...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61889

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013**

Mr & Mrs

DONUKOGBARA

COLUMNISTS:

ADISAADELEYE

Amaechi, Yuguda,Shema in final battle•Presidency jittery; adopts Plan B to woo Amaechi if...•Northern govs weigh options; Amaechi calm, hopeful

•P.55

Continues on page 5

ACHEBE'S FUNERAL SERVICE—From left: Former Vice President, Chief Alex Ekwueme; Representative of thePresident of Liberia, Prof. Al-Hassan Conteh; President of Ghana, Dr. John Dramani Mahama; President Goodluck Jonathan andGov. Peter Obi of Anambra State, at the funeral service for late Prof. Chinua Achebe at Ogidi, Anambra State, yesterday. More onPages14-16.

NGF ELECTION:

DANGOTEAGM

From left: Alhaji AlikoDangote, PresidentDangote Group; Mr.DVG Edwin, GroupManaging Director andMr. Olakunle Alake, Di-rector, at the 4th AnnualGeneral Meeting ofDangote Cement Plc inAbuja, yesterday.

•P.10

Why we'rewhere we aretoday

BY SONI DANIEL,REGIONAL EDITOR,

NORTH & HENRYUMORU

ABUJA—UNCERTAINTY fired by a

web of intrigues, lastnight, shadowed aspira-tions of three of the na-tion’s governors ahead

Nigerian-born Adebolajoconfirmed as Londonsoldier attack suspect

•Pg.8

EMERGENCY RULE:Govs lose accessto state funds

GROUNDED AIRCRAFT:House of Reps clearsAmaechi; indicts NCAA, NAMA

—P.6

•P.17

CMYK

2— Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 24, 2013

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 24, 2013—3

CMYK

4 —Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

BY HENRY UMORU

RECONCILIATION. From left: Chairman, Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Lagos State, Capt. TunjiShelle; National PDP chieftain, Chief Bode George in handshake with former Minister for Works, SenatorAdeseye Ogunlewe and Chief George Taylor during the reconciliation between Bode George and SenatorOgunlewe at the wake keep of late Mr. Tunde Savage at Bola Memorial Anglican Church, Abule inLagos, yesterday.

Lafia Killings: Sen Ewugapledges to submit reportto the Senate soon

ABUJA—SENATOR Solomon Ewuga, represent-

ing Nasarawa North in Nasa-rawa State, yesterday, said hewould soon present his reporton the alleged massacre of overover 90 security operatives atLakyo village, near Lafia, capi-tal of Nasarawa State, to theSenate.

Ewuga told Vanguard on thetelephone that he had visitedthe scene of the incident andcarried out a research on thedevelopment, saying that theUpper Chamber would be in-formed about what actuallytranspired in the village.

Asked if he would brokerpeace talks between the Ombat-se group which reportedly car-ried out the attack and the stategovernment, Ewuga said hewould not comment further onthe matter.

The Ombatse cultists weresaid to have attacked policemensaid to be on a mission to arresttheir 76 year old leader, Baba

Lakyo, and recover arms saidto be in his possession.

However, Senator Ewuga onWednesday paid a visit to thespiritual head, Ala Agu at La-kyo Village in Nasarawa SouthLocal Council, who denied re-sponsibility for the killing of thesecurity men in his village onMay 7.

Ala Agu said that he was noton the run as being speculat-ed, as he was yet to receive anypolice invitation.

He noted that informationreaching him revealed that thepolicemen and other operativesof the Department of State Ser-vices, DSS, were instructed tocome and kill him, adding: “Iam grateful for your coming,senator. I am very, very grate-ful for your coming. Even if thesenator did not come here, I hadintended to go and see him inhis house but since he is here,I am very grateful.

“It is the state governor thatasked the people (police offic-ers) to come here and arrest me,cut my head and take my head

to him. When they came, be-cause they were themselvesdrunk, my god did not allowthem to come to me and theydied on the way. The questionI ask is, has the governor everinvited me and I refused to go?But he sent people to come andkill me and destroy Lakyo as awhole. That is just what it is.”

THE Federal Governmentdeclalred May 29, 2013 as

public holiday to celebrate the2013 Democracy Day.

Minister of Interior, ComradeAbba Moro who announced thisurged Nigerians to deepen theirparticipation in democratic gov-ernance to pass on the baton ofcredible and good governance to

FG declares May 29 public holidayupcoming generations.

In a statement signed by per-manent secretary Mrs A. Daniel-Nwaobia, Morro congratulatedNigerians on the attainment ofyet another successful year of thepresident's transformationagenda,and urged them to sup-port Mr. President to deepen dem-ocratic governance in the coun-try.

POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 24, 2013—5

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

Continues from page 1

Amaechi, Yuguda, Shemabattle for NGF chairmanship

You may not control all the events that happen toyou, but you can decide not to be reduced by them- Maya Angelou. How you react to something de-termines what the thing becomes.

Every single thing that has ever happened in yourlife is preparing you for a moment that is yet tocome — Mack And Angel Hack

IN your quiet moments, what do you think about?How far you’ve come, or how far you have to

go? Your strengths or your weaknesses? In your quietmoments, pay attention to your thoughts. Becausemaybe, just maybe, the only thing that needs to shiftin order for you to experience more happiness, morelove, and more vitality, is your way of thinking. Hereare some thought-provoking quotes from Mack andAngel Hack about life lessons that may help youadjust your way of thinking.

You cannot change what you refuse to confront.Sometimes good things fall apart, so better thingscan fall together. Don’t think of cost. Think of value.Sometimes you need to distance yourself to seethings clearly. Too many people buy things theydon’t need with money they don’t have to impresspeople they don’t know. No matter how many mis-takes you make or how slow you progress, you arestill way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying. If peo-ple want to be part of your life, they will make obvi-ous effort to do so. Think twice before reserving aspace in your heart for people who do not make aneffort to stay. Saying someone is ugly doesn’t makeyou any prettier. The only normal people you knoware the ones you don’t know very well. Life is 10%of what happens to you and 90% of how you react toit.

COMMISSIONING—From left: Dr. Yewande Adesina, Special Adviser to Governor Fashola on Pub-lic Health; Gov. Babatunde Fashola of Lagos State; Dr. Robin Sanders, former U.S. Ambassador toNigeria and Dr. Jide Idris, Commissioner for Health, during the Flag-off ceremony of Ajara Compre-hensive Primary Health Care Flagship Centre, by Lagos State Governor at Ajara, Badagry, LagosState,yesterday. Photo: Bunmi Azeez.

of today’s election of anew chairman of the Ni-gerian Governors Forum.

Three governors- theincumbent, RotimiAmaechi of Rivers State;Ibrahim Shema ofKatsina State and IsaYuguda of Bauchi State

were the three candi-dates listed by the secre-tariat of the NGF for theelection.

However, the shape ofthe contest was, lastnight, still being framedby the determination ofassociates of the presi-dent to stave off

Amaechi’s re-election bypersuading his two rivalsto join forces againsthim.

Northern govsweigh options

Besides, many North-ern governors are alsoafraid that electing oneof their own as the NGFchairman could endan-ger their chance to pro-duce the president in2015.

The Northern gover-nors could also play adecisive role at a meet-ing scheduled for thismorning where theyhope to take a decisionon the chairmanship ofthe forum.

Following the NGSFmeeting, the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDPGovernors Forum, PDP-GF is also expected tohold consultations beforethe governors assembleat the Rivers State Gov-ernors Lodge for the de-cisive contest.

Findings by Vanguardshowed that Amaechisubmitted his form onWednesday morningwhile Shema sent in hislater that day.

Governor Yuguda onthe other hand, filed hispaper for the contest onThursday afternoon afterall efforts to persuadeShema to step down forhim appeared to havefailed.

Initial reports had indi-cated that the Presidencywanted Shema to takeover from Amaechi so asto boost his profile andput him in a position totake over from the currentVice President, NamadiSambo.

However, some analystswithin the Presidencyare said to have pre-vailed on the President toswing his support fromShema and give it toYuguda, whom they con-sider to be more loyaland politically useful tothe Jonathan camp.

Vanguard learnt that itwas based on the adviceof the strategists thatGovernor Yuguda, whowas not in the picture ofthe NGF election, wasdrafted last week to be-gin preparations for thepost.

The governor is said tohave been persuaded tojoin the race based alsoon the refusal of manyNorthern governors toback the candidature ofShema.

Yuguda Vs Shema

Vanguard’s investiga-tions revealed that nofewer than eight of the 10Northern governors saidto be sympathetic toJonathan, had throwntheir weight behindYuguda and askedShema to perish thethought of running

against Amaechi, as hewould not be able to dis-lodge the Rivers StateGovernor.

The decision to dumpShema for Yuguda is saidto have jolted theKatsina Governor, whohad, in anger, reportedlyshunned all entreaties tostep down for Yuguda.

Analysts fear that thepresentation of two can-didates by the Jonathancamp against Amaechicould weaken the Presi-dent’s camp and giveeasy victory to the in-cumbent.

Worried by the devel-opment, top PDP chief-tains, led by GovernorGodswill Akpabio, whohad been in Abuja formany days coordinatingthe pro-Jonathan’s camp,held series of fence-mending meetings lastnight to put the camp inorder so as to present acommon front to chal-lenge Amaechi, who ap-peared unperturbed bythe deluge of politicalintrigues against him.

A source close to Gov-ernor Yuguda told Van-guard that the governor,who had since filed hisnomination papers withthe NGF Secretariat, wasalready in Abuja and washopeful he wouldemerge as the next NGFchairman.

“Everything is okay.The governor emailedhis nomination form di-rectly to the DG of theNGF. The DG received itand confirmed receiptand we are ready for theelection,” the sourcesaid.

“Governor Yuguda isgoing to contest the NGFelection basically becausehe believes in the peaceand unity of the countryand for the success ofMr. President. That iswhy he wants to contestso as to assist him,” thesource added.

But a source close toGovernor Amaechi toldVanguard in Abuja thatthe governor was the

candidate to beat, givenhis performance duringhis first term.

“I can tell you thatAmaechi will be re-elected to continue hisgood work as the NGFchairman,” the sourcesaid.

Amaechi calm,hopeful

“As it is now, if the elec-tion is conducted undera free and fair atmos-phere Amaechi is sure tocarry the day irrespectiveof the lies being churnedout against him by hisdetractors.

“But we are certain thattruth is constant and can-not be hidden for toolong. All those who arerising up against thegovernor for no justcause will soon see rea-son and retrace theirsteps,” an aide said.

But the Presidencymight have devised aplan B to save itself inthe event of Amaechi be-ing re-elected by the gov-ernors in a secret ballot,which they hope to use.

The Presidency is saidto be mulling the idea ofdialoguing with the em-battled governor andwooing him back to itsfold as one of the loyalgovernors of the PDP.

Already, some well-placed PDP chieftainsare said to have beendespatched by the Presi-dency to make peace withAmaechi and to assurehim that no harm wouldcome his way despite therecent political disagree-ments.

Many of such emissar-ies met with Amaechilast night and tried topersuade him to supportthe President’s re-elec-tion in 2015, which ap-pears to be the bone ofcontention between thetwo politicians from theNiger Delta.

The NGF, which startedas a platform for gover-nors to share ideas onnational issues, gainedmore prominence underthe Rotimi Amaechi lead-ership and forced thePresidency to abandonmany arbitrary decisions.

6 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Adebolajo confirmed as London soldierattack suspect

BY LEKE ADESERI,WITH AGENCY REPORT

LAGOS — ONE of the terrorsuspects accused of butcher-

ing a British soldier on a Lon-don street has been identified asMichael Adebolajo, said to havebeen raised in a devout Chris-tian family but converted to Is-lam after college, reports said.

A Muslim cleric named the 28-year-old, although authoritieswere yet to confirm his identityearly yesterday.

“He converted around 2003 toIslam, before I met him and Iknew him as his convert nameMujaheed when he used to at-tend our demonstration and lec-tures,” claimed London clericAnjem Choudary, according to‘Metro UK’.

Choudary, himself a controver-sial imam in Britain and outspo-ken critic of the wars in Iraq andAfghanistan, called Adebolajo a‘quiet and pleasant lad.’

The self-proclaimed jihadi mayhave been a student at London’sUniversity of Greenwich andlived in the area around 2004 and2005. A spokeswoman for theschool wouldn’t confirm, yester-day, whether he attendedclasses.

Adebolajo is allegedly seen ina cell phone video clutching abloodied knife and ranting justmoments after the soldier wasviciously slaughtered and be-headed Wednesday afternoon“like a piece of meat,” witnessessaid.

The other suspect, seen wear-ing a tan coat and shouting, “Wewant to start a war in London to-night!” has not been identified.

They were both shot aftercharging at police at the scenein London’s Woolwich neigh-bourhood. They remain in sepa-rate hospitals held by armedguards.

Government sources suggestboth Adebolajo and his accom-

plice were known to the securityservices, MI5 and police, accord-ing to reports.

Adebolajo’s familyhouse raided

A home belonging toAdebolajo’s family was raidedyesterday morning after authori-ties obtained a search warrant.

Other property in the Londonarea were also being searched,according to reports.

“This is in connection with theongoing investigation into themurder of a man in Woolwich.The Metropolitan Police are notprepared to discuss the matterfurther at this stage,” authorities

said in a statement.Neighbours of the family in Lin-

colnshire, about 150 miles northof the murder scene, said theyhad lived there for about a dec-ade.

Adebolajo’s father, AnthonyAdebolajo, is described as a 56-year-old nurse of Nigerian de-scent, according to the website‘This is Lincolnshire’. He alsoreportedly has a brother and asister.

“They were very quiet peopleand kept to themselves,” saidneighbour Marjorie Arnold.“There always used to be threecars parked on their drive, butyesterday I noticed there wasonly one.

“There were lots of cars parkedaround here last night,” sheadded. “I thought there musthave been a party. It is all quitedisturbing.”

London authoritiesbeef up security

London authorities have beefedup security and deployed 1,200extra officers on the streets aswell as at houses of worship.

Although both of the suspectsare believed to have convertedto a radical form of Islam, theyweren’t immediately linked toterror groups in Nigeria, such asthe jihadist organization BokoHaram.

The soldier who was killed isbelieved to be about 20 and wasnot identified early yesterday.

Cameron speakson the killing

British Prime Minister DavidCameron cut short his visit toFrance to meet with his emer-gency crisis committee. He spokepublicly yesterday morning aboutthe barbaric killing.

“The fault lies solely and purelywith the sickening individualswho carried out this appalling at-tack,” Cameron said.

He added that Britain wouldnot give in to terrorism, and “thiswas not just an attack on Britainand the British way of life - it wasalso a betrayal of Islam.”

The Prime Minister also praisedIngrid Loyau-Kennett, a 48-year-old Cub Scout leader and momwho was so outraged by the day-time attack that she confrontedone of the suspects — eventhough he was brandishing along butcher's knife.

“When told by an attacker thathe wanted to start a war in Lon-don she replied, ‘You’re going tolose, it is only you versus many’- she spoke for us all,” Cameronsaid.The suspect, Michael Adebolajo, with bloodied knife.

Son machetes father to death in EnuguAs 56-year-old man commits suicide

BY TONY EDIKE his mother.Vanguard gathered that the

unfortunate incident took placeat about 2 p.m on May 18 atUmuonu Umuida where theson of the deceased allegedlymacheted his father who wasbelieved to be about 65 yearsold to a state of unconscious-ness.

The victim was, however,rushed to the General Hospi-tal, Ogrute Enugu Ezikewhere he was confirmed deadwhile his corpse was depositedat the hospital’s mortuary.

The state Police Public Rela-tions Officer, Ebere Amaraizu,DSP, confirmed the incident,saying the command had al-ready commenced investiga-

tion into the incident.In a related development, the

police said a 56-year-old-manhad allegedly hung himself on awall hanger in his room atUmuenachi Amalla Egazi inUdenu Local Government Areaof Enugu State.

Amaraizu said the victim whois said to be suffering from a par-tial stroke reportedly committedsuicide in his room. He said thelifeless body was found hangingon the wall hanger at about7.30a.m on May 21.

He said investigations hadcommenced into the incidentwhile the body of the deceasedhad been deposited at Prince EzeHospital Mortuary, Obollo Aforfor post mortem examination.

ENUGU— A 65-year-oldman, Mr. Felix Atta, a na-

tive of Umuonu Umuida com-munity, Enugu Ezike inIgboeze North Local Govern-ment Area of Enugu State hasallegedly been killed by hisson.

The alleged murderer iden-tified as one Ejiofor Atta, ac-cording to the police, used amachete to slaughter his fatherfor reasons yet to be known.

He was said to have gone intohiding after committing thecrime and security men andfamily members have com-menced manhunt for him.

According to report, Ejiofor,about six years ago murdered

Renewedcommunalclash claimscop in Lagos

BY BOSE ADELAJA

LAGOS — RENEWEDcommunal clash in

Ikorodu area of LagosState has reportedlyclaimed the life of a police-man and injured unspeci-fied number of persons.

The Policeman (nameswithheld) was said to beone of the officers postedto Mowonla area ofIkorodu to prevent furthercrisis in the town.

Vanguard gathered thatthe issue degenerated,Tuesday night, when somemembers of Ifegunwa fam-ily were involved in a re-prisal attack having out-numbered the policemenon patrol in the area. Atthe end of the day, one ofthe policemen died fromgunshot wounds.

The hoodlums number-ing up to 100 were said tohave used dangerousweapons freely during thecrisis that continued till thefollowing morning leadingto destruction of lives andproperty.

Some residents who spokeon condition of anonymitytold Vanguard that they hadrelocated their families toother parts of Ikorodu as theydid not know when the crisiswould end.

"We have fled the townpending the time govern-ment will wade into the crisiswhich has claimed the livesof many,’’ said one of the resi-dents.

Effort to reach Area 'N' Com-mandant, Mr. N. Marcus, onthe issue proved abortive ashe simply told Vanguard onphone: "Please, I am busynow, please."

...as Jonathan condemns killingBY BEN AGANDE

ABUJA — PRESIDENTGoodluck Jonathan has con-

demned the terrorist attack in theUnited Kingdom that led to thebrutal murder of a British soldier,Drummer Lee Rigby of the 2ndBattalion, the Royal Regiment ofFusiliers in the Woolwich.

In a statement by Special Ad-viser to the President on Mediaand Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati,yesterday, President Jonathansaid he was shocked at the ter-rorist attack and strongly con-demned the unfortunate inci-dent.

According to Abati, “PresidentJonathan conveys his sincere con-dolences to the British PrimeMinister David Cameron and theBritish people over this senselessand barbaric act, and shares their

grief at this moment.“President Jonathan notes that

a terrorist attack anywhere is anattack on the way of life of all freenations and must be collectivelycondemned by all persons irre-spective of race, ethnicity or reli-gion.

“It is in this spirit that the Ni-gerian government is partneringwith the British Government aswell as all other stakeholder sov-ereigns to stand up to and fightterrorism and extremism in what-ever guise or pretense it choosesto present itself.

“President Jonathan recog-nizes that each environmentpresents its own unique chal-lenges and peculiarities and ac-tions taken by affected nationsmay differ, yet the resolve to con-front and defeat this threat shouldnever be in doubt."

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MaY 24, 2013 — 7

Police arrest fake bishop, prophet over foiled kidnapBY EMMA AMAIZE &

AKPOKONA OMAFUAIRE

WARRI— TWO men, sus-pected to be fake pastors,

have been arrested by the policein Warri, Delta State over a foiledkidnap attempt on the propri-etress of Shammar Children'sSchool, Udu Road, near Sedecoarea in Udu, Mrs. OnyiIkemefuna and a pupil.

One of them, Anslem, claimedto be the “Bishop” of a Pentecos-tal church in Warri, while theother, Joseph, purported to be aprophet.

The suspects were, yesterdaytaken to the church allegedly runby the “bishop” for a search of thepremises.

A source told Vanguard: “Luckran out of the duo when the pro-

prietress, who initially reportedthe kidnap attempt on her, peti-tioned the Area Commander,Warri, alleging that the police atEnerhen Division collected N2million bribe to pervert justice.”

She said in the petition, datedMay 20, 2013, by her lawyer, MrA.E. Efole, that the fake prophet,who claimed to be working for the“bishop” was apprehended in herschool when he came to kidnap apupil in her school under theguise of coming to give proph-ecy to her.

“On May 15, 2013, at about9.45 am, one of the suspects,Joseph, came to our client’sschool and introduced himself toone of the administrative staff asa man of God from Voice of GodPrayer Ministry, 40, Peter OdiliRoad, off Trans-Amadi Slaugh-

ter Abuluma, Port Harcourt andrequested to see the victim. Theadministrative staff said the vic-tim was not around.

“Consequent upon that, the sus-pect became agitated, whichmade the administrative staff tocorner him into a privacy to knowwhy he was in that mood and heconfided in her that two of thevictim’s staff are planning to kid-nap her, which they attemptedthe day the victim travelled withall the school people, but that theplan was foiled due to God’s in-tervention.

“The supposed man of God alsorevealed to the administrative staffthat the victim would find herselfin a big predicament due to jeal-ousy by others. He was entreatedto wait, but he insisted he has toreturn to Port Harcourt that same

Police,NDLEA clashin court overpower toprosecute

BY GBENGA ARIYIBI

ADO EKITI — THE Policeand the National Drug

Law Enforcement Agency,NDLEA, yesterday, engagedin a battle of wit over whoamong them has statutorypower to prosecute drug of-fences

The face-off came to the foreat the Federal High Court,Ado Ekiti when a case involv-ing alleged possesion of nar-cotic drug (Indian hemp) byan accused person, AndrewDaniel, came up for hearing

During the hearing,NDLEA’s Director of Prosecu-tion, Mr. Femi Oloruntoba,argued based on the sixthparagraph ‘Preliminary Ob-jection’ earlier filed againstthe statutory power of Inspec-tor General of Police to pros-ecute matter relating to al-leged possesion of Narcotics.

He clarified that the saidsection under which the ac-cused person was chargedclearly indicated that it wasan NDLEA matter.

In his argument, Officer-in-Charge of Legal Matters forthe Police, Ekiti State Com-mand, Mr. Femi Falade,toldthe court that Section 23 of thePolice Act gave the sole powerto police to initiate, instituteand prosecute all criminalproceedings.

However, the presidingjudge, Justice Adamu Hobon,ruled that by the NDLEA ActPromugation of 1989, that thepower to prosecute drug re-lated issues had beingtransfered to the agency,NDLEA.

Police nab couple, two others overalleged babies' stealing, sale

The suspects

My husband lured me into it — Wife

BY EVELYN USMAN &UJU MBANUSI

hour but that he could drop hisphone number.

“When the victim returned atabout 11.00am, the whole episodewas narrated to her and she optedfor the phone number and got intouch with Joseph who eventu-ally agreed to return from Port-Harcourt since he was alreadythere with the understanding thatthe victim would foot the bill.

“To the consternation of the vic-tim, within an hour after the lastconversation with him, Josephcalled to say he was already fromPort-Harcourt and was atEnerhen Junction and that hewants to see the victim privatelyand when coming out from heroffice, she should be with a littlechild to make the prophecy moreefficacious."

LAGOS — POLICEMEN attached to Ilemba Hausa divi-

sion in Lagos State have arresteda couple and two others who al-legedly specialized in abductingchildren between ages one andfour years and selling them to bar-ren women and motherless homesin the eastern part of the country.

So far, about seven children re-portedly stolen from their parents'homes in Lagos and other partsof the country have been recov-ered from their new homes in Imo,Anambra and Delta states.

One of the stolen children,Ezeaka Uchenna (4) was pickedfrom his parents' home, MaduStreet, Jakande Ojo, Ajagbadiarea of Lagos by one of the sus-pects, Adaeze Mba, on March 18,2013 .

Adaeze who packed into samecompound with the Ezeakas inJanuary 2013, was said to havegone to purchase tapioca fromUchenna’s mother that fatefulday, only to abscond with thechild. The couple immediatelymoved out of the area and alleg-edly sold the child to a couple inObosi, Anambra State forN600,000.

However, during investigation,spokesman for the Lagos StatePolice Command, Ngozi Braide,while parading the suspects, yes-terday, at the Command’s head-quarters, Ikeja, said the police-men acting on a tip-off stormedIkot Ekpene in Akwa Ibom Statewhere the couple were arrested.

“They confessed to have sold thechild to one Mrs Benedict atAsaba, Delta State. We proceededto Asaba where Mrs Benedict wasarrested. She made a confessionalstatement that she buys and sellschildren to barren women and thatshe had sold Uchenna to one MrsPatricia at Obosi in Anambra State.

"Investigation revealed that thecouple had earlier stolenGoodluck Amaechi (3) and Prom-ise Amaechi of same parents inImo State and sold to MrsBenedict. Mrs Bendict confirmedtheir statements and we pro-ceeded to Obosi where the chil-dren were recovered from one

Church of Goodness MotherlessBabies Home.”

Adaeze blames devil

Pregnant Adaeze who hailsfrom Mbatolu Local GovernmentArea of Imo State blamed her in-dulgence on the devil and herhusband, disclosing that theyhave been in the illicit act for fiveyears.

“Please forgive me. I was talkedinto it by my husband. He askedme to get a child for him that hewould pay me N400,000. When Iasked what he wanted to do withthe children, he assured me it wasnot for ritual purpose that hisboss, Mrs Benedict takes them tomotherless babies home.

Our Modus operandi

"Our targets are usually coupleswith more than three children.What we do is to move into an

area, stay for about two to threemonths to get quainted with thepeople and immediately we gotany child, we would leave thevicinity for another area where weare not known. We usually rentsingle room apartments withoutfurnishing them.”

Corroborating her claim, herhusband, Mba, said he venturedinto the act when his sand dredg-ing business was no longer lu-crative.

He said: “When I complainedto a friend, he introduced me toMrs Benedict and since I met her,my life never remained thesame.”

He said a male child was moreexpensive than female, disclos-ing that Madam Benedict paidhim her as much as N600,000 fora male child and four N400,000for female. But for each childbrought by his wife, he said heused to make N200,000 gain.

"What we do is immediately we

succeed in stealing a child, wesend him/her to my boss who inturn sell to motherless babieshome and to barren women. I wasresponsible for my landlord’smissing children. I sold them forN400,000 each in Mbatolu, ImoState.”

How we arrestedBenedict —Police

Vanguard gathered that MrsBenedict was arrested after thepolicemen who posed as preg-nant women called her on phoneto inform her that they had a babyboy for sale. But on arriving thedesignated point in Asaba, DeltaState, the suspect who sensedtrouble was said to have zoomedoff with one of the police womenin her car, in a bid to escape butwas overpowered.

The suspects, according toBraide, would be charged to courtsoon.

22 arrestedover N200mWAEC feefraud in Ogun

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA — NO fewerthan 22 persons have

been arrested in Ogun Statein connection with the N200million West African Exami-nations Council fee fraud al-legedly perpetrated by someofficials of the ministry of Edu-cation in the state.

Vanguard checks revealedthat some of the people ar-rested by the Police were Di-rector, Assistant Director in theministry and all Zonal Edu-cation Officers in the 20 localgovernment areas of the state.

It was gathered that theywere arrested, yesterday, bythe Police and were taken tothe state Police Headquarters,at Eleweran, Abeokuta for in-terrogation.

8—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Grounded aircraft: House of Repsclears Amaechi; indicts NCAA, NAMA

BY SONI DANIEL, RE-GIONAL EDITOR, NORTH,OKEY NDIRIBE & EMMAN

OVUAKPORIE

ABUJA—THE House of Representatives, yesterday,

cleared Rivers State Governor,Chubuike Rotimi Amaechi, of anywrong doing over the incidentsthat culminated in the groundingof the state-owned BombardierAircraft by the Nigerian Civil Avi-ation Authority, NCAA.

Besides, the House also said Riv-ers State is the bonafide owner ofthe B700 Global Express Aircraftwith Registration NumberN565RS with a valid insurancecover that will expire in 2015, con-trary to claims by the aviationagencies that the aircraft belongsto a foreign country and has novalid papers.

The decisions were containedin the report of the committee em-panelled by the House of Repre-sentatives, on April 30, 2013 toprobe the circumstances relatingto the grounding of the RiversState aircraft by the NCAA.

The Committee on Aviation andJustice sat on May 14, 2013 andtook evidence from officials of theNCAA, NAMA, Minister of Avi-ation, Stella Oduah, officials ofCaverton Helicopters and thoseof the Rivers State government.

The report of the committee,which Vanguard obtained yester-day, indicted NCAA and NAMAfor displaying gross ineptitude inhandling the issues that led to thegrounding of the aircraft.

It also lambasted Caverton forfeeding the aviation agencieswith wrong information that ledto the grounding of the aircraftwithout justification.

Asks AGF to prosecuteCaverton for givingwrong information

For that action, the committeehas directed the Attorney Gen-eral of the Federation, Moham-med Adoke, to initiate criminalprosecution against Caverton toserve as deterrent to others in thecountry.

The 11-page report jointly en-dorsed by its chairman on Jus-tice, Ali Ahmed and his Aviationcounterpart, Nkeiruka Onyejeo-cha, noted with dismay that “thelevel of ineptitude of NCAA isglaring in many respects: failureto appreciate from a trust agree-ment that an aircraft belongs toa trustor-beneficiary even aftertheir attention is drawn to it andeven as other aircraft are regis-tered in the name of the sametrustee; non-detection of an ex-pired flight clearance 24 days

after the fact and the detectionwas triggered by an incidentrather than as a matter of course;even if the fact of falsification ofdocuments were true.

“It was unacceptable thatNCAA did not detect this factfor over six months. IndeedNCAA boasted in a letter onApril 29, 2013 that following theincident it undertook a due dil-igence of the status of the air-craft, but even then it failed todetermine the issue of owner-ship and several others.

“Operational and other navi-gational charges were receivedby NAMA and FAAN and oth-er agencies while operating theaircraft and receipts issuedwithout raising alarm as to own-ership of the aircraft by RiversState government

“Perusal of the Trust Agree-ment between Rivers StateTrustor and Bank of Utah Trus-tee would have shown this factof ownership. It is distressingthat NCAA and the Ministrystill fail or refuse to appreciatethis simple fact. But since theauthorities did not raise own-ership issue with several otheraircraft having the name ofBank of Utah Trustees, this al-legation is in bad faith andgrossly unprofessional, as theowner, Rivers State governmentelected to register the aircraftin the U.S. to save money forthe State and avoid unneces-sary bureaucracy.

Aircraft belongs toRivers govt

“Rivers State government,through Caverton, applied tothe Minister of Aviation to im-port and operate the aircraft inNigeria but the application wasnot consummated, and so it isbeing operated in Nigeria as a

foreign aircraft for private use.“As from August 27, 2012 when

it applied on behalf of RiversState government to import theaircraft, Caverton maintainedagency relationship with the gov-ernment; although that relation-ship was abated shortly thereaf-ter with regard to importation ofthe aircraft, other aspects of theagency relationship continuedespecially relating to applica-tions for flight clearance. How-ever, all relationships betweenthe parties were brought to anend by Caverton’s letter of de-nunciated to NCAA dated April26, 2013.

NCAA, NAMAculpable

"As owner and operator of theaircraft, neither Rivers State gov-ernment nor its officials forgedor falsified any document towardsecuring flight clearances or anyother licence.

“Should top management ofCaverton deny transacting busi-ness with Rivers State govern-ment despite its acquiescence oftransactions between its memberof staff and the Government,then its behaviour smacks of ad-ministrative laxity or negli-gence; alternatively, its behav-iour lends credence to the as-sertion that it was pressured todeny the relationship.

“Caverton should be held ac-countable for providing informa-tion that led NCAA to groundthe aircraft, contrary to provisionof the law.

“Rivers State government op-erated its aircraft with expiredclearance between April 2 and26, 2013; but several other air-craft are suspected to be in sim-ilar situation; isolation of RiversState government for reprimandbecomes difficult to deny,” the

report noted.The report maintained “justifi-

cations for both the delayed start-up in Akure and the continuedgrounding of the aircraft in PortHarcourt amounted to taking anaction and later shopping for rea-sons: the faulty declaration ofmanifest and failure to file flightplan ceased to be a reason im-mediately the Director-General ofNAMA waived the infringementand permitted the aircraft to de-part Akure, otherwise continuousciting manifest and flight plan vi-olations as additional reasons forgrounding the aircraft has seri-ous implication for the Director-General; alleged fabrication ofdocuments by Rivers State gov-ernment was unsubstantiated.

“Having overlooked the Akureviolation, the only justificationknown to law to warrant regula-tory action against the aircraft isits operation with expired clear-ance between April 2 and 26,2013; however, NCAA botchedthe opportunity to legally imposethe sanction as it failed to give awritten notice to Rivers State gov-ernment as required by Section35(5) Civil Aviation Act, Cap. C13Laws of the Federation of Niger-ia, 2004;

Ministry of Aviationexerts undue influenceon NCAA, NAMA

“The handling by NAMA andNCAA of this violation and theirresponse actions further confirmthe previous findings of the JointSenate and House Committee onAviation on the crash of Dana Air-craft that the Ministry of Aviationexerts undue interference on rou-tine operations of these agencies.

