawan, one of thelongest serving members of thehouse, should have known betterthan taking the bull by its tail.Corruption in Nigeria is, indeed,

cancer. They only think ofthemselves and themselvesalone and are very willing tosteal as much as they can evenwhen they are certain they haveamassed much more than theyand their successive generationsever need. This mindless greedwas certainly at play whenFarouk Lawan opted to play thegame with people who are, asevents now clearly show, clearlyhis superiors in evil plots.

I am not one of those whowould argue Farouk Lawan isinnocent or suggest he wastrapped by Femi Otedola or anycabal. There’s no doubting thefact that the cabal desperatelywanted the subsidy reportrubbished. Unknown to Lawan,however, Otedola wanted tohave his cake and eat it too. Sohe colluded with securityagencies to record his exchanges

with ‘Mr Integrity’ and the restis what we all know now. Butsomething tells me there is moreto it. It is possible that manyothers were involved in the dealor Farouk and accomplice,Boniface Emanelo, might havedisclosed the deal to somecolleagues in the House in thehope that they would be given asoft landing if it boomerangedand if it didn’t they wouldquietly make the best of theirheist. But they are now left inthe cold, sacrificed for the goodof the PDP family.

The biggest victims areNigerians, who have for therepeated time missed theopportunity to tackle thosemilking them dry. This isbecause, while everyone is busyarguing over ‘Faroukgate’, thelooters are working hard to killthe report. In the end, asAttorney General and Minister ofJustice Mohammed Adokewarned earlier, no one will beprosecuted for the bigger crime,while Lawan and Emanelo wouldface a make-believe trial and befinally let off the hook likeBankole. Of course, ‘Mr Integrity’would be temporarily relegatedto some degree of politicalirrelevance. But before long hewould bounce back and with mostof us suffering from acuteamnesia, the ‘comeback kid’would be as clean as a newborn.That is the biggest tragedy.

Our Sunday, Sundayblood harvest

A few weeks ago someoneobserved on facebook that therehad been a lull in the series ofbombings in some parts of

Northern Nigeria. Perhaps it wasbecause the political climate hadbeen relatively calm. Soon camesome scandals and the bombingsresumed fully. It is now a Sunday,Sunday routine we have been toldwe must learn to live with. Whileinnocent Christian worshippersare attacked in churches eachweek, misguided characters takeit upon themselves to vent theiranger on innocent Muslims. Thebig issue is when will thegovernment act responsibly toprotect the lives and propertiesof Nigerians? If the bomberstarget churches each Sundaywhy is the government not ableto deploy troops (includingpolicemen) to protect innocentworshippers? And even aftersuch bombs have gone off and weall know there will be reprisalattacks, why is the governmentnot proactive enough to preventor minimise violent reactions?Those behind this mindless bloodspill surely have a reason for it. Ifthey are hoping to dismember thecountry by provoking civil warthen they are almost succeedingbecause at the minute thegovernment is nonchalantlywatching as total breakdown oflaw and order spreads across thecountry. While the bombings andreprisal killings continued onSunday in Kaduna, in far awayEdo State suspected cultists andmilitants flexed muscles leadingto the beheading of two. What acountry!

Musa Aliyu wrote fromDesmond Tutu Centre forWar and Peace Studies,Liverpool Hope University,Hope Park, Liverpool, L169JD, UK.

“The biggest victims are Nigerians, whohave for the repeated time missed the

opportunity to tackle those milking them dry.This is because, while everyone is busy

arguing over ‘Faroukgate’, the looters areworking hard to kill the report. In the end, as

Attorney General and Minister of JusticeMohammed Adoke warned earlier, no one

will be prosecuted for the bigger crime,while Lawan and Emanelo would face a

make-believe trial and be finally let off thehook like Bankole

Weep for Nigeria, not ‘Mr. Integrity’


Police stand-off as Chinese man dangles daughter,3, out of sixth-floor window after arguing with wifeThis is the moment a father

dangled his terrifiedthree-year-old daughter

out of a sixth-floor window afterhaving a heated argument withher mother.

The drama unfurled inGuangzhou, capital of southernChina's Guangdong province,just days after the family hadmoved into the flat.

Neighbours said that theman opened the window at about10.30am, and then calmly saton the edge while dangling hisdaughter above the drop below.

He would occasionallysupport her with his foot, but formost of the time held onto herby just one arm. The mothercould be heard shouting frominside the apartment.

Neighbours called theemergency services and, whenthey arrived, firefightersquickly set up an air cushionbelow.

Meanwhile, police enteredthe apartment to reason withthe man, who was allegedlyunder the influence of drugs.

During their negotiationsthey suddenly rushed theoffender and were able to pull thelittle girl to safety.

Dangling: He would occasionally support her with his foot, but formost of the time held onto her by just one arm

Don't look down: The drama unfurled in Guangzhou, capital ofsouthern China's Guangdong province, just days after the familyhad moved into the flat

Bundled: The man was detained by police after the stand-off


Diesel exhaust fumes are ‘major cancerrisk’, says World Health Organisation

evidence, urged people acrossthe world to reduce exposure todiesel fumes as much aspossible.

‘The (expert) working groupfound that diesel exhaust is acause of lung cancer and alsonoted a positive association withan increased risk of bladdercancer,’ it said in a statement.

The decision is a result of aweek-long meeting ofindependent experts whoassessed the latest scientificevidence on the cancer-causingpotential of diesel and gasolineexhausts.

It puts diesel fumes in thesame risk category as noxioussubstances such as asbestos,arsenic, mustard gas, alcoholand tobacco.

‘It’s on the same order ofmagnitude as passive smoking,’said Kurt Straif, director of theIARC department that evaluates

Diesel engine exhaustfumes cause cancer andbelong in the same

potentially deadly category asasbestos, arsenic and mustardgas, according to the WorldHealth Organisation.

The France-basedInternational Agency forResearch on Cancer (IARC), partof the WHO, has reclassifieddiesel exhausts from ‘probable’carcinogens to a group ofsubstances that have definitelinks to cancer.

Research has shown thatregular exposure to diesel fumesis as likely to cause cancer aspassive smoking.

Health officials have nowcalled for governments to act on‘cleaning-up’ the fumes emittedfrom vehicle exhausts.

The experts, who said theirdecision was unanimous andbased on ‘compelling’ scientific WHO have raised the status of diesel exhaust from 'probable carcinogen' to carcinogen

cancer risks.‘This could be another big

push for countries to clean upexhaust from diesel engines.’

Dr Lesley Walker, director ofcancer information at CancerResearch UK, said: ‘This report,from an international panel ofexperts, sends a clear messagethat diesel fumes can cause lungcancer.

‘The evidence of harmfulhealth effects of diesel,particularly for people exposedto high levels through their jobs,has been accumulating formany years.

‘But, the overall number oflung cancers caused by dieselfumes is likely to be a fraction ofthose caused by smokingtobacco.

‘In the UK there are alreadyguidelines in place to protectemployees from the harmfuleffects of diesel fumes. Employersand workers should takeappropriate action to minimiseexposure in the workplace.’

Christopher Portier,chairman of the IARC workinggroup, said the group’sconclusion ‘was unanimous, thatdiesel engine exhaust causeslung cancer in humans’.

‘Given the additional healthimpacts from diesel particulates,exposure to this mixture ofchemicals should be reducedworldwide,’ he said in astatement.

The group pointed to a largeU.S study published in March bythe US National CancerInstitute. That paper analysed12,300 miners for severaldecades starting in 1947.Researchers found that minersheavily exposed to diesel exhausthad a higher risk of dying fromlung cancer.

Although diesel engineexhaust was defined by IARC asprobably carcinogenic tohumans - group 2A - in 1989,an advisory group hadrepeatedly called for a re-evaluation since 1998.

The announcement hascaused consternation among car

and truck manufacturers, whoclaim that diesel fuel engines areconstantly being refined.

The global auto industry hadargued diesel fumes should begiven a less high-risk rating toreflect tighter emissionsstandards.

Reacting to the decision,Allen Schaeffer, executivedirector of the Washington-basedDiesel Technology Forum saiddiesel engine and equipmentmakers, fuel refiners andemissions control technologymakers have invested billions ofdollars in research intotechnologies and strategies toreduce emissions.

‘New technology dieselengines, which use ultra-lowsulphur diesel fuel, advancedengines and emissions controlsystems, are near zero emissionsfor nitrogen oxides,hydrocarbons and particulatematter,’ he said in a statement.

Alan Baum, principal of Baumand Associates in Michigan, saidit is unlikely that the IARC reportwill cause companies to changeplans for expansion of diesel fuelin the United States.

About 5.5 per cent of newautos, including light-dutypickup trucks, sold in the UnitedStates run on diesel, said Baum,and he said that figure isexpected to rise to 8 or 9 percentby 2015.

IARC said it had consideredrecent advances in technologywhich had cut levels ofparticulates and chemicals inexhaust fumes, particularly indeveloped economies, but said itwas not yet clear how thesemight translate into healtheffects.

‘Research into this questionis needed,’ it said.

‘In addition, existing fuelsand vehicles without thesemodifications will take manyyears to be replaced,particularly in less developedcountries, where regulatorymeasures are currently also lessstringent.’

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

Why meditation helps you focusmood, experiencing reducedlevels of anger, depression,anxiety and fatigue. They alsohad lower levels of the stresshormone cortisol.

Study leader ProfessorMichael Posner, from theUniversity of Oregon, whocarried out the original USresearch, said: ‘This study givesus a much more detailed pictureof what it is that is actuallychanging.

‘We did confirm the exactlocations of the white-matterchanges that we had foundpreviously. And now we showthat both myelination and axondensity are improving.

‘The order of changes wefound may be similar to changesfound during brain developmentin early childhood, allowing anew way to reveal how suchchanges might influenceemotional and cognitivedevelopment.’

The findings are reported inthe journal Proceedings of theNational Academy of Sciences.

In their conclusions, thescientists wrote: ‘This dynamicpattern of white matter changeinvolving the anterior cingulatecortex, a part of the brainnetwork related to self-regulation, could provide ameans for intervention to

Just a month of meditationtraining alters brain wiringin ways that could open the

door to new treatments formental disorders, research hasshown.

Scientists looked at the effectsof integrative body-mindtraining (IBMT) on two groupsof university students.

After just four weeks, or 11hours, of training scans showedphysical changes in the brainsof the volunteers.

Nerve fibres, known as ‘whitematter’, became denser,providing greater numbers ofbrain-signalling connections. Atthe same time there was anexpansion of myelin, theprotective fatty insulationsurrounding nerve fibres.

The effects were seen in theanterior cingulate cortex regionof the brain, which helpsregulate behaviour.

Poor nerve activity in thispart of the brain is associatedwith a range of mental problems,including attention deficitdisorder, dementia, depression,and schizophrenia.

The study built on previousresearch based on magneticresonance imaging (MRI) scansthat first highlighted brainchanges induced by IBMT.

Scientists revisited resultsfrom two 2010 studies, taking acloser look at what the scansrevealed.

One involved 45 US studentsfrom the University of Oregon;the other 68 students fromChina’s Dalian University ofTechnology.

The researchers foundgreater density of axons, ornerve fibres, after two weeks ofIBMT training, but no change inmyelin formation.

After a month both increasesin axon density and myelin wereseen.

Students undergoing IBMTalso reported improvements in

improve or prevent mentaldisorders.’

