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VOL. 2 NO. 22 SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 SAFAR 15 - 16, 1434 AH N150. . . putting the people first

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Wife battering andthe Nigerian woman

Nigerianleadership,system noteffective—BalarabeMusa

Kogi Govin criticalconditionat NationalHospital

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NEWS: Gunmen wreak havoc in Borno, Adamawa

Sights and sounds >>Pages 9,10&11

2012

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PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 PAGE 28

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012PAGE 2

Feature

Am a taxi driver bynecessity, not byprofession. I started

journalism training at theNigeria Institute of Journalismand I’m “unemployable” becausethere was a problem in my schoolthat has to do with increment infuel price during Obasanjo’sregime and most of us that werestudent leaders were rusticatedfrom school.

I came to Abuja to strugglebut after a few years, in 2004some of us started a youthprogramme in the South-Westgeared towards a possible Atikupresidency. At that time,Nigerians were thinking therewas going to be smooth transitionas then, it was believed to be azonal arrangement; every zonewill have a term of four yearseach and each person’s deputy orvice will now take over from himso that, in twenty four years,every zone in Nigeria would havehad their turn and thearithmetic would now give wayto survival of the fittest, how goodyou are, and it will continue.

I think that arrangement isthe best mortal men can make ina country like Nigeria. Along theline, we started hearing by 2002,that there was no Mandela optionfor OBJ as he decided to opt for asecond term and this decision costhim a lot; since then he has notknown true peace till now.

I will take you back to the yearprior to that “problem-year”,from 1999 to around 2003,Nigerians had hope, Africa hadhope in Nigeria, the whole worldwas focusing on Nigeria thatthere was going to be arenaissance finally in this part ofthe world. This was due to the factthat people were comfortable;teachers in the villages werebuilding houses, buying cars andthere was general optimism thatthings were going to get bettereven as suddenly, there was GSM,though one of the leadersgoverning us said telephone is notfor the poor.

The problem in Nigeria is dueto the fact that the people havecollective amnesia, we tend toforget easily, especially whensentiment, tribalism primordialattitudes come in. We don’t evenlike to look at pages of newspapersor keep record of our leaders’ pastantecedents in order to project forthe future.

Over the years, successivegovernments in Nigeria have putNigerians under bondage;Nigerians have been subjected tokini aoje or wetin we go chop(what are we going to gain).

Today, when people reduceAbubakar Atiku to “when you seethe man, shake him and shakemillion system,” it pisses me off

Nigeria under bondage, it’s now wetin we go chop- Presidential campaigner - turned taxi driver

because it robs off the man’sgreatness. Atiku’s greatness is notbecause he dashes money out.From 1999 to 2004, Nigeriaparaded the most qualified peoplein the political cabinet who werebrought in by a leader and thatleader was Atiku Abubakar.

People taint his character bysaying that during Obasanjo’sregime, Atiku was the one rulingand stealing all the money andbought all the property throughprivatization and that, whenObasanjo got to know, he wasangry with him. Events laterproved to us that this wasfalsehood.

El-Rufa’i, one of the later-dayenemies of Atiku, whom we allknow was brought intogovernance and prominence byhim, was a betrayal because ofambition, sentiment or probablythe ‘let us deceive him’ attitude,so that he would get what hewants first. Though I stand to becorrected, El-Rufa’I came out andsaid, “I privatized about 112companies, Atiku never boughtone nor did he influence me inmy job. The only time he camein was when a chief from theSouthwest was interested in acompany and he told Atiku to talkto me; Atiku called me and hesaid: “this man asked me to speakto you and I’ve spoken to you, Iam not telling you to change therules because of anybody but ifhe meets you, tell him I’ve spokento you or have I not spoken to younow?” That was the only time he‘interfered’.”

Bolanle Onagoruwa, the lastDG of BPE (Bureau for Public

Nigeria. You know what? IfMuhammad Ali had fought withMike Tyson in the 70s, hewouldn’t have won because whileAli was an activist fighter, Tysonwas crime fighter. To compoundthis illustration, Brazilian Pele,acclaimed to be footballimpersonated, cannot becompared with Maradona ofArgentina, why becauseMaradona is of later age of‘get itnow!’ while, Pele is a product ofthe spiritual evolvement offootball.

Isaac Sajuyigbe

He trained as a Journalist; campaigned for apresidential candidate in 2004, but ended up as a cabdriver in Abuja. A’isha Biola Raji mirrors the engrossingstory and explosive thoughts of Isaac Sajuyigbe…

“If somebody like Okonjo-Iweala hadbeen under the auspice of a patrioticPresident, the story would have been

different because she is one of the peoplethat have been groomed, that we are

looking towards to pull us out of this mess

Enterprises), said: “Atiku was theChaiman of BPE in name alone,we had to smuggle photocopiedreports to him because Obasanjotold us not to have anything todo with him.” All what I amsaying is quotable because Istudied a bit of journalism and Iknow what propaganda means.All what I am saying are facts; ifyou raise enough mud, you willget something out of the mud.

Atiku is the only person I amsure understands the politics of

Looking at Atiku’s influence,he belongs to the class of peoplethat still have passion for thecountry. He belongs to the oldfashioned Hausa/Fulani manthat, when he tells you anything,you should believe him since heupholds the truth. Now thesetypes of people are lacking in oursociety.

The problem of Nigeria is dueto the fact that we have not beentraining youths on leadership.Nigeria went to civil war because

everybody wanted to provesuperior.

If somebody like Okonjo-Iweala had been under theauspice of a patriotic President,the story would have beendifferent because she is one of thepeople that have been groomed,that we are looking towards to pullus out of this mess.

Today, they say corruption isthe problem of Nigeria but I sayno. The problem of Nigeria isleadership. Somebody has AIDSand you are diagnosingTuberculosis; it is apparent that ifone has AIDS, that person issuffering from every other killerdisease like Pneumonia, Diarrhea,Tuberculosis because the immunesystem has been destroyed. Thisis why leadership problem is moreimportant than corruption whichhappens to be its offspring.

Today, the love of so many,especially in the North, isMuhammadu Buhari. If you ask,people will say, “He is not a thief.”In modern politics, it not justabout ‘I no dey tief,’ what if youare not stealing but the peoplearound you are all thieves, whatdo you do? How many people areyou going to sack or punish? Butif we have a strong institution justlike ICPC, EFCC of which AtikuAbubakar was instrumental totheir establishment, especiallyEFCC,

If EFCC had been establishedwithout the input of Atiku, itmight not have been headed bysomebody like Ribadu. AfterRibadu left the commission, whatwe have left of EFCC is only ashadow of its old self.

Look at how Dora Akunyili

performed in NAFDAC; fromwhat I gathered, I learnt that,Dora came through Buhari toAtiku because of her integrity.Somebody who could identify allthese good hands, includingCharles Soludo; technocrats thatthen, whenever any member ofcabinet was talking, I strained myear to listen because they alwayshad something reasonable andreal to say. But these days, I amtired of listening to the currentmembers of cabinet because I don’thave hope in them. They aredeceitful and fraudulent.

People don’t know AtikuAbubakar and he is not doingenough to let people know him.He lost his mother at the age offive and his father when he waseleven years old, for such a personto rise up to prominence, if it is notGod then who did it? His life is likea folktale.

I will use my money, my hard-earned money to campaign forAtiku because I have discoveredone thing about people andmoney is that, people only knowhow to share money but don’tknow how to sacrifice money. Ifthere are like-minded people likeAmaka Aba…. Her fatherpromised her best education butunfortunately, he died. With themoney he saved for her, she gotadmission into the AmericanUniversity, Yola. After her firstsemester examination, she wasthe best student and with that,she got scholarship to completeher studies. Atiku is like nettle;karara in Hausa language orwerepe in Yoruba language, if youtouch it or it touches you, youmust scratch your body.

PAGE 3PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Kogi governor escapesdeath in auto crash

News

T h e governor of Kogistate, Capt. Idris Wada,is presently in critical

condition at the NationalHospital, Abuja where he wasrushed to after an auto crash.

The governor’s Aide-de-Camp,ASP Idris Mohammed, diedinstantly while his driver escapedunhurt.

The governor was comingfrom the annual Igala EducationSummit which he declared openedat the Kogi State University,Anyigba when his convoy wasinvolved in the crash on Lokoja-Ajaokuta road.

He was first taken to the LokojaSpecialist Hospital but was latermoved to the National Hospital,Abuja where he is recuperating.The doctors in Lokoja reportedly

…ADC killeddeclared that his case was beyondtheir capacity.

Kogi state Commissioner forInformation, Alhaji Bologi Yabagi,confirmed the incident in astatement.

He said the accident occurredat a spot between PrimePolytechnic and Salem Universityin Ajaokuta local government areaof the state. He did not, however,state the cause of the crash.

The governor’s Chief PressSecretary, Richard Elesho also saidto reporters: “I am very happy toannounce to you that the Governoris not dead. He is not dead at all. Idon’t want to tell you where he is.The Governor is in a very stableand healthy condition. It isunfortunate that we lost the ADCin the auto crash. I have also heardpeople saying the driver died. No,it is not true. There were just three

people in the car, the Governor, theADC and the driver. The ADC diedon the spot but the Governor anddriver are in a stable condition.

If I am bold enough as acolleague to let you know that welost the ADC, why do I have to lie toyou? The Governor is alive haleand hearty but I don’t have todisclose the exact location of theGovernor to you; must I? I onlyhave to tell you as a colleague thatthe Governor is alive. He had a firsttreatment at the SpecialistHospital, Lokoja. After we left theSpecialist Hospital, we left forGovernment House. But I don’thave to tell you his exact locationat the moment.”

It would be recalled thatKaduna state governor, PatrickYakowa, was killed on December15 along with former NationalSecurity Adviser Andrew Azazi

and four others when a helicopterin which they were flying crasheda few minutes after takeoff inBayelsa state.

Also, Taraba state governor,

From Sam Egwu, Lokoja

The House of Assembly hadat an executive session onThursday, cleared Bajoga forthe position in spite ofopposition from a section of thesouthern Kaduna people whoinsisted that he should retainhis position as the People’sDemocratic Party (PDP)chairman in the state.

“I chose Ambassador Bajogabecause of his age, for the

benefit of the state because theysay age is experience and weare going to work togetherharmoniously for thebetterment of the state,” Yerosaid after the Kaduna stateChief Judge administered theoath of office on Bajoga at theBanquet Hall of the Gen.Hassan Usman Katsina House.

Yero noted further that,“you will never find me

difficult to approach because Iknow the office of the DeputyGovernor and I will do my bestto improve on the way I left it”.

He re-affirmed hiscommitment towardscontinuing with the three-point agenda of the lateGovernor Patrick IbrahimYakowa, to ensure security,unity and development of thestate.

T h e troubled city ofMaiduguri, the Bornostate capital witnessed

another tragedy yesterdaymorning when unknowngunmen invaded Musari ward,killing a traffic warden and fourothers.

The latest spate of violencecame barely 24 hours afteranother group of gunmencarried out separate attacks,killing a prominentbusinessman, Alhaji AbubakarGashua and seven others.

Spokesman of the JointMilitary Task Force, (JTF), Lt.Col. Sagir Musa, confirmed theincident in a statement, sayingthree suspects were arrested inconnection with the attack.

“Information available to thetask force indicate that unknowngunmen sneaked into Musari Ward,an outskirt of Maiduguri and secretlycarried out selective killings of fivepeople, including a traffic wardenattached to the Borno statecommand of the Nigerian PoliceForce”, the statement added.

The incident, according toJTF, occurred between 1-3 am,adding that the securityoperatives responded to a distresscall from the area and arrestedthree persons, suspected to be theassailants.

The statement also explainedthat an AK 47 rifle with 10rounds of 7.62mm ammunitionwere recovered from thesuspects, while investigationhas been launched to apprehendother fleeing suspects.

T h e week-long debacleover the choice of newKaduna state Deputy

Governor came to an endyesterday with the swearing-in of Ambassador Nuhu Bajoga.

Governor Muktar RamalanYero at the occasion explainedthat he decided on his deputybecause of Bajoga’s age.

Why I chose Bajoga –YeroFrom Agaju Madugba, Kaduna

completely.Ustaz Jibrilla further said

the gunmen who came in alarge number stormed thelargely populated town firingheavy gunshots, adding thatthe gunmen overran thepolicemen on duty and cartedaway all the arms andammunitions and proceeded tothe prisons were the inmateswere set free.

He added that, the nexttarget of the gunmen was theLocal Government EducationAuthority complex andcustoms area office which wereransacked and set ablaze.

Accordingly, the entiretown, the eyewitness explained

was thrown into a state ofconfusion occasioned bygunshots and the smokeemanating from the burningbuildings.

Contacted, the StateCommissioner of Police,Godfrey Okeke, confirmed theincident.

The commissioner who wasin Maiha as at the time of thisreport, told journalists in atelephone interview that“nobody should disturb menow, already I am in Maiha,you people should allow me torest”, and switched off hisphone.

When our correspondentcalled the Police Public Relation

Officer, (PPRO), DSPMohammed Ibrahim, he saidthey were in Maiha already toassess the situation, addingthat only one police officer waskilled during the exchange offire.

According to the PPRO, 35inmates earlier escaped duringthe pandemonium in which 11were rearrested this morning,stressing that the district head’spersonal house was burnt.

It could be recalled thatMadagali local governmentarea was two weeks agoattacked by the hoodlumswhere some policemen weresaid to have been killed and thepolice station burnt down.

Heavily armed gunmennumbering about 50killed no fewer than 10

and set free unspecificnumbers of prison inmates inan attack that took place atabout 3:00 am in the earlyhours of Friday in Maiha localgovernment of Adamawa state.

In a telephone interview,the chairman of the localgovernment area, UstazJibrilla Mohammed, told theour correspondent in Yola thatthe Maiha divisional policestation, Maiha prisons and thepresidential lodge located inthe area were razed down

Gunmen attack prison, free inmatesFrom Umar Dankano, Yola

Again, gunmenkill trafficwarden, fourothers in BornoFrom Mustapha Isah Kwaru,Maiduguri

CPC chairmanship candidate emerges in GwagwaladaBy Usman Shaibu

T h e electoral committeechairman ofG w a g w a l a d a

chairmanship primaryelection in the Congress forProgressive Change (CPC) in

the Federal Capital Territory(FCT), Malam Yakubu AdamuMohammed, has declaredHon. Yahaya Ibrahim whopolled 144 votes to beat othertwo other contestants, aswinner.

Addressing newsmen shortly

after the primary election,Malam Mohammed expressedhappiness in the manner inwhich the delegates conductedthemselves peacefully duringthe election.

He advised the other twocontestants who lost the election

to accept the outcome of theresult in good faith.

The electoral committeechairman charged theelectorate to continue to co-operate with the party’sexecutives to win the areacouncil chairmanship in 2013.

Danbaba Suntai, was involved ina crash in October along with fourof his aides, when a small plane hewas flying crashed near Yola, inAdamawa state.

L a w y e r s to Al-Mizannewspaper, whose editorand reporter have been

arrested and detained by theState Security Service (SSS),since Monday, have given theDirector General of the Service,Ita Ekpeyong, 24 hours to releasethe journalists or faceprosecution.

The ultimatum was containedin a statement signed by their leadcounsel, Sadiq Marafa, and made

available to journalists in Kadunaon Friday.

The journalists, Aliyu Salehand Musa Mohammed, werearrested on Monday in a pre-dawnraid on their houses in Rigasa, asuburb of Kaduna.

The SSS had on Tuesdaydemanded the appearance of theeditor-in-Chief of Al-Mizan,Ibrahim Musa as a pre-conditionfor the release of the detainedpressmen.

Lawyers give SSS ultimatum torelease Al-Mizan journalists

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012PAGE 4

2012 In Review

People protest on a street in Nigeria's northern city of Kano before the suspensionof a nationwide strike by labour unions, January 16.

DANA Air crash, June

Bomb explosion at the Jaji Cantonent, Kaduna Mubi massacre

Fuel tanker explosion at Okogbe in Rivers State Flooded Lokoja-Abuja Road

Aluu 4, mobbed and killed 2012 Olympic jamboree Road mishap in Abuja

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 PAGE 5

Photo News

1

23

45

1. L-R: Kano State, InformationCommissioner, Alhaji IbrahimMohammed, Taraba StateCommissioner of Information, Mr.Emmanuel Bello and Minister ofInformation, Mr. Labaran Maku, duringthe opening of 43rd National Councilon Information,recently in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-owo

2. L-R: Minister of State for Education,Barrister Ezenwo Nyesom Wike withthe Secretary General, Nigeria Unionof Teachers (NUT) Obong IkpeJohnny, during the Union meetingwith the Minister, recently in Abuja.

Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

3.Anglican Archbishop ofGwagwalada,, Most Rev. TanimuAduda, Chairman, Abaji Area Council,Hon. Yahaya Mohammed and NationalCoordinator, Jummai AdudaFoundation, Mrs HawahAduda,during the official Flag-off of"Abuja Grass Root Association(AGA),"recently in Abuja.

4.An elderly man, waits for alms,recently in Area 1, Garki Abuja.Photo: Justin Imo-Owo

5. Long queue at NNPC filling stationthis festive period, at Wuse Abuja.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012PAGE 6

News

Commuters on theNyanya-Mararaba routein the FCT have heaved sighs

of relief as the yuletide has takentraffic gridlock off the roads.

An investigation by the NewsAgency of Nigeria (NAN) onFriday, revealed that the routeswhich usually experience gridlocksnearly every period of the day nowhave free flow of traffic.

Many of the commutersinterviewed expressed joy at theturn of events, although they allagreed that the relief wastemporary, hoping that thesituation could be sustained into theNew Year.

Mr. Kareem Giwa, one of thecommuters interviewed said it wasa relief for him and others alike toplan their time and movement andget to their destinations as planned.

“I can now get into my car andget to my destination on timewithout feeling any strain on myknees and ankles. Apart from thehealth implications of the constantgridlocks on this route, the damagebeing done to the vehicle is anotherthing a commuter has to contendwith.

“It would really be worth thewhile if the decongestion on thisroute could be sustained”. Anothercommuter, Mr. MartinsAkuebiowu, also expressedhappiness about the ease in trafficon that route, saying the gridlockbrought with it a lot of vice on theroad.

“We the commuters are verypleased with the situation now evenwhen we know that as soon as theChristmas is over, it will return andthe snatching of cell phones andladies’ handbags will continue.“From area one to Mararaba nowtakes less than 30 minutes, unlikebefore when we spend about twohours for the same distance”,Akuebiowu said.

Madam Hauwawu Suberu, alsoa commuter, said she was gladabout the situation now “becauseas a working housewife and mother,I can manage my time better nowto the benefit of my family. I havemore time now to organise myhome and still be very effective atthe office, I really wish that thisrelief is not momentary but is hereto stay”. (NAN)

The Bauchi stategovernment hasreiterated its commitment

towards promoting mutual respectand peaceful co-existence amongits citizens irrespective of religious,ethnic and political differences.

The assurance was given bythe state governor, Malam IsaYuguda when he received inaudience the leadership of theChristian community who paidhim homage as part of theactivities marking the Christmascelebration.

The governor who spoke

through his deputy, Alhaji SagirAminu Saleh, noted that theprimary objective of anyresponsible government is toensure security of lives andproperty of its people.

To this end, he said, the Bauchistate government would continueto do everything possible to ensure

From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

Kano earmarks N3.5 bn for new varsity

Relief forcommuters asyuletide takesgridlock offNyanya-Mararaba route

The Kano state governmenthas earmarked N3.5billion in its 2013 budget

for the provision of infrastructureat its newly established North-West University.

The state’s Commissioner forPlanning and Budget, AlhajiBello Danbatta, made theannouncement while briefingnewsmen on the 2013 Budget inKano on Thursday.

He explained that the moneywould be used for the constructionof a senate building, access roadsand provision of otherinfrastructure at the permanentsite of the institution.

“A total of 1,000 studentshave so far been admitted in thenew university which iscurrently operating at ittemporary site at Ado BayeroHouse”, he said.

According to him, the stategovernment has also set asideN2billion for the completion ofwork at the 21 newly establishedinstitutes.

“In addition, N1.5 billion hasbeen earmarked for theconstruction of 22 craft schoolsin 22 local government areas ofthe state”.

He also disclosed that the stategovernment would spend N1.5

Stracomms AGM: From Left, Company Secretary, Mr Nnamdi Oyeka, Chairman Starcomms Plc , Chief Maan Lababidi, Interim Chief Executive Officer Olusola Oladokun and Non-Executive Director Chris Ogbechie at Court Orderedmeeting and 14th Annual General Meeting of Starcomms Plc held at Transcorps Hotel Abuja. Photo: Justin Imo-owo

billion on its proposedIndependent Power Plant project.

The commissioner said thatN2.4 billion would also be spentto construct and rehabilitatemajor roads linking the 44 localgovernment areas in the state.

Gov. Rabi’u Kwankwaso hadon Monday presented a budget ofN235.3 billion to the state’sHouse of Assembly for the 2013fiscal year. (NAN)

Yuguda reiterates commitment to peaceful coexistencethat people in the state continue toenjoy relative peace.

Yuguda while congratulatingChristians for witnessing yetanother peaceful Christmas, urgedthem to use the yuletide period tostrengthen friendships andestablish new ones.

Yuguda also assured thedelegation that the stategovernment would continue tomaintain the existing cordialrelationship with various ethnicand religious groups in the state.

The chairman, ChristiansAssociation of Nigeria (CAN) in thestate, Rev. Lawi Pokti, had earliersaid they were at the GovernmentHouse to pay homage incommemoration of the Christmascelebration.

Pokti explained that Christmascelebration is not merely markingthe birth of Jesus Christ but amoment of sober reflection on theirfaith as it is the manifestation ofGod’s love and source of salvationto mankind.

Bauchi seeks to rehabilitate 100 Sara-Suka thugsthe society who can be called uponfor national development.

According to him, we organisedsuch free classes for these youthswho dropped out of schools as aresult of their indulgence in drugs.Youths was mean to impart Islamiceducation and to receive moralteaching.

“All this are part of effort of thestate government to alleviate themenace of drug abuse amongyouths who are the future hope ofthe country”, he said.

The Director-General said that

the drug addicts in the state will beselected randomly on quarterlybasis to benefit from the gesture.

He said they will be sponsoredby the government after theirrehabilitation to study in modernschools or engaged in skillacquisition programmes whichcan stop them from committingcrimes.

“The youths indulged inthuggery and restiveness as aresult of their indiscriminatetaking of drugs. So we believe thatif they are rehabilitated, they

would come back to their senses andbecome good citizens. But if weallow them to continue like this,the society is in problem which iswhat informed our decision toorganise these free classes forthem”, he explained.

He however stressed that allparticipants of the free lectures willbe given the sum of N2, 000monthly to assist them on dailyneeds, adding that the presentadministration is committedtowards revamping both Westernand Islamic education.

The Bauchi state TsangayaEducation iscollaborating with the Sheik

Dahiru Bauchi Foundation to train100 Sara-Suka thugs on morality.

The Director General onTsangaya Education, AlhajiSayyadi Aliyu Dahiru Bauchi whostated this during the official flag-off of the lectures yesterday,explained that the initiative wasaimed at rehabilitating the youthsto make them useful members of

From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

PDP stalwart lauds FCT party chairmanThe Tungamaje ward

chapter of the PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP) in

Gwagwalada Area Council hascommended the FCT chairman of theparty, Alhaji Suleiman YunusaYahaya over his transparenthandling of the ward councillorship

By Augustine Aminu

primaries that took place on the 27th

December 2012.In a statement signed by Alhaji

Jide Aliyu, he expressed the chapter’ssatisfaction, happiness and fulfilmentwith the physical presence andmonitoring of the primaries by thestate chairman, which

demonstrated his open dooradministration, regard for all partymembers and policy of inclusivenessin the party administration.

He said: “Without the physicalpresence of the state chairman,transparency wouldn’t have beenachieved. We are assuring the state

chairman of our support in the areaof co-operation and moving the partyforward in order to win the cominglocal government election. We areglad that the era of manipulation andmalpractices is gone, as such there isnothing to fear. We are sure of victoryin the main election.”

FEDERAL COLLEGE OF EDUCATION (TECHNICAL), GUSAU, ZAMFARA STATE

INVITATION FOR PRE-QUALIFICATION OF CONTRACTORS/SUPPLIERS FOR2012 TETFUND BOT SPECIAL INTERVENTION PROJECT

The Federal College of Education (Technical), Gasau wishes to bring to the notice of interestedcompetent and reputable Contractors/Suppliers that the College would carry out works andprocurement of furniture under the 2012 TETFund BOT Special Intervention Project.

• LOT 1: Construction of Education Resource Centre/Voc. & Tech. Complex• LOT 2: Construction of Studios for Technical Drawings & Fine Arts• LOT 3: Construction of Workshops for Metalwork, Automobile, Woodwork

& Electrical Electronics• LOT 4: Construction of Classroom Block• LOT 5: Construction of VIP Convenience• LOT 6: Procurement of Furniture’s for Studios/Workshops Equipments• LOT 7: Procurement of Equipment for Building, Woodwork, Metal work,

and Automobile workshops

Pre-qualification Requirement:• Certificate of Incorporation/Business Registration• Current Tax Clearance Certificate for the last three (3) years• Value Added Tax Registration Certificate• Verifiable Evidence of previous experience in area of interest• Company Profile• Three years Audited Accounts/Evidence of Financial Capability• Evidence of compliance with Pension Reform Act, 2004• Evidence of compliance with the statutory provision of Section 8 (1) – (3) of

the Industrial Training Fund Amendment Act, 2011

Submission of Documents:The application of Pre-Qualification must be submitted in sealed envelopes and boldlymarked “PRE-QUALIFICATION DOCUMENTS FOR LOT .....” and should be addressed asfollows: The Registrar, Federal College of Education (Technical), Gusau, Zamfara State.

Closing Date:Eligible Contractors/Suppliers are expected to submit relevant document within Three (3)weeks from the date of this publication and the pre-qualification documents will be publiclyopened for processing at 10.00 a.m on 21st January, 2012 at the College Conference Room,FCOE(T), Gasau. Only qualified companies will be short listed and invited to Tender

Please Note that:The pre-qualification invitation shall not be construed to be a commitment on the part ofFederal College of Education (Technical), Gasau, Zamfara State nor shall it entitle anycompany to make any claim what so ever and or seek any indemnity from the College byvirtue or such company having responded to the advert. The College is not under anyobligation to include your company on its list contractors.

SignedREGISTRAR

PAGE 7PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Suswam, Ugbahconfront each otherin novelty match

News

G o v e r n o r GabrielSuswam of Benuestate and his rival

at the 2011 governorshipelection in the ActionCongress of Nigeria (CAN),Prof. Steve Ugbah, arebilled to face each other ina novelty match at theweekend.

The match is expectedto be part of activitiesmarking the 2012 Ate-u-

From Uche Nnorom,Makurdi

Tiv carnival which is anannual event aimed atuniting the Tiv race.

Chairman, centralplanning committee ofthe event, Mrs.Mngunengen Awunah-Ikyegh, who disclosed thisto newsmen on Friday inMakurdi, said thecarnival is further aimedat fostering peace,strength, growth anddevelopment in TivKingdom, adding that itseeks to create a tourism

opportunity duringwhich the rich culturalheritage and potentials ofthe people will beshowcased.

Mrs. Awunah-Ikyeghcontended that throughthe carnival, the culturalpotentials of the statewhich has unique identitycan be exported foreconomic value,emphasizing that theprogrammed symposiumwill help the people toreflect on the socio

Benue policebattle ready forNew Yearfestivity —PPRO

Benue state policecommand haspledged to deploy

all its officers to nooksand crannies of the stateduring the New Yearcelebration to ensure ahitch free festivity.

The state PolicePublic Relations Officer(PPRO) DSP DanielEzeala who made thispromise in a chat withjournalists in Makurdiyesterday, noted thatthe Christmas festivitiesin the state wasabsolutely crime freeand commendedofficers for being alert.

He said men of theforce would bedeployed to allchurches during theNew Year eve and theactual New Yearservices to protectworshipers fromcriminal minded

people.“All our men will be

on ground during theNew Year to ensuresecurity of lives andproperty. The statePolice Commissioner,Christopher Katso, willdeploy armedpolicemen to allchurches during theNew Year eve servicesand New Year services.Our patrol teams arealso working round theclock. We will not reston our oars”.

He however,frowned at the use offirecrackers by youthswarning that it isprohibited and anyonecaught using themwould be arrested.

The Policespokesman posited thatwith bomb explosionsrocking parts of thecountry these days,throwing of firecrackerswas no longerfashionable.

From Uche Nnorom,Makurdi

economic needs and thechallenges that facegenerations yet unborn inTivland.

