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Vol. 8 No. 66 Monday, June 25, 2012 Shaaban 5, 1433 AH N150. . . putting the people first

>> PAGE 2 >> PAGE 5

Subsidy probe:Firm sues Houseof Reps, Farouk

Lawan>> PAGE 6

Yakowa vowsto restorepeace inKaduna

>> PAGE 2

Okada ban:Jos residents

seekreversal

Bomb scare inABU as Jigawa

withdrawsstudents

I won’t make my assetspublic – Jonathan

From Auwal Ahmad, Gombe

Contd on Page 2

Gunmen attack Damaturu prison, free 40 inmates

Says FG still open to dialogue with Boko Haram

Mohammed Morsi of the Muslim Brotherhood in jubilant mood after he was declared President of Egypt with 51.7percent of run-off votes yesterday, defeating a former Prime Minister, Ahmed Shafik.

Some gunmen suspected tobe members of JamaátuAhlis-Sunna lid Daáwati

wal Jihad, commonly referred

to as Boko Haram stormed aprison in Damaturu, the Yobestate capital yesterday, freeing40 inmates.

During the prison raid, theattackers allegedly threw

explosives on the detentionfacility and shot at prison guardsbefore making their way into thejail.

The Yobe state PoliceCommissioner, Patrick

Egbuniwe confirmed that 40inmates were freed during thejailbreak.

According to the state PoliceCommissioner, “There was anattack on the Yobe prison this

morning. The Boko Haram sectattacked the prison through theEmir’s Palace, 40 inmatesescaped.

“They attacked with rifles;

Contd on Page 2

By Lawrence Olaoye& Josephine Ella

President GoodluckJonathan yesterdayinsisted that he was not

under any obligation to publiclydeclare his assets as doing sowould amount to playing to thegallery.

The President who fieldedquestions during his thirdPresidential Media Chat since hebecame leader of the country inMay, 2010, said:

“The issue of assets declarationis a matter of principle.” Whilemaintaining that he hadnothing to hide by refusing tomake his assets public, Jonathansaid he felt it was not particularlyright to do so as that would makeit compulsory for all public officeholders to do same.

He said insisting on publicdeclaration of assets may scaresome people, especially women,away from taking public officesas they may have to compel theirhusbands to equally declare theirassets.

The President stressed: “Icould be investigated when Ileave office; If I must declare my

CONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSCONTENTSNews 2-11

Editorial 12

Op.Ed 13

Letters 14

Opinion 15

Metro 16-17

Business 19-22

S/Exchange 23

S/Report 24

Newsxtra 26

Education 27

Health 30

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Insecurity: Julius Bergerput operations on hold

in North, Page 19

WE WANTTO HEAR

FROM YOU

International 31-34

Strange World 35

Digest 36

Politics 37-40

Sports 41-47

Columnist 48

PAGE 2 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Contd from Page 1

I won’t make my assets public – JonathanContd from Page 1

Bomb scare in ABU as Jigawa withdraws students

the police and the JTF confrontedthem and the Boko Harammembers that were shot werecarried away by the sect,” hesaid.

Mr. Egbuniwe disclosed thata combined team of the Policeand Army went after theattackers, whom he said werebeing traced to Bundigari andPawari wards of the state capital.

Police sources said thesuspected Boko Haram membersstaged the daring attack on theDamaturu prison on Gashuaroad, around 6.00am yesterday.

Residents reported thatsounds of sporadic gunshotspermeated the area during theincident.

The Joint Task Force (JTF)forces had engaged in a fiercegunfight with the sect early lastweek leading to the capture andexecution of a leading BokoHaram commander, HabibuBama, who was accused ofmasterminding a Christmasday church suicide attack, aswell as the bombings of the UNHouse and the Police Forceheadquarters.

The radical sect confirmedthe death of Habibu Bama onSaturday. “We are happy forHabibu Bama’s martyrdom,”

Boko Haram said of itsmember, who was a formersoldier”, the group said in a briefstatement.

GunmenattackDamaturuprison, free40 inmates

assets publicly, then every publicoffice holders must do same and Idon’t think that’s right.”

According to him, but for LateUmaru Musa Yar’adua’s publicdeclaration of his assets in 2007,he (Jonathan) would not havemake public his own assets whilehe was vice-president.

Commenting on why thegovernment has yet tocommence talks with thedreaded Boko Haram, Jonathansaid inasmuch as thegovernment is prepared todialogue with the group to endthe reign of terror in the land, itwill not discuss with a facelessgroup.

He said he was ignorant of thedemands of the sect, assertingthat: “I don’t know what theirdemands are but I know thatterrorists all over the world wantto destabilize the government.”

According to him, BokoHaram began by attackinggovernment facilities and whendoing such could not bring thegovernment down, it changedtactics and began to attackchurches. The aim of the attackson churches and other worshipcentres, according to him, was tocause disharmony and religiouswar in the country.

While agreeing that certainindividuals, including Dr.Ibrahim Datti Ahmad, haveaccess to the leadership of thegroup, Jonathan disclosed thatthere was no negotiation because

the real insurgents were yet tobe identified.

He however assured that theywould be rehabilitated andreintegrated into the society oncethey come forward fornegotiation.

The President howeverdisclosed that the activities of theBoko Haram would not stopgovernance in the country.

Responding to questions onwhy he chose to travel to Brazilto attend the Earth Summit inRio de Janeiro when the BokoHaram sect attacked churches inZaria, Kaduna, as well as otherareas in Damaturu, with theaccompanying reprisals, killingscores of Nigerians in the process,the President said he had noregrets travelling to the SouthAmerican country.

While explaining that he wasaware of the situation on groundin both Kaduna and Yobe statesbefore he embarked on the trip,Jonathan argued that it wouldhave been an error ininternational politics for him tohalt the trip because of theactivities of some terrorists.

The President said one of thetactics of terrorists was tostrangulate governmentinsisting that Boko Haram wouldhave celebrated victory if he hadsuspended his trip because oftheir activities.

He said halting his trip toBrazil as at the time Kaduna andYobe states were on fire couldhave sent a negative signal to

people especially in the rest of theworld.

Such signal, he insisted, coulddamage the image of the countryas it would mean that the nationwas no longer safe.

“The day the internationalcommunity gets to know thatNigerian President couldn’ttravel because of Boko Haram,then the nation is finished. SoBoko Haram and their sponsorscannot stop Nigeria from movingforward; they cannot bring us toour knees. We sympathize withthe level of damage they havedone, but Nigeria must moveforward”, he said.

Commenting on the recentremoval of the Minister forDefence, Dr Bello HaliruMohammed and the formerNational Security Adviser(NSA), Gen. Andrew OwoeyeAzazi, Jonathan said they weresacked because new hands withdifferent tactics were needed tocombat the nation’s insecurityeven as he acknowledged that theBoko Haram insurgents weredaily modifying their tactics.

On his political ambition for2015, the President repeated hisearlier position that it wasimproper for him to make adeclaration on that now.

He said his priority at themoment was to tackle thesecurity challenges on groundand move the economy ahead.He also cautioned Nigeriansagainst making speculationsabout his political intention come2015.

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

Jigawa and Rivers stategovernments during theweekend withdrew over

80 indigenes of their respectivestates, who are studying in theAhmadu Bello University(ABU), Zaria, over a bombscare in the Kongo Campus ofthe university.

The withdrawal wasapparently due to theworsening security of lives andproperties in the state, whichleft over 70 people dead in thepreceding weekend, followingattacks and reprisal attacksbetween Muslim and Christianyouths in the state.

In reaction to thisdevelopment, the ViceChancellor, AbdullahiMustapha, has alerted thefederal government over thedevelopment, saying that thesuspicious manner with whichthe state governmentswhisked away their students inluxury buses created anxietyand confusion in the entireuniversity community, addingthat some students havestarted fleeing the university.

A statement signed by hismedia consultant, Waziri IsaGwantu, said “four busesbelonging to the Jigawa StateGovernment with armedmobile police escort forced theirway into the Kongo campus of

the university where thestate’s students numbering 50,were whisked away.”

It added that the Rivers stategovernment, also escorted byarmed mobile policemen,illegal evacuated students fromtheir state in a 40 seater bus,regretting that neither of thestate governments consultedthe Kaduna state governor,who is the Chief SecurityOfficer of the state or the

authorities of the Universitybefore evacuating the students.

While calling on the federalgovernment to urgentlyinvestigate the motives behindsuch action, the ViceChancellor stated that ABU ispeaceful and stable, while thestudents wait for lectures tocommence fully due to thecurfew imposed on the state.

He assured parents of the

safety of their children bothwithin and outside theinstitution, saying securityoperatives had been detailed toman both campuses.

Meanwhile, he dismissedthe reported bomb scare in theKongo campus of theUniversity, describing it asbaseless cook-up by mischiefmakers to raise false alarm toscare students.

Okada ban: Jos residents appeal for reversal

Some residents of suburbsof Jos have appealed to thePlateau State

Government to reverse itsdecision on the ban on allmotorcycles from ply somemajor roads in the state.

The residents told the NewsAgency of Nigeria (NAN) in Joson Saturday that they nowfaced transportationdifficulties because of thedecision.

A resident, Mr Yusuf Kieku,said that taxis and tricycleoperators avoided someneighbourhoods even wherethe roads were motorable,adding that the newly-introduced state-sponsoredtransport vehicles wereinadequate.

Mr Jeremiah John, acommuter, told NAN that he

had just walked a kilometrefrom his residence to connectthe only taxi route in the area.

“This has become mynormal routine since the ban,as taxis do not go beyond thisonly tarred road,” he said.

John described the routineas cumbersome.

“My wife also goes throughthis routine daily to take ouronly daughter to school as wecan no longer secure theservices of an Okada rider. ’’

He said that he also owned amotorcycle which has nowbecome useless to him since theban.

Mr Ezekiel Longs, a residentof Rantya, said that he hadbeen assisting some of theresidents with his car to nearbytaxi routes, especially when itrained.

He called on thegovernment to allow themotorcycles ply some areas,particularly the suburbs.

NAN recalls that theCommissioner for Information,Mr Abraham Yiljap, had saidthat the decision was forsecurity reasons.

Yiljap said that thegovernment had provided 500tricycles and 300 mini-cabs totake care of intra-citytransportation. (NAN)

PAGE 3PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Pension scandal: Plot toassassinate Maina uncoveredThe Federal Government at

the weekend allegedlyuncovered plot to

assassinate the Chairman of thePresidential Task Team of onPension Reform, AbdulrasheedMaina, and resolved to beef upsecurity around him.

It was learnt that thegovernment took the decision toprovide maximum security forMaina, who was last week indictedfor complicity in the pensionfraud by the Senate ad-hoccommittee investigating thefraud in the nation’s pensionregime. Following repeatedsignals about plans to kidnap himafter several attempts made todisband his Committee on PensionReform had failed.

The plot to kidnap Maina wassaid to have been leaked to securityagencies by one of thosecontracted to perfect the plan, areason the security operativesconsidered the need to beef upsecurity around Maina.

Some of those indicted of

alleged pilfering of pension fundsand who are currently facingcharges of looting the fund weresaid to have been prime suspectsin the kidnapping plot, althoughthorough investigations are saidto be ongoing on the issue.

When contacted, Mainaconfirmed the kidnap plot but saidhe only woke up to see new set ofsecurity men posted to hisresidence, adding that it was whenhe made phone contacts that hediscovered that the security beef-up around him was notunconnected to the plot to kidnaphim.

The Senate had at the close oflegislative session last weekadopted a Report from its ad hocCommittee on Pension,concluding that the Head ofPension Reform Task Team hadcompromised by mismanagingthe money he had recovered fromgovernment officials whoallegedly looted pension funds inbillions.

The Senate Committee in the

Report therefore, called for probeof Maina by the anti-graftagencies while indicating that itwould issue a warrant of arrest tocompel the appearance Maina incase he delayed in honouring itssummons.

But the House ofRepresentatives has consistentlymaintained that Maina has nocase to answer in the pension scaminsisting that the Presidencyshould rather further empowerhim to continue his reforms in thenation’s pension regime.

The House Committee onPension raised a memo signed byits Chairman, Rep IbrahimKamba, to the Head of Service ofthe Federation titled “Urgent Callon Mr President To Further GiveProtection and Directive to thePresidential Task Team on PensionReform to Continue To Carry OutThorough, Comprehensive/Holistic Pension Reform Across AllMDAs and Parastatals To A LogicalConclusion.”

The House said it had

conducted probes on Pensionfunds and had also made anindependent on-the-spotverification of bio data ofpensioners in the Diaspora, andfound out that “the PresidentialTask Team on Pension Reformshould be the only genuineveritable vehicle for executingreform agenda on Pension Funds.

It said: “In the light ofcorruption in the management ofPension Funds within MDAs andParastatals, the House Committeeon Pensions wishes to call onPresident Jonathan to direct thePresidential Task Team on PensionReform to overhaul and continueto reform all MDAs andParastatals pensionadministration.

“The task team is also to liaisewith the Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) to search, expose andrecover all MDAs and parastatals’pension fund accounts that mightbe trapped, hidden, forgotten andlying dormant in all commercialbanks in Nigeria,” it said.

As Reps disagree with Senate over his indictment

No fewer than 370, 000Nigerians across thecountry are to be offered

employment by the FederalGovernment (FG) soon.

President Goodluck Jonathan,who disclosed this yesterday, atthe Presidential Media Chat heldin Abuja, said 10,000 youthswould be considered from eachstates of the federation.

Fielding questions fromjournalists on the unemployment

situation in the country, he said:“In terms of job creation, we aregoing to provide employment for370,000 Nigerians across thecountry. This will comprise10,000 from each state”.

The President assured that thecriteria for the employment wouldnot be based on “who knows who.”

He noted that agriculture isanother sector that has thecapacity of generatingemployment for Nigerians,especially in the North.

In order to encourage people to

engage in agriculture, Jonathanadded: “We are giving freeimproved cotton seed to farmersin the north, who are farmingcotton and we are going to do thisin all the commodities”.

He expressed optimism thatwith this, poverty would be reducedin time to come.

Jonathan said that theadministration has succeeded inwiping away corruption in the areaof tractor and fertiliser distributionin the new Growth EnhancementScheme of the FG.

By Josephine Ella

FG to provide jobs for 370,000 Nigerians

By Lawrence Olaoye

Reps query MDAs overN21.1bn contingency budget

House of Representativeshas concluded plans toinvestigate several

government ministries, depart-ments and agencies (MDAs) overthe misappropriation of the sum ofN21.1 billion approved for ServiceWide vote from 2003 to 2006.

The Service Wide Vote is amajor component of the annualnational budget earmarked for"Contingencies" and approved bythe National Assembly butwithout specific budget detailssubmitted.

"It is a virtual account. It is afund from which disbursement ismade as need arises", according toJonah Otunla, AccountantGeneral of the Federation, whileresponding to queries raised onfederation account in the auditreport being scrutinized by theHouse Committee on PublicAccount.

The resolution was sequel to thediscovery of misappropriation ofN21,103,363,588.92 allocatedfor execution of capital projects by22 ministries, departments andagencies (MDAs) within the periodunder review.

From the amount,N6,049,128,835.86 was over spentby Federal Ministry of Police Affairs/Nigeria Police; N2,053,171,980.91by Federal Ministry of Housing andUrban Development;N1,961,406,158.40 overspent byFederal Capital Territory (FCT);N1,346,905,995.44 by FCT HighCourt of Justice;N1,469,692,118.93 by FederalMinistry of Information andOrientation; N1,082,381,868.81

by Federal Character Commission;N1,194,243,862.86 by Nationaljudicial Council (NJC);N819,779,118.77 by FederalMinistry of Industry;N701,919,615.84 by House ofRepresentatives andN437,165,846.73 by NationalAssembly office among others.

Solomon Adeola, chairmanHouse Committee on PublicAccounts and other lawmakersduring the interactive session withJonah Otunla, AccountantGeneral of the Federation,representatives of the AuditorGeneral for the Federation andsome of the MDAs, expressedconcerns over the recurring casesof extra-budgetary spendings.

To this extent, the Committeedirected Accountant General of thefederation to submit details of howService Wide Vote for the periodunder review were expended andpurposes for which the fund wasspent.

He disclosed that themisappropriated funds werediscovered by the Auditor Generalof the Federation during thecomputation of the reportsubmitted by the officeAccountant General.

By Lawrence Olaoye

Tambuwalcondemnsviolence,pleads fortolerance

Speaker of the House ofRepresentatives, HonAminu Waziri Tambuwal,

yesterday condemned theviolence that has gripped differentparts of the North, andadmonished adherents of all faithsin the urged country to respect oneanother and work towardsbuilding bridge of understandingamong the people.

Speaking when he addressedworshippers and other well wishersat the St. Cyprian's AnglicanChurch, Koroma, Tai LocalGovernment Areas of Rivers State,Tambuwal said variouscommunities in the country havelived together in peace for ages, andas such no one should seek toundermine that peace andharmony being enjoyed.

He was in Rivers to witness thethanksgiving ceremony organisedby Rep B life and places of worship,adding that Prophet Muhammadplaces high premium on respect forchurches and monasteries duringhis life time and has enjoined hisfollowers to do same.

According to him, in theoryand orientation, Islam andChristianity are not antagonisticto each other.

"In Damascus, I saw the tombof John the Baptist inside a mosque.Few metres away from there, liesthe grave of the grandson of ourholy prophet Muhammad (SAW).I think we have a lot to learn fromthat," the Speaker added.

L-R: Managing Director, BICS/NIIT, Mr. Martin Wallace, Chairman, BICS/NIIT, Mr. Shaka Momoh, andHead of Media, Federal Civil Service Commission, Mrs. Olubunmi Badejo, during the opening ceremonyof ICT training for staff of Federal Civil Service Commission and Office of the Head of Service of theFederation, at the weekend in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012PAGE 4

KatsinaAssemblyloses member

The death has occurred of amember of the Katsinastate House of Assembly,

representing Dutsi localgovernment, Alhaji Tasi’uSuleiman Yamel.

Yamel, 59, died in Kano, inthe early hours of yesterday,after a protracted illness.

The deceased was a formerhead of health of Dutsi localgovernment and a two timechairman of the localgovernment, before his electioninto the state house of assemblyin 2011.

The late lawmaker leftbehind four wives, 34 children.

He had been buried in hisvillage, Yamel in accordancewith Islamic rites.

Those who attended theburial include the state deputygovernor, Alhaji AbdullahiGarba Faskari, and somemembers of the assembly.

Boko Haram: OPCready to protect Kwara

of Boko Haram sect.“We are preparing for them.

We are not praying for them toattack us in Kwara state or anyYoruba land, but we know thatthis group is a threat. Therefore,we are not leaving any stoneunturned.

“The separation of Nigeriamay be possible because anydisease that did not leave a

patient, such sickness could killthe person. Americans havepredicted that Nigeria will break-up in the year 2015 and BokoHaram is confirming that byraining bombs in the country.

On the possibilities ofassisting President GoodluckJonathan to fight the sect,Comrade Adbulsalam, said thatthe presidency knows the

amount it budgeted for securityagencies in the country,stressing that the majorobjective of OPC was mainly toprotect the Yoruba people.

“We did not collect anymoney from security votes; theyknow those that are collecting thehuge sum. But if Presidentinvites us, we shall do somethingbecause our national leadershave spoken on this issue before.”

The leader of the group in thestate however disclosed thatthey have already discoverednew scientific ways of dealingwith bomb blast, saying that theidea will be experimented at theright time.

From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

Mantu, Gana decry spate of insecurity

Former Deputy SenatePresident, Ibrahim Mantuand former Minister of

Information, Professor JerryGana, have both expressedworry over the wave of bombblasts in the country.

The duo gave this indicationin separate interviews withjournalists in Lamurde councilarea of Adamawa state over theweekend, where they paid theirlast respect to former NLCPresident Comrade PaschalMyeleri Bafyau.

Senator Mantu said the uglyhappenings has never beenexperienced in recent timesstressing that the currentsecurity challenges have defiedhuman understanding,describing it as most unfortunate.

“After the Abdulmutallabissue when the US blacklisted usas a terrorist nation, weprotested because we felt we had

no business with terrorism, littledid we know that we are going tobecome worse than mostcountries that have witnessed it;even in Iraq and Afghanistan,they have not witnessed 200explosions in one day as wewitnessed in Kano. So today, wehave actually joined the leagueof terrorist nations.”

Speaking further, Mantubemoaned the menace of BokoHaram in the North, spate ofkidnapping in the South Southas well as armed robbery in otherparts of the country, adding that“there’s no peace anywhere,Nigeria is absolutely under siegeby insecurity and I think it hasdefied human understanding.Our country is sick and we areall guilty. We need to searchourselves and change our waysof doing things.”

He however exudedconfidence that after involvingin deep and sincere spiritualcleansing through fasting and

praying by Nigerians theAlmighty will provide answerand restore peace in Nigeria.

“What we have to do is to godown on our knees and pray toGod almighty to intervene inthis matter, something has gonewrong and we all need to be bornagain. We all need to go on ourknees pray for his forgiveness; tome I believe God is angry withNigeria. What is happening isbeyond any humanunderstanding.” Mantu said.

On his part, Prof Gana,attributed the securitychallenge being faced toimpunity, as according to him,“impunity is what is destroyingus. In Nigeria, people do certainthings and get away with it. Wemust not allow that.”

He therefore urged PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to be firmand courageous to ensure thatsolutions proffered areimplemented effectively with nosacred cows.

Suspected vandal, Abubakar Mohammed being arrested by security operatives, on Saturday at KafinTafawa, in Bauchi local government area of Bauchi state. Photo: NAN

National Drug LawEnforcement Agency(NDLEA), Bauchi

command, has explained thereasons for keeping a servingcouncilor and one other suspectarrested with cannabis threeweeks ago in its custody.

The state Commander of theNDLEA Mr. Julius Bawa Parah,disclosed this to newsmen inBauchi at the weekend, sayingthat the agency had within 24hours of the suspects arrest madepreliminary investigations andfiled charges against them beforethe Bauchi Federal High Court.

“What we normally do hereis, the moment we make anarrest, in less than 24 hours, wecarry out preliminaryinvestigation, you know theconstitution of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria gives us only24 hours to keep somebody”, hesaid.

He added that once the suspectis identified and the quantity ofthe drugs, a charge wouldimmediately be filed against himat the Federal High Court.

“What obtains now, it is thecourt that will ask us to producethe person that we file a chargeagainst and up to now he is stillin custody, the court has not askus to produce him yet”, Parahstated.

According to him, “We havefinished our investigations, weare only waiting for the court toask us to produce him, and wecannot on our own carry him tothe court”.

The Kwara state Chapter ofOdua Peoples Congress(OPC) at the weekend,

declared its readiness to protectthe people of the state frompossible attack from theaggrieved ‘Boko Haram’ sect,noting that with its over 19,000members, the sect should nottake the state and the Yorubapeople for a ride.

Our correspondent gatheredthat the Congress had orderedall its branches across the 16local government areas toextend their tentacle across thelength and breadth of the state.

At the state meeting heldpenultimate Saturday, PeoplesDaily gathered that all the 16local government leaders of thegroup were mandated to recruityouths within their domain andalways prepare for emergency.

Speaking in an interviewwith newsmen, the Coordinatorof the OPC in Kwara state,Comrade Moruf Abdulsalam,said their preparation was notmeant to protect the people ofthe state alone, but to ensurethat all the innocent souls werenot wasted through the hands

From Blessing Tunoh, Yola

From Lawal Sa’idu Funtua, Katsina

Why we keepsuspects inour custodyfor weeks–– NDLEAFrom Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

A middle-aged man, whoclimbed an MTN mast inorder to steal properties of

the communication company,found himself stuck and could notclimb down.

Our correspondent gatheredthat the middle-aged man,identified as Babangida Bangis,a residents of Bayaracommunity, a suburb of Bauchimetropolis has climbed up a MastBelonging to MTN to steal someproperties of the communicationcompany, but was unable tocome down from the mastbecause of the distance.

Sources said the suspect,Babangida Bangis, 30, had in theearly hours of the morningclimbed up the MTN mast to stealtheir properties but luck run outof him and hook up on the tallmast.

He said the incident attractedthe attention of residents of thecommunity, motorists andpasser-by, who swiftly moved tothe mast that was located a fewmetre away from the Bauchi-Dass road, along Tafawa BalewaRoad.

It was also gathered that ittook the efforts of two policemenwho climbed up the mast, wherethe suspect was stucked topersuade him to come down.

The Bauchi state Police PublicRelations Officer, AbdullahiAbubakar who confirmed theincident to news men in atelephone interview said thesuspect has been arrested andcharged to court.

Man stuckon MTN mastFrom Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

PAGE 5PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

An oil marketing firm,Integrated Oil and GasLimited, has instituted a

suit against the House ofRepresentatives and the Hon.Farouk Lawan-led Ad-hocCommittee on the Subsidy Regimebefore a Federal High Court inAbuja.

Joined as defendants in the suitare the Attorney General of theFederation, the Economic andFinancial Crimes Commission(EFCC), Independent CorruptPractices and Other RelatedOffences Commission (ICPC) andthe Inspector General of Police.

The oil marketing firm in itsaffidavit in support of theoriginating summons argued that,

when the committee was set up, itwrote its managing director tomake detailed presentation on itsactivities as they affect theimportation and distribution ofpetroleum products which hehonoured.

The firm argued that while themanaging director was makingthe presentation, the issue ofimpropriety was not leveledagainst it nor was any impressionor indication given that there wasany discrepancy.

It also expressed itsdissatisfaction over resolve by thecommittee on alleged improprietyand that it should refundN13.2billion.

The firm, however, want thecourt to determine whetherhaving regard to the provision of

From Francis Iwuchukwu, Lagos Section 6(1) and (6)(b) of the1999 Constitution as amended, itwas competent for them in theexercise of their powers underSection 88(1)(a and b) (I and ii) ofthe constitution to take a decisionor adjudge that petroleumproducts in respect of which itreceived subsidy refunds in thesum N13.2billion from theFederal Government is notsustainable and therefore not goodenough to attract any subsidypayment.

In the suit filed on its behalf byTayo Oyetibo (SAN), the firm alsowant the court to determinewhether it was lawful for any ofthe defendants to act or take anyaction or step against it or any ofits officers, in respect of any matterrelating to or arising from the

committees report as adopted orapproved by the House in itsresolution passed on April 25, 2012as it affects it.

It prayed the court to make adeclaration that by virtue ofSection 6(1) and (6)(b) of the1999 Constitution, the resolutionof the House by adopting thesubsidy report, particularly as itconcerns it, is ultra vires andconsequently unconstitutional,null and void.

The firm also wants the courtto make a declaration that by therules of natural justice and Section36(1) of the 1999 Constitution, theHouse and the committee werebound to make available to it,detailed particulars of theallegations concerning theimportation, distribution and

Subsidy probe: Oil firm suesHouse of Reps, Farouk Lawan

consumption of petroleumproducts and the payment ofsubsidy from 2006 to 2011.

The firm further wants thecourt to declare that the resolutionof the House approving the reportof the committee that it shouldN13.2billion is contrary to therules of natural justice and section36 of the Constitution andtherefore illegal, null and void.

It further urged the court todeclare that the AGF, EFCC, ICPCand IG are not entitled in law to actor take any step on account of thereport by the House andcommittee.

It wants the court to restrainthe defendants and their agentsfrom taking any action or stepagainst it and its officers based onthe report.

R-L: Yobe state Governor, Malam Ibrahim Gaidam, in a handshake with DIG Atiku Kafur, during thelatter’s visit the governor, recently in Damaturu, the state capital.

The National Association ofNigerian Students (NANS)has said if President

Goodluck Jonathan is ready to endthe Boko Haram menace and othersecurity challenges in the country,he must give more people the boot.

Reacting to the recent sack ofthe National Security Adviser(NSA) and the Minister of Defence,Bello Haliru Mohammed, NANSin a statement issued by its VicePresident (External Affairs),Comrade Aremo Gbenga-Oyebode, said “Other securitychiefs like those two failed thenation and they must be sacked.”

Gbenga-Oyebode particularlycalled for the sacking of the Ministerof Police Affairs, Navy Capt. CalebOlubolade (rtd), and said the

nation's security apparatus,especially the intelligencegathering departments need totaloverhauling and the most affectedis the police.

"If Bello Haliru Mohammed,whose Ministry is in charge ofexternal security of the countrycould be sacked because ofinternal security problems in thecountry, President Jonathanneeds to explain why he is stillkeeping Olubolade, whoseMinistry should be the oneresponsible for tackling the BokoHaram menace,” he said.

"Mr. President must thereforelive above sectional and man-know-man politics by weeding hisgovernment of grosslyincompetent people, becauseNigerians are begining to getimpatient with him," NANS said.

From Ayodele Samuel, Lagos

Following the bomb threatson places of worship andinstitutions in the state, the

trio of Plateau state PoliceCommissioner, Mr. DiipoEmmanuel Ayeni, Commander ofAnti-Terrorist Squand, DSP ObedAli Masoyi and Commissioner forInformation, Yiljab Abrahamyesterday visited worship centrestargeted for the purported attack.

Some of the churches visitedinclude Saint Finbars CatholicChurch Rayfield, the Church ofChrist In Nations COCIN Rayfieldamong many others.

Peoples Daily observed therewas a heavy security presencewithin the state’s capital withincreased number of check points,while several anti bomb squadunit were seen patrolling Jos andBukuru metropolis.

Our correspondent alsoobserved that while manyworshipers could not worship attheir usual centers, others chose to

worship in nearby churches dueto announcement of bomb threaton places of worship by the statePolice Commissioner.

A resident of Jos, Mr. Lemshak,who said he had to stay at homeand worship for the fear of possibleattack by Boko Haram sect,however called on federalgovernment to do everythingpossible to ensure the safety of allNigerians.

Meanwhile, the statecommissioner for Information, Mr.Yiljab said the state government isproposing a bill that would make itmandatory for all places of worshipto comply with the securitymeasures that all places of worshipmust attained for the safety of theirplaces of worship and members.

He urged citizens to be securityconscious and report anysuspicious movements or strangefaces in their midst to securityagents for prompt action, addingthat “the security personnel needsinformation from members of thepublic to get rid of the terrorists.”

From Nankpah Bwakan, Jos

Plateau moves to boostsecurity at churches, mosques

Boko Haram: Jonathan mustsack more people, says NANS Improved police welfare will stem

insecurity — Gaidam

Yobe State Governor, MalamIbrahim Gaidam has saidthe federal government

must do more in terms of welfareand wellbeing of police officers andmen to ensure they effectivelystand up to the security challengesthat the nation faces.

“In the course of their duties,as we have observed, the police isseriously handicapped in the areasof logistics, training and welfare.Perhaps this explains why it hasbeen difficult to do away with someof the unwholesome practices aAtcheck points as the morale of police

personnel is at its lowest ebb”,Gaidam said.

Speaking yesterday, at theGovernment House Damaturuwhen he receives the DeputyInspector General of Police (DIG) ‘F’Department, Mr. Atiku YusufKafur, who paid a courtesy on him,the Governor, advocated for aspecial welfare package for policeofficers and men ‘in the event ofdeath, injury or accident in thecourse of discharging their lawfulresponsibilities’.

Kafur was on a visit toDamaturu to undertake an on-the-spot assessment of the town,following last Monday’s encounter

between members of the BokoHaram sect and securitypersonnel.

He said this will equip officersand men with a frame of mind ofconfidence and trust which willmake them to go to the limits oftheir abilities knowing that theGovernment ‘is there for them’.

Gaidam said, on its part, theYobe State Government is doing alot to support the police and othersecurity agencies with the provisionof 180 four-wheel drive jeeps andover N40 million monthly in rationcash allowance (RCA).

The DIG ‘F’ Department, on hispart, commended Gaidam forbeing of the ‘foremost StateGovernors’ in providing support tosecurity agencies.

By Umar Mohammed Puma

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012PAGE 6

L-R: Niger state Deputy Governor, Hon. Ahmed Musa Ibeto, the state governor, Dr. Mu'azu BabangidaAliyu, and Etsu Nupe, Alhaji Yahaya Abubakar, in a chat during the 4th NUPE Day Lecture, on Saturday,at the Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University Lapai.

From Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

The National Agency forFood and DrugAdministration and

Control, NAFDAC, is to prescribelife imprisonment for dealers infake and counterfeit drugs.

NAFDAC Director-GeneralDr. Paul Orhii who disclosed thisin Makurdi at the weekend saidthe proposed bill which is to bepresented to the NationalAssembly soon will also prescribefor the confiscation of property

NAFDAC proposes life sentence for fake drug dealersof offenders well as other fines.

Orhii lamented that themanufacture, sale anddistribution of fake drugs hasbecome a global phenomena andas such requires proactivemeasures to stem the tide.

"As an individual, I wouldhave recommended deathpenalty for offenders as is the casein China because the producersof counterfeit drugs are worstthan armed robbers, aside takingthe money of their victims, theyalso ensure their death. But

human right groups argue thatdeath penalty was no moreacceptable in civilized societies".

"But the fact is that the fakedrugs phenomenon is taking adangerous dimensionworldwide. With the intensifiedwar against the dealers innarcotics, most of them havenow diverted into the productionand distribution of counterfeitdrugs. Only recently, findingsrevealed that over 200billiondollars is expended annually inthe production of fake drugs the

worldwide", Orhii said.He also regretted that Africa

and other underdevelopedregions of the world are thedestination of these fake andcounterfeit drugs, noting thatNigeria is gradually winning thewar against the phenomenonwith the percentage of fake drugsin circulation in the countrydropping to a single digit level,assuring further that in future,the country would be free fromthe incidents of counterfeitdrugs

Yakowa vows to restorepeace in KadunaGovernor Patrick Ibrahim

Yakowa of Kaduna statehas promised that his

administration would continueto work with all stakeholders toensure that peace andnormalcy returns to the stateand indeed Nigeria.

Yakowa further stated thatsuch stakeholders include VicePresident Namadi Sambo,who as a former governor of thestate and understands thechallenges of governing the state.

Yakowa, who stated this in astatement signed by his ExternalMedia consultant Mr.Emmanuel Ado, commended therole Sambo played in ensuringthat security was beefed up inKaduna state.

According to Ado, "GovernorYakowa does not and would neverbe convinced that the Vicepresident would be part of anyplot to declare a state ofemergency in Kaduna state,because a state of emergency inthe state would serve no purpose,but rather worsen the issuesfacing the state."

The governor further saidthat the security challengespresently facing the state is notlocal, but national in natureadding that the challenge facinghis administration is therebuilding of trust amongst thediverse people of the state.

"The events of the last fewdays have shown the futility of

retaliatory attacks. Retaliatoryattacks would only worsen thesituation. And we will be playinginto the hands of those who do notmean well for Nigeria," Yakowasaid.

