48 killed in Kaduna,Zaria church attacks

...towards a better life for the people

VOL. 25: NO. 61646 MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012

**

Mr & Mrs

N150

•Christian youths take to streets in reprisals, kill three•Jonathan, Mark, Tambuwal condemn attacks, call for calm

•Kaduna State govt imposes 24-hr curfew

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48 killed in Kaduna,Zaria church attacks

We boughtperformingloans frombanks tosave themfromcollapsing— AMCON

•P. 17

CHURCH ATTACK—A victim of the Kaduna explosion. Top right: The Shalom Church Trikaniya, Kaduna after the bomb attack yesterday. Belowright: Billows of smoke from explosions at the Christ the King Catholic Cathedral Zaria. Photos: Olu Ajayi/AFP. More pictures on Page 8.

One dead,50 vehicles burntas ex-militants,cultists clash atIgbinedion Varsity

BY LUKA BINNIYAT,HENRY UMORU &

EMMANOVUAKPORIE

KADUNA — FORthe second Sunday

running, blood flowedagain yesterday as 48persons were killed inthree separate coordinat-ed bomb attacks on

Ogoni residents flay FG over delay inUNEP report implementation•Pg.11

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•Pg.5

2— Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012

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Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012—3

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POCKET CARTOON

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012 — 5

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

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48 killed in Kaduna, Zaria churchattacks

THE VICTIMS:

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churches in Kaduna,Zaria and retaliatory at-tacks.

Meanwhile, a 24-hourcurfew had been im-posed in the state to pre-vent further attacks andretaliatory attacks. Pres-ident Goodluck Jonathanin his response, ex-pressed sadness overthe attacks.

Senate President, Dav-id Mark and House ofRepresentatives Speak-er, Mr Aminu Tambuw-al, have condemned theattacks and called forcalm.

Acting Inspector Gen-eral of Police, Moham-med Abubakar, said thatonly 16 persons werekilled in the attacks. Van-guard gathered that thefirst attack was at a Chil-dren Sunday School atECWA Church, Wusasa,Zaria, which left thesunday school teacher,and 10 children dead.Four children playingoutside the church wereamong the first victims ofthe blasts at the church.

A witness said that fivemen ran up to the churchand hurled home-madebombs through its opendoor. They were alleged-ly chased down and re-portedly beaten to death.Police could not confirmthis.

At Christ the KingCatholic Cathedral,Zaria, also attacked by asuicide bomber, 11 wor-shipers were killed, nar-rated a member of thechurch, who escapedthrough the window.Malachy Achu, a dentist,a member of the church,said those injured in theblast could not be lessthan 40.

In Kaduna, ShalomChurch International,Trikania, Kaduna was hitby another suicide bomb-er, leaving about fiveworshippers dead andscores injured.

Among the dead at thechurch in Kaduna werethree persons securingthe Church’s gate, whiletwo others were killedwhen the suicide bomb-er crashed his carthrough the gate of thechurch. A soldier wasamong the casualty.

Three killed inreprisal attacks

The attacks which tookplace at 9am, provokedChristian youths in Ka-duna and its environs.

Mosques and proper-ty belonging to Hausa/Fulani Muslims weretorched and reports saidthree Muslims werekilled in the retaliatoryattacks.

The state Police Com-missioner, Mr Moham-med Jinjiri, when con-tacted, said: “Sorry, Icannot say anything toyou now. We are stillcounting the casualties.I will speak to you later.Please bear with me. Weare still going round, try-ing to bring things un-der control.”

In the Christian domi-nated Sabo area, thickdark smoke filled the airfrom goods believed tobelong to Muslimswhich were either de-stroyed or vandalised.

No fewer than 500Muslim traders in Sabomarket trapped in theviolence ran to a nearbyarmy post for refuge.Some managed to movetheir herd of about 50cows to safety at thearmy post.

An Air Force helicop-ter hovered over Kadu-na, as police and militarypatrol vans sped throughmajor streets of the town,warning trouble makersto stay off the streets.

Public Relations Offic-er of St. Gerald CatholicHospital, Kaduna, Mr.Sunday Ali, who spoketo Vanguard on phonesaid on the casualties:“From what we havehere, 22 corpses hadbeen deposited. We arepresently treating 71people with variouskinds of injuries. Andmore are being broughtin. I don’t know if thedead or wounded arefrom the bombed churchor from reprisal attacks.Our work here is to treatthem. I will not be sur-prised if more victimsare brought in later."Time was 7.45pm.

A source at the 44 ArmyReferral Hospital, Kadu-na, said no casualty hadbeen brought to the hos-pital.

Reports from Zaria re-mained sketchy on thesituation after the blast,but it was gathered thatmost of the injured weretaken to Shika, Ahmadu

Bello University, ABUTeaching Hospital, andSt Luke Hospital,Wusasa, Zaria.

At press time, normal-cy was being restored tothe blasts areas after a24-hour curfew was de-clared by state governorPatrick Yakowa.

Senior Special Adviserto the Governor on Me-dia, Mr. Reuben Buhari,in a statement said:“Governor Yakowa con-demns in its entirety theunfortunate bombing ofthree churches inWusasa in Zaria LocalGovernment Area, Sab-on Gari Local Govern-ment Area and Trikania,Chikun Local Govern-ment Area, KadunaState.

“While regretting theunfortunate incident, Iconvey my deepest con-dolence and sympathy toall those affected in thebombing. In view of theincidents and the needto have complete nor-malcy and to forestallfurther break down oflaw and order, the stategovernment has im-posed a 24-hour curfewon the whole state.

“The curfew hours startwith immediate effectuntil further notice. Gov-ernment regrets the in-conveniences this dras-tic measure will causeall and sundry. But thestate government con-siders this to be neces-sary in order to avert fur-

ther loss of lives andproperty in the state. Thestate government haddirected the securityagencies to enforce com-pliance,” he said.

Jonathanexpressessadness overZaria, Kadunablasts

Meanwhile, PresidentJonathan has expressedsadness over the multi-ple explosions thatrocked churches in Ka-duna and Zaria.

Jonathan expressed hissadness in Abuja at aspecial service to com-memorate the 2012 Fa-thers' Day.

When called upon togive his remarks, the vis-ibly sad Jonathan saidhe received the news ofthe blasts in the courseof the service and was

really sad about the de-velopment.

“Particularly today(yesterday), I was quitethrilled about what wasgoing on in the churchand when I got the in-formation that while wewere here, there wereexplosions in Kadunaand since I don’t evenknow the casualty rateand what is happening;I have been quite sadand I didn’t even wantto say something.

“But when the priestorders you, you must saysomething.”

He promised the Policewill do everything pos-sible to protect the inno-cent and bring the law-less to book.

He solicited the sup-port and prayers of ev-ery Nigerian for thepeace of the nation andfor the success of his ad

IGBINEDION UNIVERSITY:

One dead, 50 vehicles burntas ex-militants, cultists clash

Continues on Page 8

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

SIMON

EBEGBULEM &

GABRIEL

ENOGHOLASE

BENIN CITY —ONE person was

feared dead, while 15peolpe were injured andover 50 vehicles burntyesterday, during aclash between ex-militants, who wereregistered in theIgbinedion UniversityOkada, Edo State andsuspected cultists.

The burnt vehiclesbelonged to studentsand staff of theuniversity.

The tension in the uni-versity started penulti-mate week, when fourstudents in the Depart-ment of Medicine wereabducted. It was learntthat they were later re-leased after the familiespaid huge sums ofmoney.

However, there wasunconfirmed report oftwo headless bodiessighted at the scene ofthe incident, while theex-militants held theentire institutionhostage for severalhours after they lockedup the exit gates,making it impossible forthe detachment of

mobile policemen, thatwere deployed to theuniversity by Edo StatePolice Commissioner,Mr Olayinka Balogun,to gain access to thescene of the clash.

It would be recalledthat the universityauthorities had admitted208 ex-militants, underthe amnesty programmeof the FederalGovernment, intodifferent departments inthe university.

It was learnt that thecrisis started when somecultists in the universitystormed the room of oneof the ex-militants and

ACCORDING to Napoleon Hill: “Poverty andRiches often change places, when riches take

the place of poverty, the change is usually broughtabout through well-conceived and carefully execut-ed plans. Poverty needs no plan. It needs no one toaid it, because it is bold and ruthless. Riches areshy and timid, they have to be attracted.”

This underlies the essence of hard work and de-termination, stating that where there is a will thereis always a way.

Whatever you determine to pursue with all yourmight usually come through at the end and to himwho ventures abound many gains.

If you don’t like something, change it; if you can’tchange it, change the way you think about it

—Mary Engelbreit

THE power to choose your next thought is veryprofound but it is going beyond to living from

the heart that makes it an awesome experience forany individual.

When you think about it, this ability is within ourreach. The choice to feel beautiful, to express lov-ing thoughts and deeds and to exhale joy andlaughter in our lives.

Guy Finney, an excellent author, gave some use-ful advice on how to choose and keep good compa-ny. He says, when life places us in a situation wherea run-in with someone is inevitable - perhaps atwork, with a family member, in a store, etc. we canchoose to keep the company of good and true interi-or friends who can help us focus on uplifting issues.We should remember to keep away from negativepeople and their influence. We are free to keep thecompany of compassion instead of anger, generosi-ty instead of greed, patience instead anxiety. Loveinstead of envy, humility instead of vanity.

6—VANGUARD, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012

President Goodluck Jonathan (2nd right);First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan (right) being presenteda special gift by the Chaplain, Aso Villa Chapel, Rev. Obioma Owuzurumba (left); Executive Secretary,Christian Pilgrims Commission, Mr. John Kennedy and Chairman, Celebration Planning Committee,Mr Ndudi Elumelu (2nd left) during the special church service to mark the 2012 Fathers' Day at the AsoVilla Chapel, Abuja, yesterday. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

SEC’s Acting DGresumes today

By PETER EGWUATU

LAGOS — THE newlyappointed Acting Di-

rector General of the Se-curities and ExchangeCommission, SEC, Mr.Ibrahim Bello, willresume work today.

Minister of Finance, Dr.Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala,had last week said Bellowould take charge of af-fairs at the apex regula-tory body of the Nigeriancapital market just as thefour-year term of the cur-rent board of SEC led bySenator Udoma UdoUdoma expired last Fri-day.

She said: “There wouldbe no tenure elongation.The three commissionersand chairman would bedeparting on schedule.With Mr. President’s per-mission, one of the seniordirectors would be acting.Bello, the Director of Fi-nance and Administrationwill be starting on Mon-day. We look forward tothe inauguration of thenew board and we lookforward to the audit reportof the commission.”

Some stakeholders andoperators of the market

had hailed the decisionof the Federal Govern-ment for dissolving theBoard.

Speaking to Vanguard,Chairman of ProgressiveShareholders Associationof Nigeria, PSAN, Mr.Boniface Okezie, said:“We commend the FederalGovernment for wading into quell the internal crisisthat existed on the board.This is a lesson for themto ensure that a competentperson is appointed as di-rector general of the com-mission. We need peoplewith vast experience inthe market to occupy suchexalted position in future."

Vanguard gathered thatBello is a fellow of the Char-tered Institute of Stockbro-kers, CIS, and respectedamong operators in the Ni-gerian capital market. Un-til his appointment, he wasthe Director of Administra-tion in SEC.

He attended GovernmentSecondary School Ilorin,Federal Government Col-lege Sokoto and Universityof Lagos and graduatedwith B.Sc Business Admin-istration in 1978. He holdsan MBA from AhmaduBello University ABU Zariain 1981.

�CNPP gives EFCC two-week to commence trial

�Blames scandal on PDP, corporate Nigeria

Crisis in PDP over boardappointments�NWC members accused of cornering juicy positions

BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJA — COMPOSITION of members and

chairmen of board of federalparastatals is already caus-ing a rift at the WadataPlaza, National Secretariatof Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, where membersof the National WorkingCommittee, NWC are beingaccused of cornering somejuicy positions.

This crisis came barely aweek after the rift betweenthe National Chairman ofthe party, Alhaji BamangaTukur and the National Sec-retary, Prince OlagunsoyeOyinlola was "settled" withthe sack of the Chief of Staffto the National Chairman,Alhaji Habu Fari.

It was gathered that mem-bers of the party were ag-grieved that members of theNWC had concluded plansto distort the Presidency’sarrangement where someboard appointments allottedthe party are to be sharedamong members in the 36states and the FederalCapital Territory.

It was also gathered that

BY BY EMMANUELAZIKEN, EMMANOVUAKPORIE &CHRIS OCHAYI

ABUJA — TWO members of the House of

Representatives, MrAdeola Olamilekan and MrAdeyinka Ajayi, yesterday,justified the suspension ofthe former chairman of thead-hoc committee on fuelsubsidy monitoring regime,Mr Farouk Lawan.

Notwithstanding the$620,000 bribery scandalinvolving Lawan, Confer-ence of Nigerian PoliticalParties, CNPP, yesterday,gave Economic and Finan-cial Crime Commission,EFCC, a two-week ultima-tum to commence prosecu-tion of those indicted by theHouse of RepresentativesCommittee’s reports on fuelsubsidy regime.

Similarly, Action Con-gress of Nigeria, ACN, hasurged the presidency toemulate the House of Rep-resentatives in the urgency,courage and sense of pur-pose with which the legis-lative chamber had so farhandled the case of allegedbribery involving one of itsranking members.

Meantime, Mr EsemeEyiboh, Chairman of theHouse of RepresentativesCommittee on Donor Agen-cies and Civil Societies, hasfaulted criticism of theHouse resolution re-enlist-ing his company, ZenonPetroleum among the in-dicted firms by Mr. FemiOtedola.

“Mr. Otedola must knowthat his confession of inten-tion to procure the delistingof Zenon Oil & Gas Ltd

from the list of the ‘Termites’of our oil subsidy regimeand his subsequent act ofgiving $620,000 to effectsame had established an(actus rea & mens rea —Agreement of Act & Inten-tion) criminal cause of ac-tion.”

ACN hail RepsACN in a statement in

Lagos by its National Pub-licity Secretary, Alhaji LaiMohammed, said the de-cision of the House to sus-pend Lawan as the chair-man of the ad hoc commit-tee on fuel subsidy man-agement, while also stand-ing by the report of the com-mittee, sends a strong sig-nal that the House will notcondone corruption underany guise, and that it prac-tices what it preaches.

The party added thatthough it had not been con-clusively proven thatLawan indeed took thebribe as alleged, the Housewent ahead to suspendhim, unlike the Presidency,which had been shieldingall those indicted in themonumental fraud uncov-ered by the committee, atale of two nations in one.

Reps justifysuspension

Chairman, House Com-mittee on Public Accounts,Mr Olamilekan, who jus-tified the suspension ofLawan, said: “The positionof the House is clear. Therewas no favouritism in what-ever form. We collectivelytook the decision despitethe fact that investigationinto the matter was on-go-ing.

“It had not been proventhat our member took onekobo from anybody, yet wesuspended him from beingchairman of both commit-tees he heads.”

On Zenon Oil and Syn-opsis, Olamilekan said:“The leadership in its wis-dom re-listed Zenon Oiland Gas Co and SynopsisEnterprises that were ini-tially delisted from the re-port.”

On why the Housedownplayed the punish-ment on Lawan by merelysuspending him, he noted:“Nobody is a sacred cowbut I disagree that we gavehim a soft landing. Remem-ber that the House Resolu-tion had directed securityagencies and the Ethicsand Privileges Committeeto fully investigate the mat-ter. “

Ajayi, House CommitteeChairman on Loans andDebts Management, said:“We have so far taken theright step, considering thesensitivity of the issue athand and we cannot bejudgmental until a properinvestigation was carriedout.”

EFCC has concreteevidence —CNPP

National Publicity Secre-tary of CNPP, Mr. OsitaOkechukwu, in a state-ment, said the EFCC hadconcrete evidence to com-mence prosecution forth-with; otherwise the rumourmaking the round that ithad been compromised willbe confirmed.

CNPP warned that “in thelikely event of such sordidscenario of unholy alliance

between the alleged oilthieves and EFCC, CNPPwill have no option thanhead to court to obtain anorder of mandamus to forcethe EFCC Chairman, Mr.Ibrahim Lamorde, to per-form his statutory function.”

when the National Secre-tariat received a memo forboard appointment alloca-tion, Tukur had asked hisformer Principal Secretary,Habu Fari, to share the ap-pointments equitably, butproblem started whenOyinlola insisted that theduty of sharing the officeswas his responsibility as theChief Administrative andAccounting Officer of theparty and, therefore, force-fully seized the processfrom Habu Fari.

On learning of the devel-opment, Tukur was said tohave ordered Oyinlola toreturn the file to him, andthere were complaints of“short changing of mem-bers of the party in the shar-ing of the federal appoint-ments.”

Following the develop-ment, it was also gatheredthat other zones of the fed-eration were not happywith the sharing of the of-fices against the backdropthat the North-East was saidto have got an upper handin the allocation over otherzones.

According to a source, themove has angered some of

the members of the partyfrom the North Central andSouth-East who com-plained of poor allocation ofthe boards appointment, es-pecially with what was de-scribed as "inconsequentialboards given to South-East."

Also expressing his res-ervation over the sharingprocess, a member from theNorth Central, who spokewith journalists on condi-tion of anonymity, stressedthat there was no equity inthe sharing and distributionof the board appointments.

According to the source,"the NWC members havecornered the juicy boards aschairmen and members,while we were recom-mended for offices like theNational Theatre and othercultural affairs offices.

“We want to know themembership of such boardssuch as National AirspaceManagement Agency,NAMA, Federal RoadMaintenance Agency,FERMA, where the SpecialAdviser, Political to the Na-tional Chairman, AlhajiAhmed Gusau is part of.”

Reps justify suspension ofLawan

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8—Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012

48 killed in Kaduna,Zaria church attacks

ministration.

Bombing ofChurches: Threatto NationalUnity— Mark

Senate President, Dav-id Mark, yesterday, de-scribed the incessantbombings of churches asa threat to the unity ofNigeria. He pleaded withvictims of the attacks notto engage in reprisal at-tacks.

He called for measuresto put an end to the car-nage.

In a statement by hisSpecial Adviser Mediaand Publicity, Mr KolaOlogbondiyan, Marksaid, “resorting to ven-geance will demean yourfaith as the Lord has saidvengeance is His. Moreso, reprisal attacks canonly help the course ofyour attackers. I believethey want to ignite a re-ligious war and threatenour national unity.

“Those who haveturned places of worshipas targets of bombingsshould know that theyare fighting God and theLord will surely at anappropriate time give Hisown judgment.”

Senator Mark whourged those perpetratingthese attacks to have arethink and accept thedialogue proposed by theFederal Government,

however, reiterated that “no matter the amount ofanger in a man’s mind,killing another man can-not be a remedy. Suchaction can only aggravatethe situation.”

Tambuwal callsfor calm

Speaker of the Houseof Representatives, MrAminu Tambuwal, hascalled for calm followingthe exacerbation of ten-sion in Kaduna State oc-casioned by the bombblasts in Zaria and Kadu-na towns.

He said attacking inno-cent people, who knownothing about the blasts,in the name of reprisals,will worsen an alreadycomplicated situation.

In a statement by hisSpecial Adviser on Me-dia and Public Affairs,Malam Imam Imam,Tambuwal said the in-creasing number of at-tacks on places of wor-ship, especially on Sun-days, calls for greatercaution on the part of thevictims and adherents ofother faiths.

He said despite thecurrent precarious secu-rity situation in some ar-eas in the country, Nige-rians should not cave into the whims and capric-es of the perpetrators ofsuch attacks.

“It is by remaining res-olute and prayerful thatwe can see this difficult

phase of our nationhoodtogether,” he added.

IG confirms 16

dead

Acting IG, MrAbubakar, said “ threeseparate incidents of ex-plosions carried out byunknown bombers oc-curred in Kaduna State.The first incident tookplace at 8:35am at ECWAChurch Wusasa, Zaria;the second incident at8:45am at Christ the KingCatholic Church Sabo-Gari, Zaria, while thethird incident occurred atShalom Church Kakuri,Kaduna at 9:30am.

“A total of 16 personshave so far been con-firmed dead as a result ofthe explosions within thethree churches. A break-down of this figureshows that nine persons,including the suspectedsuicide bomber died atChrist the King CatholicChurch, three persons atECWA Church and fourpersons at ShalomChurch.

“Some parts of the staterecorded a momentarybreakdown of law andorder as angry youthstook to the streets to pro-test the unfortunate at-tacks on the churches.The Police and other se-curity agencies had, how-ever, restored normalcyin the affected areas,” headded.


attacked him withmatchetes and axe, anddestroyed property in hisroom.

Unknown to thecultists, the ex-militantwas a "General" duringthe militancy days. Heconsequently put a call tohis boys both in theschool and outside. Theex-militants stormed theuniversity withdangerous weapons anddescended on thesuspected cultists in theuniversity.

One of the students toldVanguard: “As we speak

now, the ex-militantshave locked up theschool gates and aredestroying cars andbeating up students. Wehave all taken off fromcampus but policemenare all over the place. Weall fled because the ex-militants said they werecoming back againtonight.”Vanguard could not

confirm the report, asefforts to get the PoliceCommissioner werefutile, as he was said tohave personally led hismen to the universitytown of Okada to quellthe crisis. However, Mr

Balogun told one of thejournalists, who earliergot him, that “it was aclash with rival cultgroups. We are at theIvory Tower gate now toquell the situation. Everything is calm. We haveasked the students to goback to their hostelswhile we investigate theincident further.”

Five persons were saidto have been arrested.Efforts made to reach thePublic Relations Officerof the university, Mr Jide

Olugbon, provedabortive as his phonewas switched off.

IGBINEDION UNIVERSITY:

One dead, 50 vehicles burntas ex-militants, cultists clash


BOMB ATTACKS IN KADUNA, ZARIA

ABOVE AND BELOW: Some of the victims of multiple bomb attacks inKaduna and Zaria all in Kaduna State, that damaged three churches and killedmore than 40 persons, receiving attention at Saint-Gerard Hospital, yesterday.PHOTOS: AFP, Olu Ajayi

Shalom Church, Trikaniya,Kaduna, one of the attacked churches. Inset:Wreckage of the car used by the suicide bomber.

Rubble of Dullahi Gas Station, Kaduna, burnt by rioting Christian youths inreaction to the bomb attacks.

CMYK


BY EVELYN USMAN

5 die as container fell offtruck in Lagos

Rewane: Judge's absence stallsaccused's N6bn suit for payout

BY ABDULWAHAB

ABDULAH

LAGOS—NO fewerthan five persons

were, weekend, killed inthe Oke-Afa area of Isolo,Lagos, after a 40ft con-tainer fell off a truck.

Many others sustainedinjuries in their attempt toavoid the container fromlanding on them whilegoods worth several mil-lions of naira were alsodestroyed.

The truck, it was gath-ered, was coming from theIkotun end, towardsOkota on Saturday at8pm.

But, as it was ascendingOke-Afa Bridge, it had abreak failure and report-edly veered off its lane,fell on some shops at theplank market in the area.

A victim, a male passen-ger on Okada, who wasalso heading same way,reportedly jumped off themotorbike, but unfortu-nately was pinned by thetruck, while trying to es-cape.

According to eye-wit-ness account, those af-fected were mostly com-mercial motorcyclists andtheir passengers whilenegotiating the bendleading to Okota Road.

The incident causedgridlock, all through Sat-urday night and yester-day.

Yesterday, commuterscoming to the expresswaywere trapped for hours,while many had to trek.

Motorists got stuckwhile searching for alter-native routes.

Efforts by the police andofficials of Lagos StateTraffic Management Au-thority to contain the traf-fic situation was to noavail.

At 4pm, a crane wasseen at the scene makingeffort to remove the con-tainer from the road.

LAGOS—HEARING inthe N6 billion suit

against the Lagos StateGovernment and the Po-lice by the three personsacquitted over the murderof elder statesman, AlfredRewane, in 1995, before aFederal High Court sit-ting in Lagos, was, week-end, stalled due to theabsence of the judge.

The three survivors ofthe initial eight arrestedby the police for the al-leged robbery/murder ofRewane in October 1995,Lucky Igbinovia, Effiong

Elemi Edu and ElvisErenuma, are challengingtheir detention for over 15years by the governmentbefore they were dis-charged and acquitted bythe court last year.

Five other suspects died

in detention followinglong incarceration.

Justice E. Williams ofthe state high court haddischarged and acquittedthe three surviving ac-cused persons after trialon January 17, 2011.

Drug: NDLEA boss seeks MoUfor jailed Nigerians abroad

BY BARTHOLOMEW

MADUKWE

LAGOS—NIGERIADrug Law Enforce-

ment Agency, NDLEA,has stressed the need fora Memorandum of Un-derstanding, MoU, withdrug source countries, sothat Nigerians in theirjails on drug-related of-fences can be brought toNigeria to complete theirjail terms.

NDLEA Director of Le-gal Services, Mr. FemiOloruntoba, told Van-guard, weekend, that in

the past, such MoU ex-isted with Thailand,where 600 Nigerians,who were in jail for drug-related offences,500 ofthem were brought hometo complete their jailterms.

Oloruntoba said: “Dur-ing the period of PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo, weentered into an agree-ment with Thailand,where we are systemati-cally bringing those inThailand jail for drug-re-lated offences to completetheir jail terms in Ni-geria.”

Why prisons're congested,by Abayomi

LAGOS—FEDERALGovernment's failure to

exercise its constitutionalpowers of prerogative ofmercy in the last four years,had been blamed as one ofthe reasons contributing toprison congestion in thecountry.

Meanwhile, the FederalGovernment has said itplanned to collaborate withstate governments to de-congested prisons.

The Federal Govern-ment’s team on the preroga-tive of mercy, led by Dr.Tunji Abayomi, stated this,when the team visited La-gos State Attorney-Generaland Commissioner for Jus-tice, Mr. Ade Ipaye, in La-gos.

Ipaye promised that thestate government will workwith the Federal Govern-ment to decongest the pris-ons, especially those in La-gos.

BY ABDULWAHAB

ABDULAH

Shareholders sue CBN overN191bn assets seized from IbruBY INNOCENT ANA-

BA

LAGOS—PROGRESSIVE Shareholders As-

sociation of Nigeria, PSAN,has asked a Federal HighCourt sitting in Lagos, tocompel Central Bank ofNigeria, CBN, to publicisehow it managed the aboutN191 billion worth of assetsrealised from former man-aging director of OceanicBank, Cecilia Ibru.

The assets forfeited byIbru included 94 landedproperties scattered inNigeria,Dubai and theUnited States of America, aswell as shares in about 100firms listed and unlisted on

the Nigerian Stock Ex-change, NSE.

Ibru was convicted andsentenced after she enteredinto a plea bargain with theEconomic and FinancialCrimes Commission,EFCC. The court, in itsjudgment had also ruledthat the forfeited assetsshould be managed by As-set Management Corpora-tion of Nigeria, AMCON.

PSAN is asking the courtfor an order, compellingCBN to avail it with infor-mation on the total cash andvalue of the property re-covered from Ibru, as wellas the whereabouts of themoney and property recov-ered.

CMYK


BY OLA AJAYI

BY DAYO JOHNSON

Ondo denies FG suppliedshuttle buses for students

IBADAN—It is now anoffence for members of

National Union of RoadTransport Workers,NURTW, in Oyo State totake alcoholic drinkswhile driving.

The order was given bythe leader of the CaretakerCommittee, Alhaji TaofeekOyerinde, aka Fele, put inplace by Oyo State Gov-ernment to uproot vio-lence in the union.

He said: “It is now a se-rious offence for OyoNURTW members to con-sume alcoholic drinkspopularly called ‘paraga’or other intoxicants whileon the steering wheel.”

This came as the newleadership of the unionwarned politicians in thestate who want to use theunion for selfish gains todesist as the union wouldnever allow itself to beused as agents of destruc-tion.

This warning washanded down, weekend,during a programme at theOlomi state office of theunion in Ibadan.

To maintain peacewhich had eluded theunion in the past admin-istration in the state, lead-ers of the party hadflagged off a campaignstamping out thuggery at

all motor parks in thestate.

The campaign chris-tened “War Against Thug-gery at Motor Parks”would be taken to all partsof the state in the next fewweeks.

The union would workin tandem with a team ofcorporate managementconsultants to bring last-ing peace to the union.

Oyerinde, who was sup-

Oyo bars NURTW members fromdrinking paraga, others

ported by the 13 othercaretaker committee mem-bers and elders of the un-ion from the 33 local gov-ernment areas of the state,said the era of hooligan-ism had gone for good.

He said it was now man-datory under the new re-gime for commercial driv-ers in the state to complywith the dress code beingworked out to portraythem as responsible.

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

Experts blame air crashes onindiscipline

AK U R E — O N D OState Government,

weekend, chided the op-position parties in thestate for blackmailing itover the provision of freeshuttle buses for studentsin the state.

The parties had lastweek claimed that thebuses distributed aspalliatives to cushion theeffect of the removal offuel subsidy by the Ondo

State Government camefrom the Federal Govern-ment.

At a briefing in Akure,Secretary to the State Gov-ernment, Dr. AderotimiAdelola, denied receivingany vehicle from the Fed-eral Government to cush-ion the effect of the in-crease of the pump priceof petroleum products.

Adelola pointed out thatnone of the vehicles dis-tributed to members of theNational Union of RoadTransport Workers,

NURTW, or the one givenas free shuttle buses bythe state government wasgiven to the state by theFederal Government.

The buses were distrib-uted to commemorate the19th anniversary of theJune 12, 1993, presiden-tial election, by GovernorOlusegun Mimiko.

The Peoples' DemocraticParty, PDP, and ActionCongress of Nigeria,ACN, in the state had ac-cused the government ofdeceit.

CONGRATULATIONS, MI LORD: From left, Justice Ayotunde Phillips, newChief Judge of Lagos State; Right Revd(Dr)Peter Adebiyi, Lord Bishop, Dioceseof Lagos and Justice Olufunmilayo Atilade, at the thanksgiving service in hon-our of Justice Phillips, at Bola Memorial Anglican Church, Abule Onigbagbo,Ikeja, and reception at The Haven Events Centre, GRA, Ikeja, Lagos, yesterday.Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

ABEOKUTA—OCCUPATIONAL Safety

and Health Association,OSHA, in Nigeria hassaid lack of adherence tolaid down rules and regu-lations by regulatoryagencies in the nation’saviation sector had beenresponsible for the avia-tion accidents recorded inthe past years.

It, however, enjoinedthe Federal Governmentto overhaul the agenciesin the aviation sector toprevent a recurrence ofair disasters, urging it toempower the agencies toenable them to enforcesafety standards in linewith global best practices..

Speaking yesterday inAbeokuta, President ofOSHA Nigeria Chapter,Dr. Olugbenga Bejide,stated this during the in-duction of 150 new mem-bers into the fold of theAbeokuta chapter of theassociation.

According to Bejide, thevarious departments andregulatory agencies ofgovernment had failed toensure that operators ob-serve rules guiding theirinvolvement in the na-tion’s aviation sector.

He, therefore, urged theFederal Government tocarry out extensive over-haul of the various regu-latory agencies operatingin the nation’s aviationsector.

CMYK


12 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012

Ogoni residents flay FG over delay inUNEP report implementation

Don't lose hope in Nigeria,Oshiomhole tells graduates

Bayelsans, others praiseDickson over wage bill probe

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

Tension in Sapele overquit notices

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

BYEMMA AMAIZE

....Mutu too over scholarship

BY JIMITOTA ONOYUME

Group warns against sale of gas plant,oil field in Delta

WARRI—THERE isapprehension in

Sapele, Delta State,following the quit noticesserved by Sapele-OkpeCommunity Land TrustAssociation, Sapele, onland occupants (tenants) inSapele, that the associationwas not interested inrenewing leases oncommunity lands.

The association in astatement by Senator DavidDafinone, Chairman and F.Pemu, Secretary, had

UGHELLI—NIGERDelta Youth

Movement, NDYM, haswarned against the saleof Utorogu Gas Plant inOtu-Jeremi in UghelliSouth Local GovernmentArea and Erhoike OilField in Kokori/Orogunin Ethiope East andUghelli North LocalGovernment areas ofDelta State.

The youths in astatement, yesterday, byMr. GodspowerOdenema said: “Ourattention had been

BENIN CITY—GOVERNOR Adams

Oshiomhole of Edo Statehas admonishedgraduating students ofAmbrose Alli University,Ekpoma, not to lose hopein Nigeria but to

YE N A G O A —

BAYELSANS andother Niger Deltans,weekend, commended theadministration of GovernorSeriake Dickson over hisdecisions to investigate thestate bloated wage bill in thecivil service and theappointment of non-indigenes fromneighbouring states intokey positions in theadministration in the state.

Similarly, a group ofactivists from Delta State,

WARRI—HOUSE ofRepresentatives

member, Mr. NicholasMutu, representingBomadi/Patani FederalConstituency in theHouse, has been laudedfor contributing towardsthe development ofscience subjects throughhis scholarshipprogramme for hisconstituents in DeltaState.

Mutu, weekend,disbursed N50,000 cashto 16 beneficiaries for

WARRI—SPEAKERof Delta State House

of Assembly, Mr. VictorOchei, weekend, said hehad no plan to rework theHouse Rules onimpeachment in a bid toextend his tenure.

He spoke to Vanguard,against the background ofallegation that there was animpeachment plot againsthim because of hisunderground plot, sayinghe knew those spreadingthe unfounded rumour.

PORT HARCOURT—OGONI have decried

Federal Government’sdelay in implementing theUnited NationsEnvironment Programme,UNEP, report on pollutiontraced to oil exploration intheir area.

Prayer sessionIn speeches, yesterday,

at a special prayer sessionat All Saint's CathedralChurch of AnglicanCommunion, Bori, theSenator representingRivers East SenatorialDistrict, Senator MagnusAbey and Chairman,Provisional Ruling Councilof Movement for theSurvival of Ogoni People,MOSOP, Professor BenNaanen, said they weredisappointed that almost ayear after UNEP releasedits report on Ogoni, whichcalled for long and shortterm remediation in thearea, the government wasyet to act on it. They saidthe prayer session was heldto call on God to intervene

on the issue.

Calls on JonathanMagnus said: “It is

because of ourdisappointment that westand here today, after aseries of efforts to prevail onour son, President GoodluckJonathan. We call on himto keep his word and keepthe commitment of theFederal Government thatthe report will beimplemented. The stateHouse of Assembly, Senateand House ofRepresentatives hadpassed a resolution for theimplementation of thereport. The person that now

has the power to implementthe report is the President.”

He expressed worries,that as a Senator, he couldnot speak authoritatively onwhen the FederalGovernment was going toimplement the report. Whileurging the government toact to save the people of thearea from pollution broughtabout by oil exploration,Magnus recalled that thereport stressed on thepresence ”of benzene inwater underneath theground in Ogali parts ofOgoni."

Tasks FG

“Apart from the stategovernment, that has beentrucking water to thecommunity, the FederalGovernment had notresponded to the plight ofthe people of the area. Weare in a democracy and Iexpected that the FederalGovernment would berunning around to addressthe issue. If they had donethat, we would not have anyreason to speak. TheFederal Government set upa committee headed by theMinister of Petroleum thatsaid the report had beensubmitted to the President.But nothing had beendone."

continue to have faith inthe nation irrespective ofthe imperfections createdby its past leaders.

The governor, whomade the plea during the18th convocation of theuniversity, weekend,assured that there was afuture for the youths and

urged them to contributetheir quota to the growthof the nation.

He said: “Declare thatin your time, Nigeria canmake it. Do not allowthose bad leaders, whodestroyed the country tobe your role model. Joinforces like us, who aredetermined to buildbridges of unity and letus unite to protect thediversity of the country.”

He advised them not toallow the few whoacquired the wealth ofthe nation for theirpersonal interest toundermine the system.

Acting Vice-ChancellorProf. Cordelia Agbebaku,noted that the ceremonyalso featured the awards offirst degrees and diplomacertificates as well as the awardof prizes.

Delta Speaker forecloses plan toextend tenure

BY EMMA AMAIZE He said: “You can speakto members of the House toget the true picture ofthings. I cannot be part ofanything that isunconstitutional.”

A source close to theHouse had alleged that theimpeachment plot wasthickening against theSpeaker because of hissecret meeting with ninemembers of the House afterplenary was adjourned toJune 27, last week, toamend the impeachmentprocedure, whichstipulated 2/3 simple

majority to the effect thatmembers must serve a two-week notice in writing onthe erring officer about hisoffences for him/her torespond.

But the Majority Leaderof the House, Mr MondayIgbuya, supported Ochie’sposition, saying “I can tellyou authoritatively that Mr.Speaker has no plan tochange the House Rules tomake his removal fromoffice difficult as you havebeen erroneously told. It isnot correct and there is alsono plot by members toimpeach him."

drawn to a clandestinescheme to sell UtoroguGas Plant in Otu-Jeremiin Ughelli South LocalGovernment Area andErhoike Oil Field inKokori/Orogun inEthiope East andUghelli North LocalGovernment areasrespectively all in DeltaState, to privateindividuals.

“These two facilities inthe Niger Delta are quiteunique. The UtoroguGas Plant is the largestof its kind in West Africaand the seventh largest

BY FESTUS AHON

counselled those interestedin remaining on thecommunity lands tourgently enter into a newlease with the association.

It also asked interestedtenants to pay alloutstanding rent andpenalty for non-payment ofrent during the period ofoccupation before thejudgment by a Delta StateHigh Court sitting inSapele, which held that theLand Use Act did not divestthe claimants of theirreversion interest in thedeed of lease, datedDecember 3, 1908.

under the aegis of IjawPeoples DevelopmentInitiative, IPDI, led by itsPresident, Mr OzodoAustin; the Secretary; Mr.Peter Luke and BayelsaState Coordinator, Mrs.Bobruebi Obi, noted that thedecision by the currentadministration in Bayelsa toinvestigate, arrest andprosecute those involved inthe wage bill rip-off, hadreduced the penchant forcorruption among the civilservice and exposed thepast administration's lack ofpolitical will.

the 2011/2012 academicsession at Bomadi,headquarters of BomadiLocal Government Areaof the state.

Mr. Christopher Kofa ,a parent of a beneficiary,shortly after theceremony, describedMutu as Godsent tocomplement the effortsby parents andguardians for thee d u c a t i o n a ladvancement of theirchildren.

It also featured the installationof Comrade Adams Oshiomholeas a Visitor to the University andHis Royal Highness, AlhajiYahaya Abubakar, Etsu Nupe asChancellor.

From left: Governor Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State, Governor AdamsOshiomhole of Edo State and Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, former Governor of LagosState, at a fund raising dinner to support Gov. Oshiomhole's second term bidin Lagos.

in the world while theErhioke Oil Field is oneof the very few Oil Fieldsin the world thatproduces the best crudeoil (Brent or Sweetcrude).

“In 2010, the NationalAssembly passed theNigerian Content Actinto law. By theprovisions of this law, theimmediate localcommunities are to beconsulted in any majordecision concerning anyoil facility located ontheir land. ."


Dana crash: Imo declares tomorrowspecial prayer day

Student crushed to deathby reckless driver in Imo

BY CHIDI NK-

WOPARA

OWERRI—A THIRDyear student of Holy

Ghost College, Owerri,HOGOSCO, Master Rap-hael Bakari Olalekan, hasbeen crushed to death by areckless driver in front of theschool gate.

Vanguard investigationrevealed that 15-year oldOlalekan, a native of Ikirun,Osun State, was killed onFriday by a driver whodrove against traffic.

An eyewitness said: “TheToyota Hilux driver, whowas carrying a lady sus-pected to be the wife of hisboss, hit Olalekan badlyand the poor boy died in-stantly”.

Confirming the ugly in-cident, the school Principal,Rev. Fr. Cyprain Ogu, saidthe boy was quickly rushedto the Federal MedicalCentre, Owerri, but the doc-tors confirmed him dead onarrival.

He lamented that therehad been many of such in-cidents in the past, even ashe thanked God that none

was as deadly as the caseof Olalekan.

The cleric expressed re-gret that those who weresupposed to show goodexamples, including secu-

rity personnel, governmentconvoys and officials, flouttraffic laws recklessly.

“In flouting traffic rules,these class of careless driv-ers and their bosses cause

confusion, panic and acci-dents. I call on GovernorOkorocha to intervene andsave the lives of other roadusers”. Rev. Fr. Ogu,pleaded.

Orji warns LG caretakerchairmen

BY ANAYO OKOLI

UMUAHIA—GOVERNOR Theodore Orji of

Abia has read riot act to the17 transition committeechairmen in the state toimplement the biometricsystem of paying salaries orface the consequences.

The governor’s warningfollowed reports that somecouncil workers were refus-ing to imbibe the biometricsystem and prefer the oldmethod of payment said tobe prone to fraud, especiallyghost workers’ syndrome.

The governor was al-leged to have accused theNigeria Union of LocalGovernment Employees,NULGE, of inciting the

workers against the biomet-ric system and warned theleadership of the councilsthat there was no goingback on biometric.

Visibly angry GovernorOrji who addressed the 17transition committee chair-men and other senior man-agement staff of the coun-cils said, “this is an emer-gency meeting. It is not inmy habit to be calling eve-rybody to Umuahia be-cause I know that you haveserious business to do inyour various councils. Ibrought you here becauseyou are in charge of the lo-cal governments. I don’twant to see a negligible fewelements to hold the stateto ransom".

AWARD—From left: Mr. Adeyinka Adeyemi, MD, Intermac Consulting Ltd;Mrs Omobola Johnson, Hon. Minister of Communication and Technologyand Mrs Caroline Anyanwu, Executive Director, Diamond Bank PLC receiv-ing the best credit card award for the second consecutive time at the e-busi-ness awards and dinner in Lagos.

Police recover 41 arms, arrest 81 robberysuspects in Enugu

BY TONY EDIKE

ENUGU—THE EnuguState Police Command

said weekend that it recov-ered 46 firearms and arrest-ed 81 armed robbery sus-pects within the last threem o n t h s .The state Commissioner ofPolice, Mr. Musa Dauradisclosed this while fieldingquestions from newsmen. He said six cases of cultrelated activities were re-ported, and 28 suspectswere arrested afterwards. According to him, a totalof 19 car snatching caseswere reported while 65 sus-pects were arrested, notingthat 18 vehicles were alsorecovered during the peri-o d . The CP lamented thatmost criminal activities thattook place in the state re-cently were carried out byhoodlums riding commer-cial motorcycles popularlyknown as okada.He assured members of thepublic that modalities werebeing worked out to put anend to the problem. Daura said his commandin partnership with tradi-tional rulers in the state hadpackaged a programmetagged ‘’operation know

your neighbour in thestate’’ with a view to ex-posing perpetrators of

c r i m e s . He expressed optimismthat the programme would

surely bring sanity fromthe grass roots to the statel e v e l .

BY TONY EDIKE

Jonathan to launch back-to-school campaign

Ebonyi APGA sacks chairman

BY PETER OKUTU

ABAKALIKI—EBONYI State chapter of

the All Progressive GrandAlliance, APGA, weekend,impeached its Chairman,Mr. Jerry Obasi, over al-leged gross violation of theparty’s constitution and fail-ure to render proper finan-cial account of monies col-lected and spent on behalfof the party. The impeachment tookplace at a stakeholdersmeeting comprising chair-men, secretaries and wom-en leaders of the party atboth state and local govern-

ENUGU—PRESIDENTGoodluck Jonathan is

expected in Enugu tomor-row to launch the Nationalcampaign on back-to-school with emphasis onboy-child education, for theSouth East zone of thecountry.

Enugu State Commis-sioner for Education, DrSimon Uchenna Ortuanya,said the event would takeplace at the MichaelOkpara Square, Enugu.

He explained that thecampaign which is also tobe known as “Mmuta Ama-

ka”, was principally aimedat creating opportunities forchildren especially males,who had abandoned edu-cation in pursuit of otherendeavours, to return toschool.

According to the commis-sioner, those expected atthe function include thegovernors of the five statesof the South East, membersof the National Assemblyfrom the zone, Minister ofEducation, Prof RuqayyatuRufa’i, Minister of State forEducation, Chief NyesomWike, royal fathers from theSouth East, school headsand a host of others.

BY CHINENYEH

OZOR

OWERRI—IMO StateGovernor, Chief Ro-

chas Okorocha, has de-clared tomorrow “a specialprayer session" for the re-pose of the souls of the vic-tims of the ill-fated Danaplane crash of Imo origin.

Okorocha made thisknown when he paid a con-dolence visit to families oflate Prof Celestine Onwu-liri and Mr. Ike Ibe, wholost his wife and daughterin the crash.

He prayed God to givethe bereaved families thefortitude to bear the irrepa-rable loss, while urging rel-evant authorities to putstringent measures in placeto ensure safety in the Ni-gerian airspace.

Governor Okorocha ap-pealed to the citizenry andparticularly religious lead-

ers in the state to join in theprayer session in honour ofthe sons and daughters,who lost their lives in thecrash.

It will be recalled that nofewer than 24 Imo citizenslost their lives in the sadincident which occurred onJune 3, 2012.

ment levels.However, the embattled

chairman described thebrains behind his purport-ed impeachment as dissi-dents who planned to dist-abilise the party ahead of2015 elections in the state. In an indictment letter byboth state and local govern-ment council executives,the party among other is-sues alleged that the erst-while chairman “since lastyear, has never call a meet-ing of the party till date,collected N1.1 million, with-out accounting for it or ren-dering an account to theexco since the last conven-tion at Awka.

CMYK


BIRTHDAY: From left— (sitting)Alh. Ahmed Ibeto, Deputy Governor ofNiger State; Mr. Aminun Tambuwal, Speaker, House of Representatives;Governor Babangida Aliyu of Niger State; Mr. Adamu Usman, Speaker,Niger State House of Assembly, and Mr. Mohammed Aliyu, ManagingDirector of Niger State Development Company, and other Muslim faithfulat the 112th posthumous birthday and the 26th Maulud of the late Sheik Ibra-him Inyass, organised by the Tijjaniyya movement in Minna, weekend.

Anenih commends Beninmonarch over Igbinedion's pardon

Ewheridomakes casefor statepolice

Suswam woos foreign investors with tax holidays

I saw $3m bribery scandal coming— Rep

JOS—MEMBER representing Jos South/

Jos East constituency ofPlateau State in theHouse of Assembly, Mr.Bitrus Kaze, has said hesaw the bribery scandalcurrently rocking theHouse over the fuel sub-sidy probe coming.

He spoke, weekend,at an interaction withjournalists after a visitto the state police head-quarters and that ofSpecial Task Force, STF,in Jos, Plateau State, tocommend them on the

successful enforcementof the ban on commer-cial motorcycles in thestate.

He noted that thescandal should not beused as an excuse to la-bel every member of theHouse as corrupt or in-ept, stressing that suchgeneralisation would beout of place.

He said: “It is wrongto generalise that alllawmakers are corruptmerely because one ofus is involved in a scan-dal.”

He assured that theHouse would not allow

the monumental frauddiscovered in the sub-sidy probe to be sweptunder the carpet de-spite the scandal in-volving Hon. FaroukLawan stressing, “I canassure you that theHouse is determined todeal with the issue ac-cordingly.”

Kaze, who was re-ceived at the variousplaces by the state Com-missioner of Police, Mr.Emmanuel Ayeni, andCommander of the STF,Major-Gen. HenryAyoola, said as a repre-sentative of the people

he was at liberty tospeak out on their ac-tivities.

He said: “The role ofthese security agenciesare critical in the main-tenance of law and or-der in the state. In theprocess of doing theirjob, I believe as a rep-resentative of the peo-ple, I should say it outwhere they get it rightor wrong.

“I think that they aredoing their best, espe-cially with the success-ful enforcement of theban on commercial mo-torcycle operations.”

BY TAYE OBATERU

AB U J A — V I C EChairman, Senate

Committee on MarineTransport, Senator PiusEwherido, DPP, represent-ing Delta Central, has saidif the present security chal-lenges in the country mustbe addressed, there was theurgent need for the intro-duction of state police.

According to SenatorEwherido, the present cen-tralised structure of the Ni-geria Police was no longerfashionable and could notnip in the bud the wave ofcrime, terrorism and gen-eral insecurity across thecountry.

Speaking in Abuja, theSenator stressed that theformation of state police hadbecome imperative againstthe backdrop that each re-gion, state or zone has itspeculiar security challengeswhich must be handled dif-ferently.

BY HENRY UMORU

Group backsFCT Ministeron N300mmosqueproject

BY SUZAN EDEH

BA U C H I — C O NTRARY to allegation

making the rounds that theproject for the renovation ofthe Gwallaga Juma’atMosque, Bauchi, em-barked upon by the Minis-ter of the Federal CapitalTerritory, FCT, Senator BalaMuhammad, was for politi-cal purposes, a Bauchi-based political group, De-mocracy and Good Govern-ance Forum, has said thatthe N300 million project isa pure philanthropic ges-ture by the minister.

It also debunked thespeculation in some quar-ters that the multi-millionnaira project and the min-ister’s recent distribution ofcars and hajj seats to se-lected individuals wereaimed at canvassing sup-port for his purported gov-ernorship ambition in thestate come 2015.

Speaking to newsmen,weekend, state chairman ofthe group, Alhaji SuleimanFoster, wondered why peo-ple view the minister's hu-manitarian gestures frompolitical perspective, add-ing that Muhammad hasnot yet declared interest inthe 2015 governorship elec-tion in the state.

PDP to host INEC

auditors with N13m

BY HENRY UMORU

ABUJA—THE Na-tional leadership of

Peoples Democratic Party,PDP, is set to spendN13,100,000 million inhosting auditors from In-dependent National Elec-toral Commission, INEC.

The auditors, accordingto a memo from the Na-tional Auditor of the party,Chief Bode Mustapha, tothe National Chairman,Alhaji Bamanga Tukur,are to audit the account ofPDP party for the 2011 fi-nancial year.

Vanguard gathered thatthe leadership of PDP has

also approved the produc-tion of 772 portraits ofTukur and its NationalSecretary, PrinceOlagunsoye Oyinlola.

PDP’s National Director ofAdministration, AlhajiGurama Bawa to Oyinlola,in a memo dated April 27and entitled Approval forthe production of officialportraits of NationalChairman and the Na-tional Secretary, statedthe need for the auditingand portraits, followingthe election and assump-tion of duties by thenewly-elected members ofthe National WorkingCommittee of the party.

ABUJA—FORMERChairman, Board of

Trustees, BoT, of PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP,Chief Tony Anenih, yes-terday, described the lift-ing of the four-year oldsuspension on theEsama of Benin, ChiefGabriel Igbinedion by

the Oba of Benin, OmoN’Oba N’Edo UkuAkpolokpolo, ObaErediauwa, as timely forPDP.

Anenih, in a statement,yesterday, commendedthe Oba of Benin for hisgesture. He stressed thatthe decision of the Beninmonarch to lift the sus-pension was a mark of

his kind-heartedness andmagnanimous spirit.

The PDP chieftain, inthe statement entitledIgbinedion: I CommendOba of Benin’s Benevo-lence, read: “I receivedwith utmost joy the newsthat our esteemed Oba ofBenin, Omo N’ObaN’Edo UkuOkpolokpolo, Oba

Erediauwa, has lifted thesuspension order placedon the Esama of Benin,Chief Gabriel OsawaruIgbinedion.

“While I rejoice with mybrother and friend, theEsama of Benin for thisreprieve, I commend theOba’s kind-heartednessand magnanimous spiritin lifting the suspen-

sion order.“The timing of the lift-

ing of the suspensionorder on the Esama,who is a dedicatedleader of our party(PDP), is significant tous and we cannot butcommend His RoyalMajesty for his Royallove.

“I pray that AlmightyGod will continue to im-bue the Oba with wisdomand good health to pro-vide progressive leader-ship to the people, whileI urge the Esama to in-vest all his energies intorebuilding the Oba andthe people’s confidence inhim.

“I call on well-mean-ing Benin sons anddaughters, and indeedall the good people ofEdo State, to supportthe effort of the Oba topreserve the Beninheritage and ensurepeace in the kingdom.

“To the able leader,Chief Gabr ie lIgbinedion, I say con-gratulat ions and toGod be the glory.”

BY HENRY UMORU

BY PETER DURU

MAKURDI—AS partof efforts to create

employment in his state,Governor GabrielSuswam of Benue Statehas called on foreign in-vestors to take advan-tage of the huge agri-cultural potentials andendowment of the stateby establishing agro-processing plants.

Suswam assured thathis administrationwould give willing in-vestors tax holidays andnecessary incentives tofacilitate the growth andstability of their invest-ments.

Permanent Secretaryof the state Ministry ofAgriculture, Mr. AndyUwokwu, quoted thegovernor as making thepromise in Addis

Ababa, Ethiopia, at the5th Specialised Interna-tional Exhibition in Ag-riculture and Food or-ganised by the AddisAbaba Chamber of Com-merce.

The governor notedthat with its stunningyearly agriculturalyields, Benue State re-mained an investors’delight and a fertileground for investments.

Represented by theCommissioner for Agri-culture, Dr. EugeneAliegba, who led theBenue delegation to theexpo, GovernorSuswam said: “We areaware of the huge ben-efits that awaits any in-vestor in the agricul-tural sector of our stateand Nigerian economy.

“That is why we areusing this event as plat-

form to showcase ourhuge agriculturalpotentials and also seekpartnership with inves-tors from other coun-tries, especially in theareas of food process-ing, packaging and ex-porting because thebenefits will be enor-mous and far-reaching,not only to the investorsbut to the people ofBenue State.”

CMYK


CMYK

OPINION


BY SAM EKELEDO

*Mr. Ekeledo, a public affairs analyst, wrote fromLagos.

Tell me how long theplane's been gone

AS I watched the usually very beautiful Stella OduahOgienwonyi, Minister of Aviation, painfully explain

to the nation the issues surrounding the Dana airplanecrash, one could tell she would rather be found elsewhere,in more buoyant spirits. This certainly was not her turf,nor was it her routine. But you see, we never know whatmay prevail when duty calls. And so to announce the beginning of the second half ofthe year, we must suffer all these multi-dimensionalfatalities. Stella could only commiserate with the familiesof the 153 or more lives lost in the air crash. She couldn’tdo more. No one reminded her that our Allied Cargo planethat travelled to Ghana a day or so earlier did not return.It also crashed there and all the 10-man crew and oroccupants [ for indeed these planes often travel with certainhuman cargo, especially of the female sort, that don’t getmanifested at all] lost their lives. In the same day, we also learnt of how another 12 ormore were despatched quickly to heaven in a churchbombing somewhere in Bauchi by people whose notionsof worship of God is steeped only in violence and murder.Earlier in the day, Governor Al Makura was on AITpleading with the two ethnic groups in his Nasarawa Stateto sheathe their swords after decimating over 100 of eachother.Finally, no less a personality as President GoodluckJonathan would finally lament the tragedies and slam athree-day mourning on the nation. As with most issuespreceding this one, the Farouk Usman’s subsidy probe

report, Petroleum industry Bill, the stock exchange mess,etc, etc; this too shall pass, no matter who or how manydied. Noting our legendary attention span as a governmentand as a people, let me suggest that these fatalities andintermittent rude tragedy can be drastically reduced ifPresident Jonathan could just give us modern high speedrail. This is certainly not beyond our capacity to fund.Moreover, we will pay for our train rides the GSM way, sono one comes around to cut off the rail tracks like PHCNwould.

Just to give us an idea. In the year of our Lord 2010, theAustralian government commissioned a $20 million studyinto high speed rail for her east coast corridor betweenNewcastle and Sydney covering a distance of about 150miles. The report was completed the following year 2011,revealing that Australia needed between $61 billion and$108 billion to accomplish the project. I do not see howthis, at whatever exchange rate, can surpass the entireN1.3 trillion already salted away as evident from the HonFarouk Lawan subsidy probe. We, the travelling public,again will pay. In case, we are confused about how toachieve this, let us again, ask the Chinese.In this way the import of President Jonathan’s declaredperiod of mourning and sober reflection will have made

better sense. Apart from the 153 who will never arriveLagos and possibly President Jonathan, no man can arriveLagos from Abuja by air in an hour. The average time ittakes anyone to do this trip is four hours: travel time toairport, check-in formalities, wait/delays for endlesspresidential movements plus travel from destination airportto home. In less than three hours a modern day Eurostarnormal speed [not high speed or the maglev] train wouldhave arrived Lagos with over 1000 passengers, and possiblyheaded for Lome to boot. Enough of these callouspoliticisation of the transportation sector and unsavouryenthronement of motor park arrangements in buying ahandful of buses for national union of road transportworkers.Transportation is both the engine and the wheel of anyeconomy. It is the only mechanism that drives the economy24 hours as well as defines the living conditions of anypeople. That is why the whole of Europe moves by rail.The rich and vast American landscape is revealed by therail. Most business and pleasurable journeys in the USAtoday are done by rail. As for India and Pakistan, trainsserve to directly and yet subtly mitigate poverty. The poortravel free, in that wealthier passengers in the first classand business class compartments help defray the ticketcost of the passengers in the lower compartments, witheveryone arriving at the same time. Else, we might yet beasking again how long the train, nay, plane’s been gone.

WITH more than 6,000 Nigerians in foreign jails, we thought President

Goodluck Jonathan would have added theirmatter to charges he gave Nigeria’s 93 newambassadors. He did not.

How these Nigerians became prisoners isas important as the fact that they, in mostcases did not receive consular care. In manycountries with Nigerian missions, Nigeriansare jailed without getting assistance thatcould have kept them out of jail. What“national interests” then do these missionsserve?

The President gave a hint. “You are postedto your designation to represent thePresident and not your state or your ethnicity,and project Nigeria as a united andindivisible nation. You must encourageNigerians abroad to have solid unions,” hesaid.

Ambassadors are representatives of thePresident. Few will debate the position.However, this point can be stretched to abreaking juncture. Missions should serveNigerians, who elected the President. Whatis happening in our foreign service is an

6,000 Nigerians jailedabroad

aberration.Our missions have been reduced to

providing comfortable passage for thePresident, politicians, and other VIPs on theirtrips round the world. The same neglectordinary Nigerians suffer at home isreplicated in their relations with theirmissions. It is to be expected; you cannotneglect your people at home and treat themwell abroad.

A common complaint from the missions isthat Nigerians do not seek their services;they do not even bother to register when theyarrive abroad. It is a strong argument that isweakened by the poor services thatNigerians abroad receive when they applyfor renewal of their passports. Our missions,with a few exceptions, do not care for

Nigerians; they treat them as distractions totheir brief.

The standards of concerns for Nigeriansfluctuate, depending on the head of themission. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs hasno expectation of such care from themissions which operate as they deem fit.

Economic diplomacy remains at the core ofthe nation’s foreign policy, according to thePresident. He should substitute the welfareof Nigerians for “economic diplomacy” andother fanciful words that mean nothing.

More words: “To build and sustain a corpsof staff that can excel, the Ministry of ForeignAffairs must accord priority to recruiting thebest and ensuring the regular training of itsdiplomats.” Nepotism infects the service’srecruitment; excellence is not aconsideration.

An overhaul of the foreign service isoverdue if it is to serve Nigerians. It startsfrom attitude of the missions to government’sprovision of resources for their operations.Our missions do not have the resources todo more than organising state visits andissuing visas — both are even proving toochallenging.

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THERE has been a furore onthe various social networks overan article credited to MallamNasir el Rufai, in which heallegedly said Anambra Statewas “poor”. Many from thatstate, their friends, relations andwell wishers were incensedwith the very notion of ascribingpoverty to Anambra State. Someasked the controversial formerminister and now columnistwith THISDAY Newspapershow many Anambra-bornbeggars he has come across,compared with the millions ofprofessional mendicants fromhis cultural area who dot streetcorners in urban towns all overthe country and have alwaysbeen that way since the dawnof history.

Naturally, my curiosity wasstoked and I decided toinvestigate the casus belli, thereason for another round ofethnic hot exchanges for whichNigeria is famous and the socialnetworks a fertile battlegroundbetween the Igbo, Hausa-Fulani and Yoruba. If you wantto learn how to argue blindly,stupidly and illiterately, go tothe internet and choose anytopic on socio-political issues ofNigeria. You will come out withsumma cum laude in recordtime! In all likelihood, most ofthose taking on el Rufai did noteven read the original article toknow exactly what he wasdriving at.

The article in questionpublished in el Rufai’s columnon Friday, June 8th 2012, isentitled: Anambra’s Budget OfMisplaced Priorities. As usual,el Rufai obviously spent a lot oftime in the library before hewent to the press. That is onething about this man, who spenteight years in power (1999 to2007) as a top officer of theFederal government. He reads,and he writes. The same cannotbe said for many of his peerswho “made good” forthemselves while ingovernment and retired into thelazy comforts of theiracquisitions.

Under President OlusegunObasanjo, he loomed so largethat he was briefly consideredas one of the ex-president’ssuccessors before ailingGovernor Umaru Yar’ Adua wasselected. For some curiousreasons, el Rufai bolted intoexile as soon as Yar ’ Aduaassumed power.

The Yar’ Adua regime had putthe Economic and FinancialCrimes Commission (EFCC) towork on allegations that el Rufaiabused his office andmismanaged public funds andproperty. But as soon as Yar’Adua died, the Kaduna State-born el Rufai did not just returnfrom self-exile. He stormed backto Nigeria, despite the fact thathe is still in court over thoseallegations. He has sincebecome one of the mostirreverent and vocal critics of notonly the President GoodluckJonathan administration butalso Dr. Goodluck Jonathan

Anambra, el Rufai and poverty”

himself as a presidentialmaterial.

El Rufai has also modelledhimself as a propagator of“northern interests” and mediaambassador of retired MajorGeneral Muhammadu Buhari’sCongress for ProgressiveChange (CPC). It is in thiscontext that many havequestioned his motive for beinginterested in the budget ofAnambra State. In particular,why did he seem determined toproject Anambra as “poor”?

According to him: “theincidence of poverty in(Anambra State) is very high.The South East has a food poorincidence of 41.0 per cent ofwhich 60.9 per cent is absolutelypoor while 66.5 per cent isrelatively poor and 56.8 per centlive under a dollar a day…”Mark you, I have not accusedhim of fabricating these figures.He lifted them from the dataproduced by the NigerianBureau of Statistics (NBS).Anambra is said to be the thirdpoorest state in the South EastZone. The state is also ratedthird in the zone in both youthand adult literacy.

For el Rufai, Anambra is notviable state. He drew thatconclusion by comparing theN16.3billion personnel cost inthis year ’s budget to theinternally generated revenueestimate of N12 billion.According to him, the statewould not be able to pay thesalaries of its workers withoutfederal allocation. This to me isa pedestrian way of

Mallam Nasir el Rufai

Poverty is everywhere in Nigeria,Anambra and the South East inclusive.But for el Rufai to go on a binge aboutpoverty in Anambra State when his ownpart of the country is the dirt poorestamounts to pointing to a speck insomeone’s eye while ignoring the logof wood in his

determining viability. If eachstate is allowed to mine itsresources and deploy its humancapital for economic prosperity,Anambra’s oil and gas alone(which have remaineduntapped) will more than payits bills handsomely, before youtalk about its commercial,industrial and intellectualendowments.

Unless states are allowed tocontrol their resources, onlyLagos may remain “viable”,even though viability was nevera consideration by the north-controlled armed forces thatruled this nation and split itsgeopolitical units inequitably togive the north unjust access tothe nation’s oil wealth.“Viability” is a new argumentbeing spruced up to deny theSouth East its sixth state whichthe National Assembly in 2006accepted as a nationalconsensus for constitutionalamendment. The figures alsopainted Anambra as the thirdin literacy rate in the South East;even though el Rufai admittedthat with at least, nineinstitutions of higher learning(the national record) Anambrais an “educationally advancedstate”. What a contradiction!

There are two mainobservations I wish to make.The first is that el Rufai’sconclusions are generallybacked with figures that do notnecessarily mirror the facts onground. Number two is areflection on his real mission inchoosing this topic for hisdiscussion.

NBS data and Igbo reality:For instance, the official figuressay the population of AnambraState (as quoted by the writer)is 4.2 million people.Considering that Anambra’slandmass is one of the smallestin the country, it is easy to bemisled to understate the realpopulation power of the state.Anambra is a state that harbours177 communities within its tiny4,416 square kilometres, withmost communities having nofarm or forest land. You won’tknow when you cross from Okoto Ekwulobia, for instanceunless you read the signposts.Just like other Igbo states thereare more Anambra people livingoutside than inside the state.

The population of theindigenes of the state will likelytop 12 million if an honestcensus is undertaken. Thepopulation of Igbos andAnambra people in theDiaspora (outside the SouthEast) are often factored as partof the populations of the other

by the NBS which, in its usuallazy manner, relied mainly onthe amount the state gets fromthe federation account relativeto its meagre population.Kpakol declared that Anambrahad the highest quota of privateentrepreneurs in the countryand is actually the state with themost affluential citizens percapita in the whole country.

Majority of the Igbo-dominated markets around thecountry and the West Africansub-region have businessmenof Anambra and northern Imostate origins calling the shots.Each time Nigeria changescurrency the largest volume ofcurrency notes is harvestedfrom the South West (especiallyLagos where Igbo and Anambradominate the markets) and theSouth East (especially theOnitsha/Nnewi/Aba axes).Apart from Lagos, Anambrastate has the highest number ofbank branches in the federation,and they are not there for FatherChristmas purposes.

So, what was el Rufai’s motivefor painting Anambra in theborrowed robes of poverty?There are those who feel thathe saw the NBS figures anddecided it offered theopportunity to “retaliate” onformer Central Bank Governor,Prof. Chukwuma Soludo’sassertion that poverty is “anorthern phenomenon”, asjustified not just by the NBS’sfigures alone. He probablyused Anambra to “fight back”but unfortunately for him, hefailed to make his point stick,as his conclusions flew in theface of real life evidence.

five geopolitical zones. Giventhe fact that the population inthe Diaspora are more vibrantand affluent they form part ofthe population well above thepoverty level, especially in theNorth and South West. TheNBS data does not portray theIgbo reality adequately andtheir use for purposes ofanalysis will always mislead asel Rufai’s has done.

Anambra povertylaughable and preposterous

The very notion of Anambrabeing associated with povertyis both preposterous andlaughable. Dr Magnus Kpakol,the erstwhile DG of the NationalPoverty Eradication Programme(NAPEP) cleared the air on theformer ranking of Bayelsa Stateas the least poor of the 36 states

Some even say el Rufaidecided to call Anambra dirtynames because his party, theCPC, failed woefully not just inAnambra State but also theentire South East, South-South,North Central and most partsof the upper north.

Poverty is everywhere inNigeria, Anambra and the SouthEast inclusive. But for el Rufaito go on a binge about povertyin Anambra State when his ownpart of the country is the dirtpoorest amounts to pointing toa speck in someone’s eye whileignoring the log of wood in his.The altruism of motive was notconvincing. And for me, thecharge of “misplaced priorities”fell flat.

But as purely an academicexercise, el Rufai must havefound his own effort mostmentally engaging.

,

,

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Dean on fire!


- the funloving, but hardworking single parentLIFE WITH TREENA KWENTA

HI READERS! I had my headso buried in my work that I

forgot all about my cousin and herbeau, until Ify called me on myway home to ask if I minded if thecouple stayed with her and Joe forthe night.

“Joe and I thought that since it’sweek days and you’ll be at workmost of the time, it would be bestfor them to be here, so that theywould have company other thanjust nanny and malam, and Iwould be able to take them out. Ihad proposed that we would setout early tomorrow morning forEpe so that they can have a feel ofthe rehabilitated Lekki road, andalso visit the botanical gardens.”

“How nice of you, Ify dear. I’msure they’ll like that. I’m justleaving the office now, would youwant me to come pick them so thatthey would collect what they wouldneed for tonight and tomorrow?”“All the way from Apapa toDolphin, to Amuwo, back toDolphin, and finally to Amuwo!Won’t the wahala kill you?”

“Er, well, they’re my guests, so,I have to do the right thing.”

“My dear martyr, they are guestsof all our family members here inLagos. Joe says it’s our turn tohave them with us, and I agreewith him. Actually, they must beon their way back from your placenow. My driver left here with themabout two hours ago. I thought youshould know of the change inplans.” “Oh, thanks Ify dear.Although, I was rather lookingforward to spending the eveningin their company.”

“I’m sure you were, you romantic!Sorry you’re being deprived ofthat. Still, you’ll be able to haveyour house to yourself, and havesome peace and quiet. You canalso read one of those romancenovels you have in abundance,and get into the spirit. Or, betterstill, go get yourself an admirerand stop being an onlooker! Sorryo, madam single!”

Planting ofimpure thoughts

“I shall report you to yourhusband, for trying to plant impurethoughts in my mind.” “Me?Impure thoughts? God forbid!”

We joked some more and sherang off. The traffic home throughOrile was so stressful that I feltasleep. My phone rang. It was Ify.She was worried that Kate andDean had not returned to DolphinEstate. She rang her driver whotold her that they were still at myplace and that it appeared thatthey had some unexpected visitors.He could hear raised voices, butcouldn’t say if they were inexcitement or anger.

“Treena dear, can you please ringhome to find out what the matteris? There’s an important meetingat the church this evening at whichI must be present. I need the driverback. Your brother can’t return topick me because he’ll be atanother meeting. There’s anothercar here, but I can no longer driveat night, so, I don’t. If the coupledoesn’t want to return heretonight, that’s alright. The drivercan come for them early in themorning, and we’ll still be able tomake Epe. Are you near homeyet?” “Not yet. We’re stuck inheavy traffic at Orile. Why not ringyour driver and ask him to call Kateto the phone so you could speak

with her? Or, you could try my landline.” “I’ve tried your land linemany times, so that I could findout from nanny what’s happening.No-one’s picking it up. It wouldbe bad manners to ask to speakwith Kate. It would seem as if Iwas hurrying her up. Thatwouldn’t do. After all, I made theoffer. I think I’ll have to take a taxito the church.” “Tough luck! Sorryo, Ify dear. I’ll ring nanny on hermobile phone to find out who thevisitors in my house are. I’ll speakwith you later. Take care.”

When I checked my otherphones, I discovered that nannyand Michel had been trying toreach me. I rang nanny. She wasmost incoherent.

Big fight at theback of the house

“Madam, come home quick o!”she wailed. “There’s trouble o!Michel wants to go call Police, butI told him to hold on, and that youand oga will not like it. We’venever called Police to this housebefore. Never! I’ve never seen thissort of trouble before; not in thishouse!” “Nanny, calm down. Youhaven’t told me what the matteris?” “Sorry, madam. Big fight isgoing on at the back of the house.”

“Between who and who?”“They started in the sitting room,

but Michel sent all of them to thebackyard. Oh God! Neighboursare watching from their upstairswindows. This is disgraceful.”

“Nanny! I’m ringing off now. Goand ask Michel to flash me, so thatI can ring him and find out whatthe matter is.”

Michel flashed and I rang him.“Madam, madam Kate and herfriend were just leaving to returnto uncle’s house in Dolphin whenRafiu and two women rushed intothe premises.” “Who’s Rafiu,Michel?” “Madam, he used towork in Ikeja for oga. He was theone that brought his brother-in-law, who I now understand is thisMr. Dean who’s with madam Kate,to buy your car many years ago. Ididn’t recognize him whenmadam Kate brought him here, butoga explained the whole thing tome and told me to stay here. Earlythis morning, oga rang to say thatI can return to Ikeja tonight, andthat we’re to treat the man well.Oga also spoke to nanny. Nannysaid I should stay until the couplehave left completely. I wasthinking that over when theyreturned to tell nanny that theywere going to spend the night inDolphin, and had come to packsome clothes. I was helping tocarry their bags out when a carstopped at the gate. I went to findout who was there and I saw Rafiu.He was oga’s staff for a long time.I think it was that car business thatmake oga ask him to leave. He wasshocked to know that you live

here. He said the two women withhim were his cousins, and that theywanted to collect money from a Mr.Dean who was their debtor andwho lives at this address. I ledthem to the sitting room, but assoon as the younger woman sawMr. Dean, she went to hold himby his shirt and they began tofight.” “Fight? Just like that?Why?”

“Rafiu explained that the womanwas Mr. Dean’s first wife, and themother of his four daughters wholive with his mother in Onitsha.The woman was fighting himbecause his people have refusedher access to her children for morethan a year now. When she goesthere, they chase her away. Rafiuand I tried to reason with her, butshe says Mr. Dean must take herto her children right away. Mr.Dean slapped her for tearing uphis shirt. They were going todestroy things in the sitting room,so, I asked them to go to the backof the house. That’s where theyare now, and they’re still shoutingand fighting. I wanted to go callthe Police since they don’t want to

that we would be involved, sinceKate brought Dean to Lagos, andthey’re staying at my place? Won’twe have to go bail him out? I don’tthink calling the Police in is wise,Michel. Anyway, we’re at Mile 2now, and I’ll soon be at home.”

Michel met me at the gate. Thecompound was quiet. Where werethe combatants, I asked.

In a hushed voice, Michel toldme that my neighbour in the otherduplex heard the fracas, andknowing that I hadn’t returnedfrom work, came over to ask whatwas going on. Rafiu explained tohim, and he took Dean, Rafiu andthe two women to his place. Theyare there now, Michel added.

I went over at once to join them.Dean couldn’t meet my eyes. Idon’t know why, but I felt verysorry for him. The ex-wife, whosename I learnt is Bisi, was a petitepretty woman, perhaps in her mid-forties, while the other womanlooked much older. I thanked myneighbour profusely for his help,then I swept the others with aheavy frown for bringing troubleto my premises. They stared backat me silently.

My neighbour explained thathe had to go over and bring themto his place, to quell the fight.

“ I’m trying to offer my advice.No doubt, Michel or nanny musthave told you what the matter is. ““Thank you, neighbour, Michelexplained to me, but what I can’tunderstand is why Rafiu shouldbring these women to come causetrouble in my house. You know, heworked for Mr. Kwenta for severalyears. I would have thought that

he would accord me some respectand not come disgrace me likethis. Maybe Michel should havecalled the Police, after all. I wonderwhat Mr. Kwenta would make ofthis when he’s told.”

“Madam,” said Rafiu, earnestly,“please, I’m very sorry. I don’tknow how Bisi got to know inIbadan where she’s based, that herhusband is here. She suddenlyarrived at my place this afternoon,and told me to accompany her toAmuwo to retrieve money owedher by a stubborn debtor. It wasactually when I saw Nuru that Iknew what the game was. I’mfurious with her, but the damagehas been done. She just wouldn’tlisten to reason. If I knew what hermission was, I wouldn’t haveaccompanied her here. I wouldhave dissuaded her. I’m sorry,ma.” I didn’t say a word to him. Ithanked my neighbour again, andleft. Back at my place, I rang toexplain to Ify. She asked to speakwith Kate. I took the phone tonanny’s room. Kate opened thedoor, looking quite unruffled.Silently I gave her the phone andshe spoke with Ify.

“Thank you, Ify dear. I’ve beenin worse situations. I’m not moved.Remember when Raheem’s dad’sthree wives used to come fight withme at my place when they learnt Iwas expecting a baby for theirhusband? Exactly! This is child’splay. No, I’m munching onnanny’s delicious snacks. See youtomorrow. Love you! Thank you,Treena dear. How was your day?”

Some people do have a thickskin, don’t they? Tara.

stop, but nannysaid Ishouldn’t.” “Isee. Where’smy cousin,Kate?” “She’sgone to lockherself up innanny’s room. Itold her to do so,so that that madw o m a nwouldn’t attackher.”

“Michel, doyou know howRafiu got toknow that Deanis in town andat my place?”

“Ah, madam,one can’t say o!Someone mayhave seen himand madamKate at theairport, andtrailed them tothis place. OrMr. Deanhimself, mayhave rung upsomeone to tellhim/her thathe’s in townand where.Calling thePolice is best,madam. They’lltake them up tothe Policestation, andthat’s that. Theywill have tophone peoplewho will go bailthem out. Thatwill be theirproblem.” “Andyou don’t think


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62 — Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012

ELECTIONS domi-nated the weekend

in Africa and Europewhere voters in Egypt,Greece and France wentout to exercise their fran-chise. Egyptians were inthe second day of theircliff hanger presidentialelection where they werefaced with two extemitiesof either choosing the Is-lamic fundamentalist can-didate Mr. MohammedMorsy or the formerprime minister in Mubar-aks administration, Mr.Ahmed Shafiq

Reports from Cairo saidthe second round of thepresidential election wascharacterised by low turnout as Egyptian mulledover their choices as 82million Egyptians, for-eign investors and alliesin the United States andEurope remain unsure ofwhat kind of state themost populous Arab na-tion will be after the elec-tion.

Critics denounced thecourt’s parliament rulingas a “soft coup” and com-pared it to the start of Al-geria’s civil war, when thearmy cancelled an elec-

Egypt, France, Greece hold crucialelections

tion won by Islamists 20years ago. But the Broth-erhood renounced vio-lence as a means toachieve political changein Egypt decades ago

and an Islamist uprisingin the 1990s was crushedby Mubarak and thesame security forceswhich have survived lastyear’s revolt intact.

Egyptian Security men supervising voting, yesterday

IN France, the vote inthe parliamentary

run-off yesterday was ex-pected to hand PresidentFrancois Hollande’s So-cialist party a majorityand strengthen his posi-tion in legislative battlesover euro zone crisis pol-icy. A clear majority reli-ant neither on oppositionconservatives nor euros-ceptic hard leftists, as

... As Socialists lead in France

opinion polls suggest,would be a boon as Hol-lande prepares legisla-tion to raise taxes, adjustbudget spending and rat-ify an EU fiscal disciplinepact.

Meanwhile, Also inGreeks voters went topolls yesterday in anelection that could decidewhether their heavily in-debted country stays inthe euro zone or is forcedtowards the exit, poten-tially unleashing shocksthat could break up Eu-rope’s single currency.

All the main parties saythey will keep Greece inthe single currency, butSYRIZA leader AlexisTsipras believes he canrenegotiate the deal.

SAUDI Arabia’s KingAbdullah yesterday

buried his former heir,Crown Prince Nayef, yes-terday before naming anew successor at a chal-lenging time for theworld’s top oil exporterand self-styled steward ofIslam.

The crown prince’s bodyarrived in Jeddah yester-day a day after his death,where it was met at KingKhaled Airport by a hostof Saudi princes. Amongthem was the most likelycandidate to take the po-sition to succeed the 89-year-old king is PrinceSalman, 76, another son

Saudi buries crown prince

of Saudi Arabia’s founderAbdulaziz ibn Saud.

The new crown princewill become heir to a kingwho is aged 89 at a timewhen Saudi Arabia facesa variety of challenges athome and abroad.

MITT Romney hasaccused Presi-

dent Barak Obama ofplaying politics with theproposed deportation ofmigrant in irregular situ-ation in America. Romneysaid yesterday that thePresident’s decision tohalt deportation of800,000 young illegal mi-grants He said the deci-sion was politically moti-vated but refused to sayhe would repeal the or-der if elected president.

Obama haltsmigrants'deportation

RODNEY King,whose beating by

police in 1991 sparkedthe LA race riots, wasfound dead in his swim-ming pool early Sunday,authorities said. He was47. Rialto Police CaptainRandy Deanda said Kingwas found “unrespon-sive” at the bottom of hispool after a call from hisfiancee and was pro-nounced dead at a localmedical center shortly af-terward. “Preliminarily,there do not appear to be

Rodney King, Police brutalityvictim, dies at 47

•Rodney King

any signs of foul play,”Deanda added, notingthat police were conduct-ing a drowning investiga-tion and that the coroner’soffice would perform anautopsy.

CHINESE PresidentHu Jintao has

urged members of theGroup of 20 (G20) to sticktogether and addressEurope’s debt crisis in a“constructive andcooperative” way to boostmarket confidence.

In a written interview

China seeks G8 unitywith Mexican newspaperReforma ahead of the G20summit and elections inGreece, Hu said: “In thecurrent world economicenvironment, the G20members should sticktogether in difficult timesand pursue win-wincooperation.”

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T E S E -

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CMYK

Vanguard, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012 — 63

Keshi

football book on tactics,he showed this report-er the tactical approachhe has adopted andpointed out why theteam had not perfectedit. But he hoped thatthey would later get itright even if it meansadjusting not only onpositional play of theplayers but also bring-ing fresh legs. ”It will not be wise tomake many changes ata time. W are going onbreak now but we willcontinue the search forgood players and moreplayers at home andabroad will be givenchances. The boys wehave now will also getbetter with time. I knowwhat I see in trainingand what they do inmatch situations and Iknow that pressure af-fects them. If we had a

Continues from BP tough and big leaguewith thousands of fanswatching games thisproblem will not bethere. They would getused to big occasionsand play their normalgame in match situa-tions. I have been talk-ing to them to takematches as if they arethe same game theyplay in training andnote that the only dif-ference is the jerseysthat they are wearing.The moment they getthat feeling right andforget about the crowdyou will see a muchimproved side. Therewill be a time goodcrowd will inspire rath-er than overwhelmthem.”

Keshi commended theboys for the victoryagainst Rwanda butwarned that toughertasks lie ahead

Athletes flood Calabar

night disclosed that allwas now set for a verycompetitive trials thatwill put to test thepreparedness ofNigerian athletes for theLondon 2012 Olympicsand the AfricanChampionships billedfor next week in BeninRepublic.

“We have done all thenecessary preparationsfor the trials. It remainsfor the athletes to comeand prove that theydeserve a place in theNigerian team to the

Continues from BPOlympics and Africanchampionships,” Ogbastated.

Apart from the trialsthe Nigerian men’s4x100 and 4x400m relayteams will attempt tolaunch themselves intothe world top 16qualifiers after theyfailed to achieve the featat the Warri Relays andgrand prix last week.The women havealready qualified, butthey still need to run afaster time to guaranteetheir stay in the top 16.

Gullit

during their marriage,according to reports

Estelle, 33, has splitfrom the former Dutchfootball star and fallenin love with a worldchampion kickboxer –21 years younger thanGullit.

She told Dutch paperDe Telegraaf that sheblamed her husband’sinfidelity for the end oftheir 12-year marriage.

Estelle said: “Ofcourse Ruud had af-fairs. He always didduring our marriage.And of course I knewabout them.

“And of course hewould deny them allthe time. My trust inhim decreased over theyears. In the end Ididn’t trust him onebit.

“That was the moment

Continues from BPI started to ask myself,what is this whole mar-riage actually basedon?”

“I put on a bravesmile for a long timewhen I was withfriends.”

Estelle claims Ruud,49, was stunned whenshe said she wanted adivorce.

She said: “Ruud is an-gry and confused. Hecan’t believe what ishappening. He was re-ally angry when I toldhim I was leaving him.”

Ruud told Dutch me-dia this week that hewas getting divorced“because of recent -de-velopments in his mar-riage”.

The couple married in2000 after four years to-gether. Their relation-ship started when Es-telle was just 17.

Eagles on break, Keshi recountssleepless nights

NI G E R I A ’ s

national team;the Super Eagles onSunday officially took abreak from soccer actionand are scheduled toreturn betweenSeptember and October,with an early call inAugust, if the NFFaccepts an invitationaltourney from its Indiancounterpart.

The team took a breakafter its 2-0 win overRwanda in the AFCONqualifier played at the UJEsuene Stadium inCalabar, the Cross RiverState capital. Dayo EnebiAchor, the team’s Scribewho spoke on behalf ofNFF Scribe, MusaAmadu, said at themoment there is nothingon ground for the team,but a clearer picture willemerge in the comingweeks.

The NFF has alsomeanwhile scheduled ameeting with thetechnical crew in thecoming days in Abuja.The meeting is tostreamline preparationsfor the next round ofqualifiers and also ensurethat Nigeria is not caughtunaware in the qualifiers.

Meanwhile, Eaglesboss Stephen Keshi, hasspoken of how he has hadto wake up late at nightand early in the morningsto pray with unknownNigerians in the bid toensure that the countrydoes not miss outconsecutively from theNations Cup.

ARSENAL are indanger of losing

Theo Walcott on a freetransfer.The winger went to Euro2012 with just a year lefton his Gunners deal.England’s goal heroagainst Sweden is wait-ing to see if Robin vanPersie can be persuadedto stay before committinghimself.Juventus are ready tomake a huge pre-contractoffer in January if Walcottdoes not sign.Dutch hero Van Persiealso has just a year to run.If he decides against anew deal, then Walcott isprepared to sit tight andlet Europe’s elite come tohim in the winter trans-fer window.A source said: “It seemsunbelievable the club hasleft it until well into thelast year of the contractsand still not managed toget either player sorted.”Italian giants Juve aredesperate to land VanPersie and Walcott couldbe tempted to join him.Real Madrid are anotheroption for Van Persie,with Manchester Cityand Chelsea also willingto break the bank for him.

Walcott's quit fear

PAIR OF ACES ... but could both Robin Van Persieand Theo Walcott leave Arsenal?

2008 BeijingOlympics medalist,

Blessing Okagbare andone of Africa’s foremostbanks, First Bank ofNigeria Plc, believeNigeria youths havewhat it takes to excel inlife.

Okagbare, who isFirst Bank’sambassador to the

Okagbare, First Bank inspire Nigerian youthsLondon 2012 OlympicGames, was the specialguest during aninteractive session witha group of students atthe National Institutefor Sports (NIS)charged the students toremain focus in life.

She said: “In life, youhave to set goals foryourself and worktowards achieving them.At the same time, youhave to surroundyourself with positive-thinking people and stayfocus, even if things arerough. At the beginningof my athletics career,one man told me not to

bother myself, saying Iwas too fragile to runand that I cannotachieve anything fromthe track but look atwhere I am today.Whenever I see the mantoday, I just laugh.

“What I am tellingyou is that if you setgoals for yourself thatyou will become abanker, you have to worktowards making it areality. As an athlete,you have to be mindfulof the type of food youeat to avoid running intothe danger of takingsubstances that containssteroids.

CHEERING news!That is what is

coming out of TeamNigeria’s camp inGermany with headcoach of weightliftingPatrick Basseydeclaring that they areat home and shapingup well ahead of theOlympics.The coach who was fullof praise for theNational SportsCommission (NSC) formaking the campingpossible noted that hisathletes are trainingunder excellentsporting facilities thatwould put them in theright frame of mindbefore the Londongames. “We are at home herein Germany and ourpreparations aremoving on smoothly.The facilities we havein camp are excellent

Ahead London 2012: We arehome in Germany — Bassey

and the athletes areconcentrating on thetask ahead. TheNational SportsCommission (NSC)has done well bygetting us to a placewhere we can fullyconcentrate and perfectour strategies beforegoing to London,” hesaid.

Mozambique 1 Tanza-nia 1 (Mozambiquewon 8-7 on penalties)Zimbabwe 1 Burundi0 (Zimbabwe qualify onaway goals rule)Ethiopia 1 Benin 1(Ethiopia qualify)Togo 1 Kenya 0 (Togoqualify 2-2 on awaygoals rule)D.R Congo 3 Sey-chelles 0 (Congothrough 7-0).

Afcon Results•Ike Uche in action against Rwanda

CMYK

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e-mail: [email protected]

How to Play SudokuTHE 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.

QUICK CROSSWORD

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

TODAY'S PUZZLES YESTERDAY'S ANSWERS

VANGUARD, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012

Pacquiao cries for revenge

Today’s Fixtures

Croatia v Spain 7:45pmItaly v Republic of Ire-land 7:45pm

Why Eagles are notyet perfect — Keshi

BY ONOCHIE

ANIBEZE

MVP.......Acting InspectorGeneral of Police, Moham-med D. Abubakar (R) pre-sents the MVP award toGabriel Ruben of SuperEagles during the Nationscup qualifier againstRwanda in Calabar. Pho-to by Sylva Eleanya.

TWENTY four hoursafter Nigeria’s 2-0

victory in a NationsCup qualifier againstRwanda coach StephenKeshi was in a relaxedmood in his hotel roomin Calabar. He reviewed thematch and said “thebuilding process contin-ues and we will invitefew more players and seehow we will continue toblend.” On Saturday he blamedsome lapses on pressureand hoped that, withtime, the players wouldget used to big occa-sions. He still harped onit yesterday and addedthat with more matchesthe players will displaybetter organisation anddiscipline in match exe-cution. Armed with a

CContinues on Page 63

Athletes flood Calabar for Olympic trials

NIGERIAN foreignand local based

athletes have arrived in

BY BEN EFECalabar preparing forthe All Nigeria/CrossRiver Championships,which begin Tuesday at

the U.J Esuene Stadium.Athletics Federation of

Nigeria president,Solomon Ogba after

meeting with CrossRiver State Governor,Senator Liyel Imoke last

CContinues on Page 63

•Eagles on break

Top stories P63

•Walcott's quit fear

Gullit’s wife gives him red card

SOCCER

legendR u u dGullit’sw i f eh a sg i v e nhim ther e dc a r dbecauses h eclaims

he had a series of affairsCContinues on Page 63

Split ... Ruud Gullit andwife Estelle at theirweddding

HOTSHOT•••Super Eagles’ Moses Victor (left)drives a shotbeyond Rwanda’s Salomon Nirisarike, during the weekend’sNations Cup qualifier in Calabar. Nigeria won 2-0. PHOTOBY SYLVA ELEANYA.

ACROSS

4 Test (5)7 Non-moral (6)9 Serpent (3)10 Immerse (3)12 Material (5)13 Ballet-skirt (4)15 Weird (5)17 Promise (6)19 Notch (4)20 Revel (5)22 Faucet (3)24 Lived (7)27 Fellow (3)28 Delete (5)31 Roster (4)33 Antenna (6)35 Imposing (5)37 Need (4)38 Sword (5)39 Brown (3)41 Consume (3)42 Hammer (6)43 Sheet (5)

DOWN

1 Succulent (6)2 Bomb-thrower (6)3 Lump (3)4 Wine (4)5 Rate (5)6 Lightness (8)8 Place (4)11 Relevant (9)14 Employer (4)16 Peruse (4)18 Pip (4)21 View (8)23 Rind (4)25 Settee (4)26 Sketched (4)29 Tillable (6)30 Property (6)32 Tally (5)34 Cheese (4)36 Genuine (4)40 Horse (3)

ACROSS: 1, Pail 4, Ink 6, Stay 9, Air10, Boastful 11, Beer 14, Has 16, Ce-dar 19, Epidemic 21, Metal 23, Stop33, Initiate 34, Ewe 35, Bred 36, Try37, Lump

DOWN: 2, Anon 3, Last 4, Inflamed 5, Kill 6,Sabre 7, Tie 8, Arena 12, Beast 13, Miner 14,Hem 15, Sited 17, Death 18, Ready 20, Ca-pacity 22, Lay 25, Outer 26, Coped 28, Wilt29, Bill 30, Stem 32, Owe.

CMYK

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