“Disunity amongst theTiv has brought aboutgross underdevelopmentin human, material andeconomic resources. Overthe years, this hasgradually affected theeconomic well-being of theTiv nation thus leading toour loss of self esteem andrelevance among otherethnic groups in thecountry”.

“We have madedeliberate efforts to bring insome prominent Tiv sonsand daughters that in thenot too distant past, seemedto be at daggers drawnagainst each other forreasons that were not in thecollective interest of the Tivnation”, she explained.

Okadaman docked for assaultingwoman on Christmas eveA commercial

motorcycle rider,S a m u e l

Olorundare, on Fridayappeared before aSurulere Magistrates'Court, Lagos chargedwith assaulting a womanon Christmas eve.

Olorundare, whoresides at Ijesha area ofSurulere in Lagos, isfacing a two-count chargeof assault and stealing.The prosecutor, Insp.Gabriel Ekundayo,alleged that the accusedhad on Dec. 24, assaultedMrs. Clementina Fayemion Enitan Street, byAguda market.

Ekundayo allegedthat Fayemi had parked

her car by the market tobuy some food stuff whenthe accused parked besideher car. He said that anargument subsequentlyarose following acomplaint by the accusedthat when the woman gotdown from her car shepushed him therebymaking him drop somemoney in his possession.

Ekundayo allegedthat when Fayemirefused to pick the money,the accused snatched herbag which containedN150, 000 and a N37,000 Samsung mobilephone and threw it on themain road. Theprosecutor alleged thatOlorundare then

descended on thecomplainant and gaveher several blows on theface and body and twistedher fingers.

He said that one of thefingers the accused twistedwas consequentlyfractured. The prosecutorsaid that the offencecommitted contravenedSections 171 and 285 ofthe Criminal Code, Laws ofLagos State. Olorundare,however, pleaded notguilty to the charge andthe Magistrate, Mr.Mukaila Fadeyi, grantedthe accused N50, 000 bailwith two sureties in likesum and adjourned thecase to Jan. 21, formention. (NAN)

Villagers protest abduction of children

V i l l a g e r s fromO v u m t e ,Ayaragu and

Ekembe in Ishiagucommunity of Ebonyistate, on Friday,protested the incidenceof abduction of childrenin their area. Theprotesters, in theirhundreds, mostly agedwomen and youths, tookto the roads chantingwar songs and calling onthe police and othersecurity agencies tounmask those behind thedastardly act.

The peacefulprotesters later marchedto the Ivo DivisionalPolice Headquarters,where they gave thepolice a seven-dayultimatum to unmaskthe perpetrators.

They said: “Ourvillages are under siege.Abductors have takenover our villages and welive in fear of theunknown”. We aregiving the police oneweek to uncover thosebehind the act”.

A source close to theIvo Divisional PoliceHeadquarters whopleaded anonymity, toldthe News Agency ofNigeria (NAN) that oneperson had been arrestedin connection with theabductions. The PolicePublic Relations Officer,Ebonyi Command, Mr.Sylvester Igbo,confirmed the incidentand said that one suspecthad been arrested whileinvestigation wasongoing to unmask the

remaining abductors.The aggrieved

villagers also visited thehouse of the president ofthe Ishiagu CommunityDevelopment Union(ICDU), Mr. StanlyAnyim, and solicited theintervention of the unionin tackling the problem.They said: “We are hereto appeal to you to useyour good office to stopthe spate of childabductions in ourvillages. Our childrenare no longer safe in ourhomes and this crimeagainst them must stop”.

A gang of abductorson Dec. 23 and Dec. 24unleashed terror on thethree villages andabducted seven children,aged between three andfive years old. (NAN)

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012PAGE 8

Tourism in pictures

PAGE 9PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Sights and sounds

Cover

Contd on pages 10

worldwide in the last one year. TheOrganisation confirmed that Nigeriais now the “Kidnap for Ransom Capitalof the World” Accounting for 25% ofGlobal Kidnappings.

In a bid to increase the ransompayable by their victims, thekidnappers now specialize inkidnapping monarchs, home video

actors and actresses, traditional rulersof big towns, high profile businesstycoons, politicians, children andrelatives of wealthy people.

No other incident proved thetremendous growth of the monsterthan the abduction of Professor MabelKamene Okonjo, mother of theMinister of Finance, Dr. (Mrs.) NgoziOkonjo-Iweala, at Ogwashi-Ukwu,Delta state.

The 82-year-old retired professorof sociology, University of Nigeria,UNN, Nsukka, was rescued after 5grueling days. It was not howeverclear if government paid the ransomdemanded by the abductors. Thoughthere was a school of thoughtpropounded by the minister whichsays that her mother’s kidnap was notunconnected with the battle she hadhad with the fuel subsidy cabal whichwas trying to frustrate her efforts tosanitize the sector.

Popular Nollywood face, NkiruSylvanus was also kidnapped duringthe year as well as other Nigeriansand their relatives.

In the very eyes of our securityagencies, kidnapping became abooming industry in 2012 and somedare-devil criminals kept on smilingto the bank.

Federal Government’s decision toincrease the pump price of petrolon January 1st, 2012 set the tone

for criticism of its policies, with thediscontentment of the blunderexpressed through the Occupy Nigeriaprotests, which further threw up issuesof waste, inefficiencies, corruption,insecurity etc, all of which threatenedto tear the nation apart, up till the tailend of 2012.

It started with the fuel subsidyprotests and continued with the Danaair crash in Lagos as well as thehelicopter crash in Jos. The year alsoended with an unmatched flooddisaster, more helicopter crashes,more avoidable deaths, morecondolence visits/ messages and stateburials.

As the government and its agentsshowed less ability to protect thecitizens, more organized crime andterrorist activities also hit theheadlines during the year.

KidnappingThe spate of kidnappings continued

to give the country an embarrassingreputation. Over the past few years andin the year under review, reported cases

of kidnapping in the country arose, withmany cases remaining unsolved. Insome instances, the victims are neverfound and the culprits are neverapprehended.

The African InsuranceOrganisation (AIO) has said thatNigeria accounts for a quarter ofkidnap for ransom cases reported

2012

By Abubakar Jimoh, Aisha Biola Raji, AliAbubakar Abare, Agaju Madugba &Olanrewaju Lawal

CoverPEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012PAGE 10

Sights and soundsContd from page 9

Contd on page 11

FloodingThe year 2012 will be

remembered for theunprecedented flood disasterthat befell the country towardsthe end of the year. FromBayelsa to Delta to Kogi, Lagos,Jigawa and others, the waterbodies tore into the homes andfarmlands of millions ofNigerians, killing anddestroying properties worthbillions of naira. Not even thehometown of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan was spared,his family home was alsoswallowed by the rampagingwater.

While global warming wasfingered, experts also blamedgovernment and its agenciesfor not doing enough to eithermitigate the effect of thedisaster or reduce its impactafter repeated fore-warnings.

While the worst form of foodcrisis was feared within theperiod, the flood also swallowedthe busy Lokoja- Abujaexpressway. The most affectedlocal government howeverremained Ibaji in Kogi state asthe whole of it was kept underwater.

State governors, religiousgroups, humanitarian and

civil society groups respondedquickly by rushing to thescenes, providing temporaryaccommodation for victimsand other relief materials.

The President alsoresponded in a nationwidebroadcast where he announcedthe supplementary provision ofN17 billion to be shared amongthe states involved for them to

use in helping the victims. Healso set up the Dangote andAgbakoba-led flood reliefcommittee to raise additionalfunds for the victims.

Fuel subsidy controversyThe Federal Government

announced a total withdrawalof fuel subsidy on January 1st

and plunged the entire nationinto a serious industrial crisis.Organised Labour and its alliesmade the countryungovernable for days beforegovernment soft-pedalled andimplemented a partialremoval of the subsidy whichbrought the pump price of fuelfrom N141 to N97.

Those who thought that wasthe end of the trouble werehowever mistaken asgovernment’s efforts to cleanup the mess in the fuel subsidyregime has also caused a lot ofnoise.

While some indicted fuel

subsidy scammers are facingtrial in courts, marketers havebeen on the neck of the entirecountry, insisting thatgovernment has no right to

withhold their payments in thename of investigation.

This has caused series ofavoidable fuel scarcities inparts of the country, especiallyLagos and Abuja. The latestbeing the promise ofgovernment to ensure there isabundant fuel during theyuletide. This is not the casedespite the N161 billionapproved for the settlement ofsome outstanding claims.

CorruptionNigeria remained at the

bottom of the heap on the globalcorruption index, having beenranked the 35th most corruptcountry in the world byTransparency International(TI).

The Petroleum RevenueSpecial Task Force (PRSTF)recently submitted its report toPresident Goodluck Jonathan.However, the substance of theassignment and the far-reaching findings andrecommendations have beenovershadowed by thealtercation between committeechairman, Mr. Nuhu Ribaduand his Deputy, Mr. Steve

President Goodluck Jonathan Mr. Steven Oronsaye

Professor Kamene Okonjo

Those who thought that was theend of the trouble were however

mistaken as government’sefforts to clean up the mess in

the fuel subsidy regime has alsocaused a lot of noise

“

Flood victims

CoverPEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 10 — SUNDAY 11, NOVEMBER, 2012 PAGE 11

Sights and sounds

Contd from page 10

Oronsaye at their session withthe President.

That has dealt a blow to thechances of the report beingimplemented. The President’sofficial attack dog, Dr DoyinOkupe has also come out tolambast Ribadu, accusing himof doing a shoddy job thatcannot be implemented.

The Economic andFinancial Crime Commission(EFCC) on December 12, 2012arrested Aminu Lamido, theeldest son of the Jigawa stateGovernor, Alhaji Sule Lamido,at the Mallam Aminu KanoInternational Airport, Kano onhis way to Cairo, Egypt over$40,000 money launderingallegations, among other majorlandmark corruption cases.

Insecurity and junglejustice

The bombers and othermurderers also had a field dayduring the year. Students andreligious places were the majorvictims while the MilitaryCantonment in Jaji and SpecialAnti-robbery Squad (SARS)also came under attack

20 worshippers weregunned down at the Deeper LifeBible Church, Okene Kogi state.The massacre of about 46students of the FederalPolytechnic, Mubi andAdamawa state College ofHealth Technology and fourother University of PortHarcourt students alsocommanded headline forweeks.

Apart from the above, in thelate January 2012, no fewerthan 200 bodies were depositedin the various morguesfollowing a bomb explosionthat rocked Kano city. This wasfollowed by several explosions

and a gun attacks in BayeroUniversity also in the cityleading to the deaths of no fewerthan 15 people in April, 2012.

States like Yobe, Borno,Kaduna, Plateau, Nasarawaetc also recorded series ofattacks and inter-tribal clashesthat led to the deaths of many.

Air crashesIn June 2012, the nation

recorded the catastrophic crashof Dana Air plane into thedensely populatedneighbourhood of Iju-Ishaga, aLagos suburb. It resulted to thedeath of all 153 people on boardand at least 10 on the ground.This was traced to technicalnegligence on the part of theairline ownership.

The crash of the Cessna208, 5N-BMJ on a hill at theNNPC depot near the YolaInternational Airport inAdamawa state involvingGovernor Danbaba Suntai ofTaraba state and his four aidestriggered a nationwide alarm.

Suntai was said to be anaviation enthusiast who spendstax payers’ money on aircraftseven though his state is amongthe poorest in the country.

Not up to two months afterSuntai was transferred toGermany for further medicalattention, the nation wasthrown into another sadmoment when Kaduna stateGovernor, Patrick Yakowa andimmediate-past National

Security Adviser, Andrew Azazialong with four others diedaboard a naval chopper whichcrashed in Bayelsa state.

EducationThe sector continued to

witness mass failures in majorexaminations. In the SeniorSecondary CertificateExamination conducted byWest Africa ExaminationCouncil (WAEC), 80% of thecandidates that sat for theexamination could not comeout with minimum of fivecredits.

According to a report, Twohundred and sixty twothousand, six hundred andfifty one candidates,representing 62.3 per cent of

the 406,108 who sat for theNovember/ December examsfailed to score up to five creditsincluding English Languageand Mathematics.

HealthAppreciable progress was

however made in the healthsector with the eradication ofguinea worm and polio virusamong other health issues.Maternal and child diseases aswell as deaths were reduced tothe barest minimum as thereforms of Professor OnyebuchiChukwu bore fruits.

This progress wasnonetheless hampered by theseries of industrial crisiswitnessed in the sector in thecourse of the year.

Mal. Nuhu RibaduDr. Doyin Okupe Prof. Onyebuchi Chukwu

Nkeiru SylvanusAminu Lamido

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012PAGE 12

Cover

Appraising performanceof FGN’s 2012 BudgetAny hope that the Minister of

Finance (also co-ordinatingMinister for the economy),

Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala’s secondcoming would bring about bestpractices in budget process was firstdispelled when the 2012Appropriation Bill was laid beforethe National Assembly, withbarely a working week beforeDecember 31, 2011.

Consequently, the 2012Budget only came into effect in themiddle of the first month of thesecond quarter. The budget isbased on the followingassumptions: Aggregateexpenditure proposed for the 2012fiscal year is N 4.749 trillion, anincrease of 6%over N 4.484 trillionappropriated for 2011. Recurrentexpenditure proposed for 2012budget consumed a whopping 72%of the expenditure while capitalexpenditure was a mere 28%.

Recurrent expenditures can besimplified to mean those expensesthat “recur” yearly such assalaries, while capital expenditureare those for new or ongoingprojects such as building refineriesand roads. According to Dr.Okonjo-Iweala, on-going capitalprojects will receive priority in thebudget implementation.

Oil production of 2.48 millionbarrels per day (mbpd) up from2.3mbpd for 2011 with thebenchmark oil price of US$72/barrel, which was a cautiousrevision from the US$75/barrelapproved in the 2011 AmendedBudget, an exchange rate ofNGN155/US$ with projected GDPgrowth rate of 7.2% and projectedinflation rate of 9.5%. Fiscal deficitis projected at about 2.77% of GDPin the 2012 Budget compared to2.96% in 2011.

The N4.749 trillion totalbudget for the 2012 fiscal year, asseen by the table above, is asignificant increase over theamount appropriated for 2011.However, the recurrentexpenditure for 2012 reflects thebloated nature of our government.Many critics have pointed out thatin a situation where you have aMinister, a Minister of State, andseveral PAs and SAs in oneministry, you are bound to have abloated government.

On Friday, April 13, 2012, the President signed the 2012 Appropriation Bill, changing itinto the 2012 Appropriation Act and thereby giving Nigerians their 2012 budget. AbdulwahabIsa, in this analysis, gives an insight into the performance of the budget, or lack of it.

Besides the Executive Arm, thecost of the Legislative branch is alsoastronomical, which promptedindustry observers to ask how thenation can have developmentwhen the recurrent expenditureeats up so much of the annualbudget. Recall the controversy thattrailed the uncontrovertedstatement by the Governor of theCentral Bank of Nigeria (CBN)that the National Assembly ate uptoo much of the annual budget.

Note that the budgetsupposedly includes N881 billionfor fuel subsidy (N72 billion permonth) even though N300 billionwas deducted for fuel subsidy inJanuary and February alone. Thismeans the figure is unrealistic. Inthe wake of the January massprotests against the removal ofsubsidy on petrol, the FederalExecutive Council was constrainedto rejig the budget earliersubmitted to the NationalAssembly just before Christmaslast year.

The 2012 budget, as notedearlier, was designed, according toPresident Goodluck Jonathan,with the underlying theme of“fiscal consolidation, inclusivegrowth and job creation”.Government hopes to achievethese objectives by paying dueattention to “macroeconomicstability, structural reforms,governance, and buildinginstitutions and investment as

priority areas.”Regrettably, given the

tradition of late presentation whichhitherto has characterized thenation’s budget enactmentprocess, the President’s very latesubmission was seen as a red flagsignal that successfulimplementation would beimpaired, as legislative debate onthe level of performance extendedwell into the third quarter of theyear.

Economic and budgetingexperts have expressed worriesover the ability of the FederalGovernment to successfullyimplement the budget. Although,Dr Okonjo-Iweala had in Octobersaid that 56 per cent of the 2012capital budget has so far beenreleased to the Ministries,Departments and Agencies(MDAs) as at July 20th, expertshave expressed doubt over thefigure, saying that gauging itsperformance with the realities onground leaves room for concern.

Ultimately, the question iswhether or not PresidentJonathan’s expectations of fiscalconsolidation, inclusive growthand job creation has beensuccessfully achieved. Notably,without macroeconomic stability,it would be an uphill task to“institute structural reforms, orimprove governance orsuccessfully build adequateinstitutions and investments asenvisaged.”

High inflation and interestrates above 10 per cent haveserious retrogressive impact andexclude macroeconomic stability,yet, no overt strategies exist in the2012 budget to promote beneficentinterest and inflation rates asmonetary policy reform is sadlydisregarded. In this event, theCBN’s consistent mop-up of excessliquidity will continue to distortand destroy the economy andmake President GoodluckJonathan’s expectations ofinclusive growth and job creationan unattainable dream.

Macroeconomic stability ischaracterised by a socialenvironment predicated on lowinflation rate (not more than 0 – 4

per cent as in successful countries),so that income values will bepreserved, but more importantly,there can be no industrialregeneration when ourindustrialists borrow at over 20percent.

In the same manner, inflationrate above 10 per cent reduces thepurchasing power of incomeearners and constrict demand forgoods and services, with fallingindustrial capacity utilisation ascollateral. The product of suchdisenabling environment arerising unemployment, povertyand insecurity, which are notconsonant with macroeconomicstability.

The conflicting price signalscoming from the latest inflationnumbers from the NationalBureau of Statistics (NBS), withheadline and food inflationtrending upwards, while coreinflation rate continued tomoderate for the fourthconsecutive month. This,according to experts, has createduncertainty as to the appropriatepolicy stance at this time.

Many economic experts are alsoof the view that despite the highinterest rates, additional shocks tothe economy emanating from thedevastating floods, importedinflation and the upwardadjustment in electricity tariffscontinue to stoke inflationarypressure.

Although, many observershave commended the fiscalauthorities for keeping the fiscaldeficit firmly in line with the 2012budget and improving the revenue

profile of the Federal Governmentby plugging several of the fiscalleakages, they have called on thegovernment to significantlyincrease capital spending andincrease its focus on improving ongovernance and transparency inthe public service.

Many Nigerians have alsourged the Federal Government toput a stop to its borrowing to financethe nation’s budgets, thatgovernment’s recurrentbudgetary expenditures were notserving the needs of Nigerians asexpected. It could be recalled thatin the 2012 fiscal year, N744billion was borrowed to finance therevenue shortfalls in the year’sbudget of N4.877 trillion.

The Nigerian public willultimately groan under thepressure of debt service charges,which may gulp up over 30% offederal revenue. The real sectorwill consequently be crowded outby government’s huge appetite forloans and our hope of industrialrejuvenation, and economicgrowth will dim, as increasing joblosses are propelled by spirallinginflation and a disenablingenvironment,

Similarly, a rapidly increasingdebt burden withoutcommensurate infrastructure andhuman capacity enhancement isnot also synonymous withmacroeconomic stability. Aquadrupling of domestic debt toover $35bn within five years,without improvement in socialand infrastructural structures, isan aberration of macro-economicstability.

In the light of little correlationbetween budget sectoral allocationand performance, most Nigerianshave lost faith on the impact of theby now routine government’spronouncements of nominalvalues of sectoral allocations. Inany event, allocations for health,education and power sectors haveremained way behind best practicebudget ratios; for example, whilethe UNESCO recommendation foreducation is about 25%, the 2012budget allocates less than 10% tothis critical sector.

PAGE 13PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Vox Pop

Our New Year resolutions

According to Khalil, "My New Year resolution is simple andshort; I have resolved to pursue my PhD in Organometallic

Chemistry at Monash University in Australia. I will divert myenergy into achieving this feat God willing.

A New Year's resolution or commitment is what a person makes at the end of theyear. It may be one or more personal goals , projects, or reforming an old habit . Thekey element to a New Year's Resolution is that, what sets it apart from other resolutionsis that it is made in anticipation of the New Year and new beginnings. People committhemselves to it generally and plan to do so for the whole length of the year.

By Comfort OminyiOdu My name isIkechukwu

(I.K); I am abusinessman aswell as anemployer. Mynew year'sresolution is tosettle down asmarried man,there are certainthings best knownto me that I did in2012 that I willnot like tocontinue with in2013.

My name isAmaka,I am

working withI f e s i n a c h icompany as aticket writer. I amasking God forlong life,p r o s p e r i t y ,wisdom andu n d e r s t a n d i n gand to better theNew Year for meand myfamily .Januarylast year was hellfor all Nigeriansbut we are hopingfor a betterJanuary thisyear.In essence, Iwant to be achanged personin 2013.

Amaka

My name is David a practicing Christian and an engineer. Iwant to achieve more wealth and fame come 2013 in order

to better my life and all who depend on me.

David

My name is

Benjaminand I'm am a n a g e m e n tc o n s u l t a n t . I n2013, I will becloser to God inorder to receivemore from himbecause I foundout that,closenessto God is the secretfor success. I alsowant to be at peacewith all and torender helpinghand to people asmuch as I can toincrease myintegrity.

Benjaminand

Ikechukwu

Ibrahim Khalil Bello

PAGE 14

Juduciary: Landmarkjudgements

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Cover

J u s t i c e must not only bedone by Judges, it must be seento be done. Justice must be

transparent and predictable so thatthe affairs of men are orderedaccording to the dictates of the law.

There are notable judgements inthe year 2012 which opened in withthe sack of the Governor of KebbiState, Alhaji Usman Saidu NasamuDakingari of the PDP from office bythe Supreme Court in February 25,2012.

The apex court ordered INEC toconduct a fresh election into thegovernorship position of Kebbi statewithin 90 days and set aside theruling of the Sokoto Division of theCourt of Appeal, which upheld

Dakingari’s election on theground that the court erred in lawwhen it deferred the reason for itsjudgement to outside the 60 daysallowed by the constitution.

The apex court consequently setaside the judgement of the court andin its place upheld the judgement ofthe Kebbi State Governorship

Election Petition Tribunal, whichhad earlier nullified the governor’selection and ordered a fresh one.

Then in March 1, 2012, a FederalHigh Court in Abuja dismissed a suitseeking to compel INEC to recognizethe Chekwas Okorie led nationalofficers of the All Progressive GrandAlliance (APGA).

APGA’s vice national chairman(South), Benjamin Duru filed a suitseeking an order prohibiting INECfrom relating with the party in anymanner which is inconsistent withthe decisions reached at theSeptember 2, 2009 nationalconvention where the party officialswere elected.

The court also said since Okoriedid not convene the September 2009national convention, he cannotdemand to be recognized by INEC forthe election which held in thatconvention.

The court held that theconvention took place during thependency of Okorie's appeal againstthe judgment of an Abuja High Courtwhich upheld his suspension fromAPGA and recognized Umeh aschairman; as such it amounted toan abuse of court process.

Moreover, the court said theconvention was an utter disregard ofthe judiciary which had earlierordered that status quo bemaintained.

Justice Aliyu dismissed the suitfor lacking in merit and competence.

On the 6th of June, 2012, aFederal High Court in Abujasentenced a 34-year old herbalistMathew Sonoma to seven yearsimprisonment with hard labour fordefrauding a diplomat, AmbassadorSam Edem of N715 million.

The Warri based herbalist whowill serve the jail term at Kuje Prisonin Abuja was convicted forcontravening section 7 (2) (b) of theAdvance Fee fraud and other relatedoffences act 2006 otherwise knownas 419.

The herbalist popularly knownas “Dr. Perebokowe Ogah” was jailedby Justice Gabriel Kolawole onconviction of duping the diplomatN715 million and concealing theamount in a secret account heopened with false name of TunwereMathew Ejoor at Oceanic Bank Plc.Warri branch in Delta state.

In his 66 page judgment, JusticeKolawole described the action of theconvict as barbaric adding that theevidence was overwhelming againsthim that he wanted to conceal themoney by opening a secret accountand transferring the money duringpolice investigation.

The Judge also held that theclaim of the convict that the moneywas payment for services herendered to Edem cannot hold waterbecause of his failure to disclose thenature of the services when calledupon to do so.

The Judge held that the sevenyear jail term with hard labourshould be a reasonable penalty for theconvict as prescribed under section 7(2) (b) of the Advance Fee Fraud Act2006.

The Supreme Court had onOctober 10, 2012 put paid to the legaltussle seeking to upturn the electionvictory of Governor Seriake Dickson.

The apex court had, in aunanimous judgement affirmed theelection victory of Governor Dicksonin the governorship election held onFebruary 11, 2012 in the state.

The judgement read by JusticeWalter Onnonghen, who led fourother justices of the court dismissedthe appeal filed by the ChangeAdvocacy Party (CAP) against thegovernor.

In the petition earlier filed by theparty which was dismissed by the

Election Petition Tribunal and theCourt of Appeal, the party saidDickson was not qualified to contestthe election which he won on theplatform of the Peoples DemocraticParty (PDP).

But the court in its decision saidthat the publication of the list ofcandidate and the sponsorship of thecandidate are not the same.

“There is a difference betweenpublication of the list of candidatesand sponsorship of candidates forelection. The 1st respondent (Dickson)was validly sponsored by the 3rdrespondent (PDP) and the fact thathis name was initially removed andrestored did not affect the validity ofhis sponsorship by his party”, thecourt held.

On November 20, the SupremeCourt dismissed the appeal broughtbefore it by the Action Congress ofNigeria (ACN) and its governorshipcandidate in Adamawa state, Mr.Markus Gundiri challenging thedecision of the State Governorshipand Legislative Election PetitionsTribunal and the Court of Appealwhich upheld the election ofGovernor Murtala Nyako of thePeoples Democratic Party (PDP).

The apex court, in a unanimousdecision dismissed the two appealschallenging Nyako’s electionbrought before it by ACN and itsgovernorship candidate inAdamawa state.

The appellants asked the court tonullify Nyako’s election on thegrounds of substantive noncompliance to the Electoral Act andother criminal allegations against theRespondents.

The judgement which was readby Justice Clara Ogunbiyi said theappellants failed to prove the civil and

criminal allegations preferred againstthe Respondents, adding also that theonus lies on the appellant to provetheir allegations, which the courtnoted, the appellants failed to do.

According to the apex court, inits judgement, the appellants’appeal,” is devoid of merits and it ishereby dismissed, there is no order asto cost.

on November 29, 2012 a FederalHigh Court in Abuja dismissed thesuit brought before it by a coalition ofCivil Society groups against theAttorney General of the Federation(AGF) and Minister f Justice, Mr.Mohammed Bello Adoke (SAN) andthe Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN)where-in they sought information onhow the $12.4 billion Gulf oil windfallin the country between 1988 and1992 was spent.

While dismissing the suit, thetrial Judge, Justice Gabriel Kolawolenoted that although the plaintiffsmeant well for the country andwanted a country free of corruption,but that they lack locus standi to filethe suit, saying that the suit is notjusticiable and it is status-bar, havingbeen filed more than 12 calendarmonths after the said Pius OkigboPanel report was submitted in 1994

or when it was claimed to have beenfound in 2005.

Six civil society groups led by theSocio-Economic Rights andAccountability Project, SERAP,under the Fundamental Rights(Enforcement Procedure) Rules2009 had approached the courtseeking to compel the Central Bankof Nigeria, CBN, and the AttorneyGeneral of the Federation, AGF, todisclose how the $12.4 billion oilwindfall money that accrued to theFederal Government between 1988and 1994 under the regime ofGeneral Ibrahim Babangida wasspent.

The apex court, on December 7,upheld the appeal by the suspectedassailant of the former minister ofinformation and communication,Professor Dora Akunyili, Jude Ugwu.

The Seven man panel of Justicespresided over by Justice DatijoMohammed, affirmed the lowercourts’ decision which held that therewas no substantial evidence linkingthe accused, Jude Ugwu with allegedattempted crime.

Jude ugwu alias "Agada" and fourothers were charged before an Abujahigh court for attempted murder ofProf. Akunyili when he was travelingthrough Anambra to Delta state in2003, at the time she was theDirector General of the Agency forFood and Drugs Administration andControl (NAFDAC).

According to the charge, a bullettore through her headgear when theaccused persons fired at her car, anallegation the accused personsubsequently challenged itscompetence of evidence against him

The same day, the court sackedHon. Chudi uwazurike, a member ofthe House of Representatives, whenit dismissed his appeal challengingthe decisions of the lower courtswhich upheld Hon. AustineNwachukwu as the validlynominated candidate of the PDP forOkigwe south federal constituency ofImo state.