Meanwhile Governor PatrickYakowa had yesterday met with

Christian and Muslim leaders todiscuss the protracted crisis in thestate.

Yakowa, who met with thereligious leaders shortly after asimilar meeting with politicalstakeholders, told the religiousleaders that he met with

politicians and agreed toreintroduce the moribund strikeforce to deal with youthrestiveness.

He urged the leaders todeliberate on how to tackleethno-religious and politicalconflicts among the people.

My focus is to restore peace in Bornonot defection to PDP, says Shettima

Borno state governor, Alh.Kashim Shettimayesterday dismissed

insinuations that he is defecting tothe Peoples Democratic Party,PDP), and said that the major taskbefore him is to assiduously worktowards the restoration of peace,security and stability in Borno.

A statement issued by thegovernor's Special Adviser onCommunications, Isa Umar

Gusau, said, "Our attention hasbeen drawn to a story in one ofthe national papers (not Peoplesdaily), that the Borno Stategovernor, Hon. KashimShettima was defecting to thePeoples Democratic Party, PDP.And the

only foundation for the storyas the reporter admitted, wasthe fact that the governor ofSokoto, Magtakarda Wammako,and Kano state's deputy governor,Dr. Umar Gunduje, both PDPleaders, visited Maiduguri a few

days ago."The fact of the matter is that

the Sokoto state governor, chairsthe Northern Governors sub-committee on security, acommittee, the Borno governorand that of Kano are members.The meeting was therefore to lookat what they would be presentingto the forum in no distant time.

"More surprising was that thereporter did not even take intoconsideration the current mood inthe state in particular, and theNorth in general. To contemplate

Bomb explosionhits popularAbuja nightclub, destroys 5luxury cars

The Federal Government hasbeen urged to punish thosefound guilty of corruption.

Mothers Union/Women's Guild ofthe Cathedral Church of the Advent(Anglican Communion), made the callin a communiqué issued in Abuja onSunday.

The communiqué, signed by MrsGrace Oluwarohunbi, the VicePresident of the guild, was issued at theend of its first Archdeaconry Women'sconference.

It decried the level of corruption inthe country, saying it was militatingagainst meaningful development.

According to the communiqué, thewomen observed that the incessantbombing in the country, particularlyof churches, negates the constitutionalprovision for freedom of worship.

This, it stated, had causedChristians to be afraid to go to church toworship God.

The communiqué urged theFederal Government to identify andbring to justice sponsors of the group,saying the killings had turned manywomen to premature widows andchildren to orphans.

It reminded women that they helda special place in God's heart and soshould use their God-given virtues tohonour Him.

It urged women to be alive to theirresponsibilities at home, church andthe society at large and serve as goodrole models to their children.

The conference featured healthtalks on Lassa fever and ageing as wellas a seminar entitled `Christian womanin the home'. (NAN)

Womenadvocatepunishment forcorrupt officials

Five luxury cars were lastweekend destroyed duringbomb explosion that rocked

the vicinity of a popular Abujanight club, Crystal Lounge, locatedon Aminu Kano Crescent, Wuse IIin Abuja.

Though unconfirmed,eyewitnesses account said a manentered a crowded food courtyard,planted the explosives and then ranaway.

But, a statement issued by headof press and public relations of theNational Emergency ManagementAgency (NEMA) noted that, "theexplosion occurred at about11:30pm on Friday."

It further stated: "No humancasualty; six luxury vehiclesdamaged, window glasses ofbuildings around the vicinityshattered by the blast. Theexplosive was suspected to beplanted on a tree opposite the CrystalLounge.'

Meanwhile, FCT PoliceCommissioner, Aderele Shinaba,who confirmed to journalists theexplosion, said the bomb was thrownfrom a moving vehicle by a mandriving on the opposite lane close toEtisalat office.

By Mohammed Kandi

politics at this time is to insultthe sensibilities of the people of

the state who have lostbreadwinners, relatives andfriends owing to securitychallenges in the state and someparts of the country.

"For the avoidance of doubt,the major task before GovernorShettima is to assiduously worktowards the restoration of peace,security and stability in Borno andto pave way for the reconstructionof the state as he is already doing",the statement added.

From Mustapha Isah Kwaru,Maiduguri

By Lawal S. Sanusi

PAGE 7PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Salami: Lawyerwants suit againstreinstatement dropped

L-R: Representative of wife of Plateau state governor, Mrs Maureen Longjang, presenting a souvenir toNational President of NAWOJ, Asabe Baba Nahaya, who visited the first lady, Mrs Talatu Jang, recentlyin Jos. Photo: NAN

PDP, ACN blame each other overattacks on Unongo, Shaahu residencesFrom Uche Nnorom, Makurdi

The Peoples’ DemocraticParty, PDP and the mainopposition party in Benue

State the Action Congress ofNigeria ACN, were at eachother’s jugular at the weekendover the recent attacks on theresidence of two elderstatesmen, Wantaregh PaulUnongo and Chief IsaacShaahu.

While Unongo, a formerminister of the FederalRepublic and two timegovernorship candidate of theAll Nigeria Peoples’ Party,ANPP resident in Makurdi wasset ablaze by unknown persons,Chief Shaahu also a formerminister’s home in Gboko wassaid to have been attacked bypersons alleged to be PDP thugs.

State Chairman of the CAN,

Comrade Abba Yaro, whofrowned at both incidences,described it as ‘unfortunate’ andblamed both attacks on the PDP.

Comrade Yaro wonderedwhat could have prompted theseattacks at a time when the PDPhave won their cases at theSupreme Court, questioningfurther “what has these two elderstatesmen done to deserve theseattacks on their residence. Thereis no smoke without fire. Thisportends bad omen for 2015elections”.

On his part, the PDPspokesman Mr. Godwin Ayiheout rightly denied allegationthat his party masterminded theattacks on Unongo and Shaahu,maintaining that it is an attemptby the ACN to paint the party inbad light.

However, when contactedPolice spokesman ASP EjikeAlaribe said no arrest has beenmade in the case of Unongo justas he claimed not to have fullybriefed on the burgle of ChiefShaahu’s house.

Transformation Agenda, anational project - JonathanBy Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

A lawyer, Wilfred Okoli,who told a federal highcourt, Abuja last week

that the suit seeking to stopPresident Goodluck Jonathanfrom reinstating the suspendedPresident of the Court of Appeal,Justice Isa Ayo Salami was filedwithout his consent as Plaintiffhas formally applied to theCourt to discontinue the suit.

In the notice ofdiscontinuance filed on Fridayand signed by the lawyer, statedtwo grounds for seeking to“discontinue the suit against allthe Defendants”.

The Defendants are theNational Judicial Council(NJC), Justice Salami, theAttorney General of theFederation and PresidentJonathan.

Ogle stated that, “I neithergave consent, nor authorisedthat the suit be instituted in thefirst instance. I did not briefanybody whatsoever tocommence the suit on mybehalf”.

“I do not have any cause ofaction against any of theDefendants”, he added.

On Tuesday last week, Okoli,had told the presiding Judge,Justice Abdul Kafarati that hewas not aware of the suit filedin his name by, Mr. AmobiNzelu.

Okoli is a lawyer working inthe chambers of Nzelu.

On May 10, 2012N the NJCafter its meeting in Abuja,recommended the

reinstatement of JusticeSalami.

Nzelu, in the suit filed onbehalf of Okoli asked the courtto stop Jonathan from acting onthe recommendation of theNJC, but Okoli told the courtthat he was not aware of the suit.

Amazed by thedevelopment, Justice Kafaratiasked the purported Plaintiffand his principal to go and sortout their differences.

The court also asked Amobito serve the second defendant(Salami) before the next sittingof September 25, 2012.

The plaintiff is asking thecourt to hold that NJC can notdeliberate on an issue which isa subject of litigation.

He wants, “A declarationthat the 4th Defendant’s right toact or not to act upon anyrecommendation made to him bythe 1st Defendant is uninhibited.

“A declaration that it is onlya court of law duly created by the1999 Constitution of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria (AsAmended) that has the power tohear and determine mattersbetween parties.

“A declaration that judicialpowers are vested in the courtsby virtue of section 6 of the 1999Constitution of the FederalRepublic of Nigeria (AsAmended).

“An injunction restrainingthe 4th Defendant (Jonathan)whether by himself, agents,servants, assigns, privies, orwhosoever purports to act on hisbehalf from acting on therecommendation”.

By Sunday Ejike Benjamin

Air Nigeria has announcedthat the scheduled Lagos -London - Lagos flight

operation is not affected by the

temporary suspension directive ofthe Nigerian Civil AviationAuthority (NCAA).

According to a press statementissued by the airline’smanagement at the weekend,

passengers are thereforeencouraged to proceed with theirconfirmed itinerary, whileintending customers can maketheir reservations through all oursales channels.

“We however wish to apologizefor all the inconvenience that thetemporary suspension of ourdomestic and regional flights willbring on our passengers”, theairline stated.

Lagos - London route not affected by suspension – Air NigeriaBy Muhammad Sada

APresident GoodluckJonathan has appealed toNigerians to see the

present efforts at transformingthe nation as a national projectrather than his personalbusiness.

Speaking during the 2012Civil Service Dinner and AwardNight at the State HouseBanquet Hall on SaturdaynighAt, President Jonathannoted that both himself and theVice President were not in theposition to bring the desiredchange to the country alone but

that it would require all handsto be on deck to succeed.

The President assured thathis administration would buildthe necessary capacity for thecivil service to make it a fulcrumof development and urged civilservants to redouble their effortsas he noted that the success ofany government depended onthe service.

President Jonathansimilarly urged the civilservants not to deviate from theold tradition of excellence andcommended the organisers for appreciating those whodistinguished themselves in

service.Speaking earlier, the Head of

Civil Service of the Federation(HOS), Alhaji Ibrahim Sali saidthe event which was part of thecivil service week, was set asideto reward hard work andexcellence.

While calling for theenhancement of the civil service,he noted that no nation in theworld has ever risen beyond itsbureaucracy.

The awards, which were inthree categories, were given toboth serving and retired civilservants who distinguishedthemselves in various field.

Hundreds of sympathisersled by the chiefmourner, President of

the Nigeria Labour CongressComrade Abdulwahed Omarthronged Lamurde councilarea of Adamawa state towitness the internment ofComrade Paschal MyeleriBafyau, former President of theNLC.

Notable among thesympathisers include ProfessorJerry Gana, former DeputySenate President IbrahimMantu, Minister of LabourEmeka Wogu, Adamawa stateACN. Governorship candidateEngr. Markus Gundiri, Deputy

Speaker of the Adamawa StateHouse of Assembly Barr LaoriKwamoti and other toppoliticians as well as Labourunions across the country.

Omar in a tribute said “hewould best be remembered forhis belief in and strive for astrong united labourmovement which culminatedin the 1988 uniting ofDemocrats and theProgressives; the two factions ofthe congress engaged in afratricidal ideologicalstruggle.”

It may be recalled thatBafyau 65 passed on May 152012 following a heart attack;he was survived by a wife andfour daughters.

From Blessing Tunoh, Yola

Eulogies, crowd asBafyau is laid to rest

PAGE 8 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

The Jama’atu Ahli ssunnahLidda’awati Wal-Jihad, alsoknown as Boko Haram

yesterday denied any involvement in last Friday’sattempt to bomb Fagge Juma’atmosque in Kano metropolis.

Spokesman for the group,Abul Qaqa in a statementemailed to newsmen at theweekend, also accused the StateSecurity Service (SSS) of

orchestrating the plot in orderto discredit it, describing sucha practice as normal amongsecurity services in manycountries.

“In respect of what we heardin the media yesterday, Fridaythat some people attempted todetonate a bomb in a Juma’atmosque in Kano, thismovement Jama’atuAhlissunnah Lidda’awati Wal-Jihad hereby dissociates itselffrom this act. We are fullyaware of this kind of

Boko Haram deniesKano mosque bomb plot

Dankwambo tackles gully erosion in Gombe

In an effort to the tacklemenace gully erosion inGombe metropolis, Gombe

state government has approvedthe sum of N600 million for thecontrol of erosion.

The state Commissioner ofInformation and Orientation,Rev. Habu Dawaki, disclosed thiswhile speaking with newsmen inGombe over the weekend.

He said that the area to be

controlled are Harwa-Gana,Gadan Moddibo to railway at thecost of over N264 million,kasuwa Shanu to Tudun Wadaprimary school would cost overN71 million, Nasarawa, A&Bover N79 million, All SaintCollage to Illimi InternationalCollage at Federal low-costHousing estate at the cost of overN67 million, while over N214million would be spent atPantami to Barunde.

Reverend Dawaki further

From Auwal Ahmad, Gombe explained that the councilapproved the dualization of fourtownship roads that includeBello Sabon Kudi road, KasuwarDoya to New Marketroundabout, Emirs place roundabout to Eid praying groundroad as well as state Low CostHousing estate to MadakiBarunde Bypass road at the costof over N2.3 billion with acompletion period of ninemonths.

He said the council had also

conspiracy by the SSS,following a similar pattern oftheir counterparts in othercountries to tarnish the imageand reputation of Islamicfighters, they will not succeed,God’s willing”.

“We are aware of this typeof ugly trend which existsamong security services suchas the SSS. It is done to discreditGod’s warriors, but we areconfident that they will neversucceed by God’s grace becauseour aim is to ensure the

L-R: Executive Director, Africa Network for Environment and Economic Justice (ANEEJ), Rev. David Ugolor, Executive Director, UnitedAction for Democracy (UAD), Mr. Jaye Gaskia, and member of Safe Nigeria Group (SNG), Mr. Dolapo Osinowo, during a press conferenceon high scale of corruption in the country, at the weekend in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

approved the development of6.6km road network anddrainages within the FederalLow-Cost housing and BubaShago Quarters at the cost ofover N1.2 billion withcompletion period of six months

The commissioner furthersaid that at the contract for thestreets light along 12 roads inGombe metropolis at the cost ofover N566 million has beenapproved by the executivecouncil.

The Association of RuralSurgical Practitioners ofNigeria (ARSPON) at the

weekend concluded a three-dayfree treatment and free surgicaloperations on over a hundredpatients drawn from in andaround the ancient town.

The doctors, mainly drawnfrom the Oyo environs, as wellas those from Lagos, under thenational presidency of Dr.

From Inumidun Ojelade, Ibadan

Group renders free surgical operations to over 100 patients in OyoCharles Agbamu Sagua,treated and carried out surgicaloperations day and night onover 100 patients betweenThursday and Saturday.

Using Momoh MemorialHospital and Shekinah MedicalCentre located at Akeetan andOwode areas of the town, thevolunteer doctors carried outoperations in the followingareas: Lipomas and otherlumps, including breast lumps,hernias, simple goiters, uterine

A group agitating for thecreation of Lowland Stateout of the present Plateau

and some parts of Bauchi state hassubmitted its memorandumbefore the Plateau state committeeon the review of the 1999constitution.

Secretary of the movementfor the creation of the state ChiefNanyen Andrew Daman, in apress statement said the nine localgovernment areas from Plateauand the two local governmentareas from Bauchi state has theland mass and population thatshould warrant the federalgovernment’s approval for thecreation of the state.

Daman said the agitation forthe creation of the lowland statewas purely for peace, unity anddevelopment of those areasagitating for the creation of thestate saying the eleven LGAs areeconomically, politically, sociallyand humanly viable because ofthe abundant human, mineral,agricultural resources andindustrial potential that aboundin the areas.

From Nankpah Bwakan, Jos

Movement forcreation ofLowland Statedefends memo

existence of a strong Islamicpractice,” the sect said.

“Everyone knows that weare waging Jihad to restore thesupremacy of Islam, which iswhy we are labelled ‘Muslimfundamentalists’, how onearth can we then attempt todestroy a Muslim place ofworship. This is therefore aconspiracy by those that areaverse to the enthronement ofan Islamic state, and they willnot succeed by God’s grace”, itfurther alleged.

By Muhammad Nasir, Abuja, andMustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri

fibroids and ovarian cysts, aswell as prostate diseases.

While the free operationsand free post operation carewere carried out as part of theirsocial responsibility to thesociety for what it had given tothem as grassroots peoplethemselves, the doctors claimedit did it to provide opportunityfor professional interactionsand skill acquisition to youngdoctors among them.

The Alaafin visited the two

hospitals, where he commendedthe doctors for thehumanitarian service beingrendered towardscomplimenting governmentefforts, “since the governmentcannot do it all alone”.

In his response, ARSPONPresident, Dr. Sagua, said, “Weare happy to be here; to be partof history and to serve you andyour people. It is this service andlove for you that brought ushere.

A condolence register hasbeen opened at theUniversal Peace Federation

(UPF) national headquarters, thePeace Embassy, 25, BujumburaStreet, off Aminu Kano cresentWuse II Abuja in honor of itschairman, board of trustees ChiefAmb. Segun Olusola,mni, OFRwho passed on last weekThursday.

This was contained in astatement signed by SecretaryGeneral of UPF Mr. Olaleye I. Alao.The statement said a similarregister will also be opened at theUPF Lagos office AREFheadquarters, old secretariat offOba Akinjobi street, GRA Lagosand Port Harcourt office suite 4,Civic center Moscow road PortHarcourt.

All ambassadors of peace,friends and well wishers will bewelcomed to the above addressesto sign the register in honor of thisrelentless and brave advocate forpeace in Nigeria, Africa and worldat large the statement furtherstated.

The statement also said Amb.Olusola was a pioneer ambassadorfor peace, founding member of theInterreligious and InternationalFederation for world Peace andUniversal Peace Federation. Hewas one of the first five recipientsof the ‘Crown of Peace Award’ inthe world; the first African toreceive such award and the firstNigerian member of the GlobalPeace Council.

By Joy Baba

Condolenceregister for lateAmb Olusola atPeace embassy

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012 PAGE 11

FG distributes N2.7bn seedlingsto small scale farmersThe Federal Government is

to spend N2.7 billion in theprocurement and

distribution of free seedlings toabout five million small scalefarmers across the country, theMinister of State for Agriculture,Alhaji Bukar Tijjani hasrevealed.

Tijjani, who made this knownduring the launching of the

Growth Enhancement SupportScheme 2012 (E-Wallet VoucherSystem) in Kano over the weekend,explained that the seeds to bedistributed are cotton, cocoa, cowpea, maize and rice.

He said this is part of thegovernment’s strategic plan ofaction towards improvingagriculture and ultimately foodsecurity in the country.

The minister stated that thegovernment will provide fertilizer

to farmers at 50 percent subsidyin addition to the provision of otheragricultural inputs, assuring thatit will also buy off their surplusproduce at a good price to preventunwarranted loss.

“Nigeria and Kano state inparticular has great potential forfood production that is why thePresident is insisting that we mustproduce and eat our own food”,Tijjani stated.

Responding, the Governor of

Kano state, Dr. Rabi’u MusaKwankwaso stated that hisadministration is working inunison with the FederalGovernment to maximize benefitfrom the huge agriculturalpotentials in the state.

He therefore urged farmers inthe state to team up and registerunder Federal Governmentagricultural schemes to enablethem benefit from thegovernment’s assistance.

From Edwin Olofu, Kano

Niger Delta group commends Jonathanover appointment of Dasuki as NSA

The new electricity tariffstructure recentlyannounced by the federal

government is designed to boostprivate capital investment in thesector to ensure the success of thepower sector reforms currentlybeing executed by the PresidentGoodluck Jonathan admini-stration.

While speaking with consumersand industry operators on“Appropriate Pricing & the Futureof Nigeria’s Electricity Supply

Industry” in Abuja at the weekend,the Chairman of the NigerianElectricity Regulatory Commission(NERC), Dr. Sam Amadi said“many of the proposedimprovements for the sector will nothappen except we are able toimprove the financial viability of thesector. The tariff review proceedsfrom a concern with establishing aproper revenue requirement for thesector. The total revenuerequirement (RR) required toexpand supply and improve thenetworks is recovered through tarifffor various consumer classes”

By Udenna Orji

Improved tariff will drive power sector reforms – NERC chairmanAccording to him, the tariff

review has provided a strongincentive for capital inflow forinvestments in the entire valuechain of the power sector while alsoensuring that Nigerians, especiallythe urban and rural poor haveregular power at affordable rates.

Foreign electric powerequipment providers, includinggeneration and distributioncompanies are said to be flying intothe country in droves to position totap opportunities expected fromthe impending growth of Nigeria’spower sector while local power

providers are expanding capacityto tackle the coming competition.Thousands of new jobs are expectedto be generated by the burst ofactivities about to be witnessed inNigeria’s power sector.

He said the government hadto arrive at a good balance to ensurethat investors and consumers areappropriately protected.

“Since access to electricity is apublic good in some sense, itbecomes necessary to assist poorconsumers to have access to basicelectricity. The rider to this is thatthis support does not become

LandUse Actwon’t berepealed– FG

inefficient and grossly distort themarket”, Dr. Amadi said.

However, experts fear therenewed efforts to generateelectricity may be hindered by thegas shortage buffeting the powersector. Power sector operators havealways identified two issues ashampering the growth of thesector – gas shortage andinappropriate tariff.

Presidency sources sayPresident Jonathan is addressingthe gas issue in a deal with themajor oil producing companies inNigeria.

As housing developmentstakeholders continue tolobby for the repeal of the

Land Use Act to make land moreavailable for housing develop-ment, the chairman, PresidentialTechnical Committee on LandReform, Prof. Peter Adeniyi hassaid the Federal Government hasno plan to repeal the Act.

In several presentations to thePresidency and the NationalAssembly, housing stakeholders,including property developers,estate surveyors and valuers hadcalled for the repeal of the Land UseAct saying the power it gave stategovernors to control landallocation in their states hadpoliticized land administrationand made it cumbersome,expensive and time-consuming toobtain land and title rights forhousing development. They hadargued that a repeal of the Actwould enhance affordable housingdevelopment and drasticallyreduce Nigeria’s estimated deficitof 16 million housing units.

But while speaking withnewsmen at the weekend, Prof.Adeniyi revealed that the FederalGovernment would not repeal theLand Use Act. According to him,“It is important at this point to statecategorically that the land reformprogramme of the FederalGovernment is not intended torepeal the Land Use Act or usurpthe powers of the state governorsand local government chairmenin land administration or denyindividuals or communities theright to their lands”.

While noting that land reformis critical in achieving PresidentGoodluck Jonathan’stransformation agenda, he said thefederal government’s land reformwas focused on identifying andremoving bottlenecks hinderingland titling and registrationprocess within the current landadministration system in Nigeria.He said his committee was workingon pilot schemes in Kano and Ondostates involving identification andregistration of title rights that mayusher in a new land administrationsystem in Nigeria.

Presidentialc’tte mournslate AhmaduBy Tobias Lengnan Dapam

The Presidential Committeeon Public Awareness onSecurity and Civic

Responsibilities has held a specialsession in honour of its DeputyChairman, Retired DeputyInspector-General (DIG) of Police,late John Hamza Ahmadu, whodied in the Dana Air crash.

The special session was followedby a condolence visit by Membersof the Committee to the familyresidence of late DIG JohnAhmadu in Abuja.

A statement issued yesterdayby the Secretary to the commit-tee,Yusuf Mu’azu, said that theChairman of the PresidentialCommittee, Dr. Abdul-LateefAdegbite, said members of thecommittee were terribly shatteredby the incident, which robbed themof the company and contributions ofDIG John Ahmadu.

Adegbite, described the LateDIG John Hamza Ahmadu as “afine, upright and dedicated PoliceOfficer who was highly publicspirited, reliable and dependable”.

He said the Late DIG Ahmaduwas committed to the great futureof Nigeria and will be missed bythe Presidential Committee onSecurity Awareness.

According to the CommitteeChairman, “We will miss him andthe nation is at a great loss withthe premature exit of this Nigerianpatriot, at a time he is needed tocontribute his quota to the currentefforts of President GoodluckJonathan’s administration totransform Nigeria to an enviablestatus within the comity of nations.

A Niger Delta based civilsociety organization, Peopleand Environmental Rights

Assembly, PERA has commendedPresident Goodluck Jonathan fordispelling the insinuation that heis a sectional leader by choosing thenew National Security Adviser,NSA, retired Colonel MohammedSambo Dasuki from the core North.

The group in a statementsigned by its National Coordinator,Prince Mefe Akiri said genuine sons

and daughters of the south-southregion have cause to be proud ofthe president’s decision in view ofrecent accusations by critics of hisgovernment that he only considerspersons from his Ijaw clan or NigerDelta extraction for sensitivepositions under hisadministration.

According to the statement,“the appointment of Sambo Dasukias the National Security Adviser,NSA is one of the things PresidentGoodluck Ebele Jonathan has donerecently that has elicited joy and

made our region proud again.Before now, the critics of thisadministration have alwayspainted President Jonathan as theenemy of the North and createdthe impression that he is an Ijawor South-South president who willonly appoint people from his regioninto sensitive national positions.We are happy that such unfaircriticism can no longer hold waterin view of last week decision by thepresident to replace a Niger Deltason with a core northerner asNSA", the group said.

Minister of State for Agriculture, Alhaji Bukar Tijjani (right), Kano state Governor, Dr. Rabi’u MusaKwankwaso (2nd right), and a beneficiary (left) during the launching of the Growth EnhancementSupport Scheme 2012 (E-Wallet Voucher System), at the weekend in Kano.

By Udenna Orji

By Abdulrahman Abdulraheem

PAGE 12 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

President Jonathan'sill advised trip to Brazil

Penultimate Sunday, Nigerianswoke up to the shocking news ofanother series of bomb blasts in

Zaria and Kaduna, followed by attacks inthe Yobe state cAapital, Damaturu all ofwhich left many dead. However, whathapless Nigerians found even moreshocking was the decision by PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to embark on thetrip to Brazil for the world environmentsummit. In the three days that the orgyof violence lasted in the two states, over100 people were killed with propertiesincluding places of worship lost and as adazed nation struggled to come to termswith this unending spate of killings, thecommander-in-chief opted for thecomfort of a foreign land and thecompany of foreigners instead of hispeople.

It is very sad that President Jonathanonce again failed to seize the moment toprovide leadership and inspire Nigeriansto rekindle their weakened belief in theircountry and its leadership. As has beenproven over the years across the world,successful leaders were mostly those wholed their countries through adversity.We cannot think of a greater threat tothe unity of this country than thesecurity threat that it faces at present,which our President does not seem torealize or perhaps is taking lightly. Wethought it would have made more senseif the President had visited the affectedstates instead of jetting off to Brazil for afunction that at best the vice-presidentor a minister would have attended.Apparently he was more interested in thephoto opportunities with world leadersinstead of with victims of his ineffectual

“We though it wouldhave made more sense ifthe president had visited

the affected statesinstead of jetting off to

Brazil for a function thatat best the vice-presidentor a minister would have

attended

government.Although Nigerians were not deluded

into thinking that his presence would havechanged anything but it was the least theyexpected from a leader who swore to theConstitution to ensure the safety of theirlives and property. It is tragic that thePresident’s ministers and advisers allowedhim to embark on the trip amidst the

crisis at home. The Information Minister,Labaran Maku's argument that thePresident can rule from anywhere, in ouropinion, puts in perspective exactly howvisionless and out of touch with theNigerian people Jonathan and his cabinetare. The statement is an insult on a nationin mourning. Clearly, the President andhis team do not understand the idea ofempathy which the President should havedemonstrated.

We are in fact at pains to understandthe benefits of the trip to Nigeria that thePresident so desperately had to abandonserious matters at home for. The Riosummit cannot be said to have been asuccess since most of the major worldleaders such as those of the United States,Britain and Germany - whose nations areafter all the major world polluters - didnot attend. The United Nations SecretaryGeneral, Ban Ki Moon, said as much whilereminding them to live up to theirpromise to cut emissions. Nigeria itself isno where when it comes to efforts atimproving environmental conditions orcutting gas emissions what with the poorpower supply that has left manybusinesses and homes resorting togenerators for electricity. So what scorecard did the President have to present atthe summit when his country was on fire?

It is ironic that the leaders thatPresident Jonathan rushed to rubshoulders with in Brazil would not havebehaved in the callous and insensitivemanner he did. Countless examplesabound when leaders abandon statevisits to rush home when nationalemergencies break. Early this year, tomention but one example, the BritishPrime Minister, David Cameron, cutshort his Africa Tour while in Nigeriawhen riots broke out in London. Inplaces where leaders are morecircumspect, it is unheard of for a leaderto be seen to be fleeing his country in themidst of a crisis.

President Jonathan has let us downthis time. He should get his acts togetherbefore he is consumed by this insecuritycrisis.

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PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 18, 2012 PAGE 13

Driven by what has becomea popular euphemism‘the current security

challenges’ (which refers to themany militant insurgencies andacts of criminality around thecountry including that of theMEND in the Niger Delta, OPCin the South-West, kidnappingsand armed robberies in theSouth-East and more recently,the Boko Haram in the North),all the discussions about thefuture of Nigeria presentlyalways end up with probing thepossibility of the countrybecoming a ‘failed state’ likeSomalia or Afghanistan.

Such occurrences aremarked by the collapse of centralauthority preceded or followedby the fall of the Sovereign and aviolent socio-political explosionas a direct result of the totalbreakdown of law and order.

The national territorybreaks up into bits, which areimmediately taken over bytribal warlords who commandthe loyalty of pieces of thenational army, whose commandand control will have alsobroken down.

A fierce competition amongthe warlords then ensues for thecontrol of bits of the nationalterritory and the people, and theresources that could be forciblycornered to continue toprosecute an internecine waragainst each other.

The violent rivalries thenacquire a life and momentumthat is difficult to contain asevery one of the warlordsbecomes more and more bloodthirsty with every militaryclash recording more and morevengeful and hateful deaths.

Invariably, these break-upsare also accompanied by direeconomic hardships and poverty

in terms of a real abject lack ofpurchasing power and thescarcity of the most basicessentials of life.

This perspective of thephenomenon of the ‘failed state’is mediated largely by theperceptions of America and theWest, and is informed by theexperiences recorded in theBalkans after the fall ofCommunism, Afghanistan,Somalia, Rwanda, Liberia andSierra-Leone.

The closest Nigeria came tothis first type of ‘failed state’phenomenon was after thecountry’s first coup d’état whichterminated the First Republic,followed by a counter coup andthe Civil War 1967-70.

As graphically demonstratedin especially Afghanistan andSomalia, the most definingcharacteristics of this type ofstate failure are the fall of theSovereign and the break up of thearmed forces among rivalwarlords; the total break-downof law and order within, and thecarving out of enclaves out of thenational territory among rivalwarlords as exclusive areas ofinfluence from where theyextort resources to continue toprosecute a war of mutualattrition.

Since the successfulconclusion of the Civil War, thebalance of probabilities hasalways been in favor of Nigeriaovercoming most of the instancesin her history, conducive to this

type of violent ‘failed state’phenomenon.

But there has been anotherquite different, archetypaloccurrence of the phenomenonof the ‘failed state’ which isgenerally over-looked, butwhose import is more robustly

collapse of authority andbreakdown of law and order perse.

The most definingcharacteristic of this archetypeis the blatant and gross abuse andmanipulation of (mostly false)figures especially of the electoral

Nigeria, stateNigeria, stateNigeria, stateNigeria, stateNigeria, statefailure: Which type?failure: Which type?failure: Which type?failure: Which type?failure: Which type?

By Yusuf Nagi Ahmad

though hide the stupendous actsof corruption which are not sotangible, but which may haveindeed struck quite deadly blowsto the national economyrendering it comatose

And with the economy inreal stagnation, the generalpopulace in a state of stupor anddespair and the ruling elite in anintellectual cul-de-sac, notknowing what to do next, withall intellectual pursuits stuntedand numbed by the soporificeffects of corruption and totallydisengaged from social reality,the State gets stuck somewhat.

And without the Sovereignfalling, without any form of abreakdown of law and order andwithout anybody firing even ashot, first the ruling elite and thecivil society and then the armedand police forces are simplyoverwhelmed by the samemoral ennui, and the statecollapses without any act ofviolence against it either fromwithin or from without.

It was this archetypalphenomenon of the ‘failed state’or failure of the state caused byethical implosion which resultedin the collapse and falling apartof the former Union of SovietSocialist Republics USSR, or theformer Soviet Union, which wasvery much a federation just likeNigeria and most of the formerCommunist, satellite states ofEastern Europe.

In his book, Perestroika

“When we do have hope thattomorrow will come and thattomorrow will come with a newchange within itself, a new placeto build you up, then that givesyou hope to carry on.’’

Refugee, which issynonymous with ahelpless person or being

fleeing a distressed zone toanother which can beconsidered safe enough to offerrefuge, has become a word thathas surreptitiously found itsway into the mouths, activitiesand even policies of countriesand people, and surprisinglymore frequently too in recenttimes. At the instance ofconflicts, wars, drought and theconsequent famine, or eveneconomic reasons, people intheir droves embark on massmigration from regions hit byany of these factors and rely onfate to lead them to safety. AUnited Nations statisticalsurvey puts the total refugeefigure at more than 42 millionpeople worldwide, spreadmostly across Africa and Asia.There should not be the fool-hardy ignorance of excludingNigeria from the pack ofcountries that producerefugees, for most parts of the

East house refugee camps thatcater to the immediate needs ofthe lucky survivors of BokoHaram terrorism in the North.Having lost practically all theyslaved in foreign lands over theyears for in a moment of beastlymadness, the only respite nowbeing the option of going backhome however empty, for life’ssake.

The United Nations has, inrecognition of the pitiableplight of refugees the worldover, sought to make efforts atalleviating their pains, and thecommemoration of June 20 asWorld Refugee Day is oneamong many of such efforts.Other wings of the UN such asthe United Nations HumanRights Commission (UNHRC)caters for the rights of displacedpersons, while the UnitedNations High Commission forRefugees(UNHCR) actuallyoversees the integration ofrefugees and people ofunfortunate disposition. Thetheme for this year’sobservation is ‘Refugees HaveNo Choice. You Do.’ That is moreor less a passionate call onconcerned parties to do their

utmost to ameliorate thebeleaguerings of such displacedpeople.

