Plot to impeach Amaechi thickens

...towards a better life for the people

N150VOL. 25: NO. 61892

ONLINE | www.vanguardngr.com

WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013**

Mr & Mrs

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COLUMNISTS:

•S-South gov offers to bankroll it with N7bn•Amaechi is desperate — Suswam; I'm not — Amaechi•Govs fault Tukur on his suspension

ROTIMI FASAN

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Plot to impeachAmaechi thickens

OGAGAIFOWODO •P.85

GROUND-BREAKING—President Goodluck Jonathan (3rdR); Gov Mu'azu Babangida Aliyu of Niger State (4thR);Minister of Power, Prof Chinedu Nebo (2ndR); Minister of State for Power, Hajiya Zainab Kuchi (R) and the PDP NationalChairman, Alhaji Bamanga Tukur (L) at the Ground-Breaking ceremony of 700mw Zungeru Hydro-Electric Power Project inNiger State, yesterday. Inset: Gov Aliyu presenting a horse to President Jonathan at the event. Photos: State House.

BY SONI DANIEL,REGIONAL EDITOR,

NORTH; HENRYUMORU & JIMITOTA

ONOYUME

ABUJA—FORCESopposed to the re-

turn of GovernorChibuike Rotimi Amaechiof Rivers State as theChairman of the NigeriaGovernors’ Forum, NGF,yesterday, made freshmoves to unseat him asgovernor. This came assome governors havefaulted his suspensionfrom the party, saying itwas an abuse of the par-ty’s constitution.

Governor Amaechi him

JONATHAN:The promise andperformance •Pgs.81-83

EMERGENCY RULE:Reps deny Jonathanaccess to funds ofaffected states, LGs

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DEMOCRACYDAY:

Securitytightens

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2 ————— Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013

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Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013 ————— 3

CMYK


CMYK

POCKET CARTOON

TAKE HEARTBY ELLA RANDLE

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013—5

LIFEWORDSBY PASTOR ITUAH

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Plot to impeach Amaechi thickens

The sun is still there... even if clouds drift overit. Once you have experienced the reality of sun-shine you may weep, but you will never feel iceabout your heart again— Elizabeth Goudge. Weep-ing may endure for a night, but joy comes in themorning.

DO not let your fire go out or let the hero inyour heart and soul perish in lonely frustra-

tion for the life you deserved and have never beenable to reach. The world you desire can be won. Itexists... it is real... it is possible... It’s yours

— Ayn Rand

“IF you don’t like something, change it. If youcan’t change it, change the way you think aboutit”. More life lessons quotes from Mark and AngelHack - Be happy. Be yourself. If others don’t like it,then let them be. Happiness is a choice. Life isn’tabout pleasing everybody. When you’re up, yourfriends know who you are. No matter how good orbad you have it, wake up each day thankful foryour life. Someone somewhere else is desperatelyfighting for theirs.

The Smallest act of kindness is worth more thanthe grandest intention. Many people are so poorbecause the only thing they have is money. Learnto appreciate the things you have before time forcesyou appreciate the things you once had. When youchoose to see the good in others, you end up find-ing the good in yourself. What you do every daymatters more than what you do every once in awhile. You can’t start the next chapter of your life ifyou keep re-reading your last one. Things turn outbest for people who make the best out of the waythings turn out.

COMMISSIONING—Speaker House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal (2ndL); flankedby Governor Aliyu Wamakko of Sokoto State (l); the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa'ad Abubakar III ;Speaker of the Sokoto State House of Assembly, Alhaji Lawal Zayana (2r) and other dignitaries at thecommissioning of the multi-million naira Agricultural Skills Acquisition Centre as part of activitiesmarking the week-long 2013 Democracy Day Celebrations at Wurno, Sokoto. Photo: Abayomi Adeshida.

self unmoved by reportof plans to impeach him,declared that if he wasremoved, he was satis-fied with his achieve-ments and has thereforecalled on the people ofRivers State to continueto defend their rights,

noting that their voteswould certainly deter-mine his successor in2015.

The anti-Amaechigroup, it was learnt, de-cided at a secret meet-ing in Abuja on Mondaynight to impeach thegovernor within amonth.

The decision to im-

peach Amaechi wastaken as a last resort byhis traducers apparentlyto prove to their spon-sors that although theyfailed to clinch the NGFleadership through theballot, they were stillcapable of getting thegovernor out of the waybefore the 2015 election.

Vanguard gatheredthat shortly after sus-pending the governorfrom the Peoples Demo-cratic Party, some pow-erful politicians met inthe house of a PDP chief-tain in Abuja andhatched the plot to im-peach Amaechi from of-fice.

A source close to thesecret meeting, whichwas also attended bysome governors in thePDP opposed toAmaechi’s re-election asthe NGF chairman, saidthat the implications ofAmaechi’s victory to there-election bid of Presi-dent Jonathan was thor-oughly examined dur-ing the meeting, whichlasted for about fourhours.

The forces arrayedagainst the Rivers Gov-ernor, were said to havefrowned at the audacityof Amaechi to stand forelection against the can-didate favoured by thePresidency, thereby por-traying the President inbad light.

The anti-Amaechigroup was particularlymiffed when one of thegovernors in attendancepointed out that the full

implication of Amaechi’svictory meant that Presi-dent Jonathan could losethe 2015 election, if thetrend of the NGF pollwas repeated and calledfor urgent actions to re-move the governor.

The major plank of theanti-Amaechi plot, ac-cording to sources closeto the matter, is to raisea large chunk of moneyand compromise a ma-jority of the 27 membersof the Rivers StateHouse of Assembly, whoare still loyal to Amaechi.

The plot is to get at areasonable number ofthe pro-Amaechi law-makers and add to thefive, who are loyal to theMinister of State forEducation, NyesomWike, and use them toimpeach Amaechi beforethe end of June.

However, when thefoot soldiers complainedthat it would be difficultto infiltrate the pro-Amaechi lawmakers andget the required numberto oust the governor, agovernor from one of theSouth-South states, re-portedly opted to takenecessary steps to raisethe N7 billion requiredfor the ‘coup’ againstAmaechi.

But Amaechi said, yes-terday, that he had notdone anything to war-rant being impeached,saying that the plotagainst him by his de-tractors would fail.

The governor, whospoke through the stateInformation Commis-

sioner, Mrs. IbimSemenitari, said thatmembers of the stateHouse of Assembly aremen of integrity, whoappreciate the goodwork that Amaechi isdoing in the state andwill not be cajoled toembark on illegality.

“The work thatAmaechi has done inRivers State is self-evi-dent and the people areproud of their governor.If winning a free andfair election of a groupof governors has sud-denly become an im-peachable offence, weleave it to Nigerians todecide.

“But we know thatmembers of the RiversState House of Assemblyare men of integrity andwe do not believe thatthey could be swayed bypecuniary promises,”Semenitari said.

If I am removed, Iam satisfied—Amaechi

Reacting to his sus-pension from the partyand report of plans toimpeach him, GovernorAmaechi said it was sur-prising that his partycould suspend him with-out any reason, stress-ing that he had left theissue to God almighty.

Amaechi said: “In-deed, it is only the Peo-ples Democratic Party(PDP) that has the gutsto suspend a governorwithout a reason. I leavethem to God and to you(the people). We mustcome together to defendRivers State. It’s notabout me; I have servedeight years as Speaker,nearly six years as Gov-ernor. Even if I am re-moved tomorrow, I amsatisfied that this state,this country and historywill recognize and re-member me.”

The governor spokeyesterday in PortHarcourt at the openingof an inter party summitwith the theme “Cohe-sive inter party relations

as a panacea for peaceand sustainable devel-opment in Rivers state."

Chairman of the event,Justice Adolphus KaribiWhyte (rtd) lauded theachievements ofAmaechi since he cameon board as governor.Describing opponents ofthe governor as con-spirators with a destruc-tive motive, JusticeKaribi Whyte furthercharged the politicalclass to be transparentand pursue the commongood at all times.

Govs fault Tukur

Meanwhile, some gov-ernors, yesterday,faulted GovernorAmaechi’s suspensionby the National WorkingCommittee of the party,declaring it as totalabuse of the party’s con-stitution.

Vanguard gatheredyesterday that the gov-ernors argued that onlythe National ExecutiveCommittee, NEC of theparty has the power tosuspend a governor andnot NWC according tothe party’s Constitution,2012 as amended.

Governors are also keymembers of NEC be-sides the NationalChairman, President,Vice President and oth-ers.

Citing section 59.3 ofthe constitution, the gov-ernors contended thatthe Bamanga Tukur-ledNWC was wrong andthe decision must be re-versed.

According to the sec-tion, ‘’Notwithstandingany provision of thisConstitution relating todiscipline, no ExecutiveCommittee at any levelexcept the National Ex-ecutive Committee shallentertain any questionof discipline as may re-late or concern a mem-ber of the National Ex-ecutive Committee,President, Vice Presi-dent, Governors, DeputyGovernors, Ministers,Ambassadors, SpecialAdvisers or member ofany of the Legislativehouses.”

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6—Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013

Items presented to graduands of Skill Acquisition Centre in Lafia, the Nasarawa Statecapital, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN.

3 die, policemen injured in a bid toeject Oba from palace

BY DAYO JOHNSON

AKURE— AT least three persons have reportedly died in

Ile Oluji area of Ondo State fol-lowing move to forcefully ejectthe traditional ruler of the town,Oba Suulade Adedugbe, fromthe palace by the youths.

Four others who sustained gunshot injuries are said to be on ad-mission in private hospitals inOndo town.

Vanguard learnt that the youthsin their hundreds, Mondaymorning, assembled at a rounda-bout close to the palace in con-tinuation of their protest to ejectthe Oba from the palace.

A source said the youths metpolicemen at the palace andwhile they were surging to overrun the palace, the police firedtear gas at them but the youthswere resolute.

The police, according to asource, fired sporadically to scarethe angry youths and in the proc-ess an unconfirmed number werehit and they died.

Irked by this development,some of the youths also fired atpolicemen and about five wereinjured in the crossfire.

According to the source, theyouths assembled at the policestation as early as 8 a.m yester-day demanding the release of

arrested colleagues.The protesters were said to

have attacked some of the Policeofficers met at the station and inthe process there was a shoot-out which resulted in the casual-ties.

The development caused pan-demonium in the town as com-

mercial activities were paralysedwhile banks and other commer-cial centres abruptly closed forthe day.

The angry youths barricadedmost junctions within the townjust as confusion reigned in thetown.

Contacted, the Police image

maker, Wole Ogodo, denied thenumber of casualty but confirmedthat the youths attacked police-men who were deployed to re-store peace.

An unconfirmed source, how-ever, said the monarch had relo-cated and is currently in policeprotective custody.

Police dislodge 53 suspected student cultists

BY DAUD OLATUNJI

ABEOKUTA — THE OgunState Police Command said,

yesterday, it had dislodged nofewer than 53 student cultists of

Federal University of Agricul-ture, Abeokuta, while on theirway to the venue of a nocturnalritual ceremony in Abeokuta.

Vanguard gathered that thestate branch of the National As-

sociation of Seadogs, popularlycalled Pyrates’ Confraternity,hinted the police who laid am-bush for the suspected cultists atabout 11:30pm last Friday aroundLafenwa/Rounda area of thestate capital.

Confirming the development,the Command’s Public RelationsOfficer, Muyiwa Adejobi, said thepolice received information thatsome suspected student cultistswere planning to hold a cer-emony in a suburb of the statecapital.

Adejobi, however, said the sus-pects ran away on sighting thepolice patrol team deployed inthe area.

He said: “They do not belongto a social club. The police willnot allow any anti-social groupor organisation to operate in thestate. If anybody is caught, hewould be made to face the fullwrath of the law.”

However, a source told ourcorrespondent that the suspectsleft their vehicles and other itemsand fled on sighting the police.

Anambra shuts ASTA officeover Okada rider’s death

BY ENYIM ENYIM

ONITSHA — THE AnambraState government has shut

down a branch of its trafficagency, Anambra State TrafficAgency, ASTA, in Ogidi, IdemiliLocal Government Area indefi-nitely, over alleged killing of acommercial motorcycle rider bypersons suspected to be staff ofthe agency.

This followed allegation insome quarters that staff of theagency were responsible for thedeath of the commercial motor-cyclist.

Addressing newsmen, Com-

missioner for Transport, Dr. ChikeOhamobi, said the closure wasnecessary to give room forproper investigation of the cir-cumstances that led to the Okadarider’s death.

He, however, refuted the re-ported death of a couple in theaccident that claimed the life ofthe Okada rider.

The commissioner said securityagents had been directed to over-see activities in the motor parksin Onitsha and environs to en-sure peace.

He also warned that govern-ment would not sit by and watchpeople take laws into theirhands.

Tworemandedfor kidnap,gang rapingof 19-yr-oldstudent

BY OLA AJAYI

IBADAN —TWO youngmen have been remanded

in Agodi Prison by an IbadanMagistrate Court for alleg-edly using a magical ring toabduct and gang-rape a 19-year-old secondary schoolgirl in Ibadan.

The two suspects, accord-ing to a police source, werecharged with conspiracy,rape and stealing of a Black-berry phone belonging to thevictim.

The rape victim said sheclosed from school at WofunIyana Church, and was ac-costed by the suspects whoinsisted she should followthem to their residence. But,when she refused, one ofthem allegedly used a magi-cal ring to hit her on thechest and she was uncon-scious.

“There is a boy who was notmy boy friend. He was a stu-dent in that school about twoyears ago. His name is Biola.He had wanted to date meseveral times which I politelyturned down. Just lastWednesday, when I closedfrom school, Biola came to mein company of two unidenti-fied boys and said his mumwanted to see me.

"'I asked him what led to theinvitation by his mum. I thentold him I would not go. Then,one of the two other guys whohad a ring on his hand hit meon the chest and I was uncon-scious. They took me to theresidence of one of the twoboys and raped me.

“Before raping me, theygave me alcoholic drink andafter the crime had been com-mitted, they gave me 'cov-enant water' threatening methat I would die if I told any-body of the act.”

A top policeman whoclaimed anonymity becausehe was not instructed tospeak, confirmed the story,saying: “On May 15 at 0815hours, one Adekola living onAkanbi Street, Molade areaof Ibadan reported that hisyounger sister and a second-ary school student went toschool and did not returnhome. All efforts to trace herproved abortive.

"Then about 23:00hours, anunanimous caller calledthrough the victim’s GSMnumber and identified him-self as kidnapper and de-manded N6,000. The DCOled other policemen and thevictim was rescued."

NAFDAC seizes $250,000 contaminated bread improverBY EGUFE YAFUGBORHI

PORT HARCOURT — ANESTIMATED $250,000.00

worth of contaminated breadimprover (Edlen Dough Condi-tioner) imported from the USAhas been confiscated at the OnnePort in Rivers State by the Na-tional Agency for Food and DrugAdministration and Control,NAFDAC.

NAFDAC head of Ports Inspec-tion Directorate in Port Harcourt,Dr. Musa Umar, said the prod-uct loaded in 10 containers wasfirst suspected by NAFDAC offi-cials at the port in January whilethorough examination on April16 and re-examined in the pres-ence of the importer, clearingagent and manufacturer weredone on May 2.

He said findings in the seriesof investigations confirmed thatthe product imported by Dorcas-Jedi Investment Nigeria Ltd hadalready deteriorated and unfit forhuman consumption by the de-gree to which the product’s in-tegrity had been compromised.

“Some cartons were soaked andthere were evidence of bloatedcans and products spilling on tothe boxes. Full examination wasattempted for all the 10 contain-ers but no product with accept-able physical attributes wasseen,” Umar said.

He said the economic loss forthe end users (bread bakers)would have been enormous if the

product was allowed to enter themarket as its utility value hadbeen lost.

A representative of the prod-uct’s importer, Dr. Ottih Ezumaattributed its spoilage to long

delay from the shipping com-pany that shipped it from Savan-nah Sea Port in Atlanta, Georgia,USA.

Customs Area II CommandController, Magaji Mohammed,

who handed the products overto NAFDAC said his commandhad likewise handed over toNAFDAC 426 bottles of naturelitechildren’s multivitamin discov-ered to have expired.


Zonal Director, North Central, National Environmental Standards and Regulations Enforce-ment Agency, NESREA, Dr William Arabs (left), sealing a mast for failure to follow theenvironmental due process and poor work at the site in Dadur village, Lantang Local Gov-ernment Area of Plateau State, yesterday. PHOTO: NAN.

Kidnap: Justice Rhode-Vivour’s wife,daughter, driver regain freedom

BY IKECHUKWU

NNOCHIRI

ABUJA — EIGHTEEN daysafter they were abducted

while on their way to attend awedding ceremony at Benin, theEdo State capital, wife, daughterand driver of Justice BodeRhodes-Vivour, Monday night,regained their freedom.

Though a senior aide to theChief Justice of Nigeria, CJN,Justice Mariam Aloma Muhktar,Mr Ahuraka Isah, who spoke toVanguard on phone, yesterday,confirmed their release, he how-ever, refused to disclose whetherransom was paid.

It would be recalled that the kid-nappers demanded N200 millionto free the trio.

Efforts by the Inspector Generalof Police, Mr MohammedAbubakar, and the Edo State Po-lice Command to trace thewhereabouts of the kidnappershad proved abortive, a develop-ment that led the CJN to grantan ad-hoc leave to JusticeRhodes-Vivour to enable him fo-cus on securing the release of hisfamily members.

Aside taking over all the casesearlier assigned to the embattled

Justice, the CJN personally wroteto President Goodluck Jonathan,demanding his intervention onthe matter, just as the Chief Reg-istrar of the apex court, Sunday

Olorundahunsi, wrote to the IGP,seeking the expedition of actionwith a view to tracking the kid-nappers.

It will be recalled that Justice

Rhodes-Vivour’s first son, Rotimi,was kidnapped on September 3,2012, in Lagos. He was also kid-napped in his car, like his mumand sister.

ABUJA — TWELVE crewmembers are missing after

a Chevron contracted tug boatsank on Sunday due to roughseas off the country's coast, theship’s owner said, yesterday.

The Jascon-4 capsized early onSunday due to “heavy oceanswells” while the vessel was “per-forming towing operations” at amooring point around 30 kilome-tres off Delta State, Chevron’sNigeria unit said, Sunday.

“Unfortunately all 12 crewmembers are still missing,” aspokeswoman for the ship’sowner, West African Ventures,

12 crew missing as Chevron-contracted vessel sinkssaid.

“Rescue operations involvingsea divers are still ongoing and afull investigation into the incidentis taking place,” she said. West

African Ventures is owned by SeaTrucks Group.

Chevron Nigeria declined togive an update.

Chevron’s operates offshore

and onshore joint ventures withthe Nigerian National PetroleumCorporation and spends around$3 billion a year on its Nigerianoperations, the company says.

NANS condemn naval officers' attack on students

BY TOBORE

OGHENEOVO

LAGOS — THE Lagos Statechapter of the National Asso-

ciation of Nigerian Students,NANS, Joint Campus Committee,JCC, has condemned the allegedattack on students of Federal Col-

lege of Fisheries and MarineTechnology, Lagos by naval offic-ers said to have assaulted and shotsporadically until three studentswere feared dead and 30 othersinjured.

The incident, the group alleged,took place on Sunday night, dur-

ing a disagreement between oneAjose Olalekan, a student of theschool and two unnamed navalofficers attached to the dockyardon Ahmadu Bello Way.

The students are demandingthat the Federal Governmentshould produce the naval offic-ers who shot the students withinthree days.

They also want the hospital billof the wounded students to betaken care of by the Commandantof the dockyard.

NANS said: “Furthermore, thenaval officers should be chargedfor murder while N5 millionshould be paid as damages toeach of the affected students tocushion the effects of the unwar-ranted attack.”

Recounting what transpired,NANS claimed that a naval of-ficer slapped the student and inthe course of protecting himself,other students came to his rescueand the naval officers mobilisedthemselves with guns and shotthree students.

A statement by the Chairman,NANS/JCC, Mr. Yaqub Eleto fur-ther alleged that the shootingcontinued uninterrupted until 2am, Monday.

Road crashes: FRSC declares fourstates, FCT notorious

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

ABUJA — THE Federal RoadSafety Corps, FRSC, has de-

clared four states and FederalCapital Territory, FCT, as notori-ous with records of highestnumber of road traffic crashes andfatalities in the country.

Corps Marshal and Chief Ex-ecutive of FRSC, Mr. OsitaChidoka, who disclosed this dur-ing the inspection of an on-go-ing Trauma Centre at the hospi-tal, Abuja, said the rating wasbased on positing of highwaysreports as at the end of 2012 andthe first quarter of 2013.

Chidoka who named Bauchi,Kogi, Kaduna, Delta states andthe FCT, as the notorious said the

Corps was currently working onan engagement plan with thegovernors of affected states andthe FCT Minister to ensure im-proved road safety practices intheir areas of jurisdiction.