Neuroscientist Dr ElenaAntonova, from the Institute ofPsychiatry, King’s CollegeLondon, said: ‘The findings of thisstudy are potentially good newsfor all of us. If as little as 11 hoursof mindfulness training makesthe brain wiring more prolificand better insulated, thensimply by being mindful, whichis accessible to anyone at anytime, we might enjoy a lifetimeof mental clarity and emotionalstability.’

Dr Eva Cyhlarova, head ofresearch at the Mental HealthFoundation, said: ‘This study isanother example of brainneuroplasticity in adulthood andhow with some simpletechniques we can affect itsstructure as well as its function.

‘Furthermore, these changesappear to lead to improvementsin mood, which is consistent withself-regulation being a corefeature of many mental healthproblems.

‘If such a simple and cheapmethod of training showspositive results, there is hope formore people with mental healthproblems to be able to accesssupport through affordableinterventions.’

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

Becomingmindful: Thestudy givesa muchmoredetailedpicture ofwhatchanges it ismaking inthe brain


Yuguda’s government lacks focus,says CPC’s 2011 guber candidate

What is your assessment ofone year after the 2011 generalelection?

Well, it is sad to say thatthings have gone frombad to worse because

clearly things have deterioratedover the last one year in terms ofsecurity, in terms of socialservices. When you look ateducation, health, infrastructure,and for us in this part of Nigeriawe lack potable water, you knowthings have deteriorated andunfortunately we are notgenerating the same level ofrevenue from crude oil sales,crude oil receipt that we used toget in the past, so clearly thingsare bad.

You think the PDP ledgovernment is not doinganything to address thisproblem and how would youassess their efforts?

Well, even if they are, it ishaving the right outcome. Yousee, sometimes the fundamentalproblem is lack of planning; lackof definitive policy programme.When you aspire to a positions,particularly, elective positions it’salways good to have aprogramme; something that youcan implement within yourtenure; if it is four years, thenwithin the four years you shouldfocus on things that you know youcan deliver within those fouryears and that will have animpact. There will be otherthings, of course that are longterm that you can also initiate butNigeria is in such a bad situationat the moment that people arelooking for quick actions; youknow which will instill confidenceand it’s based on that that you willbe able to deliver either mediumor short term goals.

How can you assess theefforts of the NigerianJudiciary in ensuring credibleelection in Nigeria?

It is unfortunate the waythings are being run at themoment. One will not inspireconfidence in the system and thereis room for improvement incertain procedural issues thatneeded to be addressed. Judiciaryis the bedrock for any system andparticularly democratic system,so when people begin to loseconfidence in the Judiciary thatthey can seek redress through the

Hon. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar

INTERVIEWjudicial system, then you know itcompounds the problem and Ithink this is where we have foundourselves today in Nigeria.Because I have been through it andI can honestly say that what I wentthrough. If we are to continue, wewill make progress in this country.

The Northern part of thecountry, especially north easthas suffered FederalGovernment neglect.

You see, sometimes we makethe mistake of summing all ourproblems together and placing theresponsibility on the federalgovernment; there are three tiersof government, there is the federalgovernment, there is state andthere is also the local government. Local government are the closestto the people; that is the lowestlevel, their roles are clearly definedin the constitution of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria and thefunctions they are supposed toperform impact more directly onpeople than the other two tiers ofgovernment. Now we have asituation where at the localgovernment level, if you look atthe six (6) states, don’t want to talkwithout siting facts, if you look atthe 2007 survey conducted byNGOs about local governmentelections, virtually all the six statesof the zone when local governmentelections were conducted, theruling parties in those states whocontrolled the state governmentwon 100%. They didn’t lose asingle local government toopposition parties and this calls forconcern because clearly there isdissent; if you don’t allow dissentto voice opinion’ then youundermine the systemcompletely.

Then you know in a situationwhere popular legitimacy does notexist, then people begin to revertto other means to avenge theirdissent towards the power that isand this is where we have foundourselves today in the North EastRegion. Secondly, you have asituation where if you look from1999 to present, the quantum ofmonies that have been disbursedto state governments, to localgovernment, I think is more thanenough to have felt the impact Butnow we find ourselves in a diresituation and you know we arenow being distracted by the issueof revenue formula for sharingcrude oil proceeds and all that. Yesit is an issue that needs to beaddressed because you know it’slopsided but even with the smaller

amount of money that this zonehas received, what is the impact?

And this is where I think weneed to task those in position ofpower, the governors, the stateHouse of Assemblies, the LocalGovernment Administratorsbecause the problem is more oftenin the north. You find that thosein charge of the localgovernments were not elected;they are appointed, by theirbosses who can remove them attheir will. So we need to putpressure on them to ensuredemocracy to being taken to thegrassroot level before we startaddressing revenue sharingformula issues.

If you look at the 2012Appropriation act, in almostevery sectors the North East zonegot the highest allocation offunds; we keep saying thatTaraba state alone can feed thewhole country, it can be the foodbasket of Nigeria but you have asituation where the North Eastzone is not even topping the chartin the agricultural sector.

How can you assessGovernor Isa Yuguda’sadministration in Bauchi state

I don’t think, it will be right ifI asses it. Of course, because Icontested against them it willappear as if I am just been biased,I think you have to look, you have

to share in what the people aresaying as a journalist and I amsure you have heard, you are herein Bauchi you have heard thecomplaints. There is lack of focus,that is what the people are sayingthat their priority is not streetlights and street bumps, orpedestrian bridge; their priorityis water. Bauchi township itselfdoes not have water; there is nohome that you go to and open thetap and you see water running.Even though Gubi Dam is right,there is no water coming throughit to Bauchi state. Now thegovernment is saying that thealternative is drilling boreholes, Ithink drilling 81 or 82 boreholesor so which even the lay man whohas no knowledge of waterengineering will tell you that it isnot available substitution forwater provision, you don’t providemetropolis of a size of Bauchi townwith water through boreholes. Ifyou go out to the ruralcommunities you will see thatpeople are drinking the samewater as their animals, you findpeople drinking water that has cowfeaces, so you know we are gettingfrom bad to worse. An Airport isbeen built, even though we haveGombe Airport that is about 45-50 minutes away. So really shouldour focus be building an Airportnow?

Where do you thinkNigeria can improve in orderto have a credible electioncome 2015?

Well, if an opportunitypresents itself once again to haveconstitutional amendments, Ihave said in a different forum thatit would, in my opinion be a goodidea to have a situation where thegovernment steps down a fewmonths before an election and weshould have an interimadministration that will overseethe conduct of elections. Notunlike what exist in Bangladeshbecause the situation is such that,you know it is almost impossibleto have free and fair electionswith an incumbent on the seat ofgovernment with all the securityagencies under his control; withINEC itself being in support anddancing to the tunes of theincumbent. So if we have this sortof radical approach to it thenperhaps we will begin to seechanges. Because we don’t realizeit but you know most of the issuesthat we are facing today,security, under-developmentand so on, all go back to the issuesof lack of free and fair elections.Lack of room for dissent and thewinner takes all, zero sum game;if you look at the security, thesecurity problems are facing forinstance in the North-east can allgo back to the sort of unholyalliances you find being forgedbetween people in positions ofpower and thugs and othergroups where you know deals arestruck.

Are you satisfied with themethod been taken by thepresent administration intackling the problem ofyouths?

I don’t have enoughknowledge to answer thatquestion because I honestly don’tsee anything being done so unlessthere is something being donethat I am not aware of, I don’t seeanything and I don’t see Bauchioutperforming other states via avis the YOUWIN programme. Iknow that the government hasthe YOUWIN programme and allof that, I don’t see the numberssoaring in Bauchi in terms ofyouth employment whichmeans we are not capitalizing onthem because sometime theprogrammes are there at least atthe federal level for us to actuallyeven capitalize on and we are notdoing that so we seem to becompletely a sleep.

Hon. Yusuf Maitama Tuggar, a former member of the House of Representatives who was alsothe Congress for Progressive Change (CPC)’s governorship candidate in the 2011 generalelection in Bauchi state in this interview with Ahmed Kaigama assesses the performance ofGovernor Isa Yuguda in the last one year and submits that his government lacks focus.


I’ ll win Edo governorshippoll – Oshiomhole

The Governor of Edo state, Adams Oshiomhole hasvowed to ride on the good will of the

electorates and return to his office as theelected governor after the July 14 2012Governorship election in spite deliberateattempts by opposition to stop him.

Oshiomhole who commended theIndependent Electoral Commission (INEC)Chairman, ,Prof Attahiru Jega, for histransparency in conducting credible electionsin the country made the assertion yesterdayat a one day sensitization workshop organized

by the office of the Special Adviser to thePresident on Inter Party Affairs for Edo statePolitical Parties and Stakeholders in the 2012Gubernatorial Election .

Oshiomhole, who described the Workshopas timely and necessary, however, tasked,the Presidency, the Police, the Army andINEC to embark on more sensitizastion inensuring that most credible and freestelection in the state come July 14th polls.

“I must submit that INEC, the Police, theArmy and the Presidency are the ones whoneed to be sensitized about issues affectingthe electoral process in the state “he said.

He warned that the use of Adhoc staff in

the INEC arrangement must be screenedaccording to guidelines of the commissionadding that the government andstakeholders must put Nigerians first, addingthat people in some quarters have beenthreatening and boasting to rig the Julyelections with inciting statements thatwhoever was aggrieved should go to court.

The Governor who personally wrote todiplomatic missions world over and all Civilsocieties and International Observers to comeand monitor the election said warnedagainst any act calculated at rigging thepolls stressing that the election would be wonand lost at the polling centers.

He said that the winner of the electiondoes not matter to him but the that theprocess that produced the winner will be theissues.

The National Chairman,Republican Party of Nigeria(RPN), Alhaji Shittu Mohammed, said

political parties must ensure internaldemocracy to reduce corruption andguarantee quality leadership in the country.

Mohammed made the remark on Mondayin an interview with the News Agency ofNigeria (NAN) in Abuja.

“Internal democracy among politicalparties can ensure quality leadership andalso curb corruption and issues of moneypolitics

“Equality of membership would givethem a sense of belonging and if the leader iscorrupt and candidates that wins an election

Internal democracy can curb corruption — RPN Chairman

Gov. Peter Obi has advised councilchairmen in Onitsha North,Onitsha South and Ogbaru as well as

security agencies to sanitise the Upper Iwekaaxis of the commercial city.

Obi, who gave the directive yesterday afterinspecting the area, said that the work wouldalso cover km 1 of Onitsha-Enugu the FederalHighway.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)reports that Onitsha North, Onitsha South andOgbaru council areas share a commonboundary at the Upper Iweka axis ofthe metropolis.

NAN also reports that the area had beentaken over by weeds, refuse dumps and Indianhemp smoking hoodlums in recent times.

Obi tasks council chairmen, security agencies on cleanliness of Onitsha

The Accord Party (AP) in Kebbi hasadvised the PDP government inthe state to embark on job creation

to reduce unemployment and restivenessamong the youths.

Its Chairman, Mohammed Abdullahi, toldthe News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in BirninKebbi on Monday that the establishment ofskills acquisition centres and necessary supportfor agriculture were needed to reduceunemployment.

“Any investment for the youthis worthwhile, considering the fact that theyouths are the heart and springboard forsustainable development.”

Abdullahi said the Accord Party hadrecognised the success recorded within the pastfive years by the ruling PDP government butcalled for the involvement of other groupstowards a harmonised governance.