It is intriguing to noticethat while newer causes ofconflict crop up by the daywhich inevitably producesrefugee situations in its wake,older ones and the consequentwars it has created never seemto die off, or the place becomingsafe enough for a return. Evenas this is a fulfilment of divineutterance that nation will riseagainst nation, it is alarmingthe rate at which nearly everycountry is turning to anamphitheatre of conflict andaggression, spilling haplesscommoners in theirthousands, all the way fromSudan to Somalia, Congo,Uganda, Zimbabwe, Libya,Afghanistan, Israel, Iran,Kuwait, and the list just goeson and on. It is in fact estimatedthat 8 people decide to leavetheir original places of domicileby reason of armed conflictevery minute, and the optionsof staying and leaving no betterthan that of the devil and adrown in the deep blue sea, byreason of the hassles and

stretchy stress of migration. Since survival has been

the principal motivationcatalysing the refugees, thisinforms the various treatmentsthey get at their eventualdestinations, and this has madetheir situation even moreprecarious. In most hostcountries, they are housed inno more than tarpaulin-sheltered camps, with little orno hygienic convenience andset-up. They hardly get morethan urgent and pressingmedical care, and since thebrunt of their nutritionalupkeep is mostly borne by theirhost countries, sometimessupported by somehumanitarian organisations,what they get is only a littleimprovement compared towhat would have obtained ifthey had stayed back in theirwar-torn countries. It is hardfor most host regions andcountries to accept the factthat a refugee travels not justwith his scanty bags andbelongings, but with hisdreams, goals, aspirations anddesires roped around his person,and they are thus relegated to

RRRRRefugeeing todaefugeeing todaefugeeing todaefugeeing todaefugeeing todayyyyyBy Ogbonna Nnaemeka Henry

relevant to the case of Nigeriaas a federation: namely, the‘failed state’ phenomenon orstate failure that is induced andcaused by ethical implosion anda total, national collapse of values,rather than the collapse ofauthority and total breakdownof law and order.

Ethical implosion is causedmainly by rampant and pervadingcorruption, resulting in thechoking up of the State Ethic andthe collapse of national valueswhich may not degenerate into asocial explosion and/or a total

votes which determine theemergence of the politicalleadership in the first instance,and which subsequently laysdown the pattern of treatingevery other figure in all facets ofnational life involving thegovernment.

Phantom figures may beconcocted of industrialproduction, Gross DomesticProduct GDP and/or otherindices of the workings of theeconomy, which never manifestin improving the standard ofliving of the people. Such figures

“The national territory breaks upinto bits, which are immediately

taken over by tribal warlords whocommand the loyalty of pieces of

the national army whosecommand and control will have

also broken down

the beggarly status ofdependency and probablyservitude.

The observance of the WorldRefugee Day is an opportunityand platform to appraiserefugee situations the worldover, and to look into ways ofhanding a new lease of life tothe teeming and brimmingpopulation of refugees. Hostcountries are being called on torelax their asylum conditionsand rules of engagement, aswell as the effort being made todrum up support for therefugees by encouraging morecountries to offer a hand ofsolace to displaced persons. It isalso an avenue to, by proxy,mediate between the warringfactions that are the root causeof the phenomenon ofrefugeeing, in different parts ofthe world.

The ultimate aim of theUnited Nations is toaccommodate refugees to thebest level of availableresources, if not reducing to thebarest minimum the incidenceof refugee situations all over theworld, and this, it is hoped, willbe achieved in the shortest timepossible, with a barrage ofconcerted efforts.Ogbonna Nnaemeka Henrycan be reached athenchyman@yahoo.com

Continued on page 14

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012PAGE 14

Hajj is not a religious tourism to Makkah

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For clarity, Hajj is not areligious tourism toMakkah and Madinah.

Hajj is a fundamental time-specific, spot-specific, manner/condition-specific andfinancially tasking Islamicobligation which, instituted bya divine injunction of the HolyQur’an and practicallyexemplified by ProphetMuhammad (peace be uponhim), is to be fulfilled by theMuslims despite whateverchallenges that may beassociated with it in terms offunding, political interference,national/natural infringementor even global conspiracy.

This piece is in response tosome postulations in which awriter mentioned three out often things that amaze himabout modern Nigeria whichwas the third part of the series.The three things he discussed inthe said publication startedwith the much talked about butconspicuously misconstrued (inthe Nigerian context) holypilgrimages to Makkah by theMuslim faithful and toJerusalem by the Christians.The second was the educationalbackwardness of the north andthe third the trooping out ofNigerians outside the countryin search of medical attention.

Unarguably, there aresomewhat controversial issuesconcerning the holy journeys toMakkah and Jerusalem every

year.It is laudable the call on

Nigerian governments at alllevels to control waste of publicfunds on religious duties. It is truethat Hajj is one of the pillars ofIslam, with the strict conditionof ability in all ramificationsattached to it. This means thatpilgrimage to Makkah predatesthe existence of Nigeria andtherefore cannot stop even ifg o v e r n m e n tdoes not pay akobo ors u b s i d i z ea n y t h i n gattached tohajj. A clearcase to this isthat thenumber ofN i g e r i a nMuslims whoembark on then o n -c o m p u l s o r ylesser hajj(Umrah) is fivetimes morethan those whoembark on hajj despitegovernment’s direct non-involvement in it.

In relation to that writer’sassertions on pilgrimages fromNigeria, the Sun and Punch oncequoted part of the StephenOronsaye Panel’s reports, whichshowed that the federalgovernment expended N6.449billion on matters relating topilgrimages between 2007 and2011. I was shocked by this

revelation that caught the wholeawareness of some responsibleNigerians. N6 BILLION ONLY INFIVE YEARS!!! I felt it was a veryludicrous observation that apanel of such caliber of peoplecould recommend. Is this amountup to a single percent of what thefederal government and somerich states expend on things thatdo not benefit a percentage ofNigeria’s population? This

amount, methink, has beenexpended largely on medical,consular and security serviceswhich are the constitutionalrights on the government for thecitizenry wherever they are.

And again, who says that thefederal government favours onlyMuslim and Christianpilgrimages. Is it because the duois openly celebrated? How manybillions of Naira is yearly andsecretly paid for services by

Nigeria, state failure: Which type?

By Muhammad Ajah pagan priests? The huge sumsof money allegedly paid off by aformer head of the Niger DeltaDevelopment Commission(NDDC) were just a tip in theiceberg. How many Nigeriansvisit the same India and severalother parts of the world for theiracclaimed individual spiritualelevation and poweracquisition? Is it the poorNigerians that spend such huge

amounts? It isstill the officialsof governmentapparatuses andb u s i n e s sp e r s o n a l i t i e swho suck fromthe public funds.

Nonetheless,there are all thereasons forgovernment tobe involved inmatters ofreligion. Thefederal, stateand localg o v e r n m e n t sand politicians

should never be discouragedfrom channeling resources intoways that have direct benefitsfor Nigerians or larger segmentof our society. It is believed thatpeople who have little or no faithand those who do not believe inthe peaceful coexistence ofNigerians are they whowishfully project thishypothesis that the yearlypilgrimages have no impact onour society. If Nigeria faces

immorality from its citizens atsuch amazing level upon allefforts to ameliorate it, whatwould Nigeria have looked likewithout these highly spiritualjourneys?!

However, I do not know thatthe federal government sponsorsordinary Nigerian pilgrims to goto the holy lands except thenegligible number of officials whocoordinate such large segmentof Nigerians outside the countrywithin such given periods oftime. They also conduct specificduties to pray for peace, stabilityand progress of Nigeria and theirstates. Is it something notworthy of commendation?Again, many of the pilgrims,especially the first-timers to theholy lands come back to Nigeria,better exposed, informed andreformed. It has been observedthat many of the every-yeargoers have lost the spiritual tasteand reformatory derivationsfrom the trips. But in general,the merits of these holy journeysare far more reaching than anyobserved demerits. Moreover,government’s non-involvementwill be counter-productiveagainst its struggle toameliorate the country’sdamaged image outside.

Performance of Hajj is noweasier and much sought evenwith the ever increasing pricingin hajj fares? So, if governmenthands-off completely from thelittle subsidies it grants Muslimsand Christians – who constitute

Continued on page 15

(which reads like a dead,outdated literature right now,but which is indeed still verymuch alive and relevant to thesituation of a federation such asNigeria), the last President ofthe USSR and the man whopresided over its collapse,President Mikhail Gorbachev,chronicled the issues and eventswhich presaged the falling apartof the component, territorialunits of the former Soviet Union.

Chief among the issues wasthe chronic use and/or abuse andmanipulation of blatantly falsefigures of electoral votes byapparatchiks to maintain thesupremacy of the CommunistParty in the Soviets’ politicalspace by ensuring that the Partyalways won almost 100% of thevotes cast in ALL the elections forleadership positions in thecountry.

The same partyapparatchiks also doubled asindustrial managers, andbecause they had to meet upwith officially assigned targetsto keep their positions, they alsocooked up blatantly false figuresof production of consumer goodsmost of which were actuallybecoming increasingly scarce toordinary citizens.

Quite naturally theCommunist Party, alwayscommitted to upholding thesuperiority of the CommunistEthic, fully affirmed such falsefigures as the basis of politicaland socio-economic orthodoxychallenging and/or deviating

from which could mean losing theliberty to live one’s life.

This was in spite of the fact thatas at then, the economies of theSoviet Union and most of theCommunist Eastern bloc nationshad virtually reached a sort ofdead-end, an intellectual cul-de-sac, and their currencies hadincreasingly become laughablyworthless as per their officialvalues, and salaries wereridiculously paltry in what theycould purchase.

Yet, while ordinary citizenswere facing these dire shortagesof even the most basic of thenecessities of life, the CommunistParty apparatchiks and theirwards had become a special classof comrades, who continued toenjoy hidden weekends of a life ofabundance and ease in choice andspecially supplied dachas aroundsome of the best sea resorts in thecountry.

The chief event that wastaking place then when the SovietState finally imploded and failedwas the war the Soviet armedforces were conducting just acrossthe country’s border deep inside theterritory of Afghanistan.

That is to say while yetcommanding arguably thelargest arsenal of nuclearwarheads and cruise missiles,with the ability to deliver activemilitary power on virtually anyspot around the globe and evenbeyond (late President Ronald

Reagan confirmed this with theStar Wars military program!!!)and the most modern ice-cuttingwarships, the Soviet Union’smilitary never really broke upinto pieces, nor did the Sovietarmed forces lose the capacity todefend the national territory norwas there a general breakdown oflaw and order within its nationalterritory, nor did the SovietSovereign lose command andcontrol of the armed and policeforces – rather the Soviet armedforces were indeed activelyprojecting military power deepinside a neighbor’s territory whenthe Soviet State ethically implodedand failed resulting in the fallingaway of its component, federatingunits.

Howsoever understood, whatclearly emerges from a reading offormer President MikhailGorbachev’s Perestroika is that aState’s military power and/or theability to defend its territory and/or even project active militarypower abroad and/or even itsability to marshal such potentinternal security outfits such asthe KGB to suppress dissent - all ofthese are of no consequence for aguarantee against state failure,when it is caused by ethicalimplosion and the collapse of valuesas a consequence of rampant andpervasive corruption markedmainly by the abject manipulation,abuse or even total disregard of thesignificance of figures in the affairs

of the State.What was most poignantly

enigmatic about the SovietCommunist system was that itquite clearly distinguishedbetween the false figures forpolitical use and/or abuse, andthe figures used for sincere anddevoted pursuits of especiallyscientific and technologicalknowledge.

That is why even as thefigures of electoral votes andindustrial production ofconsumer goods were alwaysmanipulated or out rightlyconcocted to justify andmaintain the dominance of theCommunists in the nationalpolitical space, the Soviet Unionstill developed a genuine androbust system of scientific andtechnological knowledge.

The West African state ethicfrom its cradle in the republicsof the liberated slaves of Liberiaand Sierra Leone has neverdeveloped the same kind ofdistinction between the figuresused for political buccaneering,and the figures that should formthe basis of a genuinely factualdefinition of social reality and/or even natural phenomenon: allfigures in this jurisdiction seemto be subject to manipulation,falsification and bastardization.

The chief exemplar ispolitical power itself: the figuresthat define its acquisition areinvariably concocted or at least

their veracity is almost alwaysdented by obvious improbability.

And this is what seems todefine the approach to figures inalmost all facets of the conductof the State in Nigeria: becausepolitical authority is the mosthighly prized nexus that definesthe laws that constitute thereality of the State, once it isdefiled by being defined in falsefigures of electoral votes,everything else seems to becomeso easy to defile by also beingdefined in false figures.

It is generally assumed thateven with all the so-called‘current security challenges’,Nigeria has passed the stage ofever becoming a ‘failed state’ ofthe first archetype – that is ofthe collapse of central authority,preceded or followed by socialexplosion caused by the totalbreakdown of law and order andthe breakup of the nationalterritory and the armed forcesamong warlords.

But as for the secondarchetype that is caused by thecollapse of values and ethicalimplosion as a result of pervasivecorruption and characterized bythe total disregard of correctfigures in the affairs of the State– as for this archetype, nobodycan say for certain what futureholds for Nigeria.Yusuf Nagi Ahmad wrote infromRadio Nigeria, Kaduna.

Continued from page 13

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012 PAGE 15

Early in the life of Obasanjo’sdemocratic rule, I had aninteresting encounter with

one of my reporters.He strolled into my office one

late afternoon looking resplendentin his well starched and drycleaned flowing white robes. Sincehis beat was the NationalAssembly, I humoured him withthe joke that he looked every inchan Honourable member or adistinguished Senator.

“Oga, but you are rightooo.Today they made me a member,”he replied. Since I knew this wasnot possible, I cut short our jokingsession and demanded his copysince he was far late behindproduction dateline.

He on the other hand was inno hurry to turn in his copyinstead he took a chair andcontinued with his incrediblestory. He had followed acommittee of the House to agovernment agency as part of its“oversight functions”. Because hewas heavily decked out in themanner of a village potentate,officials of the host agency easilymistook him for one of theHonourables. He was thusushered to a seat in the midst ofhonourables, far removed fromother reporters.

The assignment over, he leftthe board room and was walkingto the bus. Then came one of thetop officials of the agencysprinting towards him.“Honourable, honourable whereis your driver. This is for you andI want him to take it for you.” Heturned and saw the top officialclutching a fat brown envelope.

“Oh, he is there, but just give it tome”, he falsely replied andcollected the envelope.

Back to the NationalAssembly, he pretended to bepressed and rushed to the toilet.He then opened the envelope and‘lo and behold’ it contained freshlyminted N500,000 notes. That is‘oversight functions’, Nigerianstyle. It is to quote OlusegunObasanjo daylight “armedrobbery”.

There couldn’t have been amore competent authority on‘oversight functions’ in ourdemocracy than Obasanjo. It allstarted or he started it all duringhis reign. His collaborator andclose ally in those days, AtikuAbubakar is my witness.

Prior to the inauguration of thenational Assembly, their partythe PDP had resolved that ChubaOkadigbo should be SenatePresident. But overnight,Obasanjo moved huge sums offoreign and local currency toNICON NOGA hotel where thesenators were lodged. On the floorof the Senate the following day,things changed. Chief EvansEnwerem, Obasanjo’s man flooredChuba Okadigbo the PDP man.

In the House ofRepresentatives, Obasanjo’sfavourite, Salisu Buhari also won,handsomely, defeating GhaliNa’Abba. Then Buhari run intoa certificate scandal and Naabareplaced him. Obasanjo wasnever quite comfortable with thischange and a game of cat andmouse followed. Obasanjomobilized the members of theHouse to impeach Naaba,

pumping millions into theproject.

It came to a ridiculous stagewhere some of the membersbrought out millions of Naira anddumped them on the floor of theHouse, confessing that they hadbeen bribed by Obasanjo’s agentsto impeach Na’Abba. Bribery inthe national Assembly underObasanjo was a thrivingindustry.

As the eightyears of his rulecame to a close,we weresubjected to agrand briberyscheme thatought to berecorded in theGuiness book ofrecords. EachSenator andHouse of Repsmember wasgiven N50 million to support aconstitutional change that wouldhave made it possible for Obasanjoto run for a third term or evenbecome a perpetual President.

Against this background andmany other scandalous schemes,the Nigerian public hasconcluded that the NationalAssembly is populated by“marvelous scammers’, to borrowthe words of General CollinPowell.

One man in the House fromKano State by name FaroukLawan has tried to convince usthat he is not part of thatmaddening crowd. Since he cameto the House in 1999, he has oftenidentified or led groups that

pursue populist causes. Hehimself glorified in the pompoustitle of “Mr Integrity.”

To me, an event that tookplace in Triumph Newspaperswhere I was one of the editors in1985 made me suspicious of him.We had in our stable, the SundayTriumph, a broadsheet, the onlyof its kind in Nigeria then. To giveit more value and variety, a

literally cornerwas introduced.

Malam BashirBello, a young andtalented literallymind wasemployed tocoordinate it. Hewent ahead to forma club made of staffand none staff tocontribute to it.Another youngman, FaroukLawan, a none staff

was a member. That gave himthe window to smuggle into ourpaper the most senseless andreckless poem I have ever read inmy life. “To the dictator”, hecaptioned it.

I have difficulty classifying ita poem because it was just anartless construction of insultsheaped on President IbrahimBabangida. Amongst other moreinsulting words, he called themilitary President an “IMFpimp”. He then delved intomurder by advocating theassassination of the President!How this poem was smuggledinto the Sunday Triumph, agovernment owned newspaper,nobody could say – not even

Bashir Bello.No staff of Triumph could have

been so irresponsible. We hadlearnt the hard way in relatingwith military governments. Ourfounding MD, Rasheed HarounAdamu was detained withoutcharge throughout the Buhariyears and so was Leke Salawu, oneof our reporters.

The author of this dangerouspoem had his own agenda whichwas and is still known only tohim. Those who plan toassassinate Presidents do notadvertise their aims with poetrypublished in newspapers. IfFarouk wanted Babangida killed,the newspaper was the last placeto contact and I am sure he knewand still knows this. But bywriting these verses andsmuggling them into the paper,he put the careers and even thelife of management staff andparticularly the editors of thepaper on the line.

When the same Farouksuddenly appeared in theNational Assembly and startedgrandstanding, he hardly madean impression on me. He is a manwith a very mean and littlemind. Only a sick mind could dowhat he tried to do with us at theTriumph I have always knownthat the whole drama and hiscelerity status will end in adisaster one day.

Amazingly, Nigeria is led bythe likes of Farouk Lawan. Peoplewith dark motives and sick mindshave hijacked this country. OnlyGod or most appropriately Satanknows where they are taking usto.

From Farouk Lawan to the dictator

Victims, allContd. from Back Page

90% of the nation’s population –it cannot stop hajj. What it willtranslate to is an increase in hajjfare and Muslims will pay for thehajj seats. Politicians, or subtlyput it, the rich will not stop tosponsor those allies and partnersin progress whom they feelshould benefit from theirreligious or social largesse.

Therefore, it is sufficientlyevident that the call forscrapping pilgrimage

commissions in Nigeria orwithdrawal of subsidies frompilgrimage related-matterscannot be an issue fordevelopment for Nigeria. Theestablishment of the hajjcommission was in response to along search for a permanentsolution to the perennialproblems that bedeviled hajjoperations in the past, added tothe embarrassment such pastfailures brought to the Nigeriangovernment. I know that the

commission has on its boardrepresentatives from keygovernment ministries: foreignAffairs, Finance, Health,aviation, interior and theCentral Bank of Nigeria (CBN).And as it is today, as manyNigerians would testify, thecommission has delivered itsmandate to a satisfactory levelcommended by theinternational community.

But the question in thisregard is: why are some people

not happy that Muslims andChristians are benefitting fromgovernments’ subsidies inmatters relating to their holypilgrimages? Why all theseattempts to explore ways to blocksuch laudable gestures from thefederal government? Theleadership of Nigeria of today isas wise as Solomon. There canbe no justifiable reason to stopwhat over 80% of the nation’spopulation benefit from. Religionis an integral part of human life

and government should not bedrifted away from it.

Both the Muslim andChristian faithfuls, in pursuit oftheir religious obligations andspiritual uprightness, becomemore devoted when things gettougher in their ways.Muhammad Ajah is a writer,author, advocate ofhumanity and goodgovernance based in Abuja.E-mailmobahawwah@yahoo.co.uk

Emmanuel Yawe08024565402

royawe@yahoo.com

Even more sinister, it islegitimate to ask whether BokoHaram now merely provides acover for stronger and moresophisticated interest which isfighting targets such as the U.S,Nigerian Christians and theNigerian state, using NigerianMuslims as hostages. Is theresome credibility to the suspicionthat Al Qa’ida in the Sahel hastaken over the local grievancesof Boko Haram, and is nowfighting for its own agenda,which has little to do with thereal interests of NigerianMuslims and other citizens? Oragain, is there some credibilityto the suspicion that somesinister forces are milking thesecurity situation in ourcountry for financial gains, andare sustaining the current levels

of hostility and fear using thecover and modus operandi ofBoko Haram?

Tragically, there appearslittle effort towards identifyingexactly what the nature of thethreat is. If there is one,government appearsdetermined only to throwtechnology and money at it.Hard political and securityintelligence is always difficult tocome by in conflicts of thisnature. Yet, hard intelligence isprecisely what the governmentneeds to deal with this majorthreat, and it has very little timeto acquire it. The most imminentand dangerous fallout of theChristmas bombings is that they

will raise the levels of fear andanger among most Nigerians.Many Christians will be temptedto adopt a simple position whichlinks Boko Haram with allMuslims, and will hold allMuslims responsible for BokoHaram’s atrocities. Muslims willreject the linkage, and will inturn, claim that they are evenmore victims of Boko Haramthan Christians. They will resenttheir religion being used as coverfor un-islamic activities, and willin turn claim that Muslims arebeing killed in many parts of thenation for being Muslims alone,and the Nigerian state isunwilling or unable to bringtheir killers to justice.

The most serious threat to thecurrent situation, however, isthe possibility that the Nigerianstate will lose its credibility as theprotector of our collectivesecurity. Whoever is behindthese bombings and killings hassucceeded in casting major doubtin the minds of citizens over theability of this administration toprotect both Muslims andChristians. If we cannot feel andbe protected, we may be temptedto protect ourselves. In a situationwhere Christians and Muslimsfeel threatened by each other, ittakes very little to trigger adisastrous chain of events. Inthese days with so much angerand passion, it is difficult to

convince all Nigerians thatMuslims and Christians are allvictims of this frightening waveof terror. The plan may be to getthem to engage in an unendingblood-letting, but it it will be awar without a victory. If theyfight, they will be reluctantwarriors. They do not need tofight, it Muslim leaders act andshow even more openly thatBoko Haram is condemnable.They do not need to fight ifChristian leaders do not makecapital out of the genuinegrievances of their flock andurge them into a senselessconfrontation. But above all thenation does not need to take uparms against itself if thegovernment and leaders cantake bold steps to plug the manygaping holes around oursecurity.

Hajj is not a religious tourism to MakkahContinued from page 14

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012PAGE 16

Ahead of this year’s WorldEnvironmental Day,coming up in June 28,

the Federal Ministry ofEnvironment in collaborationwith the Abuja EnvironmentalProtection Board (AEPB), at theweekend flagged-off anenlightenment andsensitisation exercise on theneed to maintain theenvironment.

The exercise, which waslaunched on Saturday, atByazhin Street in Kubwavillage, saw officials of theministry and the AEPBengaging in cleaning of blockeddrainages and thesurroundings.

Speaking to journalists atthe event, the Director, HumanResources of the FederalMinistry of Environment,Gambo Jakada said: “Theobjective of the exercise was tocreate the necessary awarenessamong the local communitieson the need for people tomaintain a clean environmentas a necessary basis forimproving their health andnational productivity”.

On what informed thechoice of Kubwa, he said that itwas one of the major satellitetown in FCT, hence provide agood opportunity for the twobodies to demonstrate thiscampaign on environmentalcleanliness.

He added that : “ theexercise was intended to serveas a model for the area councils and the FCT administration toreplicate same in other partsof the FCT and make sure itbecomes a part and parcel ofthe people’s life style”.

He said it is also expectedthat other states of thefederation would emulate andreplicate the gesture in their

respective states.Also speaking to journalists,

the Head of Enforcement andMonitoring of the AEPB, Mr.Uche Agbanusi noted that theexercise was to inculcate intoresidents, the danger of poorenvironmental sanitation aswell as the benefits.

“We want to involve thevillagers in the event. You will

agree with me that the problemin this place is because of thehaphazard buildings they havehere and nobody is here to alsoteach them the danger of livingamong heaps of waste, pollutedgutters, so it is a very bigproblem and I believe that withthis, people will be sensitised,”he said.

Continuing, Agbanusi

Ministry, AEPB sensitise residents on sanitation

added: “I don’t believe incelebration, I want somethingthat will be lasting, somethingthat people will imbibe and itwill become their everyday lifestyle. So, celebration with me, will just end that day but whenyou inculcate it into the people,it will stay for a longer time.You tell them the danger inwhat they are doing and what

weekend in Iddo-Sarkin, acommunity along the AbujaInternational Airport road,when the leadership of thecouncil and a non-governmental Organization(NGO), Jirgin TalakawaFoundation embarked onvisits to some communities inthe council.

The chairman said thatthere are so many people in

AMAC boss tasks politicians on wellbeing of rural dwellers

The Chairman of AbujaMunicipal Area Council(AMAC), Hon. Micah

Jiba has called of politicalleaders in Abuja to make thewelfare of people in ruralcommunities their majorpriority in order to improvetheir standard of living.

Jiba made the call at the

rural communities that do nothave the opportunity andmeans to have three meals per day, saying that whenpolitical leaders pay visits andinteract with people at thegrassroots, the problems of thecommon people would beknown.

He said his administrationis willing to continue to dowhat it takes to alleviate the

By Josephine Ella

challenges most people arefacing in the rural areas.

“I know it is not possible tomeet all the demands of mostof the people in the ruralcommunities, but no matterhow little it may be, our leadersshould try to reach out to thoseat the grassroots because thosepeople voted for them and putthem in office, so, they need tobe taken care of the best way

Police Prosecutor, InspectorSani Yakubu told the court thatthe case was reported at thecourt that the case was reportedat the Wuye police station byone Adejo Anthony of gamesvillage on June 21, 2012.

Yakubu said a police patrolteam arrested the accused,

Builder arraigned for vandalising PHCN cables

The police have arraigned abuilder at Games Village,before an Abuja

Magistrate’s Court for allegedlyvandalizing a power HoldingCompany of Nigeria (PHCN)armoured cable.

Umar Faruk, 25-year-old, whenhe was sighted within the gamesvillage vicinity, attempting toescape with the cable.

He said that duringinvestigation, the accusedconfessed that he disconnectedthe armoured cables.

Faruk was said to have

claimed that he committed thecrime under the influence of adrug as according to theprosecutor, “he claimed that hewas intoxicated with a Lacaseradrink which his friend druggedand gave to him but he was notaware”.

The prosecutor said that the

By Adeola Tukuru

By Kerem Kurugh offence, to which the accusedpleaded guilty, contravenesSection 287 of the Penal Code.

The Magistrate, Aminu Erisentenced the accused, to threemonths imprisonment.

He however gave him anoption to pay a fine of N2, 000and ordered that the stolencables be returned to the PHCN.

they are not doing and thebenefit they will get from whatyou are teaching them.

He blamed the area councils,who’s responsibility it is toensure cleanliness in the ruralareas for the poor sanitation inthe rural areas of the FCT,stressing that it is theirresponsibly to ensure that thesanitation campaign flagged off is sustained.

possible,” he said.In his remark, the President

of Jirgin TalakwaFoundation(JTF), SamuelNggada, said that theorganisation decided to support the council boss in his desireto impact positively in the livesof people living in ruralcommunities because there isa reward for whatever gooddone in life.

Officials of the Federal Ministry of Environment and the AEPB cleaning a drainage in Kubwa at the weekend during theenlightenment and sensitisation campaign. Photo: Josephine Ella

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012PAGE 18

The Secretary,Gwagwalada AreaCouncil of the Federal Capital

Territory (FCT), Alhaji UsmanYahaya has said that theadministration is set to construct astadium to boost sporting activitiesin the area.

Yahaya disclosed this in aninterview with newsmen duringthe 15th edition of Gwagwaladachairman sports competitionswhich was held at the GovernmentDay Secondary School football field.

He said that the stadium ifconstructed, would engage youthsto participate in different games oftheir choice.

According to him, “we engagethe youths in sporting activitiesevery year so that we can bring outthe best among them in the area”.

He noted that the GwagwaladaArea Council is the only area councilthat has been organising two footballevents every year for the youths inthe six area councils, saying thatthe aim of organising thecompetition for the youths is todiscourage them from immoralacts.

Meanwhile, at the end of thecompetition, flamingos FC defeatedthe young stars FC by 1-0.

The football competitions inwhich 29 teams registered, wouldlast for three weeks.

Gwagwaladacouncil toconstruct stadium

An Abuja based non-g o v e r n m e n t a lorganisation (NGO), Help-

Line Foundation has appealed togovernments at all levels to set asidefunds for the up keep of widow.

The President, Mrs JumaiAhmadu, who made the plea in apress conference as part of activitiesmarking this year’s InternationalWidow’s Day Celebration also urgedthem to initiate policies that would address the plights of widows in thecountry.

She noted tht such policies if

vigorously pursued would go a longway in resolving some societalproblems associated to juveniledelinquency as she observed thatmost youths are uncontrollable asa result of single parent upbringing.

Furthermore, the NGO bossobserved that the continuing plightof widows globally has beenidentified as a threat to therealisation of MillenniumDevelopment Goals, MDGs whichseek to end poverty, promote genderequality and engender globalpartnership.

“Most widows are said to livebelow poverty line, suffer gender

discrimination and neglect bygovernment, civil societyorganisations and the communitiesthey live in. It is a situation stillbegging for comprehensiveinterventions at all levels. We allknow that death is inevitable, butwe can reduce the suffering thatwidows endure by raising theirstatus and helping them in theirhour of need.

“This will contribute topromoting the full and equalparticipation of all women insociety. And that will bring us closerto ending poverty and promotingpeace around the world,” she said.

Mrs. Ahmadu explained thatHelp-Line Foundation focuses onimproving the quality of life ofwidows in the Federal CapitalTerritory and beyond, disclosingthat a charity shop stocked withassorted items has been establishedin Kuje Area Council to cater for theneeds of the widows in the territory.

Commending the wife of the FCTminister, Hajia Aisha BalaMohammed for her contributionsto the less privileged in the society,she called on the wives of the sixarea council chairmen to replicatesimilar gestures within theirdomains.

NGO advocates funding for widows’ upkeepBy Josephine Ella

Two teenagers, HarunaRabiu and Nura Musa,both security guards at a

building construction site locatedalong Jahi, Katampe road havebeen sentenced to two monthsimprisonment by an Abuja ChiefMagistrate’s Court for stealingalready filtered electric cable

wire.Rabiu, 19 and Nura, 18, were

arraigned on a one-count chargeof theft, which contravenesSection 287 and 288 of the PenalCode.

The prosecutor, Mr.Christopher Roko told the courtthat the case was reported to theJahi police post by one Mr. PatrickIzuchukwu of Lugbe Zone 8 on

may 30, 2012.According to the prosecutor,

the convicts connived and madeaway with the complainantsalready filtered electric cable wirevalue at ¦ 522,000.00.

He added that, thecomplainants discovered this onMay 25, 2012, when he visitedhis building construction site.

He said that, the convicts, who

were unable to give a satisfactoryaccount of their action duringinterrogation by the police,eventually confessed to the crime.

The convicts pleaded guiltyas charge before the courtpresided by Chief MagistrateIbrahim Musa Jibbo, who in hisruling, sentenced them each totwo months imprisonmentwithout an option of fine.

Two guards bag two months imprisonment for stealing

Commission cautions area councilstaff over involvement in politics

Council Service Commission, ChiefJohn Okomodo, who gave thewarning in Abaji Area Council,lamented the attitude of staff of areacouncils in Abuja who do not take theirjob seriously.

He said that many officials of thecouncil often jump into politicalparties of their choice, while theyallow the secretarial services to suffer.

“Let me sound a warning to the

Staff of area councils of theFederal Capital Territory(FCT), have been cautioned

against full participation in politicsat the detriment of their primaryassignment as staff of councilsecretariats.

Head of Management of Area

six area councils staff who participatefully in politics, that it is not going tobe business as usual, you either resignand join politics or behave as acomplete civil servant.

“We are not going to spareanybody that violates civil servicerules and regulation of Nigeria andwe will no longer tolerate staff thatare perpetual late comers to office.Henceforth, each departmental

attendance register will bemonitored and query will be issue todefaulters,” he warned.

He said the commission woulddo everything possible to train staffwithin and outside the country inorder to develop their talent andskills, calling on those who arestagnant in promotion to furthertheir studies in reputableinstitutions.

By Adeola Tukuru

A 29-year-old man, KingsleyUzoma of Lugbe Zone 7 hasbeen arraigned at an Abuja

Chief Magistrate’s Court forallegedly stealing pots, clipper andother items.

The accused, who wasarraigned on a one-count charge oftheft, the Police Prosecutor, CorporalPaul Anigbo told the court, wasreported by one Mr Uche Okoye, also of Lugbe, at the Lugbe PoliceStation on May 20, 2012.

He was alleged to have connivedwith his friend (now at large) inApril 2011 to steal the items from the complainant’s house.

The prosecutor added that otheritems stolen were Sharp television,LG home theatre, Sonny playstation and Tigmax generator, allvalued at N250,000.

Anigbo also told the court thatthe accused sold the generator toone Mr Onovo Emasa at N10,000,adding that during policeinvestigation, the accusedconfessed that he stole the items.

The accused, however, pleadednot guilty to the charge.

In view of the plea, theprosecutor prayed the court to fix adate to hear the matter.

Magistrate Bashir Alkaligranted the accused bail in the sumof N100,000 with two reliablesureties who must reside within thejurisdiction of the court.

He adjourned the case to July4, 2012 for hearing. (NAN)

By Usman Shuaibu

By Kerem Kurugh

Man accusedof stealing pots,clipper

L-R: Representative of the Minister of State for FCT and Senior Special Assistant on Special Duties to the Minister, Mrs. JummaiKwanashie, and Chairman of Bwari Area Council, Hon. Peter Yohanna Ushafa, during the flag- off of the village - communitysanitation exercise, recently at a Kuduru community, in Bwari Area Council, Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012 PAGE 17

Less privileged waiting for spirited people to give them alms, yesterday in Garki village, Abuja.

Job hazard; a Power Holding Company of Nigeria (PHCN) official on duty, yesterday inKaru village, Abuja. Officials of Abuja Environmental Protection Board evacuating waste, yesterday in Area 2, Abuja.

This okada rider and his passenger with her baskets of tomatoes on a dangerous ride,yesterday in Karu market, Abuja. Photos: Mahmud Isa, and Justin Imo-owoMotorcycles seized by security operatives at the Federal Secretariat, on Friday in Abuja.

PAGE 19PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Management Tip of the DayGet into the zone

find flow. Getting in the zonerequires activating thesubconscious part of the brain,which is simply inaccessiblewhen you are trying somethingfor the first time.