Justice Walter Onoghen who ledfive other Justices, dismissed Hon.Uwazurike's appeal for lacking inmerit and competence, describingthe application as most frivolous

The year 2012 has witnessed remarkable activities in the nations’ judiciary. There hadbeen some landmark judgements from across the courts in the country. Sunday EjikeBenjamin takes a review of some of these remarkable judgements in the year 2012.

Contd on Page 15

On the 6th of June, 2012, a FederalHigh Court in Abuja sentenced a 34-yearold herbalist Mathew Sonoma to sevenyears imprisonment with hard labour for

defrauding a diplomat, AmbassadorSam Edem of N715 million.

“

which the court cannot entertain.Similarly, a Federal High Court in

Lagos same day ordered the NigerianMaritime Administration and SafetyAgency (NIMASA) to pay the ownersof a vessel M/T Agbonmien, $39 millionfor unlawful detention and sale of thecontents of the vessel.

In his verdict over the matter,Justice Okon Abang held that thevessel was illegally detained andordered the agency to pay the ownersof the vessel the judgment sumwithout delay.

According to the judge,investigations by the police revealedthat NIMASA and the Nigerian PortsAuthority (NPA) sold the largequantity of Kerosene the vessel carriedto the NNPC offshore, and eventuallyrendered the vessel moribund.

Again on December 7, 2012 theSupreme Court made anotherlandmark pronouncement on whenit held that political parties had absolutepower to determine their candidatesfor elections, even as it confirmedBayelsa State Governor SeriakeDickson as the lawful governorshipcandidate of the PDP in the state.

A full-panel of the courtconsequently dismissed an appeal bythe former governor of the state,Timipre Sylva, challenging thedecision of the ruling party to dumpthe first primary election won by him,in place of the second one won byDickson, in presenting a candidate forthe 2012 Bayelsa governorship

election. The apex court held that nocourt had no jurisdiction to determinewho a political party should sponsor.

The same apex court had imposedRivers State governor, RotimiAmaechi as the lawful candidate ofthe PDP for the state governorshipelection in 2007 and sacked theparty’s anointed and sitting governor,Sir Celestine Omehia.

The apex court also imposedIfenayi Araraume as thegovernorship candidate of PDP in ImoState, though the party had chosenCharles Ugwuh as its candidate forthe 2007 governorship election. Butthe apex court’s panel unanimouslyheld on 7th December that it was theexclusive preserve of a political partyto choose its candidates for election.

December 16 was the day the

Supreme Court dismissed an appealbrought before it by the NationalDemocratic Party (NDP) seeking tonullify the election of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan because he wonthe 2011 Presidential election basedon the second time table released bythe Independent National ElectoralCommission (INEC).

In a unanimous decision, allthe seven Justices of the apexcourt who sat on the panel heldthat the appeal lacked merit.

Affirming the decision of the courtof appeal, the Supreme Court held thatthe NDP did not acquire any vestedright since the so called rights hadcollapsed with the cancellation of thefirst time table by INEC.

According to the apex court,“INEC has the sole responsibility to

CoverPEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 PAGE 15

Education2012 witnessed near zero

improvement in the sector. While thenine new universities established bythe Federal Government took off, noappreciable improvement in generalterms. Massive students’ failurepersists in various examinations. Imust however praise the JointAdmission and Matriculation Board(JAMB) for the revolution takingplace in the conduct of JME whichhas significantly reduced exammalpractices and guarantee earlyrelease of results. Nigeria needs toinvest massively in Education.Education must be free andcompulsory at primary level and freeat other levels with more emphasison practical and skill acquisitions.Nigeria has the resources that cansupport this.

EconomyThe economy remains in

shambles with the masses wallowingin abject poverty. While the increasein petroleum pump price has led toincrease in poverty rate, the SURE-Pprogramme remains a mere sloganas it has not translated to anymeaningful positive impact on thelives of Nigerians. The much talkedabout increase in power supplyremains a mirage. Nigerians areending the year with acute shortageof fuel with its attendant unofficialprice increase. As if this is not enough,government continues to amass bothdomestic and foreign debts at analarming rate but with little ornothing to show for it in terms ofcorresponding growth anddevelopment. While the governmentcanvasses sacrifice on the part of the

Economy wobbled in 2012 —JawondoBarrister Salman Jawondo is a former Kwara state Chairman ofthe Nigeria Bar Association (NBA). He reviewed the past year inthis interview with Olanrewaju Lawal and gave the economy aswell as the country’s policy makers less than a pass mark for theirperformance.

people, the government officials andpolitical office holders and theircronies live in affluence.

Corruption has been elevatedto status of a culture with anti-corruption war reduced to comedyand mere tool of persecution ofperceived opponents and or those

who have fallen out of favour withthe powers that be. To grow theeconomy and develop the country,the cost of governance must bereduced and corruption must beconfronted headlong. It is suggestedthat the salaries and allowances ofpolitical office holders must be

Juduciary: Landmark judgements

structured along that of the civilservice or the university system andshould be made public. There shouldbe massive transparent investmentin infrastructures, energy, educationetc.

SecuritySecurity has been at the lowest

ebb in 2012. If it is not Boko Haram,it is kidnappers or armed robbers.Nobody is safe. Even though thegovernment claims to be on top ofthe situation, what is feasible is thatthe government is under thesituation while the terrorists are stepsahead of the government.Corruption, politicisation andunderfunded, unmotivated andinefficient police system among otherfactors have combined to make thecountry vulnerable.

EmploymentUnemployment rate

particularly among the youths andgraduates remains alarming andunprecedented. Employmentgeneration remains mere slogan andpolitical propaganda bygovernment. Insecurity andunemployment are interrelated asan idle hand is the devil's workshop.Suicide bomber is ready to kill anddie because he has no means of decent,productive and hopeful living. Akidnapper wants money to live and

enjoy life, so also the armed robberand even petty thieves.

Way out include massivedeliberate and strategic investmentin and development of employmentgenerating industries, promotionand protection of genuine Nigerianinvestors and industrialists andbusinessmen. Security agencies andagents must be well funded, paid,motivated and trained. There shouldbe drastic reduction in the cost ofgovernance and paying lip serviceto anti-corruption should cease.

Politics Politics has remained a game of

winner takes all and those who arenot with us are against us and mustat all cost be destroyed. The Presidenthas not helped matters either. Whilehis body language points to the factthat contrary to his promise to servea term, he is ready to have a shot atthe Presidency in 2015. He has notbeen courageous enough to becategorical on the issue takingunbrage on time factor. Hisopponents have read between thelines and are preparing against him.The battle for 2015 has started andhence the polity is being heated up.The elections in Edo and Ondo statesappeared an improvement on theprevious ones, deregistration ofparties by INEC is a welcomedevelopment and more of suchparties should go in 2013 in order tosanitize the political landscape. It issuggested that the President shouldtake the bull by the horns,demonstrate courage and sincerityby being a man of his words and notbe carried away by the allure of office.

fix dates for elections and to my mindif INEC fixes date for elections and forwhatever reason, be it logical, I donot think anyone has a cause ofaction against INEC for cancelling anelection (not held) and reschedulingelections for another”.

A Federal High Court, Abuja onDecember 20 set aside the October 6,2012 bye-election into the office ofsenator representing Plateau NorthSenatorial District and Barkin-LadiState constituency, following thedeath of Senator Gyang Datung andHon. Gyang Fulani respectively.

Senator Pwajok, who was electedunder the platform of PeoplesDemocratic Party (PDP), inreplacement of Senator GyangDantong who was murdered duringone of Jos crises. The trial judge,

Justice Adeniyi Ademola, in hisjudgement ordered INEC to conductanother election within 90 days. Thecourt also granted a consequentialorder against the duo of Sen. GyangPwajok and Hon. Kaneng GyangFulani to stop parading themselvesas representatives of the affectedconstituencies with immediate effect.

The judge further ordered theaffected lawmakers to vacate theiroffice as Senator and House ofAssembly member respectively,having ordered a re-run of the said6th October, 2012 bye-electionconducted by INEC.

Justice Ademola also awarded aN5 million cost against the electoralbody in favour of the Congress forProgressive Change (CPC) in Plateaustate, the applicant in the matter.

Contd from Page 14

Acting President Court of AppealDalhatu AdamuMinister of Justice, Bello Adoke Justice Aloma Mukhtar

Barrister Salman Jawondo

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012PAGE 16

Cover InterviewSystem andleadership, noteffective-Balarabe Musa

How do you assess theoutgoing year 2012 in

terms of its impact on theNigerian people?

The year 2012 has been likethe previous years for a verylong time. The situation getsworse every year. That is thestate of the nation and we donot expect anything bettereven in 2013, as long as thecause of the negative state ofthe nation is still there. Thecause is the social and economicsystem controlling alldevelopments in the countryand the leadership produced bythe system. As long as theycontinue, we can only seethings get worse because thesystem and the leadership arebased on self-interest first andpublic interest second orincidental. That is why wehave a situation of free for allthat has resulted in the presentdisabling level of corruption,stealing and criminal waste ofresources, evidenced bypoverty and even hunger, highlevel of unemployment,insecurity and mindlesspolitical leadership. This hasbeen the case in Nigeria sincethe Second Republic and everyyear, the state of the nationcontinues to deteriorate. In theabsence of a fundamentalchange, 2012 has been bad and2013 will be worse. And, this iswhat we have been suffering fora very long time. Each year isworse than the previous year.

How do you think we canreverse the trend?

It is not a trend. It is morethan that. It is the negativestate of the nation. A situationin which anything goes andnothing fundamental andbeneficiary to the peoplehappens. What is directlyresponsible for this, as I said, is

the socio-economic andpolitical system controlling alldevelopments in the countryand the political leadershipproduced by the system whichis both based on self-interestfirst. That is what is responsiblefor this situation. There was atime, particularly during thecolonial times and the FirstRepublic, when public interestwas primary and self-interestwas second. That was duringthe colonial period and theFirst Republic and, because ofthe leading role of publicinterest, we registered someprogress but starting from theSecond Republic we began to seethis level of corruption, stealingand criminal waste of resourcesand the negative state of thenation arising from that.During the colonial times andthe First Republic, we did nothave this level of poverty andunemployment. We did nothave this level of insecurity, wedid not have this level ofcollapsing public service, wedid not have this level ofstealing. I can tell you that wedid not have this level ofstealing. During those twoperiods in our history, nobody

could organize violence leadingto loss of lives and property andget away with it, we did nothave this level of poverty,hunger and unemployment.Nobody could steal a kobo ofpublic funds and get away withit. But today, if you are thefavourite of the President,Governor or local governmentchairman, or anybodyappointed by them, you cansteal anything and get awaywith it.

It appears there has beenso much bloodshed thisyear, in 2012. Do you alsoattribute to the sameproblems you outlinedearlier?

It is part of it because it isorganized violence. Organizedviolence pays more thanlegitimate business. An armedrobber can be paid N5 millionfor an operation. Electionrigging can be organized with

billions of Naira. For example,anybody aspiring to be agovernor of a state in Nigeriawill spend about N10 billionand out of that amount aboutN3 billion will go to armedthugs of all varieties. That isthe situation.

So, what is the way out?The way out is to change the

system. When you change thesystem then public interest willbe primary while personalinterest will be second.Protection of public interestshould be of paramountconsideration for even the selfinterest. We should abandonthis leading role of privateenterprise in the economy. It isa free for all affair, it can onlylead to disaster. Do away withthis privatization, deregulation,and commercialization. Doaway with them then you willsee the primary role of publicinterest, you will see thelegitimate role of enlightenedself interest and we will seestability and progressivedevelopment of the country.But as things are today, underthis situation where moneypower is of primary concern, thedignity of the human person issecondary or even incidental,you cannot get peace, stabilityand progress. All you get isanarchy and eventually, adestructive force. That is whatwe are waiting for in Nigeriatoday because we do not have acredible leadership that canavert it. That is why you seewhat is happening in the

country. Today, it is unsafe tomove about in Kaduna. You seesoldiers and policemeneverywhere. Why? Are we atwar? This is how we live. Andit is simply because of thesystem of self interest and thecorrupt leadership producedby the system.

When you talk aboutcorruption, we haveappropriate laws and eveninstitutions that should beable to handle it and relatedissues?

Have they worked? Do younot see thieves parading thewhole country? Have you notseen convicted thieves movingabout even freer than you andme with even security escort?

Are you saying that thelaw is not effective?

How can the law beeffective when the system andthe leadership are noteffective? We have a situationwhere the law is based on classinterest. Look, if you have acase against somebody or thestate or any organizationtoday, before going to court,before relying on the stateapparatus to get your right,the first thing you think of is,how much time will I wastegoing to the police or to thecourt. Do I not run the risk ofturning into the accusedinstead of the complainant? If Ihave to go to the court, can Iafford the legal fees? So, thesystem is available only for therich and powerful and theevidence is clear.

A former governor of old Kaduna state,Alhaji Balarabe Musa is a social critic andalso National Chairman of the Conferenceof Nigerian Political Parties (CNPP) as well asNational Chairman of the People’sRedemption Party (PRP). In this interviewwith Agaju Madugba, on 2012 says Nigeriais sitting on a keg of gunpowder which iscapable of exploding any moment, due towhat he describes as bankrupt and corruptleadership across all levels of government.

Alhaji Balarabe Musa

“What is directly responsible forthis, as I said, is the socio-

economic and political systemcontrolling all developments in thecountry and the political leadershipproduced by the system which isboth based on self-interest first

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 PAGE 17

Cover2013 Budget: Experts express doubtover government's implementation

N i g e r i a n s may beexcused for the feelingof déjà vu, as these are

the same expressed objectivesand strategies of previousadministrations’ failed budgets.

In the appropriation bill forthe 2013 fiscal year, Nigeria'sfederal government is proposinga N4.92-trillion spending plan,representing an increase of c.5%over the N4.7-trillionappropriated for the 2012 fiscalyear.

The aggregate expenditurefigure comprises of N1.54trillion for capital expenditure,N2.41 trillion for recurrentexpenditure, N380.02 billionfor statutory transfers andN591.76 billion for debt service.

There is an observed shift inthe percentage of recurrentexpenditure to totalexpenditure, which is estimatedto decline to around 69% ofaggregate expenditure from72% in 2012 budget, whilecapital expenditure as a shareof aggregate spending isestimated to 31% in 2013 from28% in 2012.

In recent years, recurrentexpenditure has been largercomponent of Nigeria's annualnational budgets, even as thecountry's largely inadequatephysical infrastructure cameunder enormous pressure frompopulation growth and lack ofmaintenance.

The budget wasunderpinned by someassumptions which include aprojected oil production level of2.53 million barrels per day, upby 2.02% from the 2.48 millionbarrels per day projected for2012.

The benchmark oil price wasset at US$75/barrel, a modestincrease from the US$72/barrelapproved in the 2012 Budget;However, the NationalAssembly have this monthjerked up the oil pricebenchmark upwards to $79.

Gross Domestic Product(GDP) growth was estimated at6.5%, down from the 6.85%projected in the Fiscal StrategyPaper. The downward revisionof the growth rate was againstthe backdrop of severe floodsexperienced in some parts of thecountry which wouldconsequently impact oneconomic activity in 2013,particularly agriculture.

The gross federallycollectible revenue is projectedat N10.84 trillion, of which the

As 2012 fizzles out, the question on the lips ofeconomic watchers is: Can the GoodluckJonathan’s administration provide positivemacro-economic indices in 2013? AminuImam highlights the contending issues.

total revenue available for thefederal government's budget isforecast at N3.89 trillion - up9% over the estimate for 2012,and resulting in a fiscal deficitof N1.03 trillion - down fromN1.11 trillion in 2012. In ourview, the need for Nigeria tosuccessfully develop its non-oilsector and generate revenuesfrom alternative sources cannotbe over emphasised in view ofthe country's vulnerability tofuture oil shocks.

However, on the positiveside, fiscal measures stated totake effect on the 1st of January,2013 in a bid to develop theagricultural sector. Machineryand spare parts imported forlocal sugar manufacturingindustries to attract 0% dutyand a 5-year tax holiday for"sugarcane to sugar" valuechain investors.

Furthermore, import dutyand levy on raw sugar will be10% and 50% respectively,while refined sugar will attract20% duty and 60% levy. Inaddition, 10% import duty and100% levy will be applied toboth brown and polished ricewhile all commercial aircraftand aircraft spare partsimported for use in Nigeria willnow attract 0% duty and 0%VAT.

Also, machinery andequipment imported for use inthe solid minerals sector willattract 0% import duty and 0%VAT; and in order to encouragethe production of mass transitvehicles in Nigeria, duty onCompletely Knocked Downcomponents (CKD) for masstransit buses of at least 40-seater capacity, will be 0%,down from 5%.

Analysts say they expectGross Domestic Product (GDP)growth to recover moderatelyto above 7.0 percent in 2013from 6.6 percent in 2012, withFBN Capital forecasting 7.3percent real GDP growth nextyear.

“Despite the sluggisheconomic situation in advancedeconomies, the loose globalliquidity conditions will ensurea relatively robust oil price nextyear,” said Samir Gadio, anemerging markets strategist atStandard Bank London havesaid.

Gadio expects inflation toreach single digit in the firstquarter of 2013, on the back ofhigh base effects in the data timeseries, but to drift higher later

in the year and average 11.4percent in 2013, from a twelvemonth average change of 12.1percent as at November 2012.

Analysts say the low rateenvironment in developedcountries, coupled withaccommodating liquidityconditions and Nigeria’sattractive fixed income yields,should underpin sustainedcapital flows to the country nextyear.

Nigeria’s nominal GDPshould rise to $305 billion in2013, from $270 billion at yearend 2012, according toRenaissance Capital estimates.The country’s growth potentialremains robust, regardless offurther movement on reforms,which is a positive for 2013’soutlook, note FBN Capital.

The partial removal of thepetrol subsidy in January,reduced the arbitrageopportunities in the oilmarketing sector, and helped tofirm up dollar reserves and thenaira.

Other reforms expected for2013, include conclusion of theprivatisation of electricityassets, the passage of thePetroleum Industry Bill (PIB),and the effective take-off of theSovereign Wealth Fund (SWF).

Nigeria’s oil pricevulnerability however remainsa key worry for analysts.

“At this stage, we still feelthe exchange rate will hoveraround 156 – 158 in 2013 if theoil price remains robust, yieldsin developed countries low, and

global liquidity conditionsfavourable,” said Gadio.

However, many industryobservers have expressedgreater concern over the Houseof Representatives adoption of a$79 benchmark assumption,given global risks, and Nigeria’son-going fiscal and exportdependency on a singlecommodity.

Some have said that thepriority for Nigeria has got tobe increasing its rate of savings.Although, the price could goeither way,.were oil prices tofall, they say, Nigeria wouldcurrently be left veryvulnerable, with no soundmechanism for being able tosmooth spending, let aloneprovide a counter-cyclical boostto the economy.

It could be recalled that eventhough the 2011 revenueprojections were predicated on$75/barrel and oil pricesremained above budgetbenchmark , government hasfailed to satisfactorily explainwhy these fortuitous events didnot wipe out or significantlyreduce the value of the 2011deficit.

Also, the accommodation ofthe N971bn fuel subsidybudget, which is N83bn or 9.35per cent higher than theN888bn that is currently beingspent in the 2012 fiscal year issurely going to increase the2013 deficit; i.e. about 20-25%of the 2013 budget already.

Many Nigerians have alsodecried the Federal

Government’s borrowing tofinance the nation’s budgets,with many saying thatgovernment’s recurrentbudgetary expenditures werenot serving the needs ofNigerians as expected.

It could be recalled that inthe 2012 fiscal year, N744billion was borrowed to financethe revenue shortfalls in theyear’s budget of N4.877trillion and in the coming 2013draft budget of N4.929 trillion,another whopping sum ofN727 billion has beenearmarked for borrowing tomake up the expected revenueshortfalls.

Altogether, economic andbudgeting experts haveexpressed worries over theability of the FederalGovernment to successfullyimplement the 2013 budget,saying its performance on thecurrent fiscal year has notshown that any positive changewould be seen from the trend ofthe past.

The issue of performance ofthe 2013 budget is very vital,therefore government shouldput in place a participatorybudget performancemonitoring and evaluationsystem, which will involve allcritical stakeholders toperiodically appraise and reporton its performance.

According to the experts, thegovernment must ensure thatit implements the 2013 budgetin a way that will be felt byNigerians.

Dr Shamsudeen Usman, Minister ofPlanning

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, Minister ofFinance

PAGE 18 PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Still love her? Hereare four simple waysto get your ex-back

Relationship

Y o u r ex-girlfriend has justwalked out your door andyou feel hopeless and

alone. What is your next step?That depends on if you want herback or not.

If you do not want her back,

With A'isha Biola Raji

Heart Matterz

E-mail: rajia39ishabiola@yahoo.comPhone: 08082071393

If you have any relationship story you want to sharewith our esteemed readers, please send to theabove address. Let's share your love story.

simply accept the breakup andmove on. However, if you wanther back in your life, you mustinstitute some strategies whichwill enable you get her back.

Step 1:You must give your ex-

girlfriend space and time. Yes, weall know it's difficult to doespecially when you are feelingvery vulnerable as well ashopeless but you must exerciserestraint in not calling her,sending texting messages oremailing her. How can your ex-girlfriend miss you if you arealways pestering or contactingher? I have news for you, shecannot. You must allow a timeframe where your ex-girlfriendcan think about her actions whiledeciding if she wants to come backinto the relationship which sheended with you.

Step 2:You must remain civil while

Re - I am in dilemma; I'm inlove with one but attachedto the other

being a gentleman. The surestway to ensure you never get yourex back is to begin to attack herverbally. Even if the breakup inyour eyes is her fault, do not getoffensive. You must showkindness and understandingduring this time. Wait for yourex to contact you and if she doescontact you, speak kindly andgently.

Step 3:After about a week of the

breakup if you have not heardfrom her, feel free to telephone herwith the excuse of checking to seeif she is alright. Do not request thatshe call you back, merely allowsyour ex to know that you areconcerned and are only checkingto see if she is doing fine. If your exdoes not pick up the phone leave akind message and if she does notcall you back, you can be restassured that, more than likely,she is not going to.

Approximately after a week ofthe breakup, your ex-girlfriendwill either be very happy to hearfrom you or she will not. There isno in between with this situation.If your ex-girlfriend does nottelephone you back, do not callagain. If you want your ex-girlfriend back, sending a nastymessage to her phone will not makeher to come back to you therefore,mind your manners and leaveyour anxiety to yourself.

Step 4:If your ex-girlfriend does call

you back, take a deep breath forthis is a good sign. Ensure that youare not pushy but ensure that youspeak your mind in a mild-lovingmanner. Inform her that youmiss her and want her back andthat you would like to meet face-to-face to discuss a possiblereconciliation. After this, leave itup to her to make the next move.

You must be prepared at thispoint to accept what happenseither way. There is a greatpossibility you will get her backbut there is also a chance you willnot. Be an adult as well as matureabout it either way, whichoccurs. If you do not get your ex-girlfriend back then you must beprepared to move on with yourlife while accepting the currentcircumstances. If she comes backto you, both of you can then workout your differences whileworking toward the future bothof you wanted in the first place.www.naij.com

Hello dear Ahmad, I read yourstory and I don't think you haveany problem. The mostimportant thing to look at inmarriage is love, since you are notin doubt of your love forShamsiya, listen to your heart.

Come to think of it, ethnicityshould not be a barrier in

I am Rabiu Zakari, I am 43years old and still single. Ihave always found it difficultto fall in love and I've beenskeptical about marriage.

My mother is still alive andbeing her only child, she hasbeen pestering me to getmarried so she could havegrandchildren to spend timewith.

At a point, God answeredher prayer and I met Uwani.She is a very beautiful, Godfearing and kind and patientwoman. With her, I forgot allmy fear about marriage andfocused on how to settle downto a blissful life with her.

We have been dating fortwo years. Three months ago,we decided to tie the knot and

My fiancée and I both havegenotype AS, we love eachother is there a way out

marriage, make your parents andfriends understand this. Let themknow your happiness should comefirst and that, if they force you tomarry Halima your tribal girl,you might end up beingunhappy.

Most especially, pray for God'sguidance.

both families have been verysupportive.

Having come from afamily with history of SickleCell Anemia myself, my uncleadvised that we both go forgenotype test.

I knew I could be AS but Ihad faith that, my Uwaniwould definitely turn out AA.

My hope was dashed whenthe result came out and weboth tested AS which signifiesthat, we might have childrenwith complete Sickle CellAnemia SS.

I don't want to lose the onlywoman I love and I also don'twant to endanger the lives ofmy unborn children, am at across road, what do I do?

—Rabiu

Approximatelyafter a week of

the breakup,your ex-

girlfriend willeither be veryhappy to hear

from you or shewill not

“

PAGE 19PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Beauty nest with AmeeraBeauty Tips

I t 's the festive season andlooking good and feelinggood! Ameera here compiles

a list of fun facial tips and tricks -that won't break the bank - toleave you with clear, healthy,glowing skin from the comfort ofyour home.

Step 1 -Every facial should start with

clean skin so it is important to usea cleanser suitable for your skintype. Invest in a good cleanserand do not use soap or shower gelsas a face wash.

Why is soap so bad? Our skin'sph balance is more acidic whilesoap is more alkaline. It breaksdown our natural lipid barrierand ultimately dries out the skinleaving you with a "tight" feeling.

Top 5 cleansers:-Khiels Ultra Facial Cleanser

for Normal skin-Origins Checks and Balances

for Combination skin-Dermalogica Essential

Cleansing Solution for dry skin-Neutrogena Visibly Clear

Pink Grapefruit for oily/acne skin-Clarins One Step Gentle

Exfoliating Cleanser for all skintypes

A natural alternative is thelemon facial cleanser. It is easy

to make, and delightful to use. Itdoesn't lather though but it givesa deep clean and it is suitable forall skin types.

1 tablespoon natural yogurt1 teaspoon lemon juice2 drops essential lemon oilMix all the ingredients

together and apply to the face andneck with a cotton pad in acircular motion. A double cleanseeffectively takes off oils, dirt andmake up. It leaves you feelingrefreshed and uplifted with thelovely lemon scent.

Step 2 -

To get healthy glowing skinit is imperative to exfoliate. Deadskin cells leave your skin lookingdull and feeling very pasty.Ameera advises you to exfoliateonce or twice a week. Slough offdead skin cells to reveal new skinwith these top 3 exfoliators:

-Origins Modern Friction forNormal/Combination skin

-St.Ives Apricot Scrub for allskin types

-Neutrogena Visibly EvenSkin Polishing EnzymeTreatment for Acne prone skin

The best at-home exfoliator iseasy to use and all you need issome water and some baking sodaand voila your face is as smoothas a baby's.

Moisten your face with water;apply the mixture (it should beof a paste like consistency) aroundyour face avoiding the eye areain circular motions and rinse offwith warm water.

Top tips: A teaspoon ofbaking soda can be added to yourcleanser for a deeper clean andgentle exfoliation

The water and baking sodapaste serves as a great mask foracne prone skin!

Step 3 -Always apply a face mask

after you exfoliate as this willrestore your skins lost nutrientsand will also help heal or repairexisting concerns as well asrefreshing your skin. Masks area great way of feeding your skinwith nutrients on the outside andtoning your skin.

Homemade masks are goodbecause of their freshness andhigh nutrient content. Below area few recipes that Ameera hastried and tested, "I'm sure you'lllove them too"!

Moisture maskWhat you need:1 teaspoon Honey1 whole Avocado1 teaspoon Flax seed oil

(optional)Mash the avocado and mix

with the honey and flax seed oil.Apply on the face avoiding eyearea. Leave on for 15-20 minutes

and rinse with warm water. Brightening maskWhat you need:1/2 cup unripe papaya or

paw paw1 teaspoon plain yogurt1 teaspoon honeyBlend all ingredients together

and apply on face avoiding eye area.Leave on for 8-10 minutes. This masktends to have a tingling sensation sodon't panic if you feel it. If your skin issensitive you can use ripe papayainstead, however this contains lesspapain - the active brighteningagent. Rinse off with cool water.

Clarifying maskWhat you need:1 tablespoon Rose Water1 tablespoon Sandalwood

powder1 tablespoon TurmericMix into a paste and apply on

face avoiding eye area. Leave onfor 15 minutes then rinse off withcool water.

Step 4 -All good facials end with the

application of a suitablemoisturizer. It is important tokeep the skin moist and supple toprevent premature aging. Evenoily skin needs to be moisturized.

Ameera's top 5moisturizers are:

-Dr Murad Skin PerfectingLotion for Oily/Acne skin

-Clinique DramaticallyDifferent Moisturizing Lotion forDry skin

-Estee Lauder DayWear withSPF15 creme for Normal skin

-REN T-zone Balancing DayFluid for Combination Skin

-Philosophy "Hope in a jar"moisturizer for All skin types

Top tip: Always wearsunscreen on your face and bodyregardless of the season to protectyourself from harmful UV rays. Ateaspoon amount should be appliedover the face and reappliedthroughout the day. For the body,the equivalent of a small glassshould be applied. An SPF of at least20 is recommended.