“That the House Committee onAviation be mandated to scruti-nize the reason for rampant for-eign registration of aircraft bytheir owners and further investi-gate all private-use aircraft oper-ating in the country with a viewto sanitizing their operation andensuring enforcement of the lawin a society that is democratic.”

But satisfied that the aviationagencies had committed seriousblunders in handling the Riversaircraft issue, the committee rec-ommended that the state govern-ment should be allowed to com-ply with the necessary conditionsfor granting of all required per-mits and licences of Rivers StateGovernment-owned BombardierB700 Global Express RegistrationNumber N565RS.

It warned the Ministry of Avia-tion to desist from undue inter-ference in the day-to-day opera-tions of the aviation regulatoryauthorities as envisaged by thelaw while urging the agencies tooperate professionally and en-sure compliance with internation-al best practices in the industry.

COMMITTEE ON DIALOGUE—From left: Former Minister of Foreign Affairs, Profes-sor Bolaji Akinyemi; Sheik Ahmed Lemu and Chief of Kagoro, Malam Ufai Bonet at thepublic sitting of the Presidential Committee on Dialogue and Peaceful Resolution of Secu-rity Challenges in Kaduna, yesterday. Photo: Olu Ajayi.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 — 9

Low interest rates not feasiblenow — CBN

BY BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

GOVERNOR, CentralBank of Nigeria,

CBN, Mallam Lamido Sa-nusi, yesterday, said a re-gime of low interest rate isnot feasible at the momentin Nigeria.

Speaking at the RiskManagement Conferenceorganised by the apex bankin Lagos, Sanusi said thethreat of inflation was stillhigh in the economy, espe-cially with governmentspending expected to in-crease in 2014 to 2015 dueto elections.

He said “there is morerisk of raising interest rateand cash reserve require-ment of banks than reduc-ing them”.

In assessing the risk con-fronting the economy in thenear term, especially in theevent of sharp fall in crudeoil prices, and in terms ofinflation, Sanusi said “Eve-rywhere in the world, if youhave an election, that is

Fuel subsidy still fraught with abuse— Aig Imoukhuede

BY BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

MANAGING Director/Chief Executive, Ac-

cess Bank Plc, Mr AigbojeAig-Imoukhuede, yester-day, said the fuel subsidyis still fraught with abuse. Speaking at the RiskManagement Conferenceorganised by the CentralBank of Nigeria, CBN, hesaid despite the reform ofthe fuel subsidy, the systemstill allow for abuse andbanks need to be wary ofsuch abuses and the risk itposes to their operations

He said: "It has beenproved that subsidy createsincentives for abuse andNigeria still allows theabuse. It is still fraught withabuse”.

Aig-Imoukhuede, whoheaded the PresidentialCommittee to Review theFuel Subsidy Regime, saidthe work of the committee,among other things, re-vealed that while the ma-jor oil marketers behavethemselves and compliedwith the procedure, the in-dependent marketers, es-pecially the portfolio mar-keters, see the fuel subsidy

as a game and opportunityto make money overnight.

This coupled with thethin margins, caused themto abuse the system tomake money. He said thesemarketers exploited the ig-norance of banks, and tookadvantage of loan genera-tion process to abuse thesystem.

The work of our commit-tee has reduced the abusesignificantly but there is stillabuse.

Consequently, he ad-vised banks to be cautiouswhen dealing with oil mar-keters.

when government spendsmore because at that time,you will have political of-fice holders wanting to de-liver dividends of democ-racy, they will want to showreasons why they should bere-elected.

"So Central Bank gover-nors all over the world knowthat election cycles are verydifficult for monetary poli-cy. So the point I am mak-ing is that if there is in-creased spending, what islikely going to happen willbe higher interest rate. Sopeople should not look for-ward to low interest rate ata time of increased govern-ment spending.

“Despite the best inten-tions of the Finance Minis-ter, I don’t see her stoppingpoliticians from spendingmoney in 2014. She has allthe good intentions and allthe commitments, but at theend of the day, she doesn’tapprove the budget.

"So there is no way in anelection year, when you arenot going to have increasedspending. There is higher

risk of raising interest ratesand increasing the CashReserve Requirement thanreducing it at this point intime. The Central Bank willhave to respond in eventsof elevated spending.”

According to him despiteconcerns in some quarters,the Asset ManagementCompany, AMCON, doesnot pose a major risk to in-flation and macroeconom-ic stability.

He said, “today, AM-CON is holding aboutN800 billion in treasurybills. So, we are not creat-ing any new money. At thepoint it pays off over N800billion bonds, it will simplyhand over these treasurybills to the banks, take thesebonds and cancel them all.

"All that is happening isthat the balance sheet ofAMCON is shrinking andthat reduces its liabilitiesand assets holdings. We arenot pumping cash into thesystem; we are not creatingnew securities and we arenot going to have more li-quidity."

BY HENRY UMORU

Jonathan recovers Ajaokuta fromGlobal Steel — Sen Adeyemi

bal Steel asked for $1 bil-lion damages but the con-cession was illegal and un-lawful. I want Nigerians toknow that the Federal Gov-ernment has been in arbi-tration with the Interna-tional Chamber of Com-merce since the concessionwas terminated in 2007.The case started in 2008.

“The two plants have notbeen functioning since theywere privatized and I wantto let you know that themeeting that resolved theissue was held in Dubai be-tween April 29 to May 1.

“Ajaokuta is at the heartof technological develop-ment in Nigeria. If we canget the complex back, then,it means Nigeria’s marchtowards industrializationhas started on a good path.Return of Ajaokuta meansthat this will change theface of Kogi Stats andhopefully, the northern re-gion".

WOMEN ADVOCACY—From left: Chairperson, Women in ManagementBusiness and Public Service, WIMBIZ, Adeola Azeez; Chairman, Corner-stone Insurance Plc, Adedotun Sulaiman; and former Minister of Educa-tion, Oby Ezekwesili, at the Supporting Public Advocacy for Regional Com-petitiveness, SPARC, forum organised by Vital Voices Global Partnership inLagos, yesterday.

ABUJA—CHAIRMAN,Senate Committee on

the Federal Capital Territo-ry Committee, SenatorSmart Adeyemi (PDP, KogiWest), yesterday, said Pres-ident Goodluck Jonathanhas recovered the deadAjaokuta Steel Complex inKogi State from GlobalSteel Holdings Limited.

The move came six yearsafter the company had re-mained non-functional.

Adeyemi noted that thedevelopment and bringingback the company to full op-eration will provide at least10, 000 jobs, not only forKogi State indigenes butalso, neighbouring states.

Speaking to newsmen,the lawmaker, who said theFederal Government wasin the process of negotiat-ing the return of the IronOre Mining Company,Itakpe, also in Kogi State,

said, “The Federal Govern-ment has recovered theAjaokuta steel complexfrom Global Steel and withthat more than 10,000workers would be gainful-ly employed.

“I think the return of thiscomplex is worth celebrat-ing. The government ofPresident Jonathan is worthcelebrating. They shouldbe commended for recov-ering the complex. Theyhave succeeded in recov-ering Ajaokuta without anyattendant financial obliga-tion whatsoever.

“This is a great achieve-ment that deserves com-mendation, irrespective ofpolitical affiliation. The re-turn of Ajaokuta will reduceunemployment and crime.By this singular achieve-ment, it means this govern-ment has raised the hopefor industrial developmentin Nigeria

“We got to know that Glo-

10—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Akuyoma passes on

South West LGA, DeltaState, is dead, aged 79.

He died, March 17. Ora-tory service holds May 31at Sapele Athletics Club,while lying in state is at hisresidence in Ajagbodudu.

Interment is 1pm atObitugbo village in WarriNorth.

He is survived by awidow, children, grand-children and other rela-tives.

MR. RICHMOND Akuyoma, of the Akuyomafamilies of Obitugbo/Abiugborodo/Koko in

Warri North LGA and Gegenu/Egbejule in Warri

Late Akuyoma

ABUJA — THE Senate and the Houseof Representatives, yesterday, formallyblocked the governors of Borno,Adamawa and Yobe states from havingcomplete access to their states' funds.

The action by the two chambers of theNational Assembly was upon theadoption of the conference report of thetwo chambers of the details of the stateof emergency proclamation announcedby President Goodlcuk Jonathanpenultimate Tuesday.

Under the arrangement agreed by thetwo chambers, the governors and electedcouncil chairmen will also not be entitledto the money for developments in theirrespective states and local governmentsexcept for payment of salaries to workers,as the money will be channeled towardsthe maintenance of security mendeployed to restore peace in the troubledstates.

The governors are also expected toreceive instructions on the day to dayrunning of their states from the President.

The conference report was adopted bythe two houses yesterday without debate.

Senator Ita Enang, Chairman, SenateCommittee on Rules and Business, whopresented the report in the Senate, saidthe joint conference committee of the twohouses adopted the version of the Housewhich gives the President out-rightpower to issue directives to the governorsas he may desires.

The report was adopted in the Housefollowing the presentation of the same

report by Rep Aminu Shehu Shagari(PDP Sokoto) who stood in for thecommittee chairman, Sam Tsokwa.

According to the report, the Presidentalso reserved right to “take possessionof any property or undertaking in theemergency area, provide for applicationof any law in relation to that area as wellas detention, removal or exclusion of anyperson from the emergency area.”

The Federal Government, through thePresident, according to the report, canalso order the arrest and trial of anyonewho contradicts its order and also makeprovision for the utilisation of any stateor local government in emergency areajust as he can order any premises to be

searched as he deems necessary.The report added that: “The President

may give directions to a state governoror local government chairman directlyor through his designate or a dulyauthorised person with respect to theadministration of the emergency area inmatters of public order, peace andsecurity only and it shall be the duty ofthe state governor or local governmentchairman to comply with the directive.

"The President may make such ordersas appear to him to be necessary orexpedient for the purpose ofmaintaining and securing peace, publicorder and public safety in the emergencyarea”.

We don't know how to meet Boko Haramleadership —Minister

BY LUKA BINNIAYT

KADUNA — THEPresidential Com-

mittee on Dialogue andPeaceful Resolution ofSecurity Challenges inNorthern Nigeria had noclue on how to meet theleadership of the BokoHaram insurgents, theChairman of the Commit-tee and Minister of Spe-cial Duties, Alhaji Kabiru

Bola Ajibola,others warnof dangers ofendemiccorruption inNigeria

BY ABDULWAHABABDULAH

FORMER ATTOR-NEY-GENERAL of

the Federation and Jus-tice of the InternationalCourt of Justice, TheHague, Prince BolaAjibola, SAN, otherprominent legal lumi-naries and technocrats,yesterday, warned of thedangers inherent in theendemic corruption andinsecurity facing the na-tion.

Others at the 7th an-nual lecture organisedby the Ikeja branch ofthe Nigeria Bar Associa-tion, NBA, in honour ofits late chairman, AlaoAka-Bashorun, whospoke on the topic; “Law,Corruption and the Fu-ture of Nigeria”, in-cluded the former Attor-ney General of the Fed-eration, Godwin KanuAgabi, SAN, formerMinister of FederalCapital Territory,Mallam Nasir El-Rufia ,Femi Falana, SAN, DeleAdesina SAN, octoge-narian lawyer, Pa TunjiGomez, among others.

Emergency rule: Borno, Adamawa, Yobegovernors lose power—To receive monthly allocation “only for salaries,” as instructed by Jonathan

By OKEY NDIRIBE, EMMAN OVUAKPO-RIE, HENRY UMORU & JOSEPH ERUNKE

Arc Mike Onolememen, Works Minister (middle), listening to explanation byone of the officials of RCC, during the Minister's inspection of Loko-Owetobridge project across River Benue, between Nasarawa and Benue State.

Pan African University Alumnitrains students

THE FIFTH setAlumni of Certifi-

cate Course in MediaEnterprise, CME5, PanAfrican University, willMonday train over 300secondary school stu-dents on basic skills andenterprise opportunitiesin media and communi-cation.

The training whichmarks part of the Chil-dren Day celebration,will take place at St.Jude Secondary, School,Festac, Lagos, while par-ticipants will be drawn

from the school and itsenvirons.

According to the presi-dent of the alumni asso-ciation, Mr. Bolaji Fati:“Students will be intro-duced to various careerand enterprise opportu-nities open to them, bothin the print and broad-cast media."

"Seasoned media andcommunication expertsand professionals havebeen invited to providetheir expertise duringthe seminar ."

Tanimu Turaki, SAN,said yesterday.

Turaki pleaded forhelp in this regardsfrom willing members ofthe public or anyonewith links to the terror-ists to initiate the dia-logue process.

He spoke when he ledmembers of his commit-tee on a courtesy visit toGovernor, Alhaji

Mukhtar Yero of KadunaState at GovernmentHouse, yesterday.

According to him: “Wewant anybody that mayhave link with some ofthese people to direct usto ease the process ofdialogue in such a waythat will ensure trans-parency and honesty

which are the hall markof this committee. We onour own have no clue onhow to meet any of theirleaders.

“The committee is inKaduna State as part ofits nationwide tour; par-ticularly in the affectedareas for the purpose ofenhancing consultation."

In tomorrow's Saturday Vanguard

BizLaw Aunty Julie CokerMuyiwa Adetiba RelationshipsBunmi Sofola

Our efforts to woo MimikoOur efforts to woo MimikoOur efforts to woo MimikoOur efforts to woo MimikoOur efforts to woo Mimikoback to PDPback to PDPback to PDPback to PDPback to PDP — Adegoke — Adegoke — Adegoke — Adegoke — Adegoke

Plus

State of Emergency:

So far, so good?

Cynthia Agholorspeaks on scandalstrailing her career

Baby Factory:Operators gointo hiding

Irate youths shoot policemen

The Agagu factorPlus the scheming for 2015

CONFUSION:

...as Delta Community razed

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 — 11

Ondo guber: PDP files appeal againsttribunal ruling .It’s a voyage of fantasy — Govt

BY DAYO JOHNSON

AKURE — THE PeoplesDemocratic Party candidate

in the governorship election inOndo State Chief Olusola Oke,yesterday, filed an appeal againstthe judgement of he Election Pe-

The Special Adviser to Oke,Kunle Adebayo said in a state-ment in Akure that LateefFagbemi, SAN, and PatrickIkweto, SAN, 23 lawyers on be-half of the candidate have filed

a 32-page notice with37 grounds of appeal.

But in a swift reac-tion, the state govern-ment through theChief Press Secretaryto the governor, Mr.Eni Akinsola said: "Weare not surprised atthe voyage of fantasyembarked upon by theopposition in OndoState.

“We are convincedthat the facts distilledand adjudicated uponby the tribunal were

CustomsdestroysN13mcontaminatedrice, drugs

BY GODWIN ORITSE

THE SEME borderCommand of the

Nigerian Customs Serv-ice, NCS, yesterday, con-fiscated and destroyed680 bags of contami-nated rice and medica-ment with Duty PaidValue(DPV) of N13 mil-lion.

The bags of rice andfake drugs were beingsmuggled into the coun-try when men and offic-ers of the Commandswooped on the smug-glers following a tip-off.

Speaking to newsmen,the Customs Area Con-troller, ComptrollerOthman Abdul Salehsaid that about three sus-pects were also arrestedin connection with thesmuggled items.

Lagosiansshun blooddonation

BY ESTHER ONYEG-BULA

LAGOS LIKE otherparts of the nation is wit-nessing an abysmallylow number of blood do-nors which are fewerthan one per cent of thepopulation.

This was revealed bythe Lagos State BloodTransfusion Committeeduring the donor driveheld at skill acquisitionand vocational centre,Iyun Road, Surulere,Lagos, yesterday.

Anglican Communion frowns at samesex marriage

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

Rev. Felix Omobude, National President, Pentecostal Fellowship ofNigeria (PFN), chating with Pastor Akinwale Akinola, National Ad-ministrative Secretary and Pastor Paul Adefarasin, National DeputyPresident, at a press conference on the 'State of the Nation' organisedby PFN, in Lagos ,yesterday. Photo: Chinyere Ikeanyi.

clear and unambigu-ous."

petitioners failedwoefully to prove anyillegal injection,which was obviouslyan after thought. Atthe end of it all, allthey advanced weretissues of what thetribunal rightly called“primary and sec-ondary hearsays.”

“Perhaps the per-son to direct the issueof injection at is theACN candidate,O l u w a r o t i m iAkeredolu SANwhose name was notin the 2011 registerbut was in the 2012register!

tition Tribunal led by JusticeAndovar Kaka’an which dis-missed his petition

Action Congress of Nigeria,ACN, candidate in the sameelection had also filed an appealon 45 grounds.

We’ll wrestpower from ACNin S-West — PDP

BY OLA AJAYI

IBADAN —PEOPLES DemocraticParty in the South West has said it was battle

ready to wrestle the ruling Action Congress of Ni-geria for the control of the zone in the 2015 elec-tions.

As a result, it called on the national secretariat ofthe party to ensure that governorship candidates forthe 2015 elections emerge within the next six monthsto enable the party unseat the ruling ACN in all theSouth West states through democratic means.

This was disclosed yesterday by the CaretakerChairman of the Reconciliation Committee in thezone, Chief Ishola Filani at the presentation of re-ports by six committee chairmen in the zone yester-day.

The event which took place at the party’s zonalsecretariat, Ibadan was attended by representativesfrom the six states in the zone.

DIOCESE OF Ijebu South/West,Church of Nigeria, Anglican

Communion has frowned at calls forthe recognition of same sex marriage,saying that there should be no com-promise with same sex community.

It also called on Christians to go intopolitics and show themselves as thesalt and light of Nigeria.

Disclosing this in a communique is-sued at the end of its synod, the Dio-cese condemned the Federal Gov-ernment’s decision to celebrate Niger-ia’s centenary, adding that the coun-try should be reflecting on the cur-rent challenges in the land rather thancelebrating.

The communique reads: ‘’All Nige-rian Christians are encouraged to gointo politics and show themselves asthe salt and light of Nigeria.

"The synod charged Christians allover the world to show commitment to

their marriage vows as well as the in-stitution of marriage as God hates di-vorce.

"The synod considered same sex mar-riage as a sin and therefore a detest-able act. The synod reaffirmed the be-lief that those who indulge in the prac-tice will not inherit the kingdom ofGod.’’

It further said: ‘’Since same sex mar-riage is contradictory to Christianity,we as Christians must stand for thetruth regardless of the cost to us. Thesynod affirms that there should be nocompromise with same sex community.

‘’The synod vehemently frowns at theFederal Government of Nigeria’s in-tention to celebrate the centenary ofamalgamated Nigeria.

"The synod believes strongly that withmyriads of problems facing our coun-try today, Nigeria should be reflectingrather than celebrating, there is noth-ing to celebrate other than mediocrity,hypocrisy and underdevelopment.’’

12—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

BY EMMA AMAIZE

Gas turbines, accessories for Oghara IPP awaitinginstallation —Project MD

Ijaw, Itsekirirelations getboost

I've no plan to contest Bayelsa guber racein 2016 —PDP chair

BY SAMUELOYADONGHA

Obio/Akpor: NLC, TUC threaten strike oversealing of secretariat by Police

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

Adeboyeholds prayersession withCEOs

BY OLAYINKALATONA

GENERAL Overse-er of Redeemed

Christian Church of God,RCCG, Pastor EnochAdeboye will, June 2,hold a special prayer ses-sion with business exec-utives.

Briefing newsmen atthe National Headquar-ters of the Church inEbute-Metta, Lagos,Pastor Adeboye, who wasrepresented by the As-sistant Pastor-in-Chargeof Special Duties, PastorGoke Aniyeloye, said theprogramme will serve asa platform for various ex-ecutives to pray for di-vine turn around in thecountry as well as intheir businesses.

The theme of the pro-gramme is “Rehoboth.”

PORT HARCOURT—RIVERS State chapter of

Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC, has threatened to em-bark on a two-day warningstrike from Monday next week,if the Police failed to allowworkers of Obio/Akpor LocalGovernment Area resumeduties at the council's secre-tariat.

It will be recalled that de-spite a court order asking thePolice to allow the workersresume at the secretariat,which they (Police) sealed offover allegations of plot byhoodlums to wreak havoc onthe place, the police were yetto vacate the secretariat.

Briefing newsmen, yester-day, the NLC and Trade Un-ion Congress, TUC, said la-bour was not an interestedparty in the crisis rockingPeoples Democratic Party, PDP,adding that workers shouldnot be made to suffer over thepolitical crisis.

State NLC Chairman, Mr.Chris Oruge, said: “We wroteto the Police to obey the courtorder and we also wrote to the

state government to pay our work-ers their salaries. We gave themseven days ultimatum, which ex-pires Friday. We will embark ona two-day warning strike onMonday and Tuesday, if nothingis done, and thereafter, we willcarry out an indefinite strike ac-tion.”

He said that staff of Obio/Ak-por council had not been paid

their salaries for April andMay, adding that the Policeshould allow workers resumeat the secretariat while theycontinue to mount securityaround the council's proper-ty.

Oruge said it was not the re-sponsibility of his union to de-cide who runs the council, be-tween the Caretaker Commit-

tee and the local governmentofficials suspended by thestate House of Assembly, butthat the Police should allowworkers resume at their dutyposts. “If the Caretaker Com-mittee members are not al-lowed to go in and the sus-pended elected officials arealso not allowed to go in, theyshould allow our workers in.

W A R R I — T H Egrowing peace-

ful relationship betweenItsekiri in Warri SouthLocal Government Area,Delta State, under theauspices of Joint Com-munities’ Sport Develop-ment, Ugbomefa, andIjaw of Warri South-WestLocal Government Area,received a major boost,yesterday, when JuliusBerger Services NigeriaLimited, JBSN, present-ed cheques and footballsto two football clubs fromthe two ethnic nationali-ties.

Terminal Manager,JBSN, Mr. SaschaGattschau, at the presen-tation in Warri, said thatthe donations to the twofootball clubs, Net Break-ers FC from Itsekiri hostcommunities and Ogbe-Ijoh United FC, repre-senting Ijaw host com-munities, was to fosterthe existing peace be-tween the ethnic nation-alities and promote foot-ball in the area with aview to creating employ-ment opportunities forthe youths.

Coaches of both clubs,Prophet Ogbe and Paye-bo Koremene, thankedJulius Berger for its con-tinuous support of sportsin the area and promisedto make judicious use ofthe footballs and finan WARRI—THE two gas

turbines and accesso-ries, manufactured by RollsRoyce, United States of Amer-ica, USA, for the controversialN23.2 billion Delta State In-

dependent Power Project, IPP,Oghara, Ethiope-West Local Gov-ernment Area, have been inOghara for more than one year,awaiting installation.

South-South leader, Chief Ed-win Clark, who spoke to report-ers in Warri on the project, recent-

ly, alleged that the Speakerof Delta State House of As-sembly, Mr. Victor Ochei,who divested his 14-yearinterest in the company, June,2011, “has collected N18billion from the Delta StateGovernment, but nothing has

happened on the site.”Meanwhile, the Managing

Director of DavNotch, thecontractor handling theproject, Mr. Norbert Osodi,told Vanguard, in Asaba that“The turbines and accesso-ries for the IPP are all inOghara. They are all in ourwarehouse in Oghara and aswe speak, work at the site is60 per cent completed.”

He admitted that there wasdelay in the release of fundsto the company and problemof motorable road, which con-struction was completed, lastmonth, by government,noting that the company willreturn to site, during theweek.

YENAGOA—BAYELSAState Chairman of Peo-

ples Democratic Party, PDP,Col. Sam Inokoba (rtd), hasdenied claims that he had con-cluded plans to contest thestate governorship election,come 2016.

Inokoba, at the monthly in-teractive session betweenGovernor Seriake Dickson andmembers of PDP, dismissedrumours of his alleged planto run against the incumbentgovernor, saying it was thehandiwork of his detractors.

He described the claim aswicked and dangerous aimedat creating cleavages anderoding the party's cohesion.

The state party chairman ar-gued that his antecedent hasnever shown him as a disloy-al individual or disloyal partymember.

He said: “I have never had anyambition and the ambition I haveis to deliver the President in 2015and deliver the governor in 2016.I don’t rock the boat. If I stay withyou, I remain with you. The ru-

mour started during my tripabroad for medical check-up.I came back and was toldsome persons claim I haveambition to contest againstthe governor in 2016.

VISIT: From left: President of Abuja chapter of Alumni Association of the University ofIbadan, Mr. Ismaila Alasa; Chairman of the Board of the Nigerian Communications Commis-sion, NCC, Engr. Peter Igoh, and Director, Public Affairs of NCC, Mr. Tony Ojobo, when thechapter paid a courtesy call on the Chairman at NCC Headquarters, in Abuja.

Reuben Abati loses mum ty Bank Plc and Mr LanreAbati, an Economist & Char-tered Accountant. She isalso survived by her twinsister, Madam Victoria Ke-hinde Olude.

THE Special Adviser to thePresident on Media and

Publicity, Dr Reuben Abati yes-terday lost his mother at the ageof 81.

A statement by Dr Abati said“With a heavy heart and grati-tude to God Almighty, the Abatifamily of Kemta-Okebode,Abeokuta announces the pass-ing away of their mother, grand-mother and great-grandmother,Madam Maria Taiwo Abati whopassed into glory today, (yes-terday) aged 81.

The statement said “MamaAbati, a devout Christian, a very

kind and loving person wasborn on 7th August 1931.She was born into the fami-ly of late Pa Samuel JoboArowotadina and Late Mad-am Elizabeth EfundunkeArowotadina of Ijemo,Abeokuta. She is survivedby children, grandchildrenand great grandchildren in-cluding Dr. Reuben Abati,Special Adviser (Media &Publicity) to President Good-luck Jonathan, Mr RobertAbati, a Geologist withDangote Cement, Mr RalphAbati, a banker with Fideli-

Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 24, 2013—13

CMYK

14—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

FUNERAL FOR LATE PROF CHINUA ACHEBE

From left— President John Mahama of Ghana, President Goodluck Jonathan andGovernor Peter Obi of Anambra State.

From left— Chief Alex Ekwueme, former Vice President of Nigeria; his wife,Beatrice; Chief Emeka Anyaoku, former Commonwealth Secretary-General; SenatorChris Ngige and Dr. Okonjo Iweala, Minister for Finance.

From left— Governor Theodore Orji of Abia State, GovernorEmmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State, Governor Rochas Okorochaof Imo State and Engr. Dave Umahin, Deputy Governor of EbonyiState.

Bishop Obi Udezue Onubogu (left) and Most Rev. S. C. K. Uche,Archbishop of Enugu Archdiocese.

Crowd at the event.

Funeral service for late Prof. Chinua Achebe held at St. Philips AnglicanChurch, Ogidi, Anambra State, yesterday. PHOTOS: Hill Ezeugwu, Chijioke Nwakpa & Henry Unini.

From left— Mrs Chinwe Ngonadi; Mrs MargaretObi, Anambra State First Lady and Miss Amaka Obi. Mr. Scott Myers (left) and Dr. Alastair Niven.

Crowd at the event.

Sen Joy Emordi, Special Adviser to the Presidenton National Assembly (right) and Sen Andy Uba.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013—15

FUNERAL FOR LATE PROF CHINUA ACHEBE

Zainobia Ikpeze, late Achebe's elder sister.

Clergymen.

From right— Mr. Klemmens Momkes, German Embassy; Dr and Mrs EmmanuelEgbogah, former Presidential Adviser on Petroleum.

Ndichie Ogidi.From left— Mr. Afam Ilounoh, Mr. Ifeanyi Uba,

Prince Emeka Eze and HRH Igwe Bernard Okoafor.

Sir Obi Achebe (right) and Lady Nonyelum Achebe.

From left— Governor Uduaghan, ChiefChukwuemeka Ezeife and Mrs. Virgy Etiaba,former Governor of Anambra State.

Prof ChineduNebo, Minister ofPower (left) andChief Emeka Wogu,Minister of Labour.

CMYK

16 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Jonathan, Mahama,Ekwueme, Anyaoku,Govs, others bidAchebe farewell

AWKA—THE burial in Ogidi, Anambra State yester-

day of the literary icon, Pro-fessor Chinua Achebe, was lit-erally turned to a political gath-ering given the caliber of po-litical figures and political in-signias that coloured the five-star burial.

Achebe’s burial attractedPresident Goodluck Jonathan,Ghanaian counterpart, JohnMahama, former Vice Presi-dent, Dr. Alex Ekwueme,former Secretary General ofCommonwealth, Chief EmekaAnyaoku, Deputy Speaker ofthe House of Representatives,Chief Emeka Ihedioha, Gov-ernors Roachas Okorocha ofImo, Martin Elechi of Ebonyi,Liyel Imoke of Cross River,Emmanuel Uduaghan of Del-ta and the host, Peter Obi ofAnambra State

Other prominent Nigerianspresent include labour minis-ter, Emeka Wogu, Minister ofstate for foreign affairs, ProfViola Onwuliri, Prof. NgoziOkonjo-Iweala, Power minis-ter, Prof. Chinedu Nebo, Sen-ator Chris Ngige representingAnambra Centsral, SenatorAndy Uba representing Anam-bra South, former governor,Dr. Chukwuemeka Ezeife,former MAMSER DirectorGeneral, Prof ElochukwuAmaucheazi, Prof Laz Ek-wueme, among others.

All through his very event-ful life, Achebe lived the lifeof a writer and scholar.

Though not overtly stated,however, the parading of someuniform-wearing political par-ty members became somethingof concern that the burial ofsuch an intellectual has beenpoliticized.

With the presence of manygovernorship aspirants, in-cluding Mr. Ifeanyi Uba, UcheEkwunife, Senator Andy Uba,Senator Chris Ngige, amongothers, the atmosphere of St.Philip’s Church was political-ly charged as their supportersdanced round the area in var-ious uniforms with photo-graphs of their candidates.

Notable Absence

Achebe’s burial also attract-ed members of the clergy, thediplomatic corps from Canada,Germany, America and Ghana.It was also noticed that Profes-sor Wole Soyinka and Prof JohnPepper Clark did not attend

By MCPHILIPS NWACHUK-WU, VINCENT UJUMADU

&UDUMA KALU

the burial.The absence of Nobel laure-

ate, Wole Soyinka and ProfJohn Pepper Clark at the oc-casion, to many was worri-some. The quartet of Achebe,Wole Soyinka, Clark and ChrisOkigbo shaped the characterand direction of modern Afri-can literature.

While Achebe and Okigboare now late, Soyinka andClark were the faces highlysought after by many at theevent.

Death and Forgiveness

In his sermon, Most Rever-end Dr. Ikechi Nwosu, theArchbishop of Aba Diocese,who represented the Primateof Anglican Church in Niger-ia, Most Rev. Nicholas Okoh,commended President Jonath-an for what he described as hislarge heartedness botheringon spirit of forgiveness.

Apparently referring to thelate Achebe’s rejection of thenational honours, Okoh notedthat it showed forgiveness ofheart that the President wouldstill be present to honour theburial of the late icon.

While thanking the numberone citizen for his unmatchedgesture, the bishop also en-joined other Nigerians to showlove and emulate the spirit offorgiveness as a way of mov-ing the country foreword.

Nwosu said Igbo must givespecial thanks to God for mak-ing Achebe come from this partof the world.

He said: “Many of us gainedso much from his knowledge.He was a Christian to the coreand a man of great socialstanding.

Dwelling on the theme,“Chinua Achebe, a parable to

had a foundation of the Bi-ble flowing in him which waswhy he was actually inspiredin his writings.

He said further: “We maynarrate all our woes as a na-tion, but with determination,we will excel. Achebe wasdetermined and that was whyhe excelled and so shall it befor Nigeria .

“He also proved that thereis no end to one’s exploits inlife. Whatever God has de-signed that we will be in life,that we will surely become.Achebe worked so hard toencourage so many people.He was a husband, a fatherand above all, a practicalman.

He said further: “Achebeloved Nigeria so much andwanted things to works well.Please do not count anythingagainst him. He meant wellfor our country.”

The cleric said thoughAchebe was not a politicianand did not aspire for any-thing, he was appreciatedmore than most politicalleaders.

Jonathan speaks

In his speech, PresidentJonathan said the late liter-

there had been so much com-ment on Achebe’s last book,‘There was a country’, part ofwhich he read at the church, heasked, Have we changed fromwhat Achebe complainedabout?

He said: ”Those of us who arepolitical, business and religiousleaders must work hard tochange our behavious. Our2011 elections showed that wecan change. If we can conductfree and fair election andchange politicians for the bet-ter, our country will be better.