You need the rightenvironment. Figure out thesettings that facilitate your flow- be it a crowded coffee shop or a

quiet library - and work in themwhenever possible.

Emotions are key. Being inthe zone requires finding thefeelings that allow yoursubconscious to take over. Musiccan help activate these emotions.Find songs, albums, or artists thatput you in the right mood andblock out distractions.

INSIDE

Everyone aspires to getinto "the zone," or themental state where you

do your best work. Next timeyou're trying to achieve peakperformance, remember thesethree things:

There is no zone for newactivities. When you start anew task, you're not going to

CBN 22nd June, 2012

EXCHANGE RATES

PARALLEL RATES

BUYING SELLING

£ 243 257RIYAL 43 45$ 154 159

Interbank ratesup on cash

shortage

- Pg 20

Email: amunuimam@yahoo.co.uk Mob: 08033644990

BBBBBUSINESSUSINESSUSINESSUSINESSUSINESS

Insecurity: Julius Berger putoperations on hold in North

BUYING SELLING

CFA 0.281 0.301• 194.415 195.6701£ 241.6905 243.2508RIYAL 41.3023 41.5689$ 154.9 155.9

Julius Bergers’ trucks at the company’s premises in Abuja, FCT.

By Muhammad Sada

Oil prices fall to eight-month record lowbarrel in electronic trading onthe New York MercantileExchange, the lowest price fora front-month contract sinceOctober 6. It was at $80.42 onFriday. Futures are down 19per cent this year.

Brent oil for August

settlement decreased 51 cents,or 0.6 per cent, to $92.18 abarrel on the London-based ICEFutures Europe exchange.

Oil stockpiles were forecastto decline 1.3 million barrels,according to the medianestimate of 11 analysts in the

Nigeria losesN30bnyearly tonewsprintimportationFrom Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

The capital flight saga, beingaccentuated by unbriddledimportation and the

concomitant ruination of localbusinesses, may have foundexpression in the paper industry,with continual lamentations fromthe nation's operators.

Yesterday, the CharteredInstitute of Professional Printers(CIPPON), disclosed that thecountry is currently losing overN30 billion yearly due to massiveimportation of newsprint.

President of CIPPON, AlhajiMuhammed Lawal, told journalistsin Lagos that the development wasa large drain on the economy and asad commentary on the nation'sprinting industry.

He said the nation would havesaved the over N30 billion toresuscitate its moribund paper millsand create more jobs for Nigerians.

According to him, the threepaper mills in the country at OkuIboku Iwopin and Jebba closed shops15 years ago due to the ulteriormotive of some foreigners to ensurethat the country perpetually relyon importation of paper.

Specifically, he accused theIndians as being the brain behindthe death of the paper mills in thecountry.

He said: "The Indians are the onesdoing the bulk of importation of paperinto the country. They felt if theyshould allow paper mills here to grow,their business will not thrive."

Lawal said government's attitudeto the paper mill industry also pavedway for its sudden death.

According to him, "the runningof these mills was based on politicalconsideration rather than credibility,competence and professionalism.

"When you appoint somebodywho doesn't have cognateexperience in printing or papermill to manage these mills, whatyou will get is mismanagementand run down of its operation likewe are currently experiencing", henoted.

Lawal said it is not too late forthe government to retrace itsstep and resuscitate themoribund paper mills but theadministration could initiatepolicies that would create theenabling environment for themills to grow.

He also promised thatCIPPON would assist thegovernment in this drive bycreating the requisite advocacy,as well as ensuring that theycomply with the printing Act.

The association, he addedwould continue to proffer adviceto the Federal and StateGovernments on printingactivities.

Crude oil prices dropped tothe lowest price in eightmonths in New York after

U.S. stockpiles unexpectedlyincreased and a report signaledChina's manufacturing willshrink this month.

Oil for August delivery slidas much as $1.34 to $80.11 a

Bloomberg survey.Crude output climbed

117,000 barrels a day to 6.35million, the highest level sinceFebruary 1999. Imports rose328,000 barrels a day to 9.45million, the highest sinceMarch. (Bloomberg)

Julius Berger Nigeria Plc.has disclosed that it hassuspended its operations in

Northern Nigeria due to thesecurity challenges.

Managing Director of thecompany, Engineer WolfingGoetsch, stated this in Abuja atits 42nd Annual General

meeting, held at the ShehuMusa Yar' Adua Centre.

The Chairman of thecompany, Nurudeen Imam(rtd.), in his address, said thatJulius Berger has experiencedno serious security incidents in2011 but nevertheless, cannotignore the fact that securityissues require the company toremain vigilant and that while

the Niger Delta amnestyprogramme continues to proveeffective, Boko Haramactivities are an increasingconcern.

According to Imam, thecompany recorded a grossprofit of N34 billion in 2011compared to the N29 billiongarnered in the preceding year.

Revenue from construction

contracts alone amounted toN17 billion in 2011 as againstthe N171 billion recorded in2010, while dividend of N2.40per ordinary share would bepaid to shareholders.

He added that the companyhas diversified its customer baseto include clients from the oil andgas sector and privateindividuals.

PAGE 20 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

COMPANYNEWS

NACCIMA strikesbusiness dealswith Turkey,Malaysia,Indonesia

The Nigerian Association ofChambers of Commerce,Industry, Mines and

Agriculture (NACCIMA) hasentered into strategicpartnerships with investorsfrom Turkey, Malaysia andIndonesia.

Skyway Aviationconstructs ultra-modern cargowarehouse

Skyway Aviation HandlingCompany Limited,(SAHCOL) has

concluded plans tocommence the constructionof a custom bonded cargowarehouse, which is the firstin the West African sub-Region at the MurtalaMohammed InternationalAirport Cargo Complex.

Ekiti strategises toincrease IGR

Key officials of the Ekitistate government havemapped out strategies to

ensure aggressive revenuegeneration drive to shore upthe income base of the state.

Fitch upgradesAccess Bank'sratings

Fitch Ratings has upgradedAccess Bank Plc's Long-term Issuer Default

Rating (IDR) to 'B' from 'B-'.

WAIFEM calls foradoption of IFRSto ensure globalstandards

The West AfricanInstitute for Financialand Economic

Management (WAIFEM), hasadded voice for the adoptionof the International FinancialReporting Standards (IFRS) inNigeria to help businessesabide by globally acceptablestandards.

Etihad beginsservice toLagos

Etihad Airways, thenational airline of theUnited Arab Emirates, has

confirmed that flights to andfrom West Africa's most populouscity, Lagos, will commence fromJuly 1, 2012. The developmentbrings to three the number ofairlines from UAE.

Banking Earnings Report

Inflation rates from May, 2011 to Apr, 2012Max = 12.9%, Min = 9.3% for period in display.Current Inflation rate = 12.9% Source:CBN

Source:Pro-share Nigeria

Interbank rates upon cash shortageNigeria's interbank lending

rates inched higher thisweek to an average of 15.83

percent, from 15.66 percent lastweek, after a large cash withdrawalby the Nigerian NationalPetroleum Corporation (NNPC)and a tax remittance by telecomscompany, MTN drained liquidityfrom the system, traders said onFriday.

NNPC, a major dollar supplierto the interbank market, sold about$400 million to some lenders lastweek and recalled its naira proceedsto its account with the CentralBank of Nigeria, while telecomsgiant MTN remitted part of itscorporate tax to the government,draining liquidity from the system.

"The market was very short thisweek because of the large cashoutflows from the system and thisresulted in the rates spike," onedealer said.

Traders said liquidity wasinitially boosted by treasury billrepayments on Wednesday, but themarket opened short on Fridaywith a cash deficit of about 76 billionnaira ($468 million) due to thelarge outflows.

Nigeria also sold 100.62 billion

naira worth in three and six monthstreasury bills, $750 million at thebi-weekly foreign exchange auctionand an unspecified amount ofdollars directly to some lenders,sucking cash from the system.

The secured Open Buy Back(OBB) was unchanged at 15percent, 300 basis points above thecentral bank's 12 percentbenchmark rate, and 5 percentagepoints above the Standing DepositFacility (SDF) rate.

Overnight placement closed at16.50 percent, compared with 16percent last week, while call

From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

money closed at 16 percent, thesame level as last week.

"We are expecting thedisbursement of May budgetaryallocations to governmentagencies by Tuesday (tomorrow),which will boost the liquidity leveland help ease the cost of borrowingin the market," another dealersaid.

Traders said rates would notease significantly next week in spiteof the expected budgetary cashinflow because of demand for Nairato use at bond, treasury bill andforex auctions. (Reuters)

FBN Capital launches FixedIncome, Money Market Fund

FBN Capital, the Investmentand Asset Managementbusiness of the FirstBank

Group has introduced two funds- the FBN Money Market Fundand FBN Fixed Income Fund.This is in line with the bank'sresolve to boost wealth creationthrough specialized products.

According to the bank, thefunds have been created to caterfor the specific needs of retail andinstitutional clients in Nigeria,and give investors a platform for

diversifying and growing theirinvestments for optimalreturns.

The FBN Money MarketFund, which has a minimuminvestment of N5,000 (FiveThousand Naira) only, is anopen-ended mutual fund whichwill emphasize income paymenton a quarterly basis to its variousinvestors, hold various MoneyMarket Instruments, invest inlow-risk securities, and pay outreturns that reflect short-terminterest rates.

The FBN Capital Fixed

Income on the other hand is forthe more affluent investor,requiring an minimum amountof N100,000 (one hundredthousand naira). It is also open-ended, but will pay income on asemi-annual basis, hold avariety of government andcorporate debt obligations andother money marketinstruments. The Fund will beactively managed to maximizeits total return potential whileminimizing any increase in riskrelative to its marketbenchmark.

In response to the dynamicsof the global financialmarkets, the board and

management of MainstreetBank Limited have adopted apositional strategy that willposition the bank to meet theneeds of its growing customers.

Rising from a three-daystrategy retreat in Lagos, thebank, in a statement declaredthat its guiding vision is "to bethe financial institution ofchoice for value creation and beamong the top four banks inNigeria".

In order to achieve this, thefirm believes that it will startby "creating enduring value forour stakeholders by deliveringexceptional financial services".The bank also defined itsstakeholders as its numerouscustomers, shareholders, staff,the regulatory authorities andthe government.

The strategy session also ledto the realignment of the bank'sorganisation structure, toensure a level of nimbleness andeffectiveness that are critical forsuccess in the increasinglycompetitive financial markets.

MainstreetBank adoptsmarket-drivengrowth planFrom Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

In furtherance of the CentralBank of Nigeria (CBN)cashless policy, Ecobank

Nigeria has introduced an EcobankMobile Money, a product designedto deepen financial inclusion for allclasses of Nigerians, especially thosein the rural areas as well as reducecash dependency level in their dayto day transactions.

The Managing Director of thebank, Mr. Jubril Aku who spokeduring the launch of the productnoted that Ecobank Mobile Moneyis equally aimed at bridging thegap between the banked andunbanked and can be used by bothaccount and non-account holdersof the bank.

This is part of Ecobank's missionto provide convenient, accessibleand reliable financial productsand services to the Nigerians, hesaid.

“As we all know, mobilemoney services have hugepotential in markets where mobilepenetration vastly outpaces thenumber of people with bankaccount. This is the clear case inNigeria today as we have availableover 90 million cell phone users,both the banked and 'unbanked'.There is therefore an urgent needto offer an affordable, butconvenient, solution to moneytransfer services,"

Speaking on the benefits of theproduct, Aku stated that EcobankMobile Money deliversconvenience, accessibility andreliability to customers in linewith the bank's mission.

Ecobankintroducesmobile moneyFrom Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

PAGE 21PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

RT Briscoe hits11-month highas Nigeriafocuses onfarming

RT Briscoe Plc rose to thehighest in 11 months,benefiting from a

national focus on agriculture,according to Lambeth Trustand Investment Co.The stock advanced as muchas 4 percent to N1.72 andclosed 1.8 percent up in Lagosat N1.68, the highest sinceJuly 25. RT Briscoe shareshave risen 65 percent thisyear, compared with a 3.2percent increase over thesame period last year.

Shareholderspetition SECover AshakaCement’syearly meetingin Gombe

Shareholders of AshakaCement Plc haveforwarded a petition to

the Securities and ExchangeCommission (SEC), seekingrelocation of the 2011 yearlygeneral meeting from GombeState, over alleged insecurity.

FG sells N100bnin T-bills

Nigeria sold a total of100.62 billion naira($619.0 million) in

treasury bills with 91-dayand 182-day maturities at itsbi-monthly auction, withmixed yields compared withthe previous auction, thecentral bank said on Friday.

Reserves, oil pricesand FX outlook –FBN Capital

Recent data from thecentral bank showsNigeria’s FX reserves

balance at $37.6billion,similar to the levels they werea month ago.

Fitch withdrawsrating on RiversState’s bond

Fitch Ratings last weekwithdrew the expectedrating on the Rivers

State’s proposed fixed ratebond. Prior to thewithdrawal, the expectedratings of the issuer and bondwere B+ and AA-respectively.

INVESTORSNEWS BEAT

Source:Pro-share Nigeria

Market maintains tempo by +0.99%The bulls continue to dictate

the pace in the market forthe second week in a row as

bargain activities continue tooutweigh sell pressure during theweek.

Furthermore, the bearscontinue to dominate marketactivities as tradings closedpessimistic by -0.74% to open thefirst trading day of the weeknegative while Nigerian StockMarket trims losses by +0.26% toclose the second session green dueto renewed bargain activitieswitnessed on the bourse.

The bulls continue todominate market activities in thethird session as NSE ASI firms upby +2.03% while bargainactivities significantlyoutweighed sell pressure amid lowvolume turnover. The bears re-surfaced in the fourth session asmarket recorded -0.76% loss due

to renewed selling activitieswitnessed in some sectors acrossthe main board.

Conversely, trading activitieson Friday closed northwards assentiments turned green.Consequently, the keybenchmark indices inches up by+0.22%, while market closed theweek with aggregate gains of+0.99%.

Further analysis on acquiringbanks since transaction dateshowed that the share price ofAccess Bank Plc has recorded23.23% gain with FCMBrecording -20.51% losses whileUnion Bank Plc leads the chartwith 79.43% gain. However,Sterling Bank Plc recorded -14.17% losses while ETI also closednegative with -10.03% lossrecorded.

However, the All-Share Indexin the week under review moved

up by +0.99% to close at21,394.77 as against an upbeatby +1.35% recorded last week toclose at 21,184.58.

In the same vein, the marketcapitalization in the weekappreciated by N67.09 billion(US$447.32 million) to close atN6.82 trillion (US$45.51 billion)as against appreciation byN96.62 billion (US$644.15million) recorded last week to closeat N6.76 trillion (US$45.07billion).

The total volume traded in

the week closed at 924.04 millionunits valued at N6.29 billion(US$41.95 million) comparedwith 2.71 billion units valued atN7.37 billion (US$49.17 million)exchanged in 16,255 deals lastweek. The volume transaction inthe week when compared with theprevious week data moved downby -65.98% as against upwardsmovement by +137.61%recorded last week. Weekly valuewent down by -14.68% as againstnegative position of -16.73%recorded last week.

Sovereign Trust Insurance PAT hits 128%board to be paid as dividend, andthat was unanimously approvedby the shareholders of thecompany at 4 kobo per ordinaryshare 50 kobo each to investorswhose name appeared in thecompany’s register.

In the same vein, thecompany recorded a Profit beforetax of N7898 million, a growthrate of 92 per cent whencompared with N415 millionachieved in the 2010 financialyear.

Faloughi intimated theshareholders that the right issueat the rate of one new share for

Sovereign Trust InsurancePlc. has recorded a profitafter tax of N704 million for

the financial ended 31stDecember, 2011.

This represents a128 per centsurge when compared with N308million written in the 2010financial year.

Speaking at the company’s17th annual general meeting inLagos, the Chairman, ChiefEphraim Faloughi announcedthat sum of N274.8 out the profitis being recommended by the

every three embarked by thecompany last year recorded a 96per cent success which addedN834 million to the company’spaid up capital.

Commenting on thecompany’s performance, thechairman noted that the resultis the one of the best ever recordedin the insurance industry.

According to him, thecompany’s gross premiumwritten increased to N6.4 billionagainst N4.7 billion recorded inthe comparable period of 2010while gross premium earned roseto N6.1 billion in the period from

N4.6 billion written in the 2010financial year.

Gross claims paid moved to 1.1billion from N927.2 million paidin previous year whileunderwritten profit which stoodat N1.7 billion in the comparableperiod of 2010 increased to N2.1billion in the period underreview.

Total assets rose to N7.3 billionin the period under review,against N5.6 billion recorded inthe previous year whileshareholders’ funds which stood atN3.7 billion in 2010 grew to N5.1billion in the period under review.

Shareholders of JuliusBerger Nigeria Plc are toshare N2.88 billion as

dividend arising from year2011 business transactions.

At the company’s 42ndyearly general meeting held inAbuja, yesterday, shareholdersapproved the sum earlierrecommended by the Board ofDirectors, headed by AVM (Dr.)Mohammed Nuruddeen Imam.

Also, the construction giantannounced that it hasconcluded plans to adopt theInternational Finance

Julius Berger shares N2.88 billion dividendReporting Standard (IFRS),which the government hasdirected to be adopted by boththe public and private sectororganisations in thepreparation of financialstatements aimed at enhancinga regime of transparency in theconduct of transactions in thecountry.

Imam told shareholders thatthe company posted a turnoverof N169.413 billion for the 2011financial year, representing athree per cent drop of the year2010’s result. Yet, he said thecompany was able to declare adividend because of the

From Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos

retained profit of last year.His words: “ Although in

2011 Julius Berger achieved aturnover of N169.41 billion,which was a decrease of 3 percent of the previous year’sperformance, the retainedprofit increased this increasedprofitability is a confirmationthat our consolidation effortshave positively affected ourcompany’s efficiency andutilization of resources.

“The Nigerian StockExchange share valuation of theCompany on December 31st2011, the last trading day of theyear, was N31.60k which is

lower the N50.00 per share in2010. This reduction in theCompany’s stock value isreflective of the overall trendacross all sectors, especially inthe second half of 2011.

“In light of the Company’sincreased profitability in 2011,the Board of Directors arepleased to be able to recommendan increased dividend of N240kobo (N2.40) resulting in a totaldividend payment of N2.88billion. You will recall that theproposed dividend for 2010 was200 kobo per each ordinaryshare,” the Chairmanreminded them.

By Muhammad Sada

PAGE 22 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Consolidated Hallmark declares N120m total dividendFrom Ngozi Onyeakusi, Lagos register and this translates to

N120 million.The Chairman of the

company, Ugo Obi Ralph Okeziewhile addressing theshareholders commended thefirm’s performance, saying:‘’Notwithstanding the dauntingchallenges posed by the globaleconomy and the harshoperating environment, yourcompany was able to sustain itsyearly growth record in key

performance metrics’’.Gross premium income,

according to him, increased by36 per cent from N2.8 billionrecorded in the 2010 financialyear to N3.8 billion in the periodunder review while profit aftertax, which stood at N211 millionin the preceding period of 2010rose to N271 million in the 2011financial year, thereby showing28 percent surge.

Shareholders’ funds rose to

CBN defends aviation intervention fundfour-day public hearing on theJune 3 Dana air crash hadconfronted Minister of Aviation,Stella Oduah with claims thatthe intervention funds werediverted by airline operators toother businesses.

The joint committee, headedby Senator Hope Uzodinma hadinvited the governor of CBN,Sanusi Lamido who in turn wasrepresented by Director ofCommunication, Ugochukwu

Okoroafor and explained thatthe fund was floated by the apexbank to salvage the aviationsector.

Okoroafor told thecommittee in answer to aquestion whether the fund wasworking and necessary saying“between April 2010 andNovember 2011, non-performing loans in theaviation has reduced from N84billion to N22.9 billion”.

He told the committee thatthe CBN came up with theintervention fund because thebanks were at the centre of theaviation crisis as owing airlinescould not meet up with theirloan payments to banks.

Okoroafor told the committee“it was not like we moved to safethe banks but because wewanted to stabilise the economy.We were looking at the aviationsector and this extended to the

The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) has defended theN35 billion Aviation

Intervention fund and said as aresult of the fund, non-performing loans in the sectorhas dipped to N22.9 billion fromN84 billion last year.

The joint committee onAviation of the NationalAssembly which rounded up its

By Abdulwahab Isa

Consolidated HallmarkInsurance has declared atotal dividend of N120

million for the financial ended31st December, 2011.

At the company’s 17thannual general meeting in Lagosshareholders approved adividend payout of 2 kobo pershare for investors whose namesappeared in the company’s

banks.“It only happened that banks

were at the centre of the fundbecause it got to a stage wherebanks could no longer lend. Notthat we gave them money to buyaircraft. Twenty per cent of theloan was meant for operation”.

The committee howeverdirected the CBN to submitpayment schedules to it in thefirst week of next month afterthe senate retreat.

N4.2 billion from N4.1 billionwritten in 2010, while totalassets of the company, whichstood at N5.4 billion in thecomparable period of 2010increased to N5.6 billion in theperiod under review.

Net claims paid grew to N527million in the period underreview, from N370.9million inthe preceding period of 2010,showing a 42 percent growth,while underwritten profit

increased by 27.7 per cent fromN1.1 billion written in 2010 toN1.4 billion in the period underreview.

The chairman attributedthe success recorded by thecompany to the unflinchingsupport of its numerouscustomers and unwaveringdetermination andcommitment of themanagement and staff of thecompany.

A bond auction in Nigeriathis week is expected to bewell-received, thanks to

an expected liquidity boost asthe government disbursesfunds to government agencies.

The expected monthlydisbursal of funds togovernment agencies couldspur interest in Nigerian debtat an auction this week, butyields are seen flat on Treasurybills.

The Central Bank of Nigeria(CBN) plans to sell 83.91 billionnaira ($515.04 million) worthof 5-year, 7-year and 10-yearsovereign bonds and 134.57billion naira in short-datedtreasury bills this week.

Traders said investors arealready taking positions aheadof this week’s auction becauseof the expected inflows. Theysaid they expected the yield onthe 7-year bond to be in linewith what similar tenors areoffering on the secondarymarket.

“We see the new 7-yearbond attracting around 16percent yield at the bondauction next week, while othertenors are likely to stay flat,”one dealer said.

The CBN sold a total ofN100.62 billion in 91-day and182-day Treasury bills at itsbi-monthly auction, thecentral bank said on Friday.

The bank sold N37.49billion of 91-day paper at areturn of 14.05 percent, lowerthan the 14.10 percent yield atthe previous auction, while itissued N63.13 billion in 182-day bills at 15.31 percent,compared with 14.94 percentpreviously. (Reuters)

Liquidity surgeto spurdemand forNigerian debt

FMBN introduces e-collection platform forNational Housing Fund

Federal Mortgage Bank ofNigeria (FMBN) haslaunched an electronic

platform for collection ofNational Housing Fund (NHF)deductions from employers oflabour.

Simply called the NHF e-collection platform, the devicemakes it possible for NHFdeduction, collection andremittance to be doneelectronically by all designatedcommercial banks in Nigeriathrough their existinginformation technologystructures.

Mr. Gimba Ya'u Kumo,

managing director/CEO,FMBN, disclosed in Abuja thatonce a designated NHFcollection bank is issuedinstructions by an employer topay monthly salaries to itsemployees' bank accounts, thecorresponding NHFcomponents of the salaries willbe automatically deducted andinstantly channelled into adedicated NHF collectionaccount. A payment scheduleindicating the identity of eachemployee and amountcontributed by the employee isalso automatically generatedand FMBN immediately creditseach contributor's NHFcontribution account with the

corresponding amountremitted for that month, theFMBN boss explained.

Kumo said the e-collectionplatform will address a numberof problems facing the NHFscheme, such as refusal of someemployers to deduct theiremployees' NHF contributions,failure of some employers toremit NHF contributions afterdeducting such contributionsfrom their employees andfailure of some employers toprovide remittance schedules toFMBN. All these sharp practicesenable some unscrupulousemployers of labour tomisappropriate NHF monies oreven embezzle such funds.

Essentially, the NHF e-collection platform will helppromote transparency andaccountability in the collection

of NHF and make it possible formore eligible Nigerians to accessNHF loans for building,renovation or purchase ofresidential houses. For example,the platform will make it easyfor NHF contributors to checktheir NHF contributions usingthe NHF e-cards on any ATMmachines nationwide, theamount of money they havecontributed to the NHF schemeand thus be in a position to knowif their employers are makingthe appropriate NHFremittances as and when due.

The NHF e-collectionplatform is embedded withfeatures that securecontributors' contributions andindeed the systeminstantaneously sends an SMSalert to the contributor's mobilephone once the NHF deductionhits the NHF collections account.In addition, each contributor isregistered and issued NHF e-collection card with similarsecurity features as the normalATM card. An NHF contributoralso has the option of usingpersonal details to log-on to theFMBN web portal(www.fmbn.gov.ng) to view up-to-date records of his or her NHFcontributions.

However, no withdrawalscan be made from the NHFaccount until the contributorsatisfies the requirements forrefund of contributions asspecified by the NHF Act 1992.

Kumo commended theminister of Lands Housing andUrban Development, Ms AmalPepple, for her landmarkachievements aimed at makingdelivery of affordable houses forthe Nigerian masses possible.Such achievements include therecent approval of new NationalPolicy on Housing and NationalPolicy on Urban Development,and now the introduction of theNHF e-collection platform.

L-R: Managing Director/CEO, Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN); Managing Director/CEO, NigerianNavy Post Service Housing Scheme, Rear-Admiral Itunu Hotonou and Minister of Lands Housing andUrban Development, Ms. Ama Pepple at the launching of FMBN’s NHF e-collection platform in Abuja atthe weekend.

By Abdulwahab Isa

PAGE 24 PAGE 25PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

The politics behind the dualizationof Suleja – Minna road

Perhaps, not a few in themammoth crowd thatattended the President

Jonathan’s Februaryelectioneering campaign inMinna, Niger state, decidedthat the presidentialcandidate deserved theirvotes because the dualizationof the Minna-Suleja road wasa project they would casttheir vote for the person whomakes it a reality. That apart,many believed that theproximity of the state to theseat of power, which has beenunder the leadership of PDPsince 1999, would also attractgood things for the state in theJ o n a t h a n - l e dadministration.

It is pertinent to point outthat, unknown to manyNigerians, includingJonathan supporters, whowere at rally, the site of theproject had been officiallyhanded over to theconstruction company,Salini Nig. LTD since the 13thof December, 2010 butbecause of Christmas break,the contractor took over thesite in January where theybegan with bush clearing.

However, nearly one anda half years on, the Minna-Suleja road, which is only adistance of about 100 km, stilltake motorists about one andhalf hours to cover due to itspoor condition. In fact, theimpact of the dualizationproject is nothing to talkabout because the work seemsto be stagnant.

A motorist, Samson Alfalamented that it wasunfortunate that even theFederal government isplaying politics with the livesof their citizens. He said, “Iknow that the Suleja –Lambata – Minnadualization project ispolitically motivated rightfrom the onset because ofelectioneering campaign, thecontractors were hurriedly

mobilised to site. The pace ofwork is so glaringly slow that16 months after thePresident’s announcement ofthe award of contract, notmuch progress has been madeby the contractor.

Also, the Secretary of theNiger state chapter of theNigeria of the Union of RoadTransport Workers(NURTW), AbubakarSuleiman said, “everyone isaware of the bad condition ofthe Suleja road and the slowpace of work is another

disturbing issue”.He said, “apart from the

bad road and slow pace ofwork, there is also the issue ofbreakdown of long vehiclesthat are left on the highwaywithout any sign to alert on-coming vehicles which hascaused several fatalaccidents.

According to him, “whenwe learnt that the on-goingdualisation project wasawarded for just 40km fromSuleja, we concluded that theroad accident on the road is

not yet over because theremaining part of the roadwhich was not covered by thecontract, is over 60km. Therefore, we want to appealto the state government inthe interest of the citizenwelfare to source for funds tocomplete the remaining partlike other state governmentshave been doing”.

When contacted, the SiteAgent (Project Manager) ofSalini Nig. LTD, EngineerBizzarro Raffaello, claimedthat the company moved to

In early February 2011, President Goodluck Jonathan, in a speech while addressing thousands of Nigerians andparty members during his electioneering campaign for the 2011 presidential election at the Trade Fair Complex inMinna, Niger State Capital, announced that the Federal Government had awarded contract for the dualization ofMinna-Suleja road. This was obviously sweet music to the ears of Nigerlites who, rightly or otherwise, seem tobelieve that their state has about the worst road network in the country. In this report, Iliya Garba examines thethe dualization of Minna-Suleja road project and the politics behind it.

the site in January 2011.‘“We fully mobilized to siteand because of our reputationwe have attained 40-50percent in terms of value butin terms of scope we haveacheived16-20 percent out ofthe N280million”, hedisclosed.

Raffaello lamented thatalthough the variouscommunities located withinthe project area had beenvery accommodating, thereare other things hamperingprogress of work on the

project. The things, accordingto him, include the manysecurity check points alongthe road.

”To move to Diko from thesite, which is a distance ofabout seven kilometres takesmore than one hour, this isfrustrating and affecting ourjob”. Also, he said, the roadwas a busy one withmotorists driving recklesslywhich frequently causesaccident.

According to him, thescope of the road is tagged,“dualization of Suleja –Lambata – Minna roadwhich covers only 40km outof the 100km distance. Hesaid the scope covers two

flyover situations in Dikojunction and Maje village,while within the stretch oftheir contract, there arethree bridges to beconstructed by the firm outof which two are nearlycompleted.

”The issue of lack offund from the Federalgovernment is a generalproblem, but apart fromthe payment there is alsothe issue of discrepancies inthe bill of quantity, becauseas soon as we finish the bushclearing we discovered thatthe work isunderestimated”, hedisclosed.

He also disclose that

about N500 million would beinvolved for compensation toindividuals that would beaffected by the project, aproject to be handled by aconsultant appointed by theclient.

In telephone interview,Engineer Bakare Olashire

Umar said the slow pace ofwork on the dualisation of theSuleja – Minna road wascaused by the inadequateprovision made in the budgetfor all the road projects acrossthe country.

However, EngineerOlashire Umar disclosed that

the Federal government haddecided to source for moremoney outside the budget tofinance priority road projectsbeginning with the Lokoja –Abuja road.

He assured that the Ministryof Works was committed tocompleting all on-going road

projects in the country andthat the contract for theremaining part of the Suleja– Minna road will also beawarded, adding thatgovernment decided tostagger the contract becauseof the scope and enormous costof the project.

Part of the 40km road under construction

Engr. Bizzarro Raffaello Cleared portion of the dualization project

Engr. Bizzarro Raffaello explaining a point on the project

PAGE 26 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Battle of the Bailout: Angela Merkelcheers with delight as Germanyputs Greece out of the EuroIt was a bitter grudge match

dubbed the Battle of theBailout - and, unsurprisingly,

it was dominated by Germany.The German football team beat

their Greek counterparts 4-2 in aquarter-final at Euro 2012 inPoland tonight.

The match in Gdansk, watchedfrom the stands by German

chancellor Angela Merkel, pittedEurope's economic engine roomagainst the nation many say it istrying to crush, by demandinghuge budget cuts in exchange forrescue cash.

And there was no respite forthe Greeks as Germany, tipped asone of the favourites for thetournament, ran out comfortablewinners.

Merkel has been regularly

ridiculed by Greek media as a'Nazi' trying to re-take control oftheir country.

It refers to Greece's occupationby Adolf Hitler's army from 1941to 1945, for which some victims'families are still trying to claim$100billion from Berlin inreparations.

As would be expected, bothsets of national media spent thelast week ramping up the tensionsbetween the three-timechampions and the surprise 2004winners.

Greece's Live newspaperquipped: 'The referee should giveMerkel a fright and toss a drachmacoin at the beginning of thematch.'

jersey with the name ofGerman Chancellor AngelaMerkel prior to the match

Meanwhile, Gata sportsnewspaper joked: 'The firstmeasure that our new governmenthas to push through on the urgingof Merkel: we have to lose againstGermany on Friday.'

The German press has also

Euphoric: German Chancellor Angela Merkel celebrates after Philip Lahm scores against Greece in the quarter-final

drawn on the eurozone crisis.Bild newspaper said on

Tuesday: 'Be happy dear Greeks,the defeat on Friday is a gift.Against Jogi Loew, no rescue fundwill help you.'

Philipp Lahm gave Germanythe lead in the 39th minute beforeGeorgios Samaras equalized forGreece in the 55th.

But Sami Khedira, MiroslavKlose and Marco Reus all scoredto pull Germany clear.

'We made some silly mistakesbut at the end we scored fourgoals,' Lahm said. 'We had manychances in the first 10 to 15minutes.'

Mrs Merkel stood to cheerevery time her team scored in thematch, which was played amid thepolitical backdrop between thecountries.

Germany has been a majorcontributor to economic bailoutsfor Greece and was instrumentalin demanding unpopularspending cuts.

Germany dominated nearlythe entire match at the ArenaGdansk, but the Greek defenseheld strong for much of the firsthalf.

Lahm finally put his team infront by controlling the ball withhis chest and dribbling toward themiddle before sending a long-distance shot into the corner offthe hand of Greece goalkeeperMichalis Sifakis.

The Greeks looked better at thestart of the second half, and evenequalized when Samaras knockedthe ball past Germany goalkeeperManuel Neuer after a perfect crossfrom Dimitris Salpigidis.

But after that goal, it was backto being all Germany.

Khedira volleyed in a crossfrom Jerome Boateng in the 61st,and Klose headed in a free kickfrom Mesut Oezil in the 68th asSifakis was late to punch the ballaway. Reus made it 4-1 in the 74th,volleying a shot in off theunderside of the crossbar afterSifakis had saved from Klose.

Salpigidis added a consolationpenalty for Greece in the 89thafter Boateng handled.

And Berliner Kurier printed acartoon of a governmentspokesman telling German press:'Our stance on you remaining inthe eurozone depends entirelyupon how the match goes.'Source: Dailymail.co.uk

By Rob Preece

Celebration: Germany's Marco Reus, left, and JeromeBoateng dance after winning the game Eliminated: An unhappy Greece supporter watches as her team goes out of Euro 2012

PAGE 27PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Agency awards oversea scholarship to 1,200 students in RiversHarcourt on Friday that thestudents were studying in 10countries with courses rangingfrom Medicine, Engineering,Agriculture and IT.

He said the first batch of 93 ITgraduates from Singaporereturned last year and werepresently doing their NationalYouth Service programme, while50 post-graduate students hadcompleted their studies since lastyear.

The director said another batchof 150 students was expected tocomplete their studies and returnhome later in the year, adding thatthe scholarships were aimed atbuilding a core of globallycompetitive work force.