Ameera Abraham isqualified aesthetician and theCreative Director at a luxuryNail spa and Wellness centrein Abuja. She is passionateabout beauty!Mail online

Ameera Abraham

LearningPAGE 20 PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Book Review With Augustine Aminu07038749120julius2001_a@yahoo.com

How to flash aBlackberry phonemanually

Apocyle by Osieka Osinimu Alao

"Apocyle" is a sequel to "Epidocyle" published in 2011.The poems published herein display a thought-provoking odyssey of life that will offer fresh andprofound outlook on life and living.

Title: ApocyleAuthor: Osieka Osinimu AlaoGenre: PoetryNumber of Pages: 103Publication Year: July, 2012Publisher: Hybun Publications

InternationalISBN: 9789788449102

A m a z o n Online Stores, lulubooks.com & 10Ondo Street, Bodija, Ibadan-Nigeria.

Short Description: Edidare is an epic poem, adidactic narration based on an excerpt from a bookby D.O Fagunwa. Edidare tells the story of a groupof adventurers on a journey to a far country insearch of the fruit from the Tree of Enlightenment.Along the way they discover Edidare, a place ofindescribable filth and suffering .

Title: EdidareAuthor: Rotimi OgunjobiGenre: Poetry (Epic)Number of Pages: 98Publication Year: June 4, 2012Publisher: Lagos Literary Imprint

(xceedia)

Indefinite cravings

Title: Contemporary NigerianArt in Lagos PrivateCollections; New Trees InAn Old Forest

Author: Jess Castellote (Editor)

Genre: Non-Fiction(Contemporary Arts)

Number of Pages: 302Publication Year: 2012Publisher: BookCraft LimitedISBN: 978 978 8135 88 -3

New trees in an oldforest (short title)

M a y be due toignorance orintentionally,

you may brick yourlovely BlackberrySmartphone that is youmay damage its operatingsystem beyond usablelimits(am talking aboutsoftware problem here nothardware) .In suchsituations a factory resetor full flashing may beinevitable. You shouldhowever note that it is notall problems that warrantflashing of the blackberryphone infact in the eventof minor problems likehanging, freezing justremove your blackberrybattery and put itback(Soft reset) youshould be okay.

However if yourproblems with yourblackberry phone goesbeyond the abovemention, then Follow thesteps below to get yourblackberry phone back tolive: (Note:If usingBlackBerry DesktopSoftware v6.1 and newer,please this is not the placefor you.)

However, If usingBlackBerry DesktopManager v4.3 to v6.0,please keep reading.

Warning : Back upthe all the data from theBlackBerry smartphoneto a computer (Somemodels have an onboardmemory, be sure to backthis up as well beforeproceeding) On a 32-bitWindows XP to Windows7 operating system(OS).

STEPS:1. Connect the

smartphone to thecomputer.

2. On the computer,click Start > Programs>Accessories >CommandPrompt .

(Note: For WindowsVista® and Windows® 7,right-click and run asAdministrator.)

3. Type cd C: \ProgramFi l es \Common Fi l es\Resea r ch In Mo t i on\Apploade r and press ENTER.4. Type loade r . exe /resettofactory and pressENTER .

On a 64-bit WindowsXP or Windows 7 OS,complete the followingsteps:

1. Connect thesmartphone to thecomputer.

2. On the computer,

click Start > Programs>Accessories >CommandPrompt . (Note: ForWindows Vista andWindows 7, right-clickand run asAdministrator.)

3. Type cd C: \ProgramFi l es (x86)\Common Fi les \Res ea r ch In Mo t i on\App loade r and pressENTER .

4. Type loade r . exe / res e t t ofa c t o ry and pressENTER .

Note: BlackBerry®

" C o n t e m p o r a r yNigerian Art in LagosPrivate Collections; NewTrees in an Old Forest",is a 302 page Bookchronicling works of artin Lagos PrivateCollections. This Bookdocuments, visuallyand, in text, Nigerian Artin the Collections of 48Lagos Collectors. Wehave also incorporatedimages of 289 artworksof 100 artists spreadacross these Collections.The book is edited byJess Castellote, anarchitect and art critic

with a comprehensiveknowledge of Nigerianart; it is published byBookCraft Limited. Thispublication has givenContemporary Nigerian

Art, more exposure and,in a structured manner.The narrative portion ofthe book provides aminimum of historic andcritical analysis, toassist in theunderstanding of theLagos Collections.Contributors include;Professor Dele Jedege, -Professor of Art Historyat Indiana University,Bloomington; TobennaOkwuosa - Art Lecturerat NDU, Jess Castelloteand Sammy Olagbaju -Lagos-based artCollector.

Desktop Software 4.7 to6.0 must be installed onthe computer. TheBlackBerry smartphonemust be runningB l a c k B e r r y ®DeviceSoftware 4.3 to6.0.

On a Mac Pc, completethe following steps:

1. Close theBlackBerry DesktopSoftware if it is open on theMac computer.

2. Open Terminal.3. Type cd /

A p p l i c a t i o n s /BlackBerry\Desktop\Software.app/

Contents/MacOS/ andpress Enter.

4. Type ./bbdmresettofactory

Note: In the Mac OS Xenvironment, if theBlackBerry smartphonehas a password set, youmust specify thatpassword within thecommand. For example:. /bbdm -passwo rd12345 r es e t t ofa c t o ry(where 12345 is theBlackBerry smartphonepassword).

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 PAGE 21

HHHHHealthy ealthy ealthy ealthy ealthy LLLLLivingivingivingivingivingRunner forced to amputate legafter chest infection, fit againFor many of us, struggling out in

the cold this season to exercisesounds like a nightmare. But for

Debbie Grosch-Squance, it's somethingshe feared might never be possible.

Debbie, a mother-of-two fromPlymouth, lost her right leg after achest infection spiralled out of control.She became severely ill with a flesh-eating bug and in order to save herlife, doctors had to amputate her rightleg.

Today, she says she is fitter thanshe has ever been and also slimmer -and she hopes her story will inspireothers in similar situations.

Her problems began after shedeveloped a nasty cough and chestinfection. 'I 've always been fit andhealthy but this chesty cough reallyknocked me for six, ' she toldMailOnline.

'My GP advised me to takeparacetamol and ibuprofen but thentwo days later I began to experience acramp-like pain in my right calf. It gotprogressively worse and nothingwould ease it.'

After another visit to her GP shewas provisionally diagnosed with DVT(Deep Vein Thrombosis) and advisedto go to hospital.

What she didn't know then was thatshe was actually suffering fromnecrotising fasciitis, a deadly flesh-eating bug.

'I was told my chest infection wascaused by the Strep A virus andsometimes it can mutate

for no apparent reason and startattacking soft and healthy tissue,' saidDebbie, 47.

'Before the amputation I was a keenrunner - half marathon standard - andI'd done a 10k the week before.

'When I arrived at hospital the painwas getting worse and worse and I justwanted it to stop. I had some bloodtaken and a doctor came to speak tome when I was shown to a bed. Thatwas the last thing I remember until12 days later.'

In the days that followed, Debbie'sfamily, including her husband Tonyand her two teenage daughters,watched in despair as her conditiondeteriorated.

The day after her admission, stillundiagnosed, she began to go into toxicshock as the toxins began to affect hermajor organs and her blood pressuredropped to zero.

She said: 'I'm told that doctors andother medical staff began tofrantically try to get lines into mybody and things looked very grim. Iwas taken down to theatreimmediately and my leg cut open andit was then that the diagnosis waschanged from DVT to necrotisingfasciitis.'

The flesh-eating bug had ravagedher right leg and there were worryingpatches of black tissue appearing onher fingers and trunk.

Doctors removed the dead tissuefrom Debbie's legs and placed her in amorphine-induced coma in intensivecare. She then went into cardiac arrestand her devastated family was told itwas unlikely she would survive thenight.

'When I was brought round 10 dayslater, my leg was basically just bonebetween my knee and ankle. It was insuch a bad way that the doctors toldme I needed to make a decision.'

One option was to havereconstructive surgery. But thiswould involve numerous operations -with no guarantee they would work -and she would still need a stick to walk.

The other option was to have anamputation above the knee and befitted with a prosthetic leg.

In the end, the decision was madefor her. While considering her options,she took a turn for the worse and spentfour days battling for her life.

'On Easter Sunday I signed theconsent form to have my right legamputated above the knee. It was oneof the hardest decisions I have evermade, but even today I think it wasthe right one. Being wheeled down totheatre knowing I was going to lose myleg was also very surreal.

'Even when I came round, I felt somuch better than I had for ages. Tony,my husband, remarked on how muchbetter I looked already. I knew thenthat I had made the right decision.'

From the very beginning, the seedsof hope were sown that Debbie wouldeventually be able to run again.

'Basically, my whole life as I knewit ended that day and I knew I wouldhave to re-start my life all over again.I set myself small goals along the way,but always with the ultimate aim ofbeing able to run.'

Her personal trainer before thetragedy, Naso Shemetras, also visitedher in hospital.'She came to see me inhospital and promised I would get fitand again and I would run again,' saysDebbie.

'And she really did a lot to help meback to fitness - I was back in the gyma month after leaving hospital, whenI was still on one leg and crutches.'

Naso later went on to win theExorex Personal Trainer of the Yearaward for her remarkable work withDebbie.

'Once I was able to walk with aprosthetic leg without the aid ofcrutches or a walking stick, about ninemonths post-amputation, I walked the

Race for Life and was ready for the bigchallenge - returning to running.'

It was a painstaking journey butwith advice from another amputee,she began to make progress.

'He advised me to start by jumpingfrom my good leg onto the prostheticfoot to gain confidence in myprosthetic leg and I practised thisevery day. I then tried the hop/skipstyle of running, where you jumptwice on the good foot and then landon the prosthetic foot and repeat. Thisgot me moving a bit faster.

'I then felt ready to try step over steprunning, so accompanied by myhusband Tony, and a belt round my waistso he could hold me up whilst attemptingit, we went to the local athletics track.

'It was hard work and the first fewsteps I made were very clumsy andawkward, much like a baby elephant. Itwas exhausting and I realised just howhard this was going to be.'

She then enlisted the help of runningcoach Julian Wills. 'I was very nervousto start with. He had to teach me how torun completely from scratch, as I couldhardly put one foot in front of the other.

'It was exhausting - my own leg hadto learn how to run alongside amechanical leg which was quite alien toit, and a lot of the practise was to re-trainmy brain.'

Today, six years after losing her leg,Debbie says she is fitter and more activethan ever. She now runs twice a week,cycles and swims as well as working twojobs as a supervisor of a pre-school andan admin assistant.

'I was a keen runner beforehand, so Iwas pretty fit, but I'm definitely fitternow - and slimmer. I am now quiteobsessive about my health and fitnessnow. The whole experience has reallymade me value everything andappreciate it. I'm also fitter because youuse so much more energy exercisingwith a prosthetic leg.

'I had to learn how to run up and downkerbs, but hills were my biggest fear.Uphill is hard work - as an amputee, Ialready use up to 100 per cent moreenergy to run, but running up hills islike climbing a mountain - and Plymouthhas plenty of hills!

'Running on the pavements is a wholenew ball game, too. The obstacles aremany - cracks in the pavement, people,dogs, children, drains, sharp bends andkerbs.'

Running downhill is particularlyscary. 'I've fallen over a few timesrunning downhill - usually at bus stops,much to the amazement of waitingpassengers, but never hurt myself,thankfully.

'When I took part in my first run withable-bodied people, I ran it in 22 minutes- probably double the time I would havebeen able to do it in normally. It was 1.5miles, which doesn't seem a lot - or itcertainly didn't when I had two legs. Butthat was then and this is now, and it wasa challenge for me.

'I trained hard and even though I hadto stop a couple of times to catch mybreath, I got my first medal and wasproud of my achievement.

'Above all, the important thing is Isurvived the whole original ordeal andI'm here today with my family.'

Debbie with her husband Tony and teenage daughters after her leg wasamputated due to the flesh-eating bug that nearly killed her

Painstaking: Debbie had to learn to run again from scratch

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 PAGE 23

With Aunty A'isha rajia39ishabiola@yahoo.com 08082071393.

SHORSHORSHORSHORSHORT STT STT STT STT STORORORORORYYYYYSights and soundsHow the moon waskind to her mother

CelebratingNew Year

HIS AND HERS CORNERHIS AND HERS CORNERHIS AND HERS CORNERHIS AND HERS CORNERHIS AND HERS CORNER

N e w Year's Day marks the end of one year and beginningof the other. New Year is celebrated by all countriesthat measure yearly calendars.

Most countries across the globe follow the Gregorian calendarand celebrate their New Year's Day on January 1. In severalcountries January 1 is a holiday. Grand bashes, balls andparades are organized to welcome the New Year and bid adieuto the old.

The tradition of celebrating New Year's Day is said to havestarted by Romans circa 153 BC. Romans celebrated their NewYear on March 1 according to old Roman calendar.

After a series of changes in calendar, in 1582, Pope GregoryXIII instituted the Gregorian calendar still in use today, and setJanuary 1 as New Year's Day.

Celebrations for New Year's Day begin on the eve of the NewYear on December 31. Late night parties and bashes areorganized to give farewell to the year gone by and welcome theNew Year. Just as the clock strikes for midnight, people hugeveryone around and wish each other a 'Happy New Year'. Cakesare cut and firecrackers are burst to give a celebratory welcometo the upcoming year.

On the New Year's Day people wear bright new clothes andspring clean their houses. At several places people follow thetradition of 'first footing' and do not leave the house beforesomeone comes in first.

First footing person should ideally get some gifts and is accordeda warm welcome by the people. Later, people move out to exchangegreetings and New Year gifts with their friends and dear ones.Popular New Year gifts include cake, flowers, chocolates, decorativeand New Year Greeting cards. The idea behind exchanging giftsand greetings is to give warm wishes for a New Year andstrengthen the bond of love shared with dear ones.

There is also a very strong tradition to make New YearResolutions on January 1. This is done to give away old badhabits and adopt better ones. Some of the most popular NewYear resolutions include giving up junk food, no more tellinglies and being on time.

Though it has been noticed that many people fail to keeptheir resolutions a week after New Year's Day, the importanceof making a fresh New Year's Day resolution every year is stillthe same.

Several countries observe a holiday on New Year's Day. Andin some countries, especially those dominated by Christians,they have their Christmas holiday extended till New Year'sDay.

A popular trend is to go out for vacations in tourist places.Those who are unable to go in far off places go out for picnics,camping, trekking etc. A huge rush is also observed in malls,theaters and restaurants as many people especially, youngsterscelebrate the New Year's by moving out with their dear ones.

See, mother," cried theMoon, "I have broughtyou part of everything

that was on my plate. I ate onlyhalf of the feast for I wanted toshare it with you."

So the mother brought a goldplate and the food that herunselfish daughter, the Moon,had brought her heaped the platehigh. She ate it, and then sheturned to her three children, forshe had something important tosay to them. She spoke first to theSun.

"You were thoughtless andselfish, my daughter," she said."You went out and enjoyedyourself with no thought of onewho was left alone at home.Hereafter you shall be no longerbeloved among men. Your raysshall be so hot and burning thatthey shall scorch everything theytouch. Men shall cover theirheads when you appear, and theyshall run away from you."

And that is why, to this day,the Sun is hot and blazing.

Next the mother spoke to theWind.

"You, too, my daughter, have

been unkind and greedy," shesaid. "You, also, enjoyed yourselfwith no thought of anyone else.You shall blow in the parchingheat of your sister, the Sun, andwither and blast all that youtouch. No one shall love you anylonger, but all men will dislikeand avoid you."

And that is why, to this day,the Wind, blowing in hotweather, is so unpleasant.

But, last, the mother spoke toher kind daughter, the Moon.

Children celebrating New Year

"You remembered yourmother, and were unselfish," shesaid. "To those who arethoughtful of their mother, greatblessings come. For all time yourlight shall be cool, and calm, andbeautiful. You shall wane, butyou shall wax again. You shallmake the dark night bright, andall men shall call you blessed."

And that is why, to this day,the Moon is so cool, and bright,and beautiful.

The End

Formal dresses are very suitable for a formal party or evening party where you can expect to meetsome high level people. You will want to look polite, sophisticated, and elegant. And so does yourkid, so Kids Formal Dresses are perfect options for them.

Formal dresses for kids this New Year

"

The lake of Mura

PAGE 22 PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Decorate your room with popcorn this festive season

With Aunty A'isha rajia39ishabiola@yahoo.com 08082071393.

ACTIVITIESACTIVITIESACTIVITIESACTIVITIESACTIVITIESUsing colours of your choice, paint the imagesbelow. Describe what the girl in the middle isdoing and write down the lesson you have learntfrom her action. Have a wonderful new year.Cheers!

CREACREACREACREACREATIVITYTIVITYTIVITYTIVITYTIVITY

AFRICAN AFRICAN AFRICAN AFRICAN AFRICAN TTTTTALESALESALESALESALES MODEL OF THE WEEKMODEL OF THE WEEKMODEL OF THE WEEKMODEL OF THE WEEKMODEL OF THE WEEK

O n c e upon a time, therewas a woodcutter wholived with his mother in a

village called Kabuki.His name was Kushi, he used to

go to the forest daily to cut wood andthen made toys out of them.Thereafter, he sold the toys in themarket.

He was a great devotee of the godand used to go to his temple daily.One day, the god appeared beforehim and said, "Oh son! I am pleasedwith you. Ask for anything and Iwill grant it to you."

Kushi bowed to the god and said,"Oh god! I do not want anything formyself, but I do want a lake for thevillagers that would help them toearn a living." The god said, "Allright! As you like," and disappeared.

Next day when Kushi went tothe forest, he was happy to see abeautiful lake there. But when hewas going to sell the toys, he saw aboatman with his boat in the lake.The boatman said to him, "The godhas sent me to help you. Sit in theboat, I will take you across the lake."Kushi sat in the boat and crossed thelake. This way, he began to cross thelake every day.

One day while he was returningfrom the market, he heard a cry,"Help! Help!!" He ran towards thevoice. He saw a boy and a girlrunning towards him. They said tohim, "Please help us! Two huntersare following us. They want to killus." Kushi assured them and look toa nearby cave. "Stay here. Do not beafraid. I will bring food for you,"Kushi said.

Kushi came back to his house andasked his mother to pack one box ofrice and some extra soup along withhis lunch every day.

After a few days, his motherbecame curious to know the secretof the extra lunch; she wanted toknow who her son was feeding daily.At last, Kushi agreed to tell her butbegged that she should not tellanyone.

He told her everything and theplace where the girl and the boy wereliving.

The next day, his mother wentto the forest and was surprised to seethe lake there. She also saw theboatman with his boat in the lake.She asked the boatman, "How did alake, a boat and a boatman appearhere? Where are the boy and girl?

Although the boatman wasafraid of telling the secret, yet he toldit to Kushi's mother. "The god waspleased with Kushi and gifted himwith this lake and asked me to work

as a boatman. The girl and the boyare sister and brother and have beensent to test Kushi. The lake will drythe day when the sister and brotherwill not get food. "

But Kushi's mother could notbelieve it. She mixed pebbles in therice for the children. Both of themfell ill. Kushi prepared a medicineout of herbs and shrubs and gave itto them. They recovered fromillness. When he was returninghome, he saw that the water level ofthe lake had reduced. He could notunderstand the reason.

Next day when he was going towork, he heard the sound of pebblesin the lunch box of the children. Hethrew the food aside and went towork. Both sister and brotherremained hungry.

In the evening, he saw the waterlevel of the lake went down more.Kushi became sad. He prepared foodhimself and served it to the children.The level of the lake again rose.

One day, the hunters came andasked Kushi's mother the address ofthe sister and brother. According tothe condition, she did not tell theaddress, but she waved her handtowards the cave. As soon as shewaved her hand, she became astatue. The lake also dried and adeodar tree appeared in the dry lake.

When Kushi returned from themarket, he was very sad to see thedry lake. He did not go to his house;instead he prayed to the god and weptbitterly. The god was kind enoughand blessed him. The lake was filledagain by the drops of his tears.

If you are tired of eatingpopcorns try something new:Decorate your room with them.This is how you can do it.All you need is:1. A thorny stem of a plant or abush.2. Popcorns.3. A bowl.

What to do:Pick up a thorny stem from aplant or a bush - if it has leaves,

remove them.Put popcorn on the tip of eachthorn carefully. Avoid prickingyourself.Put some mud in a bowl and fixyour stem in it.Use this popcorn arrangementto decorate your room.You can also paint thepopcorns to make them lookbrighter. Once the popcornslose their colour or begin to fall,use something else. Just do it!

Rahmah Abdulsalam

PAGE 24 PAGE 25PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Kannywood NollywoodEntertainment' I was a cripple but rejectedanother cripple who loved me'

H o w long have you beensinging?

I've been singing for the pastfour or five years but I also act inmovies, though music is mystrong point. I have always lovedsinging right from childhood, andwhen I told my father he made funof me asking if I knew what it took,and that singing required talentsaying he was not sure if I had thetalent, not withstanding, Icontinued to write my songs.

Do you mean that youstarted writing songs beforeyou started singing?

Yes, after listening to somesongs in Hausa movies I decided togive it a try. So I started tryingmy hands at writing some of thesongs, imitating what I heardfrom the movies. The first studio Iwent to was Adam A Zango'sstudio. I told him I wanted to makean album and after that I wantedto shoot the music videos and Iwanted him to direct and produceit.

He asked me to bring one of thesongs which he asked me to sing.After listening to the song he toldme he was travelling and that hewould hand me over to one of hisassistant called Saidu Govinda tohelp me make some corrections.Then I did not know all thetechnical details that go with songwriting. So after the corrections Isang the songs and it wasrecorded.

When he came back he wasvery happy with it. He asked mewhat I'd like to do. I told him Iwanted to finish the album. Headvised me to first observe how itwas done, then after that I coulddecide what to do. So I joined hisstudio and started featuring insome of his movies.

You are among the very fewsingers that did not have anyproblems with their parentsconcerning this business. Isthat right?

Well, initially my fatherthought I was just joking, when herealised I was serious, he had noproblem with it but you know howthese things go, while he had noproblem with it some relativeswere not as accommodating. Theykept telling him not to allow mecontinue but he ignored them andgave his blessing and advised meon the need to remember myupbringing and all he did to bringme up.

My mother also did not object

to it and you know as a mother whowas constantly around me, shewas the first to know about myinterest in singing. Mothers knowabout such decisions of childrenbecause they are the ones at homewith the children and they are theones they share their problemswith before going to their fathers.

So is the album out now?Not yet but I'll be releasing the

audio very soon. The reason it's notout yet is because of some logisticalissues. I am featuring a couple ofbig names in the industry likeMaidawaiya, Abubakar Sani andBaban Chinedu so it will be outvery soon.

So what sort of songs shouldwe expect from this album?

I have a couple of love songs,one on HIV and some others.

Why is it that ourmusicians concentrate moreon love songs than othertopics?

As a musician one should be

versatile in the different types ofsongs one sings a bit of this and abit of that, even the marketersprefer songs that have deepmeaning so that even after yourdeath those songs will still berelevant.

How do marketers comeinto it?

Well we are all together, afterdoing the album you offer it tothem to market for you or youcould decide to market it yourself.

What sorts of problems didyou face in the industry?

A lot of problems, but none thatI can readily recall now.

So which of these tracks isout or are you still anunknown artist?

I will not say completelyunknown because I have appearedin a couple of movies, like "Namama jo" and "Babban Yaro".There are a couple of them that Ihave had special appearances in.

In "Na mama jo" you acted

the 'cripple' how were you beable to interpret the characterconsidering that those kind ofroles are the most difficult toportray convincingly?

I had good directors who helpedme understand and interpret thecharacter. The story was aboutdiscrimination; even though I wasa cripple myself in the film, I wasrejecting another cripple who wasin love with me.

Do you have a betterunderstanding of the kind ofproblems people withdisabilities face?

It is all about educating thepublic on what people withdisabilities face. I had seriousproblem getting the characterright, it took some effort to eventwist my fingers and legs and atsome point the producer was angrywith me and was alreadyconsidering getting anotheractress to do it. So, yes! I can say Ihave a good understanding of howthey feel.

What are the problems theindustry faces?

A lot of problems, the biggestbeing lack of cooperation amongstartist especially the females. I wantto use this opportunity to call onall to join hands and make itstronger than it is right now.

Among all the songs in thealbum, which one was the mostdifficult to do?

None at all, but I had a majorproblem getting the entire artists.I featured in some of the songs.Some don't live here so it wasdifficult getting everybodytogether for the songs but it is alesson well learnt.

What is your advice toyoung girls like you who wantto join the industry?

If you are joining the industrymake sure you come in knowingwhat the industry is all about.They should also make sure theyhave their parent's blessingsbefore joining if not it willbackfire, and to remember theadage about what "a parent seessitting down a child will not see iteven if he/she climbs the highestmountain". It is wrong for younggirls to run away from home tojoin the industry and they shouldrealise that anything donewithout a parent's blessing willmost likely end up in heartacheand sorrow, so girls should alwaysconsider their parents' wishesbefore they make such decision.

T h e r e are reports that thebodies of Nollywood veteran

actors; Pa Enebeli Elebuwa and PeteEneh will be laid to rest in January2013. The talented actors died inlate 2012 after being treated at thehospital for different illnesses.

Pete Eneh died in Enugu onThursday, November 15, fewweeks after one of his legs wasamputated due to infections.Enebeli died at an India hospital onTuesday, December 5, after he wasbelieved to be recovering from hisillness. He had been bedridden fora reported partial stroke which hesuffered from for close to two years.

Enebeli Elebuwa and Pete Enehfor burial January 2013

Tuface wedded Annie secretlyT u f a c e Idibia has stunned

everyone; entertainmentjournalists, fans and friendsalike when he secretly weddedAnnie Macauley whom heengaged on Valentine 's Daythis year.

Everyone had been waitinganxiously for the date of thewedding to be announced;hoping it would be the motherof all weddings. There had beenbig plans by many includingdiehard fans and journalists tobe right there at the venue nomatter what it would take. ButTuface had beaten everyone tothe game.

Reports had it that in aprivate registry wedding inLagos attended by only closefamily members including theparents of the bride and groom,Tuface had said 'I do' to the love

of his life.It was deafeningly quiet; so hush

hushed that most of Annie's friendswere not present including Idibia's

close friends and associates.Fans who heard this were

somewhat disappointed. Itwasn't what they had expected.

Annie Macaulay and Tuface

DEATHS

WEDDINGS

Nollywood 2012 in retrospect

ABDUCTION

L e s s than a week after thekidnap of Prof. Kanene

Okonjo, mother of Nigeria'sFinance Minister Ngozi OkonjoIweala, kidnappers in Owerri,

Nkiru Sylvanus' kidnapthe Imo State capital reportedlyabducted Nkiru Sylvanus, anactress and a Special Assistanton Public Relations to the ImoState governor, Rochas

Okorocha.Nollywood and its many fans

were thrown into a state of panicbefore actors Nkiru Sylvanus andKenneth Okolie were released bytheir abductors in Owerri, ImoState.

Sylvanus who is one of theSenior Special Assistants to theGovernor and Okolie a formerGulder Ultimate Search winnerwere reportedly shooting a moviein Owerri when the former wasreported missing.

Apparently, kidnappers hadabducted Sylvanus and Okolie fromthe famous Concord Hotel in Owerrion Sunday morning, December 16,2012 .

Their release came barely 24hours after concerned friends wrotean open letter to the IG of Police.

It is was rumored that the sumof N80million ransom was paid byher family. The kidnappers hadasked for the sum of N100m

Late Enebeli Late Pete Eneh

Hauwa'u Isa is a budding song writer, singer and actress. She hasbeen in the Kannywood industry for the past four years; in thisinterview with Nasiru Isa Mu'azu she shares her experience on howshe played 'cripple' in a film and other challenges.

Nkiru Sylvanus and Kenneth Okolie

T h e last may not have beenheard about the mess topNigerian comedian, Ayo

Makun otherwise called AY, havegotten himself into, as trouble isbrewing for him with the latestdevelopment that may culminateinto a fierce war between him andcolleague, Basketmouth.

Shortly after AY posted on theinternet his wedding anniversaryand Christmas gift to his wife, anN8.5million car gift, the Delta StateUniversity graduate has come underattack from fans who berated him forshowing off. AY did what his usualthing, tendering an apology aftergetting into a mess for his actions.

Hours ago, a twitter follower withthe name 'Sky High' tweeted atBasketmouth but mentioned AY inthe tweet, "Basketmouth, you are myfavourite Naija comedian, I know youspoil Elsie but biko (please) don't pullan AY & brag about buying wifey acar you actually bought for yourself."

The above quoted tweet got to AYon the wrong side as he quickly lashedout at Basketmouth claiming he(Basketmouth) created that accountto publicly insult him under the guiseof another twitter account user."Golden225 (Sky High's twitter

AY and Basketmouth set to fightover wife's Acura car gift

handle) Basketmouth, you obviouslycreated this twitter account for thismission. When you are done, let me

know. I wish you all the best," AYtweeted at both Sky High andBasketmouth.

Davido disrespects Monarch….beaten to stuporT r o u b l e looms for Nigerian

young artistes who havesuddenly become multi-

millionaire courtesy of their recordlabel or management for their worksof art, which have shot them tolimelight.

This popularity and affluence seemsto be having negative impact on them.Remember the last time; Wizkid wasenmeshed in a sex scandal with a womanold enough to be his mother. Davido,popularly called Omo Baba Olowo hadsome ripples with a cab man that led toPolice hunting him about in Lagos.

As you are reading this, thesongster, David Adeleke a.k.a Davidois in the black book of His Eminence,Oba Saheed Elegushi. Whathappened?

It was after the party of the Dynamixawards which took place at VoodooLounge, Elegushi beach. A reliable eyewitness said that B-Red was heavilydrunk and was arguing with the Kingwhen Davido moved forward to touchthe king, a taboo in African culture.

In a flash, the monarch delivereda hot and dirty slap on Davido's faceand asked the royal guards to

mercilessly beat them up. While thiswas going on, Davido's bouncers,www.nigeriafilms.com gathered,attacked the royal guards making theking too to order that they should beincluded in the royal beating.

Though, Davido and B-Red,having realized their mistake afterthe whole show, prostrated andapologised to King Saheed, they werethoroughly embarrassed.

'These guys are digging their owngrave. What exactly is wrong withthese young spoilt brats'? Someone inthe crowd asked rhetorically.

Birthday: Seyi Sodimu presents wifewith N10m GL 450 Benz Jeep

'Love Mi Jeje' crooner Seyi Sodimupresented his wife a Mercedes BenzGL 450 as her 40th birthday gift. Theseason seems to be the season ofartistes giving out gifts to their wiveswho are always at home while theyare out there performing for days.Remember, Ayo Makun recentlygave a powerful auto to his wife toofor Christmas and their fourthwedding anniversary.

Seyi's beautiful wife Tolu Sodimucelebrated her 40th birthday and thedarling husband Seyi gave a gift shewill remember for a long time. Abrand new Mercedes Benz GL 450Jeep shipped to Nigeria fromWashington DC. This ride cost Seyi awhopping N10million.

Hauwa'u Isa

PAGE 26 PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, NOVEMBER, 2012

HHHHHollollollollollywywywywywoodoodoodoodood/////BBBBBollollollollollywywywywywoodoodoodoodoodKareena Kapoor-Khan andPriyanka Chopra Bury the Hatchet!

Kareena Kapoor andPriyanka Choprahave constantly

been at loggerheadswith each other,taking constant digs ateach other, insultingeach other indirectly.Kareena Kapoor onceridiculed Priyanka onKoffee With Karan forher accent,prompting PC to

two pretty actresses haveeven gone to the extent ofsharing boyfriend, ShahidKapoor.

But now it looks likeKareena and PC areletting bygones bebygones. If rumours are tobe believed ... Recently,the two actresses werespotted together at ImranKhan's housewarmingparty where both of themwere invited, and theywere so friendly with eachother.

According to a sourceto Mid Day, "The two wereseen sharing a

After a long flight with her husband and daughter earlier that day,the chances are that Kate Beckinsale landed in Los Angeles withone thing on her mind: pampering.

And it seems like the British actress got what she wanted when shewas seen walking along the pavement with her feet in disposable flip-flops, a sure sign that she had been in the pedicure chair.

The 39-year old star of Underworld smiled broadly as she walkedin the Californian sunshine with her husband, director Len Wiseman.

Earlier that day she had made a dramatic entrance in LAX Airportwhen she was seen sashaying through arrivals in a grey hat andmatching cashmere layers.

Maybe she thought she was in danger of being mobbed at the airportand it appeared that she was not keen to be noticed as she headed outfrom the airport to a waiting car.

The actress topped her brunette locks with a grey hat and opted formuted chic with a matching scarf and cashmere layers as she returnedfrom holiday with husband Len, also 39, and daughter Lily.

It looked although Kate was wearing the same scarf as earlier, albeitwith a more casual outfit.

However, as typical of most men, practical and laid-back Len was

Kate Beckinsale swaps incognitogrey floppy hat and sunglasses

conversation byonlookers. "Everyonepresent in the room wassurprised to see Kareena andPriyanka talking non-stopwith each other. They werein each other's company formore than an hour and hadeven taken a corner of thehouse to themselves. Theykept on giggling andlaughing throughout."

The source evenrevealed that it was just twoof them indulging in theconversation, and no oneelse with them. "They justcame face to face and startedtalking."

comment onBebo's then-beau, nowhubby Saif AliKhan's accentas well. The

Delilah and Wretch 32 get cosyafter late night party session

chatting after their clubbingsession, sticking together asthey made their way to theirrespective cars.

Although the pair hadobviously had a great night,they made a point to leave indifferent cars at 3am,although they headed in thesame direction away from thecentral London venue.

It seems that Delilah'snight didn't end there, as shewrote on Twitter that she wasstill awake at 10am and hadn'tmade it home:

'Still awake. How does thisalways happen to me. Haven'tmade it home yet,' she wrote.

The 22-year-old singersongwriter, who collaboratedwith Wretch 32 on the trackDon't Be Afraid, looked asstylish as ever dressed fromhead-to-toe in black.

Making the most of hercurvaceous figure, the starwore a skin-tight all-in-onebodysuit, paired with thigh-high, black lace-up boots.

Embracing her usual styleof glamorous grunge, Delilah,whose real name is PalomaStoecker, added an on-trend,black Zara coat with leatherlapels.

They're two of the UK'sbiggest upcomingmusic stars, who've

already written andperformed together.

But it seems that it's notjust their music that theyhave in common, as Delilahand Wretch 32 were spottedlooking cosy as they left The

Rose Club together in the earlyhours of Friday morning.

The rising stars of themusic world might havealready worked together, butit seems that they playtogether too as they stayedclose to each other after theirnight out.

The friends couldn't stop

wearing the sameget up as he hadworn for flying in tothe USA just hoursearlier.

Missing fromtheir trip to doerrands was Kate's11-year olddaughter Lily,whose dad iscelebrated characteractor Michael Sheen.

It is likely theTotal Recall actressand her familyenjoyed a dose ofwinter sun inMexico, where sheusually takes awinter holiday eachy e a r .

The actress'sappearance comesafter it was revealedKate was notifiedthat she had a smallCalifornia state taxlien totaling $1,052.

Hardly a king'sransom for theactress who hasenjoyed box officesuccess with filmsTotal Recall andUnderworld.Happy couple: Kate Beckinsale and Len Wiseman looked

very much in love as they ran some post-holiday errands

Staying close: SingersDelilah and Wretch 32leave The Rose Clubtogether in the earlyhours of Friday morning

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 PAGE 27

How to make your home guest-friendlyHomes

W h e t h e r it's your family orfriends visiting, if you wantpeople to come away with a

good impression after being in yourhome, you need to put in the extra effortand add all the little extras that willmake them feel like they're being treatedlike royalty.

No, these tips won't turn your placeinto a hotel, but they will give your homethat touch that makes all the difference.Any guest who stays between five minutesand five days will know that you're thatperson who knows his hospitality.

In the bathroomClean towelsThis is critical even if you're the only

one who ever sees the inside of your place.

Nobody wants to walk around with wethands. Note: Your pants are not asubstitute for a towel.

Liquid hand soapWashing your hands isn't just a

common courtesy, it's imperative. Cleanhands can help you prevent disease.You'll keep yourself and your guestshealthy and clean with a little soap.

New unopened toothbrushHave you ever forgotten your

toothbrush while on a trip? Sure, yourguest could just go to the store and pickone up, but having one on hand says thatyou're thinking of them.

Toothpaste & mouthwashChances are if they forgot the

toothbrush, they forgot the toothpaste

and mouthwash as well. Since you needthose things anyway, keep the extras onhand in your guest bathroom; when yourun out, dip into that supply and hit thestore when you can.

Garbage can (with garbage bag)This one is more for you than for

them. Guests generate trash. If you don'twant them to leave it on the floor, givethem a can. I f you don't want to spendtime cleaning the can, use a bag.

Air freshenerThe bathroom is a place where we

generate putrid odours; it's a fact. Butyou don't have to share your smell withyour guest (or force them to share withyou). Air spray or even matches canwork wonders.

Extra toilet paperThere is nothing more embarrassing

than having to ask for toilet paper. Don'tput your guest in that situation; haveextra on hand and make it visible.

Hair dryerIf someone is vacationing and staying

at your home, a hair dryer is clunky totravel with. Keeping one on hand, evenif you're bald headed goes a long way ingiving your guest the unforgettableexperience.

MedicationThink head and stomach here. Your

guest medicine cabinet should havesomething for headaches, stomachs anddiarrhoea.Askmen.com

Quick tips for a touch of class

I t 's in our culture. We love toentertain or to crash intofriends and relatives' homes.

Providing an awesome experience foryour guest should be complimentedwith a relaxing guest bedroom. Youmay not always have enough spacefor them but creating an ambiance ofcomfort is all you need to be a fantastichost. Here are a few tips:

Give them a bed you wouldactually be comfortable sleepingon

Fresh smelling linen guaranteesbetter sleep. Even if your guestroom hasn't been used in awhile,the linen can still smell of dust ormildew. Provide freshly washedsheets, and go the extra mile byspraying it with lavender water,or any linen spray you might have.Be hygienic by sunning pillows inthe open air or having themcleaned. You can make do withusing antibacterial and miteresistant pillows, and have thrownaway old ones made of foam or filler.

Test the bed mattress yourself.Check for bed mites and other foulodours. Thin bed mattresses that youcan drape over an original bedmattress can be bought for instantcomfort. Air mattresses are fine foryoung guests, and those staying for afew nights.

Make sure the room and bathroomare clean. Cleaning it two weeks agowon't cut the deal. Dust and cob websaccumulate in days.

Make the room guest friendlyRemove unnecessary furniture

and equipment that will make theroom crowded. Clear some closet spacefor the guest so that they can unpacktheir belongings. Provide hangers fortheir clothes, and clear tops of dressersand tables for personal items. Providea night lamp by the bed and even aflashlight or hall light if they have towalk down the hallway to thebathroom at night.

Decorate your guest room with apurpose by providing a clock, someartwork and a mirror they can usewhen dressing up. Make sure windowsare covered with the proper windownets and curtains for privacy.

It doesn't matter who your guestis. They will surely appreciate yourefforts to make them feel at home. Yourguest room is a reflection of who youare. A sloppy guest room madewithout effort spells a lousy homekeeper too busy for her own family.

PAGE 29 PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Wife-battering andthe Nigerian woman

Womanhood

B a t t e r y is an act of usingintimidation to establishpower and control over

another person, and suchintimidation is often expressedthrough beatings.

In many societies, women areat the receiving end of thisintimidation. Also, a largenumber of battery cases occur indeveloping societies where manycultures perceive women asplaying a second fiddle.

In recent times, this gender-based domestic violence hasassumed an alarming dimension.

A legal icon, Prof. Itse Sagay,notes that although many casesof wife-battering are notdocumented, a large number ofthem have resulted in deaths anddissolution of marriages.

He says most victims ofdomestic violence opt for judicialseparation to save themselvesfrom untimely death.

He, however, notes thatmany still stay in the pain andanguish to save their marriage forthe sake of their children's future.

He blames battery oninadequate enforcement of laws,noting also that some victims donot report cases to the appropriateauthorities.

He urges enactment of aspecific legislation to check thisabuse of women.

Sagay notes that there arenon-governmental organisationswilling to help victims of batteryto seek justice. He advises womento make use of such organisations.

The Chairman of the Ikejabranch of the Nigerian BarAssociation, Mr Onyekachi Ubani,notes that some developingsocieties including Nigeria seebattery as a family matter to behandled internally.

He says that in such societies,women erroneously acceptbattery as part of marriage.

Ubani identifies economichardship as a major cause ofdomestic violence.

“A lot of husbands are findingit increasingly difficult to meettheir financial obligations in thehome. This leads to the twin evil offrustration and violence," he says.

He says that in developedcountries, women are known fortheir contributions to the runningof the home, and that in suchcountries, battery is minimal.

“The situation is different inNigeria where men bear thefinancial burden and expect total“They get easily irritated at theslightest provocation, and resortto beating the women,'' he says.

Ubani urges spouses to exhibita high level of mutual toleranceto avoid battery and the effects ofdivorce.

A marriage counsellor, PatrickEbiem, agrees that battery is oneof the major reasons why womenfile for divorce.

“Some women in Nigeria aresuffering from this domesticviolence. Many men beat up theirwives for frivolous reasons," heremarks.

Ebiem also notes that manybattered woman still want to keeptheir marriages because of thevalue the Nigerian society placeson marriage.

“Some battered women areenduring their marriages; theyrefuse to file for divorce because oftheir children's future.

“They don't want to be singlemothers or divorcees,'' he says.

He equally urges amicableresolution of conflicts by couples,saying that broken homes haveturned many children into socialmiscreants due to lack of parentaltraining and care.

A victim of battering, JokeOlaiya, says she lost twopregnancies to regular beatingsby her husband.

“I was in coma for three daysand the baby was dead before itwas taken out of my womb,'' shelaments.

Another victim of violence,Mrs. Yetunde Akintoye, believesthat drunkenness by men fuelsbattering.

She claims that her husband

removed one of her teeth whilebeating her when he was drunk.

Mrs. Rhoda Adereti, apsychologist, identifies transfer ofaggression as another cause ofbattery.

“Many men transferaggression to their innocentwives, which may result from lossof jobs, query from office andothers," she says.

She advises women to stopdating men who show traces ofviolence. This, she says, will savewomen from being victims ofbattery in marriage.

“It is better not to enter therelationship, especially when thelady has seen traces of violence inthe man.

“You cannot afford to keepstaying with a man that beatsyou always. One day, he mayeven kill you.

Pastor Humble Ololo of theAssemblies of God Church in Lagos,says Christianity and otherreligions condemn wife-battering.

“Men are not allowed to beattheir wives. Women are notexpected to beat their husbands,'' hepreaches, and advises couples tosettle misunderstandings amicably.

He is of the opinion thatdesperation to be married pushesmany women into wrongrelationships that can lead tobattering.

The cleric urges battered

women to also seek divineintervention.

According to the President ofthe Oshodi Customary Court,Alhaja A.I. Olorunimbe, batteryis a good ground for dissolution of amarriage under the Nigerian law.

“The court does not treat anallegation of battery with levitybecause it can lead to loss of lives.

Sometimes, it is the womenthat push their husbands to thewall through their abusive words,disobedience, or lack of care.

But some men are just toowicked that no matter what thewoman does, they believe a wifeis a servant and battering her isnecessary," she says.

The judicial officer called forenlightenment of men on the evilof drunkenness, smoking anddrug addiction which, she says,fuel battering.

A lawyer, Mr. Afolabi Orekoya,urges government to put in placestiffer penalties against battery toreduce the menace.

“Government is not treatingthe matter with the seriousness itdeserves.

When a battered wife goes tothe police station to report herhusband, the police will tell her togo and settle it with him, and thatthey cannot interfere in a couple'sinternal matter," he says.

Orekoya wants governmentsto adequately support agencies

and non governmentorganisations that take care ofbattered women.

A lawyer and social critic, Mr.Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, preachesthat marriage is forcompanionship and love, andshould be devoid of violence.

“A man who batters his wife hasdescended to the level of an animal.This is not the plan or purpose ofGod for marriages. It portrays lackof confidence,'' he says.

Adegboruwa calls for theestablishment of a social welfareinstitution in Nigeria formonitoring marriages.

This, he says, has becomenecessary because of Nigeria'scultural milieu which denieswomen the opportunity of beingheard, but gives men increasedopportunity to molest women.

He also advocates womeneducation and empowerment,arguing that the majority ofdomestic violence has to do withpoor education and low financialempowerment.

Analysts urge gendersensitisation training for securityagents, judicial officers andlawyers with a view to combatingdomestic violence.

They also urge passage intolaw the Domestic ViolenceProtection Bill, 2006 still beforethe National Assembly.Source: NAN

By Sandra Umeh andDeborah Akpede

B

PAGE 30

ArchivesPEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Do you have old pictures for memories?Send them to julius2001_a@yahoo.com

Wole Soyinka is arrested in 1965

Biology students at Queen's college, Lagos - 1959

Northern Premier, Alhaji Ahmadu Bello congratulates the Waziri of Dikwa, late 60s

The Nigeria Post Office in Badagry, Lagos State. 1975

Major-General J.T.U.Aguiyi-Ironsi, centre, leader of Nigeria's new federal military government andSupreme Commander of the Nigerian Armed Forces, poses with four of his military governors, in Lagos,Nigeria, Jan. 24, 1966. From left to right; Major Hassan Usman Katsina, Lieutenant Colonel F.A. Fajudi,Major-General Aguiyi-Ironsi,Lietenant Colonel C. Odumegwu-Ojukwu and Lieutenant Colonel D.A. Ejoor.

PAGE 31

LeisurePEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

WORD SEARCH With Augustine Aminu

Proverbs andwise sayings

○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○ ○

Find the words from the 12 Days of Christmas song (listed at the bottom) inthis Christmas word search puzzle. Circle each letter one by one. Each letterof 12 Days of Christmas word search grid may be used in more than oneword. When the word Search puzzle is complete, read the remaining lettersleft to right, top to bottom, to learn an interesting fact about the 12 Days ofChristmas.

T H C E T W E G N I M M I W S

L E A P I N G L V E D A Y S O

F C L H R I S T M S A S S S S

T A L E E R T R A E P D R N T

S W I I D T H C H V R R A G I

S G N I R N E D L O G W N S T

N M G A U S D E L D S I A Y A

E N B D M F S D I E K N G I S

H H I E M E S R P L O N N T H

H E R E E V E U I T A O I F S

C E D G R P I M P R P D P D H

N A S N S Y T M E U H E I F I

E F T H E G D I R T R A P E D

R G N I Y A L N S A M Y O F S

F J A N U A R G N I C N A D Y

PARTRIDGEPEAR TREETURTLE DOVESFRENCH HENSCALLING BIRDSGOLDEN RINGSGEESELAYINGSWANSSWIMMING

12 Days of Christmas Word Search Puzzle

A Real Lagos Child

CARTOON

DID YOU KNOW?

MAIDSMILKINGLADIESDANCINGLORDSLEAPINGPIPERSPIPINGDRUMMERSDRUMMING

"A man does notwander far from wherehis corn is roasting."

"A rat is not born arabbit."

"A tiger does not haveto proclaim itstigritude."

"A traveler to distantplaces should make noenemies."

"A tree does not moveunless there is wind."

"A tree is bestmeasured when it'sdown."

"A tree is known by itsfruit."

"An old man is there totalk."

"Fine words do notproduce food."

"Give me a push frommy back" does notmean give me ahunchback."

The tongue-If you have white on your tongue, you should get itchecked out. It could very well be a fungus.-A yellowish coating means that you may have either afever or stomach problem.-A pale pink shade could be indicative of disease aswell.-Your tongue has thousands of taste buds located onits surface.-Sometimes taste buds will grow too much, and youwill appear to have a hairy tongue.-We have four basic types of taste buds. The salt andsweet taste buds sit at the tip of the tongue, while sourtaste is along the sides, and bitter taste is at the base.-The tongue does not house all of the taste buds.Approximately 10% of them are found on the paletteand cheek.-Tongues can pick up a fifth taste, which is known asglutamate.-Eating something cold, in particular, changes the waythat your tongue perceives taste. Doing so will oftendetract taste from whatever the next item that you eat ordrink is.-The front part of the tongue is extremely flexible, andthis is the part that is most often associated with themechanism of speaking.-The front of your tongue also moves food around yourmouth so that you are able to properly chew it up.-Every tongue has its own tongue print.-Tongue is the strongest muscle in the body.-The tongue is the only muscle in the entire body that isonly connected on one end.-Skeletal muscle comprises the majority of the tongue.The tongue is covered by a mucus membrane.Tongues are generally rough in their texture.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012PAGE 32

F Compiled by Jamila Nuhu Musa

D i d you know that the type and colour of the necklace youwear give people an impression about you? Wearing theright piece is what really makes you stand out as a lady.

The colour of the necklace also speaks for itself. Blue necklaces forinstance suggest purity and quietness. Even as they can also makeyou feel bold and confident, according to Grace Coleman, a beautyexpert in Accra, Ghana, she also said Green is often the choice tobalance your psyche, she explains that green is the colour of life,and fertility. “So it is believed in some cultures to mean, change,growth and prosperity.”

Coleman said that White necklace is her favorite “you see whitesymbolizes new beginning”.

Coleman is even convinced white necklaces gives you luck andremoves obstacles from your part. Sounds superstitious? For rednecklaces, she points out that men like it when their women wearred hot necklaces, they believe red increases their energy and mayassist in conquering sexual dysfunctions ‘. So it is really not thefault of ladies that they have become drawn to necklaces so much sothat every outfit has a necklace to match it perfectly.

Do you know whatyour necklacesays about you?

Do you know whatyour necklacesays about you?

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 PAGE 33

BusinessNigerian economy recorded positivegrowth in 2012 —MD, Enterprise BankH o w would you

assess the Nigerianeconomy in the last

twelve months?I think there has been a

positive growth when you look atwhere we were coming from,especially when you study othereconomies. You have to also takeit in the context of the financialinfrastructure, which provides thebedrock for any concretedevelopment and once you havethe financial institutions doingwell, by implication, you will seeit rubbing off on the economygenerally.

A high percentage of the GrossDomestic Product (GDP) is fromagriculture and you will see howthe government has focused onthe sector, especially, the CentralBank of Nigeria (CBN) and therehas been a tremendous growth interms of increase in production.We have been able to a certaindegree to address the issue of fuelsubsidy, which is also a big issueas far as this economy isconcerned. I strongly believe thatall the fundamentals necessary foreconomic growth have been madeand that is why you see even inthe financial sector, there is animprovement in our earnings andprofitability. On a general note, Ithink there is a lot ofimprovement in the nation’seconomy.

But the growth appearsnot to be in tandem withdevelopment. The jobcreation initiatives by theFederal Government havenot really impacted muchwith manpower utilisationstill in the negative?

Part of the problems we have inNigeria is the non-availability ofbasic data on the economy. Incertain economies, when figuresare reeled out, they can beconfirmed. But in Nigeria, it isalways very difficult for you toaccess whether there is animprovement or not, because thebasis and method of capturing theinformation is very faulty. If you goto the National Bureau of Statisticstoday to go and find out the numberof jobs created last month, it wouldbe difficult to get such data. I cantell you that there is quite a numberof industries in the economy thatare doing very well, the oil and gas,the banking sector and even themanufacturing companies arebeginning to come up. But don’tforget that globally, there iseconomic slow down because of lowgrowths. If you take it in thatcontext, I believe that things havechanged for the better. People thatused to get free money havereduced, because things are beingdone properly and it will take sometime in terms of acceptability andin terms of capturing the neededinformation for us to be able toappreciate the kind of reforms that

Ahmed Lawan Kuru is Managing Director of Enterprise Bank,which metamophorsed from the former Spring Bank Plc, inAugust, last year. In this interview with Aminu Imam, he reviewsthe current profile of the banking industry in particular and thenation’s economy in general. Excerpts:

are being done in other economies.You said the banking

sector has been stabilised,but there is still this lingeringissue of business unfriendlyinterest rate regime. How canwe grow the economy anddevelop under suchsituation?

Interest rate is a function of somany things like inflation, pricestability. As a country, you have todecide what you want to do first. Ibelieve that CBN is more interestedin price stability and that is why youwill see the CBN putting all sorts ofmeasures to ensure that the rate ofexchange is contained in such a waythat the value of naira does notdepreciate further than it was lastyear.

Now in a country where you arestruggling to empower people andincrease production, obviously, youwill have issues with the interestrate. In a country where the savingsculture is very low, there will be achallenge in that area. Most of thepeople in Nigeria are consumers.Hardly will you find people savingmoney for the long haul because ofthe inflationary trend. So, unless weare able to address the issues ofinflation, price stability, the issue ofinterest rates will continue to be achallenge. But if we look at what hashappened in the last three to sixmonths, interest rates have beencoming down and I think the target

of the CBN is how to stabilise it to asingle digit.

I read in the papers that somebanks are charging 36 per cent andobviously, I do not see why a bankwould be charging that much,because what business would youdo today that would make you topay that kind of interest rate. I don’tknow the source of suchinformation, but if you say banksare charging an average of 15 to 22per cent today, then, I will agree.Honestly, it is coming down. Goand check with the money marketoperators and you will see that is itcoming down. With our type ofeconomy, it cannot just come downover night, because there are somany factors that affect the interestrate that you charge on facilitiesthat you grant. The bank is just anintermediate institution. However,I think the measures that have beenput in place by the CBN, by the firstand second quarter of next year,you will see how stable the interestrates would become.

How has it been since youassumed duties?

It has been challenging andrewarding. If you recall when wecame on board when the CBN,through AMCON interview in ourbanks, we had ensure that the bankwas fully capitalised and what weare confronted with was to how toclean the house and position theinstitution for business. Because,

since 2005, when the bank came upwith one issue or the other and wecame on board, there are so manyissues confronting the organisation.What we did was to prioritise tohave a three to five year plan andwork through it. By the grace ofGod, we have done substantiallywell. You know you cannot turnaround an institution within oneyear. This was a 15 year batteredbusiness and usually when you startbuilding from foundation, it iseasier, but when you are renovatinga property, you have to do a lot ofchanges.

It has been exciting and we havemade considerable progress onwhat we set out to achieve.

What about the legal issuesbesetting the operations of thebank?

Incidentally, Enterprise Bank

came into being August 5.Obviously, there are people alongthe line who have been mistakenEnterprise bank for Spring Bankbut we try to find time to explain tothem that if there is any issue thatrelates to Enterprise Bank, we tellthem to go to NDIC. Luckily, wedon’t have many legal issues.

I can tell you that this is a brandnew bank. It has nothing to do withany legacy being. Our operatinglicence was given to us on August5, 2011 and we try to focus ondriving Enterprise Bank.

Generally speaking, inrespect of the bankingindustry, what should be thestrategic focus on Nigerianbankers now?

The future of Nigeria’s bankingindustry is in the retail side andquite a number of banks, if not all,have tried to position themselves inthe retail arena. But retail businesstakes time to kick in. There aresome banks that are doing verywell, because they have beenaround for so long and able togather momentum, sometimes,even by default in building theirretail profile. So, most of the banksin Nigeria today are building retailprofile and the only way you canaddress the retail market is bybuilding retail products and I cantell you that there is no bank inNigeria today that has less than 30consumer products. They have allsorts of products and that is whyyou see that in the pages of thenewspapers, these products arebeing promoted.

So, consumer products have adirect link with retail sector andthat is the future of the industry.There are so many consumerproducts available in the industrytoday. So, many products are outthere and gradually the industry ismoving to a level where it would bedriven by these products. We arebuilding all our credits aroundthese products since we haverealized that there is no innerpurchasing power for somebody tobuy a car or do something. So wehave to now develop products andbuild programmes around them, sothat they can be effectivelydelivered. It eliminates all thebureaucracies of lending since thereis already a product to address thatneed.

Ahmed Lawan Kuru

CBN is more interested in pricestability and that is why you will see

the CBN putting all sorts of measuresto ensure that the rate of exchange is

contained in such a way that thevalue of naira does not depreciate

further than it was last year.

“

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012PAGE 34

How armed robbers tookover Ilorin/Jebba roadIt was meant to be a beautiful

Thursday, supposedly filledwith activities and plans forupcoming Weekend, little did thefamily of Mallam SalihuMohammed Jega know that, Godhad destined it to be opposite ofthis.

The family, on 7th June,2012, woke up early morning toreceive tragic news of the deathof their bread winner, SalihuMohammed Jega who wasattacked by armed robbers atBode-Saadu, along Jebba/Ilorinroad.

According to Issa MohammedKoko, eye witness and friend tothe deceased, he and Salihu wereon a journey to Lagos when theywere ambushed by armedrobbers along Ilorin/Jebba road.He said his friend was killed buthe (Issa) narrowly escaped deathand he was taken to hospital.

After Issa was discharged, henarrated their ordeal to PeoplesDaily Weekend. He and his friendSalihu had left Jega, a village inKebbi state around 7pm to Lagos.

He said, "We boarded acommercial vehicle 'Young ShallGrow' luxurious bus withregistration number XC381. "Onarriving Kwara state alongIlorin/Jebba road, we wereattacked by armed robbers whoinstantly killed about threepassengers including my friend,Mallam Salihu Mohammed Jegawho was sitting close to thedriver."

According to him, the vehiclewas driven by one EugeneOdoenaram and the journey wassmooth until shortly after theypassed Bode Saadu at about0300hrs, the bus stopped at aroad block mounted by therobbers. He said, "there weremore than fifteen of the armedrobbers with different kinds of

ammunitions."He said the robbers started

shooting sporadically into the airand shouting at the passengers,"Come down! Raise your handsup! Bring your money andphone! Lie down!"

He said he was howeversurprised to know that, therewas a policeman among thepassengers. "I was surprisedwhen I realised that we had apolice officer, who was actually

a DPO inside our car and he hada pistol with him.

"As the police officer wastrying to remove his pistol, oneof the robbers covering himasked what he was doing. He saidhe was just trying to repositionhimself. "At last the officerbrought out his gun and startedshooting. He killed two of therobbers and even followed therest into the bush and startedexchanging bullets with them,

it was just like a drama or film,''he said.

Confirming the incident toPeoples Daily Weekend, the DPO,Birnin Kebbi police division, inKebbi state, AP Sanni Zuberusaid that it was a bad experiencebut that is what he had beentrained for.

The DPO explained that oneof the robbers ordered himdirectly to bring out his moneyand lie down while he waspointing his gun at him.

He said, "I brought out mypistol and shot at him rapidlyat a close range andsimultaneously fired at twoother robbers even as I dived forcover in the nearby bushes fromwhere I continued to shoot atthem,'' he said.

He added that the rest ofthem started running andjumping into the surroundingbushes. According to him, thedriver however called out foreverybody to come inside thebus, that they might come back.

He said, "I picked up thesingle barrel gun of the firstrobber, I fired a shot that hithim on his back, I tried to searchfor the rest of the guns as I sawanother robber on the groundbut there was serious shoutingof disagreement from thepassengers that I should enterthe vehicle before they re-groupand come back for us,'' he said.

Issa however commended thepolice officer for his bravery.

In a similarly event, on 19thof November, a family ofMallam Usman also woke up onemorning to receive a terriblenews as one of their brothers,was attacked and killed.

Mallam Idris Usman,brother to Sani Usman was alsoa victim of armed robberyattack at the same spot.

Sani also narrated hisbrother's experience to PeoplesDaily weekend. He said hisbrother; Idris Usman wasattacked on 19th of November2012 also on his way to Lagosfor business transaction.

He and his friend wereattacked by the hoodlums;while he was shot on his handand mouth, his business partnerfrom Kamba died on the spot.

Sanni said they were comingfrom Dunbago village via Jega,"my brother was travelling witha tanker driver along Mokwa toJeba road when some armedrobbers started shooting at themand the bullets hit him on his lefthand and left jaw and he wasrushed to Shaken clinic andmaternity at Bode Saadu for firstaid before he was brought to theFederal Medical Centre and hassince been referred to SokotoTeaching Hospital where theywill remove the bullets from hisbody.''

From Ahmed Iidris, Birnin Kebbi

Bullet ridden arm of a victim

Feature

Sani Usman, a survivor on his bed

PAGE 35PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29— SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Interview

Proliferation and useof automaticweapons by armed

robbers has called forgreat concern.Where doyou think they are gettingtheir arms from?

Not unti l recently , theftin Nigeria has been executedwith local ly made guns,knives, s t icks, bows andarrows and other localweapons, but today theprol i ferat ion of arms inNigeria is traced to ourimmediate neighbours l ikeChad and Niger .Ethnorel ig ious cr is is in Nigeriahas helped in proliferation ofarms in to the country too,that is where our armedrobbers get sophist icatedweapons and the only way toreduce it is for all Nigeriansto put their hands on deckthrough prayers and leadersmust take bold act ion toaddress the issue. Whoever isguilty of gun running shouldbe arrested and prosecutedwithout fear or favour nomatter what his status.Doing so wi l l serve as adeterrent to others.

These days most armedrobbers operate withautomatic weapons. Areyou not afraid ofhunting them down?

I told you it is a jointoperat ion betweenInspector General ofPol ice , Special Anti-Robbery Squad(SARS) and the StatePol ice command.During operation, Idon’t fight them inthe real sense; thelaw enforcementoff icers engagedthem. In mostcases, I only assistin tracing them. Ihave no fear and Ialso want you toknow that armedrobbers are cowards.

How many yearshave you spent incombating thiscrime?

It a l l s tarted about14 years ago in Azare,and to the best of myknowledge, s ince westarted this joint operationthe menace of armed robberyhas reduced great ly in thenorth. You will recall in thepast that armed robbersb l o c k e dhighways withsophisticatedweapons

attached to the State PoliceC o m m a n d s i n e a c h s t a t eand it was a success.

The regional tour startedwhen we followed a group ofbandits led by Ali Bakar, weknew him very well becausew e o n c e a r r e s t e d h i m , b u thaving served his jai l termwith no repentance, he stillchose the path of banditry.I n f a c t , w e l e a r n t t h a t h eh a s f o r m e d a g r o u p w i t hN o r t h e a s t a s h i s p r i m a r yconstituency for operation.We fol lowed the gang fromBauchi to Gombe, and fromGombe we rounded them upin Adamawa state .

We had a ser ious bat t lew i t h t h e m a n d t h eP o l i c e m e n a t t a c h e d t o m eover powered them and theyran and abandoned two(2)AK 57 riffles, 129 rounds ofa m m u n i t i o n s a n d aVolkswagen Golf car.Also int h e b o o t y w e f o u n dN49,000 (cash) .

T h e y f l e d t o Y o b e , a n dintel l igence report reachedu s o n t h e i n t e n t i o n t olaunch an attack in Gombe.We wadded in and with theh e l p o f t h e G o m b e P o l i c eCommand and the InspectorGeneral robbery squad, wei n t e r c e p t e d t h e m a t a b o u t2:00 am. Four of them diedduring fire exchange and wea l s o r e c o v e r e d a v e h i c l e ,four AK 47 and 329 roundsof l ive ammunit ion.

Operations like thisrequire lots of funds.

How do you sourcef o r f u n d s t o

carry out youroperation?

As you mayb e a w a r e , I

a m ab u s i n e s sman anda l s o ah u n t e r .I w a swell to dob e f o r e Iopted forcommunitypol ic ing.I t m i g h ta l s oi n t e r e s t

to hear of. They form a ringwith different networks.

Presently the r ing ofarmed robbers we have aremostly young boys and girls,our ef fort in the past hashelped us eliminate the oldbandits terroris ing the

neighbourhoods.This young generation

of armed robbers wererecruited due to

prol i ferat ion of armsand lack of

employment.It iseasy for selfish andwicked people touse unemployedyouth and to lurethem to thievery,we have identifiedtheir network and

we will soon cutthe chain.

Sir, you justcompleted anoperation inthe North-eastern states,did you recordany success?

Alhamdulillah,we th a n k t h eA l m i g h t yA l l a h . W e

u n d e r t o o k a no p e r a t i o n ,

jointly carried outw i t h t h e M o b i l ePolicemen unit and

Police Anti-RobberySquad fac i l i tated by

t h e I G P . I w a s

Alhaji Ali Mohammed Kwara, a hunter andcommunity security expert in this interview withAhmed Kaigama, speaks on his modus operandi,threats and synergy with the Bauchi State Governmentin addressing criminal activities in the state.

Armed robbers: Wehave eliminated oldbandits- Ali kwara

y o u t o k n o w t h a t I o w n aconstruct ion company.

The present governor ofB a u c h i S t a t e M a l l a m I s aY u g u d a , h a s b e e n a m a j o rf i n a n c i e r , t h o u g h n o tdirect ly in most cases . Wef i r s t m e t w h e n h e w a sm i n i s t e r o f t r a n s p o r t ; h ea p p r e c i a t e d m y w o r k a n dpledged to be of help.Muchd i d n o t h a p p e n u n t i l h ea s s u m e d o f f i c e a sg o v e r n o r .

I had done some jobs fort h e p r e v i o u sa d m i n i s t r a t i o n a n d o w e dm e o u t s t a n d i n g b a l a n c e .H e a p p r o p r i a t e d t h eb a l a n c e a n d a w a r d e d m ef r e s h c o n t r a c t s t o b r i d g et h e s h o r t a g e o f f u n d scr ippl ing our operat ion .

H e h a s c o n t i n u e d w i t ht h i s g e s t u r e w h e r e Ie x e c u t e d p r o j e c t s a t t h eB a u c h i S t a t e U n i v e r s i t yG a d a u c a m p u s , i n I t a sG a d a u l o c a l g o v e r n m e n ta r e a o f B a u c h i s t a t e . S of a r , I h a v e b e e n a w a r d e db u i l d i n g j o b s , w i t h s o m eyet to be completed.

H e g a v e m e n i n ed i f f e r e n t c o n t r a c t s w o r t hh u n d r e d s m i l l i o n s s o m ea r e o n - g o i n g , w h i l e s o m ehave been completed and Idid a good job for the state,that was the reason why hekeep patronis ing me. Thatwas the support, I got fromt h e s t a t e g o v e r n m e n t , h ep a t r o n i s e d m e a n d o u t o fmy profit I used the moneyt o f i g h t c r i m i n a l s .

Do you have a recordof the armed robbers youhave arrested?

T h e y a r e u n c o u n t a b l e ,we have arrested many, wehave recovered many armsand rounds of ammunition,a n d w e h a v e s u c c e e d e d i nall parts of the country.

H o w d o y o u t h i n kNigeria will be free fromcrimes?

H o n e s t y , J u s t i c e ,fairness and punishing thep e r p e t r a t o r s o f a r m e drobbery act without fear orf a v o u r i s t h e o n l y w a y t ocurb armed robbery in thec o u n t r y .

in broad day light, we havearrested many of them someof them were punished,though some werereleased. But the armedrobbers you see today aredifferent from the ones youu s e d

Alhaji Ali Mohammed Kwar

PAGE 36 PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Re: Sovereign wealth fundPeoples Daily Weekend welcomes your letters, opinion articles, text messagesand ‘pictures of yesteryears.’ All written contributions should be concise. Wordlimits: Letters - 150 words, Articles - 750 words. Please include your name and

a valid location. Letters to the Editor should be addressed to:The Editor,

Peoples Daily, 1st Floor Peace Plaza,35 Ajose Adeogun Street, Utako, Abuja.Email: letters@peoplesdaily-online.com

WRITE TO US

Corruption: The 37th state of the federation

OUR MISSIONOUR MISSIONOUR MISSIONOUR MISSIONOUR MISSION OUR PEOPLEOUR PEOPLEOUR PEOPLEOUR PEOPLEOUR PEOPLECHAIRMAN

MALAM WADA MAIDA, OON, FNGE

CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER

ALI M. ALI

MANAGER, ADMINISTRATION

HASSAN HAMMANYAJI

EDITOR, DAILY

ABDULAZEEZ ABDULLAHI

ACTING EDITOR, WEEKEND

JAMILA NUHU MUSA

HEAD, ADVERT/MARKETING

HUSSAINI ABDULRAHMAN, CNA

“To be the marketplace of ideas and theleading player in the

industry by putting thepeople first, upholdingthe truth, maintaining

the highestprofessional andethical standards

while delivering valueto our stakeholders”

“To be a reputable,profitable,

innovative andtechnologically

reliant mediacompany offering

world classservices and

products”

OUR VISIONOUR VISIONOUR VISIONOUR VISIONOUR VISION

DIRECTOR/ EDITOR-IN-CHIEFRUFA’I IBRAHIM

HEAD, LAGOS BUREAU

ADESOJI OYINLOLA

“Corruption has become a state of theFederation, drawing its weekly andmonthly allowances from the FederationAccount unabashedly”

– Lagos lawyer and activist,Fred Agbaje

L a t e l y , the Nigerian media hasbeen awash with opinion,analysis and editorials on the

spiralling rate of corruption especiallyunder the President GoodluckJonathan led administration. The waragainst graft is now an issue ofnational interest in public discourse inthe light of Nigeria’s consistent toprating in global corruption index andits eroded image in the comity ofnations. More damning is the lethargicapproach the President Jonathanadministration has adopted in fightingcorruption. As most Nigerians wouldreadily agree that if the menace ofcorruption is reduced by 50% thenmore than half of Nigeria’s problemsbecome effectively solved.

The long term iron-clad impunityof Nigerians political elite has escalatedin recent time under the nose ofPresident Jonathan’s Administrationresulting in the disappearance of awhopping N5trillion in just two yearsas revealed by Punch investigation.The gargantuan sleaze over the yearshas left an estimated 11, 886 federalgovernment projects abandoned acrossthe country according to Professor KoleOmotoso. No surprise, the Gallup Polland KPMG Report ranked Nigeria thesecond most corrupt country in theworld and most corrupt in Africarespectively.

Another study by the EconomistIntelligence Unit, says Nigeria is theworst place for a baby born in 2013 butjust days earlier Mr. Jonathan bravedup in a media chart on National TV… “Ican assure Nigerians and the globalcommunity that this government isfighting corruption frontally, we havedealt with political corruption, thecorruption in fertiliser procurementand corruption in the oil industry.There has never been a time corruptionin the oil industry has been attacked inall fronts. The effort this governmenthas put in fighting corruption, I don’t

think any other person has done that”.Going forward, he gave an insight to howhe intends to fight Corruption using thestaggered elections in Edo and Ondo as atemplate.

These and many more scamsunraveled on a daily basis across allsectors of the economy , indicate thatspecial attention at the ongoingconstitution review process need be givennot only to the removal of immunityclause and severe (if not capital)punishment for corrupt leaders, butappropriate laws to strengthen therelevant anti-corruption agencies so as tofast-track prosecution of cases.

The fuss by the anti-graft agenciesabout their efforts in the anti-corruptionwar have so far failed to translateprosecution of indicted individuals toconviction for any of the ex-Governorsaccused of enriching themselves throughcorrupt means save for James Ibori,former Delta State Governor, who wasonly sentenced with the help of a Britishcourt and Olabode George. A situationwhere Dr. Peter Odili secured a courtinjunction to shield himself fromprosecution makes one wonder if suchcorrupt persons still enjoy some form ofimmunity even after leaving office. Theyemploy the services of lawyers skilled indelaying court processes withunnecessary adjournments. Suchinjunctions have turned the Nigerianjudiciary to a laughing stock. A slap onthe wrist treatment of high profileoffenders have inspire would-be-lootersand emboldened those neck deep in theact.

Nigerians clamour for scrapping ormerger of the Economic and FinancialCrimes Commission (EFCC) with theIndependent Corrupt Practice and Other

Related Offences Commission (ICPC) as away of strengthening the commission inthe anti-graft war, should have a rethinkas such move will not only hamper thefight but exacerbate the present endemiccorruption. I am not an advocate of multi-agency approach in tackling thegargantuan graft in various sectors butif this argument is to be won on suchnumbers, then Nigeria is behind whencompared with other countries aroundthe world.

For instance, China has 3, 563agencies fighting its corruption andrelated offences, the Philippines with 94million people has 18 anti-graft agencies,Argentina with 40 million population hasthree anti-graft bodies and Australia hasfour anti-graft agencies. In Africa, Ghanawith just 24 million people has three,South Africa with 49 million has four andseveral countries around the world withmore than two agencies waging waragainst corruption.

To the government of the day, ofparamount importance should be theharmonization of the workings of theanti-graft agencies so as to avoid duplicityof functions and to eliminate waste ofpublic funds considering it now cost asmuch as N9.32billion, from its 2013budget, to run the EFCC in a year withoutany guaranty of convicting a singleaccused person.

The Western countries today aremore advanced and developed notbecause of the absence of corrupt personsbut by means of effective anti-graftagencies which are empowered with theright constitutional framework, makingthem strong enough to ensure whoever,be it a common criminal or looter ofpublic funds, is prosecuted andconvicted, thereby serving as a

deterrent to others.The bogey of Boko Haram,

unemployment, rising crime rate,poverty are all concomitant effect ofsleaze. The attack of the Police SARSheadquarters in Abuja by a new Islamicsect is a testament that no part of thecountry is safe and no one, leaders,looters or political office holder will bespared if the country is left to continuein its steep downward trajectory.

To give a boost to the anti-graftcrusade, grey areas in the lawestablishing them need to be revisited.A look at the Plea bargain for instance,former Governors of Edo and Bayelsastates Lucky Igbinedion and DieprieyeAlamieyeseigha were accused ofgargantuan corruption, after plea-bargains with the EFCC, the former saw191 charges against him reduced to justone upon conviction and thereafterasked to pay a paltry N3.5m while thelatter was sentenced to only two yearsimprisonment. Offences that wouldhave at least guaranteed life behindbars after forfeiture of all assets and ill-gotten wealth to the state.

Such is tantamount to a slap on thewrist which will only inspire otherlooters. Unnecessary adjournment ofcases and congestion of the regularcourts have lead to calls for specialcourts to try corruption offenders.

To fight corruption, PresidentJonathan must first give priority topolitical corruption by powerfulpoliticians and their immediatecronies. He must throw his weightbehind the leadership of the anti-corruption agencies in their quest togo after corrupt persons and prove toNigerians beyond doubt by his actionsthat he is not in tacit support of corruptpractices oozing from close quartersaround him. He must ensure that lawsthat would engender speedyprosecution and conviction of corruptpersons are reviewed by the NationalAssembly. President Jonathan has gotenough time in his administration tocombat Nigeria’s monumentalcorruption and to see that it cease toexist in aphorism as the 37th state ofthe federation.

Theophilus Ilevbaretheophilus@ilevbare.com

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 PAGE 37

Opinion

Bala Mohammed’s effort to reposition FCT should not be derailed

Since his appointment as FCTMinister, Senator BalaMohammed has been doing his

best to reposition the FCT for enhancedgrowth and accelerated developmentas the nation’s capital city. He hasproven to be a self less and hardworking leader. In fact, he is evenbeing rated as one of the mostoutstanding ministers so farappointed for Abuja.

But it now appears as i f somenever-do-wells and other disgruntledelements in the society have beenusing a section of the print media tonot only attack and blackmail himbut to distract his attention fromconcentrating on the good things heis doing in Abuja in l ine with Mr.President’s transformation agenda.

To say the least, hardly has anyminister been thrown into the murkywaters of polit ics the way SenatorBala has been and yet he is still ableto maintain his cool. The minister hasbeen crit icised, slandered,blackmailed and even libelled withinthe past few months or so; yet he hascontinued to do his best for the FCT.

That Bala Mohammed has so farremained calm in the face ofprovocative attacks and crit icismsmust no doubt be attributed to hishumility, wide exposure, journalisticexperience, administrative acumen,patience and his simple, humble

accused of demolishing structures andproposed demolishing of more illegaland unapproved structures in someestates, adding that such action willdeny people residentialaccommodation.

But what are the facts on ground?Are the affected houses actually noti l legal structures? Availableinformation has indicated that all theaffected structures which wererecently pulled down were approvedby the FCTA as required by law.

The Development ControlDepartment which is the organresponsible for issuing such approvalshas categorically denied issuing anysuch approval to the estate owners.Those who purchased the affectedhouses have also not secured suchbuilding plan approvals individually,according to the Department. So whyshould the Hon. Minister be a subjectof undue criticism?

Is the newspaper saying that theFCT should allow acts of illegality toremain unchecked simply because itwill benefit some few selfish people evenif they are poor? If this is the case, whywould an armed robber be executed byhanging even though it was discoveredlater that the money he robbed fromthe rich people were given to some poorpeople in many villages? The case ofAnini in Edo State and Abokaro inPlateau State are all clear examples of

family upbringing.The recent of such attacks and

open hostility or vilification of SenatorBala and his team of dedicated workersat the FCTA/FCDA is the editorialopinion published in The Peoples Dailynewspaper of Wednesday December19, 2012 in which the paper attackedthe minister without anyjustification whatsoever.

This time around the editors donot seem to be happy with the standof the minister when he reiterated thedetermination of the FCTA tocontinue with its demolition exercise.He had, according to the newspaper,become insensitive when he told theSenator Adeyemi-led committee thatthe FCTA plans to demolish 31 moreestates built in Abuja in order tosanitize the federal capital city.

In spite of such vilifications andunwarranted attacks, Senator Balahas remained undeterred andundaunted in the cause of holisticallyimplementing the provisions of theAbuja masterplan in an effort toreposition the FCT and to make it oneof the best cities where things work.The primitive war being waged byhis critics through the use of somemedia platform has not deterred himfrom pursuing his laid downobjectives of moving Abuja, the FCT,forward.

In the recent editorial , he was

The former Chief Justice ofNigeria (CJN), JusticeMohammed Uwais, was recently

in the news when he accused theNational Assembly of killing the majorcomponents of the electoral reforms,including internal democracy.

According to Uwais, who wasspeaking at a workshop in Abujaorganized by the Policy and LegalAdvocacy Centre in collaboration withthe McArthur Foundation, theNational Assembly destroyed theelectoral reforms to “serve parties’interest” rather than democracy.

In what appears to be one of hisbluntest public criticisms of themanner the electoral reforms weretampered with, former Chief JusticeUwais lamented “a situation wherecandidates who won primaries wereshort-changed by their politicalparties made it difficult to achieve aflawless electoral process.

No sincere Nigerian can fault thesehonest criticisms by retired ChiefJustice Uwais, who headed theElectoral Reforms Committee set up bythe late President Umaru MusaYar’adua. By openly showing hisconcern over this issue, Justice Uwaismust be commended for his candourand sincerity. How can any sensiblenation that assembled eminentNigerians to produce credibleelectoral reforms throw away themajor components of such reforms?

Internal democracy is not only the

Justice Uwais And InternalDemocracy Among Parties

responsibility of the ruling PDP butalso of the opposition political parties.Unfortunately, our political partiesonly pay lip service to democracy.Commitment to democracy seems todominate the key points of theconstitutions and manifestoes ofNigeria ’s current political parties. Inreality, however, they are allergic toanything democracy stands for. Suchis the kind of hypocrisy that attendsthe conduct of the leaderships ofNigeria’s political parties.

In fact, the success or failure of theelectoral system depends largely onthe commitment and sincerity ofpolitical parties to promote internaldemocracy. As honestly observed byJustice Uwais, the electoral processwould be harmed greatly if politicalparties insist on imposing candidatesother than those duly elected by thevoters at the primaries.

Sadly, however, even the so-calledopposition parties which perceivethemselves as better alternatives tothe ruling PDP are no less guilty ofdestroying internal democracy. Forexample, the current internal crisisof confidence rocking the Congress forProgressive Change (CPC) was causedby the selfish and undemocratic policyof the substitution and imposition ofcandidates.

In Kano State for example, it is onrecord that Mohammed Abacharesoundingly won the gubernatorialprimaries in December 2010, but a

clique in the party nationalheadquarters in Abuja withheld theresults because the outcome did notfavour their own preferred aspirantfor the office.

To the outrage of the voters thatopenly and freely expressed theirchoice, the party leaders substitutedMohammed Abacha with ColonelLawal Ja’afaru Isa (rtd) who wasdecisively defeated by the former. Col.Isa, with only 78,000 votes at theprimaries, replaced MohammedAbacha who won 144,000 votes! If thewill of the people should count, howcan a man who won only 78,000 votesbecome a party candidate at theexpense of the aspirant that won144,000 votes?

Where is the commitment todemocracy and just ice by the CPCleaders? Is the wi l l of the CPCnational leaders superior to the willof the voters? If the party leaders hada ready-made candidate, why didthey conduct the gubernatorialprimaries in the first place? In fact,if they had no desire to respect theresults , why must they waste thetime of the voters?

This miscalculation remains thebiggest moral burden on the CPCnational leaders . The inherentinjust ice in the imposit ion ofcandidates has no place indemocratic practice. They should notrun the CPC l ike the ChineseCommunist Party and pretend that

what we are talking about.Also the recent arrest and

prosecution of armed robbers inBauchi, where it was discovered thatthe thieves removed valuableproperties from some rich fellows, soldthem off and later distributed themoney to some poor youths and theaged at Azare is a clear example of howsuch cases should be treated. Illegalitycannot be legal because of the person’sactions.

No doubt, such criticisms againstSenator Bala are attempts or efforts toeither discredit or distract him, whichare being made by members of theopposition or by persons who aredesperate to score cheap political pointshaving possibly failed to secure one ortwo personal benefits from him. Butsuch efforts have not affected theMinister’s dogged determination tocontinue the good work he and his teamare doing in the FCT.

For example, as far as the provisionof infrastructures is concerned, allparts of the FCT are being attended toand the indigenes are thebeneficiaries. There has been nodiscrimination whatsoever. He hascontinued to lead his team on the pathof development, prosperity andaccountability for the FCT.

Biu, a veteran journalist, sentin this piece from Abuja

they are democrats. In fact, the CPCcould have captured at least ninestates in the North during the 2011general e lect ion, but lost theopportunity because the partynational leadership took the will ofthe voters for granted.

Former Just ice Uwais deservesour praise for coming out to tell ourpolitical parties the bitter truth theydon’t want to hear. Opposition partiescannot take the moral high groundto attack the ruling PDP for lackingdemocrat ic pr inciples when theythemselves are tarred with the samebrush. The CPC national chairman,Chief Tony Momoh, has a crediblepedigree as a distinguished lawyer.

It is, however, sad that a cliquein the party could be a l lowed todestroy internal democracy underhis watch. The current reformationand reconciliation efforts in the CPCwill go nowhere as long as the partyleadership doesn’t d iscard theundemocratic practice of imposingcandidates, which led to the debacleof the party during the governorshipand House of Assembly elections in2011. Does the party expect to facethe 2015 e lect ions with thisundemocrat ic tendency ormentality? Repeated blunders canlead to fatal consequences.

Bakori, an advocate of internaldemocracy, lives at No. 58, IsaKaita Road , Kaduna

PAGE 38 PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

InterviewFinance minister is our problem —HouseChairman House C'ttee on PensionS i r , we have just

witnessed thepresentation of 1,500

pumping machines to yourpeople and the constructionof drainage in yourConstituency. Whatinformed this gesture?

It is in line with thenational policy programmesbeing implemented under thepresent Speaker of the Houseof Representatives, RT.Honourable AminuTambuwal, where at the endof every budget by the House,each member will submit hisor her proposal to the Speakerand after giving approval,such member will go to his orher constituency andimplement a significantproject that will assist hisconstituency by making ameaningful impact on his/herelectorates.

That was what I did, Isubmitted my proposal onagriculture and I was giventhe go ahead to purchasepumping machines of thenumber you saw, amountingto N100 million. So we aregoing to share thesemachines to people of thisconst i tuency through theWard level in the areas ofDandi and Arewa localgovernments respect ively .Aside the National Assemblypol ic ies , I have muchconcern for my people in myconst i tuency that is why Irequested the i tems in mysubmission with the sole aimto boost farming in the twoareas under myconstituency.

Hon. is this your firstdonation since youassumed office as MemberHouse of Representatives?

No, how can it be my firstdonation? You can go roundand ask the two localgovernments I'mrepresenting. I' think I havetouched the lives of the peopleby giving them dividends ofdemocracy. You see, this is notmy first term in the House;this is my third term becausemy people are concernedabout me too.

You are thec u r r e n tC h a i r m a n ,H o u s eCommittee onPension, howhave you beenable toperform yourd u t i e sespecially asthe Federalgovernment isw o r k i n gt o w a r d stransformingthe Pension

Honorable Ibrahim Bawa Kamba is a member Representing Arewa/Dandi FederalConstituency of Kebbi state, and Chairman, House Committee on Pension in the NationalAssembly. Recently he distributed agricultural implements to the people of his constituency.In this interview with Ahmed Idris, he laments that the Finance Minister Mrs. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is a cog in the wheel of Nigeria’s economic progress.

Commission?I'm doing my best to see

that we are able to bring allfraudsters, thieves andculprits of the nationaleconomy to book. But in theprocess of doing our jobs, mostespecially in my committee,we always encounteredserious problems with theMinister of finance, Dr.Ngozi Okojo Iweala.Initially, we invitedthis woman to faceour committee onPolice pension butshe turned downour letter. Weserved her withanother one, sherefused to comply,we served herwith another oneagain, she refusedto come then weissued a warrantof arrest, but sheseems to beuntouchable andup till today, shedid not respond toour request whichis veryunfortunate.

In fact, she hasbeen a stumblingblock to the Houseand that was waywe wanted herremoved because shedelayed the paymentof Police pensionersand others, she refusesto release funds to theagencies andparastatals under thefederal ministries.Okonjo is a problem toNigeria's economybecause sheadvices

Mr. President wrongly.Apart from your

achievements under theagricultural sector, whathave you done to empoweryouths under yourconstituency?

If you talking about youths,I know the dilemma of the

youth in the country as awhole not only in myconstituency. When it comes toassistance, we have beenassisting them. In this regard,I have purchased 500,000NECO and WAEC forms anddistributed them to 60candidates who failed their lastexaminations to enable them

resit and qualify for thesubjects they failed.

Moreover, I was ableto serve 40

u n e m p l o y e dyouth with job

opportunitiesin variousc a p a c i t i e s ,like Police,B a n k s ,C u s t o m s ,Immigrationand NigerianCivil Defenseand SecurityCorps.

What isy o u rassessmenton thel e a d e r s h i pof KebbiState?

G o v e r n o rS a i d uDakingari hasdone well forthe people ofKebbi State; infact, he has

transformed theyoung state to our

expectation. Heexecuted many

projects in the statecapital and

i n

the rural areas respectively.Almost all the 21 localgovernment areas of the statehave received dividends of

Honourable IbrahimBawa Kamba

“I'm doing mybest to see thatwe are able to

bring allfraudsters,thieves and

culprits of thenational

economy tobook. But in theprocess of doingour jobs, most

especially in mycommittee, we

alwaysencountered

seriousproblems withthe Minister of

finance

democracy.What is

your hope fory o u rconstituency?

I want to leavea legacy in myc o n s t i t u e n c yparticularly inthe areas ofa g r i c u l t u r e ,electricity, watersupply and const-ruction of feederroads, in fact myaim is to live upto my people’sexpectation.

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 PAGE 39

Peoples & Places

Orubebe: FromPauper to Billionaire

All eyes will be on Oturkpo inBenue State this weekend as atalk-of-the-town marriage

holds between Sunday Okpacho Adahand his beautiful bride, Ella.

Sunday, younger brother of oneof Oturkpo’s big boys, Friday “Iron”Adah, and Ellah have reportedlyenjoyed a romance akin to that ofRomeo and Juliet and are now poisedto “shake” the ancient town to itsfoundation today.

“Iron”, we learnt, has invited animpressive array of VIPs to theceremony in order to “spoil” hissibling and Ella a bit. Here is wishingthe Adahs a sweet matrimonialadventure. Amen!

Benue bigboy, ‘Iron’gives outbrotherin style

Senate President, David Mark: Will healso attend attalk-of-the-townwedding to be held in his hometown?

Not so long ago she was writtenas a spent force. Plagued byniggling injuries, she was a

shadow of herself as she stumbled andstaggered from one lawn tennismatch to the other.

That was then. Since the secondhalf of the year, Serena Williams hasbeen in smashing form. And it showsin the enviable trophies she has wonbetween then and now: Wimbledon,

Serena: In a class of her ownthe US Open, Olympic gold medals(single and double events) and theWTA championship.

Despite this incredible haul, theAfrican-American iady who was inNigeria recently with her sisterVenus, says she is aiming higher “Idefinitely think I can improve somemore”, she said ominously.Ominously for her opponents, that is.The tennis queen is truly back!

Serena Williams

We feel veryashamed and embarrassed.

Orubebe was one of us. He wasattending meetings, sleeping onthe ground with us, and wenominated him to be appointed aminister.”

With these words, AsariDokubo, leader of the Niger DeltaPeople’s Volunteer Force,mirrored the “embarrassing”story of the minister of the NigerDelta Affairs, Peter Orubebe.

Only but yesterday Orubebewas more or less a pauper. Then ithappened. No sooner was hemade a minister than he allegedlyacquired properties in choiceareas of the capital city. Propertieswhose total value is reportedly inthe region of over a billion naira.

According to Anti-CorruptionNetwork, which exposed‘Orubebe-gate’ recently, theminister has been indulging inshenanigans in the award ofcontracts worth nearly #30billion. Translation: Monumentalcorruption.

Orubebe, not unexpectedly,denied the allegations. But he hasbeen unable to explain how heacquired the expensive propertiesovernight. How did he riseovernight from virtual penury tofantastic fortune? Inheritance?Magic? Abracadabra?

“

“He has been unable toexplain how he acquired the

expensive propertiesovernight. How did he rise

from virtual penury tofantastic fortune?

Inheritance? Magic?Abracadabra? Peter Orubebe

with Sonde Abbahasonde@yahoo.com 0803-2159-249 (sms only, pls)

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012PAGE 40

PoliticsIs Bajoga politicalcalculation for 2015?The recent hullabaloo over

the position of a DeputyGovernor for Kaduna state

is perhaps another indicationthat the southern Kaduna peoplemay never hold common standon issues that affect them.

Following the death ofGovernor Patrick IbrahimYakowa, recently who hailedfrom Fadan Kagoma in Jema'alocal government area of thestate, his erstwhile deputy, AlhajiMuktar Ramalan Yero, from thepredominantly Muslim northernKaduna was sworn in asGovernor in line withconstitutional provisions. Thedevelopment rendered the officeof deputy governor vacant, andgiven the sharp religious divideexisting between the northernand southern Kaduna people, aChristian from southern part ofthe state was expected to occupythat position. And, as usual, thematter became something ofconcern for the southern Kadunapeople, who started falling overthemselves as they opposed thenomination of Ambassador NuhuBajoga, from Jaba localgovernment area of the state.

Whatever the arguments,what some of the people may nothave also realised is that thechoice of Bajoga may not beunconnected with the politics of2015. With a deputy governorwho comes from a section ofsouthern Kaduna with thehighest concentration of MuslimHausa/ Fulani in the area, Yerois more likely to garner morevotes from there when he conteststhe governorship position in2015. More votes than he mayget from the Kataf or Kagoro orNinzo communities, areas whichmay as well be described asheadquarters of the Bajogaopposition wing.

Kaduna has been described asa miniature Nigeria, anappellation which may not beunconnected with themultiplicity of ethnic andreligious groupings with equallydiverse languages. Apart fromthe Hausa/Fulani and Gwarifound mainly in the northernpart, there are well over 35 otherethnic nationalities, all locatedwithin the southern Kaduna stateaxis.

With skyscraper ambitions asrepresented in the southernKaduna's quest to have a state ofits own, the Babel of voices fromthat section of Kaduna state andthe diverse cultures of the peoplehave over the years remainedperhaps the greatest obstacle tothe realization of their goals andseem to indeed confound their

By Agaju Madugba

Ambassador Nuhu Bajoga

problems by the day. Althoughthe area has a sprinkling ofMuslim Hausa/Fulanipopulation, southern Kaduna ispredominantly a Christiancommunity. For decades, thepeople have consistentlyscreamed marginalization anddomination by the Hausa/Fulaniin the state. The cry may bejustified though, given that sincethe creation of the state in 1976,late Yakowa was the firstChristian to be governor ofKaduna. Even with its SouthernKaduna People's Union(SOKAPU), perhaps the greatestundoing of southern Kaduna isthe inability to take a unifyingposition when it comes projectinga single candidate to representthe entire people of the area. Justas discordant tunes trailed whoshould be deputy governor, thesouthern Kaduna people in 2007could not arrive at a consensuscandidate for the PDPgovernorship primaries that

year as the late Minister of Works,Garba Ali Madaki and SenatorIsaiah Balat insisted on sluggingit out together against other PDPcandidates from the northerndivide. Expectedly, botheventually lost the bid.

When the position of deputygovernor became vacant,various groups from southernKaduna began the search for acandidate with even one group

suggesting candidates for Yero.Another group claimed thatBajoga would not fit into the roleexpected of a sound deputygovernor. But an elder fromsouthern Kaduna, BarnabasYero, had dismissed theantagonistic posture againstBajoga as youthful exuberancearguing that those groups cameup after Yakowa's death in orderto cause confusion and heat up

the polity. "We remember as wellthat late Yakowa was alsoaccused and criticized foraccepting to serve as theSecretary to the StateGovernment simply because hewas a one-time Minister and thesame Yakowa rose to become agovernor in the state, the first tobe so elected from southernKaduna," Yero, a legalpractitioner said. He notedfurther that, "some people areconcerned about age and wewonder if the brain diminishes inperformance at the age of 60 or70. We know that PresidentObama is far younger than hisdeputy. And even if we come backhome, Stephen Shekari (firstdeputy to Makarfi) was far olderthan Senator Makarfi and bothperformed wonders. Let theyoung ones wait for their turn.The office of the deputy governoris for the whole state irrespectiveof political party. But a PDPchairmanship position is for apolitical party only. So how canthe position of a chairman of aparty be more important thanthat of the deputy governor?"

It is just as well. The House ofAssembly few days ago confirmedBajoga as the deputy Governoreven though the nominee wasabsent at the executive session ofthe House. "It is quite unfortunatethat the southern Kaduna peoplecould carry out such disgracefulattitude in public," MalamSuleiman Ningi Yakubu, ajournalist who incidentally hailsfrom Jaba told our Correspondentin an interview while reacting tothe wrangling among thesouthern Kaduna people overBajoga. According to him, "in amore civilized society, we oughtto think of what will be beneficialto a larger section of the peoplebut some of our people decided toembark on a smear campaignagainst Bajoga because of theirselfish interests, at a time we aresupposed to be mourning thedeath of Yakowa who was fromour place. They have shown theworld that we are not civilized.We should have used Yakowa'sdeath as an opportunity toreconcile our differences butsome people prefer to employ thepull-him-down syndromebecause Bajoga is the last manstanding. Bajoga has alwaysbeen an achiever. When he wasat Ashaka Cement, he used hisposition there to help our peoplebut it seems some of them haveforgotten so soon. And somepeople were arguing about agewithout realizing that Bajoga caneasily call the governor to orderif Yero exhibits youthfulexuberance in the course ofadministering the state."

“Even with its Southern KadunaPeople's Union (SOKAPU), perhaps

the greatest undoing of southernKaduna is the inability to take aunifying position when it comesprojecting a single candidate to

represent the entire people of the area

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

WeekendPAGE 41

2012:2012:2012:2012:2012: WWWWWe dee dee dee dee depended on lucpended on lucpended on lucpended on lucpended on luckkkkkinstead ofinstead ofinstead ofinstead ofinstead of har har har har hardddddwwwwwororororork —Abdullahik —Abdullahik —Abdullahik —Abdullahik —AbdullahiT h e Minister of Sports,

Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi,has given a verdict of

disappointment at the performanceof Team Nigeria at the London 2012Olympics.

The Minister, who made areview of the country’sperformance at the LondonOlympic Games, said that poorpreparations marred the country’schances at the games.

He said, “Our inability to winany medal so far is adisappointment for the teams andNigerians. But we must have thecourage to see it as it is. This is aclear testimony to how far oursports have fallen behind.

He, however, said he would notindulge in a buck passing game butwould take the dismal performanceas “an opportunity to rebuild.

Abdullahi said everyone insports administration must face thereality and work the way forwardfrom such outing.

“In Atlanta ‘96, those some wonone medal but in Beijing theyfinished high. They accepted theirpoor situation and reworked theirsystem including financing. InLondon they are standing boldly atthe third position. This is oneopportunity we cannot allow topass us by.

“We have been hoping toomuch on luck, but for once, God istelling us he’s not a magician; wemust work hard to succeed.

He said that the just concluded

National Sports Festival in Lagoswould take the first major stepculminating with better outing atthe Commonwealth Games inGlasgow in 2014 from where thereal projection can be taken for Rio2016.

Abdullahi further said that five

specific sports will be listed andgiven priority for the futureOlympic participation of Nigeria.Their federations will also be fullyreorganized to meet the newchallenges of winning medals at theOlympics.

Meanwhile, the President of the

Nigeria Football Federation (NFF),Alhaji Aminu Maigari, haspassionately said that the outgoingyear was a good one for thecountry’s football.

He said that the country’snational teams were able to qualifyfor all the internationalcompetitions they had prepared for.

“This is a very good year for theNFF and for the football familybecause we have achieved so muchin qualifying for differentcompetitions.

“We had at least four NigeriaPremier League clubs that playedcontinental matches and all theteams performed well,” he said.

Maigari said that they had tocontend with numerous issueswhen they first came into office in2010.

“We could not qualify for the2012 Africa Cup of Nations(AFCON) and our football laggedbehind, but we were able toovercome all our challenges.

“That was why we brought in anew coach to come and coach theSuper Eagles, like most countriesdid, to rebuild and I think it’s beengood so far,” he said.

He described the peace that iscurrently reigning in the affairs of

Stories by Albert Akota …Good for NFF —Maigari

the glass house as his greatestachievement, considering the crisesthey met on ground.

“We had started thisadministration on a very roughnote, taking the NFF to courtbecame the norm for ourantagonists, but we have put all thatbehind us now.

“One must start by thanking Godbecause of the sanity and peaceflowing within the family, one willever remain grateful to the Secretaryto the Federal Government, ChiefAyim Pius Ayim.

“Our collaboration with theChairman of the National SportsCommission (NSC) also helped tostabilize things; that are one of ourbiggest achievements, thus far,” headded.

Mr. Maigari also said that heintended to meet with CoachStephen Keshi to ensure thatnecessary steps are taken to ensurea good outing for the team at the2013 AFCON in South Africaholding in South Africa.

He lauded Nigerians for theirsupport for the achievement so farand called for fervent prayer toensure the Eagles return home withthe trophy the country won last1994 in Tunisia.Maryam Usman Team Nigeria's weightlifter at the 2012 London Olympics

Super Eagles players celebrating victory against Venezuela

PAGE 42 PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Yobo blasts OsazeT he Super Eagles Captain, Joseph

Yobo has advised West BromwichAlbion striker, Peter Osaze

Odemwingie to "grow up."Odemwingie since Sunday has been

attacking the Super Eagles' head coach,Stephen Keshi, Yobo, the Nigeria FootballFederation (NFF), the local media and asection of fans via social media networkingsite, Twitter after he was dropped fromthe nation's squad.

Yobo while talking yesterday morningfrom Turkey believes that Odemwingiehas a genuine case but has presented it"in the wrong way."

The Fenerbahce centre-half alsorevealed that it is the second time thatOdemwingie is including him in his rant.

The 32-year-old defender did not failto identify that Odemwingie was not theonly high-profile player left out fromNigeria's Africa Cup of Nations

The Nigeria Football Federation(NFF) has allayed fears over theavailability of striker, Shola

Ameobi for the 2013 Africa Cup ofNations.

The Newcastle United Manager,Alan Pardew said this week that theforward will not be playing for the SuperEagles at next year's Afcon over reasonshe initially refused to disclose.

"Shola (Ameobi) won't be going (tothe 2013 Africa Cup of Nations). Thenational team manager (Stephen Keshi)knows the reasons, which I am keepingto myself," Pardew had declared.

Keshi has subsequently said that hewas oblivious of the reasons Pardew had

hinted about as he had never met norspoken to the Newcastle UnitedManager in his life.

The Super Eagles coach howeverrevealed that after speaking with thestriker on Christmas day that there wasa clause in Ameobi's contract whichwould require him the benevolence ofPardew to allow him takes part at theAfcon.

The NFF has however expressedconfidence in securing the services of theplayer for the competition.

"We have not official received anycorrespondence from Newcastle to theeffect that Ameobi has such a clause inhis contract but even if we do, that will

provisional squad."The coach should be given credit (for

his provisional squad). He cannot pickeveryone. For me, Kalu Uche is a surpriseone missing on the list. We have ObafemiMartins not on the list too. But only thecoach can explain why.

"I think I can understand his(Odemwingie's) frustration. I think he isleft out not for football reasons. He hasbeen very disrespectful.

"Osaze is responsible for his problem.He's been fighting everyone and he needsto grow up. This is the second time he'scalling me out. He needs to go look in themirror. He did so in 2010 and laterapologised. He should know better becausehe's not the (Lionel) Messi of Nigeria asthere have been other top, top playersbefore him. He might be saying the rightthings but he's doing so in the wrong way,"Yobo said.

The former Everton man also revealedthat the 2013 AFCON in South Africa willbe his swansong in the continent'spremier football championship.

He also believes that next year's Afconwill be tougher as "there are no minnowsany longer" but wants to win the Africantitle as a parting shot.

"There is no minnow's any longer infootball. Many people didn't give Zambiathe chance to win the last Nations Cupbut they did. So we know that everyonenow wants to beat Nigeria.

"I'm going to try to win this one. It ismy last Nations Cup as I won't have todeceive myself. I want to leave and allowthe younger ones to have the chance toplay," said Yobo.

Yobo is Nigeria's most capped playerwith 87 appearances and could hit the90-mark when the Afcon gets underwayon January 19.

Shittu shunsNigeria forMillwall FC

NFF sure of Ameobi for AFCON

M i l l w a l l defender, DannyShittu has told the NigeriaFootball Federation (NFF)

that he will not be available for the 2013Africa Cup of Nations in South Africa.

The 32-year old defender wasincluded in Nigeria's 32-manprovisional squad by head coach,Stephen Keshi but he has now opted outof the competition.

Shittu sent the NFF an e-mail onThursday morning to make known hisposition.

"Yes, we received an e-mail fromShittu yesterday morning and we arestill studying the situation.

"We cannot make an officialstatement until we are through withstudying this, executive committeemember of the NFF, Barrister ChrisGreen said.

The Millwall manager, KennyJackett had declared last week that hewould persuade the defender not to jointhe Nigerian squad for the AFCON.

Shittu, who is the assistant captainof Millwall, has played 14 games for thechampionship side this season.

not be a problem," Executive committeemember of the Federation, Chris Greensaid.

The NFF chief also expressedreservations about the news fromNewcastle relating to the clause inAmeobi's contract.

"Why would such a clause exist whenthe contract was signed over two yearsago when Ameobi was not eligible toplay for Nigeria? If there was to ever besuch a clause, it would have been toprevent him from playing for Englandat the European championships becauseat that point, he was eligible to play forthe Three Lions and not the SuperEagles," he reasoned.

The NFF will proceed to make acomplaint to the world footballgoverning body, FIFA over the situationshould Newcastle proceed with theirthreat of stopping Ameobi from playingfor Nigeria at the 2013 Afcon.

"If we go to FIFA, Newcastle will losebecause article 31 (1) of the Fifa statutesclearly states that if a player is eligibleto represent any federation, no clause ofthe player's contract at his club canrestrict him from playing for hiscountry.

"If any such clause exists, it will bedeclared null and void. It's unfortunatethat they think they can stop theplayer.

If he doesn't play for us at the AFCON,its Newcastle that will lose because wewill go to FIFA and stop him from playingfor the club during the period," he said.

Ghanaian trio exit Dolphins

Joseph Yobo

Danny Shittu

Shola Ameobi

D o l p h i n s FC of Port Harcourthas said that it Ghanaianplayers James Amankwei,

Owusu Addae and Seidu Abuu haveheaded for greener pastures.

Owusu, who won the NigeriaPremier League with Dolphins in 2011,joined the Port-Harcourt side fromHeartland, while Amankwei also joined

from the Owerri side after severalseasons at JUTH FC.

Abuu made his NPL debut withDolphins last term.

"I have offers from other Nigerianteams, but I might consider a move toMalaysia, where there is a seriousproposal," Amankwei said.

Bayelsa United are one the clubs

interested in Amankwei since clubgaffer, Ladan Bosso, remains a long timeadmirer of the Ghanaian.

Report had it that the duo of Addaeand Abuu are also considering offersabroad.

The trio made history as Dolphinsemerged the club with the largestforeign contingent last term.

PAGE 43PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

Cazorla warnsArsenal's opponents

Barclays Premier LeagueSunderland v TottenhamAston Villa v WiganFulham v SwanseaMan Utd v West BromNorwich v Man CityReading v West HamStoke v SouthamptonArsenal v NewcastleSundayEverton v ChelseaQPR v Liverpool

WEEKEND FIXTURES

C ô t e d'Ivoire's coach Sabri Lamouchihas announced his list of 23 playersto compete in the 2013 Afcon finals

in South Africa.The list was unveiled during a press

conference at the Ivoirian Federation'sheadquarters in Abidjan-Treichville.

As expected, midfielder Jean-JacquesGosso and winger Kader Keita, both without aclub at the moment, will not be part of thecontinental showpiece, as won't CSKA Moscou'sstriker Seydou Doumbia who has beenstruggling for a long time with a back injury.

Without any surprise, Shanghai Shenhua'sforward and Chelsea's legend Didier Drogbawill lead the Elephants in South Africa,together with Gervinho and Salomon Kalou atthe forefront of the Côte d'Ivoire attacking force.

Crowned African player of the year forthe second time in a row, Yaya Touré will runthe show in the midfield, while his brotherKolo, back in action with Manchester City,keeps his spot at the heart of the defence.

Despite a huge lack of game time withParis Saint-Germain, Siaka Tiéné managedto secure the confidence of the coach and willbe in competition with Arthur Boka for theleft-back position.

Called-up for the friendly against Austria,Brest's young defender Ismaël Traoré willmake the trip to the rainbow nation, as willformer Séwé Sports' goalkeeper, Badra AliSangaré, third choice between the postsbehind Copa Barry and Daniel Yeboah.

S a n t i Cazorla has warned Arsenal'srivals that his midfield partnershipwith Mikel Arteta and Jack Wilshere

is developing rapidly, ahead of today's homegame with Newcastle United.

The Gunners have strung together threesuccessive Premier League wins, with themidfield trio starting together against WestBromwich Albion, Reading and WiganAthletic, and contributing a total of six goals.

Those results helped Arsenal briefly climbup to third in the table, although they nowfind themselves in seventh place after theirfixture against West Ham United onWednesday was postponed because of atransport strike in London.

But with Newcastle next to visit theEmirates Stadium, Spanish midfield starCazorla believes the best is yet to come fromhis compatriot and 20-year-old Wilshere, whosigned a new contract to keep him at the clubuntil 2018 earlier this month after 17 monthsout with injuries.

Cazorla added: "He (Wilshere) hasamazing potential. Every day he is gainingmore confidence, he is forgetting about theinjury, and he is a key player that caninfluence the result in a game.

Wilshere has made eight Premier Leaguestarts since his comeback in October, although

he has yet to score in the league.Arsenal were dumped out of the League

Cup by third-tier side Bradford City and gointo the meeting with Alan Pardew'sNewcastle trailing leaders Manchester Unitedby 16 points, albeit with a game in hand.

Wilshere says he never doubted that hewould extend his stay in north London andpaid tribute to manager Arsene Wenger's rolein his development.

Alan Pardew admits injuries andsuspension mean he will send out aninexperienced side at the Emirates.

The Newcastle manager is without mostof his first-choice midfield after Vurnon Anitaand Jonas Gutierrez became the latestadditions to an already over-crowdedtreatment room.

Dutch international Anita left the pitchon a stretcher with ankle ligament damageduring Wednesday's 4-3 defeat at ManchesterUnited, a result that leaves the north-east clubstill searching for an away win in the leaguethis season.

Argentina midfielder Gutierrez is sidelinedfor at least a week after an injection to cure apersistent knee problem, while Yohan Cabaye,Steven Taylor, Hatem Ben Arfa, Ryan Taylor,and Dan Gosling are already out long-term.

Ivory Coast international Cheick Tiote

Ivory Coastname 23man squad

returns from suspension, but that is offset bydefender Mike Williamson starting a one-match ban after reaching five bookings.Midfielder James Perch is likely to drop intothe back four to cover.

Newcastle remain five points above therelegation zone after suffering defeat in sevenof their last nine league games, and Pardewconfessed: "We've got numerous injuries, whichleaves us with a very inexperienced midfield.

Olympic medallist turns professionalL o n d o n 2012 bronze medallist

Anthony Ogogo has signed his firstprofessional contract, with his debut

paid fight set to be announced shortly.Middleweight Ogogo, 24, has joined Los

Angeles-based promoter Golden BoyPromotions.

Ogogo has been contemplating whetherto turn pro since his podium finish at London2012.

He produced a memorable Olympicmoment when he upset Ukraine's worldnumber one Ievgen Khytrov in a thrillingbout on his way to a bronze medal.

He said in October that he may have toforego his "massive desire" to go to Rio 2016 infavour of turning professional.

Ogogo's exploits in London dramaticallyraised his profile and attracted the attentionof numerous promoters, including formerworld champion Oscar De La Hoya's GoldenBoy organisation and the Barry Hearn-ownedMatchroom Sport.

He opted to join Golden Boy, who releaseda statement which said a date, venue andopponent for Ogogo's professional debut willbe announced shortly.

Anthony Ogogo played for Norwich CityFC as a junior but has been competing in theboxing ring since the age of 12

Ogogo's honours list also includes aEuropean silver medal (2012),Commonwealth Games silver medal (2010)and Junior Olympics gold medal (2004).

T h e South Africa National teamknown as Bafana Bafana has askedBenni McCarthy and Erick

Mathoho to leaved Johannesburg thetraining camp of the team due to injury.

It is a risk for the duo to play for the 2013Africa Cup of Nations due to injuries, a hugedisappointment for Orlando Pirates strikerMcCarthy and Kaizer Chiefs defenderMathoho.

McCarthy is suffering from atroublesome hamstring while Mathoho hasa knee injury.

"It is a blow when any player called up

for the national team pulls out due to injury.It would have been a great situation to haveboth of them here," said national team coachGordon Igesund.

Meanwhile, Ayanda Patosi and AndileJali were given a break from training as aprecautionary measure.

Both have niggling ankle injuries butare expected to join their teammates attraining yesterday.

Due to club commitments, England-based Kagisho Dikgacoi and Dean Furman,as well as Darren Keet, who plays in Belgium,will not be part of the training camp.

McCarthy, Mathoho withdraw from camp

Santi Cazorla

Didier DrogbaAnthony Ogogo

Benni McCarthy

PAGE 44 PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

PICTORIAL

Australia captain Michael Clarke hits his 22nd Test century to become his country'shighest run scorer in a calendar year

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech praised Rafa Benitez for his side’s defensiveimprovement after the Blues kept consecutive Premier League clean sheets forthe first time in more than a year

Alan Pardew had called for the Football Association to take action over Sir AlexFerguson’s misconduct towards officials during Manchester United’s 4-3 win overNewcastle on Boxing Day

Radamel Falcao is keen to see out the season with Atletico Madrid as a gestureof gratitude to club president Enrique Cerezo scuppering Chelsea and Man City’shopes of landing him in January

Memories of 2012, Germany correspondent Stephen Uersfeld picks out Borussia Dortmund’s DFB-Pokal final triumph over Bayern Munich as his highlight

“Despite the loanwhich is now repaidmonthly with N800million deduction

from federalallocation, residents

of Ilorin have notbeen supplied

potable water aspromised. Besides,

people at thegrassroots are evenfinding it difficult to

sponsor their kids toprimary and

secondary schools

PAGE 45PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND, SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, NOVEMBER, 2012

How massive debts crippleKwara economy, education

The essence of government loans is forinfrastructural development and theservicing of basic items needed by

the people. But the reverse is the case inKwara. The more the state economy isplunged into debt, the more the people getimpoverished.

It would be recalled that the N30billion bond collected by Dr BukolaSaraki's administration as well as loanssought by local government chairmen weremeant to fund Kwara state University(KWASU), water supply in Ilorin,Metropolitan Square, Ilorin Cargo andAviation College, road projects amongother capital projects.

Despite the loan which is now repaidmonthly with N800 million deductionfrom federal allocation, residents of Ilorinhave not been supplied potable water aspromised. Besides, people atthe grassroots are

even finding it difficult to sponsor theirkids to primary and secondary schools.Apart from bad roads linking rural areasto the cities, low turnout in schools by bothpupils and teachers are now the regularfeature of the education system.

Aside that the loans are hardly used forwhat they are sourced for, the fact thatthey have to be serviced regularly withhigh interest rate makes it difficult forpeople to enjoy from the allocations thatenter the state purse.

A group, Patriotic Youth Initiative forPoverty Eradication (PYIPE) has disclosedthat more than 75 percent total populationof people living in Kwara state lives inextremely poverty.

State Coordinator of the group, YusufMuftau Animashaun who stated this in astatement noted that the result was due toeconomic constraint.

"The overwhelming majority ofthem are women and young

people in ruralcommunities. The

number of people living in poverty hasincreased dramatically and the risk offalling into poverty is higher for lowincome earners. Residents of ruralhouseholds are poorer because they havefewer economic opportunities and less orno skill to earn a living."

Animashaun who suggestedcommunity youth enterprise programmesto alleviate poverty among the youths saidgovernment need to provide vocationalskills, life planning education and micro-credit for communities. In some instances,pupils in public primary schools cannot goto school because their parents cannot affordjust school uniform, sanders and exercisebooks. Then, the question begging foranswer is what is the significance ofgovernment budgets on the life of people?

What are the roles of Ministry ofEducation and SUBEB on public schools?Where is the international and domesticfund for education development in the state?

Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed's over N8

Feature

billion budget is also yet to manifest in thelives of the people.

Contrary to the expectations of thepeople, education sector was been riddenwith decay while students drop out of schoolon a daily basis due to poverty.

The intervention of Education SectorSupport Programmes In Nigeria (ESSPIN)in some rural areas relieve parents who arefighting hard to make ends meet. Funded bythe British government, ESSPIN is anorganisation with a mandate to ensure thatall children of school age are returned toschool.

At Kaima, a town in the state, pupils werenot going to schools because of lack of books,school uniforms, shoes and bags all of whichwere provided by ESSPIN.

On December 4, 2012, 2,355 pupils weregiven uniforms, sanders, books, school bags,socks by the organisation.

At the ceremony held at various schoolsincluding Vobera, Nasarrawa Gatte,Tenebo,Tunga Garuwa, Hamdallahi,Nuku,Bani Sullia, Olori,Dada,Bani Moshe,Ka'Agbona, Adogun,Degeji, NomadicGorobani, London, Moshe Gada, GwariaLabe,Tunga Zabarma,Camp and Gwetekutaprimary school, it was a dream come true.

Pupils with old and bad knickers got newones. Those with bare foot smiled home withsanders while parents who watched behindthe scene praised ESSPIN for coming to theirrescue.

But the concern of people of the area wasthat if the organisation leaves Nigeria in year2014 as planned, what would become ofeducation sector and pupil in Kwara state.

Like Musa, a pupils of Gwetekutaprimary school, his future was still bright ashe expressed happiness over the gesture ofthe gifts.

While speaking at a point ofdistribution, Kaima LG Chairman, AlhAbubakar Sidiq Ahmed noted that with theintervention of ESSPIN in his area, anumber of children roaming the streetsduring the school hours has reduced. Hepromised that if the local government isproperly funded, they would sustain theprogramme of the organisation.

The Chairman of Challenged fund, MrsA A Kolawole in her speech noted that ifforeign organisation like ESSPIN is helpingpeople of the state, "what about us".

Kolawole who disclosed that in thepast, 40 pupils are regular pupils in aprimary school in Kaima said thepopulation has increased to 140 plus,stressing that local government should notstop the N10,000 pay monthly to supportN15,000 salary pay to twenty teachersemployed by ESSPIN.

The Permanent Member three ofSUBEB, Alh Sulyman Dadi who appealedto ESSPIN to extend their activities toLafiagi, said in his speech at Kaima thatthe contribution of ESSPIN has reallydeveloped the education sector in the state.

In his remark, the team Leader ofESSPIN in Kwara, Mrs Emma Mbadisclosed that six teachers employed byher organisation who were not ready tostay in Kaima have been replaced by newteachers that are ready to stay in thecommunity. She added that the sustenanceof the programme was left to thecommunity and government stressing thatif the people are hostile to their visitors, itwould be difficult for teachers to staywithin their community.

From Olanrewaju Lawal, Ilorin

Abdufatah Ahmed, Governor Kwara State

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012PAGE 46

IssuesImmigration: Its plan to tarnishimage of Minister, says aide

Recently some nationaldailies took up theissue of alleged

fraudulent practice in theimmigration service asregards recruitment. Whatis your own opinion on thematter?

In the first place, thereports were unfair to thehonourable minister as theydid not seek to speak or hearhis own side of the story. As aveteran journalist myself, Iknow that they are supposedto have balanced the story byspeaking with all the partiesinvolved, and not justpublishing what they heard orwere told by people, even ifsuch reports are meaningful,the imbalance makes itmeaningless.

It was based on this faultthat I responded on behalf ofthe Minister by refuting thesection of the report that saidspecial consideration wasgiven to the HonourableMinister as the supervisingMinister and he in turn gavethe allotted slots to only hislocal government.

And I responded by sayingthat the Honourable Ministeris a true Nigerian who does notbelieve in tribalism, religiousconsideration and has zerotolerance for malpractices andfraudulent practices, as suchhe cannot succumb toallocating appointmentsmeant for his state to his localgovernment alone. And Icontinued by saying that sinceit is being rumored thatcabinet reshuffle is imminent,it is very possible that somecritics are at it again to malignthe image of the minister.

Is that why the FG orminister cancelled theexercise, don’t you think itwould have been better toset up an investigativepanel to look into thematter?

Well, as an appointee, Icannot decide for the Ministerwhat steps to take or what tosay, mind you, the Minister isa public figure and there toserve the interest of Nigerians,the cancellation as you saidmight have been the outcomeof their consultation with thestakeholders, when I saystakeholders, I mean theMinister, the Presidency,Permanent Secretary andeven the immigrationComptroller General as well as

the board members of CIPB, asthe Minister may not havetaken the decision alone.

You reportedly saidNigerians should put awaysentiments and work as oneto achieve one goal, peaceand unity. Were youreferring to some people?Because I know it was thePeoples Daily Weekend thatfirst reported the scandal,followed by the Daily Trustand This day, were youreferring to the media?

I have reasons for sayingthat, you know am aNortherner from the north-central, same as the Ministertoo, except if we say that mystate, Kwara and theMinister’s state Benue are nolonger in the north. You see ifthe reporters had sought theMinister’s angle or thePermanent Secretary’s theywould have had a better reportto present to the public. If thereporters had fully interactedwith the Minister beforeputting up the report, Iwouldn’t have responded atall, after all am also a mediaman, and that is myimmediate constituency. Ifthe immigration as one of the

Paramilitary forces under theministry decided to goof, howis it the problem of theMinister?

The Minister is not an angelto know what is happeningeverywhere at every time. So,it is very possible that he is notaware of what was going onand he was innocentlyaccused. It was this particularaspect that pained me so welland moved me to quicklyrespond. Let me tell you-without fear or favour, that itis not only agencies under theinterior Ministry that are

Salihu Dantata Mahmud is the Director of Publicity, Arewa Youths for Peace and Security, he was also the former NationalSecretary of the de-registered Action Party of Nigeria and now, Personal Assistant to the Honourable Minister of Interior,Abba Moro on Media. In this interview with Adeola Tukuru, he bares his mind on the controversies surrounding therecruitment exercise of the immigration service, saying critics are at work to tarnish image of the minister. Excerpt.

involved in employmentracketeering, I can reliablytell you that the FRSC,Customs Service and police doit at all times.

I had a particular case of anapplicant who told me oncondition of anonymity thathe bought his appointmentletter with the sum of fivehundred thousand naira(N500, 000) through acustoms syndicate. Wherewere these reporters whenthese were happening? So I hadexpected a general report thatcould unravel such syndicatesthat engage in the selling ofappointment letters in order toput a stop to it, and we havethe EFCC and the ICPC inexistence, to look into suchthings.

And don’t forget the factthat the syndicates do notoperate alone, they operatewith the connivance of insidersof the affected governmentagencies. The applicants toowho, desperately purchaseemployment letters arecriminals, if not why accept tobuy appointment lettersillegally. Hence forth, theyshould all be prosecutedtogether; I mean the buyersand the sellers, to serve asdeterrent to others.

As a newly appointedPersonal Assistant to theinterior Minister, whatexpertise are you going tobring to the ministry?

Like I told you earlier, I aman activist media man, I don’tbelieve in bureaucraticbottlenecks, I like doing thingscandidly, even if it willinfringe on my own rights as aperson. I have worked in othergovernment institutionsbefore including the interiorministry briefly; I was

Personal Assistant (Private) tothe then Special Assistant tothe Internal Affair Minister onsecurity, Major Lawal BalaGusau (Rtd) duringAbdulrahman Okene’s tenureas minister. And it was in thesame ministry that I got toknow Alhaji Yayale MahmudAhmed, then a Director incharge of business andcitizenship in the earlynineties. So am going to ensurethat members of mycommunity, the 4th Estate ofthe realm, my respectedpressmen have access to thehonourable minister whennecessary, especially when ithas to do with issues ofnational importance. And also,am going to do what is right,when it is right and how it isright on issues of the ministrywhich has a lot to offer to thenation, and there arestrategies to be employed inachieving the set objectives ofthe ministry and thecooperation of the media isparamount in achievingresults.

Tell us about yourrelationship with theminister, which you saiddates back to when he wasa local governmentchairman.

Comrade Patrick AbbaMoro, the interior minister isa man that I knew from thetime he was a localgovernment chairman, andalso as chairman of the BenueState chapter of theAssociation of LocalGovernments of Nigeria(ALGON) it was his laudableand remarkableachievements as Okpokwucouncil chairman in BenueState that made me have greatrespect for him so it is not as ifwe are just knowing eachother. That was whatinformed my comments insome national dailies that heis a reputable person whobelieves in the oneness of thecountry and an elderStatesman, who is credible anda Comrade, who hatessectionalism.

My accepting to serve himat this crucial time is as aresult of these sterlingqualities of his. If not, as aformer national scribe of aparty, what am I looking foras a Minister’s aide? These arequestions that might likelycome to the minds of people.

“I had a particular case of anapplicant who told me on condition

of anonymity that he bought hisappointment letter with the sum offive hundred thousand naira (N500,000) through a customs syndicate

Salihu Dantata Mahmud

PEOPLES DAILY WEEKEND SATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012 PAGE 47

From the PulpitReflecting on 2012 with ThanksgivingT h i s year ends on Monday.

This is the time to reflect on theyear before we bid it farewell.

As individuals and as a nation, weneed to give thanks to God for keepingus alive to see this day. Despite all theoverwhelming security challenges of theyear in the country, we can still say thatNigeria is a "land for which the LORDyour [our] God cares; the eyes of theLORD your [our] God are always on it,from the beginning of the year to the veryend of the year." (Deut 11:12 NKJV)

We need to thank God for all that Hehas done for us in the year. Don't be anungrateful child of God. All your hopesand aspirations may not have beenachieved this year but you cannot denyGod's kindness upon your life.

As this year comes to an end, youneed to offer sacrifice of thanksgivingunto the Lord not an avalanche ofgrumbling. (Ps 107:22, 116:17, Amos 4:5)

If you're godly, you will thank Him."May all who are godly be happy in theLORD and praise his holy name!" (Ps97:12 NLT) Give God thanks for all Hismercies upon your life. Give Him thanksfor all His marvelous works. Many thingsGod did for you this year that you weren'teven aware of - victories over unseenbattles. Thank Him for these also. (Pss106:1, 107:1, 118:1, 136:1-3)

Let your heart desire be like that ofthe psalmist in Ps 30:12: "To the end thatmy glory may sing praise to You and notbe silent. O LORD my God, I will givethanks to You forever." (NKJV)

Whatever you've received from theLord this year is not a right; it is a privilege,therefore you must be grateful foreverything. There is nothing you arequalified for from God; your qualification,

GREENGREENGREENGREENGREENPPPPPASTURESASTURESASTURESASTURESASTURESBy Pastor T.O. Banso

cedarministryintl@yahoo.comGSM: 08033113523

as a child of God, is in Christ Jesus. Whenyou show gratitude to God, you give Himthe opportunity to repeat in your life whatHe has done for you - His kindness inyour life. Whatever is rewarded isrepeated. If you do not know how to showappreciation, the sea of kindness for youwill dry up.

The Bible tells us the story of nineungrateful lepers. "Then as He entered acertain village, there met Him ten menwho were lepers, who stood afar off. Andthey lifted up their voices and said, 'Jesus,Master, have mercy on us!' So when Hesaw them, He said to them, 'Go, showyourselves to the priests.' And so it wasthat as they went, they were cleansed.And one of them, when he saw that hewas healed, returned, and with a loudvoice glorified God, and fell down on hisface at His feet, giving Him thanks. Andhe was a Samaritan. So Jesus answeredand said, 'Were there not ten cleansed?But where are the nine? Were there notany found who returned to give glory toGod except this foreigner?' And He saidto him, 'Arise, go your way. Your faithhas made you well.'" (Luke 17:12-19NKJV)

Jesus healed these ten lepers but thehealing manifested on their way to showthemselves to the priest as required bythe law. While nine of the lepers wentaway without returning to Jesus, if onlyto confirm that they had been actuallyhealed, only one leper came back to thankhim for the healing. And it is instructivethat the Bible remarks that the leper whocame back to show gratitude was aforeigner. The New Living Translationrenders the word foreigner as Samaritan.Samaritans were despised by Jews yetthe despised Samaritan was the one who

had the courtesy to come back to thankJesus. And to him Jesus said, "Arise, goyour way. Your faith has made you well."The American Standard Version rendersthe latter part thus: "Arise, and go thyway: thy faith hath made thee whole."That comment of Jesus suggests that theother nine lepers were only healed butnot made whole. Showing gratitude toGod for His mercies, His kindness willmake you, your home, your marriage etc.whole.

The nine lepers that didn't return tothank Jesus for his healing were mostprobably Jews because they were notforeigners. They must have seen Jesusas one of them. They took him forgranted. That's what a lot of people do.Hit and run! But you should never takeGod for granted at this time of the yearand always. God does not owe youanything. Don't become too familiar withHis goodness.

If anyone should take God forgranted, he should have been JesusChrist as the Son of God but he neverdid. He gave thanks always. "And He tookthe seven loaves and the fish and gavethanks, broke them and gave them to Hisdisciples; and the disciples gave to themultitude." (Matt 15:36 NKJV) Againin Matt 26:27, he did the same thing."Then He took the cup, and gave thanks,and gave it to them, saying, 'Drink fromit, all of you.'" (NKJV) Mk 8:6, 14:23, Lk22:17-19 and John 6:11, 23 all recordJesus' giving thanks to God. He nevertook God for granted. Familiarity breedscontempt but not in Jesus' relationshipwith God.

No wonder the Bible tells us to givethanks always for all things. "Givingthanks always for all things to God the

Father in the name of our Lord JesusChrist" (Eph 5:20NKJV) Col 3:17 alsosays, "And whatever you do in word ordeed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus,giving thanks to God the Father throughHim." (NKJV)

The Book of Psalm severallyunderscored the need to give thanks toGod for all His goodness and kindness.We are told to come before His presencewith thanksgiving. "Let us come beforeHis presence with thanksgiving; Let usshout joyfully to Him with psalms." (Ps95:2 NKJV), Ps 100:4 says, "Enter intoHis gates with thanksgiving, And into Hiscourts with praise. Be thankful to Him,and bless His name." (NKJV) Ps105:1says, "Oh give thanks unto Jehovah,call upon his name; make known amongthe peoples his doings." (ASV) How againmight we give thanks to the Lord? Ps147:7 says, "Sing to the LORD withthanksgiving; Sing praises on the harpto our God." (NKJV)

As the song writer says, "Count yourblessings, name them one by one and itwill surprise you what the Lord has done"In the remaining few hours of this year,take stock of your life, and thank God forall that the Lord has done for you.Ingratitude is a sin. To say that God hasn'tdone anything for you to deserve yourthanksgiving is to be ungrateful. Don't be

like those ungrateful nine lepers. ThankGod with your words, with your songs,with all that is within you and with allthat you have. I wish you a prosperousNew Year!

TAKE ACTION!If you are not born again, kindly say

this prayer now: "0 Lord God, I comeunto you today. I know I am asinner and I cannot save myself.I believe that Jesus is the Son ofGod who died on the cross to saveme and resurrected the third day.I confess Jesus as my Lord andSaviour and surrender my life tohim today. I invite Jesus into myheart today. By this prayer, Iknow I am saved. Thank youJesus for saving me and makingme a child of God"

I believe you have said this prayerfrom your heart. Congratulations! Youwill need to join a Bible believing, Bibleteaching church in your area where youwill be taught how to live your new life inChrist Jesus. I pray that you flourish likethe palm tree and grow like the cedar ofLebanon. May you grow into Christ inall things becoming all God wants you tobe. I will be glad to hear from you. HappyNew Year in advance! See you in 2013 ifthe Lord tarries!

FFFFFAITHAITHAITHAITHAITHDISCOURSEDISCOURSEDISCOURSEDISCOURSEDISCOURSE

WITH

Pastor W. F. Kumuyi

A s we look at our privilege inthe New Testament, we willhave to glorify God who has

called us unto himself, into His ownpresence, so that we can be what theOld Testament people could not be.In the Old Testament, only few peoplewere able to come near to God to sucha point that He would make themwatchmen, prophets and the peoplewho would reveal His glory and lightto the nation. These were few peoplespecially selected so that they wouldbe able to reveal His mind, His willand His word to their own generation.But in the case of those of us who havecome to know the Lord today, all of usare called to show his will, His light,his word and his mind to ourgeneration.

In Israel in those days, watchmenwere very significant to the city ofJerusalem because that was theircapital city. The choice of thewatchmen was personally looked intoby the king himself who wantedvigilant watchmen on the towers andwalls of Jerusalem. The watchmenwere very close to the captains of thearmy of Israel because of vintage andstrategic position they held for theprotection, preservation and securityof the city. Anyone chosen to thatposition of being a watchman wasactually regarded as a trustworthy,vigilant and wise person, having love,passion and compassion for thecapital city of Jerusalem and for thenation of Israel, His responsibilitieswere great, and so were also hisrewards. Watchmen were necessarynot only for Jerusalem but in every cityof Israel in those days. These werevigilant servants of the nation and theywere for protection and security of thenation. They were also warning to the

nation of Israel so that they wouldremain in peace and rest.

God referred to the prophets andspiritual leaders of Israel as watchmenover Israel. As we look at the call andministry of spiritual watchmen in theword of God, you need to apply this toyourself because if you are a child ofGod, this is the calling God has givenyou.

“Son of man, I have made thee awatchman, unto the house of Israel;therefore hear the word at my mouthand give them warning from me”(Ezekiel 3:17)

In the scripture above, Ezekiel wascalled by God Himself to be awatchman unto the house of Israel.But we must first of all ask ourselves,what kind of person was Ezekiel?What was his relationship with God?What qualified him to become awatchman over the house of Israel?Why was he called to be a watchmanwhen others were not? If you look atit from the beginning, you will see thatEzekiel had a relationship with God.

“The word of the Lord cameexpressly unto Ezekiel the priest.....thehand of the Lord was there upon him”(Ezekiel 1:3)

The priest was a person who wasconcerned for the nation, makingatonement for the sins of the nation.Obviously, he could not makeatonement for the sins of others if hisown had not been cleansed, forgivenand atoned for. So, the very first thingwe notice about Ezekiel and everywatchman that God Himself speciallyselects is that his own sins are cleansedand atoned for. A time must havecome in your own life when you go on

your knees before the Lord, and yourepent of your sins with sorrow andagony of heart. This is because sinnercannot make atonement for the sinsof other sinners; a sinner cannot be awatchman over the souls of othersinners. A person who is careless andlive under the clutches of Satan cannotbe a watchman over other people, todeliver them from the power ofdarkness. In verse three of chapter oneof the book of Ezekiel, we are told thatthe word of the Lord came expresslyto Ezekiel the prophet. He has a livingrelationship with God and he hadbeen so reconciled with God that hewas on talking terms with Him. Sothen, if you are watchman over thesouls of others, obviously, you are veryconversant with the bible, and as youread the bible daily and regularly, theword of the Lord is always coming toyou expressly. Then, in the later partof verse three:

“...the hand of the Lord was thereupon me”

This means that he was under thecontrol, authority and power of God;that means he was controlled by theword of God in everything he did. In

the Old Testament, only a few peoplewere in such a condition. But in theNew Testament, all those who professto be born again are supposed to beunder the control of the mighty powerof God. So, to be a watchman, youshould be born again, and the handof the Lord should be upon your life.It is only then you can be a realeffective vigilant watchman over thesouls of other people.

“And he said unto me, son of man,stand upon thy feet, and I will speakunto thee” ( Ezekiel 2:1)

In the passage of scripture above,we see that Ezekiel was available toGod; any time God wanted to speakto him, he was available. Are youalways available for God to speak toyou? Before you take a decision, in theactions of your life and as you live fromday to day, are you always availablefor God to speak to you?

“And the spirit entered into mewhen

He spake unto me, and set meupon

my feet, that I heard him thatspake

unto me” ( Ezekiel 2:2)

The call and ministry of spiritual watchmen (I)In the Old Testament, they were

not baptised in the Holy Ghost. Butthere were times when some of thesespecially selected people had theprivilege of the Spirit of God comingupon them and entering within them.Today, it is a privilege that after youare saved can be sanctified, and afteryou are sanctified, you can be baptisedin the Holy Ghost. Unfortunately,there are many people today who areneglecting the privilege ofsanctification and baptism in the HolyGhost. There are even some peoplethat we cannot definitely say they aretruly born again, and that they areliving in holiness, in complete freedomfrom outward sin. Are you really achild of God and your sins have beentotally taken away? Can you say thatyour wife is happy and grateful to Godthat she has married a real Christianwho will not ill-treat her? Can peopleat your place of work testify that youare a true child of God? Can youremployers testify about yourChristianity? Can they see honesty,sincerity and humility in you? Let’snot forget, Ezekiel was a saved manbefore he was chosen to be awatchman over the house of Israel. Apart from salvation, you must be verysure that you are sanctified and thatthe adamic nature has been takenaway from your heart. More so, youmust be baptised in the Holy Ghostso that every part of your life,conversation, ministry, outreach andinvolvement in the ministry of thework of God in the church will betotally under the control andanointing of the spirit of God.(To be continued)

The war of the vulturesSATURDAY 29 — SUNDAY 30, DECEMBER, 2012

BIG PUNCHBIG PUNCHBIG PUNCHBIG PUNCHBIG PUNCH

I s there a religious crisis inNigeria? The answer, ofcourse, is a resounding no,

even though the powers that bewant Nigerians to believe thereis one. what belies their claim isthe simple fact that in everysector of life where peoplebenefit, enrich and strengthenone another, conflict is rare andfar between. In the market placewhich is the hub of humanactivity, where the widest andmost complex possible variety ofpeople converge and interact fortheir good, and derive theirlivelihood and sustenance,hardly does conflict andconflagration arise. People sellgoods to willing and able buyers,totally oblivious of backgroundor origin or ethnicity or religion.People buy what they can affordor what mostly appeals to themor satisfies their needs, fromwhoever and wherever theycan find it. In hospital, peoplelook for a cure from whicheverdoctor, the only bias they canafford is expertise; the moreskilled is the more sought after.In industries, classrooms,laboratories where creativitywhich helps uplift the quality oflife, there is no space for conflict.In many other affairs vital tolife, trade, health,transportation, manufacture,agriculture or whatever, thecriteria in majority of cases areexcellence, competence,integrity, expertise anddependability. When biasoverrides those criteria dangerlooms. For benefits to flow freelyand with maximum effect,human interactions must benatural and unencumbered.Leave the people alone, ProphetMuhammad said in relation totrade, they will enrich oneanother. This is the essence ofinterdependence.

Even in the murky politicsof Nigeria which is riddled, as itis often claimed, with religiouscleavages, God is rarelymentioned, and conflict basedon faith rarely occurs. Quest forpower and privilege and selfaggrandizement overrides allconsiderations for God or forreligion. Power mongers ofcourse sometimes fight, buttheir war is similar to the war ofthe vultures: at peace when thecarcass is bountiful and can goround, at war when it is scantyand can not go round. Socabinets, even of the mostdiverse combination, do enjoy

“Since there is quality before the law, the governmentshould stop giving the impression that the lives ofcertain Nigerians are more precious than those ofothers.”– Femi Falana criticising the federal governmentfor paying more attention to Yakowa and Azaziahead of other victims of the last helicoptercrash in Bayelsa

WEEKENDWEEKENDWEEKENDWEEKENDWEEKENDIbraheem Sulaiman

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emerged as a dominant force onthe world stage through aneruption of intellectual andphilosophical creativity thathas rarely been exceeded: 'thisflowering of inquiry, thispreservation of knowledge andadvancement of math, science,and philosophy took place in anenvironment where Muslimrulers welcomed and invitedinteraction with the people ofthe Book, [that is, Jews,Christians and others of HigherReligion].' The undoubtedlymassive and sustainedintellectual and culturalosmosis, resulting from theheated, passionate embrace ofcoexistence fostered by Islam -an embrace which, to be sure,was to be expected where manyfaiths and cultures andcivilizations converge,sometimes friendly, oftencompetitive, occasionallycontemptuous, and now andthen violent - ignited a culturalrenaissance, first in the Muslimworld, then across the world.Every body profited. As Karabell

puts it: 'Muslims ruled, but thePeople of the Book thrived;between them they created ajewel, a golden light.' Vibrantsocieties are often the product ofunexpected and jarringinteractions with strangers, andsociety become rigid, brittle andcomplacent when not forced toconfront alien groups. In MuslimSpain for example, Muslims,Christians and Jews lived sideby side, and they in turn wereconnected to internationalcommunities of other Muslims,Christians and Jews, whom theyvisited and traded with, and whovisited and traded with them.Of course there were occasionalconflicts and wars. But therewere also creativity andknowledge, science and culture,prosperity and renaissance, andabove all, there was the rebirthof humanity. The truth,however, is well stated byKarabell. 'Muslims, Christiansand Jews are entwined, buttheir history is as varied as thestory of the human race. Itpoints in no one direction, or in

peace and tranquility becausethe yields at their disposal areplentiful, and they can afford todiligently maintain the doctrineof honor among thieves. War of'ethnicity' and 'religion' willcertainly ensue in the event ofdraught, just as vulturesdevour one another in the eventof hunger or willful denial ofaccess. Thanks to the infiniteresources available to them toshare, over and over and overagain, those at the helm here inNigeria are perhaps the mosthearty and boisterous politiciansin the world. They, as governorsand above, as legislators orministers, always appear supple,in body, in dress, in demeanor,in life styles; their ever readyburst of laughter means thatthey believe that every thing isalright with the country theymanage, not a country broughtlow by poverty and penury.War, to them, is the most remoteof all possibilities except whenthere is a threat of denial ofaccess. In that case, even astruggle over who occupies thechair of local government, thelowest in the hierarchy of thepower structure, can result in ahuman tragedy of biblicalproportion. In principle, what iscalled religious crisis amountsto no more than this - the war ofthe vultures. Human beingslive in the first instance asfamilies and neighbors, whereinteractions are most involvingand deep. Neighbor in normalcircumstance prefers and inmost cases does live in peace andharmony with neighbor,because they share the sameenvironment and mutuallybenefit each other. And this isprecisely where the practice offaith begins. Faith entails beinggood to the neighbor. This is howpeople in Nigeria have lived,this is how they want to live, likeevery human community inthe world.

The necessity for people tolive together in peace andharmony has always been thegoal of Islam. Peace is better thanwar. Zachary Karabell, in Peopleof the Book, whose thought weshall follow in this and nextparagraph tells us how Islamhas, throughout its history,sought to integrate rather thandivide people of diverse faiths,cultures and races and how thatpolicy and attitude has helpedbuild Islam and build humancivilization. Islam, he says,

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all directions,' he emphasizes. 'Ifconflict is what we want to see,there is conflict. But if peace iswhat we are looking for, thenpeace is there to be found.'

If religion is not the threat, ifit is not the crisis, where then isthe threat, the crisis? One majorthreat to Nigeria among others,is the unprecedented plunder ofits resources that has been goingon nonstop and unrelentingly inthe last few years. Punch [25/11/12] reports that from thePetroleum Task Force report;the Minister of Trade andInvestment's report on stolencrude; the House ofRepresentatives fuel subsidyreport and investigations intothe ecological fund, SIM cardregistration and frequencyband spectrum sale, Nigeria lostmore than $31 billion, or N5trillion.

The Oil sector in particularhas since become anuncontrollable sieve, withNigeria struggling in vain forthe control of its oil resourcesagainst plunderers of all shadesand sizes, and from all parts ofthe world. Punch reports that,in June, a special naval teamimpounded a French ship, MTVannessa, at Brass LoadingTerminal, Bayelsa State, forallegedly stealing 500,000barrels of crude oil per day fromthe country.

These and other thefts andplunders in every sector and atevery level of government havecumulative effects: a viciouswar rages on between povertyand prosperity, the lateremploying scorched earthpolicy, depopulating the domainof prosperity, reducing it toashes. So despite theunprecedented wealth of theircountry, the predominantmajority of the Nigerian people- more than one hundred millionso far - live in absolute poverty."It remains a paradox thatdespite the fact that theNigerian economy is growing,the proportion of Nigeriansliving in poverty is increasingevery year," StatisticianGeneral of the Federation, DrYemi Kale, lamented somemonths ago. The meaning isclear: what belongs to the peopledoes not reach the people. Nothreat to Nigeria is at themoment more potent, and thethreat escalates menacingly inleaps and bounds, everyminute!

The Ka’abah