RISING CRIME WAVE IN NIGERIA: US laments poorsecurity response

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61839

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013**

Mr & Mrs

DONUKOGBARA

—P.46

COLUMNISTS:

•P.17

ADISAADELEYE

How Alamieyeseighaearned pardon— Presidency

US laments poorsecurity response

The African Peoples Congress, APC, logo and emblem as unveiled by the political association, in Abuja, yesterday. SEE STORYON PAGE 9.

Says FG needs to attack insurgency on multiple fronts

ABUJA— The UnitedStates of America,

USA, has expressedconcern at the rate crime isspreading in Nigeria. The

Continues on page 5

BY HUGOODIOGOR, FOREIGN

AFFAIRS EDITOR,UDUMA KALU &

VICTORIA OJEME,WITH AGENCY

REPORTS

•P.8

Jonathan signedone termagreement,Gov Aliyu insists

•P. 14

•P. 9

Battle for APCregistration heightens

Robbery: FAANbans Bureaux deChange operatorsfrom airports

•P. 6 •P. 11

RISING CRIME WAVE IN NIGERIA:

Pope Francisshuns perks aspapal dutiesbegin

CMYK

2— Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013

CMYK

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013 — 3


CMYK

POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013—5

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Continues from page 1

IT isn’t what you have or who you are or whereyou are or what you are doing that makes you

happy or unhappy. It is what you think about it—Dale Carnegie

Anthony De Mello wrote that happiness is ournatural state. Happiness is the natural state of lit-tle children, to whom the kingdom belongs untilthey have been polluted and contaminated by thefollies of society and culture. To acquire happinessyou don’t have to do anything, because happinesscannot be acquired. Does anybody know why? Be-cause we have it already. How can you acquirewhat you already have? Then why don’t you expe-rience it? Because you’ve got to drop something.You’ve got to drop illusions. You don’t have to addanything in order to be happy; Life is easy, life isdelightful. It’s only hard on your illusions, yourambitions, your cravings. Do you know where thesethings come from? From having identified with allkinds of labels- Abraham Lincoln sums it aptly:“People are just as happy as they make up theirminds to be.”

RELIGION is like a blind man looking into a blackroom for a black cat that isn’t there and finding it— Oscar Wilde.

What we want is a relationship with God.

From left: President, Nigerian Institution of Estate Surveyors and Valuers, NIESV, Mr. Emeka Eleh;Minister fot Works, Mike Onolememen,representing President Goodluck Jonathan; Deputy Chief ofStaff to Edo State Governor, Hon. Stephen Idehenre, representing the Governor and Mrs. EbubeOkolo representing Minister of Housing at the 43rd Annual General Conference of the NIESV inBenin City, Edo State.

American government la-mented the worseningcrime rate in coastal areasand the free movement ofIslamic extremists betweenMali and Nigeria.

The US ambassador toNigeria, TerenceMcCulley, and hisConsul-General ,MrJeffrey Hawkins, spoke atdifferent fora.

The US ambassador saidIslamic extremists havecontinued to move freelybetween Nigeria andnorthern Mali, despite theongoing French militaryoperation there againstthem.

The Consul-General onhis part said hisgovernment wasconcerned with thegrowing incidence ofcriminal activities offNigeria’s coast. Hawkins,who said this at the closingceremony of the 2013Nigeria Maritime Expo,NIMAREX 2013,yesterday, in Lagos, saidthere seemed to beineffectual securityresponse to the growingcriminal activities.

The ambassador,speaking in Abuja, said asextremists' shootings,bombings andkidnappings of foreignerscontinued unstopped

across northern Nigeria,halting the violenceremained a top priority ofthe Washingtongovernment.

He, however, declinedto answer questions aboutalleged US plans tooperate a drone base inneighbouring Niger.

"Officials have seenreports for years” aboutfighters from the radicalIslamic extremist network,Boko Haram, travelling toMali to receive trainingthere, said McCulley,speaking to journalists ona telephone conferencecall.

Boko Haram, the mainforce behind thecontinuing guerrilla attacksagainst the FederalGovernment, is believed byanalysts and officials tohave ties to al-Qaeda in theIslamic Maghreb, whichoperates in Mali, and likelyreceived training andweapons from them.

Nigeria needed toattack the group onmultiple fronts

“Nigerians feel that thereis a link between extremistactivity in the Sahel andtheir internal extremistinsurgency,” McCulleysaid. The ambassador saidNigeria needed to attackthe group on multiplefronts, both militarily andby alleviating northernNigeria’s crushing povertyand lack of opportunities forits growing, youngpopulation.

Respect forhuman rights

McCulley also saidNigeria needed to“respect human rights”

while fighting extremists.Human rights officialshave long accused thecountry security forces ofillegally detaining peoplefor months without charges,using torture and evensummarily killingsuspects.

French troops, with thehelp of Malian soldiers,have been fighting Islamicextremists who took overthe main towns in northernMali in the weeks after acoup toppled the nation’sgovernment last year.Despite their efforts, itappears extremistscontinue to be able tosimply disappear into localpopulations and movefreely across the region,where desert bordersremain loosely patrolled.

Plan by Obama toestablish militarybase in Niger

In his bid to stop that flow,US President BarackObama announced plansin February to establish amilitary base inneighbouring Niger tostage drone flights acrossthe Sahel region. While USplans initially called for thedrones to be used to gatherinformation about Islamicextremists in Mali, thedrones could be usedelsewhere in the region.

In the northern states,there has been growingconcern and suspicionabout the US intentions inthe region, despite theongoing violence.

When asked about thedrones, McCulley largelydeclined to comment,though he said Nigeria’sgovernment had not posedany questions to the USregarding the droneprogramme.

Crime situation isworsening— USConsul-General

US Consul-General said"both the available data andthe anecdotal evidencesuggest that the crimesituation is onlyworsening.

“We have difficultyseeing how it is going toget better in the near-termwithout majorimprovements ini n s t i t u t i o n a lcollaboration and amarked increase in politicalwill,” Hawkins said.

The Consul-General saidthat the bodies expected toprotect and defend themaritime commerce wereinstead perceived to beundermining it. Hawkinssaid that indeed it could beagreed that there was a

huge problem. He saidNigeria had a lot ofpotential, but the challengewas realising the potential.

He said more thananything else there must bean increase in the politicalwill to effect substantialand sustainable positivechange in Nigeria’smaritime environment.

Impetus to do thingstransparentlyhasbeen lacking

“Many interlocutorshave asserted to us that thisis the biggest hurdle. Theimpetus to do thingsdifferently, transparently,effectively and in line withglobal best practices hasbeen lacking,” he said.

Hawkins said Nigeriashould emulate othercountries that had the sameproblem in the past andhad successfully tackled it.

US laments poor security response

Nigeria spends N635bnon wheat importation— Agric Minister

BY EMMANUELELEBEKE

ABUJA — MINISTERof Agriculture and

Rural Development, Dr.Akinwumi Adesina,yesterday, said Nigeriaspends about N635 billionon wheat, wheat flour foruse in bread, confectionariesand other foods.

Adesina stated this at thenational stakeholders’forum on cassava bread, inAbuja.

According to him, wheatwhich accounted for a smallshare of Nigerian foodconsumption in the 1960s,rose to 1,400,000 metrictones in 1980, 1,913,000metric tones in 2,000 beforeclimbing to all time high of4,051,000 metric tones by2010 and by 2011, Nigeriaspent N635 billion on wheatimports.

The minister, wholamented the exploitation ofNigerian potentials incassava produce, said suchmagnitude of wheat

importation could no longerbe sustainable, given thatNigeria is one of the largestsuppliers of cassavaproduce.

He used the medium toannounce FederalGovernment’s plan to floatCassava Bread Fund by theend of March noting thatthe move was in line withgovernment's plan tosupport the use of cassavaflour substitution in breadproduction and to makecassava bread available toall across the country.

According to the minister,the Cassava Bread Fundapart from supportingbakers was established toenhance research anddevelopment efforts oncassava bread, training ofmaster bakers and socialmarketing to boost demandfor cassava bread.The fundwhich he said would beready for access by bakersin April will be fundedthrough the tariff on wheatflour.

6—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013

Police nab 26 cultists in Delta, kill robbery suspectBY EMMA AMAIZE

Court jails 2over illegallotteryactivities

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI BY LAWANI MIKAIRU &DANIEL ETEGHE

Robbery: FAAN bans Bureaux de Changeoperators from airports

BY GBENGA OLARINOYE

BY OLASUNKANMIAKONI

One dies,many injuredin auto crash

Scene of the robbery incident at the Bureau de change, Murtala Muhammed InternationalAirport, Lagos, on Wednesday, where two policemen and a suspected robber lost their livesin a gun duel.

LAGOS—FEDERAL AirportsAuthority of Nigeria, FAAN,

has banned Bureaux de Changeoperators from all airports acrossthe country.

This was the fall out of Wednes-day night’s robbery attack at theTerminal Zero Car Park of theMurtala Mouhammed Interna-tional Airport, MMIA, Lagoswhere no fewer than three peo-ple lost their lives.

FAAN management had in anemergency security meeting yes-terday decided that activities ofthe Bureaux de Change opera-tors attracted unscrupulous ele-ments to the airports.

The robbery attack which last-ed for about 30 minutes left in itswake shattered windscreens, de-flated tyres and blood stains onfour escort vehicles belonging tothe Police.

The vehicles with policemeninside were first attacked by therobbers before attacking the BDCoperators after which they cart-ed away money in local and for-eign currencies.

Speaking on the attack and thedecision of FAAN’s management,the General Manager, CorporateCommunications, Mr. YakubuDati said the corpse of the killedrobber had been recovered. He

further said the latest attack onthe airport had made FAAN man-agement ban the Bureaux deChange operators at the termi-nal with immediate effect, insist-ing that there was no going backon the decision.

Dati said the ban became nec-essary so that FAAN can ensurethe safety of airport users andclear the environment of ele-

ments that attract miscreants tothe airports. He insisted that thecar parks should be strictly usedfor parking spaces and not for anyother purposes, but noted that therobbery incident did not happeninside the terminal building.

He said, “what we need to dois to protect lives and property ofairport users across the country.We have given the BDC opera-

tors time to carry their tables andproperty within the car park.

He added: “There are some ofthe BDC operators who are or-ganised and given a space at thelocal wing of the airport, but thereis no space for the operators out-side the terminal building any-more. The robbery incident tookplace about 2,000 metres awayfrom the terminal building.”

ASABA—POLICE in DeltaState have arrested 26-sus-

pected cultists in Kwale, Asabaand Warri in a renewed waragainst cultism in the state.

Commissioner of Police, DeltaState, Mr. Ikechukwu Aduba,who spoke to Vanguard on thearrest said, “Delta State PoliceCommand has declared waragainst secret cults whereverthey may be lurking and mak-ing life miserable for innocent

members of the public.”He said 23 suspects belonging

to Aye cult group were arrestedby a team of joint patrol, anti-cultand vigilance groups followinga tip off when they were about toconduct a mass initiation inKwale.

AHe said the 23 suspected cult-ists arrested have been arraignedin court and remanded in prisoncustody, while warrant of arresthave been issued against fourother cultists currently on therun.”

According to him, two otherswere arrested on March 11 whentwo rival cults clashed at FatherEli Street, Warri, while police re-covered a dagger and machetefrom them.

At Asaba, he said one of thecultists was seized when the Jun-ior/Senior Vikings of Asaba andIbusa clashed at a hotel in Asa-ba.

Also recovered from the suspectwas a cut-to-size locally madesingle barrel shot gun, he add-ed.

Meantime, the police have alsoshot dead a member of a four-man armed robbery gang, oper-ating with a tricycle in Ekpan,Delta State.

The state governor, Dr. Em-manuel Uduaghan, recentlybanned the use of motorcycles,popularly known as okada forcommercial transportation in War-ri, Effurun and Asaba to check-mate criminals, who used themfor robbery.

The strategy is working accord-ing to security reports, but ban-dits have devised fresh means tobeat security operatives throughthe use of tricycles.

On Wednesday, along the Ni-geria National Petroleum Corpo-ration, NNPC, Housing Com-plex link road, Ekpan, police of-ficers, who were on routine pa-trol flagged down a tricyclewhose occupants looked suspi-cious.

Instead of stopping, theyopened fire on the police teamand in the ensuing gun battle,one of the robbers was shot dead,while three escaped.

The CP, who confirmed the in-cident, told Vanguard that thepolice recovered one cut-to-sizedouble barrel gun, number LB2734941270, one live cartridgeand two expended cartridges.

Osun govt arrests 3 suspects over illegal mining

OSOGBO—THREE personswere, yesterday, arrested by

the Osun state Government forillegal gold mining in Atakumo-sa West local government area ofthe state.

The Coordinator, Office of Min-eral and Natural Resources, Of-fice of the Governor, Mr. TundeAjilore, with combined team ofsecurity operatives stormed Ita-gunmodi and Aruwa communi-ties in Atakumosa West LocalGovernment area where the ille-

gal gold miners carried out theiractivities without recourse to gov-ernment interest.

The illegal gold mining site inItagunmodi was said to havebeen operated by Chinese na-tionals, while the other one atAruwa village is being operatedillegally by one Alhaji Aruna whohas his base in Ile-Ife.

No one was met at the site be-ing operated by the Chinese, butscores of labourers engaged byAlhaji Aruna at the site in Aruwawere seen mining illegally.

They, however, took to theirheels at the sight of security op-

eratives and officials from the of-fice of Mineral and Natural Re-sources but three of them werearrested.

An old man, Akinola Samuelwhose age could not allow himto run away was arrested at thesite to join two other labourers,Mutari Lemo and Abdulahi Ash-imu, who were caught earlier onthe way to the site.

It was observed that the sitesvisited by the team at Itagunmo-di and Aruwa had suffered mas-sive degradation as a result ofprolonged illegal mining opera-tions in the place.

ADO-EKITI—A life waslost yesterday when a

driver of a heavy duty vehi-cle, with number plate La-gos 318 FKJ, lost control inAramoko Ekiti, headquartersof Ekiti West Local Govern-ment area of Ekiti State.

Vanguard gathered thatthe driver lost control due tobreak failure at a bend locat-ed between the council’s sec-retariat and one primaryschool in the outskirts of thetown.

It was gathered that thetruck, which belonged to aconstruction firm, was said tobe descending a hill wherethe bulldozer it carried wassaid to have tilted and sub-sequently detached from thetruck.

The truck was said to havesomersaulted severallydown the hill, while the bull-dozer rolled to the other sideof the road.

As the truck somersaulted,its driver was said to havebeen thrown out with its reartyre was scattering the driv-er's skull.

His corpse was said tohave been deposited at themorgue of Aramoko Gener-al Hospital, while the in-jured are on the danger listin the same hospital.

LAGOS State Special Offences Court has sen-

tenced Messrs BiodunAdegbola and Ahmed Toroto 730 days in prison with anoption of N500,000 fine overillegal operation of lottery.

The convicted personswere arrested on February 20and 21, 2013, at Isokoko,Agege for engaging in ille-gal lottery using coupons inLagos State.

The General Manager ofthe state Lotteries Board, Mr.Lanre Gbajabiamila, in astatement, said the agencywill not relent in its effort torid the state of illegal lotteryactivities.

He therefore listed the ap-proved public online lotteryoperators in Lagos State,stressing that patronizing il-legal operators was a pun-ishable offence.


BY EMMA ARUBI

Banker, lover arrested overalleged N40m fraud

BY EVELYN USMAN

Woman petitions IG...alleges she was raped in policecustody

...dissolves marriage overattempted murder

BY ONOZURE DANIA

Court orders release of man detained since 2011Family asksCustoms toreleasedetained man

BY GABRIEL ENOGHOLASE

LAGOS—POLICEMEN attached to Lion building divi-

sion, Lagos, have arrested a staffof the Ketu branch of an old gen-eration bank and his lover who isa student of the Lagos State Uni-versity, Jibowu campus, for alleg-edly defrauding his employers ofN40 million .

The banker identified as AdeAhmed, was arrested last monthfor allegedly withdrawing theamount from his employer’s ac-count.

Police sources hinted that fur-ther investigation led to the dis-covery of part of the money inAde’s undergraduate lover’s ac-count, subsequent upon whichshe was also arrested.

But in her confessional state-ment, Ade’s girlfriend simplyidentified as Mary, claimed shewas oblivious of the source of themoney.

“All my boyfriend told me wasto give him my ATM card and pinnumber, saying he wanted totransfer some money into my ac-count and I gave him. He there-after, warned me not to tell any-body because according to him,he wanted to use it for business”,the Computer Science student re-portedly said.

But after much scrutiny, she wasalleged to have admitted that herboyfriend later told her the sum

of N3.7 million deposited in heraccount was withdrawn from his

employer’s account.The lover birds have reported-

ly been charged to Tinubu Mag-istrate court for stealing. WARRI—SUSPECTED

armed men yesterdayshot dead a senior lecturer,Engr. Julius Ogungbemi ofthe department of mechanicalengineering, Petroleum Train-ing Institute, PTI, Effurun,near Warri, Delta State.

The gunmen suspected to bea kidnap gang had earlier atthe busy Esisi roundabout,Okere, Warri, ambushed andgunned down two prison offi-cials of the Federal PrisonsOkere, freed two of their mem-bers and killed one inmatewho were on their way to aWarri High Court for trial inthe prison service bullion van.

The kidnappers were ontheir way out of Warri alongthe NPA Expressway by Navyquarters when they ran intoOgungbemi who was drivingto the Petroleum Institute andopened fire on him at closerange, killing him instantly.

Ogungbemi in his late 50saccording to PTI sources hadput in almost 21-years of serv-ice at the Institution before hisuntimely death.

Police sources from the Ek-pan Divisional Headquartersconfirmed the story. While thecar is presently at the Ekpanpolice station, the remains ofthe late Ogungbemi has beendeposited at the Warri CentralHospital.

BENIN—A middle-age woman alleged to have been seri-

ally raped by four men while inpolice custody in Abraka, DeltaState, has petitioned the Assist-ant Inspector General of Police,Zone 5, Benin, accusing the Di-visional Police Officer, DPO, andhis men of negligence and fail-ure to protect her.

In the petition by counsel to thewoman, Mr. Ejomasuvwe Efe,alleged that following a fight be-tween her and her neighbour,police from Abraka Police Stationcame to arrest her following a com-plaint from one Mama Afoke whoshe had altercation with.

She disclosed that efforts madeby her husband to effect her bailwas rebuffed by the DPO andDCO, who apart from intimidat-ing and abusing her husbandpushed him out of the police sta-tion.

She said: “Shortly after Mr. Isai-ah left the Abraka Police Station,the Police IPO instructed the Po-lice man at the counter to take hiswife to the police cell and deliv-ered her into a cell where therewere already two men.

“As soon as the Police locked thegate to the cell, two young boyscame into the cell where the wom-an and the other two mature menwere kept, and immediately theystarted touching her indecentlydespite her protests that she wasa married woman and mother offive children.

“The boys asked her to keepquiet and immediately grabbedher by her neck and gagged herwith their hands while the others

held her two hands and threw herviolently on the floor and startedto rape her.

"In the process, she started

shouting but the policemen re-fused to come to her aid until shewent into a coma. She only camearound the following morning”.

LAGOS—JUSTICE I.O Kasali,of an Ikeja High Court, yes-

terday, ordered immediate re-lease of one Ogbeide Oyekhire,who has been in police detentionsince 2011.

Kasali in her ruling on the suitagainst the Lagos State Commis-sioner of Police said the continu-ous detention of Oyekhire formore than a year now is degrad-ing, unlawful, illegal and a grossviolation of his fundamental rightsguaranteed under sections 34(1)35(1) and 41(1) of 1999 Constitu-tion as amended.

The Judge also ordered the re-spondents, their officers, agents,servants or privies should pro-duce the applicant before the courtand grant him bail conditionallyor unconditionally.

She further restrained the re-spondents whether by them-selves, their officers, agents, serv-ants or privies from further invit-ing, arresting, detaining or in anyother manner infringing on thefundamental rights of the appli-cant.

Joined as respondents along-side was Lagos State Commis-sioner of Police are Deputy Com-missioner of Police (SCIB) PantiStreet, Yaba and Supol Bamg-boshe of D7, Human Rights(SCIB) Panti Street, Yaba, Lagos.

The applicant had sued the re-spondents, through his lawyer,

Mr. Emmanuel Ogbeche.Ogbeche, told the court that the

applicant was arrested and de-tained by the police on Novem-ber 20, 2011, for an allegation ofstealing two vehicles, a Jaguarand a Honda CRV Sports UtilityVan, SUV, imported by his broth-er, who is based in America.

KADUNA –KADUNA ShariaCourt II, Magajin Gari, yes-

terday, annulled the marriage be-tween Maryam Mustapha andMustapha Danbarno after it dis-covered that the husband had at-tempted to kill the wife threetimes.

The case was first mentioned onFebruary 5 when Maryam askedthe court to annul the marriageto save her life.

She had told the court that theirresidence in Hayin Banki Area ofKaduna had been turned into abattle ground by her husband whobeats her constantly and had al-

most killed her three times.The court also heard from three

of their neighbours on February20, who testified that Mustapha,a drunkard, was indeed in thehabit of assaulting his wife andthey had had to save her severaltimes.

Danbarno had reportedly avoid-ed the court since he pleaded notguilty to the charge.

The presiding officer, Khadi Ib-rahim Inuwa, said in spite of therefusal of the husband to honourthe court sittings, it had the pow-ers to continue with the case evenin his absence.

THE family of Chijioke Ogbuezi has appealed to the

Comptroller General of theNigerian Customs Service,NCS, Alhaji Inde Dikko, to re-lease their husband and fa-ther, Chijioke, who was arrest-ed by men of the Federal Op-erations Unit on Wednesdayin Apapa.

A spokesman of the family,Emmanuel Eze alleged thatChijioke, who was arrested ashe was coming out of a busi-ness centre, where he hadgone to make copies of docu-ments of a discharged contain-er at the Lagos port, did notcommit any crime and was be-ing unlwafully detained at theFOU headquarters in Ikeja.

The spokesman noted thatthe wife and children of thedetainee were suffering sincetheir breadwinner was nothome and urged the FOU of-ficials to charge Chijioke tocourt if they were convincedthat he had committed anycrime or release him uncon-ditionally.

Gunmen killlecturer inDelta

The prison van ambushed by suspected kidnappers in Warri, Delta State, on Wednesday,killing three warders.


DISCOURSE: From right— Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, Minister of National Planning Commission; Governor Ba-bangida Aliyu of Niger State; Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN; and Prof. BolajiAkinyemi, former Minister of External Affairs, at the opening ceremony of Minna National Discourse on Corruption, inMinna, yesterday.

Why FG pardoned Alamieyeseigha— Presidency

ABUJA—THE Presidency,yesterday, declared that the

stabilising role the former Gov-ernor of Bayelsa State, DiepreyeAlamieyeseigha played to en-sure that oil in the Niger Deltawas not cut off earned him thestate pardon even as the Nige-rian Labour Congress and civilsociety groups insist that thestate pardon grantedAlamieyeseigha was unaccept-able.

Addressing journalists inAbuja, yesterday, Senior Spe-cial Assistant to PresidentJonathan on Public Affairs, Dr.Doyin Okupe, argued thatsince his release from theprison, Alamieyeseigha hadbeen assisting PresidentGoodluck Jonathan silently toensure that the amnesty pro-gramme of the Federal Govern-ment succeeds.

He noted that no state pardonwill remove the fact that theformer Bayelsa governor wascriminal, stressing that statepardon was for criminals.

The Presidency, however, ap-pealed to Nigerians and mem-bers of the civil societies foropen mindedness on the par-don granted the former Bayelsagovernor, even as it remindedNigerians that Alamieyeseighawas removed from office in amanner that was suggested bymany as not being entirelyabove board.

Okupe stressed that theformer governor had sufferedenough for his sins these yearsand demonstrated enough so-berness after he served his sen-tence. He added that with thepardon he was now a free manto engage in any endeavour hewould wish to go into, even con-testing for elective positions.

“Pardon is for criminals”Okupe said: “I want to state

categorically here, that state orpresidential pardon is not in-tended for nobility or saints. Ingeneral, a state pardon is forthose who have committedcrimes and breached the lawsof the land and may or may nothave been tried or convicted re-gardless of their social status.

“He lost his position, forfeitedthe property illegally acquiredand has demonstrated enoughsoberness after he served hissentence. It is out of place tosuggest that the pardon is tan-tamount to abandoning thefight against corruption in Ni-geria. This is too far from thetruth.

“People have stated thatPresident Jonathan said pub-licly that Alamieyeisegha washis political benefactor. This isa display of extreme humilityand honesty on the part of Mr.President.

“In this day that virtually allpolitical benefactors usuallyturn into enemy number oneand are therefore hounded to

the ground by the incum-bents.

“It was God and provi-dence that lifted PresidentJonathan over and above hisformer political boss. But intruth Alamieyeisegha, sincehe left prison, has beenworking strenuously and si-lently to assist the Presidentstabilise the amnesty in theNiger Delta Region.

“Alamieyesiegha is a fore-most leader of the Ijaw na-tion, and his political and sta-bilising influence in that re-gion have impacted posi-tively on the overall economyof the nation, bringing crudeoil exports from the abys-mally low level of 700,00 bpdto over 2.4 million bpd.

“Therefore, it is obviousthat Alamieyeseigha hasbeen a major player since hisrelease from prison in ensur-ing that the blood that runsthrough the Nigerian eco-nomic artery is not cut off.”

Okupe, who asked why thestate pardon must form the cen-tre of discourse now, said lateChukwuemeka OdumegwuOjukwu, whose actions led tothe loss of thousands of lives andproperty, was equally grantedstate pardon.

The Presidential aide said:“In Nigerian history, greatand eminent men, who havebeen crucified for one crimeor the other have been par-doned by past Presidents andsuch men have lived there-after to further enhance ourpolitical and socio-economicdevelopment.

“Amongst those are our re-spected departed sage,Chief Obafemi Awolowo andthe revered Ikemba Nnewi,Chief Odumegwu Ojukwu,who continued after theirpardon to contribute im-mensely to Nigeria’s social,

political and economicgrowth till death.

FG deceivingNigerians— Falana

Meanwhile, Lagos lawyerand right activists, Mr. FemiFalana, has described theamnesty granted someformer military bigwigs, in-cluding Gen. Oladipo Diya,late Gen. AbdulkareemAdisa and other condemnedmilitary officers by late GenSani Abacha as a hoax.

He maintained that all themilitary officers condemnedfor military coup by the lateHead of State as well asSenator Chris Anyawu, havebeen granted amnesty by theformer Head of State, Gen.Abdusalami Abubakar beforehe handed over the rein ofpower in 1999.

He said: “GeneralsOladipo Diya, lateAbdulkareem Adisa, Col.Fadipe, Sen Chris Anyawuand others were pardoned byGen Abdusalami Abubakar in1999. There is statutory in-strument that backed this up.

“The presidency shouldstop playing on the collec-tive intelligence of Nigeri-ans since there is no provi-sion for double pardon un-der the law. In view of thegrave official error, the list ofthe convicts granted uncon-ditional pardon should be

reviewed to avoid any furtherembarrassment.”

He, therefore, called for animmediate review of the ex-ercise to redeem the damages.

Pardon’s a setback— Civil society

Civil society groups, work-ing on anti-corruption andgood governance, in Nigeriaexpressed shock at the presi-dential pardon granted toformer Alamieyeseigha, say-ing it was a serious setback forthe anti-corruption battle inthe country.

The groups, at a joint pressconference in Abuja, yester-day, said beside sending thewrong message that corruptionpays, they alleged that it couldalso discourage anti-corrup-tion agencies in the country.

The press conference wasaddressed by Auwal IbrahimMusa, Executive Director ofthe Civil Society LegislativeAdvocacy Centre, CISLAC,and other heads of the civilsociety community in Abuja,including BabatundeOluajo, EzenwaNwagwu, Y.Z. Yau, Jaye Gaskiya andTunde Aremu.

They represent groups in-cluding Zero CorruptionCoalition, United Action forDemocracy, Alliance forCredible Election, Acton AidNigeria, Women in Nigeriaand Policy and Legislative,among others.

While calling on PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to re-

verse the action, the groupssaid: “This action of theJonathan's administrationraises concerns about its com-mitments to the acclaimedfight against corruption.

“It is a naked dance in thepublic place, especially whenweighed against the arrogantand contemptuous mannerwith which the Presidency hastold Nigerians that it has noapology for the presidentialpardon.

“We in the civil society areconvinced that the focus of thewhole presidential pardon ofPresident Jonathan was Mr.Alamieyeseigha, except thatit was only deceitfully win-dow-dressed by adding a fewother names.”

NLC reactsOn its part, Nigeria Labour

Congress, NLC, yesterday,said the entire Nigerian work-ers were alarmed by the deci-sion of the National Councilof States to pardon Mr.Diepreye Alamieyeseigha andMr. Shetima Bulama a formerManaging Director of the Bankof the North, saying it was notin the national interest.

NLC, in a statement by itsPresident, AbdulwaheedOmar, said while Alamieye-seigha was impeached asGovernor of Bayelsa State andeventually convicted by aproperly constituted court forstealing public funds, Bulamawas also convicted for misap-propriating the bank’s funds.

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,Political Editor, HENRY

UMORU, VICTORAHIUMA-YOUNG &

ABDULWAHAB ABDULAH

Achebe is alive— Family

THE rumoured death offoremost writer of classic

novel, Things Fall Apart,Prof. Chinua Achebe, hasbeen described as “untrue.”

Achebe’s son, Chidi, madethe revelation to Vanguard,yesterday, via an e-mail mes-sage from his US base.

It will be recalled thatAchebe, whose recent work,There Was A Country, gen-erated a lot of debate about

Nigerian Civil War, was al-leged to have died in the USby a Lagos-based newspaper.

Dr. Chidi Achebe said: “Thisis lent season and I believethat this untrue gossip is spir-itual distraction and I need tobe in tune with God.”

BY MCPHILIPSNWACHUKWU


NLNG VIS-ITS: From left—Mrs Gloria Ita-Ik-peme, Manager,Corporate Com-munication andPublic Affairs, Ni-gerian LiquefiedNatural Gas,NLNG; Mr. EzeAnaba, Deputy Ed-itor, Vanguard,and Mrs Anne-Marie Palmer-Ikuku, Senior Me-dia Officer, NLNG,during a courtesyvisit to Vanguardin Lagos, yester-day. PHOTO: Lam-idi Bamidele.

We're the real APC— Acting Chairman

ABUJA—THE battle for ascendancy among the politi-

cal opposition got messier, yes-terday, after the brains behindthe controversial African Peo-ples Congress, APC, emergedto unfold their logo, constitu-

tion and emblem.The new group whose as-

piration for registration withthe Independent NationalElectoral Commission,INEC, has thrown confusioninto merger plans by thecountry’s leading oppositionpolitical parties said, yester-day, that it was not doing a

hatchet job on behalf of theruling Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP.

The assertion, nonetheless,leaders of the fledgling AllProgressive Congress, com-prising Action Congress ofNigeria, ACN; Congress forProgressive Change, CPC;All Nigeria Peoples Party,

leadership in the countrysince 1999, saying that theAPC was on a rescue mis-sion.

He said: “The PDP, ACN,CPC, ANPP, etc have re-morselessly squandered thegoodwill of Nigerians. Whileinfrastructure suffers in thestates with the economy ofthe states wound roundmonthly allocations and di-verted council funds.”

Asks EFCC to probegovs with private jets

He called on the Economicand Financial Crimes Com-mission, EFCC, to urgentlyinvestigate the sources offunds used to purchase pri-vate jets by some state gov-ernors and also condemnedwhat he called the despera-tion of some people forpower in the country.

The party said its major ob-jective was “to entrench asystem that is centred on thepeople: to reclaim our crum-bling institutions and failingnation; to give Nigeriansreasons to believe again.Today, Nigerians have aparty that is committed to re-building Nigeria.“

On name controversyOn the controversy sur-

rounding the name APC,the Legal Adviser, Mr.Kingsley Nnadi, said theacronym should not be theproblem but it should be thename, adding that any othergroup making claim to theacronym, APC, had notmade any official request tothe INEC which he said hisAfrican Peoples Congresshad made.

He debunked the allega-tion that the African PeoplesCongress was hurriedlyfloated by the members ofthe peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, to scuttle the reg-istration of All ProgressivesCongress, stressing that ifthe PDP had performed well,

there would have not beenany need to float his APC.

‘Party has nolink with PDP'

“My party has no link withPDP. In fact, our intention isto take over power from theruling party. If PDP is rulingwell, there would have beenno need to come up. We areout because PDP has failed totouch the lives of Nigerian.

“We have just one APC (Af-rican Peoples Congress), theother one is not existing andINEC is aware of our party.The other APC only did merelynegotiation, but we startedour party over two years ago.With the documents submittedto the INEC, we have met therequirement of the Constitu-tion and the Electoral Act.

“I believe that the unveilingof our party today, has finallyput to rest the contention overAPC, which one is authenticor not and we are waiting forINEC’s reply. We have ouroffices in over 26 states of thefederation including our na-tional headquarters and oursupport is massive.”

Challenges AfricanPeoples Congress

His assertion nonetheless,the merger committee of theAll Progressive Congress,APC, debunked the action ofthe new African Peoples Con-gress.

Speaking through ChiefTom Ikimi, chairman of thejoint merger committee of theopposition parties said theyhad been taking the pains ofmeeting the requirements ofa merger since they madetheir intentions known onFebruary 6.

He said: “We have taken thepains to furnish the foregoingfacts because we will not ac-cept any attempt by INEC(Independent National Elec-toral Commission), relying ona dubious application, clearlynot in compliance with theconditions set out in the Con-stitution or the Electoral Act,to scuttle our plans to formal-ise our merger under ouradopted name and acronym.

“We challenge the cowardsbehind the so-called AfricanPeoples Congress to comeforth and defend their positionor forever hold their peace.On our part, the three politi-cal parties, part of APGA andothers seeking to merge aresteadily and resolutely takingall the steps necessary for themerger as provided under theConstitution and the ElectoralAct. We have elected repre-sentatives in all tiers of gov-ernment.

“We have written to INECabout this ugly developmentwith the hope that INECwould not allow its credibilityto be further undermined bypolitical hirelings and theirfaceless sponsors who appeardetermined to truncate thedemocratic process."

ANPP and el-ements of AllProgressiveGrand Alli-ance, APGA,neverthelessvowed to pur-sue theirmerger.