He said new courses likeAgricultural Engineering andUrban and Town planning hadbeen added to the scholarshipprogramme to assist in actualizingthe dream of the greater Port

Registrar blames Rufa’i for delay intakeoff of new federal universities

asking the university not to startthe registration of students untilits facilities were inspected.

He told newsmen that “thedirective is not only given toFederal University Dutsinma, butto all the nine new federaluniversities in the country”.

The registrar said that theuniversity was prepared for thetake-off as admission list had beenreleased.

He said that April 30, wasslated for the commencement, butdue to the directive, the institutionhad to wait for the inspection.

L-R: DeputyNationalPresident,Nigeria Unionof Teachers(NUT), ChiefOnem NelsonOnem,SecretaryGeneral of theunion, ObongIkpe JohnnyObong, andNationalPresident ofNUT, ComradeMichealAlogba, duringthe unionmeeting,recently inAbuja.Photo: JustinImo-owo.

The Principal of the FCTVocational Centre, BalaMusa, on Friday called for

the establishment of more centresin the 36 states of the federation.

Musa told the News Agencyof Nigeria (NAN) in Bwari thatthe establishment of the centreswould reduce the number ofbeggars, hawkers and otherdestitute on the streets.

He said that the centres wouldalso take care of those perceivedto be useless and make themuseful to the society.

On the challenges facing theFCT vocational centre, Musa saidthat it was yet to receive its firstquarter allocation of N3 million.

According to Musa, thedevelopment has createdfunding problems for the centre.

“The centre also has otherchallenges such as water, powersupply, prompt supply of food,you see there is need to improveand maintain the supply chain.”

Musa said that workers at thecentre were not properlyremunerated, adding that a lotof them were on contract.

He said that the workers werebeing paid based on theMemorandum of Understandingbetween the centre and an NGO,the Society Against Prostitutionand Child Labour in Nigeria.

“My concern is what happensto the centre when the MOUexpires. That is why I amconcerned.

“It is high time the FCT tookits responsibility and all this boilsdown to the attitude of the societytoward people living withdisability.” he said. (NAN)

Principal calls forestablishment ofmore vocationalcentres in Nigeria

Harcourt city under construction.On agriculture, he said their

focus was to turn around the sectorfor job creation and sustainablegrowth.

He said the Songhai farm hadstarted an agricultural revolutionby training young people inmodern agriculture, adding thatthe farm had trained severalyouths and agricultural extensionstaff from other states since itsinception. (NAN)

The former ExecutiveSecretary of NationalUniversities Commission

(NUC), Peter Okebukola, has calledfor five years regular revalidationof teacher certificate for improvedteaching in schools.

Okebukola made the call atthe first distinguished lectureorganised by the College of Scienceand Information Technology, TaiSolarin University of Education(TASUED), Ijebu-Ode, Ogun.

He explained that the qualityof graduate teachers in Nigeria in

relation to the minimumstandards as accessed through asurvey by NUC showed a verypoor percentage of efficiency overthe years.

Okebukola said that mostgraduates’ teachers lackedprofessionalism, inadequateexposure to teaching practice,shallow-subject matterknowledge and inability tocommunicate effectively inEnglish.

Besides, the former NUC bosssaid that the low rating of the

teaching profession was seen inthe scanty application foradmission into faculties andcollege of education.

He said that the pervasivenotion was that only “academicdregs make up the bulk of teachers,both in-service and practicing”.

Earlier in his remark, SegunAwonusi, TASUED Vice-Chancellor, said that teachereducation was the bedrock of alleducational attainment in life.

Awonusi explained that therewas no area of human endavour

Okebukola advocates 5-year revalidation of teachers’ certificates

The Registrar of the FederalUniversity Dutsinma,Katsina State, Muhammad

Yusuf, has said that the delay inthe take off of the newlyestablished six federal universitiesfollowed a directive from theFederal Ministry of Education,

The Executive Director ofRivers State SustainableDevelopment Agency, Noble

Pepple, says 1,200 students fromthe state have benefited from itsoverseas scholarship scheme.

The News Agency of Nigeria(NAN) reports that the agency wasset up five years ago by an Act ofparliament to focus on three areas;namely, education, agricultureand job creation.

Pepple told journalists in Port

that did not require teachereducation, adding that noeducational system could riseabove the quality of its teachers.

In his remarks, Prof. SegunOdubela, the state Commissionerfor Education, said governmentwould continue to give teachereducation a priority in the state.

Odubela, who saidgovernment had spent a lot ofmoney to improve standard ofeducation in the country, stressedthat government would not stopin doing so. (NAN)

The registrar also urgedadmitted students to exercisepatience and not panic asacademic activities would take-offafter the inspection.

“This is what caused the delayin the registration of students,”Yusuf said. (NAN)

The Executive Secretary ofJigawa Agency for MassEducation, Ya’u Usman, has

disclosed that thirty seventhousand people have benefittedfrom its mass literacy programmesince its inception in 2008.

Usman told the News Agencyof Nigeria (NAN) in Dutse that theagency had expended N616million on the agenciesprogrammes since 2008.

He said that the agency runsfive programmes of basic literacyclass, post literacy, continuingeducation, remedial and womenfunctional literacy education.

The executive secretary saidthat all the courses were aimed atteaching the beneficiaries how toread and write, remedy thedeficiencies of those who droppedout from school and assist themtheir education.

Usman said that the agencyalso taught sewing, soap-makingand hand craft to students tomake them become self-reliantafter graduation. (NAN)

37,000 studentsbenefit fromJigawa MassEducationprogramme,says official

among the best in the world.The commissioner said the

donation followed a request fromthe foundation that thegovernment should signifyinterest to receive the computers.

“The computers are fromMurtala MohammedFoundation, it is a donation theygave to us after requesting thatwe signify our intention to receivethis kind of gesture.

"And once we complete theirdocumentation, they alerted usthat they would bring thecomputers today.

“They gave us 90 desktop

computers for six schools in EkitiState,” she said.

The benefitting schoolsinclude Isan Community HighSchool, Isan Ekiti, AisegbaCoomunity Grammar School,Aisegba, and Doherty MemorialGrammar School, Ijero.

Others are GovernmentCollege, Iyin Ekiti, OrijaGrammar School, Emure, andEkiti Parapo College, Ido Ekiti.

Ajayi said the remainingbatch of 33,000 laptops beingdistributed to students insecondary schools would be madeavailable before the end of the

year.She said some of the

computers would be given to thestate College of Education, IkereEkiti, and Ekiti State University,Ado Ekiti, under the TertiaryEducation Fund.

She said that the InformationCommunication Technology(ICT) Department of the stateuniversity was being equippedwith more computers.

The commissioner pointedout that Google was poised to helpthe university to augment its ICTDepartment to internationalstandard. (NAN)

Murtala Mohammed Foundation donates computers to Ekiti schools

A charity organisation,Murtala MohammedFoundation, has donated

90 desktop computers to sixsecondary schools in Ekiti.

Taking delivery of thecomputers in Ado Ekiti onFriday, the Commissioner forEducation, Science andTechnology, Eniola Ajayi, saidthe foundation was convinced onthe vision of the administration.

She said that it was the visionof the administration to place acomputer on the desk of eachstudent by 2014 to make thestate education sector to rank

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012PAGE 28

ASSUS blames poor education on shortage of staffstandard of education.

Tunde Folarin Ogun, the statechairman of the union, said thisin an interview with the NewsAgency of Nigeria (NAN) inAbeokuta.

Folarin added that inadequatefunding and the lack of dedicatedstaff were also the bane of qualityuniversity education.

“That we have a fallingstandard of university education

UNILAG College of Medicine produces6,687 graduates in 50 years - Provost

(MBBS), while 702 had Bachelorof Dental Surgery (BDS) and424, Bachelor of Physiotherapy(B. Physiotherapy).

He noted that 314 othersbagged the B. Sc degree inPharmacology, while 190 and 42graduated in Physiology andRadiography respectively.

“In our well establishedtradition of continual qualityassurance of programmes andinnovations in medicaleducation, the college is leadingmost other Medical Schools inundertaking major revision ofthe curriculum.

“This is so in order toreposition our undergraduatetraining programmes to meetcurrent local, national and globalrealities and needs.’’

Atoyebi noted that the collegehad established a MedicalEducation Development Unit(MEDU) to ensure sustainableand continuous qualityassurance in all trainingprogrammes.

He added that the unit, whichwould also assist in sustainingcurrent and future facultydevelopment activities for allacademic staff, had been

L-R: Osunstate DeputyGovernor,Mrs GraceTiti Laoye-Tomori, thestateGovernor, MrRaufAregbesola,and Vice-Chancellor,AdelekeUniversity,ProfessorAyandiji Aina,during thevice-chancellor'svisit to thegovernor,recently inOsogbo, thestate capital

strengthened by the advent of theMedical Education Partnershipinitiative in Nigeria (MEPIN).

In line with efforts to sustainits foremost position as thecountry’s best in medicaltraining, Atoyebi also said thatthe college libraries had beenequipped and strengthened withqualified manpower to promoteexcellence.

The provost, however, saidthat the college was constrainedby funds to renovate structuresand provide facilities for a moreconducive teaching and learningenvironment. (NAN)

A youth corps member,Yahiya Muhammed, haserected a sculpture at the

Frontage of the FederalPolytechnic, Bida, to preachagainst examinationmalpractices, cultism andindecent dressing.

The sculpture, which wasunveiled on Friday at the school,attracted people with goodwillfrom both within and outside theinstitution, including the Rector ofthe School, Abdullahi Sule, theBursar, Danjuma Buhari, theNYSC State Coordinator,represented by the Zonal Inspector,Mrs Lydia.

Speaking at the event, theRector of Bida Ploy, Abdullahi Sule,commended the outgoing Corpmembers for the significant edifice,saying it depicts the triple vices ofcultism, indecent dressing, andexamination malpractices, whichare common in academicinstitutions.

Sule thank the Corp membersfor adding beauty to the school andassured them that whenever thereis any employment exercise in thePolytechnic, they will be givenpriority over other applicantsbecause of their sacrifice.

In her remarks, the State NYSCcoordinator commended theRector for retaining a Corpmember for distinguishing himselfwhile he was serving.

She requested that similargesture be extended to some othercorps members serving in thepolytechnic.

Corps membererects anticultism sculpturein Bida poly

is incontrovertible and as such,we must strive to eliminate thosefactors identified as the bane ofquality education in Nigeria.

‘’What other responsibility ofgovernment is more importantthan educating its citizens?

“No nation can afford toabandon education as doing so willbe like a Ship without a rudder;

“How will the nation developwithout sound education?” heasked.

Folarin, expressed optimismthat the nation‘s educationalsystem would blossom and theeconomy would benefit, if thequality of education improved.

He charged members of staffand students to also makejudicious use of resources madeavailable to them, adding thatvarious university authoritiesshould also generate fundsinternally to ease pressure ongovernment.

While urging unions to engagein negotiation with authoritiesbefore embarking on strike, healso enjoined governments at alllevels to be sensitive to theyearnings of various unions.

“Strike should and must be alast resort and so, unions,government and authorities mustdo everything possible to avertstrikes,” he said. (NAN)

The Niger state governor,Mu’azu Babangida Aliyu,yesterday ranked the

South-West region as leading inthe area of education in thecountry, saying the foundationwas laid by the late ObafemiAwolowo, whose free educationpolicy.

The ‘Chief Servant’ of NigerState, represented by his Chiefof Staff, Muhammed YahayaKuta, made the disclosure at theObafemi Awolowo University, IleIfe, Osun State, where he waspresented with an award of“Outstanding Contribution toEducation of the ObafemiAwolowo Free Education Order”by the Faculty of Education ofthe university.

He said, “Baba Awolowo

remains a leading light ineducation in Nigeria andGovernor Babangida is followingin Niger State.

“The policy of free educationintroduced by the late sage is oneof the policies beingimplemented by the Niger stategovernment. I believe Awolowo’slegacy is not magic, butcommitment and that is whathas transformed the South Westof Nigeria ahead of other statesin the country.

“And that is why in NigerState, we are on the march. Weare trying to catch up with whatSouth West has done in the areaof education”.

The Niger State governor,while joining other well meaningNigerians in celebrating theexemplary qualities of Awolowo,who died 25 years ago, said,

The Provost of the Universityof Lagos College of Medicine,Oluwole Atoyebi, over the

weekend, stated that the Collagehas produced 6,687 graduates inits 50 years of existence.

Atoyebi said this in Lagos atnews conference organised tomark the college’s 50th

anniversary scheduled forSeptember.

He said that the graduates ofvarious medical and allied fieldsare internationally competent,explaining that of the 6,687graduates, 4,624 had Bachelor ofMedicine and Bachelor of Surgery

The Academic Staff Union ofSecondary Schools(ASSUS), Ogun state

chapter, has said that shortage ofstaff, among other factors, wasresponsible for the falling

“Legacy in education endureswhether one is alive or dead.That is what Baba Awoloworepresents and that is why peopleare celebrating him. Educationis a right to every Nigerian child,to go to school and that is whatthe Niger State government isimplementing.

While noting that the FederalGovernment has a policy on theUniversal Basic Education, hesaid to make it operational iswhat is left, “and I think everystate will take advantage of thisin terms of economy andinfrastructure to do that”.

Rev. Oyediran, the daughterof Chief Awolowo, in her speech,urged people to learn what itmeans to render service to one’scommunity because BabaAwolowo lived and diedrendering service to the nation.

Awo’s free education helpedS/West lead in education - Aliyu

The Kwara Government hasdistributed letters ofappointment to 1,040

teachers to teach core subjects inschools throughout the state.

Speaking on the occasion, theChairman of the State UniversalBasic Education Board (SUBEB), MrLanre Daibu, said the new teachersshould report to their areas ofposting and start workimmediately.

The chairman, who wasrepresented by a permanentmember of the board, Mr SikiruSholagberu, explained that therecruitment became necessary dueto the shortage of teachers in someprimary schools.

He said that there was hardly aschool with teachers for coresubjects.

He said government wasdetermined to ensure qualitativeeducation in the state adding thateducation was now free.

Daibu noted that the board hadconducted orientation for all thenew teachers, and asked them to bedisciplined and show good example.

The chairman gave theassurance that teachers would becontinuously trained, adding thatthe inspectorate division had beenset up to ensure efficiency in theeducation sector in all the localgovernment areas. (NAN)

Kwara recruits1,040 teachersfor core subjects

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

From Inumidun Ojelade, Osogbo

PAGE 29PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Female circumcision an impedimentto developmental growthI was shocked when I later

heard her story, it brokem y h e a r t a s s h e

e x p l a i n e d t h e p a i n s s h epassed through dur ing thecircumcision period and thefear she has if the same fatebefall her sisters. She criedso hard for he lp but to noavail not because she cannotbe helped but because i t isthe t radi t ion that must beobeyed.

It is quite imperative tonote that knowledge affectso u r a t t i t u d e s a n d o u ra t t i t u d e s a f f e c t o u rb e h a v i o u r , t h e s eb e h a v i o u r s f o r m o u rp r a c t i c e s . T h e s e p r a c t i c e sare said to be the enduringw a y o f b e h a v i o u r a b o u tthings that people do by away of tradition or culture.

T h e c o n c e p t o f f e m a l ec i r c u m c i s i o n h a s b e e n i nexistence for decades and iti s a p r a c t i c e a m o n g m a n ycountries of the world. Thefemale c i rcumcis ion whichi s a l s o k n o w n a s f e m a l egenital mutilation has beendefined by the world healtho r g a n i z a t i o n a s a l lprocedure that involve thepart ia l or tota l removal o fthe external genitalia or theinjury to the female genitalo r g a n f o r n o n - m e d i c a lreasons. This act is carriedout on girls before puberty,it is perceived as the properw a y o f p r e p a r i n g y o u n ggirls for womanhood.

D e v e l o p m e n t o n t h eo t h e r h a n d , t r i e s t o b r i n ga b o u t c h a n g e s i n o u rh a r m f u l c u l t u r a l p r a c t i c e s

b u t w h e r e d e v e l o p m e n tt r i e s t o a c h i e v e t h i s ; o u rc u l t u r a l a n d t r a d i t i o n a lp r a c t i c e s w h i c h w e h o l dunto so tight always tend tostand in the way.

T h i s p r a c t i c e o f c u t t i n gthe female genital organ isu s u a l l y p e r f o r m e d b y ac i r c u m c i s e r u s i n g k n i f e ,r a z o r , o r s c i s s o r s . T h i sp r a c t i t i o n e r , w i t h l i t t l e o rn o k n o w l e d g e o f h u m a nanatomy or medicine does itm a n u a l l y o n g i r l s l e a v i n gthem in severe pains.

Al though, the or ig in offemale circumcision is quiteu n k n o w n b u t a v a r i e t y o freasons are being forwardedi n i t s d e f e n c e b y i t ss u p p o r t e r s w h o c o u l dinclude religious or culturalgroups .

I t b e c o m e s h i g h l ycontroversial when an issuet o u c h e s o u r c u l t u r a l ,re l ig ious be l ie f s or r ights .A n y t h i n g t h a t c o n t r a d i c t sour culture contradicts us ,as cul tura l and tradi t ionalvalues are highly respectedin our Africa societies.

T h i s p r a c t i c e i s h i g h l yrespected, in some cultures,i t i s p e r c e i v e d t h a t b yp a r t a k i n g i n t h e p r a c t i c eyou are heighten to a levelo f p u r e m o t h e r h o o d n o tt a i n t e d b y s e x u a l i t y a n dthat is why the woman givesit away happily to become amatron and be respected bye v e r y o n e .

T h e M a s s a i p e o p l e o fT a n z a n i a w i l l n o t c a l l awoman 'mother' if she is notcircumcised even if she haschi ldren. However in somesociet ies , women who have

By Ronah Adamu Bete

not have the procedure areregarded as too unclean tohandle water or food.

There i s a be l ie f amongsome group of people that aw o m a n ' s g e n i t a l i a w i l lc o n t i n u e t o g r o w u n t i l i tdangle between her legs andthat the clitoris is dangerousand i s capable o f k i l l ing aman or a baby if it comes inc o n t a c t w i t h i t d u r i n gbirth. These kinds of beliefsmay make people to give int o t h e p r a c t i c e w i t h o u t

c o n s i d e r i n g t h e h e a l t hconsequences.

Over the years it has beene s t i m a t e d t h a t o v e r 1 3 5m i l l i o n w o m e n h a v eundergone the process andthousands of girls st i l l l ivew i t h t h e f e a r o f t h i sc i r c u m c i s i o n . T h e f e m a l ec i r c u m c i s i o n h a s b e e nc a t e g o r i z e d i n t o t h r e e b yWorld Health Organisat ion( W H O ) . T h e y i n c l u d eclitoridectomy which is thecutting of part or the entirecl i tor is , the second type isc a l l e d e x c i s i o n w h i c hinvolves the cutt ing of thec l i t o r i s a n d t h e l a b i aminora, then the third typei s c a l l e d i n f i b u l a t i o n swhich is the most severe ofa l l .

A f t e r e x c i s i o n o f t h el a b i a m i n o r a a n d l a b i am a j o r a , t h e y s c r a p a w a yt o c r e a t e r a w s u r f a c e sw h i c h i s h e l d i n c o n t a c tu n t i l t h e y a r e h e a l e de i t h e r b y s t i t c h i n g t h eedges o f the wounds or bytying the legs and knees ofthe g i r l together leav ing as m a l l o p e n i n g f o r t h ep a s s a g e o f u r i n e o rm e n s t r u a l b l o o d l e a v i n gthe g i r l in p a ins .

These practices are donew i t h o u t a n a e s t h e s i a ; o n ec a n o n l y i m a g i n e t h epains the v ict ims undergo.I t s h o u l d b e n o t e d t h a t ,this procedure is capable ofc a u s i n g h a e m o r r h a g e ,f r a c t u r e d b o n e s d u e t os t r u g g l i n g , s h o c k , l o n gterm complication, such as

Uganda Female Genital Mutilation

k e l o i d , s c a r f o r m a t i o n ,pa inful intercourse, chronicinfect ions and poss ib lytransmiss ion of d isease . Awoman might suf fer f romabscesses and pains f romdamaged nerve endings.

Medical pract i t ionersaf f i rm that , amputat ion ofthe c l i tor is and othersensi t ive t i ssue reduces awoman's abi l i ty toexperience pleasure. Femalec ircumcis ion somet imescauses death and permanentheal th problems asmentioned above but i tspractitioners look at it as anintegral part of their cultureand ethnic ident i ty whichthey cannot do without.

Niger ia as a developingcountry is faced with manyproblems and developmentalgrowth, what is the stand ofheal th organisat ion inNigeria with regards to thisharmful pract ice? Thechoices remain ours , toei ther hold on to ourtraditional practices or givechance for development.

The government shouldsponsor programmes in thelight of this harmful femalec ircumcis ion and educatethe people about i ts healthimplications for the better ofwomen world anddevelopment of Nigeria as awhole.

Ronah AdamuBete is a student of MassC o m m u n i c a t i o nDepartment, Universityof Maiduguri

PAGE 30 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Bleaching: Beautyaccompanied with danger

Health tip:

A Nurse unsealed a brandnew bottle of "LAXANLACTULOSE" (a useful

laxative) and gave a patient 15ml to drink, which he did. Thedrug turned out to be "bleachingliquid" in taste and he had toimmediately vomit it out, butnot without some damage to histongue, throat, stomach anddiscomfort all night. Thefollowing morning, formalreport was made by the hospitalto the manufacturers and thebatch of the drug had to bewithdrawn from circulationimmediately. As he related thesad experience to anotherpatient in the morning, he toldhim of a driver who was giveneye drops in a reputable clinic,which he applied, but it turnedout to be raw acid. The driverlost sight in both eyes despite allefforts. The lessons andprecautions are, always tasteliquid drugs first and observe forfew seconds before swallowingthe full dosage.

Mothers must always tasteall syrups for their children andobserve for few seconds beforeadministering it on children.

All eye, nasal and ear dropsshould be tested at the back ofthe hand and observed for fewseconds before applying to theeyes, nostrils, and ears.

In the modern conscioussociety in which we live, thereis a myth that lighter palercomplexions portray beauty,riches and success.

This misguided belief hasresulted in a huge market in theuse of skin lightening products.Some people use them secretlyknowing what the side effectsare, others use poorly labeledunder the counter products not

Would you use a cream or soap that may have the following long term side effects: Skin cancer, liverdamage, kidney damage or poisoning?

knowing what dangers they areletting themselves in for.Manufacturers may not be fullyversed with the side effects orlabeling may be misleading oreconomical with the truth.

Why do we have colour inour skin?

There are three reasons forthe colour of our skin:

determines how dark a person'sskin is; more melaninproduction results in darkerskin. Melanin has another keyfunction; it plays a majorprotective role. It is the skins'own natural protection fromthe harmful ultra violet rays ofthe sun. Without it, the skin isextremely vulnerable and wewould have to cover exposedskins with sun screen or risk agreater chance of developingskin cancer.

How skin lighteningproducts work

There are two chemicalsfound in skin lighteningproducts, Hydroquinone orMercury.

• Hydroquinone (C6H6O2)is a severely toxic and verypowerful chemical used inphoto processing, themanufacture of rubber and isan active agent in hair dyes.

• Mercury in the form ofMercury Chloride &Ammoniated Mercury iscarcinogenic. They appear onthe list of toxic substances thatcan only be purchased viapharmacies with prescribedlabels of toxicity.

Both products perform asimilar process. In the shortterm they will initially causethe skin to lighten byinhibiting the production of

What to know about heartburnstomach acids flow back upinto the esophagus, theyirritate the sensitiveesophagus lining, which inturn causes thatuncomfortable burningsensation that is known asheartburn.

Then there's constantlythe other likelihood that youmight have sensed theburning sensation previously,but thought it was nothingmore than straightforwardupset stomach.

There are countless names

that I found heartburn to becamouflaged under, but one ofthe more famous andappropriate one, is "AcidReflux". "Acid" in the acidreflux suggests the stomachacids, whilst the "reflux" refersto refluxing ascendantmovement of the acids, in thedirection of the mouth. In myopinion I prefer the term"heartburn" though, seeingthat the pain I feel whenhaving an attack is moresimilar to heart "smolderingup". Nevertheless, the pain

depends on just how much ofthe stomach acids flow backup into the esophagus.

It is on this, that theseverity of heartburndepends. Each person whosuffers from heartburn willfeel bad to some degree, but alot of people will onlyexperience the mildersymptoms, and not evenrealize that their pain couldget significantly worse if nottaken care of immediately.

Chances are though, that ifyou haven't been watchingyourself too closely, you wouldhave suffered from some sort ofthe milder heartburn symptomswithout realizing it, and mistookit for indigestion, especially if itoccurred right after a heavymeal.

Once you understand whatthe cause of your heartburn is,life will become much easier,especially if you pursue the morenatural remedies in favor of theeasier available drugs.

Lastly, it is worth bringing uphere, that regardless of whetheryou use natural remedies or not,if you endure pain fromheartburn, you should consultyour doctor to confirm yoursuspicions, especially beforeexperimenting with anyremedy.

Heartburn is the term ofthe condition given to ablazing uneasiness in

the chest, just at the back of thebreastbone. There is more thanone term to define heartburn;you might know it by adifferent name, "Dyspepsia".This very strong discomfortby and large takes place in thesame region as the heart; thecondition has been named"heartburn" regardless ofhaving nothing whatsoever todo with the heart itself.

Usually, the beginning ofheartburn is known to takeplace right after eating foodand I found the cause for thisto lie in a very simpleexplanation. I am not sayingmy explanation is by anymeans comprehensive, sinceafter all, I'm not a doctor, butin the case of heartburn a fewthings tend to stand out, andthis is one of them.

I discovered thatheartburn crops up when thestomach acids produced aftereating food come into contactwith the esophagus or thegullet as it is also known. Theinside layer of the esophagusis more reactive than that ofthe stomach and is not readyto control the ruthlessstomach acids. When these

• The cells contained withinthe dermis and epidermisprovide a natural yellow, whitecolour

• Superficial blood vesselsprovide a blue or red colordetermined by oxygen content

• Melanin produced bymelanocytes scattered withinthe basal layer of the skin

It is this third point which

melanin. Without melaninformation in the basal layer nobrown pigmentation will bevisible.

The long term effects ofusing skin lightening products

Hydroquinone or Mercuryapplied to the skin will reactwith ultra violet rays and re-oxidize, leading to morepigmentation and prematureageing. More products are thenapplied in an attempt to correctthe darker blotchy appearance.

These are the beginnings ofa nasty cycle. By altering theskins natural structure andinhibiting the production ofMelanin, its naturalprotection, the skin is moresusceptible to skin cancer.

Prolonged use ofHydroquinone will thickencollegen fibres damaging theconnective tissues. The resultis rough blotchy skin leavingit with a spotty cavierappearance.

Mercury will slowlyaccumulate within the skincells striping the skin of it'snatural pigment leavingbehind the tell tale signs ofgray/ blue pigmentation in thefolds of the skin. In the longterm the chemical will damagevital organs and lead to liverand kidney failure andmercury poisoning.

PAGE 31PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Alternative voices from Rio+20The development-the

drilling, mining anddamming - is affecting

everyone, our communities and theEarth, our home and the only planetwe have."

The piercing voice of 11-year-oldTa'Kaiya is enough to grab the attentionof delegates passing by. With theaptitude of a seasoned speaker, thisyoung delegate from Canadacomfortably commanded the followingof environmental activists staging asit-in at the Rio+20 conference.

Ta'Kaiya is in Rio to represent theIndigenous Environmental Networkand to speak out against thecontroversial tar sands project beingplanned by an energy transportcompany, Enbridge, that involves apipeline from the Alberta tar sands tothe Pacific northwest coast of Canada.

"This pipeline puts in jeopardy,thousands of streams, 45 differentindigenous cultures that have beenpracticed by my ancestors and theirancestors. I am shocked that peoplewould jeopardise such pristine beautyand put a price tag on it," T'Kaiya toldAl Jazeera.

The wisdom emanating this youngmind would leave many of thenegotiators in the "green" rooms of Riograppling for answers.

She is joined by more than 200civil society groups that have travelledfrom all over the world.

Even before the UN Conference onSustainable Development, also calledRio+20, commenced on June 20,hundreds of non-governmental groupsfocused on ecology, climate change anddevelopment gathered for a counter-conference that they named "ThePeople's Summit" - an alternative to theUN mechanisms that have yet toproduce the needed results called for atthe 1992 Earth Summit, which alsotook place in Rio.

"Re-inventing the world" is the onlycourse of action, claim socialmovements gathered in Rio.

Being financed by the hostgovernment Brazil, this alternativesummit has brought together leadingvoices, not just from environmentalgroups but from all stakeholders,especially from the most afflicteddemographics. Rural women'sorganisations, indigenous leaders andclimate activists featured heavily bothinside the UN conference and at thecity centre's Flamengo Park, where thePeople's Summit is taking place untilSunday.

Meanwhile, the official UNconference opened on a sombre note,with the largest contributors to theissues at hand, the industrialisedcountries such as the US and UK, notsending their heads of state. Toaccommodate the downscaling ofenthusiasm towards emissionreductions marked by the recent BonnClimate Conference in May, UNofficials announced that the emphasisat Rio would be "green economies acrossthe globe" - and not tackling climatechange head on.

The conference has proceededwithout the same sense of urgency asthe 1992 Rio Earth Summit. This isdespite experts warning that thecurrent state of affairs calls for actionmore urgently than ever before, withbiodiversity and climate change beingmuch greater challenges than 20

years ago.Over the days of the conference,

activists took to the streets marchingin the tens of thousands to express theircollective rejection of the greeneconomy initiatives that have becomethe major focus at Rio+20.

Greenpeace activists were amongthose marching on the opening day ofUN summit, dubbing the conference"Rio Minus 20". Kumi Naidoo, theexecutive director of Greenpeacepointed out that, although this highlevel meeting comes 20 years after thefirst Earth Summit, a majority of the17 principles charted in 1992 have notprogressed, with many areas of concernexperiencing rapid degradation.

Furthermore, activists said themain principles laid forth at the EarthSummit of 1992 have been rampantly"broken", to the point that today's levelsof greenhouse gases are rising morerapidly than before the UN conventionon climate change came into being.

The Earth Summit is credited withtwo historically significant outcomes -one was a convention on preservingbiodiversity and the other was thecreation of the UN Panel on ClimateChange. The two are inextricablybound. They are mutually inter-dependent. Focusing on one part whileignoring the other is counter-productive.

Bill McKibben, of 350.org, is bluntin his assessment of Rio+20 summit.Although he has chosen to attend, hethinks that the gathering is a "joke".When he spoke to Al Jazeera, he wasabout to join a sit-in protest, awarethat his credentials may be revokedas a result.

"I remember Rio 20 years ago, asource of hope," he said. "But we arenow losing the environmentalbattles. There is nothing in this textto change that, just some wistfuldeclarations."

But, McKibben points out that hiswork is not deterred by the inefficacyof such high level meetings. In fact, itis exactly this ineptitude fromgovernments that prompted hismission to galvanise grassrootsmovements across the world.

350.org says it has mobilisedmore than 20,000 demonstrationsin the past four years and operates inevery country, except North Korea.

"It is the largest global climatemovement and that is what we need- movement power - in order to applyreal pressure. Currently, the fossilfuel industry holds all the cards. Thisis why we do not get any action," saidMcKibben.

As part of the Rio+20, UN Womenconducted a women leaders' highlevel summit where female heads ofstate from Denmark, Norway, Braziland others pledged theircommitment towards enhancingcooperation between governmentsand NGOs and advocating for genderequality. While the meeting wasinspirational, given theachievements of this handful ofleaders, it hardly filters down to themillions of other women across theworld who feature most heavily inevery indicator of developmentaldivisions, from education to basichealth and human rights.

After an emotionally chargedspeech at the People's Summit, Emily

ANALYSIS

Tjale from South Africa, representingthe Rural Women's Assembly, satdown to explain her frustations as anactivist.

Tjale has been following thenegotiations since "Agenda 21" thedeclaration that spelled out thenecessary measures for national andinternational action "in every areawith human impact on theenvironment", at the 1992 EarthSummit. This commitment was re-affirmed by member states in 2002,but the repeated promises have notmaterialised into action, she said.

"We, women, need space. We needto be made part of the decision makingprocess, as we are the ones mostaffected. We need to connect climatechange with our issues that affectsour livelihood. We need to reconnectthe eco-system in order to rehabilitateit," Tjale explained.

Concurrent to the Rio+20conference and as a sequel to the firstKari-Oca conference that was alsoheld in 1992, 500 indigenous groupsgathered at the sacred NativeAmerican site in Rio to adopt a newdeclaration that they delivered to theUN over the course of the conference.

Much to their disappointment,the final document does not mention"culture" or "indigenous rights" as partof the main principles.

Windel Bolinget is representingthe Cordillera People's Alliance at bothsummits, and has travelled from thePhilippines where he lives as part of theIgora tribe. He explained why culture,as a "fourth pillar" is essential for thetext - not just from an indigenousperspective, but in a global context.

Indigenous activists are among those at the Rio+20 alternative 'People's Summit' [Preethi Nallu/Al Jazeera]

"Our people's cultural world view isthat humanity must be in harmonywith mother nature. We should treatnature as a source of living, notextraction. The multiple crises that theworld is facing today - economic, social,political and climactic - we, indigenouspeople, have much to offer in terms ofsolutions."

He joins other civil societymovements in rejecting the "greeneconomy" initiatives being prodded bythe UN as the most pragmaticapproach to dealing withenvironmental crises.

"When we look at the policyproposals of the draft document drawnby UNEP, basically the green economyis converting nature as a capital, so it isbasically the commodification ofnature - our carbon credits and eco-system. The corporations are to makecash value off these investments. It doesnot address the root causes of climatechange such as nuclear power,extractive industries, the polluting ofrivers and [the destruction] of ourmother Earth."

The activists gathered in Riobelieve that the alternative People'sSummit is just the beginning of amovement led by a globalcommunity, and one that will resultin much more effective change thanloosely binding agreements betweenstates.

The main pre-occupation ofgovernments around the world atthe moment is in sustaining theirindividual economies, theseadvocates argue, at the expense ofbankrupting the world's naturalresources in the long term. Giventhe bleak prospects for state-ledaction, activists in Rio say their hopeis that world citizenry will evolvefrom being a passive audience of theseinitiatives to taking the reins of theirfutures.

Meanwhile, these 200-plusgrassroots organisations in Rio aremobilising to transform the averageconsumer into the average sustainer.