He reiterated the commitmentof the corps to ensure a zero percent record on road crashes in anypart of the country, in pursuant tothe Accra declaration on roadsafety of 2015 and United Nationsdecade of action on road safety ,2011-2020.

On the Trauma Centre whichhas a landing space for air am-bulances, the Corps Marshalcommended the management ofthe National Hospital, describingit as “a pride of place to the na-

tion’s health architecture.”He said when commissioned,

the centre would add value to thecorps’ drive towards promptmedical care for road crash vic-tims and qualitative advantage toemergency and rescue services inNigeria.

According to him, the FRSC hasthrough its numerous initiatives,acquired 3,000 Closed UserGroup, CUG, telephone lineswhich were distributed among itsmanagement team, operatives inthe Field Commands and all Fed-eral Medical Centres nationwide,to ensure seamless interface andprompt attention for road crashvictims especially those withtrauma cases.

GM,accountant,store-keeperdocked overN20m theft

BY SONI DANIEL

KATSINA — THREEformer top management

staff of the Katsina Flour MillsLimited were, yesterday,dragged before JusticeAbdullahi Yusuf of the KatsinaState High Court andslammed with a three-countcharge of misappropriation ofpublic funds and criminalbreach of trust.

The three men, AbdulmalikIbrahim, Darda’u Idris Safanaand Hassan Hashimu, whoserved as General Manager,Accountant and Store Keeperrespectively, were docked bythe Economic and FinancialCrimes Commission, EFCC,for allegedly conspiring andembezzling N19, 667,187 fromthe coffers of the company be-tween 2011 and 2012.

When the charges wereread, the accused pleaded notguilty, prompting the pros-ecuting counsel, IdrisHaruna, to request a trial date.

However, defence counsel,C.U Kalu, presented an oralbail application for his clientsbut Justice Yusuf insisted on aformal application and ad-journed the case to June 20,2013.

Peace returns

to Mushin

after violence

BY BOSE ADELAJA

LAGOS — RELATIVEpeace has finally re-

turned to Mushin, a Lagossuburb, especially theOdiolowo axis after seriesof violence that claimed thelives of many in the past fewweeks.

Speaking with Vanguard,yesterday, ChairmanOdiolowo-Ojuwoye Com-munity Development Com-mittee CDC, Mr.Adebowale Adekoya, saidseries of meetings had beenheld with government andcommunity developmentassociations and strategieswere mapped out on waysto achieve peace.

Adekoya said Policemendispatched to the area withother law enforcementagents now patrol the area,having warned residents tobe law-abiding and reportany form of lawlessness toappropriate authorities.

He said the communitydevelopment associationsand committees were col-laborating to put an end tothe menace.


Emergency rule: Reps deny Jonathanaccess to funds of affected states, LGAs

BY OKEY NDIRIBE &EMMAN OVUAKPORIE

ABUJA—THE House ofRepresentatives, yester-

day, reversed its earlier en-dorsement of PresidentGoodluck Jonathan’s requestto utilise funds of states andlocal governments underemergency rule. The affectedstates are Borno, Yobe andAdamawa.

The resolution was passedfollowing a motion moved byRep. Ibrahim El-Sudi (PDP,Taraba), which was unani-mously adopted.

It would be recalled that theHouse granted the presidentthe power to oversee thefunds in question when it ap-proved the emergency proc-lamation in Adamawa, Bornoand Yobe states.

El- Sudi had said he pre-sented his motion due to pub-lic outcry and opposition tothe endorsement byNigerians. especially indi-genes of the affected states ofBorno, Yobe and Adamawa.

According to him, empow-ering the president contra-venes the constitution andseveral Supreme Courtrulings.

He said by presenting themotion, he was “mindful of anear consensus of opinion ofSenior Advocates of Nigeriaand Constitutional Lawyersacross the country regardingthe constitutionality of the saidsection.

He also said he took intoconsideration, “the provisionsof Section 5(2) of the Emer-gency Powers Act No. 1 of1961 (as modified) which pro-vides that any such regula-tion, order or rule may, with-out prejudice to the validityof anything lawfully donethereunder, at anytime beamended or revoked by reso-lutions passed by bothHouses.

He further drew the atten-tion of his colleagues to factthat the Supreme Court haddelivered very clear interpre-tations on the intent of section162 of the 1999 Constitutionas amended on the financesof the states and local govern-ments and whether the Fed-eral Government couldthrough the NationalAssembly validly make lawsconferring powers orimposing duties on state func-tionaries .

He recalled that after bothchambers of the National As-sembly had passed the emer-gency proclamation earlier inthe month, a joint Committeewhich comprised six members

from the House and fivemembers from the Senatehad met to harmonize theresolutions of both houses ofthe National Assembly.

The legislator said itwould be an indirectwithdrawal of administrativepowers from the governorsof the states if they had nofunds to carry out theirduties, if the presidencyfailed to release the funds.

He noted that, “on onehand, we said administra-tion remains with governorsand on the other, we sayfund should be in the handsof the president, how willthe governors administer thestates.

"Nigeria operated a feder-alism and the Federal Gov-ernment had no stake instates and local governmentfunds.

“The issue of budget orfunds belonging to the stateis a constitutional matter

and the money is not just ly-ing there idle, they have abudget they need to pursue.The constitutional responsi-bility of the Federal Govern-ment was to provide securityfor the lives and property ofits citizens without recourseto state funds”.

El-Sudi, however, said thepresident could explore theoption of a supplementarybudget to fund the emergen-cy rule.

Speaking against the mo-tion, Rep. Kingsley Chinda(PDP-Rivers) said reasons foramendments applied only tonormal situations and not anemergence rule as the casemight be.

Chinda said: “There shouldbe a balance between thelives of the people and thefunds we are talking about.

“No money is equivalent toone's life, so if money will al-low for protection, we shouldnot hesitate to spend it".

Ruling on the motion,Speaker Aminu Tambuwal ap-pealed to members to supportthe motion.

He said as speaker, hewould never support an arro-gant institution that did notcorrect its mistakes.

Tambuwal added that: “At-tention has been drawn to theconstitutional provision of ourearlier decision. If we take adecision clearly against theconstitution and attention isdrawn, we will not loseanything to do the correctthing. We will reject any pro-vision that is against the con-stitution".

With the adoption, theHouse revoked completely,Section 3(2) (e) of theHarmonised and adoptedEmergency Powers Regula-tions approved by theNational Assembly.

It urged the Senate to giveit force of law by concurringand adopting the amendment.

Jonathankick-startsN163bnZungerupower project

BY WOLE MOSADONI

ZUNGERU, NIGER—PRESIDENT Goodluck

Jonathan, yesterday, kick-start-ed the N162.9 billion ZungeruHydroelectric Power Project inNiger State.

Jonathan said the hydro damproject when constructedwould generate 700 MegaWatts of electricity for the coun-try.

According to him, theZungeru Hydro Electricity Pow-er Project was conceived 32years ago in 1982, but due toconstraints of funds the con-struction work could not com-mence.

Jonathan said his administra-tion had now solved the finan-cial challenge, which was hold-ing the construction of the dam,by making funds available tobuild it.

He explained that it was in1982 that the former NationalElectricity Power Authority,NEPA, identified the potentialsof hydroelectric dam inZungeru.

The president said the eventwas a history making one, be-cause the power plant wouldbe the largest to be built by hisadministration.

He listed employment oppor-tunities, agricultural develop-ment, and tourism as benefitsfrom the dam.

He said exportation of per-ishable food through the Min-na Airport would also be a ben-efit from the dam, adding thatthe airport would be revitalisedbecause of the construction ofthe dam.

Jonathan called on the peo-ple of the state to give him theirsupport to ensure that theproject went on smoothly forthe period of four years the con-struction would last.

The Governor of Niger State,Dr Babangida Aliyu, ex-pressed appreciation to thepresident for making fundsavailable for the project underthe Power Sector InterventionFund.

He commended the FederalMinistry of Power for its readi-ness to pay appropriate com-pensations and the resettlementof persons affected by theproject.

Aliyu assured the presidentof the full cooperation of thepeople of Niger to ensure thatthe project went on smoothly.

The Minister of Power, Prof.Chinedu Nebo, said theZungeru Power Project wasnow a reality due to the uncom-mon courage and determina-tion shown by President Good-luck Jonathan.


World Bank, IFC to invest N159bn inNigeria's energy sector

Oil theft: Armyhands overvessel, 25suspects toEFCC

BY MICHAEL EBOH

THE World Bank and its subsidiary, the International Fi-

nance Corporation, IFC, yesterdayannounced plans to invest about$1 billion (N159 billion) in Niger-ia’s energy sector in the next cou-ple of months.

Speaking at the Nigerian Insti-tute of Management’s, NIM, Cor-porate Leaders Forum in Lagos,Marie Francois Marie-Nelly,World Bank Country Director, Ni-geria, said the investments will bein terms of Partial Risk Guaranteesfor gas supply and IndependentPower Plants valued at $800 mil-lion and $200 million respective-ly.

According to Marie-Nelly, whowas represented by Ms. GravetteBrown, Senior Investment Offic-er, IFC Manufacturing and Serv-ices — Africa Department, in ad-dition to the planned investments,the World Bank currently has $400million active in Partial Risk Guar-antees for gas supply and over 10years technical support and adviceto the power sector.

She added that the IFC, as partof its future investment plan, hasa high probability investmentpipeline in Nigeria of approxi-mately US$800 million, with

priority given to power,infrastructure, agriculture,housing, Micro Small andMedium Enterprises, MSMEs.

She stated that its investment

would also be focused on equi-ty investments with emphasis oncorporate governance, climatechange and energy efficiency.

She disclosed that the IFC willparticipate in the activities of oilmajors and other IndependentPower Projects, IPPs, and alsoin the privatization of the 11power distribution companiesand six power generatingcompanies.

She noted the World BankGroup is focusing on three keyareas of growth in Nigeria,namely: improve infrastructure,especially in the area of power;promotion of sustainable agri-business and support for SMEgrowth and development.

She said, “we will support pub-lic private participation dialogueon private sector participationsin power, finance and mobilisegas-to-power and otherdownstream gas projects.

“In the near term, we will beworking with IFC clients andother industrials to outsourcetheir large captive power sup-ply need; we will also partici-pate in gas production/transpor-tation projects and help stand-ardize key agreements in pio-neer projects.”

IFC's investment inNigeria hits $1.1bn

Marie-Nelly said IFC’s in-vestment in Nigeria till date, putat about $1.1 billion, is its largestportfolio in Africa and eight larg-est globally, while World Bank’sfinancing activities in the coun-try currently stand at $4.66 bil-lion.

She said IFC’s investment isdominated by projects in finan-cial markets, and momentum isbuilding in infrastructure, man-ufacturing, agribusiness andservices.

FORUM—From left: Maurice Lakanu, Registrar/Chief Executive, Nigerian Institute ofManagement (Chartered); Dr. Michael Olawale-Cole, President and Chairman of Council,NIM; Ms. Gravette Brown, Senior Investment Officer, International Finance Corporation(World Bank Group), Africa Department and Guest Speaker; and Dr. Nelson Uwaga, Dep-uty President, NIM at the Corporate Leaders Breakfast Forum held by the Institute inLagos, yesterday. Photo: By Oscar Ochiogu.

BY SONI DANIEL,REGIONAL EDITOR,

NORTH

THE Nigerian Army, yesterday, handed over a vessel

suspected to have been used foroil theft and 25 suspects to theEconomic and Financial CrimesCommission, EFCC, for prose-cution.

The vessel, MT Swordfish,comprising two barges, was ar-rested by soldiers for engagingin oil theft and economic crimesagainst Nigeria.

Apart from confiscating the ves-sel, the soldiers also arrested thethree crew members and twostaff of the Liberty Jetty Elegba-ta, Marina, Lagos, where the ves-sel was detained.

The soldiers also arrested 20other suspects in connection withthe oil theft and detained themalong with the crew members.

On Monday, Col. H. I. Dasu-ki of the 81 Division of the Nige-rian Army formally handed overthe vessel and the 25 suspectsto the EFCC for further investi-gation and prosecution.

The crew members were:Akume Surprise (Captain), Bog-lo Babatunde Peter, ThankGodObozuruike; Korlee Uebari;Francis Eze; Gaius Ike; PeterJames; Hafeez Jalaruru, Ola-jumoke Sulaiman, Kelvin Ajike,Abdulraham Kareem, Oluwase-un Owoade and Ifeanyi Law-rence.

Others were: Alhassan Hose-li, Kennedy Adoge, Bello Taofik,Ibrahim Ajibade, Ibrahim Yaku-bu, Nafiu Useni, Kenneth Osei,Annas Mohammed, IbrahimMohammed, Hamisu Saidu, Su-laiman Musa and Umar Mo-hammed.

The army also handed over sixtrucks seized from the suspectsas exhibits to the anti-graft agen-cy.

Col. Dasuki, while handingover the vessel and crew to theCommission said the arrest wasmade at about 0400hrs on 22May, 2013, following intelli-gence report.

According to him, the arrestwas made by men and officersof “OP MESA” who raided theLiberty Jetty, Marina.

Dasuki urged the Commissionto carry out further investigationon the source of the petroleumproducts and the operations ofthe vessel.

Receiving the hand-over doc-uments, Mr. Aliyu Aminu,Head, Counter-Terrorism andGeneral Investigations, EFCCZonal Office, Lagos, assured thatthe Commission would do itsbest in investigating the case.

A sample of the product wastaken by operatives of the Com-mission for analysis.


Why 16,000JAMB resultswerecancelled— Minister

BY CALEBAYANSINA

PRESENTATION: FRONT ROW: From left— Brig. Mobolaji Johnson (rtd.); Alh.Lateef Jakande, both former governors of Lagos State; his wife Alh. Abimbola.

BACK ROW: From left— Mr. Adedapo Tunde-Olowu, Mr. Ayuli Jemide, Lead Partner,Detail Commercial Solicistus, and Chief Presenter; Mr. Ben Akabueze, Lagos StateCommissioner for Economic Planning & Budget, representing Governor Fashola, and Mr.Emeka Odikpo, author of the book, during the public presentation of Fashola: The HistoricReconstruction of Lagos, by Mr. Odikpo, in Lagos. PHOTO: Bunmi Azeez.

Nigeria airspace getsfull radar coverage

Lagos beginsconstructionof 70mgallonswater works

LAGOS—NIGERIAN Airspace Management

Agency, NAMA, yesterday,said the nation’s airspacewould have full aerial radarcoverage from today as itmigrates from procedural airtraffic control to aerial radarcontrol.

Managing Director ofNAMA, Mr. Nnamdi Udoh,at a briefing at the agency'scorporate head office,Murtala Muhammed Air-port, Lagos, explained thatthe new aerial control wouldhave stations in Lagos andKano, stressing that Lagoswould control the south whileKano would serve the north-ern part of the country.

Udoh said apart from thesystem providing seamlesstransfer of pilots from one ra-dar control to another as air-craft flew from its departureto destination, it would alsoprovide seamless communi-cation between the control-ler and the pilot from take-off to landing at the destina-tion.

He said: “If you are takingoff from Lagos, you don’thave to change your squakto Port Harcourt, Abuja orKano. The controller willtransfer you seamlessly to thenext radar and maintain thesame squak to land.

“Squak is the code used bya pilot to communicate withthe air traffic controller. Priorto this, we were having pro-cedural aerial control but

now, we are going to usesurveillance aerial control.”

With the development,Udoh said, “Lagos-Abujaflight, which currently takesbetween 50 and 55 minutes,will be reduced to about 45and 50 minutes.

“And the seamless radarcontrol will save the airlinesfuel and money as well as

reduce carbon emission.”He added that the agency

had trained enough person-nel to man the equipmentand signed a five-year main-tenance contract agreementwith the manufacturers.

The agreement covers train-ing of local personnel thatwould take over after thatperiod.

BY LAWANI MIKAIRU &DANIEL ETEGHE

SERAP threatens FG with suitover N700bn expenditureSOCIO-Economic Rights

and Accountability Project,SERAP, has asked PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to “pro-vide information on thespending of N700 billion bor-rowed between December 31,2012 and April 30, 2013, andto introduce a moratorium onborrowing.”

SERAP said it will take le-gal action should the govern-ment not provide the informa-tion within 14 days.

A letter by SERAP ExecutiveDirector, Mr. AdetokunboMumuni, and sent to the Ac-countant-General of the Fed-

ernment has lagged behindin the achievement of theMillennium DevelopmentGoals.

“We are further concernedabout the country’s growingdebt problem because thiswill continue to weaken thecapacity of this governmentto fulfill its human rights ob-ligations and commitment,thus throwing millions of Ni-gerians deeper into poverty.”

The organization is relyingon Sections 1 (1); 4 (a); and2(3)(d)(V) & (4) of the Free-dom of Information, FoI, Act2011, for its request.

eration, Mr. Jonah Otunla, said:“Whereas the government has borrowedover N6.54 trillion from national sourcesand its external borrowing is growing,there is no evidence on the ground toshow that the huge sums of money havebeen put to good use.

“In fact, we fear the money could havebeen mismanaged, diverted or stolen.Despite this huge borrowing, the sameperiod also witnessed decreased spend-ing on basic social services such asroads, electricity, health, education, andthus explaining in part why the gov-

Free cancerscreening

G O V E R N O RBabatunde Fashola

of Lagos State, yesterday,said the state had com-menced the construction ofa 70 million gallon per daywater works, aimed at ad-dressing water supply chal-lenge in the state.

The government also saidplans had been concludedto commence free medicalservice to its over 14,934 re-tired civil servants.

The new project, calledAdiyan Water Works Phase11, is located in Ifo LocalGovernment.

BY MONSUROLOWOOPEJO

SOROPTIMIST Inter-national of Lagos

Mainland has said theclub will organise freebreast cancer screeningfor about 50 women at theLagos State General Hos-pital.

Mrs. Titilayo Ojeifo,General Manager, Indus-trial Equipment Division,RT Briscoe Nigeria Plc,said this during her in-stallation as the Presidentof the club.

She also pledged a massivefacelift for the club’s school inher two-year tenure.

ABUJA—MINISTERof Education, Prof.

Ruquayyatu Rufa’i, hasexplained that 16,000Unified Tertiary Matricu-lation Examination,UTME, results were can-celled by the Joint Admis-sions and MatriculationBoard, JAMB, because ofexamination malpracticesby the candidates.

Rufa’i spoke throughMr. Julius Ameh, yester-day, in Abuja, during thepresentation of the Teach-ers’ Guide for the teach-ing of the National ValuesCurriculum, NVC, inBasic Education, whichwas funded by the Inde-pendent Corrupt Prac-tices and other RelatedOffences Commission,ICPC.

She said: ”We shall beresolute in our decisionsas there shall be no sa-cred cows. Nobody, nomatter how highly placed,will be allowed to getaway with the breach ofthe law or perpetration ofcorruption and evil in ourcolleges and tertiary insti-tutions.”

The minister said theinclusion of the guideinto the numerous litera-ture available in the edu-cation sector, especiallyon corruption and valueorientation, was an indi-cation of the premiumwhich the administrationplaced on education andtransparency in the con-duct of government busi-ness.

She said: “It is also aneloquent testimony of thepresent administration’sdetermination to heal thewounds of the pastquickly, put the ugly pastbehind and use the newNVC to stretch hands offellowship to aggrievedNigerians for completereconciliation.

"The Nigerian child mustbe encouraged and taughtthat integrity pays."

FLOUR Mills NigeriaPlc has announced

the death of the Manag-ing Director of one itssubsidiaries, Apapa BulkTerminal Limited, ABTL,Captain EmmanuelOmotayo.

Commendation servicewill hold today at AllSouls Anglican Church,Lekki Phase 1 at 12 noon,while funeral service isFriday, May 31, at St. Pe-ters Anglican ChurchCathedral, Oke-Kere,Ikere Ekiti, Ekiti State, at11am.

Transition

Late Captain Omotayo.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013 — 11

AGM: From left— Mr. Joseph Hudson, Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer,Lafarge Cement Wapco; Chief Olusegun Osunkeye, Chairman, Lafarge; Uzoma Uja, Com-pany Secretary/Legal Adviser, and Mr. Alfred Amobi, Finance Director/Chief Financial Of-ficer, all of Lafarge Cement Wapco, at the company's annual general meeting in Lagos, yes-terday. PHOTO: Joe Akintola, Photo Editor.

IBADAN—ALAAFIN of Oyo,Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, has

called on Action Congress ofNigeria, ACN, in the South-West to accord traditional rul-ers in the zone deserving rec-ognition and roles to play.

The monarch said this in Oyotown, while receiving a Memo-

randum of Understanding,MoU, for the establishmentof Oranmiyan Airline from aglobal investor, WorldwideHoldings.

Oba Adeyemi said: “Gov-ernment should give the tra-ditional rulers deserving rec-ognition and roles to play. InEurope, America and Asiawe have Yoruba people.

“The state governments inthe South-West areprogressives and we hopethey will consider this initia-tive. Today, we are makinghistory.

“We are making similar ef-forts in other areas in con-tributing our quota to the de-velopment of Yoruba nation.The influence of the Obas

should not be localised.

On Oranmiyan AirlineThe monarch said: “Our

graduates are unemployed.This is an opportunity to cre-ate an investment that givesprospect of reducing unem-ployment rate.

“The investors are not re-questing money. They arealso inaugurating the YorubaCoalition in Dubai. The chal-lenge is to have the endorse-ment of government.

“If we succeed, it would re-duce the rate of unemploy-ment. The investors asked forthree things: they do not wantto be involved in politics, theysaid they would not give ortake bribe and Alaafin is theonly person that they trust torepresent the Yoruba interest.”

At the occasion, Chairman,Yoruba Global Coalition,United Kingdom, Dr. LayoAdeniyi, said: “In keepingwith the agreement, the air-line would soon take off.

“They made an agreementwith Airbus to have four air-craft and they are discussingwith Iatter in Canada on wayforward.”

Alaafin advocates more roles for monarchsBY OLA AJAYI

Mimikoswears incaretakerc'tteechairs ADO-EKITI—FORMER

Minister of Aviation, Mr.Femi Fani-Kayode, hasdumped Peoples' DemocraticParty, PDP, for All Progres-sives Congress, APC, de-scribing PDP as a party thatlacks discipline, fairness andinternal cohesion.

Fani-Kayode said he de-cided to quit PDP, underwhich he served as the Min-ister during the former Presi-dent, Olusegun Obasanjo’sregime, owing to allegedabuse of powers by the presi-dency and members of Na-tional Working Committee,

NWC, of the party.Fani-Kayode, who spoke

with the newsmen in Ado-Ekiti, yesterday, shortly af-ter his visit to GovernorKayode Fayemi, said PDP hadderailed from the laid downprinciples and objectives forwhich the founding fathers ofthe party were known.

He further expressed hisdispleasure over the presentface-off between the presi-dency and Governor of Riv-ers State, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi,saying the presidency hadsucceeded in makingAmeachi a national hero withthe way he was allegedly be-ing persecuted over his emer-

gence as the Chairman of theNigerian Governors’ Forum,NGF.

He said: "With this open per-secution, the Presidency andthe PDP NWC are only mak-ing hero out of Amaechi.

"Their action was illogical. 35people voted and this manscored 19 and his challenger,Governor Jonah Jang gar-nered 16 votes and the loserturned around to say he wonthe election.

“Automatically, Amaechi re-mains the popular wish ofthe Governors’ Forum, whoare populated by highly dis-tinguished and intelligentNigerians."

Fani-Kayode dumps PDP for APCBY GBENGA ARIYIBI

Ajimobi swears in 6 new judges

AKURE—GOVER-NOR Olusegun

Mimiko of Ondo State,yesterday, swore innewly-appointed care-taker chairmen for the 18council areas of the state,warning them against il-legal recruitment.

The dissolution of theformer helmsmen in thecouncil areas followed theexpiration of their tenureon Monday.

Former caretaker chair-men, who are still underprobe, allegedly went onan illegal recruitmentdrive during their tenure,following which fraudrunning into millions ofnaira was discovered bygovernment.

Presently, the state gov-ernment is carrying out anaudit of its workers in thecouncil areas across thestate and a large scalefraud have been unveiledby the office of the Headof Service.

This was said to havecaused delay in the pay-ment of salaries of work-ers in the council areas ofthe state.

BY DAYO JOHNSON

IBADAN—GOVERNORAbiola Ajimobi of Oyo

State has sworn in six newly-appointed judges of the stateHigh Court, charging themto demonstrate integrity andshun corrupt tendencies inthe discharge of their duties.

The appointment of thenew judges was announcedon May 22 by the governor,thus bringing the number ofthe judges in the state judi-ciary to 22.

The new judges includethe Chief Registrar of thestate High Court, Mrs. O. O.

Olatunji; Mr. Bayo Taiwo,from the Federal Ministry ofJustice, Abuja, and the im-mediate past Vice-Chairmanof the Ibadan branch of Ni-gerian Bar Association, NBA,Mr. Lekan Owolabi.

Others are Mr. G. A.Sunmonu, Mrs. O. M.Fadeyi and Mr. E. O. Ajayi.

Governor Ajimobi, whilespeaking at the swearing-inceremony held at the Houseof Chiefs, Parliament Build-ing, Secretariat, Ibadan,urged the new judges to liveabove board and not usetheir powers to pursue endsother than justice.

He said: “The powers of ajudge are a sacred trust todecide matters between per-sons or between governmentor authority and any personand to determine any ques-tion relating to the civil rightsand obligations of a person.

“Be fine, outstanding, cou-rageous, brilliant and incor-ruptible judges, who alwaysstand in defense of the truth.

"Keep the fountain of jus-tice pure at all times, and re-frain, absolutely, from sub-jecting it to any pollutionmotivated by mercenary, pri-mordial or pecuniary consid-erations.”

BY OLA AJAYI


Plot toimpeachAmaechithickens

In a related develop-ment, crisis rocking theNigeria Governors’ Fo-rum, NGF, has taken an-other turn as Vice Presi-dent MohammedNamadi Sambo will to-morrow formally open,the office of the factionalchairman of the Forum,Governor Jonah Jang ofPlateau State who wasdeclared the chairman ofthe forum by some gov-ernors.

Vanguard gatheredthat the office which islocated in Maitama,Abuja will be declaredopen at 4pm, tomorrow,by the Vice President.

Amaechi isdesperate— Suswam

Meanwhile, as contro-versy continues to trailthe last election of theNigeria Governors’ Fo-rum, NGF, and the sus-pension of Amaechi,Governor GabrielSuswam of Benue State,has described the embat-tled governor of Riversstate as a desperate man.

Suswam who made hisposition known in a stateowned Radio Benue in-teractive programme,aired, yesterday, inMakurdi, said the RiversState Governor wanted tocajole his fellow gover-nors to endorse hisemergence as chairmanof the forum.

“When we met at theNigeria Governors Fo-rum, we noticed that ourconstitution which wasregistered was producedat the meeting and weobjected to it because wehad not seen it in twoyears."

Governor Amaechi,through his Commis-sioner for Informationand Communications,Mrs Ibim Semenitari,however, dismissed Gov-ernor Suswam’s allega-tions. He said the forumhad a constitution longbefore he became itsChairman, adding thatthe body was registeredwith the Corporate Af-fairs Commission.

The commissioner alsodenied that GovernorAmaechi was desperatestressing that he hadlong known that powerbelongs to God al-mighty."

“Governor Amaechi is aproduct of grace and un-derstands that powercomes from God and onlyHe enthrones kings",she said.


Gov Obi, others escape death

INTER-PARTY SUMMIT: From right: Governor Chibuike Amaechi of Rivers State; SpecialAdviser to Rivers State Governor on Inter-party Matters, Mr. Solomon Ebeku and Chairmanof the occasion, Justice Karibi Whyte, during the 2013 Inter-party Summit, in Port Harcourt,yesterday. Photo: Nwankpa Chijioke.

Delta tointroduceBRT inWarri

DELTA State Gov-ernment is to intro-

duce the Bus Rapid Tran-sit, BRT, model in thecountry’s oil and gas in-dustry hub, Warri.

With this development,and as part of the stategovernment's transportdevelopment plan, Warriwill be the third city in Af-rica to develop the BRTinitiative, after Lagos andJohanessburg, South Af-rica.

The state governor, Dr.Emmanuel Uduaghan,made the disclosure at theon-gonig 60th Congressof the International Asso-ciation of Public Trans-port, UITP, in Geneva,Switzerland.

UITP is the internation-al network for publictransport authorities andoperators, policy decisionmakers, scientific insti-tutes and public transportsupply and service indus-try and global advocate ofsustainable mobility.

It is a platform forworldwide cooperation,business developmentand the sharing of know-how between its 3,400members from 92 coun-tries.

Uduaghan, representedby his Commissioner forTransport, Mr. Ben Igbak-pa, said the seven-monthold idea from its concep-tion, traffic surveys andfeasibility studies, topo-graphic surveys, detailedengineering designs tobill of engineering meas-urements and evaluation,will now be followed byaward of contract, in July.

The Warri BRT scheme,which is driven by thegovernor, according toIgbakpa, is an expressionof political will and rec-ognition of the importanceof public transport to alarge percentage of thepopulace.

“With increasing popu-lation and economic activ-ities, Warri is set to jointhe community of the glo-bal cities with sustainable,integrated and affordabletransport system to meetits economic aspirations.

“The project, which isaimed at creating jobs,will also, through multi-plier effect, require per-sonnel and businesstransactions in the areasof traffic management andenforcement, bus sheltersand terminals and segre-gated lanes construc-tions,” he said.

Managing Director, FOT Consulting, South Africa, Shrbinseck Darko (left); Commissionerfor Transport, Delta State, Ben Igbakpa; Managing Director, Kenya Bus Services Manage-ment, Nairobi, Edwins Mukabanah; Vice President, UATP, Abidjan, Cote'D Ivoire, Bi NagoneZORO; and Managing Director, SOTRA, Abidjan, Cote'D Ivoire, Bouake, MIETE, at the on-going 60th Congress of the International Association of Public Transport, UITP, in Geneva,Switzerland, yesterday.

GOVERNOR Peter Obiof Anambra State, the Ma-

jority Leader of Delta State Houseof Assembly, Chief Igbuya, andother government officials, yes-terday, escaped death as whatcould have turned out to be an

air mishap was avoided byArik Pilot of Flight W 3788conveying over 100 passen-gers from Lagos to Asaba.

The flight, which was sup-posed to take off at 8:30 amwas delayed in Lagos on ac-count of bad weather. Thoughtravellers had boarded theflight, after about two hoursinside the plane, they wereasked to go back to the de-parture lounge as the planecould not take off on accountof what the pilot described as“terribly bad weather at Asa-ba.” After about three hours,the flight was boarded againbecause weather reportsshowed improvement withinthe internationally acceptedlanding standards. By thetime it was boarded again,many people who saw the sit-uation as warning from prov-idence cancelled their trips.

On getting to Asaba, theweather became bad againwhile attempt at landing wasdifficult. The pilot, who didnot want to take chancespromptly returned to Lagos.On reaching Lagos, howev-er, the weather there had al-

ready gone very bad by avia-tion standard. The plane hadto circle around for hoursamidst dwindling aviationfuel. It finally landed at 4:45pm amidst signs of relief fromtraumatised passengers whoclapped in jubilation. The pi-lot, Captain Sandy Miller,merely told passengers tothank their God for His mer-cies when they got home.

Speaking to aviation corre-spondents at the DomesticWing of Murtala MuhammedAirport, Governor Obi, whotravelled to South-Africa onSunday and came back, yes-terday, to Lagos said he wasdetermined to make the flightto Asaba en route Awka be-cause he did not like stayingoutside Awka more days thannecessary.

On whether he was fright-ened, the governor laughedand said that nothing againshould be frightening to a per-son that governs a state likeAnambra. Moreover, he said,he was always at peace withhis God and fellow human be-ings and couldn't worry overthe vicissitudes of life.

NLC, TUC strike in Rivers enters second dayBY JIMITOTAONOYUME

PORT HARCOURT—CIVIL servants stayed

away from their offices forthe second day in RiversState in compliance with thetwo-day warning strike, or-dered by the state chaptersof Nigeria Labour Congress,NLC and Trade Union Con-gress, TUC, to force the Po-lice to allow workers of Obio/Akpor Local GovernmentArea resume work at thecouncil's secretariat.

Yesterday, the two unionsdeployed their members toforce banks and other pub-lic institutions in the statecapital, Port Harcourt, to shutdown.

Some customers at somebanks at Mile One end of Ik-werre Road confronted of themembers of the trade unionswho had gone to enforce thestrike order on the bankworkers. They wonderedwhy private institutions,such as banks and other re-lated bodies, would beforced to join the strike em-barked upon by civil servantsin the state to address issuesaffecting a local govern-ment. It took prolonged ex-planations from members ofthe unions to calm some ofthe customers, who werebecoming aggressive.

The banks finally compliedwith the strike order. It willbe recalled that the tradeunions threatened a two-daywarning strike to press hometheir demand for the Policeto vacate Obio/Akpor coun-cil secretariat for workers toresume.

State Chairman of NLC,Mr. Chris Oruge, had toldnewsmen that all they want-ed was for the security op-eratives to allow workersresume at their duty posts.

He said it was disturbing

that because of Police presenceat the secretariat, staff of the

council had not been paidtwo months salaries, a situ-

ation he said was very un-healthy.

....As Rivers CP warns Labour againstshutting down institutions forcefully

BY JIMITOTAONOYUME

PORT HARCOURT—RIVERS State Police

Commissioner, Mr. JosephMbu, has warned labour un-ions in the state not to force-fully shut down operations atpublic institutions in their bidto ensure compliance withtheir strike order.

Noting that such act was anoffence, Mbu, at the Policeheadquarters in Port Harcourt,Rivers State, also accusedsome top government func-tionaries in the state of urg-ing the unions to embark onstrike over Police presence atObio/Akpor Local Govern-ment Area secretariat.

He maintained that the Policewas not a political institution, ashis men were at Obio/Akporcouncil secretariat to protect gov-ernment property from being van-dalised by hoodlums.

He said: “Unions should not bar-ricade offices because they wantpeople to join them in the strike,it is an offence. They should notforce institutions to join the strike.It has come to the knowledge ofsecurity operatives that somehighly placed persons in govern-ment are going round to buy sup-port from the unions to join thestrike action against the action ofthe Police in protecting Obio/ Ak-por council secretariat. Policemenare not politicians. We are here toprotect lives and property.”

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013 —13

Absence ofAPC Govsstallsmergerdeliberations

BY JOHNBOSCOAGBAKWURU &GABRIEL EWEPU

Nnamani to Jonathan: Declare state ofemergency on corruption

BYHENRY UMORU &JOSEPH ERUNKE

‘Work onLagos-Ibadanrailwayproject tobegin soon’

BY CHRIS OCHAYI

ABUJA—FORMER SenatePresident, Ken Nnamani,

yesterday, called on PresidentGoodluck Jonathan to declarea state of emergency on cor-ruption, if that will address theproblem.

He also said if corruption,which is one of Nigeria’s ma-jor problems must be nippedin the bud, especially as it af-

ABUJA—THE Federal Government,

yesterday, assured Ni-gerians that the con-tractor handling theconstruction of Lagos-Ibadan standard gaugedouble rail track wouldsoon commence workon the projects.

Minister of Transport,Senator Idris Umar,who disclosed this inAbuja, while inaugu-rating the Board of Di-rectors of the NigerianRailway Corporation,NRC, said governmentwas equally working toensure that the rehabil-itation of the Railwayline from Port Harcourtto Maiduguri was com-pleted this year.

ABUJA—THE absence of governors

elected on the platform ofopposition political par-ties in the country seek-ing to merge to All Pro-gressives Congress,APC, yesterday, forcedthe Joint Merger Com-mittee to adjourn to June4 for deliberations on themerger process.

A source within theAPC Joint Merger Com-mittee had told Van-guard that the committeehad met at the residenceof the chairman, JointMerger Committee inAbuja, to ratify issues con-cerning the merger withthe governors, but thestate chief executives didnot turn up for the meet-ing.

But addressing journal-ist after the adjournment,the former Minister ofForeign Affairs and chief-tain of Action Congressof Nigeria, ACN, ChiefTom Ikimi, said the AllProgressives Congress,APC, will soon be regis-tered with the Independ-ent National ElectoralCommission, INEC, asthe parties were puttingeverything together forthe merger.

fected award of contracts, at-tention must be paid to Pub-lic Private Partnership, PPP.

Speaking when he ap-peared before the SenatorAyogu Eze-led Senate Com-mittee on Works, SenatorNnamani noted that $8 tril-lion was currently what theprivate sector in the worldwas controlling, adding thatit was only the private sectorthat ccould control corrup-tion.

According to him, it is notbusiness as usual in the privatesector, as private investors mon-itor their businesses.

He added that First Bank Plc,a private sector driven organi-sation, had a balance sheet thatwas more than the nation’sbudget.

Nnamani was at the Senatewith other designated membersof the governing board of theInfrastructure Concession andRegulatory Commission, ICRC.

The former Senate Presidentis the chairman of the boardof ICRC.

The former Senate Presi-dent, who told the senatorsthat he was coming to theNational Assembly for the firsttime since 2007, was, howev-er, not asked any question bythe senators, in line with theNational Assembly’s proce-dures of asking former law-makers to simply take a bowand go.


LAGOS — THE Presi-dency, yesterday, reacted to

the claims by the National Public-ity Secretary of the Congress for Pro-gressive Change, Mr. RotimiFashakin, that Nigeria missed herslot in the just concluded 50th an-niversary of the African Union, AU,saying Fashakin was not only be-

ing ‘’silly’’ but ‘’foolish.’’These were contained in a state-

ment signed last night by the Spe-cial Adviser to the President onMedia and Publicity, Mr. ReubenAbati.

The statement entitled,’CPC andFashakin got it wrong about Presi-dent Jonathan and OAU/AU at 50thSummit,’ read, ’’We are dealing withsuch hideous and second rate char-

FG plans importationof 100 integratedrice mills

ABUJA — THE Fed- eral Government has concluded plans to

import new integrated mills to boostrice production in the country.

The mills, it was learned, will befully owned and run by the privatesector and financed at two per centinterest rate, with seven years mora-torium and 20 years tenure for repay-ment.

The Minister of Agriculture andRural Development, Dr. AkinwumiAdesina, who disclosed this at the in-augural meeting of Nigeria Agribus-iness Group, NAG, in Abuja, notedthat the new integrated mills wouldcomplement the existing 14 integrat-ed mills.

Hon. Ikoforiji Adeyemi, Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly (left), pre-senting award to Mrs. Ifueko Okauru, MFR, Managing Partner, ComplianceProfessionls Plc and former Executive Chairman, FIRS, during Independent Newspa-pers Ltd’s Man of the Year 2012 investiture, at the Federal Palace, Hotel, Lagos. Photo:Shola Oyelese

Alleged missed slot at AU summit:Presidency reacts to CPC angrily

BY EMEKA MAMAH

acters in Nigeria’s pub-lic space, belonging tothe ACN and the CPC,that they won’t even re-spect the truth.

The prize for beingsilly in this regard mustgo to one RotimiFashakin who describeshimself as the NationalPublicity Secretary ofthe Congress for Pro-gressive Change, CPC.He is an arm-chair criticpar excellence and a me-dieval-era ignoramus.

In a release entitled,‘President Jonathan’sAU summit gaffe’ (May28) Rotimi displayedhabitual indolence andbrainlessness, which Iconsider offensive andneedlessly disruptive.His subject is the just-ended AU at 50 summitin Addis Ababa.

‘’I invite more cerebraland decent persons toconsider the facts. President Jonathan asthe leader of the Nige-rian delegation to theAU summit in AddisAbaba and the 50th an-niversary of the Organi-sation of African Unity(OAU) indeed put up asterling performance,using the opportunity ofthe trip to further pro-mote Nigeria’s interestsand to strengthen Niger-ia’s relationships withother countries.

“He held bilateral

meetings with the UNSecretary General andthe leaders of Jamaica,Egypt, Swaziland,Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire.He granted interviews tothe media, local and in-ternational.

“He also participatedin a special session onHIV/AIDS, malaria andtuberculosis, at which heinvited other world lead-ers to the Abuja+12 Con-ference to be hosted inNigeria, mid-June.

“President Jonathan isan accomplished diplo-mat and a responsibleleader under whosewatch, Nigeria’s foreignpolicy process and inter-national relations havebeen strengthened withcommendable results.

‘’Fashakin, failing todo minimal research thatany right-thinking per-son would attempt,jumps to the conclusionthat President Jonathanmissed his slot at the AUand that nobody repre-sented him.

“This is more than 48hours after I had issueda statement indicatingthat no slot was missed.

“Fashakin must be sobusy he doesn’t evenbother to read the news.No slot was missed be-cause no country wasunder any compulsion tospeak.

’’Any country thatwished to make a state-ment indicated the inter-est to do so, by pressingthe button at its own con-venience. Nigeria hadindicated an interest tospeak, but the Presidentneeded to attend an ur-gent ECOWAS meetingon the Lagos-AbidjanHighway, to be attendedby five West African

countries, to take a reportby the Nigerian Minis-ter of Works who is thechair of the regional in-ter-Ministerial body onthe proposed Lagos-Abidjan Highway. I havesince circulated the con-clusions of that meeting.

‘’While PresidentJonathan was attendingthat meeting, Ambassa-dor Olugbenga Ashiru,the Minister of ForeignAffairs presented ourstatement to the OAU at50 on PresidentJonathan’s behalf. Ihave also since circu-lated the full text of thatstatement.

“In other words, Ni-geria’s voice was heard,loud and clear. Let it benoted that PresidentJonathan’s attendance ofa meeting on the side-lines of the AU Summitwas perfectly in order,and he attended quite anumber, just as MinisterAshiru was not the onlyForeign Minister whospoke on behalf of aPresident at the Summit.So where did Fashakinget his information fromthat nobody representedNigeria?

‘’The nature of hismental indolence is un-derstandable. In this at-tempt to pull PresidentJonathan down at allcosts, lies have becomestandard stuff, mischiefa major commodity, andindecency a characterflaw.

“President Jonathandoes not owe anyone anapology for serving Ni-geria diligently andtruthfully. Fashakin’sreference to an incidentin Australia is alsowrong-headed becausethe allegation is false.”

Committeeon Coal - to -Powergenerationinaugurated

By NOEL ONOJA

ABUJA — TO fast-track Nigeria’s

ambition of generatingmultiple sources ofpower to meet the elec-tricity needs of industri-alists and members ofthe public, the FederalGovernment has inau-gurated a ministerialcommittee to develop acoal-to-power genera-tion source for the coun-try.

Inaugurating the com-mittee, Minister ofMines and Steel Devel-opment, Musa Moham-med Sada, said the in-auguration of the com-mittee was necessitatedby the fact that Nigeriawas endowed with largequantities of coal de-posits that could be ex-ploited for coal poweredplants to meet the na-tion’s electricity needs.

He urged the commit-tee members to handletheir assignment with allseriousness.


Katsina govtdisbursesinterest freeloans tofarmers

Plateau CP urges Berom, Fulani leadersto maintain peaceJ O S ( N A N ) — T H E

Commissioner of Policein Plateau, Mr. Chris Olakpe,has urged Berom and Fulanileaders to sustain the peacecurrently existing betweenthem.

Olakpe made the call, yes-terday, at a stakeholders’peace meeting organised bythe Plateau Police Commandin collaboration with the Spe-cial Task Force, STF, on Pla-teau and other security agen-cies.

He said the meeting was toassess, review and re-evalu-ate the earlier agreement bythe groups which resulted to“peaceful coexistence afterseveral years of fighting andkillings.”

The CP said: “The last timewe had a meeting we saidthere was need for ceasefireand the fire was actuallyceased.

“People have been askingme what the magic is and I

have been telling them that themagic is the agreement by thepeople to seek and promotepeace.

“Because of your resolve,those who don’t want us to bein peace will be exposed andwill be punished accordingly.”

Olakpe warned the youthagainst engaging in acts of im-punity and lawlessness, stress-ing that anybody caught takingthe laws into his hands wouldbe punished.

Sen. Gyang Pwajok (PlateauNorth) thanked the people forembracing peace and urgedthem not to allow the peace todepart.

Pwajok, one of the initiators ofthe peace meetings, challengedthe people to learn how to apolo-gise to each other wheneverthey went against eachother.

He said: “When you tellyour neighbour sorry whenyou go wrong, it does not re-duce anything from you, rath-er, it brings peace and under-standing between the two ofyou.”

K U R F I ( N A N ) —KATSINA State

Government has com-menced the disburse-ment of interest-freeloans of N500,000 eachto five trade associationsfrom each of the 34 localgovernment areas.

The Deputy Governor,Alhaji Abdullahi Garba,who performed the cer-emony announced thisin Kurfi, Katsina, yester-day, said that the gesturewas being extended un-der the state’s povertyalleviation programme.

The News Agency ofNigeria reports that as-sociations from seven lo-cal government areas inKatsina Central Senato-rial district benefiited.

The local governmentareas were Jibia, Batsa-ri, Kurfi, Rimi, Dutsin-ma, Batagarawa andDanmusa.

Garba said that tradeassociations in KatsinaNorth and Katsina SouthSenatorial Districts of thestate hadalready benefitted fromthe gesture.

UNIJOSmedical schoolgraduates 94doctors

BY TAYE OBATERU &HOPE OFOBIKE

JOS—THE Faculty ofMedical Sciences of the

University of Jos, yesterday,graduated 94 new medicaldoctors, with a charge tothem to uphold medicalprinciples and shun unac-ceptable medical practices.

Registrar of the Medicaland Dental Council of Ni-geria, Dr. Ibrahim Abdul-muminu, gave the chargeat the induction of the 31stset of new doctors held atthe multipurpose hall of theinstitution.

Represented by Dr. PitoBello, the registrar cau-tioned them against un-ethical practices such asissuing fake medical certif-icate and indulging in ac-tivities unknown to medi-cal practice adding that itwas imperative for the newdoctors to register with thecouncil.

Vice Chancellor of theuniversity, Prof. HarwardMafuyai, who spoke in asimilar vein, urged them toremain good ambassadorsand be guided by the oaththey took.

OPINION

16 — Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013

*Mr. Ejuwa, a journalist, wrote fromLagos.

BY GAB EJUWA Nigerian democracy: Whither our splendid ship?Nigerian democracy: Whither our splendid ship?Nigerian democracy: Whither our splendid ship?Nigerian democracy: Whither our splendid ship?Nigerian democracy: Whither our splendid ship?IT is curious how a single word evokes

diametrically opposite reactions frompeople. And yet this contrasting opposition,in more ways than one, spices piquantlypeople’s use of languages generally and theEnglish language particularly. This is anauspicious paradigm that invests bothwritten and spoke expressions withcompelling and by that fact illuminatingdenotations, gamut and the infinite rangeof the human mind. Take a relativelycompact and monosemous word like“democracy”, for an instructive instance. Ihave used the word “relatively “ since thissame word democracy evinces, in the main,sharply differentiated emphases andcertainly incorrigent brittling of tempers.One would find that while in some climes itattracts to itself a colouring and texturingof egalitarianism in society andtransparency of government operation andoperatives, bedrocked on accountability tothe masses, in other climes it is just achameleonic verbal mantra deployed atwill to apologise for a working system, andto salve the consciences of governmentoperatives whose personalities and actionsare immured in cloak-and–daggerstridencies and ambiguities. The Nigeriandemocratic experience, despite itsboisterous vaulting reflexivity and indeedits sybaritic, cut-throat expensiveness, iscertainly of the typology of the latterconfiguration.Why is ours an apology of democracy? Andwhen did the rain start to beat us?, to quotethat great late son of Africa, Professor

Chinualumogu Achebe.To answer these questions, it is expedientthat we take a cursory glance at the painedevolution of this particular democraticexperiment such as we got to have, to holdand to cherish, in the pulpit parlance ofnuptials.The year 1999 easily flits into the mind, theyear Nigeria’s potential Hitler, GeneralSani Abacha, died amidst salaciouscontroversy and the nation’s number onepower slot became vacant. Ironically theman who was to succeed the maximumruler was rotting away in gaol, together withthe acclaimed winner of the 1993presidential election, Chief M.K.O. Abiolaof blessed memory.Now, with the benefit of hindsight, our firstblunder, after the conspired death of ourlegitimate potential president, was to pickon a man who had and still has a militarybackground and mindest, diametricallyopposed to civilized governance, to lead ademocratic adventure even after we hadbeen pounded black and blue by corruptsoldiers, up to that time, when we shouldnot have touched anything military with theend of a barge pole. That was whatinformed that crude dictatorial stint of theavuncular Ota farmer, who ruled Nigeriaas he would a military command: withsteely-fisted draconianism, an unsavourydevelopment replicated by the PDPdominated cash – crunching legislature.Although he fought tooth and nail for tenure

elongation, but he failed woefully to gullNigerians who had had enough of hisprimaeval amala bellicosity and power-toting vindictiveness. When it finallydawned on him that he had become, so tosay, a self-made despot and nuisance heexpeditiously groomed a quiescent andlanguid chainsmoking lackey to step intohis shoes, in the person of Umaru Yar-Adua.

If his predecessor’s tenure was adjudgedto be off-putting, Yar’ Adua’s snail-

crawling apology lacked conviction,affirmation, confidence and direction,especially with the former octopusbreathing down its back. If there wasanything that refracted our positive view ofthe Nigerian then fledgling version,throwing it up for what it was: A monstrousbastardisation of the original. It wasYar’Adua’s health problem, which a cabalin Aso - Rock was quick to exploit to themaximum material and financialadvantage, which revealed the ambiguityand absurdity of our so-called democraticgovernance, a time of half truths and blatantlies by the pretenders to the throne,including the president’s Lady Macbeth ofa wife. Had it not been for the radicalintrepidity of Pastor Tunder Bakare and hisSave Nigeria Group, the hide and seekmerry-go-round would have continuedperhaps forever, so to say.That was how it came to be that President

Goodluck Jonathan sits on the hot chair, adevelopment which angered the North thatfelt cheated in the succession power gameand which crystalised andmetamporphosed into the Boko Haraminsurgency, the huge rabid and morbidkilling machine that at presents, in thewords of Professor Niyi Osundare, “harrythe hills and fritter the forest” today. And ifNigerians had been fooled by the so-called“fresh breath” symbolism and indeedconcepgineering of Jonathan’s presidencyand thought there was a silver lining in thecloud of our sociological doldrums, theywere soon to be rudely shocked anddisappointed by his reprehensible pseudo-cerebral personality and posturing.Although reputedly lettered, our man couldnot and cannot rise beyond the pedestrianin thought, word and deed. Anybody whovoiced any criticism, no matter howconstructive, was simply out to embarrassthe government.Infrastructural decay reared its monstroushead. The economy was in a shambles,capacity utilization fell to an all time low.Corruption skyrocketed. Medicare becamenon-existent. The quality of educationplummeted. Nigerian groaned, chastised byJonathan’s whips. This situation wasresponsible for the current securitychallenges heating up our polity.

NIGERIANS and their democracy areunique. If elsewhere people delight in thecapacities of their government to deepen theirliberties, broaden opportunities, our democracyis delivered as structures, visible and tangible.We call them dividends of democracy.

The lure of dividends, a throw back to the dayswhen the economy supported companiesmaking the returns to shareholders, has createdan array of expectations. People expectdemocracy to translate to instant wellbeing.Politicians egg them on in the desires for abetter life, which they paint in rosy strokes, butoften do not deliver.

Where people expect employment, healthservices, rural development, education,governments point to peace and unity (currentlyeluding many parts) as dividends of democracy.Dividends of democracy manifest in renovatedschools, repainted hospitals, more vehicles forthe judiciary and security agencies. They arecelebrated as if their impacts would in a wavewipe out the deep-seated issues distracting thecountry.

One of them is the tendency to deny the peopletheir rights to choose, especially their leaders.Choice as a foundation of democracy is reflected

May 29 – AwaitingMay 29 – AwaitingMay 29 – AwaitingMay 29 – AwaitingMay 29 – AwaitingDividendsDividendsDividendsDividendsDividends

in the importance and regularity of elections.The decisions about leaders must be made infairer setting and in ways that produce leaderswhose acceptability derives from the processes.

Equating physical developments withdividends of democracy could result indissipating the more important aspects ofdemocracy and by extension accepting any formof rule, as long as it builds better roads andbridges. Democracy is deeper. May 29 and theliberties it has brought since 1999 are remindersof the possibilities of democratic governance.

Democracy awards us vast liberties which ourConstitution enunciates. We must expand our

peoples’ rights to life, to ownership of property,to participation in the economy and mostimportantly, their participation in politics. Therights to security of lives and property are facingchallenges; they should be tackled moredecisively.Rights have prospered or withered in various

measures in the past 14 years. Nigerians liketo be heard, they have been talking. Is anyonelistening? More people are agitating for moreStates or local governments. Others want re-structuring, to award the States more powers. Would Nigerians be free to live wherever theywish? Democracy should induce moreeconomic competition among Nigeria’sfederating units and improve lives. Would thecurrent review of the Constitution addressthese?Democracy is about the people. The

consistent exclusion of the people in decisionsabout them is undemocratic. It is at the centreof the agitations that question the relevance ofdemocracy and minimises people’s stake inNigeria.May 29 can be saved from being a ritual when

our governments are about the people and forthe people.

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YOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAYYOUR LUCK TODAY

THOUGHT FOR TODAY

VIRGINIA

KAPTAIN AFRIKA in “Princess Shii’ By Andy Akman

[email protected]

TERROR MUDA in “Never say goodbye” By Lanre Kehinde

HOME & AWAY by Lawrence Akapa

By Joshua Adeyemo Phone 08056180139

VanguardVanguardVanguardVanguardVanguard,,,,, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29,MAY 29,MAY 29,MAY 29,MAY 29, 2013 — 35 2013 — 35 2013 — 35 2013 — 35 2013 — 35

By Richard Eromosele

ASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGASTROLOGICAL COUNSELLINGSend ySend ySend ySend ySend your datour datour datour datour date and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bire and place of bir th tth tth tth tth to the Aso the Aso the Aso the Aso the Astrtrtrtrtrologicalologicalologicalologicalological

Counselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, PCounselling, P.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 1.M.B 100000000007, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos7, Apapa, Lagos

LIBRA: BETTER than yesterday as you will be at amore comfortable place today and suddenly discoverthat your hope is alive. Venus bring you money

SCORPIO: ROMANTIC Venus at positive anglemay bring matters-of-the heart related temptationthrough friends. But your best bet now is moderateambition.

SAGITTARIUS: The best bet for you is toconsolidate on progress you made yesterday and lookfor best way to pacify your new friends.

CAPRICORN: EVERYBODY needs other people’sco-operation just like you today but you will not becompelled by situation to dance to others’ tune;meaning that you can do things your own way andrightly expect success

AQUARIUS: THOSE of you willing to give othersthe needed co-operation will be in better position toconsolidate on progress you have made recently.Don’t allow sex to distract you.

PISCES: WATCHOUT for minor and avoidable butcostly mistake within your working arena, especiallyif you are in charge of other people’s money. If youdevelop new romantic liaison today, it may not last.

ARIES: AS the saying goes “time waits for nobody”it’s important you guard against unnecessaryprocrastination capable of putting you at tight cornertomorrow. Be loving.

TAURUS: IT’S better you conclude what you’vebeen doing for a while rather than starting somethingnew you don’t know when to finish it. Be more familyminded.

GEMINI: IF careless remarks are made by youtoday, it would back-fire at resumption of worktomorrow morning. Those who are eager for romanticattention will have their dream coming true. Be morelove

CANCER: IF you wait too long before an important(financial) decision is taken, you may find yourselfkeeping date with what you don’t bargain for.

LEO: Placement of the Moon influences yourassociates to become more self-assertive. If you takegood advice you’ll fare better. However, it’s importantyou don’t forget your tomorrow with others.

VIRGO: BETTER than yesterday and luckily foryou, opportunity to rectify mistakes made yesterdaymay come today to the betterment of your finances.Don’t try to buy love with money.

What about me?Dear Joshua,You have done many people’s horoscope; what about

me? I want you to kindly analyse my star and tell meeverything about my self. Please take note that Ivalue my health and career than any other thing.

Adedamola, Osun.

Dear Adedamola,What space can take will be given to you here-

underScorpio and Libra that hosted both your natal sun

and moon are members of very strong star signs-health wise.

Scorpio, in particular, has unusual survival ability.That is to say, even when health related challengescome, your survival endowment will always see youthrough.

Your major challenge is from your constant worriesabout too many things, especially on career relatedissues. Business miscalculation can be another sourceof health related challenge. You will agree with thefact that both constant worries and businessmiscalculation can affect one’s circulatory system.

Other things to watch-out for include: Urino-genitalorgans, minor accident (fire), bones dislocations, afew other times, skin infections and, of-course, fever.Always take care of the stomach. Please take notethat all these are mere warnings as there is nothingfatalistic about them; a good guard, though.

Oil related Neptune was the closet heavenly bodyto the sun when you were born at positive angle toPluto in Leo. Thus, having things to do with oil alongyour career/business lines is not by accident.

Then preponderance of water element and fixedquality in the distribution of the planets when youwere born are favourable to commercial involvementwith anything liquid.

Who do you magnify?THERE is this song

I love to sing evenwhen my voice is notfriendly, it goes thus“magnify the Lord,oh’ magnify the Lord,the Lord is able”. Myfriend let me ask youa question: who doyou magnify in your

life, your problem,your challenges oryour God?

The truth is thatmany of usu n k n o w i n g l ymagnify ourproblem. Yet, we

profess to be childrenof God. If we trulybelieve in our God,we will magnify Himabove every otherthing in our life,including ourproblem. Or don’t

you know that eachtime you place yourproblem above God,you are belittlingHim?

Magnify the Lord.Play down yourproblem. The Lord isabove.

Think about it!

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54—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013

Continues on page 55

THE key imprint of the transformation agendaeralded at the onset of the 2011 presidential

election campaign was that Nigeria would betransformed into a new nation in various aspects ofendeavour.

Two years into his term, an analysis of the specificpromises of transformation shows the administrationsucceeding in some sectors and also struggling toattain key parameters of the agenda in some strategicsectors.

Jonathan it would be recalled, had during hiswhistle-stop campaign across the 36 states of thefederation , pledged to fix the following sectors;power, economy, energy & gas, education security,agriculture, water resources among others.

He also promised a better deal on the Niger Deltaissue, women empowerment, and reforms wherenecessary.

Infrastructural developmentAccordingly, the President promised among

others; to revive the rail system in the country,complete Lagos to Jebba rail project, intervene andrevitalize the moribund Nigeria Machine Tools andother infrastructure owned by the federalgovernment, modernize the ports, complete thesecond River Niger bridge before the expiration ofthe tenure, make the Minister of Works toimmediately start repairs of the road leading toMurtala Mohammed International Airport, andassist in resuscitating all the collapsed industriesin Kano state.

Others are to work towards making Akanu Ibiamairport in Enugu an international airport, seekalternative funding means to repair the Benin-Oreroad, give Sokoto-Kotangora road unfetteredattention

Verdict Two years on, there is a consensus that the

President has made remarkable achievementsparticularly on road construction, as many federalroads are now receiving attention.

However, no new sea ports have been proposed

JONATHAN AT MID TERM:

The promise and performanceA retrospective look at the last two years of the Jonathan administrationwith a match of his promises and his performance in office.

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

while many of the country’s major airports havebeen rebuilt.

Remarkably, the contract for the construction ofthe 2nd Niger bridge, was recently awarded to JuliusBerger Nigeria Plc.

Power The nation was promised constant supply of

electricity, stable power supply by the year 2015 sothat small and medium scale industries can thriveagain, exploration of the coal deposits in Benue andKogi states, construction of more dams, building ofmore hydro-power stations.

The electorate was also assured that Nigerianswould not use generators more than two times in a

week, increment in power generation to about 4,747megawatts by December 2011 and reduction in theimportation of generators by at least 90% by the year,2015.

Verdict Though the government promised about 4,747

megawatts by December 2011, the nation surpassedthat mark mid last year when power generation roseto about 4,307.7MW with an additional170MW,which served as spinning reserve.

,,

But after the resignation of then Minister of PowerProf. Bath Nnaji, the power situation worsened assupply dropped to 3,224.3MW.

At the moment, the nation is reportedly generatingabout 3,443MW, as power supply has remainedunreliable.

However, further investigations revealed thattransmission among others, remain the currentchallenge in the sector given that most transmissioninfrastructure are obsolete.

Also power generation companies that emergedsuccessful in the bidding process of the privatizationof the sector received their certificates on April 22ndthis year. But all these are yet to translate to relativestability in power supply, thereby leading to doubtson the possibility of a stable power supply by 2015.

Economy The president pledged to work with the private

sector and all the relevant agencies to stimulateindustrial growth, introduce 5-year term budgeting,diversify the economy, to revive the Ajaokuta Steelcomplex and Itakpe Iron Ore Company, address theissues of unemployment through diversification of

the nation’s economy to that of sustainableagricultural development across the 36 states offederation , reduce production cost by invitingmanufacturers of high demand commodities in the

Two yearsinto histerm, ananalysis ofthe specificpromises oftransformationshows theadministrationsucceedingin somesectors andalsostrugglingto attain keyparametersof theagenda insomestrategicsectors

•Newly remodelled Airport

•Power Station

•Ajaokuta Steel Company

VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013 —55

The promise and performance

country to set up production factories in the countryand get industries in Lagos up, bring industries tothe Niger Delta, create 1.5 million jobs within 2years, constitute a special committee drawingexperts from the MAN, NACCIMA and relatedbodies as well as key government officials todeliberate regularly on policies that will improvethe nation’s economy among others.

VerdictWhile the administration is claiming economic

growth of 6.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2013with inflation down to single digit, fiscal deficit of1.8 of GDP and foreign reserves $48 billion, othershave argued that the reality is to the contrary.

An estimated 70% of the nation’s budget is spenton servicing paraphernalia of government, whileforeign debts are accumulating.

Energy & GasThe President pledged to make Nigeria go beyond

producing and exporting crude oil to exportingrefined petroleum products, create 600,000 new jobsin the gas industry , boost gas supply from 1.0 billioncubic feet per day to 10 billion cubic feet by the year2020, facilitate the enactment of the PetroleumIndustry Law with emphasis on local content suchthat jobs are created for Nigerians among others.

VerdictActualisation of the promises have been largely

Continues from page 54

unfulfilled. The Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB is stillstagnating in the National Assembly, Nigeria is stilllargely dependent on imported fuel even while alarge amount of money is still spent on refineriesthat are not producing at capacity.

The administration has been dogged by its failureto fully address the corruption emitting from thepayment of petroleum subsidy to importers and thecontinued insinuation of the sector as a nest ofcorruption.

Security Following the general insecurity in the country,

Jonathan promised to make anyone caughtbreaching the public peace to face the full wrath ofthe law, make sure that no part of the country isallowed to be a sanctuary for criminals, confrontheadlong ethno-religious violence in the country,ensure there is no sacred cow in the fight againstcorruption, strengthen EFCC and ICPC to fightcrime , eradicate kidnappings impedingentrepreneurship in Eastern Zone , pursue allbombers and terrorists among others.

Verdict Despite the recent declaration of state of

emergency in the states of Borno, Yobe andAdamawa, observers still argued that enough is notbeing done to curb insecurity.

This is one area that there seems to be a generalconsensus that the President had not done well.While kidnapping was at one time only prevalentin the Southeast, it has in the last few years fullyspread into a booming industry in some other partsof the country especially in Delta, Edo and LagosStates. Similarly, the administration’s war againstgraft, has been generally described as weak andunproductive.

EducationAt the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife Osun

State, Candidate Jonathan on 12th March 2011promised a holistic review of the nation’ educationpolicy.

He also pledged to establish at least one FederalUniversity in each state by the end of 2012, improveon hostel facilities across the nation, revampAlmajiri system of education, work towardsimproving the education sector as a prelude totransforming economy and as means of empoweringthe people. He also promised to improve on teachingand learning environment in schools and to makeevery Nigerian of school age to have access toeducation.

Verdict The administration initiated a programme to

provide 400 schools for itinerant scholars in Northern

Nigeria known as Almajiri. There is also a reported 15 percent increase in

pass rates in school leaving examinations in Nigeriain 2012.

The number of Federal universities in Nigeria wasincreased by 12 as well, just as blocks of classroomsin 15 states were completed as part of efforts to meetMillennium Development Goals, MDGs.

However, the increase in the number of federaluniversities has been met with criticisms over theadministration’s failure to improve on the standardof the existing universities all of which have fallenout of global reckoning. The condemnation isbuttressed by the allocation of N426.53billion to thesector, which at about 10%, is grossly below theUNESCO recommendation of 26 percent.

Agriculture Jonathan also promised to boost agriculture

through irrigation and maximizing vast mineral

resources in the country, revive the marketingboards to ensure that farmers are no longer cheatedon the sales of farm produce while more silos wouldbe built to help farmers preserve their products,provide farmers with information on agriculturalproduction and move towards mechanizedagriculture and make each state to specialize in twocrops; cash and local crop.

VerdictThe administration’s strides in the agriculture

sector have been largely commended and the sectoris after many years of stagnation again looking up ,while the country’s agriculture experts are now thetoast of their peers around the continent.

,

,

Despite therecentdeclarationof state ofemergencyin the statesof Borno,Yobe andAdamawa,observers stillargued thatenough isnot beingdone tocurbinsecurity

•Oil Refinery

•Almajiri School

•Jonathan


HOW would you assessPresident Goodluck

Jonathan led administration inthe last three years?

President Goodluck Jonathanhas been doing very well, nopresident of this country has facedthe kind of security challenges thisadministration is facing. It is as ifit is a calculated attempt to distractand detract the president from hisperformance in office.

Notwithstanding this attempt,the president has been able toachieve a lot in office.

We as a party have mentionedseverally, that we think that theachievement of this administrationis under-publicised. Because webelieve from the score cards andthe reports of the ministers, fromthe minister briefing that we havebeen having, we even in theleadership of the party are shockedand surprised.

Most importantly, we are 100%behind the president inentrenching democratic principlesin the party, the body polity in thecountry. If you look at it, before thecoming of the president, we didnot have entrenchment of anti-corruption in our political process.We did not have rule of law in ourpolitical process. Today, we haveone man one vote. We have asituation where people now lineup and vote for anybody of theirchoice.

The president has been able toensure that the democratic tenetof leadership and freedom ofchoice to vote for whomever youwant, that we have been able toapply it and ensure that Nigeriansare witnessing it for the first time.So on that particular side, we arehappy with the president and wegive him 100% in that.

On the issue of provision ofinfrastructure, we are happy with

Jonathan has exceeded his promises — Metuh

BY HENRY UMORU

National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh speaks

on achievements of the PDP led government in the last two years.

the efforts that are being made.What we are witnessing now,achievements being done ontarring and repairs of theroads, massive repairs andreconstruction of Nigerianroads, we are happy with it.

We are also happy with whatis happening in theagricultural sector. We are alsohappy with what is happeningin the FCT. We are happy withthe massive construction in theFCT, trying to lift our capital tobe one of the best in thedeveloping economies.

On the issue of power, thereis no Nigerian that will say thatthere has not been someimprovement in the powersector. Not as much as wewould have hoped for, but therehas been improvement. Andoverall, the president has donewell. We often time wonder,what he would have achievedif there was no detraction ofsecurity challenges. What

would this presidenthave done if therewas no Boko Haram,Nigerians wouldhave been amazed.We would have beenviewing signs andwonders. We arehappy so far so good.

We hope that theissue of insecuritywill minimize for thepresident to excel ashe has promised. Butwe thank God andwe are happy that hehas remainedfocused in trying todeliver the mandatethat was given tohim.

As a party is therereason to celebrateMay 29?

As a political party,there is ample evidence andreason to celebrate May 29 Daybased on the fact that the partyhas been able to keep anentrench democracy in Nigeria.And severally, PDP has beenable to entrench democracy inthe country. We have been ableto show that we are fighting forthe unity of this country and weprefer the unity of this country.We have shown that the partycarters for all national interestsin the country. We have beenable to do that. There is causeto jubilate on democracy andbe happy and to rejoice for theprovision of infrastructure.

But going with the mood ofthe nation, the women have losttheir husbands; the childrenhave lost their fathers to thissectarian violence. It will be abit inappropriate for our partyto come and be rejoicing in thelight of these things that arehappening in the last fewweeks and the last few months.

So our hearts reach out toNigerians who have lost theirloved ones, who have lost theirhusbands, their wives, theirchildren, their fathers. We takethe issue of this DemocracyDay as a solemn occasion toreflect on the activities of someNigerians who think thatdemocracy is a license forviolence; who think thatdemocracy is license toenthrone anarchy. Those whothink that democracy is alicense to do anything youwant. No, that is notdemocracy.

We plead and we preach thatthis Democracy Day, that let thespirit of democracy touch theirhearts, let them understandthat whatever grievance theyhave, whatever they want topromote, they can go to theballot box and do that.

Deliveringon promises

Let them go and vote forwhomever they want. Whateverchoice that they want, is notthrough the barrel of the gun.

As a party, what would youtell your members and theopposition?

Our members should remainfocused, the president isworking well. We aredelivering on our promises andwe will continue to deliver inspite of attempts to detract us,in spite of the heavy securitychallenges, we are deliveringon our promises. To theopposition, we do hope thatthey can challenge us onissues, not on insults, not onpropaganda, not ofpropagating falsehood to theentire nation. Let themchallenge us on issues. That isour message on this democracyday to the opposition.

EDUCATION:Nigerianstudents have recorded

failure in Mathematics andEnglish more than in any othertime in the Nation’s history. In the2013 appropriation law, t heallocation of N426.53billion to thesector takes only 8.67percent ofthe total budget of N4.92trillion,whereas the UNESCOrecommended for the allocation of26percent of the total budget to thesector which is very vital tonational development.

It is easily discernible why theJonathan regime cannot point atbrainy but indigent Nigerians thatare on scholarship in Nigeria’stertiary institutions or abroad.Rather than ensuring properfunding for the nation’suniversities, the Jonathan regime

Reckless, no focus — FashakinEngr. Rotimi Fashakin, the national publicity secretary of the

Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, faults President

Jonathan’s administration of the country saying he has been

more focussed on political self-preservation than on

promoting the general good of all.

preferred the vain-gloriouspolitical revelry of setting upnine new universities it had nodesire to fund ab-initio!

There is no gainsaying in re-stating the comatose state of theNigerian economy under thepolitical governance of DrGood-luck Jonathan. With over70% of the State’s budget spentin servicing over-bloatedparaphernalia of governmentand accumulation of foreigndebts to finance all theeconomically unsound fanciesof the regime, it is a matter oftime before the Nigerianeconomy plummets under theweight of gross incompetenceand unpatriotic handling by theJonathan administration.

InfrastructureThe infrastructural decay in

the polity has undoubtedlyensured the closure of manyindustrial concerns and this hasinexorably brought the youthunemployment to an all-timehigh of over 44%.

As a Party, we are forced tobelieve that this may just be adeliberate policy of this

administration as a way tocontinue to have tether-hold onthe youth to implement itsprogramme for electoralmanipulations. Clearly, thisadministration seems unfazedby the portent of a burgeoningnumber of unemployed youthin terms of national security!

InsecurityAs a party, we are saddened

by the insecurity in the land.Ordinary citizens can no longerpursue unfettered happinesswithout fear of forcedkidnapping, harassment andpossibly, fatal injury. There isfull-scale war going on in someparts of the nation state as aresult of politically festered hatewhich had been bred by thepresident’s hateful politics.Truly, the divisivenessembedded in the President’swin-at-all-costs brand ofpolitics has inevitably broughtus to the sorry-pass of thisindescribable conundrum ofinsecurity!

•Fashakin

•Metuh

CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


CMYK


HOW would you assessPresident Goodluck

Jonathan led administration inthe last three years?

President Goodluck Jonathanhas been doing very well, nopresident of this country has facedthe kind of security challenges thisadministration is facing. It is as ifit is a calculated attempt to distractand detract the president from hisperformance in office.

Notwithstanding this attempt,the president has been able toachieve a lot in office.

We as a party have mentionedseverally, that we think that theachievement of this administrationis under-publicised. Because webelieve from the score cards andthe reports of the ministers, fromthe minister briefing that we havebeen having, we even in theleadership of the party are shockedand surprised.

Most importantly, we are 100%behind the president inentrenching democratic principlesin the party, the body polity in thecountry. If you look at it, before thecoming of the president, we didnot have entrenchment of anti-corruption in our political process.We did not have rule of law in ourpolitical process. Today, we haveone man one vote. We have asituation where people now lineup and vote for anybody of theirchoice.

The president has been able toensure that the democratic tenetof leadership and freedom ofchoice to vote for whomever youwant, that we have been able toapply it and ensure that Nigeriansare witnessing it for the first time.So on that particular side, we arehappy with the president and wegive him 100% in that.

On the issue of provision ofinfrastructure, we are happy with

Jonathan has exceeded his promises — Metuh

BY HENRY UMORU

National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Olisa Metuh speaks

on achievements of the PDP led government in the last two years.

the efforts that are being made.What we are witnessing now,achievements being done ontarring and repairs of theroads, massive repairs andreconstruction of Nigerianroads, we are happy with it.

We are also happy with whatis happening in theagricultural sector. We are alsohappy with what is happeningin the FCT. We are happy withthe massive construction in theFCT, trying to lift our capital tobe one of the best in thedeveloping economies.

On the issue of power, thereis no Nigerian that will say thatthere has not been someimprovement in the powersector. Not as much as wewould have hoped for, but therehas been improvement. Andoverall, the president has donewell. We often time wonder,what he would have achievedif there was no detraction ofsecurity challenges. What

would this presidenthave done if therewas no Boko Haram,Nigerians wouldhave been amazed.We would have beenviewing signs andwonders. We arehappy so far so good.

We hope that theissue of insecuritywill minimize for thepresident to excel ashe has promised. Butwe thank God andwe are happy that hehas remainedfocused in trying todeliver the mandatethat was given tohim.

As a party is therereason to celebrateMay 29?

As a political party,there is ample evidence andreason to celebrate May 29 Daybased on the fact that the partyhas been able to keep anentrench democracy in Nigeria.And severally, PDP has beenable to entrench democracy inthe country. We have been ableto show that we are fighting forthe unity of this country and weprefer the unity of this country.We have shown that the partycarters for all national interestsin the country. We have beenable to do that. There is causeto jubilate on democracy andbe happy and to rejoice for theprovision of infrastructure.

But going with the mood ofthe nation, the women have losttheir husbands; the childrenhave lost their fathers to thissectarian violence. It will be abit inappropriate for our partyto come and be rejoicing in thelight of these things that arehappening in the last fewweeks and the last few months.

So our hearts reach out toNigerians who have lost theirloved ones, who have lost theirhusbands, their wives, theirchildren, their fathers. We takethe issue of this DemocracyDay as a solemn occasion toreflect on the activities of someNigerians who think thatdemocracy is a license forviolence; who think thatdemocracy is license toenthrone anarchy. Those whothink that democracy is alicense to do anything youwant. No, that is notdemocracy.

We plead and we preach thatthis Democracy Day, that let thespirit of democracy touch theirhearts, let them understandthat whatever grievance theyhave, whatever they want topromote, they can go to theballot box and do that.

Deliveringon promises

Let them go and vote forwhomever they want. Whateverchoice that they want, is notthrough the barrel of the gun.

As a party, what would youtell your members and theopposition?

Our members should remainfocused, the president isworking well. We aredelivering on our promises andwe will continue to deliver inspite of attempts to detract us,in spite of the heavy securitychallenges, we are deliveringon our promises. To theopposition, we do hope thatthey can challenge us onissues, not on insults, not onpropaganda, not ofpropagating falsehood to theentire nation. Let themchallenge us on issues. That isour message on this democracyday to the opposition.

EDUCATION:Nigerianstudents have recorded

failure in Mathematics andEnglish more than in any othertime in the Nation’s history. In the2013 appropriation law, t heallocation of N426.53billion to thesector takes only 8.67percent ofthe total budget of N4.92trillion,whereas the UNESCOrecommended for the allocation of26percent of the total budget to thesector which is very vital tonational development.

It is easily discernible why theJonathan regime cannot point atbrainy but indigent Nigerians thatare on scholarship in Nigeria’stertiary institutions or abroad.Rather than ensuring properfunding for the nation’suniversities, the Jonathan regime

Reckless, no focus — FashakinEngr. Rotimi Fashakin, the national publicity secretary of the

Congress for Progressive Change, CPC, faults President

Jonathan’s administration of the country saying he has been

more focussed on political self-preservation than on

promoting the general good of all.

preferred the vain-gloriouspolitical revelry of setting upnine new universities it had nodesire to fund ab-initio!

There is no gainsaying in re-stating the comatose state of theNigerian economy under thepolitical governance of DrGood-luck Jonathan. With over70% of the State’s budget spentin servicing over-bloatedparaphernalia of governmentand accumulation of foreigndebts to finance all theeconomically unsound fanciesof the regime, it is a matter oftime before the Nigerianeconomy plummets under theweight of gross incompetenceand unpatriotic handling by theJonathan administration.

InfrastructureThe infrastructural decay in

the polity has undoubtedlyensured the closure of manyindustrial concerns and this hasinexorably brought the youthunemployment to an all-timehigh of over 44%.

As a Party, we are forced tobelieve that this may just be adeliberate policy of this

administration as a way tocontinue to have tether-hold onthe youth to implement itsprogramme for electoralmanipulations. Clearly, thisadministration seems unfazedby the portent of a burgeoningnumber of unemployed youthin terms of national security!

InsecurityAs a party, we are saddened

by the insecurity in the land.Ordinary citizens can no longerpursue unfettered happinesswithout fear of forcedkidnapping, harassment andpossibly, fatal injury. There isfull-scale war going on in someparts of the nation state as aresult of politically festered hatewhich had been bred by thepresident’s hateful politics.Truly, the divisivenessembedded in the President’swin-at-all-costs brand ofpolitics has inevitably broughtus to the sorry-pass of thisindescribable conundrum ofinsecurity!

•Fashakin

•Metuh

CMYK

82—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013

The promise and performance

country to set up production factories in the countryand get industries in Lagos up, bring industries tothe Niger Delta, create 1.5 million jobs within 2years, constitute a special committee drawingexperts from the MAN, NACCIMA and relatedbodies as well as key government officials todeliberate regularly on policies that will improvethe nation’s economy among others.

VerdictWhile the administration is claiming economic

growth of 6.5 per cent in the first quarter of 2013with inflation down to single digit, fiscal deficit of1.8 of GDP and foreign reserves $48 billion, othershave argued that the reality is to the contrary.

An estimated 70% of the nation’s budget is spenton servicing paraphernalia of government, whileforeign debts are accumulating.

Energy & GasThe President pledged to make Nigeria go beyond

producing and exporting crude oil to exportingrefined petroleum products, create 600,000 new jobsin the gas industry , boost gas supply from 1.0 billioncubic feet per day to 10 billion cubic feet by the year2020, facilitate the enactment of the PetroleumIndustry Law with emphasis on local content suchthat jobs are created for Nigerians among others.

VerdictActualisation of the promises have been largely

Continues from page 81

unfulfilled. The Petroleum Industry Bill, PIB is stillstagnating in the National Assembly, Nigeria is stilllargely dependent on imported fuel even while alarge amount of money is still spent on refineriesthat are not producing at capacity.

The administration has been dogged by its failureto fully address the corruption emitting from thepayment of petroleum subsidy to importers and thecontinued insinuation of the sector as a nest ofcorruption.

Security Following the general insecurity in the country,

Jonathan promised to make anyone caughtbreaching the public peace to face the full wrath ofthe law, make sure that no part of the country isallowed to be a sanctuary for criminals, confrontheadlong ethno-religious violence in the country,ensure there is no sacred cow in the fight againstcorruption, strengthen EFCC and ICPC to fightcrime , eradicate kidnappings impedingentrepreneurship in Eastern Zone , pursue allbombers and terrorists among others.

Verdict Despite the recent declaration of state of

emergency in the states of Borno, Yobe andAdamawa, observers still argued that enough is notbeing done to curb insecurity.

This is one area that there seems to be a generalconsensus that the President had not done well.While kidnapping was at one time only prevalentin the Southeast, it has in the last few years fullyspread into a booming industry in some other partsof the country especially in Delta, Edo and LagosStates. Similarly, the administration’s war againstgraft, has been generally described as weak andunproductive.

EducationAt the Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile Ife Osun

State, Candidate Jonathan on 12th March 2011promised a holistic review of the nation’ educationpolicy.

He also pledged to establish at least one FederalUniversity in each state by the end of 2012, improveon hostel facilities across the nation, revampAlmajiri system of education, work towardsimproving the education sector as a prelude totransforming economy and as means of empoweringthe people. He also promised to improve on teachingand learning environment in schools and to makeevery Nigerian of school age to have access toeducation.

Verdict The administration initiated a programme to

provide 400 schools for itinerant scholars in Northern

Nigeria known as Almajiri. There is also a reported 15 percent increase in

pass rates in school leaving examinations in Nigeriain 2012.

The number of Federal universities in Nigeria wasincreased by 12 as well, just as blocks of classroomsin 15 states were completed as part of efforts to meetMillennium Development Goals, MDGs.

However, the increase in the number of federaluniversities has been met with criticisms over theadministration’s failure to improve on the standardof the existing universities all of which have fallenout of global reckoning. The condemnation isbuttressed by the allocation of N426.53billion to thesector, which at about 10%, is grossly below theUNESCO recommendation of 26 percent.

Agriculture Jonathan also promised to boost agriculture

through irrigation and maximizing vast mineral

resources in the country, revive the marketingboards to ensure that farmers are no longer cheatedon the sales of farm produce while more silos wouldbe built to help farmers preserve their products,provide farmers with information on agriculturalproduction and move towards mechanizedagriculture and make each state to specialize in twocrops; cash and local crop.

VerdictThe administration’s strides in the agriculture

sector have been largely commended and the sectoris after many years of stagnation again looking up ,while the country’s agriculture experts are now thetoast of their peers around the continent.

,

,

Despite therecentdeclarationof state ofemergencyin the statesof Borno,Yobe andAdamawa,observers stillargued thatenough isnot beingdone tocurbinsecurity

•Oil Refinery

•Almajiri School

•Jonathan


Continues on page 82

THE key imprint of the transformation agendaeralded at the onset of the 2011 presidential

election campaign was that Nigeria would betransformed into a new nation in various aspects ofendeavour.

Two years into his term, an analysis of the specificpromises of transformation shows the administrationsucceeding in some sectors and also struggling toattain key parameters of the agenda in some strategicsectors.

Jonathan it would be recalled, had during hiswhistle-stop campaign across the 36 states of thefederation , pledged to fix the following sectors;power, economy, energy & gas, education security,agriculture, water resources among others.

He also promised a better deal on the Niger Deltaissue, women empowerment, and reforms wherenecessary.

Infrastructural developmentAccordingly, the President promised among

others; to revive the rail system in the country,complete Lagos to Jebba rail project, intervene andrevitalize the moribund Nigeria Machine Tools andother infrastructure owned by the federalgovernment, modernize the ports, complete thesecond River Niger bridge before the expiration ofthe tenure, make the Minister of Works toimmediately start repairs of the road leading toMurtala Mohammed International Airport, andassist in resuscitating all the collapsed industriesin Kano state.

Others are to work towards making Akanu Ibiamairport in Enugu an international airport, seekalternative funding means to repair the Benin-Oreroad, give Sokoto-Kotangora road unfetteredattention

Verdict Two years on, there is a consensus that the

President has made remarkable achievementsparticularly on road construction, as many federalroads are now receiving attention.

However, no new sea ports have been proposed

JONATHAN AT MID TERM:

The promise and performanceA retrospective look at the last two years of the Jonathan administrationwith a match of his promises and his performance in office.

BY CHARLES KUMOLU

while many of the country’s major airports havebeen rebuilt.

Remarkably, the contract for the construction ofthe 2nd Niger bridge, was recently awarded to JuliusBerger Nigeria Plc.

Power The nation was promised constant supply of

electricity, stable power supply by the year 2015 sothat small and medium scale industries can thriveagain, exploration of the coal deposits in Benue andKogi states, construction of more dams, building ofmore hydro-power stations.

The electorate was also assured that Nigerianswould not use generators more than two times in a

week, increment in power generation to about 4,747megawatts by December 2011 and reduction in theimportation of generators by at least 90% by the year,2015.

Verdict Though the government promised about 4,747

megawatts by December 2011, the nation surpassedthat mark mid last year when power generation roseto about 4,307.7MW with an additional170MW,which served as spinning reserve.

,,

But after the resignation of then Minister of PowerProf. Bath Nnaji, the power situation worsened assupply dropped to 3,224.3MW.

At the moment, the nation is reportedly generatingabout 3,443MW, as power supply has remainedunreliable.

However, further investigations revealed thattransmission among others, remain the currentchallenge in the sector given that most transmissioninfrastructure are obsolete.

Also power generation companies that emergedsuccessful in the bidding process of the privatizationof the sector received their certificates on April 22ndthis year. But all these are yet to translate to relativestability in power supply, thereby leading to doubtson the possibility of a stable power supply by 2015.

Economy The president pledged to work with the private

sector and all the relevant agencies to stimulateindustrial growth, introduce 5-year term budgeting,diversify the economy, to revive the Ajaokuta Steelcomplex and Itakpe Iron Ore Company, address theissues of unemployment through diversification of

the nation’s economy to that of sustainableagricultural development across the 36 states offederation , reduce production cost by invitingmanufacturers of high demand commodities in the

Two yearsinto histerm, ananalysis ofthe specificpromises oftransformationshows theadministrationsucceedingin somesectors andalsostrugglingto attain keyparametersof theagenda insomestrategicsectors

•Newly remodelled Airport

•Power Station

•Ajaokuta Steel Company

CMYK


ICC should stop huntingAfricans — AU

THE African Union(AU) has accused the

International CriminalCourt (ICC) of “hunting”Africans because of theirrace.

It was opposed to theICC trying Kenya’sPresident UhuruKenyatta on charges ofcrimes against humanity,said Ethiopia’s PrimeMinister HailemariamDesalegn.

The AU would raise itsconcerns with the UN, headded.

Mr Kenyatta, who waselected in March, is dueto be tried in July.

He denies the charges,which arise fromaccusations that he

Kenya’s domestic affairs.He beat then-Prime

Minister Raila Odinga by50.07% to 43.28%, givinghim a narrow victory inthe first round.

Speaking at the end ofan AU summit inEthiopia’s capital, AddisAbaba, Mr Hailemariamsaid the cases of MrKenyatta and his deputyWilliam Ruto should bereferred to the Kenyancourts.

African leaders wereconcerned that out ofthose indicted by theICC, “99% are Africans”,Mr Hailemariam added.

“This shows somethingis flawed within thesystem of the ICC and weobject to that,” he said.

France calls for action againstIslamists in southern Libya

•Kenya’s PresidentUhuru Kenyatta

FRANCE yesterdayurged African nations

to make a concerted effortto tackle a growingIslamist threat in thedeserts of southern Libya.

French ForeignMinister Laurent Fabius,speaking on a visit toNiger where suicidebombers attacked aFrench-run uranium minelast week, said there weresigns that Libya’s lawlesssouth was becoming a safehaven for Islamist groupsin the Sahara.

“It seems we must make

Woolwich: Suspectleaves hospital

THE 22-year-old manarrested on

suspicion of the murder ofDrummer Lee Rigby hasbeen discharged fromhospital and arrested onsuspicion of anotheroffence.

Michael Adebowalewas taken into custody ata south London policestation on Tuesday, sixdays after the killing inWoolwich, London.

He was arrested on the

suspicion of the attemptedmurder of a police officer.

He will be interviewedby the Met CounterTerrorism Command.

Mr Adebowale andfellow suspect inDrummer Rigby’s killingMichael Adebolajo, 28,were shot and injured bypolice at the scene nearWoolwich Barracks onWednesday.

They have been underpolice guard in hospital.

fuelled violence afterdisputed elections in2007.

Analysts say thecharges bolstered hiscampaign in this year’spoll, as many voters sawthe trial as interference in

a special effort onsouthern Libya - which isalso what Libya wants,”Fabius said after meetingNiger PresidentMahamadou Issoufou.“We spoke about theinitiatives whichneighboring countries cantake in liaison withLibya.”

A five-month French-led military campaignbroke Islamists’ hold overthe northern two-thirds ofMali, killing hundreds ofal Qaeda-linked fightersand pushing others into

neighboring states.Niger has said the

Islamists who carried outThursday’s twin attackson an Areva mine and amilitary barracks, whichkilled 25 people hadcrossed the border fromLibya. Tripoli has deniedthis.

Fabius, who travels toMali on Tuesday, saidefforts to address theproblem in southern Libyawould need support fromTunisia, Algeria, Chad,Mali and Egypt.

Mixed reactions greet EU armsembargo lift on Syria

DISPUTES betweenRussia and the West

over arming warring sidesin Syria on Tuesdaydimmed prospects forpeace talks that were alsoclouded by disarrayamong President Basharal-Assad’s political foes.

As Western nationsdebate what action, if any,they should take on Syria,Assad’s main allies ,Russia, Iran andLebanon’s Shi’iteHezbollah group havebeen closing ranks behindhim.

Russia, which hasprotected Assaddiplomatically since theSyrian uprising erupted inMarch 2011, said it woulddeliver an advanced S-300air defense system toDamascus despite U.S.,French and Israeliobjections, arguing that itwould help deter“hotheads” intent on

intervention in the conflict.Moscow also accused

the European Union of“throwing fuel on the fire”and directly damaging thechances of convening apeace conference byletting its own armsembargo on Syria expire.

France and Britain, theEU’s strongest militarypowers and most ardentadvocates of scrapping theembargo, said they had notyet decided to arm Syrianrebels, but did not have todelay such action until EUforeign ministers nextmeet on August 1.

Vanguard, WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013 ————— 85 85 85 85 85

,

,

,

,

HAD Nigeria, like Britain, an unwrittenconstitution, no one would know ours

is officially a secular country. Everypolitician not only wears his or herrighteousness like the mark of Cain on theforehead but is also a lay pastor or imam.Imagine, then, my delight at seeing in theMay 23, 2013 issue of Premium Times theheadline, “Pilgrimage to Jerusalem,Mecca is a Luxury that Edo Will notSubsidise – Oshiomhole.” Nigeria —going by its church-and-mosque density— is quite possibly the holiest patch ofearth under God’s infinite sky. Don’t takemy word for it. On a bright morning, countthe number of churches in your street —preferably in the Lagos metropolitan area.(Churches, since Pentecostalism bestrepresents the phoney idea of piety as themultiplication of houses of worship.) Ortake a ride along that stretch of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway just outside Lagos nowtaken over by the holy tabernacles of athousand and one faiths. Particularly atthe time of an All-night Vigil, DeliveranceService, Breaking the Yoke of Satan,Possessing Your Possessions, etc. At the endof the exercise, you will wonder why Godhas yet to appear in a burning bush andcommand us to never wear sandals or shodour feet in any way on his holiest plot ofearth.

So holy is our country that its currentpresident regularly goes to prostratehimself before a Daddy Overseer, who, tohim, is the personal representative of God.So holy that every politician, riggedelections and stolen billionsnotwithstanding, assures us that he or shewas specially anointed into office by Godand promptly donates a church to him in

Who should pay the pilgrim’spassage to paradise?

thanksgiving. So holy that God’s warriorsup North have no compunction spillingthe blood of infidel and faithful alike,child or adult, to establish his beneficentrule.

Yet the irony is striking: The more piouswe are, the more profane and decadentour actions. Even when, for instance, thefaithful perform the supposedly solemnduty of a pilgrimage. As I understand it,the Hajj, the fifth pillar of Islam, isobligatory only upon those Muslims ableto afford it in physical and financial terms.Moreover, it need only be performed atleast once in the able faithful’s lifetime.But not so for the pious Nigerian who turnspilgrimage to tourism in order to boastthe appellation of Double—and I suppose,Triple, Quadruple, etc. — Al-Haji and twoor more gold teeth upon return home.

Speaking of spiritual tourism, it wouldseem that is now part and parcel of theChristian pilgrimage. No surprise, sincethere is no Biblical justification for it.Consequently, the municipal authoritiesof Jerusalem treat the whole affair as abusiness. We have it on the authority of apilgrim, Pastor Mathew Obaze, who,according to another report in PremiumTimes (22 December 2012), bewailed thecommercialisation of the ritual. ‘’TheIsraelis,” he claimed, take “advantage ofpeople coming into their country.” Theysee the pilgrims’ mission not from the loftyheight of spiritual uplift but from a lowly“tourist perspective”. As for the Nigerianpilgrims, too many of them tend to be“carried away” by the things they see,“things that we don’t have in our country”.

And it is precisely in order to providethose material things that make our

pilgrims gape,gawk and shopin the holylands, ratherthan devotethemselves topraise andprayer, thatG o v e r n o rA d a mOshiomholeannounced to officials of the NigerianChristian Pilgrims Commission hisdecision to stop subsidising pilgrimages.Displaying a clear understanding of what

the separation of state and religion trulymeans in practice, Oshiomhole preached,as it were, a secular sermon to hisrighteous guests. A pilgrimage, he toldthem, is “a luxury” and he would not spendtaxpayers’ money on it. A poor man “whohas no roof over his head,” he said,“cannot be spiritually uplifted if he goesto Israel and returns to a state ofhomelessness.”

Besides, “only [a] clean heart,” and nota pilgrimage, will decide the believer ’splace in the after-life. He would much

rather subsidise education, healthcare,productive ventures “central to the survivalof the people”.

But Oshiomhole is not alone inseparating state and religion, even if onlyeconomically. Governor RabiuKwankwaso has reportedly saved the God-fearing people of Kano State one billionnaira by not sponsoring pilgrims. Not tobe outdone by his brother governor ininvoking the poor, he announced this actof fiscal responsibility at an event inmemory of Mallam Aminu Kano, theavowed champion of the talakawa.Kwankwaso will not spend “monies meantfor developing the state . . . on fewindividuals” when education,transportation and health are cryingneeds. For which sinful reason, the faithful“prayed against” him. How God hates thepoor who cannot go on luxuriouspilgrimages!

Allah’s mercies on Oshiomhole andKwankwaso on this score, I say. In acountry that has lost all sense of reason toa virulent, poverty-driven and politically-manipulated concept of religion, the twogovernors deserve commendation. “Thereis nowhere Islam allows for the removingof public funds to sponsor individuals onpilgrimages,” says Kwankwaso.Admission to heaven or hell, if thescriptures are right, is strictly on personalmerit. The state, a collective entity, has nobusiness paying the pilgrim’s passage toparadise.

THE brutal murder of Britishsoldier, Lee Rigby, by two

religious terrorists on May 22 isthe immediate trigger for thisweek’s column. The murder whichfor its sheer brutality has beenrightly identified for the barbaricact that it was has left manywondering what kind of hatredcould have caused it. It was athrowback to the age of tribal warsand battles when relatively crudeimplements were the preferredweapons of offence. The attackersmomentarily turned a space in the21st century into the age of headhunters when alike sharp and bluntknives and machetes came inhandy as tribal groups tackle theirenemies. And so it was that Rigby’sattackers, one of whom has beenidentified as Michael Adebolajo(Adeboloja?), a Briton of Nigeriandescent, set upon their victim withmachetes, knives and a meatcleaver. While meat cleavers maynot be very familiar sight here inNigeria, anyone who has seen oneof these instruments of Britishbutchers would know what horror

Preaching hate in the nameof free speech

was enacted on the streets ofWoolwich, the southeast Londoncommunity, where Rigby washacked down in broad day lightand before moving cameras.

To make their gory job easier andin apparent recognition of howuneasy it would be to take on asoldier straight on knuckle forknuckle, these terrorists who triedto pass off their ignoble acts as onemotivated in defence of theirreligion, had two things in theirfavour. One was surprise. Theother thing was that they ran theirvictim down with a vehicle therebyseizing the unfair advantage asthey, these cowardly terroristsalways do. They proceeded to puton a performance for the cameraswith their bloody hands and clothesin full view while asking outragedpassersby to take their picturesand/or call in the police. Well, thesereligious showmen never like topass up any photo opportunity.Where they do not exist they createthem- they simply must have theirtime in the spotlight no matter howbrief.

In the wake of the attack, Muslimleaders in the UK and around theworld have been loud incondemning a terrible murder theyclaim gives a bad name to theirreligion. They want the world tobelieve and accept that theirreligion is all about peace. Thismay well be the case but theseleaders need to ask themselves whyone religion spawns so manymurderous elements from withinits fold or creates room for peoplewho use its name to perpetrateunspeakable evil. The answer tothis may not be so difficult to arriveat giving the kind of utterancessome of these so-called leadersroutinely spout. The increasingand misleading radicalisation ofMuslim youths may not beunconnected to the rhetoric of hatesome of the people who speak asleaders of their religion adopt

when addressing sensitive issues ofreligion. They make it look like thereligion is always in need ofdefenders whose only means ofoperation is violence. We see andhear these in the utterances of someof these self-styled leaders of fastmushrooming organisations thattheir founders routinely use asplatforms for spreading hatefulrhetoric.

With Nigeria and Nigeriansincreasingly appearing on

the world stage as terror artiststhere is the need for the state andthose genuine Muslims who cantruly see what moral burden theirreligion is being put under to bebold in their condemnation of theactivities and, especially,utterances of their members andothers who simply use the name ofthe religion for their ownpurposes. One such organisationin my view is the Muslim RightsConcern, MURIC, whose so-calleddirector, Is-haq Lakin Akintola,has attacked the Lagos Stategovernor and the State’sCommissioner of Education,Olayinka Oladunjoye, asdeclaring war against Muslimsfor restricting use of hijab in publicschools in the state. Mr. Akintolahas probably never witnessed a riotto say nothing of a war yet hemakes perfunctory statements onwar as if he is ready for one. Hisbelligerent rhetoric, as reported inthe Vanguard of May 23 is the stuffon which murderous elements likeAdeboloja are weaned. ( Andtalking about Adebolajo, it is rightthat Nigerians should reject anyattempt to link him to this country.He may be of Nigerian descent buthe is a British product whoprobably has never set his foot onany part of Nigeria. Nigerians arein my view within their rights to

reject any link with this scum ofthe human species. We can dowithout the negative publicity fromhim and his likes).

When acts or policies people areopposed to are viewed in martialterms, as belligerent actionstargeted at particular groups/religions or communities ratherthan issues that could be debatedamicably, members of such groupsor communities, especially thelunatic fringe, feel justified tolaunch what they considerappropriate acts of war inretaliation. The process for suchradicalisation is often subtle andsubliminal but the consequencesare not. The attackers of Rigbyclaimed they wanted to start a war.Indeed Michael Adebolajo hasbeen described as quiet andeasygoing. The same thing weheard about Umar FaroukAbdulmutallab, the Nigerianunderwear bomber, who tried toblow up American planes a fewyears back.

When did people like these get tothat tipping point when theybelieve they have to commitabominable acts of terror againstdefenceless people if not byconstant exposure to the hatefulutterances of so-called religiousleaders who turn around, PontiusPilate-style, to wash their hands offviolent acts their utterancescaused? There have been too manyhateful preachers in our midst inrecent times all making glibpronouncements on war- fromAsari Dokubo, the expired militiaman who blows hot and cold in hisattitude to the Jonathanadministration, to the cowardlyterrorists who have turnedNorthern Nigeria into a war zone.This now is time to rein in thesepreachers of hate before they bringthe house down on us all.

The increasingand misleadingradicalisation ofMuslim youthsmay not beunconnected tothe rhetoric ofhate some of thepeople whospeak as leadersof their religionadopt whenaddressingsensitive issuesof religion

Admission toheaven or hell, ifthe scriptures areright, is strictly onpersonal merit; thestate, a collectiveentity, has nobusiness paying thepilgrim’s passage toparadise


L-R: Dayo Babatunde, Financial Sector Leader for West Africa; Bunmi Akinde, Senior Partner, Advisory; Bisi Sanda,Transaction Advisory Services Leader for West Africa and Adekunle Salau, Advisory Leader for West Africa, at the formalpresentation of its Private Equity Survey Report to the media in Lagos.

THE Lagos State government has declared

its readiness to partner withthe Chartered Institute ofPersonnel Management ofNigeria (CIPM) on humanresource management.

Lagos State Head of Ser-vice, Mr. AdesegunOgunlewe, made the dec-laration during the investi-ture of Mr. Victor Famuyiboas the 16th President/Chairman of Council ofCIPM, noting that humanresource management hasnot been given its rightfulplace in the public service.

“If you employ human re-source officer in the publicservice today, they look atyou and ask what is he talk-ing about. We have plansto train and give certifica-tion to our staff. Lagos stateis about partnering withCIPM on human resourcemanagement because hu-man resource has lost itsrightful place in the civilservice and we are not giv-ing it the right focus,”Ogunlewe said.

Earlier in his acceptancespeech, Famuyibo said thathis tenure will build on thelegacy left behind by theimmediate past president.“I will be a game changerand not a gate keeper. Thepresent success of the in-stitute would not have beenpossible without the lead-ership of the outgoingPresident, Mr. AbiolaPopoola. With the supportof my team, we will striveto push the transformationagenda of the institute evenfurther,” he said.

Famuyibo pledged hiscommitment to deliver onthe following projects: ac-creditation of the instituteto award professional di-ploma; timely completion ofthe millennium buildingproject; expand theinstitute’s financial baseand; foster strategic alli-ance with internationalorganisations or agenciesand also pay attention totalent attraction and reten-tion. “I have alwaysadopted the service beforeself method and it is on thiscourse that I accepted toserve in the institute and Ipromise not to disappoint,”he asserted.

power the exchange to identifyand harness storage facilitiesacross the country to aid the op-erations of a privatisedASCE. NCP also noted the im-portance of engaging stake-holder-agencies and develop-ment partners in vital discussionson the necessary reform pro-cesses and strategy for theprivatisation of the Exchange.

Members of the Steering Com-mittee include: CoordinatingMinister of the Economy andMinister of Finance; and Minis-ters of National Planning, Agri-culture & Rural Developmentand Communication Technology.Others are Governor of CentralBank of Nigeria; Director-Gen-eral of the Bureau of Public En-terprises and Director General ofthe Securities & Exchange Com-mission. Meanwhile, the BPEhas commenced work on bills toopen up the nation’s transportsector for private investors to buildinfrastructure facilities and runthem.

The D-G of the agency, Mr.Benjamin Dikki, disclosed this ata reception organised in hishonour by friends, in Abuja. “Weare working on bills on the trans-port sector - Roads bills, Inlandwaterways bills, Ports andHarbour bills. We want to makeit conducive for the private sec-tor to invest.

holders’ funds arising from op-erating losses; lack of sector in-frastructure like standardised si-los and warehouses to store com-modities and generate the ware-house receipts that could betraded on the Exchange; the ab-sence of enabling laws to guidethe operation of Warehousing Re-ceipt System (WRS); and the lackof patronage by privateorganisations and relevant gov-ernment agencies.

Extensivedeliberation

“However after extensive de-liberations, Council adopted coreinvestor privatisation as the strat-egy for revitalising the Com-modities Exchange”. He re-vealed that the BPE has alreadycommenced work to ensure thatthe privatisation of ASCE wasimplemented in a manner thatwould meet the intention of theFederal Government for the Ex-change to enjoy sustainablegrowth and add value to theGross Domestic Product, GDP. Amajor strategy being adopted tostimulate the exchange was theeffort towards the passage of theWarehousing Receipt System,WRS, Bill. The Bill which wasapproved by the Federal Execu-tive Council in 2010 would em-

Privatisation, NCP, at the Presi-dential Villa, Abuja, last week.

Minister of Industry, Trade andInvestments, Mr. OlusegunAganga, was appointed chair-man of the Steering Committeeon the privatisation and chargedwith determining the best way ofrunning the Exchange. ASCEhas not been able to become op-erational twelve years after its es-tablishment owing to what itsmanagement claimed was poorfunding by the federal govern-

ment.Head of Public Com-

munications of the Bu-reau of Public Enter-prises, BPE, Mr.Chigbo Anichebe, saidthat a privatised ASCEwould provide stableprices and a sure mar-ket for all agriculturalproduce locally and in-ternationally as well asguarantee employmentfor millions of Nigeriansand provide raw mate-rials for industrial pro-duction.

According to him,“NCP observed thatASCE had witnessedvarious operationalchallenges arising frominadequate equity base;impairment of share-

THE federal governmenthas set up a Steering

Committe to oversee theprivatisation of the Abuja Secu-rities and CommoditiesExchange, ASCE. A decision tothis effect was taken at the meet-ing of the National Council on

CURRENCY BUYING CENTRAL SELLING

CBN Exchange rate as at 28/05/2013

102.50 -0.1493.65 -0.50

127.15 -2.9

2,250.00 -33.00

16.87 0.11

DOLLAR 154.74 155.24 155.74POUNDS 233.9359 234.6918 235.4477EURO 200.1871 200.834 201.4808FRANC 160.7187 161.2381 161.7574YEN 1.5319 1.5369 1.5418CFA 0.285 0.295 0.305WAUA 230.0661 230.8095 231.5529RENMINBI 25.2785 25.3606 25.4427RIYA 41.2607 41.394 41.5273KRONA 26.8492 26.936 27.0227SDR 231.3672 232.1148 232.8624

FG sets up committee on AbujaCommodities Exchange privatisation

By EMMA UJAH,Abuja Bureau Chief

Lagos topartner CIPM onHR management

By PROVIDENCEOBUH

Vanguard,WEDNESDAY, MAY 29, 2013—87

THE first two parts on the abovesubject were published in this

column on 15 May and 22 May 2013.Essentially, we have been consideringthe fallout from the judgement of theInvestments and Securities Tribunal, IST,in respect of an originating application,case no IST/LA/OA/20/2010, brought bythe Securities and ExchangeCommission, SEC, against Union Bankof Nigeria Plc – UBN and 19 others.

The last nine pages of this judgment isa must-read for all the authorities, namely,Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, the AssetsManagement Corporation of Nigeria,AMCON, the Corporate AffairsCommission, CAC, the Nigerian StockExchange, NSE and SEC. This last partof the judgement gives an idea of howpersons outside the operational circles ofthese authorities view the regulatoryprocesses now in place. It was indicatedin the judgement that securities areunlike consumer goods for which goodsthe consumers are protected againstdangerous articles and unfair pricingpractices amongst other things. Securitiesregulation must ensure that investorshave an accurate idea of what they arebuying and there must be a continuousflow of information about companieswhose securities are traded on theexchange. Securities laws must alsocontain provisions prohibiting a varietyof fraudulent, manipulative or deceptivepractices.

This case is an example of the successof civil recovery under the Investmentsand Securities Act, ISA, 2007. TheBanking and Other Financial InstitutionsAct, BOFIA, at Section 20 indicates thatall the directors of a bank shall be liablejointly and severally to indemnify thebank against any loss arising from anyunsecured advances, loans or creditfacilities granted to fellow directors andassociates as defined in Section 20subsection 2a but the remedy for non-compliance is criminal prosecution. Giventhe difficulties that the CBN has had withrecoveries through criminal prosecution,one hopes the CBN will seek a review ofBOFIA, and in the process add civilrecovery procedures for the recovery ofloans and advances for which loans andadvances bank directors and officials arethe beneficiaries.

The CAC has a role to play in therestoration of the rights of UBNshareholders. The CAC should ensurethat UBN is in compliance with theCompanies and Allied Matters Act,CAMA. CAMA has been enacted inorder to ensure that companies ownedby several persons can be run efficientlyby a Board of Directors and such that theowners and society as a whole wouldbenefit. The CAC should not continue toignore the fact that UBN purchased itsown shares in November 2007 and thatthe purchased shares are still in UBN’spossession.

The Nigerian Stock Exchange has asurveillance unit for monitoring tradingactivities and to guard against pricemanipulations. The unit was not in placein 2007. The judgement of the IST in SEC

A Shareholders’ View on SECvs UBN and 19 Others (Part 3)

vs. UBN and 19 others should lead theNSE to include in its rules andregulations the payment ofcompensation to persons who purchaseor sell a particular security when pricemanipulation has been established forthe particular security. ISA 2007 Part XI-Trading in Securities, Section 105 to 116,provides for payment of compensationin situations where there are falsetrading and market rigging transactions.

The judgement of the IST in the casestated that the essential objective of allsecurities laws is to protect those whodo not know market conditions from theover reaching of those who know. Inother to give this protection, SEC isempowered to take far reachingremedial and preventive actions againstprohibited conduct. The NSE recentlypenalized three of its members for pricemanipulations. The NSE should carryout a study to determine for each member

the number of trades that would qualifyfor compensation over a six-monthperiod from the date the pricemanipulations took place. The NSEshould make the results of the studyavailable to its members so that themembers may appreciate what level ofcompensation they may face if theyindulge in price manipulations.

If the appeals courts sustain thisjudgement, it would imply that amember or members of the NSE gavetheir support to the UBN. The NSEshould also include in its rules andregulations the implications of a similarfuture occurrence in which any of itsmembers are found to be involved.

SEC and its counsel have done wellto bring this matter thus far and onehopes the distractions of the momentwould not prevent SEC from beingrepresented before the Court of Appeal.The judgement shows that detection offalse trading and market riggingtransactions are best done within a shorttime frame from when the transactionsmight have taken place. The judgementmakes an implied recommendation atpage 60 as follows: “If exact informationwere obtainable at negligible cost, wewould not hesitate to impose upon SECa strict burden to produce the data tomeasure the precise amount of ill-gottengains”. This is a call for SEC to have itsown computer systems for monitoringthe securities markets.

…. CONCLUDED

CHAIRMAN of the InvestorProtection Fund (IPF) Board, Mr.

Gamaliel Onosode, has admonishedstockbrokers to imbibe integrity andbroking ethics, saying that it is the onlyway to succeed in the profession.

Onosode, who stated this during a bellringing ceremony on the floor of theNigerian Stock exchange to mark his 80th

birthday on Monday, also urged thebrokers not to sacrifice integrity andprofessionalism for short-livedgratification.

His words, “All I can say by way ofadvice is, please render quality serviceand you will find out that you cannot help,but make money, but don’t be driven bythe love of money because the love of

Onosode tasks brokers on integritymoney is the root of all evil.”

“Walk along the road because you believeit is the right way to walk and if you arerendering quality service, you will find outthat there is money to be made at the endof the road,” he added.

“I can testify to the fact that I have neverlacked. I can provide reasonable evidencethat there have not been any change inmy life style between 1958 and 2012. Thegood experiences I have had can be thesame experience of each and every one ofyou”

“I thank God that I have lived areasonably normal life, normal health andwith my mental capacity still reasonablyintact, so that I can appreciate thecontributions that people like you aremaking in order to restore the glory of yourprofession,” Onasode said.

• L – R: Chief Executive Officer, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE), Mr. Oscar Onyema;Chairman of the Investor Protection Fund (IPF) Board, Mr. Gamaliel Onosode andExecutive Director, Market Operations Technology, NSE, Mr. Ade Bajomo at the BellRinging Ceremony in commemoration of Mr. Onosode’s 80th birthday celebration.

BY WILLIAM JIMOH

,, If exact

information wereobtainable at

negligible cost, we wouldnot hesitate to impose

upon SEC a strict burdento produce the data tomeasure the preciseamount of ill-gotten

gains


DIARY

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Artificial

trees remove

CO2 from air

A NEW breed ofartificial trees

able to scrub carbondioxide from the aircould help to reducegreenhouse gaspollution.

Developed byKlaus Lackner ofColumbia Universi-ty, the air filteringdevice featuresstrands of a resin-based material thatattracts the CO2and binds to it—capturing thecarbon dioxidedirectly from the airand creating bicar-bonate salt.

Lackner estimatesit could take asmany as 10 million‘artificial trees’ tolower the atmos-pheric CO2 concen-trations by 0.5ppmper year. The CO2can also be releasedat will by addingwater to the materi-al, which couldmake it useful as away to supply CO2to greenhouseplants in order tohelp ensure healthyplant growth.

BY EMEKA AGINAM

Continues on page 89Continues on page 89

Local content policy'll drivegrowth, says Obasanjo

BY EMMA ELEBEKE

‘Mobilesubscriberpopulationto exceed9 bn by2018’

TELECOM analystshave said that the

world mobile subscriptionwill hit the all time highof 9.3 billion by 2018.

This they said is as aresult of the explosion inthe number of mobile tech-nology users, especiallyin Africa.

According to them, Af-rica has played a largerole in reaching these im-pressive growth records,with the phenomenal ICTexplosion that is beingwitnessed across theworld, describing Africaas the continent with theworld's fastest mobilephone users.

With this development,even the more advancednetwork solutions are re-quired to meet the de-mand for superior per-formance, and the natu-ral solution for operatorsis to sign managed serv-ices contracts with part-ners that assume respon-sibility for activities suchas operating and manag-ing their networks.

It is against this back-drop that ERICSSONsays it is embarking onpioneering the develop-ment of an ExperienceCentric Managed Servic-es model.

The model it said, offersoperators benefits such ascontinuous service im-provement, reduced timeto market, access to tech-nical competence, and ashared focus on user ex-perience. The end resultis satisfied users, lowersubscriber churn rates,higher average revenueper user and a more cost-efficient operation.

Speaking on thisdevelopment, theExecutive Vice Presidentand Head of BusinessUnit Global Services ofEricsson, MagnusMandersson, says: "We'revery proud to have passedthe 1 billion subscribermilestone, as this confirmsour leadership in man-aged services. Weachieved this goal byearning the trust of our

FORMER president,Chief Olusegun

Obasanjo has commend-ed the courage and dog-gedness of Mrs FlorenceSeriki as an entrepreneurin the nation's fledglingIT industry despite ofgruelling challenges,saying that the localcontent policy, if wellimplemented, will drivespontaneous growth of thenational economy.

Local content advocacyachieved front burner sta-tus during Chief Obasan-

able to weather the stormand bring the companyback to reckoning.

“Omatek’s new factory isa physical example ofwhat a man can do, awoman can do better. Iwant to congratulate andcommend you because Iknow this organizationhas gone through longchallenges of finance, andyou have endured. I knowthe history of thiscompany and I know thedifficulties it has faced inthe last few years,” hesaid.

According to him, it was

is how other countriesthat are self-sufficienttoday started,” he said.

He said that Omatekhas proved beyond allreasonable doubt that thebest thing to happen tothis country is the devel-opment of local contentpolicy which is capable ofdeveloping the localeconomy. “Our localcontent policy should befor every thing that isproduced in this country;and you have provedbefore us that you arecapable of developinglocal content,” he added.

Chief Obasanjo urgedthe banking sector to riseto the ocassion and sup-port this policy by givingthe needed support to theSmall and Medium ScaleEnterprises (SMEs).

To bankers, the formerpresident said: “If youshould do what you oughtto have done, this countrywould move faster than itis,” he said. “If they dothis, they will improvebecause the money thatlocal industries makegoes back to them. And ifthey now become majorproducers of what theyare doing in Nigeria, WestAfrica and in Africagenerally and export toother parts of the world,all the money would stillgo to the Nigerian banks

for development.”Obasanjo also noted that

Nigerian banks haverealised that one of theways to remain in thebusiness is when theyhelp the SMEs to do bet-ter, because a bank that isnot helping others, a bankthat is not helpingproduction, is not helpingitself.

“I believe that with theconsolidation of banks, wenow have stronger banks,strong enough to be moreadventurous to help thegrowth of entrepreneursin the country.

Strongerbanks

He specifically com-mended the Bank of In-dustry (BoI) on itsachievement in helpingthe economy to growthrought its proactiveresponse to the plight ofthe SMEs in the country.“We must enhance ourproduction; we must en-courage local productionand we must also patron-ise our local products,” hesaid. “Bank of Industryhas taken the responsibil-ity of helping theindustries, also because ithas more funds. Theyneed to do more locally

I want to congratulate andcommend you because I knowthis organization has gonethrough long challenges offinance, and you have en-dured

DRAGNET BRIEFING: From left, Emmanuel Eloisa, Head of Business, Dragnet Screening Services;Robert Ikazoboh, Managing Director; Arek Bawa, Chief Operating Officer; Baba Ikazoboh, Head,Biometrica International, all of Dragnet Solutions Limited during a special media parley held in Lagos.

EDITED by Adekunle Adekoya

�Lauds Omatek's doggedness in the IT sector

jo's eight-year tenure asPresident.

Chief Obasanjo madethis remark when he vis-ited Omatek’s new facto-ry in Oregun, Lagos, andnoted the challenges thecompany has gonethrough in the last fewyears. He expressed hap-piness that Mrs Seriki, anengineer who isManaging Director ofOmatek Ventures was

Nigeria and all stake-holders in the economybegan the process ofbackward integration.

“I believe that we needto now check the processof backward integration,so that if it is only whatwe produce locally thatwill make us providemore jobs for the unem-ployed, let us begin to en-courage our own local in-dustries,” he said. “This


Draft PKI blueprint coming soon, says Angaye

Local contentpolicy'll drivegrowth, saysObasanjo

AS part of the federalgovernment effort to

chart a new course for theemergence of a digitaleconomy, the NationalInformation TechnologyDevelopment Agency,(NITDA) will soon comeout with a comprehensivedocument on public keyinfrastructure blueprintfor Nigeria.

A public key infrastruc-ture is a collection of se-curity technologies, pro-cedures, processes, andpolicies that collectivelyprovide a framework foraddressing, using cryp-tography, the fundamen-tal security issues of poli-cy, authentication, integ-rity, non repudiation andaccess control in datacommunication.

WhenimplementedThe blueprint, when ful-

ly implemented, accord-ing to NITDA DirectorGeneral, Prof. CleopasAngaye at the just con-cluded public presenta-tion of the draft PKI heldin Lagos last week wouldsatisfy the yearning andaspiration of the industryand provide a launchingpad for the eventualemergence of digitaleconomy which many be-lieve was long overdue.The second workshop waspart of the ongoing en-

BY EMEKA AGINAM

and encourage the devel-opment of Nigerianproducers to export Nige-rian products.”

President Obasanjopraised President Good-luck Jonathan’s adminis-tration’s efforts at sustain-ing some of the policiesof his administration.


gagement to evolve anacceptable blueprint forthe implementation of PKIin Nigeria.

BenefitsAccording to the DG,

some of the benefits of KPIimplementation will in-clude the following:�Creation of digital sig-

natures which is evidenceof who did what to whom",that is critical to electron-ic transactions carryinghigh legal risks or com-pliance requirements�PKI when integrated

into smart-cards is recog-nized as "the only practi-cal solution [to eaves-dropping and account hi-jacking] today."�Digital certificates can

convey authority informa-tion like credentials, li-censes, affiliations amongothers - and digital signa-tures bind that authorityinformation directly tomessages, to decentralizeand greatly simplify trans-action processing.�PKI digital signatures

are persistent over bothtime and "distance".

At essentially any futuretime, a digitally signedtransaction can be easilyre-validated to detectwhere it originated.

*The integrity of digit-ally signed data is not re-duced by being copied orforwarded across systemsor across borders.

“So PKI is uniquely suit-ed to complex transactionenvironments, where

there might be multiplerelying parties, structureddata, formal authoriza-tions, and/or long life-times. KPI is the onlytechnology that satisfiesthe privacy authenticationintegrity and non repudi-ation principle of securi-ty' he said.

Areas of PKIapplicationPKI enabled applica-

tions, document manage-ment system, online linevat returns, registration,e-procurement, import/export community/cus-toms, police, judiciarydetails, online tax filling,land records, online/mo-bile banking and educa-tion , according to Angayeare some of the areas ofapplication of KPI tech-nology.

“Nigeria cannot be leftbehind in this emergingscenario especially if weintend to realize the goalof vision 20 2020 which isto be among the top 20economies in the world bythe year 2020 and alsowith rate of uncontrolledin the use of cyberspacefor communication, trans-action etc, it has becomebecome imperative to de-velop a sustainable andsecure platform for cyberaccessibility, securedtransaction and credibleidentity” he explained.

EVERY time Ipause and thinkabout the state of

affairs in my dear coun-try, I simply end up de-spairing, even though Iknow I should be optimis-tic. Indeed, I am optimis-tic, for when there is life,there is hope. It is thishope that one day, Nigeriawill get it right that keepsme, and I guess, millionsof others going.

We are a blessed coun-try. Whichever way any-one wants to look at it, weare blessed. We havethousands and thousandsof kilometres of arableland, even though foodhere is still costly. Wehave many minerals thateven the superpowers are

things, like endlessqueues at embassies ofwestern nations for visas,the unending drug trade,kidnappings, robberies,ritual killings, and a le-gion of other woes.

In other words, we havefailed woefully to appre-ciate that which is ours, orgrow with that which isours, what our “ogas at thetop”call local content.

But I am strongly con-vinced that all along,even those who draftedthe local content policy donot believe in it. Thosealso charged with imple-menting it equally do notbelieve in it. If they did,they would not sit in of-fices cooled with air-con-ditioners from South-East

Local content, lip service

envious of. Butwe have chosento focus only oil,while bucca-neers take careof the rest.Even the oil, thenation shareswith pirates.And then, themost importantresource anynation musthave, humanresources. Thatwe also have inabundance. Ni-gerians, which-ever points ofthe compassthey come from,are engineers,m a t h e m a t i -cians, archi-tects, doctors, economists,historians, name it. Butsince we don’t value themat home, they are in thediaspora enriching othernations.

What is clear, and whichit seems all Nigeriansagree on is that of all theresources a nation needsto grow, Nigeria has al-most all, except one. Youknow what I am talkingabout.

It is the lack of this par-ticular resource that hasgenerated all the prob-lems we are grapplingwith. It is the reason whynationals of this countrywill spend more than N90billion in 2012 educatingtheir children in a neigh-bouring country; it is why,despite acreages of arableland nationwide we spentmore than N98 trillionimporting food between2007 to 2011. It is also thereason why, despite theoccurrence of limestone inleviathan proportions inmany parts of the coun-try, we still import morethan N30 billion worth ofcement annually. It is thereason for so many other

Asia, theywould notwear Italians h o e s ,French suits,or write withpens made infar away Eng-land. Theyalso wouldnot use com-puters whoseh a r d w a r eand softwarecome fromSilicon Val-ley. Justahead of the2011 elec-tions, Presi-dent Good-luck Jonath-an isued aBuy Nigeria

directive, announced byInformation Minister La-baran Maku. Since then,how many offices in thePresidency parade made-in-Nigeria computers?How many banks in Ni-geria run software devel-oped in Nigeria?

Now the 2015 electionsare coming, and politi-cians are already at eachothers’ throats over anelection that is at least 22months away. For thatelection — watch it —INEC will submit a gar-gantuan bill. How muchof that will end up in thepockets of foreigners?The National IdentityManagement Commis-sion recently awarded acontract to MasterCard. Ifwe believe in local con-tent, shouldn’t local cardfirms have been givenright of first refusal oversuch?

Our OEMs are strug-gling for survival, and inthe face of massive unem-ployment, especially ofyouths, can’t we use thelocal content policy to gen-erate employment?

The NationalIdentity Man-agement Com-

mission re-cently awarded

a contract toMasterCard. Ifwe believe inlocal content,

shouldn’t localcard firms have

been givenright of firstrefusal over

such?

�Prof. Cleopas Angaye, D-G, NITDA

‘Mobile subscriber population to exceed 9 bn'Continus from Page 88

customers with our high-performance operationsand processes and ourskilled people, which areat the heart of Ericsson'sservices business. Thismilestone is just one ofmany on the journey wehave undertaken. Thenext step is to make thetransition from tradition-al managed services toExperience Centric Man-aged Services."

With well over 15 yearsof experience in manag-ing multi-vendor andmulti-technology net-works, Mandersson saidEricsson industrializedthe concept of deliveringmanaged services for

multiple operatorsthrough outstanding Glo-bal Service Centers and astrong field service or-ganization.

Ericsson is also a lead-ing Managed Servicesprovider in Africa, a posi-tion that was strength-ened earlier this year At-lantique Telecom, part ofEtisalat Group, awardedher a five-year multi-country managed servic-es contract to span thecontinent.

‘‘This partnershipspreads across Westernand Central Africa andsupports Etisalat's focuson leading a new gener-ation of operations in Af-rica while supporting thecompany's value addedservices and offerings.Network operations havetraditionally been centralto the business of provid-ing communications serv-ices.

‘‘During the past dec-ade, however, this haschanged. In an age thathas seen the introductionof 3G, LTE (4G) and oth-er great innovations,many operators have cho-sen to appoint a vendorto manage either the newtechnology or the legacytechnology,’’ he stated.

To stand out from the

competition, the EricssonVice President said oper-ators need to focus onfinding new ways of driv-

ing business innovationand improving quality ofexperience for their cus-tomers.

TOP ICT firm, Sidmach Technologies

Nigeria Limited hasemerged as the winner inthe Indigenous softwarecompany of the yearcategory at the 2013Beacon of ICT awardsceremony.

Speaking on Sidmach’sprofile, Ken Nwogbo,publisher, Nigeria Com-munications Weekly andorganizers of the awardceremony described Sid-mach as a company thathas impacted positively inthe continuous delivery ofbest-in-class solutions tothe Nigerian market.

He said that the compa-ny has engendered pro-found changes in the wayICT is deployed to servethe average Nigerian.Among several feats, thecompany pioneered theuse of biometric technol-ogy for the registration,verification, and imple-mentation of examinationcandidates; implementa-

Sidmach Technologiesreceives awards

tion of the online resultverification system forWAEC and a host of oth-er solutions.

Earlier in his acceptancespeech on behalf of theBoard, Management andStaff of Sidmach Technol-ogies Nigeria Limited, theManaging Director, Mr.Hassan U. Alao, notedthat the ICT industry ismade up of great emerg-ing companies. He statedthat the award is a moti-vation to work harder anddeliver even better ICTsolutions and services toNigeria.

In his words, “I wish todedicate this award to theManagement and Staff ofSidmach, whose hardwork and dedication havemade this possible today.I also wish to thank ourpartners and customerswho have been our pillarsof inspiration. Your sup-port has been invaluableand we wish you well inyour endeavours”.


CMYK

CHANNELS CUP . . . Governor Fashola of Lagos State, Chief John Momoh (CEO Channels TV) andGovernor Emmanuel Uduaghan of Delta State and Amaju Pinnick during the presentation of trophyto Sheriff Obukowho Captain of Ogedegbe Primary School, Warri , winners of Channels National KidsFootball championship in Lagos. Photo; Henry Unini

DutcDutcDutcDutcDutch club th club th club th club th club to ofo ofo ofo ofo offload Ucfload Ucfload Ucfload Ucfload UcheheheheheDUTCH club VVV

Venlo are to off loadex-Nigeria U20 starUche Nwofor after theywere relegated.

After flirting withrelegation for severalseasons, VVV werefinally demoted to thelower league after theyfinished 17th on theDutch top flight table.

Life in the lowerleague means they canno longer cope with thewage bill theyshouldered while theywere up.

“Nwofor is one of thetop stars they will nowhave to let go after theywere relegated,” a topsource informedMTNFootball.com

VVV once paraded ahuge contingent ofNigeria players, but lastseason Alex Nkume’scontract was notrenewed, Ahmed Musadeparted to Russian clubCSKA Moscow, whileMichael Uchebo movedto Cercle Brugge inBelgium.

Nwofor joined themodest club in 2011months after he finishedtop scorer at the AfricanYouth Championship inSouth Africa, whichNigeria won.

He scored five goals in27 matches in his debutseason and scored eightgoals this past season.

He had turned downseveral bigger profiledclubs includingPortuguese giantsBenfica to sign for VVV.

LivLivLivLivLiverererererpool tpool tpool tpool tpool to sign Ko sign Ko sign Ko sign Ko sign Kolo Tolo Tolo Tolo Tolo ToureoureoureoureoureLIVERPOOL have

agreed a deal to signManchester Citydefender Kolo Toure.

The 32-year-old IvoryCoast international willmove to Anfield on 1July when his contract atEtihad Stadium expires.

Toure has made 102appearances for Citysince joining fromArsenal for £14m in July2009 and was part of theteam that won thePremier League in 2011-12.

But he played only 13games in 2012-13 andwas left out of the club’sChampions Leaguesquad.

Toure joins theMerseyside clubfollowing the retirementof fellow centraldefender JamieCarragher and withuncertainty over thefuture of Slovakiainternational MartinSkrtel.

Navy SailingClubcelebratesChildren’sDay

THE 2013 Children’sDay Celebration at

the Navy Sailing Club,Ojo was marked with a lotof water sport activities forchildren.

The children took partin 100 metersswimming(butterfly) boysand girls and kayak in U-5, U-9 and U-10.

In the 10 years andabove 100m swimmingrace, Abdulmalik Autabeat Daniel Yakwe andJasper Nyang to the firstplace while in the 10years girls and above forthe same distance RakiyaMomoh emerged topsahead of Chika Amadiand Blessing Momoh tothe third place.

In the Under 5 race, 4-year old Divine Momohhad a convincing winover Nine year oldVictoria Eyibio and 6-yearold Israel Akpanika whilethe the boys kayak race,Auta Sanusi finished firstplace as Ossai John andAuta Sa’ad came insecond and thirdresprectively while in thegirls category MomohJoy finished first ahead ofJanet david and IrondiLiberty.

On her part, the Guestof Honour and Mother ofthe Day and wife of theFlag OfficerCommanding WesternNaval Command, MrsMagarret Ibas expressedhappiness at the displayof the kiddies noting thatthey are the real future ofNigeria.Polo : Access Bank-UNICEF dangles

$20,000 for Charity ShieldBY SOLOMON NWOKE

SEVENTEEN Polo clubsfrom across the globe

are gearing up for thecontinent’s premium poloextravaganza as theannual Access BankUNICEF Charity ShieldPolo Tournament gallops offat the Fifth Chukker lawnsof Kangimi Resort inKaduna from May 29 toJune 9, 2013. The two-week long tournamentsponsored by Access BankPlc is in its 6th year running.

The polo fiesta which hasbeen the biggest sportingattraction in Nigeria and

indeed, in Africa for thepast six years promises tobe the most competitiveand exciting with a recordnumber of internationalstars from around theworld expected to vie forhonours.

Sponsored exclusively byAccess Bank Plc, itssponsorship of the multi-million Naira CharityShield was renewed foranother four years after theexpiration of the initialcontract in 2011; with ahandsome offer of TwentyThousand Dollars($20,000.00) as prize

money for the overallchampions and lots ofconsolation prizes forrunners up.

Speaking yesterday inLagos ahead of theprestigious tournament,the Executive Director,Personal Banking, AccessBank, Victor Etuokwu, saidthat proceed from sale ofmemorabilia at the annualtournament in addition tothe N5million donationfrom Access Bank Plc,would be used to supportUNICEF in its campaignagainst HIV AIDSpandemic”.

PRESENTATION: From left, Etisalat Regional Distribution Manager South-East, Francis Nnaike, team captain Shooting Stars of Ezeagu, Eze Remigius,Enugu Rangers Coach, Okey Emordi and Etisalat Manager Mass MarketSegment, Mr. Nnamdi Ezeani during Etisalat Easy Starter Football Fiesta inEnugu.

•Toure



RonContinues from B/P

content.“I don’t know if he has

an offer from PSG. Ithink Cristiano is thebest player in the world.

“We want to build theMadrid of the futurearound him and I wouldlike Cristiano to be thebest paid player in theworld.”

Real lost out to on thesigning of Brazilian aceNeymar to Barcelona atthe weekend.

And Perez added: “Ifwe had been able to signNeymar without alteringthe eco-system of theclub we would have butthere were too manyconditions attached.

“It would have cost us£130million. I don’tknow how much it costBarcelona.”

Perez wants ZinedineZidane to lead the clubinto a new era when JoseMourinho leaves at theend of the season.

The former France starplayed for Real between2001 and 2006 and wasnamed World Player ofthe Year three times.

His is currently Real’sdirector of football butPerez believes one dayhe will take over asmanager.

Paris Saint-Germainboss Carlo Ancelotti isthe favourite to replaceMourinho, who isreturning to Chelsea.

EaglesEaglesEaglesEaglesEaglesContinues from B/P

United States of America,and South Korea.

“We have a good teamwho have beenresponding to training.We will see how muchthey have learnt thusfar,” said the FlyingEagles German assistantcoach Jurgen Press.

Cote d’Ivoire havebeen the only Africanwinners of thistournament, when theywon it three years ago.

Mexico and Nigerialast clashed at U20 leveltwo years ago when theCONCACAF giantsdefeated the FlyingEagles 4-1 in anotherinvitational tournamentin Panama preparatoryto the 2011 U20 WorldCup in Colombia.

Six-time Africanchampions Nigeria willline up several playerslike U17 internationaldefender Wilfred Ndidi,S w i t z e r l a n d - b a s e dgoalkeeper Sebastian

Osigwe and newOlympiacos of Greecemidfielder MichaelOlaitan, who arepressing to make thefinal 21-man squad forTurkey 2013.

Enugu Rangers strikerAlhaji Gero is expectedto put behind the deathof his younger brotherthis week as he aims toguarantee his place inthe party to Turkeyfollowing the emergenceof Dolphins strikerSamuel Eduok as anattacking option for theteam.

Mexico are handled bythe experienced SergioAlmaguer and willparade FC Dallas of USAgoalkeeper SanchezAlcaraz along withplayers drawn fromseveral of the country’stop clubs like Pachuca,Monterrey, Atlas andCruz Azul.

To qualify for the 2013World Cup, Mexico won

five matches, scored 15goals and conceded onlya goal to emergeu n d i s p u t e dCONCACAF cham-pions.

Meanwhile, Organi-sers announced nofewer than 1512 fullinternationals havepassed through thisannual competition andthey include the likes ofDavid Beckham, FrankLampard (England),M a s c h e r a n o(Argentina), Kaka(Brazil), Oman Biyk(Cameroon), JamesRodrigues (Colombia),Kolo Toure, DidierZokora (Cote d’Ivoire)as well as LilianThuram, DidierDeschamps and NicolasAnelka (France).

It has proved to beveritable ground forclubs and scouts acrossthe world to watch first-hand promisingprospects in top-classaction.

Thrills as Ogwashi-Uku Seconday SchoolThrills as Ogwashi-Uku Seconday SchoolThrills as Ogwashi-Uku Seconday SchoolThrills as Ogwashi-Uku Seconday SchoolThrills as Ogwashi-Uku Seconday Schoollifliflifliflifts Gots Gots Gots Gots Govvvvvernor’s Cupernor’s Cupernor’s Cupernor’s Cupernor’s Cup

G O V E R N O RE m m a n u e l

Uduaghan jogged intothe Warri Stadium andelectrified the full house.Thousands of kidscheered. They were athome with him as he tooka lap of honor incelebration of Delta’ssuccesses in sports. Juston Children’s day inLagos on Monday hewatched his state team,Ogedegbe PrimarySchool win the ChannelsKids Cup at the samevenue he lifted theNational Sports Festivaltrophy last December.The event yesterday wasthe final of Delta State’sGovernor’s Cup.

It was a huge success.And when the crowdcheered his entry heappreciated them byjogging the more roundthe stadium apparentlyadding to the show thatthose who watch gameslive only enjoy.When the game startedthe boys thrilled andmade the crowd happier.At the end, Ogwashi UkuSecondary Schoolemerged champions ofthe maiden Governor’sCup in Delta State.

In an interesting finalthat had a full house atthe Warri Stadium andwhich was live onSupersport, AIT andChannels television

stations the Ogwashi-Uku boys proved bookmakers right when VictorOdiwanor scored abrilliant goal in thesecond half and sent theirsupporters celebrating.

Alegbo SecondarySchool were expected toenjoy greater support inWarri since they are fromEffurun, near Warri. ButOkwashi Uku supporterswere louder. And theirteam lived up toexpectation.

Ex international Jay JayOkocha had urged themto make him proud bylifting the trophy. Theydid and went home witha 30 seater bus and N2m.They are also to embarkon a training tour abroad.Alegbo and Edjekokaschools that wererunners up and thirdplace finishersrespectively also wenthome with buses.

NFF upset afNFF upset afNFF upset afNFF upset afNFF upset afttttter Sidneer Sidneer Sidneer Sidneer Sidney rejects Eaglesy rejects Eaglesy rejects Eaglesy rejects Eaglesy rejects EaglesTHE Nigeria Football

Federation (NFF) haslabelled Sidney Sam“disrespectful” after theformer Germany youthplayer denied everwanting to play for them.

The midfielder wasbelieved to be interestedin switching hisinternational allegiancefrom Germany to Nigeria,where his father was

born.But after being called

up for Germany’sfriendlies againstEcuador and the UnitedStates, the BayerLeverkusen playerclaimed he neverintended to represent theSuper Eagles.

However, NFFspokesman AdemolaOlajire told BBC Sport:“It’s disappointing,disrespectful and notcorrect.

“If he’s not interested,he’s not interested andno-one is going to beghim to play for Nigeria.

“But to say he wasnever contacted is falseand ridiculous. At theappropriate time we willgive more details.”

Sam, 25 has played forGermany only at Under-19, Under-20 and Under-21 level, making him stilleligible to play for theAfrican champions.

And Nigeria hadretained hope they couldpersuade Sam to play forthem despite his call-upto the Germany squad.

But ahead ofGermany ’s friendlyagainst Ecuador onTuesday and and the US

three days later, Sam toldGerman sports agencySID: “The 2014 WorldCup is still far away but

for me it is only Germanythat counts. We don’thave to speak aboutNigeria.

VICTORIOUS: Governor Emmanuel Uduaghanhands over the trophy to Captain ofComprehensive High School Ogwashi-Uku,Isiekwene Joshua after defeating Alegbo College1-0 to win the cup. Photo:Akpokona Omafuaire

Federation Cup Drawholds tomorrow

THE Nigeria FootballFederation will on

Thursday in Abuja holdthe Draw Ceremony forthis year ’s 2013Federation Cup finals.

According to NFF’sDirector ofCompetitions, Dr.Mohammed Sanusi, atotal of 63 clubs will bein the pot at theceremony billed for theFIFA Technical Centre,National StadiumComplex, as from 12pm.

No club from YobeState registered for theannual glamourcompetition, whileRanch Bees FC ofKaduna would bedisqualified from theceremony should theclub’s management failto off-set, by Thursdaym o r n i n g , a noutstandng debt ofN200,000 payable sincelast year.

“The management of

Ranch Bees have failedto pay this money, whichis their fine for lateregistration for lastyear ’s competition,despite several writtenundertakings to pay,”said Dr. Sanusi.

All the 20 PremierLeague clubs in thecountry, plus 22 clubsfrom the second-tierNational League, nineclubs from theNationwide League and12 non-League teamswill be involved in theDraw.

•Chinedu


CMYK


Rain disrupts Day 3 in Paris•French Open

RAIN wreaked havoc onTuesday’s schedule at

the 2013 French Open.A 2 1/2-hour delay

prevented play fromgetting underway, andmore rain came afterplayers took to the courts atStade Roland Garros.

Ninth-seeded SamanthaStosur got her work in, asthe former U.S. Openchampion and 2010 FrenchOpen runner-up leveled42-year-old JapaneseKimiko Date-Krumm 6-0,6-2 in the opening round.

The 29-year-old Stosurhas reached at least the

semifinals in Paris three ofthe last four years.

Third-seeded formerworld No. 1 VictoriaAzarenka is also onTuesday’s schedule, as theAustralian Open championand U.S. Open runner-upis slated to meet RussianElena Vesnina.

Stosur powers into second round

THE 2010 FrenchOpen finalist Sam

Stosur is through to thesecond round of thisyear ’s event after acomfortable 6-0 6-2victory over veteranKimiko Date-Krumm.

It was a wet day in Parisand Stosur did not get oncourt until earlyafternoon, due to a two-hour rain delay.

When she finally got oncourt, Aussie Stosur wasmore than ready foraction, and she sweptthrough the first ninegames against her 42-year-old Japanese

opponent. Stosur’s powergame often proves potenton clay and she used herpowerful serve andpinpoint groundstrokes todominate Date-Krumm.

She finally lost a gameat 3-0 in set two andDate-Krumm bravely wona lengthy sixth game aswell to make it 2-4 butStosur then poweredthrough the final twogames to complete victoryin just under an hour andfive minutes.

Stosur, who won the USOpen in 2011, lost toFrancesca Schiavone inthe 2010 final at Roland

Garros, but has beensomewhat hampered by aright calf injury thisseason so far.

The ninth seed willhave been pleased tohave made rapidprogress because theweather ensured that theaction in Paris had a stop-start nature, and the rainreturned in the afternoonafter just 90 minutes ofplay was possible.

“Stosur is so strong andshe’s a specialist on clay,”said Date-Krumm. “Todayshe didn’t make mistakesbecause I couldn’t puther under pressure.”


CMYK

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e-mail: [email protected] to Play Sudoku THE VIGILANTE

Place a number (1-9) in each blank cell. (No line canhave two of the same number).

Each row (nine lines from left to right), column, (alsonine lines from top to bottom) and 3 X 3 block within abold block (nine blocks) contains number from 1through 9. This means that no number can appear twicein any block, column or row.

No mathematics is involved – no adding, subtraction, divisionor multiplication, just plain logic and your imagination.

VANGUARD, WEDNEDAY, MAY 29, 2013

YESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERYESTERDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSDAY'S ANSWERSTODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLETODAY'S PUZZLE

Sudoku

YESTERDAY'S SOLUTIONS

QUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORDQUICK CROSSWORD

ACROSS: 1, Bright 5, Unrest 8, Distrust 9,Swab 10, Pep 12, Shred 15, Spa 17, Asp 18,Imp 19, Oar 20, Ought 21, Ado 22, Too 23, Can24, Dry 26, Fetch 29, Kin 33, Ewer 34, Ultimate35, Symbol 36, Hungry.

DOWN: 2, Raise 3, Gate 4, Truth 5, Untie6, Rash 7, Stamp 10, Proud 11, Party 12,Spoof 13, Right 14, Ditch 15, Spank 16,Adorn 25, Rowdy 27, Equal 28, Catch30, Inter 31, Grab 32, Omen.

ACROSS1 Boast (4)4 Lie (3)6 Melt (4)9 Embrace (3)10 Evaluated (8)11 Peruse (4)14 Edge (3)16 Dulcet (5)19 Sweater (8)21 Consumed (5)23 Tear (8)24 Topic (5)27 Base (3)31 Oven (4)33 Coalition (8)34 Observe (3)35 Asterisk (4)36 Wand (3)37 Title (4)

DOWN2 Corrode (4)3 Valley (4)4 Gala (8)5 Corpse (4)6 Toss (5)7 Colour (3)8 Yawning (5)12 Separate (5)13 Sphere (5)14 Fish-eggs (3)15 Element (5)17 Composition (5)18 Turrent (5)20 Retreated (8)22 Novel (3)25 Elevate (5)26 Collier (5)28 Just (4)29 Daybreak (4)30 Dross (4)32 Meadow (3)

MeMeMeMeMexico txico txico txico txico tesesesesests Fts Fts Fts Fts F-Eagles-Eagles-Eagles-Eagles-Eagleswings fwings fwings fwings fwings for Wor Wor Wor Wor World Cuporld Cuporld Cuporld Cuporld Cup

FRENCH OPEN

Kick-off: 4.30 p.m.

NFF upset after Sidney rejects Eagles — P.92

Continues on Page 92

REAL MADRID insistCristiano Ronaldo

will not be sold thissummer — because theywant to build the teamaround him for years tocome.

The Portugal superstar,28, has been linked witha return to ManchesterUnited while ParisSaint-Germain are alsointerested.

Ronaldo last yearclaimed he was “sad” at

the Bernabeu, sparkingspeculation he wanted toquit the club.

But Real presidentFlorentino Perez hopeshe will stay and believeshe should be their mainman for years.

Perez said: “He told mein the summer he wassad and I told him wewould do everythingpossible for him to be

THE readiness ofNigeria’s U20 team

for next month’s WorldCup in Turkey will betested today bydefending Toulon

I n t e r n a t i o n a lTournament championsMexico.

The Flying Eaglesopen their campaign atthe Stade Perruc Hyeresin France by 5.30pm,which is 4.30 Nigeriantime.

This will be Nigeria’sfirst outing at the 46-year-old tournament andthe Flying Eagles willuse it to prepare for theWorld Cup in Turkey.

Six of the 10 teams atthis year’s competitionwill feature at the U20World Cup, namelyNigeria, Portugal,Colombia, France,

Continues on Page 92•Obuh POWER. . .Maria Sharapova hits a blistering back-hand past Taiwan’s Su-Wei Hsieh during theirFrench tennis Open first round match at the RolandGarros in Paris. Photo: AFP

CMYK

Documents

Plot to impeach Amaechi thickens