The chairman said the party would givecommendation when necessary and wouldalso offer objective criticisms, especially on thepolicies and programmes of the ruling party,devoid of selfish interests.

He said the party would contest in the forthcoming local government election scheduledfor September 2012.

“The Accord party has the capability towin elections in an atmosphere of free and fairelections and we would work towards winningat the grass roots level,’’ the chairman said.

Accord Partyin Kebbi tasksPDP govt onunemployment

Chieftain of the NationalTransformation Party (NTP),Mr. John Dara, yesterday

commended the Federal Government forrenaming the University of Lagos after the lateChief Moshood Abiola.

Dara, the Chairman of the Board ofTrustees of NTP, made the commendation inan interview with the News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) in Abuja.

“Honouring late Chief MKO Abiola ispolitically correct and it is fair. There is none ofthe choices being suggested that will not becriticised.

“My take is that it has happened and wejust have to accept it as we are a nation insearch of heroes; we should make the best of it,’’he said.

Dara said that students of the universityshould appreciate the contributions of late ChiefMKO Abiola towards democracy in thecountry, as the renaming had not changedthe standard of the institution.

“Chief MKO Abiola was a hero of democracyand that should not be taken away as he hadcontributed toward the progress of the country.

“Although there have been differentperceptions as to what Abiola stood for, thatshould not be the issue as the late business iconfought for the restoration of democraticgovernance in his country,’’ he said.

He advised the students to pursue issuesthat would affect their education positivelyand forget about the renaming of theinstitution.

NAN reports that the University of Lagoswas renamed Moshood Abiola University byPresident Goodluck Jonathan during thenational broadcast to mark the DemocracyDay on May 29.

Political partylauds renamingof UNILAG afterMKO Abiola

is not given the party ticket, definitely thatcould lead to crisis,’’ he said.

Mohammed said corruption would becurbed when the leaders of the parties liveby example and conduct party primarieson merit and not favouritism.

According to him, political parties shouldbe at the heart of a country’s democraticmachinery, pointing out that people cannotthink of democracy without parties playingcrucial roles in democratic consolidation.

Mohammed said electoral creditabilityin multi-party politics was crucial insustaining democratic governance.

The chairman added that the partiesalso provide the citizens with clear choices

during elections.He therefore advised politicians to regard

political parties as vehicles of promotingnational development and not avenues formaking money.

“Political parties should be set up forvarious ideological matters; it could beon issues affecting the society or improvingtheir standard of living.

“ If tomorrow comes and people saylets vote for this party, it will be based onideology.”

Mohammed stressed that the FederalGovernment has no business fundingpolitical parties, saying parties ought to gothrough evolutionary processes to grow.

Obi said that the state government hadresolved to give the axis a new look andcheck the dirty habits of people and traders inthe area.

“We are tired of complaints and peopletagging this place as a dirty place due to theattitude of some people living in the area.

“I have directed the chairmen within thisarea to ensure that their portions are kept neat;while the law enforcement agencies, includingthe army would go after those who refuse to dothe right thing by keeping the place clean.

“This is the gate way to the state and theentire South-East and we want to give itthe special attention it deserves.

“Those selling on the road as well asmechanics working on the road should move

into the places meant for them; while we willnot tolerate parking of vehiclesindiscriminately under any guise.’’

The governor warned that he would beback within one week to monitor theimplementation of his directive.

“When traders in Onitsha travel to otherplaces beyond the state even to Calabar here,they behave themselves; but Onitsha is a placefor all sorts of rubbish.

“It will longer be business as usual withinthis gateway of the state.”

NAN reports that the governor wasaccompanied on the inspection by Lt. Col.Idongesit Akpan, the Second-in-Command atthe 302 Artillery Regiment, Onitsha, andother top security officers.

Edo state Governor, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, addresses members of the Nigeria Automobile Technicians Association, duringhis re-election campaign, recently at Ugbowo area of Benin City.

From Osaigbovo Iguobaro, Benin


Local Governments in Kogithat fails to support andfund development offices

will forfeit developmentprojects funded by donoragencies under the auspices ofthe state Community andSocial Development ProjectsAgency.

Mr. James Odiba, GeneralManager of the agencydisclosed this on Friday inLokoja during a step-down

training programme on“Monitoring and EvaliationSystem Instrument/DataCollection Method” forDevelopment Officers.

Odiba decried the non-challant attitude of some localgovernment administrators todevelopment the issues andwarned that his office wouldnot hesitate to stop or canceloutright on-going communityprojects in defaulting councils.

He commended some LocalGovernments for keeping

functional DevelopmentOffices and accounts addingthat projects meant forcommunities in erring areaswould be diverted to areaswhose councils provided theneeded environment.

Odiba said there was needto judiciously utilise donoragencies’ funds fordevelopment of ruralcommunities to reducepoverty adding thatbenefitting Local Governmentsmust make necessary

The Independent NationalElectoral Commission(INEC) on Monday said it

would not allow itself to be usedas a clearing house for movingslush funds by any politicalparty.

Mr Kayode Idowu, ChiefPress Secretaryto INEC Chairman made thisknown in Abuja while reactingto a report that the Peoples’Democratic Party (PDP) hadallegedly approved N13 millionto host INEC auditors.

Idowu said: “INEC isdisassociating itself from suchgesture and any other relatedproposal or programme.

“If anybody for whateverreason is looking for a head to tiean expenditure proposal that iswithin the PDP which hasnothing to do with INEC, suchperson should look for othermeans.

“INEC will not allow its nameto be dragged into the mud byany individual or organisation,as INEC will continue to remain

an unbiased umpire.”Idowu said it was the duty of

INEC to audit the financialaccounts of every political partyand that the exercise wouldsoon commence.

He said the commission hadbeen conducting suche x e r c i s e s i n d e p e n d e n t l ywithout receiving anycontribution or gratificationfrom any of the political parties.

The spokesman assuredNigerians that thecommission had been

INEC not a clearing house forpolitical parties’ fund — Official

L-R: Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu tambuwal, with member, House of representatives for Ogbaru Federal Constituency,Hon. Afam Ogene, during a reception for the latter, on Sunday in Atani, Anambra state. Photo: NAN

The Traditional ruler ofOmupo, a town in Ifelodunlocal government area of

Kwara state, Oba Yaqub AdebayoBuhari and prominent indigenesof the ancient town have appealedto the Kwara state government tocome to their aid in resuscitatingsome of its infrastructural facilitiesbuilt by the community that aredecaying because of lack of fund

to maintain them. The Olomu, who made the

appeal at the weekend during theOmupo day celebration noted thatfacilities on medicare, education,water supply feeder, roads, townhall which were built by thecommunities are declining.

”With this state ofinfrastructure and facilities, I amsure you will agree with me thatas the population of this towncontinues to grow, the existing

infrastructure and facilities havebecome acutely inadequate tosupport the well-being of thepeople. They, therefore, eitherneed to be replaced or augmented.

”Furthermore, we note thatno community develops by theefforts of its own people alone; theinflux of non-indigenes forcommerce and other social andeconomic activities are known todrive other developmentindices”.

Omupo monarch, indigenes seek Kwara govt. patronage

conducting the auditing of thepolitical parties within the limitsof the law and based on strictethical professional bases.

I d o w u c a l l e dfor investigation into the allegedN13 million earmarked by thePDP to host the INEC auditors.

He said, “the report is good,as it will keep INEC on the alertto guard against possible excusesthat any party may want to usefor curious expenditure in thenearest future; so to a greatextent it is very useful.”

counterpart contributions likethe development offices.

Also speaking, Engr JonahAttah, Manager Monitoringand Evaluation of the agencysaid monitoring was focal tothe success or failure ofprojects.Attah stated that thetraining was very importantsaying that though the DeskOfficers were managing well,there were few lapses thatneeded to be addressed toenable execution of qualityprojects

From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

The Ekiti state Governmentand the GautengProvincial Parliament of

South Africa have begun abilateral cooperation aimed atreviving the spirit of Pan-Africanism and sharing of bestpractices.

Receiving the Speaker,Gauteng Parliament, Mrs LindweMazeko and her delegation in Ado Ekiti on Monday, Ekiti StateGovernor, Dr. Kayode Fayemi,said his administration waspassionate about developing thestate to international standards.

He welcomed the newrelationship and said the globalaspiration of the state stemmedfrom the fact that “it is bigger thansome African countries, includingLesotho and Cape Verde.”

Fayemi also expressed thedesire of the state to expand itsbusiness relations with SouthAfrica to include politicalrelations.

The governor told thedelegation that Mantis CollectionGroup, a South Africaninvestment and facility company,had taken over the managementof Ikogosi Resort as a fall out of therelations.

He said the Memorandum ofUnderstanding (MoU) which thestate government signed withSouth Africa was to deependemocratic experiment to enablethe two parties share best globalpractices.

Fayemi reiterated thecommitment of his administrationto make poverty a thing of the pastwith a view to improving the lotsof the people.

He said it was against thisbackdrop that hisadministration embarked on thesocial security scheme for theelderly, a project which, heobserved, was the first of its kindin Nigeria.

In her remarks, the Speaker ofParliament of the GautengProvince, Mazeko said theparliament cherished thepartnership between the twoparties and promised toconsolidate the relationship.

In furtherance of thiscooperation, she said, the GautengParliament had begun work on theissues raised by Governor Fayemiduring his visit to South Africa.

Ekiti, Gautengprovincialparliament,begin bilateralcooperation

From Olanrewaju Lawal,Ilorin The Chairman of Omupo dayPlanning Committee, ProfessorRaphael D. Olarinoye, also in hisaddress urged state governmentto come to the rescue of thecommunity in the area of health,education stressing that thefacilities at the Cottage Hospital,a rural Health Centre wasnothing to write home about.

He noted that there was nodrug at the center while theclassrooms of the two primary

schools in the town were decliningmaking learning difficult for thepupils.

While speaking with ourcorrespondent, the National PROof Nigeria Prison Service, Mr. BodeOdeyemi wondered why the stategovernment abandoned thecommunity despite always givingprominent support for theadministration stressing that mostof the facilities in the town weremade through indigenous efforts.

Agency warns Kogi LG’s over funding of devt. programmes


APGA remains alive, stronger — Abia chairmanThe Chairman of All

Progressives GrandAlliance (APGA) in

Abia, Mr Nnanna Ukaegbu,says APGA is undaunted overthe PDP design to destabiliseits stronghold in the SouthEast.

Ukaegbu told the NewsAgency of Nigeria (NAN) inAba on Monday that PDP’snegative activities againstAPGA in Enugu and Abia

States had rather helped theparty to be more alive andstronger.

He said that the PDP inAbia was in the habitof celebrating false defection ofsome of its members tothe party.

Ukaegbu recalleda recent story which said that‘APGA is dead’, saying that thestory was credited to Gov.Sullivan Chime of Enugu

state.“If APGA is dead, according

to Gov.Chime, why is hedirecting South East WorkingCommittee of PDP to work hardfor the success of PDPin Anambra and Imo in 2014and 2015 respectively.

“I would not like to hold briefon behalf of my party, APGA isgetting stronger by the day inthe South East geo-politicalzone, the steps taken by Enugu

and Abia state governments inrecent time testified to thisfact.’’

Ukaegbu said that thedefectors received by PDP inAbia were APGAmembers suspended last yearfor anti-party activities.

“The defectors arepurely political force whobrought nothing to our party.Of course, you know they arePDP torn coats. They are just

The Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP) hasexpressed its dismay over

the relentless terrorist activitieswhich have resulted in the deathof several innocent Nigerians.

In its reaction to thecoordinated incidents of suicideattacks in Zaria and Kaduna overthe weekend, the NationalPublicity Secretary of the Party,Chief Olisa Metuh said thatunderstandably the level ofkillings and attack were boundto cause despondence inNigerians but also assured themthat this situation will soon end.

The Party called onNigerians to stand strong in theface of adversity. He added “wesurvived the civil war, wesurvived the militarydictatorship and we have overthe years overcome severalchallenges which would havebrought a weaker country to itsknees. Nigeria will remainstrong and united until this toopasses.”

Chief Metuh also commendedPresident Goodluck Jonathan forremaining resolute in the fightagainst terrorism inspite of theconcerted efforts to underminethe unity and peacefulcoexistence in Nigeria. The PDPspokesman called on Nigeriansto stand firm and defeat theagents of retrogression inNigeria saying “it is time for allwell meaning Nigerians to riseup and demonstrate the trueNigerian spirit by refusing to beprovoked into taking irrationalreprisal attacks against oneanother which will furtherexacerbate the problem ratherthan solve it.”

Nigeria, according to the PDPhas “advanced too far as aunited, peaceful and democraticnation and can never surrenderits sovereignty regardless of thechallenges presented by thecurrent rise in terrorism. ThePDP restated its government’scommitment to overcome thesetrials and realise our God givenpotential.

Finally, The PDP appealed toall Nigerians to remain theirbrother’s keepers and alert thelaw enforcement agencies ofstrange movements within theircommunities saying “thesecurity of lives and propertyshould be the concern ofeveryone”.

Nigeria willsurvive terroristattacks, says PDP

Gaidam inaugurates 20-man c’ttee onspecial empowerment programmeIn order to reduce the level of

unemployment among theyouths in Yobe state, with

special emphasis on addressing theunemployment problemsinvolving over 6,000 Diplomaholders through training,capacity building, sensitizationand development ofentrepreneurship skills, Yobe StateGovernor Alh. Ibrahim Gaidamhas inaugurated a 20 memberspecial empowerment committee.

The committee’s terms ofreference includes among otherthings, to advise government onhow best to engage the services ofthe Diploma holders in the state;

identify those serving or employedin any tier of government or havesecured jobs elsewhere; determinethose that require special skillsacquisition or training for self-employment, resettlement toolsand financial support and submitquarterly reports on theiractivities to government.

He noted that the crisis ofunemployment has taken a globaldimension that even the advancedeconomies are not immuned to thesocial problem as recent statisticsreleased by the InternationalLabour Organisation (ILO)indicates that unemploymentamong the youths is on the

increase the world over.This reality, he said, implies

that governments have to embarkon serious intervention measuresto reverse the trend adding that inYobe State, the new dimensionyouth unemployment hasattained poses serious social andsecurity challenges which have tobe contained.

He pointed out that theformation of the committee isinformed by the recent nationalsurvey conducted by the nationaldirectorate of employment whichreveals that there are over 68,000youths who are not gainfullyemployed, ranging from

secondary school leavers, diplomaholders to first degree graduates, adevelopment he described asdisturbing.

He emphasized that theobjective of the stateempowerment programme is inconsonance with the its vision onyouths development as enunciatedin the Yobe State Socio-economicReform Agenda (YOSERA) whichaims at building a responsible,enlightened, robust andeconomically productive youthwho may in turn become patriotsand contribute to the developmentof the state in particular and thenation at large.

Senate President David Mark (middle), answering questions from journalists on the state of insecurity in the country, after an officialmeeting with President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday at the State House, in Abuja. Photo: Joe Oroye

Kogi LG election holds December 8

The government of Kogistate has announced thatit will hold elections into

the 21 local governments in thestate on December 8.

This was included in a press

briefing in Lokoja premises ofState Independent ElectoralCommission, SIEC, yesterday bythe permanent secretary, MrObaje Amedu, who said that noperson or group of personsshould thwart the state plans.

He said that "we are

prepared for election into thelocal councils of the state for thegrassroots to feel the impact ofthe government", noting,when the structure is notproperly laid, we all will be introuble".

Obaje said that this was a

like the dogs that return to theirvomits.’’

According to him, APGA isrepositioning for better andwould be the party to beat in2015 general elections.

Ukaegbu said that “APGAhas become a mass movementthat would not die just by theEnugu governor’s merepronouncement, APGA isengraved in the hearts of ourpeople.’’

By Lawrence Olaoye

follow up to the arrangementby the government to put inplace some people at the localgovernment area to monitorthe conduct of the electionrather than allowing allmanners of people to high-jackthe local councils

From Sam Egwu, Lokoja


Manchester City will beginthe defence of thePremier League title at

home to newly promotedSouthampton, while runners-upand rival Man United will keep adate with Everton.

The fixtures, that was releasedyesterday also threw upinteresting derby includingDecember 8 clash betweenManchester and Man City at theEtihad Stadium with the returnleg at Old Trafford on April 6.

The first Merseyside derby of

the season will take place atGoodison Park on October 27,while the north London derbybetween the Arsenal andTottenham is scheduled forNovember 17 at the Emirates.

Champions League winners,Chelsea, with Roberto di Mateoin charge travel to Wigan on theopening day and they travel tothe Emirates to play Arsenal onSeptember 29.

Liverpool’s new manager,Brendan Rodgers will begin thecampaign for glory with a trip toWest Brom, now managed byformer Reds Coach Steve Clarke.

Liverpool, whose poor homeform of last season was a factorin Kenny Dalgish was sacked,face Manchester City, Arsenaland Manchester United in theirfirst three home games.

Sunderland and Newcastle go

head-to-head on 20 October atthe Stadium of Light with theMagpies playing ManchesterUnited at Old Trafford on BoxingDay.

Manchester City face Norwichat home on the final day, withneighbours United travelling toWest Brom. Chelsea take onEverton at Stamford Bridge withArsenal finishing their season atNewcastle.

THE FIXTURESArsenal vs Sunderland

Man City vs SouthamptonFulham vs Norwich CityEverton vs Man UnitedQPR vs Swansea City

Newcastle Utd vs TottenhamWest Brom vs Liverpool

Wigan Athletic vs ChelseaReading vs Stoke City

West Ham Utd vs Aston Villa

EPL begins August 18 with Man City versus Southampton

Gbenga Ogunbote, Coach ofSunshine Stars

Baribote salutes home- based Eagles

Gbenga Ogunbote, the HeadCoach of Sunshine Stars,has said that the club would

represent the country well in theGroup stages of the CAF ChampionsLeague to match the expectationsof fans.

Ogunbote said yesterday in Lagos,

that the club has the right kind ofplayers in its fold to do the countryproud in Africa’s elite clubcompetition.

He said that the club’s slow startin the ongoing season, would not inany way affect the team’sperformance and added that theclub was gradually hitting its stridein the league.

The coach stressed that the clubstill has some outstanding matchesto play in the league, which couldhelp to shore up their position inthe league standings.

“Our fans are so expectant againstthe backdrop of our outstandingperformance last season, when welost out in the league title race inthe very last game of the season.

“The team is coming up graduallyand we hope to do well in ouroutstanding matches, which wouldhelp to improve our position in theleague standing.

“The CAF Champions League is a

The Chairman of the Nigeriapremier league(NPL) VictorBaribote, has saluted the

domestic league players in theSuper Eagles who sealed a place inthe next stage of the 2013 NationsCup qualifier after dismissing theWasps of Rwanda 2-0 in Calabar onSaturday.

Baribote, while congratulating

the victorious the Eagles, he praisedthe players for adapting quickly toStephen Keshi’s tactical apporachadding there are other goodplayers still within the league thatwould delight Keshi.

Baribote said that the Eagles’victory came at the right time as ithas elevated the status of thedomestic league some of whom haveearned raving headlines for theirimpressive performances.

He asserted the performance ofthe players has gingered theleadership of the NPL to workharder in the quest to restructurethe NPL and other necessarysystem all to improve the quality ofthe league.

“Now we can have a stamp ofauthority and claim that the playersunder Stephen Keshi, is takingshape, it is a gradual process andwe wish that this will continue,

since the Foreign -Based playershad failed the Nation in the past, “he said.

The Chairman, while admonishingthe Nigeria Football Federation,(NFF) to organise more internationalfriendlies for the Eagles, said suchgames would further strengthenthe squad and give the players theneeded international exposure.

He enjoined players and clubsofficials in the league to cooperatewith the NFF by making its playersavailable when invited to camp buildup process.

By Albert Akota

Sunshine Stars promise good outing in CAFChampions League

different ball game and we wouldwork hard to ensure that werepresent the country well in thecompetition,” he said.

Ogunbote also expressedconfidence in Sunshine Stars playersstressing that he has implicit trustin them and believes they have whatis needed to effectively prosecuteits the continental campaign as wellas the domestic league and possiblywin the league title which eludedthe team last season.

When asked about what the teamwas doing welfare wise to motivateits players, Ogunbote said that theteam’s administrative officer will bein a better position to answer sucha question.

“I am more disposed to answeringquestions on technical matters, andleave administration matters to thosein charge. I don’t dabble intoadministrative matters I can only talkon matters within my area ofcompetence,” Ogunbote said.

Stephen Keshi, Eagles ChiefCoach

The Super Eagles will know theiropponents for the final roundof qualifiers for the 2013 Africa

Cup of Nations when the draw willbe conducted on July 5, perhaps inJohannesburg, South Africa.

The draw for the final tournamentis slated for October 26, also in SouthAfrica.

According to CAF release

yesterday, 30 teams that are throughto the final round of the qualifierswill be ranked based on theirperformances during the last threeAfrica Cup of Nations (2008, 2010,and 2012) editions.

Two pots will be provided with thetop 15 teams matched against the15 teams in Pot 2 for a final playoffto be decided on knockout basisbetween September and October.

Hosts South Africa have

automatically qualified for the finaltournament, which kicks off onJanuary 19 with the final on February10.

Stephen Keshi will avoid the likesof defending champions Zambia,Cameroon, Ghana, Tunisia, IvoryCoast and Guinea, but are likely tobe drawn against Senegal orMorocco, DR Congo, Malawi, Algeria,or Uganda, among others that wouldbe in pot 2.

However, should Egypt turn thetables and reverse a 3-2 home lossat Central African Republic in theirsecond round qualifiers, they willmake it to Pot 1, meaning Moroccowill drop to Pot 2.

In the meantime, Nigeria coachStephen Keshi has disclosed hewishes to play an African team inAugust prior to the final qualifiersfor the 2013 AFCON, even as theNigeria Football Federation (NFF) siadit is studying a proposal for the SuperEagles to feature in an invitationaltournament in India in August.

But Keshi said he would prefer anAfrican opposition leading up to thecontinuation of the qualifying seriesin September.

“I will want to play against anotherAfrican team in August during theFIFA free window so as to preparethe team for the final round of thequalifiers,” Keshi said. The FIFAfriendly window is August 15.

Super Eagles may faceSenegal, Morocco, AlgeriaBy Patrick Andrew

2013 AFCON final qualifiers draw

The 2nd All Nigeria/Cross RiverState Athletics Championship willkick off in Calabar June 19 with

348 athletes to compete for availableprices in the male and femalecategory.

This was disclosed yesterday inCalabar by Chief Solomon Ogba, thePresident Athletics Federation ofNigeria (AFN), at a news conference,who disclosed that the AFN wouldspend close to N80 million on thechampionship, the 68th edition and thesecond in the three series sponsoredby the Cross River Government.

He said the championship would alsobe used as trials for the selection ofNigeria’s athletes to the LondonOlympic in July.

According to Ogba, the AFNexpects athletes to return fastertime at the three-day Calabar meetbilled for the U.J. Esuene Stadium.

“It is an Olympic year and the AFNexpects faster times from theathletes and for 2012, we are goingto have fewer athletes, no time forall-comers.

“We have raised the bar byinsisting that athletes must performat a particular level and getrewarded. We will only give money tothose athletes who deserve them, nomore grants to athletes.

“We have people with a lot oftalents but they keep playing with it.We are going to deal with currentform, we must raise the bar. Eitheryou are or you are not in when youare running elite sports,’’ he said.

He said that Gov. Liyel Imoke ofCross River has given assurances thateach Nigerian athlete that would makethe Olympic team would get 2,500dollars from the government.

He also said that a jackpot wouldbe won in this year’s edition. “We aregoing to have a jackpot. We haveincreased the jackpot money from N1million to N2 million.

“The jackpot for the men’s eventis 9.99 seconds and 10.99 as benchmark for women. It will run acrossthe board. The equivalent of 9.9 inthe long jump will be the jackpot.There will jack pot money in 400metres,’’ he said.

Earlier, Mr Patrick Ugbe, the CrossRiver Commissioner for Youth andSports, said the state was ready forthe championship.

“We are very ready for thechampionship; we have puteverything in place to make sure thatwe host a very successful event. Wewill continue to improve on ourperformance,’’ he said.

348 athletesexpected forCalabar Meet


Sen. Gbenga Aluko said that hewould be the last person todistract his son from playing

professional football for his club andcountry.

He said that in Calabar afterwatching his son, Omatsone Aluko,the Glasgow Rangers of Scotlandstriker play for Nigeria in the 2013African Cup of Nation’s qualifieragainst Rwanda at the U.J. EsueneStadium.

Nigeria’s Super Eagles defeatedRwanda’s Wasp 2-0 to qualify throughgoals from Ike Uche and Ahmed Musain the match where Aluko replacedUche Kalu in the second half.

The Senator, who oncerepresented Ekiti Southconstituency on the platform of thePeoples Democratic Party in theNational Assembly, said he was inCalabar to watch the match.

“I came here to watch Sone Alukoplay for Nigeria against Rwanda inCalabar. If I had my way I would noteven want people to know that heis my son.

“This is because I would not wantthat to distract. I would not want todistract him by granting interviewsin the media.

“I realise that it is his time, it is hisday. Let him enjoy it. I have beenfollowing his football since he startedplaying at eight,” he said.

In his interview after the match,the Glasgow Rangers play-maker said

Sone Aluko, Aberdeen and Super Eagles forwardGov. Gabriel Suswam

Golfers from Benue and Nasarawa Statesrespectively at the weekend organized aspecial golf tournament to celebrate

Governor Gabriel Suswam’s recent victory at theSupreme Court.

The golfers from Makurdi Golf Club, Otukpo GolfClub, Nigerian School of MilitaryEngineering,NASME and Nasarawa Golf Club,decided to celebrate Governor Suswam who is

the patron of the Makurdi Golf Club.Speaking to journalists, the co-ordinator of the

two -day event, and former member of the Houseof Representative, Terngu Tsegba, said Suswam’svictory at the Supreme Court was a clearconfirmation of the mandate given to him by thepeople of the state.

e urged the governor to enmesh himself in thework that he willingly accepted in order to deliverdemocratic dividends to the people of the state.

Tsegba applauded the governor for uplifting thegame of golf during his tenure and added thiswas the reason the state had performed well ingolf at the last National Sport Festival.

He also recalled that the state hosted thenorthern zonal golf championship that boostedthe economy of the state and pleaded with thestate government to assist the Club in the areasof equipment, moving machinery and fullengagement of some casual staff as full staff ofthe Club.

“For now, the salary of workers is verychallenging. We pay an average of about N500,000 to N600, 000 monthly. We are also runningthe club on diesel as it is not every time that wehave electricity supply from Power HoldingCompany of Nigeria, PHCN. This is a bigexpenditure burden and we seriously need stategovernment assistance,” Tsegba said.

Benue,Nasarawa golfers organisespecial tourney for SuswamFrom Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

he relished his invitation to the SuperEagles.

He said the team which has beenundergoing a rebuilding processunder Head Coach, Stephen Keshiand his coaching crew was poisedto bring back the happy times inNigeria football.

“It has been nice to be here. Ithas been my first time here in Calabarand it is a proud moment for me andthe team and for me to be invited toplay for my country.

“The atmosphere in camp has beenpositive, everybody is just happy tobe here. And we are so happy thatwe won and got the maximum points.

“Football fans should expect 110per cent commitment from mewhenever I am called upon to playfor my country. Of course, I alwaysgive my best when I play for my cluband country,” he said.

He also said he was not seriouslybothered by the worry in somequarters that Nigeria’s football hasnose-dived recently, saying it is notunusual in global football.

“Our football may be nose-diving;I have no problem with that becauseevery country’s soccer goes througha bad spell. With time and throughthis rebuilding process the SuperEagles will fly high again.

“And believe me, this team has thequality to return Nigeria’s football toprevious happy times, its glory daysin football,” he said.

I will not distract my son’sfootball career, says Sen Aluko

Some footballadministrators inLagos on Saturday

hailed the technicalprowess of SuperEagles Coach StephenKeshi as his team

Chukwu, Hamilton, others hail Keshi’s technical prowessdefeated Rwanda in theAfrican Cup of Nations(AFCON) qualifiers.

Speaking after theEagles defeated theWasps of Rwanda 2-0 toadvance to the next

stage of the 2013Nations Cup qualifier,they congratulatedKeshi for making theright selection, addingthat his mission ofrebuilding the team was

paying off.Christian Chukwu,

former Super Eagle’sCoach, commendedthe team’s tacticalperformance that gavethem victory over

Rwanda.He also said that the

rebuilding programmeof Keshi was a gooddevelopment, addingthat his tactics of usingmore local players inthe team was yieldinggood results.

“I am indeed happyfor the victory; Keshiput more technicalitiesinto the match and Ionly hope they willsustain it in subsequentmatches,” Chukwusaid.

Paul Hamilton,former Super FalconsCoach, alsocongratulated footballfans and thanked Keshifor working more onthe scoring chances ofthe Eagles.

He said the result

now had increased theEagles’ points, addingthat the confidencereposed in Keshi wasyielding results.

Former NFFTechnical Director,Kashimawo Laloko,saidthat the victory hadsaved Nigeria theembarrassment of beingabsent in the footballfamily in Africa.

He also said theEagles showed greatimprovement underthe tutelage of Keshi.

“I think Keshi is nowgiving us theconfidence that theteam can go far in theAFCON. The team hasalso shown animprovement.”

Ex-internatiuonal,Tunde Disu, said he was

impressed with theperformance of the themid fielders and thedefenders, resulting inthe victory.

“Keshi has shownthat he is a good coachbecause the more wehave more home-basedplayers in the team, thebetter chances wehave.”

Fanny Amun,Nigeria’s 1993 U-17World Cup winningcoach, also praised theEagles for thesuperlative victory,saying that they shouldconcentrate onscoring goals.

“The performance isa good way forward; weshould work harder formore qualityperformances.”

Gabriel Reuben, Godfrey Oboabana, Uche Kalu, the new boys in Eagles

Super Eagles Coach Stephen Keshi says theteam is happy it won a crucial 2013 AfricaCup of Nations match against Rwanda.

Keshi expressed the team’s happiness after thematch at the U.J. Esuene Stadium, Calabar, wherethe Eagles beat their Rwandan counterparts 2-0in the qualifying match.

‘’The most important thing is that we won thematch and the team has qualified for the nextstage of the tournament. It is not important fornow. We will enjoy the victory, celebrate ourqualification and begin to think of working onthe mistakes.”

Eagles striker, Ikechukwu Uche, opened scoringwith a left footer in the 10th minute while winger

Ahmed Musa scored the second goal in the 56th

minute.Rwandan Serbian born manager, Milutin

Sredojevic, said his players failed to utilise threescoring chances that came their way.

“We were supposed to connect these chancesbut unfortunately we did not. We will rebuild theteam and look forward to future tournaments.”

Sredojevic said the future of Rwandan footballwas bright because five under-20 players madethe team that lost to the Eagles.

“We came with a crop of players who couldnot withstand the pressure of a team like Nigeria.We played a very courageous game against theSuper Eagles; a good, tough team,” he said.

We are happy wewon, says Keshi


UERO 2012

Top of FormUEFA Euro 2012

Portugal coach Paulo Bento choseto praise his team’s unity ratherthan two-goal hero Cristiano

Ronaldo after they reached the Euro2012 last eight.

Ronaldo scored both goals in abrilliant individual performance asPortugal beat Netherlands 2-1 to setup a meeting with Czech Republic.

Ronaldo was the only member of thePortuguese squad to address theforeign media. His team-mates hadreportedly decided to shun the pressin protest at the criticism that theircaptain has received in recent weeks.

Rafael van der Vaart put the Dutchahead before Portugal took a grip ofthe game, with captain Ronaldoscoring twice as well going close witha number of chances and helpingcreate openings for his team-mates.

The victory meant Portugal finishedsecond in Group B behind a Germanside they lost to in their opening gamebefore beating Denmark andNetherlands.

Denmark striker NicklasBendtner has beenbanned for one

competitive match and fined•100,000 for showing hissponsored underwear versusPortugal.

Bendtner, 24, revealed a logoof a betting company on hisunderpants during thecelebration of his second goal inthe 3-2 loss against Portugal onJune 13.

UEFA deemed the action asimproper conduct and hassubsequently punished theArsenal forward, who has threedays to lodge an appeal.

When questioned afterwardsabout the incident, Bendtner,who spent last season on loan atSunderland, said: “It is just a pairof lucky boxer shorts that I usedin the first game as well and haveused before the tournament. Ididn’t know I was breaking anyrules but I am aware of that now.” Nicklas Bendtner

Cristiano Ronaldo

Theo Walcott Arjen Robben

two years to change that and weare 23 games unbeaten now.

“We are trying to showeveryone something different,and that we are not just playerswith huge egos and big heads. Weunderstand the fans but we wantto give them pleasure and dosomething special as well.”

Nasri acknowledges France areoutsiders to win the tournament,with Spain and Germany bothconsolidating their claims as frontrunners, but the ManchesterCity star says the team arebuilding towards World Cup 2014.

“We are getting to the age of24 and 25 and it is time to dosomething,” he added. “To winthe tournament will be difficultbut we are trying to buildsomething to make sure we areready for the World Cup in 2014in Brazil.

“You never know what canhappen in a big tournament likethis. We have done well in thefirst two games here and we’ll tryto do something.”

Arjen Robben has hintedtowards tension in thedressing room after

Netherlands were knocked out ofEuro 2012 following their 2-1defeat to Portugal.

Robben and his team-matesmade the World Cup final in theirlast major tournament butendured a difficult campaign,failing to win a game in the groupstages, scoring just two goals.

As is often the case, rumoursof difficulties behind the scenesplagued their stay in Poland andUkraine, and the Bayern Munichstar has alluded to issues causedby the presence of so many bigname players.

Mark van Bommel, the son-in-law of Bert van Marwijk, wasdropped for the 2-1 defeat toPortugal that sealed Netherlands’fate and he admitted there was adifferent feeling in the squad thanat the 2014 World Cup.

The 35-year-old said: “I amcaptain and will always protect myplayers but the atmosphere wasdifferent than two years ago. Whythat was I don’t know, I can onlyspeak for myself, not the otherguys.’’

But Portugal roared back at theDutch, with Cristiano Ronaldo ininspired form. His two goals ended

any slim hopes Netherlands hadof progressing and allowed therecriminations to start flowing.

Van der Vaart said: “I knew itwould be difficult. We had toscore two goals. We started offreally well and scored one goal,but we knew we had to scoreanother one, so we got nervous.

Theo Walcott arrived at England’straining ground early yesterdaymorning as he continued his

attempts to get himself fit for today’scrucial final group game against co-hosts Ukraine.

The Arsenal forward travelled bycar to the Hutnik Stadium in Krakow,with the rest of the squad followingon the team bus.

Walcott, who helped againstSweden after coming on as asubstitute with England 2-1 down,pulled out of training on Sunday aftercomplaining of tightness in hishamstring.

The England coach Roy Hodgson,admitted that Walcott – tipped tostart against Ukraine after hisSweden heroics – was a doubt.

“Unfortunately, he had a slightsetback in training,” Hodgson said.“He felt the hamstring that kept himout for so long at the end of theseason, and which we were slightlyconcerned about when he came tous.

“We have been lucky nothing hasoccurred with that, but in a littletraining session today we had to takethe precaution of taking him from thefield because he felt some tightnessthere.

Andriy Voronin

Ukraine striker Andriy Voroninhas said today night’s finalgroup game against England

is the biggest in the country’shistory.

Victory in Donetsk would putthe co-hosts into the last eightand striker Voronin believes thematch is crucial not only for theplayers but also for the countryas a whole.

“For us it is the last chance,”he said. “We need to win. We want

to go to the quarter-finals, andwe will try to do everything.

“I think it is the biggest game inthe country’s history. For us it isa very important game, not justfor the whole team but for thewhole country.”

He said Ukraine’s playerswanted to avoid the fate thatbefell their fellow co-hostsPoland, who crashed out at thegroup stage after losing their finalmatch to Czech Republic.

Portugal bosslauds teamahead of Ronaldo

Walcott resumestraining

This is our biggest ever-match,says Voronin “When we beat Sweden (in their

opening game), there was a greatatmosphere in the stadium, andwe won, and the whole countrywas very happy,” he said. “We wantto do the same against England.’’

Voronin warned that RoyHodgson’s team who need just apoint to go through would beboosted by the return of WayneRooney after the ManchesterUnited player completed a two-match suspension.

“We know Rooney will be playingagainst us, and he is a very importantplayer for England,” he said.

Despite being in acommanding position inGroup D at Euro 2012 Samir

Nasri says France still have a wayto go to win back fans’ trust aftertheir World Cup 2010 debacle.

Under former coach RaymondDomenech their campaign inSouth Africa was dominated byshoddy performances and infighting amongst the squad, muchto the disgust of Les Blues fans.

New boss Laurent Blanc hasgalvanizes the squad and Francelook an unrecognizable unit twoyears on. They dominated againstEngland before eventuallydrawing 1-1 but went top ofGroup D with a 2-0 win over co-hosts Ukraine.

Nasri, however, knows it willtake a long time for those WorldCup scars to finally heal. “Ourfans have not forgiven us yet butwe will do everything to changethat,” he said.

“In France the image of thenational team was really bad sowe have tried hard for the past

Nasri wants fans’ forgiveness

Robben hints at Dutch unrestBendtner punishedover pants


World champion Yohan Blaketuned up for a JamaicanOlympic trials showdown

with Usain Bolt by winning the 100metres at the Donovan BaileyInvitational in Edmonton, Albertaon Saturday.

Blake clocked 10.05 seconds todefeat American Trell Kimmons andJamaican Lerone Clarke. Kimmonsran 10.11 and Clarke 10.13.

Blake will face world recordholder Bolt for the first time thisyear in the national Olympic trialsin Kingston at the end of themonth.

Both should advance to theLondon Games where they are hotpicks to clash for the gold medalin the 100 final.

Jamaican Sheri-Ann Brooksswept the women’s sprints,winning the 100 in 11.05 secondsjust 90 minutes after taking the200 in a wind-assisted 22.92.

World champion JasonRichardson showed his form fornext week’s US Olympic trials byclaiming the men’s 110 hurdles in13.16 seconds.

Canadian Olympic bronzemedallist Priscilla Lopes-Schliepdefeated a strong field to win thewomen’s race in 12.76. Canadianrecord holder Perdita Felicien wasa disappointing sixth in 12.94.

Canada’s top shot putter, worldsilver medallist Dylan Armstrong,had the day’s top three throwsincluding a winning 21.02 metresas he defeated American worldindoor champion Ryan Whiting,who threw 20.71.

Meanwhile, ChristopheLemaitre retained his Frenchnational 100m title with a wind-assisted 9.94sec victory onSaturday.

With the wind recorded at +2.6m/s, the 22-year-old Lemaitre beathome Jimmy Vicaut, who clocked10.05sec, with Emmanuel Birontaking third (10.10).

“I’m happy,” Lemaitre said. “Icame in well under 10 seconds.But the wind was too strong, it’sa shame. But 9.94sec is a goodtime, even if I felt a little heavyover the first part of the race.”

Lemaitre, who set a Frenchnational record of 9.92sec lastyear, will defend his two goldmedals (100m, 4x100m) in the June27-July 1 European Championshipsat Helsinki, before going on to theJuly 27-August 12 London OlympicGames aiming for the podium.

The Frenchman finished fourthin the 100m final at the WorldChampionships in Daegu lastsummer, but came home with abronze from the 200m.

Chief Segun Odegbami,Chairman of NASCOM

Kenenisa Bekele Christophe Lemaitre

David Nalbandian with injured umpire

The Oyo State FootballAcademicals over the weekendin Ibadan secured invitation to

represent Nigeria in the SouthCarolina Youth Competition in theU.S.

The team secured the ticket afterdefeating their Bauchi counterpartin the final round of the maiden edition

of the Nigeria Academicals SportsCommission (NASCOM) footballcompetition held at the Lekan SalamiStadium in Ibadan.

There had earlier been aninvitation from the South CarolinaYouths Association for the winner ofthe Nigeria Academicals footballtournament to play in a series ofcompetitions and clinics from July 31to Aug. 21.

The Oyo team defeated the BauchiAcademicals with 1-0 through a longshot from Soliu Abdullahi in the 65th

minute of the tension soaked game,while the Kaduna secured the bronzemedal after defeating their Edocounterpart 5-3 in a penalty shootoutafter a goalless full time.

The Oyo and Bauchi teams qualifiedfor the finals after defeating Edo andKaduna 2-1 and 7-5, respectively inthe semi-final matches on Saturday.

Mr Dapo Lam-Adeshina, Oyo StateCommissioner for Youths and Sports,described the victory as anattestation of the development ofsports in the state, adding that morewould be witnessed in the years to

come.Lam-Adeshina said that the state

had recorded tremendousachievement in sports developmentin the last one year, adding that ithad improved on the dwindlingfortunes of sports in the state.

Mr Segun Odegbami, the Chairmanof NASCOM, commended the Oyo StateGovernment for a well organisedcompetition, urging others toreplicate such in their states.

Odegbami said that the essence ofthe competition was to develop sportsin Nigeria, adding that the NASCOMwas concerned with all sports and notfootball only.

He presented the invitation of theSouth Carolina Youth Association toMr Dapo Lam-Adeshina, the

Commissioner of the winning state,who promised to ensure theopportunity would not be a waste.

The honourary awards forcontribution to sports developmentwere presented to Malam BolajiAbdullahi, Minister of Sports, Gov.Abiola Ajimobi, Professor TaoheedAdedoja, former Minister of Sports,Chief Patrick Ekeji, Chief SegunOdegbami and host of others.

Others present at the event areMr Babatunde Olaniyan, DeputySpeaker, Oyo State House of Assembly,Mr Lowo Obisesan, Oyo StateCommissioner for Establishment,Chief Kashimawo Laloko, Director,Pepsi Football Academy, and somespecial advisers to the Oyo StateGovernor.

Blake wins100m tune-up,as Lemaitreclocks 9.94sec

Oyo soccer academicals get invitation for U.S. tourney

Bekele to competein British trials

Nalbandanian forfeits$56,000, faces policefor ‘assault’One rash moment was that it took Argentine power server,

David Nalbandian. He had reacted in frustration to a missedserve by kicking out at a wooden advertising board which

disintegrated into bits one of which slammed into an official AndrewMcDougall’s left leg, and left a gash.

Now, Nalbandian was docked his points, lost the prize money,will be fined $10,000 in addition to losing the prize money. Addedto that, the Argentine is facing police investigation for allegedassault.

The British police were alerted on the alleged assault and haveaccording launched investigation into the complaint of assaultlodged against Argentine tennis player by the official.

A Scotland Yard spokesman said yesterday: “An allegation ofassault has been made to us relating to an incident at the... tennistournament and we are now investigating.”

Nalbandian was leading Sunday’s match 7-6 3-3 when he droppedserve in the seventh game and reacted rather violently against awooden advertising board.

The injured McDougall was subsequently given medical attentionfor his cut left shin the on the court by medics before beingescorted off the ground to the club’s medical centre for furthertreatment..

Nalbandian was later disqualified for, “unsportsmanlike behaviour”and awarded the match to his Croatian opponent Marin Cilic.

Nalbandian later apologised after the incident, saying: “I know(what) I did (is) a mistake, 100 per cent. I feel very sorry for theguy. I didn’t want to do that. But sometimes you get angry andyou cannot control those moments.”

Ethiopian Olympic 10 000 and5 000 metres championKenenisa Bekele will head a

field including his youngerbrother Tariku in the BritishOlympic trials 10 000 final inBirmingham this Friday.

Tariku Bekele, a former worldindoor champion, his compatriotand former world cross countrychampion Gebre Gebremariam andUganda’s Commonwealth 10 000and 5 000 gold medallist MosesKipsiro will also run at theAlexander stadium.

Britain’s world 5 000 metreschampion and 10 000 metres silvermedallist Mo Farah will not take

part after opting to run the 1 500as part of his speed training. Farahbeat Bekele over 5 000 in Eugenethis month.

“This race will be a greatopportunity for me to competeagainst some of the best distanceathletes and secure my place inthe Ethiopian Olympic team,”Bekele said in a statement releasedby UK Athletics on Sunday.

“There are not many 10 000races on the European circuit soI’m looking forward to an excitingbattle in Birmingham. I amimproving with every competitionthis season so I will be expectingto run a very fast race.”


The Queen will hope for a winner in Diamond Jubilee year when her horse Carlton House runsin the Prince of Wales's Stakes tomorrow.

Mo Farah will defend his European 5,000m title after being given special dispensation tocompete in Helsinki and the Olympic trials.

Graeme McDowell says he has 'renewed belief'that he can win more major titles after tyingfor second place at the US Open.

Chris Robshaw out of final Test against SouthAfrica after suffering cracked thumb, withDylan Hartley taking over as England captain.

Cricketer Tom Maynard dies after being struck by a Tubetrain, shortly after it is believed he may have tried to escapefrom police.

Manchester City will begin the defence of their Premier League title against newly promotedSouthampton at Etihad Stadium.

Denmark striker Nicklas Bendtner has been banned for onematch and fined •100,000 for showing his sponsoredunderwear in the 3-2 loss against Portugal.

PICTORIAL


Hosts Ghana again edged defendingchampions Nigeria in the track andfield events as both struggle for

dominance of the ongoing second editionof the ECOWAS Games.

The hosts, after grabbing four gold, twosilver and two bronze medals on athletics’formal opening day, led the medals table withfive gold four silver and three bronze medals.

The hosts had claimed one gold, twosilver and one bronze medals in the eventsheld during the opening ceremony onSaturday.

Defending champions Nigeria returnedto the El Wak Stadium venue of theathletics events on Sunday to play secondfiddle with three gold, five silver and onebronze medal.

With one gold and one bronze medalson Saturday, Nigeria who are continentalathletics powerhouse now have four gold,five silver and two bronze medals to stayin second position.

Nigeria’s medals haul was affected bythe failure to win the women’s sprints,in spite of impressive results in the heats.

Igbinesun Isoken and Josephine Omakahad won the heats with 11.22 and 11.53seconds, respectively ahead of Ghana’sMary Quayson (11.63) and Janet Amonsah(11.61) in heats one and two, respectively.

But they faltered when it matteredminutes later, with Amonsah breasting thetape at 11.52 to win gold, leaving Omakawith the silver at 11.54 and Quayson thebronze at 12.16. Isokenon on her part was Josephine Omaka

Ibrahim Ishola, the Supervisory Councilor forYouth and Sports, Yaba Local CouncilDevelopment Area (LCDA), says the council is

already preparing to win the 2012 Lagos StateJunior League.

Ishola told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)that the council had started preparing playersin secondary schools for the U-20 footballtournament taking place in August.

“We will win the junior league just as we won

the Lagos State Sports Festival with our earlypreparation which made us to get best athletesthat won us medals.

“Expect the same performance in the leaguebecause we have started our preparation forthe league immediately we ended the state’ssports festival tagged, “Ibile Games”.

“The council is committed to developing theyouth within its area and investing in thingsthat will empower them,” he said.

Ishola, who also supervises Agricultural,Rural, Social Development, said the council’ssports administrators had gone round schoolsto scout for good footballers for the league.

The councilor said the selected playersreported for training everyday at Abete, Iwaya,playing ground.

“Every day, we train them so as to get thebest result. I also go to their training to ensurethey take it seriously. We have employed the

service of well trained football coaches to helptrain them,” he said.

Ishola lauded the chairman of the LCDA, JideJimoh, for his interest in sports. Tunde Philip,the LCDA’s head coach, said that the councilwas set to win the league to retain its glory insport. “We went through all schools within thecouncil area to pick the best players. We haveselected 30 out of 120. We want to do it againas we did during the Ibile Games,” he said.

Yaba LCDA vows to win 2012 Lagos State Junior League

disqualified by the Games officials.The Nigerian men did better by

maintaining their heats dominance to goon and win the gold and silver medals inthe final.

Nmaji Jonathan won the top spot with10.38, better than the 10.48 he ran towin heat two, while Briggs Tamunotoye,who ran 10.55 to win heat one also wasslightly better with 10.53 for silver. Ghana’sEmmanuel Dasor won the bronze medalwith a time of 10.69.

Nigerian women proved themselveswith the top two spots in the discusevent, where Nkechi Chime won gold witha 33.30 mark.

Priscilla Zever claimed the silver medalwith a 31.74 mark, leaving the bronzemedal for Christiane Zotome of Republicof Benin who threw 30.53.

In the men’s category, Ghana’s EricAmoasi threw 42.14 to pip Nigeria’s NwoyeAugustine who had 41.89.

Mali’s Bouya Keite then had to contendwith the bronze medal after recording amark of 37.97.

In the women’s long jump, ElizabethDadzie jumped 5.78 metres to win gold,while Nigeria’s Hope Jacob won silverwith 5.75 and Marie Sanou of Burkina Fasothe bronze with 4.77.

It was the same winners for the 800metres men, just as it was in the 1,500metres a day earlier at the same venue,with Ghana claiming the top two spots.

Sampson Azumah won gold with one

Chris van Heerden Tomasz Adamek

initiative.His crisp punching was the main feature as

the bout unfolded and the veteran fromArgentina had to use his superior experienceto stay in contention.

His excellent head movement was, however,not enough to keep him out of trouble as VanHeerden, at 25 seven years his junior, keptdigging in blows to the body.

Lujan took the edge off the South African’sattacks at times by tying the champion up onthe ropes but his work rate was by no meansgood enough to earn him victory. His lack ofpunching power also did not give him a chanceof winning by knockout.

In taking his record to 18-1-1, with 10knockouts, Van Heerden produced one of thebest performances by a South African boxer inrecent times. He is by no means a finishedproduct but he is earning respect atinternational level.

Lujan’s record dropped to 42-7-1, including26 stoppage wins.

The referee was Thabo Spampool and thejudges Pete Podgorski, Mark Streisand andTshabala. The tournament was presented byRodney Berman of Golden Gloves Promotions.

Meanwhile, Tomasz Adamek announced himself

as a heavyweight contender when he beat EddieChambers on points on Saturday night.

The former light-heavyweight title holderbeat Chambers on points over 12 rounds in atournament in Newark, New Jersey. Two judgesscored it 116-112 and the third called it 119-109.

The victory took Adamek’s record to 46-2,including 29 knockouts. Chambers dropped to36-3; 18.

In another heavyweight bout on the samecard, Bryant Jennings remained undefeated at14-0; 6 by beating Steve Collins on points – 100-89 on each of the cards. The victory gaveJennings the vacant USBA heavyweight title.

In McAllen, Texas, Carlos Molina beat MarcosJimenez on points over ten rounds in alightweight bout, taking his professional recordto 17-0-1, with 7 stoppage wins. Jimenezdropped to 18-4; 12.

In Manchester, England, Richard Towerswon the European Boxing Union’s heavyweighttitle when he stopped Gregory Tony in the ninthround.

Towers, who is 2.03 m tall and is unbeatenafter 14 fights, won ten inside the distance.But Tony, who was knocked down five times,has dropped to 17-3; 14.

Van Heerden retains IBO title, as Adamek joins ‘big boys’ clubChris van Heerden retained his IBO

welterweight title when he beat SebastianLujan on points at Emperors Palace,

Kempton Park, on Saturday night.The South African won by 120-109 on two

cards and by 119-109 on the third against atough, cagey opponent from Argentina.

Van Heerden showed superb condition, handspeed, and confidence. He took charge in theopening round and seldom relinquished the

Middleweight Martin Murray also retained hisunbeaten status when he beat Karim Achour onpoints over ten rounds. Murray improved to 24-0-1; 10 and Achour now stands at 113-3-2; 2.

Scott Quigg and Rendall Munroe had to settlefor a technical draw when their fight for thevacant WBA interim belt was called off in thethird round. Munroe, now 24-1; 10, was badlycut in a clash of heads. But Quigg remainsunbeaten on 24-0; 17.

ECOWAS Games:Ghana lead as Nigeriastruggle to maintainathletics dominance

minute 51.75 seconds, compatriot BrightAtta-Gyamfi the silver with 1:53.47 andNigeria’s Barnabas David the bronze with1:54.30.

The Games’ athletics events will cometo an end today, while the competition

as a whole will end on Friday.Other events featuring at the Games

with 11 participating countries, which willhold at the El Wak Stadium and the AccraSports Stadium are volleyball, handball,traditional wrestling and boxing.


The Secretary of the NigeriaTaekwondo Federation (NTF),Chinedu Ezeala-Ogundare, has

advised athletes and referees, toacquaint themselves with theworkings of the electronic devicewhich would be used during theNational Sports festival in Lagos.

Ezealah-Ogundare, told the NewsAgency of Nigeria (NAN) yesterday inLagos, that the athletes who areconversant with the device will nothave difficulty in internationalcompetitions.

“The reason for the use ofelectronic device during the NationalSports festival is to ensure thatathletes are familiar with theequipment and its application in anyevent,” she said.

Ezealah-Ogundare gave the namesof the devices to be used duringthe18th National Sports Festival as:Protecting Scoring System (PSS)Electronic Body Protector (EBP)Electronic Score Board (ESB) andsensors.

According to her, the devices arebeing used for the first time in sportsfestival, would go a long way to ensure

Chief Segun OdebgamiMallam Bolaji Abdullahi,Sports Minister

A Nigerian table tennis player in action

(NASCOM) of running a parallelprogramme thereby underminingits efforts to develop schoolsports.

The federation’s PresidentMalam Ibrahim Mohammed saidyesterday that NASCOM was busyorganising competitions instead ofplaying an advisory role andcollaborative role.

He added that NASCOM wasduplicating the functions of theNSSF and have deviated from itsoriginal objective, and has tendedto work in a manner that iscapable of jeopardising the body’sgrassroots initiative.

“The issue is that, the peoplein charge of NASCOM areduplicating our job, which makesus unserious to potential

sponsors; they are supposed toget their products from us.

“They should be working withour finished product, they shouldbe counseling, promoting thisbudding talents, the essence ofschool sports is to ensure agegrade talents are notcompromised.

“They obviously seem to havetheir own agenda, you will realisethat, they are mostly notstudents, and there has being nocompetition held,” the NSSFpresident said.

“I was at the basketball finals inNiger state, from what I saw theyare not students because therewas no preliminary competition,because we told them how to goabout it which they didn’t adhere

to,” he said.Mohammed further stressed the

need for the body to pick thebest players from a NSSF centrallyorganised competition, whichthey would work with, which helamented was not the case.

“Instead of them to encourageschool sports, there is nothing likethat, instead they are competingat parallel to the NSSF.

“We may not resolve this if wedon’t get talking, they instead goaround seeking funds from all andsundry,” he said.

The president commended theconsistent support the body hadbeen receiving from its sponsors,and described them as committedpartners.

“For the past 13 years Nestle

Desire Oparanozie

Gift Sowemimo, a formerSuper Falcons’ striker,yesterday urged the team

to work on cohesion and blendbefore the African WomenChampionship (AWC) in EquatorialGuinea, in November.

Sowemimo, who believed thatthe Falcons posses in abundantthe qualities that would makethem the standout team at thetournament, observed that whatthey demonstrated during thequalifiers showed that theycould do with improved cohesionand blend.

She advised the players toalways work as a team, saying thatsome areas needed improvementto ensure a balanced team.

“The girls still need tounderstand one another wellbecause I noticed some lapses inthe way they passed their ball.The defence was good, theplayers were fit and I think theywill go places if they continue to

play with determination,”Sowemimo said.

The former internationaldescribed the team as a blend ofnew and old players and that thesquad would get better withtime.

Sowemimo commended theteam’s technical crew andexpressed support for theconsistent pattern of play theSuper Falcons had adopted.

“The new coach is doingwonders with the girls, thetempo of their game has improvedand with such consistency, thegirls will be recognised,” theformer Super Falcons player said.

Sowemimo urged the SuperFalcons to re-enact the zeal theyexhibited in the qualifiers in theJune 23 international friendlymatch with the Banyana Banyanaof South Africa.

The match is scheduled for theTeslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere.