Source: Al-Jazeera.com

““I remember Rio 20 years ago, a source of hope,” hesaid. “But we are now losing the environmental

battles. There is nothing in this text to change that,just some wistful declarations.”

PAGE 32 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Morsi wins Egypt’spresidential electionThe Muslim Brotherhood's

Mohammed Morsi hasofficially won Egypt's

presidential election and will bethe country's next president,the electoral commission hasannounced.

Morsi picked up 13.2million votes out of just over26 million, giving him about51 per cent of the vote. Hiscompetitor, Ahmed Shafiq, thefinal prime minister underHosni Mubarak, received 12.3million. More than 800,000ballots were invalidated.

Farouq Sultan, the head ofthe election commission,delivered a long speech beforeannouncing the results inwhich he defended the body's"independence and integrity"amidst what he calledmeddling by unnamedpolitical factions.

The two candidates filed456 complaints about theelectoral process, Sultan said,most of them allegations ofeither forgery or Christianvoters being blocked frompolling stations in UpperEgypt. The vast majority ofthose complaints weredismissed.

Morsi's victory caps off morethan a week of behind-the-scenes negotiations betweenthe Brotherhood and theruling Supreme Council of theArmed Forces (SCAF). Heclaimed victory just hoursafter last week's runoff election,based on unofficial numberstallied by the Brotherhood, butthe commission delayed itsofficial announcement.

In the intervening days,

Morsi was declared the winner with 13.2 million votes, the electoral commission said [EPA]

US warns of‘imminentattack inKenya’The US embassy in Kenya has

warned of an imminentthreat of an attack on the

Kenyan port city of Mombasa andasked all its government workers toleave the coastal town, which hasbeen hit by a series of attacks in thepast.

Underscoring the threat, policesaid they recovered suspected bomb-making material in the capitalNairobi the second such discoverythis week in the country.

The US embassy said in astatement on its website that it hadalso suspended travel for itsgovernment officials to Mombasa, atourist destination popular withforeigners, until July 1.

Mombasa, the capital Nairobiand other parts of Kenya havesuffered a series of grenade attackssince Kenya sent troops into Somalialast year to pursue al-Qaeda-alliedal-Shabab fighters it blames for asurge in violence and kidnappingsthreatening tourism in east Africa'sbiggest economy.

"This is to alert all US citizens inKenya, or planning to travel toKenya in the near future, that theUS Embassy in

Nairobi has receivedinformation of an imminent threatof a terrorist attack in Mombasa,"the embassy statement said.

"All US government travel toMombasa is suspended until July 1,2012. All US government personnelare required to leave Mombasa."

The embassy said privatecitizens would not face the samerestrictions, but advised them to heedthe warning while planning theirtravels.

The warning comes days afterpolice arrested two Iranians afterseizing chemicals they suspectedwere going to be used to makeexplosives in Mombasa.

In the most recent attack in thecountry, a bomb exploded in atrading centre in the heart ofNairobi in late May, woundingmore than 30 people. One personlater died from injuries.

Armed men also detonatedgrenades outside a nightclub inMombasa in May, killing one personand wounding several others.

On Saturday, AnthonyKibuchi, Nairobi's policecommander, said police hadrecovered a bag of what appearedto be detonators labelled "MagnumBuster. Danger explosives" in a cityneighbourhood.

"We are on hot pursuit of thesuspects," Kibuchi told Reuters newsagency, saying they were lookingfor three people.

Western Ivory Coast sees rise in unrestAid workers say western

Ivory Coast has seen aserious increase in unrest

and instability, as thecountry's president blames aseries of cross-border raids onLiberia-based fighters who areloyal to former leader LaurentGbagbo.

Gbagbo's refusal to stepdown after losing the 2010presidential election unleaseda four-month civil war, inwhich around 3,000 people

were killed.And that unrest appears to

be lingering. Just this month,an ambush in the region killed22 people, including seven UNpeacekeepers.

Al Jazeera's Haru Mutasareports from the western IvoryCoast.

Gbagbo is at theInternational Criminal Courtat the Hague facing war crimescharges. He refused to cedepower following a 2010 election

which he lost, opening oldwounds that plunged thecountry into a six-month civilconflict.

The violence has forced13,000 people to flee theirhomes, according to UNestimates.

In response to mountingpressure from the Ivory Coast,Liberia has agreed to extradite41 Ivorians accused of takingpart in the deadly post-electionviolence in their homeland

Khairat al-Shater, theBrotherhood's political boss,met generals from SCAF atleast once. Sources say theywere negotiating exactly whatpowers the president will have.

Despite Morsi's victory,many of those questions abouthis power remainunanswered.

Shortly before the pollsclosed last week, the generalsissued a decree sharplylimiting the powers of the newpresident. It permitted him todeclare war, for example, onlywith the approval of the

military council.SCAF will also keep control

of legislative power, and thebudget, until a new parliamentis elected. Egyptians went tothe polls in November to electa legislature, which wasdominated by the MuslimBrotherhood's Freedom andJustice Party, but it wasdissolved earlier this monthafter a high court ruling foundparts of the electoral lawunconstitutional.

Saad el-Katatni, the speakerof the now-dissolvedparliament, also met with

officials from SCAF, and toldthem that the Brotherhoodwould not accept the courtruling or the election-nightdecree. But it's unclearwhether the Brotherhoodultimately accepted thosedecisions in exchange for thepresidency.

Either way, the militarycouncil - which has promisedto hand over power to a civiliangovernment on June 30, in a"grand ceremony" - willremain a powerful force inEgyptian politics, despite theelection of a civilian president.

back to the Ivory Coast.A court in the remote

eastern Liberian town ofZwedru, near the Ivorianborder, ordered the extraditionlate on Thursday. It is due to becarried out within 30 days.

The Liberian stateprosecutor charged the menwith mercenary activities afterthey crossed the border with alarge quantity of arms in July2011, according to a petitionfor extradition filed last month.

Sudan sees rise in anti-government protests

increasingly joining thedemonstrations, which werestarted mainly by students andpolitical activists.

Protesters have beenburning tyres and blockingroads in Khartoum for the pastseven days. Some are callingfor an Arab Spring stylerevolution.

Sudan's police chief has toldhis staff to "firmly"disperse anti-government

rallies in the capital Khartoum.The country has seen a

growing movement calling forthe downfall of the governmentafter austerity measures led toa drastic rise of fuel and foodprices. Ordinary citizens are

Following days of unrest sparked by rising food prices, protestsdemanding regime change have widened over the week.

PAGE 33PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

China conducts first manual space dockingChinese astronauts have

carried out the nation's firstmanual space docking, a

highly complex manoeuvre thatwill bring it a step closer to buildinga space station.

The manual "kiss in space" wasthe main goal of China's currentmanned mission, which beganover a week ago when the

Liu Yang, left, the country' first woman to travel to space, is among the three crew memebers[AFP]

Shenzhou-9 spacecraft lifted offcarrying three crew members,including the nation's first femaleastronaut.

The manual docking took placearound noon (0400GMT) onSunday, state media said.

On June 18, the spacecraftcame together in an automaticdocking with the Tiangong-1

module in orbit around Earth,which the three astronautsentered several hours later - a firstfor China - and have been living insince.

In preparation for the manualdocking, the Shenzhou-9 separatedfrom the space module shortlyafter 11am (0300GMT) after allthe astronauts returned to the

cabin of the spacecraft.The Tiangong-1 is an

experimental module that willonly stay in orbit until 2013 andwill later be replaced, but isdesigned to test the dockingtechnique essential to building aspace station - which China aimsto do by 2020.

The manual docking techniqueis hard to master as it involves twovessels - placed in the same orbitand revolving around Earth atthousands of kilometres per hour -

Rescue workers transport one of the victims who was killed in target killing to a local hospital[EPA]

coming together very gently toavoid destroying each other.

"Compared with theautomatic docking, the upcomingmanual docking will be morechallenging in terms of orbitcontrol," Xie Jianfeng, a scientistat the Beijing Aerospace ControlCentre, was quoted by Xinhua assaying in a report late onSaturday.

He added the operation mustbe prepared for "changes in thespace environment".

Activists have accused police of using brutal means to quell the social protests [AFP]

Armed men riding onmotorcycles have killedeight people in an attack

on a laundry in southwesternPakistan, police say.

Four other people wereinjured after several men onmotorcycles shot at a groupinside the shop.

Saturday's attack took placein a commercial area of Quetta,the capital of southwesternBalochistan province.

Initial investigationsindicated that the victims were"settlers", Iskandar Tareen, asenior police official, told the AFPnews agency.

He was referring to peoplewho have settled in Balochistanbut come from other provincesof Pakistan.

Police official SalimShahwani told the AP newsagency that the victims werefrom Punjab province.

No one immediately claimedresponsibility for the attack.

Police have launched aninvestigation to determinewhether the attack was a hiredkilling, as such cases have beenon the rise in the city.

Small separatist groups inimpoverished Baluchistan alsooften target Pakistanis fromother parts of the country.

The separatists wantautonomy and a greater shareof the money derived from theprovince's natural resources likegas and oil.

Many non-Baluch have leftBalochistan in recent years.

Deaths insouthwestPakistanshooting

Scores arrestedafter Israel protestsEighty-five protesters have

been arrested afterclashing with officers and

vandalising banks in the capitalTel Aviv, Israeli police say.

The Israeli demonstratorsblocked roads and smashed bankwindows in central Tel Avivyesterday, following two days ofsocial reform protests.

Demonstrations on Saturdaywhich ran into the early hoursyesterday morning in protest tothe detention of 12 activists aday earlier during social reform

protests. They were also angeredby reports that one of thearrested activists, Dafni Leef,had been injured during herarrest.

Leef, an activist leader, hassince been released on bail butshe said that police officersbruised and humiliated her afterher detention on Friday.

Hundreds of people took to thestreets late on Saturday andsome blocked main roads andscuffled with police. Police alsosaid that protesters broke thewindows of five banks.

Local media reported that inone case, activists chargedinside a bank and set up a tent,the symbol of protests againstrising living costs that spreadacross the country last summer.

"We are talking here aboutan illegal protest ... It startedyesterday with illegal protestsand continued today with illegalprotests with the intention ofconfronting policemen," saidAharon Exol, the policecommander of Tel Aviv district.

"We will not allow this, everypossible red line was crossedhere, we will not allow thisprotest to become violent."

"[The police] simply aren'tgiving permits," Stav Shaffir,one of the protest organisers, toldlocal newspaper Haaretz.

"In the last two months we'vecome to understand what wasgoing on: They are playing withus, blocking our attempts, andmaking us wait for excessivelylong periods of time. This hasbeen going on over and overagain for many months," hesaid.

Micky Rosenfeld, a policespokesman, said the arrests weremade to prevent looting.

He estimated there were1,500 people taking part in theprotests. But media reports gavea figure about four times higher.

A grassroots protestmovement that began last Julyas a cluster of student tent-squatters demanding lowerliving costs in Tel Aviv spreadinto a nation-wide mobilisationof Israel's middle class.

Those rallies have been someof the largest in Israel's historyand led the country's primeminister, BenjaminNetanyahu to form a panel ledby economist ManuelTrajtenberg which hasrecommended raising welfarespending and lowering defenceexpenditure.

PAGE 34 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Latin American leadersreject Paraguay ‘coup’Latin American countries

have expressed concern atthe ouster of Paraguay's

President Fernando Lugo, withleaders of three countries sayingthey will not recognise its newgovernment.

Argentina's President CristinaFernandez, Ecuador PresidentRafael Correa and Venezuelan

Ousted President Fernando Lugo

President Hugo Chavez onSaturday said they would notrecognise the government ofnewly-installed leader FredericoFranco, who was sworn in by thesame senate which, minutesbefore, had voted out Lugo.

Argentina's foreign ministrysaid in a statement later onSaturday that it was

withdrawing its ambassador toParaguay, while Brazil said it wascalling in its ambassador toParaguay for consultations overthe impeachment, addingdemocracy is essential forregional integration.

Federico Franco, theParaguay's newly sworn-inpresident, has reached out to LatinAmerican leaders to minimisediplomatic fallout and keep hiscountry from becoming aregional pariah.

His first two appointmentswere Interior Minister CarmeloCaballero, who will be tasked withmaintaining public order in thislandlocked country, and ForeignMinister Jose Felix Fernandez,who will immediately hit the roadto try to appease fellow membersof the Mercosur and Unasurregional trade blocs.

"Our foreign minister will goto Argentina, Brazil and Uruguayto meet with authorities andexplain to them that there was nobreak with democracy here. Thetransition of power through

political trial is established in thenational constitution," Francosaid.

The Paraguayan Senate voted39-4 Friday to dismiss Lugo, 61, alittle more than a year before hisfive-year term was to end.

Senators found Lugo, a formerCatholic priest with a string ofoutstanding paternity cases,guilty of performing his dutiesbadly during the dispute last weekthat left 17 people dead.

An hour later, to cheers insideCongress and angry clashesoutside, 49-year-old vicepresident Franco was sworn in asthe new leader of one of LatinAmerica's poorest nations.

A torrent of furious responsespoured in from across the region,not just from traditional leftistallies like Bolivia, Nicaragua andVenezuela, but also from centristand right-wing governmentsArgentina and Chile.

"Without any doubt there hasbeen a coup d'etat in Paraguay. Itis unacceptable." Argentina'sKirchner said.

Pope Benedict picks Fox News reporter to burnish Vatican's imageThe US journalist said he would bebased in the secretariat of state andhis remit would be more strategic.He said he had twice refused a similaroffer from the Vatican, "because I hada really great job".

The appointment followed ameeting between the pope and hiscardinals on Saturday. The Vaticanhas been through a period of turmoilrecently, with the sacking of thehead of the Vatican bank and the

arrest and imprisonment ofBenedict's butler, who is accused ofleaking the pope's confidentialcorrespondence. After a broadermeeting on Saturday morning, thepope consulted a select group of fivecardinals who did not include his topadviser, the secretary of state,Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone.

The exclusion of the Vatican's"prime minister" promptedspeculation in Italy that Benedicthad finally yielded to pressure forBertone's removal. Critics havelong accused him of exacerbatingdivisions at the top of the Catholicchurch, the world's biggestChristian denomination.

This is the second time thepapacy has called on a professionaljournalist from Opus Dei. The latepope John Paul II's press chief wasa former Rome correspondent ofthe conservative Spanish dailyABC.

A Fox News reporter hasbeen chosen by PopeBenedict to burnish the

Vatican's image amid signs that the85-year-old pontiff is plotting aradical shakeup at the top of theRoman Catholic church.

Greg Burke, a 52-year-oldmember of the conservative OpusDei fellowship, is to take a strategiccommunication role in the Vatican'smost important governmentdepartment, the secretariat of state.

He said: "I feel exactly the way Ifelt in Lebanon at the start of the2006 war - nervous and excited atthe same time, with a guaranteethat it is going to be interesting. Idon't know how it's going to work out,but I know it's going to be interesting."

Burke, who is currently Romecorrespondent for Fox television, saidhis role would be different from thatof Father Federico Lombardi, thedirector of the Holy See's press office.

Greece outlines plan to ease bailout termsbenefits.

"The aim is to avoid layoffs ofpermanent staff, but to economise aserious amount through non-salaryoperational costs and lessbureaucracy," the three-partycoalition document said.

The programme, agreed byleaders of the three-party coalitionafter a June 17 election, faces its firsttest at a two-day EU summit startingnext Thursday.

Conservative Prime MinisterAntonis Samaras, a Harvard-educated economist who switchedfrom opposing the first bailout toreluctantly supporting the second, haspromised to soften the terms withoutjeopardising Greece's place in theeurozone.

Greece has been dependent sinceMay 2010 on funds from twointernational rescue loan deals withother EU countries and the IMF, in

Belarusestablishesembassy inNigeriaBelarus has established an

embassy in Abuja after 20years of maintaining

diplomatic relations with Nigeria,the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN)reports.

Its Ambassador to Nigeria, MrVyacheslav Beskosty, told NAN inAbuja on Sunday that the movewas part of efforts to further boostbilateral cooperation between thetwo countries.

He said Nigeria and Belarus hadin the past 20 years, beencooperating at the level ofinternational organisationssuch as the UN.

“We have been supportingeach other's candidates invarious committees at the UNand other bodies,'' he said.

The envoy added that bothnations had been involved intrade and investment with thevolume standing at 97.3million dollars in 2011.

According to him, the figureaccounts for rubber, cocoa andleather imports from Nigeriawhile Belarus' exports were infertilizer, oil products andprinting.

He listed new areas ofcooperation to includeeducation and culture, sayingthat at least, 500 Nigerianstudents were studyingprivately in Belarus.

“We are interested ininvestment and will bepartnering with Bauchi State toassemble Belarusian tractors.

Mistakenidentity inMexico drugbustAfter working with US

intelligence for months, theMexican navy said it

believed it had nabbed a big prize ina known Guadalajara narco-haven: the son of Mexico's topfugitive drug lord.

But it turned out they got thewrong man.

The man arrested on Thursdayas the presumed son of Joaquin "ElChapo" Guzman is really FelixBeltran Leon, 23, and not AlfredoGuzman Salazar, as the Mexicannavy had presented him, theattorney general's office said onFriday.

The stocky, baby-faced suspecthad been presented as the son ofGuzman, the chief of the SinaloaCartel, and a navy official describedhim as a rising operator in theinternational drug traffickingorganisation.

But Beltran Leon's wife, KarlaPacheco, said he is the father of atoddler and works with his mother-in-law at a used car dealership.

The attorney general's officesaid that "necessary tests" hadproved he was not the drug lord'sson, but said he would remainunder investigation for the gunsand money found during his arrest.

Greece's new governmenthas said it wanted toreview several austerity

measures that the debt-riddencountry agreed as part of bailoutpackages.

The government on Saturday saidit wanted to bargain for a two-yearfiscal adjustment extension as itprepared for an EU-IMF audit nextweek.

A policy document released by theconservative-led coalition said effortsto "revise" Greece's bailout deal in talkswith creditors starting on Mondayinclude "the extension of the fiscaladjustment by at least two years," to2016.

The aim would be to meet fiscalgoals "without further cuts to salaries,pensions and public investment" andnew taxes, it said, announcing a freezeon further civil-service layoffs, sales-tax cuts and longer unemployment

Greece has seen widespread protests over string of punishingausterity measures as part of bailout packages [AFP]

return for which it imposed a series ofdeep spending cuts and tax hikes. Itsmost recent austerity programmeruns to mid-2014.

If implemented in full, the new

programme would undo manyausterity measures the countryagreed in February to clinch a 130billion euro ($163bn) bailout package,its second since 2010.

Pope Benedict XVI salutes from the window of his Vatican apart-ments during his Sunday Angelus prayer.

PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012 PAGE 35

World’s ugliest Dog title goes to British hound MuglyA British dog has been

named the ugliest inthe world at a contest

in northern California.Judges and the vocal

audience of hundreds at the24th annual World's UgliestDog contest in Petalumawent barking mad for eight-year-old Mugly, a Chinesecrested with white whiskers,a short snout a n d b e a d ye y e s .

T h e r e s c u e d o g w o n$1,000 (£641) and a year 'sworth of dog cookies, whilehe can also look forward tostarr ing in a specia l photos h o o t a n d r e c e i v i n g a V I Pstay at a Sheraton hotel .

Bev Nicholson, the dog'so w n e r , s a i d : ' I c o u l d n ' ts p e a k w h e n t h e yannounced Mugly's name. Id i d n ' t k n o w w h i c h w a y t olook. I was shaking as muchas the dog.'

Mugly beat off challengesfrom a field of 29 contendersat the compet i t ion , whichwas watched by reportersfrom across the US, Brazil ,China, Germany and the UK.

Among the other entrantswere dogs named HandsomeHector, Creature, Rue, Icky,Spam-O-Rama and Mouse.

Ms Nicholson revealedthis is not the f irst t imeMugly 's unique looks havewon him attention and titles.

According to theAssociated Press, the ownersaid her ugly pooch also hadthe dubious honour of beingnamed Br i ta in ' s l eas tattractive hound in 2005.

Mugly has been recognised as the world's ugliest dog at aceremony in California (Pic: AFP)

Handsome Hector is shown to the audience at the World'sUgliest Dog contest

Pavarotti lookalike cheers up railcommuters by breaking into song

'He looked pretty wobbly,' added one pedestrian (Picture: CEN)

Train passengers are neverglum when Colin Miller isworking - the Pavarotti

lookalike cheers them up bybreaking into song.

The Virgin Trains worker willsing impromptu choruses of NessunDorma to soothe commuters held upby regular delays.

Some queue up to have theirpicture taken with the station guard- and others hop off to take a snapbefore their train leaves.

The 61-year-old said: 'I can't singlike Pavarotti - but I give it a good go.

'All the punters love it, they knowthe railways don't always run ontime but people know I will be outthere to keep them smiling.'

The former greengrocer startedimpersonating the larger-than-lifeopera star after Italia 90 - whenPavarotti sang the classical aria at

In the aria tonight: Colin Miller has travelled the world as a Pavarottilookalike but now entertains commuters as a station guard(Picture: Dave Evitts/newsteam)

Mugly and the runners-up at the World's Ugliest Dog contest (Pic:Getty)

A man in China thought of anovel way to bypass localdrive laws after tying his

scooter to the back of his bicycle inorder to get home after a boozingsession.

The cyclist had a few toomany lunchtime before realisinghe wouldn't be able to drive homeand was left with few options.

Clearly not enthused by thethought of having to pick up hisscooter in the morning, or

A man takes scooter on a biketo get around driving laws

risking his licence, the unknownman decided to hire a bicycleinstead.

Securing the vehicle withsome rope, the relaxed peddlermanaged to balance his cargo atan improbable angle on hisbicycle, which is not subject toChina's drive laws.

This bizarre biker wassnapped weaving home throughthe traffic in Changsha, Hunanprovince, southern China.

Luciano Pavarotti died in 2007

the football World Cup.He then spent 20 years

travelling the world as a lookalikeand has featured in TV ads untilwork dried up when the opera singerdied in 2007.

He now works at Lichfield TrentValley station in Staffordshire,where he is known as Pav tocolleagues and his passengers.

Commuter Polly Thompson, 26,said: 'He really makes my morning.It's a good way to start your day.'But Mr Miller, from Burton-upon-Trent, has been banned from singingat his 26-year-old daughter'swedding later this year. 'She prefersColdplay to opera and it is her specialday, so I'm not arguing,' he said.

PAGE 36 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Having a new hip canboost your brain powerFor those of you

deliberating overwhether to have a hip

replacement, perhaps this latestfinding will convince you: the opcould boost your memory andeven protect you from dementia.

Studies have found that thebrains of people living withchronic pain from conditions suchas osteoarthritis shrink at adramatically faster rate than thosewithout pain.

This accelerated rate, sayresearchers, may lead to fastermental decline.

Researchers at North WesternUniversity in the U.S. comparedMRI (magnetic resonanceimaging) brain scans from 26people with chronic back pain formore than a year with those of ahealthy comparison group.

Results showed that the backpain sufferers had up to 11 per centless grey matter (brain cells) thanthe other group.

This is equivalent to theamount of grey matter normallylost in ten to 20 years.

The reduced brain volume wasrelated to pain duration, with a 1.3cubic centimetre loss of greymatter for every year of chronicpain.

In another U.S. study,neurosurgeons studied brain scansof people with complex region pain

By Roger Dobson

syndrome - a long-term conditionusually triggered by an injury -and found a similar decline in greymatter, as well as changes in whitematter, which carries messagesbetween neurons.

Again, the changes in patients'brains were related directly to thelength and intensity of their pain.

'Studies suggest that somechronic pain patients will develop

Treating the pain with joint replacement surgery seems to reverse the damage to the brain

It's thought pain could cause changes in the emotional areas ofthe brain

clinical syndromes of poorattention span, reduced cognitiveabilities, and possibly dementia,'says U.S. pain specialist Dr ForestTennant.

'Chronic pain may produce aloss of brain tissue and all practisingdoctors must immediately beginunderstanding the ramificationsof this finding.'

With one in five adults havinga chronic pain disorder and one infour adults suffering from backpain at some time in their lives,these findings could indeed havehuge implications.

But the good news is thattreating the pain with jointreplacement surgery seems toreverse the damage to the brain.

Orthopaedic surgeons andneuroscientists at HamburgUniversity investigated 32patients with chronic pain causedby hip osteoarthritis.

As in the previous studies, theyfound a reduction in grey matterin a number of areas of the brain.

Tests six weeks and fourmonths after hip replacementsurgery found patients were freeof pain, but also showed anincrease in grey matter in allfour areas of the brain wherethere had previously been adecline.

That, say the researchers,suggests the brain changes are inresponse to suffering chronicpain, and not the other wayaround.

'As grey matter decrease is atleast partly reversible when painis successfully treated, we suggestthe grey matter abnormalitiesfound in chronic pain do notreflect brain damage, but ratherare a reversible consequencewhich normalises when the painis adequately treated,' they say.

Work at Oxford Universityhas found similar effects.

Two studies have examinedstructural changes within thebrain in response to havingpainful osteoarthritis of the hipand found changes identified pre-operatively were reversed aftersuccessful surgery that led to painrelief.

In one Oxford study,published in Nature ReviewNeurology, significantdifferences were seen in greymatter volume between healthypatients and those with painfulhip arthritis.

Areas of the thalamus - whichplays a role in alertness, forexample - in patients withchronic pain showed reducedgrey matter volume.

Nine months after surgery,the loss had been reversed tolevels seen in healthy controls.

So why does chronic pain havesuch an effect on our memory?

One suggestion is that long-term pain, such as arthritis,causes the central nervoussystem to reorganise itself, in aphenomenon known as 'neuralplasticity'.

The parts of the brain thatdeal with pain get bigger andmore active to deal with theonslaught to the body, meaningother parts - such as thoseinvolved with memory - getsmaller to compensate.

It's also thought pain couldcause changes in the emotionalareas of the brain, which mightexplain why people with chronicpain are more likely to suffer fromdepression.

'The more we understandabout pain, the more we recognisehow much the brain can changeas a result of plasticity,' says DrNicholas Silver, consultantneurologist at the Walton Centrefor Neurology and Neurosurgeryin Merseyside.

'Parts of the brain may shrinkand other parts may expand theirfunction to work most effectivelyafter damage.

'What these studies do not tellus is whether the nerves shrink inredundant areas or whether theydegenerate and die.

'For a long time we haverecognised that people sufferingfrom chronic pain experienceproblems with their concentrationand memory.

'It has often been assumed suchchanges purely reflectdisturbances in their mood and willreverse once the pain condition hasbeen appropriately treated.

'These recent studies havepreliminary data to show theproblem may be more concerningand suggest patients with chronicpain should possibly best be treatedearly and vigorously to avoidpotential long-term problems withcognition and memory.'

Dr Paul Strutton, seniorlecturer in neurophysiology atImperial College London, adds:'There is now good evidence to showgrey matter declines in people withchronic pain.

'We think the plasticity thatoccurs in the brain is as a result ofthe pain and not a cause of it.

'The big question is whether thisloss of nerve cells in the grey mattercan be reduced or even reversedby treating the pain.'

Research into the areacontinues: a clinical trial is startingthis month at North WesternUniversity in which 60 men andwomen with knee osteoarthritiswill be given either a drug calledduloxetine, widely used to treatpain, or a sugar pill.

The researchers will use scansto assess effects of pain on greymatter over 16 weeks.

But Dr Silver says the effect ofpain on memory may not belimited to long-term conditions.

'It is of interest that someepisodic pain conditions areassociated with transient loss ofcognition.

'In patients with chronicmigraine, we often see problemsassociated with memory andconcentration, for exampledifficulty finding words.

'When patients have hadfrequent migraine for a long time,they often have a number of otherproblems related to fatigue,dizziness, sleep, and memory.

'Once treated, most of these non-headache phenomena improve,but memory often appears toremain problematic, despite thefact the headaches have improved.'

He adds: 'One has to a be a bitcautious interpreting thesesnapshot data, as studies will beneeded over a duration of time toactually prove the brain atrophiesin certain areas in those sufferingchronic pain.'

Source: Dailymail.co.uk

PAGE 37PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Many observers arerecently marveled bythe renewed romance

between the Action Congress ofNigeria (ACN) and theCongress for ProgressiveChange (CPC) for anotherpossible merger, to garnerstrong force for the 2015presidential elections.

Already, the media wasaglow with comments from thetwo major political actors onthe state of the 2015presidential elections,expressing confidence that theduo would take the stage come2015. Retired GeneralMuhammadu Buhari, recentlyvisited ACN leader, BolaTinubu, at his residence inLagos, where they met behindclosed doors.

Sources close to the twoleaders said they discussed thepolitical future of the twoleading opposition parties,especially how to restartconsultations towards mergeror alliance ahead of 2015.Sources in CPC and ACN saidthe Buhari-Tinubu meetingdiscussed a possible alliancethat would include the othermain opposition party, AllNigeria People’s Party (ANPP).

National secretary of CPC,Buba Galadima, said that thetwo leaders had “fruitfuldiscussions” on alliance andworkable plans ahead of thenext general elections.According to him, they alsoreviewed some of the issuesthat led to the collapse of theprevious alliance moves beforethe 2011 elections.

On his part, CPC spokesmanRotimi Fashakin, disclosed“The visit is part of the ongoingcooperation amongprogressives in breaking theprimordial barriers of yore andensuring that the yearnings ofthe people for a stable, virileand just nation are satisfied.”

However, two top ACNofficials said that there hadbeen moves for Buhari andTinubu to meet, and that abirthday event both of themattended in Abuja recently,was used to facilitate themeeting. “We are startingearly to avoid the pitfalls ofprevious meetings and talks,”one ACN official said. “Wewant to be sure we got it rightthis time around, dotting ouri’s and crossing our t’s;moreover that we have someaggrieved PDP membersgiving us vital information ontheir parties internalwrangling and how we canovercome our owndifferences.”

Despite all these cordialitywhich has not yet stretchedanyone from his position tostoop for the other, observersprefer using the telescope to

Renewed ACN/CPC alliance: Another dry romance?By Tobias Lengnan Dapam

watch the romance from adistance. This is as a result ofearlier flaunting of ego betweenthe actors of the two politicalparties which led to the collapseof the first romance.

The major reason for thecollapse of the earlier politicalalliance between the twofrontline opposition parties inthe 2011 general elections wasthe refusal of CPC presidentialrunning mate, Pastor TundeBakare, to sign a resignation/withdrawal of nomination letterdrafted for him at the instanceof conveners of the talks.

Sources said the forum-CPC,ACN and Northern PoliticalLeaders Forum (NPLF), whichconvened the meeting, hadearlier agreed that the ACNpresidential candidate, MallamNuhu Ribadu should step downfor the CPC presidentialcandidate, GeneralMuhammadu Buhari (rtd),while the latter will drop hisrunning mate and acceptanother person to be proposedby the ACN.

According to the agreement,the ACN was to submit namesof three people, out of whichBuhari will choose one as hisrunning mate.

However, sources revealedthat Bakare, who had earlieragreed to resign, refused to signthe draft letter of resignationhanded to him by the allianceforum, which was supposed toindicate that he waswithdrawing as Buhari’srunning mate anytime beforeor after May 29, 2011.

Instead, according tofindings, Bakare submitted aletter, which was not acceptableto even the conveners of thedialogue-the NPLF.

In the letter he submitted,Bakare allegedly indicated thathe was giving Buhari a Powerof Attorney to decide whether

or not to drop him as hisrunning mate before or afterMay 29.

This position, according tosources, was viewed by theACN as an indication ofBakare’s reluctance torelinquish his position, and tocertain extent, an insistenceby his party, the CPC that hemust be retained even underthe proposed alliance.

After the disappointingromance, ACN NationalChairman, Chief Bisi Akandesaid it was better for the partiesto go into the contest on theirvarious platforms andemphasised “there is noalliance between ACN and theCPC ahead of the Saturdaypresidential election.”

He continued “While it istrue that representatives ofboth parties have engaged intalks aimed at forging analliance that could dislodge thePeoples Democratic Party(PDP), the clueless party thathas frittered away the hugeopportunities that could havetransformed our great countryin the past 12 years, we regretto announce that such talkshave not led to any alliance.”

“We as party that believes

in democratic values havetherefore decided that, in theoverall interest of the partiesinvolved, our democracy aswell as our country, it is betterfor each of the parties to go intothe presidential election on itsown platform.

“If at the end of the electionon Saturday there is no clearwinner we will make a decisionon which way to go, in theoverriding interest of allNigerians.

“We as a party that believesin democratic values havetherefore decided that in theoverall interest of the partiesinvolved, our democracy aswell as our country, it is betterfor each of the parties to go intothe presidential election on itsown platforms,” the ACNNational Chairman said.

However, Buhari, at adifferent forum insisted thatthe alliance talks between thetwo parties was still ongoing,saying that the CPC neededunity of purpose with the ACNto defeat the ruling PDP at thepoll, stressing that, “we needunity of purpose to defeat theenemies of democracy and to beable to deepen the roots of ournascent democratic culture.”

Following this situation,the ACN leaders backed out ofthe proposed pact, andexpressed their appreciation toall those Nigerians who werekeen in seeing to the success ofthe alliance, most especiallyformer military President,General Ibrahim BadamasiBabangida, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar,former National SecurityAdviser, General AliyuMohammed Gusau, MalamAdamu Ciroma and otherNPLF members.

Apparently jolted by theoutcome of the NationalAssembly, the trio ofBabangida, Atiku and Gusau,with the mandate of theCiroma led NPLF, commencedfrantic moves to revive theearlier alliance talks betweenthe two parties to forge acommon front, in an effort toconvincingly defeat the PDP.

Speaking at a town hallmeeting with the party’ssupporters in Abuja, Buhari,in an emotionally ladenspeech, told the gathering thatif he failed to clinch thepresidency at the poll, hewould not present himselfagain for election.

“This year’s campaign isdoubly significant, firstbecause it is an election inwhich more clearly and moreunambiguously than theprevious two in 2003 and2007, our victory is assured,as evident by theunprecedented turn out by thepeople and spontaneouspopular acclaim all over thecountry.

“And second, because thiscampaign is the third and thelast one for me; since after it Iwill not present myself againfor election into the office of thepresident,” he said.

Judging by this andBuhari’s decision to rescind hisearlier position of notcontesting in 2015,commentators are worriedthat this kind of desperation bythe CPC leader might result inanother collapse of thealliance, just like the first one.

Also, the ACN through itspunch man, Ahmed Tinubu isunlikely to settle for anythingless than the presidency,judging by his countenanceand clandestine moves toreally sweep the south-west.

As it stands, it is not theissue of starting the romanceearly, but about makingstringent decision andreconciling their differenceswhich were earlier identified.