The president, who said heread Achebe’s ‘Things FallApart’ as a secondary schoolstudent in 1972, described himas a great philosopher whoused his books to tell storiesthat make great impact on thelives of the people.

To the Ghanaian president,John Mahama who also attend-ed the burial ceremony, Achebewas a great inspiration to him.He said: “Though we never metphysically, we were speakingon phone. Achebe was to de-liver a lecture in Ghana, butcould not do it before his death.

“I am grateful to God for thelife of Achebe and the way hechose to live his life. He wasmuch more than a writer andwe thank Achebe for showingus that we can be ourselves.”

Both President Jonathan andPresident Mahama of Ghana,promised to rebuild the Akpa-kaogwe Primary School, Ogidiwhich Achebe attended.

Obi commendsJonathan

Anambra State governor, Mr.Peter Obi, said by personallyattending the burial and attract-ing another president, Jonath-an had shown a rare sense ofleadership, which no otherpresident would have done.

Obi said: “The love you areshowing to Igbo is a life linewhich we will never forget. Forwhat you are doing for us, wewill continue to be behind you.”

Minister of State for ForeignAffairs, Professor Viola Onwu-liri, presented all the condo-lence registers signed forAchebe in all the Nigerianmissions abroad to the eldestson of Achebe, Dr. Ikechuk-wu Achebe.

There was, however, an up-roar when the minister, appar-ently out of excitement, saidthe registers were so manythat they could not even becontained in a ‘Ghana MustGo’, which sent the wholecongregation, into laughterincluding the Ghanaian Pres-ident, John Mahama, whowas in the church with hisaides from his country.

Realizing the slip, Mrs. On-wuliri quickly apologized,saying she did not mean tobe disrespectful to the presi-dent of Ghana.

The President’s aircrafttouched down at 11.05am,heralding the ringing of thechurch bell for the commence-ment of the church service.The brown casket bearing thebody of Achebe was carried byeight young men in suits withpurple shirts to match.

The service started at11.30am with Achebe’s eldersister, Ezinne Zinobia Ikpezeon wheel chair leading othermembers of the family. Theirdress was different from whatthey wore at the Ekwuemesquare in Awka, when thebody arrived from Enugu onWednesday.

Achebe’s eldest son, Ike-chukwu, read the only lessonat the church service takenfrom the Book of Revelation,Chapter 7 Verse 9 –end.

Achebe’s widow, Christyrendered a special song inhonour of her husband whichaccording to her she sang lastwhen she renewed her mar-riage vow with ChinuaAchebe.

His remains were later bur-ied after the Church serviceat the Mousoleum built in hiscompound.

Achebe loved Nigeria so much and wantedthings to work well.Please do not countanything against him.He meant well for ourcountry.

the Nigerian nation,” Arch-bishop Nwosu observed thatthe late writer used so manyparables in his books and couldhave fitted properly as a pas-tor.

According to him, Achebe

ary icon, abhorred bad lead-ership and observed that thegreatest honour Nigerianscould do for him was tochange from their bad behav-iour.

The president said though

’

’

CMYK

BURIAL: Cross section of Achebe’s immediate family, including his wife Christie (2ndleft), during the funeral ceremony of late Prof. Chinua Achebe, at St. Philip’s Anglican Church,Ogidi, Anambra State, yesterday. Photo: Henry Unini.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 — 17

•President Goodluck Jonathan

•Gov. Nyako of Adamawa State

•Gov. Ibrahim Geidam of Yobe state

Followingup onlastweek’stopicsLast week, I expressed

reservations aboutPresident Jonathan’s

overall performance todate…but praised himwholeheartedly forcourageously declaring astate of emergency in Yobe,Adamawa and Borno states.

I also complained about thefact that the AmericanEmbassy in Abuja recentlyrejected my assistantMavis’s visa application…onthe grounds that she(allegedly) doesn’t havesufficiently strong tiesoutside the United States(the implication being thatshe cannot be trusted to gohome when the visaexpires).

Knowing that Mavis isnot the kind of person whowould dream of violating theterms of any agreement -and has no interest inbecoming a fugitive anddisappearing into the blackeconomy of some Americancity to do menial workclandestinely - I continue toinsist that she was treatedunfairly…especially sinceshe went to her embassyappointment with verystrong supportingdocuments (which theofficial who interviewed herdid not feel like reading).

The American visa-awarding system is toowhimsical and arbitrary, ifyou ask me. But I always tryto be objective and can, on

reflection, see why so manyforeign diplomats view somany Nigerian visaapplicants with intensesuspicion.

The truth is that too manyNigerians, including somewho look and sound veryrespectable, enter othercountries with tourist visasand then stay on illegally.

Our government shouldtake note of the fact that thiskind of misbehaviour, whichtarnishes Nigeria’s imageinternationally, would occurmuch less often if this was abetter place to live in.

People generally only runaway and take risks in alienterritories on the other sideof the world when they aredesperate.

When graduates yearn toclean toilets in Europe or tostack shelves in dingyAmerican supermarkets,something is VERY wrongwith their home turfs.

Anyway, here are some ofthe comments that Vanguardreaders sent me about theabove issues.

Readers comments+234807137310 Ekenwan

AkwagbeDear Donu, l appreciate

your concerns aboutPresident Jonathan’s style ofleadership. It shows yourgenuine desire to have hisname written in gold. Thosewho have criticized him fordeclaring a state ofemergency are hypocrites.Most Nigerians hailed theemergency declarations butpolitical merchants likeTinubu and his cohorts seenothing good. They are

desperate for political powerfor selfish reasons and notbecause the PDP orJonathan is not doing well.

+2348023102847 Mrs LFinnih

I have always known thatJonathan will act at theappropriate time. Those whoare opposing him will allfail. The state of emergencydeclaration is the beginningof good things to come byGod’s grace.

+2347012643915 Tayo Tola

AgbajeWithout any fear of

contradiction, l make bold tosay that Jonathan is theworst President in thehistory of this country andthat, come 2015, we will voteJonathan out and nothingwill happen.

+2347063678793Anonymous

Don’t mind the Americans.Their assumption is that theaverage Nigerian is a gold-digger and may neverreturn if issued visa. A verywrong perception.

From Funmi (she askedme to withhold her number)

I work for a multinationalin Nigeria and havetravelled extensively abroadbut the Americans havedenied me a visa more thanonce, giving the “notenough ties” excuse. Iwonder why they think Iwould leave my good job togo and do lesser jobs intheir so-called Gods OwnCountry! However, l put theblame squarely on theNigerian government thatallows her citizens to betreated like lepers in theirown country and to bemilked via non-refundablevisa fees.

+2348033140952Anonymous

The American guy whointerviewed anddisappointed Mavis mostlikely woke up on the wrongside of his bed that day!

Give him a nationalhonour!

Mr Obafaiye Shemattracted widespreadridicule earlier on this yearbecause he couldn’t answera simple question about hisorganisation’s websiteduring a TV interview andsaid that his boss - “My OgaAt The Top” – would knowthe answer.

Rumour has it that he wasrecently relieved of his jobas a Nigeria Security andCivil Defence CorpsCommandant for making afool of himself. And I cansee why he was removedfrom such a high-profilepost, but I think that hedeserves a consolation prizebecause he has had a HUGEcultural impact.

Everywhere I go, I hearpeople saying (seriously orhumourously) “Oga At TheTop” or “Madame At TheTop” when they are referringto people – parents,spouses, employers,politicians - in differentleadership positions.

The reason these wordshave become so popular isthat they are so perfect away of describing those whoare perched on variouspinnacles. And Shem shoulddefinitely be honoured foradding a colourful newphrase to the nation’slexicon.

Responses to:donzol2002@yahoo.co.uk orto 0802 747 6458 (textsonly). PLEASE KINDLYNOTE THAT UNLESS YOUREQUEST ANONYMITY,YOUR COMMENTS MAY BEPUBLISHED, WITH YOURNAMES AND CONTACTDETAILS ATTACHED.

OPINION

18 — Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 24, 2013

BY OBASOGIE EDORODION

*Mr. Edorodion, a social critic, wrote fromBenin City, Edo State.

Oshodin and the UNIBEN VCappointmentFRANTZ FANON is reputed for his

unassailable postulationthat:“History will not forgive those menwho have the exceptional privilege of speaking the words of truth, but havedecided to take refuge in an attitudeof captivity, mute indifference andsometime cold complicity”.History will not forgive us if we fail tocorrect the wrong informationencapsulated in pages 1 and 2 of anational newspaper of Friday, April 26,2013 with the title, 'How ethnicity,religion influence appointments ofvarsities officials'.“The eventual emergence of Prof.Osayuki Oshodin in November2009 asVice-Chancellor, even when he camethird among the contestants in theorder of merit…”.It is pertinent to state that the abovestatement is not only untrue, but alsoan attempt to re-write the history ofProfessor Osayuki Godwin Oshodin’smeritorious appointment as Vice-Chancelor of the University of Benin.It is worthy of note that whereas itwas the law before Professor Oshodin’sappointment as Vice-Chancellor thatthe university Council would selectthree qualified persons for the officeof Vice-Chancellor and send the list to

the Federal Government (Presidency)which, in the exercise of its statutorypower, appoints one of the three asVice-Chancellor. The newspaperallowed itself to be misled as theextant law that governed theappointment of Prof Oshodin (JP) asVice-Chancellor of the University ofBenin did not permit the submission of three names to the government. Sothe issue of who was first, second orthird on list does not arise. Rather, theuniversity Council was conferred trulywith autonomy by the extant law toappoint the best person in allramifications as Vice-Chancellor. ProfOshodin was meritoriously adjudgedthe best and was so appointed as theVice-Chancellor of the University ofBenin by the Governing Council of theUniversity.So where did the newspaper get thestory of Prof Oshodin coming thirdfrom? Is it pure mischief or absoluteignorance? Unfortunately, thenewspaper story did not state the lasttime a non-Yoruba person was Vice-Chancellor in the University of Ibadan,Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife,

and the University of Lagos.Theattempt to draw a correlation betweenthe agitation by a Benin Group and theappointment of Prof Oshodin as Vice-Chancellor is untenable. It failed,refused, and neglected to state that noBenin man was appointed Vice-Chancellor for the 40 years of theexistence of the University of Beninuntil the meritorious appointment ofProf Oshodin as Vice-Chancellor.

The point that was unambiguouslymade at that time was there was a

cabal entrenched in the university tofrustrate the appointment of qualifiedBenin Professors as Vice-Chancellor inthe University of Benin. It is theheight of injustice, discrimination,marginalization and deprivation thatprevailed for about 40 years in the university. No wonder the universityhad its attendant problems at the time.It is on record that it is not only theBenin people that agitate for justice,fairness and equity which the humanrace always agitate for. I want to referthe writer of that article to the VanguardNewspaper of Tuesday, April 10, 2013,

at page 36, where it is reported thatthe Urhobos are advocating for anindigenous Vice-Chancellor for theFederal University of PetroleumResources, Effurun, FUPRE.The writer may have forgotten thatsince the inception of the Delta StateUniversity, Abraka, ONLY Professorsof the Urhobo stock have occupied theseat of Vice-Chancellor in theinstitution for obvious reasons. So willthe writer hit the roof for what theindigenes perceive as their legitimatedemand? So, why the hullabaloosabout the agitation of Binis in 2009 forone of their own to occupy the seat ofVice-Chancellor of the University ifBenin after 40 years of the existenceof the university in Benin City, evenwhen they have lots of eminentlyqualified Professors, many of them alsoseasoned administrators, to occupy theposition? Please people should leavethe Binis alone!

WHAT does the Federal Ministry of Industry,Trades and Investments do? How canNigerians assess the importance of its workto tackling the various challenges the countryfaces as it grapples with industrialisation?Global rankings of Nigeria as an investment

destination of choice have risen followingimprovements the Ministry has made inmarketing the country. KPMG, a leadingconsultancy said Nigeria gained fromdisappointing returns recorded by the BRICS,with the exception of China.UNCTAD’s World Investment Report 2012,

“Towards a New Generation of InvestmentPolicies”, rated Nigeria as Africa’s biggestdestination for Foreign Direct Investment,FDI, in 2011, with FDI inflows of $8.92bn,ahead of South Africa with $5.81bn.Changes at the Nigerian Investment

Promotion Commission, NIPC, have resultedin a 48-hour response target for all enquirieswhile registering new businesses is possiblein Abuja and Lagos in less than 24 hours.These, and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s

2012 that indicate, “Nigeria’s trade balanceimproved significantly from US$8.62 billionin Q2, 2012 and $1.60 billion in Q3, 2011,respectively, to US$12.37 billion in Q3, 2012.Aggregate exports rose by 8.2 per cent, from

A FA FA FA FA Future Onuture Onuture Onuture Onuture OnIndusIndusIndusIndusIndustrtrtrtrtryyyyy, T, T, T, T, Trades,rades,rades,rades,rades,

InvestmentsInvestmentsInvestmentsInvestmentsInvestmentsUS$22.53 billion in Q3, 2011 to US$24.37billion in Q3, 2012 while aggregate imports(CIF) declined by 42.7 per cent to US$11.99billion in the review period,” are some of thecredits the Ministry claims.Increase in exports, a 43 per cent drop in

imports in 2012 (significantly in vegetable oil,textiles and cement), resulting in savings ofmore than N4.2 trillion, the equivalent of the2013 federal budget, are signs thatmanufacturing is improving and theinterventions in textile manufacturing areyielding results. In 2012, the non-oil sector’s30 per cent contribution to revenue was

significant.Minister of Industry, Trades and

Investments Mr. Segun Aganga discussesthese developments with enthusiasm. Arethey results of experience he brought to thejob from exposure to international trade andinvestments or is Nigeria benefitting fromthe misfortune of other investmentdestinations?Whatever it is, Nigeria’s industrialisation

map is being drawn, and the Bank of Industryis developing key partnerships with micro,small and medium enterprises, efforts thatcan become more profitable if governmentsand industrialists work together to dismantlethe formidable obstacles infrastructurepresents.The Ministry cannot realise its

industrialisation, trades and investmenttargets - which would create more jobs andgenerally improve the welfare of Nigerians– in isolation. As it promotes Nigeria as aninvestment destination, all the other factorsthat would make Nigeria fit the bill shouldbe tackled with more seriousness.Perhaps, we should be wondering what

other government agencies are doing inensuring that these gains are not lost tochallenges of sustaining them.

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 — 19

*Dr. Uwa, a medical practitioner, wrotefrom Aba, Abia State.

,

,BY ROMANUS UWA

,

BY CLEMENT UDEGBE

*Mr. Udegbe, a lawyer, wrotefrom Lagos.

,

THE massacre this month ofover 40 police officers and 10

Department of State Services,DSS, men by the Ombatse cult inEggon area of Nasarawa Statewoke Nigeria to the reality of thedanger of increased violenceagainst our law enforcementagents, especially the Police. Itbrought home the determinationof Boko Haram to destabilise thiscountry, and that any evil wetolerate will turn round to hauntus in the end. Boko Haram, bywhatever means it emerged in ourcountry, had become a big threatto our corporate existence as onenation. The politicians that mayhave started or engineered it fromthe North of Nigeria lost controlof it. Those who called for bloodto flow in the wake of the 2011election results, lost face, becameembarrassed and confused aboutthe purpose, because what they hadintended was not what was playingout. What started as a small groupwith few guns, knives, and clubs,killing mostly non-Muslims, havebecome a big terroristorganisation with internationalconnections and inputs. TheNorthern politicians themselveswere fast becoming targets andvictims of attacks. It is now analmost settled matter, that thosewho may have thought that theywould use Boko Haram to maketheir way into Aso Rock, will surelybe prevented from controlling AsoRock by the activities of the samesect.No sound Nigerian, Christianor Muslim, will vote for any personwho saw no evil in the activities ofBoko Haram or had threatenedviolence for whatever reasons.Boko Haram today protects and

Beyond the Nasarawamassacre of Police

respects no one, Northerner,Southerner, Christian or Muslimbecause they have fully grown intoterrorists, although they started asa sectarian violent group.

The strong response of theFederal Government to thekillings in Nasarawa State, bydeclaring state of emergency inthree of the Boko Haram bedrockstates of Northern Nigeria was,therefore, welcome and overdue.What should be done now also isfor the government to keepwatchful eyes on those states in theNorth that are most vulnerable,namely Bauchi, Plateau, andKaduna states. The price of liberty,they say, is eternal vigilance.

The strong action by the FederalGovernment was needed at thisstage.It was welcome because first,it brought peace to the peaceloving citizens of those states, andby extension the country. Second,it sent a strong message to allNigerians that the killing of anyuniformed personnel issacrilegious and should never becontemplated by any. Third, itwoke the nation up from gettingused to killing our police men, nomatter their weaknesses. After all,you do not cut off your headbecause it is over grown with hairs.

The first major outing of theBoko Haram group was to attackour Police headquarters. It wastheir strong message to the Police,that they were a key target; thenthey hit the UN Office in Abuja totell us that they had goneinternational; then the news mediahouses to tell us how importantpublicity was to their course. Soonafter we lost DIG John Harunaunder circumstances that pointedat terrorism, though not confirmedby police. Boko Haram burntpolice stations, attacked prison

yards at every opportunity. In allthese, the police did not seem tohave read the real messages fromthe sect because of thesupervening influence and opinionof some Northern leaders.Thephenomenon of increasing hatredand killing of police officers wasalmost becoming politicised. TheNiger Delta aggression against thepolice was already building up.Myunaided count is that over 200police officers have been killedsince Boko Haram started in 2011,and it should not be so.

If the President of Americamourned the Connecticut

school shooting of 20 Americankids like we saw recently, whatshould our President do with losingover 50 police and DSS officers inone fell swoop in NassarawaState? What will the President doin superintending over a Forceendangered by ethnic and religiouspolitics and sentiments like theNigeria Police? Assuming that wehave a police with a bad publicimage,and indeed weak, shouldthe President stand and watchwhile we kill all of them?If ourargument is that we don’t wantChristians and Western education,

and all that in the North, shouldthat constitute reasons to beallowed to kill our police men likethis? The growing trend ofattacking police officers on duty,and killing them on flimsy reasonsmust stop and be completelyeliminated from the psyche of allNigerians of all walks of life. Wemust be made to realise that thePolice officer is a special agent ofthe President and the FederalRepublic of Nigeria. He is notstanding at that duty post or in thatassignment on his own. If youtouch a police officer, you havetouched the apple of the eye of Mr.President!

The Police on their part mustcome to terms with the realities ofpolicing our societies at a time likethis. They must work together withall other law enforcement sectionsof this nation. They need to growabove bickering and cheapcompetition with the NSCDC overpipeline vandalisation,to theextent that lives were lost as we hadin Ikorodu, Lagos recently. Policeas the bigger brother to all lawenforcement organisations inNigeria should take the lead inbuilding friendly and cordialrelationships with the others likethe DSS, Customs andImmigration, and the baby of thefamily, the NSCDC.That is why theloss of DSS officers in Nassarawabecame so painful, and we hopethat their cooperation with thePolice will continue to grow in spiteof the mishap.

The Police will also do someconscience searching to meet thedemands of policing Nigeria in thismodern world .A friendly Police isimperative. First,the AGF in 2012announced that over 3000 personshave been killed extra-judiciallyby the police in four years. No onelikes a killer, and if Nigeriansperceive the police as killers,support will drop.The rate of extra-judicial killing should be reduced,and only officers with stablemental conditions should be

allowed to carry guns.Second,the general Police image

among the people is less than isdesired. Many Nigerians believethat the police station is simplytrouble,but that is not so. Thepolice gives peace and helpsmaintain law and order in society.Ioften get surprised when a policeofficer flares up over a simple civilmatter of debt recovery. What is hisinterest, why should a policeofficer be more angry than thecomplainant, in a purely civilmatter? It boils down tocompromised interest andcorruption.

The appearance in public ofsome of officers is becoming soappalling as it is common to see apolice officer in bath room slipperson duty. In this regard, one cannothelp but appreciate the neatappearance of the average NSCDCofficer, while hoping that they keepit up.

The morale and self-image ofpolice officers, therefore, mustreceive a boost. Nigeria stands togain more if the monthly wage ofthe lowest law enforcement officer,especially in the Police is peggedat N80,000, while the condition ofpolice barracks will be a matterfor another day. Policedeployment policy across thenation should be reviewed suchthat officers will be close to theirhome LGAs.I do not see howeffective an Igbo police officer, forexample, will be in an Efik, Hausa,or Edo community or vice versa.The difference in culture,mentality, religion and otherethnic differences will affect hiseffectiveness and could even causedisaffection between him and hishost community. A percentage ofofficers therefore from the rank ofInspector and above, should bedeployed in their home LGAs foreffective policing.

WHAT is truly lacking in many parts ofthe country today and has

continued to inhibit development is lack ofaccess roads and adequate transportationsystem. Successive governments at alllevels, especially during the long years ofmilitary regime, did not help matters at all.Several efforts and inputs by privateindividuals and organisations in thetransportation sector has not been enoughbecause majority of Nigerians rely on landtransportation to move around. Besides, thecost of such transport scheme is alwaysunaffordable by some Nigerians, especiallyin the rural areas.But in Abia State today, unlike in the past,the situation has changed and is stillchanging for good with the presentadministration’s policy on massive roadconstruction and rehabilitation across thesenatorial zones in the state.

The policy has brought about the openingup of access roads in several parts of thestate, especially in the agrarian communitiesin the hinterlands where farmers reside.Before now, some of the people in the ruralcommunities in the state have not seencaterpillars not to talk of using tarredroads. The state government under theleadership of Governor Theodore Orji hasremained consistent in pursuing the policywhich is one of the cardinal programmes ofhis government from inception.

Apart from the ongoing construction andrehabilitation of roads across the state, the

Appreciating road and transportrevolution in Abia

government has completed the followingroads since the assumption of office. Theyinclude Abia Tower (Ossah) dualised road,Okpara Square dualized road; the UwalakaAhia-Orie Ugba road; Ibeku Roadextension, Ozuitem Street, Abam-OrieUgba Street, Umuovom Nkatta Road(Ochendo Bye-Pass), Ahieke-Okwuta-IsiekeRoad with spur to the Cenotaph, Uyo Street,Okwulaga-Afaraukwu Road, Umuafai-Lodu-Ahieke Road, Link Road between AbaRoad and Timber Market, Nkata AmekeRoad, Nkata-Alike Ring Road, NewSecretariat By-pass, Ubakala-Old Umuahiadualised Highway, internal Roads in AbiaState House of Assembly, Abia TransportRoad, Enyiukwu Road, Okigwe Park Bye-pass and the asphalt overlay of over 25streets within Umuahia the state capitaland these roads were also beautified withstreetlights and pedestrian walkways onboth sides. The development has restorednightlife in the state capital amidst securedatmosphere devoid of crime of any sort.

In the commercial city of Aba alone, thestate government has completed the OkwuStreet, Ezeogo Road (Opposite Ngwa HighSchool), Nwala Street, Mount Zion Street,Ikonne Street, A-line and F-line, AriariaMarket. Other roads include Umule Road,Umuocham Azikiwe, Okigwe, Faulks Road,Orieohazu Street, Unity Garden/OsisiomaRing Road, Timber and Allied ProductsMarket internal roads, Uratta Road,dualization of Aba-Owerri Road with thespur at the Osisioma Ngwa end of theEnugu-Port-Harcourt expressway,dualization of Aba-Port Harcourt Road,

Udu Street, Umugo-Ugwunagbo Road,Uratta, Ngozi Avenue, Omenazu, OkigweRoad, East Street and the recentlycommissioned Brass street, MilvertonAvenue, Azikiwe Road, George Street andConstitution Crescent.

Knowing that lack of adequatedrainage channels has always

been the bane of road durability in Aba, thepresent government had demolished allillegal structures in the city which made itpossible for the construction of giantdrainage channels at Ama-Ogbonna andNgwa Road by East to control flooding inthe city. Apart from the completed roads inthe city, the perennial flooding at Binezjunction of Aba-Owerri Road wheremotorists spent hours before crossing overhas been tackled. Beside, work is ongoingin other roads in the city and will soon becompleted before the rainy season gathersmomentum.

Also not left out in the roads revolution bythe state government is the ruralcommunities where majority of the people

of the state are residing. Some of the ruralroads that have been constructed includeOzu-Abam Ndi-Okereke Road, Amaekpu-Okagwe-Ohafia Road, Amankalu-Alayi-Akoli-Imenyi Road, Ariam- Usaka-IkwuanoRoad, Nunya-Eluama-isuikwuato Road,Ovim-Isuikwuato Road, Aba-ObikabiaRoad, Umugo-Alaoji-Umunka-Umuodo-Ugwunagbo Road, the Ntigha-MbawsiRoad, Iyienyi-Okwoi-Ozuitem Road,Umueze-Agbo-Ubani Ibeku Road, NkataMbom Road, some internal roads in Ossahand the Achara-Ihechiowa Road.

Being mindful of the popular sayingthat vehicles have become... an article ofdress without which we feel uncertain,unclad, and incomplete, Governor Orji hadin 2009 rolled out the Abia City TransportScheme which, aside creating employmentfor the people, had equally resolved theperennial problem of lack of adequate andbefitting intra-city transportation in thestate. Since then, more than 1000 vehicleshave been given out by the state governmentunder the Transport Loan Scheme and thebeneficiaries are always ready to testify tothis. That is why it has always been possiblefor the state government to able to providefree transportation for indigenes of thestate living in different parts of the countryduring yuletide celebration.

With the ongoing revolution in the roadsconstruction and transportation by thepresent administration, which are two keyfactors in industrial growth, the state is nowon the verge of reclaiming its past glory asthe industrial giant of the country. This ismore so that the commercial city of Aba isgetting adequate attention from the stategovernment in the area of massiveinfrastructure development.

The growingtrend ofattacking policeofficers on duty,and killing themon flimsyreasons muststop and becompletelyeliminated fromthe psyche of allNigerians

The policy hasbrought about theopening up of accessroads in several partsof the state, especiallyin the agrariancommunities in thehinterlands wherefarmers reside

CMYK

20 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

THIS is not the best oftimes for Imo State and its

people given the harvest oftragedies recorded in the staterecently. The most recent is theancient ancestral tree that fellin Umudagu, Ihitte Isi Mbiericommunity, Mbaitoli localcouncil area of the State lateThursday night of May 16,killing no fewer than 50 peo-ple, with a yet to be ascer-tained number critically in-jured. The tall tree known asOsisi Ukwu Uko, collapsed onbuildings as well as thosetransacting their businesses ina market located under thetree.

Vanguard Metro, VM, gath-ered that the collapse of thetree followed a heavy torren-tial rain that was accompaniedby a ferocious windstorm andthunder. The devastating rain-storm, which started at about6pm on the fateful day, con-tinued throughout the nightand spilled over to the morn-ing hours of Friday. It was alsogathered that most of the vic-tims were either traders, whowere selling their wares in themarket, their customers, somepassers-by and others who

were taking shelter in thetown hall building and thesurrounding houses.

Lamenting over the ugly in-cident, the former state chair-man of Peoples DemocraticParty, PDP, Chief MarcellinusNlemigbo, whose ancestralhome is a shouting distanceaway from the tragic scenesaid “the incident is most dev-astating and has thrown theentire community into deepmourning”.

Continuing, Nlemigbo said:“The tree was a symbol of the

sisted earlier arrangements tofell the tree. He said he wasnot at home when the incidentoccurred and was only toldabout it through the telephoneand had to rush home to as-sist in evacuating the casual-ties.

“I am aware that the treeprovided a natural canopy forpeople. There is also a mar-ket set up by our ancestors in

ing and lamentations thescene of the tragedy. This waswhile joint rescue operationfrom patriotic and sympathet-ic Umudagu youths, NigerianSecurity and Civil DefenceCorps, NSCDC, the Fire Ser-vice, policemen and men of theState Emergency Manage-ment Agency led by the Exec-utive Secretary, Mrs. UcheEzeonyeasi was on to evacu-ate the dead and the injured,and restore a semblance of or-der at the place.

A lot of credit must be givento Mbieri youths who came outin their numbers, defying theuncertainties of the dark night,the devastating torrential rain,lightening and thunder, to as-sist their dying relations andfriends.

Determinationand patriotism

But for the determinationand patriotism of these youths,more people would have died,even as it is being speculated

*A section of the tree that fell, smashed buildings and killed many people

*Part of the trunk of the fallen tree

ANCIENT TREE TRAGEDY:

Tears, condemnationstrail multiple deaths

,

,

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA,Owerri

rachi Obumunonye said thatthis disaster could have beenaverted and blamed the com-munity’s elders for bluntly re-fusing initial plans to cutdown the aged tree.

He, however, recalled withgrief that when some parts ofthe tree were trimmed about20 years ago, the two individ-uals, who were engaged toexecute the job, died unex-pectedly after about a week,adding that this lent credenceto the belief that the gods re-siding in the tree had beenangered.

Some villagers around thescene confirmed to VM that amiddle aged mad woman hadMay 14, 2013, warned thetraders, who usually sold theirwares close to and under thetree, to relocate from the placesoonest or be prepared to facethe looming but unpleasantconsequences.

Obviously, the villagers ig-nored the advice, especially asit came from a mental patient!

Most sympathisers could nothelp but join close relations ofthe dead in a chorus of wail-

er, expressed unhap-piness that some el-ders in the communi-ty had severally re-

the place, which was sus-tained till date. There is alsothe likelihood that some peo-ple must have run into thetown hall building to takeshelter. So, the casualty figurecan be any person’s guess,”Chief Nlemigbo said.

An obviously angry villagerwho gave his name as Ama-

community and no living per-son in our community can ful-ly narrate the history attachedto the tree. The tree had al-ways been there until yester-day (Friday night)”.

While debunking the rumournow making the rounds thatthe tree had fetish attachmentsto it, Chief Nlemigbo, howev-

that thedeath tollmay haveincreasedin view ofthe severityof the inju-ries and thed i s t a n c efrom thescene of theincident tothe FederalM e d i c a lC e n t r e ,Owerri.

S o m ep e o p l ewi l l ing lymade their

private cars available for theevacuation of the dead and in-jured. Some were seen givingfirst aid to the victims of thetragedy before they were tak-en to the hospital. The even-tual arrival of government’semergency team added somefillip to the efforts of theyouths.

Meanwhile, the lifeless bod-ies of the victims, most ofwhich are yet to be identified,were deposited in morgues,including the Federal Medi-cal Centre, the State Special-ist Hospital and AladinmaHospital, all in Owerri.

But the tragedy is one thatwill haunt the villagers for along time. The picture wasgory. Human limbs scatteredall over the place. Althoughrain water washed away theblood coming from the dyingpeople, traces of human bloodand stench can still clung tothe scene.

For the people, it was a co-lossal loss of life and proper-ty. Their prayer is that suchshould never come the wayUmudagu, Ihitte Isi Mbieri.

The tree was a symbol of the commu-nity and no living person in our com-munity can fully narrate the historyattached to the tree. The tree had al-ways been there until yesterday

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 — 21

passed into law, the NRC has beguna move to pave way for theprivatization process. It has dawnedon us that NRC alone can no longerhandle the enormous challenges ofrevolutionizing the sector, havingsuffered long years of neglect. So ithas become expedient to involve theprivate sector by this time if we everintend to meet our objective ofattaining world class rail service,” headded.

According to Sijuade, under thenew arrangement, private individualswill be granted access to run some ofthe vital aspects of the railwayoperation while the corporationretains its regulatory power over therail facilities and the activities of theprivate operators. He said the PPPinitiative include outsourcing, supply

NRC shops for private investors todrive rail transportation chain and concessioning.

He said the corporation is alreadyoutsourcing some services to enhanceoperational efficiency, such as on-board cleaning of passenger trains,cleaning of major train stations andon-board catering.

Sijuade further said that NRC hascommenced the procurement processfor selecting potential logistics serviceproviders in the following areas:design, building, operation andtransfer (DBMOT) of warehousing toprovide suitable, safe and securestorage space for goods; finance,supply and operation of modernfacilities and provision of services forloading and offloading of goods;finance, supply in joint managementwith NRC, railway coaches to enhancepassenger carriage capacity andfinance, supply in joint managementwith NRC, and railway wagons toenhance freight haulage capacity.

STAKEHOLDERS in theAlternative Dispute

Resolution (ADR) industryhave opposed theestablishment of a commissionto regulate ADR practices in thecountry.