At a pressconferencelate, yester-day, the jointmerger com-mittee said itsplans wouldnot be de-railed by the“mischief” ofthe AfricanPeoples Con-gress andtheir spon-sors.

‘We areon rescuemission’

Speaking ata ceremonywhere thebrains behindthe emergingparty wereformally un-veiled, theActing Na-tional Chair-man of Afri-can PeoplesC o n g r e s s ,C h i e fO n y i n y eIkeagwuonu,l a m e n t e dwhat he de-scribed aspoverty of

BY JOHNBOSCO AGBAK-WURU & GABRIEL EWEPU


N2.6bn subsidy fraud: Arisekola-Alao’s son,Abdullahi re-arraigned

BY ABDULWAHAB ABDU-LAH & ONOZURE DANIA

Rowland Cowenis dead

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

Labour flayscasualisationof workers inmaritme sector

Sen Tinubu hosts constituents on Monday

LAGOS—MARITIMEWorkers Union of Ni-

geria, MWUN, yester-day, in Lagos, said theincreasing outsourcing,casualisation of workersand other forms of anti-workers’ policies in theshipping/courier sectorof the nation’s economywere serious induce-ments for insecurity.

This came as the unioncalled on the FederalGovernment to recon-sider reestablishing an-other National ShippingLine and recapture thebooming maritime in-dustry in Nigeria.

President-General ofthe Union, ComradeAnthony Nted, at theopening ceremony ofShipping/Courier andSeamen/NIWA WaterTransport WorkersBranches delegates con-ference, warned that or-ganized would no longertolerate the act of unfairlabour practices in thesector.

He said: “All membersof the shipping/courierbranch are employed byprivate companies whoalways strive to maxi-mize profit for theirshareholders.

This accounts for thedifficulties in conditionof service negotiationswith these companies. Inspite of these difficulties,we still believe that theunion’s support in pur-suance of the industrialharmony ought to be re-ciprocated by manage-ments by supporting theunion’s training activi-ties etc when needed.

LAGOS—SON of AlhajiArisekola-Alao, an Ibadan

businessman, Abdullahi was,yesterday, re-arraigned beforeJustice Olabisi Akinlade overan alleged N2.6 billion fuelsubsidy fraud.

This came as OluwaseunOgunbambo, one of the oilmarketers, asked an IkejaHigh Court to wash off itshands from the alleged N430million bank fraud charge filedagainst him by the Economicand Financial Crimes Commis-sion, EFCC.

Before now, Abdullahi AlaoArisekola was arraigned for thesame offence on July 26, 2012,before Justice Habeeb Abiru,who was recently elevated tothe Appeal Court.

Abdullahi who was re-ar-raigned by EFCC alongsidehis company, Axenergy Ltd.,however pleaded not guilty tothe six-count charge of obtain-ing money by false pretences,forgery, uttering and use offalse documents.

While he was arraigned be-fore Justice Abiru, the courtgranted him bail in the sum ofN100 million with two suretiesin like sum.

At yesterday’s proceedings,EFCC counsel, Mr FrancisUsani, informed the court ofthe development and asked

MR. Roland ApayiCowan, a retired

manager of the CentralBank, is dead. He diedafter a brief illness inLagos, at the age of 84.He’s survived by a wifeand children.

Late Rowland Cowan

that Alao be ordered to re-takehis plea, arguing that Alaohad in December 2010 in La-gos, fraudulently obtained thesum of N2.6 billion from theFederal Government.The anti-graft agency claimedthe money was obtained assubsidy payments for the pur-ported importation of 33.3 mil-lion litres of Premium MotorSpirit, PMS, from Europe toNigeria.

His lawyer, Professor TaiwoOsipitan, SAN, pleaded withthe court to allow him to con-tinue with his bail previouslygranted by Justice Abiru and

on the same conditions.Similarly, Ogunbambo,

prayed an Ikeja High Courtto wash off its hands from thealleged N430 million bankfraud charge filed againsthim by EFCC for lack of ju-risdiction.

The application for lack ofjurisdiction was filed beforeJustice Olabisi Akinladethrough his lawyer, MrAdebayo Adenipekun, SAN.

Ogunbambo was charged tocourt for allegedly obtaininga N430 million loan fromStanbic IBTC Bank Plc, us-ing forged documents.

However, Adenipekun inthe application dated Feb. 13,2013, said the issue submit-ted to the court as a criminalcharge was purely a civil mat-ter, noting “the dispute be-tween the defendant(Ogunbambo) and the bank isalso pending before the La-gos High Court as a civil mat-ter.

“The defendant has paid apart of the loan and has en-tered into agreement to paythe balance.The bank haswithdrawn its complaintagainst the defendant.”

LAGOS—IN line with herpre-election promises, Sena-

tor Oluremi Tinubu, is to host con-stituents in her Lagos CentralSenatorial District to a quarterlyTown Hall meeting on Mon-day, March 18, 2013.

At Town Hall Meeting, thesixth in the series, the Sena-tor is to present her steward-ship in the Senate, includingthe work of various committeesshe belongs to, and receivesfeedback from the people sherepresents.

A statement issued from herconstituency office, indicatedthat the meeting would beginat “The Event Place,” Lekki-Epe expressway in the morn-ing.

Traditional rulers, leaders ofthe Action Congress of Ni-geria, ACN, community lead-ers, students, market men andwomen among other segmentsof the population are expectedto attend the event themed“Rekindling Hope.”

At the previous edition ofSenator Tinubu’s Town HallMeeting in December 2012,she launched the “ElderlyCitizens’ Assistance Scheme”ECAS, a programme underw h i c h 1 , 3 0 0 e l d e r l ycitizens each received the

sum of N10,000.00 as part ofSenator Tinubu’s constituencydevelopment initiative.

Since December 19,2011, when the first Lagos Cen-tral Senatorial District Town HallMeeting took place, the quarterlyevent has become an occasion forthe celebration of dividends ofdemocracy and development,while reinforcing calls for socialchange.

Senator Tinubu whose time asFirst Lady of Lagos State, wit-nessed various populist and youthdevelopment initiatives, has spon-

sored two bills to provide socialsecurity for Nigeria’s elderlycitizens and to amend sectionsof the Labour Act which restrictsemployment opportunities forwomen.

She is currently spearheadingefforts for the National Assem-bly to grant Lagos State a spe-cial status under the constitu-tion.

Past editions of her Town HallMeetings witnessed various ini-tiatives including the launchingof her Post-Secondary SchoolScholarship Scheme, PSSS,

whereby 26 beneficiaries are paidN100,000 annually for fouryears and 598 students of terti-ary institutions receive N10,000 bursaries to help defray thecost of procuring academicbooks.

She also launched the PettyTraders Empowerment CapitalScheme, PETECS, tohelp 624 beneficiaries in herconstituency re-capitalise an ex-isting petty trade. Beneficiariesof these and other constituencydevelopment initiatives are cho-sen without consideration of po-litical party affiliations.

Senator Oluremi Tinubu

FLAG OFF: From left: Dr. Yewande Adesina, Special Adviser to Governor Fashola onPublic Health; Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State; Oba Rilwan Akiolu, Oba ofLagos, and Dr. Jide Idris, Commissioner for Health, during the flag off of Iga IdunganranPrimary Health Care Centre in Lagos. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013 —11

FG, states,LG shareN886bn

Pope Francis shuns perks as papalduties begin

LAGOS—KNOWN for hislegendary humility, the

new Catholic Pontiff, Pope Francisbegan his papal duties yesterdayby shunning the perks offered tothe office but adopted a modest ap-proach as he celebrated his firstmass as pontiff a day after his dra-matic election as the first LatinAmerican leader of the CatholicChurch.

The Pope held a mass in theSistine Chapel together with thecardinals who elected him onWednesday.

Pope Francis visited a Rome ba-silica in his first outing was wear-ing a white cassock, black — notred — shoes, his cardinal’s ringand a silver cross. Dressed in thewhite papal vestments, Franciswas driven to the basilica in astandard-issue Vatican car ratherthan the papal limousine, in keep-ing with early signs that the as-cetic 76-year-old Argentinian willshun the perks of high office.

The low-key visit to the SalusPopuli Romani at the ancient SantaMaria Maggiore church in theEternal City lasted 20 minutes.The church was closed to the pub-lic and just a dozen excited nuns,priests and seminarians were thereto greet him. It was a world awayfrom the scene the night beforewhen the former Jorge MarioBergoglio stepped onto the bal-cony of St Peter’s Basilica to greettens of thousands of people aftercardinals made him Latin Ameri-ca’s first pope.

After laying the bouquet, Francismoved on to pray at a reliquary ofChrist’s manger and at the altar ofSt Ignatius of Loyola, the founderof the Jesuit order to which thenew pope belongs.

Pope’s First Day in thePapacy

Vatican spokesman FedericoLombardi, himself a Jesuit, ex-plained later: “For us Jesuits, thatplace is very significant becausethe founder of our church cel-ebrated his first mass there in1538.”

According to Federico Lombardi:“It was no secret. Like one whohas no cares that everyone knowswhat he intended to do, at 8:24pmlast night in his first public appear-ance”

He said: “Tomorrow I am goingto pray to the Virgin, for the safe-keeping of all of Rome.” Then at

BY CLIFFORD NDUJIHE WITHAGENCY REPORTS

Health Minister urges parents to embracepolio immunisation

ABUJA—THE Minister ofState for health, Dr, Ali Pate,

has urged all parents in the coun-try to embrace polio immuniza-tion to save their children frombeing paralised by the polio vi-rus, explaining that it is in thebest interest of the children, theirfamilies and the nation to immu-nize them.

He spoke at a round-table ses-sion with media owners and topexecutives in Abuja, yesterday.

The minister said: “It is in ourbest interest to immunize our chil-

BY EMMA UJAH, ABUJABUREAU CHIEF

dren. Over four years we havegone from 42 per cent populationimmunity to about 80 per centpopulation immunity in Nigeria.“he said.

Pate lamented that the deliber-ate misinformation and miscon-ceptions about polio vaccine, inNorthern Nigeria where the dis-ease has become localized, was amajor challenge for the pro-gramme, requiring the collabora-tion of the media and otherstakeholders to tackle it.

“Truly there is progress butthere are pockets of areas wehaven’t been able to break-

through yet. Yesterday, Ispoke to someone from Bauchiwhere a child has not beenimmunized because the entiresettlement where the childwas living in Bauchi local gov-ernment, they consistently re-fused to be immunized. Theysent away the vaccinators andthe child is paralised.

“In Borno, there is a familyof 42 siblings and the fatheris a local malam. When oneof the children becameparalised we found out thathe has never immunized anyof his children.

“We saw the case in FCT- thevaccinators camearound, they rejectand the child getsparalised and thereis nothing that canbe done. And youextrapolate thatwith the case ofmeasles. The im-plications of lack ofimmunization ofpolio also gets tomeasles,” he said.

8:05 this morning, leaving theVatican for the first time as pon-tiff, the newly elected Pope tookone of the Gendarmerie’s simpleservice cars to the papal basilicaof St. Mary Major, the oldest andlargest church dedicated to theVirgin in Rome. It is also one ofthe four largest in Rome andclaims the King of Spain as itsproto-canon. The new pontiff ofthe Catholic Church chose to en-ter through one of the basilica’sside doors.

Upon entering the basilica thePope headed toward the vener-

ated icon of Our Lady “SalusPopuli Romani” (Protectress of theRoman People) accompanied by,among others, Cardinal SantosAbril y Castello, archpriest of thebasilica and Cardinal AgostinoVallini, vicar general of the Dio-cese of Rome.

The Holy Father, after leavingthe Virgin a bouquet of flowerson the altar, prayed silently forabout 10 minutes before the mainaltar that is directly above the cryptcontaining relics of the crib ormanger of the Nativity of Jesus.He also visited the basilica’sSistine Chapel, which is whereSt. Ignatius of Loyola celebrated

his first Mass after being or-dained a priest. He waited sev-eral months, until Christmas Eve1538, to say his first Mass. “It isa very significant place in Jesuitspirituality,” Fr. FedericoLombardi, S.J., Director of theHoly See Press Office, noted. Fi-nally, the new Roman Pontiff alsostopped to pray before the tombof St. Pius V, which is also in thatchapel.

Pope Francis also greeted thebasilica’s chapter of canons, con-fessors, and priests as well as allthe personnel that work there andthe faithful and journalists thathe met along the way.

APC BRIEFING: From left: Senator Annie Okonkwo of APGA, representative of CPC,Senator Garba Mohammed; ACN chieftain, Chief Tom Ikimi; ANPP representative, MallamIbrahim Shekarau, and ACN spokesman, Lai Mohammed, at a briefing on APC’s positionwith INEC in Abuja. Photo: Gbemiga Olamikan.

ABUJA—THE Federal Government

has commenced the im-plementation of the 2013budget with the releaseof N400 billion capitalvote, after sharingN886.402 billion amongthe three tiers of govern-ment.

The distribution of theN886.402 billion wasundertaken at themonthly Federation Ac-count Allocation Com-mittee, FAAC, over whichthe Accountant-Generalof the Federation, AGF,Mr. Jonah Otunla, pre-sided, in Abuja, yester-day.

Mr. Paul Nwabuikwu,Special Adviser to theCoordinating Ministerfor the Economy andMinister of Finance, Dr.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,announced the release ofthe first quarter capitalallocation in a separatestatement.

The N886.402 billionshared at the FAAC meet-ing was made up ofN450.263 billion as statu-tory disbursements to thefederal, state and localgovernments; N62.707billion as Value AddedTax, VAT; N173.505 bil-lion augmentation forthe month; N35.549 bil-lion from SURE-P;N7.617 billion refund bythe Nigeria National Pe-troleum Corporation,NNPC, and N156.761 ar-rears of January, 2013augmentation.

An analysis of distribu-tion among the threetiers of governmentshowed that the federalgovernment tookN209.856 billion or 52.68per cent , state govern-ments received N106.442billion or 26.72 per centwhile the 774 local gov-ernments got N82.062billion or 20.60 per centfrom the statutory alloca-tion.

The AGF said: “Therehas been a drop of N52billion from the antici-pated revenue, out of thetotal N512.97 billion avail-able, N131.4 billion went toexcess crude account leav-ing the recipe of N450.26billion, and this when dis-counted further by the costof collection by Federal In-land Revenue Service,FIRS, and Nigeria Cus-toms Service, we haveN445.84 billion as the nextstatutory allocation.”

BY EMMA UJAH,ABUJA BUREAU CHIEF

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Mixed reactions in Bayelsa over statepardon to Alamieyeseigha

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM& GABRIEL

ENOGHOLASE

UduaghaneulogisesBishopEgerega

36.8m Nigerians suffer from kidneydisease —Expert

Edo allegesFG's moves totake over roadproject

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

Civil ServantsCooperativeSociety holdsseminar inDelta

A three-day seminar/workshop organ-

ised by Civil ServantsCooperative Society,Asaba, Delta State, isslated to hold fromMarch 21-23.

A statement by thepresident of the body,Mr. Lucky Kekema, saidthe seminar, with thetheme, Developing theEntrepreneurship in You,is aimed at developingworkers' capacity to uti-lise their spare time forventures to augmenttheir income.

YENAGOA—THE statepardon granted by the

Federal Government to formergovernor of Bayelsa State,Chief Diepreye Alamieyesei-gha, has continued to gener-ate mix reactions amongBayelsans.

Special Adviser to GovernorSeriake Dickson on PoliticalMatters, Chief Fred Agbedi;former Commissioner for In-formation and Orientation inthe state, Chief Nathan Egba,who served underAlamieyesigha; Chief TimipreSylva, and the state PublicitySecretary of Peoples Demo-cratic Party, PDP, Mr. OsomMacbere, lauded the pardonas welcome development.

Former state Secretary ofCivil Liberties Organisation,CLO, Mr. Morris Alagoa,flayed the action, describingsame as a shame and set backto the fight against corruptionin the country.

Chief Agbedi, said: “His

(Alamieyeseigha's ) pardon is awelcome development. We appre-ciate it because it will enable himbounce back. He has contributedimmensely to the state and na-tional development.”

Chief Egba disagreed withthose opposed to the state pardongranted the former Bayesa gov-ernor, saying: “I expect that Ni-

gerians should, by now, learnnot to rush to judgment eachtime there is a presidential de-cision that appears controver-sial. In this particular case, Mr.President ought to be com-mended for his courage togrant state pardon to all thoseaffected, particularly Gen.Oladipo Diya and his col-

leagues as well as ChiefAlamieyeseigha. As a man ofconscience and high moralstanding, Mr. President knowsthat the former governor's sinswere more political than crim-inal, in those hectic days of theinfamous ‘political' Economicand Financial Crimes Com-mission, EFCC.”

AS Nigerians, yesterday,joined the rest of the

world to celebrate this year’sWorld Kidney Day, an experthas said that 36.8 millionNigerians (23 per cent) aresuffering from various stag-es of kidney disease in Ni-geria

With this figure, it meansthat one in seven Nigeriansis suffering from some formof kidney disorder.

President-elect, NigeriaAssociation of Nephrology

and Chief Medical Director atSt. Nicholas Hospital, Lagos, Dr.Ebun Bamgboye, who disclosedthis at an awareness programmeorganised by the hospital tomark this year’s World KidneyDay, regretted that despite theseverity of the disease, Nigeri-an patients are faced with manychallenges in terms of treatment.

Bamgboye lamented the bur-den of the disease, noting thatan estimated 15,000 new pa-tients are diagnosed every yearin the country.

He said: “Chronic kidney dis-ease prevalence is a problem in

our environment. Estimatessuggest that one out of everyseven Nigerians has one stageof chronic kidney disease.Unfortunately, out of 50,000patients who should ideallybe on dialysis, less than 1,000are currently on dialysis as attoday.

“Unfortunately, if you havekidney failure and you don’tdo dialysis or transplant with-in two weeks you will die. Youcan imagine the number ofpeople that are dying everyday because of kidney dis-ease.”

BENIN—EDO StateGovernment, yesterday,

accused the Federal Govern-ment of alleged attempt to“steal our 5-junctions roadproject,” and vowed to resistany attempt to mislead thepeople of the state on the truesponsors of the project.

Meantime, following thecontroversy over the popular“5 Junctions,” Edo State Mar-ket Women Association, hasenjoined Governor Adams Os-hiomhole not to be distractedby the Federal Government'sclaim, saying that he "mustremain focused and commit-ted to the completion of thevarious projects he has em-barked upon.”

Meanwhile, Edo State Com-missioner for Environment,Prince Clem Agba, said that itwas as a result of the misin-formation about the real spon-sors of the project that theproject Manager of RCC, whowas involved in the controver-sy between the state govern-ment and the Ministry ofWorks over the ownership ofthe projects, was sent packingfrom the state.

It will be recalled that theMinister of Information, MrLabaran Maku, during theGood Governance Tour in thestate, hailed the efforts of theFederal Government in theconstruction of the 5-junctionRoad.

VISIT: Mr. Victor Ochei, Speaker, Delta State House of Assembly (middle); Olorogun TalibTebite (4th left), member, representing Ughelli South in DTHA; Olorogun John Ewenede (5thright), Chairman, PDP Ughelli South Concerned Group and others, during a courtesy visit tothe Speaker in Asaba. Photo: Akpokona Omafuaire.

Adewale nowVice-Chair,Print MediaSalesExecutives

DELTA State governor, Dr. Emmanuel

Uduaghan, yesterday,said the Catholic Churchhas always been sup-portive of his adminis-tration through prayers.

He spoke at the burialof foremost CatholicBishop of Apostolic Vi-cariate of Bomadi, DeltaState, Most Rev, JosephEgerega emeritus, whodied on February 3,2013. Late Egerega was,yesterday, laid to rest inthe state.

Uduaghan, who wasrepresented by his dep-uty, Prof Amos Utuama,said the state govern-ment acknowledges thetremendous effort by theCatholic Church duringthe re-run Delta guberelections.

The Bishop of Iseleku–Uku diocese, Most Rev.Michael Elue, in hisHomily, called on Chris-tians to see death as aninevitable end.

ASABA branch ofDelta State chapter

of Print Media Sales Ex-ecutives, has elected itsexecutive to run the asso-ciation for the next twoyears.

Elected were AigbogunMorrison of Leadership,Chairman; Aremu-FaroyeAdewale of Vanguard,Vice-Chairman andIjenebe Felix of SportsDay – Secretary.

BY OKEY NDIRIBE &EMMAN

OVUAKPORIE

Reps summon Okogwu, Budget Office D-G

ABUJA—MEMBERS ofthe House of Repre-

sentatives, yesterday, sum-moned the Director-General,Budget Office, Mr. BrightOkogwu, to appear beforeHouse Committees on Ap-propriation and Finance toexplain the content of theletter he allegedly sent toMinistries, Departments andAgencies of Government,MDAs, to wait for theamended version of the 2013Appropriation Act before im-plementation.

Okogwu drew the wrath of

the legislators for allegedlyusurping legislative powers viahis purported letter instructingMDAs to discountenance theAppropriation Act passed byboth Houses of the National As-sembly.

The legislators were furtherirked as government functionar-ies were instead allegedly askedto work on proposed amend-ments which had not even beenbrought to the National Assem-bly for ratification or approval.

Mr. Samson Osagie, the Mi-nority Whip of the House, rep-resenting Edo State, in a motionhe brought to the floor of theHouse, tagged: Threat of breachof the 2013 Appropriation Act byfunctionaries of the Executivearm of Government, informed

members that he was in pos-session of a letter to this ef-fect allegedly written by theDirector of Budget Office.

He said: “We must sound anote of warning here that noproposed amended budgetshall be implemented by theMDAs, other than what waspassed by the National As-sembly and assented to by thePresident."

He called on all standingcommittees to sit up whilewatching those that might at-tempt to put aside the 2013budget.

Mrs. Abike Dabiri-Erewa,representing Lagos, stressedthat it was time to “put a stopto issues like this.”

CMYK



Ebonyi Deputy Speakerimpeached for allegedgross misconduct

BY PETER OKUTU

MINNA — GOVERNORBabangida Aliyu of Niger

State has insisted that PresidentGoodluck Jonathan signed a singleterm pact with some governors of theNorthern part of the country ahead ofthe 2011 presidential election

Speaking at the Minna NationalDiscourse on Corruption, jointlyorganised by Niger State governmentand the National PlanningCommission in Minna, yesterday, thegovernor said what he said was correctand that he could not change what wasthe truth.

“If to be truthful is to be literate, Istand by what I said. I am happy withwhat some people have said about thePDP. I see them as somebody holdingsomething and you are telling himhold it better or it will fall down.

"So we should look at the on-goingproblems as issues we must confront,

issues that we must correct and thatagreement made in secret both at thesame fora is same as the one made inpublic,” the governor remarked.

He said he still remained acommitted member of the PeoplesDemocratic Party, (PDP) and that anycriticism by people, especiallymembers, was to make the party "waxstronger and stronger."

With the theme of the NationalDiscourse as confronting 'Trends ofIndiscipline, Corruption and Disregardfor Rules and Regulations in Nigeria',Dr. Aliyu described corruption as acankerworm that had eaten deep intothe fabric of most Nigerians which mustbe stopped if the country had to makeprogress.

Former Federal PermanentSecretary, Dr. Hakeem Ahmed, in hiscontribution, described PDP as "afailure since its inception and it is nowheading for the rock."

He called on members to salvage it.

If not leave it becausethere are other boats,” heremarked.

He warned against2015 general electionsand that PDP shouldeither win honourably ordon’t tamper with theresult for the survival ofthe country.

“Whatever theadministration does,there is one thing theymust never try and do.Don’t tamper with theelection of the 2015.

"The way they aregoing, they think theycan do away withanything in this country,but there is one thing,they will not run awaywith and it is, don’ttamper with the electionof 2015 because if you dothat, God knows whatwill happen to thiscountry.”

According to him: “Thebiggest corruption iscorruption in theelectoral process and Iam not too sure that thepeople who have donewhat they have in thelast few weeks will notalso attempt to steal theelection in 2015. But Ipray to God that theywill not steal it.”

Former minister ofExternal Affairs,Professor BolajiAkinyemi who was thelead speaker saidcorruption had startedsince 1960 and thatbetween that time and2012, over 500b dollarshad been siphoned out ofthe country.

He said stiffer penaltylike death sentenceshould be applied to anybody found guilty ofcorruption.

ABAKALIKI —EBONYI State

House of Assembly,yesterday, impeachedits Deputy Speaker,Valentine Okike, foralleged misconduct,insubordination andplotting to impeach theleadership of the House,gossiping, wearing ofboxers to officialfunctions and lack ofrespect for hiscolleagues.

The impeached DeputySpeaker representsAfikpo South West stateconstituency in the stateHouse of Assembly.

Moving theimpeachment motion,the memberrepresenting EzzaSouth state constituency,Chris Usulor, during aplenary of the House,accused the formerDeputy Speaker ofcausing disaffectionamong members of thestate House of Assembly.

He said: “Mr. Speaker,the Deputy Speaker hasbeen in the habit ofmoving from one officeto another, reporting theleadership of the House,causing disaffection inthe House, causingfragmentation in theHouse, promotingconflict and at the sametime plotting to impeachthe leadership of thehouse.

"Mr. Speaker from allindications, the DeputySpeaker has been in theforefront of promotingdisaffection in this houseand insubordination tothe leadership of theHouse.

“Based on this and inaccordance with Section92 sub section 2c of the1999 Constitution whichstates inter alia, ‘theSpeaker or the DeputySpeaker shall vacateoffice if he is removedfrom office by aresolution of the Houseof Assembly by a vote ofnot less than two-thirdsof the members.'

"Mr. Speaker, I move amotion that the DeputySpeaker should beimpeached.

“The way he dresses bywearing boxers toofficial function and inthe House, people arecalling us a Housewithout rules. TheDeputy Speaker, who isunder oath to protect theintegrity of the Houseand the constitution, is atthe forefront of breachingthe two”

The House, which alsosuspended the lawmakerwho was also theChairman HouseCommittee on RuralDevelopment, set up aneight-member committeeto look into theallegations against himand report back to theHouse within two weeks.

I insist, Jonathan signedfor one tenure — Aliyu

BY WOLE MOSADOMI


Jonathan asks Senate to confirm FolaAkinkuotu as new DG, NCAA.Presents bill to formalise establishment of Police Academy

.As Senate approves Suleiman Barau CBN Deputy Governor

By JOSEPH ERUNKE

ABUJA—BARELY twodays after he

unceremoniously disengagedDr. Harold Demuren as DirectorGeneral of Nigeria CivilAviation Authority, NCAA,President Goodluck Jonathan

has sent a letter to the Senaterequesting it to confirm hisnomination of Captain FolaC. Akinkuotu as new head ofthe agency.

The President also sent a“Bill for an Act to establishthe Nigeria Police Academy(Establishment, etc) Bill,

2013” to the Senate forconsideration.

The development camejust as the Senate confirmedthe nomination of AlhajiSuleiman Barau for re-appointment as deputygovernor of Central Bank ofNigeria, CBN, as had been

requested by the President.But it appeared the

President had longappointed Demuren’sreplacement before hisaction, as the letter to theSenate President was datedMarch 8, 2013.

In the letter, President

Be agents ofpoliticalchange,Maku tellsCSOs

BY EMMANUELELEBEKE

ABUJA — THEminister of

information, Mr.Labaran Maku haschallenged CivilSociety Organisations(CSOs) in the country tocomplement the effort of government to usher ina new political order byimproving the politicalvalues of Nigerianpeople on governance.

The minister gave thecharge when NationalCoalition for GoodGovernance, NACOGG,paid him a courtesy visityesterday in Abuja.

Mr.. Maku saidcontrary to popularbeliefs across thecountry, nothing haschanged in the country,

Nigeria had recordeda significant leap interms of developmentsince the transition todemocratic rule 13 yearsago, as against the sumtotal of achievementsmade by the militaryduring its years ofmisrule.

He called on civilsociety group in thecountry to create theright attitude inNigerians, so as to allowgood governance thrivein the country andwarned on those whodoubt the ability ofpresent administrationnot to constitute a set-back to the wheel ofprogress in theirattempts to tear thecountry down.

EFCC detains deposed Taraba Dep Gov overN1.3 bn fraud ...seeks banks’ support to tackle fraud

SONI DANIEL, Region-al Editor, North

sources, the formerDeputy Governor usedthe money to develop aprivate school known asYagai Academy, therebystalling the execution ofMDGs’ projects, meantto check avoidabledeaths and advance thequality of lives by theyear 2015.

Danladi is also said toown a mega printingpress and a waterprocessing plant thatsells water, an essentialcommodity in Jalingo,the Taraba State capital.

Meanwhile the anti-graft agency has calledon banks in the countryto cooperate with it inthe fight against fraudand other economiccrimes.

The commission’sHead of Operations inEnugu, Mr. DavidIloyanomon, made thecall at a meeting withsenior bank officials onThursday.

J o n a t h a nrequested theupper legislativechamber toc o n f i r mappointment ofFola Akinkuotu,saying his actionfollowed the sackof Dr. HaroldDemuren, in linewith the provisionsof Sections 8 (3)(a) and (c) of theCivil Aviation Actof 2006.

J o n a t h a npleaded with theSenate to give hisr e q u e s t se x p e d i t i o u sconsideration, inits “usualmanner”.

J o n a t h a n ,through theSecretary to theGovernment of theFederation, AnyimPius Anyim, hadannounced thesack of HaroldDamuren fromoffice as DirectorGeneral ofNigerian CivilAviation Authority,with effect fromMarch 12, 2013.ABUJA — THE

Economic andFinancial CrimesCommission, EFCC, hasdeclined to releaseformer Taraba StateDeputy Governor, AlhajiSanni Abubakar Danladi,who was arrested by itsoperatives on Wednesdaymorning overmismanagement of fundsmeant for the executionof MillenniumDevelopment Goals,MDGs, projects in thestate.

A security sourceconfirmed to Vanguard,yesterday, that Danladiwas still being detainedin connection with thediversion of fundsamounting to N1.3billion from the MDGfunds into his privatebusiness.

According to competent

ABUJA — THEPrelate, Methodist

Church Nigeria, HisEminence, Dr. OlaMakinde, yesterday,urged the FederalGovernment not to bedeceived by theceasefire declaredrecently by the BokoHaram Islamic sect.

It also urgedgovernment todiscountenance the callin some quarters foramnesty to members ofthe group.

Makinde equallycalled on government atall levels to take urgent

Be wary of ceasefire declared by Boko Haram,Prelate tells FG

BY CALEB AYANSINA oppress us. We voted forthem for a better life, butwhat we see in moststates is the opposite,”he said.

Makinde, who wasrepresented by theSecretary of the Synod,

From left: Prince Julius Adelusi Adeluyi, Director, MTN Foundation; Kadri Olatunde Sheriff, Univer-sity of Ibadan Civil Engineering student; Ambassador Hamzat Ahmad,CON, 'Walin Sokoto', Chairman,MTN Foundation and Nonny Ugboma, Executive Secretary, MTN Foundation, during MTN Founda-tion Scholarship Award ceremony, at National Theatre, Iganmu, Lagos. Photo: Akeem Salau.

steps to provide the basicneeds for Nigerians andtalk less about politics.

The Prelate, who madethe call at the MaidenSynod of the MethodistDiocese of Kubwa inAbuja, decried the weakinfrastructural base inthe country, calling forimmediate steps toredress the situation.

Makinde said it wasunfortunate that mostpoliticians were merelyusing the authoritygiven to them by thepeople to bite the handsthat fed them.

”It seems thepoliticians are merelyusing our votes to

Rev. Abel Amuta, urgedthe government not to bedeceived by the recentceasefire by BokoHaram and proposedamnesty call in somequarters for them, desc-ribing the call as a trap.

Iloyanomon said thecollaboration betweenbanks and thecommission would help

eradicate mountingfraud and other financialcrimes affecting thecountry.

2 x 2ADVERT

CMYK


Does love exist without money?PEOPLE SPEAK08102479985 By Bartholomew Madukwe

([email protected])

TRUE love shouldnot bother whetheror not there is

money. By working hard,God will definitely dosomething along theline. Such relationshipleaves an unending re-membrance.— MissShoneki Oluwatobiloba,Student.

LOVE and moneywork together. Before you can love

someone, it is either be-cause of money or otherthings. Love succeedingwithout money dependson the man. There mustbe signs of good thingsto come.— Miss IdowuFolakemi.

LOVE withoutmoney is originallove. If you can

love someone who hasno money, definitely it isreal love. If the moneythen comes in future, theman or woman will stillhave true love. Such lovewill last— Miss EnohUdoh, Typist.

LOVE withoutmoney is the bestfor lovers. One

does not know the sourceof these monies on dis-play. If eventually theman or the lady getsmoney, it won’t changeanything.— MissAdetola Ajetumobi, Stu-dent.

LOVE withoutmoney still exists.If the lovers do not

have money, but withbright prospects, thereshould be no problem. I candate a poor person, who hasa bright future and knowswhat he is doing. It is a mat-ter of time.— Miss RajiTitilayo, Student.

I do not think love isall about money.From my under-

standing of love, it issomething that has to dowith the display of careand affection. These donot really mean money.They mean being there.—Miss Awodi Deborah,Communicator.

Road crash claims 8, injures 5 in Niger DangoteempowersJigawawomenwithN270m

LOKOJA—EIGHTpersons died, while

five others sustained se-rious injuries in an autocrash at Zariagi alongOkene-Lokoja Highway,Kogi State, yesterday.

An eyewitness said theaccident occurred whena Toyota Hiace bus over-took another vehicle andhad a head-on collisionwith an oncoming vehi-cle, killing the eight vic-tims.

He said both the in-

jured and the dead vic-tims had been evacuatedfrom the scene of thecrash by the FederalRoad Safety Commis-sion, FRSC’s rescueteam and taken to theFederal Medical Centre.Confirming the accident,Sector Commander of theFRSC, MuhammedGarba said the accidentinvolved a Toyota Hiacebus with plate numberXB 111 KWU and aMercedes car with platenumber XR 106 EKY.

Garba said 22 peoplewere involved in the ac-

cident, adding that eightdied, while five otherssustained injured.

Blaming the accident onover speeding and dan-gerous overtaking, Garba

BY BOLUWAJIOBAHOPO

added that of the dead,four were males, threefemale and a child.

M I N N A — R E -SEARCH insti-

tutes’ workers across thecountry, who have beenon industrial strike forabout three months, havevowed not to resumework until their demandswere fully met.

Their demands include53.37 percent increase intheir salaries, payment ofallowances, includingthose for high risk, stressand strain hazards.

They are also asking fortheir retirement age to beincreased to 65 years;proper funding of theirinstitutions and the es-tablishment of NationalAgricultural ResearchInstitutes Commission,NARICOM.

Branch Chairman ofthe Non-Academic Staff

Union of Education andAssociated Institutions ofthe National Cereal Re-search Institute, NCRI,Badeggi, Niger State,Alhaji Baba Umaru,spoke with Vanguard.

He said in an interviewthat since the resolutionof the outstanding issueswith the government hadfailed, the workers hadno alternative than tocontinue with their in-definite strike.

He explained that theworkers’ union hadreached several agree-ments with the govern-ment over the issues,adding that none of suchagreements had everbeen implemented.

He said: “We went ona warning strike lastmonth. We had to go onstrike in 2011 before sixmonths of outstandingarrears could be paid

and after series of failedmeetings, we now con-cluded that government isjust trying to play on ourintelligence, which wewill not accept again.”

Umaru disclosed thatgovernment had alsostopped payment of sala-ries of workers of thevarious institutes acrossthe country based onGazette of 1976.

He added that this waswhy the institutes werenow demanding for therecognition of their newunion, NARICON, totake care of their welfare,among others.

He said: “The presentdevelopment clearlyshows that government islooking down on us. Re-search institutes shouldbe taken more seriously tomake progress and havea breakthrough in scienceand technology.”

No going back on strike—Research institute workers

BY WOLEMOSADOMI D UTSE—ABOUT

27,000 women inJigawa State have re-ceived grants of N10,000each as financial supportfrom a business mogul,Alhaji Aliko Dangote.

State Commissioner forAgriculture and Eco-nomic Empowerment,Alhaji Rabiu Isah, madethis known during thedisbursement exercise inDutse, the state capital,yesterday.

Isah explained that thegrant from the DangoteGroup would help thewomen in their smalltrade activities. Nobodywas allowed to collectthe money on behalf ofanother person.

In his speech, the Com-missioner asked thewomen’s husbands notto borrow the money fromtheir wives or disburse iton their behalf so that thebeneficiaries could uti-lise the grants properly.

Also, the PermanentSecretary in the Minis-try of Economic Empow-erment, Mallam JamiluAbubakar said the Min-istry was created by thepresent administrationin 2011 to create job op-portunities for youths,women and the physi-cally-challenged per-sons in the state.

He said women in thestate had not been enjoy-ing democracy dividendsbefore the advent of thepresent administration.

BY TINA AKANNAM

Nyako makes case for skills acquisition

YOLA—GOVERNORMurtala Nyako of

Adamawa State hasstressed the need for theprivate sector to partnerwith the various stategovernments to promotetechnical skills acquisi-tion by Nigerian youthsas they possess the re-quired potentials capa-ble of boosting socio- eco-nomic development in

the country.Nyako spoke, yester-

day, in Yola the statecapital, during the sec-ond Adamawa State JobFair, which attractedvarious companiesthroughout the countryand beyond.

He stated that therewere great benefits fromhis government’s part-nership with the privatesector that were inclinedto offer technical aids

and support to youths,whose talents were awak-ened to realise their bestfor themselves and forthe socio-economic de-velopment of the state.

He said the job fair wasaimed at providing anavenue for interactionbetween employers oflabour and their pro-spective employees, add-ing that the forum had af-forded opportunity forgraduates.

BY UMAR YUSUF

CMYK

CMYK


LAST week, the Sultan ofSokoto, Alhaji

Muhammed Sa’ad AbubakarIII, condemned thegovernment’s crackdown onBoko Haram and said thatPresident GoodluckJonathan should grant “totalamnesty” to the group’smembers.

I imagine that he meanswell for the country andregard some of the enragedcriticisms he has received forsuggesting an amnesty asunnecessarily virulent.

But let’s face it: His sug-gestion was very misguidedand Mr President has quiterightly responded by point-ing out that “you cannotdeclare amnesty for ghosts.”

At the risk of soundingsectional, let me say that itwas possible to grant NigerDelta militants amnesty in

fish.Firstly, murder appears to

be their number one priority.Secondly, nobody is surewho they are or what theywant. Thirdly, their back-ward insistence that “West-ern education is sinful” -and their occasional de-mands for their jailedcomrades to be released - donot amount to a legitimatemoral, social, economic orpolitical manifesto that canbe seriously addressed bythe authorities.,

,

from oil explored in theirdomain…”.

Ayemi-Botu, a onetimeNational President of theTraditional Rulers for OilMinerals Producing Com-munities of Nigeria,TROMPCON, went on todirect a very pertinentquestion at the Sultan: “Letme ask…who he has identi-fied as members and spon-sors of Boko Haram that hewants the Federal Govern-ment to grant amnestyto?…Who will the govern-ment dialogue with...?”

Meeting ofreligious leaders

The Sultan has said in thepast – at a meeting ofreligious leaders in July2011, for example - that “wecannot solve violence withviolence.” And I must saythat such pacifist sentimentssound odd coming from aman who was a senior armyofficer before he became thespiritual boss of NigerianMuslims in 2006.

Longstanding readers ofthis column will know that Iinitially saw Boko Haram asa crusade that is more aboutdesperation than religion. Ithought it was being drivenby angry, poverty-strickenyoung fellows who hadturned to extremism becausetheir minds and hearts hadbeen warped by hunger andunemployment.

Nigeria had never experi-enced suicide bombing

As His Royal Majesty,Charles Ayemi-Botu, thePere of Siembiri Kingdom inDelta State said in thisnewspaper (in a report byEmma Amaize on March 7):

“…I condemn the call bythe Sultan. We have come toknow Boko Haram as afaceless group with links toAl Quaeda….Theiragitation…should not becompared to the Niger Deltastruggle in which youthstook up arms for equity inthe distribution of wealth

before and I thought thejihadists were ready to diebecause they’d lost all senseof hope and had nothing tolose. I blamed their selfishelders for betraying an entiregeneration. I was convincedthat they’d quit their sav-agery if they were offered afairer deal.

How wrong I was to adoptsuch a naïve, rose-tinted,liberal stance!

I now regard BokoHaramists as cold, calculat-ing terrorists who don’t lackfunds and have an anti-progress agenda and cannever be placated.

They even brutally attacktheir own kind and haveprobably despatched morefellow Northern Muslimsthan Southerners or Chris-tians to early graves.

Assassinationof imams

A Fulani friend recentlytold me that he is shockedwhenever Northern VIPs areaccused of secretly support-ing Boko Haram “becauseNorthern VIPs have noreason to support a groupthat is eagerly killingNortherners of all classes”.

“They have even,” myfriend sadly informed me,shaking his head, “assassi-nated several imams in theMaiduguri area, whichproves that they have no realrespect for Islam, despitetheir claims.”

One would have thought

Responses to:[email protected] to 0802 747 6458 (textsonly). PLEASE KINDLYNOTE THAT UNLESS YOUSPECIFICALLY REQUESTANONYMITY, YOURCOMMENTS MAY BEPUBLISHED INVANGUARD, WITH YOURNAMES AND NUMBERSOR EMAIL ADDRESSESATTACHED.

The amnesty furore

•Sultanof Sokoto, Alhaji Muhammed Sa’ad Abubakar III•President Goodluck Jonathan

2009 because they did notmake a habit of killinginnocent people. Further-more, their bitter complaintsabout the manner in whichtheir region had beenneglected and exploitedmade sense to anyone whobelieved in human rightsand natural justice; andthese grievances wereclearly articulated by leaderswho were known andavailable for discussions.

Boko Haram’s leaders area totally different kettle of

that a former soldier like theSultan would understand theneed to aggressively anduncompromisingly pursuethese shadowy terrorists whohave wreaked so muchhavoc and wiped out somany of their compatriots.But he’s recommendingsurrender rather than war

The President has said thathe is not ruling out anamnesty deal for BokoHaram in future, if circum-stances change. And I urgehim to rule one out perma-nently!

As far as I’m concerned,the government has theupper hand and should notrest until this evilorganisation has beencompletely brought to itsknees.

And, yes, it IS hard toeliminate guerilla fighterswho operate undergroundand are such zealots thatthey don’t fear death. But itCAN be done. And PresidentJonathan has the ability todo it. He just needs to workwith the right military andcounter-insurgency experts.

I now regard Boko Haramists as cold,calculating terrorists who don’t lackfunds and have an anti-progress agendaand can never be placated. They evenbrutally attack their own kind and haveprobably despatched more fellowNorthern Muslims than Southerners orChristians to early graves

OPINION

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013

Anenih, the enigma of our timeTHAT High Chief Tony Anenih isa

great man is stating theobvious. This is a man I owe somuch respect not just because heis an elderly man but because hehas remained a highly principledman over time.Looking back to the year Irelocated back to this country, Ihave followed Chief Tony Anenihand I have come to respect himtremendously because of the lovehe has for his people and thiscountry. He loves the progress of thepeople and the unity of the entirecountry.He has been fighting for thesustenance of democracy in thiscountry. Coming in contact withhim leaves you with the impressionthat this is a man you would choseto emulate in all ramifications.His emergence as the consensuschoice for the Chairmanship, Boardof Trustees of the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP), goes along way to show the kind of personChief Tony Anenih is. His

PETER OJEMEN

emergence is as a result of hispedigree as somebody you can trustto make things happen and putthings right. Everybody cannot bewrong at the same time. He isrecognised as a forthright manwhose stance on issues is alwaystilted towards the truth and hestands by it. This is a man that youcannot cajole into taking decisionthrough flattering.When he takes a decision on whatneeds to be done, he goes about itand makes sure it is carried out tothe letter.Chief Anenih, it must also be saidis a man that is God fearing andloves his creator. In his nativeEsanland where he is the Iyasele ofthe land, his love for giving to theless privilege in the society islegendary. A philanthropist of greatnote, he is not discriminatory to ageas he blesses both youths and theold with his God given wealth.

Several unemployed youths havebeen beneficiaries of the jobopportunities he has continued tocreate.Our great party, the PDP shouldconsider it a great honour for thisman of the moment to emerge asthe Chairman of the BoT. Going byhis antecedents, he is surely goingto make the party stronger, moreunited and focused. No wonder alland sundry refer to him as ‘Mr Fixit’. As a man who believes in equity,he is going to make sure that theright candidates emerge asaspirants for positions duringelections.

As proof of his penchant fora l w a y s

putting square pegs in squareholes, the work done so far by hispolitical son, Architect MikeOnolememen as Works Ministerspeaks volumes.

Today, there is no gain saying thatthe youthful minister is the bestperforming minister in this politicaldispensation. By the way he is goingabout fixing our roads;Onolememen in not too distantfuture will definitely reposition allfederal roads comparable to whatobtains in developed countries.His emergence as the BoT chairmanwill certainly make nonsense of therecent merger of opposition politicalparties. It is even safe to postulatehere that Anenih’s work in the PDPas chairman of BOT will make itimpossible for the APC to get eventwenty percent of the total votes inany election.As a stalwart of the ruling PDP, Iwant to appeal to fellow partymembers to give Chief Tony Anenihall the support for him to succeedas his success will not only be forthe good of party members but forthe generality of NigeriansI pray that God gives this enigma ofour time long life and moreprosperity so that he can be therefor people like us to emulate andcome out better citizens of this greatcountry.*Dr. Ojemen, a Bini High Chief, wrotefrom Abuja.

Pope Francis sounds fresh and his adoptedname, could reflect the papacy of ArgentineJorge Bergoglio, the first non-Europeanpope in 1,300 years (since Gregory III, aSyrian, in 731), the first pope from LatinAmerica, though with strong Italian roots,and the first Jesuit priest to be pope.At 76, the choice of the 266th pontiff in the

Church’s 2,000-year history was a surprise.He lost to Benedict XVI in the 2005 election.With Benedict XVI resigning over age, manyexpected the new pope would be younger.He arrives at his assignment at a time of

scandals – financial, sexual – are drowningthe authority of the church. While theconclave was in session, one of the parishesin Chicago was paying a $10 million courtfine for its priests who defiled young boys.Francis, who chose his name from St.

Francis Assisi, a 12th century Italian priest,famous for his simplicity, humility and carefor the poor and down-trodden, wouldwaddle through dissentions in the churchover gay marriages, celibacy for priests, andincreasing scandals from management of theVatican’s shrouded finances.

FFFFFrancis – Therancis – Therancis – Therancis – Therancis – ThePoor’s PopePoor’s PopePoor’s PopePoor’s PopePoor’s Pope

The needs of the world’s 1.2 billionCatholics, almost half the number in LatinAmerica, are fully mirrored in the Americas,where poverty, illnesses and badgovernments run the day. Francis is in touchwith these realities that dictate many oftoday’s issues globally. A “pope for the newworld’, as Time magazine dubbed him,should create a “new world” for the faithful,and billions of down-trodden people all overthe world, who depend on social servicesthe church provides to survive in a world ofgovernments that neglect their people.

The pope’s humaneness and humility wereat play Wednesday night. He shocked thewaiting crowd at St. Peter’s Square with hisrequest that they should pray for him beforehe blessed them.From his sparse abode in Buenos Aires,

Bergoglio would settle in the sprawlingopulence of the Vatican. His constituencywould be the whole world. The issues wouldbe global with more complications thanArgentine politics and legalised abortionwhich he fought fiercely.The Vatican swishes in politics that is an

admixture of Italian and global intrigues.Francis would play it. More challenging isthe presence of a former pope in Rome. Thechurch faced that reality 598 years ago, in anera popes were deposed or rogue popesthrived outside the main church. How wouldFrancis relate to Benedict XVI?Ordinary Catholics bemused at Benedict

XVI’s departure are glad to have a pope. Thechallenges leave Francis with a traditionalchurch in deep need of changes. Hopefullywhen he is through, Francis would still bethe poor’s pope.

CMYK


,

*Mr. Ogba, a former GM Adm withFAAN, wrote from Jos.

,

,

,BY BITRUS OGBA

*Mr. Momodu, a commenta-tor on national issues, wrotefrom Abuja.

Oduah and aviation industryappointments

BY JOHNSON MOMODU

Deconstructing the Anenihloyalty paradigm

WHEN the people of the South westallege that they were marginalised by

the appointment of the Minister of Aviation,Princess Stella Oduah I get amused. Andwhen I hear that the appointment she madewas dominated by people from the Southeast I get bewildered.

If you check it you will discover thatOduah’s appointments were the mostbalanced in the industry since 1999 becauseit gave full representation to every part ofthe country. But I know why the South westis surprisingly crying marginalisation. Inthe past, they used to dominate everyappointment made in the industry. And evennow, if you get the list of all the workers inall the aviation parastatals, you will findout that they have the highest number ofappointments.

They are alleging ethnic cleansing becauseother parts of the country have been givenopportunity.

What I have come to know about Nigeriais that when you enjoy an unjustifiableadvantage, you would want it to continueand when there is any effort to address theinjustice, those benefitting begin to shoutbecause they see it as a right to cheat others.

For example, I was privileged to accesssome documents in the Federal AirportsAuthority of Nigeria when Richard

THE only song he knows is loyalty.Complete loyalty. Not half

measure. It is either one is 100percent loyal or one is not loyal. Noteven 99.99 percent loyalty is goodenough in his estimation. Hepractices what he preaches: He iscompletely loyal to leadership andfollowership alike. Once he declareshis loyalty, he never wavers. He isconsistent and persistent. Welcometo the world of Chief AnthonyAkhakhon Anenih who has justrebounded as Chair of the Board ofTrustees (BoT) of the ruling PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP).

His second coming as BoT chairhas created excitements in politicalcircles within and outside the PDPand across the states of the nation.This is attested to by the volume ofcongratulatory messages andpositive comments in the media onthe heels of his coronation, throughconsensus, by members of the Board.He was in the saddle from 2004 to2007 when he was ousted by formerPresident Olusegun Obasanjo, whohad then finished his second term, ina civilian coup plot at a meetingahead of the original meeting of theBoard at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel,Abuja.

Anenih had taken the developmentphilosophically, attending themeetings of the Board underObasanjo’s chairmanship. He hadremained loyal to the PDP and theFederal Government, which wasthen under the presidency of the latePresident Umaru Yar’Adua, availingthese levels of authorities with hiswise counsels and solid support.President Goodluck Jonathan is alsoa beneficiary of Anenih’s loyalty. Hehad consistently played the role of afather-figure in his interactions withthe late Yar’Adua and now withJonathan.

This is the outlook of Anenih’savuncular politics within the

ambience of the PDP. Persons in theoutside world of the PDP have alsobenefitted from his eleemosynary, hislarge-heartedness. This, perhaps,explains the air of celebration andrenewed hope that has pervaded thePDP. Leaders and members of thePDP have continued to applaud hisreturn in the saddle of the BoT. It isthe celebration of a man who hasdone so much for humanity.

In his political and public servicelife, he has come to cut a niche forhimself as the Leader, which isexciting to him and his followers. Itis the sobriquet of “Mr Fix It” or ‘TheEnforcer” that he and his loyalistsspurn because of their derogatorynature. This is why analysts arecorrect when they contend thatAnenih means different things todifferent people; and while somechoose to like him, others hate him.Yet, some others simply fear him. Butwhether you like, hate or fear him,he is someone that you cannot ignorein the politics of Nigeria.

Anenih has never contested for anypublic office; yet, he has become oneof the most talked about politiciansin the country today. He is perceiveddifferently by political allies and foes.While some see him as a threat tothe country’s democraticexperiment, especially after he hadcontributed to the defeat of theirpreferred candidate in any electoralcontest, those whom he helped topower see his role as salutary to thedemocratic process.

His enigma has survived trenchantattacks and vicissitudes of politicsand politicking. These attacks weremuch pronounced during the June12, 1993 presidential electionannulment when he was NationalChairman of the defunct SocialDemocratic Party (SDP) on whoseplatform the late MKO Abiolacontested and won the election.From then till date, Anenih has beenunder unjustified attacks forcollaborating with his associates inthe party to allegedly negotiate away

the pan-Nigeria mandate of Abiolaby supporting the government of thelate General Sani Abacha.

How Anenih related with theJune 12 issue was a measure

of his enigma-the mystery of hisstaying power and survival. Histraducers have failed to even realisethat the compromises reached by thepolitical class of which Anenih wasa member was a sacrifice to keepthe country united. The politicalclass knew that the militarygovernment was desperate to holdon to power and to dare the militarytactlessly was to commit suicide. Tostay alive and keep the country unitedbecame the directive principle ofAnenih’s political interactions. Itwas not that he loved Abiola less butthat he loved Nigeria more.

Contrary to the suggestion that theJuly 2012 governorship election,which his party lost to the incumbentGovernor Adams Oshiomhole of theAction Congress of Nigeria (ACN),has demystified him, Anenih’sdecision and instruction to the partynot to challenge Oshiomhole’svictory in court has amounted to amasterstroke that greatly enhancedhis politics of rationality. Hediscounted the barrage of insults thatOshiomhole hurled at him in thebuild-up to the governorshipelection. Love of State wasparamount in his mind; and the PDPEdo Chapter issued a statementexplaining that it would not go tocourt in order to allow the governor

to concentrate on statecraft and rapiddevelopment of the state.

A leader of the ACN in Edo State,Prince Joe Okojie, who is from thesame Edo Central SenatorialDistrict with Anenih, hadcommented on the Anenih enigmashortly after the 2012 governorshipelection in which the PDP reportedlylost in Uromi, Anenih’s home town.Read him: “I will not say that theUromi people have disappointedhim. Chief Anenih is our leader, ourfather, our elder statesman and hewill continue to be, as such. He hasdone his bits; we cannotunderestimate or begin to relegatewhat Chief Anenih has accomplishedin the Nigeria political history.

“Like I have often said, if ChiefAnenih were in the western world,what you call advanced countries,he would have been likened to thelike of Albert Einstein, Isaac Newton,Karl Marx of this world; there wouldhave been a school of thought inpolitical economy called Anenihism.So, nobody can forget that. ChiefAnenih hails from the minority withinthe minority and inside the minority.He is even from Uzenema which is aminority in Arue (and) Arue is aminority in Uromi; Uromi is aminority in Edo State and Edo Stateis a minority is a minority in Nigeria.You can picture that. For a man tohave come from that backgroundand risen to where he got to inNigerian political arena, that issomething worthy of praise andworthy of emulation.”

While on tour of his campaign forthe national chair of the PDP in EdoState, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur hadsaid the State and, indeed, Nigeria,were lucky to have Anenih. He haddescribed him as one of the bestpoliticians in the country. After hisemergence as Chairman of the PDPBoT on February 25, this year, Tukurhad said that with him as Chairman,Anenih as BoT Chairman andGovernor Godswill Akpabio ofAkwa-Ibom State as Chairman ofthe PDP Governors Forum,President Jonathan could now sleepwell with his two eyes closed.

Indeed, the circle is complete withthe troika on top of the PDP game.With the feelers that Jonathan isinterested in contesting the 2015presidential election, the trio,

especially Anenih, is considered thepresident’s biggest asset. He isexpected to deploy his experience insupport of the re-election bid ofJonathan, consistent with histradition of having assisted theelections of some office holders inthe past, starting with Dr. SamOgbenudia as governor of Edo in1983 on the platform of the defunctNational Party of Nigeria (NPN);Chief John Odigie Oyegun as Edogovernor on the platform of thedefunct Social Democratic Party(SDP) in 1993; Chief LuckyIgbinedion as Edo governor on theplatform of the PDP in 1999 and2003.

It was the turn of ProfessorOserhiemen Osunbor in 2007 as Edogovernor, but the victory wasunderstandably short-lived becauseof internal tension generated byOsunbor’s desperation to hijack theparty structure from Anenih. At thenational level, he played a great rolein the victory of Olusegun Obasanjoas president in 1999 and 2003; thelate Alhaji Umaru Yar’Adua aspresident in 2007 and the emergenceof Jonathan as president in 2011.

Interestingly, he has not takenadvantage of his role in thesuccessful prosecution of thesepolitical projects for obviouspersonal aggrandizement. Ratherthan solely appropriate the benefitsaccruing there from, he hasconsistently, as a dependable leader,channeled the benefits to his footsoldiers and loyalists. This perhapsexplains why none of his children hasbeen involved in politics andpoliticking.

What his disposition toempowering his numeroussupporters has done for him is tosolidify the bond of loyalty betweenthe leader and his followers, whosesupport has helped a great deal inmaintaining his structure andenigmatic politics. This is the storyof how Anenih has consolidated hishold on his vast nationwide structureand largely survived the murkywaters of politics. Will he succeed,this time round, with the 2015Jonathan’s re-election project? Onlytime will tell.

Aisuebeogun was the Managing Director ofthe Authority. These documents revealed thatthe former Aviation Minister, Chief FemiFani Kayode employed about 30 persons inFAAN. 16 of them were made assistantgeneral managers, deputy general managersand general managers, while the rest wereabsorbed in other ranks.

These people did not have any aviationexperience before they were employed. Infact, most of them came from localgovernment councils and others were justhangers-on. These 30 people came fromOsun and Ogun states. When many of themwere examined medically prior to theiremployment, they failed medical tests; yetthey were still absorbed. Many of them arestill there till date.

That is the way he deployed about the samenumber of people to the other aviationagencies. Now, I cannot recall any groupfrom other parts of Nigeria that cried aboutethnic cleansing then. I cannot recall theunions raising hell about it. I also know thatthere were efforts to reduce staff in FAAN atthe time because of over bloated manpower,as the Authority lacked technical personnelbut had very high number of administrativepersonnel because unprofessional personswere dumped on the Authority.

I remember that all the efforts made toreduce that number failed because somepowerful people were contacted to frustrate

the move. And so the agency lives with thatburden till today. The question is why werethere no outcry about marginalisation andethnic cleansing then?

To me, it was because the people who overthe years have seen it as a right to dominateother people made the appointments. Theydid not even consider federal character; theydid not even consider getting few peoplefrom other parts of the country; yet therewas no deafening outcry. Today, PrincessOduah employed Nigerians into theparastastals, taking cognizance of thefederal character and some people are cryingwolf.

I stand to be contradicted, but I am surethat most of those who are crying ethnic

cleansing and marginalisation have notseen the actual number of people employed

and where they came from. Somebody justraised an allegation and it automaticallytransmuts to a fact; nobody cares to verifybecause the objective is to run some peopledown.

Some people, especially some journalistswho are campaigning against theappointment had argued that two wrongsdo not make a right; that because somebodydid it in the past does not mean thatsomebody should do now. I wish thisargument and logic started at least six yearsago. That is why I said I am amused when Iread this in the papers.

I think the earlier we realised that everyNigerian has a stake in this country and hasequal opportunity in this country the betterour chances of sustaining the future of ourdear nation. Those who think they willcontinue to lord it over others should thinkagain and realise that Nigeria was notcreated for them alone; it was created forall Nigerians.

Campaign of calumny can neversubmerge the truth; it can only heat up thepolitical system and facts always stand outat the end of the day. And it is even surprisingthat the people of the South west are theones crying ethnic cleansing andmarginalisation. I remember some yearsback when they mocked a region well knownfor the word, marginalisation and accusedthem of whipping up ethnic sentiments. Isn’tit surprising that the words ethnic cleansingand marginalisation are not, after all, amonopoly of some ethnic groups.

The earlier werealised that everyNigerian has a stakein this country andhas equalopportunity in thiscountry the betterour chances ofsustaining the futureof our dear nation

What hisdisposition toempowering hisnumeroussupporters hasdone for him isto solidify thebond of loyaltybetween theleader and hisfollowers

20—Vanguard,20—Vanguard,20—Vanguard,20—Vanguard,20—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH FRIDAY, MARCH FRIDAY, MARCH FRIDAY, MARCH FRIDAY, MARCH 15,15,15,15,15, 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013

High cost oftreatment killsfaster in Nigeria

BY CHIOMA OBINNA

KIDNEY problems have been dubbed a silent killer.The disease afflicts both youngand old people alike. From theLagos University Teaching Hos-pital, (LUTH) to the Lagos StateUniversity Teaching Hospital,(LASUTH) the lamentations ofkidney patients are the same —“Treatment is very expensive.”

Kenneth Agbo, a civil servantand one of the kidney sufferers,tells how he has been spendingso much on treatment in orderto keep living.

“I have been having a hardtime managing my health. Iknow I have high blood pressureand diabetes, but I just cannotresist having a regular meal de-spite advice from my doctor tostay away from certain foods.

During a checkup, the doctortested my blood. The resultsshowed I had developed chronickidney disease.”

Chronic kidneydisease

Kenneth wondered if the testresults could be wrong becausehe didn’t feel sick. But his doc-tor explained that people withkidney disease often do notknow it. That’s why it is called a“silent” disease. Kenneth woebegan from that day. He canbarely pay his rent let alonefooting the hospital bill requiredfor dialysis three times a week.“Life became unbearable forme,” he said. Few months later,he could not continue his treat-ment. His health deteriorated allthe more.

Kenneth is not alone. PaEmmanuel Oyiana, 79, a retiredcivil servant and Mrs.Oluwatosin Ojejirun, 28 yearsold, graduate of Linguistic, Uni-versity of Lagos; have beenspending thousands of Nairaeach week on kidney treatment.

While Pa Emmanuel spendsN20, 000, Oluwatosin, spendsabout N150, 000 on dialysisalone every week. If you multi-ply these amounts in a monthand in a year, the figures run intomillions of naira.

Said Pa Emmanuel:“I spendnot less than N10, 000 on twoinjections to keep my kidneys

going. I’m lucky that my kidneyproblem does not require dialy-sis. I only spend N60, 000 amonth from my pension.

“I retired 25 years ago from therailways. The cost of treatmentis very exorbitant. Some peoplecannot come and take the injec-tions. I know how I source themoney at times. There are attimes I stay about three weeksto a month because I have nomoney. Many of us are dyingbecause the hospitals cannottreat without money. Govern-ment should implement freetreatment for old people; any-body above 60 years should betreated free in Nigeria. And peo-ple with such an ailment shouldbe given a kind of discount.”

“I also count my self lucky be-cause there are two categoriesof patients, those that require in-jection and those for dialysis.Fortunately, I belong to thosethat require only injections. Theinjection is to reactivate the kid-neys. There are two injections.One cost N6, 200, and N200 forservices charge and the other isabout N2, 500 and N200 serv-ices charge. “And each visit youmust buy them. It is usually twicea week.

But for Oluwatosin Ojajirun

geria?A Consultant Nephrologist,

Lagos University Teaching Hos-pital, LUTH, Dr. Bello Babawalehowever, admitted that kidneyfailure is expensive to treat anywhere in the world, but the dif-ference in those countries is thatgovernment gets involve in thetreatment by introducing a kindof subsidy which is usually up to80 per cent.

Babawale who lamented thehigh cost of treatment explainedthat: “We have unfortunate com-bination of an expensive treat-ment for a common disease thatafflicts a poor population. Thepeople are poor and the diseaseis common in the population.The only way is for governmentto subsidize treatment for kidneyfailure. Not just transplant butalso dialysis and all the otherdrugs. That is the only way out-come for kidney failure can im-prove in the country.”

“You have two kidneys, eachthe size of a fist. Your kidneyshave an important job. They fil-ter waste out of your blood andremove extra water from yourblood to make urine. Your kid-neys also control your blood pres-sure and make hormones thatyour body needs to stay healthy.”

Further stressing that preven-tion is a major solution to kidneyfailure problems; he said subsi-dizing the treatment would en-sure better access to treatment aswell as improve outcomes.

On why kidney diseases is be-coming more common; he said:“People are having more hyper-tension, diabetes and those onesare not being properly treatedand when they develop kidneydisease they are not presentingearly to the hospital.” He saidto stem the rising burden of kid-ney disease, there is need forpeople to eat good food, under-take regular physical exerciseand going for regular medicalcheckups to sustain healthy kid-neys. “For people who are al-ready having hypertension anddiabetes, Babawale said the keyis to ensure proper control of theconditions. Visit their doctorsregularly, take their medicines asprescribed, do the tests that arerequired and make sure theybring the blood pressure undercontrol.”

He encouraged the populationto go to what he referred to as‘Well people’s clinic”. He positedthat since it is a silent disease, “itis good to go to hospital whenwe are well, even if it is once ortwice a year such that you candetect hypertension and diabe-tes early and institute treatmentto control them.” In LUTH alone,20 new cases are seen by choicefrom the hospital’s two nephrol-ogy out- patient clinics everyweek. Generally, one or two pa-tients are seen daily.

It is hoped that the Nigeriangovernment will join countriessuch as Sudan, the US and thehost of others, to subsidise kid-ney fdisease treatment in thecountry.

KIDNEY DISEASE:

Kidney failure is expensive to treat anywhere in the world, but the difference inthose countries is that government gets in-volve in the treatment

• Emmanuel is undergoing dialysis at LUTH. He needs N7 millionfor transplant. Bank Acct: Save Emmanuel Account, 1013320882,Zenith Bank or call 07033582485 , 08053283932.

• Pa Emmanuel

• Dr. Bello Babawale

• Unuatase Benjamin has Chronic Kidneydisease and needs about N5 million fortransplant. Bank account is Unuatase Benjamin,First Bank, 3069081793

a patient needs about N150, 000monthly to get immunosuppres-sive drugs after a successful trans-plant. However, health watchershave expressed worry that a coun-try still battling with a myriad ofhealth issues, kidney disease hasremain at the background whilepatients continues to die withoutany form of assistance.

life has not been easy after shewas diagnosed of the disease 12years ago. She has been keptalive courtesy of her family,friends and relations. The exor-bitant cost of treatment has con-tinued to eat up the income ofthe husband, parents and sib-lings. She spends about N150,000 every week on dialysis.

According to Nathan Founda-tion 15,000 new cases of kidneyfailure occurs every year in Ni-geria. Statistics have furthershowed that 30 million Nigeri-ans are suffering from Kidneydisease and currently, patientspay as high as N150, 000 forthree sessions of dialysis everyweek and about N5 million an-nually; costs of transplant variesfrom hospitals but ranges be-tween N2m and about N3m and

Worse still, in Nigeria, kidneyfailure remains a death sentenceif not detected early and managedappropriately. Renal transplantwhich is key in managing the dis-ease is out of the reach of the poor.The country is far from where itshould be in terms of both manpower and facilities. There are stilltoo few specialists in treating kid-ney diseases compare to the bur-den of patients with kidney dis-ease. Non availability of many ofthe facilities that are required toroutinely access and treat patientswith kidney disease are not read-ily available within the country andthis has remained a challenge forthe nephrology and renal com-munity.

With such gloomy situations,what then is the hope of survivalfor kidney failure patients in Ni-

CMYK


L-R: Chairman, NDIC Board of Directors, Amb. Hassan Adamu, Wakili Adamawa, ChiefJudge of the Federal High Court, Justice Ibrahim N. Auta and MD/CE NDIC, Alhaji UmaruIbrahim discussing a point at the NDIC Sensitization Seminar for Judges in Abuja.

ABOUT 500 articulatedvehicles fully loadedwith essential

commodities on transit toRepublic of Chad and someother African countries wereimpounded by men of theNigerian Customs Service atSeme Border in the last twomonths. The trucks, it wasgathered, had been kept at aspot for two months withoutany official explanation fromthe custom authorities.

Some of the concernedowners of the trucks, mostlyChadian Nationals,complained that the vehicleswere only on transit fromRepublic of Benin throughNigeria and had paid all theexpected duties to NigerianCustom Service, NCS, forpassing through NigerianBorder, yet the Customsimpounded the vehicleswithout any explanation as towhy the vehicles could notpass through Nigerianborders.

The Spokesman of the ownersof the trailers, Alhaji Abu NaMuhammam, speaking withNewsmen, explained that “Inthe last two months the vehiclewere impounded and nobodycould come forward with anyexplanation as to why thevehicles are still being kept .All they said is that the vehicleswill be released but when andwhy they were impounded,customs authorities are not

saying anything in thatdirection.” He recalled thatsimilar experience hadoccurred when they were madeto understand that it was dueto security problems facing thecountry therefore they couldnot be allowed to pass withouta thorough check, which lastedfor a period of seven months.

Na Muhammam noted that“There was explanation to thateffect but this time around, uptill the time of speaking withyou, nobody has come forwardwith any explanation. “We haveother alternative routes to

convey our goods but onlyprefer to go through Nigeria.Apart from its closeness, it isalso cheaper and quicker toreach our destination withoutthe goods getting spoilt butnow the situation is getting outof hand which may compel usto use the alternative routesthereby making Nigeria to losethe accruable revenue.”

Speaking in the same vain,Alhaji kabir AbdullahiAmbursa, a Nigerian, also oneof the owners of the trailers,stated that goods worthmillions of naira that are in the

trucks are at the verge ofbecoming a waste similar towhat they had experiencedwhen their vehicles wereintercepted by the same customat Maiduguri Border.

Kabir, therefore, appealed tothe authorities concerned to asa matter of urgency come totheir aids, saying that it wouldamount to great loss for theirvehicles to be delayed for twomonths without movement.

All effort to speak with officialof the Nigerian Customs failedas at the time of going to thepress.

longer pay N100 on withdraw-als on ATM whenever custom-ers used banks other thantheirs.

He had said that this was totake effect from Dec. 17, 2012.

Kazeem expressed concernthat if this maintenance fee wasintroduced, it would cause un-told hardship on bank custom-ers. Speaking in support of themotion, Rep. Abiodun Awoleye(ACN-Oyo) said the N100charge for the use of ATM un-der the guise of maintenancecharge by some banks was anexploitation of Nigerians. Hesaid that the charge was alsoagainst the CBN’s cashlesspolicy. He expressed concern

Machines (ATM) by the Bank-er’s Committee, some bankswere planning to introducemonthly maintenance fee onATM cards.

According to thelawmaker, the First Bank ofNigeria has informed its cus-tomers that they will be pay-ing a monthly maintenance feeon their cards with effect fromMarch 2013. He also said thatthe banker’s committee, duringa meeting in November 2012,had scrapped the N100 inter-bank charges on the use ofATM cards. The legislator fur-ther said that the Governor ofCentral Bank of Nigeria hadsaid that customers would no

THE House of Representatives has mandated its

Committee on Banking andCurrency to investigate thestructure and composition ofapproved bank charges on allaccounts in Nigeria. The reso-lution followed a motion byRep. Babatunde Kazeem(ACN-Lagos), which wasadopted when put to vote bythe Speaker, Rep. Aminu Tam-buwal.

The motion is entitled: “Ur-gent Need to stop NigerianBanks from Introducing N100Monthly Maintenance Fee.”Kazeem said that following thescrapping of N100 withdrawalcharges on Automated Teller

that if the maintenancefee was allowed, thebanks would continue tointroduce other charges.

In his contribution insupport of the motion,Rep. Aminu Suleiman(PDP-Kano) said that itwas important that therelevant committee of thehouse should look intothe matter. Rep. HassanSaleh (PDP-Benue)urged committee onbanking and currency toensure that “the rightthing is done”. This, hesaid, was to guardagainst innocent cus-tomers being chargedarbitrarily.

Customs impounds 500 fully loadedtrucks at Seme Border

By OLASUNKANMIAKONI

Reps mandate committee to investigate N100 ATMmonthly maintenance charge

Supplementarylist of market

makers out soon– Council member

By NKIRUKANNOROM

A council member of theNigerian Stock Ex-

change (NSE) Mr VictorOgiemwonyi has said that asupplementary list of marketmakers would soon be out.Ogiemwonyi, who disclosedthis at the monthly meeting ofCapital Market CorrespondentAssociation of Nigeria (CAM-CAN) in Lagos, said that theaim was to boost activities inthe capital market.

He said that the supplemen-tary list would bring more re-tail investors and liquidity tothe capital market. Ogiemwon-yi, who is also the ManagingDirector of the Partnership In-vestment Plc, said that a frame-work for the commencement ofdemutualisation would soon bereleased by Securities and Ex-change Commission. He saidthat the NSE has already con-stituted a committee that wouldensure the smooth running ofthe initiative.

Ogiemwonyi said that theinitiative was being adopted inconformity with internationalbest practice. He said that mar-ket dynamics have changed,adding that the NSE has in-troduced qualitative method ofadministration. The financialexpert assured that the marketwould grow beyond expecta-tion in the next five years, say-ing that the capital market hasachieved 60 percent of the66,000 index recorded in 2008before the global financialmeltdown.

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 14/03/2013

108.28 +0.13

92.35 -0.19

140.2 -1.45

2,167.000

+38.00

18.77 -0.05

DOLLAR 154.75 155.25 155.75POUNDS 230.268 231.012 231.756EURO 201.3452 201.9958 202.6463FRANC 163.1868 163.714 164.2413YEN 1.6127 1.6179 1.6231CFA 0.2885 0.2985 0.3085WAUA 232.7295 233.4814 234.2334RENMINBI 24.8929 24.9738 25.0547RIYA 41.2634 41.3967 41.53KRONA 26.9914 27.0786 27.1659SDR 232.2798 233.0303 233.7808


The Central Bank ofNigeria (CBN) will relax

its monetary policy byreducing its policy rate to 11per cent next week when itsMonetary Policy Committee(MPC) meets, BismarckRewane, Financial DerivativeCompany has predicted.

“Monetary PolicyCommittee (MPC) will shaveoff 100 basis points off themonetary policy rate (MPR) to

CBN to cut policy rate to 11% nextweek — RewaneBY BABAJIDE KOMOLAFE 11 per cent or/and cut the

cash reserve ratio (CRR) by1.0 per cent”, he said in aMonthly Economic News andViews presented at the LagosBusiness School (LBS). Healso predicted that the nairawill “lose approximately 0.5%in the interbank forex market”

The CBN will hold itsMonetary Policy (MPC)meeting on Monday toreview the economy and itsmonetary policy. In an effortto curtail inflation, the apex

institutions to providefinancing and business skillstraining to small and mediumenterprises—or SMEs—thatare owned or operated bywomen entrepreneurs acrossthe Coca-Cola value chain,starting with an IFCinvestment in Access Bank,Nigeria,” said theCorporation.

Aigboje Aig-Imoukhuede,Group Managing Director ofAccess Bank, said that AccessBank has been a leader insupporting Nigerian womenand their businessenterprises.

“We are committed tofinding new ways to servingthis valuable client base andremaining at the forefront ofmaking financial servicesmore inclusive in Nigeria,”he said.

IFC’s latest transaction withAccess Bank extends arelationship that began in2006. Access Bank was a

IFC, Coca-Cola grant SMEs N3.5bn loan facility through Access BankBY FRANKLIN ALLIwith Agency Report

pioneer in taking up an IFCprogram aimed at increasingloans to womenentrepreneurs. It wasrecognized as the most activeamong IFC’s Global TradeFinance Program issuingbanks in Africa in2009, andwas the regional winner of theFinancial Times/IFCSustainable Bank of the YearAward in 2011. Access Bankis ranked in the top five banksin Nigeria, with subsidiariesin eight African countries andone in the UK.

Solomon Adegbie-Quaynor,IFC’s Senior CountryManager for Nigeria, said,“IFC is committed tosupporting financialinstitutions that understandthe business value ofcreating new opportunitiesfor women entrepreneurs.

Access Bank has been animportant partner for IFC inthat process in Nigeria and itis once again leading the

way.”The IFC financing marks the

first “blended” funds to bedistributed by IFC under itsGlobal SME Finance Facility,supported by donor fundingfrom the United Kingdom.

The facility aims to reducethe risks and costs of lendingto SMEs by sharing risks withbanks, improving their abilityto identify and underwriteSMEs, and strengtheningcritical financial infrastructure.

Nathan Kalumbu,president of Eurasia andAfrica Group, The Coca-ColaCompany, said, “Womenentrepreneurs makesignificant contributions toemerging and developingeconomies, yet have loweraccess to finance than theirmale counterparts. Byproviding greater access tocapital, we are investing inour own success and thesuccess of the communitieswe serve.”

Money Laundering: GIABA toincrease support to agencies

From Left: Mr. John Folajomi, one of the Star prize winners, Mr David Okeme, BrandBuilding Director, Unilever Nigeria Plc, Mrs Oize Gyang, Category Manager, Tea and Spreads,Mr. Anil Gopalan, Vice President Operations, Unilever Nigeria Plc and Mr Jude .O.Ughowujabo, Head, Regulation and Monitoring, National Lottery Board during the LiptonSwitch On and Win Promo Star Prize Presentation at Unilever head office in Lagos.

bank had been operating atight money supply policysince 2012, raising themonetary policy rate (MPR)six times from 6.0 per cent to12 per cent betweenSeptember 2010 and October2011. Similarly, the CBNraised the Cash Reserve Ratio(CRR) of banks to 8.0 per centfrom 1.0 per cent.

With inflation trending downto 9.0 per cent in January froma peak of 12.9 per cent in April2012, there is increased ex-

pectation of a downward re-view of the MPR.

Rewane said that publicpressure for a cut in MPR inMarch is increasing and thefurther decline in inflation willbe a major determinant. Hesaid that there is however fearthat a reduction in the MPRwould prompt depreciation ofthe naira and capital outflowsof hot money.

But going by the personalstatement of the CBN Gover-nor, Mallam Lamido Sanusi atthe last MPC meeting, theapex bank might not be dis-posed to reducing the MPR.According to Sanusi, since thetight money supply is workingthere is no for policy change.He said, “Although inflationoutlook is stable, the increasedprojected spending by state

governments and raised oilprice benchmark at the Fed-eral level may pose a risk inthe medium term. The globaleconomy remains fragile andthe outlook is mixed, at thevery best. In the past year, wehave achieved price stability,exchange rate stability, bank-ing system stability and ahealthy reserves position. Theequities market is also on themend and although it is stillvulnerable to unstable portfo-lio flows, the fundamentalssuggest that we are nowherenear a bubble at this point. In-deed, the only negative in thispicture is the high lendingrates faced by borrowers. TheCBN will continue workingwith the banks to work outhow to best address the ques-tion of spreads.

IFC, a member of the WorldBank Group and the Coca-

Cola company have availedNigerian Small and MediumScale Enterprises , SMEs aN3.5 billion (equivalent to$22 million) Risk SharingFacility and a $50 millionthrough Access Bank Plc foronward lending to SMEs; aquarter of which will bewomen-owned enterprises.

In a statement, theCorporation said that the risksharing facility is part of a$100 million, three-year jointinitiative with The Coca-ColaCompany to provide accessto finance for thousands ofwomen entrepreneurs inAfrica and other emergingmarkets.

“Under the joint initiativewith Coca-Cola, IFC willwork through its network oflocal and regional banking

THE Inter-GovernmentalAction Group against

Money Laundering in WestAfrica (GIABA) has agreed toextend its support for law en-forcement agencies involved inthe fight against financialcrimes to increase and improvetheir powers to investigate,prosecute and convict in rela-tion to Money Laundering andTerrorism Financing, ML/TF,offences.

According to a statement fromGIABA, the support becomes

necessary, especially after theindependent assessment of its2007 - 2009 Strategic Objec-tives which show a low level ofsuccessful prosecution andconviction of identified cases.

The, the agency said, neces-sitated a key objective of its2011-2014 Strategic Plan whichis to increase and improve in-vestigation, prosecution andconviction in relation to ML/TFoffences.

GIABA said in collaborationwith member states, it has ex-panded its offer of technicalassistance to include empow-erment of law enforcementagencies saddled with the re-sponsibility of conducting ro-bust investigation and prose-cution of cases of financialcrimes, thereby enabling themto take ownership of the fightagainst Money Launderingand Terrorist Financing on a sus-tainable basis.

According to GIABA, AllECOWAS member States havebeen identified for a demand-driven technical assistance.

It further stated that as GIA-BA member states are classifiedas Low Capacity Countries(LCCs), it is expedient that theyrequire continuous support inorder to build their capacitiesto improve their anti-moneylaundering and countering thefinancing of terrorism (AML/CFT) systems.

To this end, the agency stat-ed that it has signed a Memo-randum of Understanding(MoU) with the Economic andFinancial Crimes Commission,(EFCC) that will see it provid-ing technical assistance to theCommission in furtherance ofits mandate of fighting econom-ic crimes and corruption in Ni-geria.

BY MICHAEL EBOH

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013—23

By JIMOH BABATUNDEwith agency reports

Poultry fed with maize thathad been treated with afla-

safeTM – a biocontrol productfor controlling aflatoxins—experienced reduced mortali-ty in addition to other bene-fits, according to a new studyby scientists from the Interna-tional Institute of Tropical Ag-riculture (IITA) and the Uni-versity of Ibadan, Nigeria.

To unravel the benefits ofaflasafeTM in the poultry in-dustry, researchers set up afeeding experiment involving1,020 broilers that used thefollowing feed formulations:aflasafeTM maize withoutbinders, host farm’s feed withbinders, contaminated feedwith binders, and contaminat-ed feed without binders. Thebroilers were fed for 8 weeks.

Results showed that the useof maize from aflasafeTM-treated feeds reduced mortal-ity rate by 43.9%, feed intakedropped by 10.4%, and therewas an increase of 3.3% in feedconversion ratio.

Unveiling details of the re-sults to stakeholders at a con-ference in Lagos, Dr RanajitBandyopadhyay, IITA Pathol-ogist, said the results demon-strated the impact of aflasa-feTM—a biological controlproduct developed by IITA forcontrolling aflatoxins.

Produced by toxigenic strainsof Aspergillus flavus, aflatox-ins have become a menace indeveloping countries, contam-inating about 25% of grainsproduced in the region. The

Biocontrol product reduces mortalityin poultry by 43.9%

aftermath effects of consum-ing aflatoxin-contaminatedgrains include stunting inchildren, liver cancer, andeven death.

After more than a decade,scientists at IITA have devel-oped a biological controlproduct named aflasafeTMthat is controlling grain con-tamination in Africa.

The impact of aflasafeTM on the poultry industry—oneof the major consumers of

maize—has been hailed bystakeholders. “We are excitedwith these results because theuse of aflasafeTM is a cheap-er and safer solution for thepoultry sector,” says Dr Em-manuel Ewuola of the Depart-ment of Animal Science, Uni-versity of Ibadan, who super-vised the animal feeding ex-periment. He added that withaflasafeTM grains poultryfarmers would not need afla-toxin binders in feeds.

Adesina re-iterates government’sposition on cassava bread

The Minister of Agricultureand Rural Development,

Dr Akinwumi Adesina, has re-iterated the Federal Govern-ment desire to make cassavabread available in every Nige-rian table.

He said Cassava breadwould soon be in adequatesupply as more bakers are nowembracing the governmentpolicy of 20 per cent inclusionof cassava flour into wheatflour for bread making.

Speaking in Lagos duringthe week at the launch of Spar/Park n’Shop’s CassavaBread, Adesina said thecountry cannot be dependenton other people selling uswheat when we should be mix-ing it with our own cassavaflour and making our farmersto make money.

He said the policy to substi-tute at 20 per cent, will earnfarmers in this country and“processors N254 billion eve-ry year of money that we willsave and put back into our ru-ral communities.”

While commending othercommercial bakers like UTCand Butter field for blazing thetrail, he said the governmentis working on making the com-posite of flour like the en-zymes available to bakers.

Dr. Adesina explained thatthe Cassava Bread Develop-ment Fund which will berolled out rolled next weekwill take care of some of thechallenges being faced bybakers in the use of cassavafor bread making.

Speaking at the event, theGroup Chairman , Spar, Asi-waju Solomon Onafowokan,commended the government’spolicy which made the organ-isation to collaborate on thecassava bread project.

He said the policy will go along way in empowering cas-sava farmers in the countryand encourage the farmers togrow more as the market fortheir produce is assured.

The Kebbi Agricultural andRural Development Agen-

cy (KARDA) has registered123,146 farmers this year with47,000 of the farmers engag-ing in dry season farming.

Alhaji Abubakar Lolo, theDirector of the agency, whodisclosed this in Kalgo dur-ing the week, said that 76,146wet season farmers were reg-istered in 2012.

He said that as part of effortsto expand activities in theagency and ensure that farm-ers wereregistered, enumerators hadbeen deployed to all the localgovernment areas.

“The enumerators are ex-pected to provide guidance tofarmers on the procedures ofregistration and the benefits tobe derived from the exercise.”

The director said that super-visors had also been posted tolocal government areas tooversee the activities of theenumerators and the respons-es of farmers in their areas.

Stakeholders in the agriculturalsector in Plateau during the week

urged farmers to come out en masseand register in the ongoing exerciseto enable them to access fertiliser al-location and other inputs.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)reports that at least five million farm-ers nationwide will be registered inthis year’s Growth Enhancement Sup-port (GES) scheme, according to theFederal Ministry of Agriculture andRural Development.

NAN also reports that 207 enumer-ators have already been trained forthe effective take off of the programmein Plateau.

Mr Samuel Dung, the Manager,Plateau Agricultural DevelopmentProgramme (PADP), told NAN thatonly registered farmers would bene-fit from the scheme.

Dung said that added that aware-ness and enlightenment campaignswere being carried out to encourage

Fertiliser allocation: Stakeholders urgefarmers to register

farmers to register.He urged farmers who did

not register in the 2012 exerciseto take advantage of the currentexercise to get the maximum ben-efit of the programme.

He commended the FederalGovernment’s for the early train-ing of enumerators, noting that itwas an indication of the govern-ment’s determination for timelyand better implementation thisyear.

He called on all stakeholders,civil society groups and other com-munity organisations to supportgovernment efforts by sendingvolunteers to be trained for theexercise for effective coverage.

Also speaking, Mrs SarahChuang, the Chairperson, Plateauchapter of the All Farmers Associ-ation of Nigeria (AFAN), said theassociation had sensitised itsmembers on the significance of thescheme.

Kebbi registers123,146 farmers— Director

To boost farming, the Osun State Agriculture Development Corporation (OSSADEC)

said on Tuesday that more than 1,500 farmershad benefited from free land clearing servicesof government.

OSSADEC’s General Manager, Mr Lere Ori-olowo, said this while briefing newsmen in Os-ogbo.

He said the free land clearing and hiring oftractors initiative for farmers by the Osun gov-ernment in the current farming season wouldensure food sufficiency in the state.

Oriolowo said the beneficiaries were madeup of farm settlers, cooperative groups andindividual farmers across the state.

“The planting season has just begun, so theexercise is ongoing as more farmers are stillapproaching the corporation for assistance.

“The gesture is to ensure and promote mas-sive food production thereby improving tre-mendously the living standards of farmers,” he said.

He also said the disbursement of interest-freecredit facility to benefiting farmers was inprogress.

“In 2012, about 5,000 farmers benefited fromthe N500 million government guaranteed creditfacility".

1,500 farmers to benefit fromfree land clearing in Osun

The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Dr Akinwumi Adesina with AsiwajuSolomon Onafowokan and others at the launch of Cassava bread by Spar/Park n''Shop inLagos during the week.

24 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013 — 25

Cashew provides for 300,000families in Nigeria — NCAN

BY DANIEL GUMM

VISIT — From right: Roberts Orya, Managing Director, Nigeria-Export(NEXIM) Bank, Sotonye Anga, National Publicity Secretary, National Cash-ew Association of Nigeria (NCAN) and Tola Faseru, President, NCAN.

IN its continued efforts to address the

challeges of poor accessto finance In Nigeria, the Na-tional Cashew Associationof Nigeria (NCAN), were atthe headquarters of NigeriaExport-Import Bank (NEX-IM) to rub mind with theManaging Director, andbrief him on the level ofpreparedness for theforthcoming NEXIMand NCAN Cashew Fi-nance Forum 2013, com-ing up soon in Lagoswith the theme: Financ-ing Nigeria’s CashewIndustry.

National Publicity Secre-tary of NCAN, Mr. Sot-onye Anga, Chairman,Local Organising Com-mittee (LOC) of theevent said, Cashew in

Nigeria, provides liveli-hood for over 300,000families in the country,with current annual pro-duction put at 120,000tons.

He explained that un-locking financing to thecashew sector meanscreating more jobs forthe country’s teemingunemployed people, re-ducing poverty and en-suring increased ex-ports of cashew, whichwill encourage valueaddition to raw cashew.

The NEXIM andNCAN Cashew FinanceForum is leveraging onthe Nigerian cashewcluster finance schemewhich was signed onMarch 1, 2012 at Ilorin,Kwara State, during theAnnual National Cash-ew Season Flag-off

2012.“To grow the cashew

sector requires seriousfunding, and so we ap-preciate NEXIM Bankfor again taking up thechallenge to finance andsupport the cashew sec-tor for growth, Mr. Angastated, adding: “WhatNEXIM is doing ishighly commendableand in line with the Ag-ricultural TransformationAgenda of the FederalGovernment of Nigeria.”

Nigeria’s cashew trad-ing and export, current-ly worth N24 billion, stillhas more room for inves-tors, according to Anga.

“The industry which isworth about N1 trillionin terms of assets andvolume of activities hasover 1 million peoplewho depend on it direct-ly and indirectly, andthere is still room for in-vestors,” he said.

Currently, Nigeria produc-es 120,000 tons of cashewnuts and 95 per cent of theannual production is export-ed as raw products. Thissituation has rendered thecashew industry, whichprovides over 600,000 jobs,to be vulnerable, impover-ished and easily exploitedby various countries thatbuy raw cashew nuts fromNigeria.

As a result, NCAN is con-centrating its resources onestablishing cashewprocessing centres that willprocess and add value tothe cashew, he explained.

“We have to plant 300,000new high yielding cashewvarieties between 2013 and2014 to gradually replace theover-aged cashew trees.This way, we will create jobs,empower our people, payhigher for raw cashew nutsand protect our market.”

With this, cashewstakeholders, namely:traders, exporters, farm-ers, processors and oth-ers across the valuechain will be able to ac-cess financing at a pock-et friendly rate withwhich to do and improvetheir cashew business.

Poland in sustained trade driveto NigeriaA DELEGATION of

Polish business-men has arrived Abuja topush for more opportu-nities with their counter-parts in the country.They arrived.

Nigeria via Lagos onSunday and have beenexploring opportunitiesin the country's commer-cial capital. A meetingwith members of the La-gos Chamber of Com-merce is scheduled foryester morning beforethey depart for Abuja.

A statement by thePolish Embassy in Ni-geria showed that the11-man delegation ledby the President of theCentral Poland Chamberof Commerce-Lodz,MrWitold Gerlicz includestop representatives ofthe biggest PVC windowsills producers in Eu-rope, the largest IT com-pany listed on the War-saw Stock Exchange, apharmaceutical compa-ny and the Polish Bankof Entrepreneurship.

The team also includesHonourable John God-son, the first member ofthe Polish Parliament ofNigerian origin.

In Abuja, the Polishdelegation will hold abusiness to business fo-rum at the Abuja Cham-ber of Commerce, Indus-try, Mines and Agricul-ture tomorrow. Therewill also be a briefingsession for the delega-tion by different Nigeri-an ministries and agen-cies today.

This is the second visitby a Polish delegation ofbusiness people withinthis year and signifies adetermined push on thePolish side to improvethe current trade relationbetween Nigeria andPoland. Annual Polishexports to Nigeria standat about US$100 millionand Nigerian export toPoland for the same pe-riod is in the form ofcoal, cocoa and palmkernel totalling $5 mil-lion.


Abraka turf and Country club located away from Abraka townin Delta state, is one of the resorts in the country that has at itsheart essential ingredients that define nature’s wellbeing.

At the Turf, every element embodies luxury lifestyle andphilosophies of nature, promising to take care of the guests’ everyneed.

It is a private club set up to function at the highest levels ofluxury and guest satisfaction. Abraka Turf and Country Club hastoday taken on a leading role in the nation’s leisure and cateringindustry, and prides itself on its ability to deliver exquisite services.

The resort includes perfect villas, chalets, and caters to high-end clientele that includes families, vacation seekers, campers,as well as corporate groups. Abraka Turf and Country Club comesfully equipped with state of the art facilities and the outdooractivities include golf, tennis, canoeing, kayaking, polo, horsebackriding, fishing and deep river diving.

Tourists can enjoy hot sun, cool blue pool; clear emerald greenriver, natural greens and a Savannah adventure of a lifetime on aquintessential multi-sport odyssey in Delta’s paradise.

It is a perfect location for movies of any theme, documentaries ofthe rarest rainforest wildlife, deep river life and cultural exchangeon the plains of the Delta coastline.

Nigeria signspact withPreferredHotel Group

IN a move to expose theNigeria hospitality market

to the internationalcommunity and create morevisibility for hotels and otherrelated tourism outfits in thecountry, the Nigerian TourismDevelopment Corporation(NTDC), signed a pact withthe management team ofPreferred Hotel Group,publishers of Preferred Hotelsand Resorts and PreferredBoutique Destination Guide.

The new promotional deal,which was signed at theongoing international traveland tourism trade expo (ITBBerlin) in Berlin by theDirector General of NTDC,Otunba Olusegun Runsewe,is to expose and help propelNigeria hospitality outfits toa new level. According toRunsewe, this will add morevalue to Nigeria hospitalityand give confidence to theinternational market once theysee Nigerian hotels listed inthe guide as the guide isinternationally acclaimed.

Minister vowsto includeUvwie in fewcultural shows

By SAM EYOBOKA andAMBROSE OLOGIDE

IMPRESSED by the richcultural display of Uvwie

people during the just-concluded fifth coronationanniversary celebration of theOvie of Uvwie Kingdom, theMinister of Culture, Tourismand National Orientation, Mr.Edem Duke has promised thatUvwie will partake in allsubsequent national culturalactivities.

The minister represented bya director in the ministry,Otumba Sheye Omoluju,showered encomiums on theUvwie monarch, HRMEmmanuel Sideso Abe I, whohe described as a custodianof rich cultural heritage.

Earlier, the chairman of thecultural day of the celebrationwhich took place at thepermanent palace of the Ovieof Uvwie Kingdom in EffurunGRA, Chief Gbegbaje Dascommended the Ovie ofUvwie for his patriotism evenbefore he ascended thethrone, citing the employmentopportunities he offeredUvwie sons and daughters.

By JIMOH BABATUNDEwith agency reports

Vice President, National Associationof Nigeria Travel Agents (NANTA),Mrs Tinuke Nwakohu, , has called

on the Federal Government toprovide infrastructure to attractforeign investments in tourism.

Nwakohu said Lagos that poorinfrastructure had contributed to low inflow offoreign tourists into the country and the slowpace of developing the sector.

She said that foreign tourists would not travelto a destination with bad roads, unstableelectricity, insecurity, lack of maintenance oftourist sites and national heritage centres.

The vice president advisedthe government to address thesechallenges to attract more tourists and for thegeneral welfare of the citizenry.

Association urges FG toprovide infrastructure

… FTAN, FCT to collaborate on tourism

“Government should be committed totourism development, therefore, it shouldeffectively address the issue of infrastructuraldevelopment to curb the low inflow of foreigntourists,’’ Nwakohu.

She said that multiple taxation of tourismagencies also hamper high inflow of touristswhereby foreign tourists find hotels and otherleisure very expensive.

Nwakohu also enjoined government andother stakeholders to make more commitmentto tourism development to enable thecountry realise its full potential as a touristdestination.

“The only key to actualise the country’sdream as a tourist destination is throughproper infrastructural development,’’Nwakohu said.

Meanwhile, the Federation of TourismAssociation of Nigeria (FTAN), says it willcollaborate with the Federal Capital Territory

(FCT) administration to develop tourismin the nation’s capital.

The Vice-President of FTAN, Mr TomiAkingbogun, said this in an interview onWednesday in Lagos.

Akingbogun said that the collaborationwith the FCT was meant to achieve fulltourism potential of the territory.

The tourism expert said that FCT wasendowed with rich human, capital andnatural resources, which made it thepreferred tourism destination.

“Tourism is very important to the FCTand Nigeria in general.

“The Federal Government, through theFederal Ministry of Tourism, Culture andNational Orientation, has initiatedprogrammes to develop tourism.

“The FCT administration, led by Sen.Bala Mohammed, is very happy with ourtourism programme and FTAN has beenchosen to drive tourism in the territory,’’he told NAN.

Akingbogun said the planned FTANInvestors’ Forum and Exhibition in the FCTwould showcase the potential of tourismin the nation’s capital.

“The Forum is also aimed atstrengthening the relationship betweentourism investors and the service providers,as well as building new tourism frontiersin the FCT.

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ly batch of awards. Mr Omo-tosho would later win for bestdirector and his leading manFabian Adeoye Lojede al-though not a winner in anyacting category felt like a re-

By BENJAMIN NJOKU

CALL it a night whenthe stars came out toplay and you may not

be wrong. The inauguraledition of the Africa MagicViewers’ Choice Awards,AMVCA, was no less a lineup of stars from this part ofthe world.

The event brought the starsof Africa to Lagos and what agreat feast it was. Theprestigious Eko hotel andsuites, Victoria Island venueof the two nights event, wasturned into a hub of activity,a carnival of sorts whereAfrican brightest and bestentertainers came to hobnob.

Like the Oscars, the awardsnight was punctuated withglamour, glitz and celebrationof the best of Africa moviestars and practitioners. It wasan elaborate extravaganza,with the invited guestswalking up the red carpet inthe creations of the mostprominent fashion designersof the day.

Broadcast to the wholeworld on all eight AfricaMagic channels, the redcarpet took off with the starsdoing their best to outshinethe other. African designerswere vividly on display withmost A-list stars choosing topatronise the local talent.

On the red-carpet, the starsshowed off their best jewelsand designers’ outfits.Genevieve Nnaji’s outfit wasawesome, just as OmotolaJalade-Ekeinde chose topatronise local fabric. JimIyke’s decision to storm theevent on shorts only left hisfans in shock as it hascontinued to attract criticismsfrom different quarters.

Interestingly, all theattendees, including captainsof industry, government offi-cials, entertainers from acrossAfrica made strong statementsin their different outfits.

Femi Kuti opened the nightwith a stellar performance ofhis Bang, Bang, Bang song.Nigeria’s Akin Omotosho’sgangster drama ‘Man onground’ carted away the ear-

curring decimal with the wayhe kept popping up either toaccept on someone’s behalf orto present an award. Otherdeserving big winners includ-ing Hafiz Ayetoro, Tunde Kel-

AMVCA: The night movie starscame out to play

ani and Sara Blecher gotstanding ovation from the au-dience.

While it is difficult to criti-cise the process of selectingthe winners since the resultswere a reflection of the vot-ers’ verdict, but eyebrowshowever were raised in re-spect of seeing Jackie Appi-ah beating both Genevieve

Nnaji and Funke Akindele toclinch the award of lead ac-tress in a drama. MercyJohnson beating Funke Ak-indele following her role in‘Dumebi the Dirty Girl’ maynot be disputed though as hermovies are regularly shownon Africa Magic.

Music is mycomfort zone — Lynns

What’s this thing about

cloudcomputing?

I’m a man exposedto goodlivingthroughthe hardway— Chris Ajilo


Continues in page 2

However, hosts IkOsakioduwa and former BBAhousemate Vimbai Mutinhirimade a great combination.While IK has grown andmatured in front of the cameraand can host these things inhis sleep, Vimbai had to workextra hard to gain theaudience’s approval. Shornby her stylists who seemed topick out the wrong set ofcostumes, the scriptedpresentations and timely cuecards compensated and herperkiness appearedwholesome.

Performances by TiwaSavage who paid tribute to thelate songstress, GoldieHarvey, before starting off herperformance and Banky Wlifted the show. Just asIyanya’s lewd performanceearned him criticisms from theaudience. It was observedthat there were too manybreaks in between and theushering of the musicalnumbers seemed seamles.Also organizers while an-nouncing the winners, failedto show a clip of the filmsthey were being rewarded for.

Olu Jacobs who was hon-ored with a lifetime achieve-ment award was in his bestelement throughout the night.But a minute silence in ho-nour of the departed Nolly-wood veterans like JustusEsiri, Enebeli Elebuwa, PeteEneh and Sam Loco-Efewould have made the differ-ence. It will be recalled thatevery year, the Oscar paystribute to people who werelost including actors, and peo-ple behind the scenes. Orga-nisers of AMVCA need to bor-row a leaf from Oscar.

AMVCA, not acompetitive

event — M-netboss

Meanwhile, speaking atthe post-event press

conference, the ManagingDirector of M-net, Mrs. BiolaAlabi, disclosed that AMVCAwas not established to be acompetitive event, rather acollaboration to celebrate thebest of African movie starsand practitioners.

According to her, whatdifferentiate AMVCA fromother award ceremoniesacross Africa is the fact that itis set up to celebrate thecreativity and storytellingskills of the African filmmakers.

“I think, this awardceremony is different becausewe are actually showing andsharing the talents, creativityand storytelling, not only inNigeria, but across 50 coun-

tries of Africa all at the sametime. We believe that as Afri-caMagic, with our growth andthe opportunity we have toengage the African film indus-try, we have to do this. It wasimportant for us, coupled withthe platform that we have. Weknew there are severalawards out there, but we alsobelieve there is still room formore awards to add to theexisting ones. And we believeas well, it’s not a competitionbut a collaboration to celebratethe best of what Africa has tooffer to the world,” M-net bosssaid.

Commenting on theevent, AGN President,

Miss Ibinabo Fiberesimadescribed it as “a welcomedevelopment, ”adding thatorganisers have raised astandard in the industry. “Next year, I wish that Nigeri-ans will take the award more

seriously by voting for their choiceartistes.” But film maker, Elvis Chuksaccused organsiers of the award ofbias. “ The organisers were biasedbecause they used Nigerian actors toadvertise the award and at the end,they gave the South Africans the tro-phies. It is not fair, those South Afri-can movies nominated were notshown on Africa Magic. It’s purebias, unfair and an insult to Nigeri-an actors. The viewers cannot see theNigerian movies that they are famil-iar with and then vote for strangemovies that were never shown onAfrica Magic.

As the curtain drew on the maidenedition of the Africa Magic Viewers’Choice Awards, AMVCA, lastSunday night, the general impressionwas that the glamorous eventachieved the aspiration of unitingAfrica through film as well asappreciating the wealth of talentswithin its borders. It also helped toraise the profile of the African filmindustry.

Knorr Taste Quest:Last 7 standing ascountdown beginsThe Knorr Taste Quest is a cooking

competition like no other inNigeria which aims to test the skillsof food lovers in other to discoverNigeria’s best in culinary matters.With nine episodes down and fivemore to go, the competition is still asunpredictable as ever. No one seemsto be immune to the Judgeselimination and winning a task is noguarantee to reaching the finals.

In the last episode, the eightremaining contestants were given amonumental task to make a two coursemeal using eight varied secretingredients in 1 hour 10 minutes. Theingredients consisted of; Rice, Yam,Pumpkin, Sweet chilli peppers,Pineapple, Chicken wings, Beef andPlum tomatoes. The contestants got towork immediately seeminglyundaunted by the task ahead, howeverwhen asked by the judges, most of thecontestants attested to being over-whelmed by all the ingredients.

AMVCA: The night the stars come out to play Lara George headlinesNnena & Friends Easter show

Wale Adenuga Productions is at it again as therenowned entertainment company enlists

multiple award winning inspirational artiste and ex-Kush member, Lara George to headline the upcom-ing its live show specifically packaged for the wholefamily, Nnena & Friends Easter Show 2013.

The show which takes place at the National Theat-er, Iganmu, Lagos, on Sunday, March 31, promisesto be memorable as it will run in three sessions.

Thousands of fans would get to see Lara Georgelight up the stage with her classic and smash hitsas well as brilliant performances by Papa Ajasco &Company, Nigeria’s Number One Comedy Troupe.Also, the marvellous Linda; electrifying dancegroups, Point X and Trace and the young and ver-satile N-Stars will all be on duty to deliver a varietyof exhilarating performances with MC Prince andwapTV’s veryown, Omo Nlaserving as co-anchors.

The event issponsored byI n d o m i e ,Afrab ChemLtd., ToastiesBread Chipsand othercorporate or-ganizat ionswhich wouldbe providinglots of giftsand prizes forall audiencemembers, andwould beb r o a d c a s tacross Nigeriaon wapTV( S t a r T i m e sChannel 222)and severalother keystations.

THE ancient city of Ibadan willon Sunday, March 24, the Palm

Sunday, this year witness the as-semblage of the titans in music in-dustry at a concert tagged - AfricaMissions Concert. The Venue isOke-Ado Baptist Church, LibertyRoad, Ibadan.

The historic Musical gathering isto feature among other artistestwo juju music giants, Evan-gelist (Dr.) Ebenezer Fabiyi-Obey (MFR) and Revd Id-owu Animasawun of theApola music fame in a land-mark joint performance.

Other artistes to fea-ture along withthem are two topgospel artistes –Evangelist FunmiAragbaiye (JP)and Sola Oladoy-inbo.

In a statementissued andsigned by the

Ebenezer Obey, Idowu Animashawunstorm Ibadan for joint missions concert

President of the Worldhope Ministries,the organizers of the concert, Revd Id-owu Animasawun, the purpose of theevent was to raise Christian youths in thecrusade for the evangelism of the interi-or and remote African villages.

Eminent Nigerians and prominentChristian leaders have been invited tograce the historic occasion with their

presence.The erstwhile juju music artiste-

turned gospel missionary had beeninvolved in the preaching of the gos-pel to the peasants and the downtrod-den of the society in villages within

and outside Nigeria.He has also been involvedin the establishment ofchurches, nursery/primaryand secondary schoolswhich are heavily subsi-dized by his ministry toassist those villagerswho could not afford thecost of sending theirchildren and wards toschools.

Revd.Animashawun

L a r aGeorge

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greatly. The track I did withAso Eke was born out ofinspiration. I was sleepingand I dreamt where I wassinging the song and wasencouraging people aroundme with the song. The songwas saying that it doesn’tmatter where you are andwhat you are going through,God is with you. So, I wokeup and wrote down the song.Personality, things I seemotivate me. One thingabout me is this, even when I

some of my music. He used toback up my gospel band then.I have come a long way withhim. He produced my firstalbum. We stayed in Warritogether and a little bit of hisinfluence also affects what Iam doing right now.

What inspires your musiccareer?

I am influenced by things Isee, it is a gift. But I get moreof my inspirations from God.Things that happen aroundmy environment inspires me

CD is sold for $10 that is,N2,500.

Why are you in the coun-try?

I’m here to promote my newalbum because I feel there aresome tracks that will appealto the people. They willappreciate it so much. Andbecause of the quality of themessage in the music too.This album goes beyond themusic, there is also a mes-sage attached to it. Somemessages there are positiveand encouraging. All mysongs are rendered inEnglish language. I have adesire to use my songs tobring salvation to my fellowcountry men. The quality ofmy songs is high and it meetsthe European standard.

Is there any similaritybetween your music and thatof Sammie Okposi ?

Yes, fortunately, Sammie ismy very good friend. I knewhim right from my secondaryschool days. He produced

D’ivore. He is also based inthe UK.

Are you pastoring a churchthere?

Yes, I’m pastoring a churchover there. It is called ChristUnited Ministries in Man-chester and that’s whatactually took me to the UK.Music is my first love. I’vebeen singing before I becamea pastor. While I was inNigeria, I was involved in achurch choir. I became theirmusic director afterward so,music is part of me. It’s moreof my comfort zone.

How is your music accept-ed in the UK?

Very well. But the trend is abit different, there are onlinestores that sell my music.Many people have down-loaded my music and theyhave paid for it. It’s not likein Nigeria where people’smusic are downloaded free ofcharge. My albums areshowcased at least on sixteenon-line stores at the momentincluding Amazon and I-Tunes. That’s where we domost of the sales. Outside thiscountry, we have a widermarket unlike here whereeverybody imitates eachother. Everybody wants tosing what other artistes havedone. But abroad, there is awider market. If you go toGoogle, you come across allmy music, meaning thatanywhere you are, you canbuy any of the tracks. Like my

preach, I always preach tomyself first.

Between singing and goingto the pulpit, which one ismore tasking?

Preaching is more tasking.Because, you are preachingto people and you are tryingto make them accept it unlikethe studio where you canmake some corrections whenyou make mistakes. If you sayno, people will hear it andyou would not take it back. Inpreaching, you are alsoputting what you are preach-ing into practice, spirituallyand physically. In singing,anyone can sing but whatmakes the difference is thespirit of God. There are lots ofgospel artistes that are justentertainers. They don’t feelanything, they just jump intothe studio and sing, they donot feel any spirit of God. Tome, they are gospel entertain-ers. There are other peoplethat if you listen to their song,it is like a message. One ofmy tracks is all about amessage. It will tell you tocall on God whenever youhave problem.

What would you say aboutgospel music in Nigeriagiven your vast experience?

Like I said, when my crewin those days did gospelmusic, our level was so highbecause, the people thenwere used to listening tosome gospel music like theVoice of the Cross. But now,there are more contemporarygospel artistes like SammieOkposi. What I would advisemost gospel musicians is thatthey should not just concen-trate on the entertainmentpart of it. They should lookbeyond that. Because it is aGod’s thing. You are reachingout to people and God at thesame time. A good gospelmusic is supposed to bringthe body and soul together.Some gospel music ends upfor just the body and soul.But man is made up of body,spirit and soul so, a goodgospel music should encom-pass the three.

Could you tell us some ofthe songs on your newalbum?

The first track on it is:Everybody Come Around,Sing Halleluyah, I did thatwith Azuh Ekiye. The nextone is: Call On Him, I Can’tThank You Enough which is amedley, Wait Upon The Lordand all others.

Your are due to present thealbum to a selected peopletomorrow?

Yes, it’s a gospel musicpresentation. I call it a dinnerconcert, comprising about 40to 50 people who will cometogether to chart a newdirection for the gospel musicindustry in Nigeria.

Music is my comfortzone — Lynns

BY OPEOLUWANI OGUNJIMI & ANOZIE EGOLE

Lynns Tokee-Opitoke is a UK based Nigerian gospel artisteand a minster of God whose inspirational songs have beendownloaded by a lot of people. He is in the country to promotehis new album as well as to win souls for Christ through hismusic. In this interview, he talks about his music, and thedinner concert that will precede the unveiling of his newalbum in the country.

How did you get into music?It all started way back in the 1970s. Actually, I

was a rupee before I started singing gospelmusic. That was far way back in 1976-1977. I waswith Bongos Ikwue. I played with his band forsome time before I travelled out of the country.When I came back, I decided to go into gospelmusic. I formed a group with my cousin calledthe “Glad Types” in 1984. Then, we were 5-man band,later the number was reduced tofour. We sang contemporary gospel. Wewere popular among students oncampuses. Like the gospel, we spent alot. Later, we did an album as a groupeven though it did not fly. We didn’t spendmuch while producing the album eventhough it had quality. The marketers wereresponsible for the inability of the album tobreak into the market because they refused topromote it. Later, I decided to do my own CDin 2004 and I titled it “In your Presence”. In2006, I relocated to the UK with my family tobegin my pastoral work. When I got there, Idecided to face the pastoral work. But one of mySenior pastors encouraged me to return to singing. Thatwas how I went back to the studio in 2009 and 2010 to recordmy new album. I recorded this present album in UK. I am stillliving in UK.

So what’s the title of your new album?It’s called New Dawn produced by Lazaak Gaman from Cote

I have a desire to use my songsto bring salvation to my fellowcountry men. The quality of mysongs is high and it meets the

European standard.

,

,

withLAJU

ARENYEKA


THE TEAMBENJAMIN NJOKU

[email protected]

AYO ONIKOYI

OPEOLUWANIOGUNJIMI

Today, everyone quotes Shakespeare. It gives a certain credence, anauthority to your writing. When you say ‘Shakespeare said’ no one careswhether you are writing entertainment, sports or politics, it is seriousjournalism. It’s only natural that we follow suit. Quite a pity that I’m not toosure who said “All is fair in love and war,” but I’m sincerely hoping that itwas Shakespeare. If it was someone else, all is not lost, because someintellectuals have read this far. Lol!

There’s another aspect of Shakespeare that more specifically relates to thisarticle. It’s the timeless classic, Romeo and Juliet. These two represent‘love’, and their families; the Montagues and the Capulets represent war.So where is all this grammar leading to? Simple. Celebrity feuds have beengoing on for ages, long before Shakespeare’s time. It’s the amazing waythan fans troop behind their favourite star during face offs that make feudsbetween the famous fun to watch.

FAME AND FEUDS

Linda Ikeji and Jim Iyke

She started it! The feud betweenblogging queen, Linda Ikeji and Nollywood

King, Jim Iyke became public when Linda posted asemi nude picture of Jim on her blog, and then wrote:“Every time I write about this dude, he comes afterme on Twitter, but I must do my job na. Nice body.”Her prediction turned out to be correct because soonafter, the actor tweeted a harsh reply when Lindarefused to remove some of the comments on her blog.One of his later tweets had to be PG-ed, but it lookedsomething like To the anorexic #cutnpasteb***hLinda n her #Hateacademy #jimiykeunscripted…welive so you can eat.” And then came the F word. Themost recent show off from Linda was Jim Iyke’spicture from the Africa Magic viewer’s choiceawards, “No comment”, Linda commented.

Omotola and Genevieve

Oh please! Genevieve showed upat Omotola’s surprise birthday party and

they took a beautiful picture together. Theseduo have acted as each other’s sisters timewithout number, and all the staff on Ije saidthey were very cordial to each other. Get it, thefeud may just be going on in the minds ofrumour hungry fans like you and me!

D’banj andDon Jazzy

It’s moresensational when

a marriage made inheaven ends up indivorce. That’s whathappened with thebrains behind thenow defunct monsterlabel Mo’hits.Everyone wants toknow what happenedand why it happened,but more importantly,everyone wants toknow what ishappening now.Rumour has it thatD’banj and DonJazzy are no longeron speaking termsand do not see eye toeye but communicatevia email only whennecessary. Both seemto be doing well asindividualFrancis

Two Face and Mikel

Dem say, dem say,that Two Facemet Mikel Obi at a night club in

London and wanted to famz with him,but Mikel shunned him. So Two Babacame back and did what any sensiblemusician would do, write a song aboutit. Many say that the song ‘ONLY ME’was written in honour of the singer’sfeuding buddy.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013 —31

Extra

He was accompanied by BeautifulNubia who granted us aninterview but when it was Pa

Ajilo’s turn, he kindly declined. “ I havebeen interviewed too many times. Thereis nothing new to be said about me thathasn’t been said before. Everything youwant to know about me is in the book”,he said, referring to “Reminiscences of aNigerian Pioneer Musicologist”, anautobiography of his life he launched inJanuary of 2013. “It is my gift to thefuture. It took me two years to completeand I am proud to say I wrote the bookwithout assistance from any quarter”

“I am not only a musician, I am aCopyright man, a Trade Unionist, a manthat makes use of his hands and hisbrain” he said. “Read the book and youwill share in my experience, the journey Ihad to travel through life”. So, we took ajourney into the mind of a great manthrough pages of his own autobiography:

The Early LifeChris Ajilo was born on December 26,

1929 in Oke Popo, in Lagos Island, closeto Kakawa and Campos Square, an areacommonly referred to as the ‘Brazilianquarters’ because slaves brought fromdifferent areas of South America after theabolition of the Slave Trade were quar-tered in this area.

Chris Ajilo had a normal upbringing likeevery child born in the early 1900s inLagos, growing up with his other foursiblings. But his father’s early deathreshaped his life and cut a different pathfor him to follow. He was only nine yearsold when his father died and the burdenof raising the children fell on his mother,Late Mrs Christiana Ajilo, who was asewing mistress.

His first encounter with music came atC.M.S. Grammar School where he wastaught the theory of music. It was acompulsory subject at CMS then and ithad as much effect on him as it did onevery young person fascinated withmusic at that time. Then, he met anotherperson who contributed in some way inawakening the music giant in him. “Theyoung man was Fola Arogundade and hewas a man of many parts. He played theguitar, he sang, he was a playwright. Hewas my role model and inspirer in musicwhich was then a compulsory subject atthe CMS Grammar School” he wrote.

By Class four at CMS it dawned onYoung Ajilo that he could not any longerdepended on his mother to pay his waythrough school because in his words “Itwas already manifestly clear that thingshad become unbearably tough for Mamato cater effectively for the household,more so, with the undisguised threatsfrom money lenders”

On the 8th of April, 1946, Ajilo decidedto leave home for greener pasturesabroad. To do this, he disguised himselfin his senior brother’s military uniform,who had served in the West AfricanFrontier Force during the Second WorldWar. He joined the convoy leaving forGhana at the Abalti Barracks in Idi-Oro,Lagos.

I’m a man exposed togood living through thehard way — Chris Ajilo

Come the next Boxing Day, Highlife legend, composer and one of the pioneermusicologists in Nigeria, Chris Ajilo will clock 84 years old but when he walked intothe Corporate Office of Vanguard Media Limited some days back, to visit his oldfriend, the publisher of Vanguard, Mr. Sam Amuka, there was nothing of him to showhe was anything near that age. Twice, the old music master climbed the four flight ofstairs to the Publisher’s office without as much as a pant. He was so full of life withmuch breath to spare even when those of us much younger were a bit breathless bythe simple exercise.

sailing with an American Shiphe changed his name to JohnnyFoster, again, disguising, this time, as anAfrican-American. From there on, life wasa merry-go-round of dashed expectations,adventures and even imprisonment buthe eventually made it to Great Britain andultimately to Birmingham, where his lifetook a rhythmic turn on the path tomusic.

At that point in his life, music was thelast thing on his mind. His having to workin several factories had tuned his mindtoward becoming an engineer but hisweekend escapades at various balls,shows and concerts stirred the musicalgiant long asleep in him back to life. “ Iwrote to my mother in Lagos informingher about changing my course of studyin England to music. She instantly replied

saxophone, I started practical lessons onthe instrument from my instructor, DonRandell. I was also learning to play theclarinet from my other instructor, AubreyFrank” he wrote. But what helped himmore was having to travel with profes-sional bands and playing with them. Thiswas something he too inculcated in hisstudents later in life. “In fact, today, I

Press. It was a memorable day and morememorable was his linking up with his oldband, the ‘West End Cool Cats Orchestra’who was already playing at the West EndCafe at Apongbon Street owned by Mr.Larinde Cole a.k.a ABC Cole. “ membersof the band were Kazool Anifowoshe,lead trumpet, late Bala Miller, secondtrumpet, Victor Olaita, third trumpet, LateTex Lati Oluwa, double bass, LanderShashore, bongos with late Olu Gabson,jazz drums. There were two lady vocal-ists, my junior sister, Connie Ajilo and

Kathleen Equa Garland. There werealso Oden Lawal, on

drums, Sammy Lartey,on alto, baritone

saxophones andclarinet and I, on

tenor saxophone,clarinet and

leading theband” he

wrote.

After a few weeks he left “ I had toleave the band with other musiciansbecause of the style of the managementwhich gave only one third of the collect-ed gate fees as the band’s salary. Theidea was unacceptable to my perceptionof running a resident band” he explained.

On the origin of Highlife“ There had been many arguments on

the origin of Highlife. Some school ofthought said it was from the then GoldCoast now Ghana. Others believe it wasfrom other parts of the West Africancountries. But my belief is that the word‘Highlife’ was coined from the free styleof dancing which was not as strict as theother Western or foreign dance steps ofthe yesteryears. This pattern of musicwas found throughout the West AfricanCoast with various musical instrumentsused” he wrote.

Taking music to the next levelRight after the West End Cool Cats

experience he became obvious to Ajilomusicians were not being placed in theirpride of place in the scheme of things andin the face of seeming economic boom inthe country he began a quest to findidentity for musicians. His band, ChrisAjilo and his Cubanos was formallylaunched on August 1, 1955. The memberwere Johnson Omooba, trombone, TexLati Oluwa, double bass guitar, LanderSasore, bongos, Akanni Martins, guitar,Candido D’Ajax, conga drums, late BayoMartins, jazz drums and vocals. Later,Tony Obbs and Marco Bazz on alto saxand trumpet respectively joined the band.The band embarked on many tours acrossthe West Africa sub-region and it wasduring his first recording in Accra, Ghanathat he met a woman he fell in love with,Sarkiorkor Ayittey

my letter only to rebuke me that mydecision would turn me to a beggar whenI return to Nigeria” he wrote. To pursuehis dream he had to leave Birmingham forLondon, leaving behind his fiancée, alady named Barbara Hulme who bore himhis first child, a baby girl.

The musical journey“ I saved enough money to get admis-

sion into the Central School of DanceMusic (later known as Eric Gilder Schoolof Music) under the great guitarist andmusic teacher, Mr. Ivor Mairant” hewrote. His lecturers included JohnnyDankworth, Don Randell, Jimmy Ducher,Aubrey Frank and many other notablenames. He worked and schooled at thesame time. “My first instrument, an altosaxophone, was bought from a pawnshop in the West End for fifteenpounds”.

“By the time I purchased my own tenor

believe what I learnt from these profes-sionals were much more than what Ilearnt in the School of Music” he wrote.

After music school he joined a semi-professional band of youths, playingAfrocuban music with a touch of jazz.Then he played with bands like KennyGraham and his Afrocubist Band; theGinger Johnson Abalabi Band; the ArthurRowebury’s Band. The birth of his ownfirst band came through his return visit toBirmingham where he met a group ofNigerians who needed someone to directand groom their musical passion. TheCool Cats Band of Africa was born andlater resurfaced in Lagos at the West EndCafe in Lagos after his return to thecountry.

Back in the fatherlandNow a groomed musicologist, Chris

Ajilo arrived in Nigeria to a sort of hero’swelcome from his family and the Nigerian Continues next week

,

,

From TeshiArmy Base,he went toAccra andbegan on a longjourney, fromone Africanseaport toanother, oftentimes as astowaway,survivingharshest ofconditions lifehas to offer.Sometimes,going withoutfood for days.At a point, after

My first instrument, an altosaxophone, was bought from apawn shop in the West End forfifteen pounds

32— Vanguard, FRIDAY , MRACH 15, 2013

WOMEN all overthe globe will

converge in groups today todiscuss issues that affectwomen, with topics as diverseand far reaching as culture,politics, the economy, personaldevelopment, health, power,family, marriage, domesticviolence, migration and manymany more.

It was done first more than ahundred years ago in 1910. Inthe years before this time therehad been a gender renais-sance of some sort, withseveral women campaigningfor change. In 1908, 15,000women marched through NewYork City demanding shorterhours, better pay and votingrights.

1910 a second InternationalConference of Working Womenwas held in Copenhagen, withthe idea being broached at thisevent of a yearly InternationalWomen’s Day , one which wasgreeted with unanimousapproval.

It took decades for women indifferent countries to jump onthe bandwagon but jump theydid. The rest, as they say, ishistory.

IWD is now an officialholiday in Afghanistan,Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus,Burkina Faso, Cambodia,China (for women only),Cuba, Georgia, Guinea-Bissau, Eritrea, Kazakhstan,Kyrgyzstan, Laos, Madagascar(for women only), Moldova,Mongolia, Montenegro,Nepal (for women only),Russia, Tajikistan, Turkmeni-stan, Uganda, Ukraine,Uzbekistan, Vietnam andZambia.

Equality andemancipation

The tradition sees menhonouring their mothers,wives, girlfriends, colleagues,etc with flowers and smallgifts. In some countries IWDhas the equivalent status ofMother’s Day where childrengive small presents to theirmothers and grandmothers.But while the new millenniumhas witnessed a significantchange and attitudinal shift inboth women’s and society’sthoughts about women’sequality and emancipation,the majority believes it is notyet Uhuru, as the popularsaying goes. so the tone andnature of IWD has, for the pastfew years, moved from being areminder about the negativesto a celebration of the posi-tives.

In Nigeria, womenparticipation in politics enjoysa historical precedence. Wehear of all the exploits in pastcenturies of women taking up

the gauntlet and excelling instatecraft with more boldnesseven than men. , women inprecolonial Nigeria were anintegral part of the politicalset up of their communities.Most often, they carried outseparate functions from themen. These functions werefully complementary.

In precolonial Bomu, forinstance, women playedactive parts in the adminis-tration of the state. They heldvery important offices in theroyal family, including theoffices of the Megira (theQueen mother) and theGumsu (the first wife of theMai or King) (Ola, 1978).

Women also played a verysignificant role in the politicalhistory of ancient Zaria. Themodern city of Zaria wasfounded in the first half ofthe 16th cen tur/, by a womancalled Queen Bakwa Turuku.She had a daughter calledAmina who later succeededher as Queen.

Queen Amina was a greatand pow erful warrior. Shebuilt a high wall aroundZaria in order to protect thecity from invasion andextended the boundaries ofher territory beyond Bauchi.The people of Kano andKatsina paid tributes to her.She turned Zaria into a veryprominent commercial centre.

The story was notdifferent in ancient Yoruba-land. The Oba ruled with theassistance of a number ofwomen refereed to as theladies of the palace. Theladies of the palace consistedof eight titled ladies of thehighest rank.

The significant role playedby prominent women such asMoremi of lfe, Emotan ofBenin and Omu Okwel ofOssomari in the precolonial

history of Nigeria cannot beignored. Moremi and Emotanwere great amazons whodisplayed tremendous braveryand strength in the politics oflfe and Benin respectively,while Omu Okwei dominatedthe com mercial scene ofOssomari in present day DeltaState

These were well before thetimes of colonial female titansin the mould of FunmilayoRansome Kuti.but whilewomen are struggling withhardcore politics they areholding forte in commerce bothin the formal and informal sectors with those like Emzor’sStella Okoli replacing thoselike Bisoye Tejuosho.it is awell known fact that women

ters. Benue First Lady YemisiSuswam only last weeklamented that affirmativeaction in appointing womeninto government service hasbeen more lip service thanreality.

While advocating forgender equality as a means ofencouraging full participationin national economic develop-ment, she insisted that the 35per cent women affirmationbeing flaunted by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan’s admin-istration is a scam and is farfrom being implemented andis a ‘mirage’

Nigeria’s first deputygovernor Senator KofoBucknor Akerele when askedrecently when Nigeria canexpect a female deputy

holds and the family finances.If they are given the chance tomanage the finances of thecountry, I think they will instilmore fiscal discipline andNigeria will be better for it”.

Gender Violence andhealthcare are two areaswhere there is continuouscause for concern, with thecountry taking front stand inthe maternal mortality issue.And despite aggressivecampaign over the decade,domestic violence has been onthe rise, a cause for concernfor international organizationssuch as UN Women.

Personalinjury

In case of gang raping, itis good news that the lowerhouse in Abuja want anyperson convicted to jointlyand severally face a minimumof 20 years imprisonmentwithout an option of fine.They last week also recom-mended imprisonment notexceeding five years or a fineof N100,000 or both foranyone convicted of willfullycausing or inflicting physicalinjury on another person bymeans of rape, using anysubstance or object.

These were made known asthe House unanimouslyadopted reports on a bill foran Act on violence againstpersons (prohibition) earliersponsored by Abike Dabiri-Erewa (ACN Lagos) Dabiri-Erewa, while presenting the51-clause Bill on the floor ofthe House said time had comefor it to become enforceablelaw.

While we celebrate, let uskeep in mind that Russia isgetting ready to send awoman to the moon.

Nigerian woman in 2013

who cannot even do their ownaccounts are the saving gracein the harsh economic times,from the survivor roasting cornin the street corner to themultimillionare seller of lacematerial on Lagos Island.Keeping food on the table andkeeping the fire burning whiletheir men wonder what to donext.

Another area where we havethrived is in government inelective positions, and enter-tainment, though there are stillcomplaints from many quar-

governor said it is all up tothe men to support women.

I think by the next dispen-sation we should be able toget a woman-governor in thecountry. “We have not had awoman-governor becausemost of the time men will notsupport women. They wouldsay if there is a woman there,how can they go to the womanto ask for favour? How can awoman be boss over them?But I still maintain thatwomen are better managers.They manage their house-

,

,

•Funmilayo Kuti •Abike Dabiri

Women also played a very signifi-cant role in the political history ofancient Zaria. The modern city ofZaria was founded in the first half ofthe 16th cen tur/, by a woman calledQueen Bakwa Turuku

CMYK


Boko Haram with the militants in the pre-Yaradua South south is to completely missthe point, both of the raison d’etre of thetwo and their manner of operation. Whileone had a clear direction and had faces of asort, the other has supposedly remainedfaceless. The objectives of the mindlessdestruction of lives and property distinct inBoko Haram operations have remainedlargely unclear. Calls, therefore, for amnesty

for the group can, atbest, be futile.

The Sultan of Sokotois not the firstindividual to call foramnesty for the BokoHaram, but the verynature of terrorismmakes this eitherimpossible or futile.Terrorism uses theinstrument of fear, andwhen the powers thatbe compromise onthat position, they arerelinquishing powerto the terrorist andfeeding the culture offear. It is a monster wecannot afford tocreate.

A theme unifies thedecorations and makean interior lookharmonious andcomplete. There aremany themes to choosefrom and each onebrings a different moodto the room. Choosing aright theme for a certainroom can make for aunusual home decor.

The themed decor is oftenused in kids rooms but thetheme doesn’t always haveto be taken from a cartoonor a comic book. A themecan be something more

abstract and allow yourdecorating fantasy soar. Thinkocean theme, peaceful floralmeadow theme or graphicblack and white. But there aremany themes to choose from.

Choosing A Theme…Think about how it will suit

the room and what mood will

it create. Does the mood suitthe room’s purpose? It alldepends on tastes. The light,inviting themes like a floralmeadow can be used in aliving room while thesoothing sea-inspired decorcan be used in a bedroom.Study several favouritethemes before deciding

which one will fit.

Themed Decor TipsIf you’ve chosen a themed

decor for a room make sure itis properly accessorized. Ifit’s ocean-inspireddecorative seashells androcks can complete the aquacolour scheme. The rightpatterns in fabrics can alsocomplete the theme andmake the decor look moredetailed.

Most people choose theirdecorating style for verypersonal reasons - for a lot ofpeople it is simply a matterof taste...

Be inspired by otherpeople’s interior designstyle

Have you seen a style in amagazine, on TV or insomeone’s home that youjust liked? Then why not tryit out in your own home...

Be inspired by placesDoes a certain style remind

you of a wonderful holidayor trip?

A summer holiday toTuscany? Backpacking inAsia?

A trip to France? A relaxingweek on a tropical beach?

These are really goodinterior design themes tochoose then, as your roomwill always remind you ofyour wonderful memories...

...and make you feel happyand relaxed when you are init.

Perhaps you have alwayslonged to go to Japan, Indiaor Europe, and love

WHEN the terror group believed tobe known as Boko Haram firstbegan operating in Nigeria, little

did we, the terrorized, know that it was to bea permanent fixture with members doing theunthinkable: suicide bombing.

Yet when the first arrests of members of thegroup was done and the announcement oftheir private execution in a jail in North-eastern Nigeria rather than a muchanticipated trial wasdone, it was quite clearsomething was going onthat went much furtherthan the ordinary.

The phenomenon hasreached its peak and ison the decline, it mightbe said; and boasts ofcoming down South foroperations have mostlyremained just that-boasts. The confusion,therefore, arising fromthe seeming exclusivityof Boko Haram activitiesto the North has beenmet with relativeindifference by otherparts of Nigeria.

To begin to compare

X P R E S S I O N SX P R E S S I O N SX P R E S S I O N SX P R E S S I O N SX P R E S S I O N S

•Sultan of Sokoto

everything about thatcountry...

This is another goodreason to choose that theme,and surround yourself withcolors and styles that remindyou of your interests andpassions...

Choosing the rightinterior design themes

Choosing interior designthemes and styles for yourhome does make a verystrong statement aboutyourself and your personality- and there are some verystriking styles out there!

Choose interior designthemes that you truly love,and will be able to live withfor a while.

Themes not Theme ParksDecide if you want to go

with a single theme for yourentire house, or keep it justfor one room. There isnothing wrong with mixingthemes and styles in yourhome but it is not a goodidea to have a differenttheme in every single room(it’s meant to be a home nota theme park)

Leave some rooms quitesimple and neutral - for anice visual rest from all theinterest.

Subtle or StrongYou can go as far as you

want with your choseninterior design themes, just afew inspired accessoriesdotted around...

...or the full-on completelook - the choice is yours!

Home Decor:How To Choose Theme

Themesfor yourHome

A theme unifies thedecorations and makesan interior lookharmonious andcomplete. There aremany themes to choosefrom and each onebrings a different moodto the room. Choosing aright theme for a certainroom can make forunusual home decor.Here are tips:-


With PRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE [email protected]

What’s this thing about

cloud computing?

….Sorry, it’s notabout sitting down inthe cloud typing!

What is cloud computingCloud computing is a way of

aggregating software andhardware services for thepurpose of accessing them onthe Internet, rather thanthrough local hard drives andservers. This method ofcomputing makes it easier andmore affordable for SMBs touse enterprise-gradetechnology solutions providedby third-party providers ratherthan invest in expensivetechnology, more personneland system upgrades.

Contrary to commonassumptions, its not aboutsitting down in the cloud witha computer on your laps. Cloudcomputing is like an advancedconcept of convergedinfrastructure and sharedservices.

Some of the providers likeGoogle, will always explainthat they got involved in cloudservices due to how consumerapplications are evolvingfaster than business software. Before technology grew to thislevel, the best technology wasonly accessed at work. Butnow, the tools in our personallives are even better and alsooccupy larger spaces – theiPad, iPhone, or the 10GBGmail inbox, which can not becompared to the 500 MB inboxat work that requires constantdeleting of emails to free upspace.

Today, mobility has erasedthe thin line between work andplay. Employees are becomingconsumers too, demanding the

For many businesses today, breaking even, is faster with the application of technologies.Applying technologies also demands making decisions that deliver cost savingsand increased revenues. These are the pressures of almost every Nigerian business

manager today and also why it becomes imperative to look the cloud computing way.

same flexibility of access athome, in the offices. Suchfreedom increases productivitybut it comes with a biting cost

BenefitsMobility – Because

employees can access cloud-based programs and softwarefrom anywhere they have anInternet connection and fromnearly any device, cloud

computing enables SMBs tomobilize workers and providethem with all the tools theyneed to do their jobs, whetherthey’re in or out of the office.Moreover, cloud computingallows for greatercollaboration between remoteand on-site employees,making audio, video and Webconferences, as well asdocument sharing and instant

BY LAJU ARENYEKA

Only a few years ago, lifewas simple. Intellectuals

read the newspapers, andgrumbled with their peersabout the sad state of the world.Polished women readmagazines and were sometimesprivileged to meet celebrities atsocial events. The average manlistened to the radio andwatched television; Screamingfeedback onto a figure in one’sliving room that was thousandsof miles away. Life was simplewhen black berries were justfruits and ‘tweet’ referred onlyto the sound made by birds.

Life is not so simple anymore.In the blink of an eye,thousands of people aroundthe world can air their viewson just about any issueincluding Genevieve’s

messaging programs, easilyaccessible.

Increased security andreliability – When you use acloud-computing solution,your business data resides ina secure, offsite location andwill be backed up frequentlyor automatically andsometimes even geo-redundantly in multiplelocations. These data-backupfeatures provide greater peaceof mind as well as businesscontinuity should disaster orunexpected disruptions toyour business occur.

WATCH YOUR BACK!

Social media is too closefor comfort

there is in the Englishdictionary that has come aliveby virtue of inventions wecouldn’t have imagined yearsago.

The internet reminds us ofthe Nigerian films where acalabash under the bed acts amoney making machine.Really, can you explain howsitting in front of a w h i t escreen all day couldmake someone amillionaire? Well,the answer to thats e e m i n g l yrhetorical questionis ‘ yes’, forex,online trading,social mediaconsulting…journalism,the list goes onand on.

Well then, theskeptics mightargue that socialmedia craze hasdeeply affectedour command of t h eE n g l i s h

plunging neckline or KimKardashian’s visit to Nigeria.Youtube is only a click away,so no government can lieabout it when foreigners arekilled by a terrorist group,just like millions around theworld can view forthemselves the closing of thedoors to the Sistine chapel.

Of course we’ve alwayshad a say, but thanks to theinternet, we can now actuallysay it and be heard. It doesnot matter whether it’s wellthought out, or hurriedly puttogether, we can work ourmagic fingers and press theenter button. Nearly fourbillion of us in the world withaccess to the internet can likeand unlike, upload anddownload, chat, skype,tweet, comment, surf, browseand whatever other word

language. Horrible spellingerrors mar assignment scriptsas students spend all daydealing with short forms likeLMKMD, ROTFLMAO(Rolling on the floor laughingmy ass out) and HBD-(Happybirthday). Yet the same cannotdispute that youths are now,more than ever much more intouch with the happenings

around them.

Lower costs – If you’relooking to cut costs, cloud-based services can providemany avenues to savings fromserver maintenance, powerand cooling, IT personnel,software licensing andupgrade expenses.

Scalability – Cloud-basedservices operate on asubscription-based paymentmodel, a feature that allows forgreater flexibility when itcomes to technology usage.You pay only for what youneed, when you need it.

ReservationsHowever, some people have

reservations about the cloud.The biggest challenge to thecloud is the resistance tochange -anything whichrepresents a fundamental shiftin the way things are done isgoing to take time tounderstand.

There are also some notablemisconceptions out there aboutthe risks, like system securityand reliability especially as theowner is no longer in controlof where his data is kept.

But in many ways, cloudcomputing can be more securethan hosting data yourself. For example, it generally takes30-60 days for businesses topatch a vulnerability in theirown computer systems.

….Each of these, takes the secret offyou to the public domain!

Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013— 35FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013— 35FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013— 35FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013— 35FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013— 35

a time when many erroneouslysee the issue of Boko Haramas a religious ideals, at a timewhen both Muslims andChristians are being killed bythose who hide under the

Undoubtedly, to take of anyaction that will contribute to abetter understanding of thediversity of Muslim cultureand in initiating dialogue withpeople of other faiths that mayresult in a more just, peacefulworld, is another form ofibadaat.Although many Muslims areunaware of this day but it isnot out of place to consciouslyreflect on the need forexchanging the messages ofpeace in and around ourimmediate society andcontinue to spread themessage of peace to all andsundry. By this, we will notonly be teaching Islam, we willbe correcting themisrepresentation the non-Muslims have about Islam.That is the the best Jihad wewould have done in our lifetime. As Muslims, we shouldknow that peaceful activism isdistinctly superior to violentactivism, and that is why weneed to exert more energytowards achieving peace at all

areas of our lives than beingviolent. According to a Hadith,“God grants to gentlenesswhat He does not grant toharshness.” Come to think ofit, an atmosphere of peaceenables good relationshipbetween people. It makes itpossible for feelings of loveand friendship to prevail; itengenders constructiveactivities to flourish. It is mypassionate appeal and that ofother concerned Muslims toengage in a campaign forpeace nation-wide. It is timethat leaders, scholars, andother well meaning Muslimsin the country come togetherwithout any regionalsentiment to send outmessages of peace andpractically showcase ourresolve for enthroning lastingpeace in the country. Islam ispeace.

The Mischief Makers

Some people are wont toquoted out of context some

email: [email protected]: 08098097290

Let's spread the Peace Message

,

,

World Day of MuslimCulture, Peace, Dialogue

and Film was observed all-over the world last Monday,March 11, 2013. This day wascreated in 2010 by JavedMohammed of San Franciscowho proclaimed the day as aspecial observance to shareand discuss Muslim culture. Ido not want to go into whetherit is accepted by some Shi’a orSunni Muslims. But the factthat as innovative as it is, it isaimed towards using culture,art and film to create bridgesof dialogue andunderstanding among peopleof different faith whichultimately can lead a morepeaceful world.Again, understanding Islamthrough its culture, dialogue,

and ?lm in a way will give theworld an in-depth knowledgeof the Islamic world based oncorrect information, actualfacts, and a true analysis of thecourse of events.At a time when Muslims andnon-Muslims are seen asenemies rather than allies, at

cloak of religion, at a time whenbombs were planted in placesof worships, there is need touse the opportunity the dayoffers to extend the hand offellowship to non-Muslims toexchange messages of peace.It was done in London, US,and other parts of the world.

of the injunctions of the Quranlike: ‘Kill them wherever youfind them.’ (2:191) are thosewho are ignorant of the con-text and circumstance to whichsome of these verses were re-vealed. They only claim toread the Quran but they don’tunderstand it, yet they give theimpression that Islam is areligion of war and violence.This is totally untrue. Suchverses relate in a restrictedsense, to those who haveunilaterally attacked theMuslims. The above versedoes not convey the generalprinciple of Islam. It was onlygiving direction to thoseMuslims who werepersecuted, maimed andkilled because they acceptedIslam and Allah told them tostand up and defend theirfaith.Again, the Quran was notrevealed in the complete formin which it exists today. It wasrevealed from time to time, andunder different circumstances,over a time span of 23 years.If this is divided into years ofwar and peace, the period ofpeace amounts to 20 years,while that of war amounts onlyto three years. The revelationsduring these 20 peaceful yearswere the peaceful teachings ofIslam as are conveyed in theverses regarding therealization of God, worship,morality, justice. Those whowant to know will know whilethose who flunder theirignorance to cause mischiefwill only end up in hell. Moretext mesages. Thanks.

From left: Alhaji Abdul-Rahman Osoala, Alhaji Taofeeq Adeseun, Chairman, Lagos Zone 1 NASFAT,Alhaji Akinmade Fatai and Alhaji Animashaun Monsuru during a quarterly conference organised byLagos Zone 1, NASFAT in Akasoleri, Ikorodu, Lagos.

THE Delta State MuslimCouncil, an umbrella body

for Muslims in the state has calledon the Delta State Governmentto reconstitute the Muslim Pil-grims Welfare Board saying thecontinuous denial of the Mus-lims of the Board is tantamountto negating the principle forwhich the board was establishedand could be viewed as discrim-ination.

At a press conference in War-ri, the secretary of the CouncilAlhaji Wasiu Udi noted that thegovernor in 2011, reconstitutedthe Christian Pilgrims WelfareBoard but to this moment, theMuslims Pilgrims Welfare Boardhas not been reconstituted eventhough we share a commonbuilding.

Alhaji Udi noted thatGovernor Emmanuel Uguaghanhas not created an enablingenvironment for Muslims in thestate to justify the unflagginglocality and efforts in its supportadding that it is fundamentalimportance for us to appeal forto the governor as a matter offairness, justice and equity totreat Muslims as he is treatingour counterpart.

Alhaji Udi said due to the nonreconstitution of the MuslimBoard, during pilgrimages, Pil-grims from the state usuallyfaced untold hardship duringthe 30 days exercise.

The Council also alleged hi-jacking of government spon-

Delta Muslims beg UduaghanDelta Muslims beg UduaghanDelta Muslims beg UduaghanDelta Muslims beg UduaghanDelta Muslims beg Uduaghanttttto constituto constituto constituto constituto constitute Pilgrims boarde Pilgrims boarde Pilgrims boarde Pilgrims boarde Pilgrims board

sored pilgrims slots by non Mus-lims in position of authority whoin-turn sell them to people fromoutside the state.

The Muslim Council called forurgent re-organization of theMuslim Board adding that apartfrom the secretary, all otherworkers in the Board areChristians. He noted that thisnegate our religious rites.

The press conference wasattended by Muslimrepresentatives from across the 25Local Government Councils of theState including Heads of Islamicorganisations in the State.

...an atmosphere of peace enablesgood relationship between people. Itmakes it possible for feelings of love

and friendship to prevail; it engendersconstructive activities to flourish. It is

my passionate appeal and that ofother concerned Muslims to engage in

a campaign for peace nation-wide

The turbaning ceremony of theChief Imam of Sholumade/Odu-

made Hijra community centralmosque Alhaji Jamiu Oshodi, takesplace on Saturday 31st march 2013at 10.30am.The event which is to be per-formed by Alhaji Tajudeen Disuholds at Community Senior Sec-ondary School, Igbogbo/Bayekuroad, Ikorodu, Lagos.

Turbaning

THE Chairman of LagosZone 1 of Nasru-llahi-il-

Fatih Society of Nigeria, NAS-FAT, Alhaji Taofeeq Adeseunhas sad that the understandingof Shurah process in Islam willhelp all Muslim organisation inthe selection of their leaderswithout rancour. He gave thisadmonition at the QuarterlyConference organised by LagosZone 1 of NASFAT held recent-ly in Ikorodu, Lagos.

Alhaji Adeseun who is also aPharmacist stated that the Shu-rah process as the eruditescholar, Alhaji Mustafa Bellodelivered would give enoughunderstanding on the issue and

NASFNASFNASFNASFNASFAAAAAT cT cT cT cT charges Muslims on Shurah prharges Muslims on Shurah prharges Muslims on Shurah prharges Muslims on Shurah prharges Muslims on Shurah processocessocessocessocesshelp Muslim organisations.“What we have also been ableto establish is a dispute resolu-tion mechanism. We did that inone of the branches wherethere was dispute and we setup Shurah Review Panel andAlhamdullilah the result wasgood. So we want people tolook beyound the selectionprocess and give room for con-sultation which was a practiceof Prophet Muhammad.(s.a.w)

On the quarterly conference,he said: “One of the things wedid when we came on boardwas to carry out a survey todetermine what the situationwas before we came. One of the

things we found out was thatthere was no regular meetingstructure and we decided toput that in place both for theGeneral House which is forChairmen, Secretaries Finan-cial secretaries and WomenSecretaries on the one handand the Zonal Executive com-mittee on the other hand. So,having established that, we de-cided we should go the nextstep which is involving theCouncil of Elders, Youth Sec-retaries, Mission Boards Chair-men and Secretaries in a Quar-terly Conference and I hope itwill be regular,” he stated.

The Jumuhiyat Aonulahi Muslimorganisation will hold its Maolid

Nabiyi celebration on SundayMarch 17, 2013.According to the host, SheikhIbrahimn Mutalib (Agbadatuwo),the event which will hold at Laprimary School, Ago-Hausa by 10amprompt will feature lectures, prayersand renditions of the virtues ofProphet Muhammad. (s.a.w). FadilatZakir Hamod will be on hand torender zikhir among others.

JAMON holds Maolid


VISIT: From right— Mrs. Peju Adebajo, Managing Director, Mouka Limited; Mr. Adedoyin Owolabi, President; Otun-ba Olufemi Deru, 2nd Deputy Vice-President, both of Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria, ICAN, and Mr.Joesph Ede, Chief Financial Officer, Mouka Limited, during ICAN President's visit to the company in Lagos.

Community gives dredgingfirm 21-day ultimatum

Activistmakes casefor Ijawstudents

ASUU slams Bayelsaover new tax policy

Adoke trivialising Ayorinde's death— ANEEJ

DSS nabsIMT studentover Internetfraud

AS agitations from thepeople of Niger Delta

heightens, a prominentactivist, Chief MichaelJohnny, has lamented therate of unemployment ofIjaw graduates in the oiland gas sector by govern-ment and multinationals.

Johnny spoke in Warri,when the executives ofNational Union of Izon-Ibe Students, NUIS, ledby its National President,Awipi Peibulou, paid hima courtesy visit.

He identified illiteracyand lack of support forIjaw students by govern-ment, its agencies andmultinationals as the ma-jor problem affecting theIjaw nation.

Johnny said it was timegovernment and oil com-panies provided scholar-ships for Ijaw studentsand appreciable employ-ment for Ijaw graduates inthe oil sector.

He said the education ofIjaw youths must be para-mount, and should be col-lectively supported byevery true Ijaw persons.He pledged to continue tosupport the union andeducation of Ijaw stu-dents.

‘Probe callsfor BokoHaramamnesty'

WARRI—NIGERDelta for Credible

and Visionary Leadership,NDCVL, yesterday,urged Federal Govern-ment to probe those call-ing for amnesty for BokoHaram members, sayingthey could be the sponsorsof the Islamist sect.

The group, in a state-ment by its NationalPresident, King-JerryPrebor, said: “We areshocked at commentsmade by some Northernleaders, including thehighly respected Sultan ofSokoto, the governor ofBorno State and Dr JunaidMohammed.

“The known reason forthe Boko Haram’s havocon innocent citizens ofthis country is that theyare opposed to westerneducation, nothing else.

"They cannot, therefore,be compared to the NigerDelta militants, whom latePresident Musa Yar’Aduagranted amnesty.”

A S A B A — D E LTAState Command of

Department of State Secu-rity, DSS, yesterday, pa-raded a 21-year-old Ordi-nary National Diplomaholder, involved in hack-ing the e-mails of highprofile members of thepublic and duping themin the process.

Parading the suspect,the state Director of DSS,Mrs. Florence Ikanone,said the suspect “ChineduUziogwe, a 21-year-old,who hails from Umucha,Aguata Local GovernmentArea of Anambra State,and an OND holder inMass Communicationfrom IMT, Enugu State,was arrested at PeacePark, Enugu.

“His arrest was in con-nection with the defraud-ing of one EmmanuelOgidi of N260,000through hacking into hise-mail account and wasabout withdrawingN430,000 from Ogidi’saccount before his arrest.

“His accomplice, oneFranklyn Amobi, has sincebeen arrested and is inOgwashi-Uku prisons.”

She also paraded oneChristopher Nwankwoover threat to life and as-sassination SMS.

BY AUSTINOGWUDA

UGHELLI—OBUBU com-munity in Udu Local

Government Area, DeltaState, yesterday, issued a 21-day ultimatum to WestminsterDredging and Marine Lim-ited to pay N500 million asreparation to the communityover their dredging activities

in the area.Decrying that the commu-

nity and the creek connect-ing it to Oleri, the onlysource of drinking water tothe villagers, had been pol-luted, the people also said“no aquatic life can survivein it.”

Aletter addressed to thecompany by the community

counsel, Mr. M. Segba, said:“Proper environmental im-pact assessment, EIA, shouldbe carried out by the relevantauthorities before the dredg-ing activities continue toavoid more devastating ef-fects on the ecosystem.

“Without any notice, thecompany had moved dredg-ing equipment into the con-necting creeks betweenObubu and Oleri, where theDelta Leisure Park and Re-sort is located.

“They started dredging thecreeks, which the localssolely depend on for theirsource of drinking water andbeing largely fishermen, thecreek was their source oflivelihood.

“The dredging activities ofthe Westminster DredgingCompany have not only com-pletely cut off a major sourceof livelihood of our clients,our clients are being pushedto annihilation by lack ofportable water and are on theverge of epidemic outbreak.”

Calling for the EIA of theproject before continuation,the community “demandsthat the company pays N500million to the community asreparation for the destructionof the environment, the lossof rights of use of the creek,loss of the community sourceof livelihood and the psycho-logical trauma the peoplehave suffered as a result ofthe dredging activities.”

BY FESTUS AHON

YENAGOA—BAYELSA-owned Niger Delta Uni-

versity, NDU, chapter of Aca-demic Staff Union of Univer-sities, ASUU, yesterday, con-demned the implementationof the new Personal IncomeTax Act, PITA, by the stategovernment, saying it wasdone without proper consul-tation and was a burden onthe state workers.

However, Special Adviserto the Governor on TreasuryAccounts and Revenue Mat-ters, Timipre Seipulo, de-fended the new tax regime,describing it as worker-friendly and that it followedlaid down laws in the consti-tution of the country.

The lecturers, in a state-

ment in Yenagoa by theASUU, NDU chapter Chair-man, Dr. Beke Sese, accusedthe state government of us-ing the new tax regime to cutdown the salaries of itsworkforce and shore-up in-ternal revenue.

He said: “We are notagainst the new tax system,which is a constitutional ob-ligation. The stance of thestate government on the non-negotiability with labourleaves much to be desired.

“This trend is sounding thedeath knell for several de-partments in the university.Where a university professorwill pay as much asN110,000 per month as taxout of his meagre salary ofless than N600,000 is not thebest way to retain or attractthe best brains."

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

BENIN—AFRICAN Network for Environment

and Economic Justice,ANEEJ, yesterday, insisted

that the Attorney-General ofthe Federation and Ministerof Justice, Mr. MuhammedAdoke, was trivialising thedeath of Olaitan Oyerinde,former Principal Private Sec-

retary to Governor AdamsOshiomhole of Edo State.

ANEEJ urged PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to set upa committee to probe the roleof the minister in the conflict-

ing reports submitted by thePolice and DSS.

It said manner Adoke re-acted when he was confrontedby Oshiomhole shows that “hehas some thing to hide.”

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

BY EMMA AMAIZE


Rivers pensioners call off 3-day hunger strike

BY EGUFEYAFUGBORHI

Police arrest alleged arms supplier in Delta

Uzere crisisblamed onOgomudia,monarchface-off

BY FESTUS AHON

CMYK

Delta land suit: Govt objects to Ijaw'sapplication for joinder

BY EMMA ARUBI

NAFDAC goestough on drugcounterfeiters

NDLM vows tosupport Mutufor 2015

BY TONY NYONG

PORT HARCOURT—THE planned three-day

hunger strike and prayers byRivers State pensioners overalleged unpaid pension ar-rears by the state govern-ment, has been cut short,hours after the protestersstormed Government House,Wednesday.

The senior citizens, underthe aegis of Rivers StateCouncil of Nigerian Union ofPensioners, NUP, hadmarched to the gates of theGovernor ’s Office, wherethey held a prayer session todraw government’s attentionto their grievances when thestate Head of Service, Mr.Samuel LongJohn, inter-vened on the protest.

Expressing their com-plaints, Rivers CouncilChairman of NUP, Mr. Ed-ward Abibo, told LongJohnthat government owed thepensioners over N3 billion inpension increments between2003 and 2007, as well as thefederal share of retired pri-mary school teachers sincethe responsibility was passedto state governments in 2003.

Abibo said: “Since several

entreaties by the pensionersfailed to move governmentinto action, we came to prayin hunger, hoping thatsomebody would listen, be-cause these old men andwomen you see are dyingfrom hunger as a result ofunpaid entitlements.”

The protest planned forthree days was, however,suspended following Long-John's intervention, as he ap-pealed for calm and urgedthe protesters to go home andallow appreciable time fortheir grievances to be con-veyed to Governor Rotimi

Amaechi.Acknowledging the govern-

ment’s appeal, Abibo, who ledthe pensioners, dispersed thecrowd with a vow to resumethe protest if no meaningfulresponse was heard from gov-ernment in the next onemonth.

...as HOS intervenes

BY EMMA AMAIZE

WARRI—POLICE havearrested a community

leader, who allegedly armedyouths from Orugbene com-munity in Burutu Local Gov-ernment Area of Delta Statewith weapons, including gunsand cutlasses, to attack villag-ers in Asenkiri, a neighbour-ing community, and forceful-ly seized their motor-saws andother equipment, penultimateweek.

The alleged arms supplierwas nabbed following inves-tigations by security agencies

into the incident.An Oborotu community

leader, Chief Evans Egbese-kumor, confirmed to Van-guard, yesterday, that securi-ty agents had arrested theowner of the guns.

Egbesekumor, who was re-acting to the interview grant-ed the media by one ChiefJohnbull Febakumor, that hewas attacked by Ofougbeneyouths for standing witnessagainst Oborotu communityin a land dispute, said thatFebakumor was the one fo-menting trouble.

He said: “After all attempts

to persuade Orugbene peopleto return the seized itemsfailed, the affected personsreported the matter to the Po-lice and Joint Task Force, JTF,in Burutu and they got himand the owner of the guns,arrested.

“As I speak to you, the ar-rested boat and the owner ofthe guns are still in the custo-dy of the police in Asaba. Fe-bakumor was instructed byJTF to return the items seizedby Orugbene youths, ratherthan do that, he has gone togive false report to the media,bringing in Ofougbene into amatter he had no hands in."

WORKSHOP: From right: Mr. Frank Nweke II, Director General, Nigerian EconomicSummit Group; Professor Jamie Onwuchekwa, Editor-in-Chief, Businessday; Mr. Oyinlo-la Ademola, Executive Editor, Tell Magazine and Mr. Ayodele Akinkuotu, Executive Edi-tor, Tell Magazine, at the media workshop on anti-corruption, organised by Nigerian Eco-nomic Summit Group and the United Nations Global Compact, in Lagos, yesterday. Photo:Lamidi Bamidele.

W A R R I — D E L T AState Government, at

the resumed hearing of theland suit brought against itby Okere community, WarriSouth Local GovernmentArea, opposed the applicationfor joinder by the Ijaw of Ogbe-Ijoh.

The community, in the casebefore Justice Marshall Mu-koro, is praying the court torestrain Delta State Govern-ment from forcefully acquiringtheir land measuring over3.197 hectares.

It will be recalled that on the

day the motion was set forhearing, Justice Mukoro wassaid to have been kidnappedon his way from Benin City.

At the resummed hearing,Monday, a new twist was in-troduced into the matter whenone Clackson Aribogha andone other person from Ogbe-Ijoh, through their counsel,announced their appearanceas co-defendants, which thedefendant objected to.

The state Attorney-Generaland Commissioner for Justice,Mr. Charles Ajuyah, whoraised to the objection, said hewants to personally handle thematter and requested for a

short adjournment.The plaintiff, Okere commu-

nity, did not object to the join-er application, though it saidit was a ploy to frustrate thecase while the governmentwas building on the disputedland.

Before adjoining the matterto March 27, Justice Mukoropromised speedy hearing inthe matter and charged par-ties to be up and doing.

Meanwhile, the state gov-ernment has already complet-ed the construction of a modelprimary school on the saidland that is expected to takeoff any time from now.

U G H E L L I — T H Eprotracted Uzere

crisis has been blamedon the face-off betweenthe embattled monarch ofthe kingdom, HRMIsaac Udogri and Gener-al Alexander Ogomudia(rtd) by a member of theIsoko South Local Gov-ernment Transition com-mittee, Delta State, Mr.Godspower Obaro.

Reacting to recent me-dia reports, yesterday,Obaro said the chairmanof the purported UzerePeace and DevelopmentMovement, Mr. IsraelAfiemo was not acting onbehalf of the Uzere peo-ple.

NIGER Delta Liber-ty Movement,

NDLM, has vowed tosupport Mr. NicholasMutu, Chairman Houseof Representatives Com-mittee on Niger DeltaDevelopment Commis-sion, NDDC, in his po-litical ambition in 2015,saying he knows what todo with political powerby deploying same tothe peoples’ benefit.

NDLM’s President,Mr. Ebiyekefe Stow, in astatement, appreciatedMutu, for his youth em-powerment and numer-ous developmentprojects in his constitu-ency.

Farmersregistrationkicks off inLagos

THE Federal Ministry of Agriculture,

in conjunction with La-gos State Ministry of Ag-riculture and Co-opera-tives, has kick-startedthe 2013 edition of farm-ers registration in all the381 wards in LagosState.

A statement by the La-gos State Director, Fed-eral Ministry of Agricul-ture and Rural Develop-ment, Mr. Adegbola Olu-si, said the exercisewhich will hold acrossthe federation will last for12 days.

UYO—DRUG counterfeiters in the country

will, henceforth, face very stiffpenalties as National Agencyfor Food, Drug Administrationand Control, NAFDAC, will goall out to apprehend andprosecute culprits.

Director-General of NAF-DAC, Dr. Paul Orhii, in Uyo,Akwa Ibom State, while inter-acting with stakeholders dur-ing a Small Business SupportDesk Open Day Forum for theSouth-South states, said: “As faras I am concerned, drug traf-fickers are worse than armedrobbers. So, we have decidedto review the Nigeria law andpackage it, using the best Ni-geria legal minds among theSenior Advocates of Nigeria,Nigeria Institute of AdvancedLegal Studies, Federal Minis-tries of Justice and Health, fora new bye law.

“Already, the new bye law hassailed through the Federal Ex-ecutive Council and same willbe presented to the NationalAssembly for consideration andsubsequently passed into law.

“The new law will providelife jail, confiscation of assetsof offenders and if proved thecounterfeit drug led to thedeath of the victim, the assetconfiscated would be sold tosettle the victim's family."

38 —Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013

Ebonyi suspends 15 lecturers overalleged certificate forgery

Customs, truck owners bicker overseized goods

Anambra guber:Youths rallysupport forAndy Uba

Sevenschools winNOMDcompetition

From left: Mrs Mercy Orji, wife of Abia State governor, Gov. Theodore Orji; President, JohnsHopkins University Washington, Mr. Ron Daniels; Prof. Ruth Wedgwood and Chief Ojo Maduekweafter a lecture delivered by the governor at the University in Washington.

ABAKALIKI — EBONYI Stategovernment, yesterday,

suspended 15 lecturers of thestate’s own College of Education,Ikwo, indefinitely.

Personal Assistant to the stategovernor on Higher Education,Prof. Mike Itumo, told newsmenin Abakaliki that theaffected lecturers were alleged topossess forged Masters andDoctorate degree certificates.

Itumo said the suspension hadbeen approved by the institution’sdisciplinary body andcommunicated to GovernorMartin Elechi, adding that furthersanctions would be given to theaffected lecturers at the end of afull-scale investigation.

He said: “There is an ongoinginvestigation into the allegationand, as soon as it is concluded,further sanctions will beannounced. Forgery is a criminaloffence and our system frowns atit, and so we shall not hesitate toinstitute criminal proceedingsagainst those found liable.

“We are determined to clean up

the augean stable and we willstop at nothing to achieve this.”

He restated government’sdetermination to make thecollege a model for teachereducation and maintained that

plans to upgrade the institutionto a degree-awarding collegehad reached final stage.

The aide warned thatgovernment would, henceforth,clamp down on illegal and

unapproved satellite campusesand study centres ofunrecognised institutions ofhigher learning operating in thestate.

BY VINCENT UJUMADU

AWKA — AS politicalactivities for the

governorship race of AnambraState slated to take place laterthis year begin to pick up,youths, under the aegis ofOmambala Youth Forum, haveresolved to support thegovernorship ambition ofSenator Andy Uba.

At a meeting in Otuocha, theForum, made up of youths fromthe four local government areasof Anambra East, AnambraWest, Ayamelum and Oyi, saidtheir decision to support Ubawas due to what he had beendoing for the area since he wentinto public office.

Chairman of the Forum, Mr.Innocent Offordile (EseluAguleri), who presided at themeeting, observed that thoughUba represented Anambra Southin the Senate, youths in the fourlocal government areas whichare in Anambra North would notforget the assistance he gave tothe people of the area during lastyear’s flood disaster.

BY KENNETHEHIGIATOR

LAGOS— NIGERIA CustomsService and owners of no

fewer than 500 trailers loadedwith essential commodities areat currently daggers drawn atSeme border over seizure of thetrucks said to be in transit in thecountry on their way to Republicof Chad and some other Africancountries.

The goods-laden trucks werereportedly impounded by theCustoms authorities in the lasttwo months without words to theowners on why they were seized.

Addressing a press confereneat Seme border, yesterday,owner of the trucks, mainlyChadian nationals, complainedthat the vehicles were only ontransit from Republic of Beninthrough Nigeria and had paidall the expected revenue toNigeria Customs for passingthrough the Nigerian border, butwondered why the Customsimpounded the vehicles withoutany explanation as to why thevehicles could not pass throughNigerian border.

Spokesman of the group,Alhaji Abu Na Muhammam,said the only explanation theyhad had from the Customs wasthat the trucks would bereleased, but were not told whenand why the trucks were seized.

But spokesman for theCustoms Command at theborder, Mr. Ernest Olota, said itwas not possible for vehicles intransit to be impounded, if allnecessary fees were paid byowners.

He said the last time they hada similar experience, they weremade to understand that it wasdue to security problems facedby Nigeria and were, therefore,not allowed to pass.

He said: “It is unfortunate thattwo months after our vehicleswere arrested and detained, theCustoms authorities have not told

us anything as to why they im-pounded out vehicles and wepaid all the fess we should pay,”he said.

Alhaji Na Muhammam, whonoted that this last for sevenmonths, said there wasexplanation to that effect then,but lamented that up till thistime, no one had told them whythe trucks were impounded.

Aba residents laud Orji over devtBY ANAYO OKOLI

ABA — RESIDENTS ofAba, Abia State, have

praised the efforts of GovernorTheodore Orji’s administrationto improve decayedinfrastructure in thecommercial city, saying thegovernment had actuallyshown its presence in the city.

A cross section of theresidents who spoke toVanguard said they nowbelieved in the government,having seen some physicaldevelopments on ground.

Emeka Ihuoma, a civilservant, said time forpropaganda was over in thecity.

According to him, for years,all the people of Aba have beenused to mere propaganda,where roads are just built onthe radio and that has madethe people lose hope ingovernment.

“I live here in Aba; it is nowthat we are seeing roads beingbuilt physically not on theradio. If you go round you seefor yourself some roads builtand others under construction.

I am not a big fan of GovernorOrji but our people say,seeing is believing.

For Mrs. Eugenia Mbaegbu,a petty trader on OwerriRoad, Aba, the presentgovernment has made themto believe that the situation ofAba, especially the ugly roadand drainage situation, couldchange for the better.

Innocent Ihenko, a Kekeoperator, applauded thegovernment for the road worksgoing on in Aba.

According to him, beforenow, we found it very difficultto operate here but now thesituation is changing.

A WOMAN leader in Mbaise,Imo State, Madam MargretAkuwa Opara has died at theage of 62 after a brief illness.Burial arraignment will kick offFriday, March 29, 2013 with aChristian wake-keep atOpara’s compound whileinterment follows the next dayafter lying in state and serviceof songs. She is survived bychildren, brothers, sisters,grandchildren and in-lawsincluding the MD/CEO ofDeacun Oil and Gas Ltd, Lagos,Chief Iheanacho Ekedo

Transition

Late Margret Akuwa Opara

Tax expert flays budget delays

A TAX consultant, Mr.Chigozie Chinweze, has

criticized the habitual delay insigning and the lateimplementation of budgets onyearly basis. This, he said,accounted for about 20 to 30 percent shortfall in capitaldevelopment and revenuegeneration through withholdingtax.

Chinweze who is also a part-ner in Onuwabuchi Ukatu & Co.and a Corporate Affairs Consult-ant said though the 2013 budgetwas signed recently by the presi-dent the habitual late implemen-tation that usually start aroundthe second quarter of every yearwas cause for worry.

BY RUTH ODINIYA

ABUJA — SEVEN schoolshave emerged winners of

the Nigeria Of My Dream,NOMD, schools’ competition inAbuja.

Spokesperson of theorganising outfit, Mrs NgoziAlichi, said in Abuja that theneed to inculcate the country’sethics, values, patriotism, loveand pride in children inspiredthe competition. According toher, the competition is gearedtowards boosting the moral andacademic excellence thechildren.

Of the 15 schools thatparticipated, seven emerged forthe grand finale, includingModel Primary School,Maitama; Model schools atGarki, Jabbi School of the BlindL.E.A Wuse 4 zone 5; El-AminInternational School Abuja;Anglican Girls GrammarSchool, Area II; and ReginaPacis College.

Alichi, who solicitedinstitutional support for thecompetition, described it as agreat and noble cause thatdeserved institutional supportby corporate organizations andpublic spirited individuals tomake it a regular event and anation project.

“The competition is only avehicle for inculcating,encouraging and advancing ourset goals and objective ofentrenching enduring values ofpatriotism in our young minds,”she said.

She said prizes would begiven at the grand finale to theparticipating schools andcertificate of participation to theschools that took part in thecompetition.

CMYK


From right, sitting: Dr. Bolarinde Joshua, 2nd Vice Presi-dent, Nigerian Institute of Estate Surveyors & Valuers,NIESV; O. J. Idudu, Chairman, Estate & Valuers Board ofNigeria; Emeka Eleh, President, NIESV, exchanging pleas-antries with Victor Enyinna, Airtel Regional Head of Cor-porate Sales & Enterprises (standing), after his presenta-tion, at the 42nd annual conference of NIESV, in Benin City.

From left: Adetokunbo Fayokun, Oyo State Commissioner for Education; Mrs. FlorenceAjimobi, Chairman of the occasion and wife of Oyo State Governor; Chief Ayo Oni and YinkaOgunde, Principal Consultant, Edumark Consult, at the Seventh Edition of 'We Are The Futureof Our Nation' programme, in Ibadan, Oyo State.

From left: Senator Gbenga Ashafa, the organiser of women empowermentprogramme; Chief Henry Ajomale Chairman, ACN, Lagos State Chapterand one of the beneficiaries, during the presentation of cash gifts, at theprogramme, at Epe.

Rotn Chuks Ikokwu, Past president, Lekki Phase1, Lagos Rotary Club, District 9110 (left) and hiscounterpart, Rotn Engr. Sunmade Agbe-Davies, atthe 30th annual 2012 District 9110 Rotary Interna-tional Conference, in Abeokuta.

Mrs. Vivian Ezeoba, National President, Naval Of-ficer's Wives Association (left) and Mrs. TessyIjioma, at the Second Inter House Sports of theNOWA Secondary School, Navy Town, Ojo.

Chief Theodore Ezeobi, SAN, former Chairman,Nigerian Bar Association, NBA, Lagos branch(left) and Mr. John Austin Unachukwu, AssistantNational Publicity Secretary, NBA, during the val-edictory court session, in honour of former chair-man, NBA Lagos, Mr. Akin Akinbote, at the LagosHigh Court Foyer

From left: Mr. Segun Awoyinfa, GM, 234give.com; Bez Idakula, singer/Friends of Africa Ambassador; Mrs. Ini Onuk, CEO, Thistle Praxis Consult-ing; Mr. Gbenga Sesan, Founder, Paradigm Initiative, at a panel discussionhosted by Friends of Africa on empowering Non-Governmental Organisa-tions, NGOs and social entrepreneurship, using social media.

From left: Ramesh Hathiramani, Group Chairman, Dana Group withAlex Mun-Yong Chung, Regional Head, Middle East & Africa Kia Mo-tors Corporation and Jacky Hathiramani, Group Managing Director,Dana Group, during the launch of new Kia Quoris, at Oriental Hotel,Lekki, Lagos. Photo: Akeem Salau.

From left: Ms. Omokehinde Ojomuyide, MasterCard Worldwide,Country Manager;Mr. Philip Miller, MasterCard Global head, knowledge acquiring centre; Mrs.Christabel Onyejekwe, Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System (NIBSS), ExecutiveDirector, Business Development; and Mr. Kamil Olufowobi, MasterCard Worldwide,Acceptance Director, at the MasterCard leadership forum, on Merchant Acquire, inLagos.CMYK

40—Vanguard, FRIDAY40—Vanguard, FRIDAY40—Vanguard, FRIDAY40—Vanguard, FRIDAY40—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, , MARCH 15, , MARCH 15, , MARCH 15, , MARCH 15, 20132013201320132013

NYSC commences immunisation of Corpsmembers against CSM in Sokoto

1m people living with HIV/AIDS in Benue—BENSACA boss

ACN carpets Bauchi govt over face-offwith striking teachers

BY SUZAN EDEH

BY PETER DURU

NOA boss taskspoliticians onsportsmanship

Jigawa govtsets up FHCto boosthealth careservices

B A U C H I — C H A I RMAN of Action Congress

of Nigeria,ACN, AlhajiBappa Dafida has con-demned the tactics adoptedby the Bauchi State Govern-ment in handling its face-offwith members of the Aca-demic Staff Union of Sec-ondary Schools, ASUSS, say-ing the matter has exposedthe government as tactless.

Dafida said said that Gov-ernor Isa Yuguda was wrongto have believed that everycivil servant would supportgovernment’s bid todeprieve him of his/her le-gitimate income through thededuction of theirprofessinal allowances andasked him to dialogue withthe teachers to ensure im-provement in the educa-tional sector.

He spoke in an interviewwith Vanguard in Bauchi,yesterday.

Dafida said: ‘’The way thegovernment is going aboutthe situation is wrong be-cause it is the right of anyworker to protest against anyform of discrimination or ex-ploitation it is experiencingin the performing his duties.Donations to charity shouldnot be done out of compul-sion, but willingly.

“I blame the leadership ofNLC in the state for allow-ing the state government to

MAKURDI—EXECUTIVE Secretary of the

Benue State ActionConmmittee Against Aids,BENSACA, Mrs. Ashi Wende,has said that more than1,027,328 people in the statewere currently living with thedreaded HIV/AIDS.

She said the figure com-prises 706,640 adults and318,888 children, hence theneed for anti retroviral therapyfor the children.

Mrs. Wende said this yes-

CELEBRATION: From left: Mr. Jia Ping, Commercial Consul, Economic and CommercialSection, Consulate General, People's Republic of China, Lagos; Mrs. Bola Adesola, Manag-ing Director, Standard Chartered Bank, and Mr. Remi Oni, Head, Origination and ClientCoverage, Standard Chartered Bank, during the Chinese New Year celebration dinner, or-ganised by the Bank in Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

ABUJA—AS the sixArea Councils of

the Federal Capital Ter-ritory, FCT, go to thepolls tomorrow, the Di-rector General, NationalOrientation Agency,NOA, Mr. Mike Omeri,has challenged the po-litical class to imbibe theculture of peace andsportsmanship in elec-tions.

Omeri spoke at astakeholders’ forum on‘Peaceful Elections’ or-ganized by the agencyin Bwari Area Councilahead of the elections.

He stated that the timehad come when politicsshould be played theway it ought to beplayed; devoid of vio-lence and acrimony dur-ing and after elections.

SOKOTO—ALHAJI AbduTaura, Sokoto State Co-

ordinator of National YouthService Corps, NYSC, yes-terday, said the scheme hadstarted the immunisation of1,399 corps members of thebatch “A” 2013, against Cer-ebra Spinal Meningitis,CSM.

Taura spoke to NewsAgency of Nigeria, NAN, inSokoto, while giving an up-date on the scheme’s activi-ties at the camp, whichopened on March 5.

According to him, the im-munisation, which startedon March 13, is being con-ducted with the active col-laboration of the state Min-istry of Health.

He said: ”The ministry hadsince donated 1,500 doses ofthe CSM vaccines to theNYSC management and weintend to cover everybody,including the other membersof the camp community whoare under 45 years old.

”This is to further safe-

DUTSE—JIGAWAMinistry of Health,

yesterday, said it hadset up Facility HealthCommittees, FHC, in its628 health districts tomobilise community par-ticipation in manage-ment of health careservices.

Dr. Tafida Abubakar,the Commissioner forHealth, stated thiswhile addressing news-men on the outcome ofa meeting betweenmembers of the commit-tees and officials of theministry in Dutse.

Abubakar said thecommittees were estab-lished in collaborationwith Partnership forTransforming HealthSystem, PATHS-3, tofast track health sectorreform for sustainabledevelopment.

He said the partner-ship was to upgradehealth facilities,p r o v i d e d r u g s ,consumables andequipment as well ascapacity building pro-grammes.

The commissionersaid the partnershipalso focused on aware-ness creation and mobi-lising community par-ticipation on reproduc-tive health, child careservices and manage-ment of facilities at thegrassroots.

make deductions from work-ers salaries and allowances.The organised labour haveshown that it is not autono-mous in its dealings with thegovernment.

“When the government de-cided that it was going to es-tablish the agency for orphansand vulnerable children, itshould have made plans forits funding and not forcing the

workers to contribute fromtheir salaries.

“In any democratic setting, itis wrong for the governmentto act as a dictator to the peo-ple and that is what the stategovernment is doing toASUSS. It is also wrong for thestate government to file a suitin court against its workers andagain go to the extent of de-taining members of the union

in prison because it feels it isincumbent and has the powerto manupulate things to itsadvantage.”

Blaming the organised la-bour further for allegedly sell-ing out to the government, theACN chiftain described thededuction of workers’ profes-sional allowances to fund capi-tal projects as wicked.

guard the health of the corpsmembers due to the intenseheat being experienced inSokoto presently.”

The NYSC coordinator alsosaid that adequate measureshad been taken to ensure the

security of the corps membersduring and after the orienta-tion exercise.

”Security agents who arearmed to the teeth from themilitary, police, SSS and thecivil defence, including others

in mufti, had been detailed tothe camp for a 24-hour vigil,”he added.

Taura also said that arrange-ments had also been made toensure the adequate provisionof other logistics like water andelectricity, among others.

terday, at a training pro-gramme for media practionerson HIV/AIDS in Makurdi, thestate capital.

She explained that out of thenumber of infected adults,21,259 were new cases out ofwhich 17,139 were women She said: “The HIV epidemichas lasted for several yearswith Benue State contributingsignificantly to the prevalenceof the virus in Nigeria.

She further explained thatthe state government was tak-ing proactive steps to check the

spread of the virus with the es-tablishment of 40 treatmentcentres across the state.

”We have the highest numberof treatment centres that areproviding free anti-retroviraldrugs to infected persons inthe country; and we havedrugs that could last up to2015; that is why we are urg-ing everyone to undertake freetesting and counseling in or-der to know our status andcheck the spread of the virus,”Wende added.

BY VICTORIA EDEMA

CMYK

CMYK



CHIEF Sam Mbakwe isremembered by political

historians as the weepinggovernor. Mbakwe would shedtears before anyone that wouldfacilitate the way for him to attractdevelopment and funds for hismany projects.

Now, a road immortalising theman who is reckoned as aboutthe best achieving governor tohave presided over Imo State isnow the cause of tears for someprominent Imolites.

At the heart of the controversynow rocking Imo State is thecontroversy over allegedkickbacks for the reconstructionof the Dei Sam Mbakwe road atin Owerri which was awarded forN1.5 billion.

The deputy governor of thestate, Mr. Jude Agbaso who wasalso the Commissioner for Worksis being investigated by the StateHouse of Assembly overallegations of having allegedlypocketed N458 million, almosthalf of the money earmarked forthe road project as kickback.

It is an allegation he hasdenied. But associates ofGovernor Rochas Okorocha andsome members of the Imo StateHouse of Assembly followingpreliminary investigationsbelieve Mr. Jude Agbaso has acase to answer. Mr. Agbaso andmany of his associates are,however, alleging a desperateattempt by Okorocha to renege

The Okorocha/Agbaso war in ImoA ONCE cordial relationship between the governor and deputygovernor of Imo State runs into a crisis of confidence.

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

on a gentleman agreement madeprior to the 2011 election for thelatter to serve only one term.

Okorocha is from Orlu zone,the most dominant politicalsection of the state whichproduced Governor AchikeUdenwa who served for eightyears. Following Udenwa’stenure, Chief Ikedi Ohakim from

Okigwe zone served for fouryears and his venture towards asecond term was scuppered bythe combination of forces that sawthe Agbaso brothers from Owerrizone marshal forces with SenatorChris Anyanwu and other majorstakeholders in the state to stopOhakim who was consideredunduly overbearing.

As the 2011 gubernatorialelection approached, theseeming desperation of somemajor stakeholders to outwitOhakim led them to overlook thezoning principle.

Okorocha, who had for longsought the gubernatorial office inbetween eyeing more juicyattractions in Abuja, was alleged

to have reached an agreementwith Martin Agbaso, who isbelieved to have had a veritableclaim to the governorship in the2007 election having contestedon the platform of the AllProgressive Grand Alliance,APGA. Whether there was a dealbetween the elder Agbaso andOkorocha remains the subject ofmuch speculation in Owerri. ButMartin Agbaso’s youngerbrother, Jude was nominated asOkorocha’s deputy to fly theAPGA gubernatorial ticket for the2011 election.

With Senator Chris Anyanwuand the Agbaso brotherscoordinating from Owerri zone,Okorocha marshalling from Orluzone, and Ohakim entangledeven in his native Okigwe bySenator Ifeanyi Ararume,Ohakim’s famed claim toinvincibility was punctured.

At that point in time there weresuggestions that Okorocha hadpromised the Agbasos that hewould serve one term.

But Mr. Chinedu Offor, the ImoState Commissioner forInformation debunked thatassertion yesterday, saying therewas no such agreement.

Offor, rather, said that theevolving development in the statewas a reflection of thedetermination of GovernorOkorocha to allow the rule of lawwhere it concerns corruption inhigh places. He also pointed toa convergence of forces betweenthe Agbaso brothers and theopposition Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP.

Partyleadership

Earlier this week as the crisisdeepened, the 12 PDP legislatorsin the State House of Assemblywere summoned to meet with theparty leadership where theywere ordered not to join theimpeachment plot againstAgbaso.

Sources privy to the evolvingdevelopment told Vanguard thatMartin Agbaso who is seen asthe real politician in the familyrecently began to forge analliance with the PDP when hebegan noticing a fall of hisfortunes in the Okorochaadministration in Owerri.

It was gathered that Agbasomay have reached an agreementwith the PDP in Abuja to savehis brother. One source privy tothe development disclosed thatthe PDP legislators during theirstay in Abuja were also briefedby a top PDP chieftain with anational reputation for fixing theparty’s problems and a senioroperative of the administrationwho is working on the GoodluckJonathan 2015 project.

The aim of the administrationin Abuja it was gathered, is toput Okorocha on his toes sincehe is largely regarded as a threatand a possible running mate forthe opposition in 2015.

WHAT exactly is the issue with the deputy governor? What is happening is a constitutional process and

people should be happy about it.There are suggestions that it is political and aimed towards

2015 Absolutely not and that is diversionary. It has nothing to do

with that. What is going on is alleged corruption in high places.I thought the Federal Government has set up all sorts of bodiesto tackle corruption. Instead of just talking, we are practicalisingit. Before, and in other states, if an allegation is made against ahigh government official it is covered up and brushed aside, buthere, we have zero tolerance for corruption. If you accuse anybody,

We're dealing with corruption inhigh places — Offor•Says Okorocha did not sign agreement for one term

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN, POLITICAL EDITOR

governor of Imo State. A few months ago,contractors were crying that they were not beingpaid and all sorts of things, so this man whowas handling a major road project and the

Continues on page 46

*Offor: Agbaso has issues

*Okorocha: It is the constitution in action *Agbaso: It is political

MR Chinedu Offor is the Imo State Commissioner forInformation. In this interview he responds to issuessurrounding allegations of corruption raised against the deputygovernor of the state, Mr. Jude Agbaso and the governor’sinvolvement in the affair.

we bring the man who accused you and youtogether and two of you would talk to each other. The contractor told the house that the reasonwhy he was unable to finish a paid contract wasthat he had given half of it (money) to the deputy


Let the truth prevail — Bledyn, PDP Pub. SecCHIEF Bledyn Amajirionwu is the State Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, inImo State. In this interview he responds to issues emanating from the probe of the deputygovernor of the state, Mr. Jude Agbaso and the party’s alleged involvement in the affair. Excerpts:

WHAT is happening inImo and your role in

it?What I am interested in is

the extent of fraud beingexposed by this issue now.There are so many issues thathave arisen from thisparticular matter now. Wehave a governor in the statewho has often times said thathe would not mobilisecontractors to site, ‘that youearn certificate and we payyou,’ and many people havegone to site in that manner,earned certificates and up tilltoday have not been paid.

But in this case, agovernment verballyapproved a contract for N1.3billion and it was paidupfront. So that is an issue.No due process was followed,you verbally gave instruction

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

that the man should be paidand he was paid N1.3 billionupfront. So, what level offraud can we compare thiswith?

Are the legislators backnow?

They have been back sinceand they have been sitting.

We hear you hosted themand gave them some money?

It is not true. The truth of thematter is that we are a politicalparty, sponsored members tothe House of Assembly and itis also the duty of the partythat if there are fundamentalissues, that you call yourmembers and ask them thesituation on ground.

But did you need to bringthem to Abuja?

The leadership of the partyis in Abuja. The leadership ofthe party wanted aninteraction with them.

Including Chief Anenih? I am not aware of Chief

Anenih, but I am aware of the

national leadership led by thenational chairman.

We hear from thegrapevine that the legislatorswere mobilised with $50,000

each? To do what? To remove Okorocha? But 12 of them cannot

remove Okorocha. It doesn’tmake sense and if we reallywant to go that way to removeOkorocha, what reasonswould we have to impeachOkorocha at this time.

We are trying to raise someissues and questions like thisissue why would you award acontract for N1.3 billion andyou pay upfront. Which duediligence permits that? Theseare the issues.

What we in PDP stand for isthat they should get to the rootof the matter and what isapplicable, apply it.

So, you wouldn’t mindAgbaso being impeached?

If he went ahead to dupe thestate of N458 million does hehave the confidence of thepeople again? That is a voteof no confidence already.

ON the alleged N458million bribe demand

Imo people massively andfreely gave me their mandate.I owe them. It is a known factthat the media is awash withthe current stories of the goingson in Imo State.

At no point in time did Idemand N458 million or anysum of money and from anycontractor whatsoever and at notime did Joseph Dina of JPROspay me N458 million asclaimed.

JPROS is doing the job onSam Mbakwe Road. I neverknew the company, its majorshare holders or owners. Theywere introduced to the state bythe Governor, Owelle RochasOkorocha. Jobs worth N1.5billion can only be issuedthrough the approval of theGovernor.

In February 2012, while I wasaway on state duties in India,the Permanent Secretary soughtapproval from the Governor. Hegave approval of N1.5 billionthrough the Ministry ofFinance and Ministry of Works.

Incidentally this approvalwas sent to Ministry of Finance,which instead of routing thisapproval to Ministry of Works,it was routed through theAccountant General and paiddirectly to JPROS Ltd.

So, at no point did I giveapproval for the payment of themoney. At no point did I paythe money to the contractor. Thequestion now is: why wouldthis contractor pay me N458million for doing what?

Approval ofcontractor

I heard from him that he paidme N458 million in anticipationof the job I will offer him in thelocal government areas. TheCommissioner of Works neverissues jobs in the localgovernments.

The chairmen issue jobs in thelocal governments. I neverissued till date, one singlecontract in any localgovernment. So, how wouldthis contractor offer me moneyin anticipation of such a thingI was not in a position to give?

At no point did I convey toJoseph Dina via SMS to payme, or into any account, in anybank, any sum of money.

This story is intended tomalign my person. The onus ison the investigating agenciesto look at these accounts. N458million is not N458,000.

N458 million cannot just

My sMy sMy sMy sMy stttttorororororyyyyy — Jude AgabsoTHE embattled deputy governor of Imo State, Mr. Jude Agbaso, earlier this week spoke tocorrespondents on the issues raised against him by the State House of Assembly. Excerpts:

BY CHIDI NWOPARA

vanish like that. They shouldlook for the money there. Themoney must be there. If it is notthere they can put a tracer on

the money. It can be traced tothe last account that it went. Ifthey can forensically check theycan follow the money into the

pocket of who took the money.I never asked for this money.

I never received this moneyand I do not have anything to

do with this money.

Why this bribe saga?It stems from the various

political players, permutationsas to the situation about 2015.I have heard stories aboutspeculations of who runs in2015 and who doesn’t run.

I know that is a subsistingagreement, which is in thepublic domain btw my elderbrother, who is a politician andthe Governor to hand overgovernment to the people ofOwerri zone in 2015. This haseverything to do with this.

Sooner or later, this wholestory would be unraveled. Ihave a robust workingrelationship with the Governor.

On the one term agreementMy brother has spoken about

the agreement between themthat the governor would handover to the people of OwerriZone in 2015. The Governorhad spoken of the termagreement to hand over to thepeople of Owerri come 2015.

Why it is overheating thesystem in 2013 is what Icouldn’t answer. I am caughtin the web between thesepowerful political players in thestate.

,

,

These arethe issues.What we in

PDP standfor is thatthey shouldget to theroot of thematter andwhat isapplicable,apply it

*Agbaso: Denies receiving bribe


THE statement that Nigeria is a poorcountry with widespread poverty is

axiomatic. It is estimated that more than75% in the Nigerian population live insqualor and could hardly make a decentliving from what they do. This situationcalls into question the general assumptionthat a country blessed with crude oil andother mineral resources and also endowedwith natural human talents would haveanything to do with deepening povertyand its attendant sufferings anddeprivations.

If it is believed in certain quarters thatthere might not be a direct link betweenpoverty and Boko Haram insurrection,there is that indirect connection betweenidle hands and those bloody fingers thatdetonate deadly bombs. It is true that thefire of insurrection is constantly strokedby idle hands and empty brains. Herein Nigeria, we may not need theexperience of the former President of theUSA, Bill Clinton and the decisive writingsof newspaper columnists to see clearly thatall is not well with Nigeria as a nation. Even within the rank of governmentapologists, there is this belief that thingscould be better in the prevailingcircumstances.

I hold firmly to the believe that povertyis a fall-out from inflation and corruptionand the poor official response to theseevils. As noted earlier in this column,inflation is regarded as a process of risein prices. Thus, inflationary processwould come about as a result of changesin demand or supply conditions, or both. However, the essential feature is thatdemand exceeds supply at the existingprice. This is likely to occur once the zoneof full employment is reached (3% ofunemployment or less but no exactpercentage would be given at the pointwhere the inflationary process mightcommence). For example, if there isincrease in demand without increase inoutput, there might be increase in pricetemporarily until output is expanded tomeet increase in demand. Similarly, ifthe output is reduced, even at the existinglevel of demand, competition amongbuyers might push up the pricetemporarily until adjustment is effected.

more money by all means, right or wrong. The punishing exchange rate of N157 –N160 to a $ has consigned manyNigerians to the users of second-handarticles or cars as prices of newcommodities are beyond their reach. Ifcorruption means earning money throughnon legitimate means, then the temptationof many Nigerians to defend their incomethreatened by (inflation) through all meansbecomes understandable.

The inequitable distribution of nationalincome has created the zone of ‘Very RichNigerians‘ and that of ‘Very PoorNigerians‘. There is no buffer zone ofthe middle-class to soften the anger of “thepoor” against “the rich”. From the zoneof the poor have emerged the corrupt(those who want to create more wealth),the armed robbers, the kidnappers, andthe destructive agents of insurgencies.

It looks as if the power of money is theonly thing recognized in Nigeria as thedecider of everything. In anenvironment where education is notcheap, where healthcare is expensive, andthe standard of living is higher than thereach of ordinary people, and where socialservices are painfully inadequate, the roadto anarchy is wide, smooth and tempting.Taking into consideration the destruction

of life and properties in the North; thekidnappings and ritual killings in theSouth; and armed robberies everywhere;the difference between the Hobbesian“State of Nature”, and the Patriotsdescription of a “failed state” is not toowide.

It must be emphasized that the currentsituation of the country is not an analysisof the failures of President Jonathan butrather, a lively discussion on what Nigeriaour dream should look like, and what it isat present. A situation where Nigerianscannot move freely in their country andwhere foreigners could be kidnapped andkilled mercilessly could not be describedas an ideal one.

The truth is that Nigeria’s problems havebeen politicized and sectionalized, butvaguely analysed. The subject of Securitywhich should be of national concern istreated as a party affair, for the PDPgovernment alone to solve. This wouldget us nowhere as events unfold thatinsurgency has become moresophisticated and violent. Also, Nigeria‘ssocial problems have become morecomplex and more extensive to be left inthe hands of a political leader, howeverclever and intelligent.

If the analysis of a ‘failed state‘ asdescribed by the illustrious members ofthe Patriots seem offensive andfrightening, it is up to the presentleadership to devise means of preventingthe rush to anarchy by trying otherprogressive policies that would appeal tomore progressive elements in coming tothe aid of the country.

There is no running away from a meetingof Nigerians to discuss amicably abouthappy relationships. You may call it anyname that is suitable or convened underany atmosphere that would satisfy theyearnings of all Nigerians who would liketo live a life of happiness and prosperityin a place called United States of Nigeria(USN). Some even envisage a newconstitution which will ensure andpreserve the federal nature of the countryand not a unitary one being operated atpresent. It could be named Jonathan’sConstitution like Macpherson‘sConstitution.

07059197616

In the Nigerian context, if inflation isunderstood as “too much money chasingtoo few goods”, it stands to reason thatthe answer lies in increasing the numberof goods that money can buy. Precisely,this means that increase in output is thedirect answer to avoid increase in prices. Inflationary process in a developedeconomy would always be at the point thatwhen full employment is reached, but inNigeria there is large scale unemploymentand idle capacity in the manufacturingsector. Thus, the effective measure tocombat abnormal rise in prices is injectionof funds into the national economy tostimulate effective demand and therebyincrease investments in the real economy. The manufacturing sector would beinfluenced to increase output through re-activating idle plants and getting morehands on production.

However, to the surprise of manydevelopmental economists, the officialreaction to inflationary process andunemployment is a blind adherence to atight monetary policy which includes adepreciated Naira.

It may be assumed that the defensivemechanism of a Nigerian whose incomeis threatened or affected by inflation is tofind alternative means of maintaining astatus-quo. Thus, the temptation to earn

Poverty and gradual descentinto a state of anarchy

THIRTEEN Political Partiesare fielding 46 chairmanship

candidates for the LocalGovernment Elections in the sixarea councils of the FederalCapital territory, FCT tomorrow.

Tomorrow’s election is thenearest opportunity that theresidents of the federal capitalhave to determine who governsthem as the Minister who actsas governor of the territory isappointed by the president.

Elections are to be held in 639polling units in the 62 electoralwards in the six LocalGovernment Areas that make upthe FCT. The area councilelections in the FCT are by lawconducted by the IndependentNational Electoral Commission,INEC.

Head of Public Affairs/PoliticalParties Monitoring of theIndependent National ElectoralCommission, INEC, FCT, Mr.Okezie Nwankwo whileconfirming the agency’sreadiness for the elections said ithas created 3,054 voting pointsfor professional efficiency, addingthat a maximum of only 300

As Abuja vAs Abuja vAs Abuja vAs Abuja vAs Abuja voooootttttes tes tes tes tes tomorromorromorromorromorrooooow••w••w••w••w••people will vote in each votingpoint.

“We have 639 Polling units andwe have created what we callVoting Points which total about3,054 and the idea is that whereyou have concentration of people,so we map out a system whereonly 300 people will vote in avoting point,” he explained.

Ahead of the election,Nwankwo disclosed that thecommission held manyinteractive sessions with variousstakeholders including leaders ofthe political parties and theircandidates, security agencies,the media and civil societyorganizations so as to have free,fair and credible electionsthroughout the territory.

He also revealed that thevoters’ register had beenreviewed and non sensitivematerials made available anddelivered to the six council areasstressing that the sensitivematerials would be delivered tothe various units before theelection date.

He said, “We have reviewedand cleaned up the voters’register, so as at now, we have aclean copy of the voters register

BY JOHNBOSCOAGBAKWURU

and they have been distributedto the 13 Political Parties. It is nowin the public dormain.

“The materials were availablethree weeks to the election andas we are talking now the nonsensitive materials are sitting inour various area councils, we willsoon take delivery of the sensitivematerials. And of course, therehave been training andretraining of staff including thead-hoc staff, they are all readyfor the elections,” he stated.

The FCT Head of Public Affairsof INEC said that out of the 46Chairmanship Candidates, onlysix will emerge as winners andout of 223 Councillorshipcandidates from the 13 PoliticalParties that have been cleared by

the commission to contest in theelections, only 62 are expectedto be elected.

Nwankwo said that there willbe restriction of movement onElection Day.

The Political Parties that areparticipating in the elections areAccord, Action Alliance, AllNigeria Peoples Party, Action

Congress of Nigeria, LabourParty, Peoples Democratic Party,Congress for ProgressiveChange, Social DemocraticMega Party, All ProgressiveGrand Alliance, United PeoplesParty, Progressive PeoplesAlliance, National ConscienceParty and the Citizens PopularParty.

We're dealing with corruption in highplaces — Offor

project was not going anywheredespite the fact that we had paidfor it, so a committee was set upto find out why? His name isJPROS, a Lebanese. So when hewas brought and asked why haveyou not done the job, he said‘don’t be upset, half of the moneyyou paid me, I have given it tothe deputy governor of Imo State.He also promised to give memore contract.'

So, the deputy governor wasbrought and the allegation wasput before him, but he deniedand in that case, what do you do,but to get an independent bodywhich is the house which has theconstitutional duty of oversightto investigate. He was asked, has

this man come to your housebefore, he said, no, the man hasnever come before and he saidthis when he was interviewedseparately on oath. But the manwhen he was also interviewedseparately said he has been tohis house and that this is howhis house looks like. When theywere brought together to confronteach other, then the deputygovernor said ‘o yes, he came tomy house, he gave me whiskey.’

And the man also brought aphone number through whichthe instructions on payment orwhatever. The man challengedthe deputy governor to go get hisMTN log and he is still there.But they are now diverting 2015,that Governor Okorocha does notlike me.

Continues from page 44

LEADERS of political parties driving the All Progressives

Congress (APC) are not willingto leave their acronym foranybody. They are boasting thatneither the ruling PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP nor theIndependent National ElectoralCommission (INEC) could stopthem from using the acronym‘APC’.

This is against the backdrop ofINEC’s confirmation of receivingan application from a politicalassociation, African People’sCongress, APC, for registrationas a political party to contest the2015 general elections. The AllProgressives Congress is yet toapply to the electoral umpire forregistration.

Chief Press Secretary to theChairman of the INEC, Mr.Kayode Idowu said in atelephone interview withVanguard that the commissionreceived the African People’sCongress application last weekand that the process of registeringit would follow laid down rules.

Process of partyregistration

Idowu said, “Yes, it is true thata group applied for theregistration of the AfricanPeople’s Congress last week.This does not mean it has beenregistered because the lawstipulates the process of partyregistration, which the mustcomply with. The APC group thathas applied for registration isdifferent from the APC group thathas not yet applied.”

Promoters of African PeoplesCongress had in a letter datedFebruary 28 and signed by BarrNwokorie Samuel Chinedu ofLegal World Chambers, Abujaapplied to the INEC “forapproval to register ‘AfricanPeoples Congress’ as a politicalparty in Nigeria, having carriedout a search on the proposedname to the effect that no otherpolitical party registered inNigeria bears same.”

Leaders of the Action Congressof Nigeria (ACN), Congress forProgressive Change (CPC) andAll Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)have accused the ruling PDP ofpropping up the African People’sCongress, to scuttle theirmerger.

We’ve nothing to do with PDP– African Peoples Congress

Responding to this allegation,Barr Chinedu said on phone thatthere was no financial or politicalattachment between PDP andAfrican Peoples Congress.

Merger: PDP, INEC can’t stop us — CPC, ANPP, Oshiomhole

,

,

•We’ve nothing to do with PDP•We’ve nothing to do with PDP•We’ve nothing to do with PDP•We’ve nothing to do with PDP•We’ve nothing to do with PDP — African Peoples CongressBY SONI DANIEL, CLIF-

FORD NDUJIHE, BENAGANDE, HENRY UMORU,

JOHNBOSCO AGBAKWURU,GABRIEL EWEPU & ALICE

FESTUS

Asked if PDP was funding theassociation, he said: “No, thereis nothing like that.” On whenthe political association wasformed, he said “it was formedlong ago.” Asked how long, heresponded, “I can’t remember, Iam not interested in things likethat.”

No force can stop us fromusing ‘APC’: The INECclarification triggered furorewithin the political parties withthe opposition parties castigatingINEC for trying to work with theruling PDP to still its registrationmidstream. The CPC and ANPPhowever warned that no forceunder the sun could stop theemergence of the AllProgressives Congress with EdoState Governor, AdamsOshiomhole, spitting that INECcould ill-afford not to register themerger APC.

A member of the Joint MergerCommittee and National DeputySecretary of CPC, Chief OkoiObono-Obla and the Secretary ofthe ANPP who is also a memberof the merger committee madethe claim at different fora inAbuja. Obono-Obla toldVanguard that the confusionbrought about in the name of themega party, ‘APC’ and thealleged registration of AfricanPeoples Congress, APC by theINEC to frustrate the mergerarrangement was the handiworkof the PDP and INEC.

He said: “It is all part of theintrigues; the PDP and INEC areapprehensive. Already, Gen.Mohammadu Buhari had saidthat there is no differencebetween PDP and INEC, so thatis the pressure we are seeing.They are filled with anxiety as

Secretary of the Action Congressof Nigeria, ACN, Alhaji LaiMohammed yesterday lambastedINEC for trying to work with thenew APC, which he described as“phantom” to stall theregistration of the mergedparties.

In like manner, Oshiomholesaid merger by political partieswas a right that could not.

”I know that it is the right ofpolitical parties to merge. Wehave merged to form APC, AllProgressive Congress; so, ifpeople choose to trivialise it, it isup to them. I know that INECwill register APC because if theydon’t they leave themselvesopen to accusation.

”Everybody knows that this hasbeen on the national discourseover the period; it is not a newissue. And if people want to playthese cheap games, first it showsthat they are panicking and Idon’t see any reason why peopleshould be panicking.

”In a genuine democracy, it isin our interest, those in powerand those out of power, to createviable alternative platform forpeople to make an informedchoice. No party is too good torule forever, nor is any party toobad to be out of power forever.We have seen what ishappening around the Africancontinent. Nigeria must live byexample in many respect,” hesaid.

Nigeria must not be entrustedin the hands of APC

Countering, the PDP warnedNigerians not to entrust the socio-political economic life of thecountry to the APC.

PDP National PublicitySecretary, Chief Olisa Metuh,said in a statement that the nationwould be doomed if the electoratehand APC power.

According to Metuh, theinability of the leaders of APC todully reserve or register theproposed name of their partybefore embarking on bleepingjamboree and propaganda wasthe hallmark of political naivety,planlessness and a forebodingthat the party would driveNigeria to socio-political andeconomic brink should it beentrusted with power.

He said that the reality onground had shown that theleaders of the APC were all thewhile grandstanding; writingfootnotes and glossary evenwhen the first chapter of theirhistory was yet to be successfully

*Buhari:

APC has come to stay, and no Jupiter canstop us from using that name; and we aregoing to use that name, INEC cannot stopus because our party APC was datedFebruary 6 and this other one written by alawyer is on February 25

they have seen that thesemerged parties will have alandslide victory in 2015.

“We are registered politicalparties, whereby we cannot beplaced on the same level as apolitical association. OnFebruary 5, it was announced thatmerged parties have formed AllProgressives’ Congress, APC,and by law it is to notify INECthat these parties have formed aparty.

“The process of registrationbetween a political associationand merging political parties isdifferent. A letter written by a lawfirm is not the process. They canonly stop us by giving a name ifthe process is proper; a processcontemplated by the Electoral Actand the Constitution.

Politicalassociation

”It is required that a politicalassociation is to submit name,symbol, logo, manifesto,constitution, national and stateheadquarters addresses, and soon before it is registered, but thispolitical association has not donethat, so INEC cannot say theyhave applied to be registered.

"So we are not worried. APC hascome to stay, and no Jupiter canstop us from using that name;and we are going to use thatname. INEC cannot stop usbecause our party APC wasdated February 6 and this otherone written by a lawyer is onFebruary 25.

“The three major politicalopposition parties merging havegiven notice to INEC that thatname be reserved for APC solely,whose letters were signed by their

party’s National Chairmen andSecretaries.

INEC was served the letter lastweek Friday and it was receivedand acknowledged, and we haveit. “Although, officially, INEC hasnot replied to us, as I said, theprocess of registering the otherparty is defective by law, let themcome out with evidence that theso-called APC has complied withwhat is required by law,”ObonoObla stated.

In his reaction, the ANPPstated that nobody could stop themerger of the opposition parties.

Speaking with Vanguard,Secretary, ANPP NationalRebuilding and Inter-partyContact Committee, Dr GeorgeMoghalu said “the allegedregistration of another APC bythe Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, to me is still a rumour.

INEC'sElectoral Act

We have notified INEC ofregistering the All Progressives’Congress, APC, and we are inthe process, which is importantto follow according to INEC’sElectoral Act.

“We do not want to do thingshaphazardly, so we have officiallyinformed INEC, and there is noneed to panic, if not let INECcome out to tell us that we cannotbe registered for so and so reasonthen we will respond,” Moghalusaid.

The National Publicity

written. “Nigerians are hereconfronted with an irony! It is anirony of a political party whowithout adequate planning,without a solid working rhythm,yet wishes to be entrusted to itseffete, shaky shoulders, the fateof over 160 million Nigerians.”

Also Chairman of PDPGovernors’ Forum, GodswillAkpabio has dismissed as blatantlie claims by former Governor ofZamfara State and APCchieftain, Senator Sani AhmedYerima that some PDP governorshad concluded plans to join theAPC.

Akpabio who spoke at the endthe forum’s meeting in Abuja onMonday night said, thestatement “is not true and it isfalse in its entirety”.

He said that, rather than dumpthe PDP for the APC, thegovernors from the ruling partywere working round the clockand “determined to bring moregovernors into the PDP fold”.


VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIED

B I S I R I Y U — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissRebecca AdeolaBisiriyu, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Rebecca AdeolaOdiase. All formerdocuments remainvalid. General publicplease take note.

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48—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15 , 2013

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VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardCLASSIFIED

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VANGUARD'S LAGOS OFFICE

L-r: National Convener, United Action for Democracy, MrJaiye Gaskia; National Coordinator, Civil SocietyLegislative Advocacy, Mr. Anwwa Musa Rafsanjani; andNational Secretary, Zero Corruption Coalition, Mr.Babatunde Oluajo addressing newsmen on the pardonfor DSP Alamieyeseigha in Abuja. Photo: GbemigaOlamikan

L-r: Dr Jumoke Odunsi, Managing Director, WellcareHome Medicals Limited; Mr Akinmade Akinrolabu,General Manager, Business Development, WellcareHome Medicals Limited; Mrs Tosin Adewale, GeneralManagerAdmin/Operation, Wellcare Medicals Limited,at a news briefing on Wellcare's home support services tothe old and frail in Lagos. Photo: Kehinde Gbadamosi

L-r: Mr Bunmi Oni, member, CIPM; Mr Abiola Popoola,President/Chairman of Council; Dr. Michael Omolayole,pioneer president; and Mrs Adepeju Okikiolarepresenting Alhaji Bello Sali, Head of Service of theFederation during the groundbreaking ceremony ofChartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeriain Lagos. Photo: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor

L-r: Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu receiving the newOGAS Lantern recently introduced by Oando Marketingfrom the duo of Kehinde Babarinsa, LPG DevelopmentManager and Bamidele Omolehinwa, LPG MarketingOfficer, Oando Marketing PLC during a courtesy call tothe Oba of Lagos Palace.

L-r: Dr. Sam Obamiyi, Dentist & Secretary General ofNigerian Dental Association, NDA; Ms Bakry Temitayo,dental nurse, KOTS Dental Clinic; Mr. Dexter Adeola,Brand Manager , Close-Up; Ms Sulaimon Omobola,dental nurse; and Dr. Ogundana Ayodele Charles, dentist,KOTs Dental Clinic, Surulere, during the Close Up FreeDental check activation in Surulere


50 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MARCH 15 , 2013

Iraq war costs U.S over $2tn, study

THE U.S. war in Iraqhas cost $1.7 trillion

with an additional $490billion in benefits owed towar veterans, expensesthat could grow to morethan $6 trillion over thenext four decadescounting interest, a studyreleased yesterday said.

The war has killed atleast 134,000 Iraqi civiliansand may have contributedto the deaths of as manyas four times that number,according to the Costs ofWar Project by the WatsonInstitute for International

Studies at BrownUniversity.

When security forces,insurgents, journalists andhumanitarian workerswere included, the war’sdeath toll rose to anestimated 176,000 to189,000, the study said.

The report, the work ofabout 30 academics andexperts, was published inadvance of the 10thanniversary of the U.S.-ledinvasion of Iraq on March19, 2003.

It was also an update ofa 2011 report the Watson

Institute produced aheadof the 10th anniversary ofthe September 11 attacksthat assessed the cost indollars and lives from theresulting wars inAfghanistan, Pakistan andIraq.

The 2011 study said thecombined cost of the warswas at least $3.7 trillion,based on actualexpenditures from theU.S. Treasury and futurecommitments, such as themedical and disabilityclaims of U.S. warveterans.

Odinga files petition over polls result

•Raila Odinga

D E F E A T E Dp r e s i d e n t i a l

contender Raila Odingawill today file a petitionchallenging the result ofKenya’s election, allegingcollusion between thepresident-elect and theelectoral commission, hisallies said yesterday.

Odinga, the primeminister, has refused toconcede the vote whichsaw Uhuru Kenyatta, whofaces international chargesfor crimes againsthumanity, declared thewinner in a tightly foughtelection on March 4.

But there has been norepeat of deadly tribalviolence that shatteredKenya after a disputed2007 election result.Odinga has urged backersto stay calm while he

challenges the latestoutcome in the top courtand says he will accept itsdecision.

Odinga’s petition willprove that theIndependent Electoral andBoundaries Commission(IEBC) and Kenyatta’sTNA party conspired to rigthe outcome, according toJames Orengo, a seniorofficial in Odinga’s CORDcoalition.

“We are going to allegefraud. There was collusionbetween the IEBC andTNA. They entered intosome sort of fraudulententerprise and we aregoing to be able to showthat,” Orengo, Kenya’soutgoing lands minister,told Reuters.

UK halts press regulation talks

THE British PrimeMinister, David

Cameron has called ahalt to cross-party talkson press regulation,sparking anger fromparty leaders andvictims of mediaintrusion.

Mr Cameron said hewould publish plans fora royal charter toestablish a tougherpress regulator and willask Parliament to voteon it on Monday.

With this development,both Labour and the LibDems said they weredisappointed andsurprised.

The two parties hadbacked statutoryunderpinning asrecommended by the

Leveson inquiry into thepress.

Nigeria/China trade exceedsN1.6 tn — Envoy

BY VICTORIA OJEME

CHINESE envoy onyesterday said

Trade volume betweenNigeria and Chinaexceeded 10 billiondollars ( about N1.6trillion) in the last twoyears. Mr Ji Peiding, theChairman, RetiredDiplomats Association ofChina said this when he leda Chinese delegation toNigeria on a working visitto the Minister of Foreign

Affairs, Mr OlugbengaA s h i r u . Ji, who is also the formerVice Minister of ForeignAffairs in China, said thatthe delegation’s visit toNigeria would help exploreways in which bothcountries could enhancetrade relations.He said “In the last twoyears, the trade figuresbetween China and Nigeriahas exceeded 10 billiondollars; there is greatpossibility this figure will befurther increased. “This is because we havethe will to cooperate furtherand we have greatpotentials; that is why I’mencouraging more Chineseentrepreneurs to come toNigeria. “We are ready andinterested to partner ininfrastructure, tourism, realestate and also mining,” hesaid. The Chinese envoy saidthat sensitization of Chineseentrepreneurs was ongoingin ensuring that businesspractices were mutual.

France backs EU arms embargoon Syria

FRENCH PresidentFrancois Hollande has

said he hopes theEuropean Union armsembargo on Syria will belifted. “We are ready tosupport the rebels, so weare ready to go that far,” MrHollande told reporters.

Earlier, French ForeignMinister Laurent Fabiussaid France and the UK

would consider arminganti-government rebelseven if the ban were inplace. He said they wouldpress for EU talks on theembargo to be broughtforward, because of thesituation’s urgency.Speaking on France Inforadio, Mr Fabius said thetwo countries shared“identical views” overlifting the arms embargo.

LATELATELATELATELATETIPSTIPSTIPSTIPSTIPS

TREBLE CHANCE

PAIR25X33

AVOID19

RISKY39


CREDIT EXCELLENTBrighton 2 Sunderland 7Ipswich 2 Blackburn 7Leyton O. 2 Charlton 7Bury 3 Wolves 5Milton KD 3 Crewe 5Livingston 3 Yeovil 5Oxford 3 Accrington S. 5Bristol R. 3 Cheltenham 5

SOCCER TIPSSOCCER TIPSSOCCER TIPSSOCCER TIPSSOCCER TIPS

Revised PairsRevised PairsRevised PairsRevised PairsRevised Pairs

1X 2 X 13 X17

FOUR AWAYS3 X 5 X 11

X 20PERMUTATION7X 12 X 15X21 X 33 X34

TIPS36 X 37 X 41

7 x 12, 15 x 2133 x 37,41 x 49

7122133

1 Aston V.. v Q.P.R. 12 Chelsea v West Ham 13 Everton v Man City 24 Man Utd. v Reading 15 South'pton v Liverpool 26 Stoke v West Bro X27 Sunderland v Norwich XX8 Swansea v Arsenal X29 Tottenham v Fulham 1X10 Wigan v Newcastle X2

11 Barnsley v Watford 212 Blackburn v Burnley XX13 Blackpool v Peterboro 114 Brighton v Crystal P. 2X15 Charlton v Millwall XX16 Derby v Leicester 217 Hull v Nottm For. 118 Ipswich v Bolton 2X19 Middlesbro v Birmingham 120 Sheff Wed. v Cardiff 221 Wolves v Bristol C. XX

22 Brentford v Preston 123 Bury v Colchester 2X24 Coventry v Hartlepool 125 Crewe v Shrewsbur XX26 Doncaster v Portsmouth 127 Leyton O. v Carlisle 1X28 Milton KD v Tranmere X229 Notts Co. v Scunthorpe 230 Oldham v Bournemouth 231 Stevenage v Sheff Utd. 232 Walsall v Crawley 133 Yeovil v Swindon XX

34 Accrington S v Barnet XX35 Aldershot v AFC Wimbl'dn 136 Bristol R. v Rochdale XX37 Cheltenham v Rotherham XX38 Dagenham v Burton A 239 Exeter v Bradford C. 140 Morecambe v Gillingham 241 Oxford v Chesterfield XX42 Plymouth v Fleetwood 243 Southend v Torquay 144 Wycombe v North'pton. 245 York v Poirt Vale 2

46 Cowdenb'th v Airdrie 147 Dumbarton v Morton 248 Hamilton v Partick 249 Livingston v Falkirk XX

X-RAY OF THE DRAWS

FOUR HOMES

.

Sunderland v Norwich Blackburn v Burnley Charlton v Millwall Wolves v Bristol C

Yeovil v Swindon Accrington S v Barnet

Crewe v Shrewsbury

Bristol R. v Rochdale Cheltenham v Rotherham

Week 35Week 35Week 35Week 35Week 35

NPower Football League NPower Football League NPower Football League NPower Football League NPower Football LeagueTTTTTwwwwwooooo

NPower FootballNPower FootballNPower FootballNPower FootballNPower Football Championship Championship Championship Championship Championship

NNNNNPPPPPowerFootball LeagueowerFootball LeagueowerFootball LeagueowerFootball LeagueowerFootball LeagueOneOneOneOneOne

FFFFF.A.A.A.A.A. Bar. Bar. Bar. Bar. Barclaclaclaclaclays Premierys Premierys Premierys Premierys Premiershipshipshipshipship

Scottish LeagueScottish LeagueScottish LeagueScottish LeagueScottish LeagueDivisionOneDivisionOneDivisionOneDivisionOneDivisionOne

Manchester UnitedManchester UnitedManchester UnitedManchester UnitedManchester Unitedstunned by •80mstunned by •80mstunned by •80mstunned by •80mstunned by •80mBale asking priceBale asking priceBale asking priceBale asking priceBale asking price

DAVID Gill has approached Spurs chairman Daniel Levyabout a deal for the 23-year-old, with the north Londonoutfit hoping to tie the Welshman down to a new five-yearcontractManchester United have made an enquiry for Gareth Bale

but have been stunned by Tottenham’s €80 million askingprice.

United chief executive David Gill has approached Spurschairman Daniel Levy about a deal for Bale, only to be toldthe 23-year-old would command a near-world record fee ifthe Londoners were to sell him to a Premier League rival.

Tottenham are instead focussing on talks with Bale'sadvisors over a new five-year contract worth €175,000-a-week, which would shatter the club’s wage structure. TheWelshman has been rewarded for his rise to stardom withnew deals in each of the last three years.

Bale has told friends he is ready to reject a big summermove if Spurs clinch a place in the Champions League.

Bale has also attracted interest from Real Madrid,Manchester City and Bayern Munich with his stunningdisplays this season, having scored 21 goals for Spurs inall competitions.

He has previously expressed an interest in playing abroadand Real Madrid remain favourites to sign him - but theymight have to wait until 2014 at the earliest to land theirman.

Tottenham are increasingly confident of holding on toBale for at least one more season and that is reflected inthe price quoted to United, with bids below €60m likely to bedismissed out of hand.

Bale was a guest at United’s home defeat by Real Madridin the Champions League last 16 earlier this month, but hewill not push for a move away from White Hart Lane.

United’s interest in Bale again raises questions over thefuture of Wayne Rooney, who Sir Alex Ferguson insists

will stay at Old Trafford despite reports that thestriker could be sold this summer.

The Red Devils appear to be in the market for amarquee signing this summer and have beenexploring the possibility of re-signing CristianoRonaldo from Real Madrid.

Ronaldo was sold to the Spanish giants in 2009for a world record €93m fee but has so far re-fused to sign a new contract at the SantiagoBernabeu and has refused to rule out a return toOld Trafford.

Shittu leads MillwallShittu leads MillwallShittu leads MillwallShittu leads MillwallShittu leads Millwallintintintintinto Fo Fo Fo Fo FA Cup semi-finalA Cup semi-finalA Cup semi-finalA Cup semi-finalA Cup semi-finalNIGERIAN defender, Danny Shittu scored the

only goal of Wednesday’s FA Cup replay at EwoodPark to hand his Championship side a Wembleysemi-final place.

Millwall thus return to famous Wembley Sta-dium for the first time since 1999.

Shittu scored in the first half through a divingheader to cap a performance that deserved com-mendation in the two games.

In the first leg, Shittu’s 40-yard shot and an-other shot in the second half had been close buthe eventually made Blackburn pay with his goalon Wednesday.

Though there was a bit of a controversy on theevents that led to the goal but Shittu and Millwallwill believe they were the better of the two teamsover the two matches and made their luck.

Referee Mark Clattenburg awarded a cornerafter Millwall midfielder Chris Taylor shot intothe side net and replays showed that there hadbeen no deflection on the shot.


CMYK


To be concluded

THE harvest of this deliberate policy of militarizing the

campuses was bountiful. But thepolicy, it should be noted, predat-ed Babangida; it took form withthe military invasion of the Uni-versity of Lagos in 1978 to putdown a protest by the students ofan arbitrary increase in schoolfees imposed by the regime ofGeneral OlusegunObasanjo. Inthe process, a student activist, Ak-intunde Ojo, was shot dead. Sev-eral students were injured andmany more arrested. The presi-dent of the National Union ofNigerian Students, NUNS, Seg-un Okeowo, and several otherleaders, were expelled.

Lecturers, including the well-known mathematician, politicalanalyst and columnist, Dr. EdwinMadunagu, were dismissedwithout the slightest regard for

LEADERS OF TOMORROW:

versity autonomy and the sacredprinciple of academic freedom, abasic guarantee of meaningfulintellectual inquiry, have beenmore of a dream than a reality,something that ASUU has triedvaliantly but in vain over the yearsto recover.

From then on, it was only amatter of time before the cultureof violence brought to the cam-puses with the guns and tankspaid for by the people would sopercolate to every nook and cran-ny of university life, and trans-form the consciousness of the stu-dents (save those who remainedsteadfast, anchored to the localstudents’ unions and NANS), asto lead to the epoch of confrater-nities as vicious gangs and cults.

It was in the 1980s and 1990s,however, that the policy was im-plemented with the most sinisterintent, driven by the sole aim, itseems possible to say in retro-

In his position as visitor to allthe federal universities, Babangi-da set up visitation panels thatfunctioned as medieval inquisi-tions aimed at stamping out anywhimper of dissent. The Univer-sity of Benin where I was an un-dergraduate law student was adesignated testing ground, a lab-oratory of military annihilationof university autonomy, the heightof which was the summary dis-missal of Dr (now Professor) Fes-tus Iyayi, president of ASUU (iron-ically enough, in his case thecharge, in effect, was that hepracticed what he was paid toteach, though not for private profitas alleged); the late Dr Babs Ag-bonifo, who may have been moreguilty by association with hisfriend Iyayi than for his own“sins”; Professor Itse Sagay, oneof the most respected legal schol-ars the country has known anddean of the law faculty; and Pro-fessor Jackson Omene, a brilliantpaediatrician of the medical schooland the university’s teachinghospital.

In one of the rare instances ofvictory against the might of themilitary fully marshalled, the fourlecturers went to court and hadtheir dismissal quashed. Yet,when Iyayi returned to the class-

down the throat of the universitycommunity. The general suspi-cion was that the university hadcollaborated with the members ofa campus cult to silence him. Trueor not, one fact remains to giveweight to the suspicion: till date,the murderers of Obong are yetto be found, let alone charged.

I could give more examples in-volving intimidation and inflictionof bodily harm, citing the instanc-es of the late Chima Ubani, pres-ident in 1987/88 of the StudentsUnion of the University of Nige-ria, Nsukka; Emman Ezeazu, of

the same university and presidentof NANS; Omoyele Sowore, pres-ident in 1992 of the University ofLagos Students Union, andcountless expulsions and rustica-tions but you know the facts aswell as I do. I have not even both-ered to list the atrocities of thecults, whether committed duringinter-gang warfare or as violentrobbery or as outright robbery andrape of innocent citizens.

Bulletinboards

The pages of our newspapers -“‘bulletin boards’ for reporting thedaily exploits of members of se-cret cults,” as Rotimi puts it - arereplete with sordid and gory de-tails of such attacks, including twojust last month: see the report,“Citadel of Violence” in The In-sider Weekly of December 17,2012 involving gun fights be-tween and among members of theBrotherhood of the Blood (alsoknown as Two-Two or Black Be-rets), Vikings, Black Axe, Bucca-neer and Eiye, as well as the sto-ry “Cobbler Caught with Gun” inSaturday Punch of January 5,2013 in which the cobbler, oneNonso Eze, explains how hecame to be in possession of thegun, a tale in which he claims tohave been caught unknowinglyin a reprisal attack involvingBlack Axe and Eiye.

Iyayi his concealed gun. I got thisanecdote from Iyayi himself onlyfour days ago, but you may wishto hear the full details from him!

What about the students? Theydid not fare much better - in fact,worse. The structure that housesthe UNIBEN Students Union of-fices was originally named “June12 Building” but had to be re-named in homage to WilliamObong, its Secretary-General whowas shot in 1999 at the end of ameeting with the vice-chancellorduring which he had maintainedhis opposition to a policy the ad-ministration had tried to force

,

,I have not even bothered to list theatrocities of the cults, whether commit-ted during inter-gang warfare or as vio-lent robbery or as outright robbery andrape of innocent citizens

Persons ofcharacteror criminals? (3)

This is the third part of the paper delivered by Ifowodo atOleh, Delta State, under the auspices of the Solomon OgbaPeace Group in Collaboration with Flomat Books. The firstpart was published Wednesday last week

•On Confraternities as secret cults

By OGAGA IFOWODO

the rule of law, and many morekept under surveillance. TheVice-Chancellor of the Universi-ty, the renowned historian, Pro-fessor J. F. Ade Ajayi, was sum-marily relieved of his position.This dark moment in the historyof higher education in Nigeria iswhat is popularly known as theAli-Must-Go free education “ji-had,” named after Colonel Ah-madu Ali, Obasanjo’s FederalCommissioner for Education(yes, he of Garrison politics fameas chairman of the PDP duringObasanjo’s second coming ashead of state). Since then, uni-

spect, of transforming uni-versity campuses into ac-ademic barracks - or mili-versities, as one might callthem. Vice-chancellorswere handpicked and im-posed on universities bysuccessive military re-gimes against the laiddown laws guaranteeingthe autonomy and integ-rity of academic inquiry.Babangida, ever eager totrample where angelsdare not tread,wouldstretch the limits of the ri-diculous with the extraor-dinary step of appointing

a soldier, Major-General SaniKontagora, as acting vice-chan-cellor of the Ahmadu Bello Uni-versity! All appointees had oneoverriding mission: to ensure thatlecturers did not teach “what theyare not paid to teach,” a cleverruse for completing the work be-gun by Obasanjo of purging theclassrooms of any academic whodared to think independently; inother words, anyone who did notcower and grovel before the re-gime. Radicals and extremists,they were branded, and that be-came a one-way passport to dis-missal.

OGAGA IFOWODO

room, he was faced with a directthreat to his life. This was around1996 or 1997. He had gone oninvitation to the reading room ofone of the student hostels to speakto a group of students on a hotnational issue. On arrival, he wasapproached by a student - a sym-pathetic one, considering - whospoke kindly to him as follows:“Sir, I have great respect for you,but we have been told that thismeeting cannot take place. Wehave orders to shoot anyone whorefuses to leave.” And as hespoke, he lifted his shirt to show

Black Axe of Africa

Pyrates Confraternity

Prof. Soyinka...started Pyrates Confraternity for peaceful purposes

CMYK


Arsenal left my players with black eye — Bayern coachBAYERN Munich

coach JuppHeynckes said his teammust learn their lessonsfrom last night’s 2-0Champions Leaguedisappointment againstArsenal.

Heynckes believes histeam fell well short oftheir own expectationsand this must be a lessonif they are to challengefor the ChampionsLeague, reportsGoal.com.

“I must say my playersare leaving here with ablack eye,” said the 67-year-old.

“I think I knowEuropean football,having had 150 gamesas coach in EuropeanCups and I had warnedmy players.”

Bayern went into thegame having won 3-1 atthe Emirates in the first

CONTEST Bayern Munich's Thomas Mueller (top) and Arsenal´s SpanishMikel Arteta (bottom) vie for the ball during the Round of 16 second-legfootball match in Munich. Arsenal won 2-0. AFP PHOTO

leg last month, but goalsin the third and 86thminute almost saw oneof the most in-formteams in Europe exit atthe last-16 stage.

“Arsenal have quality,they came to uswounded from the firstleg. They were verymotivated, driven andthey got that earlygoal,”said Heynckes.

Olivier Giroud’s third-minute tap-in was theperfect start for Arsenalas they set out to scorethree goals, a dauntingchallenge in Munich. Heynckes had urged hisplayers to evade anearly strike.

“That was exactly whatwe needed to avoid. Togo into the lead in thethird minute makes it somuch easier for one teamand more difficult for theother,” Heynckes said

Ferdinand back inEngland squad

ENGLAND managerRoy Hodgson has

recalled Rio Ferdinandto the Three Lionssquad.

The ManchesterUnited defender is set tofeature under Hodgsonfor the first time.

Ferdinand returns tointernational footballafter injuries to PhilJagielka, Chris Smallingand Phil Jones.

Hodgson said: “I’vebeen following him forquite a while now andmust have seen Unitedplay for or five times inthe last five weeks."

Naniwants newMan Ucontract

NANI wants to starfor Manchester

United and bag a newcontract.

He said: “I want toshow the manager thathe can trust me and hecan believe in me inevery match.

“I want to show himmy contribution canhelp win games.

“So I’ll keep workinghard to make sure I’mready to respond everytime I get a chance.”

BOXER FloydMayweather is known

for his love of high-stakesgambling. But he didn’tlove having moneyriding on the infamousSeahawks-Packers “FailMary” game that led tothe end of the officials’lockout.

In an interview on JimRome on Showtime,Mayweather said hegambled $900,000 on thePackers to beat theSeahawks in that game,which Seattle won on aHail Mary on the lastplay — a play that mostobservers thoughtshould have been ruledboth offensive passinterference on theSeahawks and a game-clinching interceptionby the Packers, but thatthe replacement officialsruled a game-winning

Refs made me lose $900,000—Mayweather

touchdown catch bySeattle’s Golden Tate.

“That was 900 grand,”Mayweather said. “I wasupset.”

Euro 2020wil lak soul—Blatter

FIFA president SeppBlatter says Uefa’s

plans to stage the 2020E u r o p e a nChampionship atvenues across Europecould lead to a soullesstournament.

In January, Uefaannounced that 13cities, each in adifferent country, willhost the tournament,with one hosting bothsemi-finals and thefinal.

Wembley has bid tohold the final, withCardiff, Dublin andGlasgow all expected tobid to host groupmatches.

“Such a Euro lacksheart and soul,” Blattertold Germany’s Kickermagazine.

“A tournament shouldbe played in onecountry. That is how youcreate identity andeuphoria."

Pistorius girl’s parentsface eviction

THE parents of OscarPistorius’s slain

girlfriend ReevaSteenkamp are beingevicted from their home,a month after theirdaughter ’s death, thefamily said Thursday.

”They have beengiven notice on theirhome by the owners,”Reeva’s uncle MichaelSteenkamp told AFP.“They are going to bevacating that housesoon.”

Since their daughter

was shot dead atPistorius’s Pretoriahome on Valentine’sDay, Steenkamp’sparents have retreatedto their home in thesouthern coastal city ofPort Elizabeth.

Michael Steenkampsaid he was not sure ofthe reason for theireviction, but said theowner may want to sellthe modest home,located in a quietoutlying coastal suburb.

•Ferdinand

•Mayweather

Nani


SiasiaContinues from BP

in Nigeria.”“The team is in good

shape especially after webeat Libya last month inTunisia. We just need tomaintain the same mo-mentum and spirit. Wecan shock them,” he toldGoal.com.

He said though Niger-ia has always beaten Ken-ya in previous matches,there is a new positivespirit in the Kenyan campand beating the SuperEagles remains a majorpossibility.

“We are no longer theunderdogs we used to bewhen losing to Nigeria.We have matured with

EaglesContinues from BP

time and grown in confi-dence,” he observed.

Oliech praised the de-cision to appoint coachAdel Amrouche to coachHarambee Stars andpointed out that the play-ers are responding posi-tively to him.

He regretted the ab-sence of Parma midfield-er Macdonald Marigasaying this denies theteam great experience.Mariga is currently nurs-ing an injury and it is notclear when he will recov-er.

Oliech said he has set-tled down at new club ACAjaccio and is enjoyinghimself in the French topleague.

if offered the job by theNigeria FootballFederation (NFF). Theyhave not offered me thejob yet, but I am availableand ready to work,”Siasia toldMTNFootball.com

The formerinternational striker ledthe team to the final of the2008 Beijing Olympics,where they were beatenin the final by Argentina.

He also guided the

country’s team to thefinal of the 2005 FIFAU20 World Cup in theNetherlands.

He was fired as Nigeriacoach in October 2011after he failed to qualifythe Super Eagles to the2012 Africa Cup ofNations in South Africa.

He has since notworked as a coachdespite reports linkinghim with numerouscoaching openings.

NIGERIA coachStephen Keshi has

defended some of hisfresh call-ups, sayingthey are good and onlyneed to be encouraged toshine.

Michael Babatundefrom Ukrainian club Kry-vbas and John Ogu ofAcademica de Coimbrawere surprise call-ups byKeshi for next week’sWorld Cup qualifier athome against Kenya.

“I have watchedMichael Babatunde play;he is going to be a fan-tastic player and so tooJohn Ogu and we have alot of them outside there,young ones that are hun-gry to play for this coun-try that you guys need tohelp build,” he said.

“You guys need to givethem courage and confi-dence that they can do it.We can’t keep relying onolder players every dayand we say we want tomove forward; let us havepeople that will take overwhen this group leaves.

“Every player in thatsquad is good so we needto prepare ourselves in away that we can be betterin the game on March 23.The most important thingis for my team to under-stand and know theirrole, task or functionprobably we will begood.” ·

Keshi defends new call-ups

AFTER days of soccerbattle, seven schools

have qualified for thequarterfinal of the on-going Delta StateGovernor’s Cup Soccerchampionship. The zonalelimination began in

Quarter finalists emergein Delta Governor’s Cup

FLYING Eaglescoach John Obuh

has said as defendingchampions, the FlyingEagles will not underrateany team at the 2013African YouthChampionship inAlgeria.

Obuh made thisdeclaration on Thursdaymorning when the FlyingEagles touched down atthe Ahmed Ben Bellainternational Airport inOran.

“All the teams whoqualified to feature in thiscompetition must be goodto reach this stage and sowe will not underrate anyof them,” said Obuh, wholed Nigeria to a sixth AYCconquest two years ago inSouth Africa.

“What’s most important

AYC: We won’t underrateany team — Obuh

for us now would be ouropening match onSunday against Mali. Youhave a great advantage ifyou win your first matchand that is what we wishto do,” the sweatmerchant added.

The Nigeria U20s arebooked into the three-starEden Airport Hotel,which is a walk away fromthe airport

THE Confederationof African football

has appointed officialsthat will handle theirmatches for this weekend’s CAF Championsleague and CAFConfederation Cupmatches.

Also, NFF Consultanton refereeing matters andFIFA Advisor on refereesMr Linus Mba has beenappointed as MatchCommissioner for thereturn leg of theConfederation CupMatch between USBougouni of Mali andRecreativo Da Caala ofAngola, coming up inMali on April 7.

Caf appoints officials for Nigerianclubs, as Mba goes to Mali

Asaba, Agbor, Kwale,Oghara, Sapele, Okpara,Ughelli and Warri lastMonday and ended onWednesday.

C o m p r e h e n s i v esecondary school,Ogwashi-Uku, finishedtop at Agbor zone afterwinning all two matches.The school defeatedUgbolu Secondary School11-1 in their first gamebefore handing a 1-0defeat to Niger Mixedsecondary school of Asabaon Match Day 2.

In the game againstNiger Mixed secondaryschool, Anene Ugo scoredthe only goal in the sixthminute to give his side theday. His left strike from thecentre of the field was toomuch for Niger Mixedschool goalkeeper.

Ugo and midfielder,Felix Oseme, won theheart of all spectatorspresent at the venue withtheir accurate passes andstyle of play.Kano Pillars who in A.C

Leopards have by far thetoughest of all opponentshave been handedMorrocan Refeerees anda Match CommissionerFred Crentsil of Ghana.

The referees, RedouaneJihed, Rouari Bouazzi, ElMeheaji Adbelazziz, andTiazi Hicham areexpected in Lagos viaRoyal Air Maroc Airline.

It will be recalled thatA.C Leopards are currentConfederation Cupchampions. In the returnleg, Pillars will havereferees from CoteDivoire, with aCamerounian MatchCommissioner.

The nation’s otherentrant RangersInternational are away toVitalo club with Lesothoofficials and a CentralAfrican MatchCommissioner. In thereturn leg in two weekstime Algerian referees ledby Haimoudi Djamel willofficiate with AndyQuamie of Liberia asMatch Commissioner.

In the CAF ConfederationCup, Heartland will hostU.S Bitam of Gabon withreferees from Liberia whilethe popular and formerchairman of the GhanaianFootball Association AlhajiJawula is the matchCommissioner.

CELTIC defenderEfe Ambrose will

miss Nigeria World Cupqualifier against Kenyanext weekend because ofaccumulated bookings.

Coach Stephen Keshihad called up Ambrose,who played as a make-shift right back during lastmonth’s Africa Cup ofNations in South Africa.

However, an officialstatement from theNigeria footballFederation (NFF) onThursday said Ambrosewill miss the match inCalabar after he got a

Efe Ambrose banned for World Cup clash

•Efe Ambrose

yellow card againstNamibia in a World Cuptie in June last year andwas also yellow cardedaway to Malawi inBlantyre in the samecompetition.

New Enugu Rangerssigning ChibuzorOkonkwo is thusexpected to stake astronger claim for theproblematic right backposition in the absence ofthe suspended Ambrose.

Meanwhile, officialsconfirmed that CrossRiver State Governor,Liyel Imoke, will bepresented with the

AFCON trophy at hisoffice on the evening ofThursday, March 21.

•Keshi

•Siasia

•Obuh

Printed and Published by VANGUARD MEDIA LIMITED, Vanguard Avenue, Kirikiri Canal, P.M.B.1007, Apapa. Phone: Newsroom: 018773962. Deputy Editor: 01-8944295. Advert Dept: 01-7924470;Hotline: 01-8737028; Abuja: 09-2341102, 09-2342704. E-mail: [email protected], [email protected], [email protected]. Advert:[email protected]

Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

e-mail: [email protected] to Play Sudoku THE VIGILANTE

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

VANGUARD, FRIDAY, MARCH 15, 2013

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Sudoku

•YoboContinues on Page 55

ACROSS1 Lash (4)4 Vessel (3)6 Lichen (4)9 Skill (3)10 Ratified (8)11 Yank (4)14 Taxi (3)16 Moan (5)19 Praiseworthy (8)21 Board (5)23 Wrapper (8)24 Dreary (5)27 Relations (3)31 Bay (4)33 Tested (8)34 Title (3)35 Warmth (4)36 Pasty (3)37 Gloomy (4)

DOWN2 Suspend (4)3 Indigent (4)4 Unsteady (8)5 Naked (4)6 Principal (5)7 Mineral (3)8 Belt (5)12 Mount (5)13 Lead (5)14 Headgear (3)15 Void (5)17 Fool (5)18 Senior (5)20 Contemplate (8)22 Knowledge (3)25 Free (5)26 Avoid (5)28 Pile (4)29 Peel (4)30 Strip (4)32 Through (3)

ACROSS: 1, Accord 5, Oppose 8,Ornament 9, Roam 10, Cos 12, Blind 15,Spa 17, Tor 18, Rot 19, Axe 20, Endue 21,Ado 22, Era 23, Arm 24, Par 26, Maxim29, Pry 33, Stab 34, Argument 35, Screen36, Esteem.

DOWN: 2, Cargo 3, Oval 4, Dwell 5, Often6, Port 7, Scamp 10, Clasp 11, Steer 12,Bream 13, Index 14, Dream 15, Stamp 16,Agony 25, Attic 27, Again 28, Ingle 30,Range 31, Able 32, Emit.

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HARAMBEE Starscaptain Dennis

Oliech is confident theteam can cause an upsetwhen they face Africa’schampions Nigeria in aWorld Cup qualifier onMarch 23 in Calabar.

Oliech, who arrived inthe Kenya on Tuesday,has insisted that Nigeriawill be under pressureand with proper prepara-tions, the Stars can dimtheir opponents away.

“The pressure will be onNigeria especially havingwon the Africa Cup ofNations trophy. We willgo into the match as un-derdogs. Everybody willbe looking at how Niger-ia will perform, this be-ing their first competitivematch after 2013 Afcon fi-nal.

“All we need to do is toprepare well and there isevery possibility that wecan get a positive result

Kenya captain: We’ll shockEagles in Calabar

THE Super Eagles ofNigeria remained

static in the latest FIFArankings publishedyesterday in Zurich,Switzerland.

The African championsremained the 30 bestnational football in theworld but fourth in Africabehind Cote d’Ivoire,Ghana and Mali.

Although the Elephantsof Cote d’Ivoire who wereeliminated in the quarterfinal stage of the lastAfrica Cup of Nations inSouth Africa lost oneplace, the Didier Drogba-led team remains Africa’shighest ranked team 13thin the world from theirprevious 12th position.

The Black Stars ofGhana also slipped oneplace down from 19 to20th in the world butremain Africa’s secondbest national team.

AFCON semi-finalists,Mali are placed third inAfrica but gained onestep to the 24th as againstthe previous 25.

FIFA rankings:Eagles remain static

Spain remains thenumber one football teamin the world whileGermany, Argentina,England and Italycomplete the top fiveteams.

FORMER Nigeriacoach Samson

Siasia has said he will bewilling to tinker thecountry’s Olympic team

Siasia: I will take U-23 jobagain.

Siasia said he has yetto be contacted to take uphis former post, but hetold MTNFootball.com he

would be willing to do thejob again.

“I am available for thejob to tutor the U23 team

African Top 10

Cote d’IvoireGhanaMaliNigeriaAlgeriaZambiaTunisiaBurkina FasoCentral AfricanRepublicCape Verde Islands

New Pope loves football!THE new Pope has

arrived, and heloves football!

Jorge Mario Bergogliowas elected as the Cath-olic Church’s new pontiffo Wednesday, becomingFrancis I.

And it turns out the Ar-gentinian clergy man isa massive fan of SanLorenzo, the team whotried to sign wantawayNewcastle defender Fab-ricio Coloccini in January.

The 76-year-old evenhad his own San Loren-

zo ID card in 2008 as pub-lished by The Sun of Lon-don.

Francis I is the firstever Pope to hail from theAmericas.

San Lorenzo are havingan average season in Pri-mera A, currently sittingin 11th place.

Perhaps they hopedsigning big-name Coloc-cini would papal over thecracks!

HAND OF GOD ... new Pope holding up a San Lorenzo flag in March,2011. Photo: The Sun of London.

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