Should the romancecontinue, who will stoop for theother? Is it Buhari who ismaking a forceful come-backafter declaring publicly thathe won’t contest or Tinubuwho is exploring all thepossibilities and impossibilitiestogether for him to lead thecountry? Only time will tell.

General Muhammadu Buhari Bola Tinubu

“We as a party that believes indemocratic values have therefore

decided that in the overall interest ofthe parties involved, our democracy aswell as our country, it is better for eachof the parties to go into the presidential

election on its own platform

PAGE 38 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

FCT Minister BalaMohammed urged civilservants at the three

tiers of government tocontinue to maintain highlevel of neutrality in theirday-to-day activit ies andremain focused.

Mohammed gave thisadvice when he received adelegation of the NationalAssociation of Senior Civi lServants of Nigeria who paidhim a courtesy visit in Abuja.

``Neutrality is required ofal l civi l servants as it wil lhelp to boost and add value toall sectors of the economy.

``Civil service, whether atthe federal or state level, isone of the few institutions inthe country that hasremained constant byreligiously serving anygovernment in power withoutbias.

``Keep the flag flying, thenation as a whole recognisesyour contributions to nationbuilding, ' ' the minister toldthe delegation.

He noted that it was thecontributions of the civi lservants to nationaldevelopment that made thePresident to approve theNational Minimum Wage andthe affordable housing policy.

The minister said that theFCT Civil Service Commissionwould come on board soon toensure that FCTAdministration's civi lservants were handled withutmost professionalism.

He promised to partner thecommission to buildaffordable houses for civi lservants to improve onproductivity and advisedthem to f ind a credibleprivate developer toundertake the project.

The FCT Minister of StateOlajumoke Akinjide also saidthat the FCT Minister hadapproved a district in the FCTfor building of affordablehouses.

She said that the FCTAdministration wouldprovide qualityinfrastructure and serviceswith strong developmentcontrol to ensure thatstandard was notcompromised whiledelivering such affordablehouses.

Comrade Bobboi Bala, theNational Vice President of theAssociation of Senior Civi lServants, commended theFCT minister for the landallocated to the associationfor the building of its nationalheadquarters in Abuja.

Bala solicited for thecooperation of the minister todeliver houses to members ofthe association currentlyliving in Nasarawa and Nigerstates.

Ministerurges civilservants tomaintainneutralityThe women wing of the All

Progressives GrandAlliance (APGA) has

lamented what it described as'gross insensitivity towardsgender matters' by the NationalChairman of the party, VictorUmeh.

In a communiqué read byAPGA National Women Leader,Ella Nwabueze, after anemergency meeting by APGAwomen leaders held in Abuja,the women leaders stated thatsuch practice negates the essenceof gender equality and fairness.

They further stated thatabsolute lack of funding forwomen activities at all levels, aswell as non provision of officescontradicts the MillenniumDevelopment Goals (MDGs),which mandates nations topromote the empowerment ofwomen in their political lives.

They pointed out that Umehdoes not consult nor considerwomen contributions in policyformulations in the party,insisting that since gendersensitivity is a litmus test forcivilization, APGA leadershipshould comply to be viewed ascivilized.

On the clash of interestsbetween some APGA chieftainsand the National Chairman, thewomen leaders called on thechairman to reconsider hisstance towards co-partymembers, to avoid becoming aking without a kingdom.

According to the

communiqué, " Even on theassumption that he could expelor suspend party elders,governors, national officers atwill, whom would he continue topreside over."

Reading further, she statedthat as mothers of the party, thewomen leaders were deeplysaddened by the recentdevelopment, describing it as

traumatic, since APGA is a massmovement, which has labored tobecome the beautiful bride ofNigerian politics.

"These current events willresult in a fall from grace to grass,and we are resolved to set inmotion, actions that will stop theslide. We will not only initiateprogressive moves in the center butalso in all states of the federation."

The communiqué stated.Meanwhile, after National

Working Committee (NWC)meeting of APGA held Thursdayin Abuja, six NWC members of theparty were suspended forpurportedly suspending theChairman against the party'sconstitution, including theNational Women Leader of APGA,Ella Nwabueze.

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

APGA women accuseUmeh of gender insensitivity

The Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP) has raised thealarm over alleged plans by

the government of GovernorAdams Oshiomole to rig anddistabilise the July 14thgovernorship polls in the state.

Director of Publicity of the PDPin Edo state, Mr. OkharediaIhimekpen, said in a statement thatcredible reports at the disposal of theparty showed that Oshiomole,acting in concert with the ACNnational leadership, is rapidlybuilding an army of militants andthugs to carry out the heinous act.

Ihimekpen stated "GovernorOshiomhole has already paid someleaders of Niger Delta militantsmillions of naira to storm Edo State

few days to July 14 election withdeadly weapons to unleash terroron the peace-loving Edo electorateswho are determined to go out to casttheir votes for regime change.

"One of the leaders of themilitants, Asari Dokubo, has beencarrying out his brief, issuingthreats that they would causemayhem in Edo if the governorshipelection is not free and fair or putdifferently, if their sponsor,Governor Oshiomhole, is defeated.

"Reports indicate that theseNiger Delta militants are to bevariously kitted in the uniforms ofthe NYSC, the Police and the Armywhile some are to be unwittinglyaccredited as observers andmonitors by the INEC in order to beable to access all polling units andcollating centres where they can

ignite crises, create violence and goahead to profit from the bedlam.

"Oshiomhole's plan to bring inthe Niger Delta militants is beingcomplemented by the plan of thenational leadership of the ACN inLagos to bring in from theSouthwest members of thecriminal wing of the Oodua PeoplesCongress (OPC) whose objective isto create unpalatable situations inpolling units across the state.

Ihimekpen stated thatOshiomole planned to compromisethe integrity of the election becausehe knew he was going to lose at thepolls just as he further alleged thatthe governorn had compromisedthe security apparatuses in thestate and that explained why henever wanted the deployment ofsecurity forces from outside the

Edo guber: PDP alleges ACN plans to destabilise pollsstate.

He added "In addition, we canconfirm that the governor hasstockpiled arms in governmenthouse, sowed police and armyuniforms to be distributed to hisneighborhood watch and the Edotraffic control group members forthe purpose of using them to causemayhem in the forthcominggovernorship election.

"We also have information that,in spite of our earlier protest to NYSCDirectorate that Oshiomholeintended to use corps members torig the election when he startedpaying them the sum of additionalallowance of N10,000 everymonth, the governor has intensifiedefforts in indoctrinating them onhow they will help to rig theelection," he alleged.

The Deputy Governor ofKatsina state, AlhajiAbdullahi Garba, has

pleaded for peaceful co-existenceamong the various communitiesin the state.

Garba made the appeal inKatsina at a meeting he held withsecurity operatives, communityand religious leaders in the state.

He said the plea had becomenecessary in the interest of peaceand stability of the nation,pointing out that ``no society canmake progress without peace andharmony.

He urged all Nigerians toembark on prayers for therestoration of peace in the country.

“We need to pray hard to God

to grant us peace and stability inthe nation. May Almighty Godrestore peace in these states," hesaid.

The deputy governorcommended religious andtraditional leaders as well assecurity agencies in Katsina forpeaceful co-existence in the state.

Garba, however, tasked

Katsina govt. meets community leaders, sues for peacesecurity agencies in the state todouble their efforts to protect thepeople, adding that the StateGovernment would continue tosupport any move aimed atsustaining peace.

He appealed to the public tosupport the security agencies inthe state to ensure peaceful co-existence among the people.

By Lawrence Olaoye

R-L: INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, welcoming the visiting coordinator, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung,Abuja Regional Bureau, Mr Felix Henkel, who led young experts to INEC office, recently in Abuja. Photo: NAN

PAGE 39PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

The Emir of Gwandu and theChairman of Kebbi stateTraditional Rulers, Alh.

Iliyasu Bashar, has called onbothMuslims and Christians to embracepeace and harmony even as heurged them to tolerate one anotherand ensure unity in the society.

He made this appeal yesterdayin Government House Brinin Kebbiduring the security meetingbetween the security agencies inthe state and the religious leaderscomprising of Christian Associationof Nigeria (CAN) Kebbi Statechapter and Jama atu NasrulIslam(JNI).

The Emir who dwelled on theimportance of peace also emphasizedthat without peace, developmentcannot take place. He urged thefollowers of both Islam andChristianity to tolerate one anotheras well as to sustain the existing

Insecurity: Emir ofGwandu sues for peace

The Action Congress ofNigeria (ACN) has saidthat the country's inept

and clueless leadership wasresponsible for the Unityed Statesof America (USA)'s designationof three leaders of Boko Haramas Specially Designated GlobalTerrorists.

ACN in a statement issuedyesterday in Ilesa, Osun state, byits National Publicity Secretary,Alhaji Lai Mohammed, addedthat the Jonathan presidency hasvirtually surrendered thenation's sovereignty to the US,"if the letter from the NigerianEmbassy in Washington beggingthe Americans not to killinnocent Nigerians, as reportedby the media, is anything to go

b y .''In what must rank as the

most shameful acceptance thatit is indeed helpless and hopeless,the Nigerian government,through the nation's Embassy inWashington, has agreed that inline with the declaration, the USgovernment is free to attack thedesignated Boko Haram leaderseven on its (Nigerian) soil.

'The Embassy howeverwishes to appeal that whateveraction is eventually takenagainst these individuals, theirimmediate neighbours whohave felt the impact, but arevery much vehemently opposedto the activities of Boko Haram,should not be affected,'' thestatement said.

The party said while theletter was the clearest indication

that the nation's sovereignty hasbeen surrendered to the US, italso shows the naivety of theJonathan's administration, asinnocent

people, including womenand children, have been moweddown by American drones insuch countries as Afghanistanand Pakistan, where suchdeclaration has led the US tostrike at a time and place of itsown choosing.

''Because of its ownincompetence, a governmentwhose major concern should be

US on Boko Haram leaders: Inept leadershiphas compromised Nigeria's sovereignty – ACN

The Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) yesterday said theAction Congress of Nigeria

(ACN) is a brood of dictators whosedeceit and pretence to democracyare consistently hobbled by itshabitual disregard for therudiments of democratic process.

Reacting to the denial by theNational Publicity Secretary of theACN, Lai Mohammed that his partywas yet to choose its gubernatorialcandidate for the October 20election in Ondo State, the NationalPublicity Secretary of the PDP,Chief Olisa Metuh urged the ACNto emerge from its cocoon of deceitto own up to its artful preference forthe undemocratic style.

The party queried " Who isfooling who? The ACNapparatchiks under its PontifexMaximus met in Lagos in clearaberration of all known tenets ofdemocracy and handpicked Mr.Rotimi Akeredolu, the formerPresident of the Nigerian BarAssociation as its candidate. Thefacts are there."

"If Akeredolu has not beenhandpicked in the ACN's usualclosed door as Mr. Lai lied, why are

other aspirants protesting? Whyare some of the thirty aspirantsalready going public with theirdisgust and frustration with the on-going shenanigans in the ACN?"

"The ACN has never beendemocratic and cannot start withOndo State governorship election.We agree that the ACN is cut anddry with the INEC guidelines butwho does not know they are plottingthe graph of their flagrantimposition of candidate and otherelectoral impunity to curve withinthe intendment of the INEC rule."

“Who does not know that the socalled yet to be scheduled primariesof the ACN which Mr. Lai lied aboutis a calculated endorsementrostrum designed to givelegitimacy to a charade. The resultof the congress will not be differentfrom the decision already taken inLagos. The isolated nature of theOndo election is a window into theinternal workings of the ACN, aparty that evangelizes Nigerianson democracy, yet, every passingmoment, it sinks deeper into themorass of deceit and dictatorship."

According to the PDPspokesman, " it is pertinent at thisjuncture to ask the ACN to explainto Nigerians the value as

ACN, a brood of dictators, says PDPquantified in electoral victory, ofthe unholy nexus that bonds it tosome serving and retired judges.Will Lai Mohammed specifically tellNigerians the role the suspendedPresident of the Court of Appeal,Justice Ayo Salami played in theLagos decision that handpickedAkeredolu or will he still lie aboutit? "

"Has the ACN been able todisprove that it benefited from thesuspended Judge's 'politicaljudgments' (apologies to ACNleader) that awarded PDP controlledstates to them?"

"Will the ACN also deny that theinvolvement of Justice Salami andothers in the candidacy ofAkeredolu was a reward for thelatter's coordinated efforts forSalami's recall to the Appeal Court?"

"Will the ACN again deny thatthis concert of politicians andservants in the temple of justice inthe build up to the governorshipelection in Ondo State is not agroundwork in anticipation of theunknown that may end in legaltussle?"

"Nigerians are watching as theACN keeps lying and deceiving thevery few that has not seen throughits wiles," the PDP statement ended.

the security and welfare of itscitizens has now exposed thesame citizens to whatAmericans call doublewhammy: attacks from BokoHaram and US drones.

"Because of its cluelessness,a government holding thenation's sovereignty on behalf ofthe people has surrendered it toa foreign government. Becauseit fails to act when it should toend the Boko Haram crisis, theJonathan presidency hasrailroaded Nigeria into theunenviable class of lawless and

failed states like Somalia andAfghanistan. This is a sad dayindeed for the most populousblack nation on earth,'' the partylamented.

The statement further calledon the National Assembly, as anassemblage of the people'srepresentatives, to act fast toprotect whatever is left ofNigeria's sovereignty andrespect, as the US designationwill also have far reachingimplication on how other nationsview and deal with Nigeria in thedays and months ahead.

Tobias Lengnan Dapam

By Lawrence Olaoye

From Ahmed Idris, Birnin Kebbi peaceful atmosphere in the statewhile commending the stategovernment for its effort to alwaysensure peace and equity in thestate.

Speaking at the peace meeting,Malan Umar Eka ,Sarkin MalamanGwandu and Shiek Abdul RahmanIsah Jega ,called on Nigerians to livein peace and not to allow acrimonyto divide them pointing out thatboth Islam and Christianity do notpermit shedding of human blood.They also said that the present criseswhich engulfed parts of the countryshould not be seen as religious butrather politically motivated.

Making his remark, the statechairman of CAN, Zakka PeterAuce, prayed for peace everywherein the country just as he pointedout that no good Christian wouldengage in violence .The cleric urgedChristians not to panic and calledon Muslims to safeguard lives andproperties of one another .

The Congress for ProgressiveChange (CPC) has concludedplans to cooperate with

Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)before the July 14, governorshipelection in Edo.

CPC Chairman Tony Momoh,who made this known in Abujayesterday, that such cooperation,was to ensure the re-election of Gov.Adam Oshiomhole.

Momoh said the party took thedecision because it was convincedthat Oshiomhole had done betterthan his predecessor in terms ofproviding basic needs, such ashealth care and good roads.

Others area he added, werequalitative education, potablewater supply and food securityamong others, for the wellbeing ofthe people.

"Oshiomhole is doing a lot ofwork in every part of Edo byuplifting the state's integrity and

CPC set to cooperate withACN in Edo values for the people to enjoy

democracy. "So, we are going tocooperate with ACN in Edo State,"he said.

He added that ACN and CPCwere moving toward an allianceand would eventually merge toactualise good governance in thecountry.

The national chairman calledon other political parties desirousto be part of the merger to feel freeto do so, assuring them that themove would ensure the growth ofdemocracy in the country.

"What are working hard to bestronger in securing the votes, toensure that votes are counted andthe votes count. "We shall reap thebenefits when the elections come,"he said.

Momoh stated that Nigeria wasexperiencing the challenges in thearea of security and economybecause the nation had failed to dowhat it was supposed to do asregards democracy. (NAN)

L-R: Lagos state Governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, welcoming the first elected civilian Governor of the state,Alhaji Lateef Jakande, during the one day public hearing on the proposed amendment to the 1999 Constitution bythe Nationa l Assembly organised by the Lagos state House of Assembly's Ad-Hoc Committee on MemorandaDrafting, recently at the Lateef Jakande Auditorium, Assembly Complex, Alausa Secretariat, Ikeja, Lagos.

PAGE 40 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Chairman said the ANPP wonall the Chairmanship andCouncillorship positions in thestate.

The Chairman, who notedthat the elections were free andfair, also stated that all politicalparties were accorded all thenecessary support toward theirfull participation.

Mohammed commended thecooperation rendered to hisCommission by securityagencies, especially the police,

vigilance groups, SSS, Hisbahgroup and traditionalinstitutions.

In a reaction, the PeoplesDemocratic Party Chairman ofMaradun Local Government,Alhaji Ibrahim Dodo said "we arenot surprised to hear the resultslike this; after all it is only theruling party that organised andparticipated in it."

The PDP chieftain addedthat "we already knew theelections will not be free and fair

Zamfara State IndependentElectoral Commission(ZASIEC) yesterday

announced that the ruling AllNigeria Peoples Party (ANPP)won in all the 13 local councilsin Saturday's polls.

Making the announcementthrough the state owned radiostation, Alhaji GarbaMohammed, ZASIEC

Maku,Chukwumerije,labour leaderspay tributes toBafyau

The Minister of Information,Mr Labaran Maku, hascalled on leaders not to shy

away from taking decisions whenthe need arises.

The minister made thecomment at the lying in state of thelate former NLC President, MrPascal Bafyau, at Labour House inAbuja.

Maku said that the late labourleader would always make peopleknow his stand at any given time,noting that his virtues should beemulated by all.

The minister noted thatBafyau's wish was not to betray theNLC or the country through hisattitude, describing his death as amonumental loss.

Maku said that Nigeria had losta rare gem and the voice of a manwho rendered selfless service tohumanity.

``He was very loyal and notafraid to take decision. We lost afriend and a comrade who till thelast day was still standing.

``Nigeria has lost a voice and aman who rendered selfless serviceto humanity.

``Bafyau's wish before his demisewas not to betray the NLC or thecountry.

``He was a detribalised Nigerianwho fought for the unity of the labourunion and the nation at large. ''

The NLC President, MrAbdulwaheed Omar, in his tribute,said that Bafyau was a veteran anda great unionist who would remainthe ``general of all time for theNigerian worker''.

Omar described Bafyau as aveteran of several wars, a generousand conscientious leader, notingthat his death brought in one of thedarkest moments in Nigeria's labourhistory.

He said the late labour leaderwas a master of negotiations and amaverick.

``What he lacked in bare-facedaggression, he more than made upfor in diplomacy with bountifulresults for the movement.

``The man, therefore, with allsense of history, could justifiably becalled the architect of congressinfrastructure. ''

Gov., Olusegun Mimiko of OndoState, said that the late labour leaderwould be remembered for hisdreams to enthrone Labour Partyin the country. (NAN)

ANPP clears Zamfara councils’ polls

L-R: Member, House Committee on Diaspora, Hon. Mustapha Khabeeb, Chairperson of the Committee, Hon. Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Speaker, ECOWASParliament and Deputy Senate President, Senator Ike Ekweremadu, Secretary General of ECOWAS Parliament, Mohamed Diakite, and Hon. AkpanUmoh, during the meeting between Committee on Diaspora and ECOWAS Parliament, at the weekend in Abuja. Photo: Mahmud Isa

which is why we boycotted itright from the beginning and weintimated our party leadershipover this action."

NAN also recalled the PDPthrough the immediate pastgovernor of the state called onthe state's electoral body as wellas the state government to"ensure fairness at the polls anddeclare only those that aretruly elected by the people inorder to ensure peaceful co-existence."

Also during the polls, it wasreported that election materialsdid not reach some parts of thestate including Modomawa,Kannu, Gora and NasarawaMailayi of Birnin Magaji localgovernment areas.

The electoral officer of thearea, Mika'il Sa'id said therewere crises in those areas duringwhich the commission's staffwere attacked and so it had tocall them back but they werereturned on the election day."

By Lawrence Olaoye with agencyreports

Speaker of ECOWASParliament, IkeEkweremadu, has pleadead

with Ghanaian authorities to stayaction for four months followingthe deadline given to Nigeriantraders to leave the country.

Ekweremadu made this pleawhen Rep Abike Dabiri-Erewa,Chairperson of the NigerianHouse of RepresentativesCommittee on Diaspora led hercommittee to meet with theSpeaker in Abuja.

Ekweremadu, who doubles asthe Deputy Senate President in theNigerian Senate said the grace offour months will enable theparliament to look into the issueand resolve it amicably.

Earlier, Dabiri-Erewa said theCommittee was inundated withseries of petitions from Nigeriatraders in Ghana on thedescriminatory attitude againstthem by the Ghanaianauthorities.

The lawmaker said if any

ECOWAS Parliament Speaker appeals to Ghana overevacuation of Nigerian tradersBy Lawrence Olaoye with agencyreports

Nigeria businessman commitsany crime, such person should bepunished accordingly as againsthiding under any harsh law todeport Nigeria traders.

"Mr. Speaker sir, we are nothere to beg anybody. But we aresaying such trade laws does notpromote regional integrationwhich ECOWAS stands for", shesaid.

Dabiri-Erewa said that theGhanaian Trade policy if notchecked by ECOWAS, was capableof affecting over 85 per centNigerians living in Ghana.

She said it would be of

economic interest to Ghana toallow free lawful trading activitiesin line with ECOWAS trade treatyas it would enhance the principlesof integration in the sub-region.

Ekweremadu told the visitingCommittee that as a sub-region,ECOWAS should be strengthenedand not weakened by some policiesin the region.

The Speaker recalled thatECOWAS trade treaty in placeallows free and unhindered lawfultrading activities among thecitizens of the sub-region.

Ekweremadu acknowledgedthat the purported deportationorder on Nigerian traders and

other African traders in Ghanawas against the integration policyof the sub-region.

The Ghana InvestmentPromotion Centre, GIPC Act of1994, Section 18 (Act 478)stipulates that any foreignerwishing to engage in trading inGhana must possess a capital ofUS $300,000.00 dollars (N46million) or the same amount inequity.

Such trader must also employ10 Ghanaians.

The deadline given by Ghanagovernment for all traders whocould not meet up expired onWednesday, June 20.

The National ExecutiveCommittee (NEC) of theCongress for Progressive

Change (CPC) has suspendedindefinitely the chairman of theBorno state ExecutiveCommittee, Mallam ZannaShettima, over allegations

bordering on disloyalty andinsubordination.

In a statement signed by theCPC's Publicity Secretary, RotimiFashakin, the party has replacedhim with Mallam Ibrahim El-Zubair as the acting statechairman.

The party described themove as part of the on-going

efforts by the National leadershipto reposition the party as aunited, cohesive and disciplinedpolitical organization.

It therefore urged the securityagencies to take note of thechange, and to forthwith, stopaccording the status of CPC partyleader in the state to the formerchairman.

CPC suspends Borno chairman over insubordinationBy Ikechukwu Okaforadi

PAGE 41PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

The terrorist attacks in Kadunacould force Joshua Obaje outof a CAF Confederation Cup tie

involving his South African clubBlack Leopards.

The northern Nigeria city ofKaduna has been under siege bythe terrorist organisation BokoHaram this month forcing the stategovernment to impose a 24-hourcurfew in the city.

Obaje said he had planned torejoin his South African club Sundayahead of a Confederation Cupgame against Al Merreikh, but therestriction of movement in Kaduna,where he has been holidaying, hasmade it impossible for him to travel.

“The situation here is frustratingas no one can move out. The crisishas dealt a big blow on me andstopped me from going back toSouth Africa to join my teampreparing for our ConfederationCup game against Al Mereikh inSudan,” disclosed the formerNigeria U20 star.

“The curfew means no airline oroffice is open and so I can’t doanything now and it is looking verylikely I will miss the game thisweekend. It is painful.”

Some other overseas-basedholidaying players like TernaSuswam of Portuguese club VitoriaSetubal and Westerlo of Belgiummidfielder Moses Adams are alsotrapped by the Kaduna curfew.

Kaduna attacksstop Obajefrom ConfedCup

The 2012 Federation Cuptakes centre stage acrossNigeria from today. As usual,

oddities are expected in theshape of unknown quantitiesedging out their more illustrousneigbhours.

Also, there are interestingmatch-ups which are likely toprovide the neededexcitement ane thrillerscapable of producing shockscup competition.

In one of such Round of 60games, El Kanemi Warriors, whojust won promotion to the NPL,will face NPL outfit Rising Starswith the Maiduguri-based teamupbeat they will knock out theAkure.

El Kanemi Warriors bossMohammed Zana, who wasdelighted the Borno stategovernment doled out N12monly yesterday doled out theamount to the players inappreciation of their returningthe team to top flight football,said they are not afraid of anyteam as they have the qualitiesto beat any NPL team.

“We are ready for Rising Stars.We fear no team no matter thelevel they are playing and youshould also have it in mind thatwe are now NPL side now. I don’tsee Rising beating,”Zanadeclared.

“Our team have the qualitiesto beat any team and we alsowant to progress in thiscompetition.”

Rising Stars left back AmoduMohammed said his team willrise to the occasion and beat ElKanemi.

“El Kanemi’s promotion showsthey are a good side and as suchwe will approach the game withall seriousness. I don’t see ElKanemi stopping us,” he said.

Both sides will clash at the OldParade Ground in Abuja. InKatsina-Ala, Plateau United willlock horns with NPL champions

Dolphin on Tuesday and bothsides are talking tough aheadof the match.

Plateau United centraldefender Kabiru Ayinde alsosaid they will stop Dolphin toadvance to next round of thecup competition.

“It is going to be a toughgame no doubt, but I see usbeating Dolphin. This is theFederation Cup and not theleague, so it is not about whichleague a team play. It is acompetition that is known forsurprises all over the world, weare prepared to do well in itespecially after missingpromotion ticket.”

Dolphin midfielder HassanHussein confirmed they won’tunderrate Plateau United, whohe has played against during histime with city rivals JUTH FC.

“It is not going to be easyagainst Plateau United. I knowthem too well and if I have theopportunity to face them, I willunlock them. Victory is what weare playing for,” he said.

Hassan Hussein’s braceagainst Plateau United in thestate final two seasons ago wasall JUTH FC needed to win stateFederation Cup. The overallwinners will represent Nigeria innext year’s CAF ConfederationCup.

Maria Sharapova Novak Djokovic

Having picked himself upafter the disappointmentof failing to complete his

grand slam collection in Paris, NovakDjokovic begins his Wimbledondefence looking for a repeat of lastyear’s “perfect tournament”.

Djokovic begins his Wimbledoncampaign against Spain’s JuanCarlos Ferrero, while six-timechampion Roger Federer andwomen’s world No 1 MariaSharapova are also in action on thetournament’s opening today.

Djokovic will be playing his firstmatch since his hopes of becomingonly the third man to hold all fourmajor titles at the same time wereended in the final of the FrenchOpen by Rafa Nadal earlier thismonth.

Ferrero, who topped the men’srankings in 2003, but has had tobattle against injury and loss of form,will provide the Serb with anintriguing challenge.

“He was a former No 1 of theworld; idol of many generations

back in Spain; he’s a Grand Slamwinner; Davis Cup winner;somebody really that peopleappreciate,” Djokovic said of hisfirst round opponent.

“Everybody who follows tennis,especially us, the tennis players, wereally respect him a lot.

“He is always dangerous. If youlook at him now, I think he’s playingequally well as he was playing four,five years ago. Now it’s just a matterof his fitness and his confidence onthe court.

“He definitely has a lot of

experience playing on the bigstage, so I’m not underestimatinghim, that’s for sure. It’s going to be agood first-round match.”

As champion Djokovic will kickoff the action on Centre Court,where he beat Nadal 12 monthsago to go top of the world rankingsand win his first Wimbledon title.

Federer is hoping to reach his firstfinal at Wimbledon since 2009when he won his sixth and final titleand begins his tournament againstSpain’s world number 43 AlbertRamos.

Women’s world No 1 Sharapovais aiming to follow-up the FrenchOpen title she won earlier this monthwith a second Wimbledon crownand plays Australia’s AnastasiaRodionova second on CentreCourt.

The statuesque Russian waslaunched into the celebritystratosphere when she beat SerenaWilliams to win her first major atWimbledon as a 17-year-old in2004, but suffered thedisappointment of a surprise finaldefeat to Czech Petra Kvitova lastyear.

“If you’re coming off a FrenchOpen win or a final it’s the toughestturnaround,” she said.

“As much as you want tocelebrate and enjoy, you comehere and it’s like a whole new ballgame.

“But I think that’s the beauty oftennis. There’s so much out there toachieve. It always seems like it’sback to back, so that’s nothingreally new.”

Wimbledon: Djokovic opens against ‘dangerous’ Ferrero

Heartland FC celebrating their victory at the 2011Federation Cup

Fed Cup: Teamson theprowl

FIXTURESFame Academy v 3SC in

ShagamuSharks V Tornadoes in Ilorin

Mbaise Lions V Kwara Utd inLokoja

Zabgai V Akwa Utd in KatsinaAla

El Kanemi V Rising stars in AbujaWikki V Prime in Minna

All Stars V UNICEM Rovers inAba

Gamji FC v Scorpions FC inKatsina Ala

Dynamite Force V FC Taraba inLokoja

Dabo FC V First Bank in AbujaHehoda FC V Ranchers Bees in

KeffiGateway FC V Akpabio FC in

BeninSpotlite FC V Mgbo FC in Keffi

Warri Wolves V Olorunda in AdoEkiti

Sunshine stars V Jimeta in AbujaYobe Stars V JUTH FC in Jalingo

Crown FC V Fountain inAbeokuta

Rangers V Hajaig FC in IbadanCannan Utd V FC Ebedei in

WarriTUESDAY

Makwada VTornadoes inKatsina

Flash Flamingoes V Lobi Stars inAbuja

FC Abuja V Kogi UnitedSamba V Sakaba Links in IlorinAbia Warriors V Police Machine

in BeninAjax FC V Nasarawa United in

MinnaKaduna United V Police

Machine in Jalingo.Cup holders Heartland and

runners-up Enyimba are drawnbye for the next stage of the

competition.

Super Falcons’ assistant coach, Samson Unuanel is positive SouthAfrica’s Banyana Banyana will excel at the forthcoming London2012 Olympic Games. The South Africans kept a clean slate against

reigning African champions, the Super Falcons in the reverse fixture of thetwo-leg friendlies at the Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos over theweekend.

Apparently excited at the level of opposition mounted by the visitors,Unuanel rated the South Africans highly and said they will be the teamto beat in the football event of the quadrennial Games in London.

“Yes, they are good. Any team that can hold Nigeria to a barren drawin a friendly is no mean team. They’ve been together for the past sevenmonths and it showed in their performance today.

“They played lots of competitive games, they were in Brazil for onemonth the same as in America and have been together preparing, so Isee them doing well at the Olympics,” he said.

The Ocean Boys’ manager who expressed satisfaction with the barrendraw said the friendly has helped in the discovery of new players.

“I am satisfied with the calibre of players we used. We have somenew players we want to give opportunity, we can’t invite them tocamp without an opportunity to see what they can do and that isexactly what we’ve done.

“The coaching crew will continue to build on the gains until we get aformidable team that will represent us at the AWC in Equatorial Guineain November,” he said.

Falcons coach ratesBanyana top class

PAGE 42 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Josesito Lopez

Lateef Kayode

Senator Bala Mohammed,FCT Minister

Five male and three femaleteams will begin the battlefor honours today in the FCT

Handball Championship at theOld Parade Ground Abuja.

The championship, which isbeing organized by FCT HandballAssociation in collaboration withCentre for Children and YouthExcellence in Sports, will havethe likes of Safety Shooters(FRSC), Defenders (CivilDefence), Key Boys (NigeriaPrison Service), Unity Boys (FCTHandball male Team) and theguest team, Owena Kings (OndoHandball Team), doing battle inthe male category.

The female teams are Safety

Babes (FRSC), Defenders (CivilDefence) and Unity Girls ( FCTHandball Female team).

The schedule of the matchesreleased yesterday indicatedthat the Safety Shooters will lockhorns with Unity Boys in the firstgame while the second matchwill feature Unity Girls and CivilDefence Girls. The last match ofthe opening day will see PrisonKey Boys squaring up with CivilDefence Male team.

According to the chairman ofthe Local OrganizingCommittee (LOC), BalaMohammed, disclosed that thecompetition would be used toselect players that will represent

FCT handball team in theforthcoming National SportsFestival that is to be held inLagos in November.

Bala, who is the AssistantCoach of Nigeria nationalhandball team, lauded theincreased awareness forhandball and noted they wouldexpect massive turnout of fansto watch the matches.

“The quality of teams andsupport we have got so far areclear indications that we aresustain our leading role inhandball development in thecountry. Right now, FCT has over20, 000 active handball players,”he concluded.

FCT handball tourney begins today

Fenerbahçe are set to signNigeria skipper JosephYobo on a permanent deal

with an improved offer of twomill ion pounds to EPL sideEverton.

Fenerbahçe’s initial offer of£1.5m was rejected byEverton, but it is believed theywill now accept two millionpounds for the 31-year-oldcentral defender.

Everton manager DavidMoyes has deemed Yobosurplus to requirements atGoodison Park and he is keento offload the defender in July.

The Nigeria International hasbeen on loan with the Istanbulgiants for the past two seasonsand has cemented himself asa first-team regular.

The experienced centreback has settled into life inTurkey and recently toldreporters in Istanbul, “I am veryhappy in Turkey and atFenerbahçe as is my family.

“I feel at home here,hopefully an agreement willbe reached and I cancontinue playing at the club.”

Last season, Yobo featuredin 42 games and played anintegral role in ‘The Canaries’finishing runners-up despite aturbulent year marred bymatch-fixing allegations.

They also won the TurkishCup.

Fenerbahçe are also facingcompetition from EnglishChampionship outfit LeicesterCity for the Nigeria star,according to the Englishnewspaper, The Sun.

Fenerbachelures Yobowithincreasedoffer

The Borno Governmentyesterday rain down on theplayers of El-Kanemi

Warriors the sum N12 million inappreciation of their securingthe club’s promotion to theNigeria Premier League.

The team secured thepromotion after spending eightyears in the lower division andthe state governmentrewarded the players by dolingout to each player amountranging from N50, 000 toN200,000, while officialsreceived between N200, 000 toN500, 000 respectively.

Governor Kashim Shettima,who was represented by thestate Head of Service (HOS),Abba Ashigar presented thecash rewards to thebeneficiaries at a reception

held at the Government Housein Maiduguri.

According to GovernorShettima, the gesture wasgovernment’s appreciation ofthe honour done the state bythe team stressing that it wasthe resolve of the governmentto reward efforts aimed atbringing honour to the peopleof Borno state.

“The club has lived up to theexpectations of the teemingfootball fans in Borno state bylibrating us from the tension ofthe lower division. That wasexactly what the El KanemiWarriors had done in the pastby librating the Borno Empireeach time there was aggressionfrom opponents,’’ the governorsaid.

The governor said the

government had already paidthe backlog of players andofficials’ entitlements, owed bythe club.