Recently, the House ofRepresentatives passed a Billtitled, ‘National AlternativeDispute RegulatoryCommission Bill, 2011. The Billwhich has also passed thesecond reading at the Senate,seeks to establish NationalAlternative Dispute ResolutionRegulatory Commission(NADRRC). The functions ofthe commission, according tothe Bill is to: regulate, throughthe process of accreditation, allAlternative Dispute bodies andinstitutions engaged in practicetraining, education or skillsacquisition in alternativedispute resolution mechanism;advise the federal and stategovernments on the use ofalternative dispute resolutionmechanisms; develop analternative dispute resolutionpolicy for Nigeria; maintain aregister of Alternative DisputeResolution bodies andInstitutions in Nigeria; set andmaintain standards in thetraining curriculum of theAlternative Dispute Resolutionbodies in Nigeria; undertakepublic enlightenmentprogrammes on the benefits ofAlternative Dispute Resolutionas effective means of settlementof disputes; develop andmaintain relations withinternational AlternativeDispute Resolution bodies andorganisations with a view toattaining best internationalstandards and practices in the

field of Alternative DisputeResolution; organisee local andinternational seminars,workshops and conferences forusers and practitioners;develop and constantly review,rules and regulations for thepractice of Alternative DisputeResolution in Nigeria; carry outsuch other activities as theCommission may considernecessary to raise awarenessand maintain standards in theuse of Alternative DisputeResolution in Nigeria.”

Stakeholders, however,criticised the Bill, saying thatADR by its nature does notrequire regulation. They saidthat the Bill, if passed into law,will impinge on the right ofprivate individuals to choosealternative dispute resolutionmethod. They also noted thatthe Bill is against internationalbest practices, as nowhere inthe world, except for pariahstates, is ADR regulated bygovernment.

The stakeholders meeting

was convened by theleadership of the Nigeria BarAssociation (NBA) Section onBusiness Law (SBL) Arbitrationand ADR Committee led byOlasupo Shasore, SAN andMrs Funmi Roberts

Briefing journalists on theoutcome of the stakeholdersmeeting, Sasore said thatbefore the Bill was passed bythe House of Representatives,stakeholders had expressedtheir opposition to it, but theywere ignored. He said it would

take more concerted efforts onthe part of stakeholders to stopthe passage of the Bill by theSenate, and that is the basis forthe stakeholders meeting. Hesaid there are three categoriesof objection to the Bill, whichwere adopted by participants atthe meeting, namely,Constitutional, Budgetary andInternational best practice. Henoted that ADR is not in theexclusive list of theconstitution; hence the NationalAssembly lacks the power tolegislate on ADR.

From left: Otunba ‘Debola Osibogun, First Vice President/Chairman, Organising Committee of 50th Anniversary, ChateredInstitute of Bankers of Nigeria, CIBN; Mr. Segun Aina, President/Chairman of Council and Mr. Femi Ekundayo, Past President,at a press conference to announce the activities making the 50th anniversary of the institute in Lagos.

Stakeholders oppose regulation ofalternative dispute resolutions

NIGERIAN Railway Corporation(NRC) is shopping for investors

under a Public-Private Partnershipinitiative to drive railway operations in thecountry.

Managing Director, NRC, Engr. AdeseyiSijuade, who disclosed this in Lagos, saidthat the government has reached aconclusion that the corporation cannot betotally transformed without theparticipation of the private sector.

“In this regard, the federal government,through the Ministry of Transport, recentlyprepared a draft bill to amend the 1957Railway Act and allow for private sectorparticipation. This bill has been approvedby the National Council on Privatizationand will soon be submitted to the NationalAssembly. While awaiting this bill to be

BY JONAH NWOKPOKU

BY BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 23/05/2013

103.90 -0.90

95.98 -0.73

132.7 -2.45

2,344.00 +43.00

16.88 0.07

DOLLAR 154.74 155.24 155.74POUNDS 233.7193 234.4745 235.2297EURO 200.1407 200.7874 201.4341FRANC 158.8543 159.3676 159.8809YEN 1.5029 1.5078 1.5126CFA 0.2845 0.2945 0.3045WAUA 229.8532 230.5959 231.3386RENMINBI 25.2368 25.3188 25.4008RIYA 41.2607 41.394 41.5273KRONA 226.8487 26.9355 27.0222SDR 230.5935 231.3386 232.0837

CMYK

22 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 201 3

LEARN Africa Plc and DNTyre Plc reported losses

in their quarterly results dueto growing cost of sales andadministrative/distributioncost. This also led RT BriscoePlc’s profit to fall by 87.7 percent.

The poor results prompteda negative return on theirshare prices within the week.

In its 2013 first quarterresult filed at the NigerianStock Exchange, Learn AfricaPlc recorded a significant lossafter tax, depreciating by 994per cent, with a N64.44 millionloss as against a profit aftertax of N7.32 million recordedin the same period of 2012. Itrevenue dropped by 78.6 percent in the period underreview, with N149.85 millionas against N700.53 millionrecorded in Q1 2012.

The significant loss recordedwas occasioned by its inabilityto manage its cost of saleseffectively which rose by

Rising cost deflates LearnAfrica’s profit, two others

BY CHINEDUIBEABUCHI

81.11 per cent quarter toquarter and its distribution/administrative and cost otherexpenses which rose by 38.57per cent.

The poor result declared bythe company impactednegatively on its share pricewhich fell to N1.65 per shareon Wednesday from N2.00per share recorded onMonday when it released itsQ1 result to the investingpublic.

DN Tyre Plc 2nd quarter lossafter tax slumped further by5.6 per cent, recording a lossof N437.43 million as againsta loss of N463.21 million inthe same quarter of 2012. Itsrevenue also dropped toN81.81 million from N99.1million recorded in itscorresponding period of 2012.

Huge administrative and

marketing expenses, as wellas interest expenses andsimilar charges impactednegatively on the company’sbottom line. Its share pricehas remained at it nominalvalue of N0.50 year to date.

The company has beenhaving a tough time inbreaking through in itsoperations as it declaredN826.864 million loss in its2012 audited profit/loss aftertax ended September 30 2012.The company increased itsloss from N615.823 millionrecorded in the same periodof 2011.

R T Briscoe Nigeria Plc profitafter tax depreciated by 87.7per cent, recording N8.4million in first quarter of 2013as against N68.17 million incorresponding period of 2012.Its revenue also fell to N5.24

billion from N5.46 billion inthe previous period.

The company’s profitabilitymargin witnessed a significantdrop as a result of its financialcost depleting its operatingprofit by 96.3 per cent. Itexpended N355.7 million as itsfinancial cost out of N368.1million realised as operatingprofit in Q1 2013.

Its unimpressive result droveits share price to fall by 10 percent between Wednesday andMonday this week that thecompany released its Q1result to the investing public.

However, Fidson HealthcarePlc grew its first quarterrevenue by N2.62 billion,rising by 55 per cent, asagainst N1.7 billion recordedin the same quarter of 2012.Its profit after tax rose by 60per cent, recording N194.5million in contrast to N121.4million in 2012.

The company’s share rose by14.1 per cent to close at N1.78per share on Wednesday fromN1.56 per share last Fridaywhen it released its Q1 resultto the investing public. Thecompany recently releasingan impressive 2012 full yearresult, showing a profit aftertax growth of 272 andproposed a dividend of N180million, which translates to 12 kobo dividend payout toshareholders.

Commenting on the results,the Finance Director, FidsonHealthcare, Mr. OlatundeOlanipekun, said theimprovements recorded resulted from concerted effortsto raise performance andproductivity.

GOVERNOR of theCentral Bank of Nigeria

(CBN), Malam SanusiLamido Sanusi, CON,

Speaking in Lagos duringthe keynote address at theCBN/Gartner event, Sanusisaid that the CBN remainscommitted to realizing thevision of providing Nigeriawith a secure, robust andaccessible paymentinfrastructure.

Describing the paymentssystem as an importantcomponent of services thatbanks

render to Nigerians, Sanusi

Effective e-payment system critical tobanking services — Sanusi

emphasized the importance ofeffective, efficient and safeservice delivery to theNigerian banking populace.

Speaking on the theme:“Secure, robust & accessiblepayments infrastructure,” theCBN Governor disclosed thatthe Bank had taken deliberateactions in recent times tofocus attention towardselectronic payments as averitable option for efficientpayments service towards thepromotion of rapid financialinclusion and increasedeconomic activities.

According to him, “thesuccess of a country ’spayments system is evinced by

perceptions of its security,robustness –that is, the ability

to cater for a wider range ofpreferences –and its ready

access to the end –user.”Speaking further, Sanusi

said that the Cash-lite policywas introduced to, amongother things, meet FSS2020/Vision 2020 requirements forregional and international

integration and modernizethe payments system inNigeria. “This is just one step

towards the credible,reliable, & efficient paymentssystem that is CBN’s dream,”he added. .

Reviewing the previouspayments system, the CBNGovernor recalled that thefinancial system in Nigeriawas largely characterized bya cash dominant and weak

electronic payments platform.He, however, expressed

satisfaction that there is nowgreater speed in financialtransactions, hugelyattributable to the evolution ofInformation Technology,which he described as beingkey to the transformation inpayments System

“That informationtechnology is a key part of thistransformation is almost a

misnomer – IT is the veryfabric of such transformation.Far from being merely asupport function tooperations, IT has evolved asa key enabler of competitiveadvantage, innovation andsecurity,” Sanusi declared.

THE FederalGovernment has

inaugurated the governingboard of the FinancialReporting Council ofNigeria. The board wasinaugurated by the Ministerof Industry, Trade andInvestment, Mr OlusegunAganga inaugurates theGoverning Board of theFinancial Reporting Councilof Nigeria (FRC) inAbuja,the Federal CapitalTerritory.

Headed by the immediatepast/ President of theAssociation of NationalAccountants of Nigeria(ANAN), H ajar MariamLadi Ibrahim, the board isthe first since theestablishment of the FRCfollowing the enactment ofthe enabling act in 2011.

Apart from Ibrahim, thestatement added, othermembers of the Board arethe Executive Secretary/Chief Executive of the FRC,Mr Jim Obazee, tworepresentatives each of theInstitute of CharteredAccountants of Nigeria(ICAN) and ANAN.

Also included are onerepresentative each of thefollowing: Office of theAccountant General of theFederation; Office of theauditor General for theFederation; Central Bank ofNigeria; Chartered Instituteof Stockbrokers; CharteredInstitute of Taxation ofNigeria; Corporate AffairsCommission; Federal InlandRevenue Service; FederalMinistry of Industry, Tradeand Investment; FederalMinistry of Finance;Nigerian AccountingAssociation; NigerianAssociation of Chambers ofCommerce, Industries,Mines and Agriculture.

Others are NigerianDeposit InsuranceCorporation; NigerianInstitute of Estate Surveyorsand Valuers; Securities andExchange Commission, theNational InsuranceCommission; Nigerian StockExchange and the NigerianPension Commission.

The FRC is the bodycharged with regulatingaccounting, auditing,valuation and actuarialstandards, registration ofprofessionals as well asharmonisation of corporategovernance rules in thecountry.

BRIEFS

FGinauguratesFRC Board

BY BABAJIDEKOMOLAFE

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 —23

Mass importation of CPO threatto FG’s ATA — POFON

STORIESBY DANIEL GUMM

FG launches website to tackle informal exports

The plantation ownwers not-ed that they are disturbed byreports of concession andwaivers being granted to trad-ers to import CPO and refinedproducts in spite of the 35 percent tariff and the ban on re-spective commodities and inflagrant disregards to the as-surances given by Mr. Presi-dent in his budget speech notto grant concession and waiv-ers to import commodities thatwe have the capacity to pro-duce in Nigeria.

But some government agen-cies have been implicated ingranting concession and waiv-ers to CPO importers. Thispractice, according to PO-FON, undermines the ATA of

this administration. POFONdemands that it be stoppedforthwith.

POFON has also noted withconcern the purported risingimports of CPO from neigh-boring West African countriesunder ETLS. “Verifiable sta-tistics have shown that oursub-regional neighbors in-cluding Ghana, Republic ofBenin, Togo and Cote D’Ivoireare net importers of CPO. Therising importation of CPO fromthese countries into Nigeriaunder ETLS is therefore ques-tionable.” POFON thereforecalls on government to inves-tigate purported ETLS importswith a view to identifying theabuses that are associated

with ETLS.POFON said that it has be-

ing following the recent argu-ment and clamour, from man-ufacturers to reduce CPO tar-iff from 35 per cent to 5%. “Wehave also found most absurdthe proposal made to govern-ment to give concession tocompanies, which can showevidence of owning minimum2,000 hectares oil palm plan-tation to import CPO.”

“There is substantial evi-dence to show that this kindof proposal was made out ofconfusion and desperation toclear the way for dumpingcheap and low quality CPOinto the country. POFON in-disputably declares that nogenuine plantation owner isinterested to import CPO un-der any guise into the coun-try and as such says an em-phatic “No” to tariff reduction.

“The contemporary agricul-tural transformation agenda(ATA) emphasises the valuechain approach to agricultur-al development. For the oilpalm value chain, it presup-poses that both the upstreamand downstream of the valuechain are complementary ofeach other.

“POFON therefore finds theexisting arrangement incon-gruent and inimical to ATA;where the downstream valuechain enjoys extreme protec-tion of imports ban, while theupstream value chain is pro-tected with 35 per cent tariff,”it stressed.

POFON listed the variouaprojects by its members andcalled on the Federal Govern-ment to provide enabling en-vironment, necessary infra-structure and incentives totake Nigeria’s oil palm indus-try to global competitiveness.

FG to removebarrier onfood export toEU

KFC launches Snacker snackNIGERIAN Export Pro-

motion Council(NEPC) has launched e-reg-istration Website and e-regis-tration booklet to reduce thevolume of consignment leav-ing the country through infor-mal exports.

The Executive Director,NEPC, David Adulugba, whosaid this at the launch in Abu-ja expressed regret that thequantum of goods leaving thecountry annually without doc-umentation was worrisome.

Adulugba said the launch ofthe site - www.nepc.gov.ng -and the booklet was vital tothe growth of the non-oil ex-port sector. He said the initi-atives would enhance theprocess of registering prod-ucts meant for export as wellas assist in capturing data ofthe informal trade betweenNigeria and other countries.

Adulugba said findings bythe agency revealed that therewere 48 loading points wheregoods were exported to othercountries informally.

He expressed concern thatmore than three quarters of

the goods leaving the coun-try were informal, adding the

THE Federal Govern- ment has said it has

plans to assist exporters ofnon oil products to ad-dress the bottlenecks con-nected with exports offood produce to Europeancountries.

The plans, according tothe Minister of Industry,Trade and Investment,Mr. Segun Aganga, wouldhelp to facilitate trade tothe United Kingdom andcountries in the EuropeanUnion.

Aganga stated this at aworkshop and exhibitionon export of Nigerianfood produce to the UK.The workshop, withtheme: 'Export of food pro-duce to the United King-dom' was organised by theNigerian Export Promo-tion Council (NEPC).

The minister, who wasrepresented by the Perma-nent Secretary in the Min-istry, Dr. Dauda Kigbu,said the capacity buildingworkshop would also helpto reduce complaints byexporters regarding therejection of traditionalfood exports by the UKBorder Agency.

He said: "In view of thestrict importance attachedto internationally accept-ed procedures and docu-mentation, especiallywhere food consumablesare concerned, this work-shop could not have comeat a better period-more so,as the nation looks to di-versifying its economicbase from oil to non oil.

Also speaking at theevent, the EU Head, Im-port Control Agency, UK,Mr. Michael Glavin, saidfor the country to fully har-ness the potential of nonoil export, challengessuch as compliance withEU laws and agricultureprocessing needed to beaddressed.

The NEPC ExecutiveSecretary, Mr. DavidAdulugba, who also spokeat the event, said with theworkshop, the countrywould begin to witness aquantum leap in the vol-ume of non-oil export.

"The British market con-sistently tops the first 10chart list of importers ofNigerian goods, and inany case, they have beenour traditional tradingpartner of old. We arelooking at it from superla-tive terms now. Whateverit is now we want to makeit 100 per cent higher.

IN line with its “consum- er-centric” approach, KFC,

one of the world’s most popularquick service restaurants haslaunched a new eat–as-you-goSnacker to the satisfaction of itsteeming customers and pros-pects which offers a tasty rangethat appeals to snack-lovers andfun-loving youths and people inLagos and Ibadan.

FC Snacker is a toasted ses-ame bun with one piece crispystrip, lettuce and pepper may-onnaise. According to KFCHead of Marketing, Mr.Vikram Varma, “People, espe-cially, youth and students aretired of regular meat pies, hotdogs and rolls and are look-ing for something real. KFCin line with consumers’ expec-tation now has a real snackwhich is affordable as well asgreat tasting.

It is believed that customersneed to be able to refuelthroughout the day to maintain

optimal energy level and that’swhere KFC Snacker comes in.It also fills in certain gaps inbetween regular meal period.

In one of the higher institu-tions of learning in Lagos, Ay-oade Ayo and Ayoade Sayo,Twin brothers, testified that“KFC Snacker has great influ-ence on us at eating better andgetting around our tight lectureschedule, moreover, it is af-fordable at the price of N300.”Miss Ngozi Donalds, fondlycalled Pink Lady, who is 21,said: “I start my day early inthe morning with a pack of KFCSnacker, it sets my dailyrhythm right.

Customers can enjoy theKFC Chicken menu which in-cludes the Original Recipe:one, Juicy Chicken with a Gold-en Crust, made with KFC’s 11secret herbs and spices, and,the Hot & Crispy Chicken thatis crispy outside and juicy in-side.

agency was ready to tacklethe problem promptly.

USAID-NETT-NiRA — From left: Prof. Akin Aluko, Nigeria Expanded Trade and Transportprogramme, NEXTT; Mrs. Isioma Fidel-Ewekem, Managing Director, Nesta Sukie Limited; PrinceWale Oyekola, Chairman, Agric and Non-Oil Export Group, LCCI, and Open Odunsan, ofNiRA. at a discussion on foreign aids for farmers and exporters in Lagos, yesterday.

THE Plantation OwnersFo- rum of Nigeria, PO-

FON has cautioned the Fed-eral Government to be waryof some companies in Niger-ia, which have begun tradingin imported Crude Palm Oil,CPO, explaining that it hadinformed the Ministry of Ag-riculture and Rural Develop-ment about the threat thatmass importation and dump-ing of CPO poses to the Agri-cultural Transformation Agen-da, ATA of government.

POFON also warned thatany attempt to make the oilpalm upstream value chainvulnerable would jeopardisethe ATA, pointing out thatthere should be urgent gov-ernment intervention, else,the country would stand tolose, when “CPO cabalsemerge to take control andperpetuate the importation ofpalm oil in Nigeria.”

POFON in a communque,signed by its Executive Sec-retary, Fatai A. Afolabi, siadthat after an extra-ordinarymeeting at Presco Plc, Oba-retin Estate, Edo State to de-liberate on critical national is-sues relating to the oil palmindustry, namely: Collapse ofthe domestic palm oil marketand suurvival options; andthe way forward, noted thatfrom the January 2013 level,the local CPO prices havedropped by 25-30 per cent inMay 2013.

“Presently, prices are at in-credibly low levels, thusthreatening the profitability ofoil palm businesses at bothlarge scale and small-holderlevels.”

The highlights of the EdoState meeting were: Down-ward slide in CPO prices, ris-ing importation of CPO, con-cession and waivers, tariff re-duction, as well as abuse ofETLS.

24— Vanguard, FRIDAY ,MAY 24, 2013

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 —25

CMYK

26—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Alieu Secka was one timechairman of the Gambia HotelAssociation (GHA) and the

Proprietor and General Manager,Golden Beach Hotel , also in theGambia. A Chartered Accountant butwith vast experience in the hospitalityindustry. In this interview , he talkedabout the joy of setting up an hotel andhow the economic crisis in Europe sincehas weakened clients budgets.

Here is an excerpts.

The Gambia tThe Gambia tThe Gambia tThe Gambia tThe Gambia tourism targeourism targeourism targeourism targeourism targetststststsNigeria marNigeria marNigeria marNigeria marNigeria markkkkkeeeeet t t t t —Secka

On how he entered the hotel industryAfter studying in London between

1984-90, I returned home to Banjul andworked with KPMG CharteredAccountants for one year, when I wasoffered a job of Chief Accountant atSenegambia Beach Hotel, Gambia’slargest hotel. I rose to become FinancialController & Company Secretary,Financial Director and Deputy MDbefore starting my own Golden BeachHotel.

On his professional qualificationI studied Corporate Administration and

Business & Finance in London and aFellow Member of the CharteredInstitute of Secretaries (FCIS), Fellow ofChartered Management Institute(FCMI), and Hospitality GeneralManagement in Cornell UniversityProfessional Development Program, NY.

On how long he has worked forGolden beach hotel

I opened Golden Beach Hotel in 2006,and have enjoyed to see it grow to asuccessful hotel.

On what hopes and aspirations he hasfor Golden beach hotel

As we work with clients from all overthe world, our mission is to have asmany happy returning clients. We arealways therefore encouraged when wewelcome so many back, and determinedto strive even harder to win many more.

On weather he has much say in thedirection of the hotel

As the Proprietor and GM, I run thehotel together with a small team ofexperienced managers. Recently I amless involved with the day to daymanagement, which I leave to the teamand I concentrate on contracting,marketing and corporate relations.

On If running the Golden beach hotelhas given him any new challenges

Indeed starting a new hotel was anexciting challenge, although was equallytaxing. I had to lead and complete theconstruction, purchase equipment,fixtures & fittings, hire staff, contract withtour operators, prepare websites and get

the operations started with the welcome ofthe first guests among other things

After 7 years operations, some of thechallenges have changed but keeping highoccupancy and costs low are now thebiggest in the face of increased costs. Theeconomic crisis in Europe since 2009, havefurther weakened the clients budgets.

On what has Golden beach hotelbrought to the hospitality industry inGambiaGolden Beach Hotel has broughtvery personalized services in anatmosphere of informality. Very quicklyall our guests are familiar and at ease tospeak with staff as well as relaxed in familytype setting..

Today, our Occupancy is very high withaverages of 80-95% in the peak season.

On his highlights working in this hotelPeaceful wide gardens on a quiet beach.If he has much time during your day to

connect with guestsSeveral times during the day, I walk

around the hotel property when I speak toguests in all the areas. First thing I do whenI arrive in the mornings, is to go to therestaurant and check the services and chatwith guests, then all the way to the beach,stopping at the swimming pool and at guestbalconies.

I repeat the walk around lunchtime, as well as before I leave in theevening around 6pm. When I returnat night, I do another round. Apartfrom speaking with guests, I alsospeak with staff and get to check ontheir work.

On his view on technologyovertaking luxury hospitality , withmany hotels aiming for acompetitive edge by introducing allthe latest technological features

Technology has now become avery big part of our daily living,with almost all guests requiringWifi, so we provide this free servicein the hotel lobby.

At almost any time, you will findguests on their mobile telephones,Ipads or androids. Satellite TVand sports channels are alsocommon features.

On what plans on the table interms of selling The Gambia as atourist destination

As earlier indicated, as a majorstakeholder we work hand in glovewith the Gambia Tourism Boardwhose mandate is to marketDestination Gambia.

A Tourism Marketing Committee(TMC) was put in place by theMinistry of Tourism to reinforcetraditional source markets and lookat the possibility of engaging newones including the sub region –Nigeria in particular, as well asItaly, Russia, east Europe..

We fully supports all the activitiesin promoting the Gambia by activelyparticipating directly as well asmaterials presented. all the activities

that I have touched on above,Gambia Hotel Association willbe on board.

On where he relaxes if notin the hotel

For the last 21 years, I workalmost every day when I amin Banjul unless I am awayoverseas. However I try to keepSunday personal, and onlyvisit the hotel briefly to see ifthere are any particular issuesthat require urgent attentionand to quickly ensure that allstaff are doing their work.

I would spend the day usuallywith my son, visiting my parentsand going shopping with him thenthe afternoon at home with the restof my family. Often we will go outfor dinner at a local restaurant ormy wife and daughter wouldmake some special seafood dinnerwhich is my favourite.

On his message to thehospitality industry about Gambia

Firstly, The Gambia has beenknown for its hospitality,gentleness, pleasant hotels fromthe top to budget ones and quietbeaches.

We have nice fashions,sumptuous Gambian cuisines,colourful and safe markets. Manythousands of Europeans flock toThe Gambia with several flightsdaily from top tour operators thatreturn many times to visit andenjoy these.

*Alieu Secka

*Golden Beach hotel.

MINISTER of Culture, Tourism andNational Orientation, Chief Edem

Duke on Tuesday said the FederalGovernment was set toreawaken Nigeria’s tourism potentialtoward boosting investmentopportunities.

The minister said this at the maidenedition of Nigeria Tourism InvestorsForum and Exhibition (NTIFE) in Abuja.

Duke said that the exhibition was tostrengthen the relationship betweentourism investors and their service

providers.He said that it would also

create awareness on the need to developand promote the local tourism destinationsin the country.

“Nigeria has a population of almost 170million people, a land mass of about923,768.64sq km and a land richly endowedwith ecological resources.

“Nigeria has the greatest tourism potentialin Africa and investing into the tourismsector will generate foreign exchangethrough financial returns on investment,”

he said.The minister stressed the need for

a synergy between the states, localgovernments, local communities andstakeholders to build the sector.

According to him, the FederalGovernment is providing an enablingenvironment for the development oftourism sector and give uniqueincentives for tourism investors in thecountry.

“The main thrust of governmentpolicy on tourism is to generate foreign

exchange, encourage evendevelopment, promote tourismbased rural enterprise andaccelerate rural urbanintegration and culturalexchange.

“Tourism developmentshould therefore not be left inthe hand of the FederalGovernment alone but thereshould be a synergy betweenall sections of the governmentand stakeholders,” Duke said.

TTTTTourism’ll boost inourism’ll boost inourism’ll boost inourism’ll boost inourism’ll boost invvvvvestment estment estment estment estment —FG—FG—FG—FG—FG

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 —27

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CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 —29

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AFTER finding out she had"the breast cancer gene,"

Academy Award winner,Angelina Jolie, decided to havea double mastectomy tosignificantly reduce her risk ofcancer. Should you get testedfor the gene, too?

“I am writing about it nowbecause I hope that otherwomen can benefit from myexperience,” Jolie stated.“Cancer is still a word thatstrikes fear into people’shearts, producing a deep sense

What you need to knowabout the breast cancer gene

BY SOLA OGUNDIPE

percent.

Schedule your firstexaminationBeginning at age 20, youshould start getting a clinicalbreast exam every three yearswhen you visit thegynecologist. If you’re at ahigher risk for breast cancer--say, if you have a family historyof it--consider getting an examevery year.

Birth control optionsResearch shows the risk of

breast cancer increases 10 to 30percent in women taking birthcontrol pills. Though birthcontrol pills have come a longway, women should consider

which means you should seeyour health care providerimmediately if you notice anychange.

ChildbirthConsider having childrensooner rather than later. It’s nota hard and fast rule, but havingchildren after 35, or not havingchildren at all, may increaseyour risk for breast cancer.

BreastfeedIf you have children,breastfeeding for a year or longerreduces breast cancer risk.Having a baby and breastfeedingallows your breast tissue to fullydevelop and become lesssusceptible to changes.

THE Sickle Cell Advocacyand Management Initiative,

SAMI, and Progeny FoundationNigeria have launched a fund raisingproject tagged “500 By 1 Million”.

The project, which seeks to raiseN500 million through a minimumindividual donation of N500, will beused to support sickle cell victims inNigeria.

To kick start the project, a flash moblaunch was held at the SilverbirdGalleria in Lagos. Speaking at theevent, Executive Director, SAMI, MsToyin Adesola, said the need toprovide support for victims, most ofwho are usually overwhelmed by

huge medical bills, is the main objectiveof the fund raising initiative.

“Through our work, we have beenexposed to various adversities of victimsand their families. Can you imagine apoor family with five children living withsickle cell disorder?

“That’s why we launch this appeal fundso we could provide medical and materialsupport for poor victims, funds forresearches to help advance the chancesof proper healthcare or cure, create moreawareness and advance treatments”.

For this project, SAMI and Progeny aretargeting individuals, because, accordingto them, an average Nigerian can affordto donate N500 to this cause.

N500m fund for SS patients

O L U W A F E Y I J I M IBenson’s life is in the

hands of good spirited Nigerians.He is a hole-in-the-heart patientwho requires N1.7 million for alife-saving corrective surgery.Oluwafeyijimi’s critical conditionwas discovered when he wasaged two. He was consistently illso his mother took him to LagosState University TeachingHospital, LASUTH, Ikeja, wherethe daunting verdict was made.The boy was suffering from a holein the heart - a congenital heartdisorder, (tetralogy of fallot)necessitating a surgicalintervention for his survival.According to the mother, ToyinBenson, Oluwafeyijimi’sprolonged illness hasimpoverished the family.A dealer in second-hand babywears, Toyin and her husband, abrick layer, have no reasonablesource of income to sustain thefamily, or raise the sum for theall important surgery.She is therefore calling onNigerians to help save her boy’slife, she said “I want my boy to

By CHARLYE IKPE

live; I don’t want him to die. Thechild came as a joy but right nowshe has no peace and joy in myheart due to the circumstancessurrounding his health.If you are touched to assist,donations can be made toOluwafeyijimi Benson, FirstBank Plc. 3071772551, orthrough 08039151682.

decrease risk.

Know your riskWhen you’re young, get as

much information as you canabout your family history.Knowing which relatives havehad cancer will help youdetermine if you should pursuemore serious measures, likegenetic testing for the BRCA1and BRCA2 breast cancergenes. If you are at asignificant risk of developingbreast cancer, you may considera prophylactic mastectomy,which will reduce risk by 90

barrier methods, if possible,and avoid taking any otherproducts that may containestrogen.

Know yourself Being able to recognizechanges in your breasts is vital,which means you should knowhow they normally look andfeel. Whether you do thisthrough a Breast SelfExamination, BSE, or a moreinformal process of looking andtouching, is key to know what’snormal for your body. Breastself-awareness is important,

of powerlessness. But today itis possible to find out througha blood test whether you arehighly susceptible to breast andovarian cancer, and then takeaction.”

All women at riskThere is not much control overthe two greatest risk factors--being a woman and gettingolder--but there are other factorsthat can affect risk too. Whilethere's no one safeguard that willguarantee you won’t get cancer,there are steps you can take todecrease your risk at every age.

The take-home message is thatall women are at risk and thereare healthy lifestyle decisionsthey can make that can

EDO State Government has taken delivery of medical supplies and equipment from Prezens for Charity, U.S.A, in collaborationwith Amazing Grace Medical Outreach.

In astatement, President of Afemai World Outreach and Principalpartner, PREZENS, for charity US.A., Dr Tony Akende, said thegesture was significant noting that government could not doeverything hence the need for private initiatives to supportgovernment in a symbiotic relationship.

The donation was to contribute towards meeting the health needsof residents of the state, especially the less privileged.

“What we have have given can be increased with collaborationfrom government and other private sector individuals. This relationshipwill go bigger . For now, we have given medications for hypertension,diabetes, medical equipment and 55 boxes of supplies for hospitals.

Secretary to the State Government, SSG, Prof. Julius Ihonvberesaid people in the rural or hinterland needed such strategicintervention. Executive Director, State Poverty Alleviation Agency,Chief Mrs. Evelyn Omokhodion said the equipment/supplies willbe distributed to hospitals in the three senatorial districts of the State.

Boy with hole-in-heartseeks N1.7m for surgery

•Oluwafeyijimi

Edo obtains medical equipment

•Regular blood pressure check is an essential way of determining health status

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 — 31

CMYK

COME tomorrow, the Big BrotherAfrica launch show will ignite

the world when multiple award-winning musicians from Nigeria,Kenya and South Africa take centrestage to do what they know how to dobest.

The big night will also see 28 newhousemates being revealed to audi-ences in over 50 African countries forseason 8 of Big Brother Africa, The

Chase.With the live show screening from

19:00 CAT on AfricaMagic,AfricaMagic Entertainment,AfricaMagic World, as well as on DStvchannel 197 and 198, viewers are tolook forward to sassy and upbeattunes from Kenya’s very own awardwinner, STL. Boasting hit songs suchas “Take My Time” , “Hula Hoop”,“Bad as I Wanna Be”, the singer,songwriter and rapper, also recipientof awards from the Kisima Awards,Clops Awards and Jeermaan Awards,

promises to deliver an unforgettableand lasting performance with herdistinct pop, soul and rap sound.

Hailing from Nigeria, musical heavyweights Don Jazzy, D’ Prince andWande Coal are also set to thrillaudience with their energetic andcharming personae. Multi award-winning record producer, singer-songwriter and musician, Don Jazzywill join D’ Prince and Wande Coal onstage for their collaborative perform-ance. These chart topping hit makersfrom Mavin Records are also best

known for songs such as “I like WhatI See”, “Bumper 2 Bumper” and“Who Born the Maga”. The continentcan expect a sensational performancethat will ignite the Big Brother liveshow.

Also, one of South Africa’s leadingAfro pop music groups, Mafikizolowill serenade guests with their soulfuland rhythmic tunes on the big launchnight. With several albums andawards under their belt, the duo havebrought fans far and wide, dance-floorfiller hits such as ”Sibongile”,“Ndihamba Nawe”, “Nisixoshelani”and most recently “Khona”. Theirperformance on the Big Brother stageis sure to evoke dance moves, remind-ing audience why the chart toppinggroup remains pioneers in their fieldwith musical experience spanning 15years.

The line-up will also include a slotfor some comic relief from Kenyanstand-up comedian, DanielNdambuki, popularly known asChurchill. The highly talented enter-tainer has also become a householdname with his TV show called“Churchill Live”.

In Addition to the live screening ofthe launch show, the good news isthat the show will also concurrently bestreamed live to audiences acrossAfrica on the Big Brother website.

Don Jazzy, D’ Prince,others storm S.Africafor BBA launch show

By BENJAMIN NJOKU

I N S I D E:

Nokia’snewLumiaseries,gendersensitive

AGN setto hostscreenactorsaward

I’m still singleafter I broke upwith my girlfriend— MosesObi Adigwe

•Don Jazzy

•Wande Coal•D’ Prince

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 —33

34—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

I don’t have AIDS— Cossy

The buzz is that Wendall allegedlyinsured his Ford Ranger car withAlliance Insurance Company onMarch 18, 2013, two days after hecrashed the same car. He then alleg-edly lodged a false insurance claim

of $25,000 for the same car.The insurance company,suspecting a foul play,launched an investigationand reportedly found outthat Wendall crashed thecar before he insured itwith them.This led to his arrest on

Friday, while we gatheredthat he would soon be

charged to court forprosecution.

Aki is bereaved!

Nollywood actor, Chinedu Ikediezepopularly known as Aki is currently ina sad mood as he lost his father to the

cold hands of death last Saturday.The funny actor announced his father’s death

through a broadcast message on the blackberryinstant messaging platform. “Hello everyone, Ijust lost my dad” was his statement through abroadcast on Blackberry Messenger.

However, a source confirmed that Aki’s fatherdied after a brief illness. Ikedieze,(MFR) is bestknown for playing alongside his screen partner,Osita Iheme. Their breakthrough movie was AkiNa Ukwa.

By IYABO AINA

Ex-BBA winner, Wendall Parson duringthe week was arrested over false car

insurance claims after he was involved inan accident with his car two months ago.

Karen’s BBA co-winner,Wendall arrested over $25,000 fraud

•Karen Igho and Wendall Parson

•Cossy

MICHAEL Jackson may be one ofthe most successful deadcelebrities, but his sister Janet

(who, of course, is alive and well) is doingpretty well herself. The 47-year-old isofficially a billionaire.

According to Variety, Jackson, who isone of the best-selling artists of all time,has earned $458 million thanks to hersuccessful concert tours, $304 millionfrom acting roles in films like “ForColored Girls” and “The NuttyProfessor,” $260 million in album sales,and more than $81 million from toursponsorships and licensing fees.

And the “Control” songstress isn’t theonly billionaire in her household.Jackson secretly married retail tycoonWissam Al Mana, who’s made hisfortune investing in the Middle East.

As for fellow celeb billionaires,Jackson joins a club with membersincluding Oprah Winfrey, StevenSpielberg, J.K. Rowling, and JuliaLouis-Dreyfus, whose “Seinfeld”money helped … but whose mainfortune came from her dad, billionaireGerard Louis-Dreyfus, chairman of theLouis Dreyfus Energy Services. At least,Janet can feel good about the fact she

Janet Jackson joins billionaireclub

earned her billion all byherself.

•Janet Jackson

AFTER months of disappearingfrom the screen following thebirth of her baby, sultry actress,

Mercy Johnson-Okojie is back at work.She has also sent out a ‘thank you’message to her teeming fans,colleagues, producers and well-wishers who gave her support whileshe was away for her child delivery.

The Kogi State-born actress said, she

Mercy Johnson salutes fans,returns to work

•Mercy Johnson-Okojie

is overwhelmed at themassive love shown to her bymany people. She thankedthose who presented gifts toher and her baby, Purity.

Her message posted onlinereads; “I want to say thankyou to the fans, friends,colleagues and producerswho were there for me. Manyof them proved to be friendson and off work. Manyadjusted their schedules forme and sent in theirgreetings during the childdedication.

”I resumed work this weekwith grateful heart andunderstanding that I am herebecause God through thehelp of people made i tpossible. Or how could Iexplain the overwhelmingvotes I got at AMVCAdespite been away andinactivity on social media?

’How could I explain thenumbers of producers andscripts wait ing for myreturn? How could I explainthe overwhelming love andgifts while I was away?”I am very grateful and hereto say a big thank you toeveryone who played a roleand those who as much ashad good wishes in theirhearts. “Thank you and Godbless you.”

CMYK

BY OPEOLUWANIOGUNJIMI

IF you happen to be one ofthose people who are stillspreading the old rumour

that tiny-voiced actress-turned-singer, Cossy Orjiakor is HIVpositive, this news is bound todisappoint you. The booby actresshas refuted the rumour, insistingthat she’s free from the deadlydisease.

Cossy was recently rumoured tohave been HIV positive. Grippedby fear, she rushed to the hospi-tal to ascertain her HIV status.And when the result was finallyreleased, lo and behold! Cossywas HIV negative. Without anyhesitation, she tweeted the resultof her test to silence those wag-ging tongues. “I am not HIV posi-tive. I don’t have AIDScuz(because) my test result justcame out. So for those of you car-rying rumour, go get yourselftested”, she tweeted.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 —35

IN the bid to recogniseactors, individuals, cor-

porate bodies, governmentand its agencies that havecontributed immensely to thegrowth of the nation’s mo-tion picture industry, theActors Guild of Nigeria(AGN) has concluded plansto organise its own awardceremony known as theScreen Actors Award.

Already, the NationalPresident of the guild, MsIbinabo Fiberesima has in-augurated a 10- man com-mittee to oversee to the host-ing of the maiden edition ofthe award this year.

To be chaired by Don PedroAganbi, the committee hasother members, includingJulius Omije as Vice Chair-man, veteran actor, TonyAkposheri as PRO, ClinicMatters actress, EjiroOkurame (Mobilization)sensational actress CynthiaAgholor and Amaka Eze willbe in charge of Marketingthe event.

industry.Ibinabo however, disclosed

that entries/nominations for theaward would be conductedthrough a website for that pur-pose as well as the social me-dia, traditional media and textmessages.

She also noted that advertsannouncing the call for

entries/nominations would runin key media in the countrywhile a consulting firm will beappointed to collate the resultsof the entries/nominationsthrough which the awardeeswill emerge.

Speaking further, Ibinabosaid, the various categories forthe award will soon be an-nounced, urging the committeemembers to give their best to

make the award a worldclass event

“This award should be tothe glory of Nigerian actorsand thus should have theclapping of excellence interms of organisation, classand appeal. AGN wants touse the Screen Actors Awardto specifically bring to na-tional notice that the indus-try today is a high contribu-tor to the Gross DomesticProduct (GDP) of Nigeria.Hence, there is need to cel-ebrate the men and womenwho through their talentshave brought glory to thenation... It is going to be areward night for the suc-cesses recorded by thesemen and women,” she said.

By BENJAMNINNJOKU

According toAGN president,the committeehas the respon-sibility of organ-ising the ScreenActors Award,which she de-scribed as one ofthe biggestevents to be or-ganised in the

IT was all pump and pageantry as Shina Peters

dolled out some of his ever-green tracks in celebration ofthe Oodua People’sCongress(OPC) radical leader,Otunba Gani Adams.

To say the whole of Lagosstood still on the day leader ofOodua People’sCongress(OPC), Otunba GaniAdams celebrated his 43rd

birthday isn’t an over-state-ment.

On Wednesday, the D-day,the roads and connecting roadsleading to the event centre , witnessed a jam, as bothinvited and uninvited guests,including other road usersstruggled to have their way.Pedstrians were not left behind,as feet hurried to take glimpsesof who they refer to as “their

hero.”The hall, decorated with the

group’s usual colour, white, hadarrays of lights illuminating allcorners. Music blasted from thestage, as musicians of great re-pute took turns to thrill guestswith mind blowing tunes.

Among music icons that tookturns was Sir Shina Peters. Hestole the day, singing for hoursunending, all in praise of theYoruba icon.

Cultural groups were not leftout, many came out to chantpraises, with cultural displaystaking the floor in full force.

On hand to celebrate with thecelebrant were the who-is-who,ranging from Obas, to Ezes, toNollywood stars, members ofANTP, musicians, beautyqueens, industry guys,paparazzi’s having a filled day,the list is endless. The likes ofEmeka Ike, Ireti Osayemi, BisiIbidapo, and others representedNollywood stars.

BY OPEOLUWANIOGUNJIMI

Wizkid is AfricanArtist of the Year

...tattoos son’s name on handGhana Music Awards.

To clinch the crown, he beatsother heavy weights like P-Square, Dbanj, FlavourIyanya and Davido.

The kid singer who was alsoa guest artiste at the awards,made the trip to Ghana along-side EME team like Banky W,Tunde Demuren, Star Boy En-tertainment manager, GodwinTom, Maleek Berry and DJXclusive.

After grabbing the plaque,he then posted the picture onhis Instagram profile for all tosee.

Meanwhile, Wizzy is prov-ing to all who care to knowthat he’s a proud father of hisson, Boluwatife who justturned two. The star boy, wholavished his son silly with giftson his birthday, now goesabout wearing his son’s name,Boluwatife tattooed on his lefthand.

Boluwatife is the product ofhis love game with SholaThompson, a graduate ofHoudegbe North AmericanUniversity.

WIZZY boy must be feeling on top of the world

as he won the African Artist ofthe Year at the just concluded

BY OPEOLUWANIOGUNJIMI

Ex- beauty queen, JudithIlechukwu goes into music

SEXY ex-beauty queen,Judith Ilechukwu,popularly known as

J’Lar has demonstrated thatshe has what it takes to holdher own in the nation’s musicscene.

The 21-year old beauty is anEnglish and Literaturestudent of the reputableNnamdi Azikiwe University,Akwa. Her amazing journeyinto stardom began in 2011,

when she won an enviablecrown as the Miss Glo Rock‘n’ Rule Anambra 2011.

Later that year, she was alsocrowned Miss Global Nigeriaas she was handpicked torepresent Nigeria at the MissGlobal International contestwhich was held in Jamaica.Though she didn’t bring thecrown home, she made it to thetop 10 and was awarded theBest Dancer out of the 25contestants from differentcountries.

She recently took a leap intothe booming musicindustry bysigning on toC a d i l l yEntertainment,and has droppedher debut hit single“Sugarcane”.

The fair beautyshowcases herbeautiful voice andenergy in this newraving club bangerwhich is alreadygetting airplay inmajor stationsaround Lagos andNigeria, as shepromises to takeentertainment in-dustry to the nextlevel.

By IYABO AINA

•Wizkid

Shina Peters thrills fans @ Gani Adams’ birthday bash

AGN set tohost screenactors award

•Ibinabo

Judith Ilechukwu

CMYK

36— Vanguard, FRIDAY ,MAY 24, 2013

LitLitLitLitLiterererererature and theature and theature and theature and theature and theNigerian-ness ofNigerian-ness ofNigerian-ness ofNigerian-ness ofNigerian-ness ofAcAcAcAcAchebe/Sohebe/Sohebe/Sohebe/Sohebe/Soyinkyinkyinkyinkyinkaaaaa

,

,

Some critics loveSoyinka’s prose, and ithas nothing to do with

Achebe.Though better admired for hisplaywriting, many followers ofthe Nobel Laureate find hisprose rather overbearing,even haughty. Yet, it is thisparticular part of its nature thatconfers on it the insignia ofimportance, importance notbeing the equivalent here ofbig words.

There is nothing wrong withsimple prose, particularly if thesimplicity is deliberate andcleverly guided away frombecoming a constraint to theexpression of the message.Yet, the ability to attainprecision in winding prose isthe point where science andtechnology meet art. High art.

But it is a dangerous thingto define a literary writer byhis artistic style alone. He isnot only an artist- he is, mostimportantly, a Voice.

As voices, Chinua Achebeand Wole Soyinka haveachieved what a voice is meantto achieve- the command oflistening ears, and millionsand millions of them acrossthe globe.

To continue to competitivelycompare and contrast Soyinkawith Achebe and vice-versa isto miss a very important point:that a diverse society not onlycan but ought to have not twobut many different voices, thatthe voices can berepresentative of the manydifferent thought directionsthat are synonymous withdiversity and that- mostimportantly of all- like goodmusic all the voices mustspeak together in harmonybefore it can achieve a commondirection.

If anything, therein lies thewhole essence of a writer: hisrole as a public intellectualand leader of thought, whetherit be subtly done or overtly inyour face. In the Lion and theJewel for instance, Soyinkacoaxes a laugh out of theaverage feminist, even withBaroka’s insidious conquest ofSidi, the cheeky maiden.There was a country, Achebe’smost controversial publishedwork by far, is however a direct

socio-political commentary,putting forward strongopinions and ruffling not a fewfeathers. It is thereforeunderstandable that the wholeof Achebe’s repertoire as awriter and his socio-politicalessence has been tragicallysummarized into those twoworks: Things Fall Apart andThere was a Country.

It is interesting that a majorpoint generally missed byreaders of There was aCountry is that the success ofThings Fall Apart was thefallout of being in the rightplace at the right time. He hada different story. He had astory that was a clever socialcommentary. He had a storywritten in a new language.Achebe himself alludes to thefact that genius can be bothborn and made.

And the voices do notnecessarily have to be ethnicvoices, but sometimes theyare.

To deny that the Civil Warwas the most defining eventin Nigerian history is akin todenying that the Holocaustever happened. The rash of

Civil war literature that hasappeared on the Nigerianinternational scene recently isonly a beginning of what will,predictably, become in time adeluge. To refer to it as theBiafran war tells only half ofthe story, and to correct thisimbalance will not be achievedby criticizing available

literature, though criticizingliterature-and everything else-is the only way literature getsbetter. It is a call for the otherside to retell the story: fromtheir own side.

For Dim Ojukwu as well asfor Obafemi Awolowo, being asectional leader and being anational leader are necessarilymutually exclusive. This isfundamentally so, even astheir sectionalismtook rather differentdimensions. For theone, the part soughtto subsume thewhole while for theother it competedwith the other partsof the whole. Theprice they had to paywas both personal aswell as political. Bothwere never able topreside over theaffairs of a countrythe oneness of whichthey consideredinferior to theirethnicity. This is onlyfair.

As the beloved

Chinua Achebe goes home(beloved of his village, hiscountry, the whole of theglobal writing community), itmight have been safer toeulogise Achebe as thecomplete Nigerian that hewas, who used his literature,though featuring Igbocharacters, to understand ourAfrican-ness; our Nigerian-ness.

•Soyinka

•Ojukwu

It is interestingthat a majorpoint generallymissed byreaders of Therewas a Country isthat the successof Things FallApart was thefallout of beingin the rightplace at theright time

CMYK

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 — 37

BY DOTUN IBIWOYE

NIGERIAN women are notsupposed to expect people to

give them any extra respect orprivileges just because they arewomen due to the changing trend.This disclosure was made by MrsDaba Obioha, the first femalePresident of River Bayelsa Indi-genes Association in a chat withlipstick, noted that women arebackward financially because theyhave been home-makers in thepast.

Our health landscape in Nigeriahas changed in the most dramat-

ic manner in the least decade or so,with marked prevalence and increasein diseases such as Diabetes type 2,heart disease, kidney disease and thebig C. the ages at which these set inare also getting lower and lower, withteenagers and early twenties present-ing with shocking symptoms, a totallynew phenomenon.

Garbage in, garbage out!The standard rule applies. Everythingthat happens starts in the mind, anda healthy eating routine begins withan attitude. You must first of all agreewith yourself that you want to eathealthy before you begin to do so. Beaware that eating healthy does notonly have to do with food but of beingaware of every single thing that en-ters the body through the mouth astoxins can come in any form.

Beware of ‘strange’ SupplementsThe whole place is dotted with all sortsof so styled food supplements whichare supposed to make up for all thefood, fruits and vegetables you are noteating. Most of them are overpricedand do not cure what they say theycan. If your doctor does not recom-mend, then shun!

Eat FreshExperts say the closer food is to beingraw and fresh, the better it is for thebody. Most foods-especially fruits andvegetables should be eaten raw, butso are things like groundnuts and milk.

Look out for Roasted FoodA carcinogen found on mouldy food,aflatoxin, has been identified for a cou-ple of decades now. They are mostlyfound on roasted food such as boli,meat, fish and groundnuts that havebeen left for some time. If you canavoid dried or roasted varieties ofthese foods then do so. Otherwise, dothe drying and roasting yourself.

Eat LocalThe more processed the food the high-er the chances of its being toxic. Foodsthat are grown near you is the bestfoods for you to eat.

Learn from the HealthyThere are people round the globewhose diets can act as a shining ex-ample for those who like to eathealthy.

A study which examined the effectsof a Mediterranean diet in men andwomen ages 55 to 80. Participants re-ceived either a liter of extra-virgin ol-ive oil weekly or 30 grams of a nut

mixture (walnuts, hazelnuts and al-monds) daily. In addition they re-ceived dietary training in how to eatmeals with large amounts of olive oil,fruits, nuts, vegetables and cereals, amoderate amount of fish and poultry,and a low amount of dairy, red meats,processed meats and sweets. Over a5-year period, both the nut and theolive oil groups experienced a 30 %reduction in heart attacks and othercardiac events compared with the con-trol group, which simply received ad-vice on eating a low-fat diet.

The Mediterranean diet itself isn’tlow fat. In fact, it’s a moderate to high-fat diet, but it’s rich in healthy fats andlow in the unhealthy, saturated fatsfound in animal products like butterand red meat. Products full of healthyfats make people feel fuller longerthan the “light” products that people

eat—and often overeat—in an attemptto lose weight, separate research sug-gests. Notably, the new study didn’trestrict participants’ calories or pro-mote exercise. The Mediterraneandiet group didn’t lose weight even asparticipants reaped the diet’s medi-cal benefits.

Market vs SupermarketThere seem to be better deals in su-permarkets now than there are in mar-kets. Everything here is bigger, bright-er and fresher but wait a second. Askfor the source of the veggies and fruitsyou are buying and if the sellers don’tknow, neither do you. A lot of super-market produce is genetically modi-fied and grown with pesticides, etc.

Natural WaterWe have a million and one options toget drinking water but the best re-mains opening up your tap, taking thewater, boiling it, waiting for it to cooland drinking it. Most bottled waterscome with a lot of processing whichinvolves the addition of chemicals andthe removal of essential minerals.

Wash, Wash, WashEven when you are buying organic,residues of herbicides, bacteria and allsorts of things might continue to lin-ger. It is important to wash all fruitsand vegetables thoroughly before us-ing, even if you have to peel it after-wards.

The president of the 25 year oldassociation said women are intelli-gent but empowerment has to dowith adequate finance and nobodyis ready to empower women becausemen want the offices.

According to her: “We need to getwomen involved to motivate others.To me, politics is not dirty; it ispeople that make it dirty. You can’tfight a disease from outside; youhave to get in there and uproot it. Ifall the good people run away frompolitics then politics will be left forthe bad people. I don’t like peoplecomplaining and not doing anything

about the situation.“In the public affairs department

where I served for over 30 years,women did so much better and hadto do double of what was requirednot because we are women butbecause we are doing what we aresupposed to do. We have beenbrain- washed that we don’t like oneanother and even in the work place,women don’t like working with otherwomen.

“I am a member, Board of Trusteesof the Peoples Democratic PartySouth South Forum in Lagos Stateand I know it will take time forwomen to gain the amount of wealth

the men have, because they havebeen at the forefront in the workplace. This is one of the manyfactors militating against womenattaining high position. Men don’twant women in those areas.

If you want to take an office fromsomebody, you need what it takes toget to such. The solution lies inwomen going into mainstreampolitics. Women achieving desiredgoals

Obioha added that women are notand will never be second-classcitizens and should not expectthings to be given to them on aplatter of gold.

Women should not expect extra privileges because of their gender

The real meaningThe real meaningThe real meaningThe real meaningThe real meaningof eating healthyof eating healthyof eating healthyof eating healthyof eating healthy

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CMYK

BY ESTHER ONYEGBULA

With a sonorous voice andboisterous personality, 22-year-old Moses Obi Adigwe,a.k.a the ‘teddy bear’ wowedaudiences across Nigeria toemerge winner of one of Ni-geria’s most-viewed realityTV show, Etisalat- NigerianIdol, Season 3. He speaks toWG on the journey so far, hisforthcoming album, and lifegenerally.

How has it been so far?It has been good and awe-

some. It has been wow. I stillcan’t believe but it’s beengreat.

What has changed aboutyou after winning the Nige-rian Idols reality TV show ?

Nothing. I am just happy andlaughing all the time. It is un-believable, don’t you under-stand? A year ago, if someonehad told me that I would behere today, I would have saidAmen! But I don’t believe you.Everything that has happenedreally showed that it is just ablessing. It is a miracle in mylife, and I am so excited andhappy about it.

Were you surprised that youwon the show?

Personally, I went into thecompetition with a mindsetthat I was going to have fun.So, I was hoping that I wouldget there, I worked, hoped,and prayed that I get there.

What were the challengesyou faced?

In terms of contestants thatwould be Abasiakan.

WhyTo me, he was the second

best singer; his vocal abilitiesreally amazed me. We wereactually good friends maybe,because of our vocal dexterityand that we both knew musicand all of that. I thought wewould make the top two. Thatday, the eviction show wasgreeted with mixed-feelings.I was happy that I scaledthrough, and then, I felt badbecause my very good frienddidn’t make it to the finals.

How did you feel when hewas evicted?

It was like if people can voteout Abasiakan, anything canhappen to me. The show wasalright, it was fun because theeviction show usually holds onThursdays, every other day ofthe week, everyone in thehouse are all jumpy, loud andhappy. But on Thursdays, it isdifferent because it is as if

I’m still single after I brokeup with my girlfriend— Moses Obi Adigwe

something is go-ing to happen,everywhere isusually quiet,some peopleresort to

sleeping. So when he wasevicted, I said to myself thatanything can happen. Buthere I am, winner of the show.

So what were the challeng-es?

To me, one major challengewas maintaining the standard.I got into the competition as awild card and after my perfor-mance, people were like think-ing this is a splendid perfor-mance. I had to keep that stan-dard and each week, I tried toprove to the judges and every-one around that I deserved tobe on that stage. And eachweek we have a differenttheme and sometimes, I wasobliged to do a song the way

it is, I must work on it and addfresh vibes. It is adding thebrain factor to it to make youstand out and your perfor-mance memorable. I alwayshad to think about that and dothings out of the box.

How did you do that?Because of the people’s love

for me. Everyday I step out,honestly only God knows howmany people call me on dailybasis. Somebody actuallyalighted from his car and in-sisted to take a picture withme. He was such a huge fan.The same thing happened afew days ago when this kidwalked up to me and said are

you Moses? I voted for you. Itwas like are you serious, hav-ing that is more than a bless-ing in my life. Also, on theshow, we learnt a lot aboutmaintaining your vocal bal-ance. So, learning to maintainthat balance, knowing my lim-its as a vocalist and a perform-er helped me. I learned somuch from the show.

What is your kind of mu-sic?

I love old school music verymuch because as a youngerman, it was my siblings andmy parents who determinedthe kind of music that wasplayed in our house. I gotused to listening to a lot of oldschool music like Barry-white.And of course later, I switchedover to R nB.

Among my contemporaries,I really love Asa. Right fromher first album; she is one ar-

tiste that I know has stayedtrue to her own thing. Shecame out doing her own thingand we loved her for it.

In the music industry whowould you like to be like?

Nobody, I love people whostay true to themselves, beoriginal, after that I am goingto come out as Moses. I don’twant people to say that yousound like this person or theother. Rather, I want them tosay that person sounds likeMoses. So, I will remain trueto myself, maintaining myvoice, my originality.

Are we expecting an albumfrom you soon?

An album takes time to puttogether, for now expect a cou-ple of singles. I have alreadystarted working on a coupleof things with a couple of won-derful producers and that willbe coming out very soon.Also, I am working on a num-ber of collaboration with oth-er artistes.

Who are you collaboratingwith?

We don’t know yet. We arestill discussing, no definiteplans have been made.

Who would you love to col-laborate with?

A lot of Nigeria artistes. Iwould love to work with Ola-mide, Neka, Asa, Tiwa Sav-age, Waje, Wizkid. You know,I performed D’banj OliverTwist during the show, so Iwould love to work withD’banj. I would love to workwith Onyeka Onwenu, she

has been around for decadesand she has been successful,not doing a recording deals,album, just to be on stagewith her.

What kind of music shouldfans, be expecting?

I am experimenting, I amtrying out a whole lot ofthings. I think I am a bit ofhip hop artiste but when Iam going old school I willdo a kind of rock. I am go-ing to try a whole lot ofthings and see how i tsounds and the kind of re-ception it gets.

Do you think you have

what it takes to break intothe industry?

The thing is that in theindustry, you can’t exactlycome in and expect thatthey already have a posi-tion waiting for you. Youhave to go in there andfight for your own space.And that is what I am go-ing to do. I am Moses andI am here!

What was growing uplike?

Growing up was fun, Igrew up in Abuja. I am thelast child in the family offour kids. I am from Anio-cha south in Delta State,that is why I am an Ibo/Hausa guy. I a t tendedCommand Day SecondarySchool. It was really hecticbecause I was the “ajebut-ter” soft skin kid but I hadso much fun. I loved toread so I was a very brightkid in school, I rememberedthen raising my hands say-ing Aunty, I want to answerthis question, so my teach-ers loved me. I went to Uni-versity of Benin in EdoState, I studied PoliticalScience and Public Admin-istration.

What are your plans forthe next five years?

I am aiming at coming outwith really good music thatwill take my career to theinternational stage. Dogood music that will shockNigerians and the world,win a couple of awards andget a Grammy nomination.

What would you be doingwith your money?

Part of my money will bespent on my career and myfamily.

What about your girl-friend?

I am single right nowBut you have a gir l -

friend?Yes, I did but we broke up

last year, so I am single.Finally what is your

word to young Nigerians?They should become the

best they can be. It is onething to have talent and itis a totally different thingto develop that talent. Iwould say, don’t just havethose ta lents , developthem. Everyone has a voicebut not everyone can sing.Be good at what you wantto be and never give up.Know that it is not everytime that you are going tomake it through but nevergive up. In summary putGod as number one, two de-velop your talent and num-ber three never give up.

Moses Obi Adigwe, a.k.a the ‘Teddy Bear’

Moses Obi Adigwe

38 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

With PRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUPRINCE OSUAGWUprinceosuagwu@gmail.com08050498513

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 —39

Nokia’s new Lumiaseries, gender sensitive

PRINCE OSUAGWU& WINIFRED

IMONLUAMEN

Over time one of the ma-jor problems many

trendy and smart ladies ex-perience in almost all thesmartphones has generallybeen how to navigate thephones with their usuallywell manicured long nails.

Majority of the smartphonesjust can’t bulge at the touch ofthe finger nails and since the

ladies’ thumbs are alwaysunder the protection of thelong nails, navigation be-

comes highly problematic.But in the new range of low

cost high-end Nokia Lumiaseries, the 720 and 520 mod-els the mobile giants intro-duced into the Nigerian mar-ket Wednesday, the ladieshave nothing to worry about,no matter how long the nails.

While unveiling the phone,Nokia’s GM, Sales Nigeria,Mr Chris Brown experiment-ed how ladies with long fin-gers could easily browse thephone even with the nails.The phones also considerpeople who constantly weargloves in the cold temperateregions as the devices re-sponds perfectly to glovetouch.

The new smartphoneswhich both run on the Win-dows Phone 8 operating sys-tem were launched in part-nership with Airtel Nigeriaand Microsoft Nigeria. Thispartnerships builds into thedevices a free 500 Megabytes(MB) data plan for the first 6months on the Airtel networkwhen user recharge withN1,000.

According to Brown, theLumia 520 is Nokia’s mostaffordable Lumia smartphoneand is designed with a num-

ber of rich innovations. Thedevice comes in colourfulchangeable covers, a four inchsuper sensitive touchscreenwith 800x480p screen resolu-tion. It runs on a dual-coreQualcomm Snapdragon pro-cessor and spots the NokiaHERE location suite and lo-cal apps such as Jandus Ra-dio, Soundcity and Konga.

Also available in eye-catch-ing colors, is the Nokia Lu-mia 720. Sleek and stylish andexpresses the Nokia uniqueunibody design without edg-es and joints. The deviceshave very highly responsiveuser interface with super sen-sitive touch and brings an in-novative lamination processfor wider viewing angles andenhanced clarity in brightconditions.

Yet Nokia made advance-ments to include an optionalwireless charging covers. Nowonder, Nokia MD, West andCentral Africa, Mr Nick Imu-dia, declared that with thelocal launch of these two newdevices has broadened theNokia Lumia range and en-sured that more people get toenjoy the technology in thispart of the world.

Google hits $300b as sharesrise to record $900

You just couldn’t have believed it,there are still 1.32 billion people

on the planet without electricity,which most have come to see as a ba-sic necessity. But to mark its 100thanniversary, Panasonic plans to dis-tribute 100,000 solar lanterns that thecompany has developed to the devel-oping worlds, in-cluding

Africa. Thelanterns notonly providelight, but alsocharge mobile phonesand other small devices.

In many parts of Afri-ca, including Nigeria,many people withoutaccess to electricityhave to fall back on ker-osene lanterns for light.This however, does not

100,000 Panasonic solarlantern, chargers headingto Africa

Google shares moved up to a newall-time high Wednesday, top-

ping $900 for the first time, as theinternet giant opened its developers’conference. There are reports alsothat Google was planning to intro-duce new services soon.Google closed up 3.25pc at $915.89,bringing its gains for the year tonearly 30pc.The rise gave Google a market valueof more than $300bn. Although thatis still below the value of Apple, worthmore than $400bn at current share

provide adequate illumination, butmost unfortunately too also pro-duce toxic smoke, gulp money onkerosene and pose a constant firehazard.

However, there is also the ironythat while many of the developedworlds debate whether to ditchtheir landlines for mobile phonesor tablets for PCs, people in partsof Africa, Asia and South Americawho have never seen a telephonepole or a desktop computer can of-ten be seen talking or surfing the

internet on a mobile phone.Unfortunately, still, this shortcut to the digital age needselectricity, which conventionalkerosene lamps can’t provide.

There have been some solarlanterns developed over the

years to meet thisproblem but Pa-

nasonic hassince 2006

been distrib-uting itsown to thedevelopingworld.

values, but the two companies havebeen moving in opposite directions.Google was opening its developers’conference in San Francisco onWednesday, and information filteredthat investors should expect lots ofnews and product announcements..Some reports said Google was set tolaunch a music subscription serviceeven as a new version of Google Mapswas said to have been already unveiled.A tech analyst, actually said “expect tohear a lot of noise on new search prod-ucts like Google Now and voice searchintegration,”

Nokia Lumia phones

Panasonic-solar-lantern

Google owners

40—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

CMYK

BY EMMA AMAIZE

DESOPADECdonates Hiluxpick-up toPolice

Our official didn’t strangle boat driver— Bomadi maritime chair

Edo NULGE protests non-payment oftraining fund

BY GABRIELENOGHOLASE

Insecurity: NDYVflays furore overappointment ofPSC Chair

BY FESTUS AHON

BY SIMON EBEGBULEM

Why Ogoni should produce Rivers govin 2015 —Ogoni in US

BENIN—NIGERIA Un-ion of Local Govern-

ment Employees, NULGE,Edo State chapter, has,staged a peaceful protestover the delay in the releaseof the one percent statutoryallocation training fundmeant for staff of the localgovernment areas in thestate.

The protest, which kicked-off at the union's secretariaton Okhoro Road, Benin City,took the workers to the officeof Commissioner for the Min-istry of Local Governmentand Chieftaincy Affairs,Chief Lucky James.

Addressing newsmen, statePresident of the Union, Mr.Edward Ilenikhena, accusedthe ministry of not remittingthe fund to the Local Govern-ment Service Commission inthe last six months, a situa-tion, he said, had retardedthe growth in training andretraining of council staff.

He said: “We are protestingto express our grievancesover the delay in the release

of the one percent statutoryallocation training funds forstaff of the local governmentin the last six months. TheUnion had used all avenuesto get to the root of the mat-ter through negotiation butto no avail. We have first

hand information that themoney had been deductedfrom the council's accountthrough the ministry only tobe withheld as same had notbeen remitted to the Com-mission. The union wants toknow why it has not been

released since then.”Mr James, meantime, de-

nied the allegation, sayingthat Governor Adams Oshiom-hole was aware of the issue,though he promised to meetwith the executive of the un-ion to brief them on the issue.

BENIN—OGONI indi-genes in the United

States of America, under theaegis of Ogoni LeadershipForum, have urged the po-litical class from the area tobe united to ensure that thearea produces the next gov-ernor of Rivers State in 2015.

The forum, in a statementby Mr. Michael Akoka andMr. Tedum Bari Kponee-Ton-we, noted that Ogoni pro-duced distinguished sonsand daughters such as Sen-ator Lee Maeba, Emmanuel

Deeyah, Kenneth Kobani,Befii Nwile, and others, whohad served in different ca-pacities in the state, addingthat the area had qualifiedpersons to vie for the gover-norship of the state.

They said: “In the comingweeks and months, the Ogo-ni Leadership Forum, USA,will be engaging well mean-ing Ogoni at home as wellas in the diaspora, includ-ing members of the Ogonielite, the political class, andyouth groups, to discuss andchart a path to a consensusgubernatoral candidate for

2015, regardless of partyplatform or political affilia-tions.

“This is a noble undertak-ing for which all Ogoni mustconsider themselves morallysummoned. For if we fail tocome together this time, wewould have essentiallygranted our silent consent tobe perpetually governed.Our people have demonstrat-ed exceptionalism in theirstewardship under differentgovernors in the state, there-fore, we believe that otherethnic groups must rallyround and support an Ogonifor the governorship."

WARRI—CHAIRMANof maritime workers in

Bomadi, Bomadi Local Gov-ernment Area of Delta State,Mr. Jonathan Ogodobiri, hasdenied reports that an officialof the association, Mr. Thank-God Whisky, killed a boat driv-er, Mr. Kuku Endurance.

He said though Endurance'sdeath was a mystery, detrac-tors made the false allegationostensibly to incite the publicagainst the union and crum-ble commercial boat transpor-tation in the area.

Whisky, who is the beach

clerk of the workers’ associa-tion, it was gathered, had adisagreement with Endur-ance over an attempt by thelatter to jump the queue andpick passengers, but it did notdegenerate to fisticuffs, it waslearnt.

He said: “I witnessed theentire incident. I came to thewaterside after a distress callas we operate in groups A andB. The deceased had finishedhis turn in group B, and it wasthe turn of group A to carrypassengers. He just camefrom the creek and was at-tempting to poach passen-gers, numbering five from the

jetty and was caught by theclerk.

‘’The deceased attempted tobribe the beach clerk withN1,000 to allow him to pickthe five passenger to the creek,but he rejected the bribe. Sud-denly, the deceased, who wasagrieved over the action of thebeach clerk jumped into hisboat and escaped with the fivepassengers to the creek.

“The quarrel between thetwo was verbal and not phys-ical,” he said, adding thatmaritime workers in Bomadiwere surprised to read in thenewspapers, claims by thefamily that Whisky strangledEndurance to death, as sucha thing never happened.

VISIT: From left: Public Relations Director, Guinness, Mr. Sesan Sobowale; Plant Manag-er, Guinness Edo Brewery, Mr. Chris Erahgbe, Governor Adams Oshiomole of Edo Stateand MD, Guinness Nig PLC, Mr. Seni Adetu, during a courtesy visit to Edo State Govern-ment House.

Rivers tocheck illegaldredging

UGHELLI—AS partof its peace effort,

Delta State Oil Produc-ing Areas DevelopmentCommission, DESOP-DEC, has donated a Toy-ota Hilux pick-up to thePolice in Ughelli ‘B’ Di-vision as a replacementfor a patrol van setablaze by miscreants,during the crisis thattrailed the last Ekene fes-tival in Agbarha-OtorKingdom, Ughelli NorthLocal Government Areaof the state.

Presenting the vehicleto the Police on behalf ofthe commission, the com-missioner representingUghelli North and Ethi-ope East Local Govern-ment Areas on the boardof the commission, ChiefOminimini Obuiwevbi,said the van was meantto facilitate the job of thePolice in the task of ef-fective policing of thearea.

NIGER Delta Youth Van-guard, NDYV, has be-

rated those it called politicaldetractors, raising issues overthe appointment by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan, of Mr.Mike Okiro as Chairman, Po-lice Service Commission,PSC.

National President of NDYV,Mr. Ehiogun Kenneth, in astatement in Benin, Edo State,said such views were not inthe interest of national secu-rity, maintaining that the ap-pointment of a former Inspec-tor General of Police, Okiro,as chairman of PSC, was astep in the right direction to-wards combating the insecu-rity in the country.

“We are not unaware of re-cent comments by those rais-ing issues on the appointmentof Okiro as chairman of PSC.And this is obviously becausehe is from the Niger Delta re-gion.

“We wish to state categori-cally that beyond ethnic sen-timent, Okiro is the right manto head the PSC with hiswealth of experience as aformer IG. With the currentsecurity challenges in Niger-ia, the PSC needs a man ofhis calibre to effectively repo-sition officers and men in en-suring national security,” Ehi-ogun said.

PORT HAR-COURT— RIVERS

State Government hasunveiled its plan to checkillegal dredging in thestate and stop the deple-tion of the ecosystem.

Sole Administrator ofRivers State Environmen-tal Protection Agency,Chief Nemi Adoki, whenthe state chapter of Asso-ciation of Dredgers andSand Drillers of Nigeriapaid him a courtesy visitin Port Harcourt, said thegovernment will also re-view the laws regulatingthe operations of theagency.

Adoki said the state hadsuffered depletion of herenvironment due todredging by multination-als and other allied indus-tries, adding that therewas urgent need for thegovernment to review thelaws regulating the activ-ities of the agency.

Earlier, the state Chair-man of Association ofDredgers and Sand Drill-ers of Nigeria, Mr. SteveAyiyi, said they wouldcontinue to partner theagency to achieve theirgoals in the state.

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

LATELATELATELATELATETIPSTIPSTIPSTIPSTIPS

TREBLE CHANCE

PAIR41X49

AVOID40

RISKY37

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 —41

CREDIT EXCELLENTDukla Pragu 2 Bastia 7LokomotivM 2 Brest 7Budejovice 2 Toulouse 7Valerango 3 Grasshoppers 5Stromsgodset 3 Lausanne 5Sogndal 3 Rubin Kazan 5Lillestrom 3 Alcorcon 5Salzburg 3 Rz Pellets 5

SOCCER TIPSSOCCER TIPSSOCCER TIPSSOCCER TIPSSOCCER TIPS

Revised PairsRevised PairsRevised PairsRevised PairsRevised Pairs

3 X7 X 8X 13FOUR AWAYS

2X 6X 16X 18

PERMUTATION2X 4X 9 X

11X 12 X 21TIPS

24 X 36 X 38

2 x 4, 9 x 1112 x 21, 41 x 49

24

1121

1 v Nice 22 Bastia v Sochaux XX3 Bordeaux v ETG 14 Brest v Nancy XX5 Lille v St.Etienne X16 Lorient v Paris SG 27 Lyon v Rennes 18 Marseille v Reims 19 Toulouse v MontpellierXX10 Vallenciennes v Troyes 1

11Grasshoppers v Basil XX12 Lausanne v Lucerne XX13 Sion v Thun 114 St. Gallen v Servette 115 Young Boys v FC Zurich XX

16 Amkar v Zenith 217Dina'Moscow v Volga Nizhny 118 FK Rostov v Cska Moscow 219 Kabankrasn v Anzhi XX20 LokomotivM v Mordovya XX21Rubin KJazan vFC Krosnodor XX22 Sp Moscow v Avladika'kaz 123TerekG3oz v Kryl'aSouetov 1 1

24 Alcorcon v Almeria XX25 Elche v Real Madri 126 Girona v Barcelona 2X27 Huelva v Carddoba XX28 Huesca v SP Glion 2X29 Lugo v Sabadell X130 Mirandes v Las Palmas XX31 Murcia v Panterrodina 232 Numancia v Hercules 133 Santander vGuadalajara X234 Villareal v Xerez 1

35 Mattersburg v A. Wacker X136 RZ Pellets v Winnsbruck XX37 Rapid Vienna v Ried 138 Salzburg v Aust' Viennas XX39 SturmGraz v W. Neustadt X1

40 Brann v Sarpsbong 141 Lillestrom v Haugesund XX42 Molde v Honesfoss XX43 OddGreenland v Sandness X144 Sogndal v Start XX45 Stromsgodset v Aalesunds XX46 Valerango v Rosenburg X147 Vilking v Tromso 1X

48 Budejovice v Jihlavan X249 Dukla Pragu v M.Boleslav XX

X-RAY OF THE DRAWS

FOUR HOMES

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Bastia v Sochaux

Young Boys v FC Zurich Lausanne v Lucerne

AjaccioGrasshoppers v Basil

Brest v Nancy

LokomotivM v MordovyaRubin KJazanvFC Krosnodor Alcorcon v Almeria

Toulouse v Montpellier

WEEK 45WEEK 45WEEK 45WEEK 45WEEK 45FFFFFrance Ligue Onerance Ligue Onerance Ligue Onerance Ligue Onerance Ligue One

Swiss Raiffeiben Super Swiss Raiffeiben Super Swiss Raiffeiben Super Swiss Raiffeiben Super Swiss Raiffeiben SuperLeagueLeagueLeagueLeagueLeague

Spanish Segunda DivisionSpanish Segunda DivisionSpanish Segunda DivisionSpanish Segunda DivisionSpanish Segunda Division

Russian Premier LeagueRussian Premier LeagueRussian Premier LeagueRussian Premier LeagueRussian Premier LeagueTTTTTableableableableable

Austria BundesligaAustria BundesligaAustria BundesligaAustria BundesligaAustria Bundesliga

NoNoNoNoNowwwwwegian Tippeligaen Tegian Tippeligaen Tegian Tippeligaen Tegian Tippeligaen Tegian Tippeligaen Tableableableableable

Gambrinus Liga (Czech)Gambrinus Liga (Czech)Gambrinus Liga (Czech)Gambrinus Liga (Czech)Gambrinus Liga (Czech)StandingsStandingsStandingsStandingsStandings

Kabankrasn v Anzhi

Coach Stephen Keshi has told Nigerians not to panic asthe SuperEagles prepare for crucial 2014 World Cupqualifying games and theFIFA Confederations Cup tour-nament – all taking place in a number ofweeks.

A spate of injuries, first to Scotland-based midfielderReuben Gabrieland ace forward Emmanuel Emenike, andlately to attacking midfieldersKalu Uche and VictorMoses, had caused anxiety in some quarters and isbeing hyper-ventilated in public spaces and a section ofthe media as‘problem in camBut Keshi, who steered less-endowed Togo to that country’s only FIFAWorld Cup qualification eight years ago, said he was morethancommitted to leading his own country to next year’sfinals in Brazil,no matter the challenges.

“I am never one to run away from challenges; I haveconfronted themhead-on all my life. I have very good rela-tionship with each and everyof my players, with mutualrespect and regard being the bedrock.“The players thatwe have invited for these matches are patriots andare always ready to defend the green-white-green. Wehave 16 playershere now and team spirit is high. Every-one wants to play. What we willcertainly not do is to beganyone to play for Nigeria”.

Nigeria’s longest-serving Captain said the late arrivalof someplayers is to be expected at this time of the season:“Most of theplayers have just concluded very gruellingseasons and have need tosort out personal issues, and ofcourse there are talks to hold aheadof next season. Thesetalks have to be done now considering that theplayers would be away for about seven weeks, on duty forNigeria.”

The team’s Novina Hotel camp in Nuremberg swelled on

No reason to panic — Keshi

Wednesday morningwith the arrivals of Ger-many-based striker Joseph AkpalaandUkraine-based forward BabatundeMichael.Portugal-based John Ogu was beingexpected on Wednesday night, whiledefenders Kenneth Omeruo and EldersonEchiejile, as well as midfielderNnamdiOduamadi are expected in camp on Thursday.

First-choice goalkeeper Vincent Enyeama,based in Israel, is expectedon Friday. Scotland-based stopper Efe Ambrose and Italy-basedmidfielder Ogenyi Onazi have beengranted permission to arrive onSaturday dueto club commitments.

Ukraine-based forward Brown Ideye will jointhe team in Texas, USAwhile Ahmed Musa andFegor Ogude will join the squad inFrankfurtafter the friendly with Mexico inAmerica, also due to clubcommitments.The team will fly out of Frankfurt on Tuesdaymorning aboard aLufthansa Airline aircraft,and will arrive in Houston, Texas intheevening. Abode is the classy The WestinGalleria and Westin Oaks.

Nigeria Player of the WeekNigeria Player of the WeekNigeria Player of the WeekNigeria Player of the WeekNigeria Player of the WeekIkechukwu Uche is leading the

charge that may just seeVillarealgain immediate promotionback to LaLiga. His two goals against Giroma

after last week's goal againstAlcorcon havetaken himto 13

goalsfor the season.

YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

dadadekola@yahoo.com

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

Commen3 by Lawrence Akapa

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

42—Vanguard42—Vanguard42—Vanguard42—Vanguard42—Vanguard,,,,, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, FRIDAY, MAY 24,MAY 24,MAY 24,MAY 24,MAY 24, 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013

By Richard Eromosele

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGSend ySend ySend ySend ySend your datour datour datour datour date and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bir th tth tth tth tth to the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Astrtrtrtrtrologicalologicalologicalologicalological

Counselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, P.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 100000000007, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos

AQUARIUS; Here is a day when your closeness tothe influential people can be source of assistance toboth yourself in particular and your group in general.And then your love life is getting better. Exhibit lovingmaturity.

PISCES; Take your health more seriously than before.However that is not to say you have to ignore yourresponsibilities at work. Respect your senior colleagues

ARIES; The influence looks more favourable to younow. You will certainly become more enterprising tothe betterment of your cause. Right now nobody canignore you.

TAURUS; Those of you who are more observantwithin your base of operation will have more to gain.Prepare to take good advice from the veterans withinyour base.

GEMINI; Although your personal ideas are veryreliable and capable of bringing success, you will needto be as co-operative as possible to achieve your desire.

CANCER; It is important you take your sources ofmaking money very seriously. Both hard work andelement of luck will work favourably for you.

LEO; The Moon in your Star Sign will encourageyou to become a little bit aggressive; here is a daywhen your leadership ability will assist many.

VIRGO; The Moon in Leo can force agitation on theminds of some of you but if keep your head above thecloudy atmosphere you will not have anything to fear.

LIBRA; Young-at-heart Librans may be greatly excitedtoday and for the next few weeks; if you take gooddecision on your love life you will enjoy it.

SCORPIO; Here is an ambitious day for many ofyou. The more practical you are about your reasonabledesire the better for your cause. Be more family minded

SAGITTARIUS; Good luck will knock at your door.Although it is good to plan ahead, you have to takeadvantage of now that presented good opportunities.

CAPRICORN; Keeping both your personal and otherpeople secrets will do you lots of good today. Thentomorrow is your big day; prepare yourself accordingly

Dear Joshua,I have never gone through any major sickness since I

was born but it is always good to know, especially aspeople are saying that those that do not fall-sick oftencan die the very first time such happen. Can they be right?Please tell me about my financial prospects.

Iyabo. Benin.

Dear Iyabo,They are wrong. And you have no cause to fear. Actually

my findings here pointed to your hard beginning-healthwise. If you ask your parents they would tell you muchthan you think you know about yourself

Leo and Scorpio that hosted your natal Sun and Moonare members of few strongest Star signs available (whentalking of health/life and death). Thus you are wellendowed.

Although as both the Sun and Moon were atloggerheads when you were born you must have gonethrough some tough times health-wise, especially whenyou were younger, very great ability of Scorpio to surviveand good aspects the planets enjoyed during your birthhour are indications of good health for you. And as yourage advances so also your health will continue to improve.

Then concentration of many heavenly bodies in healthrelated Virgo is another pointers to good health. Howeverthat is not to say you will go through adulthood life withoutany health related challenges but when they come youhave what it takes to survive and be back on the road tosound health.

What to watch out for include TOOTHACHE, the chest/back, stomach and at very advanced age may comecirculatory system related challenge. Being a femaleScorpio born person always pay good attention togynaecological related ailments and fever is commonin this part of the world.

But then all ailments mentioned here are mere warnings(although to be taken seriously) nothing fatalisticplease!!!!

Although you can be generous, kind and loving you arenot the extravagant type. Thus you are reliable and canmake success of your family purse. You are practicalanalyst with respect for your family dignity, thereforeputting aside money for raining days comes natural toyou

Occasionally you think that money don’t come as fasteras desired by you but it comes eventually after a few lesson.Luckily for you Libra that hosted your natal planet ofdesire (Mars) is money and partnership/marrige related.Thus money will find it way into your life either personallyor via joint efforts between you and your husband.

Good health for me?

ONCE beatenbut twice shy is

a general sayingamong some folks,but how can that be?The truth is that youcan be beaten anumber of times, yet,that doesn’t makeyou a fool providedon each occasion you

Once beaten...

learn some lessons.For example,

Ronald Reaganformer Fresident ofthe United States ofAmerica contestedfor Americanpresidency a numberof times before he

eventually won it.Another AmericanPresident AbrahamLincoln failed invirtually everythinguntil at last, he wonthe presidency.

Supposing thesetwo individuals ac-

cepted being beatenonce, what wouldhave been their placein history?

Accept to be beatenseveral times, if needbe, but take thelessons with you andmove on to be a superachiever.

Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013—43FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013—43FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013—43FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013—43FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013—43

email: isholaism@yahoo.co.ukTel: 08098097290

Hijab ban in Lagos: MPAC,MURIC, others hit back at govt

MUSLIM Public AffairsCentre, MPAC, has

said it will engage all lawfulmeans to frustrate the deci-sion of the Lagos StateMinistry of Education withrespect to the recent ban onhijab, adding that it willcontinue to actively work withother Islamic organizationsand stakeholders towardsexpanding the coalition toachieve reversal of the ban inthe quickest possible time.

In a similar vein, theMuslim Rights Concern,MURIC, called the attentionof senior citizens in Lagos,men of goodwill, the Nigeriansecurity agencies, humanrights organizations and theinternational community towade into the matter imme-diately. MURIC in itsstatement said: “Muslims arepeace-loving people. They gotheir own ways untilauthorities push them to thewall. The Allah-given andfundamental rights of LagosMuslims are being flagrantlydenied today by the LagosState government.”

“Muslims are civilized andcultured people. We issue nothreats, but let nobody makea mistake about our resolve toensure that justice is done.Already, MURIC has report-ed this hijab case to some in-ternational and local humanrights bodies so that the wholeworld will know what is hap-pening here. Letters havebeen forwarded to HumanRights Watch, Amnesty Inter-national, The Islamic HumanRights Commission, Nation-al Human Rights Commissionas well as the House of Rep-resentatives’ Committee onHuman Rights in Abuja. Thisis just the beginning. Allavailable legitimate optionsare on the table.”

MURIC however urged theLagos State House of Assem-bly to re-open dialogue on thedemand of Muslims in thestate on the use of hijab inpublic schools; and to put inplace a public hearing on thematter that will be wellpublicised and attended by Is-lamic organizations. It alsodemand for investigation andsanction against the principalof Kadara High School whowas reported to have caned

Aishat Alabi, a JSS I studentfor wearing hijab.

In a seperate statementsigned by the chairman ofMPAC, Disu Kamor, the groupexpressed shock that the

Lagos State Ministry ofEducation will prevent stu-dents in public schools in thestate from using the hijab (theobligatory female Muslim headcovering). The Commissionerfor Education Mrs. OlayinkaOladunjoye had said last weekat a press briefing in Ikeja that“usage of Hijab and other reli-gious materials in publicschools was against govern-ment’s policy”.

According to MPAC; “it is inflagrant violation of the reli-gious and civic rights of thepupils. MPAC is shocked thatrather than speak on behalf ofthe Constitution she swore anoath to defend, Mrs.Oladunjoye is taking the Statein a course of confrontation anddown the dead end of religiousintolerance. The Lagos State

government should have seenthe use of hijab in publicschools in the state as an op-portunity to reinforce commonpublic perception of LagosState as a melting-pot and a

good example where diversegroups and ideas co-existpeacefully, thus upholding thedemocratic ideals of inclusionand diversity.”

Reacting further, the associ-ation said this decision is ca-pable of bringing Muslimswho desire to obey theQur’anic injunction of adorn-ing the hijab in all public plac-es into confrontation with theschool authority as the hijabwill continue to be used inschools and workplaces.

“One thing is certain, the de-cision of the Lagos State Min-

istry of Education, althoughshocking, will not prevent theuse of hijab in public schools,or anywhere else. Rather itwill strengthen the resolve tofulfil aspiration to obey thedivine injunction, at all costs.Everyone who holds dear thevalues of freedom and equali-ty that the people of Nigeriahave struggled so hard to es-tablish over the years shouldalso find the decision shock-ing– to witness the Ministryblatantly subscribing to thisdiscriminatory policy and useof state power as a means ofimplementing tyranny em-phasises the need to deepenour democracy through activepolitical participation.”

MPAC however stated that itawaits the position of the StateHouse of Assembly on the is-sue just as it hopes that thelawmakers will show honourand courage to act on the sideof justice and fairness. “Ulti-mately, it is the decision at thegrassroots level for millions ofMuslim women to wear theHijab in all public schools andplaces of work which willprove official discriminatorypolicy not only unnecessaryand ignorant, but also simplyunworkable. MPAC will inten-sify campaigns for the rightsof female Muslims to freelymake their choices concerninghijab and their rights to imple-ment that decision withoutthreat of intimidation or per-

secution.

UNIFEMGA reactsThe Obafemi Awolowo Uni-

versity Muslim Graduates As-sociation (UNIFEMGA) hasalso condemned the ban onthe use of hijab by Muslimfemale students in all LagosPublic schools.

In a statement signed by itsNational President, Prof. Wa-hab Egbewole and Abdur-Rahman Balogun, NationalPublic Relations officer, saidsuch ban was a breach of thefundamental rights of the stu-dents to practice their religion.

Oladunjoye rather claimedin her press briefing thatwearing hijab would causeconfusion and break down ofthe law.

UNIFEMGA argued that hi-jab is part religious obligationof a Muslim woman that can-not be detached from her workor studies.

“If the Lagos state Govern-ment, or the Ministry knowsthat the affected students needto wear hijab when they go forprayers or read Quran, whywould it be restricted,” thegroup queried.

"It is unacceptable andlaughable that wearing ofhijab will create confusion andbreak down of law as claimedby the commissioner duringher press conference."

“We want to say categoricallythat even in advanced democ-racy, this right is guaranteedto Muslim female students todress in accordance with theirfaith”.

As a Muslim alumni body,we have not heard of any stateor public schools wherewearing of hijab causes con-fusion or led to break down oflaw and order”.

“It is actually an affront onour faith system to equatehijab with confusion or breakdown of law. It is also insultingto the collectivity of our faithto say that Muslims shouldsend their daughters to privateschool if they want them towear hijab," the group stated.

,

,

...the decision of the Lagos StateMinistry of Education, althoughshocking, will not prevent the

use of hijab in public schools, oranywhere else. Rather it will

strengthen the resolve to fulfilaspiration to obey the divine in-

junction, at all costs

•From left: Imam Harun Razak of Vanguard Mosque, Sheikh Abdul-Rah-man Adangba, National Missioner, Al Fatiu Quareeb Society of Nigeria andImam Lukman Olowo during a visit by Sheikh Adangba to Vanguard Mosque.

Ask Your ImamAsk Your ImamAsk Your ImamAsk Your ImamAsk Your Imam

THERE is no clear cut prayer on the night of 27th day of Rajab, but youcannot stop doing ibaadat. There are arguments on this issue but the truth

is that no one knows when the last will come and as a result, use every night ifpossible in the month of Rajab to supplicate. The night of 27th day of Rajab isconsidered as Laylat ul-Isra or the Night of Ascension. This is the night whenthe Holy prophet was taken up to the heavens to meet his Lord Allah Almighty.There is not disagreement of scholars on this, but what they actually disagreeon was the kind or mode of prayer. While some say 20 rakats between Maghriband Ishai, some say no. But since there is no laid down prayer on this night,and more importantly because rendering of prayers have no limitation as far asspiritual connection with Allah is concerned, my teacher taught me that you cansupplicate at any time, more especially during fasting (whether obligatory orvoluntary), you can say Istighfar as many times as possible and say thefollowing dua.Alh’amdu lillaahilladhi lam yattakhiz’ waladhan, wa lam yakunllahuu Sharikunfil-Mulki, wa lam yakunllahuu waliyyun-minazh’ulli wa kabbiru Takbiraa

Allaahumma innii as-aluka bi-ma-a’aqidi i’zzika a’alaa arkaani a’rshika wamuntahar Rah’mati min kitabikaa, wa bismikal aa’-z’amil aaz’zam wa d’ikrikalaa’-laa, wa bi-kalimatikat-Taammaatika, an tu’salliya a’laa Muhammadin waaalihii, Wa an taf-a’la bimaa anta ahluh

Meaning: All praises belong to Allah, Who has not taken a son and does nothave a partner in the Dominion, nor does He have a helper out of weakness;and magnify Him with a worthy magnification (Holy Qur’an 17:111). O Allah,I ask You by: the juncture of Your might over the pillars of Your Throne, and theultimate Mercy from Your book. And [I ask You] by Your name – the great, themajestic, the splendid. And [I ask You] by Your remembrance – the elevated, thesublime, the exalted; and by Your complete and perfect words, that You blessMuhammad and his family and do for me, what You are worthy of doing. Amin.

Please Malam, do we have any prayer that we can do on 27th day of Rajab?On 27th day of Rajab

CMYK

44—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Achebe's body arrives

L-R: Mr. Abiola Popoola, immediate past president, CIPM; Dr.Oladimeji Alo, pastpresident,CIPM; Dr. Christopher Kolade, past president CIPM; Victor Famuyibo, president/chairman of Council; Dr. Michael Omolayole, pioneer president,CIPM; and Mr. VictorEburajolo, past president CIPM during the Investiture of Famuyibo as the 16th CIPM President/Chairman of Council in Lagos

On the release of suspected terrorists

08102479985 By Bartholomew Madukwe(nwamad@yahoo.com)PEOPLE SPEAK

LOOKING at the issue, I do not

see any reason whythe presidency should order therelease of suspected terrorists be-cause these people have causeda lot of trouble for Nigeria. Theseterrorists have killed so many Ni-gerians and destroyed many prop-erty. —Mrs. Loveline Ezemegbu,Lawyer

IT is awrong step.People should nothold the notion that

they can do anything in Ni-geria and get away with it.This Boko Haram issue hasa political undertone andthe earlier we nip it in thebud, the better for the na-tion. Mrs. Sylvia Amugo-Umukoro, Lawyer

THE release ofsuspected ter-rorists has some impli-

cations because some of themwill return back and reinforce tofight the Federal Government. Iam of the view that it is too earlyfor the President to have madesuch order since the amnesty isstill on.— Mr . Jamiu Bashir,Lawyer

NIGERIANS are kept inthe dark by this current adminis-tration; the National Assemblyshould summon PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to explainwhy he ordered the release ofsuspected terrorists. But I believethat he’s been rationally advised.—Mr. Okunaya Tolulope,Student

Iwill only adviseMr President tostop playing poli-

tics and focus more ongoverning the people.The President knowswhat to do to stop theBoko Haram, so let himdo the needful and doit fast. — Mr. KayodeMakinde, Lawyer

I see it as an attemptto undermine the al-ready declared state ofemergency. If the Presi-dent wants to go thewhole hog, he has to ex-ercise enough politicalwill. However, I think itis a welcomed idea. MrOluwole Adisa- Lawyer

Delta Revenue Boardchairman promises tomake office ICTcompliant

BY JACOB AJOM

CHAIRMAN OF Delta State Board of Internal Revenue, DBIR, Mr. Joel-Onowakpo

Thomas, has said that the ongoing transforma-tion process in the Board will make it a referencepoint in Africa in relation to the continent’s taxsystem.

He also said that Governor EmmanuelUduaghan had set up Information CommissionTechnology in all the offices ofthe agency across the state.

Joel-Onowakpo, in Asaba atthe closing ceremony of a five-day retreat organised for staff ofthe board, as part of the plansto launch the state into continen-tal limelight, told staff that asidethe approval for generatingplants for all the offices of theboard in the state, the state gov-ernor, Uduaghan was doing eve-rything possible to ensure thatthe revenue base of the state wasincreased and all leakagesblocked.

He said, “If the ICT project isconsummated as the idea is con-ceived, there will be no tax sys-tem in Africa that will be betterthan the one we will have inDelta State. Let me inform thatthere are massive transformationand reformation currently goingon within the board."

THE Ijaw Peoples Congress,IPC, yesterday, called on

the Nigerian National PetroleumCorporation, NNPC; the Inspec-tor-General of Police; Director-General, Department of State Ser-vice, DSS, and Minister of Petro-leum Resources to call Integrat-ed Data Servicing Nigeria Limit-ed, IDSL, to order, over its allegedmanipulation of some communi-ties in Burutu Local GovernmentArea of Delta State.

IPC National President, Mr.Ekanpou Enewaridideke in astatement, alleged that the oilservicing company, which is asubsidiary of NNPC, had with-out usual permit, desecrated theforests of Akparemogbene, Ama-suo, Opuapale, Ayakoromo andOyangbene communities in Bu-rutu council in January 2013 un-

der the pretext of data-collection.It said: “To forestall any violent

eruption in these communities,we, hereby call on the manage-ment of NNPC to ignore and dis-credit any geological data dishedout by IDSL in respect of its op-erations in these communities be-cause IDSL lacks the requiredcompetence to work in the areas.Again, we are calling on NNPCto give IDSL a marching orderto quickly integrate Akparemog-bene, Amasuo, Opuapale, Aya-koromo and Oyangbene commu-

IPC urges NNPC, IGP to probe oil firmBY ETOP EKANEM

WARRI—Delta State Commission-er for Water Resources, Dr. Chris

Oghenchovwe, yesterday, told the contrac-tor and the consultant handling the Afri-can Development Bank ADB, assistedwater project to serve Warri and Effurunthat they were deliberately frustrating thestate government’s programme of makingdrinking water available to the people ofthe areas.

He also ordered the contractor and con-sultant to come to Asaba, the State capi-tal to explain why the project was stillfar from being completed even whengovernment was not defaulting in pay-ment.

The visibly angry commissioner hadvisited Warri with a retinue of state offi-cials and newsmen to inspect the projectcompletion compliant level only to betold that only three out of 15 expectedarms of the job had been completed.

Land dispute:Lawyerpetitions IGover use ofarmed thugs

A LAGOS based law-yer, Ademola Koko

has petitioned the In-spector General Police,IG, over alleged illegalactivities, acts capableof disrupting publicpeace, and unconstitu-tional use of police, inrespect of a landed prop-erty at Oribanwa village,Ibeju Lekki Local Gov-ernment Area of LagosState by some persons inthe area.

The lawyer in the peti-tion said, “Pursuant toour petition dated March6, 2013 of which the IGmonitoring unit, KamSalem, Lagos was in-structed to take over thecase from the generalinvestigation underDeputy Inspector Gen-eral of Police, Abuja, wehereby raise seriouscomplaints about the ac-tivities of the Investiga-tion Police Officer, IPO.

“On May 17, 2013, theIPO came with anotherofficer to, “arrest our cli-ents and he subjectedthem to serious inhumantreatments without re-porting their arrival atElemoro Police Station,which has original juris-diction or the Area “J”Police Command at IbejuLekki council, Lagos anddetained them unconsti-tutionally at Lagos StatePolice Command SARS.

"They were taken toAbuja with bail condi-tions made difficult, justto wear them out psy-chologically. This uglytrend is barbaric, unlaw-ful, disgraceful and an-noying,” Koko said.

nities into the project and givethem their entitlements by wayof employment, contractual op-portunities, and consensuallyobtain work permit from thesecommunities.”

The group also alleged that theCommunity Affairs Departmentof the company had concoctednon-existing communities andpassed “them off as existing com-munities to NNPC to create theimpression that all is well, where-as the real existing communitieswere ignored."

BY VICTOR AHIUMA-YOUNG

W A R R I — I N D I G -ENOUS contractors from

Companies told to obey localcontent in contracts award

Kokodiagbene in WarriSouth-West Local Govern-ment Area of Delta State,have called on all multina-tional companies operatingin the community to strictlyadhere to the Nigerian Lo-cal Content Law in theaward of contracts to indig-enous contactors in the in-terest of peace and justice.

Under the umbrella ofKokodiagbene IndigenousContractors Association,KICA, the contractors,called on Nigerian Petro-leum Development Com-

pany, NPDC, in its OML42 re-entry operations andChevron Nigeria Limitedin its Utonana flow stationoperations to strictly adhereto the Nigerian Local Con-tent Law in the award ofcontracts.

KICA in a statement byUyadonghan Powede andJackson Timiyan, Chair-man and Secretary, respec-tively, said: “We are profes-sional community contrac-tors handling all projectsthat are within the confinesof indigenous contractors.We will not condone any actof injustice in the award ofcontracts to us as providedfor in the Nigerian LocalContent Law."

BY EMMA ARUBI

Oghenechovwe blames contractor over slowpace of work on Delta water project

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 — 45

APGA leadership tussle: A-Courtadjourns indefinitely

BY TONY EDIKE

4 communitiespetition EbonyiAssembly overoperation ofcement coy

'Jonathanneedstechnocrats incabinet'

BY PETER OKUTU

Enugu haslowestcrime rate— IGP

BY TONY EDIKE

Mrs Osuma isdead

MRS. Cecilia AdunniOsuma (nee Olaso-

ji) is dead, aged 69.The late Mrs. Osuma who

died in USA after a brief ill-ness is survived by chil-dren, grand children,brothers and sisters amongwhom is the elder brother,Chief Michael AdetunjiOlasoji.

Burial arrangements tobe announced later.

Late Mrs Osuma

SERVICE OF SONGS FOR LATE PINI JASON—From right: Mr Obi Azuru, Mr KanayoEsinulo, and Sir Emma Ohakim, during the service of songs for Late Chief Pini JasonOnyegbadue at the All Saints Anglican Church, Montgomery road, Yaba, Lagos on Tues-day.BELOW—From right: Chief Chris Ekwilo, President General, Igbo Coalition in Lagos;Mrs Inyang Anya; and Prof Anya Anya, President General Ndi Igbo of Lagos.

ENUGU—THE Inspector-General of Police,

Mohammed Dikko Abu-bakar, yesterday, declaredthat Enugu State has thelowest crime rate in thecountry, explaining that thisfact was buttressed by sta-tistics and empirical evi-dence.

Abubakar, who spokewhile taking delivery of 100brand new vehicles donat-ed to the police by EnuguState government, statedthat this was largely a re-sult of the tremendous sup-port that the administrationof Governor SullivanChime had been giving thepolice and other securityagencies.

He said: “Today, I can con-firm, as the Inspector-Gen-eral of Police, that EnuguState has the lowest crimerate in Nigeria. I also con-firm that Enugu is one thesafest places in Nigeria.This is the result of the won-derful partnership betweenthe Enugu State Govern-ment, the Police and othersecurity agencies.”

He commended Gover-nor Sullivan Chime for thegesture, saying it was anexample that his col-leagues should emulate.

He said: “I commend you(Chime) for this gesture.This is a shining examplefor your colleagues to em-ulate. This is a practicaldemonstration that you loveand care for your peopleand you understand whatit takes to provide securityof lives and property".

ABAKALIKI—THE fourhost communities of NI-

GERCEM, Nkalagu, EbonyiState, yesterday presented astrong worded letter to theState House of Assembly, ap-pealing to it to intervene in thecurrent feud between the stategovernment and Ibeto cementmanufacturing company overthe ownership and running ofthe firm in the state.

Signatories of the letter dat-ed April 16, 2013, includingChief Boniface Alu, Em-manuel Eze, Pius Nnaji,Patrick Ngbebu and others,prayed the House to urgentlyintervene in the impasse, not-ing that some individuals werecapitalizing on the state of thecompany to tarnish the imageof the state government. The letter read in part: “We,the stakeholders and commu-nity leaders of NIGERCEMlandlord hereby write to ex-press our reservation concern-ing the current impasse overthe resuscitation of NIGER-CEM and we request for yoururgent intervention.”

The communities expressedunhappiness over the dimen-sion the matter had taken inrecent time and urged theHouse to call the parties in-volved to the negotiating ta-ble, so the matter could be ur-gently resolved.

BY LEVINUSNWABUGHIOGU

ABUJA—FOR PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to

take Nigeria to lofty heightsand make it the envy of theworld in the comity of nations,he needs an all-technocrat cab-inet, an author, Mr. Joe Dau-da, has said.

Speaking at a briefing tomark the public presentationof his new book, yesterday,Dauda said President Jonath-an’s temperament also affect-ed his actions, even as heurged the President to use crit-icisms from opposition to hisfavour.

He said: “The Presidentneeds an all-technocrat cabi-net. If there is any Presidentthat does not need the head-ache of politicians as minis-ters, that President is PresidentJonathan".

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ENUGU—THE Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu, yes-

terday, adjourned indefinitelythe appeal before it over the lead-ership of All Progressives GrandAlliance, APGA, pending the de-cision of the National JudicialCouncil, NJC, on the petitionwritten by the respondent, JudeOkuli accusing the presiding jus-tices of bias.

The three-man panel of justic-es, including Paul Galinje (Chair-man), Justice F. A. Kwasami andTom Yakubu, who presided overthe appeal, said at the resumedhearing yesterday that the re-spondent, Mr. Okuli, had peti-tioned the NJC over the rulingstaying the execution of EnuguState High Court’s decision thatremoved APGA National chair-man, Chief Victor Umeh, fromoffice.

According to the chairman ofthe panel, Justice Galinje, theNJC had forwarded a copy of the

petition to him for his commentand he had since done that.

He said since they were awareof the pendency of the petition,the substantive appeal couldnot be heard until the counciltook decision on the petition.

He, therefore, adjourned thematter sine die, saying furtherhearing of the appeal woulddepend on the outcome of thepetition before the NJC.

Meanwhile, the appeal filedby Okuli at the Supreme Courtagainst the stay of executiongranted Umeh by the appellatecourt, had been slated for hear-ing on December 16 and 17, thisyear, one month after the sched-uled November 16 governor-ship election in Anambra State.

The Federal High Court sit-ting in Awka had last week,vacated the interim order it ear-lier made restraining Mr. MaxiOkwu, chairman of GovernorPeter Obi’s faction of APGA ,but declared that its action hadno effect whatsoever on the

decision of the Appeal Courtwhich restored Umeh to his po-sition as APGA national chair-man.

Speaking with newsmen afterthe court session, yesterday,Chief Wole Olanipekun, SAN,who led Chief Umeh’s team oflawyers, including Chief PatrickIkweto, SAN, said the decisionof the court to step the matterdown indefinitely until it hearsfrom NJC was fair enough, add-ing that the panel had shownclearly that it had no personalinterest in the matter.

“The situation of the matternow is as announced by thecourt. The court said until ithears from the National JudicialCouncil, that is fair enough andI want to commend the Justicesof the Court of Appeal, it showsthat they don’t have anything atstake, they don’t have interestin anybody or person and thatis how it should be. I believethat’s how Justice should be dis-pensed.

46— 46— 46— 46— 46— Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard,Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24 FRIDAY, MAY 24 FRIDAY, MAY 24 FRIDAY, MAY 24 FRIDAY, MAY 24,,,,, 2013 2013 2013 2013 2013

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013—47

SYNOD: From left: Bishop of Kafanchan Anglican Diocese, Rt.Rev. MarcusDodo; Bishop of Kaduna Diocese, Most Rev. Josiah Idowu-Fearon and Bishopof Benin Diocese, Rt.Rev. P.O.J. Imasuen, during the second session of theNinth Synod of the Diocese of Kaduna Anglican Communion and thanks-giving service in Kaduna. Photo: Olu Ajayi.

From left: Mr. Ugo Chime, member, Board of Trustees, REDAN, Dr.Chryssy Potsiou, FIG Task Force on Housing and Property; President,Nigerian Institute of Quantity Surveyors, Mr. Agele Alufohai, and Mr.Anthony Okwa, former Secretary, REDAN, at FIG Working Week in Abuja.

BRIEFING: From left: Mr. Justin Ngini, National Sales Manager, CoscharisMotors Ltd; Ms. Laura Oloyede, GM/COO, Cutler Ogilvy; Mr. Ezio Tuniz, Re-gional Sales and Marketing Manager, Sub-Sahara Africa, Ford Motor Com-pany and Mr. Eugen Prinsloo, Senior Marketing Manager, during the briefingby the Ford Motor Company in Lagos. Photo: Lamidi Bamidele.

VISIT: 300 Level Mass Communication Students of Ibrahim BadamosiBabangida University, Minna, with Mr. Victor Omoregie, Coperate AffairsManager, Vanguard Newspapers, during the students' visit to Vanguard News-papers' office, Apapa, Lagos. Photo: Akeem Salau.

BIRTHDAY: Ogun State Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Buruji Kashamu(middle) cutting his 55th birthday cake on Victoria Island, Lagos. He is being as-sisted by former Deputy Governor of Oyo State, Alhaji Azeez Gbolarumi (2nd left);Chairman, Caretaker Committee, Southwest PDP, Chief Ishola Filani; former Gov-ernor of Bayelsa State, Chief Diepreye Alamieyeseigha; representative of the Na-tional Chairman of PDP, Mr. Bernard Mikko; Kashamu's wife, Sabine; member, PDPBoard of Trustees, Alhaji Shuaibu Oyedokun; Mr. Tilewa Adebajo; National Auditor,PDP, Alhaji Fatai Adeyanju; Ambassador Aminu Wisdom and Mrs. Ibilola Solaja(left).

CONFERENCE: From left: Participant, Chantale Joseph; CEO, MibodGlobal Resources Ltd, Ms. Abiola Okoya; First Lady of Cross RiverState, Mrs. Obioma Liyel-Imoke, CEO, Star Crest Group, Mrs. FifiEjindu and President/CEO of M and M Dyson, LLC, Marcia L. Dyson,at the second international conference on african women empower-ment in Paris, France.

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COMPETITION: From left: Mr. Oladele Onitiju(judge), Mr. I.A. John and Useni Kehinde (bothof Wesley Girls Junior Secondary School, Yaba,Mrs. Victoria Tandoh, CEO, Kings School, and Mr.Ayodeji Jeremiah (judge), during the King’sSchool first inter-school essay competition for stu-dents in private and public schools between theages of 8 and 14 in Lagos.

PRESENTATION: From left: Stanley Dediare,Jonathan Igangan, Coach Koremene Payebo,Abhulimhen Patrick, Claim/Insurance Manager,Julius Berger Services Nigeria Ltd, JBSN, SaschaGattaschau, Prophet Ogbe and Timothy Egbe, at thepresentation of cheques and footballs, by JBSN totwo football clubs of Itsekiri & Ijaw extraction in Warri,Delta State.

QUIZ: From left: Quiz master and moderator,Mr. Gabriel Aneke, Education Director, LagosCatholic Archdiocese, Monsignor Jerome Oduntanand MD/CEO, Veritas Travel Agency Ltd, Rev. Fr.Louis Odudu, during a three-day year of Faith quizand art competition for Catholic Junior and Sec-ondary Schools in Lagos.

48—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Borno govt tospendN300m onconstructionof MaiduguriWater Works

FULANI HERDSMEN ATTACKS:CAN urges FG to extend militaryoperations to Middle Belt

Blame yourleaders forstate ofemergency,Erewa tellsnortherners

FG commissions 40 km Vom-ManchokRoad

GrouptasksNigerians

on peace

The World Bank Country Director in Nigeria, Maire Francoise Marie Nelly, presenting a copyof Nigerian Economic Report to the Governor of Niger State, Dr Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu, inGovernment House, Minna on Wednesday.

LAGOS—A PROMINENT Itsekiri

youth leader in DeltaState, Comrade BensonErewa, has called onnortherners to blametheir governors, eldersand leaders, who failedto avert the declarationof state of emergency inYobe, Borno andAamawa states.

Reacting to commentsby some Northern lead-ers condemning Presi-dent GoodluckJonathan’s declarationof state of emergency inthe affected states,Erewa noted that thenortherners should in-stead blame their gover-nors, who had failed toaddress the Boko Harammenace, which eventu-ally resulted to the stateof emergency.

L A G O S — T H EKudirat Initiative

for Democracy, KIND,has appealed to Nigeri-ans to continue to loveand live in peace withone another irrespectiveof ethnic, religious andpolitical leanings.

KIND in a statementsigned by the ProjectAdministrator, Mr. SteveAborisade, said the callbecame necessary in theface of incessant con-flicts, bitterness andgross animosity existingbetween Muslims andChristians; and amongthe ethnic nationalities.

Lagos FirstLady to gracelaunch ofretreat centre

LAGOS—LAGOS StateFirst Lady, Dame

Abimbola Fashola is ex-pected to be among the dig-nitaries at the formallaunch of retreat centreproject of Knights of St.John International, St.Agnes Commandery 447 &Immaculate ConceptionLAUX 380.

The launching, accordingto the President, Sir HilaryOkhuelegbe, is billed fortomorrow at Welcome Cen-tre and Hotels, Lagos andwill also be attended by theArchbishop of Lagos,Bishop Adewale Martinsand other clerics in theCatholic Church.

BY PETER DURU

MAKURDI —THE Christian Association of Ni-

geria, CAN, has called on theFederal Government to extendthe current military operationsin Borno, Yobe and Adamawastates to other states in theMiddle Belt now being de-stroyed by alleged Fulani mer-cenaries.

Benue State Chairman of the

association, ArchbishopYiman Orkwar made the call,yesterday, while addressingjournalists on the securitysituation in both the state andthe country in general.

He, however, noted that al-though belated, the declara-tion of state of emergency inthe three states was a step inthe right direction.

”From all indications, the

terrorism being witnessed in thecountry is purely in pursuit ofjihad. In Benue State, Fulaniterrorists in collaboration withBoko Haram and other foreignmercenaries are causing wantondestruction of lives and prop-erty.

”To this end, we encouragePresident Goodluck Jonathan toalso order military operationsaimed at dislodging the armedFulani jihadists and their alliesfrom Benue and other MiddleBelt states of the country,” hesaid.

Lamenting the level of killingsand wanton destruction of prop-erty in the six local governmentareas of Benue State by theFulani mercenaries, Orkwarurged the Benue State govern-ment to set up rehabilitationcamps for displaced persons inthe affected communities with-out further delay.

CPC asks NSIEC, to conductby-election in Minna wards

BY WOLE MOSADOMI

MINNA —CONGRESSfor Progressive

Change, CPC, in Niger Statehas called on the state’s Inde-pendent Electoral Commis-sion, NSIEC, to respect a sub-sisting court order compellingit to conduct by-election intotwo wards in Minna, the statecapital.

It said that the High Courtorder was issued over a yearago. The call by the party cameas a contempt of court proceed-ing was being initiated againstthe state NSIEC for allegedlyrefusing to obey the court or-der.

Already, Form 48 from theHigh Court of Niger State wasissued on November 3, 2012against the Chairman of theNSIEC, Alhaji MohammedAbubakar over the issue.

’’Unless you obey the orderof the court forthwith as con-tained in the judgement of this

honourable court command-ing you to conduct Councillorship by-election in Limawa ‘A’ward and Nasarawa ‘B’ ward,you will be guilty of contemptof court and will be liable tobe committed to prison,” theprocesses stated.

JOS—THE Federal Government has commis-

sioned the 40 km Vom-Manchok Road linking theGanawuri community in Pla-teau State with the Manchokcommunity in Kaduna State.

Mike Onolememen, theMinister of Works, who per-formed the commissioningceremony Tuesday, said theroad would boost socio-eco-nomic activities in the hostcommunities and in the coun-try at large.

The 7.3 metres-wide as-phalt concrete carriagewaycuts 21 metres deep througha huge mountain on the Pla-teau axis. The project wasawarded to P. W Nigeria Ltd.on November 15, 1999 whenChief Isaiah Balat was min-ister, with May 15, 2001 setas completion deadline.

A brief on the project,which was submitted to theminister by P. Dieyi, the Fed-eral Controller of Works inPlateau, said the initial dead-line was missed due to some

constraints.It said the constraints in-

cluded the difficult terrain.Mr. Onolememen ex-

pressed delight over thequality of the project, whichhe said was of world stand-ard.

“The project, awardedsince 1999, was stalled dueto a lot of challenges. But,with the coming of Presi-dent Goodluck Jonathan,we were given the march-ing order to bring thisproject to completion."

BY NDAHI MARAMA

MAIDUGURI—THEBorno State govern-

ment is to spend aboutN300 million on the con-struction of the MaiduguriWater Works “C” in theAlamderi area of the state.

The project which is ex-pected to generate sevenmillion litres of water perday would ease the prob-lems of water scarcity inBulumkutu and the envi-rons.

State Commissioner forWater Resources, AlhajiMai Sheriff made thisknown at a ministerialbriefing to mark the secondyear anniversary of Gover-nor Kashim Shettima in of-fice.

He said that work at theWater Works “C” had com-menced in earnest and wasexpected to be completedbefore December, this year.

This came as the govern-ment had also purchasedpipes worth N88 million forroutine repairs and re-placement of broken pipeswithin the metropolis.

According to him, thestaff of the ministry were al-ready laying pipes in thebenefiting communitieseven as drilling of 12boreholes and constructionof reservoir and over headtanks would soon start. Thegovernment said about 130boreholes were beingdrilled across the 27 localgovernment areas of thestate.

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Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 24, 2013—49

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50— Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 24, 2013

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 — 51

London attackers known to Britishsecurity services

TWO British men ofNigerian descent

accused of hacking asoldier to death on aLondon street in revengefor wars in Muslimcountries were known tosecurity services, a sourceclose to the investigationsaid yesterday.

One man, filmed calmlyjustifying the killing as hestood by the body holdinga knife and meat cleaverin bloodied hands, was

named by acquaintancesas 28-year-old LondonerMichael Adebolajo, aBritish-born convert toradical Islam.

So frenzied was theattack, some witnessesthought they were tryingto behead and disembowelthe victim.

The attack, just a monthafter the Boston Marathonbombing and the firstIslamist killing in Britainsince local suicide bombers

killed 52 people in Londonin 2005, revived fears of“lone wolves” who mayhave had no direct contactwith al Qaeda.

British media said policeraided homes of relativesin the city and near thetown of Lincoln. Adebolajoand the other man, whomay have been born abroadand later naturalized asBritish, are both in custodyin hospitals after beingshot by police.

UK police arrest two people

BRITISH policearrested two more

people yesterday in ahunt for accomplices oftwo British men ofNigerian descent accusedof hacking a soldier todeath on a London streetin revenge for wars inMuslim countries.

The two suspected

killers, now under guardin hospitals, had beenknown to securityservices beforeWednesday’s daylightattack, security sourcessaid. Another man and awoman, both aged 29,were detained onsuspicion of conspiracy to

murder.One of the assailants,

filmed calmly justifyingthe killing as he stood bythe body holding a knifeand meat cleaver inbloodied hands, wasnamed by acquaintancesas 28-year-old LondonerMichael Adebolajo - aBritish-born convert toIslam.

So frenzied was theattack, some witnessesthought they were tryingto behead anddisembowel the victim,who was named as a 25-year-old Afghan warveteran working as anarmy recruiter.

The attack, just a monthafter the BostonMarathon bombing andthe first Islamist killing inBritain since local suicidebombers killed 52 peoplein London in 2005,revived fears of “lonewolves” who may havehad no direct contact withal Qaeda.

Adebolajo and the otherman, who may have beenborn abroad and laternaturalized as British,were shot by police at thescene. Officers on thecase raided six homes onyesterday.

UK Muslim communitiesfear backlash

Obama outlines policy of drones

STRAPPING his babyinto a car seat, Abu

Khaled said it wasunfortunate that a Britishsoldier was hacked todeath in an apparentIslamist attack a dayearlier in London, but itwas not the onlymisfortune on his mind.

“A 75-year-old manwas stabbed to deathearlier this month on hisway back from themosque in Birmingham.You didn’t hear aboutthat, did you?” said thebearded 36-year-oldpersonal trainer,speaking near EastLondon Mosque, one ofthe capital’s oldest andlargest.

“Eleven children died

in Afghanistan in a U.S.drone attack about thetime of the Bostonbombings. You didn’thear about that either,did you?” he said.

The overwhelmingreaction from Muslimcommunities to thebrutal killing onWednesday has beenone of horror,compounded by fears ofa backlash.

“These men haveinsulted Allah (God) anddishonored our faith ...There will no doubt be alot of soul-searchingabout why theseindividuals do what theydo,” Farooq Murad,head of the MuslimCouncil of Britain, saidin a news conference.

US President BarackObama is due to

defend hisadministration’s use ofdrone strikes, in a majorspeech on counter-terrorism.

He is expected to offersome transparency overthe strikes, amidreported moves torestrict their scope.

The speech comes aday after the US saidpublicly for the first timethat drones had killedfour US citizens.

In his speech, MrObama will also addresshis aim of closing the US

detention camp atGuantanamo Bay, Cuba.

Last month, the USpresident pledged anew push to transfer theremaining prisonersfrom the facility, sayingit was “contrary to whowe are” and harmful toUS interests.

Administration officialssaid the president woulddiscuss on Thursday“why the use of dronestrikes is necessary,legal and just, whileaddressing the variousissues raised by our useof targeted action”.

The speech at the Na-tional Defense Univer-sity in Washington coin-cides with the signing ofnew “presidential policyguidance” on whendrone strikes can beused, the White Housesaid.

The policy documentsharply curtails theinstances in whichdrones can be used inplaces that are not overtwar zones, such asPakistan, Yemen andSomalia, the New YorkTimes reported.

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Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013—53

Continues on page 54

,

,

AFTER months of ditheringprocrastination members of

the country’s most prestigiousgang, Club of 36 go in for theelection to produce a newcaptain.

Today’s election of chairman ofthe Nigerian Governors Forum,NGF is coming after months ofsubtle campaign for the top jobthat has been laced withintrigues, backstabbing andsometimes open display ofpresidential power.

The NGF formed at the onsetof the country’s democracy in1999 has had five chairmen inthe persons of Alhaji AbdullahiAdamu, (Nasarawa, 1999 2004),Arc. (Obong) Victor Attah, (AkwaIbom State 2004 2006), ChiefLucky Igbinedion, (Edo 20062007), Dr. Abubakar BukolaSaraki, (Kwara 2007 2011) andthe incumbent, Governor RotimiAmaechi of Rivers State.

Today’s showdown is in the

NGF: Moment of TruthNigeria’s 36 governors gather today to choose a chairman to pilot the affairs of their forum for thenext two years. It is the culmination of intrigues that could fracture the frames of the increasinglycontroversial forum.

BY EMMANUEL AZIKEN,POLITICAL EDITOR

eyes of many seen as an egofight between PresidentGoodluck Jonathan and hisloyalists on one side and theincumbent chairman and anumber of his supporters in theforum who are fighting to keepthe body and the power ofgovernors out of the reach of thepresident.

But it didn’t start as an egofight. The bruising fight that hasliterally been taken to Amaechistarted as a matter of money andpolitics before it became almostcompletely overshadowed byego.

Deeper issuesof governance

Under its first three chairmen,Adamu, Attah and Igbinendion,the forum was largely regardedas a chummy club where thegovernors came together to rubminds and relax.

However, under Saraki theforum began to take on deeperissues on governance and project

the self interest of the governorsas a collective and individually.

Saraki’s stewardship: UnderSaraki’s stewardship, the forumhelped the governors to win ashare from the Excess CrudeAccount, money that the previousadministration of PresidentOlusegun Obasanjo had soughtto save for the rainy day.

Politically, they also threwmuscles. It would be recalled thata subset of the body, comprisingessentially of governorsbelonging to the PeoplesDemocratic Party, PDP were atthe forefront in the collaborationwith the cabal in Aso Rock at thetime of the sickness of formerPresident Umaru Yar‘adua.

The governors in the early daysof the last sickness of theimmediate past president gavescant regard to the then vice-president, Dr. GoodluckJonathan and according to someaccounts worked together to seehow they could project one oftheir own as a possiblereplacement for Yar‘adua.

However, fate failed them.Advent of Jonathan

administration and Amaechi asNGF chairman: On the adventof the Jonathan administrationand with Amaechi as chairman,the NGF continued to gaininfluence. The peer reviewmechanism conceived during

Saraki’s chairmanship, became anotable instrument for advancingkey goals of good governanceunder Amaechi.

Among the PDP governors, theNGF chairman also acted asunofficial leader and helped toarticulate the interests of the PDPgovernors.

A case of how the PDPgovernors used their power tobrowbeat other stakeholders wasreflected in how they chased

former PDP national chairman,Dr. Okwesilese Nwodo out ofoffice. Nowdo according to someaccounts had followed Dr.Jonathan during his first officialvisit to the United States andduring that time presented to hima game plan on how he aspresident could checkmate thepower and influence of thegovernors in the party.

Central to Nwodo’s script wasthe e-registration of partymembers, a plan that would alsomake all members of the partyfinancial contributors to the party,and as such, create independentfunding for the party and removeit from the apron strings of thegovernors who largely fund theparty. It was a plan that thepresident reportedly boughthook, line and sinker.

It was no surprise that thepresident fully backed Nwodo -a well known associate of formervice-president Atiku Abubakarwho had left the PDP with Atikufor the Action Congress ofNigeria, ACN - for the positionof national chairman of the PDP.

Use of brainand brawn

The president it was assumedbelieved that Nwodo given hisexperience also as the pioneernational secretary of the PDP wassufficiently equipped to help himnavigate the mines that thegovernors could lay for him. Thepresident heartily launched thee-registration on August 10, 2010.

Few days later, the PDPgovernors rallied round toconvince the president to stop theproject. And in no time, Nwodowas himself clumsily forced outof office.

Saraki’s successor as NGFchairman: Amaechi furtherconsolidated on the use of brainand brawn in the contest of powerwith the president.

Even more significant is the factthat Amaechi has been able toendear himself to his colleaguesand the citizenry with hisremarkable performance in office.The estimated 500 model schools

At the meeting, the northerngovernors are going to decide onhow they would vote, either as abloc or individually

built by Amaechi in Rivers Statethat can compare with anyprimary school in the world, the130 primary healthcare centres,the farm projects among othersare examples of legacy projectsthat Amaechi has executed thatare now being emulated by hiscolleagues. But did theperformance get into thegovernor’s head? Critics say so.

54—Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

Not surprisingly, the governor’s domestic foes includingassociates of his predecessor, Dr. Peter Odili who have notfound space in the present administration have teamed upwith Amaechi’s enemies in Abuja to humiliate him.

Today’s election would largely be a contest betweenAmaechi and the candidate of the presidential villa. As atyesterday, the decision on who would contest against Amaechiwas still being decided between Governor Ibrahim Shemaof Katsina State and Isa Yuguda of Bauchi State.

Amaechi is almost sure of all the votes from most of theSouthwest governors. Governor Kayode Fayemi of Ekiti Statehas been a key strategist in his camp and moved round thecountry with him.

Amaechi until recently was believed to have the backing ofnearly all but one of the South-South governors but withunrelenting pressure from the presidency a couple of them

are now distancing themselves from him.It is as such no surprise that today’s vote would be decided

by what decision is taken at an early morning meeting of theNorthern States Governors Forum, NSGF scheduled to takeplace at the Asokoro, Abuja residence of Governor BabangidaAliyu, the Niger State governor.

At the meeting the northern governors are going to decideon how they would vote, either as a bloc or individually.

But even more will be the key decision on the mode ofvoting. It is generally believed that even some of thosecampaigning against Amaechi could even vote for him in theevent of a secret ballot.

But whatever, it is almost generally agreed that given thekey issue of 2015 and the stakes involved that today’s electioncould end up a deadlock or lead to the emergence of twochairmen of the forum!

NGF: Moment of TruthContinues from page 53

THE failure of governments at all levels

to provide security hasgenerated questions on whatconcerned public officials likepresident, governors, localgovernment chairmen,ministers and others do withtheir security votes?

Indeed it is time to ask thosequestions, but apart fromasking such questions, we alsomust start from the veryconception of security needs asit pertains to our current needs.

Without doubt it is clear fromthe outcome in terms of securitythat much is being done,nevertheless whatever is beingdone has not been sufficient.

INSECURITY:

We must decentralizesecurity now — IginiLAWYER, activist, Mike Igini is the Cross River State ResidentElectoral Commissioner. In this interview, he called for the decentralizationof the policing system in Nigeria as a way of assisting current efforts atfighting insecurity, frowns at illegal appropriation of funds by publicofficials among other issues. Excerpts:

BY CHARLES KUMOLU constitution, don’t you think itis high-time that the practiceis outlawed?

What is unconstitutional isunlawful, I do not subscribe toany form of appropriation thatis not vetted, it may be donebefore or after it has beenapplied depending on itsneed, but it should besusceptible to scrutiny if not bya large group but by at least aspecialized group. The coremotivation of democraticleadership is the necessity tobe accountable to electors orthe representatives of electors.

Governor AdamsOshiomhole has argued forgovernors to have controlover state policecommissioners as a way of

of control.However I must float a

caveat, we have never heard ofa Local governmentchairperson who requireslawful use of a DPO (Divisionalpolice Officer), or of a stategovernor who requires thelawful use of a state policeCommissioner who did not getthe required response due tohis or her authority.

Moreover, the most stridentopposition to the devolution ofpolicing powers hasunfortunately come from thosewho most need the devolution

Policingpowers

My view is that we shoulddevolve and de-concentratepolicing powers on local issuesto give elected people at lowerlevels sufficient leverage onsecurity, allowing states andlocal government to investappropriately in securityinfrastructure according to localneeds, but we cannot dispensewith a national police serviceat our current developmentalstage

How best do you think thepublic anger against theexistence of security votes canbe doused?

Security is expensive, to train,deploy and maintain a singlesecurity personnel is not acheap exercise, let alone adetachment of troops, but to doso must be effective and the

process of doing it should notbe opaque, besides, if you aredoing so to secure people whyshould they not know what itcost and how you haveexpended resources to achieveit?

Nonetheless, to douse publicanger , first expenditure onsecurity should be effective,then the appropriatepersonnel to address securityissues should be used whendealing with securitychallenges; let the securitypersonnel do their part, butwhere you require sociologists,psychologists, judicialexpertise, economic andpolitical decisions, the rightpeople should be brought in,the use of force is only oneaspect of conflict management,if we do not have such aparadigmatic approach wewould find ourselves using amotor saw when what isrequired is a lancet.

Second security is what we dotogether ultimately, and Ibelieve therefore that at theroot of our insecurity is theinability to have a common

understanding of who we areas a people, we are toosuspicious of ourselves andhence we protect the wrongpeople amongst us for thewrong reasons, if we sharecommon values and accept theareas where we have necessarydifferences, it will be easier topick out the deviants who aimto destroy all of us, when wedo that, we can be like theBostonians in the USA who allstood together, locked downtheir state just to pick out a fewpeople who refused to sharetheir common needs forsecurity which fostersprosperity. But ironically,inNigeria at the early stages ofthis Boko Haram insurgency,we saw how the same peoplethat security men were riskingtheir lives to protect hailed andcelebrated the killing ofsecurity men and the bombingof police stations. Could theBoston bombers been killedand the other arrested if thepeople had not co-operated the security services ?

,,

•Igini: Police should be decentralised

We should devolve and de-concentratepolicing powers on local issues to giveelected people at lower levels sufficientleverage on security

Kano State governor, RabiuKwakwanso had last yearstopped the disbursement ofsecurity votes alleging it wasa smokescreen by governorsto divert public funds. Do youagree?

As I said above, much mayhave been done, but as long asthe conditions remain insecureall such efforts will be perceivedas insufficient, because securityis a binary conception. It hasonly two acceptable variables,secure or insecure, there is nomiddle ground.

Unfortunately, Kano does notrank as one of the safest statesthese days, I would have saidthe governor made a very wisedecision, nevertheless it hardlymatters how much is allocatedto security if the outcome isineffective.

The concern of Nigerians hasnot been so much the amountallocated as the opacity of theprocess of utilizing suchallocations effectively.

If you say you want money tobuild five warships to go to warand the soldiers get to the warfront to find only two ships withhalf the troops stranded, yourown soldiers will kill you firstbefore the enemy.

Given that the votes are notprovided for in the

boosting security. Do youagree?

He has made a very importantpoint because the ambit ofcontrol of those who implementsecurity should be reasonablydefined at the different levelsof need, for as the basicprinciples of administrativecontrol suggests, regardingthe span of control of someoneresponsible for a task, such aperson must be directlyresponsible to a single source

TODAY, everybody talks aboutcorruption without any concrete

suggestion as to how this common diseasecould be cured. The general impressionis that every Nigerian is corrupt in oneway or the other. It is like the ailment ofmalaria whose causes are well known, yetNigerians prefer usage of drugs ratherthan the eradication of the causes of thedisease, as an effective solution.

It is true to say that the perilous state inwhich the country is in today is far fromthe glorious one imagined by all Nigeriansand foreign friends alike in 1960. Thesituation has become clearer even after theattainment of independence in 1960 whenwe became our own masters. Thedisappearance of the hated imperialistswhose hatred had cemented our fragileunity, threw us into the deep ocean ofglobal economics and politics. Nigeriansand their leaders got entangled in thecrazy art of survival in a slippery politicalterrain.

Politicalterrain

The post – Independence Nigeriacontinues to shed an interesting scenery– the attempt to marry political stabilitywith economic posterity – in an atmosphereof religious bigotry and ethnic rivalry. Themost famous of the architects of Nigeria’spolitical freedom, Dr. Nnamdi Azikwe,became Nigeria’s President, anotherillustrious leader, Sir Ahmadu Bello wasmurdered during the 1966 coup, and thelast of them; the great “Awo” (ObafemiAwolowo) was indecently imprisoned fortreasonable felony. Thus, the first decadeafter independence saw Nigeria in searchof political stability without the positivecontributions of those who master-mindedthe process of political freedom.

The Civil War of 1967 to 1970 was a costlymistake, in terms of wastage of human andmaterial resources and also, the failure tobury the hatchets of tribalism and cynicism.In spite of the ethos of no winner, no losersengendered after the brutal war in the

The return of democracy in 1999 hasbrought its own moments of joy, especiallyafter wasted years under militarydictatorship, aided willfully by civiliancollaboration. The rising hope of freedomand enjoyment of dividends of democracysuddenly appeared to have put the newleadership under severe strains. Thosewho sang gleefully the melodious stanzathat ‘we prefer freedom with danger toservitude in tranquility’ did not open theirmouths too wide, when religious fanaticsstarted to burn houses of non-muslims insome Northern cities of the country.

Perhaps, those religious and ethnicvampires thought that Nigeria has becomea fertile area for blood game, hence, theappearance of Boko Haram’s murderousgang – throwing bombs, and killingpeople at will, all in the name of God, theMerciful. The Mighty Lord (Allah) whois worshiped by both Christians andMuslims in the country does not approveof human sacrifices. The reign of terrorhas continued unabated until the FederalGovernment appeared awake from itsslumber by declaring the state ofemergency in Borno, Yobe and Adamawastates.

There should be no question on thejustification of the emergency declaration. All peace-loving Nigerians should give

support. The Federal Government in itsmove to protect Nigerians (wherever theylive) from wanton killings and destructionof their properties. Any opposition groupshould tell Nigerians of alternative policyfor the future after terrorism has beenfinally suppressed and peace restored.

It looks as if the problem of politicalinstability over the years has affected thepursuit of economic policy of prosperity.The country is of politicians who care littlefor the common good but more for theirsurvival and individual prosperity. Thepresent mood among the ;parties is theprospect of 2015 – who will be thepresident and from which part of thecountry?

In the early economic development, theSwedes sold their only resources, lumbersoverseas and bought the neededtechnology from the most economicallyadvanced nations. On the contrary,Nigeria’s crude oil is sold to import refinedoil and other products that couldconveniently be produced at home. It is amatter of Leadership and its quality.

Keynes in Oyo State: Many economichistorians will not forget easily thestagnation of the twenties and the thirtiesof the last century – the appallingdepression of 1929 in USA and the chaoticcondition of the thirties in Britain andWestern Europe.

A British economist, John MaynardKeynes, in his book “General Theory” ofEmployment, Interest and Money (1936)revolutionized economic thinking insolving problems of large-scaleunemployment. He advocated injection offunds into the economy through massivepublic works.

Senator Abiola Ajimobi, Oyo StateGovernor is proving to be a good discipleof Keynes in his policy of road constructionand reconstruction projects in his nativeIbadan land and also, in many principaltowns of Oyo State. Congratulations to theAtunluse of Ibadan, and his pretty wife,Florence for the new titles justifiablyconferred on them recently by theOLUBADAN of Ibadan.

1970s, the foul stench, from the graves ofthose who suffered under ‘genocide’ inthe romantic Biafra , continued to foul thefresh air of assumed friendship andcooperation across the Niger. Even ourbeloved novelist and renowned master ofthe English prose, Prof. Chinua Achebecould not but remember that sordid tale ofgenocide of about two million children inhis book, ‘There Was A Country’. There isno doubt that Chief Awolowo (died in1987) and Prof. Achebe (died in 2013)would have by now sorted out theirdifferences, presumably observed in 1951when the late Prof. Achebe watched theinglorious carpet – crossing of legislatorsin the Old Western House of Assembly –through which process Chief Awolowowas assumed to have stolen victory fromDr. Azikiwe.

Today, it is unfortunate that ethnicmisunderstanding (leading to unhealthyrivalry) could be so entrenched by theattitude of those past leaders whosepersonal contradictions on nationalismhave so far failed to impact positively oninter-ethnic relationship required fornation building and national unity. I amsure the art and act of genocide which is aterrible sin would never be allowed to existagain among brothers. If it had happenedin the past, it is most regrettable.

Why we're where we are today07059197616

PAYING tribute to a great manlike Professor Chinualumogu

Achebe is certainly not the kindof race a man runs carrying snuffin his palm. It is a serious task,not for want of great deeds worthmentioning and reflecting on, butfor too many exploits begging formention.

How do you describe a man sohonoured, even among hiskinsmen, that he was conferredwith the chieftaincy title ofUgonabo (double eagle) ofOgidi? Renown for its strengthand glory, Ugo (the eagle) is sucha very rare and highly esteemedbird among Ndigbo. As a title,Ugo is reserved only for theirextremely distinguished sons. Tobe honoured as a “double eagle”goes to show theextraordinariness of the man,Achebe.

How else do you describe acolossus other than also as anIroko? About this special tree,Achebe writes: “You cannot plantgreatness as you plant yams ormaize. Whoever planted an irokotree - the greatest in the forest?You may collect all the iroko seedsin the world, open the soil andput them there. It will be in vain.

Chinualumogu Achebe: A tribute to UgonaboThe great tree chooses where togrow and we find it there...so itis with greatness in men.”

A writer and teacher ofuncommon character andpedigree, he was not only AMan of the People, he was alsothe mouth piece of the weak andoppressed, and invested hisentire life seeking solutions forThe Trouble with Nigeria. Whenthe centre cannot hold as ThingsFall Apart and the falcon can nolonger hears the falconer, Achebestood out as a live force to rallyhis country men and women backto their roots and indeed back tothose socio-cultural values bywhich our fathers lived.

As one of a quartet that includesChristopher Okigbo andProfessor Wole Soyinka, whichstarted and gave the Nigerianliterature character, he equallygave a resonant voice, first toNigerians, and to the entire blackrace. Like most great men,Achebe was a half-human andhaIf-spirit (okara mmadu naokara mmuo), a philosopher, anda prophet. Though through hiscontributions, especially theimports of Things Fall Apart,blacks could understand whatcolonialism was all about, he saw

far beyond the challenges ofcolonialism. Through A Man ofthe People, for instance, he warnsof the dangers of reducingindependence to merelyreplacing White imperialists witha new set of indigenouscolonialists who lord it over themasses and live in vexatiousluxury and opulence at theexpense of the people. ThroughNo Longer at Ease, we could alsosee the damning aftermaths ofcolonialism. When it becameobvious that things were No

Longer at Ease, Achebe openedour eyes through to see TheTrouble with Nigeria and theAnthills of the Savanna.

Achebe saw The Trouble withNigeria as clearly that of a failedpolitical class. More importantly,he proffered the way forward, notjust by written works, but also byan exemplary life that serves asAn Arrow of God that will foreverpierce the consciences of theleaders. Importantly, on theneed for peaceful co-existenceand tolerance, Professor Achebesays: “Let the kite perch and letthe eagle perch too- if one saysno to the other, let his wingbreak”. For fomenters of trouble,he warns that, “A man that makestrouble for others also makestrouble for himself”. But evenmore philosophical are the wordsthat “He who will hold anotherdown in the mud must stay inthe mud to keep him down”.

Achebe’s parting shot, Therewas a Country, is to me more thanjust a book or a personal accountof his pain and those of hisEastern Nigerian kinsmen overthe unfortunate Nigeria-BiafraCivil war. Traditionally, when afather is about to join hisancestors, he assembles his

children for the final blessingsand parting words. To Achebe, itis only a stupid man that has histoenail pulled out by the sametree stump twice. Achebe isobviously pained that thosethings that led to the unfortunatewar among brothers are growingwings and muscles amongst us.From nepotism to politicalarrogance and intolerance,corruption, religious fanaticism,and now an unprecedented waveof senseless killing across theland, Achebe is simply telling hiscountrymen to stand together andsay “Never again”. Yes, neveragain so that whatever consumedthe mound of fufu would not beallowed to empty the soup pot.

I therefore believe that the bestway we can all mourn andimmortalise Achebe is to live hisideals and build such Nigeria hedreamed of- a Nigeria wherepeace and justice reigns.

Goodbye the Iroko and may theAlmighty God give us all,especially your immediate family,Ogidi people and indeed theentire Igboland and Nigeriansthe fortitude to bear your passage.Goodnight, Ugonabo Ogidi, theimmortal name.

BY SEN IKE EKWEREMADU

•Achebe

Senator Ike EkweremaduDeputy President of the Senate& Speaker, ECOWASParliament

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013—55

56 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

BY FAVOUR NNABUGWU

FG approvesnew tarifffor industrialsector

You’ll account for our women, childrensomeday —NEF tell Jonathan

By SONI DANIEL, REGIONALEDITOR,

Says Dokubo is a coward who will flee in event of war

Ebonyi House recalls impeached deputy speaker,member

BY PETER OKUTU

Emodi hails NASS for endorsing state ofemergency

BY HENRY UMORU

Nation’ssecuritychallenges, apassing phase—Papal Nuncio

ABUJA—SPECIAL Adviser to President

Goodluck Jonathan on Na-tional Assembly Matters,Senator Joy Emodi, hashailed the National Assem-bly for the unanimous deci-sion to approve the Presi-dent’s proclamation of a stateof emergency in Adamawa,Borno and Yobe states.

A BUJA—NORTHERNelders yesterday spurned

the benevolence by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan ordering therelease of terror suspects fromprisons across the region, sayinghe would at some point in time bemade to account for the womenand children seized by securityagents based on unverified terror-ism charges.

The northern elders are miffedthat the Federal Government un-der President Jonathan, allowedinnocent women and children,who should be spared even intimes of war, to be taken captiveand incarcerated in dehumanis-ing conditions for many monthswithout trial.

The elders, who spoke to Van-guard yesterday through theirspokesman, Prof Ango Abdulla-hi, notedwith dismay that the administra-tion had allowed innocent wom-en and children to suffer untoldhardship for offences they did notcommit.

Abdullahi said: “Let me tell youthat what the government did byordering the release of suspectedterrorists was borne out of shameand guilt being suffered by it forclamping innocent women andchildren into detention camps orwhat you may call Nigeria’s‘Guantanamo Bay’, which arescattered all over the place.

“We note with delight that at lastcommon sense has prevailed andthe embattled families have re-gained their freedom. But we has-

ABUJA—THE federal government has

given its approval for anew tariff regime that is ex-pected to increase the ca-pacity of local manufactur-ers and boost investmentsacross all industrial sectorsof the nation’s economy.

The Minister of Industry,Trade and Investment, Mr.Olusegun Aganga, dis-closed this during the in-auguration of a 12-membercommittee to work out ap-propriate tariffs to supportthe implementation of thecountry’s industrial policyin Abuja, yesterday.

He said the considera-tion was aimed at reposi-tioning the manufacturingsector and increasing itscontribution to the GrossDomestic Product from itscurrent four per cent to 10per cent over the next fouryears.

The committee, chaired by thePermanent Secretary, FederalMinistry of Industry, Trade andInvestment, Mr. Dauda Kigbu,has as members, President ofthe Manufacturers Associationof Nigeria, Chief Kola Jamodu,Executive Secretaries of the Na-tional Sugar Development Coun-cil, Nigerian Investment Promo-tion Commission and Directors-General of the Standards Organ-isation of Nigeria and NationalAutomotive Council, among oth-ers.

OWERRI—NIGERIANS have been urged

to see the security chal-lenges bedeviling the na-tion now as a passingphase that will eventuallybecome history.

The Titular Archbishop ofSueli and Papal Nuncio tothe Republic of Benin,Most Rev. Dr. Brian Ngo-zi Udaigwe, made the ap-peal while delivering thehomily at a Pontifical SungMass at Saint Joseph’sCatholic Parish, Okpona-kuma, Njaba local councilarea of Imo State.

“The security challengefacing the country now isnot peculiar to the country.Nobody is happy about thehappening but we must allteam up and fight the in-surgency bedeviling ourdear country,” the PapalNuncio pleaded.

ABAKALIKI—EBONYIState House of Assembly

yesterday, recalled its suspend-ed former deputy speaker, Val-entine Okike, representing On-icha West constituency.

Okike was impeached and sus-pended over alleged abuse of of-fice about two months ago.

Also, recalled was another mem-ber, Lillian Igwe, who representsIvo constituency who was sus-pended for her alleged miscon-duct about one year ago.

The offence committed by thefemale lawmaker that led to hersuspension on June 4, 2012, washer alleged excessive drinking,which the House had describedas embarrassing to its dignity.

Presenting its report, chairmanof the five-man adhoc committeewhich investigated the allegedoffences of the female house mem-ber, Mabel Aleke, stated that theaccused, Igwe, was initially un-

ten to add that this governmentmust account for the women andchildren from the North, whothey took into unwarranted de-tention.

“As far as we are concernedthe release of the so-called ter-ror suspects should have beendone long ago as long as thispeople were not tried orcharged.

“To us what the President hasdone is borne out of embarrass-ment the government is suffer-ing at home and abroad over thearbitrary detention of innocentwomen and children. The NEF

took very serious exception to thelatest threat by militant leader,Dokubo Asari to match the opposi-tion bullet by bullet if Jonathan wasnot re-elected in 2015, saying thatit was a threat to national securi-ty.”

In spite of the threat, however,NEF said that while Dokubo didnot have the monopoly of war, itshould be clear to him and hissponsors that the country was big-ger than a militant leader and hiscohorts, who are speaking fromboth sides of their mouth for pecu-niary reasons.

“From the antecedents of Asari

Dokubo, we believe that he ismaking these empty boasts ap-p a r e n t l ybecause of the filthy lucre he isgetting from pipeline contractsand the promise of more. But wecan bet that he would be the firstperson to flee to the creeks if thewar he is threatening breaks out.

“If not that he is being spon-sored by the corridors of powerto make this repulsive threat, thebest would have been to ignoreit as mere ranting of a confusedindividual looking for cheapgains”

willing to show any sign of re-morse for the act as she de-manded evidence before shewould accept the allegations.

The committee added that sheaccepted her misconduct andhad shown sign of remorse inher act of misconduct in the pastand recommended that the

House grant her leniency to ena-ble her join her colleagues in theacts of legislation.

The House adopted the commit-tee’s reports through a motionmoved by Sam Nwali, who repre-sents Ikwo North constituency, andthe motion was seconded by JerryObasi, who represents Ohaozara

West constituency.Following the adoption of the

report, the suspension of the fe-male lawmaker was liftedthrough a motion moved by EniChima, who represents AfikpoSouth West constituency andseconded by OgbonnayaNwifuru of Izzi West constit-uency.

According to her, the senatorsand members of the House ofRepresentatives endorsing thedeclaration have once againdemonstrated that national in-terest must at all times beplaced higher and above parti-san and sectional considera-tions.

In a statement yesterday, Senator Emodi, said: “The spe-cial Adviser, National AssemblyMatters commends the leader-

ship and members of the Na-tional Assembly for adoptinga patriotic position on thedeclaration of state of emer-gency in Adamawa, Bornoand Yobe states by the Presi-dent.

“The action of the NationalAssembly is highly commend-able as the lawmakers haveshown that national interestmust not be abridged on thealter of partisan considera-tions.”

BY CHIDI NKWOPARA

INDUCTION: From left: 1st Vise President, Nigerian Institute of Training and Develop-ment, NITAD, Rev Tunde Salawu; President, NITAD, Dr. Kayode Ogungbuyi; an inductee,Mr. Taiwo Babatunde; Mr. Ola Azeez (guest lecturer); Mrs. Osakuni, Mr. Olumide Falusi,Council member & others at the 11th induction ceremony of NITAD in Lagos.

Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 24, 2013—57

CMYK

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ADISA—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss SoyeyeFunmilayo, later AdisaFunmilayo, now wishto be known andaddressed as Mrs.O k w u m a b u aFunmilayo Joy. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please take note.

OBEBEDUO—We, formerly known and addressed asPeter Odafe Obebeduo, Josephine OghenekevbeObebeduo(Mrs), Elizabeth Ogheneochuko Obebeduo,Joseph Oghenebrume Obebeduo,Deborah OdiriObebeduo, Jeremiah Efeoghene Obebeduo, NaomiOghenerukevwe Obebeduo, Peter Okemute Obebeduoand Paul Onajite Obebeduo, now wish to be known andaddressed as Peter Odafe Oghenovo, JosephineOghenekevbe Oghenovo (Mrs), Elizabeth OgheneochukoOghenovo, Joseph Oghenebrume Oghenovo, DeborahOdiri Oghenovo, Jeremiah Efeoghene Oghenovo, NaomiOghenerukevwe Oghenovo, Peter Okemute Oghenovo,Paul Onajite Oghenovo. . All former documents remainvalid. General public please take note.

L A Z A R U S — I ,formerly known andaddressed as MissCaroline KunketLazarus, now wish tobe known andaddressed as Mrs.Caroline KunketGukop. All formerdocuments remainvalid. First Bank Plc.and the generalpublic please takenote.

58 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguard

CLASSIFIEDOVUAKPORIE —I,formerly known andaddressed asPrecious KesienaOvuakporie, nowwish to be known andaddressed asKesiena Owho-Ovuakporie. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

OKEKE —I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Okeke IfeomaAnn, now wish to beknown and addressedas Mrs. OzigbuIfeoma Ann. Allformer documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

UGWU —I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss UgwuAmuche Racheal,now wish to be knownand addressed asMrs. Enejah RachealAmuche-Kachy. Allformer documentsremain valid. InteriorWoodworks Limited,Abuja and generalpublic please takenote.

FASEYI —I, formerlyknown andaddressed as MissFaseyi Bukola Ruth,now wish to be knownand addressed asMrs. FolarindeBukola Ruth. Allformer documentsremain valid.General publicplease take note.

OLISE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss CynthiaObiageli Olise, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Cynthia O. Braimoh.All former documentsremain valid. Generalpublic please takenote.

EMPERE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss EmpereNatasha Alaere, nowwish to be known andaddressed as Mrs.Sapele NatashaAlaere. All formerdocuments remainvalid. MadonnaUniversity, Okija andgeneral public pleasetake note.

ESALE—I, formerlyknown and addressedas Miss Grace Esale,now wish to be knownand addressed as Mrs.Grace Niger Afedu.All former documentsremain valid. OpoloEpie CentralSecondary School,Senior SecondarySchool Board,Yenagoa and generalpublic please takenote.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013 — 59

Tough group stagegave Dortmundconfidence – Klopp

JÜRGEN Klopp toldUEFA.com the way

his Borussia Dortmundside played in the groupstage was “surprising”and gave him belief theycould achieve somethingspecial this season.

If Borussia Dortmundwin the UEFA Champi-ons League at Wembleyon Saturday, they willcertainly have done itthe hard way.

Having negotiated agroup comprising threeother domestic title win-ners from last season –AFC Ajax, ManchesterCity FC and RealMadrid CF, whom theywould later oust in agripping semi-finalmemorable for Robert Le-wandowski’s four-goalfirst-leg salvo – theSchwarzgelben were nostrangers to drama in theknockout stage.

Yet, for all that his sideprofited from late goals

against FC Shakhtar Do-netsk and Málaga CF inthe last 16 and quarter-finals respectively, not tomention withstanding arousing Madrid come-back at the SantiagoBernabéu, coach JürgenKlopp identifies a 1-1draw on matchday twoas the moment he beganto sense that maybe Dort-mund could achievesomething remarkable.

“The best feelingswe’ve had so far werewhen we made it intothe second round, be-cause it was pretty spe-cial how we managed todo it,” he toldUEFA.com. “The way theteam played in the groupstage was pretty surpris-ing, and the match atManchester City was aneye-opener for us – itshowed we could com-pete with the strongestteams in Europe or evenachieve more againstthem.”

Heynckes:‘I haveneverexperiencedthis’

UEFA issues Wembley ticket warningUEFA has issued a

warning about the un-authorised and unlawfulsale of tickets and hospitali-ty packages ahead of Satur-day’s UEFA ChampionsLeague final at WembleyStadium.

UEFA and the local orga-nising committee of the 2013UEFA Champions Leaguefinal are aware of a numberof companies and websitesoffering tickets and hospital-ity packages to the match,many of which are adver-tised at vastly inflated pric-es.

Please be informed thatany unauthorised offer orsale of tickets to this matchin the UK is a criminal of-fence under British law.UEFA and The Football As-

sociation (FA) are workingwith the authorities to com-bat ticket touting activities inthe lead-up to the UEFAChampions League finaland we will be taking ap-

propriate legal actionagainst ticket touts found tobe breaking UK law and/orthe ticketing.

All official sales channelsare now closed and tickets

as well as hospitality pack-ages are completely sold out.We urge you not to purchasetickets or hospitality packag-es from unauthorised sell-ers.

•Heynckes •Klopp2013 UEFA Champions Leaguefinal. Time: 7:45 p.m.

•Lewandowski

•Mario Gomez

EVEN Jupp Heynckes, 68 and with three

decades of coaching ex-perience behind him,feels this has been an“extraordinary season”for FC Bayern Münchenthat could yet end in atreble.

Even at the age of 68,with more than three de-cades of coaching expe-rience behind him, FCBayern München’s JuppHeynckes is enjoying aseason like never before.

Heynckes, in his thirdstint at Bayern, has al-ready guided them tothe Bundesliga title at acanter. The UEFAChampions League – atrophy Heynckes firstwon with Real MadridCF in 1998 – could fol-low at the expense ofBorussia Dortmund onSaturday, while the Ger-man Cup final againstVfB Stuttgart could com-plete a stunning treble.It would be a sensation-al way for Heynckes toleave his post, with Jo-sep Guardiola alreadyinked in to take over inthe summer.

“I have never experi-enced this, and that’swhy this is an extraordi-nary season,” he said.“We have broken almostall records.

60 — Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

AmoduAmoduAmoduAmoduAmoduContinues from B/P

maiden Confedera-tions Cup appearance inSaudi Arabia in 1995,told BBC Sport: “What’sthe point in winning aWorld Cup dressrehearsal and missingout on the big party nextyear?

“The World Cup is acrucial one for thecountry. For us, it is themost importanttournament.

“The fans and mediaexpect Nigeria to winthe Confederations Cup,but it is less important tothe team and country tobe honest.”

The Super Eagles arelevel on points withMalawi at the top oftheir World Cupqualifying group andface away trips to Kenyaand Namibia nextmonth.

Amodu wants toensure the team isfocused on thosematches.

“There are trickygames ahead in theWorld Cup qualifiersand one slip can easilychange the complexionof the group,” he said.

“Every game now is acup final for them andpeople should stoppiling undue pressureon the team.”

Amodu’s commentsseem to conflict with theview of coach StephenKeshi, who told BBCSport after the NationsCup success in SouthAfrica that playing at theConfederations Cup washis main target.

“While preparing theteam, I had my eyes seton Brazil,” heexplained.

“I was confident wewould get there but myplayers felt I was drunkor acting like acomedian - now theybelieve.”

Amodu wants Keshiand his players, who arethrilled by the prospectof competing againstsome of the world’s bestteams, to put thetournament intoperspective.

“Yes, it is good to testyourselves against someof the best teams in acompetitive level but it isnot a competition toprepare the SuperEagles for betterassessment,” he said.

RooneyContinues from B/P

Adefemi tips Elegbeleyeto succeedBY UDEH UCHE

President ofGymnastics Federationof Nigeria, FolorunshoAdefemi has vowed thatthe new DirectorGeneral of the NationalSports Commission,Hon. GbengaElegbeleye would be ahit for Nigerian sports.‘’He is surely going tobe a success storybecause of his immensewealth of experienceand his passion forsports”, Adefemi said.While congratulating thenew DG, Adefemi tracedhis contributions to hisdays in the HouseCommittee on Sports ofthe House ofRepresentatives. “He isa thorough breed who ishumble andhardworking. He listens

and does his workwithout fear or favour.For a man endowed withthese qualities,Nigerian sports, nodoubt, will be thebeneficiary ”, hard-working Adefemi whosegood works saw himclinch d votes ofGymnatics for anothertenure said. He prayedthat God should giveElegbeleye the wisdom,understanding andgood health toreposition Nigeriansports.

•Elegbeleye

Obuh drops tObuh drops tObuh drops tObuh drops tObuh drops top sop sop sop sop stttttararararars fs fs fs fs for Tor Tor Tor Tor ToulonoulonoulonoulonoulontttttourneourneourneourneourneyyyyyTHE Flying Eagles

have droppedseveral key playersincluding skipperAbduljaleel Ajagun andstriker Umar Aminu fornext week’s ToulonTournament.

Others dropped aregoalkeeper JonahUsman, ChidiOsuchukwu, ChizobaAmaefule, AgboyiOvbokha, Sikiru Alimiand Lucky Omeruo.

Tournament organisershave demanded thatonly 22 players beregistered for the

competition, which isexpected to prepareseveral teams for theU20 World Cup inTurkey.

The Flying Eagleswant to allow fringe andnewly listed playerspress for places in a final21-man squad for theWorld Cup.

The Flying Eagles aremaking their debut atthe famous ToulonTournament and kick offtheir campaign onWednesday, May 29,against defendingchampions Mexico.

Jonathan launches Rhythm‘N’ Play June 6

BY JACOB AJOM

PRESIDENT GoodluckJonathan will on June

6 launch a newgrassroots-oriented sportprogramme code-namedRhythm ‘N’ Play in Abuja.

The Rhythm’N PlayInitiative, a nationalmobilisation forgrassroots sportsdevelopment programmewas conceptualised by theNigeria AcademicalSports Committee,NASCOM, headed bybusinessman and sportsenthusiast, Yemi Idowu.

“There was need toreposition sports in orderto facilitate massparticipation and earlydiscovery of youngsporting talents at thegrassroots. At thePresidential Retreat heldlast year, NASCOM wasidentified as a keycomponent of

government’s efforts atdeveloping sports at thegrassroots and Rhythm‘N’ Play is a brand createdby NASCOM to serve asits flagship campaign todrive and revolutionizegrassroots sports inNigeria,” he said.

The NASCOM bosssaid in Lagos yesterdaythat the programmewould see studentsengage in sports, musicand dance as a way of life.This, he said wouldencourage massparticipation in sports andredirect the energies ofthe Nigerian youth tomore productivepastimes.

“Six major games,including athletics,football, racket games,ball games, Martial Artsand Calisthenics havebeen selected for the pilotprogramme,” Idowu said.

seek to convince theunsettled Englandstriker to leaveManchester United forParc des Princes.

PSG, who are bracedto lose their title-winning manager, CarloAncelotti, to RealMadrid and willconsider Rafael Benítezas a replacement, havesensed an opportunity tosecure the Englandinternational and hope

to pair him up front withSweden’s ZlatanIbrahimovic next season.

The Frenchchampions, who arebacked by the money-flushed QatarInvestment Authority,made their interest insecuring the playerknown last week andhave indicated theywould be prepared tomatch his salary, whichamounts to about£300,000 a week.

Gov’s Cup: losers finalholds in Sapele

THE city of Sapele willtoday have a taste of

the Delta State’sGovernor’s Cup when thethird place match isdecided at 2 pm thisafternoon. At stake will bea 30-seater bus worthN13m and half a millionNaira cash. And to fight forthese prizes will be DomDomingo SecondarySchool who lost to AlegboGrammar School Ugheli inthe semifinal at Oleh and

Edjekota Secondary Schoolwho lost to ComprehensiveSecondary SchoolOgwashi-Uku in anothersemifinal clash at the AgborStadium on Wednesday.

The two matchesattracted good crowd. JayJay Okocha was at theAgbor Stadium to watch hisformer school reach thefinal of the cup which willearn the winners N1M, a30-seater bus and atraining tour of Europe.

Enugu Sports Club honoursAchebe

ENUGU Sports Club willnot be left out in the

celebration of literary iconChinua Achebe who waslaid to rest in his home townOgidi, Anambra Stateyesterday.

Members of the club willtoday pay tribute to the lateAchebe. The popularEnugu FRCN choir willperform at the sports club

Spokesperson of theClub, Prof Chike Anibeze,said that the “The tributesession is in honour of lateChinua Achebe and willhold at the main lounge ofthe club in Enugu,” whilethe choir of Federal RadioCorporation of Nigeria,FRCN, will entertain duringthe event.

18 winners emerge from MTNFootball trials in Enugu, Abuja

THE trials for the MTNFootball Scholar,

‘Season three’ whichkicked off in Enugu overthe weekend and Abuja onMonday, have thrown upsome lucky winners. At theEnugu zone where about750 participants werescreened, 10 youthsselected, while eight werepicked from the Abujatrials.

The Project Head, MTNFootball Scholar, KikelomoAtanda-Owo of PeculiarPeople Management

(PPM), Technical Partnersand Consultants to theproject, said in a chat withthe media, that theparticipants showed muchenthusiasm with many ofthem determined to makethe list.

She said the trials wereheld for two days in bothvenues, explaining thatmany of the more than 200that appeared in the Abujacenter did not possess therequisite basic SeniorSchool Exam Certificaterequired to be screened.

RESTED; Flying Eagles captain, Ajagun

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Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 24, 2013—61

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62— Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 24, 2013

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Vanguard, FRIDAY,MAY 24, 2013—63

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Website: www.vanguardngr.com (ISSN 0794-652X) Editor: MIDENO BAYAGBON. Phone: 01-7742861, All correspondence to P.M.B. 1007, Apapa Lagos.

e-mail: rowolove@yahoo.co.ukHow to Play Sudoku THE VIGILANTE

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

Vanguard, FRIDAY, MAY 24, 2013

YESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Sudoku

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

ACROSS: 2, Adore 7, Char 8, Fright 9, Cleft11, Cob 13, Ram 15, Leap 16, Fat 18, State 19,Ferried 20, Mode 22, Wild 23, Awesome 25,Edge 27, Tap 28, Once 30, Rue 31, Tor 33,Shorn 36, Scheme 37, Easy 38, Theft.

DOWN: 1, Throe 2, Arc 3, Ode 4, Eft 5, Zip6, Wheat 10, Fear 11, Clamber 12, Bandage13, Radiant 14, Meddler 16, Feat 17, Tramp18, Sew 21, Ewe 24, Oath 26, Dunce 29,Corpse 32, Jet 33, Set 34, Ore 35, Net.

ACROSS2 Agile (5)7 Lustre (5)8 Speak (5)10 Proverb (5)12 Manage (3)13 Ascend (5)15 Stretch (7)17 Thoroughfare (6)19 Headgear (3)20 Depreciate (7)23 Fruit (4)25 Pulp (4)26 Assign (7)30 By way of (3)31 Yarn (6)34 Protection (7)37 Recover (5)38 Sicken (3)39 Moral (5)40 Missile (5)41 Annoyed (5)42 Threw (5)

DOWN1 Brief (5)2 Let (5)3 Really (6)4 Vast (4)5 Layer (7)6 Feel (5)9 Barrel (3)11 Spend (7)13 Apart (5)14 Angry (5)16 Friend (3)18 Patio (7)21 Stand (5)22 Suspicious (7)24 Surround (7)27 Can (3)28 Prosper (6)29 Centre (5)32 Ran (5)33 Foreign (5)35 Tree (3)36 Engrave (4)

WWWWWe don’t neede don’t neede don’t neede don’t neede don’t needConfConfConfConfConfed Cup, Amodued Cup, Amodued Cup, Amodued Cup, Amodued Cup, Amoduwwwwwarns Karns Karns Karns Karns Keshieshieshieshieshi

“What’s the point in winning a World Cup dressrehearsal and missing out on the big party next year?''

I-N-S-I-D-E

PSG lure Rooney withpromise to match

United wages

Continues on Page 60

PSG are stepping uptheir attempts to

lure Wayne Rooneyfrom ManchesterUnited

Paris Saint-Germainhave informed WayneRooney ’s represen-tatives that they wouldbe willing to match hiscurrent wages as they

Champions Leagueupdate — P.59

Continues on Page 60

NIGERIA’S technicaldirector Shaibu

Amodu insists that theSuper Eagles’ maintarget should bequalifying for the 2014World Cup, rather thantrying to win nextmonth’s ConfederationsCup.

The AfricanChampions will faceTahiti, Uruguay and

Spain in Brazil in theJune tournament whichdoubles as preparationfor the South Americancountry for the hostingof next year ’s WorldCup.

But Amodu, who wasin charge of the SuperEagles when theyfinished fourth in their

•Keshi•Amodu •Rooney

CMYK