“I know it is a friendly match,

NSSF accuses Odegbami’s NASCOMof running parallel programmeThe Nigeria School Sports

Federation (NSSF) hasaccused the Nigeria

Academicals Sports Committee

Milo has been keeping schoolsbasketball alive, same goes forShell, they have been dependable,and have consistently kept usafloat.

“The amazing number of talentthat have been discovered fromour programmes, are currentlyplaying in the National team, Imean in basketball, and in footballwe will get there,” he said.

Sowemimo canvasses team work for Super Falconsbut all these competitions alsoimprove their ranking. Theyshould also show the same zeal

as they did in the qualifiers in theinternational friendly match,”Sowemimo said.

Lafia, the Nasarawa statecapital, at the weekend wentagog with jubilation as

residents poured into the streetsto welcome home NasarawaUnited who recently gainedpromotion to the Nigerian PremierLeague (NPL), after four years inthe professional division one.

The club, which won their lastmatch against Giwa United FC of

Jos to seal their place in the eliteleague and on arrival from Abuja,were treated to a warmreception by a mammoth crowdthat included top governmentfunctionaries that had gatheredat the Lafia City Gate.

After a carnival-like processionthrough the major streets of Lafia,the Taal Boys as they are fondlycalled were received by thedeputy governor Hon. DameshiLuka Barau, who expressed delight

at the feat achieved by the teamand promised that government willcontinue to accord sports a prideof place for the overalldevelopment of the state.

“Our administration willcontinue to make concertedefforts at sports development sothat our teeming talented youthswill have the avenue to developthemselves into reputablesportsmen and women.” Hestated.

Lafia agog as Nasarawa Utd gain promotion to premier leagueFrom Ali Abare Abubakar, Lafia Speaking earlier, the State

Commissioner for Sports Mr. DanielOgah Ogazi, lauded the team forbringing honour to the state andapplauded government for the themoral and financial support givento the team.

As a mark of appreciation, theCommissioner for Health in thestate Dr. Emmanuel Akabe made adonation of $2,000 to themanagement and players of theteam.

fair judgment, as points would bedetermined by the system.

“The introduction of theequipment in the festival is topromote honesty and objectivity,and to avoid officials from undulyinfluencing the points of athletes,”she said.

She however urged statesassociation to make the equipmentavailable in order to enhance theprogress of the preparation of theirathletes, which would hold in

November.The NTF Secretary disclosed that

Poomse, a demonstrative part oftaekwondo would be featured at thefestival, while states are to come witha maximum of five athletes each.

Ezealah-Ogundare warned thatStates athletes to come withtaekwondo complete kits calleddobok for the festival, because theNTF would not accommodate anyform of noncompliance andindiscipline.

18th NSF: Scribe urges athletes, coachesto get use with electronic device

SPORTS LALALALALATESTTESTTESTTESTTEST

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Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza,Utako, Abuja. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos,Tel: +234-09-8734478. Cell: +234 803 606 3308. e-mail: [email protected]: 2141– 6141

TUESDAY, JUNE 19, 2012

QQQQQUOUOUOUOUOTTTTTABLE QABLE QABLE QABLE QABLE QUOUOUOUOUOTETETETETEWhatever may be their perceivedWhatever may be their perceivedWhatever may be their perceivedWhatever may be their perceivedWhatever may be their perceived

grievances, it cannot be thegrievances, it cannot be thegrievances, it cannot be thegrievances, it cannot be thegrievances, it cannot be thejustification for taking the lives ofjustification for taking the lives ofjustification for taking the lives ofjustification for taking the lives ofjustification for taking the lives of

innocent people.innocent people.innocent people.innocent people.innocent people. — ACF reacting to the Sunday — ACF reacting to the Sunday — ACF reacting to the Sunday — ACF reacting to the Sunday — ACF reacting to the Sundaybombings in Zaria and Kadunabombings in Zaria and Kadunabombings in Zaria and Kadunabombings in Zaria and Kadunabombings in Zaria and Kaduna

Cassano,Mario sendItaly intoquarters Until the current twist in

the melodrama starringFarouk Lawan and the fuel

subsidy cabal many Nigerianshad hoped that the time hascometo name and shame, or even bringsome of the looters of theircommonwealth to justice. Theyhad thought with the damningindictment of the cabal and givenFarouk Lawan’s seeminguprightness President GoodluckJonathan would have no choicebut to act accordingly and ditchhis allies by prosecuting thosebehind the subsidy fraud. Nonehad, apparently, reckoned with alast minute snag in the magnitudeof the scandal now seeking todevour the report and further deala shattering blow on the morale ofthose genuinely wanting to fightcorruption. But the reality hasnow dawned on all. ‘Mr Integrity’is not as previously thought one ofthe last few men still standing upagainst corruption in thecountry’s legislative arm – a tierthat has been riddled by a glut ofscandals since its inauguration inJune 1999.

A stroll down memory lanetakes us to the case of House ofRepresentatives Speaker IbrahimSalisu Buhari who had lied abouthis age and academicqualifications and was forced toresign his position and vacate thehouse. Then came the scandal ofSenate President Evans Enweremwho was kicked out of his positionand was replaced by Dr. ChubaOkadigbo. Okadigbo was toingloriously make a tumble fromOlympus in August 2000 after hiscolleagues impeached him on thestrength of the corruption chargesagainst him. His counterpart inthe lower chamber, Ghali Na’abbasurvived the same plot to unseathim, as it later emerged that therewere invisible hands working(allegedly with the active supportof the presidency) to throw bothhouses into chaos, by removingtheir ‘uncompromising leaders’and replacing them withrubberstamps. Yet Anyim PiusAnyim, the man that replacedOkadigbo, and Na’aba remainedfor the rest of the first four years ofthe Third Republic an effectivecheck on the regime of ChiefOlusegun Obasanjo and to a largeextent trimmed his arrogance tosize.

Roll back to the second fouryears of the Republic, wherealthough there were few cases ofscandals the most memorable was

next four years was particularlyturbulent as the Speaker, PatriciaEteh was soon removed after herelection. She was accused ofappropriating more money thanwas needed for the refurbishmentof her official residence. Yet, someanalysts including the latePresident Umaru Musa Yar’adua’sspin doctor, Segun Adeniyi,claimed she was toppled by thosewho wanted to use her as a stoogebut realised she was not going tomake herself as easily available formanipulation as they had hoped.Dimeji Bankole rose from the ruinsof Eteh to survive till the end ofthat span of the regime but he wasunable to return to the House andwas handed corruption charges.Despite his disgraceful arrest andprosecution life has since returnedto normal as the charges havebeen dropped. Not long ago was thecorruption allegation levelledagainst Herman Hembe,Chairman of the Committee onCapital Market and OtherFinancial Institutions who hadreportedly asked for bribe from MsArunma Oteh, the now suspendedDirector General of the Securitiesand Exchange Commission (SEC).When the news of the scandal firstbroke out and both Hembe andOteh were trading accusations andcounter accusations, I told a friendthat I would hesitate to trust

Weep for Nigeria,not ‘Mr. Integrity’

Antonio Cassano's first-half header and aspectacular Mario

Balotelli volley in the finalminute sent Italy through to theEuro 2012 quarterfinals asGroup C runners-up after a 2-0victory over Ireland yesterday.

Cassano glanced in AndreaPirlo's corner on 35 minutes, theball clearly crossing the linebefore Damien Duff hackedclear. Substitute Balotelliswivelled to thump in a cornerfrom eight metres out to securevictory.

Italy, who will play theGroup D winners in the lasteight in Kiev on Sunday,finished runners-up on fivepoints, behind group winnersSpain on seven.

Ireland, already eliminatedafter defeats by Croatia andSpain, threatened sporadicallywith their best moment comingwhen keeper Gianluigi Buffonparried a fierce drive fromKeith Andrews who was sent offon 89 minutes

Meanwhile SubstituteJesus Navas tapped home twominutes from time to snatch a1-0 victory over Croatia andsend holders Spain through tothe last eight of Euro 2012 asGroup C winners.

Croatia, who battled hardagainst the world and Europeanchampions, went out as Italyfinished second thanks to a 2-0win over Ireland. Spain willnow face the runners-up in aGroup D featuring France,England, Ukraine andeliminated Sweden.

Today fixturesEngland v UkraineSweden v France

ResultItaly 2 Ireland 1Spain 1 Croatia 0

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

. . . putting the people first

the one involving the then SenatePresident Adolphus Wabara. Hiselection had, itself, been trailed bycontroversy after an Appeal Courtdecision annulled the election of hisopponent D. C. Imo to hand himvictory. While in the House thereal scandal to rock his leadershipleading to his resignation was the$400,000 bribe he allegedly tookfrom Education Minister, FabianOsuji. And despite the dust it raisedthe matter was finally laid to restby a court which claimed thecharges were false. Ken Nnamaniremained the Senate President upuntil the end of its second tenurein 2007. In the whole of that timetoo the House of Representativesremained relatively stable underSpeaker Aminu Masari. But the

Hembe’s version of the story. Myreason was simple. I knew theyoung man from his days of so-called student activism. It was atime anyone could just lay a claimto NANS (the National Associationof Nigerian Students) leadershipsimply because of the anticipatedfinancial gains. He was one of suchclaimants. And as it turned out, Iwas right he, rather than Oteh,had lied.

While there has been moreemphasis on some cases like thosementioned above, it suffices to citea few major yet hardly discussedones. In 2003 Malam Nasir Ahmadel-Rufai came with allegations ofextortion against some servingSenators who were charged withthe responsibility of vettingnominees to ministerial jobs. El-Rufai’s name had been sent to theupper chamber for clearance andhe appeared before them for same.In a private discussion with ajournalist friend afterwards, Iunderstand, he mentioned that hehad been asked to pay some money(in millions of naira) to be clearedfor the job. That journalist friendlater blew the lid, perhaps with el-Rufai’s approval. The principalbribe askers named in the scandalwere Senators Ibrahim Mantu andJonathan Zwingina. Thecontroversy raged for a while and,although the Senate Committee onEthics and Privileges probed theallegation, the matter was finallykilled by 68 of the 109 members ofthe upper house who generallyagreed to give the allegation nofurther seal of credence. On the daythe decision was reached Iaccompanied a colleague to the Aporesidence of one of the Senators whohad voted to throw out el-Rufai’sbribery allegation. While I waitedin the car my colleague went intothe home of the Senator and lateremerged lamenting that Nigeriawas doomed. He told me that allthose that had voted to discredit el-Rufai’s allegation against Mantuand Zwingwina knew deep downthat the Senators had demandedand got money to clear el-Rufai.That they knew el-Rufai did notoffer the bribe demanded butsomeone paid on his behalf. Yetthey would not do anything aboutthe matter because el-Rufai hadrefused to disclose the name of his‘rescuer’. So the corrupt Senatorshad it in their favour either way.My colleague told me his source wasthe Senator we had visited. Ibelieved him.

Hon. Farouk Lawan

“Until the current twist in the melodramastarring Farouk Lawan and the fuel subsidy

cabal many Nigerians had hoped that the timehascome to name and shame, or even bringsome of the looters of their commonwealth tojustice. They had thought with the damningindictment of the cabal and given FaroukLawan’s seeming uprightness President

Goodluck Jonathan would have no choice butto act accordingly and ditch his allies by

prosecuting those behind the subsidy fraudContd. on Page 35

Musa Aliyu

GUEST COLUMNIST

Mario Balotelli

Peoples Daily Newspaper, Tuesday, June 19, 2012

Documents

Transcript of Peoples Daily Newspaper, Tuesday, June 19, 2012