“What is important now is notjust your qualification into thepremier league, but makingimpact at the upper division.We want the team to strivehard and make impact bypicking a continental ticket atthe end of the season,”’ thegovernor said.

Further, he warned againstresting on their oars, “What isimportant now is not just yourqualification into the premierleague, but making impact atthe upper division. We want theteam to strive hard and makeimpact in the new season bypicking a continental ticket atthe end,’’ he said.

Borno Govt rewards El-Kanemiplayers with N12m for gainingpromotion to premiership

Josesito Lopez stoppedformer WBC welterweightchampion Victor Ortiz

with an apparent jaw-breaking punch in Los Angeleson Saturday night.

In one of the biggest upsetsin recent times, Lopez won ona ninth-round technicalknockout.

Ortiz and his corner stoppedthe fight before the start ofthe tenth round when the injuryleft the highly rated fighterunable to close his mouth.

Unheralded Lopez hadaccepted the fight last monthas a late replacement forAndre Berto, who failed adoping test that scuttled hisrematch with welterweightstart Ortiz.

Lopez improved hisprofessional record to 30-4,

including 18 knockouts. Heleaped on to the ropes tocelebrate the victory that leftOrtiz with a record of 29-4-2.

Ortiz was leading 86-85, 87-84 and 88-83 on the officialscorecards when he wasforced to quit. Lopez hadmade the fight much closerthan expected.

Ortiz was due to fight SaulAlvarez in Las Vegas onSeptember 15 but the fight willprobably be cancelled.

In Hollywood, Florida, TonyGrano knocked out DaVarrylWilliamson in the fourth roundof a heavyweight bout, takinghis record to 20-2-1, with 16knockouts.

Williams, who is 43 years old,and well past his best, hasdropped to 27-6; 23 even asthe result gave Grano the

vacant NABF heavyweighttitle.

Earl ier Angelo Santanastopped Justin Savi in alightweight bout to remainundefeated after 13 fights. Thefourth-round victory broughtSantana his tenth stoppagewins. Savi, who was knockeddown in the second and fourthrounds, has dropped to 26-2;18 in records.

Brando Hernandez moved hisrecord to 22-1-1, with 12knockouts, when he stoppedBrandon Baue in the fourth round.Baue’s now stands at 12-7; 10.

Rico Ramos, a former WBAs u p e r - b a n t a m w e i g h tchampion, had to work hardto win his eight-rounder againstEfrain Esquivias in atournament in Studio City,California.

Ramos, who had lost his titleto Guillermo Rigondeaux atthe beginning of the year,moved to 21-1; 11 when hewon by majority decision in hisfirst fight since his only defeat.

WBC title: Jaw-breakingLopez upsets Ortiz in 9th round

Nigerian-born Lateef Kayode may be declared winner afterAntonio Tarver has tested positive for the presence of abanned substance. Tarver, the IBO cruiserweight champion,

was tested after his recent draw with Lateef Kayode.The American fighter was as surprised as his supporters, saying

he had always been in favour of “the most rigorous drug testing”.He has promised to investigate all possible causes of the positive

test for an anabolic steroid.Two other top-notch professional boxers, Andre Berto and

Lamont Peterson, were recently tested positive for illegalsubstances.

Tarver and Kayode drew in their bout in Carson, California, onJune 2. South African Vusi Malinga fought on the undercard, losingto Leo Santa Cruz.

The 43-year-old Tarver has a professional record of 29-6-1. Hisfuture now depends on the results of a B sample to be tested.

He has also been active as a TV analyst but has been suspendedby Californian sports authorities until the result of the addition testis announced.

Tarver has issued a statement saying that he is confident ofproving to his supporters that he was not trying to “gain an unfairadvantage” by using an illegal substance.

Promoter Gary Shaw has said he hopes the result of B sampletest will prove that Tarver was “clean”.

Kayode and his handlers are likely to appeal against the result ofthe fight but will probably not do so before the result of the newtest is announced.

... Kayode may claim IBO title,as Tarver allegedly tests positiveto ban substance

Monday Fixtures

Safety Shooter v Unity Boys (male) 8amUnity Girls v Civil Defenders Girls (Female) 10am

Prison Key Boys v Civil Defence (12noon)

PAGE 43PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Tottenham have made a shock move to signLiverpool midfield target Gylfi Sigurdsson. Itappeared that the 22-year-old Iceland

international was set to follow his old Swansea Citymanager Brendan Rodgers to Anfield in an £8milliondeal.

Now Spurs, who have yet to appoint a successor tosacked manager Harry Redknapp, have spoken to theHoffenheim player, who has been allowed by theGerman outfit to select a new club providing thetransfer fee is met.

It is believed Spurs have offered a better packageand the player, who spent last season on loan atSwansea, is seriously considering it. Sigurdsson was amajor influence in Swansea’s impressive showing in theirfirst season in the Premier League.

Rodgers agreed an £8m fee with Hoffenheim to makethe Swansea switch permanent.

It appeared that the 22-year-old Icelandinternational was set to follow his old Swansea Citymanager Brendan Rodgers to Anfield in an £8milliondeal.Gylfi Sigurdsson

The season is over. Clubs are counting their blessing as well aslosses and would like to make amends and even beef up theirsquads where noticeable lapses exist. And the transfer marketis agog barely 24 hours after major European leagues droppedthe curtain.And so to keep abreast with latest rumours, we begin daily dosesof movements within the market both for players and coacheslike.

Transfer

Sweden defender Olof Mellberg has emerged as asurprise summer transfer target for Everton. TheECHO understands Blues boss David Moyes is yet to

make a formal approach for the veteran, who is currentlyout of contract at Greek side Olympiakos.

The former Aston Villa defender would be available ona free transfer, having failed to agree an extension to hiscurrent contract, and would add central defensive coverto Moyes’ ranks – an area in which the Blues were caughtshort at times last season.

His Premier League experience, garnered during sevenyears with Aston Villa between 2001 and 2008, wouldalso prove valuable.

Moyes is expected to finally offload Joseph Yobo thissummer, with the Nigerian ready to complete apermanent switch to Turkish side Fenerbahce, where hehas spent the past two seasons on loan.

Further dialogue is expected soon, and though Evertonare privately disappointed that Fener’s valuation of Yobofalls some way short of theirs, they are eager to lowertheir wage bill by offloading an unwanted high-earner.

Liverpool and Everton are shaping up for a huge transferbattle, with both clubs tracking young striker LucCastaignos.

The Dutch forward, 19, is valued at about £4.5 million bycurrent club Inter Milan - a fee that should be within thebudgets of both Merseyside clubs.

Brendan Rodgers and David Moyes are extremelyinterested in signing Castaignos.

However, they are open to the idea of taking him onloan for the coming season, so negotiations over a feemight not be required.

Rodgers is looking to add firepower to a Liverpool attackthat already boasts the likes of Luis Suarez and Andy Carroll,while Moyes is hoping to supplement the qualities of keystriker Nikica Jelavic.

They will not have it all their own way, though, with bothNewcastle and newly-promoted West Ham thought tobe keen on making their own moves for Castaignos.

Victor Moses was atthe centre of abitter war of words

last night as he movedcloser to a move toChelsea.

Wigan chairman DaveWhelan insists the 21-year-old forward owes theLatics everything fordeveloping him over 2½years.

But Moses’ agent TonyFinnigan hit back by sayingthe club should be gratefulthe Nigeria star turneddown Manchester City tojoin them in January 2010.

Chelsea had a bid ofaround £3m laughed offearlier this week becauseWigan values him ataround three times thatamount.

Whelan is disappointedMoses, with a year left onhis current deal, has shownno willingness to considera new contract.

Latics have offered todouble Moses’ money toaround £40,000 a week if hestays.

Whelan said: “We tookthis lad as a teenager andeverything he has he owes

to Roberto Martinez andWigan Athletic.”

Finnigan countered: “AllI will say is: How did Vic endup at Wigan, when hecould have gone toManchester City? Whotook him to Wigan?”

Everton set to land Mellberg

Moses close to Chelsea deal

Liverpool battle Evertonfor Inter Milan star

Tottenham move to hijackLiverpool Sigurdsson deal

Olivier Giroud will join Arsenal for£12million this week. ArseneWenger fears England will be

bundled out of Euro 2012 if they sit back.The French striker, 25, has agreed a

five-year deal after helping minnowsMontpellier win the Ligue 1 title.

Victor Moses

Oli set for Gunner five years contract

Real Madrid has madea shock move toland Carlos Tevez.

Manchester City couldbe ready to sell as theyprepare their first bid of£20million for Arsenalstriker Robin van Persie.

Spanish champions Realhave asked to be told ifCity plan to offload theirstar.

And City would want£25m for their Argentine,who has two years left onhis £198,000-a-week deal.

Etihad boss RobertoMancini made his peacewith Tevez at the end oflast season after theforward’s strike but hemay want to sell to fundhis summer buys.

Real keenon Tevez Chelsea, Tottenham, Liverpool

fight for £20m Salomon

Javi Garcia

Manchester Cityare in poleposition to

capture Benfica’s JaviGarcia, it has beenreported.

The 25-year-old, whocan play as a defensivemidfielder or centre-back,impressed City’s scoutsduring his side’sChampions League clashwith Chelsea this season.

And according toPortuguese newspaperRecord, the PremierLeague champions areGarcia’s favoureddestination as he looks toleave his current club thissummer.

The news will come as ablow to rivals ManchesterUnited and Arsenal, whowere also thought to be

tracking the former RealMadrid player.

Garcia, who won his firstinternational cap forSpain last month, has arelease clause of around£24million in his contract.

But it is reported thatBenfica would be willingto let him leave for aslightly lower fee, eventhough Garcia is a fansfavourite at the Estadioda Luz.

City is looking foranother defensivemidfielder this summer,with Owen Hargreaveshaving been released this

City leadUnited, Arsenalin race for£20m Garcia

summer and doubtsemerging over Nigel De

Jong’s future at theEtihad.

Giroud will have a medical today ortomorrow before he is officially unveiledas a Gunner. Boss Arsene Wenger hasbeen at Euro 2012 to see Giroud makethree appearances as a sub for Les Bleus,including the final 11 minutes of last-night’s quarter-final defeat by Spain.

reports Spanishnewspaper El MundoDeportivo.

But, with the former Las

Palmas hit-man also beingeyed by three unnamedGerman sides, he will notbe bought on the cheap.

A fee of more than£20million is reported tohave been demanded byMalaga, who is looking tooffload Rondon if they areable to bring in a big-name striker this summer.

The cash-rich club’sQatari owners areplanning to make astatement of intent in thetransfer window, as theylook to compete withSpanish giants RealMadrid and Barcelona.

Chelsea, Tottenhamand Liverpool arebattling it out for

£20million Malaga aceSalomon Rondon,according to the player’sagent.

The 22-year-old strikerhas attracted interestafter his 11 goals helpedfire his side to ChampionsLeague qualification lastseason.

And the Venezuelai n t e r n a t i o n a l ’ srepresentative PabloMartinez has confirmed anumber of approachesfrom England for his client, Salomon Rondon

PAGE 44 PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

World 800m recordholder, David Rudisha,sent warning signals to

his peers at next month’sLondon Games when he postedan incredible win at the final ofKenyan Trials for London 2012 inNairobi over the weekend.

Rudisha’s powerful stridesopened up on the homestretchto stop the clock at anastonishing high altitude recordof 1:42.12 to seal his place in hisfirst Olympic Games after atendon injury buried his hopesfour years ago.

The breathtakingperformance on the last eventof programme appropriatelywrapped up an enthralling dayof track action as the finalpieces of the Kenyan London2012 jigsaw fell into place.

Organisers had slotted in themen’s 800m Trial as the last raceof the programme with the mainact David Rudisha sendingsupporters into orbit withanother devastating display offront running masterly that willsurely send shockwaves acrossthe world.

Prior to the final, he hadcruised to a 1:44.0 victory duringThursday’s heats and from thegun Rudisha had anunobstructed view as hepounded the track to smash hisown 1:42.84 record at altitudewhen winning his second

Allyson Felix Jeneba Tarmoh

double Africa junior silvermedallist, Anthony Chemut in aflying finish that returned 1:43.94against 1:43.96 to earn theyoungsters the remainingOlympic slots.

Rudisha was thereafter,named in the men 4x400m relayteam as expected, giving himthe chance to double andemulate his father, DanielRudisha.

“I’m happy they haveannounced it today. 4x400m willcome after my event and I hopewe will work as a team toperform well in the event myfather ran in 1968,” he addedalluding to his elder’s silversuccess at the Mexico Olympics.

Staying true to establishedtradition, the London 2012 Trialsclaimed their share of bignames that saw Olympicsdreams snuffed out inunforgiving fashion.

Olympics bronze medallistand 2007 World champion,Alfred Kirwa (6th, 1:45.19) andCommonwealth Games silverwinner Richard Kiplagat (7th,1:45.79) were the high profilevictims of the Rudisha 800m blur.

Olympics silver medallist, EliudKipchoge’s history making thirdsuccessive appearance at theGames dissipated when he wasforced to seventh (13:10.86) inthe men’s 5000m having missedselection in the 10,000m

Coach pleads for delay of Felix, Tarmoh 100m tiebreaker

come up with a better decision.This makes no sense,” the coachsaid, adding that he would not

be a part of deciding whichathlete goes to London. “Itwould be like, which kid do you

800m king, Rudisha, runs 1:42.12 ataltitude in Kenyan Olympic Trials

love the most?” he added.Kersee said the decision

should be made after the 200m.

African title in 2010 in the samestadium.

Fans led by Kenya’s vice-president, Kalonzo Musyoka,rose to acclaim the runnerknown as ‘King David’ in hishomeland as he took his lap ofhonour, complete in MasaiMoran traditional regalia, amidwild cheers.

“I’m very happy sinceKenyans love sport and theylove athletics and they give ussupport. Even today, theycheered as the start list wasbeing announced and that iswhy I always want to deliversomething for them,” saidRudisha.

“If I wanted to run a slow raceand win nice and comfortable,I would have done that but forthose who are not able to comeand watch us run in Europe, I tryto do my best to show them howwe perform there live. It’s suchan honour,” the world seasonleader - 1:41.74 achieved inNew York - explained.

“I’m feeling in better shapethan in 2010 and my Olympicsdream has come true and whatremains is to keep the shapesince I want this gold so muchbecause it is the only medalmissing from my table,” headded ominously to his rivals.

Behind him the ‘other’ racesaw Commonwealth Youthwinner, Timothy Kitum beat

selection event at thePrefontaine Classic.

Commonwealth, ContinentalCup and African Steeplechasechampion, Richard Mateelong,who won bronze in Beijing hadhis prized scalp claimed in themen 3000m steeple as heslumped to fifth in 8:14.00.

Beijing silver winner in thewomen steeple, Eunice Jepkorir,returned 10:13.28 for thewooden spoon as world leaderin the corresponding race, whilePaul Kipsiele Koech againsuccumbed to his chronic highaltitude sickness in the men’srace.

Beijing fourth finisher andBerlin World champion in10,000m, Linet Masai was in theframe for selection in the 5000muntil metres before the bellafter dropping out of the longerrace with stomach cramps lastweek but eventually faded toseventh in 16:23.75.

“My race is the 10,000m buttoday, I did not have the speedand I wish the girls all the best inLondon. I will work hard toensure I will be around for thenext one,” a distraught Daegubronze winner rued.

Meanwhile, Nancy JebetLangat, the women 1500mtitleholder from Beijing, will notdefend her title after a kneeinjury ruled her out of the start.However, fellow Olympic gold

winners, Pamela Jelimo, AsbelKiprop and Brimin Kipruto as wellas Athens 2004 championEzekiel Kemboi booked theirplaces for the Londonshowpiece in contrastingfashion.

World 5000m and 10,000mchampion, Vivian Cheruiyot,successfully kept her two-pronged London assault ontrack by winning the 5000m Trialhaving taken the 10,000m racea week earlier.

Isaiah Kiplangat Koech,blessed the Nyayo tartan with anew 5000m soil record of13:09.80 in the other signatureperformance of the meet tolead a crop of upcoming runnerswho upset the establishedorder during the selectionmeet.

David Rushida Pamela Jelimo Silas Kiplagat

Though organisers wantsboth Allyson Felix andJeneba Tarmoh photo-finish

to be resolved today, coach ofthe athletes has pleadedathletics officials to wait untilAllyson and Jeneba compete inthe 200 metres trials before theymake any move to break theirtie for the final US Olympic spotin the 100m.

Felix and Tarmoh finished in arare dead heat for third place inthe 100m at the US Olympic trialson Saturday, both credited withtimes of 11.068 seconds after areview of the photo finish.

The tie must be brokenbecause only three athletes per

event can represent theircountry in the Games.

“They need to leave myathletes alone and let mecoach them in the 200, thenmake a decision,” Bob Kerseetold Reuters in an early morningtelephone call.

Kersee said he understoodUSA Track and Field (USATF)officials were talking aboutOlympic 200m silver medallistFelix and Tarmoh doing a runoffby Monday (today).

Both athletes are running inthe 200m, which begins onThursday and concludes nextSaturday.

“The powers-that-be need to

SELECTED RESULTSMEN800m

David Rudisha 1:42.12Job Kinyor 1:43.94

Timothy Kitum 1:43.96Alfred Kirwa 1:44.61

Abraham Rotich 1:44.791500m

Silas Kiplagat 3:37.60Nixon Chepseba 3:38.00

Asbel Kiprop 3:38.30Caleb Mwangangi 3:38.80

Bethwell Birgen 3:39.005000m

Isaiah Kiplangat 13:09.80Edwin Soi 13:11.11

Thomas Longosiwa 13:11.28Vincent Kiprop 13:19.47Emmanuel Bett 13:21.55

3000m SteeplechaseBrimin Kipruto 8:11.73

Ezekiel Kemboi 8:12.82Abel Mutai 8:13.47Jairus Birech 8:14.05

Richard Mateelong 8:34.00WOMEN

800mPamela Jelimo 1:58.48Winnie Chebet 2:00.33

Janeth Jepkosgei 2:00.47Lydia Wafula 2:00.74Jane Jelagat 2:01.65

1500mHellen Obiri 4:06.10Eunice Sum 4:07.19

Faith Chepngetich 4:08.53Margaret Wangari 4:11.84

Mary Kuria 4:16.683000m Steeplechase

Milcah Chemos 9:32.75Mercy Njoroge 9:33.32

Lydia Rotich 9:40.41Phanencer Chemion 9:48.63

Hyvin Kiyeng 9:51.075000m

Vivian Cheruiyot 16:08.08Sally Kipyego 16:09.29Viola Kibiwot 16:09.45Sylvia Kibet 16:10.81Janeth Kisa 16:18.71

PAGE 45PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

i. Leigh Halfpenny admits rugby’s superpowers still do not fully respect Wales asthey slump to a 3-0 series whitewash in Australia.

ii. “It’s been so long since a British player won Wimbledon - everybody wants tosee it and it's a good source of motivation.”

iii. Gary Neville has warned England's players that they risk getting themselvessent off if they try to antagonise Mario Balotellil

iv. Colin Montgomerie and Jose Maria Olazabal are among the hopefuls trying toqualify for next month's Open Championship.

v. British fighters Josh Taylor and Tom Stalker will resist the temptation to turnprofessional straight after the OlympicGames.

vi. Saudi Arabia is to allow its womenathletes to compete in the Olympicsfor the first time ever.

vii. Bayern Munich midfielder BastianSchweinsteiger is a major injury doubtahead of Germany's Euro 2012 semi-final with an ankle problem.

i

i i

iii

iv

v

vivii

PICTORIALPICTORIAL

PAGE 47PEOPLES DAILY, MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

Musa Amadu, NFF Scribe

The President of Handball Federation of Nigeria, Mallam DaudaYusuf, has urged coaches to keep sentiments aside whenselecting players for tournaments to allow only the best to play.

Dauda, who made the call at the Handball National CoachingConference in Abuja over the weekend, alleged that some coacheswere sentimental in the selection of players to represent the countryat completions stressing that they often allowed religion and tribaldifference to overshadow their judgments.

“A coach should be open minded and free to all players regardlessof religious or tribal difference. When it comes to competitions, successis what matters and as such you should make sure you are selecting thebest players.

“These players should be chosen according to their abilities, as acoach you are to be a model to players without discrimination andbias,” Dauda said.

He said using merit in the selection of players would produce resultsof victory and not shame. .

Daudaurged coaches to be creative and bring in innovation thatwould produce results so as to move the Nigeria Handball Federationforward.

Mr Paul Chiroma, the Vice-President, Nigeria Handball CoachesAssociation, in a lecture urged handball coaches to imbue the keyresponsibility of fair judgment so as to achieve a successful HandballFederation.

Chiromasaid a coach should be full of integrity and mentor youngplayers so as to create a synergy that would go a long way to sustainthe federation.

“There is need for coaches to be in position of responsibility andpower that way players will be able to look up to them and learnacceptable behavioural traits,” he said.

He encouraged coaches to act in ways that promoted positive andacceptable conduct in handball games.

“The key responsibility of a coach in achieving a successfulimplementation of handball programmes is to educate players throughcommunicating ideas and concepts to improve players’ technicalability through knowledge,” he said.

Chiroma said coaches should strive to promote fair-play and laws ofthe game to gain trust of players, parents, fans and fellow employees.

He, however, said that handball games were rarely cared for andsupported like other games and added: “handball must not be left tosuffer, other countries have benefited from the game and Nigeria cando the same.”

making sure those players thatare within the age bracket of U-17, that are playing in theNigeria Premier League (NPL),are not eligible.

“If a player is playing in theNPL and wants play in the U-17team, it is not allowed for thefear of deceit; that has been atrend in the system. We havewon the U-17 World Cup thrice;at the moment, it should not beabout wining; it should begeared toward developmentthat will improve the country’sfootball.

“We should look at thecompetition as adevelopmental tournament sothat any player that hasdistinguished himself will be sureof playing in the senior team,”Amadu said.

He also said the NFF wouldcontinue to fund age gradecompetitions to discovertalents to enhance the growthof football.

The NFF scribe said all playerswould be subjected to theMagnetic Resonance Imagery(MRI) scan to scientificallydetermine the real age of aplayer.

“We also have the MRI scanwhich is the scientific way offinding out the actual age ofplayers. And we are workinghard to ensure that anybodywho fails will be disqualifiedfrom representing the country,”he said.

Amadu said the NFF hasresolved to stamp out age-cheats adding that it wouldquicken the rebuilding processof the country’s football andthe restoration of its lost glory inthe sport.

“Football is on the rise again,and we are trying to put Nigerianfootball where it was and evensurpass it; we know it will takesome time, but we are on theright track.

“I know by 2013 to 2015, wewould have got there; we justwant to appeal to Nigerians tobe patient with the NFF. Slowbut surely, we would get there.”

The Nigeria FootballFederation (NFF) said it hasresolved to tackle the

problem of age cheats in cadetcompetitions in the country tofacilitate the growth of thegrassroots talents..

The Acting GeneralSecretary, Musa Amadu,confessed over the weekendthat the use of over-agedplayers in cadet tournamentswas a big setback to footballdevelopment.

“This has been a problem fora very long time and we are

Yusuf wants no sentimentin selection of handballers

NFF to go tough on age cheats

Tosin Oke, Gloria Asomu, Nigeria’s Olympic medals hopes

The Commandant-General ofthe Nigeria Security andCivil Defence Corps

(NSCDC), Dr. Ade Abolurin, overthe weekend predicted thatTeam Nigeria will not disappointat next month’s OlympicsGames in London because thelevel of preparation of athletesfor the Games.

Abolurin said with thepreparations, Team Nigeriawould have no option but winmany medals in London to justifythe huge investment inpreparations as well as meetthe expectation of Nigerians.

Dr. Abolurin, who wasaddressing newsmen in Abujaduring the commemoration ofthe Olympic Day, said that hewas confident Nigeria wouldsucceed. “With the level ofpreparations, I’m very optimisticthat Nigeria will win manymedals.”

Peoples Daily Sports recallsthat Nigerian weightlifters areundergoing training in Germany,the taekwondoists are trainingin Korea, while the canoeingathletes are in Nottingham,London.

Also, the boxers are trainingin Bradford, which is the biggestcentre of excellence for boxingin the world, according to theNOC president Sani Ndanusa.

Abolurin said the NSC waseager to see Team Nigeria makea mark in the Olympics, unlikethe previous games where fundshad always hinderedpreparation.

It would be recalled that theFederal Government has

released N1.9 billion to the NOCthrough the NSC to ensure amemorable outing for Nigeria.

This release Abolurin believeswould go along way to ensurethat Team Nigeria receives

adequate training andneccessary explosures and thusperform well at the Gamesproper.

He reassure Nigerians that the

Federal Government was doingeverything to ensure thesuccess of Team Nigeria at theOlympics and laudedparticipants for the OlympicDay Workout, stressing that the

turnout “is encouraging.”The 2012 Olympic Day in

Nigeria is celebrated with aKeep-Fit Walk by the Federationof Public Service Games(FEPSGA) in collaboration withthe Nigeria OlympicCommittee (NOC).

The NOC President, SaniNdanusa, said the day was setaside to promote good healththroughout the world.

“It is a day set aside by theInternational OlympicCommittee (IOC) for the wholeworld to jog for good health andfor cohesion amongcommunities of the world. It is auniversal day where we all jogat the same time throughoutthe world to bring the worldtogether.”

Ndanusa said that the daywas the biggest day in theOlympic calendar and “it isbeing commemorated in 13states in Nigeria.”

The FEPSGA President, VictorOrji, said that the exercise wasnecessary to keep Nigerians fitboth physically and mentally. “Itis a social event to offer allgenerations the chance to livea healthier, more balanced andbetter life with more meaning.”

Orji said that the FEPSGA keep-fit exercise that normally holdsevery last Saturday of the monthwas adjusted to accommodatethe Olympic Day.

The celebration of the day isan international effort topromote fitness and well-beingas well as the Olympic ideals offair play, perseverance, respectand sportsmanship.

Ndanusa, Abolurin sureTeam Nigeria will winmedals at Olympics

SPORTS LALALALALATESTTESTTESTTESTTEST

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Published by Peoples Media Limited, 35, Ajose Adeogun Street, 1st Floor Peace Park Plaza,Utako, Abuja. Lagos Office: No.8 Oliyide Street, off Unity Road, Ikeja, Lagos,Tel: +234-09-8734478. Cell: +234 803 606 3308. e-mail: contact@peoplesdaily-online.comISSN: 2141– 6141

MONDAY, JUNE 25, 2012

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not sentiments, not emotions.not sentiments, not emotions.not sentiments, not emotions.not sentiments, not emotions.not sentiments, not emotions. — — — — — WWWWWale ale ale ale ale AdedaAdedaAdedaAdedaAdedayyyyyooooo,,,,, media pr media pr media pr media pr media practitioneractitioneractitioneractitioneractitioner,,,,,

on replacement of Azazi by Dasukion replacement of Azazi by Dasukion replacement of Azazi by Dasukion replacement of Azazi by Dasukion replacement of Azazi by Dasuki

UERO 2012:Italy edgeEngland to setup semifinalsclash againstGermany

When a hunter sets a trapusing a goat as bait, he doesn'texpect to catch rabbit — ANigerian proverb

I am one the millions ofresidents of Kaduna state whohave been under lockdown

since bombs went off in Zaria andKaduna two Sundays ago. Wehave been let out for a total of tenhours since we were clamped intodetention, and part of those hourswere promptly utilized by ourtraditional religious combatants toresume hostilities. As things standnow, we live in fear over what willhappen on Sunday (I am writingthis on Saturday).Will they bombchurches again, and force us toresume hostilities, as Christianspounce on the nearest Muslim forreprisals, and Muslims embark oncounter-reprisals? Now thatPresident Jonathan is back with asacking here and a sacking there,should we dare to dream that thisnightmare will be more effectivelyhandled?

Most citizens here have no food,no water, no power, no peace, andno faith that they will not becasualties tomorrow, or the nextday. I cannot write a new columnas my secretary, Ruth, lives on theother part of a city rigidlysegregated by faith. But I can sharewith you the views I expressed inDecember last year over oursituation. How little has changed:

The bombs that went off onChristmas Day at Madalla inNiger state, in Jos, Plateau stateand in Damaturu and Potiskum,in Yobe state appear to have manypurposes. One was to send a signalthat whoever the Boko Harambombers are, they plan to sustaintheir terror campaign. Two, thebombs were intended to furtherexpose the vulnerability of theNigerian State and its citizens, inspite of elaborate securityarrangements to ensure arelatively safe Christmas. Three,the bombs may have beenintended to trigger widespreadconflicts between Muslims andChristians. The first two objectivesobviously succeeded. The thirdappears to have sought to deepeninter-faith suspicions and hostility,and possibly trigger anotherround of mayhem involvinginnocent Muslims and Christians.So far, both groups have remainedlargely restrained, although thereis justifiable anger amongChristians, and fear of undeservedreprisals among Muslims.Someone, somewhere isattempting to pitch millions ofMuslims against millions of

supporters of the killers or thosewho share their characteristics.The helplessness of the victims inMadalla, in Jos and Potiskum andDamaturu reminds the nation ofthe victims of Jos, Zonkwa andmany other areas and conflictswhere innocent people weremurdered for their faith alone.

The disclaimers by prominentMuslim traditional rulers andclerics will have some effect interms of calming nerves, but theywill also raise more questions thananswers. People will ask whatinfluence these leaders and clericshave over the Muslim communitythey speak for, if they cannot limitor eliminate the threats and thedangers posed by the bombers.The bombers of Christmas daywho claim to be Boko Haram saythey bombed churches inretaliation against the killing ofMuslims during last year's Sallahcelebrations in Jos. They claimthat neither the Muslimleadership nor the Nigerian Statetook steps to protect the Muslimsin Jos or bring their killers tojustice. In this manner, theyundermine the credibility ofMuslim leaders and the Nigeriastate. A logical question to ask iswho is speaking for the Muslimcommunity in Nigeria today? Is itBoko Haram, which both fights theNigeria state and places bombs

Victims, all

Alessandro Diamantiscored the decisive spotkick as Italy beat

England 4-2 on penalties aftertheir action-packed UEFA Euro2012 quarterfinal finishedgoalless after extra-timeyesterday.

Diamanti struck afterAshley Young and Ashley Colemissed for England to take Italythrough to a semifinal meetingwith Germany in Warsaw onThursday. Portugal facedefending champions Spain inthe other semi-finals match.

Italy had much the best ofthe first game of the knockout-stage to go to extra time, havingmore than 30 attempts at goal.Daniele De Rossi, with aswerving 25-metre shot afterthree minutes, and Diamantiboth hit the post.

Riccardo Montolivo, twice,and Mario Balotelli, severaltimes, also went close whileAntonio Nocerino had a 114thminute headed goal correctlyruled out for offside as England'sdefence was continually cutopen after they had started welland gone close themselvesthrough Glen Johnson andWayne Rooney.

England did have theirmoments and Italy keeper GigiBuffon made a fine early stopfrom Glen Johnson.

Mario Balotelli then fired aclose range effort too close to JoeHart before Wayne Rooneyastutely found ManchesterUnited teammate DannyWelbeck, who leaned into hiseffort and fired over.

After the restart Englandhad a let off as Hart saved fromDe Rossi and Balotelli beforeRiccardo Montolivo put therebound over from point blankrange.

England threw on AndyCarroll and Theo Walcott forWelbeck and James Milner onthe hour in an attempt toregain the initiative in the faceof increasing Italian pressurebut neither side could find away through.

There were few chances inthe first-half of extra-time withDiamanti going closest with across hitting the post.

www.peoplesdaily-online.com

. . . putting the people first

Christians in a war where both willbe reluctant combatants, andlosers.

The gruesome images and thepains of the losses and injuriesfrom the Christmas day bombingswill shock and offend everycivilized person. The deliberatetargeting of churches by peoplewho claim that they areavenging the killing of Muslimslast year will naturally inflamepassions, and offend Muslims whorecognise that their faith does notsanction the taking of innocentlives. The anger and bitternesswhich is felt across the land overthe mass killing of people whoseonly crime appears to be their faithis only a step away from violenceagainst those suspected as

which kills innocent Christiansand Muslims alike; or themainstream leaders whodenounce their goals and tacticsas un-Islamic? When Boko Harambomb churches, they exposemillions of innocent Muslims toretaliatory attacks, whichtraditional leaders and Muslimclerics cannot prevent, or protectthem from. Attacks on Muslimsfar from the theatre of conflictswill trigger more attacks fromMuslims, and the vicious circlewill be complete.

If the strategy of Boko Haram,or whoever is hiding behind itsname and grievances is to bringthe Nigerians state to its knees, itcould not have found a bettertactic than one which touchesMuslims and Christians wherethey hurt most, and mobilizesthem in their largest numbers. NoChristian will fail to feel anger atthe killing of whole families whowere just leaving a church serviceon Christmas day. Their killerswill remind the nation thatMuslims were equally slaughteredat a mosque in Jos a few monthsago on Sallah Day, an event whichangered all Muslims. When thestate fails to assume a firm controlover the situation by limitinganger after these killings, orapprehending perpetrators,communities will be tempted totake revenge. Muslims have nomonopoly over bomb-makingknow-how, or weapons. Theycongregate five times daily inmillions of mosques across thenation, and are therefore evenmore vulnerable to attacks. Thereare millions of Muslims in everynook and cranny of the nation,many living in isolation incommunities far from theirhomes. They are exposed, andvulnerable to attack from peoplewho may think their faith alonequalifies them for beingmurdered.

At this stage, it is clear thatthere is a plan to cause massivecrises along religious lines inNigeria. It is time to ask someuncomfortable questions as well.Could the scenario painted by aUnited States agency of the failureof the Nigerian State be playingout? Is this attempt to push theNigerian State to fail beingengineered by external forces? Ifso, what are the possible objectivesbehind the plan? Is there a planfor a relatively crisis-free break-up of the nation, or is the plansimply to cause massive andprolonged crises between andwithin ethnic and religiousgroups? Is Nigeria's considerable oiland gas resource a factor in thisattempt; and could some interestout there be targeting exclusivecontrol of this resource byalienating the rest of the nationfrom it?

Gov. Patrick Yakowa

Contd. on Page 15

“The most serious threat to the currentsituation, however, is the possibility thatthe Nigerian State will lose its credibility

as the protector of our collective security.Whoever is behind these bombings andkillings has succeeded in casting majordoubt in the minds of citizens over theability of this administration to protect

both Muslims and Christians

FIFTEENFIFTEENFIFTEENFIFTEENFIFTEENMINUTESMINUTESMINUTESMINUTESMINUTES

drbabaahmed@yahoo.com

withDr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed